Note 55 — JOURNEY ALONG THE BANKS OF THE NILE. (continued 3)

In Nubia the figure of Briareus has the hair of the head cut like that of the Arabs and the Noubas, with rings in the ears, exactly resembling the Noubas and inhabitants of Mahass at the present day. It is possible that the Briareus may have originated in some great chieftain of the desert, vanquished by the king of Egypt, and converted by the priests into a many-headed monster, in conformity with an adage current in the East, in speaking of the Bedouin robbers, “Cut off one head and a hundred will spring up in its stead:” (اقطع راس الواحد تطلع ماية عَوضَه).