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Advanced Binary for Programming
& Computer Science:
Logical, Bitwise and Arithmetic
Operations, and Data Encoding and
Representation
Copyright & Other Notices
Published in 2018 by Answers 2000 Limited
Copyright © 2018, Sunil Tanna
Sunil Tanna has asserted his right to be identified as the author of
this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents
Act 1988.
Information in this book is the opinion of the author, and is correct
to the best of the author's knowledge, but is provided "as is" and
without warranty to the maximum extent permissible under law.
Content within this book is not intended as legal, tax, financial,
medical, or any other form of professional advice.
While we have checked the content of this book carefully, in any
educational book there is always the possibility of typographical
errors, or other errors or omissions. We apologize if any such errors
are found, and would appreciate if readers inform of any errors they
might find, so we can update future editions/updates of this book.
Answers 2000 Limited is a private limited company registered in
England under company number 3574155. Address and other
information about information about Answers 2000 Limited can be
found at www.ans2000.com
Updates, news & related resources from the author can be found at
http://www.suniltanna.com/abinary
Information about other computing books by the same author can
be found at http://www.suniltanna.com/computing
Information about math books by the same author can be found at

http://www.suniltanna.com/math
Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Introducing Number Bases and Binary

Chapter 2: Converting from Binary to Denary and Vice-versa

How to Convert a Binary Number to Denary
How to Convert a Denary Number to Binary
Questions
Answers to Chapter 2 Questions

Chapter 3: How Computers Group Binary Digits

A Closer Look at Bytes
A Closer Look at Words
Word alignment
Word alignment and packing
Byte ordering and endianness
Addresses

Chapter 4: Boolean Operations and Logic Gates

Fundamentals of Boolean Algebra
Boolean operation: NOT
Boolean operation: AND
Boolean operation: OR
Boolean operation: XOR
Boolean operation: NAND
 Boolean operation: NOR
Boolean operation: NXOR
Combining Logic Gates
NOT using NAND logic
AND using NAND logic
OR using NAND logic
XOR using NAND logic
NOR using NAND logic
Logical Versus Bitwise Operations
Using Bitwise Operations to Set, Clear, Flip or Test Bits
Setting bits
Inverting bits
Clearing bits
Testing bits
Questions
Answers to Chapter 4 Questions

Chapter 5: Adding and Subtracting in Binary

Adding Binary Integers
The column addition method of adding denary numbers
The column addition method of adding binary numbers
Implementing binary addition using logic gates
Subtracting Binary Integers
The column subtraction method of subtracting denary numbers
The column subtraction method of subtracting binary numbers
Implementing binary subtraction using logic gates
Questions
Answers to Chapter 5 Questions

Chapter 6: Shift Operations

Left Shift
Right Shift
Circular Shifts
Questions
Answers to Chapter 6 Questions

Chapter 7: Multiplication and Division in Binary

Multiplication
Multiplying by a power of 2
Column multiplication
Russian peasant multiplication algorithm
Multiplication in hardware
Division
Dividing by a power of 2
Denary long division
Binary long division
Algorithm for binary long division
Division in hardware
Questions
Answers to Chapter 7 Questions

Chapter 8: Representing Characters and Strings of

Characters
Representing Individual Characters
ASCII
Extended ASCIIs
BCDIC and other early character encodings
EBCDIC
Unicode
Representing Strings of Characters
Terminated strings
Length-prefixed strings
Other string representations

Chapter 9: Representing Text and Graphics on Screen

Text Mode Displays
Bitmap Displays

Chapter 10: Parity Checking

What is a Parity Bit
Even and Odd Parity
Even parity
Odd parity
Advantages, Disadvantages and Limitations of Using Parity Checking
Parity's Use in RAID Storage Devices
Unused Parity Bits
Questions
Answers to Chapter 10 Questions

Chapter 11: Signed Integers

Offset Binary
Signed Magnitude Representation
One's Complement
Two's Complement
Other Representations of Signed Numbers
Base -2
 Signed-digit representation

Chapter 12: Real Numbers

Fixed Point Representation
Floating Point Representation
Rational Data Type
Logarithmic Number Systems

Chapter 13: Denary Encodings and Decimal Data Types

Why Use Denary Representations of Real Numbers?
Binary Encodings of Denary
Serial decimal
Two-out-of-five
Bi-quinary
Character-based encodings of denary
Binary-Coded Decimal (BCD)
Chen-Ho Encoding
Densely Packed Decimal (DPD)
Excess-3
Decimal Data Types
Which numbers can be exactly represented in fixed and
floating point?
How inexact?
Issues with inexact representation
Decimal representation

Chapter 14: Data Structures

Structs
Arrays
Linked Lists and More Complex Structures
Limitations of arrays
Introducing linked lists
Singly and doubly linked lists
More complex data structures

Chapter 15: Types of Computer Memory

Magnetic-Core Memory and Core Rope Memory
RAM
DRAM
SRAM
ROM
Mask-programmed ROM
PROM
EPROM
EEPROM
Flash memory

Chapter 16: Secondary Storage

Sequential Storage
Punched tape
Magnetic tape
Random Access Storage
Magnetic disk
Optical disk
Solid state drives and flash memory
Cloud Storage

Chapter 17: Measuring Memory and Storage

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Chapter 18: Digital Communications
Serial Communication
Parallel Communication

Chapter 19: Measuring Transfer Rates

Baud

Conclusion
Introduction
This book explains how the binary number system works and how it
is used by digital computers to represent information including
positive and negative integers, characters and real numbers. It also
explains logical and bitwise operations that computers use to
manipulate information and perform arithmetic. Finally, we also
briefly look at how computers store this information in memory and
secondary storage, and how it can be transmitted between
computers.

No prior knowledge except a general familiarity with basic arithmetic

and mathematics (including the use of fractions, decimals and
exponents) is assumed by this book.
If you need to revise fractions and arithmetic using fractions,
you may find my book You Can Do Math: Working With
Fractions to be helpful.
If you need to revise exponents (also known as "indices"), you
may find my book You Can Do Math: Powers, Exponents,
Indices and Surds to be helpful.
This book goes at a fast pace. Although I do briefly recap what
binary is, I assume that most readers have encountered binary
integers before. If you need a slightly gentler introduction to
binary, as well as a guide to the octal and hexadecimal
numbering systems used by programmers and computer
scientists, you may wish to read Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal
for Programming & Computer Science first.

Topics covered by this book include:

What are number bases (also known as radixes).
What is binary (base 2).
What is octal (base 8) and hexadecimal (base 16).
How to convert binary numbers to denary (base 10).
How to convert denary numbers to binary.
How binary digits (bits) are grouped into words and bytes.
The definition of a byte.
The definition of a word.
The meaning of Least and Most Significant Bits.
LSB 0 and MSB 0 conventions for numbering bits.
The definition of a nybble.
The correspondence between a nybble and a hexadecimal
digit.
Nybbles can be used to store denary/decimal digits in BCD
representations.
Word alignment restrictions.
The effect of word alignment on packing and padding of data
structures.
Why there may be a need to repack data structures.
Packing data structures and the trade-off they involve.
The meaning of Least and Most Significant Byte.
Byte ordering and endianness.
What little-endian means.
What big-endian means.
What middle-endian means.
What is bi-endianness.
Fundamentals of Boolean algebra, logic gates and truth tables.
The Boolean NOT operation.
The Boolean AND operation.
The Boolean OR operation.
The Boolean XOR operation.
The Boolean NAND operation.
The Boolean NOR operation.
The Boolean NXOR operation.
Combining logic gates to create other logical operators.
NAND and NOR are functionally complete.
What is NAND logic.
How to implement NOT using NAND logic.
How to implement AND using NAND logic.
How to implement OR using NAND logic.
Two ways to implement XOR using NAND logic.
How to implement NOR using NAND logic.
The difference between logical and bitwise operations.
How to use bitwise operations to ensure particular bits are set.
How to use bitwise operations to invert (flip) particular bits.
How to use bitwise operations to ensure particular bits are
clear.
How to use bitwise operations to test particular bits.
Column addition of binary integers.
How to implement binary addition using logic gates.
What is and how to create a half adder.
What is and how to create a full adder.
How to connect multiple adders to create a ripple-carry adder.
Performance limitations of ripple-carry adders.
Column subtraction of binary integers.
How to implement binary subtraction using logic gates.
What is and how to create a half subtractor.
What is and how to create a full subtractor from two half
subtractors.
Multiple subtractors can be connected to subtract multi-bit
numbers.
What is a left bit shift operation.
How left shifts are usually equivalent to multiplying by two.
How left shifts can result in numeric overflows.
How to test for numeric overflows in left shifts.
How to set the new least significant bit in left shifts.
What is a right bit shift operation.
How right shifts are usually equivalent to dividing by two and
rounding down.
How to test for rounding in right shifts.
How to set the new most significant bit in right shifts.
Left and right circular bit shifts.
How to multiply by powers of 2.
Column multiplication of denary and binary numbers.
Russian peasant multiplication algorithm.
Performing multiplications in hardware.
How to divide by powers of 2.
Comparing denary and binary long division.
Why binary long division is easier than denary long division.
How to create an algorithm for binary long division.
Performing division in hardware.
How computers represent characters in memory.
How ASCII character-encoding works.
Why different systems interpret ASCII differently.
Issues with transferring ASCII text files between different types
of computer systems.
Extended ASCIIs.
How EBCDIC character-encoding works.
The Unicode system.
The various Unicode character-encoding systems including
UCS-2, UTF-32, UTF-16 and UTF-8.
How UTF-16 encodes characters into 2 or 4 bytes.
How UTF-8 encodes characters into 1, 2, 3 or 4 bytes.
How strings of characters are represented in computer
memory.
How terminated strings including byte-terminated, null-
terminated, and bit-terminated strings work.
How length-prefixed strings work.
Advantages and disadvantages of terminated strings versus
length-prefixed strings.
Why other types of string representations are sometimes used.
How text mode displays store information about screen
contents.
How bitmap displays store information about screen contents.
The purpose of parity checking and parity bits.
The meaning of even parity.
The meaning of odd parity.
The advantages, disadvantages and limitations of parity
checking.
Parity's use in RAID storage devices.
The meaning of a stick parity bit.
The meaning of a mark parity bit.
The meaning of a space parity bit.
How computers represent signed numbers.
What is offset binary representation.
What is signed magnitude representation.
What is one's complement.
What is two's complement.
What is base -2.
What is signed-digit representation.
How real numbers can be represented using fixed point
representation.
How real numbers can be represented using floating point
representation.
What is IEEE 754.
What is the rational data type.
How real numbers can be represented using logarithmic
number systems.
What are decimal computers.
Why use denary representations of real numbers.
What is serial decimal.
What is two-out-of-five encoding.
What is bi-quinary encoding.
What are character-based encodings of denary.
What is Binary-Coded Decimal (BCD).
What are the NBCD (8421), 4221 and 7421 variants of BCD.
What is Chen-Ho encoding.
What is Densely Packed Decimal (DPD).
What is Excess-3.
What are decimal data-types.
Which numbers can be exactly represented in binary fixed-
point and floating-point representations.
Which numbers can be exactly represented in decimal fixed-
point and floating-point representations.
How inexact can binary fixed-point and floating-point
representations be.
What issues does inexact representation cause.
What is decimal representation (including decimal floating-
point representation).
What are composite data-types (structs) and how are they
stored in memory.
What are arrays and how are they stored in memory.
What are linked lists.
The differences singly linked-lists and doubled-linked lists.
Possibilities for more complex data-structures.
Types of computer memory used in early computers.
What is magnetic-core memory and core rope memory.
What is RAM memory.
What are the different types of RAM memory.
What is ROM memory.
What are the different types of ROM memory.
The difference between sequential and random-access
secondary storage devices.
What is punched tape storage.
What is magnetic tape storage.
 What is magnetic disk storage.
How data is organized into tracks, sectors and clusters on
magnetic disks.
What is the difference between hard disks and floppy disks.
What is optical disk storage.
What are the different types of optical disks.
What are solid state drives and flash memory secondary
storage.
What is cloud storage.
How memory and storage is measured.
What is serial data communication.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using serial
communications.
What is the difference between Least Significant Bit first and
Most Significant Bit first serial communication protocols.
What is parallel data communication.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using parallel
communications.
How data transfer rates are measured.
What is baud.
What is the difference between bit/second and Baud/second.
I hope you enjoy this book
If you want to find out about my math books, please visit:
http://www.suniltanna.com/math
For my science books, please visit:
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For my computing books, please visit:
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Chapter 1: Introducing Number Bases and Binary
When we think about numbers, most of the time we rarely consider
how they are represented and whether there might be an alternative
way to represent the same number.

Let us consider the number 47315 in denary (also known as base

10, radix 10, or decimal ):

What do the individual digits mean?

The 5 in the units column represents 5 because 5 × 100 = 5 ×

1 = 5.
The 1 in the tens column represents 10 because 1 × 101 = 1 ×
10 = 10.
The 3 in the hundreds column represents 300 because 3 × 102
= 3 × 100 = 300.
The 7 in the thousands column represents 7000 because 7 ×
103 = 7 × 1000 = 7000.
The 4 in the ten thousands column represents 40000 because
4 × 104 = 4 × 10000 = 40000.
The total value of the number can be calculated by added the
column values together: 5 + 10 + 300 + 7000 + 40000 =
47315.

I could give many further examples but there are three things to
notice about this:
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 The actual value represented by each digit in the number
depends on the combination of which digit it is, and on that
digit's position within the number. This is known as place
value.
Each successive column represents numbers 10 times bigger
than the last. In other words, the columns correspond to the
powers of 10.
Each column can hold 10 possible digit values - from 0 to 9
inclusive.

In the denary or base 10 system, successive columns are based on

powers of 10 (and can contain 10 possible values), but in other
number are based around using other numbers than 10.
The octal number system (also known as base 8 or radix 8)
is based around using powers of 8. In octal, each successive
column starting from the right represents numbers 8 times
bigger than the last, and there are 8 possible digits (0 to 7).
For more information on octal, please see Binary, Octal and
Hexadecimal for Programming & Computer Science.
The hexadecimal number system (also known as base 16 or
radix 16) is based around using powers of 16. In
hexadecimal, each successive column starting from the right
represents numbers 16 times bigger than the last, and there
are 16 possible digits (0 to 9, plus A, B, C, D, E and F are used
to represent 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15). For more information
on hexadecimal, please see Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal for
Programming & Computer Science.
The binary number system (also known as base 2 or radix
2) is based around using powers of 2. In binary, each
successive column starting from the right represents numbers
2 times bigger than the last, and there are just 2 possible digits
(0 and 1).
Based on similar principles, other number bases exist as well.
However other number bases tend not to be particularly useful
 for computer programming or computer science, so will not be
discussed in this book.

Digital computers internally use the binary numbering system. This

is because there are only two digits (0 and 1) in binary, and
therefore only two states, which can easily be represented in circuits
a switch being on or off, a charge being present or absent, etc.), or
on digital media such as magnetic disks (magnetization being in one
direction or other other) and optical disks (a light being reflected or
not). To find out more about memory, please see Chapter 15. To find
out more about secondary storage such as magnetic and optical
disks, please see Chapter 16.

Each binary digit is known as a bit, which is short for Binary digIT,
and numbers and other information can be represented by a series
of bits - a string of 1s and 0s.

Let's look at how numbers are represented in binary. What does the
binary number 10111 represent?

The rightmost digit (1), which is in the units column,

represents 1 because 1 × 20 = 1 × 1 = 1.
The second from right digit (1), which is in the twos column,
represents 2 because 1 × 21 = 1 × 2 = 2.
The third from right digit (1), which is in the fours column,
represents 4 because 1 × 22 = 1 × 4 = 4.
The fourth from right digit (0), which is in the eights column,
represents 0 because 0 × 23 = 0 × 8 = 0.
 The fifth from right digit (1), which is in the sixteens column,
represents 16 because 1 × 24 = 1 × 16 = 1.
The total value of the number, in denary, can be calculated by
added the column values together: 1 + 2 + 4 + 0 + 16 = 23.
To sum up, the binary number 10111 represents the same
number as the denary number of 23.

It can take many bits to represent even relatively small numbers in

binary:
Using only 5 bits, as in the example above, limits us to
numbers in the range of 0 to 31.
If we wanted to represent numbers between zero and one
thousand, we would in fact need 10 bits (10 bits can represent
numbers between 0 and 1,023 denary).
If we wanted to represented numbers between zero and one
million, we would need 20 bits (20 bits can represent numbers
between 0 and 1,048,575 denary).
If we wanted to represented numbers between zero and one
billion, we would need 30 bits (30 bits can represent numbers
between 0 and 1,073,741,823 denary).

A long string of 1s and 0s is fine for a computer to process but tends

to be more awkward for a person. It is awkward to write down a
binary number with several dozen bits, and when people transcribe
or communicate such long binary numbers, they often make
mistakes. Fortunately however there is a solution for this - octal
(base 8) or hexadecimal (base 16) are often used by programmers
and computer sciences as a kind of shorthand for binary - you can
discover how in my book: see Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal for
Programming & Computer Science.
Chapter 2: Converting from Binary to Denary and Vice-versa
In this chapter, we will discuss how to convert a binary number to
denary and vice-versa.

How to Convert a Binary Number to Denary

Here are the steps for converting a binary number to denary:
(1) Start with the rightmost digit of the binary number and multiply
it by 20 (that is 1).
(2) Now move to the second from right digit of the binary number
and multiply it by 21 (that is 2). Add this to the value from your
previous step and keep a running total.
(3) Now move to the third from right digit of the binary number and
multiply it by 22 (that is 4). Add this to the running total from your
previous step to get a new running total.
(4) Continue repeating this procedure until you have processed all
the digits of the binary number, each time using the next higher
power of 2. The total at the end is the denary value of the binary
number.

Example: Converting the binary number 1110101 to denary.

(1) The rightmost digit is 1. So, 1 × 20 = 1 × 1 = 1.
(2) The second from right digit is 0. So, 0 × 21 = 0 × 2 = 0. The
value from the previous step was 1, the running total is now 1 + 0 =
1.
(3) The third from right digit is 1. So, 1 × 22 = 1 × 4 = 4. The
running total is now 1 + 4 = 5.
(4) The fourth from right digit is 0. So, 0 × 23 = 0 × 8 = 0. The
running total is now 5 + 0 = 5.
(5) The fifth from right digit is 1. So, 1 × 24 = 1 × 16 = 0. The
running total is now 5 + 16 = 21.
(6) The sixth from right digit is 1. So, 1 × 25 = 1 × 32 = 32. The
running total is now 21 + 32 = 53.
(7) The seventh from right digit is 1. So, 1 × 26 = 1 × 64 = 64. The
running total is now 53 + 64 = 117.
(8) The binary number 1110101 corresponds to denary 117.

How to Convert a Denary Number to Binary

Here is a method for converting a denary number to binary (this
method generates a binary number starting with the rightmost or
lowest-value digit):
(1) Divide the denary number by 2, giving a whole number quotient
and a remainder. The remainder is the first binary digit. The quotient
is saved for the next step.
(2) Divide the quotient from the previous step by 2, to give a new
whole number quotient and a remainder. The remainder is the next
binary digit, and quotient is again saved for the next step.
(3) Continue repeating the procedure until you are left with a whole
number quotient of 0.

Example: Converting the denary number 107 to binary.

(1) We divide 107 by 2. The quotient is 53 and the remainder is 1.
Hence the rightmost binary digit is 1.
(2) We divide 53 by 2. The quotient is 26 and the remainder is 1.
Hence the second from right binary digit is 1, giving a binary
number, so far, of 11.
(3) We divide 26 by 2. The quotient is 13 and the remainder is 0.
Hence the third from right binary digit is 0, giving a binary number,
so far, of 011.
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was standing on the long stone platform before the temple. The
pylon of hewn sandstone rises grandly above the spacious portal,
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once, probably, did not diminish the impression thus given; but at
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and rose. Like Kalabshee, the temple is of the times of the Cæsars,
and unfinished. There are three chambers, the interior walls of which
are covered with sculptures, but little else is represented than the
offerings to the gods. Indeed, none of the sculptures in the temples
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After dark, we floated past the Shaymt-el-Wah, a powerful eddy or
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Philæ. Its long colonnades of light sandstone glimmered in the
shadows of the palms, between the dark masses of the mountains
on either hand, and its tall pylons rose beyond, distinct against the
sky. The little hamlets on the shores were still in the hush of sleep,
and there was no sound to disturb the impression of that fairy
picture. The pillars of the airy chapel of Athor are perfect in their
lightness and grace, when seen thus from a boat coming down the
river, with the palm-groves behind them and the island-quay below.
We glided softly past that vision of silence and beauty, took the rapid
between the gates of granite, and swept down to the village at the
head of the Cataract. The sun had just risen, lighting up the fleet of
trading boats at anchor, and the crowds of Arabs, Egyptians and
Barabras on the beach. The two English dahabiyehs I had been
chasing were rowed out for the descent of the Cataract, as I jumped
ashore and finished my travels in Nubia.
 CHAPTER XXXIX.
VOYAGE DOWN THE NILE.

Assouan—A Boat for Cairo—English Tourists—A Head-wind—Ophthalmia

—Esneh—A Mummied Princess—Ali Effendi’s Stories—A Donkey
Afrite—Arrival at Luxor—The Egyptian Autumn—A Day at Thebes—
Songs of the Sailors—Ali leaves me—Ride to Dendera—Head-winds
again—Visit to Tahtah—The House of Rufaā Bey.

I reached the Egyptian frontier on the morning of the sixteenth of

March, having been forty days in making the journey from Khartoum.
Immediately upon our arrival, I took a donkey and rode around the
Cataract to Assouan, leaving Ali to take care of the baggage-camels.
I went directly to the beach, where a crowd of vessels were moored,
in expectation of the caravans of gum from the South. An Egyptian
Bey, going to Khartoum in the train of Rustum Pasha, had arrived the
day before in a small dahabiyeh, and the captain thereof immediately
offered it to me for the return to Cairo. It was a neat and beautiful
little vessel, with a clean cabin, couch, divan, and shady portico on
deck. He asked twelve hundred piastres; I offered him nine hundred;
we agreed on a thousand, and when my camels arrived there was a
new refuge prepared for my household gods. I set Achmet to work at
getting the necessary supplies, sent the raïs to bake bread for the
voyage, and then went to see the jolly, flat-nosed Governor. He
received me very cordially, and had a great deal to say of the
unparalleled herd of travellers on the Nile during the winter. Ninety-
six vessels and eleven steamboats had reached the harbor of
Assouan, and of these the greater number were Americans.
“Mashallah! your countrymen must be very rich,” said the Governor.
When I left the divan, the firing of guns announced the safe arrival
of the English boats below the Cataract. Very soon I saw two burnt-
faced, tarbooshed individuals, with eye-glasses in their eyes,
strolling up the beach. For once I threw off the reserve which a
traveller usually feels towards every one speaking his own language,
and accosted them. They met my advances half-way, and before
long my brain was in a ferment of French and English politics.
Europe was still quiet then, but how unlike the quiet of the Orient!
The Englishmen had plenty of news for me, but knew nothing of the
news I most wanted—those of my own country. Had our positions
been reversed, the result would have been different. They left at
sunset for the return to Thebes, but I was detained until noon the
next day, when I set off in company with the boat of Signor Drovetti,
of Alexandria, who left Khartoum a few days after me. I had six men,
but only two of them were good oarsmen.
In the morning, when I awoke, the broken pylon of Ombos tottered
directly over the boat. I rushed on deck in time to catch another sight
of the beautiful double portico, looking down from the drifted sands.
The wind blew very strongly from the north, but in the afternoon we
succeeded in reaching Djebel Silsileh, where the English boats were
moored. We exchanged pistol salutes, and I ran up to the bank to
visit some curious sculptured tablets and grottoes, which we did not
see on the upward voyage. During the night the wind increased to
such an extent that all the boats were obliged to lay to. The morning
found our four dahabiyehs floating slowly down in company, crossing
from side to side transversely, in order to make a little headway. After
three or four hours, however, the wind grew so strong that they were
driven up stream, and all ran to the lee of a high bank for shelter.
There we lay nearly all day. The Englishmen went ashore and shot
quails, but I lounged on my divan, unable to do any thing, for the
change from the dry, hot desert air, to the damp Nile blasts, brought
on an inflammation of the eyes, resembling ophthalmia. I was unable
to read or write, and had no remedies except water, which I tried
both warm and cold, with very little effect.
Towards evening the wind fell; after dark we passed the pylon of
Edfoo, and at noon the next day reached Esneh. I went at once to
the temple, so beautiful in my memory, yet still more beautiful when I
saw it again. The boys who admitted me, lifted the lids of the large
coffin and showed the royal mummies, which are there crumbling to
pieces from the neglect of the Egyptian authorities, who dug them up
at Goorneh. The coffins were of thick plank and still sound, the wood
having become exceedingly dry and light. The mummies were all
more or less mutilated, but the heads of some were well preserved.
In form, they differ considerably from the Arab head of the present
day, showing a better balance of the intellectual and moral faculties.
On one of them the hair was still fresh and uncorrupted. It was of a
fine, silky texture and a bright auburn color. The individual was a
woman, with a very symmetrical head, and small, regular features.
She may have been a beauty once, but nothing could be more
hideous. I pulled off a small lock of hair, and took it with me as a
curious relic. Esneh appeared much more beautiful to me than on
my upward journey; possibly, by contrast with the mud-built houses
of Soudân. I went to a coffee-shop and smoked a sheesheh, while
the muezzin called down from the mosque in front: “God is great;
there is no God but God; Mohammed is the Prophet of God.”
Ali Effendi, the agent of the Moodir, or Governor, came to see me
and afterwards went on board my vessel. As the wind was blowing
so furiously that we could not leave, I invited him to dinner, and in the
meantime we had a long talk on afrites and other evil spirits. I
learned many curious things concerning Arabic faith in such matters.
The belief in spirits is universal, although an intelligent Arab will not
readily confess the fact to a Frank, unless betrayed into it by a
simulated belief on the part of the latter. Ali Effendi informed me that
the spirit of a man who is killed by violence, haunts the spot where
his body is buried, until the number of years has elapsed, which he
would otherwise have lived. He stated, with the greatest
earnestness, that formerly, in passing at night over the plain between
Embabeh and the Pyramids, where Napoleon defeated the
Mamelukes, he had frequently heard a confusion of noises,—cries of
pain, and agony, and wrath—but that now there were but few sounds
to be heard, as the time of service of the ghosts had for the most
part expired.
One of his personal experiences with an afrite amused me
exceedingly. He was walking one night on the road from Cairo to
Shoobra, when he suddenly saw a donkey before him. As he was
somewhat fatigued, and the donkey did not appear to have an
owner, he mounted, and was riding along very pleasantly, when he
was startled by the fact that the animal was gradually increasing in
size. In a few minutes it became nearly as large as a camel; and he
thereby knew that it was no donkey, but an afrite. At first he was in
such terror that the hairs of his beard stood straight out from his
face, but suddenly remembering that an afrite may be brought to
reveal his true nature by wounding him with a sharp instrument, he
cautiously drew his dagger and was about to plunge it into the
creature’s back. The donkey-fiend, however, kept a sharp watch
upon him with one of his eyes, which was turned backwards, and no
sooner saw the dagger than he contracted to his original shape,
shook off his rider and whisked away with a yell of infernal laughter,
and the jeering exclamation: “Ha! ha! you want to ride, do you?”
We had scarcely left Esneh before a fresh gale arose, and kept us
tossing about in the same spot all night. These blasts on the Nile
cause a rise of waves which so shake the vessel that one sometimes
feels a premonition of sea-sickness. They whistle drearily through
the ropes, like a gale on the open sea. The air at these times is filled
with a gray haze, and the mountain chains on either hand have a
dim, watery loom, like that of mountains along the sea-coast. For half
a day I lay in sight of Esneh, but during the following night, as there
was no wind, I could not sleep for the songs of the sailors. The
sunrise touched the colonnade of Luxor. I slept beyond my usual
time, and on going out of the cabin what should I see but my former
guide, Hassan, leading down the beach the same little brown mare
on which I had raced with him around Karnak. We mounted and rode
again down the now familiar road, but the harvests whose planting I
had witnessed in December were standing ripe or already gathered
in. It was autumn in Egypt. The broad rings of clay were beaten for
threshing floors, and camels, laden with stacks of wheat-sheaves
paced slowly towards them over the stubble fields. Herds of donkeys
were to be seen constantly, carrying heavy sacks of wheat to the
magazines, and the capacious freight-boats were gathering at the
towns along the Nile to carry off the winter’s produce.
It was a bright, warm and quiet day that I spent at Thebes. The
great plain, girdled by its three mountain-chains, lay in a sublime
repose. There was no traveller there, and, as the people were
expecting none, they had already given up the ruins to their summer
silence and loneliness. I had no company, on either side of the river,
but my former guides, who had now become as old friends. We rode
to Karnak, to Medeenet Abou, to the Memnonium, and the Colossi of
the Plain. The ruins had now not only a memory for me, but a
language. They no longer crushed me with their cold, stern,
incomprehensible grandeur. I was calm as the Sphinx, whose lips no
longer closed on a mystery. I had gotten over the awe of a neophyte,
and, though so little had been revealed to me, walked among the
temples with the feelings of a master. Let no one condemn this
expression as presumptuous, for nothing is so simple as Art, when
once we have the clue to her infinite meanings.
White among the many white days of my travel, that day at
Thebes is registered; and if I left with pain, and the vast regret we
feel on turning away from such spots, at least I took with me the joy
that Thebes, the mighty and the eternal, was greater to me in its
living reality than it had ever been in all the shadow-pictures my
anticipation had drawn. Nor did the faultless pillars of the
Memnonium, nor the obelisks of Karnak, take away my delight in the
humbler objects which kept a recognition for me. The horses, whose
desert blood sent its contagion into mine; the lame water-boy, always
at my elbow with his earthen bottle; the grave guides, who
considered my smattering of Arabic as something miraculous, and
thence dubbed me “Taylor Effendi;” the half-naked Fellahs in the
harvest-fields, who remembered some idle joke of mine,—all these
combined to touch the great landscape with a home-like influence,
and to make it seem, in some wise, like an old resting-place of my
heart. Mustapha Achmet Aga, the English agent at Luxor, had a
great deal to tell me of the squabbles of travellers during the winter:
how the beach was lined with foreign boats and the temples crowded
day after day with scores of visitors; how these quarrelled with their
dragomen, and those with their boatmen, and the latter with each
other, till I thanked Heaven for having kept me away from Thebes at
such a riotous period.
 Towards evening there was a complete calm, and every thing was
so favorable for our downward voyage that I declined Mustapha’s
invitation to dine with him the next day, and set off for Kenneh. The
sailors rowed lustily, my servant Ali taking the leading oar. Ali was
beside himself with joy, at the prospect of reaching his home and
astonishing his family with his marvellous adventures in Soudân. He
led the chorus with a voice so strong and cheery that it rang from
shore to shore. As I was unable to write or read, I sat on deck, with
the boy Hossayn at my elbow to replenish the pipe as occasion
required, and listened to the songs of the sailors. Their repertory was
so large that I was unable to exhaust it during the voyage. One of
their favorite songs was in irregular trochaic lines, consisting of
alternate questions and answers, such as “ed-dookan el-liboodeh
fayn?” (where’s the shop of the cotton caps?) sung by the leader, to
which the chorus responded: “Bahari Luxor beshwoytayn.” (A little to
the northward of Luxor). Another favorite chorus was: “Imlāl-imlāl-
imlālee!” (Fill, fill, fill to me!) Many of the songs were of too broad a
character to be translated, but there were two of a more refined
nature, and these, from the mingled passion, tenderness and
melancholy of the airs to which they were sung, became great
favorites of mine.[7]
Before sunrise we reached Kenneh. Here I was obliged to stop a
day to let the men bake their bread, and I employed the time in
taking a Turkish bath and revisiting the temple of Dendera. My
servant Ali left me, as his family resided in the place. I gave him a
good present, in consideration of his service during the toilsome
journey we had just closed. He kissed my hand very gratefully, and I
felt some regret at parting with, as I believed, an honest servant, and
a worthy, though wild young fellow. What was my mortification on
discovering the next day that he had stolen from me the beautiful
stick, which had been given me in Khartoum by the Sultana Nasra.
The actual worth of the stick was trifling, but the action betrayed an
ingratitude which I had not expected, even in an Arab. I had a
charming ride to Dendera, over the fragrant grassy plain, rippled by
the warm west wind. I was accompanied only by the Fellah who
owned my donkey—an amiable fellow, who told me many stories
about the robbers who used formerly to come in from the Desert and
plunder the country. We passed a fine field of wheat, growing on
land which had been uncultivated for twenty years. My attendant
said that this was the work of a certain Effendi, who, having seen the
neglected field, said that it was wrong to let God’s good ground lie
idle, and so planted it. “But he was truly a good man,” he added;
“and that is the reason why the crop is so good. If he had been a bad
man, the wheat would not have grown so finely as you see it.”
For three days after leaving Kenneh, a furious head-wind did its
best to beat me back, and in that time we only made sixty miles. I
sighed when I thought of the heaps of letters awaiting me in Cairo,
and Achmet could not sleep, from the desire of seeing his family
once more. He considered himself as one risen from the dead. He
had heard in Luxor that his wife was alarmed at his long absence,
and that his little son went daily to Boulak to make inquiries among
the returning boats. Besides, my eyes were no better. I could not go
ashore, as we kept the middle of the stream, and my only
employment was to lounge on the outside divan and gossip with the
raïs. One evening, when the sky was overcast, and the wind whirled
through the palm-trees, we saw a boy on the bank crying for his
brother, who had started to cross the river but was no longer to be
seen. Presently an old man came out to look for him, in a hollow
palm-log, which rolled on the rough waves. We feared the boy had
been drowned, but not long afterwards came upon him, drifting at the
mercy of the current, having broken his oar. By the old man’s
assistance he got back to the shore in safety.
On the fourth day the wind ceased. The Lotus floated down the
stream as lightly as the snowy blossom whose name I gave her. We
passed Girgeh, Ekhmin; and at noon we brushed the foot of Djebel
Shekh Hereedee and reached the landing-place of Tahtah. I had a
letter from Rufaā Bey in Khartoum to his family in the latter town, and
accordingly walked thither through fields of superb wheat, heavy with
ripening ears. Tahtah is a beautiful old town; the houses are of burnt
brick; the wood-work shows the same fanciful Saracenic patterns as
in Cairo, and the bazaar is as quiet, dim and spicy as an Oriental
dream. I found the Bey’s house, and delivered my letter through a
slave. The wife, or wives, who remained in the hareem, invisible,
entertained me with coffee and pipes, in the same manner, while a
servant went to bring the Bey’s son from school. Two Copts, who
had assisted me in finding the house, sat in the court-yard, and
entertained themselves with speculations concerning my journey, not
supposing that I understood them. “Girgos,” said one to the other,
“the Frank must have a great deal of money to spend.” “You may
well say that;” his friend replied, “this journey to Soudân must have
cost him at least three hundred purses.” In a short time the Bey’s son
came, accompanied by the schoolmaster. He was a weak, languid
boy of eight or nine years old, and our interview was not very
interesting. I therefore sent the slave to bring donkeys, and we rode
back to the boat.
 CHAPTER XL.
THE RETURN TO CAIRO—CONCLUSION.

Siout In Harvest-time—A kind Englishwoman—A Slight Experience of

Hasheesh—The Calm—Rapid Progress down the Nile—The Last
Day of the Voyage—Arrival at Cairo—Tourists preparing for the
Desert—Parting with Achmet—Conclusion.

We reached Siout on the morning of the twenty-eighth of March,

twelve days after leaving Assouan. I had seen the town, during the
Spring of an Egyptian November, glittering over seas of lusty clover
and young wheat, and thought it never could look so lovely again;
but as I rode up the long dyke, overlooking the golden waves of
harvest, and breathing the balm wafted from lemon groves spangled
all over with their milky bloom, I knew not which picture to place in
my mind’s gallery. I remained half a day in the place, partly for old
acquaintance sake, and partly to enjoy the bath, the cleanest and
most luxurious in Egypt. I sought for some relief to my eyes, and as
they continued to pain me considerably, I went on board an English
boat which had arrived before me, in the hope of finding some
medicine adapted to my case. The travellers were a most innocent-
faced Englishman and his wife—a beautiful, home-like little creature,
with as kind a heart as ever beat. They had no medicine, but
somebody had recommended a decoction of parsley, and the
amiable woman spoiled their soup to make me some, and I half
suspect threw away her Eau de Cologne to get a bottle to put it in. I
am sure I bathed my eyes duly, with a strong faith in its efficacy, and
fancied that they were actually improving, but on the second day the
mixture turned sour and I was thrown back on my hot water and cold
water.
While in Egypt, I had frequently heard mention of the curious
effects produced by hasheesh, a preparation made from the
cannabis indica. On reaching Siout, I took occasion to buy some, for
the purpose of testing it. It was a sort of paste, made of the leaves of
the plant, mixed with sugar and spices. The taste is aromatic and
slightly pungent, but by no means disagreeable. About sunset, I took
what Achmet considered to be a large dose, and waited half an hour
without feeling the slightest effect. I then repeated it, and drank a cup
of hot tea immediately afterwards. In about ten minutes, I became
conscious of the gentlest and balmiest feeling of rest stealing over
me. The couch on which I sat grew soft and yielding as air; my flesh
was purged from all gross quality, and became a gossamer filagree
of exquisite nerves, every one tingling with a sensation which was
too dim and soft to be pleasure, but which resembled nothing else so
nearly. No sum could have tempted me to move a finger. The
slightest shock seemed enough to crush a structure so frail and
delicate as I had become. I felt like one of those wonderful sprays of
brittle spar which hang for ages in the unstirred air of a cavern, but
are shivered to pieces by the breath of the first explorer.
As this sensation, which lasted but a short time, was gradually
fading away, I found myself infected with a tendency to view the
most common objects in a ridiculous light. Achmet was sitting on one
of the provision chests, as was his custom of an evening. I thought:
was there ever any thing so absurd as to see him sitting on that
chest? and laughed immoderately at the idea. The turban worn by
the captain next put on such a quizzical appearance that I chuckled
over it for some time. Of all turbans in the world it was the most
ludicrous. Various other things affected me in like manner, and at last
it seemed to me that my eyes were increasing in breadth. “Achmet,” I
called out, “how is this? my eyes are precisely like two onions.” This
was my crowning piece of absurdity. I laughed so loud and long at
the singular comparison I had made, that when I ceased from sheer
weariness the effect was over. But on the following morning my eyes
were much better, and I was able to write, for the first time in a week.
The calm we had prayed for was given to us. The Lotus floated,
sailed and was rowed down the Nile at the rate of seventy miles a
day, all hands singing in chorus day and night, while the raïs and his
nephew Hossayn beat the tarabooka or played the reedy zumarra. It
was a triumphal march; for my six men outrowed the ten men of the
Englishman. Sometimes the latter came running behind us till they
were within hail, whereupon my men would stand up in their places,
and thundering out their contemptuous chorus of “hé tôm, tôm,
koosbarra!” strike the water so furiously with their long oars, that
their rivals soon slunk out of hearing. So we went down, all
excitement, passing in one day a space, which it had taken us four
days to make, on our ascent. One day at Manfaloot; the next at
Minyeh; the next at Benisooef; the next in sight of the Pyramids; and
so it came to pass that in spite of all my delays before reaching
Siout, on the sixteenth day after leaving Assouan, I saw the gray
piles of Dashoor and Sakkara pass behind me and grow dim under
the Libyan Hills.
And now dawns the morning of the first of April, 1852—a day
which will be ever memorable to Achmet and myself, as that of our
return to Cairo. When the first cock crowed in some village on shore,
we all arose and put the Lotus in motion. Over the golden wheat-
fields of the western bank the pyramids of Dashoor stand clear and
purple in the distance. It is a superb morning; calm, bright, mild, and
vocal with the songs of a thousand birds among the palms. Ten
o’clock comes, and Achmet, who has been standing on the cabin-
roof, cries: “O my master! God be praised! there are the minarets of
Sultan Hassan!” At noon there is a strong head-wind, but the men
dare not stop. We rejoice over every mile they make. The minaret of
old Cairo is in sight, and I give the boat until three o’clock to reach
the place. If it fails, I shall land and walk. The wind slackens a little
and we work down towards the island of Roda, Gizeh on our left. At
last we enter the narrow channel between the island and Old Cairo;
it is not yet three o’clock. I have my pistols loaded with a double
charge of powder. There are donkeys and donkey-boys on the
shore, but Arabian chargers with Persian grooms were not a more
welcome sight. We call them, and a horde comes rushing down to
the water. I fire my pistols against the bank of Roda, stunning the
gardeners and frightening the donkey boys. Mounted at last, leaving
Achmet to go on with the boat to Boulak, I dash at full speed down
the long street leading into the heart of Cairo. No heed now of a
broken neck: away we go, upsetting Turks, astonishing Copts and
making Christians indignant, till I pull up in the shady alley before the
British consulate. The door is not closed, and I go up stairs with
three leaps and ask for letters. None; but a quantity of papers which
the shirt of my donkey-boy is scarcely capacious enough to hold.
And now at full speed to my banker’s. “Are there any letters for me?”
“Letters?—a drawer full!” and he reaches me the missives, more
precious than gold. Was not that a sweet repayment for my five
months in the heat and silence and mystery of mid-Africa, when I sat
by my window, opening on the great square of Cairo, fanned by cool
airs from the flowering lemon groves, with the words of home in my
ears, and my heart beating a fervent response to the sunset call from
the minarets: “God is great! God is merciful!”
I stayed eight days in Cairo, to allow my eyes time to heal. The
season of winter travel was over, and the few tourists who still
lingered, were about starting for Palestine, by way of Gaza. People
were talking of the intense heat, and dreading the advent of the
khamseen, or south-wind, so called because it blows fifty days. I
found the temperature rather cool than warm, and the khamseen,
which blew occasionally, filling the city with dust, was mild as a
zephyr, compared to the furnace-like blasts of the African Desert.
Gentlemen prepared themselves for the journey across the Desert,
by purchasing broad-brimmed hats, green veils, double-lined
umbrellas, and blue spectacles. These may be all very good, but I
have never seen the sun nor felt the heat which could induce me to
adopt them. I would not exchange my recollections of the fierce red
Desert, blazing all over with intensest light, for any amount of green,
gauzy sky and blue sand. And as for an umbrella, the Desert with a
continual shade around you, is no desert at all. You must let the Sun
lay his sceptre on your head, if you want to know his power.
I left Cairo with regret, as I left Thebes and the White Nile, and
every other place which gives one all that he came to seek.
Moreover, I left behind me my faithful dragoman, Achmet. He had
found a new son in his home, but also an invalid wife, who
demanded his care, and so he was obliged to give up the journey
with me through Syria. He had quite endeared himself to me by his
constant devotion, his activity, honesty and intelligence, and I had
always treated him rather as a friend than servant. I believe the man
really loved me, for he turned pale under all the darkness of his skin,
when we parted at Boulak.
I took the steamer for Alexandria, and two or three days
afterwards sailed for fresh adventures in another Continent. If the
reader, who has been my companion during the journey which is
now closed, should experience no more fatigue than I did, we may
hereafter share also in those adventures.

FINIS.
 FOOTNOTES
[1] Burckhardt gives the following account of the same custom,
in his travels in Nubia: “In two hours and a half we came to a plain
on the top of the mountain called Akabet el Benat, the Rocks of
the Girls. Here the Arabs who serve as guides through these
mountains have devised a singular mode of extorting presents
from the traveller; they alight at certain spots in the Akabet el
Benat, and beg a present; if it is refused, they collect a heap of
sand, and mould it into the form of a diminutive tomb, and then
placing a stone at each of the extremities, they apprise the
traveller that his tomb is made; meaning, that henceforward, there
will be no security for him, in this rocky wilderness. Most persons
pay a trifling contribution, rather than have their graves made
before their eyes; there were, however, several tombs of this
description dispersed over the plain.”
[2] The following record of the temperature, from the time of
leaving Korosko to the date of the accident which deprived me of
the thermometer, is interesting, as it shows a variation fully equal
to that of our own climate:

7 A. 12 M. 2 P. M.
M.
Korosko, Dec. 21st 59° 75° 80°
Desert, ” 22 50° 74° 80°
” ” 23 (Bahr bela
55° 75° Ma) 85°
” ” 24 51° 70° 78°
” ” 25 54° 78° 85°
” ” 26 60° 91° 100°
” ” 27 55° — 95°
” ” 28 59° — 90°
Abou- ” 29
Hammed 61° — 90°
The Nile ” 30 59° — 85°
” ” 31 52° 78° 84°
” Jan. 1st, 47° 70° 68°
 1852

[3] In the Letters of Lepsius, which were not published until

after my return from Africa, I find the following passage, the truth
of which is supported by all the evidence we possess: “The
Ethiopian name comprehended much that was dissimilar, among
the ancients. The ancient population of the whole Nile Valley as
far as Khartoum, and perhaps, also, along the Blue River, as well
as the tribes of the Desert to the east of the Nile, and the
Abyssinian nations, were in former times probably even more
distinctly separated from the negroes than now, and belonged to
the Caucasian Race.”
[4] Capt. Peel, who measured the volume of water in the two
rivers, gives the following result: Breadth of the Blue Nile at
Khartoum, 768 yards; average depth, 16.11 feet; average current,
1.564 knots; volume of water, 5,820,600 cubic feet per minute.
Breadth of the White Nile, immediately above the junction, 483
yards; average depth, 13.92 feet; average current, 1.47 knots;
volume of water, 2,985,400 feet per minute. Breadth of the Nile
below the junction, 1107 yards; average depth, 14.38 feet;
average current, 2 knots; volume of water, 9,526,700 cubic feet
per minute. This measurement was made in the latter part of
October, 1851. It can hardly be considered conclusive, as during
the preceding summer the rains had been unusually heavy in the
mountains of Abyssinia, which may have occasioned a greater
disproportion than usual, in the volume of the two rivers.
[5] July, 1854.
[6] Dr. Constantine Reitz died about a year after my departure
from Soudân, from the effects of the climate. He had been ill for
some months, and while making a journey to Kordofan, felt
himself growing worse so rapidly that he returned to Khartoum,
where he expired in a few days. He was about thirty-three years
of age, and his many acquirements, joined to a character of
singular energy and persistence, had led his friends to hope for
important results from his residence in Central Africa. With
manners of great brusqueness and eccentricity, his generosity
was unbounded, and this, combined with his intrepidity and his
skill as a horseman and a hunter, made him a general favorite
with the Arab chieftains of Ethiopia, whose cause he was always
ready to advocate, against the oppressive measures of the
Egyptian Government. It will always be a source of satisfaction to
the author, that, in passing through Germany in September, 1852,
 he visited the parents of Dr. Reitz, whose father is a Forstmeister,
or Inspector of Forests, near Darmstadt. The joy which they
exhibited on hearing from their son through one who had so
recently seen him, was mixed with sadness as they expressed
the fear that they would never see him again—a fear, alas! too
soon realized.
[7] I give the following translations of these two songs, as
nearly literal as possible:
I.
Look at me with your eyes, O gazelle, O gazelle! The blossom
of your cheeks is dear to me; your breasts burst the silk of your
vest; I cannot loose the shawl about your waist; it sinks into your
soft waist. Who possesses you is blessed by heaven. Look at me
with your eyes, O gazelle, O gazelle! Your forehead is like the
moon; your face is fairer than all the flowers of the garden; your
bed is of diamonds; he is richer than a King who can sleep
thereon. Look at me with your eyes, O gazelle, O gazelle!
II.

O night, O night—O darling, I lie on the sands. I languish for

the light of your face; if you do not have pity on me, I
shall die.
O night, O night—O darling, I lie on the sands. I have changed
color from my longing and my sorrow; you only can
restore me, O my darling.
O night, O night—O darling, I lie on the sands. O darling, take
me in: give me a place by your side, or I must go back
wretched to my own country.

Transcriber’s Note: Map is clickable for a larger version.

MAP OF THE COURSE OF THE NILE AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRIES

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY
TO CENTRAL AFRICA ***

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