Palms and Temples. Being notes of a four months' voyage upon the Nile ... With a preface by Edwin Arnold

Front matter

PALMS AND TEMPLES. I I \, K.- < >l Four Months' Foyape upon tbe Nile. L 0 X D'O N : TINSLEY BROTHERS, 8, CATHERINE STREET, STRAND. 1882. \ All IHghts reserved.} BEING NOTES OF A FOUR MONTHS' VOYAGE UPON THE NILE. BT JULIAN T. BIDDULPH ARNOLD. Wlitf) a preface BY EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.I. ATJTHOB OF " THE LIGHT OE ASIA." gConirnt : TINSLEY BROTHERS, 8, CATHERINE ST., STRAND. 1882. [All rights reserved.'] CHAELES DICKENS AND EVANS, CEYSTAL PALACE PEE5S.

Preface

. A voyage upon the "ancient River Nile," in which those who took part came near to terminating, not only that trip but the journey of life itself, could never seem wanting in incident to such as shared so unusual an adventure. The Author of the present volume — my second son — has briefly described the disaster which befell our dahabeeah under the cbffs of Gebel Tookh — a disaster against which no skill or care could have guarded — and it is a fortunate thing that few writers upon Egypt can have such a tale to tell. But he has, very rightly, dwelt little upon the one painful memory which mars the brightness of those happy and pleasant days spent together upon the beautiful river, and of the prolonged voyage which he himself made beyond the point at which we were compelled to return. Amid the many books published about Egypt and the Nile, this, I venture to think, wdl find

PREFACE.

. VI its justification, not on account of an exceptional misfortune, but as being a full and faithful picture of the daily life lived on the bosom of the great stream, told with all the spirit and enjoyment natural to fresh feelings, and reflecting new light upon old themes. I indulge the hope that those even who have made that delightful passage up and down the Egyptian valley may experience some of the pleasure with which I have followed the author's sails in the renewal of remembered scenes ; while such as do not know what the dahabeeah voyage is like, nor what are its daily experiences, will find a traveller's narrative here wiiich may be of service as well as entertainment. This volume is mainly composed from the diary which my son kept from the start to the finish of his voyage, and its plan has at least the advantage that the daily course, going and coming, can thus be readdy followed, either by the tourist who honours it by taking the book upon his Nile trip, or by that less adventurous voyager wTho sets forth to explore the ancient and noble river in the safety and comfort of his armchair. A most dlustrious writer — Julius Cæsar himself — is reported to have saved his Com-

PREFACE.

. VII mentaries by swimming to shore with them ; also in Egypt. The author of "Palms and Temples"— as none can know better than I— had quite enough work cut out in saving himself on that luckless morning under Gebel Tookh, when his diary went adrift in the general wreck. But by a chance, which I hope may be called "fortunate," the MS. of his journal, duly posted down to the time of our accident, was one of the very few "flotsams and jetsams " which did come to shore, and was secured when the wreck of the Bedowin was revisited. It is that same journal, with its water-logged leaves and drowned sketches, which, being continued under better auspices beneath the friendly flag of the Lohengrin, so grew into its present form of a book upon the Nile, a book that does not aspire to take the place of any learned treatise or methodical guide, but simply to catch the joyous spirit of the rich sunlight of the river, and to reproduce its scenes and sights by easy and passing touches.

With these few words I ask permission to intro duce "Palms and Temples "to a judicious and in dulgent public. No one ought to take my word for it that the book is good ; and none will expect me to say that I regard it as otherwise. I think it will find

PREFACE.

. VIII favour. I cannot of course expect that the kindest reader will derive from its perusal as much particular pleasure as I have experienced ; since for me it is a record, clear and touching, as weU as brave and bright. Me tabula sacer Votiva paries indieat uvida Suspendisse potenti Vestimenta maris Deo. EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.I. PAGE 9 2-1 62 CONTENTS.

Chapter I

The Bedowin Dahabeeah— Her Ryis, Crew, and Dragoman— Dahabeeah. travelling— Nile Scenery— The Quarries of Toora— " Pegging" the Ship — Life on board and ashore — Egyptian Pigeons — Bibbeh — The Crags of Embarak— Arab Bread— Village Dogs

Chapter II

Winds, Tow-ropes, and Punting-poles— Native Villages— Tobacco-buying— Gebel-et-Tayr— The Convent of the Pulley— Minieh— Saints and Crocodiles — The Tombs of Beni-Hassan — Antinoe — Egyptian Ferry-boats — The Ryis at Prayers — "All Right" . CHAPTER HI. Physicking the Ryis — Hassan the Steersman — Cliff Tombs— The Bahr Yusuf — Gebel Aboo Faydah — Windings of the River — Copts and their Politics — Kites and Fishes — Approach to Siut — Bathing-drawers — The Bazaars of Siut — Native Pottery — Crocodile Scrapers — Bread and Mutton . ........ 37

Chapter IV

Warping ont at El Hamra — The Pitcher-rafts — Gow-el-Kabeer — Khalil's Geography — Bank-shooting — Stalking the Eagle — Village Dogs — The Bedaween — Getel Sheykh Hereedee — Milk, Batter, and Khisti — Storms and Sand-devils — Haliz — Ekhmeen — Mensheeyah — Native Sweetmeat 51

Chapter V

The Wreck of the Bedowin — Whirlwind under Gebel Tookh— Overwhelming of the Ship and its Consequences — Achmet's Death — The Vessel capsized — Narrow Escape of those on board — My Experiences of the Catastrophe — The Survivors on the drifting Wreck — The Felucca's Painter — Terra firma — A Shoeless Walk — Arab Hospitalities — The Excels ior and Rachel Dahabeeahs — Girgeh and good Friends — The Lohengrin — Visit to the Wreck — Steam and Sails . ..........

Chapter VI

Arab Receipt-drawing — St. George of Girgeh — Kasr-es-Syad and its Trade in Turkeys — Sailing Qualities of the Lohengrin — Shadoofs and Sakirs — Native Sorrows and Superstitions — " The Evil Eye " X CONTENTS. PAGE — Keneh, its Pots and Potteries — A proud Linguist — The Keyadeh Reach and the Roda Dahabeeah — Boots in Sight — Luxor — The alternating Duties of the Luxor Postmaster — "Anteekas" — The American Consul — An Invitation to witness a " Ghawazee Fantasia " — Ghawazee Dresses, Dancing, and Music 76

Chapter VII

Erment — Sugarcane and Sugar Factories — A Nubian Murderer- Mistaken Identity — The Sakir — Esne — Bread-baking on the Nile — Esne's Temples and Towers — An Arab Celebration of a Birthday — The Plague of Flies — Doom-palms aDd their Fruit — Saluting the modern Pharaoh — An Egyptian Bouquet — Infantile Engineering — Edfou 93

Chapter VIII

An Arab Funeral — " Berber," and its Consequences — How Nile Dahabeeahs might be improved — "The Mountain of the Chain" — Native Politics — Hussein and his English — A wearisome Tramp — Kom Ombos — Backsheeshers and Amateur Concerts — A Foretaste of Nubia — Steam versus Wind — A Moonlight picture of " Home " . 107

Chapter IX

The Approach to Assouan — Native Weapons and their Vendors — The Scene of our Moorings by Elephantine — The Outskirts of Assouan and its Desert — Syene's Quarries — A first Glimpse of the Cataracts — The disabled lledora — A Council of War — Elephantine and its Ruins — Native Mode of River-crossing — An eccentric Ensign . 123

Chapter X

Ascending the Cataracts — Scripture Readers — The Narrow and the Broad Gates — Professional Swimmers — Mahattah — Hassan our new Ryis — Nubian Scenery — Hair-dressing in Nubia — Athletic Sports at Aboo Hor 137

Chapter XI

Love of Company among Arab Pilots — Native Subterfuges — From Girsheh to Medee — Animal and Insect Life — Dress of the Nubian Women — Korosko — Caravans and Commerce — Tents and Tent-making — Chameleons and Scorpions — The Palm-groves of Derr — Shooting ashore — Cruelty of Native Children — An extraordinary Costume — Hot Weather and hard Work — Out of the Korosko Reach — The Fortress of Ibreem 155

Chapter XII

Floating through the Desert — The four Giants of the Nubian Nile — Aboo Simbel — The Facade of the Great Temple — Gods, Kings, and Chimeras — Inside the Mountain — Brugsch Bey upon the Bocktemples — Sculptures and Inscriptions — Pictures of Egyptian Life — The sacred Arks — Terayg, its Christian Tenants — The Hill of Difficulty — A Nubian Landscape — Aboo Simbel by Moonlight . CONTENTS. XI PAGE 185 217 245

Chapter XIII

Our Turning-point— Stripping a Dahabeeah — The Lohengrin ready for Home — Voyaging down the Nile— Arab Rowing — Boat Expeditions — A hard Pnll for Breakfast — Wall-paintings at A'mada — Our first Crocodile — The Frogs of Kerango — The Valley of the Lions — My Chameleon, its Habits and Transformations — Maharraker

Chapter XIV

Dakkeh — Smoke-blackened Temples — Carved Gourds — Gerf Hossayn — Moonlight and Ruins — Ancient Stone Piers — Kalabsheh — Our Escort of Nubians — Bayt-el-Welly — " Fezzers, Howaga ! " — • Pharaonic Egotism — The Temple of Kalabsheh — Ruins of Gertasse and Dabod — At the Top of the Cataracts — Hassan bids Farewell — Flies at Mahattah 202

Chapter XV

Life at Mahattah — Camels — Philæ— The Temple of Isis — "By Him who sleeps at Philæ" — An Island of Ruins — Camels again — Mounting, Riding, and Dismounting — An Excursion into the Desert — We consecrate the Lohengrin .......

Chapter XVI

Preparations; for the Descent — The False Dawn — We Start — The Kuran at the Bow and Ali at the Helm — An Offering to the Cataracts — The Pilot of the Nile— Touch and Go— Shooting the Falls— The Gate of Greeting — Assouan and Castor-oil — Nubia left behind — Kom Ombos— Paddy-birds— The Grottoes of Silsileh— Edfou— The Temple of tbe Ptolemies — Scenes of ancient Sport — Our Dragoman and the Donkey-boys — Cold Winds — Birds of the River — The Song of the Shadoof— Esne— The Low Nile 228

Chapter XVII

Erment and Sugar — The Pylons at Karnak — Luxor — The Monuments of Thebes — A Market-day — "Anteekas" — Conversation under Difficulties — Illuminating Dahabeeahs — The Hyena-hunter — On a Donkey to Karnak — Ibraheem and the Luncheon — Amun Worship — Pharaohs and Sparrows — The Hall of Columns — The Buffalo-girl .

Chapter XVIII

Backsheesh — The Colossi of Amenophis III. — "The Morning Sigh of Memnon " — The Rameseum — Medinet Aboo — An ancient Palace — Ibraheem and the Donkey-boys — Mariam — " Nothing venture nothing have" — Photographs — A Ghawazee Fantasia — A Revisit to Karnak — Camels and the Temple Lake — Antiquities — A Roman Baby — Kuran-reading for the Lohengrin's Safety .... CONTENTS. XII 289 303 320 353

Chapter XIX. Page

The Lohengrin leaves Luxor — Theban Rock-tombs — The Valley of the Kings — Pharaohs and Solitudes — Modern Explanations of ancient Writings — The Temple of Goornah — A Palm-grove Walk — Negadeh — Poor Living and weak Blood — Yusuf and the " Devil " — Washing in Dust — The Boats and Rats of Keneh — Denderah — The Crypt and Bats — Cleopatra's Portrait ....... 273

Chapter XX

Windy Weather— Kasr-es-Syad— The Fish of the Nile — The Sheykh's Tomb — Our Prophet's Flags — Kyis Achmet Diab — His Moralities, Ways, and Wives — Suleyman's Charge — Bellianeh — An eventful Ride — The Temples of Abydos — Compulsory Sport — Girgeh .

Chapter XXI

Native Life at Girgeh — An Eastern Barber — The Post-boy of the Nile — Conscientious Runners — Bread-making — Eastern Modellers — Gebel Tookh — Reminiscence of the Bedowin Disaster — The last Remnant of the Wreck — A Visit to the Sheykh. es-Mensheeyah— Dahabeeah-travelling by Night — Gebel Sheykh Hereedee — An uncompromising Saint — Inopportune Backsheeshing — Dinner on the Dahabeeah Deck — The Low Nile .......

Chapter XXII

Ibraheem's Opinion of "Bass's Pale Ale" — The Gates of Siut — Zaptiehs — Siut Potteries — Rough Weather — A Deserted Village — Baby Tears andBiscuit Consolations — The Kulleh — Manfaloot — Its Banks and Treacle Boats — A sleepy Bazaar — Mushrebeeyahs — A long Row — Gebel Aboofyada — A runaway Dahabeeah ....

Chapter XXIII

Dahabeeah Salutations on the Nile — Beni Hassan — The Approach to the Tombs — A Robber Haunt — The Egyptian Donkey — An ancient Custom in modern Days — The Styx — Sugar Trash versus Coal— Minieh — Egyptian Roses — Hagar-es-Saliim — The Rock of Welcome — Gebel Sheykh Embarak — Our Suffragee Antonus — Realities of the "Arabian Nights'" Stories — Benisouef — A feathered Parliament — Sand Martins — A Nile Sunset 334,

Chapter XXIV

The Scissor-billed Tern — The Coming of the "Khamseen" — Preparations of the Ryis — An anxious Time — Night and Morning — Mustapha's Fears — The Second Day of the " Khamseen " — The Lohengrin in Danger — Loss of the Chicken Felucca — The " Kham. seen's " Path — Native Troubles — The wrecked Hay -barge — A Moonlit Evening and the Lights of Cairo . INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. At the approach of the winter of 1879-80, our family party of four, consisting of two ladies and two gentlemen, determined to seek the sunshine of warmer lands, and it was resolved to visit Egypt. Accord ingly, leaving London on December 8th, we travelled through most severe cold to Genoa, and after a voyage of alternating pleasant and rough weather, we arrived off Alexandria at daybreak on December 24th. Here tbe Asia whistled vigorously for a pilot to take her into the harbour, the entering of which is made difficult by the many shifting sand-banks at its mouth, but was kept steaming about for a couple of hours in an uncomfortably strong swell.

However, our signals were presently answered, and soon the pilot's trim little cutter was towing in our wake, while he himself was leisurely rolling a cigarette on the captain's bridge. I was still B admiring his calm ways when we had passed into the smoother waters of the harbour, and our attention became distracted by the shouts proceeding from some thirty boats, whose crews make it their practice to board the newly-arrived steamer, and fight amongst themselves for the prize of conveying its passengers to the shore. Almost before the anchor was down a great number of these men, dressed in extraordinary varieties and combinations of colour, came 'clambering up the sides of the vessel, converting in a few moments the usual cpiiet of its decks to a scene of the wildest confusion, wherein each proclaimed the particular advantages of himself and of the hotel by which he was retained.

SingUnoout from this clamorous crowd a personage dressed in a salmon coloured robe, as being conspicuous in case of missing any of our numerous belongings, we showed him our luggage, and steppinginto the boat, were rowed to the Custom House. The ceremonies here were quickly got over, and we drove up the mongrel bazaar of Alexandria to the hotel. No one seems to have much to say in praise of Alexandria ; but the novelty of colour and dress of the inhabitants must be striking to all eyes unaccustomed to such scenes. The most noticeable sight to me, was the variety of nations represented everywhere, the genuine Arab seeming to be quite in a minority when compared with the Levantines, Turks, and Frankish shopkeepers who thronged each street. Costume INTRODUCTORY. 3 appeared equally mixed ; one Arab I saw wearing yellow slippers, red turban, a pair of dark green baggy trousers, a kind of shirt of the same colour, and black frock-coat, in which he obviously did not feel at ease.

Here also was first beard the afterjvard only too-familiar phrase " backsheesh," which I verily believe is the earliest word learnt by the Arab children, for few were the Egyptians who did not on meeting us clamorously employ it. Being warned, however, by a friend who " knew," we had fortified ourselves against the universal cry. Yet on the very first stroll beyond the hotel-grounds we fell victims. Who, indeed, could deny the one-eyed crippled beggar, who, hobbling after you, regardless of fatigue and remonstrances, persistently utters this talisman, "backsheesh ;" or again the lame chdd of the sun and dust, who, patiently following your steps, repeats in her small pathetic voice : " You givy me one, two piastres, I thanky you, for Goddy's sake, all right." Half exasperated half melted by ber perseverance, you yield some trifle at last to purchase peace.

But he who visits Egypt should pay no attention to this incessant demand which will greet his ears from the moment of setting foot in this land of Pharaohs and Ptolemies till leaving it. A day or two's experience will teach him that the ear of charity must be quickly closed to the incessant appeals. Quitting this historical but mongrel city we took places for Cairo, and after a couple of dusty hours B in the train, which stopped at nearly every station on the line, we reached " Masr-el-Kaherah " by noon on Christmas Day. Cairo possesses several excellent hotels; but having been advised to betake ourselves to the Hotel du Nil by friends who had already experienced its comforts, we did so, and during our stay there were thoroughly satisfied with all its excellent arrangements. The approach to the hotel is certainly not very inviting, being down a somewhat gloomy alley leacUng from the Muskee, one of the principal streets of the city, where grimy pharmacies are adorned with a dried crocodile or two, and a young stuffed elephant, from the latter of which peeps forth some of the blue paper used to embalm him.

But this lane ends abruptly in the charming garden of the hotel, where palms, bananas, and a variety of plants form a cool retreat in the centre of the building itself. Here we spent the next ten days, seeing all the sights of Cairo, and never wearying, on foot or donkey-back, of wandering through the labyrinth of its streets, and wTatching their many and new spectacles. Colours innumerable gleam in each matting-shaded bazaar as the idle tkrono saunters through its dusty length, while the open shops vie with the crowd in the brilliance of the slippers, clothes, or tinsels hung up for sale. On the raised floor of each of these box-like shops sits the sleepy-looking occupant, cross-legged, conversing with some neighbours or a passing friend, and smoking INTRODUCTORY. 5 the indispensable cigarette or narghileh, such ideas as business and custom having apparently no place in his evercontemplative mind.

Let him, however> but distantly sight the Franks approaching, and a change will come " o'er the spirit of his dreams." He springs from his carpet-seat with some snatched-up item of his goods, and launches forth in its eulogies, using the little bits of English he may have picked up from previous customers. You may not par ticularly wish to become the possessor of some un gainly earthenware vessel or big bag of pressed dates, but both are eloquently pressed upon you until the dealer next door takes up the siege of your pocket. At each turning of the mazy lanes strange scenes and customs attract the attention. The sombrely dressed women with covered faces pushing their way amongst the bright crowds ; the cake and bread sellers in the roadside dust spreading their strange looking edibles under the passers' feet, or balancing them on wicker trays upon their heads ; the thin net, slung before the unguarded shop to intimate its owner's absence ; and the silent salutations of Arab friends, or their noisy quarrels over some disputed bargain in their shopping.

Some hamal staggers past carrying, strapped across his back, the skin of a goat filled with water, to which his every movement imparts a life-like wobble, while from the open neck he incessantly spurts great jets of water, thereby exchanging the dust of the road for the doubtful advantage of mud. Strange sounds, too, unlike the busy noise of traffic in the cities of Europe, attract one's notice. The quaint cries of the sellers of fruit, coffee, and dates ; the word of warning from the donkey-boys, whose fantastically-shaven steeds come rushing through the narrow lanes with reckless disregard of hapless pedes trians ; the shout of the " sais," or runner, clearing the crowded road for some straggling carriage ; the vendors of sherbets, lemonades, and various sweet meats, crying the nature of their wares with curious poetic requests to you to buy ; and the constant shrieking of the kites and vultures fighting for their precarious living with the street clogs on the city dust-heaps.

Such are but a few of the Cairene clamours. But while we thus passed the days, the best season for ascending the Nde was fast waning, and our plans for making the voyage were as yet un settled. There are but two feasible ways of ascending the river, the one by the Khedive's steamers, which are periodically run under the management of Messrs. Cook and Son, and the other by the time honoured dahabeeah. As for the steamers, they are most deservedly popular ; but visiting temples and monuments at fixed hours, in company with a drago man and a number of fellow-travellers, with whom one has little or no acquaintance ; and being obliged to admire them — I refer to the temples, of course — in a given space of time, and gregariously, is not to INTRODUCTORY. 7 everybody's taste. But in a dahabeeah things are quite otherwise.

There you have your own time and resources, can stay minutes at this temple, or days at that, can walk, shoot, visit villages, and see the scenery of modern and the ruins of ancient Egypt at pleasure, while, save for the occasional failing or contrariety of the wind, you are your own master, and not subservient to any fixed rules and regulations. We therefore decided, after weighing the pros and cons of these two methods, to hire a dahabeeah, though to find a suitable one at this eleventh hour of the season was no easy task, all the best being long since taken. However, after making many pilgrim ages to Boolak, the port of Cairo, and examining the various vessels recommended, our efforts wrere re warded by the discovery of one named the Bedowin, which, if rather small, and not quite all that could be desired, certainly seemed a roomy and comfortable craft, and fit for its purpose.

Then followed the usual signing of agreements with the owner of the dahabeeah, furnishing the vessel with all necessaries other than those undertaken by our dragoman, and having our personal belongings conveyed on board. Finally, after much trouble and delay, the Bedowin was pronounced ready for the voyage, and accordingly, on the evening of January 10th, we joined the vessel, then lying above the Kasr-en-Nil, intending to make an early start with the morning breeze. Thus having brought our party to the point of launching forth on " the sacred river," I shall continue this unpretending narrative in the form of the journal which I kept during our ascent of the river, with such few alterations as may be necessary, believing that in that way the ex periences of a Nile voyage will be best exemplified.

There is no more delightful mode of travel than the slow luxurious ascent and descent of the ancient river; and, familiar as Egypt has become, every observant traveller flatters himself that he has something new to impart.

Chapter I

The Bedowin Dahabeeah — Her Ryis, Crew, and Dragoman — Dahabeeah-travelling — Nile Scenery — The Quarries of Toora — " Pegging " the Ship — Life on board and ashore — Egyptian Pigeons — Bibbeh — The Crags of Embarak — Arab Bread — Village Dogs. JOURNAL. January 10th, 1880. — The general build of the Nile dahabeeah is so well known that it needs little description here, yet a word or two may well be given to the Bedowin and her crew. In shape she was, of course, similar to the majority of other dahabeeahs, except that she was small, rather low in the water, and in the arrangement of her interior singularly com fortable. The accommodation, under the after-deck, consisted of three single-berthed cabins and a bath room, opening into a central passage-way, a double berthed cabin at the end of this passage in the stern of the vessel, and a small but well-fitted saloon, occupying the breadth of the ship between these and the fore-deck, to which latter it opened by a curtained door.

Above was the usual poop or raised deck, with its divans and awning for the owners, and from this a short flight of stairs descended to the fore-deck, where the sailors lived and most of the ship's paraphernalia were stacked. The Ryis, or captain, of this vessel, was a dignified Arab of about sixty, and in its management and general handling always most prudent and skilful, though in an emergency apt to be rather bewildered. He had, moreover, the misfortune to possess very bad sight, and his eyes gave him much pain and trouble. We tried various methods and medicines for their cure, but with little result. This defective vision naturally unfitted him for the risky navigation of the Nile, which requires the keenest and most vigilant sight, and much directing work of necessity devolved on Hassan, the steersman, or sub-Ryis, a tall graceful Arab, of very different physique and character to his superior in command.

Under these were eleven men, forming the crew, the greater part of wdiom were Nubians. At first we supposed them rather too young for the purpose, none being much over twenty five years old, but experience showed they were thoroughly conversant with the usage and practices of a dahabeeah and its peculiarities, and capable of executing tbe orders of the Ryis in a far more sailorlike way than one would be inclined to expect. Their cook-boy, a Nubian named Matab, was a marvellous type of comic solemnity, for, though he was invariably merry, I think I never saw him laugh THE "BEDOWIN" AND CREW. 11 or ever attempt anything approaching a smile. He used to squat all day long by a queer kind of brick stove placed at the foot of the " trinkeet " mast, concocting wonderful stews of anything that came readily to hand, apparently with great success, to judge by the appetite of his comrades.

Very much in contrast to him was our own cook, an Arab of course, but of a most unusually devoted and assiduous kind. We seldom saw much of him, being always hidden behind the small square kitchen which stood in the bows of the vessel. How Achmet managed to turn out the excellent meals he served us each day from this cramped stove-affair was always a great wonder to us ; for his dishes, whether English, French, or native ones, were always as perfectly dressed as though the resources of a palatial cuisine had been commanded. His sauces were as unique as they were palatable, while in pastry, cakes, and sweets, his knowledge was as exhaustless as though he had studied the whole art of French cookery. His curries were admirable. Alas ! that he was doomed to die, the one victim of our happy ship's company.

Besides this good cook, we had a suffragee, or table servant,"a smooth-faced Cairene named Ali, who spoke a little English ; and Mustapha, a pretty curly-haired boy, who had served in a French family at Luxor, and so acquired a smattering of that language. The nominal duty of the latter was to help Ali at table, and generally make himself useful, but his principal occupation seemed to be the slaying of unfortunate chickens, or, when others took this tragical task in hand, to gloat over their deaths. As a servant he proved of little value, but in the general capacity of doing odds and ends for everybody was very useful ; and my after pages will show that he followed me faithfully during my stay in Egypt in spite of wrecks and other obstacles. Lastly, there was Khalil Yusuf, our dragoman, a tall, light-complexioned, handsome Syrian of about forty-six, whom we had engaged when at the Hotel du Nil.

So far as his duties as dragoman were con cerned he was very much more conscientious than the majority of his fraternity are, but w7as timid by nature, and undecided in real or apparent danger. Dahabeeah-travelling on the Nile is from the very beginning most delightful, and by its very perfect leisure, which is so often laid to its charge, bestows a charm of rest that would be wanting in other journeys. To the lazily inclined I can imagine no such refinement of existence as being seated on the poop of one of these graceful vessels, enjoying Egypt's sunshine and the shifting scenery of its banks. Most Egyptian authors are continually sorrowing over the sameness of the Nile scenery and the tediousness of its shores, though they only condemn themselves for having "eyes to see " and " seeing not."

The observant traveller can not have passed from place to place and failed to mark something new, some object of interest or variation of DAHABEEAH-TRA VELLING. 13 ever-bright landscapes seen before. Such lamentations as these are, to my mind, groundless, and he who can travel from village to village of this marvellous valley and fail to notice its varying beauties must want the faculty of discrimination. Certainly the first fifty miles or so from Boolak lack the fine landscapes and rich contrasts of colour one meets with farther up the river, but even throughout this part, where the banks are low and tbe country flat, there are endless objects of interest always appearing or being enacted. The picturesque hamlets of mud, surrounded by the cluster ing palms which forever bend their feather-like leaves to the gentlest breeze ; tbe blue-robed women who come thence with their graceful step to the river's side to fill the balanced pitchers ; the village girls and boys driving the buffaloes to drink — all these diversify the daily picture.