Chapter VII

Departure from Cairo — Ascending the Nile — Invasion of rats — Our dragoman and retinue — The Pyramids — Nile etiquette — An evening on shore — The Tombs of Beni Hassan — The first crocodile — Shock of earthquake.

A lovely full moon rose clear and calm on the blue sky, shedding its silver radiance over the islet of Rhoda, and its dark green woods, and over the calm and majestic Nile, which looked like a stream of light. On the other side, the sun sank behind the hills, leaving his last rays, upon the stately minarets of Cairo, whose groves of tall date-trees grew darker every instant. The huge sails were loosed, and expanded to a mild breeze, that had just strength enough to blow out the folds of our Union-Jack, which waved proudly over our heads. It was an exciting moment, but I cannot say that it was wholly free from melancholy; for while we looked up the mysterious river with eager impatience for the wonders we anticipated, we could not but feel, when our anchor was hauled, that we threw off our last hold of society and completely severed ourselves from all communication with our friends and country, for we had crossed the confines of barbarism.

It was late before I went to bed, and I had scarcely fallen asleep, when I was aroused by a pressure on my feet. At first, I thought some one must be sitting upon my bed and was about to remonstrate but a sudden squeaking undeceived me, and there I discovered that the intruders were three enormous rats, which had settled themselves very comfortably on the coverlet. Fortunately my boots were at hand, and I flung one into the midst of them, on which they scampered off in great dismay, vehemently protesting against such uncourteous treatment. I then got up, and barricaded the door, in which I was assisted by one of our servants; these men being rare specimens of their class, now claim a word of notice.

Abdel Fateeh el Daireh, our dragoman, is a native of Ossioot. He was recommended to us by the English Consul, Mr. Walne, and can produce a heap of testimonials, all commending him in the highest terms, some particularly lauding him as a lady’s man, in which light he was certainly most attentive to our own ladies. He has attended several distinguished characters, and been mentioned with praise in some well- known works on Egypt. Being thus eminent in his vocation, the reader may wish to hear what he is like, and I am but too glad to find a niche for him in these ephemeral pages.

Daireh is thirty years of age, is not stout, and is about five feet seven inches in height. His face, which is rather long, has the usual Eastern expression of gravity and is adorned with scanty outlines of a beard, moustache, and whiskers, apparently destined, spite of the pains bestowed on them, never to arrive at luxuriance. A gay handkerchief covers one eye, which he has lost by ophthalmia; the other beams out kindly and bright. He wears a suit of fine brown cloth, à la Turque, and a dashing red tarboosh. Daireh speaks Italian, French, English, Turkish, and Arabic; harangues the crew, waits at table, washes up, and performs a dozen other inestimable duties; charging for the same the sum of thirty dollars a month, which those who know him consider very reasonable.

Next comes Mahomet el Daireh, the brother of the dragoman. He is a good valet, and when required, an excellent cook; is very clean and willing. He speaks Italian and Arabic, and can wash, wait, and cut hair. He lets out his services at ten dollars a month.

Our cook was Abbas, esteemed the best on the Nile, and the same who attended Miss Martineau and Mr. Yates. He is a very handsome man, and his dinners might be compared with any in the best restaurants of Paris. His wages were twenty dollars a month.

Our fourth native servant was an Arab boy, whom we had impressed into our service; and who, after being well washed, and dressed in a new suit of clothes, made a most respectable page. Under the tutelage of the servants, he became very useful, and especially excelled in lighting pipes.

I should now add, that each boat had a reis or captain, a pilot, and a crew of twelve men, all of whom were restricted from entering the cabin. An order was also issued prohibiting smoking abaft the drawing-room, in consequence of the proximity of the powder magazine.

After my first night on board, I rose early, and by six in the morning was on deck. The sun was already high in the heavens, pouring his dazzling beams over the sky, and making wood, field, and river sparkle with light. We had advanced but little during the night, Cairo, where we had spent so many pleasant hours, was still only three miles distant. Its thousand cupolas and minarets, its marble palaces, and winding streets, its groves and gardens watered by refreshing fountains, could still be seen, spread out against the hills; hills that had looked down on the wide plain for fifty centuries, unmoved by the fall of empires, of dynasties, and of nations.

Mahomet made us some coffee and maccaroni, and we went on shore, taking our guns, in case we should start any game. We passed through a number of date plantations, and several villages, in one of which, called Turnond, we found a manufactory of indigo. The country was so interesting, and the objects so novel, that we were induced to walk a considerable distance, beguiling the way with an occasional shot, by which we brought down a crow, an owl, and several doves and hoopies. At half-past nine we returned on board to breakfast, which on the Nile is a perfect banquet; ours spoke volumes for the skill and proficiency of the renowned Abbas.

After breakfast, we passed the pyramids of Abou-seer, Sakara, and Dashour, and then beheld the mountains from which the stone used in their construction had been excavated. We did not stop, intending, in accordance with the established usage, to examine them narrowly on our return. The landscape, as we advanced, became strikingly picturesque. From the deck we could see a great distance—the banks of the river, now at its highest point, rising but little above the level of the water, and opening to view a wide sweep of richly cultivated land, interspersed with villages and groves of date trees. Some interesting spot continually presented itself, surpassing all that we could imagine of Nile scenery. As day closed, the Mokatam mountains, on the east side of the river, lent a thousand new features to the landscape, elevating their rugged and fantastic peaks into the sky, to which the moon gave a clearness and softness of tone impossible to describe. Surrounded by such objects, we could scarcely tear ourselves from the deck; for even at midnight—so marvellous is the light of the moon—this land of beauty does not veil its charms.

The wind dying away, we were tracked up the river for some hours, at a very good speed, by our active crews; they were at last relieved by a fine fresh breeze, which carried us cheerily onward. We found the scenery as interesting as on the previous day, though rather flat. Striking objects, however, were not wanting; and the False Pyramid on one side, and on the other a range of irregular rocky hills, stretching far into the desert, varied its character. We anchored at about 8 P.M.

The next morning, a brisk wind earned us up to Benisooef, a large town, situated on a picturesque bend of the river. It peeps out from a grove of mimosas, of great size, that screen with their rich, green foliage all the Arab quarter, disclosing only the dwellings of the wealthy, among which two large white palaces, are pre-eminent. The mimosas yield a delicious fragrance, that was wafted to us over the rippling water; on looking round, I counted no less than fifteen plantations of date-trees. We flew swiftly past, impelled by the fairest wind we had yet obtained, aided by a spirit of emulation in the respective boats’ crews, growing out of the most ridiculous rivalry. The race tested the relative sailing qualities of the boats, and it was ascertained, on a comparison of the result with their feats on other occasions, that “The Eagle” carried the palm in a high wind, but in a mild or light air, “The Fanny” was her equal, or even superior. This, as “The Eagle” was a Pasha’s yacht, exceeded our most sanguine expectations; but I should not omit to say that she was far the most heavily laden, as she carried all our stores. The racing was kept up all day, and sometimes very unfairly: “The Eagle,” on one occasion, in trying to get the bank, where there is less current, ran her second mast straight through our mainsail, and tore it to shreds. We had several other collisions, but this, the most serious of all, obliged us to anchor for five hours, in order to repair the tattered sail.

It can never be said that Nile travelling is tedious or irksome. With a fair wind, the boats move rapidly along, and one finds abundance of amusement in contemplating the changing scenery, so full of novelty and interest, or watching the amusements of the crew. When the light breeze dies away, leaving the broad and deep river beautifully calm, and the tall woods silent and stationary, the traveller can go on shore with his gun, and stroll through fields, meeting with abundance of objects to engage his attention.

Our boats communicated with each other about four times a day. Generally this could be done without difficulty, but in a very high wind, the task was not so easy. “The Eagle” then came before us, and letting her gig drift astern, we jumped into it, and were towed alongside, returning to her consort in the same way.

Off Benisooef, we were entertained by a ludicrous demonstration of Nile etiquette. It is the custom, it should seem, in passing this place, to give the crews a dollar to buy a sheep. The douceur was thankfully received by the crew of “The Fanny,” but as “The Eagle’s” men were employed by Government, the reis, after some hesitation, thought it would be _infra dig_ to accept it, and declined. The men, however, were not so particular as their captain; his conduct gave rise to a very lively debate, ending in a compromise, by which it was agreed that the present should be increased to two dollars, when it might be accepted with perfect propriety. But this arrangement was decided on without reference to a very important party—namely, the donor; he naturally demurred, considering it unreasonable that the dignity of these men should be maintained at his expense, and refused to advance a farthing beyond the dollar. We considered the affair at an end; but in this were premature, for soon afterwards the crew, wisely resolving to pocket their dignity, sent a deputation to my father, and carried off the dollar!

On the third day from Cairo, we for the first time saw several pelicans, and flocks of herons. Next day, owing to the lightness of the winds, we made but little progress. About half past five we anchored off a miserable village: in the evening my brother and myself went on shore, accompanied by Mahomet, and bent our steps to the coffee-house. There, to our surprise, we found the crews of our two boats, drinking coffee and smoking; we could not refrain from joining them with a pipe, while we contrived, through the medium of Mahomet, to engage some of them in conversation. The moon was glancing through the branches of the date trees with a light so serene, it gave an air of holiness to the entire landscape, which was marked by the most attractive features of Eastern scenery. In the midst flowed the Nile, reflecting the stars of heaven, winding past a village on her opposite shore, which reposed under the shade of a forest of palms. Through the trees we beheld the figures of the villagers engaged in a rustic dance: what most impressed us was the appearance of the women, loitering about at that late hour, in their singular drapery.

We left this place next morning, with a fair, though mild breeze, that was soon succeeded by a dead calm. This made the heat very oppressive; and it was decidedly the hottest day we had yet experienced. A rack of clouds, of which we had not seen any since our departure from Milan, would now have been a welcome sight, as the sun was never screened, and the glare was almost beyond endurance. We passed the fine cliffs of Beni Hassan, starting up abruptly from the water like the heights of Dover, by their white front reminding us still more strongly of the chalky shores of Old England. But here the resemblance ended; and the face of the country, the character of the landscape, the drooping palms, and the majestic mimosas, with the almost naked forms of tall, copper-coloured Nubians, constantly appearing, told too plainly how far we were from home.

As night came on, our Arabs were still propelling the boat, accompanying every movement of the pole with a general shriek,—a poor substitute for the Canadian boat-song. It was very dark, as the moon had not yet risen, and our little craft floated gently along, leaving a streak of light in her wake. Suddenly, I heard a louder cry than usual, and starting round, saw one of the crew, who had dropped his pole in the river, spring headlong overboard. In an instant he rose to the surface, struck out manfully through the waves, and, seizing the stray oar with his left hand, swam after us for about fifty yards, when he scrambled on board, and was soon seated again at his oar.

We were grumbling at the long calm, when morning brought us a favourable wind, which carried us gallantly along, and we got over a greater distance than we had gained on any previous day. About noon we passed Min’ieh, a very large village, containing a sugar-refining establishment belonging to Mehemet Ali, which looks like a small Manchester factory. Mountains of bones were heaped on the shore ready for use. The country presented much the same appearance as before, occasionally opening very beautiful vistas.

To wile away time, I asked the crew to sing. My request met immediate compliance; to divert us still more, one man, a particularly sprightly fellow, bundled himself up in a heap of clothes, and proceeded to dance in a wild manner to very exciting music. Gradually he took off every article of dress, flinging each in a different direction, with singular dexterity. When perfectly stripped, he sprang overboard, and dived under the vessel, then re-appearing on the other side, he clambered to the deck, and, with similar antics, resumed his clothes. Throughout the performance, the whole crew accompanied the music with terrific yells.

We were much won by the simplicity and the ingenuous nature of these men, who were always desirous to please, and gratified at being noticed. The most trifling acts of kindness made a sensible impression upon them, and were in every case appreciated. They set a high value on everything we did for them; I may as well add that they considered us perfect Crichtons in our attainments. One of them, while employed aft, having caught sight of a sketch of the diabeheeh, described it in such glowing colours to the others, that I had no rest till it was displayed. I asked them if they observed a resemblance, and they clapped their hands, and pronounced it “taib catere” (very good). The feeling was unanimous; every man instantly requested that a sketch might be made of himself.

For three successive days we made but little progress, the wind being too feeble to impel us against the stream. The men did their best to track us, but the towing ropes, owing to the continual strain upon them, were constantly breaking; and in the whole three days we did not get over thirty miles.

We passed Manfaloot, whence our course lay under a range of towering crags, starting boldly up, and overhanging the river for some miles. Their appearance was very grand and imposing.

Soon afterwards we caught sight of the Tombs of Benihassan, scarcely visible in the distance; they made us long for the moment of our return, when we agreed to examine them carefully. Other marvels, however, were before us, luring us eagerly on. We had gone but a short distance further, when we discovered our first crocodile. It was quite a young one, about five feet long, and was lying comfortably on a bank, basking in the sun. We flew for our rifles; they were unloaded, and before we could get them ready for action “the illustrious stranger” took the alarm, and toppled into the water.

On the third day, about half-past nine in the morning, we encountered a slight shock of earthquake. The boat was aground, and I was writing in the cabin, when I was startled by a concussion, like the trembling of the engine on a steam-boat, and rushed on deck to see what had happened. One of our party was ashore, and felt it much more perceptibly. The earth, we found afterwards, split in many places a full inch; and though the shock lasted only half a minute, it extended for many miles.

We arrived at Ossioot, or Siout, or Essoot—for it is spelt thus differently—at one o’clock on the following morning, having been ten days in coming from Cairo; the journey is usually accomplished in seven.