Part 6 (1/2)
”What a beautiful room!” Lucy exclaimed, as she went into the saloon.
And so indeed it was. Carpets, cus.h.i.+ons, divans, book-shelves; nothing was wanting to make the dahabieh a most luxurious little home. There were easy-chairs of every kind on deck, and an awning was spread as a protection from the sun. The crew consisted of a captain, or reis, as he is called, a pilot, and fourteen Arab sailors.
We exchanged farewells, heartily wis.h.i.+ng that we too were going, and they started. As we waved our last farewells from the sh.o.r.e, Hugh said, in a disconsolate voice, ”Great fun for them, but no fun for us.”
We were all a little dull that evening. But the travellers had promised to keep a journal, and we soon began to think when we should receive news of them.
The first instalment of the journal was brought by a gentleman with whose dahabieh they fell in off Benisooef. It was eagerly opened and read aloud, while we listened with all our ears and eyes.
JOURNAL ON THE NILE.
The wind was fair when we left Boulak. We pa.s.sed Roda, the Nilometer, and Old Cairo. Then a long reach of the river brought us to the village of E Deyr, which is inhabited by Copt Christians. We next pa.s.sed, on our left, El Masarah, where there are large stone quarries. The stone for the Great Pyramid was taken from these quarries.
At Bedreshyn we landed, Mohammed procured donkeys for us, and we set off to see the Pyramids of Sakkara.
We rode first to the village of Mitrahenny, where the ancient city of Memphis once stood. The country round it is very pretty. The village itself stands in a wood of palm-trees. We were told that at the time at which the Nile overflows its banks the people leave their houses and live in the palm-trees, where they put up a sort of scaffolding to sleep on. When the river falls again, they leave the trees, repair their mud huts, and live in them till the next overflow.
Memphis, formerly such a splendid city, is gone. There is scarcely a trace left of this once busy capital of Lower Egypt in which Moses lived, where the poor Jewish captives toiled to make up the tale of bricks for Pharaoh's taskmasters. Some few remains of foundation-walls are found in the sand. But nothing is left to tell of the temples and palaces of this ancient city, except only a part of a colossal statue of Rameses, called Sesostris. It is of a pure white, made of polished limestone, and must have been more than forty feet in height. The statue lay on its face, and we could not see the features. It has a scroll in its hands. Pieces of the legs and feet were lying about. All around are magnificent palm-trees.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BRICKMAKING _(from Egyptian Sculpture)_.]
The Pyramids of Sakkara are near the village of the same name. The largest of them is called by the Arabs ”the Pyramid of Degrees.” It has outside six stories or degrees, each smaller than the one below it.
Inside are pa.s.sages and chambers.
Near the pyramids are the famous pits, in which are ibis mummies. The ibis was a sacred bird among the Egyptians. We bought one of these mummies. It was enclosed in a round earthen jar, the top of which was shaped like a cone, and was fastened down strongly with cement.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BRICKMAKING _(from Egyptian Sculpture)_.]
The bird was rolled up in long bandages of linen. The head and neck were folded over the breast, the wings laid close to the sides, and the long legs were folded up and brought close to the beak. The bird was perfect.
We said we knew how delighted you all, and especially Hugh and Lucy, would be to see it. But our curiosity was selfish. As soon as the air played on it, it crumbled into dust.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SACRED IBIS.]
There are some fine tombs near the Pyramids of Sakkara. We went to the one which we were told was the best worth seeing. The roof was hollowed into the shape of an arch and covered with smoothly-cut stones cemented together. This led into a room in which is a deep well. We also saw some hieroglyphics, and some sculpture; most of these represented men carrying birds. It was not very interesting, and we did not stay long to look at it.
We had a delightful ride back to Bedreshyn, through fields and among clumps of th.o.r.n.y mimosa, on which the camels love to browse. The palm-trees looked beautiful in the clear sunlight. Nothing was wanting but the song of birds, and this is a want almost always felt by Europeans in the hot climates of Africa and Asia.
The next day we went to the Pyramids of Dashoor. Two are of stone and two of brick. The first was the largest. Colonel Howard Vyse gives its height as three hundred and twenty feet. The entrance was covered with stones and rubbish. The second pyramid is not so large. The ascent to the entrance is not very difficult, but the descent is exceedingly so, and there is not much to repay one for the trouble.
We returned to our boat in good time, and were much amused, after we had again started, by watching the peasants raising water from the river with poles and buckets, and with looking at the Arab boats, a number of which pa.s.sed us.
We next came to El Kafr el Jyat. It is only a small village, but in it is the residence of a wealthy chief whose hospitable house is the resort of travellers. He bears the t.i.tle of Khabeeree, or ”the guide.” We find from Sir G. Wilkinson's book[A] that this t.i.tle ”has been hereditary in his family since the time of Sultan Selim, who gave it to his ancestor as a reward for his services in that capacity, when he took possession of the country after the defeat of the son of El Gh.o.r.ee.”
We next pa.s.sed the False Pyramid. It takes its name from the base being of rock and not really part of the building.
The banks of the river and villages were enlivened with palm-trees. But we pa.s.sed no place of any size or interest till we came to Benisooef.
Benisooef is the capital of the province, the Fyoom, and has several manufactories of cotton and silk.