Part 6 (2/2)
We are lounging idly on deck looking at the scene before us. A great many boats are tied to the sh.o.r.e, and a number of people are on the quay. The children are tolerably clad, and some of the old men are exceedingly picturesque in their white dresses, with their cloaks thrown over their shoulders and leaning on their staves; girls are coming down to fill their jars with water and carrying them away most gracefully on their heads. And as for animals! Hugh would find more than enough to satisfy him. Dogs, goats, poultry, cows, horses, camels, buffaloes! And _such_ a noise! we can scarcely hear ourselves speak for the clatter.
But a gentleman who is going down to Cairo, and will leave at daybreak, has just sent to know whether he can take any letters for us. So good-by for the present.
[Footnote A: ”Modern Egypt,” vol. ii.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: SCENE ON THE NILE.]
CHAPTER X.
STILL UP THE NILE.
It was some little time before we could expect the next part of our travellers' journal.
Hugh very much wished to go to the citadel again. Lucy wanted to pay another visit to the gardens at s...o...b..a. We gave an afternoon to each, and almost every morning we went to the Mission Schools; either to the girls' school or to the ragged school. The more we saw, the more we admired the energy and self-denial of Mr. and Mrs. Lieder, and the more zealous and anxious we grew to do what little we could to help in the great work of making known the love of Jesus Christ and the salvation he has bought for us with his blood. Those who have the love of Christ really in their hearts must always long to make others love him too.
Day by day went on and we began to watch anxiously for some more news.
The gentleman who had brought the first part of the journal told us that he knew there was another dahabieh which was not very far behind him. He had pa.s.sed it, not having time to stop and see all that its travellers were stopping to see.
At last this dahabieh arrived, and we had a large packet. Lucy had leave to open it. She and Hugh danced about in delight for the first few minutes. Their father was one of the party who had gone, which made the joy of news the greater.
The first great excitement of the arrival was soon over, and we all cl.u.s.tered together eagerly to hear the contents of the large letter.
JOURNAL ON THE NILE.
We finished our last letter just after we arrived at Benisooef. It is a large town, and was once famous for its manufacture of linen.
We started the next morning with a fair wind. We pa.s.sed Isment; and near it, the quarries from which the beautifully veined marble was obtained of which the mosque of Mohammed Ali at Cairo was built.
But what delighted us most was the high table-mountain, Sheikh Embarak.
This giant seemed standing to block our path. Its surface is broken; and as we neared it, we saw one large cliff which looked like a ruined castle. The Sheikh, like some other giants of olden times, is accustomed to give travellers rather a rough welcome, and we came in for one of his gusty greetings in a sudden gale of wind.
Tell Lucy that her father, who was lounging in a chair on castors, suddenly found his chair running away from him, and he narrowly escaped a ducking in the Nile. And tell both Hugh and Lucy that the dahabieh lay over so suddenly that every one else was nearly following me, and that if I had gone over into the Nile, I should only have been ready to welcome the others who were coming after.
After this unwilling prostration to the Sheikh, we went on without any further trouble.
A rock in the stream next attracted our attention. It is called the Hagar o' Salam, or Rock of Welfare, because the boatmen say that they cannot venture to call a voyage down the Nile prosperous until they have pa.s.sed it. We looked at it with interest. It seemed an emblem of our Saviour Jesus Christ; for, till we have come to him, there can be no safety for us in our voyage on the river of life.
Our journey was, after this, a little dull for a time. On both banks of the Nile we saw the sites of various ancient towns; and at Khom Amer, or ”the Red Mound,” there were some rough grottoes. We also saw the mounds of the ancient Cynopolis, the ”City of the Dogs.”
The mountain chain of Gebel e' Tayr was more interesting. Some of the mountains rise straight up from the water, and are enlivened with palm-trees; and on the opposite banks we saw some fine acacias. The top of Gebel e' Tayr is flat. On it stands a convent called Sitleh Mariam el Adea, or ”Our Lady Mary the Virgin.” It is a Copt convent. But I am afraid that religion has little effect there, for there seems to be more begging than industry among the monks. As soon as they see a boat full of travellers coming they hurry down the cliffs and swim out on inflated water-skins to ask for charity. Our Arab boatmen were inclined to treat them rather roughly, and we were heartily glad when we got beyond their beat, for they were very noisy and clamorous in their pet.i.tions for alms.
Gebel e' Tayr means ”the mountain of the bird.” There is a curious legend belonging to it. It is said that all the birds in the country a.s.semble here every year. They choose one of their number who is to stay on the mountain till the next year. Then all the rest fly away and leave the poor solitary bird by himself till the next year, when a fresh one is chosen to take his place.
We have now just arrived at Minieh, six days exactly since we left you all at Boulak. We are going to dinner, and then on sh.o.r.e.
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