Part 8 (2/2)

We were pleasantly surprised the morning after this little visit to our friends at the villa to receive another packet of journal from the travellers. The last had been so long on the way that we scarcely expected to hear again from them before their return.

We opened it eagerly, and were all excited to know how they had pa.s.sed at least the first cataract.

JOURNAL ON THE NILE.

We wrote last from Thebes, which place we left the next morning. We were obliged to wait at Esneh for twenty-four hours for our sailors to bake bread. In the evening we saw at least twenty crocodiles pa.s.s our boat.

We left Esneh with a fair wind, and stopped nowhere till we reached a.s.souan. Here we had to make our arrangements for pa.s.sing the first cataract.

The management of our boat was given over to the reis of the cataract.

He provides men to help in taking us through the rapids. Whilst these arrangements were being made, we had time to see all that was worth seeing round a.s.souan.

There was a gay scene on the quay. Large boats which had been damaged were undergoing repairs; others were being loaded and unloaded with bales of cotton, which are sent from here across the desert to Sennaar.

Then there were the tents of the owners; groups of Nubian merchants in white turbans; natives of a.s.souan seated on the ground, smoking their chiboques; camels waiting for their loads; and donkeys which seemed as strong and lively as our Cairo favourites. Of course there was a terrible noise--shouting, screaming, quarrelling among the various sellers of arms, ornaments, and other things.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF GREAT TEMPLE AT ESNEH.]

We hired donkeys and a good guide, and then set off to see the quarries of Syene. From these quarries the obelisks were cut which adorned the cities of Thebes, Memphis, and Heliopolis thousands of years ago. We pa.s.sed the ruins of a burying-ground belonging to an old Saracen town which was desolated by the plague some hundreds of years ago, and very gloomy these ruins looked.

On our way back we rode through the bazaar. There was nothing very gay for sale, but the people interested us. We saw a great many Berbers, a people quite unlike either the Arabs or the negroes. The Berbers live in Lower Nubia, and are a wild, fine-looking race. The men wear but little clothing; they all carry a small dagger, which is bound with a red leather bracelet round the left arm, above the elbow. They also wear a _fetish_, or charm, enclosed in a little red leather case. The women uncover their faces, and wear nose rings of either bra.s.s or bone. They also wear quant.i.ties of coloured bead necklaces and bracelets, bra.s.s ear-rings and finger-rings; and whenever they can get them, they wear gold or silver coins hanging on the foreheads. They tattoo their chins and dye their under-lips blue, which looks very ugly.

To-day we crossed to the island of Elephanta. We went to the quarries, visited groups of tombs of sheikhs and dervishes, and the mosque of Amer. We had a delightful row round the island. Its groves of palms and its granite rocks are picturesque. But we were disappointed to see no flowers. The Nubian children offered us some pretty baskets for sale, and some Egyptian agates. We are bringing some of them back with us: amongst them a lovely little basket of palm leaves for Lucy.

We sailed towards the cataract with a stiff breeze. The scenery was wild and beautiful. On the western side the sands of the Great Desert, yellow as gold, came to the water's edge, with dark ma.s.ses of rock rising from them here and there. On the east, granite rocks rose one above the other in strange forms.

With the help of about fifty Arabs, who shouted at the top of their voices as they hauled us by a thick rope, we pa.s.sed the first little fall of the cataract. Then we pa.s.sed a succession of rapids. It was an exciting pa.s.sage. Great ma.s.ses of granite towered round our little boat; sometimes we even struck against them, but not so as to do us any harm.

The groups of Nubians were picturesque. Miss Roper has sketches of some of them swimming on palm logs.

At length we came to the grand fall. At first our boat seemed to grow faint-hearted, and to make as though she would go back to a.s.souan. But our cataract reis was prepared for this. He seemed to be everywhere at once. He had thrown off his turban and looser clothes, and the activity with which he darted from place to place was wonderful. One minute he was in the boat, at another on sh.o.r.e pulling with the Arabs at the rope; the next, he was mounted on a rock in the middle of the rapids shouting to the Arabs and boatmen. Wherever there was danger, there was the reis ready to ward it off. At last the boat was clear of the last projecting rock; one long, strong pull from the men on sh.o.r.e, and she shot forward like an arrow into the smooth water.

We anch.o.r.ed for the night at Mahatta, glad to be at peace from all the screaming and yelling which made the chorus during our pa.s.sage through the rapids.

At Mahatta we had a touching scene.

Early in the morning a large boat laden with slaves came alongside of us. Mohammed told us that they were to be landed here, and to march to a.s.souan, to save the trouble of taking them down the cataract. At a.s.souan they will be put on board a boat for Cairo. There must have been at least fifty: men, women, children, and even little babies. About half-a-dozen Egyptian soldiers had them in charge. Poor things! they looked very miserable. Some were black and very ugly; some of a bronze colour: these were not so ugly, and many of the women were very graceful.

It made us very sad to see these poor creatures, who were bought and sold like animals, without the knowledge of a Saviour and his love and mercy to support them in their sorrows. We longed to speak to them of Jesus Christ and his love; but, alas! they could not understand us, nor we them. Rahaba was crouched on deck by Miss Roper's side, and her eyes were flas.h.i.+ng with eagerness.

We asked Mohammed if anything could be done for their comfort. He took two men with him and brought back as many dates as they could carry for us to divide among the poor captives. Miss Roper and I went up to a group of women whom Rahaba had been watching. Rahaba attended her mistress. All at once Rahaba seized a baby from its mother's arms, kissed it, and fondled it. Then she and the young mother bent over it together and clasped each other's hands tightly and kissed each other.

But there was no joy in their faces. Sad, silent tears trickled down their cheeks. Rahaba said a few words in a low, choking tone to the mother. Both looked pleased when Miss Roper took the baby in her arms.

Our eyes filled with tears, and as Miss Roper leant over the sleeping child her tears too fell fast upon it. For a moment a gleam of hope seemed to s.h.i.+ne on the poor mother. She asked Rahaba if the white girl was going to buy the baby. When she found that her baby could not stay with Miss Roper the large tears gathered in her eyes again, and chased each other down her cheeks.

Miss Roper, who understands a few words of Rahaba's language, pointed to the sky, and told the mother that the great G.o.d loves little babies, and that he cares for slaves and loves those who are good and obedient. The poor girl folded her baby to her heart and shook her head sadly. The news seemed to her too good to be true.

But Miss Roper tried again to make her believe it. All the rest of the time till the pioneers were ordered to march on, Rahaba and her sister negress crouched side by side in grief and despair. We could not comfort them, but we prayed that G.o.d would in his mercy bring them to know and love him and his Son Jesus Christ; and then they will be comforted for every sorrow.

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