barking. Except these, however, no sounds were heard, save the ripple of the water and the creaking of the kandjia, as it swung to and fro in the current of the Nile. I now began to think my little cabin quite comfortable, with my divan, my books, my pipe, my coffee, and my cheerful lamp; more especially when, returning late in the evening, tired after a long walk, I beheld a light gleaming from the cabin door across the water, awakening something analogous to the feelings of home; though, being greeted, on entering, by none of those young faces which I was wont to see clustering round my hearth on the banks of Lake Leman, this feeling soon gave way to a sense of utter solitude. We had no rain this day (though the sky still continued to be overcast), and the cold was less severe than the day before. VOL. I. DANGEROUS AVALANCHES IN THE NILE MY KANDJIA NEARLY SUBMERGED IN THE RIVER QUARREL WITH THE NATIVESSAND STORM ON THE NILE- - COTTON PLANTATIONS VISIT OF WILD BEASTS-DEPTH OF THE SOIL OF EGYPT - KIASHEFF OF SOHLA BEDOUIN CAVALIER-HIDDEN TREASURES CURE FOR LEPROSY- APPEARANCE FAKĪRS GRATITUDE OF CHEAPNESS OF THE ARABIAN CHAIN MOSLEM THE ARABS RARENESS OF CATS OF OF PROVISIONS—A MURDERED MAN BEAUTY THE RIVER ARRIVAL AT BENISOOEF. Friday, Dec. 4. Kafr el Zarateen. CXXVI. This morning seemed, at sunrise,—there being little wind,—to promise a better day than yesterday. But it soon began to blow as strong as ever from the south; and, as there was no path for the trackers on the eastern bank, we put up a sail, and made for the opposite shore, where we had much difficulty in keeping the kandjia from striking every moment against the land. Several villages are here seen on the Arabian side of the Nile; and, directly over against the place where we moored, there is a small low island, Geziret el Zarateen. CXXVII. This was a day of accidents, one of which nearly proved fatal to me and my boat. The wind, as usual, was southerly when we set out, and, soon after our departure, began, as I have said, to blow ADVENTURE ON THE NILE. 195 with great violence. Of course, there were no means of proceeding but by tracking; and, for this purpose, three men were sent on shore. Monro had left his boat early, while I had remained on board to write. At length, however, I observed that the current, aided by the wind, was becoming exceedingly violent; that the three men on shore were unequal to the task of tugging us along; and that, owing to the loftiness and steepness of the bank, there was no possibility of adding to their number. About ten o'clock in the morning, we came to a bend in the river, where the bank was at least twenty feet high, and worn away at the base by the action of the stream; and, in consequence, extremely liable to those avalanches (as they are justly denominated by Bishop Heber) which often sink boats in the Ganges. Round this point the Nile rushed along with fearful noise and velocity, forming many whirpools, and eddying vortexes covered with foam; and it required extraordinary force to drag forward the kandjia through this "hell of waters." By great good fortune, Monro's boat turned the promontory in safety; but when mine came up, either the wind had increased, and the fury of the eddying current along with it, or my Arabs, already fatigued and exhausted, made an untimely pause; thus giving the water a purchase, as it were, by which to cast us back. Our reis, a highly active but not a strong man, knowing wherein the danger of our position consisted, endeavoured, by the most strenuous exertions with the pole, to keep away the boat from the overhanging bank, 196 ADVENTURE ON THE NILE. where huge masses of earth were ready to fall upon our heads. But the strength of the current was quite irresistible. It was in vain that he exerted himself: indeed, three feet from the land he could find no bottom, and his pole became useless. The kandjia, yielding to the force of the stream, now pulled back the trackers, and went down the river, striking against the bank in the most fearful manner. In a few minutes, the poor Arabs, recovering breath, again came to the charge, again dragged her along, - until she was just turning the point, where the might of the river once more prevailed, and down the stream we went a second time. Monro's people, who were out of danger, stood looking on, though our reis several times called upon them for help. Their master not being present, they would not stir. - : - CXXVIII. Mohammed was not, however, to be discouraged his passions, though engaged in a struggle with the elements, beginning to be excited, in a tone of anger and fierce reproach he commanded the trackers to exert themselves like men. They obeyed; and, dashing desperately forward, our gallant bark, in the midst of foaming whirlpools, had already turned the promontory, when the strength of the poor fellows again failed, and compelled them to yield to the stream. In a moment the kandjia was hurled furiously against the cliff; and a large superincumbent mass of earth giving way, came thundering down upon the cabin: the vessel was in an instant ADVENTURE ON THE NILE. 197 on her beam-ends, and one of the crew pitched overboard. The crash of the kandjia's side, in striking against the land, made me think that all was over; and she at once began to fill with water. Throwing off my cloak, therefore, I prepared to swim for my life; though, owing to the severity of the cold, the violence of the whirlpools, and the inaccessible steepness of the bank for miles down the river, the chances, had it come to that, would have been greatly against me. However, the sharp despairing cry of the reis and sailors, the extreme dismay of Suleiman, and the terrific appearance of the whole scene, confirmed me in the notion that the boat, at all events, was lost. my CXXIX. At this stage of the adventure, Monro's men, thinking we were drowning, came running to lend their aid. The kandjia, in fact, was filling rapidly. Observing, as she floated down along the shore, a small projecting ledge of earth, I therefore leaped upon it, without pausing to consider whether it would bear weight or not. Before the Arabs could follow my example, she had already passed the ledge, and it was too late. But, though standing on terra firma, my position was by no means an enviable one; for the bank projected so far over my head, and was so soft and crumbling, that another fall of earth seemed likely to be produced by the slightest motion. However, the Arabs on shore, quitting the tracking-line, ran to my assistance; and, at the hazard of being themselves plunged into the river below, leaned their bodies over |