The Breeze, Which Had Hitherto
Favoured Us, Dying Away, The Poor Fellows Were Obliged To Work
Harder Than Ever, Dragging The Boat Up Against The Stream:
Upon these
occasions, however, we enjoyed a very agreeable degree of quietude,
and were, moreover, enabled to take a more accurate survey of the
river's banks.
Living objects were not numerous, excepting in the
immediate vicinity of the villages. I was delighted when I caught
sight of an ibis, but was surprised at the comparatively small
number of birds; having been accustomed to the immense flocks which
congregate on the banks of Indian rivers.
Our arrival at a village alone relieved the monotony of the landscape.
Some of these places were prettily situated under groves of dates
and wild fig trees, and they occasionally boasted houses of a decent
description; the majority were, however, most wretched, and we were
often surprized to see persons respectably dressed, and mounted upon
good-looking donkeys, emerge from streets and lanes leading to the
most squalid and poverty-stricken dwellings imaginable. The arrival of
a boat caused all the beggars to hasten down to the river-side;
these chiefly consisted of very old or blind persons. We had provided
ourselves with paras, a small copper coin, for the purpose of giving
alms to the miserable beings who solicited our charity, and the poor
creatures always went away well satisfied with the trifling gift
bestowed upon them.
Every morning, the janissary and the Arab captain of the boat came to
the door of the cabin to pay their respects; with the latter we could
not hold much communication, as he did not speak a word of English; we
were, nevertheless, excellent friends.
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