If The Original Purpose Of These Houses Was To
Afford General Accommodation, The Shelter Which Cannot Be Refused
Is Rendered Nugatory By Withholding The Supplies Necessary For The
Subsistence Of Men And Cattle.
We procured water at last; but every
thing attainable at these places is dear and bad.
We arrived, at rather an early hour, at our halting place for the
night; and as we considered it to be desirable to get into Suez as
speedily as possible, we agreed to start by three o'clock on the
following morning. Just as we had finished our evening meal, three
gentlemen of our acquaintance, who had scrambled across the desert
from the Pyramids, came up, weary and wayworn, and as hungry as
possible. We put the best that we had before them, and then retired
to the opposite apartment. But in this place I found it impossible to
stay; there was no free circulation of air throughout the room, and
it had all the benefit of the smell from the stable and other
abominations.
Leaving, therefore, my companions asleep, and wrapping myself up in
my shawl, I stole out into the passage, where there were several Arabs
lying about, and not without difficulty contrived to step between
them, and to unfasten the door which opened upon the desert. There
was no moon, but the stars gave sufficient light to render the scene
distinctly visible. A lamp gleamed from the window of the apartment
which I had quitted, and the camels, donkeys, and people belonging
to the united parties, formed themselves into very picturesque groups
upon the sand, constituting altogether a picture which could not fail
to excite many agreeable sensations.
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