Not One Of These Reports Turned Out To Be
Correct, And Those Who Acted Upon Them Sustained Much Discomfort In
Hurrying Across The Desert.
We were, as usual, rather late the following morning; our dear little
play-thing, the baby, bore the journey
Wonderfully; but it seemed very
requisite that she should have good and unbroken sleep at night, and
we found so little inconvenience in travelling in the day-time, that
we could make no objection to an arrangement which contributed so much
to her health and comfort. It was delightful to see this lovely little
creature actually appearing to enjoy the scene as much as ourselves;
sometimes seated in the lap of her nurse, who travelled in a chair,
at others at the bottom of one of our chairs; then in the arms of
her male attendant, who rode a donkey, or in those of the donkey-men,
trudging on foot; she went to every body, crowing and laughing all the
time; and I mention her often, not only for the delight she afforded
us, but also to show how very easily infants at her tender age - she
was not more than seven months old - could be transported across the
desert.
After breakfast, and just as we were about to start upon our day's
journey, we saw what must certainly be called a strange sight - a
wheeled carriage approaching our small encampment. It came along like
the wind, and proved to be a phaeton, double-bodied, that is, with a
driving-seat in front, with a European charioteer guiding a pair of
horses as the wheelers, while the leaders were camels, with an Arab
riding postillion. An English and a Parsee gentleman were inside, and
the carriage was scarcely in sight, before it had stopped in the midst
of us. The party had only been a few hours coming across. We hastily
exchanged intelligence; were told that the Berenice had lost all
its speed, being reduced, in consequence of alterations made in the
dock-yard in Bombay, from twelve knots an hour to eight, and that the
engines had never worked well during the voyage up.
During this day's journey, we met several parties, passengers of the
steamer, coming from Suez. One lady passed us in a donkey-chair, with
her daughter riding a donkey by the side; another group, consisting
of two ladies and several gentlemen, were all mounted upon camels,
and having large umbrellas over their heads, made an exceedingly odd
appearance, the peculiar gait of the camel causing them to rise and
fall in a very singular manner. At a distance, their round moving
summits looked like the umbrageous tops of trees, and we might fancy
as they approached, the lower portion being hidden by ridges of sand,
that "Birnam Wood was coming to Dunsinane."
The monotony usually complained of in desert travelling cannot be very
strongly felt between Cairo and Suez, for though there is little else
but sand to be seen, yet it is so much broken and undulated, that
there is always some diversity of objects.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 75 of 154
Words from 38949 to 39462
of 80716
