As The People Had Worked Very Hard, We Directed Mohammed To Purchase
Some Meat For Them In The Bazaar, In
Order that they might indulge in
a good meal; we also took the opportunity of purchasing a supply of
eggs,
Fowls, and fruit, lest we should fall short before we reached
Cairo. The fowls were so small, that, having our appetites sharpened
by the fresh air of the river, we could easily manage one between us
for breakfast, and another at dinner. We did not make trial of the
unfiltered waters of the Nile, not drinking it until it had deposited
its mud. Though previously informed that no beverage could be
more delightful than that afforded by this queen of rivers in its
unsophisticated state, I did not feel at all tempted to indulge; but
am quite ready to do justice to its excellence when purified from the
grosser element.
We were much pleased with the alacrity and good humour of our boatmen,
and the untiring manner in which they performed their laborious
duties. When a favouring breeze allowed them to rest, they seldom
indulged in sleep, but, sitting round in a ring upon the narrow deck,
either told stories, or were amused by the dancing of one of the
group, who, without changing his place, contrived to shift his feet
very vigorously to the music of his own voice, and that of two sticks
struck together to keep the time. They frequently used their oars in
parts of the river where they could not find a towing-path, and when
rowing, invariably accompanied their labours with a song, which,
though rude, was not unpleasant.
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