DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0139
THEBES AND KABNAK. 121
CHAPTER VIII.
THEBES AND KAKNAK.
Coming on deck the third morning after leaving Den-
derah, we found the dahabeeyah decorated with palm-
branches, our sailors in their holiday turbans, and Reis
Hassan en grande tenue; that is to say, in shoes and stock-
ings, which he only wore on very great occasions.
" Neharak-sa'i'd—good-morning—Luxor!" said he, all in
one breath.
It was a hot, hazy morning, with dim ghosts of mount-
ains glowing through the mist and a warm wind blowing.
Wo ran to the side; looked out eagerly; but could see
nothing. Still the captain smiled and nodded; and the
sailors ran hither and thither, sweeping and garnishing;
and Egendi, to whom his worst enemy could not have im-
puted the charge of bashfulness, said: "Luxor—kharuf*—
all right!"—every time he came near us.
We had read and dreamed so much about Thebes, and
it had always seemed so far away, that but for this delicate
allusion to the promised sheep, we could hardly have be-
•lioved we were really drawing nigh unto those famous
shores. About ten, however, the mist was lifted away like
a curtain, ami we saw to the left a rich plain studded with
palm-groves; to the right a broad margin of cultivated
lands bounded by a bold range of limestone mountains;
and on the farthest horizon another range, all gray and
shadowy.
" Karnak—Gournah—Luxor!" says Reis Hassan, tri-
umphantly, pointing in every direction at once. Talhamy
tries to show us Medinet llabu and the Memnonium. The
painter vows he can see the heads of the sitting colossi
and the entrance to the valley of the tombs of the kings.
We, meanwhile, stare bewildered, incredulous; seeing
*Arabic, "/chard/," pronounced " haroof"—English, sheep.
CHAPTER VIII.
THEBES AND KAKNAK.
Coming on deck the third morning after leaving Den-
derah, we found the dahabeeyah decorated with palm-
branches, our sailors in their holiday turbans, and Reis
Hassan en grande tenue; that is to say, in shoes and stock-
ings, which he only wore on very great occasions.
" Neharak-sa'i'd—good-morning—Luxor!" said he, all in
one breath.
It was a hot, hazy morning, with dim ghosts of mount-
ains glowing through the mist and a warm wind blowing.
Wo ran to the side; looked out eagerly; but could see
nothing. Still the captain smiled and nodded; and the
sailors ran hither and thither, sweeping and garnishing;
and Egendi, to whom his worst enemy could not have im-
puted the charge of bashfulness, said: "Luxor—kharuf*—
all right!"—every time he came near us.
We had read and dreamed so much about Thebes, and
it had always seemed so far away, that but for this delicate
allusion to the promised sheep, we could hardly have be-
•lioved we were really drawing nigh unto those famous
shores. About ten, however, the mist was lifted away like
a curtain, ami we saw to the left a rich plain studded with
palm-groves; to the right a broad margin of cultivated
lands bounded by a bold range of limestone mountains;
and on the farthest horizon another range, all gray and
shadowy.
" Karnak—Gournah—Luxor!" says Reis Hassan, tri-
umphantly, pointing in every direction at once. Talhamy
tries to show us Medinet llabu and the Memnonium. The
painter vows he can see the heads of the sitting colossi
and the entrance to the valley of the tombs of the kings.
We, meanwhile, stare bewildered, incredulous; seeing
*Arabic, "/chard/," pronounced " haroof"—English, sheep.