DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0078
DISCOURAGEMENTS.
71
it down to the margin of the river and laid it care-
fully upon the sand, then washed it, pressed down
the drawn-up legs, and wrapped it in fragments
of tattered garments, contributed by his fellow-
boatmen, who could ill spare even these scanty
rags ; and laying it with great decency a little way
from the river, joined the other group, and sat
down with great gravity to pipes and coffee. In
a few moments two of them rose, and going a lit-
tle apart, with their bare hands scratched a shal-
low grave, and the poor Arab was left on a little
sand-bank in the Nile, to be covered in another
season by the mighty river. He was an entire
stranger, having come on board the evening be-
fore his boat set out from Cairo. In all probability,
he was one of an immense mass which swarms in
the crowded streets of Cairo, without friends, oc-
cupation, or settled means of living.
On the seventh the wind was still ahead and
blowing strong, and the air was very cold. Hav-
ing no books, no society, and no occupation ex-
cept talking with Paul and my boatmen, and the
stragglers on shore, I became dispirited, and sat,
hour after hour, wrapped up in my greatcoat, de-
liberating whether I should not turn back. One
of the most vexatious things was the satisfaction
apparently enjoyed by all around me. If we
hauled up alongside another boat, we were sure
to find the crew sprawling about in a most perfect
state of contentment, and seemingly grateful to the
adverse wind that prevented their moving. My
71
it down to the margin of the river and laid it care-
fully upon the sand, then washed it, pressed down
the drawn-up legs, and wrapped it in fragments
of tattered garments, contributed by his fellow-
boatmen, who could ill spare even these scanty
rags ; and laying it with great decency a little way
from the river, joined the other group, and sat
down with great gravity to pipes and coffee. In
a few moments two of them rose, and going a lit-
tle apart, with their bare hands scratched a shal-
low grave, and the poor Arab was left on a little
sand-bank in the Nile, to be covered in another
season by the mighty river. He was an entire
stranger, having come on board the evening be-
fore his boat set out from Cairo. In all probability,
he was one of an immense mass which swarms in
the crowded streets of Cairo, without friends, oc-
cupation, or settled means of living.
On the seventh the wind was still ahead and
blowing strong, and the air was very cold. Hav-
ing no books, no society, and no occupation ex-
cept talking with Paul and my boatmen, and the
stragglers on shore, I became dispirited, and sat,
hour after hour, wrapped up in my greatcoat, de-
liberating whether I should not turn back. One
of the most vexatious things was the satisfaction
apparently enjoyed by all around me. If we
hauled up alongside another boat, we were sure
to find the crew sprawling about in a most perfect
state of contentment, and seemingly grateful to the
adverse wind that prevented their moving. My