DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0109
102
INCIDENTS OF TKAVEL.
sidered that I was showing partiality in always se-
lecting him. I asked one of the others, and found
that he, and, in fact, all of them, made objections, on
the ground that it was a dangerous road.
This is one of the things which vex a traveller
in Egypt, and in the East generally. He will
often find the road which.he wishes to travel a
dangerous one, and though no misadventure may
have happened on it for years, he will find it im-
possible to get his Arabs to accompany him. My
rais took the matter in hand, began kicking them
ashore, and swore they should all go. This I
would not allow. I knew that the whole course
of the Nile was safe as the streets of London ; that
no accident had happened to a traveller since the
pacha had been on the throne; and that women
and children might travel with perfect safety from
Alexandria to the Cataracts ; and vexed with their
idle fears, after whipping Paul over their shoul-
ders, who I saw was quite as much infected as any
of them, I went ashore alone, Paul seemed qui-
etly making up his mind for some desperate move-
ment ; without a word, he was arranging the
things about the boat, shutting up the doors of the
cabin, buttoning his coat, and with my cloak un-
der his arm and a sword in his hand, he jumped
ashore and followed me. He had not gone far,
however, before his courage began to fail. The
Arabs, whom we found at their daily labour draw-
ing water, seemed particularly black, naked, and
hairy. They gave dubious and suspicious an-
INCIDENTS OF TKAVEL.
sidered that I was showing partiality in always se-
lecting him. I asked one of the others, and found
that he, and, in fact, all of them, made objections, on
the ground that it was a dangerous road.
This is one of the things which vex a traveller
in Egypt, and in the East generally. He will
often find the road which.he wishes to travel a
dangerous one, and though no misadventure may
have happened on it for years, he will find it im-
possible to get his Arabs to accompany him. My
rais took the matter in hand, began kicking them
ashore, and swore they should all go. This I
would not allow. I knew that the whole course
of the Nile was safe as the streets of London ; that
no accident had happened to a traveller since the
pacha had been on the throne; and that women
and children might travel with perfect safety from
Alexandria to the Cataracts ; and vexed with their
idle fears, after whipping Paul over their shoul-
ders, who I saw was quite as much infected as any
of them, I went ashore alone, Paul seemed qui-
etly making up his mind for some desperate move-
ment ; without a word, he was arranging the
things about the boat, shutting up the doors of the
cabin, buttoning his coat, and with my cloak un-
der his arm and a sword in his hand, he jumped
ashore and followed me. He had not gone far,
however, before his courage began to fail. The
Arabs, whom we found at their daily labour draw-
ing water, seemed particularly black, naked, and
hairy. They gave dubious and suspicious an-