DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0122
dromedaries.
113
easy task), but reserve the whole until my return
from the Cataracts.
At about three o'clock I returned to my tent. It
was the first day of the feast of Bairam, the thirty
days of fasting (Ramadan) being just ended. It
was a great day at Luxor ; the bazars were sup-
plied with country products, the little cafterias
were filled with smokers, indemnifying themselves
for their long abstinence, and the fellahs were
coming in from the country. On my return from
Carnac I for the first time saw dromedaries, richly
caparisoned, mounted by well-armed Arabs, and
dashing over the ground at full gallop. I had
never seen dromedaries before except in caravans,
accommodating themselves to the slow pace of the
camel; and I did not think the clumsy, lumbering
animal could carry himself so proudly and move
so rapidly. Their movement, however, was very
far from realizing the extravagant expression of
" swift as the wind," applied to it in the East. I
was somewhat fatigued on my return, and Paul
met me on the bank with a smiling face, and in-
formation that the English party had sent their
janizary to ask me to dine with them at six o'clock.
Few things tend to give you a better opinion of a
man, of his intelligence, his piety, and morals,
than receiving- from him an invitation to dinner.
I am what is called a sure man in such cases, and
the reader may suppose that I was not wanting
upon this occasion.
It was an excessively hot day. You who were
k 2
113
easy task), but reserve the whole until my return
from the Cataracts.
At about three o'clock I returned to my tent. It
was the first day of the feast of Bairam, the thirty
days of fasting (Ramadan) being just ended. It
was a great day at Luxor ; the bazars were sup-
plied with country products, the little cafterias
were filled with smokers, indemnifying themselves
for their long abstinence, and the fellahs were
coming in from the country. On my return from
Carnac I for the first time saw dromedaries, richly
caparisoned, mounted by well-armed Arabs, and
dashing over the ground at full gallop. I had
never seen dromedaries before except in caravans,
accommodating themselves to the slow pace of the
camel; and I did not think the clumsy, lumbering
animal could carry himself so proudly and move
so rapidly. Their movement, however, was very
far from realizing the extravagant expression of
" swift as the wind," applied to it in the East. I
was somewhat fatigued on my return, and Paul
met me on the bank with a smiling face, and in-
formation that the English party had sent their
janizary to ask me to dine with them at six o'clock.
Few things tend to give you a better opinion of a
man, of his intelligence, his piety, and morals,
than receiving- from him an invitation to dinner.
I am what is called a sure man in such cases, and
the reader may suppose that I was not wanting
upon this occasion.
It was an excessively hot day. You who were
k 2