DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11789#0059
KAIK.
49
of so many kingdoms, and as it were amid the ruins
of mighty cities, without emotions of awe and won-
der. Nothing, however, that we saw in this after-
noon's excursion was more interesting, or more
calculated to attract the notice of a traveller from
a northern clime, than the extensive and luxuriant
groves of date-palm trees, which sent up their
majestic trunks on every side of us. They are
cultivated chiefly, if not solely, on account of their
fruit.
That evening, after our return to the hotel, there
was quite a heavy shower of rain. The streets,
for a few minutes, were completely flooded with
water. It may he remarked that rains are not
uncommon in Alexandria during winter and spring,
hut they never occur in Upper Egypt.
The next morning, and every succeeding one
during our sojourn in the country of the Nile, our
reveille was sounded by a numerous and well-
skilled band of donkeys. These useful animals are
said to attain the greatest perfection in Egypt,
where they are ridden very generally instead of
horses, the use of the latter being almost exclu-
sively limited to persons of rank or great wealth.
They have a very pleasant gait, and arc, moreover,
very gentle and tractable. For my part, I like
5
49
of so many kingdoms, and as it were amid the ruins
of mighty cities, without emotions of awe and won-
der. Nothing, however, that we saw in this after-
noon's excursion was more interesting, or more
calculated to attract the notice of a traveller from
a northern clime, than the extensive and luxuriant
groves of date-palm trees, which sent up their
majestic trunks on every side of us. They are
cultivated chiefly, if not solely, on account of their
fruit.
That evening, after our return to the hotel, there
was quite a heavy shower of rain. The streets,
for a few minutes, were completely flooded with
water. It may he remarked that rains are not
uncommon in Alexandria during winter and spring,
hut they never occur in Upper Egypt.
The next morning, and every succeeding one
during our sojourn in the country of the Nile, our
reveille was sounded by a numerous and well-
skilled band of donkeys. These useful animals are
said to attain the greatest perfection in Egypt,
where they are ridden very generally instead of
horses, the use of the latter being almost exclu-
sively limited to persons of rank or great wealth.
They have a very pleasant gait, and arc, moreover,
very gentle and tractable. For my part, I like
5