DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0290
252 THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS. 'chap, xxxi
flight of wild fowl ; now to the edge of the desert by the tracks
of a wild boar. Having thus consumed some hours, I found
myself on the edge of a jungle, which, suddenly ceasing, left
nothing but the desert and the river round me. The day had
been intensely hot, and I was suddenly overtaken with extreme
fatigue, and obliged to lie down upon the sands to rest. Far as
the eye could reach, there was no shelter—no, not so much as a
beetle could repose in ; and the only Arab who accompanied me
replied to my glance with a significant " Mafeesh," and a shrug
of his shoulders. Even he was panting with exhaustion, and
streaming at every pore. The boat was still far away, and we
had nothing for it but Islam resignation—not even a pipe.
And there ran the river—deep, bright and cool—before my
dazzled eyes ; and, after long hesitation, I could resist no longer,
but plunged in and swam, and drank, and revelled in its waves
with excessive luxury. Fever almost instantly came on, and I
remember little but vague, dreamy sensations of intense suffer-
ing, until we reached the Mahmoudie canal ; here I was trans-
ferred into another kandjiah, and reached Alexandria on the
fourth night after my departure from Boulac.
The river-port was crowded with filthy boats, and swarmed
with their crews, who seemed to live in perpetual warfare with
one another. I presume we had got into a berth that we had
no right to, for we were instantly assailed by every Arab within
reach or hearing : some went so far as to jump on board our
boat to remove her by force ; but this was an indignity that a
Frank could not submit to. Three days' fever did not con-
duce to meekness, and the melee that ensued was more restora-
tive than being nurse-tended for a week : there is always some<
thing reviving in a row ; and there was an exciting variety ii
this, where the stormy moon threw an uncertain light on dark,
struggling figures, and flashing eyes, and gleaming steel ; and
the wind roared in wild concert with the fierce vociferations of
the Arabs, and the crashing spars. There was a rush, and a
struggle, and loud trampling on the deck, and splashing in the
water :—our deck was cleared, and the next moment an officer
of the patrol showed his red tarboosh, and all was over. We
flight of wild fowl ; now to the edge of the desert by the tracks
of a wild boar. Having thus consumed some hours, I found
myself on the edge of a jungle, which, suddenly ceasing, left
nothing but the desert and the river round me. The day had
been intensely hot, and I was suddenly overtaken with extreme
fatigue, and obliged to lie down upon the sands to rest. Far as
the eye could reach, there was no shelter—no, not so much as a
beetle could repose in ; and the only Arab who accompanied me
replied to my glance with a significant " Mafeesh," and a shrug
of his shoulders. Even he was panting with exhaustion, and
streaming at every pore. The boat was still far away, and we
had nothing for it but Islam resignation—not even a pipe.
And there ran the river—deep, bright and cool—before my
dazzled eyes ; and, after long hesitation, I could resist no longer,
but plunged in and swam, and drank, and revelled in its waves
with excessive luxury. Fever almost instantly came on, and I
remember little but vague, dreamy sensations of intense suffer-
ing, until we reached the Mahmoudie canal ; here I was trans-
ferred into another kandjiah, and reached Alexandria on the
fourth night after my departure from Boulac.
The river-port was crowded with filthy boats, and swarmed
with their crews, who seemed to live in perpetual warfare with
one another. I presume we had got into a berth that we had
no right to, for we were instantly assailed by every Arab within
reach or hearing : some went so far as to jump on board our
boat to remove her by force ; but this was an indignity that a
Frank could not submit to. Three days' fever did not con-
duce to meekness, and the melee that ensued was more restora-
tive than being nurse-tended for a week : there is always some<
thing reviving in a row ; and there was an exciting variety ii
this, where the stormy moon threw an uncertain light on dark,
struggling figures, and flashing eyes, and gleaming steel ; and
the wind roared in wild concert with the fierce vociferations of
the Arabs, and the crashing spars. There was a rush, and a
struggle, and loud trampling on the deck, and splashing in the
water :—our deck was cleared, and the next moment an officer
of the patrol showed his red tarboosh, and all was over. We