menu_book Chapter 8

CHAPTER VII. ASSWAN TO WADI HALFA AND BACK TO CHIRO. PART I. Next morning we started early and had a glorious sail close up under the cataract. Near the southernmost fall we could see Mr. Thompson's boat, the Fatima, and one of the Pasha's boats being drawn out of the rush of waters. The scenery was very grand, towering fantastical rocks jutting

up out of the current, and on either side were granite cliffs. We got out and scrambled over sandhills and granite boulders. We seated ourselves on a rock and watched the Pasha's last boat, being drawn by about a hundred men, through the first two falls. Ropes were attached to it and were pulled by strings of men on either shore. They worked with a will, and therefore did it quickly and well. The captain stood screaming on the prow, and waved his orders to them.

Black men swam about in the water, and little boats darted along the rapids like so many fishes. At half-past six a crowd of Nubians came and tied ropes to our boat. Their sheikhs and the race of the cataract came on board. The latter was a tall, spare man in a white garment. They were a very wild set, shouting, screaming, jabbering, gesticulating, and kissing their hands to us. Our captain distributed some bread amongst them, and then we were drawn up the first rapid,

and fastened below the rock where Mr. Thompson's boat had stuck so long. The rush of waters around us, and the strange figures of the Nubians, made the scene very exciting. "'Might we not row about among the rapids in the sandal to-morrow?' asked Edith. "'If you like, miss, we'll do it.'

I'm ready to do anything you ask me now, replied Sertesa. A black fellow jumped into the water several times and paddled across with a towing rope in his hand. We grazed on a rock in stopping, owing to our captain contradicting the Nubian race orders.

Then four of the Nubians, including the almost naked swimmer, came on deck and were each presented with a colored handkerchief for which they seemed very grateful. Later in the evening we took a walk to have a view of the whole cataract. We saw some lovely pink granite rocks.

Most of the boulders are very highly polished by the action of the water. We remained in the same place all next day, as the Nubians had not yet completed their work with the Pasha's boats. In the forenoon we had a visit from the governor, who came to explain the reason of the delay.

We had a little conversation with him, Sir Tessa, interpreting. He was very anxious to learn English, as he thought it was a shame for one who could read and write to be behind the donkey boys of Cairo. He said that a lady had once promised him an English and Arabic book, but she never sent it. Sertesa suggested that her dragoman must have kept it. English ladies, he said, are not in the habit of breaking their word. We promised to supply

the deficiency. The governor then left, promising to come next day and get us quickly up the cataract. We then took a walk to the summit of a pile of rocks, from which we could see the temple of Philae. The people of a village came running out, women with large earrings, nose-rings, and brass frontlets between their eyes, their hair all matted and dropping with castor oil. Little boys without a stitch of clothing, all laughing, dancing, and shouting,

in the hope of being rewarded with some backsheesh. They looked very happy. Sertesa, who never could bear to see a piastre go past his own pocket, advised us to give them nothing, as they might all spring on us and take our purses by force.

When he lifted a stone, the nearest ones ran away like frightened birds, while the furthest ones stood and laughed at them. Violet tried to teach one English, but all she could get him to say was,

one, two, three, back sheesh. These people speak a language quite unintelligible to the Arabs. The Marquise's boat came below the first rapid that night. After breakfast next day, the Nubians collected themselves, and the British vice-consul, a copt, came on board. We were towed past some great projecting black rocks to the entrance of the first gate, as it is called. The people then left us to attend to the Sophie, and we amused ourselves

by throwing back sheesh to the boys on the shore, whereupon half a dozen of them stripped, dashed into the current, and swam down the cataract, a man accompanying them on a log of wood. It was very funny to see them bobbing up and down in the water like so many monkeys, and making frantic efforts to catch what we threw to them. The captain of the Sophie suddenly lost his voice by shouting too much. A great squabble took place between the two captains and the

Nubians, owing to the sheikhs having neglected to distribute the money which had been paid to them by the captains at Aswan. It was settled by the intervention of the vice-consul, who could not speak the language of the nation he represented. Then a thick rope was attached to our bow, and pulled by about fifty men in front, while various other ropes were attached to our boat, and wound round the rocks. We were dragged in this manner over the first waterfall, past

Mr. Thompson's rock and other dangers. The governor now appeared, but contented himself with sitting down and watching us. It was very exciting to see the crowds of people on shore, the little boats and the swimmers dashing through the foaming currents, while every islet rock had its complement of men to tow or to hold the ropes, as the case required. Off we dashed to the foot of the great waterfall, and just as we were in the very center of

the current, with the whole force of the water beating against us, the holding rope broke. We swung quickly round to one side, the people rushed down from the hills, the governor started up, and ordered the French sandal to be made ready to take us away. Then another rope was thrown ashore, and in five minutes more our boat was again on the crest of the fall. Agnes was very angry with herself for having remained on board,

and her fears were by no means allayed on seeing Pietro pull off his jacket. I think nothing can make you afraid, said Certesa to Violet. No, nothing, answered she, looking steadily at him. I have a firm trust in Providence. We were pulled over some more rocks, with many a bump, and then made fast for the day.

Next morning, before we sat down to breakfast, crowds of Nubians rushed on board, screaming, yelling, and gesticulating in a way that made us wonder how Pietro managed to get our provisions from the pantry to the saloon table. We ate quietly while they were towing us through the various rapids, though an occasional bump against the rocks rather interfered with our comfort. As about sixty men were on board,

Sir Teza advised us to stay downstairs for fear of getting more than we bargained for. But we could see the rush of the waters and the people jumping about among the rocks from our windows. At one time a rope broke,

and we should have been carried away by the current, had not a Nubian jumped quickly in and made it fast without being told to do so. At length we stopped below the Great Fall, where a large body of water was sweeping swiftly down, although it is not considered quite so

dangerous as the one we had already passed, owing to its having deeper water and fewer hidden rocks. It took a long time to fasten the ropes, so some of the sheikhs above indulged in the filthy habit of spitting down to the lower deck. Sertesa pursued them with a stick, and Ahmed with a wet cloth. We mounted the deck to see the great tug, which lasted about a quarter of an hour. As soon as we were fairly up, a boat of the tuggers came towards us, clamoring for more

backsheesh. Serteza drove them off. Then he advised us to go downstairs, and the wind carried us quickly away from the howling people on shore, while the shrieks of those still on board mingled with the merry jingle of the sailor's tambourine.

We stopped at a little creek where the Pasha's boats were anchored, distributed some money amongst the men, and also some colored handkerchiefs, about which they quarreled. The captain, seizing them from Sertesa's hand, rushed on shore, but, being hotly pursued, he pitched them all into the water, the Nubians rushing in, clothes and all, after them. We soon started again, sailing between huge piles of granite boulders, with the island

de Philae and its beautiful temple before us. We were very thankful to have escaped without accident from the wild waters and the wild men into such glorious scenery. The French gentlemen did not follow our example by remaining in their boat, but contented themselves with prudently watching its passage from the shore. One of them said to Sertesa, Our boat is the fastest on the Nile. We shall be at Wadi Halfa, you will see, two days before you.

We stopped for a few hours behind Phile. We got out and crossed over heaps of brick ruins to the temple, where two Swiss savants were busy studying and copying. The temple is of the time of the Ptolemies, though part of it is thought to be much older. We climbed to the top of the Aditum by a narrow stair,

where there is a chamber adorned with beautiful sculptures, much defaced by tourists having slept in it. The large court has a colonnade of wonderful pillars on either side, but, unfortunately for the symmetry of the building, it has been built more in conformity with the shape of the island

than the rules of mathematics. Three of the five obelisks have been removed to Rome, and the fourth has been beheaded. We saw an immense rock, lately uncovered, with an unread inscription on it,

supposed to contain the still unknown secret of the temple. We also saw what is called the Bed of Pharaoh, a large square temple ornamented with lofty columns and with no hieroglyphics on the interior walls except what might have adorned the heads of two bedsteads.

There is also an old stone altar with a communication underground. And here is supposed to have stood the Oracle of Isis, A large stone over the center door of this beautiful temple is broken and almost falling. In the center of the emblem of eternity which decorates it are the marks of shot aimed at it by grown-up children on their travels. Others of the same class have carved their insignificant names all over the ruins.

Conspicuous among them may be read those of Sir Teza and his sons. How can he profess such veneration for antiquities? said Edith. One would think he would take better care of that which affords him a livelihood. We remained at Philae only a few hours, and then set sail for Kalabshi. Kalabshi is situated in very romantic scenery, and is just under the tropic. We did not expect to see that famous line in the sky, as some travelers do. Further south, the river was boarded with hills and

mountains of bright gold-colored sand, interspersed with streaks of black granite. Edith compared them, not very poetically, to custards sprinkled with cinnamon. Our race firmly believed that the Nile comes from heaven and that no one can discover its source. Perhaps the origin of this idea may be found in Genesis 2, verse 13. We were disturbed one night by frightful screams of,

Mohamed! Mohamed! One of our sailors had fallen overboard and was nearly drowned. He was picked up half a mile further down. Sir Teza declared it was owing to some claret which we had given them, after they had stood for some hours in the water pushing us off a sandbank. We were towed for some time along a bend of the river. We had a walk amidst tall lupines and over the yellow sand of the desert.

Here we met a poor black slave, whose master lived on the opposite bank and scarcely gave him anything to eat. The wind became piercingly cold. We saw several crocodiles near Ibrim, but they dived down whenever they got sight of our sail. We arrived at Wadi Halfa on the 2nd of February, and next day engaged donkeys to visit the rock of Abusir. Our way lay for two hours over a sandy desert, where we saw the Mirage twice.

From the rock we had a commanding view of the second cataract, which is covered with black, shining rocks like the first, and is much more extensive. Here one gets a good idea of what a ride to the fifth cataract must be. An uninviting desert of sand extended to the distant horizon, the sight of which effectually cured us of the desire to travel further south. Sertesa cut our names into the rock beside those of former travellers.

We set off for our boat without perceiving that he was not with us. It seems that his donkey had laid down and refused to move. Our guides could not speak a word either of English or Arabic. Violet, said Agnes, I wish you saw how that man is beating your donkey. Violet made signs for the man to give her his stick.

She then shook it before his face, saying, How would you like that? The boys laughed heartily, and the donkeys enjoyed a respite. Sertesa had to walk back over the deep sand, and was confined to bed all next day, in consequence of the fatigue.

We had lived principally on pigeons, the spoil of his gun, for the last ten days. He saying that there was no other food to be procured in these inhospitable regions. The Prince of Wales visit makes everything so dear on the Nile, said he. There is very little soil here for growing anything. That is why I cannot give you vegetables.

You see, all the soil there is has been collected by the people from the bed of the river, and will be washed away in the next inundation. Oh, said Agnes, does not that explain what Isaiah means by describing the Ethiopians as a nation whose land the rivers have spoiled? But I suppose the Nile did inundate the country before the giving way of the granite barrier at

Silsili, which transferred the first cataract to Aswan. It did, said Violet. Traces of an alluvial deposit have been noticed by Wilkinson amongst the sands of Nubia. Ethiopia was once a rich and powerful country, whose inhabitants at one time conquered Egypt and placed their kings on her throne. But by this catastrophe it was

transformed into a wilderness of sand. I fancy that the third chapter of Habakkuk may refer to the circumstance. It seems to me that the prophet, foreseeing a famine coming on his own land, refers in his lamentation to the judgments of the Lord on other nations. What more appropriate picture of the giving way of the rocks and of the rush of the water into a new channel

than the words of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th verses? They would thus be more a relation of past events than a prophecy. The 11th verse seems to refer to the conquests of Joshua and the 15th verse to the destruction of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea. In the seventeenth verse he seems to say,

Those similar judgments should come on Israel, as came on Ethiopia, Philistia, and Egypt, by which the history of nations was changed. Yet my trust shall be in the Lord, who has done it all. Next morning we pass the Sophie very early on its way up. Agnes clambered up a very steep precipice to the small excavated temple of Farag,

on the roof of which is a portrait, supposed by the cops, to be a likeness of our Saviour. We arrived at Abu Simbel in the afternoon. The great temple of Abu Simbel is half closed up by the sand, which falls over the precipice from the desert above. This could easily be prevented by the erection of a wall on the summit of the rocks. It had been completely cleared a fortnight previously by three hundred workers, for the Princess of Wales benefit, but was again half

full. The design of the exterior is extremely grand. It displays four colossal seated statues of Ramses II, each of which is sixty-six feet high, without the pedestal. The faces have an agreeable soft expression, but unfortunately one colossus is nearly destroyed, and the other three are much mutilated and half buried. The head of one peeped above the sand, like that of a bather above water. On the very center of one breast might be read the name, Sir Teza.

Oh, said Violet, I can realize the picture Dr. Opal draws, of an Englishman sitting on the thumb of the great Ramses. And I, said Edith, am ashamed to have gazed on the models of these statues, which stood in the palace at Sidenham, before the part containing them was burnt, and to have had so little idea of what they were. I always called them Hindu idols.

These, as well as a temple, are cut out of the solid rock. The grand hall is magnificent, though darkened by the sand which chokes up its entrance. It has eight of the pillars named Osiridae, square blocks with standing colossi in front, whose faces are similar to those on the outside. Certeza told us that beneath are chambers of equal height,

which are entered by long flights of stairs. The second hall has four square pillars, and beyond it is the aditum, with an altar in the center, and the seated statues of four gods at the upper end. A fire was lighted on the altar.

It produced an effect on the imagination, which recalled the days when it was used for offerings, We examined the side walls and some long dark mummy chambers, all plentifully sculptured with battle scenes and wholesale executions. A gigantic warrior is sometimes represented holding in his left hand a bunch of human heads by the hair. The proprietors of these heads are stretching out their hands on all sides in an imploring attitude.

His other hand holds an axe. When the ancient Egyptians wished to express in sculpture how important any personage was, they made his figure ten times larger than the surrounding figures. Their statues are wanting in that grace which distinguishes the productions of Grecian art, yet what an amount of ingenuity and manual labor is implied in their existence. These magnificent obelisks, a pair of which stood

sentinel before the doorway of each temple must have been transported from Aswan to the positions they now occupy, sometimes a distance of seven hundred miles, by means which modern science cannot even discover. Little granite exists in Egypt north of the first cataract. And what a grand conception it was to hollow such a magnificent temple out of the very bosom of the everlasting In the smaller temple we met Mr. Thompson.

Is it not a shame, said he, to see these sculptures so much defaced? I have been twice on the Nile, but never did I write my name anywhere, until I did so yesterday, on the rock of Abusir. I think the man ought to be ashamed of himself who does so. This was meant for a reproof to Sir Teza,

who had left his mark distinctly on all the monuments. Mr. Thompson turned away. Certeza, foaming with rage, muttered, Stupido! Tis a good thing everybody has not the same taste.

Pietro had been that morning discovered early by Mrs. Thompson, endeavoring with a box of white paint to leave some memento of his first visit to Abu Simbel. Mr. Thompson's sailors had a frightful quarrel. They threatened to beat their captain. But Serteza informed us that he had pacified them.

The town of Abrim is situated on the top of a barren hill, whose precipitous sides rise majestically from the water. It looks like a crown on the brow of a monarch of stone. The ruins of Saboa gave us a good idea of what the approach to an old temple must have been.

You pass along an avenue of mutilated sphinxes, the lion's body with a human face, then between two obelisks, and entered the doorway flanked by two massive pylons or towers. These pylons have, on the exterior, a singularly bald effect, but the interior contains magnificent colonnades. The sculptures on the pylons of Ceboa are similar to those of Abu Simbel. They represent Ramses II. How strange it is to think that these stones were laid on each other in the days of Moses,

said violet yes answered agnes i am the more convinced that moses lived in the reign of this monarch from the fact of one of the treasure cities which the israelites built being called ramses and if tommen and the princes of his house perished in the red sea said edith how natural that a queen should succeed him some great calamity must have befallen egypt about that period, for later sculptures are all considered to be productions of a degenerate age.

We shall see some mementos of the conquests of Ramses near Nar el-Kelb at Beirut, said Agnes. Perhaps you are not aware that he gets the credit of having been the first monarch who launched vessels of war, and even of having anticipated Monsieur de Lesseps by trying to make a canal through the Isthmus of Suez. Then, said Violet, Byron was mistaken when he sung that, In the Isles of Greece grew the arts of war and peace. Yet Egypt, being so much isolated from the

rest of the world by her sandy deserts, could not be expected to influence other nations much by her peculiar culture. How strange that so high a civilization should be so completely a thing of the past. The first nation of antiquity is the very lowest of modern times. Near Ceboa we saw some fine specimens of Nubian women. The Nubians have no characteristic of African descent about them. They are of a deep bronze color, have regular features, and are of symmetrical stature.

It has even been thought that very decided Roman liniments may be traced amongst the natives of one. Little children wear no clothes. Young unmarried girls have no other dress than a long girdle of twisted thongs adorned with shells. We wished much to take home some of these things as curiosities, but Sertesa could not be induced to buy them. How you get rid of the castor oil? said he.

I well remember a woman who came one morning to our boat with eggs for sale. Her dress was tied round her waist and passed over the left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder and arm bare. Her complexion was of a brownish black, her arms were ornamented with bracelets, and her neck with strings of various coloured beads. The coiffure was, however, the most worthy of attention. Her hair hung a short way on her neck, but was cut short and drooped over her forehead,

with a little plate in front, exactly as some ladies in London wear it. The whole was glittering and dripping with castor oil, of which it appeared to get a bottle full every day, and which made her skin shine like polished rosewood. At Dacca we were beset by women and children offering trifles for sale. Their hair was dripping, their naked shoulders and arms were green with castor oil, which perfumed the air around. I hope, said Edith, that the princess

will not introduce any fashions from the second cataract. Passing through the village, we saw a young woman making bread. She had a stone with a hollow trough in the center, filled with moist dora. This she pounded with a rough stone to a dough, and as it fell over the edge of the trough, it was bread, made and ready to be eaten. It was sweetened, no doubt, by the oily drops from her hair. What amazed us most in the Temple of Dhaka were the stones of its roof. They were laid across

the walls like so many beams of wood. They measure sixteen feet in breadth, and two in thickness, and the marks of the tools used on them are wonderful. There was a tremendous crowd of villagers outside. We threw them some handfuls of backsheesh, for which favor they accompanied us to the boat. A queer procession they were, naked boys and girls and handsome women, all ornamented with nose-rings, strings of beads, and other pieces of African finery.

If I only had some of these people in London, said Certeza, what a fortune I should make by exhibiting them. I know now where the monks got the idea of their costume, said Violet. And our ministers there are gowns and surplices, said Edith. There is a very gracefully worn Roman toga. Last night, said Certeza, I had a visit from a Nubian who speaks French beautifully. He has been twice to Paris with a family, but prefers the habits of his own people.

The temple of Gerv-Husayan, though of the Ramesian age, bears the same relation to the other temples that a daub does to a fine painting. That of Kalabshi is now an immense heap of disjointed stones. But the small excavated temple at the Bet El Wali is extremely interesting. The exquisite bas-reliefs are still perfect.

Casts of them are in the British Museum. Edith pointed out three baskets of bread on top of each other, illustrative of the chief baker's dream. After leaving Kalabshi, we passed through a very narrow rock-bound channel called Elbab. Here the scenery became very picturesque. The hills were composed of granite boulders,

similar to those around Falai. The ruins of Taffa consist only of the vestiges of a large temple, and two small enclosures, one adorned with four, the other with six Corinthian columns. The latter seemed to be used for keeping cattle, and the odor was too oppressive to allow of our examining it. The people were remarkably dirty and degraded. We could scarcely believe that their ancestors were once Christians.

The view above Taffa is exquisite. High, black, rocky peaks slope sheer down to the edge of the river, which is here very narrow. We had a glorious sunset. A bright golden-red sky gleamed through the feathery palms and threw a calm glow on the limpid water, contrasting strikingly with its somber margin, while our boat rocked like

a cradle to the swing of the oars as they splashed on either side, making one experience sensations rare enough in this prosy world. We were detained two nights by the wind at Dabod, whose temple is too much destroyed to be worth visiting. The inhabitants were very rude, and made a fearful clamoring for Bakshish.

A jackal came on board, and killed two of our chickens. We found on awakening one morning that we were below Philae. Violet proposed to revisit it, but Sertesa would not agree to stop, as the Nubians had come to take us down the cataract. Violet wished to descend in the Dahabi, Edith to ride on camels to Aswan,

and Agnes to sit on the rocks while the boat descended, and afterwards to proceed in the sandal. After some discussion, the last of the three plants was adopted. After a hurried breakfast, we got into the small boat and were rowed to a high bank overlooking the great gate of the cataract, which is only used to take boats down and is altogether different from the place where they are drawn up. It is a powerful rush of water of considerable

length in a narrow rocky channel. At length the Dahabi appeared with its three flags flying, and a number of Nubians on the prow. It was a very pretty sight to see it dart into the boiling current with the swiftness of an arrow, and after swaying to and fro several times, and once almost dashing against the rocks, arrive at the end of the rapid, where the white waves dashed over it, and then tossed it into smoother water. There the dip of the oars announced, much to our satisfaction,

that it was again completely under human control. The scene was made all the more impressive by the solemn stillness that reigned around. Not a creature besides ourselves witnessed it. The race of the cataract claimed our captain's turban as his perquisite. He wore two turbans with great dignity,

while Ali shut the door sat with discrowned temples on his own deck. The sandal was soon sent below the rapid to take us down. As the Nubians rode, they chanted in a sort of low recitative, quite different from Arab singing. They informed us that the Prince of Wales had been six days on the Nile,

a sign of the Queen's being still on the throne, that his party consumed daily a hundred sheep, six calves, five hundred eggs, and a hundred gallons of milk. On our remarking that the Princess could scarcely have so large an appetite, height, they replied that they had eight hundred soldiers with them. We remained five days at Aswan,

in the hope of seeing the royal party arrive. Sertesa occupied his time preparing an illumination, and going about in the sandal, which was seldom at our disposal, to visit the other boats. Amongst others he visited, the lady whom he had formerly maligned so much, making some trifling pretext serve as an excuse for so doing. He had discovered an egg in the grass which one of her hens had laid. He also stated that a gentleman had entrusted him with a hundred pounds to buy

lace at Malta, and that many parties came to ask him to settle disputes amongst their sailors. We at length became tired of waiting, and were detained, either by contrary wind or Sertesa's perverseness, half a mile above Silsili, where the prince's steamer had run on a sandbank. Sertesa bought some milk from a woman that day. She was crying bitterly, he said, because all she had was three old cows and two young ones, and the governor had taken the two young ones for

the prince's use, or his own. She would soon have nothing to turn the water wheel on which she depended. She had lost a son in Ibram Pasha's army, and another was a soldier at Cairo. Early next morning the Royal de Hobbes passed us. The first one was towed by a handsome white steamer. No one was stirring on deck. Serteza fired two pistol shots, whereupon the curtain of one of the windows was lifted, and then dropped. Next came a steamer fitted up with a kitchen,

on the deck of which we could see a cook busy preparing breakfast. We wondered if the prince ever asked what his breakfast cost. Half an hour later the white steamer came paddling down, having probably found the water too shallow, and a black substitute came rushing up in hot haste. End of chapter 7, part 1