"In spite of all these delays we reached the well of Abou-Tagger, and, after having come upon an alluvial plain, our eyes rest at last upon the Nile, to which, nearly a month ago, we said au revoir at Cairo, about three hundred miles north of our present position. We hasten to the stream with almost childish glee, and we seem as if we have once more met an old friend with whom we are destined to spend many a long day.
"The Nile, out of gratitude, no doubt, for our hearty greeting and effusive welcome, regales us with a curious spectacle. Picture to yourself an al fresco washing establishment, a congregation of copper-coloured washerwomen, young and pretty, and boasting no other garment than a short, petticoat reaching from the waist to the knees.
"These pretty girls were doing their washing to an accompaniment of song and dance, using their feet, instead of their hands, as 'dollies' to press out the clothes after they have rinsed them in the river and spread them along the bank. They stand first on one foot and then on the other, never on both at the same time, and stamp in unison in slow and measured time.
"Our arrival did not discompose them in the least; they continued to perform their little operation, laughing the while and showing us their white teeth. This unexpected tableau was all the more pleasing to us, as, since we left Souakim, with the exception of our Abyssinian travellers, we had not met amongst the Bischaris tribes any but very unprepossessing specimens of the female race.
"And so at last we rest at Berber, or El-Mecherif, on the right bank of the Nile, in a real house, a perfect palace to us, in real beds, with real mattresses, an accumulation of comforts which, I assure you, plunges us into a sort of ecstacy.
"And now we see what an able leader we have in Madame de Guéran. With what skill she has traced out our route for us! How well she has prepared us for long journeys and severe exertion! How excellently she has arranged our various transitions! If, at one fell swoop, she had compelled us to traverse some far-stretching desert, if she had led us far away from all civilization, straight into the centre of barbarism, without any chance of resuming our wonted habits, she would have run the risk of disgusting some of us. Périères and I, it is true, would have certainly followed her, but with a certain amount of uneasiness, and, possibly, discouragement. But Delange would have been quite capable of cancelling our contract and hurrying back to Paris to start a baccarat bank. The Baroness, however, had let us see just so much of Africa as was calculated to arouse our curiosity without satisfying it, to tire us without affecting our health, to inure us to fatigue without wearing us out. She introduced us to a little bit of a desert, which, so far from frightening us, whetted our appetites and gave us visions of horizons more vast, of plains more extended, of dangers more serious. As yet we only know a kind of toy Africa, harmless and without churlishness, spring-like and temperate, with its oases, its wells, its mountains, its miniature storms, all that makes life agreeable, variety, accident, everything to inspire a love of travel and incite to great discoveries.
"It is in this spirit that Périères, Delange, and I, full of confidence and utterly devoid of fear, more daring and audacious day by day, are undertaking the conquest of Africa. It may rebuff us, may weary us, may terrify us with hardships, but we shall merely halt, rest a while, to-day at Berber, to-morrow at Khartoum, troubled only by the eager longing to go onward, to surmount fresh obstacles, to brave new dangers, and attain our settled goal.
"Do not think from all this, my dear fellow, that the town where we are is an Eden. This halt is pleasurable solely by comparison with the recent ones we have made in the desert. Berber consists simply of a long string of rather low-pitched houses, situate on the right bank of the Nile—a collection of shops and stalls, where European merchandize is exposed for sale at ruinous prices. The market, or bazaar, is very badly supplied, and it is with considerable difficulty that we succeeded in laying in the stock of provisions necessary for us during our journey as far as Khartoum. Fortunately for us, a French merchant, standing very high in these parts, and courteous to a degree, placed himself completely at our disposal, and smoothed away all our difficulties. Thanks to his kind offices, we have chartered a large vessel in which to ascend the Nile, and, acting on his good advice, after getting rid of our camels and their drivers, instead of parting also with our horses we have added some more to our stable. We shall in this way perform our journey, half by land, and half by water—on the Nile so long as it has any features of interest—on horseback, whenever our maps tell us that there is anything worth seeing in the neighbourhood.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
"Our vessel is one of eighty tons, and we muster in all, masters, servants and crew, twenty-five souls. We certainly cannot complain, seeing that most of the boats on the Nile carry a hundred people, all told, without mentioning those which are laden with a cargo of two or three hundred slaves, packed together like herrings in a barrel, or perched like fowls on planks laid horizontally from one mast to the other.