Egypt without the Nile would be a desert. ‘Anyone,’ says old Herodotus, the father of history, the truth of whose narrative every day becomes more apparent to everyone who sees Egypt, without having heard a word about it before, ‘must perceive, if he has only common powers of observation, that the Egypt to which the Greeks go in their ships is an acquired country, the gift of the Nile.’
The prosperity of the country depends upon its inundation: if it should prove excessive, and becomes what is termed a high Nile, towns and villages are sometimes swept away; if it should not rise above a certain height, it is called a low Nile—a large area will be left uncovered, and deficient crops will be the result. Fortunately, a low Nile is of rare occurrence. At one time, the only way of going up the Nile was by the dahabeah, a kind of yacht fitted up for the convenience of travellers, an expensive and dilatory mode of conveyance. Now Mr. John Cook has a line of fine steamers, and the Nile and the journey up and down is done as safely and expeditiously as the trip by the Clacton Belle steamers up and down the Thames. The voyage to Assouan and back is done in three weeks. Facilities are afforded the traveller for the extension of his voyage to the second cataract.
Of course, the ancient Egyptians worshipped the Nile. Hapi, the god of the Nile, is represented wearing a cluster of flowers on his head; he is coloured red and green, probably to represent the colours of the water of the Nile immediately before and just after the beginning of the inundation. An illustration of this worship occurs upon a wall in Thebes, where a priest, in his painted robe, is offering incense, while others play on a harp, a guitar, and two reed pipes. This is the song of one of the priests who lived 1,400 years before Christ:
‘Adoration to the Nile! Hail, to thee, O Nile! who manifesteth thyself over this land, and comest to give life to Egypt; mysterious is the coming forth from the darkness, watering the orchards created by Ra (the sun-god), to cause all the cattle to live. Thou givest the earth to drink, inexhaustible one. Thou createst the corn; thou bringest forth the barley, causing the temples to keep holiday. If thou ceasest thy toil and thy work, then all that exists is in anguish. . . . None
know the place where he dwells; none discover his retreat by the aid of a written spell. All is changed by the inundation. It is a healing balm for all mankind. A festal song is raised for the harp with the accompaniments of the hand,’ etc.
In a valuable work on the Nile, written by Wallis Budge, Acting Assistant Secretary in the department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum, and published by Thomas Cook and Son, we have a beautiful illustration of the practical side of Egyptian theology, written by a scribe called Ani, who gives his son advice for behaviour in all the varied scenes of life. It is taken from one of the papyri in the Egyptian Museum at Ghizeh:
‘If a man cometh to seek thy counsel, let this drive thee to look for information.
‘Enter not into the house of another; if a man asks thee into his house, it is an honour for thee.
‘Spy not upon the acts of another from thy house.
‘Be not the first to enter or leave an assembly, that thy name be not tarnished.
‘The sanctuary of God abhorreth noisy declamations. Pray humbly, and with a loving heart whose words are spoken silently; God will then protect thee, and hear thy petitions, and accept thy offerings.
‘Consider what hath been. Set before thee a correct rule of life as an example to follow. The messenger of death will come to thee, as to others, to carry thee away; yea, he standeth ready. Words will profit thee nothing, for he cometh—he is ready. Say not, “I am a child; wouldst thou in very truth bear me away?” Thou knowest not how thou wilt die. Death cometh to meet the babe at his mother’s breast, even as he meeteth the old man who hath finished his course.
‘Take heed with all diligence that thou woundest no man with thy words.
‘Keep one faithful steward only and watch his deeds, and let thy hand protect the man who hath charge of thy house and property.
‘The man who hath received much and giveth little is as one who committeth an injury.
‘Be not ungrateful to God, for He giveth thee existence.
‘Sit not while another standeth, if he be older than thou or if he is thy superior.
‘Whosoever speaketh evil receiveth no good.’
CHAPTER XVII.
THE RETURN TO MARSEILLES.
What memories crowd on me as I step into the tug which is to take me and the rest of us, in a confused mass, stowed away amidst the luggage, to the Custom House at Marseilles, a fine, handsome building, apparently in the very heart of the town, with shipping of many nations all around; for has not Marseilles in our time come to be the headquarters of all those who, fearing the Bay of Biscay, have a mind to make their way along the historic shores, and on the blue waters of the Mediterranean? As I leave the Custom House, a friend says to me: ‘I have soon got out. You see, there is nothing lost by civility. I took my luggage to one of the officers, took off my hat to him, and he came directly and let me go through.’ I replied to the effect that I was more successful, as I had been out a quarter of an hour before my friend, and I never took off my hat, but simply held out my Gladstone, which confirms me in my original idea, which, I mention for the benefit of travellers, that the real secret of getting one’s examination over is simply to have nothing for the Custom House officer to search.
