But what security, said I, have you that I do not rob you of this, and get you thrown into the Nile some night? No, no, says he, that I know is impossible. I have never been able to sleep till I spoke to you; do with me what you please, and my money too, only keep me out of the hands of those murderers. “Well, well, said I, now you have got rid of your money, you are safe, and you shall be my servant; lye before the door of my dining-room all night, they dare not hurt a hair of your head while I am alive.”
The Pyramids, which had been on our right hand at different distances since we passed the Saccara, terminated here in one of a very singular construction. About two miles from the Nile, between Suf and Woodan, there is a Pyramid, which at first sight appears all of a piece; it is of unbaked bricks, and perfectly entire; the inhabitants call it the [105]False Pyramid. The lower part is a hill exactly shaped like a Pyramid for a considerable height. Upon this is continued the superstructure in proportion till it terminates like a Pyramid above; and, at a distance, it would require a good eye to discern the difference, for the face of the stone has a great resemblance to clay, of which the Pyramids of the Saccara are composed.
Hassan Abou Cuffi was as good as his word in one respect; he came in the night, and had not drunk much fermented liquors; but he could find no spirits, he said, and that, to be sure, was one of the reasons of his return; I had sat up a great part of the night waiting a season for observation, but it was very cloudy, as all the nights had been since we left Cairo.
The 18th, about eight o’clock in the morning, we prepared to get on our way; the wind was calm, and south. I asked our Rais where his fair wind was which he promised to bring? He said, his wife had quarrelled with him all night, and would not give him time to pray; and therefore, says he with a very droll face, you shall see me do all that a Saint can do for you on this occasion. I asked him what that was? He made another droll face, “Why, it is to draw the boat by the rope till the wind turns fair.” I commended very much this wise alternative, and immediately the vessel began to move, but very slowly, the wind being still unfavourable.
On looking into Mr Norden’s voyage, I was struck at first sight with this paragraph[106]: “We saw this day abundance of camels, but they did not come near enough for us to shoot them.”—I thought with myself, to shoot camels in Egypt would be very little better than to shoot men, and that it was very lucky for him the camels did not come near, if that was the only thing that prevented him. Upon looking at the note, I see it is a small mistake of the translator[107], who says, “that in the original it is Chameaux d’eau, water-camels; but whether they are a particular species of camels, or a different kind of animal, he does not know.”
But this is no species of camel, it is a bird called a Pelican, and the proper name in Arabic, is Jimmel el Bahar, the Camel of the River. The other bird like a partridge, which Mr Norden’s people shot, and did not know its name, and which was better than a pigeon, is called Gooto, very common in all the desert parts of Africa. I have drawn them of many different colours. That of the Deserts of Tripoli, and Cyrenaicum, is very beautiful; that of Egypt is spotted white like the Guinea-fowl, but upon a brown ground, not a blue one, as that latter bird is. However, they are all very bad to eat, but they are not of the same kind with the partridge. Its legs and feet are all covered with feathers, and it has but two toes before. The Arabs imagine it feeds on stones, but its food is insects.
After Comadreedy, the Nile is again divided by another fragment of the island, and inclines a little to the westward. On the east is the village Sidi Ali el Courani. It has only two palm-trees belonging to it, and on that account hath a deserted appearance; but the wheat upon the banks was five inches high, and more advanced than any we had seen. The mountains on the east-side come down to the banks of the Nile, are bare, white, and sandy, and there is on this side no appearance of villages.
The river here is about a quarter of a mile broad, or something more. It should seem it was the Angyrorum Civitas of Ptolemy, but neither night nor day could I get an instant for observation, on account of thin white clouds, which confused (for they scarce can be said to cover) the heavens continually.
We passed now a convent of cophts, with a small plantation of palms. It is a miserable building, with a dome like to a saint’s or marabout’s, and stands quite alone.
About four miles from this is the village of Nizelet el Arab, consisting of miserable huts. Here begin large plantations of sugar canes, the first we had yet seen; they were then loading boats with these to carry them to Cairo. I procured from them as many as I desired. The canes are about an inch and a quarter in diameter, they are cut in round pieces about three inches long, and, after having been slit, they are steeped in a wooden bowl of water. They give a very agreeable taste and flavour to it, and make it the most refreshing drink in the world, whilst by imbibing the water, the canes become more juicy, and lose a part of their heavy clammy sweetness, which would occasion thirst. I was surprized at finding this plant in such a state of perfection so far to the northward. We were now scarcely arrived in lat. 29°, and nothing could be more beautiful and perfect than the canes were.