The last boat that I assisted in passing was on the 14th of January and on the 15th I received orders to start for Wady Halfa, which brought my active service in the Egyptian Expedition to a close.
We arrived at Wady Halfa on the 18th of January where I found Captains Aumond and McRae and nearly two hundred voyageurs. At Wady Halfa I witnessed the military funeral of a Gordon Highlander, which was a novel sight to me.
One dark night, long after the retiring bugle had sounded, an alarm gun was fired. I went out of my tent and to my astonishment I found the soldiers already prepared to fight. No lights had been used and it was a mystery to me how the men could get ready in so short a time. I could see that in a real attack, the enemy would not get much advantage over these men.
I must mention here a curious sight I witnessed at the funeral of an Egyptian, before lowering the body into the grave they put a small coin into his mouth, and I found out, that their belief is, that the dead have to cross a river to get into the "happy hunting grounds" and I concluded that the ferryman, not ferrying on "tick" they had provided their comrade with his fare. Before leaving Wady Halfa, I had the satisfaction to see two of my Iroquois carry off the first prizes for running at the United Service Sports, held under the patronage of the Station Commandant Col. Duncan and the officers.
We left Wady Halfa on the 29th January, arriving at Cairo, February 5th, where an opportunity was given us to visit the following places of interest: Kass el-Nil Bridge, Kass-el-Nil Barracks, Abdin Square and Palace, The Mosque Sultan-Hassan, the Citadel, the Mosque Mohamet-Ali, the Native Bazaar, the Esbediah Gardens, and finally Gizeh and the Pyramids.
We sailed from Alexandria on February 6th, 1885, well pleased with what we had seen in the land of the Pharos and proud to have shown the world that the dwellers on the banks of the Nile, after navigating it for centuries, could still learn something of the craft from the Iroquois Indians of North America and the Canadian voyageurs of many races.
I cannot conclude without expressing my satisfaction at the handsome treatment accorded us by the British Government, and should our services be of assistance in the proposed Fall campaign in Egypt, they will be freely given. We were allowed just double the amount of clothing stipulated in the contract, the overcoats being given to us at Malta on our way home.
Judging by the stores we conveyed up the Nile the army will not fare badly, we carried Armour's beef, bacon, preserved meat, mutton, vegetables, Ebswurt's crushed peas for soup, pickles, pepper, salt, vinegar, hard biscuit, cabin biscuit, flour, oatmeal, rice, sugar, tea, coffee, cheese, jam, medicine, lime juice, soap, matches, tobacco.
Whoever designed the boats struck the right dimensions perfectly. Each boat was made to carry ten days' rations, including everything in the above list, for a hundred men, ten men with kits and accoutrements, and about a half ton of ammunition.
