On reaching Sidney, C. B., and while taking in coal, some funny tricks were played by voyageurs which I must not omit. To get ashore in spite of the officers who kept watch on the wharf, some daring fellows jumped from the vessel's rigging into the empty coal cars returning to the wharf, coming back in the dark and the vessel being a few feet off the wharf, the men had to climb aboard by a rope. Now it happened, that of two friends, one was able to get up, the other was not, neither could his friend help him, they however, contrived a plan, which they carried out to perfection. The one on the wharf laid quietly down, while his friend climbed aboard and there informed our officers that a man had hurt himself by falling off the coal shoot, immediately there was great alarm, lamps were hung over the side and the man discovered by his clothes to be one of the voyageurs, a plank was shoved out over the ship's rail, standing nearly upright and a line hove, (some suggested to put the line around his neck.) However, he was hoisted aboard and carried towards the cabin. While being carried, the apparently lifeless one was seen to open his eyes three or four times, but too many hands evidently had hold of him and so he was brought before the doctor, who eagerly examined him, but soon pronounced him dead, "dead drunk" and ordered him to be taken to his bunk, where he soon sat up laughing and feeling good, to escape so easily.
On arriving in Alexandria, after a fine passage and good treatment we saw our boats, which at the first sight and from a distance, were condemned by the boys, but later experience changed our first impression.
We left the wharf at Alexandria on the 8th of October, at 11 a. m. by train. The first-class carriages were after the English style, but the troop cars in which we were transported were less comfortable, they had four benches placed fore and aft, two in the centre back to back and one on each side with back to outside, lacking the usual conveniences of our Canadian cars. The sides of the car were about four feet high, then open to the roof. We were fifty-six in a car which made it uncomfortably crowded. After leaving Alexandria I was surprised to see people standing up to their necks in the swamps, cutting some kind of grass. I saw also cattle lying perfectly still in the water with just their heads out. This sight scared my boys as to what the heat would be further south. Beyond the swamps on the east side of the road I saw nice gardens, and, what was still more interesting, groves of palm trees with fruit. After two hours' ride we reached the desert, where nothing but sand was to be seen. The whistle went all the time to warn camel drivers, who also use the roadbed, and I did not see any other road for them to travel. Another curiosity was the protective fencing for the road, made of cornstalks to keep back the sand, as we make board fences against the snow. At all the stations, which were far apart, all hands rushed out for a drink of water. We did not meet many trains. During the afternoon we came close to the Nile, which there appeared to be about the same width as the St. Lawrence opposite Caughnawaga. We soon reached a regular Egyptian settlement, with people living in small mud huts, and with chickens, goats, sheep and dogs coming out with the children. The ground appeared to be clay and in the road every three or four feet there was a rat hole and rats dodging in all directions. I saw more rats at a glance than I had ever seen before in all my life. We also saw some ship yards with some boats on the stocks and some on the mud. The boats were about twenty feet long, and one afloat appeared to be wood to within about four inches above water with gunwales of mud and a peculiar sail.
The gunwales were three or four feet high and five or six inches thick. They appeared to be baked hard by the sun, and were water proof, as I afterwards saw several of them loaded so heavily that a great part of the mud gunwales were under water. I suppose mud is used in preference to wood, because wood is very scarce in Egypt and mud is very plentiful. They make the most of the mud which the Nile brings down in such quantities every year. They build houses with it as well as boats and it is this mud which manures and fertilizes the whole land of Egypt.
We soon sighted the pyramids and came to Bulac Station three miles from Cairo at 7 o'clock. It being dark, supper was served which we took into the cars, it consisted of canned meat, bread and tea. We left at eight for Assiout. The sand became very troublesome entering the open cars and I concluded as we were travelling through the night to give my eyes a rest and went to sleep sitting up. Next morning at eight o'clock we reached Assiout about 240 miles from Alexandria, there we saw some Nubian prisoners, black, ugly and desperate looking fellows chained together with large rusty chains round their necks. They were sitting on the ground. We were marched about a quarter of a mile to the river, where there were fleets of steamers and barges, one fleet waiting for us. We were marched on board two barges tied together and after washing about half an inch of mud off our faces with Nile river water, went to breakfast prepared by our own cooks who had left Alexandria twelve hours in advance. After breakfast I went ashore, I noticed in one little mud hut, goats, sheep, dogs and children on the ground and there were flies in the children's faces and eyes beyond description. I got my first near view of a date tree here with its rough bark which I cut with my knife.
THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH.
