His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII

by Marie Belloc Lowndes

During the voyage Queen Alexandra had one very serious adventure. One night the King, who was on board the steamer, observed a light reflected on the side of the Alexandra. He at once gave an alarm, the Queen and Mrs. Grey, who were in the dahabeah, were hurried off to the shore, and the fire, which had been caused by a lighted candle in Prince Louis of Battenberg’s cabin, was put out by the King and his suite. Had not the quick eye of the King discovered the danger a terrible disaster might have happened, for the boats were wooden and scorched by an Egyptian sun, while there were, of course, a considerable number of cartridges on board.

The 14th was Sunday, the first Sunday in Lent, and Mrs. Grey records that King Edward read the service to the party and the servants very impressively. The party frequently landed to visit the temples and the other splendid ruins of ancient Egyptian civilisation. On one occasion the King caught a bat in the large tomb of Rameses IV.

The party started to see the Temple of Karnak by moonlight on the evening of the 18th. The King rode a milk-white ass caparisoned in crimson velvet and gold, while the Queen was mounted on a gray mule. When they approached the temple an electric light was lit between each enormous column, and in the background there was a display of rockets and fireworks, forming stars of different colours. This had been arranged by the King as a surprise for the Queen, though Mrs. Grey confesses that the secret had been accidentally revealed. However, she describes the whole scene as one of surprising beauty. She walked alone with the Queen amid the gigantic columns, until they were recalled to the prosaic luxury of the nineteenth century by being offered glasses of iced champagne.

The 20th was rendered memorable by a mishap; all the steamers stuck fast in the ground, with the result that everybody had to turn out, and all the luggage had to be removed in order to lighten the boats. The King and Queen and Mrs. Grey were entertained on board the Duke of Sutherland’s steamer at dinner, and by the next day the difficulty of the sand-banks had been surmounted, thanks to the smaller steamer which the Viceroy’s foresight had provided.

On the 21st the King again read Divine Service, and the party arrived at Assouan. Here they found a large number of camels ready to carry the baggage across from the First Cataract to Philæ, whither the party rode to see the boats in which they were to go on to the Second Cataract. On the 22nd the King started first in order to pay a visit to Lady Duff Gordon, who was living in her dahabeah a little above Assouan; while the Queen, the Duke of Sutherland, and Mrs. Grey followed in a boat to the foot of the First Cataract, where they were to meet the King. There seems to have been some hitch in the arrangements, but Queen Alexandra was not at all disconcerted, and was highly amused at having to ride a wretched donkey without a bridle, and with a cushion for a saddle, though Mrs. Grey, who was no better mounted, regarded the incident with less philosophy. After a time, however, they met their own donkeys, and ultimately joined the King’s party, who had been getting very anxious.

The Duke of Sutherland and his party left on the 23rd, while the Royal party continued their voyage in two new dahabeahs tied together, and towed by a small steamer. The accommodation was not nearly so good as it had been below Philæ. The Queen and Mrs. Grey landed frequently, and the latter notes that her Royal mistress found great pleasure in distributing the baksheesh for which the natives were continually asking, especially the little children. On one occasion the Queen and her lady-in-waiting found a donkey running about; they caught it, and the Queen mounted it and rode through the fields in the cleverest way without saddle or bridle.

Meanwhile the King was very anxious for crocodile, but he had very poor luck, though he had better sport with fishing. It was not, indeed, until the 28th that he had a fair shot at a crocodile, which he killed at fifty yards with his first barrel. The excitement was tremendous among the party, for, as is well known, the shyness of these beasts is so great that they are among the most difficult game to stalk in the world. This specimen was 9 feet long and 4 feet round the body; and it was at once skinned with a view to being stuffed. Inside the creature was found a quantity of pebbles, two bottles full of which were brought away as mementoes.

The King and Queen throughout the voyage took the greatest interest in the antiquities along the route, visiting all that were accessible. Mrs. Grey mentions how much Queen Alexandra enjoyed the extreme peacefulness of the life led by the party, for there was no post nor any papers, and, after the first inconvenience had worn off, the feeling that no means existed of either sending or receiving letters soon became perfectly delightful.

A touching incident occurred at Wady Halfa on 3rd March. The party were at dinner, when the King and Queen took a fancy to a little boy whom they saw watching the torches, which were always fixed in the ground on shore wherever the Royal dahabeah stopped for the night. On being questioned, the child said that his father was dead, his mother had married again, and he had not a friend in the world. He was delighted with the idea of going with the party, and so he was engaged as a pipe cleaner. The only property he had was a white linen shirt and a white cap. Mrs. Grey describes him as an intelligent ugly little boy, not very black, but rather bronzed, and wearing a large silver ring in one ear.

Whenever the dahabeah stopped, numbers of natives came down to the bank, mostly children; and at first the Queen used to throw them bread and oranges, but it was discovered that they regarded empty bottles as much more valuable, and for these there was the greatest competition, although in the end they generally agreed to divide the spoil equally in the most good-humoured manner. At one place a little Nubian monkey was presented to Queen Alexandra, and the fortunate donor was presented in return with a double-barrelled English fowling-piece and some money.