THEY BROUGHT WATER IN GOATSKINS FROM THE NILE.
"This way! this way! ladies and gentlemen, if you please!" exclaimed Mahmoud, and the merry cavalcade of eighty tourists and one hundred attendants started off through the village, donkey boys chattering, donkeys braying, and riders gaily chaffing one another on their appearance in the saddle; the long-legged professor holding up his feet to prevent them from scraping the ground and the jolly stout parson mounted on the smallest donkey. Each donkey was followed by a donkey boy who whipped the patient beast, jabbed him with a sharp pointed stick, twisted the animal's tail, or talked to him in Arabic, when it was necessary to urge him to greater speed. When urged, the donkeys were fast walkers. But whether the donkeys were walking, trotting, or galloping, the boys with little exertion managed to keep close to their heels, and the jinrikisha men and chair men could keep up such a rapid speed with their loads that it was difficult to leave them in the rear.
BUILT OVER FORTY CENTURIES AGO.
My donkey boy, aged about sixteen, told me that his name was Abda Mohammed and that the medium sized white donkey on which I rode was known as Alice Lovell. With broad smiles which showed a perfect set of white teeth, he repeated over and over again, at intervals during the short ride, "Alice Lovell, nice donkey, good donkey. Abda, nice boy, good donkey boy," doubtless thinking that if I could fully realize that fact the backsheesh at parting would be larger.
A half hour's ride on an embanked road across fields and desert sands brought us to the ruins of a great arch, formerly one of the gateways into the magnificent ancient temples of Karnak, but now an entrance way to the famous ruins. There, the Egyptian guards ordered us to show our government permits, or monument tickets, as our dragoman called them, without which we could not inspect the ruins.
HAVE ENDURED THROUGH MANY AGES.
"Oh! I have forgotten my ticket!" said one of the tourists. "I left it with my satchel. What shall I do?"
At luncheon before starting Mahmoud had cautioned the tourists to be careful not to forget their permits, and his cautionary words, "Monument tickets are very much wanted," were familiar and often repeated. A hurried consultation was held and the difficulty overcome, but the forgetful one and others were warned that it must not occur again.