"The animal is their prize, as he cannot tear out the harpoons or break the ropes, and his enemies are out of his reach. They sit down and wait for him to exhaust his strength by struggling, and then he can be finished with spears and knives, as they are unprovided with fire-arms. I have seen several of these animals captured in this way; the only danger is that he may upset them before they have taken the ropes to land and made them fast."
By the time Abdul's story was ended the boat was back at the landing-place in front of Aboo Hamed, and in a few minutes the boys were once more in their tents. Their excursion had given them a keen relish for supper, which consisted of a stew of mutton from a sheep which Abdul had bought before they started for Mokrat. Whenever it was possible to obtain food by purchase they did so, and preserved their canned provisions against such times as they should need them in the heart of Africa.
They had expected to go by river from Aboo Hamed to Berber, but unfortunately there was no boat to be hired, and therefore a new bargain was made with the camel-drivers to continue the journey by land. The boys had become accustomed to the Arab mode of travel, and did not particularly regret the absence of a boat. The dragoman told the Doctor that they would get along faster and cheaper with the camels than with a boat, as there was a cataract to be passed about half way on the route, where they would be subject to delay and the inevitable demand of the natives for backsheesh. The day's halt had refreshed the camels and their riders, and early the second morning the procession wound along the road as gayly as it had departed from Korosko.
Much of the way the route was along the bank of the Nile, sometimes in the desert sands, and sometimes among rich fields where the natives were at work attending to their crops, or lying idle in the warm sun. Occasionally a bend of the stream caused the caravan to take a short cut of several hours among rocky ridges or over stretches of yellow sand that reflected a painful glare to unprotected eyes. The camp was made each night on the bank of the Nile, and generally in the neighborhood of a village. The inhabitants were miserably poor, and it was difficult to buy anything more than a few vegetables and eggs, and possibly a lean and unattractive chicken. The natives are heavily oppressed with taxation, and frequently their goods are taken from them by the Egyptian officials, and they receive no payment in return. Several times they fled as our friends approached, and it was not an easy matter to assure them they would not be harmed.
Several times the party had glimpses of gazelles that abound in this region, but have been hunted so much that they are very shy. Frank and Fred were eager for a gazelle hunt, but it was not deemed advisable to halt the caravan sufficiently long to accommodate them. Their chances of success were very slight, from the wildness of the game and their inexperience, and a very little argument induced them to postpone the chase till they were more certain of bringing something home that would make a good dinner. Abdul told them there were formerly wild asses in the Wady El-Homar; they subsisted on the hard, thorny grass that grows there, but were very fleet and shy, so that they were rarely caught except by stratagem. The wady, or valley, is a pass among the hills which come down to the river in long ridges, and are destitute of water except in the season of rains.
As they approached Berber the sterility of the scene diminished, though the travellers were not out of the desert until near the city. On the other side of the river the fields stretched away for a long distance, and Frank remarked that the picture reminded him of the delta of the Nile in the neighborhood of Cairo. They met or passed crowds of people going between Berber and the surrounding villages, many on foot, and others mounted on camels and donkeys, the latter being the most numerous. As they passed the mud walls and entered the city, the attention of our youthful friends was centred on the people rather than on the architecture of the place. The houses were not unlike those of the towns of Lower Egypt, but the inhabitants were quite different in appearance, and both Frank and Fred remarked that they were in a new country.
A BERBER ARAB.