VIEW ON THE NILE NEAR CAIRO.
The old way of making the journey is by sailing-boat, or dahabeeah. The more modern system is by steamboat, and before many years it will be possible to go by rail along the banks of the river to the first cataract, and ultimately to Khartoum and Gondokaro, if the present scheme of railways in Egypt is carried out.
ANCIENT BOAT ON THE NILE.
The most comfortable form of travel on the Nile is by dahabeeah, but it is also the most expensive, and requires more time than the steamboat. From Cairo to the first cataract and back will require from six to eight weeks by dahabeeah, and if the journey is prolonged to the second cataract, two or three weeks must be added. Three weeks will cover the round trip to the first cataract and back by steamboat, and five weeks will include the second cataract.
For the steamboat trip you have no trouble except to buy your ticket, go on board at the appointed day and hour, and submit patiently to the various impositions devised by the contractors who manage the business. The movements of the boat are carefully arranged beforehand, and the time for visiting the various temples, tombs, and other interesting things on the journey, is all on the schedule of the dragoman or conductor. Travellers of various nationalities are herded together, and must move at the beck and call of the conductor. There is a printed programme of the places to be visited and the hours for visiting them, and if no accident happens you can count on being back in Cairo in twenty days and four hours from the time of starting.
A facetious traveller, who made the Nile journey by steamboat, says that the conductor of his party had a private programme on which was marked the time to be devoted to sentiment as well as to sight-seeing. As they approached the great hall of the Temple of Karnak the conductor glanced at his programme and said,