Up the Nile in a Sail-Boat—Starting for the Cataracts—Advantages of a Dragoman—A Tricky Lot—Frauds on Travellers—Our Party—Rather Cosmopolitan—Getting Ahead of Mr. Cook—Our Little Game, and How it Worked—A Bath with Spectators—Decidedly Cool—Getting Aground—A Picturesque Landscape—Last Glimpse of the Pyramids—Spending Night on Shore—Among the Ruins of Memphis—The Wonders of Egyptian Art—What Marrielte Bey Discovered—Laying Bare a Mysterious Sepulchre—Ancient Egyptian Worship—Sacred Bulls and Beetles—A History Written in Stone—Bricks Made by the Israelites,........[...529]
CHAP XLIII—LIFE ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE.—COPTS, JUGGLERS, AND THIEVES.—AMUSING EXPERIENCES.
Through an Arab Village—Creating a Sensation—The “Doubter” Alarmed—The Professor Perpetrates a Hoax—The Egyptian Saratoga—An Oriental Post-office—A Queer Town—Specimens of Ancient Art—A Wooden Statue Three Thousand Years Old—A Coptic Convent—“Backsheesh, Howadji!”—Carrying Money in their Mouths—Sturdy Beggars—An Expert Swimmer—The Copts, who are they? Skilful Swindlers—Sugar Mills on the Banks of the Nile—Egyptian Jugglers—A Snake-Charmer—Adroit Thieves—A Melancholy Experience in Donkey-riding,.......[...542]
CHAP XLIV—ADVENTURES IN UPPER EGYPT.—FUN AND FROLIC WITH THE NATIVES.
Siout, the Capital of Upper Egypt—The Pasha’s Palace—An Egyptian Market Day—A Swift Boat—Going the rounds on a Donkey—Town Scenes—The Bazaars—Buying a Donkey—Tinkers, Peddlers, and Cobblers at work—A Curiosity Shop—Three Card Monte in the Land of the Pharaohs—Fighting the Tiger—The Professor takes a Hand—An Ignominious Defeat—A Doleful Tale—A River where the Wind is always Fair—The Temple and Tablet of Abydos—“Backsheesh” as a Medicine—Arab Villages in an Inundation—The Garden of the Valley—Fun with the Natives—A constant resource for a Practical Joker—Scrambling for Money—A Severe Joke,.........[...554]
CHAP XLV—THE DANCING GIRLS OF KENEH.—THE TREASURES OF DENDERAH.
The Dates and Dancing Girls of Keneh—The Alma and the Ghawazee—The Dalilahs of Cairo—Going to the Dance Hall—An Outlandish Orchestra—The Drapery of the Dancers—The Cairo Wriggle—Curious Posturing—A Weird Scene-Dress and Undress—Miracles of Motion—A Fête at the German Consulate—Models for Painters and Sculptors—Arab and Nubian Nymphs—The Temple of Denderah—History Hewn in Stone—Cleopatra and her Portrait—The Fatal Asp—A Bit of Doggerel—The Coins of Old Egypt—The Professor’s Bargain—Digging for Treasure—Arrival at Luxor—Taking in Strangers,.........[...568]
CHAP XLVI—LUXOR, THE CITY OF GIANTS—AMONG THE MUMMIES OF ANCIENT THEBES.
Luxor on the Site of Ancient Thebes—A City with a Hundred Gates—Enjoying a Consul’s Hospitality—An American Citizen of African Descent—A Dignified Rhinoceros—Karnak—A City of Wonders—Promenading in an Avenue of Sphinxes—A Gigantic Temple—Monster Obelisks—A Story in Stone—A Statue Weighing Nine Hundred Tons—The Sitting Colossi—A Singing Statue—Mysteries of Priestcraft—Lunching in the Tomb of Rameses—A Wonderful Treasure—How They Made Mummies—A Curious Process—The “Doubter” and the Mummy Sellers—The Judge Comes to Grief,........[...585]