These boats, when laden, were sunk rather deeply, and boards were placed along the sides to prevent the water breaking over. The “Doubter” was puzzled to know why they always put these boards at the sides of the boats. The Professor (this was the name we sometimes gave to Gustave) came to his relief with the following explanation:
“The Nile rises every year, and they put these boards up while the river is high to prevent the water coming into the boats, just as they build up the banks to keep the fields from being drowned out.”
The “Doubter” was satisfied for a moment, but only for a moment.
“But will the boats float on the water, whether the river is high or low,” he asked, “and if they do, what is the use of the side-boards at one time more than another?”
The Professor was equal to the emergency, and explained that the rise of the river was so rapid, and the boats were so slow in their motion, that the flood frequently overtook and swamped them. There was no further conversation on this topic.
One of the points passed early in the morning was Helwan, which contains some remarkable springs of sulphur. They were known to the early Egyptians, and it is recorded that one of the kings used to send leprous persons there, in the hope of curing them, or, at all events, of separating them from the rest of the people. They have been quite neglected in later times, until a few years ago, when their virtues were discovered and a bathhouse and hotel were erected there. They are much visited by Europeans and Turks, and some persons have been benefited by them. An omnibus runs there twice a week from Cairo, and much of the time the hotel is full. The place is in the desert, a little distance from the river, and the absence of shade trees, grass, or anything of the sort, makes the spot rather dreary for a lengthened stay. But the place is gradually growing fashionable, and when it becomes the mode to go there I fancy they will have more hotels and society enough to make the time pass without too much stupidity.
In the afternoon we reached Beni-Soef, and took a stroll through the town, which has a population of about five thousand, and can boast of a fairly-stocked bazaar. We saw nothing of importance in our walk that we had not already seen at Cairo. I strayed from the party and hired a boy to direct me to the post-office, where I posted a letter for America. The place was closed, but luckily I had the proper stamps on the letter, so that there was nothing to do beyond dropping the missive into the box.
The Egyptian postal department is quite well managed; the postmaster general is an Italian, and the most of his employés are of his nationality. The office at Cairo is in a large building, specially erected for it, and you have no trouble in finding the delivery windows and in obtaining the proper stamps, when you want them. They pay great attention to the delivery of letters to foreigners, and a placard in all the hotels informs persons about to ascend the Nile, that by leaving their addresses at the office, they can have their mail matter forwarded to any point on, the river they may designate. The steamboats carry letters to parties on dahabeeahs, and several times the boat was stopped to deliver such parcels.
The pyramid of Meidoon in this vicinity is supposed to be older than any of the pyramids of Gizeh, as it was probably erected by the predecessor of Cheops. All around it are tombs, and some of them have been explored with the most gratifying results. In one of them two stone statues, in perfect preservation, were found in 1872, and are now in the Museum at Cairo.
They belong to the Hid Dynasty, and are consequently more than six thousand years old. The work on them is admirable, and they are evidently likenesses, and excellent ones too. The eyes are made of crystal, with a piece of black porphyry for the pupils, and this combination gives them a remarkably life-like