It was nothing else, and I think I must have harrowed, with my hands, feet, and nose, not less than a square rod of land in the vicinity of that donkey, and I also harrowed him and the donkey boy, and would have served the bystanders likewise, if they had not been more numerous than I was. I didn’t feel a bit amiable.
At last we were off. I rode my donkey on foot most of the time, and we went along very well in this way, he walking about two yards behind me, and very amiable and patient, while I was as cross as a man whose shirts haven’t come home from the wash-woman.
We did about six miles altogether that day, and I think I walked altogether about seven miles. To sit on him was a toil worse than walking, and his best gait was when he was standing still. He was splendid on that part of the business, and I don’t think there was ever a donkey that could stand stiller than he.
He was about the size of a Newfoundland dog, so that when I mounted him, my feet touched the ground on both sides. And yet he was one of the best, or rather one of the least bad, of the lot. There were only two or three that surpassed him in personal appearance and strength.
Not one of our party will ever forget that donkey-ride to see the “Antiquities of Egypt;” and when at last the hardships of the journey were over, and we arrived at the Ancient Tombs—the handiwork of man centuries ago—we forgot our sore spots and lame bones, and our ill-nature gave way to curiosity and wonder at the scene around us.
These tombs, or grottos, are hewn in the solid rock, part of them on the bluff, fronting the river, and the rest in a ravine, or valley, that runs inland from the alluvial land of the Nile. The rock is a soft limestone, not difficult to quarry, and quite possibly when these grottos were made, the stone may have been softer than now. The excavations belong mostly to the eleventh and twelfth dynasties, and therefore are not as old as the pyramids of Gizeh and Sakkarah, but older than the temples and monuments at Thebes. They are old enough for all practical purposes, and are very much out of repair.
The walls are covered with paintings and inscriptions, that throw much light on the manners and customs of the time, and it would take more space than I can spare to describe them. Among the most interesting is a series of paintings representing the arrival of some strangers in Egypt; they were at first supposed to be Joseph and his brethren, but this can hardly be, as the tomb was made several hundred years before Joseph’s arrival. In one of the tombs there are representations of various tradesmen at work, and among them are barbers, shoemakers, painters tailors, glass-blowers, and goldsmiths. There are also people playing ball, wrestling, and throwing heavy stones, and in one place a couple of patrons of the prize ring are indulging in the noble art of manly disfiguration.
The tombs, or grottos, are square or oblong chambers, cut in the rock, and the most of them are so well lighted through their door-ways, that candles are not needed. In some instances several chambers are connected, and some of them have wells leading to pits, below where was the real tomb. They are well above the valley, out of the reach of the highest inundations, and from their front there is quite a pretty view. In front of some of them the rock is hewn into pillars and columns, that look at first glance as though brought from elsewhere.