that is abundant and consequently they had not much value, but there were several very rare specimens. One in particular was so rare that only one like it was known to exist in Egypt, and it was worth any sum of money that a seller would ask and a buyer would give.
He was sure they were genuine, and he scouted the notion that they were fabrications for the reason that he had paid less than it would cost to fabricate them. These coins were found around Denderah, and we saw the natives digging in the rubbish in several places in search of them. Occasionally a native makes a good find, but he never knows its value, and will sell his prize cheaply. A coin collector who knows his business would do well to make the voyage of the Nile.
We had half a day’s steaming from Keneh to Luxor, and turned some pretty bends in the river where the scenery was quite picturesque. We passed several dahabeeahs on their way up stream and greeted them with our steam whistle and by dipping our flag to which they responded by dipping theirs. Every dahabeeah carries a flag showing the nationality of the parties on board; this is an inflexible rule, and a very good one, and often leads to friendly acquaintance among persons of similar nationalties. The steamboat saluted every dahabeeahs; she was not proud because she was a steamboat, and we were glad to perceive that the others were not proud because they were dahabeeahs.
In this part of the river we observed a great number of pigeons flying around; these birds abound all along the Nile but are specially numerous in this locality. The pigeon houses are built over the dwellings and are two or three stories high; they have a likeness to the battlements of old castles, as they are narrower at top than at bottom, and the entrances for the birds have a strong resemblance to port holes. Branches of trees are put near the holes to assist the birds in alighting, and they give rather a curious appearance to the houses. Hundreds of these pigeons can be seen in the air at once, and sometimes the flocks are very large. The birds are kept for the sake of their manure; pigeon dung is the only kind of manure used on the fields in Egypt, and it is quite an article of commerce.
In Cairo a great many pigeons are kept on the roofs of houses; they fly around and pick up their food where they can find it, and their owners make a very fair revenue from the sale of the manure as well as from that of the birds. Mohammedans do not eat them but the large number of Christians in Egypt ensures a good market. The hotels have them very often in their bills of fare.
It was about noon when we reached Luxor and tied up to the bank in front of the American Consulate. There was a crowd of donkey-boys, guides, and miscellaneous citizens to meet us, and as soon as we were on shore they surrounded us at once.
The Professor was happy as he found plenty of old coins, but he did not find them as cheap as at Denderah. The most numerous speculators were the dealers in antiquities, such as fragments of mummies, pieces of coffins, scarabées, and bits of marble and other stones cut into the shape of ancient statues.
They have an odd way of offering their stuff to you; without saying a word they come up and hold out the thing they have for sale, and sometimes if it is a skull they hold it disagreeably near to your face. Ask the price and then make an offer, and be sure to make the offer small enough. They refuse and turn away; in a few minutes they come up again with the same thing and offer it in the same manner as if they do not know you have seen it before Refuse and refuse again; they depart, or at all events put their things in their pockets at each refusal, but they return again in a few minutes.
There was one man with a string of scarabees and another with a miniature bust of one of the old kings that I think offered their wares as often as once in five minutes during all the time I was accessible to them. They do not talk under such circumstances unless you talk first; they glide silently in front of you, and then hold up what they have to sell, as though endeavoring to secure your admiration.
The articles mostly dealt in are scarabee,—those imitations in hard stone of the Egyptian beetle that are found in many of the mummy coffins. Some of them make pretty finger rings, and I have one that makes a capital seal, as it bears the signet of one of the kings of the XIXth Dynasty. They are of all sizes, from the small stones placed on the finger of a mummy or strung into necklaces, up to some as large as a goose egg, and even much larger. Some of these large ones are simply marvellous. They are of very hard stone,—porphyry, feldspar, basalt, serpentine, carnelian, and the like, and are covered on the under side with finely cut hieroglyphics, generally passages from the Ritual of the Dead.