212

A MURDERED MAN.

the river rushes with extraordinary velocity. A jungle of sedge and tall reeds, through which it is very difficult to force a passage, covers the whole surface of the island; and, in warm weather, must be a nest of serpents. On the south-western promontory I found, among the sand, a number of small semitransparent pebbles of various colours; and the sand itself, coarse and angular, as not yet reduced to its proper state, seemed to consist entirely of particles of decomposed granite. It was raised in clouds by the wind, and driven with so much violence into our faces, that it was painful to open the eyes; so that a few hours passed in such a place would probably cause a dangerous ophthalmia.

CXLII. Not far south of this island, and nearly in front of the village of Shendawieh, where (as Denon has observed) the Nile is bordered by a bank of fine green turf, we came suddenly upon a party of three fellahs and a boy, who were employed in digging a grave for a murdered man. The body lay on its back in the sun, close to the river, having no other covering than a coarse blue shirt. The head was bare, and blood was oozing from a deep gash in the occiput, and from the mouth, eyes, and nostrils. If one might judge by the features, it was the corpse of a Nubian from about Dóngola, and appeared to have been some hours in the river, being swollen and livid. Two young men were digging the pit on the edge of a field of dhourra, close to the pathway used by the trackers; while an old man sat by silently

ARAB BOAT-BUILDERS. `.

213

watching their operations. The boy, with a face of fear and wonder, knelt at the grave's head, looking anxiously on. When the pit was thought deep enough, the old man and the grave-diggers proceeded to take up the body; which they laid in the ground, with the head towards the west, and the feet towards Mekka and the Nile. A tattered garment, seemingly belonging to the deceased, was thrown over the face; the arms were stretched down by the sides; a quantity of dhourra straw was placed upon the body, and the earth closed over all. Not having our servants with us, we could not learn the history of this murder; but it appeared to have been effected by those rude spears, with iron heads two feet in length, which are the common weapon of the fellahs.

CXLIII. Leaving this spot, we continued our walk along the shore, until, opposite Nesle, we found a number of shipwrights at work on the frame of a very neat boat. The Arabs, like the Parsees of Bombay, appear to have a kind of instinctive expertness in ship, or rather boat-building; for nowhere perhaps, in the world, are there found small vessels more excellent, or better adapted to the sort of navigation in which they are employed, than the kandjias and other small craft on the Nile. The river here expands greatly, until you reach Benisooëf, where it presents to the eye a magnificent expanse of waters, which, when we arrived, was glowing with all the golden tints of the setting sun. In front of the bar

214

ARRIVAL AT BENISOOËF.

racks, a large white building of good appearance, there is an open space of ground, surrounded on three sides by rows of lofty spreading trees. One of these rows, of tall mimosas, runs along the Nile; and a fine promenade might easily be made under the shelter of its overhanging boughs. We moored near this spot, where we found a number of Turkish and Albanian soldiers lounging about, and looking at the water; very merry, and, seemingly, civil fellows, exceedingly different from what they were a few years ago, when every traveller who ventured into these inhospitable regions might be said to carry his life in his hand.

TURE -CONFLAGRATIONS ON THE PLAIN-REMAINS OF A BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT -ARAB MODE OF SPINNING -ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL SUNSET-SITE OF CYNOPOLIS

RUINS

ROCK

Tuesday, Dec. 18. Near Malakhah.

CXLIV. Early in the morning we landed, with our Arabs, to see the town. Benisooëf is a place of some consideration, with several mosques, caravanserais, and large private houses; together with an extensive, well-supplied bazār, frequented, once a week, by all the peasants of the country round. As it happened to be market-day, this bazar, thronged with people, formed an interesting and striking, but not a gay scene. Both sellers and buyers, with but few exceptions, had an air of poverty; and among these exceptions were the officers of a regiment of cavalry quartered in the town, whose gorgeous uniforms, glittering with gold, contrasted disagreeably with the rags

216

BAZAR OF BENISOOËF.

which scarcely covered the nakedness of the halfstarved fellah. If you except the necessaries of life, the articles exposed for sale in an Egyptian bazār would, in general, be regarded with scorn at an English country fair. At an earthenware shop at Benisooëf, for example, all the articles of English manufacture consisted of one small white basin, a soup plate, and a few small dessert plates, of the commonest kind, most of which I bought for four piastres. In another place you see a man vending pipe-heads, whose whole stock might be purchased for five shillings; yet he gets his living, such as it is, by selling them. Another person has a few onions; another a small quantity of dates; a third, the most thriving person by far, is engaged in selling hot cakes, mixed with butter, at ten paras each, which he bakes as you eat them. Bread every day grows cheaper as you ascend the Nile. At Benisooëf we bought, for a piastre, sixteen small cakes, as nice, though not quite so fine, as muffins; thirty-two eggs for the same money; eight small lemons, or rather citrons, for ten paras; mutton, twenty-five paras per pound; butter and milk, both excellent, were rather dearer.

CXLV. From this part of the bazār we proceeded to that which is held among the large mounds of rubbish, to the north of the town. Here we observed a more lively scene. On one side, near an old wall, were a number of water-jars, pots, and pans, with

row of Arab women squatting down behind them, laughing and chatting with infinite glee and