n
close by the riverside, amid flowers in full bloom.

After an early meal (hardly to be called dinner) we went to the
station, just as all the people were going for a drive to Shoubrah in
the smartest carriages and the prettiest toilets.

Our journey to Alexandria in the evening was cool and pleasant. A
huge break met us, and we drove to Abbat's Hotel--considerably
improved since our last visit in 1869.

_Monday, April 30th_.--Got up at 5 a.m. After a deliciously soft but
very muddy bath, I went for a donkey ride before breakfast with
Mabelle. Tom arrived from the yacht in time for twelve o'clock
breakfast, and announced the voyage from Port Said to have been rough
and unpleasant.

We called on the Consul, the Vice-Consul, and our old friend, Consul
Burton of Trieste, Haj Abdullah. He has just returned from a journey
through the ancient land of Midian, undertaken at the special request
of the Viceroy. He describes the expedition as having been most
successful; the climate is almost perfect from September to May; the
land is well watered by little streams flowing through fertile
valleys, and full of fragrant flowers and luscious fruits. The corn
reaches above the camel-men's heads, which means a height of fourteen
or fifteen feet. But the mineral wealth of the country is its most
extraordinary feature. He found traces of gold in the sand of the
river-beds, in spots pointed out to him by his fellow-pilgrims on the
way to Mecca twenty years ago, to say nothing of tin, iron, &c.
Perhaps the most interesting part of his discovery was the remains of
eight ruined cities with traces in the dry river-beds of
stone-crushing and gold-seeking apparatus, which must have been used
centuries ago. He is writing a book on the subject, which you may
perhaps see before you read this.

The Consul kindly sent a janissary with us to show us the Sultan's
palace. It is large and bare of furniture; and the general style of
decoration is like that of the palaces at Cherniga and Dolma Batscher.
Thence we went to see Pompey's Pillar and Cleopatra's Needle, the
dahabeas ready to go up the Nile, &c.; and returned to the hotel in
time for dinner and a chat afterwards in the cool courtyard.

_Tuesday, May 1st_.--I wrote from 3 a.m. to 6.30 a.m., in order to
send letters off by the French mail, and at seven Mabelle and I
sallied forth on donkeys to visit the market. There was not much to
see, however, everything being so crowded and jammed up,