of Medinah Kaboo; also inspected a
small temple of "Thotmas III," passing the "Colons" on our way to the
small boats, to which we were carried through the water in the arms of
natives. We lay at Luxor three days, leaving at 11:00 a. m. the fourth
morning after our arrival. We stopped at Esneh, where another temple was
on exhibition, and proceeded to Edfoo, where we tied up for the night.
There we saw really a wonderful temple, fresh from the hands of the
excavators. On the 12th of January we arrived at Assouan, at 4:00 p. m.,
and small boats were brought alongside the steamer for those who wished
to visit the "Elephantine caves." Not to see it would have been just the
thing you should not have missed. And again we buckled on the armor and
struck out direct from the shoulder. The sail around the island was an
agreeable pastime, but the Arabs clamoring for backsheesh and for the
sale of their beads, were beyond human endurance. I felt almost
murderous. I bought a few strings of beads, and for days, whenever I
touched them, each one seemed to cry aloud: backsheesh! backsheesh! We
went from Annan to Philae by train; and what a train! No provision
whatever for the comfort of the traveler. If by chance a seat was given
you, you were in luck; if none was secured, "you beat the bush" all the
way through the desert sands. The distance is not great. In a half or
three-quarters of an hour we are on the spot which artists have sought
and many have longed for and died without the sight. We lunch in among
the ruins, and are then led into the interior of the temple as it now
stands, falling and fallen. Crowds of little Arab children offer their
services as guides, and I recall, with a sense of pathetic pleasure, Mr.
George Hale, with his crown of grey hair, being led by one of these
little girls. "December and May"--old age and infancy. She was not over
five years old, poorly clad, with her silver amulet on a leather string
around her neck, and barefooted. In her hand she carried a Nile fly
brush, with which she would gently attempt to brush off from Mr. Hale
any invader, and in the same breath would whisk it with a vengeance in
the face of any of her comrades who sought to take her charge from her.
It was an amusing scene. Many purchase from these children their
amulet. I could but wonder if they were punished on returning to their
homes for having parted with their talisman, which are religiously
placed upon them in childhood. We now