d like the sea, and formed many an eddy
that broke the force of the current.

The build of the boats was as varied as it was picturesque. Some were
finished off at each end with a great lotus flower curving inwards, the
stem adorned with fluttering flags; others were forked at the poop which
rose to a point; others again were crescent-shaped, with horns at either
end; others bore a sort of a castle or platform on which stood the
pilots; still others were composed of three strips of bark bound with
cords, and were driven by a paddle. The boats for the transport of
animals and chariots were moored side by side, supporting a platform on
which rested a floating bridge to facilitate embarking and disembarking.
The number of these was very great. The horses, terrified, neighed and
stamped with their sounding hoofs; the oxen turned restlessly towards
the shore their shining noses whence hung filaments of saliva, but grew
calmer under the caresses of their drivers. The boatswains marked time
for the rowers by striking together the palms of their hands; the
pilots, perched on the poop or walking about on the raised cabins,
shouted their orders, indicating the manoeuvres necessary to make way
through the moving labyrinth of vessels. Sometimes, in spite of all
precautions, boats collided, and crews exchanged insults or struck at
each other with their oars. These countless crafts, most of them painted
white and adorned with ornaments of green, blue, or red, laden with men
and women dressed in many-coloured costumes, caused the Nile to
disappear entirely over an extent of many miles, and presented under the
brilliant Egyptian sun a spectacle dazzling in its changefulness. The
water, agitated in every direction, surged, sparkled, and gleamed like
quicksilver, and resembled a sun shattered into millions of pieces.

Tahoser entered her barge, which was decorated with wondrous richness.
In the centre stood a cabin, its entablature surmounted with a row of
uraeus-snakes, the angles squared to the shape of pillars, and the walls
adorned with designs. A binnacle with pointed roof stood on the poop,
and was matched at the other end by a sort of altar enriched with
paintings. The rudder consisted of two huge sweeps, ending in heads of
Hathor, that were fastened with long strips of stuff and worked upon
hollow posts. On the mast shivered--for the east wind had just risen--an
oblong sail fastened to two yards, the rich stuff of which was
embr