een 'sapping' at the _Alif Bey_ (A B C) to-day, under the
direction of Sheykh Yussuf, a graceful, sweet-looking young man, with a
dark brown face and such fine manners, in his _fellah_ dress--a coarse
brown woollen shirt, a _libdeh_, or felt skull-cap, and a common red
shawl round his head and shoulders; writing the wrong way is very hard
work. Some men came to mend the staircase, which had fallen in and which
consists of huge solid blocks of stone. One crushed his thumb and I had
to operate on it. It is extraordinary how these people bear pain; he
never winced in the least, and went off thanking God and the lady quite
cheerfully. Till to-day the weather has been quite heavenly; last night
I sat with my window open, it was so warm. If only I had you all here!
How Rainie would play in the temple, Maurice fish in the Nile, and you go
about with your spectacles on your nose. I think you would discard
Frangi dress and take to a brown shirt and a _libdeh_, and soon be as
brown as any _fellah_. It was so curious to see Sheykh Yussuf blush from
shyness when he came in first; it shows quite as much in the coffee-brown
Arab skin as in the fairest European--quite unlike the much
lighter-coloured mulatto or Malay, who never change colour at all. A
photographer who is living here showed me photographs done high up the
White Nile. One negro girl is so splendid that I must get him to do me a
copy to send you. She is not perfect like the Nubians, but so superbly
strong and majestic. If I can get hold of a handsome _fellahah_ here,
I'll get her photographed to show you in Europe what a woman's breast can
be, for I never knew it before I came here--it is the most beautiful
thing in the world. The dancing-girl I saw moved her breasts by some
extraordinary muscular effort, first one and then the other; they were
just like pomegranates and gloriously independent of stays or any
support.

January 20, 1864: Sir Alexander Duff Gordon

_To Sir Alexander Duff Gordon_.

_Wednesday_, _January_ 20, 1864.

I received your welcome letters of December 15 and 25 on Monday, to my
great joy, but was much grieved to hear of Thomas's death, and still more
so to hear from Janet that Thackeray and Mrs. Alison were dead. She died
the morning I left Cairo, so her last act almost was to send sweetmeats
to the boat after me on the evening before. Poor dear soul her sweetness
a