be God, many of the English begin to
repent of their evil, and to love the Muslims and abound in kind actions.
So we parted in much kindness. It was a strange feeling to me to stand
on the bank and see the queer savage-looking boat glide away up the
stream, bound to such far more savage lands, and to be exchanging kind
farewells quite in a homely manner with such utter 'aliens in blood and
faith.' 'God keep thee Lady, God keep thee Mustapha.' Mustapha and I
walked home very sad about poor El-Bedrawee.

_Friday_, _July_ 7.--It has been so 'awfully' hot that I have not had
pluck to go on with my letter, or indeed to do anything but lie on a mat
in the passage with a minimum of clothes quite indescribable in English.
_Alhamdulilah_! laughs Omar, 'that I see the clever English people do
just like the lazy Arabs.' The worst is not the positive heat, which has
not been above 104 and as low as 96 degrees at night, but the horrible
storms of hot wind and dust which are apt to come on at night and prevent
one's even lying down till twelve or one o'clock. Thebes is bad in the
height of summer on account of its expanse of desert, and sand and dust.
The Nile is pouring down now gloriously, and _really_ red as blood--more
crimson than a Herefordshire lane--and in the distance the reflection of
the pure blue sky makes it deep violet. It had risen five cubits a week
ago; we shall soon have it all over the land here. It is a beautiful and
inspiriting sight to see the noble old stream as young and vigorous as
ever. No wonder the Egyptians worshipped the Nile: there is nothing like
it. We have had all the plagues of Egypt this year, only the lice are
commuted for bugs, and the frogs for mice; the former have eaten me and
the latter have eaten my clothes. We are so ragged! Omar has one shirt
left, and has to sleep without and wash it every night. The dust, the
drenching perspiration, and the hard-fisted washing of Mahommed's
slave-women destroys everything.

Mustapha intends to give you a grand _fantasia_ if you come, and to have
the best dancing girls down from Esneh for you; but I am consternated to
hear that you can't come till December. I hoped you would have arrived
in Cairo early in November, and spent a month there with me, and come up
the river in the middle of December when Cairo gets very cold.

I remain very well in general health, but my cough has been troublesome
again. I do not feel at all like breathing cold