I hope you got a letter I sent ten
days or so ago.

May 10, 1866: Sir Alexander Duff Gordon

_To Sir Alexander Duff Gordon_.

LUXOR,
_May_ 10, 1866.

DEAREST ALICK,

The real summer heat--the _Skems el-Kebeer_ (big sun) has fairly set in,
and of course I am all the better. You would give my camel a good
backsheesh if you saw how prodigiously fat I have grown on her milk; it
beats codliver-oil hollow. You can drink a gallon without feeling it, it
is so easy of digestion.

I have lent the dahabieh to Mustapha and to one or two more, to go to
Keneh on business, and when she returns (which will be to-day) I shall
make ready to depart too, and drop down stream. Omar wants me to go down
to Damietta, to 'amuse my mind and dilate my stomach' a little; and I
think of doing so.

Palgrave was here about a fortnight ago, on Mustapha's and Mariette's
business. 'By God! this English way is wonderful,' said a witness, 'that
English Bey questioned me till my stomach came out.' I loved Mustapha
Bey, who was with him; such a nice, kind, gentle creature, and very
intelligent and full of good sense. I rejoice to hear that he returns my
liking, and has declared himself 'one of my darweeshes.' Talking of
darweeshes reminds me of the Festival of Sheykh Gibrieel this year. I
had forgotten the day, but in the evening some people came for me to go
and eat some of the meat of the Sheykh, who is also a good patron of
mine, they say; being a poor man's saint, and of a humble spirit, it is
said he favours me. There was plenty of meat and _melocheea_ and bread;
and then _zikrs_ of different kinds, and a _Gama el Fokara_ (assembly of
the poor). _Gama_ is the true word for Mosque--_i.e._, Meeting, which
consists in a great circle of men seated thick on the ground, with two
poets facing each other, who improvise religious verses. On this
occasion the rule of the game was to end each stanza with a word having
the sound of _wahed_ (one), or _el Had_ (the first). Thus one sung: 'Let
a man take heed how he walks,' etc., etc.; and 'pray to God not to let
him fall,' which sound like _Had_. And so they went on, each chanting a
verse alternately. One gesticulated almost as much as an Italian and
pronounced beautifully; the other was quiet, but had a nice voice, and
altogether it was ver