St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-12-03
LIRE on 4 NILE oAHAeEAts.
4 ChAPmlag Way to Sec . Part - BGypo
n On0 = Not In Hurry.

L
| Given . good boat and crew and
pleasant companions. know nothing
more enjoyable in the way Of travel
/; than life for some months on board =
dahabcah on the Nile. The Nile is eel.
dom rough enough to cause discomfort
even to che most timid, and at the
worst the dahabeah can be moored
against the bank while the storm lasts
Another great advantage of sailing ON
the Nile is the steadiness of the wind.
From the beginning Of winter to the
end Of spring-that is. while the Nile Is
navigable-the north wind blows stead.
fly up stream with sufficient force to
drive sailing boats against the current
at fair pace; while, ON the other hand,
the current is strong enough to carry .
boat without sails down against tho
wind except when it blows gale.
A pleasure dahabcah under full sail
IL . beautiful sight. 1t has one great
sail, of lateen pattern, sttacbed to a
yard of enormous length. Small sails
are added as occasion may require.
Over tho cabins and saloon il rallied
high poop, with easy chairs and
lounges, and gay with plants and
flowers To the east stretches the
Arabian. TO the west the Lybian desert,
each hanked by q range Of hare hills,
which in = few places touch the river.
but liz for the most part two or three
miles back on either side. Ages before
the pyramids the Nile filled the whole
Of the valley to the depth Of some two
hundred feet. and the yellow hills. now
| 80 bare. were clothed with luxuriant
vegetation. of which the evidence still
remains in pctrified forests and fos-
silixed plants II was plainly q period
Of heavy rainfall and inpetuOus tor
rents. carving out vast gorgcs and pour
ing theirwaters into the Nila.
The Nile is . busy river. full Of life
and movement, dahabeahs, bent on
pleasure Or on trade. passing up and
down its stream with scarcely any in
Permission, while its banks are full Of
interest tO the lover Of the picturesque;
crowds of women, with graceful forms
and. not seldom, very comely faces, FILL
ing heavy earthcn jars with water. and
carrying them home On their heads;
men, with skins Of bronze. toiling in re-
lays Of three hours each at the shadufs
under burning sun. and singing the
while to relieve the monotony of their
daily labor: boatmcn floating with tho
stream or sailing against it, and they
also singing q weird. wailing chant. like
the echo Of = hopele.scry waited across
the centuries from hard bondage under
Egyptian taSkmaStssrs, such as the
Israelites endured before the exodus:
docks of pelicans standing on the sand
or mancuvering in the air like
soldiers on the march; k;ngfishers,
now lowering over the water. now
darting beneath its surface in quest Of q
passing fish. And then there In the
mysterious Nile itself, mysterious still.
though its sources have been disclosed
and its long mesndcrings tracked,
from the uplands of central Africa to
the margin Of the Midland sea. The
voyager now, It il true, seldom secs =
crocodile. unless he goes beyond the
second cataract; still lees has he .
chance of witnessing any Of those fierce
encounters between crOcodiles and
hippopotami. which arc sculptured on
the walls of the temple Of Edfu. In
those ancient days, when the shores of
the Nile down to Cairo were lined with
reeds and papyrus, the river abounded
with crocodiles and hippopotami, both
Of which afforded excellent-albeit
sometimes perilous-sport to the dwell
ers on the hankA Firearms and steam
ers have now driven those fierce mon
sters of the deep beyond the second
cataract
But apart from its inha bitants, the
Nile itself has . mystic interest Of its
own. l do not wonder that In the my
thology of ancient Egypt Il was en-
dowed with life, and received some sort
Of divine honors. Its periodical inun-
datiOns, while their causes were un-
known. placed Il outside the category
Of ordinary rivers, and invested It with
IN atmosphere Of mystery. And In the
youth of our race, when woods and
gladeS and rivers were believed tt own
appropriate denizens, Il Is easy to un-
derstand how the Nile came to be fc-
garded u endowed with more than
natural life Il Is % full Of sub-cur-
rents and eddies that tho amphibious
natives, who swim like fish, will NOT
venture to cross it except astride ON
logs of wood. In the stiffness Of night
these edies Rurgle and murmur past
your dahabeah like spirits from ''thc
vasty deep engaged In confidential
talk. r 4 .4
And who can adequately describe
those splendid dawns and gorgeous sun
sets which are among the commonplace
Of Nile scenery? have often seen the
whole sky, from the zenith TO the hori-
ron, become one motion, mantling sea
Of color and IRE, every ripple and
wave transfused into unsullied. shadow
less crimson and purple and scarlet and
opalescent hues, shading on into colors
Tor which our language supplies no
words snd previous experience noideas.
This splendor Of indescribable inter
mingling colors appears at sunset ON
the western horizon. and followed BY .
soft sheen. - Of moonlight. reflected
On the hills on the eastern bank Of the
river. ~ ~
In short, life on the dahabeah 10 one
perpetual picnic. ,You stop where you
plesse, and either eajoy the dolce far
siente Of remaining on board or making
excursious 70 old temples or tomhs, or
taking part IN veritasle picnic In the
desert-and . picnic in the desert un.
der favorable auspices. is not likely to
be eforCotteu.-London Spectator.
4,
A DooaAaeal 0laeo.
Brother lat the seasidel-I don't
think much Of that marine glass you
have. t i.ts,, -.
Sieter-YoE don't? Why. it's just
lovely! Il makes every sail look al the