The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-04
LIFE ON A NILE DAaABRAa.
A Charming Way to See q Part of
Egypt If One is Not in a hurry.
From the London St1ectator.

Egypt II One IS Not in Furry.
From the London Spectator.
Given a good boat and crew and pleasant
companions, know nothing more enjoy
able in the way of travel than life for some
months on board dahabeah on the Nile.
| The Nile Is seldom rough enough TO cause
| discomfort even 10 the most Hmi1, and at
the worst the dehabeah can be moored
| against the bank while the storm lasts.
| Another great advantage Of sailing ON the
| Nile is the steadness Of the wind. From
the beginning Of winter to the end OF spring
that is, while the Nile is navigable-the
north wind blows steadily up stream with
suffice 1t force TO drive sailing boats against
| the current at q fair pace; while. on the
| other hand the current is strong enough to
carry a boat without sails down against the
| wind except when it blows a gale
A pleasure dahabeah under full sail Is a
| beautiful sight. 1t has one great sail of
lateen pattern, attached to yard OF enor-
NOUS length. Small sails are added as oc-
casi0n may require. Over the cabins and
saloon Is a rallied high poop, with easy chairs
and lounges, and gay Uith plants and
flowers. To the east stretches the Arabian,
to the west the LYbian desert, each ia ked
by range Of bare hills, which in few places
touch the river, but lie for the most part
two or three miles back on either side Ages
before the pyramids the Nile flied the whole
of the valley 70 the depth of some 200 feet,
and the yellow hills, now 30 bare, were
clothed with a luxuriant vegetation, of
which the evidence still remains Ia petrifled
forests and fossilized plants. IL was plainly
a period Of heavy rainfall and impetuous
torrents, carving out vast gorges and pour
ing their waters into the Nile.
The Nile ID busy river, full of life and
hahahnahO MIA nv.
on trade, passing up and down its stream
with scarcely any intermission, while Its
banks are full Of interest to the lover of the
picturesque; crowds Of women, with grace
full forms and, not seldom, very oomely
faces, filing heavy earthern jars with
water, and carrying them home on their
heads; men, with skins OF bronze, toiling
In relays Of three hours each at the shadufs
under q burning sun, and singing the while
to relieve the monotony Of their daily labor;
boatmen floating with the stream or sailing
against it, aud they are also singing
weird, waiting chant, like the echo OF a
hopeless cry waited across the centuries
from hard bondage under Egyptian task
masters, such as the Israelites endured be-
fore the exodus; focks OF pelicans standing
on the sand or mRnenVerinR in the air
like soldiers on the march; kAgdshers,
now lowering over the water, now darling
beneath its surface in quest of a
passing ubLs anu Juou tubTb 40 Tue ulySDo-
rious Nile itself, mysterious still, though it's
sources have been disclosed and its long
meanderings tracked, from the uplands Of
Central Africa to the margin OF the Midland
sea. The voyager now, it is true, seldom
sees a crocodile, unless he goes beyond the
second cataract; still less has he a chance Of
witnessing any of those fierce encounters
between crocodiles and hippopotami,
which are sculptured on she walls OF the
temple of Edfu. In those ancient days,
when the shores of the Nile down TO Cairo
we're hned with reeds aud papyrus, the river
| abounded with crocodiles and hippopotami,
| both OF which afforded excellent-albeIt
sometimes perlous-sport 90 the dwellers on
| the banks Firearms and steamers have now
driven those fierce monsters OF the deep be-
You'd the Second cataract.
But apart from its inhabitants the Nile
itself has mystic interest of It's own. | do
| not wonder that from the mythology of
ancient Egypt 1t was endowed with life and
received some sort Of divine honors. Its
| periodical foundations, while their causes
were unknown. placed il outside the cate
CORY Of ordinary rivers and invested 1t with
] an atmosphere OF mystery. And in she