OSTRICHES. 101 



baksheesh ! The relentless donkey-boys, beyond chuck- 

 ling over our disappointment, took no notice whatever 

 of our appeals ; and on we had to go at a rapid gallop, 

 stirring up dense clouds of the blinding, choking, evil- 

 smelling Egyptian dust; and realizing, as did Mark 

 Twain when ascending the Pyramid, how powerless one 

 is in the hands of Arabs, who surely, with such iron 

 wills, ought to be good mesmerists. Resigning our- 

 selves at last to our fate with the patience of despair, 

 we tried, though with but languid interest, to find out 

 what we were going to see ; but for a long time could 

 get nothing intelligible from the donkey-boys, who 

 only enjoyed our mystification. At last one of them, 



struck by a bright idea, pointed to J 's hat, in which 



was an ostrich-feather ; and we guessed at once that 

 the Khedive's ostrich farm, which we knew was some- 

 where in the neighbourhood of Cairo, was the object of 

 our unwilling ride. Here was another disappointment ! 

 Not even a ruined mosque, picturesque Arab house, or 

 other possible subject for the camera, to reward us for 

 our fatigue and discomfort ; nothing but dry, barren- 

 looking land, ugly modern European buildings, and 

 ungainly birds ! We walked hurriedly, and with great 

 indifference, past the rows of camps, each with its pair 

 of breeding-birds ; felt little regret on being denied 

 entrance to the incubator-rooms, which, happening to 

 contain young chicks, were closed to the public ; and 

 rejoiced exceedingly when, our task done, and our 

 tyrants appeased by our complete subjugation, we were 

 at last on our way back to Cairo. 



