1895] Minshatti Bey 195 



down to ' H. M. Stanley's of the " New York Herald," ' and General 

 Gordon's in 1884, and Lord Waterford's last year, who shot himself a 

 month ago — nearly all dead now. 



"2nd Nov. — Across the river before sunrise to the statue of Mem- 

 non and the temples of Gournah and Medinet Habou. The latter is 

 a really fine thing, and I was able to see it alone without guides or fel- 

 low sightseers. But I am left with the impression that the Nile itself, 

 with its great flow of water and its ever green banks and eternal youth 

 is the really interesting thing, far finer than its monuments. These are 

 interesting as part of the river's history, not the Nile because of them. 

 The greatest of human works are a very small matter, after all, and 

 the world would be hardly poorer if mankind had never been — greatly 

 richer, indeed, seeing how much beauty we have destroyed. To Karnak 

 again in the evening, and rode through by the light of the full moon. 



" 3rd Nov. — Again across the river to see some minor monuments 

 not worth visiting. I was followed by a troop of little girls whom the 

 tourists have debauched with bakshish. I thought at first they were 

 Ghazawiyeh, so shameless were they, a sight I have never seen before 

 in all the lands of Islam. Coming in, I received a visit from Minshatti 

 Bey the Ababdeh Sheykh to whom I had sent to tell him I was here. 

 He is a delightful old man, whom our military people have quarrelled 

 with, suspecting him of Mahdist tendencies. Kitchener deposed him 

 from the Sheykhat and put in another, Beshir Bey, in his place, who 

 now lives at Assouan under the eye of the Government, and does their 

 business with the tribe. But Minshatti is the real Sheykh. The young 

 Khedive, when he was here, sent for Minshatti, and made much of him, 

 and gave him a robe of honour. This was made one of the points 

 of Kitchener's quarrel with the Khedive. The old man tells me that 

 the Sirdar now treats him better, and he is allowed to go about where 

 he likes, and is not molested by the police. He promised — but I think 

 rather doubtingly, for he is probably afraid — to send one of his rela- 

 tions with me if I went travelling, as I intend to do this winter, among 

 the Ababdeh. 



" Had some talk with Dr. Ruffer, who is a distinguished man of 

 science, a bacteriologist. He had a paralytic stroke six months ago 

 (it was a case of blood poisoning caused by one of his experiments), 

 and is here for his health. He is looking for bacteria in the desert 

 sand. 



" Later I went to Minshatti's house, which is just outside the town, 

 a clean, new building, where he received me with carpets spread on the 

 mastaba, a nice cool place. I asked him about the Soudan, and the 

 Mahdi, and the Khalifa, and he told me much that was interesting. 

 He never saw the Mahdi himself, but several of his relations knew him 

 when he was a najar (carpenter), a boat builder at Dongola. He was 



