1 A JOURNEY IN THE EAST: 275 



rays through the dense dust, looked like a red disk. Every- 

 thing was covered with sand ; it even penetrated into the 

 closed cabins, annoying us terribly. The air, too, which had 

 lately heen so beautiful, was now heavy and depressing ; and 

 we gazed with wonder upon this phase of nature, which was 

 so entirely new to us. 



Long and ineffective shots were fired at Pelicans, huge Sea- 

 Eagles, and a variety of waterfowl ; and we passed several 

 towns, among which were Kuft and Kus. The character of 

 the country remained the same ; but the mountains kept 

 receding, to leave room for the plains of Thebes, so famed in 

 ancient chronicles for its wealth and civilization. 



At twelve o'clock we put in to the landing-place of the some- 

 what important town of Luxor, and immediately going ashore, 

 climbed up the steep sandy bank and hired some donkeys at 

 the primitive square in front of the dirty little " Hotel Luxor." 

 We soon reached the open country and trotted merrily along 

 an embankment which ran through palm woods and well-tilled 

 fields towards the high gates, columns, and walls of the cele- 

 brated ruins of Karnak, which we could already see in the 

 distance. 



At the entrance to the ruins there is a small village and a 

 plantation of young trees, where we found a flock of the lively 

 Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters whirring about with their butterfly- 

 like flight, and shot a good many of these lovely African birds 

 for the sake of their plumage. 



After this little interlude of sport we entered the field of 

 majestic ruins, and when we had rambled through the great 

 halls and the forest of columns, as well as the huge heaps of 

 debris surrounding the temple, we all returned to Luxor by 

 the same road. 



In the evening the Grand Duke and I again rode out to 

 Karnak to shoot, while the other gentlemen remained at 

 Luxor. An Arab sportsman, named Khalil, took us close up 



T2 



