ALL ARE AGREED. 289 



rous fits of anger of his master. "All Europeans/' 

 he said to me one day, just after I had been reprimand- 

 ing the jellabs (who never bore me any malice), "take 

 a lively interest in the slaves. Some years ago I was 

 in the service of an Englishman who was visiting the 

 antiquities of Egypt and of the country of the Bara- 

 brahs. Between the first and second cataract we met 

 a boat laden with slaves, whom the small-pox was deci- 

 mating, as in this instance. The English traveller 

 wished to see them more closely, and he offered a sum 

 of money to the jellab to allow him to embark with 

 him. The malady was making fearful ravages; the 

 slaves were closely packed together, and no time was 

 lost in throwing the dead bodies, still warm, into the 

 river to make room for the living. The want of space 

 contributed to augment the evil. Then when they had. 

 satisfied themselves that a man was mortally attacked, 

 he was got rid of at once. One case of this kind having 

 presented itself a little time after the embarkation of 

 my master, the sufferer was thrown into the river; and, 

 doubtless roused by the coolness of the water, he uttered 

 a feeble cry, extending his arms towards us, but he 

 disappeared almost immediately. The Englishman, 

 instead of remonstrating with the jellab, threw himself 

 suddenly upon him, and pitched him, astoundeed as he 

 was, into the Nile. This jellab was a powerful swim- 

 mer, and he soon reappeared on the surface of the river 



u 



