108 SAM DARLING'S REMINISCENCES 



it is so, on this January 23, and Messrs. Gubbins 

 and S. Darling are here also and still going strong. 

 We started at 8 o'clock this morning, and are due 

 at 4.30, when we shall embark on the steamer 

 Rameses the Great, which left Cairo last Tuesday, 

 and by to-morrow week should have conveyed us 

 as far as Assouan, which is 583 miles from Cairo. 

 To-morrow donkey riding will commence at 8.30, 

 and we go to visit the tomb of ' The Sacred Wolf,' 

 the Assiout bazaar, market, etc. 



" Now as I write we have reached Assiout, and 



Messrs. Gubbins and S. Darling have lost their 



At Assiout l^gg^g®, which has gone on to Luxor, 



without and cannot possibly be recovered until 

 luggage. 

 Mr. Gubbins Monday — this is Saturday. Personally, 



I have all mine, but this loss of the 



others' is desperately annoying, more especially as 



it was due to no fault of the owners. AVe have 



come 250 miles through all-permeating dust, noting 



the irrigation of the country and the immense 



growth of sugar-cane, to say nothing of the acres 



and acres of green stuff, of sorts, with the motley 



crowd of animals eating it at tether's length here, 



there, and everywhere. What a number of people, 



too, all over the place, living an entirely pastoral 



life with their flocks and herds ! But such flocks, 



and such herds ! The sheep are dreadful, and the 



