144 SAM DARLING'S REMINISCENCES 



on camels and on donkeys at the foot of the great 

 Pyramid ; and on our return to Shepheard's, Mr. 

 Allison was found to have a temperature of 103°. 



After we were settled, Mr. Gubbins was down 

 in one room and Mr. Allison in another. I went 

 from one room to the other, taking temperatures. 

 Both of them were pretty bad. However, I helped 

 the doctor and nurse, and Mr. AlHson improved 

 in three days, but Mr. Gubbins remained pretty 

 ill for some time. I begged him to let me send 

 for Dr. Browning, his nephew, to which he would 

 not agree. When he got better, which he did in 

 about nine days— thanks to the dry climate of 

 Egypt — he thought he would like a pair of white 

 Arab stallion ponies to take home with him. I 

 bought him a pair of beautiful ponies, well matched, 

 and when I paid my next visit to Ireland I rode 

 behind them, but they were not a success. They 

 were very slow, and he soon got tired of them. 



How docile these Arabs are, however, may be 



demonstrated by the fact that one of them won a 



race the day before I bought him, and 

 Mr. Gubbins ^ ° 



and the had never, so far as I am aware, been 



in harness. Nevertheless, Mr. Gubbins 



drove them as a pair in Cairo within two days of 



the purchase, and was photographed doing so, 



with his nurse seated at his side. 



