DONKEYS IN EGYPT. 389 



could, and give the stick man the slip. This I found 

 far easier said than done, because my donkey utterly 

 ignored my commands, even when they were backed 

 up by force, and w^ould take orders only from his 

 master. I saw the man trying to conceal a smile, as I 

 whacked my placid mount with the energy of one who 

 meant business, so impatiently asked him if he had ful- 

 filled the promise he had given Motee to bring me his 

 best donkeys. He assured me that I was sitting on the 

 back of Mrs. Langtry, who was well know^n as the 

 fastest animal in Suez, and by far the handsomest. 

 He said he had Mrs. Cornwallis West, Ellen Terry, 

 Mary Anderson, Mrs. Kendal, and other good mounts ; 

 but Mrs. Langtry was the pick of the basket for speed 

 and endurance. I asked the name of Motee's moke, 

 which he said was his next best one, and found that it 

 was called Mr. Gladstone ! The pair were excellent 

 friends, and insisted on walking side by side, although 

 Motee did all he could to keep Mr. Gladstone behind. 

 Disliking this aspect of affairs, I dealt Motee's mount 

 a couple of sharp cuts with my whip over the quarters, 

 with the object of inducing him to set the pace. This 

 resuked in such high kicking on the part of Mr. Glad- 

 stone, that Motee nearly fell off, and the man behind 

 ran up yelling in such an angry tone, that I almost 

 feared he would chastise me in a similar manner. He 

 cooled down and then patronisingly told me that when 

 I had grown older and had gained more experience 

 in riding, I would not be guilty of cruelty to dumb 

 animals. Having failed in my tactics, and paid for 



