316 EXTRACTS FROM 
Indiaman, which had awkwardly got across the canal and was 
blocking the way. 
Our captain thought that we could pass and went boldly on; 
then came a severe shock, a slight rasping of the vessels’ sides, 
and there we were, entangled with our English neighbour. 
For half an hour we worked to get clear, and all the time the 
rough English captain turned his back on us and acted as 
though the whole affair was no concern of his. At last there 
came a slight movement and a creaking and grating of the 
jammed ‘vessels, then another violent jerk, and we were free. 
The English ship had also been floated by the shock, so each 
vessel went off in her own direction. 
On the 20th we decided to make a shooting excursion to 
Heliopolis. The weather was splendid and the air pure and 
warm. After a long drive on the same bad road which we 
had traversed a month ago, we reached the “ Virgin’s Tree.” 
The dachshunds were let loose in the little garden and the 
thick cactus hedges to look for Jackals and Ichneumons; but 
we soon saw the futility of our efforts, for the Quail season had 
already begun, and shots were being fired in all directions. 
Moreover, as the holiday gunners of the East and all sorts 
of unsportsmanlike Levantines were ranging through the 
fields and bushes, it seemed advisable to leave this locality. 
Among the gardens and shady trees near the “ Virgin’s 
Tree” is a little restaurant much frequented by the Cairenes. 
There we breakfasted, and then went on between fields and 
garden walls to the Ostrich farm. This establishment, which 
is situated on the edge of the desert, belongs to a company, 
and seems to be.a flourishing business, at least everything is 
most comfortably arranged. The manager, a German-Swiss, 
showed us the pens, the open sandy spaces, the inner enclosures, 
the artificial hatching apparatus, and all his ostriches both old 
and young. The stately birds were of two varieties and in 
the full glory of their beautiful feathers. 
