1869-71 WALKS THE PLANK 197 



the Prince and Princess of Wales into Cairo, 

 with the attendant festivities, and on February 4 

 gives an account of the entry of the pilgrims into 

 the city, with rough sketches. ' Good old Hekekiah 

 Bey,' he adds, * gave me two jars of fine baccy, 

 and also lent me a book and some maps of the 

 voyage.' 



After the arrival of the Prince and Princess, 

 the voyage up the Nile was almost immediately 

 begun. The entry in Owen's diary for February 

 7 begins with ' On the Nile : ' — - 



' After sunset and the afterglow — for here 

 night follows quickly and the stars seem to 

 assemble above in a hurry — we came to moor- 

 ings under a high black bank, on which we saw 

 many indistinct dark figures and a few pale ones 

 — the muffled faces of the " women in white," 

 and a wonderful picture they presented. . . . 

 A plank was shoved off from the bank, across 

 which came the Duke to tempt us on shore to 

 see the village . . . We climbed the bank, not 

 until after crossing the plank, at which at first 

 I own to have jibbed. It crossed a deep, dark 

 gulf, along which the rush of the river was 

 heard. The Duke went first, then Fowler, and 

 then I put one foot on and hesitated, but with the 

 help of the firm hand of my friend I crossed, and 

 was not sorry to step on to the Nile deposit and 

 clamber up the bank ... I had been wandering 

 by myself about the strange characteristic scene 



