392 WOMEN DRAWING WATER. 
vegetation, and flourish under a hard-working people. 
In the brightest of suns we observed two men, har- 
nessed to ropes, pulling a toothless rake, guided by a 
third man, over the soft mud, preparing it for seed ; 
and, unlike the Africans, the Egyptians never cease to 
work while a boat passes them. The islands in March 
were not less than three feet above water ; no houses 
were upon the smaller ones ; straw was stacked ; a 
few plough-oxen might be seen ; and a small boat lay 
to ferry the labourers to the mainland at night. 
The operation of drawing water from the wells dug 
in the shore is interesting. Two women, a boy, and 
a donkey are required : the wells are five feet deep, 
thirty inches across, and only half-a-dozen yards from 
the ripple of the river. We saw a fair woman stand 
down the well and pass the water in a gourd to an- 
other, who filled it into a goat's skin. Her beautiful 
black hair was parted in the centre, and braided in 
small plaits, which hung over her flushed cheeks and 
neck. Though her bosom was bare she showed per- 
fect innocence. On my asking for her cup to drink 
from, it was at once given, apparently without any 
fear of its being defiled by the touch of a Christian. 
The water, in comparison with that obtained from the 
filter on board of our boat, was warm and not refresh- 
ing. Two goat-skins or " mussocks " having been filled 
and allowed to rock about in the river, they were 
placed on the donkey, the boy jumped up nimbly 
behind them, and with one hand held the water-bags 
steady, and with a wand in the other he guided the 
unbridled donkey to the huts. 
The people were listless and indifferent to us if we 
went near their poor abodes, but their dogs at once 
