446 THE PASHA SENDS A STEAMER FOE, US. 
especially to taste a water-melon after such a journey! 
The effendi gave ns every aid ; and, as it was not 
desirable to stay long in a place which he called as 
hot as hell, with no wood or provisions to be had, 
our crew, glad to escape, ejaculated, "In Sha Ullah ! " 
or " God be praised," and we floated down old Nilus 
on the evening of the 12th of May. The song and 
the sailors' mode of rowing were strange to us ; the 
former was powerful, harmonious, and pleasing, and the 
men stood two feet above the deck pacing upon planks 
as they propelled the boat ; their language also had a 
strange twang to our ears — a regular Nile patois. As 
we glided past the Bar edy hills, with narrow terraces for 
cultivation, the country appeared hot and dry; every- 
thing was parched and arid in comparison with the 
green of the Soudan. The present Pasha will, I trust, 
open up the country of the Soudan, for it might be 
converted, by draining and irrigation, into a valuable 
possession. We were beginning - to feel that the tour- 
ist's route had at length been reached, for at Korosko 
we were pestered for " buxees," or money. Our cap- 
tain also made an extraordinary request : provisions 
were scarce ; and, purchasing a calf, the captain de- 
manded, as his right, the head and fore-quarter of the 
animal ; which we, however, refused, although he said 
it was the perquisite of all captains who had charge 
of travellers on the Nile. We landed at the snug har- 
bour of Shellal, below Phylse, and there had the final 
confirmation of our being on a beaten track, for a 
host of donkey-boys gathered round us, clamouring 
and shouting to be engaged. 
The day we were to leave Aswan for Cairo in a 
small diabeah, a steamer came puffing up the river. 
