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 
the village . * • e climbed the bank, not 
until after crossing the plank, at which at first 
I own to have jibbed. It crossed a deep, daik 
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 
