A TRIP TO EGYPT. 
131 
crowded on deck to watclrtlie changing glories of the setting sun, 
which lighted the whole of the western bank, from river’s edge to 
far up the sky, with liquid gold, while the eastern bank presented 
a transformation scene, passing through the most delicate and 
exquisite shades of blue and gold, red and orange, turning the mud 
villages and banks of the Nile into the softest amber and red, 
while the waving palm and distant mountains were tinged with 
gold and tinted with purple. 
For an hour after sunset, and an hour before sunrise, the 
atmosphere became strangely cold, and we found it necessary to 
don our great coats and warmer clothing or to retire within the 
shelter of the cabin. After which the nights became sensibly 
warmer, and an awning being stretched over the deck and round 
its sides, and brilliantly lighted by electric lamps, the passengers 
were enabled, after dinner, to enjoy their cup of Arab coffee, while 
chatting with their friends or promenading the deck in comfort and 
perfect safety. 
During the trip the prevailing winds were from the north 
bringing with them clear weather and a healthy bracing atmosphere. 
But one morning we were sensible of a change, the atmosphere was 
hazy, our view contracted, and the air oppressive, and we found the 
wind was blowing from the south. Most of the passengers spent 
the day on deck as usual, but had to pay for their temerity, for the 
next day most of them had to spend the time in bed, and the 
steward remarked “ that it reminded him more of a hospital than a 
pleasure steamer.” Most of the passengers, however, were well the 
second day. By conversing afterwards with a resident in Cairo, I 
came to the conclusion that thev had suffered from a fever that the 
natives call the Dangub. 
The Return Trip Down the Nile 
was much more tedious and difficult than the trip up the Nile, for 
coming down with the current the boat was more difficult to guide, 
and by the daily falling of the waters some of the channels, 
through which we passed easily in going up, were rendered quite 
impassable in returning. The falling of the waters had the effect 
June, 1893. 
