66 VOYAGE UP THE NILE 
CHAP, heels in the air ; at others, whirling upon their 
. hands and feet, to imitate the motion of a wheel. 
Judging from the appearance these presented, 
the Jrab complexion, at a very early age, is 
tawny, and almost black. They swim and dive 
remarkably well ; but these are arts in which 
all Eastern nations excel those of the Western 
world. About three leagues before oar arrival 
at Kafrakadia, there was such an amazing quan- 
Abua. tity of corn in heaps near the river, that it 
Cum! **^ extended nearly to the length of a mile. At this 
last-mentioned place there was a manufactory 
for extracting a dark blue dye from the indigo 
plant. Here girls of fourteen or fifteen years 
of age walked the streets, with jars of water 
upon their heads, perfectly naked. Our course 
latterly had varied occasionally from s.e. to s.\r. 
Southern At half-past six p. M. wc reached that part of 
ndta° ^ the Nile where the river divides, so as to inclose 
the Delta by the Rosetta and Damiata branches. 
Its appearance above the point of separation 
was truly noble, being at this time three miles 
wide. The village or town of Beersamps stands 
upon the southern point of the Delta. Kou- 
tomey is upon the western side of the main river, 
and Kafranamooh upon the eastern. After we 
had passed the point of Beersamps, our course 
along the undivided bed of the Nik was s. e. 
