Tomb Of Sand Ebook Free Download |VERIFIED|

I was awakened early the next morning by one of my companions of thedinner-party, who had made up his mind to see me as far as Paris. Hereminded me of what I had somehow or other totally forgotten, thatpassports might possibly be necessary, and in our hurry tosecure these troublesome documents, we overlooked other matters ofequal or even greater importance. I turned my back upon London withconsiderable pleasure, finding that the anticipation of novelty andchange of scene, shut the door in the face of all the varied regretsand emotions which had accompanied my former leave-takings. I feltmyself cast once more upon the world, to begin life as it were,over again among new scenes and fresh faces, and although I couldscarcely be said to have a very distinct idea, either of my ultimatedestination, or of the occupation in store for me, I felt prepared toview all en couleur de rose, and steer a straight-forward coursethrough all difficulties.

On looking over the list, I found myself booked with two missionariesand a reverend divine; a fact which manifested a kindly interest inmy welfare on the part of Mr. Raven, who pushed in after me a coupleof black bottles, and gave the order to go forward. Whisking roundthe Esbikier, we passed the outer gate and suburbs, and then aftera jolting drive of near a mile through narrow lanes, bordered byhedge-rows of prickly pear and luxuriant aloes, emerged on to thesmooth sand of the desert; half a mile on, are two curious lookingerections of brick, called the Tombs of the Sheiks, and these onceout of sight, there is nought to greet the eye but a vast expanse ofsand, enclosed at the horizon on either side within a low range ofsand hills, which extend almost without interruption the entire way toSuez. The[Pg 55] route of the caravan is more direct than that taken by theIsraelites formerly, (which is more to the southward, almost withoutwells, and hilly,) and with one exception, where it crosses a ridge ofrock, runs due East and West in a straight line.

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About a quarter of a mile to the southward of this pestilentiallandmark, is a pit in the sand, of enormous[Pg 63] dimensions, excavated bythe French in the vain hope of obtaining water. Two or three of uswent so far just to gratify our curiosity, but were obliged to useextreme caution in approaching the edge of the pit. Its diameter is sogreat that the well, although one hundred and fifty feet deep, appearsrather shallow than otherwise, and the section of the ground exhibitsa succession of layers of fine sand and gravel, but without the leastappearance of water. Two or three dead animals, for which the well hadserved as a pitfall, lay at the bottom.

As Dwarkanauth travelled with many retainers, and there was also theusual average of Overland passengers, our party for Suez was rather alarge one, and the murrain having robbed us of upwards of a score ofhorses during the last few weeks, there was but little accommodationin the way[Pg 110] of carriages. The invalids, and most of the ladies, gotseats, but the rest were obliged to have recourse to the donkey-chairor saddle, whilst I selected a light dromedary, and trotted along withthe hindermost. We found it very difficult to keep together, and as thedarkness increased, were guided only by the harsh cries of the drivers,as they urged on their unwilling animals. Every now and then some chairwould come down with a run, from the unequal motion of the two donkeysattached to it, spilling the frightened occupant on to the hard sand,or, what was still worse, a portion of the wretched harness would giveway, and cause the dropping of one corner of the sedan, which, if notspeedily rectified, is sufficient to tire the patience of the moststoical. If the donkeys are well trained, no locomotion could be moreagreeable than that of these machines, but should the foremost animalindulge in a canter, whilst his follower is not to be coaxed out of atrot, the effect is perfectly indescribable.

We reached Cairo without let or hindrance, but scarcely had we passedthe tombs of the Sheiks, on the verge of the desert, than our horsesbegan to gib, and I foresaw that a night of trouble was beforeus. The van in which I rode, contained rather a mixed party, in thepersons of the Rev. Dr. T., a Frenchman, a Portuguese nobleman, andmyself, together with two or three bottles of orget and eausucre, and a heavy carpet bag, the property of the Hidalgo.

Having some business of importance to transact for Mr. Raven, I hadno time to take any rest in Suez, and therefore, set off almostimmediately on my return to Cairo. It was Christmas eve, and the nightproved unusually cold, whilst I found it impossible to keep off thewind, which blew steadily through the open cart, piercing the amplefolds of my bernous. On we jogged through the dark, the wearyArab fast asleep on his driving seat, bobbing his head to the measuredcreak of the springs; that, and the jingle of the harness, being theonly sounds which disturbed the silence of the desert. Warming my innerman with a spoonful of brandy, I threw myself into the bottom of thecart, and giving my slumbering jehu an apparently accidental poke inthe ribs to recall him to his duty, courted some short repose.[Pg 120] We had,however, reached a portion of the desert, which one would think oughtmore properly to have belonged to Arabia Petrea, so covered isit with large round stones. Every now and then a wheel would come incontact with one of these, giving us a shock sufficient to drive thebreath out of us, and recalling me from pleasant dreams of roaringfires and Christmas cheer, to a chilly sense of my uncomfortableposition at the bottom of the cart, with the wind whistling throughevery crevice. Being however considerably fatigued, I again relapsedinto an unquiet slumber, which gradually subsided into a complete stateof repose, as we exchanged the stoney track for the fine hard sand. Islept long and uninterruptedly, until I was suddenly aroused by a shockwhich had well nigh thrown me out of the vehicle. Raising myself, Ilooked out and missed my only companion, the driver. The shaft horsehad fallen over the body of a dead camel, and had brought the otherdown with him, whilst poor Hassan had been pitched clean off hisperch, and was picking himself up with many lamentations. I scrambledout in front as well as I could, to assist him in getting under weighagain, for our contiguity to the carcass was anything but agreeable.Fortunately nothing had been broken, and after a delay of ten minutesor so, we were jogging on as[Pg 121] before, although both of us were nowthoroughly awake. A good supper awaited us at No. 6 Station, and as Ihad to perform half the journey with the same horses, I turned for afew hours into bed.

I reached Cairo the following morning, and thus ended my engagementwith Messrs. Waghorn and Co. On resigning my office, I was gratifiedwith a flattering testimonial from Mr. Raven, and an invitation toconsider the hotel as my home, so long as I might incline to remainin Egypt. Being as yet quite undetermined what to do, I accepted hisvery kind offer, occasionally resuming my accustomed seat in the littleoffice, and rendering what assistance I could, in expediting the mailsand passengers. There was a good deal of business also, consequentupon the almost daily arrival of parties bound on a visit to UpperEgypt; and not only were all our own boats put in requisition, butmany more were hired for the excursion from Boulac and other places.These latter, we were always compelled to sink for some[Pg 124] days beforethey were fit for the reception of any civilized beings, to drive outthe cockroaches and other vermin, with which they were infested; andas the temporary owners of these little craft, were naturally desirousof showing off to advantage, in the eyes of such of their countrymenas they would fall in with during their voyage, they sometimes wentto considerable expense in having them newly decorated with gaudyarabesques, and quaint patterns, in the brightest colours.

Old Selim had already retired for the night, but a shot fired from oneof our guns gave him notice of our approach, and as we came to thebottom of the steps which lead to his hermitage, he was lighting upfor our reception. The rock upon which the chief Pyramid appears to bebased, crops out of the sand in the form of a gigantic step,[13] and inits face are several caverns, partly excavated, I believe by ColonelVyse, which serve in the present day for the dwelling of one or twoArabs, and have been rudely fitted up as resting places for travellers.

Hitherto, neither Furner nor myself had seen the Pyramids, having beenprevented by the extreme darkness of the night. Now, however, the moonhad illumined the far-off Nile and the desert beneath us with a floodof brilliant light, which tempted us from our chimney corner, andascending accordingly the last broken flight of steps leading to thesummit of the rock, old Cheops and his two satellites burst upon ourview. The angle nearest to us presented a tapering line of fantasticshadows, as the broken masses of stone caught the bright moonlight,the northern face of the Pyramid appearing from the contrast to bethrown into darkness, looking cold and gloomy, whilst the shadow castby the enormous mass, undulated over the uneven sand in the foreground,and was lost far away in the desert. Beyond, as if guardian of thegigantic wonders around him, lay the Sphynx, crouched like some monsterwatch-dog, and turning his back most contemptuously upon a large partyof German savans, who had pitched their tents within the very sweep ofhis tail. These gentlemen, in[Pg 132] their inordinate thirst after knowledge,have grubbed holes in all directions, and with the exception of thethree Pyramids, have turned nearly every thing topsy-turvy. Even theSphynx has been partially undermined in the hunt after hieroglyph, anda splendid specimen has been exposed which is expected to throw somelight upon the unknown tongue. At the time of our nocturnal visit totheir bivouac, the literati had retired to rest, but hearing voices,a sentinel protruded his head from the tent and challenged us inHoch-Deutsch, a language about as familiar to most of our party,as the hidden one of the Pharaohs. Managing, however, to prove to hissatisfaction, that we were neither enemies nor thieves, the head waswithdrawn, and we returned to our own sleeping-place. e24fc04721