en stood staring as though they were drunken, looking
at their red arms which they had dipped in the stream, and women ran to
and fro upon the bank, tearing their hair and robes, and crying out such
words as--

"Wizard's work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods have slain each other, and
men too must die!" and so forth.

Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance from the shore to see
perchance if they might come to water that was sweet and wholesome. All
day long we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the spray
driven by the strong north wind spotted our flesh and garments, till we
were like butchers reeking from the shambles. Nor could we eat any food
because of the stench from this spray, which made it to taste salt as
does fresh blood, only we drank of the water which I had provided, and
the rowers who had held me to be mad now named me the wisest of men; one
who knew what would befall in the future.

At length towards evening we noted that the water was growing much less
red with every hour that passed, which was another marvel, seeing that
above us, upstream, it was the colour of jasper, whereon we paused from
our rowing and, all defiled as we were, sang a hymn and gave thanks to
Hapi, god of Nile, the Great, the Secret, the Hidden. Before sunset,
indeed, the river was clean again, save that on the bank where we made
fast for the night the stones and rushes were all stained, and the dead
fish lay in thousands polluting the air. To escape the stench we climbed
a cliff that here rose quite close to Nile, in which we saw the mouths
of ancient tombs that long ago had been robbed and left empty, purposing
to sleep in one of them.

A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest of these tombs,
whence, as we drew near, we heard the sound of wailing. Looking in, I
saw a woman and some children crouched upon the floor of the tomb, their
heads covered with dust who, when they perceived us, cried more loudly
than before, though with harsh dry voices, thinking no doubt that we
were robbers or perhaps ghosts because of our bloodstained garments.
Also there was another child, a little one, that did not cry, because
it was dead. I asked the woman what passed, but even when she understood
that we were only men who meant her no harm, she could not speak or do
more than gasp "Water! Water!" We gave her and the children to drink
from the jars which we had brought with us, which they did greedily,
after which I