f grass. I
saw also cattle lying perfectly still in the water with just their heads
out. This sight scared my boys as to what the heat would be further
south. Beyond the swamps on the east side of the road I saw nice
gardens, and, what was still more interesting, groves of palm trees with
fruit. After two hours' ride we reached the desert, where nothing but
sand was to be seen. The whistle went all the time to warn camel
drivers, who also use the roadbed, and I did not see any other road for
them to travel. Another curiosity was the protective fencing for the
road, made of cornstalks to keep back the sand, as we make board fences
against the snow. At all the stations, which were far apart, all hands
rushed out for a drink of water. We did not meet many trains. During the
afternoon we came close to the Nile, which there appeared to be about
the same width as the St. Lawrence opposite Caughnawaga. We soon reached
a regular Egyptian settlement, with people living in small mud huts, and
with chickens, goats, sheep and dogs coming out with the children. The
ground appeared to be clay and in the road every three or four feet
there was a rat hole and rats dodging in all directions. I saw more rats
at a glance than I had ever seen before in all my life. We also saw some
ship yards with some boats on the stocks and some on the mud. The boats
were about twenty feet long, and one afloat appeared to be wood to
within about four inches above water with gunwales of mud and a peculiar
sail.

The gunwales were three or four feet high and five or six inches thick.
They appeared to be baked hard by the sun, and were water proof, as I
afterwards saw several of them loaded so heavily that a great part of
the mud gunwales were under water. I suppose mud is used in preference
to wood, because wood is very scarce in Egypt and mud is very plentiful.
They make the most of the mud which the Nile brings down in such
quantities every year. They build houses with it as well as boats and it
is this mud which manures and fertilizes the whole land of Egypt.

We soon sighted the pyramids and came to Bulac Station three miles from
Cairo at 7 o'clock. It being dark, supper was served which we took into
the cars, it consisted of canned meat, bread and tea. We left at eight
for Assiout. The sand became very troublesome entering the open cars and
I concluded as we were travelling through the night to give my eyes a
rest and went to sleep sitting up. Next m