mode of travel, her mother was so
fatigued that, on arriving at Abu-Hammed, on the banks of the Nile, she
solicited that they should again take to the river. A dahabuyah was
accordingly hired, along with six stalwart boatmen, all of whom swore on
the Kuran that they would keep pace with the swiftest dromedary. So
while the caravan dragged its laborious way through the burning,
shifting sand, Alexina and her kinswomen leisurely ascended the Nile.
But the boatmen soon threw to the winds their promises, relaxed their
efforts, and allowed the caravan to push ahead of them, replying to all
reproaches that their work was arduous, and the sun's heat excessive.

Meantime, the progress of the caravan was considerable, and at nightfall
tents were pitched on the river-bank, and fires lighted. When no
dahabuyah appeared much surprise was felt, and men were sent to look out
for it, but in vain. It was not until the following day that news was
obtained of it, and then it was found that the Egyptian boatmen had at
last laid down their oars in sullen indolence, and that Miss Tinne and
the other ladies had been compelled to pass the night in a Nubian
village. This misadventure taught them the lesson that in Eastern
countries it is safer to trust to brutes than to men; the boatmen were
summarily dismissed, and the ladies once more joined the caravan.

But the heat proving insupportable, they were driven once more to essay
the river transit. A boat was again hired; a second time they embarked
on the shining Nile; and again an evil fortune attended them. Instead of
reaching Berber, as they should have done, in four days, they spent a
week in the voyage; but it was some compensation for their fatigue when,
at two hours' march from the city, they were received by some thirty
chiefs, mounted upon camels, and attended by janissaries in splendid
attire, who, with much pomp and circumstance, escorted them to the gates
of Berber. There they were received by the governor with every detail of
Oriental etiquette; were comfortably lodged in pavilions in his garden,
and surrounded by an atmosphere of courteous hospitality. No longer in
need of a complete caravan, Miss Tinne dismissed her camel drivers; and
desirous of leaving on their minds a permanently favourable impression,
she rewarded them with such unbounded generosity that they broke out
into unaccustomed exclamations of joy and gratitude, and to this day
sing of the white queen's glory, as if