Keneh. I hesitated, and said
there were great crowds, and some might be offended at my presence; but
the Kadee declared 'by Him who separated us' that if any such ignorant
persons were present it was high time they learnt better, and said that
it was by no means unlawful for virtuous Christians, and such as neither
hated nor scorned the Muslimeen, to profit by, or share in their prayers,
and that I should sit before the Sheykh's tomb with him and the Mufti;
and that _du reste_, they wished to give thanks for my safe arrival.
Such a demonstration of tolerance was not to be resisted. So after going
back to rest, and dine in the boat, I returned at nightfall into the town
and went to the burial-place. The whole way was lighted up and thronged
with the most motley crowd, and the usual mixture of holy and profane,
which we know at the Catholic _fetes_ also; but more _prononce_ here.
Dancing girls, glittering with gold brocade and coins, swaggered about
among the brown-shirted fellaheen, and the profane singing of the
_Alateeyeh_ mingled with the songs in honour of the Arab prophet chanted
by the Moonsheeds and the deep tones of the 'Allah, Allah' of the
Zikeers. Rockets whizzed about and made the women screech, and a
merry-go-round was in full swing. And now fancy me clinging to the
skirts of the Cadi ul Islam (who did not wear a spencer, as the Methodist
parson threatened his congregation he would do at the Day of Judgement)
and pushing into the tomb of the Seyd Abd er-Racheem, through such a
throng. No one seemed offended or even surprised. I suppose my face is
so well known at Keneh. When my party had said a _Fattah_ for me and
another for my family, we retired to another _kubbeh_, where there was no
tomb, and where we found the Mufti, and sat there all the evening over
coffee and pipes and talk. I was questioned about English administration
of justice, and made to describe the process of trial by jury. The Mufti
is a very dignified gentlemanly man, and extremely kind and civil. The
Kadee pressed me to stay next day and dine with him and the Mufti, but I
said I had a lantern for Luxor, and I wanted to arrive before the
_moolid_ was over, and only three days remained. So the Kadee
accompanied me back to the boat, looked at my maps, which pleased him
very much, traced out the line of the railway as he had heard it, and had
tea.

Next morning we had the first good wind, and bowled up to Luxor in one
day, arriving