by the 30th, in order not to miss the steamer, I had only four days
and a half to accomplish it in. Thus this excursion was the most
fatiguing I had ever undertaken.

At four in the afternoon I rode through the town-gate, where the
camels were waiting for us; we mounted them and commenced our
journey.

The desert begins at the town-gates, but for the first few miles we
have a sight of some very fruitful country on the left, until at
length we leave town and trees behind us, and with them all the
verdure, and find ourselves surrounded on all sides by a sea of
sand.

For the first four or five hours I was not ill-pleased with this
mode of travelling. I had plenty of room on my camel, and could sit
farther back or forward as I chose, and had provisions and a bottle
of water at my side. Besides this, the heat was not oppressive; I
felt very comfortable, and could look down from my high throne
almost with a feeling of pride upon the passing caravans. Even the
swaying motion of the camel, which causes in some travellers a
feeling of sickness and nausea like that produced by a sea-voyage,
did not affect me. But after a few hours I began to feel the
fatigues and discomforts of a journey of this kind. The swinging
motion pained and fatigued me, as I had no support against which I
could lean. The desire to sleep also arose within me, and it can be
imagined how uncomfortable I felt. But I was resolved to go to
Suez; and if all my hardships had been far worse, I would not have
turned back. I summoned all my fortitude, and rode without halting
for fifteen hours, from four in the afternoon until seven the next
morning.

During the night we passed several trains of camels, some in motion,
some at rest, often consisting of more than a hundred. We were not
exposed to the least annoyance, although we had attached ourselves
to no caravan, but were pursuing our way alone.

From Cairo to Suez posts are established at every five or six hours'
journey, and at each of these posts there stands a little house of
two rooms for the convenience of travellers. These huts were built
by an English innkeeper established at Cairo; but they can only be
used by very rich people, as the prices charged are most exorbitant.
Thus, for instance, a bed for one night costs a hundred piastres, a
little chicken twenty, and a bottle of water two piastres. The
generality of travellers encamp before the house, and I followed the
same plan, lying