A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

120 A BREEZE.
servants, however good and zealous they may be
at home, become worse than useless—they be-
come an absolute incumbrance. Unable to
speak the language of the country, unwilling to
conform to the change of diet and habits which
become inevitable, not sustained by the higher
intellectual motives which enable their em-
ployers to bear such trifling annoyances with
equanimity, and forced into an inertness which
always causes their tempers to ferment, the few
personal services they are required to perform for
their masters are more than counterbalanced by
the unceasing discontent they exhibit, and the
determination they appear amiably to adopt of
increasing instead of softening every difficulty
that occurs.
It is indispensable for European travellers in
the East to take into their service, for the time
being, a Dragoman, either a native, or a man
thoroughly accustomed to the country and lan-
guage, who serves as interpreter, courier, caterer,
in short superintendent of the ambulatory estab-
lishment ; and to this man, always a trustworthy
person and highly recommended, you must in all
confidence commit yourself, and delegate to him
a temporary power which you would never dream
of conceding to your own servants at home.