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

A BREEZE. 123
complete substitute for him in all things, was
equally laughable. He neither speaks or under-
stands a word of any language but his own, and
cannot even ask for a glass of water from one of
our Arabs without the intervention of an inter-
preter, yet he assumes the capability of taking
the direction of these men, declaring that " avec
la langue Fran9aise on pent faire tout ! " His suffi-
sance reminded me of Comte De R. C , an
amiable countryman of his, whom I met some
years ago at Vienna ; in one of my morning
walks I saw him wistfully scanning the play-bills
pasted at the corner of the Graben, and begged
he would inform me what were to be the repre-
sentations for that evening.
" Desole de ne pau-
voir vous le dire, Madame," was his reply
— "
" J'allois meme vous faire la meme question, car je
ne puis pas dechiffrer ces affiches."
!
" What
exclaimed I, " after so long a residence in the
Austrian States, you do not understand German!"
" Non, Madame ; je connais passablement mon
Fran^ais, et je m'y tiens !
" The practical evi-
dence he had just afforded me of how far his
*****
At Minieh, off* which we are now anchored in
theory was a good one, was too delightfully amus-
ing ever to be forgotten.