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

150 ARRIVAL AT ESNEH.
chest, or some scarabseus of the time of the
Pharaohs, he begs your acceptance of some tri-
fling article with such grace that a refusal would
be impossible. Then he has you fast— you feel
compelled to ask the price of some more im-
portant object, and to beat him down is no
longer possible, for he has you in the cleft-stick
of an obligation. However, in our case, I do
not think that the plunder was very outrageous
I believe that he did not ask above six or seven
times the amount of what he would have taken
for the articles; and for a few pounds I cer-
tainly have procured souvenirs of the place which
I w^ould not relinquish for ten times what they
have cost me.
Esneh, November 23.
Nothing of any note between Thebes and
this place, which we reached in the middle of
last night, and where we are compelled to re-
main four-and-twenty hours very much against
our inclination, for we are thereby losing the
advantage of a lovely breeze blowing right up
the river, which is doubly provoking, as for
some days a fair wind, or any wind at all, has
been a rare occurrence. However, no option is
left us of proceeding, for Esneh is the last place
where we shall have an opportunity of fulfilling
;