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

178 REIS HASSAN.
empty our boat of everything, take out her
ballast, strike her masts and yards, in short,
render her quite a shell ; and, as items in the
heavy and useless lumber, we of course left the
Dahabieh, and became spectators of what took
place from the shore.
As I am quite sure that it is impossible to give
you a clear idea in writing of the gate through
which our boat was about to be passed, I shall
not attempt it. Besides, I must have wearied
you so completely with a detail of our failures,
that I shall be more summary in the account of
our success ; and all that I shall say is, that,
perched upon a rock overlooking the whole
scene, we witnessed the struggling passage of
the Dahabieh up the Cataract, and the various
"hair-breadth scapes'' she encountered. How
the whole thing was effected, I can scarcely now
understand ; it was all such a scene of noise, and
movement, and fearful excitement !
Suffice it
to say, that at the very moment when we believed
the Swift to be safe through her troubles, the
greatest peril was incurred, and it was then
that the great exertions of Reis Hassan of the
Cataracts were put forth. Stripped of every-
thing save his drawers, his turban even thrown
aside, and the long Mussulman tuft of hair that