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

NILE VOYAGERS. 357
containing the Bishop of Gibraltar. We cer-
tainly are a strange vagabondising nation !
These fugitive meetings aiford sincere plea-
sure ; the moment the flag of a Dahabieh is es-
pied a shot is fired, the salute returned, the sail
brailed up, and both boats meet at the bank,
where a simultaneous outpouring of the travel-
lers generally takes place. All ceremony is
waived—both boats are visited— questions asked
much faster than they can be answered ; the up-
goers being anxious to know what are the dan-
gers of the Cataracts, the down-goers ravenous
for news from Europe. A cordiality character-
izes these transient visits, which the intercourse
of months would not produce in the conven-
tional atmosphere of courts and cities ; and they
are too short to admit of the eniiui arising from
them which so often proceeds from lengthened
meetings with persons who style each other their
very dear old friends; for at the end of ten or
fifteen minutes, courtesy, or perhaps impatience,
prompts one party to say to the other, " Really,
I cannot allow you to lose the advantage of this
fine wind for sailing up the river," or, "You
must not delay taking advantage of this calm for
rowing down." The gift of an old English
newspaper generally seals the cordial se])a ration,