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

OUR CREW. 373
boat with eighteen Arabs (during six weeks of
which time we never beheld any European faces
beyond our own), and, from our ignorance of
Arabic, wholly dependant upon these men for
our safety, comfort, and wellbeing, in the uncivi-
lized regions we were traversing, we have never
experienced the slightest annoyance from one
of them, and have nothing but praise to bestoAv
upon all. Indeed, there has ever been a thought-
ful delicacy in their conduct, which I should not
have looked for, and I am sure should not have
met with, in civilized Europeans of their class.
Whenever the Dahabieh stopped, if there was a
wild flower within reach, or a branch of dates, or
a curious pebble to be found, it was sure to be
brought to me by some of them ; and whenever
I went on shore to walk, one would follow me
with a chair, another with a bottle of water, and
a third with an umbrella, lest I should be tired,
or thirsty, or hot during my absence from the
boat. We never thought of locking the cabin-
doors when we went on shore, and never lost the
value of a pin. In short, our Arabs have proved
a living contradiction to the bad character we
had heard of the whole race, without exception,
from many Euroi)eans, and of the absolute neces-
sity there is of treating them like brutes, inac-