IN THE TRAIN TO ASSIUT. 13

we were suffocated with the dust that rose in clouds

round the train : the Black Hole must have been a

joke to it. There were only three of us in a third-

class carriage, so two tried to sleep on the seats,

while the third reposed on the floor ; the latter was

occasionally disturbed by one of the upper occupants

falling on top of him, so at last we gave up attempting

to sleep, and wished for the day. It came at last, and

we arrived about nine o'clock at Assiut, where the

railway ended. We therefore proceeded to detrain,

and embarked the men on two barges, which were

lashed together, and towed by a sort of penny

steamer ; this latter the officers inhabited.