520 JOURNEY TO CENTRAL AFRICA.

1 aloot ; the next at Minyeh ; the next at Benisooef ; the next in sight of the Pyramids ; and so it came to pass that in spite of all my delays before reaching Siout, on the sixteenth day after leaving Assouan, I saw the gray piles of Dashoor and Sakkara pass behind me and grow dim under the Libyan Hills.

And now dawns the morning of the first of April, 1852 — a day which will be ever memorable to Achmet and myself, as that of our return to Cairo. When the first cock crowed in some village on shore, we all arose and put the Lotus in motion. Over the golden wheat-fields of the western bank the pyramids of Dashoor stand clear and purple in the distance.

It is a superb morning ; calm, bright, mild, and vocal with the songs of a thousand birds among the palms. Ten o'clock comes, and Achmet, who has been standing on the cabin-roof, cries : "0 my master ! God be praised ! there are the minarets of Sultan Hassan ! " At noon there is a strong headwind, but the men dare not stop. "We rejoice over every mile they make. The minaret of old Cairo is in sight, and I give the boat until three o'clock to reach the place. If it fails, I shall land and walk. The wind slackens a little and we work down towards the island of Roda, Grizeh on our left. At last we enter the narrow channel between the island and Old Cairo ; it is not yet three o'clock. I have my pistols loaded with a double charge of powder. There are donkeys and donkey-boys on the shore, but Arabian chargers with Persian grooms were not a more welcome sight. We call them, and a horde comes rushing down to the water. I fire my pistols against the bank of Eoda, stunning the gardeners and frightening the donkeyboys. Mounted at last, leaving Achmet to go on with the