The last night before reaching Keneh, the town forty miles north of Luxor, my men held a grand fantasia on the bank.  There was no wind, and we found a lot of old maize stalks; so there was a bonfire, and no end of drumming, singing and dancing.  Even Omar relaxed his dignity so far as to dance the dance of the Alexandria young men; and very funny it all was.  I laughed consumedly; especially at the modest airs and graces of a great lubberly fellow—­one Hezayin, who acted the bride—­in a representation of a Nubian wedding festivity.  The new song of this year is very pretty—­a declaration of love to a young Mohammed, sung to a very pretty tune.  There is another, rather like the air of ’Di Provenza al mar’ in the ‘Traviata,’ with extremely pretty words.  As in England, every year has its new song, which all the boys sing about the streets.

I hope, darling, you are sapping this year, and intend to make up a bit for lost time.  I hear you have lost no time in growing tall at all events—­’ill weeds, etc.’—­you know Omar desires all sorts of messages to you.

January 15, 1866:  Sir Alexander Duff Gordon

To Sir Alexander Duff Gordon. Monday, January 15, 1866.

Dearest Alick,

I hear that Mr. and Miss North are to be here in a day or two.  I hope you may have sent my saddle by them, for I want it sadly—­mine is just possible for a donkey, but quite too broken for a horse.

Two great Sheykhs of Bishareen and Abab’deh came here and picked me up out walking alone.  We went and sat in a field, and they begged me to communicate to the Queen of England that they would join her troops if she would invade Egypt.  One laid my hand on his hand and said ’Thou hast 3,000 men in thy hand.’  The other rules 10,000.  They say there are 30,000 Arabs (bedaween) ready to join the English, for they fear that the Viceroy will try to work and rob them like the fellaheen, and if so they will fight to the last, or else go off into Syria.  I was rather frightened—­for them, I mean, and told them that our Queen could do nothing till 600 Sheykhs and 400 Ameers had talked in public—­all whose talk was printed and read at Stambool and Cairo, and that they must not think of such a thing from our Queen, but if things became bad, it would be better for them to go off into Syria.  I urged great caution upon them, and I need not repeat that to you, as the lives of thousands may be endangered.  It might be interesting to be known in high places and in profound secret, as one of the indications of what is coming here.

If the saddle comes, as I hope, I may very likely go up to Assouan, and leave the boat and servants, and go into the desert for a few days to see the place of the Bishareen.  They won’t take anyone else:  but you may be quite easy about me ‘in the face’ of a Sheykh-el-Arab.  Handsome Sheykh Hassan, whom you saw at Cairo, will go with me.  But if my saddle does not appear, I fear I should be too tired with riding a camel.