HAND AND GLOVE.

III

pair of dogskin gloves, which were of the greatest use to him in this country, where one must be always riding either a camel or an ass. Seized with a happy idea, we put these gloves on Hasné's hands. I never saw anything more comical than this woman's little hands lost in the enormous red gloves. Her delight was indescribable; she was prouder of the gloves than of all the necklaces we could offer her; she ran from one tent to another, uttering cries of satisfaction; she showed her hands to everybody, and it was only by telling her that the gloves were enchanted, and would bring her ill-luck, that we could induce her to give them up. After tender farewells, and liberal bakshishs, we set out the following morning for Medinet, the most important town in the province of Fayoum.

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SKETCH VIII.

A PRIMITIVE FOREST.

Fidémine-el-Fayoum - Biblical Hospitality A

Pharaoh's Rat

Respect to the Flies--Return from Market.

WE had to pass twice through Medinet, first in going to Fidémine, and afterwards in returning thence. Strictly speaking, we could have taken another road, but a melancholy circumstance rendered this retracing of our way necessary. One of our party was taken ill, and it became necessary to send him to Cairo for medical treatment. The route from Senouhrès was long and laborious, although it lay through cultivated lands, and we were quite sheltered from the sandstorms. The innumerable canals which intersect this part of the province render the road an actual labyrinth; and, as there is no plan of them, a native guide is indispensable. Without one we must have lost our way, or gone over the distance tenfold.

In the district which lies near the great canal, called The Canal of Joseph,' vegetation obtains its most extraordinary proportions, and surpasses the

THE CANAL OF JOSEPH.

113

most exaggerated conceptions. In many places we passed under actual arches of verdure, formed by the enormous branches of trees and shrubs which we are accustomed to see of much smaller dimensions. The orange and lemon trees grow here to the size of our old oaks, forests of cactus and aloes spread beyond sight along the roads, and form an impenetrable rampart. After having followed these marvellous roads, we came out upon one of the widest branches of the Canal of Joseph. This canal is one of the most important works in all Egypt. Very curious legends are connected with its construction and its Biblical origin. On approaching Medinet, we observed a degree of animation such as we had not previously noticed on approaching any town or village. The rank of the locality was indicated by soldiers in uniform, and horsemen splendidly equipped, and its social and commercial importance was injurious on the picturesque side, to the local colour of the place. In fact, it was very difficult to induce the inhabitants to permit us to encamp in the environs of the town. The people of Medinet are fast losing the gentleness and rural simplicity in their manners and dress which essentially characterise the Fellah population. Our dear invalid, accompanied by a trusty servant,

、

I

was placed in good hands, and, while he turned his

steps to Cairo, we set out for the village of Fidémine, which is generally neglected by travellers, and has, therefore, preserved a rare and curious stamp of primitiveness.

We were

gradually ascending the Canal of Joseph, and having arrived at vast savannahs of vegetation of unknown kinds, we plunged into a series of roads across the woods, where Robinson Crusoe might have believed himself to be in his island. Enormous grasses and lianes stretched from side to side, binding together the palm and other trees which continually barred our passage by their gnarled and knotted trunks. Our baggage-camels had great difficulty in steering through the thick brushwood, and night was coming on. Through the wood we went, unheeding. the ascent, until we found ourselves at a very great height above the level of the rest of the country. In fact we had attained an elevated plateau, but the extraordinary vegetation had prevented our perceiving it. At length we reached the edge of an immense precipice, with a running stream below, of which we caught glimpses between the trunks of the palms and aloes clothing the sides of the ravine. We had then to accomplish a descent, difficult alike for our animals and

A VIRGIN FOREST.

115

ourselves. We were on foot, holding the camels by their bridles, and guiding them as well as we could. This long and difficult climb reversed made us understand the considerable height we had reached; and when we had come down, as it seemed to us, to the depths of the earth, we had simply attained the level of a charming rivulet, and the picturesque entry of the village of Fidémine.

It was easy to see, by merely looking at the banks of this little river, that it must occasionally assume the importance of a torrent. Uprooted palms, rocks laid bare, and several varieties of grasses indicate the variations caused by the increase and rapidity of its course. Our tents were pitched upon the edge of the limpid water, with a background of enormous palms, aloes, and other trees strange in form and grouping. It was a virgin forest. Except the few straggling houses of the village which we had observed across the ravine through the trees, there was nothing to indicate the presence of human beings in the place. At our approach animals of all sorts, the sole tenants of the woods, had retreated, uttering yells. No huma being had we yet seen; and because of this solitude we organised a night-watch, which was only too necessary in the interest of our fowls, if we might judge