fine children and his boy, about thirteen or so, rode and played Jereed
one day when Abdallah Pasha had ordered the people of the neighbourhood
to do it for General Parker. I never saw so beautiful a performance. The
old General and I were quite excited, and he tried it to the great
amusement of the Sheykh el Beled. Some young Englishmen were rather
grand about it, but declined mounting the horses and trying a throw. The
Sheykh and young Hassan and then old Mustapha wheeled round and round
like beautiful hawks, and caught the palm-sticks thrown at them as they
dashed round. It was superb, and the horses were good, though the
saddles and bridles were rags and ends of rope, and the men mere
tatterdemalions. A little below Thebes I stopped, and walked inland to
Koos to see a noble old mosque falling to ruin. No English had ever been
there and we were surrounded by a crowd in the bazaar. Instantly five or
six tall fellows with long sticks improvised themselves our body-guard
and kept the people off, who _du reste_ were perfectly civil and only
curious to see such strange 'Hareem,' and after seeing us well out of the
town evaporated as quietly as they came without a word. I gave about ten-
pence to buy oil, as it is Ramadan and the mosque ought to be lighted,
and the old servant of the mosque kindly promised me full justice at the
Day of Judgment, as I was one of those Nasranee of whom the Lord Mohammed
said that they are not proud and wish well to the Muslimeen. The Pasha
had confiscated all the lands belonging to the mosque, and allowed 300
piastres--not 2 pounds a month--for all expenses; of course the noble old
building with its beautiful carving and arabesque mouldings must fall
down. There was a smaller one beside it, where he declared that
anciently forty girls lived unmarried and recited the Koran--Muslim nuns,
in fact. I intend to ask the Alim, for whom I have a letter from
Mustapha, about such an anomaly.

Some way above Bellianeh Omar asked eagerly leave to stop the boat as a