thought it was only because I was about all night and did not get enough
sunshine to help me to throw it off; but then I got very bad headaches,
so I had to see a doctor, and he passed me on to our nose specialist,
who has been most awfully kind, coming down every day, and sometimes
twice a day, to see me. It was not really a cold, but some disease in
the antrum, and he has done two small operations for me, and it has been
horridly painful, but now it is getting well rapidly, and every one has
been most awfully good to me, and I am beginning to feel less of a limp
rag than I have done for some time past.
It was funny spending Christmas as a patient instead of running about
looking after the patients; but it was nearly my first day up, so I was
glad enough to be lazy, and I have had many visitors, so it has not been
dull at all.
XVIII
GENERAL HOSPITAL, LONDON,
_September 1897_.
Just now I am feeling so sorrowful at the prospect of leaving this
hospital (my home for the last three and a half years) that I hardly
know how to give my attention to telling you how the last few months
have been spent.
No, I have not been turned out, and they have given me a first-class
certificate, and are good enough to say that they are very sorry I am
going, and perhaps they will have me back again some day!
I think I was warded when I wrote to you last, and after that they sent
me home for a little rest. Whenever I go home some one in the village
gets ill, or some child gets scalded, or some accident happens; they
seem to think it is necessary to keep my hand in; but during that visit
home my only patient was poor Jessie, the family cat! It was Sunday
evening, and we were all sitting in the dining-room just after prayers,
when poor Jessie hobbled in, really screaming with pain. One leg had
evidently been caught in a trap, and there was a bad compound fracture
which she could not bear me to handle, so I said we must either have
some chloroform or the poor dear must be shot. The nearest doctor (and
chloroform) was three miles away, but C. volunteered to fetch some, and
went off on his bicycle, while I prepared some splints and strapping,
&c., and poor Jessie used bad language under the table.
I have sometimes had to hold an obstreperous child while it has been
given chloroform, but that is nothing to holding a cat! However, at last
we got her under, and then put the fracture in good position and
stitched up the wound, securing the leg very firmly on splints; this
operation was watched with much interest by all the family and most of
the servants; at first the cat would not come to, but we put her in a
hamper with plenty of fresh air, and when she _did_ come to, the
language she used was "something awful," but she soon settled down and
made a good recovery. My people were very anxious for me to say I could
not go back to the hospital at the end of my fortnight's sick leave as
the cat was still in splints, but I had to leave her to my assistant.
Then I returned to duty as Night Sister again, and everything went on
much as usual--generally rather more work than I could do well, and
sometimes rushing nights of accidents and emergencies, when it seemed
almost impossible to fit in all that had to be done.
It seems that every year more operations are done; the cases are sent
out more quickly, and so make room for more acute cases, and so the work
grows, but the number of nurses does not grow in the same proportion.
In February there was an urgent call for nurses to volunteer for plague
duty in India, so I sent in my name--thought it would be a useful
experience--and I wasted much time hanging about the India Office for
interviews, &c., but eventually they were unkind enough to say I was not
strong enough, and refused to send me. _Who_ would look very strong
after acting for a year as single-handed Night Sister for a hospital of
six hundred beds?
Then the authorities made a change, and they decided to increase the
night staff by the addition of eight more nurses and one more sister. I
was only on for a short time after this came into force, just to set
things going, and then I was appointed day sister of M. Ward, the
women's surgical ward, where I had worked as a lady pupil, and knew and
liked the surgeons so much.
Since I was lady pupil there, and before I was appointed Sister of the
ward, they had had several changes of sisters, and no one who had been
there long enough to take much interest in it; so there was room for
improvement, and the surgeons have been so awfully kind to me that I
have had a very nice time.
In that ward my bedroom opened out of my sitting-room (attached to my
ward), and we had one very exciting night there.
Since the night staff were increased the nurses have had one meal during
the night down in the dining-hall, and there are some probationers who
relieve our staff nurses while they go down to this meal. I was fast
asleep one night when a probationer rushed into my room, "Oh, Sister,
come quick, it's all blazing!" I seized my dressing-gown, and was in the
ward in a few seconds thinking that she had set the place on fire with
the airing sheets (of course my proper nurse was down at her meal); but
it was a house just across a narrow road that was indeed all blazing,
and my ward was brilliantly lit up by the flames, and the poor patients
were all awake, and some of them quite terrified.
I turned on all the lights, so that they should not see the glare, and
then we did our best to reassure them that there was no danger. Two poor
women with fractured femurs and their legs slung up to Hodgin splints
had already hopped out of their beds, and were literally tied by the
leg, and they were all begging for their clothes; so I let two
convalescents go to the clothes cupboard and put round the clothes to
each bed, or dressing-gowns for the helpless ones, while we got our
fire-hose out in case of need; but the firemen very soon got the fire
under.
Two of our students, who lived in the house which was on fire, had to
jump for their lives, and lost all their belongings, and one of them
broke his leg.
It was really a bit alarming, as the ward got so hot and smoky, but the
patients soon settled down again, and after we had readjusted splints,
&c., no one was any the worse.
I had to take my month's holiday in June this year, rather earlier than
I like (as it always seems more difficult to work when you come back to
face all the hot weather), but we can't all have our holidays in the
best months.
A young brother and a sister and I agreed to spend a fortnight about our
old haunts in Switzerland, and we had such a jolly time together.
Of course we went first to Paris, and were fascinated with the shops,
but tore ourselves away from them to visit the venerable Notre Dame, and
then to spend a little time in the Louvre, but it was only time enough
just to make us determined to stay longer in Paris on our way back. In
the afternoon we took one of the boats up the Seine, and afterwards went
for a walk in the Bois de Boulogne--a delightful breathing-place for the
Parisiennes--good roads, lovely trees, and greenery, and yet quite near
to all the bustle of the town.
The next day we had a hot and dusty journey on to Geneva, rather
afflicted by the presence of some old ladies who wished to keep all the
windows shut--it is strange how these petty discomforts fix themselves
in one's mind!
At Geneva we had vast, big rooms just looking over the lake, in the
Hotel des Bergues, and we took a Sabbath-day's rest there, finding a
nice service in the English church, and for the rest of the day
wandering about near the lake and up the river.
The next day we felt more energetic, and B. went off for a trip round
the lake by steamer, while we went up Salève by steam and electric tram,
a lazy way of proceeding, but it was rather an exciting journey crawling
up the face of the mountain, and then such a view from the top;
mountains, mountains everywhere, and grand old Mont Blanc poking his
head over the top, and down below the lake so still and blue, with green
trees down to its edge, and then the trees growing darker as they grow
higher up, until they stop and the snow-line begins.
The next day we moved on to Chamonix; the train went only as far as
Cluses, and from there we had a drive of twenty-five miles by diligence.
It was a delightful drive on a bright, sunny day; at every turn we
seemed to get fresh views of Mont Blanc, and each view seemed more
beautiful than the last.
We walked a good part of the way while the horses climbed the hills, and
we found many varieties of wild flowers and plenty of wild strawberries.
Chamonix is a charming place, but one wanted more time just to loaf
about and enjoy the views. The Mer de Glace is, perhaps, the most noted
glacier in Switzerland; it is within easy distance of Chamonix (about
two hours' walk), and it is a wonderful sight, but somehow I can't
describe it, it is all too solemn and grand. I always feel the truth of
what the Psalmist says about the men that go down to the sea in ships:
"These men see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep," and I
think the same applies to those who climb into the heights of the
mountains, but I suppose he had not had that opportunity!
We left Chamonix with regret, and walked from there over the Col de
Balme to Martigny; I think it was about twenty miles, but you can walk
twice as far in Switzerland as you can in England without being tired,
the air is so clear and bracing. It was a lovely tramp, beautiful
flowers and ferns, and rushing streams and waterfalls; the last part of
the way was trying, as it was very steep going down into Martigny, and
the path was paved with little cobbles, so that we arrived rather
footsore.
From there we trained to Glion, a very favourite place with us, just
perched above Chillon, with lovely views of Lake Leman, of Chillon
Castle, and the fine old Dent de Midi at the end of the lake, and it is
within easy walking distance of Montreux. There are many nice walks and
climbs about Glion, and the flowers--gentians, narcissi, &c.--were
perfectly lovely.
Then we had to turn homewards, and found that we could spare only one
night again in Paris (we had meant to stay longer): still it gave us a
little more time to examine the treasures of the Louvre.
We had a small excitement in the afternoon. We had been walking through
the flower market when a shower of rain came on. We sheltered under one
of the stalls, and while we were there we heard what we thought was a
sharp clap of thunder, but it proved to be a bomb exploding in the Place
de la Concorde, but no one was seriously hurt.
When we got back to London it was very busy with preparations for the
Queen's Diamond Jubilee, which was duly celebrated with much rejoicing
all over the country before I returned to work in town.
Now, I had better explain why I am leaving here. I have promised to go
as nurse to one of the hotels up the Nile (either to Luxor or Assouan,
where they always have a doctor and one nurse through the winter
season), with a patient who has spent the last eight winters in Egypt.
He is now very ill, and still he wants to go, as he can live so much
more comfortably in that climate. His mother can't go with him at
present, and they can't bear to let him go alone, so I have promised to
go to see him through the voyage (we are going by long sea) and to be at
hand in case he should get worse before his mother can join him.
You know I love travelling, so in a way I am glad, but I don't think I
am fitted for private nursing, and I am a bit nervous, and also it will
be anxious work if my patient gets worse out there, but somehow I could
not refuse. It is just horrid saying good-bye to every one and
everything here.
I will write again soon from the sunny south.
XIX
HELOUAN, EGYPT,
_November 1897_.
Here we are in lovely sunshine (the thermometer at 80° in the shade),
just on the edge of the desert, and quite contented to rest a while
(after a very anxious voyage) before we move on up the Nile.
We sailed from London on October 1st, and had a smooth trip down the
Channel, but I soon found my patient was much more of an invalid than I
had expected, and was afraid he would get cold before we got into a
warmer climate.
The first Sunday out we ran into a dense fog off Cape Finisterre, and
our morning service was somewhat disturbed by the constant hooting of
the foghorn; some of the passengers jumped up from their knees at each
hoot, and the captain cut the service rather short and went up on the
bridge. In a couple of hours we emerged into lovely sunshine, which soon
dried the wet decks and awnings, but the next day, as we were putting on
full steam to get into Gibraltar before sunset, we again ran into a
thick bank of fog, and eventually had to change our course and put out
to sea until the morning, as they are not allowed to run through the
Straits after sunset.
The next morning I was up on deck before five, just as we were running
into Gibraltar, and to watch the sun rise from behind the great rock was
a most impressive sight.
We had a pleasant trip down the Mediterranean until we entered the Gulf
of Lyons, and then the wind got up, and there was a nasty cross sea
which made most of us feel squeamish and not sorry when we anchored at
Marseilles early one morning; but there we had to tranship to a smaller
steamer, and it was raining and cold, and when we got on board the
_Clyde_ we found they were still coaling, and that the lighter with all
our baggage on board was not likely to come for some time, so we could
not establish ourselves in our cabins. As there seemed no comfortable
place on the boat, we concluded the best thing to do was to take a cab
and drive up to a hotel to get warm. Then I went out to buy fresh cream
and grapes, and to find out exactly at what time it was necessary to be
on board.
I shall never forget the storm of that night after we left Marseilles. I
tried to make some hot arrowroot; with much patience I managed it over a
spirit lamp, which I wedged into my washing basin with supports; of
course the tin of milk could not be trusted to sit on the top of the
lamp, so I had to hold it there, and it was not an easy matter as I was
flung from side to side in my cabin; then I found that a linseed
poultice was indicated, so I again retired to my cabin and wrestled with
the spirit lamp, and thought how little one appreciates the conveniences
of a modern hospital until one has to do without them.
After that the groans and fearsome noises from other cabins around us
were very bad, and I, who have always prided myself on being a good
sailor, actually succumbed for an hour or two; but I dragged myself up
again in the early hours of the morning to make another poultice, and by
breakfast-time the sea began to go down, and the sun came out, but it
was several days before some of the passengers crawled up on deck,
looking like limp rags, and the tables in the saloon were very empty
until just before we reached Alexandria.
We stayed some hours at Malta, and I had an interesting drive round the
place.
From Alexandria we had meant to go straight on to Cairo, but eventually
agreed it was best to stay a night at a hotel in Alexandria to rest
before the dusty train journey.
We had a wretched night, and, not knowing how to find a good doctor if I
needed one, I felt very lonely in a vast hotel where no one seemed to
speak English.
The next day we managed to journey on to Cairo in the morning, and
rested at Shepherd's Hotel until the evening, and then moved on to this
place--about half an hour by rail from Cairo, and actually on the
borders of the desert.
We have many friends in Cairo, and there is a good train service, so
they often come out to spend the day with us, or for the afternoon, and
then sometimes I go into Cairo to do necessary shopping or to pay some
visits. Cairo is a very gay place, and the people very pleasant and
friendly.
One day I went to lunch with some friends, and they drove me to see the
Citadel (driving all through the native quarter of the town), and then
we had tea with the sisters at the Military Hospital--a rambling big
place, designed for a palace and not for a hospital--and they seemed
very full up with enteric patients.
Then we went to see the Mosque, and were seized by the feet by several
Arabs, who tied on sandals for us before we went inside, and in these
we were allowed to flop about. The Mosque is a vast dome, nearly all
marble and alabaster, with a lovely alabaster fountain, where the people
wash their feet before going in to pray.
We walked all round the fortifications, and had a splendid view of
Cairo, and then drove back to town just in time to see the Khedive
arrive from Alexandria; a stout, sad-looking young man, his native
escort very smart, and riding such beautiful little horses.
Another day I was invited to bicycle out from Cairo to Mena House; so I
went into Cairo by the early morning train, and mounted a hired bicycle
for the nine-mile ride to Mena House Hotel. The first two miles seemed
very perilous, as our route lay all through the town, and many
water-carts made the roads very slippery, and electric trams and steam
trams rushed about in a most confusing way, and natives in swarms (many
of them blind) seemed to take a pleasure in strolling in our track, and
stupid donkeys and sad-eyed camels with unwieldy loads kept turning
about in unexpected directions, and looking at us in a reproachful way,
as much as to say they thought bicycles _quite_ out of place in their
country.
The narrow bridges over the Nile were thick with traffic, and I was
quite glad when we got out to the open country and on to a good road
with trees all along.
We left our bicycles at the hotel, and walked out to the great Ghizeh
Pyramids, really a most marvellous sight.
The big Pyramid covers as much ground as Lincoln's Inn Fields; enormous
blocks of stone, apparently just tumbled one on the top of the other,
and yet the whole worked into such perfect shape. To think of how they
can have brought these vast blocks of stone down, without mechanical
help, from Upper Egypt (for there was no such stone to be found near
there) is indeed wonderful.
The Temple, also, is a thing to marvel at, great blocks of granite and
alabaster cut and fitted together so perfectly, the doorway as straight
as possible, and to think that all this work was done from 3000 to 5000
years ago and is still as sound as ever.
We had not time to climb the Pyramid, but of course we paid our respects
to the Sphinx, and wished we could stay to see her by moonlight, when
she is said to be even more impressive than in the daylight.
They gave us a very good lunch on the balcony of the hotel, which is
said to be the best managed in Egypt; and I should think it would be a
very pleasant place to stay at, nice airy rooms and a lovely marble
swimming-bath at the back.
As we rode back there was a good deal of wind against us, and I was out
of practice and rather tired, so I found the crowded streets of Cairo
alarming, and was much relieved to give up my bicycle without having run
over any one or damaged the machine.
I think there was more of a crowd than usual, as the Khedive had driven
to the station to meet the King of Siam, and we saw the whole procession
pass on their way back to the palace.
The King of Siam was very gorgeous in a white uniform with much gold
lace, and his two sons were a somewhat curious contrast to the natives
around, in their Eton suits and top-hats; they are going up the Nile on
a private boat.
Helouan is beginning to fill up for the season (we were about the first
arrivals), and we have many visitors. We are in comfortable lodgings,
quite on the outskirts of the village; the servant who chiefly waits
upon us is a fine Arab with a black moustache, who stalks about in a
white night-gown down to his heels, tied round with a red sash; he wears
a red fez cap with a blue tassel, and red sandals on his feet; he does
most of the housework, for which purpose he puts a housemaid's apron
with a bib over his night-gown! His name is "Abdul" (the "slave of
God"); and there is a small Arab boy called "Ishmael," who runs
messages, and is most interested in our doings.
The mosquitoes are pretty bad at night here, and we have to sleep in
nets. Last week we had two days with a south wind blowing, and then the
beasts--creeping, crawling, and flying--_were_ a trial; there were great
wasps (quite three times as large as English ones), and horrid little
beasts that look like bugs (only they fly and don't bite) settling on
our dinner-table;--I am sure the south wind must have been blowing in
the time of the plagues of Egypt!
I am busy collecting things that we want to take up the Nile for our
house, as we shall then be 450 miles from the nearest shop, and it is
rather difficult, as I don't know at all what the house is like.
There are so many things that I should like to do and see in Cairo, but
I have not time, as we are leaving by the first tourist steamer that
goes up the Nile, and I don't like to be out for any length of time, but
I did manage a visit to the great native hospital, the Kasr-el-Aini,
where I know several of the sisters.
It is a very fine place with a very up-to-date theatre; the nurses are
all natives (men for the male patients), but they all work under the
English sisters.
The sisters have a most delightful Home, their dining and drawing rooms
are very spacious apartments, and they each have a very large room,
which most of them screen off into bed and sitting rooms.
There is a special fund which provides a carriage and pair for their
use, and they have a very good tennis court in their garden, in which
they are "At Home" one day each week, and the Cairo people go to tea
with them and to play tennis.
I have not told you a word about the native bazaars and all the quaint
sights of the Cairo streets, but every one writes about them, and I find
them too dazzling to describe. I could sit for hours on the balcony at
Shepherd's Hotel just doing nothing but watch the people. Take my
advice, and come to see Cairo some day, for it is a most fascinating
place, and I am quite loth to leave it.
XX
LUXOR, UPPER EGYPT,
_December 1897_.
Once more we have moved our camp, and though we managed the move with
very little exertion for my patient, and are now settled in very
comfortable quarters here, and he is pleased to be amongst old friends
and in his old haunts, and the climate is perfectly beautiful, still it
is sad to see that he is going downhill; so it has been arranged for his
mother and younger brother to join us here, and we are counting the days
till they arrive.
We came up the Nile on _Rameses III._, the newest of Cook's tourist
steamers, a very comfortable boat with nice airy cabins. I took all our
baggage on board in Cairo, but we had agreed it was better to avoid the
noise and bustle of embarking in Cairo, and that we should join the boat
when she anchored a few miles away from Helouan, at a place called
Badrachin.
Two of our doctor friends had meant to come to see us safely on board,
but at the last moment they were both prevented, so we started off in an
arabeyeh, escorted by a policeman mounted on a donkey, who had been sent
to give us any help he could.
Much to my anxiety, before we had gone far, the sun had disappeared, and
a sand-storm had got up, and by the time we had reached the Nile it was
quite cold, and the water was very rough with white waves showing.
_Rameses III._ was anchored at Sakkarah on the other side of the river,
but our policeman rode on and signalled to them, and as soon as they saw
us they sent off a boat to take us across; it was rather a perilous trip
as the boat was a light one, and we shipped a good deal of water. I was
thankful when we got safely on board, and found a good doctor and other
friends to help us.
The tourists--of whom there were not many, as this was the first trip of
the season--were all away sightseeing at the Sakkarah Pyramids.
Strolling up the river on these steamers is a very pleasant way of
travelling. Though the banks of the Nile are flat and there is a certain
sameness about them, the lights are so wonderful that they never _look_
the same. I used to think that the only thing that it was really worth
while having to get up early for was a day's hunting, but now I must add
the sight of the sunrise on the Nile, and as for the sunsets they are
simply gorgeous, the intense red, gold, and orange as the sun sinks with
the delicate blue above; and then you turn your back on the sun and face
the rich indigo blue of the afterglow, and then in a few minutes it is
all dark (no twilight here), and there is a solemn hush over everything.