BEN HASSAN'S DAHABEAH
NABUL often talked with the "little Effendi" during their rides
together, of his home and the mother and the two little sisters, and
about his father and the dahabeah with its huge sails, until nothing
would do but George must know them all and take a trip on the dahabeah.
The boys had their heads together a lot these days, and at last it came
out that it would be a splendid plan for all of them to take a trip up
the Nile on the dahabeah of Nabul's father.
"Think what a treat it will be, Uncle Ben," said George, "to go and
live on a real Egyptian boat. Nabul's mother is going to keep house for
us on board, and the little girls will help her. Then, just think! we
can take the donkeys, too," continued George, warming up more and more
to his subject.
"Well! George, you seem to have thought of everything," and Mr.
Winthrop laughed long and heartily. "I did not know you had such a head
for business. It does not seem a bad idea, however, this river trip of
yours; there must be much that is interesting to be seen in that way,"
continued his uncle. "I will ask Mustapha what he thinks about it."
"Uncle Ben, you are a good fellow!" exclaimed George, jumping up and
hugging his uncle, for now he would have a chance to see something of
the real life of the country such as the tourists who stayed only in
the cities never had.
Mustapha was very bland and gracious when he found out that he was
expected to go along, too. He said that Ben Hassan, Nabul's father,
was a good friend of his, that there was no more skilful captain nor
better dahabeah on the Nile than his, and that everything could be
arranged as they wished.
Nabul was a happy little boy the day he guided these wonderful
Americans, as he always thought of them, to his home. There they met
Nabul's father, a tall, grave man of few words. While he and Uncle Ben
talked the trip over (with Mustapha as interpreter, though Ben Hassan
knew some English), Mizram the mother gave them coffee served in tiny
cups without handles, each set in a brass holder,--the thick Turkish
coffee which is all grounds and sugar which one gets in Egypt. Then
the two little sisters crept in to see the kind people their brother
had talked so much about. Menah, who was the eldest, was rather shy
and quiet, but Zaida was a roguish, merry little soul who made friends
easily. They did not know a word of English, but by smiles and gestures
they made friends with George and showed him all their treasures.
There was the big white cockatoo who swung on his perch and could talk,
and a cage of small singing birds that Abdal's father had sent them.
And the little girls had some dolls of which they were very proud.
The dolls were queer little figures, fashioned after those which had
been dug up from old tombs where they had been buried for centuries.
There were odd little stone and clay figures, too, which the girls
treasured quite as much as they did the dolls in human form. One was
in the form of a Nile crocodile, another of a buffalo and another of a
lion, and still others in the form of goats, camels, and donkeys. There
was another doll in the form of a man carrying a great basket on his
shoulder and another of a washerwoman.
The custom of little Egyptian children playing with these dolls and
figures is very old--for all the world their dolls are like the Noah's
Ark animals which you have at home--and ages and ages ago, when little
children died, their dolls were always buried with them.
After the call upon Nabul's family everybody trooped down to the river
to see the _Isis_, which was the name of Ben Hassan's dahabeah, and Mr.
Winthrop agreed with George that it was just the thing they would both
like, so it was all arranged on the spot without further ado, and it
was decided that they would start on the voyage up-river the following
week.
Finally the day came to set sail. It was indeed a busy morning for the
family of Ben Hassan! Baskets and pots and pans and jars and sacks of
clothing and household belongings of all kinds were loaded on to Teddy
Pasha and Bobs, who must have wondered to themselves what was going to
happen. At last everything had been thought of, Nabul's mother gave the
last directions to the friends whom Abdal lived with who were to look
after the house and the fowls and the birds while they were away, then
amid good-byes from the neighbours, who were all at their windows and
doors to see them off, the little procession started down to the river
landing where lay the dahabeah.
"Hurry up, lazy one," cried Abdal, "thou wilt have plenty of time to
rest," as he hurried Bobs along with a tap from his stick.
"Thou dost not go that way to-day," said Nabul, giving Teddy Pasha's
bridle a jerk as he started to turn down his habitual street. "Thou
goest on a longer journey to-day." And the two little donkeys put their
heads together as if to discuss this unusual proceeding.
When they got to the dahabeah everybody was bustling about, putting
the boat in order for the voyage. Nabul's father was standing on the
little upper deck giving orders to some of the crew who were looking
to the ropes and sails, while others were scrubbing the deck. Here and
there were piled up all sorts of things, gaily painted wooden boxes,
which are the kind of trunks Egyptians use, baskets of eatables, live
chickens, and big water-jars.
Everybody was talking and shouting all at once in the usual Egyptian
fashion. Mizram, however, at once set to work to get things
straightened out, and the little girls helped her as best they could.
In the midst of it all the carriage drove up with Mr. Winthrop and
George and their baggage, with Mustapha beside the driver. George was
standing up waving his cap, and was out of the carriage before it
stopped. He rushed up the gang-plank and on to the deck, and insisted
on shaking hands with everybody, beginning with the reis, as a Nile
captain is named, and ending with the boy washing down the deck. Every
one was greatly surprised, for Egyptians don't known anything about
shaking hands in our way. Their ceremonies of politeness are quite as
marked, but very different, as, for instance, a kiss on the forehead.
[Illustration: THE DAHABEAH.]
Meanwhile Mustapha was in his element, storming about and calling on
the great Prophet Mohammed to bear witness that they would never be
able to get off with such a crew of dullards.
"As for me I am going to get out of the way by going on the upper deck,
it seems to be the only quiet place on board," said Uncle Ben, as he
dodged the chickens and took refuge on the elevated stern of the boat
where the grave, stately reis gave him a deep salaam of welcome.
Urged on by Mustapha's threats, the little crew soon began to get
things in order. The tug of war came when it was time for the donkeys
to come aboard. The boys got them up to the plank, but there they
just planted their feet down firmly and not another step would they
budge. They weren't going to leave dry land. Nabul coaxed and pulled,
and Abdal clucked and prodded, but all Teddy Pasha did was to back
his ears and give an awful bray, which made the crowd of loafers
gathered on the river bank laugh. Finally Nabul tied a cloth over the
Pasha's head, and while he pulled hard at the bridle in front Abdal
tweaked the little donkey's tail, and this made him so mad that he
dashed up the plank and on to the deck before he knew it, and just
as soon as Bobs saw him go he rushed aft. The donkeys were then led
triumphantly to their quarters in the prow of the boat, where they were
very comfortable and content. George at once christened this part of
the boat "the menagerie," for the chickens were already there pecking
away at some grain, each fastened to the railing by a long string tied
around one leg to keep them from flying overboard. The little girls,
too, had brought the big white cockatoo to keep them company, and his
wooden cage hung against the side of the cabin, while curled up in a
tight box was a tame snake belonging to one of the crew. The Egyptians
of all ages and all classes are very fond of pets.
George was as excited and happy as could be as he rushed about with the
children from one end of the boat to the other.
"Isn't it funny to see sailors in long white gowns and turbans on their
heads, Uncle Ben?" laughed George. "How can they ever climb up the
rigging in clothes like that?"
"But they don't have any rigging to climb, on a dahabeah, they only
have to shift a rope once and again," said Mr. Winthrop.
There was a large sail in the bow and a much smaller one in the stern,
each of them of the great pointed lateen variety seen on the rivers and
along the coasts of all Mediterranean countries. The boat itself was
a sharp-prowed, broad-bottomed affair which seemed to glide over the
water rather than through it. The Nile dahabeahs are among the most
picturesque boats afloat.
In the stern, on the lower deck, were two small cabins for Uncle Ben
and George, and a little saloon to eat in. Further forward was the
kitchen and storeroom, and beyond these the quarters for the reis's
family and Mustapha.
"We sleep on the deck," said Nabul. "Abdal and I just roll up in a
blanket and lie down on the deck boards, and sleep just like the crew."
"I should like to do that, too; it must be lots more fun than sleeping
in a stuffy little cabin," exclaimed George, much interested.
"It's hard if you aren't used to it, but we think nothing of doing so,"
said Abdal.
At last the friends who had come down to see them off had taken their
leave, and the gang-plank was drawn in, the sails unfurled, and two of
the men seized a couple of big oars and pushed off the prow from the
bank. Slowly the dahabeah swung over to the middle of the stream; the
crowd on shore shouted a last farewell; the breeze caught and filled
the big sails, and in a few minutes they were gliding swiftly through
the muddy brown water of the Nile, up river toward the very heart of
the "dark continent" of Africa.
On the upper deck Mustapha had just put two long wicker chairs for
the "Effendis," and Uncle Ben, who had picked up a little Arabic, was
comfortably stretched out in one trying to talk with the reis, who sat
beside him on a rug spread on the deck smoking his big "hubble-bubble"
pipe, every once in awhile giving an order to one of the crew as they
trimmed the sails to catch all the breeze.
Mats were spread on the decks for the others; the children, however,
were too busy to think of sitting down; they kept running from one
side to the other, watching the houses and people on the banks as they
slipped past, and the queer craft going and coming on the river.
"There come three nuggars," said Abdal, pointing to three broad, flat,
barge-like boats, each with a high lateen sail, coming slowly toward
them.
"What a funny name! what are 'nuggars'?" asked George.
"Nuggars are the great Nile cargo boats which carry all kinds of
merchandise up and down the river," said Nabul. "See the great boxes
and bales on that one," he continued.
"And the one behind has a lot of oxen and sheep on it; they are loaded
down to the water's edge, I wonder they don't sink," said George. "Oh!
And here come three haystacks floating down-stream! With sails on top
of them, too!" he cried.
But no, they too were boats, this time loaded with fodder and the long
green bamboos which were being carried to the city. Then a ferryboat
filled with people and donkeys crossed the river ahead of them, rowed
by men in dark blue cotton gowns. It was all so novel and amusing the
children were almost sorry to stop looking in order to eat lunch,
though George did say he was hungry enough to eat a hippopotamus.
One of the men brought a table and noiselessly set it on deck for
the "Effendis," and then served them the nice things that Mizram had
cooked. There was chicken with a nice hot pepper sauce and rice and all
kinds of vegetables and melons and dates and oranges.
At the other end of the deck the reis and his family and Mustapha had
their meal. Mizram served them all sorts of queer dishes that the
little Egyptians kept on bringing to the "Effendi" to taste; and how
they laughed at the faces the little American made over some of them!
"'After Al-Ghada, rest, if it be but for two moments;
After Al-Asha, walk, if it be but two steps,'"
said Mustapha, quoting one of their proverbs as he stretched himself on
a rug for a nap after dinner. _Al-Ghada_ is dinner and _Al-Asha_ is
supper.
"Nabul, what is in that bag?" asked George, pointing to a big brown bag
which hung on the side of the mast of the dahabeah, and which one of
the men was just taking down.
"It is the food of the crew. They put it there so that all can see it
and no one can steal any of it without his fellows seeing him. The crew
are going to eat their dinner now," explained Nabul, "and that fellow
there has just climbed up and unhooked it."
By this time the sun was beating down hotly on the canvas awning over
the deck, and one by one everybody followed Mustapha's advice, except
the men on duty. The little Egyptian children, curled up on their mats,
were soon sound asleep. George stoutly declared that he was not going
to miss anything by sleeping. Mr. Winthrop had brought a book that told
all about Egypt, and George listened while his uncle read aloud about
Memphis, which they would soon pass. Thousands of years ago it had
been another burial-place, when the haughty Pharaohs reigned in Egypt.
But the first thing that George knew, he had forgotten all about the
Pharaohs, and woke with a start in his big chair by the rattle of the
sails as they were dropped, while the dahabeah gently glided to the
landing-place, where the reis was to deliver some merchandise which he
had brought up to a dweller on the bank from a Cairo dealer in ironware.
From the landing-place on the river the party had time to take a ride
inland, and Nabul and Abdal had the donkeys all ready as soon as the
gangplank was pushed out. There was no trouble in getting the little
donkeys off the boat. The minute they saw the dry land they made a dash
for the shore. And weren't the donkey boys on the landing mad when they
saw that the strangers had brought their own donkeys. They howled and
shouted, and wanted to know how the Cairo donkeys could be expected to
carry the visitors through the sand and rough soil hereabouts.
However, they felt better when Mustapha picked out two of their
donkeys,--one for himself and the other for the two little
girls,--grumbling at the same time something about "too many children,"
but as Nabul whispered to Abdal, "Mustapha was like an old camel with a
hard mouth and a soft heart."
The little girls were wild with delight that they were going, too.
Menah sat with her feet hanging over one side and Zaida behind her with
her feet dangling down the other side of the little donkey.
Away went the little procession, the donkeys kicking up a cloud of
dust. The road wound through fields of grain, and along the roadside
were to be seen children guarding cows and goats and other animals, who
shouted merry greetings to our little friends as they passed by.
It was not long before Mustapha, who was riding ahead, called out,
"Now you can see the village, there between the palms," at the same
time pointing with his cane--which a dragoman is never without--to a
large grove of palm-trees they were approaching and amongst which were
huddled a lot of queer flat-roofed houses.
"I don't see anything but big stones," said George.
"Let's see who gets there first," cried Nabul; and giving the donkeys
a tap away the boys raced, the Pasha being the first to come to a halt
beside the palm-trees.
"Now I can see that one of the stones is a house, Uncle Ben," cried
George as they drew up closer.
There were some natives standing on the little landing of the minaret
of the mosque, which no village hereabouts is without, whether it
be large or small, and the children lost no time in following their
example and climbing up the crazy stairs which wound around inside the
slim tower.
The view round about was wonderfully varied. On one side stretched away
the sandy desert, where the Bedouin shepherds guarded their flocks of
goats, leading them from one little oasis to another, wherever they
could find enough herbage to make a meal. On the other side was the
flowering river-bottom of the Nile, one of the richest agricultural
regions in the world.
Just beside the mosque was a great grove of date palms, and George
thought it very strange, and very much to his liking, too, that he
could reach out his hand just beyond the gallery railing and pick the
golden dates. "How I should like to come up here every day," he said as
they made their way down to the ground.
Just before the entrance to the mosque was a great stone statue which
astonished George and his uncle very much. The natives, too, evidently
had a great regard for it, as they had planted a lot of low-growing,
flowering trees all about it, sheltering it as if it were in a bower.
"How long do you suppose it has been here, Uncle Ben?" asked George, as
he took his seat on the broad foot of the big statue.
"A long, long time, certainly, my boy," replied his uncle, "perhaps
thousands of years."
After admiring the great statue awhile longer they discovered Mustapha
sitting on the shady terrace of a coffee shop. He was drinking another
of those little cups of muddy-looking, sweetish Turkish coffee of which
the Egyptians are so fond. Uncle Ben, too, liked it very much, for it
was usually made of the purest of Mocha coffee which comes from the
other side of the Red Sea not far away from Egypt, so he too stopped
for a cup, the boys meanwhile wandering off with the little girls
quite by themselves.
When they all got back to the coffee shop again each of the children
had a little wicker cage or basket in which was imprisoned a chameleon,
a queer little beast like a lizard, which lives by catching flies and
insects.
The Egyptians have a superstition that to have a chameleon in the house
is almost as good as having a cat--and they are very fond of cats,
too. The cat catches rats and mice and the chameleon gathers in all
the stinging bugs and insects and flies. This chameleon is thus a very
useful little animal indeed. When frightened it changes the colour of
its skin instantaneously in a most remarkable manner. It takes on quite
a different colour from what it had a moment before. If it is lying on
a green leaf it becomes a green colour so like the leaf it can hardly
be seen, or if on the yellow sand or a gray stone it becomes yellow or
gray in turn. The children had bought the chameleons for a few small
coins from some native boys whose acquaintance they had made in their
stroll about the village.
Mustapha finally called out that they must go on if they wanted to get
back to the boat before dark.
The next morning George was awakened at daybreak by a funny sort of
singing and a great clucking of poultry. He dressed himself quickly and
ran out on deck. The crew had cast off from the moorings, and as the
big sail was being hoisted the sailors sang a slow, monotonous chant
with the words, "Pray, pray to Mohammed!" as a sort of chorus. In a few
minutes the dahabeah was again under way.
From the "menagerie" still came a clucking of distressed hens, a
snorting and braying of donkeys, mingled with the shouts of children.
"What can be the matter?" thought George as he hurried to the forward
end of the boat.
There a funny sight met his eyes! The pet snake had, by some means or
other, wriggled itself out between the slats of its box during the
night and eaten one of the hens, and now lay gorged and drowsy on the
deck, raising its head occasionally to give a feeble hiss at the other
chickens, who were clucking and fluttering about at the ends of their
cords, frightened out of what few wits a chicken has.
Nabul and Abdal were doing their best to pacify the donkeys, who showed
that they didn't like snakes either, by trying to back over the side of
the boat.
The cockatoo was swinging on his perch with every feather standing on
end, while Menah and Zaida stood huddled together on top of a box,
though they knew that the snake could not bite as his fangs had been
taken out.
In the middle of the commotion was Mustapha, angrily scolding the
sailor who owned the snake and who was cringing and bowing before the
dragoman, making all sorts of excuses for his snake.
"Do we buy fowls to feed thy snake?" demanded Mustapha angrily. "Thou
shalt pay the price of the chicken."
"Indeed, it was a fine fat hen and cost several piastres," put in
Mizram.
The sailor meanwhile was putting the sleepy snake back into its box,
calling it an "ingrate" and a "heartless viper" for thus causing its
master so much trouble.
"What a lot of talk over one chicken," laughed George when he was
telling his uncle about it. But this is just the way these people go on
over small things.
When things quieted down breakfast was served on deck, after which the
children hung on the railings and enjoyed watching the many things
of interest on the shores as the strong northerly breeze carried the
dahabeah swiftly along. Sometimes they passed so near the shore that
they could call to the little brown children paddling along the water's
edge, who would answer back greetings, and hold out their hands and
call out, "Backsheesh, give us backsheesh," which meant they wanted
pennies thrown to them.
Menah and Zaida were much interested in a group of girls who had
brought their big copper pots and water-jars down to the edge of the
river, and were scrubbing them while they chatted together, after which
they would fill the jars with water and balancing them on their heads
go gaily singing back to their homes.
"See the fisherman yonder, he is about to throw his net," cried Abdal,
pointing to a man who stood on the high bank with a large net gathered
up in his arms. With a swing of his arms the man skilfully flung the
net out into the river. It spread out into a great circle as it touched
the water. The boys explained to George how it was weighted with
stones, and as it slowly sank to the bottom it would imprison the fish
so they could not get away. One has to be very skilful to do that, they
said.
Sometimes the children would all gather around Mustapha and listen to
his wonderful tales. How when he was young he took long journeys on
camel-back far south in the great Lybian Desert, which they could see
stretching away on their right. Once, too, he had there killed a lion
which had chased him, and there were still lions to be found there,
but not so many as there used to be. When he told them how he had seen
crocodiles basking in the sun on the river banks, not so very far from
Cairo, the children clapped their hands and wanted to know if they
weren't going to see some crocodiles.
"And hippopotamuses, too?" asked George. But Mustapha shook his head
and said he thought not, that there was so much traffic and so many
steamboats and other craft on the river now that these animals had
been frightened away and were only found now in the Upper Nile, far
beyond where they were going. This disappointed the boys very much.
Then again to while away the time the little Egyptians would show
George how to play their games, while George in turn would attempt to
teach them some of the American children's games.
On several occasions the sailor brought his tame snake on the upper
deck and showed them all the wonderful tricks his pet could do. The
snake would follow him all around the deck, holding its head erect and
waving it about as if it liked the queer little tune the man whistled.
The sailor offered to let the snake wrap itself around the boys' arms,
but they would not agree to this, though they thought it amusing enough
to watch its tricks with its master.
Everybody was so much amused by the snake's tricks that Mustapha
amiably told the sailor he would not have to pay for the chicken it
had eaten.
Abdal had been telling the "little Effendi" so much about his home in
the country that George was anxious to see an Egyptian farm.
So the boys talked it over with Mustapha, and as the farm was not far
from the river Mustapha said it would be possible to stop off there for
a day or so on their way back.
Mustapha then busied himself all one day writing a letter to Abdal's
father, saying that he and his party would stop at his farm and telling
him what day the dahabeah would be at his landing, that he might make
preparations to welcome the American Effendis.
George wondered how Mustapha was going to send the letter, but just
then a big "steam dahabeah" passed them coming down the river crowded
with a lot of tourists. The reis said this was their chance to send
back Mustapha's letter. So he hailed it and as it slowed down he
ordered several of his crew to launch the small boat which the dahabeah
carried. This they did, and rowing over to the steamer threw the letter
on board as she steamed past them. So George thought there was some use
after all for a steamboat on the Nile, though it did seem out of place
and not at all as comfortable and picturesque way of travelling as by a
sailing vessel.
It was always a great event for the children when the boat was tied up
near some little village in order to lay in a new stock of provisions,
to get some grain to carry further on, or to deliver some which they
had brought from Cairo. They would all go on shore and it was great fun
watching the people who came from near-by farms bringing vegetables and
fruits and fowls to sell. They crowded around Mustapha, who did the
bargaining, shouting in a high voice the prices of their wares. At
each landing they always found the water-sellers who refilled the big
water-jars on board, from the goat-skin water-bags slung by a strap
over their shoulders. All the little children came trooping down from
the neighbouring villages to stare shyly at the strangers, often hiding
half-afraid behind their mother's gowns; but whether they were shy or
bold, all of them would hold out their hands for backsheesh; even the
babies perched on their mothers' shoulders held out their little hands,
though they could not speak a word.
"'Tis the strangers who have spoiled them," Mustapha said as he drove
away a crowd of little children who were pestering George at one little
village. "They throw coins to the little ones on the banks as they go
past on the great steamers; they mean it kindly, but it teaches our
little Egyptian children to beg and that makes them bad," and the fat
dragoman scowled at the village children until they shook in their
little slippers and ran away as fast as possible.
As they went farther up the river the green fields grew fewer and fewer
and the yellow sand of the deserts on both sides came nearer and nearer
the river.
One morning the _Isis_ rounded a sharp bend in the river and there
in the distance were a group of tall columns, rising from the bank
surrounded by houses and trees.
"'Tis Luxor, the site of the most wonderful ruins in all Egypt," said
Mustapha with pride.
Everybody crowded eagerly forward while Mustapha pointed out the places
of interest. First came the part of the town where the Egyptians live
and then the great hotels and gay shops, and finally, just at noon, our
dahabeah pushed its high prow in among a lot of other dahabeahs and
smaller craft, and tied up alongside the old temple with its row of a
hundred tall columns which towered high above them on the river bank.