ABSTRACT
As soon as our plank was down, a sort of mob-market was formed on shore. There was a display of a stuffed crocodile, spears, ebony clubs, straw-baskets, coins, walking sticks, an ostrich's egg, a conjuror, &c. It was at this place that a girl offered me for sale an English halfpenny; and another the glass stopper of a little bottle. Here, as everywhere, my ear trumpet was handled and examined with quick curiosity: and in almost every case, from Nubia to the Lebanon, the immediate conclusion was the same. The inquirers put the small end to their lips, and gave a satisfied nod. It was clearly a pipe, with an enormous bowl! At Aswan, however, we staid long enough for the people to discover what the trumpet was for; and from the moment of the discovery, they did their best to enable me to do without it. As we passed through the lane they made for us, they pressed forwards to shout into my ears 'baksheesh! baksheesh,' till Alee pushed and flogged them away. I wonder at their perseverance in thus incessantly begging of strangers; for we could not learn that they ever got any thing by it. If, as it appeared to me, travellers give only in return for service, or in consideration of some infirmity, the perseverance in begging seems wonderful. I saw at this place parents teaching a little one to speak: and the word they tried them with was 'baksheesh.' I saw a little fellow just able to carry his father's slippers, which were almost as big as himself: - his father gave him a careful training in hugging the slippers with one arm, while he held out the other hand to me for baksheesh. - The people here were very good-looking. They cannot grow provisions enough for their numbers, - the desert encroaching too much to permit the cultivation of more land than the mere river banks: but they import enough for their wants. Their renowned dates are their principal article of exchange; and traffic goes on here in henneh, baskets, senna, charcoal, and slaves from Upper Ethiopia and Abyssinia. Of course, it was impossible to learn their numbers. Nobody knows; and if any one knew, he would not tell. A census may be, and has been, ordered; but it cannot be executed. The popular dread of the Government renders it impossible. The fellahs (peasants) have such a terror of increased taxation and of the conscription, that they abscond on the mention of a census: and some who can afford it bribe the officials to suppress their names, and those of their families. The last thing that can be learned of any Egyptian town or district is its population.
