In Desert and Wilderness

Chapter 4

As everything was now ready, the children left that very day, traveling by the canal to Ismailia, and from there by train to Cairo, where they were to spend the night and be ready to go on to Medinet the following day. When they left Ismailia they saw Timsah Lake, which Stasch had seen before; for Mr. Tarkowski, who was a very enthusiastic hunter in his leisure hours, sometimes took him along to shoot water-birds. Then the road followed the Wadi Tumilat, close by the fresh-water canal which connects the Nile with Ismailia and Suez. This canal was dug before the Suez Canal; if it had not been, the workmen employed in Lesseps’ great undertaking would not have had a drop of water to drink. The digging of this canal had another good result: the stretch of land, which had been a barren waste before, now blossomed once more when the wide and rapid stream of fresh water flowed through it. From the car windows the children saw a large belt of vegetation on the left side, consisting of meadows on which horses, camels, and sheep were grazing, and plowed fields, Turkish wheat, millet, alfa, and other species of grain and field plants. On the bank of the canal could be seen all kinds of wells, above which were large wheels fitted up with pails or ordinary cranes that drew up the water, which the fellahs assiduously spread over the beds or carried away in barrels on little wagons drawn by buffaloes. Over the sprouting grain-seeds hovered doves and sometimes flocks of quail. On the edges of the canal storks and cranes walked gravely up and down. In the distance, over the clay huts of the fellahs, towered crowns of date-palms that looked like large feather dusters.

On the other hand, north of the railway lay a wilderness, but it did not resemble the one on the other side of the Suez Canal. That looked like the flat sandy bed of a dried-up sea, while here the sand was more yellow, and was piled up into large hillocks covered with scanty vegetation. Between these hillocks, which in places attained a great height, lay broad valleys, through which now and then caravans were seen passing.

From the car windows the children saw loaded camels walking single file in a long line. In front of each camel strode an Arab in black coat and white turban. Little Nell remembered the pictures she had seen in the Bible at home, which represented the Israelites and described how they journeyed to Egypt in the time of Joseph. They seemed just like these men. Unfortunately, she could not get a very good look at the caravans, because two English officers sat near the windows, which obstructed her view.

She had no sooner told Stasch of this than, turning to the officers, very seriously, and touching his hat, he said:

“Gentlemen, would you mind making room for this little lady, who would like to look at the camels?”

The two officers listened with all due seriousness, and one of them not only made room for the curious “little lady,” but lifted her up and put her on the seat next the window.

Stasch immediately began to lecture.

“That is the old district of Gessen,” said Stasch, “that Pharao gave Joseph for his brethren, the Israelites. Once, in fact very long ago, there was a fresh-water canal here, so that this new one is only the old one rebuilt. Later it was destroyed and the country became a desert. Now the ground is becoming fertile again.”

“How does the gentleman know this?” asked one of the officers.

“Nowadays people know these things,” replied Stasch; “and besides, Professor Sterling lectured to us long ago on Wadi Tumilat.”

Although Stasch spoke English very fluently, he had a rather peculiar accent; this attracted the attention of the second officer, who asked:

“Is not the young gentleman an Englishman?”

“This little lady is Miss Nell, whom her father has placed in my care during the journey. I am not an Englishman, but a Pole, and a son of one of the engineers of the canal.”

The officer smiled at this answer, which the boy gave disjointedly, and said:

“I esteem the Poles very highly. I belong to a regiment of cavalry that in Napoleon’s day fought side by side with the Polish Uhlans in several battles, the memory of which, even to the present day, is enshrined in honor and glory.”

“I am pleased to meet you,” answered Stasch.

The conversation ran along pleasantly, for the officers seemed to be entertained. It happened that these officers were traveling from Port Said to Cairo, to see the English ambassador and to receive from him final instructions in regard to the long journey which lay before them. The younger of the two was a doctor in the army, and the one who talked to Stasch, Captain Glen, was traveling from Cairo by way of Suez to Mombasa, where he was to rule over the entire district surrounding this harbor, which stretched out as far as the Samburuland and Rudolf Lake. Stasch, who enjoyed reading stories of African travels, knew that Mombasa lay several degrees beyond the equator. He knew, too, that the bordering countries, although the English now find them interesting, are really but little known, being quite wild, full of elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, buffaloes, and all kinds of antelopes, which are constantly seen by army merchants and missionary expeditions. So the boy envied Captain Glen from the bottom of his heart and promised to visit him in Mombasa, so that he might hunt lions and buffaloes with him.

“All right, but I beg for a visit from this little lady,” answered Captain Glen, laughing and pointing to Nell, who had just left the window to sit down beside him.

“Miss Rawlison has her father,” answered Stasch, “and I am only taking care of her during the journey.”

Thereupon the second officer turned round suddenly and asked: “Rawlison? Is he not the canal director who has a brother in Bombay?”

“My uncle lives in Bombay,” answered Nell, raising a finger.

“In that case, my dear, your uncle is married to my sister. My name is Clary. We are related, and I am heartily glad that I have met you and made your acquaintance, little one.”

The doctor was very much pleased. He said that as soon as he arrived in Port Said he had inquired for Mr. Rawlison at the director’s office, but was told that he had gone away for the holidays. He also expressed his regret that the ship in which he and Glen were going to Mombasa was to sail from Suez in a few days, and so he would be unable to take a trip to Medinet. He asked Nell to remember him to her father, and promised to write to her from Mombasa.

The two officers now directed most of their conversation to Nell, so that Stasch was somewhat in the background. At every station dozens of oranges, fresh dates, and even excellent sherbet were served. Stasch and Nell did full justice to these good things, as did Dinah also, for among her other excellent qualities was an unusual fondness for eating.

In this way the journey to Cairo passed very quickly. The officers on leaving kissed Nell’s little hands and head, and shook Stasch by the hand, and then Captain Glen, who admired the resolute boy very much, said, half in earnest and half in jest:

“Listen, my boy! Who knows where, when, and under what circumstances we may meet again? But remember that you can always count on my good will and my help.”

“And I can promise the same to you, sir,” answered Stasch, making a dignified bow.

The English mounted troops which fought with the Polish cavalry against Napoleon boast of it even to this day, and the officers, when speaking of their regiment, never fail to say, “We fought with the Poles.”—S. Chevrillon, “Aux Indes.”

CHAPTER IV

Mr. Tarkowski and Mr. Rawlison, who loved his little Nell more than his life, were delighted at the arrival of the children. The two young people greeted their fathers with equal enthusiasm, and at once began to inspect the tents, the interiors of which were all completely fitted up and prepared to welcome the beloved guests. They saw that the tents were as spacious as large rooms, handsomely fitted with a double roof, lined with blue and red flannel, and that the floors were covered with rugs. The Cook Company, which was so well thought of by the high officials of the canal, had done all in their power to make things comfortable and pleasant for them. At first Mr. Rawlison had feared that a lengthy stay in the tent might injure Nell’s health, but at last he gave his consent, because in bad weather they could always move to the hotel. But now, having taken a good look at everything, including the surroundings, he came to the conclusion that the days and nights spent in the open air would be a hundred times better for his only daughter than the gloomy rooms of a small town hotel. They were also fortunate in having fine weather. Medinet, surrounded on all sides by the sandy hills of the Libyan desert, has a far better climate than Cairo, and is not named “land of roses” without good reason. As a result of its protected position, and because of the moisture in the air, the nights are not nearly so cold as in other southernly parts of Egypt, and the winter is really delightful. In November the vegetation is most luxuriant. Date-palms, olives (not many of which are found in Egypt), figs and orange-trees, enormous nuts, pomegranates, and various other southern plants cover this beautiful oasis like a forest. The gardens are fairly overrun with acacias, lilacs, and roses, so that during the night every breath of air carries their overpowering perfume. One breathes here from the bottom of one’s lungs, and “does not want to die,” as the natives say. Heluan, on the opposite bank of the Nile, is the only other place with a similar climate, although it is situated much farther north, and therefore the vegetation is not so luxuriant.

But Heluan had sad associations for Mr. Rawlison, for it was there that Nell’s mother had died. Therefore he preferred Medinet, and as he looked at the beaming face of the little girl he resolved to buy some land and a garden here, to build a comfortable English house, and to spend every holiday he could procure in this favored spot, and perhaps, when his services were no longer necessary on the canal, to make this his permanent residence. But these were embryo plans for the distant future.

Meanwhile, the children had been flitting about like flies ever since their arrival, for they wanted to see all the tents, as well as the donkeys and camels hired by Cook, before dinner-time. But it so happened that the animals were grazing some distance away, so that the children could not see them until the next day. On the other hand, to compensate them for their disappointment, Nell and Stasch were delighted to see Chamis, the son of Chadigi, their good friend from Port Said. He was not one of Cook’s servants, and even Mr. Rawlison was surprised to see him in Medinet, but as he had previously employed Chamis to carry his instruments, he took him along now to run errands and perform other services.

The evening meal proved to be very good, for the old Copt, who for several years filled the position as cook for the company, took pride in showing his skill. The children told how they had made the acquaintance of the officers during the journey, and this especially interested Mr. Rawlison, whose brother Richard was married to one of Dr. Clary’s sisters, and had resided in India for several years. As they were without children, the uncle was very fond of his little niece, whom he only knew from photographs, and he inquired about her in all his letters. The two fathers were also much amused at the invitation which Stasch had received from Captain Glen to go to Mombasa. The boy took this invitation quite seriously, and made up his mind some day to visit his new friend on the other side of the equator. Mr. Tarkowski was obliged to explain to him that the English officials never stay long on duty in the same place—owing to the treacherous climate of Africa—and before he, Stasch, would be grown up the captain would be at his tenth post, or perhaps no longer in this world.