Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/262

 

PERILS AMONG ROBBERS.

Ever since we left Nukhl, we had had occasional hints from our dragoman that by-and-by we should get into a region in which it might not be quite as smooth sailing as on the desert, where we had seen no man in five days. But as he was a timid and fearful soul, we attached little weight to his dismal forebodings. Had he not told us a story to make our hair stand on end, about flying serpents that we should find at Nukhl: how once, when he camped on the plain, he had heard them whizzing past him? Possibly there may have been some foundation for the story in the existence of reptiles of such powerful spring as to throw themselves several lengths, but we saw no more of them than of the fiery serpents that infested the camp of Moses. However, much as we were disposed to laugh at his fears, we had observed, as we met several parties going Southward with camels heavily laden with supplies for the Convent at Mount Sinai, that they always went in large bodies, as if for mutual protection, and were told that whenever there was a small party, it took the old caravan route by the sea, to avoid the tribes through which we were now to pass.

The bare suggestion of robbers was of a kind to keep our faculties awake and our eyes open, to recognize any strangers who might present themselves to offer the compliments of the season. Having received these intimations, it was natural to connect with them certain casual