Plain Talk

By Mursi Saad El-Din

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I would like to write about a lady who visited Egypt, sailed up the river in a Dahabia and then wrote about it. She wrote under the pseudonym "Daughter of Japhet" and her book is called Wanderings in the Land of Ham. Her book is a detailed account of the trip she took. Daughter of Japhet and her close family chose a boat, a very dilapidated and unsuitable one called Barghoota or flea. The boat had previously not been sunk in the river to kill the rats and other vermin, which was common practise at the time.

The Daughter of Japhet describes the boat:

"Our boat is about 70 feet long and would measure, I believe, between thirty and forty tons. From stern to midship is a raised or poop cabin, which is divided into several compartments. The deck in front of the cabins is occupied by the crew when working the boat... They stow themselves to sleep when the night is not warm enough for them to lie on the deck. In this also our heavy boxes and provisions are kept."

The crew consisted of the Rais, the steerman, and 11 others. One of the crew was the official musician and entertainer. He drew extra wages for playing to the crew on various instruments and telling them jokes to keep them in a good humour.

Japhet's Daughter had her own flag which was a white Maltese cross, on a blue background, with quarterings of red and yellow. Yet the flag of The Sphinx was a modest one compared to other boats. As the Dahabia was going to be a floating house for three months, travellers took everything they were likely to need with them from Boulak, where most voyages started.

The sphinx was fitted out with plates, dishes, cups and saucers, wine glasses, tumblers, trays, coffee cups, salt cellars, one large lantern and two smaller ones which lighted up the deck at night. Candlesticks, tin foot-pans, tongs, a tin mug, in which the milk was fetched every morning, Lucifer matches, nails, gimlets and a hammer, a chauferrette for heating irons, a meat safe.

The prospect of a dip in the Nile was made all the more uninviting by the fact that many travellers could not swim, and the presence of crocodiles above El Kah. Every male who possessed a gun seems to have shot at crocodiles, lying on the sand banks but nobody actually claims to have brought back a crocodile skin.

Daughter of Japhet describes her close relations with the Egyptians, especially the dragoman. The dragoman takes over from the Rais once the passengers go ashore. She describes how they went ashore in a dingy, carried by the Dahabia. Once on land, they went on donkeys to the temples and other monuments. Donkeys varied in condition from place to place. Theban donkeys as the Daughter of Japhet says "treated us to some very spirited canters." Sometimes it was difficult to find donkeys. That was when one important visitor was there and they commandeered all the donkeys for him and his distinguished group.

A light Carmelite or stout alpaca was preferable for riding, with a broad-brimmed straw hat, with a deep crown for winding a few yards of muslin round. Cotton umbrellas with white calico covering coverings kept off the sun. Stout buttoned boots were sensible wear. Kid gauntlets are preferable to gloves of that material but some pairs of thread gloves should be taken to wear over them, as in poking about in stone temples the kid soon wears out.

Then she goes on to describe the monuments, her arrival to Aswan, the cataract. Her description of how they went over the first rapid of the cataract and the second is very vivid. Shooting the cataract as they say was the climax of the tour, which meant going downstream.

The tour ended. The Daughter of Japhet and her family bid goodbye to their floating home and its crew. But they take back with them their personal flag, which they put on the mantelpiece, reminding them of their sunny days which they had spent in Egypt.