Then others got bad, and we had to go from room to room doing what we could for them, and wishing we either had half-a-dozen nurses, or else had all our patients in one hospital ward. Gradually the others all began to improve, and we were beginning to think of going home, when I was telegraphed for to go up to Assouan to nurse the Bishop of ----, who was very ill; the nurse who was stationed up there also being laid up with dysentery. I was not pleased at having to go, as we were just packing up to travel home, clearing up the house, &c., and I was feeling very done up, but I could not well refuse, as there was no other nurse within reach; so I went off by the post boat, and spent most of the two days on board in sleeping, as I did not know how much work might be waiting for me, and I had a good deal to make up in the way of sleep. I find from my diary that between the 16th of January and the 3rd of February I had never had a complete night in bed, and sometimes even the odd hours of sleep were very few and far between. But when I got to Assouan I found that every one was on the mend, and they hardly needed a nurse, so I stayed only a few days to help (and managed to explore Philæ one afternoon), and then I left again by post boat for Cairo, the doctor putting a lady, who had been very ill with dysentery, under my care, and giving me a little stock of medicines to use at my discretion, as the post boats--unlike the tourist boats--carry no doctor. We stayed an hour or two at Luxor, so that I managed to collect my baggage and said many good-byes. All the inhabitants--including the servant boys and the donkey boys--seemed to be there to see us off, and they had all been so very kind to me through a very trying winter that I felt as though I had known them for years. There were pleasant people on board the boat, and the gentleman sitting next to me at table knew Kimberley well, and knew my brother out there, so we had much talk about South Africa. The boat was simply packed; and, as it was getting very hot, every one wanted to rush down the river at the same time. There were supposed to be thirty-two first-class berths, and the manager told me that there were fifty-five passengers on board--men sleeping in all the bathrooms, and the saloon full at night. I had a sort of little dog-kennel to myself in the second-class--not a bad little hole when I got there, but to get to it each time I had to cross the lower deck, where all the native passengers live and sleep. My sick lady improved as we got down the river, and it was very lucky she did, as before we reached Cairo I became seedy with dysentery myself, and had to consume some of the drugs the Assouan doctor had given me in case of need.