"The four mysterious creatures are dancers. You possibly suspected as much when I mentioned the celerity of their movements, and the suppleness of their limbs. The famous Almehs of Egypt are thus suddenly brought before you. You have been labouring under the impression that the Captain had given a free passage to some runaways from Cairo, who were making for Khartoum, the usual refuge for that destitute tide, which for some time past has been ebbing towards upper Egypt. Well, you are wrong. These women have no connection whatever with the Almehs. I do not wish to say a single word against these latter creatures, whom I hope to bring to your notice some day, but they are palpably inferior to my unknowns, both in reputation, beauty, and the science of dancing. "'I thought,' you will say, 'that Egypt had no dancers but the Almehs.' "Quite so, but those of whom I speak are not natives of Egypt. They spring from India. "'From India? Then, they are—' "'Yes, my friend, the bayaderes—neither more nor less.' "'Bayaderes returning from Egypt, and on passage through the Red Sea? I do not understand.' "Then write to the Captain for an explanation. I have had to content myself with what he told me. His passengers are bayaderes; not those spurious dancing girls whom the waiters in any _café_ in Bombay, Calcutta, or Singapore can induce to disport themselves before strangers for a guinea or so, but genuine bayaderes, brought up by the priests and nurtured in the temple. They had been to Europe in the suite of a Rajah, who died suddenly at Cairo, and they did not deem it prudent to continue their journey, more especially as their resources had disappeared with the Rajah. Our Captain had offered to take them back to their own country, but as his contract with us precluded him from taking other passengers, he exacted from them an engagement that they would not show themselves outside their little cell. "'The unfortunate creatures would have been suffocated in that hole,' I exclaimed. "'They feel the heat so little,' replied the Captain, 'that only yesterday they asked me for some extra wraps. Just consider, we are at this moment in 20 degrees north latitude, and they were born close to the equator. What these dancing girls want is exercise and activity.' "I began to reflect once more. Suppose I were to take a mean advantage of the situation—if in exchange for a little ease and liberty, these sweet creatures would consent to initiate me into the secret of their mysterious dances—if, not content with studying the customs of Africa, I might, whilst grazing the Asiatic coast, get an idea of the manners of India! "I sounded the Captain on the subject. He remonstrated at once. "'Bayaderes dance in public? It is not to be thought of. They belong to a religious sect.'