"For several hours we steamed on in what is said to be a very uninteresting part of the river, and certainly one hour was very much like another. The villages had a family resemblance to each other--the banks were generally low and crumbling, and the barren hills were not agreeable resting-places for the eye. Donkeys, camels, and Arabs, succeeded by camels, Arabs, and donkeys, were the moving sights on shore, in contrast to the numerous boats that dotted the river. Sand-bars and islands relieved the monotony of the river, and there were occasional tufts of palm-trees fringing the bank or rising against the gray hills of the desert. "Many of the boats on the river were dahabeeahs on their way southward with pleasure parties, and they are fitted up with great luxury, as we had a chance to observe. They usually carry the national flag of the party that charters them, and it is always a pleasure to us to see the Stars and Stripes floating over one of these boats. "We stopped about noon to repair some slight damage to the machinery, and it happened that a large dahabeeah was tied up to the bank close to where the steamer was made fast. A gentleman came from her to the steamer; very soon we found he was a Mr. W----, an artist from New York, and, though he and Doctor Bronson had never met before, they had a good many mutual acquaintances. The result was we were invited to visit the dahabeeah, with the understanding that the steamer would give warning of her readiness to leave by blowing her whistle. "The dahabeeah is built somewhat after the model of the ships of a century ago--that is, she is low forward, and has a high cabin aft. The forward part is appropriated to the crew, and the stern to the passengers, the sailors only going there for handling the sails or performing other work. The cabin is entered from the deck, and consisted, in this instance, of a saloon the whole width of the boat, with sofas on each side, and nicely fitted with chairs and mirrors. Beyond the saloon there were four single cabins; at the stern there was a larger cabin and a bath-room, besides a good-sized closet where linen and other things were kept. Between the saloon and the entrance there was a pantry on one side and a room for the dragoman on the other; the galley or kitchen was near the bow of the boat, and the provisions were stowed in the hold, or kept in the store-room at the stern. [Illustration: A PLAGUE OF FLIES.] "We stayed a little while in the saloon and then went on deck, or to the roof of the cabin, which was covered with an awning. The air was cooler here than in the cabin, and, besides, the flies were not as abundant. Let us remark here that the worst annoyance of the Nile voyage is the number of flies that you have to fight; they are one of 'the plagues of Egypt' now, as they were in the time of Moses, and there is no way of being rid of them.