"Mr. W---- told us that when the wind was light the flies covered the boat and greatly annoyed them; but they had curtains for the saloon and the small rooms, and could protect their faces by means of nets drawn around their hats. The crew, at such times, wrapped their burnouses around their heads, or sat with switches in their hands to keep away the pests. Either mode of getting rid of the annoyance was uncomfortable; it was stifling hot with the head covered, and it required continual exertion to make the switch effective. [Illustration: A KANGIA.] "Our new acquaintance called attention to a freight-boat that lay just beyond his dahabeeah, and to the general resemblance between the two. 'That boat,' said he, 'is called a _kangia_, and is sometimes used for travelling purposes by the natives, and by tourists whose purses are limited. You see it has the shape and style of the dahabeeah, but is much smaller, and the cabin can only accommodate one or two persons without crowding. A friend of mine once made the Nile trip in a kangia, and said he had a good time; but he was young and vigorous, and spoke sufficient Arabic to get along without a dragoman. The kangia wouldn't do for persons liable to be incommoded by scanty fare and poor quarters, and I shouldn't recommend it.' [Illustration: THE CAPTAIN.] "While he was telling us that his crew consisted of twelve men and a captain, besides the dragoman, two cabin servants, and a cook--that there were four of them in the party, two Americans and two Englishmen, and giving us other information--the whistle sounded, and we returned to the steamer. The wind freshened as we went on board, and the dahabeeah started close behind us, and came ploughing along in our rear. She could not sail as fast as we steamed, and in an hour or more we lost sight of her in a bend of the river. "In the afternoon we passed a cliff on the east bank of the river, where there is a Coptic convent; its inmates are in the habit of visiting passing boats to beg for backsheesh, and as we approached the cliff we saw a dozen or more of their heads in the water. Four of them managed to get into the small boats that we towed astern, and they did it while we were going along at full speed. "How do you suppose they managed it? "They got out into the river as near as they could to where the steamer would pass without being liable to be struck by her wheels. As soon as the wheel was past them they swum with all their might directly toward the boat, and in this way several succeeded in grasping the skiffs and climbing into them. They do not swim like ourselves, with both hands together, but strike out hand-after-hand, or, to express it more plainly, 'dog-fashion.'