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Kinglake, Alexander William, 1809-1891

"Eothen, or, Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East"

He soon cured Mysseri as well as me, and all this he did
from no other motives than the pleasure of doing a kindness and the
delight of braving a danger.
At length the great difficulty {36} which I had had in procuring
beasts for my departure was overcome, and now, too, I was to have
the new excitement of travelling on dromedaries. With two of these
beasts and three camels I gladly wound my way from out of the pest-
stricken city. As I passed through the streets I observed a
fanatical-looking elder, who stretched forth his arms, and lifted
up his voice in a speech which seemed to have some reference to me.
Requiring an interpretation, I found that the man had said, "The
Pasha seeks camels, and he finds them not; the Englishman says,
'Let camels be brought,' and behold, there they are!"
I no sooner breathed the free, wholesome air of the Desert than I
felt that a great burden which I had been scarcely conscious of
bearing was lifted away from my mind. For nearly three weeks I had
lived under peril of death; the peril ceased, and not till then did
I know how much alarm and anxiety I had really been suffering.

CHAPTER XIX--THE PYRAMIDS

I went to see and to explore the Pyramids.


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