At length after passing the First Cataract and the Island of Philae we came to the temple of Abu Simbel, opposite to which our boat was moored.

On the following morning we explored the temple at daybreak and saw the sun strike upon the four statues which sit at its farther end, spending the rest of that day studying the colossal figures of Rameses that are carved upon its face and watching some cavalcades of Arabs mounted upon camels travelling along the banks of the Nile.
"My wife was unusually quiet that afternoon.

For hour after hour she sat still upon the deck, gazing first at the mouth of the rock-hewn temple and the mighty figures which guard it and then at the surrounding desert.

Only once did I hear her speak and then she said, 'Beautiful, beautiful! Now I am at home.' We dined and as there was no moon, went to bed rather early after listening to the Sudanese singers as they sang one of their weird chanties.
"My wife and her mother slept together in the state cabin of the dahabeeyah, which was at the stern of the boat.

My cabin, a small one, was on one side of this, and that of the trained nurse on the other.