When we reached the pier we found an army of Egyptian boys with donkeys no larger than themselves, waiting for passengers—for donkeys are the omnibuses of Egypt. We preferred to walk, but we could not have our own way. The boys crowded about us, clamored around us, and slewed their donkeys exactly across our path, no matter which way we turned. They were good-natured rascals, and so were the donkeys. We mounted, and the boys ran behind us and kept the donkeys in a furious gallop, as is the fashion at Damascus. I believe I would rather ride a donkey than any beast in the world. He goes briskly, he puts on no airs, he is docile, though opinionated. Satan himself could not scare him, and he is convenient—very convenient. When you are tired riding you can rest your feet on the ground and let him gallop from under you.
October 2 Wednesday – QC arrived at Alexandria at sunset. Here he had the cedar branch from Jerusalem fashioned into a gavel for his Masonic lodge in St. Louis [Jones 365].
October 3 Thursday – From Sam’s notebook:
“Café d’ Europe, Hotel d’Europe, Catacombs—pass along another King, Pompey’s pillar, Cleaopatra’s Needles, Great Cemetary, Mahmoudeea Canal, Nile boats, Fine streets & dwellings, Fine shade-tree avenues, Luxurious bowers, Great fountain in main street” [MTNJ 1: 443-4].
October 4 Friday – Sam, Slote, Van Nostrand, and others unidentified left Alexandria by train at 4 PM, arriving in Cairo late that evening.
October 5 Saturday – Sam and companions left Cairo on donkeys in the early AM. They visited the Sphinx and the pyramids at Giza. They returned to Cairo that night.
October 6 Sunday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Twelve” dated Aug. “Naples” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 89-94].
October 7 Monday – Sam and group left Cairo for Alexandria to board the QC, which departed Alexandria at 5 PM.