FIRST   MISSION,    1886-87.

I LEFT Tilbury Docks on November i8th in the P. &
O. steamship '' Pekin," and arrived at Port Sa'id on the
last day of the month. A stay of twelve hours at Valetta,
and the help of a friendly monk, enabled me to see most
of the sights in the town, and also the famous " dried
monks" at Floriana. Those who embalm the monks
seem to be acquainted with a system of mummification
uncommonly like that practised by the ancient Egyp¬
tians. Among the passengers was the Rev. W. J. Loftie,
Assistant-Chaplain of the Chapel Royal, Savoy, and an
enthusiastic archaeologist.^    He gave me a great many

^ He was obhged to winter in Egypt for his health's sake, and
he took the opportunity of visiting many parts of the Delta where
Europeans rarely go.    Though not so profound, his knowledge of
modern Egypt was of the same character as that of Lane and Bonomi.
He knew very little Arabic, but he and the natives understood each
other, and they loved him, and he and his donkey were favourite
guests in every village.    He had great taste, and was a very successful
collector of scarabs and of small, pretty Egyptian antiquities ;   his
instinct was rarely at fault, and he seldom bought forgeries.    He made
several collections of scarabs, and the best of these collections, con¬
sisting of 190 specimens, was acquired by the British Museum in 1890.
Whether the day was hot or cold, or wet or dry, or whether he was
in the desert or in the town, he always wore the characteristic dress
of the EngUsh clergyman, and he was very fastidious about small
details of dress in England.    I used to see him sitting on a bundle
of sugar canes by the side of a canal in the Delta, eating onions and
water melons and native bread, and drinking out of the earthenware
bottle which was common to all, and which was filled from time to
time from the said canal;  and I marvelled if this could be the same
man whom no cook in a London Club could satisfy.    And the fact
that he was surrounded by hot, perspiring, more than half-naked
fallahin, whose style of eating and drinking was somewhat primitive,
seemed to be hardly noticed by him.    Loftie was a witty and amusing
companion, with a quick sense of humour, and he was naturally clever,
but his delicate health prevented him doing all that he was well able
to do in History, Architecture, and Art.   He advised and guided many
young workers.    Few of Kate Greenaway's most ardent admirers know