Hale, Susan

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University of Rhode IslandDigitalCommons@URISusan Hale Collection 1842-1934 Special Collections1905Gardiner, Dr. H. K.Susan HaleFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/susan_hale_collectionThis Correspondence is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Collections at DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted forinclusion in Susan Hale Collection 1842-1934 by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contactdigitalcommons@etal.uri.edu.Recommended CitationHale, Susan, "Gardiner, Dr. H. K." (1905). Susan Hale Collection 1842-1934. Paper 24.http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/susan_hale_collection/24http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/susan_hale_collection/24To Dr . H. K. Gardiner. d ' amm.am -7 ' Irhart pres Al~er Haren 2 , l JOo. Dear Doctor, I have been very bad about writine all winter , and am punished by losine several of your ~ood letters. On the Nile it as almost i npossible to write , and the best I could do was to keep up my home letters. You know it was awfully cold. I slept nearly every nieht under my fur-cape, and shivered all day except in the sun up on the deck of our dahabieh . I was a1fully scared about my throat & cheat, and fully expected t o be down ith bronchitis a t nny moment ; but I have pulled through wonderfully . I oust be a touch old lady . Otherwise it was a delightful e ericnce. You know e ere eleven weeks on our own dahabieh sails, no steam,) goinG up the river t o Luxor and Assouan and coming down aGain . There were just four of us, i!r. ~nd Mrs . Er nest Longfello• , my lady, r!r s . Perkins , and myself. e tiad S captains, lO sailors, a cook and g cook boys, two waiters ho also made i.. ; beds, and a dragonan, all brown Arabs or black Hubinna \1earing turbans and blue nightc;o ns . There t as al -so ' rs. Lonefello 's maid ~clly, an excellent .erson, Iri sh I uess, who had the inc of her life flirting with Abbas the waiter i n Arab-ic. It is a lovely dawdline lif with nothin$ to do but to recline on deck watchL the river go by, the palm trees, camels , donkeys, natives; occasionally looking at Hulned temples and carvines, or visiting nati ve towns. I had a tiny cabin with no conveniences for writing in privat e , besides it was cold, cold, ~verywhere but in t he sun on dec, • I had an lee cold bath every morni ng at sunrise, dressed and go t on deck as soon as possible--( it as slippery one morning, not real ice but something very much like frost) to see the beautiful lichts on t he river as the Sun climbed up into the sky . We me t a ood many peo~le, had lots of jokes and fun toe ether ( I ~ was very.-" f.\lMY-- . tb~y say~) and _cot very fond of our sailors who are just like children, workins hard, (they had to ro. or track on the shore when t here was no ~;ind, i.e . mos t of t he time) al ways singinc a wierd sons , and in the evenins doins strange dances for us on their deck, round a littl e fire of coals thumping their strange drums & i ns truments . It is all very pi cturesque, unusual, wonderful--still I am glad I am ou t of it, and out of Eeypt which i s an uncanny coun-try all tombs and dus t of ages . You know I as t here before 35 years ago, wb.:e .-.4 : ... :~f! . -·~:f•_~?~ "_.....,"' ~. .7 f! } ;;. This is a very pre tty place hieh up amon5 the hills, wlth pure air, fine see ery, far awa."!f from railroads, to vns_, noi se , di rt . -~ There are sulphur baths, _. a d my r,:r . Perkins is ~tryins them for her hands which are sort of . rhewnatic, wi th joints. She is perfec~ly well in every r espect ,_/· wi th absolutely no other syrnp toms of out or those thint;s-- I thin!j; -'' i t' s rather silly to . f uss over her joints, in f act t he Doctor he~e- · says t hey v;ill neve~,'be any better; b\tt you know women love t <fbe fuasinc about soutethinc. ::rs . Vleede.n also oes every morni" g and sits _up to her/._,fleck in a warm tanl< of nas t y amellin:, water ._-- The t vm l aaies c 1 tocet .~.er and have a· beautiful time, and t he .- J..ie n.r-! hour betwee!vblankets af t er 1 t. __ ·I thought of havins a swi ::C in the tank with P9lly; --but peo~ 1 with any heart troubl es a:t_:".e v1arned off , a d r,. .. -t.houeht. it more pru<tent to :t=eep out of it, esry€cl~lly as I hate warm baths, lt would be foolish to have to oe fished out i ~1 ~ limp condl tion . / , t '' f I have enjoyed my trip much, but I cueas Jaaaica is a better pl ace for Old Ladies , I have of ten lonced for 1 t ~·hen I was quakine wl th cold in · t he night, Affectionately yours, Susan. 

Gardiner, Dr. H. K.

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Gardiner, Dr. H. K.

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