Oliver Otis Howard, Autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard, major general , United States army : volume 2

I met in Alexandria English officers who were returning from the great expedition in upper Egypt, which at one time it was hoped would relieve the pressure upon Chinese Gordon and set him free. Gordon before this had been slain and the expedition given over for the time. One officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ardagh of the Royal Engineers, took me to his temporary office and showed me sketches of the fields of battle in Egypt, and explained to me with so much of detail all that had lately been done that I was able to make a full report to my Government. No officer of our own army could have treated me with more kindness than did this young engineer, and I was exceedingly grateful.

On Friday, April 18th, we set out for Cairo. The English railroad, here as everywhere, was very complete and the journey comfortable all the way. The rate of travel, not then very rapid, gave the observer every opportunity of taking into account this curious country of the Nile. The unique method of plowing with the buffalo, using a stick for a plowshare, the raising of water by old-fashioned machinery, the activity of the people at that season in plowing and planting very much as the people do in Mexico, took our attention. After all, however, I was disappointed in this portion of the Nile country. It seemed so like something that had been, and of which there was now but a faint reminder of the past. Here everybody spoke of streets that once existed, of towns that had almost disappeared, and the bulk of the inhabitants appeared to have little hope of anything better, and