The crew of the steamship Columbia

GOING BY BOAT

Walther von Hallwyl hired a steamship with a full crew for the planned cruise up the Nile. The most luxurious (and most expensive) mode of transport along the Nile was a dahabeya, a slow sailing ship. The option that had the lowest status was travelling on one of the tour operator Thomas Cook's tourist boats. Hiring your own steamship would have placed the von Hallwyl family fairly high on the status scale.