Show Traveling in in the Orient r n CONTINUED FROM PAGE PASSENGERS for Cairo are landed at and so we had to he be up at four o'clock and prepare to leave the boat Our ship was anchored in Lake and a steam launch conveyed us to the wharf at the town of By this time it was coming daylight The eastern sky reflected its glorious colors in the lake trying hard to make attractive this this' barren land is a small town fown The streets are lined with sycamore trees giving givin the place the appearance of an oasis in the desert A great canal brings water from the Nile and branches carry a part of it from h here re to Suez and Port Port Said Were it not not for for or orthis this these towns would be without without fresh freshwater fresh freshwater water and as barren as the surrounding desert We went on the sand hills west of the town and paid an an early visit to the native village The dwellings dwellings dwellings dwell dwell- ings are low ow roofed flat huts hus having a little yard in front They look more like a group of old fashioned chicken coops than anything else The d devout vout people who live in them came out out iii in their black robes and with faces face's turned towards Mecca bowed down in the sand to worship Men were coming from a distance into the town with camels and donkeys bear bearing ng loads of clover vegetables and other farm pro- pro One poor little donkey had had- hada a load about equal to its own body in bulk and on top fop of this sat a man and anda a a sized good-sized boy Poor Jack could hardly move so the man by way yay of assistance carried carried- a long stick which he also used t to guide himself for he had no bridle The animal stumbled and fell under his load The man man then beat him over the head and both t riders mounted again At noon we took We-took we took the train for for Cairo Our fout was Vas was first over over rolling hills hillsand hillsand and then al along g the canal wh which ch i comes comes from the Nile passing by little farms where by irrigation the desert is transformed into beautiful fields Some of these may be flooded but others are higher than the canal and the old- old fashioned pole and fulcrum is used to draw up the water bucketful at a time In some ome places a wheel water-wheel is used for the same purpose The wheel must be turned against the stream and to accomplish this an ox is attached to a simple machine and he is taught to go around without a driver The fields are ploughed with wi th a forked fOI ked stick one branch scratching the soil while the theother theother theother other is used for a handle The team may consist of an ox and a water buffalo one of these and a donkey a cow and a camel or two of these an animals mals mated in any other way The cow and the camel seem to be most poorly matched The latter takes two or three long strides until he is almost in front of the former and then waits for his mate to catch up Many of these animals animals' were feeding in inthe the clover cloverfields cloverfields cloverfields fields while flocks of sheep and goats were being herded near near by The sheep are an blown brown spotted or black and look k kery very ery unlike those raised in this coun coun- try Many boats pass along the canal carrying produce The villages are composed of mud mud- huts generally built on mounds As these buildings soon fall into ruin a person frequently sees a deserted village with its crumbled houses We were told that mounds are often formed by building one village village vil vil- lage age on the ruins of another Thus strata of villages are formed in which may be recorded some interesting pages of history As lwe- lwe we we- approach the Nile the cultivated cultivated cultivated strip of land becomes wider and the fields more fertile Towns take the place of villages and houses the place placed of mud d huts The brickyards reminded us of the bondage of the Israelites for this is is- s the h land of Go Goshen hen A At t every very 1 station veiled women came by the car windows windows' selling refreshments Th The married womans woman's veil is somewhat of a farce It is only about three inches wide and is attached to a little stick which cros crosses es the upper part of the nose this is supported by a similar stick passing up the center of the fore fore- head Only the nose mouth and chin are covered We had been traveling west but on reaching we turned to the left and to the west south-west across the valley of the the Nile Nile we obtained obtained obtained ob ob- our first view of the pyramids They were fifteen or twenty miles away and glistening in the sunshine looked just as we had imagined A Afew Afew Afew few hours later we arrived in the city of Cairo The next morning we forming a party of f four hired a a. a carriage and started out to visit the the- pyramids of ten miles west and a little south of Cairo On leaving the city we crossed the Nile by a great bridge which is swung for an hour each day that ships may pass At this time of the year February the water is comparatIvely comparatively comparatively com com- low yet very muddy Many bo boats ts of a peculiar construction move up and down the river After crossing we drove south along the west banks of the river to and there visited the National Museum containing perhaps perhaps perhaps per per- haps the finest collection of Egyptian antiquities extant There are ninety rooms in the building and in passing through them we may study Egyptian art from the earliest times down to the present presen t. t Leaving the river a beautiful road leads west across the valley to the sand sandhills sandhills sandhills hills and desert on which the pyramids are situated The road is thrown up about fifteen feet higher than the fields that tha it may be be above water during the overflow of the the Nile I It t is shaded sh ded by bya a arow row w. w q of sycamore trees on either side and fields of growing grain stretch away way to the right and left lett as far as one can see I As we approached the desert the pyramids appeared to grow larger ane and rougher and when near them we saw that they had not that smooth exterior which they appeared to have when viewed from a distance We were driven up to the north side of the Great Pyramid of which is the largest of all There are about sixty in Egypt but this group is most important important tan tant t and independent of the others is classed as the first of the seven wonders of the world As we stepped out of the carriage a crowd of clamoring Arabs surrounded us demanding fees and nd trying to get the privilege of he helping helping help help- ping p- p ing us u's us to the top of the pyramid About the middle of the north side a and d a few steps up from fron the base is the entrance to the interior It i is a passage passage passage pass pass- age one hundred and find seven feet long and about four feet square leading down to the kings king's chamber The walls are polished stone and were it not for forthe forthe forthe the notches cut in the floor a person might economise time by sliding clown down All is darkness within and tourists must be accompanied by guides with candles We saw a man come out all ll covered with dirt and his clothes wet with perI per per- I Oh Oh dont don't go o in he said to his friends it is awful in there We Vve paid our fee and started down led by a gang ang of Arabs But our guides soon stopped and would not let us its proceed proceed proceed pro pro- until we would give each of them l a gift in addition to what we had already paid We got a transfer transfer transfer trans trans- fer from the sheik obtaining perm permission to go to the top of the pyramid instead of to the interior The path where the rocks are free from dust leads from the entrance passage passage passage pas pas- sage to the north-east north c corner and nd from there straight up The step from one one layer of stone to the next is is generally bet between cn three and fo four r feet To climb these until a perpendicular height of four hundred and six fifty feet is reached requires no little exertion and also some care for for if a person should begin to fall he might bounce from one step to another and be re ready dy for a resting resting resting rest rest- ing place i in the kings king's old sarcophagus b by the time he reached the base of the pyramid While climbing we were all the time surrounded by natives who were determined to assist us They would not let go of our hands until we we told them that we could climb as well as they could Then they wanted to bet two t pounds or any other sum of money that they could beat us us to the top During the remainder of the ascent the time was spent in discussing the terms and conditions of the r race ce By viewing the pyramid from Irom the corner about way half-way up a person gains the best idea of its magnitude On top is a platform two thirty-two feet square with the apex removed The building was not Dot always so rough as it now appears appear The steps of stone were once covered wi with witha th a sort of cement and we find the exterior perfectly smooth The coating has been worn off this one but some of it is still preserved around the top of the second pyramid in size and the third is almost completely covered From the little platform on top of the Great Pyramid we had a view in interesting interesting interesting in- in and instructive and which I think cannot he be excelled anywhere in inthe inthe inthe the world A little to the west south-west are the two smaller pyramids before mentioned to the east on the brink of the hill which forms the west of the Valley of the Nile are the ruins of what seem to have been een small pyramids a little to the south and on lower ground is s the sphinx and the foundations of ancient temples below these these n the bord r of I the valley the valley is anAr an Ar Arabic bIc Passing from ou our im im- mediate mediate- surroundings gs we may look to the east across the Nile to Cairo and the sand hills beyond To the west nothing can be seen been but the desert The Valley of the Nile becomes narrower narrower nar- nar rower towards the south and about twenty miles away may be seen the Pyramids of site of ancient Memphis A great delta covered with green greenfields fields extends to the north as far faras faras faras as the eye can see It I t was a great change to pass from the tropical forests of Ceylon to the desolate hills of Arabia but now we had the contrast of desert and blooming fields right before us Here Her in a few steps we may pass from the most fertile fields to the most barren desert The overflow of the river redeems the desert The Nile is indeed the salvation of Egypt As we stand on thi thin building counted by some the most mos wonderful of the works of man we cannot fail to recognize how much more wonderful are the works of nature But there was no opportunity for or dreaming in the presence of our would- would be guides and instructors A boy had hada a jug of water and wanted to sell us a drink while a man was trying to sell antique coins made about the time the pyramids were built huilt One fellow said that if it we would give him two fr francs he would run down do the pyramid and to the top of another in ten minutes An aspiring guide wanted a letter of recommendation One Ope of our our cOmpany wrote II This fellow is an excellent dragoman I gave him a shilling to keep his mouth shut but he couldn't do it He will surely tell you all that thatis is known about Egypt and much that thatis is not known The suspicious cious Arab took his certificate to a lady tourist near by and got her to read it for or him He then returned it and left off bothering bothering bothering bother bother- ing us Descending is not so hard as climbing but requires but requires more care to avoid falling A lady who had been assisted up by a aman aman aman man on each side and several behind nd on push was now descending in the same way except that those who h had d been pushers now had a rope fastened around her waist and they followed along behind holding on to this that the lady might not have te to depend entirely to the men nen at her side A man was going down in the same ame way except that tha t he had a servant to carry his hat ha t another a jug of water and a few extras in attendance in case they were needed In the east a man is no gentleman gentleman gentleman gen gen- unless he has a retinue of ser ser- We told them that we didn't want their assistance but they answered that they were responsible for our lives You fall down get killed the sheik come and hang us said they Those Arabs are very kind and willing souls they cannot do enough for you neither can you give them enough l to satisfy them they never become becom saturated It was late so two of qt our party proceeded proceeded proceeded pro pro- to explore the interior of the pyramid while the others hired camels and rode to the sphinx The camel is very accommodating he lies down with his legs doubled under his body while you get on his back Then he rises like a cow with his hind quarters quarters- first and if the rider does not cling to the back of the saddle his next chance is to catch the camels camel's ears as he passes over its head When the front legs come com up the law of inertia is again manifest but the tendency is to move in an opposite direction Then the camel walks off with long strides giving the rider a jerking ng backward and forward forward forward for for- ward motion When the animal trots there is a very perceptible up and down movement in connection with the one already experienced The students of mathematics may decide what kind of ofa a geometrical figure is described by the motion of the riders rider's s head He is more moie concerned the keeping about joints of his body in place Th Thanks to the theold theold old Egyptians it is only about a quay quay- er er of a mile down to the sphinx and we vve ve were soon standing before that majestic image The body of the lion lionis lionis' lionis is is' is covered w with th sand from the desert as are also the ruins of ancient temples near by which form an excellent example example example exam exam- of the geological effects of winds Here drifts of sand about fifteen feet deep have been formed and these keep encroaching on the fertile Valley of the Nile A portion of the sand has been removed from around the sphinx bringing bringing bringing bring bring- ing in sight the great gleat paws and shoulders of the lion which support a womans woman's head The ancient buildings near by contain beautifully polished stone and ornaments in alabaster ster The sand h has s been removed so that a person may enter the ruins It was was wasa a clear night and while viewing viewing view view- ing ng the pyramids by the light of the rising moon we were more deeply impressed with their enormous size As we walked around the large one we could r realize ai e more fully t that at it covers thirteen acres acres of ground and contains five eighty-five million cubic feet of stone It was nine 0 o'clock clock when we got back to our hotel Cairo is a quaint old place and a good type of an oriental city A portion portion portion por por- tion tion- of the town where French and other Europeans reside is modern but it is the native quarter that is of ine interest interest in- in terest e est to us Here most of the streets are narrow and the upper stories of the houses project until they almost meet Some of the wider str streets ets are traveled by camels carry carrying ng loads cart-loads of willows on their backs and donkeys loaded loade i with such a bulk of hay that we could see nothing of the animals but their faces and faces and majestic ears In line with J the beasts of b burden came carne a man carrying carrying carry carry- vin ing Coh on his his back back the bloat carcass bloated d carcass of ofa ofa a goat which proved to to be bea a a jug of 1 ri water These |