SUGAR PLANTATIONS AND MILLS.—SNAKE-CHARMERS.—SIGHTS AT BENI-HASSAN.
The first regular halt of the steamer was at Beni-sooef, where the passengers were allowed two hours by the printed schedule. Of course they went on shore at once, and devoted themselves to sight-seeing until recalled by the whistle. The town has a population of about five thousand, and is the capital of a province of the same name. Frank and Fred strolled through the bazaars, but were disappointed, as there was nothing to be found there which they had not already seen in the bazaars of Cairo. The trade of the place has diminished considerably, and Beni-sooef is of less importance to-day than it was three or four centuries ago.
At Minieh, the next halting-place, they had an opportunity to visit a sugar-mill, and eagerly embraced it. Minieh is the centre of the sugar culture in Egypt, and the first sugar-mill in the country was erected here and is still in operation. Of late years some very large mills have been built, employing hundreds of people, and during the height of the season they present a busy scene.
The mill visited by our friends was one of the largest. It was so constructed that, from the time the cane enters the crushers till the dry sugar is taken out, there is no lifting or handling of the material, except in a few instances. The machinery is all of French manufacture, and very expensive. A large amount of sugar is manufactured here every year; but there is no profit in the business, partly owing to the great cost of the mills, and partly, it is whispered, in consequence of the frauds of the managers.
VIEW ON A SUGAR PLANTATION.
The sugar culture is in the hands of the Khedive, and about two hundred and fifty thousand acres of land are devoted to it, chiefly on the west bank of the Nile between Cairo and Sioot. There are more mills than are really needed for the amount of sugar made, and there is a large quantity of machinery which has never been put up, but lies neglected and rusting on the banks of the river. There is a system of railways for bringing the cane to the mills, and connected with the line of railway from Cairo up the Nile. The labor on the sugar estates is very poorly paid, and more frequently is not paid at all. The laborers are gathered from the villages along the river, and compelled to work three months on the sugar estates when they should be cultivating their own fields at home.
Frank and Fred could not understand this mode of conducting business till the Doctor explained it to them after their return to the steamer.
"You observed," said the Doctor, "that the laborers included both sexes, and all ages from five years old to fifty or sixty."
"Yes," answered one of the youths; "and I saw that they did not take much interest in their work, and appeared to be half starved."
"You will not be surprised at it," replied Doctor Bronson, "when I tell you they are never paid in money, with the exception of the chiefs of gangs, and the men in charge of the machinery.
"They receive a daily allowance of bread; it is not such bread as we are accustomed to, but simply coarsely ground wheat flour, containing a liberal proportion of mud and chopped straw, and very carelessly baked. With so bad a quality you might suppose the quantity would be abundant, but it is not; a laborer can devour his day's allowance at a single meal, and frequently it is not enough to satisfy his hunger."
"But is that all they get?" one of the boys asked.
"That is frequently all they get," was the reply. "True, they are promised something more, but they do not often receive it.
"According to an official report on the subject," the Doctor continued, "the wages of hands in the factories are fixed at fifteen cents a day for a man, and eight cents for a boy, while those of the field hands are eight cents for a man, and five for a boy. And when they are paid at all it is invariably in kind—that is, in grain, sugar, or molasses, at a high price—and not in money. It is difficult for them to sell these articles, and the best they can do is to eat them, or perhaps barter them off for something more desirable. Not one laborer in twenty has anything to show for his work on the sugar estates or in the factories except his thin cheeks, and the bones half protruding from his skin."
"It is no wonder," said Fred, "that they begged so hard for backsheesh, and that they seemed, unlike the Arabs of Cairo, to be very grateful when we gave them some small coins."
Frank thought it very strange that the sugar culture in Egypt should be unprofitable when the labor cost next to nothing. The Doctor answered that it would undoubtedly pay handsomely whenever it was honestly and economically managed, but from present indications there was no prospect of a change for the better.
INTERIOR OF A SUGAR-MILL.
After visiting the sugar-mill our friends went to the market-square of Minieh, where a juggler was amusing a crowd of natives with his tricks. His performances were not remarkable for any particular skill, but they served to entertain the people, though he did not succeed in drawing much money from them. After pretending to swallow knives, coins, and other inconvenient and indigestible things, he drew some snakes from a basket and twined them around his neck.
Everybody was inclined to stand at a respectful distance during this part of the show. Whenever the juggler wished to enlarge the circle of spectators, he put the snake on the ground, and the crowd immediately fell back without being invited to do so. The snake was a huge fellow, seven or eight feet long, and perfectly black. The Doctor said he was not dangerous, so far as his bite was concerned, as he belonged to the family of constrictors, and killed his prey by tightening his coils around it.
A SECURE POINT OF VIEW.
Doctor Bronson farther explained to the youths that the snake-charmers of Egypt are a peculiar class. They give exhibitions in the streets in front of houses, and when they do so the favorite place for seeing the show is an upper window or balcony, as in that case the spectator is out of the reach of any possible harm. There are several snakes in Egypt, but only two or three of them are poisonous. The cobra di capella, the famous hooded snake of India, is often carried about by the performers; but he is imported from the land of his nativity, and does not belong to the Valley of the Nile. Before he is used for show purposes he is deprived of his fangs, and is therefore harmless, but it is not a pleasing sight to see him strike as though he meant serious business.
The Egyptian snake-charmers have a way of making a living by going to houses, and pretending to discover that snakes are concealed about the walls. They offer to remove them for a stipulated sum, and their proposal is generally accepted. Then they begin a sort of incantation, calling upon the snake to come forth, and threatening him with death if he does not. In a little while the snake falls from the ceiling or from a crack in the wall, and is picked up by the performer and exhibited to the family as proof of his skill, and that he has earned his money.
"Of course it is strongly suspected," the Doctor continued, "that the charmer secretly liberates the snake, or hires a confederate to do so, in order that he may obtain pay for catching him. This is undoubtedly the case in many instances, as the performer generally operates in a room where there is little light, and nobody is inclined to come near him for fear of being bitten. But not infrequently he has to perform in an open court-yard where there are many spectators, and sometimes he is taken suddenly to a house, and carefully examined before he begins operations. His trick, if it be one, has never been discovered, and the Egyptian snake-charmer may be considered, on the whole, quite as skilful as his fellow-craftsman in India."
One of the most deadly serpents of Egypt is the asp, which was made famous centuries ago by Cleopatra. There is another poisonous snake called the naya; it is of a greenish-brown color, and has a hood that expands like that of the Indian cobra when the snake is enraged. Some authorities suppose that the serpent with which Cleopatra killed herself, after the death of Marc Antony, is none other than the naya. This is the snake which appears so often among the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and it was worshipped as the representative of one of the divinities in the days of the Pharaohs. A person who is bitten by a naya generally dies in a few minutes, and thus far no antidote has been discovered for its poison.
Sight-seeing among the temples and tombs of Upper Egypt began at Beni-Hassan, about fifteen miles above Minieh. The boat touched at the landing-place, and the natives came down in dozens, bringing their donkeys for the tourists to ride to the tombs, three miles away. The natives had a most villainous appearance, and the donkeys, while no doubt more honest than their owners, were, if possible, less respectable, so far as looks were concerned. The people at Beni-Hassan have long had a bad reputation, and they were so notorious for their thievery during the reign of Ibrahim Pacha that he sent a military force to destroy their village and scatter its occupants. The village has been rebuilt, and the people have assembled again, but neither has improved by the severe lesson given by the son of Mohammed Ali.
Frank and Fred selected two of the donkeys, and their saddles were brought out and placed on the beasts. The Doctor likewise obtained a donkey; but he afterward said that the most agreeable way of riding the animal was to walk by his side. His donkey had a habit of sitting down suddenly, very much to the inconvenience of the rider, and no doubt induced by the weight of the latter. Frank had not gone a dozen yards before he was pitched over the head of his steed, to the great amusement of Fred. While the latter was laughing over the discomfiture of his cousin, he found himself stretched on the sand, and speedily concluded that the similarity of position left no farther reason for being amused. They remounted with greater caution; but it was observed that they had quite enough of saddle exercise on their way to the tombs, and concluded to walk back to the boat.
The rest of the party met with varied mishaps on their way to the tombs, but nobody was seriously hurt, and all were inclined to laugh over the incidents of the ride, particularly those that happened to others. It is a curious circumstance that it is much more ludicrous to see some one else pitched over the head of a donkey, and left sprawling in the sand, than to be pitched over and sprawled yourself. Of course we refer only to Egypt in commenting on this matter; but it has been said in America that the fun of a mishap or a practical joke is never as apparent to the victim of it as to his friends.
But the troubles of the ride were forgotten when the party reached the tombs which they went to see.
INTERIOR OF A TOMB AT BENI-HASSAN.
The tombs of Beni-Hassan are hewn in the solid rock, some in a cliff overlooking the Nile, and others in a valley running back from the river. The rock is a soft limestone, which is very easy to quarry, and some geologists think it was even softer five thousand years ago than at present. A great deal of labor was devoted to it, and the inscriptions on the walls are so numerous that very little space is left uncovered. Some of the tombs are entered through door-ways on a level with the floor, and others can only be reached by means of ladders.
SECTION OF A TOMB.
The tombs are cut with pillars and vaulted roofs, in imitation of buildings; they belong to the eleventh and twelfth dynasties of ancient Egypt, and are therefore older than the tombs and temples of Thebes, but more modern than the Pyramids of Sakkara and Gizeh. They were made for the resting-places of kings and priests, but were rifled of their contents centuries ago; their chief value at present is in the sculptures, which represent many of the trades and occupations of the ancient Egyptians, and thus throw a vivid light on their daily life.
Frank wrote the following in his note-book on his return to the steamer:
"We have been able to see to-day how the ancient Egyptians lived, and what they did; and it seems as if I have only to close my eyes and imagine myself carried back five thousand years. There are barbers at work on their customers, and closely reminding us of the barbers of to-day; there are shoemakers cutting the leather, and preparing the thread for stitching shoes and sandals together; and there are spinners and weavers at work, the former using the spindle just as it is now used in nearly all countries, and will probably be used as long as the world stands.
SPINNING AND WEAVING.
"There are glass-blowers and jewellers employed at their trades, both using the familiar blow-pipe, and evidently understanding it as perfectly as one could wish. Painters are busy with their brushes, some making pictures on panels or on sheets of papyrus, and others engaged in coloring statues or decorating walls. There are tailors and carpenters, boat-builders and stone-cutters, and there is a series of pictures representing the whole process of preparing flax, and making it into twine and cloth. One man brings water to fill a tank, in which other men are placing the flax; beyond the tank two men are beating the flax after it has been properly soaked; others are twisting the fibres into yarn; others make the yarn into ropes or cloth; and, lastly, two men hold up a piece of cloth that has just been finished. No description in words could be more clear than is this pictorial representation.
ARTISTS AT WORK.
"But industry is not the only thing seen on the walls of the tombs of Beni-Hassan. Musicians are playing on instruments of different kinds. Men and women are dancing or singing, others are seated at table or around fish-ponds, and others are playing ball, throwing heavy stones, or engaged at games similar to our chess or backgammon. They knew how to enjoy themselves fifty centuries ago no less than now. There are unpleasant things, too, depicted on the walls of the tombs: some of the tortures of prisoners are shown, and in one of the paintings several peasants are being held on the ground while a man strikes them across the shoulders with a heavy whip.
FISHING SCENE AT BENI-HASSAN.
"In one of the tombs there is a picture representing the arrival of some strangers, and their presentation to the King. This was long thought to be the arrival of Joseph and his brethren; but as the tombs are known to have been made several hundred years before Joseph was born, the pictures must refer to somebody else. There are thirty-seven figures in all in this group, and their faces and style of dress show that they came from some other country than Egypt.
AN ANCIENT DONKEY.
"We found a picture of a donkey with a saddle on his back exactly like the one he wears to-day for carrying burdens. There are several representations of this patient little beast, not only at Beni-Hassan, but in the tomb of Tih, at Sakkara; in the latter whole droves are shown, so that the donkey must have been a common beast of burden in ancient, as he his in modern Egypt. If there were any doubt on the subject it could be settled by reference to the Old Testament, where the donkey, or ass, is frequently mentioned.
"The conductor interrupted us in the middle of our studies of the sculptures, and said it was time to move on. We went to several tombs and found something interesting in all of them; we have not time to describe a tenth of what we saw, and, if you want to learn more about the place, we must refer you to the descriptions by Wilkinson and others. These gentlemen spent a long time here making sketches, and taking impressions by means of wet paper; as far as we know, their descriptions are accurate, though they do not always agree as to the exact meaning of the hieroglyphics which are above some of the pictures.
A RESPECTABLE CITIZEN.
"When we came back to the boat we were annoyed by the natives begging for backsheesh; they were nearly as persistent as the Arabs at the pyramids, and if we had been a small party they might have been insolent. As soon as we were on board the steamer they gathered on the bank close to it, and kept up such a howl that one of the passengers threw a few copper coins for them to scramble after.
"How they rolled over each other, and tossed the dust in the air! Every time a coin was thrown, there was a rush for it, and the rule seemed to be that might made right. The small children were pushed aside by the larger boys, and several times they would fight for the possession of a penny till both the combatants were exhausted, and had to stop to take breath.
"Some coins were thrown into the shallow water at the stern of the boat, and instantly the boys flung off their scanty clothing and plunged in. They would not go far out from the bank, or, rather, they would not try to find coins in any depth where they could not wade; the water of the Nile is not at all transparent, and it was probably because they could not see to any depth that they refused to dive. We fastened a coin in a piece of wood and threw it far out into the river; half a dozen of the boys swum for it, and there was a very pretty race between them to get the prize. It was far better than the rough scramble on the bank, and we repeated the performance several times till the boat was ready to start from the landing-place.
"These boys are excellent swimmers, and now that the crocodiles have pretty well disappeared from the Nile below the first cataract, they do not run much risk in exercising in the water. Doctor Bronson says there were many crocodiles in the river thirty years ago, but they have been hunted so much by tourists that very few of them are left."
AN OLD INHABITANT.