"The view from the mountain where these tombs were excavated is very pretty, as it embraces a considerable extent of the Nile Valley; some writers have called it the finest in all Egypt, as there is an unbroken view for several miles of beautiful green such as you find nowhere else in the world. Dean Stanley was charmed with the spot, and compared the mud villages that are scattered among the luxuriant fields to the marks of a soiled foot on a rich carpet. The mountain has an additional interest to many people, as the caves in its sides were the homes of the early Christians during the periods of persecution.
SCENE IN THE BAZAARS.
"We had been told that the bazaars of Sioot were almost as fine as those of Cairo, though naturally less extensive, and so we hurried down from the mountain in order to see as much as possible of the place.
"It happened to be market-day when we were there, much to our delight, as it enabled us to see what the country-people had brought in for sale. The market square was crowded with people, and also with donkeys and camels, and we had to keep both eyes wide open to escape being run over or knocked down. The camels were specially dangerous, as they seemed to have adopted the motto of the donkey dancing among the chickens—'Let everybody look out for his own feet!' They had great loads of sugar-canes or fresh cut grass, and as these loads stuck out on each side they needed a wide path, and took it too. It was a wonder that they didn't kill somebody, or, at any rate, do a good deal of damage, but somehow they didn't.
"All over the square were groups of men and women with heaps of sugar-cane, palm-stalks, beans, pease, wheat, and other products of the soil for sale. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry, and every transaction required a great deal of bargaining before it was concluded. All around the edge of the square was a fringe of solemn old Arabs, whose entire occupation appeared to be to sit on the ground and smoke their pipes. The stem of each pipe was about four feet long and made of a hollow reed, and when a man is engaged in smoking one of these pipes he can do very little else. In this part of the world the pipe is a very cumbersome thing, and occupies the entire attention of the smoker.
"One of the most interesting parts of the market at Sioot was the place where donkeys were sold. We went to see them, and asked the prices; but as the natives knew we did not want to buy any, they put the figures absurdly high. We found out that good ones could be bought for thirty or forty dollars—just good common donkeys for every-day wear; but if you wanted a fancy animal, you must go much higher. A hundred dollars would buy a handsome one, with a great deal of 'style' and corresponding strength, and there were some for which two hundred dollars had been refused. A two hundred dollar donkey is something that only the wealthy can afford.
