The Boy Travellers in the Far East

PART FOURTH

ADVENTURES OF TWO YOUTHS IN A JOURNEY

TO

EGYPT AND THE HOLY LAND

BY

THOMAS W. KNOX

AUTHOR OF

"THE YOUNG NIMRODS" "CAMP-FIRE AND COTTON-FIELD" "OVERLAND THROUGH ASIA"

"UNDERGROUND" "JOHN" "HOW TO TRAVEL" ETC.

Illustrated

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE

1883

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by

HARPER & BROTHERS,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

All rights reserved.

PREFACE.

The favorable reception, by press and public, accorded to "The Boy Travellers in the Far East" is the author's excuse for venturing to prepare a volume upon Egypt and the Holy Land. He is well aware that those countries have been the favorite theme of authors since the days of Herodotus and Strabo, and many books have been written concerning them. While he could not expect to say much that is new, he hopes the form in which his work is presented will not be found altogether ancient.

The author has twice visited Egypt, and has made the tour of Palestine and Syria. The experiences of Frank and Fred in their journeyings were mainly those of the writer of this book in the winter of 1873-'74, and in the spring of 1878. He has endeavored to give a faithful description of Egypt and the Holy Land as they appear to-day, and during the preparation of this volume he has sent to those countries to obtain the latest information concerning the roads, modes of travel, and other things that may have undergone changes since his last journey in the Levant.

In addition to using his own notes and observations, made on the spot, he has consulted many previous and some subsequent travellers, and has examined numerous books relating to the subjects on which he has written. It has been his effort to embody a description of the Egypt of old with that of the present, and to picture the lands of the Bible as they have appeared through many centuries down to our own time. If it shall be found that he has made a book which combines amusement and instruction for the youth of our land, he will feel that his labor has not been in vain.

Many of the works consulted in the preparation of this book are mentioned in its pages. To some authors he is indebted for illustrations as well as for descriptive or historical matter, the publishers having kindly allowed the use of engravings from their previous publications. Among the works which deserve acknowledgment are "The Ancient Egyptians," by Sir Gardner Wilkinson; "The Modern Egyptians," by Edward William Lane; the translation of "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments," by the same author; "From Egypt to Palestine," by Dr. S. C. Bartlett; "The Land and the Book," by Dr. W. M. Thomson; "Boat Life in Egypt," and "Tent Life in Syria," by William C. Prime, LL.D.; "The Khedive's Egypt," by Edwin De Leon; "The Desert of the Exodus," by Professor E. H. Palmer; "Dr. Olin's Travels in the East;" "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid," by Piazzi Smith; and "The Land of Moab," by Dr. H. B. Tristram. The author is indebted to Lieutenant-commander Gorringe for information concerning Egyptian obelisks, and regrets that want of space prevented the use of the full account of the removal of "Cleopatra's Needle" from Alexandria to New York.

With this explanation of his reasons for writing "The Boy Travellers in Egypt and the Holy Land," the author submits the result of his labors to those who have already accompanied Frank and Fred in their wanderings in Asia, and to such new readers as may desire to peruse it. He trusts the former will continue, and the latter make, an acquaintance that will prove neither unpleasant nor without instruction.

P.S.—This volume was written and in type previous to July, 1882. Consequently the revolt of Arabi Pasha and the important events that followed could not be included in the narrative of the "Boy Travellers."

T. W. K.

CONTENTS.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

[Chapter I.]

FROM BOMBAY TO SUEZ.—THE RED SEA, MECCA, AND MOUNT SINAI.

"Here we are in port again!" said Fred Bronson, as the anchor fell from the bow of the steamer and the chain rattled through the hawse-hole.

"Three cheers for ourselves!" said Frank Bassett in reply. "We have had a splendid voyage, and here is a new country for us to visit."

"And one of the most interesting in the world," remarked the Doctor, who came on deck just in time to catch the words of the youth.

"Egypt is the oldest country of which we have a definite history, and there is no other land that contains so many monuments of its former greatness."

Their conversation was cut short by the captain, who came to tell them that they would soon be able to go on shore, as the Quarantine boat was approaching, and they could leave immediately after the formalities were over.

When we last heard from our friends they were about leaving Bombay under "sealed orders." When the steamer was fairly outside of the beautiful harbor of that city, and the passengers were bidding farewell to Colaba Light-house, Dr. Bronson called the youths to his side and told them their destination.

"We are going," said he, "to Egypt, and thence to the Holy Land. The steamer will carry us across the Indian Ocean to the Straits of Bab-el-mandeb, and then through these straits into the Red Sea; then we continue our voyage to Suez, where we land and travel by rail to Cairo."

One of the boys asked how long it would take them to go from Bombay to Suez.

"About ten days," was the reply. "The distance is three thousand miles, in round numbers, and I believe we are not to stop anywhere on the way."

The time was passed pleasantly enough on the steamer. The weather was so warm that the passengers preferred the deck to the stifling cabins, and the majority of them slept there every night, and lounged there during the day. The boys passed their time in reading about the countries they were to visit, writing letters to friends at home, and completing the journal of their travels. In the evenings they talked about what they had seen, and hoped that the story of their wanderings would prove interesting to their school-mates in America, and to other youths of their age.[1]

COAST OF THE RED SEA.

Soon after entering the Red Sea they passed the island of Perim, a barren stretch of rock and sand, crowned with a signal station, from which the English flag was flying. As they were looking at the island, and thinking what a dreary place it must be to live in, one of the passengers told the boys an amusing story of how the English obtained possession of it.

"Of course you are aware," said he, "that the English have a military post at Aden, a rocky peninsula on the shore of Arabia, about a hundred and twenty miles from the entrance of the Red Sea. They bought it from the Sultan of that part of Arabia in 1839 by first taking possession, and then telling him he could name his price, and they would give him what they thought best, as they were determined to stay. Aden is a very important station for England, as it lies conveniently between Europe and Asia, and has a fine harbor. The mail steamers stop there for coal, and the government always keeps a garrison in the fort. It is one of the hottest and most unhealthy places in the world, and there is a saying among the British officers that an order to go to Aden is very much like being condemned to be shot.

"Soon after the Suez Canal was begun the French thought they needed a port somewhere near Aden, and in 1857 they sent a ship-of-war to obtain one. The ship touched at Aden for provisions, and the captain was invited to dine with the general who commanded at the fort. During dinner he became very talkative, and finally told the general that his government had sent him to take possession of Perim, at the entrance of the Red Sea.

"Perim was a barren island, as you see, and belonged to nobody; and the English had never thought it was worth holding, though they occupied it from 1799 to 1801. As soon as the French captain had stated his business in that locality the general wrote a few words on a slip of paper, which he handed to a servant to carry to the chief of staff. Then he kept his visitor at table till a late hour, prevailed on him to sleep on shore that night, and not be in a hurry to get away the next morning.

"The French ship left during the forenoon and steamed for Perim. And you may imagine that captain's astonishment when he saw a dozen men on the summit of the island fixing a pole in the ground. As soon as it was in place they flung out the English flag from its top, and greeted it with three cheers. In the little note he wrote at the dinner-table the general had ordered a small steamer to start immediately for Perim and take possession in the name of the Queen, and his orders were obeyed. The French captain was dismissed from the navy for being too free with his tongue, and the English have 'hung on' to Perim ever since."

The Doctor joined them as the story of the occupation of Perim was concluded. There was a laugh over the shrewdness of the English officer and the discomfiture of the French one, and then the conversation turned to the Red Sea.

"It may properly be called an inlet of the Indian Ocean," said the Doctor, "as it is long and narrow, and has more the characteristics of an inlet than of a sea. It is about fourteen hundred miles long, and varies from twenty to two hundred miles in width; it contains many shoals and quicksands, so that its navigation is dangerous, and requires careful pilotage. At the upper or northern extremity it is divided into two branches by the peninsula of Mount Sinai; the western branch is called the Gulf of Suez, and is about one hundred and eighty miles long, by twenty broad. This gulf was formerly more difficult of navigation than the Red Sea proper, but recently the Egyptian government has established a line of beacons and light-houses along its whole length, so that the pilots can easily find their way by day or at night."

One of the boys asked why the body of water in question was called the Red Sea.

The Doctor explained that the origin of the name was unknown, as it had been called the Red Sea since the time of Herodotus and other early writers. It is referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures as Yam Suph, the Sea of Weeds, in consequence of the profusion of weeds in its waters. These weeds have a reddish color; the barren hills that enclose the sea have a strong tinge of red, especially at the hours of sunset and sunrise, and the coral reefs that stretch in every direction and make navigation dangerous are often of a vermilion tint. "You will see all these things as you proceed," he continued, "and by the time you are at Suez you will have no difficulty in understanding why this body of water is called the Red Sea."

The boys found it as he had predicted, and the temperature for the first two days after passing Perim led Frank to suggest that the name might be made more descriptive of its character if it were called the Red-hot Sea. The thermometer stood at 101° in the cabin, and was only a little lower on deck; the heat was enervating in the extreme, and there was no way of escaping it; but on the third day the wind began to blow from the north, and there was a change in the situation. Thin garments were exchanged for thick ones, and the passengers, who had been almost faint with the heat, were beginning to shiver in their overcoats.

"A change of this sort is unusual," said the gentleman who had told them of the seizure of Perim, "but when it does come it is very grateful. Only in January or February is the Red Sea anything but hot; the winds blow from the sandy desert, or from the region of the equator, and sometimes it seems as though you were in a furnace. From December to March the thermometer averages 76°, from thence to May it is 87°, and through the four or five months that follow it is often 100°. I have frequently seen it 110° in the cabin of a steamer, and on one occasion, when the simoom was blowing from the desert, it was 132°. Steamers going north when the south wind is blowing find themselves running just with the wind, so that they seem to be in a dead calm; in such cases they sometimes turn around every ten or twelve hours and run a few miles in the other direction, so as to let the wind blow through the ship and ventilate it as much as possible. The firemen are Arabs and negroes, accustomed all their lives to great heat, but on almost every voyage some of them find the temperature of the engine-room too severe, and die of suffocation."

VIEW IN JEDDAH, ON THE RED SEA.

Our friends passed by Jeddah, the port of Mecca, and from the deck of the steamer the white walls and towers of the town were distinctly visible. Frank and Fred would have been delighted to land at Jeddah and make a pilgrimage to Mecca, but the Doctor told them the journey was out of the question, as no Christian is allowed to enter the sacred city of the Moslems, and the few who had ever accomplished the feat had done so at great personal risk.

CAPTAIN BURTON IN NATIVE DRESS.

"The first European who ever went there was Burckhardt, in 1814," said Dr. Bronson. "He prepared himself for his travels by studying the Arabic language, and went in the disguise of an Arab merchant, under the name of Sheikh Ibrahim ibn Abdallah. Then he travelled through Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt for several years, and became thoroughly familiar with the customs of the people, so that he was able to pass himself successfully as a learned Moslem. Captain Burton went to Mecca in 1852, and since his time the city has been visited by Maltzan, Palgrave, and two or three others. Captain Burton followed the example of Burckhardt and wore the Arab dress; he spoke the language fluently, but in spite of this his disguise was penetrated while he was returning to Jeddah, and he was obliged to flee from his companions and travel all night away from the road till he reached the protection of the seaport."

"What would have happened if he had been found out?" Frank inquired.

"The mob of fanatical Moslems would have killed him," was the reply. "They would have considered it an insult to their religion for him to enter their sacred city—the birthplace of the founder of their religion—and he would have been stoned or otherwise put to death. Some Europeans who have gone to Mecca have never returned, and nothing was ever heard of them. It is supposed they were discovered and murdered."

"What barbarians!" exclaimed Fred.

"Yes," replied the Doctor; "but if you speak to any of them about it, they will possibly reply that Christian people have put to death those who did not believe in their religion. They might quote a good many occurrences in various parts of Europe in the past five hundred years, and could even remind us that the Puritans, in New England, hanged three men and one woman, and put many others in prison, for the offence of being Quakers. Religious intolerance, even at this day, is not entirely confined to the Moslems."

Frank asked what could be seen at Mecca, and whether the place was really worth visiting.

ENCAMPMENT OF PILGRIMS AT MOUNT ARAFAT, NEAR MECCA.

"As to that," the Doctor answered, "tastes might differ. Mecca is said to be a well-built city, seventy miles from Jeddah, with a population of about fifty thousand. The most interesting edifice in the place is the 'Caaba,' or Shrine, which stands in the centre of a large square, and has at one corner the famous 'Black Stone,' which the Moslems believe was brought from heaven by the angels. Burckhardt thought it was only a piece of lava; but Captain Burton believes it is an aerolite, of an oval shape, and about seven feet long. The pilgrims walk seven times around the Caaba, repeating their prayers at every step, and they begin their walk by prostrating themselves in front of the Black Stone and kissing it. The consequence is that it is worn smooth, as the number of pilgrims going annually to Mecca is not less than two hundred thousand. The pilgrimage is completed with the ascent of Mount Arafat, twelve miles east of Mecca; and when a Moslem returns from his journey he is permitted to wear a green turban for the rest of his life. The pilgrimage is an easier matter than it used to be, as there are steamers running from Suez and other points to carry the pilgrims to Jeddah, and from there they can easily accomplish their journey to Mecca and return in a couple of weeks."

Frank asked how far it was from Mecca to Medina, the place where Mohammed died and was buried.

"Medina is about two hundred and fifty miles north of Mecca," said the Doctor, "and is only a third the size of the latter city. It is next to Mecca in sanctity, and a great many pilgrims go there every year. The tomb of the Prophet is in a large mosque, in the centre of the city, and there is an old story that the coffin of Mohammed is suspended in the air by invisible threads hanging from heaven. Captain Burton visited Medina, and reports that the Moslems have no knowledge of the story, and say it must have been invented by a Christian. The tomb is in one side of the building, but no one is allowed to look upon it, not even a Moslem; the most that can be seen is the curtain surrounding it, and even that must be observed through an aperture in a wooden screen. The custodians say that any person who looks on the tomb of the Prophet would be instantly blinded by a flood of holy light."

VIEW OF MEDINA (FROM A DRAWING BY A NATIVE ARTIST).

So much for the two holiest places in the eyes of the Moslems. Frank and Fred concluded that they did not care to go to Mecca and Medina, and the former instanced the old fable of a fox who despised the grapes which were inaccessible, and denounced them as too sour to be eaten.

As they entered the Gulf of Suez the attention of the boys was directed to Mount Sinai, and they readily understood, from the barrenness and desolation of the scene, why it was called "Mount Sinai in the Wilderness." With a powerful telescope not a sign of vegetation was anywhere visible.

It was late in the forenoon of a pleasant day when the ship came to anchor, as we have described in our opening lines. The Quarantine doctor came on board, and was soon convinced that no reason existed why the passengers, who chose to do so, might not go on shore. Doctor Bronson and his young friends bargained with a boatman to carry them and their baggage to the steps of the Hotel de Suez for a rupee each. The town, with the hotel, was about two miles from the anchorage, and the breeze carried them swiftly over the intervening stretch of water. Half a dozen steamers lay at the anchorage, waiting for their turn to pass the Canal; and a dozen or more native craft, in addition to the foreign ships, made the harbor of Suez appear quite picturesque. The rocky hills behind the town, and the low slopes of the opposite shore, glistened in the bright sunlight; but the almost total absence of verdure in the landscape rendered the picture the reverse of beautiful. Not a tree nor a blade of grass can be seen on the African side of the Gulf, while on the opposite shore the verdure-seeking eye is only caught by the oasis at the Wells of Moses, where a few palm-trees bid defiance to the shifting sands of the desert.

SCENE NEAR SUEZ.

Suez appeared to our friends a straggling collection of flat-roofed houses and whitewashed walls, where the sea terminates and the desert begins. Before the construction of the Canal it was little better than an Arab village, with less than two thousand inhabitants; at present it is a town of ten or twelve thousand people, the majority of whom are supported, directly or indirectly, by the Canal or the railway. There has been a town of some sort at this point for more than three thousand years, but it has never been of much importance, commercially or otherwise. The situation in the midst of desert hills, and more especially the absence of fresh water, have been the drawbacks to its prosperity. There is little to be seen in its shops, and for that little the prices demanded are exorbitant. Few travellers remain more than a day at Suez, and the great majority are ready to leave an hour or two after their arrival.

TRAVELLING IN THE SINAI DESERT.

[Chapter II.]

SUEZ.—WHERE THE ISRAELITES CROSSED THE RED SEA.—THE SUEZ CANAL.

Frank and Fred were impatient to see the Suez Canal, which enables ships to pass between the Red and Mediterranean Seas. In going from the anchorage to the town they passed near the southern end of the Canal, and from the veranda of the hotel they could see steamers passing apparently through the sandy desert, as the position where they stood concealed the water from sight. As soon as they had secured their rooms at the hotel, they started out with the Doctor to make a practical acquaintance with the great channel from sea to sea.

A SHOP IN SUEZ.

There was a swarm of guides and donkey-drivers at the door of the hotel, so that they had no difficulty in finding their way. At the suggestion of the Doctor they followed the pier, nearly two miles in length, which leads from the south part of the town to the harbor; the water is very shallow near Suez, and this pier was built so that the railway trains could be taken along side the steamers, and thus facilitate the transfer of passengers and freight. The pier is about fifty feet wide, and has a solid foundation of artificial stone sunk deep into the sand. At the end of the pier are several docks and quays belonging to the Canal and railway companies, and there is a large basin, called Port Ibrahim, capable of containing many ships at once. The Canal Company's repair-shops and warehouses stand on artificial ground, which was made by dredging the sand and piling it into the space between the pier and the land, and Frank thought that not less than fifty acres had thus been enclosed.

A line of stakes and buoys extended a considerable distance out into the head of the Gulf, and the Doctor explained that, in consequence of the shallowness near the land, the Suez Canal began more than a mile from the shore. The sand-bar is visible at low tide, and when the wind blows from the north a large area is quite uncovered. A channel was dredged for the passage of ships, and the dredging-machines are frequently in use to remove the sand which blows from the desert or is swept into the channel by the currents.

At the end of the long pier is a light-house; and while our friends stood there and contemplated the scene before them, the Doctor reminded the boys that in all probability they were in sight of the spot where the hosts of Pharaoh were drowned after the Israelites had crossed over in safety.

"That is very interesting," said Frank; "but is this really the place?"

"We cannot be absolutely certain of that," was the reply, "as there are different opinions on the subject. But it was in this neighborhood certainly, and some of those who have made a careful study of the matter say that the crossing was probably within a mile of this very spot."

The eyes of the boys opened to their fullest width at this announcement, and they listened intently to the Doctor's remarks on the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea.

"You will remember," said the Doctor, "that the Bible account tells us how the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the north, which swept away the waters and allowed the Israelites to pass over the bed of the sea. After they had crossed, and the hosts of Pharaoh pursued them, the wind changed, the waters returned, and the army of the Egyptian ruler was drowned in the waves. The rise of the tide at this place is from three to six feet, and the sand-bank is only slightly covered when the tide is out; now, when the wind blows from the north with great force the water is driven away, and parts of the sand-bank are exposed. On the other hand, when a strong wind blows from the south, the water is forced upon the sand-bank, and the tide, joined to this wind, will make a depth of six or seven feet where a few hours before the ground was dry. This is the testimony of many persons who have made careful observations of the Gulf of Suez, and the miracle described in the Bible is in exact accordance with the natural conditions that exist to-day.

THE NORTHERN END OF THE GULF OF SUEZ.

"One modern writer on this subject says he has known a strong north-east wind to lay the ford dry, and be followed by a south-west wind that rendered the passage impossible even for camels. M. De Lesseps, the projector of the Suez Canal, says he has seen the northern end of the sea blown almost dry, while the next day the waters were driven far up on the land. In 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte and his staff came near being drowned here in a sudden change of wind, and fatal accidents occur once in a while from the same cause. On the map prepared by the officers of the maritime canal to show the difference between high and low water, you will see that the conditions are just as I have stated them.

"Some writers believe," the Doctor continued, "that the sea was farther inland three thousand years ago, and that the crossing was made about ten miles farther north than where we now stand. There is some difficulty in locating all the places named in the biblical story of the exodus, and it would be too much to expect all the critics to agree on the subject. The weight of opinion is in favor of Suez as the crossing-place of the Israelites, and so we will believe we are at the scene of the deliverance of the captives and the destruction of the hosts of Pharaoh. It is a mistake to suppose that Pharaoh was himself drowned in the Red Sea; it was only his army that suffered destruction."

From the point where this conversation took place they went to the Waghorn Quay, just beyond. It was named in honor of Lieutenant Waghorn, who devoted several years to the establishment of the so-called "overland route" between England and India. Through his exertions the line of the Peninsular and Oriental steamers was established, and the mails between England and India were regularly carried through Egypt, instead of taking the tedious voyage around the Cape of Good Hope. He died in London in poverty in 1850; since his death the importance of his services has been recognized, and a statue to his memory stands on the quay which bears his name. At his suggestion the name of "overland route" was given to this line of travel between England and India, though the land journey is only two hundred and fifty miles, to distinguish it from the "sea route" around the Cape of Good Hope.

From Waghorn Quay it was only a short distance to the Canal, and as they reached its bank a large steamer was just entering on its way to the Mediterranean. Frank observed that she was moving very slowly, and asked the Doctor why she did not put on full steam and go ahead.

"That would be against the rules of the Canal Company," was the reply. "If the steamers should go at full speed they would destroy the Canal in a short time; the 'wash' or wake they would create would break down the banks and bring the sand tumbling into the water. They must not steam above four miles an hour, except in places where the Canal widens into lakes, and even there they cannot go at full speed."

"Then there are lakes in the Canal, are there?" Fred inquired.

"I'll explain that by-and-by," the Doctor responded. "Meantime look across the head of the Gulf and see that spot of green which stands out so distinctly among the sands."

The boys looked in the direction indicated and saw an irregular patch of verdure, on which the white walls of several houses made a sharp contrast to the green of the grass and the palm-trees that waved above them.

"AYOON MOOSA"—THE WELLS OF MOSES.

"That spot," said the Doctor, "is known as 'Ayoon Moosa,' or 'The Wells of Moses.' It is an oasis, where several wells or springs have existed for thousands of years, and it is supposed that the Israelites halted there and made a camp after their deliverance from Egypt. As the pursuing army of Pharaoh had been destroyed before their eyes, they were out of danger and in no hurry to move on. The place has borne the name of 'The Wells of Moses' from time immemorial; there is a tradition that the largest of them was opened by the divining-rod of the great leader of the Hebrews in their escape from captivity, and is identical with Marah, described in Exodus, xv. 23. The wells are pools of water fed by springs which bubble in their centre; the water in all of them is too brackish to be agreeable to the taste, but the camels drink it readily, and the spot is an important halting place for caravans going to or from the desert."

The Doctor farther explained that Suez was formerly supplied with water from these wells, which was brought in goat-skins and casks on the backs of camels. The springs are seven or eight miles from Suez in a direct line, and the easiest way of reaching them is by a sail or row boat to the landing place, about two miles from the oasis. Since the opening of the fresh-water canal in 1863 this business of supplying the city has ceased, and the water is principally used for irrigating the gardens in the oasis. Most of the fresh vegetables eaten in Suez are grown around the springs, and there is a hotel there, with a fairly good restaurant attached to it. The residents of Suez make frequent excursions to the Wells of Moses, and almost any day a group of camels may be seen kneeling around the principal springs.

Our friends returned along the quay to Suez, and strolled through some of the streets of the town. There was not much to be seen, as the shops are neither numerous nor well stocked, and evidently are not blessed with an enormous business. They visited a mosque, where they were obliged to take off their shoes, according to the custom of the East, before they could pass the door-way; the custodian supplied them with slippers, so that they were not required to walk around in their stockinged feet. When you go on a sight-seeing tour in an Egyptian city, it is well to carry your own slippers along, or intrust them to your guide, as the Moslems are rigid enforcers of the rule prohibiting you to wear your boots inside a mosque.

PREACHING IN A MOSQUE.

The principal attraction in the mosque was a group to whom a mollah, or priest, was delivering a lecture. The speaker stood in a high pulpit which was reached by a small ladder, and his hearers stood below him or squatted on the floor. What he said was unintelligible to our friends, as he was speaking in Arabic, which was to them an unknown tongue. The audience was apparently interested in his remarks, and paid no attention to the strangers except to scowl at them. In some of the mosques of the East Christians are not admitted; this was the rule half a century ago, but at present it is very generally broken down, and the hated infidel may visit the mosques of the principal cities of Egypt and Turkey, provided he pays for the privilege.

They returned to the hotel in season for dinner. The evening was passed in the house, and the party went to bed in good season, as they were to leave at eight o'clock in the morning for Cairo. They were at the station in due time for departure, and found the train was composed of carriages after the English pattern, in charge of a native conductor who spoke French. By judiciously presenting him with a rupee they secured a compartment to themselves.

While they were waiting for the train to move on the Doctor told the boys about the "overland route" through Egypt.

"The route that was established by Lieutenant Waghorn was by steamship from England to Alexandria, and thence by river steamboats along the Nile to Cairo. From Cairo, ninety miles, to Suez the road was directly through the desert, and passengers were carried in small omnibuses, drawn by horses, which were changed at stations ten or fifteen miles apart. Water for supplying these stations was carried from the Nile and kept in tanks, and it was a matter of heavy expense to maintain the stations. The omnibus road was succeeded by the railway, opened in 1857, and the water for the locomotives was carried by the trains, as there was not a drop to be had along the route. This railway was abandoned and the track torn up after the construction of the Canal, as the expense of maintaining it was very great. In addition to the cost of carrying water was that of keeping the track clear of sand, which was drifted by the wind exactly as snow is drifted in the Northern States of America, and sometimes the working of the road was suspended for several days by the sand-drifts. The present railway follows the banks of the Maritime Canal as far as Ismailia, and thence it goes along the Fresh-Water Canal, of which I will tell you.

"The idea of a canal to connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas is by no means a modern one."

"Yes," said Frank, "I have read somewhere that the first Napoleon in 1799 thought of making a canal between the two seas, and his engineers surveyed the route for it."

"You are quite right," responded the Doctor, "but there was a canal long before the time of Napoleon, or rather there have been several canals."

"Several canals!" exclaimed Frank. "Not several canals at once?"

A LANDING-PLACE ON THE FRESH-WATER CANAL.

"Hardly that," said the Doctor, with a smile; "but at different times there have been canals between the two seas. They differ from the present one in one respect: the maritime Canal of to-day runs from one sea to the other, and is filled with salt-water, while the old canals connected the Nile with the Red Sea, and were constantly filled with fresh-water. The Fresh-Water Canal of to-day follows the line of one of the old canals, and in several places the ancient bed was excavated and the ancient walls were made useful, though they were sadly out of repair."

One of the boys asked how old these walls were, to be in such a bad condition.

"We cannot say exactly how old they are," was the reply, "and a hundred years or so in our guessing will make no difference. According to some authorities, one of the rulers of ancient Egypt, Rameses II., conceived and carried out the idea of joining the two seas by means of the Nile and a canal, but there is no evidence that the work was accomplished in his time. The first canal of which we have any positive history was made by Pharaoh Necho I. about 600 b.c., or nearly twenty-five hundred years ago. It tapped the Nile at Bubastis, near Zagazig, and followed the line of the present Fresh-Water Canal to the head of the Bitter Lake. The Red Sea then extended to the Bitter Lake, and the shallow places were dredged out sufficient to allow the passage of the small craft that were in use in those days. The canal is said to have been sixty-two Roman miles long, or fifty-seven English ones, which agrees with the surveys of the modern engineers.

"This canal does not seem to have been used sufficiently to keep it from being filled by the drifting sand, as it was altogether closed a hundred years later, when it was re-opened by Darius; the latter made a salt-water canal about ten miles long near the south end of the Bitter Lake, to connect it with the Red Sea. Traces of this work were found when the Fresh-Water Canal was made, and for some distance the old track was followed. Under the arrangement of the canals of Necho and Darius, ships sailed up the Nile to Bubastis, and passed along the canal to the Bitter Lake, where their cargoes were transferred to Red Sea vessels. About 300 b.c. Ptolemy Philadelphus caused the two canals to be cleared out, and connected them by a lock, so that ships could pass from the fresh to the salt water, or vice versa.

ORIENTAL SHIPS OF ANCIENT TIMES.

"Four hundred years later (about 200 a.d.), according to some writers, a new canal was made, tapping the Nile near Cairo, and connecting with the old one, which was again cleared out and made navigable. Another canal, partly new and partly old, is attributed to the seventh century, and still another to the eleventh century; since that time there has been nothing of the sort till the Maritime Canal Company found it necessary, in 1861, to supply the laborers on their great work with fresh-water. They cleared out the old canal in some places, and dug a new one in others as far as the Bitter Lake; afterward they prolonged it to Suez, which it reached in 1863, and at the same time they laid a line of iron pipes from Ismailia to Port Said, on the Mediterranean. It would have been impossible to make and maintain the Maritime Canal without a supply of fresh-water, and thus the work of the Egyptians of twenty-five hundred years ago became of practical use in our day.

"Look on this map," said the Doctor, as he drew one from his pocket and handed it to the youths, "and you will see the various points I have indicated, together with the line of the Maritime Canal, and of the Fresh-Water Canal which supplies this part of Egypt with water."

Several minutes were passed in the study of the map. Before it was finished the train started, and in a short time our friends were busily contemplating the strange scene presented from the windows of their carriage.

The railway followed very nearly the bank of the Fresh-Water Canal, which varied from twenty to fifty feet in width, and appeared to be five or six feet deep. Beyond it was the Maritime Canal, a narrow channel, where steamers were slowly making their way, the distances between them being regulated by the pilots, so as to give the least possible chance of collision. Considering the number of steamers passing through the Canal, the number of accidents is very small. Frank could not understand how steamers could meet and pass each other, till the Doctor explained that there were "turnouts" every few miles, where a steamer proceeding in one direction could wait till another had gone by, in the same way that railway-trains pass each other by means of "sidings." Then there was plenty of space in Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lake, not only for ships to move, but to anchor in case of any derangement of their machinery.

From the information derived from the Doctor, and from the books and papers which he supplied, Frank and Fred made up the following account of the Suez Canal for the benefit of their friends at home:

FERDINAND DE LESSEPS.

"The Canal is one hundred miles long, from Suez, on the Red Sea, to Port Said, on the Mediterranean. Advantage was taken of depressions in the desert below the level of the sea, and when the water was let in, these depressions were filled up and became lakes (Timsah and Bitter Lakes), as you see on the map. There were thirty miles of these depressions; and then there was a marsh or swamp (thirty miles across), called Lake Menzaleh, which was covered during the flood of the Nile, and only needed a channel to be dug or dredged sufficiently deep for the passage of ships. The first spadeful of earth was dug by Ferdinand de Lesseps at Port Said on the 25th of April, 1868, and the completed Canal was opened for the passage of ships on the 16th of November, 1869. About forty steamers entered it at Port Said on that day, anchored in Lake Timsah for the night, and passed to the Red Sea on the 17th. M. de Lesseps projected the Canal while he was serving in Egypt as French Consul, and it was through his great energy and perseverance that the plan was finally carried out. The Canal was distinctively a French enterprise, and was opposed by England, but as soon as it was completed the English Government saw its great importance, and bought a large amount of stock that had hitherto been held by the Egyptian Government.

SUEZ CANAL AND EASTERN EGYPT.

"The line of the Canal where digging was necessary was through sand, but in many places it was packed very hard, so that pickaxes were needed to break it up. Much of the sand was removed by native laborers with shovels and baskets; but after the first two years it was necessary to substitute machinery for hand labor. Excavating and dredging machines driven by steam were put in operation, and the work was pushed along very rapidly; the channel through Lake Menzaleh was made by floating dredges equipped with long spouts that deposited the sand two or three hundred feet from where they were at work, and the dry cuttings at higher points were made by similar excavators mounted on wheels. At one place, just south of Lake Timsah, there was a bed of solid rock, where it was necessary to do a great deal of blasting, and the last blast in this rock was made only a few hours before the opening of the Canal.

"The cost of the work was nearly $100,000,000, of which about one-third was paid by Egypt, under the mistaken impression that the Canal would be beneficial to the country. The Khedive, or Viceroy of Egypt, spent nearly $10,000,000 on the festivities at the opening of the Canal, and this foolish outlay is one of the causes of the present bankruptcy of the country. Palaces and theatres were built for this occasion, roads were opened that were of no use afterward, and an enormous amount of money was spent for fireworks, music, banquets, and presents of various kinds to all the guests. The Empress of France was present at the opening of the Canal, and distinguished persons from all parts of the world were invited and entertained in princely style.

"In 1870, the first year the Canal was in operation, 486 vessels passed through it; in the next year the number was 765, and it steadily increased till it became 1264 vessels in 1874, 1457 in 1876, and 2026 in 1880. More than two-thirds of the entire number of ships passing the Canal are English, and in some years they have been fully three-fourths, while the French are less than one-thirteenth of the total number. France, which expected much from the Canal, has realized very little; while England, which opposed its construction, has reaped nearly all the benefit therefrom.[2]

"By the original charter the company was allowed to charge ten francs (two dollars) a ton on the measurement of each ship going through the Canal, and ten francs for each passenger. The revenue, after deducting the expenses of operating, amounts to about five per cent. on the capital of the company, and the officers think it will be seven or eight per cent. before many years.

"The following figures show the dimensions of the Canal:

NIGHT SCENE ON LAKE MENZALEH.

"The scenery on the Canal is not particularly interesting, as one soon gets tired of looking at the desert, with its apparently endless stretch of sand. At Ismailia and Kantara there has been an attempt at cultivation, and there are some pretty gardens which have been created since the opening of the Fresh-Water Canal, and are kept up by irrigation. But nearly all the rest is a waste, especially on the last twenty-seven miles, through Lake Menzaleh to Port Said. If you make this ride on one of the small steamers maintained by the Canal Company you find that one mile is exactly like any other, and you are soon glad enough to seek the cabin and go to sleep.

"Here are some figures showing the saving in distances (in nautical miles) by the Canal:"

[Chapter III.]

FROM SUEZ TO CAIRO.—THROUGH THE LAND OF GOSHEN.

CAMEL AND YOUNG.

There is little to relieve the monotony of the desert between Suez and Ismailia beyond the view of the two canals, and the ships and boats moving on their waters. Occasionally a line of camels may be seen walking with a dignified pace, or halted for the adjustment of their loads, or for some other purpose. In every direction there is nothing but the desert, either stretching out into a plain or rising in mountains, on which not a particle of verdure is visible. Under the bright sun of the Egyptian sky the sands glittered and sparkled till the light they reflected became painful to the eyes of the observers. The prudent Doctor had bought some veils in the bazaar of Suez, and now brought them from the recesses of his satchel for the use of the delighted boys as well as for his own.

The color of the desert mountains on the southern horizon varied from white to yellow and purple, and from yellow and purple back again to white. Frank said that some of them seemed to be composed of amethysts and garnets, mixed and melted together in a gigantic crucible. The Doctor told him he was not the first to make such a description, as the idea had occurred to previous travellers, some of whom thought the mountains were composed of all kinds of precious stones mingled with glass. The dazzling appearance of these elevations had led many persons to explore them in search of gems; but of all these explorers none had ever found the fortune he sought.

As they approached Ismailia there were signs of vegetation on the banks of the Fresh-Water Canal, and near the town they came to some pretty gardens which have been created since the opening of the Canal. While the works of the Canal were in progress Ismailia was an active town, with a considerable population, but at present many of its buildings are unoccupied, and there is a general appearance of desolation. There are a few cottages near the banks of Lake Timsah, and of late years the town has obtained popularity with some of the European residents of Cairo, who go there for the sake of the salt-water bathing. The air is clear and dry, the water is of the deep blue of the united seas, and is generally of an agreeable temperature, while it has the smoothness of an inland lake, and is not popular with sharks or any other disagreeable inhabitants of tropical waters. The current created by the changes of the tide between the two seas is sufficient to keep the water from becoming stagnant, but is not strong enough to interfere with navigation or disturb the bather.

DESERT SCENE IN EASTERN EGYPT.

After a brief halt at the station the train moved off in the direction of Cairo, and for an hour or more the views from the windows of the railway-carriage were remarkable in their character. On one side of the train the naked desert filled the picture, with its endless stretch of sand; on the other the gardens on the banks of the Fresh-Water Canal were marvels of luxuriance. The richest soil in the world lay side by side with the most desolate, and our friends agreed that they had never seen so marked a contrast during a ride on a railway train. The Doctor explained that the abundant vegetation was due to the wonderful fertilizing power of the Nile water, and said it was no wonder that the ancient Egyptians worshipped the river, and attributed all their wealth and prosperity to its influence.

At Zagazig the train stopped an hour or more for dinner, and there was a change of carriages for the passengers destined for Cairo. Zagazig is the junction of the lines for Cairo and Alexandria, and since the opening of the railway the town has become of considerable importance. A great deal of cotton is raised in the vicinity, and in some years not less than fifty thousand tons of that article are sent from the station. The country around here is very fertile, and is said to be the Goshen of the Bible. The ruins of the ancient town of Bubastis are about a mile from Zagazig, but they are so slight as to be unworthy a visit. Bubastis was an important place two thousand years ago, and was famous for a festival to which more than half a million pilgrims went every year.

For the remaining fifty-two miles from Zagazig to Cairo the route lay through a fertile country, and only occasional glimpses were afforded of the desert. Boats and barges were moving on the Canal, some of them carrying the local products of the country to Cairo or Ismailia, while others were laden with coal and other foreign importations which find a market among the Egyptians. The boys were interested in the processes of irrigating the lands, and eagerly listened to the Doctor's explanation of the matter. Before reaching Zagazig they had seen some men at work dipping water by means of buckets suspended from poles, and emptying it into basins formed by excavations on the banks; they were told that this apparatus for hoisting water was called a "shadoof," and had been in use from the most ancient days of Egypt.

THE MODERN SHADOOF.

"The simplest form of shadoof," said the Doctor, "is the one you are looking at. It consists of two posts of wood or sun-dried mud, supporting a horizontal bar, on which the pole suspending the bucket is balanced in the centre. A lump of mud on one end of the pole balances the weight of the bucket on the other, and enables the man who operates it to lift his burden with ease. The bucket is made of rushes woven so tightly as to hold water, and at the same time be as light as possible, and it is dipped and raised with great rapidity. Water is lifted from six to eight feet by the shadoof. If a higher elevation is needed, a second and even a third or a fourth may be used; on the upper part of the Nile I have seen half a dozen of them in operation on a series of steps, one above the other.

AN ANCIENT SHADOOF.

"You will see representations of the shadoof on the walls of the temples and tombs of Egypt, and the conclusion is certain that the form has not changed in the least in three thousand years. When the Nile is at its height there is no need of anything of the sort, as the water flows all over the land, and the entire country is inundated. As soon as the river falls it is necessary to raise water by artificial means, as the growing plants in the fields would soon perish under the hot sun of Egypt without a supply of moisture. Then the shadoof comes in play, and the more the river descends the greater is the number demanded. In some parts of the country the sakkieh is used in place of the shadoof, and the result is the same."

Fred wished to know the difference between the shadoof and the sakkieh.

A SAKKIEH, OR WATER-WHEEL.

"The sakkieh," said the Doctor, "is a wheel operated by a beast of burden—a horse, camel, mule, donkey, or ox. The animal walks in a circle, and turns a horizontal wheel which has cogs connected with an upright wheel, bearing a circle of earthen buckets on its rim. These buckets dip in water as the wheel turns; their mouths are then brought uppermost, and they raise the water and pour it into a trough. Where the water must be raised to a great height from a well, or from the side of a perpendicular bank, two wheels are used, one at the spot where the animal walks, and the other at the surface of the water. A stout band or rope passes over the wheels, and to this band buckets are attached to lift the water. I have seen water raised fifty or sixty feet by this process, the ox or mule walking patiently for hours, until it was his turn to be relieved."

While the Doctor was talking the train passed a sakkieh, which was being turned by a pair of oxen driven by a small boy. The boys observed that the eyes of the animals were blindfolded by means of a piece of cloth drawn over their heads, and they naturally wished to know the reason of it.

"It is the custom of the country," was the reply. "The animals are believed to work better when their attention is not drawn to things around them, and they are less likely to be frightened if anything unusual happens in their neighborhood. This is particularly the case with the native buffalo and with the mule, and the practice of blindfolding the latter animal is not unknown in our own country. On the Western plains and among the Rocky Mountains it is the custom to throw a blanket over the head of a pack-mule when he is being saddled and is about to receive his burden. He stands perfectly quiet during the whole operation; while, if he were not temporarily deprived of sight, he would be very restive, and perhaps would break away from his driver, and scatter things around him very miscellaneously."

A PLOUGHMAN AT WORK.

Just beyond the sakkieh they saw a man driving a pair of bullocks in front of a plough, and as the implement was lifted from the ground in turning they had an opportunity of seeing how it was made.

"It is nothing but a wooden point," said Frank, "like the end of a small log or stake."

"Yes," echoed Fred, "and there is only one handle for the man to grasp. Wonder what he would think of our two-handled ploughs of iron in America!"

"He would probably decline to use it," the Doctor responded, "as he needs one hand for managing his goad, and could not understand how he could control a goad and an American plough unless nature had equipped him with three hands."

AN ANCIENT PLOUGH.

"That the plough is the same here to-day that it was three thousand years ago, we have proof in the pictures of agriculture on the walls of the tombs at Thebes. The ancient implement is identical with the modern one, the propelling force is the same, and the principal difference we can see is in the costume of the ploughman."

"The plough only scratches the earth," said Fred; "and if the soil was not very rich they would soon find out they needed something that would stir up the ground a little deeper."

"Sometimes," said the Doctor, "you will see several ploughs following each other in the same furrow. The object is to accomplish by this repeated ploughing what we do by a single operation."

Close by the field where the man was ploughing another was planting grain or something of the sort, and another a little farther on was cutting some green stalks that looked like our Indian-corn. The Doctor explained that the stalks were probably intended for feed for cattle, and that the article in question was known as "doora" among the natives, and was a close relative of the corn grown in America.

"But how funny," said Frank, "that they should be ploughing, planting, and reaping, all in sight of each other!"

"That is one of the peculiarities of the country," said the Doctor, with a smile. "You must remember that they do not have cold and frost, as we do, and the operations of agriculture go on through the whole year."

"All the year, from January to January again?" said Fred.

"Yes," was the reply, "though some attention must be paid to the change of seasons in order to get the best crops. From two to five crops, according to the article planted, can be raised in the course of the year, provided always that there is a constant supply of water for irrigating the fields. When a crop is ready for gathering it is harvested, and the ground is immediately ploughed and planted again."

AN EGYPTIAN THRASHING-MACHINE.

As if to emphasize what the Doctor was saying, the train carried them past a thrashing-floor where the scriptural process of "treading out the corn" was going on. There was a floor of earth, which had been packed very hard and made smooth as possible, and on this floor the pair of oxen were walking in a circle and dragging a sort of sled, with rollers between the runners, on which a man was perched in a high chair. The straw which had been deprived of its grain was heaped in the centre of the circle, ready for removal; the Doctor explained that the grain was separated from the chaff by throwing it in the air when the wind was blowing, and such a thing as a winnowing-machine was practically unknown in Egypt.

ANCIENT PROCESS OF TREADING OUT THE CORN.

Attempts have been made to introduce modern implements and machinery for agricultural purposes, but they have generally failed. The Khedive expended a large amount of money for the latest improvements in farming; he had a large farm near Cairo, on which the purchases were placed, but it was soon found that the implements were unpopular with the natives, and they were abandoned. They lay for some years in one of the sheds of the establishment, and were finally sold as old iron.

EGYPTIAN LENTILS.

The sight of the ploughs, shadoofs, thrashing-machines, and other aids of agriculture naturally led to a conversation on the products of Egypt. The boys learned that two kinds of corn were grown there—doora, which they had seen, and millet, which has a single ear on the top of a stalk. Egyptian wheat has been famous for many centuries, and is still cultivated, though to a less extent than formerly, as much of the ground once devoted to wheat is now given up to cotton. Coffee is grown in some localities, and so are indigo and sugar; there is a goodly variety of beans, peas, lentils, and the like, and watermelons, onions, and cucumbers are easily raised. The tobacco crop is of considerable value; grapes are abundant, and there are many fruits, including dates, figs, apricots, oranges, peaches, lemons, bananas, and olives. The methods of agriculture are very primitive, and in many instances slovenly; and if a thousand English or American farmers could be sent to Egypt to instruct the natives in the use of foreign implements, and teach them to till their farms on the Western plan, the value of Egyptian products would be doubled. But, to make the plan successful, it would be necessary to devise some means of compelling the natives to use the methods and machines that the strangers would bring among them, and this would be a difficult task.

The train halted several times, and finally came to Kallioob station, where it united with the direct line from Cairo to Alexandria. "Now," said the Doctor, "keep a sharp lookout on the right-hand side of the carriage and tell me what you see."

In a few minutes Frank gave a shout of delight, and called out,

"There they are—the Pyramids! the Pyramids!"

Fred saw them almost at the same moment, and joined his cousin in a cheer for the Pyramids, of which he had read and heard so much.

THE PYRAMIDS.

There they were, pushing their sharp summits into the western sky, to which the sun was declining, for it was now late in the afternoon. Clearly defined, they rose above the horizon like a cluster of hills from the edge of a plain; and as our friends came nearer and nearer the Pyramids seemed to rise higher and higher, till it was difficult to believe that they were the work of human hands, and were only a few hundred feet in height. In a little while the attention of the youths was drawn to the minarets of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali and the high walls of the Citadel, on the summit of the hill that overlooks and commands the city of Cairo. Their glances turned from pyramids to mosque, and from mosque back again to pyramids, and from the sharp outline of the Mokattam Hills to the glistening sands of the Western Desert. Near by were the rich fields of the Valley of the Nile, and now and then the shining water of the old river was revealed through openings among the fringe of palms; the mud-built villages of the Egyptians passed as in a panorama, the white walls of the houses of Cairo took the place of the more primitive structures, groups of men and camels, and other beasts of burden, were seen wending their way to the great city or returning from it. The population grew more dense, the houses and gardens assumed a more substantial appearance, roads gave way to streets, and gardens to blocks of houses, and all too soon for our excited travellers the train rolled into the station at Cairo, and the journey to the wonderful City of the Caliphs had been accomplished.

From the sentimental to the practical the transition was instantaneous. Hardly had the train halted before the carriages were surrounded by a crowd of hotel runners, dragomen, guides, and other of the numerous horde that live upon the stranger within the gates. Doctor Bronson had telegraphed to the Hotel du Nil to send a carriage and a guide to meet his party at the station; the guide was there with a card from the manager of the hotel, and at once took charge of the strangers and their baggage, and showed the way to the waiting carriage. Frank said he should advise all his friends on their first visit to Cairo to follow the Doctor's example, and thus save themselves a struggle with the unruly crowd and a vast amount of annoyance. The worst feature of a journey in Egypt is the necessity of a constant fight with the great swarm of cormorants that infest all public places where travellers are likely to go; many a journey that would have been enjoyable with this evil removed has been completely spoiled by its presence.

A QUESTION OF BACKSHEESH.

From the moment when you touch Egyptian soil till the moment when you leave it there is little rest from the appeals of the beggar, and the demands, often insolent, of those who force themselves and their services upon you. The word "backsheesh" (a present) is dinned into your ears from morning till night; it is with you in your dreams, and if your digestion is bad you will have visions of howling Arabs who beset you for money, and will not be satisfied. Giving does no good; in fact it is worse than not giving at all, as the suppliant generally appeals for more; and if he does not do so he is sure to give the hint to others who swarm about you, and refuse to go away. If you hire a donkey or a carriage, and give the driver double his fare, in order to satisfy him, you find you have done a very unwise thing. His demand increases, a crowd of his fellows gather around, all talking at once, and there is an effort to convince you that you have not given half enough. Not unfrequently your clothes are torn in the struggle, and if you escape without loss of money or temper you are very fortunate.

The railway-station at Cairo is an excellent place to study the character of the natives, and to learn their views regarding the money of others, and the best modes of transferring it to their own pockets.

From the station our friends drove through the new part of Cairo, where the broad streets and rows of fine buildings were a disappointment to the youths, who had expected to see quite the reverse.

"Don't be impatient," said the Doctor, "we shall come to the narrow streets by-and-by. This part of Cairo is quite modern, and was constructed principally under Ismail Pacha a few years ago. He had a fancy for making a city on the plan of Paris or Vienna, and giving it the appearance of the Occident instead of the Orient. In place of the narrow and sometimes crooked streets of the East he caused broad avenues to be laid out and tall buildings to be erected. The new city was to stand side by side with the old one, and for a time it seemed as though the Eastern characteristics of Cairo would be blotted out. But the money to carry on the improvements could not be had, and the new part of Cairo has an unhappy and half desolate appearance. The natives preferred the old ways, and there was not a sufficient influx of foreigners to populate the new city. It had grown rapidly for a few years, but suddenly its growth was suspended, and here it has been ever since."

A STREET IN CAIRO.

They passed several public and private buildings that would have done honor to any European city, and if it had not been for the natives walking in the streets, riding on donkeys, or now and then conducting a stately camel, they might easily have believed themselves far away from Egypt. Suddenly the scene changed; they passed the new theatre, where Ismail Pacha delighted to listen to European operas performed by European companies; they crossed the triangle known as the Square of Ibrahim Pacha, and containing a bronze statue of that fiery ruler; and by a transition like that of the change in a fairy spectacle, they were in one of the crowded and shaded streets of the City of the Caliphs. They had entered the "Mooskee," one of the widest and most frequented streets of the part of Cairo that has not succumbed to Western innovations, and retains enough of its Eastern character to remain unpaved.

The speed of their carriage was reduced, and a boy who had been riding at the side of the driver jumped down, and ran ahead shouting to clear the way. The boys thought they were travelling in fine style to have a footman to precede them, but the Doctor told them it was the custom of the country to have a runner, called a "syce," to go before every carriage, and clear the way for it. The syce carried a stick as the badge of his office, and when he was in the employ of an official he had no hesitation in striking right and left among those who were in the way. High officials and other dignitaries employed two of these runners, who kept step side by side, and were generally noticeable by the neatness of their dress. No matter how fast the horses go the syce will keep ahead of them, and he does not seem at all fatigued after a run that would take the breath out of an American.

A PROJECTING WINDOW.

They met other carriages; they met camels and donkeys with riders on their backs, or bearing burdens of merchandise, and they passed through crowds of people, in which there were many natives and some Europeans. The balconies of the houses projected over the street, and in some places almost excluded the sunlight, while their windows were so arranged that a person within was entirely concealed from the view of those without. The boys observed that the carving on the windows revealed a vast amount of patience on the part of the workmen that executed it, and they wondered if all the windows of Cairo were like those they were passing. Some of the walls were cracked and broken, as though threatening to fall; but the windows appeared so firmly fixed in their places that they would stay where they were when the rest of the building had tumbled.

While they were engrossed with the strange sights and sounds around them, the carriage halted at the head of a narrow lane, and our three friends descended to walk to the hotel.

[Chapter IV.]

STREET SCENES IN CAIRO.

Frank and Fred were up in good season on the morning after their arrival in Cairo. While waiting for breakfast they read the description of the city, and familiarized themselves with some of the most important points of its history, which they afterward wrote down to make sure of remembering them. Here is what they found:

A CALIPH OF EGYPT ON HIS THRONE.

"The city known as 'Cairo' (Ky-ro) to Europeans is called Masr-el-Kaherah by the Arabs, the word Kaherah meaning 'victorious.' It was founded about the end of the tenth century by a Moslem general who had been sent from Tunis to invade Egypt; he signalled his victory by building a city not far from Fostat; the latter is called Masr-el-Ateekah, or Old Cairo, and was formerly the capital; but the new city grew so fast that it became the capital very soon after it was founded. It has gone through a good many sieges, and had a prominent place in the history of the Crusades; the great Moslem conqueror, Yoosef Salah-ed-Deen (known to us as Saladin), built strong walls around Cairo, and founded the citadel on the hill at the southern end. The city is about two miles broad by three in length, and stands on a plain overlooked by the range of the Mokattam Hills; the new quarter of Ismaileeyah was recently added, and when that is included, the Cairo of to-day will be nearly twice the extent of the city of fifty years ago. Cairo was the city of the Caliphs, or Moslem rulers, down to 1517; from that time till it was captured by the French, in 1798, it was the chief city of the Turkish province of Egypt. The French held it three years, when it was captured by the Turks and English; ten years later Mohammed Ali became an almost independent ruler of the country, and from his time to the present Egypt has been ruled by his family, who pay an annual tribute to Turkey, and are required to do in certain things as they are ordered by the Sultan. Cairo is still the capital of Egypt; the Viceroy or Khedive lives there except during the hottest part of summer, when he goes to Alexandria, where he has a palace.

"The word 'Khedive' comes from the Persian language, and means 'ruler' or 'prince.' It was adopted by Ismail Pacha, and continued by his successor; the English word which is nearest in meaning to Khedive is 'Viceroy,' and the head of the Egyptian government is generally called the Viceroy by Europeans. He should be addressed as 'Your Highness.'

"Some of the most interesting stories of the 'Arabian Nights' Entertainments' are laid in Cairo, and the reader of those anecdotes will learn from them a great deal of the manners of the times when they were written. We are told that the translation by Edward William Lane is the best. Lane was an Englishman, who was a long time in Cairo. He learned the language of the people, wore their dress, and lived among them, and he wrote a book called 'The Modern Egyptians,' which describes the manners and customs of the inhabitants of Cairo better than any other work. When we are in doubt concerning anything, we shall consult 'The Modern Egyptians' for what we want. Lane's translation of the 'Arabian Nights' occupied several years of his time, and was mostly made while he lived in Cairo. We have read some of these stories, and find them very interesting, and often envy Aladdin, with his wonderful lamp and his magic couch, and would very much like to sit down with Sinbad the Sailor and listen to the account of his adventures.

PART OF OLD CAIRO.

"There are so many things in Cairo which we want to see that we will not try to make out a list in advance. We have engaged a guide to show us around, and shall trust to him for a day or two. At the end of that time we hope to know something about the city, and be able to go around alone."

Every evening, while the boys were in Cairo, was devoted to the journal of their experiences during the day. They have allowed us to copy from it, and we can thus find out where they went and what they did. As there were so many things to describe the labor was divided, and while Frank was busy over one thing, Fred occupied himself with another. Let us see what they did:

"It is the custom to ride on donkeys when going about Cairo, as many of the streets are so narrow that you cannot pass through them with carriages. We had the best we could secure, and very nice they were under the saddle, but we soon learned that it required some skill to ride them. The guide rode ahead, and we noticed that he did not put his feet in the stirrups as we did; while we were wondering the meaning of it, Frank's donkey stumbled and fell forward, and Frank went sprawling in the dust over the animal's head.

"We all laughed (Frank did not laugh quite as loud as the rest, but he did the best he could), and so did the people in the street where the accident happened. Frank was up in an instant, and so was the donkey; and when we were off again the guide said that the donkey had a habit of stumbling and going down in a heap. If you have your feet in the stirrups when he goes down, you can't help being thrown over the animal's head; but if you ride as the guide does, your feet come on the ground when the donkey falls, and you walk gracefully forward a few steps till the boy brings your animal up for you to mount again.

"We immediately began learning to ride with our feet free, and an hour's practice made us all right.

"The donkeys all have names, generally those that have been given to them by travellers. We have had 'Dan Tucker,' 'Prince of Wales,' 'Chicken Hash,' and 'Pinafore,' and in the lot that stands in front of the hotel there are 'General Grant,' 'Stanley,' 'New York,' and 'Mince Pie.' They are black, white, gray, and a few other colors, and sometimes the boys decorate them with hair-dye and paint so that they look very funny. The donkey-boys are sharp little fellows, though sometimes they keep at the business after they have become men. They generally speak a little English; there are two at our hotel that speak it very well, and know the city perfectly, so that when we take them along we have very little need of a guide. They will run all day as fast as the donkey can, sometimes holding him by the bridle, but generally close behind, ready to prod or strike him if he does not go fast enough.

"The saddle is a curious sort of thing, as it has a great hump in front instead of a pommel, and there is not the least support to the back any more than in an English riding-pad. They explain the peculiarity of the saddle by saying that the donkey's shoulders are lower than his back, and the hump keeps you from sliding forward.

"About the best thing we have yet seen in Cairo is the people in the streets. They are so odd in their dress, and they have so many curious customs, that our attention is drawn to them all the time. We can't say how many varieties of peddlers there are, but certainly more than we ever saw in any other place, not excepting Tokio or Canton, or any of the cities of India. We will try to describe some of them.

A PEDDLER OF JEWELLERY.

"Here is an old woman with a crate like a flat basket, which she carries on her head. It is filled with little articles of jewellery, and she goes around in the harems and in the baths frequented by women, as they are her best customers. The guide says her whole stock is not worth a hundred francs, and if she makes a franc a day at her business she thinks she is doing well.

"There are women who sell vegetables, fruits, and sweetmeats, which they carry in the same way as the one we have just described. They are wrapped from head to foot in long cloaks or outer dresses, and they generally follow the custom of the country and keep their faces covered. The oldest of them are not so particular as the others, and we are told that the custom of wearing the veil is not so universal as it was twenty or thirty years ago.

A LADY IN STREET DRESS.

"There is no change of fashion among the women of Egypt. They wear the same kind of garments from one year to another, and as all are veiled, except among the very poorest classes, they all look alike. Every lady, when she goes out, covers her face with the yashmak or veil, so that only her eyes are visible; her body is wrapped in a black mantle which reaches the ground, and, though she looks at you as if she knew you, it is impossible to penetrate her disguise. We are told that when the European ladies residing here wish to call on each other, and have nobody to escort them, they put on the native dress, and go along the streets without the least fear that anybody will know them.

"The wives of the high officials have adopted some of the fashions of Europe in the way of dress; they wear boots instead of slippers, and have their dresses cut in the Paris style, and they wear a great deal of jewellery mounted by Parisian jewellers. Their hats or bonnets are of European form; but they cling to the veil, and never go out-of-doors without it, though they often have it so thin that their features can be seen quite distinctly. We have seen some of them riding in their carriages, and if they had been friends of ours we think we should have recognized them through their thin veils.

"How much we wish we could understand the language of the country! Doctor Bronson says the peddlers on the streets have a curious way of calling out their wares, quite unlike that of the same class in other countries. For instance, the water-carrier has a goat-skin on his back filled with water, and as he goes along he rattles a couple of brass cups together, and cries out, 'Oh ye thirsty! oh ye thirsty!' A moment after he repeats the call, and says, 'God will reward me!' And sometimes he says, 'Blessed is the water of the Nile!' Those who drink the water he offers usually give him a small piece of money, but if they give nothing he makes no demand, and moves on repeating his cry.

"The seller of lemons shouts, 'God will make them light, oh lemons!' meaning that God will lighten the baskets containing the lemons. The orange peddler says, 'Sweet as honey, oh oranges!' And the seller of roasted melon-seeds says, 'Comforter of those in distress, oh melon-seeds!' Behind him comes a man selling flowers of the henna-plant, and his cry is, 'Odors of Paradise, oh flowers of henna!' The rose-merchant says, 'The rose is a thorn—it bloomed from the sweat of the Prophet!' We could make a long list of these street cries, but have given you enough to show what they are.

A WOMAN CARRYING WATER.

"Every few steps we meet women carrying jars of water on their heads. Many of the houses are supplied in this primitive way, and the employment of carrying water supports a great many people in this strange city of the East. Of late years pipes have been introduced, and an aqueduct brings water from the Nile, so that the occupation of the bearer has been somewhat diminished. But the public fountain still exists, and the people gather there as they did in the days of the Bible. Every mosque has a fountain in the centre of its court-yard, not so much for supplying water for those who wish to carry it away as to furnish an opportunity for the faithful to wash their hands before saying their prayers. Some of these fountains are large, and protected from the sun by a marble canopy. But the public fountains at the street corners are generally quite exposed to the weather, and many of them are quite small.

THE FOUNTAIN OF A MOSQUE.

"We walked slowly along the street during our first excursion, as there were many sights to attract our attention, and we did not wish to miss anything. Two or three times we narrowly escaped being run over by camels or donkeys. The camels move along in a very stately way, and do not turn out unless ordered to do so by their drivers. They have a wicked expression in their eyes, and seem quite willing to knock over a stranger who gets in their way. Sometimes the crowd of people was so dense that it was not easy to move among them; but everybody was good-natured, and there was no jostling or rudeness of any kind. There were a good many beggars sitting in little nooks where they were not in danger of being run over, and quite often we met blind men who were feeling their way along by means of long sticks. They called out something in Arabic, and the people made way for them, so that none of them were hurt.

A BEGGAR AT THE WAY-SIDE.

"The portion of the Mooskee where you enter it from the new part of Cairo contains a good many European shops, so that you do not come at once into the old-fashioned Orient. But as you go along the scene changes; the shops of the merchants are open to the streets, and the shopmen sit there cross-legged, in full view of everybody, so that you do not have to turn out of the way to see what there is to buy.

"When you think of an Oriental shop you must not picture to yourself an establishment like those on Broadway or other great streets in New York, where dozens or hundreds of clerks are employed to wait on customers, and where the population of a small town might all be attended to at once. A shop in Cairo or any other city of the East is generally about six feet square, and often not so large, and it requires only one man to tend it, for the simple reason that he can reach everything without moving from his place, and there would be no room for any one else. Sometimes he has an assistant, but if so, he does nothing himself except sit still and talk to the customers, while the assistant does all the work of showing the goods. The front of the shop is open to the street, and the floor is about as high as an ordinary table, so that when the goods are spread on the floor the customer can examine them as he stands outside. We shall see more of these shops when we get to the bazaars.

A MAN CARRYING HIS KEYS.

"While we were standing near a shop we saw the owner shutting it up, which he did by folding some wooden doors, very much like the wooden window-shutters we have at home; then he fastened them with a great padlock, and started off with the key, which must have weighed a pound at least. While we wondered at the size of the lock and key, the Doctor called our attention to a man with a cluster of wooden sticks over his shoulder, and told us that the sticks were the keys of a house. What funny things they were! Each of them was nearly if not quite a foot long, and had a lot of wooden pegs near the end; the pegs fit into corresponding holes in a wooden bolt, in the same way that the different wards of a key fit into a lock, but the whole thing is so simple that it does not require much skill for a burglar to get into a house. The keys are so large that they must be slung over the shoulder or fastened to the belt, since they cannot go into an ordinary pocket.

"The Doctor proposed that we should sit down in front of a café and drink some of the famous coffee of the East. Of course we were glad to do so, and our guide took us to a place in a side street where he said they made excellent coffee, and we could have some music along with it.

"We were quite as interested in the music as in the coffee, and thought of the old adage about killing two birds with one stone. We heard the music before we reached the place, and what odd music it was!

AN ORIENTAL BAND OF MUSIC.

"'That is a regular band of music,' said the guide, 'such as the coffee-houses keep to attract customers, and the rich people hire to play for them when they give an entertainment. You see there are four pieces, and I'll explain what they are, beginning from the left.

THE NAY (FLUTE) AND CASE.

"'The man on the left is playing on a nay, or flute, which is a reed about eighteen inches long, with a mouthpiece at one end. It has six holes for the fingers, and is blown in a peculiar way, so that a person not accustomed to the nay would be unable to make any sound with it at first.'

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PLAYING THE NAY.

"Frank asked if there was any other kind of flute. The guide told him there were several, but this was the most common. The Doctor added that this form of instrument was very old, as it could be seen pictured on some of the monuments of ancient Egypt, and appeared to have been used exactly as it is to-day. Some forms of it were blown into sidewise, as with the European flute, while others were blown at the end.

"'The man next to the end is playing on a kemenjah or fiddle,' said the guide. 'The body of it is made of a cocoa-nut-shell, with a piece of fish-skin or some other thin membrane stretched over it, and the "bridge" rests on this thin covering. There are only two strings, and they are vibrated by means of a bow, just like what you see at home, though the shape is a little different. The long top-piece of the fiddle is of wood, while the lower end is of iron, and rests on the floor or ground. The performers are quite skilful, and it would surprise you to know how much music they can get out of a fiddle with only two strings.

THE TAMBOORA.

"'The next man has a tamboora, or lute, which corresponds to the guitar, or banjo of Western countries. There are many sizes and shapes of this instrument, but the most common is the one you are looking at.

"'The most perfect tamboora is about four feet long, and has ten strings and forty-seven stops. Some of them cost a great deal of money, as they are made of valuable woods, and inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl. The form in use by the man in the band is called the ood, to distinguish it from the other varieties of the tamboora. It is about two feet long, and you observe that the handle bends back very sharply to accommodate the fingers of the player. A smaller variety of this instrument is called the sadz, and very often forms part of a soldier's equipment. As you travel about Egypt you will often see a soldier playing on the sadz, which he accompanies with his voice.

A DARABOOKAH.

"'The next and last man of the party has a darabookah, a sort of drum, which he holds under his left arm while he plays on it with the fingers of his right hand. The body of the instrument is of earthen-ware or of wood, and a skin or membrane is stretched over the large end. It has changed its shape very little in three thousand years. You see pictures of the darabookah on the walls of the tombs, and on other ancient monuments of Egypt, and the manner of playing it is the same as of old.'

"So much, for the band of music, which I am sure will interest you. We sat down on little chairs, so low that it seemed like sitting on the floor, and then coffee was brought to us in little brass cups about as large as an egg shell, but a great deal thicker. Each cup had a holder of brass filigree work, with a knob or handle at the bottom, and we were expected to grasp the latter, and not to touch the cup with our hands. The coffee was in a pot, also of brass, and the whole service—pot, cups, and holders—was on a tray of the same material. The trays, with the brightly-polished utensils upon them, looked very pretty, and we resolved to buy some of these coffee services to send to our friends at home.

"We can't say much for the coffee, though possibly we may come to like it in time. It is made much thicker than with us, and if you let it stand for a minute before drinking, you will find a sediment at the bottom like fine dust. The servants stand ready to take away the cups as soon as you are done drinking, and they do it by holding out both hands, bringing one beneath and the other on top of the cup and holder. We watched them for some time, and did not once see them take hold of a cup as one would do in America. While waiting they stood with their hands crossed at the waist, and we were told that this is the proper attitude for a servant in Egypt."

COFFEE-POT AND CUPS.

[Chapter V.]

A RAMBLE THROUGH THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.

From the café Doctor Bronson and his young friends continued their excursion in the direction of the bazaars, which both the boys were impatient to visit. They had heard and read of the bazaars of Cairo, and the strange things to be seen in them, and as they went along the Doctor supplemented what they already knew by an explanation of the differences between Oriental and Occidental shopping.

AN ORIENTAL SHOPKEEPER EXAMINING HIS BOOKS.

"In our own land," said Doctor Bronson, "as well as in most countries of Europe, you find shops and stores scattered about so as to catch as much custom as possible. As a general thing a tradesman endeavors to set up his business in a block or street where there is no one in the same line, and it is only in rare instances that you see two establishments of the same kind side by side. But in the East all the men in a certain line of trade gather together, and out of this tendency we have the bazaars of Cairo and Constantinople. Suppose you go out in New York or Chicago in search of a book, a coat, a pair of shoes, a piece of silk, some perfumes, and an article of jewellery. You might find them all in a single walk of a few hundred yards, as it is quite possible that a book-store, a clothing-store, a shoemaker's shop, and the other establishments might be found in a single block. But in Cairo you would need to visit several bazaars or collections of shops; the book-stores are all in one place, the clothing-stores in another, the shoemakers in another, and so on through the list. It would take hours to accomplish what you would do at home in a few minutes, and there is nothing better than this system of shopping to illustrate the Oriental disregard of time. The shops in any given bazaar are pretty much alike, and contain almost identically the same articles; the customers wander from one shop to another, and spend a great deal of time in bargaining and examining the goods. Time is of no consequence either to them or to the dealers, and you will often wonder how the latter can possibly make a living."

INTERIOR OF A CARAVANSARY.

As the Doctor finished his remarks the guide called their attention to a large gate-way, and at his suggestion they passed inside. They found themselves in a broad court, which was formed by a series of rooms running round a square, and opening toward the enclosed space. Goods were piled in many of these rooms; in the court-yard there were boxes and bales scattered about, and several camels with burdens on their backs were standing quietly, or being led by their owners according to the will of the latter. Near one side of the square there was a fountain like a pile of whitewashed bricks, and a horse was drinking from a trough in front of it.

GATE-WAY OF A CARAVANSARY.

The guide explained that the place they had entered was a caravansary or inn (usually called a khan), and that it might be taken as a fair sample of the Oriental hotel. "The rooms," said he, "are let out to travellers or merchants for a small sum, and the keeper will provide food for man and beast, just as a tavern-keeper would in America. The rooms have no furniture, nothing but the bare walls, and floors; the occupant spreads his carpet and bedding on the floor, and if he has any merchandise he piles it up, and can, if he chooses, convert the place into a shop. There are stables for camels and other beasts of burden on the side opposite the entrance; if you go into them you will find a small platform over the farther end of each compartment, and the trough or manger is directly beneath it. The drivers sleep on these platforms, so as to be near their animals, to prevent their being stolen, and to look after them generally."

Frank asked if the Eastern caravansary of the present day was like the same institution mentioned several times in the Bible.

"There can be little doubt that it is," the Doctor answered, "as the customs of the country have changed very little from Bible times to our own. It was just such a place as this where our Saviour was born, and the trough or manger where he was cradled was like any one of the feeding-troughs in this caravansary."

While they were looking at the rooms and other parts of the caravansary, the khanjy, or keeper, came forward and asked what they wanted. The guide explained that they were strangers who wished to see the place, and he accompanied the explanation with a small backsheesh. The khanjy said they might remain as long as they liked; but they had seen all there was of interest about the place, and soon withdrew.

A STREET IN A BAZAAR AT CAIRO.

Soon after leaving the khan they entered the cloth bazaar, where the shops were principally filled with cloths of different kinds. The merchants endeavored to attract their attention, and the runners were at times so troublesome that the Doctor instructed the guide to say that they had not come there to buy, but simply to look around. He took the opportunity to tell the boys that the word bazaar is Persian, and means "a collection of shops," while the Arabic word of the same meaning is sook. "We thus have," said he, "the 'Sook el Hamzowee,' the 'Sook el Attarin' (drug bazaar), the 'Sook-es-Soudan' (bazaar for Soudan products), and many others whose character we shall learn by-and-by."

SHOPPING SCENE IN THE HAMZOWEE.

"We are now," said the guide, "in the 'Sook el Hamzowee,' or cloth market, though a more literal translation would make it 'the market of the Christians.' The merchants here are all Christians, either Syrians or Copts, and they close their places on Sunday. Many of the cloths here are of European manufacture, and the merchants are just as keen as their Moslem competitors in demanding exorbitant prices for their wares. The man you see running up and down with a roll of cloth on his head is a dallal, or auctioneer; he is shouting out the last offer for the goods he is carrying, and is asking if anybody will give more. If he receives a new offer he instantly calls it out, and when nobody will give any more he shouts for the owner of the goods to come and close the transaction."

Our friends encountered several of these auctioneers in the course of their walk, and Frank remarked that there was a fine opportunity for fraud if anybody chose to practise it. He thought that while out of sight round a corner the piece of cloth might be exchanged for a cheaper one of the same general appearance, and the purchaser would be defrauded.

"Not much chance of that," responded the Doctor; "these fellows are altogether too sharp to be imposed on in that way; and if an auctioneer should play that trick once, and be detected, he would be forbidden to come into the bazaars to practise his profession."

The narrow street that formed the double row of shops in the bazaar was covered with an arched roof containing openings for admitting the light. The Doctor said that the dealers did not object to the sombre aspect of the place, as it made their goods appear finer than when submitted to the full glare of day. "You may sometimes notice," said he, "that the tailors of New York and other American cities take their customers to the rear of the shop when exhibiting materials, rather than to the front where the light is strongest. The reason is the same there as here; textile fabrics have a finer appearance under a subdued light than under a powerful one."

From the Hamzowee the promenade was continued through other bazaars, till the youths had seen a great deal more than they were likely to remember. They went through the bazaar of the jewellers, which consists of a series of narrow lanes, rather irregularly connected, and in many places not more than a yard in width; Frank thought the place was originally intended for a labyrinth, and his opinion was confirmed when they came around in their wanderings to the point whence they started. Frank wanted to buy something for his sister and Miss Effie, but was restrained by the Doctor, who advised him to postpone his purchases till he was better acquainted with the ways of dealing with the jewellers.

EASTERN NECKLACES.

We may as well record at this point that he returned another day, and bought some necklaces which he thought would be prized at home, and the result proved the correctness of his theory. For his sister he chose a necklace consisting of a string of gold coins about as large as silver five-cent pieces, with one in the centre much larger than the rest. For Miss Effie he selected one of curiously shaped links, with tiny globes between them, while from the lower point of each link there hung a heart-shaped plate of gold that was intended to sparkle whenever the wearer moved. There were many of these necklaces for sale in the bazaar, and Frank had no difficulty in finding one that suited his taste.

The boys found that they could not buy things in a hurry in the bazaars of Cairo. As before stated, time is of no consequence to an Oriental, and he expects to spend an hour at least over a bargain. Frank had been properly instructed, and so when he set out to buy the necklace for his sister he carelessly asked the price of one he was looking at.

The dealer named a figure, and Frank shook his head.

The dealer named another figure, five or ten per cent. lower. Frank again shook his head, and then the dealer asked what he would give.

Frank offered about a third of the price that had been demanded originally.

It was now the dealer's turn to refuse, and he did so. He emphasized his refusal by putting the necklace back into the show-case, which he carefully locked.

WEIGHING GOLD IN THE JEWELLERS' BAZAAR.

Frank offered a little advance on his first proposal, but the dealer again declined it, and our friends moved away. Just as they did so the dealer named a lower price than he had yet asked for the article, but to no purpose, however.

They went a few steps and stopped at another shop. While they were looking at something it contained they were called back by the merchant with whom they originally talked, and the bargaining was renewed.

The dealer slowly lowered his figures, and Frank as slowly advanced his offer. In fifteen or twenty minutes they met, and Frank secured the necklace at a little more than half what had been demanded originally. The Doctor told him he had done very well, and could be trusted to deal with the Orientals.

"Remember," said the Doctor, "that these people are never in a hurry, and consequently you must be like them if you are to deal with them. They think it absolutely necessary to pass a certain time over a transaction, and do not understand our Western habits of coming to terms at once. You have bought that necklace for a certain price, and it is safe to say that the merchant has made a good profit by the transaction. If you had offered him that figure at first he would have refused it, and continued to refuse, as he would thereby have missed the necessary chaffering and haggling.

"When I first visited Egypt I was sometimes impatient of delay, and used to tell the dealers I had only one price to give, and would not bargain with them. I thought I could bring them to terms, though my friends told me I could not. One day I went to the Hamzowee, and tried to buy a cafieh, or silk handkerchief, in gaudy colors, and embroidered with gold, which was worth about fifteen francs. The merchant demanded thirty-five francs for it. I offered him sixteen, and he fell to thirty at once.

"I did not raise my bid, but repeated my offer two or three times. He fell to twenty-five francs, and would not go lower. I did not rise above sixteen, and he allowed me to go away. A friend of mine stood by, but pretended not to know me, and when I had finished my effort and gone he began to bargain for the cafieh, just as you bargained for the necklace. He offered five francs to begin with, and by spending half an hour over the matter he bought the article for fifteen francs, or one less than had been refused from me!

"There was a shrewd old Syrian who used to come around the hotels to peddle silk goods. Knowing the fondness of English and Americans for the one-price system, he would say, when exhibiting an article worth twenty francs,

"'If you want to bargain for it, it is fifty francs; but if you want the last price, without bargaining, it is thirty-five francs.'

"Strangers were occasionally tricked in this way, and gave him his price without question, if they wanted the article; but those who had been a week or two in the country knew better, and began to bargain with thirty-five francs as the asking price. The result would be that they would bring him down to twenty francs after the usual amount of haggling. You must bargain for everything here when dealing with natives, and they are not to be believed if they say they have only one price. I have heard a man offer an article in about these words, after a bargain had been progressing for some time:

"'The very lowest I can sell this for—I give you my word of honor it cost me that—is fifty francs. I will take nothing less than fifty francs, and you need not offer me anything under it.'

"You believe he is not speaking the truth, and offer him thirty. He declares that the thing cost him fifty, but he will take forty-five, and absolutely nothing less. You offer him thirty-five—he falls to forty, and the bargain is concluded."

Frank profited by the advice, but carried the lesson too far. When he went the next day to the post-office to send some letters to America, the clerk weighed the letters, and told him the postage amounted to two francs and a half. The youth offered one franc and a half, and on the clerk refusing to accept it he turned to walk away. Suddenly realizing the mistake he had made, he returned, bought the necessary stamps, affixed them to the letters, and dropped them in the letter-box.

The journal kept by the youths contained the following record of their adventures in the bazaars:

"In the bazaar of the jewellers, or rather of the gold and silver smiths, we saw the men at work with implements as primitive as those of the jewellers of India. The bellows of the silversmith was nothing more than a conical bag of goat-skin open at one end, where the air was pumped in by a skilful manipulation of a pair of handles. At the other end was an iron tube, which carried the air to a lump of clay supporting a charcoal fire. A few hammers and pincers constituted the entire 'kit' of the workman, but with them he managed to turn out articles of many different shapes. We were told that strangers are liable to be swindled, as the dealers often sell plated-ware and declare it is solid, and the government stamp to indicate its genuineness cannot be relied on. When a wealthy native desires an article of fine gold or silver he buys the metal, and then has the jeweller go to his house and work directly under his eye, so that there can be no cheating.

KITCHEN UTENSILS.

"From the jewellers' bazaar we went to the 'Sook-en-Nahhasin,' or bazaar of the coppersmiths, where we saw some trays of copper and brass, and a great many pots and utensils for the kitchen and domestic use generally. We bought a couple of ink-and-pen holders, such as the Arabs write with: there is a long handle for containing the little reeds which they use as pens, and a bottle at the end for holding ink. The apparatus is stuck into the waist-belt, and you see it worn by a great many people.

BASIN AND EWER.

"There were many shapes and sizes of the kitchen utensils, and all were made of brass or copper. There were tongs and shovels very much like our own stewpans, with and without handles, and a little pot with a long handle, in which they make coffee. One of the prettiest things we saw for household use was a basin and ewer, or pitcher, for washing the hands after dinner. The Doctor explained the manner of using it, and said it was carried round the table by a servant, who poured water on the hands of each guest, and allowed it to run into the basin after the ablution was performed. There is a perforated cover in the centre of the basin, and it has a cup in the top for holding a ball of scented soap. The ewer has a long slender spout opposite the handle, and there is a perforated cover to keep out the flies and other undesirable things.

BOTTLE FOR ROSE-WATER.

"In the perfume bazaar we were welcomed by a variety of agreeable odors, and by the shop-keepers and their runners, who tried to sell us ottar of rose and oil of sandal-wood, which are the perfumes most sought by strangers. Every shop promised to give us the genuine article, and said there was no other place where it could be bought. The Doctor says it is simply impossible to get the real ottar of rose anywhere in the bazaar, no matter what price you pay, and consequently it is best to be moderate in your figures. The veritable perfume is worth, at the place of manufacture, about fifty dollars an ounce, and therefore, when you buy it for two or three or five dollars an ounce, you can hardly expect to get the best. It is very funny to hear the strangers at the hotel talk about their purchases of ottar of rose. Each one knows a place, which has been shown him in strict confidence, where the genuine perfume can be bought; but it can only be obtained on a promise not to reveal the locality, or some similar nonsense. If you ever come to Egypt this ottar of rose business will afford you much amusement if you are careful to manage it properly.

ORIENTAL GUNS.

"The shoe bazaar and the arms bazaar were not particularly interesting, as the former contained little else than a great lot of shoes, and the latter had a miserable collection of weapons that were hardly worth carrying away. Formerly the arms bazaar was a favorite spot for visitors, as there were many old and curious things to be found there, but nearly everything worth buying up was secured long ago. We saw some Oriental guns with funny shaped stocks. The Doctor says the barrels of these weapons are nearly all from Europe, while the stocks are of Egyptian or other Oriental manufacture. There is a strong prejudice against explosive caps, and if you give a gun with a percussion-lock to a native, he will have it changed as soon as possible to a flint-lock. They rarely use shot, and the best of the native sportsmen would hardly think of shooting a bird on the wing.

BAB-EL-NASR.

"From the bazaars we continued our walk to the Bab-el-Nasr, or 'Gate of Victory,' one of the most important gates of Cairo. It was built in the eleventh century, and is mostly of hewn stone, with winding stairways leading to the top, holes for cannon and small arms, and is so large and strong that it was selected by Napoleon as the central point of defence while he held the city. It is a little fort in itself, and we were very glad to have the opportunity of examining it.

"We gave a little backsheesh to the gate-keeper, and he allowed us to go to the top, where we had a view of the nearest part of the city, and of the heaps of rubbish lying outside the gates. There were several wolfish-looking dogs prowling among the dust-heaps, and they growled as they caught sight of us, and saw that we were not natives. The dogs of Cairo have a great hatred of foreigners, as we shall have occasion to say by-and-by."

STREET SCENE NEAR THE BAB-EL-NASR.

[Chapter VI.]

MOSQUES, DERVISHES, AND SCHOOLS.—EDUCATION IN EGYPT.

THE MOSQUE OF TOOLOON.

From the Bab-el-Nasr our friends returned, by the direction of the guide, through a street that led them past several of the famous mosques of Cairo. They entered the Mosque of Tooloon, which is the oldest in the city, and said to be modelled after the Kaaba at Mecca; according to the historians it was built about a.d. 879, and there are several legends concerning it. One is that it stands on the spot where Abraham sacrificed a goat in place of his son, and another puts it on the site where Noah's ark ran aground, though the general belief of the Moslems locates the latter event near Moosool, in Syria.

The mosque has been neglected in the latter centuries of its existence, and at present is not specially inviting. It covers a very large area (about six hundred square feet), and consists of a series of arcades running around a court-yard, which has a fountain in the centre. On the east side there are five rows of these arcades, but on the other three sides there are only two rows. The west, north, and south sides are used as lodgings for poor people, and their continual begging renders a visit the reverse of agreeable. The east side is the holiest part of the edifice, but at the time our friends went there it was not easy to discover that it was any more respected than the other sections.

The guide said there were not far from four hundred mosques in Cairo, and that a good many of them were in ruins, and not likely to be repaired. The government does not build any new ones, as it has more practical uses for its money, and the followers of Mohammed seem to be growing more and more indifferent to religious observances every year. The Moslem Sabbath is on Friday; the mosques are tolerably filled on that day, but during the rest of the week the attendance is very light. Formerly it was difficult or even dangerous to enter some of the mosques, but at present the whole matter can be arranged on payment of a backsheesh. Once in a while a fanatic insults a stranger, but he is generally suppressed immediately by his friends.

MIHRAB, PULPIT, AND CANDLESTICK IN A MOSQUE.

Frank and Fred found that the general plan of the mosques was the same, and the difference was mainly in the outer walls and the style of architecture. In every mosque there is a mihrab, or alcove, usually opposite the entrance, and this mihrab points toward Mecca, so that the faithful may know how to direct their faces when saying their prayers. Near the alcove is a pulpit with a steep flight of steps ascending to it, and over the pulpit there is generally a column, like the spire of a church in miniature. On each side of the alcove is an enormous candlestick, and there is generally a frame with swinging lamps, not more than eight or ten feet from the floor. There are many of these lamps, and also a great many ostrich eggs, and altogether they present a curious effect.

There is very little interior decoration in the mosque, as the religion of Mohammed forbids its believers to make a representation of anything that has life. It was formerly very difficult to induce a Moslem to allow his portrait to be made. The writer of this book once sought in vain to induce a wild native of Central Asia to sit for his photograph, the reason being that the man feared the portrait might get to Paradise ahead of him, and prevent his own admission within the gates. The more intelligent of the Moslems pay no heed to this superstition, but the decorators of the mosques adhere to it most carefully, consequently all the ornamentation of the walls consists of scroll-work or of sentences from the Koran.[3]

From the Mosque of Tooloon our friends went to the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, which is considered the finest in the city. It was built of stone taken from the pyramids of Gizeh, and was begun in the year 1356. According to the traditions it occupied three years in building, and was considered so fine that the Sultan ordered the hands of the architect to be cut off, in order that he should not be able to construct another equal to it. The story is of doubtful authenticity, and has been told in various ways, and concerning other buildings in many parts of the world. Whether it be true or not, the building is certainly a fine one, and has been greatly admired during all the centuries that it has been in existence. One of its minarets is the tallest in Cairo, and probably in all the lands where the Moslem religion prevails. It is two hundred and eighty feet high, and from its top there is a fine view of Cairo, but, unfortunately, it is considered unsafe, and no one is allowed to ascend it.

By the time they had finished with the Mosque of Sultan Hassan our friends were weary, and glad to return to the hotel. The next day was Friday, the Moslem Sunday, and at the suggestion of the Doctor they went to see the whirling dervishes, who perform only on that day. We will let the boys tell the story of their visit to these singular people.

"The dervishes are religious devotees corresponding to the monks of the Catholic Church, whom they resemble in some of their practices. They are supposed to be wholly occupied with religious matters, and there are several branches or orders of them, who are distinguished by their dress. They have property set apart for their use, and some of the societies are very wealthy; the most numerous, and at the same time the richest, are the Mevlevies, who can be recognized by their tall caps of gray felt, with jackets and robes of the same color. The lower part of the robe is like a lady's skirt, as it is made in folds, and will spread out into a large circle when the wearer whirls rapidly. They are the most respectable of all the orders of dervishes, and some of them are men of education and former high position.

A BEGGING DERVISH.

"There are many independent dervishes who are simply religious beggars, belonging to no sect or order: they go around soliciting charity, or sit at the street corners or in public places, dressed in a way to attract attention. We passed one yesterday who had the saw of a saw-fish in one hand and an instrument resembling a child's rattle in the other; a cocoa-nut shell hung on his breast, to hold the donations of the charitable, and he sat on a box that resembled a rude bird-cage. He was extremely dirty in appearance, his legs were bare, and his hair was long and uncombed; he stared at us, and shouted something we did not understand, and when we passed by without giving him anything, he shook his rattle in an angry way. The guide says these men often go into the houses of rich people, and the latter are afraid to turn them out because of their so-called holy character. They are the most impudent beggars you can find anywhere, and many of them are said to be thieves and murderers, who disguise their true character under the cloak of religion.

"We went to see the Mevlevies, and on the way to their temple the Doctor told us that the whirling was a part of their religious observance, like the dancing of the Shakers in America, and the practices of other sects, whose fervor is often followed by insensibility. The dizziness that results from whirling is considered a state of religious devotion, and the most suited to the contemplation of heavenly things, and hence their efforts to throw themselves into this ecstatic condition.

A WHIRLING DERVISH.

"When we entered their mosque we removed our shoes, or rather exchanged them for the slippers we had brought along, as we knew beforehand that we would need them. The building was circular, with a railed space in the centre; outside of the rail the floor was covered with matting, but inside it was polished like the floor of a dancing-hall.

"Some of the dervishes were already seated in the ring when we entered, and others came in soon after. When all was ready the sheik or chief of the party rose and stood in the centre of the floor; the others bowed to him one after another, and then stood near the railing, with their arms folded and their heads bent slightly forward. All were barefoot, having left their shoes at the door.

"Half a dozen dervishes were in a little balcony overlooking the floor, and when the chief gave the signal that all was ready three of them began to play upon flutes, such as we have already described, and three upon tambourines. Then the dervishes on the floor began to whirl; the music, at first slow, soon quickened, and the dancers or whirlers quickened their movements with it.

"Before getting into motion each man extended his arms, holding the palm of the right hand upward while he turned down that of the left. We asked the reason of this peculiar position of the hands, but the guide could not tell us. He simply said that they always did so, and he did not know why.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WHIRLING DERVISHES.

"As they whirled, their skirts spread out so that they resembled wheels, or rather cones four or five feet in diameter. They kept their hands always in the same position, and as they whirled they moved slowly around the floor; it was a wonder that they didn't run against each other, but they didn't. The music went on, and so did the dancers, and they kept up their whirl for half an hour or more. We looked for some of them to fall down; but they were accustomed to this kind of work, and wouldn't oblige us. Nobody fell; and finally, at a signal from their sheik, one after another stopped, made a low bow to him, and retired to the edge of the circle. We had seen enough, and so came away.

A WHIRLER IN FULL ACTION.

"Another day we went to see a sect called the howling dervishes; they are much like the Mevlevies, except that they howl instead of whirl. They sat on the floor in a circle, and began to pronounce the names of Deity ninety times each, and as there are ninety-nine different names for God in the Arabic language, you can readily see that there were a great many words altogether. They bow each time they pronounce a word, and very soon after commencing they rose to their feet, joined hands together, and became greatly excited. They bent their bodies nearly double at every utterance, their turbans fell off, their hair flew wildly about, they stripped off their upper garments, perspired freely, and some of them, after a time, actually frothed at the mouth like mad dogs. We did not stay to see the end of the performance, but were told that it continued till the fanatics were exhausted, and one after another fell insensible to the floor.

"Let us turn to something more agreeable.

"Frequently while going around the city we have passed near school-rooms, where boys were studying their lessons under direction of their teachers, and once we went inside and saw a school in operation. It reminded us of the one we saw at Allahabad, in India,[4] as the boys were seated on the floor in front of their teacher, and were studying their lessons aloud. Each boy had a wooden tablet like a large slate, with some sentences on it in Arabic, which he was to commit to memory. They rock back and forward as they study, as the motion is thought to assist the memory. When a dozen boys are repeating their lessons all at once you can imagine what a din they keep up. The sentences they learn are from the Koran, and as soon as they can repeat the first chapter of the sacred book they learn the last but one, and then the one preceding; the second chapter of the book is the one learned last of all, and when they can repeat the whole of the Koran their education is considered complete, unless they are intended for occupations where they must know how to write. For instruction in writing they go to another school, or have special teachers at home. The teacher receives a small sum of money from the parents of each boy at the end of every week, and the room where he keeps his school is generally the property of a mosque, and costs nothing for rent.

"Mr. Lane tells of a teacher who could not read or write, but managed to keep a school for some years without being found out. He could repeat the Koran from memory, and under pretence that his eyes were weak he used to have the lessons written by the head boy or monitor. When people brought letters for him to read he made the same excuse, or gave some other reason for avoiding an exposure of his ignorance.

ARABIC WRITING, WITH IMPRESSION OF A SEAL.

"Doctor Bronson says girls are rarely taught to read, except among the wealthy inhabitants, and not always even them. One of us asked him if there were no schools at all for girls.

"'Yes,' he answered, 'but there are not many, and it is only within a few years that they have been established. One of the wives of Ismail Pacha took hold of the matter, and opened a school in an unoccupied palace of the Khedive. Invitations were given for parents to send their daughters to be educated, but for three weeks not a pupil came. Gradually the prejudice was overcome, and in a few months there were three hundred pupils hard at work, while a great many who wished to come were unable to obtain admission for want of room. There are now several schools for girls in Cairo, and there is hardly a large town in Egypt without one or more.'

"We next asked what was taught in the schools for girls.

"'More than half the time,' said the Doctor, 'is devoted to instruction in household duties, embroidery, and plain sewing, so that the girls can become intelligent servants or wives. Then they are taught to read and sometimes to write, and if they show any marked aptitude for music, there are music-teachers for their special benefit. It was the idea of Ismail Pacha that the best way to improve the condition of his people was to make them intelligent, and to begin the work with the girls who are to be the mothers of the next generation of Egyptians.

"'It was also his idea that the abolition of slavery would be hastened by training a class of household servants to take the places of the slaves. The indications thus far are that his idea was an excellent one, and the education of the girls of the working-classes of the people will go far in the right direction.

SCENE IN A PRIMARY SCHOOL.

"'The Khedive also did much toward giving Egypt a system of public schools like those of Europe and America. He appointed two Europeans to superintend the matter, and gave large sums of money for establishing schools that could be free to all, in addition to the primary schools already described. Foreign teachers were employed, together with the most intelligent native ones that could be found, and the system has already made great progress. The course in the lower schools covers four years of study, and after that the pupils may enter one of the higher schools and study medicine, engineering, surveying, law, mechanical construction, and the like. Those who can pay for their instruction may do so, but any pupil can enter whether he has money or not. Those who do not pay are liable to be called into the government service, and many of them are assigned to teach in the lower schools.

"'The American and English missionaries have schools in various parts of Egypt, and have done a great deal toward the cause of education. For a long time they labored under many disadvantages; but of late years the government has recognized the importance of their services, and made large donations in lands and money for their schools. Miss Whately, the daughter of Archbishop Whately, has a school here in Cairo, which she has established by her own exertions, for the purpose of educating the girls of the lower classes; she devotes her entire time to this work of charity, and I am happy to say that she is fully appreciated by the native as well as the foreign population. It is quite possible that the example of this self-sacrificing woman led the wife of the Khedive to establish the schools already mentioned.

INSTRUCTION AT HOME.

"'Probably the largest school in Egypt,' the Doctor continued, 'is the religious one attached to the Mosque El-Azhar. The building is of no great consequence as a work of architecture, as it consists of a series of porticos of different periods of construction; but it has long been celebrated as a university for Moslem instruction, and has had an uninterrupted career of more than eight hundred years.

"'It is not only the largest school in Egypt, but probably the largest in the world, as it has more than ten thousand students.'

ENTRANCE TO THE EL-AZHAR.

"Ten thousand students in one school?

"Yes, ten thousand students; the last year for which I have seen the figures there were ten thousand seven hundred and eighty students, and three hundred and twenty-one professors. The students are from all parts of the world where the religion of Mohammed prevails; but naturally the great majority of them are from Egypt. They remain from three to six years at the university, and pay no fees for instruction. The professors have no salaries, but depend upon presents from the pupils who can afford to make them, and upon what they can earn by private teaching, writing letters, and similar work. The poor pupils support themselves in the same way. Many of them sleep in the mosque, and the building has an apartment set aside for students from each country or province of Egypt. There is a library for the use of students in each of these apartments, and the university formerly had a large revenue, but it was taken away by Mohammed Ali, and has never been restored.

"'The instruction in the university is mostly religious. When his religious course is ended the student is instructed in law, which is always based on the Koran; after that he devotes some attention to poetry, and, if any time remains, he may learn something of geometry, arithmetic, and other miscellaneous knowledge. Many of the students stay in Cairo, to become professors in the El-Azhar or other schools; but those from foreign lands generally return home when their course of study is over, in order to give their own people the advantages of the superior wisdom they have acquired.'"

PROFESSORS OF THE EL-AZHAR.

[Chapter VII.]

THE CITADEL.—THE TOMBS OF THE CALIPHS.—THE NILOMETER.—THE ROSETTA STONE.

THE CITADEL, CAIRO, WITH MOSQUE OF MOHAMMED ALI.

Doctor Bronson told his young friends that the finest general view of Cairo, and the surrounding region, was from the Citadel, at the southern end of the city. They went there several times, generally a little while before sunset, and the impression they received is well described in the following letter from Frank to his mother:

VIEW FROM THE CITADEL, CAIRO.

".... The view from the hill where the Citadel stands has been called the finest in the world, or certainly one of the finest, and in all our travels we do not remember anything that can surpass it. We stood on the platform of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, and had the great city of Cairo spread at our feet. Immediately below us was an open square, with groups of people and camels moving slowly about. Just beyond was the beautiful Mosque of Sultan Hassan, and beyond the mosque was the plain covered with cupolas and flat roofs, seamed with streets and avenues, dotted with waving palm-trees, and revealing open spaces here and there, to give diversity to the picture. Beyond the city was the bright green of the rich Valley of the Nile. In front of us was the famous old river of Egypt, like a broad, irregular belt of silver, reflecting the light of the setting sun, and forming a sharp contrast with the land through which it flows. Across the green fields, which were stippled with the white walls of palaces or dotted with the brown villages of the peasants, our gaze rested on the yellow desert, backed by the Libyan mountains which form the western horizon. From the edge of the desert the great pyramids rose in all their grandeur, and it was not difficult for us to realize their enormous proportions. From other points the pyramids had appeared to be almost on a level with the valley of the river, but as we viewed them from the Citadel we could see that they stood on a rocky platform fully a hundred feet in height.

"Doctor Bronson says every traveller should make his plans so as to come often to the Citadel, and there can be no better time for the view than at sunset. In the morning there is liable to be a haze on the landscape, and at noon there is too much glare of light, especially when the eye is turned toward the desert. At sunset the colors of the Egyptian sky are at their best. You may have wondered sometimes, when looking at pictures of Egypt, whether there is really as much color as the artists give us. We can assure you that no painting we have yet seen is at all exaggerated, and if you could have a sunset view from the Citadel of Cairo you would fully agree with us.

"The Citadel was built by the great conqueror Saladin, and stone for its construction was brought from the pyramids and from the ruins of Memphis, a few miles farther up the river. The spot was not wisely chosen, as the hill is commanded by a higher one just back of it. On this latter hill Mohammed Ali placed his cannons, and compelled the surrender of the Citadel, and consequently of Cairo. There are two roads leading up to the Citadel, one a broad carriage-way, and the other a narrow lane. We went by one and came by the other. In the latter—the narrow lane—the guide showed us a spot which has an historic interest, and perhaps you would like to hear about it:

"There was a body of soldiers in Egypt called the Mamelukes, and they ruled the country for several centuries. They chose the governors of the provinces, and could place one of their number on the throne at any time they wished; in fact, they controlled the country, and the nominal ruler was obliged to do as they wished. When Napoleon came here in 1798 they fought him in the famous Battle of the Pyramids, and were defeated; many of them were killed, and others fled to Upper Egypt, but enough remained to give trouble. When Mohammed Ali came to Egypt, after the French had been driven out by the English, the Mamelukes made him understand that he could do nothing without them. He soon determined to do something with them, and get rid of their interference.

"He sent invitations for the chiefs—four hundred and seventy in all—to come to the Citadel on the first day of March, 1811, to a grand banquet, where they would discuss the plans for a campaign into Nubia. They came at the appointed hour, and assembled in the narrow lane I told you of, waiting for the upper gate to open. When they were all in the lane the lower gate was shut, and there they were in a trap! Then the Albanian soldiers of Mohammed Ali began to fire on the Mamelukes from the loop-holes and the top of the walls. All were killed except one man, Enim Bey, who made his horse leap through a gap in the wall. The horse was killed by the fall, but his rider's life was saved. This was the end of the power of the Mamelukes in Egypt.

"Fred says Mohammed Ali reminds him of the Spanish warrior who said, on his death-bed,

"'I leave no enemies behind me; I've shot them all!'

"The mosque, which was begun by Mohammed Ali and finished by his successors, is on the site of the palace erected by Saladin. It is built of alabaster, from the quarries up the Nile, and though faulty in many points of its architecture, is an interesting structure. It is sometimes called the 'Alabaster Mosque,' and as we went through it our admiration was excited by the richness of the materials of which it is composed. The tomb of Mohammed Ali is in one corner of the building, and is surrounded with a handsome railing, but there is nothing remarkable about the tomb itself. Close by the mosque is the palace; but it is in a half-ruined condition, and contains only a few rooms worth visiting.

"We went to Joseph's Well, which is a shaft nearly three hundred feet deep in the limestone rock; the tradition is that it is the well into which Joseph was cast by his brethren, but it probably gets its name from 'Yoosef,' which was the other name of Saladin the Conqueror. There was a well here when Saladin built the Citadel, but it was choked with sand, and the great ruler ordered it to be cleared out and made useful. It is probable that the well was originally made by the ancient Egyptians, and, if so, it may be the one into which Joseph was cast by his brethren. There is a sakkieh for raising water in this well, but it is of little importance at present, as the Citadel is now supplied by means of a steam-pump."

THE TOMBS OF THE CALIPHS.

From the Citadel our friends went to "the Tombs of the Caliphs," which extend along the east side of the city, and are conveniently reached by the Bab-el-Nasr. They are supposed to be the burial-places of the caliphs or sultans who ruled from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. Some of them are or were magnificent structures, while others are comparatively plain in appearance. Down to the beginning of this century they had large revenues for keeping them in repair, and were guarded by the descendants of the sheiks and their followers, who had charge of them during their days of glory. Their revenues were taken away by Mohammed Ali, and since the time of that ruthless despot the custodians of the tombs have lived by what they could beg from visitors. Beyond the Citadel is a similar necropolis, called "the Tombs of the Mamelukes."

Evidently the buildings were erected, in most instances, without regard to cost, and before they began to decay they were to be ranked among the triumphs of Moslem architecture. Some of the domes and minarets are still magnificent, particularly those marking the resting-place of Sultan Barkuk and Keit Bey. The latter is considered the finest of all, and is the one most frequently drawn or painted by artists.

THE TOMB OF KEIT BEY.

The boys paid a second visit to the tomb of Keit Bey, and carried along their sketching materials. They found the architecture more difficult to represent than they had supposed, and Frank made two or three attempts at the graceful minaret before he succeeded in satisfying himself. The minaret is one of the finest in Cairo; it rises from a corner of the building, and has three stages or balconies, which diminish as they approach the top. The summit is shaped like a pear, and is usually disfigured with poles, from which flags are hung on days of festivals. The dome bears a marked resemblance to that of the Taj Mahal at Agra, in India, and terminates in a sharp spire instead of the conventional half-moon that generally surmounts a Moslem edifice. While Frank was busy with the structure, Fred made a sketch of several camels that were halted in front of the famous mausoleum, and the work of the two youths was afterward united into a single picture.

An early day was devoted to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Boulak, a suburb of Cairo, and practically a part of the city. An excursion was made to Old Cairo, and from there by ferry to the island of Rhoda. On the latter is the famous Nilometer, or instrument for measuring the depth of water in the Nile; it is a square well, connected with the river, so that the water can freely rise and fall within it. In the centre of the well is a stone column, marked like a scale, with the old Arabic measures: the dra, or ell, was the unit of measurement, and was 21-1/8 inches in length, divided into 24 kirat. The height of the column is 17 ells, or about 30 feet, and the Nile at its lowest point covers about 7 ells of this length. When the water mounts to 15-2/8 ells the river is considered full, and the whole valley of the Lower Nile can be inundated. The embankments that restrain the water are then cut with a great many ceremonies, and the prospect of an abundant harvest causes general rejoicing.

Doctor Bronson explained to the youths that the taxation each year was based on the height of the water at the inundation, and the Nilometer was the official evidence of the condition of the river. Inscriptions on some of the monuments show that the ceremonies of cutting the banks were established as early as the fourteenth century before the Christian era, and the taxation was based on the height of water in ancient times as at present. The Nilometer was exclusively in charge of the priests, and the people were not allowed to see it. It was the object of the authorities to tax the people as heavily as possible, and there is good reason to believe that the priests made false statements concerning the height of the water, and no one could contradict them. The Arab and Turkish rulers did the same thing, and the practice is continued to the present time; at the period of the inundation the Nilometer is closed to the public, and every one must depend upon the figures of the officer in charge. As he owes his position to the government, it is pretty certain that he does what the government desires, and reports the river at the highest figure whether it is so or not.

The guide pointed out the spot at the end of the island where the infant Moses was found by the daughter of Pharaoh. The boys thought the place was pretty enough for the historical event to have occurred there, but were in some doubt as to the correctness of the guide's information.

THE FERRY AT OLD CAIRO.

Before the construction of the bridge over the Nile the principal crossing of the river was by the ferry at Old Cairo. At present it is not so much in use; but there is yet a considerable business transacted there, and the stranger will generally find a crowd of men and camels waiting to be taken to the other side.

The evening previous to the visit to the museum at Boulak was devoted to a study of the history of ancient Egypt, so that the youths would have an understanding of the interesting collection of antiquities in that establishment. At the Doctor's suggestion Frank and Fred wrote a brief account of what they had learned, and placed it on the pages of their journal. Here is what they prepared:

THE DRESS OF AN EGYPTIAN KING. FORM OF CROWN AND APRONS.

"The history of ancient Egypt is full of interest, and has been a subject of a great deal of study by many learned writers. Herodotus, who has been called 'the father of history,' and flourished in the fifth century before the Christian era, was the first of these writers, and some of the discoveries of the present time have been based on his records. Another Greek writer, Manetho, lived two centuries later than Herodotus, but, unfortunately, the greater part of his works have not come down to us. A large part of the history of ancient Egypt has been obtained from the inscriptions on the walls of the temples and tombs, and from the writings upon papyrus scrolls, and the linen in which mummies were rolled. In modern times there have been many explorers and writers who have devoted years of study to the subject, and consequently we know more of ancient Egypt than of any other country of antiquity. If you wish to know more than we can tell you now about the people that lived here four thousand years ago, we refer you to the works of Wilkinson, Poole, Mariette, Lepsius, Belzoni, Bunsen, Brugsch, and many others. There are books enough on Egypt to keep you busy a whole year, and perhaps two years, just to read them through. We are reading 'The Ancient Egyptians,' by Sir Gardner Wilkinson, and find it very interesting.

MENES.

"The first King of Egypt that we know about was Menes, who founded the City of Memphis. There is a difference of opinion among the writers as to the date when he existed; Wilkinson, Poole, and others say he lived about 2700 b.c., Bunsen says it was 3623 b.c., and Mariette thinks it was 5004 b.c. The reason why they make this difference is because some of them believe the dynasties, or families of kings, of ancient Egypt succeeded one another, while others believe some of them ruled at the same time in different parts of the country. The difference between the 'successive' and the 'contemporaneous' theories, when you add up the periods of all the dynasties, is more than two thousand years. Down to the seventeenth dynasty the figures are uncertain; from the seventeenth to the twenty-first it is agreed that the dynasties were successive, but there is some difference about their dates; while from the twenty-first dynasty to the Christian era there is no dispute.

"Perhaps this is dry reading; if so, you had better go over it carefully, and then skip.

"Whether King Menes lived seven or five thousand years ago makes very little difference to us, and probably to him, as he is dead now. To avoid confusion we will take the theory of Wilkinson, and suppose it was only five thousand years ago that the first dynasty began. That will seem more neighborly, and bring us so near to Menes that we can almost imagine we knew him personally. Just think of it—only five thousand years ago!

"Some of the dynasties of ancient Egypt lasted two hundred years and more, while others were much less, the shortest dynasty being seventy days. During the fourth dynasty, which lasted two hundred years, the Pyramids of Gizeh were built (about 2400 b.c.). In the twelfth dynasty many monuments and temples were erected, and many of the famous tombs were made; Abraham, and afterward Joseph, came to Egypt, and several important events of Egyptian history belong to this dynasty. The eighteenth dynasty lasted nearly two hundred and fifty years (in the sixteenth, fifteenth, and fourteenth centuries b.c.), and was the most brilliant of all the periods of ancient Egypt. Thebes and other cities were in the height of their glory, the armies made great conquests, the temples at Karnak and Thebes were built, and the obelisks that are to-day the wonder of the world were brought from Syene, and erected where they could attest the power of the rulers of the land. The inscriptions on the monuments say that during the reign of Thothmes III., one of the kings of the eighteenth dynasty, 'Egypt placed her frontier where she pleased.'

RAMESES II., FROM AN INSCRIPTION.

"During the nineteenth dynasty one king, Rameses II. (or 'The Great'), reigned sixty-seven years, and left many monuments that remain to this day. One of his predecessors in the same dynasty, Sethi I., built several magnificent temples, and made the first canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. The flight of the Israelites from bondage occurred in this dynasty during the reign of Meneptah. He is generally known in history as the Pharaoh of the Exodus; and it is well to explain here that Pharaoh was the Egyptian word for 'king,' and is properly prefixed to the name of the ruler. The Egyptians would say 'Pharaoh Rameses,' 'Pharaoh Necho,' and the like, just as we say 'King George,' or 'King Charles.'

MENEPTAH, THE SUPPOSED PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS.

"In the twenty-seventh dynasty Egypt was taken by the Persians, and held by them one hundred and twenty years. Then the Egyptians made a successful rebellion, and drove out their oppressors till the thirty-first dynasty, when the Persians came back again. In the thirty-second dynasty (332 b.c.) Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, and founded Alexandria. The Greeks ruled the country for three hundred years, till the time of Cleopatra, at the beginning of the Christian era (thirty-fourth dynasty), when it became a Roman province, and what is called 'Ancient Egypt' came to an end. As we are not concerned now with modern Egypt, we will close our historical record and take breath."

With this brief outline of the history of ancient Egypt in their minds the boys were able to make an intelligent observation of the museum at Boulak. On their way thither the Doctor gave them a history of the Museum which owed its existence to the labors of Mariette Bey.[5]

THE NAME OF EGYPT IN HIEROGLYPHICS.

"In the early half of this century," said the Doctor, "many of the tombs of the ancient Egyptians were explored, and their contents carried away to the museums of Europe. In 1850 the French Government sent an officer, Auguste Edouard Mariette, to examine the ruins of Memphis. His mission was successful, as he discovered the Serapeum, or tombs of the Sacred Bulls, and opened one of the principal temples of the long-ruined city. In 1856 the Egyptian Government appointed him Director of the Department for the Preservation of Egyptian Antiquities, with the title of Bey, and gave him a liberal allowance of money for carrying on his work. Through his efforts an order was made forbidding the exportation of antiquities, and establishing a museum near Cairo for their preservation. So much has been found that the museum at Boulak has been filled, and a new and larger building has been erected on the opposite side of the Nile, to which the collection will be transferred. Many interesting discoveries have been made, and every year reveals something new. Much light has been thrown on the history of ancient Egypt, and many questions that were formerly matters of dispute have been set at rest. It is safe to say that we have learned more about ancient Egypt through the labors of Mariette Bey than through those of all other explorers combined, with the possible exception of Champollion."

PTOLEMY IN HIEROGLYPHICS.

Frank asked who Champollion was, and what he discovered.

"I know," said Fred; "he discovered the Rosetta Stone, and told what was written on it."

THE ROSETTA STONE, WITH SPECIMEN LINES FROM THE INSCRIPTION.

"He did not discover the Rosetta Stone," the Doctor answered, "but he translated it. The stone was found at Rosetta, in 1799, by a French engineer, and when the English came to Egypt they sent it to the British Museum. It was a slab, with an inscription upon it in three languages.

"Previous to that time nobody could make anything out of the Egyptian hieroglyphics; there were plenty of them, but no one was able to read a syllable, or even a letter. A key was wanted, and Champollion found it in the Rosetta Stone.

"The inscription was in three languages, one of them being Greek, and the other two the hieroglyphic and demotic, or common language of the ancient Egyptians. The Greek inscription proved to be a decree of one of the Ptolemies, about the beginning of the Christian era. The name of the king occurred several times, and Champollion observed that certain characters appeared at about the same intervals in the hieroglyphic and demotic versions as the royal title in the Greek. With this as a starting-point he went to work and built up a grammar and dictionary of the language of ancient Egypt. He found the key that had been missing for nearly two thousand years—the key to unlock the mysteries of the language of the people who built the pyramids and the great temples at Thebes.

"It is no wonder that the Rosetta Stone is considered one of the most precious treasures of the British Museum, and that the name of Champollion is revered by every student of history.

"I cannot give you a better definition of the forms of writing among the Egyptians than by quoting the words of Mr. Prime. 'There were,' he says, 'three styles of manuscript and sculpture—hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic. The first was a language of complete pictures, the second of outlines derived from the first, and the third was the character for the people—a species of running-hand derived from the others. The first was the style of the monumental sculptures; the second of the priestly writings; the third was for the ordinary transactions of the people.'

SPECIMENS OF THE THREE FORMS OF WRITING USED BY THE EGYPTIANS.

"And here," said the Doctor, as he opened a book and exhibited a page with some characters upon it, "we have specimens of the three languages, one taken from the walls of a temple, and the other two from rolls of papyrus."

The boys looked at the printed page, and readily distinguished the difference between the three kinds of writing. While they were discussing its curious features the carriage halted in front of the entrance to the museum, and the dialogue was suspended.

DEDICATION OF THE PYLON OF A TEMPLE.

[Chapter VIII.]

WONDERS OF THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES.

Boulak is the port of Cairo, as the great city does not stand on the banks of the Nile, but a couple of miles away from it. Before the days of the railway Boulak was a place of considerable importance, as it was the point of arrival and departure for the steamers plying between Cairo and Alexandria, and at the present day it is the station for steamers ascending the Nile. It was chosen as the site of the Museum of Antiquities on account of the convenience of landing statues and other heavy objects directly from the boats that had brought them down the river, and the museum was erected on the very bank of the stream. But the position was found insecure, on account of the tendency of the Nile to change its channel, and for several years the safety of the treasures accumulated under the direction of Mariette Bey has been seriously threatened.

EGYPTIAN SCULPTORS AT WORK.

Our friends passed through the gate-way, and found themselves in a garden filled with large statues and sphinxes. Their attention was attracted to the colossal statue of a king in a sitting posture, and close to it were several sphinxes. The Doctor explained that the figure represented one of the kings of the twelfth dynasty. Some of the sphinxes came from Karnak, and once formed part of the great avenue leading to the temple, while others were from Tanis and Sakkara. The statue of the king was of solid granite and admirably carved, leaving no doubt that the Egyptians were well advanced in the art of the sculptor. On the walls of the temples at Karnak there are several pictures that show how the makers of royal statues performed their work, and the methods in vogue seem to have been almost identical with those of modern sculptors.

We have neither time nor space for describing all that our friends saw in the museum, and can only refer to the objects of greatest importance. As they had talked about the Rosetta Stone, and the key it gave to the translation of the language of the ancient Egyptians, the Doctor led the way to the "Tablet of Tanis," in the first hall of the museum, and told the youths to observe it closely.

"It is," he explained, "a more perfect stone than the one found at Rosetta, as it is in a fine state of preservation, while the Rosetta one was badly defaced. Here is a decree in three languages—Greek, hieroglyphic, and demotic—and the translation confirms the correctness of Champollion's theory, which I have already explained. It was found in 1866 by Doctor Lepsius, and you see that it is regarded of great importance, as it is framed and covered with glass to protect it from possible injury."

Frank asked what was the language of the decree, and how old it was.

"According to the translation," said Doctor Bronson, "it was made by an assembly of priests in the Temple of Canopus, on the 7th of March, 238 b.c. It praises the king for having brought back the image of the gods from Asia, gained many victories, established peace, and averted famine by importing corn; and it ordains that festivals shall be held in all the temples of Egypt in honor of Princess Berenice, who died a short time before the date of the assembly. The inscription closes with a declaration that the decree shall be engraved on stone in three languages, just as you see it here, and there is no doubt that the stone we are looking at was prepared in obedience to this order."

WOODEN STATUE FOUND AT SAKKARA.

In another room the Doctor halted in front of a wooden statue, and waited for the youths to fix their attention upon it. They were not long in doing so, nor in expressing their admiration for its wonderfully life-like appearance. When they had looked at it a few moments the Doctor explained what it was.

"It is probably the oldest wooden statue in existence," said he, "and some persons think it is the oldest statue of any kind in the world. It represents a sheik el belyd, or village chief, and was found in a tomb at Sakkara. Mariette Bey says it belongs to the fourth dynasty, and is not far from six thousand years old."

"Six thousand years old!" said both the youths in a breath.

"Yes, six thousand years old," was the answer; "but, as I told you, there was a difference of opinion among the Egyptologists; it may be more modern than that, and not over four thousand years old."

"Even if it is only four thousand," responded Frank, "it is antique enough to be very interesting."

"Yes," the Doctor continued, "we needn't trouble ourselves about a matter of twenty centuries. We will split the difference, and call it five thousand years."

"How life-like it looks!" exclaimed Fred. "It almost appears as if it were ready to speak to us. And what an expression about the eyes!"

"The eyes are unequalled in any modern statue," said the Doctor. "You observe that they are set in rims of bronze, which serve for eyelids; the eye itself is made of opaque quartz, like ground glass, and there is a piece of rock-crystal in the centre, which forms the pupil. If you look closely you see a glittering point below the crystal, which makes the eye sparkle as though its owner were about to smile. There is nothing of modern times that equals it."

One of the boys asked if the statue was in the condition in which it was found. The Doctor said the feet had been restored, so that the figure could be placed upright, and the stick in the left hand was modern. "In all other respects," said he, "the statue is just as it was found, and it is a rule of the museum to keep everything as nearly as possible in its original condition."

Other statues were examined, and at length the boys stopped in front of a case containing several small articles of wood and stone.

"What are these things?" said Frank, pointing to one corner of the case.

"And these? and these?" said Fred, as his eye wandered from one thing to another.

WOODEN DOLLS.

"They are mostly toys for children," the Doctor answered. "You see that the ancient Egyptians tried to amuse their little ones just as parents in America try to do to-day."

CHILDREN'S TOYS.

The collection of toys was an interesting one. Here was a rude figure of a man supposed to be washing, or kneading dough, and he was made to move his hands up and down an inclined board by means of a string, like a "jumping-jack" of to-day. A wooden crocodile was there, with his under-jaw moving up and down at the will of the child who owned it, and there were several wooden dolls, some well modelled, and others painted in brilliant colors, intended to catch the juvenile eye.

The sight of the toys naturally brought up a question relative to the games played by the ancient Egyptians.

POSITIONS IN PLAYING BALL.

BALLS OF LEATHER AND PORCELAIN.

"There is abundant evidence," the Doctor remarked, "that the Egyptians were familiar with many games which are popular at the present time. We are not aware that they had base-ball clubs five thousand years ago, and there is no proof that they went about the country playing for 'gate-money;' but that they used to play ball we know very well from the pictures on the walls of the tombs, and from sculptures elsewhere. And, furthermore, the balls they played with have been found at Thebes, some of them covered with leather like our own, and stuffed with bran or corn-husks, or of stalks of rushes plaited together into a solid mass. There were also balls covered with strips of leather of different colors, as we have them to day, and several have been found of glazed earthen-ware, on which the colors were laid before the ball was baked.

PLAYING BALL MOUNTED.

"The positions they took in playing ball are the same that you will see at base-ball matches in America. There is one picture of a curious game, in which it was the custom for some of the players to mount on the backs of the others, probably on account of the latter failing to catch the ball when it was thrown at them, or for some other forfeit. They also had the trick of throwing two or more balls in the air and catching them, just as you see jugglers performing in our own time. If you want to believe that there is nothing new under the sun, you will go a long way toward it by studying the life and manners of the Egyptians of the days that are gone.

PLAYING CHECKERS.

"They had the game of draughts or checkers almost identical with the one we play to-day. They did not play at cards, so far as we know. In fact, cards were invented in comparatively modern days, and the tradition is that they were originally made for the amusement of an insane king. The Egyptians had the game of "mora," and from them it probably descended to the Italians, with whom it is a national amusement. They were skilful in what we call 'the Indian club exercise,' and one of the pictures represents men raising heavy weights, after the manner of the professors of gymnastics in New York or Chicago. Sometimes they used bags of sand instead of clubs or stones, but the result was the same in each case—an exhibition of strength.

SAND-BAG EXERCISE.

"There are pictures that show bull-fights and rowing-matches, together with other amusements of the same sort. Wrestlers were as numerous as they are to-day, and probably quite as skilful, and endowed with similar strength; but we have nothing to prove to us that they travelled with the circus, or that an Egyptian Barnum existed with his wonderful hippodrome. Many of the wrestlers were women, and some of the pictures represent them showing feats of strength of which the men might be proud."

A BULL-FIGHT.

From the room of the toys our friends wandered to another which contained, among other things, several mummies, together with the cases in which they had reposed. Some of the mummies were wholly and others only partially unrolled, and the boys eagerly examined the remains of the ancient inhabitants of the land. While they were doing so, Doctor Bronson explained the process by which bodies were preserved by the Egyptians, and their reasons for devoting so much time and attention to the preservation of the dead.

GODDESSES OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE.

"The ancient Egyptians," said he, "had a great many gods: the list is so long that it would not be worth while to name them all, as you could not remember them; and, besides, it would take more time than we have to spare. Each of the gods had distinct attributes, and was represented in a form unlike the others; some of them had the heads of birds, beasts, or reptiles, but their bodies were of human shape. They are thus represented on the walls of temples, and the evidences are that the ignorant classes believed the gods had the shapes ascribed to them. There was one supreme deity who had power over all the other gods, and his shape was not represented. The Egyptians believed in the immortality of the soul, in the responsibility of every one for his individual acts, and in a future state of rewards and punishments.

THE NAME OF APIS, AN EGYPTIAN GOD, IN HIEROGLYPHICS.

"They believed that the soul after death took its flight from the body and passed to another world, where it was judged according to its deeds, and received its proper punishment or reward. In course of time it could return to the body it had inhabited, and the length of the period of absence was determined by the god before whom it had been brought to be judged. Of course no one was expected to know the length of the separation of soul and body. It was certain to be for a long period (not less than three thousand years), and therefore it was necessary to preserve the body from decay. This, in brief, is the outline of the religion of the ancient Egyptians, and the reason of their careful preservation of the bodies of their friends.

KING AND QUEEN OFFERING TO THE GODS.

"As the possessor of the greatest wealth the king was more carefully embalmed than his humble subjects; the process of embalming was a secret with certain classes of men, and its professors were looked upon with great respect. The whole work occupied seventy days, and consisted in preserving the body by means of strong salts, and the application of various kinds of aromatic spices, peppers, and the like. The bodies of the rich were carefully wrapped in fine linen, and sometimes hundreds of yards were used for a single operation. The fingers and toes were separately wrapped, and at each turn of the linen aromatic oils were poured on the cloth so as to saturate it thoroughly. A wooden case, into which the body fitted closely, was made for it, and covered with a history of his life, or with extracts from the 'Book of the Dead.' Another case was placed outside the first, and the whole was then enclosed in a stone coffin or sarcophagus. Then, with suitable ceremonies, the mummy was laid away to await the day of the return of the spirit, and the consequent resurrection."

DIFFERENT FORMS OF MUMMY CASES.

While the Doctor was making this explanation the boys were examining the mummy that lay before them. He was a very quiet mummy, and made no objection to being handled, though the case was different with the attendant in charge of the place. The latter intimated that visitors were not expected to touch anything they saw, but if they wished to look into the box he would open it for them. The hint was taken, and a franc slipped into his hand; the result was our friends had the pleasure of examining the specimen to their complete satisfaction.

TRANSPORTING A MUMMY ON A SLEDGE.

There was an odor of gums and spices as the box was opened, but it was not by any means overpowering. The Doctor said the substances had lost a good deal of their strength in three thousand years, and it was a wonder that any odor at all was perceptible. Some of the linen wrappings had been unwound, so that portions of the dried flesh of the mummy were perceptible. It resembled wood in a state of decay more than anything else, and a very brief inspection was all that our friends cared for. The inscription on the lid of the case was more interesting than was the occupant within, and Fred remarked that the mummy must have been a person of great consequence to need so much door-plate on the outside. "And to think," he added, "that he was shut up for thirty centuries, and had no friends to call and see him!"

GODDESS OF TRUTH, WITH HER EYES CLOSED.

Frank repeated some lines which were originally addressed to a mummy in Belzoni's Museum, in London, many years ago:

"And thou hast walked about—how strange a story!—
In Thebes's streets, three thousand years ago.
When the Memnonium was in all its glory,
And time had not begun to overthrow
Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous,
Of which the very ruins are tremendous.
"Speak! for thou long enough hast acted dummy.
Thou hast a tongue—come, let us hear its tune.
Thou'rt standing on thy legs above-ground, mummy,
Revisiting the glimpses of the moon;
Not like pale ghosts or disembodied creatures,
But with thy bones, and legs, and limbs, and features.
"Tell us, for doubtless thou canst recollect,
To whom should we ascribe the Sphinx's fame?
Was Cheops or Cephrenes architect
Of either pyramid that bears his name?
Was Pompey's Pillar really a misnomer?
Had Thebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer?"

"Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye!" said Fred, as Frank paused, and the Doctor turned away from the relic of other days.

LADY'S HEAD-DRESS ON A MUMMY CASE.

"You're wrong there," said the Doctor; "he has not a sweet heart, but a solid one." Turning to the attendant, he asked him in French to show the scarabæus and other things that came from the mummy at the time the case was opened.

RINGS, BRACELETS, AND SCARABÆI.

The attendant pointed to a glass case close at hand, containing some necklaces, and representations of beetles carved in stone. Among them was a scarabæus, or beetle, in jasper (one of the hardest stones in the world), about three inches long and two in width. The rounded portion represented the back of a beetle with the wings folded, while the flat surface beneath was covered with hieroglyphics, with an oval line drawn around them.

STONE SCARABÆUS WITH WINGS.

"The scarabæus," said the Doctor, "was the symbol of resurrection among the ancient Egyptians, and hence we find it very frequently used about the mummies, and the places where they were laid away to rest. This large one was deposited in place of the heart of our desiccated friend in the box, and these necklaces, principally composed of scarabæi, were around his neck. This flat one lay upon his breast in direct contact with the flesh; the circle in the centre represents the sun; on each side of it is the asp, a snake that was sacred to one of the gods, and the outstretched wings on either side are to indicate the power of the soul to take flight from the body. The Egyptians had some process of cutting stone that is unknown to us, as the carving of these scarabæi, in the hardest materials as we find them, would defy the skill of modern lapidaries."

After a general survey of the contents of the case the party moved to another room, where a quantity of gold and silver ornaments were conspicuously displayed.

JEWELLER WITH BLOW-PIPE.

As they halted in front of the collection, the Doctor explained that the jewels they were looking at were found in the coffin (and with the mummy) of Aah-Hotep—a queen who is supposed to have been the wife of one of the kings of the eighteenth dynasty. The show-case of a modern jeweller could not have been more attractive, and the boys were enchanted with the beauty of the articles displayed as well as with the exquisite workmanship.

EGYPTIAN GOLDSMITHS (FROM A PAINTING AT THEBES).

There was a bracelet with gold figures engraved on blue glass, in imitation of lapis lazuli; there was a large bracelet, hinged in the centre, representing a vulture, its wings composed of bits of lapis lazuli, carnelian, and green glass, in a gold setting, and its back ornamented with lines of small turquoises; and there was a gold chain nearly three feet long, with a scarabæus at the end. This chain, with the other treasures of the queen, was exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1867, and attracted much attention. It is composed of links curiously woven and twisted together, and a committee of French jewellers who examined it said that if it were broken they did not believe there was a jeweller of modern days who could properly mend it! And to think that this chain was made many centuries ago!

GOLDEN BASKETS (FROM THE TOMB OF RAMESES III).

We have not time to describe all the wonderful things in the case of Aah-Hotep, nor in the other cases near it. Our friends lingered long among the treasures of the museum, and when the shadows indicated the hour for closing, and the attendants hinted that the official day was at an end, they were in no mood for departure. They all agreed that hereafter they should hold the ancient Egyptians in great respect, and regretted that the arts and accomplishments they seem to have possessed are, in great measure, lost to the world.

DRESSES OF WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT.

[Chapter IX.]

THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH AND SAKKARA.—MEMPHIS AND THE APIS MAUSOLEUM.

The day after the visit to the museum was devoted to an excursion to the pyramids. An early start was made, so as to have all the time possible for seeing the great works which bear the names of Cheops and Cephren.

Down to a few years ago the traveller on his way to the pyramids was obliged to cross the Nile by ferry, and make his land journey on foot or on the back of a donkey. But at present the bridge over the river at Boulak, and the carriage-road all the way to the foot of the pyramids, have made the excursion comparatively easy. A ride of two hours suffices, as the distance is not over ten or twelve miles, and the route is along the level ground of the Nile Valley. The last two or three hundred yards must usually be made on foot, as the sand covers the road, and makes the progress of a carriage exceedingly difficult, even when empty. The sand is drifted by the action of the wind, exactly as snow is whirled in the Northern States of America, and sometimes drifts will form in a few hours several feet in depth.

CAMELS AND THEIR BURDENS.

The boys looked with interest on the troops of camels they met, just after leaving Cairo, carrying great loads of freshly-cut grass for feeding the donkeys and other beasts of burden in the city. Although the roads were good, the natives seemed to prefer the old ways of transportation, and almost the only vehicles to be seen were the carriages carrying visitors to the pyramids. As they drew nearer, our friends began to realize the great height of those structures; while they were yet an hour's drive from their base, it seemed to Frank and Fred that they would be there in ten or fifteen minutes. The optical illusion was partly due to the clear atmosphere, and partly to the immensity of the piles of stone. There was a house two stories high close to one of the pyramids; it seemed a mere speck against the great mass, and revealed the contrast more plainly than could be done in words. It was like placing a cigar-box in front of an ordinary dwelling, and comparing the one with the other.

OLD MODE OF TRANSPORT ON THE NILE.

A mile or two from the pyramids they passed some villages of natives; two or three dozen Arabs swarmed from these villages and surrounded the carriage, keeping even pace with its progress, no matter how fast the horses went. They had an eye to making something out of the strangers, and were quite indifferent to suggestions that their company was not wanted.

NEAR VIEW OF THE PYRAMIDS.

We will let the youths tell the story of their visit to the pyramids:

"When we reached the stone platform at the base of the pyramids the driver unharnessed his horses and removed the pole from his carriage. The Arabs gathered about us to assist in making the ascent, and they proved the most persistent and annoying rascals we have yet seen. The hackmen and their kindred at Niagara Falls are politeness itself compared with the Arabs at the pyramids.

"There is a sheik or chief of the Arabs, and he expects two shillings from each visitor who ascends the pyramids, and two more if he goes inside. For this sum he furnishes two men to assist you; half a dozen will offer to go, but two are enough. If you are liable to be thirsty, it is well to employ a boy to carry a gargolet (or bottle) of water, and you may also let him carry your overcoat.

"There are three pyramids in the group at Gizeh, and they are called respectively, in order of size, the Great, the Second, and the Third. The Great Pyramid is the one usually ascended by visitors; in fact, it is the only one they ascend, as it the highest; and, besides, the ascent of the others is much more dangerous. Perhaps you will wonder why it is so.

"When the pyramids were finished, they were covered with a casing of red granite, which was fitted into the steps between the blocks of limestone; the limestone came from the quarries on the other side of the river, but the red granite was brought from Assouan, at the first cataract of the Nile, and was consequently much more costly than the other material. When Cairo was founded and built, much of the stone needed for it was taken from the pyramids, and from the ruins of Memphis; all the granite casing of the First Pyramid was removed, and some of that of the Second, but enough remains on the latter to make the ascent quite difficult.

"As soon as a bargain had been made, and the men were selected to accompany us, we started up the north-east corner of the huge pile. The blocks of stone are so large that the ascent is by a series of steps from two to four feet high, rarely less than three feet. Imagine a long stairway, with steps as high as an ordinary dining-table, and remember that you must gain an elevation of four hundred and eighty feet before your journey is ended. The Arabs go ahead of you, indicating the points where you are to put your feet, and pulling you up by the arms. We reached the top in about fifteen minutes, and then the whole crowd of Arabs gave a loud hurrah, and demanded pay for it.

"Originally the pyramid had a sharp apex, but it has been torn away, so that the top is now an irregular platform, about thirty feet square, and makes a comfortable resting-place after the fatigue of the ascent. We were tired enough when we got there, and quite willing to sit down. The Arabs kept bothering us for money, and would give us no peace till we told the men who accompanied us that we would give them a good backsheesh on condition that they kept all the rest away from us, and if they failed to do so they would not have a penny. The plan worked very fairly, but did not save us altogether from annoyance.

"We were disappointed with the view from the top, and this is said to be the case with most travellers. There was the desert on one side, and the rich Valley of the Nile on the other; to the eastward, and across the river, were the walls of Cairo, with the Mokattam and other hills behind it; on the south was the valley of the river, with the double line of desert closing in upon it; while to the north was the Delta, spreading out toward the Mediterranean, and contrasting sharply with the clear blue sky above it.

THE BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS.—"FORTY CENTURIES LOOK DOWN ON YOU."

"The walls and domes and minarets of Cairo gave an Oriental aspect to the view in that direction, and told us, if nothing else had been needed to do so, that we were in the land of the Moslem. But the most noticeable thing in the landscape was the contrast between the desert and the Delta—between the most fertile soil in the world and the most barren. There is no middle ground; at one place lies the richest of all rich earths, and six inches away it is the driest and most unproductive sand. You may sit at the dividing line, and while you rest one hand on the dark green carpet of grass growing from the black alluvium, you can gather the gray sand with the other. It is the perfection of fertility on one side, and the perfection of desolation on the other. Probably there is not, nor can there be, anywhere else in the world a sharper contrast in a picture drawn by nature.

"The Doctor had a magnifying-glass in his pocket, and we looked at some of the sand with it. It is not composed of angular fragments with sharp corners, such as you will see in the sand which you dig from the ground at home, but every particle is worn as smooth as the marbles that boys play with, or as the 'cobble-stones' with which our streets are paved. Many centuries of attrition under the winds of Africa have done the work.

"Do you want to know how large the Great Pyramid is?

"Well, it is about seven hundred and forty feet square, and four hundred and eighty feet high. It covers an area of nearly thirteen acres, and contains eighty-nine million cubic feet of stone. What do you suppose you could do with that amount of stone?

EGYPTIAN CAPTIVES EMPLOYED AT HARD LABOR.

"You could build a wall four feet high and two feet thick—a good wall for a farm or yard—all the way from New York to Salt Lake City; in round figures, two thousand miles! If you wanted a good solid wall, twelve feet high and four feet thick, from Cincinnati to St. Louis (three hundred and forty miles), you would find the stone for it in this Great Pyramid! And if New York City is in danger of an attack, and wants to surround the whole of Manhattan Island (twenty-one miles around) with a wall forty feet high and twenty feet thick, here is the material to do it with. And remember that all this stone was hewn from the quarries, and moved and set up, centuries before the power of steam was known!

REMOVING STONE FROM THE QUARRIES.

"Of course we asked the Doctor to tell us how the pyramids were built, but he says it is a conundrum he cannot answer. Various engineers have made theories as to the mode of building the pyramids; but no sooner does one demonstrate how the work was done than somebody else shows how the theory is incorrect. Doctor Bronson says it is generally conceded that the Egyptians must have had a knowledge of some mechanical power of which we are ignorant. One of the most convenient theories is, that as fast as a course of stone was laid, the earth was heaped up so as to form an inclined plane or road, and that this road was repeatedly increased till the top was reached. Then, as the top was finished, and the granite casing placed in position, the earth was taken away, and the pyramid stood out in all its glory.

"But we've kept you waiting while we talked about the size of the pyramid. We've been resting from the fatigue of the ascent, so you must not be impatient.

"One of the Arabs proposed to run from where we were to the top of the Second Pyramid in ten minutes; it seemed impossible for him to do it, but on our offering him five francs he started. How he jumped down from block to block, ran across the open space, and then mounted to the top of the Second Pyramid! Of course he has been practising every day, at least during the season of visitors, and knows just what he can do. The Doctor says this is one of the regular performances of the Arabs at the pyramids; everybody who has written about the place in the last fifty years speaks of it, and the only reason why Herodotus does not mention it is that in his day it was impossible to ascend the pyramids, their granite casing being complete and uninjured, and there were no Arabs in existence. These Arabs are the most impudent fellows in the world, and Herodotus didn't lose anything by their absence. They have always had a bad reputation, and not unfrequently have been guilty of downright robbery; their demands for backsheesh are extremely insolent, and if they do not always threaten violence with words, they do so in their manner.

"The man who built the pyramid was not there to meet us; he has been dead some time, how long we don't know exactly, but it is a good while. According to history the Great Pyramid was built by Cheops, one of the kings of Memphis, who belonged to the fourth dynasty, and ruled fifty years; Mariette assigns him to 4235 b.c., and Wilkinson to 2450 b.c. Either date allows him plenty of time to be dead, and for the correctness of Napoleon's remark to his soldiers at the Battle of the Pyramids, 'forty centuries look down upon you!' Three hundred thousand men were employed twenty years in its construction, and some authorities say it was not completed till after Cheops's death. When he had passed through the hands of the embalmers his mummy was taken to the inside of the pyramid, to the chamber prepared for it, and there stowed away. Let's go and see where it was.

CUTTING AND SQUARING BLOCKS OF STONE.

"We descend the pyramid by the way we came, and in another quarter of an hour are on the ground again. Then we walk about half-way along the north face of the pyramid and some distance up the side to a hole about three and a half feet square, descending at an angle of twenty-six degrees. It is hot and wearisome to go inside the pyramid, and most persons say it is much worse than the ascent to the top. We go about sixty feet down an incline, then ascend at the same angle nearly three hundred feet, and finally come to an apartment called the King's Chamber; it measures thirty-four feet by seventeen, and is about nineteen feet high. The sides are of polished granite, and the only furniture is an empty coffin of stone, too large to be removed.

"There is another room smaller than this directly beneath, and called the Queen's Chamber, and there are some other small rooms of no consequence. The dust chokes us, the heat threatens to melt us, the Arabs keep up a frightful din—ten times as bad as they do outside—and altogether we are glad to get out again.

"The Arabs used to have the trick of taking away the lights, and leaving visitors in the black darkness, where they might easily become lunatics in a short time. They would stay away till they thought their victim was badly frightened, and then they shouted from the passage-way that they would only bring a light on condition of a heavy backsheesh. Many a person has been robbed in this way, and not a season passes without an outrage of this sort. Several times the government has been obliged to punish these rascals. They behave comparatively well for a short while after receiving punishment, but very soon they begin their outrages again.

SECTION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID.

"The passage by which we enter the pyramid continues at the same angle for more than three hundred feet, and it is so straight that you can see the sky from the farther end, as though looking through the tube of a telescope. It is said that the north star was visible through this passage-way two thousand years ago, but its position has changed so that it is now out of range.

THE SPHINX.

"From the pyramid we went to see the Sphinx, which is about a quarter of a mile away in a south-easterly direction. It had originally the head of a man, the breast of a woman, and the body of a lion. But only the head and part of the back are now visible, the rest being covered by sand. By some it is thought to be as old as the Great Pyramid, or even older, while others believe it was made in the eighteenth dynasty, or long after the pyramids were built. The whole figure was hewn from the solid rock, and there was formerly a temple between the paws and directly beneath the head of the Sphinx.

"We walked around it, and one of us climbed up as far as he could without too much danger of a fall. It is an enormous head, as you will understand when we tell you that the width of the face is 13 feet 8 inches, the ear is 4½ feet long, the nose 5½, and the mouth 7½. From the top of the head to the pavement below was 66 feet, and the length of the body is 140 feet. It is 30 feet from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin, and the front paws are 55 feet long. Don't these figures give you an idea of the grandeur of the Sphinx?

"How it has suffered in the five thousand years it has looked out on the unchanging landscape of Egypt! Large portions of the rock have been hewn away, or have broken off by the action of the elements on the soft limestone; but, worse yet, the great solemn face has been wantonly ruined by the hand of man. An Arab fanatic tried to destroy it, then the Mamelukes used it for a target for rifle practice, several explorers have dug into it, and the Arabs of the present day have no hesitation in breaking off pieces of the head for any one who will pay for them. One of them climbed up to the face while we were there, and wanted to break off some fragments for us; but we told him to come down at once, as we would neither buy the pieces nor allow him to do any farther injury to the ancient monument, which is, next to the pyramids, the most interesting in this part of Egypt. There were plenty of pieces on the ground in front of the Sphinx, and we picked up a few of them to carry away as souvenirs of our visit.

THE SPHINX BY MOONLIGHT.

"We went to a temple not far from the Sphinx, which was discovered and excavated by Mariette Bey, but has since been partly filled by the drifting sand. It is built of red granite and alabaster, and is supposed to be as old as the Sphinx, and to have some relation to its worship. The shaping and polishing of the hard granite is quite equal to that of any stone-cutter of the present day, and our admiration was excited at every step. A sitting figure of Cephren, the builder of the Second Pyramid, was found in this temple, and is now in the museum at Boulak. It was hewn from a single block of green breccia, or diorite, an exceedingly hard stone, and all the details of the work are as finely finished as that of the most careful sculptor in marble. Eight other statues were found at the same time, and all bear evidence of the excellence of the Egyptian workers in stone four or five thousand years ago.

"We visited two or three tombs in the neighborhood of the Sphinx, but after what we had seen they were not especially interesting. The whole stone platform where the pyramids stand is full of tombs; but they have all been examined and their contents removed.

EGYPTIAN CAPTIVES MAKING BRICKS.

"We carried our lunch with us from the hotel, and ate it after visiting the Great Pyramid, and before going to examine the Sphinx. The Arabs crowded around, and almost threatened to eat our lunch for us, and ourselves into the bargain; we tried in vain to drive them away, and finally drew a circle in the sand enclosing our carriage, and about ten feet from it, and stationed a couple of Arabs inside with sticks to keep out the rest. The sticks were strong, and so were the men who wielded them. The Doctor told our guards they would get no backsheesh if they failed to keep the rest out of the ring, and with this promise before them they succeeded. It is interesting to see how ready these men are to pound their most intimate friends for the sake of a little money. The more we see of the nature of these natives the more we despise it: perhaps they are not altogether to blame, and are only practising the lesson of rascality they have learned through centuries of oppression.

"We returned to Cairo by the carriage-road, and were followed a long way by the Arabs shouting for backsheesh. A couple of days later we made an evening excursion there in order to see the Sphinx and pyramids by moonlight, and were well repaid for the journey. Many travellers go out there very early in the morning, so as to see them by sunrise; but we were too much fatigued with our work every day to leave our beds two or three hours before daybreak.

"The day after our trip to Gizeh we went to Sakkara and Memphis. There is very little to be seen of Memphis, as the stone was mostly taken away for building Cairo, and the site of the city is frequently overflowed in the inundations of the Nile. The chief object of interest is a statue of Rameses the Great, originally forty-two feet high, but now lying on the ground, and about half covered with water. Unfortunately its face is downward, so that we could not see its features; but it is said to be a fine work of art, and it is a great pity that it cannot be removed and placed on its feet again.

PLOUGHING AND SOWING.

"At Sakkara there are several pyramids. One of them is of sun-dried bricks instead of stone; it is built in a series of five steps, or degrees, and for this reason is known as the 'Step-pyramid.' Some authorities say it was built in the first dynasty, and is consequently the oldest pyramid in the world; others think it belongs to the fifth dynasty, and therefore is later than the structures at Gizeh. Tradition says it was built by the labor of the children of Israel when they were captives in Egypt, and it was here they complained that they were compelled to make 'bricks without straw.' The history of the pyramid is very obscure, and one theory may be just as good as another. The structure is less than two hundred feet high, and, as the ascent is dangerous, and the view from the top of no consequence after that from Gizeh, we did not climb it.

TAKING IT EASY.

"The things of greatest importance at Sakkara are the tombs. They cover an area nearly four miles long by a mile in width, and there is little doubt that the necropolis of Sakkara is the most extensive in all Egypt. Many tombs that were opened have been filled up again by the sand; at present there are only two which are shown to visitors, but they are so large and interesting that nobody misses the others. One is the tomb of Tih, a priest of Memphis, who lived during the fifth dynasty, or about five thousand years ago; its walls are covered with inscriptions showing the manners and customs of the time, and it is said that we have learned more from this tomb than from any other about the life of the ancient Egyptians.

"The sculptures show the owner of the tomb, Mr. Tih, in a great many occupations. According to the custom of the period, he built the tomb during his lifetime, and made it all ready for use after death. An ancient writer says, 'The Egyptians call their houses hostelries, on account of the short period during which they inhabit them; but they call their tombs eternal dwelling-places.' This tomb was built in Tih's lifetime, and made ready for his long occupation by representing the scenes of his terrestrial existence.

A HUNTING SCENE.

"We have the priest of Memphis engaged in agriculture, or, rather, he is present while his men are in the fields ploughing, sowing, harvesting, thrashing grain, driving oxen, donkeys, and other animals, and performing other ordinary work. We see him hunting, fishing, sailing in boats, listening to music, witnessing dances, and otherwise amusing himself; and we see him worshipping in the temple, and superintending sacrifices of oxen, according to the religious practices of his day. The sculptures are so numerous that it would take a ream of paper to describe all of them; they show that the artists knew their work, and many of them had a sense of the ridiculous that would secure them good situations on the comic papers of to-day.

BRONZE FIGURE OF APIS.

"After seeing the tomb of Tih we went to the Apis Mausoleum, or tombs of the sacred bulls. You know that Apis, or the sacred bull, was worshipped as a divinity at Memphis; he was kept in a temple during his lifetime, and a magnificent tomb was given him after his death. The site of the Apis Mausoleum was unknown for many centuries; it was found by Mariette (in 1860) through the writings of one of the Greek historians. While clearing away the sand in a certain place he found a sphinx, and he then remembered a passage in Strabo, which says:

"'There is also a Serapeum in a very sandy spot, where drifts of sand are raised by the wind to such a degree that we saw some sphinxes buried up to their heads, and others half covered.'

HUNTSMAN WITH DOGS AND GAME.

"This was a hint to the explorer, and he acted on it by following up the line of sphinxes till he came to the entrance of the great tomb. The guide showed us into the tomb, and then lighted candles, by which we explored a series of long galleries cut in the solid rock; altogether there are more than four hundred yards of these galleries, and they have on each side of them niches, like large rooms, for holding the coffins of the bulls. Some of these rooms are empty; but there still remain twenty-four coffins of solid granite in the places where they were left many years ago. The coffins are not all of the same size, but generally about thirteen feet long, eight wide, and eleven high; most of their covers are pushed aside or altogether removed, and it was evident, when the tomb was opened by Mariette Bey, that the place had been plundered, as nothing was found in the coffins except the mummy of a bull in one of them.

"There was a ladder by the side of one of the coffins, so that we climbed into it, and found that four or five persons could sit there comfortably. And think that these coffins were of solid blocks of granite, and were brought down the Nile from Assouan, and put in the rooms made for them! How they were put there nobody can tell; a thousand men worked for three weeks to take out one of these coffins, under the direction of an engineer, and, with all sorts of pulleys and apparatus, he only got it a short distance along the gallery. The enterprise was then abandoned, and the coffin stands where they left it.

"Irreverent visitors sometimes call these tombs the 'bull pits,' and they speak of the necropolis of Sakkara as the 'bone-yard.' But there are no bulls here at present, and the tombs of the surrounding region have been so thoroughly explored and plundered, that it would not be easy to find any bones in them."

AN ARCHED TOMB AT SAKKARA.

[Chapter X.]

AN ORIENTAL BATH.—EGYPTIAN WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS.

The excursions to Gizeh and Sakkara had not been altogether free from dust, and, consequently, the suggestion of an Oriental bath was not out of place. The boys had heard of the baths of Damascus and Constantinople, and the wonderful tales of travellers concerning them; the Doctor said the baths of Cairo were exactly like those of the cities mentioned, and they could satisfy their curiosity by trying one.

The guide advised them to go early in the forenoon, and accordingly they left the hotel a little after ten o'clock. The Doctor had no fondness for the genuine Oriental bath, and the youths made the excursion in the company of their guide. A short walk brought them to the establishment, which was in a gloomy-looking building, surmounted with a large central dome and several smaller domes. Frank could not understand the peculiarity of the bath architecture till he went inside, and found that the principal room was lighted by the central dome, while the others gave light to the smaller apartments. The windows were so small that the light was quite dim, and in some places only served, as Fred expressed it, to make the darkness visible.

The office of the bath-keeper was close to the entrance, and here the guide paid for the admission of the youths; they had left all their valuables at the hotel, and consequently had no use for the chest where the watches and purses of the bathers were deposited. Near the keeper was a cupboard, from which he took a supply of towels for the youths, and they were then directed to the dressing, or, rather, the undressing room, where they were assigned to couches, and exchanged their clothing for towels. According to the custom of the establishment, one towel was wrapped around the head and the other about the waist, and thus arrayed our young friends were hardly to be recognized.

From the dressing-room they passed to a smaller apartment, which was well but not uncomfortably warmed, and here they remained some minutes in order to become accustomed to the temperature. The bathing establishment is heated by means of fires under the floor, and in the more modern buildings by iron pipes around the sides of the rooms. An attendant took charge of each of the boys, and, when they were ready to move on, conducted them to the large central room of the place.

Frank gave an amusing account of his experience in the hands of the tellak, or bath attendant, who took charge of him:

"He was a strong man," said Frank, "about forty years old, and his head was shaved as smooth as a door-knob. He wore a towel around his waist, and carried another flung over his shoulder. He brought me a pair of wooden clogs, which I could not easily keep on my feet, though I tried hard to imitate the example of the people around me, and appear as though accustomed to them all my life. They tell us that there is a fashion about wearing these clogs, just as much as in putting on an overcoat or a necktie, and that you are liable to be treated rudely if you violate the custom. Perhaps they have so many foreigners in this bath that they don't mind a little awkwardness; anyway we couldn't keep the clogs in place, and nobody was uncivil.

CENTRAL ROOM OF THE BATH.

"We stayed in the anteroom till we got a little warm, and then went into the central one. And wasn't it hot!

"People were reclining on the marble floor, or on a platform at one side; we were led to the platform, and our conductors made signs for us to lie down, and as they did so they spread towels for us to recline on, and brought small cushions for our heads. We did as they directed, and lay there for a while looking at the water playing in a fountain in the centre of the room, or counting the little windows in the roof. We counted them several times over, but couldn't make them come out twice alike.

THE MAN WHO DIDN'T LIKE IT.

"Pretty soon there was something like a howl from one side of the place, and we looked over to see what it was. An attendant was at work on a man who appeared like a foreigner, and was evidently trying to give him the worth of his money. Armed with a small brush, he went over the flesh of his victim very much as a boot-black makes a first-class shine. The stranger looked like a boiled lobster, and the expression of his face was much as though he was about to be sent to prison for life.

"To confirm my belief that he was a foreigner, he made a remark in English, which, of course, the attendant did not understand, but went on scrubbing harder than ever. He seemed too weak to use his hands to stop the performance, but finally gathered strength enough to seize the brush, and motion to the performer that he had had enough. Then he was taken to another part of the room and laid on a marble slab, where he was handled more gently.

"While we were smiling at the misery of the Englishman the perspiration was oozing out of us at every pore, in consequence of the great warmth of the place. 'Our turn next,' Fred whispered, as our attendants began to manipulate our limbs, to find out whether they were in a proper condition for operating on.

"Fred was right, as our tellaks evidently considered us sufficiently cooked for their purpose. They began by kneading us with their hands and knuckles, and went over our bodies so vigorously that we thought they would make holes in our flesh, though they didn't do anything of the sort. Then they rubbed us down with brushes, and left us a few minutes; the rubbing and kneading increased the flow of perspiration, and when this had gone on long enough, they made us sit on little wooden frames close to a fountain in one of the side alcoves. Then they soaped our heads and rubbed them vigorously with their hands, and kept pouring on water while the rubbing was progressing; they repeated the operation twice, and then brought some fibres of palm-leaves, which they used with soap and water for polishing our limbs, and they finished the performance with the brush, just as they had done with the Englishman.

"The brushing was the severest part of the process, and was followed by great quantities of water thrown over us till we were thoroughly rinsed. The water was warm enough to be quite comfortable, and sometimes a little too warm, but we said nothing, as we wanted to have the bath just as it is given to others. Basin after basin of warm water was poured over us, and finally we were wrapped in dry towels that completely covered us, and thick towels were folded around our heads till we looked like turbaned Turks. Then we were taken to our couches, where we rested, and became cool enough to go out-of-doors again with safety.

THE BARBER.

"Coffee was brought to us as soon as we lay down, and we found it very refreshing. We stayed there at least half an hour before the guide suggested that it would be safe to dress and go back to the hotel. We felt a little weak and weary, but had the satisfaction of knowing that we were as clean as water, soap, heat, and scrubbing could make us. A barber tried to do up our hair, but did not succeed very well, as the Oriental head-dressing is not exactly like our own. But he was desirous of making himself useful, and so we let him try his skill.

THE BATH AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

"The bath of to-day is much like that of thousands of years ago, as can be seen by the pictures on the walls of the tombs. The bath is the favorite resort of the women, and many of them spend the whole day there, or at least a large part of it. The baths for women are much more numerous than those for men; many of them are set apart on different days of the week for different religious sects, and sometimes families or parties of friends hire the bath for themselves, so that they shall not be disturbed by others.

"Doctor Bronson says a good deal of nonsense has been written by travellers concerning the baths of the East. He says better and more comfortable bathing establishments may be found in Paris, London, or New York than in Constantinople or Cairo, and the number is increasing every year.

"The Oriental bath is recommended for a good many things besides cleanliness, although the latter is the great consideration. It will cure colds and slight touches of rheumatism, is excellent for many maladies of the skin, improves the digestion, and has often restored invalids whom medicine had failed to benefit. Doctor Bronson has a friend in New York who suffers occasionally from gout, and whenever he feels it coming upon him he goes straight to a Turkish bath, and, as he says, 'boils it out.' One should be very careful, after taking a bath, not to go too soon into the open air, for fear of catching cold."

While on their way from the bath to the hotel the youths encountered a procession, and naturally asked the guide what it was.

"That is a wedding," was the reply; "somebody is going to be married, and this is part of the ceremony."

It occurred to Frank on the instant that his sister and Miss Effie might be interested in the subject of weddings, and here would be an opportunity to write something to please them. Accordingly, he made note of all he saw in the procession, interrogated the guide, and even took a peep within the pages of "The Modern Egyptians," to assure himself that he had made no mistake. As there may be others besides Mary and Effie who want to know the matrimonial customs of Egypt, we will make an extract from Frank's account:

"The procession that we saw was composed of the family and friends of the bride on their way to the bath, where they would remain several hours. There were four musicians in front, and right behind them were six of the married friends of the bride, walking in couples; behind these were several young girls, and all the party had their faces covered with long veils that reached nearly to the ground. The married women wore robes of black material, but the girls were in striped or white shawls, so that it was easy to know at a glance whether one of them was married or single.

"Of course you want to know how the bride looked. She was close behind the young girls, but I can't describe her appearance, as she walked under a canopy of pink silk, supported on four poles, carried by as many men. It was like a small tent, and opened in front; the other sides were completely closed, so that our only view of the bride was just a glimpse through the opening of the canopy. Even if we had more than a glimpse of her, it would have done no good, as she was wrapped from head to foot in a red cashmere shawl, and whether she was seventeen or seventy years old we could not say. The guide said she had a pasteboard crown on her head, and the shawl was hung over it so as to conceal her face and all the jewellery she wore. Of course she could not see anything, and so a couple of women were walking inside the canopy, and just behind her, to tell her how to keep pace with the rest of the procession.

"There were a couple of musicians behind the canopy, and then came a string of idle persons, just as we see a procession followed at home. We watched them as long as they were in sight, and were told they would spend several hours at the bath, where a feast had been ordered, and possibly an entertainment by dancers and singers hired for the occasion. Then they would go home to the house of the bride's parents, and on the following day the bride would be carried by a similar procession to the house of the bridegroom.

"Now we'll go back to the beginning, and see how marriages are arranged in Egypt.

"The guide says such a thing as an 'old bachelor' in Egypt is never heard of, as every man is expected to get married whether he wants to or not. Matches are made here much easier than in America, as it is not at all necessary for the parties to be acquainted, and consequently they cannot have any objections to marrying each other. There are regular marriage-brokers who arrange everything, and thus save a great deal of trouble and perplexity.

"When a man wishes to marry he tells his mother, or some near female relative; she goes directly to the relatives of any marriageable girls she knows of, or perhaps she engages a khatibeh, or woman who makes a business of negotiating marriages. The two go together to houses where there are young girls to be married, and when they find one that suits the mother's eye they begin talking business at once.

"They ask how much property the girl has, how old she is, and what she can do, and then go away without any positive promise to come again. If the young man does not like the account they bring the matter is dropped, but if he is pleased with it he makes a present to the broker, and sends her again to confer with the girl and her parents. Her parents have the right to arrange the whole matter without consulting the girl, unless she is over fifteen years of age; in the latter case she may choose her husband for herself, but her parents have still a good deal to say about it.

A KHATIBEH, OR MARRIAGE-BROKER.

"The broker does not confine herself very closely to the truth in dealing with either party. She will describe a girl of ordinary appearance as the greatest beauty in the world, and will represent an equally ordinary man as handsome, graceful, and well educated, with plenty of money which he is ready to throw at the feet of his bride. And all this when she does not know whether he has any money or not, and has never seen or heard of him till the day she was engaged to find a bride. It is the object of the broker to make a commission. Doctor Bronson says she is not unlike some brokers he has known in New York, and other cities of America.

"The girl must have a wekeel, or deputy, to arrange a marriage for her, and to sign the contract. This office is filled by her father, if living, or by some masculine relative or guardian; and when the preliminaries have been arranged by the broker, the bridegroom goes with two or three friends to meet the wekeel and sign the contract.

"The first thing is to fix the amount of the dowry of the bride, and they spend a good deal of time haggling over it, just as they do in every transaction where money is concerned. The wekeel demands more than he expects to receive, and the bridegroom offers less than he expects to give. The amount varies according to the position and property of the parties; for those in fair circumstances it is usually a little over a hundred dollars. It is arranged that the money shall be paid to the bride's deputy when the marriage contract is signed, which is generally within a couple of days.

PREPARING FOR THE WEDDING.

"When the contract is finished and the money paid over, the day is fixed—generally a couple of weeks later—for bringing the bride to the bridegroom's house. The time is consumed in preparations for the wedding; the amount of the dowry, and generally a great deal more, is spent in furniture and clothing for the bride, and all these articles are her property, and cannot be taken from her if she is divorced. The bridegroom gives a dinner and party to his friends, and for two or three nights before the wedding the street where he lives is hung with lanterns, and otherwise decorated, so that everybody may know that a wedding is about to take place.

A MARRIAGE PROCESSION AT NIGHT.

"The bride goes to the bath in the procession I have described in the first part of this letter, and afterward she is taken to the house which is to be her home. This procession is in the night, and therefore it carries a good many torches, and sometimes the effect is very pretty. Meantime the man is at the mosque saying his prayers, and when he comes home he finds his bride there with her friends.

UNVEILING THE BRIDE.

"She is still closely veiled, and in nine cases out of ten the two have never met. After a feast, which he has ordered before going to the mosque, he is permitted to raise her veil, and has an opportunity to look for the first time on the features of his wife. No matter how much either of them may be disappointed in the appearance of the other, they are expected to smile and seem happy.

"In some parts of the East the bridegroom comes to the house accompanied by torches and music, and with a small boy walking at his side dressed like himself, and instructed to imitate all his motions. He carries a folded handkerchief held close to his face, and the boy does the same; a little behind them is a girl mounted on a horse, and dressed like the bride, and attended by two men who are supposed to be her guards. When this procession approaches the house, the friends of the bride light their lamps and go out a short distance to meet the procession. It is probably from this custom that we have the passage of Scripture which says, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.'"

While Frank was busy with his account of the wedding-party, Fred was occupied with another and sadder procession he had seen the same day. While walking in the Mooskee he met a funeral-party on its way to the cemetery, near the Tombs of the Caliphs, and his curiosity led him to ascertain some particulars concerning funerals in the East.

BLIND MUSICIANS AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

"The procession that I saw," said Fred, "was led by half a dozen blind men, who walked slowly two and two together, and chanted the Moslem confession of faith—'There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the apostle of God!' Behind them came several men who were relatives of the deceased, and then there was an open space of three or four yards. Beyond the open space were four boys in pairs; the front pair carried a copy of the Koran on a small frame or desk, covered with an embroidered handkerchief, and the second pair had their hands empty.

"Then came the coffin on a bier, supported on the shoulders of four men, and covered with a red shawl; the bearers were changed every few minutes, and those who were relieved took their places in the group behind the blind men. Behind the bier were several women, who frequently shrieked as if in great grief. I was told that some of them were the family of the dead man, and the rest were mourners who had been hired, according to the custom of the country. From long practice in their profession they were able to shriek louder than the real mourners.

"The funeral of a rich man is sometimes preceded by three or four camels laden with provisions that are to be given at the tomb to any poor people who may ask for them. Then there will be a good many people in the procession, including men who have been invited to the funeral, and members of several religious sects, each delegation being not less than four. Sometimes the flags of some of the orders of dervishes will be carried in the procession, and the line is closed by servants leading two or three horses.

"The party generally stops at a mosque, where prayers are said, and the first chapter of the Koran is repeated by a priest, and then it moves on to the cemetery. The ceremony at the tomb is very brief, and consists of a few prayers and the wailing of the hired mourners. The blind men and boys who have accompanied the procession receive their pay as soon as the body is laid in the ground, and then the funeral is supposed to be ended."

[Chapter XI.]

ASCENDING THE NILE.—SIGHTS AND SCENES ON THE RIVER.

Having explored Cairo and its neighborhood to their satisfaction, our friends turned their attention to the Nile. They wished to make a voyage up the mysterious river as far as the first cataract. The time at their disposal did not permit them to plan a more extended journey.

They found on investigation that there were two ways of ascending the Nile, and each had its advantages and disadvantages.

VIEW ON THE NILE NEAR CAIRO.

The old way of making the journey is by sailing-boat, or dahabeeah. The more modern system is by steamboat, and before many years it will be possible to go by rail along the banks of the river to the first cataract, and ultimately to Khartoum and Gondokaro, if the present scheme of railways in Egypt is carried out.

ANCIENT BOAT ON THE NILE.

The most comfortable form of travel on the Nile is by dahabeeah, but it is also the most expensive, and requires more time than the steamboat. From Cairo to the first cataract and back will require from six to eight weeks by dahabeeah, and if the journey is prolonged to the second cataract, two or three weeks must be added. Three weeks will cover the round trip to the first cataract and back by steamboat, and five weeks will include the second cataract.

For the steamboat trip you have no trouble except to buy your ticket, go on board at the appointed day and hour, and submit patiently to the various impositions devised by the contractors who manage the business. The movements of the boat are carefully arranged beforehand, and the time for visiting the various temples, tombs, and other interesting things on the journey, is all on the schedule of the dragoman or conductor. Travellers of various nationalities are herded together, and must move at the beck and call of the conductor. There is a printed programme of the places to be visited and the hours for visiting them, and if no accident happens you can count on being back in Cairo in twenty days and four hours from the time of starting.

A facetious traveller, who made the Nile journey by steamboat, says that the conductor of his party had a private programme on which was marked the time to be devoted to sentiment as well as to sight-seeing. As they approached the great hall of the Temple of Karnak the conductor glanced at his programme and said,

"Gentlemen, prepare for sublime emotion!"

Of course due preparations were made, and when the grandeur of the hall was visible they gave utterance to the regulation number of "ohs!" and "ahs!" When these were ended, and silence came again, the guide looked at his watch and called out,

"Five minutes for sublime emotion!"

When time was up they moved on. At another place they had "five minutes for musing on the decayed glories of ancient Egypt," and at another they were requested to "think of the havoc that the centuries have wrought."

In travelling by dahabeeah you charter the boat, and make up your own party. In a general way you are your own master, and can say where, and for how long, you will stop. During the winter the wind blows pretty steadily from north to south, so that you sail up the Nile with the breeze in your favor. On the return the great sail is lowered, and the crew row the boat with the current. Their rowing is just enough to give steerage-way, and the flowing river brings you safely back to Cairo.

The steamboat fare to the first cataract and back is £50 ($250), and to the second cataract £80 ($400). This includes meals, guides, donkeys, and some of the fees for seeing temples and tombs, but does not include saddles for riding the aforesaid donkeys, nor does it embrace the use of a chair for the deck of the boat. There are constant demands for backsheesh for various things, and the passengers are expected to make up a liberal purse at the end of the voyage for distribution among the officers, crew, and servants. About £5 ($25) will be needed for these inevitable "extras."

The dahabeeah journey will usually cost $1500 for two persons to the first cataract and back, and $2000 for four persons; about $500 should be added in each case for the second cataract. For these figures you can get a large, well-fitted boat, and will be entitled to live with every possible comfort. Smaller and plainer boats may be had for less money, and the food supplied by the dragoman will be correspondingly less luxurious. Prices vary according to the season, and the number of travellers desiring to make the journey, and it sometimes happens that a good boat may be had for less than the figures named above.

The dahabeeah journey can be made by time or by the course; either way is not altogether satisfactory, and a traveller who has made it by one method generally advises his friends to try the other. If you go by time, the dragoman manages to delay you as much as he can, and will invent unheard-of excuses for stopping the boat; if you go by the course, he hurries you along altogether too rapidly, and you often find that you have sailed by a place you specially desired to visit. All things considered, the best plan is to charter the boat by the course, with a stipulation for a certain number of days for stoppages at the interesting points. From fourteen to twenty days are the ordinary stipulations for stoppages, and the whole journey can be made from Cairo to the first cataract and back in about fifty days. [For forms of contract see Murray's "Hand-book for Egypt.">[

A dahabeeah journey would have made our friends too late for their contemplated trip to Palestine and Syria, and so they decided to go by steamboat.

They left Boulak one pleasant afternoon a few minutes past three o'clock, and steamed slowly up the river. The boys sat beneath the awning that covered the deck and watched the gray walls of Cairo, the palaces and hovels, the gardens of the island of Rhoda, and the green fields that stretched out from the western bank till they met the glistening sands of the desert near the platform where the Pyramids of Gizeh rise toward the sky. On the other side of the river the Mokattam hills bounded the horizon, and marked the beginning of the Libyan Desert; the tufted palm-trees waved here and there, sometimes in clusters or groups, and at others standing solitary in the surrounding waste. On the land there were trains of stately camels, and on the water the boats of the natives ploughed slowly along, many of them laden till their gunwales were dangerously near the water. As the boat steamed onward, the Citadel of Cairo, with the slender minarets of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, faded away in the distance, the broad valley became more and more enclosed, the hills seemed to shut in upon the river, and when the sun went down the great pyramids were little more than specks on the horizon, and just visible through the palm-trees.

Having seen the Doctor and his young friends well under-way toward the South, we will rely for a while on the journal which was kept by Frank and Fred. After recording their departure from Cairo, and briefly describing the scenes on the river, the journal says:

A VILLAGE ON THE BANK OF THE RIVER.

"We were told that the steamers did not run at night on account of the liability to get on sand-bars, and the possibility of collisions with sailing boats. True to the promise, the boat came to anchor soon after sunset; or, rather, it was brought to the bank and made fast. We were just below a small village, and wanted to go to see it, but the guide said it was unsafe to venture there after dark, on account of the number of dogs prowling about. Egyptian dogs have a great antipathy to foreigners, as we have already learned, and are not to be carelessly approached.

"The Orientals regard the dog as an unclean beast, and do not keep him for a pet, as is the custom of Europe and America. Consequently, nearly all the dogs you see around an Eastern city are houseless and homeless, and a very ordinary set of curs they are. There are great numbers of them, and they manage to pick up a living by serving as scavengers, and by stealing whenever they have a chance. They do not disturb the natives, but have such a hatred for strangers that they are often dangerous; they have no terror for sticks and whips, and the only way to drive them is by pelting them with stones. In the daytime they rarely do more than bark and growl; but at night they are bolder, and as they can sneak up to you under cover of the darkness, you must look out for their teeth.

GENERAL VIEW OF AN EASTERN CITY.

"We were off by daybreak the next morning, and as there was a mist hanging over the river the scenery was of no special consequence. About eight o'clock we stopped at a village to get some milk; Fred and I followed the conductor, and were soon in a tangle of narrow lanes and mud huts that seemed a perfect labyrinth. The dogs barked, chickens cackled and flew to shelter, as if they knew that the advent of strangers was the signal for them to be killed, and two or three cows took fright at our appearance and ran into the houses. We made a sensation, but evidently the natives were not pleased at our visit, to judge by their scowling faces.

"For several hours we steamed on in what is said to be a very uninteresting part of the river, and certainly one hour was very much like another. The villages had a family resemblance to each other—the banks were generally low and crumbling, and the barren hills were not agreeable resting-places for the eye. Donkeys, camels, and Arabs, succeeded by camels, Arabs, and donkeys, were the moving sights on shore, in contrast to the numerous boats that dotted the river. Sand-bars and islands relieved the monotony of the river, and there were occasional tufts of palm-trees fringing the bank or rising against the gray hills of the desert.

"Many of the boats on the river were dahabeeahs on their way southward with pleasure parties, and they are fitted up with great luxury, as we had a chance to observe. They usually carry the national flag of the party that charters them, and it is always a pleasure to us to see the Stars and Stripes floating over one of these boats.

"We stopped about noon to repair some slight damage to the machinery, and it happened that a large dahabeeah was tied up to the bank close to where the steamer was made fast. A gentleman came from her to the steamer; very soon we found he was a Mr. W——, an artist from New York, and, though he and Doctor Bronson had never met before, they had a good many mutual acquaintances. The result was we were invited to visit the dahabeeah, with the understanding that the steamer would give warning of her readiness to leave by blowing her whistle.

"The dahabeeah is built somewhat after the model of the ships of a century ago—that is, she is low forward, and has a high cabin aft. The forward part is appropriated to the crew, and the stern to the passengers, the sailors only going there for handling the sails or performing other work. The cabin is entered from the deck, and consisted, in this instance, of a saloon the whole width of the boat, with sofas on each side, and nicely fitted with chairs and mirrors. Beyond the saloon there were four single cabins; at the stern there was a larger cabin and a bath-room, besides a good-sized closet where linen and other things were kept. Between the saloon and the entrance there was a pantry on one side and a room for the dragoman on the other; the galley or kitchen was near the bow of the boat, and the provisions were stowed in the hold, or kept in the store-room at the stern.

A PLAGUE OF FLIES.

"We stayed a little while in the saloon and then went on deck, or to the roof of the cabin, which was covered with an awning. The air was cooler here than in the cabin, and, besides, the flies were not as abundant. Let us remark here that the worst annoyance of the Nile voyage is the number of flies that you have to fight; they are one of 'the plagues of Egypt' now, as they were in the time of Moses, and there is no way of being rid of them.

"Mr. W—— told us that when the wind was light the flies covered the boat and greatly annoyed them; but they had curtains for the saloon and the small rooms, and could protect their faces by means of nets drawn around their hats. The crew, at such times, wrapped their burnouses around their heads, or sat with switches in their hands to keep away the pests. Either mode of getting rid of the annoyance was uncomfortable; it was stifling hot with the head covered, and it required continual exertion to make the switch effective.

A KANGIA.

"Our new acquaintance called attention to a freight-boat that lay just beyond his dahabeeah, and to the general resemblance between the two. 'That boat,' said he, 'is called a kangia, and is sometimes used for travelling purposes by the natives, and by tourists whose purses are limited. You see it has the shape and style of the dahabeeah, but is much smaller, and the cabin can only accommodate one or two persons without crowding. A friend of mine once made the Nile trip in a kangia, and said he had a good time; but he was young and vigorous, and spoke sufficient Arabic to get along without a dragoman. The kangia wouldn't do for persons liable to be incommoded by scanty fare and poor quarters, and I shouldn't recommend it.'

THE CAPTAIN.

"While he was telling us that his crew consisted of twelve men and a captain, besides the dragoman, two cabin servants, and a cook—that there were four of them in the party, two Americans and two Englishmen, and giving us other information—the whistle sounded, and we returned to the steamer. The wind freshened as we went on board, and the dahabeeah started close behind us, and came ploughing along in our rear. She could not sail as fast as we steamed, and in an hour or more we lost sight of her in a bend of the river.

"In the afternoon we passed a cliff on the east bank of the river, where there is a Coptic convent; its inmates are in the habit of visiting passing boats to beg for backsheesh, and as we approached the cliff we saw a dozen or more of their heads in the water. Four of them managed to get into the small boats that we towed astern, and they did it while we were going along at full speed.

"How do you suppose they managed it?

"They got out into the river as near as they could to where the steamer would pass without being liable to be struck by her wheels. As soon as the wheel was past them they swum with all their might directly toward the boat, and in this way several succeeded in grasping the skiffs and climbing into them. They do not swim like ourselves, with both hands together, but strike out hand-after-hand, or, to express it more plainly, 'dog-fashion.'

"These men were entirely without clothing, and when they received any money they put it in their mouths. We gave one of them so many copper coins that his cheeks were filled almost to bursting, and when he dived off the boat to go home with his load he appeared as though suffering from a bad case of inflamed jaw.

"The Doctor says the Copts are supposed to be the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, and their features closely resemble those that we find pictured on the walls of the temples and tombs. The most of them are Christians, and they form about a sixteenth of the population of Egypt: their ancient language is used in the churches for reading prayers, just as the Catholics use Latin, and the Russians Sclavonic. In daily life they speak Arabic: they are better educated than the rest of the people, and are largely employed in shops and in the government offices, and frequently go into business for themselves on an extensive scale.

"The Copts were converted to Christianity very early in the history of that religion, but their doctrines were so mixed up with Eastern superstitions and practices that they were denounced by the Church in the sixth century. They have several convents that are supported by donations, and the occupants never omit an opportunity to beg. The men that climbed into our skiffs kept calling out 'backsheesh, howadji—ana Chritiana' (a present, gentlemen—I am a Christian), and these words seemed to be their whole stock in trade.

"We did not leave the region of pyramids behind us when we lost sight of Gizeh and Sakkara. We passed in sight of the Pyramid of Meidoon, which is older than the Pyramids of Gizeh, and disputes antiquity with those of Sakkara. The Arabs call it the False Pyramid, as it is built over a large rock, which forms a considerable part of its solid contents. There are tombs all around it, and many of them have been explored. Two statues were found there which belong to the third dynasty, and are wonderfully life-like in appearance. Quite recently the pyramid has been opened, and discoveries made that throw considerable light on the ancient history of the country. We have no time to visit Meidoon, and perhaps we shall have had enough of antiquities before our voyage on the Nile is ended.

A GOURD RAFT.

"We have seen boats of all sizes and shapes; some of them seem to be perfect reproductions of the craft used by the ancient Egyptians, and others are more modern. We saw a man fishing on what appeared to be a raft just large enough to hold him, and it seemed a wonder that his weight did not sink it. While we were looking at it, Doctor Bronson explained that it was supported by empty gourds beneath a flooring of reeds, the gourds being kept from floating away by means of a slight net-work. Later on we had a chance to examine one of these frail structures, and make a sketch of it.

THE RAFT SEEN FROM BELOW.

"Beyond Meidoon we passed a good many sugar plantations, and saw the steam rising from the engines that drive the heavy machinery. On the banks of the river there were many shadoofs and sakkiehs at work, and now and then we saw steam-pumps puffing away, to raise water for irrigating the fertile land. Many of the large cultivators find it economical to raise water by steam-power rather than by the old system of hand-labor, though the high price of coal makes steam-pumping very costly.

"We are told that no coal is found in Egypt, the entire supply needed for the railway and other modes of consumption being imported from England. The government has spent considerable money in looking for coal, but thus far has found only a few small beds, that will not pay for working. Perhaps they will find some one of these days, and thus save a heavy outlay of money every year for imported coal. Private parties have no inducement to search for this valuable mineral, as the government would immediately take possession of a coal-mine, and if the discoverer ventured to object, he might spend the rest of his life in prison for his impudence."

[Chapter XII.]

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.