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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58837 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Book Cover]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+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.
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+ FROM BOMBAY TO SUEZ.--THE RED SEA, MECCA, AND MOUNT SINAI. 13
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+ SUEZ.--WHERE THE ISRAELITES CROSSED THE RED SEA.--THE SUEZ CANAL. 24
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+ FROM SUEZ TO CAIRO.--THROUGH THE LAND OF GOSHEN. 38
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+ STREET SCENES IN CAIRO. 52
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+ A RAMBLE THROUGH THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO. 65
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+ MOSQUES, DERVISHES, AND SCHOOLS.--EDUCATION IN EGYPT. 78
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+ THE CITADEL.--THE TOMBS OF THE CALIPHS.--THE NILOMETER.--THE
+ ROSETTA STONE. 90
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ WONDERS OF THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES. 104
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+ THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH AND SAKKARA.--MEMPHIS AND THE APIS
+ MAUSOLEUM. 117
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+ AN ORIENTAL BATH.--EGYPTIAN WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS. 133
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+
+ ASCENDING THE NILE.--SIGHTS AND SCENES ON THE RIVER. 145
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+
+ SUGAR PLANTATIONS AND MILLS.--SNAKE-CHARMERS.--SIGHTS AT
+ BENI-HASSAN. 155
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ SIOOT, THE ANCIENT LYCOPOLIS.--SCENES ON THE RIVER. 167
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ GIRGEH AND KENEH.--THE TEMPLES OF ABYDUS AND DENDERAH.--AN
+ EGYPTIAN DANCE. 177
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+
+ ARRIVAL AT LUXOR.--THE GREAT TEMPLE OF KARNAK. 190
+
+ CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ THE RAMESEUM, MEDINET ABOO, AND THE VOCAL MEMNON. 204
+
+ CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS.--RECENT DISCOVERIES OF ROYAL MUMMIES. 214
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+ HAREM LIFE IN THE EAST.--FROM LUXOR TO ASSOUAN. 226
+
+ CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ A CAMEL JOURNEY.--THE ISLAND OF PHILÆ, AND THE FIRST CATARACT
+ OF THE NILE. 240
+
+ CHAPTER XX.
+
+ FROM ASSOUAN TO ALEXANDRIA.--FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 253
+
+ CHAPTER XXI.
+
+ VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO PALESTINE.--JOURNEY FROM JAFFA TO RAMLEH. 267
+
+ CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ FROM RAMLEH TO JERUSALEM.--THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 280
+
+ CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+ IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 295
+
+ CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ FROM JERUSALEM TO BETHLEHEM.--CHURCH AND GROTTO OF THE NATIVITY. 310
+
+ CHAPTER XXV.
+
+ FROM BETHLEHEM TO MAR SABA AND THE DEAD SEA. 326
+
+ CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ FROM THE DEAD SEA TO THE JORDAN, JERICHO, AND JERUSALEM.--THE
+ VALLEY OF THE JORDAN. 342
+
+ CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+ FROM JERUSALEM TO NABULUS.--HISTORIC PLACES ON THE ROUTE. 355
+
+ CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+ FROM NABULUS TO NAZARETH, SAMARIA, JENIN, AND THE PLAIN OF
+ ESDRAELON. 368
+
+ CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+ ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR.--AROUND AND ON THE SEA OF GALILEE. 385
+
+ CHAPTER XXX.
+
+ FROM GALILEE TO DAMASCUS.--A RIDE THROUGH DAN AND BANIAS. 399
+
+ CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+ SIGHTS AND SCENES IN DAMASCUS. 411
+
+ CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+ DAMASCUS TO BEYROOT.--THE RUINS OF BAALBEC.--FAREWELL. 425
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+ A Scene in Egypt. _Frontispiece._
+ Coast of the Red Sea. 13
+ View in Jeddah, on the Red Sea. 17
+ Captain Burton in Native Dress. 19
+ Encampment of Pilgrims at Mount Arafat, near Mecca. 20
+ View of Medina (from a Drawing by a Native Artist). 21
+ Scene near Suez. 22
+ Travelling in the Sinai Desert. 23
+ A Shop in Suez. 25
+ The Northern End of the Gulf of Suez. 26
+ "Ayoon Moosa"--the Wells of Moses. 28
+ Preaching in a Mosque. 29
+ A Landing-place on the Fresh-water Canal. 31
+ Oriental Ships of Ancient Times. 32
+ Ferdinand De Lesseps. 34
+ Suez Canal and Eastern Egypt. 35
+ Night Scene on Lake Menzaleh. 37
+ Camel and Young. 38
+ Desert Scene in Eastern Egypt. 40
+ The Modern Shadoof. 41
+ An Ancient Shadoof. 42
+ A Sakkieh, or Water-wheel. 42
+ A Ploughman at Work. 43
+ An Ancient Plough. 44
+ An Egyptian Thrashing-machine. 45
+ Ancient Process of Treading out the Corn. 45
+ Egyptian Lentils. 46
+ The Pyramids. 47
+ A Question of Backsheesh. 48
+ A Street in Cairo. 50
+ A Projecting Window. 51
+ A Caliph of Egypt on his Throne. 53
+ Part of Old Cairo. 54
+ A Peddler of Jewellery. 56
+ A Lady in Street Dress. 57
+ A Woman Carrying Water. 57
+ The Fountain of a Mosque. 58
+ A Beggar at the Way-side. 59
+ A Man Carrying his Keys. 60
+ An Oriental Band of Music. 61
+ The Nay (Flute) and Case. 62
+ Ancient Egyptian Playing the Nay. 62
+ The Tamboora. 63
+ A Darabookah. 63
+ Coffee-pot and Cups. 64
+ Oriental Shopkeeper Examining his Books. 65
+ Interior of a Caravansary. 66
+ Gate-way of a Caravansary. 67
+ A Street in a Bazaar at Cairo. 68
+ Shopping Scene in the Hamzowee. 70
+ Eastern Necklaces. 71
+ Weighing Gold in the Jewellers' Bazaar. 71
+ Kitchen Utensils. 73
+ Basin and Ewer. 74
+ Bottle for Rose-water. 75
+ Oriental Guns. 75
+ Bab-el-Nasr. 76
+ Street Scene near the Bab-el-Nasr. 77
+ The Mosque of Tooloon. 78
+ Mihrab, Pulpit, and Candlestick in a Mosque. 79
+ A Begging Dervish. 81
+ A Whirling Dervish. 82
+ Performance of the Whirling Dervishes. 83
+ A Whirler in full Action. 84
+ Arabic Writing, with Impression of a Seal. 85
+ Scene in a Primary School. 86
+ Instruction at Home. 87
+ Entrance to the El-Azhar. 88
+ Professors of the El-Azhar. 89
+ The Citadel, Cairo, with Mosque of Mohammed Ali. 90
+ View from the Citadel, Cairo. 92
+ The Tombs of the Caliphs. 94
+ The Tomb of Keit Bey. 95
+ The Ferry at Old Cairo. 96
+ The Dress of an Egyptian King. Form of Crown and Aprons. 98
+ Menes. 99
+ Rameses II., from an Inscription. 99
+ Meneptah, the supposed Pharaoh of the Exodus. 100
+ The Name of Egypt in Hieroglyphics. 101
+ Ptolemy in Hieroglyphics. 101
+ The Rosetta Stone, with Specimen Lines from the Inscription. 102
+ Specimens of the Three Forms of Writing Used by the Egyptians. 102
+ Dedication of the Pylon of a Temple. 103
+ Egyptian Sculptors at Work. 104
+ Wooden Statue Found at Sakkara. 105
+ Wooden Dolls. 106
+ Children's Toys. 107
+ Positions in Playing Ball. 107
+ Balls of Leather and Porcelain. 108
+ Playing Ball Mounted. 108
+ Playing Checkers. 109
+ Sand-bag Exercise. 109
+ A Bull-fight. 110
+ Goddesses of Truth and Justice. 110
+ The Name of Apis, an Egyptian God, in Hieroglyphics. 111
+ King and Queen Offering to the Gods. 111
+ Different Forms of Mummy Cases. 112
+ Transporting a Mummy on a Sledge. 112
+ Goddess of Truth, with her Eyes Closed. 113
+ Lady's Head-dress on a Mummy Case. 113
+ Rings, Bracelets, and Scarabæi. 114
+ Stone Scarabæus with Wings. 114
+ Jeweller with Blow-pipe. 115
+ Egyptian Goldsmiths (from a Painting at Thebes). 115
+ Golden Baskets (from the Tomb of Rameses III.). 116
+ Dresses of Women of Ancient Egypt. 116
+ Camels and their Burdens. 117
+ Old Mode of Transport on the Nile. 118
+ Near View of the Pyramids. 119
+ The Battle of the Pyramids.--"Forty centuries look down on you". 121
+ Egyptian Captives Employed at Hard Labor. 122
+ Removing Stone from the Quarries. 123
+ Cutting and Squaring Blocks of Stone. 124
+ Section of the Great Pyramid. 125
+ The Sphinx. 126
+ The Sphinx by Moonlight. 127
+ Egyptian Captives Making Bricks. 128
+ Ploughing and Sowing. 129
+ Taking it Easy. 129
+ A Hunting Scene. 130
+ Bronze Figure of Apis. 131
+ Huntsman with Dogs and Game. 131
+ An Arched Tomb at Sakkara. 132
+ Central Room of the Bath. 134
+ The Man who didn't Like it. 135
+ The Barber. 137
+ The Bath among the Ancient Egyptians. 138
+ A Khatibeh, or Marriage-broker. 140
+ Preparing for the Wedding. 141
+ A Marriage Procession at Night. 142
+ Unveiling the Bride. 143
+ Blind Musicians among the Ancient Egyptians. 144
+ View on the Nile near Cairo. 145
+ Ancient Boat on the Nile. 146
+ A Village on the Bank of the River. 148
+ General View of an Eastern City. 149
+ A Plague of Flies. 151
+ A Kangia. 151
+ The Captain. 152
+ A Gourd Raft. 154
+ The Raft seen from Below. 154
+ View on a Sugar Plantation. 156
+ Interior of a Sugar-mill. 158
+ A Secure Point of View. 159
+ Interior of a Tomb at Beni-Hassan. 161
+ Section of a Tomb. 162
+ Spinning and Weaving. 163
+ Artists at Work. 164
+ Fishing Scene at Beni-Hassan. 164
+ An Ancient Donkey. 165
+ A Respectable Citizen. 165
+ An Old Inhabitant. 166
+ A Scene near Sioot. 167
+ A Scene in the Bazaars. 168
+ Room in an Oriental House. 170
+ An Oriental Gentleman. 170
+ An Egyptian Lamp. 171
+ Pigeon-houses. 173
+ The Oriental Pigeon. 173
+ A Watchman's Booth. 174
+ Inflated Skin Raft (from Assyrian Sculpture). 174
+ An Ancient Life-preserver. 175
+ Modern "Keleks," or Skin Rafts. 176
+ Girgeh. 177
+ Scene during the Inundation. 178
+ A Camel on his way to Pasture. 179
+ Heads of Captives of Rameses II. 180
+ A Lunch-party of Other Days. 181
+ Ancient Potters at Work. 183
+ Ancient Vases, Cups, and Water-jars. 184
+ Date-palms, near Keneh. 185
+ Ancient Dancers and Musicians. 186
+ A Modern Musician. 186
+ An Egyptian King on his Throne. 187
+ Front of the Temple at Denderah. 188
+ Egyptian Prince Carried in a Palanquin. 189
+ A Complete Egyptian Temple. 191
+ A "Baris," or Funeral-boat. 192
+ An Egyptian War-chariot of Ancient Times. 194
+ Luxor from the Water. 195
+ Entrance to the Temple of Luxor. 197
+ Approach to Karnak from Luxor. 198
+ The Great Hall of Karnak. 199
+ Grand Court-yard of the Temple. 200
+ A Body of Archers. 201
+ Making a List of Captives. 201
+ Obelisk and part of Grand Hall at Karnak. 202
+ Egyptian Soldiers. 203
+ Dry Footing. 204
+ Ruins in Old Thebes. 205
+ Grand Hall of the Memnonium. 206
+ View in the Memnonium, with Ruined Statue of Rameses the Great. 207
+ The Phalanx of the Sheta. 208
+ Medinet Aboo. 209
+ An Egyptian War-boat. 210
+ The Colossi during an Inundation. 211
+ Egyptian Priests clad in Leopard-skins. 212
+ Rear View of the Colossi, with Luxor in the Distance. 213
+ Sacred Musicians, and a Priest Offering Incense. 214
+ Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. 215
+ View in Belzoni's Tomb. 216
+ An Egyptian Harper. 219
+ A Chair from Bruce's Tomb. 220
+ Section of Papyrus. 222
+ Coffin and Mummy of a Royal Princess. 223
+ Coffin of Queen Nofretari. 224
+ Coffin of Rameses II. 225
+ An Oriental Lady at Home. 226
+ Eastern Ladies Listening to Music. 228
+ An Oriental Dancing Girl. 230
+ An Eastern Story-teller. 231
+ A Reception in a Harem. 233
+ Sculptures Mutilated by the Persians. 234
+ A Thing of Beauty. 235
+ View in the Temple of Edfoo. 236
+ Hagar Silsilis. 237
+ The Foot of the First Cataract. 238
+ The Ship of the Desert. 241
+ Bedouin Arabs with their Camel Herds. 242
+ Camels (from an Assyrian Sculpture). 243
+ A Bactrian Camel in Good Condition. 243
+ Foot and Stomach of the Camel. 244
+ Head of a Camel. 244
+ The Dromedary Regiment of Napoleon I. 245
+ View of Philæ from the Head of the Cataract. 247
+ The Bank of the River below Philæ. 248
+ Pharaoh's Bed and the Ruins of the Temple. 249
+ View from Philæ, looking Up the River. 250
+ The Papyrus Jungles of the Nile. 251
+ An Ancient Poultry-shop. 253
+ An Arab and his Camel. 255
+ Colossal Heads in Front of the Temple of Abou Simbel. 256
+ Public Square at Khartoom. 258
+ Egyptian Soldiers on Camels. 259
+ The Barrage of the Nile. 262
+ General View of Alexandria. 262
+ Cleopatra's Needle at Alexandria. 264
+ Pompey's Pillar. 265
+ View of Alexandria from the Sea. 266
+ Front of an Eastern Summer-house. 268
+ One of the Dragomen. 269
+ Joppa. 271
+ A Second-class Horse. 272
+ The City Gate of Jaffa. 273
+ Women at a Well. 275
+ Public Fountain at Jerusalem. 276
+ One of the Wells of Beersheba, with its Watering-troughs. 277
+ Interior of a Cistern. 278
+ Cistern Under the Temple of Jerusalem. 278
+ A Syrian Horseman. 280
+ The Tower of Ramleh (from Thomson's "The Land and the Book"). 282
+ Road in the Foot-hills. 284
+ View of Jerusalem from the East. 285
+ Plan of Jerusalem. 287
+ The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 290
+ Ground-plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 291
+ The Holy Sepulchre. 292
+ Ancient Arch in Jerusalem. 295
+ Arms of Jerusalem. 297
+ Knights of St Catherine. 297
+ The Via Dolorosa. 298
+ The Damascus Gate. 299
+ View of the Mosque of Omar and the Mount of Olives. 301
+ Wall at South-east Corner of the Temple Area. 303
+ Wailing-place of the Jews. 304
+ The Pool of Bethesda. 306
+ The Pool of Siloam. 307
+ Quarries Under Jerusalem. 308
+ View on the Mount of Olives. 311
+ Gethsemane. 312
+ A Sycamore-tree. 313
+ The Road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. 315
+ The Tomb of Rachel. 316
+ Entrance to Bethlehem. 317
+ View in Bethlehem. 319
+ Interior of the Church of the Nativity. 321
+ The Place of the Nativity. 322
+ The Manger. 323
+ Adoration of the Wise Men. 323
+ The Flight into Egypt. 324
+ An Arab Encampment. 327
+ A Bedouin Sheik. 328
+ Modern Bedouins of Mount Sinai. 329
+ Scene in the Wilderness. 330
+ An Arab Guard in Palestine. 331
+ Mar Saba (from Thomson's "The Land and the Book"). 332
+ Russian Pilgrims in the Holy Land. 334
+ Road to the Dead Sea. 334
+ The Dead Sea from the North. 335
+ Map of the Dead Sea. 337
+ Lynch's Expedition to the Dead Sea. 338
+ Lynch's Levelling Party. 339
+ The Cavern of Usdum. 340
+ Reeds and Rushes on the Jordan. 342
+ An Arab Skirmish in the Land of Moab. 343
+ Bathing-place of the Pilgrims (from Thomson's "The Land and
+ the Book"). 345
+ Source of the Jordan. 347
+ Passage of the Israelites. 347
+ Map of the Jordan. 348
+ Recent Aspect of the Plain of Jericho. 350
+ Ain-es-Sultan, or Fountain of Elisha (from Thomson's "The Land
+ and the Book"). 351
+ The Village of Bethany. 353
+ The Hotel-keeper. 355
+ Scene on the Overland Route from Jerusalem. 357
+ By Babel's Stream. 358
+ The Grapes of Eshcol. 359
+ Hebron. 360
+ Street Scene in Bireh. 362
+ A Native Group at a Fountain. 363
+ Beasts of Burden. 365
+ Roof of a House in Nabulus. 366
+ The Woman of Samaria. 367
+ View of Nabulus. 369
+ An Ancient Olive-press. 370
+ Women Working an Olive-press. 370
+ Ancient Lamps (Matt. xxv. 1). 371
+ Modern Lamps. 371
+ Samaritans Bearing Tribute--an Assyrian Sculpture (2 Kings
+ xvii. 3). 372
+ Sebustieh, the Ancient Samaria. 374
+ View of Jenin, the Ancient Engannim. 376
+ Map of the Valley of Esdraelon. 377
+ The Plan of Nazareth. 378
+ View of Nazareth. 380
+ The Annunciation. 382
+ The Country near Nazareth, with the Town in the Distance. 383
+ Home of a Cave-hermit in Palestine. 386
+ Mount Tabor. 387
+ Distant View of Kefr Kenna. 388
+ The City and Lake of Tiberias. 390
+ Map of the Sea of Galilee. 392
+ Magdala and Plain of Gennesaret. 393
+ Herod's Plan of Attack. 394
+ Battle with the Robbers. 395
+ A Galilee Fishing-boat. 396
+ Ruins at Tell Hum. 397
+ View of the Lake from the Western Shore. 398
+ The Rock Partridge. 399
+ The Plain of Huleh. 400
+ Huts near Lake Huleh. 401
+ An Army of Kedesh. 402
+ Head-spring of the Jordan near Hasbeiyah. 405
+ Map of the Sources of the Jordan. 406
+ Terebinth-tree at Banias. 406
+ Substructions of the Castle of Banias. 407
+ View from the Castle of Banias. 409
+ A Street in Damascus. 410
+ General View of Damascus. 411
+ Interior of a House in Damascus. 413
+ Bedouin Camp near Damascus. 416
+ A Scene in Damascus. 419
+ Portrait of Abd-el-Kader. 420
+ Sword-blades of Damascus. 421
+ Damask Goods. 422
+ Attack on the Citadel of Damascus before the Invention of
+ Gunpowder. 423
+ Paul Led into Damascus. 424
+ A Caravan near Damascus. 425
+ The River among the Rocks. 426
+ The Fijeh Source of the Abana. 427
+ The Ruins of Baalbec. 429
+ Modern Wine-press. 431
+ Bridge Over the Litany. 432
+ The Cedars of Lebanon. 433
+ View of Beyroot, looking toward the Harbor. 435
+ Mission School in Syria. 436
+ Fountain at Beyroot. 437
+ Lebanon. 438
+ MAP OF EGYPT. _Front Cover._
+ MAP OF THE HOLY LAND. _Back Cover._
+
+
+
+
+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]
+
+[1] "The Boy Travellers in the Far East." Parts I., II., and III.
+Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan, China, Siam, Java,
+Cambodia, Sumatra, the Malay Archipelago, Ceylon, Burmah, Borneo, the
+Philippine Islands, and India. By Thomas W. Knox. Published by Harper &
+Brothers, New York.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: "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.
+
+[Illustration: 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?"
+
+[Illustration: 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_.
+
+[Illustration: 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:
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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]
+
+[2] In 1881 the receipts were 51,080,355 fr., which is 11,239,866 fr. in
+excess of the receipts for 1880. The number of English vessels that
+passed through the Canal was not only larger than the total for all
+other nations, it was nearly four times as large as that total, and the
+English percentage also showed an increase over the former year. The
+number of English ships was 2256. France ranked next, but she had only
+109 ships--about one-twentieth what England had. Then came Holland, with
+70 ships; Austria, with 65; Italy, with 51; Spain, with 46; and Germany,
+with 40. Egypt had only 11--the same number that Turkey had; Norway had
+10 and China 4. Ten years ago the amount of coal supplied at Port Said
+was 126,000 tons; in 1881 it was 506,000 tons, or four times as much;
+and while the British proportion of the tonnage in 1871 was 64 per cent.
+of the total, it was 82 in 1881. Of share prices some equally
+interesting figures may be given. With a nominal value of 500 fr., they
+had fallen in 1863 to 220 fr. In 1869, the year the Canal was opened,
+they rose to 663 fr.; in 1880 they had reached 715 fr., and before the
+year closed had touched 1327 fr. They advanced to 1700 fr. in June of
+the following year, and between that month and January, 1882, went
+rapidly on to 3500 fr., but fell ere the middle of the month to 2100 fr.
+In 1881 the dividend on the shares was 9 per cent.; for 1882 it will
+probably be 12, so that 2100 fr., a point to which the shares were
+forced in a time of panic, even with dividends of 12 per cent., would
+still be far higher than the actual value of the shares.
+
+"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:
+
+ Feet
+ Width at water-line, where the banks are low 328
+ Width at water-line in deep cuttings, where the banks are high 190
+ Width at bottom of the Canal 72
+ Depth of water in the Canal 26
+
+[Illustration: 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:"
+
+ Via Cape of Good Hope. Via Canal. Saving.
+ England to Bombay 10,860 6020 4840
+ New York to Bombay 11,520 7920 3600
+ St. Petersburg to Bombay 11,610 6770 4840
+ Marseilles to Bombay 10,560 4620 5940
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+FROM SUEZ TO CAIRO.--THROUGH THE LAND OF GOSHEN.
+
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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:
+
+[Illustration: A CALIPH OF EGYPT ON HIS THRONE.]
+
+"The city known as 'Cairo' (_Ky_-ro) to Europeans is called
+Masr-el-Ka_he_rah 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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!
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.'
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: STREET SCENE NEAR THE BAB-EL-NASR.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+MOSQUES, DERVISHES, AND SCHOOLS.--EDUCATION IN EGYPT.
+
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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]
+
+[3] It is said that this injunction was made by Mohammed in order to
+prevent his converts lapsing again into the idolatry from which he had
+converted them. He enjoined them against making a representation of any
+living thing, as they might be confronted with it at the Day of
+Judgment, and required, under penalty of perpetual banishment from
+Paradise, to endow it with life.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[4] "The Boy Travellers in Ceylon and India," pp. 447, 448.
+
+"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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.'
+
+[Illustration: 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.'"
+
+[Illustration: PROFESSORS OF THE EL-AZHAR.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE CITADEL.--THE TOMBS OF THE CALIPHS.--THE NILOMETER.--THE ROSETTA
+STONE.
+
+
+[Illustration: 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:
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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:
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.'
+
+[Illustration: 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.'
+
+[Illustration: 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]
+
+[5] It was the good fortune of the author of this volume to form the
+acquaintance of Mariette Bey in Egypt, in 1874, and to meet him again in
+Paris a few years later. The death of this eminent archæologist is
+greatly regretted by all students of the history of ancient Egypt.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.'
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: POSITIONS IN PLAYING BALL.]
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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!"
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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!
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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?
+
+[Illustration: 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!
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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 4-1/2 feet long, the nose 5-1/2, and the mouth 7-1/2.
+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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.'
+
+[Illustration: 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."
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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:
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.'
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: 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.
+
+[Illustration: SECTION OF A TOMB.]
+
+The tombs are cut with pillars and vaulted roofs, in imitation of
+buildings; they belong to the eleventh and twelfth dynasties of ancient
+Egypt, and are therefore older than the tombs and temples of Thebes, but
+more modern than the Pyramids of Sakkara and Gizeh. They were made for
+the resting-places of kings and priests, but were rifled of their
+contents centuries ago; their chief value at present is in the
+sculptures, which represent many of the trades and occupations of the
+ancient Egyptians, and thus throw a vivid light on their daily life.
+
+Frank wrote the following in his note-book on his return to the steamer:
+
+"We have been able to see to-day how the ancient Egyptians lived, and
+what they did; and it seems as if I have only to close my eyes and
+imagine myself carried back five thousand years. There are barbers at
+work on their customers, and closely reminding us of the barbers of
+to-day; there are shoemakers cutting the leather, and preparing the
+thread for stitching shoes and sandals together; and there are spinners
+and weavers at work, the former using the spindle just as it is now used
+in nearly all countries, and will probably be used as long as the world
+stands.
+
+[Illustration: SPINNING AND WEAVING.]
+
+"There are glass-blowers and jewellers employed at their trades, both
+using the familiar blow-pipe, and evidently understanding it as
+perfectly as one could wish. Painters are busy with their brushes, some
+making pictures on panels or on sheets of papyrus, and others engaged in
+coloring statues or decorating walls. There are tailors and carpenters,
+boat-builders and stone-cutters, and there is a series of pictures
+representing the whole process of preparing flax, and making it into
+twine and cloth. One man brings water to fill a tank, in which other men
+are placing the flax; beyond the tank two men are beating the flax after
+it has been properly soaked; others are twisting the fibres into yarn;
+others make the yarn into ropes or cloth; and, lastly, two men hold up a
+piece of cloth that has just been finished. No description in words
+could be more clear than is this pictorial representation.
+
+[Illustration: ARTISTS AT WORK.]
+
+"But industry is not the only thing seen on the walls of the tombs of
+Beni-Hassan. Musicians are playing on instruments of different kinds.
+Men and women are dancing or singing, others are seated at table or
+around fish-ponds, and others are playing ball, throwing heavy stones,
+or engaged at games similar to our chess or backgammon. They knew how to
+enjoy themselves fifty centuries ago no less than now. There are
+unpleasant things, too, depicted on the walls of the tombs: some of the
+tortures of prisoners are shown, and in one of the paintings several
+peasants are being held on the ground while a man strikes them across
+the shoulders with a heavy whip.
+
+[Illustration: FISHING SCENE AT BENI-HASSAN.]
+
+"In one of the tombs there is a picture representing the arrival of some
+strangers, and their presentation to the King. This was long thought to
+be the arrival of Joseph and his brethren; but as the tombs are known to
+have been made several hundred years before Joseph was born, the
+pictures must refer to somebody else. There are thirty-seven figures in
+all in this group, and their faces and style of dress show that they
+came from some other country than Egypt.
+
+[Illustration: AN ANCIENT DONKEY.]
+
+"We found a picture of a donkey with a saddle on his back exactly like
+the one he wears to-day for carrying burdens. There are several
+representations of this patient little beast, not only at Beni-Hassan,
+but in the tomb of Tih, at Sakkara; in the latter whole droves are
+shown, so that the donkey must have been a common beast of burden in
+ancient, as he his in modern Egypt. If there were any doubt on the
+subject it could be settled by reference to the Old Testament, where the
+donkey, or ass, is frequently mentioned.
+
+"The conductor interrupted us in the middle of our studies of the
+sculptures, and said it was time to move on. We went to several tombs
+and found something interesting in all of them; we have not time to
+describe a tenth of what we saw, and, if you want to learn more about
+the place, we must refer you to the descriptions by Wilkinson and
+others. These gentlemen spent a long time here making sketches, and
+taking impressions by means of wet paper; as far as we know, their
+descriptions are accurate, though they do not always agree as to the
+exact meaning of the hieroglyphics which are above some of the pictures.
+
+[Illustration: A RESPECTABLE CITIZEN.]
+
+"When we came back to the boat we were annoyed by the natives begging
+for backsheesh; they were nearly as persistent as the Arabs at the
+pyramids, and if we had been a small party they might have been
+insolent. As soon as we were on board the steamer they gathered on the
+bank close to it, and kept up such a howl that one of the passengers
+threw a few copper coins for them to scramble after.
+
+"How they rolled over each other, and tossed the dust in the air! Every
+time a coin was thrown, there was a rush for it, and the rule seemed to
+be that might made right. The small children were pushed aside by the
+larger boys, and several times they would fight for the possession of a
+penny till both the combatants were exhausted, and had to stop to take
+breath.
+
+"Some coins were thrown into the shallow water at the stern of the boat,
+and instantly the boys flung off their scanty clothing and plunged in.
+They would not go far out from the bank, or, rather, they would not try
+to find coins in any depth where they could not wade; the water of the
+Nile is not at all transparent, and it was probably because they could
+not see to any depth that they refused to dive. We fastened a coin in a
+piece of wood and threw it far out into the river; half a dozen of the
+boys swum for it, and there was a very pretty race between them to get
+the prize. It was far better than the rough scramble on the bank, and we
+repeated the performance several times till the boat was ready to start
+from the landing-place.
+
+"These boys are excellent swimmers, and now that the crocodiles have
+pretty well disappeared from the Nile below the first cataract, they do
+not run much risk in exercising in the water. Doctor Bronson says there
+were many crocodiles in the river thirty years ago, but they have been
+hunted so much by tourists that very few of them are left."
+
+[Illustration: AN OLD INHABITANT.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+SIOOT, THE ANCIENT LYCOPOLIS.--SCENES ON THE RIVER.
+
+
+From Beni-sooef the steamer proceeded to Sioot, or Asyoot, a city of
+twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and one of the most important places
+of Upper Egypt. It is about two miles back from the river, from which
+water is brought by a canal, and the roadway passes along a high
+embankment lined with shade-trees. Just at the entrance of the city
+there is a picturesque gate-way, which reminded our friends of some of
+the gates of Cairo. The city is on the site of the ancient Lycopolis,
+and has borne its present name for more than two thousand years.
+Nevertheless it is called a modern town by most of the writers on
+Egyptian history, and is not allowed any claim to antiquity.
+
+[Illustration: A SCENE NEAR SIOOT.]
+
+"At the landing-place of Sioot," said the boys in their journal, "we
+found better donkeys than at Beni-sooef, and were able to ride with
+some degree of comfort. We went first to some tombs which are cut in
+the side of the mountain overlooking the valley, and were the
+burial-places of the ancient Lycopolis. There are a good many of them,
+and they were formerly well filled with mummies, but at present the
+mummies are gone, and the tombs contain nothing worth carrying away.
+According to the historical accounts the inhabitants of Lycopolis
+worshipped the wolf as a divinity, and when the tombs were plundered a
+good many mummies of wolves were found in them.
+
+"The view from the mountain where these tombs were excavated is very
+pretty, as it embraces a considerable extent of the Nile Valley; some
+writers have called it the finest in all Egypt, as there is an unbroken
+view for several miles of beautiful green such as you find nowhere else
+in the world. Dean Stanley was charmed with the spot, and compared the
+mud villages that are scattered among the luxuriant fields to the marks
+of a soiled foot on a rich carpet. The mountain has an additional
+interest to many people, as the caves in its sides were the homes of the
+early Christians during the periods of persecution.
+
+[Illustration: SCENE IN THE BAZAARS.]
+
+"We had been told that the bazaars of Sioot were almost as fine as those
+of Cairo, though naturally less extensive, and so we hurried down from
+the mountain in order to see as much as possible of the place.
+
+"It happened to be market-day when we were there, much to our delight,
+as it enabled us to see what the country-people had brought in for sale.
+The market square was crowded with people, and also with donkeys and
+camels, and we had to keep both eyes wide open to escape being run over
+or knocked down. The camels were specially dangerous, as they seemed to
+have adopted the motto of the donkey dancing among the chickens--'Let
+everybody look out for his own feet!' They had great loads of
+sugar-canes or fresh cut grass, and as these loads stuck out on each
+side they needed a wide path, and took it too. It was a wonder that they
+didn't kill somebody, or, at any rate, do a good deal of damage, but
+somehow they didn't.
+
+"All over the square were groups of men and women with heaps of
+sugar-cane, palm-stalks, beans, pease, wheat, and other products of the
+soil for sale. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry, and every transaction
+required a great deal of bargaining before it was concluded. All around
+the edge of the square was a fringe of solemn old Arabs, whose entire
+occupation appeared to be to sit on the ground and smoke their pipes.
+The stem of each pipe was about four feet long and made of a hollow
+reed, and when a man is engaged in smoking one of these pipes he can do
+very little else. In this part of the world the pipe is a very
+cumbersome thing, and occupies the entire attention of the smoker.
+
+"One of the most interesting parts of the market at Sioot was the place
+where donkeys were sold. We went to see them, and asked the prices; but
+as the natives knew we did not want to buy any, they put the figures
+absurdly high. We found out that good ones could be bought for thirty or
+forty dollars--just good common donkeys for every-day wear; but if you
+wanted a fancy animal, you must go much higher. A hundred dollars would
+buy a handsome one, with a great deal of 'style' and corresponding
+strength, and there were some for which two hundred dollars had been
+refused. A two hundred dollar donkey is something that only the wealthy
+can afford.
+
+[Illustration: ROOM IN AN ORIENTAL HOUSE.]
+
+"We had a chance to go into a fine house, and of course we embraced it
+at once. We passed through a gate-way with a lofty arch, and entered a
+narrow passage that led to the principal room of the building. They tell
+us that this passage-way is generally made crooked, in order that people
+on the street cannot look inside when the doors are open by any chance;
+this is especially the case with the women's apartments, into which no
+man except the master is allowed to look under any pretence, and great
+care is taken that he shall not do so. We were shown into the
+reception-room, which had low windows that only let in a dim light: we
+wondered at this, until our guide explained that it was desirable to
+exclude the heat as much as possible, and therefore the windows were
+made low and the walls very thick. At one end of the room there was a
+platform six inches higher than the floor; there was an alcove in the
+middle of this platform, which was supposed to face toward Mecca, and,
+consequently, it was the place of worship at the hours when prayers were
+said.
+
+"There were no chairs in the room, and no tables whatever; the only
+furniture we saw were some divans like wide sofas, and on these we were
+invited to sit while the servants brought coffee for us to drink. There
+were heavy cushions at the back of the divans, and these are arranged so
+that they can be moved around just as one may desire in order to make
+himself comfortable. The Orientals sit cross-legged on these divans, and
+not after our style; and if you invite them to occupy an arm-chair they
+will quite likely double up into it, and put their feet beneath them. It
+is torture for them to sit as we do, just as it is torture for us to sit
+in the Oriental way.
+
+[Illustration: AN ORIENTAL GENTLEMAN.]
+
+"The ordinary mode of sitting on one of these divans is to get into a
+corner, or rather to make one by piling two of the cushions together
+across the divan. If an Oriental gentleman receives you, it is quite
+likely you will find him sitting as we have described, with his feet
+gathered under him, and his shoes lying where he can easily step into
+them in case he wishes to rise. In this position he will sit for hours
+perfectly contented, or, what is quite as likely, he will fall back on
+the divan and go to sleep. The divans are occupied pretty much all the
+time, as they are used to sit upon during the day, and form
+sleeping-couches by night. As they are rarely less than three feet wide,
+are well stuffed, and covered with cloth resembling chintz, they are not
+to be despised, and form excellent substitutes for beds.
+
+[Illustration: AN EGYPTIAN LAMP.]
+
+"There was a handsome lamp in the hall-way of the house, and the Doctor
+told us it was much like the lamps that are used for decorating the
+mosques. It hung under a wooden frame in the shape of a six-pointed
+star. The ornamentation upon the outside of the body of the lamp was in
+curious patterns of arabesque design; the light was given by a series of
+little cups hanging on the outside, and not by the lamp itself. Each
+cup was partly filled with oil, and a tiny wick floated on its surface,
+and gave out a small blaze of light. It reminded us of the floating
+wicks for burning in a sick-room at home, and we readily understood why
+there were so many of them. A single flame would not have been enough to
+light the hall-way, and it was only by employing a great many that the
+proper illumination could be secured.
+
+"On leaving the house we went to the bazaars, which were crowded with
+people, partly because it was market-day, when so many country people,
+men and women, came to town, and partly because of the large party of
+strangers that had landed from the steamboat, and were sure to be in the
+bazaars before continuing their journey.
+
+"We bought some fans of ostrich feathers, which were offered for about
+half of what they would cost in Cairo. Sioot is one of the
+starting-points of the caravan routes to the regions where ostriches
+abound, and it is only natural that these things should be cheaper here
+than farther down the river. We also bought some cups and saucers, and a
+few pipe-bowls, made of a fine clay peculiar to the neighborhood of
+Sioot, and highly prized throughout Egypt. Of course we were obliged to
+bargain a long time to save ourselves from being cheated. It is of no
+use to tell these people you are in a hurry, and must have the lowest
+price at once; they cannot understand you, and will lose the chance of
+selling their goods rather than change their mode of dealing.
+
+"Leaving Sioot we found ourselves in a region where the river winds
+considerably. The wind blowing from the north does not choose to follow
+all the bends of the Nile. A boat sailing up the stream will have a fair
+wind one hour and an adverse one the next, and when she finds both wind
+and current against her she must wait for a change in the breeze, or
+send the crew out with the tow-line. Towing up stream is slow work, but
+it is better than no progress at all. Ten or fifteen miles a day may be
+made by it, and sometimes as many as twenty miles, and if the passengers
+have a fondness for hunting they can indulge it very easily. Sometimes a
+walk of a few miles will cover a whole day's journey of the dahabeeah
+while she is working around a bend, and even the steamer is not averse
+to gaining distance while her passengers are on shore.
+
+"Towing is the hardest part of the occupation of the crew of a Nile
+boat. They are harnessed like horses, and attached to a rope which is
+taken to the bank. The captain remains on board to steer the craft, and
+if the sailors are remiss in their work he shouts to them in a voice the
+reverse of pleasing; and while it is a laborious task for the men it is
+a severe trial to the passengers, this dragging along at a snail's pace,
+and listening to the imprecations of the captain, which grate harshly
+on the ear, even though they are uttered in an unknown tongue.
+
+[Illustration: PIGEON-HOUSES.]
+
+"We wound along the river, sometimes close to the cliffs that form the
+eastern bank, and sometimes in the midst of a fertile plain, with the
+desert at a distance. We passed several villages, and the conductor told
+us their names; but as they were all pretty much alike, we did not think
+it worth while to write them down. An interesting feature of the
+villages was the great number of pigeon-houses, some of them standing by
+themselves, and others built on the tops of dwellings. The pigeons are
+kept in great flocks. Sometimes they are owned in common by a whole
+village, while at others they are the private property of individuals.
+The guano from the pigeon-houses is carefully saved for enriching the
+melon patches; and, where the house is the common property of the
+village, the key is kept by the sheik or chief. Some of the houses are
+like square towers, with a great many holes where the birds enter, and
+the inside of the walls is full of niches, where the pigeons make their
+nests. Others are of a circular shape, and have protuberances on the top
+like chimneys, which are filled with holes for admitting the pigeons,
+but too small for the hawks and other birds of prey that pursue them.
+
+[Illustration: THE ORIENTAL PIGEON.]
+
+"The pigeons get their living in the fields around the village, and
+sometimes they do a great deal of damage. When the grain begins to ripen
+the people erect booths in the midst of the fields, where men are
+stationed to frighten away the birds. They are armed with slings, with
+which they can throw stones to a considerable distance, and they keep up
+the alarm by blowing horns and making other noises. That the ancient
+Egyptians had the same practices we learn from the paintings in the
+tombs, where men are represented standing on platforms and using the
+sling to frighten away the thieving birds.
+
+[Illustration: A WATCHMAN'S BOOTH.]
+
+"The abundance of pigeons in this part of Egypt is shown by the
+frequency with which the bird appears on our table. We have broiled
+pigeon for breakfast, cold pigeon for lunch, and roast pigeon for
+dinner. We do not have cold pigeon for supper, and probably this can be
+accounted for by the fact that we do not have any supper at all. They
+give us a cup of tea and a piece of dry cake in the evening, and it is
+quite possible that if anybody asked for pigeon he would be
+accommodated; but nobody seems to want it.
+
+"We met some funny-looking rafts a few miles above Sioot, and wondered
+what they could be. They did not appear to be made of logs, or barrels,
+or anything of the sort, and yet they were floating along, and each
+carried two or three men. What do you suppose they were?
+
+"Doctor Bronson said they were made up of large jars for holding water,
+and were principally from a town called Ballas. The jars are arranged in
+rows, with the mouth uppermost, and when enough of them have been put
+together to form a raft, they are enclosed in a frame of poles and
+reeds; then they are ready to float down the river to Cairo, where they
+are sold. The jar is made of a porous clay that lets the water filter
+slowly through it. Every few hours the men in charge of the raft must
+bail out their conveyance, which they do by means of a sponge or bunch
+of reeds lowered into each jar. Unless they do this the raft would soon
+take in water enough to sink it, and not only would the jars be lost,
+but the men would run the risk of being drowned into the bargain.
+
+[Illustration: INFLATED SKIN RAFT (FROM ASSYRIAN SCULPTURE).]
+
+"It seemed so funny to make up a raft in this way, but the Doctor
+informed us that the idea was a very old one. He said it was in practice
+among the ancient Assyrians, as there were pictures on the walls of
+their temples of men rowing rafts made of inflated skins, which were
+preferred to jars on account of their obviating the necessity of
+frequent bailing.
+
+"We thought of the scriptural phrase, and asked, 'Is there anything new
+under the sun?'
+
+[Illustration: AN ANCIENT LIFE-PRESERVER.]
+
+"'There are fewer new things than you might suppose,' was the Doctor's
+reply. 'Perhaps you think the inflated life-preserver is a modern
+invention, but it isn't. The Assyrians had it centuries ago; and we
+learn from their sculptures that their warriors used to swim across
+rivers on the skins of goats that were filled with air, just as we fill
+the life-preservers that we buy in New York or London. I believe that a
+patent was granted to the modern inventor, but the Assyrian was
+thousands of years ahead of him.'
+
+"One of us suggested that perhaps the modern inventor was honest, and
+thought he really had made an entirely new thing.
+
+"'That is quite likely,' the Doctor answered. 'Many a man has applied
+for a patent on something that he had honestly invented; he thought it
+out himself, and kept it from the knowledge of everybody else till he
+sent his model to the Patent-office. Then he learned to his surprise
+that his invention was an old one, and either secured already, or had
+been so long in use that no one could get a patent for it. The experts
+in the Patent-office at Washington could tell you of hundreds of
+instances of this kind, and they could also tell you that it not
+unfrequently happens that two or three persons in different parts of the
+country, and wholly unknown to each other, have hit upon the same thing
+at almost the same moment, without the least suspicion that either of
+them knew what the other was doing.
+
+"'One instance that occurs to me is of the use of chloroform and similar
+substances for preventing pain during surgical operations. There were no
+less than four claimants to the honor of the discovery of anæsthetics,
+and monuments have been erected to the memory of two of these gentlemen.
+There is no ground for believing that either of them encroached on the
+other, for their experiments were quite independent, and in different
+parts of the country, and each believed he was the first in the field.
+The invention of printing by means of movable types is claimed for two
+men; the steam-engine had two or three inventors, and so had the system
+of electric telegraphy. A curious circumstance is that many things which
+have been considered new in our times were known to the ancients. Samuel
+Colt received a patent for the revolving pistol, when the same weapon
+had been made in Europe two or three centuries ago; and patents have
+been taken out for the invention of things that were afterward found in
+the ruins of Pompeii, where they had been buried for 1800 years. Of
+course there are many new things under the sun, but not everything is
+new that appears so when we first see it.'"
+
+[Illustration: MODERN "KELEKS," OR SKIN RAFTS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+GIRGEH AND KENEH.--THE TEMPLES OF ABYDUS AND DENDERAH.--AN EGYPTIAN
+DANCE.
+
+
+[Illustration: GIRGEH.]
+
+The first halting-place above Sioot was Girgeh, which may be considered
+the Arabic for George, as the place was named in honor of the saint
+whose history is intimately connected with the dragon. St. George is the
+patron saint of the Christians of Egypt, and there was a Coptic convent
+at Girgeh, four or five centuries ago, that was named after him. It
+supported two hundred monks and had a large revenue; but its inhabitants
+died during a visitation of the plague, and for some time the buildings
+were without tenants. At present there is a small convent or monastery
+at Girgeh, and it is said to be the oldest establishment of the kind in
+Egypt. The superior is a European, but the rest of the members are
+native Egyptians. Formerly the town was some distance back from the
+river, but the Nile has so changed its course that Girgeh is now on the
+very brink of the stream, and some of its houses have been washed away.
+
+It was announced that the party would land at Girgeh to visit the ruins
+of the ancient Abydus, or Thinis, twelve miles away; during their
+absence the boat would proceed to Bellianeh, where they would find it at
+the end of their excursion. The start was made immediately after
+breakfast, not without considerable opposition on the part of the
+donkeys, and a wrangle with the natives over the question of backsheesh.
+
+[Illustration: SCENE DURING THE INUNDATION.]
+
+The road lay through fields of sugar-cane, pease, beans, and other
+products of the Egyptian soil; many of them were in blossom, and the
+boys thought the scene was the richest they had yet encountered during
+their visit to the country. Frank remarked the great contrast between
+the luxuriant fields and the miserable villages of the natives. The
+villages here, as elsewhere in the valley, are generally built on
+mounds, so as to keep them out of the reach of the water when the river
+overflows its banks. During the season of the inundation the whole
+country is overflowed, and the natives cannot go from their villages
+except in boats, or unless they choose to swim. Cattle seek the mounds
+for safety; and sometimes, when the banks give way, and the river rises
+suddenly, many of them are drowned. The people go out with boats to
+secure their goats, cows, and oxen, and the scene is a very active one.
+Until the water subsides the villages are indiscriminately filled with
+live stock and their owners, and sometimes there is an animated contest
+between them for the right of occupation.
+
+At every village the children came out and begged for backsheesh, and
+their appearance was quite in keeping with the squalid aspect of the mud
+huts where they lived. Frank wondered that they managed to reach the
+age of ten years in such habitations, and the Doctor replied that it was
+a proof that the human race is capable of living anywhere, if it will
+only try.
+
+[Illustration: A CAMEL ON HIS WAY TO PASTURE.]
+
+There was the usual excitement among the cows and chickens at the
+presence of the strangers; in two or three cases the cows broke the
+ropes by which they were tethered, and scampered into the villages as
+though they feared immediate conversion into beef. The boys observed
+that the cows were required to cut their own fodder; they were tethered
+in the rich grass, and required to eat the spot entirely clean before
+their locations were changed. Evidently it was not the custom to allow
+them to run loose and help themselves. Now and then the tall form of a
+camel was visible, either carrying a burden of some sort or tethered
+out, like the cows and oxen.
+
+A ride of three hours brought the party to the object of their
+excursion, the Temple of Abydus. Frank and Fred will tell us about it.
+
+"The Temple of Abydus is one of the most interesting in Egypt, as it is
+quite extensive, and its architectural character is excellent. We
+admired its vast proportions, the massive pillars covered with
+sculptures, and the walls that were everywhere blazing with
+hieroglyphics representing scenes of the country's glory. And while we
+were studying all these things we looked around for the Doctor, and
+could not find him.
+
+"Pretty soon he re-appeared, and said the historical interest of the
+place was in a narrow passage-way leading from the second hall to a
+small inner chamber.
+
+"We went there with him, and he pointed to the eastern wall of the
+passage. There were some hieroglyphics we could not understand, and we
+asked what they were.
+
+[Illustration: HEADS OF CAPTIVES OF RAMESES II.]
+
+"'They are the names of seventy-six kings,' said the Doctor, 'to whom
+Sethi I., the founder and builder of the temple, and father of Rameses
+II., is offering homage. The list begins with Menes, the founder of the
+first dynasty, and ends with the name of Sethi. Rameses II. is offering
+homage with his father, and for this reason it has been supposed that
+the list was made by Rameses after Sethi's death. The list is called
+"The Tablet of Abydus," and is of great value to the writers on Egyptian
+history; a similar list, but badly mutilated, was found in a temple near
+here, and carried to the British Museum. There is some dispute as to
+whether it is a full or only partial list of the kings of Egypt, but in
+either case it is of great historical interest.'
+
+"Abydus was second only to Thebes in importance, and was for a long time
+the capital of Egypt. Several temples, or rather their ruins, have been
+discovered here, and it is thought that others are still buried in the
+sand. A great many tombs have been opened, and where their contents were
+of any consequence they were carried to the museum at Cairo, or sent to
+the large collections in Europe.
+
+"One of the temples that we visited was in a very ruined state; it must
+have been a magnificent structure in the days of its perfection, as the
+walls were lined with alabaster and covered with beautiful sculptures,
+all painted in colors that still remain. Some of the smaller rooms in
+the great temple were roofed with large stones placed on their edges, an
+arch was made in the stones, and then the whole of the cut surface was
+covered with hieroglyphics, which are as perfect as the day they were
+made. The sand that buried these temples for so many centuries was in
+one way their preserver.
+
+[Illustration: A LUNCH-PARTY OF OTHER DAYS.]
+
+"We took our lunch in the great hall of the temple, and it was an odd
+sight to see a group of Americans, English, and other modern people
+seated among the columns of this ancient edifice, engaged in picking the
+flesh from the bones of chickens, or devouring sandwiches, or slices of
+cold beef. Doctor Bronson leaned against one of the columns, and his
+hunger made him quite forget that his shoulders pressed upon the feet of
+a sculptured king, who had been patient and chickenless for many hundred
+years, and was totally unmoved by the incidents of modern days. Wonder
+if they had sandwiches and kindred things in the time of Sethi I., and
+is it possible that they used silver-plated knives and forks, or drank
+cold tea from glass tumblers?
+
+"Of the great city that once stood here nothing remains but heaps of
+rubbish, ruined temples and tombs, and a miserable village with a few
+dozen inhabitants, who live by what they can extort from visitors.
+
+"We returned to the steamer at Bellianeh by a road only half as long as
+that from Girgeh. The route was pretty much the same, as it lay through
+richly-tilled fields, and passed near several small villages of mud huts
+and muddy inhabitants. At Bellianeh there was the usual crowd of
+beggars, and we varied the monotony by throwing copper coins into heaps
+of dust, where the children scrambled for them.
+
+"Just by the stern of the boat there was a dust-heap about forty feet
+high, and very steep on the sides; one of the passengers threw a coin so
+that it struck about midway from top to bottom of the heap, and what a
+scramble there was for it! Those at the top rolled down, and those below
+climbed up. During the struggle they raised a perfect cloud, and several
+of them tumbled into the river.
+
+"Somebody got the money, and then they made signs for trying it again.
+Another copper was thrown, and then another, and the children evidently
+enjoyed the fun, and wanted it kept up as long as the boat remained.
+
+"While they were in the midst of the sport two or three men, who
+appeared to be elders of the village, came with whips and ordered the
+boys away. The passengers sent the conductor to argue with them to let
+the sport go on; his argument was very short, and consisted in giving
+each man a franc to go away. They accepted the money and walked off. The
+instant they were out of sight the performance was renewed, and it
+continued till the boat swung out and moved up the river. We had several
+swimming matches, like those we had farther down the Nile. Some of the
+boys were very expert swimmers, and seemed as much adapted for the water
+as for the land."
+
+From Bellianeh the steamer proceeded to Keneh, an important town on the
+east bank of the Nile, and the terminus of a caravan road from Kosseir,
+on the Red Sea. Formerly it had a considerable trade with the Red Sea,
+but since the opening of the Suez Canal, and the facilities it affords
+for steam communication with Alexandria, the business has declined very
+greatly. At one time it supplied a large part of the Arabian coast with
+corn, which was carried on camels to Kosseir, and then shipped to the
+points where it was wanted.
+
+The town stands a couple of miles back from the river, and is on the
+site of an ancient city, though it contains no ruins of any consequence.
+At the landing-place Frank saw a large pile of jars or water-bottles
+made of porous clay, and, on asking about them, he learned that a
+considerable trade in these articles was carried on from Keneh, which
+had the reputation of making them better than any other place on the
+Nile.
+
+Of course this assertion excited his curiosity, and led him to wonder
+why the potters of Keneh should be more expert than other men in the
+same occupation.
+
+"It is not the potters, but the material they work with," replied the
+Doctor, "that makes the superiority of the water-bottles of Keneh."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"Close to the town there is a bed of clay," was the response, "which is
+said to be peculiarly adapted to the manufacture of these bottles. It is
+mixed with the ashes of halfa grass in certain proportions, and must be
+well mixed while both substances are in a dry state. Then the mixture is
+moistened, and is ready for the potter. We will see one of the
+establishments where the work is performed."
+
+On their way to the town our friends visited a shed where several
+potters were engaged at their trade. The soft clay was placed on a
+horizontal wheel, which was turned rapidly either by the hand or the
+foot of the workman; while it revolved with its plastic burden the
+fingers of the potter gave the bottle its shape, and the whole operation
+was very quickly accomplished. Then the bottle was carefully removed,
+and placed where it could dry in the open air, and the wheel was ready
+for fashioning another.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT POTTERS AT WORK.]
+
+The Doctor explained that the modes of making these bottles had changed
+very little in five thousand years, as they could see by the pictures on
+the walls of the tombs. The ancient Egyptians were familiar with the
+wheel and its uses; the potter of the time of Rameses II. manipulated
+the clay in the same manner as his descendant of to-day, and he
+doubtless knew the necessary proportions of clay and sifted ashes for
+making his composition.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT VASES, CUPS, AND WATER-JARS.]
+
+The boys had already observed the porous character of the Egyptian
+water-bottle. It allows the water to pass through so freely that the
+outside is constantly wet; in the dry air of Egypt this outside water
+evaporates rapidly, and every student of natural philosophy knows that
+evaporation produces coolness. Especially is this the case if the bottle
+is placed where there is a current of air, as the evaporation is greatly
+increased by the action of the wind. One day the boys made an experiment
+with one of these bottles with the following result:
+
+The temperature of the air was 81° Fahrenheit, and so was that of the
+water with which the bottle was filled. It was hung in a shady place,
+where there was a good draught, and in half an hour a thermometer
+lowered into the bottle showed that the water had fallen to 63°, or
+eighteen less than the surrounding temperature.
+
+This process, or a similar one, is in use in all hot countries. Doctor
+Bronson told the youths that he had seen bottles very like the Egyptian
+ones in Mexico and South America. In some cases, where the material was
+not porous, the coolness was produced by wrapping a piece of cloth
+around a bottle, and keeping it constantly wet while hanging in a
+current of air.
+
+[Illustration: DATE-PALMS, NEAR KENEH.]
+
+Another feature of Keneh that attracted attention was the remarkably
+fine dates that were offered for sale. The dates of Keneh have an
+excellent reputation in the markets of Cairo and Alexandria, and
+generally bring a high price. They are not pressed into a solid mass,
+like most of the dates sold in America, but each one is separate from
+the others, and only the best are selected for packing. Our friends
+bought several boxes of these dates, and kept them in their rooms on the
+steamboat with the intention of taking them to Cairo; but, like many
+other good intentions, their scheme fell through, as the sweetness and
+delicate flavor of the contents of the boxes were temptations that could
+not be resisted. Continual dropping is said to wear away stone, and Fred
+remarked that continual nibbling would wear away the best box of dates
+ever known.
+
+The boat was to remain at the landing during the night and until the
+greater part of the following day, and so our friends had the evening
+for seeing Keneh. An invitation came for some of the passengers to visit
+the German Consulate, and witness a characteristic dance of the country.
+The invitation included Doctor Bronson, and Frank, and Fred, and at the
+appointed hour the party set out. On reaching the Consulate, they were
+ushered into a large hall that seemed to have been fitted up for the
+special entertainment of Europeans, as it was furnished with chairs
+instead of divans, and the consul, though a native, was in European
+dress.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT DANCERS AND MUSICIANS.]
+
+After a little delay the dance was announced, and the dancers made their
+appearance. There were four of them, and they were accompanied by two
+musicians, one playing the nay, and the other the darabookah, both of
+which have been already described. The musicians settled on the floor in
+one corner of the apartment, and the dancers stepped to the middle of
+the room. At a signal from the master of the house the dance began.
+
+[Illustration: A MODERN MUSICIAN.]
+
+The dancers were young women, who were rather fantastically dressed.
+They wore "rings on their fingers and bells on their toes," as the old
+nursery rhyme has it, and their heads and necks were covered with a
+profusion of jewellery, consisting principally of gold and silver coins
+strung closely together, and so arranged that they jingled every time
+the wearers moved. A richly embroidered jacket, and a long skirt which
+nearly touched the floor, were the outer garments worn by the dancers.
+The dresses of the four were precisely alike, and the Doctor said the
+costume was pretty much the same all through Egypt, where fashions
+rarely change from one year to another.
+
+The boys had read of the wonderful beauty of the Egyptian dancers, and
+the great novelty of the scene they were about to witness. The Doctor
+said nothing, but there was a smile on his features when the dance
+began. He knew that the youths were doomed to be disappointed, and in
+the first pause of the dance he asked them what they thought of it.
+
+"If that is what they call dancing," said Frank, "I'm glad to know it.
+It seems more like the efforts of people learning to skate."
+
+"About as lively as the performance of the figures on a hand-organ,"
+Fred remarked. "I wonder why travellers have written so much nonsense
+about it."
+
+"Some travellers have described the Egyptian dance in the most
+enthusiastic language," answered the Doctor, "and others thought they
+must do the same. It requires considerable courage to fly in the face of
+opinions that have been given over and over again by others, and
+consequently the fashion that was set long and long ago has been kept
+up.
+
+"I have seen a good many dances in Egypt," he continued, "and never yet
+knew one that approached the most of the descriptions I have read.
+Sometimes the girls are fairly pretty, but the great majority are of an
+ordinary type, and the dancing consists of that gliding and sliding from
+side to side which you have just witnessed. It is more suggestive of
+skating than of what is called dancing in Western countries."
+
+The dance was resumed after a brief rest, and it continued with several
+intermissions for something over an hour. Coffee was served two or three
+times in the course of the evening, and when the entertainment was ended
+our friends returned to the steamer. Before they retired the conductor
+collected five francs from each passenger who had attended the dance, in
+order to remunerate the consul for his outlay. He said the consul went
+through the form of inviting strangers to an entertainment, but expected
+them to pay for it in a roundabout way.
+
+"Not at all unusual in the East," the Doctor remarked, "and certainly no
+one could expect a consul to spend his money in the entertainment of
+every party of strangers that comes along. We can imagine we were his
+guests, and forget that we have paid for what we saw. The illusion is
+very thin, but it does no harm to any one."
+
+[Illustration: AN EGYPTIAN KING ON HIS THRONE.]
+
+The next day was devoted to an excursion to the Temple of Denderah,
+which is on the opposite side of the Nile from Keneh, and a ride of
+about an hour from the landing. The party was ferried over in the
+ordinary boats of the natives, and found donkeys waiting on the bank
+with the usual crowd of importunate natives.
+
+The Temple of Denderah is the most modern in all Egypt, as it was built
+less than two thousand years ago. After one is accustomed to the
+pyramids, and similar structures of forty or fifty centuries, and comes
+to the Temple of Denderah, he hesitates to rub against it for fear the
+paint is not sufficiently dried.
+
+But however much he may dislike the newness of the building, he can
+hardly fail to admire its solidity, and the magnificence of its halls
+and porticos. It is the best preserved of all the temples, as its walls
+and columns are practically uninjured, and the roof is almost entire. A
+mound of rubbish extends quite around it, and from a little distance the
+entrance of the temple is quite invisible.
+
+[Illustration: FRONT OF THE TEMPLE AT DENDERAH.]
+
+The entrance is through a fine portico of twenty-four columns. On the
+ceiling of this portico is a zodiac, which has been the subject of a
+great deal of discussion, as it was supposed to show that the signs of
+the zodiac were used by the ancient Egyptians. Recent discoveries show
+that it is of Roman origin, and less ancient than was at first believed.
+Every student of Egyptology has had something to say about it, and we
+may safely remark that there are more opinions on the subject than there
+are signs in the zodiac itself.
+
+Considerable time was spent in the inspection of the temple, and in
+admiring the sculptures on the walls. Among them is a portrait of
+Cleopatra, which is supposed to have been made in the lifetime of that
+historic lady, and may therefore be regarded as a fair likeness of her.
+It does not represent her as a pretty woman, and therefore we may doubt
+whether she was as handsome as the artists of modern times have tried to
+make her. Some of those who wish to believe she was very pretty say the
+portrait at Denderah was made by an artist who never saw her, and did
+his work from an inaccurate likeness.
+
+[Illustration: EGYPTIAN PRINCE CARRIED IN A PALANQUIN.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+ARRIVAL AT LUXOR.--THE GREAT TEMPLE OF KARNAK.
+
+
+Frank and Fred were impatient to get away from Keneh, as their next halt
+was to be at Luxor, the ancient Thebes, where the steamer would remain
+three days, to enable them to see the monuments of ancient Egypt in that
+vicinity.
+
+As the boat wound along the river in the direction of Thebes, the youths
+were watching from the deck for the first indications of their proximity
+to that wonderful city. Suddenly the sharp eyes of Fred caught sight of
+a sort of tower in the distance, and he at once called his cousin's
+attention to his discovery.
+
+"Yes, and there's another, and another!" shouted Frank; "and the walls
+of a great building, too."
+
+"That must be Karnak," said Fred. "You know they told us Karnak was a
+mile or more below Thebes, and its ruins were the first we would see."
+
+"You are quite right," said the Doctor, who just then came up. "That is
+Karnak, or rather it is what remains of the great temple which, even in
+its ruin, is one of the wonders of the world."
+
+"What a pity it is in ruins," one of the youths remarked. "Wouldn't it
+be nice if some rich man would amuse himself and spend his money by
+building a temple like what this once was? It would be so interesting
+and instructive."
+
+"I'm afraid you are not likely to find the rich man who will do it,"
+said the Doctor, with a smile. "It would take a vast amount of money,
+and he would be open to the charge of trying to revive the heathenism of
+the ancient Egyptians, and instructing the people of our time in
+idolatrous practices."
+
+"I never thought of that," was the reply; "but any way I would like to
+see an Egyptian temple just as it was finished, and before it began to
+go to ruin."
+
+"If a picture will satisfy you," the Doctor answered, "you have only
+to refer to Sir Gardner Wilkinson. He has made a drawing of an ancient
+temple, and reproduced it as exactly as he could from the materials in
+his possession, and from a personal visit to the best preserved temples
+to be found in the country."
+
+[Illustration: A COMPLETE EGYPTIAN TEMPLE.]
+
+Frank ran below for a copy of the book, and soon returned with it. As
+they neared the ruins of Karnak the youths compared the scene before
+them with the printed picture, and tried to imagine themselves carried
+back to the time of Rameses and Sethi, when the temple was perfect, and
+not a stone of the vast mass had been displaced from its proper
+position.
+
+[Illustration: A "BARIS," OR FUNERAL-BOAT.]
+
+"A procession is approaching the temple," said the Doctor, "in one of
+the celebrations for which the ancient Egyptians were famous. You see it
+passing along a raised causeway to the gate which admits to the grand
+enclosure; it carries banners with the devices of the King, and midway
+between the gate and the building at the end of the causeway you see one
+of the sacred boats in which the souls of the dead are ferried over the
+lake that separates this world from the next. This lake is symbolized by
+a small lake, or basin, in the enclosure of the temple; you see it in
+the fore-ground of the picture, and if it had not usually become filled
+with sand you would find it in all our visits to the ruins of these
+temples. A part of the funeral ceremony consisted of ferrying the mummy
+over the sacred lake in a _baris_, or funeral-boat; there were generally
+several boats in a procession, and that containing the mummy was usually
+towed by one of the others.
+
+"The wall of the enclosure was made high enough to prevent those on the
+outside from seeing what went on within. It is supposed that the priests
+wished to keep their rites and ceremonials to themselves, and were only
+willing to be seen when they had made proper preparations. Sometimes
+there were two and sometimes four gates, but generally there was only
+one point of entrance, which was always carefully guarded.
+
+"The procession is just passing the outer gate-way, and leaving the
+paved road which leads to it. The gate-way consists of two massive
+towers, or _propylæ_ connected at the top by a broad platform, and the
+passage beneath is amply large enough for all the wants of the
+processions that enter the place. Beyond the gate-way is another paved
+road, guarded on each side by a row of sphinxes, with their faces turned
+toward the causeway, and never deserting it for an instant, with their
+solemn stare. Sometimes the outer causeway was protected by sphinxes the
+same as the inner one, but this was the case only with the most
+important temples. At the end of this road we generally find a couple of
+obelisks, and close beyond them is a second propylon, more massive and
+much taller than the one at the entrance. Passing this propylon we enter
+an open court surrounded with a columned portico, and having a third
+propylon extending across its centre. Passing this court-yard we reach
+the great hall, whose roof, supported by many columns hewn from solid
+stone, admits only a dim and sombre light. Here the procession halts
+while the ceremonies for which it came are completed.
+
+"Bear in mind," the Doctor continued, "that the temple among the ancient
+Egyptians was not strictly a place of religious worship, like the
+temples of the Greeks and Romans and the churches of modern days; it was
+a building erected by a king in honor of the divinities who were
+believed to have brought him prosperity in conquering his enemies or
+whose favor he sought. For this reason we always know by what king a
+temple was built, as he is always represented in the first place in the
+processions, and all the sacrifices and other ceremonies are in his
+name.
+
+"You observe that there is a grove on both sides of the temple; the
+Egyptians always surrounded their temples with groves, and generally the
+trees were set out in rows. The divinities were supposed to linger about
+the trees, and certain deities were believed to shun a treeless spot.
+Perhaps some of the respect for trees was due to the difficulty of
+keeping them alive. Egypt is not a land of forests, and trees do not
+flourish here except with much care and attention."
+
+During this conversation about Egyptian temples the steamer steadily
+made her way toward Karnak and Luxor; she passed the ruins of Karnak,
+and soon drew up to the landing at the modern town. Luxor is a wretched
+place of about four thousand inhabitants, and if it were not for the
+reputation of the spot, and the number of strangers visiting it every
+winter, the town would soon cease to exist. The inhabitants live almost
+entirely on what they obtain from visitors, and they drive quite a
+prosperous trade in mummies and other antiquities, besides finding a
+good market for the few things raised in their gardens.
+
+As soon as the boat was made fast to the bank the passengers hurried to
+land. The natives met them with donkeys for hire, and with all sorts of
+antiquities for sale. Frank and Fred were rather puzzled with the way in
+which the natives pressed their wares upon the strangers, and Frank made
+an entry in his note-book as follows:
+
+"They are a silent people here, and when they have anything to sell they
+come in front of you, without saying a word, and hold the article
+directly before your eyes. If you wish to examine it you do so, and if
+desirous of buying you ask the price.
+
+[Illustration: AN EGYPTIAN WAR-CHARIOT OF ANCIENT TIMES.]
+
+"The figure named is in no way a criterion of the value of the goods; a
+native will ask fifty dollars for something he would gladly sell for as
+many cents; you must judge for yourself how much you are willing to pay,
+and then make your offer. Most likely it will be refused, and the
+refusal is almost as silent as was the exhibition of the article. The
+man lowers it and walks away, but in five minutes he will come around
+again and repeat his performance. He asks less this time, perhaps, and
+you offer a little more, and he again goes away. You may come to terms
+after a time, but it seems to make no difference to him whether you do
+or not."
+
+[Illustration: LUXOR FROM THE WATER.]
+
+Doctor Bronson said that possibly the silence of the natives was due to
+the fact that nearly all their antiquities were false, and they wanted
+the articles to do as much of the lying as they could. "There are," he
+remarked, "very few chances of getting anything genuine at Luxor; at
+present no excavations are in progress, and even if there were any,
+everything they bring to light should go to the government. They do a
+large business here in antiquities, and there certainly is no way of
+supplying the demand except by manufacture. It is currently reported
+that many of these things are made in England and France, and sent out
+here for sale; and it is also believed that there are factories here
+where false scarabæi are manufactured. Let me tell you something that
+happened when I was here some years ago:
+
+"A man offered some scarabæi for sale, and declared they were genuine;
+to satisfy any doubts on that point, he offered to bring the certificate
+of the English consul, or we might go with him to the Consulate and hear
+for ourselves. But it was whispered that the consul and the native were
+in partnership, and when we became satisfied that such was the case we
+suspended negotiations.
+
+"Next it was whispered that the native had a factory where he
+manufactured the articles he offered for sale; we had a curiosity to see
+the inside of a factory of antiquities, and, on the theory that
+backsheesh will do anything in this country, we offered the man five
+francs to show it to us.
+
+"He denied having any factory, and we increased our offer; he still
+denied, and we increased again till we reached twenty francs, where we
+stopped.
+
+"He again denied having a factory, and we made him a last offer of
+twenty-five francs, and then walked away.
+
+"He became indignant, and as we retreated he said to us, with great
+emphasis, 'Not for ten napoleons will I let you see it.'
+
+"He thus virtually admitted the existence of the factory, but of course
+it was not policy for him to allow foreigners to enter it. The story
+would be sure to leak out and ruin his business.
+
+"The fabrications are very cleverly executed, and sometimes the experts
+are deceived by them. The consuls are safer to deal with than the
+ordinary peddlers, but even they are frequently as bad as the rest. The
+best rule is to buy nothing, except at a very low price, or wait till
+your return to Cairo, where you can purchase in the shops, and have the
+opinion of the experts."
+
+The Doctor called on the American vice-consul, as he had been told that
+that worthy had some superior donkeys which he kept for hire; the rumor
+proved correct, and for a price a little above that demanded by the
+owners of ordinary beasts, the Doctor and his young companions were
+provided with "consular donkeys" during their stay at Luxor.
+
+An hour or two were devoted to an inspection of Luxor and its temple,
+and then the party set out for Karnak. The Temple of Luxor is greatly
+dilapidated; much of the building is in ruins, and portions of it are
+covered with the wretched huts of the Arabs. The English Consulate is
+built in one part of it, and the rubbish and sand around the rest are
+greatly to its detriment. At the side of the principal entrance there
+are two statues of enormous size, but only a small part of them can be
+seen, as the most of the figures are buried in the sand.
+
+We will read the account of the visit to Karnak as it was given by Frank
+and Fred in their letters and journals. Lest they should forget
+something, they wrote until a late hour in the evening, and declined the
+invitation of one of the consuls to attend a native dance at his house.
+They had quite enough of the dance at Keneh.
+
+"We rode from Luxor to Karnak along a path through fields and across
+open spaces of uncultivated ground. There did not seem to be much of a
+road, and we were rather taken aback when told that there was once an
+avenue of sphinxes, six thousand feet long (the avenue, not the
+sphinxes), all the way from Luxor to Karnak. What a magnificent avenue
+it must have been, and wouldn't it have been fun to ride along it from
+one end to the other! As we approached Karnak we came upon a few of the
+sphinxes still in their places; there were just enough of them to show
+what the avenue might have been in the days of its glory, and we
+wondered if the like would ever be seen again. All the sphinxes are much
+broken, and those that we saw had the heads of rams. Frank suggests that
+you could hardly expect anything else when the temple was built to
+celebrate the exploits of Rameses the Great. (He worked hard on that
+joke, although it is so poor.)
+
+[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR.]
+
+"We came to the propylon, or gate-way, which consisted of two enormous
+towers, each of them large enough to make a temple. There were six of
+these entrances; and to show you on what a scale this temple was, please
+look at the figures. One of the peristyles was 370 feet long, 50 feet
+deep, and 140 feet high. Some of them have partly fallen, but the others
+are very well preserved.
+
+"As we have said, when talking of the Pyramids and other things, if you
+don't like figures you can look them over, and then skip. We are going
+to pelt you with a few handfuls of them, as it is impossible to give
+even a faint idea of the extent of this Temple of Karnak without them.
+
+[Illustration: APPROACH TO KARNAK FROM LUXOR.]
+
+"Here are the dimensions of this enormous work: From one end of the
+space where the temple stands to the other is 1180 feet, and it is about
+600 feet from one side to the other. The enclosing wall is 25 feet thick
+and from 60 to 100 feet high, so that it formed quite a fortification in
+the days before the invention of gunpowder. A small army could find
+plenty of room inside the walls of Karnak, and be able to repel a force
+of ten times its strength.
+
+"All the space included within the walls is covered with ruins of a most
+magnificent architecture, and it is not difficult to imagine that you
+are in the heart of a great city of past ages, rather than in the ruins
+of a single building. In one place there are the fragments of a fallen
+obelisk, and close by it is an obelisk, upright and uninjured, 92 feet
+high and 8 feet square at the base. It is said to be the largest
+existing obelisk, and the inscriptions show that it was made and set up
+in its place inside of seven months. Remember that it was hewn from the
+quarries at Assouan, and brought here in a single block. If you want to
+know how the ancient Egyptians did it, we give up the conundrum at once.
+
+"Never mind the obelisk just now; we want to show you into the great
+hall of the temple. And such a hall as it is!
+
+"Stop and think of it as you read the figures, and see if they don't
+take away your breath.
+
+[Illustration: THE GREAT HALL OF KARNAK.]
+
+"It is the grandest hall in the world! It is 329 feet long and 170 feet
+broad, and down its centre there are two rows of columns, twelve in all,
+each of them 60 feet high, without counting capital and pedestal, and 12
+feet in diameter. Then there are one hundred and twenty-two other
+columns arranged in fourteen rows, seven on each side of the two central
+rows, so that the whole room seems to consist of little else than
+columns. What a capital place for a game of hide-and-seek! How the
+Egyptian children must have enjoyed it if they were permitted to play
+here, which we very much doubt!
+
+[Illustration: GRAND COURT-YARD OF THE TEMPLE.]
+
+"These one hundred and twenty-two columns are each 42 feet high and 9
+feet in diameter. Altogether there are one hundred and thirty-four
+columns in the hall of the temple, and they are all closely covered with
+sculptures. They once supported a roof, but it is nearly all gone now,
+and some of the columns have fallen. The stones used in building the
+temple were of great size, and they lie around us in all directions;
+they do not appear very large till you come close up to them, and then
+you seem dwarfed into nothing by their greatness. Everything is on so
+grand a scale that you forget the dimensions of individual things until
+you are side by side with them.
+
+"Some writers have said that there is as much stone here as in the Great
+Pyramid at Gizeh. Certainly there is a vast amount; but it is so
+scattered, and in such irregular masses, that you cannot easily make an
+estimate of it. At any rate, it is a much finer work than that of
+building the Great Pyramid, as the whole of the walls, the columns, the
+sides of all the rooms, in fact everywhere that a plain surface was
+presented, is covered with sculpture or painting. The pyramid impresses
+you with its vastness, and so does Karnak; but the latter has another
+impression--that of beauty and artistic effect--which the pyramid has
+not. The stones used in the construction of Karnak are many of them much
+larger than those in the pyramids; they show that the builders must have
+been very skilful engineers, and that their work covered a long period
+of years.
+
+[Illustration: A BODY OF ARCHERS.]
+
+"We looked at the sculptures till our eyes were weary. At every step
+something new was revealed, and we seemed to be living in the days of
+the great kings of Egypt. The most of the sculptures represent battle
+scenes and kindred subjects; and the deeds of the kings are so well
+illustrated that anybody who has time and patience to study them can
+easily make out the whole history of a campaign. Here the king is
+marching out with his army, some on foot, and others on horseback or in
+chariots, and bearing the swords, spears, and other weapons in use at
+that time. Next we see him attacking a fortress or crossing a river;
+next he is putting the enemy to flight and securing the captives; and,
+finally, he is returning in triumph, and coming to the temple to offer
+thanks to the divinity who has protected and favored him.
+
+[Illustration: MAKING A LIST OF CAPTIVES.]
+
+"The sculptures here, and at other temples in the vicinity of Thebes,
+show pretty certainly that the ancient Egyptians were accustomed to make
+human sacrifices. There is a large picture representing the king
+striking off the heads of a group of captives, and sometimes the hands
+and feet of slain enemies are cut off and piled before the king, to show
+how great the slaughter has been. Frequently the king is represented
+much larger than those that surround him, and the artists took the
+precaution to label each king with his name, so that there could be no
+mistake as to his identity. They also put labels on most of the battle
+scenes, and thus greatly assisted our study of Egyptian history.
+
+[Illustration: OBELISK AND PART OF GRAND HALL AT KARNAK.]
+
+"Who built the great Temple of Karnak?
+
+"There has been and still is much dispute among Egyptian scholars on
+this subject: it is now generally agreed that it was the work of no one
+king, but rather of several. There is a difference of two hundred and
+fifty years between the earliest and latest sculptures, and it is
+believed that from the beginning to the completion of the temple was
+nearly three centuries. On the walls, columns, and obelisks are the
+names of kings of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, and they are
+so conspicuous that it is pretty certain the building of the temple
+covered these two periods in Egyptian history. Thothmes III. and Rameses
+II. and III. are prominently represented, and some of the inscriptions
+show that portions were added to the temple much later than any of the
+rulers mentioned.
+
+"It is supposed that the present temple is on the site of an older one,
+and that four thousand years at least must be given for its antiquity.
+The Arabs have a tradition that Noah visited the temple after the Flood,
+and we may fairly believe that portions of it were finished before Jacob
+went to Egypt with his family. It was an old structure when Moses led
+the Israelites out of captivity, and its decay had begun when Christ was
+born at Bethlehem. Shishak, or Sheshonk, who plundered Jerusalem and led
+the King of Judea captive, is represented on its walls, and there is a
+picture showing his return with his train of unhappy prisoners. Do you
+wonder that we stand astonished amid the ruins of Karnak, which are
+older than the Bible, and older than any of the histories that have come
+down to our hands?
+
+"We spent the afternoon among the ruins, and then returned to Luxor. The
+evening was bright with the growing moon, and so we determined to see
+Karnak by moonlight. If any reader of these lines should hereafter be at
+Luxor when the moon favors, we advise him by all means to go there under
+its light, as he will find an effect that is not visible when the sun is
+in the sky. It is impossible to describe, and so we will not attempt a
+description; the play of light and the darkness of the shadows are
+surpassingly beautiful, and some of the columns and broken walls seem
+even more gigantic than at other times. There is an Arab village close
+to the ruins, but not within the temple itself; the only inhabitants are
+owls and jackals, who resent your intrusion with their peculiar cries,
+and seem to consider themselves the rightful heirs of the kings so long
+dead and gone."
+
+[Illustration: EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE RAMESEUM, MEDINET ABOO, AND THE VOCAL MEMNON.
+
+
+[Illustration: DRY FOOTING.]
+
+The morning after the visit to Karnak an early start was made for the
+other side of the river. The party was ferried across in a couple of
+native boats to a sand-bank that pushed out some distance from the
+shore; the boats grounded in the shallow water, and our friends were
+carried on the backs of several Arabs, who gladly accepted the chance to
+earn a few pennies by a temporary conversion into beasts of burden.
+Everybody landed dry and unharmed with the exception of one unfortunate
+individual, whose bearer stumbled just before reaching the solid earth.
+Luckily the accident resulted only in a slight wetting. The Arab carrier
+demanded a large backsheesh because he waited so long before falling!
+
+There are several temples on the west bank of the Nile, the most
+prominent of them being the Rameseum, or Memnonium, and Medinet Aboo.
+These two were on the same general plan as the Temple of Karnak, though
+less extensive; but, even when compared with Karnak, they are entitled
+to very high rank as works of Egyptian art and architecture. In the
+neighborhood there are half a dozen or more smaller temples, each
+possessing an historical and artistic interest peculiar to itself.
+
+It was a busy time for our friends, as they had a great deal to see in a
+few hours. What they saw we will learn from their accounts:
+
+"We had a delightful ride on the donkeys that were waiting on the bank
+as we arrived, our way lying through fields such as we have already
+described, and afterward passing over a stretch of barren ground--the
+border of the Libyan Desert. Doctor Bronson told us while we were riding
+along that this was formerly the Libyan suburb of Thebes, and that the
+ancient city stood on both sides of the river. Sir Gardner Wilkinson
+says it was about five miles long by three in width. It was in its most
+flourishing condition during the eighteenth dynasty, and it began to
+decline in the eighth century before the Christian era. There is a great
+deal of dispute as to its population; but it is said that it could send
+out twenty thousand horsemen to battle, and its walls were pierced with
+a hundred gates. Its ruins are scattered over a large area, and its
+burial-grounds are so enormous that several days would be required for
+even a slight examination of them.
+
+[Illustration: RUINS IN OLD THEBES.]
+
+"According to some writers the greater part of the population was on the
+eastern or Luxor side, while the western section was the residence of
+the kings and royal households; and, consequently, many of the temples
+were built there. For the same reason the tombs of the kings were on the
+western side, but were placed a considerable distance from the river,
+where the character of the limestone rock was such that it could be
+readily excavated. Much of the site of the city is now overflowed every
+year at the time of the inundation, and in this portion there are only a
+few traces of the buildings that once stood there.
+
+"We went through some of the small temples, and then came to the
+Rameseum, or Memnonium. It owes its first name to the fact that it was
+founded by Rameses the Great, and its second to its dedication to the
+worship of Memnon. It is grand enough to have half a dozen names instead
+of two, and the honor can certainly be divided between Rameses and
+Memnon without any fear that either of them will suffer.
+
+[Illustration: GRAND HALL OF THE MEMNONIUM.]
+
+"It was in the usual form of the Egyptian temples, and its grand court
+was not far from fifty yards square. Many of the columns have
+disappeared, or lie in ruins, but enough of them remain to show the
+magnificence of the original structure.
+
+"The great object of curiosity here is the statue of Rameses the Great,
+which stood in the court-yard, and is now overturned and broken. There
+are some mysteries about it, and we will try to name them.
+
+"In the first place, no one can guess how the Egyptians managed to take
+such a huge block of granite from the quarries and convert it into a
+statue. It was a single piece of stone, and represented the King sitting
+on his throne (the usual position of Egyptian statues) with his hands
+resting on his knees, and his face in that calm repose that a great
+ruler ought to exhibit when he has everything his own way. And how large
+do you suppose it was?
+
+[Illustration: VIEW IN THE MEMNONIUM, WITH RUINED STATUE OF RAMESES THE
+GREAT.]
+
+"We used a tape-line to be sure we were right in our estimates, and
+found that the figure was twenty feet across the shoulders and fifteen
+feet from shoulder to elbow. The foot was eleven feet from toe to heel,
+and the other parts of the statue were in proportion. The throne and
+legs are a good deal broken up, but the upper part of the statue down to
+the waist is in comparatively good condition. Engineers have calculated
+that the whole statue, when perfect, weighed nearly nine hundred tons,
+or nearly three times as much as the largest obelisk at Karnak.
+Commander Gorringe says that the obelisk he transported from Egypt to
+America, and set up in Central Park, New York, weighs two hundred and
+twenty-four tons, so you see what a big thing was this statue of
+Rameses, which the Egyptians brought down the river from Assouan and set
+up in Thebes thousands of years ago.
+
+"When the Persians conquered Egypt, and destroyed many of its cities,
+they overturned the statue of Rameses the Great, and proceeded to break
+it up; and another of the mysteries is how they managed to break it, as
+gunpowder was not then invented, and there is nothing to show that they
+possessed any powerful explosives. But break it they did; and it is only
+because it was so large, or they were called away on other business,
+that they left any part of it for us to open our eyes about.
+
+"If possessing the largest statue ever known in ancient or modern times
+makes one happy, Rameses ought to have been as jolly as he was great.
+But perhaps he did not enjoy himself much, after all, as he seems to
+have been a cruel tyrant, who oppressed his people, and compelled his
+prisoners of war to build the temples that remain to mark his greatness.
+The inscriptions around this and other temples show him to have been
+full of cruelty: he sacrificed prisoners with his own hand, or caused
+them to be put to death in his presence; and there is one picture
+wherein he is putting out the eyes of several captives, who are held by
+cords passed through their nostrils. On the whole, though we should have
+liked to look upon Rameses in his great temple, we are not at all sorry
+that he belonged to an age long past. If he was a good man for his time,
+it was certainly not a good time to live in.
+
+"We have wished ever so much that we could read the inscriptions on the
+walls of the temple; but, after all, we need not feel so badly that we
+cannot do so, because many learned men have made translations for us.
+The pictures tell us a great deal, even without the hieroglyphics; they
+make it certain that the King was the most important personage at the
+time he lived, and if we believed what they represent, we should
+conclude that he did all the fighting, and his army only stood and
+looked on. One picture shows him sending a shower of arrows among the
+enemy and putting them to flight; and in another he is pulling down the
+walls of a fort, as though it was nothing but a toy house built of
+corn-cobs.
+
+[Illustration: THE PHALANX OF THE SHETA.]
+
+"There is a picture which is called 'The Phalanx of the Sheta,' which we
+could not make much of till it was explained to us, and then we saw
+there was a good deal in it. We enclose a drawing of it, so that you can
+see how the Egyptians represented things on a plain surface without
+perspective.
+
+"The phalanx is represented as a reserve corps close by a fortified
+town, which is surrounded by double ditches for protection against an
+enemy. On each side of the town there is a bridge over the ditches, and
+there are men in the towers of the fort, as if they were expecting to be
+attacked. The soldiers in the phalanx are armed with short swords or
+knives, and with spears. Doctor Bronson says the swords have a very
+close resemblance to the famous bowie-knife of the South-western States
+of North America, and it is possible that the inventor of that weapon
+got his idea from the ancient Egyptians. Only the front and rear ranks
+have weapons, and what the men in the middle are holding out their hands
+for we cannot guess.
+
+[Illustration: MEDINET ABOO.]
+
+"We stayed at the Rameseum as long as possible, and would gladly have
+ignored the whistle of the conductor summoning us to move on, had we not
+feared missing other important sights. We went next to the Temple of
+Medinet Aboo, or rather to the temples, as there are two of them
+together, one much smaller than the other. The small temple was the work
+of several kings, and some of the later ones altered the plans of their
+predecessors, so that the architecture is not altogether harmonious.
+
+"Heaps of ruins lie all around, and there is a broken statue of Rameses
+II. much smaller than the one we saw at the first temple we visited. The
+sculptures on the walls are less interesting than in the Memnonium, and
+we did not spend much time over them.
+
+"The great Temple of Medinet Aboo has a raised platform in front, and we
+were quite interested in the view from this platform of the plain where
+Thebes once stood, and the various objects scattered over it. From the
+platform we passed into the temple through a wide gate-way, and found
+ourselves in a large court-yard enclosed by broken walls. From the
+court-yard we went into what is said to have been the palace of the
+king. The conductor called our attention to the sculptures on the walls,
+which are quite peaceful in their character, and show that the place was
+more a private residence than a temple.
+
+"The pictures represent the great ruler in his retirement; in some of
+them he is playing a game of draughts, similar to those at Beni-Hassan
+and other places; he is receiving garlands of flowers from the hands of
+the ladies of his court, or they are cooling him with fans; and in
+nearly every instance he is represented seated in a chair while all
+around him are standing. Nobody was allowed to sit in the presence of
+the king, if we may believe these pictures, and it is quite probable
+that he required all the rules of etiquette to be rigidly observed.
+
+"In the front of the temple there are pictures of a different sort,
+where the king is represented sacrificing prisoners or making war on his
+enemies. In the large halls of the temple there is a series of battle
+pictures which reminded us of those at Karnak, and they show the
+captives brought from various countries so clearly that the conquests
+of the kings may be readily traced. In one of the pictures the right
+hands of the slain are cut off and piled up in order that the king may
+see them, and an officer counts them while a scribe notes down their
+number. Other pictures show the captured horses, and spears and other
+weapons piled up and counted, and we may believe the Egyptians were
+quite systematic in their mode of keeping accounts.
+
+[Illustration: AN EGYPTIAN WAR-BOAT.]
+
+"On one of the walls there is a picture of a fight in galleys or
+war-boats, and it is said to be the only one of the kind in Egypt. There
+are plenty of boats in their paintings and sculpture, but with this
+exception they are all engaged in peaceful pursuits. In spite of their
+cutting off the hands of the slain for the purpose of arithmetic, the
+Egyptians seem to have had some humanity about them after all. The
+picture of the naval engagement shows them to have been victorious, and
+they are doing all they can to save the men in the sinking ships of
+their enemies. Then the king distributes rewards to his officers and
+soldiers, and the army marches back to Thebes.
+
+"Perhaps you have had enough of the achievements of the kings who lived
+three thousand years ago, and the monuments they left behind them. Well,
+there's the whistle, and we'll say good-bye to Medinet Aboo.
+
+"What school-boy has not read about the Vocal Memnon at Thebes--the
+sitting statue that greeted the morning sun with its voice? Here it is,
+on the plain, some distance in front of the Rameseum, and it is supposed
+that an avenue of similar figures once led from the position of the
+Vocal Memnon up to the temple. There are two statues side by side, and
+they are known as 'the Sitting Colossi,' or simply 'the Colossi,' and
+are sufficiently large to be seen at a long distance.
+
+[Illustration: THE COLOSSI DURING AN INUNDATION.]
+
+"Each statue rises about fifty feet from a pedestal at least ten feet
+high, so that when they were erected they were doubtless more than sixty
+feet above the ground; but the inundations of the Nile have deposited
+the earth around them, and the pedestals are completely surrounded. When
+the river is at its height the two figures seem to be sitting in a lake.
+They were hewn from single blocks of sandstone; but one of them was
+injured, either by an earthquake or by the Persian invaders, and was
+reconstructed with blocks of stone of the same character as the
+original.
+
+"They were made to represent Amunoph III., and were not, as many
+suppose, intended for divinities. The one nearest the north was known as
+the Vocal Memnon, that uttered a sound every morning when the rays of
+the sun fell upon it.
+
+"Sometimes it was obstinate, and for several days refused to speak.
+Kings, and princes, and other great men made long journeys to see, and
+especially to hear it, and they waited patiently day after day, too, for
+its utterance.
+
+"Sometimes, when a very great personage like the Emperor Hadrian came,
+it gave forth its utterance twice on the same morning. Then the whole of
+Thebes talked of the wonder, and the Emperor was regarded with special
+reverence.
+
+"We went to see and hear it, and we did not go at sunrise, as was
+necessary to do three thousand years ago.
+
+"We went in the afternoon, and for half a franc an Arab climbed up the
+statue and struck a stone that lies in the lap of the figure. We beat
+the Emperor Hadrian completely, as we heard the sound a dozen times
+instead of twice, and if we had given the Arab a franc he would have
+been delighted to pound the stone for half an hour.
+
+[Illustration: EGYPTIAN PRIESTS CLAD IN LEOPARD-SKINS.]
+
+"The sound is what we call a metallic one, like that of a poorly tuned
+bell. The whole trick is clearly apparent. A priest was concealed in a
+niche behind the stone, where nobody could see him from the ground, and
+he could strike the stone at the proper moment without fear of
+discovery. Perhaps he went to sleep occasionally, and then the sound was
+not heard; or it is possible he was in league with the hotel-keepers of
+Thebes, and wished people to stay in town a week or two, instead of
+finishing their visit in a day and taking the train to the next place.
+At any rate, the Colossi have ceased to be among the wonders of the
+world. For thirty centuries they have looked out on the plain of Thebes.
+What a pity it is they cannot open their stony lips and tell us what has
+passed around them during all that period of time--what changes they
+have witnessed, and what generations have come and gone since they first
+began their long vigil!"
+
+[Illustration: REAR VIEW OF THE COLOSSI, WITH LUXOR IN THE DISTANCE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS.--RECENT DISCOVERIES OF ROYAL MUMMIES.
+
+
+"From temples to tombs," wrote one of the boys in his journal, "the
+transition is a natural one. The kings built the temples, and recorded
+their exploits on the walls. When they were done with temples and all
+other earthly things, they were carried to their tombs and laid away to
+rest. We saw their temples yesterday, and to-day we have made an
+excursion to their tombs.
+
+[Illustration: SACRED MUSICIANS, AND A PRIEST OFFERING INCENSE.]
+
+"The tombs of the kings are about three miles from the river, and the
+road to them is along a valley as barren as any part of the desert can
+possibly be. It must have been a weary route for the funeral processions
+from Thebes to this desolate spot, and it is probable that the kings
+deferred their journeys there as long as possible. The way is impassable
+for carriages, and so we rode on donkeys, as we have done in most of our
+Egyptian excursions.
+
+[Illustration: VALLEY OF THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS.]
+
+"The tombs are scattered along a narrow valley of barren mountains at
+the edge of the Libyan Desert, or, rather, just within its borders;
+they are excavated in the solid rock, and some of them are very large.
+Every few years a new discovery is made, and the government allows any
+explorer to search for tombs under certain conditions: the conditions
+are now so onerous that few private researches have been undertaken for
+some time, and none are likely to be till the laws are changed. In the
+early part of the century several English, French, German, and other
+explorers were on the ground, and some of their discoveries were of
+great interest. The tombs they opened are generally known by the names
+of those who found them, though several have lost that distinction
+through a system of numbering adopted by Sir Gardner Wilkinson. The
+guides usually point them out by their numbers. About thirty tombs in
+all have been opened, and it is certain there are ten or twelve more
+that have not been discovered. Strabo, the Greek historian, who came
+here about the beginning of the Christian era, says he saw forty tombs;
+but some have conjectured that he included those in another valley, and
+known as the Tombs of the Queens.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW IN BELZONI'S TOMB.]
+
+"We didn't have time to see the whole twenty-five, and it would not
+have been worth while for us to do so, as several of them have no
+particular interest. We went first to number seventeen, which is also
+known as Belzoni's tomb; it was discovered by Belzoni, an Italian
+traveller, and the most of its contents were carried to England, and are
+now in the British Museum. Perhaps you may wonder why these tombs are so
+difficult to find, but the reason is this:
+
+"When a king died, and had been properly turned into a mummy, the
+funeral rites were performed, and he was taken to the excavation in the
+rock prepared for him. When he was packed away in his stone coffin the
+entrance to the tomb was sealed up, and the side of the mountain broken
+away; all trace of the tomb or the entrance of it was destroyed; and
+there is a rumor that the men who performed the work were killed, in
+order to prevent any revelations. Doubtless the locality of the tombs
+was known to a good many people; but the knowledge of it would be
+gradually lost, especially when the country was devastated by wars, and
+the whole population, in some instances, swept away. Certainly the most
+of these tombs were unknown for a thousand years or so previous to the
+present century, with a few exceptions where the Arabs had accidentally
+hit upon them, though many of them had been plundered and again closed
+during the Greek and Roman period. Belzoni was guided in his search by
+an incident which the Arabs had told him of the sinking of the earth in
+consequence of a rain, and the disappearance of water at a certain
+point. This led him to suspect that there might be a tomb there, and by
+digging away the fallen fragments of rock on the side of the mountain he
+came upon the entrance.
+
+"There is a general similarity in these tombs, and so we will not weary
+you with repetitions by describing them all.
+
+"The tomb has a narrow entrance, from which there is a descending
+passage-way, and sometimes a staircase. There are long halls and lateral
+chambers, and now and then the real resting-place of the king is beneath
+the main hall, which contained a bogus mummy intended to mislead any
+unauthorized visitor. The Egyptians exhausted their brains in devices to
+conceal the royal mummies, and it is quite possible that in some cases
+they have succeeded. When Belzoni opened the tomb that bears his name he
+came upon a staircase at the end of the passage, which he descended;
+there he found a horizontal chamber terminating in another staircase,
+and at its foot was an oblong chamber, or pit, of considerable depth.
+
+"This appeared to be the end of the tomb, and it was, as an Hibernian
+might say, full of emptiness.
+
+"Belzoni was disappointed, as his search had been fruitless. While
+wondering what to do next, he struck his hammer against the wall at the
+top of the pit, and found that it gave forth a hollow sound. He reasoned
+that the sound indicated a chamber beyond, and that the apparently solid
+rock was only a wall of masonry, carefully covered with stucco and
+hieroglyphics.
+
+"He sent out for the best battering-ram that could be procured, and it
+soon came in the shape of a log cut from a palm-tree. With this log he
+knocked down the wall and opened a way into the actual tomb. The
+inscriptions on the walls were found quite unharmed, and so was the
+alabaster coffin, which is now in London, but contained nothing of
+consequence when discovered. The tomb appears to be one of those that
+was partially plundered within a few hundred years of its occupation by
+the royal mummy, and again closed up.
+
+"The total distance from the entrance to the farthest point in Belzoni's
+tomb is four hundred and seventy feet, and the perpendicular descent of
+the various stairways and inclines is one hundred and eighty feet. We
+had a fatiguing walk through it, in consequence of the unevenness of the
+way and the fragments of broken and fallen rock. The air was somewhat
+stifling, partly owing to its confined character, and partly from the
+effect of our torches and candles. We burnt a good deal of magnesium
+wire to light up the halls, and reveal the beautiful inscriptions that
+were around us in all directions except beneath our feet. Remember that
+there was hardly a foot of space without inscriptions. The walls of this
+tomb afford material for a year's study, and hard study at that.
+
+"Some of the inscriptions refer to the daily occupations of the
+Egyptians, others to the deeds of the kings of Egypt, and others to the
+funeral ceremonies attending the death of a king. These last are by far
+the most numerous, and there are long extracts from the 'Book of the
+Dead,' showing the progress of the soul after it leaves the body.
+
+"One inscription shows the soul passing to Amenthes, where, after a
+short halt, it was ordered to the Hall of Justice. On its way to this
+hall it was attacked by demons and wild beasts, but all these were
+driven away if the body had been properly provided with prayers written
+on the rolls of papyrus and the scarabæi that are always found with the
+mummies.
+
+"Another picture represents the soul in the Hall of Justice, where its
+heart is placed in one scale and the Goddess of Truth in the other. Two
+of the gods superintend the weighing, and a third makes a note of the
+result. The god Osiris (with forty-two councillors) pronounces sentence.
+The heart was found heavy, and therefore the spirit was ordered to the
+regions of the blessed, where it was to pass through centuries of
+happiness and then return to the mummy, which would be restored to life.
+Of course they always found that the heart of the king was of the proper
+weight; it would have been dangerous for the artist to discover it too
+light, and thereby condemn it to suffer long tortures as a punishment
+for its sins before it could pass to a state of rest, and get ready to
+return to the mummy that waited for it.
+
+"Belzoni's tomb was made for King Sethi I., whose temple we visited from
+Girgeh. Portions of it were left unfinished, and some of the drawings
+are incomplete. This condition of the wall is to be regretted for some
+reasons, but is very fortunate in other respects, as it shows how the
+Egyptian artists performed their work. The draughtsman made the outlines
+in red chalk, and they were then inspected by the chief artist, who
+corrected any errors or made alterations with a black crayon; the marks
+were then followed by the sculptor, and were afterward colored with the
+proper pigments. In some cases the wall was laid out in squares before
+the figures were drawn, but this does not seem to have been the
+universal rule, and there is abundant evidence that the Egyptian
+artists were accomplished in what we call 'free-hand' drawing.
+
+[Illustration: AN EGYPTIAN HARPER.]
+
+"From this tomb we went to that of Rameses III. It was discovered by
+Bruce, the famous traveller in Egypt and Abyssinia, and usually bears
+his name, though it is sometimes called 'the Harper's Tomb,' from the
+figure of a man playing on a harp, which is painted on one of the walls.
+It is much easier to visit than Belzoni's, and its chief interest lies
+in the great number of agricultural, pastoral, and other scenes depicted
+on the walls. The daily life of the people is very clearly shown, and we
+have an excellent idea of what the ancient Egyptians did, how they
+lived, and what were their articles of furniture, dress, and the like.
+We were astonished to see pictures of sofas, chairs, tables, and other
+adornments of the house that would be considered luxurious at the
+present time. Doctor Bronson says the designers of modern furniture
+might learn a great deal by coming here and copying the pictures on the
+walls.
+
+[Illustration: A CHAIR FROM BRUCE'S TOMB.]
+
+"We saw half a dozen tombs of the kings, and then went to the tombs of
+the Assaséef. Perhaps you'd like to know what they are?
+
+"They were the tombs of certain high-priests of Thebes, who are reputed
+to have been very wealthy and powerful, and certainly they must have
+been pretty nearly as important as the king under whom they lived. Their
+tombs are even larger than any of the tombs of the kings: the greatest
+of the Assaséef tombs has a lineal distance from the entrance to the
+farthest point of eight hundred and sixty-two feet, and the floors of
+the various passages, rooms, and pits include an area of about an acre
+and a quarter. Isn't that a pretty large tomb for one person--even
+though he included the members of his family and a few personal friends?
+
+"We lighted our torches at the entrance, and then began a long walk
+through the interior, though we did not visit all the side chambers and
+narrow rooms, of which there are a great many. The sculptures on the
+walls are inferior to those in Belzoni's and Bruce's tombs, and we did
+not spend much time over them.
+
+"Several times some of our torches were put out by the bats, of which
+there are great numbers in the tomb. It was quite as bad for the bats as
+for the torches, as they could not fly into the flame without risk of
+having their wings singed. They flew in our faces, and were anything but
+agreeable. One of our party said he had heard of receiving 'a bat in the
+eye,' but never before experienced the sensation. He had a dozen of them
+at least before he got out of the place.
+
+"From this place we went to some private tombs, and then to the tombs of
+the queens, but only visited one of each. Neither of these was
+particularly interesting after what we had seen, though they contained
+the usual profusion of mural paintings, which we had no time for
+inspecting. The best of the paintings and sculptures have been copied by
+Wilkinson and others, and we may study them at our leisure when we get
+home, and our friends who are interested in the subject can do the same
+thing. In one of the tombs we found the work of an artist who evidently
+had the spirit of fun in him, as there were several caricatures of no
+mean order. In one picture a boat has collided with another, and a whole
+lot of cakes and other eatables are overturned on the rowers. We find
+caricatures occasionally, but not often, and, on the whole, the
+Egyptians seem to have been a serious people.
+
+"We got back all right to the bank of the river, where the boats were
+waiting to ferry us over to Luxor. So ends our sight-seeing at Thebes,
+as we leave to-morrow morning to continue our journey up the Nile. We
+have had no accident beyond a few slight tumbles and bruises, and have
+obtained a store of information that will severely tax our memories to
+retain. Let us hope that we can remember it, and be able to impart our
+knowledge to others; if we can, we shall be rewarded a thousand times
+over for the trouble we have taken, and for the fatigues of our visits
+to the temples and tombs of this famous city of thirty centuries ago."
+
+Since the travels of our friends in Egypt an event has occurred of great
+interest to all who have any familiarity with the history of the land of
+the Pharaohs. It will be noted that Frank and Fred, during their visits
+to the tombs of the kings, and to the museum at Boulak, did not see the
+mummy of any royal personage, if we except that of Queen Amen-Hotep,
+which was found by Mariette Bey, together with the remarkable collection
+of jewellery described in Chapter VIII.
+
+Remembering that no mummy of a king had been found down to the date of
+the journey of our friends in Egypt, and that all the royal tombs when
+opened were found to have been previously visited by vandals as
+free-handed as those of modern days, we can appreciate the importance of
+the announcement, toward the end of 1881, that a new tomb had been
+opened and found to contain the mummies of several kings, together with
+those of other royal personages. The following description is taken from
+a recent publication, the details having been derived from the reports
+of M. Maspero, the able successor of Mariette Pasha:
+
+ "For the last ten years or more it had been suspected that the
+ Theban Arabs (whose main occupation is tomb-pillage and
+ mummy-snatching) had found a royal sepulchre. Objects of great
+ rarity and antiquity were being brought to Europe every season by
+ travellers who had purchased them from native dealers living on the
+ spot; and many of these objects were historically traceable to
+ certain royal dynasties which made Thebes their capital city. At
+ length suspicion became certainty. An English tourist, passing
+ through Paris, presented Professor Maspero with some photographs
+ from a superb papyrus which he had then lately bought at Thebes
+ from an Arab named Abd-er-Ranoul. This papyrus proved to be the
+ Ritual, or funereal sacred book, written for Pinotem I., third
+ priest-king of the twenty-first dynasty. Evidently, then, the tomb
+ of this sovereign had been discovered and pillaged. In January,
+ 1881, the late lamented Mariette Pasha died at Cairo, and was
+ succeeded by Professor Maspero, the present Conservator of
+ Antiquities to H.H. the Khedive. Professor Maspero at once resolved
+ to get to the bottom of the Theban mystery; and, with that object
+ chiefly in view, proceeded last April to Upper Egypt upon his first
+ official trip of inspection. Arriving at Luxor he straightway
+ arrested the said Abd-er-Ranoul. Threats, bribery, persuasion were,
+ however, tried in vain, and Abd-er-Ranoul was consigned to the
+ district prison at Keneh, the chief town of the province. Here for
+ two months he maintained an obstinate silence. In the mean while
+ Professor Maspero offered a reward of £500 for the discovery of
+ the secret, and returned to Europe. Scarcely had he embarked when
+ the elder brother of Abd-er-Ranoul went privately before the
+ Governor of Keneh, offered to betray the secret, and claimed the
+ reward.
+
+ [Illustration: SECTION OF PAPYRUS.]
+
+ "The governor telegraphed immediately to Cairo; and Herr Emil
+ Brugsch, Keeper of the Boulak Museum (whom Professor Maspero had
+ deputed to act for him in any case of emergency), was forthwith
+ despatched to Thebes. Here he was conducted to a lonely spot in the
+ most desolate and unfrequented part of the great necropolis which
+ extends for between three and four miles along the western bank of
+ the Nile. Hidden behind an angle of limestone cliff, and masked by
+ a huge fragment of fallen rock, he beheld the entrance to a
+ perpendicular shaft descending to a depth of thirty-nine feet. At
+ the bottom of this shaft opened a gallery two hundred and forty
+ feet in length, leading to a sepulchral vault measuring
+ twenty-three feet by thirteen. In this gallery and vault were found
+ some thirty-six mummies, including more than twenty kings and
+ queens, besides princes, princesses, and high-priests, to say
+ nothing of an immense store of sacred vessels, funereal statuettes,
+ alabaster vases, and precious objects in glass, bronze,
+ acacia-wood, etc. The treasure thus brought to light consisted of
+ some six thousand items, not the least valuable of which were four
+ royal papyri. Professor Maspero, in his official report, warmly
+ eulogizes the energy with which Herr Emil Brugsch, by the aid of
+ five hundred native laborers, exhumed, packed, shipped, and brought
+ to Cairo the whole contents of this now famous hiding-place.
+
+ [Illustration: COFFIN AND MUMMY OF A ROYAL PRINCESS.]
+
+ "The following are the principal royal mummies found in this
+ recently opened tomb:
+
+ "King Rasekenen-Taaken and Queen Ansera, of the seventeenth
+ dynasty.
+
+ "King Ahmes Ra-neb-Pehti, Queen Ahmes Nofretari, Queen Aah-Hotep,
+ Queen Merit-Amen, Queen Hontimoo-hoo, Prince Se Amen, Princess
+ Set-Amen, King Amen-Hotep I., King Thothmes I.,* King Thothmes II.,
+ King Thothmes III., Queen Sitka, all of the eighteenth dynasty.
+
+ [Illustration: COFFIN OF QUEEN NOFRETARI.]
+
+ "King Rameses I.,* King Sethi I., King Rameses II., of the
+ nineteenth dynasty.
+
+ [The asterisk indicates that the mummy is missing.]
+
+ "Queen Notem-Maut, King and High-priest Pinotem I., King Pinotem
+ II., Prince and High-priest Masahirti, Queen Hathor Hout-Taui,
+ Queen Makara, Queen Isi-em-Kheb, Princess Nasi-Khonsu, Prince
+ Tat-f-Ankh, Nebseni, a priest, Noi-Shounap, a priest, of the
+ twenty-first dynasty.
+
+ "In some instances the mummy reposes in its original mummy-case,
+ and sometimes in two or three mummy-cases, the whole enclosed in an
+ enormous outer sarcophagus. In others, only the mummy case is left,
+ the mummy having been destroyed or abstracted. Farther, some
+ mummies are found in mummy-cases not their own, or in mummy-cases
+ which have been altered and usurped for their use in ancient times.
+
+ "There can be no doubt that the vault in which these various
+ mummies and funereal treasures were found was the family sepulchre
+ of the kings of the twenty-first dynasty. This dynasty was founded
+ by Her-Hor, High-priest of Amen of the great Temple of Amen at
+ Thebes, who, toward the close of the twentieth dynasty, at a time
+ the throne of the last Ramessides was tottering to its foundations,
+ either inherited the crown by right of descent or seized it by
+ force.
+
+ "The close of the twentieth dynasty was an epoch of great internal
+ trouble and disorder. During the reigns of the last four or five
+ kings of that line there had been little security for life and
+ property in Thebes; and organized bands of robbers committed
+ constant depredations in the more retired quarters of the
+ necropolis, attacking chiefly the tombs of great personages, and
+ venturing even to break open the sepulchres of the royal dead.
+ Hence it became the sacred duty of the reigning monarch to take
+ every possible precaution to insure the mummies of his predecessors
+ against profanation and pillage.
+
+ "We accordingly find that Her-Hor caused the sepulchres of his
+ predecessors to be periodically visited by a service of regularly
+ appointed Inspectors of Tombs, whose duty it was to report upon the
+ condition of the royal mummies; to repair their wrappings and
+ mummy-cases when requisite; and, if necessary, to remove them from
+ their own sepulchres into any others which might be deemed more
+ secure. All of them seem to have been moved several times: at one
+ time the tomb of Queen Ansera, at another time the tomb of Sethi
+ I., at another time the tomb of one of the Amen-Hoteps would seem
+ to have been selected as the chosen hiding-place of several royal
+ mummies, all of whom had been removed from their own original
+ sepulchres by order of Her-Hor or his successors. The mummy of
+ Rameses II. (to whose memory, as the supposed Pharaoh of the
+ oppression of the Hebrews, so strong an interest attaches) appears
+ to have been removed more frequently, and to have suffered more
+ vicissitudes of fortune than any of the others. That his sepulchre
+ in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings had been violated by
+ robbers can scarcely be doubted, for his original mummy-cases were
+ either destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
+
+ "All the mummies were eventually consigned to the tomb of the
+ Her-Hor family near the end of the twenty-first dynasty. Professor
+ Maspero believes this final measure to have been taken during the
+ reign of King Menkheperra, the last sovereign but one of the
+ Her-Hor line. Menkheperra himself is not among those found in the
+ vault; neither is his son and successor, Pinotem III. Having
+ piously deposited all these revered and deified Pharaohs and other
+ royal personages in the last home of his own immediate ancestors,
+ Menkheperra evidently closed the vault forever, and was himself
+ content to be buried elsewhere.
+
+ "It is interesting to learn from the reports of Professor Maspero
+ and Herr Brugsch the heights of some of the famous kings of Egypt.
+ Raskenen, it seems, was among Egyptian kings like Saul in Israel.
+ He measured six feet one inch, and very few of his descendants took
+ after him in this particular. Ashmes, for instance (his grandson),
+ measured only five feet six inches, and the great Thothmes III.
+ five feet seven inches. Thothmes II. approached the stature of his
+ ancestor, but Sethi I. was no more than five feet nine inches. It
+ is satisfactory to learn that Rameses II. was taller than his
+ father, and not, like Thothmes III., a little man, by any means,
+ for his mummy wants but one inch of six feet.
+
+ [Illustration: COFFIN OF RAMESES II.]
+
+ "One of the most interesting objects in the collection is the
+ coffin of Rameses II. The face of the king is represented on the
+ lid, and the hands are in high relief, grasping the Osirian scourge
+ and crook, but the face is not from the studio of the artists who
+ carved the walls of Abydus, and designed the sitting figures of
+ Aboo-Simbel. On the breast is a legend which includes two royal
+ cartouches or ovals, with an inscription in that hieratic or
+ cursive hieroglyphic writing which is so difficult to read. The
+ names in the ovals are easily read, however--'Ra-messes-mer-Amen'
+ in one, 'Ra-user-Ma Setep-en-Ra' in the other.
+
+ "Considerable interest attaches to the mummy of King Pinotem, as it
+ was the latest of all the royal collection. Pinotem was the third
+ king of the twenty-first dynasty, who reigned as nearly as possible
+ a millennium B.C. In addition to the royal mummies, a multitude of
+ objects bearing cartouches will throw great light upon the
+ succession of these kings; and the tent of Pinotem, of leather,
+ embroidered and colored, and covered with hieroglyphics, cannot
+ fail to clear up some historical difficulties as to the
+ priest-kings of Thebes. His face has an Ethiopian cast of features,
+ and he is believed to have been descended from the princes of Egypt
+ who came from the South. The lips are slightly parted, and the
+ upper teeth are almost visible. The absence of the eyeball is
+ indicated by the way in which the eyelids are sunken; and the
+ nostrils are forcibly distended, in consequence of the method
+ employed by the embalmers for the removal of the brain, which was
+ effected by means of a hooked instrument passed up through the
+ nose. The expression is, nevertheless, not unpleasing. The shrouds
+ are of somewhat coarse texture; and a few withered flowers may be
+ observed stuck through the bands which hold the wrappings
+ together."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+HAREM LIFE IN THE EAST.--FROM LUXOR TO ASSOUAN.
+
+
+A surprise was in store for Frank and Fred when they returned from their
+excursion to the tombs of the kings.
+
+Several ladies of the party had declined to visit the tombs, partly on
+account of the fatigue of the journey, and partly because they had been
+invited to see the harem of the English consul at Luxor, and did not
+wish to miss the opportunity of learning how the women of the East pass
+their time. When our friends returned to the boat the ladies had only
+been back a short time from the harem, and there was an active
+interchange of accumulated information until dinner was announced.
+
+After dinner Frank tried to persuade one of the ladies to write an
+account of what she saw in the harem, as he wished to send it home for
+his sister and Miss Effie to read. She was unwilling to write, but
+promised that she would tell him the next day, while they were steaming
+up the river, and then he might write it out for himself.
+
+Frank accepted the conditions, and next morning he sat down, pencil in
+hand, to take the story from the lady's lips. He thought it would be
+more interesting in her words than in his, and, as he was a rapid
+writer, he managed to get down a good part of the story just as she told
+it.
+
+Here is the result of his work:
+
+"We went to the office," said the lady, "and found the consul was all
+ready for us. We walked from there to his house, which is quite pretty
+when you get inside of it, and has a nice little garden on a balcony;
+from this balcony we went into the harem, accompanied by the consul's
+son, who speaks English. The consul remained outside with the husband of
+one of the ladies, as it would have been a great outrage upon Oriental
+etiquette for a foreign gentleman to step inside the sacred spot.
+
+"The son of the consul only stayed long enough to introduce us, and then
+we were left to take care of ourselves. There were half a dozen women,
+some of them the wives of the consul, and others married to his son: we
+couldn't remember them all separately, and so when the young man left us
+we didn't know which was which. But it was of no particular consequence
+that we forgot, as we had to do all our talking by signs; the women
+spoke only Arabic, and not one of us knew a dozen words of that
+language. The only word I could think of was _empshy!_ (clear out!),
+which you say to beggars when you want to be rid of them, and that
+wasn't exactly the kind of language to use when you are introduced to
+strangers.
+
+[Illustration: AN ORIENTAL LADY AT HOME.]
+
+"When we entered the room they saluted us in Arabic, and invited us to
+sit on the carpet, which we did as well as we could. There were divans
+around the sides of the room, and a fine carpet in the centre, and we
+sat more on the carpet than on the divans. We wanted to do as nearly
+like our entertainers as we could, and when they invited us to the
+carpet we thought it would be rudeness to decline. Of course we were
+rather awkward about it, and laughed at our clumsiness, so as to give
+them a chance to laugh with us if they wanted to.
+
+"They were dressed loosely in the flowing robes such as you see the Arab
+women wear in the streets, but they had no veils on their faces. There
+was one who did not seem to be more than fifteen years old, and I
+presume she was the favorite wife of the consul's son. She wore a dress
+embroidered more richly than any other, and the material was of a costly
+silk. I wanted to ask her where it was made, and how much it cost, as I
+fancied it would be a nice one to take home and excite the envy of my
+friends. But then, you know, it might have been impolite to put such a
+question, and, besides, I didn't know how to ask in Arabic. All things
+considered, I didn't ask at all.
+
+"As soon as we sat down on the carpet they began to examine us; they
+looked very intently into our faces, they scanned our clothing and
+boots, loosened our hair, took out our ear-drops, and appeared as
+curious and innocent as children. We returned the compliment by
+examining them, and they seemed greatly pleased that we did so.
+
+"What excited their curiosity more than anything else was Mrs. ----'s
+hair. They pinched it and twisted it in all sorts of ways, passed it
+through their hands, and were not contented until they satisfied
+themselves that it grew naturally on her head. Even then they kept
+touching it and looking at it closely every few minutes, all the time we
+were in the harem."
+
+[Illustration: EASTERN LADIES LISTENING TO MUSIC.]
+
+Frank made a memorandum, for the benefit of his sister and Miss Effie,
+that the lady in question was English, and had hair of the purest
+blonde. It was rich and glossy, of the hue of old gold, and was
+doubtless the first hair of the kind these Arab ladies had ever seen. It
+was no wonder that their curiosity was roused by it. Black hair is
+universal among the Arabs, and the tricks of the bleachers of London and
+New York are unknown in Egypt.
+
+"Before we knew what they were doing," the lady continued, "they had our
+heads in their laps, and were staining our eyelids. They wanted to stain
+our finger-nails and tattoo our chins, but we declined the honor, as we
+did not like the effect of the coloring matter, which will not wash off.
+It remains on for several days, and when it begins to wear off it makes
+the hands very dingy. They were as much amused at the whiteness of our
+finger-nails as we were at the dark color of theirs.
+
+"They wore their hair loose, with bands around the head to keep it in
+place, and the youngest of them had a very rich head-dress with many
+pieces of gold attached to it. They served us with pipes and coffee soon
+after we entered, and seemed much surprised at our refusal to smoke. One
+of us tried a few whiffs from a nargileh, and it made them laugh very
+much when the smoke choked her and set her to coughing.
+
+"Our visit lasted about half an hour. They embraced us when we came
+away, but did not offer to kiss us, and the last thing they did was to
+give a farewell pinch to Mrs. ----'s hair. They intimated by signs that
+they would like to come to the boat to see us; but of course that would
+not be according to Eastern usage, and they are not at all likely to
+come."
+
+Frank gathered other details about the life of Eastern women which he
+appended to his account of the visit we have just described. A few of
+them will not be out of place in this narrative.
+
+"According to all I can learn," wrote Frank, "the life of an Eastern
+woman must be very monotonous. She goes out very little, and after she
+is married can only rarely visit her relatives. Day and night her place
+is in the harem, and she never speaks to any man except her husband--not
+even to his most intimate friends or to her own brothers. The time must
+hang very heavily on her hands, especially when, as is generally the
+case, she is unable to read, and cannot obtain the consolation which
+books afford.
+
+[Illustration: AN ORIENTAL DANCING GIRL.]
+
+"I have told you of the marriage ceremonies among the modern Egyptians;
+they are practically the same in most of the Moslem countries, and have
+the same result among all except the poorer classes. The wife of a man
+who can afford the expense of a harem passes the most of her time there,
+and only goes out on rare occasions. Ladies of her own rank may call on
+her, and she can return their visits, but they are not very frequent,
+and she passes the most of the time entirely among the other women of
+her house. These include the servants or slaves, and possibly the other
+wives of her husband.
+
+"Speaking of other wives, let me say here that, according to the Koran,
+an Arab or Turk may have four wives, provided he can take care of them,
+but by custom he sometimes has more. Doctor Bronson says the intercourse
+of the East with Europe has caused a great many men to adopt the customs
+of the latter country and have only one wife. Some of the high officers
+of Egypt have done so, and they are occasionally seen in public with
+their wives, which is a great innovation upon the old habits of the
+land.
+
+"Where a man has two or more wives each of them is entitled to separate
+apartments, and to servants whose whole business is to wait on her;
+consequently, a harem is an expensive luxury, and there are not many who
+can afford it. Perhaps the saving of expense has something to do with
+the spread of European ideas among the Orientals. And then, too, there
+are apt to be quarrels among the occupants of the harem which the master
+is called upon to settle, and with a sufficient number of them his life
+is anything but a happy one.
+
+[Illustration: AN EASTERN STORY-TELLER.]
+
+"The amusements of the ladies of the harem consist of music and
+story-telling, and for this there are professional narrators and
+performers who go from house to house, and are paid for their services.
+Of course these are women, as no man except the master of the house can
+enter the harem. Their visits are always welcome, as they greatly assist
+in passing away the time. When a story-teller is present the women
+gather about her, and sometimes the master of the house is seated in a
+balcony, where he can hear the performance and look upon the assemblage
+below. For the musical entertainments there are generally two or more
+performers, one of them playing on the flute and the other on the
+guitar. Then there are women who sing in addition to playing, or, if
+singers cannot play, they bring their own accompanists.
+
+"A lady in Moslem countries gives a party very much like one in New
+York, with the difference that all the visitors are ladies. Generally
+these parties are in the afternoon, though they sometimes take place in
+the evening. In either case the guests come at an appointed hour and are
+received by the hostess, who is in evening costume and without a veil.
+Her visitors having come through the streets on their way to the house
+are of course veiled when they arrive, but the veil is laid aside with
+the shawls and cloaks, and the guests make themselves at home, very much
+as in Christian countries.
+
+"If the hostess is the wife of an official, or merchant having business
+with foreigners, she sends invitations to their wives or sisters--in
+fact, to any ladies she knows, whether they are of her religion or not.
+In this way European ladies are introduced to the harems, and it often
+happens that warm friendships are formed between women of different
+religions, just as they are formed among men.
+
+[Illustration: A RECEPTION IN A HAREM.]
+
+"When there is a large party, some are seated on the divans and others
+on the carpet. Coffee and cigarettes are served, and those who desire
+pipes to smoke can be accommodated, as the long-stemmed nargileh abounds
+in every harem, and is very much in use. Conversation is very brisk, and
+it is said that the ladies of the East are quite as fluent with their
+tongues as their Western sisters.
+
+"After a little time has been devoted to conversation the hostess gives
+a signal, and the entertainment provided for the occasion begins. If the
+lady has slaves that can sing they seat themselves on the floor and
+begin a song, but if there is not sufficient talent among them a party
+of professionals is especially engaged. The singing is followed by
+dancing, and this is almost always by professional dancing girls, and
+the affair is said to be much like the one we saw at Keneh.
+
+"Dancing follows singing, and singing follows dancing, and now and then
+a story-teller is introduced for the amusement of those who like them.
+Sweetmeats and cakes are liberally served, and so are coffee and
+sherbet, which are taken from tiny cups such as we would disdain in our
+own country.
+
+"In addition to these amusements they have cards and checkers, and many
+of the Eastern ladies are said to be very skilful at these games. In
+various ways the afternoon or evening is worn away, and, if the affair
+is a specially fine one, a supper is served on a large platter placed on
+a stand in the centre of the room. It consists mostly of preserved
+fruits and other dainties, and is not so extensive as the supper at a
+party of the same sort in America. Nobody is expected to leave until
+some of the most fashionable or distinguished ladies give the signal.
+The hostess pretends to be very sorry to have them go, but is no doubt
+wishing to herself that they would make haste and leave her alone.
+
+"So much for harem life in Egypt. I'm sorry I can't tell more about it,
+but all my information must come from somebody else, and therefore you
+must consider it second-hand. The condition of women in the East is
+improving, but it is yet far behind that of Europe and America. The
+progress is more rapid in Egypt than in Turkey and other Moslem lands,
+and the example of the rulers of this country in establishing schools
+for girls will have an effect in the right direction. But it will take a
+long time to overcome the prejudices that exist in consequence of the
+religion of the East, not only among the men but among the women
+themselves. Many of the Egyptian and Turkish ladies have told their
+foreign visitors that they would not desire to change places with them:
+they enjoy their life of indolence and seclusion, as it gives them a
+feeling of protection they would not have if the customs of Europe
+prevailed among them."
+
+Esneh was the first stopping-place above Luxor, and the object of
+interest was a temple partly cleared out and partly covered by the
+houses of the town. The only part to be seen was the portico, which was
+reached by a flight of steps descending to it. Nobody knows the extent
+of the temple, as it was covered for many hundred years with heaps of
+rubbish. The attempts to clear it out were made quite recently, but
+enough has not been excavated to give even the outline of the original
+edifice.
+
+[Illustration: SCULPTURES MUTILATED BY THE PERSIANS.]
+
+The boys observed here, as they had already done at Luxor and other
+places, that the sculptures were frequently injured by the destruction
+of the faces of the figures that had been engraved with so much care.
+They asked the Doctor how this was done, and he thus explained it:
+
+"The Persians," said he, "had a great objection to seeing figures on the
+walls of the temples, and when they overran Egypt they mutilated them in
+the way you perceive. Happily the sculptures were so numerous that they
+did not have sufficient time to destroy them all, or even a goodly
+portion of them.
+
+"The early Christians, in their zeal for removing the evidences of
+paganism, continued the work which the Persians began. In some instances
+they plastered the figures over so as to conceal them, and thus
+unintentionally caused them to be preserved. Where the plaster is
+removed the figures are found in excellent condition."
+
+It did not require a long time for the visit to the Temple of Esneh, as
+the curiosity of the travellers concerning Egyptian temples had
+somewhat diminished since their stay at Thebes, and the many
+explorations they had made. After seeing the temple they strolled
+through the town, and listened to the songs of a group of Arabs at the
+_cafés_ which line the bank of the river near the landing-place.
+
+Just as the whistle of the steamer gave the signal for continuing the
+journey, Frank's attention was attracted by what he pronounced a thing
+of beauty.
+
+[Illustration: A THING OF BEAUTY.]
+
+It was not a girl, or a painting, or a temple, or even a scarabæus: it
+was a mule.
+
+Both the boys pronounced it the handsomest beast of the kind they had
+seen in Egypt, and were sorry their time was so limited they could not
+study the animal closely. Its color was pure white, and Fred suggested
+that the mule was probably kalsomined every morning, and was evidently
+treated with great care.
+
+The animal was the property of the governor, and his trappings were in
+keeping with his fine appearance. Some of the travellers regarded the
+saddle quite as much as they did the animal that carried it. Frank said
+he could understand why the Arabs are such excellent horsemen, when the
+saddles are so formed that it is very difficult to throw a rider out of
+them.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW IN THE TEMPLE OF EDFOO.]
+
+From Esneh to the foot of the first cataract there was no incident of
+importance. The boat stopped at two or three places where there were
+ruined temples, the most interesting being that of Edfoo. It was cleared
+out in 1864 by order of the Egyptian Government, and the rubbish that
+had been there thousands of years lay piled around it. The rubbish had
+tended to the preservation of the sculptures, and after the clearing was
+completed they were found to be in better condition than in most of the
+other temples.
+
+The general plan of the building was much like that of the Temple of
+Denderah, and it was dedicated to the worship of the hawk. In the
+sanctuary is a cage hewn from a single block of granite, which was once
+the home of the sacred bird, who, no doubt, received the adoration of
+the faithful much against his will. He would have preferred freedom and
+a flock of chickens to the homage of the Egyptians, unless he was unlike
+the hawks of modern days.
+
+[Illustration: HAGAR SILSILIS.]
+
+At Hagar Silsilis, or "the Rock of the Chain," the boat stopped to give
+an opportunity for seeing the quarries, whence great quantities of stone
+were taken for the construction of the temples at Esneh, Edfoo, Karnak,
+and other places. The excavations where the stones were cut have been
+partly filled by drifting sand, but enough of them remain to show how
+the work was done. The Nile is here only a little more than a thousand
+feet wide at its narrowest part, and there is a tradition that when
+ancient Egypt was threatened with invasion a chain was stretched across
+the river to prevent the passage of hostile boats. Frank made a hasty
+sketch of the place, and included in his drawing the column of rock
+where the chain is said to have been fastened.
+
+There was once a flourishing town at this place, but at present little
+remains of it; and even the ruins have been so covered with sand that
+they cannot be readily found. The desert comes down on both sides of the
+river at Hagar Silsilis, and the fertile land of the Nile disappears
+altogether. To the stranger ascending the river for the first time it
+seems as though he had reached the head of the Nile, and his journey was
+to come suddenly to an end; but a turn of the stream undeceives him, and
+his eye rests upon a more agreeable scene.
+
+[Illustration: THE FOOT OF THE FIRST CATARACT.]
+
+On and on went the boat, and the scenery became more and more
+picturesque as the sandstone formation disappeared and granite took its
+place. The barren shores of Hagar Silsilis were forgotten in the
+fertility of the soil below Assouan and the brightness of the verdure on
+the island of Elephantine, which lies at the foot of the first cataract
+of the Nile. The hills around the cataract were crowned with little
+shrines and tombs of Moslem saints, and there was a fringe of barren
+hills directly back of the town in sharp contrast to the fertility of
+the soil below it. The sun shone brightly on the water, which appeared
+quiet as a lake enclosed in the mountains; the black rocks that rose
+here and there on the bank of the river seemed to threaten danger to any
+boat that ventured near them, since it was not easy to know what might
+be concealed below the surface. Beyond Elephantine Island the river was
+broken and lost, and our friends had no difficulty in comprehending that
+they were in a part of the Nile quite unlike anything they had seen
+before.
+
+The steamer swung sharply around at the foot of the island, and in a few
+minutes was at the landing-place of Assouan, the Syene of the ancients.
+
+Not only were our friends among new scenes of rocks and hills, but the
+crowds of natives that welcomed them were different from any they had
+seen before. It was a mingling of Arabs and Nubians: the former were
+nothing new, but the latter had put in an appearance for the first time.
+They were scantily dressed, their skins were black as ink, and their
+woolly hair was done up in little ringlets, like pen-holders, and
+apparently soaked in grease. The goods they offered for sale were
+ostrich feathers, Nubian dresses, arrows, old coins, knives, and kindred
+things, and they were as shrewd in making bargains as their friends the
+Arabs. Whips and canes of the hide of the hippopotamus were liberally
+offered, and nearly every passenger made purchases of these articles.
+
+The hippopotamus whip is called a _courbash_ by the Arabs, and has the
+reputation of being the most cruel whip in the world. It is much like
+the "green hide" that was in use in the Southern States of North America
+during the days of slavery, and a blow from it is to be dreaded and long
+remembered by man or beast.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when our friends arrived at Assouan, and
+there was only time to stroll through the bazaars before sunset. Plans
+were made for an excursion to the island of Philæ on the following day,
+and everybody went early to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+A CAMEL JOURNEY.--THE ISLAND OF PHILÆ, AND THE FIRST CATARACT OF THE
+NILE.
+
+
+Frank and Fred were destined to enjoy a novelty in the way of
+travelling. They were to make their excursion to the island of Philæ on
+the backs of camels.
+
+It is about five miles from Assouan to Philæ, and the road is chiefly
+through the rocky desert, or along the equally rocky bank of the river.
+The travellers had the choice of camels or donkeys for the journey, and
+the two youths unhesitatingly decided in favor of the former.
+
+"You can ride almost any time on a donkey," said Fred, "but it isn't
+every day you can have a camel."
+
+"I quite agree with you," Frank replied. "We'll have a jolly ride of it,
+and have a good story to tell when we get home."
+
+The boys went out before breakfast and found, close to the
+landing-place, a group of camels waiting for the proposed excursion.
+They were all lying or kneeling on the ground, and the boys walked
+around them with the air of having been familiar with camels all their
+lives. Finally they selected two, and at the suggestion of the drivers
+Frank proceeded to mount his new beast of burden, just to try his
+qualities.
+
+"I began," said Frank, afterward, in telling the story to the Doctor--"I
+began by patting the camel on the head, and saying 'good fellow! good
+fellow!' He returned my kindness by trying to bite me, and if I had not
+jumped quickly to one side he would have had a good nip at my arm. The
+driver then stood by his head, and I proceeded to take my seat in the
+saddle, which resembled a wood-sawyer's 'horse' with a blanket thrown
+across it.
+
+"As soon as I was in place I seized the front and rear of the saddle;
+the driver then pulled at the halter, and said something that sounded
+like '_heyda! heyda!_'
+
+"The camel began to move as though there was a small earthquake under
+him. There were three motions--a surge backward, a surge forward, and
+then a backward plunge that brought him to a level.
+
+[Illustration: THE SHIP OF THE DESERT.]
+
+"I could not see exactly how it was done; but Fred, who was looking on,
+said the camel rose on half his fore-legs, then on all of his hind-legs,
+and lastly on the remaining half of his fore-legs. This will account for
+the three motions that were required to bring him up standing."
+
+"Yes," answered the Doctor, "and he kneels in the reverse way--half the
+fore-legs, all the hind-legs, and then half the fore-legs. He is always
+made to kneel for receiving his burden or being relieved of it. He makes
+a great fuss when he is being loaded, and leads you to suppose that the
+burden placed on him is much more than he can bear. The older the camel
+the more noise does he make."
+
+"He must have thought I weighed a ton at least," Frank responded, "for
+he began groaning and bellowing as soon as I entered the saddle, and did
+not stop till he was on his feet. Then he concluded it was no use
+protesting any more and became quiet."
+
+[Illustration: BEDOUIN ARABS WITH THEIR CAMEL HERDS.]
+
+The boys did not learn till after the commencement of their journey that
+the saddles on which they rode were nothing more than pack-saddles for
+transporting freight around the cataract, and their beasts of burden
+were the ordinary freight camels, and not those kept exclusively for
+riding. A blanket was thrown over the saddle, but it did not conceal the
+inequalities of it, and long before their return the youths would have
+been quite willing to exchange their poetic camels for prosaic donkeys.
+The last mile of Frank's ride was performed on foot, and it would have
+been a difficult matter to persuade him to try the excursion over again
+under similar conditions.
+
+[Illustration: CAMELS (FROM AN ASSYRIAN SCULPTURE).]
+
+The regular saddle for camel riding is a sort of dish, in which you sit
+with your feet crossed around the pommel or hanging over the side. You
+can have a pair of stirrups attached if you like, for resting the feet,
+and they are by no means to be despised. An excellent plan for a long
+journey is to sling a couple of boxes or a pair of well-stuffed bags
+across a common pack-saddle, and cover them with mattresses and
+blankets, so as to make a platform about six feet broad; then put up
+your bed in a roll and fasten it to the back of the saddle, to form a
+comfortable rest, and with a pair of stirrups fastened to the saddle-bow
+you can select your own position for riding. If the sun is hot you can
+spread an umbrella; and if you have been fortunate in your selection of
+a camel, and his motion is easy, you will find no difficulty in reading
+and even in sleeping, though a nap on the back of a camel is not
+altogether safe.
+
+The camel has a peculiar rocking motion that is a great strain on the
+spine of the inexperienced rider. He does not feel it much till the
+second day, and then, as Fred expressed it, he feels as though he had a
+back-bone of glass, or some other brittle substance.
+
+[Illustration: A BACTRIAN CAMEL IN GOOD CONDITION.]
+
+During the first part of the journey each of the boys watched the camel
+of the other, in order to understand the motions of his limbs and to
+observe the peculiarities of his feet. The Doctor explained that the
+foot of the camel is wonderfully adapted to travelling over the sands of
+the desert. It is divided into two lobes, and each lobe is armed with a
+stout claw, like the point of the ox's hoof. The foot is like a great
+sponge, and when placed on the ground it spreads out very wide, but is
+immediately contracted when raised. It thus presents a broad surface to
+the sand or mud, and where the ground is steep and slippery it clings
+like the foot of a fly on a window-pane. The strong claw assists its
+adhesion, and consequently the camel can climb the side of a mountain
+which is impassable to a well-shod horse.
+
+[Illustration: FOOT AND STOMACH OF THE CAMEL.
+
+1, Fore-foot; 2, sole; 3, hind-foot, side; 4, structure of the stomach.]
+
+His nostrils are formed so that he can close them at will to keep out
+the drifting sand, and his stomach is so contrived that it will hold a
+supply of water sufficient for six or eight days. There are numerous
+cells or cups in the animal's stomach, and when he has plenty of time
+for drinking he fills all these cells, and thus accumulates a store for
+future use. His scent is very keen, and he can discover water at a great
+distance, and will sometimes break his halter and rush in search of a
+pool or spring of whose existence his master is not aware. He can get
+along with a very small quantity of food, and can, moreover, lay in a
+supply for hard times.
+
+[Illustration: HEAD OF A CAMEL.]
+
+When he is not at work, and has good pasturage, the camel becomes fat,
+and his hump is especially round and full--it is a mass of fat; and when
+he is overworked and poorly fed, as he generally is in the desert, the
+fat goes away from the hump to nourish the rest of the body. This is
+particularly noticeable of the camels in Asia Minor, where they are in
+very active use till they get worn to skeletons, and are then turned out
+to rest and recover their fat.
+
+[Illustration: THE DROMEDARY REGIMENT OF NAPOLEON I.]
+
+Camels are not unfrequently used by the Egyptian Government for military
+purposes, not only for carrying provisions and other munitions of war,
+but for mounting troops in regions where it is necessary to make long
+marches over the desert. Napoleon Bonaparte, during his expedition to
+Egypt in 1798, organized a regiment of this kind, and found it of great
+service. Officers and men were mounted on camels or dromedaries, and on
+one occasion they made a march of ninety miles without halting for food
+or rest. Napoleon was greatly pleased at the success of his scheme, as
+it enabled him to move his men more rapidly than by any other means.
+
+It required some time for the party to set out on the ride from Assouan,
+as there was a good deal of difficulty in getting everybody comfortably
+seated. As we have before stated, Frank and Fred selected their camels
+before breakfast, and the Doctor did not take many minutes for making
+his choice. The three set out in advance of the rest, and proceeded to
+the quarries that furnished the stone for the obelisks, the coffins of
+the sacred bulls, and many other things that have become famous in the
+history of ancient Egypt.
+
+In the quarries is an obelisk partly finished, but not completely
+detached from its bed. According to measurements, it would have been
+ninety-five feet long and eleven feet square at the base. Nobody can
+tell by what king it was ordered, or why it was never finished and
+removed. A crack extends across it, but the general belief is that it
+was made long after the abandonment of the work. A little distance from
+the quarries is a large coffin which became injured during its removal,
+and was consequently given up.
+
+The stone is of that peculiar red granite known as sienite, and admits
+of a very high polish. In response to a question by one of the youths,
+the Doctor said that ordinary granite is composed of mica, felspar, and
+quartz, while in sienite there is little or no mica, and its place is
+filled by hornblende. Sienite is harder than most of the other granites,
+and this quality, combined with its color, causes it to be preferred for
+ornamental work. He farther remarked that the rocks around Assouan are
+not exclusively sienite; on the contrary, they are mostly true granite,
+with occasional variations of porphyry. Some geologists assert that four
+or five kinds of rock may be found there, and interesting specimens may
+be gathered for mineralogical cabinets.
+
+The process of quarrying among the ancients was easy to comprehend,
+owing to the unfinished state of the obelisk to which we have referred.
+A crevice or trench was cut in the rock, and then wedges of dry wood
+were driven in; water was applied to the wedges; the wood swelled, and
+finally its great expansive force caused the rock to split asunder. It
+was slow work, but generally sure. The same plan is still in use in some
+parts of India, and the stones for the construction of King Solomon's
+Temple at Jerusalem were quarried in the same way.
+
+From the quarries the ride was continued to the bank of the Nile,
+opposite the island of Philæ. The boys were elated to think they were
+really in Nubia, a country of which they had read and heard, but
+considered so far away that they were not very likely to see it. They
+had crossed the boundary between Egypt and Nubia, and, by a free use of
+their imaginations, found no great difficulty in placing themselves in
+Central Africa.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF PHILÆ FROM THE HEAD OF THE CATARACT.]
+
+The approach to Philæ was the occasion of many expressions of
+admiration, as the scenery was different from any on which their eyes
+had yet rested. The river is set in an irregular basin of desert hills,
+and their barren sides contrast, in a very marked degree, with the
+waving palms on the famous isle. The rocks of the cataract serve to
+render the picture still more fantastic, and as the whole scene bursts
+suddenly into view, it gives an impression to be long remembered.
+Remarkable as the view is from the bank of the Nile, it is still unequal
+to that from the ruins of the temple on the island itself.
+
+[Illustration: THE BANK OF THE RIVER BELOW PHILÆ.]
+
+While waiting for the boat to carry them over to Philæ, Frank and Fred
+amused themselves with the antics of the natives in the water. They had
+observed several short logs on the bank as they arrived, and wondered
+what they were for. As soon as they had dismounted the Doctor explained
+the uses of these pieces of wood.
+
+"They are the ferry-boats of the natives," said he, "and are the common
+property of the inhabitants."
+
+Frank asked what he meant by ferry-boats, and how it was possible to use
+a short log for crossing a river.
+
+"Wait a moment and you'll see," replied the Doctor. "There's a boy
+making ready to launch one."
+
+A Nubian urchin of ten or twelve years removed his very scanty clothing
+and made it into a bundle, which he placed on the top of his head; then
+he rolled one of the logs--a stick six feet long and ten inches in
+diameter--into the river and sprung in after it. Using the log as a
+float to support himself, he paddled away, and was soon on the island.
+
+Other boys and men followed his example; but, instead of swimming to the
+island, they remained around the landing-place till the boat started,
+and then they accompanied it. The Doctor told the youths that when a
+native wishes to cross he makes a bundle of his clothing to tie on his
+head, and then swims over, leaving the log on the bank for his own or
+some other person's return. He takes the first log that comes in his
+way, and everybody does likewise. "You see," he continued, "how the logs
+serve as public ferry-boats."
+
+[Illustration: PHARAOH'S BED AND THE RUINS OF THE TEMPLE.]
+
+"We crossed the river," said Frank in his journal, "in a _kangia_, or
+native boat, such as we have already described, and as the wind was
+favorable it was not long in making the passage. We landed just below
+the ruins of the temple, in what is called 'Pharaoh's bed,' but were
+unable to ascertain if any of the monarchs of that name ever slept
+there, and, if so, how late they slept. We thought the place a very
+pretty one, and Fred wished he could sit down and write some verses
+about it, as everything around seemed to favor such a performance.
+Doctor Bronson says the island of Philæ has been the theme of the poets
+for many centuries, and farthermore, that a great deal of poetical prose
+has been composed concerning it. On learning this Fred concluded that he
+could not improve on what had been done before him, and wisely desisted
+from the attempt.
+
+"From the landing-place we went to the ruins of the temple, where we
+spent a couple of hours. The building seems to have been the work of
+several architects at different periods, as it is very irregular in
+shape, and the floors are not all on the same level. It is more modern
+than any of the temples we have yet seen, as none of the dates which
+have been found upon it are earlier than the thirtieth dynasty, or about
+400 B.C. The propylon towers are sixty feet high, and there is a fine
+view from their top. We climbed up without difficulty, though in some
+places the steps are considerably broken. The solidity of the towers has
+preserved them from serious injury.
+
+"The colors on the walls and towers are better preserved than in the
+other temples, and some of them are exceedingly beautiful. At the time
+the temple was built the lotos flower seems to have been very popular
+among the artists, as it was extensively used in the ornamentation, and
+for the tops of the pillars that supported the roof of the grand hall.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW FROM PHILÆ LOOKING UP THE RIVER.]
+
+"Philæ was one of the most sacred spots known to the ancient Egyptians,
+as it was the resting-place of the god Osiris, to whom they attributed
+the annual overflow of the Nile, and the consequent fertility of the
+land. There was a fable that his body was deposited beneath the
+cataract, and that once a year he rose and 'troubled the waters' so that
+the Nile burst its banks, and spread over the land of Egypt, to insure
+an abundant harvest.
+
+"The temple was dedicated to this god, and to his wife and sister Isis.
+On the monuments she has many titles: sometimes she is called 'Mistress
+of Heaven,' at others 'Regent of the Gods,' and at others 'The Eye of
+the Sun.' Both Isis and Osiris represented the good and beautiful on
+earth, and perhaps it is for this reason that the lovely island was
+chosen as the site of their temple.
+
+"We had an agreeable surprise in two ways: we found the papyrus plant
+represented on the walls of the temple, and the guide took us to a spot
+near the ruins where the papyrus was growing. We had often heard of this
+plant, and longed to see it. You know, probably, that it was the
+substance from which the Egyptians made their scrolls, whereon most of
+their writing was done, and it is from 'papyrus' that our modern word
+'paper' is derived.
+
+[Illustration: THE PAPYRUS JUNGLES OF THE NILE.]
+
+"The plant that we saw was a small one, or rather there was a little
+cluster of small plants growing in a pond among other aquatic products.
+It is uncertain whether the papyrus ever grew naturally in this part of
+Egypt; at all events, it is not easy to find it at present, except where
+it is artificially cultivated. In Abyssinia and farther up the Nile the
+papyrus grows in marshy ground, and sometimes little else can be seen
+for miles and miles. It has a mass of roots that spread out in the mud,
+and throw up a cluster of stalks from five to ten feet high. The plant
+is a very graceful one, and it is no wonder that the Egyptians made free
+use of it in their ornamentation.
+
+"In making paper from the papyrus plant the Egyptians used to cut it
+into thin slices, which they laid side by side, and then covered with
+other slices at right angles to the first. In this form it was slightly
+moistened and pressed down, and the sheet could be made of any size by
+simply extending it and connecting the edges. It was used for many other
+purposes than the manufacture of paper: boats, baskets, and boxes were
+made from the papyrus plant; cordage was spun from the fibres, the pith
+was eaten as food, a salve was made from the pulp and applied to sores,
+and the roots were burnt as fuel in houses, or fashioned into useful or
+ornamental articles. Altogether the papyrus seems to have been nearly as
+useful to the inhabitants of Egypt three thousand years ago as the
+bamboo is to the native of China and Japan to-day.
+
+"Wherever there was space to scratch or write a name on the walls, we
+found that previous travellers had not scrupled to convert the Temple of
+Philæ into an autograph album. Names of those who had come there in the
+last two hundred years were visible in great numbers; the most prominent
+memorial of this kind was a tablet recording the occupation of Philæ by
+General Desaix's army at the time Egypt was held by Napoleon I. This
+tablet was defaced by some Englishmen in 1848, but was afterward
+restored by French visitors, and has since been undisturbed.
+
+"When it was time to leave the island we again entered our boat, and
+were taken to the cataract. The famous cataract of the Nile is nothing
+more than a rapid, or rather a succession of rapids, with an aggregate
+fall of not more than fifteen feet. The river divides into a series of
+channels among the rocks, and boats are taken through these channels
+without much trouble, though with a considerable expenditure of time and
+muscle, with the aid of tow-ropes and Arabs. The Arabs at the cataract
+are about as skilled in rascality as their brethren of the pyramids;
+they can easily take a boat up in a single day, but manage to consume
+three or four days in the operation, and extort a great deal of
+backsheesh for not being longer about it. The descent of the falls takes
+only a few minutes, as the principal rapid is about two hundred feet
+long by seventy wide: the water foams and rushes furiously, but with a
+skilful pilot there is no danger. Accidents happen occasionally, but
+they are almost invariably due to bad management.
+
+"We stood on the bank and saw a dozen Arabs 'shoot the rapids,' which
+they did on the short logs they use as ferry-boats. It was apparently
+dangerous, and we did not grudge the backsheesh they demanded when the
+show was over. They slid down very gracefully, and probably the risk was
+no greater for a good swimmer than is the process of coasting downhill
+for a school-boy. Travellers' tales in the early part of the century
+represented the cataract of the Nile to be something like Niagara, when,
+in fact, it is not much worse than a large mill-race. The place is
+rather picturesque, on the whole, and we are very glad to have seen it.
+
+"From Mahatta, a little village at the head of the falls, we returned by
+the bank of the river to Assouan. Our ascent of the Nile is ended, and
+we will now turn our faces to the northward."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+FROM ASSOUAN TO ALEXANDRIA.--FAREWELL TO EGYPT.
+
+
+A part of the next day was passed on the island of Elephantine, opposite
+Assouan. By reference to the books in their possession, Frank and Fred
+learned that Elephantine was a place of considerable importance two or
+three thousand years ago, and a large town once stood there. Its ruins
+are now covered by a modern village, whose inhabitants are all Nubians;
+in fact, there are no Arabs living on the island, and it is said that
+Elephantine has been the home of none but Nubians from time immemorial.
+Frank asked for the elephants, but could not learn that any had ever
+been seen there; he concluded that the island received its name from the
+entire absence of the largest of animals, or even of any fossil remains
+of him.
+
+[Illustration: AN ANCIENT POULTRY-SHOP.]
+
+There were two temples, or rather their ruins, on the island at the
+beginning of the present century--but they were destroyed in order that
+the stone could be utilized for building the houses of Assouan. A
+gate-way of one of them is yet standing, and there are some walls built
+by the Romans, who are said to have made Elephantine a military post.
+
+The Nubians offered Roman coins, polished stones, and other curiosities
+for sale; the coins were supposed to have been dug up on the island, but
+there was an appearance of newness about them which revealed their
+falsity. The quantity of false coins increases year by year, and in many
+instances the Arabs do not take the trouble to submit them to the
+action of acids, in order to give them an antiquated look. The
+manufacturers of antiquities in Cairo and Luxor generally manage to make
+their goods have an appearance of genuineness; but sometimes the demand
+is unexpectedly great, and they rush off their fabrications in a hurry.
+On several occasions Roman coins were offered to our friends that did
+not appear to have been out of the mint more than a day or two. One of
+them bought a copper denarius of the time of the Emperor Hadrian that
+was bright and fresh as though stamped an hour before; it was so new
+that the oil used for facilitating its passage through the mint had not
+been worn off, and was easily perceptible to the fingers.
+
+The boys regretted their inability to go farther than the first cataract
+of the Nile, and as the steamer headed down the river they gave a
+longing and lingering look behind them. They were consoled with the
+reflection that they had seen a great deal in their journey from Cairo,
+and were farther relieved when Doctor Bronson informed them that
+comparatively few travellers ever went beyond the first cataract. "Down
+to within twenty years," said he, "the island of Philæ was the _Ultima
+Thule_ of nearly all tourists on the Nile, and any one who had
+penetrated farther was regarded as a sort of Mungo Park or Dr.
+Livingstone. Once in a while somebody went to the second cataract, two
+hundred and forty miles above the first, and on rare occasions an
+Englishman or other foreigner visited Khartoom, at the junction of the
+Blue and White Nile. Bayard Taylor was one of these adventurous
+travellers, and he went some distance up the White Nile to the country
+of the Shillook negroes.
+
+"In 1850," he continued, "very little was known of the Nile beyond the
+point reached by our enterprising countryman. Exploring parties had been
+up the river considerably beyond the Shillook region, but in most
+instances the explorers had died while beyond the limits of
+civilization, or their accounts were insignificant. For a long time it
+was supposed that the Blue Nile was the principal stream, and as its
+head-waters had been reached by the famous traveller Bruce, he was
+credited with the discovery of the sources of the mysterious river. But
+it was afterward found that the White Nile was the longer of the two and
+the greater in volume, and many lives were sacrificed in the attempt to
+find its origin. The discovery and exploration of the lakes of Central
+Africa, where the Nile rises, belongs to our day; and the names of
+Burton, Speke, Grant, Livingstone, Stanley, Baker, Long, and others,
+will go down in history for solving a mystery which has puzzled the
+world for centuries."
+
+One of the boys asked what they would have seen in case they had been
+able to ascend the Nile a few hundred miles farther?
+
+[Illustration: AN ARAB AND HIS CAMEL.]
+
+"That is a difficult question to answer," was the Doctor's reply, "but I
+will try to meet it. The second cataract is much like the first, and is
+a succession of rapids rather than a fall. It is two hundred and forty
+miles from Assouan to Wady Halfa, a village at the second cataract, and
+the point where nearly all tourists who go beyond here turn back. On the
+way thither you pass a few ruined temples and other remains of ancient
+Egypt; but there are none of great importance, with the exception of
+Abou Simbel, which ranks next after the pyramids and the temples of
+Thebes. There are two temples there hewn in the solid rock, and dating
+from the time of Rameses the Great. A good deal of the history of that
+monarch has been gathered from the sculptures in these temples, and the
+door-way of the principal one of them is guarded by a couple of enormous
+statues that recall the Sitting Colossi of Thebes. They have been
+pronounced the finest statues of their size in all Egypt, and certainly
+I do not know of any that can rival them in grandeur and beauty.
+
+[Illustration: COLOSSAL HEADS IN FRONT OF THE TEMPLE OF ABOU SIMBEL.]
+
+"These statues were formed by cutting away the solid rock, just as the
+statues of the temples of Ellora, in India, were made. Like most of the
+royal statues of Egypt, they represent the king seated on his throne.
+They are partly covered with the sand that has drifted about them, and
+sometimes little more than the heads of the figures are visible. They
+are said to be sixty-six feet high without their pedestals. A friend of
+mine measured the head of one of them, and gave me the following notes:
+Length of the nose, 3 feet 5 inches; height of the forehead, 28 inches;
+width of the mouth, 8 feet; length of the ear, 3 feet.
+
+"The head of the statue is twelve feet high, without including the cap
+or crown that covers it. Compare these figures with the measurements of
+the broken figure of Rameses at the Memnonium, and you will realize the
+grandeur of the work.
+
+[Illustration: PUBLIC SQUARE AT KHARTOOM.]
+
+"The second cataract is more difficult of passage than the first, and
+can only be accomplished when the Nile is at its full height. Above it
+the river makes a wide bend, and, as the navigation is difficult, the
+land route to the Upper Nile is preferable. Travellers leave the Nile
+at Korosko, nearly a hundred miles below Wady Halfa, and cross the
+desert to Khartoom. It is a journey of eight days by camels, and there
+is only one oasis on the route where water can be procured. Khartoom is
+a town of considerable size--about twenty thousand inhabitants--and has
+a curiously mixed population of Egyptians, Nubians, Turks, Arabs, and
+half a dozen other races and tribes. It has a fine trade in ivory,
+ostrich feathers, and other products of Central Africa, and formerly was
+the centre of the slave-trade between Egypt and the regions to the
+south. The situation is said to be quite picturesque, as it is on the
+angle between the Blue and White Nile, and the boats from both these
+rivers lie at its banks.
+
+"From Khartoom there is good navigation on the Nile for a long distance,
+till the _Sudd_, or bank of reeds, is reached. The river is blocked by a
+great mass of aquatic plants, which have drifted down and accumulated so
+that they cover several miles of the course of the stream. Imagine a
+small brook in which a load of hay has been overturned, and you have an
+idea of what the Sudd is like.
+
+[Illustration: EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS ON CAMELS.]
+
+"Beyond the Sudd the principal town is Gondokoro, in Abyssinia, and as
+we go farther up the Nile we enter the countries of the savage rulers of
+Central Africa. You can read about them in the works of Livingstone,
+Stanley, and other travellers who have gone there, and then--"
+
+"Dinner is ready!" said one of the stewards, and the description of
+Africa by the Doctor was indefinitely postponed.
+
+The return voyage to Cairo was quickly made, as the steamer halted but a
+few times, and then only briefly, at some of the principal points. There
+was no time for sight-seeing, as all of the visits to temples and tombs
+were planned for the upward journey. The principal incidents of the trip
+were a few slight quarrels among the passengers, growing out of the
+general lack of something to do, and a glimpse of a crocodile. Everybody
+had been on the lookout for crocodiles during the voyage up the river,
+but none had been seen. The presence of these inhabitants of the Nile
+had been nearly forgotten, when suddenly one afternoon somebody on deck
+called out,
+
+"Crocodile!"
+
+Instantly there was a rush from seats and lounging places, and those who
+happened to be in the cabin came out as though a shell had exploded
+among them. Some ran one way and some another, and several went to the
+wrong side of the boat.
+
+The crocodile was lying on a sand-bank two hundred yards or more from
+the course of the steamer. He was evidently enjoying a sun-bath when
+disturbed by the sound of the paddle-wheels, and concluded that the
+wisest plan for him to follow was to drop into the water.
+
+While he remained quiet he could easily have been mistaken for a
+blackened log, but as soon as he was in motion there was no doubt on the
+subject. Creeping rather than walking, he was soon at the edge of the
+water, and, without pausing to see what it was that disturbed him, he
+disappeared beneath the surface of the river.
+
+The Doctor told the boys that many persons made the tour of the Nile
+nowadays without getting a single glimpse of a crocodile below the first
+cataract. Above Assouan crocodiles are more frequent, and beyond
+Khartoom they are so abundant that dozens of them may be counted in a
+single day. Thirty years ago they were numerous in the vicinity of
+Thebes and Keneh, and it was dangerous to venture into the water lest
+they might take a notion to a breakfast on humanity. On the upper part
+of the Nile, in the vicinity of Gondokoro, they are large and ferocious,
+and hardly a day passes that they do not carry off a native who has
+incautiously ventured into the river or near its edge.
+
+It is the ambition of every tourist who ascends the Nile in a dahabeeah
+to bring back the skin of at least one crocodile as a trophy. The best
+way of killing this kind of game is to shoot him when he is taking his
+nap on a sand-bank; and if proper caution is observed, and the position
+is favorable, the sportsman may approach within forty or fifty yards
+without disturbing his prey. The scales of the reptile are so thick and
+hard that an ordinary rifle-ball glances off as from an iron plate. The
+only vulnerable point is behind the fore-leg, and a good chance for a
+shot is not always presented.
+
+Of late years considerable havoc has been made among crocodiles by means
+of explosive bullets, which burst as they strike and tear a hole in the
+crocodile, in addition to making a general disturbance internally if the
+proper spot has been reached.
+
+A large package of letters was at the hotel in Cairo for our friends,
+and they sat till far into the night perusing and discussing these
+welcome missives. Everybody at home was well, and there were lots of
+congratulations for Frank and Fred over the intelligent use they had
+made of their time, and their interesting accounts of what they had seen
+in their travels. The presents for Mary and Miss Effie were greatly
+admired by those young ladies as well as by their friends, and one of
+the letters contained a polite intimation that similar selections in
+future would be as cordially welcomed. There was a renewal of the
+suggestion that the letters and journals of the youths ought to go into
+a book. Mrs. Bassett said the village editor had printed all the letters
+in his paper, and they had been so highly praised that he was sure they
+ought to be preserved in a more permanent form.
+
+"Well," said Fred, "it seems as though we were to become authors whether
+we want to or not."
+
+"I don't see any harm in it," responded his cousin. "Authors may do some
+good in the world if they make good books, can't they?"
+
+"Of course they can," was the reply; "and if we become authors we'll try
+to make books that nobody can object to."
+
+"I'm afraid you are counting on an impossibility," said Doctor Bronson,
+who had overheard the conversation. "What will please one will not
+please another, and you can never do your work so that somebody will not
+find fault with it. And there are some critics who prefer to say
+spiteful things, and will search a book from beginning to end to find
+something they can object to. If you ever write a book you must expect
+abuse. Do your work well, satisfy your own conscience, give your book to
+the public, and leave the result to take care of itself."
+
+When the perusal of the letters was over the youths went to bed and
+slept soundly, despite many dreams of friends at home, mingled with
+pyramids, temples, tombs, mummies, Arabs, deserts, valleys, and other
+things and places that had come under their observation since their
+arrival in Cairo. They were up in good time the next morning arranging
+for speedy departure from the City of the Caliphs, as the Doctor had
+informed them it was necessary to take the afternoon train for
+Alexandria.
+
+"Here is our plan," said the Doctor, as they sat down to breakfast. "We
+will take the train at noon, and be in Alexandria four hours later; the
+distance is a hundred and twenty miles, and the train is a fast one. We
+will have a day in Alexandria, and then take the steamer for Jaffa. From
+Jaffa we will go to Jerusalem, and from that city make the tour of the
+Holy Land, arranging our route according to circumstances."
+
+The boys were delighted with the proposal, and were ready at the
+appointed time. There were no incidents of consequence in the railway
+journey. The boys looked earnestly at the pyramids and the tall minarets
+of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali as the train bore them away toward the
+sea, and left Cairo behind them. They were bidding farewell to ancient
+Egypt, and we cannot wonder that they had many regrets in so doing.
+
+[Illustration: THE BARRAGE OF THE NILE.]
+
+They passed near the "Barrage," an extensive structure which was
+intended for a dam across the Nile to check the overflow of water during
+the inundation, and retain it till it was wanted for purposes of
+irrigation after the falling of the river. This great work was projected
+and begun during the time of Mohammed Ali, and an immense amount of
+money has been expended upon it. It consists of a long line of arches
+across the river, and the plan was to arrange gates at the openings of
+the arches, so that the flow of the water could be checked or allowed at
+pleasure. It has never been completed: the engineers say there was an
+error in the original calculations, and if the arches were closed, so as
+to raise the river to the proposed height, the force of water would
+sweep away the entire structure.
+
+The Barrage has been partially utilized, and it is said that the
+government contemplates its completion by strengthening the work, so
+that it will retain the water as desired. There is no doubt that it
+would be of great advantage to Lower Egypt, as it would largely increase
+its productiveness. There is a story that Abbas Pacha once suggested to
+a French engineer to pull down the pyramids and use the material for
+constructing the Barrage. The engineer was horrified at the idea, as he
+said it would cause him to be execrated by the whole world, and his name
+would go down to posterity covered with disgrace for having destroyed
+the finest monument of ancient Egypt.
+
+Our friends passed through Tantah, a town of considerable importance,
+containing many handsome houses, and a palace where the Khedive
+occasionally passes a few days. Three times a year, in the months of
+January, April, and August, a fair is held at Tantah which lasts eight
+days. Sometimes as many as two hundred thousand people come to this
+fair; their ostensible object is to pray at the tomb of a Moslem saint,
+but the most of their time is passed in amusements and in trading. There
+is a large business in camels, horses, and general merchandise, and in
+former times a good many slaves were sold there. All around the town
+there are tents and booths devoted to singing and to the performances of
+jugglers, snake-charmers, and others whose living is derived from the
+amusement they furnish to the public.
+
+The train swept along the bank of the Mahmoodieh Canal, which connects
+Alexandria with the Nile; it is fifty miles long and a hundred feet
+wide, and was built in less than a year by order of Mohammed Ali. Two
+hundred and fifty thousand men were employed upon it, and of this number
+twenty thousand died of hunger, plague, and cholera. For several miles
+the route of the railway lay through a marsh, and as they neared
+Alexandria our friends caught a glimpse of Lake Mareotis, a shallow body
+of water, whose principal use is to supply the Alexandria market with
+fish.
+
+[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF ALEXANDRIA.]
+
+Pompey's Pillar came into view, and so did the domes and minarets of
+Alexandria. There was the usual crowd of porters, guides, and the like
+at the railway-station, and with some difficulty the Doctor and the
+youths made their way through the dense assemblage, and drove to the
+hotel. The boys found that the streets were paved with large blocks of
+stone, but the pavement was broken in many places, and had much need of
+repair. In rainy weather there are deep holes filled with mud, and the
+incautious pedestrian runs a great risk of taking an involuntary and
+very disagreeable bath.
+
+The morning after their arrival the party started out to see Alexandria
+and engage passage for Jaffa. The passage was secured, and then there
+was leisure for visiting the points of interest in and around the city.
+
+[Illustration: CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE AT ALEXANDRIA.]
+
+There is comparatively little remaining of the great city of Alexandria,
+which once contained half a million inhabitants, and boasted of the
+finest library in the world. The library was burnt, the buildings
+disappeared, the city dwindled in importance, till at the end of the
+last century its population was barely six thousand. Since 1798 it has
+been steadily reviving, till it now contains nearly a quarter of a
+million inhabitants, of whom a fourth are Europeans. It is the
+commercial capital of Egypt, and the viceroy lives there during the
+summer. Of its ancient monuments Pompey's Pillar is almost all that can
+be found. There are some tombs near the city, but they are scarcely
+worth visiting: there were formerly two obelisks near the water's edge,
+but they have gone, one to England and the other to the United States.
+The latter was removed by Commander H. H. Gorringe, of the United States
+Navy--the cost of the work being paid by Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt--and has
+been set up in Central Park, New York. It was famous in history as
+Cleopatra's Needle; the obelisk that was taken to England and set up on
+the bank of the Thames above Waterloo Bridge had been lying prostrate
+for centuries.
+
+[Illustration: POMPEY'S PILLAR.]
+
+Pompey's Pillar is a single shaft of red granite, seventy feet high and
+about ten in diameter, standing on a broad base and crowned with a
+capital, the whole rising a hundred feet from the ground. It is supposed
+that a statue once stood on the top, and there are some old pictures of
+Alexandria where a statue appears on the pillar.
+
+Frank and Fred wanted to climb to the top of the column, but were unable
+to see how they could do so, as there is no ladder or stairway, and the
+shaft is polished like a pane of glass.
+
+The Doctor told them it had been twice ascended in the present
+century--once by an enterprising woman, and once by a party of sailors.
+In each case a kite was flown so that it came against the top of the
+pillar, then the string was used to draw up a cord, the cord drew up a
+rope, and the rope drew up a ladder. The ascent is easy enough when the
+ladder is properly secured, but it trembles so much that a steady head
+and strong hand are requisite to insure safety.
+
+After seeing the pillar the three visitors wandered through the bazaars,
+which repeated, on a small scale, the sights of the bazaars of Cairo.
+They spent an hour or more in the great square in the centre of the
+city, where there are several rows of shade-trees and some bronze
+statues, and they visited two or three private gardens, which were very
+pretty, and contained rare varieties of plants. They went to the
+celebrated "Pharos," which is one of the earliest light-houses ever
+known to mariners, and was built by Ptolemy Philadelphus at enormous
+expense. It is said to have been a square building of white marble in
+several stories, each smaller than the one below it. A winding road led
+to the top, and, according to history, Cleopatra once drove a pair of
+horses to the summit, and then drove them down again. The name of the
+"Pharos" is perpetuated in the French word for light-house (_phare_),
+but very little of the ancient structure exists to-day. It is still
+maintained as a light-house, and is a welcome sight to ships seeking the
+harbor of Alexandria.
+
+At an early hour the next morning a procession left the door of the
+hotel and proceeded in the direction of the harbor. It was composed as
+follows:
+
+Frank Bassett and Fred Bronson mounted on donkeys, and attended by the
+drivers of the little beasts.
+
+Doctor Bronson similarly mounted and escorted.
+
+A servant from the hotel superintending the transportation of the
+baggage of the trio on the backs of a couple of Arab porters.
+
+A miscellaneous array of beggars, peddlers, and their kindred, shouting
+for backsheesh.
+
+There were at least twenty individuals in the party, not counting the
+donkeys; but a good many of the beggars dropped off after a few dozen
+yards. Their places were taken by others, so that there was no material
+loss of numbers on arrival at the landing, where the baggage was placed
+in a boat, after a gift of a couple of francs to a customs official, to
+save it from inspection. From the shore to the boat was a short journey,
+and any possible monotony was prevented by the boatmen. They had made a
+bargain to carry our three friends on board the steamer for five francs;
+about half-way they stopped rowing and demanded ten francs, which were
+refused.
+
+Then the fellows turned, and threatened to row to the shore again, but
+the Doctor prevented this performance by proposing to hand them over to
+the police. They did not proceed until he rose to his feet and shouted
+for the police-boat, and then they concluded it was best to do as they
+had agreed. The boatmen of Alexandria are worse than those of any other
+port of the Mediterranean, and it is a disgrace to the Egyptian
+Government that they are allowed to continue their practices.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF ALEXANDRIA FROM THE SEA.]
+
+And now behold our friends safely on board the French steamer. The smoke
+pours from her funnels, the anchor is lifted, the engine throbs, the
+screw revolves, churning the water into foam--the entrance of the harbor
+is passed, the shore fades from sight, and Egypt is left behind.
+
+_Bon voyage!_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO PALESTINE.--JOURNEY FROM JAFFA TO RAMLEH.
+
+
+The steamer stopped a few hours at Port Said, the northern terminus of
+the Suez Canal, and the second morning after her departure from
+Alexandria she dropped anchor in front of Jaffa. The time at sea between
+Alexandria and Jaffa is from twenty to thirty hours, according to the
+speed of the steamer and the state of the weather. There are three
+companies--one carrying the French flag, one the Austrian, and one the
+Russian--each making a fortnightly service from Alexandria; and there
+are several irregular lines, so that a traveller may be reasonably sure
+of being able to go from Egypt to the Holy Land every four or five days.
+The French steamers are the best, the Austrian the next in order, and
+the Russian and the irregular steamers the worst of all.
+
+The steamer that carried our friends anchored about a mile from land,
+and the Doctor explained to the youths that there is no harbor at Jaffa
+which a ship can enter. In a calm sea, or when the wind blows from the
+north or east, passengers may land or embark with safety; but if a
+westerly or southerly wind is blowing a landing is impossible. In winter
+the prevailing wind is from the west, and many a traveller who takes his
+ticket for Jaffa in that season has the vexation of being carried past
+the port, for the simple reason that he cannot be put on shore.
+
+Fortunately for our friends the sea was perfectly calm when they came to
+anchor, and there was no hinderance to their going on shore. The steamer
+was quickly surrounded by boats, and a bargain was made with one of them
+for transportation to land. The strong arms of the Arab boatmen sent the
+little craft spinning over the water; the oars rose and fell together as
+the men kept time by a song that was a trifle monotonous to the ears of
+Frank and Fred. But never mind its monotony; it carried the travellers
+from ship to shore, and every moment the walls of Jaffa became more and
+more distinct through its measured cadence.
+
+They seemed to be heading for some jagged rocks that jutted a little
+distance from the line of the shore. The sharp eyes of the boys
+discovered an opening in the rocks, and when the boat was within a few
+yards of it the men paused in obedience to a signal from the steersman.
+Then, watching the rise and fall of the waves, they dashed forward at
+the proper moment through the opening ten or twelve feet wide, and were
+borne into the smooth water of the little harbor. There is a wider
+entrance farther to the north, but it is rendered dangerous by several
+sunken rocks, and the narrow one is generally used by the boatmen.
+
+[Illustration: FRONT OF AN EASTERN SUMMER-HOUSE.]
+
+"This harbor is mentioned several times in Scripture," said Doctor
+Bronson, while the boatmen were waiting the proper moment to enter. "It
+was here that Hiram, King of Tyre, sent ships laden with wood from
+Lebanon for the use of King Solomon in building his temple at Jerusalem,
+and some of the apostles, when they went out to preach the gospel
+through the world, sailed away from Jaffa or Joppa, as it was then
+called. According to tradition, the prophet Jonah sailed from Joppa just
+before he was swallowed by the whale. And there is another tradition
+that Andromeda was chained to the rocks at the entrance of the harbor,
+in order that a sea-monster might devour her. The correctness of this
+latter tradition was maintained until the sixteenth century by the
+exhibition of the chains and rings by which she was held."
+
+[Illustration: ONE OF THE DRAGOMEN.]
+
+Doctor Bronson saved himself a wrangle with the boatmen by putting his
+party in the care of the _commissionnaire_ of the hotel where he was
+going, and asking him to arrange everything. This plan is advisable for
+all travellers arriving at Jaffa, and they are also recommended to pay
+no attention to the dragomen that crowd around them on the ship, and
+desire to make contracts for accompanying the strangers to Jerusalem.
+Wait till you get on shore, and don't make a bargain in a hurry.
+
+The _commissionnaire_ attended to the baggage of the party, paid the
+customary fees to the boatmen and the officials of the Custom-house, and
+then escorted the strangers to the Jerusalem Hotel, which is, or was at
+that time, the best hotel in the place. It is a short distance out of
+the town, and in the German colony; its proprietor, a German, was the
+vice-consul of the United States of America, and his official position
+enabled him to be of service to travellers from beyond the Atlantic.
+Through his recommendation our friends were joined by three other
+Americans who wished to make the tour of the Holy Land, and the rate for
+a party of six would be less for each person than if it consisted of
+half that number, or even four or five.
+
+Negotiations were begun immediately. Several contractors wished to be
+engaged, and the choice fell on a Syrian named Ali Solomon, or Solyman,
+who was strongly recommended both by the consul and by those who had
+previously employed him. After considerable bargaining the following
+terms were agreed upon:
+
+The contractor, or dragoman, was to provide all requisites for the
+journey. There were to be three double tents--one for every two
+persons--servants, beds, food, English saddles, horses for riding and
+carrying the baggage. He was to engage sufficient escort when needed,
+and pay all fees and backsheesh of every kind, except when the party
+visited churches, convents, and the like. Whenever the party stopped in
+hotels or convents, instead of remaining in camp, he was to pay for
+their food and lodging. The horses were to be sound and kind, and if any
+of them became disabled the dragoman was to provide proper substitutes
+free of extra charge. The party could go where it pleased, change its
+route as often as it liked, select its own day for leaving any city or
+town, and, if the contract was closed anywhere but in Jaffa, the
+dragoman was to have a fair allowance for the return journey. In case of
+dispute, the matter could be referred to the American or any other
+consul at the most convenient point.
+
+While on the road the food should consist of coffee or tea in the
+morning, with eggs and bread-and-butter; luncheon at noon, of chicken
+or other cold meat, eggs, bread, cheese, and fruit; and dinner should be
+as good as the hotel dinner. In Jerusalem the party should choose for
+itself the hotel where it would stop.
+
+In consideration of the above, each person of the party was to pay
+twenty francs, or sixteen English shillings ($4) per day. One-third of
+the money was to be paid before starting, one-third when the journey was
+half over, and the balance on the return to Jaffa, or the discharge of
+the dragoman at some other point.[6]
+
+[6] The above is the contract, with some slight change of phrases, that
+was made by the party of six of which the author was a member when he
+visited the Holy Land. It should be remarked that it was not in the
+height of the travelling season, and consequently the terms were lower
+than usual. A party of six or more can generally secure everything as
+above stated for twenty-five francs (twenty shillings) each person
+daily. The tourist agencies charge thirty shillings per day, and require
+the whole amount to be paid in advance, and they generally manage to
+bring in a large bill for "extras" at the end of the journey. An
+excellent form of contract can be found in Baedeker's "Hand-book for
+Palestine and Syria."
+
+There is not much to be seen in Jaffa, and it was decided to start in
+the afternoon and spend the night at Ramleh, nine miles away. While the
+dragoman went to bring horses for the travellers to ride, our friends
+went out to "do" Jaffa. Dinner was to be served at one o'clock, and they
+were to be on the road a couple of hours later.
+
+They visited the house of Simon the Tanner--or, rather, one of the
+several houses which claim that distinction--mentioned in the New
+Testament (Acts ix. 43). It is well to remark here that all through the
+Holy Land the locations of houses, tombs, and other places of scriptural
+or other historic interest, are frequently changed. In regard to the
+house of Simon the Tanner, at Jaffa, it is said that its location
+depends somewhat on the liberality of the owner or tenant toward the
+guides who conduct strangers about the town. The Latin convent is
+claimed to be on the site of the house, and so is a small mosque near
+the light-house. The Christian guides generally conduct strangers to the
+former spot, while the Moslems indicate the latter. There is no reason
+to believe that any part of the original house is in existence.
+
+[Illustration: JOPPA.]
+
+A walk through the bazaars, a visit to an orange-grove, and a narrow
+escape from being trampled in the mud by a line of camels in a narrow
+street, completed the inspection of the ancient Joppa. One of the most
+interesting features to Frank and Fred were the heaps of oranges piled
+in the market-place. Jaffa is famous all through the Levant for its
+oranges, which are an important article of export; and in the season
+when they ripen there is a very large trade in this delicious fruit.
+Our friends bought a dozen for two or three cents, and pronounced them
+the finest oranges they had ever seen.
+
+[Illustration: A SECOND-CLASS HORSE.]
+
+When they returned to the hotel they found some forty or more horses
+from which they were to make their selection. Half an hour was spent in
+trying the steeds and the saddles on their backs, and when this
+operation was ended the rejected horses were led away, while the
+selected ones were fastened in front of the hotel at the Doctor's
+suggestion. Some of the owners wanted to take the horses away, in order
+to feed them before their departure for Ramleh; but the Doctor ended the
+discussion by saying that any desired nourishment could be given where
+the animals were standing.
+
+"It is a common trick," said he to the boys, "to change the horses after
+you have made your selection. We have picked out good horses, and I
+think we shall be satisfied with them; these fellows would very likely
+bring us animals of the same color and general appearance, and we should
+find them vicious, weak, bad in gait, or with some other defects. We
+will keep our horses directly under our eyes till we are away from here;
+when we are once on the road they are not likely to try the substitution
+trick."
+
+"But wouldn't they tell you so, if they had changed the horses?" said
+one of the boys.
+
+"Not a bit of it," answered the Doctor, with a laugh. "They would
+declare there had been no change whatever; and as we would not be
+familiar with the horses after seeing them only once, we would not be
+certain of the deception till too late to rectify it."
+
+"What dreadful story-tellers they must be!" was the very natural comment
+on the Doctor's assertion.
+
+"Yes," he responded; "and do you know how they account for it
+themselves?"
+
+Neither of the youths had ever heard the explanation, and so the Doctor
+gave it.
+
+"The Arabs say that when the Father of Lies came on earth to distribute
+his goods he had nine bagfuls. He spread one bag of lies in Europe, and
+then started for Asia and Africa. He landed in Egypt one evening,
+intending to scatter a bagful over that country and Syria, and then go
+on the next day to Asia; but while he slept the Arabs stole all his
+remaining stock, and distributed it among themselves. This accounts for
+the great difficulty they have in telling the truth."
+
+"This propensity among them," continued the Doctor, "is practically
+universal, as an Arab who can tell the straightforward truth is very
+difficult to find. If you ask a question of an Arab, and he has no
+interest in deceiving you, he may possibly give you the correct answer
+if he happens to know it, though he is by no means sure to do so; if he
+does not know the answer, he will give you the first that his
+imagination suggests, and he would be very much surprised if you told
+him he had done wrong."
+
+As soon as dinner was over the travellers arranged their baggage, each
+of them packing what clothing and other things he wanted in a valise or
+bag, and leaving the trunks to be kept till their return, or sent up the
+coast to Beyroot, according to the instructions they would send from
+Jerusalem to the keeper of the hotel. Each of them carried a suit of
+clothing in addition to the one he was wearing--an overcoat, a
+mackintosh, or light rubber coat, for rainy weather, and a limited
+supply of under-garments, socks, handkerchiefs, and other necessities of
+every-day life. The dragoman said that almost anything they would want
+could be bought in Jerusalem, and there was no use in carrying things
+along simply on the ground that they might possibly be needed. Frank and
+Fred remembered the previous injunctions of the Doctor about travelling
+in "light marching order," and reduced their baggage to a very low
+condition.
+
+All was ready before three o'clock, and they were off for their first
+ride in the Holy Land.
+
+[Illustration: THE CITY GATE OF JAFFA.]
+
+There was a little restiveness among the horses at starting, and it
+threatened, at one time, very serious results to the riders of the
+animals. Evidently they had not been very actively employed for the past
+few days. The Doctor said their freshness would wear away before they
+had gone far into the country, and the principal thing to do was to keep
+them from injuring any of the party or doing harm to themselves. At the
+suggestion of Ali, Frank and Fred put their horses to a gallop for a
+couple of miles, and the exercise had a visible effect in reducing the
+liveliness of the steeds.
+
+The boys were well satisfied with their horses, which were full of
+spirit, and very easy under the saddle. Frank said he intended to see if
+he could not get up a friendship with his horse, but the Doctor told him
+it would be of little use to do so, as the horses of Palestine are
+changed around so often among tourists that they do not have an
+opportunity for becoming intimately acquainted with any of their riders.
+The youth soon after abandoned the attempt when his horse tried to bite
+him, and contented himself with treating the animal kindly, and holding
+him well in check whenever there was any manifestation of temper.
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN AT A WELL.]
+
+Until they got clear of the town the road was anything but agreeable,
+as it was paved with mud and otherwise encumbered. Orange groves were
+all around them for quite a distance, and the general aspect of the
+place was pleasing. They passed near a well where several women were
+engaged in filling their water-jars, after the manner recorded in
+Scripture. The boys realized the fidelity of the descriptions they had
+read in their Sunday-school days, and Frank remarked that evidently the
+East had changed very little in many of its features since the time of
+Christ.
+
+Frank thought the dress of the women was very picturesque, and the
+flowing robes reminded him of the outer garments of the women of Japan.
+Fred said he could understand why the women of Syria had such graceful
+figures; there could be no stooping or bending forward when one was
+carrying a jar of water on her head. He thought it would not be a bad
+plan if some of the American schools for young women would adopt the
+plan of having their pupils walk with slight weights on their heads, so
+as to teach them the value of an erect position.
+
+From Jaffa to Ramleh the country is flat or slightly undulating; most of
+it appears quite fertile, but there are numerous spots so deeply covered
+with sand that they are unfit for cultivation. There are some villages
+along or near the road; but, on the whole, the population is quite
+scattered, and the country could support more inhabitants than it has at
+present.
+
+A couple of miles out from Jaffa the party halted a few minutes in order
+to tighten some of the saddle-girths, which had worked loose, and to
+arrange a few other matters about the travelling-gear. As the incident
+of the well was fresh in the minds of the youths they spoke of it, and
+the time of the halt was utilized by the Doctor in a short lecture upon
+the wells of the Holy Land.
+
+"In most parts of Palestine," said he, "the water is very scarce, and
+the possession of a spring or permanent stream is a matter of great
+importance. Fierce fights have occurred for the ownership of springs,
+and sometimes the feuds that have arisen from this cause have lasted
+hundreds of years. The existence of a fine spring has often determined
+the site of a town or village, and every precaution is exercised to
+prevent the waste of the precious liquid.
+
+[Illustration: PUBLIC FOUNTAIN AT JERUSALEM.]
+
+"For public uses the water is made to flow into a fountain, with a stone
+trough in front of it. The women go to the fountain to fill their jars
+from the stream that flows through the stone, and the horses and cattle
+are driven there to drink from the trough. If from any cause the spring
+dries up there is great distress, and if there is no other water in the
+immediate neighborhood the site of the village or town must be
+abandoned. Many of the ruined towns which we find in Palestine to-day
+were given to desolation in consequence of the drying up of springs or
+streams.
+
+[Illustration: ONE OF THE WELLS OF BEERSHEBA, WITH ITS
+WATERING-TROUGHS.]
+
+"The scarcity of running water led to the digging of wells, and we find
+them mentioned in the earliest books of the Bible. There are many wells
+of this sort in the country, and some of them are thousands of years
+old. We read in Genesis of the wells that were dug by Abraham and his
+descendants, where the flocks were watered. The wells of Beersheba which
+were made by the servants of Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 32, 33) can be seen
+to-day, and the stone watering-troughs from which the flocks drank are
+where they have stood for thousands of years. In some of the ancient
+wells there are stone steps leading down to the water, while in others
+the water was drawn to the surface by means of buckets at the ends of
+ropes. The ropes made deep channels in the stone where they rubbed
+against it. Some of the wells have been dry for hundreds of years, but
+the stones that surround them remain undisturbed.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A CISTERN.]
+
+"Where there are no running streams or springs, and the nature of the
+ground does not favor the digging of wells, the people rely upon
+cisterns to supply their wants. A cistern is simply a large excavation
+in the earth or rock; if in the former, it is lined with stone and
+cement to make it water-proof, but if it is hewn in the solid rock no
+such precaution is necessary. Water is collected here during the rainy
+season and treasured up for use in the dry summer. Some of the cisterns
+are of great extent, and will hold water sufficient for great numbers of
+people during several months. They are found all through the country;
+and even where there is a stream of water the whole year round it is
+often the custom to keep cisterns filled with water, to guard against an
+unusual drought. Some of the cities of the East have vast cisterns
+beneath them, and if you ever go to Constantinople you will see the
+cistern of 'The Thousand and One Pillars,' which gets its name from the
+number of columns that support the roof.
+
+[Illustration: CISTERN UNDER THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM.]
+
+"There is a cistern under the Temple of Jerusalem," continued the
+Doctor, "that was hewn from the solid rock. Portions of the rock were
+left standing to form a support for the temple, and they have performed
+their work so well that no part has ever given way."
+
+As the Doctor paused it was announced that the horses were ready, and in
+a few minutes the cavalcade was again in motion.
+
+A tower on the right of the road attracted the attention of the youths.
+The Doctor told them it was the station of a watchman, and that it was
+his duty to guard the fields and vineyards from depredations by men or
+beasts, and to preserve order along the road.
+
+"There are eighteen of these towers," said he, "between Jaffa and
+Jerusalem, about two miles apart, and the men in them are supposed to
+have control of the road, and to protect travellers from danger. The
+watch-tower is an institution of the East, and its use dates from a very
+early period."
+
+"Yes," replied one of the boys; "I have read about watch-towers in the
+Bible, and we saw in Egypt how watchmen were stationed to guard the
+fields in ancient times the same as they guard them now."
+
+"You will find them referred to many times in the Bible," was the reply,
+"and there has been no change in the custom. If you want to refresh your
+memory on the subject read the fifty-second chapter of Isaiah, and you
+will find a description that might have been written yesterday instead
+of many centuries ago."
+
+Over the undulating plain of Sharon our friends continued their journey,
+passing groves of olive and orange trees, fields of grain, and
+occasional stretches of barren ground. In places the route was shaded by
+sycamore and cypress trees, and the fields were protected by hedges of
+cactus. A well-grown hedge of this plant makes an excellent fence, as it
+is impervious to man or beast, and it flourishes admirably in the soil
+of Palestine.
+
+From the third watch-station the town of Ramleh was visible, with a huge
+tower rising over it. The view was very pretty, as Ramleh is situated in
+the midst of luxuriant groves and orchards of olives and sycamores
+interspersed with palm-trees.
+
+As they neared the town one of the horses became restive, and made a
+dash for a cactus hedge. He regretted his imprudence when the sharp
+spines of the plant entered his hide, and stopped so short that he
+narrowly missed throwing his rider over his head and into the thorny
+bushes. The other horses shared in the excitement, and for a few moments
+there was a scene of confusion among them. Happily no accident resulted,
+and the party entered Ramleh at a dignified pace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+FROM RAMLEH TO JERUSALEM.--THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.
+
+
+All the dragomans had told the travellers before leaving Jaffa that
+there was a small hotel at Ramleh, kept by a German, where a dozen or
+twenty persons could be accommodated, and there were convents of the
+Latin and Russian churches which served as hotels. They might have their
+choice, provided the place where he first applied was not already full.
+The boys thought it would be more interesting to go to one of the
+convents than to a hotel, and the rest of the party agreed with them;
+accordingly, it was arranged that they should spend the night either at
+the Latin or Russian establishment. When they were within a couple of
+miles of Ramleh Ali rode ahead at a gallop to arrange the matter,
+leaving the travellers to follow more leisurely.
+
+[Illustration: A SYRIAN HORSEMAN.]
+
+A messenger met them at the entrance of the town with the announcement
+that they were to put up at the Russian convent. As they rode along the
+Doctor explained to the boys that the "convents" were more properly
+hostelries, or hotels for the accommodation of pilgrims on their way to
+and from the holy places of the country. They are sustained by the
+churches to which they belong. Those who can afford to pay for their
+entertainment are expected to do so, the same as at a hotel: but no bill
+is presented, nor is any payment demanded. Poor pilgrims are received
+free, but their accommodations are much inferior to those for the
+traveller with a well-lined purse. The large number of Russians, Greeks,
+and other Christians annually visiting Palestine renders the maintenance
+of these convents a necessity.
+
+Our friends found the Russian convent so much like a hotel that they
+would never have known the difference if they had not been told of it.
+The lower story of the building served as a stable; the second story was
+reached by a flight of steps on the outside, which brought them to an
+open court surrounded by rooms that greatly resembled the cells of a
+prison. But the rooms were comfortably though plainly furnished, and as
+the youths were fatigued with their ride, and the other exertions of the
+day, they had no difficulty in sleeping. There was an hour to spare
+before supper, and the party went to see the curiosities of the place.
+Frank said they would take a walk to get up an appetite, to which Fred
+retorted that he thought the ride was enough to satisfy any reasonable
+being on that score.
+
+[Illustration: THE TOWER OF RAMLEH (FROM THOMSON'S "THE LAND AND THE
+BOOK").]
+
+The principal sight of Ramleh is the Tower, which is visible for quite a
+distance, and forms a conspicuous landmark. Its history is not
+definitely known, but it is supposed to have been originally the tower
+of a Christian church. The church was destroyed by the Moslems, and the
+tower left standing, in order that it might serve as the minaret of the
+mosque erected on the site of the Christian edifice. The Tower is about
+a hundred feet high altogether, and its summit can be reached by means
+of steps in the interior. Ivy and other vines give it an appearance of
+age and neglect, and on the top bushes have sprung up from seeds carried
+there by the birds.
+
+Doctor Thomson gives a fine view of this structure in "The Land and the
+Book," and says he was once detained for some time at Ramleh. Nearly
+every day he ascended to the summit of the Tower, and was enchanted with
+the view. He wrote as follows in his journal:
+
+"The view from the top of the Tower is inexpressibly grand. The whole
+plain of Sharon, from the mountains of Judea and Samaria to the sea, and
+from the foot of Carmel to the sandy deserts of Philistia, lies spread
+out like an illuminated map. Beautiful as vast, and diversified as
+beautiful, the eye is fascinated, and the imagination enchanted,
+especially when the last rays of the setting sun light up the white
+villages which sit or hang upon the many-shaped declivities of the
+mountains. What a paradise was here when Solomon reigned in Jerusalem,
+and sung of 'the roses of Sharon!'"
+
+Our friends ascended the Tower and found that the description was by no
+means overdrawn. The mountains on one side, the undulating ground at
+their feet, the plain between them and the waters of the
+Mediterranean--all were there, and above them spread the clear blue dome
+of the sky of the East. They lingered till the lengthening shadows told
+them the sunset was near and it was time to depart.
+
+Descending from the Tower, they were shown some vaults beneath the site
+of the mosque that once stood here. According to tradition, these vaults
+were the sepulchres of many Christian martyrs, and there is reason to
+believe that the underground chambers were formerly much more extensive
+than at present, many of them having been filled up and abandoned.
+Various attempts have been made to identify Ramleh with some of the
+places named in sacred history, but none of them have been successful.
+Some writers think it was the Arimathea mentioned in the Bible, and the
+monks claim that the Latin church occupies the site of the house of
+Joseph of Arimathea. The Arab writers say the town was founded in the
+eighth century by one of their rulers, and they assert that its name is
+purely Arabic, and without the slightest trace of any other language.
+Dr. Bronson suggested that it was hardly worth their while to
+investigate the origin of Ramleh, and, after looking at the bazaar, and
+studying the exterior of a few of the principal buildings, they returned
+to the Russian convent, and prepared for a good rest, with the view of
+making an early start for Jerusalem in the morning.
+
+They were up long before daybreak--they breakfasted by the light of a
+weak candle--and, just as the sun was preparing to show himself at the
+eastern horizon, they mounted their horses, and rode away in the
+direction of the Holy City.
+
+At the edge of the town they found a row of beggars drawn up at the
+roadside, or, rather, squatted on the ground, and imploring the
+travellers for charity. Several were blind, and others had lost their
+hands or fingers, and held up the mutilated stumps to attract attention.
+The guide said that some of them were lepers; but the majority had
+caused their hands to be cut off, or it had been done by their parents,
+in order to fit them for the mendicant profession.
+
+Frank gave a small coin to one of the beggars, and immediately all that
+could walk joined in pursuing the travellers, who only escaped annoyance
+by quickening the speed of their horses. The Doctor said it was one of
+the misfortunes of thus attempting to be charitable in Syria, that you
+are immediately beset by all the beggars in sight. The one to whom you
+have made a donation joins in the assault, and clamors for more, and
+sometimes he is more persistent than any of the rest. A traveller is apt
+to have his heart hardened under such circumstances, and, as it is
+impossible for him to give to everybody, he very soon settles the matter
+by refusing to give at all. The government has suppressed the beggars of
+Ramleh by moving them to other localities. The most of them find their
+way back again before long, and the places of those who do not return
+are speedily filled by others.
+
+[Illustration: ROAD IN THE FOOT-HILLS.]
+
+For three hours the route was much like that of the day before--though,
+as they approached the mountains, the land was less fertile, and the
+products of the plain gave place to those of the higher ground. At
+Bab-el-Wady, or the Gate of the Glen, they entered the mountains, and
+left the low land of Sharon behind them. Occasionally looking back, they
+found they were steadily rising, as the land lay lower and lower at each
+view, and the shining waters of the Mediterranean occupied a larger
+space in the horizon. The guide pointed out the ruins of a village which
+tradition asserts was the residence of the thief who became penitent on
+the cross. The region was once a resort of robbers, and down to the
+beginning of the present century, and even later, it had a very bad
+reputation. There is a small hotel at the entrance of the valley. The
+guide had arranged that luncheon should be served here, and the result
+of the morning's ride made everybody ready to sit down as soon as the
+table was prepared.
+
+They were now among the hills of Judea, and during the rest of their
+journey an abundance of historical events were brought to their notice.
+Job's Well was pointed out on the right of the road, and beyond it, on
+the crest of a hill, was a dilapidated building called Job's Monastery.
+The guide called their attention to the village of Abu Gosh, and said
+its modern name was given to it in the early part of the present
+century. According to the historians it is identical with Baalah,
+mentioned in Joshua xv. 9, and was famous as the place where the Ark of
+the Covenant was deposited for a long time. There is an old church near
+the village, but they did not stop to examine it. They were anxious to
+see the Holy City as soon as possible, and every moment of delay was
+of great importance.
+
+The road was dreary enough as it wound among the rocky hills; it was so
+crooked in many places that it could only be made out for short
+distances in advance of the party, and sometimes the hills seemed to
+threaten to shut them in altogether. Every little while they came upon
+narrow valleys, where stretches and patches of arable land were utilized
+as much as possible for the production of garden vegetables or for
+miniature plantations of olive-trees. Here and there villages clung to
+the hill-sides, the houses rising one above another in terraces, and
+suggesting a series of broad steps on which a giant of the stature of
+Goliath might take a walk.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF JERUSALEM FROM THE EAST.]
+
+As they wound up one of the ascents the guide said they would see
+Jerusalem from the summit. Everybody was in haste for the view, and it
+happened that Frank and Fred were in advance when the crest of the hill
+was reached. Frank rose in his stirrups, waved his cap with a loud
+hurrah, and his example was followed by his cousin. As they reached the
+top of the hill they stopped, and in less than a minute their comrades
+were with them. All gazed in admiration at the Holy City. There it lay,
+bathed in the sun of Palestine, and crowning the rocky hills where it
+has stood for many centuries, the wonder of the civilized world and the
+goal which many a Christian pilgrim has struggled to reach. For several
+minutes not a word was spoken. The towers and walls, the hills of
+Israel, the domes and minarets, all were there, and recalled the
+pictures with which all students of Christianity are familiar.
+
+When the silence was broken, one of the party repeated the lines of
+Tasso which describe the first view of Jerusalem by the Crusaders:
+
+ "Winged is each heart, and winged every heel;
+ They fly, yet notice scarce how fast they fly,
+ But by the time the dewless meads reveal
+ The golden sun ascended in the sky,
+ Lo! towered Jerusalem salutes the eye.
+ A thousand pointing fingers tell the tale--
+ 'Jerusalem!' a thousand voices cry;
+ 'All hail, Jerusalem!' Hill, down, and dale
+ Catch the glad sound, and shout 'Jerusalem, all hail!'"
+
+It was a ride of less than an hour from the hill-top to the Jaffa gate
+of Jerusalem. They passed the building of the Russian convent and of the
+Greek monastery, but had no care for anything else than the Holy City,
+and to get inside its walls. The gate was open, the Turkish guard did
+not stop them, and in a few minutes they were at the door of the
+Mediterranean Hotel. They were weary with their ride, but the excitement
+of the occasion made the youths forget their fatigue. Frank proposed
+that they should set out at once for the Temple of Solomon, and he was
+warmly seconded by Fred. They yielded at once to the suggestion of
+Doctor Bronson that they had better wait till the whole party could go
+together, and see the city on a systematic plan.
+
+We will not follow our friends in all their wanderings around Jerusalem,
+but refer our readers to the accounts which were written by the youths
+for the benefit of their friends at home. After describing the ride from
+Jaffa, the experience on the road, and their arrival at Jerusalem, they
+wrote as follows:
+
+"Jerusalem disappoints us a little, as we had expected wider and cleaner
+streets than we find here. We were partly prepared for this, as we have
+been in the cities of Egypt, and spent a few hours at Jaffa, but it is
+our candid opinion that Jerusalem is worse than Cairo, Suez, or any
+other city we have visited. The streets are very narrow, the pavement is
+bad, and nobody seems to care whether they are clean or not. Some of
+the side streets and alleys would do honor to New York, and Doctor
+Bronson says they remind him of home more than anything else he has seen
+here.
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF JERUSALEM.]
+
+"You may think Jerusalem is a large city; if you do you have made a
+mistake. The population is estimated between twenty and twenty-four
+thousand, and the best authorities say it does not exceed the latter
+figure. The Moslems do not take the census as we do; they count the
+families, and then make an average of the number in each family, and
+they don't do that very often. On the basis of twenty-four thousand
+inhabitants, they count thirteen thousand Moslems, seven thousand
+Christians, and four thousand Jews. The city was much larger in ancient
+times than it is at present. We cannot say exactly when it had its
+greatest population, as the old writers do not agree; but it was quite
+likely in the reign of King Solomon. The population at that time has
+been placed as high as half a million, but was probably not over half
+that number. We need not trouble ourselves on the subject, as it is the
+modern Jerusalem we are looking at now.
+
+"Jerusalem has suffered more from wars than any other city in the world,
+or, at all events, more than any city we have seen. It has been captured
+no less than seventeen times, if we may believe the historians, and some
+of them say that on several occasions the inhabitants have been
+slaughtered, the buildings destroyed, and the ground sown with salt. The
+question that comes up to us is, 'Where did they get the salt for that
+purpose?' Most of these terrible events in the history of Jerusalem
+occurred hundreds, and some of them thousands, of years ago. The traces
+of the old walls of Jerusalem are visible in many places, and any
+visitor can easily satisfy himself that the city was once much larger
+than it is at present.
+
+"As soon as we had brushed up a little after our ride from Ramleh we
+went out to see the city and take a stroll through the streets of this
+interesting place.
+
+"Near the front of the hotel is the Tower of David on Mount Zion, along
+with several other buildings. There is a good deal of dispute as to the
+antiquity of the tower, and whether it is really the one built by King
+David or not. The general belief is that the foundations are the same,
+while the superstructure is more modern. The Church of Mount Zion was
+founded during the fourth century, but has been rebuilt two or three
+times, its present form having been given to it four or five hundred
+years ago. Near the church is a monastery, and its inmates call
+themselves the Guardians of Mount Zion. A hospital is attached to the
+monastery, and there is a lodging-house where poor pilgrims are received
+and cared for during their stay in Jerusalem.
+
+"We went down the Street of David, which passes in front of the
+Mediterranean Hotel, and leads from the Jaffa Gate to Mount Moriah. We
+told the guide that we wanted to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
+When we had gone a short distance on the Street of David we turned to
+the left into Christ Street, and in a few minutes were in front of the
+church that is revered as the burial place of our Saviour.
+
+"There is an open space in front like a little square surrounded by
+buildings. We were reminded of the money-changers in the Temple as we
+approached the church. The space in front of it was filled with peddlers
+and beggars, principally the former, and there was hardly a moment when
+we were free from their importunities. The goods offered for sale were
+photographs, and curiosities from various parts of the Holy Land,
+together with rosaries, charms, and similar trifles made from
+olive-wood, the seeds of the olive-tree, or mother-of-pearl. To judge by
+the numbers of these itinerent merchants they must do a good business
+among the visitors to this sacred spot.
+
+"Wherever we stood to look at the building before us we were surrounded
+by these fellows, and we thought how little the customs of the East have
+changed since Christ came on earth. The guide said the peddlers paid a
+license for the privilege of selling their goods here, and it is more
+than probable that the beggars have a similar authority for their
+importunities.
+
+"The church was closed when we arrived, and we learned that it was only
+open on certain hours of the day. There have been so many quarrels among
+the monks that the building has been put in the care of a Moslem guard,
+and the key is kept by a Moslem official. There is great jealousy
+between the different sects--Latin, Greek, and Armenian--and the Moslems
+have been obliged to step in to keep the peace! More than once there
+have been such fierce quarrels that blows have been struck, and blood
+has been shed within the walls of the church!
+
+"We did not enter the church at that time, but as we visited it
+afterward, and went through all parts of it, we may as well describe it
+while we are here.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.]
+
+"To begin with, there has been a great deal of controversy concerning
+the spot where the church stands, some authorities contending that it is
+where Christ was buried, while others insist that the Golgotha mentioned
+in the Scriptures was a considerable distance outside the walls. There
+are many traditions concerning it, and it would take more time than we
+can spare to give even a short account of them. So we will drop the
+discussion of the question, and tell what we saw. If you want more
+information you will find plenty of books on the subject.
+
+"We paid a backsheesh to the Moslem custodians who were stationed at the
+entrance, and one of them accompanied us to see that we did not disturb
+anything, and also in the expectation of a fee when we were through with
+his services.
+
+[Illustration: GROUND-PLAN OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.
+
+1. Principal door; 4. Tomb of Godfrey; 5. Tomb of Baldwin; 6. Tomb of
+Melchizedek; 7. Chapel of Adam and John the Baptist; 8. Tomb of Adam;
+11. Place where the Virgin Mary stood while the body was anointed; 13.
+Chapel of the Angel; 17. Tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus; 19. Greek
+"Centre of the World;" 27. Where Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene; 28.
+Where Mary Magdalene stood; 30. Part of the Pillar of Flagellation; 32.
+Where Christ appeared to his Mother after the resurrection; 33. Place of
+the recognition of the Cross; 35. Place of Christ's bonds; 36. Chapel of
+the Virgin; 38. Chapel of Longinus the Centurion; 39. Chapel of the
+Mocking; 41. Chapel of St. Helena; 42. Chapel of the Penitent Thief; 44.
+Chapel of the Finding of the Cross.]
+
+"Close to the entrance of the church we came to the Stone of Unction,
+where the body of Christ was laid to be anointed (John xix. 38-40). It
+is a slab of marble surrounded with an iron railing. The guide said it
+was above the real stone, in order that the latter might not be injured
+by the thousands of pilgrims that come here, and are frequently desirous
+of carrying away some relic of the place.
+
+"A short distance beyond this place we came to the spot where the Virgin
+Mary stood while the Saviour's body lay on the Stone of Unction. We
+paused there only a moment, and then went to the next and greatest
+object of interest, the Holy Sepulchre.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.]
+
+"The sepulchre is in the rotunda of the church, which has been
+reconstructed several times, and has changed a good deal in shape since
+the original building was erected. The sepulchre is a small building,
+twenty-six feet by eighteen, entirely of marble, and with holes in the
+roof, to allow the escape of the smoke from the lamps which burn here
+continually. We first entered what is called the Angel's Chamber. It has
+in the centre a stone set in marble, and the priests in charge of the
+place say it is the stone that was rolled from the mouth of the
+sepulchre by the angel. It is probable that the stone has been changed
+many times since the crucifixion. The Armenians claim that they have the
+real stone in their monastery on Mount Zion, and the Latin monks accuse
+them of having stolen it.
+
+"The sepulchre is entered from the Angel's Chapel. It is about seven
+feet square, and has the sepulchral couch at one side covered with a
+marble slab. The space is so small that we could not all go inside at
+once, and the rule is that not more than three or four shall be
+admitted together. The inside of the room is divided among four
+religious bodies--the Copts, Greeks, Armenians, and Latins. The Copts
+have four lamps burning there, and the other three sects have each
+thirteen. They take turns in the performance of religious services in
+the altar, and when they are thus engaged the Moslem guard stands near
+to see that there is no interference.
+
+"We found it was not easy to believe that the sepulchre was hewn in the
+solid rock, as the monks declare it to have been. Every foot of space is
+so completely covered with marble that no part of the original rock is
+visible. The marble was placed here hundreds of years ago, when the
+traditions were more authentic than at present, and perhaps it is not
+worth while to dispute them.
+
+"From the Holy Sepulchre we went to many places of interest to all
+students of Christianity; they were so numerous that it was impossible
+to remember all of them, and we went about so rapidly that we did not
+even have time to make a complete list. We therefore refer to our
+guide-book, and will try to give their names, but without pretending to
+follow the order in which we saw them.
+
+"It seemed very odd to us that so many places mentioned in Scripture
+should all be found under the roof of a single church. But, whatever may
+be our opinions concerning their authenticity, they were all very
+interesting, and we shall long retain the memory of what we saw and
+heard while within the walls of this famous building. We thought we were
+there not more than half an hour, but found we had passed over two hours
+in the visit: you can see how much we were absorbed in the subject when
+the time flew away so fast.
+
+"Here are the places and objects that were pointed out:
+
+ "THE CHAPEL OF THE APPARITION, where Christ appeared to his mother
+ after the resurrection.
+
+ "THE COLUMN OF THE SCOURGING.
+
+ "THE LATIN SACRISTY, containing the sword, spurs, and cross of
+ Godfrey de Bouillon.
+
+ "FRAGMENT OF A COLUMN, said to occupy the centre of the world.
+
+ "THE PRISON OF CHRIST, where he was kept while his cross was being
+ made ready for the crucifixion.
+
+ "CHAPEL OF ST. LONGINUS, the soldier who pierced the side of Christ
+ after his death.
+
+ "CHAPEL OF THE PARTING OF THE RAIMENT.
+
+ "COLUMN OF THE DERISION, where Christ stood when he was crowned
+ with thorns.
+
+ "CHAPEL OF ST. HELENA, containing the seat where the Empress Helena
+ sat while the cross was being sought for. Near it is the Chapel of
+ the Finding of the Cross, and the spot is indicated where the cross
+ was discovered. The Chapel of St. Helena is reached by descending
+ twenty-nine steps from the floor of the church, and the Chapel of
+ the Cross is a cavern in the rock, thirteen steps farther down.
+
+"From this spot we ascended to the floor of the church and were taken
+to Golgotha, or Mount Calvary, by an ascent of about fifteen feet.
+Remember that everything we have mentioned is under the roof of the
+church, or, rather, of the different buildings that have been erected to
+make up the church. An architect who goes through it can readily
+perceive that the construction was not all of the same period, and that
+several men must have planned the various portions. The first chapel on
+Mount Calvary was erected by the Emperor Constantine, but it has been
+rebuilt two or three times, so that little if anything remains of it.
+
+"The first chapel we entered in this part of the church was that of the
+Raising of the Cross. They showed us the hole in the rock where the
+cross stood, and about five feet on either side were the crosses of the
+two thieves. The cleft in the rock, mentioned in Matt. xxvi. 51, was
+pointed out in this chapel, and then we went to the next where Christ
+was nailed to the cross, the positions being indicated by pieces of
+marble in the floor. Beyond this is the Chapel of the Agony, which is
+reached by a short stairway; it is a small chapel, and belongs to the
+Latin monks, while the Chapel of the Raising of the Cross is the
+property of the Greeks.
+
+"Every day when the church is open to the public a good many pilgrims
+come there to worship at the sepulchre of the founder of Christianity.
+At Easter and other festivals the number is very large, and sometimes
+the building is densely crowded. For a long time the Moslems used to
+make all visitors pay heavily for the privilege of entering the church,
+but of late years they have not been permitted to extort backsheesh. We
+went there at an hour when the church was closed, and were,
+consequently, obliged to pay the custodian before the key was produced.
+
+"We did not go to the cistern of the Empress Helena, as it would have
+prolonged our stay somewhat, and our time was limited. While we were in
+the Chapel of the Finding of the Cross the guide told us the tradition
+of how the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, directed the
+excavation, and was present when the three crosses were unearthed. A
+woman suffering from an incurable disease was brought and placed upon
+two of them without any benefit; as soon as she touched the third she
+rose and walked away in perfect health. By this it was determined which
+was the true cross, and from that time its fragments have been
+distributed among the cathedrals and churches of Europe and other
+countries."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM.
+
+
+We will continue the account of the sights of Jerusalem, as given by
+Frank and Fred in their journal:
+
+"One of the first places we asked for after the Church of the Holy
+Sepulchre was Mount Zion, which we reached by a short walk. On our way
+we passed through the Street of the Christians, where there are several
+bazaars; they are much inferior to the bazaars of Cairo, and the display
+of goods does not amount to much. The guide took us to several shops
+where carvings of olive-wood are sold. There is a great variety of these
+articles, and some of them are of great beauty and high price. To judge
+by the number and extent of the shops, we should think that the
+principal occupation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is the manufacture
+and sale of wood-carvings.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT ARCH IN JERUSALEM.]
+
+"We visited the Muristan, or site of the Hospital of the Knights of St.
+John, who were also known as the Order of the Hospitallers. There is not
+a great deal to see here, as the buildings are mostly in a state of
+decay, and some of the ground is covered with rubbish accumulated from
+the ruins. It is said that a monastery was formed here by the Emperor
+Charlemagne; afterward some rich merchants established a church and
+monastery on the spot, and later on the Hospitallers erected a convent
+where pilgrims were received and cared for. Perhaps you would like to
+know something about the Knights of St. John. We'll tell you what we've
+read and heard about them:
+
+"The order was founded in the eleventh century, and established on the
+spot we have just visited. There were two hospitals or convents, one for
+men and one for women; but in the course of time the convent for women
+was removed to another part of the city, and the ground became the
+exclusive possession of the 'Knights Hospitallers of St. John of
+Jerusalem.' That was their official name, and under it they built
+hospitals or convents for pilgrims to the Holy Land in most of the
+seaport cities of Europe and along the Eastern shores of the
+Mediterranean.
+
+"They not only took care of the pilgrims, but they joined in wars
+against the infidels, and fought on many battle-fields. A great number
+of noblemen from all parts of Europe joined the order, and they had a
+regular constitution and a long list of laws, which all were bound to
+obey. They had a military organization, and did a great deal of
+fighting, but were finally conquered and expelled from Jerusalem; then
+they went to the Island of Rhodes, where they lived about two hundred
+years, and were known as the Knights of Rhodes. They were besieged twice
+by the Turks, and were finally compelled to leave that island and go to
+Malta, where they built a strong fortress, and were known as the Knights
+of Malta. The organization practically came to an end in 1798, when
+Napoleon captured Malta and sent away the Grand-master. Since that time
+there have been several attempts to revive the order, but none have
+amounted to anything.
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF JERUSALEM.]
+
+"The costume of the knights was a black dress, with a white cross on the
+left breast, and you often see the insignia in jewellery and other
+ornaments under the name of the 'Cross of Malta.' Since their time the
+cross has been applied to the Crusaders' 'Arms of Jerusalem,' in which
+there is the Maltese cross with the crowns of the three wise men and the
+star of Bethlehem below, while there are two branches of the palm-tree
+and the word 'Jerusalem' above. These crosses are for sale here, and not
+unfrequently the pilgrims have the 'Arms of Jerusalem' tattooed on their
+wrists, to prove that they have been in the Holy Land.
+
+[Illustration: KNIGHTS OF ST. CATHERINE.]
+
+"Every order of knighthood in the Holy Land had its peculiar costume and
+device, and all of them had a patron saint. The Knights of St.
+Catherine, for example, wore on their shields as well as on their
+breasts a picture of a section of a wheel pierced by a dagger or sword.
+The legend is that St. Catherine was ordered to be put to death by
+torture on a wheel, but as soon as she was placed on it the wheel was
+miraculously broken, and the executioner beheaded her. Immediately the
+body and head were seized by angels and carried to Mount Sinai; its
+locality was revealed to a monk in a dream, and the next day he and his
+brethren carried it to a convent that had been established in the
+wilderness near the mountain, and piously buried it. The building has
+ever since been known as the Convent of St. Catherine, and is of great
+assistance to pilgrims and others who go to Mount Sinai.
+
+[Illustration: THE VIA DOLOROSA.]
+
+"We passed along the Via Dolorosa, and were shown the spot where Christ
+rested his cross on his way to the crucifixion on Mount Calvary. Then we
+traversed the street of the Gate of the Column, and followed the guide
+till he brought us to the Damascus Gate. We ought to explain right here
+that there are seven gates in the walls of Jerusalem. The most in use
+are the Damascus and Jaffa gates, for the reason that nearly all
+visitors to the Holy City enter and depart by one or the other. As their
+names imply, the Damascus Gate is on the road to the city of that name,
+while the Jaffa Gate is the nearest to the Mediterranean. The latter is
+also called the Hebron Gate, for the reason that travellers to Hebron
+depart through it.
+
+"There are two gates wholly or partly walled up; they are the Golden
+Gate, on Mount Moriah, and the so-called Gate of Herod. The other gates
+of most consequence are St. Stephen's, which is supposed to be near the
+spot where Stephen was stoned to death, and the Zion Gate, which leads
+from Mount Zion in the direction of David's tomb.
+
+"To make the circuit of the walls of Jerusalem would require a walk of
+about two and a half miles, but owing to the nature of the ground a
+pedestrian could not keep at all times close to the line he wished to
+follow. The present walls were made by Sultan Suleiman in 1542, but many
+parts of them were standing before his time, and some of the foundations
+are the same as they were two thousand years ago. Jerusalem has not
+materially changed in its general characteristics since the time of
+Christ, and consequently it has not been difficult to identify many of
+the places mentioned in the Bible.
+
+[Illustration: THE DAMASCUS GATE.]
+
+"We thought the Damascus Gate was very picturesque when we looked at it
+from the outside, and Doctor Bronson said it was considered the finest
+of all the gates of Jerusalem. Its Arab name is _Bab-el-Amud_, or Gate
+of the Column, and it is constructed so that it can be easily defended
+against an enemy. It was built about three hundred years ago, and is
+supposed to stand on the foundations of one of the ancient gates, and
+there is a story that a stream of water may sometimes be heard flowing
+beneath it.
+
+"There was quite a group of people outside of the Damascus Gate, some on
+foot, some on horses, and others on camels. A peddler of cakes and other
+edible things had set up his shop at the side of the road, and was
+engaged in weighing out his merchandise to those who wanted it. Instead
+of Fairbanks's scales he used the old-fashioned balances; he was not at
+all in a hurry, and as soon as his customers were gone he sat down in
+the shadow of a little shelter he had erected, and was evidently resting
+from his labors. A dog that had been sitting a little distance away
+embraced the opportunity, and made off with one of the cakes before the
+owner could interfere to stop him. The dogs of Jerusalem are quite as
+bad as those of Cairo, and ready to steal whenever there is the least
+chance of doing so.
+
+"We will take a leap through the air from the Damascus Gate to Mount
+Zion, which we started out to see. We went to the Armenian monastery,
+which is also called the House of Caiaphas, and saw the stone which was
+said to have been rolled away from the door of the Holy Sepulchre, the
+spot where Peter stood when he denied his Master, and the yard where the
+cock crew at the time of the denial. The monks also showed us the prison
+of Christ, and other points of interest. Doctor Bronson says the most of
+these things are on very poor authority, but, of course, we gave no
+indication of any doubt concerning them while we were inside the
+monastery.
+
+"Continuing our walk on Mount Zion, we came to a building inhabited by a
+lot of insolent Arabs, who demanded backsheesh before they would permit
+us to enter. They showed us an upper room which is said to have been the
+scene of the Last Supper, and the traditions concerning it are on better
+authority than those of the Armenian monastery. The tomb of David is
+under this building, but is not shown to visitors; the coffin is
+supposed to be in a deep vault under the foundations, but no one is
+permitted to go there.
+
+"There is a story that a wealthy Jew came here once and wanted to say
+his prayers at the tomb of David. The monks, who then had possession of
+the place, refused permission for him to do so, and as he went away he
+vowed he would be revenged on them. The next year he came back with an
+order from the Sultan expelling the monks and giving the place to the
+Moslems, and they have had it ever since. The Jew said his prayers at
+the tomb, and then the vault was closed to everybody.
+
+"We saw several other points of interest here, and then returned to the
+hotel. Our next excursion was along the Street of David to Mount Moriah,
+to see the site of Solomon's Temple and what remains of it. Down to
+quite recently no Christians were allowed to visit the Haram, or Sacred
+Enclosure on Mount Moriah, where the temple once stood, and which is now
+occupied by the Mosques of Omar and El-Aksa. Even now it is generally
+necessary to be accompanied by a policeman, or a janizary from the
+Consulate of your country, to protect you from insult. We had a janizary
+from the American Consulate, and experienced no difficulty in seeing
+what we wished to, though we were obliged to give quite an amount of
+backsheesh to get along.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF THE MOSQUE OF OMAR AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.]
+
+"The Haram includes nearly a fourth of the space enclosed in the walls
+of Jerusalem, and the Mosque of Omar rises so high in the air that it is
+the principal object in any outside view of the city. It is supposed to
+have been built by Sultan Omar. There is some doubt on the subject, but
+there can be no doubt that it is a very beautiful building, and the
+architect knew what he was about when he planned it. The mosque is on
+the highest part of the hill, and on the thrashing-floor that King David
+bought for fifty shekels of silver; on the inside the rock is preserved
+in its original state and enclosed in a railing. From its position, and
+also from having the original rock preserved as we have described, the
+building is called the _Kubbet-es-Sukrah_, or Dome of the Rock. It is an
+octagonal structure, and each of the eight sides is sixty-seven feet
+long.
+
+"Doctor Bronson says this is probably the most interesting spot in the
+world, as it is revered by the adherents of three religions who have
+regarded it as a holy place through many centuries. The Jews revered it,
+as we learn from the Old Testament, and from many events in modern as
+well as ancient history; the New Testament tells us its intimate
+connection with the story of Christ's coming on earth; and the Moslems
+consider it the holiest place next to the Kaaba at Mecca. They believe
+Mohammed came here in person, and at one time commanded his followers
+to turn their faces toward Jerusalem when saying their prayers. It is
+for this reason that they refused to allow Jews and Christians to visit
+the temple grounds, just as they will not allow them to go to Mecca at
+the present time.
+
+"The Haram, or temple enclosure, is about one thousand six hundred feet
+long by one thousand wide: it is not a regular quadrangle, and
+consequently this measurement is not exact. There are several buildings
+there in addition to the two mosques, but none are of much consequence,
+and we did not visit them. We were allowed to walk through the Mosque of
+Omar, and went from there to the Mosque El-Aksa. We were greatly
+interested in the architecture of the buildings, and quite as much in
+the story of the guide who accompanied us.
+
+"At the Kubbet-es-Sukrah he pointed out the place where Abraham was
+about to slay Isaac as a sacrifice, and the spot where the ark of the
+covenant was deposited, besides other places interesting to readers of
+the Bible. Then he showed us the footprint of Mohammed, where his foot
+last touched the earth before he ascended to heaven, and the marks of
+the hands of the angel who held the rock down to prevent its ascent with
+the Moslem prophet. In a cavern under the rock he showed the places,
+which are marked by small altars, where Abraham, David, Solomon, and
+Elijah offered up their prayers, and he pointed to an impression in the
+ceiling which is said to have been made by Mohammed's head.
+
+"The Moslems have a great many traditions concerning the rock, and it is
+very evident that they have allowed their imagination free-play in
+describing it. They say the rock was brought here from heaven, and that
+a river from Paradise flows beneath it and waters the palm on which it
+rests. They also declare that the trumpet of the last judgment will
+sound from this rock; and one of their stories is that the rock is
+suspended over a deep abyss without any support. Our guide was a native
+Christian, but it seemed to us that he had told these stories so often
+that he half believed them, in spite of their opposition to his own
+religious faith.
+
+[Illustration: WALL AT SOUTH-EAST CORNER OF THE TEMPLE AREA.]
+
+"From the buildings above-ground we went to the excavations and
+subterranean passages beneath. There was formerly some dispute as to the
+exact position of Solomon's Temple, owing to the difficulty of making
+explorations; but within the last twenty years many discoveries have
+been made, and the work of laying out the exact position of the Temple
+is still going on. The American and English societies engaged in it are
+entirely harmonious, and every year they are throwing new light on
+subjects of great importance to students of the Bible. They have spent
+large amounts of money in excavations among the substructions of the
+Temple, and settled many points of dispute. Anybody who wishes the
+details of what has been accomplished is referred to the book of Captain
+Warren on 'The Recovery of Jerusalem,' and to the reports of the
+Palestine Exploration Society.
+
+"Provided with candles and torches, we went among the substructions that
+were made to level the ground and prepare it for the building of the
+Temple. The arches and pillars would be no discredit to a modern
+architect, and in some places we saw large blocks that must have
+required powerful machinery for their transportation. These underground
+vaults have not all been opened, and their full extent is not yet known.
+During the time of the Crusaders these vaults were used as stables, and
+the holes where the halters of the horses were fastened may be seen
+to-day. In some places there are roots of trees that have run a long
+distance underground in search of water. The trees are evidently of
+great age, but we could hardly accept the statement of the guide that
+they were as old as the Temple itself.
+
+"We returned to the open air after half an hour beneath the Temple, and
+found that our eyes were dazzled by the sudden flood of light. We
+looked over the walls into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and stood almost
+holding our breath as we saw the Mount of Olives, the Garden of
+Gethsemane, the Tomb of Absalom, and other objects whose names were
+familiar to us all. Below us was the bed of the brook Kedron, but dry
+and dusty as though no brook had ever flowed there. In winter, and after
+heavy rains, it is full of water; but ordinarily there is only a slender
+thread, and it disappears altogether in time of drought.
+
+[Illustration: WAILING-PLACE OF THE JEWS.]
+
+"When we were through with our visit to the site of the Temple we went
+to the Wailing-place of the Jews, which is supposed to be part of the
+wall of the original Temple. It is a very solid wall of large stones,
+and has been a sacred spot with the Jews for many hundreds of years.
+They come here from all parts of the earth to weep over the downfall of
+their race, and the destruction of the Holy Temple. On Fridays they are
+seen in greatest number; but at almost any time there are several of
+them standing there with their faces against the wall, reading or
+reciting their prayers in a low, wailing tone.
+
+"We had hoped to see many of them there but were disappointed, as our
+visit was not on a Friday. There were six or eight in all, and they did
+not look up when we entered the narrow court on which the wall fronts.
+They were all, to judge from their dress, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
+not, as often happens, pilgrims from distant lands. One of the gentlemen
+connected with the Palestine Exploration Fund told us that he had seen
+two or three hundred Jews at the Wailing-place on a single occasion, and
+that they came from all the countries of Europe. In some places the
+stones have been worn smooth by the kisses of devout lips, and there is
+no doubt that the majority of those who come here to mourn are earnest
+in the expression of their grief.
+
+ 'Oh, weep for those who wept by Babel's stream,
+ Whose shrines are desolate, whose land a dream!
+ Weep for the harp of Judah's broken spell--
+ Mourn--where their God hath dwelt the godless dwell?'
+
+"The Pool of Bethesda is at one end of the Haram enclosure, and, of
+course, we paid it a visit. Isn't it curious that there has been a city
+here all these many centuries in a place where there are no wells?
+Jerusalem depends altogether upon cisterns and pools for its water, and
+it is said that in the sieges of the city the inhabitants have never
+suffered for want of water, while the attacking armies have sometimes
+been compelled to bring their supplies of it from long distances. Some
+of the cisterns are very large, and hewn in the solid rock, while others
+are built of masonry and lined with cement. They are filled with water
+from the roofs during the rainy season, and great care is exercised to
+prevent its being wasted.
+
+[Illustration: THE POOL OF BETHESDA.]
+
+"The Pool of Bethesda is oblong in shape, and on one side there are
+steps leading down to the water, of which there was very little at the
+time of our visit. The monks say it is the Bethesda of the New
+Testament, and they also call it the Sheep Pool. We looked in vain for
+the five porches, or arches, and were told that there is a doubt as to
+this being the real Pool of Bethesda, which some authorities locate at a
+deep shaft, or cistern, with an intermittent spring at the bottom,
+outside the walls of the Haram.
+
+"Having seen this historic place we naturally asked for the Pool of
+Siloam. The guide said it was outside the walls, and we would see it
+when we made the circuit of Jerusalem, which we did.
+
+"We descended to the brook Kedron, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which
+we have already mentioned. The valley is a good deal choked with
+rubbish, which has been accumulating there during many centuries, and
+the tomb of Absalom is surrounded by a heap of small stones, which have
+been thrown there by the Jews. Every Jew who goes by the place thinks he
+should throw a stone at the tomb, and you can readily understand what
+the result has been. Doctor Bronson says this is a reversal of the old
+proverb that a continual dropping will wear away stone. The continual
+dropping of pebbles around the tomb of Absalom has heaped up a great
+mass of stone instead of wearing it away.
+
+[Illustration: THE POOL OF SILOAM.]
+
+"The Pool of Siloam is in the Valley of Kedron, at the south-eastern
+termination of Mount Zion, where a little brook joins it, but is not a
+part of the main stream of Kedron. There is no Biblical place around
+Jerusalem more clearly identified than this. Doctor Thomson says it is
+beyond question the pool where the man born blind was sent by Christ to
+wash, in order that he might receive sight. It is mentioned many times
+in history, and its waters are known to flow irregularly. The fact has
+been verified by several travellers, and was positively stated by the
+guide who took us there.
+
+"The sides are broken down in several places, and a good deal of rock
+has fallen in. There is a recess at one corner where steps go down to
+the bottom, and we found several women descending these steps to bring
+water from the pool. As we looked from one end of the pool the walls of
+Jerusalem formed the background of the picture, and we carried our
+thoughts back to the time when the blind man came from the city to wash
+in the water of Siloam, that he might bear witness to the miracle
+performed by the Saviour of mankind.
+
+"There is a small village near the pool. Its inhabitants are said to be
+Moslems, and they derive quite a revenue from the backsheesh they extort
+from visitors. We did not remain long at the place, as there were many
+interesting things to be seen in our walk, and our time was precious.
+
+[Illustration: QUARRIES UNDER JERUSALEM.]
+
+"We visited several tombs hewn in the solid rock, but they did not seem
+of much consequence when compared with the tombs we had seen in Egypt.
+Of more interest were the quarries, which extend a considerable way
+beneath the city, and are supposed to have furnished the stone from
+which the Temple of King Solomon was built.
+
+"We entered them near the Damascus Gate, descending into a hole that
+sloped rapidly downward, and soon found ourselves in what might have
+been a chamber of a natural cavern. The marks of the chisels and other
+tools of the workmen were plainly to be seen, and there were pillars of
+rock left standing to support the roof. We must have gone seven or eight
+hundred feet from the entrance before reaching the end, and in many
+places the way was so rough that we climbed rather than walked along. At
+the point farthest from the entrance there is a stone that was evidently
+abandoned when a few hours' additional labor would have detached it. The
+indications are that the process of quarrying stone was the same in
+Jerusalem as in Egypt. Wedges of wood were driven into channels and
+grooves and then swelled, by being wet with water, till their expansive
+force became too great for the stone to resist.
+
+"Parts of these quarries are directly beneath the city, and they are so
+extensive that some writers have declared that the whole of Jerusalem
+might be buried in them. There is a tradition that a passage once led
+from the Temple to the quarries, but there is good reason to doubt its
+existence. We wandered about for some time in the quarries, and were
+glad when the guide brought us once more to the light of day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+FROM JERUSALEM TO BETHLEHEM.--CHURCH AND GROTTO OF THE NATIVITY.
+
+
+Our friends made an excursion to the Mount of Olives, going out of
+Jerusalem by St. Stephen's Gate, and descending into the Valley of the
+Kedron, which lies between the hill and the city. Going down the hill
+from the gate they came in sight of the chapel and tomb of the Virgin, a
+low and certainly very old building, which is annually visited by great
+numbers of pilgrims. There are serious doubts as to its authenticity,
+since it is not mentioned in history till the eighth century, and there
+is no inscription about it to indicate that it was the tomb of the
+Mother of Christ.
+
+The first object of interest was the Garden of Gethsemane; and for many
+visitors it is of more consequence than any other spot in the immediate
+vicinity of Jerusalem, as it is so intimately connected with the final
+scene of the Saviour's life. Frank and Fred could hardly restrain their
+impatience as they approached it; and we are safe in saying that every
+member of the little party quickened his steps as he approached the
+gate. But as soon as they were inside all haste was abandoned, and every
+voice was hushed as each one recalled the incidents of Christ's visits
+to Gethsemane with his disciples, together with the scene of his agony
+and betrayal.[7]
+
+[7] Matt. xxvi. 30-56; Mark xiv. 26-52; Luke xxii. 39-53; John xviii.
+1-14.
+
+[Illustration: GETHSEMANE.]
+
+There are seven or eight olive-trees in the garden, and the monk in
+charge of the place points out the spot where Christ prayed, together
+with that where his apostles slept during the prayer. The "Grotto of the
+Agony" is a small cave, and the place where the apostles slept is
+supposed to be indicated by the marks of their bodies on the stone. The
+monks claim that the olive-trees are the same that were standing in the
+time of Christ; they are certainly very old, and some are of great size,
+but we may well doubt if they have existed nearly two thousand years.
+But there is little question that this is really the original garden;
+but beyond this fact the statements of the monks should be received
+with hesitation. The garden belongs to the Latin monks; the Greeks have
+started a Garden of Gethsemane of their own farther up the side of the
+Mount of Olives, but are cautious about admitting visitors, as the trees
+have not grown sufficiently large to be passed off as the original ones
+of the beginning of the Christian era.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.]
+
+Here is Frank's memorandum concerning the visit to the Mount of Olives:
+
+"From the Garden of Gethsemane we ascended the slope by a steep path
+which carried us to the summit in fifteen or twenty minutes, or would
+have done so if we had not stopped several times on the way to look back
+at Jerusalem. The summit of the hill is said to be two hundred and
+twenty feet above Mount Moriah, and consequently we looked down on the
+Holy City, and had its entire outline before us. We could trace the
+course of the brook Kedron, the Valley of Hinnom, the hills of Zion and
+Moriah, the village of Siloam, near the celebrated pool, and directly in
+front of us lay the Haram enclosure, where once stood the Temple of
+Solomon, but now occupied by the mosques we have already described. To
+the east, and far below us, were the blue waters of the Dead Sea, with
+the mountains of Moab bounding the horizon. Owing to the clearness of
+the atmosphere the Dead Sea appeared close to us, and it seemed not an
+impossibility to shoot a rifle-ball from where we stood so that it would
+fall upon its surface. The wilderness of Judea, the valley of the
+winding Jordan, the 'Mountain of Offence,' the 'Hill of Evil Counsel,'
+the heights of Bethlehem, and other places named in Scripture were
+pointed out by the guide. In fact, the view from the Mount of Olives
+includes so much of which we have read, that it is impossible to recall
+everything without a great effort of memory. For the biblical interest
+of the spot I cannot do better than quote the following:
+
+ "'No name in Scripture calls up associations at once so sacred and
+ so pleasing as that of Olivet. The "Mount" is so intimately
+ connected with the private life of the Saviour that we read of it
+ and look at it with feelings of deepest interest and affection.
+ Here he sat with his disciples, telling them of wondrous events yet
+ to come--of the destruction of the Holy City, of the sufferings,
+ the persecutions, and the final triumph of his followers (Matt,
+ xxiv.); here he related the beautiful parables of the "Ten Virgins"
+ and the "Five Talents" (Matt, xxv.); here he was wont to retire on
+ each evening for meditation and prayer, and rest of body, when
+ weary and harassed by the labors and trials of the day (Luke xxi.
+ 37); and here he came on the night of his betrayal to utter that
+ wonderful prayer, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup
+ pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt.
+ xxvi. 39); and when the cup of God's wrath had been drunk, and
+ death and the grave conquered, he led his disciples out again over
+ Olivet as far as to Bethany, and after a parting blessing ascended
+ to heaven (Luke xxiv. 50, 51; Acts i. 12).'
+
+[Illustration: A SYCAMORE-TREE.]
+
+"The hill is covered in many places with olive-trees, and certainly
+merits its name. There are also fig, almond, sycamore, and a few other
+trees familiar to the traveller in Palestine, and every foot of the
+ground that will produce anything is carefully cultivated. Several
+churches have been erected on the summit, the first as early as the
+fourth century, and the last in 1834. We went through the present
+building, which is known as the Church of the Ascension; there is
+nothing remarkable about its architecture, but it is a substantial
+structure, and will last a long time unless destroyed by invaders, like
+some of its predecessors. In the centre there is a sort of dome, which
+is known as the Chapel of the Ascension, and is supposed to mark the
+spot where Christ rose to heaven."
+
+An entire forenoon was devoted to the visit to the Mount of Olives, and
+in the afternoon the party started for Bethlehem, a ride of less than
+two hours.
+
+[Illustration: THE ROAD FROM JERUSALEM TO BETHLEHEM.]
+
+They went out by the Jaffa Gate, passing the Hill of Evil Counsel and
+the Lower Aqueduct, and winding among rocky hills similar to those by
+which they had come from Ramleh to the Holy City. They passed the
+convent of Mar Elyas, but did not stop to visit it, and their attention
+was constantly absorbed by the ancient and modern monuments scattered
+along the route. Their first halt was made at the tomb of Rachel, which
+is an insignificant building, with a dome above it, of the general type
+of the better class of tombs in Palestine.
+
+[Illustration: THE TOMB OF RACHEL.]
+
+The tradition concerning the tomb of the mother of Benjamin (Gen. xxv.
+19) has been well preserved through thirty centuries, and many
+generations have worshipped at this spot. It has been revered alike by
+Jews, Christians, and Moslems, and the spectacle is not infrequent of
+the adherents of three religions kneeling in harmony before this
+venerable structure. During the halt of our friends one of the party
+read aloud from the Bible the story of the death of Rachel. All remained
+silent, and with uncovered heads, till the touching narrative was ended.
+
+From the tomb of Rachel the way led over hills and into valleys, and
+finally climbed the ridge on which Bethlehem stands. The situation of
+the place is quite picturesque. The town stands on a steep hill-side,
+and when looked at from a distance of half a mile or more, it presents
+the appearance of a series of terraces. The houses are low, and the
+roofs almost invariably flat; in this respect it has the general aspect
+of a Syrian town, and the position on the side of a hill gives an
+opportunity for thorough drainage.
+
+[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO BETHLEHEM.]
+
+The most conspicuous building in the picture, as one approaches
+Bethlehem, is the monastery connected with the Church of the Nativity,
+and the whole structure appears more like a fortress than a religious
+establishment. Bethlehem would be of little consequence were it not for
+its biblical interest, as there are no natural or other attractions, and
+the streets are badly kept. The convent and church remind the stranger
+of the castles on the Rhine and Danube, and with a little play of the
+imagination he may think he is looking at the crags of Drachenfels or
+the ruins above the Iron Gate. But as he ascends the last of the hills,
+and passes the massive gate-way leading into the streets, he finds that
+Bethlehem is not unlike Jaffa, Jerusalem, and the other towns of the
+Holy Land that he has visited.
+
+Ali had sent the tents ahead in the morning, and when our friends
+arrived everything was ready for them. There is no hotel at Bethlehem,
+and consequently travellers must sleep in tents, or be lodged at one of
+the convents. It was the time of the Christmas festivities, and all the
+convent accommodation had been secured by pilgrims and others, so that
+the camp became a necessity for Doctor Bronson's party.
+
+This was the first glimpse of tent life in the Holy Land for Frank and
+Fred, and they were delighted with it, but at the same time a trifle
+disappointed. "I thought we would have to 'rough it' in this country,"
+said Frank, "but I don't see much rough work in this."
+
+"Nor I either," replied his cousin, as he examined the tents and their
+equipment. "Just look at it," said he, "and say whether this meets your
+ideas of wild life."
+
+Together they made an inventory of what was before them. There were
+three tents for the six travellers, and each tent was large enough for
+amply accommodating two persons with space for dressing and moving
+about. One tent was arranged for a dining-room, and the dinner was
+nearly ready to be served. There was a table large enough for six to be
+seated, and there were camp-chairs for all. Ali explained that after
+dinner was over the table would be removed, and two beds set up, as in
+the other tents. The height of luxury seemed to be reached when Frank
+pointed to the carpet which covered the ground beneath each tent, and
+was a welcome protection for slippered feet.
+
+"Real beds, chairs, tables, carpets, and all the comforts of a home,"
+said Frank; "there isn't hardship enough here to make it interesting."
+
+"I thought," said Fred, "we might have to sleep on the ground in the
+open air, or beneath a tent like the shelter of the Bedouin. Then we
+could eat dates which we gathered ourselves from the trees, or perhaps
+we could get some of the grapes that we see in the pictures in our
+Sunday-school books. Here we are on fare like what we get at the hotel,
+and it isn't wild life at all."
+
+"Wait a little," said the Doctor, with a smile. "We haven't fairly begun
+yet, and you may see some hard times before you are through with the
+country. Quite likely we may have a storm some night, and if it proves
+to be a regular old-fashioned Syrian storm, such as I once saw here,
+you'll have all you want."
+
+Ali interrupted them to say there would be sufficient time before dinner
+to visit the "Milk Grotto," which was quite near their camp.
+
+Accordingly they went there, and found a cavern that was reached by a
+flight of steps from the ground above. The roof is eight or ten feet
+above the floor, and the room, which is fitted up as a chapel, is about
+ten feet by fifteen. The tradition is that the Holy Family was concealed
+here during its flight into Egypt, and consequently the place is visited
+by most of the Christian pilgrims that come to Bethlehem.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW IN BETHLEHEM.]
+
+They returned to the camp to dinner, and then went to the Church of the
+Nativity. Every step of the way they were beset by peddlers of ornaments
+made of olive-wood, mother-of-pearl, and other things, just as they had
+been surrounded by the same class of men in Jerusalem. The inhabitants
+of Bethlehem drive a large trade among the pilgrims, and are chiefly
+engaged in the manufacture and sale of souvenirs of the place.
+
+The Church of the Nativity is not of itself a large building, but the
+convents connected with it, and belonging to the three rival sects of
+Greeks, Latins, and Armenians, cover a broad area. The church measures
+about a hundred and twenty feet in length by a little less in breadth.
+It is divided by Corinthian columns supporting horizontal architraves in
+such a way that the interior consists of a nave and four aisles. It is
+one of the oldest churches in the world, as it was erected in the
+beginning of the fourth century, and, though repaired from time to time,
+it is generally believed to retain its original form and
+characteristics.
+
+The building is now in a somewhat dilapidated condition, and the roof,
+which has been several times restored, threatens to fall in. At least
+that was the case when our friends went there, and one of the boys
+asked, very naturally, why it was allowed to be in such a condition,
+when it was one of the most venerated churches in all Christendom, and
+there ought to be no lack of money for its preservation.
+
+"The trouble is," the Doctor answered, "the religious sects are so
+jealous of each other that they prevent the repair and preservation of
+the church. No two of the three sects--Greek, Latin, and Armenian--will
+consent that the third shall have the honor of repairing it, and they
+will not agree upon an architect to whom the work can be intrusted
+without interference from any of them.
+
+"The church and the grotto of the Nativity, directly beneath it, are
+parcelled out among the three sects. Each has its own altars where
+services are performed, and there are other altars which are common to
+all, but at different hours. Several times there have been fights in the
+sacred grotto between these rival monks. A few years ago one of the
+sects set fire to some decorations that had been placed in the grotto by
+another, and the whole place was filled with smoke, and the walls were
+disfigured."
+
+One of the boys asked if there was any bloodshed in this affair.
+
+"Yes," was the reply; "I believe two or three of the monks were killed,
+and others severely wounded. It was necessary to call in the Turkish
+soldiers to suppress the disturbance, and the hostility among the
+Christians is so great that a guard is kept there constantly to preserve
+order.
+
+"It is said that the Crimean War owed its origin, in part, to a quarrel
+about the possession of the Church of the Nativity, and on several
+occasions the peace of Europe has been threatened by disputes for a few
+square inches of the floor of the sacred grotto!"
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY.]
+
+During the above conversation the party had been walking through the
+church, admiring the beauty of the columns that support the roof, and
+listening to the chanting of the service at one of the altars in the
+side aisles. Pilgrims were kneeling at the shrines, or seated near the
+columns, and several monks were moving among them, or guiding strangers
+around the building. The Latin monks were easily distinguished from the
+others by their shaven heads, which contrasted in a marked degree with
+the tall hats of the Greeks and Armenians; and the boys observed that
+none of the rival sects said a word to either of the others. Evidently
+there was a bitter hatred between them, and although they were all to
+be considered devout Christians, they did not follow the injunction of
+their Master to love one another.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLACE OF THE NATIVITY.]
+
+The Doctor explained that there were two stairways descending into the
+grotto; that on the right being exclusively used by the Greeks and
+Armenians, while the other belonged to the Latins. As their guide was of
+the Latin Church they descended by the stairway on the left, and soon
+found themselves in the spot revered throughout all Christendom--the
+place where the founder of our religion was born.
+
+Near the foot of the stairway they came to a niche in the wall of rock,
+and in front of it was a marble slab set in the floor, with a silver
+star in the centre. On the star was the inscription:
+
+"HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST."
+
+("Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.")
+
+Reverentially they gazed at the star--the star of Bethlehem. Pious
+pilgrims knelt and kissed it; the monks as they entered bowed low before
+it; voices were hushed, and the air was filled with adoration. The low
+roof, the wall of "living rock," the swinging censers, the glowing
+lamps, all seemed to tell that the place was one of sanctity, and
+earthly thoughts should here give way to those of heaven.
+
+Over the star sixteen lamps of silver were burning, and they burn there
+from beginning to end of the year, and year after year their light is
+never allowed to become dim. The quarrels of the factions rage over the
+silver star; the lamps are parcelled among them--six to the Greeks, and
+five each to the Armenians and Latins. Over the star is an altar which
+belongs to them alternately; it is ordinarily kept plain, and is only
+dressed by each sect when its turn comes to possess it.
+
+[Illustration: THE MANGER.]
+
+In his next letter to his mother Frank described the visit to the Grotto
+of the Nativity and the church above it. "We first," said he, "looked at
+the silver star, to which the eyes of the whole Christian world are
+turned, and after several minutes spent in front of it our attention was
+directed to the Chapel of the Manger. It is a little to the right of the
+place of the Nativity, and is a recess cut in the rock. The tradition is
+that Christ was once laid in this manger, and a few feet away from it is
+the Chapel of the Magi, where the three wise men came to adore him.
+
+[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE WISE MEN.]
+
+"The whole grotto is about forty feet by twelve, and the ceiling is ten
+or twelve feet high in most places. There are several passages and
+chambers connected with it; in one of the chambers is the Altar of the
+Innocents, which is supposed to be erected over the spot where the
+children slain by order of King Herod were buried. In another chamber
+are the altars and tombs of Jerome and Paula, who founded the Convent of
+the Nativity; along the sides of the principal grotto there are several
+oratories, which are said to correspond to the stalls in the original
+stable where the animals were tied.
+
+"Every inch of the walls of the grotto is covered with richly
+embroidered cloth, and it is difficult to believe that the place was
+hewn from the rock. There are many lamps hanging from the ceiling,
+several of them adorned with jewels, and evidently costing a great deal
+of money. They are the gifts of kings and princes, and it is said that
+there is not room enough in the grotto to display a quarter of the
+splendid things that are sent here.
+
+"Before we left the grotto we had an opportunity of seeing how the
+different sects regard each other. The Latins were holding a service at
+the Altar of the Nativity, and while they were engaged at it the
+stairway on the right, which belongs to the Greeks and Armenians, was
+crowded with the monks of those orders. Their manner was anything but
+reverential; during the service they whispered and laughed, and several
+times their laughter was not only visible but audible across the grotto
+to where we stood.
+
+"One thing that jarred heavily on our feelings was the presence of two
+Turkish soldiers with bayonets fixed on their rifles; they belonged to
+the guard that has charge of the church, and two of them are constantly
+on duty in the Grotto of the Nativity, and close to the altar. The rest
+of the company was above in the church, and ready to be called upon at
+any moment to quell a disturbance. While the Latins were holding their
+service the men on duty were relieved: the tramp of the soldiers down
+the stairs and along the grotto, together with the clash and clang of
+their weapons, sounded strangely with the chant of the monks paying
+homage to the founder of our religion. Isn't it dreadful to think that
+only by force can order be maintained in this holy place?"
+
+[Illustration: THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+FROM BETHLEHEM TO MAR SABA AND THE DEAD SEA.
+
+
+Another visit was paid to the Church of the Nativity on the following
+morning, and then the party took a stroll through the streets of
+Bethlehem while the tents and baggage were being packed for removal to
+the next camping-ground. A little before noon they started for a ride to
+the Convent of Mar Saba, halting for a few moments to look at the well
+for whose waters King David longed when he was in the Cave of Adullum.
+
+They stopped at the Grotto of the Shepherds, the place where the keepers
+of the flocks were told of the coming of Christ. Frank and Fred thought
+it a little singular that the shepherds should have been watching in a
+grotto when their flocks would naturally be above-ground, and they ought
+to be near their flocks. The Doctor said this was the spot where
+tradition asserted that the shepherds were told of the coming of Christ;
+there was a church and monastery there for several centuries, and it was
+not until the time of the Crusades that any mention was made of a
+grotto. The authorities are pretty fairly agreed as to the locality, and
+it is hardly worth our while to make any objections.
+
+The custodian of the place brought the key, and they descended the steps
+leading to the cavern. The place is fitted up as a chapel, and contains
+a dozen or more paintings and several fragments of ancient mosaics.
+There are a few broken columns and other remains of the old church, but,
+aside from its historical interest, the place is by no means remarkable.
+
+The ride from the grotto to Mar Saba was through a rough region, and in
+some places the road wound along steep hill-sides, where a false step
+might have thrown horse and rider hundreds of feet to the bottom of a
+ravine. In the valleys, and on many of the slopes, there were fields and
+gardens, but the greater part of the country was a scene of desolation.
+The guide said they were coming into the region of the Bedouins, but
+would be in no danger until after passing Mar Saba. Even there they were
+entirely safe, as an escort had been engaged who would meet them at the
+convent, and accompany them the rest of the journey till they returned
+to Jerusalem.
+
+[Illustration: AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT.]
+
+Turning a sharp bend in the road they came suddenly upon an encampment
+of Bedouins. There were half a dozen tents, none of them more than four
+or five feet high, and anything but comfortable to live in. Frank
+thought their own camp was much to be preferred to the home of these
+wandering Arabs, and he wondered how the natives managed to pass their
+lives there. The Doctor explained that the Bedouins were shepherds, and
+consequently were obliged to move with their flocks in search of
+pasturage; for many centuries they had been wanderers over the land, and
+refused to live in villages, and, as they had never known the comforts
+of civilization, they did not miss anything.
+
+A dozen half-naked children rushed from the tents, and shouted "hadji!
+hadji!" (pilgrims! pilgrims!)--several dogs barked, and there was a good
+deal of commotion in the camp. Some of the children came to the path in
+front of the travellers, and demanded backsheesh with an insolent air;
+nobody paid any attention (or money) to them, and as none of the party
+wished to stop among these ill-tempered nomads, the camp was soon left
+behind. The most dignified of the Bedouins was an old man, apparently
+the sheik or chief, who sat in front of the tents as immovable as a
+statue. He was holding his pipe with the bowl resting on the ground and
+riveted his eyes on the travellers, evidently meditating whether it was
+worth his while to demand tribute.
+
+[Illustration: A BEDOUIN SHEIK.]
+
+Frank took a rapid note of the appearance of the sheik, so that he might
+know him again: "A large cloak of gray material, with the sleeves and
+skirt of a white caftan showing beneath it--cloak fastened at the neck
+by a clasp and cord with red tassels, a beard white as snow and not
+closely trimmed, and a head-dress of a _cafeeah_, or Syrian kerchief,
+held in place by cords of twisted camel's-hair. A face browned by
+exposure and its natural hue, and a pair of eyes so keen that they might
+pierce a hole through a blanket." Such was the Bedouin sheik that our
+friends encountered.
+
+One of the boys asked the Doctor if this was a part of the race of Arabs
+that made it unsafe for travellers to go through their country.
+
+"Yes," answered the Doctor. "I do not know that this particular camp
+indulges in robbery, but the chances are that it does. The Bedouins of
+Syria and Palestine have their own notions about the rules of life, and
+with the most of them robbery is not incompatible with honesty."
+
+The boys laughed at this idea, and then the Doctor explained his
+meaning.
+
+[Illustration: MODERN BEDOUINS OF MOUNT SINAI.]
+
+"You are aware," said he, "that among the Indians of our Western plains
+it is perfectly legitimate and honorable to steal horses; we might come
+nearer home and say that many respectable men in New York and other
+cities do not think they have done anything wrong when they persuade
+their friends to buy the stocks or other property that they wish to
+sell. The rules of honesty vary in different parts of the world, and the
+standard of one country or people will not always answer for another.
+
+"Plundering travellers or tribes weaker than his own has been the
+practice of the Bedouin from time immemorial. He considers it perfectly
+legitimate, and points with pride to the property he has stolen,
+provided he is in no danger of being seized for the theft.
+
+"He is always ready to be bought off, provided he can make more in that
+way than by stealing. Sometimes the government lays a heavy hand on him,
+and compels him to abandon his practices; but as these people can always
+flee to the deserts, where regular troops cannot follow, it is very
+difficult to conquer them. Some of the tribes have never been subdued,
+but live in perfect independence far away from the cities and towns.
+
+"The Bedouin has the single virtue of hospitality, and a stranger who
+has been received in his tent is entirely safe so long as he remains
+there. The Bedouin will protect him and his property, and instances of
+violation of the rules of hospitality are very rare. But it sometimes
+happens that he will find out what road his guest intends to travel, and
+then send his friends forward, or even go himself, to rob and perhaps
+murder the man who was the night before sleeping safely in his tent.
+There is a superstition among many of the Arab tribes that if they eat
+salt with a stranger they are forbidden to harm him afterward; from this
+comes the remark you often hear about two persons having eaten salt
+together, and therefore they must be friends.
+
+"The Arabs in this part of Palestine," Doctor Bronson continued, "were
+formerly very bold robbers, and committed many outrages. They have been
+severely chastised on several occasions, but their evil practices have
+never been quite broken up. They claim to own the country, and therefore
+insist on their right to levy toll or tribute from everybody passing
+through it. This would not be so bad if the amount of toll was uniform,
+but their practice has been to take everything the traveller possesses,
+even to his clothing and sometimes his life.
+
+"Of late years the business has been systematized, and the Bedouins have
+made a compromise with the government, so that any traveller can have a
+safe-conduct through their country by paying for it. A sheik of the
+tribe with several of his followers lives in Jerusalem; they are kept
+there as hostages for the good behavior of their brethren in the Valley
+of the Jordan, and before one of them can leave the city another must
+come there to take his place. In case a traveller under escort is
+robbed, the sheik must make good his loss.
+
+[Illustration: SCENE IN THE WILDERNESS.]
+
+"The price of a safe-conduct to the Jordan and Dead Sea has been fixed
+at five francs for each person of a party, and the guides and servants
+are not to be counted.
+
+"When we came to Jerusalem, Ali went to the sheik and paid him thirty
+francs--five francs for each of us--for the safe-conduct for the party.
+An escort of one or two men will meet us at Mar Saba, and go with us the
+rest of the way. He is responsible for our safety, and his presence with
+us indicates that we have paid the proper black-mail, and are therefore
+not to be molested.
+
+[Illustration: AN ARAB GUARD IN PALESTINE.]
+
+"Formerly it was necessary to engage a dozen or more of these fellows to
+act as a guard. It was really another and more expensive form of
+black-mail, as the men were of no actual use, and would run away if
+attacked, leaving the traveller to his fate. It made no difference to
+them whether he was killed or not; and as they had usually received a
+part of their pay in advance, it was not worth their while to stay and
+take the risk of being killed in his defence.
+
+"A great deal of nonsense has been written about the noble character of
+the Bedouin Arabs, their bravery, scrupulous honor, and other
+commendable qualities. Of course there are exceptions, and it would be
+strange indeed if a people numbering many thousands should all be
+rascals. But, taken as a whole, the Bedouins are a race of thieves, and
+their few redeeming traits are not sufficient to offset their bad
+qualities."
+
+[Illustration: MAR SABA (FROM THOMSON'S "THE LAND AND THE BOOK").]
+
+It was some time before sunset when they reached the Convent of Mar
+Saba, and found their tents pitched a few hundred yards from the walls
+of the building. Seen from the outside the edifice is more like a
+fortress than a religious establishment, as it has a series of bastions
+and towers, and its walls are thick enough to stand a long siege from
+anything except artillery.
+
+Doctor Bronson told the boys that the monastery was founded in the fifth
+century by St. Sabas, or Saba, and is therefore among the oldest
+buildings of the kind in the East. It has an exposed position in the
+wilderness, and has been captured several times and plundered, the last
+occasion being about fifty years ago. In the seventh century it was
+taken by the Persians, and all the inmates were massacred; but the more
+modern captors have been satisfied with robbery, and sometimes the sale
+of the monks as slaves.
+
+Ali had obtained a permit to visit the monastery from the Greek Superior
+at Jerusalem. He told the travellers that they must stop when forty or
+fifty feet from the gate, and wait till the letter had been presented. A
+dozen monks came to the top of the walls and surveyed the party, while
+the letter was attached to a string and drawn up. The permit proved to
+be all right, and a small door was opened by which one after another the
+strangers were taken inside. No Arab is ever admitted under any
+pretence, and consequently Ali remained outside while the party was
+conducted through the place by one of the brethren who spoke French.
+
+[Illustration: RUSSIAN PILGRIMS IN THE HOLY LAND.]
+
+They saw the cavern where St. Saba lived on friendly terms with a lion,
+the tomb where he was buried, the church, the bones of the monks killed
+by the Persians, and the rooms occupied by the brethren, and also by
+pilgrims from the Jordan on their way to Jerusalem. A tall palm-tree
+bends over the summit of the roof of one of the towers. It is said to
+have been planted by St. Saba in person, but, whether this be so or not,
+the tree is certainly of very great age.
+
+There are about sixty monks in the convent, the most of them Russians,
+and all adherents of the Greek Church. They eat nothing but vegetables,
+and fast often, and the result is they are thin and feeble. When not
+engaged at their devotions they employ their time in carving ornaments,
+crosses, and the like, from olive-wood and mother-of-pearl, which are
+sold to visitors or sent to Jerusalem. No woman is ever permitted to
+cross the threshold of Mar Saba, not even to escape the terrible storms
+which ravage the country at certain seasons. Harriet Martineau, Ida
+Pfeiffer, and other lady travellers tell how they were denied admission,
+and slept in a tower near the monastery, or in their tents in camp. The
+accommodations of the tower are very limited, and it is entered by a
+door which must be reached by a rope-ladder, since it is about twenty
+feet from the ground.
+
+As our friends completed their visit they gave a couple of francs to the
+brother who had conducted them through the place. The other brethren had
+spread their wares on the floor of the court-yard, and were waiting for
+the chance of selling something; but nobody wished to buy. As they gave
+the money to the monk he asked if it was for himself or the convent.
+When they said it was for himself he repeated the question in a loud
+voice, so that his companions could hear it and the answer which
+followed. Another franc was then added "for the convent," and
+immediately each of the monks gathered his possessions from the floor,
+and disappeared into an inner room. The strangers were shown through the
+little door, and, after a short stroll among the desolate surroundings
+of the convent, they returned to their camp.
+
+[Illustration: ROAD TO THE DEAD SEA.]
+
+The dragoman roused the party before daylight, and by the time the hills
+were fairly lighted up they were off for the Dead Sea.
+
+They descended to the Valley of the Kedron, which is overlooked by the
+towers of Mar Saba, and ascended the stream for a short distance to a
+suitable crossing-place, when they turned to the eastward.
+
+Another encampment of Bedouins was passed, and then another; the road
+lay among hills wilder and more desolate, if possible, than that of the
+day before, and in some places it was so rocky as to be really
+dangerous. On two or three occasions horses fell with their riders, but
+fortunately without doing any serious injury. Frank had his foot jammed
+very hard against a rock around which he was passing, and the thickness
+of his boot barely saved him from injury. Not a year passes without
+accidents of more or less severity in this part of the way, and our
+friends heard afterward of broken legs and arms among the tourists of
+the preceding year. The guides and tourist agencies take great pains to
+conceal these occurrences, and it is only through the consuls or other
+disinterested persons, apart from the victims and their friends, that
+accidents are ever heard of.
+
+They descended rapidly, and it was apparent to all that the Dead Sea was
+far below the level of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
+
+[Illustration: THE DEAD SEA FROM THE NORTH.]
+
+Suddenly they came to a break in the hills, and before them lay the Dead
+Sea, its surface smooth as glass, and reflecting the rays of the sun
+with dazzling distinctness. On the opposite side were hills as steep as
+those they were descending, and away to the left was the Valley of the
+Jordan, with the famous river winding through it in numberless curves
+and zigzags that were shown by the trees fringing its banks. They were
+looking on the waste of waters that covers the buried cities of the
+plain. It seemed close at their feet; but as they proceeded they found
+how deceptive was their vision, as it was yet a long ride before its
+banks were reached.
+
+The boys were eager to stand upon the shores of this wonderful body of
+water, and as they rode along Frank refreshed his own memory and that of
+his cousin by repeating the information he had stored up concerning it.
+
+"It is the lowest body of water in the world," said he; "I mean it is
+nearer the centre of the earth than any other. It is 1310 feet below the
+surface of the Mediterranean, and 3697 feet lower than Jerusalem, and it
+has been sounded in a good many places, and found to be of an average
+depth of 1000 feet."
+
+"I have heard all that," replied Fred, "and more too. It is supposed to
+cover what was once a plain, and, according to tradition and the Bible,
+the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are under its waters. They were
+destroyed for the wickedness of their inhabitants, and the only one of
+them who was saved was Lot."
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE DEAD SEA.]
+
+"You are right," responded Frank; "and the name of the sea in Arabic is
+_Bahr Lut_, or 'Lot's Lake.' Its other names have been the Salt Sea, the
+Sea of Asphalt, the Eastern Sea, and the Dead Sea. It is forty-six miles
+long, and about ten broad at its widest part."
+
+Farther conversation was prevented by a kicking-match among the horses,
+causing a commotion that lasted several minutes. As soon as it was ended
+the ride was resumed, and they reached a sloping stretch of ground
+between the hills and the water. There was an Arab encampment not far
+from the shore, and the swarthy Bedouins formed a picturesque addition
+to the scene.
+
+The boys were agreeably disappointed to find the shore of the Dead Sea
+the reverse of desolate; it is true there was not a great deal of
+vegetation, and the little that existed was not of a useful kind.
+Nevertheless, where they had expected nothing would grow, they found
+plenty of bushes and reeds, which continued up to within a hundred feet
+or so of the water's edge.
+
+They halted and dismounted close to the shore, and Ali brought a cup of
+water for the travellers to taste. They found it exceedingly bitter, and
+one of the boys asked the Doctor the cause of this remarkable flavor.
+
+"The water," said he, "is intensely salt, containing twenty-six per
+cent. of solid matter, which is four per cent. more than Great Salt Lake
+in Utah. Lake Elton, in Russia, is said to contain thirty per cent., and
+if so, it surpasses the Dead Sea, and is the only lake that does.
+
+"The solid elements in the water of the Dead Sea are principally
+chloride of sodium (common salt) and chloride of magnesium, and there is
+more of the latter than the former. It is the magnesium that gives the
+bitter taste; and the next ingredient is chloride of calcium, which
+gives it an oily feeling that you will perceive when you bathe in it.
+There are half a dozen other ingredients, but they are so small in
+quantity that it is not worth while to mention them."
+
+The eyes of the boys brightened at the suggestion of a bath in the Dead
+Sea, and they immediately consulted Ali on the subject. The dragoman
+said it was easy enough, as they were in no danger of drowning, and
+could make a dressing, or, rather, an undressing room of the bushes a
+little farther along the shore, where they would not be disturbed by the
+Arabs.
+
+The vote for a bath was carried almost unanimously. The Doctor was the
+only one who declined the experiment, and, as he had been there before,
+he had no curiosity to satisfy.
+
+"Be very careful not to get the water in your eyes," he said to the
+youths, as they entered the sea. "It will not do any serious harm, but
+will make them smart and burn very disagreeably for hours."
+
+They heeded his injunction, and limped over the flinty stones, which
+threatened to cut their feet at every step. Once in the water they
+experienced a novel sensation; no effort was needed to keep them above
+the surface, and they floated very much as corks are seen to float in a
+basin of ordinary water. Ali tossed an egg to them, and it floated with
+fully a third of its bulk exposed. They could not get their feet more
+than a few inches below the surface, and they found it more difficult to
+swim than they had supposed, in consequence of the great buoyancy of the
+water. They could paddle around with the greatest ease, but swimming was
+another affair.
+
+A few minutes of the bath was enough by way of experiment. There was a
+great sputtering when Frank happened to get some of the water in his
+mouth. Fred laughed at his cousin's mishap, but immediately wished he
+had not done so. While in the midst of an audible smile he unexpectedly
+rolled over, and caught more of the bitter waters than he had bargained
+for. As soon as he could speak he suggested that he had had bath enough,
+and, Frank agreeing with him, they returned to the shore. The rest of
+the party were there already, and acting on the advice of Ali they dried
+themselves speedily and vigorously with the towels he held in readiness.
+
+Unless removed immediately, the water is apt to cause a prickling and
+burning sensation which continues several hours. It is sure to leave an
+oily feeling that is disagreeable but not painful, and does not usually
+disappear until a fresh-water bath is taken. This may be had in the
+Jordan, and is taken by most travellers if time and circumstances
+permit.
+
+[Illustration: LYNCH'S EXPEDITION TO THE DEAD SEA.]
+
+During the bath Ali had spread out the mid-day lunch, and it was eaten
+with a hearty relish. The Doctor embraced the opportunity to say it was
+not until 1837 that anybody discovered the Dead Sea to be lower than the
+Mediterranean. Some English surveyors ascertained it, and the matter
+attracted so much attention that ten years later an American expedition
+was sent to survey the Jordan and the Dead Sea; it was commanded by
+Lieutenant Lynch, of the United States Navy, and was thoroughly equipped
+for its work.
+
+[Illustration: LYNCH'S LEVELLING PARTY.]
+
+"Lieutenant Lynch," said the Doctor, "landed at the Bay of Acre in
+March, 1848, carried his boats on trucks drawn by camels over the
+mountains of Lebanon, and launched them in the Lake of Gennesaret. From
+this lake the party descended the Jordan to the Dead Sea, spent three
+weeks in a survey of that body of water, and then 'levelled' the route
+to the Mediterranean, in order to settle the question of the relative
+heights. They found that no fish or living thing belongs to the water of
+the Dead Sea, and all fish from the Mediterranean or the ocean die very
+soon after being placed in it. Ducks swim in the water without injury,
+but it is fatal to them to be plunged beneath it. As it contains nothing
+for them to eat, they have no inducement to dive.
+
+[Illustration: THE CAVERN OF USDUM.]
+
+"At the southern end of the Dead Sea is the Mountain of Usdum, which
+contains a cavern three or four hundred feet deep, in which there are
+deposits of salt. There are other salt deposits in the neighborhood, and
+it is believed that the Dead Sea derives its saltness from the
+dissolving of these deposits, and also from the substances brought down
+by the River Jordan."
+
+"Every lake without any outlet is salt, is it not?" Fred asked.
+
+"Certainly," replied the Doctor; "it is a rule of nature that has no
+exception. All water from springs, brooks, and rivers contains salt
+gathered from the earth, and sometimes the quantity is considerable. It
+is the slight amount of salt that makes water palatable; if you taste of
+pure distilled water you will find it 'flat,' and its purity is what
+makes it so.
+
+"The salt brought down from the land gradually accumulates; the water
+passes off by evaporation, but the salt remains. As time goes on the
+saltness of the water increases, so the scientific men tell us, and
+perhaps millions of years hence the ocean may be as strongly impregnated
+as the Dead Sea. Who can tell?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+FROM THE DEAD SEA TO THE JORDAN, JERICHO, AND JERUSALEM.--THE VALLEY OF
+THE JORDAN.
+
+
+[Illustration: REEDS AND RUSHES ON THE JORDAN.]
+
+It was a ride of less than two hours from the Dead Sea to the Jordan;
+the ground was level and the horses in good spirits, so that the whole
+party indulged in the luxury of a gallop. The course of the Jordan was
+indicated by trees and great masses of reeds, but the stream was so
+completely concealed by them that its waters were not revealed until
+rein was drawn at the bathing-place of the pilgrims.
+
+The boys could hardly restrain their impatience to reach the waters of
+the river that is so intimately connected with the history of
+Christianity. Of course they made immediate preparations for a bath,
+according to the custom of the great majority of visitors; the water was
+so cold that they remained in it only a few minutes, and were glad to
+resume their clothing and make a calm study of the scene.
+
+"The river at this point," wrote Frank in his journal, "is about a
+hundred feet wide, and flows with a current so swift that we could
+hardly stand against it. We waded and swum to the other side; swimming
+was preferable to wading, as the bottom is composed of sharp stones,
+which are very disagreeable to walk upon. The guide said the stream was
+swollen by recent rains, and at least a foot deeper than at its ordinary
+stage.
+
+"There is a ford at this bathing-place, and another higher up. Caravans
+and single travellers going from the east to the west bank, or _vice
+versa_, usually pass by one of these fords, and sometimes a large party
+may be seen here. It is not safe to venture on the other side without a
+strong guard, as the Arabs are far worse than those between here and
+Jerusalem, probably because they are not under so much restraint by the
+government.
+
+[Illustration: AN ARAB SKIRMISH IN THE LAND OF MOAB.]
+
+"Several explorations have been attempted of the Land of Moab, as the
+country east of the Jordan is called, but only a few of them have
+succeeded. In most instances parties have been compelled to return just
+after crossing the border, and before they had accomplished anything of
+what they went to see. The Arabs are treacherous, and often violate
+their promises after they have received heavy backsheesh to permit
+travellers to go on without disturbance. If you want to know more of
+this region we advise you to read 'The Land of Moab,' by H. B. Tristram,
+one of the few travellers who has explored it. Another interesting work
+on this subject is 'The Desert of the Exodus,' by E. H. Palmer, and
+don't forget 'The Land and the Book,' which we have already mentioned.
+
+"Mr. Tristram tells in his book how narrowly he escaped being robbed,
+and perhaps murdered, by one of the tribes that roam over the country.
+It often happens that there is a quarrel between two tribes, and when
+any parties from one encounter the other there is certain to be
+bloodshed. If strangers happen to be under the escort of the defeated
+party they must share its fate, and consequently it is not an easy
+matter to select a guard that can carry you through safely.
+
+"When Mr. Tristram's party started from Hebron there were two tribes
+from which it was necessary to choose an escort, or rather to whom to
+pay black-mail. The choice fell upon the Jehalin tribe, and, after a
+good deal of negotiation, a contract was made and signed with them.
+
+"Hardly had they entered the Land of Moab when they met a large band of
+the Beni Atiyeh, a tribe with a very bad reputation, and the number was
+so great that it was nonsense to think of fighting them. The dragoman
+went forward to parley with them, and was stripped of his outer
+garments, satchel, money-bag, and belt, before he could speak a word;
+the sheik of the escort went at the same time and with better success,
+as he managed to get the ear of the chief of the Atiyeh. Two or three of
+the men of the escort who ventured to the front were knocked down, and
+for a little while there was a good prospect of a very serious result to
+the travellers.
+
+"It turned out that the Beni Atiyeh were on good terms with the Jehalin,
+and on the payment of a heavy backsheesh they allowed the party to go
+on. It would have been far otherwise if Mr. Tristram had chosen his
+escort from the other tribe that offered its services, as there was a
+bitter quarrel between it and the Beni Atiyeh, and there would have been
+no chance of an escape. No mercy would have been shown to the
+travellers, and possibly the Arabs would have justified their cruelty by
+referring to the old adage, 'A man is known by the company he keeps.'
+
+[Illustration: BATHING-PLACE OF THE PILGRIMS (FROM THOMSON'S "THE LAND
+AND THE BOOK").]
+
+"You must know there are two bathing-places on the Jordan; one is
+visited by the Latins and the other by the Greeks, and each Church
+claims that its bathing-place is the spot where Christ was baptized by
+John. Mr. Thomson thinks that neither is correct, and that the scene of
+the baptism was considerably farther up the river than any of the
+present sites. He argues that, according to the historical record,
+Christ came from Galilee, and was baptized by John, and then returned to
+Galilee; the road from Galilee reaches the Jordan much farther north
+than the present bathing-places, and though it is possible he came to
+this point it is hardly probable.
+
+[Illustration: SOURCE OF THE JORDAN.]
+
+"The bank of the river is fringed with willow, tamarisk, and other trees
+and bushes, and there are several pretty spots here for forming a camp.
+We wanted to stay here for the night, but our guide had sent the tents
+by a short route from Mar Saba to the neighborhood of the ancient
+Jericho, and after a halt of an hour or so we mounted our horses and
+rode away from the river.
+
+"Doctor Bronson says it is quite probable that the passage of the Jordan
+by the Israelites, described in Joshua iii. and iv., occurred at the
+bathing-place we have visited, or certainly not far from it. According
+to the biblical account they passed the river 'right against Jericho,'
+and this expression is supposed to mean that they crossed the Jordan at
+the point nearest to that city.
+
+[Illustration: PASSAGE OF THE ISRAELITES.]
+
+"During our halt one of our party read the account of this interesting
+event while the rest listened. It was not at all difficult for us to
+imagine the scene when the Israelites came down from their camp in the
+hills of Moab, and took their position on the banks of the Jordan. Here
+they halted for the night, and on the next day, when all was ready, the
+ark of the covenant, borne on the shoulders of the priests, was advanced
+to the edge of the river; as the feet of the bearers touched the water
+it receded, and in a few minutes the bed of the stream was dry. Then the
+ark was carried to the middle of the channel, and it remained there in
+charge of the priests till the whole host had gone over.
+
+"When the last of the procession had passed, Joshua called to the
+priests to bring the ark from the bed of the river, and they did so. The
+waters at once resumed their course, and the Jordan flowed on as before.
+Of course the monuments of stones which were erected by the Israelites
+to commemorate their crossing disappeared hundreds of years ago, and we
+have only the geographical localities to guide us; but, as we heard the
+description of the event, and looked around us, we felt certain that the
+spot where the Israelites crossed over Jordan, after their escape from
+Egypt, and their wanderings in the wilderness, could not be far away.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Before we go on to Jericho let me say something about the famous river
+we have just visited.
+
+"The Jordan is about a hundred miles long in a direct line, but its
+course is so crooked that the actual length of the stream is a great
+deal more; nobody has ever measured it accurately, and therefore I can't
+say how much it winds about. One authority says it is sixty-four miles
+in a direct line from the Dead Sea to the Lake of Tiberias, and two
+hundred miles by the windings of the river. The head-spring of the
+Hasbany (the parent of the Jordan) is seventeen hundred feet above the
+level of the Mediterranean; the mouth of the Jordan, where it enters the
+Dead Sea, is, therefore, about three thousand feet lower than its
+source, so the Jordan has a great fall for so short a river.
+
+"The Hasbany and several other streams unite in the Lake of Hooleh, and
+from the outlet of that lake the river is called the Jordan. It has a
+rapid fall to the Lake of Tiberias; and as it goes out of that lake it
+begins its tortuous course, which can be surpassed by very few rivers in
+the world. Between the Lake of Tiberias and the Dead Sea there are
+twenty-seven cascades or rapids; all of them are so great that it is
+quite impossible for boats to make the ascent, and it is not by any
+means safe to attempt to descend them. Lieutenant Lynch started with
+three boats, one of wood and the others of iron. The wooden boat was
+bought in the Lake of Tiberias, while the iron ones were brought from
+the United States. The iron boats were a good deal battered by the
+thumps they received during the voyage, but the exploring party brought
+them to the Dead Sea, and used them for completing their work. The
+wooden boat was ruined, and abandoned before half the journey had been
+accomplished.
+
+"The Valley of the Jordan is called the 'Ghor' by the natives. The word
+means a depression or hollow, and the valley may be regarded as a plain
+sixty miles long, and from five to ten miles wide, enclosed by
+mountains. The mountains on both sides are very steep, and the Valley of
+the Jordan is not unlike some of the deep gorges or ravines in our
+Western States and Territories. It is broader near the Dead Sea than
+farther up. The land is generally fertile, and capable of supporting a
+larger population than it contains at present. According to the accounts
+in the Old Testament, it was far more productive in ancient times than
+it is to-day. It contains ruins of cities that once were populous, and
+it is very certain that the land of Canaan has greatly diminished in
+importance since the children of Israel came to it and settled.
+
+"There were then as now wandering tribes of shepherds, and their customs
+have changed very little in all the centuries that have passed; but
+there were more people living in settled places, and the biblical story
+shows that Jericho was a walled town with gates, which were shut at
+night. The flax drying on the roof of Rahab's house shows that that
+plant was cultivated, and the cord by which she let down the spies tells
+us very plainly that the people understood the art of spinning. We read
+the Bible very carefully while in the Jordan Valley, and have derived a
+great many useful hints from it, and much information.
+
+"We wished we could have been here at the time of the annual visit of
+the pilgrims, which occurs at Easter, and is a curious sight. There are
+pilgrims here in fair numbers through the whole year, and they all
+consider it a religious duty to bathe in the Jordan. The great festival
+is in April, and at that time several thousand pilgrims leave Jerusalem
+immediately after the close of the Easter festivities and come down to
+the Plain of Jericho, where they encamp for the night. They come from
+all parts of Europe, and there is a good representation from Asia as
+well. You can see many varieties of costume, and hear a jargon of
+languages that might remind you of the Tower of Babel.
+
+"The camp is a scene of confusion, and long before morning a disorderly
+procession is formed, thousands of torches are waved, and the great
+crowd presses forward in order to enter the sacred stream at daybreak.
+Hundreds of people are in the river at the same moment, and not a year
+passes without some of them being swept away and drowned in the swift
+current. Men, women, and children are crowded together indiscriminately,
+and the wonder is that so few accidents occur. The whole ceremony is
+over in two or three hours, and then the pilgrims turn back from the
+Jordan and return to Jerusalem.
+
+[Illustration: RECENT ASPECT OF THE PLAIN OF JERICHO.]
+
+"Just as we left the Jordan it began to rain, and we had a disagreeable
+ride to Riha, which some writers consider the site of Gilgal; others
+think it marks the position of ancient Jericho; but the general opinion
+is that Jericho was farther to the west. The modern Jericho is a village
+of fifty or sixty houses, and its inhabitants are a degenerate race of
+people, who live by a little agriculture and by what they can beg or
+steal from visitors. We found our tents pitched a little out of the
+village, and were a good deal annoyed by the natives, who crowded around
+us and could not be driven away. The children begged for backsheesh, and
+the men wanted to amuse us with a 'fantasia,' or dance, but we had been
+told it was a stupid performance, and declined to witness it.
+
+[Illustration: AIN-ES-SULTAN, OR FOUNTAIN OF ELISHA (FROM THOMSON'S "THE
+LAND AND THE BOOK").]
+
+"There is a tower near the village, which is called by some 'The House
+of Zaccheus,' but the indications are that it was not built till the
+time of the Crusades, long after Zaccheus was laid in his grave. We did
+not have time to visit it, nor did we go to the Ain-es-Sultan, or
+Sultan's Spring, which is also known as the Fountain of Elisha. It is a
+fine spring, the water rather warm in temperature, as we are told, and
+varies but little in volume throughout the year. Biblical students who
+have been here say there can be no doubt it is the very fountain which
+was healed by the prophet Elisha, and is therefore well entitled to bear
+his name. There are several aqueducts by which the water was once
+carried over the plain, and used for irrigating the fields, but they are
+now so much ruined as to be of little consequence.
+
+"What a night we had in our camp! The rain ceased about sunset, but
+during the night it came on again, and fell as though a thunder-cloud
+had burst above us. It poured and poured, and not only did it rain, but
+the wind blew like a gale at sea. Fred and I remembered what we had said
+at Bethlehem the first night we slept in the tents. We concluded we were
+going to have all the storm we wanted, and more than once wished
+ourselves safely lodged in a solid house.
+
+"The ground was soaked with water, and became so soft that it would not
+hold our tent-pegs against the wind. The rain came in through the
+canvas, the pegs gave way, and about midnight down came the cold and
+sloppy cloth in our faces.
+
+"We shouted for help, and the dragoman came with his men and managed to
+fix things up a little, but it was slow and disagreeable work with the
+heavy rain falling, and the night as black as the inside of an
+ink-bottle. They had one miserable lantern that did little more than
+enable us to see the darkness, and by the time they had the tent
+arranged so that we could crawl under it we were wet nearly to the skin.
+
+"We tried to laugh it off, but 'twas no use trying. We couldn't either
+of us see the fun of it, and couldn't get to sleep again. There we lay
+till morning wondering what would happen next.
+
+"The Doctor's tent went down like ours, but he had a thick water-proof
+coat and a large wrapper of the same material, so that he was not so
+badly off as we were. He didn't escape, though, nor did any of the
+others, and when daylight came we all looked as if the best thing would
+be to wring us out and hang us up to dry. We were a sorry looking
+breakfast-party, but pulled ourselves together and managed to eat
+something. Fortunately the rain stopped, but there came a new trouble.
+
+"When we went into camp there was a little brook close by us which we
+were to cross in the morning. The heavy rain swelled this brook into a
+small torrent that was absolutely dangerous to ford, as one might easily
+be swept down with the current and drowned.
+
+"So we went up the bank about a mile, and while the horses were driven
+through the water our party walked over an old aqueduct which wasn't the
+safest bridge in the world, but a great deal better than no bridge at
+all. The channel of the aqueduct was about a foot wide, and the sides
+eighteen or twenty inches high; the whole structure was at least fifty
+feet above the torrent that dashed below us like the rapids of Niagara.
+We walked very carefully, as the least misstep might have sent us
+tumbling over the side, with an excellent prospect of being killed by
+the fall or drowned in the roaring water. It is hardly necessary to say
+we were all heartily glad to be on the safe side of the stream.
+
+"We had a ride of five hours from this bridge to the gates of Jerusalem,
+and such a five hours we do not care to have again.
+
+"Before the end of the first hour it came on to rain, and by the middle
+of the second hour the rain had changed to snow. And with the rain and
+snow there was a high wind, and as we wound among the hills we had it in
+all directions, now in our faces, and a few minutes later blowing at our
+backs.
+
+"The guide repeatedly called our attention to places of scriptural or
+other interest. We tried to look at them, but I fear we were more
+concerned about the weather than with what lay around us. But we
+remember among other things that the route from Jerusalem to Jericho has
+the same character now that it had eighteen centuries ago, and we had an
+escort to protect us from falling among thieves. We halted a few minutes
+at the ruined khan which is said to be the site of the inn to which the
+good Samaritan carried the wounded and plundered traveller whom he found
+by the way-side.
+
+"The guide told us that a few years ago an English traveller was robbed
+by the Arabs at this very spot, and the scriptural description will
+exactly cover his case: 'They stripped him of his raiment, and wounded
+him, and departed, leaving him half dead.'
+
+[Illustration: THE VILLAGE OF BETHANY.]
+
+"Our road was steadily upward, as Jerusalem is nearly three thousand
+seven hundred feet higher than the Dead Sea, and we were not far above
+the level of that body of water when we started from Jericho. At several
+points we were on the old road built by the Romans; we went by Bethany,
+which we did not stop to look at, and wound around the Mount of Olives,
+and down through the Valley of the Brook Kedron, which we crossed near
+Gethsemane. Then we entered Jerusalem by the Gate of the Tribes, and
+rode along the nearly deserted streets to the door of the hotel.
+
+"We were all so benumbed and stiff with the cold that we needed
+assistance to descend from our horses, and we could not keep our steps
+straight as we entered the building. A good fire and a hot dinner
+brought us to ourselves again, and we laughed over our troubles and
+began to think they did not amount to much, after all.
+
+"It is very unpleasant to be soaked with rain and chilled with the cold,
+but somehow when you get dry and warm again you don't feel so badly. We
+shall forget all about the storm and its disagreeable features, but
+we'll remember the Dead Sea, the Valley of the Jordan, the site of
+Jericho, Bethany, the inn of the good Samaritan, and a dozen other
+historic things we have seen since we left our camp at Mar Saba and
+descended into the deepest valley in the world. Anyway we'll try to
+forget the storm, but I can't help shuddering just a little when I think
+of it--it was so cold, and the rain was so wet!
+
+"The rain and snow are still falling as I write in my journal in the
+public room of the hotel at Jerusalem. We've sent our clothes to the
+kitchen to be dried, and we're dressed in such things as we've been able
+to borrow in the house, and a funny-looking group we are. The Doctor has
+put on a coat much too short in the sleeves, and says he feels as though
+he had gone into a ready-made clothing store and been served with the
+first garment that came to hand. Fred is nicely gotten up in an Arab
+costume, fez and all; he's trying to speak the language, but isn't very
+successful. I'm in part of a suit belonging to one of the gentlemen of
+the Palestine Exploration Fund, who happens to be stopping here; but the
+most conspicuous garment of my wardrobe is a large blanket, with the
+word 'Tigre' on the outside in big letters. It once belonged to the
+French steamer of that name, and was left here by a traveller; I may be
+placarded as a tiger while wearing this blanket, but feel very far from
+what that beast is supposed to be."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+FROM JERUSALEM TO NABULUS.--HISTORIC PLACES ON THE ROUTE.
+
+
+During the night after the incidents described in our last chapter the
+storm cleared away, and the sky at sunrise was without a cloud.
+Everybody had slept well and recovered from the fatigue of the journey,
+and the exposure to rain and snow. Frank and Fred were quite ready to
+make a fresh start, and laughed over the troubles of the previous day as
+the merest trifle in the world.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOTEL-KEEPER.]
+
+Doctor Bronson had a long conference with the dragoman and the keeper of
+the hotel, together with the American consul, who happened to be
+stopping in the house. It resulted in an announcement that the party
+would start the following morning for Damascus.
+
+Of course the decision gave great delight to the youths. The Doctor made
+the following explanation of the plan for the new journey:
+
+"Ali tells me that the heavy storm we have just passed through will be
+in our favor, as there is a good prospect of fair weather to follow it
+for a week or ten days. It is not the right season for the 'long route,'
+as the ride from Jerusalem to Damascus is called, and the majority of
+travellers at this time of year prefer the 'short route.'
+
+"Perhaps I may as well say here that if we followed the latter we would
+return to Jaffa and take steamer for Beyroot. There we land, and proceed
+by carriage-road to Damascus, and when we have done with that famous
+city we go back to Beyroot the way we came, and are through with Syria.
+I had thought of taking the short route, but as we are now well
+accustomed to the ways of travel, and have proved our abilities to
+endure the severities of a winter storm, I am inclined to the long one.
+Our American companions have left the whole arrangements in my hands,
+and I have decided that we will go through to Damascus by the overland
+way."
+
+Frank asked how much time they would take on the journey.
+
+"The ordinary time consumed in it," the Doctor answered, "is seventeen
+days; it may be extended as much as we choose, since we hire the
+dragoman by the day, and he is to provide us with everything; and it may
+be shortened three or four days. I have arranged that he is to get us
+through in fourteen or fifteen days, and he will do so if we are not
+delayed by storms or accidents.
+
+"The best time of the year for this journey is in spring, between 'the
+early and the latter rain' which the Bible mentions. The country is then
+in its best condition, the climate is delightful, and the chance of fine
+weather far better than now. But as we cannot suit the season to
+ourselves we will run the risk; with stout hearts and plenty of
+water-proof clothing we ought to go through without difficulty."[8]
+
+[8] The author begs to inform the reader that the incident of the storm
+between Jericho and Jerusalem was his own experience in a visit to the
+Holy Land. He did not make the overland journey between Jerusalem and
+Damascus, and consequently the description of the route followed by
+Frank and Fred is not given from personal observation.
+
+The afternoon was devoted to making a few purchases of articles likely
+to be needed on the journey, the completion of letters, and a few sights
+that had not been made during the first visit to the city. Doctor
+Bronson engaged a trusty man, who was recommended by the consul, to go
+to Jaffa and take the baggage of the party to Beyroot, where he would
+deliver it to the proprietor of the hotel to await their arrival. This
+was thought to be safer than ordering it sent forward as ordinary
+freight, and trusting to the agents of the steamer to deliver it.
+Steamship agents in the Levant are not worthy of the fullest confidence,
+as the writer of this book can bear witness. Travellers are advised to
+look carefully after their own affairs, and be wary of the oleaginous
+tongues of those from whom they purchase tickets.
+
+As soon as the arrangements had been completed Ali disappeared from the
+hotel, and was not again seen till evening. He was busy with his
+preparations for the journey, as it was necessary for him to hire
+additional horses, and secure a stock of provisions sufficient to carry
+them through to Damascus with what he could purchase on the route. The
+pack-train, with the tents and provisions, was sent away in advance. The
+party had a long ride before it for the next day, and before nine
+o'clock everybody was in bed.
+
+[Illustration: SCENE ON THE OVERLAND ROUTE FROM JERUSALEM.]
+
+They were off by daybreak, leaving the city by the Damascus Gate, which
+we have already seen in their company. They passed near the tombs of the
+kings, and descended into the Valley of the Brook Kedron, which is here
+much smaller than where they crossed it at Mar Saba. They met a few
+natives on their way to the city, with trains of donkeys laden with
+vegetables and grain for sale in the markets of Jerusalem, and in one
+place they were crowded against a rough wall by a line of camels that
+kept the road to themselves in the manner for which those animals are
+famous. The road, though used for centuries, is impassable for wheeled
+vehicles, and the beasts of burden that traverse it follow in the
+footsteps of those who preceded them ages and ages ago.
+
+In several places the route was over rocky ridges, where all the earth
+had been swept or washed away, leaving the ledges entirely bare. Frank
+observed that the feet of the camels had worn broad holes in the rock;
+the Doctor recalled to him the proverb hitherto quoted, that a continual
+dropping will wear away stone, and said the feet of the camels had
+dropped for hundreds of years in the same places, so that it was no
+wonder the stones were worn away.
+
+From Jerusalem to Nabulus is a ride of eleven hours; it is customary for
+travellers to pass the night at Bireh or Ramallah, as the majority of
+tourists are unwilling to make the entire journey in a single day. But
+our party had tested its ability to endure fatigue, and determined
+without hesitation to reach Nabulus before night if possible. It was for
+this reason that an early start was made, and the halts along the road
+were few and short.
+
+[Illustration: BY BABEL'S STREAM.]
+
+The farewell view of the Holy City was taken from the side of the Hill
+of Scopus, which was reached by ascending from the Valley of the Kedron.
+Its domes and minarets stood out clear and distinct under the deep-blue
+sky of Palestine, and every member of the party was reluctant to turn
+away his eyes from the place which is sacred in the thoughts of every
+Christian, and familiar to his ears since he first heard the stories of
+the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of the Saviour of mankind. Frank
+called to mind the words of the Israelite by Babel's stream: "If I
+forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do
+not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."
+
+From the crest of Scopus they looked down upon a broad plain or plateau,
+where the first view seemed to be one of desolation. Limestone rocks
+were spread in ridges, one beyond the other, until they appeared to
+leave but little space for arable land. Close observation showed that
+between every ridge and its neighbor there was a strip of soil which
+might be made productive with a little care and industry, and the sides
+of the hills and valleys were terraced till they sometimes resembled a
+series of broad steps.
+
+"This land is full of promise," one of the boys remarked.
+
+"Yes," responded the Doctor, "and by cultivation it can be made to
+answer the scriptural description. The Land of Promise was a land of
+'vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil-olive, and
+honey,' as we read in the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRAPES OF ESHCOL.]
+
+"Observe what this land might be rather than what it is. The fig-tree
+and the olive would grow and bear fruit in the spaces between the ridges
+of rock, and the vines might clamber up the sides of the terraces, and
+be as luxuriant as they were in the days when the spies visited Eshcol,
+and brought back the famous grapes described in the Bible and
+represented in the books of our infancy."
+
+Fred asked if such grapes were found at present, and where Eshcol was
+supposed to be.
+
+[Illustration: HEBRON.]
+
+"There is some doubt on that score," was the reply, "but it is generally
+believed that the Brook of Eshcol was in the neighborhood of Hebron.
+There are extensive vineyards at Hebron, and their grapes are larger and
+finer than in most places in the Holy Land. The clusters are often very
+long, but nobody in these modern days has ever seen them so large that
+it would require the strength of two men to carry one of them.
+
+"The Bible does not say that it required their strength to carry this
+burden. Read the passage in Numbers xiii. 23, and you will find it says,
+they 'cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they
+bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates,
+and of the figs.' Remember that a bunch of grapes cannot be carried in a
+sack like pomegranates and figs, but must be suspended, so as to
+preserve the fruit from injury. The spies had a long way to travel, and
+there was no other mode of transporting the fruit of the vines of Eshcol
+than the one described."
+
+The guide called attention to the village of Shafut, a little distance
+from the route, and said it was supposed by some to occupy the site of
+the ancient Mizpeh. A little farther along on the other side of the road
+was a rounded hill, which has been identified by some writers as the
+site of Nob, mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Beyond it is
+Tuliel-el-Ful (Hill of Beans), where once stood Gibeah, the scene of
+several important incidents described in Judges, Samuel, and other books
+of the Bible. Doctor Bronson said it was quite probable that the meeting
+of David and Jonathan took place in the valley between these two points,
+and the scriptural account certainly carries out his theory.
+
+They passed Er-Ram, which corresponds to the Ramah of Benjamin (1 Kings
+xv. 17), and was formerly a populous city, but is now a miserable
+village. As they rode along, one of the boys recalled the murder of the
+descendants of Saul, and the devotion of Rizpah, who spread sack-cloth
+on the rocks, and watched by the bodies of her sons all through the
+summer days to prevent their being devoured by birds.
+
+"Yes," responded Fred; "and don't you remember the picture we saw at the
+Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia representing the scene?"
+
+Frank remembered it perfectly, and said the painting and the engravings
+that have been made of it would now have a renewed interest for him
+since he had looked upon the spot where the incident happened.
+
+As they passed Ramah, Fred referred to the passage in the Book of Judges
+where Deborah is said to have dwelt under a palm-tree "between Ramah and
+Bethel, in Mount Ephraim." Very naturally he asked if they were near
+Bethel.
+
+"We are not far from it," answered the Doctor, "though it is not on our
+road. The village of Betin, the ancient Bethel, is a couple of miles
+from our route, and can be reached most easily from Bireh. There is
+nothing of consequence to be seen there, and it is only for its historic
+associations that the place is worth visiting. It is a village of three
+to four hundred inhabitants, and they are no better than the average of
+the people we have thus far met.
+
+"There is another biblical site, too, a little off our road," the Doctor
+continued; "I refer to Seilun, the ancient Shiloh.
+
+"In spite of the completeness of its description the site of Shiloh was
+unknown for centuries, and was only identified in the last forty years.
+It is described in the Book of Judges as being 'on the north side of
+Bethel, on the east of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem,
+and on the south of Lebonah.' Exactly in such a position there is a mass
+of ruins covering a considerable extent, and it is now agreed by
+biblical students that they are the ruins of Shiloh.
+
+"Now that I have told you what it was, perhaps you can say why Shiloh
+was famous?"
+
+"I'll try," Fred responded, and after a pause of some minutes he was
+ready to reply. He let his horse fall out of the line while thinking on
+the subject, and it is just possible he glanced into the guide-book he
+carried in his satchel. We may remark, by-the-way, that every traveller
+in the Holy Land has his guide-book in readiness, and if his memory is
+at fault at any time he has a good authority to refer to. It saves a
+vast amount of 'reading up;' and you sometimes find a man who makes a
+pretence of great learning, when the fact is he has been drawing freely
+from the portable authority in his possession.
+
+"Shiloh was the place where the tabernacle of the Lord was first set up
+permanently in Canaan," said Fred, "and the Israelites came here to
+receive their shares of the promised land. The infant Samuel was
+dedicated here to the Lord by his mother, and it was at Shiloh where
+Eli dropped dead when he heard his sons had been killed in battle.
+There was a festival here in honor of the ark. It was held every year;
+and once while the maidens were dancing at this festival the Benjamites
+rushed in suddenly and carried off two hundred of them. There were
+several other incidents of less importance in the history of Shiloh, and
+it seems to have been destroyed long before the beginning of the
+Christian era."
+
+"I know where you found all that," Frank whispered; "and you ought to be
+very grateful to the man who hunted it out for you: 'Murray's Guide,'
+page 312."
+
+"Quite right," replied Fred, "but some of it runs over on page 313."
+
+With this candid acknowledgment of a fact which many persons seek to
+conceal, or even do worse about, they changed the subject of
+conversation. The author has in his possession a book of travels by a
+prominent member of the Church, in which there are numerous pages and
+paragraphs taken bodily from other works, and especially from
+guide-books. Its writer even goes so far as to say that all measurements
+given in his book were made by himself, and can be relied upon. It is
+observable that he agrees exactly with the guide-book, even in two or
+three instances where the latter is known to be at fault; and yet that
+man would probably refuse to tell a falsehood for a dollar!
+
+[Illustration: STREET SCENE IN BIREH.]
+
+Our friends halted an hour at Bireh, the ancient Beeroth, to rest their
+horses and partake of a much desired and well earned dinner. It was
+spread on the table of a little inn close to the entrance of the
+village, and the most of the materials composing it had been brought
+from Jerusalem in the saddle-bags of the dragoman. Bireh is on the
+summit of a ridge, and had been in sight for some time before the party
+drew rein at its gates. It is a considerable village, with a population
+of seven or eight hundred, nearly all of whom are Moslems. There are the
+ruins of a church which was built by the Knights Templar when the
+Crusaders held Jerusalem. Parts of the walls and roof are standing, and
+not far off is a khan which is supposed to have been a Christian hospice
+when the knights lived here.
+
+[Illustration: A NATIVE GROUP AT A FOUNTAIN.]
+
+During the halt a hasty visit was paid to the church, and also to the
+khan, and a glance was taken among the ruins that lay scattered about.
+Close to their halting-place was a mosque of much later date than the
+church, and there were groups of women and girls around a fountain which
+the mosque protects. The Doctor remarked that Beeroth was one of the
+four cities of the Gibeonites whose people made a covenant with the
+Israelites through false representations, and became hewers of wood and
+drawers of water for the conquerors of the land.
+
+On the road again, after saying farewell to Bireh, the travellers had a
+ride of little more than an hour to Ain Yebrud. They passed many
+orchards of fig and olive trees, and found the country more productive
+in appearance, at least, than nearer Jerusalem. The road now descended
+into a narrow and wild valley, with steep cliffs rising above on either
+side, and with numerous terraces which were formerly cultivated, but are
+now of little use.
+
+Suddenly at a bend in the road they came to a spring which flowed from
+the side of a cliff. The cool appearance of the water brought them to a
+halt, and they dismounted. Frank asked the name of the place.
+
+"This is Ain el-Haramiyeh," the guide answered.
+
+"Which means?"
+
+"The Robbers' Spring."
+
+"It has borne this name for centuries," said Doctor Bronson, "and very
+properly too. This valley has long been considered a dangerous place,
+and we do not wish to remain long at the spring. Hardly a year passes
+without a robbery in this vicinity, and not infrequently the plundered
+traveller is killed if he offers any resistance."
+
+Having satisfied their thirst, the party resumed their saddles and rode
+on. At the very next bend in the road they met half a dozen Arabs, who
+demanded backsheesh in a surly tone, and laid their hands menacingly on
+the long guns they were carrying. No attention was paid to their wishes,
+and in a few minutes they were left out of sight.
+
+They passed the branch of the road that leads to Shiloh; the boys were
+desirous of visiting the place, but the Doctor told them they could not
+well spare the time, and besides there was very little to be seen.
+"There is a heap of ruins," said he, "and the hills in the neighborhood
+are such masses of broken rocks that it is not easy to move about among
+them. Travellers frequently miss their way among the rocks, and besides
+you would be liable to a good deal of annoyance from the natives. They
+are insolent in their demands for backsheesh, and flourish knives and
+guns in a very disagreeable way. If you show the least desire to
+conciliate them they increase their rudeness, and sometimes they resort
+to actual violence. So we won't go to Shiloh."
+
+[Illustration: BEASTS OF BURDEN.]
+
+Ascending and descending from valley to ridge, and from ridge to valley,
+passing among terraces and through little orchards of fig and olive
+trees, winding among fields which are planted with corn in summer,
+looking now and then on flocks of goats carefully tended by their
+keepers as they fed on the hill-sides, meeting or passing little groups
+of natives, who eyed them longingly or suspiciously, and were
+suspiciously eyed in return, the party continued on its way. Frank and
+Fred thought it was not a good sign that all the men they met were
+armed, some with guns, some with pistols or knives, and many with all
+three weapons together. They asked the Doctor about it, and he thus
+explained the matter:
+
+"I think I have told you before about the existence of blood-feuds not
+only in this country but in various parts of the world. We have them in
+America among our native Indian races; they exist in France and Italy,
+especially in the latter, where they are known as 'the vendetta.'"
+
+"I remember them," said Fred, "but perhaps Frank doesn't know."
+
+"In this part of the Holy Land there are blood-feuds that have lasted
+hundreds of years. A man of one tribe or family has been killed by a man
+of another--the losing party proceeds to take revenge by killing a
+person of the offending one, then the latter takes its revenge, and so
+the fight goes on. These feuds exist between tribes, villages, or
+families, and are perpetuated through centuries. Every man goes armed,
+because he fears to be killed by some avenger of blood, and he is
+constantly on the lookout both to slay and to prevent being slain."
+
+"Why don't they come to a sensible arrangement among themselves, and put
+an end to the quarrelling?" one of the boys asked.
+
+"It is a matter of religion with them," said the Doctor, "and also of
+family pride. Doubtless you could get one tribe to make an end of its
+feuds if another would do so _first_; but the great difficulty is to
+find the one who will be the first to act. These blood-feuds may be said
+to be commanded by the Koran, and they existed in the time of the Old
+Testament. In fact, they were so numerous that the children of Israel
+appointed six cities where any person who had killed another 'unawares
+and unwittingly' might take refuge from the avenger of blood. These
+cities are named in the twentieth chapter of Joshua, and there is a
+fuller account of the customs of the time in this matter of blood
+revenge in the nineteenth chapter of Deuteronomy. We are approaching one
+of the cities of refuge, and shall spend the night there. Nabulus is the
+ancient Shechem, which was one of the six places to which I just
+referred."
+
+[Illustration: ROOF OF A HOUSE IN NABULUS.]
+
+They were on the crest of a ridge looking down upon a plain bounded on
+its farthest side by a broken chain of mountains. In an opening between
+two mountains the guide indicated the position of Nabulus, and far to
+the north was Mount Hermon; Gerizim and Ebal were the two mountains
+between which lay Nabulus, and the rays of the declining sun bathed them
+with golden light of that peculiar richness rarely seen away from the
+tropics. The hills around the plain were terraced with orchards of
+olive-trees, while the broad stretch of level ground had every
+indication of fertility. Taken as a whole, the scene was one of the
+prettiest that our friends had looked upon since leaving Egypt.
+
+"We are in the land of Ephraim," said the Doctor, "and you can realize
+how much Ephraim was blessed in comparison with Judah and Benjamin. The
+soil is more fertile, and the inhabitants have an easier life of it than
+in the neighboring districts: what was true of it in the days of the
+patriarchs is true at present. Ephraim is indeed blessed with 'the good
+things of the ancient mountains.'"
+
+As they descended to the plain and crossed it in the direction of
+Nabulus there was a manifest impatience on the part of the youths. The
+guide had told them they were coming to Jacob's Well, and their
+curiosity was roused to its highest point.
+
+They found a cistern about ten feet square hewn in the solid rock; the
+recent rains had partly filled it, but the guide said it was generally
+dry in summer. Its depth is about eighty feet, but was formerly much
+greater. A church was built over it at the time of the Crusades, but it
+is now in ruins, and a considerable part of the material is supposed to
+have fallen into the well.
+
+Night was approaching. The lengthening shadows warned our friends not to
+tarry long on their way; but they rested while Doctor Bronson read in
+his clear, impressive voice the fourth chapter of John, containing the
+beautiful story of Jesus at the well of Jacob, and his conversation with
+the woman of Samaria.
+
+A ride of less than half an hour brought them to the walls of Nabulus;
+the white tents ready to receive them on the camping-ground outside the
+town were a welcome sight.
+
+[Illustration: THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+FROM NABULUS TO NAZARETH, SAMARIA, JENIN, AND THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON.
+
+
+"Nabulus or Nablous, the ancient Shechem," wrote Frank in his journal,
+"is nearly as large as Jerusalem, though not so well situated. It has
+about thirteen thousand inhabitants, if the guide-book is to be trusted,
+and almost all of them are Moslems. There are one hundred and fifty
+Samaritans here, and five or six hundred Christians belonging mostly to
+the Greek Church, and there are a few Jews and other people not included
+in the above list. The town appears more prosperous and active than
+Jerusalem, and it is evident that the people are more industrious, and
+rely less on what they can make out of strangers.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF NABULUS.]
+
+"We have walked through the town and looked at the bazaars, which are
+much like those of Jerusalem and Jaffa. The streets are so badly paved
+and full of dirt that we could easily believe we were again in the
+neighborhood of the Tower of David and Mount Moriah. The guide told us
+that the town had considerable trade with the country east of the
+Jordan, and a good deal of wool and cotton found its way from here to
+the seaboard, whence it was shipped to England and France. The country
+in the vicinity produces large quantities of olives, and there are more
+than twenty factories engaged in making soap from olive-oil. We passed
+one of these soap factories, and found the smells that arose from it
+were anything but agreeable.
+
+"Seeing the olive-trees and the soap factories has made us desirous of
+knowing something about the manner of extracting the oil. Here is what
+we have learned on the subject:
+
+"The custom of the country is not to allow any picking of the fruit of
+the tree until a day has been appointed by the authorities. If any
+olives fall to the ground before this date, they are gathered and
+preserved in brine or oil for eating, as they are the fattest olives
+from the trees, and fully ripe when they fall.
+
+"On the day appointed for the gathering of the olives a public crier
+goes out and announces it. Then the people go to the orchards and gather
+the olives by beating or shaking the trees, very much as they gather the
+lower grades of apples in the New England States. The best olives are
+picked out for eating, and only the poorer ones are pressed for oil.
+
+"Ten or twelve gallons of oil are often made from the product of a
+single tree, and an acre of good olive-trees will give a crop worth a
+hundred dollars. A good crop is only gathered every other year, and the
+olive seems to have its 'off season,' like the American apple and peach.
+
+[Illustration: AN ANCIENT OLIVE-PRESS.]
+
+"We have seen several olive-presses, and they are very simple. There is
+a stone pan about six feet across and twelve inches deep, with a hole at
+one side for the escape of the oil. A roller of stone, with a hole
+through the centre for a long handle, is placed in the pan, and the
+apparatus is complete.
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN WORKING AN OLIVE-PRESS.]
+
+"The olives are thrown into the pan, and then two men (or women) grasp
+the opposite ends of the handle and walk around in a circle; the weight
+of the roller crushes the olives, and after a while the oil flows slowly
+from the hole in the side of the pan. When the olives are crushed to a
+pulp, and no more oil will flow, the mass is mixed with water and placed
+in bags of coarse cloth. The remaining oil is forced out by treading
+with the feet, or by crushing in a press with heavy weights. The
+process of extracting oil from the olive was well known to the ancient
+inhabitants of the country, and is often mentioned in the Bible.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT LAMPS (MATT. XXV. 1).]
+
+[Illustration: MODERN LAMPS.]
+
+"A great deal of olive-oil is sent from Palestine to other countries. It
+is an important article of food for the inhabitants, and takes the place
+of butter, and also of animal fat for cooking purposes. It is used for
+giving light, and is burnt in flat lamps of terra-cotta or other ware;
+some of the lamps are covered while others are open, and in either case
+there is a lip or projection at one side for the wick. In ancient times
+the wealthy inhabitants had lamps of silver and gold; and they are
+mentioned among the adornments of Solomon's Temple as having been made
+of the latter material. We have seen great numbers of these Eastern
+lamps, of terra-cotta, tin, and occasionally of brass. The lamps carried
+by the Ten Virgins--'five of them were wise, and five were foolish'--were
+undoubtedly of the exact form as those of to-day.
+
+"So much for one of the industries of Nabulus, and of the land of the
+Bible generally.
+
+"We went to the great mosque, which was once a Christian church, built
+by the Crusaders, and afterward belonging to the Knights of St. John. In
+another part of the town is the _Jama-el-Kadra_, a mosque which is
+asserted to stand on the spot where the brethren of Joseph brought his
+coat to Jacob. It was formerly a church, like the great mosque, and the
+guide pointed out some of the crosses of the Crusaders that the Moslems
+had not been able to obliterate altogether. Then we went to the quarter
+of the Samaritans, which was the most curious of all the sights of
+Nabulus.
+
+"The origin of the Samaritans is described in 2 Kings xvii. 24-41, and
+the present sect at Nabulus is supposed to be descended from them. Two
+hundred years ago there were small bodies of them in Cairo, Damascus,
+and one or two other places, but the only one now in existence is that
+which we are describing.
+
+[Illustration: SAMARITANS BEARING TRIBUTE--AN ASSYRIAN SCULPTURE (2
+KINGS XVII. 3).]
+
+"They preserve their ancient faith and form of worship, and they have a
+temple on Mount Gerizim, above the town, where annually they celebrate
+the Feast of the Passover and eat of the Paschal lamb. They showed us a
+copy of the Pentateuch, which is claimed to be the oldest in existence.
+The high-priest who held and opened it says it was written by a grandson
+of Aaron. There is good reason to doubt that it is more than a thousand
+years old, and the case containing it belongs to the fourteenth or
+fifteenth century. They would not let us unroll and examine it, and so
+we must accept the statement of others, who have had a better
+opportunity, that the parchment is fifteen inches wide and from twenty
+to thirty yards long, and contains the whole of the first five books of
+the Old Testament."
+
+There was not time to spare for the ascent of Mount Gerizim, which rises
+above Nabulus, and is ascended chiefly for the view from the summit. The
+top of the mountain is covered with ruins, and the spot is pointed out
+where Abraham was about to slay Isaac when his hand was stopped by
+divine interposition. There have been Jewish temples, Roman castles,
+Christian churches, and Moslem mosques on Mount Gerizim, and, as Frank
+states in his journal, the Samaritans go there to celebrate the Feast of
+the Passover, and perform other ancient rites.
+
+The party made a late start from Nabulus in the direction of Jenin and
+Nazareth. As they rode from their camp Doctor Bronson called the
+attention of the boys to the fact that the streams east of the town
+flowed into the Mediterranean, while those to the west found their way
+into the Jordan and the Dead Sea. The route lay through a region of
+pleasing valleys and plains not unlike those they had seen the day
+before, and for part of the way they followed an ancient road which the
+guide said belonged to the time of the Romans, or might even be older
+by a few centuries. There was a succession of olive and fig orchards,
+interspersed with gardens and fields, and the terraces on the hill-sides
+showed that not a foot of arable soil had been overlooked. There were
+numerous villages clinging to the hill-sides, or nestled among the
+rocks, and altogether the landscape was full of picturesque effects.
+
+[Illustration: SEBUSTIEH, THE ANCIENT SAMARIA.]
+
+Through scenes like these they made their way for two hours and more,
+when the guide called their attention to a village on the side of a
+broad hill. Immediately in front of them was the ruin of a Roman
+gate-way, with two of its arches standing, and not far from the gate-way
+was a group of natives with the ever present camel. Old olive-trees were
+on the slopes and through the valley, and covered the hill where stood
+the village to which the guide pointed.
+
+"That is Sebustieh," said the Doctor, "a modern village on the site of
+ancient Samaria."
+
+"I've been reading about it as we rode along," said Fred. "It is the
+spot where King Omri placed the capital of the kingdom of Israel, and
+where Ahab built the temple of Baal after marrying Jezebel, the daughter
+of the King of Sidon. We can find much of the history of Samaria in the
+Books of the Kings in the Old Testament. The names of the prophets
+Elisha and Elijah are connected with Samaria, and it was here that King
+Herod the Great devoted much time and effort to make the most beautiful
+city of Palestine."
+
+When Fred had finished his account of Samaria the travellers moved on.
+They reached the village in a quarter of an hour or so, and were taken
+at once to the ruined Church of St. John, which is now used as a mosque.
+The inhabitants gathered around the door, and at first refused
+permission for the strangers to enter; but the dragoman had taken the
+precaution to bring a permit from the Governor of Nabulus, and to engage
+a soldier from the same official. The permit and the soldier had the
+effect of opening the doors, and also of keeping the natives in order.
+The modern residents of Samaria have none of the qualities of the good
+Samaritan of scriptural renown, and show no hesitation at the robbery of
+travellers when the latter are without protection.
+
+The tomb of John the Baptist is pointed out in the space enclosed by the
+walls of the church, but the tradition concerning it is on very doubtful
+authority. The places of his imprisonment and execution are also shown,
+but there is no mention of them by the early writers until after the
+third century.
+
+The summit of the hill is covered with ruins, and there is an open
+space once surrounded with columns, of which fifteen are still in
+position, but without their capitals. Partly down the hill are the
+remains of the colonnade erected by King Herod, and intended to form the
+great street of the city. There were two rows of these columns about
+fifty feet apart, and they were more than half a mile in length: enough
+of the columns are standing to give an idea of the original magnificence
+of the place.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF JENIN, THE ANCIENT ENGANNIM.]
+
+Leaving Sebustieh, our friends continued their ride, and just about
+sunset came to Jenin, where the tents were ready for them. It began to
+rain as they arrived, but as there was no wind, and the clouds soon
+broke away, nobody suffered any special inconvenience.
+
+Frank was about to ask a question concerning their camping-place, when
+the Doctor proceeded to give the desired information.
+
+"Jenin," said he, "is the ancient Engannim, and is just at the entrance
+of the Plain of Esdraelon. The plain is sometimes called the
+battle-field of Palestine, and was probably the ancient Plain of
+Jezreel. The battle in which Saul and Jonathan his son were slain took
+place a little beyond here, near the modern village of Zerin, the
+ancient Jezreel."
+
+The evening was passed in reading about the battles that had taken place
+in the neighborhood, and in studying the map of the Plain of Esdraelon.
+When they left the wretched village the next morning, and looked upon
+the beautiful plain spread below them, the boys were full of enthusiasm
+about the region they were traversing, and showed an excellent knowledge
+of the positions indicated on the map.
+
+"That must be Taanach," said Frank, pointing to a rounded hill on the
+left, as they looked down the valley.
+
+"Yes," replied the Doctor, "that is Taanach, and beyond it is Megiddo,
+which you readily perceive is a strong point for an army to occupy."
+
+"That's what we read about last night," said Fred. "Taanach was one of
+the points where Joash was held back in his attacks on the Canaanites,
+and it was afterward the head-quarters of Sisera, who also held Megiddo.
+Megiddo was where Joash was killed in a battle with the Egyptians, as we
+read in 2 Chronicles, chap. xxv., and back of it are the hills of
+Manasseh."
+
+The road from Jenin passed near the base of Mount Gilboa, and as our
+friends followed the ridge on which their track lay they found
+themselves on the water-shed between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean.
+They passed the village of Zerin, the ancient Jezreel, where Jezebel was
+thrown to the dogs, and where Ahab's palace is supposed to have stood.
+To the east of the village is the spring of Harod and the fountain of
+Jezreel, where Saul's army made its last camp. It is on the slope of
+Mount Gilboa, and directly in front of the position where the
+Philistines were posted before the battle. By going still farther to the
+north we come to Endor, where Saul had his interview with the witch.
+Most of these points lay too far from the road to allow time for a
+visit, but they were visible from the high points of the route, or their
+positions were easily indicated.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE VALLEY OF ESDRAELON.]
+
+Other battles than those of the Bible were recalled by this ride over
+the plain, and among the hills that bordered it. The guide pointed out
+the spot where Saladin defeated the Hospitallers and Templars when he
+conquered Palestine, and also where Napoleon Bonaparte and Kleber
+defeated a Turkish army much larger than their own. The Doctor said they
+were not far from where Nebuchadnezzar's army was encamped when Judith
+cut off the head of Holofernes, and a little farther away was the scene
+of the defeat of the Jews by the army of Vespasian.
+
+"No wonder it is called the battle-field of Palestine," said he, "when
+it has been the scene of so much warfare. No other part of the country
+has been traversed by so many armies as this, and in no other place have
+so many historic battles been fought. There is hardly an acre of the
+Plain of Esdraelon that has not been moistened by the blood of the
+victims of war. The soil is fertile, or would be if it were well
+cultivated, but it has shared the fate of other parts of Palestine, and
+is suffering from neglect."
+
+At the suggestion of the guide they made a slight détour from their
+route in order to visit the village of Nain, which is celebrated in
+Scripture as the scene of the raising of the widow's son (Luke vii.
+7-15). There is nothing of interest in the village itself, and it is
+probably no larger in population than it was two thousand years ago. The
+hill-sides near it are fairly honey-combed with tombs, but hardly any of
+them are of modern date.
+
+Mount Tabor was in full view from the road for a considerable time, and
+so were other hills and mountains mentioned in sacred history. From the
+Plain of Esdraelon to Nazareth the road wound through a broken country,
+and in many places it was quite steep. Nazareth is about four hundred
+feet higher than the plain, and consequently the ascending parts of the
+route preponderated over the descents. The town is surrounded by hills,
+and is not visible until quite close at hand, in consequence of its
+secluded position.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLAN OF NAZARETH.
+
+1. New quarter of the Latin Convent; 2. Church of the Annunciation; 3.
+Protestant Church; 4. Protestant Parsonage; 5. Protestant Mission
+School; 6. Protestant Missionary's House: 7. Convent of French Nuns; 8.
+The "Mensa Christi;" 9. House of the Mufti; 10. House of the Turkish
+Governor; 11. Mosque; 12. Mission Hospital.]
+
+Doctor Bronson explained to his young companions that Nazareth is not
+mentioned in the Old Testament, though some writers have attempted to
+identify it as having a history earlier than the Christian era.
+According to the biblical account it was a small village at the time of
+our Saviour's birth, and the name of Nazarene was used in derision. The
+modern name of the place is En-Nasira, and down to the time of
+Constantine it was almost exclusively occupied by Samaritan Jews. Its
+present population is estimated at six or eight thousand: nearly half
+the inhabitants are Moslems, and the balance are separated into various
+Christian sects, of which the orthodox Greeks are the most numerous. The
+town is divided into the Moslem quarter, the Greek quarter, and the
+Latin quarter, and the various Christian sects are under the protection
+of foreign powers, though generally subject to Turkish rule.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF NAZARETH.]
+
+It was on Saturday evening that our friends reached Nazareth, and very
+properly they determined to remain there till Monday. The tents were
+pitched in a little grove just outside the town, and in a picturesque
+position, where all the surroundings were agreeable to the eye. The
+guide offered to lodge them in the Latin convent; but they preferred the
+freedom and comfort of the tents, and wisely concluded that a visit to
+the convent would be all they would need of it. So many pilgrims visit
+Nazareth that both the Greeks and Latins have found it necessary to
+maintain establishments there for the benefit of their adherents. The
+poor are lodged gratuitously, but those who can afford to make payment
+are expected to do so at the same rate as in a hotel.
+
+The evening was passed in reading, by the light of candles, the story of
+the Annunciation, as given in the New Testament, and in commenting upon
+the identification of the spot by modern Christians. Doctor Bronson said
+there could be no doubt whatever that this was the place described in
+the Bible, though there might be some question as to the exact spot in
+Nazareth where the event occurred. He said it was a curious circumstance
+that for three centuries after the birth of Christ there was not a
+Christian inhabitant in Nazareth, and the first Christian pilgrimage was
+made there not earlier than the sixth century. In the sixth or seventh
+century two churches were built there, and from that time the place has
+been a prominent one in the history of the religion of Bethlehem.
+
+In good time next morning all were out of bed and ready to start for the
+Latin convent, where service was to be held. We will let one of the
+youths tell the story of what they saw and heard:
+
+"The convent is supposed to be on the site of the house of the Virgin
+Mary; at any rate the Latin monks press that claim for it, and it is not
+disputed by the Greeks, though the latter say that the angel first
+appeared to Mary at the fountain and not in her house. Consequently, the
+Greek Church of the Annunciation is over the fountain, while the Latin
+one is above the site of the house where the Virgin dwelt.
+
+"The Latin convent is on the side of the hill, and is a prominent
+feature in the picture of Nazareth. There are several buildings
+clustered together, and at first sight we were reminded of the Church of
+the Nativity at Bethlehem and its massive surroundings. There is a high
+wall surrounding the buildings, and the gate through which we passed is
+heavy enough to resist the attack of any ordinary band of Arabs. We
+entered a court-yard which was open to the sky, and then passed to
+another and smaller one directly in front of the church. The sacred
+building is about seventy feet by fifty, and was completed in its
+present form a century and a half ago. Several churches have stood here,
+and the materials of each have been used in the erection of its
+successor, so that we may fairly believe that some parts of the first
+church of Nazareth are to be seen here.
+
+"The interior of the building consists of a nave and aisles, formed by
+four piers that support the roof. The whole of the interior is covered
+with paintings and tapestry representing scenes in the Saviour's life,
+and there is a fine organ and an altar dedicated to the angel Gabriel.
+We did not spend much time over this part of the church, as we were all
+impatient to descend to the Grotto of the Annunciation, which is below
+the floor.
+
+"There is a stairway of fifteen marble steps between the first two
+columns as you enter the church, and down this stairway we went, after a
+brief inspection of the decorations of the walls and a glance at the
+high altar.
+
+[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION.]
+
+"At the foot of the steps we entered the so-called 'Chapel of the
+Angels,' which contains shrines dedicated to St. Joachim and the angel
+Gabriel. Beyond the shrines is an opening or passage leading to the
+Chapel of the Annunciation, which is an apartment fifteen feet by ten,
+as near as we could judge, and has a marble altar showing the spot where
+Mary stood during the Annunciation. A column near the entrance marks the
+position of the angel, and a little distance from it is a fragment of a
+column hanging from the roof, and said to be suspended by miraculous
+power. We wanted to examine it closely, but the monk in charge of the
+place hurried us on, and evidently did not wish a careful inspection of
+the hanging column.
+
+"Beyond the Chapel of the Annunciation is the Chapel of Joseph, and
+farther on is a small cavern hewn from the solid rock, and said to have
+been the kitchen of Mary.
+
+"The general arrangement of the altars, lamps, and decorations was a
+constant reminder of Bethlehem, and when the monks began their service
+we found it was very nearly the same. As soon as the ceremony was over
+in the grotto it was announced that the hour for service in the church
+had arrived, and we all went to attend it. The congregation numbered two
+or three hundred persons, including the twenty-five or thirty Italian
+and Spanish monks in charge of the convent, and perhaps fifty pilgrims,
+while the balance was made up of our party and the Latin Christians
+living at Nazareth. The notes of the organ sounded finely through the
+old church, and when we remembered that we were on the spot where the
+Christian world believes the coming of our Saviour was announced to his
+mother, we were deeply impressed with the solemnity of the occasion.
+
+"Let me tell you here the story of the _Santa Casa_, or Holy House, as
+we heard it from the monks, and as it is told in the history of the
+Catholic Church since the fifteenth century:
+
+"'The house in which Mary lived was carried away by angels, who lifted
+it from its foundations and bore it away when the infidels conquered the
+country and began the expulsion of the Christians. They carried it, in
+A.D. 1291, to the heights overlooking Finme, in Hungary. It rested there
+about three years, and was then transported to the coast of Italy, where
+it remained five or six months. A third and last removal occurred in the
+year 1294 or 1295 to the place where it now stands in the town of
+Loretto, twelve miles south of Ancona, and three miles from the
+sea-shore.' Great numbers of pilgrims are said to go there every year to
+see it, and the building is carefully preserved from injury. The Latin
+monks believe the story implicitly, and they point out the exact
+position which the house formerly occupied.
+
+"We went from the church to see the house and workshop of Joseph, now
+fitted up as a chapel, and in possession of the Latins; and then we
+visited the 'Chapel of the Table of Christ,' where there is a table of
+solid rock, on which Jesus and his disciples are said to have eaten
+frequently. From this place we went to the synagogue where he was
+teaching when the Jews drove him out, and to the rock where they were
+about to cast him down. From there we went to the Fountain of the
+Virgin, where the Greeks have their Church of the Annunciation. When we
+had seen this we were told that the round of the holy places of Nazareth
+was complete, unless we wished to see the 'Mount of the Precipitation,'
+about two miles away.
+
+"We declined the journey, as there is a great deal of doubt concerning
+the accuracy of the tradition. Doctor Bronson said we should not miss
+the view from the hill back of Nazareth, and so we climbed there a
+little before sunset and had a magnificent prospect.
+
+[Illustration: THE COUNTRY NEAR NAZARETH, WITH THE TOWN IN THE
+DISTANCE.]
+
+"The best point for the view was said to be Neby Ismail, and we
+certainly have seen nothing finer in all Palestine. The hills are less
+barren than in most other parts of the country that we have visited, and
+the plains and valleys present an appearance of fertility. Mounts Tabor,
+Hermon, and Carmel were in the picture, and beyond the latter we had a
+glimpse of the blue waters of the Mediterranean bounding the western
+horizon. Then we looked down on the Plain of Esdraelon and on the upper
+Valley of the Jordan, and lingered as long as time would permit. I
+cannot begin to tell you of the thoughts and associations that crowded
+upon us in looking upon the place so intimately connected with the life
+of the Saviour, and the scenes of so many other events that form a part
+of our Bible history."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR.--AROUND AND ON THE SEA OF GALILEE.
+
+
+On Monday morning the party made a good start in the direction of Mount
+Tabor and the Sea of Galilee. The tents were sent direct to the
+camping-ground which had been selected for the night, while the
+travellers made a detour to the summit of the historic mountain.
+
+They looked back from the crest of a ridge on the road, and had a fine
+view of Nazareth. An hour's ride from this point through a wooded valley
+brought them to the foot of Mount Tabor, the _Jebel-et-Tur_ of the
+Arabs, and a famous name in biblical history. Unlike many of the
+mountains of Palestine it is covered with trees to the summit, and the
+ruins scattered about its sides show that it has been the home of many
+people through numerous generations.
+
+"We had a zigzag ride up the side of Mount Tabor," said the youths, in
+their journal, "and made frequent stoppages for our horses to take
+breath. When we reached the top we found it was not a peak, but a sort
+of rounded ridge, half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. All the
+space on the summit is covered with ruins, and there have evidently been
+towns, temples, fortresses, and other buildings on this commanding spot.
+We learn from the Bible (Joshua xix. 22) that Tabor was occupied when
+the Israelites first came into the country, and it is probable that
+there was a town here at that time. In another place (Judges iv.) we
+learn that Deborah ordered Barak to gather an army here; and it was from
+Tabor that the Israelites marched when they defeated Sisera. From that
+time down to the Christian era Tabor continued to be an important point,
+and was the scene of several battles. In the fourth century it was
+regarded as the scene of the Transfiguration, and many pilgrimages were
+made to it by the early Christians. Hermits formerly dwelt here in
+caves, and subsisted on the charity of visitors.
+
+[Illustration: HOME OF A CAVE-HERMIT IN PALESTINE.]
+
+"Several convents and churches were established on Mount Tabor, and the
+Crusaders built a monastery on the summit, which was afterward destroyed
+by the infidels. There are two monasteries here now, but they are not
+of much consequence; one belongs to the Latins and the other to the
+Greeks, and, as we did not wish to show any partiality, we visited both
+of them. There is great hostility between the monks of the two
+establishments, and those who visit one are generally excluded from the
+other. Each party claims that the scene of the Transfiguration was on
+the spot where its own church stands. Both these statements are
+generally disbelieved; and it is the opinion of the majority of those
+who have investigated the matter that the great event occurred elsewhere
+than on Mount Tabor.
+
+[Illustration: MOUNT TABOR.]
+
+"Our ride from Nazareth had given us a good appetite, and we were quite
+ready for the lunch which Ali brought for us in his saddle-bags. While
+engaged in satisfying our hunger we enjoyed the view from the summit of
+the mountain; it includes Hermon and Carmel--the latter almost hiding
+the thin strip of the Mediterranean, and itself partly concealed by the
+nearer ranges of hills. Looking to the east we saw a part of the Lake of
+Tiberias, and beyond it the chain of the Hauran Mountains; and, as we
+turned toward the southern horizon, the guide pointed out the mountains
+of Gilead. Apparently at our feet was the Plain of Esdraelon, with its
+ancient battle-fields, and on the hills around us were Endor, Nain, and
+half a dozen other villages of less importance. The deep Valley of the
+Jordan was revealed for a considerable distance, and we realized more
+than ever before how great is the depression where the river flows. The
+top of Tabor is more than two thousand feet above the level of the
+Mediterranean, while the surface of the lake is six hundred and forty
+feet below it. Consequently, we looked down nearly two thousand seven
+hundred feet to the waters on whose banks we were to pass the night.
+
+"While descending Mount Tabor we disturbed several partridges and other
+birds, and one of us thought we had a glimpse of a fox darting among the
+trees. The guide said there were several kinds of game here, but nobody
+paid much attention to it, since it was not easy to get at. The Arabs
+sometimes catch hares and partridges in traps, but the foxes are too
+cunning to be taken in that way.
+
+"Down and down we went, and from Tabor to Tiberias it was a descending
+road the most of the way. We passed the _Khan el-Tujar_, or Caravansary
+of the Merchants, which is very much in ruins, but was evidently a
+strong place at the time of its erection, three hundred years ago. It
+was built by the Pacha of Damascus for the protection of the merchants
+from the robbers, who frequently plundered the caravans and made the
+road dangerous. A market is held here once a week, and the people from
+Tiberias, Nazareth, and other places in the neighborhood come to sell
+their wares, but we could not learn that they had much to sell.
+
+[Illustration: DISTANT VIEW OF KEFR KENNA.]
+
+"Cana of Galilee, where the water was turned into wine, is off our road,
+and we had to be satisfied with the indication of its position. It is
+now called Kefr Kenna, and has a population of five or six hundred, half
+of whom are Moslems and the rest Greek Christians. The Greeks have a
+church in which they show one of the jars or water-pots in which the
+miracle was performed. There is another Kenna or Cana between Nazareth
+and Mount Carmel, and some authorities think it was the scene of the
+miracle, and not the one we have been talking about.
+
+[Illustration: THE CITY AND LAKE OF TIBERIAS.]
+
+"As we rode down the hills we had a full view of the sea or lake of
+Tiberias, which is also called the Sea of Galilee, and the sea or lake
+of Gennesaret, and known to the Arabs as _Bahr Tabariyeh_. It is smaller
+than you might suppose from its importance in history; it is thirteen
+miles long and less than seven in width, and in the midst of a region
+with very few inhabitants. As we looked at it, it seemed little more
+than a pond, and the hills beyond it were bare and desolate. The
+fertility of the region must be far less now than it was in the time of
+our Saviour, and it is the general opinion that the country has
+undergone many changes. We passed the ruins of several villages and
+towns, and for nearly all the time of our journey the evidences were all
+around us that a great many people once lived here.
+
+"The most populous town on the banks of the lake is Tiberias, but it has
+not more than two thousand inhabitants, and the majority of them have a
+poverty-stricken appearance. Like all the people of Palestine, they
+begged persistently for backsheesh, and would not leave us till we
+threatened to appeal to the Governor and ask for a guard to protect us.
+We noticed that a great number of them were Jews, and several spoke to
+us in German; this roused our curiosity, and we asked the Doctor what it
+all meant. He explained it to us in this way:
+
+"'Tiberias is like Jerusalem in one respect--it is a sacred place with
+the Jews, many of whom believe that the Messiah will rise from the
+waters of the lake and establish his throne on one of the hills back of
+the little town. For this reason many Jews of Poland and Germany make
+pilgrimages to Tiberias, and some of them remain to pass their lives in
+the sacred spot. They are generally a worthless and lazy lot, and are
+supported by the charity of visitors and by money sent by wealthy Jews
+of Europe.'
+
+"More than half the inhabitants of Tiberias are Jews; the rest are
+Moslems and Christians in about equal proportions. The Latins and Greeks
+have churches here; one of them is dedicated to St. Peter, and the
+miracle of the draught of the fishes is said to have taken place in
+front of the town. There was a terrible earthquake here in 1837, which
+threw down large parts of the walls and killed great numbers of the
+people. There has been no attempt to repair the damages, and it would be
+easy to ride into Tiberias without taking the trouble to enter by the
+gates.
+
+"Our tents were pitched on a little cleared space outside the walls and
+close to the lake, and after it became dark we indulged in a swim in the
+waters of Galilee. The next morning we went to the warm baths for which
+Tiberias was once celebrated, and tried them for a little while; but the
+smell of sulphur was so strong that we did not much enjoy our visit.
+These baths were famous among the Romans, and were believed to possess
+many curative qualities; the water is very salt and bitter to the taste,
+and is certainly disagreeable enough to be good for invalids, provided
+they can stand it. We put a thermometer into the water, and found its
+temperature 144° Fahrenheit. There are four springs altogether, and
+there is a building over the largest of them. The baths are taken almost
+entirely by strangers, as the residents of Tiberias have an antipathy
+for water except for drinking purposes: they never bathe except when
+they tumble into the lake accidentally, or are thrown there by the
+visitors whom they annoy.
+
+"We spent an hour among the ruins of the ancient Tiberias, which covered
+a much larger area than its modern successor. The city was founded by
+Herod near the beginning of the Christian era, and he called it Tiberias
+in honor of the Roman emperor of that name. It had a palace and a
+race-course, and, if we may judge by the extent of its ruins, it was a
+place of no ordinary importance. It was captured several times in the
+wars that devastated the country, but has never ceased to be regarded
+with special veneration by the Jews. Many pious Jews come here to die:
+the location is unhealthy on account of fevers and other diseases, and
+consequently the mortality is great, and the town is exactly suited to
+their wants."
+
+Of course the whole party was desirous of taking a voyage on the lake,
+and they sent Ali to engage a boat with that object in view. According
+to the biblical account there were many vessels there during our
+Saviour's time, but at present there are only three boats, and rarely
+more than two of these are afloat at once. The lake abounds in fish,
+and, if there was a sufficient population to buy and pay for the
+proceeds of the work, a dozen or a hundred fishermen could do a good
+business. But with nobody to eat them it would be idle to catch the
+fish; and as the natives do not understand sport for its own sake, the
+finny inhabitants are not seriously disturbed.
+
+Ali secured a boat for the excursion, and it was arranged that the rest
+of the day should be spent on the lake. The saddle-horses were to go
+with the baggage-animals to Tell Hum, where the camp would be formed for
+the night. Everybody was delighted with this arrangement, and the youths
+could hardly restrain their impatience to be off on the voyage over the
+Sea of Galilee.
+
+The boat was of the Oriental pattern, and without any deck or awning to
+protect the travellers from the sun, which generally beats down on the
+waters with a good deal of energy. Umbrellas were brought into
+requisition, and thus equipped, and with provisions to satisfy their
+hunger when the hour came for the mid-day meal, the six strangers and
+their dragoman took seats in the stern of the boat and pushed away from
+land.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE SEA OF GALILEE.]
+
+It was the plan of the party to make the circuit of the lake, and visit
+points of interest whenever the wind favored and it was safe to do so.
+Ali told them that as they had no escort, and had no arrangements for
+paying backsheesh, for the plain reason that there was no one at
+Tiberias with whom they could negotiate, it would not be judicious to
+land on the eastern shore. The country is in possession of the Bedouins,
+who have no hesitation at plundering the traveller of all that he has
+about him, and then demanding a heavy backsheesh to let him go. On this
+statement of affairs it was unanimously agreed that nobody cared to land
+on the eastern shore.
+
+The boat followed the coast to the vicinity of Kerak, which is close to
+the exit of the Jordan, and then turned to the north and east in the
+direction of Kalat el-Hosn. On the maps this place is generally laid
+down as Gamala; it is a heap of ruins, and has been without inhabitants
+since the city of Gamala was destroyed by Vespasian, and the surrounding
+region of Gamalatis passed under his control.
+
+Then they went northward past the ruins of Kersa, or Kheusa, situated in
+a narrow valley. A steep bank comes down to the lake close by Kersa, and
+some authorities have endeavored to identify it as the place where the
+herd of swine ran down to the sea. There is no other point where there
+is so steep a bank as this coming down to the water. The theory of its
+identity is based entirely on its being the most convenient spot for a
+herd of swine to commit suicide.
+
+[Illustration: MAGDALA AND PLAIN OF GENNESARET.]
+
+From Kersa they crossed the lake to Magdala, or Mejdel, whose chief
+claim to distinction arises from its having been the birthplace of Mary
+Magdalene. The town is principally in ruins, and there are only a few
+huts there occupied by miserable Arabs, whose chief occupation is to beg
+for backsheesh. The region around is, or might be, fertile, but Magdala
+is the only inhabited spot in the Plain of Gennesaret, and nobody cares
+to engage in agriculture of any sort. That the ground is fertile is
+proven by the abundance of thistles, weeds, and bushes with which it is
+covered, and the thickets of oleander and other trees, together with
+occasional clusters of palms. One of the boys said it seemed as though a
+curse rested on the land. Doctor Bronson assented to this view, and
+added that the Turkish Government had a great deal to do with the
+matter, as its exorbitant taxes on all kinds of industry was an
+effectual barrier to anything like honest work.
+
+As they sailed northward from Magdala, Doctor Bronson pointed out a
+valley leading from the Plain of Gennesaret, and asked the guide what it
+was.
+
+Ali replied that it was called Wady Haman.
+
+"I thought so," answered the Doctor. "By going up that valley we might
+visit the caverns which are mentioned by Josephus and other writers."
+
+Frank asked for what these caverns were celebrated, and how large they
+were.
+
+"They are partly natural and partly artificial," was the reply, "and are
+large enough to shelter five or six hundred persons. The openings are
+protected by walls, and at every exposed point there is a bastion or
+something of the kind, so that the occupants could defend themselves
+with great ease.
+
+"They are mentioned in the Bible, but more fully in the works of
+Josephus, who calls them fortified caverns. They have been occupied at
+different times as resorts of robbers, or as strongholds of regular
+soldiers, and in either case it was a matter of great difficulty to take
+them. In the time of Herod the Great they were held by robbers, who
+plundered all the surrounding country, and made themselves so
+troublesome that the king determined to get rid of them.
+
+[Illustration: HEROD'S PLAN OF ATTACK.]
+
+"He sent his soldiers to attack them, but the position of the robbers
+was so strong that they repelled every assault. Finally he ordered some
+strong boxes to be made, and suspended over the face of the cliff by
+means of iron chains, and when all was ready he filled the boxes with
+soldiers, and lowered them down in front of the caves.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE WITH THE ROBBERS.]
+
+"The robbers were taken by surprise, but they quickly came to their
+senses, and made a desperate resistance. The soldiers were victorious;
+and the robbers that escaped death by the spear, or being thrown over
+the cliff, were soon made prisoners, and their business was broken up.
+At the present time the caves are unoccupied, except by a few beggars,
+who live upon what they get from visitors.
+
+"Back of the caverns are the ruins of the ancient city of Arbela, which
+is doubtless the Beth-Arbel mentioned in Hosea x. 14. The ruins are
+overgrown with reeds and vines, and are not worth the time and trouble
+of visiting them."
+
+From Magdala the boat made a straight course for the mouth of the
+Jordan, and was carried rapidly forward by a strong breeze from the
+south. The dragoman said that the lake was liable to be swept by sudden
+winds, like the majority of inland waters surrounded by mountains, and
+he predicted that the favoring breeze they had just caught might leave
+them altogether by the time they reached the point for which they were
+heading. Sure enough it did so; and as they entered the mouth of the
+river there was not enough to carry them against the current. The
+boatmen took to their oars, and in a little while they were a couple of
+miles from the lake and in front of the ruins of Bethsaida.
+
+The ground for quite a distance is covered with the remains of
+dwellings, the most of them so overgrown with weeds and bushes that
+they must be sought for in order to be found. Bethsaida means "house of
+fish," or "fish-marke;" and there was another village of the same name
+near Capernaum, so that much confusion has arisen concerning them. It
+was probably near the Bethsaida on the Jordan, where we now are, that
+the miracle of feeding the multitude was performed, as described in the
+ninth chapter of Luke, while it was to the other Bethsaida that Christ
+sent away his disciples, and went up into the mountain to pray.
+
+As the boat descended the river to reach the lake again Doctor Bronson
+read from the Bible the account of the stilling of the tempest, and the
+events connected with it. All were agreed that the miracle must have
+been performed near the western shore, and close by Capernaum, and the
+scriptural description seemed to tally exactly with the configuration of
+the land and lake. It was easy to imagine the scene, especially as the
+wind by which they had been blown from Magdala had ceased entirely, and
+"there was a great calm." By steady rowing the boat was brought to Tell
+Hum a little before sunset, and the voyage around the Sea of Galilee was
+at an end.
+
+Near Tell Hum the guide called the attention of the youths to a man on
+the shore standing motionless as a statue, and holding a scoop-net with
+a long handle.
+
+While they watched him he brought the net to the water with a rapid
+sweep, and then lifted it almost in the same motion. As he swung it to
+land a fish was seen vainly struggling to escape from the meshes of the
+net.
+
+[Illustration: A GALILEE FISHING-BOAT.]
+
+Ali explained that they had witnessed one of the modes of fishing
+practised by the natives. They watch along the shore, and when a fish
+comes near enough he is secured by a rapid motion of the net, and it
+must be very rapid too. Another plan of catching fish is to render them
+insensible by poison, and then gather them as they float on the surface
+of the water. Europeans have some hesitation at eating fish caught in
+this way, but the natives are not so fastidious. Sometimes fish are
+caught in traps in the mouths of the little streams flowing into the
+lake or along the shore, but nobody troubles himself about seeking in
+deep water.
+
+Frank wanted to know what kinds of fish were taken in the lake, but the
+information he obtained was not very clear. Ali questioned the boatmen,
+and, as near as he could make out, the fishes of the Lake of Tiberias
+are the _binni_, or carp, and the _mesht_, or _coracinus_, which belongs
+to the cat-fish family. The latter are the most abundant, and sufficient
+for the wants of a population much larger than exists at present near
+the lake.
+
+[Illustration: RUINS AT TELL HUM.]
+
+They landed at Tell Hum, where they paid and dismissed the boatmen, and
+then strolled a short time among the ruins before going to their tents.
+A large town or city once stood here, and that it was an important place
+with the Jews is shown by the ruins of their synagogue, which must have
+been an edifice of considerable extent and excellent proportions. One
+writer says it was among the finest buildings in Palestine, and the
+fragments now on the ground reveal some admirable specimens of
+sculpture. Frank and Fred tried to take the measurements of a part of
+the wall of the building, but were unable to do so on account of the
+great number of weeds and vines that covered the ground. They found
+several blocks nine or ten feet long, and broad in proportion, that
+evidently formed a part of the foundations.
+
+Doctor Bronson told them that Tell Hum was thought by some to be the
+Capernaum of the New Testament; others believe Capernaum was farther to
+the south, and make Tell Hum identical with Chorazin. The latter theory
+is sustained by its proximity to Bethsaida. The words of Christ, "Woe
+unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!" would seem to indicate
+that they were near each other. Tell Hum is about two miles from
+Bethsaida, while nearly the same distance farther on is Khan Minyeh,
+which is claimed by several authorities to have been the Capernaum of
+the New Testament.
+
+As they sat in front of their tents while the sun was dipping below the
+horizon, our friends naturally talked of the country around them, and
+compared it with what it probably was two thousand years ago. The
+reflection was not a cheering one, and they were not at all sorry to
+change to a more agreeable topic.
+
+The full-moon rose over the eastern mountains. As it ascended, and threw
+its light on the lake, the ruggedness of the hills was softened, the
+placid waters became like a sheet of silver, the stars were reflected as
+in a mirror, and the sky was without a cloud. The picture was one to be
+long remembered, and each one of that little party regretted that the
+time was near for them to bid it farewell.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF THE LAKE FROM THE WESTERN SHORE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+FROM GALILEE TO DAMASCUS.--A RIDE THROUGH DAN AND BANIAS.
+
+
+[Illustration: THE ROCK PARTRIDGE.]
+
+Everybody was out of bed before daylight, and prepared for an early
+start. Before the sun was up the tents had been folded and packed, and
+the travellers were in the saddle and riding away from Tell Hum. From
+the summit of a hill they looked back upon Gennesaret, which lay far
+below them, with its waters sparkling in the sunlight, and its surface
+undisturbed by a single boat. Then they rode on again. Around them were
+the rugged hills of Palestine, and every few minutes they disturbed the
+partridges that have their homes among the rocks. Frank recalled to
+memory the passage in Samuel, "as one doth hunt a partridge in the
+mountains." The guide said that in some parts of the country these birds
+are so abundant that they do a great deal of damage; they dig up and
+devour the freshly-sown wheat, and when the crops are ripening they feed
+upon the grain, and are often to be seen in large flocks.
+
+The road was rough and steep, and led steadily upward. Frank thought
+that when the engineers laid it out they selected the worst places they
+could find, and Fred replied that he did not believe it had any
+engineers at all. "Even the mules and horses would have done better,"
+Fred continued. "You know it is said in America that the buffaloes were
+the first road-makers, as it has been found that the buffalo trails in
+the Rocky Mountains are always through the lowest passes, and avoid the
+roughest places. Now if the beasts of burden in this country had laid
+out the roads they would have done better than the men who undertook the
+work."
+
+It was a weary ride along this road, and frequently the travellers
+dismounted, partly out of compassion for their horses, and partly
+because riding was dangerous where the rocks were worn smooth or
+moistened by recent rains. Ruins of towns and villages were seen in
+several places, and some of the cliffs were pierced with caverns that
+formerly gave shelter to robbers or were the homes of hermits. Three
+hours of climbing brought them to Safed, which is one of the holy cities
+of the Jews, and has a population of three or four thousand.
+
+The town is on a mountain, and commanded by a castle that is said to
+have been built in the time of the Crusades, but is now sadly in ruins.
+Down to the beginning of 1837 it was in good condition, and so were the
+houses where the people dwelt; the earthquake, on the first day of that
+year, wrought terrible destruction to Safed, as it overthrew nearly all
+the buildings, and killed, according to the estimates, five thousand of
+the inhabitants. The town was divided into the Christian, Moslem, and
+Jewish quarters; the Jewish quarter suffered most, and it is said that
+four-fifths of those killed by the earthquake belonged to the religion
+of King Solomon. Mr. Thomson, who visited Safed soon after the
+earthquake, says not a single Jewish house remained when the shocks
+were ended, and several persons were saved from the rubbish two or three
+days after the occurrence; they had been unable to extricate themselves,
+and suffered greatly from hunger and thirst. Others were less fortunate,
+and perished of hunger beneath the fallen débris of the houses where
+they had resided.
+
+There was nothing of special interest in Safed, as the town is nearly
+all modern, having been rebuilt since the earthquake. Some authorities
+think Safed was the "city set on a hill" which was referred to by Christ
+in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. v. 14). Certainly the position would
+seem to justify such a belief, as it is visible for quite a distance
+from nearly all directions, and the view from it is a wide one.
+
+Our friends halted briefly for a contemplation of the scene, which
+includes the Lebanon and Hermon ranges of mountains, the countries of
+Samaria, Carmel, and Galilee to the sea-coast, the Valley of the Jordan,
+the land of Gilead, Moab and Bashan, and the whole area of rugged hills
+in which the Sea of Tiberias is enclosed. They were reminded of the view
+from Tabor, especially as they looked downward nearly three thousand
+feet before their vision reached the waters of deep Galilee. The guide
+indicated many points of historic interest, and the list became so long
+that the attempt to remember everything was soon abandoned.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLAIN OF HULEH.]
+
+From Safed they rode on through a rough and desolate region, where they
+were often compelled to turn aside to avoid great masses of rock that
+filled the way. For quite a distance they were in sight of Lake Huleh,
+or Merom, and the youths regretted that time did not permit them to
+visit the lake and make a voyage upon it. Their regret was not very
+serious when Doctor Bronson told them that Huleh was an insignificant
+body of water less than five miles long, and surrounded by a marsh, so
+that its banks were not easy of access. It is mentioned in the Old
+Testament as "the waters of Merom," and it was on the bank of Merom, or
+near it, that the events occurred which are mentioned in the eleventh
+chapter of Joshua.
+
+[Illustration: HUTS NEAR LAKE HULEH.]
+
+The lake is at the end of a plain twelve or fifteen miles long by four
+or five wide; this plain is cultivated by the Arabs who dwell upon
+it, and by some speculators of Damascus, who hire men to till the soil
+and allow them a share of the product. The ground is quite fertile, and
+has been long celebrated for the abundance of its yield.
+
+[Illustration: AN ARMY OF KEDESH.]
+
+Late in the afternoon they came to Kedesh, the ancient Kedesh-Naphtali,
+where they were to pass the night. Beyond the historic interest of the
+place, and the rains that were scattered for a considerable extent over
+the ground, Kedesh offered no special attractions, as the modern village
+is neither large nor clean. The ruins show that there were some large
+buildings here, and by consulting their Bibles and other books Frank and
+Fred learned that Kedesh was the seat of a prince of Canaan, and
+afterward belonged to the tribe of Naphtali. Barak, the famous general
+of Deborah, was born here, and for several centuries his tomb was
+pointed out, as was also that of Deborah, the prophetess. The boys had
+seen so many ruins that a brief inspection satisfied them, and they went
+to bed soon after dark.
+
+An early start was made from Kedesh, as there was a point of interest
+five hours from that place, and the guide had suggested that they would
+halt there for their mid-day meal. The country was rough, and the road
+wound among the hills, with frequent ascents and descents; but many of
+the slopes were wooded, and the path was often enclosed by vines and
+other plants, that gave evidence of a fertile soil. In the early spring,
+when the flowers are opening, the air is filled with rich odors, and the
+traveller forgets the rugged hills of Judea, and feasts his eyes on the
+beauty of the scenes that surround him.
+
+The party halted a few moments at Hunin, a small village near a fortress
+which is said to have no history. Nobody can tell when or by whom it was
+built; at any rate, there is no historical record of it, and the only
+opinions as to its antiquity are derived from the building itself. The
+foundations are very ancient, and the structure reveals the work of
+Romans, Saracens, Crusaders, Turks, and Arabs. Hunin has not been
+identified with any biblical spot, though Doctor Robinson thinks it may
+have been the Beth-rehob mentioned in the eighteenth chapter of Judges.
+
+From Hunin they went down and down a long distance to the Plain of
+Huleh, and finally reached their halting-place; it bears the modern name
+of Tell el-Kady ("the Hill of the Judge"), and is undoubtedly the site
+of Dan, frequently mentioned in the Bible.
+
+"From Dan to Beersheba," said Fred, as he slid from his saddle to the
+ground. "What is the meaning of that phrase which everybody knows?"
+
+"This was the most northern town of the Israelite kingdom," replied the
+Doctor, "and Beersheba the most southern. To go from Dan to Beersheba
+was to go from one end of Palestine to the other, just as we say in
+America, 'from Maine to California,' or 'from Boston to Brownsville.'"
+
+"Then we are at the northern end of Palestine," said Frank, "and close
+to the frontier of Syria?"
+
+"Exactly so," was the reply; "and to-morrow we shall bid farewell to
+what is called the Holy Land. We are only three miles from the boundary,
+and our camp to-night will be where we can throw a stone from one region
+into the other."
+
+With this understanding of their position the boys proceeded to examine
+the site of Dan. While they were doing so the Doctor explained that the
+word "Dan" in Hebrew means "Judge," which is exactly the signification
+of the Arabic "Kady." The place is called "the Hill," because it is a
+hill or mound shaped like the summit of a mountain, and about eighty
+feet higher than the surrounding plain. It is thought to have been once
+the crater of a volcano, and its shape certainly justifies that belief.
+The diameter of the cup or basin on the top of the mound is about half a
+mile; the whole area is covered with ruins, but they are so overgrown
+with vines and brush that an examination is difficult.
+
+Frank was ready in a few moments with a brief account of Dan, which he
+ran off very glibly, as follows:
+
+"The place was originally a Phoenician colony under the name of Laish,
+and was a populous city. A wandering band of Danites captured it, and
+named it after the founder of their tribe; they set up a graven image
+which they had stolen, and, as they had also stolen a priest along with
+the idol, they had a good basis for a system of religion.
+
+"You can read in the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Judges how the
+Danites captured Laish, and stole their gods and the priest. You can
+read in Genesis xiv. how Abraham pursued the plunderers of Sodom to Dan,
+and recovered what they had stolen; and in the twelfth chapter of the
+First Book of Kings you will learn how Jeroboam set up a golden calf in
+one of the temples of the Danites, and established its worship.
+
+"But there is something which has been preserved down to our day," Frank
+continued; "here is one of the sources of the Jordan. The Danites and
+the golden calf have been gone for many centuries, but the fountain of
+the Jordan is not exhausted. It may say with the brook, in the words of
+the poet--
+
+ "'Men may come and men may go,
+ But I go on forever.'"
+
+Following the directions of the guide, Frank and his companions went to
+the western side of the mound, where they found a pool or basin about
+fifty yards across, in which the water bubbled as in a fast-flowing
+spring. It was, indeed, a spring, and the flow was large enough to form
+a stream thirty feet wide and two feet deep. The guide said it was the
+largest of all the sources of the Jordan, but the stream it formed was
+not so long as that from Banias, and the latter again is shorter than
+the Hasbany, which rises near Hasbeiyah. The stream rising at Dan is
+called the Lesser Jordan on the maps, and unites with the Greater Jordan
+a few miles below, while all meet in Lake Huleh, as we have already
+learned.
+
+[Illustration: HEAD-SPRING OF THE JORDAN NEAR HASBEIYAH.]
+
+There is another spring inside the basin on the top of the hill, but it
+is much smaller than the great fountain. There was a fine oak-tree close
+to this spring, and it furnished a grateful shade to the travellers
+while they were taking their well-earned lunch. A halt of something more
+than an hour found them ready to move on, and it was an easy ride of
+three or four miles from Dan to Banias, or Cesarea-Philippi.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Here they were at the source of the Greater Jordan, which issues from a
+cave and forms a brook about half the volume of that which has its
+source at Dan. There are several mills on the brook, and just below the
+town is a large terebinth-tree, which forms an important feature in
+every picture of the place. It is the favorite resort of beggars and
+other idlers, and the traveller who halts beneath it is sure to be
+implored for backsheesh.
+
+[Illustration: TEREBINTH-TREE AT BANIAS.]
+
+Banias is in a picturesque spot; it is surrounded by mountains, and is
+at the base of a cone crowned by a castle, which is or was one of the
+strongest in all Syria. The ruins of the city lie all around the base of
+the cone, and some of them show that the buildings were of great extent.
+The city was of Phoenician origin, and contained temples dedicated to
+the worship of the heathen deity _Pan_, from which it was named Paneas.
+This afterward became Banias, and in the time of the Romans the worship
+of the Greek god was continued. The name was changed to
+Cesarea-Philippi, first in honor of Cæsar, and secondly to distinguish
+it from the other Cesarea on the sea-coast.
+
+"We read in the New Testament," said the Doctor, "that Christ came into
+the coasts of Cesarea-Philippi. Here he asked his disciples, 'Whom do
+men say that I, the Son of man, am?' And then followed the question,
+'Whom say ye that I am?'
+
+"You know what Peter replied to this. And then Christ spoke the words
+that have become memorable in the history of the religion that he
+founded:
+
+ "'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and
+ the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give
+ unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou
+ shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou
+ shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'
+
+"These words," the Doctor continued, "have a greater significance than
+you might suppose. They are the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church.
+Peter, the disciple to whom they were spoken, became the head of the
+Church, and the first Pope. All his successors have been regarded as the
+inheritors of his divine authority; and the efforts of the Catholic
+Church, from the time of our Saviour till the present, have been
+directed to the maintenance of the principles involved in this short
+passage of Scripture. Volumes have been written to sustain it, and other
+volumes to show its fallacy; but the words remain unchanged, and the
+power of the Church still exists.
+
+"Dean Stanley and others maintain that the words refer to the rock or
+cliff on which the Castle of Banias stands, and certainly the position
+is a commanding one. Another scriptural reference to the high mountain
+where Jesus went with three of his disciples, 'and was transfigured
+before them,' is easy to understand when we look from the ruins of
+Banias to the heights of Mount Hermon, which almost overshadow the
+source of the Jordan."
+
+The next morning the party was off at daybreak to visit the Castle of
+Banias, which is known to the Arabs as _Kul'at-es-Subeibeh_. It is about
+a thousand feet above the town, and, consequently, has a position that
+must have been of great importance before the invention of artillery.
+The path is narrow and difficult, and the spot is one of those where a
+hundred men could successfully defend themselves against an army.
+
+[Illustration: SUBSTRUCTIONS OF THE CASTLE OF BANIAS.]
+
+A couple of hours were spent in the castle, and even at the end of this
+time there was a great deal that had not been seen. The castle is on the
+crest of a peak, and the space it occupies may be roughly set down as a
+thousand feet long by two hundred in width. There are great cisterns for
+holding water, so that a garrison could not be made to suffer by thirst,
+and there are immense store-rooms in the cellars for protection against
+a long siege. The walls are unusually thick and strong, and many of the
+hewn stones are ten or twelve feet long, and with proportional width and
+depth. Taken altogether, the Castle of Banias is one of the wonders of
+Palestine, and is better preserved than the majority of its fortresses
+or other works of the architect.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE CASTLE OF BANIAS.]
+
+The view from the top of the principal tower is quite extensive; it is
+shut in on the north by the higher mountains, but is open at the south
+in the direction of the Valley of the Jordan. An opening in the
+mountains of Bashan reveals the Huleh morass, with patches of water, and
+the lake beyond it, while the chain of the mountains of Galilee closes
+the view. Farther down is the depression of the Sea of Galilee; and the
+spectator, whose imagination is easily set at work, can follow the
+tortuous course of the Jordan till he reaches its termination over the
+buried cities of the plain.
+
+From Banias to Damascus, direct, is a ride of twelve hours. It was
+thought to be too great an undertaking for the party to make the entire
+distance in a single day, and therefore they decided to camp at Artuz,
+which would shorten the journey to nine hours, and leave the remaining
+three hours for the next morning. It is a good plan to arrange one's
+journey so as to arrive in these Eastern cities early in the day, and
+not at night. There is a good deal in favor of a pleasant impression of
+a city, and certainly this is not to be had in the hours of darkness,
+and when you are thoroughly fatigued by a long ride.
+
+There was nothing of special interest on the route, with the exception
+of the spot where Paul was converted, as we read in the ninth chapter of
+the Acts of the Apostles. It is at the place where the traveller from
+Tiberias gets his first view of Damascus, with its domes and minarets
+rising from the fertile plain--dotted with villages set in rich
+orchards, and gardens watered by the Pharpar and Abana, flowing down
+from the mountains which guard them. The life-giving power of water is
+seen nowhere in all Syria to better advantage than from this point, and
+it is no wonder that Naaman exclaimed, "Are not Pharpar and Abana,
+rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?"
+
+There was little sleep in the tent of Frank and Fred that night, as the
+youths were impatient to be in Damascus, the wonderful city of the East,
+about which they had read and dreamed, but until quite recently had
+never expected to see. Here they were at last, beneath the shadows of
+Hermon, the lofty ridge of Anti-Lebanon, and amid the gardens of Artuz,
+which are the promises of the richness of the plain before them.
+
+The desert and the mountains are behind them, while in front is one of
+the oldest existing cities of the world, and one that has been little
+changed during the centuries of its existence. As was Damascus two
+thousand years ago, so almost is the Damascus of to-day. It is no wonder
+that the youths were sleepless that night; nor that they rose before the
+dawn, that they might see the rays of the rising sun gilding the
+minarets of Damascus and spreading its effulgence over the fertile land.
+
+[Illustration: A STREET IN DAMASCUS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+SIGHTS AND SCENES IN DAMASCUS.
+
+
+The party remained three days at Damascus, and found the time none too
+great for seeing this wonderful city. Frank devoted each evening to
+writing an account of what they had seen during the day, and we are at
+liberty to copy the greater part of his story:
+
+[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF DAMASCUS.]
+
+"When we reached the city we went directly to Dmitri's Hotel, which is
+the only establishment of the kind in Damascus. Dmitri is a Greek, and
+was formerly a dragoman. He knows the country very well, and his house
+is quite as comfortable as one could expect to find in this far-off
+place. The building was once the property of a wealthy resident of
+Damascus, and is in the truly Oriental style. There is a large
+court-yard with a fountain in the centre, and the rooms of the house
+mostly open from this court. When we speak of a fountain, remember we
+are talking of an Oriental one, which is a large tank of stone with
+water flowing in at one side from a pipe and flowing out at the other.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A HOUSE IN DAMASCUS.]
+
+"On the right of the fountain there is an open recess, where it is
+pleasant to sit in a warm afternoon; it contains chairs and divans, and
+is altogether an attractive spot. On the opposite side of the court is
+the parlor, which we entered by an ordinary door. There is a marble
+floor about six feet wide, and as long as the room is broad, and on each
+side of this marble floor there are steps to the rest of the room, which
+is about two feet higher. The marble part is entirely bare, with a small
+fountain in the centre, but the rest is richly carpeted, and has plenty
+of divans and large chairs. The chairs do not properly belong here, as
+they are not Oriental, but are kept out of regard for the wants of
+European visitors.
+
+"How high do you suppose the ceiling is in the centre of this parlor?
+
+"We had a curiosity to know, and so we measured it. Dmitri supplied us
+with ladders and a cord, and after a good deal of trouble we ascertained
+that it lacked only a few inches of thirty feet!
+
+"We have been much interested in the house, as it is one of the best
+types we have seen of the Oriental dwelling. There are finer houses than
+this in Damascus, but it is not easy for a foreigner to see more of them
+than the outside walls. Some of the houses have cost a great deal of
+money, even in this country where labor is very cheap.
+
+"Having looked at the house, we will go into the streets and take a
+glance at the distinctive features of Damascus.
+
+"To begin with, Damascus is supposed to have a population of one hundred
+and ten to one hundred and twenty thousand. Nobody can tell exactly, as
+the census is never taken as we take it in America, and quite probably
+nobody cares very much to know what it is. Here is the most accurate
+statement of the subject that we can find:
+
+ "Eighty-nine thousand five hundred Moslems, twelve thousand
+ Christians, five thousand Jews, and about five thousand Druses,
+ Bedouins, and other miscellaneous classifications. About half the
+ Christians belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, and the rest are
+ Latins, Maronites, Syrians, and Armenians.
+
+"As you are well aware, Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the
+world. It is mentioned in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, and very
+often in other books of the Bible, but the scriptural references do not
+tell us how old it is. The traditions of the Jews, Christians, and
+Moslems concerning the origin of Damascus do not agree, but by sifting
+them down, and harmonizing as much as possible, we may suppose it was
+founded by Uz, the son of Aram, and was a well-established city before
+the birth of Abraham. The kings of Syria lived here for more than
+three hundred years; one of them was conquered by King David, but the
+subjection did not last long. Afterward it was conquered by the
+Assyrians and added to their empire, and subsequently it was a
+possession of Persia.
+
+"It would take several pages for me to tell you the history of Damascus,
+and as it might be tedious, and you can find it in any good
+encyclopædia, we will take a jump of three thousand years or less and
+come down to our own times. The most exciting event of modern days in
+Damascus was the massacre of the Christians in 1860, when five or six
+thousand people were killed for no other reason than their belief in the
+religion of Bethlehem. The whole of the Christian quarter was burnt, not
+a house being left uninjured. About half of it has been rebuilt, but
+some of the buildings are very frail, and it will be a long time before
+this portion of Damascus resumes its former appearance.
+
+"Our guide through the streets was a Christian whose father was killed
+at the time of the massacre. The family managed to escape to the
+mountains, where they wandered for days, and were very near starvation.
+In addition to the thousands who were killed, there were many who died
+of wounds and starvation, while hundreds of women and children were sold
+into slavery.
+
+"We asked Doctor Bronson how it all happened, and he said it was an
+affair of international politics growing out of the Crimean War, and the
+support that England gave to the Turkish Government against Russia. The
+Treaty of Paris, after the Crimean War, contained a clause which was
+intended to prevent foreign intervention in the affairs of Turkey, and
+allow the Sultan to control his Christian subjects. As a Moslem
+generally believes that the best thing to do with an adherent of any
+other religion than his own is to kill him, the result of this unhappy
+provision of the treaty was to cause the Moslems to slaughter the
+Christians among them.
+
+"The massacres began in the mountains of Lebanon, and extended to
+Damascus and other places. It is thought that not far from twenty
+thousand Christians were butchered in Syria during the month of July,
+1860. The Turkish Government permitted the inhuman work to go on, and in
+several cases its officers encouraged it, particularly at Damascus and
+Hasbeiyah. The news of the affair aroused the whole of Europe. France
+sent an army to occupy the Lebanon district, and protect the Christians,
+and since that time there have been no repetitions of the dreadful
+scenes, though there is no feeling of friendliness between the
+Christians and Moslems.
+
+"So much for a bit of the history of Damascus. The massacre of 1860 was
+not by any means the only one of which this city has been the scene.
+There was a greater than this when the conqueror Tamerlane, in 1401,
+captured the city, and, after plundering it, caused large numbers of the
+inhabitants to be killed. Though many of the buildings were destroyed,
+they were soon rebuilt; and it is said to be a curious feature of
+Damascus that it has prospered under all rulers and all forms of
+government. It has changed comparatively little in appearance, and when
+any part has been destroyed, by accident or in warfare, it rises again
+almost the same as before, though the reconstruction sometimes requires
+many years.
+
+"We followed the advice of our guide, who said that, as the weather was
+fine, we had best take advantage of it to go outside the city and see
+the walls and other curiosities. He went for donkeys, and, as soon as
+they came, off we started.
+
+"We started off in more ways than one, as every member of the party had
+a tumble before he had gone a mile. The little animals are not so large
+as their brethren of Cairo, nor as sure of foot. They seemed to be fond
+of stumbling, and didn't care what the result was to their riders.
+Fortunately their size saved us from any injury, as we had very little
+distance to fall from their backs to the ground.
+
+"We went first to Bab-Shurkey, or the Eastern Gate, which is one of the
+historic entrances of Damascus.
+
+"It is not a very handsome piece of architecture, though it may have
+been so centuries ago. There was once a fine portal of Roman
+construction, but it was walled up more than eight centuries ago, and
+has remained closed ever since. The entrance now used was formerly one
+of the side arches of the Roman gate-way. We climbed to the top for a
+view of the city, and certainly the scene was a picturesque one, and
+amply repaid us for the trouble.
+
+"We looked along the 'street called Straight,' by which St. Paul entered
+Damascus. It has the same name to-day as it had in Paul's time, but is
+not exactly the same street. Perhaps you wonder what I mean?
+
+"Well, during the Roman period, and down to the time the Moslems took
+the city, this street was a hundred feet wide, and was divided by three
+rows of columns, corresponding to the three arches at the Eastern Gate.
+The two side arches have been built up, but not very regularly, and the
+street from being straight is crooked. It runs in a sort of wavy line
+from one side of the city to the other, and its houses are so close to
+each other in some places that you might shake hands from a window with
+your neighbor over the way.
+
+"There are several places where the opposite windows are not a yard
+apart, and as they project over the street it is easy to sit concealed
+and see everything that goes on below you. We went into one of the
+houses, and were permitted to look from a window, and very funny it
+seemed to be thus suspended in mid-air.
+
+"The most prominent objects in the view from the top of the gate were
+the desolate portions of the Christian quarter which I have already
+mentioned. They lay quite near where we stood, and our guide indicated
+the position of the Protestant and other churches that were burnt, and
+the mission schools and hospitals which met the same fate. Farther along
+were the roofs and domes of the city. The great mosque was an important
+feature in the view, together with the battlements of the castle just
+behind it.
+
+"From the gate we went along the base of the walls, where we saw masonry
+of all ages from the Romans down to the Turks. The foundations are
+unmistakably Roman, so the Doctor says, and the highest part of the
+walls, which were built only a few years ago, are as unmistakably
+Turkish. The guide showed us the place where St. Paul escaped from
+Damascus, as described in Second Corinthians, 'and through a window in a
+basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped.' The guide said there
+could be no doubt about the spot, as the window was there until a few
+years ago, when a Moslem owner of the property ordered it to be filled
+with brick and closed!
+
+"Not far from this place is the tomb of George the Porter, who assisted
+Paul to escape, and was martyred and canonized in consequence. A little
+farther on is the Christian cemetery, and beyond it is the foreign
+cemetery, which contains several English and American graves. Looking
+from the cemetery toward the city we noticed that there were houses on
+the walls, as in the time of the Bible; it was easy to understand how
+Paul was lowered from the wall, and how Rahab, who dwelt on the town
+wall of Jericho, let down the spies that had been exploring the Promised
+Land.
+
+"In several places the city has grown beyond the walls, and sometimes it
+is not easy to distinguish the interior from the exterior. This is
+particularly the case with the Meidan, which is just outside the walls,
+and is quite a mile long by half a mile in width. Compared with the rest
+of Damascus the paint is hardly dry on it, as it is not two hundred
+years old, and many of its buildings have actually been erected within
+the present century. The principal street is about a hundred feet wide,
+and nearly straight. When the annual caravan to Mecca sets out on its
+journey the scene is a magnificent one along this street, as there is a
+gay procession of thousands of people, preceded by the camel with the
+sacred canopy, and the officials and priests in their richest dress. Our
+guide says the procession diminishes every year, as the journey can be
+made far more easily by steamers from Beyroot than by land. It takes at
+least thirty days to go by land, and about a week or ten days by sea.
+
+"We went to the Moslem cemetery, where we saw among other things the
+tombs of two of Mohammed's wives and his daughter Fatima. The cemetery
+reminded us of the burial-places of Cairo, but we missed the splendor of
+the tombs of the Mamelukes, and also of the tombs of the Caliphs.
+
+[Illustration: BEDOUIN CAMP NEAR DAMASCUS.]
+
+"We timed our excursion so that we should be at the Salahiyeh hills,
+which overlook Damascus from the east, a little before sunset. It is a
+ride of about an hour through a village and up a gentle road to a point
+from which Damascus can be seen spread at the spectator's feet.
+
+"There lay the city embowered in its gardens, and tinted by the rays of
+the setting sun that changed every moment. It was more like a vision of
+Paradise than anything we had seen in the country, and we realized the
+force of the remark attributed to Mohammed, as he gazed upon Damascus
+from these hills:
+
+"'Man can enter Paradise but once; if I pass into Damascus I shall be
+excluded from the other Paradise reserved for the faithful.'
+
+"According to the legend, he then turned away and never entered the city
+he had come so far to see.
+
+"The Arabs regard Damascus with reverence, and often speak of it as
+enthusiastically as did Mohammed on the occasion I have mentioned. It
+is, indeed, a beautiful and an interesting city, and ranks next to
+Cairo, which it greatly resembles in many things. Something must be
+allowed for Oriental exaggeration or we shall make too much of Damascus;
+and Doctor Bronson says the city, from its position, is the cause of a
+great deal of the admiration bestowed upon it. We asked him how it was,
+and he explained it in this way:
+
+"Bear in mind that Damascus is in a fertile plain watered by the Pharpar
+and Abana, flowing from the mountains and never failing in any season of
+the year. These rivers are carried through Damascus, and consequently
+the city has an abundance of water at all times.
+
+"Now, bear again in mind that, though in a fertile plain, the city is on
+the edge of a desert, and the traveller who comes here from the east has
+traversed a region of barrenness. For days and days he has seen no trees
+or other green things, water has been scanty and poor, and he must take
+great precautions to save himself from perishing by thirst. Is it any
+wonder that when he comes to Damascus, in the midst of its luxuriant
+gardens, and sees the fountains flowing at every street-corner and
+sparkling in every dwelling, he must think he has entered Paradise, or
+will doubt whether he is awake or dreaming?
+
+"As the sun went down behind the range of Anti-Lebanon we descended the
+hills and re-entered the city. There was nothing to be seen in the
+evening. Damascus goes early to bed, and so went we.
+
+"Next morning we were out in good season, and off for our round of
+sight-seeing. We visited the historic places of Damascus, including the
+house of Ananias the high-priest, and other buildings connected with St.
+Paul's stay in the city; and we went outside of the eastern gate a short
+distance to the leper hospital, which is supposed to stand on the site
+of the house of Naaman the leper. Some of the patients were in front of
+the building, and were sad objects to look upon. Some were blind, others
+were much swollen about the face, hands, feet, or limbs, and there was
+one whose face was covered with scales. The guide said that the edges of
+these scales when lifted revealed raw and inflamed flesh, and many of
+the patients were masses of sores. We did not wish to go inside,
+although we were assured that there was no danger of contracting the
+disease.
+
+[Illustration: A SCENE IN DAMASCUS.]
+
+"Doctor Bronson says this dreadful disease was once very common in
+Europe, and nearly every city and town had its leper hospitals. From the
+sixth to the thirteenth centuries it was spread from one end of Europe
+to the other, particularly after the wars of the Crusades. An order of
+chivalry, under the name of the Knights of St. Lazarus (named after
+Lazarus the beggar), had for its special mission the care of victims of
+leprosy, and after they were expelled from Jerusalem in the twelfth
+century they established a hospital at Paris. If you have been in Paris
+you will remember the _Gare St. Lazare_, the terminal station of the
+Western Railway, which is close by the _Rue St. Lazare_, and a walk of
+five or six minutes from the Grand Opera House. The leper hospital of
+Paris was in this neighborhood, and the name of the order of monks that
+founded it is preserved in the street and railway-station.
+
+"Leprosy has almost entirely disappeared from Europe; it is seen
+occasionally in Scandinavia and Italy, and a few cases have been
+reported in Spain. It exists in the East, but is not so prevalent as it
+was a thousand years ago, and once in a while you will hear of a leper
+in America and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Doctor Bronson says he
+was once invited by Professor Pardee, Dean of the Medical College of New
+York, to see a case of leprosy from one of the mountain counties of
+Virginia. The patient was a negro, and, as far as the doctors could
+ascertain, he was suffering from leprosy of the same type as we find
+to-day in Damascus.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF ABD-EL-KADR.]
+
+"We passed the house of Abd-el-Kader, the Arab chief who fought the
+French in Algeria for a long time, but was finally conquered, and
+required to choose some place not in Africa for his residence. He
+selected Damascus, and has lived here ever since, with the exception of
+an occasional visit to Paris, where he is always treated with a great
+deal of respect. At the time of the massacre in 1860 he sheltered a
+great many Christians in his house, and did everything in his power to
+stop the bloodshed. When the war broke out between France and Germany he
+offered his military services to the country that had conquered him, but
+the government did not think it good policy to accept them.
+
+"The bazaars of Damascus are so much like those of Cairo that it is
+unnecessary to describe them, as the picture of one will be almost
+identically that of the other. The mode of bargaining is the same; and
+if there is any difference at all in testing a stranger's patience it
+is in favor of Damascus.
+
+"One of our party wanted to buy some of the silk handkerchiefs for which
+Syria is famous, and we stopped in the silk bazaar for that purpose. The
+merchant asked twenty francs, and the buyer offered six; after
+chaffering for a full hour they met at twelve francs, and the
+transaction was closed.
+
+"The merchant then unrolled a piece of silk, which he assured us was of
+native manufacture. While he was praising it, and declaring he was
+offering it for half its value, he unrolled a little farther, when out
+dropped from the end of the roll a ticket with the name of a French
+manufacturer at Lyons!
+
+"He took it in as hastily as he could, but was not quick enough to
+prevent our seeing and reading it. This confirmed what we had heard
+before, that a great deal of the silk sold in Constantinople, Cairo,
+Beyroot, Damascus, and other Oriental places as native manufacture, is
+made in Europe in imitation of the genuine article. The counterfeit is
+so well executed that it cannot be distinguished from the genuine except
+by an expert, and frequently the only difference is in favor of the
+finish of the European goods.
+
+"We went through one bazaar after another, and were offered all sorts of
+articles we did not want, together with a few that we did. What we most
+wanted were the genuine Damascus blades, and we looked for them in the
+arms bazaar for quite a while.
+
+[Illustration: SWORD-BLADES OF DAMASCUS.]
+
+"They offered us a good many swords, but none that came up to the
+stories of the ancient weapons, which could be tied in a knot or doubled
+up into a loop without the least injury. They asked a hundred dollars
+for one, but fell slowly to twenty, and as this seemed too cheap for an
+article once worth at least a thousand dollars, we declined to buy.
+
+"While we were looking at these weapons Doctor Bronson told us of the
+original Damascus blades, about which so much has been written. He said
+they were made in the early centuries of the Christian era, and the art
+was lost when Tamerlane carried the artisans away after his capture of
+the city. It was said they could be bent into many shapes, would cut
+through wood and iron without being marred or indented, and the old
+warriors frequently divided their victims in two from head to foot with
+a single stroke of one of these famous weapons. A good deal must be
+allowed for Oriental exaggeration, but there is no doubt that the
+Damascus blade was the finest ever constructed. It all depended upon the
+steel and the process of making it.
+
+"We asked the Doctor if anybody in modern times had been able to produce
+anything like the swords of Damascus.
+
+"'A great many attempts have been made,' said he, 'but none have
+completely succeeded. The nearest approach to success was by General
+Anosoff, a Russian officer in charge of the steel and iron works at
+Zlatoust, in Siberia. After many years of experiments he managed to
+produce weapons with nearly all the qualities of the original Damascus
+blades; he succeeded in making Damascus steel by four different
+processes, the most practical being that of melting iron in crucibles,
+with one-twelfth its weight of graphite, and some other things you can
+learn about in any good book on steel manufacture. The blades of General
+Anosoff were superior to any other modern ones in toughness, elasticity,
+and keenness of edge, and they had those peculiar marks known as
+"watering," exactly like the ancient blades.'
+
+[Illustration: DAMASK GOODS.]
+
+"From the arms bazaar we went to the great mosque, and then to the
+Citadel, passing on the way a shop devoted to the sale of those peculiar
+fabrics known as damask, which detained us a few minutes. Damascus for
+centuries had the monopoly of the manufacture of this article, but it is
+now all over Europe, and the city retains little more than the name. We
+asked to be shown the factory where it was made, but they said the
+workmen were out for a holiday, and the place was closed, but if we
+called around next week they could oblige us. Of course they knew we
+would be off in a day or two, as nobody remains long here, and so we
+could only smile and thank them for their politeness. But we didn't buy.
+
+"The mosque occupies an area of five hundred feet by three hundred, and
+is an imposing building, on the whole, though inferior to some of the
+Moslem edifices we saw at Cairo. The central dome is a hundred and
+twenty feet high, and rests on four massive pillars; the shrine on the
+eastern side is elaborately carved, and there is a cave beneath it in
+which the head of John the Baptist is said to be preserved in a golden
+casket.
+
+[Illustration: ATTACK ON THE CITADEL OF DAMASCUS BEFORE THE INVENTION OF
+GUNPOWDER.]
+
+"Back of the mosque is the Citadel, which was once a strong fortress,
+but is now little better than a ruined pile of brick and stone. Most of
+the rooms are unfit for occupation, and we were not allowed to go
+inside. The castle played a prominent part in the defence of Damascus
+before the invention of artillery, but it is of no consequence now that
+we have gunpowder and the weapons for using it."
+
+[Illustration: PAUL LED INTO DAMASCUS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+DAMASCUS TO BEYROOT.--THE RUINS OF BAALBEC.--FAREWELL.
+
+
+From Damascus to Beyroot there is the only good wagon road in all Syria;
+it was built by a French company under a concession from the Turkish
+Government, and is a fine specimen of engineering skill. Twice a day a
+diligence or stage-coach runs each way; the distance is nearly a hundred
+miles, and the journey is made in about thirteen hours. The company has
+its own freight-wagons, and sends a train out every day to carry
+merchandise at certain fixed rates. A heavy toll is levied on all
+parties using the road, whether for passengers or freight, or even for
+saddle-animals, and it is an odd sight to see trains of camels and
+horses plodding through the rocks and mud of the old bridle-path side by
+side with the macadamized road.
+
+[Illustration: A CARAVAN NEAR DAMASCUS.]
+
+Frank and Fred wanted to travel by this modern road, but their
+enthusiasm was a trifle dampened by the suggestion of the Doctor.
+
+"We are going from here to Baalbec," said the Doctor, "where we will see
+the ruins of the Temple of the Sun. The place is about twenty miles from
+the carriage-road, and will require an outfit of saddle-horses and a
+dragoman from Shtora, the nearest point on the road. I have thought it
+best to arrange with Ali to accompany us to Baalbec, and from there to
+Shtora, where he can leave us, and we can then have a ride on the
+company's route to the sea-coast. This will give you an experience of
+carriage travelling in Syria, and put us to less trouble than any other
+plan we could adopt."
+
+Of course there was no dissenting voice when the scheme of the good
+Doctor was propounded, and the whole party announced its readiness to
+move whenever he gave the word.
+
+[Illustration: THE RIVER AMONG THE ROCKS.]
+
+They started in the afternoon for a ride of about four hours to the
+Fountain of Fijeh, one of the sources of the Abana. For an hour they
+followed the road of the French company, and then turned away to the
+right among chalky hills so rugged and bare as to have in places the
+appearance of snow. Sometimes they looked down upon little valleys rich
+with orchards of olive and fig trees, and a moment later there was
+hardly a green thing to be seen. In many places the river wound among
+rocks so steep that a safe passage to the edge of the water was
+impossible to find. One of the villages that they passed was perched on
+a hill-side so abrupt that it was only to be reached by a winding path.
+The scenery was of the wildest character, and the boys were glad that
+the Doctor had determined upon this route instead of the more prosaic
+one of the French company's road.
+
+The antiquity of Damascus was shown by an engineering work between two
+of the villages near the Barada; it is an ancient aqueduct which was
+evidently made to carry water from the Fijeh Fountain to Damascus. The
+name of its builder is unknown, but tradition says it was made by
+Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, about the middle of the third century. It was
+never completed, and from the excellence of the water-supply of Damascus
+it was evidently not needed.
+
+Beyond this aqueduct they wound up a narrow valley or glen, and the
+greater part of the way were compelled to follow a path cut in the
+sloping rock. The guide pointed out a spot where the season before a
+traveller fell from his horse, and was so severely injured against the
+rocks that he lived only a few hours. The place was favorable to
+accidents, and it seemed to the boys a remarkable circumstance that a
+single week should pass in the season of travel without loss of life.
+
+The valley widened a little, but still retained its precipitous or
+sharply sloping sides; the widenings gave opportunities for fig and
+olive orchards to find a footing, and by-and-by they came to a small
+village, where the guide called a halt and the party dismounted.
+
+[Illustration: THE FIJEH SOURCE OF THE ABANA.]
+
+They were at Ain Fijeh, or the Fountain of Fijeh, one of the sources of
+the Abana. It has a right to be called the principal source, as it is
+much larger than any other, though at a lower elevation. Frank and Fred
+pronounced it one of the finest springs they had seen in the country,
+and recalled their visit to the source of the Jordan at Dan.
+
+The spring comes from a cave in a limestone rock, and pours out with a
+force which suggests a great pressure of water behind it. Directly above
+the mouth of the cave are the remains of a temple, with portions of the
+walls standing, and there is a similar building, not quite so badly
+injured, a little way to the right. The fountain is large enough to form
+at once a stream three or four feet deep and twenty-five or thirty in
+width, which goes dashing over the rocks as though it had been flowing
+for miles down the side of a mountain. The banks of the stream are lined
+with bushes, and it is impossible to get a view of any distance through
+them owing to their density.
+
+The camp had been formed on the bank of the stream where there was an
+open space, and our friends slept through the night lulled by the
+murmurs of the waters, and the sighing of the wind among the trees that
+encircled their camping-ground. An early start was made in the morning
+for another ride among the cliffs of Anti-Lebanon. The route was much
+like that of the day before, and carried them to a higher elevation,
+where they often enjoyed views of great extent.
+
+They passed the ruins of Abila, a Roman city of considerable importance
+at the beginning of the Christian era, and then they wound up and up
+till the ridge of the mountain was passed, and the descent began to the
+plain where Baalbec stands. It was a long ride, and in some places a
+dreary one, and when they reached the famous Temple of the Sun the night
+had fallen, and the stars were out in the sky.
+
+We will call upon Fred for a description of Baalbec and its wonderful
+ruins:
+
+"We were very tired when we got to Baalbec, and did not care much for
+ruins or anything else. But a good sleep refreshed us, and when we
+started out for our day's work you would not have suspected we were the
+worn-out travellers of the night before. That shows the effect of a good
+sleep in the pure air of the mountains of Syria.
+
+"The pillars and columns of the temple that are still in position can be
+seen a long way off, and nobody needs the words of the guide to know
+what they are. Our camp was right in the centre of the ruins, and so we
+had a view of them by night as we rode in among them. They seemed
+enormously large then, and, strange to say, they didn't appear much
+smaller when we had daylight for looking at them. The fact is they are
+immense, and the most stupendous thing we have seen since we left Egypt.
+
+[Illustration: THE RUINS OF BAALBEC.]
+
+"Nobody knows when these temples were built; but it is generally
+believed that the city to which they belonged was the Heliopolis of the
+Greeks and Romans. There is no authentic history of the place earlier
+than the fourth century, but coins of Heliopolis have been found of the
+second century, which show it was then a Roman city. There are three
+temples here, and they bear the names of 'The Great Temple,' 'The Temple
+of the Sun,'and 'The Circular Temple.' We have been through them, or,
+rather, of what remains of them, and to say we have been impressed by
+their grandeur is to convey a very faint idea of our feelings. We have
+seen nothing in the country to compare with them, and our admiration for
+their builders is as great as it can possibly be.
+
+"It would take many pages for me to describe the courts, and porticos,
+and portals, and other parts or accessories of these temples at Baalbec,
+and I should turn your head into an ant-hill of figures long before I
+could get through. You would be constantly reminded of what we told you
+of the temples of Karnak and Thebes, in Egypt, and perhaps you might
+grow impatient before I reached the end. Rather than run the risk of
+anything of the kind I'll jump all that, and come at once to what kept
+us in a string of exclamation points all the time we were walking among
+the ruins.
+
+"The great wonder of Baalbec was the size of the stones used in the work
+of construction. Wherever you go, whether in the vaulted arches beneath
+the platform, through the subterranean passages that were used as
+stables in the Middle Ages, or among the walls and the rows of columns
+in court and portico, the immensity of the stones takes away your
+breath. Hewn stones twelve, fifteen, or twenty feet long, and
+proportionally wide and high, are in the walls, and as regularly laid up
+as though they were common bricks.
+
+"When you have become accustomed to these, the guide takes you to where
+there are blocks, not a few but many, varying from twenty-four to thirty
+feet long, and proportionally wide and deep. Some of them are way up in
+the air at the tops of columns sixty or seventy feet high, and you can't
+help wondering what kind of machinery must have been used to get them
+there.
+
+"You get tired of saying 'Here's another,' 'Look at this,' 'See this
+one,' and similar expressions, and then you tell the guide as much. You
+are tired of seeing so many of these great blocks.
+
+"Then he takes you round to the western wall, and points to a section of
+it. Your eyes follow the direction of his hand.
+
+"In that wall, twenty feet above the ground, are three stones, lying end
+to end. They are thirteen feet square at the ends, and their respective
+lengths are sixty-three, sixty-three and three-quarters, and sixty-four
+feet.
+
+"Stop and think how large one of the stones is. Measure off sixty-four
+feet in the garden, and then look thirteen feet up the side of the
+house, and another thirteen feet along the ground; then you'll have some
+idea of these immense stones. Mark Twain says, in 'The Innocents
+Abroad,' that each of these stones is about as large as three
+street-cars placed end to end, but a third higher and wider than a
+street-car; or it might be better represented by two railway
+freight-cars of the largest pattern coupled together.
+
+"In the quarries whence these stones were taken, a mile from the
+temples, is another stone considerably larger, but it has never been
+moved or even detached from the bed-rock, and, therefore, Doctor Bronson
+says it doesn't count.
+
+"You ask how these stones were moved and laid into the walls and
+platforms. We'll tell you as soon as we find out.
+
+"The people that built these temples knew some things we don't know,
+just as the ancient Egyptians did. But we can console ourselves with the
+reflection that we have many things of which they were ignorant. We have
+steamships and railways, the telephone and telegraph, glass in our
+windows, umbrellas, oysters on the half shell, ice-cream,
+ready-made-clothing stores, pug-dogs, and I don't know what else. We are
+far more comfortable than they were, and if we could only satisfy our
+curiosity about their modes of moving these enormous blocks of stone
+there would be nothing to envy them for.
+
+"So much for Baalbec. We spent the forenoon there, and made a thorough
+examination of the ruins; then we had a substantial lunch and started
+for Shtora, twenty miles away. Our route was along the Plain of Buka,
+which lies between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and is a fertile strip of
+land from two to five miles wide. There are few trees on the plain, in
+spite of the fertility of the soil. Rain had fallen the night before,
+and the soil was sticky, like that of some of our Western prairies, so
+that lumps were continually forming on our horses' feet. We passed
+several villages, and also a good-sized town called Zahleh; it lies at
+the foot of the slope of the Lebanon mountain, and is surrounded with
+orchards and vineyards.
+
+"The guide said that Zahleh was the most important wine-producing place
+in the Lebanon district; he pointed out a wine-press close by the side
+of our road, and as we wanted to rest the horses a few moments, to say
+nothing of ourselves, we stopped long enough to look at it.
+
+[Illustration: MODERN WINE-PRESS.]
+
+"It didn't take long for us to examine the machinery used for making
+wine. There was a wooden box, about ten feet square and four feet deep,
+standing on short posts, and having a ladder against the side. The box
+is filled with grapes, which are brought in baskets, and then half a
+dozen men climb up the ladder, steady themselves by means of cords
+hanging from the ceiling, and tread out the juice with their naked feet.
+The juice runs from a spout in one side-end of the box, and is caught in
+a tub, whence it is put into casks or jars and left to ferment. The
+ancient Egyptians used almost identically the same sort of press, and
+the mode of preparing the wine has not been varied at all since the days
+of the Bible.
+
+[Illustration: BRIDGE OVER THE LITANY.]
+
+"Our route was quite near the river Litany, and once we crossed it on a
+bridge of a single arch, which was said to have been built long ago--how
+long ago we could not ascertain. The last three or four miles of our
+ride was along a carriage-road, and just at dusk we reached Shtora,
+where we were to pass the night.
+
+"The hotel at Shtora was kept by a Greek with an Italian wife, and they
+made us quite comfortable in a rough way. We had cots for beds and
+plenty of covering, and they gave us an excellent supper and an equally
+excellent breakfast. Doctor Bronson had arranged at Damascus for a
+special carriage to be ready at Shtora to carry us over the Lebanon to
+Beyroot; the carriage came while we were at supper, and the
+hotel-keeper, who was also agent of the road company, told us we could
+start at seven o'clock in the morning, and be in Beyroot by two in the
+afternoon.
+
+"We were off at the hour named, and soon were climbing the eastern slope
+of the Lebanon. Up and up we went, the air growing colder as we
+ascended, and calling into use all the overcoats and wraps we could
+muster. From the zigzags of the road we looked down on the plain we had
+left: at times it seemed as though we could toss a pebble into the
+Litany, which was reduced to a winding thread in the green carpet of
+Buka. The mountain grew more and more desolate with every mile of our
+ascent, and when we stopped to change horses at the station we walked a
+long way in advance in an effort to get warm.
+
+"We had said good-bye to Ali and his horses at Shtora, and our only
+guide now was the Arab driver, whose knowledge of French was confined to
+a few words. We tried in vain to learn the names of the places we were
+passing. We especially wanted to know if we were near the famous grove
+of the cedars of Lebanon, but our efforts were unrewarded.
+
+[Illustration: THE CEDARS OF LEBANON.]
+
+"At the first station where we changed horses the manager, a Frenchman,
+said the cedars were several miles to the north, over a rough and
+difficult road which was inaccessible to carriages. He said the grove
+was less than half a mile square, and contained about four hundred trees
+of all sizes. Most of the trees are young, and not more than a dozen are
+of any great antiquity. The largest is about forty feet in
+circumference, and it is supposed to be the oldest; and there are thirty
+or forty which are each from three to five feet in diameter.
+
+"This is the grove from which the timber for Solomon's Temple is
+supposed to have been taken. There were formerly many cedar groves in
+Syria, but the most of them have been cut down, or have disappeared from
+climatic causes. No care is taken of the few cedars that remain;
+visitors cut and hack them as much as they please. The Arabs take the
+branches for fuel, and the goats nibble the young shoots so that no new
+trees can grow. In a hundred years, or perhaps less, the famous cedars
+of Lebanon will have ceased to exist.
+
+"Now we are on the summit of Lebanon, five thousand six hundred feet
+above the level of the Mediterranean! The sea is far below us, its
+dark-blue surface filling the western horizon, and between us and the
+water is the slope of Lebanon and the belt of coast. The driver gathers
+his reins, turns down the brake a little--just enough to steady the
+carriage, but not sufficient to impede the progress of the horses. Away
+they go at a rapid trot, and occasionally at a gallop. The ride was
+tedious as we slowly ascended the other side of Lebanon, and this
+exhilarating speed is an admirable contrast.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF BEYROOT, LOOKING TOWARD THE HARBOR.]
+
+"Down, and down, and down! The air grows warmer, the clouds that were
+hovering about the mountain-top are breaking, and the sunlight comes
+pouring through the rifts, warming our shivering frames and gilding the
+rocks with a tint of gold. The spots of green on the ground below us
+grow every minute till they develop into villages and orchards, and one,
+clinging at the edge of the sea, is larger than any of the others. The
+driver waves his hand toward this spot and pronounces the word
+'Beyroot.' There lies the city where our wanderings in Palestine and
+Syria will come to an end.
+
+"The Mediterranean sparkled in the sunlight, its blue surface stippled
+with white sails or darkened by the trail of smoke from the funnels of a
+steamer. An irregular streak of foam marked where the waves broke along
+the beach and separated land from sea. In one hour of our descent the
+chill of winter was exchanged for the genial air of spring, and in
+another hour spring was turned to summer. Oranges and citrons were on
+the trees, olives and figs abounded, the fields were luxuriant, and it
+seemed a dream that we had come so quickly from one climate to another.
+
+"We drove to the principal hotel, and our ride was at an end. After
+arranging our toilets, for which we found ample materials in the welcome
+trunks that had been sent from Jaffa, we went out for a view of Beyroot.
+
+"We found the streets were not unlike those of Jaffa, Jerusalem, or
+Damascus in their general features, so far as the old part of the city
+is concerned. We had expected this, and therefore were not
+disappointed; but we had not expected to find the streets in the new
+part of Beyroot as wide and handsome as they are. The place has an
+appearance of prosperity and activity more than any other we have seen
+since leaving Alexandria; it has a large European population, and a good
+many factories, business houses of various kinds, and kindred
+establishments, all conducted by foreigners. The entire population is
+said to be more than eighty thousand, and some authorities declare it to
+be little, if any, short of one hundred thousand. About a third of the
+inhabitants are Moslems; the remaining two-thirds include native
+Christians, Jews, Druses, and a good many foreign nationalities.
+
+"Beyroot is the ancient Berytus, and some authorities identify it with
+Berothah or Berothai of the Bible. It is a very old city, as we have no
+distinct record of the time when it was founded, and it is known to have
+been destroyed and rebuilt one hundred and forty years before the
+Christian era. It has always been a fairly prosperous city, but the
+period of its greatest advance has been within the past twenty years.
+
+"We hired a carriage for a drive along the coast to Nahr el-Kelb--Dog
+River--passing the spot where St. George killed the dragon. If you have
+any doubt about the truth of the story, you can be convinced by
+borrowing an English twenty-shilling piece and studying the picture of
+the performance represented on one side of the coin. Dog River runs
+through a rocky ravine, and on its sides there are Greek, Roman,
+Assyrian, and Egyptian inscriptions. They are supposed to commemorate
+the occupation of the country by the armies of the various nations
+represented: the Assyrian sculptures are estimated to date back at least
+twenty-five centuries, while the Egyptian are of a period at least six
+hundred years older.
+
+[Illustration: MISSION SCHOOL IN SYRIA.]
+
+"We returned from Dog River the way we came, and then drove to one of
+the mission schools of the city. Beyroot is an important field of
+missionary enterprise, and one result is that the proportion of persons
+who cannot read and write is smaller than in any other city of Syria.
+The American Protestant Mission has a fine array of buildings, and, in
+addition to the ordinary schools of instruction, it has a theological
+seminary and a literary and medical college; then it has a
+printing-office, where a great deal of useful matter is printed,
+including a weekly newspaper, and it has established schools in the
+villages of the Lebanon and through other parts of the country. Many
+famous men have been connected with this mission in the past fifty
+years, and their labors have been warmly appreciated by the supporters
+of the enterprise.
+
+"Then there are the British Syrian schools, supported by English
+donations, and there is a school maintained by the Church of Scotland.
+The French have several schools, orphan asylums, convents, and churches;
+the Germans have a good representation in the same way; and the
+Russians, Italians, and Greeks have not been behind the other
+nationalities of Beyroot in providing educational advantages. It is
+probable that more money has been expended in Beyroot in missionary
+enterprises than in any other city of its size in the entire East.
+
+[Illustration: FOUNTAIN AT BEYROOT.]
+
+"I must not forget the beautiful bay on which the city stands. It is a
+fine body of water of semicircular shape, opening to the north; as you
+look from the anchorage the city seems to rise in a series of terraces
+till it reaches the enclosing hills backed by lofty Lebanon. From any of
+the hills back of the town, or from the front of the old sea-wall, there
+is a splendid view over the water. Our hotel veranda fronts on the bay,
+and we have greatly enjoyed the charming panorama it affords.
+
+"But here I must stop. Frank has just come in to say that the steamer is
+smoking furiously at her anchorage, and we must go on board in half an
+hour. So, good-bye for the present.
+
+"And good-bye to Egypt and the Holy Land.
+
+"We have enjoyed our journey ever and ever so much. We have seen many
+things of biblical, historical, and present interest, and we trust that
+the lessons they teach have not fallen on inattentive ears.
+
+"And, so trusting and believing, it is sad for us to write
+
+"THE END."
+
+[Illustration: LEBANON.]
+
+
+
+
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+THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Part I. Adventures of Two Youths in
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+THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Part II. Adventures of Two Youths in
+a Journey to Siam and Java. With Descriptions of Cochin-China, Cambodia,
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+THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Part III. Adventures of Two Youths
+in a Journey to Ceylon and India. With Descriptions of Borneo, the
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+THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Part IV. Adventures of Two Youths in
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+HUNTING ADVENTURES ON LAND AND SEA. Part I. The Young Nimrods in North
+America. A Book for Boys. By THOMAS W. KNOX. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo,
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+
+HUNTING ADVENTURES ON LAND AND SEA. Part II. The Young Nimrods Around
+the World. A Book for Boys. By THOMAS W. KNOX. Copiously Illustrated.
+8vo, Cloth, $2.50.
+
+THE HISTORY OF A MOUNTAIN. By ÉLISÉE RECLUS. Illustrated by L. Bennett.
+12mo, Cloth, $1.25.
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+WHAT MR. DARWIN SAW IN HIS VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD IN THE SHIP "BEAGLE."
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+FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. Glimpses of American Natural History. By ERNEST
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+THE FOUR MACNICOLS. By WILLIAM BLACK, Author of "A Princess of Thule,"
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+TOBY TYLER; OR, TEN WEEKS WITH A CIRCUS. By JAMES OTIS. Illustrated.
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+THE BOYS OF '76. A History of the Battles of the Revolution. By CHARLES
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+BUILDING THE NATION. By CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN. Illustrated. 8vo,
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+THE ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST. By LUCIEN BIART. With 117
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+AN INVOLUNTARY VOYAGE. By LUCIEN BIART. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25.
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+THE BOYHOOD OF MARTIN LUTHER; or, The Sufferings of the Little
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+
+THE STORY OF THE PEASANT-BOY PHILOSOPHER. (Founded on the Early Life of
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+MAYHEW. 16mo, Cloth, $1.25.
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+YOUNG BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. A Story to show how Young Benjamin Learned the
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+THE WONDERS OF SCIENCE; or, Young Humphry Davy (the Cornish Apothecary's
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+SCIENCE FOR THE YOUNG. By JACOB ABBOTT. Illustrated. 4 vols.:
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+ROUND THE WORLD; including a Residence in Victoria, and a Journey by
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+
+THE SELF-HELP SERIES. By SAMUEL SMILES.
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+THE SERVANTS OF THE STOMACH. By JEAN MACÉ. Reprinted from the London
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+
+THE ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY. By the Rev. J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.L.S.
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+
+ * * * * *
+
+PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.
+
+_Any of the above works sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of
+the United States, on receipt of the price._
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Travellers in the Far East.
+Part Fourth, by Thomas W. Knox
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58837 ***
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2026-01-05 03:09:40 +0000