Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1851-06-12
Three Months i'm Egypt.

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published in Egypt-at Cairo, in Arabic
which appears in small sheet, monthly, at
four dollars year, which every one in the
employment of the Pasha, is obliged to pay
for. A surgeon of the hospital informed me
that although charged for it, a copy rarely
came to hand,-and when one did arrive,
he could not read word of it. 1t is her
! aid in praise of the powers that be; with
scraps of orders for one party and another
The amount of wheat, beans, peas and
flaxseed raised in Egypt is truly amazing
, Mounds of these grains are to be seen in the
open air near Boulac that must contain mil
lions Of bushels. Rain never falls to injure
it, however long exposed. At Alexandria,
boats are continually arriving from up the
Nile, laden in bulk with breadstuff, which is
conveyed into granary of vast size by pour
ing it through the roof From there it is con-
vcyed in cars, moveing on a railway track to
the end of the wharf, stretching out into the
harbor. BY raising a valve, they are empt-
led into scows, to be carried into vessels lying
near, which float it principally to England.
Seed is furnished the farmer for sowing the
land-every inch of which is the property of
the government. He must pay for the use of
the soil, not what he could voluntarily,-but
the price fixed by the Pasha. When the crop
is harvested, the rent, the seed and the inter-
est whatever it may be, or the value of it
while in the service of the cultivator, must
be handed over to a receiving officer; what
ever remains he is farther compelled to sell
to the Pasha at his price, and not his own.-
Thus every kernel runs into the magazine at
Alexandria. About 80 cents Is allowed him
for every twelve bushels--transportat mon-
ey. When weighed and measured, laborers
obtain not far from 10 to 80 cents day for
carrying it in bags from the canal to the
storehouse. All in all, the government pays
! somewhere near three dollars for eight BUSH
/ els of wheat for which it receives of the for
eign merchant an advance that brings a prof
! it without precedent anywhere else. There
being no part of the year when the fields are
not in bearing save at the annual overflow.
! Egypt under generous system of encour-
agement, and improved agricultural instru-
ments, as in the days of her pristine glory,
might feed the whole world.
Grand Cairo, the capital-so called 20 dis
! tnguish it from Old Cairo,-or Fastat which
for some centuries was the capital, is made
up of singular mass of odd-looking and more
oddly contrived half stone, brick and mud
houses. Some rather fine edifces are met
with, however, but they are novelties. The
streets rarely exceed five feet in width. In
the thickest Of the town,-dwellings by jut-
ting-out stories as they ascend, touch the top,
''almost to the exclusion of the suns rays
Whatever is new there, is fabricated out of
something old. Thus new house is made
out of stone, brick and mortar, that may
have figured hundred times before. Wher-
ever there has been town in Egypt, how
ever remote the epoch Of its existence, there
is from one to several mounds of great size
varying from 10 to 80 feet in height, which
appear to be wholly formed of broken bricks,
pieces Of dressed and other kinds of stone,
fragments of pillars, cornices and smashed
red earthen vessels. Whoever wishes to e.
rect an edifce, has only to tap one of those
anomalous piles of rubbish to procure materl-
ais Thus the wall of modern stable may
have been walls in the palace of Menes the
first King; next in Shishak's and by and by
they will be liberated from their present ig-
noble durance to take a new position, in
future cycle. Hundreds of small boys and
girls are employed in carrying trays of NOR
tar on their heads, marshalled by overseers,
who direct their movements with a stick
They pour down the contents on the top of
the uprising work. mason plumps stone
into it with his hands, trowls rarely being in
requisition in ordinary undertakings. Wo-
men are seen mixing mortar with their hands
in sufficient quantity to keep the workmen
literally supplied. One straight street had
been commenced in Ciaro before Mahommed
Ais death,-no one knows when it will be
finished. Alexandria was re-laid out by some
master-spirit, and from its excellent harbor,
fine commercial advantages, and the only sea-
port worth having in Egypt, imagine it will
again become the capital, as it once was to
the neglect of Cairo which is in waning
old age. Still. Cairo is curiosity from be-
/ inc the focus of MANNERS and customs which
are the antipodes of Christian communities.
1t is queer sight to see mighty multituds of
men dressed in some respects so nearly like
the females, that were it not for their turbans,
it would be difficult to determine to which
sex they belonged. Through the day the