New-York daily tribune., 1859-06-29


,ry touses and wretched mud villages on the left.
Nv and by, We catch view Of Pompeys Pillar,
erect on hillside, if the pride that dictated its
construction had not departed from the fallen land,
and then g swerye inland In despite Of the tenn
ner.ture Of $50 in the shade, few of the novices
can resist the temptation TO keep an eye on the
country they are hurrylDg through. Ihey behold
dead alluviAl level broken here and there win
mud. heap, representing village, or with lew
palm-trees scattered at melancholy distances. NOW
and then a group of naked children are seen guard
inc few mud-crusted buffaloes, wallowing all In
the ditch which follows the railway, to serve as u
drain during the periodical inundations; the whole
eountry is alive with f0eks Of will duck paddy
birds. white cranes, and dozen other
mytholoeical varieties; and now and then
a camel rumbes along or donkey smbes,
bearing some worthy Egyptian to his destination
Over all brazen heaven Is spread, and the very
draft produced by the moving train seems warm. At
noon we see the Nile, and stop on It's LEFT bank. for
the ralw ay bridge rot built yet and We must cross
in steamer t. the opposite shore, to the village Of
Kafr-A -Azzst Down We march, surrounded by hl-
thy crowds clamoriDg for Buchsheesh, which none
of them receive, but many hearty cursiDg 10 stall
wart English and prlckly French. All sentiment
is postponed TO cooler season, as We are ierried
over the historic river; aud We toll up toe bank,
over . seemingly interminabe tract of sunbaked
mud and into the refreshment- room, with feeling
Of surprise that We are equal TO the eIcrtion OF eI
istence. Fortunately however, the French and
Egyptian servants of the Transit Company have
WIND of our arrival and there no lack of drDkables
as well a. eatables, with which We become mode
rately cooled and refreshed In about an hour the
mails and baggage are all brought across, and by l
o'clock the little coteries formed at Alexandra are
arranged in fresh Carriages en- route for Caro-.
Cairo was reached at little after O'Clock, and
here we learn that We are not TO leave tor Saez
before O'Clock. In a few minutes everybody is
of for the hotels-the Orient and Shepherds, both
institutions of the place. Then follow new incur
sons into the penetratralia of Arab fe irreverent
laughter in holy places of Sultan Mahmoud's and
Sultan GOuruk's mosques; drinking OF coffee IN
baazars, and buy Dg of many pipestems, slippers,
ftzzes, and the like, till O'Clock brings everybody
home to dinner. The meal aud accommodations
are paid for by the Peninsular Company, aud be-
tween and O'Clock, We are of again for the
station-your correspondent alone, trusting him-
self to the tender mercles Of donkey and his
driver, while the remainder chose TO be cooped up
in sitting omnibuses for conveyance TO the tram.
Notwithstanding the represented dangers Of high.
way robbery and assassination, my Arab friend
Mansur took me safely through tue pltch-daTk
Csirene streets and avenues to the tram, and here
the famous Desert Transit began.
1t is only within few months that the whole
line of rail, "a miles long, from Cairo to Suez, has
been completed. Previously, a portion of the
TraDsit was accomplished with the help OF steam,
and then the passengers, dumped into the midst of
the burning desert, we're shipped by skies in vans
no larger than a New-YOrk dray, and conveyed to
the head of the Red Sea- Now, however, one falls
asleep at Cairo, ard is whired through the dark
ness over the frghtful waste which was once be-
strewed with the bones of worn-out animals and
men. peculiar contrivance in the way of rail.
way chairs is used in boiling down the rails, aud
each locomotive has species OF sand-plow before
it, to keep the line clear of the eyerdrlftlng sand.
One stoppage is made, about 80 miles from Cairo,
to take IN water from an Arttsian well; aDd here
large draughts of the clear, cold fluid are
gulped down-tO the sorrow of more than
one, BY and by. About halfpast three
there is barking of dogs, glancng of lights;
the sleepers wake up, To hear Arab voices shoutDg
Suez The train has stopped, apparently, in the
midst of the desert only, long distance ahead,
are some hghts, aud close by stand half-a-dOzen
vans. Into these the foremost have crowded, and
the more leisurey are left in the darkness TO find
Suez ss best they may. With companion,
made for the distant lights, ploughing our way
through the sand until the earth gives way beneath
me- and find myself at the bottom OF PIT some
eight feet deep. BY exclamations warn Capt.
-, who stops short, and helps me out; and at
length We pick up ragged Egyptian who pilots US
sera we find tolerable supper provided by the
Company, awaiting u.s. after consumption of which,
amid much good humor and jOcularity IN many
languages we are escorted to little steamer,
waiting 10 take US five miles down the shadows to
the great steamer Nemesis, our floating home for
the next sixteen days.
That was glorious trip down the silent Gulf
lighted here and there with torches held In the
boats The sky miles deep with stars, and stars
olarc hSf kaap IN IN
The chant of the Arab sailors and the chorus of
Eastern travellers, singing Ethiopian songs AT
length we bring to under the side of our steamer
one Of a feet formed BY six Of her sister vessels,
and q British man. Oi-war; and then the tired
yOyagers seek out berths, In which To get at least
a few moments sleep before the sunlight comes.
Att it is alresdy hot-oO degrees; and then the
shaking down process begins. The sleeping. cabins
are built to hold four and five although in the largest
lot more than three can stand upright at once
but as We are only 60 in ALL there are not more
than two in each exclusive of cockroaches an inch
long and of scorpions and centpedes, casual visitors
In the afternoon We get under way, and steam
our twelve knots an hour down the placid sea, day
after day. Now We Africa, now Asia; now
overhaul the vessels laying down the submarine
cable which is TO connect Bombay with London and
hereafter with America; and sweter, swelter,
swelter day and night with the mercury ranging
from g 10 80 in the coolest shade.
While write, under tanning punkah, pulled by
a dusky HindOo squattiDg behind me, the perspira-
ton stands in beads on hands and face, and 1t is
nine at night Almost time for seven-water grog'
and for turning in, moreover. Tomorrow night,
the fifth from Suez, We shall reach Alden, thst sun
baked British rock which hiss been described as
H with the fire gone out, and after cooling,
We strike across the Indian Ocean to Ceylcn. May
cooler gales attend US there