Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-06-29
6eneral Snielllgenfe.
The LAND OF JORDAN.
The Adventures OF Mr.. Macgreg0r il
His Celebrated Canoe s'ROb Roy"

The Adventures of Mr.. Macgregor in
His Celebrated Canoe ''ROb Roy"
Everybody has heard of the "Rob Roy,
the little boat in which Mr.. Macgregor, the
owner, has visited Central Europe and the
Baltic. More recently, it has done service
on theriver Jordan.
THE CANOE
Men are measured for garments and fol
cofins; but this is the first time where We
have heard of a mans being measured fol
boat. This Rob Roy was good fit fol
Mr.. Macgregor, and is probably the small
est boat ever built which man could make
his home, sailing in it long and far, and
sleeping on board comfortably. 1t is IA
feet long, feet 2 inches wide, and 1 foot
deep, built of oak, with q cedar deck. In
cluding masts (for which the lower joints
of ishing-pole were used) sails and pad
die, the weight is 72 pounds.
About half the deck is cut away, leaving
"welI' in which the screw" sits while
rowing or sailing. To fit up the ''cabin'
at night, two bits of wood are set up at the
fore-part of the well, and connected at the
tops by cross piece of bamboo. Upon
this cross piece the paddle is laid, one end
resting upon the stern. Three feet of the
deck consists of movable boards; these
form the roof; over all is thrown light
water proof cloth, and the cabin is COM
plete.
The fitting up is simple. ''The pillow,
says Mr.. Macgregor, sis, of course, our
clothes-bag and for bed there is an air.
cushion 3 feet long and IA inches broad,
with ribs across it, so made that it will not
collapse This bed is particularly COM
Portable, and, besides, answers for several
other purposes. Its diminutive size has
been ridiculed; but if you will try you will
find that when the hips and shoulders are
supported the rest of the body needs no
support at all, except the head, which has
pillow, and the heels, which can rest on
the roll of the top-sail p"
LIFE IN CAIRO.
Mr.. Macgregor passed through Cairo,
where he witnessed scene characteristic
of the civilization which is being intro
duced into Egypt. There is," he says,
knocking down, building up, opening out,
planting, fencing, painting, cleaning, al
most civilizing the old Egyptian capital.
Great gangs of workmen are all day toiling
here at reconstruction. Puny children,
herded in long focks by cruel task masters,
who fog them with long sticks, are carry
ing on their heads straw baskets full of
earth and stones. AS they march
they sing; but it is in rythm of
slavery The strongest repression of ones
feelings is scarce enough to keep us from
knocking that wretch over who has just
belabored with his bludgeon tender little
girl. The evening brings short relief even
to the woe of these hapless little ones.
They sit round in a circle with their bas-
kets before them, while the roli-cau is
droned over by task-master VINO can
read
THE OLDEST CITY IN THE woRLP
OF Damascus the oldest inhabited city
on the globe, Mr. Macgregor says little,
and that little not very complimentary.
Damascus" he says, 'has never yet, l
think, been well described and the rea-
son may be that the traveller who has
enough acutene SIS to paint a good word
picture of the town has sense enough to
see that it is q sentimental humbug. In |
vain he tries to feel an admiration which |
he can not support by the appearance of
the place. 1t may be the oldest, but in |
wet weather it is surely the flthiest of
towns It may be rich, but the mud-walls |
are what you see, and not the wealth. |
Damascus is a disappointment; its situa-
tionis it's chief beauty, and once inside it
you can not realize that outside these
dirty lanes, tumble-down walls, gloomy
shops, and crooked bazars are the lovely
groves, Ll0 kuSulLB lOuutdluS, buS 66ou1lllS
gardens, and the glorious hills"
DOWN THE ABANA.
AS result of his inquiries and observa
tions, Mr.. Macgregor decided to try the
Abana with his canoe; and where it could
not float to have it conveyed on land. How
this was to be done in a region where there
was no such thing as a road was question.
After deep cogitation a very simple plan
was devised. A couple of poles, little
longer than the canoe, were placed two feet
apart, and fastened together by side-pieces.
Upon this frame the Rob Roy, wrapped up
in carpets, was lashed. This frame, hold
ing the canoe, was tied upon the back Of a
stout horse, whose back was wadded with
a bag of straw, by way of cushion. And
SO wherever the horse could go, the canoe
went safely with him.
A little eastward of Damascus the Rob
Roy was launched upon the Abana, now
grown lazy enough. The channel led
through groves and orcf lrds, meadows
and ozier beds. Sleepy tortoises toppled
down the banks; lazy land crabs crawled
out of sight; ducks, too fat to fly, scuttled
off into the brakes. The region is thickly
peopled, and the inhabitants would run or
ride for miles to follow the strange sight of
o boat, the first which has ever traversed
these waters.
AT length the Rob Roy, sometimes on
water, and sometimes oQ horseback, got
down to the lagoon of Ateibeh, half land,
half water, and all mud, in which the ALBANIA
finally loses itself, hardly two score miles
from the point where it bursts from the
snowy mountains into the plain. Here was
wide sea of shallow water, concealed by
grass IN tufts, like Irish bog, and with soft
deceptive mud, deep holes, and trickl1ng
gtr6amlets' -
ON THE JORDAN.
On New Years Day, 1869, Mr.. Macgreg-
or returned to Damascus, and the next day
set out to recrOss the mountains IN search
of the head waters of the Jordan. The
Jordan and the ALBANIA rise on opposite
sided of the range of Anti-Lebanon, their
head waters almost overlapping. Neither
sends a drop of water to the sea, the one
being lost ia the deep gorge of the Dead
Sea, and the other disappearing III the
marsh of Ateibeh.
Still onward went the Rob Roy, mostly
on horseback, but often borne by hand.
The lay of the land showed that they must
now be approaching the sources of the
Jordan. They searched here and there,
finding spring upon spring, whose waters
were soon lost. At last, III a lonely field,
one was discovered from which flowed lit
tie DrOoK. Ihls grew gradually larger, ana
at length tumbled, in a pretty little cascade,
over a low ledge of rock, and ran away in a
bright dancing stream. This, which Mr..
Macgregor styles din Rob Roy, Rob Roy
fountain" he regards as the true source of
the Jordan; that is, the farthest point from
which constant stream makes its way
This young Jordan, here called the Has
bany, is pretty brook, growing larger
and larger until it spreads into pool. The
natives ayerred this to be $1,000 feet deep;
but upon being sounded. the line touched
bottom at the depth of IL feet. Upon this
pool the Rob Roy was first launched upon
the Jordan. But the canoe had to be car
ried past little cascade, which turns a
mill, and then the stream is crossed by a
marrow stone bridge, and then the Rob