Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-07-09
Modorn Egypt.

The land Of tho Khcdiye n likely
1904, 10 rival In greatness the ancient
Kingdom OF tho Pharaohs and the
|Ptolcmies. Modern Egypt cannot il
Is true, compare with ancient Eyypt
IN the number of It's ini,abitahts, for
Diodorus tells Us that the latter COR
tanned $1,000 towns and villages,
while Hcrodotus says that IN the
reign Of Amasis there were In Egypt
20, 900 cities. What successive SOW
ercigns, however, from Scsostris to
the caliphs failed to-. effect, or accom-
Iplished only in paft, las been CON-
pIetcIy achieved under the rule of the
Kbedivc by Tho opening Of the Sncz
Canal, while Alexandria and Cairo
are fast becoming cities Of palaces,
and the wealth of tho country is
every day increasing.
Western prejudice attributes the
present ignorance of the Mussuliuan
population of Turkey 10 Is'aInism,
and concludes tlrnt tho religion oi
Mohamned Is % bar 10 oil human
progress. Any one, however, who
visited Egypt ten years ago, un,l
could now SEQ tho yasi improvements y
that have brcn nnd nrc si,ll being
inado by the Khcdivc, would at once
have his prcjuiircs very much modi-
fed, II not altogether removed. He
would SEQ the harbor of Alexandria,
tho finest, probably, In The world.
crowded with the shipping of all
nations, with a new break water aud
new docks IN course Of completion.
warehouses filed with cotton, grain
aud other agricultural produce ready
for export railways In operation or
in course of construction - every
where, i'll fact, the signs Of ofincrcasiIig
civilization and prosperity. lie would
see Alexandria itself moro like q
European than an Eastern city, with
its magnificent buildings aud its
"Placc des COnsuls,," that exceeds In
size and beauty any square to bt
found in Europe. lie would see tho
land irrigated by tile Niles overflow
or by means Of machinery, every
where tccming with rich crops o.
whcat, maize. barley, bcaus and peas
clover and flax, rice, sugar-canc, TO-
bacco and cotton, coffee, indigo ant
madder; tho gardcus producing apri
cots i'll May; peaches, plums, apples
pears and carobs in Juno grapes, fig
and prickly pears in July; pome
granatcs, lemons and dates in August
oranges in October, sweet lemon
and bananas in November, aud til
mulberry aud Seville oranges in .Jan
uary. In old times we know thcr
was "corn in Egypt" now there j
also ''cotton in Egypt" and cotton
too, of the best description. Eve
six years ago there were not les
than two hundred stcam-ploughs q
work in cotton cultivation. Ever,
mechanical aid TO production has, ii
fact, been made use of, aud the resul
is an enormous increase of weaitl
both to the people and their ruler.
The romance Of travel in Egypt i
fast disappearing. A new bridg,
has been recently built by the khe
dive over the Nile, SO that traveller.
eau now so direct in carriages from
their hotel to the pyramids withou
being obliged, as formerly, to cros
the river in boats and finish the ex
cursion on camels or donkevs. Tit
old '.dahabcah," or Nile boat, il
giving way TO the comparativcl,
luxurious Nile steamer, and thi
charms of that dreamy Epicureal
life, floating up and down the grca
river, will soon become q memory o
the past. No more cncamp,ncnt
beneath the myriad stars and tn
wondrous sky of al Egyptian night
amidst the labyrinth of pillars
obelisks and fallen temples of Luxo
or Karnak. Instead of, as hereto
fore, passing the night Oh land undc
4 tent, the traveller now sleeps in hi
comfortable berth Oh board tn
khcdIve's steamer, and '.does" tn
Nile in three weeks, instead of thrc
months, as in the palmy days of th,
dchabealis. During the winter o
1871, before the steamers began Il
ply, the price asked for frst-clast
boat was from $50 10 5000 montl
for three or tour months while now
the voyagc-535 milcs-from Cairo t,
Phile, . few miles above the frs
cataract, and back again, can bc mad,
by the passenger steamers OH tht
Nile belonging to tho Khedive ad
nlinistration at a cost of $220, includ
ing steamer, living, guides, aud oil
other necessary cxpcnscs.-[N. j
Mechanic.