The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-04

Searching the n1gnt 10 ma mel
the HOLY LAND.
An Interesting Journal Of Travel.
BIZ Z. L. REED, OF ST. PAUL.
Number Three.
Monday night we stepped at Gingeh,
and early in the morning went on to Bal
winch, whence We were to make the ex-
cursion to Abydos. Here we found several
fine looking horses, and so six or eight Of
us took them. not knowing the nature Of
the animals. They were furnished with
Arab saddles. with tho most awkward
stirups imaginable. Instead Of the small
iron ones which we have, there was large
iron pan about ten inches long, and so
large that it was almost impossible to
keep the sharp points from sticking into
the horses sides. They were half wild,
and the bits were so horrible that we
could not manage them at all. In addi-
ton to the curb bit, there is another
which goes under the tongue. provided
with sharp iron point, which at the
least pull. pierces the tongue. We were
scarcely half way to Abydos, when 1
heard that one of the party, Mr.. Brews.
ter, had been thrown. It seems that he
had tried to keep his horse quiet by pull
ing the reins, and had pulled his horse
over backwards. The animal fell on his
leg and sprained his ankle quite badly,
but fortunately did no other damage.
This accident spoiled our pleasure for the
day, as none of US knew how badly he
was hurt. I succeeded in keeping on my
horse till we reached the rims, when 1
resigned my position and was perfectly
content with donkey.
The style Of the temple, which forms
the attraction, is, Of course different in
every respect from. any which I have seen.
It is very heavy, and massive, and the
hieroglyphies. instead Of being futed or
smooth. The walks too are covered in
the same manner, many of the sculptures
being painted. We ate our luncheon in
the grand hall of the temple, seated on
the bases of the columns. We visited
another much ruined temple near by, and
returned to the boat. We found that
Mr.. Brewster would not be able to join
US in any of our excursions for q week or
50.
Our next place was Denderah, where
there is another grand temple. l shall
not attempt to describe the ruins. as it is
useless. The country all around is GOV.
cred with fields Of VIII at and barley al
most ripe.
We see the same mode Of irrigating
that was used three or four thousand
years ago. An apparatus like the old
we'll sweep, with sometimes three or four
together in tiers, where the ground was
high. Another mode consisted of an end
less chain. on which were fastened earth
en- jugs at intervals, the whole kept in
motion by oxen, walking around, and
turning large wooden og.wheel.
Thursday noon we came to Luxor, the
headquarters for visiting the ruins of
Thebes. AS three of our PARTY were not
we'll enough to leave the boat, VIC only re-
manned here few hours, deferring our
stay until the return trip. We chose for
that day the ruins of Karnak, the largest
and grandest in the world. I do not
think that there is very much that is
really beautiful about the building, but
in size and massiveness, it is one Of the
wonders of the world. The extreme
length of the temple itself is l,180 feet,
but the circuit Of the old walls was mile
and half. There were originally 1872
columns in the various parts Of the build.
ing, all of them large, and many i'm
mense. In the grand hall alone, there
are 134 columns, of which twelve measure
as follows: 50 feet high and IL feet 6
inches in diameter, and the rest AZ IL
feet high, and % feet in circumference.
Two obelisks still remain Of the original
four, one the largest in existence, 90 feet
high and feet square. There are many
historical sculptures which traced out,
and hierog'yphics every where. All Of
the latter are very large and correspond
with the size of the building. There are
various points from which beautiful
views of the ruins can be obtained,
and I visited these again and
again, as it is only by long observation
that the size Of the structure can be ap-
preciated. spent the whole afternoon
in the temple, and wess very sorry to
leave it.
On our way up we stopped at Esnch,
and Edfoo; at the latter place is a temple
very nearly perfect, and on this account
one of the ,nost interesting in Egypt.
We were having delightful moonlight
evenings. and went to the ruins Of Kom
Omss by moonlight. This temple is