The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-02-16
NOTES OF TRAVEL.

The following interesting letter was
written by Rev. DR.. j. L. NJ. Curry to
the Religious Herald. DR.. Curry was a
member of Congress previous to the war
from Alabama, and during the war repre-
scented his state in the Confederate Senate.
He resigned his seat in the Senate to
odter the Baptist Ministry and is to-day
one of the foremost preachers in the
South. He is at this time travelling in
the East, and as will be seen is now writ
ing from Egypt.
AvoYAGE UP THE NILE.
A VOYAGE up the Nile for six hundred
mics, as Tar south as the Tropic of Can
Ger, where the constellation of the South
ern Cross is visible, is an interesting era
in ones life To one who has at his dis
posal plenty of time and patience not
to b. provoked by Arab contrariness the
bahabeeak, a boat specially and cOmtorta-
bly arranged for travellers, affords tar
| DIV and pleasant mode. chose steam
or, owned by the khedlve and differed
and manned by his employees, but char
tered for these Nile trips by the enter
prising Thomas Cook " Son, OF London.
! The crew are Mshomedans, and some Of
them at the stated hours for prayer, get
on the wheelhouse and go through their
prayers and prostrations with their faces
Meccawards. 1t is religious usperstI-
cion that, amid all genutexlons and kiss
ings of the ground, the right toes OF the
riUht foot are not to be moved from their
original position. The passengers are
from Canada, United States, England,
ireland, Belgium, Bavaria, Prussia and
Egypt. Very soon, by an elective aihn-
ity, they are formed into clubs or coter-
les; but some of US are cosmopolites, and
find companions In all circles. We trav-
ell by day, visiting the places of chief in
terest and 'lie to" at night, so as not to
mss scenery.
The course of the river is generally
due north. 1t is a mysterious stream.
It's annual foundations, its disagreement
bv several mouths, the uncertainty as to
sources, the conflict with the desert, the
d.pendence of the inhabitants upon it,
have made the Nile an object of scientific
interest and of idolatrous veneration.
Though receiving no tributary for thou
sands of miles, and keeping up an incess-
ant conflict with thirsty sands and a
tropical sun, It's volume and breadth, up
to Assouan, remain apparently undl-
minished. The yearly rise or freshet,
bringing down the fertilizing mud
changes the channel, and our devout
pilot does not always guess correctly, but
our occasional collisions with the bottom
have caused no serious delay. We rely
on the Nile for all purposes for which
water is needed in boat-liie. L can bear
testimony to its palatableness and health
fulness withou. admiXture OF any sort.
The Arab uses Nile water undiscrlmlnat
ingly, and travellers must not be over
fastidious, but, like prudent teachers,
shut their eyes and refuse to see and
know many things. The Arab battles in
the Nile, performs his sb'utions prellml-
nary to worship, washes his clothes,
throws in garbage, waters cameIs and
donkeys, and, in closest proximity to all
these operations, fills his earthen jars and
skins with water for drinking and cook
ing. The water is quite muddy, and Is
intiltrated often for drin king by means
of the porous jars and bottles which are
manufactured and used in this country.
The mountains and the desert APP
nroach near both banks OF the river,
and short ride would carry one from
profuse vegetation to herbless sterlilty. A
fringe of vivid green borders each oanK'
occasionally broken by projecting spur
of a mountain. or tongue OF the desert
seeking to cool its burning heat. Not
many trees are seen,--only the pictures
Que palm, the outrageous sycamore hg.
the feathery acacia, and the cool lamar
isk. Cotton. millets sugar cane, okra
and castor-oil plant are the main agrlcuI-
tural products at this season. These were
planted few weeks ago. and have al
tained growth which would require
several months in Virginia. Mud VII
lagos are interpreted in the narrow val
laIs In the upper portion OF Egypt
pireon-hCuseS surmount the dwellings,
and give them quite csstelIateu appear
snce. Every day we have seen crows
ducks, herons and large focks OF pehcanS.
The. sand bars have been watched Tor
crocodiles; but eager eyes, aided oy pest
glasses have been unrewarded with a
s,cht of the monster The china has
been hewitching. The nights are shght-
" cool and midday, under the awning,
is sweet and balmy. Barring an coca
sional mosquito aud the agile flea, we
have nothing to disturb profound ana
rccuperating slumbers. For an lnvald,
, or person exhausted by study or toll, l
can think If no recreation better than a
voyage up the Nile in November,
Egypt is noted in its history more for
the past than for the present. Prior to
sry record of Europe, it was the site OF
great cities, the theatre OF mighty events,
and the abode OF nearly all the civlliza-
ton and science tho world possessed
What is meant by Moses being learned
in All the wisdom OF the Egyptian is
better comprehended if we familiarize
ourselves with what Egypt was before
his birth. But Egypt has fallen. W bat
Ezekiel predicted twenty-fOur centuries
400 has been exactly fulfilled. '"l vii
make the land waste and all that Is there,
in bv the hand of strangers; the LORD
have snoken it." The traveller must
then seek rather ruins, the monuments
aud memorials of a persisted civilization
than the evidences of present prosperity
Leaving the Pyramid aud the SphinH
which we're visited from Cairo, our nrs'
excursion from the boat was to the conn
paratively inferior pyramid. of Sskkaran
+ and the site OF Memphis. Various ano
ingenious conjectures have been pro-
pounded as to the purpose of the pyra'
mids. Temples, sransries, observatories
have been suggested; but the prevalent
although not conclusive, opinion is that
thew were built for tombs. They were
nearly one hundred. and "almost all Of
: them may be described as forming part
of the great Royal Metropolis of Mem
phis." Memphis, which may have been
visited by Abraham and Joseph, and