Morning journal and courier., 1884-06-04

form did nos belong to me ana could nos drive them away. did not care to inperil my personal safety for the sake of revenge upon such insignificant, though pestiferous specimens of humanity. Nine times out of ten would have yielded, and bought the fa- vor of the young scamps, just as I have oft en weakly done in other countries. But on this particular morning was aggressive, and had determined to let Egypt know that I couldn't be imposed upon sveR if I didn't wear faz All the latent indignation of many months of similar suffering elsewhere seemed concentrated for resistance upon this memorable occasion. The boys went to the sheikh of the locality and brought him to the depot with lying story. I could have little to hope for from sheikh as rule, for the sheiks are the veriest parasites upon their tribes, exacting a moiety even from these
 wretched donkey boys. But this particular sheikh was a reasonable fellow, and the mo- msnt told my story he hustled the boys away. This was not all. I he'd yet an hour to stay in Suez, and it became the sublime mission of those young Arabs to make It one of the most uncomfortable hours have ever spent. rejoice in looking back that can now write, came out on top; but 1t was only by the exercise of phenomenal heroism In the interest of principle l am glad that endured to the end but I wouldn't risk the if I had the ordeal to pass
 through again. I decided to take stroll
 through the principal streets of the town,
 uninviting as they looked. The boys fol-
 lowed, threatening for 8 time. Finally one
 of them began to cry. Never was crying ex- ecuted in more realistic style. The great
 tears of disappointment rolled down his cheeks, and undertook the Herculean task of cleansing his foul jacket. I began to melt.
 At this point was interrupted by a good
 natured Never you mind him, sir, " in good
 wholesome Epglish-a most welcome sound.
 I fnrnaA and fnund fh0 anaQEAr he Brit
 ish red jacket who was lounging in front Of 8 school house which had been converted into s commisssriat department during the Sou dan trouble, and was still so used. That boy" continued the speaker, lis 8 profes sional squaller. He has quite reputation in Suez for artificial crying which he delights in doing when it serves his purpose. He's common thief. I'm regularly stationed at Cairo, but I've been here so much that l have learned his little game"
 This introduction led up to qui @ an inter esting interview touching the late war. The speaker claimed to have been in the thick of ths>fght, and were his name a better known one, might quote some of his views. 'tDo you want some camels ?'' he then said. "Be- cause if you do I've got three hundred over here that I'd like to sell cheap. They were impressed by the government in the vicinity of Cairo for use in the WAT. A camel met on a public road would be relieved of his bur den, examined by 8 veterinary surgeon, ap- praised and the man paid. The camels cost Great Britain about e25 apiece, buk I'll sell them for considerably less than that on be- half of the government. They're over here on 8 train upon side track with other turning war supplies. The best l could do here was eF los. apiece, and I am going to take them down to Cairo by special train this noon to see if I can't do better there" I thought of three hundred American friends, to all of whom I was anxious to present souvenirs of my meandsrings. Here was a chance. But I was afraid might incur the jealous wrath of MT. Phinsas T. Barnum, and I accordingly refrained. The poor
 brutss looked tired and faded.
 "Hov many war correspondents were
 there on the ground ?" I asked. "Only about half H dozen representatives of im-
 portant dailies. Then there were artists for illustrated journals. But you ought to have seen the stampede among these reporters af- ter every decisive point. They would be mounted on little donkeys wxitinfy for the race to the nearest telegraph station es soon as the result could be fairly gathered. Each one wanted to get to the wires first, and the ambling, shufaing, waddling motion of the little animals upon which they rode was fun ny enough The London Standard fellow outwitted the others. He gave one of the army officers five pound note, and this off cer cenotaphed his message for him to the telegraph operator. Thus when the other reporters got to the operating room they found that the Standard chap without join ing in the race at all, had got bis message safely wired. But the most pitiable case was that of a correspondent for the ''Bosphore the French paper published at Cairo. You know there is no English newspaper except at Alexandria. This poor fellow was sent out with instructions to dead-beat his way to the seat of the war, a single provincial paper like the ''Bosphore" could ill afford to pay such an expense as the regular tariff would be. He managed to go and come as stowawsy on ships, and picked up help here and there on the road from the Ianding-place. He applied to me once or twice for lift, but I couldn't help him out"
 Unable to find anything interesting in the scraggly old town of Suez, except 8 collec ton of neat frame houses for European resi- first I have seen since leaving boarded the train at nine o'clock It was a tumble down sort of a train, with TO letters or inscriptions about it except the number on the engine, the words "Poste Egyptienne" on5the mail car riage, and the figures l, or on the other coaches to indicate the class to which they belonged. The engine was queer-looking affair, more like B side-wheel steamer than an engine It had one immense driving wheel. As I measured myself against it, I CdmS IO tuO COACAublOu tnhL 1b WdS uOID1uR short of ten feet in diameter. This seemed to presage tremendous speed, but I didn't discover any on the way. The first thirty five miles was run without a stop, through desert so dresry that I shiver as I look back to it. On the right was the Snez canal, with great lodges of dirt either side, above which only the masts and tunnels of the steamers were visible. I was forcibly reminded of the desert in western America on the California side of the Salt Lake valley. There was 8 short growth of what reserab'ed sage-brush, the thick saline deposits duplicated the alkali appearance upon our western plains, and the piles of drifting sand made life similarly burdensome ia the cars.
 These Egyptian railways were originally constructed by the French, but have been allowed to run down considerably since they passed into the hands of the local govern nent. They contrast painfully in equipment with those of India. Az we proceeded fur her north we struck an occasional mud vil-
 age, and at sixty miles out from Suez stopped at the thrifty little village of Ismai- ia on the western shore of Lake 1imsah,
 he hallway station on the canal. On the iepot platform I saw some real live boot blacks and several long strings of fish. The rain now backed for three or four miles,
 etracing the journey to junction which 1 lad noted with some wonder on the way nto lsnhlnR. coupe or hours more or lesert, and suddenly the wilderness blos- omed as 8 rose never saw such an
 brupt transformation anywhere else. On 10th sides of the track the fields were bril- iantly green, and palms, cocoanuts and Veeping willows delighted the eye. The l
 mazing fruitful ess of these meadows is
 ue to the sun-quickened slime which the 1 Jiie river leaves behind after the annual in l
 ndation-fsr richer than guano or bone l
 lust. Sleek, well-fed cattle browsed in the | ich pastures, reminding one of Pharsoh's ! at kine. Each herd was watched by a rag
 ed peasant or fellah at work in the field l
 ear by. At each station vomen promena-
 led the platform with articles of diet for ale, gaily coiored boiled eggs, dates, figs, or pges. small loayes of bread, and-for the
 ative passengers, whose diet seemed to be nuch like that of Nebuchadnezzar- saves. onion tops and a sort of rubber grid
 le-cake, if may so define it in view of it's hape and it's elasticity. Other women had tone jugs containing drinking water, the
 eek of each jug being filled with fragrant 7eed, something like our spearmint.
 At five o'clock the train arrived in this city nd wea driven to the Hotel du Nil, the en-
 lem of which is of course an alligator over he main entrance. As I look out through he garden where am now writing, l notice D front of me 8 shapely orange tree loaded 1ith ripe fruit, elump of bananas, grace. uI date.oelm and numerous other tropical