The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1885-06-03
For the Farmer and Mechantc.
On the Nlie--Prayin Mu sseImen


as ablutlon j. absolutely necessary; /
in the desert where there i no water,
they are allowed TO use sand instead,
(wherever you see person bathing, is It
always to be followed by prayer then
on coming out OF the river. they throw
a good many wraps around them, Their
clothing consists of loose gowns and
wraps loosely put on,) then taking oil
the outer wraps, they spread il carefully
on the ground and standing on il. tre-
quentty bending the body, kneellng and
prostrating themselves, often kissing
the ground; this latter they do a great
many times, all the while mutteriug
their prayers; they have a stated form
for these attitudes, ana 20 regularly
through then, also they use the same
prayers. 1t takes fully halt an hour to
their deyotious. and they are
never shortened or heightened We
see them everywhere at morn. noon.
and at eve praying. always facing to-
wards the East where Mecca lies. They
do not seek any hiding place, but pray
openly, and are not in the least asham-
ed to be seen at their deqotions. The
most devoted pray five times day.
Our mate was often to be seen at
prayer on the bridge Of our boat while
we were in motion. Once in Cairo we
saw pile Of beans and wishing a hand
ful, unknowingly disturbed a Mussel-
man at prayer. tie arose and gave us
the beaus and continued his devotions.
He was Il gentleman.
At ConstautuopIe we saw people
bareheaded and baretooted bathing their
upper bodies, feet and heads out Of doors,
in very cold weather in January. the
snow living on the ground, at tount
which is always attached to the Mosque
before entering it. Their heads are
shaved every two weeks to prevent YER
min, this and ablution are rcformatory
and sanitary measures. They seem to
be of quiet and phlegmatic DISPOSE
ton, yet whilst IN the Mohammcd ALI
Mosque, which Is vencered inside and
outside with alahastcr thirty feet high,
surrounded with solid alabastcr columns
twenty feet in height and two feet in
diameter we beheld a Chief Priest
Imaum) scolding one Of the memb bers in
a very loud and angry tone, he kept It
up Tor half az hour, and was at it when
we departed. They seemed to have a
vestry meeting, and our guide on being
asked, told US that he was a bad man
a"d that he would not PeY lio dobte,''
guess they turned him out of that Mos
que. Women are not allowed in the
Mosque.
Ia the Gezireh gardens near Cairo,
they have few animals aud imported
trees of many kinds. The grounds We're
neglected, the animals poor and the
trees looked very thirsty and yellow,
needing water badly. This was on the
10th Of March and the peach trees were
just III bloom. The climate does not
vary or change much here, the seasons
are very regular no thunder clouds to
bring on sudden changes OF temperature.
In these grounds is beautiful Kiosk,
very rich in ornamGntIOn OF ever KIND, !,
mosaic tables, frescoed walls, mirrors,
etc. a bust OF Franklin on the rich and
costly mantle, with only the legend,
"EripuH coeL0 tujmcn,' emitting the
"sceptrDmque tyrannis. /" which was very
proper in an absolute despotism the
liberal translation of this is ''he grabbed
the thundcrbolts of Jove and broke the
chains that the tYrauts had bound the
people with. - This is the khedive's
tavolite summer palace. The Shubra
palace and grounds also belonging to
the khedive are in bad repair.
To give an idea OF the Nile low lands
with their occasional clumps of palm
trees, a hasty glance at the long-Ieaved
pines in Eastern North Carolina, with Oc-
casioual glades of open land. will give the
best idea; bat If the eye rests for a mo-
ment, the likeness vanishes, as the pine
is dissimilar to the palm in every spect;
yet the tall, slender, young long leaved
pines, with limbess body, and very few
limbs at top, does give some semblance.
The first appearance OF the pyramils
OF GiZeh near Cairo is disappointing, and
when approached they each do not seem
to cover more than two acres of land ;
they are three in number. surrounded by
many smaller ones. The Pyramids Ol
Sakkarah are eleven in number. and
many others are to he seen broken down
and scattered amid the surrounding sands
There are besides. the pyramids Of E.
kheran. near Berber. They are OF differ
ent shapes. The Step pyramid with
steps 80 feet high. gradually narrowing
to the top-the Blunt pyramid, etc
Also there is pyramid of Nile mud
very old all others are of stone. 1t !,
supposed that the Step pyramid is un-
! flushed. The Great pyramid of ChCop;
was 4S2. now It's 1872 feet in height
4 having been dismantled somewhat 70
! building purposes, is built OF Mummu
| lite limestone OF the Eocene period
upon which it rests it cover nearl1
| thirteen acres, being 80 feet square a
the base, was once larger and rises a
an angle of u degrees. Itcontalns eigh
| chambers, one in the solid rock l0l fee
below the base. which is 41N26 feet
this chamber is conu eCted by a small pas
sage with the Queens chamber which !
Il7N17x20 feet; the next IS the King
chamber I7A34 feet, which IS 40 fee
above the base of the pyram d which
ventilated by TWO shafts. All these Sr
IceiIed within with large blocks of grant
lsxl0 feet. by three feet IN thickness
The only entrance is always on tie Mort
side Of the pyramid, in the pyramid {
. Cheops it is Is feet above the base au
rises at an angle Of 202. The Great la
or entrance is I55 feet in length by % feC
in height, by twelve feet in diameter.
There are five more smaller chamber
; directly above this one. all c0nnecte
4 by a narrow well-like passage, built {,
4 ielr the great weight above this cllan
Der would crush it in. and for tie pu
pose Of hiding treasures, etc.
In the uplermost OF these chambe
was written the name khufu (Cheop
e in red paint The King and Queen
5 chambers are only accessible to visitor
5 they were robbed so long ago that t
I memory of man knoweth lot whe
i compared with the size Of this Ma
: soleum, these chambers are as not
ing. Time and the light rains la
worn away these comparatively 5,
o stones filed with fossils in many plac
1t the pyramids are weariag aUay. I
ascent is laborious; many Of these stor