McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1885-01-01

from Cairo with two hundred cameli
en- route for Dongola, for the use o.
the camel corps. He was the only
white man of the caravan. He had
been three weeks on the road from
Cairo, and expected to reach Dongola
in about five more. He said that his
animals were rather inferior lot, and
did not appear to think that they
wodld all reach their destination.
Col Denison's bark canoe was for
the first time put in the water since
we left Canada, and for the first time
since the world exists did an American
boat of this description, propelled
by red men of the west, cleave the
bosom of the venerable Nile. The as
tonished natives ran from their
"shadoufs' and mealie fields to see
the graceful craft move swiftly over
the muddy tide. The canoe was sent
to carry a telegraphic message to the
Office on the other side of the river.
AS soon as it returned we resumed our
upward journey. l was remarking
not long after, to some Of our Ottawa
district French Canadian friends, that
| had just seen two hundred govern
ment camels en- route to Wady Halfa,
and among other things told them of
their remarkable powers of endurance.
which was said to be such that camel
could work for seven, or even eight,
consecutive days, without eating or
drinking. Baptiste Terreau then said:
''Joe Laroque can drink for eight con-
secutive days and do no work; and
he'll repeat the job as often as you
like, I'll bet" Materials were want
ing to put the willing Baptiste to the
test, SO the wager was adjourned sine
die.
The next night we tied up at the ia
nous Luxor. The officers had prom
ised, if we arrived IN daytime, to
march us in body to see the wonder
full ruins of Karnak if time permitted.
But even darkness did not deter quite
a large number of our antiquarians
from accepting the kind offer of Rev.
Mr.. March, the resident American
missionary, to take them to see the
ruins. They provided themselves with
few lanterns, and returned cou
pie of hours after astonished, de-
lighted, and most grateful to their
kind guide for the marvels they had
seen. The portions of the ruins exca-
waited cover, it appears, at least twenty
acres of ground. Luxor is the great
center of attraction to adventurous
tourist of upper Egypt. The remains
of ancient Thebes cover vast extent
of ground on the opposite side of the
river. We arrived at Esneh on the 18th,
and coaled again. The town is noted
for its cotton-dyeing industry, and
yards upon yards of this material,
dyed indigo-blue, are to be seen spread
out to dry from the tops of houses,
and Tapping to the. breeze across
streets and squares. There is here
also a mosque with handsomely-de-
corated minaret, and Coptic church
and monastery. Some of the paintings
in the church are unique, one repre-
senting st. George spearing the tradi-
tIonal grass-green dragon; another
the Virgin and Child, while third
represented the decapitation of St.
John the Baptist, with Herodiade
gloating over a head placed in plat
ter. There is also an ancient temple
of the Ptolemaic times, still in good
state of preservation, and which had
been unearthed from mass of accu-
mulated debris within the last few
years only. Many of the Indians and
French Canadians procured wet clay
and took impressions of the curious
figures which had been unearthed.
Above Esneh the fertile banks of the
Nsln on1 nnnrnanhnH
upon by the rocks and sand-hills. Of
ten there is but enough room left for q
few yards only of vegetation, but even
these narrow spaces are irrigated and
cultivated with the greatest care. A
little higher the sandstone and calcare-
Gus hills dip their very feet in the riv
er. In these hills are deep caves at
frequent intervals, some natural, 9th
ers artificial and cut for quarrYing pur-
poses, a few with ornamental porti-
Goes and handsome interior columns,
quite visible from the river. These
latter may have been used in ancient
times as repositories for the mummi-
fed dead. Speaking of mummies, we
were told at Luxor that the market
was very fiat just now, and that the
Oldest description OF mummy, which
commanded between 500 and 5000 a
few years ago. can now be purchased
for $25. Nothing further worth not
ing occurred until the 21st, when we
reached Assouan. This is the end of
the first portion of our steamboat jour.
ney up the. Nile. We are now about
$50 miles from the Mediterranean, and
it has taken us exactly fortnight to
come this distance. This afternoon we
shall have a short railway journey of
seven miles to Shilal. above the first
cataract, and Immediately take the
steamer for Wady Halfa. There are
here at present three English regi-
ments and large staff. They will fol-
low us shortly, and will be replaced 10y
others coming up.
A Fast Ride.
81 suppose you have some fast rides
occasionally" inquired the reporter.