Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-08-22
A NILE EXCURSION.
MINISTER COX DESCRIBES SOME NTERES-
TING EXPERIENCES,
The Inhabitants of the Valley Of the Great River
Railroad Tnp-The Ancient Ons-Handsd
PlOw-A Plague Of FieS-The
Buffalo.

| The Inhabitants OF the valley Ol ue ured1 hiFet
Railroad Trip-The Ancient 0ns-Handed
PlOw-A Plague Of FheS-The
Buffalo.
The railroad trip to AsyOOt IS not to DC
forgotten. We had been in Egypt before,
but never beyond Cairo, or the pyramids
of Ghiza, so that the scenes on the railroad
travel were novel, diyerting and interest
ing. Having an apartment or carriage 10
ourselves, we placed our portmanteaus on
the seat and mounted thereOnsas vantage
situation, and for eight hours, from a. M
till evening, we gaZed out OF the windows
at the strangeneSs of the panorama, with
it's constantly changing colOrs and FORMS
Remember it is winter-mld-Febru
The grain harvest is nearly ripe. The cot
ton is picked; only a few bOlls remain IN
the field. The sugar cane Is being cut anu
carried on donkey, camels and cars 10. the
sugar factories. The long stalks are seen
everywhere. The little big-bellied Arab
bows. in utter nakedness, are grinding the
succulent, saccharine stalks between their
glistening upper and neither teeth. Every
one on the route has q long sugar-cane,
carving one end in the mouth. Tho flies
are settling thick around the juicy oriticeS.
The air is pregnant with the expression OF
the cane. The sugar factories are ut work.
The fumes not only add their fragrance,
but the long iron chimneys give their pc
culiar business look to the landscape.
THE PEOPLE OF THE NILE.
There are other peculiarities for which
the car was a point of observation. Not
the costumes of the people, for they seemed
uniformly of dark or blue bOurnous. The
sexes are hardly distinguishable from each
other. exec pit by the mustache, beard or
turban. There is much nakedneSS, or
nearly so. After an eager glance towards
the pyramids of Sakarrrah. near old Mem
phis, the multitudinOus mud huts and vii
lares appear. Palms in abundance every
where plume themselves in their stately
beauty. The soil is being ploughed lor
the new crop. The people are said to be
industrious, but everywhere we see them
sitting under the walls, in the shade, and
covered with flieS-eyeS, ears, face, hands,
feet covered with flies. The animal life
seemstto move rs slowly rs if it had ages
10 do a lifetime of work. The buffalo Is
very unlike our almost obsolete big-headed
species. 1t is seen i'll the fields ploughlnS
with the old One-handled pillow of the time
of Sets. or turning the water-wheel. AT
distance. and especially when cooling in
the water, it looks like n pachyderm. In
fact its brOwn-black tough hide, ungalnly
form and hidcOus face, to which the horns
give a sinister expression, make nm an
object of curious interest. Here and there
we observe shepherds, generally children
with shepherd dogs. Some are Bedouins,
with tents of camel-hair, black and dirty.
They have flOcks of sheep and goats, and
other mixed flOcks. There are generally
a donkey and yellow dog and plenty Of
naked children. Yellow and white flow
ers are already bedecking the meadows.
At various times on the railroad we OBJ
tanned glimpseS of the white and yellow
stands; and the peculiar maStS Of the da-
habiehs at an odd angle, with their still
more quaint sails. Ridges and plains of
sands soon give way To villages, which are
the sign and sight of palm groves. On
both Sipes of the valley of the Nile lone,
arid. and tawny mountains appear. They
are pictures lot unlike the desert Of Moab
out of whose wilderness the Baptist came.
TheS are the shaggy barriers of the fruitful
valley. For such fences as are needed to
separate the fields, the cane, interviewer.
makes tolerablc preteXt of protection. 1t
would not turn ''reSOlutc' rabbit.
Everywhere are seen stakes, indicating
mctes and bounds and proprietOrShip, which
have to be renewed when the Nile flood
disappears. Old well sweeps are seen, such
As were very common in Ohio in my boy
hood. They lift the water out Of the soft
soil to the surface The bottom of the well
i, OF course. on level with the river and,
rs said, the river is everything TO Egypt.
Ii is now quite low; still, the fields have
ponds in them: but the pond water does
not seem Stagnant Indeed the people use
the water for every purpose Stocking,
washing, bathing, etc.
\ PLAGUE OF FLIES.
After the buffalo, for number aud utility,
come the donkey and the camel. had no
idea that the donkey was SuchEI daisy in
Egypt. BridlelcsS and saddlGleSS, he will
amble glily with family on his vertebrr.
lie is as patient and rs meek rs if his bur
den WAS nothing. Sometimes you do not
see his legs and only part of his ears when
he is loaded down with sugar cane Or grasses
send You this Il picture OF hlm-wlth only
his ears prOtruding. The camel looks rs
usual, sinful" and moves in mysterious
way, as if he grudged every time he lifted
his foot.
If should be called on to name the
most vital element Of Egypt it would not
be- the buffalo, donkey, camel, ostrich or
man. 1t would be the flies. II was win
ter. but they were as plentiful a. in the
time OF summer or of the plaques. In the
eighth chapter of Exodus it is said that
the Lord did according to word of Moses
and he removed the swarmS OF flies from
Pharaoh. from his servants and from his
people; there remained not one" What Il
relief! Not one That was 1000 years
ago. They have accumulated since enOr-
mouSly. The MANTLE death rate is due
mostly to flies. On the vessel or in the
mud-hutaa in the temple or tOwn-tlicS.
From Thinite, first dynasty, POO Il. c., to
the present and courteous and unSelhSh
khe,livcS-tlies. Theban, BubaStile, Saltc,
Ethiopian, Macedonian, Greek, LOman and
MahOmctan dynaSties-ticS. From the
thinneSt buzzer to the biggest blue-bottle
flies! Touching with dainty foot and
prehenSIble grip the beauteOuS eyelash Of
Cleopatra; biting with chivalric intrepidity
through the harness of Godfrey de BOuillOn,
and pursusng witha ..'nipping air Persian,
Kcrmani, Syrian, and Room rs they fit
through histOry-tlies.-S. s. COr'S Letter
III N,tr York World
RULES FOR RIDING.
Valuable Suggestions for Those Who Take
Exercise on Horseback.
TtfdS SJ1iagS.
N,,,r tr,- ~ p,ount e. bnrSa urbaD bp IL