The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-06-22
PLAQUES OF EGYPT.
THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF A DRY,
DUSTY ATMOSPHERE.


Luck to Drive Them Away--The 1ncos-
SAINT Demand for Backshish-A Bed
Among the F1eas.
am writing this at Cooks Luxor no.
tel, as good house as one could wish.
A large rambling building in a fine gar.
den running down to the river. 1t Is en-
powered In noble palms and Towering
trees and shrubs, and would be charm.
ing retreat anywhere, but here surround
ed by the hot mud novels which make up
an Egyptian village, with the burning
sands and sterile mountains close by. 1t is
simply delightful. We are the only occu-
pants; have the whole house, do what we
please, and shall leave 1t with regret. In
vahds In search Of health could spend
month OF two here not only delightfully."-,
but in this wondrously dry atmosphere
most advantageously in many classes OF
complaints need state only three facts
to show the rapidity Of evaporation in
Upper Egypt. Water too warm to drink
Is put into porous Jar and placed in the
wind. though in the sun; In half hour 1t
is as cool as good spring water At night,
exposed to a breeze, even when the breeze
Is rather warm. before morning II becomes
almost ice cold The night of my arrival
here took pouring bath on a balcony.
The wind was balmy, but fresh. The
rapid evaporation 30 chilled me that l
could not stay out long enough for my
bath At the foot of the cataract we
took swim In the Nile We wore our
underclothes for bathing suits We hung
them up before our staterooms to dry. In
ten minutes they we're dry enough to be
worn We have all heard of the univer-
sal habit Of all Africans to anoint them
selves with oil. and travellers speak Of 1t
as nasty habit 1t Is, however, neces-
sary in very hot and very dry climates to
prevent the cracking of the skin An
English officer told me that during the
hot winds on the Upper Nile his hands
and face chapped worse than they ever
did In q cold climate-chapped even to
| bleeding badly
THE WIND AND THE FLIES.
have found fresh white butter quite as
| pleasant on my hands as on my toast. The
| boys have felt no Inconvenience from the
winds My hands are very sensitive to
the effect Of dry, dusty atmosphere. At
Assouan we were In the sun during two
days. We did not use our umbrellas. our
pith hats being quite comfortable, and
yet we were Just on the edge Of the
tropics. 1t has been rather too chilly to
lie down on the top Of our little steamer
| tOr any COuSluerhDie tlllc NJ liShe W.
have had no musquito curtains on our
boat. and have needed none, the breeze on
the water making them unnecessary. Il
takes a hard blow however, to keep flee
away. The pertinacity Of an Egyptian fly
is beyond that of any other living crea-
ture. The natives never brush them
away They deem 1t bad luck to do so.
Flies are never driven from baby's face,
and 1t does not seem annoyed by them.
Its face Is rarely washed, and is SO dirty
that 1t affords admirable forage ground
for hundreds Of the little brutes.
watched child Of about 2 1-2 years
enjoying a crust Of bread There was
about it swarm of flies. and do not
exaggerate when l say two or thret
dozens were on its face at one time In
patches as big as a half dollar about thu
eyes and mouth. It would screw up its
eyes when they threatened to 60 in.
thought some must have gone Into Its
mouth with the bread. 1t did not seen
at all annoyed saw sleeping child OF
the street whose face was almost blaci
with the insects 1t smiled as II angeli
were whispering In its ears. have seer
men talking pleasantly together whil'
Q dozen flies would be promenading abou
their faces, apparently unnoticed by. th
owners of the faces | asked a man hov
he could stand It, "Mashallahl The,
don't bother me" was his reply. Thl
has made the fly bold and he seems ut
terly unable to understand what for
eigner means when he tries to drive hin
off. He has, too, remarkably prehensil
claws. and keeps them keen and shar
when taking constitutional walks owe
European countenances 1t was probabl
the knowledge of this quality which mad
these people pronounce 1t bad luck I
drive them away They found 1t best {
educate the masses to bear the infictio
and SO get used to it.
THE DEMAND FOR BAcKsHIsH.
By the way. travellers are shocked b
the ncessant demand for backshis
gifts throughout the mighty east. III
thing is not to be wondered at, for all til
beggars the world over knew there al
none equal to the gods Of the east The
hands are everywhere represented O.
tended for backshish Their favor wi
won by offerings-their anger averted
sacrifices, Like the proboscis OF Gel
brated elephant, their hands could pie
up a pin or carry off a cart load Of pot
toes They could make lunch from
few grains of rice. the widows mite,
they could devoura hecatomb Of bullock
the gifts Of prince. The gods took gif
| uuu utludndcO buck1- Aho BiOos hho ~
erful profting by their example, to-
gifts and enforced the giving The po
took gifts and begged for them. T.
well to do in the whole region of the ear
sun reach out tho hand for commissio
, The poor clamor like hungry ours
' crumbs and bones, and are not asham
V of their clamor.
! fear what | have said about UpI
: Egypt looks too much as II | was seei
! 1t through rose glasses. Thirty six yea
: ago, when Bayard Taylor and | travel
In the east together, | suffered terril
from feas. The only pun l rememl
him to have made was anent the lit
tormentor. He said Homer wrote
"Iliad." Virgil the "Eneid; that If e'
wrote an epic 1t would be the "Flead. !"
had hoped we were about to escape t
Egyptian plague, but yesterday, al
lunchinR In ono Of the old tombs Of
kings. we lay down for q nap on the san
but my donkey boy. desiring to please
old man. whom he fatters by calling
father, spread the blanket and saddle
me to have nice siesta. Ali moment
T., mad forget fulness. slept an hour. but
Nemesis came. This particular tom
now called the '1unch tomb" Hundr
have lunched In 1t this season, though
Is where no living thing Is seen, and
parently nothing can live. yet the san
floor was full of my mortal enem
brought to it by the many donkey b.
who In It's shade rest while their emp
ers are wandering among the mighty CT
of the dead have passed good par
my time since then as q hen with one cl
|, does In an empty chicken yard-scra
ing am like certain officials not
from the old court house In Chicago
MONA an Thav bava ttehinO Inns
= all palm. itch all over and am ra
patches, Eek Mayor Carter II. Harris
Thebes Latter In Chicago Times.