San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1888-06-21

Among the fieas.
Am writing this at Cooks Luxor no
tel" as good house as one could wish.
A large, rambling building In ilno gar
den running down 70 tho river. II is en-
powered In noble palms and towering
trees and shrubs, and would be charm
Ing rotreat anywhere, but here surround
ed by tho hot mud novels which make up
nm Egyptian village. with the burning
sands and sterile mountains close by. 10 Re
simply delightful. We are the only occu-
pants bave the whole house, do what we
please, and shall leave 1t with regret. In.
vahds In search OF health could spend q
month or two here not only delightfully."-,
but In this wondrously dry atmosphere
most advantageously in many classes OF
complaints, Ineed state only three facts
to show the rapidlty of evaporation ~
Upper Egypt. Water too warm TO drink
Is put into porous far and placed In che
wind, though In the sun; in half hourit
Ia as cool as good spring water. at night,
exposed to breeze even whom tho breeze
Is rather warm. before morning II becomes
almost ice cold Tho night of my arrival
here took pouring bath on q balcony.
The wind was balmy. but fresh. The
rapid evaporation SD chilled me that /
could not stay out long enough for my
bath. At the foot of the cataract we
took a swim In the Nile We wore our
lndcrclothes for bathing suits We hung
them up before our statenooms TO dry, In
ton minutes they were dry enough 10 be
worn. We have all heard of the univcr.
sal habit of all Africans to anoint them
selves with oil, and travellers speak of 1t
as nasty habit. 1t Is. however. ncces
sary IN very hot and very dry climates to
prevent the cracking of tho skin. An
English officer told mo that during the
hot winds on the Upper Milo his hands
and face chapped worse than they over
did In a cold climote-chnpped even TO
bleeding badly.
THE WIND AND THE FLIES
have found fresh white butter quite rs
pleasant on my hands rs ON my toast. Tho
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
Coz any considerable time at night, We
have had no mosquito curtains on our
boat and have needed none, the breeze on
tho water making them unnecessary. 1t
takes hnrd blow. however, to keep flies
away Tho portinacity Of an Egyptian fly
is beyond that Of any other living crea'
tnre. The natives never brush them
away They deem it bad luck TO do so
Flies are never driven from baby's face,
md It 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 brutcs.
watched child of about 2 l-2 years
enjoying crust Of bread. There was
about it swarm of flies. and ! do not
exaggerate when say two or three
dozens were on its face at one time In
patches as big as half dollar about the
eyes and mouth. 1t would screw up its
thought some must have gone into It's
month with the bread. 1t did not seem
nt all ANNOYED saw sleeping child ON
tho street whose fnce was almost black
with the insects. Il smiled al il angels
we're whispering In Its ears have seen
men talking pleasantly together while
/. dozen Giea would be promenading about
their faces, apparently unnoticed by the
ownors Of tho facos. ! asked man how
no could stund it. "Mnshnllah! They
don't bother me" was his reply This
has made the fly bold and ho seems ut
terly unable to understand what for
eigner means when he tries to drive him
off lie has. too, remarkably prehensile
claws, and keeps them keen and sharp
when taking constitutional walks over
European countenaHces 1t was probably
the knowledge Of this quality which made
these people pronounce 1t bad luck to
drive them away They found 1t best to
educate the masses to bear the infection
and 30 get used 10 It.
THE DEMAND FOR BACKsnIsH.
by the way. travellers are shocked by
tho incossant demand for bactshish
gifts throughout the mighty cast, The
thing Ia not TO BIO wondered at, for oil the
beggars the world over knew there are
mono equal TO tho gods Of the east. Their
hnnds are everywhere represented ex-
tended for beckshish Their favor was
won by offerings--their anger averted by
sacrifices Like the proboseia OF cele-
brated elephant, their hands could pick
on pin OF carry of cart load Of pOta.
toes They could make o lunch from a
few grains Of rice. the widows mite, OF
they could devoura hecatomb of brilocks,
the gifts Of prince The gods took gifts
and demanded them. Thegroat and pow
rrful profting by their example took
gifts and enforced the giving. The poor
took gifts and begged for them. The
well 70 do In tho whole region of the carly
sun reach out the hand for commission
The poor clamor Hike hungry ours for
crumbs and bones, and are not ashamed
Of their clamor.
fear what | havo sold about Upper
Egypt looks too much as II / was secing
|. through rose glasses. Thirty-siy years
ago, when Bayard Taylor and Travelled
In the east together, suffered terribly
from fcas. The only pun ! remember
him 60 have made was anent the little
tormentor lie said Homer wrote the
Hind" Virgil tho ''lEneid;" that II ever
wrote On epic Il would be tho PLEAD
had hoped We were about to escape this
Egyptian plague, but yesterday. after
lunching IN one OF the old tombs Of the
kings. wo Law down for a nap on the eand5
but my donkey boy. desiring 10 please tho
old man. whom be nattcrs by calling his
father. A" spread the blanket and saddle for
rnsfo lave q nice siesta All moment Of
lad forgstfuiness. islept an hour. but the
tcl-ei5 cl-1a Tits particular tornb Is
-1V c-Iled thc ''i1uch tomb. Hundreds
have luuched in Il this season, though u
O. where no living thing + seen. and ap-
rzre1tl j. nothing ca1 live. yct the zanfiod
hoSr was fuil % ny mortal enemies.
brought 90 Il BY tie many donkey boys.
p'.1 20 ltz shade rest While Their employ
80 arp -Fsuiering aalong tie Mighty ca-rs
C the dad have passed. q good pet =
r1y tirls rinos thea as lea with che chick
does e. az empty chicken ya1vi-acsatea-
i-- ] am Ike certain o1Irlals lot far
froin the cd cozrt kouse in Chicago-o-llg
ra0re -. Thcy have ticking T'sl-us. a.
~ rzll. ] itch Al ovor al ID raw r.