The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-12-06

Egypt l. a land OF sadness My Impressions
there were of melancholy type during my en-
tire sojourn in that land of sandy deserts aud
lonely pyramids. The heavily yelled women
seemed To be wrapped around in atlnos-
pheEe of sadness, and the brightest OF skies and
the most beautiful aspects OF nature surrounded
what seemed to be one OF the darkest countries
of the world. The darkness o! the Egyptian
condition today fell upon my soul like the
darkness of the times of Pharaoh II was so
heavy that il could be felt. To appreciate this
you must realize the slayish condition of our
sex there, and their complete subsection Of
mind and body. Nature intended the Egyptian
woman to be one OF the noblest of her ,snd she
is said TO be beautiful. Beauty, however, does
good in Egypt, for the vail covers the face
and you see nothing but the eyes peeping out
between two wells fastened together by little
round gilt tubes, which rest just over the
bridge OF the nose. The wells used are OF u
long, heavy crepe, and the drapery OF the head
Is flowing one of black. The women so
dressed, as they move through the streets of
Cairo make one think OF procession of mutes
at funeral was in Cairo during the warm
weather, and found il dangerous to venture
out between the hours OF 10 o'clock in the
We had a taste of one of those ter
ribie winds which come from the desert
laden with heat. I found the hotels of
Egypt delightful in all respects, and those
of Cairo especially So Cairo is fine city, ana
the people are full OF fun and vivacity. The
pyramids are simply grand. Mr.. Romero went
up the highest with the assistance OF i've
Bedouins guides, but l had not the courage
TO try the climb. The stones are laid one on
top of the other in great steps, many of which
are as high as a table and the feat is by no
means an easy one Speaking of the Bedouins,
was much struck with these wild children of
the desert, and | found that those about the
pyramids had remarkable talent for languages,
some OF them have1a smattering OF as many
as twelve different tongues. The Egyptians
seem to acquire foreign languages easily
Even the donkey boys speak English tiuently.
and had many pleasant experiences with these
little rascals who ran behind my donkey and
poked him into galop as We went from one
part OF the country 10 another Everyone rides
on donkeys in Egypt and You get to like it very
much. | found that was as much at home on
a donkey as in an easy chair, except when the
boy would give whoop and Unexpectedly TO
me pound the donkey into a gallop, making him
shrink from one side to the other as he went, in
attempting 10 get away from the blows. The
donkey boys OF Egypt are like no other youth
have ever seen. Many OF them are Bedouns and
they posses a wonderful influence over their ami
mas whom they make, to a large extent, their
companions. They have language OF their own,
which the donkeys seem To understand, and
which caused them 10 play strange tricks when
were least expecting them. | remember how
] laughed at seeing Mr.. ROmero's donkey once
start wildly out OF an innocent dog trot into n
raging gailOp without a moments notice. He
had the reins in his hands, but he was helpless
after the word OF the donkey boy, and he was
out OF sight in q short time.
The Aohammedans have many strange Gus
toms and none more strange to me than those
relating TO women. Divorce among the
Egyptians is a very simple matter II a man
grows tired of his wife or wants TO get rid of
her from any other cauFe, he simply presents
her with certain written parchment, and the
deed is done. | heard at Cairo a story of an
incident which had just occurred at one Of the
neighboriug towns. Though divorces are easy
Ii re-marriage Is not possible unless the woman
who has been divorced has il the meantime
married again and again been divorced either
by law or by death. The man in this case saw
pretty young girl whom he thought would
suit him much better than the wife he had aud
he divorced her After short time he tired OF
his second choice and wanted his old wife back
again. There was no trouble Of getting rid OF
his new one. but the second had not been mar
ried again, aud be had to get her to marry an
other man, who contracted before the marriage
todiy0rce her after they had been married a day
ana Bight. This was done ami the man got
his wife back again. In going from Alexandra
to Cairo we SAW n wedding procession. The
bri4e-e.ect was elaboratoly mounted on a camel
caparisoned IN gorgeous trappings. She
Ike covering of bright cloth. ana
behind her sat four OF her girl friends all
OF every kind. These chanied a mel
aucholy song ~ the procession slowly
moved across the sands IN meet the groom, who
came - greet his bride upon beautiful white
Arabian steed. As the two came together the
groom turned and they rode side by side to-
ward The home prepared to- their reception. 4
crow ol their reist.y-s surrounded them. and
he " 1le made most picturesque group As
Is l54ati u. them our h=3HIiu guide remarked
at : d fe-, NJ iu r 81 ( than IA Eurou4 Here
The uen buy their wives. ia Eur ~ tie brides
parents buy the groom by giving "a marriage
Glt- Here u man sees q g.r! ne wants TO
marry DE wastes no time IA CbIrt~hiu. hf.t goes
directly - he- pr UtS and ASKS Tor tIe hand OF
- .2-iIru- on '.illG perhaps 80 give sixty sheep.
I Zee ~ iou- Caweis, : Xor seven butitlaes. and
money e be las IT, II his oder il accepted lie
e,ts ms yyomAu and the f1taer gets the money"
! tta that the = aamme3arls have as line
churches the 4 ~ taus- Many ~ the il5te-
gEHr> nt the l.usg as are otpaWHlt-t with col
uIAa- 81 ua'aeh,-e, Of lapl, iazli. and jasuer
t-au--t irfin siberian HiiAes- ~ were never
SLOW "a 10 enter mosque without Erer Eutttug