Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1894-03-23
A Trip Across a Part of the Desert
On a Camel, Which the Doc
tor Enjoyed.
Native Women Affect a Very Airy
Attire, And the Men Ditto,
Only More So.
Labor Is Cheap, and a Five Cent
Piece Will Work Wonders
Shooting the Falls.
Water Girls Travel Across the Sand
and Through the Hot Sun all
Day For Ten Cents.

. d.. 10y Va SVAV0 ..a.
AssoUAN, Upper Egypt, Feb 14.-Your
letter of January LIST reached me a few
days ago, on the Nile steamer, where it
had been forwarded from Rome to
Naples, then to Cairo and Luxor etc.
The extra postage on it was only
40 cents, but your letters are very vel
come, and cheap at any price. There is
n good thing about the postal arrange.
ments here; they do keep a letter hot on
your trail, and it will catch you nearly
every time, but papers, they just chuck
them into the fuel pile and never bother
any more about them.
The trip up the Nile is delightful.
We stop at all the places Of interest,
and take donkey rides to those that
are any distance from the river. We
left Caro- January 25th, on Dahabeahs
towed by the steam tug Crocodile" We
soon found, however, that the trip could
not be made this way in a month, and
we sent back to Cairo and chartered a
steamer which makes good time, and will
get us back to Cairo on the 23d inst.
We visited the city of Memphis, and very
little remains to remind us of the most
ancient city in the world. Here is the
colossal statue of Rameses II, the brick
Pyramids of Sakhara ,tombs and gigantic
~Sarcophagi of the Sacred Bulls, the
Mansolem of Thi, etc. At Beni-Hassen
the donkeys are the worst in Egypt, and
the donkey boys the finest. They
would fight, and five or six of them grab
for u saddles, so that We then have to
use their donkeys. We furnish our own
saddles. Beni.Hassen is a very bad
town, and was once completely destroyed
by Ibraham Pasha, on account Of the in
subordination Of the people.
On our way to the tombs we we're
guarded by soldiers to protect us from
being robbed. While we we're tied up at
this place, quite a storm came up in the
night, which caused agood deal of excite
ment. Our boats and tug broke
loose, crashing into each other and
floating down stream. All was yelling
and confusion, the sailors calling on
Mahonet and every other prophet to
save us from destruction. We finally
landed on a sand bar, and we're safe. In
the morning, after getting off, and while
the storm was still raging, we were
obliged to land or rather cast anchor on
a fine onion patch. The owner came
down, wild with excitement, and ordered
us off. Our crew said no, and peeled
for a fight, when this Arab grabbed up a
handful of sand, threw 1T in the air and
gave a yell that would cause a Sioux
chief to blush with envy. With the yell
the Arabs seemed to spring up from the
ground, and in less than no time a hun.
dred of them were on the spot, all arm
ed with sticks and ready to cut our ropes
and pull up our anchor. They we're too
many for us, and we had to pull in our
horns and pay the damage for the onions,
and thus ended the row and the fun.
Our steamer is built for twenty-six
people, and we are only t~wenty-four, sc
that we have plenty of room and a lively
and jolly crowd I can tell you. We are
always on deck from morning until ave
Have four meals a day, viz: breakfast, 8
a. NJ; lunch, IL M; tea, 4 p. M; dinner:
$50 p. M, then dance every night until
II or IL o'clock. During the day some
are reading, writing, card-playing, sew
ing. loafng, drinking, smoking, playing
piano or guitar, n or two couples in q
quiet shady nook, making love. I believe
this country ID conducive to love and
laziness. I'm quite sure of the latter
and do not require much argument to
convince me of the former. No wonder
Anthony and Cleopatra killed them
selves when they found their little game
was up. This Nile trip is really the per-
lection Of travel. From Cairo to As.
souan is about 600 miles-the valley of
Egypt is 800 miles long and 10 to 80
miles wide. You can see from n slde
TO the other nearly the whole distance.
One side is the Libian and on the other
the Arabian mountains. Arab towns,
large sugar factories, employing 1900
hands, and beautiful palm groves all
along the river. Should think it would
be the hunters paradise for we are all
/, ~ =. .E-.| S-E.r 0Hs =aE aEF1--l.-
geese, cranes, pelicans and other game
birds. The weather is very warm and
the air soft and balmy. We see plenty
Of men and boys perfectly naked. The
women are more modest and are dressed
the same with the exception Of g pair OF
earrings or a string Of beads around