Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-05-03
FROM OVER THE SEAS,
In the Land of the PharaOhS.
sights Along the Nile During Three
weeks Journey.

From % letter written at LuXCr LEypt uaucieut
Iheuts|. March. 81. l-.s.
The principal tree seen is the palm. ID
is valuable as it bears dates and every tree
Is taxed. The heavy tax Oh all crops
keeps the people poor They get Just a
scantv hviua-iu direct contrast to our
New England farmers. who get nervous
living whatever else they may lack. Here
land is owned by the government or 10y
syndicate The year is divided into three
seasons the overflow. which begins about
the list OF June. the next season is the
harvest and then the present season. the
seedtimg The Nile ceases to rise about
the 2lst OF september and Is now getting
rather low. so that we occasionally run
aground. to- no harm. The steamer takes
q curious zlczaG course, nrst TO one shore,
then over to the other, IN order to keep in
the channel Now that vegetation is in
progress the crops are watered by lrrlgi-
ton. awaiting the overflow. One OF the
common sights is the dipping of water up
the banks on to the land. This is done IN
MANY different ways sometimes by OK
power but otteneI "a man dips. using a
pole and bucket and pouring to a level
with his head perhaps, then another man
dips from that level. then third dips
raising the water to the land. The wages
for this work and for tlling the soil is ten
cents a day. Eggs are three cents doz-
en-. and today three nice cucumbers were
bought Tor two and nall cents. Among
the prettiest sights, next to the beautiful
graceful palm are the opium poppy beds
of pink and white We have seen three
kinds OF birds. the stork, ibis and pelican
all white.
The Nile Is a muddy looking river vary
ing in width and averaging about mile
10 my eve But filtered 1t Is good drink
ing water and the only water drunk in
Egypt. The boat anchors every night and
also stops at the shore OF any interesting
town. one evening we visited a sugar
cane factory.
Whenever we make donkey excursions
to the tombs and temples we start about :
a. NJ. returning about H. before the heat
of the dav. We wear large white sun
hats with a puggaree Ia long India silk
scarf. tied round it TO hang behind thick
10 protect the back of the neck where sun
stroke comes. We are also provided with
colOred glasses. light wells and white calico
parasOls lined with green, bought at Cairo.
The men have white helmet hats made OF
cork and having adjustable white Capes
The most suitable costume Tor riding and
for general wear would be a brown linen
The dust is very trying. We have seen q
dust storm. but only touch of IL reached
us on the boat. III never rains i'll Egypt
An hours good rain would demolish the
mud-hOuse villages. We have not seen
even a sprinkle
Our party of 40 has Two guides who ac
company us throughout our tour, but OF
the Nile we have also a fine looking Arat
dragomau. Through Palestine we shall
have a Syrian dragoman. Our dragomaI
knows the people and telegraphs ahead, st
that when we stop Tor an excursion into
the interior the dOnkeys are already on tn,
shore. The saddles are carried on on
boat. There is great confusion, noise and
squabbhng while our dragoman, Hashem
selects the 40 best dOnkevs Then W,
start of. each donkey accompanied by
donkey boy. who runs all the way be
side one, pounding and punching the don
KEY TO make him 20. If the donkey
would 90 without the boys 1t would b
more agreeable TO the rider Thei
launches are often sore from abuse. Tn
aiighting from the donkeys after an eXcur
sion is most exciting. The boys all eXpec
Dacksheesh although they are REGULAR
paid by our guides. Ii Is our rule TO Civ
them about ten cents each. but they fol
low one TO the boat, begging Tor more. N
amount would satisfy them. They ar
easily COWeu, allowing Hashem or anyOu
10 knock them over the head or in the fac
without striking back.
We visit tOmDs and temples thousand
OF years Old. The rides interest me chief
IN seeing the country and the people Sucl
poverty and squalOr l believe are not to b
found in America. The children and thei
elders follow us, begging for DacksheesL
Their faces are black in spots with Hie
that they make no attempt TO brush oil
These flies DO not bite, but suck the moist
ure from the face and sore eyes result
The most profitable purchase we hav
made is the palm tiy-driver. The touch o
q fly is repulsive after seeing such sight
and seeing the filth OF the villages as w
ride through The houses are small
square or dome shaped. made of Nile mud
in which the people live with dOnkeys
goats and hens They are often toppe
with a little dome where pigeons are raise
Tor market Other houses have fiat stray
roofs. The better class villages have large
houses made OF suu-dried bricks of Nil
mud. There are no scattering farm houses
All live in villages. In seeing the native
and their life l thought what field TO
missionary labor. and al AssIOut, one sun
day, we found an American mission estau
lished by the PresDyreriaus. Rev. j. AieN
ander Ot Worcester. Ohio, was at the head
We listened TO his sermon IN Arabic, ate
which he talked 10 us. He was a delight
ful man and his appearance and that of tl
children mas certainly awakened our intel
est in foreign missions The children
largely boys, were clean. intelligent, an
fine looking. The girls sat on the iron
Two rows OF seats and back OF them nun
a red curtain TO hide them from the boys
The girls all wore shaWls over the head an
shoulders and every boy wore a red tez.
The shores OF the Nile Tor a distanc
look like a nne beach, the desert DeglnnIn
al the waters edge Then Tor a dlstauc
limestone cliffs with tombs hewu into then
These uTeeiess stone cliffs are OF a beautiful
soft tint when the sun strikes them. The
we will see a long highly cultivated str
and beautiful palms. then a mud YilIag
and occasionally a palace, one OF many bt
longing TO the khedive The climate
variable. hot one day and cool the next
but never any dampness
/ must describe our steamer Memphis
which our party of 40 Just fills. TIN
whole centre of the deck is our drawing
room 10 is generously furnished wit
handsome Turkish rugs, cushioned can
sofas and chairs, table and a piano, unjust
ally sweet toned for such a place On
staterOOms take the rest OF the upper dec
and around the whole is a good prone
made. Coffee is served on deck after lunch
con and after dinner and Russian tea
served al and $500 %. 81. Every nigh