The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-24
THE VALLEY OF THE NILE.
Present Appearance of the Seat OF an
Ancient Civilization.
Letter in Baltimore Sun.

Egyptian Letter in Baltimore Sun.
1t must not be thought that the real
Egypt Is the vast country outlined on our
maps, reaching to the Indian ocean, the Red
sea and embracing equatorial regions 1t IS
and was, even far back in the days OF the
Nile, from the first cataract, where am
now writing, to tile Mediterranean sea, shut
In by the Libyan and Arabian deserts.
In this district, less than Thousand miles
In length, were cen raj much of the art, SCI
ence and philosophy of the ancient world,
and here were reared those time-defying
monuments, which, after a burial or tnou-
sands OF years, are being resurrececd by
modern enterprises, and to-day are tie won
der Of an age that until lately supposed that
these ancients were uncivilized barbarians.
who could add nothing to our boosted om-
niscience.
valley OF the Nile and its broad. triangular
shaped embouchure or delta TO a long
stemmed fan. and the city of Cairo is called
green Egyptian fan" Just before it reaches
the sea the river parts into several streams,
and, during flood time, it pours 70O.O 900
cubic meters of water daily into the Medi-
terranean through its different mouths
Once clear of the belt of salt lagcons that
fringes the sand hills behind Alexandra
the Delta spreads before US the richest soil
of Egypt. The alluvial deposit washed
down annually by the flooded Nile from Its
gigantic reservoirs In the Abyssinian noun
tains nourishes magnificent crops, and the
spreading arms of the river, the intersecting
network OF canals and multitudes or
sakiyas or water wheels regulate the dis
trfbution of the water to perfection.
Wheat. maize, barley. rice, millet, beans,
cotton and indigo are grown here In luxuri-
ance, and succession of three crops in the
year is not unusual with skillful farmers.
The mud villages, with their little white
mosque and minaret, their pigeon towers
and the sparse cluster of palms or lamar
isks by the well. where women and girls
are filling the great earthen pitchers, which
they afterward balance with q stately grace
upon their heads. make characteristic
perhaps, that need detain the traveller save
the wonderful excavations and discoveries
of the Egypt Exploration Fund at the
Bible cities of Pithom and Zoan cTanis) In
the land of Goshen and the famous Greek
port of Naucratis.
At Python you may see the ancient sun
set the children OF Israel to make without
straw. In this part of the country the only
town worth a visit is Tanta during the great
periodical festivals of the Saint El-Bedawi,
when revels take place which are the mod
ern representatives of the Bubastian orgies
of which Herodotus writes.
with a small, congenial party, in a we'll
appointed and well-furnished boat, under our
own control was one Of the most perfect
forms Of human enjoyment. The charm is
somewhat quite peculiar. In all the world
perhaps. no river shows such varying moods
as the Nile. despite its smoothness; and the
exquisite tints of the scenery, presenting
vivid contrast between the brown, Nile-mud
villages. fringed with palm groves and
crowned with white minaretS, ana the WaV-
ing fields Of pale-green corn or sweet-scented
bean and purple lupin blossom, are indie
scribable.
During the day the book that you bought
In Cairo to while away the weary hours OF
the long journey is frequently forgotten as
You watch strengthening craft exactly
thousand years ago, or a long line OF fifty
or hundred camels, followed by Bedouins
Of the desert, attract your attention, or you
interestingly follow the movements of the
nude Nubians as they work in the shadufs
lifting the leathern buckets, filled with
water from the Nile, over three or four ter
the burrows OF the. fields. and you lay aside
your book altogether toward the hour of
sunset; when the color which was lost in the
quivering white heat of noon returns to
clothe the land with hues of unspeakable
beauty and the evening breeze begins to, rus
tie in the palms. whose long. thin. shadows
now steal toward the stream, and a deep,
violet haze begins to creep along the clefts
and hollowS OF the rose-red range OF the
Lybian hills. flushing the whole sky with the
tender tints of the after-glow till the twi-
light deepens under the palm groves and the
ripping river glides silently by under the
sT1nking stars as one by one they DOT the
bingers of the brighter morn that now shows
her beaming face over the trackless Arabian
desert.
I ind that there is cooperation of labor
adopted by the people of this Nile valley
that has been in existence for ages and
which goes far toward the solution of GER
tain vexed questions that are now giving
western nations no little trouble.
Besides small specified wages the workers
at the shadufs and water wheels get GER
tain percentage of the crop; those who do
service on the boats share the profits of the
business. and into every form of labor this
just principle seems to enter. The posses
sion of land passes from father to son.
The tax rates (Which, by the way, have
caused nearly all the trouble in Egypt for
so many years. are now decided by the
tax commission under British appointment,
and there Is an air OF contentment and
prosperity among the docile. simple
hearted children of the valley Of the Nile
that does not create wrinkles on their