The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-08-12
CLIMBING UP CHEOPS.
AN AMERICAN DESCRIBES A VISIT TO
THE PYRAMIDS.
A Feat That Requires "a Good Nerve and
Cool Uead--Three Natives Assist Each
Climber Graphic Description of Noun
tain Ride on a Camel.


Climber Graphic Description of Noun
tain Ride on a Camel.
The Troy IN Y Times prints le.-
.er written at Cairo, Egypt, by Rev. DIR.
L. M. $. Haynes, pastor of the First
Baptist church of that city, TO Ii. ID.
Sweet, "A parishioner, i'll which he says:
"Our conductor called us TO an early
breakfast at 6 80. Our party Of five
We're promptly on hand. Our carriage
was an ordinary American hack. We
soon reached the bridge over the Nile
and entered the avenue of acacia trees
skirting the elevated pike which the
government has built clear TO the pyra-
mids, a distance of about eight miles
The road was literally crowded with
farmers 'fellahec, coming into market.
We passed hundreds Of camels and dom
keys loaded down with every conceiva-
ble thing, especially fresh white clover,
great quantities of which are sold i'll the
city Each camel carries about 400
pounds With all the animals there
were men, women and children, most Of
then, walking, but they will ride back.
The men and boys seemed TO be having
a good time but as usual, the women
and girls looked sad and miserable. The
donkeys were looking down TO the
ground, but the camels looked up in the
air, as they always do. They are very
high minded Their backs are also high,
as can testify, for | had my first camel
ride today In about an hour we rode
up to the very base of the great pile of
stone and alighted from our carriage III
the sand, with the sun three hours high
and blazing hot 1t was about o'clock
We were Immediately surrounded by
the usual crowd of clamorous Arabs,
anxious TO help US up the great climb
But our conductor, Mr.. Solomon, and
our superb dragOman, Abraham, who
had been with Us up the Nile, cleared
them all away, and we selected three
men each, fine looking men in white.
1--WE went right away over pile Of
sand along the base and stood upon the
first tier of stone. Then l formally
looked up for the first time. We had
seen the three pyramids, 80 familiar i'll
picture, for more than an hour, but they
| did not seem to be so very large, be-
cause there is nothing to compare them
with. But it is threc-fourths of "A mile
around Cheops, and 4S0 feet to the top.
| The stones are about SIX feet square, and
project one beyond the other, just like
going up many stairs. The place for
your feet is about four feet, very good
| standing if you reached the floor or
were not going up $50 feet right up In
the air nearly three times as high as oul
church steeple.
1--WE walked easily along one course
| OF stone ON the west side, which were
worn smooth with passing feet, and
came to the northwest corner, where
the ascent is made Two men took me
by the hand and one pushed behind,
and | began going up stairs four feet at
a step After about 200 steps | conclud-
ed TO stop. We must have been about 80
feet up at that corner i was not dizzy
nor very lame, but felt very peculiar,
and felt more peculiar every minute
afterward until got back on to solid
and capacious footing But up we
went, hop, skip and jump, going all the
time and going up on the ragged corner
of nothing The stones were smooth,
irregular and sometimes broken, but
| none less than four feet. Heaven was
above you and both sides of you, and
everlasting smashation beneath you II
you should fall. Just then one of the
Arabs tumbled little and gave me a
shock like an electric battery.
"Now we come to the half way place
where they have thrown off IA few rocks,
and where you can brace yourself
against the breast stones of Cheops and
look off a little We were 240 feet NJ
in the desert air, standing or leaning on
the ragged corner and trying to behave
and say it was fun. But 1t was not.
There was too much risk and danger.
Some people have to be blindfolded t.
get them down, and many faint, anc
not long since an English soldier fell.
But on we 90 little farther, and, think
ing the matter all over, | called "a hal
and deliberately decided that was
enough. The view was something grand
suppose, and if l could have done th'
climbing when l was 20 years old
might have seen the grandeur. Goint
down, as was not dizzy, was easier
But any step might have been my last
and did not enjoy ii as much as di'
my splendid reception, though that EN-
barrassed me somewhat.
"Once at the bottom we MOUNTED
cames to go to the sphinx. A yer.
? large. white fellow fell to my lot. HI
was fiat on the ground rs l mounted
When he began to get up, j thought n
was going all to pieces. He rose Ill sec
tions. with four distinct motions, an
as each section assumed the horiZonta
4 | was ierked backward and forward
Cut n foot log into four parts. joint ther
! together, get astride and have that 10
, begin to assume the shape of saw
horse. with you on top, and you hav
the idea. However, / held ON, and ava
4 we went. estimated that from IN
, chin TO the end Of the camcl's nose wa
, six feet at least. The motion, once NJ
was not very disagrecable.
Would gentleman like to trot!' II
ouired the driver The gentleman sal
, he would. He had come TO Egypt to Sc
everything. He might have SAID the'
. is more 10 feel than TO see. Anyway, v
: went for about 30 rods, when | calle
q out, oh, oh. oh' and the creature fe
\ into walk.
"Soon we came to the great sphin!
IL is big, and no mistake-a huge won
= ans head on lions body. IL is abo'
: as large as our church. In front of
i partly buried i'm the sand, is temple
e granite and alabaster, whose intricaci
. were visited.