The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-01-09

turn with me, that all the Khe-
dives wealth would not tempt me
to bulge another inch. He was
wise enough to know that falter-
ling at this awkward spot meant
death, if l should slip, so picked
me up in his strong arms, bore me
over the precipitous projecting
point, while the third dragoman
boosted me up-up to the first one
who had gone before to catch me.
Again on solid rock, | stood in
amazement while my fearless guide
stood trembling like an aspen leaf
from sheer fatigue. Great drops of
perspiration stood on our faces and
we painted for air. Beyond this
point / would not 60 If the others
chose to break their necks in maxi
ing other perilous ascents | would
not. The gentlemen proceeded to
| the Great Hall, thence to the Kings
chamber, where was the empty sar-
cophagus of the king for whom it
was intended.
| In accordance with the ancient
Egyptian doctrine of the immor-
tality of the soul, it was necessary
that the earthly tabernacle of the
soul should be preserved, and this
leaves us without doubt that these
marvellous Pyramids were reared as
receptacles for their mighty dead.
| The jointing and polish of the
fine grained marble slabs in the
various chambers form an unsur-
passed marvel of skillful masonry.
The accuracy of the remark of
modern scientific explorers, "that
neither a needle nor even hair
can be inserted into the joints of
the stones is verified. To wit
ness their immense size, the skill
of the workmanship, to consider
that none of the stone was found
near by, to wonder how they got it
here and putt together in this inn
mense pile is convincing that they
had kowledge of engineering un-
known to us.
This stupendous structure is $50
feet high, covers an area of thirteen
acres and has space at the top of
about twelve yards square. Here
the gentlemen of our party viewed
the landscape DER" and wrote num-
erous short letters to our home
friends. The diversified view, I'M
surpassed in loveliness, to be seen
from the summit of Cheops richly
rewards you, but | cannot portray
in any word picture the subtle
charm and grand beauty that burst
upon our enraptured vision.
To the west as far as the eve
could reach, we could see the great
Libyan desert, with its oceans of
hot sand to the south is a vast
metropolis, with its numerous
smaller pyramids visible, and the
great sandy plains almost limit
less. To the east was the valley of |
the Nile, with its fields of luxuri-
ant wheat, and still farther across
the Nile this fertile plain is limited |
by rocky cliffs and the Mokattim
hills, which are contiguous to the |
deserts of the Red sea. Nearer to
us, at our feet, were numerous mud /
villages looking like ant hills,
herds of camels and buffaloes,
palm groves waving their flexible
fan-like leaves, and the mysterious,
gigantic sphinx. Still farther away
were lovely palaces and towers, and /
yet more distant was Cairo, the
great cosmopolitan city of the Lee
want, with its multitudinous nina
rets and gilded domes.
As we sat among the voiceless
monuments of the dead past, the
absolute stiffness and silence of
the whole scene, and the deep peace |
as we looked above into the vast
vault of heaven, whose sun had for
centuries showered down its benefit
cent rays, thus makDg the atmos-
tphere SO dry as to preserve all |
things in an almost perfect condi-
ton, these Pyramids of Gizeh |
stand as a finished triumph of the |
intellect and skill of man. We sit
and muse and by them we seem
to bridge the gulf of ages, and thus
to certain degree we measure the
ambitions and the moral standards
of the ancient Egyptian rulers.
In the evening we hurry back,
because by six o'clock span of
the great bridge over the Nile is
reversed and that will occasion de-
lay. Hassan Nabla, our Arabic
coachman, succeeds in just the nick
of time. We rise in our'carriage,
and as the rays of the setting sun
were slowly sinking in the West,
we take one "last, long and linger-
ing look" at the Pyramids pointing
ever upwards to that beautiful city
of perfection which, too, is built
with foundations and is eternal,
and for which we all hope and
strive to reach some day.
STATE OF OHIO, CITY OF TOLEDO. 80
LUCAS COUNTY. o.