The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1901-04-24
CA1Ro. Egyrt, March 80. 1901.

We uStN 10 Itdu OF Nut ulAu dlttlnultlliS
of the early Egyptians, but l never real
/ lied what that meant till | walked among
the ruins of these massive structures, and
saw the evidence OF a skill and cunning
that would tax the inventive genius of
the present to surpass or equal. 1t may
/ have been a civilization OF a different
/ type from the present, but it gave evil
dence OF brain power as well as brute
/ force.
My Introduction 10 this beautiful val
ley was under series of peculiar circum-
stances which l may speak Of later. As
it was l was one Of the three of our party
to see this valley under the clear light of
the sun on balmy morning such as peo-
pie rave over at home if perchauce once
in long time they see it. The place was
/ zagazig at the entrance of the land Of
Goshen, which Pharaoh gave to Jacob for
a home when the famine was sore in
Canaan and Joseph was prime minister
Of Egypt The three of us occupied a
| compartment in the little dinkey one
half horse car affair I'VE were travelling
! first class One exclamation Of surprise
! and pleasure followed another as we
/ passed along through the most fertile
| country ever saw. II looked like
western plain, so level was it, and one
/ great grain field SO fully was it titled.
Now and again the soft balmy air of early
morning came to us through the open
windows heavily laden with the exquisite
odor Of orange blossoms.
| They were plowing, planting and har-
vesting grain all at the same time, Wheat,
which looked much like barley, was
growing in great luxuriousness and in
>ome places l saw them threshing just as
is represented i'm pictures you have seen.
There is brought together on the backs Of
camels large stack of the wheat and
then they hitch two or more OK en- to a
sled-like affair that has iron disks at
tached. A man sits on this and around
and around this pile they go, cutting up
the straw and shelling the wheat till all
is threshed out. The winnowing is done
by tossing in the air where the chaff and
straw is blown to the one side. The grain
is then pnt in sacks and usually market
ed ct once, or put in a mud house in the
village.
The whole valley is flooded in Septen-
Der and October by the overflow of the
Nile. When the water begins to subside
and while the ground is yet muddy they
begin to sow what, letting it soak into
the mud. But as the drying up of the
mud is rapid, they sow, then drag and
later have to plow the ground.
Their plows are a sight TO westerner.
A yoke of cows, oxen, or buffalo, or
mixture OF any of these, is hitched up by
a yoke about or S feet long. This yoke
is fastened TO a pole which is attached to
the one only handle Of the plow At the
point of this handle is an iron shovel
which goes zigzaging around merely
scattering the ground. Their drag is al
most equally primitive,
The overflow of the Nile with the sparse
rains which follow through the winter is
nearly enough to water the ground, but
the corn, three kinds are grown of which
Indian corn is one, must be continually
irrigated.
Their method Of irrigation was to me
very interesting. Large canals lead off
from the Nile in every direction. Along
these every little ways the natives were
drawing their supply for local needs. A
great many methods for raising the water
from the canal was seen, two of which
were most common. The one was by the
means ofa screw. This looked like an
eighteen inch pipe with the screw within.
One end was down in the water aud the
other end up on the bank. a man was
sitting turning this and bringing con-
tinuous stream of considerable size. The
other method was by a COW usually
| hitched on arrangements of wheels 10
which open jars are attached after the
manner of a chain pump.
As the ground was level and 1t was nec-
essaryto carry the water far back into the
| field they raised the small canal at the
large ditch by piling bank of earth and
making the canal on this gradually lower
ing as they went back into the country.
! Here is a break. At 1880 we started for
Assuan and some 30 mi. out the engine
/ broke down and we are laid over indef-
nitely. What that means in Africa is not
the same as in America. We ate our
lunch and are sitting in our car in temp.
of about 9Oo. l have lost the thread Of
my discourse.)
Cairo was our first real stop and we
/ found it interesting. Old Cairo was only
hinted at in the Midway at the Worlds
Fair. The real thing surpasses that as
far as day surpasses night. We TOOK a
drive and walk also through the old
| part and il was sight never to be forgot
ten. The streets were so narrow in many
places a carriage could not possibly go.
Many of them so dark you could not see
plainly at all. This was owing to the tall
/ buildings, three or four storys high, and
| TO the awnings which are stretched across
/ from one side 10 the other. And then
what tiny little shops and stores. The
keeper could reach almost anything with
out moving out Of his tracks. These
shops were mostly kept by Egyptians or
Greeks, which latter form the larger part
of the commercial population of Egypt.
In the artisan quarters Arabs are found
doing almost everything in their little
shops 50 low are they that thelworkman
could not stand up straight. ! saw a
blacksmith who had hole in which he
stood, and a tinsmith who sat at his work
from necessity. This was in old Cairo.
When first went in felt a little nervous