St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1903-07-15
The City of Cairo.
Editor CALIFORNIAN:


and the impression on our minds wa
where are we? In Paris or New York
Can this be Cairo? At one turn we fe
we might be in some American waite
ing place, at another in some Euro
pean city. Only the presence of til
red fez caps $50 almost universal anon
officials,) and the Arabs in the street:
helped us to remember that we we're no
in the West. Beautiful carriages, fn
horses, smart dog carts and fair womeI
and Raiy attired men drove by, an,
while we were enchanted with the gar
dens and the trees and interested in see
ing the mansions wherein the Kbedive'
aunt lived and his cousins dwelt and hi
grandmother used to live, and in passins
the barracks and the military quarters
yet we hardly felt we were in ancien
Egypt. At last alter drive through tn,
Ghezireh Palace grounds and after pass
ing the Geological Gardens, we came out
OF long straight street, and before us
was the river Nile, with its dahabeahs
its boats, its mighty waters, and we
knew at last we were actually in the
land of the Pharaohs! Still further on
we approached the long avenue of lebbek
trees, and away. stretched out before as
in the blue hazy light, were the mighty
Pyramids.
The next day we rose early and after
breakfast and stroll we wendell our
wsy to the great museum, that wonder.
full treasure store of the wealth and in.
dustries OF the ages. We saw huge
sarcophagi of wood, of granite, OF
marble, of porphyry, solemn sphinxes,
large and small, ancient boats, stone i'm.
plements of earliest times, wonderful
hIeroglyphs and massive grim images of
kings. rulers and sages; wonderful scar
abel and last of all, mummies of cats,
antelopes' chickens, kings and queens
some open, some partially unrolled, some
beautifully and exquisitely closed. We
saw mummies in cases, mummies exposed,
mummies OF the young and the old and
chief OF all, the mummy of Rameses II.
the Pharaoh of the oppression, a thin,
somewhat fair haired intellectual type OF
man. 1t would take months to zee this
institution thoroughly and our tour
was necessarily very cursory. But we
ielt most appreciative of the genius which
planned this new building and of the
skill and care of the excavators who
have given their lives to careful investi-
cation, not only in this, but in the last
century, and to those who have removed
at great expense and care the Ghizeh
collection to this building. Special credit
is due to Marietta and others of the
French savants, and the French catalogue
reveals their energy, perseverance and
eagerness in the prosecution of excava-
tion and research.
We lunched at Mena House and in the
afternoon I--aided by three Arab boys
assembled the great Pyramid of Cheops.
Allowing Tor several rests, / was 20
minutes in being almost literally hoisted
TO the summit, from which spread out a
marvellous and extensive view, Nv hus-
band found that the climb would cause
dizziness and occupied himself in viewing
the structure from the base, and in TAX.
ing in the site and positions of the other
pyramids near.
How wonderful it was to gaze over
the Lybian desert We saw the "Step
Pyramid" at Sakkara, that ancient
mountain which was built generations
before Abraham's first visit, In retro
spect we discerned the Arab traders,
with the young man Joseph, whose wis
dom IN storing the grain and in revealing
dreams, placed him in such an exalted
position. Mosques and minarets of
eairo across the fertile valley, were
cleaning in the sunlight and the Nile
river with its wealth of boats and of
water was in evidence for many miles.
On the one side vegetation, habitations.
life; on the other, the tawdry golden sands
stretching as tar as eye can reach. Nv
descent was very rapid and somewhat
unoignihed as grasped the shoulders of
my guides, or let the third lift me quickly
from stone to stone. Like Mark Twain
we sent one OF the guides to the Second
PYRAMID OF Kaphren and it was wonder
iul to see him ascend the polished surface.
All the rich stone casing of the big pyra.
mid has long since been carried away.
leaving only the huge blocks of the struct.
ure. Thus 1t is One generation builds
up and another pulls down! We were
somewhat tormented by the cries for
"backsheesh." but having assured our
boys OF reward we silenced them for a
time, and then, paying them at the base
OF the pyramid and dismissing them, we
took camels and rode to the sphinx a
short distance away. | had a fine gentle
easy camel and comfortable saddle and
the motion was far pleasanter than I
anticipated. Indeed, had time allowed
would gladly have ridden much farther.
ooth IN gong and coming. When on the
summit OF the pyramid ! had looked
Gown upon the cat like BODY of the
SPHINX lying so far below, and could
hardly believe that was correctly
informed, as it looked so tiny and so care
FULLY and neatly carved. Near bv il
seems colossal and rough marred and
injured, with a great crevice or crack
along the back. We crawled nm and
round to the neck and saw the reddish
tint OF the much-marred cheek and then
went across to catch the evn,ees;o, -.