Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-20


il he would dig his image, This same Sphinx.
out of the sand. Thophmes did as request
ed and erected this tablet to Commemorate
the fact. sfie s1 ~
Pyramids Near Cairo.
There are fourteen pISfafnidg in the neigh
borhood of Cairo. Th9ses which surround
the Sphinx and are known asrthe pyramids
of Cizeh are most easily Accessible and may
be visited without fatigue s6r difficulty.
Within the last few years a foley line has
been built almost to tKe vefS feet of the
Sphinx. The track huns along a causeway
lined on either side with. rows of trees, and
one of the fashionable drives of Cairo. 1t
Is also thoroughfare 'muchs used by the
jewellers in the villages aiongtthe west bank
of the Nile and those who live in the desert
In that direction. The distance from the
hotels in Cairo is about nine miles. and no
more delightful excursion can be imagined.
You can leave your hotel IN a carriage or
by the street cars In the morning, take
your lunch at the Hena House. very at
tractive hotel few hundred yards from
the pyramids, spend the day around these
Incompatible monuments. by far the most
interesting of all relics OF antiquity, and
drive back to the city at or In the after
noon, just In time to meet the long process
sion of carriages filed with native princes,
pashas, yelled ladies from the harems of
rich Egyptians, generals in the British sery-
ice, civil officials of the government mem
bers of the diplomatic circle, Hindu and
Parsi milIionaires and all the gay world
who are spending the winter at Cairo and
come over that way for their afternoon air.
You can see many more and much finer
horses and carriages in London, New YORK
or Paris but in Cairo the oriental costumes
and coIors give an additional charm which
no other city enjoys.
You can climb the pyramids if you like.
As you step off the street car or as you
alight from your carriage at the gateway
of the Mena House you will be greeted by
vociferous group of Arabs dressed in long
white or blue tunics and wearing enormous
turbans of the same color. some OF them as
big as a bushel basket. They will offer the
services of themselves and their. donkeyS
or camels to show you the wonders you
have come to see. If you choose camel
the driver will make the great, awkward
beast kneel down in the road until you are
firmly seated in the saddle, when, at sig
nal from its driver, 1t will begin to rise, one
section at a time. 1t is considerable trouble
for a camel to get into action, and the
passenger on the upper deck must hold on
firmly or he will be thrown over the ami
mails head or his launches. If you prefer
a donkey you can have your choice among
a dozen or twenty sturdy, tough, sure
footed little animals whose legs do not look
bigger than pipestems but will carry the
heaviest man who comes here without even
a protest.
When your party Is mounted the process
sion moves along toward the pyramid and
makes quite cavalcade. In addition to the
donkey boys and camel drivers you are at
tended by a dozen or more guides and as
many peripatetic peddlers of scarabs, old
coins clay images and other cur1oSlt1es,
which they insist were found In the exca-
vations around the pyramid but were more
likely to have been manufactured In the
bogus curio shops of Cairo, which are nu-
merous and profitable Then you nave a
large contingent of beggars, of all ages,
with all kinds of ailments and de1ormltles.
some of them KEEN cunning and amusing;
others repulsive and loathseme And hnal-
ly groups of urchins, more persistent than
the flies, who follow along showing on
what little English they know in making
bright remarks, which they repeat by rote
to every conner day after. day and some
times a dozen times a. day. and expect
baksheesh as evidence, OF appreciation o 3l
their wit and naivete Everything is
bakshee.sh You hear. that word from
morning till night, from the time you enter
the east until you leave, it Everybody de-
mands It, and our rich fellow countrym men
have unfortunately stimulated the natural
persistency of the beggars by responding
to their appeals with more generosity imam
Judgment Eyerythings T. arT nannas TO so exa
great way. Even the camelsian the DON
Keys are named to crafty the visitors.
When Americans come they, are invited 70
.nTbeodore Roosevelt" william Mckin-
ley" and other beasts named after dlstln-
guished fellow citizens EnguSn, Geriha II,
and French visitors are complirnented In
a similar NldLiiei-
Inside the Pyramids.
AS YOU arrive at the basesofothe pyramids
81 solemn looking sheik comes forward and
informs you that you are expected TO pay
s piastres l25 cents each. and politely ex-
plains that the money is expended In keep
ing the place in order. Having secured
YOUR tickets you select your guide, drive
back the beggars and other followers who
have already exhausted your patience, ana
move slowly along in procession TO the
Sphinx, where you dismount and walk
through the temple and the chambers ana
tombs that l have described as lying be-
meath it, Then you have your photograph
taken with the Sphinx as background,
mounted on a camel or donkey or any
way you like, with pieturesque-looking
guides in Arab costumes to give character
and variety to the group. Then, remount-
ing, you make circuit of the pyramids
and listen to the chatter Of native attend
ants and the boys who want to sell curios
until you can endure them no longer and
command the guide to drive them off. He
plunges among them, striking right and left
without the slightest compunction or mercy,
Shaping one in the face. punching another
in the shoulder and bowling anathemas at
those his arm cannot reach.
For a very few moments thereafter you
are allowed opportunity to look at the
pyramids and the great image Of the God
of the Morning Sun without interruption,
but you are scarcely at peace when the
guides begin to torment you again. They
want to take you to the top Of the pyra-
mds. If you decline to indulge in that vio-
lent exercise they offer to make the ascent
for you In ten minutes for dollar. II you
decline they lower the price and shorten
the time, and tell about Mark Twain's ex-
perience. He paid one of the Arab guides
IS for going to the top of the pyramids and