Evening star., 1904-01-23

and twelve miles out at Holouan. the old
est pleasure resort in the world, whose
mineral springs were patronized In most
ancient times. are similar accommodations.
And at intervals all the way up the Nile,
at almost every town of importance as far
as Khartum. comfortable and luxurious
hotels have been established that may be
reached by rail or river. All of them are
well patronized. Most of them are crowd
ed from the first of December to the first
of April. and do not understand how they
can afford to entertain people at the prices
they charge because they are closed for
eight months in the year, and have to de-
pend on four months business for their
profit. and are compelled to bring nearly all
their supplies from abroad. They get their
beef from America. their chickens from
France their vegetables from Italy, their
butter from Switzerland and Denmark. and
their groceries from London. Several OF
the hotels have their own gardens and
dairies which supply ordinary vegetables,
cream for your coffee at my hotel-the
only place know of between Paris and San
FanciSco.
One would think that the marvellous soil OF
the Nile valley would produce al the Vege.
tables that could be eaten in Egypt, put
such is not the case. A great deal OF garden
truck is imported. and 1t is almost impossl-
BILE to make cream and butter In Egypt pc,
cause there is no grass. The COWS are leu
on forage plants like alfalfa. sugar cane,
cornstalks and millet. No matter how rlch
in milk-producing qualities such food may
be, you cannot get good milk, cream ana
butter where grass will not grow.
But in these days of refrigerator snipS
and railway cars it Is easy for the noteis
here to bring in their supplies. Alexan-
dria is only three days from Naples; Brln,
disi and Messina are one night nearer ,l anu
boats are running nearly every day. Inc
atmosphere is perfect. 1t reminds you oI
Mexico-perpetual sunshine and cloudless
sky. Last year there We're twelve RAINY
days out of the 365. There ls' ho"eVer'
considerable difference between the tenn
perature before and after sundown-often
as much as 90 degrees. In the afternoon
you will need an overcoat. For TINS rea-
son delicate people have to pe very careiul ~!
1t is easier to take cold in Egypt than In
most countries.
Some Of the Annoyances.
There is another fly in the ointment. also
and you might say great many flies; and
mosquitoes are equally numerous. II you
attempt to sleep without netting over
your bed you are likely to be oled by thou-
sand silent surgeons, and in the daytime
most people carry whisps or brushes MADE
of strips of palm leaf or horse hair to beat
off the flies. These are so much needed
that peddlers sell them on the streets. They
are ornamental as well as useful. The ham
dies offer an opportunity for artistic bead
work, and one of the objects in life for peo-
pie who dwell in Cairo is to make collec-
ton of fly whisps.
sance, and they are exasperating. Begging
is prohibited, but the law Is not enforced.
and the streets are filled with peddlers or
all ages and races wearing long blue tunlcs
of cotton like nightgowns and red 1ezes or
big white turbans, and they pester you
wherever you go. From the moment you
pass the gates of the custom house at Alex
andria or Port Said you are followed by
~ Nrric foy,t
or perhaps genuine antiquities, post CARDS,
photographs, images, matches, pencils ana
stationery, handkerchiefs, shoestrings ana
every imaginable article. The streets OF
Cairo are filled with them, and If that were
not enough, when you leave the principal
streets your way is constantly blocked by
"barkers' entreating you to visit their
Shops, and thrusting into your hands ar
ticles that you do not need or want. At
most of the towns they have the audacity
to come to your rooms, and sometimes even
to your table in the hotel dining room and
interrupt you in whatever you are dong to
describe their wares and urge them upon
you.
Then, again, an equal nuisance are guides
and dragomen who can talk little English
and offer their services as Interpreters ana
to take you about the town. Hence, be-
tween the flies, mosquitoes, guides peddlerS
and men, women and children begging for
backsheesh, the tourist in Egypt is some
times unhappy.
Everybody hires a dragoman, and one of
his chief duties is to protect you from these
pests which he does with the aid of stout
stick and torrent of invectives. The ped
dlers and beggars are afraid of the stick,
as he handles it with vigor, but the invec-
tives make no more impression than water
upon ducks back. Often, when your
dragoman is absent or If you are without
one, a volunteer beggar will assume this
responsibility and then demand backSheeSh
for keeping other beggars away
Living Like Animals.
The great mass of the common people are
wretchedly poor, and they live like animals,
and yet they will not emigrate. There is
practically no emigration from Egypt. No
people are more attached to their homes,
which, although so comfortless, are more
precious to them than the palace to the
khedive, for they have never known any
better. And their wages are absurdly low
They do not earn any more than the Chi
nese. Ten or Is cents day is good pay for
the average laborer. An entire family of
seven or eight persons will subsist upon a
little patch of ground not bigger than the
floor of your dining room. They may own
goat and its milk helps out, or few
chickens whose eggs are their greatest lux
ury but often they become so reduced that
they are actually compelled to eat the
leaves of the trees, which they boil in wa
ter to make them more digestible. The tips
of radishes, turnips, onions and other parts
of vegetables which we throw away are
their regular food They consume every
atom of every green thing that comes out
of their gardens, and the husks that the
swine did eat are often luxury.
When young men or young women are
educated they find their way to the cities,
where they can have more life and enjoy
ment and better society. The son of a fell
lah, as farmer of Egypt is called will not
follow his fathers trade if he gets any
schooling. He will not endure the hard
ships and labor that are unavoidable in that
branch of industry. Yet even he, although
he will desert the mud cabin in which he
was born and in which his ancestors have
lived for generations. cannot be induced to
leave the country unless he is so fortunate
as to make fortune. AS soon as an EgyG-
tan gets money and leisure he starts for
Paris.