The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-03-12
NOTES BY AN HOWADJI.

For the Advertiser.

Here in Cairo the cooking is .Turko-
co-Greeco-Italian and is horrible
to a vegetarian. Every dish conta ms
flesh and is so well seasoned that the
throat soon becomes infiamed. but no
coffee. wine or beer. But during the
day they drink many small cups of
coffee, and smoke many cigarettes and
nargaiaho (water pipes. At the close
of a meal they exclaim '.EI-Hundu-
| Lillah" praise Cod. When a guest
| drinks a cup of water, the host says
Hana-Kum" with heaIth), and the
| reply is "Hana-Kum Allah" God give
you healthy.
The religion is so mixed up with the
social system that a Moslem always
appears very religious, so much so that
a Westerner is at first astonished and
! afterward Disguised at hearing the
| name of God SO commonly used. Salute
| an Egyptian with How do you do"
and he answers, Praise God" ASK
him to play tennis, and he answers.
God willing" insha-Allah when He
! really means perhaps
| The middle and upper class are con-
stftutionally lazy. They do not care
hot season, and ride in their carriages
| about sunset. But the English play
| their polo. cricket, etc. The English
| are certainly an example to these peo-
pie. not only mentally and morally,
but physically; but they drink much tea
and spirits, which certainly have no
good effect, judging from the way the
! English here talk about their livers.
/ rThara a hun of h los
and delicious fruit, fresh dates, figs,
| melons, pomegranateS, oranges and
grapes. The land is very productive
and the value of it is increasing every
year. Just outside the city of Cairo
one must pay from five to twenty-five
| dollars per square metre. Rents are
| becoming as high as in San Francisco.
| The cost of living in Cairo is as much
as in any large American city. Where
there is so much prosperity, so much
| money as in Cairo, the people necessar-
lily suffer from those ill-conditions
| brought on by the lack lof exercise,
| over-eating. loss of sleep. mental over
work and other dissipation. A SAM
tarium is much needed here.
THE EGYPTIAN OF TO-DAY.
One who wishes to know the true
Egyptian. must live among the Eel
lahin (farmers) in their one-story
mud hut villages. He must go with
them to their fenceless fields where
they pasture their oxen cows, buffaloes.
sheep. goats, donkeys, horses and cam
els, and see them irrigate their fields,
raising the water by means of a bucket
attached to one end of a. lever the
other end loaded by a basket of stones
or mud by the water-wheel punny
propelled by a blinded camel OK. or
mule.
In a city like Cairo the Egyptian ic
a mixture of the descendants of the
ancient Egyptian. the Arab, the Turk.
and the Negro. and they have learned
all the bad habits of the French. Ital-
ians. Greeks. Armenians and Turks.
1t is a blessing that England controls
Egypt, for, although the English are
proud, they are straighter, morally,
than any other nation, America of
course, excepted. y
The simple, fliterate, superstitious
country folk are an interesting study.
They are the same today as in the
time of Pharaoh even though the coun- |
try was flooded by the Arabs; for the
Arabs have not changed their morals
but have themselves become Egyptian
lied. Even their religious ceremonies /
of marriage, and burial are not ac- |
cording to the doctrine of their
Prophet. These natives are good /
humored, industrious. and healthy, but |
they suffer much from parasitic dis
eases and tuberculosis, from which |
they could be freed if taught cleanli-
ness and ventilation.
During the summer they sleep out
of doors, but during the winter they
sleep in their air-tight mud huts on
top of an oven if they have one. In
their diet they use much fat and con-
diments. Their cooking is done over
the fire, the ovens being used for the
baking of bread and the delicious
Egyptian bean, Cool Udammis) the
morning dish of every true native.
1t would be patronized by the resi-
dents and also during the winter by
tourists There is near Cairo, a large
sanitarium for tuberculosis. which dur
ing the winter months is kept very
busy, but is in reality nothing but
hotel.
Life in Egypt is very enjoyable ex-
cept during the hot months and some
cool damps days in the winter. To an
intelligent person the country is most !
The ancient history en-
folded by the grand old monuments
built thousands of years ago, and the
beautiful Saracenic architecture are
well worthy of study. Egypt is a land
Of wonders, and one who enjoys the
in life will find an album
lance here. Especially is Egypt rich
m relics of most of the remote past
It's ruins tell of the greatness of an e
antiquity that but for the Bible and c
hese mementoes has almost passed out I
rom the realms of knowledge. The I
zhizey Museum situated between Cairo '