The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-27
GEORGE ADE IN
 PASTURES NEW
tContinued from Page 2o.)

tourists, he associates with the natives. He prefers the tourist, but come what may. he is never idle. The bacillus. on the other hand. has circumscribed op- portunities. Inasmuch as the entire population of the country lives along the river one might suppose that harm full germs would be bred and dissemi- mated by the billion. Yet both natives and visitors drink from the river with impunity. .gThe sweet water of the Nile" 1t is called. and even the most ap- prehonsive travellers learn to take 1t af- ter putting in about twenty drops of Scotch. SO as to benumb the bacilli, if any should be present. There is an explanation of the micro- organisms failure to do much harm in Egypt. If bacillus living anywhere along the Nile starts for ramble on shore he Is sunstruck. and falls helpless in the sand. If he sticks to the water the monotony ftravel begins to wear up- on him and after about seven miles he dies of ennui
 If Egypt is a happy hunting ground for the flea, it Is likewise paradise for the fly. If I had to be something in Egypt I should prefer to be Moham- medan fly. This little creature, which in most countries is bounded and per- secuted and openly regarded as pest. is treated with consideration in Egypt --humored. petted. indulged. actually spoiled. In the U. S A. fly is almost as unpopular as the millionaire. He is wary. fretful and suspicious. because he knows that all humanity Is joined In a conspiracy to put him out of busi- ness If he strolls up to pool of wa- ter tempting1y set forth In white bowl he finds himself a few minutes later writhing in cramps and full of cor rosive sublimate. He sees what appears to be tempting luncheon of sweets and when he starts in to serve himself he discovers that he is caught and held by the freacherous 'tanglefoot" mix ture. He sees sign, This way to the dining room and after passing through a long corridor he lands in a wire trap from which there is no escape. If he alights on a bald head and tries to use 1t as a rink somebody strikes at him and calls him names.
 It is all different in Egypt. The greatest incignity that a Mohammedan ever offers a fly is to give him a gen tie shove and request him to move on. It is contrary to the religious teachings to kill or even cripple this din1inutive household companion. The belief in transmigration of souls seems to pre- vail everywhere in the mystical East. and perhaps the fly that follows and ags you all afternoon may harbor the spiritual essence of former head waiter or a bey or some other digni- tary. When the flies assemble in large numbers around the various apertures of baby's face, the child, obeying an instinct of self defense, tries to 'spat'' them and drive them away. But the mother restraints the infant by holding its hands and the flies give themselves over to unmolested enjoyment The older children have learned their les son and seldom make any effort to brush away the flies which loiter all over their bright young features. This Is not a pleasant thing to talk about, but, inasmuch as the fly is omnipres- ent during a trip up the Nile and this friendly understanding between the fly and the native is constantly under the travellers observation, a description of Egypt would be sadly incomplete with out chapter on the fly.
 Having been a privileged class for many generations the flies are impudent and familiar to a degree. When the white unbeliever, with no conscientious scruples against murder. comes up the river, they swarm about him and buzz into his ears, "Welcome to our city. ' Then when he begins sparring with them and using sulphurous language they gather about him in augmented numbers and dodge when he strikes OnQ BlQeSI6D when ne SldpS HlInSt1I dHO seem to think that he Is trying to teach them some new kind of tag" game The Mohammedan fly cannot by any effort of the inauguration bring himself to believe that a human being would wilfully injure him. This feeling of overconfidence in mankind breeds care 1essness and during the open season for tourists many of them are laid low Mir Peasley said that if there was any ~ I, figured that he had massacred a regi- ment of soldiers, several boards of di- rectors a high school and an insane asylum. The mortalities during the tourist season do not seem to lower the visible supply or in any way dis courage the surviving millions.
 When we started up the river a pedler came to the boat and offered us some small fly brooms. They are very much like the brush used by the apprentice in a blacksmith shop to protect the | horse that Is being shod. The brush part is made of split palm leaves or horse hair and the handle is decorated with beadwork. The idea of a person sitting about and whisking himself with | this ornamental duster struck us as | being most unusual. not to say idiotic Before we had travelled far up the Nile we had joined the grand army of whisk- 
 needed every eight seconds. At Luxor we went out to see a gymkhana under the auspices of the Luxor Sporting Club and every one of the 200 spectators sat there wearlly skipping himself about the head with the tufted fly brush while looking at the races.
 The Luxor Sporting Club Is not as dangerous as 1t sounds. The presiding | judge of the races was a minister of l ha aI nd fVNfe ryfyy to local charities. A gymkhana Is the last resort of a colony shut off from the metropolitan forms of amusement and yet it can be made the source of much hilarious fun. Nothing could have been more frivolous than the program al | Luxor, and yet the British spectators seldom give way to mirth. Doubtless they were laughing inwardly. Several ponderous committees had charge oi the arrangements and attended to then with due solemnity.
 First there was race between na- tive water carriers, distance about 30C yards, and each contestant carrying g goat skin filled with water. Then there was a donkey boys race, each rider being required to ride backward. This enabled him to encourage his mount by twisting his tail In the donkey race for ladies several of the contestants fell oft gracefully and were carried tc the refreshment booth, where they re. vived on tea The affinity race" was an interesting feature. The contest ants rode their donkeys In pairs, gen. tleman and a lady holding long rib l bon between them. They were required | to gallop about 200 yards, turn a post and return to the starting point with out letting go of the ribbon. By fal the most exciting features of the pro-