The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-07-17
BY WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN

William Jennings Bryan
of business has its particular section,
Cn one street silver and GoldsnlthS
~mouopoii%c the space: another street is
gay with red shoes; in another the red
fcz, the universal hat. Is conspicuous
and still another IS given over to veg
ctabIos. Some Of the larger stores
handle Persian rugs silks, brass ware,
inIaid work and patchwork reproduce
ing the TaWings found on tombs and
temples. Ihe bazars also abound III
interesting reminders Of tine land of
the mummy. h pyramid, and the
sphinx.
We had not been in Cairo long be-
fore we visited the banks Of the Nile
that wonderful river without whose
fructifying waters there would have
been no Egypt. 1t is one Of the most
rCmarkable-in Sone respects the most
remarkabIe-Of all the rivers of the
earth. No wonder the ancient Egyp-
tians included a Nile god among their
GcitiCs. for next to the sun. to which
they raised their obeIisks, nothing was
so necessary to their existence as this
almost magic stream. The Nile rem
ders fertile two narrow strips. one on
either bank. 1000 miles long and but
4 few miles wide. For 1900 miles it
lows through a desert and receives
but a single tributary in that distance,
and yet. after supplying irrigation for
the crops of some 10000. 600 Of peO-
plc, it pours into the ocean q scarcely
diminished stream. The annual rise
of the river not only supplies water.
but it eneWs the and by deposits Of
alluviaI soil.
Some one has described the Nile VAL
ley as appearing. if seen from above,
like d strip of green carpet on a floor
of gold. so yellow are the sands that
hny1 II II NJ nno y-hn hoe NOT vic
tied an arid country and noted the in
fluenCa of water upon the thirsty soil
can imagine how distinctly the line is
drawn between the verdant field and
the barren desert that adjoins it.
Where the waters Of the Nile can be
brought upon the land, a farm will
rent for $40 per acre. while a few
feet away the land cannot be given
away. Lord Cromer in a recent re-
port gives the income and expenditure
Of q number of the fellaneen. or farm
crs. The statement shows that 500
worth of cotton is sometimes pro-
duced from q single acre, or about $50
worth of corn. The average income,
taking all crops together, often runs
rs high as $50 per acre.
An increasing quantity of land is be-
ing brought under the canals. but ir-
ligation from wells is still the main
reliance Of a large proportion of the
people. Water can be found at the
level of h water i'll the river, and the
landscape is dotted over with old
fashioned we'll sweeps and with water
wheels. whore blindfolded cameIs or
oxen tread their patient round. The
}and produces so a~bundantly and there
Is such Il variety of garden and farm
products tina one recalls that passage
in the Bible in which the children of
Israel are described as longing for the
f1eShDOtS of Egypt" Coming from In
Gll To lEDVEnf we coI1lI mot h1t pntinn.
the difference in the appearance of the
people. In the former country they
looked so enGaciated and hungry: in
the latter they are strong and robust.
and seemingly we'll fed. In the mar
ketS, too, the food IS heaped UP in big
baskets. while in India it is exposed
Ter sal" in tiny piles that speak only
too plainly Of the poverty of the peo-
ole.
For ages upon ages the fellah has
Drawn from toe i~neXhauStible store
house of the Nile. Cheops, kephren
md their successors built pyramids.
and the fellah fed the builders: Thut-
mo$is ana SethOS and their descend
ants constructed tOmbS and temples.
and the fellah supported the laborers.
the RamcSes added gigantic statues to
the ~stupendous work Of their ances-
tors. and the fellah still furnished
food; h Persians overran the coun-
try. and still the hand of the fellah
supplied the n~eceesaries of life: then
came Alexander the Great. and the
Ptolemies. Caesar. Antony and Cleo
patra. and the feIIah plowed on: after
the Roman came the Arab. and after
the Arab the Turk, followed b. Napo-
leon and later by the Briton. but
through all this change of dynasties
the fellah kept the noiseless tenor of
MS way and as a middle man.
handed over the bounties of the Nile
valley to the rulers and their armies
and he is doing so today. OF the
~l'loo,oo0 and owners. nearly go, 900
hold less than five acres each. and
almost half of the total acreage is
owned by 1920 persons. More than
nne~tenth of the tillable land is owned
by 1900 Europeans.
Very few horses are seen in the
country. the BEAST Of burden being
the OK (there are a few water buffa-
Toes also), the donkey n the camel.
n OK resembles the American rather
than the Indian OK in that it has no
hump on its shoulders and the draw
tnSS on some OF the walls represent
cattle with horns as large as those
formerly worn by the Texas steer. The
donkey-poor. patient creature-has
not changed materially in the last f.
600 years. The pictures drawn of him
~ the ancient Egyptians show him
Just as he is now. Then, as now. a
large part of his nourishment went to
the development of his vocal organs
and left the rest of his body woefully
small for the large burdens which he
was called upon to carry. If his dis
position was as gloomy IN the days of
the PharaohS as it is at present. he
probably annoyed them when he lifted
up his voice and Wept as he now an
nOys the tourist.
The camel, however. if the test is
special fitness for the country. is the
king of beasts. He pulls the pillow.
turns the water wheel. draws the wa