Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1906-05-12

! Joseph, OF the exodus, are being Ver1-
fed or corrected by the monuments
and Inscriptions.
! At Luxor we had slight diversion
from the business of sightseeing, in
the shape of some sports, held fer the
benefit of local charities. Much is
done all along the Nile for charity.
Just here let me say that the people
who rave against Christian missions
in lands where other religions are
dominant, had better visit these places
and see what Christian missionaries
are doing, and to find the esteem in
| which they are held by all, before
passing judgement. The best work
along medical and humanitarian lines
in Egypt is being done by Christian
doctors and missionaries. The mis-
sion schools are educating the boys
and girls in genuinely helpful way.
When you see a child in Egypt with
bright face, good eyes and clean APP
pearance, you may almost invariably
be sure to discover that he has been
at the mission schools. They are GER
tainly making better people of them,
| whether they convert them to Chris
tianity or not.
Well the sports. They consisted of
| donkey races, camel races, buffalo
races and native water carrier races.
The native donkey race was perhaps
the most amusing. The donkeys boys
had TO ride backwards and guide the
donkeys without brides. Many were
the "spills" and much the confusion.
Many visitors participated in the
ladies' and gentlemens' donkey races.
Miss Mason and Ientered the ''afinity
race" the bond of affinity being a
hemp rope which must be held by
each couple all the way round. We
led at the turn but after that it was
case of ''also ran"
From Luxor we journeyed on to
Assuan, stopping to visit the temples
of Esnch, Edfee and Kom Onlbo.
Assuan is situated at the first cataract
and it was our destination. We left
the steamer there and spent Sunday
at the Cataract hotel. We had the
| opportunity of visiting the temple of
| Philae and the great barrage or dam
which is one of the great engineering
feats of Egypt By means of this
dam and the one at Assint, the flow of
,, fhe Nile is regulated so that drought
| is now almost unknown. And this in
spite of the fact, as we were told by
Sir William Willcocks, who engineered
the undertaking, that for the past
seven years the Nile has been lower
than in any previous seven years
since the Christian era. He said that
had it not been for the dams that
Egypt would have experienced a
famine such as is recorded during the
time of Joseph under one of the
Pharaohs. This Sir William is an
authority on the customs of the Egyp-
tians and he spoke entertainingly to
us for about three hours of the habits
of the people. He said there were
parallels afloat illustrating certain
matrimonial ideas. I'll repeat two.
One was that foreigner in CONVEX
sation with a mussulman, asked him
to tell what strange procession was
coming up the street. There were
many women dressed in dull black,
wringing their hands and wailing
dolorously. The native replied,
"Oh that is funeral" "But who is
it who has died?' ooh that is one of
my wives," answered the native.
Another parable is to the effect that a
native man was dying. He called his
wife to him and said that he could not
die happy unless she promised him
that she would not marry Hassan
after he was gone. She cheerfully
replied. ''You may die quite content.
I shall not marry Hassan, I have al
ready promised to marry Moham-
med"
We returned to Cairo by train.
From Luxor we came by the train de
luxe, limited express train compos-
ed of sleeping cars. We were very
comfortable. You see Egypt is getting
quite up-to date.
must not fail to tell something of
Cairo. It is a city of about one million
inhabitants, and like Rome, is
strange mixture of ancient and mod
ern. The hotels of Cairo ars celebrat-
ed the world over and new Cairo is
like an American city. The English
influence in Egypt is being felt for
good. But old Cairo is as untouched
by modern progress as ever. We
visited the University, where thous-
ands of young Mohammedans as
semble from all over "Turkeydom."
Imagine vast courtyard, paved with
stone. surrounded by Colonnades. All