The San Francisco call., 1906-05-20

is railway. but II foilows the river
all the way up to Assouan.
1t would seem that the country was
especially laid out and punctuated with
sights for the convenience of the mod
ern traveller. for the visitor who goes up
the Nile and stops OFF at the right spots
can do clean job of sightseeing with
out doubling on his tracks.
Until a few years ago the tourist going
up the Nile had to take dahabeah.
This sounds like the name of a disease.
but 1t is really big, roomy. fiat-bottomed
sailboat The dahabeah moves only when
the wind is In the right direction. and to
go from Cairo to Assouan requires the
greater part Of lifetime. Those trav-
elers who have money to burn and who
are content to settle down to many weeks
of rest and Incidence charter the private
dahabeahs- When traveller goes aboard
dahabeah he tears up the calendar and
let's his watch run down Those who
have more money and are in hurry use
the private steam dahabeahs.
A majority Of travellers go by pas
senger boats. The tourist steamers de-
vote thre weeks to a loafng voyage up to
Assouan and back. with daily excursions
TO the graveyards and ruins. The express
steamers. carrying freight and native
passengers, take less time for the round
trip, as they skip some of the less inter-
tsting antiquities We took an express
tonlbs and temples, but still getting
enough of them to last for the next hun
dred years or so.
Our steamer Is a frail affair. double
decked and Of no draught worth mention
ing. II resembles the old style of Mis-
souri, river boat, built to run on a heavy
dew. There are thirty ssengers who
devote most Of their time to loIling on
deck waiting for the next meal Mud
banks, natives hosting water. green
fields stretching away to the bald range
of hills, dobe huts, spindly palms. now
and then a solemn row of camels, always
several donkeys and goats in evidence
every few miles the tall stack Of sugar
mill, perpetual sunshine-it is monoton-
Gus travel. and yet there Is con-
finally something doing along the banks
and the traveller cannot get away from
that feeling OF satisfaction which results
from lying back to watch other people
work
And the sunsets, You cannot estimate
the real dignity and artistic value of a
camel until you see him or her siIhouetted
against a sky of molten gold Just at
twilight. / have made two or three at
tempts to describe the glory of a sunset
in the desert, but I find myself as help
less as Mr.. Peasley. who after gazing
for five minutes at the flaming horizon
can only murmur a low but reverent
"Goshr'
1t may interest the reader to hear
what Baedecker has to say on the sub
ject. Baedecker says ID. 216). "The sun
sets are very fine" That's what I like
about Baedecker. He doesn't fuss over
lot Of words and tack on superfuous
adjectives As soon he has impaired
the necessary information in trim and
concise manner he moves on to the next
subject.
1 am sending herewith two sketches
which show the beauty and variety OF
landscape to which we are treated every
day. View No. 1 Is most characteristics.
We see before us the ripping Nile ana
beyond 1t the sheer river bank of black
dirt. Then the field OF waving grain. In
the distance the range of hills and over
all a dazzling sunshine.
No. is more varied Again we have
the river. the mud bank and the growing
crops. together with the distant hills.
behind which the sun Is silently sinking
In the foreground at the left is a majestic
palm The structure at the right Is a
native house and will indicate something
Of the simple life of the agricuIturfst
The complicated device on the river bank
at stage senter Is the shadouf, used for
lifting water from the stream The
cavernous opening In the distant hfu
(marked x in the drawing) Is the entrance
to rock tomb. BY studying this picture
the reader may get a fair understanding
Of the architectural splendor Of these
ancient sepulchres.
!, Travelling on the Nile has two reliable
features to commend It. The weather
is always fair and the native population
constantly enlivens the picture. for the
lower river is crowded with sails and
every inch along the Links is under culti-
vation- Also. the Nile has some sur
prises In store Two definite decisions
are. soon shattered.
Delusion No Heat 1t is not al
ways warm in Egypt In the middle az
n ha Ind
desert, 1T may work up to a good sum-
merry temperature at this season. but In
the shade It is cool. and as soon as the
sun has set bracing autunnal chill
comes into the air and the heavy over
coat is needed. The north wind can bs
very chiselIy at times. * coming "a
Egypt. bring your 1annels along
: Deius1on No 2-Crocodi1es. There ara
no crocodiIes in the Nile. We have al
ways supposed that the bank Of the river
was polkadotted with these monsters. r.
ing in wait for small dark children. n
is said that two thousand years aro ths
Nile was bordered with papyrls reeds or
oullrushes, within the tangles Of which
lurkeI the hippopotamus. crocodiles.
dragomans and other reptiles. but the
animals have disappeared. and so has the
river vegetation The other day we
visited the island on which Pharaoh'a
daughter discovered little Moses The
island is still there but there is-'t a
bunrush within mile OF IL
One of the penalties of travel is to have
old and settled beliefs uprooted For in
stance. there are no l1altese cats In
Malta, no Venetian blinds in Venice. no
Roman punch in Rome. II YOU want
Neapolftan Ice cream in Naples you must
send out for It, You may walk about All
day in Bologna witt ut seeing a pound
OF Bologna sausage Egyptian cigarettes
are known throughout the world. and
yet no tobacco is grown In egypt. Co
to Manhattan Beach and everybody In
drinking Martins. Truly. the stereotyped
labels are deceptive