The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-01


for irrigation.
The Pyramids.
At Cairo our passage had been en-
gagged on the Victoria, a boat of the
Hamburg & AnglO-American Nile
company, for a three weeks trip up
| the Nile. Since it was to sail the sec
ond day after our arrival, we had but
one Cay for Cairo at this time, and
wisely chose to spend it in visiting
the renowned site of the Pyramids, at
Gizeh. Taking carriages and street
cars to the hotel resort Mena House,
we crossed the large Kasr-el-Nil
bridge, through which at certain hours
of the day all kinds of river craft are
permitted to pass. Here, for the first
time, we obtained ocular evidence OF
! another case of Temporary occupan-
cy' by the British nation. At each
end of the bridge are two mammoth
| lions, cCuchant; seeing which, we real
lied We were under the sure. but I'M
ostentatious, protection of British
power. We had an idea that Egypt is
| under the suzerainty of the Ottoman
empire; we knew that there is a Mo-
hammedan khedive, and we had seen
his extensive palaces, but now we
learn that when Lord Cromer whispers
his suggestions" and advice" into
the ears of this ruler, they are uni
formly found good and straightway
put into execution. Apropos, l am
sorry to learn recently that this ac-
compliShed British minister has been
forced to resign on account Of i'll
health. His work I'm the last quarter
of a century has been so admirable.
50 tacttul, but withal so forecfuI. that
he has received enconiums that sell
dom come to man until he is so dead
they can do him no good
From the Mena House we proceeded
on our way, mounted upon the prone
made deck of the sigle-humped camel.
Hanging on to a camel while ne $
rising and kneeling had been described
to us as being fully as hazardous as
Alpine climbing. 1t seemed easy 20
US WeSterners, who had been familiar
with the Rocky mountain bronco"
and we wondered greatly at any
thoughts of alarm. (Allow me to di-
greSs and state that this eXaggera-
ton Of the trials of a Nile trip. and
the necessary preparations therefor
was noticed throughout our tour.
Even before leaving home we had read
in ponderous books the serious. but
unnecessary lists of articles alleged
to be required for our outfit) The
camels gently conveyed us to the foot
of the CheOps pyramid. No one in the
party wanted TO climb il. The only
compensation for doing so would be
the chance to narTate the fact. It re-
quires about three natives TO pull and
push you up, since the steps are so
high that unassisted it would require
clambering on hands and knees the
whole distance. The task is not peril
Gus, only irksOme. Not wishing to be
mauled and pulled out of shape, nor to
be annoyed by the demand for bakh-
shish at every step, I declined with
thanks
My first impression of the Pyramids
was one of disappointment They are
so perfectly prOpOrtiOned, with their
sides sloping away from you, their
magnitude is not so obvious as to in
spire great awe. It is only when one
undertakes to walk around the largest
that the true significance of the oft
quoted distances begins to fasten on
| the understanding. Cheops is about
i46 feet .sqUrEe, or each of it's sides is
eighty-six feet longer than the largest
blocks of Salt Lake City. 1t was orig
inally $50 feet high, but some stones
have been removed from the summit,
as we'll as from the corners and
around the foundations. As 1 under
stand 1t. this pyramid was built with
smooth sides, but the edges of the
successive layers have been uncovered,
so that on one side, at least, there are
203 steps exposed. Herodotus, who got
his information in the fifth century
B. c.. stated it required 100, 900 men
| for twenty years to build this pyra-
mid. That one Immediately adjoining
/ is not quite so large, and third near
| by is much smaller There are about
nine large and 100 small ones stretch
ing away in the sands for sixty miles.
and the aggregate cubic contents are
| so vast that the labor employed to
rear these houses for the dead kings
! is beyond any approximate calculation.
The famous Sphynx is a little the
worse for wear, to which nature and
NapOleCn's guns both contributed
! Much speculation has been INDUCED I'm
as TO the true age of this lion with the
human face. Professor Petrie puts it
at bout 5000 B. c. 1t is 120 feet long
and about sixty feet high. 1t stands
| at he entrance to one of the most
| beautiful temples in all Egypt, built
| by King Kaphra $500 B. c. This tenn
| pie cannot boast Of its massive size.
but in perfection of material and
workmanship it easily excels. Made
| Of the fine red granite from the As
souan hills, each integral piece. such
as pillars. caps or sides. is a monolith
polished as smooth as glass.
We see 1t frequently stated that no
mechanical strength now known is
capable of producing these works.
Such peTversion is not necessary to
enhance the maTvelOusness of the
Egyptian monuments. The same meth
Cd Of construction could be employed
now if we had the same factor of de-
| spised and illimitable slave labor: or
if engineers Of the present had any
rational call to construct the mechan-
zeal appliances and engines needed in
/ lieu Of such labor. When building a
| temple or pyramid in ancient times, as
each layer of stone was completed
sand vas piled around to its level,
slOpi1g from there to the ground The
stone for the next layer was dragged,
up This inclined plane. and so on I'M
til the apex was reached. Afterwards
the sand was removed.
Up the Nile.
Ten o'clock the next morning found
US with our baggage slowed away
comfortably in ou~ cabins on the boat
which headed UP the Nile from the
bridge previously mentioned our
guide, or dragoman, provided by the
company, lost no time in pointing out
the exact historic spot where Pharaoh's
daughter found little Moses resting in
the bullrushes. Ordinarily, there is no
taking" in Egypt. They mostly have