Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1910-03-18
ANOTHER Letter FROH PETER BRACK

AhUiuLA LLllEA rAUM IElEA DhAbh
he Writes EniefialnlngIy About The
Land Of Egypt
Alexandria, Feb. 18th. 1910.
Friend William
We arrived here in Alexandria
at 8 a. m. We will stay here twenty
four hours, then take the train for
Cairo and other nearby interesting
towns, getting back in six days, when,
after staying here another day we
embark again and start for Jerusalem,
Damascus, and other interesting
points. Everyone on the boat is en-
joying good health and we are having
the finest kind Of a trip and excellent
weather. We have shed our winter
clothes but are still perspiring very
freely. l have written something
about Egypt.
With best regards to all friends,
l remain Yours truly,
PETER BRACK.
The article is as follows:
The Oldest civilization began on
the continent which seems to be the
least favorable to the progress of the
human race. Africa lies under the
equator, sun Scorched, and blasted
In the widest part through fifteen de-
grees OF latitude the country is a deS-
ert. The upheaved bed Of a sea,
more impossible than the tracklesS
deep. The whole Of the southern
portion Of the continent is occupied
with a vast plateau which, descending
to the north, sinks at intervals into
jagged hills and anon into a tangle Of
impenetrable forests, wild and gloomy
where, through untold ages, exuber-
ant forces Of nature have triumphed
over the genius of man. The African
coasts, though washed on three sides
with the oceans, are nowhere indent-
ed with great bayous and inlets.
Near the shores the mountains rise,
and through these the rivers gather
ing their waters in the table lands Of
the interior burst out in cataracts,
make a short and PERCEPTIONS course
to the foot hills, and then sluggishly
traverse the strip Of low and marshy
land lying between the hill country
aud the sea. Northern Africa is a
mountainous district occupying the
territory between the Sahara desert
and the Mediterranean. Near the
western extreme the peaks Of the At
las mountains rise to the altitude o.
perpetual snow. Further to the cas-
the mountains sink down into thu
hills and finally terminate in thu
plain Of Barca, which is scarcely /;
thousand feet above the level of the
sea. The northern slope, between
the Atlas and the Mediterranean i,
: occupied with ranges Of hills, deeE
valleys, sometimes dry and barren
Plains of greater or less extent, anc
morasses and fats, characterized BY
the luxuriant vegetation peculiar tc
the we'll watered portions of Africa
AT the eastern extreme of this north
ern slope, looking out towards thu
Mediterranean, opens the valley o.
the Nile, the largest in Africa anc
the most fruitful in the world. 1t oc
cupies the northeastern corner Of tht
continent, being separated from Ar
alba by narrow strip Of the sea, anC
guarded on the west by the fastnes,
Of the desert. Through this, thl
Euphrates, and also the shores o
the Persian Gulf, were lined will
quays and warehouses for the safet,
and convenience Of those who q
down to the sea in the ships. Now
was that on more than a hundret
sites in Babylonia cities we're built an,
one Of which, but for the superio
snlendor of Babvlon would have hee,