The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-17

| N1tn human klnu inc camelS and dom
keys, each bore their part of the sight
| seers; all the guides and dragomen and
carriage drivers had their hands full,
and all the naughty English residents
shut their doors and windows and re.
fused to venture out.
! 1t really was great After a frenzy of
sightseeing through the days the army
came pouring into the streets in the even.
| ings for a few hours of what Madge called
| passionate purchasing" If there was
one woman in the whole ship full, who
neglected to buy one of those glittering
silver figured scarfs, l failed to note her.
II was like sort of Clark's tour uniform
and you really cannot imagine what gay
| sight 1t is, to see whole streets full of
| spangled shoppers when the glare of day
| dies down and the street lights are bright
| and cheerful.
Post cards, souvenir spoons. bead chains,
| fly brushes-and-dear knows what not
were being bought hand over fist. and
| the merry clink of coins across the coun-
| ter seemed to make every one feel good.
| ! caught the contagion and tramped for
| two evenings in and out of the shops with
| my friends, but on the third evening we
all had return to sanity and temperance
and did something really delightful.
! We took an automobile to the pyramids
and then went camel and donkey riding to
the crest of the hill behind them to watch
the sunset in the desert. The pyramids
| did their best for us and took on a soft
and beautiful old gold hue. The gray and
yellow sands stretched on before us until
they met the fertile fields of the Nile,
where tall palms and green and gold
patches of wheat and clover make a
grateful showing. 1t was too impressive
to make phrases over and we were all
/ quiet and happy, and conscious of that
| great something of which we could not
i speak.
| Mahommed, our treasure of drago-
man, led us down to the Sphinx at dusk
and secured some sandwiches and a bot
| tie of claret, so we settled ourselves cozily
under what was once the nose of the
| sphinx and munched at our frugal meal,
enjoying little chat and great deal of
silence broken by eloquent signs.
Muhammed gave us some really excel
lent invitations of moonlight with mag
nesium wire and then. too, the faint light
| from the city cast mysterious glow over
| the looming pyramids and the inscrutable
| sphinx which seemed to enhance their
wonder of them. We sat for hours in the
| sand keeping company with them and
| hearing the sound of dogs barking in the
distant desert villages, which only seemed
| to accentuate the gerat quietness of II all.
| There we sloughed through the sand on
| foot close to the most immense of all the
pyramids, having dismissed our camels
| and their gowned attendants, and re-
| turned to the city in the anarchonism of a
street car.
| The relentless Clark tore my friend
away from me at some wretchedly early
hour the next morning and left me to
the companionshlp OF Moses, the Pha-
| roahs and other "haunts' once again.
| 1 recall my very first impression Of
Cairo was that a veil Of dotted blue was
| floating over it's many domes and min
arets. The Jaccuranda trees, with their
| scant lacey foliage and their wealth of
vivid blue flowers were in full bloom and
seemed to show themselves everywhere
| throughout the tan and tawney city.
| The many beautiful and elegant build
ings, the tall spirts'>of the mosques, the
dreary acacia trees, hung with long well
| low beans, and above all, the wonder
| full stream of easy life In the streets
| fascinating in its many types and the
vari-colored gowns and costumes of the
vari-colored population-all flashed upon
me at once and kept me on dizzy whirl
of conflicting and distracted attention.
In the streets you see the tall and
handsome Bedouins with their graceful
draperies and wonderful head decorations,
the impressive looking sheiks, the pic
turesque Arabs and AlgeriAns In their
| long colored gowns, of astonishing blues
| and other colors the richly costumed Le-
viathans and Assyrians, the mysterious
women. enshrouded and yelled with gilt
spoos between their eyes, their foreheads
covered with shawjs, and over their faces
| crocheted mats and antimacassars then,
there is also the fancy costumed lemonade
seller, bearing his brass flagon and keep
| ing up the merry din with his brass
| saucers, which he maniplates like casta-
nets, and the goat skin water carrier
| and the unfortunate and abiquitons little
cfH
| incessant call for becksheesh, while the
common or garden citizen in his every
| day suits, puts sassy Fee cap on his
| head which invests him with an air OF
masquerade and festivity and adds to the
| medley of colors by making innumerahle
little blocks of crimson sparkle over
the top of the street throng
And, don't let me forget to mention
| the grotesque old cames and the quaint
little donkeys. I discovered deep rein
of sympathy within myself for the camels
| and / could spend days looking and
wondering at them.
| To me. every camel is a. sermon. a.
good mral lesson watch them, bear
ing their huge burdens with their meek
and iong-suffering, al-enduring air of
conscious martyrdom stretching their
long scrawny necks upwards and lift
| ing their ugly smitten faces to heaven
| stepping with the softness of whisper
but heaving out a great silent sigh, an
| agonizlng heartfelt prayer. at every for
| ward lurch of their ungainly bodies Tt
| is too touching. I believe in the world
| to come, and meek unmurmuring camel
will be given a high place. only hone
he will have spirit enough to be happy
when his reward comes.
| / told Madge that the camels looked
like models Of good Christians to me but
she prefers brighter and less tragic
| type and discouraged the notion with
great emphasis. The pretty little gray
donlseys, on the other hand, seem to 90
trotting through life, top heavy with their
loads in short jgging steps. blithely I'M
conscious of their troubles, though now
and then-despite the gay tinlSle of their
blue bead necklaces and their chains OF
| trinkets, which they wear as protection
! against the evil eye-they break down and
sob In long drawn out, melodramatic and
| hysterical outbursts. which tear ruthless
| ly at your heartsrings. Somehow, I could
| not help longing to hear the camels do the
| same thing for ! believe a brainstorm or
a regular fit of Mysteries Is just what
| the camel needs
! But, of course, there were other de-
| mands upon my sympathies and thoughts
| than the troubles of the donkeys and
| camels are my dragomen-who, be It full
| ly understood. was not of the romantic.
Robert Hlckens type-felt heavily the re-
sponsibilty of giving me a complete in
PRODUCTION of the sights of Cairo. 1 only
wish could. take you around with me
| and tell you the legends and the history
| of the various things of interest In the
| same persuasive manner and with the
same twisted and topsy turvy phraseoloey
with which he gave 1t to me. The first