The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-07
Fafd MaaxSfofe

royal bighness was missing. My drag oman informed me that the sculpture had been removed to the Cairtne mu- scum, where 1 later saw it.
 My third day was devoted to the tombs of the kings, Belzon's, the liar pors Metempsychosts and Menephto $ (the last being that of the Pharoah who followed the children of lsraeD heinz the most interesting. It is ques- toned if this monarch was drowned but it is a fact that when his tomb Quilt in his life time) was opened, 1t was unoccupied. Most of the tombs are now lighted by electricity as the former method of using calcium lights greatly imparied the decorations. l noticed the intense heat of these sepul- chres usually such subterranean places are cool, but the tombs were unmerci- | fully hot Many of the abandoned ones are occupied as dwellings by the~poor and others again are the homes of | 1aekals, birds and bats. The tombs Of | the high priests finished that day. Edfu was my next point of interest, | and while its temple is the most per | feet example of an ancient Egyptian religious edifice eXtant, the fact that 1t was erected by the Ptolemies few centuries before Christ, caused 1t to appear relatively modern. The Nile was so low at this point that in cross ing it l had to be carried on the shoulders of men from the bank to the boat.
 Another day saw me at Assouan, $50 miles from Cairo, and at the first cat aract l had now reached the southern extremity of Egypt proper and it must be remembered that all the tillable land of the Nile between these two points emb races an area about the size of the state of Maryland or the King dom of Belgium. Small as it is, it was once the granary of the world. Its products today are wheat, corn, alfalfa, white clover, beans, watermelons and garden truck
 perfect palace and Of prodigious size | and my chamber overlooked the island | of Elephantine with it's famous Nilom- eter This water register I visited and | then sailing around the island l took mules for St. Simeon, monestary so | old that history fails to record the date of it's erection, and yet l found 1 traces of painting and mosaics upon l it's walls.
 | But l had to come to Assouan to see Philae, the Pearl of the Nile. It is the accredited burial place of Osiric. the husband of Isis, and the most sacred oath of the Egyptians was By him who | sleeps at Philae.
 | Enroute thither visited the granite | quarries and saw the great stone, 9e | feet in length, still showing the marks of the 'chisel Since the great barage has been built, the water has been | backed up over the ruins of Philae l and one must visit them in boat. Odd indeed it seemed to float through cor ridor and sculptured hall by boat. that | temple which has been called the book f.Ft I.1 .,.Ir. of stone and by moonlight its beauty | is one of inexpressible grandeur and | irresistible fascination. With muffled oar l hoated and dreamed and from each pillar, column and pilaster heard the whisper By him who sleeps at Philae,"
 The barage is the most stupendous mechanical undertaking of the past century and its construction has cost hundreds of lives. Throught its 1Si
 gates pour the pent up waters of the Nile The natives refuse to believe that England is doing this work for the benefit of the country and declare that
 the Englishmen are merely storing the
 water to be shipped to their gods.
 obtained government permission tC
 walk out on the dam, for workmen
 are now raising it IT feet higher, and
 here for few coins one of the labor
 CTS dived 60 feet to the depths below,
 returned to Assouan by boat and in
 my passage shot the rapids of the Nile
 This has become very dangerous
 operation since the construction of the
 barage and I mention the fact in nc
 boastful spirit, for frankly confess
 that had I been advised of the danger
 beforehand, I would not have attempted
 the feat Enroute back I noted that my
 boatInen were all clad in silk robes and
 was told they cost about $7.50 per robe
 The men rowed in silence except at cer- tain intervals they would break out 1T a short refrain or invocation to Moham med, very peculiar incantation. We were approached by two little naked : Nubian boys in. a tin boat not larg T