The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-28

tourmaltnes, Earnets, amethysts ana
the like; the graphite that makes the
worlds lead pencils. and the tea
slipped by society the world over
these are among the items that give
Ceylon pre-eminent Importance. Ana
as II this were not enough. the island
la moreover surprisingly beautiful az
well as strange.
One is reminded of Kiplings vivid
pen picture of India upon reaching
Rangoon. with the golden Shwe Dagon
Pagoda. 1t is on the road to Man.
dalay. where the flying fishes play"
etc. 1t possesses the chief shrine,
the ct. Paurs or st. Peters. OF the
Buddhist religion. At length, at the
extreme tip OF the Malay Peninsula
one reaches Singapore. a sort of mod
ern Babel. the meeting place OF many
races. q port where many lines Of
TRANSPORTATION converge. and the d.
viding point between the East ana
the Far East.
The portal OF the Suez Canal Is
reached at Port Said. Or. to change
the figure 1t Is not straining terms
too much to speak of this port as the
feeding place for the furnaces OF In
Vulnerable steamships. and vast
stores Of coal lie waiting to be thus
devoured. But our immediate inter-
est In Port Said II as our point OF
departure for a trip BY ratl to Cairo.
the populous and brilliant metropolis
OF Egypt. While riding alongside of
the Suez Canal in a first class train
with observation cars. a full and con-
slant view Of the canal is enjoyed un-
til Manalia IL reached. On the way
back from Cairo to Suez the other
half Of the canal is to be seen. While
there is much in Cairo to surpriSo
v,A aaif Dh x,iolf ND vchfch vEytfy
appropriately engage his attention. It
must be admitted that the outlying
pyramids are so intense in their APP
peal AZ to overshadow everything else
in Egypt.
Egypt, with these pyramids. SUR
vivals Of ancient and perhaps for
COTTON dynaSties and OF former
greatness long since vanished into
nothingness. is naturally teemtng with
interest and mystery. The great
Sphinx itself SENS to typlfy not only
tho mysteries Of the universe. but
particularly the riddles of the coun-
try In which 1t stands: for the kings
and sages, the engineers and masons
took their secrets with them when
thsy left the stage ages ago. leaving
no clew as to how they accomplished
the marvellous feats required for the
erection OF these eternal pyramids.
which now form their memorials.
The Sues Canal.
From Cairo the vessel IL rejoined
At Suex. Interesting AZ the Suex
Canal 10. in itself as an enterprisinR
engineering achievement uniting 90
many important waters. II Is particu-
larly 10 to Americana. who will be
curious to compare 1t with our own
Panama Canal. soon to furnish its
great and only rival. 1t IL now that
tho voyagers are about to enter upon
what they cannot fail to regard a.
the most magnificent stage Of the en-
tire journey around the world.
The Wealth q the Indies.
To one visiting India for the first
time this vast empire n a veritable
revelation. The splendid palaces,
sumptuous tombs and shrines. WHOSE
exquisite architecture seems like some
vision OF dream: the gorgeous Budd-
hist temples: the p1mp and state OF
black princes Of the best blood OF
India. the nxed lines OF social caste.
the priceless fabrics woven with In
Unite patience. the magic tricks OF
the fakirs and the self-imposed tor
lures Of tho devotees-these are but
q rev OF the aspects OF India that
impress themselves upon the mind OF
the observer. The wealth of the In
dies has become q proverbial express
sion. We cannot fail to recall that II
was In quest OF the treasures OF India
that Columbus CHANGED to stumble
upon unexpected America. There -
sense too in which we who visit
India may be said to discover a ned
continent 30 great and strange does
It appear. Nor II IL lacking In the
extent and aspect Of continental
The ne