The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-15

holding a service over the sacret spot
they arose and were going away. The
Mohammedan soldiers got wrought UP and
ran out and stamped and spit on the spot
where they lad been holding service.
1t is just instances like this that start
Christian massacre.
Il didn't feel a bit too solid in my
shoes till i had put good distance be-
tween me and the barracks. For de-
tailed description of all we saw I must
wait till / get home, for there is far
too much to write about. Our trip back
from Jaffa was much better than goinf,
for the boat was an English one and
much more comfortable. We only stayed
in Port Said for a couple of hours and
then got a train here to Cairo. OF
all the rides on a train I have exer TAX
en- this was the hottest, dirtiest and
most disagreeable. And yet 1t was in
teresting. The route follows the Suez
canal for some piece, straight through
the desert. All you see from the train
is hot, blistering sand and you can see
the waves of heat on the horizon. Sit
ting in the railroad carriage we could
feel the radiation of the heat on our
faces to n remarkable extent; it was
like looking into a furnace to look out
of the window. / never experienced
such intense heat. How human can
ever live on the desert l can't see. We
nearly peflSHeu III the train. but you
pass through the real Egyptian coun-
try. After a couple of hours in the
desert you come into wide stretch of
reclaimed land surrounding the capital
of Cairo. Here you see the natives at
work in the fields, their methods crude
as they are, of irrigation, the fields of
corn mostly wheat, the cotton fields
and the little mud villages. 1t is all
new to us and therefore interesting.
One of tho funDiaSf thiDpc 80 IN
stately and dignified old camel stepping
along, pulling a plow. A camel is an
interesting animal and carries a dis
tinct sense of dignity with him and of
course he looks ridiculous pulling a
plow! Arriving in Cairo we came to
this hotel and had delicious cold bath
After this we felt much better and
more like seeing something of the city,
although we We're predisposed not to
like Cairo and have been upheld in our
presentiment since then. Since we have
been here we have seen quite a little
of the principal things. The mosques
have interested us. especially the one
on the Citadel, which is constructed
throughout of alabaster and is very
beautiful on the interior. But the
thing which has interested us most is
the university 1t is many centuries
old and the principal thing taught is
the Koran, although arithmetic and
grammar and those most practical
things for making a living are also
taught in small way. The students,
of which there are about 1000 come
from all parts of Egypt and are of all
ages They are supported by the state,
while there and sometimes remain all
their lives in the hope of becoming
learned men of Egypt, and thereby open
to high offices in the state. The pro-
fessors are paid no salary, but are also
SilnnOrf cd hV thp state Wbpn y.-a 1a
our visit We had to put on little slip
pers (the students must be bare foot)
and were conducted around by a guide.
We entered at prayer hour and saw
them all at prayer and later at work
memorizing the Koran. All we could
see was the general court yards and
one of the huge study halls. 1t was
a wonderful sight to see this huge room
crowded with men and boys twomen are
absolutely forbidden to enter), all hard
at work on their study / saw one lit
tie fellow about IL years old reciting
to the master. He ratified 1t off for an
hour or SO, never making a mistake,
maintaing a steady forward and back
ward movement with his body the
whole time. The memory work of
these people is astounding and it is
small wonder they are such excellent
linguists. | saw this very picture long
ago in a Sunday school quarterly and
1T was very impressive. They also have
prayers five times a day here, it being
the fourth prayer we attended. How
different this was from one of our uni
yersities.
This afternoon we took a car ride
ont to the pyramids of Ghizeh and to
the Sphinx. / have heard of these
places and seen pictures of them ali my
life and I could hardly realize | was
really seeing them. 1t was a fine
II a,,1 fx,,
fine and cool The old pyramids were
great. Huge. accurately sighted, piles
of stone that have stood for some 5000
years. They were immense and were
composed of very large blocks. I wasn't
bit disappointed in them. The Sphinx
was also fine and made me feel more
IKE I am really in Egypt than any
thing l have seen. It's origin is lost in
the dawnless morning of time and ii
looks little the worse for wear. The
temple beside 1T didn't interest me very
much. as there is hardly anything left
of it to see. | felt very much gratifed
by the visit, however. and am very
glad / have seen them"