Omaha daily bee., 1922-04-23
By HENRIETTA N. REES.


40 DOUBT you are wondering
4 M what has become OF me. @hetli-
~ CT ! am lost IN the depths Of
| Africa, or captured By more or
less undiserimlnaling sheik. or over
taken by some unromantic- sounding
fate. As q matter Of fact. ! have
been too busy seeing things 10 write
about them. and when the oppor-
tunily came ,ha, nigh, have writ
ten | was sitting upon the yeranda
OF Shepherds hotel in Cairo watch
ing the whole world pass by-afmy
officers, tourists. attractive and un-
attractive women-EgyplIan men IN
European eloihes and the inevitable
tarbouehe. as the ieg is properly
called. .heir bfight-eyed little woni-
en-, also in European clothes, the
groups OF handsome dragomen upon
The street, IN costly "sudeyree' and
"gibbeh." native merchants looking
as though they had escaped from
Illustrations in the Arabian Nights
II couldn't leave these TO go inside
and be literary. Or. was watching
scenery IRON boat. after a sirenu-
Gus day, Tor the Lie ot luxurious
ease one iondly ianeies from reading
the advance literature is myth.
pure and simple. Besides, there was
so much that was unusual. iascinat-
ing and somewha, different from
wha, had expected that ] was at a
loss TO begin.
imagined that We would dis
embark 1t Alexandria by 7 ono
morning, reach Cairo By train at
about 10. spend a few days at Ship |
hcard's hotel in the midst OF gay
throng. go out and commune with
the sphinx and the pyramids. then
sail up and down the Nile in leisure
ly grandeur ior the three weeks
trip outlined. Then We would return
for a longer period at Shcpheard's, |
the center OF life in Cairo. with
few evening sorties to native dance |
halls, the effect OF which wickedness
from our point OF view would be
later counteracted by our trip TO the
holy land.
lh!s was NO Dream.
But when we disembarkcd at
Alexandria it took us seven hours,
during which time / expected to
leave every minute. No one can
hold anticipations at top notch for
that long a time and not be worn
out. No one can gaze at and listen
to excited baggage carriers who
shouted the entire time, and con-
tinue to be interested, even il they
are brown men, with here and there
Ethiopian features, even if they wear
turbans and long robes or a peculiar
style of trousers with yards OF ma
terial between the knees-very un-
suitable for playing leap frog-even
If they capped these outfits with
bright sweaters, and even if they
carried enough lotion suitcases at
once or huge, trunks on their backs,
to kill an ordinary human being.
As we finally left, took one look
at the land around Alexandria
broad, flat stretches, with rich soil,
planted to crops as far as the eye
could see, and thought if these
were not quite so vivid a green they
might be in Nebraska. We passed
an Egyptian mud village, and l
thought if the tall date palms were
removed and a few ladders put up
it might be a Hopi Indian village.
/ gazed DULY at a few groups of
camels mcandering sedately in the
fields, carrying hay. in huge baskets
slung across their backs, at some
women, the country women, unveil-
cd, but dressed in black robes that
covered their hair. and carrying bas-
kets or jars Of water on their heads,
as they walked barefooted along the
road. / saw more long-robed men,
a couple of them, riding along on
donkeys, and decided these scenes
could only telong to Egypt-then I
slept.
When l awoke I caught my first
glimpse Of the pyramids, miles away,
and Of sky mellowing with gor-
geous sunset over more Of the green
est fields l had ever seen. There
were more laden camels moving
along the roads, date palms here and
there standing out tall and dark
against the brilliant sky, and far, far
away, low. grayish, pinkish lavender
tinted cliffs in the distance. This
sunset was only one Of series OF
such glorious phenomena which we
experienced every day on our Nile