The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-06-15

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reach Egypt and set our feet up
on dry land again. Sailing up
the Red Sea we were very much
impressed by the high barren
mountain ranges and the great
stretches of desert which were
pointed out a. the shores Of
Egypt. We managed to have
three days ashore by planning a.
head and making arrangements
TO leave the S. S. Monroe at
Suez and rejoin the ship again
in Alexandria. This meant miss
ing the Suez canal, but our genial
captain assured US that although
the canal passage was interesting
additional time spent in Egypt
would prove far more interesting.
We crossed the great Libyan
desert from Suez to Cairo in a
caravan of modern automobiles
No camels were in evidence ex-
cept those in the fsmiliar yellow
and gold packages. This was the
first really large desert we had
seen on the voyage and the end
less miles Of sandy wasteland was
quite q contrast to the lush green
vegetation Of the tropics. Now
and again a small oasis appeared
In the distance which turned out
TO be q handful Of date palms and
mud huts. These were made pos
sible by the availability Of water
in that particular area. Mirages
are common in this area as I
found out. On a number Of oca-
sions ! was sure that ! saw an
oasis, palms. huts, camels and all,
but this vision vanished in thin
air as our car approached the
appointed spot.
Cairo was no mirage. Its hum
dreds of exquisite mosques with
their graceful minarets amist
many modern buildings created
a most unusual skyline. It SEEM
ed to be growing out of the des-
ert as we approached. Cairo, Capri
tai of Egypt, located on the banks
of the historic Nile river is a
city where the oldest civiliza-
ton in the world meets the new
est. We were taken quickly
through the narrow streets and
along the wide boulevards to the
famous Shepherds Hotel where
we stopped. The Shepherds Ho-
tel lived up To- IT'S international
reputation by making our stay a
most pleasant one.
Four-fifths of the people Of
Egypt and the majority Of those
we saw in Cairo are Of ancient
Egyptian stock. Their forebears,
whose labor built the pyramids
for their kings, with their ply
steal characteristics are pictured
on the mural paintings Of the
temples and tombs. The Egyp-
tians seen there today bear a
striking resemblance to the an
Gent people.
Our first trip was by coach to
the Pyramids and the Sphinx of
Gizeh. We drove some five miles
pver the Empress Eugene high
way which is said to have been
built many years ago within a
few days because the Empress
refused to travel across the hot
sands to see the Pyramids, At the
Mena house, a short distance
from the Pyramids, the par
ty left the coaches and rode
camels up to the Pyramids, your
editor included. At last we had
our caravan, camels, sheiks Jour
guides in their native costumes
who looked like something out
of a movie), and the desert to
make our background complete
Tor viewing the historic Pyramids
and the Sphinx.
The Pyramids Of Egypt built
from 5000 B. c. to 1900 B. c. are
the only remaining wonders of
the original seven wonders of the
ancient world. They were built
as monumental tombs for the
Egyptian pharaohs. l saw the
largest Pyramids at Gizeh near
Cairo and the oldest Pyramid q,
Sakkara. They were built with
huge stone blocks quarried from
the banks Of the Nile.
The great Pyramid of Cheops
covers over Is acres and il
is about $50 feet high. original,
ly it was larger being about 48l
feet high and about 1885, fee,
square at the base. The facing
stone has been removed reduc-
ing it in size.
The Sphinx is located almost
In the shadow of the Pyramids
in a valley at lower level. 1t is
20 feet high and $50 feet long. Its
face measures IA feet across.
We rode up from Mena to the
great Pyramids, a distance of
nearly a mile, on our camels.
There we stopped long enough
for our native dragoman (guide)
to make us an eloquent speech in
good English about the Pyramids
and to see nimble Egyptian
scan the heights of the Pyramids
and descend again within the
space Of few minutes to collect
the coins that had been dropped
in the hat by our crowd as we
watched him.