Anonymous

“ The ride from Cairo to Heliopolis is delightful. We went across the edge of the desert, and on our way were struck by a solitary dome marking a tomb. This is the tomb of Saladin's brother, Malek Adhel, to whom Richard Cœur de Lion wished to marry his sister Matilda.
Beyond this our road lay through green fields and shady avenues of acacias. The air was filled with a delicious perfume and with the humming of the wild bees. We saw Arabs, with bare legs and turbaned heads, tilling the ground, oxen treading out the corn, long strings of camels and asses bringing home provender. ”

“ The roof was hollowed into the shape of an arch and covered with smoothly-cut stones cemented together. This led into a room in which is a deep well. We also saw some hieroglyphics, and some sculpture; most of these represented men carrying birds. It was not very interesting, and we did not stay long to look at it.
We had a delightful ride back to Bedreshyn, through fields and among clumps of thorny mimosa, on which the camels love to browse. The palm-trees looked beautiful in the clear sunlight. ”

“ In a few minutes we were in our old seats again, cutting our path through the sand and jolting over large blocks of stone.
"There is another skeleton, papa," cried Hugh, pointing to the whitened ribs of a camel. "Do they leave the camels to die, and take no trouble to bury them or do anything with them?"
"Most likely this camel was unable to travel farther," his father said, "either from fatigue or old age, and so was left behind by his owner to die. The hot wind and the sun together have bleached his bones. But the skin and hair of the dead camel are both used by the people of the desert. ”

“ On leaving Cairo we could see the high road. Hugh and Lucy were much amused with watching the strings of camels, tied one behind the other with ropes, and laden with large bales of cotton. There were sometimes as many as sixteen camels in one string; then we saw donkeys laden with various things for sale, and numbers of people carrying goods of different kinds. We saw a great many people, too, working in the fields. The country is fertile, and we thought the villages very pretty, peeping out from their groves of palm-trees. ”

“ Hugh and Lucy both said that it made the Bible seem much more real to them, now that they were in the very land where so many of God's wonders of old were wrought. We all felt it so, as we looked at the spot where Moses was preserved in his babyhood, while floating in his cradle in the very waters which afterwards at his word, by God's command, were turned into blood. ”

“ Can I do it?" asked Hugh, "for I cannot hem and sew the clothes."
"Yes, we can all do it. We can pray every day for the Egyptian children, that God will give them hearts to serve him, and to love our precious Saviour Jesus Christ, who came to save little children as well as grown-up people."
It was a happy thought that we could all begin that very night to do something for the Egyptian children. Hugh and Lucy said so, and we all felt it. ”

“ He had thrown off his turban and looser clothes, and the activity with which he darted from place to place was wonderful. One minute he was in the boat, at another on shore pulling with the Arabs at the rope; the next, he was mounted on a rock in the middle of the rapids shouting to the Arabs and boatmen. Wherever there was danger, there was the reis ready to ward it off. At last the boat was clear of the last projecting rock; one long, strong pull from the men on shore, and she shot forward like an arrow into the smooth water. ”

“ Hugh and Lucy were impatient to see a real palace like those in old eastern tales; we all felt a thrill of excitement, expecting something of Oriental grandeur. Great was our disappointment! There was nothing left of the renowned Saladin's palace except a few grand fragments of its granite pillars, and some blocks of granite covered with hieroglyphics. We found another memorial of him in "Joseph's well," which is also in the citadel, and is now generally considered to have been called after the great Saracen, whose name was Yussuf Salah-ed-Deen, and not after the patriarch Joseph. ”

“ The workmen who laboured at them have been dead and forgotten for thousands of years. But their work lives, and will live for hundreds of years to come; probably till the Great Day when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the earth and everything on it shall be burned up and melt with fervent heat. ”

“ The "Father of Terrors," as the Arabs call him, is majestic in his mighty repose. There he crouches, guardian of the solitary desert and its solemn tombs. Thousands of years have rolled over his head, yet there he still sits on his lonely throne amid his silent court. There as long as the world lasts he will abide; grand, silent monarch of the desert!
THE SPHINX.
It was long before we could tear ourselves away from the majestic Sphinx. But at last Mohammed warned us that if we wished to reach Cairo before nightfall, we must no longer delay. We remounted our donkeys. ”

“ We landed to see the temple. It is very perfect, and the pillars are of great beauty. They are about fifty feet high, and are covered with hieroglyphics. There are four rows of pillars, six in each row. On the ceiling is a zodiac, and the walls are covered with sculpture.
The villa built here by Mohammed Ali is well worth a visit. It is on the bank of the river below the town. A flight of stone steps leads up to a terrace, which is shaded by acacias and other shrubs. The palace stands in a garden; the entrance and chief rooms are large and high, and have carved wooden roofs. ”

“ With the help of about fifty Arabs, who shouted at the top of their voices as they hauled us by a thick rope, we passed the first little fall of the cataract. Then we passed a succession of rapids. It was an exciting passage. Great masses of granite towered round our little boat; sometimes we even struck against them, but not so as to do us any harm. The groups of Nubians were picturesque. Miss Roper has sketches of some of them swimming on palm logs. ”

“ Lucy would very much have liked to see the pyramids as well as Hugh, but the ride from Cairo was too long for her.
Our donkeys were ordered early, and we set off in high spirits. As we drew nearer and nearer to the pyramids we realised more and more their immense size. Their grandeur impressed us very much, and we shall none of us forget the thrill of awe we felt when we first saw their base and their gigantic size.
DONKEY-BOYS AT CAIRO.
They are the oldest monuments in the world. Jacob, Joseph, Moses looked upon them. They are the grandest work of man in lasting endurance. ”

“ The next day we returned to Cairo, and on the day following our Nile travellers arrived. A very happy meeting it was. They had stayed one day at Luxor, to see the temples there, and had then hastened back to Cairo as quickly as they could.
We were all very much interested in Rahaba. To Lucy's delight, the little girl seemed to take a great liking for her. Before Hugh and Lucy left, they had taught her the hymn which begins,-
"Jesus who lives above the sky,
Came down to be a man and die." ”

“ Some of the obelisks escaped, and were afterwards taken to Rome and Alexandria. One is still left. It is about sixty-five feet high.
Part of a Sphinx was found near it some time ago, so that it is supposed that an avenue of Sphinxes led up to it, and that it is one of two obelisks which probably stood at the entrance of the Temple of the Sun. Wild bees had made their nests on the top of the obelisk, and came down upon us in swarms, as is their wont to travellers. Lucy was frightened; and though Hugh tried to look very brave, he did not feel quite at ease any more than myself. ”

“ Miss Roper has been making a sketch of our reis and the crew. Rahaba looks on her sketch-book and colour-box as some kind of magic possessions, and contrived to save them from the fire in consequence.
Miss Roper took the sketch at sunset. The sky was flooded with gorgeous tints, and their glow was reflected on our reis as he sat in his blue robes and crimson turban, smoking his pipe. We shall reach Thebes to-night, and shall go on shore early to-morrow to see some of the interesting sights of which Mr. Roper has been telling us. ”

“ No other work of man has been so enduring.
The pyramids are supposed to be the tombs of the Pharaohs, kings of Egypt.
We went first to the Great Pyramid, or Pyramid of Cheops. We were attended by Arab guides, who carried wax candles, and undertook to show us everything. We went down a sloping passage till we came to a large block of granite. A narrow way has been made round this block, and by it we reached the other side and came to an ascending passage. This was very low, so low that even Hugh could not stand upright in it. ”

“ Rahaba listens, but she shakes her head. She tries to understand and learn anything that Miss Roper teaches her. But it is only to please her mistress that she does this; and as yet she is no nearer to being a Christian than when she was in her own country.
Directly after breakfast this morning we hired donkeys to take us to the second cataract. All was still and silent as we rode over the loose, shifting sand of the desert. Nothing living was to be seen. ”

“ In a granite room, with a pent roof, we saw a sarcophagus half-buried in the floor.
The third pyramid, called the Pyramid of Mycerinus, was opened by Colonel Howard Vyse. Mycerinus was the son of Cheops. He was a just king, and treated his people with kindness. This pyramid now measures three hundred and thirty-three feet at its base, and is two hundred and three feet high. It was originally cased with granite, and some of the casing is still left.
In it is a room with a painted roof; a space is left over it to prevent its being crushed in by the weight above. ”

“ A village called Matarieh stands near where the city of Heliopolis once stood. Here a sycamore was shown to us under which Joseph and the Virgin Mary and Infant Saviour are said to have rested when they fled into Egypt from King Herod. The gardens of Matarieh were in former times famed for their balsams. They were first brought from Judea, and were of the same species as trees from which was made the "Balm of Gilead" that we read of in the Bible.
Heliopolis, the "City of the Sun," was so called because in ancient times there was a magnificent temple in it which was dedicated to the sun. ”

“ Early in the morning a large boat laden with slaves came alongside of us. Mohammed told us that they were to be landed here, and to march to Assouan, to save the trouble of taking them down the cataract. At Assouan they will be put on board a boat for Cairo. There must have been at least fifty: men, women, children, and even little babies. About half-a-dozen Egyptian soldiers had them in charge. Poor things! they looked very miserable. Some were black and very ugly; some of a bronze colour: these were not so ugly, and many of the women were very graceful. ”

“ We went first into the most northern tomb. In front of the entrance is a portico, supported by pillars, which leads into a vaulted room: its roof is supported by four large pillars. These pillars have been coloured to imitate red granite, and so have the lower part of the walls. Above this coloured part of the wall are long lines of figures; some employed in outdoor work, some in indoor work, some in amusements. Some are fishing, some are watering flax, some dancing, others wrestling. ”

“ Those who have the love of Christ really in their hearts must always long to make others love him too.
Day by day went on and we began to watch anxiously for some more news. The gentleman who had brought the first part of the journal told us that he knew there was another dahabieh which was not very far behind him. He had passed it, not having time to stop and see all that its travellers were stopping to see.
At last this dahabieh arrived, and we had a large packet. Lucy had leave to open it. She and Hugh danced about in delight for the first few minutes. ”

“ Large boats which had been damaged were undergoing repairs; others were being loaded and unloaded with bales of cotton, which are sent from here across the desert to Sennaar. Then there were the tents of the owners; groups of Nubian merchants in white turbans; natives of Assouan seated on the ground, smoking their chiboques; camels waiting for their loads; and donkeys which seemed as strong and lively as our Cairo favourites. ”

“ The sultan's tomb was once covered with a rich embroidered covering, but this was faded and moth-eaten when we saw it. The marble pavement, too, was broken in many places.
The mosque of Sultan Hassan has always been famed for its beauty. It is said that the sultan cut off the head of the architect, that he might never build another as beautiful.
From the mosque of Sultan Hassan we went to the mosque of Sultan Tuloon. It was built about the year 879 after the birth of our Lord, and is said to be the oldest mosque in Cairo. It has double rows of handsome pointed arches. ”

“ Wadee Halfeh, the highest point we reached on our journey up the Nile, is very picturesque. The houses are built in groups, and most of them are surrounded by palm-groves. They are of mud, but are generally larger and cleaner than those of the Egyptian peasants. We went into one. Its mistress had a double row of plaits round her forehead, oiled to an extreme degree. The people are generally well dressed and appear comfortable. ”