Henry William Harper

“ Men at work making bricks of Nile mud, stiffened with bits of grass and straw, drying them in the sun in moulds, just as they are pictured in hieroglyphics on the Temple walls; women morning and evening by the water side filling their water jars, their graceful garments, bracelets, anklets, of the same type which has survived from time immemorial. ”

“ The war in South Africa came as a great opportunity for New Zealand, which will have a far-reaching effect on the national character and manhood of our people. It appealed to something more than the love of adventure. Eight Contingents went to take part in it, each about five hundred strong, consisting of men in the prime of youth, mostly well trained, at home in the saddle and with the rifle and, to their great advantage, accustomed to wide open country and rough out-of-door life. ”

“ Our men are returning; there are many gaps in their ranks, and many are suffering from malaria. In every centre there is a movement to erect suitable public memorials of the gallant conduct of our New Zealand lads. It is most satisfactory to hear of their keen sense of discipline, to say nothing of their ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with regular troops, and give good account of themselves. ”

“ Tall, thin-shanked, broad, not deep in the chest, alert, and perfect in drill, they have proved themselves worthy comrades of British troops. With British officers they will face any foe. Their pay is good, and on returning to their villages on leave, they are made much of, whereas, before British occupation, a conscript was regarded as a doomed man, seldom heard of again by his kith and kin. ”

“ I said, "many praying, but never all together, why not?" "Well, we pray when we want to, that is enough." "But I never see women praying; don't they pray?" His answer was evasive: "They might if they liked, but what good would it be? they have no souls." It is this low conception of womanhood, and the almost total absence of the idea of sin, despite their strict adherence to ritual, and the low value put on human life, which is the bane of Mahomedanism. ”

“ In bold silhouette against the evening sky, camels, donkeys, going and coming, the men fine upstanding fellows, with handsome faces, the type which is seen on the monuments, though for long centuries they have been mere serfs. There are some ten millions of these fellaheen, all living within three or four miles of the river, on either side. The river itself, too, is a highway, comparatively crowded with craft carrying pots, produce, and miscellaneous cargo. The air is full of voices; the stars are wonderfully brilliant, the planets hanging like lamps in the blue-black sky ”

“ As yet no civilian is allowed to use the railway. No doubt, in future the Sudan will, under our occupation, become a great field for British enterprise. When the great dam is finished, eighty feet in height, it will hold up the water for some miles, storing it for gradual use, instead of running to waste at high Nile, and distributing it during low Nile. But it will almost submerge the island, leaving only the slightest foothold for the temples. ”

“ Small as our population is, a mere million in a country rather larger than Great Britain, it is keenly alive to its responsibility, so far as possible, for the maintenance and welfare of the great British family. New Zealand of late years has done something for self defence ”

“ As a man with men, in all his personal life I feel sure that he is perfectly straight; a true and constant friend, a genial comrade, with no trace of snobbery in his conduct; in spite of his success, blameless and happy in his family life, and in public life emphatically a man who realizes that the secret of good government is to govern. ”

“ The country is being regenerated by a mere handful of British officers and civilians. Tact, courage, justice, unselfish care for the best interests of the people, is doing far more than the millions of British capital spent in material advancement of the land. ”

“ Basil, and other Christian documents, and as the letters of the Greek alphabet were known by the people, they were used to represent the sounds of the old-spoken language, the ordinary speech of the country. This, of course, produced a written language which looks like Greek, but is not so. In the church I saw the Bible and Liturgy; on one side of the open pages it was in Arabic, which all use to-day; on the other side the old language of Egypt in Greek letters, now never used. Looking like Greek, it is mere nonsense, just as an ordinary English book in Greek letters would be. ”

“ Is there no rule of right and wrong by which the Statesman must guide his steps, no true way in which morality and religion enter into politics? First of all he has the rule not to do anything as a statesman which as a private individual he would not allow himself to do. ”

“ Occasionally the Pharoahs sent armies into the mysterious southern regions, and brought back spoils, gold, silver, spices, slaves, and dwarfs, leaving, as Rameses II did at Abou Simbel and other places on the Nile, huge sculptured memorials of his renown. It is some 1,800 miles further up the river before Khartoum is reached, and it was not until Kitchener's military line of railway was laid recently that there was any mode of getting there, save by the tortuous course of the river, and negotiating various cataracts. ”

“ Nevertheless, now and then, we gave the crew a feast, a whole sheep, and sweetmeats. It was worth seeing them sitting on deck at night round a big dish full of mutton and rice, each man with his little clay goblet of water, and another vessel of water in which he carefully dipped his fingers before taking a morsel from the dish, as each did in rotation, using only the thumb and third finger; then songs, recitations, and finally a deputation to thank us in most poetical language. ”

“ The masterful and haughty expression of face, and the pose of the right arm and hand, contrary to custom, lying across the chest, indicate the character of the man,—a great conqueror, a great builder, a great father, with one hundred and fifteen children, reigning sixty-seven years, from 1348–1281 B.C., whose memory will never perish as long as the Bible story of Israel in Egypt survives. ”

“ They are great at compliments. When I was leaving the boat, as I had to catch an Orient vessel at Ismailya, for Australia, the whole crew came forward and, by their spokesman, bade me Adieu: "You are going away across the Great Water; when you are away every day will seem like a month to us."
Talking one day to Chehatah about British occupation of Egypt, he said, "Yes, of course, some don't like it, they think we should be a nation by ourselves ”

“ The sanctuary—there is no chancel—is apsidal, with a large stone altar, square, on a low level, with a high stone platform behind it, on which are semi-circular seats for the priests, who face the congregation. Side altars are rarely used. ”