Peeps at Many Lands: Egypt

about it before closing this little book. Probably the first question my readers would ask would be, "What us

imately result, but so far as the desert is concerned we know of at l

cold than do the great central plains of Europe. And why? Simply because their different climates are the result of special conditions or influences of Nature, and what the Gulf Stream does for the

desert is simply a flat expanse of sand, colourless and unbroken; in reality it is quite diffe

powdered sandstone of a curiously golden tint, while the desert of Suez, which abuts on Cairo and the Delta provinces, is generally white in tone, due to the admixture of limestone dust of which it is largely com

billows petrified into stillness, while rocky hills and earthquake-r

shrubs. Flowers also abound, and though they are usually small, I have counted as many as twenty varieties in an area of as many feet, and in s

much, according to the time of

es higher in the sky, every shrub or stone or little inequality of surface is tipped with gold and throws long blue shadows across the sand. At midday a fierce glare envelops it, obliterating de

trifactions which boys would love to collect. And it is also curious to notice that the rocks which crop up in all directions become sunburnt, and limestone, natu

mid jerboa scour the sand in all directions, and many wild-birds make these wastes their home. Prowling wolves and foxes hunt the tiny gazelle, while the rocky hills, in which

tribes roam about them in search of water or fodder for their animals, and of al

RT A

them. In several parts of the desert near Egypt, however, important families of them have settled so as to be near the farm-lands granted to them by Ismail Pasha many years ago (nominally in return for

shelter probably more than 1,000 people, for though the head sheykh may build a lod

pread to form a bed. Round the walls are the gay saddle-bags and trappings of the camels and horses, as well as many boxes ornamented with tinsel and painting, which contain the wardrobes and other possessions of the inmates. At the tent-door, stuck upright in the ground, is the long spear of its occupant, and the large earthen pot which serves as fireplace, w

acteristic of the Egyptians, but, like them, are passionately fond of their wives and children, and so h

f white or coloured stripes, and their boots are of soft leather. Though the traditional spear is still retained, all are armed with some firearm-ancient flint-locks of great length, or more commonly nowadays with a modern rifle, and many of the sheykh

hawl of white o

nceals others of daintier fabric and colour. Handsome in feature, with glossy blue-black hair

om well to well, or from one oasis to another, and they are also great breeders of horses, which must be carefully looked after, and from time to time taken to some far away fai

great rivalry exists among them, particularly in their "jerīd," or javelin, play, when frequently several hundreds of mounted me

a colt, and his affection is amply returned by his steed. They are beautiful

hey hunt gazelles, and in the Lybian desert the "cheetah," or hunting leopard, is tamed and us

d pads prevent their feet from sinking into the soft sand, and not only do they carry enormous loads, but are able for days together to go without food or water. When Abraham sent his servant to seek a wife for Isaac, it was on camels that he travelled, and shaded, no doubt, by her canopy of shawls, it was on camel

mon error of supposing that the dromedary has two humps, let me say that the only difference between it and the ordinary camel is that it is smaller and better bred, just as our racehorses differ from draught animals

are often bitterly cold, for the sand is too loose to retain any of its heat, while the salt with which the desert is strongly impregnated has a chilling effect on the air. Most trying of all, however, are the hot desert winds, which often last for days together, drying up the water in the skins, while the distressed tr

severity lies a great power for sympathy and affection. The love of the Arab

ng ruled by its sheykh, the "father of his children," who administers their code of honour or justice, and whose decision is always implicitly obeyed. Here, again, we have another Biblical parallel, for, like his brother Mohammedan in Egypt, the life of the desert Arab, no less than the dwellers on the "black soil," still preserves many of those poetical customs and cha

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