Page:"Round the world." - Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (IA roundworldletter00fogg 0).pdf/280

 of which the world is just now beginning to regain the knowledge. If these are among the “lost arts," is is uot surprising that they represented aeegie to te people in that eatly age, for even now, With all the science and J} of modern civilization, they are almosl asealed book. Weread in the Bible that Moses was skilled in all the knowledge of fhe Egyptians. Whatwus lis knowledge, known only to the wily priesthood to which al the Pharaohsbelonged, and into which the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter was doubtless initiated? The story of Mosex leading Gods chosen people through the desert toward the promised Tand discloses some of his skill in contreling the masses, who were probally quife as ignorant as the eyptians among whem they lil delved as slaves.

Iiwing exhausted the sights of Cairo, ex- cept the bazaars, which one never tires of visiling, we arranged for e trip to Memphis and the pyramids of Sakharra. To aecom- plish this in one day required an early start, aud soon after the sun was up we found our- selves on the banks of the Nile looking for transportation across its rapid, muddy enr- rent. The fleating bridge had been render- ed impassible by some accident, and we could only cross by beat. The struggle ong tlie rival beatmen as to who should nke us over Was cxeHing. Being only pus- sengers, my tricnd aud I stepped back out of the erowd of shouting, sercaming, scolding Arabs and let them scttle the matter, in their own way. <Any .altempt to touch us ar our effects Was Instartly resented with arp from our rattans, for although we did not understand Arabic, the logic of a stick is well understood everywhere in the ast, The shaking of fists and gesticula- tlons Were ummerons, but we kuew they were “mere somd aud fury signifying uothing.” At last the din and hubbub eased, al we stepped qnietly inte the bout of the victorious party, and were quickly set across the river. At the railway station on the west side we took the train te Buder- shain, twelye tiles up the viyer, There were crowds of filthy Arabs swarming over the third-cla: rs, and se much delay in starting on account of the broken bridge that we did not arrive there mntil ten o’elock. We hired don! at the station to go to the site of Memphis, five miles distint. Be- fore starliug we noticed that the sun was clouded in, and to me it seemed that a rain storm was coming up.