Page:"Round the world." - Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (IA roundworldletter00fogg 0).pdf/283

 But it very rarely rains in Kgypt, and to one familiar with the climate the signs indicated something infinitely worsea sand storm. We had not reached a mile from the station when it came down upon us with great fury. The force of the wind was terrific, and the flying sand scemed to ent the skin likea knife. In a minute we were blinded in spite of the green goggles we wore, and the sand penetrated eyes, nose, ears aud mouth We were in a desert of sund, and the air was 80 full of the fine etour that we could not see ten feet beforeus. Weturned our backs to the gule, andthe howling of the wind and the braying of the donkeys made such music as I never heard before and hope never to hear again. Lhad read of carayaus being overwhelmed and buried in the sands, but eonld never before realize the horrors of sucha catastrophe, I took the puggree off my hat and tied it over my face fora veil, and holding on to our “donks” for dear life we took refuge under the lec of a sand hi until the gust had passed over. It lasted about twenty minutes, and left the sand drifted in places like snow. As soon ag the storm lulled we pushed forward to a col- lection of mud huts where onve stood the great city of Memphis, the proud capital of ancient Egypt—the city from which Pha- rach is supposed to have led forth the ehiv- alry of the land in pursuit of the hosts of Israel on thei¢ mareh forfreedom. A beau- tiful forest of palms coyers a portion of the site, a noble burial place even for sucha city. its cireumference, according to an- cient writers, was over seventecn miles, and the ruins of its famous temples are now covered by the sand of the desert, and the alluvial deposits ofthe river, Excavations haye been made in various places, andthe ground was lit- tered with broken statues of granite and marble. One colossa figure lies prone upon the ground, supposed to be the statue of Sesostris. The expression npo: the upturned face is of quiet, benignant repose; ot of pensive sorrow,in hurmony with the deso- late aspect of the whole place. It represents a once powerful king and ruler prostrate amid the ruins of his capital. A crowd of filthy Arabs surrounded us, sereaming for baksheesh,and they scrambled and quarreled for the few vopner eoing we threw them like a pack of half-starved dogs.

After a short rest we again started over the plain for the pyramids of Sakharra, four miles distant, but before reaching them we were overtaken by another sand-storm