The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth. Thomas Wallace Knox
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said Frank, "that they should be ploughing, planting, and reaping, all in sight of each other!"
"That is one of the peculiarities of the country," said the Doctor, with a smile. "You must remember that they do not have cold and frost, as we do, and the operations of agriculture go on through the whole year."
"All the year, from January to January again?" said Fred.
"Yes," was the reply, "though some attention must be paid to the change of seasons in order to get the best crops. From two to five crops, according to the article planted, can be raised in the course of the year, provided always that there is a constant supply of water for irrigating the fields. When a crop is ready for gathering it is harvested, and the ground is immediately ploughed and planted again."
As if to emphasize what the Doctor was saying, the train carried them past a thrashing-floor where the scriptural process of "treading out the corn" was going on. There was a floor of earth, which had been packed very hard and made smooth as possible, and on this floor the pair of oxen were walking in a circle and dragging a sort of sled, with rollers between the runners, on which a man was perched in a high chair. The straw which had been deprived of its grain was heaped in the centre of the circle, ready for removal; the Doctor explained that the grain was separated from the chaff by throwing it in the air when the wind was blowing, and such a thing as a winnowing-machine was practically unknown in Egypt.
Attempts have been made to introduce modern implements and machinery for agricultural purposes, but they have generally failed. The Khedive expended a large amount of money for the latest improvements in farming; he had a large farm near Cairo, on which the purchases were placed, but it was soon found that the implements were unpopular with the natives, and they were abandoned. They lay for some years in one of the sheds of the establishment, and were finally sold as old iron.
The sight of the ploughs, shadoofs, thrashing-machines, and other aids of agriculture naturally led to a conversation on the products of Egypt. The boys learned that two kinds of corn were grown there—doora, which they had seen, and millet, which has a single ear on the top of a stalk. Egyptian wheat has been famous for many centuries, and is still cultivated, though to a less extent than formerly, as much of the ground once devoted to wheat is now given up to cotton. Coffee is grown in some localities, and so are indigo and sugar; there is a goodly variety of beans, peas, lentils, and the like, and watermelons, onions, and cucumbers are easily raised. The tobacco crop is of considerable value; grapes are abundant, and there are many fruits, including dates, figs, apricots, oranges, peaches, lemons, bananas, and olives. The methods of agriculture are very primitive, and in many instances slovenly; and if a thousand English or American farmers could be sent to Egypt to instruct the natives in the use of foreign implements, and teach them to till their farms on the Western plan, the value of Egyptian products would be doubled. But, to make the plan successful, it would be necessary to devise some means of compelling the natives to use the methods and machines that the strangers would bring among them, and this would be a difficult task.
The train halted several times, and finally came to Kallioob station, where it united with the direct line from Cairo to Alexandria. "Now," said the Doctor, "keep a sharp lookout on the right-hand side of the carriage and tell me what you see."
In a few minutes Frank gave a shout of delight, and called out,
"There they are—the Pyramids! the Pyramids!"
Fred saw them almost at the same moment, and joined his cousin in a cheer for the Pyramids, of which he had read and heard so much.
There they were, pushing their sharp summits into the western sky, to which the sun was declining, for it was now late in the afternoon. Clearly defined, they rose above the horizon like a cluster of hills from the edge of a plain; and as our friends came nearer and nearer the Pyramids seemed to rise higher and higher, till it was difficult to believe that they were the work of human hands, and were only a few hundred feet in height. In a little while the attention of the youths was drawn to the minarets of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali and the high walls of the Citadel, on the summit of the hill that overlooks and commands the city of Cairo. Their glances turned from pyramids to mosque, and from mosque back again to pyramids, and from the sharp outline of the Mokattam Hills to the glistening sands of the Western Desert. Near by were the rich fields of the Valley of the Nile, and now and then the shining water of the old river was revealed through openings among the fringe of palms; the mud-built villages of the Egyptians passed as in a panorama, the white walls of the houses of Cairo took the place of the more primitive structures, groups of men and camels, and other beasts of burden, were seen wending their way to the great city or returning from it. The population grew more dense, the houses and gardens assumed a more substantial appearance, roads gave way to streets, and gardens to blocks of houses, and all too soon for our excited travellers the train rolled into the station at Cairo, and the journey to the wonderful City of the Caliphs had been accomplished.
From the sentimental to the practical the transition was instantaneous. Hardly had the train halted before the carriages were surrounded by a crowd of hotel runners, dragomen, guides, and other of the numerous horde that live upon the stranger within the gates. Doctor Bronson had telegraphed to the Hotel du Nil to send a carriage and a guide to meet his party at the station; the guide was there with a card from the manager of the hotel, and at once took charge of the strangers and their baggage, and showed the way to the waiting carriage. Frank said he should advise all his friends on their first visit to Cairo to follow the Doctor's example, and thus save themselves a struggle with the unruly crowd and a vast amount of annoyance. The worst feature of a journey in Egypt is the necessity of a constant fight with the great swarm of cormorants that infest all public places where travellers are likely to go; many a journey that would have been enjoyable with this evil removed has been completely spoiled by its presence.
From the moment when you touch Egyptian soil till the moment when you leave it there is little rest from the appeals of the beggar, and the demands, often insolent, of those who force themselves and their services upon you. The word "backsheesh" (a present) is dinned into your ears from morning till night; it is with you in your dreams, and if your digestion is bad you will have visions of howling Arabs who beset you for money, and will not be satisfied. Giving does no good; in fact it is worse than not giving at all, as the suppliant generally appeals for more; and if he does not do so he is sure to give the hint to others who swarm about you, and refuse to go away. If you hire a donkey or a carriage, and give the driver double his fare, in order to satisfy him, you find you have done a very unwise thing. His demand increases, a crowd of his fellows gather around, all talking at once, and there is an effort to convince you that you have not given half enough. Not unfrequently your clothes are torn in the struggle, and if you escape without loss of money or temper you are very fortunate.
The railway-station at Cairo is an excellent place to study the character of the natives, and to learn their views regarding the money of others, and the best modes of transferring it to their own pockets.
From the station our friends drove through the new part of Cairo, where the broad streets and rows of fine buildings were a disappointment to the youths, who had expected to see quite the reverse.
"Don't be impatient," said the Doctor, "we shall come to the narrow streets by-and-by. This part of Cairo is quite modern, and was constructed principally under Ismail Pacha a few years ago. He had a fancy for making a city on the plan of Paris or Vienna,