CHAP XLI--THE GREAT PYRAMIDS--IN THE KINGS’ BURIAL CHAMBERS.
A Visit to the great Pyramids--A Fellah not a Fellow--Sakkiehs and Shadoofs--A File of Camels and Donkeys--A Striking Spectacle--A Horde of Arabs--Troublesome Customers--The great Pyramid--How we Climbed It--A Giant Stairway--Dimensions Extraordinary--The Lost Arts--Standing on the Summit--The Judge’s Predicament--Arab Cormorants--What we Saw from the Top of the great Pyramid--Wonderful Contrasts--Performance of an Arabian Acrobat--A Race down the Pyramid Stairs--A Perilous Descent--Penetrating the Interior--The King’s Chamber--A Dusty Receptacle of Coffins--The Sphinx--A Mysterious Statue,..........513
CHAP XLII--A VOYAGE UP THE NILE.--THE MYSTERIES OF EGYPTIAN ART AND WORSHIP.
Up the Nile in a Sail-Boat--Starting for the Cataracts--Advantages of a Dragoman--A Tricky Lot--Frauds on Travellers--Our Party--Rather Cosmopolitan--Getting Ahead of Mr. Cook--Our Little Game, and How it Worked--A Bath with Spectators--Decidedly Cool--Getting Aground--A Picturesque Landscape--Last Glimpse of the Pyramids--Spending Night on Shore--Among the Ruins of Memphis--The Wonders of Egyptian Art--What Marrielte Bey Discovered--Laying Bare a Mysterious Sepulchre--Ancient Egyptian Worship--Sacred Bulls and Beetles--A History Written in Stone--Bricks Made by the Israelites,..........529
CHAP XLIII--LIFE ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE.--COPTS, JUGGLERS, AND THIEVES.--AMUSING EXPERIENCES.
Through an Arab Village--Creating a Sensation--The “Doubter” Alarmed--The Professor Perpetrates a Hoax--The Egyptian Saratoga--An Oriental Post-office--A Queer Town--Specimens of Ancient Art--A Wooden Statue Three Thousand Years Old--A Coptic Convent--“Backsheesh, Howadji!”--Carrying Money in their Mouths--Sturdy Beggars--An Expert Swimmer--The Copts, who are they? Skilful Swindlers--Sugar Mills on the Banks of the Nile--Egyptian Jugglers--A Snake-Charmer--Adroit Thieves--A Melancholy Experience in Donkey-riding,.........542
CHAP XLIV--ADVENTURES IN UPPER EGYPT.--FUN AND FROLIC WITH THE NATIVES.
Siout, the Capital of Upper Egypt--The Pasha’s Palace--An Egyptian Market Day--A Swift Boat--Going the rounds on a Donkey--Town Scenes--The Bazaars--Buying a Donkey--Tinkers, Peddlers, and Cobblers at work--A Curiosity Shop--Three Card Monte in the Land of the Pharaohs--Fighting the Tiger--The Professor takes a Hand--An Ignominious Defeat--A Doleful Tale--A River where the Wind is always Fair--The Temple and Tablet of Abydos--“Backsheesh” as a Medicine--Arab Villages in an Inundation--The Garden of the Valley--Fun with the Natives--A constant resource for a Practical Joker--Scrambling for Money--A Severe Joke,...........554