ifSMJel' li \^ ..- '■>. '^^ ''\ ,0 c ,0- V^ . %.^^' ^^ '^.- s-^' S o oo' ') Si ON. '^?^ ^^'^.^^ ^ . V ■.^^%. ° 'V'^^^\.^^.-«. THE TRAVEL SERIES — No. 6 jblished Weekly Price, 50 Cents Annual Subscription, $25.00 November 29, 1897 ENTERED AT THE CHICAGO POST-OFFICE AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER EGYPT BY JOHN L.STODDARD Illustrated and Embellished with One Hundred and Nineteen Reproductions of Photographs CHICAGO BELFORD, MIDDLEBROOK & COMPANY MDCCCXCVII Copyright, 1897, by John L. Stoddard V4 of Cong^!^- EGYPT BY .^. JOHN brSTODDARD ILLUSTRATED AND EMBELLISHED WITH ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN REPRODUCTIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHS 1^ CHICAGO BELFORD, MIDDLEBROOK & COMPANY MDCCCXCVII Ukb^^H-e Copyright, 1897 By John L. Stoddard Entered at Stationers' Hall, London all rights reserved EGYPT LANDS that have made or witnessed history possess peculiar fascination; and when to their historical qualities are added those of the mysterious and the beautiful, their charm is boundless, for then they touch the realm of the imagination, that is to say, the infinite. Egypt in these respects is unsurpassed. Historically, she is the eldest born of Time; the mother of all subsequent civilizations; the longest lived among the nations of the earth ; the teacher of art, philosophy, and religion before Greece and Rome were born.^ When everywhere else rude huts and primitive tents were mankind's highest forms of AN EGYPTIAN LANDSCAPE. architecture, Egypt was rearing her stupendous pyramids and temples, which still remain the marvel of the world. It stirs the blood merely to read the names of the great actors in that mighty drama of the past, whose theatre was 6 EGYPT the valley of the Nile. For Egypt is the land of Rameses and the Pharaohs; of Joseph and of Moses; of Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies; of Caesar, Antony, and Cleo- patra, — a land beside whose awful ruins the Colosseum of HARBOR OF ALEXANDRIA. Rome, the Parthenon of Athens, and even the Temple of Jerusalem, are the productions of yesterday. But Egypt is also a land of mystery. Her history goes back so far that it is finally lost in the unknown, as the Nile Valley gradually gives place to the sands of the Sahara. Her very origin appears at first miraculous. For Egypt has been literally built up by that mysterious river whose sources have, till recently, perplexed and baffled all explorers for five thou- sand years. Her situation also is unique, — a palm-girt path of civilization walled in by two deserts. Silence broods over her. Solemnity environs her.' She is a land in which the dead alone are great : — a temple of antiquity, whose monu- ments are the eternal Pyramids and Sphinx. Her glory is secure beyond the possibility of loss, embalmed in art and literature like her mummied kings. EGYPT ; What wonder, then, that standing on the shadowy threshold of prehistoric times, Egypt still charms us by the irresistible attraction of undying fame? What marvel that her vast antiquity and changeless calm possess a power, like that of fabled Lethe, to render us forgetful of the feverish excitements of the western world, and from her silent and en- during monuments to teach us the littleness of gods and men? Alexandria is the front door of Egypt, as Suez, on the Red Sea, is its portal from the rear. Through this historic C^SAR AND CLEX)PATKA. city of the Mediterranean the tide of Occidental travel every winter ebbs and flows as surely as the rise and fall of the majestic Nile. Unlike the rest of Egypt, however, Alex- andria lacks the flavor of remote antiquity. A century ago 8 EGYPT a traveler said of it that it resembled an orphan child, who had inherited from his father nothing but his name. Hence it is hard to realize, when one stands within its walls to-day, that twenty centuries ago Alexandria ranked among the largest and most brilliant cities in the world, and was the principal emporium of the East, receiving the products of interior Africa, Arabia, and India, and forwarding them to all other sections of the Roman empire, till the astonished Caesars half believed the assertion that the Alexandrians pos- sessed the power of making gold. This city was, moreover, for centuries the principal seat of Grecian learning; and here St. Mark is said to have proclaimed the Gospel, with the result that Alexandria finally became the intellectual strong- hold of Christianity. Nor can the tourist forget that this was the favorite city of two conquerors, unrivaled in their way, — the first, its earliest ruler, Alexander; the second, its last queen, the peerless Cleo- patra. One subdued empires; the other conquered hearts; for who can think of Alexandria without recalling how the "En- chantress of the Nile " here cap- tivated the world's conqueror, ^ Julius Caesar, and subsequently made the great Triumvir, An- tony, her willing slave for fourteen years? But war and pillage have destroyed the relics of old Alex- andria almost as completely as though a tidal wave from the adjoining ocean had swept over it. Its pure white marble lighthouse, Pharos, which surpassed the Pyramids in height, CLEOPATRA S NEEDLE. EGYPT and was considered one of the seven wonders of the world, is now no longer visible. The mausoleum of Alexander the Great, in which the youthful conqueror's body lay in a sar- cophagus of pure gold, has also passed away. The immense Alexandrian library, — the largest of antiquity, — has long since vanished in flame and smoke. ^fi^. .>#^^' & -pj^g magnificent Museum of -^-^' Ptolemy Philadelphus, which, r ■-•>'•• APPROACH TO POMPEY S PILLAR. two and a half centuries before Christ, was the acknowledged meeting-place of scholars and sages from all lands, and the focus of the intellectual life of the world, has so effectually disappeared that no one can determine with certainty its ancient site. Even in modern times Alexandria has suffered spoliation. Until quite recently, the traveler saw upon its shore — one prostrate, one erect — the obelisks known as Cleo- patra's Needles, which were hewn from the quarry thirty-five hundred years ago. But these have been conveyed to dis- / / lO EGYPT tant lands, — one of theni standing now beside the Thames in London, the other in Central Park, New York. From the ear- liest times the obelisks of Egypt have fascinated travelers. The Assyrians and Persians carried some of them away. Rome has eleven in her streets to-day. Another stands in Constantinople ; while, beside the Seine, the obelisk of Luxor rebukes with its solemnity the whirl of gaiety in the modern capital of pleasure. Only one great memorial of the past remains in Alexandria. It is the stately mon- olith of red granite, misnamed Pompey's Pillar. For ages it was supposed that this im- posing shaft, which with its capital and pedestal attains a height of more than a hundred feet, had been erected here in memory of Caesar's mighty rival, who, fleeing southward after the battle of Pharsalia, was murdered on the Egyp- tian coast. But the name Pompeius, sculptured on its pedestal, is merely that of the Roman prefect who reared this magnificent column to the Roman em- peror Diocletian, in the third century after Christ, perhaps in gratitude for a gift of grain that he had sent to Alex- andria. The statue which adorned its summit long since disappeared, leaving no trace behind to tell us whom it repre- sented ; and whether or not this noble column once formed part of an Egyptian temple founded long anterior to the Romans, is still a matter of dispute. Beyond all question, however, is the fact that its shadow falls to-day upon a dreary Arab cemetery, — pathetic symbol of the buried glories of the city it once adorned. rOMPITV S PILLAR. •r^v.^^i>'l i 1 #^^|)li|lB- EGYPT 13 The European quarter of Alexandria is well lighted and possesses many handsome residences. Much capital is invested here, and evidences of wealth abound. The future prosperity of the city seems assured. Within its sheltered harbor is abundant sea-room for the largest fleets, and from this ocean gateway railroads now extend to Cairo, Port Said, Suez, and the Upper Nile ; while at this point the Mediter- ranean cable joins the telegraph wire along whose metal HOTEL ABBAT, ALEXANDRIA. thread the messages of war and commerce, or tender words of love to distant friends, may be conveyed at lightning speed from Europe, Asia, or America, to the heart of Africa. The main business section of Alexandria is the Square of Mehemet Ali. Fronting on this long rectangle are the prin- cipal hotels, banks, and steamship offices, and in the centre is the equestrian statue of the first Viceroy of Egypt, whose name the area bears. One would expect to see his statue H EGYPT ^8*^^ AN EGYPTIAN PORTER. here, for Mehemet Ali was the most remark- able man the Orient has produced in the last hundred years. His influence is felt here to this day. Without him Egypt could not have attained her present position of semi-independence and prosperity. For forty years he was the arbiter of Egypt. He was a despot; but there are times when autocratic sovereigns are a necessity. Nations are like in- dividuals: at certain stages in their history they need authority and disci- pline to force them into habits of in- dustry and unquestioning obedience. Alexandria has reason to be grateful to Mehemet Ali. Before he made himself dictator of Egypt, and freed himself from vassalage to the Sultan, the splendid city of the Ptolemies had dwindled into insignificance, and was a mere haunt of fishermen and pirates. But in a dozen years he transformed it, until it was once more an entrepot of Eastern trade, a half-way house to India, and the great meet- ing point of Europe, Africa, and Asia. At his command its A PALACE OF THE KHEDIVE. EGYPT 15 harbor was reopened and made safe for merchant ships, and his indomitable energy soon caused a huge canal to be con- structed, which proved to be one of the most important works of modern times, — a navigable waterway by which the traffic of the Nile was brought to Alexandria. This Mahmoodiah Canal was made within the space of a year. A quarter of a million natives were compelled to labor on it, and of these twenty-five thousand are said to have perished on its banks SQUARE OF MEHEMET ALL from overwork and insufficient food. But, while lamenting the cruelty attending its construction, we must concede to the Egyptian autocrat full credit for the work achieved, which has raised Alexandria from poverty, and filled its empty treasury with constantly increasing wealth. Mehemet AH, like most great geniuses, was a ''self-made man," rising by his undoubted talents from the position of a colonel in the Turkish army to be Viceroy of Egypt and the founder of the present dynasty. i6 EGYPT He was a proof of how the Orient, once so prolific of great men, can still surprise us. Give to the East a leader capable of arousing its enthusiasm and of kindling its relig- ious zeal, and Europe might again be forced to struggle desperately for its life and liberties. Thus, coming like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, Mehemet Ali, with twenty- four thousand men, emerged from Egypt, conquered Syria, and drove the Turks before him into the heart of Asia Minor. Under the leadership of Mehemet's dashing son, Ibrahim (a son worthy of such a father), the Egyptians fought as they had never fought before. Mehemet Ali was declared an outlaw ; but army after army sent against him by the Sultan was hopelessly defeated. The victor rapidly approached the Bosporus; Constantinople itself seemed actu- ally within his grasp; but the united powers of Europe, startled by this sudden resurrection of the Orient, cried in EGYPT i; the thunder of a hundred cannon, "Halt!" and Ibra- him could go no farther. Bafifled and broken-hearted, the great adventurer re- turned with his son to Egypt, the sovereignty of which he still retained, and to console himself for the failure of his brilliant dream of Eastern conquest and ex- tensive empire, he gained at least the privilege of be- queathing to his descendants his viceregal power. But, interesting as one may at first find the cosmopolitan and progressive city of Alexandria, it is by no means thor- oughly Egyptian, and should be regarded as merely a door- AN EGYPTIAN PEASANT. VEGETATION IN THE DELTA. i8 EGYPT way to the real glories of the land of the Pharaohs. Hence, after a stay of a few days on the coast, one always hastens into the interior of the country. A bird's-eye view of Lower Egypt would reveal a vast expanse of cultivated territory in the form of a triangle, the base of which is on the Mediterranean. From its resem- blance to the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, this area has for ages been appropriately called the Delta. A poet has compared it to a beautiful green fan, with Cairo sparkling like a diamond in its handle. THE MENA HOTEL. The simile is an apt one, for in the days of the Caliphs, a thousand years ago, Cairo was the brightest jewel of the Nile, — the rival of Bagdad and Damascus in the annals of the Arabian Nights; and even now, to one who comes to it directly from the Occident, its Oriental brilliancy is most impressive. m9 On my first visit to Egypt in the days of Ismail Pasha, there was practically only one Cairo. Now there are two, — the African and European, — contending, not for political supremacy, which has been definitely won by England, but for supremacy in architecture, dress, and manners. EGYPT 21 New Cairo has become a charming winter residence, but the old city of the Cahphs, as the traveler saw it only thirty years ago, is gone. Red-coated British soldiers now swarm upon the citadel of Mehemet Ali ; Egyptian troops wear European uniforms; the narrow, covered streets, which painters like Gerome so loved to reproduce, have largely given place to broad, unshadowed thoroughfares; and most of the exquis- itely carved and inlaid balconies which formerly adorned the front of nearly every Cairene house, have dis- appeared. On the other hand, magnificent ho- tels have sprung into exist- ence, and in the winter shel- ter crowds of foreign guests whose ancestors were savages for three thousand years after the completion of the Sphinx. One of these hotels has even dared to plant itself at the very base of the Great Pyramid ! Cairo, modernized by the English, may be compared to a fashionable piece of western furniture placed on an eastern rug, or to a Bedouin of the desert wearing a silk hat and a Prince Albert coat. While the city has greatly gained in modern characteristics, as well as in sanitary conditions, it AN OLD STREET. 22 EGYPT has lost much of its old picturesqueness. Nevertheless, within its ancient precincts there are still many streets of Moorish aspect, with mosques, bazaars, and Oriental dwellings, among which one seems to be a thousand miles removed from western civiliza- tion. But these attractive feat- ures of the past are undergoing radical trans- formation. Dur- ing the reign of Ismail Pasha, the ratio between the East and West in Cairo left little to be desired, and the Egyptian capital then combined just enough modern luxuries A LATTICED WINDOW. and comforts to offset gracefully some less agreeable characteristics of the Orient. Thus, even as early as 1 871, the Khedive had built a handsome Opera House in Cairo, and had offered the com- poser Verdi a munificent sum for an opera which should represent the glories of old Egypt. The result was that finest production of the modern Italian school, Aida, whose representation here on a scale of great magnificence, with Madame Parepa Rosa in the title role, is one of my most treasured memories of a winter on the Nile. Occasionally, in some old, narrow street, one may see, even now, what was a score of years ago a well-nigh uni- EGYPT 23 versal architectural feature of the city, the Mashrebeeyeh, — a latticed win- dow made of cedar wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Such windows are admirably suited to the Orient, for they exclude both light and heat, and also screen the inmates from all obser- vation, — an important consideration in Cairo, since in these narrow passageways, when once above the lower story, the houses rap- idly approach each other till their projecting windows almost meet. If you glance up at these, you may perhaps perceive at one of the interstices the flash of a jewel, or the gleam of a bright eye, and hear a musical laugh, or the ex- clamation, ''Gia- our!" (Infidel). A stay of only a few hours in Cairo will convince the tourist that the typical animal of Egypt is the donkey. Of these there are said to be fifty thousand in Cairo alone. Most of them are of the color of Maltese MINARETS IN CAIRO. 24 EGYPT cats, and all are closely clipped, and have their bodies fan- tastically painted, starred, or striped, until they look like min- iature zebras. They are so small that the feet of their riders almost touch the ground. But they are swift-footed and easy, and riding on their backs is almost as comfortable as sitting in a rocking- chair. Why has the donkey never found a eulo- gist? The horse is universally admired. The Arab poet sings of the beauties of his camel. The bull and cow have been held sacred, and even the dog and cat have been praised in prose and verse. But the poor donkey still remains the butt of ridicule, the symbol of stu- pidity and the object of abuse. But if there is another and a better world for animals, and if in that sphere patience ranks as a prime virtue, the ass will have a better pasture-ground than many of its rivals. The donkey's small size exposes it to cruelty. When animals have power to defend themselves, man's caution makes him kinder. He hesitates to hurt an elephant, and even respects to some extent the heels of a mule. But the donkey corresponds to the small boy who cannot protect himself in a crowd of brutal playmates. The A CAIRENE SIGHT. EGYPT 25 only violent thing about it is its voice, and on the human ass this voice has very little restraining influence. It is diffi- cult to see how these useful animals could be replaced in certain countries of the world. Purchased cheaply, reared inexpensively, living on thistles, if they get nothing better, and patiently carrying heavy burdens until they drop from weakness, — these little beasts are of incalculable value to the laboring classes of Southern Europe, Egypt, Mexico, and similarly situated lands. If they have failed to win affection, it is perhaps because of their one infirmity, — the startling tones which they produce. On the morning after our arrival in Cairo, we went out on the steps of Shep- heard's Hotel prepared to take a ride through the city. Directly oppo- site were thirty or forty Egyp- tian donkeys, all saddled and bri- dled, awaiting riders. Their drivers (whose principal gar- ment was a long woolen shirt) stood by them, almost as anxious to be employed as New York hack- men, for, if they return to their masters at night empty- handed, they receive a beating. The sight of strangers de- scending the hotel steps was, therefore, a signal for them A PROMENADE. 26 EGYPT SLEEPING DONKEY BOY. to make a grand rush for- ward, pushing and crowd- ing their wretched beasts, and shouting at the top of their voices the ludicrous names which previous travelers had be- stowed upon these animals: — ''Take mine, good donkey, — very- good ! " " Take mine, ' Champagne Charley!" "'Take mine, 'Abe Lincoln!' " "Take mine, 'Prince Bismarck!' "Take mine, 'Yankee Doodle!' " The noise and confusion are most comical to an observer. When the stranger has once mounted, the boy catches hold of the don- key's tail (which he uses as a rud- der), gives him a whack in the rear, shouts " Ah-ye! Reglah!" and off they go, present- ing a scene that never failed to excite our merri- ment. Towering far above the city of AN EGYPTIAN DONKEY. EGYPT 29 the Caliphs is a huge fortress called the Citadel. As is well known, Cairo is of Arabian origin, — a brilliant memento of Mohammedan conquest. Its name (in Arabic, Al Kahireh) signifies ' ' The Victorious. ' ' When, in the seventh century after Christ, the followers of the Prophet, inspired with enthusiasm for their new religion, rushed northward s . ~^*-, from Arabia THE CITADEL. victory and proselytism (which ultimately made the greater part of the Mediterranean a Moslem lake), Egypt was one of their first and most important conquests. Memphis, the an- cient City of the Pharaohs, was then still extant, adorned with many imposing monuments that had survived the lapse of centuries. But this old capital of an alien faith ill suited 30 EGYPT the impetuous zealots of Mohammed. They therefore founded Cairo, only a few miles away, and did not scruple to remove thither, for the construction of its buildings, the blocks of stone of which the palaces and temples of old Memphis were composed. It was the famous Saladin, — the brave and chivalrous foe of Richard the Lion-Hearted in Syria, — w^ho built the citadel of Cairo; and the unscrupulous architect employed by him for this purpose destroyed several small pyramids, and used the larger ones, which had been reared five thousand years before, as stone quarries from wdiich to extract building mate- rial for this for- tress, called by the Arabs the " Castle of the Nile. " Here Saladin's suc- cessors lived for centuries, making this City of the Caliphs the rival of Damas- cus; and here, in the present century, the cunning Viceroy, Mehemet Ali, used to sit, like a spider in its web, ready to let loose upon the city below a volley of destruction at the first whisper of revolt. It was here also that, in i8ii, this relentless ruler caused his political enemies, the Mamelukes, to be massacred. The name Mameluke signifies "White Slave," and the actual founders of this corps were originally Circas- sian slaves, who gradually climbed to the position, first of favorites, then of tyrants. It is true, they had helped THE CASTLE OF THE NILE. EGYPT 31 Mehemet AH to secure his place of power; but he suspected that they regretted it and were conspiring to destroy him. At all events, the Viceroy, having used them as a ladder for his vast ambition, found it ex- pedient to get rid of them, as Napoleon, at the Battle of the Pyramids, had sought to exterminate them. Accordingly he invited these powerful foes to a banquet in the cita- del. They came without suspicion, — four hundred and eighty in number, superbly dressed and finely mounted. But no sooner had the portals closed behind them, than a scathing fire was opened upon them by Me- hemet All's troops, who suddenly appeared upon the walls. Unable alike to defend themselves or to escape, the Mamelukes fell beneath repeated volleys, horses and men in horrible confusion, anguish, and despair, — with the exception of one man, who, spurring his horse in desperation over the welter- ing bodies of his comrades, forced him to leap over the lofty parapet. A shower of bullets followed him, scarcely more swift than his descending steed, but he escaped as if by miracle, and freeing himself from his mangled horse, he fled in safety into the adjoining desert. AN EGYPTIAN SOLDIER. VIEW FROM THE CITAD 32 EGYPT Meantime, in an adjoining room (still shown to visitors), Mehemet Ali is said to have remained, calm and motionless, save for a nervous twitching of his hands, though he could plainly hear the rattle of musketry and the shrieks and groans of the dying. When all was over, his Italian physician ventured into his presence to congratulate him. The Viceroy made no reply, but merely asked for drink, and, in a silence more eloquent than any speech, drank a long, deep draught. He knew that thenceforth he was absolute master of Egypt, — possibly sover- eign of the East. The view at sunset from this Cairene citadel is wonder- fully impressive, and during several sojourns in Cairo I rarely failed to climb the hill each evening to enjoy it. Standing on the parapet of this Arabian fortress, one sees below him in the immedi- ate foreground a grove of grace- ful minarets, ri- sing like sculp- tured palm- trees from an undulating mass of foliage and bulbous domes. Beyond these, stretching to the north and south as far as the eye can follow it, is a magnificent belt of verdure. Along its centre, like a broad band of silver, gleams the river Nile, within whose depths the beautiful An- tinous found death for his imperial master, and which at this THE DESERT. EGYPT 33 point has borne upon its breast the cradle of the infant Moses and the regal barge of Cleopatra. Still farther westward, the declining sun seems to be sink- ing into a violet sea, so mar- velous is the light that glorifies the tawny desert, — symbol of perpetual desolation. Upon the edge of that vast area, into whose depths the orb of day seems disappearing never to re- turn, three mighty shapes stand sharply forth, piercing a sky of royal purple. Their huge tri- angular shadows travel slowly eastward, farther and farther, as the sun descends, "Like dials that the wizard, Time, Had raised to count his ages by." They" are the Pyramids, whose awful forms have been enveloped thus in sunset shad- ows every evening for at least five thousand years; and when they finally vanish in the gloom, as most of Egypt's history and glory has been swal- lowed up in the impenetrable darkness of the past, one real- izes that there is no view on earth which can so eloquently tell him of the grandeur of antiquity and the eternal mystery of time. " The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon Turns Ashes — or it prospers; and anon. Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face, Lighting a little Hour or two— is gone." Within the citadel of Cairo, only a few steps from the scene of the massacre of the Mamelukes, is the beautiful mosque erected by Mehemet Ali, not, as one might suppose, ANTINOUS. 34 EGYPT INTEKIOK OF A MOSQUE. in expiation of his crime, but as the exalted place in which his body should repose. His expectation was fulfilled, and the remains of the talented but" cruel Viceroy are sepulchred in a magnificent mausoleum. From the dis- play of oriental alabaster in ev- ery portion of this edifice, it has been called the Alabaster Mosque. It has a noble courtyard, with an elaborately dec- orated fountain, and its proportions are imposing. But its most pleasing architectural feature is its slender mina- rets, which soar far above the city, resembling silver tapers placed about the Viceroy's tomb. The tourist soon discovers that the mosque of Mehemet AH THE HOUSE OF THE AFRIT. SOLDIER AND DROMEDARY. EGYPT 37 is not the only one in Cairo. On the contrary, mosques are more numerous in Cairo than churches are in Rome. Con- nected with most of them are curious superstitions. In one, for example, two columns are believed to mark the precise spot where Noah's Ark finally found a resting-place. Nay, not A STREET SCENE IN CAIRO. content with this, the legend claims that this is also the place where Abraham -Dffered up the ram instead of his son Isaac. These columns, therefore, are supposed to possess remarkable healing power, and are kept highly polished by being rubbed with pieces of orange and lemon peel, which 38 EGYPT are then applied to diseased portions of the body. One day we were much amused to see two men Hcking these posts vigorously, in the hope of making their stomachs strong. This is perhaps the only remedy for dyspepsia not yet adver- tised in the Occident ! Similar superstitions are associated with one of the oldest gates of Cairo, the name of which appears in the tales of the Arabian Nights. A friend who had lived several years in Egypt took us one day to see this portal, which is supposed to be haunted by an afrit, or evil spirit. For some time we were entertained by watching several old women in succes- sion approach the gate cautiously, spit three times over their left shoulder, to exorcise the demon, and then peer behind TOMBS OF THE CALIPHS, the door with much the same expression that some of their sex of the Occident assume, when they look timidly under a bed at night. Their object was to see if the afrit was at home. What they might have done if they had discovered EGYPT 39 it, would be difficult to conjecture. But the demon was evi- dently "out " that day, — possibly having been recalled to headquarters. Accordingly the women left what answered for their cards. One, for example, inserted in a crevice of the gate an old tooth, and hob- bled off, believing she would thenceforth have no toothache. Another tied to a rusty nail a lock of hair (presumably her own), and smiled to think she would thenceforth be exempt from head- ache. Thus this demon-haunted portal is kept continually deco- rated with ghastly teeth and wisps of hair. It is a curious fact, by the way, that if these people were requested to explain their idea of Satan, they would probably de- scribe him as a blond. A Euro- pean traveler in Africa relates that the women in one village gathered round him in astonish- ment, declaring that he was as "white as the Devil." Passing beyond this portal, we found, outside the city walls, some interesting structures which we recognized as the far-famed tombs of the Caliphs. The name "Caliph," or "Successor," was the title assumed after the Prophet's death by the Mohammedan rulers, some of whom reigned here in magnificence for many years. Even in their ruined condition, we can easily see that these Ara- bian sepulchres must once have been of exquisite beauty; for the material of many of them is white alabaster, and all their I' NEGLECTED BEAUTY. 40 EGYPT domes are well-proportioned and ornamented with an ara- besque stone tracery so delicate, that one could fancy them to be covered with lace mantles. To see these graceful sepul- chres of the Caliphs from a distance in the glow of sunset, is to behold what seems like a mirage of Saracenic architecture. But "^ aHH^^x. near approach reveals the fact that they have been allowed to fall into shameful decay, and, incredible as it seems. GRACEFUL SEPULCHRES AND HIDEOUS GRAVES. bats and lizards now infest the beautifully sculp- tured walls, and families of Egyp- tian beggars make their homes within the tombs of Mo- hammed's successors. On the cracked side of one of them a Persian poet once wrote these words: "Each crevice of this ancient tomb resembles a half-opened mouth, which laughs at the inevitable fate of those who dwell in palaces!" Around them, and in striking contrast to their former splendor, are hundreds of small gravestones, which mark one of the dreariest places in the world, — a modern Egyptian cemetery. The soil is mere yellow, burning sand, without a EGYPT 41 flower, tree, or shrub to mitigate its desolation. Moreover, the tombs themselves are hideously plain, consisting of bricks loosely cemented together and surmounted by two sharp- pointed stones. What an added horror must death possess for people who look forward to a burial-place like this ! Beyond these desolate sepulchres, a long avenue of over- arching palm-trees leads us to the site of Heliopolis, that ancient City of the Sun, whose Hebrew name, On, is fre- quently mentioned in the Old Testament. The Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis was one of the most remarkable that Egypt ever possessed, and its priests were famed throughout the world for their learning. Magnificent presents were given to this sanctuary by Egyptian kings, and its staff of officials, priests, guardians, and servants is said to have numbered nearly thirteen thousand. Joseph married the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis, and here Moses, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Plato received instruction. Yet, on the plain once occu- pied by this great city, the only relic of it that remains is one majestic obelisk, est monument of ence. Its com- obelisks were al- pairs) was over- hundred years — the second old- its kind in exist- panion shaft (for ways placed in thrown eight ago, and now its / i \ OBELISK OF HELIOPOLIS 42 EGYPT fragments are probably either buried in the vicinity beneath a mass of Nile deposit, or else form part of the foundation of some stately edifice in Cairo. The original beauty of this AVENUE NEAR CAIRO. granite monolith must have been striking, for down each of its four sides is a hieroglyphic hymn to the gods, the letters of which were formerly filled with gold, to liken it to the lustre of the sun, since obelisks were used as symbols of the o u o EGYPT 45 sun's bright rays. This City of the Sun was doubtless spe- cially adorned with these tapering shafts, but all the others have disap- peared. There is something indescribably mournful in this, the last memorial of Heliopolis, ga- zing, as it were, sadly down from its impo- sing height up- on the solitary plain, so eloquent in its pathetic silence. Moses, no doubt, looked upon this obelisk; Herodotus and Plato may have rested in its shadow. Yet upon its sculptured surface, morn- ing and evening, still fall the solar salutations, just as they did when Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem were the dwelling- places of barbarians. THE VIRGIN S TREE. PLOWING NEAR HELIOPOLIS. 46 EGYPT On the way back from Heliopolis to Cairo, one halts before a famous sycamore, known as the Virgin's Tree, since within its hollow trunk Mary and the Child Jesus are said to have taken refuge during the flight into Egypt. Tradition adds that they would surely have been captured by Herod's agents, had not a spider, after they had entered, covered the opening with its web, thus screening them from discovery. At the inauguration of the Suez Canal, in 1869, the cour- teous Khedive, Ismail Pasha, presented, of course in jest, this sacred tree to the Empress Eugenie to take back with her to France as a holy relic. It is said that the witty Empress thanked him gravely, but begged him to give her, instead, as a more portable and no less authentic souvenir, the skeleton of the spider that wove the web. In the yicinity of Cairo are several delightful drives, through avenues completely sheltered from the sun by stately sycamores and acacias. These are the fashionable prome- nades of the Egyptian capital, and one of them, called the Shoobra Avenue, is five miles long. Here, every afternoon during the tourist season, one sees in landaus and victorias numberless representatives of different parts of Europe and America, among whom freely mingle wealthy Turks, Arabs, and Egyptians, while not infrequently one catches a glimpse EGYPTIAN RUNNERS. EGYPT 47 AN EGYPTIAN WOMAN. of the Khedive himself or members of his family. It is a curiously cos- mopolitan sight, for in the throng of European carriages the fleet little donkeys of Egypt amble along, and gaily caparisoned camels sometimes thrust their heads disdainfully upon the scene and leer at the crowd. Here, also, one occasionally per- ceives a characteristic phase of Cai- rene life in the Nubian Sais, who runs before the horse or carriage of some rich pasha, and shouts for the way to be cleared. These runners, who are usually as black as ebony, carry wands in their hands, and wear colored turbans, gold-embroidered vests and jackets, and short white skirts, beneath which flash their naked limbs and feet. At frequent intervals we see an officer in handsome uniform, with silver-mounted weapons. These guardians of the peace will sometimes condescend to interfere and clear the crowd in case of an entanglement ; but usually they content them- selves with glar- ing fiercely at the Europeans, whom they seem to hate, or with posing as royal dignitaries in- sHooBRA PALACE. tcndcd for orna- 48 EGYPT ment, not for use. But great is the transformation which takes place in them, whenever the Khedive himself rides by. In an instant the scowling and disdainful officer becomes as fawning and obsequious as the veriest slave, and bends his head until the royal equipage is out of sight. He is a per- fect illustration of the treacherous servant, — indifferent or tyrannical to those unfortunate enough to be beneath him, — cringing and false to his superiors. MUSEUM AT CAIRO. At the end of the Shoobra Avenue is a charming palace of the same name, which is built around an artificial lake, with a marble fountain, resembling an island, in the centre. What an air of Oriental luxury we seem to breathe, as we stroll along these graceful porticoes! The pavement is of marble mosaic, the ceiling glows with brilliant frescoes, and between them rise, like the trunks of graceful palms, a multi- tude of slender Moorish columns, reminding one a little of the halls of the Alhambra. The Shoobra Palace was the favorite residence of Mehemet Ali, and even when his hair W CO W "->v^ '5-&t?0E BY MOONLIGHT. beautiful Philae rises once more in its splendor, its sculptures speaking to us of the vanished Isis and Osiris, in that mys- terious language of dead ages whose books were the temples of the gods, the leaves of which were blocks of stone. Most tourists on the Nile are content to go no farther than the first cataract and Philae; but those who journey still farther southward into Nubia are abundantly repaid by one EGYPT 91 of the most awe-inspiring of Egyptian ruins, — the temple of Abou-Simbel. This edifice, which is cut for a distance of three hundred feet into the rocky hillside by the river, is now half-buried in drifts of shining sand. Beside it are four statues of Rameses II, of such prodigious size, that the huge door, although enormous in itself, seems small beside them. This portal conducts the traveler into a subterranean hall, where are still other monster statues, waiting with folded arms through the slow-moving centuries, like captive giants whom only a ter- rific earthquake shock can liber- ate. Torchlight reveals an altar where sacrifices were offered to the gods more than three thou- sand years ago. One of the exterior statues ABOU-SIMBEL. is mutilated beyond recognition, but all of them represented the same monarch. The position of the hands on the knees is characteristic of most royal Egyptian statues, and is sym- bolic of Rameses resting after his conquest of the then known world. It is not strange that the Egyptians gave to him the title, ''King of Kings," for he was really the greatest con- queror of antiquity, prior to the era of Greece and Rome. He was apparently a favorite of fortune, living to the age of eighty-seven, and ruling Egypt for no less than sixty-seven years. It was his passion to erect magnificent temples, and 92 EGYPT place in front of theni some of those obelisks and statues which, after all they have survived, are still the marvel of the world. Nor were these ornamental works the only mon- uments which Rameses bequeathed to Egypt, for he caused the stony desert to be pierced in various places with artesian wells; he finished a canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, more than three thousand years before De Les- seps followed in his foot- *> r steps; while, as a warrior, he had conquered Syria and seized upon the for- tress of Jerusalemx more than a hundred years be- fore the Israelites (led out from Egypt during the reign of his successor) set foot upon the soil of Pal- estine. But to appreciate ade- quately the vastness of these statues at Abou- Simbel, we should exam- ine them singly. Each is no less than sixty-six feet high, and its forefinger is a yard in length. If the figure stood erect, it would reach an altitude of nearly eighty-three feet. A group of travelers standing on its lap looks like a swarm of insects resting on its surface. The lower half of the leg measures twenty feet from knee to heel. The destruction of one of these statues was effected more than two thousand years ago by foreign conquerors; but what a comment upon human nature it is, that such sublime monuments, after enduring A NUBIAN WOMAN. EGYPT 93 A CONTRAST. for so many ages, should now, without the excuse of foreign conquest, be disgracefully mutilated by modern travelers, who (itching for notoriety) have placed upon these ruins their names, and those of the towns un- fortunate enough to be their birthplaces. Some of these carvings, in let- ters a foot in length, have been actually filled in with paint ! A few years ago a traveler took a plas- ter cast of one of the heads, and left it besmeared with white- wash, which he had not the decency to efface. Alas! ahuost all of Egypt's unique treasures have suffered from the wanton depredations of man. Not long ago a party of tourists visited the grand old obelisk at Heli- opolis, which was already ancient when Abraham made his jour- ney into Egypt, and were found PART OF ONE STATUE. 94 EGYPT knocking pieces out of it with an axe ! When one hears of such vandaHsm, one can agree with Douglas Jerrold, who, while arguing that every kind of business had its pleasant side, remarked: ''If I were an undertaker, I know of several per- sons whom I could work for with considerable satisfaction." THE STATUES OF RAMESES II. The most impressive view of Abou-Simbel is that which reveals these seated statues from a distance, in profile. Gigantic as their features are, they nevertheless possess a serene, majestic beauty, which becomes marvelous when we reflect that these colossal figures were hewn directly from the face of the mountain. Surely such forms and features, cut thus from the natural rock, were the work of men whose EGYPT 95 genius was akin to that of Mi- chael Angelo. There was to me something indescribably weird and un- earthly in their solemn faces forever gazing at the river, with an expres- sion which has not changed while ages have flowed on be- neath them, like the stream itself. They look as if they had the power to rise, if they desired, and tell us of the awful mysteries on which their lips are sealed. Notwithstanding the marvelous character of the ruins of the Upper Nile, nothing in Egypt so appeals to our imagina- tion and enthusiasm as those incomparable memorials of the BEDOUINS AT THE PVKAMIDS. APPROACH TO THE PYRAMIDS. 96 EGYPT Pharaohs, — the Pyramids and Sphinx. They are easily accessible from Cairo, as a fine carriage-road now leads almost to their base. On my first visit to them, more than a score of years ago, the Arabs who infest their vicinity were by no means as well disci] sooner had we reached the e( SECTION OF A PYRAMID. assailed by numbers of vociferous Bedouins, who, in their long white gowns, resembled African somnambulists. All clamored fiercely for the privilege of conducting us to the summit of the Great. Pyramid; but our guide treated them with indifference, until we were surrounded by perhaps sixty men, who shouted and gesticulated as if they were EGYPT 97 demented. Then he called upon the chief of these madmen to appoint two for each of us. This was finally done amid the wildest confusion. The rejected men acted Hke petulant children, lying down in the sand, throwing it into the air, howling, and doing other fooHsh acts indicative of their chagrin. At length, the disappointed ones, seeing a new party of travelers approach, started off like a troop of wild beasts to meet them, thus giving us an opportunity to look up quietly at the prodig- ious structures, which are apparently destined to per- ish only with the world. No view does justice to the Pyramids, but the world contains nothing of human workmanship quite so im- posing. They stand upon the border of the desert, as other ruins lie beside the sea. Their vast triangular forms, with bases covered by the golden sand, and summits cleaving wedge- like the serene blue sky, exceed, when seen thus close at hand, the most extravagant expectations. A comprehensive idea can not be obtained from statistics, but one must make use of figures and comparisons to give to those who have not seen them some adequate conception of the immensity of these masses of stone. The original height of the Pyramid of Cheops was four hundred and eighty-two feet. About thirty feet of its apex has disappeared, but even now it is higher than the top of St. Peter's; and if this pyramid were hollow, the vast A CORNER OF CHEOPS. 98 EGYPT basilica at Rome could be placed within it, dome and all, like an ornament in a glass case! St. Paul's in London could then in turn be easily placed inside of St. Peter's, for the top of its dome is one hundred feet lower than the summit of the Great Pyramid. Each of its sides measures at the base seven hundred and sixty-four feet. If its materials were torn down, they would suf- fice to build around the whole frontier of France a parapet ten feet high and a foot and a half thick. Think of a field of thirteen acres completely covered with eighty-five mil- lion cubic feet of solid ma- sonry, piled together with such precision and accuracy that astronomical calculations have been based on its angles and shadows, since the mighty pile was built exactly facing the cardinal points of the compass ! This solidity of structure and immensity of mass would seem to assure to the Pyramids a well-nigh endless existence. ''All things," it is said, ''fear Time, but Time fears the Pyramids." AN EGYPTIAN SHEIK. EGYPT lOI <.V-t:"r« PYRAMID OF CliPHKEN. Among the various conflict- ing theories re- garding the ori- gin and mean- ing of tlie Great Pyramid, one thing may cer- tainly be af- firmed : its royal builder did not intend to have it used as a gymnasium by tourists, though scores of them ascend it every day. The difficulty in climbing it is owing to the height of the steps to be taken, varying as they do from two to four feet, according to the broken or perfect condition of the stone. In ascending it, I made my two Arab attendants fully earn their money. Giving a hand to each, and stipu- lating that we should go slow- ly, I was pulled quite comfort- ably to the top of Cheops in about fifteen minutes, and found the sum- mit to be at pres- ent a rocky plat- form about thir- ty feet square. One should not grumble, how- THE CASE OF CHEOI'S. I02 EGYPT ever, at the difficulty of making this ascent, for it is owing to their broken surfaces that one is able to climb the Pyramids at all. On near approach they seem like gigantic flights of stairs. But originally each presented a perfectly smooth exterior, the spaces between the steps being filled with stone blocks, fitted with the utmost nicety. The whole pyramid was then cov- ered with ce- ment and beau- tifully polished. In fact, the sec- ond largest pyr- amid, Cephren, — almost a rival of Cheops, — has still around its apex a remnant of the polished coating, which makes it very difficult to reach the summit. Centuries ago, however, most of these covering blocks were carried off to build the mosques and palaces of Cairo. What was the purpose in erecting these structures? Are they simply monuments of national or royal vanity? Are they memorials of Egyptian victories or conquests? Not at all. Incredible as it may seem, they are merely the colossal sepulchres of kings — the most enormous ever reared by man. It was customary to build pyramids here as late as the time of Abraham, twenty-three hundred years before Christ; but, at a subsequent period, when the capital of the Pharaohs had been transferred from Memphis up the Nile to Thebes, rock-hewn sepulchres seem to have been preferred. Cheops is not the A^.^ P^■RA.^11D OF SAKKARAH. EGYPT 103 oldest of Egyptian pyramids. That of Sakkarah, a few miles away, probably antedates it by five hundred years. The whole region for more than forty miles is honeycombed with sepulchres, and it was all the cemetery of Mem_phis, — that splendid capital whose tombs have long outlived its palaces and temples. The graves in this vast necropolis, including the pyramids, are, like the tombs at Thebes, all found on the west bank of the Nile, — the side associated with those emblems of mor- tality, the desert and the setting sun. It is a solemn fact, therefore, that what remains to us of ancient Egypt has to do with death, not life, and was constructed with reference not to time but to eternity. The palaces and capitals of Egypt's kings have almost vanished from the earth; even their sites are often matters of conjecture; but the stupendous temples of the gods, the rock- hewn tombs, and the long line of giant sepulchres built in the form of pyramids, still survive, to emphasize the triumph of the eternal over the temporal. The Greeks rightly said of the Egyptians, that they looked upon their earthly dwelling as a kind of inn, but upon the grave as their eternal home. In fact, they did make far more elaborate preparations for death than for life. Each EGYPTIAN FUNERAL CEREMONIES. I04 EGYPT of the Pharaohs, as soon as he ascended the throne, began to build his mausoleum (us- ually in pyram- idal form), and from his neigh- boring pal- ace in ]M e m - phis proudly watched its progress and embellishment. The pyramid of Cheops is not, therefore, as some have ingeniously argued, entirely different from the rest, — a structure built by inspi- ration of God, and intended to preserve for the race a perfect standard of measurement, or to prophesy by a certain number of inches the year of the world's destruction. There is no reason to doubt that it is the mausoleum of one of a long line of monarchs, all of whom erected similar, though smaller, tombs. It seems, indeed, too vast to be a casket for one human body; yet that same body, when alive, had power to order such a. structure to be built, and doubtless thought it none too massive and imposing for his sepulchre. The summit of Cheops affords a view unequaled in the world. Hundreds of miles to the westward stretches the FVKAMID OF CHEOPS. THE SAHARA. EGYPT 105 vast Sahara, scattering its first golden sands at the very base of the pyramids. It is an awful sight from its dreary immen- sity. With its rolling waves of sand it seems a petrified ocean suddenly transformed from a state of activity into one of eternal rest. Far away, upon its yellow surface, the sun- lit tents of a Bedouin encampment glisten like whitecaps on a rolling sea. In truth, this vast Sahara is an ocean — of sand. It has the same succession of limitless horizons and the same dreary monotony. Dromedaries glide over its sand waves, — true ''ships of the desert," as they are called. SHIPS OF THE DESERT. Along its sunlit surface caravans come and go like fleets of commerce. Finally, like the ocean, it is often lashed by storms which sweep it with resistless force, raising its tawny waves to blind, overwhelm, and suffocate the wretched traveler who may encounter them, until he falls, coffined only in the shroud of sand woven around him by the pitiless storm-king. On my last visit to Egypt, this solemn area of antiquity was spoiled for me in the daytime by the great crowd, of travelers assembled in and about the hotel recently built almost within the shadow of the Pyramids. Serious contem- plation and a true appreciation of these monuments arc quite impossible in a place where one or two hundred polyglot io6 EGYPT guests are eating lunch,, enlivened by the strains of Strauss' waltzes. It is the most glaring illustration of bad taste and mercenary greed that I have ever seen ; and if the rest of Egypt were disfigured by such scandalous anachronisms, I should not wish ever again to set foot on its soil. Accord- ingly, my only satisfactory visit to the Pyramids and Sphinx, under the present condition of affairs in Egypt, was made at midnight and by moonlight. Then, with but one companion, and freed alike from crowds of noisy tourists and importunate Bedouins, and lighted only by the moon and stars, I spent four memorable hours beside these architect- ural mementoes of a vanished race, until the radiance of the dawn stole up the eastern sky and flushed the face of the expectant Sphinx. When standing on the summit of the Great Pyramid, if we look below us, we see what seems to be an immense, yawning grave. It is the temple of the Sphinx, partly exhumed by Mariette from the desert sands. Within it werS discovered nine statues of King Cephren, the builder of the second pyramid. From this circumstance it is probable that he was its founder, and from its situation in the Necropolis of Memphis we may conclude that this shrine was used for funeral ceremonies. But now it is itself half-sepulchred in TEMPLE OF THE SPHINX. THE SPHINX. EGYPT 109 the mighty desert. Its altars are abandoned ; the feet of thousands no longer tread its pavement; and if its epitaph could be traced above it in the shifting sand, it might appro- priately read: ''All who tread the globe are but a handful to the tribes that slumber in its bosom." ^ What thrills one as he stands upon the soil of Egypt — rich beyond computation with the spoils of time, — is the mys- terious conception that it gives of all the unknown Past which must have here preceded Mem- phis and the Pyramids. The progress of the race in different lands from barbarism to a state of advanced civilization, has always been a slow and painful one. Unless the Egyptians, therefore, were a notable ex- ception to this rule, they must have existed here for tens of centuries before attaining the degree of culture which was evidently theirs more than six thousand years ago. From manuscripts discovered in their tombs and temples, we learn that every kind of literature, save the dramatic, was composed by them. Astronomy, philosophy, religion, architecture, sculpture, painting, imposing rituals for the dead, a learned priesthood and elaborate systems of theology, society, and government then flourished in the valley of the Nile, and prove the existence of a still earlier civilization, of which we know, and shall probably continue to know, absolutely nothing. *The famous archaeologist, Maspero. recently said: " Egypt is far from being exhausted. Its soil contains enough to occupy twenty centuries of workers; for what has come to light is compar- atively nothing." DATE PALM. no EGYPT Close by the temple is the Sphinx itself, crouching in silence by the sea of sand, as if to guard the royal mauso- leums. This monster, whose human head and lion's body typified a union of intelligence and strength, was hewn out of the natural rock on the edge of the desert, and only in places SPHINX AND PYRAMID. where the stone could not adapt itself to the desired form was it pieced out with masonry. From the crown of its head to the paved platform on which rest its outspread paws, it meas- ures sixty-four feet. The sand has long since encroached upon this space, but formerly it was kept free from all incur- sions of the desert, and between its huge limbs stood an altar EGYPT I II dedicated to the Rising Sun, before which must have knelt unnumbered thousands of adoring worshipers. To-day the Sphinx appears as cahn and imperturbable as it did six thousand years ago. It is probably the oldest relic of human workmanship that the world knows — the silent wit- ness of the greatest fortunes and the greatest calamities of time. Its eyes, wide open and fixed, have gazed dreamily out over the drifting sands, while empires, dynasties, religions, and entire races have risen and passed away. If its stony lips could speak, they might truthfully utter the words *' Before Abraham was, I am." It was, indeed, probably two thousand years old when Abraham was born. It is the antiquity of the Sphinx which thrills us as we look upon it, for in itself it has no charms. The desert's waves have risen to its breast, as if to wrap the monster in a winding-sheet of gold. The face and head have been muti- lated by Moslem fanatics. The mouth, the beauty of whose lips was once admired, is now expressionless. Yet grand in its loneliness, — veiled in the mystery of unnumbered ages, — this relic of Egyptian antiquity stands solemn and silent in the presence of the awful desert — symbol of eternity. Here it disputes with Time the empire of the past ; forever gazing on and on into a future which will still be distant when we, like all who have preceded us and looked upon its face, have lived our little lives and disappeared. O sleepless Sphinx! Thy sadly patient eyes, Thus mutely gazing o'er the shifting sands, Have watched earth's countless dynasties arise, Stalk forth like spectres waving gory hands, Then fade away with scarce a lasting trace To mark the secret of their dwelling-place: O sleepless Sphinx! 112 EGYPT O changeless Sphinx! In the fair dawn of time So grandly sculptured from the living rock ; Still bears thy face its primal look sublime, Surviving all the hoary ages' shock; Still art thou royal in thy proud repose As when the sun on tuneful Memnon rose: O changeless Sphinx! O voiceless Sphinx! Thy solemn lips are dumb; Time's awful secrets hold'st thou in thy breast; Age follows age, — revering pilgrims come From every clime to urge the same request, — That thou wilt speak. Poor creatures of a day, In calm disdain thou seest them die away: O voiceless Sphinx! Majestic Sphinx! Thou crouchest by a sea Whose fawn-hued wavelets clasp thy buried feet; Whose desert surface, petrified like thee, Gleams white with sails of many an Arab fleet; Or when wild storms its waves to fury sweep, High o'er thy form the tawny billows leap: Majestic Sphinx! Eternal Sphinx! The pyramids are thine; Their giant summits guard thee night and day; On thee they look when stars in splendor shine, Or while around their crests the sunbeams play; Thine own coevals, who with thee remain Colossal genii of the boundless plain: Eternal Sphinx! LECTURE VII JAPAN Those who have accompanied Mr. John L. Stoddard in pre- vious tours of this series are accustomed to pleasurable surprises, but they are scarcely prepared for what awaits them in Japan. There they will find a nation that has advanced as far in civilization in three decades as the Turks have in three centuries. Nor has the change from feudalism to a constitutional monarchy been attended by the horrors familiar to readers of European history. The Japanese seem to have profited by the experience of other countries, and avoided their mistakes. The customs, religion, aptitudes, and general tendency of this interesting people are discussed and entertainingly explained by Mr. Stoddard, and when the reader completes this tour, he will be in a better position to judge of a country which must now be reckoned with in everything pertaining to the Pacific Ocean. 138 Illustrations, exhibiting the same artistic finish seen in previous issues of this series, complete the charm of this lecture, and impress the reader very much as would the actual sights. Lecture VII will be sent post-paid on receipt of the low introductory price charged for previous lectures. THE LAKESIDE PRESS, R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY, PRINTERS, CHICAGO. % ,<^ .' A ^-3 .\0^x vJ^ .\0 ^^. ^c,"- 'V-^ \^ ^^ ^c^^ .^^ \0Oc, ^ •V^ "oo^ 'r. aN"^ ^^' ^ h Cv. " •> N ■'' ^, •"oo^ A ^^ ^^. ^.^ ' « « ■''^^ ' t, i, ^ >^^ -C- '^/ s^ s'\ '^ 'o V* .L^ A' ^ '' « \ x^^^^,