YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

MAP OF THE NILE

EGYPT, BURMA
AND
BRITISH MALAYSIA

WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS
Author of "The Turk and His Lost Provinces." "To-day in Syria
Palestine." "Modern India," etc.

( ¦'

CHICAGO NEW YORK TORONTO
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
LONDON & EDINBURGH
MCIflV

Copyrieht, igos, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EGYPT
L Port Said and Alexandria
n. The Three Cairos
IIL How Egypt is Governed
IV. The Pyramids and the Sphinx
V. Among Old Friends
VI. The Courts and Commerce of Egypt
VII. Education and Society
VIII. The Most Remarkable of Rivers .
IX. Temples and Tombs .
X. The Redemption of the Sudan
XI. The Suez Canal
XII. Arabia and the Red Sea
XIII. Aden and the Persian Problem

II
33
48 69 85
IOI118141158 184
20g223234

BURMA
I. The City of Rangoon . . . .251
II. The Buddhists of Burma . . 267
m. The Quaint City of Mandalay . .281
IV. King Thebaw and his Fantastic Palaces 297
V. The Last King of Burma . . .313
VI. The Rivers and Railroads of Burma . 328
BRITISH MALAYSIA
I. The British East Indies . . .351
IL The City of Hong Kong . . .373
III. Eastern Official Salaries . . .387

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

EGYPT, BURMA AND BRITISH EAST INDIES
Map of the Nile ....... Frontispiece
Lord Cromer, the Man who has regenerated Egypt ... 48
The Khedive of Egypt  48
An Arab Sheik .......... 59
The Sphinx and Pyramid of Cheops ..... 72
Pyramid of the Steps, at Sakkara  82
Seti I., the Great Pharaoh ....... go
Ancient Cartouches ......... gy
One of the Professors in the University of Cairo, Founded by
Saladin  iig
A Kuttab, or Arab School  r25
Fatima  129
Egyptian Dancing Girls ...... 134
Place pointed out by the Guides -where Moses -was found by
Pharaoh's Daughter  141
City of Assouan  . 150
Dabehahs on the Nile . . . . . . . .161
A Bedouin Boy ......... 178
Egyptian Rural Mail Delivery . : . . . , . i8g
Street in Port Said  210
Burmese Family . ...... 253
Government House, Rangoon  258
The Lord's Prayer in Burmese  261
A Burmese School  269
Shive-Dagon Pagoda, Rangoon  274
The Musjid, Rangoon  280
"A Whacking White Cheroot"  285
Gateway to the 450 Pagodas, Mandalay  2go
The Golden Monastery, Mandalay  295
A Street in Mandalay  2g7
The Late King Mindon Min of Burma  301
Former King Thebaw of Burma  313
King Thebaw and Queen Supayalat  318
Tomb of King Thebaw's Dog  321
Center of the Universe, Mandalay ...... 328
Elephants in Lumber Yards, Rangoon  337
A Burmese Gentleman  . 346
New Mosque, Johore  . 364

Egypt, Burma, British Malaysia

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA
It is a delightful voyage of three days from Naples to
Port Said, and we passed through the Straits of Sicily,
between Scylla and Charybdis ; but the bluff old Teuton
who commanded our steamer didn't care for all the sirens
in mythology. The volcano of Stromboli stands imme
diately in our course and was quite active. All of the
Italian volcanoes have been in a state of agitation ever
since the terrible eruptions in Martinique and Guatemala
with which, in some mysterious way, they sympathized.
Vesuvius roared and growled and threw out a good deal
of lava. Etna made itself very disagreeable and fright
ened the Sicilians badly. Stromboli is an exclusive vol
cano, a monopolist, as you might say, and occupies a little
island all alone by itself in the strait between the Island
of Sicily and the main Italian shore. There are several
villages lying at the foot of the monster, and its surface
is cultivated nearly half way up to the crater with gar
dens and vineyards, which produce enormous crops, for
volcanic soil is particularly fertile. No part of Italy is
more productive than the farms and vineyards that cover
the base of Vesuvius. II

12 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
It takes a good deal of nerve to live on a little island
with an active volcano, but the villagers around the base
of Stromboli do not appear concerned for their safety.
They keep at work until the volcano shows signs of an
outbreak, and then get into their boats and sail over to the
mainland, where they are comparatively safe, and remain
until the trouble is over. The best barometers to foretell
eruptions are cats. Nature has somehow authorized cats
to act as weather bureaus for volcanoes, for their instincts
somehow teach them when a convulsion is approaching
and all their owners have to do is to act on the warning.
Stromboli is always active. A cloud of smoke by day
and a pillar of fire by night are the regular programme,
and the discharges of molten lava which run down the
cone of the crater in livid streams are the finest fireworks
in the world. There is no regularity about the ex
plosions. Whenever a load accumulates on the machin
ery inside it is hoisted out. Down in Salvador, Central
America, there is a volcano called Izalco, which fires at
regular intervals, and has continued to do so for a cen
tury or more, but Vesuvius, Stromboli and Etna are ir
regular. You can catch a glimpse of the summit of Etna
and the plume of smoke that ornaments its crest from the
deck of the steamer, but it is difficult to distinguish the
body of the mountain from the clouds, for it lies about
forty miles back from the coast. It would be a great ac
commodation if all the volcanoes and other natural curi
osities could be moved down into the regular track of
travel. It would save a great deal of trouble and expense.
Fashionable travelers are gradually turning ocean voy
ages into social festivities and millinery shows. People
used to wear their old clothes -when they -went to sea and
took as few with them as possible. No-vv they dress as

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 13
much on shipboard as they do at a house party and show
off their new raiment on the deck regardless of the dam
age from dampness. They come to dinner in full dress
also, with low necks and bare arms and diamonds and
flowers until the dining-room on a big steamer now
adays is as gay as a banquet hall. The English are re
sponsible for this ridiculous custom, which was originally
intended to relieve the monotony of long voyages, but has
gradually spread until every steamship line is infected
with the vanity. But the idea of wearing jewelry on
shipboard is even worse. That is English, too, for it is
the Duchess of Swelldom and the Countess of Folly and
Lady Lighthead who lie around in their deck chairs
wearing all their gold and silver and precious stones like
the women of a 'savage race. At first I thought they were
the wives and daughters of Chicago pork packers, be
cause they are the only people who do such vulgar things
in the novels of English society, and it is quite a shock to
an American to discover that the British nobility are rob
bing us of a notoriety we never deserved.
And the same women sit around on deck after dinner
and smoke cigarettes. It is considered smart for them to
do so. I have seen a good many wives and daughters of
Chicago pork packers in different parts of the world, but
I have never known them to make such vulgar displays
or be guilty of such rudeness as is frequently shown by
English women with long titles.
Port Said is a strictly modern town at the mouth of the
Suez Canal, of mushroom growth, very wicked, and
peopled with the representatives of every race on earth.
Kipling says : "There is iniquity in many parts of the
world, and vice in all ; but the concentrated essence of all
iniquity and all the vices of all the continents finds itself

14 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA '.
at Port Said, in that sand-bordered hell." Like Colon
and Panama, Singapore, Hongkong and other ports
where the ships of all nations trade, it catches human
driftwood. Down at Puenta Arenas, in the Straits of
Magellan, I was once rowed to shore in a boat with eight
oarsmen, and each of them belonged to a different race.
At Port Said Arabs predominate, but the signs upon the
business streets are a good index of the inhabitants.
Everything is well managed. The town is under English
control, and notwithstanding the desperate character of
the inhabitants, it is orderly. The police are native Arabs
wearing uniforms similar to those of the "Bobbies" of
London, and conduct themselves with great dignity and
airs of importance.
When the steamer drops its anchor ofJ the center of
the town, it is immediately surrounded by a large fleet of
rowboats, but none attempt to approach the gangway
until a signal is given by the policeman in charge. Then
the boatmen climb the stairs over each other's shoulders
like so many monkeys, clamoring for patronage, which
seems to be an unnecessary waste of energy, because all
the boats belong to the same company, which pays the
government for the privilege of landing passengers and
is allowed to charge only a very small fee. Strangers are
well taken care of. All they have to do is to turn their
luggage over to the runner from the hotel they intend to
stop at in Cairo. He will put them aboard a train on the
baby railroad that runs across the desert and see them
safely started upon their journey. There is a custom
house, of course, but it gives travelers very little trouble.
The inspectors take your name and nationality and some
other information for the statistical reports; they ask if
you have any cigars or spirits, and accept your word for

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA K
it, unless your behavior is suspicious, when they trouble
you to open your trunk.
We went down from Port Said to Cairo by railroad, a
journey of six hours. The first half was over the tiniest
railway you ever saw ; a little narrow gauge built by the
canal company as an aid to construction. Its original
purpose was to haul away the dirt that was taken out of
the ditch and dump it on the desert ; then it was used to
transport supplies from one point on the canal to another ;
and finally, when Port Said became a great port of entry
for passengers, the rails were relaid, the track was
ballasted and diminutive trains were put on, hauled by
locomotives that look like toys, but do their business
promptly and well. This line runs the entire length of
the canal, which is eighty-seven miles, parallel with the
bank, and belongs to the canal company. The Egyptian
government has made an arrangement so that the track
will be widened to a standard gauge and thereafter
through trains can be run from one end of Egypt to the
other. Nowadays passengers between Cairo and points
along the canal have to change at Ismalia, the half-way
station on Lake Timsah and the chief port of the canal.
It is comparatively easy to build a railway in this sec
tion of Egypt, because there are no rains, no frosts, no
rocks, no grades, no curves and no obstructions but hill
ocks of sand. At the same time the drifting of the sand
is continuous and compels the railway managers to keep
gangs of men constantly at work shoveling it off the right
of way. It is even worse than the winter snows in the
northern latitudes of the United States. The Southern
Pacific, Santa Fe and other railroads in the southwestern
territories of our country have similar difficulties. There
is as much resemblance between deserts as there is be-

i6 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
tween peach orchards, and a gentleman from the Death
Valley of southern California would feel quite at home
on the sands of Sahara.
The only permanent reward the Khedive Ismail re
ceived for the hundreds of millions of dollars he spent on
the canal and for the loss of his throne, is the honor of
having the little town of Ismalia named after him. The
present generation remembers his splendor and his ex
travagance, and there are many people still living who
attended the festivities he arranged at the opening of the
canal at a cost of $21,000,000. They remember his folly
and his sins also, and he will pass into the traditions of
the country as the greatest spendthrift of all the Phar
aohs ; but the name of this little town is all the recognition
he gets, and De Lesseps does not get even that much.
The only reminder of his connection with Egypt is an in
significant monument at the end of the long breakwater
which extends into the Mediterranean at the mouth of the
canal. The breakwater was put there in order to make
the current scour its own channel, and the company has
utilized it as a pedestal for a bronze statue of the genius
who converted Africa into an island and planned and car
ried out the most important public improvement ever
made by man. De Lesseps expected a dukedom. Per
haps he would have been gratified if the French empire
had survived, but that figure of bronze and a little strip
of ribbon indicating the very common distinction of be
longing to the Legion of Honor are the only public rec
ognition he ever received. His family enjoy an annuity
of $24,000 from the company in exchange for certain
rights and stock which they surrendered.
There is a striking moral lesson in the career and the
fate of De Lesseps. He was great, but he wasn't square.

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 17
He was crooked. His career was disgraced by the habit
ual use of bribes and blackmail. He believed that every
man had his price, and that money was the greatest per
suader. He corrupted everybody he wanted to reach,
from the Emperor of France and the Sultan of Turkey
down to the footmen in the palace of the khedive and the
clerks of the chamber of deputies at Paris. The slush
fund of the Suez Canal was as great as that of Panama,
and it is the common opinion that at least one-half of the
$400,000,000 it cost was either stolen or wasted or other
wise diverted from an honest purpose. The extravagance
and wastefulness of the managers of the company were
beyond all precedent.
At Ismalia we change into a new train of excellent and
comfortable cars. They are built on the English pattern
and came from England. They are well kept and tan
gible evidence of the good management of the Egyptian
railways. They gave us a good dinner for $1.25 in the
dining car, well cooked and well served, and the train
made thirty miles an hour over a smooth track, which is
a great improvement upon what we had recently expe
rienced in Spain, Italy and southern Europe. The sleep
ing-car system for long journeys is equal to the best in
Europe, although of course Americans prefer open Pull
mans to the narrow little compartments they are com
pelled to occupy over there. In Egypt the closets into
which the sleeping cars are divided are the more objec
tionable because they cannot be ventilated. The sand
stirred up by the rush of the train would suffocate the
passengers if it were permitted to enter the car ; so every
thing is closed up tight and there are double windows.
It is impossible to have anything open. An American
lady to whom I was complaining of this replied that if

1 8 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
we should open the window of our sleeping compartment
when we went to bed they wouldn't be able to find us in
the morning, because we would be buried under sand.
With all the precautions, everything is covered with a
thick coating in a very few moments after the trains
start, and the porter has to go about with a brush keeping
the seats and the window sills clear. Every time the train
stops men with feather dusters go through the first and
second class carriages before the new passengers are ad
mitted. Crude petroleum, which has been used successfully on
the roads between Philadelphia and Atlantic City to keep
down the sand, and in other parts of our country where
there has been similar trouble, has never been tried in
Egypt, and I suppose that it would be useless. There is
too much. They cannot oil the whole desert and there is
nothing but sand as far as you can see, and as deep as you
can dig down into the earth.
The Egyptian railways mostly belong to the govern
ment. The total system on the ist of January, 1904, was
2,173 miles, of which 1,393 miles belong to the state and
780 miles to private companies. Most of the private
roads are narrow-gauge spurs and feeders which connect
sugar mills and other manufactories with the public
roads. Two-thirds of the railway tracks are in lower
Egypt. With Cairo as a focus, they spread out like a fan
through the country drained by the delta of the Nile.
Alexandria, the greatest seaport of Egypt, is the extreme
terminus to the westward, and Port Said, the mouth of
the Suez Canal, marks the eastern edge of the fan. From
Cairo a track runs southward along the bank of the Nile
for several hundred miles, and is gradually being ex
tended toward the interior of Africa. There are several

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 19
short branches and feeders along the trunk line, which
are gradually being extended and increased in number.
For military purposes, as well as for civilization and
trade, it is the intention of the government to push the
railway up into the Sudan country as fast as possible, and
before many years tourists can go from the Mediter
ranean to the heart of the dark continent upon a train de
luxe, with sleeping and dining cars.
The railways are economically managed by English
officials, although most of the subordinate employes are
natives. It has been frequently proposed to lease the
tracks to private corporations, and a proposition of that
kind is usually pending before the government. But no
change is likely to be made, because Lord Cromer, the
British agent, who is really the King of Egypt, takes
strong ground against leasing, and declares his opinion
to be "decidedly adverse to the transfer of the Egyptian
railways to a private company." This would seem to set
tle it, because whatever Lord Cromer says is final.
Under the treaties with the creditor nations of Egypt,
only 43 per cent of the gross receipts of the railways can
be applied to operating expenses. This has been recently
increased to 50 per cent, and has enabled the managers to
make improvements that are much appreciated by the
public and to reduce the rates of fare, which are now
lower than those of any railway in Europe. The result
has been natural. The passenger traffic and receipts have
rapidly increased. A similar reduction is promised in
freight rates, which the managers expect will be followed
by similar results. In 1903 13,039,573 passengers were
carried, an increase of more than 3,000,000 during the
previous five years, and the net receipts were $1,222,261,
a slight increase from the previous year.

20 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Nearly everybody who comes to Egypt skips Alex
andria, which is a great mistake, because it is one of the
finest ports on the Mediterranean and is full of historical
reminiscences. Some one has said that Alexandria is a
city of sites instead of sights, which is a clever epigram
and almost true, because you can only see the places
where great historical structures once stood. Nothing
is left of them except here and there a column or a
piece of carved marble, which has been utilized in the
construction of a modern building. Alexandria is purely
modern. It is difficult to realize that it is the famous
capital of Alexander the Great, the scene of the sumptu
ous and sensuous luxury of Cleopatra and the Ptolemies
who reigned in the golden age of Egypt. It looks very
much like Bordeaux, Marseilles, Havre and other French
seaports, and for that reason tourists hurry through from
the docks to the railway station without stopping to
think of the memories that might be awakened during a
visit of a few days.
You will remember, perhaps, that Alexandria, after
Antioch, was the headquarters of the Christian church
in early times, and St. Mark lived and preached there for
nearly half a century. There, too, occurred the theolog
ical controversies which spUt the followers of Christ inte
sects ; there was the center of intellectual culture for six
hundred years, and the great libraries of the city brought
together the most eminent intellects of the age. There,
too, was the southern capital of the Roman Empire, and
its streets have witnessed some of the most brilliant
pageants that ever astonished the world. Cleopatra and
Mark Antony lived there in the greatest splendor. Julius
and Augustus Csesar, Trajan, Hadrian and Constantine
the Great were all residents of Alexandria from time to

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 21
time. Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, lived there enthroned
from 268 to 273. Many volumes have been necessary to
tell the history of which Alexandria has been the scene
from the days of its founder, Alexander the Great, to the
departure of Ismail, the dethroned khedive, for Naples
in 1879, with three hundred women from his harem and
four ship loads of treasure which he stripped from the
khedival palaces.
Steamers for India, Australia and other points beyond
the Suez Canal land their passengers at Port Said, who
go to Cairo by rail. Steamers that go no farther than
Egypt have their entrepot at Alexandria, which handles
80 per cent of its foreign commerce. The harbor is one
of the best on the Mediterranean and its natural advan
tages, equal to those of Marseilles or Naples, have been
improved by vast engineering works, which are of his
toric importance as well as professional interest to the en
gineer. This port is a monument to Alexander the Great,
for he created the harbor by the construction of a vast
mole called the "Heppastadion," joining the Island of
Pharos to the mainland. While we hear very little about
that work, it is one of the most extensive and brilliant
triumphs in the history of engineering; as great in its
way as the pyramids; even greater than the construction
of the Suez Canal. Mehemet Ali, the greatest of
khedives, deepened the harbor, which had become choked
by the accumulation of sand, lined it with spacious docks,
protected them by fortifications, and cut a canal through
from the Nile, which was built in a single year at a cost
of $1,500,000 and more than 20,000 lives.
Not a dollar of this money was spent for labor except
the salaries of the engineers and foremen. A quarter of
a million peasants were drafted from different provinces

22 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
of Egypt and compelled to labor without pay and furnish
their own food and tools. Thousands died of exhaustion
and hunger and thousands more from infectious diseases,
but the lives of his subjects were of no value to Mehemet
Ali. Since 1872 $15,000,000 more has been spent on the
harbor and naturally it ought to be what it is — one of the
finest on the sea.
In the middle of the city is a great square, the center of
the European quarter, the focus of business and commer
cial activity. It is surrounded by banks, offices of the
steamship companies and shipping firms, the consulates,
the principal hotels and shops, and is appropriately named
after the founder of the present khedival dynasty, Me
hemet Ali, whose splendid figure, mounted upon an Ara
bian charger of bronze, stands in the center.
Visitors who are aware of the teachings of the Koran
are naturally surprised to see statues of famous Moham
medans in Egyptian cities, because their religion forbids
the making of images of human beings. According to a
strict interpretation a statue, a portrait in oil, a photo
graph, an engraving or even a head upon a coin or a
medal is a violation of one of the injunctions of the
prophet, who taught that any man who makes a likeness
of the human form will be compelled to endow it with a
soul on the day of resurrection or forfeit his own chances
of paradise. But vanity prevails in Islam just as it does
everywhere else and this statue and those in Cairo and
other parts of Egypt were ordered by Khedive Ismail as
ornaments for his cities and as tributes to his ancestors.
Before he could put them up, however, he lost his throne.
His successors dare not arouse the religious resentment
of their subjects, so the statues were allowed to remain
in packing boxes until the English "occupied" the coun-

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 23
try. Then they were taken out and placed upon pedestals,
the infidel officials assuming all the risk of losing their
identity in paradise.
There is excellent railway service between Alexandria
and Cairo, as good as any in Europe or the United States,
and except for the sand and dust, which cannot be avoid
ed in crossing a desert, the journey is quite comfortable.
About half way is a bridge spanning one of the arms
of the Nile, which fifty years ago was the scene of a
most extraordinary tragedy. Ismail Pasha, the younger
son of Ibrahim, with no prospect of ever reaching the
throne, considered himself much more competent to ad
minister the government than his uncles and cousins, who
had precedence in the regular order of succession. One
of his intimate friends and confidential associates was an
Armenian adventurer, known as Nubar, who lived on
the family for many years, because he had assassinated
somebody or stolen something to oblige Mehemet Ali, or
performed some other service which placed him in a
position to levy blackmail. Nubar was superintendent of
the government railways, and when a special train car
rying the brothers and sons of the khedive was running
at a high rate of speed from Cairo to Alexandria to attend
some function, one of the draws of this bridge was mys
teriously opened. The train plunged into the Nile and
everybody was drowned, leaving the path to the throne
clear for Ismail, who was expected to accompany the
party, but at the last moment excused himself because of
illness. The investigation which followed did not deter
mine who opened the bridge, but Nubar was held re
sponsible and temporarily disgraced, yet, as soon as Is
mail became khedive, he was restored to favor and be-

24 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
came all powerful at court. He was the evil genius of his
royal master and the cause of his ruin.
Alexandria had the first lighthouse ever erected for the
benefit of shipping. Along the coast of Syria and Pales
tine, Italy, Greece and other countries of southern Europe
at frequent intervals are watch towers, which in ancient
times were used for the purpose of communicating by
signals, but the Pharos tower, a pile of masonry nearly
six hundred feet high, and one of the seven wonders of
the world, erected by Ptolemy Soter, who became King
of Egypt after Alexander's death 320 B. C, was intended
as a guide and warning to mariners, and beacon fires
were kept burning on its top at night. This tower was
fifty feet higher than the monument at Washington.
Ptolemy Soter was a great and wise man. He was
the founder of the first museum in the world, and of. a
great library called the Serapeum. Nothing remains of
the magnificent building with its hundred steps and vast
halls and 400 columns, except a few scattered pieces of
marble. Its collection of 300,000 manuscripts was de
stroyed when Julius Csesar set fire to the city, B. C. 48.
A few years later, as a nucleus for a new library, Antony
presented Cleopatra what are known as the Pergamenian
manuscripts, 200,000 in number, and the collection was
rapidly increased by the generosity of Cleopatra, who
sent scholars all over the world to make copies of every
valuable book at public expense. It is related that every
book that came to Alexandria was seized for the benefit
of the library, a copy being made for the owner. Here
Strabo, Ptolemy, Herodotus, Pliny, Aristotle, Euclid
and other great scholars of that era were educated and
gained their fame ; here the science of mathematics was
invented and astronomy and geography were first taught ;

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 25
here chemistry became one of the sciences and engineer
ing a useful servant of mankind. Athens was the home
of philosophy, poetry and art, but the Serapeum, orig
inally a temple to a heathen god, became a vast treasure-
house of learning, the birthplace and the nursery of
the applied sciences. It came to have 750,000 volumes,
and survived for 600 years until the Arabs conquered
Egypt and the Caliph Omar, a bigoted fanatic, de
stroyed it. "If these manuscripts teach the same things
as the Koran," he said, "they are useless and need
not be preserved ; if they do not they should be destroyed
because they are false and pernicious."
St. Mark is believed to have suffered martyrdom upon
the site of the Mosque of One Thousand and One Col
umns, which is now the quarantine station, and the monks
of the Coptic Monastery claim to have the remains of
the great evangelist, but it is well known that his body
was removed to Venice in the ninth century and is buried
under the altar of the beautiful cathedral dedicated to
him. The Mosque Nebbi Daniel claims to be the tomb of
Alexander the Great, but as no Christian is allowed to
enter the building it is not possible to discuss the prob
abilities intelligently. We know, however, that the man
who wept because there were no more worlds for him
to conquer died and was buried in Alexandria. In the
British Museum is a beautiful stone sarcophagus, which
for many years has been claimed to be that in which
Alexander was buried, but many archaeologists attribute
it to an earlier king. In the museum of Constantinople
another exquisite piece of marble is also declared to be
his coffin. It was discovered near Sidon by Rev. Mr.
Eddy, an American missionary, who has a theory that it

26 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
was made in Damascus, Bagdad or another city of the
interior, for the great warrior, and was being transported
to Alexandria, when for some reason it was stopped on
the way near Sidon and never reached its destination.
The catacombs, or cave cemeteries of Alexandria, are
very extensive and are of great interest to archseologists.
Dutch windmills, built by Napoleon I. to grind corn for
his troops when he occupied the country, stand over
the catacombs and give a curious aspect to the coun
try. In the Mohammedan cemetery ruins of the
Serapeum are scattered among the tombs, fragments
of marble covered with carving, shattered pedestals 'and
broken columns which have been utilized for memorial
purposes. They tell us that Pompey's pillar, which appears in
all the illustrated geographies, was not erected by Pom-
pey at all, and that Cleopatra's needles, one of which is in
London and the other in Central Park, New York, never
belonged to that famous queen, "the Serpent of Old
Nile." Pompey's pillar, we are told by the archaeologists,
was erected by Ptolemy II. in memory of his favorite
wife, Arsinoe, and the other monoliths were erected long
before Cleopatra was born, and were removed from the
Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis in Ismail's time. Un
fortunately Alexandria has been ignored by antiquarians
and archseologists, and what should be a tempting op
portunity for excavation on the sites of ancient buildings
has been neglected. In 1895 Mr. Hogarth made a series
of experimental borings to see what was under the soil
without finding anything of value, and he believes that
the finest of the 4,000 palaces which were the boast of
ancient Alexandria have been covered by the encroach
ments of the sea.

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 27
Alexandria now has a population of about 350,000,
made up of representatives of every race on earth.
About half are foreigners — Turks, Syrians, Nubians,
Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Albanians, Maltese, Italians,
Frenchmen and other sons of men.
There are four Alexandrias — the capital of Alexander
the Great, the pride of the Ptolemies, the southern resi
dence of the Roman Empire, and the city of modern com
merce and enterprise, and each is full of interest.
There is a fine railway station at Cairo, and when we
rolled into it at midnight the train was surrounded by
what one would suppose was a mob of lunatics, who in
reality were only friendly porters, hotel runners and
railway officials trying to assist us to the hotel omni
buses that were waiting on the outside. I never was able
to understand why, but the common people among the
oriental races are always yelling at somebody. It is so in
China and Japan, in India and Turkey. If one man
wishes to communicate an idea to another he shouts at
the top of his voice, and when he has nothing in partic
ular to say he screams as loud as he can on general prin
ciples, simply to contribute his share to the hubbub.
Hence public places, like railway stations, in Egypt and
the oriental countries, will give you an idea of what
Babel must have been, particularly when the natives at
tempt to address strangers in foreign languages.
The population of Cairo is so cosmopolitan that most
of the railway porters, hotel servants, hack drivers, don
key boys and people about the streets who come in con
tact with the public are familiar with a few words of a
dozen different languages, and are shrewd enough to
identify the people to whom these languages belong in
a crowd of any size. Every language and dialect of

28 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Europe, Asia and Africa is spoken upon the streets and
in the bazaars of Cairo, and no matter where he comes
from, a stranger cannot- stroll along the busy squares
upon which the principal hotels are located without be
ing addressed in his own tongue. This phenomenon is
manifested at the railway stations more notably than
elsewhere, and timid people are likely to be startled by
having a half-naked Arab rush up to them and yell in
their ear, "I spik Anglis ; give me your bag," and similar
greetings; but it is only necessary to wait for a man
with a semi-military uniform who has the name of your
hotel embroidered in gilt letters on his cap and coat col
lar. He will come, sooner or later. It's his business.
Point out your luggage to him, do as he tells you, and
you will come through all right.
There are no better hotels anywhere than those you
find in Cairo, and there are several grades of them, with
charges to suit purses of all sizes. If you want to see
everything that is going on you must stop at Shepheard's,
for that is the focus of all the excitement and the scene
of everything that happens ; or at the Continental, which
stands in the next block. If you would like to be con
sidered a howling swell you can go to the Savoy, the
favorite stopping place of princes and dukes and other
titled people who come to Egypt for the winter; or if
you prefer quiet elegance and retirement the country
residence of the late Khedive Ismail, in the center of .a
beautiful park on the other side of the Nile, is-Aised as a
hotel, and is known as the Gheziheh Palace. There you
will meet the most formal and exclusive set and your
bills will be made out accordingly. People of modest
means can find several comfortable hotels with moderate

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 29
prices and innumerable boarding-houses whose rates
range from $6 a week upward.
At Cook's Agency, I was told that nearly 8,000 visitors
come to Cairo each winter, and about one-half of them
are Americans. The Germans are second in number and
after them the English and French. There are probably
more English in the city at all times than either Ameri
cans or Germans, but they visit friends or find private
accommodations and do not stop at the hotels or patronize
the tourist agencies. The English are the life of the
town. Not less than 500 families, many of them with
sons and daughters, are living in Egypt permanently,
and many young officers add to the gayety of the social
life. Their striking uniforms, which are unlike anything
ever worn by our soldiers, are to be seen on every festive
occasion. They wear a great deal of scarlet and gold.
The ordinary fatigue or half-dress uniform of the Anglo-
Egyptian officer is a red Eton jacket, coming down only
to the waist, with elaborate patterns embroidered upon
the front, the back and sleeves. During hot weather they
wear similar jackets of white linen without waistcoats.
Their trousers are either white with a cord down the
seams or dark blue with a strip of gold braid. During
the day they wear khaki uniforms, with helmets of the
same color or pure white linen.
Nowhere have greater preparations been made for en
tertaining tourists and winter visitors than in Cairo.
There is a fine hotel at the base of the Pyramids, and
twelve miles out at Holouan, the oldest pleasure resort
in the world, whose mineral springs were patronized in
most ancient times, are similar accommodations. And
at intervals all the way up the Nile, at almost every town
of importance as far as Khartum, comfortable and luxuri-

30 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
ous hotels have been established that may be reached by
rail or river. All of them are well patronized. Most
of them are crowded from the first of December
to the first of April, and I do not understand
how they can afford to entertain people at the prices
they charge, because they are closed for eight months
in the year, have to depend upon four months' busi
ness for their profit, and are compelled to bring
nearly all their supplies from abroad. They get their
beef from America, their chickens from France, their
vegetables from Italy, their butter from Switzerland and
Denmark, and their groceries from London. Several of
the hotels have their own gardens and dairies which
supply ordinary vegetables, milk and cream — and you
can get genuine cream for your coffee at Shepheard's
Hotel — the only place I know of between Paris and San
Francisco. One would think that the marvelous soil of the Nile
Valley would produce all the vegetables that could be
eaten in Egypt, but such is not the case. A great deal
of garden truck is imported, and it is almost impossible
to make cream and butter in Egypt, because there is no
grass. The cows are fed on forage plants like alfalfa,
sugar cane, cornstalks and millet. No matter how
nourishing or rich in milk-producing qualities such food
may be, you cannot get good milk, cream and butter
where grass will not grow.
But in these days of refrigerator ships and railway
cars it is easy for the hotels here to bring in their sup
plies. Alexandria is only three days from Naples ; Brin
disi and Messina are one night nearer and boats are run
ning nearly every day.
The atmosphere is perfect. It reminds you of Mex-

PORT SAID AND ALEXANDRIA 31
ico — perpetual sunshine and a cloudless sky. The
meteorological records show that in 1903 there were only
twelve rainy days out of the 365. There is, however,
considerable difference between the temperature before
and after sundown — often as much as 50 degrees. Even
in the afternoon you will need an overcoat. For this rea
son delicate people have to be very careful. It is easier
to take cold in Egypt than in most countries.
There is another fly in the ointment, also — and you
might say a great many flies ; and mosquitoes are equally
numerous. If you attempt to sleep without a netting
over your bed you are likely to be bled by a hundred silent
surgeons, and in the daytime most persons carry wisps
or brushes made of strips of palm leaf or horse hair to
beat off the flies. These are so much needed that ped
dlers sell them on the streets. They are ornamental as
well as useful. The handles offer an opportunity for
artistic beadwork, and one of the objects in life for idle
people who dwell in Cairo is to make a collection of fly
wisps. Beggars and peddlers are another nuisance. They are
exasperating. Begging is prohibited, but the law is not
enforced. The streets are filled with peddlers of all
ages and races wearing long blue tunics of cotton like
nightgowns and red fezes or big white turbans, and they
pester you wherever you go. From the moment you pass
the gates of the custom house at Alexandria or Port Said
you are followed by these persistent creatures, offering
bogus or perhaps genuine antiquities, post cards, photo
graphs, images, matches, pencils, stationery, handker
chiefs, shoestrings and every imaginable article. The
streets of Cairo are filled with them, and if that were not
enough, when you leave the principal streets your way is

32 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
constantly blocked by "barkers" entreating you to visit
their shops, and thrusting into your hands articles that
you do not need or want. At some of the towns they
have the audacity to come to your rooms, and sometimes
even to your table in the hotel dining-room, or interrupt
you in whatever you are doing to describe their wares
and urge them upon you. Then, again, an equal nuisance
are guides and dragomans who can talk a little English
and offer their services as interpreters and to take you
about the town. Hence, between the flies, mosquitoes,
guides, peddlers and men, women and children begging
for backsheesh, the tourist in Egypt is sometimes un
happy. Everybody hires a dragoman, and one of his chief
duties is to protect you from these pests, which he does
with the aid of a stout stick and a torrent of invectives.
The peddlers and beggars are afraid of the stick, as he
handles it with vigor, but the invectives make no more
impression than water upon a duck's back. Often, when
your dragoman is absent or if you are without one, a
volunteer beggar will assume this responsibility and then
demand backsheesh for keeping other beggars away.

II

THE THREE CAIROS

Cairo reminds one of an impressionist picture. It is
SO unreal; the colors are so unnaturally bright, and the
costumes and the manners of the people so different from
what we are accustomed to. The scenery as well as the
actors seems to belong to another world. For the first
few days after your arrival you are satisfied to sit on the
terrace of the hotel and watch the noisy, restless, ever-
changing crowd — half oriental, half European — that
passes back and forth on foot, on horseback, in carriages,
on camels and astride diminutive donkeys. Every na
tion of the earth seems to be represented, and the present
blends with the past wherever you may look.
Under the glare of an electric light you see venerable
Arab sheiks wearing the same robes and leaning upon
the same sort of staff that was used when Abraham was
a boy; and scribes with inkstands made from the horns
of cattle, and pens whittled from reeds, sit at the street
comers and about the threshold of the postoffice, writing
letters at the dictation of patrons whose fingers have
never been taught to frame their thoughts in words. A
block from the most modern of modern hotels and clubs,
you will come face to face with stately patriarchal figures
in ample turbans, long vests of Syrian silk and outer
robes of cashmere that seem to have stepped out of an
illustrated Bible, and as the sun goes down you hear the

34 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
call of the muezzin from the balconies of the minarets,
and devout Moslems kneel down upon the pavements to
pray. Water carriers with the same sheepskin and pig
skin bottles that were used by the tribes of Israel rub up
against English grooms in top boots and silk hats ; sher
bet and licorice water and lemonade sellers, with tin cans
and brass cups, which they clink like castanets, gossip
with peddlers of international post cards and London-
made wax matches. Merchants, bankers, lawyers, sol
diers, beggars, guides, policemen meet and dodge each
other, each wearing the garb of his own race. Officials
from the foreign office and the treasury, conscious of
their importance and responsibility, and dressed in frock
coats, fancy waistcoats, silk hats and the smartest of
modern French tailoring, halt at the crossing to avoid an
Egyptian lady riding astride upon a donkey with her
bare feet in velvet slippers and her face covered with a
rusty black veil. Syrians in long baggy trousers and
braided jackets ; Bedouins in flowing robes of brown
and white stripes, whose turbans indicate the clan to
which they belong; Persians with tall caps of brown
camel's hair; Nubians whose faces are as black as coal;
Egyptian fellaheen in ragged blue shirts and fezes of
red felt ; Copt priests in long black gowns like those worn
by our judiciary, and narrow-edged stovepipe hats;
Englishmen in pith helmets and khaki suits; keen-eyed
Algerians in white robes, and representatives of every
other race and nation elbow each other as they pass along
the sidewalk, talking with nervous gesticulations. There
is nothing Hke it elsewhere in the world. It is new and
novel to the oldest traveler, and one must see the strange

THE THREE CAIROS 35
There are three Cairos — ^the new city, which Ismail,
the spendthrift khedive, made in imitation of the boule
vards and apartment-houses of Paris, with trolley cars,
electric lights, sewers and water supply; parks, open
squares, fountains, statues of bronze; wide, shaded
streets and broad sidewalks ; banks, department stores,
churches, clubs, cafes, courthouses, theaters, opera-
houses and music halls, schools and public libraries,
splendid villas and mansions of stone and stuccoed brick
surrounded by gardens and shaded grounds.
Old Cairo, the city of the "Arabian Nights," and its
narrow crooked streets, its bazaars, mosques and coffee
houses, still remains as it was when Harun-al-Rashid
made his midnight rambles. As it was in the middle
ages, so it is now, and its disreputable appearance gives
it a sense of reality and genuineness. Among its mosques
and colleges, and the courts of its palaces, which can
never be seen from the street, are the purest examples
of Saracenic architecture that can be found in all the
wide empire of Islam, and its dirt and dilapidation are
uncorrupted by modern ideas of neatness and habits of
repair. What has been called "the blessed conservatism
of Cairo" has protected the ancient part of the city in its
filth and disorder. The stone benches that used to stand
in front of the shops for the gossips to sit upon have
been removed by the city government in order that car
riages might pass through the crowded lanes, but the men
who squat in the little cupboards that are called shops are
unchanged in dress, ideas and education. They are still
as calm, courteous, dignified and unreliable as ever, and
lie and cheat with the same urbanity. The upper classes
are becoming more modern and less oriental every year
because of foreign travel and contact, but the peasants

36 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and tradesmen preserve the old traditions and protect the
picturesque past.
There was still an older city once among the hills of
shining sand, but it was known by another name. The
real Cairo, the Cairo that the tourist rushes to see as
soon as he arrives, was built by Saladin, the greatest and
noblest of the sons of Hagar and Ishmael. He was king
of Egypt by inheritance, and extended his dominions to
the limits of the desert, from the Black and Caspian seas
to the Indian Ocean and the sources of the Nile. He
reigned from 1169 to 1193 — a quarter of a century that
was filled with activity and usefulness. He was a war
rior, statesman, scholar and philanthropist. He founded
six colleges and established the first public hospital ever
known. The citadel, which stands upon the summit of a
hill in old Cairo, is his monument ; but is no longer occu
pied by the bare-legged warriors that followed him in the
crusade, nor wild Kurds and Turks in clanging armor.
This mediseval fortress is garrisoned by "Tommy At
kins," who stands guard over vast stores of modern arms
and ammunition and retires and rises by the sound of an
English trumpet.
"He who hath not seen Cairo," said a Hebrew poet,
"hath not seen the world. Her soil is gold ; her Nile is
a marvel; her women are as the bright-eyed houris of
paradise ; her houses are palaces ; her air is soft with an
odor above aloes, refreshing the heart; and how should
Cairo be otherwise, when she is the Mother of the
Worid." This beautiful rhapsody expresses the admiration of
the Arabians and the Egyptians for their capital, but,
Hke much other poetry, it is not strictly accurate. Before
the Moslems invaded Egypt in 640 there was no Cairo ;

THE THREE CAIROS 37
only a little village of nomads called Fustat, or "The
Town of the Tent." Saladin was the creator of the
Cairo we know. Nevertheless, from the towers of his
citadel the horizon is dotted with the oldest monuments
in existence. Across the Nile a grove of palms now
shades the site of Memphis, the earliest city of which
human records tell; just beyond, among the ruins of
Sakkara, is the Pyramid of the Steps, which is believed
to be the oldest structure made by human hands ; some
where near the landing place for boats, at a little village
on the opposite bank of the Nile, is the traditional spot
where the daughter of Pharaoh found that remarkable
baby in the bulrushes ; beyond this, against a back
ground of flame-colored sky which artists strive in vain
to reproduce, are the great pyramids and the silent
sphinx. To the right is the Land of Goshen ; and a little
farther, if the sun is right, you can see a tall shaft rising
from a cornfield, which marks the place where stood the
Holy City of Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, the Athens
of Egypt, where Joseph and Moses were educated. Just
before you reach the obelisk by the roadway you can see
the spire of a great church which stands where Joseph
and Mary rested with the Child Jesus and found an
asylum among hospitable fellow countrymen at Heliopo
lis after their flight into Egypt. And the father of our
Lord doubtless worked there at his trade, for he was a
carpenter. At the end of a railway bridge across the Nile was
fought the battle of the pyramids between Napoleon and
the Mamelukes of Egypt. Wherever you may look you will
find antiquity and history, romance and tragedy hidden
like jewels in a heap of rubbish. If your imagination is
strong enough you can see Cleopatra and Mark Antony

38 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
sitting side by side upon the deck of a dahabiyeh, one of
these curious houseboats in which modern travelers en
joy the peace and pleasures of the Nile.
Until I began to study the history of Cairo I had no
comprehension of the character or the usefulness of
Saladin. He is best known as a fighter, as the champion
of the crescent against Richard Cceur de Lion, the cham
pion of the cross ; and it is true that his career was
chiefly outside of Egypt. He conquered Abyssinia and
Nubia ; he subdued the valleys of the Tigris and the
Euphrates ; recovered Jerusalem and Damascus from the
Christian, and fought a duel twelve years long with the
chivalry of Europe. All Christendom could not shake his
power. Between wars he built fortresses and founded
institutions of learning, at which the people of his em
pire might be taught the religion in which he believed,
for he was a devout Moslem and hated heresy. The
medresas, or theological seminaries, which he founded as
citadels for the defense of the true faith all stand to-day,
and are among the most notable of the institutions of the
Moslem world. They have not only been bulwarks of the
faith, but have encouraged learning and cultivated the
taste of the people in art and architecture.
His hospital, known as the Maristan, founded in Cairo
in II 76, is believed to be the first institution for the free
treatment of the insane and sick poor people ever estab
lished. Ibn-Gubeyr, a Persian writer of the twelfth cen
tury, in giving an account of a visit to Cairo, described it
in detail as one of the novelties of the town.
"It is one of the great palaces there," he says, "spacious
and magnificent, and the sultan has been prompted to
estabHsh this hospital solely by the hope of gaining favor
of God and recompense in the worid to come. He has

THE THREE CAIROS 39
appointed here an administrator, a man of knowledge, in
whose charge a provision of drugs has been placed, with
power to compound potions with them according to
divers receipts, and to prescribe them. In the chambers
of this palace couches have been placed which the sick
folk make use of as beds, these being fully provided with
bed clothes. The administrator has under him servants
who are charged with the duty of inquiring into the con
dition of the sick morning and evening, and these last re
ceive food and medicines according as their state re
quire. Opposite this hospital is another separate there
from, for women who are sick, and they also have per
sons who attend them, while adjacent to these two hos
pitals is another building with a spacious court, in which
are iron gratings, which serve for the confinement of
those who are mad ; and these are also visited daily by
persons who examine their condition and supply them
with what is needful to ameliorate the same. The sul
tan himself inspects the state of these various institutions,
investigating everything and asking questions, verifying
the statements with care and trouble, even to the utter
most; and in Mi,sr also there is another hospital, exactly-
after the pattern of the one described."
This, as I have suggested, is probably the first hospital
and insane asylum in history, and it is interesting to know
that its founder was the noble knight whose title to fame
has generally been limited to his courage and skill as a
warrior. But he was something more. His introduction
of colleges into Egypt not only counteracted the heretical
tendencies of the time, but attracted scholars from all
over the world. Under his influence intellectual com
merce between nations was revived ; professors from
Persia and India met in the cloisters of these institutions ;

40 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
learned doctors came here all the way from Cordova,
Granada and Seville; pupils from all the tribes of the
earth by thousands followed the instruction of the pro
fessors of the schools that attracted their taste. There
was a revolution in culture that lasted 300 years, and had
a universal influence. The professors and students
lodged in the colleges where they could be convenient
to the lecture-rooms, libraries and laboratories. When
Saladin was in Cairo that impetuous soldier delighted in
the society of the learned and spent much of his time with
the poets, philosophers and men of letters who were at
tracted to his court.
"I found him," wrote Abd-el-Latif, a famous Bagdad
physician, "a great prince whose appearance inspired at
once respect and love, who was approachable, deeply in-
teHectual, gracious and noble in his thoughts. I found
him surrounded by a large concourse of learned men who
were discussing various sciences. He listened with pleas
ure and took part in their conversation."
Saladin is still the ideal hero of the desert, the fore
most defender of the Moslem faith, and his influence upon
Islam was undoubtedly greater than that of any other man
except the prophet himself. When he left Cairo upon his
last campaign against the crusaders, and the people of his
court came to his stirrup to bid him farewell, a mys
terious voice was heard above the hum of conversation
singing an Arab song:
Enjoy the perfume of the ox-eyes of Nejd ;
After to-night there will be no more ox-eyes.
The prophecy of this ill-omened verse came true. After
that night there were no more ox-eyes for Saladin.
Cairo never saw him again. All Christendom had risen in

THE THREE CAIROS 41
arms at the appeal of the pope to recover the Holy City
and restore the sepulcher of the Redeemer to His fol
lowers, but Saladin drove the hosts of the Lord slowly
before him until not an inch of Palestine was left to the
Christians but their small fortress at Acre, where, in
September, 1192, the treaty of peace was signed. Saladin
then retired to Damascus, his northern capital, wJiere he
died and was buried the following March, 1193.
The bazaars of Cairo are not as interesting as those
of Damascus, Smyrna or even Constantinople, because
they have been so thoroughly modernized. Eight thou
sand foreign tourists invade them every year and bring
a modern atmosphere. Hence the native shops have
English and French signs, their shelves are filled with
French, English and German goods, their methods of
doing business are becoming Europeanized, ancient cus
toms have been abandoned, and the hand-made fabrics of
Bagdad and other Persian, Turkish and Arabian manu
factures are becoming scarce. It is difficult now to de
termine how many of the silk and cotton goods and other
articles offered you in the Cairo bazaars are made in
Germany, because the Germans are so clever in imitation,
and it is absolutely certain that nearly all the Arab
jewelry is made in France. You cannot depend upon
anything nowadays unless you actually see it made. If
the Cairo merchants who are catering to tourist trade
could appreciate the advantage of reviving and retaining
ancient arts and customs and selling nothing but genuine
native goods, they would benefit themselves as well as
their customers, but as long as the latter are willing to
pay three prices for the cheapest kind of French and Ger
man imitations it is not profitable for the native artisans
to waste their time. The native merchants, too, have

42 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
an ambition to be considered up-to-date, and in that way
injure their trade.
For example, a native dealer from whom I had pur
chased Persian talismans some years ago, when he occu
pied a tiny little cupboard on one of the back streets in
the bazaar quarter, has developed and expanded. The
guide took me to a new building in one of the more con
spicuous streets, where I found him entirely modernized.
The quaint old-fashioned steel-bound chest in which his
ancestors for many generations had kept their valuables
had disappeared and a modern burglar-proof safe and
new glass and metal show cases filled one of the best and
largest shops in town. He recognized me at once, wel
comed me as an old friend, and, having learned English
since I had last seen him, explained his advancement
with great satisfaction. He offered us cane-seated chairs
made in Vienna, brought us coffee in a French pot in
stead of the old-fashioned dipper he used to have, and
served it in the china cups. He showed us French
jewelry, Mexican and Hungarian opals and other con
ventional stones, talked about his agents in London,
Paris and New York, who supplied him with stock and
kept him posted as to the fashions in gems. He told us
of several American ladies of distinction for whom he
had made bracelets and necklaces and had mounted
jewels, but his interest in talismans and other old-fash
ioned Persian and Byzantine gold and silver and jewels
was gone. This is true of neariy all of the dealers in the
Cairo bazaars, and if you want genuine native goods
nowadays you must go to curio shops kept by Europeans.
Nevertheless the bazaar quarter of Cairo always must
be full of interest to foreigners until it burns up or is torn
away. The streets are very narrow. Most of them are

THE THREE CAIROS 43
too narrow for a carriage to pass through. Troops of
camels laden with merchandise are constantly moving
back and forth, and people who do not want to walk must
hire a donkey. There are donkey stands at frequent in
tervals where animals may be hired for 15 or 20 cents an
hour, and a boy always goes with each animal to look
after it. He runs along behind, beating it with a stick
and yelling with all the strength of his lungs for the pur
pose of encouraging the donkey and warning people to
get out of the way. Each animal has a brass plate on its
forehead bearing the number of its license, and the boy
who belongs with that particular donkey has a brass band
around his left arm bearing a similar number.
The donkeys have changeable names, according to the
nationality of the tourist. If he be a German they are
Kaiser William and Bismarck; if an American they are
Theodore Roosevelt and Yankee Doodle. The business
is managed exactly like that of street hacks and express
wagons in cities of the United States. Each camel must
have a license and a number also, as well as each donkey,
and the charges are regulated by ordinance. The camels
are used for transporting freight, like our express
wagons. If a Cairo family want to move they hire a
camel, particularly if the goods have to be carried to the
old part of the city. In the new part, where the streets
are wider and modern customs prevail, there are a few
carts. In the bazaar quarter the houses are high and the up
per stories project over the street. Most of the windows
are protected by lattice work in old brown wood, some
times beautifully carved. Ten or twelve inches above the
unpaved, dusty thoroughfare are little cupboardlike
rooms without windows or doors, and with a full front

44 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
open to the street. The walls are covered with shelves
upon which the stock in trade is displayed, and the mer
chant sits cross-legged on the floor waiting for cus
tomers. Every block or so there is a cafe, where groups
of turbaned natives may be found all day and until mid
night, solemnly smoking, sipping coffee and playing
dominoes or draughts. Each trade has its own quarters.
You will find the goldsmiths and silversmiths together;
the booksellers, the carpet and rug dealers, the silk mer
chants, and the shoemakers each have their separate
streets and districts, which is a convenience to the pur
chaser, who is able to go from one to another without
wasting much time.
There is no fixed price for anything. Every customer
is expected to show his skill at a bargain. He selects the
article desired, and usually criticises its appearance or
material, or "runs it down," as the yankees say, before he
cautiously inquires the price. The first figure is at least
double and often three times its actual value, whereupon
a duel of wits occurs with an animated dialogue. When
a customer thinks he has shown his skill at negotiation
and has sufficiently impressed the crowd which has gath
ered around the front of the shop, and freely participated
in the dialogue, he turns away and starts down the street
as if he would seek what he wants elsewhere. The mer
chant shakes his head, makes some contemptuous remarks
to the bystanders concerning the parsimony or the pov
erty of the customer, calls him a lot of bad names, then,
tossing his head with indifference, yells at him to come
back, and proposes a new figure very much below the last.
The negotiations are renewed and continued until further
concessions satisfy the purchaser, who pays the price,
wraps up the article, mounts his donkey and rides away.

THE THREE CAIROS 45
Similar proceedings are going on in front of half the
shops in the bazaar, whether the object of barter be a box
of sweetmeats, a pair of slippers, a shirt, a silk rug or a
saddle. Sometimes the negotiations are interrupted by an
ungainly camel laden with green fodder, tins of petro
leum, bales of cotton, or cases of other merchandise, which
treads silently along without warning, threatening to
sweep everything out of its way. Often the wide panniers
extend across the entire width of the street and rake from
the wall outside articles that have been exposed as ad
vertisements. Few women are to be seen, and they are closely veiled,
with curious brass or bamboo affairs hanging over their
noses. The bystander does not often hear their voices,
because their trading is done quietly and modestly, and
they detect the presence of a stranger instantly.
In many shops the merchants make all of their own
wares, sitting on the floor, where they can salute people
who pass and exchange the gossip of the day. You can
see how the beautiful gold embroidery is made, and the
velvet slippers, the brass work, inlaid furniture and other
peculiar merchandise of the Arab race. There are col
onies of shoemakers, saddlers, tailors, bookbinders, brass
workers, goldsmiths and silversmiths, on the same streets,
who are making chains, ear rings, bangles, anklets and
other ornaments. The sweetmeat bazaar, where all forms
of confectionery are manufactured and sold, is quite inter
esting, and strangers always stop at the hat stores to see
how the red fezes are made, for most of the manufactur
ing is done in plain sight of the street.
Money changers are scattered throughout the bazaars,
and you will often find seven or eight of them in a row.

46 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
There is usually a partition of stained glass, behind which
the proprietor retires when a customer enters, and the
negotiations are carried on through a little peep hole.
When there is nothing to occupy his attention he sits on
a bench inside his door, calmly smoking and gossiping
with friends who pass by. The money changers are
mostly Jews. They keep their working capital in bags,
concealed somewhere about their persons. Few of them
have safes.
The carpet bazaar is very large. Auction sales of rugs
occur twice a week, when buyers appear from all parts of
Egypt and bid for the rugs they want. Few rugs are
made in Cairo. Most of them are brought from Smyrna
or Damascus by sea, and from Persia by camel caravans
overland. Scattered throughout the bazaars are public letter
writers, with ink horns and reed pens ready to draw con
tracts, prepare bonds, make out bills and other commer
cial papers on demand, because comparatively few mer
chants, shopkeepers and artisans, and even a smaller pro
portion of their customers, are able to read or write.
Most of the professional letter writers are notaries and
can execute papers as well as prepare them. Half the
guides and donkey boys the American tourist meets in
Cairo and many of the merchants claim to have been at
the Chicago Exposition, and that is the first recommenda
tion they offer in their own behalf. Knowing that the
bazaars are favorite haunts of strangers, these guides,
who can speak a little English, lie in wait for them, and
when they appear approach them in a pleasant, friendly
way, and offer their services. It is usually a relief to find
somebody who speaks English and can tell you where to

THE THREE CAIROS 47
go, hence in a very few moments you find that an insin
uating Arab has attached himself to your party and it is
impossible to shake him off.

Ill
HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED
The present Khedive of Egypt is his highness. Abbas
Hilmi IL, seventh in descent from Mehemet Ali, an Al
banian adventurer, who was elevated to the throne in
1805 by an election by the people. He was born in Cairo,
July 14, 1874, and is therefore thirty years of age. He
succeeded his father, Tewfik, who died after a short ill
ness Jan. 7, 1892. Abbas was then 18 years old, and a
student at the University of Vienna, pursuing a special
course under the supervision of Francis Joseph, Em
peror of Austria, who took a kindly interest. in the lad
and endeavored to direct his training so that he might be
fitted to rule over the oldest nation in the world. Having
been notified of his father's death. Abbas hurried from
Vienna to Constantinople by order of the sultan, and was
escorted to Cairo with great ceremony in April.
The khedive is married to one wife, although he is en
titled to four, and she is the Princess Ikbal Hanem, a
second cousin. They have six children, as follows :
PRINCESS EMINA HANEM, born Feb. 12, 1895.
PRINCESS ATIATOULLAH HANEM, born June
9, 1896.
PRINCESS FAITHIEH HANEM, born Nov. 27,
1897.
PRINCE MOHAMMED ABDUL MOUNIEM, heir
apparent, born Feb. 20, 1899. 48

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED 49
PRINCESS LOUTFIAH HANEM, born Sept. 29,
1900. PRINCE ABDUL KADER, born Feb. 4, 1902.
The khedive has one brother and two sisters living :
MOHAMMED ALI, born Oct. 28, 1875.
KHADIGA HANEM, born May 2, 1879.
NIMET HANEM, born Nov. 6, 1881.
The mother died in 1902. She was a good woman and
the only wife of the late khedive, Mohammed Tewfik, a
most excellent man, but a poor ruler. When we visited
her tomb our Arab guide, whose knowledge of English
is not as good as his intentions, remarked:
"Mamma Khedive; finished last year."
Nothing could have been more concise or definite.
The khedive, besides his English advisers, is assisted
in his administration by six native ministers : Of the in
terior; finance; justice; war; public works and instruc
tion ; foreign aft'airs. The English adviser of the minis
ter of finance sits with the cabinet, although he has no
vote. There is a legislative council consisting of thirty
members, with advisory authority only, of whom four
teen are named by the khedive and the remainder are
elected by the people. It meets once a month, examines
the budget and other laws proposed by the government,
and returns them either with its approval or objections.
These laws, if approved by the council, are submitted to
the legislative assembly, which acts upon them accord
ing to its will and judgment. If not approved they are
revised or rejected.
The highest religious authority among the Moslem
population is the Sheik el Islam, who is a sort of cardinal
archbishop nominated by the Sultan of Turkey from
among the learned men of the church. He has authority

50 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
over the Mohammedan priesthood, who, in their turn,
control about 90 per cent of the population as completely
as the priests of the Catholic Church control their parish
ioners in Italy or Spain.
Mehemet Ali, founder of the present dynasty, was born
at Cavalla, a small town on the seacoast of Albania, about
1770. His father was a fisherman, or at least that is the
understanding, but nothing definite is known concerning
him except that he came of lowly parentage, had no edu
cation, and even when Viceroy of Egypt could scarcely
write his name. He possessed great force of character,
however, and unbounded ambition, and, what is most im
portant of all in a conspirator, unlimited confidence in
himself. He imagined that he was destined to be a sec
ond Napoleon Bonaparte. This fancy was stimulated by
a similarity in their origin and early careers. They were
born the same year, and both rose from obscurity by force
of arms. When Mehemet was a boy he served in the
Turkish army, and, being a natural soldier, was rapidly
advanced in rank. He married the daughter of the gov
ernor of Albania, and by her had three sons, Ibrahim,
Tusun and Ismail.
After the evacuation of Egypt by Napoleon, in 1805,
he was sent to Cairo in command of Turkish troops.
About this time the Mamelukes, who were nobles of high
rank, rebelled against the Turkish governor, and Mehe
met, foreseeing that the latter would be overthrown, took
sides with the natives, who elected him their leader.
"Cairo is for sale," he declared, "and the strongest
sword will buy it."
He took possession of Saladin's citadel with his Al
banian regiment and invited the Mamelukes, 500 in num
ber, to a conference there. Unsuspicious of treachery

HOW EGYPT IS GO^'ERXED 51
they came, wearing their richest apparel and riding their
finest Arabian chargers. They must have made a splen
did appearance, for they were the cream of the Egyptian
nobilit}' and the finest fighters in tlie world. When tlie
last man in the procession had passed tlirough the arched
gateway of the citadel, the great oaken, iron-boimd gates
fell and a trumpet was heard. At that signal a storm of
lead fell upon the unsuspecting Mamelukes from the
windows and the roof of the barracks that surround the
parade grounds, on which they were drawn up in Hne to
be received by Mehemet Ali. Caught as in a trap, re
sistance was impossible, and the massacre continued un
til everj- man lay lifeless upon the gravel except one,
who according to tradition (which is disputed), broke
through the Albanian line, galloped across the parade
ground and forced his horse to leap over a wall upon the
rocks thirty feet below. The story says that the horse
was killed, but the man escaped and fled from the coun-
tr\-. He afterward returned to his home, died in Cairo
and his grave is pointed out.
This "hecatomb to the peace of the pro-\Tnce," as it was
calmly described by ^Mehemet, removed aU opposition to
the Albanian colonel and it was easy for him to negotiate
with the Sultan of Turkey for the privilege of ruling
what had been a vers- troublesome province. The history-
of the next forty- years records the greatest progress ever
made by Egj^t, for, until his death in 1849, ^lehemet
developed the industries and the resources of the country.
encouraged trade, established schools, built canals and
other pubHc works and did his best to introduce western
d^nlization among his subjects. He taught the people to
grow cotton and sugar and pro-vided a system of irriga
tion which extended the cultivated area bv manv thou-

52 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
sands of acres. Had it not been for the intervention
of the great powers, Mehemet would have overcome his
master, the Sultan of Turkey, and placed himself upon
the throne of the Ottoman Empire. Had it not been for
the British government he would at least have secured the
independence of Egypt.
Mehemet was succeeded on the throne by his son
Ibrahim, and who had been the commander-in-chief of liis
father's army and won the military glory which the latter
enjoyed. Ibrahim was one of the greatest soldiers of his
time and an able, patriotic and progressive ruler. He
created an army and navy for Egypt, imposed just laws,
founded schools and colleges and did much for the wel
fare of the people. But he was allowed to live only a
short time after ascending the throne and was succeeded
by Abbas, a nephew, who proved to be incapable, and is
said to have been strangled in his palace. In 1854 Said
Pasha, the fourth son of Mehemet, became the ruler of
Egypt for ten years, and, although not a great man, he
was just and progressive. He abolished a number of
cruel customs, and monopolies, started a system of rail
ways in the Delta, enlarged the irrigation canals, founded
the museum at Cairo, and gave M. de Lesseps a conces
sion for the Suez Canal.
In 1863 Ismail, son of Ibrahim Pasha and grandson of
Mehemet, was made khedive and became famous for his
extravagance and enterprise. He extended the railways,
established more schools, introduced foreign methods
of agriculture and engaged in every undertaking that was
suggested to him for the benefit of his people, regardless
of its cost or practicability. He had no idea of the value
or use of money. The expenses of his household were
fabulous. It cost $21,000,000 to carry out his programme

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED 53
for the opening of the Suez Canal. He built useless
palaces in all parts of the country; he expended vast
sums upon experimental projects ; he was surrounded
by officials whose corruption and extravagance surpass
belief, and when he had exhausted the credit of his gov
ernment and was not able to borrow another dollar a
commission, appointed by the great powers to investigate
the finances of Egypt, found that he had expended $450,-
000,000 in fifteen years with little or nothing to show
for it.
The powers, representing the bondholders, took charge
of the government and demanded his abdication. When
he refused they appealed to the sultan, who sent two tele
grams to Cairo, June 26, 1879. One of them notified
Ismail that he was deprived of power, and the other in
formed his son, Tewfik, that he had been elevated to the
throne. Tewfik was a son of the harem. Ismail acknowl
edged the child, but never concealed his disappointment
that the mother of his first-born and the heir to his throne
was a slave, and not one of his wives of rank. His other
sons were sent to school in England and France, but
Tewfik was never allowed more than the ordinary local
advantages, and, when he became of age, he settled down
upon a plantation like an ordinary farmer. He married
his second cousin, the Princess Emine, and had no harem.
He was a devout Mohammedan, but was not a fanatic
and believed in education, religious toleration and other
modern ideas. But being of weak disposition, he fell into
the hands of conspirators, who took advantage of his
generosity, and Arabi Pasha, whom he had elevated to
the head of the cabinet, organized a revolution for the
overthrow of his benefactor.
Arabi was an unscrupulous adventurer, the son of a

54 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
peasant farmer in lower Egypt. He became a favorite
of the Khedive Ismail, who promoted him rapidly in
rank, gave him a royal slave for a wife and generous
gifts of money. Arabi was therefore an inheritance of
Tewfik, and was not the only curse that went with the
crown. He succeeded in securing control of the govern
ment, and soon became involved in complications with
the foreign powers. He is believed to have been re
sponsible for a massacre at Alexandria on the nth of
June, 1881, at which 150 Europeans were killed, includ
ing an English missionary, a naval officer and two sea
men. This was the provocation for the bombardment of
Alexandria by the British fleet in the following month,
when marines were landed and occupied the city. Arabi
organized an army of resistance, and a brief war ensued
which resulted in the occupation of Egypt by the British,
who are still there to-day.
It was during the reign of Tewfik that the rebellion
of the Mahdi broke out, the massacre of General Gordon
and his troops of Khartum occurred and the Sudan war
which followed. Tewfik was practically a figurehead in
the government during all those years, and when he died
in 1892 it cannot be said that there was any sorrow.
Abbas is a much stronger man than his father and
better qualified for successful administration. Those
who know him weh say that he has exceHent abilities and
intentions and under any circumstances would be likely
to do himself credit, but, like his father, he is a mere
figurehead in the government. Everything he does of
importance must be approved in advance by Lord Cromer
and his foreign advisers. At the same time, in matters of
detail, particularly in agriculture and in the organiza
tion of his army, Abbas has been allowed much liberty

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED 55
and has shown good judgment and executive ability. He
is quite familiar with European affairs. He was taught
English by a governess when a child and afterward had
English tutors. He studied the science of war and en
gineering under an American officer; has visited every
country in Europe, with the exception of Spain and Por
tugal, and by observation as well as study, has obtained a
thorough knowledge of European methods, which he has
endeavored to introduce among his own people, so far
as practicable.
Plans were arranged for him to attend the Columbian
Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and afterward make a
tour of the world, but the death of his father and his
elevation to the throne prevented him from doing so.
He spends almost every summer in Europe, traveHng
about the northern countries and visiting the several cap
itals. Vienna is his favorite city, because he knows it
better than any other, having lived there as a student for
three years, and he is a great admirer of the German
kaiser, although he does not partake of that eminent gen
tleman's energy and brilliancy of intellect. He speaks
five languages fluently and is able to discuss foreign
affairs with nearly all the diplomatic agents in Cairo in
their own tongues.
His fad is music, and he is a fine performer upon the
piano. The khedival band, composed of forty of the
best musicians in the country, is under his direct super
vision, and he frequently conducts rehearsals of new
music. He encourages musical education . and cultivates
the taste of the people for modern music by having brass
bands attached to every regiment in the army, that hold
open-air concerts every evening in the parks and public
places in Cairo and other cities. During the winter he pro-

56 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
vides an opera season at the Opera House, which was built
by his grandfather, Ismail, in a few weeks for the enter
tainment of the Empress Eugenie and other guests at the
opening of the Suez Canal. Verdi composed the Egyp-
tion opera, "Aida," at Ismail's order and received a pres
ent of $30,000. Mariette Bey, the famous Egyptologist,
prepared the scenery after actual models, and singers
were brought at enormous cost from the various opera-
houses of Europe. The building cost a million dollars,
and the first performance given upon its stage cost even
more. Abbas, however, is not extravagant. On the contrary,
the people complain of his parsimony, and, compared
with his predecessors, he may be called economical. He
receives an allowance of $500,000 from the national treas
ury for himself, an equal sum for the support of other
members of the khedival family, who number nearly 100,
and has a large income from his sugar and cotton planta
tions in the delta of the Nile.
For an oriental prince he is very industrious and en
terprising. He conducts the business of his government
at the city palace, where he spends five or six hours every
day and receives officials, diplomatic agents and strangers
with courteous attention. He is especially fond of Amer
icans, and willingly grants audiences to all who apply
through their consuls. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon,
when his work at the palace is finished, he rides on horse
back, with a cavalry guard, to the Kubabah Palace, on
the border of the desert, five miles from the city, where
he has an experimental farm in which he takes an active
interest and a breeding stable, from which entries have
been sent to all the race tracks and horse shows of Europe.

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED 57
He has a full outfit of American agricultural machinery,
which he is trying to introduce among the Egyptians.
Abbas keeps no harem. Custom does not permit the
khedivah to appear in foreign society, but she receives
private visits from the wives of foreign officials, who
speak of her as a good-looking, sensible woman about 25
or 26 years old. The khedive himself is a handsome
man. He has a clear eye, a good complexion, regular
features and is inclined to be stout.
The British "occupation" has now continued for
twenty years and Lord Cromer, the de facto ruler of the
country, can congratulate himself as well as all others
concerned, upon the marvelous improvement that has
been accomplished during that period. He has proved
himself to be one of the most far-sighted and able ad
ministrators in history and the record of his reforms in
Egypt is not surpassed by that of any other man in mod
ern times. If we knew more about Joseph, prime minis
ter of Apepa II, we might possibly find an appropriate
comparison, but few men have ever had so great an op
portunity and few have ever made so much of it.
Viscount Cromer was Evelyn Baring, a member of the
famous family of London bankers. He had served in the
army and had the benefit of several years' experience in
the civil service in India, and when it became necessary
for the British government to send a representative for
the settlement of the Egyptian finances, he was picked
out as one who could be trusted. Being appointed to the
nominal position of diplomatic agent, he gradually gath
ered authority into his hands, and with tact, but deter
mination, made himself the master of Egypt with un
limited power. He has done this without exciting the
hostiHty or opposition of the representatives of France

58 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and other powers that were equally interested, and it is a
remarkable tribute to his integrity and ability that they
should have conceded him dictatorial authority. The
British government has permitted him to shape as well
as to carry out its policy in North Africa, and has be
stowed great honors upon him, having elevated him suc
cessively to knighthood, to a barony, to the peerage and
finally made him viscount. He has been offered seats in the
cabinet at home and the viceroyship of India, but has de
clined them because he feels that no one can relieve him
of personal as well as political responsibility in Egypt.
In speaking of the experience of the British "occupa
tion" and its results one day, Lord Cromer called my
attention to the revenues for the year 1902, which, after
a twenty years' "race with bankruptcy," showed a sur
plus of more than $3,500,000, and they were $3,000,000
in excess of his expectations. The revenues for the year
were only $60,000 less than the highest figure on record,
notwithstanding the fact that it was an exceptionally bad
year and there has been a large reduction in taxation.
The land revenue, he said, has been reduced about $700,-
000. The octroi, the taxes imposed upon food and other
articles at the gates of the different cities, has been en
tirely aboHshed, involving a loss of more than $1,500,-
000, and several other taxes have been removed and re
duced, while there were extraordinary expenditures that
had not occurred in previous years.
Lord Cromer was particularly gratified to be able to
say that $2,635,000 of the debt was paid off during that
year ; that $10,000,000 remained in a general reserve fund
to be expended on works of public utility, and more than
$5,000,000 had been placed as a special reserve fund for
emergencies.

HOW EGYPT- IS GOVERNED 59
During 1903 the railway administration was allowed -
to expend 55 per cent of the gross earnings, instead of
45 per cent, which was the previous limit. This, Lord
Cromer believed, will enable it to make improvements
that will be of great benefit to the country ; $750,000 will
hereafter be spent annually in the improvement of the
irrigation system, which is the best of investments. The
great reservoir, which has just been completed, will add
not less than $10,000,000 a year to the value of the agri
cultural crop.
Lord Cromer explained that very few people could ap
preciate the improvements that have been made in Egypt
because the public do not thoroughly understand the
conditions that existed when the present arrangements
were adopted. A commission of inquiry, composed of
representatives of the European powers, found that the
abuses in the government service were almost beyond
belief, and they had to deal, not with a patient suffering
from a single malady, but with one whose constitution
was shattered and whose every organ was diseased.
Writers who were in Egypt in those days declared that
they could not describe the misery that existed; that
taxes made life almost impossible, so that many people
gave away their lands because they could not produce
enough on them to pay the demands of the government.
At the same time the administration was so corrupt and
incompetent that it became a question whether any
remedy were possible. But the commission finally deter
mined that they would reduce taxes first and postpone
the reform of the administration until later. They de
cided also that a large expenditure was necessary for
drainage and irrigation in order that the people might

6o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
derive the full amount of benefit possible from their land
and their labor.
The first thing done, therefore, was to reHeve the tax
payers of burdens that could not be borne, and, next,
every doHar that could be spared was devoted to the im
provement of irrigation and drainage. The land tax was
reduced $2,750,000 a year, and a reassessment distributed
the burden more equitably than before. What was known
as "the Corvee system," under which peasants were com
pelled to labor without pay upon the irrigation works
and the banks of the Nile and provide their own food
and tools, was abolished at a cost of more than $2,000,000
a year, which is now paid in wages for such labor. The
tax on the professions was entirely abolished ; the tax on
sheep, goats, cattle, camels, donkeys and other animals
which weighed heavily upon the agricultural classes and
gave rise to numerous abuses was suppressed, with sev
eral other similar petty and vexatious taxes. These were
the source of constant irritation and injustice because they
could be evaded by the rich at the expense of the poor.
The octroi is the most offensive of all taxes. It prevails
in all oriental countries and still exists in Spain, Italy and
some other parts of Europe where the truck gardeners
have to pay a penny or two upon every basket of produce,
every chicken, every egg and every flower they bring to
market. That, as I have said, has been entirely abolished
and brought the greatest relief imaginable to the Egyptian
market gardeners and others who labor for a living. The
navigation of the Nile was made free, so that the cost
of transporting produce was reduced, and wherever a
burden rested heavily upon the people it was removed or
adjusted so that it could be more easily borne.
The salt tax was reduced 40 per cent, which caused

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED 6i
an increase in the consumption of salt from 24,000 to
50,000 tons and a corresponding increase in the revenue
therefrom. The house tax, which was formerly paid
only by natives, was not only reduced, but was imposed
upon all residents of Egypt irrespective of nationality,
and a reassessment equalized the rates as justly and
fairly as possible. The result was an increase in receipts
from that source from $300,000 to $725,000. The taxes
upon farming lands were also readjusted, and several
millions of arrears, which had been accumulating from
year to year because it was impossible for the farmers to
pay them, were remitted by a stroke of the pen. Twenty
years ago ordinary land taxes were collected with the
greatest difficulty and forced sales by the government
were common everywhere. Now, after the reduction and
equalization which has taken place, sales for non-payment
are matters of rare occurrence, and out of a total tax-
paying area of 5,540,000 acres, only 592 acres were in
arrears in 1903, and on a total assessment of £4,698,000
only £18,278 was unpaid at the end of the year. I doubt
if any country can show a better record for the payment
of taxes.
In addition to these, postal rates were reduced one-
half, which has caused the number of letters passing
through the mails to increase from 4,354,000 in 1882 to
17,256,000 in 1903 ; the telegraph rates were reduced 50
per cent and the number of telegrams increased from
689,000 to 4,251,000; rates on the railways were reduced
33 per cent, and as a consequence the number of passen
gers carried increased from 2,761,000 to 13,040,000, and
the freight from 1,176,000 to 2,975,000 tons of goods.
The rate of taxation has been reduced in every direc
tion and the proceeds have been expended in the con-

62 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
struction of remunerative public works instead of being
stolen by the officials and wasted by the extravagance of
the khedive and his family. The credit of the country
has been restored. Stability has been given to the whole
situation. The people have been protected from epidem
ics and have been allowed to enjoy the results of their
labor. Foreign capital has been attracted to the country,
and many enterprises have been undertaken that have
given employment to the people and have increased the
productiveness of the soil.
The area of the land cultivated has been largely ex
tended and there has been an enormous rise in its value.
In spite of a great fall in prices of various staples, the
value of the imports has been increased from $40,000,000
in 1883-4 to more than $60,000,000 in 1901-2, while the
value of the exports has grown from $60,000,000 to
$85,000,000 during the same period. The cotton crop
has been more than doubled and the sugar crop has
tripled. In the meantime, the allowance to the khedival fam.ily
has been reduced about 40 per cent ; and other economies
have been brought about in every branch of the public
service. When the "trustees" of the government, as
Lord Cromer calls them, took charge in 1882 large sums
of money vanished from the treasury every year in a
mysterious manner ; the accounts were in the utmost con
fusion and it was impossible for any one to estimate the
receipts and expenditures. There were leaks at both
ends. One class of officials had a chance to help them
selves, while the money was coming into and another
class while it was going out of the treasury.- "Failure to
distinguish between state funds and the private income of
the ruler of the state has been the rock on which the

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED 63
finances of many countries have split," Lord Cromer
observed, in a significant manner, and he told some ex
traordinary stories of the discoveries that were made while
investigating the financial condition of the Egyptian gov
ernment. He said: "The accounts of the floating debt
showed that the eulogies lavished by a portion of the press
of Europe on Ismail Pasha were not due to disinterested
motives. A sum of $750,000 was due to a Paris dress
maker, and it appeared that Ismail Pasha had been en
gaged with his own finance minister in an operation upon
the stock exchange, the basis of which was that he was
to 'bear' the obligations of his own country. In any
number of other cases large sums were spent without
having anything to show for the money. Millions were
swallowed up in interest at exorbitant rates, on bonuses
on the renewal of bills and in similar financial juggleries."
All this has been changed, and by economy in expendi
tures, by an honest administration of the finances, by a
reduction of taxation and fair and equitable assessments,
and the expenditure of the public funds for the benefit
of the people, the condition of Egypt has not only been
improved, but there is annually a large surplus to be ap
plied toward the extinction of the enormous public debt.
This debt was accumulated largely through the extrava
gance of the several khedives and on the 31st of Decem
ber, 1903, amounted to more than $515,000,000. During
the last few years, however, the commissioners of the
debt have applied the sinking fund to the purchase of
bonds and have thus reduced it nearly $45,000,000.
Upon this record, as I have suggested, you will agree
with me that Lord Cromer has a right to congratulate
himself as weU as the people of the country he has been

64 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
serving so ably and faithfully. He is caUed "the greatest
of the Pharaohs."
According to the official Directory, Lord Cromer is
merely consul-general and diplomatic agent of Great
Britain at Cairo, but the khedive is ahowed to do nothing
without his consent and approval. - Cromer has no formal
title. In the official lists he ranks with the consul gen
erals of the United States and other countries, and on
ceremonial occasions he appears with his colleagues of
the consular corps, and makes his bow to the man on the
throne. And the man on the throne returns the salute
of his master, and is conscious that the quiet-looking
gentleman with unostentatious manners and a pleasant
smile controls his thoughts as well as his acts, for it is a
waste of time for His Highness to suggest or plan or even
imagine things that Lord Cromer does not approve.
While the administrative force and the executive de
partments of the government are nominally in control of
natives, every official of importance, from the minister of
foreign relations to the chief of police in every city, has
an Englishman at his side who acts as his "adviser" and
receives his orders from and makes his reports to the
British consul general. If the official does not conform
to the views of his "adviser" he loses his job. If he
proves himself capable, useful, honest and is willing to
carry out the British policy he is promoted, honored and
admired. Hence Lord Cromer has his finger upon every
bureau and upon every clerk of every department of the
Egyptian government, and every wire runs into his house.
This supervision begins with the khedive himself, who
has his "adviser" in the person of an aid-de-camp, and
appreciates the importance of following the counsel he
gives. If Abbas Hilmi II. should decline to obey his

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED 65
"adviser" or if he should attempt to guide unaided the
government of which he is the titular head, he would be
quietly reminded that there are heirs to the throne. He
is therefore compelled to accept the situation which con
tinues as it existed when he came to the throne in 1892,
and is likely to continue -indefinitely.
EngHshmen are careful to explain that they have not
annexed Egypt ; that there is no protectorate, and that no
official tie exists between the two governments. The
word "occupation" is used to describe a condition that has
existed since 1882, and in theory Great Britain has never
attempted to legalize her position in Egypt. Her army is
there theoretically at the request of the khedive to pre
serve the peace and protect his throne, but for twenty
years Egypt has been actually governed from London,
more absolutely than any British colony. Lord Cromer
has greater authority than any of the viceroys or gov
ernors of Australia, Canada, India or any other colony.
The other powers of Europe accept the situation for
financial reasons, because the interests of their subjects
in the Egyptian debt can best be served that way. They
are allowed representation in the treasury department and
in the courts, and England assumes the rest of the re
sponsibility. The American colony consists of the consul-general
and his staff, three judges of the international courts, a
number of missionaries and one barkeeper, who is said
to be the most popular man in Cairo. Our eminent
fellow citizen, Patrick Sheedy, Esq., was engaged in
business at Cairo for several seasons, and had sumptuous
gambling-rooms in the rear of Shepheard's Hotel, which
were popular and well patronized by a large portion of
the natives as well as the foreign population, but several

66 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
scandals among the officers of the British garrison having
reached the ears of Lord Cromer, the police raided the
place, confiscated Mr. Sheedy's professional parapher
nalia and closed him out. The chief of police took the
trouble to address a letter to the United States consul-
general requesting that Mr. Sheedy be expelled from the
country, and was doubtless surprised to learn that such a
proceeding was impossible among Americans. It is the
popular opinion that Mr. Sheedy ran "a square game,"
and he himself declares that he "never had the slightest
difficulty with the pashas or the beys, or the Greeks, or
the Jews, or the tourists, but every British officer who
dropped a shilling squealed."
There used to be a large number of Americans in
Cairo. Upon the recommendation of General Sherman
sixty graduates of West Point, more than half of them
ex-confederates, went over in 1870 and 1871 by invitation
from Ismail, the spendthrift khedive, and reorganized
the Egyptian army. General Charles E. Stone, chief of
staff, is remembered with great respect by everybody.
Our American soldiers left an excellent reputation and
the British have profited largely by their experience and
example, reaping the crop they sowed.
The EngHsh population is mostly engaged in the gov
ernment offices. There are probably twelve or fifteen
hundred in the several departments of the. administration,
with a few French, Germans and Italians. They receive
large salaries, twice as much as natives in corresponding
positions and about twice as much as they would be paid
in similar service in Europe. The English colony con
trols the social life of Egypt, leads all the sports and
amusements, organizes the clubs and sets the fashions. In
every Egyptian city there is a Church of England estab-

HOW EGYPT IS GOVERNED tj
lishment, with a chaplain. Wherever an Englishman
goes he carries his Bible and his prayer book with him,
and on Sundays every British officer and many of the
civilians employed by the Egyptian government feel it
their duty to attend church. That admirable habit may
be found among British soldiers and sailors wherever
you go in the world. On every British ship morning
prayer according to the Church of England is read as
regularly as Sunday comes around, and if there is no
minister among the passengers the captain or the purser
officiates. The English Church in Cairo is generously
supported, the pews are filled every Sunday, and the bril
liant uniforms of the officers, who appear in full dress out
of respect to the Great Commander, add much to the im
pressiveness of the scene. There is another church at
tended by the dissenting EngHsh Protestants, and the
United Presbyterian missionaries from the United States.
The British military element, which numbers about
5,000 officers and men, is very much in evidence. It is
scarcely possible to enter a hotel, a cafe, a club, or any
other public place, or walk a block upon the streets of
Cairo, without meeting an officer in the uniform of the
British army, and, naturally, it is a favorable post because
of the climate, the comfortable quarters, the social pleas
ures and the additional income, for both officers and pri
vates receive double pay and enjoy double rank for the
time being. A captain is a colonel; a lieutenant is a
captain ; and he has two paymasters, one representing the
King of England and the other the Khedive of Egypt,
each of whom gives him the allowance due to his brevet
rank. Cairo is an expensive place to live, however, and
that is the justification for the rule.
Naturally there is a difference of opinion as to the

68 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
necessity of maintaining a British garrison in Egypt
while a regular native army of 60,000 troops is always
under arms. The Egyptians would willingly dispense
with it, for they consider it a superfluous humiliation and
an invasion of their rights, but the British government
looks at the subject from a different point of view, and,
speaking from experience, benevolently declares that the
protection of foreign interests requires the presence of
a considerable force which, as a matter of policy, is made
as conspicuous as possible in order to keep the Egyptian
impressed with the idea that John Bull is master here
and that his wishes must be respected.

IV

THE PYRAMIDS AND THE SPHINX
We know more about the history of Egypt than that of
any other of the ancient countries except Palestine, be
cause of the inscriptions upon the monuments and tombs
and the rolls of papyrus manuscripts which have been
discovered in the coffins, of mummies. The vanity of the
Pharaohs has proved very profitable to modern scholars,
as many of them took the trouble to engrave upon im
perishable materials in cryptographs, which we are now
able to decipher, accounts of their careers and achieve
ments, more or less in detail, which necessarily involve
the history of their times. Of course we have to make
a liberal allowance for the bombastic eulogies, for we
know that human nature has not changed since the time
of Adam, and that all apples are as big as pumpkins to
the man who owns the orchard.
The writers and artists employed by the Pharaohs to
perpetuate their fame never hesitated to give them what
they paid for, but, after making reasonable deductions
for egotism and flattery, we have an almost continuous
history of nearly all the several dynasties that ruled over
Egypt from the time of the demigods and the invention
of pictography — the oldest form of expression in writing
we know. It is pretty well established, too, that the
Egyptians invented the art of writing and that our alpha
bet was adapted from theirs. "The Prisse Papyrus" of
69

70 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the eleventh dynasty is the oldest book in the world, writ
ten in the reign of King Seankhara, who lived about
twenty-five hundred years before Christ. The characters
that appear in this book are pronounced by the highest
philologist authority to be prototypes of the letters after
ward copied by the Greeks from the Phoenicians and by
them transmitted to the Latins. Thus Egypt is not only
the cradle of the alphabet, but may be considered the
mother of Hterature.
The records upon the tombs and monuments, begin
ning with Menes, the first human King of Egypt, who
founded Memphis and built one of the great pyramids
6,300 years ago, show that the people were seldom gov
erned by a man of their own race. Egyptian history for
nearly 5,000 years tells of a series of conquests by aHens
who ruled the country for centuries at a time until they
in turn were overcome and driven out by other invaders —
Semitic, Ethiopian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Macedo
nian, Roman, Saracen and Turkish. There is scarcely a
representative of the Egyptian race in all of the long list
that has been preserved to us. Nevertheless, during all
those cycles of foreign domination the people preserved
their individuality and racial features, their pecuHar cus
toms and other national characteristics — an ethnographi
cal, ethnological phenomenon that is equally marked with
the Jews.
Archseologists maintain that certain inscriptions dis
covered in Babylonia date back more than 8,000 years.
That, however, is a question of opinion. If it is true,
they are the oldest of human records. The story of
Egypt, however, as written in hieroglyphics upon the
waHs of monuments, palaces and tombs, is not open to
dispute. The kings who built the pyramids erected mon-

PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 71
uments that cannot perish and have not been removed.
There is occasionally a difference of opinion as to exact
dates, caused by variations of interpretation. Some
scholars claim that King Menes reigned 5,867 years be
fore Christ, which would be nearly 8,000 years from now ;
others bring the date to 4,440 years B. C. Taking the
latter estimate as accurate, we have at Sakkara, twelve
miles from Cairo and nine miles from the great pyramid
of Cheops and the Sphinx, in what is known as "the
Step Pyramid," near the ruins of the ancient City of
Memphis, the oldest structure of human hands. That we
know because of inscriptions of which there is no doubt.
It was built by King Tchesor of the third dynasty, in the
year 3900 B. C.
Menes, first of the kings of Egypt whose names we
know, was an invader and secured his throne by con
quest. He came from some indefinite place in the North,
Babylonia, perhaps; overthrew the local chiefs, turned
the course of the Nile in order to have a favorable site
for a city, and built Memphis, which became the capital
of a kingdom consolidated from all of the countries he
had conquered. His descendants reigned for about 500
years and were followed by a generation of pyramid
builders who have left us not only their monuments, but
their actual bones, which have been scattered through
the museums of Europe. The bones of Mycerinos, who
Herodotus tells us was "a just and merciful king," and
who built the third pyramid at Gizeh, are in the British
Museum at London.
It was the fashion of the kings of Egypt from 4400 to
3000 before Christ to erect their own monuments and
sepulchers in the form of great masses of masonry. Oth
ers erected obelisks, and their successors excavated vast

72 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
caverns in the living rock for burial places. There is no
longer any doubt that the pyramids were tombs and
nothing else. The ancient theory that they were erected
for astronomical observatories and that the great pyramid
was intended to serve as a standard of measurement was
exploded long ago, but the method of their construction
has never been satisfactorily settled. Inscriptions upon
the interior walls show that it was the tomb of Cheops, a
king who lived 3,733 years before Christ, and inside the
chamber has been found an empty, coverless, broken red
granite sarcophagus, in which his body lay 3,000 years
until the pyramid was looted by Persian invaders under
Cambyses between 500 and 600 B. C.
According to Herodotus, that king kept 100,000 of his
subjects at work continuously for twenty years upon this
monstrous sepulchre, some quarrying stone in the Ara
bian mountains, others transporting it down the Nile
upon rafts and flatboats, others drawing the immense
blocks along causeways, which had been built for the
purpose, to a great rock which forms its core. The in
terior chambers were chiseled out of that rock and then it
was covered with layer after layer of stone cut to the
proper dimensions. These layers were placed one upon
another and the pile grew larger and larger until it was
finished. The general belief is that earth was heaped up
around it as fast as it was built and that the heavy blocks
of stone were hauled up inclined planes to their places.
Within is an inscription showing how much was ex
pended in radishes, onions and garlic for the workmen,
but there is no record of the wages paid. Kings did not
pay wages in those days. The practice of forced labor
prevailed in Egypt until 1884, when it was permanently
abolished by Lord Cromer's order.

<

y.

PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 73
The Sphinx is no longer a mystery nor was it intended
to represent a woman. The inquisitiveness of modern
antiquarians has solved the greatest enigma that ever per
plexed mankind. No other relic of antiquity has been
the object of more discussion or the subject of wilder
theories, legends and superstitions. During the last two
thousand years a whole library of books has been written
about it, and at frequent intervals controversies as to its
age, significance and purpose have been very active.
While its age is still unknown, and no facts connected
with its origin have come down to us, yet within the last
few years Egyptologists have decided that it is nothing
but a colossal image or portrait of Ra-Harmachis, God
of the Morning, Conqueror of Darkness. Hence it faces
the Rising Sun.
This fact was recently disclosed by inscriptions discov
ered upon the walls of a temple which lies underneath
and around the Sphinx and the discovery was largely due
to Colonel Raum of Illinois, who has been engaged for
several years in excavations there. He uncovered the
foundations of the great statue and brought to light many
interesting features which until recently were unknown.
The temple surrounding the base was intended for the
worship of Harmachis and several chambers hewn in the
rock were the tombs of kings and priests. In 1896 Colonel
Raum found a stone cap with a sacred asp carved on the
forehead, which once covered the head of the Sphinx
like a royal helmet, and must have added immensely to
its grandeur, particularly if it was gilded, as he believes.
The Sphinx is not an independent structure. The
body and head are actually hewn out of the solid rock,
but much sandstone masonry was fitted in to make the
outlines perfecf and cover defects in the material. These

74 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
re-enforcements of the original rock are apparent now
to any close observer, but originally were concealed, for
scientists believe that the entire image was once veneered
with enamel. Indeed it is possible even now to find
fragments still adhering to the surface which resemble
the porcelain tiles found in tombs and the ruins of the
ancient palaces. Several private collectors and museums
have large blocks of brilliant coloring and artistic design,
and from them we can imagine what an imposing specta
cle the great statue must have been before the Persians
and the Mohammedans destroyed its glory. While it is
still an impressive picture, it has no beauty whatever.
The nose, the lips and other features have been mutilated
by vandals, among whom the French soldiers under
Napoleon are said to have been the most vicious, but the
defacement began before the Christian era when Cam
byses invaded Egypt and made it a province of the Per
sian empire.
The expression upon the face of the Sphinx is blank.
Poets and imaginative people have expended much elo
quence in describing lines which do not appear and are
purely fanciful, and we have been told again and again
that the solemn immobility of its features make it "the
ideal of mystery in stone." One writer, with vivid imag
ination, described it as having "a comeHness not of this
world," "a mould of beauty now forgotten — forgotten
because Greece drew forth Cythrea from the flashing
foam of the ^Egean and in her image created new forms
of beauty." While this sounds fine, it is preposterous rot.
There is no more expression about the face of the Sphinx
than there would be in any sandstone image that has been
hit square on the nose by a three hundred pound shot fired
from a French cannon and had its features scattered over

PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 75
a square mile of desert. But, nevertheless, there is a
fascination about that great statue that cannot be resisted,
and one will go again and again and as often as possible
to look at its shapeless face and monstrous figure which
rise from the sand against the amber sky.
The body of the Sphinx, which resembles that of a lion,
is 150 feet long; the paws and legs, which are stretched
out in front, are 50 feet long ; the head is 30 feet from the
neck upwards, the face is 14 feet wide and the whole
figure is 72 feet high. It is believed to have been built
long before the pyramids, for inscriptions found within
the temple show that it was old at the time of Cheops,
who erected the big pyramid 3700 years before Christ.
Cheops made many repairs in the temple and upon the
image and left a record of that fact. There is also a
tablet showing that it was repaired by King Chephren,
one of his successors. Another tablet tells an interesting
story. One day while he was taking his after-dinner nap.
King Thotmes IV. (B. C. 1533), had a vision in which
the god Harmachis appeared to him and made generous
promises if he would dig his image, this same Sphinx,
out of the sand. Thotmes did as requested and erected
this tablet to commemorate the fact.
There are fourteen pyramids in the neighborhood of
Cairo. Those which surround the Sphinx and are known
as the pyramids of Gizeh, are most easily accessible and
may be visited without fatigue or difficulty. Within the
last few years a trolley line has been built almost to the
very feet of the Sphinx. The track runs along a cause
way lined on either side with rows of trees, and one of the
fashionable drives of Cairo. It is also a thoroughfare
much used by the dwellers in the villages along the west
bank of the Nile and those who live in the desert in that

76 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
direction. The distance from the hotels in Cairo is about
nine miles, and no more delightful excursion can be
imagined. You can leave your hotel in a carriage or by the street
cars in the morning, take lunch at the Mena House, an
attractive hotel a few hundred yards from the pyramids,
spend the day around those incomparable monuments, by
far the most interesting of all relics of antiquity, and
drive back to the city at 4 or 5 in the afternoon just in
time to meet a long procession of carriages filled with
native princes, pashas, veiled ladies from the harems of
rich Egyptians, generals in the British service, civil offi
cials of the government, members of the diplomatic circle,
Hindu and Parsee millionaires, and all the gay world
who are spending the winter at Cairo and come over that
way for their afternoon air. You can see many more
and much finer horses and carriages in London, New
York or Paris, but in Cairo the oriental costumes and
colors give an additional charm which no other city
enjoys. You can climb the pyramids if you like. As you step
off the street car or alight from your carriage at the
gateway of the Mena House, you will be greeted by a
vociferous group of Arabs dressed in long white or blue
tunics and wearing enormous turbans of the same color,
some of them as big as a bushel basket. They will offer
the services of themselves and their donkeys or camels
to show you the wonders you have come to see. If you
choose a camel the driver will make the awkward beast
kneel down in the road until you are firmly seated in the
saddle, when, at a signal from its driver, it will begin to
rise, one section at a time. It is considerable trouble for
a camel to get into action, and the passenger on the upper

PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX ^^
deck must hold on firmly or he will be thrown over the
animal's head or his haunches. If you prefer a donkey
you can have your choice among a dozen or twenty
sturdy, tough, sure-footed little animals whose legs do
not look bigger than pipestems, but will carry the heaviest
patron without a protest.
When your party is mounted the procession moves
along toward the pyramid and makes quite a cavalcade.
In addition to the donkey boys and camel drivers you are
attended by a dozen or more volunteers advisers and
guides and as many peripatetic peddlers of scarabs, coins,
clay images and other curiosities, which they insist were
found in the excavations around the pyramid, but were
more likely to have been manufactured in the bogus
curio and antiquity shops of Cairo, which are numerous
and profitable. Then you have a large following of beg
gars, of all ages, with all kinds of ailments and deformi
ties, some of them keen, cunning and amusing, others
repulsive and loathsome. And finally groups of urchins,
more persistent than the flies, scamper along beside your
donkey, showing off what little English they know in
bright remarks, which they repeat by rote to every comer
day after day and sometimes a dozen times a day, and
expect backsheesh as evidence of appreciation of their
wit and naivete. Everything is backsheesh. You hear
that word from morning till night from the time you enter
the East until you leave it. Everybody demands it, and
our rich fellow countrymen have unfortunately stimulated
the natural persistency of the beggars by responding to
their appeals with more generosity than judgment.
Everything is arranged to extort backsheesh, but a few
pennies go a great way. Even the camels and the donkeys
are named to gratify the visitors. When Americans

78 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
come they are invited to ride "Yankee Doodle," "General
Grant," "Theodore Roosevelt," "William McKinley," and
other beasts named after distinguished fellow citizens.
English, German and French visitors are complimented
in a similar manner.
As you arrive at the base of the pyramids a solemn-
looking sheik comes forward and informs you that you
are expected to pay five piastres (25 cents) each, and
politely explains that the money is expended in keeping
the place in order. Having secured your tickets you
select your guide, drive back the beggars and other fol
lowers who have already exhausted your patience, and
move slowly along in procession to the Sphinx, where you
dismount and walk through the temple, the chambers and
tombs I have described as lying beneath it. Then you
have your photograph taken with the Sphinx as a back
ground, mounted on a camel or a donkey or any way you
like, with picturesque-looking guides in Arab costumes
to give character and variety to the group. Then, re
mounting, you make a circuit of the pyramids and Hsten
to the chatter of native attendants and the boys who want
to sell curios until you can endure them no longer and
command the guide to drive them off. He plunges
among them, striking right and left without the slightest
compunction or mercy, slapping one in the face, punching
another in the shoulder and howling anathemas at those
his arms cannot reach.
For a very few moments thereafter you are allowed an
opportunity to look at the pyramids and the great image
of the God of the Morning Sun without interruption, but
are scarcely at peace when the Arabs begin to torment
you again. They want to take you to the top of the
pyramids. If you decline to indulge in that violent exer-

PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 79
cise they offer to make the ascent for you in ten minutes
for a dollar. If you decline they lower the price and
shorten the time, and tell about Mark Twain's experience.
He paid one of the Arab guides $5 for going to the top
of the Cheops pyramid and coming down and going to
the top of the next in sixteen minutes. At least that is
the story they tell, and I was finally induced to offer the
sum of $1 in three prizes, open sweepstakes, free to all
who would climb to the top of the pyramid of Cheops in
less than seven minutes. It was actually done in six min
utes and forty seconds and was a most remarkable exhi
bition of nerve, agility and endurance.
The pyramid is 451 feet high. The greater part of
the surface is smooth and even, but at the corners it has
been broken and cut away so that it may be climbed
without difficulty. But the steps are very high, some of
them four feet and most of them three, and only one very
familiar with these broken surfaces could find his way to
the top without great difficulty. Everything pertaining
to the pyramids has been measured and tabulated and the
451 feet must be ascended by 206 steps, which is an
average of more than two feet each. In the climb, visi
tors are assisted by two Arabs, and fat men require three,
one at their elbow and a third to do the heavy lifting in
the rear. In this way anybody can be boosted to the top
of a pyramid in half an hour or more, but it is hard work.
Those who try it come down exhausted and are always
indifferent to sightseeing for the next few days. But
the chattering Arabs, jvith their lean, sinewy Hmbs, can
climb to the top and come down again in ten minutes
without quickening their pulse beats, and, as I have told
you, the winner of the first prize in the sweepstakes I
offered made it in less than seven minutes, and received

8o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
fifty cents for the exertion. The remainder of the purse
was divided between the second and third contestants.
If you want to stay more than a day at the pyramids
you can find excellent accommodations at a hotel within
five minutes' walk of the Sphinx, and it is one of the best
in Egypt. It was originally intended for a sanitarium,
for the dry desert air is a curative or at least a relief for
all pulmonary diseases. But tourists pay better than in
valids, and the "lungers," as the latter are called, have
been driven farther out into the desert, where comfortable
camps are established in the sand and kept like hotels.
Each person or couple, as you like, have a tent for a bed
room and take their meals with the rest at a common
dining table under a marquee. This is a favorite method
of getting the desert air nowadays and is much patronized
by artists who go out to copy the tints in the desert sky.
The ancient city of Memphis, the first capital of Egypt,
and for centuries the largest, the greatest and most mag
nificent assemblage of human habitations known to men,
is now a heap of rubbish, scattered over an area of several
square miles, and partially covered by the most beautiful
groves of palms I ever saw. Acres and acres of bricks,
some broken, some still clinging to the mortar that held
them together, show where the palaces and temples stood ;
but most of the stone has been hauled away for building
material, and the ruins have been searched again and
again by the Arabs for treasure, until now it is difficult
to trace the streets.
According to Herodotus, Memphis was built by Menes,
the first of the human kings of Egypt, who turned the
course of the Nile nearly seven thousand years ago in
order to secure a suitable site. But whether Menes built
the town or not, it is quite certain that it was the first

PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 8i
capital of Egypt, and the inscriptions upon the pyramids
and the walls of the tombs around it tell us of its magnifi
cence. It was known in the early days as the "white-
walled city," and, according to Diodorus, the walls were
thirteen miles long. In the year 4000 B. C, when the
worship of Apis, the sacred bull, was inaugurated, Mem
phis had reached a degree of splendor that was not sur
passed elsewhere for many centuries.
Rameses the Great, the most progressive, audacious and
powerful of all the Pharaohs, set up there a magnificent
statue of himself carved out of a single block of fine, hard
limestone. It measures 42 feet in height and 14 feet
through at the shoulders and the waist. He placed it in
front of the Temple of Ptah, the most splendid in the
city, and it is minutely described by Herodotus and
Diodorus, who saw it standing. When it was overthrown
we do not know, but it now lies a few hundred yards
from the roadway, flat on its back and badly broken, and
the director of antiquities has built a tall fence around it
to protect it from the Arabs. This statue was presented
to the British Museum when it was discovered in 1820,
but could not be moved to London on account of its
weight. Near by, also lying on the ground, are smaller
statues of a daughter and a son of Rameses.
When Rameses the Great removed the seat of govern
ment to Thebes, five hundred miles further up the Nile,
Memphis lost its glory and began to decay, and finally
became a sleepy provincial city. During the reign of
Theodosius, the second Christian emperor of Rome, its
temples and palaces were sacked by the Christians and
the entire city practically destroyed. Many columns and
carvings were carried to Rome, to Constantinople, to
Jerusalem and Alexandria, and in all those cities, and in

82 EGYPT, BU'RMA, BRITISH AIALAYSIA
London and Naples and even Athens you can now
find building material brought from Heliopolis, and
Thebes also. The last of ^Memphis disappeared in the
middle ages, and for fifteen centuries its ruins have been
a quarry for building material.
There is plenty of material here for philosophizing, but
I have HO time to indulge in such gratifications, for within
a short distance are the ruins of Sakkara, another ancient
city, which formed the center of the greatest burial
ground of the ancient Egyptians. There are two of the
most interesting things in Egypt, "the Step Pyramid,"
believed to be the oldest of human structures, and the
Serapeum, or underground mausoleum, in which the
sacred bulls were buried.
The Step Pyramid is 352 by 596 feet at the base and
197 feet in height. There are six steps or terraces,
varying in height from 30 to 38 feet, and in width from
6 to 8 feet. It is one of the few pyramids of that style of
construction. Near by is a group of other pyramids, all
of them very old, older than those of Cheops around the
Sphinx, and in Teta, one of them, which the Arabs call
the prison pyramid, local tradition says that Joseph was
locked up for two years because of the spiteful Mrs.
Potiphar. The Tomb of the Bulls is one of the wonders of the
world. You all know that white bulls were sacred in
Egypt. Archseologists theorize that they were the best
draught animals, and the king, or some other person in
authority, desiring to preserve them from slaughter for
breeding purposes, caused the priests to declare them
objects of worship, and the people accepted the decree in
good faith. Ultimately the white bull became the chief
of all the sacred animals and was so sacred that when

VHVMMVS ,1,V — S.r.I.l.S Mil, I,

.'III (IIIMVM.V,!

PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 83
one died its body was mummified like those of the kings,
placed in a sarcophagus of carved stone and deposited in a
temple chiseled out of the solid rock fifty feet below the
surface of the ground. This temple is reached by an
inclined tunnel through the rock, and was formerly
guarded by a pair of splendid doors covered with silver.
Now an iron grating answers the purpose.
The venerable Arab custodian gave us each a lantern
and led us through a corridor about thirty feet wide and
thirty feet high for nearly half a mile. He told us that
the end was a mile and a half farther. At intervals are
sixty-four chapels on either side, each perhaps twenty-five
feet square, and the waHs are covered with carving. In
the center of each chapel the coffin of a bull was placed,
and twenty- four granite sarcophagi still remain in posi
tion, averaging thirteen feet long, eleven feet wide and
eight feet high, each cut from a solid block of granite,
the same material of which the hill is composed. The
first bull is supposed to have been buried there about
1500 B. C, 200 years before the exodus of the Israelites.
The Tomb of the Bulls is quite as remarkable as a
monument of the science and industry of the Egyptians
as the pyramids, and to this day antiquarians are unable
to explain satisfactorily how, with the simple tools they
possessed, they could have carved such enormous corri
dors through that granite mountain.
There are many notable tombs near by, in. which kings,
princes and prime ministers were buried during the first
eleven dynasties of the Egyptian Empire, from 4400 to
1800 B. C, and nearly all of them have archseological
or historical interest. In one, known as the pyramid of
Dahshur, in which the Princess Hathor-Sat was buried
about 2500 B. C, Mr. de Morgan, director of antiquities

84 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
in 1894, discovered the splendid collection of gold and
silver jewelry now on exhibition in the Museum at Cairo.
It fortunately escaped the clutches of the invaders and
vandals who plundered the other tombs. Another and
similar collection belonging to the Princes Ita and Khne-
mit, was found in 1895 in a neighboring tomb. The
jewels were inclosed in alabaster jars instead of the
ordinary caskets, which probably accounts for the fact
that they escaped notice at the time the tombs were rifled.
We went from Cairo to Bedrashen, the railway station
nearest Memphis, by steam cars, but came home across
the desert as far as the great pyramids by donkeys, and
the rest of the distance on the trolley cars. The ride
across the desert, which required several hours, was
fascinating and we saw the sun go down into the sand
with that fiery glow which artists admire and covet for
their canvases. It was followed by an intense orange
light, which gradually softened into yellow and then
blended into the darkness as the stars appeared. This
miracle of color occurs twice a day and we could under
stand why painters camp in the desert in order to catch
it, for they must be there on time. They have only half
an hour in the morning and half an hour at night. When
the sun rises, and when it sets, they are at their easels,
brushes in hand and colors on their palettes, so that not a
moment will be wasted. They copy the sky as rapidly
as possible, covering one canvas after another with the
color, and leaving the figures in the foreground to be
painted in afterward.

AMONG OLD FRIENDS
I went out one morning to pay my respects to Rameses
the Great, who holds daily receptions (Sundays included)
at the Gizeh museum, and receives more visitors than the
khedive and Lord Cromer combined. He is the old
gentleman who compelled the children of Israel to make
bricks for his palaces and fortifications, and refused to
furnish them straw to hold the clay together. They not
only had to hustle around and get the straw for them
selves, but he paid them nothing for their labor and re
quired every man to turn in a certain number of bricks
each night. He now lies in a great stone coffin, hand
somely carved, in the place of honor in what is considered
one of the most instructive and valuable museums in the
world. Around him in various alcoves and corridors is
exhibited the largest and most interesting collection of
Egyptian antiquities, and everybody who knows anything
about such matters agrees that in point of arrangement
and classification this institution surpasses everything in
Europe and furnishes an excellent model for other
museums to copy.
There are something like ninety rooms in which the
results of scientific explorations in Egypt since 1863 are
displayed according to chronological order so far as
possible. When Ismail came to the throne he issued an
edict placing a young Frenchman named Mariette in
85

86 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
charge of antiquities and historical relics. He made
regulations to govern foreigners and native archseologists
in their explorations and to restrain and punish the native
vandals who were plundering the tombs, palaces and
temples. Mariette was a genius and proved to be exactly
the man needed for such an important service. He began
work in 1850 and lived until 1881, when his body was
entombed in a marble sarcophagus in the courtyard of
the museum, which is a monument to his patience, energy
and ability.
There has been considerable discussion among people
of extreme notions of propriety as to the taste of exposing
the remains of these resurrected monarchs to the public
gaze ; of making a show of the bodies of the dead ; and
some critics go so far as to declare that representatives
of a cultured Christian race are setting a bad example
to the uncivilized by hunting up the bones of ancient kings
and exhibiting them to gratify the curiosity of tourists.
Several visitors to the Gizeh Museum have written pro
tests and it is a frequent subject of discussion by those
who write books and magazine articles on Egypt. But,
bless your soul, mummies of Egyptian kings and queens
and princes are scattered all over the world. There is
scarcely a museum of importance without at least one,
and for fifty years the flesh and bones of Cleopatra, "that
dark queen for whose smiles a worid was bartered," have
lain in a corridor of the British Museum, where hundreds
of thousands of shameless people have looked upon her
features and passed along making remarks concerning her
personal appearance and behavior that would be consid
ered very rude if the lady were alive to resent them.
Certain writers of late years have been trying to con
vince us that Cleopatra was a victim of slander and much

AMONG OLD FRIENDS 87
better than her reputation. The more her history is
looked into the more interesting she becomes, and there
have recently been some interesting disclosures concern
ing the life and adventures of this fascinating woman.
She is still very popular in Egypt. Her name appears in
blazing letters whichever way you may look in Alexan
dria. All kinds of boats in the harbor are named in her
honor; you have Cleopatra cigarettes, Cleopatra cigars,
Cleopatra neckties, Cleopatra hats, Cleopatra handker
chiefs, and everything else that can bear her name.
According to the latest information she was not an
Egyptian at all, but a Greek, Jewish or Macedonian ad
venturess, like Mehemet Ali, founder of the present
dynasty, who was the son of an Albanian peasant. It is
believed that in her girlhood Cleopatra was the mistress
of Herod the Great, and through him became known to
Julius Caesar, who surrendered to her irresistible charms
and was the father of her son and successor, Caesarion,
known as Ptolemy XVI. When Csesar found it expedient
to rid himself of this enchantress he caused her to marry
Ptolemy XIV., the King of Egypt, and the Roman senate
was appointed their guardian. Cleopatra, however, was
unfaithful to her royal husband, as she was to every lover,
and he banished her from Egypt. Csesar came down in
the year 48 B. C. to restore and defend her ; her husband
conveniently dies by drowning or poison — ^there is a dis
pute as to the cause of his death — she is restored to the
throne, and her brother is appointed regent by Csesar
under the title of Ptolemy XV. He proves too strict
for her pleasure and is murdered by her orders ; C^sar
sends Mark Anthony to Alexandria to make an investiga
tion and set things right ; the latter commands Cleopatra
brought before him but yields to her charms, becomes her

88 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
lover, her husband in common law, without the aid of the
Egyptian clergy or civil magistrates, and shared her
throne for fourteen years. She was an old flame. When
Antony first saw her he was serving as an officer of
cavalry at Tarsus and was bewitched at first sight.
She was only 17 when she became Csesar's mistress,
and only 39 when she committed suicide. She betrayed
Antony in order to win the favor of the Emperor Octa-
vius, but there is no doubt that she loved him dearly for
she was faithful to him longer than to any other man.
Pliny tells us that she frequently treated Antony with
contempt and publicly expressed petulant dissatisfaction
at the extravagant entertainments which he prepared to
please her and the jewels with which he loaded her. She
killed herself rather than appear in Rome as a captive
in a triumphal procession which was being prepared for
Octavius, who had resisted her fascinations. He put to
death Caesarion, her son by Julius Csesar, but spared all
of the seven children she is said to have had by Antony,
and caused them to be brought up and established in life
in a manner suitable to their rank.
The pictures of Cleopatra's character drawn by Jose
phus, Plutarch, Dion, Cassius and other authors of her
day, vary in important particulars, and we must assume
that she had advocates and admirers as well as critics and
enemies. All agree, however, that she was remarkable
for her intelligence, for the subtlety of her charms, for
her extraordinary accomplishments as a linguist, for her
grace of manner and fascination of speech. It is said
that "her voice had a sweetness and persuasiveness that
was never possessed by any other woman ; that she could
so easily attune her tongue to any language that she
pleased that it was like an orchestra of many instru-

AMONG OLD FRIENDS 89
ments." She needed no interpreter in conversation with
any guest, civilized or barbarian, no matter whence he
came. Dr. Wallis Budge, one of the most eminent of Egyp
tologists, contends that Cleopatra must have been a Jew
ess, and that it was from her Semitic ancestors that she
inherited her ready wit, her love of learning and her
faciHty of acquiring foreign tongues.
There is great difference of opinion as to her beauty.
Several writers bear out Plutarch's statement that she
"was not incomparably beautiful," and that her charm
was more in her manner than in her person. The figures
which appear in the Egyptian pictures are merely repre
sentations of the conventional queen-goddess, and the bust
upon the coins issued during her reign, which are more
to be relied upon, does not represent a strikingly beautiful
woman. It has been settled beyond controversy that she
had a fair complexion, that her hair was red and that her
eyes were brown, a combination often found among the
Greeks, Macedonians and Jews of the Mediterranean.
The portraits which represent her as having Ethiopian or
even Egyptian features are purely imaginary.
With the death of Cleopatra Egypt became a Roman
province, and remained such until the country was in
vaded and occupied by the Persians. The tomb of Cleo
patra has never been discovered, and being the seventh
woman of her name to occupy the throne of Egypt, there
has been considerable confusion as to the identity of the
well-preserved, middle-aged lady now in the British
Museum. No one can determine her identity. There is
nothing to show which of the seven Cleopatras she is. The
body of our Cleopatra, if we may speak in such a friendly
way of one whose manners and morals were not quite

90 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
what they should have been, has never been discovered,
because she was buried in Alexandria and not in one of
the big royal mausoleums of the desert. Nevertheless
and notwithstanding, we have a right to stick to the orig
inal story and believe that the silent lady in the British
Museum is the same who made so much trouble for the
Roman Emperors until she proves an alibi.
But I started to talk of Rameses, who was better
known as Sesostris, and the greatest of all the Egyptian
kings, according to his own testimony, corroborated by
many witnesses. He lies under the dome with Seti I., his
father, at his right, and Rameses IIL, his grandson, on
his left. Seti Menepista, his son, and the man who was
finally compelled by Moses to let Israel go, is not there,
and the reason of his absence is not explained. His tomb
was found some years ago, but it had been looted cen
turies before, probably by the Persians or some of the
many other foreign invaders of Egypt; but thirty-six
other kings, now slumbering silently around the great
Sesostris, will answer "present" from the Gizeh Museum
when their names are called on the morning of resurrec
tion. Their bodies are almost perfectly preserved; that of
Seti I., who died more than 3,500 years ago, is the most
perfect of them all. His lips actually wear a smile. Ram
eses II. has a rather cynical expression upon his face and
his nose is as Roman as if he were a Caesar instead of a
Pharaoh. One of the party, Sequenen Ra by name, of the
seventeenth dynasty, who was killed while fighting to
save his throne, more than 3,300 years ago, shows the
Bears of the wounds he received in battle. You can see
where a blow from a battle ax or some warrior's sword
split his left cheek and lower jaw; and above the right

SETI I, THE GREAT PHARAOH

AMONG OLD FRIENDS 91
eye is a hole made by a lance that probably passed
through the skull to his brain and finished him. His
agony in death is portrayed by the lines upon his face and
his tongue, half bitten off, protrudes from his teeth.
These gruesome relics are a great attraction, of course,
and the emotions of even the least sentimental or imagin
ative of travelers could not fail to be moved upon meet
ing the Pharaoh of the Bible face to face, and if you are
a newspaper reporter you will be disappointed because
you cannot interview him about Moses and the Israelites
and get the straight story about the water swallowing his
army in the Red Sea.
The marvelous preservation of these mummies which
have been lying for thousands of years under the sands of
the desert, and can still be exhibited in public without
other than moral objections, is due to a science which
modern undertakers might perhaps revive if they were
given an opportunity. According to Diodorus it cost a
talent of silver (about $1,250) in those days to mummify
a body in a first class manner and Herodotus tells us how
it was done by a special guild, who received their licenses
from the king. They preserved the dead in three differ
ent ways for three different prices. The first and most
expensive method was to remove the brain through the
nose by means of iron probes and hooks and the "insides"
through an incision made in the side with a sharp Ethi
opian stone. The insides were cleaned, washed in palm
wine, covered with aromatic gums and placed in jars
which were usually kept in the tomb beside the sarcoph
agus. These "canopic jars," as they were called, were
inscribed with lists of their contents and dedicated to the
four children of Horus, the Genii of the Dead, which
have been compared with the four beasts in the Revela-

92 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
tion. It was sometimes customary to place a jar contain
ing the preserved heart, liver, lungs and intestines upon
the breast of the mummy.
The cavity in the body was filled with myrrh, cassia and
other fragrant and astringent gums and spices and was
then sewed up and laid for seventy days in "natron," after
which the head was filled with bitumen, linen rags and
resin, and the entire body, carefully washed, was smeared
with gum and wrapped in strips of fine linen.
There are many other interesting things in the Cairo
Museum, for, as one would naturally suppose, and, as I
have already told you, the richness and the number of
articles of Egyptian archaeology surpass those of all
other museums. Since 1863 foreigners have been al
lowed to make explorations, and, in fact, most of the
work has been done by them with the understanding that
the Egyptian government should have the right to retain
any portion it might select of the articles discovered. In
that way it has received most important collections. A
chariot, which is unique, was the gift of Theodore Davis,
of Newport and New York City, an amateur who has
spent a large sum of money every year in Egypt in the
interest of history and science. This chariot, the only one
that was ever found, is in perfect condition and when
taken from the tomb of one of the Pharaohs near Thebes,
could be sent immediately to exhibition without stopping
at a repair shop. It was evidently intended for racing or
pleasure, because it is so light. It is made of a kind of
water oak and handsomely carved.
The Gizeh Museum is short of scarabs and its collec
tion of manuscripts on papyrus is not as large as may be
found in the British Museum, the Louvre, or the Museum
at Turin. The oldest book in the world, the famous

AMONG OLD FRIENDS 93
Prisse papyrus, which was found in one of the tombs,
and was written about 2500 B. C, is in the National Li
brary of Paris. In Turin is the next most valuable of
EgA-ptian manuscripts and the most important of all from
a historical point of view, for it contains a complete list of
the sovereigns from the mythical god-kings down to the
Pharaohs of the Hyksos dynasty, '1700 B. C. — the men
that Joseph served.
From the same standpoint the most important writing
in the Cairo Museum is the Decree of Canotas, so called,
issued by an assembly of priests in the reign of Ptolemy
IIL, for like the still more famous Rosette stone, one of
the precious treasures of the British Museum, it has fur
nished a key by which the language of the ancient Egyp
tians may be understood and their writings translated.
This decree contains an order that a copy of it be placed
in every temple in Egypt, yet only two have ever been
discovered. One is at Cairo museum and the other is at
the Louvre in Paris.
Here also is a wooden statuette known as "the village
sheik," which is believed to be the oldest specimen of the
sculptor's art in existence. It owes its name to the fact
that when Mariette uncovered it among the ruins of
IMemphis the Arab peasants standing by recognized a
close resemblance to the head man of their community
and shouted "El Sheik el-beled" (the village sheik).
Of greater artistic value, but not so old, is a statue of
Chephren, builder of the second pyramid, cut in green
stone with wonderful skill and accuracy. This was found
by Mariette also, in the temple underneath the figure of
the Sphinx. Upon the pedestal is inscribed, "The Image
of the Golden Horum, Chephren, Beautiful God, Lord of
Diadems."

94 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
The Hall of Jewels is fascinating, for there is shown
the largest coHection of ancient Egyptian jewelry extant.
The most of it is of exquisite design and workmanship,
showing the high degree of skiH and artistic taste attained
by the goldsmiths of the Mosaic period, and even a thou
sand years before the Leader of the Exodus was found in
a basket among the bulrushes near the City of Memphis.
These, the rarest and oldest ornaments in the world, were
found in the pyramid of Dashur, near the site of the dead
city of Memphis, by M. de Morgan, a French archseol-
ogist, in 1894. They belonged to the Princess Hathor
Sat, a daughter of Rameses II. , and consist of bracelets,
necklaces, anklets, rings for the fingers and toes, breast
plates, bands of gold imbedded with jewels to be worn
about the upper arm, girdles, headdresses, chains and
pendants and other articles of beautiful workmanship.
Another fine collection of gold ornaments and precious
stones was found upon the mummy of Queen Aahhotep,
mother of Aahmes I., who lived about 1600 B. C, and
was buried in one of the Tombs of the Kings near
Thebes. The museum is a new building of fireproof materials
admirably arranged and adapted to its purpose. It was
built by the government and has furnished a good reason
why antiquities hereafter found in the ruins of Egypt
should remain at home instead of being distributed over
the world as they have been in the past.
Joseph, the son of Jacob, was sold by his jealous breth
ren as a slave to Midianite traders, who brought him to
Egypt and re-sold him to Potiphar, commander of the
bodyguard of Nubti, one of the Hyksos kings, some
where about the year 1750 B. C. The Hyksos dynasty,
which extended from 2233 to 1700 B. C, were invaders.

AMONG OLD FRIENDS 95
They came from Mesopotamia into Egypt, where, sup
ported by their countrymen, who had already settled in
large numbers in the delta of the Nile, they were able to
overthrow the native rulers. About the year 1700 B. C.
a revolution occurred under the leadership of Amasis I.,
the last of the royal race of Thebes, who re-established
the independence of Egypt.
Joseph grew to manhood in Potiphar's household, and
seems to have been allowed much liberty, for the Bible
says, "And the Lord was with Joseph and he was a pros
perous man," until he incurred the hatred of a woman
and was sent to prison. While there he interpreted the
dreams of two of his fellow prisoners, the chief baker and
the chief butler of the king, who had also been sent to
jail. After they got out they reported the incident to
their master, and when Pharaoh, who probably was
Apepa IL, about 1730, had a dream, he sent for Joseph,
who predicted seven years of plenty and seven years of
famine. Acting under the latter 's advice, his majesty
was able to relieve the distress that came upon his people.
Joseph was appointed grand vizier at the age of 30 and
was called Zaphnath-Paaneah, which means "the pre
server of nations" or "savior of the world," and the king
gave him to wife Asenath, daughter of Potipherah, high
priest of On, by whom he had two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim. When his father, who had lived three-score years and
ten, and the rest of his family came down to Egypt they
were located in the land of Goshen, for "their trade had
been about cattle," and Joseph told them that "every
shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians." He
gave them "the best of the land in the land of Rameses,
as Pharaoh had commanded, and they grew and muhi-

96 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
plied exceedingly, and waxed exceeding mighty, and the
land was filled with them." Joseph was no years old
when he died. They embalmed his body after the Egyp
tian fashion and put him in a coffin, and the children of
Israel carried it to the Promised Land and buried it in
the tomb of his fathers.
It is a remarkable fact, which cannot be explained sat
isfactorily by archseologists and biblical historians, that
no record of these remarkable events appears in any of
the inscriptions or in any of the papyrus manuscripts that
have thus far been discovered. Nor is any account of the
exodus of the IsraeHtes to be found. It is true that the
Kings of the Hyksos dynasty did not build pyramids or
monuments. The records during the period of their occu
pation are exceedingly scanty and unsatisfactory. Their
names cannot even be ascertained. Nobody has ever
been able to determine how many of the Hyksos kings
occupied the throne. During their period, from 2233 to
1700, when the independence of Egypt was re-estab
lished, history is almost a blank, and we must accept that
as an explanation of the absence of all reference to Joseph
and his family and the terrible years of famine that took
place during his time.
There is another singular omission. Every person of
consequence in ancient Egypt had a coat of arms and a
signet, which was used in business transactions in place
of the signature and seal. These were engraved upon lit
tle pieces of stone or porcelain carved to the shape of the
sacred beetle of Egypt, and were called scarabs. Every
body had a scarab, and members of the same family and
their slaves wore them as evidence of identity, just as in
modern times we use crests and coats of arms. It was
also customary for people to wear as ornaments scarabs

.WCIENT C.\RTOUCHES, OR S1.;.\L

AMONG OLD FRIENDS 97
bearing the name of a god or a king, or some sign of the
seasons, or some motto which they thought would bring
good luck. Scarabs are found in large quantities in all
burial places, in ordinary cemeteries as well as in the
sculptured tombs of the kings, and they carry a great
deal of significance. Half the kings are identified by
their scarabs and their cartouches or coats of arms.
Scarabs of Seti Menetaph, the Pharaoh of the Exodus,
are plenty, and are frequently forged, but none of Joseph
or Moses have ever been identified.
The quality of scarabs differs. Some of them are ex
quisitely carved by great artists ; others are rudely made
by amateurs. Some are molded of paste or clay, and
some are carved of turquoise and other rare stones. The
demand for scarabs has caused quite an industry to grow
up, and in all the towns along the Nile forgers are mak
ing them, using soft gray limestone or fragments of old
pottery found in the tombs, which is ground into powder,
converted into paste and molded by means of dies.
About five miles south of Cairo is the village of Ma-
tariyeh, built upon a part of the site of the ancient city of
Heliopolis, where are a tree and a spring of great interest
to all who believe in the Christian religion, because of a
tradition that Joseph, Mary and the Christ child lived
near them during their exile in Egypt. It is certainly not
true that the present ragged old sycamore was growing at
that time, for botanists agree that it cannot be more than
two or three hundred years old ; but springs do not grow
old, and they cannot be moved, and this is the only sweet
water spring or well for a long distance. It is now used
by the villagers for drinking and cooking purposes, and
the overflow for irrigation, and is surrounded by a plat
form of heavy masonry where processions of women and

98 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
girls come twice a day with big jars of red pottery and
Standard Oil petroleum cans on their heads and take
home the family supply of water. We do not know, and
none can tell, where the holy family went or where they
stopped, yet it is not possible but probable that they
came to this place and found plenty of Jews to offer them
hospitality. A local tradition makes this their residence
for about three years, while Joseph worked at his trade as
carpenter in the ancient scriptural city of On, or Heli
opolis, as it is known in secular history. It had a large
population of Jews, descended from the eleven sons
of Jacob, and Joseph, their brother, who married
the daughter of the high priest of the great temple.
Jesus was descended from one of Joseph's brothers, who
settled here with the rest of the family when Jacob came
down to live under the care of his great and powerful
son. For this is the land of Goshen of the Bible, and all
the Israelites did not leave Egypt at the exodus. The
spring and the tree belong to the Greeks, who have a
church near by and a little monastery.
All that remains of the ancient City of Heliopolis is a
single obelisk, one of the only two that have been retained
in Egypt. All the rest have been taken away and now
stand in Rome, Paris, London, New York and other
cities. The other is at Karnak, 450 miles up the Nile.
Nearly all of them were given away by the Khedive Is
mail, who did not hesitate to rob his own country and
people, and even proposed to tear down the pyramids for
building material. He presented the Holy Tree and
Spring to the Empress Eugenie of France on the occasion
of the opening of the Suez Canal. She accepted them
graciously, but left them in the care of the Greek priests,
as they were before, and haye since remained. He pre-

AMONG OLD FRIENDS 99
sented the obelisk at Heliopolis to somebody else, to
whom I have forgotten, but somebody too sensible to at
tempt to carry it away.
Heliopolis, a name which means the City of the Sun, is
called "On" in Genesis, and is referred to as "The House
of the Sun" in Jeremiah. It was the seat of the worship
of the Mnevis Bull, sacred to "Ra," the great sun god of
the ancient Egyptians, whose temple was the largest and
the wealthiest in Egypt and supported a thousand priests.
Connected with it was the oldest, perhaps the first, uni
versity in the world, and many believe that the art of
writing and the alphabet were invented there. We know
almost positively that it was the birthplace, or rather the
original nursery, of mathematics. Algebra, geometry,
trigonometry and calculus were developed if not actually
invented there. This was the home of Euclid, and it was
there he worked out his problems. The city was de
stroyed by Cambyses, the Persian, who looted the temple,
massacred the priests and laid the town in ruins. Some
ancient authors say that a colony of priestly fugitives
afterward found their way to Syria and built the great
temples at Baalbek, which was also called Heliopolis, and
now in many respects rival the Colosseum, the Acropolis
of Athens, and the temples of Karnak among the most
imposing ruins in the world.
About half a mile from Heliopolis is an ostrich farm
where about 400 birds are kept in corrals and pens for
breeding purposes and double their number almost every
year. The young birds are sold to "zoos" in every coun
try, being shipped from Alexandria by steamer when they
are between 2 and 3 years old. We saw ostriches of all
sizes and ages, some splendid-looking monsters as big as
giraffes, and tiny little infants that came out of their

loo EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
shells only a few weeks before. The old story about the
ostrich producing its young by dropping an egg in the
desert and covering it up with sand may do for school
children, but is not believed down there. The manager of
the Cairo ranch says that the mother birds sit on their
eggs like ordinary fowls, and take care of their young
with equal solicitude. And I noticed when we approached
a pen in which a female ostrich was "setting," the male
birds looked very anxious and resentful, and two or three
of them rushed at us fiercely when the gate was opened.
Nor would they calm down until the keeper had convinced
them that we meant no harm.

VI
THE COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT
Egypt is full of official anomalies and contradictions.
It is nominally a province of the Ottoman Empire and
pays $3,325,000 tribute to the sultan annually, yet the
title, "khedive," worn by its ruler, means an independent
sovereign, a king, and he is frequently described as a king
of kings, a prince of emperors, who by Divine right and
grace exercises authority over all mankind. At the same
time the government is administered by Great Britain, as
I explained in a previous chapter, and the finances are
controlled by an international debt commission consisting
of delegates from France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Great
Britain and Russia, who sit at the treasury department,
collect the receipts and decide what proportion of them
shall be expended for official purposes and devote the re
mainder to a sinking fund for the payment of the bonds
held by the subjects of their respective nations. The
courts of justice in the large cities and ah of higher juris
diction, involving property or personal rights in which
a foreigner may be interested, are administered by thirty-
six judges representing fourteen different nations. Sev
en great powers send three, one of whom sits in the Ap
pellate Court, and six secondary powers send two each.
They sit with native judges in the proportion of three
foreigners to two natives, while single foreign judges sit
alone in the police court, in bankruptcy, and other minor
IOI

102 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
proceedings. This has been the arrangement since 1876,
and these mixed courts have jurisdiction over everything
except marriage, divorce and the settlements of estates,
which are in the hands of the local magistrate.
Ever since the year 11 50 Egypt has yielded to foreign
nations the right to try by their own courts any of their
subjects who may be accused of crime in that country.
The first arrangement was made in the year named with
the Republic of Genoa, which had command of the seas
for several centuries and sent traders and ships to every
port. When these traders or seamen got into trouble they
were tried before representatives of their own govern
ment, and when they had a dispute with natives the ques
tion was settled jointly by a representative of their own
government and a Turk or Egyptian. This was not ar
ranged by treaty, because the Sultan of Turkey, being the
Representative of God on Earth, the Fountain of Wisdom,
the Dispenser of Justice and the Source of all Power,
Happiness and Prosperity, could not make treaties with
inferior sovereigns, and no sovereign ranked as his equal.
Hence the agreements were called "capitulations," a word
which means "voluntary and gratuitous concessions or
favors," and under them all foreigners in Turkey enjoy
complete immunity from the laws governing the natives,
and when arrested for crime must be tried before their
consuls according to the laws of their own governments.
There was so much confusion, injustice and partiality
about this arrangement, especially because of the immu
nity of foreigners from arrest and police surveillance, that
in 1876 a new system of jurisprudence was adopted, and
Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria, Russia, Italy,
Belgium, Spain, Holland, Greece, Portugal, Denmark,
Sweden, Norway and the United States entered into the

COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT 103
present arrangement, under which mixed tribunals have
jurisdiction in all matters civil and commercial between
natives and foreigners, or between foreigners of different
nationalities. The success of the mixed tribunals is ac
knowledged by everyone. They have the confidence of
both natives and foreigners, of the people and the gov
ernment, so much so that natives who have important
commercial claims usually assign them to some foreign
trustee or friend in order to be sure of honest and im
partial consideration. Criminal jurisdiction is limited to
crimes committed by foreigners. Native criminals are
tried by the native courts, and it is a high tribute to the
character and conduct of the foreign population when one
is able to say that the high criminal court has sat but
twice since it was organized in 1876. The procedure is
that of France, the Code Napoleon being modified to suit
the peculiar conditions of people of different religions and
races. The doctrine of extra-territoriality applies in Turkey as
in all semi-civilized nations, and offenses and lawsuits are
tried before the consuls of the several governments, who
are often incompetent and dishonest; but in Egypt the
application of the doctrine has secured a court of educated
jurists. The original appointees from the United States were
Judge Barringer from North Carolina and George S.
Bacheller of New York. The latter resigned in 1889 and
returned to the United States, where he served for sev
eral years as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, but in
1898 was reappointed to his old post, succeeding Walker
Fearn of Alabama, who was chief of the department of
foreign affairs at the Columbian exposition. Judge Mor
gan of Louisiana, afterward minister to Mexico, was one

I04 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
of the early judges. Judge Barringer was succeeded by
A. 'M. Kielley of Richmond, who resigned in 1902. Mr.
Farnham, Judge Kinsman of Massachusetts and Ernest
H. Crosby of New York served a few months. The pres
ent representatives of the United States are George S.
Bacheller and Somerville Tuck of Maryland, an accom
plished scholar and linguist.
Like all the employes of Egypt, the salaries of the for
eign judges are twice as much as those paid to the na
tives. In the upper courts they receive $9,250 a year and
in the lower courts $7,000. While these mixed tribunals
are not intended to produce a revenue, they have not only
paid all of their own expenses, but have turned a hand
some surplus into the treasury every year, which has
grown rapidly with their business. They cost £158,000,
and the receipts last year were £521,000.
While the higher courts of Egypt, both foreign and
native, are a credit to the country and satisfactory to all
concerned, the lower courts are corrupt, incompetent and
unsatisfactory, particularly in the country districts. Lord
Cromer in discussing this question in a recent report,
calls attention to the fact that until 1882 the people of
Egypt had practically no system of justice whatever, and
in trying to establish courts the officials had to deal with
habits of thought, customs and morals which were the
growth of centuries. And especially with a population
who were accustomed to misgovemment and to whom the
action of a magistrate had always been as great a terror
to the innocent as to the guilty ; but he congratulates the
pubHc as well as himself upon the rapid improvement
which is apparent to everyone having to do with crime or
litigation, and declares that the problem is being worked
out as rapidly as competent agents can be found. He

COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT 105
does not approve of the suggestion frequently made that
foreign judges should be sent to the minor courts
throughout the country, and insists that it is much better
to tolerate a certain amount of inefficiency, injustice and
corruption and to be content with slow progress rather
than eliminate natives from the administration.
I mention this point particularly because it applies to
our own problem in the Philippines with quite as much
force as to Egypt, and Lord Cromer has set Governor
Wright an excellent example in bringing as many natives
as possible into the public service. He further says:
"Our policy consists in using native agencies to the
utmost extent possible without seriously impairing the
efficiency of the service. I do not admit that our policy
has failed. It has succeeded quite as well as could reason
ably be expected. Twenty years is a short time in the
life of a nation, and it is only during the last twenty
years that the Egyptians have had a fair chance of train
ing themselves to be of service to their country. To
those, therefore, who advocate a radical and, as I venture
to think, retrograde change, I would counsel patience;
and to the young Egyptians who have had no personal
experience of the abuses of the past and who are possibly
disposed to undertake the difficulties involved in the gov
ernment of their own country, I venture to give a word of
friendly advice ; and that is, to be somewhat moderate in
their estimate of their own capacities."
The statistics show an increase of crime in Egypt, but
the police officials explain that it is more apparent than
real ; that the larger number of arrests and convictions re
ported for petty offenses in recent years is due not to in
creased depravity or to a lower condition of morals, but
to greater activity on the part of the police and greater

io6 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
severity in imposing the penalties of the law. Those who
are authorized to discuss this question agree in the opin
ion that the morals of the people are slowly, very slowly,
improving, and that the efficiency of the police and the
courts is much greater than it ever was.
There are still other and ancient methods of avenging
wrongs and deciding disputes in Egypt. An official of
the government in one of the upper provinces tells this
story :
"Taha Ali and Ahmed Hamad carried on the business
of butchers in partnership. Taha Ali informed Ahmed
Hamad that a sum of $10.50 belonging to the partnership,
which had been left with him, had been stolen. Ahmed
Hamad did not believe the story, and accused Taha Ali
of theft. They decided to refer the matter to a fakir, who
had settled in the neighborhood, to be tried by a system of
ordeal. The two men accordingly went to the fakir. He
copied some passages from certain religious books in his
possession upon a native writing board with European
writing ink, washed off the writing with water into a
bowl, dipped some bread into the water, and divided the
bread and water between the two disputants, tehing them
that the one who was in the wrong would become very ill.
After eating the bread and drinking the water the two
disputants went away. Taha AH shortly afterward was
seized with violent pains, and returning to the fakir con
fessed that he had stolen the money. His condition be
came rapidly worse, and he died a few hours later. The
medical examination disclosed no sign of poisoning.
"With the object of ascertaining how far the beHef was
prevalent that the ordeal was a responsible method of de
tecting crime, I told the story of two natives, the one a
religious sheik holding a high position, the other a na-

COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT 107
tive servant who had for many years been in the service
of English masters.
"The sheik, while not doubting that crime could be
detected by similar means if employed by a man of holy
life, was of opinion that the fakir was an impostor. At
the same time, he did not consider that he should be pun
ished. He repeated a well-known story of a man who
died at his friend's house immediately after eating some
honey. Grave suspicion fell upon the friend, who only"
escaped punishment by the discovery of a dead serpent
coiled up at the bottom of the pot. The sheik con
cluded that, in this case, possibly a snake might have spat
into the inkpot."
The population of ancient Egypt is a subject upon
which archseologists and historians differ widely and up
on which they can never agree. We know from the
twelfth chapter of Exodus that six hundred thousand
men on foot, which means men of fighting age, went
away with Moses, which would represent not less than
three millions of Israelites involved in the exodus ; and
they were slaves. The population remaining must have
been at least double that number. Some authorities as
sert that there were twenty millions of people in Egypt at
this time. Others contend tliat the soil could not have
sustained so many people. The inscriptions upon the
monuments and in the tombs, which have contributed so
much to our historical information and are considered
reliable, tell us nothing ; and we have no authentic figures
until the occupation of Egypt by the Romans, when seven
and a half million persons paid the poll tax, without reck
oning slaves, and they probably represented a population
of twelve millions of men, women and children. During
the occupation of the country by Napoleon at the end of

io8 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the eighteenth century the number had been reduced to
2,460,200, and afterward, according to excellent author
ity, it fell as low as a miUion and a half. In 1821 a cen
sus showed 2,536,400; in 1846 another census gave a
total of 4,476,440; in 1882 this had increased to
6,806,381, and there has been a gradual growth until
the most recent census, taken in 1897 under British super
vision, which indicated a total population of 9,734,405,
of whom 112,526 were foreigners and 245,779 Bedouins,
or nomads without fixed places of abode.
Of the foreign residents the following nations were
represented :
Spaniards  765 Swiss  472
Greeks  38,175 Americans  291
Italians  24,467 Belgians  256
EngHsh  19.557 Dutch  247
French  I4,I5S Portuguese  151
Austrians  7,i 17 Swedes  107
Russians  3.193 Danes  72
Persians  1,301 Other nations  923
Germans  1.277
Classified according to religion, there are 8,978,775
Mohammedans, 608,000 Copts, 122,000 Greek and Ro
man Catholics, 22,200 Jews and 24,016 Protestants.
The Mohammedans of Egypt are much more liberal
and tolerant than members of their faith in other parts of
Islam, and such fanaticism as exists is kept in check by
the police and the large foreign population. It is the
uniform testimony of Christian missionaries that they are
allowed to worship and teach without interference of any
kind, and religion is as free as it is in the United States.

COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT 109
The Copts are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians
and are the cleverest and best-educated portion of the
native population. They practice the professions, and
fill the government offices and clerical positions. St.
Mark, who came to Alexandria after the crucifixion, con
verted them to Christianity and before the end of the
third century they had very generally accepted that faith.
At the council of Chalcedon in the year 451, however,
they separated themselves from the rest of the church by
refusing to accept the dogma that Christ had a double
nature. They denied that he was human, and insisted
that he was only divine, and to that belief they have ad
hered until the present moment. It is the chief point of
importance in their creed. It is quite difficult to dis
tinguish Copts from the Greek Catholics, and there is
really very little difference in their teachings and forms
of worship. This sect is almost exclusively confined to
Egypt, Abyssinia and other African countries and the
head of their organization is the patriarch of Alexandria.
The bedouins are the descendants of Esau. They dwell
in tents of camel's hair in the desert and have large herds
and flocks. They are also engaged in the transportation
business by camel caravans and are famous for their en
durance, their courage and hospitality; but when they
settle down to village or town life they soon lose the
manly qualities so much admired in the desert nomads
and become dissipated and depraved.
The Jews of Egypt, as elsewhere, are an important
part of the community and control financial and commer
cial affairs to a great extent. They are bankers, money
lenders, exporting and importing merchants, conspicu
ous for their enterprise and wealth. They adapt them
selves to customs and circumstances with the same facility

IIO EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
that they show elsewhere, and many of them wear the
Arab dress and the Mohammedan fez.
The Greeks are also conspicuous in commercial circles
and are quite as important as the Jews. They own some
of the best property, and control some of the most profit
able enterprises in Egypt. They make money rapidly, are
prudent in their investments and economical in their
habits. The same may be said of the Armenians, who
number several hundred and occupy similar positions in
the commercial community.
The laboring class are chiefly Arsibs, with a consider
able number of Nubians, who are very black and are us
ually employed as domestic servants. They can be de
pended upon for honesty and obedience, learn readily and
are efficient and intelligent in the performance of their
duty. The foreign commerce of Egypt amounts to about
$160,000,000 a year. The exports during the last few
years have exceeded the imports, leaving a handsome bal
ance of trade in favor of the country. During 1902 the
imports were £14,814,688 and the exports £17,617,003.
Great Britain has the bulk of the commerce. Her ex
ports to Egypt in 1902 amounted to £5,447,115, and her
imports from £9,215,111. In addition to the United
Kingdom, the British colonies in the East send tea, fruit
and other merchandise to Egypt. Turkey comes next in
order, then France and Germany. The trade of the
United States with Egypt is very one-sided. In 1902 we
bought $5,891,945 of her products, according to the
Egyptian statistics, and sold her $985,350 of our mer
chandise. Trade has been running that way for the last
ten years.
Coal is one of the most important imports because of

COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT in
the demand from vessels passing through the canal, but
the United States has only an insignificant share of the
trade. In 1902 Great Britain contributed 2,020,843 tons
and the rest of the world 16,211 tons. Of this the United
States furnished 12,616 tons, and the report of the official
statistician says, with unnecessary emphasis, that "this
little importation need not be regarded in the light of
serious competition with Great Britain. The coal was
imported in four bottoms by an influential Egyptian in
barter for four cargoes of sugar, the same ships discharg
ing the one and loading the other. This transaction
caused some unnecessary excitement in local circles, it be
ing considered that the coal should have been ordered in
the usual way, and that the sugar should have been
tendered through this market. If the coal proved better
than British coal, and if the sugar fetched more money
by the barter than by local sales, the Daira may be con
gratulated." The principal imports of Egypt are cotton fabrics and
raw cotton. The latter comes from Arabia and the
neighboring states and is reshipped to Europe and the
United States; coal and other forms of fuel, which are
largely sold to steamers passing through the Suez Canal ;
manufactures of iron and steel; tobacco and food prod
ucts. Although Egyptian cigarettes are famous and sold
in vast quantities all over the world, no tobacco is grown
in the country. Its cultivation was suppressed by Me
hemet Ali, who was khedive sixty years ago, because he
wisely feared that it would exhaust the soil, and believed
that sugar and cotton would be more profitable to the
farmers. Hence the numerous and large cigarette facto
ries which employ many thousands of men, women and
girls in Alexandria, Cairo, Port Said and other cities get

112 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
their supplies of tobacco from other Turkish provinces.
Cotton is the great export and is gradually increasing
as the irrigation system is extended, but the demand from
the United States and elsewhere is growing much more
rapidly than the supply. In 1903 the crop amounted to
636,991,100 pounds, which was next to the largest on
record. An idea of the industry may be obtained by
glancing over the figures for the last thirty years, for in
1870 the crop amounted to less than 150,000,000 pounds.
In 1880 it had grown to 277,640,000, in 1890 to 407,-
250,000, and so it has been creeping up to the present
figures. The following table, showing the export of cotton in
bales for twenty years to the United States, to Great Brit
ain and to all the world, will, I am sure, be of interest to
many people who are in or out of the cotton trade :
Year. Great Britain. United States. Total.
1882-83  235,300
1883-84  249,641
1884-85  300,098
1885-86  230,549
1886-87  263,510
1887-88  249,262
1888-89  228,043
1889-90  268,076
1890-91  280,668
1891-92  33I.OII
1892-93  312,190
1893-94  312,386
1894-95  276,646
1895-96  337.078
1896-97  343.822

328,444

380,920

497,062

397.333
413.357
405,606
380,077
426,305
18,790
537.378
25.673
612,525
38.54s
673.361
29.509
665,402
44.550
634,981
59.339
680,960
51.056
750,656
COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT 113
Year. Great Britain. United States. Total.
1897-98  347.410 54.979 827,870
1898-99  343.951 ' 52,235 735,162
1899-00  405.303 72.196 850,867
1900-01  325.787 57.715 706,892
1901-02  322,821 106,565 859,217
Another important item among the exports to us is
rags. I cannot give the exact figures. I have not been
able to find them, and learn that, for some reason, they
are never reported. It has been intimated that the facts
concerning the trade in rags have been concealed by the
United States consul because he charges fees for fumi
gating them, and prefers that the public should not know
the extent of his income from that source, but that is not
a reasonable explanation. It is quite necessary that all
rags shipped from oriental countries to the paper mills of
the United States should be fumigated as thoroughly as
possible, for no bugologist could enumerate or describe
the insect and microbe life that exists among them. Their
very odor would make good fertilizer.
These rags go chiefly to the paper mills of Holyoke,
Mass., and are collected for export off the backs of the
common people who wear nothing but cotton, and wear it
as long as it holds together. The universal garment of
Egypt is a breech-clout ; that is limited to individuals of
both sexes above the age of 12. Below that age, outside
of the cities, the children wear nothing but the conscious
ness of their own innocence. Some youngsters vary the
"altogether" by tying a red string around their waists or
wearing silver bands around their ankles; and occasion
ally an urchin is fortunate enough to get hold of an em
broidered cap or an old fez which makes him superior to

114 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
his playmates. He feels like a young American boy in his
first pair of pants.
But grown-up people, that is, those who have passed
the age of 12, are required by the police to wear at least
one garment, and that is a tunic, cut like a nightgown,
which reaches to the heels. And it is usually made of
blue or white cotton woven in the mills at Manchester,
England. Formerly there was a great deal of home
weaving here and the cloth was superior to factory goods.
But the latter are so much cheaper that they have driven
the hand looms out of the houses. Most of the cotton is
brought in white and the natives dye it with indigo from
India. They have tried to produce indigo here but it has
never been a success.
When these garments are worn to rags they are col
lected by peddlers representing junk dealers in Cairo and
Alexandria, who go about on donkeys from village to vil
lage very much as peddlers and rag buyers do in the
United States, trading new cottons and household uten
sils for the old. The rags are forwarded to Alexandria
in gunnysacks, and are there fumigated and packed in
bales for shipment to Boston. The United States consul
is required to see that they are thoroughly fumigated.
Formerly a good deal of linen was shipped from Egypt
to the paper mills of the United States, but that trade is
obsolete because so little linen is worn. Mehemet Ali in
troduced cotton into Egypt about seventy-five years ago.
Until then the people raised flax and wore nothing but
linen made on their own looms. This apparel had been
worn by the Egyptians since the time of Joseph and
Moses, and indeed from the very beginning of things. In
some of the far-off villages flax is still grown, and linen
garments are still worn, and occasionally you will find

COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT 115
beautiful specimens as fine and as soft as silk, with a
luster that is never lost.
Mummies are wound in cerements of linen, and there
used to be a popular impression that the car loads of linen
imported into the United States was stripped from them ;
but that is a mistake. It came from viUages of live people
who were then still wearing it from the time before the
cotton trade of Egypt received its great impetus by our
civil war. When the supply of raw cotton from the
United States was shut off, the British manufacturers in
duced the Egyptian farmers to cultivate the staple as ex
tensively as possible and they made an immense amount
of money. Then, when the war closed and the price of
cotton went down, the linen trade was practically broken
up ; but the supply already on hand in the shops and the
houses lasted for several years, and it was that which we
imported, and not mummy cloth. After lying in a grave
for two or three thousand years the vitality of the fiber is
exhausted. Grave robbing still goes on. Mummies can be bought
secretly through dealers in antiquities, who have under
ground relations with the grave robbers. Twenty or
thirty years ago, however, there was a great deal more
of this rascality than now, for the government is trying
hard to stop it. On the banks of the Nile the entire dis
tance between Cairo and the second cataract there is al
most a continuous cemetery, millions of people being
buried in the desert sand and in tombs chiseled out of the
rock, where it was easy for human jackals and vandals to
burrow them out, search the bodies for ornaments and
scarabs, and if they were well preserved to box them up
and send them off to antiquity dealers. Twenty-five
years ago well-preserved mummies would not bring more

n6 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
than five or ten dollars in the curio market, and first-class
ones with the wooden cases in which they were found
could be purchased in carload lots for a hundred dollars
each. And that is the way so many museums got them.
Perhaps those who refuse to accept the testimony of
the loyal and conscientious officers and soldiers of our
own army regarding the benefits of the canteen may be
willing to accept the evidence of Lord Cromer concern
ing the operation of the plan in Egypt and its effect upon
the morals and habits of the soldiers. In his latest report
to the government in London, he says :
"An experiment under somewhat novel conditions has
recently been tried in Cairo, with the twofold object of
enlivening the ordinary Hfe of the British soldiers in gar
rison and of providing an antidote against drunkenness.
Without going into the details of the rules, I may say
that practically every one wearing the king's uniform
may make use of the club without paying any subscrip
tion. An officer is president of the club, and the finances
are placed under the supervision of a committee of
officers, but the detailed management is entirely in the
hands of the men themselves. They are responsible for
the good behavior and orderly conduct of the members.
The only penalty for misconduct is that the offending
member may be precluded from using the club either
permanently or for a fixed period. I should add that al
coholic drinks are supplied in moderation.
"The soldiers belonging to the Cairo garrison have
amply justified the confidence reposed in them. The aver
age daily attendance is more than 200. On some days,
more especially on Saturdays and Sundays, some 300 to
400 men use the club. About 100 meals are served daily.
I am informed that since the creation of the club there

COURTS AND COMMERCE OF EGYPT 117
has been a reduction of no less than 33 per cent in cases
of drunkenness among the garrison.
"An institution of this nature was very much required
in Cairo. Previous to the creation of the club, the sol
dier, when once outside the barracks, was almost forced
to go for amusement or refreshment to one of the numer
ous bars or public-houses, which abound in the town,
where he was only too often supplied with the most poi
sonous liquor and exposed to temptations of various
kinds. My main object, however, in giving publicity to
the facts, is that it seems to me possible that, even in
other garrison towns where the special circumstances
which prevail in Cairo do not exist, or exist in a less de
gree, it may be found expedient to try a somewhat similar
experiment. I repeat that the special features of the
Cairo institution are (i) management by the soldiers
themselves; (2) permission to supply alcoholic drinks in
moderation. "I need not in this place enter into the financial details
connected with this subject, but the proper authorities
would, without doubt, be able to furnish information on
these matters, incase it should be required."

VII

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY

The University of Cairo, El Azhar, as it is caHed, for
centuries has been one of the most famous in the world,
and wherever you go in Mohammedan countries you wiU
hear it spoken of as a great institution, one of the great
est, oldest and most influential in all the universe, with a
faculty of wise, learned and progressive men. It is the
only institution for higher education under the care of
Islam, and young Mohammedans of wealth and future
responsibilities are sent there from every land in which
faith in the prophet is proclaimed. It is perhaps the old
est of all universities, being the outgrowth of the
Serapeum which was established at Alexandria by Ptole
my Soter 300 B. C, as stated in a previous chapter, in
connection with the great library. Saladin, however, was
the actual founder of the present institution, about 1 170.
He gave it its present home, which it has occupied ever
since, and there is not the slightest doubt that at one time
it did exercise a powerful influence throughout the civil
ized portion of the world.
It is not what we would consider a university. At
least it is not arranged or conducted upon the plan we
are accustomed to ; but it has from 10,000 to 12,000 stu
dents from all parts of Turkey, Syria, Algiers, India,
Bokhara, Turkestan, Afghanistan and the other Moham
medan countries. Most of them, however, are from
118

ONE OF THE PROFESSORS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO -
FOUNDED BY SALADIN

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 119
Egypt and the countries immediately surrounding it.
The faculty numbers about 350 mullahs, or priests,
many of whom are absolutely ignorant of every branch of
learning except the theology of the Koran, which they
teach after the interpretation of the sect to which they
belong. Several of the professors have a wide reputation
for scholarship, and perhaps there is more profound
knowledge of the oriental languages and literature among
them than elsewhere. Not long ago one of them accepted
a call to a chair in an American college, and carried with
him an ability and knowledge of Sanskrit and the ancient
and modern tongues of the East perhaps unequaled by
any other living scholar.
There is no regular organization of the university. All
a student has to do is to sign his name and address in a
book at headquarters in the mosque of El Azhar, select
the professor whose, instruction he desires and learn
what hours that particular professor lectures. Then he
will go to the great building, covering several acres of
ground. There are no chairs, no desks, or rooms — only
a roof supported by nearly a thousand columns of gran
ite and marble, surrounding a vast paved court yard.
His professor will be squatted on the floor at the base of
a particular column, where he goes every day, and will be
surrounded by his students, to whom he will talk in a
familiar way for an hour or two every morning or every
afternoon, as the case may be, with or without notes. A
student may make memoranda of the words of the pro
fessor, but it it not customary. All the eastern races
have extraordinary memories. The professor sometimes
furnishes those who inquire a list of books pertaining to
the subject under discussion, but that is. not usual or
important. Nor does he ever keep a record of the num-

I20 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
ber of pupils who attend his lectures. It is not necessary
for him to do so. They pay him no fees ; there are no
examinations, no marks of merit or demerit, and, as I
have told you, the officials know only the name of the
student and the date of his coming. He stays as long as
he pleases, and there is no record of his departure. It is
a go-as-you-please institution all around.
The professors expect no fixed pay. They have no
salaries whatever, and students are not required to give
them anything ; but most of them receive a certain num
ber of loaves of bread twice a week, which they can eat,
or sell, or dispose of in any way they like, and
that is their only regular compensation. This bread
is purchased from a fund acquired by gifts of land,
houses, money and other valuables. In past years several
of the khedives have endowed the institution generously
and rich men in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries
have bequeathed considerable sums from time to time,
but there is no arrangement for the founding of chairs or
the endowment of departments, as we are accustomed to.
Professors who win friends for themselves and fame for
the university are often recipients of large gifts. Some
of them are very well off and can afford to teach for
nothing; others act as tutors for the sons of rich men
who do not care to mingle with the crowd at the uni
versity and are well paid, while still more practice law or
hold clerkships under the government or are attached to
different mosques throughout the city, where they draw
salaries. The professors are not elected or chosen or appointed
by any authority. Anybody can teach in the university
provided he does not make himself offensive to the other

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 121
professors and can attract students. As one gentleman
explained to me :
"Any crank with ideas can go there any day, find an
unoccupied place and discourse according to his own
pleasure on any subject that may occur to him. He needs
no license, and it is not necessary for him to ask permis
sion of anybody. Half the men who are teaching there
now were originally volunteers, and this freedom of dis
cussion has been the cause of many heretical factions in
the Mohammedan Church. A priest who thinks he has
discovered a new interpretation of some passage in the
Koran or some new theological doctrine can go to El
Azhar, and if he is fortunate enough to find a place vacant
on the matting can explain and expound his ideas day
after day as long as anybody will listen to him."
Even a Protestant missionary is allowed to lecture at
the university, although he is not considered a member of
the faculty. He has never been interfered with. Rev.
Makhiel Mansoor, a native Arab convert from Islam,
and a graduate of the theological seminary of the Amer
ican United Presbyterian Mission of Cairo, appears at
El Azhar almost daily to speak to whomever will listen
concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ and to advocate,
defend and explain the doctrines of Christianity. Having
formerly been a Mohammedan and having a thorough
knowledge of that religion, he is able to compare the two
intelHgently, and does so with a kindly spirit as well as a
courtesy and deference that commands the respect of all.
He usually has an audience, or a class as might better be
said, of twenty or thirty young men attending regularly,
and frequently the venerable moulahs of the mosque stop
to listen to what he is saying.
Three-fourths of the students are studying theology.

122 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
There also are professors of philosophy, astronomy, geog
raphy and all the ologies; but very little practical
science. Some of the teachers have classes in reading and
writing. When we went there one day half a dozen had
groups of twenty or thirty youngsters under lo years of
age circled around them, whom they were teaching to
read and write. Several classes, a little older, were
studying geography and arithmetic, and I noticed that
all of them were using tin from the cans of the Standard
Oil Company for slates. They would write their lessons
or their exercises with a pen whittled down from a reed
and ordinary India ink, and at the close of the class would
wash their tin slates clean again. These are volunteer
classes, like the rest, but pay small fees, and the peda
gogues save the rent of a schoolroom by coming to the
university building to do their teaching.
I also noticed several classes of comparatively old men,
who turned out to be priests and other ecclesiastics of the
Mohammedan Church, who were having the Koran
expounded to them by eminent theologians. But the
larger number of the students were young men with
earnest and intelligent faces, whose attention was not
diverted by the intrusion of a party of yankees, who
stared about with curiosity.
Imagine an enormous hall of several acres without
partitions, and with a low ceiling not more than eighteen
or twenty feet above the floor, supported by innumerable
columns. The floor is covered with palm matting, and
sitting cross-legged Hke tailors in all the costumes of the
East were several thousand men and boys varying in age
from 8 or 9 years to 70 years or older. Some of the lec
turers talk so loudly that they must disturb those around
them ; others spoke in low, dignified, serious tones. As a

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 123
rule, the professors are men of intellectual appearance and
dignified demeanor. Many of the students were reading
from books, and, as they did so, they swayed their bodies
back and forth as if they had a very loose hinge at the
end of their spines. Some who were listening to lectures
did the same, and we were told that this gymnastic per
formance was introduced at oriental schools ages ago to
keep the students from going to sleep. We noticed also
that everybody was studying out loud. That is the prac
tice in all eastern countries. No Turk or Chinaman or
Jew or Arab ever reads to himself, and he will tell you
that it is necessary for him to hear what he is reading be
cause he cannot understand its meaning by simply look
ing at the text. When he reads a sentence so that he can
hear it, he can remember it, but it is difficult to learn any
thing through the eyes alone. Hence every school you
approach in China or Egypt, or any of the eastern coun
tries, can be heard almost as far as it can be seen, and you
wonder how a teacher can do anything as long as the
murmur of voices continues. This was formerly true of
Japan, but now silent study is the rule in the schools of
that empire.
There are several schools in Cairo of much higher pro
fessional standard than El Azhar, and they are conducted
upon modern methods. In the city are eight professional
schools and technical colleges of a high grade, teaching
law, medicine, engineering, chemistry, electricity and
other sciences. The educational privileges for the com
mon people there and in Alexandria and in some of the
other large towns are exceUent, but it has been impossible
to extend them rapidly through the smaller towns and
villages because of a lack of teachers. The department
of public instruction is well supported by the government

124 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and is doing as much as possible under the circumstances,
but the development of the school system is very slow.
In a recent report the director of education informs us
that the number of teachers in the public schools has in
creased from 499 in 1898 to 1,364 in 1903, and the num
ber of pupils from 2,534 to 26,331. This, of course, is
very encouraging, especially as the number of girl pupils
has increased from 398 to 2,140, which shows that light is
breaking in upon the Egyptian people, and that the re
strictions surrounding women are gradually breaking
down. In addition to the public schools mentioned the
number of "kuttabs" or Mohammedan parish schools
taught by teachers whose salaries are paid by the govern
ment has increased from 301 to 729, and the number of
pupils from 2,213 to 7,049. Children attending the "kut
tabs" are taught from the Koran, the principles and doc
trines of Islam, in addition to a good primary education,
and the government has found it necessary to encourage
them because so many strict Mohammedans prefer their
children to remain ignorant rather than permit them to
attend any but a church school.
Three training colleges for teachers established within
the last ten years are beginning to be felt in the number
of candidates who present themselves for examination.
The government will not allow incompetent teachers to
take charge, and schools can be established only as rap
idly as competent teachers can be found for them. In
1899 1,560 certificates were granted ; the next year 1,753;
the next 1,915 ; and in 1902 2,111. Every successful can
didate who presented himself or herself was assigned to
a school, but many young Egyptians take advantage of
the normal schools to prepare themselves for positions
under the government, instead of becoming teachers. No

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 125
distinction is made in the appointment of teachers on ac
count of race or religion and in 1902 of the new teachers
appointed 485 were Moslems, 269 were Christians, 23 1
were Copts and the remainder Jews. In comparison with
their numbers, the Copts furnish more teachers and more
pupils than any other race. The majority of Mohamme
dans do not take much interest in education either for
themselves or their children.
In addition to the government schools, the superin
tendent of education reports at least 10,000 kuttabs, or
parish schools, scattered over the country attended by
about 200,000 children, but they are of little educational
value because the teachers are illiterate, many of them
are blind, others are members of the priesthood and in
most of them the teaching is without books, purely by
rote, and limited to committing to memory extracts from
the Koran. When the government offers competent
teachers for these kuttabs, without cost to the patrons,
and provides instruction daily for nine months of the
year in reading, writing, arithmetic and other rudi
mentary branches, the people are generally willing to ac
cept the aid, and thus the kuttabs are being gradually
brought under government control and inspection.
The several government schools of law, medicine, en
gineering, agriculture and other branches of science are
well located, have competent faculties and are largely
attended. Speaking generally, the British "occupation"
has been as beneficial to the Egyptian people from an
educational as from a financial standpoint.
Assiut, 230 miles from Cairo, capital of a province of
the same name, a city of 45,000 inhabitants, with spacious
bazaars and many factories, is particularly interesting to
American tourists because the United Presbyterian

126 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Church of America maintains there an educational estab
lishment in which between six and seven hundred native
boys are being trained for useful citizenship. It is the
largest school in Egypt excepting the El Azhar Univer
sity of Cairo, and has been running long enough to
receive the sons of many of its earlier graduates. I can
not begin to tell you of the good this school has done.
Its influence extends to every part of the country. Its
alumni are among the most influential and useful of the
younger generation of officials and citizens, and a large
number of the public schools throughout the country are
taught by its graduates.
Egypt needs nothing so much as school teachers, and
this college is turning them out at the rate of forty or
fifty a year. Lord Cromer, the British resident, in his
latest report explained the difficulty of securing compe
tent teachers. He told me that the educational system
of the country was being extended in the towns and vil
lages as fast as they could be obtained, but he could not
get half as many as were needed. The American school
at Assiut educates more competent teachers than any
other institution in Egypt, and it will surprise you to
learn that the native converts of the United Presbyterian
native mission churches pay more than one-half the ex
pense of maintaining not only this but all of the 170
schools under the care of the American missionaries.
These schools are scattered up and down the Valley of
the Nile. Thirty-two of them are for girls, with 3,112
pupils, which is remarkable evidence of the modification
of the hereditary prejudices of the Egyptians against the
education of women. In the 138 schools for boys are
9,730 pupils, making a total of 12,942 altogether, who are
being educated at a total cost of $65,911 in 1903, of

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 127
which the natives paid $41,131. It is an extraordinary
fact. The remainder of the funds come from the United
Presbyterian missionary board and from voluntary con
tributions. Of the pupils in the American schools 12,033 are Egyp
tians, 6,370 belong to the Coptic Church, 2,968 are Mos
lems, 934 are Roman Catholics and Jews, and the re
mainder are Protestants. The school at Assiut is in
charge of Rev. J. R. Alexander, D. D., and Professor R.
S. McClenahan, with Messrs. W. W. McCall, Elbert Mc-
Creary, D. G. Beavers, J. J. Veazey and J. H. Grier.
The total enrollment for the year 1903 was 670 students,
ranging in age from 10 to 25 years, and 511 of them
were boarders. The senior class numbered fifteen stu
dents, the largest in the history of the college. A great
deal of attention is paid to business and industrial train
ing, and an effort is being made to add a manual train
ing school to teach the Egyptian boys the use of modern
tools and methods of agriculture.
At Luxor is another school for girls, which was estab-
Hshed in 1902, and within a year had 150 pupils, of
whom more than 25 per cent were Mohammedans. It is
under the charge of Miss Buchanan, who comes from
Hebron, Ind., and Miss Jennie L. Gibson, of Vermont.
A new building, made possible by the generosity of
friends in the United States, has recently been com
pleted and furnished accommodations for about 123
boarders. The public examination which took place in
the summer of 1903 created a sensation in Luxor, because
it was the first time that Mohammedan girls ever partici
pated in a ceremony of that kind, and of course it caused
much comment and criticism, which, however, did good
rather than harm, because it advertised the school exten-

128 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
sively and established a precedent that will be of the great
est usefulness. Forty-seven Mohammedan girls appeared
before the public with their faces uncovered. It was un
precedented, and a trying ordeal, but not one of them
failed gracefully to perform her part of the programme.
The education of Mohammedan girls is becoming popu
lar, notwithstanding the traditional prejudice against it
and the restrictions that have always been imposed upon
their sex. The conservative element still regard it with
disfavor or indifference, and still ask what is the use of
educating women, because they have no souls, and no
destiny except to become mothers of men. But many
families are beginning to realize that it is an advantage
for a girl to know how to read and write and cipher;
she makes a more useful wife and mother, and a more
competent housekeeper. This applies particularly to the
middle classes and to the Copt girls, who assist their
parents in conducting shops and other business matters;
but the masses of the people are stagnant. They know
nothing about education ; therefore they care nothing for
it. The Arabs and native Egyptians are not progressive.
Everything of importance in the country is done by for
eigners. Even the khedive is a foreigner, an Albanian.
The missionary schools for boys are popular because
they furnish a better education than can be obtained else
where for those who are seeking employment under the
government, the railway companies and in professional
and mercantile circles. Nearly every graduate of the
138 schools maintained by the American U. P. mission
has succeeded in securing lucrative employment as a
teacher in public schools or in the administrative depart
ments of the government. Rev. Dr. Chauncey Murch,
who comes from Toledo and has been working at

FATIMA

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 129
Luxor since 1884, has a school of 120 bright young
Egyptians, most of them Copts and Moslems. They
begin with the study of Arabic, then take up EngHsh
and go through the common-school branches in both
languages. The harem is going out of style. The condition of
women in Egypt is gradually changing. During the last
twenty years, since the English "occupation," there has
been a remarkable evolution in the social life of the
higher classes and nowadays few of them have more
than one wife. This change is attributed to several
causes. First, to the education of the women, for an
English governess is now as necessary to the household
of a well-to-do family as a cook, and every girl is taught
at least the common branches. Several high-class private
boarding and day schools established for the foreign pop
ulation are also patronized by the natives, and in them
the latter come in contact with and absorb the ideas and
adopt the customs of their English and French asso
ciates. A similar change has been going on with regard
to dress and housekeeping, and unless an Egyptian has
an unusually large income it is impossible for him to
maintain an old-fashioned harem with half a dozen wives
and forty or fifty children. Hence economic and social
reasons instead of moral have brought about the change.
It should be said also that the example of the khedive
and his father, his uncles and his aunts, has had great
influence in changing the fashion. Few princes of the
present dynasty have had more than one wife, and none
of the princesses have married men who have other wives.
I believe the single exception is that of Ismail Pasha, the
spendthrift khedive, who had about 300 women in his
harem, including a choice collection of European profes-

130 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
sional beauties. The educated women of the higher
families, however, are very conservative, and adhere to
ancient customs with great tenacity, notwithstanding
their education and their knowledge of the world. They
do not appear in public much more than they ever did,
and continue to wear veils over their faces. They teach
their daughters to do so, because they consider it im
modest for a woman to show her face outside of her own
household, and it will take another generation to break
down that inherited prejudice.
The informality of divorce is still the subject of criti
cism. Although an Egyptian can get rid of an un
loved wife by repeating to her three times the words,
"I divorce thee," in the presence of witnesses, and re
turning to her the full amount of her dower, among the
educated classes this form of separation is very rare.
Among the common people it is still quite common, and
when a peasant becomes tired of a wife he can get rid of
her in short order.
Professional mourners are still employed, and when
a person dies they are hired to shriek and howl before
the house and at the funeral to prove the grief of the
family. They are vultures, and can scent sorrow with
extraordinary accuracy. They usually reach a bereaved
home before the undertaker, and will squat outside a
house in which a person is lying ill waiting to hear of the
death. They then call upon the head of the family for
backsheesh, and begin their lamentations as soon as they
receive it. The howling continues until the body of the
dead is deposited in the grave, when they will hunt for
another job. The professional mourners are still tol
erated because of moral cowardice. Modernized Egyp
tians talk frankly about the absurdity of the custom, and

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 131
when you ask why they do not abolish it they shrug their
shoulders and reply :
"Who will start the fashion?"
The same is true of the ancient marriage customs,
which are still preserved. According to the old ways
every wedding is attended with noisy processions, the
ilumination of streets, the feasting of friends and func
tions of public and private character, which often con
tinue for a week. The bridegroom goes to the home of
the bride-elect, escorted by a brass band, the members of
his household, his servants and employes and a multi
tude of his friends riding in carriages, on horseback or
donkeys and trudging along on foot, with as much noise
and enthusiasm as is usually shown in a political cam
paign. The house of the bride's father is illuminated with
thousands of candles and lamps and surrounded by crowds
which extend into the street and block the way. There
is a big supper and plenty of hilarity, but if the family
are good Mohammedans there is no wine or liquor of any
kind, which is a fortunate thing. In many cases, how
ever, the injunctions of the prophet are not observed, and
the results are unfortunate and often disgraceful. The
bride, accompanied by friends and relatives, the servants
of her family and the employes of her father, is then
escorted to her future home, where similar hospi
tality is extended, and the rest of the night is
spent in conviviality. Formerly the happy woman was
borne in a palanquin borne by two camels, but nowadays
she usually goes in a carriage covered with Persian
shawls. The day after the wedding a drove of camels
loaded with her dower and presents is escorted with a
brass band to her new home.
It is painful to hear Egyptians say that their innocent

132 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
dancing girls, or ghawazi, as they call them, the shame
less creatures who stand on platforms in cafes and other
places of amusement and wriggle their abdomens before
large audiences of men, were demoralized by their asso
ciation with Americans who visited the Midway during
the world's fair. Patriotic Egyptians assure one with a
serious face, and I haven't the slightest doubt of their sin
cerity, that the so-called dancers who went to Chicago
brought back bad habits and immodest customs which
have been imitated by those who stayed at home, until
the "danse du ventre" is no longer respectable, and posi
tively immoral. Foreigners who are not so fortunate as
to have witnessed their behavior before the Chicago
epoch are, of course, helpless to disprove this awful
calumny, but the enormous native population which
crowds into the local cafes and theaters every night and
yells with enthusiasm at young women who are hired to
wriggle their stomachs is an evidence that the perform
ance has not lost its popularity. We all realize that
Chicago is tough, very tough; but when that city is
accused of damaging the morals or the manners of the
ladies attached to the Streets of Cairo show — the charge
is actionable.
During the winter season there is Italian opera in
Cairo and regular performances at two respectable thea
ters, and low vaudevilles and cafe chantants run all
the year around, well patronized. Of course strangers
are expected to go to them, but they are not provided for
tourists. The principal patrons are natives, who seem to
enjoy the disgusting shows.
There are more than 300 mosques in Cairo, but most
of them are in ruins ; many are devoted to secular pur
poses and the remainder do not compare with those of

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 133
Constantinople, Damascus and the Mohammedan cities of
India. One of them, called the Sultan Hassan Mosque,
was originally a magnificent building and is known as
"the superb." It was built more than 500 years ago and
at that time cost $3,000,000. Several high authorities
claim that it is the most perfect example in existence of
Saracenic ecclesiastical architecture, and that its propor
tions are absolutely perfect. Without admitting this pre
tension, it is certainly a noble and majestic building, but
has been aHowed to fall into a wretched state of decay.
The walls are no longer safe and the dome may fall at any
moment. Instead of restoring it, the late khedive wasted
his energies and emptied his purse in the erection of a new
mosque, immediately across the street, which is only half-
finished, but contains his tomb and those of his mother,
wife and daughters. The Sultan Hassan Mosque has avast
circular dome 180 feet high, springing from a square
tower. The outer walls are 100 feet, capped by a cor
nice thirteen feet high and projecting six feet. The arches
of the doorways and windows and the capitals of the col
umns, like the cornice, are uniformly enriched with what
is known as stalactite work. The great doorway is sixty-
six feet high. There are two minarets, one of them,
measuring 280 feet, said to be the loftiest in existence.
All Arabs are kind to animals. It is a part of their
religion. You remember the stories that are told in
school readers about the Bedouins and the horses which
always share their tents. The Koran teaches that ani
mals go to paradise, although women are not allowed
there, and Mohammedans are exposed to the danger of
having some horse or dog or mouse or mosquito confront
them before the prophet's throne and accuse them of cru
elty to one of God's creatures. The only cruelties they

134 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
are guilty of are from ignorance. Otherwise they are
actually affectionate in their treatment of all animals and
have great influence over them. No other race furnishes
such clever trainers for horses, monkeys or wild beasts,
and their control over the feathered portion of creation is
equally noticeable. For example, in Cairo turkeys are
sold "on the hoof," so to speak. A farmer's boy drives
a flock of from ten to twenty into town just as he would
drive in sheep and cattle, and sells them at the doors of
the houses, instead of in the market place. He has a
shrill cry that denotes his trade and is understood by
native cooks and butlers just as your cook knows the
knock of the garbage collector or the milk man. This
boy will conduct his drove of turkeys through the most
crowded streets of Cairo, under the wheels of carriages
and omnibuses and trolley cars, amid all the confusion
you can imagine, which of course is new and strange to
the unsophisticated turkey, without the slightest diffi
culty. He has a long bamboo wand, like a fishpole, in
his hand, and an affectionate cooing tone in his voice,
which assures the birds that they have a competent
chaperon and needn't be scared. They are accustomed
to do as they are told. They know their master's voice
and obey orders, even on their way to the executioner's
block. The turkey is not an American bird. It was known in
Egypt from the earliest times. You see it pictured on
the walls of temples and tombs in all kinds of connec
tions; even driven in droves, as they are in the streets
of Cairo to-day.
And the donkey was contemporaneous. You are per
fectly safe in assuming that Moses and Aaron and their
sister Miriam often had turkey for dinner and rode

es5

O

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 135
around on donkeys. I haven't the slightest doubt that
when Moses was working up the Exodus scheme and had
to travel over the country to confer with the leading
members of the different tribes of Israel, he sat in a sad
dle precisely like those we used yesterday, and was car
ried by a similar donkey. The reasons for this beHef are
found in pictured histories that the ancient Egyptians
have left us. We read them upon walls 4,000 and
5,000 years old. The Israelites had turkeys, donkeys,
camels and cows, as well as chickens and incubators.
During a visit to Quincy, 111., several years ago, I was
introduced to the inventor of the incubator. He ex
plained that he was not entitled to the honor, which had
been thrust upon him as an advertisement for the town,
for he was nothing more than the patentee of a substi
tute for setting hens. He said that chickens were
raised by incubators long before the plagues of Egypt;
that the process had been invented by the same people
who devised the alphabet, the art of punctuation, who in
vented clocks and longitude and latitude, and geography
and all sorts of useful things. And I find it is true.
The Chinese were great inventors. They have to their
credit a long list of comforts and conveniences that we
use every day. Thomas Jefferson invented the revolving
chair and the letter press; A. H. Andrews, of Chicago,
invented the folding bed ; George M. PuUman the sleep
ing car, and Graham Bell the telephone; but the Egyp
tians beat them all, and the deeper you dig into their past
the higher respect you gain for their brains and their
practical genius as architects, engineers, agriculturists and
promoters. They had a great advantage over us, how
ever, in a clear field ; there was no one to claim priority

136 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
of invention. The world was new and needed a com
plete outfit.
In any of the native villages along the Nile you can
find home-made incubators constructed of sun-dried
bricks ; the same that the Children of Israel used to make,
and the straw that they didn't have to work with is scat
tered upon the mud floors. There is no thermometer to
register the heat ; there is no tablet upon which dates can
be kept, but the Egyptian places the eggs upon the straw,
makes a fire of dried manure in the furnace and by the
sensitiveness of his brown hand regulates the heat, until
the shells are broken and the little chicks emerge from
their cloisters into the wide, wicked worid. With this
rude arrangement the average number of chickens pro
duced is even larger than from the highly polished mod
ern inventions for the same purpose that are run with
kerosene oil. This has been going on there from the be
ginning of the world. Nobody knows when it started,
and it is fair to assume that Moses, and Potiphar's wife,
and other Egyptians we are acquainted with ate spring
chickens raised in incubators.
One of the curious customs you notice in Cairo is that
of the dairymen who deliver milk "on the hoof." They
drive their cows from house to house each morning and
serve their patrons directly, so that an intermediary visit
to a pump is impossible. A servant comes out with a
jar when he hears the milkman's call and stands by while
his order is filled direct from the udder. The same prac
tice prevails in other countries. I have seen it in Italy,
Spain and South America, but the Cairo dairyman carries
around with him a stuffed calf's hide. The effigy is laid
upon the sidewalk during the milking process, and is sup
posed to exercise some sort of a favorable influence upon

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 137
the cow. If the calf were alive we might understand
the relationship, but a calfskin stuffed with straw cannot
possibly fool either a cow or a customer.
Notwithstanding the immense amount of respect and
admiration that the genius of the Egyptians demands,
they have some very weak points, and one of them is
superstition. I have heard it asserted by people who
ought to know that seven per cent of the entire native
population are blind, which is confirmed by the number
of sightless beggars you find around the mosques and
other blind people you see being led about the streets.
The University of Cairo has a department exclusively for
blind men, with a large number of students. The same
authority, and he stands high in the medical world, de
clares that 30 per cent of the natives have their sight
permanently impaired in their childhood by the neglect
of their mothers. Another authority asserts that 60 per
cent, or more than one-half of native Egyptians, are
suffering from defective vision, and that only a small per
cent have absolutely perfect eyesight. You notice oph
thalmic hospitals everywhere. Most of them are estab
lished and maintained by Christian benevolence, and are
very largely patronized by the natives — when it is too
late. You can also discover in every quarter of the native
cities in every market place, in railways stations, in street
cars, and everywhere that the native women and children
can be found, the reasons for the phenomenon I have
mentioned — the faces of infants and children covered with
flies and other insects.
The "Evil Eye" is the terror of all the Arab race.
Scholars who hold degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and
other universities wear amulets to protect them from
its influence. Every horse and donkey, every cow and

138 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
goat, is protected in a similar manner. Over the lintel
of every Egyptian home are substitutes for the horse
shoe, and kind people have rendered a public service by
fastening them over the entrances to railway cars and
stations and other places where the public assemble. You
can buy effective charms at a thousand shops and at very
low prices. The sale of antidotes for the evil eye is one
of the most extensive and lucrative trades in Egypt, but
with all these safeguards and measures of protection
many mothers will not allow the faces of their babies to
be washed for fear they may attract the attention of
people who inflict this dreadful curse. Hence the chin
and cheeks of nearly every child you see are covered with
sticky substances, the residue of the food and sweetmeats
it has eaten, and of course flies swarm about their faces
and bite until they produce sores on the most tender spots
of the flesh. Half the babies in Egypt have sore eyes
from this very cause ; you can see dozens of children in a
morning's walk with their eyes covered with insects which
their mothers never brush away for fear it will be un
lucky. The result is perfectly natural. This supersti
tion is universal throughout Egypt. You find it every
where and among all classes of people. It appears in
every stratum of society and in every branch of business.
It is constantly coming up in the courts. Not long ago
a native was tried for murder. By the advice of his
lawyer he pleaded guilty with great provocation, and
stated the grounds, upon which he actually obtained an
acquittal. His brother recently having died, he ascer
tained that death was caused by the evil eye of a neigh
bor. He considered it his duty to revenge his brother,
and killed the neighbor. According to the Egyptian
theory this was justifiable homicide.

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 139
The Egyptian artisans use their feet as a sort of annex
to their hands. All of them go barefooted in their houses
and shops. Stockings are unknown. As soon as an
Egyptian reaches his front door he kicks off his sandals
in the vestibule and goes around in his bare feet as long
as he remains indoors, and long experience has trained
his toes to be almost as useful as his fingers. Instead of
using a vise a carpenter holds with his feet the board
that he is planing or the piece of wood in which he is
boring a hole. A shoemaker hold his shoe between his
feet when he is driving the pegs or sewing the seams, and
when he twists his thread he puts it around his big toe.
A tailor holds his cloth between his toes instead of pin
ning it to something.
There are disappointments in store for everybody who
visits Egypt. For example, there are no crocodiles in
the Nile. You can sail as far southward as a boat can
go without getting a single shot at one, although I am
told that they are still plentiful in the jungles of central
Africa. Nor are any lotus flowers to be found outside
of the paintings and engravings in the temples and the
tombs. They seem to be entirely extinct. You can see
more lotus in the fountain basins of the parks in Wash
ington in a single walk than you can find in Egypt all
winter, and outside of the botanical gardens there is not
a single stalk of the papyrus plant, which furnished the
ancient Egyptians their writing paper, from one end of
Egypt to the other. It seems to have vanished entirely.
The most beautiful objects in Egypt are the sais, or
footmen, who run down the streets and clear the way
for the carriages of the Egyptian nobility and high offi
cials. There is nothing to prevent anybody from employ
ing a sais, but, like cockades on the hats of coachmen, they

I40 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
are limited to families of high rank, and two of them
usually precede carriages of the aristocracy. They are
lean, sinewy Arabs, with bare legs and bare feet, who run
with a long, swinging stride like a greyhound and can
outpace any ordinary coach horse. They are dressed in
brilliant colors — red turbans on the top of their heads,
short jackets, red, blue, violet, yellow or other conspicu
ous velvet or broadcloth, covered with embroidery in sil
ver or gold and edged with braid. Under these are
shirts and short trousers of white cotton, tied around the
waist with a girdle like Joseph's coat of many colors.
Over the jacket, thrown back upon the shoulders, is a
gauzy scarf, also of the brightest colors possible, and in
the hand a long wand or staff of chased silver or bamboo
with tips of gold. The value of the wand varies with
the wealth of the employer, but it is just as necessary as
the baton of a drum major. To see these beautiful ob
jects racing through the streets in advance of a splendid
pair of Arabian horses and a carriage load of Egyptians
in bright native costumes is alv/ays a delight.

"""^'^ "^^^Z^^l,^^^ --°- -«-- MOSES WAS FOUND BV

VIII
THE MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS
According to recent explorations, the Nile, the most
remarkable of all rivers, is 4,200 miles long. The Mis
sissippi is fifty miles longer. From the sea to Assuan,
the first cataract, is 750 miles ; from Assuan to Khartum,
the capital of the Sudan, is 1,130 miles ; Lake Victoria,
the main source, is 2,285 miles nearer the equator, in a
region of perpetual rains, with a greater rainfall, prob
ably, than occurs in any other section of the earth where
records are kept. The Albert Nyanza is the source of
another branch, and there are two great affluents in Abys
sinia called the Blue Nile and the Black Nile. In addi
tion to these are numerous lesser streams and many
springs, but the lake sources maintain the life of Egypt
throughout the year with a sufficient supply of water to
meet the exhaustion by evaporation in the atmosphere
and absorption by the soil through the irrigation system.
The fall of the Nile from Lake Victoria to tidewater is
3,675 feet. Khartum is 1,270 feet above the sea ; the first
cataract at Assuan is 330 feet ; from that point to Cairo
the fall is a trifle under five inches to the mile, and from
Cairo to the sea it averages about one inch to the mile.
The water has been gauged ever since history began. At
Wady Haifa are "Nileometres," fixed by the engineers
of the kings of the XII. dynasty, 2300 B. C, and they
show that the highest water known in those days was
141

142 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
twenty-three feet above the highest record of modern
times.
In high water it takes fifty days for a float to go from
Lake Victoria to the sea, which shows a current of about
eighty-one miles a day, and in low water it takes ninety
days for a float to make the journey.
The width of the river varies from 300 feet to six
miles, and averages about 3,000 feet at mean high water.
The width of the valley of the Nile, that is the area be
tween the mountains that inclose it, is from fifteen to
thirty miles in Egypt, and from four to ten miles in
Nubia. The cultivated area varies from a few feet on
each bank to a width of nine miles on either side. The
delta is ninety miles wide. The area drained by the river
is about 3,000,000 square miles.
The unparalleled richness of the soil of the Nile Val
ley, which produces two and three crops a year, is due to
the particles of sediment brought down from the moun
tains, the hills and the tropical jungles and deposited upon
the surface of the fields during the annual inundation.
They are far richer than any fertilizer that can be found.
The floods or inundations come regularly, and the farm
ers of the valley have adjusted their lives and habits to
them. They are as exact and arbitrary as our seasons, as
the sunshine of summer and the snow of winter upon the
farms of Iowa. To equalize the distribution of the
water among the farms the entire cultivated area is di
vided by low causeways of earth, which are also used as
roads, into tracts varying in size from one to twenty
acres, and the water flows into them by ditches dug in
the days of Moses and Joseph. The present irrigation
system was introduced and partially built by King
Aemenemhat III. in the year 2300 B. C. Canals and

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 143
sluices dug by him in the Fayoum district are in use to
the present day. The annual rise of the Nile was re
corded upon a rock at Semneh, thirty-five miles above
the second cataract, by his engineers, and the inscriptions
are stiH visible.
Lands that cannot be reached by the inundation through
these canals are flooded by means of water wheels, rude
structures with budgets or earthen jars attached, which
are turned by man, mule or ox power, hoisting the water
from one ditch and emptying it into another at a higher
grade or into a reservoir from which it may be distributed.
Upon the small farms the water is hoisted from die canals
and ditches in baskets by a curious and ingenious method.
Two ropes are attached to a basket that will hold about a
bushel, and a man stands at the end of each rope. By
the same twist that a sailor uses when he dips a bucket
of water from the ocean, these Egyptians fill their basket,
hoist it and empty it into tlie upper channel as regularly
and as rapidly as a man will move the oars of a boat. It
is a fascinating sight, and to do tlie trick requires years
of training. A gentleman who has been among Egyptian
farms for several }ears declared that it could not be
done b}- any other people, which is an exaggeration, for I
have seen the same thing in Syria and Turkey.
The river begins to rise in April and continues to do
so during tlie summer, which is the rainy season in upper
Egypt and Ab\ssinia. High water is reached about the
middle of September, and will remain stationary for a
week or ten days, when the entire valley is flooded. It
begins to subside about the first of October and gradu
ally flows into the sea, leaving the earth refreshed and
renewed with rich loam and silt from the equatorial
jungles. The amount of water annually discharged by

144 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the Nile into the sea is estimated at 65,000,000 cubic
yards, and it is calculated that 36,600,000 tons of fertil
izer is deposited by it upon the farms each year.
This annual renewal of the soil has occurred ever since
the creation of the earth and explains the fertility of the
valley and the enormous crops it produces. Writing in
the year 15 A. D., Strabo tells us about the system of
regulating and distributing the water, which was about
the same at that age that it is now, and he says it was
inherited from the ancients. The seasons of high and
low water were also the same then as now — high water in
September and the lowest level in April. The ancient
records show that there has been comparatively little
change in the inundations or the area irrigated by them
or the value of the crops. The Nileometres at Assuan
are the tests. When the water rises only twenty-five
feet above the mean level there is a poor crop. Twenty-
six feet makes a good crop, and twenty-eight feet a big
one. If there is less than twenty-four feet of water there
is a famine in Egypt like those which occurred seven
lean years in succession during the time of Joseph.
We do not know how many thousands or hundreds of
thousands of years the Nile has thus fed the soil of
Egypt. Without it the country would be an unin
habitable desert, and its benefits and blessings have ex
cited the wonder, the admiration, the gratitude and rev
erence of countless generations of men. It is no wonder
that the ancient Egyptians worshiped the river, for they
have not only been dependent upon it for existence for
thousands of years, but it has also been the highway for
the transportation of their products and for communica
tion with the world.
To extend the blessings of this river to a larger num-

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 145
ber of inhabitants, to increase the cultivated area of the
Nile VaUey, a great dam has been constructed at Assuan.
There are Umits to aU things, but the Egyptian desert is
laden with the chemical properties which produce cotton,
sugar and other staples in a quantity that is unknown
elsewhere. The sandy soil needs only moisture, and
wherever it can be supplied the most bountiful crops can
be produced. It is surprising to see rich fields that yield
two and three crops a year side by side with sandy wastes
upon which a grasshopper would starve. The desert
may be only an inch above the level. That is enough.
Until water can reach it it is condemned to everlasting
sterility. The same conditions exist in Arizona. The
same phenomenon can be seen upon the Santa Fe and
the Southern Pacific railways. Passengers upon the
trains pass instantly from a repulsive desert into a glow
ing garden.
The irrigation system of Egypt, with its certain crops
repeated twice and in some places three times during the
year, makes the land it fertiUzes very valuable. Lord
Cromer's latest report shows that in 1895 the total area
of farming land appearing on the government books for
taxation was 4,060,465 acres. Of this 2,692,827 acres,
or 56 per cent of the whole, was held by 727,047 proprie
tors in farms of less than fifty acres each. In 1902 the
cultivated area had increased to 4,196,861 acres, a gain
of 136.396 acres in six years, of which 88,722 acres went
to small proprietors. This gives them 56.53 per cent of
the total, a slight gain in ownership by the peasantry
class. In 1895 573.819 acres, or 11.48 per cent of the
whole, were held by Europeans. In 1901 the assessments
showed a falling off of 554,409, or 10.9 per cent of the
total. The actual number of European proprietors de-

146 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
creased from 6,529 to 6,126, of whom only 1,484 cultivate
more than fifty acres each.
It will surprise American farmers to hear that this
four miUion acres of land is valued at an average of $105
an acre and pays an average of $4 an acre in taxes. This
is due to its marvelous productive capacity. Cotton
grows at the rate of 500 pounds to the acre, year after
year, and sugar cane produces equally well. There is
seldom a failure of the crops, and the product of the
4,000,000 acres under cultivation in Egypt will probably
aggregate more than is derived from any other 4,000,000
acres of land in the world. It is estimated that the
revenues to the government from the additional land
which will be brought under cultivation by the construc
tion of the new dam on the Nile will be not less than
$2,000,000 a year from the sale of water and taxation,
without considering the proceeds from the sale of the
vast tract of desert that will be reclaimed.
The irrigation laws and regulations of Egypt are such
that the smallest farmer can enjoy the same privileges
that belong to the richest. The water is controlled by
the government and every acre that pays taxes has its
share, and is flooded as regularly as the annual inunda
tion comes. If the farmers could be induced to use mod
ern agricultural implements and machinery they might
perhaps increase their profits but most of the farms are
so small that machinery would be an extravagance.
The regulations and methods of handling the water go
back before history began to be written, perhaps before
the alphabet was invented. We know this from the
hieroglyphics carved on the walls of the temples and
tombs. Until the British came in, the dykes and cause
ways were kept up and the canals were kept clear by

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 147
forced labor, "the corvee" system, as it was called, and
in olden times every man had to serve under cruel task
masters an average of forty-five days each year between
the ages of 18 and 45 years unless he was able to
pay for exemption. There was a great deal of
blackmail and bribery. People could buy exemption
from corrupt officials cheaper than by paying the regular
fees, and their share of the work had to be done by less
fortunate fellow creatures, whose time was extended
unlawfully for that reason. One of the first things Sir
Evelyn Baring, now Lord Cromer, did when he came
into control was to abolish the corvee, and since 1885
all the labor upon the dykes and irrigating ditches has
been performed by hired labor at a cost of $2,200,000
during the year 1903. A certain number of men are
called out from every province, varying from 5,000 to
10,000, who spend from a week to a month each year
engaged under government engineers. They are well fed
and wt(' paid, and regard it as a favor rather than a
hardship-, to be so employed.
Meheni^^t Ali, who was khedive early in the last cen
tury, introduced cotton and sugar into the valley of the
Nile, and both products have proved very profitable.
The Delta is now a great cotton field. Its product has
doubled during the last fifty years. There has been a
similar increase in the production of sugar. An average
crop of cotton is now about 1,200,000 bales of 500 pounds
each, which, having a fiber nearly an inch and a half
long, is more valuable than ordinary cotton and sells for
about 2 cents a pound more than our staple. It is used
for the manufacture of balbriggans, hosiery, and other
fine articles, and has become a necessity not only in
Europe but in the United States. We consume in the

148 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
mills of New England alone a hundred thousand bales of
Egyptian cotton, and a line of ships has been estab
lished to carry it from Alexandria to Boston.
It is a disputed question what the average Egyptian
thinks of the amazing improvements that have been made
in the material conditions of his country during the last
few years and how they have affected his character.
Many people believe that he scarcely realizes them;
that they have not touched his soul or awakened his con
sciousness at all, and that he still retains his mediaeval
conservatism in spite of the public order and security,
the relief from taxation, the even hand of justice, the
means of education and the higher wages that have been
brought to him by the English administrators. It is
true that the oriental soul is very different from that
which inhabits the body of the white man. His ideas
are not our ideas, and his religion, his social habits, his
impenetrable reserve, his serene contemplation of fate
and other peculiar characteristics, whether good or ill,
have not changed since the middle ages. And although
he has adopted modern customs to a considerable extent
and has allowed the women of his family to come into
contact with foreigners, he moves very slowly. Even
Cairo, with all its modern improvements retains its me
diaeval customs and appearance, and is still the City of
the Arabian Nights. No matter how much of the sur
face may be covered with new buildings, old Cairo re
mains and will remain, and the evidence of modern life
we see is only a veneer. Nevertheless it is scarcely pos
sible to believe that the farmer does not appreciate what
has been done for him. He cannot be insensible to the
improvement of his condition.
It is a question of even greater importance, particularly

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 149
to us, how much the cotton crop of Egypt will be in
creased by the construction of the new dam at Assuan and
the extension of the irrigation system. The cotton grow
ers of the United States, however, need not be alarmed.
It win be a long time before the cotton fields of Egypt are
extended to a degree that will be felt by the planters of
the United States. The increase in the crop will be
much less than is popularly expected, and cannot keep
pace with the increased demand.
Under the present system, the valley of the Nile is
producing all that it is capable of, and the only way to
increase the products and the wealth of the country is
to bring more land under irrigation. The area under
cultivation has not been enlarged to any considerable ex
tent for many centuries, although projects have been
frequently proposed. When Joseph, the son of Jacob,
was prime minister for Pharaoh, he conceived the idea
of turning the surplus water of the upper Nile into what
is known as the province of Fayum, about fifty miles
south of Cairo. A vast depression in the desert known
as Lake Moeris, by his skillful engineering, became a
productive oasis, which has added hundreds of millions of
dollars to the wealth of the nation. Mr. Cope White-
house, son of the late Bishop of Illinois, who has spent
much time in Egypt, and is familiar with the desert, as
well as the irrigation system, submitted to the govern
ment a few years ago a plan to extend the irrigation
system built by Joseph. The khedive wrote him a letter
of thanks and conferred upon him the decoration of a
grand commander of the Order of the Medjidjeah, but
English advisers poked the plan into a pigeon hole and
no one has ever been able to persuade them to pull it out
again.

150 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Their indifference, however, was due to other plans
which they considered more profitable and practicable,
and it was determined to construct an enormous dam at
the first cataract near Assuan, in order to store up all
the water that is not needed at the annual inundation and
allow it to be released when it is needed later in the sea
son. This dam, called the Great Barage, was begun in
February, 1898, a contract having been entered into with
Messrs. Aird & Co., a Scotch firm, who agreed to build
it for $10,000,000, payable in thirty semi-annual install
ments of $400,000 each, including interest, but they do not
get a dollar until it is completed. The foundations of
the dam rest upon solid granite ledges ; it is 6,786 feet, or
about a mile and a quarter long; 120 feet high from the
rock bottom; 82 feet thick at the base and 26 feet wide
at the top, where there is a roadway guarded by waUs
which take the place of the bridge which has long been
needed. The dam contains 1,250,000 tons of masonry
and about 15,000 tons of steel. The masonry is of rough
granite blocks laid in cement, and the materials have been
taken from quarries which for 7,000 years supplied stone
for the obeHsks, pyramids, temples, tombs and palaces of
Egypt. There are 180 sluices through which the water
can be released when it is needed, and they are fitted
with steel gates that can be handled by electric machin
ery. Every convenience and apparatus known to sci
ence has been applied where it is needed, and if this
dam had been built a thousand years ago it would have
been ranked among the wonders of the world. It is one
of the greatest engineering triumphs in history. Its con
struction has been immensely more difficult than the
Suez Canal, and it differs from that famous public im-

u

r-- !

B

1 1

i
( t

'f*i

m

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 151
provement in the important particular that no money was
stolen or wasted.
The dam was designed by WiUiam Willcocks, an Eng
lish engineer, in consultation with Sir Samuel Baker and
Sir Benjamin Baker; the foundation stone was laid Feb
ruary 12, 1899, by the Duke of Connaught, and the formal
completion was announced December 10, 1892, by
the same gentleman, brother of the king of England,
when the khedive turned a key which put in motion the
electric dynamos which furnish power to operate the
sluice gates.
The construction of this dam creates a reservoir 140
miles square, capable of storing several billion tons of
water. The difference in the level of the river above
and below is sixty-seven feet, and navigation is assisted
by a series of four locks each 400 feet long and thirty-five
feet wide. They will save great delays and cost in the
transportation of merchandise, which is one of the most
important benefits to be derived from the enterprise.
Formerly navigation up the rapids was very expensive
and tedious, for all the boats had to be towed by Nubians
at a considerable cost. During construction an average
of 11,000 men were employed for more than three years,
of whom 900 were Italian stonemasons, and they laid an
average of 3,000 tons of masonry each working day.
One of the drawbacks of the enterprise is that the
beautiful ruins of ancient pagan temples upon the Island
of Philae wUl be partially submerged at high water, and
some of them will be entirely covered when the reservoir
is full. Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir William Garstin,
who have been supervising engineers in behalf of the gov
ernment, offered to remove the ruins from the island, but
their plans were not approved. They have strengthened

152 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the pillars and the walls of the great temple of Isis and
other important ruins by steel girders and braces.
It is intended to utilize the water of the cataracts, now
running entirely to waste, in a great electric plant like
that at Niagara Falls, to supply heat, light and power to
the towns on the upper Nile, which will doubtless attract
manufactories, for plenty of labor is to be had. But the
greatest utility of the dam is to extend the irrigation
system and bring under cultivation the desert which
comes down to the river on both sides. Now that the
dam has been completed, however, it will be necessary to
construct a system of canals and pumping apparatus to
convey the water where it is needed. Messrs. Aird &
Co. have a contract for this work at a cost of $10,000,000
on similar terms. That is, they are to be paid in instal
ments as rapidly as the contract is carried out, and it is
estimated that at least ten years will be necessary for
that purpose.
Various enthusiastic estimates are made as to the area
of desert that can be reclaimed, the revenues that will be
derived by the government, and the wealth that will be
added to the nation; but it will be many years before
expectations can be realized. And so far as the cotton
problem is concerned, the demand for the Egyptian sta
ple will increase more rapidly than the supply. Egypt
produces from 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 bales annuaUy.
As soon as the water from the dam can be utilized, the
crop will jump up perhaps 50,000 or perhaps 100,000
bales, and gradually increase until the total reaches
1,500,000 bales of 500 pounds each. There it must stop
for years until the irrigation system is still further ex
tended. A considerable portion of the land to be improved be-

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 153
longs to private parties, who will have to pay their share
of the cost of the improvements indirectly, if not directly.
The government has already sold a tract of 160,000 acres
to a syndicate which wiU build an irrigation system to
bring it under cultivation, and sell it for an advance.
Most of the government land is sold at auction. A
bureau under the minister of finance has charge of such
affairs, and when a man wants to buy a tract of land he
files an application there for it. This fact is advertised
in the official newspapers, and bids for the same piece of
property are invited from other people. The applicant
may be the only bidder. In most cases he is, but the
fact that there can be competition is a protection against
speculators, and nobody can obtain a large tract without
exciting attention and competition.
During 1903 6,594 acres were sold in 161 transac
tions. The largest lot was 1,200 acres. The remain
der averaged less than thirty acres. The unsold
available government land now amounts to 158,464
acres, and is valued at $16,655,000, which indicates the
extraordinary effect of the introduction of irrigation.
Poor men who want to buy land can borrow money for
that purpose from the National Bank of Egypt at a low
rate of interest upon a government guarantee. This
benevolent feature of a paternal government has done a
great deal of good, although it was adopted only in Octo
ber, 1900. More than 34,000 fellaheen, as the peasant
farmers are called, have taken advantage of it and have
borrowed more than $2,000,000 at 3 per cent interest.
The bank makes the advances, but the government,
through the agency of its tax gatherers, collects the in
terest and principal when due at the same time as a part
of the land tax. Thus the bank, being relieved of the

154 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
necessity of maintaining an expensive staff of subordi
nates, is able to advance small sums at a relatively low
rate of interest. The insignificant amount loaned to
each enables it to distribute a comparatively small sum
among a great many people. More than one-half of the
loans thus far made have been for less than $150, and
most of them were payable in five years. The Bank of
Egypt having declined to invest more than the $2,000,000
already loaned, the government advanced it $1,000,000
additional for the same purpose. "There can be no
doubt," Lord Cromer says, and he has taken a great inter
est in this scheme, "that the Egyptian peasants are begin
ning to realize the advantage of owning their own farms,
and are learning to take advantage of the benevolence of
the government."
The postal savings bank system was introduced into
Egypt March i, 1901, and twenty-seven offices were
established. The rate of interest allowed is 2j4 per cent
per annum. The deposits are Hmited to $250 in a single
year and to a total of $1,000. The plan has proved a
great success, and the classification of depositors by races
shows that the Egyptian population, for whom it was in
tended, have responded in a prompt and appreciative
manner and realize the benefits of storing up their earn
ings. No institution of the kind has ever before been
known in Egypt. The regular banks pay interest upon
large amounts and permanent deposits only. There has
never been an institution in which a poor man could leave
a dollar or two at a time and draw interest. The Mo
hammedans, who constitute a majority of the population,
are opposed to the system on principle ; but many of them
have compromised with their scruples and have taken
advantage of the offer of the government. Their ob-

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 155
jection is based upon a passage in the Koran which for
bids them to collect interest on money loaned. A strict
Mohammedan will loan money to a neighbor in distress,
as commanded by the Prophet, but it would be a viola
tion of the divine and moral law for him to accept in
return more than the original amount loaned. There
fore you seldom find Mussulmans in the banking busi
ness. They allow the Armenians, Greeks and Jews to
monopolize that kind of business throughout all Islam,
from the Golden Horn to the Yellow Sea.
The new postoffice banks within two years show a
total of 6,740 depositors, of whom 4,197 are Egyptians
(probably one-half of them Mohammedans) and 2,543
foreigners. Of the foreigners 1,274 are Italians, 390
British and the remainder of other nationalities. Of the
Mohammedan depositors, who number 2,000 at least, 370
were so conscientious as to decline the interest upon their
deposits. They were willing to take advantage of the
facilities offered, but would not violate the teachings of
the prophet.
The agricultural department is managed with energy
and success. It is introducing new methods and machin
ery and seeds of new plants among the farmers, and is
showing them how to get the best results from their labor,
but with all these improvements and advantages the
poorest farmer in the United States is as comfortable and
as well off as the richest of the fellaheen. The sod huts
in which our prairies pioneers lived during their first
year on the western homestead are palaces compared with
the filthy hovels occupied by the farmers of Egypt. There
is no class in Europe so destitute of comforts and all that
goes to make homes and happiness. The poorest Italians
are better housed and fed and clothed.

156 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
The great masses of the common people are wretchedly
poor, and live like animals, yet they will not emigrate.
There is practically no emigration from Egypt. No
people are more attached to their homes, which, although
so comfortless, are more precious to them than the palace
to the khedive, for they have never known any better.
And their wages are absurdly low. They do not earn
more than the Chinese. Ten or 15 cents a day is good
pay for the average laborer. An entire family of seven
or eight persons will subsist upon a little patch of ground
not bigger than the floor of your dining-room. They
may own a goat and its milk helps out, or a few chickens
whose eggs are their greatest luxury, but often they be
come so reduced that they are actually compelled to eat
the leaves of the trees, which they boil in water to make
them more digestible. The tops of radishes, turnips,
onions and other parts of vegetables which we throw
away are their regular food. They consume every atom
of every green thing that comes out of their gardens, and
the husks that the swine did eat are often a luxury.
When young men or young women are educated they
find their way to the cities where they can have more life
and enjoyment and better society. The son of a fellah,
as a farmer of Egypt is called, will not follow his father's
trade if he gets any schooling. He will not endure the
hardships and labor that are unavoidable in that branch
of industry. Yet even he, although he will desert the
mud cabin in which he was born and in which his ances
tors have lived for generations, cannot be induced to
leave the country unless he is so fortunate as to make a
fortune. As soon as an Egyptian gets money and leisure
he starts for Paris.
The rapid increase of the population in modern times

MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 157
is chiefly due to the introduction of modern sanitary
measures to protect the health of the people, although
there has been a large migration from Arabia, Algiers,
the Sudan and other countries of the interior, attracted
by the improvements that have taken place, the higher
wages that are paid and the excitement of city life. The
death rate has been very much reduced by the introduc
tion of sewers, pure water, the establishment of quaran
tine against contagious diseases, the enforcement of laws
prohibiting the sale of impure food, the revival of pros
perity which has enabled the poor to secure adequate
nourishment, the filling up and draining of swamps and
other hotbeds of malaria, and numerous other sanitary
reforms which have saved millions of lives and have en
abled the natural increase of the population to be pro
tected and felt. The birth rate is very high. As in
India, China and all densely populated semi-civilized
countries, nothing but plagues, famines and flood can
keep the population down, for they breed like rabbits, and
when you read that two or ten or thirty millions of poor
pagans have been swept to eternity within a few weeks,
you must understand that it is God's way of reducing the
number of mouths that must be fed. In Egypt the Brit
ish have not only increased the number of mouths to be
fed, but have provided the food by extending the produc
tive area of the land and by increasing its productiveness.

IX

TEMPLES AND TOMBS

There are several ways to go up the Nile. People
whose time is limited take the railway. The journey
from Cairo to Luxor, 420 miles by train, takes about
fifteen hours. You can leave Cairo at 6 in the evening
and arrive at the City of Temples at 9 the next morning,
with a good dinner, after starting, on a dining car, and
a fair breakfast before you leave the train. The sleep
ing cars are of the European pattern. Passengers are
locked up in little cells just wide enough for dressing and
undressing after the bed is made. The greatest draw
back to the journey is the impossibility of securing ven
tilation, for if you should leave a window open you would
be buried under sand before morning. The railway offi
cials have done what they could to keep the desert from
entering the cars, and have tacked fine wire cloth over
the windows and ventilators, which doubtless does a great
deal of good; and enough oxygen filters in between the
particles of sand to feed the lungs for one night.
From Luxor to Assuan is 130 miles and requires ten
hours over a narrow gauge track. Assuan is at the first
cataract of the Nile. From there you take a military
railway to Khartum, a distance of 880 miles. This road
was built twenty years ago by the British for a distance
of 560 miles, but was destroyed by the dervishes during
the rebellion of El Mahdi. They burnt the stations,
158

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 159
twisted the rails, smashed the cars and disabled the loco
motives wherever they could reach them. In 1896, during
the reconquest of the Sudan, Lord Kitchener rebuilt the
track at the rate of a mile a day and it has since been put
in pretty fair order. The locomotives have to haul their
own water supply in tank cars, because for more than
half the distance the route of the railways passes through
a desert with nothing but blazing sunshine, rock and sand.
The journey is hot and tedious.
When the first locomotive reached Berber, the natives
were profoundly impressed. They had never before seen
a monster like that crawling across the desert at night
breathing fire and smoke and panting like a tired bullock,
and they believed that it must possess superhuman pow
ers. Many who are ill or deformed still come again and
again to the station to touch its glistening steel and oily
machinery, and several remarkable cures have been ef
fected in that way, for the faith of the barbarian is great.
The journey by railroad to Khartum lacks now but one
short gap which may be made on camels or on the river.
But there is very little pleasure in it and it will be a long
time before people will spend the four days necessary for
crossing the desert for enjoyment.
To those who have plenty of time and can spend a
winter in Egypt, a voyage up and down the Nile is an
ideal experience. You can make it as short or as long as
you like, and have a choice of boats. The express steam
ers, which carry the mails and make the passage without
long stops, are very comfortable. They have cabins of
ordinary size, set an excellent table and make the voyage
as far as Luxor every week. It is an excellent plan to
go up by rail and come down by express ste<imer. wbich
takes three days to make the 450 miles

i6o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Two competing companies run excursion boats espe
cially for the accommodation of tourists, which stop at all
places of interest along the river. Guides accompany the
parties ; donkeys and camels are furnished for trips to the
ruined cities, the temples and the tombs, and everything
is done by the managers to make their patrons comfort
able. The cabins are large and arranged for long voyages ;
the decks are fitted up like the verandas of a country cot
tage ; the table is excellent and well served, the passengers
come to dinner in evening dress, and for five or six
weeks, while they are making the round trip, they are
very much like a house party or the guests of a floating
hotel. The expense is comparatively small ; that is, it is
less than one would expect, taking into consideration the
fact that the passenger has no use for his pocketbook
from the time he leaves Cairo until he returns except to
pay for curiosities he may purchase. If the company is
congenial — and one can always find agreeable people
among the forty or fifty passengers — the voyage is one of
pleasure as well as profit.
The third way is to charter from Cook & Sons, or from
some of the other tourist agencies, a house boat called a
dahbeyah, which may be found of various dimensions to
accommodate parties of from four to twenty. Most of
them have only sail power, and are manned by native
river men, who handle the monstrous sails that look as if
they were big enough to carry a battle ship, but the
breezes along the Nile are usually very light, and it is
necessary to spread considerable canvas to catch enough
wind to keep the boat in motion. Some of the dah-
beyahs are propelled by steam, but they are, of course,
much more expensive, and a luxury few travelers can
afford. If a rich friend should ever invite you to make

TEMPLES AND TOMBS i6i
a voyage up the Nile on a steam dahbeyah don't allow
anything to interfere with your acceptance.
The boats are fitted up by people who have had long
experience and know exactly what is wanted and how it
should be arranged. They vary in price according to the
extent and luxury of their equipment, but most of them
carry only the necessaries of life and provide what is
usually found in summer cottages of well-to-do people
of ordinary incomes. The owner furnishes a dragoman,
who has charge of everything and everybody. He acts
as guide as well as steward, purser and general manager,
and all you have to do is to tell him what you want and
he gives the necessary orders to the cook or the sailors.
For this you pay a lump price ; so much a month or week,
according to the time you spend on the voyage. The
minimum for a party of from two to five, which the
smallest of the boats will accommodate, is about $30 a
day. No one can expect to pay less than that, and it
covers everything, including the wages of all the men
employed; but they will expect backsheesh when you
return to Cairo, as everybody does. A sailing dahbeyah
travels very slowly, especially when it is going against the
current, and makes from twenty to a hundred miles a day,
according to the wind. Coming down stream, the cur
rent being with them of course they make better time.
You can stop anywhere you like, and between Cairo and
Assuan are places of interest at frequent intervals all
the way up the river.
There is a comfortable hotel at Luxor, surrounded by
a garden and plenty of verandas, where one may loaf
and take his ease if he is fortunate enough to have leisure
for that luxury. Luxor is a modern Arab village, occupy
ing part of the site of the ancient City of Thebes, which

i62 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
stretched back into the desert on both sides of the Nile.
It stands on the eastern bank, nearly opposite the famous
statues called the Colossi and the Ramesseum, as the
ruins of the palaces of Rameses II. are called, which, in
its time, was one of the most extensive and splendid of
human habitations. Thebes, like London, occupied both
sides of a river, and must have extended over an enor
mous area. The topography is favorable for a large
city, and the extent over which the ruins are scattered
gives an idea of its size and population. Some arch
seologists think Thebes had a million of people, and it
certainly was very populous ; but of its thousands of pal
aces and hundreds of temples, its mighty walls and
massive gates, there is nothing left but piles of rubbish,
heaps of ruins and a multitude of tombs spread over the
surrounding hills. Thebes represented the most ad
vanced period of the Egyptian art, and the most important
period of Egyptian history. Rameses II. made it his
capital, and the record of his deeds and the praises of
his virtues that are carved upon the walls of temples and
tombs cover almost as much space as is devoted to the
rest of the dynasty.
Behind the ruins, reaching far back into the desert, is
a range of granite mountains with valleys radiating in
different directions, which were used as a necropolis, and
among them, carved into the living rock, are the tombs
of the kings, which you are already familiar with if you
have read much about Egypt.
The river widens here, and between the two ranges of
mountains that once formed the banks of the Nile is a
rich plain, broken here and there by clumps of palm
trees and sycamores, which produces two crops of wheat
every year. Luxor should be a prosperous town because

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 163
of the rich agricultural resources around it, and to us
it is interesting as one of the most popular health resorts
of Egypt and the home of its grandest ruins.
Upon the bank of the river are two groups of temples,
the most extensive and the most imposing in the valley
of the Nile, and many consider them the grandest ever
erected. One group is at Luxor; the other at Karnak,
two miles farther up the river, and 4,000 years ago they
were connected by a broad boulevard lined on either side
with rows of sphinxes, carved from massive blocks of
stone and facing each other at frequent intervals. It was
the grandest avenue in the world, and it joined the
grandest temples. People who live in Washington, or
visit that city, can get a slight idea of what the temples
were from the "Halls of the Ancients," where Mr. Frank
lin W. Smith has reproduced with great ingenuity and
skill a portion of one of the groups of columns.
No such columns stand anywhere else ; no such massive
waUs and arches ; no such towering monoliths. Several
acres of ground are covered with broken and recumbent
statues, shattered columns, mutilated pillars and massive
blocks of stone, which once formed buildings that are
alluded to in Homer's Iliad, for a knowledge of the
grandeur of Thebes had reached the Greeks of that age,
who wondered and gossiped about its hundred gates and
the 20,000 chariots of war which Rameses II. led to
battle. Herodotus tells us all about it, and Diodorus, who saw
the city with his own eyes, asserts that it was twelve miles
in circumference, and was not only "the most beautiful
and the stateliest city of Egypt, but of all others in the
world." There were a hundred stables on the river
bank, he says, each of which was capable of holding 200

i64 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
horses, and "no city under the sun is adorned with so
many stately monuments of gold, silver and ivory, and
multitudes of colossi and obelisks cut out of one entire
stone." He describes four temples, "the most ancient of
which is in circuit thirteen furlongs [about one and a half
miles] and five and forty cubits high," and had a wall
twenty- four feet broad ; and the ornaments of this temple,
Diodorus says, "were suited to its magnificence, both in
cost and workmanship," but the silver and gold and the
ivory and precious stones were carried away by the Per
sians. No doubt that these ruins are the most wonderful in
the world, for the temples were built upon the same stu
pendous lines as the pyramids. They were not intended
to be beautiful, but imposing. Egyptian architecture is
massive rather than beautiful, and suggests strength and
endurance rather than artistic taste and skill. Everything
was on a colossal scale, and that is the reason they have
stood so long when the rest of the ancient world has been
crumbling. But they do not appeal to me Hke the
Parthenon of Athens, the temple at Pestium on the coast
of Italy, near Naples, and the matchless, incomparable
columns of Baalbek. The material is sandstone, lime
stone and granite, and it is roughly dressed. Archaeolo
gists explain that the surface of the columns and walls
was once covered with enamel, and that the coarseness
of the stone was concealed by gilding and paint after the
manner of the decorations in the Halls of the Ancients at
Washington. The walls were wonderfully carved and painted, and
where they have been protected from the weather the
workmanship and the colors are almost as perfect to-day
as they were 3,000 years ago. The decorations tell of

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 165
the achievements of the several kings who built them and
added one temple after another. There are elaborate
sculptures of horses and chariots, fleets of galleys upon
the Nile, and the panoramas picturing the struggles of
gods and men. Here a Pharaoh rides by in his golden
chariot, followed by his ministers and warriors, attended
by his fan bearers and priests who burn incense before
him ; in another place .he is represented as sitting upon
his throne in state, receiving tribute from conquered
kings and princes and the homage of his court. Again
he is portrayed with his terrible bow or battle sword
slaying his enemies by the thousands, or returning from
the war with the evidences of his triumphs, his captives
and his booty.
The great Sesostris, who is best known to history as
Rameses the Great, gets a great deal of glory from the
walls of the temples which he built himself, and the ac
counts of his adventures are so compliinentary as to excite
doubt as to their accuracy. For example, one series of
sketches relates the history of a memorable campaign,
which is commemorated upon the walls of nearly every
temple and palace he buUt, and repeated upon his tomb
by the royal scribes. There can be no doubt that it refers
to some extraordinary display of courage and strength
by this famous Pharaoh, although it may not be strictly
truthful, because it tells us that Sesostris, alone and in
dividually, being separated from his army in battle and
attended only by his chariot driver, trampled down a
hundred thousand warriors like straw beneath his horses'
feet, slew most of them with his own hand, and chased
those who escaped his sword to the banks of the river and
drove them into the water, where they were gobbled up
by crocodiles. This, you will admit, sounds like a story

i66 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
in a modern yellow journal, even though it was carved
upon the walls of a religious meeting-house 3,700 years
ago. Rameses was no doubt a great man and a powerful
fighter, but he exposed himself to criticism because of
the number of statues of himself which he erected in his
own honor. We find them scattered all over Egypt ; and
when he allowed his own paid artists to proclaim him to
posterity as "The Lord of the World, the Companion of
the Gods, the Guardian of the Sun, and the Protector
of the Earth," it sounds a trifle conceited. But we may
excuse him on account of the wonderful architectural
effects he has left us, for he was the greatest builder of
all the Egyptian kings, and reigned sixty-seven eventful
years. A dozen cities which he built still lie under the
desert sands; a thousand temples were erected for his
own worship ; multitudes of priests offered prayer to him
while he was still living, as he sat enthroned, and pro
claimed him the Regent of the Deities. His ministers and
attendants never addressed him except in such language
as was used in the rituals for the worship of their god,
and even his 400 wives, who ought to have known him
thoroughly, are represented as adoring him. Every tem
ple he erected was a monument to his own egotism ; every
statue of himself was intended to commemorate what he
considered a worthy deed ; no king before or after him
ever received such colossal compliments, and yet, with his
boundless power and his boundless pride, this viceroy of
the gods went bUnd in his old age and died in misery by
his own hand.
He was the Pharaoh that persecuted the children of
Israel. He compelled them to make bricks for these
identical temples. Antiquarians fix the birth of Moses in

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 167
the sixth year of his reign, when, according to the sweet
old Bible story, his daughter found a pretty baby adrift
in a basket among the bulrushes. According to the
Biblical account, fourscore years elapsed before Israel
was released from bondage by Seti Meneptha, son and
successor of Sesostris, which corresponds with remark
able accuracy to the records carved upon the tombs.
One morning we got up early, crossed the river,
wandered among the ruins of Thebes, and inspected the
Ramesseum, the palace in which the great king dwelt
and died. It was one of the grandest buildings ever
erected, and notwithstanding the thousands of years
which have passed since it fell, its outlines can still be
traced. Near by are the Twin Colossi, two enormous
monolithic statues, sitting fifty feet high without their
pedestals, 18 feet and 3 inches across the shoulders, 22
feet and 4 inches across the hips. Each foot is 11 feet
long, and according to the calculations the solid contents
of each statue amount to 887 tons, so that they must have
been the largest blocks of granite ever quarried. How
they were brought there, how they were carved and how
they were overthrown are problems which antiquarians
are still discussing. But there is no doubt that their
intention was to glorify Rameses, the king of kings, for
a boastful inscription reads :
"If anyone would know how great I am, let him try to
excel my works."
Compared with Karnak, the temple of Luxor is not of
the greatest importance, and until recent years the larger
part of its courts and chambers were buried under the
accumulated rubbish of twenty centuries, and a village
was built upon it. Excavations were made in the 8o's
by public subscriptions in England, and the walls and

i68 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
columns have since been strengthened with modern
masonry so that they are not likely to collapse as did one
of the most important parts bf Karnak.
The original temple of Luxor was 500 feet long and 180
feet wide, and was extended from time to time by other
kings until it covered an area of several acres. Two
obelisks, hewn out of granite, 82 feet high, once stood be
fore the entrance. One of them stands there still; the
other now decorates the Palace de la Concorde, Paris.
Between these obelisks stood a row of colossal statues of
Rameses IL, the builder, who was not satisfied with one,
but must have six duplicate effigies of himself in the
same group to satisfy his vanity.
The entrance to this temple, built in the Egyptian
style, broader at the base than at the top, and called a
pylon, was eighty feet high and one hundred feet wide,
and the stone was carved with a poetic narrative of mo
mentous events in the life of Rameses II. The columns
of the portico are seventy-two in number, each fifty-one
feet high and eleven feet in diameter. On the other side
of the courtyard is another hall, containing thirty-two
columns of similar size, and a series of temples built on a
similar plan and of similar dimensions.
The ruins at Karnak are even grander, there being not
less than twelve separate temples, each succeeding the
other, and we know by the inscriptions that they were
built by different kings between the years 2433 and 312
B. C. It was considered a duty for each Pharaoh to keep
the old temples at Karnak in repair or to build a new one
if he could raise the funds, for the walls and columns
of that ancient sanctuary, in the esteem of the Egyptians,
constituted the noblest and holiest book of fame. In that
way they grew from age to age, owing a colonnade to

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 169
one king, an arch to another and a group of massive
chambers to the next. This explains the variation in
architecture and the striking contrasts in the designs.
They have been much written about and often painted,
but no words and no brush can ever accurately or ade
quately portray the great hall at Karnak, with its one
hundred and twenty-four mighty columns that radiate
into avenues whichever way you look among them, and
are engraved and painted with the histories of gods and
kings. I am always particular to inquire about the men who
built these stupendous monuments, for I have friends in
the architect business. We know who ordered them, and
in whose honor they were erected. We know also that
the work was done by slaves and that each of the majestic
columns represents the sacrifice of many innocent lives.
We know that they have been drenched by the blood and
tears of millions of poor human creatures, but the men
whose genius designed them and whose skill brought
them from the quarries and raised them here have been
usually overlooked.
Archseologists believe that they at least know who
planned and executed the Great Hall at Karnak, which
has often been pronounced the noblest architectural work
ever designed by man. In a museum at Munich is a statue
dug up here sixty years ago, believed to be that of
Bak-nen-khonsu, and the inscription upon it says that,
having attained the dignity of high priest and first
prophet of Ammon during the reign of King Seti, he
became chief architect under Rameses the Great. His
statue represents him robed, bearded and sitting upon the
ground in the attitude of meditation.
Several years ago a number of valuable and important

I70 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
relics of ancient Egypt suddenly and mysteriously ap
peared in the curio market. Tourists brought to the
museum at Cairo, to the British Museum in London and
to other institutions remarkable "finds" which they
claimed to have purchased from dealers and street ped
dlers at Luxor. The circumstances were reported from
one museum to another and were the subject of gossip
among archseologists and collectors, and finally attracted
the attention of the Egyptian authorities, who, after a
brief inquiry, became convinced that tombs of the
Pharaohs, unknown to professional archseologists, must
have been discovered and were being rifled by Arab
vandals. The police began an inquiry, and soon devel
oped a most astonishing chain of circumstances.
It appeared that a professional Arab grave robber,
living among the ruins of Thebes, discovered the tomb
of a royal personage and revealed the secret to his two
brothers and one of his sons, who assisted him in securing
such portion of its contents as could be taken away with
out detection and sold to chance tourists. From time
to time the lucky discoverers of this mine of wealth
replenished their stores by midnight visits. Among the
articles found were writings on papyrus, scarabs and
ornaments of gold and silver, and other things usually
found in tombs, which threw new light into certain dark
corners of Egyptian history, and it was proved that the
thieves had revealed a veritable museum of antiquities.
When this knowledge finally came to the government a
thorough exploration was made under the direction of
the director of antiquities. Excavations disclosed
twenty-one tombs cut out of a rocky hillside containing
the bodies of twelve kings and twenty-seven other- mem
bers of the rova1 families of Egypt from the seventeenth

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 171
to the twenty-first dynasties, who had been buried be
tween 1900 and 1000 B. C.
It was the most sensational and the most valuable dis
covery ever made in Egypt, and you may imagine the
gratification that was felt upon unrolling the first mummy
to find that it was the body of Rameses IL, the greatest
of all the Egyptian emperors. Among others were his
father, Seti I., and his grandfather, Rameses I., and his
grandson, Rameses III.
These tombs, which are the most wonderful in all the
world, were chiseled out of the granite mountains that
enclose a natural amphitheater at the end of a narrow
gorge about four miles from the Nile. Some of them are
reached by long staircases descending into the earth from
fifty to one hundred feet, and then, extending like the
tunnel of a mine, a distance of three, four and five hun
dred feet, with chambers for the reception of presents
and offerings, temples for worship and apartments for
the burial of the other members of the royal families and
their favorite servants. Other tombs are reached by in
clined planes. All of them are cut out of the solid gran
ite and include chambers, shafts, tunnels and cross tun
nels that must have involved the labor of thousands of
men for scores of years. No such rock work can be
found elsewhere. And in each of the tombs were his-
- torical and archaeological treasures of value beyond com
parison, for, as you know, when the Egyptians buried
their dead they not only provided them with whatever
they might need in the other world, but left with each a
biography and a catalogue of his achievements. They were
accustomed to worship their kings after death, and bring
theiji' tribute and oblations from time to time, which were

172 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
stored or placed on exhibition in the chambers I have
described. We started out early one morning from Luxor to in
spect this underground city of the dead. Ahmed Karine,
one of the best guides I have known, escorted us. Our
donkeys crossed the Nile in one boat, while we crossed
in another. As we were approaching the landing place
I witnessed a curious custom. The native sailors of a
big ship which was tied up at the dock were scrubbing
the deck — "holy-stoning," sailors call it — in a novel way.
The deck was first flooded with water from a hose, and
sprinkled with sand, when twelve brawny sailors, wearing
nothing but breech-clouts and turbans, formed in close
line with their arms over each other's shoulders, and
slowly shuffled back and forth, polishing the planks with
the soles of their feet. They sang a rythmical song to
keep the time, as Mississippi negroes do when they are
"rolling" cotton. The Arabs always sing when they are
at work, but this was a peculiar song in the minor key,
and from what I could pick up from Ahmed, it had
reference to their work. They began at one end of the
deck and scoured it to the other, moving very slowly
without lifting their feet from the planks. After they
had passed over the entire surface a hose was brought out,
the sand was washed off and the deck shone like a ball
room floor.
Like the songs of our southern negroes, the Arab melo
dies are merely a jingle of words without meaning, and
are intended to stimulate activity and gratify the love
of rhythm and melody that is inborn among all half-
civilized people. Dr. Murch, an American missionary at
Luxor, told me of an Arab boy who was sent to town by
his father to buy a donkey and succeeded in securing an

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 173
excellent animal for £3, which is a low price. Dr. Murch,
who happened to be going in the same direction, crossed
the river in the same boat, and accompanied the donkey
buyer and his companions on their journey. While they
were rowing the boat they timed their strokes to a,
famUiar melody, the words being simply: "He cost £3;
he cost £3 ; he is a fine donkey ; he is worth £6 ; he is
worth £6 ; he is worth £6." After they had landed on the
other side of the river, mounted their donkeys and started
down the road, they resumed the plaintive melody, re
iterating in unison the same words over and over again
for miles. The natives have a few tunes to which they
adapt simple words suggested by circumstances that
occur at the moment.
Landing on the opposite side of the river from Luxor,
we mounted our animals and followed our leader along
the causeways which inclose the irrigating ditches, for
they are the lines of travel taken by donkeys and camels
when passing through the cultivated part of the Nile
Valley. The great plain which lies between the river
and the foothills of the Libyan Mountains was alive with
men and animals plowing. The fields were marked off
by furrows showing the area allotted to each plowman.
Some of the plows were drawn by camels, some by
bullocks, some by donkeys, some by bullocks and camels
harnessed together, and they are oi the very same pattern
used in the time of Moses — a crooked stick whittled down
to a sharp point which is rudely shod with iron. Experts
in agriculture say that they answer just as weU as steel
plows in that country, because, owing to the rich sediment
brought down from the jungles of central Africa and
deposited upon the soU during the annual inundations,
it is not necessary to plow deep. When the water re-

174 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
cedes it leaves a crust upon the surface which it is only
necessary for the farmer to break up in order that the
seed may have a chance to germinate.
After we had risen above the irrigated level the feet
of the donkeys sank into the shifting sands, and we
plowed along through the ruins of the ancient city of
Thebes, which, here and there, are covered with mud
hovels occupied by the peasants who till the land. Camels,
donkeys, dogs, chickens, pigeons, men, women and
children all live together in peace and happiness, and as
we passed their humble habitations the women and naked
children came out in swarms, demanding backsheesh.
One well-dressed girl, carrying a baby upon her shoulder,
ran along beside us chattering in good English and beg
ging us to buy strings of beads, scarabs, images of stone
and clay, of which the tombs had been plundered. She
would not leave us, but kept running until we each pur
chased trifles from her store. To emphasize her appeal,
this cunning student of human nature told me that she
was trying to raise money to send the little child on her
shoulder to school.
As we left the desert plain we entered a weird gorge
inclosed by limestone walls from lOO to 300 feet high,
and they grew higher as we passed along. The roadway
was perfectly smooth and in excellent condition, although
it was laid by one of the Pharaohs more than 1,800 years
before the Christian era. It had been repaired, however,
and flinty chips that had been blown from the hillsides
were swept off about a year previous in honor of the
Duke and Duchess of Connaught, who made the trip
during their visit at the time of the opening of the big
dam on the NUe.
The sun was very hot, but the air was cool, and as long

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 175
as our heads were protected by pith helmets and umbrellas
we suffered only the ordinary fatigue, but the glare from
the sand and the rock was rather painful to the eyes.
There was no sign of life except an occasional lizard
which scampered from under the feet of the donkeys.
Not a green thing could be seen in any direction; nor
had a single plant or blade of grass ever grown in that
desolate region since the creation of the world. We have
several similar places in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and
other parts of the Southwest, and I was reminded con
stantly of their desolation.
After a mile or two the walls of the gorge came to
gether until it was quite narrow, and at one place it was
plain that the first Pharaoh who chose his burial place
in this weird corner of the world had been compelled to
cut away a natural barrier of rocks on either side in
order to reach the secluded amphitheater in which the
tombs were made. This pass is called Bab-el-Molook
(the Gate of the Sultan), and once through it, after pass
ing a sharp curve, the hills suddenly grew into mountains,
and we entered upon what looks like a monstrous
abandoned granite quarry, shut in on all sides by tower
ing precipices, and, behind them, stage after stage, rise
peaks that finally soar 2,000 feet above the level of the
plain. There is no other entrance to the amphitheater.
There is no other exit unless one cares to climb what
seem impassable mountainsides.
The place was well chosen. There could be no more
appropriate site for the tombs of those wicked and proud
old despots whose cruelties have never been equaled by
any other race. It is the ideal of solitude and desolation.
You might easily imagine that the fires of hell had blazed

176 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
here once until they had consumed everything, and were
extinguished by exhaustion.
There is a fence across the roadway and a tent upon
a little mound beside it where a guard is always kept
to prevent the Arabs from robbing the tombs. The sheik
in charge, a stately looking person, with a monstrous
turban and a white sheet hanging from his shoulders
down to the thighs of his long, bare, brown legs, came
forward to the gate, raised his fingers to his brow in
respect and received the tickets we had purchased at the
hotel before coming away. Every visitor must pay a
trifle of toll, and it is an excellent regulation, because the
money is expended in keeping the trails clear, maintaining
the guards and running a twelve-horse power electric
dynamo which illuminates six of the grandest tombs.
Formerly visitors had to grope along with candles ; now
it is like entering a modern ballroom.
Could anything be more incongruous? What genius
could suggest a more striking contrast between the twen
tieth century before the birth of Christ and the twentieth
century after? The tombs of the Pharaohs illuminated
with electric lights!
Down in the depths of the earth, in a beautifully deco
rated vault, which you reach after passing through 400
feet of tunnel twenty feet wide and twenty feet high,
cut by unknown tools into the bosom of a granite moun
tain, lies King Amenhetep of the twenty-eighth dynasty
(B. C. 1700) in a carved and painted coffin, with a
sixteen-candle power bulb suspended within twelve inches
of his royal nose. A concave reflector focuses the rays
of light upon his face with startling effect. You can
even catch a gleam of his teeth between his ebony lips,
which bear the faintest sort of a smile. But His Imperial

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 177
Majesty is graciously pleased to sleep on. Even that flood
of light upon his face does not disturb his peaceful slum
bers. He is never restless. He never rolls over in his
narrow bed, but lies there in silent dignity like Harold
Haafgar, the first of the Danes, in his castle at Elsinor,
who has lain so long without stirring that his big white
beard is frozen to the floor. This Egyptian king has his
hands folded over his heart in the attitude of repose. The
cerements have been removed from his body, and his
entire frame is exposed, a skeleton in ebony.
Regardless of the incongruity, which must always be
apparent, the electric lights are an inestimable advantage
to scientific men who come there to study the paintings
and engravings upon the walls of the tombs. Each tomb
contains the life history of its occupants in closely cut
columns of text with copious illustrations, as book adver
tisements say, and often the theological views of the dead
are explained with wonderful clearness.
In the midst of this most fascinating and most won
derful of wonders you cannot decline to recognize the
humor of sign boards that hang in conspicuous places
admonishing all whom it may concern that, by order of
the director of antiquities, visitors are allowed to eat
their luncheons in only one particular tomb.
After doing the Tombs of the Kings we rode back to
the ruins of Thebes to luncheon, or tiffin as they call the
midday meal in the East, and were the guests of the late
Queen Hat-su, or Hat-she-pect, or Hat-shep-su, as her
name is frequently written. Cook & Sons, the tourist
agents, have erected a rest house — a plain, one-roomed
bungalow — in the midst of the desert, and its wide-
spreading verandas were grateful, because we were tired
with our long ride through the blazing air. Much had

178 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
been the rock-ribbed gorge; much had been the drifting
sands ; much had been the glorious sunshine — a little too
much of all; and we blessed Cook, as we have often
blessed him, for a cool place of shelter. We sat down
on the benches while the Arab attendant swept the sand
off the floor of the veranda with a bunch of wisps and
dusted our shoes. And then we had what is advertised
over there as "A long iced American drink." I can safely
leave the rest to your imagination, if you have ever had
the thirst of a volcano.
The lunch, bountiful and wholesome, had been brought
from our hotel at Luxor, across the Nile and the desert
by a donkey boy for our gratification, and we were more
comfortable than Pharaoh could ever have made us. The
only drawbacks for the moment were the pests you have
to endure everywhere in Egypt — ^blind beggars, sad-eyed
women, naked children, screaming for backsheesh, and
peddlers of real or bogus antiquities persecuting you on
every side. Akmed drove them away with a furious
charge, but the brown and hungry-looking Arab grave
robbers squatted calmly down on the sand a little way off
with their strings of beads, tissue paper rolls of scarabs,
and cigar boxes filled with gods, masks, lamps, coins and
other relics.
There is no occasion for them to manufacture antiqui
ties there, because the ruins of Thebes are an inexhaustible
mine. Hundreds of families live rent free among the
ancient walls and spend their days searching for treasures
and lying in wait for tourists. They can see their vic
tims as they approach, far away across the sands and
bring their stock in trade to meet them. Some are grave-
eyed, dignified men with stately strides, whose appear
ance is made more impressive by long, white robes and

. V' .

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 179
ample turbans. But the most of them are half-naked
wretches, hungry and hoUow eyed, who barely live upon
this uncertain sort of business. And their persistence is
worthy of commendation. You remember the old lady
whose kindness of heart gave her a reputation of always
speaking well of everybody, and when her son remarked
that "Mother would find something good in Satan him
self," replied :
"Yes, certainly; we ought to admire and imitate his
perseverance." When I came out of the hotel one morning I was im
mediately surrounded by a group of Arabs who tendered
their services as guides and interpreters, and offered for
sale all sorts of curios from the ancient tombs which they
drew from mysterious depositories in their ample robes.
I explained to them as clearly as I could that I had merely
come out for a walk and only wanted to be let alone, but
when I started down the street five of them escorted me.
First to the donkey market, then to the new building
which was being erected by the United Presbyterian
Mission for a girls' school, and finally to the house of
Mr. Murch, an American missionary. I must have re
mained there for more than an hour, but when I came out
my escorts were still squatting silently in the sun and
followed me back to the hotel, where they demanded
backsheesh as compensation for acting as my guides
about the city.
The Temple of Hat-su is one of the most remarkable
and the best preserved in Egypt. It is called Der el-
bahari, and was buUt about 1600 B. C. by the greatest
of all the Egyptian queens as a private chapel for the
worship of herself and father, Thothmes I. It occupies
a wide, open space, with a background of cHffs which

i8o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
divide it from the gorge that leads to the tombs of the
kings. The temple is built in terraces, was once sur
rounded by a wall, which has disappeared, and was ap
proached through a long avenue, with rows of sphinxes
on either side. The approach was one thousand five hun
dred feet long and forty-two feet wide. The temple was
discovered as long ago as 1798, but was not cleared of
rubbish and sand untU 1858. The pillars and columns
are almost perfect, and are among the most curious of all
the architectural fancies in Egypt. The walls are cov
ered with historical decorations, according to the usual
custom, which relate the achievements and proclaim the
virtues of this great queen, whose energy, ability and
independence made her resemble Catherine the Great of
Russia. But wherever her portrait or her name ap
peared upon the walls it was erased by Thothmes IIL,
her half-brother, ward and successor upon the throne, the
meanest man in Egyptian history ; who was guilty of this
vandalism to spite a dead woman of whom he was jealous.
Her grandson, Amenhetep II. , tried to repair the mis
chief as far as he could, but was not very successful, and
exalted his own name wherever possible.
This woman deserves a little notice. She was the
daughter of Thothmes I., who reigned from 1633 to 1600
B. C, and of his half sister Aahmes. Her father had
two other wives, one of whom, a woman of low rank,
bore him a son, who became Thothmes III. While he
was a child his step-sister was made his guardian. From
the records on the walls we learn that she married Thoth
mes II. , another half brother, and succeeded her husband
on the throne at an early age, and that she always dressed
in masculine attire and wore a false beard, so that many
of her subjects were deceived into supposing that she

TEMPLES AND TOMBS i8i
was a man. She reigned for sixteen eventful years and
gained great glory for Egypt. She extended the bound
aries of the empire, carried on successful foreign wars,
improved the irrigation system, encouraged commerce,
erected many temples and other buildings — among them
the two great obelisks at Karnak, ninety-eight and one
hundred and five feet in height. They were hewn out of
the granite quarry at Assuan, and covered with burnished
copper so that they dazzled the eyes of the people at a
great distance. They were in honor of her father.
After the death of Thothmes IL, her husband, she con
tinued in power, much to the disappointment and chagrin
of Thothmes IIL, her half brother, her natural and law
ful successor. She had no sons, and when he finally
succeeded her on the throne after her death he gratified
the spite of his petty soul by erasing from every temple
and monument she had erected the name of the ablest
woman who ever ruled over Egypt.
The fame and peculiar history of Hat-su have made
archseologists eager to discover her tomb and mummy,
but until the spring of 1904 their search was unsuccess
ful. Mr. Neville, an eminent French Egyptologist,
finally located the tomb on the opposite side of a ravine
from the temple I have just described, and for many
months was engaged with hundreds of Arab laborers ex
cavating among the rocks and sand. We could see the
men at work and the clouds of dust stirred up by their
picks and shovels as we sat on the veranda of the rest-
house. Mr. Theodore M. Davis of Newport and New
York, who has been extremely generous in promoting
exploration, and has been rewarded with some of the
most interesting and valuable discoveries ever made in
Egypt, paid the expenses of excavation, and Mr. Howard

i82 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Carter, official Inspector of Antiquities, directed the
engineering work with great skUl. While we were in
Cairo Mr. Davis arrived there from home, having been
summoned by a joyful invitation to attend the formal
opening of this great woman's tomb.
It was reached through a wide corridor sloping down
ward at a sharp angle into the heart of a limestone moun
tain and the entrance is in the axis of the temple of Hat-
su, on the other side of the cliff. The corridor at first
pointed in the direction opposite from that of the tomb,
and seemed to have been intentionally filled with boulders,
disintegrated stone, chips of granite and limestone, sand,
broken marble and other debris which, by time, had be
come packed until they were as solid as conglomerate
rock. After continuing for i8o feet in a southerly direc
tion, the corridor or tunnel turned sharply to the west ; at a
distance of one hundred and fifty-eight feet farther a
chamber was reached, also packed with debris ; one hun
dred and eighty feet farther is a second chamber; and
one hundred and six feet still farther is a third, larger
and more elaborately carved than the rest, which was at
once identified as a reception room intended for people
who came to worship.
From this chamber a curved passage or tunnel about
20 feet in diameter leads to the tomb, a splendid apart
ment 300 feet below the surface of the earth, chiseled
out of the limestone heart of the mountain. Here were
found two sarcophagi of polished sandstone, lying side
by side, both empty. The lids, which lay on the floor,
are covered with beautifully formed hieroglyphics, from
which it is learned that one of them contained the mummy
of Hat-su and the other that of her father, Thothmes I.
Strange to say, the latter was found many years ago in

TEMPLES AND TOMBS 183
a pit on the other side of the ravine, and is now on exhi
bition in the museum at Cairo. The mummy of Hat-su
may possibly be lying in one of the unexplored side
chambers of the tomb, but there are no signs of it and it
is beheved that both were thrown out of the burial cham
ber by vandals many centuries ago during the Persian
invasion. It was the fate of the body of the father to
be left where it lay undisturbed until rescued by careful
hands, but time alone can teU what became of the mummy
of Egypt's most remarkable queen.

X

THE REDEMPTION OF SUDAN
What is known as Soudan, or Sudan — there are sev-
aral ways of speUing the names of places in Asia and
Africa — lies south of Nubia, between Abyssinia and the
great desert, and is watered by the two principal branches
of the Nile. It extends southward to the Belgium prov
inces of the Congo, a distance of about 1,200 miles, to
within five degrees of the Equator, and has an area of
about 1,000,000 square miles and a population of 3,500,-
000. The chief towns are Khartum (or Khartoum), the
capital, with a population of 20,000 ; Omdurman, the old
Dervish capital, with a population of 48,000, and a dozen
other cities of 15,000 or less.
Along the branches of the NUe the soil is rich and
similar to that of Egypt, and might produce enormous
crops of sugar and cotton. Farther southward the
desert becomes a jungle, and vast forests line the banks
of the rivers containing valuable cabinet woods, including
an abundant supply of ebony, India rubber, gum and
other useful trees and plants. The higher altitudes along
the Abyssinian boundaries are capable of yielding wheat,
corn and all the staples of the temperate zone. The heat
of the sun and the elevation, combined, produce abun
dantly of whatever may be planted.
The greater portion of the area, however, is uninhab
ited except by nomadic savage and semi-savage tribes.
184

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 185
The settled population, so far as may be estimated, is
about 1,000,000, a little more than a third of the whole,
and it is scattered along -the banks of the Nile between
the third cataract and Khartum. Before the Dervish
revolt, as the recent war in the Sudan is commonly called,
a large trade was carried on with Cairo and Alexandria
in golddust, ivory, ostrich feathers, gums, rubber, hides,
skins, ebony and other cabinet woods in exchange for
arms, ammunition, cotton fabrics, cheap hardware,
tobacco, liquor and simple agricultural implements and
mechanical tools.
A railway runs all the way from Cairo to Khartum,
with the exception of a short gap, which is now being
filled, and the journey can be made in about six days at
a cost of about $100. Freight rates between Alexandria
and Khartum are from $60 to $80 per ton. A railway is
also being constructed from Berber, the second most im
portant city in the Sudan, to the port of Suakin, on the
Red Sea, a distance of about 150 miles, which will be of
great benefit to the people and of supreme importance
in the development of the resources of the country. It
will shorten the transportation distance to tide water
from seven days to ten hours and make this undeveloped
country accessible to machinery and heavy freight of all
kinds. One of the great difficulties in railway transportation
is the absence of water. Every train that goes to the
Sudan or comes away must haul five full tank cars. It
is said that no locomotive ever starts for Khartum or
leaves that place without hauling its weight in water.
As you will perhaps remember, the administration of
affairs in the Sudan by Egypt was interrupted in 1882 by
a rebeUion of the natives, led by El Mahdi, a false prophet,

i86 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
or messiah, who claimed divine powers and authority.
The Mohammedans, like the Christians, believe in a
second advent. They expect the prophet to come again
to reign upon earth in glory, and that has caused the
appearance from time to time during the last ten cen
turies of impostors, pretenders and false prophets, who
have been known as Mahdis. Some of them have been
insane ; others have been ambitious conspirators ; some
have been soldiers, but most of them have been priests,
and usually the Mohammedan priesthood has been able
to take care of them without the intervention of the gov
ernment. But the Mahdi who appeared in 1882 was a
remarkable man ; remarkable for his ability, his magnetic
influence, his military genius, his audacity and his ambi
tion. And almost before the authorities at Cairo realized
the seriousness of the situation he had brought to his
support nearly every Mohammedan in the Sudan; had
won over the priesthood, and even the native officials and
native soldiers, and had so impressed himself upon the
public that his claim to divinity was generally accepted,
and he was worshiped as a god, as well as obeyed as a
sovereign. Being a dervish priest or monk, his support
ers became known as dervishes in the common parlance
of the country. Even to this day the small scattered
bands of his followers who survived him and have main
tained their liberty, are known as dervishes, although that
word can properly be applied only to religious profes
sionals, who in the Mohammedan church occupy relations
similar to those of the Franciscan monks in the Roman
Catholic church.
El Mahdi made the City of Omdurman his capital and
lived there in great splendor and luxury when not actually
in the field at the head of his army. He organized a

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 187
complete government, collected taxes, issued currency,
established courts, conducted a banking business and set
up independent ecclesiastical authority against the Sultan
of Turkey, who is the nominal head of Islam. His mili
tary force was at one time well organized, armed and
equipped, in which he had the assistance of experienced
European officers, including several Englishmen, and a
large number of educated Egyptians. He put up a great
fight, and to subdue him cost England an enormous sum
of money and thousands of precious lives. With the
exception of the recent war in South Africa, it was the
toughest mUitary task John Bull has experienced since
the fall of Napoleon. And El Mahdi might have main
tained his power much longer but for his own tyranny,
treachery and self-indulgence. He became a sybarite.
As he acquired power and wealth he surrounded himself
with luxuries, and indulged in dissipations which not only
weakened his vitality but injured his influence with the
people, for they had intelligence enough to realize that
no respectable god or messiah would behave as he did.
The most notable event of the war was the sacrifice of
that splendid soldier and ideal gentleman, General Charles
Gordon, who was sent into the Sudan by the British gov
ernment because of his popularity among the natives and
his influence over them. But he could do nothing, and
with his escort was massacred at Khartum. For a long
time his fate was a mystery, and when it became known
the instincts of revenge and the duty of teaching the
doctrine of retribution inspired every soldier in the Brit
ish army until Lord Kitchener, in September, 1898, after
a struggle of two years, recovered the Sudan for Egypt.
The Mahdi, in the meantime, had died from the effects
of dissipation and indulgence and had been succeeded by

i88 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the Khafra, who was overtaken in November, 1899, and
slain in battle.
Since that date, under a treaty between the khedive and
the King of England, the territory of the Sudan has been
administered by an English governor general, and the
necessary assistants, both civil and military, who are
nominally appointed by the khedive, but actually selected
by the British government. Like other foreign officials
in Egypt, they are theoretically subject to the orders of
the khedive, but are actually responsible to Lord Cromer
and make their reports to him, as they receive their orders
from him. Lord Cromer is supposed to be serving as an
adviser to the Egyptian government, as a matter of cour
tesy, but has more power in the Sudan than Lord Curzon
in India or King Edward himself in the British Isles.
The expenses of the Sudan administration are paid from
revenues collected, with an annual deficit varying from a
million to a million and half of dollars, which is met by
the Egyptian government. In the year ending June 30,
1903, the balance to be paid from its treasury was $1,225,-
000, which was nearly a quarter of a million less than the
estimates. The receipts of the Sudan government for the
year were $2,140,815, which was a considerable increase
from the previous year and showed most encouraging
conditions. Almost the entire deficit was expended in
important public works, such as railways, telegraphs, irri
gation ditches and other permanent improvements of great
value and was money well invested.
Under the treaty the British and Egyptian flags are
used together and, according to the policy followed by
Lord Cromer in Egypt, the local authorities are intro
ducing as many Egyptians and natives into the public
service as are qualified, and as circumstances will justify.

EGYPTIAN RURAL MAIL DELIVERY

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 189
The same rule is observed by our officials in the Philip
pines. Occasionally a new Mahdi is proclaimed, or appears
somewhere in the interior, followed by a band of fanatics
who are willing to risk their liberty and even sacrifice
their lives to justify their faith in the divine origin of
some wicked adventurer. No people, except, perhaps,
the Hindoos, are so susceptible to the influence of relig
ious impostors. In February, 1904, a priest named Ali
Abdul-Kerim proclaimed himself the true Mahdi and,
being gifted with a smooth tongue and unusual skill as a
conjurer, succeeded in performing several miracles which
excited pubHc attention and brought to his support a con
siderable number of ignorant and innocent people. He
was promptly arrested and placed in jail where, to his
own chagrin and to the astonishment of his followers, the
reincarnated Mahomet was compelled to remain like an
ordinary sinner with no rescuing band of angels and no
miraculous escape. As a matter of policy the authorities
kept him in prison as publicly as possible in order to
convince his followers that he was an impostor and to
warn the public against future conspiracies of the same
kind. But although He soon became an object of contempt
and derision, the example was not very effective, for
another Mahdi appeared the next month and threatened
serious trouble. He proved to be a Tunis adventurer
named Mahomed El Amin, who had been chief of a
small tribe near the coast of the Mediterranean, and
showed great inteUigence and ability. He was forty
years old, had twice made the pilgrimage to Mecca, was
a convincing orator and had the cunning and several
other of the dangerous characteristics of the late Mahdi.

190 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA ,;;
If he had been allowed to continue his propaganda among
the people, which was conducted on the same lines as his
notorious forerunner, he would soon have attracted a
large following. He dressed in the richest silks, cov
ered his face with a veil, pretended to go for a week
without eating, spent much time in trances, and per
formed miracles of an extraordinary character. Having
acquired all the tricks of the trade, the zeal and fervor
of a fanatic made him an exceedingly dangerous man.
He was captured December, 1904, by an expedition of
cavalry sent up on a steamer from Khartum under Colonel
Mahon, the man who relieved the besieged English garri
son of Mafeking in the Boer war, and was promptly tried
and hanged.
Lord Cromer expects that other Mahdis will appear
from time to time, and General Wingate, the sirdar
(commander-in-chief) at Khartum, with his assistants
throughout the territory, is always on the lookout for
them. The people at large, remembering the despotic and
cruel rule of the late Mahdi, have a terrible dread of these
impostors, but the faith of the Mohammedan is so deeply
rooted and his piety is so sincere that he fears to offend
even an impostor who proclaims himself the successor of
the prophet.
The general situation in the Sudan, Lord Cromer says,
is exceedingly satisfactory. The people are gradually
beginning to understand the scheme of taxation and that
the money they pay to the government is being judiciously
expended for their benefit. They are learning, too, that
the authorities are just and impartial and do not intend
to interfere with their happiness, their customs, habits or
religion. Hence they submit cheerfuUy with confi
dence in the good intentions of the local rulers. Natives

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 191
who were driven into central Africa, Abyssinia and other
surrounding territories by the tyranny of the late Mahdi
are beginning fo return in large numbers to reoccupy the
farms they abandoned and resume their former occupa
tions. The cities and villages are rapidly increasing in
population; the cultivated area is being extended; flocks
and herds are rapidly growing in numbers ; the amount
of wool, cotton and other cultivated produce, as well as
the wild natural products brought to market, shows that
industry prevails in the forest and in the fields. The
revenues are larger each year than the year before ; crime
is decreasing, security prevails everywhere, and there is
general co-operation from the natives in working out the
problems which lie before the new government.
A marvelous change is taking place on the site of the
old city of Khartum, at the junction of the two branches
of the NUe, which was practically destroyed by the Mahdi.
Streets have been laid out anew upon the modern ap
proved system of right angles, and the monotony has
been broken by the introduction of public squares and
circles, like those at Washington. Upon the bank of the
Blue Nile, which forms the northern boundary, a boule
vard, or esplanade, has been laid out, upon which the
public buildings have been erected. The palace of the
sirdar, or commander-in-chief, which is the largest and
most imposing, occupies a commanding site, with a view
of both rivers, and a large, beautiful garden has been laid
out behind it. High white walls inclose the spot where
Gordon fell. A substantial brick structure of tasteful
design has been provided for the offices of the govern
ment officials; a handsome postoffice, a custom-house,
extensive barracks and military storehouses have been
erected, with ample officers' quarters, and a new hotel

192 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
with modern accommodations for sixty guests is due to
the enterprise of the Sudan Development Company, an
English corporation. It will be maintained in a first-
class manner, as an attraction for winter visitors to
Egypt to go up the Nile as far as Khartum. A club
building has been erected, surrounded by wide verandas
and a shady garden, with tennis courts, a bowling alley,
reading-rooms, a dining-room and quarters for half a
dozen bachelors, which were quickly taken up by officers
of the army and the civil service. Two banks have been
started and stand opposite each other upon the same
street. A bronze statue of General Gordon has been erected
opposite the palace gardens, in the most conspicuous
place in the city, but a far greater honor was conferred
upon him when the British people contributed $750,000
for the establishment of Gordon College for the educa
tion of the young Sudanese. Of this sum $100,000 has
been expended in the erection of a building in the center
of a treeless, sandy inclosure, which, however, sooner or
later will be converted into a park. There is scarcely need
for a college in the Sudan at present, because very few
young men have reached the point in education where
they could submit successfuUy to an ordinary entrance
examination in the classics or mathematics. In the mean
time it is proposed to use the buildings and the fund for
general educational purposes, and rooms will be occupied
by primary and secondary schools. It is proposed also
to introduce commercial and industrial manual training
departments, which are very much needed. This will not
be a diversion of the funds or a perversion of the purpose
of the generous people who failed to comprehend the con
ditions, and contributed their money under the mistaken

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 193
idea that there were people in the Sudan capable of ap
preciating a college education. The situation is very
much like that which existed in the United States in early
days, when missionaries went out from New England
into Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and established Indian
schools, which have since grown into influential colleges
with high standards of learning and culture. For the
present there are few students for either a classical or
a scientific institution in the Sudan, but the imposing
building will still be made useful and the high-sounding
name will stUl be appropriate. Mr. Currie, who is in
charge, hopes to have from 150 to 200 Sudanese boys in
Gordon College during the next year, studying practical
branches which will be most useful to them in the
present undeveloped condition of this country.
An economic museum has already been started in the
college building, which will occupy considerable space
and serve an important purpose by illustrating the re
sources of the country to visitors who come as far as
Khartum. What the Sudan, like the Philippine Islands,
most needs is capital for the development of its enormous
natural riches. It needs railways, wagon roads and
other rudimentary elements of civilization, which the gov
ernment is furnishing slowly. Working capital, how
ever, must be provided by private enterprise, and every
body will agree that a permanent exhibition of the agri
cultural, mineral and forestry products at Khartum would
be the best advertisement that could be furnished to
attract it. Up to this date very little foreign capital has
been invested in the Sudan. Practically nothing has been
done there upon modern lines. All of the gum, the
timber, the rubber and other articles for export are
brought out by naked savages. Several rich Greeks, who

194 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
are remarkably successful pioneers, have recently settled
at Khartum, and others are appearing in other towns and
cities. Greeks are the skirmishers of commerce in the
East. Six concessions have been granted to prospect for
minerals within a definite area for a limited period, with
a guaranty that if valuable deposits are discovered the
finder shall have a fair lease for the development. The
Victoria Investment Corporation, the London and Sudan
Development Syndicate and the Egyptian-Sudan Explor
ation Company, three organizations with British capital,
managed by men who have lived in Egypt and are familiar
with the country, have also received permission to make
explorations and will be given preference in the develop
ment of any schemes they may desire to undertake, and
several amateurs, among them two Americans, have
plunged into the forests to see what there is there. This
indicates to the minds of the officials the possibility of
inducing foreigners to interest themselves in enterprises,
and to aid their promotion a museum has been established.
There are unlimited opportunities for cotton and sugar
planting, soap factories, ropemaking, oil presses, tUe and
pottery works, flour mills and other industries for which
power and material in vast quantities are being wasted.
There are practically no mechanics in the Sudan except
discharged soldiers who have been taught at the govern
ment workshops. The natives know how to raise horses,
cattle, sheep and goats, and how to cultivate the ground,
but 90 per cent of the population have never seen a ma
chine or a tool, and their knowledge of iron and steel is
Hmited to rifles and other weapons. Hence, to meet the
future demand, which must soon begin, and in fact has
already begun, it is proposed to estabHsh an industrial
training school in Gordon College in order to give a sim-

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 195
pie technical education to such pupils as show a taste or
aptitude in that line. Sir WUliam Mather of London has
fitted up a complete workshop for purposes of instruction.
Mr. Henry S. Wellcome, an American chemist who
has made a fortune in London, has established a biological
laboratory under the care of Dr. Alfred Balfour, whom
he has sent out from London for that purpose. His
benefactions in the Sudan are of a practical every-day
business-like character. Up in that new country chemists,
engineers, electricians and other skilled men in similar
lines are very much needed, and there is a vast field for
scientific research and investigation. The jungles are
fuU of valuable raw material which the world knows
nothing about. By associating these several institutions
with Gordon College the government keeps them in a
position where the best co-operation can be obtained and
the combined institutions offer great promise.
The general education problem is a serious one for the
same reason that I mentioned in a previous chapter in
connection with the same subject in Egypt. Lord Cromer
told me that it is impossible to secure competent teachers.
The attitude of the natives towards education is encour
aging. They are eager to learn. Three and even two
years ago they were distrustful and suspicious because
the mullahs told them that the government schools would
teach their children the Christian religion, but they have
learned by experience that there is no such danger, and
now, from all of the big towns and many of the villages
the natives are calHng for schools which cannot be fur
nished them because there are no teachers. A few offer
themselves every year, but the number is not half as
many as is needed, and the policy of the government is
against employing incompetents. Hence education is still

196 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
practically limited to the kuttabs or Mohammedan mosque
schools, where the children are taught verses from the
Koran and a meager knowledge of reading and writing.
Mr. Currie, superintendent of education, advocates the
establishment of model government kuttabs and the em
ployment of competent Arabs to take charge of them, and
to give instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, English
and the Koran. Once good models have been established,
he argues, the priests will be compeUed to imitate them
and improve their educational system.
The eagerness of the people to learn is shown by the
large attendance and great interest in the government
schools at Omdurman and Khartum, which are new crea
tions, and are up-to-date in all educational methods. At
Omdurman there are 215 pupils and 90 per cent of them
are boys from the most prominent old Sudanese famiHes.
At the Khartum school are 115 boys from a similar class
of the population and in nearly every instance they ask
instruction in English instead of Arabic.
The slave trade, which has been carried on in the
Sudan with terrible effects, is being gradually suppressed.
Lord Cromer says that in Egypt proper the institution of
slavery no longer exists, but he continues : "In the Sudan
the case is different. In that country we are only at the
commencement of the anti-slavery campaign. That suc
cess will be eventually obtained I cannot doubt, but it
must be admitted that the difficulties are considerable
because of the vast extent of territory which has to be
guarded. From all I can hear I am led to believe that,
in spite of all the efforts of the government, slave raids,
accompanied with bloodshed, still occasionally take place
in the southern districts. The slaves are either sent west
ward or else eastward across the White Nile into Abys-

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 197
sinia, where they are easily sold. Last year (1903)
ninety-one slaves were freed and nine convictions ob
tained. The slaves were chiefly brought down by traders
from the Burun country and Abyssinia. They did not
know Arabic, which is a pretty sure sign that they were
outsiders. An English inspector has been appointed at
Khartum to collect all possible information concerning
the slave traffic. A camel company about 100 strong
patrols up and down the river. This measure appears
to have had the effect of arresting traffic, and also of
diverting it into the south and east. In more than one
case caravans of slaves have been driven into the hands
of the camel corps. It is certain that the traffic has of
late been much less active than formerly."
In Egypt proper. Lord Cromer says, ninety-four men
and one hundred and forty-four women slaves were
manumitted during the last year (1903) and five cases of
slave stealing were brought to trial. In three of them
convictions were obtained and the guilty sentenced to
three, five, seven and fifteen years' imprisonment.
Commerce is comparatively limited in the Sudan at
present, but new roads are being gradually opened up,
and it is noticeable that a great number of people use
them. Trade has been pretty brisk on the Nile during
the last year (1903), as the statistics show; 217 boats
have been licensed and a regular service of steamers has
been established between Khartum and Gondokoro, the
most advanced northern post of the Uganda government.
A rough survey of the country has been made, with a
view to extending the transportation system, and it is
found that it involves smaller engineering difficulties and
expenses than was supposed. There was a considerable
increase in the imports, and as an indication of the class

198 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
of goods needed the following table of the principal arti
cles imported into the Sudan in 1903 is given :
Tons. Value.
Cotton stuffs  1,387 £217,482
Flour  431 6,034
Rice  76 760
Spirits  250 8,400
Provisions  163 6,520
Sugar  1,733 19,687
Perfumes  7 2,800
Soap  117 3,217
OU  98 2,352
Tallow  7 230
Dates  851 6,19s
Tea  26 2,912
Petroleum  90 583
Tobacco  115 31,280
MisceUaneous  i,950 62,400
Total  7,301 £370,852
There is a considerable difference between the situation
in the Sudan and that in the Philippines, but at the same
time there are many points of resemblance in the problem.
Lord Cromer says that he fully appreciates the difficulties
that Governor Taft and his associates have met with.
In the Sudan his subordinates are moving very slowly and
the chief point in his instructions has been to avoid any
serious fiscal or administrative errors which may disturb
the confidence of the natives in the sincerity and the ca
pacity of their foreign rulers. While it is not a mUitary
government, most of the officials are military officers

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 199
working hard to carry out the highest principles of civil
administration and, he says :
"The men who under circumstances of much difficulty
are endeavoring to introduce the first rudimentary ele
ments of civilization into that vast and remote region de
serve every help and encouragement that can be afforded
to them. They have to reside in a climate which, during
the greater part of the year, is extremely trying to Euro
peans. For the most part they lead lives, if not of hard
ship, at all events of somewhat monotonous, and often of
almost solitary discomfort. More than this, even if ample
funds were available, which is far from being the case,
they could scarcely hope to see any very striking or im
mediate results accrue from their labors; for, in view of
the geographical features of the country, its great extent,
and the character of its sparse population, who have been
demoralized by the institution of slavery and by a long
course of misgovemment, a variety of social and eco
nomic problems are presented for solution, over some of
which the government can exercise but little or no con
trol, while over others improvement in whatsoever direc
tion must necessarily be a plant of very slow growth."
The British officials in the Sudan have laid out an
enormous game preserve, 300 miles long by 150 miles
wide, speaking approximately. It is situated between the
Blue and White branches of the Nile, the Sobat River
and the Abyssinian frontier. In that tract only persons
bearing permits from the governor general are allowed
to shoot, and it is intended, as soon as possible, to make
it a breeding ground as well as a sanctuary for large
game. Mr. Butler, the head of the game preservation
department, in the Sudan government, reports that the
natives are beginning to realize the advantage and the

200 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
necessity of this reservation, and the regulations have
been loyally observed, so far as the government can
ascertain, but, being such an enormous area, and much
of it inaccessible, the rules must be violated to a consid
erable extent without the knowledge of the government.
But with the advance of civilization they can be more
effectively enforced, and the game will increase in num
bers in the reserve as it is reduced elsewhere. Accord
ing to the returns of 1903, 1,340 wild animals were killed,
as against 842 during the previous year, and Mr. Butler
believes that these figures represent 90 per cent of the
game shot by Europeans. Perhaps an equal number of
animals were destroyed by hide-hunting gangs of natives,
but he considers that the poachers are fewer in number
and secured less booty than during any previous year.
The native sheiks have become interested in the preserva
tion of the animals and captured several gangs of poach
ers voluntarily.
The list of animals killed indicates the character of the
sport in the Sudan reserve, and Mr. Butler declares that
there is no place on earth equal to it. I give only the
principal items in the returns of animals kiUed in 1903:
Elephants  30 Rhinoceros  14
Lions  23 Hippopotamus  19
Leopards  27 Giraffe  4
Buffalo  34 Wild boar  17
Wild ass  2 Ostriches  4
Ibex  5 Cheetah (wUd cats) ... 2
Hartebeest  42 Tiang  83
Waterbuck  94 White-eared cob  107
Antelope  39 Gazelles  139
Redbuck  22 Bushbuck  31

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 201
Of the 1,340 animals reported 953 were killed by offi
cers and 387 by visitors. More than half of those killed
by officers were the various kinds of deer and antelope
which were needed for food expeditions sent by the gov
ernment to remote parts of the reserve. One rhinoceros
was kUled by an officer in self-defense, one giraffe was
shot by Prince Henry of Lichenstein at the request of the
Berlin Museum, and several hippopotami were killed by
boatmen in order to prevent them from upsetting and
destroying boats. Mr. Butler says :
"I am inclined to afford less protection to hippopotami.
They are extremely destructive to cultivation ; they are
dangerous to small boats at all times, and frequently
cause accidents to the rudders and the paddle wheels of
steamers. In swamp regions they exist in enormous
numbers ; they abound in the White Nile and are in no
danger of extermination. On the contrary, they are a
positive pest, and should be treated as such and shot on
sight." The most advanced position on the skirmish line of
civilization in the Sudan is occupied by Rev. J. K. Giffen
and Medical Doctor H. T. McLaughlin and their wives,
at Dolaib Hill, among a pagan tribe of ShuUas, near
where the Sobat River flows into the Nile. They have
erected cabins from materials they found in the jungle,
have planted gardens, built a school-house, begun teach
ing, and have already won the confidence of the natives
around them. They are Americans, and missionaries of
the United Presbyterian church, who plunged into the
green gulf of Central Africa in 1902 to devote their lives
to the improvement of the condition of those naked
savages. Speaking of these brave pioneers in a recent report

202 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
to the home government at London, Lord Cromer him
self has given the clearest, fullest and most comprehen
sive account of their work and situation that has ever
been pubHshed. He says:
"An opportunity was afforded to me, during my recent
tour in the Sudan, of visiting the station established by
the American missionaries on the Sobat River. The es
tablishment consists of Mr. and Mrs. Giffen and Dr. and
Mrs. McLaughlin. I was greatly pleased with all I saw.
The mission is manifestly conducted on those sound,
practical, common-sense principles which, indeed, are
strongly characteristic of American mission work in
Egypt. No parade is made of religion. In fact, the
work of conversion, properly so-called, can scarcely be
said to have commenced. Mr. Giffen has, very wisely,
considered that, as a preliminary to the introduction of
Christian teaching, his best plan will be to gain some in
sight into the ideas, manners and customs of the wUd
Shillouks among whom he lives, to establish in their
minds thorough confidence in his intentions, and to in
culcate some rudimentary knowledge of the Christian
moral code. In these endeavors he appears to have been
eminently successful. By kindly and considerate treat
ment he is allaying those suspicions which are so easily
aroused in the minds of savages. I found considerable
numbers of Shillouks, men and women, working happUy
at the brick-kiln which he has established in the extensive
and well cultivated garden attached to the mission. I may
remark incidentally that cotton, apparently of good qual
ity, has already been produced. The houses in which the
members of the mission Hve have been constructed by
Shillouk labor. I addressed the men present, through
an interpreter, and fully satisfied myself that they were

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 203
happy and contented. They understand that they can
now no longer be carried off into slavery, that they will be
treated with justice and consideration, and paid for their
labor. "Not only can there be no possible objection to mission
work of this description, but I may add that, from what
ever point of view the matter is considered, the creation
of establishments conducted on the principles adopted by
Mr. Giffen and Dr. McLaughlin cannot fail to prove an
unmixed benefit to the population among whom they live.
I understand that the American missionaries contemplate
the creation of another mission post higher up the Sobat.
It is greatly to be hoped that they will carry out this in
tention. They may rely on any reasonable encouragement
and assistance which it is in the power of the Sudan gov
ernment to afford. It is, I venture to think, to be regret
ted that none of the British missionary societies appear so
far to have devoted their attention to the southern portions
of the Sudan, which are inhabited by pagans. Not only do
these districts present a far more promising field for mis
sionary enterprise than those provinces whose population
is Mohammedan, but the manifest political objections
which exist in allowing mission work in the latter do not
in any degree exist in the former case. I entirely agree
with the opinion held by Sir Reginald Wingate, and
shared, I believe, by every responsible official who can
speak with local knowledge and authority on the subject,
that the time is still distant when mission work can, with
safety and advantage, be permitted among the Moslem
population of the Sudan.
"Subsequently to writing these remarks I visited the
Austrian Roman Catholic Mission, situated a short dis
tance south of Fashoda. It is also very well conducted,

204 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and deserves the same amount of encouragement as that
accorded to the American establishment.
"I should add that, although mission work, properly
so-called, cannot as yet be permitted among the Moslem
population of the Sudan, I see no objection to the estab
lishment of Christian schools at Khartum. Parents
should, of course, be warned, before they send their chil
dren to the schools, that instruction in the Christian re
ligion is afforded. It will then be for them to judge
whether they wish their children to attend or not. Prob
ably the best course to pursue will be to set aside certain
hours for religious instruction, and leave it optional to
the parents whether or not their children shall attend
during those hours. It must be remembered that besides
the Moslem population, there is a small number of Chris
tians at Khartum. These might very probably wish to
take advantage of the schools."
In the same report Lord Cromer gives a memorandum
concerning the religious beliefs of the savage tribes of the
Sudan which will be of interest to ethnologists. It is the
result of investigations made under his instruction by
Surgeon Major S. L. Cummins of the British army, chief
of the medical staff of Bimsashi, on the Upper Nile :
"In making inquiries as to religious beliefs among the
people here, one is met at the outset by two difficulties.
The first and greatest is the reticence displayed on such
subjects by the natives, and the second is that the in
terpreter, being invariably an Arabic-speaking native who
has, with his Arabic, acquired the Moslem faith, is liable
to color his translations with ideas of his own, partly out
of shame of the beliefs which he has discarded, and partly
from his anxiety to tell you what he thinks you expect.
Perseverance in this line of inquiry is, however, well re-

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 205
paid, as the primitive religions of the tribes in the Bahr-
el-Ghazal are most interesting and suggestive.
"The Dinka, though the most difficult of all to approach
on such subjects, appears to have a most elaborate list of
gods and demi-gods. At the head of the divine com
munity are Deng-Dit (Rain-Giver) and Abok, his wife.
They have two sons, Kur Kongs, the elder, and Gurung-
Dit, the younger, and a daughter called Ai-Yak. Their
devil is called L'wal Burrajok, and is the father of Abok,
the wife of Deng-Dit. There are other relatives also, but
I have given sufficient for a short paper.
"Their story of the origin of mankind (or, it may be, of
the Dinka tribe) is curious and poetical. Deng-Dit gave
to his wife Abok a bowl of fat, and she and her children,
softening the fat over the fire, proceeded to mold from it
men and women in the image of the gods. Deng-Dit
warned her against L'wal (the devil), who was suspected
of having evil intentions toward Deng-Dit. But Abok for
got, and with her children went to gather wood in the for
est. There L'wal found the bowl, drank the greater part
of the fat, and from the remainder proceeded to mold cari
catures of men and women with distorted limbs, mouths
and eyes. Then, fearing the vengeance of Deng-Dit, he
descended to earth by the path which then connected it
with heaven. On discovering the result of her neglect
Abok hastened to her husband, who, greatly incensed,
started in pursuit of L'wal. The latter, however, had per
suaded the bird Atoitoish to bite asunder with its bill the
path from heaven to earth, and he thus escaped from the
divine wrath.
"In spite of this complicated mythology, the Dinkas ap
pear to be very indifferent to religion as an active prin
ciple in life. They are without any plan of prayer, and

2o6 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
though they assert that their forefathers made great sac
rifices to God, the present generation thinks twice about
parting with a goat — to say nothing of a cow — for sac
rificial purposes.
"Sacrifices constitute, however, their only attempts at
intercourse with God. In fact, they seem to regard him
not as a being likely to confer benefits, but as a destruc
tive power, to be propitiated if possible.
"The Golos also believe in male and female deities,
called Umvili and Barachi respectively. This couple is
said to have originated the human race, and to be parents
of mankind. This belief is, I think, common to the Golo,
N'dogo, Shere and Balanda tribes, and possibly also to
the A-Zamdah.
"They have vague ideas as to future bliss for the
worthy, and punishment for evil-doers, and the execution
of the latter is intrusted to a spirit called Ma-ah, who cor
responds to Shaitan, but is the servant rather than the
envoy of God. Some of the Golo songs in common use
are of the nature of moral exhortations, directing the peo
ple to hear the voice of God.
"Like the Dinkas, they do not pray to God, but attempt
to appease him with sacrifices of chickens. These sacri
fices are rather one-sided, as the procedure is to kill
twenty chickens, cook and eat nineteen and throw out the
twentieth to Umvili.
"Golos and Dinkas both associate the ideas of reverence
and divinity with the sky, and of malignity and punish
ment with the bowels of the earth, pointing upward to
their gods and downward to their devils. This associa
tion is, I believe, universal, and has probably its origin in
sun worship. The natural human instinct for religion is
probably as deeply rooted in the Bahr-el-Ghazal as else-

REDEMPTION OF SUDAN 207
where, and manifests itself perhaps in the readiness with
which these tribes embrace Islam when they learn about
it in Sudanese regiments or as slaves."
A report on the same subject from Rev. Mr. Giffen
varies somewhat. He represents the Sudanese savages as
believing in a supreme being who created the world and
controls every event for good or evil, but they do not
directly worship him or have any responsibility to him
except through an intermediary called Nik-Kanga, a sort
of mediator to whom they erect temples and make sac
rifices. These sacrifices have influence upon their health
and prosperity, the growth of their crops and flocks and
herds, and their peace and happiness. In each village is
a temple, usually a small hut set apart for worship, in
charge of priests. They have no definite notions as to
how the influence of the supreme being is exercised or
how the mediation of the Nik-Kanga is applied, nor have
they any theory of a future life.
The United Presbyterians have been working in the
valley of the Nile since 1854 with great success. In 1904,
their evangelical work had resulted in fifty-two regularly
organized churches with a membership of 6,800; of
whom 3,723 are men and 3,077 are women. During the
previous year 519 were admitted to the churches upon
profession of faith, and the average attendance at the
Sabbath morning services was 13,729. There are sev
enty-one missionaries of foreign birth now at work, in
cluding teachers and physicians, and 495 native clergy
men, colporteurs, teachers and mission workers, including
fifty women who go into the harems and homes of the na
tive families and read and teach the women and girls who
are entirely shut out of the world. Last year 21,758

2o8 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
copies of the Bible, 8,133 religious books and 35,375 edu
cational books were sold.
Dr. Ewing of Cairo, the pioneer and dean of the Amer
ican missionary colony, told me that Lord Cromer and
the other officials are kind and helpful; that the khedive
and the Egyptian authorities are friendly, and that the
natives are. tolerant and kindly disposed. Mission work
ers seldom have trouble except when they come into con
tact with vicious and disorderly ruffians. The Moham
medan priests, he says, are a very decent sort of people
from their own standpoint and seldom interfere with the
missionaries except to try to keep their chUdren away
from the Protestant schools.

XI

THE SUEZ CANAL

We were very sorry to leave Cairo. Its fascinations
are difficult to resist. An old proverb says that "He who
once drinks of the water of the Nile will long for it ever
more." We had a most delightful time there under ideal
conditions. The hotel is as comfortable as anyone
could wish; the climate is perfect, the members of the
American colony are very hospitable, and from the Brit
ish officials I received many attentions and favors, for
which I am truly grateful. I am quite sure that the of
ficials of our government at Washington, although most
of them are usually very obliging, would never take so
much trouble to furnish a foreign newspaper reporter
with information. But I have met with the same experi
ence wherever I have been, from one end of the earth to
the other. I have found the officials of foreign govern
ments always ready and willing to furnish information on
every legitimate topic, and I think, as a rule, they talk
more freely and go into affairs more fully with strangers
than with their own local newspaper men. Perhaps it
may be due to sympathy; perhaps they assume that
a stranger within their gates is entitled to a little
closer attention than home folks, and should be ac
curately informed about people and things; and, fur
thermore, there is an inclination on the part of all gentle
men, as I have discovered, to be obliging. Let me here
209

2IO EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
express my appreciation of the kindness I have met with
among all grades of officials in all the countries of
Europe, Asia, Africa and Central and South America,
for without their assistance and the information they have
given me my task could not be performed.
We went down from Cairo to Port Said on the railway,
a journey of six hours, with an excellent luncheon on a
dining car, and arrived at the canal city about dark, to
discover that our steamer was to be detained twenty-four
hours, because the mail boat from Brindisi had been com
pelled to put into the harbor of Corfu to escape a hurri
cane. The big India steamers that come out from Lon
don stop at Gibraltar, Marseilles, Genoa, Naples and
Malta for passengers and freight. The mails for India
and the far East leave London, Paris and Berlin ten days
later, and are carried by a special train to Brindisi, the
port of southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, where they
are placed aboard a small, fast steamer and overtake
the big boat at Port Said. Hence, while it is twenty-three
days by steamer from London to Bombay, it is only thir
teen days by mail.
It took us fifteen hours to go through the Suez Canal.
The voyage has been made in less than twelve hours by
sm?ill vessels, : but big steamers with a heavy displace
ment of water are compelled to move more slowly for
fear of washing the banks. The canal is eighty-seven
miles long, and about half way enters Lake Timsa, or the
Lake of the Crocodiles to which the Red Sea formerly
extended. That is crossed through a channel about two
miles and a half long. After a few miles more of canal
the steamer enters the Bitter Lakes, which are the ancient
Guly of HeraeopoHs. The channel in both lakes is

THE SUEZ CANAL 211
marked by buoys and has been dredged to a depth of
twenty-eight feet.
The ordinary width of the canal at the water line is 328
feet ; at the base 72 feet, but where there are deep cuttings
it narrows to 190 feet. The mean depth from end to end
is twenty-six feet. In places it has been dredged out for
a channel of thirty feet, and it is the intention of the
company to deepen it to that minimum the entire distance,
because it is already too shallow for some of the big battle
ships and passenger steamers which are now going back
and forth between Europe and the far East. The slope
of the banks at the water line is one inch in five, and
there are about twelve miles of masonry at points where
the sand is loose and easily disturbed. These retaining
walls are being extended every year, and it is expected
that sometime they will inclose the canal nearly the entire
distance. The nature of the soil, being bottomless sand for the
greater part of the distance, makes it necessary to keep
gangs of men and dredges constantly at work. An aver
age of 12,000 natives and 1,000 foreigners are on the
regular pay roll, but that is not as formidable a force as
it sounds, because one Irishman or Swede, with a pick
and shovel can do as much work in a day as a dozen
Arabs with their antiquated tools and methods. They
carry the earth in baskets and usually scoop it up with
their hands. It is asserted by engineers who are familiar
with the history of the construction of the canal that at
least one-third of the original excavation was done in
that way. A hundred thousand Arabs with no tools
whatever and only part of them with baskets, were em
ployed for several years, and thousands of them did no
more than pick up the sand by handfuls and carry it over

212 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the bank wrapped in their cotton robes. Thousands per
ished from hunger, fever and exhaustion, for they were
worked in the most cruel manner, without shelter, food
or medical attendance, until the indignation of Europe
compelled De Lesseps and his associates to adopt a more
humane policy and prohibit the brutality that had been
practiced by their contractors. The early history of the
Suez Canal is full of horrors and scandals. The extrava
gance and corruption that attended every step of the work
of construction surpassed even that of the Panama Canal,
but the promoters were fortunate enough to avoid such
an explosion and exposure as occurred in the latter case.
A knowledge of its history destroys all respect for
De Lesseps and his assistants, who appear to have been
guilty of every crime against their fellowmen that the
circumstances allowed them to commit — bribery, murder,
falsehood, robbery, swindling, and enough more to make
their experience with perdition permanent.
The construction gangs, under the present manage
ment, are well paid, well fed and sheltered in barracks
built upon the same plan as those occupied by the sol
diers of the Egyptian army, and are as comfortable as the
climate and other conditions will permit. They have the
most improved modern machinery, implements and tools
furnished them, and are divided into gangs under the
control of European bosses. The managers say, however,
that the Arabs are incapable of performing manual labor
like white men, and cannot use ordinary tools. There
isn't a wheelbarrow between the Mediterranean and the
Red Sea. The workmen will not use them. They insist
upon shoveling earth into baskets and carrying it upon
their heads. That is the habit of all oriental peoples.
The experience of railway builders in India, China and

THE SUEZ CANAL 213
to a certain extent in the Spanish-American countries
has been similar.
The cost of the canal up to Dec. 31, 1903, including
bribes, steaHngs, salaries, original construction, im
provements and maintenance, has been $117,897,205, and,
according to the best judgment of disinterested engineers,
it could be reproduced for one-third of that money by the
use of modern methods and improvements and by honest
administration. It is not an engineering problem. The
construction was simple and easy. There are no grades
to overcome. The highest altitude between the two seas
is only sixty-five feet, and the average surface of the
desert above the water is eighteen feet. That made it
necessary only to dig a ditch averaging forty-four feet
deep and 328 feet wide for forty-two miles directly north
and south, then for twenty-five miles to the east and then
twenty miles to the south again. There was compara
tively little rock work and no swamps or soft ground.
Compared with the difficulties represented by the Panama
Canal, the Suez Canal was as easy of construction as a
prairie railway.
The capital stock of the company is $40,000,000. The
total receipts for 1902 were $21,369,952.05, from the
following sources:
Steamship tolls  $20,205,031.78
Passenger fees  404,702.50
Sailing vessels  13,340.05
Pilot fees  74,128.20
Anchorage fees  19,054.95
The remaining income was derived from the earnings
of temporary deposits in banks, from the railway between
Port Said and Ismalia, from the sale of fresh water to

214 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
passing steamers, from the rental of lands and buildings
belonging to the corporation and to other minor sources.
The expenditures for the year 1902 were as follows :
Administration  $ 344,403.76
Operating  1,554,282.61
Interest on bonds  3,061,043.86
Sinking fund  1,060,000.00
Coupons consolidated  360,009.84
Capital social  2,016,090.00
Net profit  12,934,103.98
Total  $21,369,952.05
This leaves the expenses of operating the canal and
the fixed charges $8,435,848.07 annually.
If the Suez canal had been honestly and economically
built, its stock would pay 50 per cent dividends. Al
though the Panama canal will cost three or four times as
much, because of topographical conditions, and cannot
expect more than one-fourth as much traffic, its earnings
ought to pay its expenses at the start.
The receipts and the traffic they represent annually
from the beginning, will be of interest in this connection :
No. of Receipts
ships. Tonnage. in francs.
1873  1,173 1.367.768 20,850,726
1874  1,264 1.631,650 22,667,792
1875  1,494 2,009,984 26,430,791
1876  1,457 2,096,772 27,631,458
1877  1,663 2,355,448 30,180,929
1878  1,593 2,269,678 28,345.673
1879  1.477 2,263,332 27,131,117
1880  2,026 3,057,422 36,492,620

THE SUEZ CANAL 215
No. of Receipts
ships. Tonnage. (in francs).
188I  2,727 4.136.780 47,193.883
1882  3,198 5,074,809 55,421,040
1883  3.307 S.775,862 60,558,489
1884  3,284 5,871,501 58,628,760
1885  3,624 6,335,753 60,057,260
1886  3,100 5,767,656 54.771,077
1887  3.137 S.903,024 55,995,298
1888  3,440 6,640,834 63,037,618
1889  ."  3,425 6,783,187 64,412,512
1890  3,389 6,890,094 65,427,230
189I  ....4,207 8,698,777 81,540,836
1892  3,559 7,712,029 72,613,311
1893  3,341 7,659,060 68,862,961
1894  3.352 8,039,17s 72,116,065
1895  3.434 8,448,383 75.934,358
1896  3,409 8,560,284 76,487,717
1897  2,986 7.899,374 70,918,410
1898  3,503 9,238,603 82,657,421
1899  3,607 9,985,630 88,698,555
1900  3,441 9,738,152 87,278,481
1901  3,699 10,823,840 97,034,944
1902  3,708 11,248,413 101,025,158
During the last year named all of the vessels passing
through the canal were of the merchant marine with the
exception of ninety-seven men-of-war, fifty-six military
transports and nine pleasure yachts. The foUowing na
tions were represented : No. of vessels. Tonnage.
Great Britain  2,105 6,772,911
Germany  480 1,707,322
France  274 760,1 10

2i6 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
No. of vessels. Tonnage.
Holland  218 520,030
Austria  139 417,826
Russia  no 328,584
Italy  85 167,213
Japan  61 232,052
Norway  41 74,966
Turkey  28 41,031
Spain  30 95,840
America  21 47,390
Denmark  14 42,425
Greece  14 19,01 1
Sweden  7 S,97o
Egypt  6 3,306
Portugal  3 2,662
Siam  2 800
The largest patron of the Canal Company is the Penin
sular and Oriental Steamship Company of England,
which sent through 213 steamers in 1902. The Ocean
Steamship Company, also a British concern, which runs
to Australia and the East Indies, sent 145 vessels, the
Hansa Co. 160, the Messageries Maritimes 155, the North
German Lloyd 95, and the Clan Line of freighters 129.
The total number of passengers carried through each
year since the canal was opened is as follows :
Number of Receipts
passengers. (in francs).
1873  68,030 680,308
1874  73,597 735.971
1875  84,446 844,465
1876  71,843 718,430
1877  72,822 728,225

THE SUEZ CANAL 217
No. of Receipts
passengers. (in. francs).
1878  99,200 992,098
1879  84,512 845,120
1880  101,551 1,015,517
1881  90,524 905.248
1882  131,068 1,310,686
1883  119.117 1,191,772
1884  151,916 1,519,166
1885  205,951 2,059,513
1886  171,411 1,714,115
1887  182,997 1,829,976
1888  183,805 1,838,957
1889  180,594 1,805,940
1890  161,353 1,613,538
1891  194.467 1,944.677
1892  189,809 1,898,001
1893  186,495 1,864,957
1894  165,980 1,659,807
1895  216,938 2,169,385
1896  308,243 3,082,432
1897  191,215 1,912,150
1898  219,554 2,195,545
1899  221,332 2,213,320
1900  282,511 2,825,107
1901  270,221 2,702,205
1902  223,513 2,235,125
Of the above 98,068 were ordinary passengers, 40,499
were pilgrims to Mecca, and the following military forces
from the nations named :
No. of No. of
men. men.
Great Britain  28,698 Italy  ,1,918

2i8 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
No. of No. of
men. ™«n-
France  23,691 Holland  1,999
Russia  12,477 America  i,773
Germany  8,207 Portugal  435
Turkey  5,703
The dredges used on the canal are monstrous great ma
chines which dip up the loose sand in buckets from the bot
tom of the ditch and elevate it to a height of about fifty
feet, so that it runs down through long pipes upon the
desert behind the banks. Years of experience have
taught the managers how to handle the sand, which, they
say, behaves very differently from rock, clay and other
earth, and has peculiar ways of its own. The wash from
the passing vessels makes a great deal of trouble, but it
cannot be prevented, and the best that can be done is to
keep them down to a speed of four miles an hour for
large ships and six miles an hour for smaller ones, and
then repair the damage by dredging which, with its enor
mous earnings, the company, of course, is able to do.
There are twenty dredges at work, half of them widening
the channel and assisting the building of stone embank
ments. The others are doing repair work.
Every vessel passing through the Suez Canal is com
pelled to take a pilot, because the skippers of ordinary
vessels cannot be trusted to navigate the narrow channel,
for the slightest deviation may cause damage that wiU
cost thousands of dollars to repair. Each year, however,
navigation is rendered easier by the widening of the chan
nel and by the excavation of additional sidings or basins
where vessels can pass. From the moment the pilot goes
on the bridge he takes charge of the movements of the
ship and is responsible for whatever may happen, regulat-

THE SUEZ CANAL 219
ing the speed according to tonnage and draught. Vessels
cannot pass in motion. When they meet, the one which
arrives first at the signal station is compelled to stop and
tie up in a basin until the other goes by. These basins are
found at intervals of a few miles, and at every basin is a
"gare" or station in charge of a signal officer, who corre
sponds to a train dispatcher on one of our railroads, and
the block system is used to regulate the movement of
vessels. Formerly no traffic was allowed at night, but it
is now carried on without interruption by the aid of elec
tric lights on the shore and searchlights on the vessels.
The canal looks exactly what it is — a big ditch through
a desert of sand on which foxes, jackals, hyenas and oc
casionally lions are seen by the watchmen in the signal
towers. At some places the banks of earth on either side
are so high that passengers on the steamer cannot see
over them, but for most of the journey you have a wide
sweep on both sides back to the mountains that rise from
the desert, and at a certain point for a mile or two Mount
Sinai is visible thirty-seven miles to the southeast, and is
pointed out to you by the captain or the deck steward.
Naked Arab boys run along the banks crying for back
sheesh and easily keep abreast of the creeping vessels,
grabbing at the pennies which passengers throw them
from the deck. Half the coins roll down into the water,
which is exasperating to the youngsters. They do not
like to stop and dive for them while there is a chance of
getting more, but I imagine they mark the spots and go
back to recover lost backsheesh when they have left the
vessel. There are only two towns of any account on the canal.
One is IsmaHa, a half-way point, with a population of
4,000: It is the only monument in honor of the Khedive

220 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Ismail, who did the most and spent the most to carry
out the enterprise and lost his throne thereby. It is a
rather pretty town, abundantly irrigated, and hence has
lovely gardens and groves of palms and other trees.
Here reside most of the engineers and other officers of
the canal, because it is preferable to Port Said. There is
a hospital for sick employes, a club for the benefit of the
officers and several good houses, including one erected
especially for the entertainment of M. De Lesseps, when
he should be pleased to use it. Beyond Ismalia, as before,
are occasional oases in the desert — groves of palms and
luxuriant gardens surrounding the stations of the canal
officials, for wherever you can turn water upon that lone
ly desert everything will grow with a wild luxuriance. It
seems as if the earth suddenly released germinating
power that had been accumulating during centuries of
suppression. The chief interest is found in the town of Suez, be
cause it is the crossing place of the great caravans of
camels that furnish transportation between the two conti
nents of Asia and Africa, and travel regularly between
Cairo, Damascus and Bagdad; also because biblical his
torians believe that here the waters of the Red Sea opened
3,500 years ago and allowed 3,000,000 of the children of
Israel to cross over upon a dry bottom. It requires a con
siderable concession to the imagination and a strength of
faith which the most of mankind do not possess to accept
this theory, but no one knows to the contrary, and expe
rience has taught me never to doubt the truth of interest
ing stories. If you do, you deprive yourself and others
of much pleasure. It is Hke analyzing the attractions of
a pretty woman or separating her features into lots, clas
sifying them and measuring them by the Venus de Milo.

THE SUEZ CANAL • 221
On the other side of the Red Sea, which, by the way,
is not red, but blue — as blue as the sky in June — you can
see the purple peaks of the Sinaitic Range, and a few
miles from the shore, which you can reach in three hours
by donkey, is one of those remarkable oases that are fre
quently found in the desert. This particular one is called
the Wells of Moses. There is a comfortless hotel kept
by an Arab, where beds and refreshments can be obtained,
but it is better to start early in the morning, so as to get
back the same day, and take a luncheon in a basket from
Suez. The trip can be easily made while the vessel is
coaling. The Children of Israel, according to the Bible, wan
dered three days in the Wilderness of Shur and found no
water, and when they came to Marah they could not drink
the waters, for they were bitter, and the people mur
mured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
and he cried unto the Lord and the Lord showed him a
tree which he cast into the waters and the waters were
made sweet. And they came to Elim, where there were
twelve wells of water, and three score and ten palm trees,
and they encamped there by the waters. And Miriam,
the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her
hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels
and with dances. That beautiful scene, one of the most
dramatic in the whole Bible, is believed to have taken
place here, for these wells are the wells of Elim, and
three and ten palm trees still shelter a collection of a
dozen or more springs. The village is peopled with
naked Arabs, sinewy, springy, enduring fellows, whose
flesh shines like polished mahogany and who must resem
ble the young men of Israel when they started on the
journey that was not finished for forty years.

222 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
It is difficult to understand why and how they happened
to be wandering about so long down there. If you will
look at the map you will see that Suez is almost on a line
with Cairo, and it was the most natural rendezvous for
the tribes, who were scattered all along the Nile from
Memphis, which is just above Cairo, to Thebes, which is
just below Luxor. The account in the Bible is condensed,
and we are compelled to take a good deal of these tradi
tions on faith, but, as I have already suggested, it is worth
while to do so.

XII

ARABIA. AND THE RED SEA

The Red Sea is 1,400 miles long, and its greatest width
is 200 miles. It is about the shape of a sausage, and
tapers at both ends. On one side is Arabia, the most
mysterious and primitive of all countries, and on the other
side are Egypt, Nubia and the Sudan. At the north end
what is known as the Sinaitic peninsula projects south
ward and divides the sea into two arms, and near the
point of the peninsula is Tor, the landing place for Sinai.
Opposite Tor is Jebel Ez-Zeit, which means "the moun
tain of oil," where petroleum was discovered some years
ago and created great excitement. Hundreds of thou
sands of dollars have been expended in sinking wells and
building docks, warehouses and refineries, but they have
all been abandoned, because, for some reason, the manu
facturers could not compete with the Standard Oil Com
pany or the Russian factories on the Black and Caspian
seas. People think that there is a good deal more wealth in
Arabia than we know of. It was once of greater im
portance than now, and in ancient days produced consid
erable gold and other metals, but now it ships little but
dates, wool and coffee, and even those are gradually fall
ing off. Mocha coffee is produced at the extreme end of
the Arabian peninsula in a province called Yemen, and
derives its name from the little port it is shipped from.
223

224 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
But the people have no enterprise, the coffee orchards
have been injured by insects and blight, and the trees have
not been renewed. This is accounted for by bad govern
ment. As everywhere else in the dominions of the Sultan
of Turkey, for Arabia is nominally a part of the Ottoman
Empire, the officials receive no salaries and live off black
mail. Hence, whenever a citizen gets a Httle ahead, when
he shows signs of prosperity, he immediately becomes an
object of plunder and persecution by the tax gatherer
and every other representative of the government. There
is no incentive for the coffee growers to extend their or
chards or to increase their product.
One does not realize, until he comes face to face with
the fact, that Arabia is nearly half as large as the United
States. Its area is almost as great as that of India and is
nearly equal to that of our states east of the Mississippi
River. The population is unknown, because there has
never been a census, but it is supposed to be between
seven and twelve millions. The distance from north to
south is more than a thousand miles and from east to west
it varies from five hundred to eight hundred. Yet in this
enormous territory there is no centralized authority. The
interior is governed by petty sheiks, each being absolute
over the members of his own tribe. Along a coast line of
nearly 2,500 miles are only six ports, where the Sultan of
Turkey maintains Pasha governors and garrisons to pro
tect the collectors of customs who are required to pay him
a certain amount of tribute every year and they wring it
out of the people in any way they can.
The relationship between the government at Constanti
nople and the Bedouins of Arabia is very slender, and is
due solely to the cohesive power of the Mohammedan re
ligion. There is no law in Arabia but the Koran ; there

ARABIA AND THE RED SEA 225
are no courts but the priests ; there are no mails, no post-
offices, no postage stamps, and a person who wants to
communicate with a distant friend must send his letter
by a messenger, which is expensive, or by a caravan,
which is the common way. There is no telegraph line, no
newspaper, no railroad, and, strange to say, not a river
in all that vast area except a few shallow, rocky beds
which during the spring bring down water from the
melting snow on the mountain tops to the sea, and for
nine months in the year are as dry as a crematory.
Our captain told me that they produce a curious phe
nomenon. The coast of the Red Sea is lined with coral
banks, built by those mysterious and wonderful little
masons who, like some men I know, hate fresh water, and
wherever the spring floods fall into the sea there is always
a wide break in the coral reef.
The mountains of Arabia reach an altitude of more
than 10,000 feet, and in spots where borings have been
made the sand is more than 600 feet deep. It is the pre
vailing impression that Arabia is a vast expanse of desert,
but that is a mistake. There are wide strips of barren
sand, which are irreclaimable for cultivation only because
they cannot be reached by water, but two-thirds of the
country is capable of cultivation, and, lying at an altitude
of 3,000 feet above the sea, might produce cotton, sugar
and other semi-tropical staples in unlimited quantities.
Although there are no streams, plenty of water can be
had for irrigation purposes by digging twenty or thirty
feet, and the introduction of windmills would simplify the
pumping problem. On the coast it is intensely hot, and
the humidity of the atmosphere during the summer sea
son makes life almost unendurable, but in the interior,
upon the table lands along the mountain slopes, and in the

226 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
valleys, the mercury seldom rises above 85 degrees, even
in midsummer. While the direct rays of the sun are in
tense, it is cool in the shade, and at night the mercury
often falls below 50.
More than two-thirds of the population are Bedouin
nomads, without permanent places of abode, who live in
tents made of camel's hair, just like the patriarchs of old.
They have enormous flocks of sheep and goats, and herds
of cattle and camels. They follow the grass and move
from place to place with all their possessions. There are,
however, several prosperous cities of considerable popula
tion and commerce. Trade is conducted by camel cara
vans, which cross the desert regularly, and transport
enormous quantities of dates, wool and other merchan
dise. Half way down the Red Sea, on the Arabian coast, is
the port of Jiddah, where the pUgrims for Mecca, who
come by sea, disembark. It is distant about sixty-five
miles from the sacred city of the Mohammedans, has a
population of about 20,000, an imposing and attractive
appearance from the sea and is surrounded by funny look
ing Dutch windmills, which pump water from the artesian
basin under the sand. But the moment you reach the
shore the illusion is destroyed. The streets are nar
row, dirty and full of all kinds of smells, while the
population is made up of human cormorants who fatten
off the pilgrims. Since the opening of the Suez Canal the
town has increased considerably in importance, because it
is so much easier for pilgrims to come by steamer from
all parts of Turkey, India and other Mohammedan coun
tries than to cross the desert in caravans, which was the
custom for centuries. The number and the size of the
caravans are decreasing every year, while the number

ARABIA AND THE RED SEA 227
who come by sea is growing rapidly. There is no differ
ence in the efficacy of the journey, although one would
argue that a man who has traveled a thousand miles over
a burning desert ought to be entitled to greater credit
than one who makes a similar distance upon a steamer by
sea. The sacrifice of life that has always attended the Mecca
pilgrimages also is growing less every year. Formerly
thousands starved and died of disease and exhaustion
during the desert journey, and sometimes an epidemic
would sweep away every soul in the caravan. Of late
years sanitary regulations have been introduced which,
strange to say, are in charge of medical officers educated
at the American Presbyterian College at Beirut. The in
fluence of Germany and other foreign nations induced the
Sultan of Turkey to adopt reforms which are very well
enforced, so that nowadays epidemics seldom occur at
Mecca, although the mortality is still large. Formerly the
Holy City, which is to the Mohammedans what Jerusalem
is to the Jews and Benares to the Hindus, was a hotbed of
contagious diseases, which the pilgrims distributed in
every direction ; but there has been a great improvement.
Every caravan and vessel is required to undergo ten
days' quarantine before passengers are allowed to pro
ceed to Mecca, and a medical inspection of pilgrims takes
place while they are there, so that the presence of. con
tagious or infectious diseases is promptly discovered, and
infected persons are not allowed to leave until they have
been quarantined and their baggage properly fumigated.
The regulations can be strictly enforced with vessels
and contagion is not often' carried about that way, but
travelers by land sometimes evade quarantine, and the
plagues that raged in Syria and Palestine in 1902-3 were

228 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
traced directly to pilgrims who escaped the vigilance of
the sanitary officers at Mecca and reached Gaza, the city
of Samson in Palestine, with the germs of the disease.
And, however strict the quarantine officers may be, Jiddah
is so thoroughly saturated with pestilence and every inch
of its surface inside and out is so thickly encrusted with
microbes and germs and filth that total destruction by fire
would be the only effective way of cleaning it. The pop
ulation live by fleecing pilgrims, and there are several
rich residents who have made fortunes by selling them
supplies, changing money and furnishing them trans
portation. According to the official reports of the sanitary officers,
the number of pilgrirns entering Mecca has been very
much exaggerated. Instead of a million or more it is as
serted that the annual average is less than a hundred
thousand, and during 1903 the number was 93,000. They
come from every part of the Mohammedan world, from
the Straits of Gibraltar to Honolulu, for Islam has its
believers in every country of Asia and every island of the
Pacific Ocean, including the Philippines, where there are
about 800,000 Mohammedans. The largest number of
pilgrims from outside of Arabia come from India, and in
1902 there were about 17,000. The East India islands
furnished the second largest number, about 15,000;
Turkey, 7,500 ; the states of North Africa, 7,500 ; Egypt,
5,000; Persia, 5,000, and the rest came from the other
countries. The number arriving^ by sea was 63,812 and
by land 30,205. These figures are a little under the facts,
because many individuals and small parties slipped in and
out of Mecca without being counted.
Jiddah is of particular interest to us because it con
tains the tomb of our Mother Eve. I never heard before

ARABIA AND THE RED SEA 229
where she was buried, but it is a comfort to know. It wiU
surprise her living relatives to know that she was 140 feet
tall — a very large woman to be created from a single rib.
According to the tradition of the Moslems, when our first
parents fell from Paradise, Adam landed on a mountain
in Ceylon, and Eve was unfortunate enough to aHght at
Jiddah. After years of wandering they finally met at
Mecca, where Adam, to show his gratitude, constructed a
tabernacle on the site of the present Kaaba, or Holy
Mosque, which is exactly beneath God's throne in heaven.
All that is left of the original temple of Adam is the
famous stone of Mecca, which was once whiter than
snow, but has been turned as black as coal by the kisses
of sinful pilgrims.
When Eve died Adam buried her at Jiddah. Her tomb
is a cenotaph 144 feet long, built of masonry about four
feet high and narrowing to a point at the top. It is white
washed and kept quite clean. Pilgrims place flowers upon
it and reverently kiss the hot masonry. Rich people often
throw over the cenotaph valuable shawls and pieces of
silk as offerings to The Mother of Us All, but they are
stolen the first night by the vandals of Jiddah, who rob
the dead and pick the pockets of the dying.
A larger proportion of pilgrims than I supposed are
rich men or are at least well-to-do. It is the popular
impression that a pilgrim to Mecca must be necessarily a
lean, hungry, naked fanatic, with hollow eyes and long
hair, creeping toward the Holy City with trembling steps
by the aid of his staff. Thousands of such are to be seen
annuaUy, but 60 per cent of the people who visit the place
from religious motives are able to pay their way and
spend money liberally. The poor are accommodated in
khans, where they sleep like animals, and beg their food,

230 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
but in Jiddah and in Mecca are large numbers of hotels,
some of them handsomely equipped from the oriental
point of view, for the benefit of those who can afford to
pay high charges. The pilgrimage is not only a religious
duty, but those who make it are sure of a place in para
dise ; hence every devout Moslem makes the journey, and
thereafter is entitled to be caUed a "hadji" and wear a
green turban, the color of the prophet.
The Koran forbids infidels to pollute by their presence
the sacred precincts of the birthplace of the prophet at
Mecca and his burial place at Medina, which is seventy-
five miles north, and it is always dangerous and generally
impossible for a Christian or any unbeliever to attempt to
enter either city, but if he has money he is welcome to
land at Jiddah and stay as long as it lasts. And a consid
erable portion of the population of that port are Jews and
Greeks. Notwithstanding the danger from fanatics, sev
eral Europeans have visited Mecca and have published
accounts of their experiences. The best relations are by
Richard Burton, who visited both Mecca and Medina dis
guised as a pilgrim in 1853, and Thoman F. Kean, who
went there in 1880. A Dutch scholar from Java named
Snouck Hurgronje professed the Moslem religion, re
sided in Mecca for a long time and published a complete
history of the city and a description of the ceremonies
that take place there, with many illustrations. It is un
derstood that several reckless people have been murdered
within the last two or three years while making the at
tempt. The young doctors from Beirut, however, have
no information on that subject and do not believe the
rumors. Mecca is supposed to be a pure and holy place, a center
of learning and piety, and an earthly paradise from which

ARABIA AND THE RED SEA 231
sin and suffering have been banished and where nothing
but peace, purity and happiness abound. But from the
descriptions of those who have been there it is very far
from such an ideal. It is said to be a sink of depravity
and vice, as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah. Its location is
unhealthful and uncomfortable because it lies in a hot,
sandy amphitheater almost surrounded by barren hills of
rock, which reflect the heat and shut out any breeze that
might be wandering that way. One of the sanitary in
spectors who has been there described it to me as a "hell
pit." The streets are narrow, crooked and unpaved. In
the dry season the dust is almost insufferable, and during
the rainy season the streets are ankle-deep in slime. The
houses are generaUy large and lofty, built of stone, with
thick walls and small windows, five and six stories in
height, badly ventilated and without comforts. Every
building except a few belonging to the high priests and
rich devotees is used as a boarding-house in the pilgrim
season. Several Mohammedan communities own houses
or khans, as they are called, for the accommodation of
pilgrims from their neighborhood, and those who come
from the same countries and towns naturally flock to
gether. Although cleanliness and purity are a part of the
Mohammedan religion, and a believer is required to bathe
five times a day, the water supply of Mecca is insuf
ficient and expensive. It is brought by an aqueduct from
springs in the foothills, seven miles distant, and is con-
troUed by a corporation of which the Sheik el Islam, the
head of the church at Constantinople, and the shereef of
Mecca, the highest ecclesiastical authority in Arabia, are
the principal stockholders. The shereef is practically
governor of Arabia. He is chosen by the Sheik el Islam

232 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
from among the priestly descendants of Mahomet, who
number thousands, but the appointment must be con
firmed by the Sultan of Turkey. He has a military guard
and escort and his authority is absolute.
The water of the well of Zemzem, which is supposed to
be sacred, is sold to pilgrims by a company having that
privilege and is peddled about the streets in jars. The
price is merely nominal, but is a good deal for the poorer
pilgrims to pay.
The sacred stone, which stands in the center of the
Kaaba or mosque, and which is the holiest object in aU
Islam, is supposed from the descriptions to be a meteorite,
picked up upon the desert centuries ago, but no compe
tent authority ever has examined it. It is black like cop
per and has been worn smooth and polished by the kisses
of pilgrims, for it has been an object of worship for nearly
1,500 years. At some time or another, by some unknown
accident, it was broken, probably during an invasion of
barbarians, and the pieces have been bound together by
a broad band of silver.
Shortly after his arrival the pilgrim performs his ablu
tions, purifies himself, puts on the conventional robes,
which consist of two simple pieces of white cloth, and
runs around the Kaaba seven times, kissing the black
stone on each circuit. He then drinks from the water
of the holy well and proceeds with his prayers and the
other ceremonies, which continue eleven days.
After the ceremonies at Mecca are over, those pilgrims
who can afford it go to Medina to visit the tomb of Ma
homet, although that journey is voluntary and is not re
quired by the Koran. Medina is a town of 20,(X)0 inhab
itants, who live entirely upon pilgrims and plunder them

ARABIA AND THE RED SEA 233
without conscience. Indeed, both of the so-called holy
cities are filled with robbers,, of whom the highest officials
have the least mercy for their victims.

XIII
ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLEM
At the tip end of Arabia John BuU has planted a
mighty fortress so that he can command the southern en
trance to the Red Sea. It is not like Gibraltar, which is a
solid rock, but is a strip of sand surrounded by an irreg
ular chain of mountains with irregular sharp peaks Hke
the towers and pinnacles of a cathedral. The town lies
at its feet and is mostly made up of one-story barracks for
troops and officers' quarters, with red-tiled roofs which
glisten in the sun. There is nothing green visible ; there
is no vegetation whatever, and a hotter place does
not exist upon the earth. They call the site of the town
"the crater," which is an appropriate name, for it is little
more than a cinder heap. As long ago as the year i2Ck3
writers declared that the heat was so bad that it turned
wine into vinegar in a space of ten days.
There are no wells or springs or streams of water.
The people rely upon the rainfaU which is conducted into
cisterns, or tanks, as they are called, some of them, ac
cording to tradition, dating back before the Christian era,
for Aden is a very old town. The military forces rely
upon condensing machines which convert salt water into
fresh. There has been no rainfall for several years, the
tanks are dry, and the entire population is now depend
ent upon condensers. Yet Aden is said to be a healthy
place and the mortality is exceedingly low. Another
234

ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLEM 235
Arab author, writing at the time of Mohammed, declared
that : "Its inhabitants are all hale and strong ; sickness is
unknown, nor are there poisonous plants, or animals, or
fools, or bhnd people, and the women are ever young."
This description hardly applies to the present popula
tion, which, like that of Port Said, Singapore, Panama
and other similar towns, is made up of a mixture of good,
bad and indifferent human beings, including many dere-
Hcts — there being about 30,000 Europeans, Americans,
Africans, Asiatics and representatives of every corner of
the earth. The larger number are Asiatics, Arabs, Hin
dus, Egyptians, Turks, Jews, Persians, Greeks and Ital
ians and Ethiopians, Singhalese, Malays, Lazarks and Su
danese. It is asserted that not a single tribe in Arabia is
without representation, and that every one of the sixty
different human species in India has two or more of its
sons among the motley crowd.
The town is a semi-circular range of houses, shops,
cafes, banks and offices, crowded against the base of the
mountain, all in a condition of semi-dilapidation, for
everything "goes" there, and people do not care for ap
pearances. There is a postoffice, a hospital and four
churches — one of them a mission, which also has charge
of the hospital. The Europeans dress in white and wear
big pith helmets to protect their heads from the sun. The
Asiatics wear big turbans and long white flowing robes,
under which their bare legs are seen when they walk;
while chUdren wear nothing at all up to the age of 10, and
thereafter as little as the police wUl allow. The Jews
and Greeks control the mercantile business and are a fine-
looking class of men.
There are carriages drawn by cows and oxen, and carts
drawn by buffaloes and camels. Most of the transporta-

236 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
tion is done on "the ships of the desert," and the mUitary
authorities use them for draft animals. There are fast
camels and slow camels, just as there are race horses and
cart horses, and the Arabians breed and train them skill
fully for the purposes for which they are to be used — for
riding, or for carrying, burdens. Both kinds are found in
Aden, although a stranger cannot tell them apart. The
ordinary camel, such as is used for caravan purposes, will
make sixty miles a day without difficulty, plodding along
through the sand under a cargo of five or six hundred
pounds. A racing camel will make 150 miles a day with
two men on his back. In Arabia camels are absolutely in
dispensable, because no other beasts could endure the
desert heat and go without water so long as they. The
intervals between watering places are usually twenty-five
or thirty miles and often twice that distance.
Aden is the most important shipping point in Arabia
and gets a large amount of trade from Africa also. It is
the most important commercial center between Bombay
and Alexandria, and is growing more and more impor-
¦ tant every year as the east coast of Africa develops. There
is very little progress or material development in Arabia.
The country is actually going backward, although a few
miles back of Aden, the province of Yemen is one of the
richest spots on the globe. It has plenty of water and the
soil is exceedingly fertile, although there is very little
enterprise among the people. It is the coffee province
and formerly produced millions of pounds, but the ex
ports have fallen off enormously of late years.
Coffee is not a native of Arabia, as people usually sup
pose, but was brought into that country from Abyssinia
about the year 1400 by a man whose tomb is still vener
ated in Yemen. Three hundred years later General Van

^ ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLEM 237
Home of the Dutch East India Company picked up a
few seeds at the port of Mocha while on his way out to
Java and planted them when he arrived at Batavia.
From those seeds the most important industry in Java
sprang, and it is increasing as rapidly as that of Arabia
is falling off.
Aden is a coahng station for naval vessels passing be
tween the Mediterranean and the far East, and nearly all
the merchant steamers fill their bunkers there also, which
gives the passengers an opportunity to go ashore, but
there is little to be seen and little to be bought. The
largest trade is in coal and ship's supplies, and the largest
imports are military supplies, for a garrison of 5,000 men
is always maintained by the British government, and all
their food is imported. Many engineers think the forti
fications are stronger than those at Gibraltar, but
strangers are not allowed to inspect them. All the public
knows is that the entire mountain is fortified, and that a
vast amount of money and labor has been expended to
make it impregnable, because it commands the approach
to the Suez Canal from one direction and is the outpost
for the protection of India. All the recent improvements
in military engineering have been applied, and the quick-
firing ordnance is of the largest caliber and the latest pat
tern. The fortifications are guarded by a broad ditch cut
out of the solid rock, with massive lines of defense at in
tervals between it and the sea. There are mines in the
harbor and every approach is fully guarded.
Aden is and has always been a miHtary center, even in
biblical times. Ezekiel refers to it; a Christian church
was established here by the Emperor Constantine in the
year 342, and Christian Abyssinians fortified and held it

238 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
for 500 years. The English took it by storm in 1838, and
have held it ever since.
The objects of greatest interest aside from the fortifica
tions, which cannot be visited, are the water tanks, into
which the rainfall is conducted by drains and pipes from
the mountain sides. There are about fifty of them, and
if they were entirely cleared out they would have a ca
pacity of 30,000,000 gallons of water, but most of them
have become filled with dust and rubbish, and only thir
teen are now used, which are capable of holding 8,CKX),ooo
gallons. It seems strange that anybody should care to
start a town at a place where there is no water, but the
harbor of Aden seems to have been the attraction. Some
of the tanks, or reservoirs, as we would call them, were
chiseled out of the rock on the mountain side as early as
600 years before Christ. The oldest ones are about eighty
feet long, forty feet wide and ten feet deep, and it seems
almost incredible that such great cavities could have been
excavated in the living rock without blasting powder, but
they are not as wonderful as the rock tombs of Egypt,
and are not so old by a thousand years.
People who live at Aden declare that the cHmate is not
so bad as is generally supposed, and that, while it may
have the reputation of being one of the hottest towns in
the world, there is always a cool breeze blowing, and
those who are required to live there know how to make
themselves comfortable.
We have a consul there who is able to contemplate his
own virtues without interruption. There are two other
Americans in trade and several missionaries around on
the coast of the Persian Gulf. We have no direct com
merce with Arabia ; no American ship is ever seen there

ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLEM 239
except an occasional transport or naval vessel going to or
from the Philippines.
In 1889 Rev. James Cantine of Brunswick, N. J., and
S. M. Zwemer of Chicago established the first American
mission in Arabia representing the Dutch Reformed
church, and have since been re-enforced by several med
ical men, teachers and Bible agents, who have their head
quarters at Muscat on the Persian Gulf and have done a
great deal of good in the interior against most discourag
ing circumstances. P. J. Zwemer, Miss Amy Zwemer,
Dr. Worrall, Rev. F. J. Barny and his wife, Mrs. Mar
garet Barny of New York City, Dr. F. J. Thoms and Mrs.
Thoms, both graduates of the University of Michigan,
and several others are conducting schools, dispensaries
and other benevolent institutions and distributing Bibles
and other Christian books. They report numerous con
verts and have educated several natives who are now
nearly competent to assist them.
At Aden there is a regular Church of England estab
lishment in the town and three churches, English, Scot
tish and Roman Catholic, for the soldiers, with a medical
mission founded by the late Ion Keith Falconer, profes
sor of the Arabic language and Hterature at the Uni
versity of Cambridge, who went out as a missionary and
died a martyr to his zeal. The hospital has been a great
blessing to the people, although the reports of evangelical
work are not encouraging. They have to catch Moham
medans very young and educate them from childhood in
order to convert them to Christianity.
The Persian Gulf has very little significance to us in
the United States, but in European politics, particularly
in the rival ambitions of England and Russia, it is of tre
mendous importance, and the two nations glare and

240 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
growl at each other every time it is mentioned. The Brit
ish secretary of state for foreign affairs in the house of
commons in 1904 made a declaration of the poHcy of his
government, which was offered in reply to an innocent in
terpellation from somebody on a back seat, but was in
tended for Russia. It was a defiance and a threat, and
while I cannot quote the exact words. Lord Lansdowne
declared in effect that any attempt upon the part of any
power to approach the Persian Gulf, by railway or other
wise, or to occupy any port upon the coast of those
waters, would be regarded by Great Britain as an un
friendly act and resisted to the extent of her poWer. This
was the boldest and the most positive notice the Great
White Bear has ever received on the subject, but it was
treated with indifference. Before he became viceroy of
India Lord Curzon traveled extensively in Persia and
wrote a series of letters from that country to the London
Times, which were afterward published in book form,
and furnished the best idea that can be obtained any
where of the conditions in that country and the politics
in which it is involved. And in this book he said that he
would impeach any British ministry who dared let Russia
secure a port upon the Persian Gulf.
Nevertheless the Russian government is steadily ex
tending its influence and authority in that direction, as it
is in China. The occupation of Persia is going on pre
cisely in the same fashion that Manchuria has been occu
pied, and by the same maneuvers. It is a foregone con
clusion, and the czar is gradually pushing his frontier
lines forward toward India in every other direction. The
Russians are building a railroad in Persia and have sur
veyed a line to Bunder Abbas, one of the best ports on
the gulf, which can be strongly fortified. Bunder Abbas

ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLEM 241
is to be the Port Arthur of Persia, and it is evidently the
purpose of the czar to go ahead carrying out his designs
without regard to Lord Lansdowne's proclamation. That
is the opinion of diplomatists everywhere.
As fast as the railroad is built the Russians establish
military garrisons, under the pretext of protecting the
track. The engineers who are laying out the right of
way are accompanied by a strong guard of Cossacks, who
always remain at the farthest point, even when the sur
vey is completed and the engineers go home. Thus
Persia is being gradually occupied by Russian garrisons,
just as Manchuria was. The shah has been induced to
employ Russian officers to reorganize, equip and com
mand his army ; the czar loaned him a large sum of
money, which furnishes a pretext for placing a Russian
"adviser," as he is politely termed, in charge of the Per
sian treasury. And under the encouragement and, per
haps, by the aid of their government, Russian merchants
are establishing themselves in the important ports and
cities and are organizing banks, loaning money to the
people, engaging in manufacturing, and various enter
prises, which will not only give them a control of the
trade and finances of the country, but wUl require the
protection of their government and furnish an excuse for
forcible intervention whenever the czar is ready to act.
Thus Russia is absorbing the Persian Empire — its army,
its finances, its commerce, its railroad — and is occupying
the most important strategic points with its own troops.
It is needless to say that the British people and govern
ment, and particularly the government of India, regard
this invasion of Persia by a rival power with serious ap
prehension, but they are not in a position to prevent or
even protest against it, except by such declarations as

242 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Lord Lansdowne and Lord Curzon have made. The
same apprehension exists concerning Afghanistan and
Thibet, which bound India on the north, and where Rus
sian agents have been quietly at work for some years un
dermining British influence and making friends among
the local leaders for the czar.
The political and military necessity of keeping Russia
off the Persian gulf will be appreciated if you will take
your map and notice how the land lies. Upon both shores
of the lower gulf the native chiefs are generally subject
to the authority of Great Britain, represented by the vice
roy of India, and have made treaties guaranteeing not to
have relations with any other government. On the north
ern coast the shah is supposed to be ruler and has repre
sentatives at all the larger ports. What may seem to be
a trifling and humorous incident occurred in the winter of
1903-4 at Bushire, the most important of these ports, but
it was loaded with tremendous possibilities, and if Lord
Curzon had fallen into a pit that the Persians had digged
for him, undoubtedly under Russian advice, the influence
and prestige of the British would have suffered a terrible
blow. The significance of the episode can be fully ap
preciated only by those whq are familiar with oriental
ideas of ceremony and precedence, which require the in
ferior to make the first advances toward the superior in
both political and social transactions, and the mere fact
of making the first bow is a confession of inferiority.
In order to strengthen British influence. Lord Curzon
and suite made a cruise around the Persian Gulf in a man-
of-war, accompanied by an imposing fleet, and with a
display of glory and formality which the Persians, the
Hindus and other orientals regard of such great im
portance. He received the local princes and chiefs with

ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLEM 243
great ceremony and exchanged presents, and they pre
sented addresses of loyalty and devotion, written upon
silk brocade and cloth of gold, and enclosed in caskets of
great value. He made friendly speeches to them, ex
pressing the affection and solicitude of King Edward VII.
for his subjects upon the Persian Gulf, and dosed them
with taffy and judicious advice, which no man can ad
minister better than he. Then, after the allegiance of his
own aUies had been properly renewed, the fleet turned to
ward the port of Bushire in order to exchange neighborly
caUs with the representative of the shah, who spent
$20,000 in preparations for the reception. The streets of
the city in which Lord Curzon was to walk were spread
with silken rugs, a pier was erected especially for his
comfort and convenience in landing, a large military force
was mobilized to entertain him with a parade and a
splendid banquet was arranged in his honor.
The governor of the province, however, sat serenely in
his palace waiting for Lord Curzon to make the first call,
which the latter was too smart to do, because, if he had
done so, it would have been a confession that the Shah of
Persia was a bigger man than the King of England and
Emperor of India, and the effect of such an admission
upon the orientals all the way between the Bosphorus
and the Yellow Sea would have been equivalent to a re
linquishment of British pretensions, prestige and power.
Lord Curzon, who realized this fully, and was on his
guard, remained upon the deck of his vessel for a reason
able time after sending an aide-de-camp ashore with his
compliments to his excellency, Alaed Dow-Leh, the gov
ernor; and then the British fleet sailed away without
further formality, leaving the Persians in a humiliating
predicament. The silken rugs were rolled up and stowed

244 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
away, the decorations were removed, the instructions for
the banquet were countermanded, and the soldiers were
sent back to their posts. The governor received a severe
public reprimand from his sovereign, although the latter
undoubtedly arranged the plot himself at the suggestion
of Russia, and the poor man at Bushire was merely car
rying out his orders. But according to the oriental cus
tom he must be punished because Curzon outwitted him.
Through his ambassador in England the shah apologized
to King Edward for the bad manners and stupidity of the
Governor of Bushire, and so far as the public is con
cerned the incident was closed. But the culprit would
not suffer entirely in silence. When the hoodlum kicked
the organ grinder, the organ grinder kicked the monkey ;
and his excellency, the governor, had the editor of the
Bushire paper taken to jail and soundly thrashed with
sticks by his guard for publishing an account of the epi
sode, which indicates some of the perils that attend im
partial journalism in Persia.
Aside from the political point of view, the trade of the
Persian Gulf is exceedingly valuable and is becoming
more and more important to England and India. In
round figures the imports of the Persian ports in 1902
reached $20,000,000 and the exports $16,000,000, with
out including an enormous volume of manufactured
goods which passed through for Bagdad and other mar
kets in the interior. Ninety per cent of the imports are
furnished by Great Britain and India, the share of all
other countries being inconsiderable by comparison.
England's shipments to Bagdad alsne reached nearly
$6,000,000 and were composed of the very articles which
her manufacturers must find markets for — cotton textiles,
hosiery, other clothing and underwear, drugs and chem-

ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLE]\I 245
icals, leather goods, hardware and other articles of iron
and steel. The port of Bushire alone imported more than
$8,000,000 and the Bahrain Islands more than $4,000,000.
The latter are the center of the pearl fisheries, the most
important in the world. Last year they exported nearly
$3,600,000 worth of pearls, most of them going to India.
To control this trade it is necessary for the British gov
ernment to look sharp and act wiseh', because not only
Russia, but Germany also, is crowding on John Bull's
heels. To shorten the route to India was the purpose of the
voyage of Columbus, and it has been the ambition of many
other bold men since. The Germans are now employing
themselves in that direction by constructing a railway
which is to connect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas
with the Persian Gulf, and not only shorten the distance
for freight and passengers by several days' journey, but
develop a promising commerce with the countries through
which it passes. And what is stiU more important than
aU in the mind of the kaiser and the projectors of the
road, and those who are working for the kaiser, it wiU
be of as great strategic importance as the line which the
Russians have constructed across Siberia.
The concession for the construction of this railway was
granted by the Sultan of Turkey to the Imperial Otto
man Bagdad Railway Company, with a capital of
$3,000,000. The president of the corporation is one of
the managers of the Deutscher Bank in Berlin ; the stock
holders are nearly all Germans, as the managers will be,
and the kaiser's government is believed to have a large
financial as well as political interest in the enterprise.
The road wiU be about eighteen hundred miles long ; the

246 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
estimated cost is $90,000,000, which will be paid by the
issue of bonds to the public, the stock remaining in the
control of the Germans. The construction work will be
done by German contractors and the materials will be
furnished by German factories. The British government
was politely offered a share in the enterprise, but de
clined on the ground that it did not go into partnership
with other nations.
This railway will not only bring India several days
nearer London, but will furnish an all-rail route from the
British channel to Calcutta and will shorten by at least two
weeks the journey from Teheran, the Persian capital, to
Constantinople. It will pass through ancient Mesopota
mia, one of the oldest and richest countries in the world,
which is capable of producing any amount of breadstuffs,
cotton and sugar, but has been lying idle because its
planters could not compete with those of other countries
who have the advantage of modern transportation facili
ties. There is a good deal of speculation as to the effect
of the opening of that territory upon the wh^at and cotton
industries of Egypt and India — a subject in which we also
are naturally interested. What is known as the Ana
tolian Railway, constructed by Germans from Constanti
nople and Smyrna into the interior, and which will be
adopted as a part of the new road, has already resulted
in a considerable increase in the production of grain and
other necessaries of life. Last year it hauled more than
250,000 tons of wheat, 130,000 tons of barley and 40,000
tons of wool from the interior of Asia Minor to the sea
board and carried back in exchange for these products
about $9,000,000 worth of German manufactured mer
chandise. The Germans have secured control of a con-

ADEN AND THE PERSIAN PROBLEM 247
cession for a railway from Haifa in Palestine on the
Mediterranean to Damascus, and that is also intended to
be a part of the new system.

BURMA

249

THE CITY OF RANGOON
We were in some doubt about visiting Burma because
the reports we heard from other travelers were so contra
dictory and discouraging. They told us of uncomfortable
steamers, and wretched hotels, and warned us that we
were liable to starve to death or be devoured by insects.
People who had been there related horrible tales of their
experiences and almost frightened us out of the journey.
Others assured us that Burma is the most fascinating
country in the world, which we found to be true, and that
we would always be glad we went, which shows how dif
ferent people look at the same thing. What is one man's
nourishment is another's poison, and there is a difference
of taste in climates, countries, steamers and hotels, as
well as in women and fashions and practical jokes. We
had an excellent steamer from Calcutta, as neat and com
fortable as anyone could ask for. The table was good,
the captain and other officers were cordial and attentive,
the sea was smooth and we could not have planned a
pleasanter voyage anywhere. We found the few hotels
quite comfortable also, fully as good as those of Cal
cutta. The rooms are clean, and the table is fair, but they
furnish only one sheet per bed, and crowd as many peo
ple into a room as possible, just exactly as they do in our
own hotels in the United States.
It is 773 miles across the Bay of Bengal from Calcutta
251

252 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
to Rangoon, the principal port of Burma. This does not
include a voyage of sixty miles down the sacred waters
of the Ganges, which is a mighty river with as many
mouths as the Nile. Both shores are lined with factories
for a long distance, then brick-yards, beyond them palm
groves and jungles, and after a while the river widens,
its banks recede in the distance and finally disappear, but
the tawny water continues to discolor the Bay of Bengal
for many miles.
Burma is a part of India for administrative purposes,
but is very different in every respect, in topography, cli
mate, in the character and habits of its people, in the style
of architecture and in vegetation. Coming directly from
India a traveler cannot fail to be impressed with these
differences. The bright-eyed, good-natured people of
Burma, with their Chinese features and happy, devil-
may-care habits, are as far removed in disposition from
the Hindus as if they lived upon another planet. They
have nothing in common. Even the wages are three
times as much as those paid for the same sort of labor in
India. This brings many Hindus across the bay to work
in the rice paddies, upon the other plantations, and in the
teak forests. Our ship was crowded with them, and the
rate of fare, which is only $3 for a journey of more than
800 miles, enables them to go back and forth between the
two provinces, according to the demand and supply of
labor. And the lives of the people of Burma are as dif
ferent from those of India as joy is from sorrow. There
is no caste among the Burmese, to begin with; in the
second place, their women are as free as those of the
United States ; and, finally, the gods they worship are
kind, gentle, hopeful, helpful deities, who protect and
encourage them instead of making the worshipers

THE CITY OF RANGOON 253
wretched, as the gods of the Brahmins do. The Bur
mese stand upright. They look you squarely in the face
with frank and friendly smiles. The Hindu crouches on
the ground and looks no man in the eye. His religion
has made him fearful and has enslaved him to invisible
demons and powers that inspire nothing but fear.
The Burmese are short, thick-set and solid; they have
flat features and almond eyes, which show their rela
tionship to the Chinese. The women are very attractive ;
the streets are thronged with them at all times of the day.
They do all the marketing and shopping, and take the
greatest deUght in everything that is lively and gay.
Nearly aU the small shops are kept by women and when
ever you find a crowd in a park or other public place you
may be sure that a majority are of the feminine gender,
which seems quite odd when one has come directly from
India, where they are still kept in seclusion. Burma is
the most prosperous province of India also, and, although
the people suffered severely from famine in 1900-01, they
have entirely recovered, and the soil, which is fertile,
yields a generous harvest.
Burma Ues between China and Siam and the Bay of
Bengal, is semi-tropical in climate, has an area of 171,430
square miles, and a population of about eight millions.
One of its great advantages is in the fact that every sec
tion is watered by a navigable stream. There are five
great rivers, the Irrawaddy being navigable for more
than 800 miles, and the others for nearly as great a dis
tance. There is scarcely a town that cannot be reached
by boat, which gives the people facilities for getting their
products to market, and the population live chiefly along
the banks of the rivers. A few miles back from the
shores the country is uncultivated and imsettled. Vast

254 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
tracts of rich alluvial plains have never been disturbed by
a plow, and have never produced a crop, although the
soil is of unsurpassed fertility.
It is estimated that there are 116,000,000 acres of till
able land in Burma, of which only 8,500,000 acres are
under cultivation. The remainder could support a popu
lation of 30,000,000 of the miserable ryots or peasants
who are struggling for existence upon the overcrowded
farms of India. Here is a strange phenomenon. One
province of the same empire crying for settlers, while the
other provinces are so overcrowded that the soil can
scarcely support the population.
The backward condition of Burma, the idle land, the
undeveloped resources and the sparse population are
easily accounted for by the history of the country, which
was under the heel of one of the most cruel and ignorant
of despots until a few years ago, when the English routed
him out and gave the people a good government. Since
then they have increased rapidly in numbers, in wealth
and prosperity, and are so contented and happy under the
new conditions that they do not seem to care to better
them. But no one I have ever talked with could make it
clear why the surplus population of India cannot be di
verted across the bay and located upon the unoccupied
lands of Burma just as the surplus population of our
eastern states moved westward and created an empire
upon the prairies and in the mountains. The only ex
planation is that the Hindus will not leave the farms and
villages where they were born, because of attachments and
the laws of caste, which are not observed in Burma.
Labor is so scarce in Burma that planters not only pay
three times the wages that farm hands earn in India, but
will give them money to pay their steamship fare back

THE CITY OF RANGOON 255
and forth. Mechanics of every sort, clerks, bookkeepers,
and every wage-earner and salaried man also receive
three times as much pay in Burma as in the neighboring
countries. It is a most agreeable place to live, but the
expense of living is on a corresponding basis. It is not
fair to judge by the hotel charges, although they are
excessive, but if you hire a carriage upon the street or
buy a bunch of flowers in the market you must pay double
or treble and sometimes four times as much as in India,
and there is no apparent reason for it except the scarcity
of labor.
Traveling is quite as comfortable and easy as in India.
ExceUent steamers run on all the rivers, quite as good
as our best, and much better than we have on most of the
rivers of the United States. The railway system, about
3,000 miles in length, is similar to that of India, except
that the tracks are narrow gauge and the cars are smaller.
The temperature is hot in summer and the atmosphere
is humid because of the heavy rains, but from the first of
November to the first of April the climate is delightful
and is surpassed by few summer resorts. The sun is hot
in the middle of the day, but after it sets the air is cool
and often chilly, and at any hour between 4 o'clock in the
afternoon and ii in the morning one cannot be uncom
fortable. The absence of good hotels, as in India, does
not encourage tourists to explore the country. There
are only three cities in which even ordinary hotels can be
found, but in the other towns the government has pro
vided public bungalows, where strangers can at least find
shelter and spread their blankets upon the floor. In
every village is a resthouse, called a "zayat," maintained
by the Buddhist priests for the benefit of traveling pil
grims, and if a traveler is not afraid of keeping company

256 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
with weary and dusty natives and desires to investigate
insect Hfe he can find accommodations. But wherever
you go in Burma it is necessary to carry your own bed
ding, and if you leave the rivers or railroads you must
provide yourself with bread and tinned meats. Chickens,
eggs and usually fresh fish can be found in every village,
and plenty of tea. The Chinese, who make up more than
10 per cent of the population and are altogether the most
progressive and prosperous portion of the community,
usually have clean houses and are good cooks. But unless
one desires to prospect for minerals or hunt tigers and
other big game or study the natural history of the prov
ince there is nothing to see or do any distance from the
railroads and the steamers.
The usual programme, after doing Rangoon, is to take
the railway up the country as far as it goes, stopping off
at the quaint old town of Mandalay, the capital, and re
turning to Rangoon by steamer. This can be done with
comfort, and, if you hit one of the best steamers, with
luxury — ^barring mosquitoes. It will take about three
weeks, and a man who is fond of loafing can spend four
weeks or even two months upon the river steamers with
the greatest pleasure, and see everything there is to be
seen in the country.
Rangoon has been successfully protected against the
bubonic plague, the cholera and other contagious dis
eases from which the cities of India have suffered, by the
enforcement of strict quarantine regulations. They are
annoying to travelers, but have proved effective in the de
fense of the public health, and to-day Burma is the most
healthful province in India. When our steamer came up
the river the captain dropped anchor at the quarantine
station, as all incoming vessels are required to do, and we

THE CITY OF RANGOON 257
lay there what seemed to be a longer time than necessary.
Everybody was impatient, and we growled and grumbled
and abused the health officer and the government, and
made the captain, who was even more impatient than his
passengers, very unhappy. As usual we forgot that there
were other ships in the river, and that a hard-working
health officer who has to start out at daylight must take
them in turn. He came aboard at last, accompanied by
a staff of native clerks and a woman assistant, who ex
amined the women passengers while he examined the
men, and gave each of us a card, which we were required
to present daily at the health office of the place in which
we happened to be, so that the sanitary officers could keep
us under surveiUance. When we were traveling and
could not comply with the regulation we were required to
report ourselves at our first stopping place. The native
passengers were not examined. They were simply sent
to the quarantine station and detained there for ten days,
so that if any disease developed the officials could con
trol it. Their baggage was all fumigated. After this
examination we were allowed to go ashore and had an
opportunity to observe the easy and methodical manner
in which the customs laws are administered.
There are only two large cities — Rangoon, the principal
port, which has little more than 200,000 population, and
Mandalay, which has about 225,000. Moulmein, an im
portant place, has about 60,000, and five or six other cities
have 20,000 or more. In all these towns American mis
sionaries of the Baptist persuasion can be found, for
Burma is one of the widest and most thoroughly culti
vated fields. They have schools, churches, hospitals and
other institutions for education, charity and evangeliza
tion and count their converts by hundreds of thousands.

258 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA i \
Great Britain has controlled northern Burma since 1862,
and southern Burma since 1886, and has practically dic
tated political and commercial affairs since 1826. Burma
is governed in the same way as the other colonies of
India, the executive authority being intrusted to a lieu
tenant governor, who is responsible to the viceroy at Cal
cutta, and has local magistrates under him in' the various
districts into which the province is divided. The people
are easily governed; they are naturally a contented race
and take little interest in politics. Their native rulers,
who were overthrown by the British, treated them so
badly that the liberal and enlightened British rule is thor
oughly appreciated.
The modern part of Rangoon is. a beautiful city. The
streets are wide, well paved with macadam, shaded with
noble trees and lined on each side with beautiful bunga
lows surrounded by gardens and groves. Many of the
finest houses are owned and occupied by Chinese mer
chants and bankers, but the British are in the majority,
and they have learned by long experience how to make
themselves comfortable in the tropics. A good many
Germans are going to Burma and are taking away some
of the trade from the Englishmen, which is true of all
of the cities of the East. The commercial aggressiveness
of the Germans is particularly noticeable in China, but
notable examples may be found in every city. The Ger
man Club has one of the most beautiful buildings in
Rangoon. The English Club is larger and wealthier.
Indeed, several modern clubs offer hospitality to all trav
elers. There is a fine public library, up-to-date schools,
colleges and churches.
A well arranged museum stands in the Horticultural
Gardens, where there is also a menagerie, a great at-

THE CITY OF RANGOON 259
traction for the Burmese. "Jubilee HaU," for public
meetings, was erected some years ago in honor of Queen
Victoria, whose statue stands in the principal square.
There is also a statue of Sir Arthur Phayre, the first
British ruler of Burma. The jail is said to be the largest
in the British Empire, having accommodations for 3,000
prisoners. It is considered a model of its kind, and the
management has introduced the most approved methods
of reform and discipline. The prisoners are kept busy in
shops with a variety of industries. Their skill in wood
carving and other art industries is illustrated in the expo
sition building standing on the other side of the road,
where the products are sold to the public. We wanted
to buy some screens and carved furniture, but were
warned that they cannot be shipped without a certificate
from the United States consul, and he would not certify
to convict-made goods.
Nowhere is the wisdom and effectiveness of British
administration more manifest than in Rangoon. During
the last twenty years its population has increased from
60,000 to 200,000 souls, its foreign commerce from
46,000,000 to 210,000,000 rupees, its manufacturing indus
tries from practically nothing to 50,000,000 rupees, and
the growth continues steadily and the prosperity of the
people was never greater than it is to-day. The harbor
is full of ships, the banks of the river are lined with ware
houses and quays filled with merchandise of all kinds,
and at each railway station bags of rice are stacked up in
small mountains waiting transportation facilities that the
railway company is unable to furnish.
The public buildings are quite imposing, the parks are
lovely and long boulevards encircle the city, running
among pineapple plantations, groves of palms and bam-

26o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
boos, truck gardens and country villas, that look cool and
comfortable. There are street car lines and other modern
improvements in the new part of town, which seem to be
well patronized. The markets belong to the municipality,
and in them is sold everything that anybody could possibly
want, most of the dealers being women. They are the
centers of gossip for the Burmese women, who do most
of their visiting there, and tourists are always fascinated
by the picturesque costumes, graceful manners and free-
and-easy cordiality of the natives. They seem to be fond
of strangers, are without the slightest embarrassment, are
always happy and full of good humor and act like a nation
of children. The bazaars are alluring. They are filled
with silks, silver, brass, lacquer work and carvings, sold
at higher prices than we have been accustomed to pay in
India, which is due to the advanced rates of wages. The
business part of the city is a mixture of heavy masonry
and bamboo huts. Formerly everything was built of
bamboo, but more permanent buildings are being gradu
ally introduced, and considerable capital has been invested
in architecture already this year.
The retail business is largely in the hands of the Chi
nese, and you see queer names on the sign boards as you
ride through the streets. I made notes of some of them,
such as Ah Goo, Wing Sang Long, Wun Kit, Ah Lone,
Yu Chuck, Ah Coon, How Long, and Ah Men, but they
are no more amusing than some of the geographical names
that appear upon the map. Evidently some funny man
went out there early and got in his work with Dum-Dum,
Poo-Poo, Zoo-Zoo and similar silly norrienclature.
The most conspicuous of the new buildings belongs to
the Baptist Publication Society, which owns the finest
printing plant in Burma and one of the best in the East,

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THE CITY OF RANGOON 261
Everything about the establishment except the workmen
was imported from the United States, and it stands as a
model American institution as well as a monument of
Baptist enterprise and success. Its business is not lim
ited to religious books, although it turns out vast quanti
ties of that sort of literature, but every sort of litho
graphing and printing is done there in the modern style
of the printer's art. The printers manufacture their own
type and other supplies, which are also sold in every city
of the province. The Burmese characters are not as
artistic as the Arabian or Persian or Hindu, but are quite
curious, as you can see from the illustration printed here
with, which is a translation of the Lord's prayer into
Burmese characters.
According to the census of 1901 there are 120,768
Christians in Burma. Of these 25,000 are Roman Catho
lics, 15,008 belong to the Church of England, 7,500 are
Methodists, 500 Presbyterians and 41,770 Baptists. The
Baptists claim 74,700 adherents, which include the fami
lies of members of their church. Mr. F. D. Phinney,
superintendent of the printing-house, told me there were
173 missionaries belonging to that denomination in
Burma, 1,746 native pastors and mission workers, 741 or
ganized churches, two theological seminaries, with 135
students, thirty-three colleges and boarding schools
with 3,088 students, 420 other schools with 19,430
children under instruction, and there were 2,695
baptisms of natives in 1903. This is one of the most
remarkable missionary successes on record. The Bap
tists began work July 13, 1813, when Adoniram Judson
and his wife, Ann Hasseltine Judson, and Mr. Rice, hav
ing been refused permission to do evangelical work in
India, came on to Rangoon, where Messrs. Marsden and

262 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Chater had established a mission in 1807. The Roman
Catholics had invaded the field more than a century pre
vious, and had been quite successful. Dr. Judson and
Mr. Rice were sent out by the American Board of Foreign
Missions, which as you know, is under the care of the
Congregational Church, but overhauled their theology
during the voyage and became convinced that immersion
was essential to salvation. So they resigned from the
American Board and joined the Baptist organization.
They spent the first two years in learning the languages
and then began translating the Bible into Burmese and
preparing literature for distribution among the natives.
In 1816 they were joined by George Hough, who brought
a printing outfit with him. They worked quietly in order
to avoid notoriety. Mr. and Mrs. Judson and Mr. Rice
wrote books, tracts, and leaflets in the Burmese language.
Dr. Judson printed his translation of the Bible in 1834.
It was one of the most notable literary works ever accom
plished. Mr. Hough kept his presses going and got out
portions of the Bible from time to time.
The first convert was baptized in 1819, a man of middle
age and humble circumstances, who kept his conversion
secret for fear of his family and friends. In 1822 a little
church was organized with six or seven members. There
was no opposition from the Buddhists, who have always
treated the missionaries with respect and have offered
them hospitality. The people were indifferent and their
only trouble was created by native officials who were
opposed to the education and enlightenment of the masses,
and could contrive no way to make money out of the mis
sionaries. The work continued to flourish until 1824,
when war broke out between the British and the Burmese.
The latter, not being able to distinguish between English-

THE CITY OF RANGOON 263
men and Americans, arrested Messrs. Hough and Wade,
who were living in Rangoon, and imprisoned them until
the town was taken by the British. Dr. Judson and Mr.
Rice, living at Ava, were also thrown into prison and kept
there for two years. Several times they were sentenced
to death, but their execution was postponed because they
were the only interpreters the Burmese could depend
upon in their communications with the British command
ers, and they were finally released and detained at the
palace of the king, where they became very influential and
were instrumental in securing a treaty of peace in 1827.
At the close of the war they settled in the city of Moul
mein, began missionary work publicly and in earnest,
with the consent if not the approval of the king, and from
that day the Baptists have flourished.
Educational work was begun in 1827. Schools were
established everywhere, and many of them have been
self-supporting almost from the start. It is asserted that
there are more self-supporting churches in Burma for the
number of converts than can be found in any other mis
sionary field. Some of the schools are handsomely en
dowed. Others are supported by commercial and indus
trial enterprises. At one place a school and church are
maintained by the profits of a shipyard in which the mem
bers build boats and steam launches. They do a large
business, and their profits are devoted entirely to educa
tional and evangeHcal work. At another point the native
Christians run a saw mill for the same purpose. There
are several other curious and novel features in Burmese
missionary work.
The Rangoon Baptist CoUege, which occupies a beau
tiful site of seven acres on the outskirts of this city, ex
ercises the widest influence of any educational institution

264 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
in Burma. It is the outgrowth of the demand of native
Christians for facilities for the higher education of their
sons and daughters. The movement for its foundation
began back as far as 1851, but not untU 1870 did the
American Baptist Missionary Union take up the subject.
Money was then raised, a site was purchased, a building
erected, and May 28, 1872, Rev. Dr. Binney formally
began instructions with seventeen students, whose num
ber increased to twenty-eight during the year. In 1904
there were 754 students, mostly young men. A few
young women in the normal department are being trained
for teachers. About 300 students, from distant parts
of the country, are boarders, the remainder being day
scholars from within six or seven miles of the coUege.
Two-thirds of the students are of Christian parentage,
and nearly all of them native Burmese. The college is
not a charitable institution. All the students pay for
both board and tuition with the exception of a few who
are working their way through. The standard of educa
tion is not as high as that of the average American col
lege, but the curriculum takes the student up to the work
accomplished in the sophomore year of our institutions.
Graduates who desire degrees are required to study two
years longer, but are eligible for entrance examinations
to the Calcutta University. English is used throughout.
All recitations and examinations are held in English ex
cept in the preparatory department, where it is found
necessary to use the native language to explain the Eng
lish. A manual training school has recently been added
to the other departments.
Attendance upon Sunday schools, preaching services
and Bible instruction is compulsory, regardless of the
religious faith of the students, and it is found that even

THE CITY OF RANGOON 265
that rule does not deter Buddhists, Mohammedans and
members of other sects from availing themselves of the
privileges offered. There is a great demand for the
graduates in the civil service, the railway offices, manu
facturing concerns and other institutions. They are also
in demand for teachers in the public schools. Dr. Gush
ing, the president, could not tell me how many go into
the ministry, because no record of the graduates is kept.
The government gives the school a subsidy of 15,000
rupees a year on the condition that certain branches are
taught, and that sum pays about half the salaries of the
teachers. The tuition fees amount to about 13,000 ru
pees, and 5,500 rupees are received annually from the
missionary society in New York.
The Presbyterians have no missions in Burma, but
there are several organizations of the Scotch and English
branches of that sect, and the chaplain of the British gar
rison is a Presbyterian. The Established Church of Eng
land has several missionary stations, schools and hospi
tals. The American Methodists began work in 1879,
when Bishop James L. Thoburn, then presiding elder of
Calcutta conference, visited Rangoon, organized a society,
purchased a piece of land and erected an humble little
structure. It is now used as a school, while worship is
conducted in a more commodious and appropriate build
ing. At the last conference twelve American missionaries
and fifty-four native pastors reported 440 members and
279 probationers. In 1903 eighty-one adults and forty-
two children were baptized. There were nineteen Sun
day schools, with 752 scholars and eighty day schools,
with 846 scholars. Perhaps the most important and
promising of the Methodist institutions is a girls' school,
which has been in existence about twelve years, and has

266 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
made such rapid advancement that its building cannot
accommodate its pupils, and a new one was erected in
1904 with funds raised by the Women's Missionary
Society of Topeka, Kan. The Roman Catholic Cathedral
is the only imposing modern building in Mandalay. The
missionaries of that church have had great success among
the Burmese. Their service, the candles, vestments and
procession appeal to the dramatic instincts of the native
more than the cold reasoning of the Protestants. The
Baptist church, however, has the largest number of com
municants at Mandalay, as elsewhere. There is a noble
memorial of the late Adoniram Judson.
Judging from the signboards in the bazaars there are
a good many Jews doing business in Mandalay, and they
seem to have the largest and busiest establishments. One
of the signs reads "Moses Aaron and Friends ;" another
bears the name of "Isaac Abraham and Friends."

II

THE BUDDHISTS OF BURMA

The entire population of Burma are Buddhists, except
the 120,000 Christians. But Burmese Buddhism is very
different from the genuine article. The purity of that
beautiful and sentimental philosophy has been corrupted
by ignorant and depraved priests. Instead of self-sacri
fice and the suppression of passion and desires, the Bur
mese variety is pure selfishness. Its believers are taught
to bestow alms, build temples and pagodas and to do good
in other ways, not for the benefit of other people, but to
acquire merit for themselves. Everything a Burmese
does is with a singleness of purpose — his own advance
ment in the favor of the gods. The Buddhists of Burma
are spirit worshipers also. They are saturated with su
perstition. They believe in all kinds of demons and
evil sprits, which they have borrowed from the Taoists
of China on the one side and the Brahmins of India on
the other. They see significance in every sign and an
omen in every dream, which must be interpreted by sor
cerers and soothsayers in their monasteries, who exercise
a powerful influence over them. The ability and integ
rity of these charlatans to read signs command com
plete confidence. The advice and guidance of the priests
is also necessary to secure forgiveness for sin and to
escape its penalties. There are 227 sins listed in the
Buddhist book of doom, and the penalties vary. Most
267

268 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
of them can be avoided by contributions of money, by the
erection of pagodas or by pilgrimages to sacred places,
where "merit" may be acquired at the same time.
The priests of Burma teach metempsychosis also, which
means the transmigration of souls after death into new
bodies and conditions. This doctrine was not taught by
Buddha, but was borrowed from the Brahmins. The
form of reincarnation of a human soul after death is de
termined by the record of merit or demerit acquired dur
ing life from good or bad actions. The soul of a man
may be transferred to the body of a saint or a snake, an
elephant or a pig, a viper or a dog, or any other creature,
despised or admired, honorable or infamous, according
to his deserts, and the favorite curse of the fakirs in India
and Burma condemns the soul of the object of enmity
to eternal abasement and humiliation in the body of a
toad or some other loathsome creature. The gods keep
a credit and debit account with each soul in a great book
above. All good acts are recorded on one side and all
evil acts on the other, and the balance drawn at death
will determine whether the subject shall improve his
position or not in the next life. The spirits of Burmese
Buddhists never remain in the same stage. They are
either progressive or retrogressive. They ascend or de
scend the scale of happiness or misery for countless ages
until "Nikban" or final emancipation is attained, when
they are delivered to eternal paradise in Nirvana or
doomed to one of the seven hells with different grades of
torment. Buddhist priests are celibates, living in common in
monasteries. Every man becomes a priest at some time
or other of his life, if only for a day, and usually for a
year or two years when he is a child, in order to purify

THE BUDDHISTS OE BURMA 269
his soul, to acquire knowledge of sacred things, and what
the priests call "enlightenment." It is a serious cere
mony and may be compared to confirmation in the Epis
copal or admission to membership and first communion
in other Protestant churches. Lads from 10 to 14 years
old enter the monasteries and remain for a given period
under the instruction of the priests. If they do not wish
to continue the studies and adopt that life they are sent
home at any time. No compulsion is used. If they con
clude to adopt the priestly vocation they become "pun-
jees," or novices, what the Chinese call "learn pidgins."
They shave their heads, put on robes of yellow, which is
the color of humility and contrition, and become the dis
ciples of priests for two years. After the expiration of
two years the punjee can choose whether to return to the
world or remain in the monastery. In the latter case he
is kept under instruction two years more. Then, at the
end of that period, he makes a pilgrimage to some sacred
shrine, and during his absence is required to decide for
himself whether he shall continue in the priesthood. The
choice is always voluntary, and even Protestant mission
aries are wiUing to admit that large numbers of the priests
are good men, honest and sincere, and living lives of piety
and usefulness.
A Buddhist priest owns nothing. He cannot hold prop
erty. He surrenders everything he has of value when
he enters the priesthood except his robes of yellow cotton
and a little brass bowl which is needed for his food and
drink. The monasteries are maintained by private be
nevolence, and no greater act of "merit" can be per
formed than building or repairing one. Every morning
shortly after sunrise the "punjees" leave the monastery
with large brass pots and wander through the streets of

270 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the town in which they live collecting food for the priests
and themselves. Each of them takes a street or one side
of a street, and as they pass along they make their pres
ence known by striking little gongs, ringing bells or blow
ing whistles. Gongs similar to those they use can be
purchased at any of the temples. They have very sweet
tones. The "punjee" never begs, but after giving his
signal stands at the door until the housewife appears
with an offering of rice, curry, vegetables or fruit, which
is dumped into his brass pot, and he continues on his way.
The market places are canvassed in a similar manner, and
when his route is completed the "punjee" returns to the
monastery and the food is distributed among the in
mates. It is frequently asserted that the Buddhist clergy
will not accept money, but I have tried them often and
have never known one to refuse it. Every village has a
monastery with two or more inmates, and often in the
larger towns as many as fifty or sixty live under the same
roof. According to the census of 1901 there are 15,371
monasteries in Burma and 122,428 priests and punjees.
The head of the church is an archbishop, who resides at
Mandalay. The late archbishop died in 1895. Pakan
Sadaw was elected his successor by a general assembly
of priests, and is now performing the duties of the office,
although the election has not been confirmed by the gov
ernment because of some irregularities.
The highest grade of priests are known as "rahans,"
which means "perfect ones," and they number 25,507;
the next grade are "upazins" or "sayas," which means
teachers, and they number 20,771. Under them are the
45,369 "punjees," which means probationers. The latter
include students, disciples and servants, and the great
majority of them are under 15 years of age. Some of

THE BUDDHISTS OF BURMA 271
the "rahans" are genial, scholarly men of fine appearance
and profound learning, although they know nothing what
ever of modern sciences or history. They welcome
strangers to their monasteries and will talk freely with
them on all subjects. The Burmese Buddhists, as a rule,
are not bigoted, or jealous, or unkindly, but are very tol
erant to believers of other creeds and seek rather than
avoid theological controversies.
The "sayas" or teaching priests have schools in every
viUage, in which they teach the children to read and write
and other elementary branches, but their own knowledge
is limited and they are not competent to go any further.
They are well spoken of and generally their influence is
for good. There are about 600 schools under their care
in the monasteries and temples with upward of 250,000
pupils, who lie on their stomachs on the floor as they
study, usually in a circle like the spokes of a wheel, with
their heads turned toward the teacher, who sits in the
center. There are also a few government schools, but
the inability to secure competent teachers who know the
Burmese language prevents their extension.
And the government takes a very conservative view of
the educational question. It considers it wiser to en
courage the monastery schools and limit education of the
peasant class to the elementary branches than to maintain
a forced system which is apt to make the young country
people restless and take them from the farms into the
cities. Higher education is left entirely to the mission
aries. Burma has no state colleges, academies or high
schools, but the facilities for a liberal education are abun
dant. High schools and academies can be found in every
part of every province, numbering altogether more than
fifty, with between 5,000 and 6,000 students, most of

272 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA ,
whom are qualifying themselves for positions under the
government and in commercial and industrial enterprises.
The greatest weakness of the educational system in Burma
is the lack of schools for girls, which I was told cannot
be supplied because there are no teachers. Everyone
who has had anything to do with the education told me
the people are eager to learn. The children are very
bright. They have keen perceptions, retentive memories,
a sense of humor and amiable, generous dispositions, and
they are gifted with cunning natural instincts like an
animal ; but their reasoning powers are defective. They
hate manual labor, however. It is often the case that
the laziest are the most anxious to learn. On one of the
boats we patronized on the Irrawaddy River I found
several men with primers, from which they were studying
English during the idle voyage, and upon asking ques
tions learned that they were trying to qualify themselves
to do business with foreigners.
The missionary schools have done a vast amount of
good. Everywhere you go in Burma you will find their
graduates, who talk English and know a little something
of modern affairs. As a rule they are not familiar with
geography and cannot distinguish between Americans and
Englishmen. The man who showed us about the palace
at Mandalay took us into the former grand audience
chamber of King Thebaw, which, he told us, was an
American church, but when I came to question him I dis
covered that he classified all Protestant churches as Amer
ican, and was not familiar with the rather important fact
that Great Britain and the United States are two different
countries. The delusion is due to the fact that nearly
aU the missionary work in Burma has been done by our
countrymen, and nearly all of the foreign schools are

THE BUDDHISTS OF BURMA 273
maintained by them, while the government is English.
Slowly but surely the great fabric of Buddhism, which
has stood in Burma for 2,000 years, is breaking down and
crumbling away. It cannot stand the test of education.
It cannot endure the light of modern inquiry ; it does not
conform to the demands of modern civilization; it does
not apply to the wants and needs of progressive minds,
and as the common people are educated and extend their
knowledge and experience, its influence must disappear.
Whether its behevers will adopt Christianity when they
abandon the faith of their ancestors is doubtful. The
failure of the foreign population to exemplify the ideals
taught by Christianity, and to observe its principles, al
ways puzzles the heathen mind, and our theological differ
ences are an obstacle to his understanding, although he is
accustomed to similar controversies in his own religion.
No one is so keen as a pagan to realize the difference be
tween preaching and practice, and he usually comments
upon it with cynical amusement, which impairs, if it does
not destroy, his faith in our pretensions and sincerity.
It is comparatively easy to teach him that his gods are
impotent, and that the evil spirits which inhabit the at
mosphere cannot affect his affairs or change his destiny,
but the controversy over the baptism by sprinkling or
immersion and other differences in the interpretation of
the Bible are too complicated for him to grasp, and he
finds its easier to drift into indifference and materialism.
Christian missionaries get many converts from Bud
dhism, however, and occasionally the Buddhists get one
from them. Peter, our guide, told us of two Americans
who had turned Buddhists and were living in a monastery
near Rangoon. He said he had taken several of their
fellow countrymen to see them, and would guide us

274 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
there if we wanted to go, but upon investigation the
American "punjees" turned out to be an Australian Irish
man who had disappeared a few months previous and
Allan McGregor, a brilliant young man of Scotch Presby
terian ancestors, who was educated to be an electrical
engineer and analytical chemist. He went to Burma to
accept a position under one of the oil companies, and,
having a taste for theology, took up the study of Bud
dhism. He became enthusiastic over the beauty of its
sentiments and decided to devote his life and talents to
the reform of the church and the restoration of the re
ligion to the original principles as taught by Buddha.
Fie shaved his head, put on a yellow robe, lives in a
monastery on the road to the big pagodas, and has under
taken his mission by the publication of a magazine which
has good literary merit, but few readers.
The holiest place in- Burma, the most celebrated and
sacred shrine in the entire Buddhist world, which is
visited by thousands of pilgrims from every country
where that faith prevails, is the Shwe-Dagon Pagoda at
Rangoon. It stands upon an eminence about two miles
from the city. The terrace, i66 feet above the surround
ing country, is 900 feet long by 680 feet wide. From it
rises a splendid column 370 feet high, circular in form,
with a circumference of 1,355 feet at the bottom. The
summit is tipped by a magnificent iron spire, or "um
brella," as it is called, constructed of a series of gradu
ally diminishing rings as the top is approached, and cul
minating in a "Sein-Bu" or crown of gems, which was
presented by Mindon Min, the late King of Burma, at a
cost of $250,000. The column is a solid structure of
brick, stone and cement, and its peculiar irregular form
is not seen outside of Burma. There are pagodas in

THE BUDDHISTS OF BURMA

-/D

Siam, the Malay peninsula, China and Japan, but they
differ from those in Burma both in shape and ornamenta
tion. The Shwe-Dagon is a mighty, glittering, golden shaft
dominating the landscape from every side, and being
gilded from base to summit is more conspicuous than any
other architectural design of the same size could be. The
innumerable hoops with which it is bound are hung witli
little beUs of gold, silver, copper, bronze and composi
tion, and each of them represents an offering made by
some devotee. They tinkle sweetly as tliey are disturbed
by tne breeze and make most fascinating music.
L^pon the side of tlie shaft toward the city, about one-
third of its height from the ground, hangs the skin of a
tiger, and the priests tell you a marvelous story that is
confirmed by ample authority. Several years ago the
.inimal which wore it came out of the jungle and climbed
up the gilded surface of the padoga to that height, where
it stood helpless and bewildered, unable to go higher or
to retrace its steps. It seems almost incredible, for the
surface of the pagoda is slippery ^^•ith gold leaf and al
most perpendicular, but nevertheless the story must be
believed. The priests, pilgrims and peddlers around the
different temples became frantic with excitement, and
somebody with a cool head notified the guard at a neigh
boring barracks. '^Tien the officer of the day was in
formed he took his rifle and hurried to the pagoda, fol
lowed by a corporal and a squad of armed men. Only one
shot was fired. The captain was an accomplished marks
man. He raised his rifle, took careful aim, there was a
sharp report and the lifeless carcass of the beast came
tumbling down the side of the pagoda, to the amazement
of the worshipers, who to this moment declare that a

2^ EGYPT, BLTliL\, BRITISH iLAL-\YSL\
miracle was performed. The aTiimal was skinned and
the pelt -was hung at the exact spot where its owner was
standing when the death shot was fired.
The terrace upon which the pagoda stands is crowded
with shrines, temple and rest-houses erected by kings
and rich men of the Buddhist faith. They are "too
numerous to mention," but represent an enormous expen
diture of money, and contain some of the most beautiful
decorations and exquisite carving you can imagine. Each
temple and shrine contains a figure of Gautama, the sit
ting Buddha, in the usual posture, with his legs crossed
and his hands folded, or with his right arm extended.
That is supposed to be the attitude of Gautama when he
sat imder the Bo tree at Ga\-a, India, and preached to his
disciples. The images have no beauty or artistic merit
Most of them are made of wood, gilded, and some of mar
ble and others stone. There are several hundred aH
together. Each image is decorated by offerings of flowers, rice,
paper flags, fruit, candles, perfumery, incense and other
simple gifts expressing whatever emotions stirred the
hearts of the persons who offered them, and their feddi
is sublime. They come from everj- part of the Buddhist
world, men, women, children, with eager, ^UTiest faces,
and most of them dad in brilliant costumes of silk,
gorgeous turbans and all the ornaments they own.
Others wear white linen jackets, silk skirts and shawls.
The Shans, Karens, Siamese and Chinese appear in tiidr
peculiar costumes, and every one wears his best No
pilgrim approaches this sacred place without great prep
aration, and I do not know where else one can find so
good an opportunity to see the different types of the
eastern races. But they are not aU attractive or happy.

THE BUDDHISTS OF BLTIMA 277
Among them are pUgrims with hideous diseases ; lepers,
paralytics, cripples, consumptives, the lame and the halt
and the blind, some of them feeling their way and creep
ing over the slippery pavements, others being led or car
ried by kind and generous friends. Each bears some
gift, some pious offering, no matter how simple, to place
upon an altar or to lay at the feet of one of the idols that
mean so much to them.
The terrace is approached through a long passage and
up many flights of steps. On each side are booths at
which offerings of every description are sold, candles,
incense, food, toys, knickknacks and every concei-vable
article. The dealers must do a good business, or their
shops would not be so numerous and the stocks upon their
shelves would not be so large. At fort}" or fiftv- staUs
toys and dolls can be purchased, and curiously enough
they are favorite offerings to the gods. You see them
lying around the feet of the Buddhas in almost every
temple. There are several book stores at which Buddhist
Hterature can be purchased in twenty- different languages
and dialects. But the largest number of stalls are devoted
to sweetmeats and flowers, for no pUgrim is too poor to
purchase a marigold or some other pretty blossom to lay
at Buddha's feet
The processions are continuous during the twenty-four
hours, for, like the Hindus, the Burmese know no differ
ence between night and day, and the scene after sunset
is even more novel and weird than in the daytime. The
gflded temples, the gorgeous decorations, the crowds of
worshipers in their brUliant costumes are more pic
turesque in the heav\" shadows, the flare of torch and the
flickering candle hght ilost of the pUgrims are gay,
langfaing and joyous ; others are sad and -wretched. Their

278 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
distress and anxiety are pictured upon their countenances.
There is no reverence, no solemnity. The people are as
noisy and as bustling as they could be in a market place,
and as they approach the shrine they seek they beat the
gongs and bells that hang in front of other images with
a manner that seems more like mischief than devotion.
Hundreds of gongs and bells of all sizes are hanging
wherever there is a place to suspend them. Beside each
are padded hammers or ordinary wooden sticks which the
worshipers use to strike them. The air is clamorous with
sound. Under a gaily decorated wooden shed hangs the third
largest bell in the world, so large that half a dozen men
can stand within it. It weighs forty-two tons and bears
a long inscription recounting the "merit" gained by King
Tharrawaddy, when he presented it in 1840. This bell
has a curious history. During the second Burmese war
the EngHsh seized it and intended to carry it off to Cal
cutta as a trophy, but by some mishap it dropped into the
Rangoon River and settled down until it was buried in
the muddy bottom. English engineers worked for weeks,
but failed to raise it, and the attempt was finally aban
doned. Twelve years later, having obtained permission
from the authorities, a gang of natives under the direc
tion of a Buddhist priest, entirely ignorant of physics or
engineering, rigged a rude contrivance by which the huge
bell was hoisted from the mud to a flatboat, towed to the
bank, transported on rollers a distance of four mUes up
the hill and hung where it may be seen to-day under a
shed beside the pagoda. Its recovery and removal did
not cost a farthing. It was all done under the direction
of ignorant priests by volunteer labor.
It is impossible for me or anyone else to describe the

THE BUDDHISTS OF BURMA 279
conglomerate assortment of temples and shrines that are
crowded together upon the terrace. It would require a
volume to do them justice, and their picturesqueness
could not be portrayed in words. Nowhere else is there
such a display of teakwood carving and gUding and fan
tastic forms of architecture. Artists say that the designs
and decorations are barbaric, which is true, but they are
characteristic of the oriental races they represent, and
express in a most vivid manner their ideas of beauty. In
many of the temples may be found priests reading the
Buddhist scriptures or preaching to throngs of worship
ers. Hundreds of "punjees," or young monks, with
naked legs, yellow robes and shaven heads, wander about
among the crowds or sit in groups in the shade of some
fantastic structure. Nuns in white robes, with rapt faces,
move silently among the merry throng; and in shady
corners may be found numerous "sayas" (soothsayers and
fortune tellers), squatting on the ground, with books of
reference and tablets before them, and never out of sight
are the professional mendicants, who poke their brass
bowls toward you for offerings.
In a conspicuous place near the main entrance, from
morning tUl night, seven days in the week, sits a grotesque
dwarf with an enormous head and a small, misshapen
body. His hair is long and made up into artificial curls,
and his face is covered with a heavy black beard. His
eyes are large, dark and piercing, and are overhung with
bushy black eyebrows. He has a powerful voice and a
loud-sounding gong, which he pounds incessantly,
screaming at every person who passes for an offering to
assist him in building a shrine that he may "acquire
merit" in heaven. He has sat continuously in that identi
cal place for more than five years, begging in the same

28o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
manner for the same purpose, and I was told that he had
accumulated several thousand dollars, chiefly in gifts of
pennies, so that he is about to commence the erection of
the shrine which is to give him a high place in heaven.
The hill upon which the pagoda stands is surrounded
by numerous monasteries filled with monks and priests
and punjees, and large rest houses where pilgrims are
entertained during their stay in Rangoon. Thousands of
smaller but similar pagodas are scattered all over Burma,
in various stages of ruin and decay. Some of them are
splendid structures, others are simple piles of sun-dried
brick heaped together at a nominal cost, but equally
effective in serving the purpose for which they are in
tended. Building a pagoda among the Burmese is the
same as a pilgrimage to Mecca by a Moslem. It removes
all doubt of eternal happiness. Hence every man who
can get money enough erects a little tapering spire of
cheap brickwork and cement, smears it over with stucco
and, if he can pay the bill, covers it with gold leaf. As
"merit" attaches only to building it, it is not necessary
for him to keep the pagoda in repair. Hence the most of
them are in a state of decay. The only ones carefully
kept are found in large cities or have some sacred asso
ciation or possess relics of Buddha. At Syriam is the
oldest pagoda in Burma, and one of the most important,
for it was built in the year 580 B. C. to hold two hairs
from the beard of Buddha. A bone and a tooth of "the
enlightened" were added 350 years later. Several simi
lar relics, a tooth, four hairs and a number of pieces of
bone at the Shwe-Dagon pagoda give it its peculiar
sanctity. The most important relics of Buddha, how
ever, are in Siam.

THE MUSJID — RANGOON

ni

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY
It is 386 nfiles from Rangoon to Mandalay. The
train leaves Rangoon at 2 o'clock in tiie afternoon and
reaches its destinatioa about 6 o'clock in the morning.
The track is a three-foot gauge. The cars are similar to
those used in Tnrlia. Travelers are required to take their
own bedding, and are given bunks similar to those in
cabooses on freight trains in the United States, ftee of
charges If one prefers a hard bed to a soft, he will be
gratified, and may enjoy a night upon a Burma railroad.
If he is devoted to luxury he will consider it uncom
fortable. The point of view is everything. People who
go to such countries must not expect to have the comforts
of home, but they will not suffer hardships.
Daring the afternoon our train passed through a long
succession of rice farms, where the harvests had been
gathered and threshed, and were piled up in immense
stacks of hags, on both sides of the track, at every station.
You would not suppose there was so much rice in the
world, but the rice eaters outnmnber the wh^ eaters two
to one. They told us that the railway conqiany did not
have sufficient cars to accommodate the traffic, and tiiis
rice was waiting for transportatian. After we passed out
of the delta of the Irrawaddy, which has soil of amazing
richness and is ck>sely cultivated, the train entered an
281

282 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
entirely different country. Hills began to arise from the
plains around us, and between them were jungles of most
luxuriant vegetation, groves of palm trees and bamboos,
and great far-spreading teak trees, which bring so much
wealth to that country. The summit of each hill is
crowned by a white or a gilded pagoda, and groups of
bamboo huts are placed in picturesque locations around
them. The bamboo is the most useful of trees. It has a thou
sand uses, and nearly all the houses of Burma are built
of that material. The builders need nothing else. The
larger trunks furnish the framework and girders, the
smaller trunks the rafters and the floor; the roof is
thatched with the leaves and the walls and partitions con
sist of sheets of mats braided of strips of split bamboo.
The tree not only furnishes shelter, but food for the peo
ple. By rubbing two pieces together they ignite a fire of
bamboo twigs. Then they pick the tender shoots and
buds from a tree and cook them in a hollow section of
bamboo trunk.
At every railway station we saw crowds of natives —
men and women, dressed in the gayest of colors. They
wear strips of plaid silk around their legs, fastened at the
waist and reaching to their ankles, and jackets of white
cotton, newly washed, starched and ironed, and turbans
as gay as Joseph's coat. The majority are women. They
show a childish curiosity about foreigners. They wander
up and down the platform smoking "whacking white
cheroots," laughing, joking and commenting critically
upon the appearance and behavior of the passengers.
There are curious freaks among the crowds also — natives
who apparently pride themselves upon their eccentric ap
pearance. We saw a man with one long black side

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY 283
whisker covering his left cheek, which he was continually
stroking. The other side of his face was entirely bare.
The natives are evidently fond of sweetmeats, if one can
judge by the number of peddlers offering confectionery,
candied fruits and other refreshments at the railway
stations, and they did a thriving trade everywhere the
train stopped.
There are rest houses at every station where strangers
and tired people can sleep and rest without charge, but
they are entirely empty of furniture and without a single
comfort. Patrons must furnish their own bedding and
pick up their food where they can. Rest houses are pro
vided in every village, and often by the roadside when
the distances between towns are greater than usual. It
is a beautiful benevolence peculiar to Burma. You occa-
sionaUy find them in India, but they are not so general.
And their value is illustrated by the extent to which they
are patronized.
The Burmese are a restless, uneasy people, continually
seeking diversions and habitually visiting their relatives
and neighbors. Traveling costs little when they go on
foot, or in bullock carts, for they take their food along
with them and can occupy rest houses without charge as
long as they please. Frequently when a congenial party
happens to gather in one of them it remains for a week or
ten days having a good time, gossiping, singing, playing
games and practical jokes, and entertaining each other
entirely regardless of responsibilities that may rest upon
them. It is often asserted that the Burman is the most
irresponsible creature in existence, and to judge from
outward appearances that must be true. He doesn't care
what happens so long as he has a good time, and always

284 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
expects other people to participate in his enjoyments.
The cattle are enormous creatures, similar to the cari
bou of the Philippine Islands. They are awkward and
slow, but are docile, hardy and possess enormous strength.
The sheep and goats are twice the size of those we have
in America and their wool is long, thick and coarse. You
often see goats as large as yearling colts. They are
milked, used for draft purposes, and their wool has a high
value. The houses are simple structures, being built entirely
of bamboo and thatched with reeds. They are usually in
two parts, the front part facing the street, being raised
from the ground about two or three feet on piles, and
in it business, visiting, gossip, meals and the everyday
affairs are carried on. The back part, which is raised
about three feet higher, provides sleeping accommoda
tions and rooms for storage. Underneath it are the stable,
cattle shed, poultry pen and playground for the children.
The food of the people is mostly fish, vegetables, rice,
miUet and salad.
Nearly everybody is tattooed ; covered with figures and
floral designs from his waist to his knees. The art has
been carried to a higher degree than in any other country
except Japan. The tattooing is usually done when a
boy is 12 or 14 years of age. When the artist is engaged
the child is stupefied with opium and kept in that condi
tion until the job is finished. It usually requires three
or four days and is very painful, the colors being forced
into the skin by the use of needles. Nothing pleases a
Burmese gentleman more than to ask him to show his
tattoos. He will strip for that purpose at any time and
any place with great pride and satisfaction.

" .'\ WHACKI.VC WHITE CHEROOT'

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY 285
Everybody smokes — men, women and children — and it
seems to do them no harm. They do not use pipes or
cigars, as in other countries, but have enormous cheroots
from ten to fifteen inches long and an inch in diameter,
made of chopped tobacco leaf, com husks, dried bamboo
leaves and other material, with a com husk wrapper.
They contain very little nicotine and are almost tasteless
to anyone accustomed to smoking tobacco. Physicians
say that tiiey are entirely harmless, and they must be,
because children 6 and 8 years old smoke tiiem without
the slightest injury, and every other wcHnan you see has
a tong cheroot in her hand. She places it to her lips
every few seconds and inhales a mouthful of smoke,
which she swallows and then blows out of her nostrils.
Yoo remember Kipling's poem:
*Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er littie cap was green.
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat — jes' the same as Thee-
baw's queen.
An' I seen her first a-smokin' of a whackin* white cheroot.
An* a-wasting Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot;
Bkxjmin' idol made o' mud —
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd —
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed her where
she stood!
On the road to Mandalay.
When the mist was on the rice fields an' tiie sun was
droppin' slow.
She'd get her littie banjo an' she'd sing "KuUalolol,"
With her arm vipon my shoulder, and her head agin my
cheek»
We useter watdi the steamers and the hathis pilin' teak.

286 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Elephants a-pilin' teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to
speak !
On the road to Mandalay.
Friends told us that we could see the real Burmese in
the interior better than at Rangoon, which proved to be
a fact. The native does not take kindly to cities, but
prefers country life, and is an incurable loafer. His
greatest pleasure is to gossip with his neighbors and
entertain at "pwe" — a sort of outdoor evening party.
Whenever a Burmese gets a little money ahead he will
either build a pagoda for the benefit of his soul or spend
it in hospitality, inviting his neighbors to a "pwe" when
ever there is the slightest provocation. "Pwes" are given
when a child is born, when a daughter's ears are pierced
or after a boy is tattooed, on a birthday or marriage anni
versary or on any other occasion that will furnish an
excuse. They are always given in the open air, and if
the host has no garden he blockades the street in front
of his house with tables, chairs and other furnishings.
No formal invitation is necessary, but a general anounce-
ment is made, and everybody is expected — rich and poor,
old and young, foreigner and native.
Burma is literally a free country. Nobody seems to
have secrets or care for privacy. Neighbors are in the
habit of entering each other's houses without knocking
or giving warning of any sort, and treating them exactly
as they would their own; overhauling their contents,
helping themselves to whatever they want, and making
themselves perfectly at home under every circumstance.
The same freedom is permitted to foreigners. Every-

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY 287
body told us that the more curiosity we showed about the
people the better we would please them, and if you stop a
woman on the street and examine her costume and finger
her jewelry she will appreciate it as the highest compli
ment you can pay her. We have tried that experiment
with moderation, and have found the statement to be
true. The Burmese are the most generous people in the
world. If they have only a crust they will divide it
with the first-comer and expect him to do the same with
them. There is no country in which the golden rule is
so generally observed.
"Pwes" last for hours, beginning late in the afternoon
and continuing until daylight the next morning, or until
all the food and drink are consumed and the guests are
tired out. There is no drinking of stronger drinks than
tea, and, although everybody is noisy and shouts of
laughter and the clamor of conversation can be heard for
a block, there is no quarreling or disorder. Everybody is
good-natured. Everything is decent and well conducted.
Foreigners who happen to encounter a "pwe" are always
urged to remain. They are promptly accommodated
with seats, offered refreshments, and treated by everyone
with generous courtesy, which is a national characteristic.
Sometimes a stage is erected in the street and a theatri
cal entertainment or a dance is given by professionals or
amateurs; by jugglers, conjurors or clowns. Sometimes
on orchestra will give a concert assisted by singers from
the neighborhood. There is a variety of entertainments,
and everybody does his share. The orchestra is com
posed of drums, gongs, fiddles of all sizes and other native
string and wind instruments. The national instrument
resembles the marimba of South America, being made of
cross pieces of bamboo graded according to size, placed

288 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
upon two long strips and struck with little hammers or
mallets, like a xylophone. The orchestra makes most in
harmonious music, but the people seem to enoy it, and
their songs, Hke those of other orientals, are without
melody. Most of them are monotonous chants in a minor
key. The dancing girls are similar to the nautches of
India, and their dancing consists of gestures and postur
ing, intended to express sentiments and emotions — a very
slow sort of pantomime.
Mandalay resembles Seoul, just as the rest of Burma
resembles Korea, with the same thatched houses, the
same types of Mongolian people, wearing similar cos
tumes. It might be made one of the most beautiful cities
in Asia, for it stands in the midst of a fertile plain on the
banks of the broad Irrawaddy, and its wide streets are
planted with noble trees. Above their deep olive foliage
the spires of gilded pagodas rise in every direction, which
seem all the more brilliant in contrast with the green ; but
when you come close to them you are disappointed at the
cheap manner in which they are made and the tawdry
decorations. There is not a single building of architec-
tectural merit in the entire city — although many are fan
tastic and curious — nor one which is liable to last more
than a generation. The carving is exquisite in many
cases, and the teakwood is, of course, durable, but both
have been ruined by treatment, by cheap gilding and the
use of ugly garish paints, while the almost universal use
of galvanized iron for roofing is a disfigurement of the
entire city.
The residences of the people, excepting a few foreign
houses, are all cheap structures of matting and bamboo
thatched with palm leaves. The assessor's report shows
that the average assessed valuation of the houses of Man-

THE QUAINT CITY Of MANDALAY 289
dalay is £2 7 shillings, which is equivalent to about $11.50.
This is explained by an order issued by King Mindon
Min, when the city was built, and which was enforced
by King Thebaw, his successor — two of the most intol
erant ruffians and rascals that ever occupied a throne.
When the former founded the city he prohibited the use
of brick and stone in buildings for fear his subjects would
use them as a means of defense in case he found it neces
sary to discipline them. One of his ministers is credited
with having suggested an edict requiring all houses to be
built of inflammable materials so that the soldiers could
burn them out without delay in case of an emergency.
Twenty-five years later, under Thebaw's reign, the same
regulations were enforced, and a new one required every
man's house to correspond in form and size with his social
status. Nobody but the members of the royal family,
or ministers, miHtary officers of a certain rank, or the
aristocracy was allowed to use brick, stone or other per
manent material.
Since British occupation this regulation has been abol
ished, and as the old buildings burn down or decay they
are replaced with new ones of better materials. Just
now a great public improvement is going on. The bazaars
of Mandalay, which were considered the most interest--
ing in the East, were burned down in the summer of 1903.
The destruction was complete. The flames wiped out
everything within an area of twenty acres. The land
belonged to the municipality, which has since erected a
fireproof, two-story structure that will accommodate sev
eral thousand of the small shops that are in vogue in that
part of the world. Several days may be spent in a most
entertaining way visiting dealers in silk, carvings and
other native products. The specialty of Mandalay is

290 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
carved teakwood, but the people are very ingenious, and
make many other interesting things.
Somebody with a fertile imagination in 1859 suggested
to King Mindpn Min the fantastic idea of "acquiring
merit" with the gods by erecting long rows of pagodas
exactly alike. He selected a site about half a mile square
just outside of the walls of the palace, and there carried
out the scheme in a most remarkable manner. The place is
surrounded by a high wall, with four imposing entrances
at the cardinal points of the compass, and the place is
known as "The Four Hundred and Fifty Pagodas." They
are arranged in long rows of twenty-six pagodas, alternat
ing with rows of lemon trees, Avhich have been planted
between them. The pagodas are twenty feet high and
about eight feet square, made of brick, stuccoed in fanciful
designs and covered with whitewash. In the center of
the inclosure is an imposing pagoda of the same design,
reaching the height of sixty-two feet, with platforms
and galleries at different elevations where people may
stand and look over the extraordinary scene before them.
Although they are called "The Four Hundred and Fifty
Pagodas," there are many more than that. The Buddhist
priests in charge of the place claim that there is an even
thousand, but the English photographer told me that he
counted them a year or so ago and found exactly 729.
It was too hot for me to count them, but anyone can see
that the latter figure is not far from right. Each pagoda
contains a marble slab about three feet long by two feet
wide, upon which is transcribed a version of the Buddhist
commandments, which Mindon Min had prepared for
this purpose by a commission of learned pundits. The
tablets are all uniform in size and style and are inscribed
in the Burmese letters, which are curious and quite orna-

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY 291
mental, although not so much so as the Arabian, Persian
or Chinese.
In a little shrine at the foot of the central pagoda is a
marble slab containing what is claimed to be a footprint
of Buddha, although it is four feet long and thirty inches
wide, and tradition tells us that the apostle of "the holy
calm" was a man of small stature. The Burmese, how
ever, do not mind ^ little discrepancy of that sort. If
they did they would be doomed to perpetual doubt and
dismay. Many similar eccentricities in the teachings of
their priests are even worse. In Japan a tooth of "The
Enlightened" is worshiped which evidently belonged to
a mammoth, for it is two inches long and an inch in
diameter. Beside this sacred stone, resting upon a platform, is
the state barge formerly used by King Mindon Min and
Thebaw, his son, in navigating a moat which surrounds
the walls of the fortified city. It is a broad stream of
water fed by many springs and abounding with fish, and
at several places its surface is covered with the circular
leaves and flowers of the white lotus which are rooted
in the bottom. One of the frequent amusements of the
king was to be rowed about this moat sitting with his
favorite wife upon a platform in the stern of a boat
which the people thought was made of gold. After
the British occupation the royal barge was brought out
and placed among "The Four Hundred and Fifty
Pagodas," where the fierce heat of the sun warped and
cracked it and it turned out to be only ordinary teakwood
gilded. The interior of the boat is covered with a mosaic
of mirrors and the bow and stern are exquisitely carved,
It resembles the imperial barges of ancient Rome. The
gates of the inclosure are covered with carvings, but they.

292 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
too, have warped, and, Hke everything else, are going to
pieces. The ground is strewn with broken fragments of
marble images, headless, armless, legless and minus
fingers and toes, which have been carried away as sou
venirs by foreign vandals.
Near the palace of Thebaw are the ruins of "The In
comparable Pagoda," which was the finest in the world,
but was destroyed by fire in 1892. The rubbish has never
been cleared away. Some of the columns are still stand
ing, and piles of warped galvanized iron, of which the
roof was made, still lie where they fell curled up by the
heat of the fire. This pagoda was built largely of glass
and must have been a curious structure.
Across the road is the oldest and the most interesting
monastery in Mandalay, which is occupied by the Bud
dhist archbishop. It is covered all over, inside and out,
with heavy gold leaf and is surrounded by smaller struc
tures of similar style, in which the scribes and assistants
of the bishop reside. A very cordial young priest met
us at the door and motioned us to enter. He held a
primer in his hand, from which he was learning English.
It was an American publication such as is used by begin
ners in our primary schools. Each page contained a rude
illustration of some familiar object with a few lines of
plain black print below. As I took the book he pointed
out the lesson of the day, which read :
"Ann has a doll and a dog. Ann puts the doll on the
dog. The dog loves Ann. Does Ann love the dog?"
The monastery is one vast room covering not less than
150 feet square, and the roof, which is a bewildering
mass of carving, rises like a pyramid to the height of a
hundred feet. Every inch of the surface is gilded,
although in places the gold has peeled off. There are no

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY 293
partitions except movable screens, by which the interior is
divided into accommodations for a dozen or more priests,
the archbishop and his subordinates. Each has a narrow
bed and other simple furniture, standing upon a matting
of straw. Everything looks neat and well kept, and is
monkish enough in the absence of comforts and luxuries.
Piled upon the shelves of long bookcases are manuscripts
and printed volumes, which I suppose are the archiespisco-
pal library. The bishop is said to be a very learned man.
The tomb of the late archbishop is in the grounds of the
monastery, and Peter, our guide, told us a most extraor
dinary story of the way in which his body was treated.
Peter talks English well enough for ordinary purposes ;
his faith is strong; his intentions are just, but occasionally
his idioms are a misfit. He said that the death of the
bishop was predicted several weeks in advance to the
very minute by one of the astrologers connected with this
very monastery, who learned it from the stars. He
assured me that the Buddhist priests are so wise and ac
complished that they can find out anything that is going
to happen if they only take the trouble to do so, but they
are lazy and will not work.
After the bishop was dead, Peter says, they poured
quicksilver into his mouth until the entire body was filled
with it. It melted in his stomach and went into his veins.
Then, after the corpse was thoroughly soaked with quick
silver, they removed the entrails, ran a stiff piece of
bamboo along the backbone and wound it with bands of
cloth as tightily as possible in order to squeeze out the
juice. I am using Peter's exact words. They allowed it
to remain in bandages for several days, then they filled
the insides with sweet herbs, and placed it, the corpse,
in a zinc coffin. The coffin was filled with liquid honey

294 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and the body was allowed to soak for three weeks, after
which it was placed upon a papier mache elephant thirty
feet high. The body of the elephant was filled with com
bustibles and after a series of funeral services it was set
on fire and all that was earthly of the bishop went up in
smoke. A dozen or more large pagodas in Mandalay have been
erected from time to time by kings and other rich and
powerful men in Burma in order to "acquire merit" with
the gods. About two miles distant is one called the
Arrakan, which, next to the Shwe-Dagon Pagoda at Ran
goon, is the most sacred and popular temple in Burma,
and it is always crowded with pilgrims and worshipers.
It is surrounded by a large courtyard, and entered by
four gates, which are guarded by huge "deogryphs," un
couth monsters made of brick and plaster and painted
so as to make them look as hideous as possible. They
are unlike any living thing, and represent what the
imagination of the Burmese has placed at the gates of
heaven. The temple is approached through long corridors lined
on each side with shops, at which articles of all sorts
are offered for sale. And in the center is a colossal brass
image of Buddha, which, according to tradition, was cast
as long ago as the year 146 A. D. by the King of Arrakan.
It was cast in three separate pieces, which were soldered
together by the miraculous breath of Buddha himself.
The image is covered by an enormous pavilion, a beau
tifully carved roof resting upon 252 massive piUars. The
pavilion is always crowded with worshipers, and, though
it is open on all sides, the air is loaded with the soot of
a thousand candles, the perfume of incense sticks and
perspiration from the bodies of the pilgrims.

wHm<Z
owc1-1o0w
K H

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY 295
There is another enormous brass image of Buddha at
the Set-Kyat-Thi-Ha pagoda, weighing forty-four tons.
It is seventeen feet in height, and was brought from the
old town of Ava to Mandalay by order of King Thebaw
over a road constructed especially for that purpose. They
loaded the image upon a cart with broad tires and 3,500
men furnished the motive power.
Another royal "Work of Merit" was commenced by
King Mindon Min upon the summit of a hill just outside
the city. He proposed to erect a pagoda of stone and
call it the Yan-Kin-Taung, which means "protect the
city from danger," and had several hundred men at
work for several years quarrying stone for it. Finally
he became impatient and sent for a French engineer to
make an inspection. The latter reported that it would
take not less than eighty years and would cost not less
than $10,000,000 to carry out His Majesty's plans, and
hence the idea was abandoned.
Everything about Mandalay is going to pieces. Half
the temples are in the state of advanced decay, and the
monasteries and palaces are in a similar condition. They
were all cheaply built originally and badly put together.
Most of the gates and doors are of teakwood elaborately
carved, but they are warped and rotten; some of them
have only one hinge and are otherwise crippled, and it is
evident that several have been carried off as curiosities.
Half the temples are crumbling, the galvanized iron roofs
have been warped by the sun and curled up, leaving large
cracks through which the water pours every time there is
a rain, and it is evident that no attempt has been made
to repair any of the public buildings since the British
occupation. Indeed, there is nobody to keep them up.
The government won't do it ; the priests have no money.

296 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and the big contribution boxes which hang at each door
appealing mutely to visitors for funds are empty, and
often out of repair. Some of them are not tight enough
to hold a rupee if anybody should be so thoughtless as to
drop one in ^e slot.

IV
KIXG THEBAW AND HIS FANTASTIC PALACES
The royal city of Mandalay is s^arated from the town
in which the people hve and in which business is trans
acted by a moat thirty feet deep and 300 feet wide ; and
a red brick wall twenty-six feet high. Inside, the wall
is supported by an earthen rampart twelve feet wide,
which reaches to within four feet of the top. There are
twelve strongly protected gates, three on each side of the
inclosure, approached across the moat by bridges, which
may be raised at any time, and each gateway is crowned
with a cupola or pagoda of seven stories of handsomely
carved teak. Within the waU is a lovely park, half forest,
half parade ground, and the royal palace, formerly occu
pied by King Thebaw, stands exactiy in the center, sur
rounded by other palaces, paviHons, temples, audience
diambers, offices, barracks and various other buildings
of teakwood, strikingly pictaresque because of their fan
tastic designs and ornamentation, but badly buUt and even
now in an advanced state of dUapidation. No other
group of buUdings in existence comes so near being an
architectural nightmare, and, although they violate ever}-
law of art, architecture and engineering, they are never
theless exceedingly interesting and worth a long journey
to see. The palace and its connecting buildings were
formerly defended by two palisades of teak posts, twenty
feet high, and an inner brick wall running paraUel sixty
297

298 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
feet distant. The royal bodyguard was camped between
them in order to insure the protection of the cruel king,
who was always afraid of his own shadow. And he had
good reason to be.
One can get a bird's-eye view of all this tawdry
splendor by climbing to the top of Mandalay hill, an
isolated mound rising about a thousand feet from the
flat plain upon which the city is built ; and the guidebook
tells us that every stranger should commence his inspec
tion of its objects of interest by making the ascent and
gazing upon the town, which will be spread out like a
great map, the fort and palaces being in the center, and
the various temples, monuments and bazaars scattered
around it. Beyond the city one can see a great artificial
lake, covering an area of twenty square miles, which is
the center of an irrigation system built by the late King
Mindon, and the canals which conduct the water to the
rice fields look like silver bands binding the fantastic
group of palaces to the green frame in which they are set.
Upon the summit of the hill was formerly a wooden tem
ple containing a gigantic figure of Buddha pointing with
his finger at the palace beneath, but it was destroyed
by fire several years ago.
King Mindon Min ascended the throne in 1853. The
capital of Burma and the royal residence were then at the
City of Amarapura, about sixteen miles south of Man
dalay, where there is nothing now except ruins. Before
he was crowned he had a dream ; and he had a similar one
after the coronation, so that they made a vivid impres
sion upon his superstitious soul. In the first a white ele
phant took him to the top of the hill I have described,
where he dismounted and found two women giving their
names as Ba and Ma, who led him by the hand to the

KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 299
summit and pointed out a beautiful site for a capital upon
the plain below. A man, wearing a yellow robe like a
monk, who stood near, gave him a handful of sweet
scented grass and told him that his elephants and horses
would thrive if they were kept in the pastures that sur
round the hill.
In the second dream Buddha appeared at the top of
the hill, and, pointing down to the plain, commanded
Mindon to build a city there, and he did so almost im
mediately after he had inherited the power. So Ama
rapura, the ancient capital, was deserted in i860, the
palaces of Mindon's ancestors were abandoned, everything
of value in them that could be removed was transported
to Mandalay, and the court was followed by almost every
inhabitant. The new city was laid out by a French engineer on a
gigantic scale, for there was plenty of room, and, like
Washington and St. Petersburg, it was entirely plotted
before a single house was built. The streets are broad
and run at right angles. A wide strip of land was re
served along the bank of the river for warehouses and
docks ; whole blocks were assigned to the priests for the
erection of temples, while in the exact center was a
reservation one and one-third miles square for the palaces
of the royal family, the government offices and the resi
dences of the court. The new city was named Mandalay
by the English and other foreigners. The Burmese, who,
Hke their neighbors, the Chinese, prefer high sounding
titles, called it Schwermyodaw, which means "the royal
city of gold." It was also named Yadanaban, "the
cluster of gems," and Myenandaw, "the center of the
universe." As it was founded exactly 2,400 years after the death

300 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
of Gautama Buddha, the walls of the royal inclosure
were made to measure exactly 2,400 "ta" each way, and
at intervals of 300 feet were placed watch towers that are
exceedingly picturesque, but so badly constructed that
several have already fallen and others are in an advanced
state of decay. It wiU only be a few years until all the
glory disappears, unless the British authorities spend much
ijioney in repairs and keeping them in order, which they
have not done to date. It is true that the fanciful designs
are in violation of all that civilized people call good taste,
and that the buildings are practically useless, but they
are unique monuments of the history of a very interesting
people, and relics of a dynasty of autocrats who have
disappeared forever from among the sovereigns of men.
Hence they should be preserved for ethnological and sen
timental reasons ; for the same reasons that we found
museums and maintain them. There is nothing to com
pare with the towers, palaces and pavilions of Mandalay
anywhere in the world except in China. The nearest ap
proach to them is in the Forbidden City of Peking. It
will not cost a great deal to preserve them, and it is a
duty which the British government owes to history.
Although Mindon was a pious Buddhist, he regularly
violated every precept of that faith. That religion teaches
kindness, gentleness, charity and the suppression of aU
passions and desires. It abhors the shedding of the
blood of any living creature. The true Buddhist is a
vegetarian, because he considers it wicked to take the
lives of animals, even for food. But Mindon and Thebaw,
his successor upon the throne, the last of the Burmese
despots, were bloodthirsty, superstitious fanatics, entirely
controlled by the evil counsels of crafty and cruel ad
visers. Attached to the palace was a large faculty of

LATE KING MINDEN MIX OF BURMA

KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 301
astrologers, soothsayers, conjurers and other impostors,
whose business was to interpret dreams, signs, omens, and
take the necessary measures to secure the good will of the
deities, demons and other good and evil spirits who con
trolled affairs in Burma. They received large salaries,
resided in gilded palaces and exercised an almost abso
lute influence in the conduct of affairs. All official func
tions were regulated by them. The king never did any
thing or went anywhere or decided upon any policy of
importance without conferring with them and- having
them consult the moon and the stars to determine whether
the time was propitious. In order to secure the favor
of some of the cruel gods human sacrifices were frequent.
It is positively asserted that Mindon and Thebaw never
undertook an important enterprise without sacrificing a
pregnant woman. Some authorities claim that such a
sacrifice was made at each of the gates of the city in order
to propitiate unfriendly demons and drive away the evil
spirits before the king entered the royal park and took
up his abode in the new palaces. Some authorities deny
this statement. Others contend that only one woman
was slain, and that the sacrifice was performed with great
ceremony before the gate at which the king entered.
It is also declared that a human sacrifice was made at
each of the pagodas that ornament the walls ; that a man
was buried alive at the base with large jars of oil in
order to propitiate the spirits that keep guard and se
cure their protection for the defenses. These spirits are
known as "Sade," and until the occupation by the English
food was left for them on the balconies of the pagodas
every day by order of the king and by servants assigned
to that especial duty. This food, being exposed to the
open air, is usuaUy eaten by the birds that swarm around

302 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the place. To-day you can see on the roofs of the pal
aces little toy houses resembling dove cotes, in which
food was placed regularly for the use of the spirits that
occupied them. The roofs of galvanized iron over the
apartments of the king, queen and other members of the
royal family are pierced with windows in order to allow
spirits to pass through when they are so inclined. On
every side are similar evidences of the superstition and
the peculiar whims of the Burmese sovereigns and courts.
In order to propitiate the different gods, temples and
pagodas were constructed in several sections of the city.
At the foot of Mandalay hill, overlooking the town,
is an immense marble image of Buddha, seventy-six feet
high, which is said to have exercised a powerful influence
over Mindon, and he built the Kyauk Taugyi Temple in
order to shelter it. It is a very ancient image, and stood
for centuries at Amarapura, where it was worshiped by
the royal family. When the capital was moved Mindon
decided to take the image with him, but had no means of
transportation, so he ordered a canal dug between the
two cities for that especial purpose, and the enormous idol
was placed upon flat boats and floated over. According
to the story, they got it only so far and could not get it
any farther, whereupon a miracle occurred. After the
king's engineers abandoned the task of removal and left
the image aground in the canal, a holy man, a Buddhist
priest, offered prayers and burnt incense and the image
transported itself to the spot where it now stands. Mindon
built a temple over it and a rest house for the shelter of
the pilgrims who have been attracted there by the won
derful story. The priest in charge of the place told me
this tale and said it was true, but at the same time ad-

KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 303
mitted that he had no personal knowledge of the matter.
The miracle happened before his day.
This temple, the rest house and the monasteries that
surround it, like everything else of the old regime in
Mandalay, are falling down and going to pieces. They
were all badly built, simply gilded shams. Enormous
sums of money were appropriated for their building, but
the most of it was stolen. The government will not do
anything in the way of repair; the priests coUect very
little and seem to be indifferent
Notwithstanding all his efforts to appease the demons
and propitiate the gods, Mindon did not have much con
fidence in their protection, for after his new palaces were
finished and he came to occupy them he never left the
walled city again. He never went outside of the park,
nor did any of the women of his household. Conspiracy
was so common that if he quitted the palace he could
never be quite sure that his own bodyguard would admit
him again. They might be bribed by his enemies, and
he would not take any chances.
When Buddha pointed out the site of the city in the
second dream he assured Mindon that he would live there '
to the end of his days and die a natural death. This
assurance was confirmed, but the king had several narrow
escapes from assassination, he was so cruel, so despotic,
so vindictive, so unjust and insincere. He trusted no
body, because nobody trusted him. Several times he was
the victim of conspiracies which came very near being
successful, and each was inspired by his own sons. Three
times they attempted to assassinate him. Four times they
seized the throne while he was almost in sight. The
last time was on a sacred day, when, according to an
ancient custom, the king goes out into a field in the

304 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
springtime and plows a furrow to give a good example
to his subjects.
The same ceremony is performed annually by the Em
peror of China, and is attended by great preparations.
Processions of priests muttering prayers and burning in
cense precede the king to the field, which is sprinkled with
holy water and incense and formally blessed by the Bud
dhist archbishop. The plow is of silver, and sometimes of
gold, and often set with jewels. The oxen that draw it
are selected for their size and beauty, and must not bear
a blemish. After the ceremony they are sacred and work
no more as long as they live.
This is the most important function the King of Burma
had to perform, for if he had omitted it there would un
doubtedly have been a general failure of crops throughout
the kingdom. It was as sacred an obligation upon him
as the semelik of the Sultan of Turkey, who must pray in
the mosque every Friday in public. But with all his
efforts to propitiate the gods and demons, Mindon dared
not go outside the palace grounds, even for that sacred
purpose, so his ministers arranged a miniature farm over
in one corner of the park, and the ceremony was per
formed there. It took him away from the palace for
about three hours, and when he returned he found one
of his sons in possession. His bodyguard were loyal,
however, and after a little skirmish succeeded in over
coming the conspirators and killing two of the ambitious
offspring of that gentle and good man. Another son,
Thebaw, who inherited the crown, never left the palace
grounds for a moment during the seven years he was
king. The Center of the Universe is marked by a tall spire,
elaborately carved and covered with gold leaf, that rises

KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 305
from the roof of the palace which is now vacant and is
allowed by the British authorities to go to decay. It is
open to the inspection of tourists, who are escorted around
by native servants and have things explained to them in
pidgin EngHsh. The only part now occupied is the great
audience chamber, which is used for purposes of worship
by the members of the Established Church of England in
the garrison, and the regular army chaplain officiates.
The residence of Thebaw's chief queen, which is alto
gether the most elaborate and fantastic of all the build
ings, and is unsurpassed in its peculiar bizarre style of
architecture, is rented to the officers of the garrison as a
clubhouse and messroom for 50 rupees — about $18 — a
month. The queen's bedchamber, which is the gem of
the building, is used for a library ; her audience chamber
is the dining-room, and the other apartments are assigned
to similar uses. The throne, which is still allowed to
stand in its old place, is an exquisite example of Burmese
carving and gilding.
The king had eight thrones, which were named ac
cording to the uses to which they were assigned or the
style in which they were ornamented. He was an abso
lute despot, the most despotic ruler in all the world up
to 1886, when he was overthrown by the British and
banished to India on a pension. He was the owner of all
the land, and all the property in Burma. No one else
was permitted to possess anything of value except by his
favor ; he claimed even the lives of his subjects, and could
command their unpaid services at will. No words can
exaggerate his power and authority, and he exercised
them without regard to justice, honesty or mercy. He
was, from the Burmese point of view, the greatest, the

3o6 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
most powerful, the most exalted of all potentates, as his
official titles, ten in number, will show :
I. King of Kings.
2, Possessor of Boundless Dominions and Supreme
Authority over all the World.
3. Arbiter of Nations.
4. Dispenser of Justice and Example of Righteous
ness. '<
5. Descendant of the Sun.
6. Bulwark of Religion.
7. Lord of Many White Elephants.
8, Lord of All Gold, Silver, Amber, Rubies and Jade.
9. Owner of all the Precious Things of Earth.
10. Sovereign of All Empires and Nations and All
Umbrella-Bearing Chiefs.
King Thebaw was assisted in bearing these responsi
bilities by a cabinet of ministers, and a great council of
state. The former, four in number, were known as
Wung-Yis, which means "bearers of big burdens," and
each had under him a staff of secretaries, scribes and
clerks. The Wung-Yis met daily at 5 o'clock in the morn
ing in the king's chamber to receive his instructions and
make their reports. They stood between him and the
outside world, and he could be reached only through their
intervention. The only man that had the right to ap
proach the king directly and demand an audience at any
time was the British resident, who, from the time of the
first viceroy of Great Britain over Burma in 1822, occu
pied a villa within the wall, and theoretically was an ad
viser of the government. But he was seldom consulted
and seldom interfered in affairs except to protect the
personal property of British subjects in Burma. The
policy of his government was to give the King of Burma

KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 307
as much rope as possible, on the theory that he would
hang himself, which turned oUt to be accurate.
The council of state were advisers to the king, and
were a sort of check upon the ministers. They prepared
laws and edicts for him to sign and proclaim. They kept
the records and acted the part of a judiciary, but justice
was unknown. Personal influence and bribes decided
everything. They also selected the local officials and
magistrates, the country, for administrative purposes,
being divided into provinces called mayos ; the mayos into
talks or districts, and the talks into towns and villages.
In each of the towns were officials called Thandau-zins,
who served as personal representatives of the sovereign
and received from him all orders, edicts, laws and procla
mations which it was their duty to convey to the persons
interested or proclaim to the public. The name means
"transmitters of the royal voice."
Each of the eight thrones was placed in a large audi
ence chamber or pavilion, where different functions took
place. Like aU semi-civilized courts, there was a great
deal of formality and ceremony. The king did nothing
without having a tremendous ado made over it by his
ministers, guards, priests and other flatterers by whom he
was surrounded.
The Lion Throne, the most important of all, stands
immediately under the spire that marks the Center of the
Universe. It is a large chair of carved teak covered
with gold leaf and little bits of looking glass imbedded
in the surface. There is a large wooden lion, gilded, on
each side, and a canopy, also of teak, a bewildering mass
of gUded carving supported by four twisted pillars lac
quered with the peculiar Japanese scarlet color called
cinnabar. This throne was the scene of the most im-

3o8 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
portant ceremonies. Here the king frequently proclaimed
his will, and made his most important announcements.
The council of state met in the room where it stands.
Each minister had his particular place upon the floor,
where he used to sit during the consultations, and, as it
would be a breach of etiquette to smoke in the presence
of the king, their pipe bearers were placed upon plat
forms underneath the floor and would there fill and light
the pipes and poke the stems up through holes in the
floor to their masters. You can see holes that were bored
for this purpose in the floors of aU of the audience
chambers. The second is known as the Duck Throne, upon which
the king sat when he received ambassadors or foreigners,
and it was selected for that purpose in order to show his
superiority over all other potentates, because, long before
the first foreigner ever appeared at the court of Burma
the king sat upon this throne to receive tribute and hom
age from his under chiefs and from ambassadors from
countries that he had conquered. This throne is sur
rounded by an exquisite screen of carved teakwood, be
hind which the king was in the habit of disappearing to
smoke his pipe during interviews with foreigners, in
order to show his contempt for them. He often kept them
waiting for fifteen or twenty minutes in the midst of an
interview without any excuse, explanation or apology.
Everybody, even his ministers and the members of his
council of state, was required to approach him on hands
and knees and to touch the floor nine times with the fore
head on coming into his presence. The same kotow was
required by the Emperor of China, but compared with
him the King of Burma was insignificant, having only
five or six mUlion subjects, while the Emperor of China

KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 309
ruled over four hundred milHons. Every foreigner as
well as native approached the king in his bare feet also.
Seated on the Deer Throne the king received petitions
from the public and from the nobles of the kingdom, and
there the people were aUowed to worship him. They
brought offerings of flowers and gifts of money and jew
els, and prayed to him just as they do to their gods, for
he claimed to be divine. The kings of Burma, like the
emperors of China, are descended from gods and become
gods themselves when they die.
The Water Festival Throne was used for ceremonies
on the first of April, which opens the season of planting.
Each j^ear the king abases himself and, assisted by his
ministers and council of state, prays for rain, sunshine
and good crops, while the Buddhist priests go through
their incantations and bum incense, and the sorcerers and
soothsayers attached to the court perform their peculiar
functions. The SnaU Throne, which stands in an open
pavUion, was used only when laws and edicts were pro
claimed. The king sat upon it while the Thandau-zin,
or "transmitter of the royal voice," read his decrees in
loud tones.
From the Peacock Throne the king inspected the royal
horses and troops. It stands in a pa-viUon overlooking
the parade grounds.
From the Elephant Throne he watched the "Saddan,"
or sacred white elephant, the highest object of worship in
Burma, at his exercise and saw him fed daily with human
mUk. The Lily Throne, the most beautiful of aU, stands in
an audience chamber of the queen, now used as a dining-
room in the officers' club. There the king sat on social
occasions, or when anniversaries were being celebrated.

3IO EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and received the nobles of the country and their families
and the prominent citizens. There he witnessed theatrical
performances and dances, and on several occasions frag
ments of operas performed by companies brought from
Rangoon, where there is an opera-house.
The king's bedchamber is a lofty room whose walls are
whitewashed and entirely without ornament. The walls
are made of sheet iron indifferently stamped with designs,
and they are surrounded on all sides by a wide corridor,
which, during the night, was occupied by guards for his
protection. Notwithstanding his exalted position, divine
origin and unlimited power he was in constant danger of
assassination, even by his own sons. No King of Burma,
as far back as history goes, was ever allowed to reign
in peace. There were always assassins lurking around
him, members of his own family, who were ambitious to
take his place upon the throne ; officials who had been
humiliated, degraded or deprived of their offices and were
seeking vengeance, and others who had been ill treated
and wanted to punish him. His bodyguard was usually
composed of foreigners, pure mercenaries, who had no
interest in the affairs of state, but usually were subject to
the orders of the highest bidder.
The queen's palace is quite gay. Her rooms are lined
with little fragments of mirrors, walls, ceilings, pillars,
columns and all, and little bits of colored glass are im
bedded in the plaster or in the wood as if they were
emeralds, rubies and other jewels. This particular palace
was the residence of queen No. i. The other three queens
usually allotted to a king had their residences on the other
side of the chambers occupied by their lord and sovereign.
Each had her own establishment — ^ladies in waiting and
bodyguard, her servants, tutors, secretaries and musicians.

KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 311
The king's mother, who for a century or more was the
most powerful person at court, occupied a building sec
ond only in extent and splendor to the palace of the king.
These establishments, with the offices of the govera-
ment, the pavilions for ceremonials, the barracks, the tem
ples for worship and tiie pagodas, cover considerable area.
Most of them are connected with each other by corridors,
passages or bridges so tiiat the officials and attendants
could pass from one end of the great group to the other.
They are all built entirely of teakwood, having no
masonry whate^'e^. Most of them are elaborately carved
and gilded, and wherever gold leaf was not laid on they
were stained with the brilliant scarlet peculiar to Japan
and other countries of the East, called cinnabar. The
roofs of all these buildings are made of ordinary gal-
\-anized iron, the hottest and most incongruous material
that could have been selected, and in striking contrast
witii the brilliant lacquer and gold.
Outside the stockade of teakwood posts which sur
rounded the royal residence, scattered in an irregular
manner through the park, were the residences of the min
isters of state, the high priest, the commander-in-chief of
the array and other generals, tiie astrologers and other
official advisers and attendants of His Majesty, the king's
brothers and sisters and other relati^•es. and \-arious per
sons of influence. Each of the residences A\-as sur
rounded by bamboo and palm leaf cabins occupied by the
retainers and servants. Altogether there was a com
munity of soA-eral thousand souls within the walls, not
counting the soldiers. There were two monasteries for
the accommodation of the chaplains and spiritual ad^-isers
of the king and his housdiold, and a great deal was ex
pected of them. They were required to bless those whom

312 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the king was pleased to favor and to curse his enemies.
One of the monasteries was built as a retreat for King
Mindon where he could retire when he wanted peace and
quiet. It is a gem of a pagoda, the interior walls being
beautifully carved and gilded, and the entire exterior
laid with heavy gold leaf. It seems to have endured the
climate and hard usage much better than any of the other
buildings. It looks like a pagoda of gold. There King
Thebaw spent several months during his youth in obedi
ence to the rule which requires all devout Buddhists to
serve a term of monkhood.

FORMER KING THEBAW OF BURMA

V

THE LAST KING OF BURMA

Thebaw, the last King of Burma, was a preposterous
person, and that puts it very mildly. No comic opera
ever presented a more fantastic monarch, but there was
a great deal of tragedy mixed up with the comedy per
formances of that depraved and degenerate creature. At
the same time you will find missionaries and miHtary men
willing to declare that Thebaw was not altogether bad,
and that his amiable queen No. i was responsible for the
blood shed in his name. The massacre of all his relatives
is said to have been her own gentle conception, and was
so shocking that Great Britain was finally obliged to step
in, take charge of affairs and banish Thebaw and the
demon he married; without doubt the wickedest woman
since Jezebel. Instead of hanging both of them to the
nearest telegraph pole the British authorities sent them to
Putnahuri, a small town near Madras, India, where
Thebaw and his harem have since been living in great
luxury with a palace and a park, and a pension to main
tain them.
Thebaw has three queens. One of them is his own
sister. The others are his half-sisters, daughters of his
father. King Mindon Min, by two of his concubines.
His mother was his father's sister, and that delightful
couple had only one grandfather between them. They
had two grandmothers, however, which was a liberal
313

314 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
allowance, for the family was a very close corporation,
limited. It has always been the habit of the kings of
Burma to take their sisters, and their cousins, and their
aunts as consorts, because no other family than their
own was good enough to marry into, but there was no
limit to their harems. The same custom prevailed in
Egypt and Babylonia, where it was not uncommon for
a king to marry his own sister. In order to keep the
royal blood untainted an ancient custom of Burma re
quired that one of the daughters of the reigning king,
known as the Tabin-laing princess, should remain un
married in order to become the wife of his successor, and
thus make it unnecessary for the latter to seek a wife
outside of the family. And in order to prevent any fail
ure in the line, two more of the king's sisters or half-
sisters were usually reserved for his harem. Sometimes
they were meek and mild — willing to remain in the back
ground and gratefully accept a share of the king's
caresses, but several of the queens of Burma have been
women of remarkable spirit and inflammable tempers.
They have often controlled affairs and, as a rule, have
made their brother-husbands step around lively.
Mindon Min, who was king from 1853 to 1878, had
plenty of sons, thirty all together, and the mothers of
nearly all of them were his sisters or half-sisters. His
life was made unhappy by the jealousies of his royal con
sorts, and by the rivalries of his sons, all of whom took
what he considered an unnecessary amount of interest in
the nomination of his successor. If he had named the
heir-apparent at an early day, as he should have done, the
king might doubtless have diverted their attention from
himself to that individual, and made the latter's life
wretched by frequent attempts at assassination, but he

THE LAST KING OF BURMA 315
was afraid to decide between them for fear of the ven
geance of the disappointed, and his cowardly procrastina
tion caused continual intrigue and turmoil.
In 1866, to assist him in reaching a decision, two of his
sons seized his royal person and locked him up while he
was taking a vacation at one of his country palaces. He
was rescued, but in the shindy three of the brothers, the
minister of war and fifteen or twenty of the guards were
killed. The conspirators managed to escape and fled to
India, where they continued plotting. In 1870 another
of the king's sons attempted to dethrone him, but failed,
and there were half a dozen or more similar conspiracies
within as many years. Yet he continued to neglect his
constitutional duty, probably from personal fear. Some
people think he desired to avert fraticidal strife, but he
only provoked it, and at least four of his thirty sons were
killed in their futile efforts to get him out of the way.
On his deathbed he is believed to have formally nomi
nated the so-called Nyan-guayan prince — the most in
tellectual, respectable, honorable and progressive member
of the family. The selection would have given universal
satisfaction to foreigners and the people at large, for he
was highly esteemed, well educated, honest in all his deal
ings and conspicuous for his exemplary Hfe. In this he
was an exception to the rest of the family. One of Min
don's queens, however, who happened to be in favor with
His Majesty at that particular time, and was in charge
of the sick man's chamber, induced the prime minister to
insert in the place of Nyan-guayan's the name of her son,
Thebaw, one of the youngest of the family, who was still
in school and never had been mixed up with court in
trigues. When Thebaw was proclaimed there was great sur-

3i6 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
prise, as he had not been reckoned as a candidate for the
throne, and his nomination was considered a clever diplo
matic move on the part of the dying king. Before the
proclamation was issued Thebaw's mother ordered the
arrest of his brothers. They were all seized and impris
oned except two, including Nyan-guayan, who received
timely warning and fled to the British legation for pro
tection. He was cordially welcomed there and means
were found to send him quietly out of the country. After
the coronation ceremonies, as soon as Thebaw was firmly
seated upon the throne, his brothers were released and
allowed to return to their palaces, but a close watch was
kept over them.
Following the ancient custom, Thebaw married two of
his half-sisters, and through the influence of his mother,
one of his own sisters, Subayalat, by name, who inherited
her mother's courage, determination and ambition. The
mother and daughter at once took command of affairs
and forced the son-brother-husband to act as a puppet in
their hands. You must admit that it was an extraordinary
situation, and even if Thebaw had been what he was not,
a man of nerve, intellect and strength of character, he
would have had a difficult task to perform. But, making
all allowances for what people say of him, he was not
the same stuff as his wife was made of and submitted to
her wiU in every matter of importance.
Thebaw spoke and read English quite well, having been
educated at the Mandalay Mission School of the "Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Lands."
Some of his teachers are still living in that city. They
remember him as an apt pupil, with an obedient, indus
trious, amiable disposition. He was quite well known in
the English colony also, as he was accustomed to visit

THE LAST KING OF BURMA 317
the homes of several of his schoolmates. He dressed in
European clothing, was fond of European games and
sports, and was described to me by one of his form.er
comrades as "a pleasant, light-hearted, reckless boy."
My informant will not believe that he was guilty of the
atrocities committed during his reign, and declares that
his mother and wife, whom he describes as "merciless she
devils," were responsible for them.
After he ascended the throne, and during the seven
years of his reign, he saw few foreigners. All his rela
tions with his schoolmates, teachers and friends in the
European colony were completely severed. Most of them
never saw him again. Several missionaries attempted at
different times to secure access to him, and frequently ap
plied for audiences, but were never successful. His
mother, wife and ministers guarded him very carefully.
They would not permit any foreigner to come near him if
they could prevent it, and never even allowed him to see
the British resident alone for fear he might expose their
crimes and conspiracies or do something to provoke Brit
ish interference. From the descriptions he seems to have
been in a predicament similar to that of the Emperor of
China at present, practically a prisoner in his own palace,
and the key of his cell was carried at the girdle of his
wife or his mother, who exercised as much authority as
the empress dowager at Peking.
This situation was naturally resented by the rest of the
family, which was very large, as Mindon Min, the king's
father, had more than 100 wives, and nearly all of them
bore him children. Twenty-six of his thirty sons were at
that time alive, and as most of them took an active part in
the government and the politics and intrigues of the court
they continually interfered with the plans and purposes of

3i8 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
that gentle lady, Queen Subayalat. Therefore, with the
approval of her mother and the co-operation of Taing-Da,
one of the ministers, she had every blessed one of her hus
band's relations slaughtered, sparing neither sex, infancy
nor age. She made a clean job of it.
On the night of Feb. 15, 1879, about eight months after
the coronation, the jail in the palace grounds was cleared
of the ordinary prisoners, who were taken elsewhere. A
large trench was dug along the teakwood stockade that
surrounds it. Messengers went from house to house
within the walled city and summoned all the princes and
princesses, with all their children, to appear forthwith at
the palace. Instead of being conducted into the royal
presence, as they expected, they were called out of the
audience chamber one by one, bound hand and foot, and
escorted to the jail, where they were put to death without
mercy or delay. Most of them were beheaded, others
were stabbed or strangled in struggles to defend them
selves. It was an extraordinary surprise party. The
guests were entertained pleasantly in the palace until
their turn came in order that they should not suspect what
was going on about them.
The slaughter continued through the night and all the
next day until between eighty and one hundred persons
were slain. The exact number cannot be stated, because
no record was kept and the number of children belonging
to the several families is unknown. The only relatives of
the king who escaped were Thebaw's mother, his mother-
in-law, his three wives and another half-sister, who was
in a Buddhist convent, Prince Nyan-guayan and Prince
Mingin, who with their mother had fled to Calcutta. As
sassins were officially sent to dispatch the latter, but the
news of the massacre arrived there several days in ad-

KING THEBAW AND QUEEN SUPAYALAT

THE LAST KING OF BURMA 319
vance, and, although they pretended to bear a friendly
message from the king to his brothers, the police author
ities of Calcutta interfered and arrested them, and after a
time sent them back to Mandalay. The two princes who
escaped are still Hving in Burma, having been granted
pensions by the British government.
The massacre was conducted so secretly that the facts
were not known outside the walls for several days, al
though there were whispered rumors in the bazaars on the
i6th and 17th of February. It was not until the mur
dered persons began to be missed and their disappearance
caused inquiry that their terrible fate became known ; and
the full facts were not disclosed for several months after
ward. The bodies of the dead were buried in the trench
within the jail inclosure, but it would not hold them all,
and, for some reason, instead of digging another trench,
the remaining bodies were inclosed in sacks of red velvet,
loaded with weights, hauled four miles to the banks of the
Irrawaddy River, and cast into its waters.
The murmurs of discontent and the fears of a general
uprising caused by the massacre — for several of the mem
bers of the royal family were very popular among the
people and at least three of the king's brothers were lead
ers of political organizations — provoked a general
slaughter throughout the kingdom until the number of
official assassinations reached a thousand or more. Every
person of political importance who was even suspected of
discontent was removed, including several foreigners, and
several attempts were made to assassinate the British resi
dent. It was afterward disclosed that the massacre of the
entire foreign population of Burma was contemplated —
ministers, consuls, missionaries, merchants and several
employes of the government included. The orders were

320 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
actually given by the queen, but her ministers, who real
ized the consequences that would follow, refused to carry
them out.
Thebaw, "the Merciful, the King of the Worid, the
Friend of the Rising Sun, the Lord of the White Ele
phant," lost his head entirely. He must have been dis
tracted by the horrors that were committed in his name,
for he fled to a monastery within the walled city, where he
appealed to the sorcerers and soothsayers, who, for their
own reasons, aggravated his fears and horrors until he
became practically demented and permitted his wife and
his ministers to plunge the country into a war with Great
Britain, which could have only one result.
As soon as he surrendered to General Pendergast he
begged for protection against his own people, and at his
urgent request he and his mother, his sister-queen and
two half-sister wives, with several members of his house
hold, and his servants, were concealed in covered army
wagons and hauled to a steamer on the river, which car
ried them, without stopping, to Rangoon. Without land
ing they were transferred to a gunboat in the harbor and
carried at once to Madras, where they remained under
protection until their present residence at Putnajhuri was
prepared for them.
When you ask why the lives of these monsters were
spared you are told that the British government feared an
uprising of the people, who, through centuries, have in
herited a reverence for royalty and are convinced that
their kings and queens can do no wrong. Subayalat
atoned to her gods for her crimes by building "the Golden
Monastery" on the outskirts of Mandalay, so-called be
cause the exterior is entirely covered with gold leaf.
Not far from the palace in the royal inclosure at Man-

THE LAST KING OF BURMA 3^1
dalay is the tomb of the late King Mindon Min — a pagoda
of pretentious size, made of stuccoed brick, with elaborate
designs worked out with bits of mirror and colored glass
imbedded in its surface. This seems to be the favorite
form of Burmese decoration. It is found in all public
buildings, palaces, temples and wherever an effort is made
at display. It is cheap and tawdry, and in striking con
trast with the artistic carving and rich gilding often found
in connection with it. Beside the tomb of Mindon is an
other smaller pagoda, erected in honor of the favorite son
among his family of 130 children, and a little farther
away, across a road, is a third pagoda, more beautiful
than either, and one of the most graceful little gems you
ever saw, constructed of teakwood, carved, gilded and
lacquered in the cinnabar red in the most elaborate man
ner. Under that, it is said. King Thebaw buried a pet
dog — a Scotch terrier, which he is said to have obtained
under peculiar circumstances from General Pendergast,
commander of the British forces during the war of 1885.
The authorized native guides who show strangers about
the palace grounds tell a dramatic story in which this
animal figures.
They say that after the complications between Burma
and England became hopeless and King Thebaw issued
his proclamation calling upon his subjects to arm them
selves and drive the British into the sea, a beggar carry
ing a beautiful dog in his arms appeared within the walled
city and said that he wanted to sell the animal to the king.
As Thebaw was very fond of animals and his affection for
dogs amounted to a passion, this seemed a perfectly
natural errand, but as a precaution the guards arrested the
intruder, locked him up safely in prison and reported the
matter to headquarters, but no farther. It so happened,

322 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
however, that the man was placed in a cell with one of
the king's cooks who was being punished for some mis
demeanor, and when released the latter told Thebaw
about the beggar and the dog. Thebaw sent to the jail,
had the man brought to the palace ; questioned him close
ly and purchased his pet. The beggar hung around the
palace for several days and then disappeared.
Thebaw became very fond of the little terrier and took
it with him several times when he retired to the monastery
in the grounds to get rid of his wife and mother. One
day the animal sickened and died. It was evidently poi
soned by somebody about the palace, probably the she-
demon who shared Thebaw's throne. The king was over
come with grief. He could endure the massacre of a hun
dred or so of his brothers and sisters and other relations
without tears, and allowed their graves to remain un
marked, but the death of his dog rendered him inconsol
able and he erected this beautiful monument to its
memory. This is a very pretty story, but I could find nothing in
history to confirm it. Furthermore, General Pendergast
was an old man and is not likely to have appeared at
Mandalay in the guise of a beggar. He never saw The
baw until he received the latter's surrender Nov. 29, 1885.
Yet there is evidently some foundation for the yarn. It
is not made out of whole cloth, and some younger officer
may have been the hero, taking that method of entering
the walled city > and securing information concerning its
defenses. It is a well-known fact that Thebaw had a dog
to which he was very much attached. He elevated the
animal to the nobility, made him a general in the army,
and gave him a royal funeral and tomb.
At the left of the Red Gate, as it is called, of the palace

THE LAST KING OF BURMA 323
grounds stands a shapely tower similar to the tomb of the
dog. It is literaUy covered with carving and gilding and
was erected to shelter a tooth of Buddha presented to the
King of Burma by the Emperor of China several cen
turies ago. Near it is the stable of the sacred white ele
phant, which has been vacant since December, 1885, and
is now used for the prosaic purpose of storing commis
sary supplies for the soldiers.
The famous sacred white elephant, an object of rever
ence throughout all Burma, and supposed to be inhabited
by the soul of some powerful deity, was not white at all,
as is popularly supposed. The white elephants that are
worshiped in Siam and other eastern countries are
usually albinos, and are very rare; but this was an or
dinary beast afflicted with a skin disease which caused
white blotches or freckles to appear upon its neck and
sides, and thus was a fraud, like almost everything else
associated with the Burma government. Yet it had pe
cuHar sanctity. It was venerated by all the priests and
prophets and its possession was supposed to be evidence
of the divine approval of the policy of the king. All of
the edicts of the throne began with these bombastic
words :
"The Sovereign of the Rising Sun, the King of All the
Earth, who Rules over the country of Thunaparanta and
the country of Tambadita, and all other dominions and
countries and lands of the Universe, and all the Umbrella-
Bearing Chiefs of the East, whose Glory is exceeding
Great, whose Wisdom is profound and whose words are
excellent, the Master of Saddan, the King of Elephants,
the Lord of all Elephants, the Lord of Life, the Eminently
wise, powerful and just King, the Merciful Sovereign of
aU men," etc., etc., etc.

324 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
People who had the entree of the Burmese court be
fore the overthrow of Thebaw tell amusing stories of the
pretensions of the king and his ministers, who evidently
believed all this, for none of them had ever been outside
of Burma, and were actually serious when they pro
claimed his superiority over the rest of mankind. They
traced the ancestry of their sovereigns to the sun, and
worshiped them as divine after death. Thebaw's riiinis-
ters attempted to bully England and threatened to destroy
that nation if the British resident did not withdraw his
demands for indemnity in behalf of a commercial cor
poration which had been freely robbed by Burmese of
ficials. And these same men showed every evidence of
sincerity when they fell upon their knees and worshiped
the mangy monster that was credited with being the
tenement of the soul of a god.
The elephant Saddan was a native of Burma. It was
about fifty years old and was caught in the Pegu forests
not far from Rangoon. On the 8th of December, 1885,
nine days after King Thebaw surrendered to General
Pendergast, the beast died of colic and was ignominiously
dragged out of the walls by bullock teams and buried in a
pit digged for its carcass. The actual cause of its death
is in doubt. There was no post-mortem. Many believe
that it was poisoned by one of the priests ; others that it
was overfed with improper food, to which it was not ac
customed, by the British soldiers who were then occupy
ing the palace grounds and amused themselves by petting
and teasing the animal. The superstitious and childish
Burmese still believe that it died of shame and mortifica
tion ; that it could not endure the disgrace and sorrow of
the surrender and the overthrow of the Favorite Son of
Heaven.

THE LAST KING OF BURMA 325
The arrogance and presumption of Thebaw's govern
ment was illustrated in what came to be known as the
Burmese Shoe Question. It is one of the most amusing
episodes in the history of the diplomacy. The British resi
dent at Mandalay, who was something more than an
envoy, and under a treaty made many years ago was sup
posed to be acting as an adviser to the Burmese govern
ment, was required to submit to the rule which com
pelled all foreigners of whatever rank, as well as
natives to take off their shoes before entering the
royal presence, to squat upon the floor before the
king, and to make a form of obeisance called
"sheko" — ^the kotow of the Chinese, which means knock
ing the forehead nine times upon the floor. The
same token of submission was demanded of the foreign
envoys at Peking by the Emperor of China, but they re
fused to give it and for nearly a quarter of a century none
of the foreign ministers entered the imperial presence.
The German and French representatives at Mandalay de
clined to submit to the indignity or comply with the rules
and hence were prohibited from entering the palace.
They were obliged to conduct their business with the king
through his ministers. The British resident was instruct
ed to use his discretion, but was not to allow such mat
ters to interfere with his usefulness or the success of any
negotiations that he might be conducting.
In 1875 Sir Douglass Forsythe, then the British resi
dent, demanded that he be received in the same manner as
the envoy of the King of Burma had been received by the
viceroy at Calcutta. King Mindon declined to make this
concession. He asserted his supremacy over the viceroy
of India, and even over the latter's sovereign the Queen
of England and Empress of India. He would not ac-

326 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
knowledge his inferiority to any of the rulers of the earth
and continued to claim that he was greater than them all.
King Thebaw, his son, took the same position, and no
British or other envoy was ever again received in royal
audience, their business being conducted through the
members of the cabinet without even the formal presenta
tion of their credentials to the king.
This method, however, was very unsatisfactory and
embarrassing, and hastened the fate of the dynasty. The
ministers were notoriously untruthful and insincere.
They would not carry messages straight or repeat accu
rately the replies of the king. According to the habits of
orientals, they never reported bad news or delivered dis
agreeable messages. They seldom told him the truth or
gave him accurate statements. They represented to him
that the foreign envoys did not come to him directly, be
cause they considered themselves too humble and insig
nificant to appear in his august presence, and inflated his
vanity with similar messages. Hence the government
and the foreigners were always at cross purposes, and
the natural consequence was the misunderstandings
which brought on the war. The king was repeatedly as
sured that the British were afraid of him, and dare not
meet his Falstaffian army, and if he only kept up the bluff
they would submit to anything he desired. On the other
hand, the British minister was repeatedly assured that
his demands would be complied with, whereas the king
never heard of them.
It developed afterward, while Thebaw was a prisoner
of the British army, that he did not have the vaguest idea
of what the British were fighting him about The de
mands for indemnity in behalf of the Bombay Corpora
tion were utterly unknown to him ; the remonstrances of

THE LAST KING OF BURMA 327
England and the European powers against the massacres
of his subjects had never been communicated to him. In
deed, he was never made aware of the indignation
throughout the civilized world concerning the massacre
of his family. His wife and his ministers had represented
to him again and again that the act was generally ap
proved and commended by his fellow sovereigns.

VI
THE RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA
No Other country is so well supplied with rivers as
Burma, and every part of every province may be reached
by boat. The people are amphibious and twenty-five per
cent of the population are afloat the greater part of their
Hves. The rivers are crowded with queer-looking craft
and a first-class Burmese junk is an artistic example of
marine architecture. It is built entirely of teak, and the
bow and stern are usually covered with fine carving. The
stern stands very high, after the manner of an old-fash
ioned Spanish caravel, and the helmsman sits upon a sort
of throne, where he can overlook everything that goes on
around him. And there are a variety of floating things.
For example, the pottery manufacturers in the northern
part of the country, like the lumbermen, bring their
wares to market by making them up into rafts. As you
go up or down the Irrawaddy River you can see hundreds
of rafts made by lashing big earthen jars together, which,
of course, float like buoys. They are often forty or fifty
feet long and twenty-five to thirty-five feet wide, and may
be made of a thousand pots and jars. By spreading mat
ting over them the boatmen get a level and comfortable
deck, which they load with smaller jars fore and aft, and
thus are able to carry many tons of pottery and make it
pay its own passage. In the center of this novel craft
they build a little house of bamboo poles lashed together
328

:-,:iM?ilW^^''C::-''%i

CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE — MANDALAY

; RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 329
and matting fastened on with strings, so that when they
reach their destination and the raft is broken up they can
roll their building material into a compact package and
carry it home on their backs. These rafts float down on
the current assisted by long bamboo poles and are steered
with a single oar at the stern.
Nearly all the teak timber is floated down the river in
the same way, the logs being hauled from the forest to the
river banks by elephants. Sometimes the teak rafts are
loaded with rice and other agricultural produce so that
the rafter can make a little profit for himself on the side.
The oil companies have tank steamers and barges, which
they fill with crude petroleum from stationary tanks near
the wells, and transport it to refineries situated on the
bank of the river just below Rangoon.
A corporation known as the Irrawaddy Flotilla Com
pany has had a monopoly of steam navigation in Burma
since 1852, and owns the largest fleet of river steamers
of any company in the world, with a tonnage of more than
100,000. The express steamers for passenger service are
as comfortable as anyone could wish, and even luxurious,
and if it were not for the mosquitoes you could scarcely
imagine a more enjoyable experience than a voyage of
two or three weeks upon the rivers of Burma. Our
steamer was the India, one of the best in the service, car
rying about 1,200 tons of cargo, 250 feet long, 50 feet
beam, and with a flat bottom, drawing only three feet of
water. It has two great decks, all open, so that there is
plenty of air and light. On the lower deck are the en
gines, and the freight, which, after the hold is filled, is
placed in great piles from the bow to the stern, and, when
every inch of available room is occupied, the captain picks

330 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
up a double-decked barge to tow, and loads that also with
merchandise. The upper deck is arranged in two sections. The bow
is fitted up for first-class passengers and can accommo
date thirty. The rooms are large and have big windows
and plenty of hooks and lockers to stow away your things.
Instead of a narrow bunk, such as you usually find upon
a steamer, they give you a wide spring bed with a mos
quito netting, more comfortable than we found anywhere
in India or that side of Shepheard's Hotel at Cairo. The
remainder of the deck is dining-room, sitting-room, smok
ing-room, drawing-room, music-room, all in one, and is
located with sliding glass windows so that the passengers
can have them open in pleasant weather and closed when
it rains, and heavy bamboo shades can be let down as a
protection against the sun. There are piano, billiard and
ping-pong tables, skittles, and plenty of easy chairs. The
cuisine is excellent, as good as you would expect to find
upon a first-class ocean steamer. Captain Becket is a
genial, jolly companion, who devotes himself heartily to
the entertainment of his passengers when he ties up his
boat at sun-down. He sings all sorts of songs and plays
all kinds of games, and is always thinking of some kind
ness and considering how he can make the voyage more
agreeable. Two-thirds of the upper deck is given up to natives
who make it a great bazaar and hire space, so much per
square foot, upon which they fit up a little shop stocked
with a variety of merchandise, dry goods, groceries,
grain, fruit, hardware, glass and earthen ware, drugs and
patent medicines, silk and cotton fabrics of all kinds, toys,
jewelry and religious articles ; indeed, everything that
anybody could want. And when this big floating bazaar

RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 331
ties up at a bank, as it does five or six times a day, to dis
charge and receive cargo, the people of the village come
crowding aboard to see and to buy and to gossip. Then
when the whistle blows they rush down the gang plank
carrying their purchases in packages poised on the tops
of their heads. As the steamers run as regularly as rail
way trains, and have fixed time-tables that are known to
the public, the population of the surrounding country
flock to the landing places to do their shopping and the
deck furnishes a spirited scene. Some of the traders
make their homes on board, and indeed the boats are
floating vUlages. The same custom prevails on the west
coast of South America, where the steamers stop at every
port long enough for the inhabitants to come aboard to
do their shopping.
The favorite journey in Burma is to leave Mandalay by
boat and go up the Irrawaddy River 724 miles to Myit-
kyiana, the head of navigation, and then float down to
Rangoon. The voyage will take a week or ten days with
one change of steamers at a town called Bhamo, for
above that point the channel is too shallow to admit
steamers so large as are needed on the lower river. For
a portion of the distance the scenery is fine. The stream
narrows in places and rushes through rocky gorges with
great velocity, but those who are accustomed to the
canons of the Rocky Mountains will find it rather tame.
There are several interesting places along the way where
the steamer makes a sufficient stop to give the passengers
a chance to go ashore. One of them is Mingun, where
one of the crack-brained kings of Burma a century and a
half ago attempted to repeat the mistake that was made
at the tower of Babel and started to build a pagoda that
would reach to heaven. It is 450 feet square at the base

332 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
and when he got up about 200 feet he ran short of funds
and the tower was never finished. This artificial moun
tain, said to be the largest mass of brick work in the
world, contains 32,000,000 feet, of solid masonry. It was
shattered by an earthquake in 1839, but still remains as
notable a monument of human folly and vanity as the
world can furnish. In front of it, overlooking the river,
were two gigantic griffins, statues of imaginary monsters
intended to keep the evil spirits away from the place. The
figures were ninety-five feet high, their heads were thirty
feet in diameter and the eyes, which were made of black
marble, were thirteen feet across. Near by upon a terrace
stands the biggest bell in the world, except that in the
Kremlin at Moscow. It is twelve feet high, sixteen feet
across at the lip and weighs ninety tons. The tone is pure
and musical, but it is seldom sounded these days, for the
place is practically abandoned.
Another interesting spot on the river, in the midst of
beautiful hills and dense tropic vegetation, is an island
called Phihadau, covered with ruins of monasteries,
which were formerly occupied by hundreds of Buddhist
monks. The village of Thabeigyin is the landing for peo
ple who wish to visit the celebrated ruby mines of Burma,
which are about sixty miles distant near a town called
Mogok. It is said to be an interesting journey. The
mines are situated in the mountains, at an elevation of
7,000 feet above the sea level, and are leased to an English
syndicate known as the Burma Ruby Mining Company,
which has a monopoly of the business.
Burma formerly furnished the principal part of the
world's supply of rubies, and they were a monopoly of
the crown. After the British occupation, in 1889, a con
cession was granted to an English syndicate to work them

RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 333
for an annual rental of $133,333, paid to the government.
There was considerable friction with the natives at first,
and several times they came very near actual rebellion,
because they had always been allowed to hunt for rubies
whenever they pleased, and did not relish the rule that
prohibited them from doing so. Finally better relations
were established, and now the contractors permit any
body who pleases to mine for rubies, provided every jewel
found is sold to them at a fixed price per carat. Hun
dreds of natives are doing more or less work in the mines.
They go in for awhile and dig away in the gravel, chang
ing the courses of stream and washing out the soil that is
displaced. Sometimes they bring water through bamboo
pipes, and wash out the sides of granite cliffs, but as soon
as they find a ruby they usually knock off work and have
a good time until the proceeds of its sale are exhausted.
The results of the operations of the company are not
known to the public, except through the returns made to
the treasury department. All the gems found are shipped
at once to London. In 1903, according to the official re
turns, the company produced 230,811 carats of gems, in
cluding 210,784 carats of rubies, 9,786 carats of sapphires
and 10,241 carats of spinels, thf total value being given
at $500,520. Rubies are seldom purchased in Burma
now. The company does not permit their sale in that
province, but occasionally a choice stone can be picked up
through some speculator who has illicit relations with the
miners. Few stones of great value have been officially re
ported of late years, although the Burma newspapers in
1904 published the discovery of a ruby of seventy-
seven carats worth $180,000. The find is denied by the
officials of the company, who do not care to advertise such

334 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
good fortune, for fear other people may be tempted to
secure the concession they hold.
The largest ruby ever found in Burma so far as known
was picked up accidentally by a native about fifty years
ago. It was of rhomboidal shape, two and a half inches
in diameter and nearly three inches long, but was prac
tically worthless because of cracks and flaws. It was
never offered for sale and no price was ever put upon it.
King Mindon took possession of it, and it is now sup
posed to be among the treasures of ex-King Thebaw.
Ta-gaung, the ancient capital of the Burmese King
dom, may be visited during the voyage down the river,
and it is a place of great archseological interest. It was
founded somewhere about the beginning of the Christian
era and was destroyed in the sixth century by a Chinese
invasion. The ruins are spread for nearly eight miles
along the banks of the Irrawaddy and stretch for two or
three miles back into the country, so that it must have
been an enormous city and doubtless the piles of rubbish
conceal many interesting remains, but they have never
been investigated.
There is another collection of wonderful ruins at
Pagan, which was the capital of the empire from the
sixth to the thirteenth centuries, and during that time it
was the center of power, influence, commerce, religion,
and education for all that part of Asia. There were a
thousand pagodas and some of them still stand in a fair
state of preservation. The most imposing is known as
the Ananda, which was built in 1058. Nearby are the
remains of a gigantic statue of Buddha, ninety feet high,
which was erected in the year 1020. And there are many
other similar ruins.
Taking everything into consideration, comfort, interest.

RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 335
expense and novelty, I do not think there is a river trip in
aU the world to compare with that offered on the Irra
waddy in Burma.
Burma is the principal source of the world's supply of
teak — that wood which is so light and tough and im
pervious to water and the effects of the sun. It never
shrinks or warps or swells. Hence it is in great demand
from shipbuilders. By reason of its pecuHar qualities it
is especially adapted for decks. Siam produces a good
deal of teak, and there are forests in the Malay peninsula
and Tonquin, but Burma has more than all the other
countries combined, and it is a source of great wealth.
Teak was formerly a monopoly of the crown. All trees
wherever found belonged to the king during the days of
the despotism. The British government inherited these
rights, and since Burma was annexed to India the forests
have been reserved with wise regulations for protection
against fire and waste. Forest commissioners keep things
in order, and give permits for cutting to reputable firms
and select the trees that are to be cut. There are about
25,000 square miles of teak forest under inspection and
more are planted every year. The trees grow rapidly, es
pecially when they are properly cultivated, and under the
far-sighted policy of the government the supply is being
increased rather than diminished and provision is being
made for the future. The revenues from the sale of tim
ber are about $2,000,000 a year. Siam has adopted sim
ilar regulations, and employs Englishmen as foresters, so
that its teak is being protected also. Maps of the forest
area have been made, and twice each year every acre is
inspected; trees which may be cut without injury are
girdled and left standing until the sap is entirely out.
Their location is marked upon the map, estimates are

336 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
made of the quantity of lumber and logs they will yield
and furnished to those who are seeking contracts. The
business, however, is limited to three or four respectable
and experienced firms; the value of teak is pretty well
established and does not vary much from year to year.
When a contract is let the lumbermen send gangs of
coolies into the forests with herds of elephants to haul out
the logs ; the trees that were girdled six or eight months
before are cut down, sawed into logs, and hauled by ele
phants to the banks of streams, where they are allowed to
dry before they are made up into rafts and floated down
to Rangoon. Rafting green logs is attended by consider
able risk, because their specific gravity is greater than that
of water and they are likely to sink.
It is a novel and interesting sight to watch elephants
working in the lumber yards, for they do it aU.* A Bur-
man sits on the animal's neck with a sharp steel prod in
his hand and directs the beast by touching him on differ
ent spots on his head and by the use of quaint expressions
which are understood by the man and the elephant only.
Elephants handle all the logs and the lumber as intel
ligently and with much greater ease and rapidity than
could be done by a gang of men. MacGregor & Co., one
of the largest lumbering firms, employ about two hun
dred elephants in the forests, at their saw mills and in
their lumber yards at Rangoon. Strangers always go
down to see the elephants at work. It is the most inter
esting sight in Burma.
When the cross timbers that hold the rafts together are
cut the elephants go down to the waterside one by one,
separate logs weighing two tons or more from the rest of
the raft by the use of their trunks and tusks, and carry
or drag them up into the yard and place them upon piles

RIVERS ANT) R-ALLROADS OF BLTi:^LA. 7,3

00/

at the entrance to the saw-mill. Sometimes they haul the
k^ with chains attached to a harness adjusted to tiieir
necks and breasts. Sometimes they push them with their
trunks and feet The ease with which they handle the
enormous logs is remarkable, and the inteUigence they
show is even more so. The native sitting on the animal's
neck has only to whisper in its ear what is -wanted, and
the job is done with neatness and dispatch.
Nearly aU the elephants used in the lumber business —
and they are found in evers- can:p and in even," lumber
yard — are natives of Burma, and are captured -wUd in
the forests of the central and northern part of the
province. No one is allowed to shoot them. In fact no
native of Burma has a gun. In the elephant district there
are only twelve or fifteen guns in a population of between
500,000 and 600,000, and lliey belong to government of
ficials. The elephant business is under the control of a
commissioner, Mr. DalrvTuple Qark, who makes it his
business to keep track of aU the wild herds, and in the
fall of the year, after the calves of that season are weaned,
he sends out men to round them up by beating the jun
gles. Tame elephants are used as decojs. They are wefl
trained, and, by mixing in the herds of wild ones lead
them into corrals, called 'Tceddahs," made of hea^y posts
lashed together -witii wire. UsuaUy ^Ir. Qark gets from
twenty to sixty -wUd animals into a "keddah" each drive.
He turns out afl of the females and drives them back into
the forest, selecting healthy and strong young males to be
kept and trained. They are starved for several days and
then placed under the charge of native trainers, who, -with
the aid of veteran animals, teach the green ones what is
expected of them. When they behave well they are fed ;
when they are unruly or indifferer.t they are compeUed to

338 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA „
go hungry, and they soon learn the truth of the old adage.
The usual crop of young elephants is about 300 a year.
In 1903 a contagious disease called anthrax carried off
more than half of those held in captivity, including sev
eral of the best decoys. Hence prices were very high.
When we were in Burma in the spring of 1904, Mr. Clark
expected a big drive. Large herds were reported, and he
was watching them carefully. The government selects
as many as it needs from the annual catch and sells the
remainder to lumbermen. They are seldom shipped out
of the country. A green elephant is worth from $800 to
$1,200, according to age and size. Those that are well
trained and have amiable dispositions are worth $2,500
and upward. Mr. Clark declared that few elephants are
dangerous. Most of them, fully 90 per cent, are docile
and harmless, and wiU not fight unless attacked and
cornered, when they will defend themselves. They are
often destructive to houses and crops when they are al
lowed to go at large, however, but this is due to their
awkwardness and not to malice. They always go in
herds, and when they cross a rice field or attempt to pass
through the narrow streets of a village they are apt to
leave disaster in their train. Sometimes vicious animals
are found, but usually alone, and they are called "sol-
taires." They have been driven out of the herds by other
elephants because of their bad dispositions, and are very
dangerous. The natives will always avoid an elephant
when they find him alone, but go about among the wild
herds without the slightest fear. Mr. Clark's men shoot
"soltaires" whenever they find them in the forests.
The second greatest industry in Burma is rice culture.
The quality of the rice raised there is inferior to that of
Japan and most of the districts of China, but large ship-

. RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 339
ments are made to both those countries, to India and to
other East Indian colonies, because of its low price. Rice
can be grown in Burma at less cost than in any other
country, notwithstanding the high wages, which are
three times as much as those paid for the same labor in
other eastern countries. The Japanese, who produce the
highest quality of rice, ship almost their entire crop to
Europe and the United States and iniport a cheaper qual
ity from Burma and Korea. The same is true of several
of the provinces of China. Nearly all the steamers lying
in the river are being loaded with rice, and bags of that
staple are stacked up on the docks and at the stations of
the railway in quantities that seem enough to feed tiie
world. Burma produces a great deal of petroleum. There are
several oil fields in different parts of the country, and as
you sail up and down the rivers you can see groups of
famihar derricks rising against the sky that remind you
of Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Nearly all of the pe
troleum plants out there are managed by American engi
neers, and at Yenan-gyaung, in what is known as the
Nag- We district, the principal producing center, are large
American colonies sheltered in comfortable bungalows
and enjoying life much more than one would suppose.
Although the heat is quite severe during the midsummer
months, Burma is not at all a bad country to live in, and
Americans have a way of adjusting themselves to their
surroundings. Two big companies control nearly all of
the product, and there is no danger of a monopoly, for the
government will gfrant concessions to any responsible man
or syndicate that desires to enter the business.
Nearly all of the oil territory belongs to the state, and
the privilege of drilling wells is granted to any reputable

340 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
person upon the payment of a royaltj' of i6 cents per
forty gallons of oil produced. The refineries are con
trolled by the two companies, but hundreds of natives are
working wells and selHng their products to them. The
refineries are all situated near Rangoon. The oil is
piped from the field to reservoir plants on the banks of
the nearest river, from which it is transported in big tank
steamers that look like the whalebacks on the lakes. A
survey has been made for pipe lines from the principal
fields to Rangoon, but they have not yet been constructed.
Tank steamers are also employed to export the refined
oil to Calcutta, Madras, Penang, Singapore, Colombo and
other neighboring ports, but very little is sent beyond the
Bay of Bengal. The annual product amounts to about
sixty million gallons, but that is not half enough to supply
the local market, and from eighty to ninet}- mUlion gal
lons are imported annually from Russia, the United States
and other countries. During the year 1902 the imports
amounted to 91,467,466 gallons, of which 84,477,876
came from Russia, and only 5,768,226 from the United
States. Various other minerals are found in Burma, including
iron and coal, but they have not been developed because
of the lack of capital and labor. There are gold deposits
in several localities and plenty of silver, but no large op
erations. Tin and copper have been discovered, and min
eralogists reckon them as one of the greatest sources of
future wealth, but thus far the deposits are practically un
touched. A great deal of capital is required to develop
them. The tin mines of the neighboring Alalay Peninsula
are worked so easily and economically that the Burmese
cannot compete with them, so the only tin and copper pro
duced is picked up by natives upon the surface of the

RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 341
ground. Before anything serious can be done labor must
be imported, which is an easy matter. The tin mines in
the Malay Peninsula are operated entirely by Chinese.
Jade is mined in large quantities, and about 4,000,000
pounds a year is shipped to Singapore for distribution in
China and Japan. Jade is found in boulders, which are
split by building fires around them, and when they have
been heated to the proper temperature buckets of water
are thrown on. The rocks split and the jade embedded in
them is carefully extracted and trimmed down by the use
of oil and piano wire. Jade is very valuable and pieces
of high quality are worth their weight in gold.
The government of Burma has invested about $26,-
000,000 in narrow gauge railways, reaching the most im
portant cities and commercial sections of the country.
They have been built also with reference to miHtary pur
poses, although Burma is the least Hkely spot for an in
ternal disturbance or foreign invasion. The principal
railway line will be extended to the Chinese border, and
in 1898-1900 surveys were made from Myityna, the termi
nus on the frontier, through to Chung-king, the head of
navigation on the Yangtse River, the greatest thorough
fare in the Chinese Empire. Chung-king, the capital of
Yunan, one of the most fertile and productive provinces
of China, with a population of 6,000,000 and unlimited
resources, is a city of 400,000 population and one of the
most prosperous in China. The surveyors report that the
construction from the Burmese boundary to Chung-king
will be difficult and expensive, but geographical and po
litical considerations ought to justify almost any expendi
ture for such a purpose. Such a railway would give Eng
land access to the very heart of China, and would furnish
the interior provinces an outlet for their produce through

342 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
British territory, saving at least 6,000 miles of transporta
tion by land and sea upon every pound of commerce with
Europe. It would give Chinese goods four days instead
of four weeks to reach tide water, and divert the trade of
a vast area and many milHons of people from Shanghai
to Rangoon.
No one knows why, but construction was practically
stopped upon this road in the fall of 1903, and nothing
has been done since. There was, of course, great disap
pointment and bitter complaint on the part of Burmese
business men, who attributed the stoppage to Lord Cur-
zon's orders, and offered various plausible conjectures as
to the reasons which prompted a change of policy. Some
of them must be pretty near the truth and the most rea
sonable is that the government at London stopped work
because it was considered in violation of treaty stipula
tions with other European powers, although it takes a
good deal of argument to sustain such a proposition. In
1900 Great Britain made a treaty with Germany under
which she agreed to keep the Yangtse River free and
open to the trade of all nations, but that need not inter
fere with the construction of a railroad to Chung-king.
Great Britain also has a treaty with France guaranteeing
equal rights and privileges to all nations in southwestern
China, but France is building a railway from Tonquin,
her Asiatic colony across the Chinese border, into the
province of Kwang-si, and it would seem that Great Brit
ain should have quite as good a right to lay rails in the
adjoining province of Yunan. The world is waiting for
the dissolution of China, and at its disintegration the sev
eral provinces that compose that inert mass of human
beings are already allotted among the different European
nations. France is to have Kwang-si, and Great Britain

RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 343
is to have Yunan. France, as I have already suggested,
is anticipating the event by providing transportation fa
cilities for her prospective territory, and the Burmese
think that England ought to do the same, but the govern
ment at London, whatever may be its reasons, is holding
the railway builders back.
There are no means of transportation across the Chi
nese border beyond the railway terminus at Myityna, but
a good deal of freight is carried over the mountain trails
in hampers of bamboo slung over the backs of pack mules
and bullocks. It is all done by the Chinese, for the Bur
mese lack enterprise and are indifferent to commerce.
From Yunan they bring hides, horns, India rubber, raw
silks, gold bullion, jade, amber and other raw materials
and take back manufactured goods of all kinds, cotton
and woolen fabrics, wearing apparel, hardware, drugs
and the many little things which enter into the needs of a
primitive people. In 1903 this overland trade amounted
to more than $2,000,000.
The Pennsylvania Steel Company of Pittsburg con
structed what is said to be the largest viaduct in the
world across the Gowteck gorge near the northern bound
ary of Burma. It is a triumph of engineering, and the
contract was obtained by the American company in com
petition with German and English bridge builders. The
viaduct is 2,500 feet long and 800 feet high, and is consid
ered a wonder. Photographs are offered for sale at all
the picture stores in Burma. It looks like a steel cobweb
standing in the sky.
There are few rich men in Burma. Several Europeans,
Parsees and Chinese living in Rangoon are worth from
$100,000 to $250,000 in lands, buildings and business in
vestments, but I have been assured by the best of author-

344 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
ities that outside the foreign colony there is not a man in
the country worth more than $100,000, and that $20,000
or $30,000 is considered a big fortune by the natives.
When a Burmese gets $8,000 or $10,000 ahead he will not
work any more. He considers himself well provided for.
No people were ever less avaricious. Few enjoy money
more, but it is the spending of it rather than the hoarding
that gives them satisfaction. They are the most gener
ous people in existence. Every time a man makes a little
profit or gets a little ahead he gives a "pwe" (a native
party) and spends it all rejoicing with his friends. They
make merry as long as the money lasts. It may be a few
hours or a few days, and next week somebody else is
lucky and takes his turn at entertainment, so that life is
a succession of "pwes," and few people accumulate any
thing. Perhaps the reason why the natives spend their
money as fast as they get it, and why there are no rich
men in Burma, may be traced back to the despotic days
when it imperiled life and happiness for a man to get a
Httle ahead of his needs. Under the king it was danger
ous to have property. It was the habit of the officials to
punish prosperity. Whenever they discovered that a na
tive had laid by a little store for a rainy day they pounced
upon him, and not only confiscated everything he had but
tortured him in the hope of securing more. Until the
British occupation, therefore, wealth was a curse instead
of a blessing, and there was no incentive to economize.
These circumstances, combined with the pleasure-loving
disposition of the people, explain their lack of thrift.
The women are much more economical than the men.
They are not so lazy nor so generous. They keep the
shops, pay the bills, do the purchasing for the family and
are always consulted by their husbands in matters of busi-

RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 345
ness. Indeed the Burmese woman is very much the head
of the family, and offers a singular contrast to the women
of India, who are slaves and playthings, either one or the
other. Burma is an agricultural country. Rice is, the chief
staple. Ninety per cent of the population depends upon
the cultivation of the soil for a living, and the farming
land is very evenly divided. According to the census of
1901 the average farm is limited to sixteen acres. But
the natives will not work. They cannot be relied upon in
any way. They will not observe their contracts nor ful
fill their promises. This is not due to a malicious disposi
tion. Everybody testifies that they are naturally honest
and truthful, because of their frank and open natures, but
their sense of responsibility has never been developed.
They have no scruples or conscience, and are masters of
the art of lying, but they never lie maliciously. If they
fail to keep their promises and contracts it is due to care
lessness and their habit of gratifying their whims, and not
to evil motives. They find it easier not to do things than
to do them. They do not like to labor. They will not
suffer annoyance or inconvenience, and if their obliga
tions interfere with their pleasure or their comfort they
simply will not be kept.
This habit is universal and chronic, and affects their
honesty as well as their truthfulness. They do not steal
from avarice or to deprive other people of their property,
or from mischievous motives, but when they covet what
belongs to others they cannot resist the temptation to help
themselves. They will give as readily as they take, and
old residents told me that they have known natives to steal
ornaments of insignificant value and leave large sums of
money lying untouched.

346 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
The character of a people is always accurately illustrat
ed by their legends and superstitions, and the most com
mon thing in Burma is the "padesa" or wishing tree, an
imaginary tree which bears all kinds of fruit, whatever
one needs or desires. Everybody talks about it from the
prattling infant to the decrepit grandparent, from the
beggar to the priest, and prays that it may be brought
within his reach.
The natives take little interest in politics. After the
British occupation in 1885 there was some difficulty with
a few nobles and other members of the aristocracy that
ruled the country and oppressed the people under the des
potism. They naturally were reluctant about yielding
their powers and privileges, but were easily reckoned
with, and within a few years they settled down quietly,
accepting the inevitable. The best of them were provided
with honorable and lucrative offices, according to their
characters and capacity; the remainder found their own
level, and have since been absorbed into the community
with nothing particular to distinguish them from the com
mon herd.
The people do not care how they are governed or by
whom, so long as their religion and their pleasures are
not interfered with, and the British colonial authorities
have always shown the greatest tact and discretion in
dealing with those two very delicate subjects. The In
dian mutiny of 1857 taught them a lesson they will never
forget, that the religion of a people cannot be trifled with
and that their scruples, however absurd or childish, must
be seriously observed.
All of the responsible official positions are filled by
Englishmen ; the subordinate positions by natives. Places
under the government are much sought after and are

A BURMESE GEXTLEM.VN

J.. RIVERS AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 347
highly considered because of the prestige they carry, and
particularly because of the easy hours and good pay. It
suits the Burmese taste to occupy a desk in a pretentious
buUding and observe short office hours at a lucrative sal
ary, and to obtain such positions the young men of the
country seek education in the missionary schools, be
cause competitive examinations are held to determine the
qualifications of candidates. But further than that the
Burmans seem to have no ambition. They do not care for
wealth or power or glory like other races. An easy job
and an income sufficient to support them comfortably is
all they want. They are never dissatisfied or discon
tented if their simple pleasures are not interfered with.
They have no taste for intrigue and conspiracies like
those in which the sullen and subtle Hindu delights, but
are frank, open and fearless in demanding the few and
simple rights and privileges they crave.
Left to the natives, Burma would always be a poverty-
stricken country. They have neither industry nor energy
sufficient to develop its resources, and would be satisfied
with producing just enough for their own wants. Every
thing in the way of progress and internal development has
been done by the government and by the Chinese, who are
the most valuable and the most important citizens of the
country. They are admitted without condition or restric
tion; they bring with them their national characteristics,
industry, economy and honesty, and apply them with
characteristic intelligence. With the exception of a few
EngHshmen, a few Scotchmen and one or two Germans,
the Chinese monopolize the trade, the commerce, the man
ufactures and the wealth of Burma, and supply the labor
which the native Burmese will not furnish. They can al
ways be relied upon ; they save their money and invest it

348 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
with prudence and shrewdness ; they are enterprising and
determined. They have made Burma the most prosper
ous province in India and its future development is in
their hands. If the people who have opposed the admis
sion of Chinese labor to the Philippine Islands would
take the trouble to study the economic problems that have
been solved in Burma perhaps they might change their
minds as to the wisdom of the exclusion laws.

BRITISH MALAYSIA

349

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES
South of Burma, between the Bay of Bengal and the
Gulf of Siam, is a large, narrow strip of land known as
the Malay Peninsula. It is composed of the states of
Perak, Selangor, Negri, Sembilan, Penang and Johore,
all theoretically independent, but federated under the pro
tection of Great Britain. They are governed by native
hereditary rulers, with Englishmen at each of their cap
itals to give advice and see that the officials behave them
selves. Although little has been written about them, the
Malay states furnish a striking example of the wisdom
and success of the British colonial policy of administra
tion, and of the value of the Chinese as citizens, when
they are allowed to exercise their peculiar qualities and
enjoy the fruits of their labor. The population of these
states by the census in 1901 is about 678,000, of whom
only 285,000 are native Malays, 300,000 are Chinese,
58,000 natives of India, 7,000 Japanese and the remainder
Europeans and representatives of other races.
During the year 1902 the exports reached the enormous
sum of $71,000,000, of which $62,000,000 represented the
value of tin bullion shipped to Europe and America, every
ounce of which was produced by Chinese. The other ex
ports were sago, tapioca, coffee and other semi-tropical
and tropical products, three-fourths of which were grown,
handled and shipped by Chinese. The revenue of the
351

352 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
confederation in 1902 was $20,500,000, of which $16,-
500,000 was paid by Chinese as export taxes, and, if the
facts were known, they would probably be credited with
95 per cent of the rest of the revenue, which came from
railway receipts, sales of concessions and public lands,
rentals, excise, customs and other sources.
During the year 1903, $6,367,721 of the revenue was
expended in the extension of the railway system and
$3,387,850 in other public works. The government has
constructed nearly 3,000 miles of highway and more than
400 miles of railroad at a cost of $25,000,000, every cent
of which has been paid from the current revenues, for the
confederation has no debt. The state of Penang owes
$3,391,003, which represents foolish extravagance in
dulged in before the British intervention, and the debt
might be lawfully repudiated but for the scruples of the
government, which preferred to issue bonds for a doubt
ful debt rather than injure its credit. In 1899 a loan of
$2,500,000 was authorized for raUways and other public
works, but even with temptation always at hand, the of
ficials of the government have never issued a bond, and
the authorization has been allowed to lapse. During the
five years ending 1903, the freight and passenger traffic
has yielded a net revenue of $7,000,000, which, I believe,
is unprecedented in the history of government railways.
This is due not only to the prosperity of the country under
Chinese labor, but to economical management and ad
ministration under British advice.
Since 1875, when the British took control, the revenues
have been increased from less than $400,000 to $20,-
500,000. The foreign trade has advanced from $1,500,000
to $117,000,000 a year, and the development of the ma
terial interests of the country has gone on with corre-

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 353
spending rapidity and profit, and all, you must under
stand, has been done by Chinese capital and labor, which
the administration at Washington and the Congress of the
United States would shut out of the Philippine Islands.
Thirty years ago the Malay Peninsula was a howling
wilderness. The people were in a state of barbarism,
fighting among themselves, and robbing and murdering
all foreigners who came within their reach. Their acts of
piracy on the coast and the anarchy that prevailed in the
interior were the cause and the justification of British in
tervention. They had no roads, no schools, no courts, no
manufactures, no commerce. They knew nothing of the
natural resources of their own territory ; they had no in
dustries except just enough farming to feed themselves.
The Malays belong to the same race as the Filipinos,
and exhibit the same racial characteristics. They are
fond of music, poetry, oratory and pictures; they have
keen perceptions and a certain degree of cunning, which,
like the instincts of an animal, is used in place of the rea
soning powers which they lack. They will not do more
manual labor than is absolutely necessary to save them
from starvation. They are especially fond of military ex
ercises, and their army, which consists of 2,146 men, has
forty European officers and 692 native officers, an aver
age of one officer to every three men.
Whatever has been done toward the development of
the country has been done by foreigners. Whatever tend
ency the native Malay may have had to labor has been
suppressed by education. No native of the tropics who
ever learns to read is willing to work. That is the rule.
He will not do manual labor. He will seek a position un
der the government or in some office, and prefers one that
has a military uniform attached to it. If he cannot ob-

354 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
tain one he will teach school, or find mercantile employ
ment, or get his living without manual labor the best way
he can. The schools provided by the British, 209 in num
ber, are well attended. There were 9,170 scholars in
1904, and the educational system brings the pupils up to
the grade of a high school in the United States, but there
is no compulsory education law and not 5 per cent of
those who enter the lower grades ever reach the highest.
Occasionally a student is sent from the Malay schools to
one of the universities in India, but that is very rare. He
usually drops out as soon as he has learned enough read
ing, writing and arithmetic to hold a desk in an office.
Sir Frank Swettenham, governor general until 1904,
after forty-eight years' experience in office there, says:
"The industrial development of the country is entirely
due to the Chinese. They are the only people in the
peninsula who can be depended upon. They have no in
terruptions in the performance of their daily labor, and
save their money to make prudent investments. Without
the Chinese nothing would have been done in the Malay
states ; no progress would have been made, and the enor
mous natural resources of the country would still be lying
dormant." The British have had relations with the Malays for
more than 300 years. Sir Francis Drake touched their
coast in 1578, during his celebrated voyage around the
world, and Lord Cavendish followed him in 1588, but the
Portuguese and Spaniards had been there long before.
The Portuguese settled Macao in 1511, and the Spaniards
founded Manila in 151 7. The first business done by the
British on the peninsula was in the ship Edward Bona-
venture. Captain Edward Lancaster, who landed his crew
at Penang in 1592 to get rid of the scurvy and camped

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 355
there all summer. The following fall he took on a cargo
of pepper and other natural products which he bought
from the natives, and returned to England around the
Cape of Good Hope. Captain Houtman, a Dutch sailor,
landed here in 1595 and exchanged a cargo of merchan
dise for native products. The Malay states are now the
principal source of our tin supply, and have been produc
ing it since 1684, when the mines were first discovered
and worked by Dutchmen.
The report of Lancaster's voyage and the profits de
rived from Houtman's venture attracted attention to the
country, and the famous East India Company, which
next to the Hanseatic League became the greatest mo
nopoly ever known, was organized in the year 1600 with
a charter for fifteen years to trade with the Malays. In
1603 the Dutch and the Portuguese demanded their share
of the market, and from that time on for two centuries
there was constant warfare between the three nations
over it. In 1763, for reprisals, the British captured the
City of Manila, and the first territory in the East acquired
by England was the Island of Balambangan, off North
Borneo, which was ceded to the king by the Sultan of
Sulu, an ancestor of one of our "Brothers in Brown," in
gratitude for his release from a Spanish prison in Manila.
The government of India took actual possession of
Penang in 1784, when the East India Company adopted
it as a convict station, and a town gradually grew up
around it. The Prince of Wales Island, as it was then
called, was leased for eight years for the sum of $10,000
a year, to be paid to the Rajah of Kedah, and this an
nuity has been continued to his successors by the British
government to the present hour. Finding that the soil in
this locaUty was uncommonly fertile, its cultivation was

356 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
undertaken by Hindu labor, and has been continued ever
since. The natives have done nothing.
Singapore, which is now the headquarters of the gov
ernment, was founded in 1819 by Sir Stanford Raffles by
order of Lord Hastings so that the British could com
mand the Strait of Malacca and thus have a check upon
the aggressive policy of the Dutch.
While the English were strengthening themselves at
Penang and Singapore the Dutch fortified the ancient
town of Malacca, which was the metropolis of all the East
when the Europeans made their first appearance in
Asiatic waters. Neither Bombay, Calcutta, Rangoon,
Singapore, Batavia, Bangkok, Manila, Hongkong, Shang
hai or Yokohama had ever been heard of, nor had most
of them an existence when Malacca, the capital of the
Malays, was a town of great commercial importance. It
was the greatest entrepot and distributing point for the
commerce of the East until the close of the eighteenth
century. Then Dutch power and commerce declined and
the importance of Malacca decayed with them until 1825.
They fought over it with the Portuguese, the Spaniards
and the English again and again; it was frequently be
sieged and several times captured by hostile fleets. The
British captured it in 1795 and held it until 1818, when
it was restored to the Dutch for a few years, in accord
ance with the treaty of Vienna, but came permanently
under British control in 1824, when the various East In
dies Islands were distributed among the nations. The
British colony at Malacca was founded two years later,
and from it an attempt was made to control the affairs of
the peninsula.
The native rulers were left to themselves until 1875,
when Mr. Birch, the British resident, was brutaUy mur-

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 357
dered and his residence sacked by lawless Malays.
Troops were sent down from India and Hongkong. The
natives were punished severely; those concerned in the
murder of Mr. Birch were captured and executed, and, it
being disclosed that the sultan was privy, if not respons
ible for the crime, he and several of his chiefs were ban
ished. The government was reorganized upon the pres
ent plan, and since then there has been uninterrupted
peace and increasing prosperity.
Each of the four native states is allowed the greatest
degree of independence and home rule under its own
chief, with a staff of British advisers. There are eleven
Englishmen all together connected with the government,
with forty others in the army. The remainder of the of
ficials are natives, who are appointed after competitive ex
aminations similar to those held in India, and promoted
by merit, also after examination. The higher offices are
all filled by men who have reached them by promotion
from the lowest grade since 1875, and the natives have
come to understand that honesty, industry and efficiency
are the best recommendations. Nevertheless, the native
characteristics are continually manifested, as among the
Filipinos, and the English officials declare that the germ
of self-government does not exist in the tropical races;
that the atmosphere is not conducive to the development
of character in the native, and that he will never be any
better than he is now. The same conditions are found
among all tropical races, and those who have spent their
Hves in the study of these problems are convinced that
the moral and intellectual limitations of the Malay race
are fixed so indelibly as to prevent their further advance
ment. It is interesting to review what British rule has done in

358 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
the Malay Peninsula. Here are a few of the items :
I. It has abolished slavery and unpaid labor.
2. It has exterminated piracy.
3. It has turned anarchy into order and made a turbu
lent people peaceable.
4. It has given security for life and property.
5. It has secured permanent titles to land.
6. It has guaranteed justice to all offenders and liti
gants in the courts.
7. It has stopped epidemics and provided free hospitals,
dispensaries and modern medical science.
8. It has provided free schools.
9. It has developed the mineral deposits and the timber
resources and introduced scientific agriculture.
10. It has built 2,285 miles of wagon roads and 400
miles of railway.
And, finally, it has given a wise, liberal and progressive
government to a people that had no government before.
Because of its extraordinary geographical location
Singapore in 1902 stood sixth in rank of the commercial
cities of the world, although it has only 228,555 popula
tion. It is surpassed by London, New York, Hong Kong,
Hamburg and Antwerp only, and outranks every other
seaport in the extent of its shipping and the tonnage of its
vessels. The following statement shows the foreign
tonnage entering the ports named during the year 1902 :
London  10,179,023 tons
New York  9,053,906 tons
Hong Kong  8,734,308 tons
Hamburg  8,689,000 tons
Antwerp  8,425,127 tons
Singapore  7,238,185 tons

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 359
Liverpool  6,843,200 tons
Rotterdam  6,546,473 tons
Marseilles  6,191,839 tons
I cannot yet obtain the figures for 1903 from all these
cities, but Singapore undoubtedly advanced on the list
because during that year 58,318 vessels of all kinds, with
a tonnage of 18,300,000 tons, entered and cleared from its
harbor, which is an average of about 160 a day, and its
tonnage was 50 per cent greater than that of the entire
Chinese Empire. The commerce of Singapore in 1902
amounted to $250,000,000 gold. It is a free port. No
duties are charged, and yet its revenues that year were
more than $12,000,000. Nearly one-half of this revenue
comes from a tax on opium, which yields about $465,000
a month, and $5,58o;ooo last year.
If you will look on your map you will notice that Singa
pore is situated on a little island at the extreme tip of the
Malay Peninsula at the foot of the China Sea, and at
the southern entrance of the Straits of Malacca. It is
the gateway of the East, the point where the products of
the East are exchanged for those of the West. Every
steamer that plies between the East and the West stops
there, while many of them discharge their cargoes to be
transhipped in other vessels to different points in either
direction. It is midway between China and India, be
tween India and Australia, and the headquarters of branch
lines of steamers which run to Siam, Cochin China,
Anam, Tonquin, the Philippine Islands, Java, Borneo,
Sumatra and every port of the East Indies. Nothing is
produced there, and the 228,555 inhabitants do not con
sume any more per capita than those of any other city,
perhaps much less, but Singapore is the most important

36o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
distributing point in the world for the products of all
countries. Its immense warehouses and docks are filled
with European merchandise which has been brought for
transhipment to eastern ports, and with the products
of Australia, the Asiatic countries and the Pacific Islands,
which are brought there for transhipment to Europe and
America. Its enormous business blocks are built with thick double
walls of brick, have wide arcades to keep out the heat,
and are painted a deep blue color as a relief from the glare
of the sun. They are occupied by the counting-houses
of the wealthiest shipping merchants of all countries, and
many manufacturers have branches and agents there to
buy raw materials and to sell their finished products.
Banks of all nations are found there — English, French,
German, Russian, Italian, Austrian, Swiss, Greek and
even American — for the International Banking Corpora
tion of New York has recently established itself. No
other city of double its size has half so many banks as
Singapore. The trade with the United States is small. We im
ported from Singapore $27,039,000 in 1903, and exported
to Singapore $1,763,000, with about $4,000,000 worth of
flour, which was sent through Hong Kong and credited
to that port.
Singapore handles 61 per cent of the world's supply of
tin, which comes from the Malay states, and that is the
biggest item in her commerce. It is all mined and
shipped by Chinese. Rice comes next, and about $35,-
000,000 of it is handled at Singapore every year; gums
and other drugs to the amount of $20,000,000; opium,
$15,000,000; cotton, $15,000,000; spice, $15,000,000, and
other tropical products in proportion.

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 361
Every variety of European merchandise appears in the
list of imports. Every manufacturer in Europe con
tributes, but it is a transit trade almost entirely, the goods
changing ships in the harbor or being landed and stored
away in the warehouses to await reshipment.
Singapore is the capital of what is called the Straits
Settlements, a crown colony under the administration of
a governor appointed by the king and assisted by an
executive council and a legislative council composed of
both English and natives. There is quite a large foreign
colony. After a man has lived at Singapore or anywhere
else in that part of the world for a short time, he can
not endure cold weather. Singapore is a perpetual hot
house, a botanical garden, where one can find the ideal
of tropical vegetation and beauty, and the rainfall aver
ages about 100 inches a year. That is, eight and one-half
feet of water fall upon its soil from the clouds annually,
and it rains every other day. The average number of
rainy days for the last ten years has been 180 per year.
Although the city is almost directly upon the equator,
being only eighty miles distant, the temperature is not so
high as you would expect, the mean during the year 1903
having been 81.24. The heat is very trying, however.
There is less variation in the thermometer there than any
where else on the earth's surface. During 1903 the mer
cury did not rise higher than 82.31 and did not fall below
79.55, the entire range being less than three degrees, while
it is frequently less. In 1902 the variation was only 2.48 ;
in 1894 it was only 1.78. This steady heat, and the hu
midity caused by the excessive moisture, is much more
difficult to endure than the great changes from heat to
cold that are experienced in China, India and other Asiatic
countries. The climate in Singapore is enervating.

362 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
There is no ozone in the atmosphere. It is always as hot
at night as it is during the day and the human system has
no opportunity to recover from the effects of the sun.
One feels a perpetual lassitude, he has no energy and
little ambition, and at first there is an almost irresistible
tendency to sleep all the time.
Nevertheless you find many people there who delib
erately choose it as a place of residence, and do not care to
live anywhere else. It is a beautiful town ; its foliage and
other vegetation is the most luxuriant you ever saw ; its
parks, botanical gardens, shaded streets and private lawns
are the perfection of verdure, while the government
house, the public offices, the cathedral, the library, the
museum, the town hall, the banks, clubs, hotels and busi
ness blocks are of imposing architecture. Many of the
private residences are palatial. As you might naturally
suppose, the enormous trade carried on there pays big
profits and people who are required to live in that climate
expect large salaries. Most of the European population
are English. There are a good many Dutch, the Germans
are increasing rapidly, and there is quite a little American
colony. The retail business is conducted almost entirely
by Chinese, who furnish the servants, the mechanics and
the laboring classes. If it were not for them the country
would be paralyzed. No one else will do manual labor.
Out of a total population of 600,000 in the Straits Settle
ments, 281,933 ^re Chinese, 215,058 are Malays (natives
of the country), 57,150 are natives of India, and 5,058
are Europeans and Americans.
Across a narrow strait separating the mainland from
the Island of Singapore is the protected State of Johore,
one of the most interesting and prosperous of all the
native states in the East. It is rich in agriculture, in

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 363
minerals and forests, and its 200,000 inhabitants have the
reputation of making more money with less labor than
any other community in the East. The most of them,
however, are Chinese. The native population of Johore
does not number more than 35,000, and if they were relied
upon to cultivate the ground, pursue the industries and
manage the commerce, the state would soon relapse into
barbarism, because they will not work. Like all other
Malays, they are absolutely indolent, given up entirely to
pleasure and the gratification of their whims and appetites.
A few years ago, during a drought, the government cut a
canal at great expense to divert the water from one of
the rivers across the country so that it could be used for
irrigation, but the natives, for whose benefit this enterprise
was undertaken, were too lazy to dig ditches from the
canal to their own land, and allowed their crops to perish
when a few days of labor might have saved them.
The Chinese cultivate the ground, raise all the rice,
vegetables and other food products ; do nearly all the
commercial business, furnish almost the entire labor sup
ply, own 75 per cent of the property and pay 95 per cent
of the taxes. Everyone commends them as law-abiding,
industrious, thrifty citizens. They never meddle with
political affairs ; they have no taste for such things ; and,
notwithstanding the fact that they have three-fourths of
the population, they hold no offices and seek none, but
are contented and obedient subjects to the Malay rajah,
his highness Ibrahim, sovereign of the most esteemed
Arjah Krabat and of the most honorable Darjah Mahkota
Johore, who was bom in 1873, married in 1893 to the
Tunku Maimwoomah Binti Unku Abdul Majid, daughter
of an Arabian sheik of high rank. He was crowned
Nov. 2, 1895, and has four legitimate children.

364 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
You reach the city of Johore by a little railroad four
teen miles long from Singapore. It is a lovely ride
through the suburbs of the city and dense tropical forests.
At the end of the line a ferry boat takes you across the
strait that divides Singapore from the main land, where
you find a neat town of about 20,000 inhabitants, mostly
Chinese, with the palace at one end overlooking a lovely
bay. The grounds are beautiful. No botanical garden
in the world can surpass them for rich and curious vegeta
tion. The palace is an immense wooden structure with
wide balconies and enormous apartments fitted up with
European furniture and hangings. There are several
paintings of merit and value upon the walls, including
portraits of Queen Victoria, King Edward, Gladstone and
other British statesmen. The audience chamber, in which
the sultan receives his subjects every Sunday morning
when he is at home, is quite a pretentious room, and his
official regalia is extravagantly brilliant for the ruler of so
small a territory.
There is at least one thing for which his highness may
be heartily commended, and that is the erection of a fine
hotel at Johore, his idea being to make it a popular sum
mer resort, because, although only fifteen miles distant,
the climate is much more agreeable than that of Singa
pore, and the temperature will average six degrees lower
the year round. The hotel is well built and well kept,
and during the summer many Singapore people avail
themselves of it. The sultan also proposed to make a
Monte Carlo at Johore, with this hotel as the nucleus,
and, if one can judge by what we saw, gambling is the
principal occupation of his people, although aU of the
players at the tables the day we were there were Chinese.
I was told that Europeans are not permitted to play.

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 365
There are half a dozen gambling houses running wide
open within a few blocks of the landing place on the main
street, and they are said to be well patronized by the
people of Singapore on Sundays.
Occasionally the dry history and statistics of the East
are enlivened by a gleam of romance, and the most inter
esting story in the East Indies relates to Sarawak. Mr.
Blaine used to declare, although the idea was not orig
inal with him, that the best government that could ^ be
devised for the human race was an absolute despotism
with a wise, brave and benevolent despot Sarawak
comes as near answering that description as any country
in existence to-day. But first you ought to know where
Sarawak is.
The Island of Borneo is divided into halves. The south
ern half, which is considerably bigger than the northern,
belongs to Holland and has been governed for three cen
turies by the conservative, sturdy, honest policy of the
Dutch. The northern half is under the protection of
Great Britain, and Sarawak is the larger part of it. Next
to Australia, Borneo is the largest island in the world,
being 750 miles long and varying from 350 to 600 miles
wide, with about 3,000,000 inhabitants. Three-fourths
of them are savages or semi-savage. The other
fourth are mostly Chinese, who cultivate the ground,
manage the industries, bring valuable natural products
out of the forests, furnish the mechanics and laborers for
the community, and do almost all the small trading. The
banks and large business affairs are chiefly in the hands
of Englishmen, Germans, and other Europeans. Borneo
is practically an unknown country. Only a small per
centage is inhabited and the greater part has never been
explored. Two-thirds of the area is an impenetrable

366 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
forest of valuable timber, which abounds in animal life.
There are forty-four species of snakes in Borneo, of
which fourteen are venomous, and their bites are as con
clusive as a projectile from a thirteen-inch gun. The
cobra is the best known, and it possesses the unique ac
complishment of ejecting venom from its mouth like the
llamas of the Andes, and whenever the poison strikes a
tender or a bruised spot in the skin it is fatal. There is
no cure. No antidote has ever been discovered. Ordi
nary cobras are about five feet long and from two to three
inches in diameter. They are slow and sluggish in move
ment, so that the natives can easily capture or kill them,
but when attacked or irritated they grow livelier and
larger. Their bodies swell to twice or three times the
natural size and ten or twelve inches is added to their
length. They twist themselves into coils with the end
of the tail in the middle and lift the upper part of the
body into the air, so that the head is sometimes three feet
or more above the ground. Whirling rapidly in the direc
tion of the enemy, they spit their poison a distance of
eight or ten feet. They are the most dangerous reptiles
in the East.
The bungarus is the largest snake to be found in
Borneo, often twenty-five or thirty feet long ; the pythons,
twenty and twenty-five feet long, are much more com
mon; the hamadryad is another big one, but fortunately
is not common. The python is the only snake that thrives
in captivity. The forests are full of tigers and other big
game, and anyone who is ambitious to shoot wild beasts
can get all he wants of that kind of sport.
While Sarawak is usually referred to as a colony it is
actually an independent state, under the protection of
Great Britain, and the most competent authorities agree

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 367
in pronouncing it the best governed tropical country in
all the world. It has an area of about 40,000 square
miles, 600,000 population, a revenue of about $4,000,000,
is entirely without debt, has a handsome balance in the
treasury and a prosperous, law-abiding, peaceful, con
tented people. There are more homicides in Chicago
every week than there have been in Sarawak for ten
years. Indeed, the record of murders throughout the
entire East is much below that of Chicago or New York,
while during 1903 more human lives have been taken by
violence in the city of Washington, which to us represents
the highest degree of civilization ever reached by man,
than in all the East Indian colonies. This is not flatter
ing to the Caucasian race, but it is a fact that the teachers
of Christianity should reflect upon. We send out mis
sionaries to teach heathen races the Gospel of Peace and
Love and Brotherly Kindness, but fail to furnish exam
ples of our ideals.
Sarawak has been governed since 1842 by English
sultans. In the year 1839 ^ young man named James
Brooke, employed by the East India Company at Cal
cutta, made a cruise in his own yacht to Borneo as an
amateur naturalist and geographer. Very little was
known of the island at that time. He was 36 years old,
a stalwart, vigorous specimen of the English gentleman,
and the fortunate possessor of a large fortune. When he
reached Kuching, the capital, he found that the several
tribes which occupied the northern part of the island had
been fighting each other relentlessly for many years and
were still at war. He visited the several chiefs, per
suaded them to be friends, but they were so jealous of
each other that none would submit to the authority of
the others. After several months of conciliation work

368 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Mr. Brooks gained their confidence, and much to his
astonishment they proposed that he should be their king.
Every native chief agreed to recognize his authority and
the theoretical ruler, the Rajah Muda Hassin, who had a
hereditary right to power, offered to abdicate in his favor.
Mr. Brooke returned to Calcutta, consulted with his
friends, resigned his position with the East India Com
pany and became the Sultan of Sarawak in 1842. He
reigned for twenty-six years, until 1868, when he died,
and was succeeded by his nephew, Sir Charles Johnson
Brooke, who still occupies the throne. The heir apparent
is Sir Charles V. Brooke, son of the present sultan, who
was born in 1874. In 1868, after the death of Sir James
Brooke, as a matter of precaution, his successor placed
the country under the protection of Great Britain, and
the relations were confirmed and extended in 1888.
Although the various tribes had been in constant war
fare up to the time of Mr. Brooke's arrival at Kuching
as far back as tradition goes — there is no recorded history
— since he took charge of the government there has never
been the slightest trouble. This is the more astonishing
because for generations the Dyaks, the aborigines, who
are pagans, and the Malays, who are Mohammedans, have
been hereditary enemies. To the Mohammedan his
neighbors, the Dyaks, were barbarous infidels whose cus
toms and habits were abominable, and in obedience to the
injunctions of the prophet it was his duty to remove them
from the earth. On the other hand, the Dyaks regarded
the Mohammedans as invaders who had come over the
sea to oppress and rob them, and resistance and revenge
were only natural. To reconcile those opposing races
and bring them into harmonious and voluntary submis
sion to a modern government required the exercise of an

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 369
amount of firmness, wisdom and tact that is not possessed
by many men; but, within a few years of his accession.
Sir James Brooke brought the Malays and the Dyaks
together, and they have since been living side by side
throughout the country without a serious quarrel.
Sir James Brooke had the advantage of a large income,
which he was at liberty to use for the payment of the ex
penses of his government until he could organize a sys
tem of taxation, and he cheerfully sacrificed his entire
fortune for that purpose and for public improvements
without hesitation. At the same time he was fortunate in
having absolute authority, and the jealousy of local chiefs
toward each other was so great that they were all willing
to submit to his dictation. But even under those circum
stances a weaker man, less wise and less capable, could
not have accomplished the results that are credited to him,
and the highest evidence of his integrity is the fact that
he gradually, and as rapidly as he thought expedient,
yielded his authority to his subjects and liberalized his
government until now Sarawak has a constitution, a leg
islature and a liberal degree of home rule.
In the administration of affairs the sultan is assisted by
a supreme council composed of the four native rajahs, or
chiefs, and an equal number of Europeans appointed by
him. This body performs all the duties of a legislature, as
well as a ministry and a supreme court. And, standing
between it and the people, is a general council, made up
of representatives of all the organized towns, the com
mercial bodies, the educational institutions and other or
ganizations, in order that the various communities may
keep in touch with one another; that public opinion may
have an opportunity of expressing itself; that ideas and
new measures, whether of policy or administration, may

370 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
be suggested ; and the right of petition and the privilege
of criticism be exercised to the greatest degree possible.
The general council has no power or authority except to
recommend. Its conclusions are not final, nor even legal.
It is merely an advisory body, but has proved of the great
est importance as a safety valve for the escape of steam
and gas and to relieve other pressure, to excite public
opinion and to bring the people in contact with their
rulers. Because the natives have been found morally incapable
of administration, the higher posts of the administration
are nearly all occupied by Englishmen, who are appointed
and promoted on the same plan as that which prevails in
British colonies. It is an ideal civil service. When a young
man is appointed, after competitive examinations which
are held in London, he is given a year's probation to learn
the language and further qualify himself, and is then as
signed to some unimportant duty in one of the interior
towns, where he serves his cadetship, obtains a knowledge
of the customs and characteristics of the people and im
proves his acquaintance with their tongue. From such
a post he is gradually promoted to greater responsibilities
as vacancies occur and his own qualifications are devel
oped. The present sultan went through a similar train
ing, and the heir apparent, now a man 30 years of age,
after receiving his degree at Oxford, was assigned to
comparatively insignificant duties in the country districts.
He is now serving as a judicial magistrate in one of the
larger towns. Although he knows that sooner or later
he will succeed to the supreme authority, he is a modest,
painstaking, hard working official, is making an excellent
reputation and has performed his duties admirably.
Kuching is one of the cleanest, prettiest towns in the

THE BRITISH EAST INDIES 371
tropics, with about 36,000 inhabitants and aU the modern
improvements. The residences of the wealthier class are
large and luxurious. The art of making themselves com
fortable in a tropical climate has been cultivated with
marked success in Sarawak, under the leadership of the
EngHsh officials, and while society is Hmited and their
privileges and recreations are not so great and numerous
as those enjoyed in Calcutta and other large cities, they
have every sport and amusement, every convenience and
comfort that they need. The houses are surrounded
with beautiful gardens, the streets are shaded and well
paved; there are parks, handsome public buildings, a
hospital, a museum, a public library, a club, churches,
business houses, banks, an excellent hotel, electric lights,
telephones, sewers, plenty of wholesome water and almost
everything else needed in an up-to-date town. There are
very few poor. Indeed, it is asserted that there is not a
beggar in the country. Everybody who desires work can
find it at good wages, and Sarawak is as prosperous and
its people are as contented as any community in the world.
It is a standing joke told to all travelers who visit the
country that the sultan, hearing of their approach, "fixed
up" things in order to impress them favorably.
The Malays in Sarawak, as elsewhere, are lazy and
unambitious, and are not willing to do any more than is
absolutely necessary to sustain life. If Sultan Brooke
had depended upon them Sarawak would not be the place
it is. The success of his administration, the develop
ment of the resources, and the industrial enterprises that
have given Sarawak its wealth and prosperity have been
due to Chinese immigrants. They have furnished the
capital and have performed the labor, and, notwithstand
ing the wisdom, the tact, the energy and the patriotism of

372 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
Mr. Brooke, Sarawak would be in a state of comparative
barbarism to-day but for the industry and thrift of the
Chinese. It is a remarkable fact that the despised race
which is excluded from the United States and from the
Philippine Islands is the backbone of every state in the
Malaysia. There is not a country in the East, except
India, Japan and Java, whose prosperity is not due to
Chinese industry.
Many years ago when the late Sir James Brooke was
asked to explain his policy of administration he wrote the
following wise words, which are worthy the study of
every man who is trusted with official responsibilities, and
are especially pertinent to the present situation in the
Philippine Islands :
"The common mistake Europeans make in the East is
to exalt western civilization almost to the exclusion of
the native system, instead of using both as mutually
corrective. "There are two ways in which a government can act.
The first is to start from things as it finds them, putting
its veto on what is dangerous or unjust and supporting
what is fair and equitable in the usages of the natives
and letting system and legislation wait upon occasion.
When the new wants are felt it examines and provides
for them by measures made on the spot rather than im
ported from abroad, and to insure that these shall not be
contrary to native customs the consent of the people is
gained for them before they are put in force.
"Progress in this way is usually slow, and the system
is not altogether popular from our point of view, but
no vision of a foreign yoke, to be laid heavily on their
shoulders when the opportunity offers, is present to the
native mind."

II
THE CITY OF HONGKONG
Hongkong is the ideal British crown colony, "the
brightest gem in the colonial diadem" of King Edward,
etc., etc., of which every Englishman is proud. Sir
William Des Voeux, for a long time governor, once de
clared: "It may be doubted whether the evidences of
material and moral achievements, presented as it were
in the focus, make anywhere a more forcible appeal to
eye and imagination, and whether any other spot on the
earth is thus more likely to excite or much more fully
justifies pride in the name of Englishmen." That is a
very long and involved compliment, and Sir WiUiam Des
Voeux has had named after him the second best street in
Hongkong. But no inferences should be drawn. I do
not know whether the street was named before or after
this exuberant opinion was expressed, but it makes no dif
ference. Hongkong is a monument of British enterprise ;
a realization of the British ideal of colonial government ;
an asylum for the oppressed ; a hospitable home for wan
derers of every race and nation ; where freedom, liberty,
toleration and other national virtues are exemplified in
the highest degree ; where people can come and go at wUl
without answering questions; where there is no custom
house and no regulations to interfere with the comfort
and convenience of travelers.
For its hospitality Hongkong has been liberaUy re-
373

374 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
warded. There is no more prosperous spot on the foot
stool, and, barring an almost intolerable climate, it has
more to brag about than any other place I know.
EngHshmen have evidently forgotten, or would like
to forget, how they got that ideal piece of property. They
first landed there in 1816, when it was a treeless, rugged
j barren pile, an island twelve miles long made of moun-
I tains, with a deep harbor surrounded and sheltered by a
wall of granite from 1,500 to 4,500 feet high. The name
¦ means "good harbor" and "fragrant streams," and, un
like most towns, it is an accurate and truthful descrip-
i tion. The anchorage is twelve miles long and four miles
wide, making an area of more than fifty square miles,
capable of sheltering half of the ships in the world, and so
much water that those of deepest draught and largest size
can come close to the shore. In 1839, having been driven
from Canton, the English took refuge there and have been
there ever since, making it the pivot of the ocean traffic of
the far east, the most important commercial outpost on
the Asiatic coast of the Pacific, a fortress even more im
pregnable than Gibraltar, and a naval station at which the
strongest fleet in the world is gathered. In the admiration
! of her glory and her pride, it is scarcely polite to mention
j that the island was obtained in a shameful way, being ex-
j acted from the Chinese government as indemnity for a
cargo of India opium which the Chinese officials would
1 not allow English speculators to land.
Hongkong is often used as an object lesson to illustrate
the advantages of free trade, and although it is a very busy
and prosperous community, it is scarcely a fair example,
because it has no industries to protect, its area is very
limited and its people are so wealthy that they can afford
to pay all the taxes that are necessary to support the gov-

THE CITY OF HONKONG 375
ernment without charging duties upon imported goods.
The revenues are about four million and a half dollars a
year, chiefly from taxes upon incomes, real estate and
from the sale of stamps and licenses. There is a public
debt of $1,700,000 incurred to pay for a water supply
and other public works. The value of the trade of Hong
kong can only be estimated, because no records are kept
of the outgoing and incoming merchandise ; but it is the
greatest distributing point in China, and the secretary of
the chamber of commerce estimates the exports and im
ports at about $250,000,000 annually. WhUe the people
have large incomes and live in luxury, they consume com- ,
paratively little and produce even less. The exports are
gathered there from all parts of southern China, from the
towns in the interior as well as upon the coast, most of
them being brought down the rivers on junks and in
sampans in small quantities and collected here for ship
ment by commission men. The imports credited to
Hongkong are distributed in a similar way.
The Chinese do the biggest part of the local trade, and
the wealthiest men in Hongkong belong to that race,
although the foreign trade is chiefly handled by English
and Germans. Great Britain monopolized the commerce
for fifty years, not only there, but throughout all China,
but the Germans are pushing into British colonies with
great energy, as they are everywhere else. They are
establishing branch houses and agencies for the sale of
German merchandise, are securing valuable privileges,
opening lines of communication and obtaining control of
transportation faciHties. In 1904 the North German
Lloyd Steamship Company purchased two important
lines of coasting steamers. One of them runs between
Hongkong and Singapore, touching at Borneo and Phil-

376 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
ippine ports. The other line takes the southern coast,
touching at Bankok, Saigon and the other ports of Siam
and the French colonies in China.
During the five years from 1899 to 1904 twelve German
firms have commenced business in Canton, and their
transactions already represent between $15,000,000 and
$20,000,000 a year. They now control 75 per cent of the
foreign trade of the metropolis of southern China. At
Amoy four German houses have been established, which
are doing a business of $800,000 a year. At Hankow,
in 1903, nine German firms handled $12,000,000 in im
ports and $3,000,000 of the export trade. There are five
German steamers running between Shanghai and Han
kow, where there were none ten years ago. In Tien-
Tsin there are no fewer than twenty-nine German houses,
which have pushed their trade with such energy that they
now handle more than the British, who formerly had a
monopoly, and their share amounts to 60 per cent of the
exports and 40 per cent of the imports. At Shanghai are
sixty-eight German firms, two-thirds of whom have gone
in within the last five years ; and in 1903 they handled 22
per cent of the foreign trade. The English do not seem
to realize their danger from the German invasion, or else
they are assuming an air of indifference to conceal their
concern. In the East, as everywhere, the Germans set other mer
chants a good example of patience, tact and attention to
detail. There is no item too small to be overlooked by
them. They will go as far and work as hard to sell a
paper of pins as a cargo of machinery on the principle
that the man who buys the pins is likely to want some
thing else hereafter. And, what is even more important,
they study the tastes and wants of the people and make

THE CITY OF HONKONG 377
frequent reports to the German manufacturers in order
to guide them in manufacturing goods for that market.
When an Englishman or an American is seeking an
order he shows his samples and states his prices and
endeavors to sell those particular goods. If the cus
tomer wants something else he packs up his samples and
tries elsewhere. The German stays until he finds out
exactly what the customer wants, and then orders it from
the manufacturers. We have comparatively few agents
or salesmen in the East, and, like the English, most of
them are inconsiderate, impatient and pay no attention to
small orders. They insist upon forcing upon their cus
tomers what they have to sell, instead of offering to man
ufacture what their customers want to buy. The Germans
follow an exactly contrary policy. They may lose money
on the first order, but they gain a permanent customer.
Another serious defect in our methods is indifference to
packing. I have referred to this before, but in Hong
kong I found the same complaints that are made in India,
in Burma, in South Africa, in Central and South America
and everywhere that I have been concerning the careless
ness shown by our manufacturers in putting up their
goods. This fault lies, of course, with incompetent or
careless porters, but it should be corrected.
The trade between Hongkong and the United States
is comparatively small, and it might be very much larger.
In 1904, as usual, our exports were almost exclusively
confined to flour, lumber and refined petroleum, valued at
$11,279,353 altogether. The Standard Oil Company has
its principal Asiatic office at Hongkong, and brings out oil
in its own tank ships, sailing vessels of enormous ton
nage, which cruise around Cape Horn from New York,
and it has small tank steamers to distribute the oil

378 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALx\YSIA
among the various ports along the China coast. It com
petes successfully with Russia, as the transportation dis
tance is about equal. A milling company of San Fran
cisco has opened a branch house and is building up a
large trade. In 1904 it handled 5,513,794 sacks of Amer
ican flour, and the trade is rapidly increasing.
The big ships recently put in service by the Pacific
Mail S. S. Company and the two fine steamers belonging
to the Boston Towboat Company, which are how sailing
between Tacoma and Hongkong, and the tremendous
freighters of the Great Northern railroad, are able to
handle flour at much lower rates than were formerly
charged, and have sufficient capacity to carry all the flour
that will be needed on the Asiatic coast for many years
. to come. It is only necessary now for the millers of the
Pacific coast to send men out to cultivate the white-bread
habit among the Chinese, which will be comparatively
easy because they like it better than rice, and the impos
sibility of feeding the enormous population from their
own soil is being demonstrated every year. The market
for flour is almost unlimited, but until recently nothing has
been done to cultivate it.
The exports from Hongkong to the United States are
comparatively small. In 1904 they amounted to only
$1,479,811 and consisted of rice, raw sUk, native pro
visions and medicine for the Chinese colonies in America,
silk piece goods, matting, rattan ware, hogs' bristles, pea
nut oil, preserves and sundries.
The transportation faciHties between Hongkong and
the United States are ample. The Pacific Mail Steamship
Company sends a steamer from San Francisco every
week. The Great Northern railway has a Hne from
Seattle, and there is a third line running in connection

THE CITY OF HONKONG 379
with the Northern Pacific railroad from Tacoma. We
now have a splendid fleet of merchant ships upon the
Pacific ; as fine as float upon any water. The Boston line
which runs in connection with the Northern Pacific rail
road has the Tremont and Shamut, each of 9,600 tons;
the Pacific Mail has the Korea, Siberia, Mongolia and
Manchuria of 10,500 tons each, and the old China, which
has been the queen of the Pacific for a dozen years. The
Great Northern steamers, the Minnesota, Dakota and
Montana, of 18,000 tons each, have not yet made their
appearance, but are expected to go into service before
these pages are printed.
During 1903 20,218 vessels of 8,734,308 tons burden
entered the harbor of Hongkong, and 20,094 vessels of
8,595,517 tons cleared with cargoes. The British steam
ers numbered 3,377, with a tonnage of 4,429,743 ; Ger
many came next with 797 steamers of 1,184,202 tons,
Japan with 303 of 838,362 tons, France with 452 steamers
of 588,000 tons, while down toward the end of the list is
the United States, with ninety-six steamers of 137,271
tons. These figures place Hongkong among the great
ports of the world, as noted in another chapter.
The harbor that holds all this shipping is the most
important military and naval station of Great Britain
beyond the British coast, hence the approaches by sea
are strongly fortified, even more strongly than Gibraltar.
It has two entrances, one at either end, and both are com
manded by extensive earthworks concealed among the
hills and armed with the latest ordnance. No one is
allowed to approach them. While out walking one fine
morning I wandered into an inclosure that is surrounded
by a high wooden fence, supposing it to be a park, but
before many seconds I was informed to the contrary by

38o EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
a stalwart Scotchman with a red coat and a big rifle, who
inquired for my pass and told me I could not go any
farther without one. Stopping at the guardhouse, I
chatted with the men, and found that no strangers were
admitted or allowed to inspect the fortifications under any
circumstances, and that even the soldiers of the garrison
were permitted to go only so far and no farther, unless
they belong to the batteries on duty there.
You cannot see the fortifications from the harbor nor
from the ships as they enter and leave — only the roofs of
the houses are visible. The guns are entirely concealed.
There are immense barracks, military hospitals, ware
houses, arsenals, machine-shops, gun factories and other
miHtary institutions scattered all over the island, and at
present 7,640 English and Indian troops and 5,597 sailors
and marines are on duty there, while floating in the harbor
is the largest fleet of battle ships, cruisers and torpedo
boats that side of the British Channel. They all have
their war paint on, the lead color that is supposed to be
invisible, and are lying quietly, ready for whatever may
turn up. Occasionally the admiral orders them out for
practice to Mirs Bay, a neighboring harbor, where Ad
miral Dewey's fleet lay before the attack upon Manila.
You remember that when war was declared Dewey's
ships were in Hongkong harbor, and the governor, ac
cording to international regulations, ordered them to leave
within twenty-four hours and issued a proclamation warn
ing everbody within his jurisdiction to observe the strict
est neutrality and forbidding them to give aid or comfort
to the yankees.
Dewey hoisted anchor and dropped down to Mirs Bay,
where his fleet lay unmolested until junks and lighters
from Hongkong had brought him all the coal and sup-

THE CITY OF HONKONG 381
plies he needed. The Spaniards made a great fuss about
it and accused Englishmen of violating the neutrality
laws, but the governor showed them his proclamation and
told them that if Admiral Dewey had obtained any aid
or comfort from Hongkong he was a very naughty man,
and dropped the subject.
To show what it costs Great Britain to protect a little
colony that isn't bigger than the District of Columbia
and has fewer than 300,000 population, I give a list of the
men-of-war in the harbor during the spring of 1904:
Tonnage. Guns.
Albion, battie ship  12,950 16
Glory, battle ship  12,950 16
Ocean, battle ship  12,950 16
Vengeance, battle ship  12,950 12
Amphitrite, cruiser  1 1,000 12
Centurion, battle ship  10,500 15
Cressy, cruiser  12,000 14
Blenheim, cruiser  9,000 12
Talbot, cruiser  5.600 1 1
Sirius, cruiser  3,600 8
Wivern, coast defense ship  2,750 12
Alacrity, dispatch boat  1,700 10
Tamar, receiving ship  4,600 6
Vestal, sloop  980 10
Bramble, gunboat  71° 6
Rambler, surveying ship  583
Water Witch, surveying ship  620
Fame, torpedo boat destroyer  360 6
Sparrow-hawk, torpedo boat destroyer  360 6
Taku, torpedo boat destroyer  250 6
Virago, torpedo destroyer  360 6
Whiting, torpedo boat destroyer  360 6

382 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
There were three admirals, a vice admiral and two rear
admirals, and the officers of the fleet and their famiHes
make quite a naval colony. The wife of the miHtary com
mandant. General Hatton, is an American.
There are also fleets at Shanghai and up the Yang-tse
River, and vessels at Yokohama and other of the northern
ports. The British have another naval station at Wei-
hai-wei. The most important duty of the ships is to protect the
big docks, shipyards, arsenals, warehouses and other
places where the British have stored supplies for the army
and the fleet. In case England became involved ih a war
the enemy's ships would start straight for Hongkong, for
it is the base of British supplies.
There are several dry docks at Hongkong, and the
largest is big enough to take in any ship that floats. All
the navies and merchant fleets take advantage of them.
Attached to the dry docks are the largest foundries and
machine-shops in the East, and they are kept busy with
the patronage of all nations.
Hongkong is a free port. The gates are always open
and the latch string is always hanging out. Everybody
comes and goes at pleasure; subjects of every nation are
allowed to acquire property and do business and have the
benefit of all the resources and advantages of the colony.
Hence the population is very cosmopolitan. According
to the census of 1901, there are 283,975 inhabitants, an in
crease of 62,500 during the last ten years and 128,400
since 1881. Of these 274,543 are Chinese, 3,007 EngHsh,
1,956 Portuguese, 1,453 Hindus, 445 Germans, 351 Amer
icans, 165 Jews, 126 Spanish, 103 Frenchmen, and nearly
every other nationality on earth is represented. It is a
hospitable asylum for fugitives, for the policy of the Brit-

THE CITY OF HONKONG 383
ish government is to protect all comers as long as they
behave themselves. It does not inquire into their past
or future and is concerned with their present only.
The Chinese population are wealthy, industrious and
contented, and it demonstrates what valuable citizens
Chinese make when they are allowed to exercise their
peculiar characteristics. They are peaceful and law-
abiding. They furnish the entire labor element and
servant class. There are no strikes and the only drunk
enness and disorder is found in the European saloons and
resorts. No city of 300,000 in the world is more orderly,
although it is notorious that Hongkong is the asylum of
cutthroats, pirates and desperate characters from all parts
of China. The government is administered by a gov
ernor who has an executive council and a legislative coun
cil to assist him. Of the latter, two are Chinese and two
are English citizens elected by the Chamber of Commerce.
The colonial authorities allow the Chinese a sort of self-
government, and affairs which concern them exclusively
are regulated by native committees under the supervision
of the Chinese members of the legislative council. Most
of the retail business is conducted by Chinese. They fur
nish the mechanics and factory hands, and there are sev
eral important industries. The cotton mills and sugar
refineries of Hongkong rank with any in the world.
There is very little soil on the mountains that surround
Hongkong, hence few gardens. All of the vegetables
and other food consumed in the city are brought on boats
from up the river and from the surrounding islands. The
poHce force is composed of Sikhs from India, and retired
soldiers and sailors of the British army, who wear medals
of honor.
The city of Victoria, as the settlement is called, is set

384 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
on edge, and consists of a series of terraces upon the
mountain side, rising one above the other, so that from
the deck of a ship in the harbor you can see almost every
house in town, and the residences, apartment-houses and
public buildings make an imposing spectacle. The strip
of land that lay around the base of the rock when the
city was started afforded room for one street only, but
from time to time land has been reclaimed from the har
bor by filling, until there are now three streets between
the water and the foot of the hill which are lined with
splendid buildings, perhaps the best specimens of archi
tecture in the East. The land has been acquired at an
enormous cost and the improvements are appropriate.
A great deal of building is going on at present. Several
large blocks are in course of erection, and the residence
section is being rapidly extended. More fine houses
adorn the mountain sides each year, and in time the ter
races will extend to the crest, which is now ornamented
by a picturesque group of hotels, hospitals, clubs and
bungalows. They are reached by a cable railway running
up to a height of 1,800 feet at an angle of sixty degrees,
and reaching a little park 1,823 feet above the sea, where
the British flag floats always, night and day, and sem
aphores notify the people of the city when approaching
vessels are signaled.
The summer residence of the governor is hidden in a
pretty notch near by, surrounded by a number of bunga
lows erected by rich Hongkongers so that they also may
be comfortable during the heat and humidity of the sum
mer months. The difference in temperature between the
peak and the city below is not less than 10 degrees and
often as great as 15.
The houses along the hillside are built in even rows;

THE CITY OF HONKONG 385
the streets that run one way are level, while those which
run at right angles are very steep. Carriages are use
less and sedan chairs borne by two Chinese are kept for
transportation purposes by every household that can
"afford them, while jinrikishas are used down on the sea
level. Street car tracks have been laid and trolley poles
have been erected for several miles on the streets around
the bay ; but, for some reason or another which I could
not ascertain, they have never been used. Perhaps it is
because the city authorities do not wish to deprive the
hundreds of jinrikisha men of a living. Everything
seems to be done with a view to securing the greatest
good to the greatest number and employing the largest
number of people possible. At a place where the
macadam pavement was being repaired I noticed a roller
that was hauled back and forth by twenty-eight women,
most of them old and comparatively feeble, who were
paid perhaps a penny a day ; but that will buy rice enough
to keep them alive.
There are several fine public buildings, churches,
statues, gardens and parks. The city hall contains a
theater and ballroom; there is a public library and mu
seum, and the Hongkong Club occupies a palatial build
ing with an excellent restaurant and large library. In
the middle of the city, among the banks and counting-
houses, is a spacious recreation ground, where cricket,
tennis, football and other games are going on continually.
On the outskirts there is a race track, and two meetings
are held every year, although horses are very scarce in
that part of the world. Queen's College, supported by
the government, is an excellent institution; there is a
seminary for young women which is largely patronized
by the Chinese aristocracy, and the public schools are

386 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
considered the best in China. There are hospitals,
asylums and other philanthropic institutions, and every
thing that is required by a civilized community.
The fact that the city is built upon the side of a granite
mountain made drainage difficult and the water supply a
serious problem, but both have been solved with great
satisfaction. Every street has culverts and deep gutters
hewn in the rock to carry off the rainfall, while enough
water for a million people is brought from the other side
of the mountains through a tunnel nearly a mile long,
drilled through the solid rock, from a reservoir fed by
a hundred springs. From the tunnel the water is con
ducted four miles around the hiUside in a cement conduit
to a storage reservoir and filtering beds with a capacity
of 390,000,000 gallons.

Ill
EASTERN OFFICIAL SALARIES
The civil service of Indian, Kongkong and other Brit
ish provinces in the East is a matter of national pride, and
no one can study its records and its methods without ad
mitting its success and superiority to the ordinary official
administration of other governments. The reason for
its character and efficiency is easily found. The govern
ment gets good men because it offers suitable induce
ments, permanent positions at large salaries, rapid pro
motion for merit, with liberal leaves of absence and
pensions upon retirement at the termination of certain
periods of service. Our government must adopt a simi
lar policy in the Philippines if it would have an equally
good administration. Every congressman and every
other person interested in the administration of affairs at
Manila, particularly President Roosevelt, Secretary Taft,
Governor Wright and those who have immediate control
of affairs, should carefully study the salary list of the
British colonies in the East, particularly that of India,
the conditions of appointment and the regulations gov
erning the civil service.
There has already been considerable criticism of the
large salaries now paid to officials in the Philippines, but
it comes from people who know nothing whatever of the
requirements necessary or the compensation received by
similar officials in other parts of the East. I have a com-
387

388 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA

parative statement showing in American gold the salaries
paid in the Philippine Islands, in British India, Ceylon,
the Straits Settlements, Hongkong and other British col
onies to officials of corresponding rank or performing
similar duties, and I suggest that it is worthy of the at
tention of those who are taking an interest in this subject.

Philippine Islands.
Governor  $15,000
Priv. sec. to governor. 2,500
Exec, sec  7,5oo
Asst. executive sec... 4,000
Chief clerk to sec  2,500
Heads of departments. 10,500
Auditor  7,ooo
Deputy auditor  4,000
Treasurer  7,000
Asst. treas  4,000
Col. of customs  7,000
Dep. col. of customs. . 4,000
Chief justice  7,soo
Associate justices  7,000
Judges, court of istinst 5,500
Clerk of Supreme Ct.. 3,000
Attorney general  7,000
Solicitor general  5,5oo
Dep. clerks of court. . . 2,000
Director of posts  6,000
Asst. dir. of posts  3,250
Supt money order office 2,000
Postmasters  3,7oo
Supt. of education  6,000
Com. of public health 
Chief health inspector. 3,500
Medical insp  2,500
Attend, phys. and surg 3,000
Veterinary surgeon... 1,800
Sanitary engineer  3,500
Supt. of gov laboratory 6,000
Dir. of biological lab. 3,500
Consulting engineer. . . 5,000
Prin. asst. engineer. . . . 3,500
Railroad engineer .... 3,600
Asst. eng. & supervisor 2,500
Chief draughtsman. .. . 2,000

Straits

British

Hong
Settle
India.
Ceylon.
kong.
ments.
$81,092
$25,755
$24,250
$24,250
8,248
970
1,355
I.3SS
14,118
8,245
10,800
7,760
8,245
3.233
4,800
4.947
....
1,067
2,910
4,200
14.958
14,118
5,8^
4.800
S.420
8,245
1,500
1,500
....
9,258
5,820
6,000
s.420
970
3,000
2,328
6,000
4,1 IS
....
4.06s
3.000
2,42s
2,618
23,818
8,880
13.500
8,130
14,948
5,820
8,400
6,20s
14.958
5,820
5,420
8,248
1,940
S.400
3.492
12,702
5,820
7,275
6,205
8,245
3.233
4,065
4,122
3.S00
4,S36
2,910
12,178
5.150
4,800
4.947
10,238
2,090
3,000
....
1,775
2,280
2,328
8,24s
3.233
S.400
4,947
3.233
S.440
4,947
4,947
4.S15
6,000
4,850
4,122
2.575
5,280
2,575
3,492
4,06s
....
1,940
3.490
2,522 3,300
2,710
....
2,688
3,492
....
2,770
....
14,118
5.48s
7,800
5.420
12,178
3,233
4.850
S.400
4,065
3,233
4.8oi
2,328

1,617
1,200
EASTERN OFFICIAL SALARIES 389
Straits
Philippine British Hong- Settle-
Islands. India. Ceylon. kong, ments.
Chief of constabulary. $  $  $4,5 IS $7,200 $4,850
o 3.4924.947

Asst. chiefs of constab. 3,500
Warden of prisons. . . . 3,000  2,575
Dep. wardens  2,500  ...'.
Gov. printer  4,000 j  2,575
Chief bureau pub. land 3,200 9.559 
Prov. treas  3,000 8,800 5,820
Prov. gov  3,000 38,800 5,820

2,3283.783
6,7905,420

You will notice that although the governors of Ceylon,
Hongkong and the Straits Settlements have duties and
responsibilities that are insignificant compared with those
imposed upon Governor Wright of the Philippines, they
get about $io,coo a year more salary than he. And the
heads of departments in India receive as much as the
governor of the Philippines. The chief justice of Hong
kong, a little settlement not so large as the District of
Columbia, has $5,000 a year more than the chief justice
at Manila, and the chief justice of India has $16,000 more,
while the associate justices in those colonies get twice as
much as in the Philippines, the judges of the lower courts
nearly three times as much, and other judicial offices cor
responding advances. It is refreshing occasionally to
discover that some of our men get more salary than the
Englishmen. This peculiar distinction belongs to the
superintendent of education, health inspectors and one or
two other scientific men in Manila. But, as a rule, the
salaries paid in the British colonies will average twice as
much as those we pay in the PhiUppines, and in the case
of provincial governors in India they are twelve times as
much. Lieutenant governors in India receive $38,800 a year,
and secretaries or heads of bureaus in the provinces are
paid $12,500, which is more than is received by the com-

390 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
missioners in the Philippines. Members of the boards of
revenue in India receive $15,000 a year. All magistrates
of the first class throughout the empire are paid $10,000
a year, which is the minimum of the judiciary. District
and session judges receive from that amount to $15,000 a
year, according to their length of service and importance
of the circuit over which they preside.
In Burma, where official responsibilities and duties are
as light as in any other country of the world, and where
the population is only 7,605,560, the governor receives
$38,000 a year, the chief secretary $12,500, four under
secretaries $8,500 a year each, the finance officer or treas
urer $14,500, disbursing officer $11,500, commissioners,
who are local executives in charge of districts, $12,500
each, and a commissioner of agriculture $11,500.
All of the gentlemen now occupying these positions,
and drawing these salaries, excepting the judges, began
at the bottom of the ladder. They entered the public
service in the Indian colonies before they were 25 years
old after passing two examinations, the second occurring
after one year of probation, in which their administrative
qualities and adaptability had been fairly tested, and the
record they made during that first year counted so many
numbers in their total standing. They have been com
pelled to submit to similar examinations at every pro
motion since, and have worked their way up by merit
without political influence, although, as is always the
case, the personal equation entered into every calculation.
A good many weak ones drop out by the wayside. The
civil service in the East Indies is a survival of the fittest ;
and you may be sure that a man who survives all of the
tests and conditions incident to advancement is made of
good stuff. At the same time, when he enters the service

EASTERN OFFICIAL SALARIES 391
he knows that nobody but a better man can get ahead of
him ; he is sure that he wiU not be displaced by the favor
ite of some member of parliament, and that every time
a vacancy occurs he stands an equal chance of promotion
with everybody else of his rank. He knows, too, that his
employment is permanent upon good behavior, and, that,
after twenty-four years of service, he will be entitled to a
pension if he desires to retire. These pensions vary from
$360 to $1,080 a year, according to the rank of the officials
and they have the privilege of commuting them and re
ceiving a stated amount of cash, which is calculated by
an actuary on the same basis as is a life insurance pre
mium. But, unlike the rule of our government, if a pen
sioner accepts any other office or receives any other
emolument from the government the amount of his pen
sion must be deducted.
The British government gives pensions to both its civil
and miHtary officers upon retirement for age or disability,
and requires both to provide for their wives and children
after death by a form of compulsory insurance. The
details may be found at length in the army regulations.-
Similar regulations prevail in all the European countries.
Every officer who enters the military service, if he be
married, must, as a condition of his appointment, pay into
the treasury a stated sum for his wife and for each of his
children. This sum varies according to his age, and is
based upon the same risks as life insurance premiums.
Every time he is promoted and upon the birth of every
child his premium, or "contribution," as it is called, is
increased, and each officer, both married or unmarried,
must submit to a monthly deduction from his pay for in
surance purposes.
For this the officers of the army, navy and marine corps

392 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA
are divided into five classes according to their rank:
Class I., which includes officers of the rank of colonel
and above, are required to deposit £384 upon entering the
service, or, upon their marriage, if they already belong
to the service, and pay £72 additional every time they are
promoted. They also have £4 15s lod per month deducted
from their pay, and every time they have a child born
they are required to deposit £15 for a son and £24 for a
daughter. Class II. includes the officers of the rank of lieutenant
colonel, who must deposit £192 upon entering the service,
pay £36 upon every promotion and have £3 i6s 8d de
ducted from their pay each month.
Officers of Class IIL, which includes those of the rank
of major, deposit £96, pay £24 upon promotion and suffer
monthly deductions of £2 17s 6d.
Class IV., which includes officers of the rank of cap
tain, deposit £48 upon appointment, £12 upon promotion,
and pay monthly premiums of £1 i8s 4d.
Class V. includes officers of the rank of lieu
tenant, who deposit £24 upon appointment, pay £12
upon promotion and a monthly premium of 19s 2d.
All officers of whatever rank are required to pay the
"birth tax" stated above. If an officer appointed to the
service has children at the time of his appointment, he
must make an extra deposit varying from £4 los to £10
15s each, according to their age.
If an officer retires from the service his premium is re
duced one-half, or he is permitted to take a paid-up policy
for the insurance value of his investment; or he can
settie by surrendering all his obligations for cash, the
same as with an insurance company.
Officers who are dismissed from the service by the

EASTERN OFFICIAL SALARIES 393
sentence of a court-martial lose everything; their insur
ance is declared void and all premiums they have paid are
forfeited to the government as a part of the penalty.
By another arrangement officers of the army may in
sure the free return of their wives and families to England
from any part of the tropics in case of their death. This
is very common. Few married officers neglect the pre
caution, for the amount of the premium is small and the
benefit is comparatively large. All they have to do is to
pay a small sum, something about $100, into the treasury,
and receive from the government a certificate entitling
their wives and children to free first-class passage to
London or any other point in England.
Under the insurance regulations above given, the wid
ows of officers of Class I. receive annual pensions of $900 ;
of Class IL, $650 ; of Class IIL, $500 ; of Class IV., $350 ;
of Class v., $200, and $50 a year for each child up to the
age of 6 years ; $100 for children between 6 and 12 years,
$150 for those children between 12 and 21 years, and
daughters over 21 receive $225 a year for life or until
marriage. No pensions are paid to sons after they reach
the age of 21. FINIS.

INDEX

Abbas Hilmi II, Khedive 48, 52 129
Aden, City of - - 234
Age of Egyptian Inscrip
tions - 70
Agriculture in Egypt 62, 145, 173
in Burma - - 254, 344
Alexander the Great, Tomb
of - - - 25
Alexandria, City of - - 20
Harbor of - - 21
American Colony in Egypt 65, 103
American Steamships - 378
Anatolian Railway 246
Animals, Arab kindness to 133
Antiquities in Egypt - 83, 85
Anthony, Marc 87
Arabia, government of - 224
mountains of - - 225
population of - - 226
Arabi Fasha - - 53
Arabian kindness to ani
mals . - - 133
Army in Egypt, British - 67
Assuan, dam of - - 150
Bagdad Rail-way - - 245
Bamboo, usefulness of - 282
Baptists in Burma - - 261
Bazaars in Cairo - - 35, 41
Bedouins, the - - - log
Beggars, Egyptian - 31
Bengal, Bay of - 251
Bishop of Burma, Bud
dhist - - - - 293
Blindness in Egypt - 137
Boats on the Nile - IS9

Book, oldest in world

69. 92

Borneo, island of - -

365

British Military in Egypt

67

navy at Hong Kong

381

reforms in Malaysia

357

rule in Burma

259

Brooke, Sir James -

367

Buddhists in Burma

267

Buddhist religion

268

Bulls, tombs of the

82

Burma, hotels in - -

251

Burmese, appearance of -

253

customs of - -

283

Cafes, Egyptian

43

Cairo, ancient - - -

36

bazaars of - ;

35. 41

city of -

33

customs of -

34

population of

27

University of

118

Cambyses the Persian

72

Camels

234

Canal, Suez

210

cost of - - 17, 214
Canteen, Egyptian army - 116
Caravans, Egyptian - 220, 226
Cartouches, Egyptian - 96
Catacombs of Alexandria 26
Ceremonies in Burma - 303
Character, Burmese - 283
Characteristics of Malays 353
Cheops, pyramid of - - 72
Chinese in Burma - 260, 346
in Hong Kong - 375, 384
in Johore - - 363
in Malaysia - 331, 354
usefulness of - 352

396

INDEX

Christianity in Burma - 273
Church of England in
Egypt - 67
Citadel of Cairo, the - 50
Cities ot Burma ¦ - 257
Civil service in East 370, 387
in Egypt - . - 105
Cleopatra, character of - 87
mummy of - - - 86
Climate of Burma - - 255
of Egypt - - - 30
of Singapore - - 301
Clubs in Egypt, army 116
Coffee, Arabian - - 236
Commerce ot East Indies - 359
of Egypt - - no
of Hong Kong - 377
of Singapore - 359
of the Sudan 197
Copts, the ... 109
Corvee system in Egypt - 60, 72
Cotton Crop of Egypt 149
exports from Egypt 112
Courts of Egypt - - loi
Crime in Egypt - 105, 130
in Malaysia - - - 367
Cromer, Lord - - -
54, 57, 64, 126, 147, 188,, 204
Curzon, Lord - - 240, 242
Customs, Arab - - - 172
Burmese - - . 283
of Burmese Court 305, 324
Dahbeyahs on Nile - - 160
Dam of Assuan - 150
Dairymen, Egyptian - 136
Dancing Girls, Egyptian - 132
Davis, Theodore M. - 92, 181
Debt of Egypt - - 63
De Lesseps, Ferdinand 16, 212
Dervishes - - 186
Desert, Arabian - 234
Development of Sudan - 194

Dewey at Hong Kong 380
Dishonesty in Egypt - 62
Dog of King Thebaw - 320
Donkeys of Cairo 43, 134
Dragomen, Egyptian 32, 178
Education in Burma 263, 271
in Egypt - - - 124
Egyptians, character of 148
Egypt, government of 48
Elephant, sacred white - 322
Elephants at work - - 335
El Mahdi, rebellion of 185
English authority in Sudan 188
population of Egypt - 66
Etna, Mount - - - 11
Eve, tomb of - - - 229
Evil eye, terror of - - 137
Exodus, scene of - 221
Exploration, East Indian - 35.5
Exports of Malay States 352
Family of Egypt, royal - 48
Finances, Egyptian - 58, loi
Foreigners in Egypt - 108
Foreign Trade of Malay
States ... 352
Game in Sudan - - 199
Ganges River, the - - 252
Gardens, Egyptian - - 30
Germans in Hong Kong - 376
German methods in trade 377
railways in East - 246
Gordon, General Charles 54. 187, 192
Goshen, land of 96
Government of Malaysia - 369
Grave robbing in Egypt 115
Great Northern steamers - 379
Harem, the - - 57, 129
Hat-su, temple of Queen 177, 179

INDEX

397

- 98
252 37
- 38s
- 377
374. 379

Heliopolis, city of -
Hindu peasants
Historic spots -
Hong Kong, city of -
commerce of -
harbor of . .
population of
Hospital, first in history - 38
Hotels of Egypt . 28, 161
Human sacrifices, Burma 300
Hyksos dynasty of Egypt 96
Ibrahim, General - - 52
Imports of Egypt - no
Incubators, Egyptian 135
Inhabitants of Borneo 365
Inundations of the Nile 142
Invasion of Egypt - 70
Irrawaddy River, the - 253
Flotilla Company - 328
Irrigation system in Egypt 142
Ismail Khedive 16, 23. 52, 129
Ismaila, town of 16, 314
Izalco, volcano of 12

Jesus in Egypt -

- 96

Jewels, ancient

94

Jews in Burma

- 266

in Egypt

- 109

Jiddah, port of

226

Johore, state of

362

sultan of

- 364

gambling in -

36s

Joseph the Patriarch

94

Judson, Idoniram

261

Kaaba, sacred stone of 232
Karnak, ruins of - 163
Khartum, city of 184, 191
Khedive, the - - 48, 54, 129
Kitchener, Lord - - 187

Lands in Egypt, public

153

Letter-writers, public - 46
Library at Alexandria - 24
Lighthouse, the first - 24
Luxor, city of - 158, 161
ruins of ... 163
Mahdi, EI - - 186, 189
Malay Peninsula - - 351
characteristics - - 371
States, government of 357
Mamelukes, massacre of - 50
Mandalay, city of -
281, 288, 295, 298
Manuscripts, papyrus 69
Marriage in Egypt - 130
Massacre at Mandalay - 317
Mecca, city of - - 230
pilgrims at - 227
Mehemet AU - 50, 147
Memphis, ruins of - 80
Menes, King of Egypt - 70, 80
Mena Hotel, Cairo - 76
Mindon Min, King 289, 297, 312
Ministers of Burmese cab
inet .... 305
Missions in Burma, Amer
ican - - 272, 316
Missionaries, Protestant
121, 126, 201, 207, 239,
261, 272 - - 316
Missionaries in the Sudan 20i
Mohammedans - 108, 186
Monks, Buddhist - 279, 292
Mosques in Cairo - 132
Mosquitos in Egypt - - 31
Mummies, public exposure
of - 86
Mummies, how preserved 91
Music, Arab - 172
Museum at Cairo - - 85
Napoleon, invasion of
Egypt - . 50

398

INDEX

Navigation in Burma - 330
Navy at Hong Kong, Brit
ish - - - 381
Nile, boats on - - - 159
distances on - 141
valley of - 142
the Upper 184
Northern Pacific steamers 379
Obelisks, Egyptian - - 98
Ocean voyages, fashions of 12
Ofi&cial service - - 105
Ostrich farms, Egyptian 99
Pacific mail steamers - 378
Pagodas of Burma 274, 280, 292, 330
Pagodas, the 450 - 290
Palace of King Thebaw 307
Peasants of Egypt - 156
Peddlers, Egyptian - - 31, 78
Pendergast, General 320
Pensions, civil service - 391
Persian Gulf, the - - 239
commerce of - 244
Persian politics - - 240
Petroleum in Burma - 338
Pharoahs, mummies of - 90
Pharoah of the Israelites - 166
Philippines, civil service in 387
Pilgrimages to Mecca - 227
Politics in Burma - 345
in the East 239
Pompey's Pillar - - 26
Population of Egypt 107
of Hong Kong - 382
Port Said - - 13
Poverty in Egypt 156
Presbyterians, the United 207
Priests in Burma, Bud
dhist ... 268
Prisse papyrus, the . - 69, 92
Promenades in Cairo - 76

Public lands in Egypt - 153
Pwes, or Burmese parties 287
Pyramids of Gizeh - 75
Pyramids, the Great 6g, 70, 79
Quarantine in Burma 256
Queens of Burma - 313
Rags exported from Egypt 114
Railways in Burma - 281, 340
Egyptian 15, 18, 158, 185
in East Indies - 359
Russian - - 241
Rainy season, Egyptian - 143
Rameses the Great -
- 81, 85, 90, 165
Rangoon, city of - 251, 258
Raum, Colonel - 73
Red Sea - 221, 223
Reforms in Egypt 58
in East Indies 358
Religions of Sudanese - 204
of Egypt - 108
of Burma - - 268
Rivers of Burma - - 327
Royal family of Burma - 313
of Egypt - - 48
Ruby mining, Burma 331
Russians in Persia - 240
Russian railway building - 241

Sacrifices, human, Burma

300

St. Mark the Apostle

20, 25

Sais, Egyptian the

138

Sakkara, ruins of

82

Saladin

36, 38

Salaries in East Indies

388

in Philippines

388

Sanitary regulations at

Mecca

227

Sarawak, colony of -

366

Savings banks in Egypt -

154

Scarabs

96

INDEX

399

Schools in Burma - - 263
in Cairo . - 123
in Sudan - - 192, 196
Sesostris, King - 90, i6s
Seti I. , mummy of go
Sheik el Islam, the - 49
Shoe question, the Bur
mese - - . 324
Singapore, city of - 361
commerce of - - 358
foundation of - 356
Slave trade, the Egyptian 196
Smoking in Burma - 285
Snakes in Borneo 366
Sphinx, the 73
Statues in Egypt - 22
Steamships, American 378
manners on - - 12
in Burma - 328
Stromboli, volcano of 11
Sudan, the 184
government ot 188
schools in - ig2, 196
trade with - 197
Suez Canal - 209
cost of 214
Supayalat, Queen of
Burma - 3 15
Tattooing in Burma - - 284
Taxes, irrigation 146
Taxation in Egypt 60
Teakwood of Burma 334

Teak timber, Burma - 328
Temperature of Singapore 361
Temples of Burma - 276, 294
Tewfik Pasha - 53
Thebaw, King - 289, 296, 312
palace ot - - 307
thrones of - - 307
titles of - - - 305
Thebes, ruins of 81, 162, 178
Thrones of Burma - - 304
Tin mining in Malaysia 352
Titles of King of Burma 303
Tombs of Egyptian kings 170, 175
Tourists in Egypt - 29
Trade with Sudan 197
Traveling in Burma - 255
Treaties with Egypt 102
Turkeys, Egyptian - 134
University of Cairo 118
Vesuvius, Mount - n
Viaduct in Burma, Amer
ican - 342
Volcanoes, freaks of - n
Women, emancipation of
Egyptian 128
War between England and
Burma - 3^9
Wealth in Burma 343
Weather, Egyptian - 3°
Wellcome, Henry S. - i95

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 05403 1688

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