A YOUNG AMERICAN AT SHEPHEARD’S HOTEL—DRIVE TO THE PYRAMIDS
OF GIZEH—ASCENT AND EXPLORATION OF THE PYRAMID OF CHEOPS—THE
SPHINX.
We arrived at our hotel rather tired, and felt it quite a relief to
stretch our legs out straight after having them cramped up so long whilst
on our donkeys. Having partaken of a good dinner, I adjourned to the
balcony with a cigarette, sank into an easy lounge, and communed with
my own thoughts. I had not been here long before I discovered sitting
near me an individual, apparently about 23 years of age, whose nether
extremities rested on the back of a chair, his feet being parallel with
his chin. He was dressed in a somewhat _outré_ manner, the lower limbs
being encased in check prolongations; the body in a brown coat, something
like a sack in shape; the throat was surrounded by a loose, turn-down
collar, and loose neckerchief, whilst the summit of this curious
specimen of humanity was crowned by a huge felt hat, with an enormous
brim. The clouds of smoke which he emitted from his mouth rivalled a
young volcano; he was smoking a cigar, and did not forget to expectorate
in a most profuse and dangerous manner, so much so that, feeling in
somewhat dangerous proximity to the fire of his artillery, I got up with
the intention of escaping any little salivary accidents; but my silent
companion had his eye on me, and thus suddenly addressed me in the
decidedly nasal accent and twang peculiar to the inhabitants of America—
“Stranger, I guess this Cairo is a tarnation rummy place?”
Seeing no reason to dispute this by no means rash assertion, I readily
conceded the point; and, by way of carrying on the conversation, ventured
to remark that—
“It certainly is a very curious and interesting old place, and the
inhabitants no less so.”
_He_: “That’s so, sirree; they _are_ queer beggars, and so _are_ their
wimen.”
This also was an indisputable fact, and I acknowledged that they were a
strange race, strongly wedded to old customs, and as strongly opposed to
innovations.
_He_: “Stranger, yew don’t roost here, I guess?”
_I_: “No; I am just travelling for a few months, and shall leave Cairo in
two or three days’ time.”
_He_: “In what line may you be travelling, stranger?”
Now, of course I knew what he meant, but thought his remarks were so
original, not to say impertinent, that I must not omit this opportunity
of extracting some amusement, and provide material for my diary. I
therefore replied—
“Oh! I came by the P. and O. line to Alexandria, by rail here, and now my
lines have fallen in pleasant places.”
“Guess yew don’t quite fathom me. What’s yer business, and where are you
going tew?” said he.
I then gave him the names of a number of places in Egypt and the Soudan,
enumerating them as rapidly as I could, so that I am quite sure my nasal
friend was very little the wiser for the information.
He enshrouded himself in a huge cloud of smoke, vigorously expectorated
once more, and regarding me fixedly for a moment, exclaimed—
“By Jupiter! stranger, that’s a large order. Opening up a trade or
colon_ize_, I guess.”
I suppose, because I told him I was travelling with six other gentlemen,
he thought we were going to start a colony somewhere, and then annex
all the adjacent country, which, by the way, would certainly be a very
good thing for the Egyptians and the Soudanese, and very probably for
ourselves also. However, I gave him to understand that we were simply
travelling for pleasure, exploration, and sport. Notwithstanding this, my
Yankee acquaintance was determined to turn me inside out if he could; he,
therefore, was so complimentary as to say—
“Well, now, I guess you are a gentleman?”
To this I answered—
“Thanks; I trust your surmise is a correct one;” and I might have said,
but I did not, “Sorry I cannot return the compliment.”
I have often heard of the pertinacity of an American reporter, but it
appears to me that the bump of inquisitiveness is not by any means
confined to them, but pervades the whole community. There was no
shilly-shallying, no delicate, nicely-worded hints and adroitly-put
questions; but my interrogator was determined to find out all about me if
he could, and so he asked me how long I had been in Cairo, how old I was,
if I was married or single, how many children I had, if I lived on my
money, and lots of the most impertinent questions, and finally finished
up by saying, “Guess you are a Britisher?”
Having, as he thought, pumped me pretty considerably, he was good enough
to take me into his confidence, and tell me all about himself, and his
belongings, and “_hew_ his father had left him a pile,” adding, “Guess I
spend some, and move about a bit.” I could not help saying—
“I think you are wise to pursue that course; travel will improve you a
good deal, and, like the marble statuary in the Baulac Museum, it will
put on a little polish.”
He eulogised the States and the inhabitants thereof, and was apparently
under the impression that America was the only place worth speaking of,
winding up with the quite unnecessary announcement—
“I’m ’Merican.”
“Oh, yes,” I replied; “I knew at once you were an American.”
“Yes; is that so?” said he. “Hew did ye know that, stranger?”
“Well,” said I, “by your accent, the estimate you form of your country,
and, pardon me for saying so, but no one but an American would have asked
me such questions as you have, or manifested such a desire to find out
all about me and my affairs.”
He did not appear to be at all annoyed at this remark, but merely said—
“By thunder! stranger, you are a queer coon. Will you come and liquor?”
I declined with thanks, and left young America to ponder over the
inscrutable ways and manners of the “darned Britisher.” He was evidently
the offspring of a parent who, perchance, had “struck ile,” and had never
before forsaken his ancestral home in search of travel and adventure;
and, if such was the case, we must excuse the young man. As soon as I
left him I sought my bedroom, chronicled the above conversation in my
diary, and retired to bed, where I slept soundly.
The following day I and three others formed a party for a visit to the
far-famed pyramids of Gizeh. We chartered a carriage, taking our lunch
with us; and from the time we left Shepheard’s Hotel until we returned
that hateful word, “Backsheesh,” resounded in our ears; indeed, I should
say that there is no word in the Egyptian language so frequently on the
tip of an Arab tongue as that. I should suppose that the pyramids of
Gizeh are about ten miles from Cairo. There is a pretty good road, which
was constructed by the former Khedive, Ismail, specially to accommodate
the Prince of Wales when he visited the place some years ago. During
our drive we could almost have imagined that a line of sentries had
been posted all along the road specially to utter that horrid word,
“Backsheesh,” so continuously were our tympanums offended with it.
Arrived at the base of the Great Pyramid, we are immediately surrounded
by a considerable number of Arabs, who are all anxious to assist us
in the ascent, of course, for a small consideration; but one of our
party having been there once before, knew how to set about matters in a
business-like way, so he demanded at once the presence of the Pyramid
Sheik, who very soon came. We told him we did not want all this crowd
of Arabs, but two each would be sufficient. Accordingly he allotted us
these, but as he suggested that a third would be desirable to push us up
from behind, we had him. Those who have ascended the Great Pyramid are
not likely to forget the dusky demons who accompany them.
I commence the ascent with my body-guard, who appear now to look upon me
as a piece of brittle china, and are most anxious to prevent me using
my limbs in my own way—they will not let me take a step without their
assistance. Directly I had started I found my body-guard considerably
augmented, and notwithstanding repeated warnings that I did not want
them, and that they would not get any backsheesh, they stuck to me
all the way up and back. For the time being I belong solely to these
energetic, incessantly-chattering Arabs, whose most strenuous efforts
were now put forth to damaging my ball and socket joints.
I have to ascend 203 steps—the lower steps are about four feet high, and
few of them less than three feet anywhere. The two Arabs in front get on
to the step I have to land on; each seizes an arm, one gets behind, and
the hoisting process begins. The latter gives the cue, and with a loud
“Ha-hu,” up I go from one step to the other. This game goes on with great
rapidity, until I had got about half-way up, where I think it advisable
to rest awhile. So down I sat, but soon found that instead of three Arabs
I was at once surrounded by about a dozen, all talking most vehemently
to me at the same time. It was in vain to protest—all had curiosities,
scarabei, little images, and ancient coins, some of them curious, no
doubt dating back to the time of Adam. For a small consideration they
were all anxious to place these in my possession, and all were shouting
into my ear, “Autica efendi, autica.” At last, for peace sake, I bought
a small image of a defunct Pharaoh from one, and from another three or
four copper coins, all, of course, the only genuine. In vain I protested
against having any more. I had no peace until I had bought something from
each one; in fact, I had no quiet until I turned all my pockets inside
out, showing conclusively that I had spent every piaster with them.
After resting awhile, we continued the ascent, and after a succession of
ha-hus, tugs, and hoistings, I at last found myself on the summit of the
Great Pyramid, and well rewarded for the trouble I had taken.
Here, in this bright, clear atmosphere, I saw stretching out for miles
on the west the Libyan Desert, and reaching out before and around us in
vast extent the classic and historic hills, rivers, and plains of Ham and
Mizraim, Heliopolis, Memphis, Mount Mokattam, Sakhara, the beautiful city
of Cairo, with its numberless mosques and slender minarets, skirted by
the outstretched Nile, bearing on its placid bosom hundreds of dahabeahs,
and on its banks tall waving palm-trees. Nearer is the village of Gizeh,
and closer still the remaining pyramids of Gizeh, the granite temple,
and the sphinx, the whole forming a picture that cannot be effaced in a
life-time.
It is said with some truth, “Time tries all,” but I have also heard it
said that “the pyramids try time,” and, upon my word, it almost seems
so, when we think of their great antiquity. Here they have stood for
thousands of years in majestic grandeur, looking down on many Pharaohs
and many dynasties, and witnessing the rise, greatness, and decline of a
once mighty nation. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses have gazed
on these huge piles of masonry, which raised their lofty heads long, long
before Abraham in a day of famine sought bread at the hands of Pharaoh.
When I had spent some time in gazing again and again on this beautiful
scene, and thoroughly succeeded in obtaining a mental photograph of it, I
commenced the descent, and found I could get down much more comfortably
without assistance than with; but this the pertinacious Arabs would not
hear of, they said, on account of the danger to me. But my own private
opinion was that they wanted to earn good backsheesh by persistent
attention. I resigned myself to my fate, and at last reached the foot
of the pyramid by a series of jumps and bumps very trying to my spinal
column, and which joggled my internal economy most unpleasantly.
After a short rest, we explored the interior, a rather difficult
achievement in some parts. We had brought a good substantial luncheon
with us from the hotel, which we thankfully disposed of at a house, or
palace, near by. This was specially built, I believe, either for the
Prince of Wales or the Empress Eugenie, I really forget which. After
lunch we visited the sphinx, two or three tombs, and the other two
pyramids, settled up with the sheik, and drove off to our hotel; and
not until I reached the steps of the hotel did I hear the last of that
hateful word “Backsheesh.” When I retired to rest I dreamt of a pocketful
of large copper coins and scarabei, an armful of defunct Pharaohs, an
army of lithe, sinewy, swarthy, impecunious Arabs, amongst whom I had
scattered a ship-load of piasters, and “still they were not happy.”
Before I have done entirely with the pyramids, I think I ought to say
something about them, as those at Gizeh are the most remarkable. This
group consists of nine, and comprises three of the most remarkable
monuments in existence—those of Cheops, Cephren, and that of Mycerinus,
the last-named much smaller than the other two. Herodotus, who was born
about 500 B.C., tells us that in building the great pyramid of Cheops
it took 100,000 men working incessantly for 30 years to complete it;
10 years of this 30 was spent in making a causeway 3,000 feet long, to
facilitate the transportation of the stone from the Turah quarries.
Herodotus describes the method of building by steps, and raising the
stones from layer to layer by machines, and finally of facing the
external portion from the top down. Its present height is 460 feet, the
original height was 480 feet.
The extent of solid masonry has been estimated at 82,111,000 cubic feet.
It at present covers 12 acres. The only entrance is on the north face,
49 feet above the base, though the masonry has been so much broken away
that the _débris_ reaches nearly up to it. A passage, 3 feet 11 inches
high and 3 feet 5½ inches wide, conducts from the entrance down a slope
at an angle of 26° 41´, a distance of 320 feet 10 inches to the original
sepulchral chamber, commonly known as the subterraneous apartment; it
is carried, reduced in dimensions, beyond this a distance of 52 feet
9 inches into the rock, though for what purpose remains a matter of
conjecture. The sepulchral chamber is 46 feet long by 27 feet wide, and
11½ feet high. From the entrance passage another branches off and leads
to several other passages and chambers. One of the latter, known as the
_Queen’s Chamber_, is situated about the middle of the pyramid, 67 feet
above the base; it has a groined roof, and measures 17 feet broad by
18 feet 9 inches long and 20 feet 3 inches high. The other, called the
_King’s Chamber_, is reached by an offshoot from the Queen’s Passage, 150
feet long. Its dimensions are 34 feet 3 inches long by 17 feet 1 inch
wide, and 19 feet 1 inch high. The chamber is lined with red granite
highly polished, single stones reaching from the floor to the ceiling,
and the ceiling itself is formed of nine large slabs of polished granite
extending from wall to wall. The only contents of the apartment is a
sarcophagus of red granite, which, judging by its dimensions, must have
been introduced when the building was proceeding. It is supposed to have
contained a wooden coffin with the mummy of the king, and that these long
since disappeared when the pyramids were first opened and plundered. We
do not see these pyramids as they originally were. The outer casing of
polished stone has been removed and utilized in constructing the mosque
of Sultan Hassan. These pyramids were built between 5,000 and 6,000 years
ago. Great was the antiquity of Thebes before European history begins to
dawn. It was declining before the foundations of Rome were laid, but the
building of the great pyramids of Gizeh preceded the earliest history
of Thebes by 1,000 years. Whilst speaking of Thebes, I’ll just mention
that there are to be seen to-day the tomb of the great Sethos, Joseph’s
Pharaoh, of his greater son, Rameses II., and of Menophres or Meneptha,
in whose reign the Exodus took place. In the tomb of Sethos, coloured
sculptures cover 320 feet of the excavation. There is to be seen the
draughtsman’s handiwork in red colour, showing the designs that were to
be executed by the sculptor, and the corrections in black ink of the
superintendent of such works, and although these sketches were made 3,000
years ago, they are still quite clear and fresh-looking. On the east side
of the pyramid, half buried in sand, is the wonderful colossal Sphinx,
his head 25 feet high and back 100 feet long, all one stone.