MODERN EGYPT.
The first article on Egypt might have been begun with an account of
our stay in quarantine, but as this precaution against the spread of
Asiatic disease is of modern origin, I thought it best to speak of
it in this article. The P. and O. steamer, Persia, which brought us
from Bombay to Egypt, was suspected of having four cases of plague
on board. One man having died and been buried at sea just before we
reached Suez, and three more being ill, the international health
board insisted on taking charge of the ten passengers bound for
Egypt. We were taken on board a barge and towed a couple of miles
up the Suez canal to the quarantine station, which we reached about
midnight. Besides the four in our family, there were three Americans
from Ohio, two English merchants from Egypt and an English lady
engaged in missionary work in Palestine. We were comfortably housed
in one-story brick buildings and were informed that we would have
to remain there five days, unless further investigation removed the
suspicion of the plague. While the members of the company proved to
be very congenial, we were all anxious to have the stay shortened
as much as possible on account of its interference with our plans.
At the end of two days we were notified that a bubonic germ had
been discovered and that we must stay the full time. The quarantine
station is situated on the bank of the canal and is surrounded on
three sides by as barren a desert as can be found. The buildings
are enclosed by a double fence, and the only exit is to the wharf
through a lane. We were permitted to go to the wharf, and, under the
escort of a guard, were allowed to gather shells on the bank of the
canal. Thus occupied, when not reading or writing, the days passed
much more pleasantly than we had expected, and we were almost sorry
when the time came for us to separate. One day our quarters were
visited by a sirocco, and from the dust and sand that filled the air
until the sun was darkened, we were able to gain some idea of desert
life.
The canal itself is a little disappointing. It is simply a
huge ditch, and with an expanse of sand on either bank, seems
narrower than it is. The sides are not walled as a rule, and the
depth--thirty feet--does not reveal itself. Several dredges are
constantly at work removing the sand which drifts in with the wind
or is washed in by the tide. The canal is said to follow the route
laid out more than three thousand years ago by Rameses II. About
thirty-five hundred ships pass through the canal each year, an
average of nearly ten a day. Somewhat more than that passed during
our stay, some of the ships being loaded with Russian soldiers from
Japan and others crowded with pilgrims returning from Mecca.
[Illustration: CLIMBING THE PYRAMIDS.]
On the afternoon of the fifth day the head physician came out and
released us and at the same time conveyed to us the cheering, but
somewhat belated, information that the three men taken from the
ship did not have the plague; we had, however, been so courteously
treated that we did not complain of the board bills or quarantine
fees, even though the detention proved to be unnecessary. The
spread of the plague through Europe would be such a calamity that
we realize it is better to err on the side of over-caution. At any
rate, we have added to our experience and are carrying the yellow
flag (the quarantine signal) home as a trophy.
[Illustration: THE OSTRICH FARM NEAR CAIRO.]
A few hours' ride brought us to Cairo, the metropolis and capital
of Egypt. It is not an ancient city, as they count time in Egypt,
having been founded about a thousand years ago, but it has in the
business portion the appearance of a European city and contains
a population of more than half a million. Of its inhabitants
thirty-five thousand are European, the Greeks leading with about ten
thousand, and the Italians, French, English, Austrians and Germans
following in the order named. The British would outnumber the French
if the garrison were included, but the city reminds one much more
of France than of England. Many of the buildings recall the streets
of Paris, and the sidewalks adjacent to restaurants and saloons are
filled with tables and chairs, as in continental Europe.
Cairo is a city of mosques and minarets, as one quickly discovers
when he takes a bird's eye view of the city from the citadel which
stands upon an eminence in the suburbs. While the main streets are
suggestive of Europe, the native quarters and bazaars are distinctly
Oriental, many of the streets being too narrow for a carriage. The
shops are for the most part little open booths, and each line of
business has its particular section. On one street silver and gold
smiths monopolize the space; another street is gay with red shoes;
in another the red fez, the universal hat, is conspicuous; and still
another is given over to vegetables. Some of the larger stores
handle Persian rugs, silks, brass ware, inlaid work and patchwork,
reproducing the drawings found on tombs and temples. The bazaars
also abound in interesting reminders of the land of the mummy, the
pyramid and the sphinx.
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN LADIES.]
We had not been in Cairo long before we visited the banks of the
Nile, that wonderful river without whose fructifying waters there
would have been no Egypt. It is one of the most remarkable--in
some respects the most remarkable--of all the rivers of the earth.
No wonder the ancient Egyptians included a Nile god among their
deities, for next to the sun, to which they raised their obelisks,
nothing was so necessary to their existence as this almost magic
stream. The Nile renders fertile two narrow strips, one on either
bank, four thousand miles long, and but a few miles wide. For
thirteen hundred miles it floats through a desert and receives
but a single tributary in that distance, and yet, after supplying
irrigation for the crops of some ten millions of people, it pours
into the ocean a scarcely diminished stream. The annual rise of the
river not only supplies water but it renews the land by deposits of
alluvial soil. Someone has described the Nile valley as appearing,
if seen from above, like a strip of green carpet on a floor of
gold, so yellow are the sands that hem it in. No one who has not
visited an arid country and noted the influence of water upon the
thirsty soil can imagine how distinctly the line is drawn between
the verdant field and the barren desert that adjoins it. Where
the waters of the Nile can be brought upon the land, a farm will
rent for $30 per acre, while a few feet away the land can not be
given away. Lord Cromer, in a recent report, gives the income and
expenditure of a number of the fellaheen, or farmers. The statements
show that a hundred dollars' worth of cotton is sometimes produced
from a single acre, or about thirty dollars' worth of corn. The
average income, taking all crops together, often runs as high as $50
per acre.
[Illustration: AN EGYPTIAN MERCHANT.]
An increasing quantity of land is being brought under the canals,
but irrigation from wells is still the main reliance of a large
proportion of the people. Water can be found at the level of
the water in the river, and the landscape is dotted over with
old-fashioned well sweeps and with water wheels, where blindfolded
camels or oxen tread their patient round. The land produces so
abundantly and there is such a variety of garden and farm products
that one recalls that passage in the Bible in which the children
of Israel are described as longing for "the flesh pots of Egypt."
Coming from India to Egypt we could not but notice the difference
in the appearance of the people. In the former country they looked
so emaciated and hungry; in the latter they are strong and robust
and seemingly well fed. In the markets, too, the food is heaped up
in big baskets, while in India it is exposed for sale in tiny piles
that speak only too plainly of the poverty of the people.
For ages upon ages the fellaheen have drawn from the inexhaustible
storehouse of the Nile. Cheops, Khephren and their successors built
pyramids, and the fellah fed the builders; Thutmosis and Sethos and
their descendants constructed tombs and temples, and the fellah
supported the laborers; the Rameses added gigantic statues to the
stupendous works of their ancestors and the fellah still furnished
food; the Persians overran the country and still the hand of the
fellah supplied the necessaries of life; then came Alexander the
Great and the Ptolemies, Cæsar, Antony and Cleopatra, and the fellah
plowed on; after the Roman came the Arab, and after the Arab the
Turk, followed by Napoleon and later by the Briton, but through all
this change of dynasties the fellah kept "the noiseless tenor of
his way," and as a middle man, handed over the bounties of the Nile
valley to the rulers and their armies--and he is doing so to-day.
Of the eleven hundred thousand land owners, nearly nine hundred and
fifty thousand hold less than five acres each, and almost half of
the total acreage is owned by twelve thousand three hundred persons.
More than one-tenth of the tillable land is owned by sixteen hundred
Europeans.
Very few horses are seen in the country, the beasts of burden being
the ox (there are a few water buffaloes also), the donkey and the
camel. The ox resembles the American rather than the Indian ox, in
that it has no hump on its shoulders and the drawings on some of the
walls represent cattle with horns as large as those formerly worn by
the Texas steer. The donkey--poor, patient creature--has not changed
materially in the last four thousand years. The pictures drawn of
him by the ancient Egyptians show him just as he is now. Then, as
now, a large part of his nourishment went to the development of his
vocal organs and left the rest of his body woefully small for the
large burdens which he was called upon to carry. If his disposition
was as gloomy in the days of the Pharaohs as it is at present, he
probably annoyed them when he lifted up his voice and wept, as he
now annoys the tourist.
The camel, however, if the test is special fitness for the country,
is the king of beasts. He pulls the plow, turns the water wheel,
draws the wagon, carries burdens, and for long distance travel
outstrips the horse. Equipped with emergency water tanks, he can
go for several days without drinking, and for this reason is of
inestimable value on desert journeys. He kneels to receive his load,
though sometimes with pathetic groans, and is as docile as the
horse. He has sometimes been styled "the ship of the desert" and
seems to have been fashioned for this peculiar region. His large,
padded feet do not add to his beauty, but they enable him to cross
sandy plains into which a horse's hoof would sink.
The Bible says that the plague of flies brought upon Egypt, when
Moses was endeavoring to secure the release of the Israelites, was
removed when Pharaoh promised to let the people go, but one is
inclined to think that they afterwards returned when Pharaoh again
hardened his heart, for nowhere have we found flies like those of
Egypt. They bite with unusual vigor and are very persistent in
their attentions. At first we thought it strange that people should
carry horse-hair brushes as a protection against the flies, but we
were soon driven to follow their example. These flies seem to be
especially attracted to the eyes of children. As these flies, like
those in other countries, carry disease, it is not strange that sore
eyes should be especially prevalent here. Blindness seems to be more
common than elsewhere, and a very considerable percentage of the
people have lost one eye. So widespread is this affliction that Sir
Ernest Cassel has established a fund of forty thousand pounds, the
interest on which is to be devoted to the treatment of diseases of
the eye. Already the fruits of this beneficence are being enjoyed
by the poor. The Mohammedan women in Egypt wear veils--a custom
which is but slowly giving way to western ideas. If the eyes of the
children were protected with half as much care as the faces of the
women, what benefits would result!
The government of Egypt defies definition. Nominally the Khedive
is the supreme authority, aided by a native legislative council
and assembly (their business is to advise, however, rather than
to legislate), but back of the Khedive is Lord Cromer, the agent
and consul-general of England, whose power is undefined and almost
unlimited. England's authority in Egypt rests upon the articles of
capitulation signed after the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.
In these articles it was announced that England's occupancy would
be of brief duration, but in 1904 she secured from France, Germany,
Austria-Hungary and Italy consent to postpone the fixing of a date
for her withdrawal, she at the same time announcing that it was not
her intention to interfere with the political situation in Egypt.
England's reasons for remaining in Egypt are very clearly stated
by Lord Milner in his book entitled "England in Egypt." He says:
"On the one hand, our commercial interests in Egypt are so great
and growing that her prosperity, which would be immediately wrecked
by misgovernment, is a matter of concern to us. Secondly, and
chiefly, the geographical position of Egypt compels attention to her
political condition. We have nothing to gain by owning the country
ourselves, but we should have a great deal to fear from its falling
into the possession of another power."
England's interests in Egypt are numerous. She takes most of the
exports of Egypt and sells more than any other country to Egypt. In
the last report of Lord Cromer it is shown that Great Britain has
the benefit of considerably more than half of the contracts (above
five thousand dollars) entered into by the Egyptian railways for
supplies. Then, England's citizens own land in Egypt, and they are
also interested in the Egyptian debt, which, by the way, amounts to
about five hundred million dollars or, approximately, one hundred
dollars per acre of the tillable land.
[Illustration: KHEDIVE OF EGYPT.]
The irrigation schemes now developing will require the expenditure
of large sums on contract and these will give opportunities for
English capital.
The second reason given by Lord Milner is emphasized by him, and is
probably the paramount one, viz., that she can not afford to have
the valley of the Nile held by a rival power. Her interests in the
Soudan and in India lead her to guard the Suez canal with jealous
care. Lord Milner suggests as a reason why England should remain
in Egypt that her withdrawal might be followed by such an abuse of
government as to lead to bankruptcy and French intervention. The old
argument "if we don't do it somebody else will" is presented as the
strongest support of British interference.
[Illustration: REUNION ON THE DESERT.]
English influence, however, has been less harmful in Egypt than
in India, and this is probably due, in the main, to two causes:
First, her influence is exerted through a native government whose
authority she acknowledges; and second, because the interests, which
other nations have in Egypt, make them oppose any encroachments
on the part of England, while in India she has a free hand. As an
illustration I might cite the fact that she compels the Indian to
support the Indian army, while she pays the ordinary expenses of
the three thousand British soldiers in Egypt and only asks Egypt
to pay for the extraordinary expenses. It is no reflection upon
England to say that she is better for being watched. We believe that
in regard to our own public men, and it is simply a recognition
of the frailty of human nature. Lord Cromer has been in Egypt for
twenty-six years, and his reports indicate a desire to advance the
welfare of the people of Egypt. He has doubtless been helpful to
the Khedive. He has insisted upon honesty in the public service and
has been a friend of education. While the national debt contains a
large amount of usurious interest and is, therefore, much heavier
than it ought to be, it has been funded at a lower rate of interest
and is being gradually paid off. The debts that are being incurred
for the extension of irrigation will be more than redeemed by the
sale of the land reclaimed, and the country will then have the
benefit, not only of the reclaimed land but of the increased value
of lands indirectly benefited. Although the salt tax (contrary to
Lord Cromer's advice) is still over two hundred per cent, the per
capita rate of taxation has been reduced; agricultural and postal
banks have been established, and the government railway, telegraph
and telephone systems have been extended. In his 1903 report, Lord
Cromer presents an argument in favor of government roads as against
roads owned privately.
The great danger that Egypt has to fear is the disinheritance of the
fellaheen and the alien ownership of the land. Unless great care
is taken Egypt will drift into the condition of Ireland and India,
and be drained of her resources by foreign landlords. It is very
difficult for a foreign representative to arbitrate impartially
between his own people at home and the natives among whom he
temporarily resides, and Lord Cromer will deserve great credit if
he is able to protect the Egyptians from exploitation. However
well meaning the English advisers are now, or hereafter may be,
Egypt's safety must lie in the development of her own people. The
legislative council understands this and insists upon the extension
of the school system. It is wise in so doing, for every educated
man or woman adds to the moral force that restrains and directs the
government. An increase in the number of the educated not only tends
to the preservation of law and order, but furnishes a larger number
fit to be officials and thus lessens the excuse for the employment
of foreigners. There has been, among reformers, some discussion of
a constitution, but as that would curtail the powers of the Khedive
as well as define the authority of England, it would probably be
opposed at present by the Moslem leaders.
I can not conclude without reference to the pioneer work done in
the field of education by the United Presbyterians. They have
several churches and a number of very successful schools and must be
credited with having contributed largely to the progress which Egypt
has made and is making.