FROM ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO, 130 M., express in 3, ordinary train in 6–6¾
hrs.; 1st cl. 87½, 2nd cl. 44 pias.—FROM PORT SAID TO CAIRO, 145 M.,
express (with dining-car) in 4–4¼, ordinary in 5 hrs.; 96 or 48
pias.—As to transport of luggage, see p. 431.—The buffets at the
intermediate stations are poor.
_Alexandria_, see p. 431. The Cairo railway, the oldest in the East
(1855), rounds _Lake Mareotis_ (p. 432), which during the Nile
inundation rises at places to the permanent way. On the left is the
_Mahmûdîyeh Canal_ (p. 434).
On the right beyond (17 M.) _Kafr ed-Dâwâr_ appear the first
cotton-fields.—38 M. _Damanhûr_ (pop. 22,100), the ancient Egyptian
_Timē-en-Hor_ (town of Horus) and Roman _Hermopolis Parva_, is now the
capital of the province of _Beheireh_, which extends from the Rosetta
arm of the Nile (p. 418) to the Libyan desert.
The soil becomes more fertile. Villages of wretched mud-huts and a few
groups of trees appear. We cross the _Rosetta Arm_. 64½ M. _Kafr
ez-Zaiyât_.
76 M. =Tanta= (Buffet; Hôt. Khédivial, etc.; Brit. cons. agent, E. Erba;
pop. 80,000), capital of the province of _Gharbîyeh_, between the
Rosetta and Damietta arms (p. 418), possesses a palace of the Khedive
and an unfinished mosque of _Seiyid el-Bedawi_, a popular Egyptian
saint, born at Fez (12th cent.). The great August fair (_el-Mûlid
el-Kebîr_; ‘the great mûlid’, or nativity of the saint) is often
attended by half-a-million persons, including a number of European
merchants.
Farther on we pass several cotton-cleaning mills, evidencing the
prosperity of this region, and then cross the _Damietta Arm_.
101 M. =Benha= (Buffet), junction of the Port Said (see below) and Suez
lines, is noted for its fruit. 120½ M. _Kalyûb_ (or _Qualioub_).
The Libyan hills become more prominent; so also the _Mokattam Hills_ (p.
443) and the citadel with the slender minarets of the mosque of Mohammed
Ali (p. 454). Gardens and villas appear. On the left are the site of
ancient Heliopolis (p. 459; obelisk not visible), Matarîyeh with its
sycamores, Kubbeh, the residence of the Khedive, and the suburb of
Abbâsîyeh (p. 459).