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"Tbt out- of -the -way -things ordinarily not seen" 

tOorKs of Urax^el by 
'Oi^ilUam Ejleroy Curtis 



Modern India 

Mr. Curtis' tour of India, of which he writes here, is 
of absorbing interest and full of most useful 
information. 

^^yP't* 'Burma h and 'British 
Malay>sia 

From material gathered upon the same tour of which 
Mr. Curtis' book on India was written, and like it 
contains the most recent information available. 

^oday in Syria and ^ale^tine: 

uniform with "The Turk and His Lost Provinces." 
" The pre-eminent merit of Mr. Curtis' books is that 
he sees clearly and writes tellingly. No newspaper 
writer except perhaps George Kennan surpasses him 
in this respect." — Pittsburg Gazette. 

ZShe ZSurK and Hi^ Lo^t 
7^ro*Oince>s 

Sketches and Studies of Life and Travel in the 
Land of the Sultan. 
" Of very timely interest. The book gives the infor- 
mation that the average person needs about the 
near Eastern question." — New York Evening Post. 

Each Illujirafed, Sxfo, Clolh, ^2.00 J^ei 





Omdurman'^yKHARTUM \ 



MAP OF THE NILE 






EGYPT, BURMA 

AND 

BRITISH MALAYSIA 



BY 

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 
MCMV 



Copyright, 1905. by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 






Chicago: 63 Washington Street 
New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Toronto; 27 Richmond Street, W 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

EGYPT 

I. Port Said and Alexandria 

II. The Three Cairos 

III. 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 

lOI 

118 
141 
158 
184 
209 
223 
234 



BURMA 

I. The City of Rangoon . . . .251 

II. The Buddhists of Burma . . . 267 

III. 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 

II. 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 ..... .... 97 

One of the Professors in the University of Cairo, Founded by 

Saladin iig 

A Kuttab, or Arab School 125 

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 . :..,,. 189 

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 290 

The Golden Monastery, Mandalay . . . . . . 295 

A Street in Mandalay 297 

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 tjiree 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. Now 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 Hne 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 j 
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 off 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 15 

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 



i8 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 



I 



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 sHght 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 split the followers of Christ into 
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 Caesar 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 ; 



I 



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 archaeologists. 
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 archaeologists, 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 wha,t 
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 used 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 quahties 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- 



I 



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 j 
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 
corners and about the threshold of the postofiice, 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 

33 



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 like it elsewhere in the world. It is new and 
novel to the oldest traveler, and one must see the strange 
picture for himself to appreciate how unique and how 
fascinating it is. 



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 reaUty 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 11 93 — 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 mediaeval fortress is garrisoned by "Tommy iVt- 
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 
World." 

This beautiful rhapsody expresses the admiration of 
the Arabians and the Egyptians for their capital, but, 
like 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 earHest 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 Coeur 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 1 1 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 
establish this hospital solely by the hope of gaining favor 
of God and recompense in the world 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 Misr 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- 
tellectual, 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 \yas 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, where he 
died and was buried the following March, 1 193. 

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 nearly 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 AH, 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 




< 
K 

O 

< w 
w w 

^ o 

o w 



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 affairs. 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 GOVERNED 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 
nobility and the finest fighters in the world. When the 
last man in the procession had passed through the arched 
gateway of the citadel, the great oaken, iron-bound 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 line to 
be received by Mehemet Ali. Caught as in a trap, re- 
sistance was impossible, and the massacre continued un- 
til every 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- 
try. He afterward returned to his home, died in Cairo 
and his grave is pointed out. 

This "hecatomb to the peace of the province," as It was 
calmly described by Mehemet, removed all 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 very troublesome province. The history 
of the next forty years records the greatest progress ever 
made by Egypt, for, until his death in 1849, Mehemet 
developed the industries and the resources of the country, 
encouraged trade, established schools, built canals and 
other public works and did his best to introduce western 
civilization among his subjects. He taught the people to 
grow cotton and sugar and provided a system of irriga- 
tion which extended the cultivated area by many 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 his 
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 Printess 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 well say that he has excellent 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 



I 



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, traveling 
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 
hostility 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 abolished, 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 relieve the tax- 
payers of burdens that could not be borne, and, next, 
every dollar 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- 
pHed 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 well as the people of the country he has been 



64 EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA 

serving so ably and faithfully. He is called "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 allowed 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. 

Englishmen 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 stafif, 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 poHce 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 English 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 6^ 

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 English 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 literature. 

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 aliens 
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 peculiar cus- 
toms and other national characteristics — an ethnographi- 
cal, ethnological phenomenon that is equally marked with 
the Jews. 

Archaeologists 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 
walls 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 



']2. 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. 



I 



I 



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 perfect 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 comeliness not of this 
world," "a mould of beauty now forgotten — forgotten 
because Greece drew forth Cythrea from the flashing 
foam of the yEgean 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 ^2 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 



^6 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 yy 

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 listen 
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, with their lean, sinewy limbs, 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, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA 

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 no 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. Archaeologists 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 



I 




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 walls 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 archaeological 
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 archaeologists 
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 world 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 AH, 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 Caesar 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. Caesar 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 Caesar 
under the title of Ptolemy XV. He proves too strict 
for her pleasure and is murdered by her orders ; Caesar 
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 Caesar'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 Csesarion, her son by Julius Caesar, 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, civihzed or barbarian, no matter whence he 
came. 

Dr. WalHs Budge, one of the most eminent of Eg>'p- 
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 
facility 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 v^as 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 L, his 
father, at his right, and Rameses III., 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 Gizeli Museum 
when their names are called on the morning of resurrec- 
tion. 

Their bodies are almost perfectly preserved ; that of 
Seti L, 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 
scars of the wounds he received in battle. You can sec 
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, Hver, lungs and intestines upon 
the breast of the mummy. 

The cavity in the body wsls 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 
Egyptian 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 
III., 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 
Memphis 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 collection of ancient Egyptian jewelry extant. 
The most of it is of exquisite design and workmanship, 
showing the high degree of skill 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 archccol- 
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 multi- 



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 archaeologists 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 Israelites 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 



I 




ANCIENT CARTOUCHES, OR SEAL 



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 Y'ork 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 ha,ve 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 tgg 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 all 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 

lOI 



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 



104 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 misgovernment 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 
public 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, telling them 
that the one who was in the wrong would become very ill. 
After eating the bread and drinking the w^ater the two 
disputants went away. Taha Ali 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 belief 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 EngHsh masters. 

"The sheik, v^hile 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 archaeologists 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 that 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 million 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 

English 19.557 Dutch 247 

French i4jI55 Portuguese 151 

Austrians 7J 17 Swedes 107 

Russians 3^193 Danes "^2 

Persians 1,301 Other nations 923 

Germans ij277 

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, v^ho 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 



no 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 Arabs, 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 iii 

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 

1891-92 331,011 

1892-93 312,190 

1893-94 312,386 

1894-95 276,646 

1895-96 337,078 

1896-97 343,822 





32SA44 




380,920 


t 


497,062 




397,333 




413,357 





405,606 




380,077 





426,305 


18,790 


537,378 


25,673 


612,525 


38,545 


673,361 


29,509 


66sAo^ 


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 347410 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 Hke 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 villages 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 



ii6 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 life 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, in case it should be required." 



VII 

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY 

The University of Cairo, El Azhar, as it is called, for 
centuries has been one of the most famous in the world, 
and wherever you go in Mohammedan countries you will 
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 11 70. 
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 
intelligently, 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 like tailors in all the costurries 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 excellent, 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 reHgion and in 1902 of the new teachers 
appointed 485 were Moslems, 269 were Christians, 231 
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, wTiting, 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- 
lished 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 




i 



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 English 
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 allowed 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 v^ild 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 



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 belief 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- 1 
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. Pullman 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 world. 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 aHve 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 always a delight. 



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 still visible. 

Lands that cannot be reached by the inundation through 
these canals are flooded by means of water wheels, rude 
structures with buckets 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 the 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 the 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 the trick requires years 
of training. A gentleman who has been among Egyptian 
farms for several years declared that it could not be 
done by 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 the summer, which is the rainy season in upper 
Egypt and Abyssinia. 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 Valley, a great dam has been constructed at Assuan. 
There are limits to all 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 fertilizes 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 million 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 well paid, and regard it as a favor rather than a 
hardship to be so employed. 

Mehemet 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 will 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 $io,ooo,cxx), 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 walls 
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 obelisks, 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- 



MOST REMARKABLE OF RIVERS 151 

provement in the important particular that no money was 
stolen or wasted. 

The dam was designed by William 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 will 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 annually. 
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 will 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 2^ per cent 
per annum. The deposits are limited 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 
prohibitmg 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«.mer. which 
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 



n 



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- 
aeologists 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 
walls 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 magnificefice, 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 like 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 complimentary 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 built, 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 blind 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 ii 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 of 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 II., 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 b^en 
usually overlooked. 

Archaeologists 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 



lyo 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 archaeologists and collectors, and finally attracted 
the attentioii of the Egyptian authorities, who, after a 
brief inquiry, became convinced that tombs of the 
Pharaohs, unknown to professional archaeologists, 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 royal 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 II., the greatest 
of all the Egyptian emperors. Among others were his 
father, Seti I., and his grandfather, Rameses L, 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 
them 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 
familiar 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 well as steel 
plows in that country, because, owing to the rich sediment 
brought down from the jungles of central Africa and 
deposited upon the soil 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 3CX) 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 Nile. 

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 Httle 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 tiflin 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 Httle 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 



TEMPLES AND TOMBS 179 

ample turbans. But the most of them are half-naked 
wretches, hungry and hollow 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 built 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 cliffs 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 until 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 III., 
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 L, 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 II., her husband, she con- 
tinued in power, much to the disappointment and chagrin 
of Thothmes III., 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 
archaeologists 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 skill. 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 believed 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 tell 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 spelling 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 Nile 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 rebellion 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, Hke the Christians, beHeve 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 w^ell 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 military 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 public 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 intelligence 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 ofTen'd 
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 cheerfully 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 to 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 Nile, 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 
EngHsh 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 successfully 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 still 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, tile 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 
limited 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 establish 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 Hne. Sir William 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 
full 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 calling 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 compelled 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 families. 
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 OE 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 steaHng 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 

Oil 98 2,352 

Tallow 7 230 

Dates 851 6,195 

Tea 26 2,912 

Petroleum 90 583 

Tobacco 115 31,280 

Miscellaneous 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 military 
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 misgovernment, 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 killed 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 (wild 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 killed 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 Shullas, 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 w^ork and situation that has ever 
been pubHshed. He says: 

"An opportunity v^as 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 wild 
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 happily 
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 live 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 estabhshment. 

"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 tv^o 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 v;rife 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 children 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 
small 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 Herseopolis. 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 'j^ 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, stealings, 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 Httle rock work and no swamps or soft ground. 
Compared with the difiiculties 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 1,367768 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). 

1881 2,727 4,136,780 47,193,883 

1882 3,198 5,074,809 55,421,040 

1883 3,307 5775,862 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 5,903,024 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 

1891 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 8,039,175 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 following 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 47j390 

Denmark 14 42,425 

Greece 14 19,01 1 

Sweden 7 5,970 

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 steam^ers 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 'J2,%22 728,225 



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 1,191772 

1884 I5I.916 1,519.166 

1885 205,951 2,059,513 

1886 I714II 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 

189I 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 

I9OI 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. men. 

France 23,691 Holland 1,999 

Russia 12,477 America 1,773 

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 will 
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 Ismalia, 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 releas'^^d 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 like 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 wa3% 
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 bHght, 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 little 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 pilgrims 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 ^2; 

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 pilgrims 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 will 
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 alight 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 
annually, 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 afiford 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 called 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 generally 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- 
trolled 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 



2^2 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 all 
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 20,000 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 Bull 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 like 
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 1200 
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 rainfall 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 blind 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- 
licts — 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 children wear nothing at all up to the age of 10, and 
thereafter as little as the police will 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 military 
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 



V^v 



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 coaling 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 military 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 8,000,000 
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 climate 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 literature 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 policy 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 Hne 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 siir- 
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 will 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 IMALAYSIA 

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 
oflf 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 who 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 VH. 
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 alHes had been properly renewed, the fleet turned to- 
ward the port of Bushire in order to exchange neighborly 
calls 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 
pubHc 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 alone 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 PROBLEM 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 wisely, 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 still more important than 
all in the mind of the kaiser and the projectors of the 
road, and those who are working for the kaiser, it will 
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 will 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 wheat 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 delight in everything that is lively and gay. 
Nearly all 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 I9cx>-0i, they 
have entirely recovered, and the soil, which is fertile, 
yields a generous harvest. 

Burma Hes 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 unsettled. 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. 
Excellent 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 11 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 life 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 
lo 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 surveillance. 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 

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 iri 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 EngHsh 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 OP RANGOON 2^9 

traction for the Burmese. "Jubilee Hall," 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,ocx> 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 nomenclature. 

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 estabHshment 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, 181 3, 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 
CathoHcs 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 1 81 6 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 181 9, 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 evangelical 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 College, 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 faciHties for the higher education of their 
sons and daughters. The movement for its foundation 
began back as far as 1851, but not until 1870 did the 
American Baptist Missionary Union take up the subject. 
Money v^as 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 college. 
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 avaiHng 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 Ghurch 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 





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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 willing 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 
village, 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 
all 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 civiHzation; 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 believers 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. 
He 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 275 

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 with 
little bells of gold, silver, copper, bronze and composi- 
tion, and each of them represents an offering made by 
some devotee. They tinkle sweetly as they are disturbed 
by the breeze and make most fascinating music. 

Upon the side of the 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 
animal 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 with 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. When 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^(y EGYPT, BURMA, BRITISH MALAYSIA 

miracle was performed. The animal 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, temples 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 under the Bo tree at Gaya, 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 all 
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 faith 
is sublime. They come from every part of the Buddhist 
world, men, women, children, with eager, earnest faces, 
and most of them clad in brilliant costumes of silk, 
gorgeous turbaps and all the ornaments they own. 
Others wear white linen jackets, silk skirts and shawls. 
The Shans, Karens, Siamese and Chinese appear in their 
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 all attractive or happy. 



THE BUDDHISTS OF BURMA 277 

Among them are pilgrims 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 conceivable 
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 forty or fifty stalls 
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 
literature can be purchased in twenty different languages 
and dialects. But the largest number of ^stalls are devoted 
to sweetmeats and flowers, for no pilgrim 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 
gilded temples, the gorgeous decorations, the crowds of 
worshipers in their brilliant costumes are more pic- 
turesque in the heavy shadows, the flare of torch and the 
flickering candle light. Most of the pilgrims are gay, 
laughing 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 English 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 bottoAi. 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 miles 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 gilding 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 till 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. 



Ill 

THE QUAINT CITY OF MANDALAY 

It is 386 miles from Rangoon to Mandalay. The 
train leaves Rangoon at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and 
reaches its destination about 6 o'clock in the morning. 
The track is a three-foot gauge. The cars are similar to 
those used in India. Travelers are required to take their 
own bedding, and are given bunks similar to those in 
cabooses on freight trains in the United States, free of 
charge. 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. 

During 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 bags, 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 outnumber the wheat eaters two 
to one. They told us that the railway company did not 
have sufficient cars to accommodate the traffic, and this 
rice was waiting for transportation. After we passed out 
of the delta of the Irrawaddy, which has soil of amazing 
richness and is closely 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- 
sionally 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, 
millet 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. 



u 




A WHACKIXC; 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, corn husks, dried bamboo 
leaves and other material, with a corn husk wrapper. 
They contain very little nicotine and are almost tasteless 
to anyone accustomed to smoking tobacco. Physicians 
say that they are entirely harmless, and they must be, 
because children 6 and 8 years old smoke them without 
the slightest injury, and every other woman you see has 
a long 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. 
You remember Kipling's poem : 

'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little 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; 
Bloomin' 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' the sun was 

droppin' slow, 
She'd get her little banjo an' she'd sing "Kullalolol," 
With her arm upon my shoulder, and her head agin my 

cheek, 
We useter watch 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, like 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, military 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 Mindon 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, which 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 a 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, like 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 pillars. 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. 



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 
appeaHng 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 the slot. 



IV 



KING THEBAW AND HIS FANTASTIC PALACES 

The royal city of Mandalay is separated from the town 
in which the people live 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 wall is a lovely park, half forest, 
half parade ground, and the royal palace, formerly occu- 
pied by King Thebaw, stands exactly in the center, sur- 
rounded by other palaces, pavilions, temples, audience 
chambers, offices, barracks and various other buildings 
of teakwood, strikingly picturesque because of their fan- 
tastic designs and ornamentation, but badly built and even 
now in an advanced state of dilapidation. No other 
group of buildings in existence comes so near being an 
architectural nightmare, and, although they violate every 
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 parallel 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 



J 



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, 
like 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 will only be a few years until all the 
glory disappears, unless the British authorities spend much 
money 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 all 
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 MIN 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 usually 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 collect 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 
anpient 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 English. 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 : 

1. 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 
taiks or districts, and the taiks 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 all 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 gilded 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 all 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 million subjects, while the Emperor of China 



KING THEBAW AND HIS PALACES 309 

ruled over four hundred millions. 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 v^ere allowed 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 year 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 burn incense, and the sorcerers and 
soothsayers attached to the court perform their peculiar 
functions. The Snail Throne, which stands in an open 
pavilion, 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 pavilion 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 
milk. 

The Lily Throne, the most beautiful of all, 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 govern- 
ment, the pavilions for ceremonials, the barracks, the tem- 
ples for worship and the pagodas, cover considerable area. 
Most of them are connected with each other by corridors, 
passages or bridges so that 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 whatever. 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- 
vanized iron, the hottest and most incongruous material 
that could have been selected, and in striking contrast 
with 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 army and other generals, the astrologers and other 
official advisers and attendants of His Majesty, the king's 
brothers and sisters and other relatives, and various per- 
sons of influence. Each of the residences was sur- 
rounded by bamboo and palm leaf cabins occupied by the 
retainers and servants. Altogether there was a com- 
munity of several thousand souls within the walls, not 
counting the soldiers. There were two monasteries for 
the accommodation of the chaplains and spiritual advisers 
of the king and his household, 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 



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 military 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 life. 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 will 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 living 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 
1 6th 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 World, 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 321 

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 literally 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- 
culiar 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 
all 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 minis- 
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 bluflf 
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 civihzed 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 
lives. 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 




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 villages. 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, P^i^ 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, the 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 archaeological 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 
all 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 peculiar 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 all. 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 AND RAILROADS OF BURMA 337 

at the entrance to the saw-mill. Sometimes they haul the 
logs with chains attached to a harness adjusted to their 
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 intelligence 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 all the elephants used in the lumber business — 
and they are found in every camp and in every lumber 
yard — are natives of Burma, and are captured wild 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 they belong to government of- 
ficials. The elephant business is under the control of a 
commissioner, Mr. Dalrymple Clark, who makes it his 
business to keep track of all 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 decoys. They are well 
trained, and, by mixing in the herds of wild ones lead 
them into corrals, called "keddahs," made of heavy posts 
lashed together with wire. Usually Mr. Clark gets from 
twenty to sixty wild animals into a "keddah" each drive. 
He turns out all 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 indifferent they are compelled 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 vv^ere very high. 
When we w^ere 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 will 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 import 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 the 
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 
familiar 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 grant 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 royalty 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 selling 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 ninety million 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 Malay 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 military pur- 
poses, although Burma is the least likely spot for an in- 
ternal disturbance or foreign invasion. The principal 
railway line will be extended to the Chinese border, and 
in 1 898- 1 900 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 millions 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- 
ciHties for her prospective territory, and the Burmese 
think that England ought to do the same, but the govern- 
ment at London, v^hatever 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 hide?, 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 
little 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- 



I 



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 
1 901 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 GENTLEMAN 



I 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 
building 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 
Englishmen, 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 fin 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 railways 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 151 1, 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 Datch 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 locality 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 brutally miir- 



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, ^^^ ^^^ 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 EngUsh 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 
lives 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 : 

1. 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 hfe 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 $5,580,000 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, t'he 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 are 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 



I 



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 born in 1873, married in 1893 to the 
Tunku Malmiwoomah 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 Httle 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, v^here 
you find a neat town of about 20,000 inhabitants, mostly 
Chinese, v^ith the palace at one end overlooking a lovely 
bay. The grounds are beautiful. No botanical garden 
in the v^orld 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 cHmate 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 all of the 
players at the tables the day we were there were Chinese. 
I was told that Europeans are not permitted to play. 



I 



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 Hving 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 all 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 limited 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 



Z72 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 EngHshmen." That is a 
very long and involved compliment, and Sir William 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 will 
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 liberally 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. 

Englishmen 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 
barren pile, an island twelve miles long made of moun- 
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- 
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 
that the island was obtained in a shameful way, being ex- 
acted from the Chinese government as indemnity for a 
cargo of India opium which the Chinese officials would 
not allow English speculators to land. 

Hongkong is often used as an object lesson to illustrate 
the advantages_gf_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 milHon 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. While 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 facilities. 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 Hne 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 t® 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 MALAYSIA 

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 now 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 tht 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 silk, 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 facilities 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 line from 
Seattle, and there is a third line running in connection 



I 



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 Hst 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 
military 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, battle ship 12,950 16 

Glory, battle ship 12,950 16 

Ocean, battle ship 12,950 16 

Vengeance, battle ship 12,950 12 

Amphitrite, cruiser 11,000 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 3,6oo 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 710 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 families 
make quite a naval colony. The wife of the military 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 in 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 English, 
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- 



I 



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 ahnost every 
house in town, and the residences, apartment-houses and 
pubHc 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 CtTY 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 hillside in a cement conduit 
to a storage reservoir and filtering beds with a capacity 
of 39o,ooo,ocxD gallons. 



in 

EASTERN OFFICIAL SALARIES 

The civil servic e 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. 

Straits 
Philippine British Hong- Settle- 
Islands. India. Ceylon. kong. ments. 

Governor $15,000 $81,092 $25,755 $24,250 $24,250 

Priv. sec. to governor. 2,500 8,248 970 1,355 i,355 

Exec, sec 7,500 14,118 8,245 10,800 7,760 

Asst. executive sec 4,000 8,245 3,233 4,800 4,947 

Chief clerk to sec 2,500 1,067 2,910 4,200 

Heads of departments. 10,500 14,958 .... 

Auditor 7,000 14,118 5,820 4,800 5,420 

Deputy auditor 4,000 8,245 1,500 1,500 

Treasurer 7,000 9,258 5,820 6,000 5,420 

Asst. treas 4,000 970 3,000 2,328 

Col. of customs 7,000 6,000 4,115 4,065 

Dep. col. of customs.. 4,000 3,000 2,425 2,618 

Chief justice 7,500 23,818 8,880 13,500 8,130 

Associate justices 7,000 14,948 5,820 8,400 6,205 

Judges, court of 1st inst 5,500 14,958 5,820 5,420 

Clerk of Supreme Ct. . 3,000 8,248 1,940 5,400 3,492 

Attorney general 7,000 12,702 5,820 7,275 6,205 

Solicitor general 5,500 8,245 3,233 4,065 

Dep. clerks of court. . . 2,000 4,122 3,500 4,536 2,910 

Director of posts 6,000 12,178 5,150 4,800 4,947 

Asst. dir. of posts 3,250 10,238 2,090 3,000 

Supt money order office 2,000 1,775 2,280 2,328 

Postmasters 3,700 8,245 3,233 5,400 4,947 

Supt. of education 6,000 3,233 5,440 4,947 

Com. of public health 4,947 4,515 6,000 4,850 

Chief health inspector. 3,500 4,122 2,575 5,280 .... 

Medical insp 2,500 2,575 3,492 4,065 

Attend, phys. and surg 3,000 1,940 3,490 2,710 

Veterinary surgeon... 1,800 2,522 

Sanitary engineer 3, 500 .... 3,300 .... 

Supt. of gov laboratory 6,000 2,688 3,492 

Dir. of biological lab. 3,500 2,770 .... 

Consulting engineer... 5,000 14,118 5,485 7,800 5,420 

Prin. asst. engineer 3,500 12,178 3,233 5,400 4,065 

Railroad engineer .... 3,600 .... 4,850 .... .... 

Asst. eng. & supervisor 2,500 3,233 4,800 2,328 

Chief draughtsman... . 2,000 1,617 1,200 



EASTERN OFFICIAL SALARIES 



389 



Philippine British 
Islands. India. 



Chief of constabulary. $ 

Asst. chiefs of constab. 3,500 

Warden of prisons 3,000 

Dep. wardens 2,500 

Gov. printer 4,000 

Chief bureau pub. land 3,200 

Prov. treas 3,000 

Prov. gov 3,000 



$ .... 



9,559 

8,800 

38,800 



Ceylon. 
$4,515 

2,575 
2,575 

5,820 
5,820 



Hong- 
kong. 

$7,200 
200 

000 



Straits 
Settle- 
ments. 

$4,850 

3,492 

4,947 

2,328 
3,783 
6,790 
5,420 



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 $10,000 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 Philippines, 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 will 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 military 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 ii5 for a son and £24 for a 
daughter. 

Class 11. 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 III., which includes those of the rank 
of major, deposit £g6, 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 
settle by surrendering all his obligations for cash, the 
same as with an insurance company. 

Officers who are dismissed from the service by the 



EASTERN OEFICIAL 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 L 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 Pasha - - - 53 
Arabian kindness to ani- 
mals - - - - 133 
Army in Egypt, British - 67 
Assuan, dam of - - 150 

Bagdad Railway - - 245 
Bamboo, usefulness of - 282 
Baptists in Burma - - 261 
Bazaars in Cairo - - 35, 41 
Bedouins, the - - - 109 
Beggars, Egyptian - - 31 
Bengal, Bay of - - 251 
Bishop of Burma, Bud- 
dhist - - - - 293 
Blindness in Egypt - - 137 
Boats on the Nile - - 159 



Book, oldest in world . - 


6g, 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 - - 351, 354 

usefulness of - - - 352 



395 



396 



INDEX 



Christianity in Burma - 273 

Church of England in 

Egypt . - - 67 

Citadel of Cairo, the - 50 

Cities of 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 of 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 - 355 

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 



INDtX 



397 



Heliopolis, city of - 


- 98 


Hindu peasants 


- 252 


Historic spots - 


37 


Hong Kong, city of - 


- 385 


commerce of - 


- 377 


harbor of - - 


374. 379 



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, 214 

Izalco, volcano of - 12 



Jesus in Egypt - 


- 96 


Jewels, ancient 


94 


Jews in Burma 


- 266 


in Egypt 


log 


Jiddah, port of 


- 226 


Johore, state of 


362 


sultan of - - 


- 364 


gambling in - 


- 365 


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, El - - 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 Ali - - 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 201 
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 

Ofiicial service - - - 105 

Ostrich farms, Egyptian - 99 

Pacific mail steamers - 37S 
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 69, 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, 


165 


Seti I. , mummy of - 


- 


90 


Sheik el Islam, the - 


- 


49 


Shoe question, the Bur- 




mese - - - 


- 


324 


Singapore, city of - 


- 


361 


commerce of - 


- 


358 


foundation of 


- 


356 


Slave trade, the Egypti 


[an 


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 


- 


II 


Sudan, the 


- 


184 


government of 


- 


188 


schools in - 


192, 


196 


trade with - 


- 


197 


Suez Canal 


- 


209 


cost of - 


- 


214 


Supayalat, Queen 


of 




Burma - - - 


- 


315 


Tattooing in Burma - 


_ 


284 


Taxes, irrigation 


- 


146 


Taxation in Egypt - 


- 


60 


Teak wood 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 of - - - 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 - 305 
Tombs of Egyptian kings 170, 175 
Tourists in Egypt 
Trade with Sudan - 
Traveling in Burma 
Treaties with Egypt 
Turkeys, Egyptian - 



University of Cairo - 

Vesuvius, Mount 
Viaduct in Burma, Amer- 
ican - - - - 
Volcanoes, freaks of - 

Women, emancipation of 

Egyptian - 
War between England and 

Burma . - - 
Wealth in Burma - 
Weather, Egyptian - 
Wellcome, Henry S. 



29 
197 

255 
102 

134 

118 



342 
II 



128 

319 

343 

30 

195 






i 



OT Curtis, William Eleroy 

55 Egypt, Burma and British 

C85 Malaysia 



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