WONDERS OF EGYPT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15912, 8 May 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

WONDERS OF EGYPT.

BY C. G. NICOL.

No stronger contrast has been seen in Egypt than that of two or three hundred New Zealand troopers exploring the ruins of Luxor and Kamak, gafcing on the Colossi of Memnon and walking the silent street* of Thebes. That contrast stretches across 5000 years. Three thousand years before the Christian era the legions of the Rameses clanked along the paved thoroughfares of that ancient city of the dead, the magnificence of which could not be destroyed by timo or the invader. Thoso streets echoed with the sound of galloping chariots of war and the dying groans of slaves. lie huge images of forgotten gods, which still stand mute and helpless in some of those temples, were worshipped by another people of another civilisation, who fought lor fear and not devotion, who ruled by the power of fear and not by the power of love, who lived and moved and held a sway which passed like the morning mists on the Nile-. Yesterday (March 24) New Zealand soldiers roamed the ruins of those. vanished splendours and gave those stones yet another -page of history. The New Zealanders were most fortunate in getting this opportunity of seeing the ri ins of Ipper Egypt, This particular excursion was open to the members of the Mounted Rifle Brigade, and some 300 made the trip. A special train was arranged for by the authorities, the total cost per man being fixed at 170 piastres (£1 14s) for a limited number (secondclass accommodation) and 270 piastres (£2 148) for the balance (first-class cars). Th« train left Cairo on its 420 mile journey to Luxor at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening, arriving at its destination about 7 o'clock the following morning. Certainly none of us ever made such a journey in New Zealand in such fast time or in audi comfort The white express, fitted up like a first-class steamer, flew southward along the Nile Valley with never a jolt or jar, for the line is of broad gauge and. there is not an incline the, whole wav.

The town of Luxoi. situated on the « eastern bank of the Xile, is picturesque tr< and clean—remarkably clean for Egypt, pa It boasts a superb climate, the atmo- u sphere being bracing though warm. From ~ the town a superb panorama of Egyptian )' c scenery spreads far into the distance. ■' At the station the party was divided K: into groups of about 18 each under an h« officer, and with guides they set off for . the ruins of the temple of Luxor, the huge columns of which rear themselves in the centre of the town. Not being G in a mood to relish our activities being 01 restricted, a companion, one Eddie Foley, g of Auckland, and T "lost"' our party, having decided to "do" the ruins our . own way. The first business then was to net guide and donkeys—and selecting a " reliable guide requires much consider- 1 1> ation, as some of us know to our sorrow. 1 0 Wo had almost engaged a man—Egyptian, p of course—when we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a crowd of yelling '. natives who, we Anally discovered, were ll trying to tell us that our prospective |t! guide was not licensed. Eventually we h obtained the first guide on the list, and c | on donkeys named Wadi Haifa and Abu ,-- iSlmbel respectively, we set off through the. date palms to the ruins of Karnak. » This route was once lined on either side I by ram's head sphinxes, but only a few r broken specimens remain- The ruins of i Karnak cover no less an are» than 55 acres. Temple follows temple, some of them with only u few columns standing and others almost as they were originally. J In many places are to be found the remains of the original colouring. Apparently each succeeding monarch tried to . outdo his predecessor in adding to its many attractions. The oldest portion is • a ruined sanctuary with some carvings , in red granite which are very delicately coloured, near which are several obelisks , elected by osirta6en in 3000 B.C. /- The whole of the walls, pillars, and « obelisks are covered with ancient carv- , ings and inscriptions, which tell of the aeniovements, virtues, and sins of the monnrchs who then reigned. Some of the remaining, statues are of perfect . workmanship. , It is. impossible to describe the feeling of awe and wonder which fills one after ■ beholding such ruins, and one leaves J them realising more than ever before in- j dividual insignificance. a We rode on our donkeys back to Luxor, and were on our way to the boat-landing on the Nile when we "found" our par- , ticular party. We were reprimanded for j disappearing and had to join it again, f but got "lost" again in a few minutes, r picked up our donkeys and embarked with guide and donkeys on a imirkab, < one of the picturesque sailing boats of - the Nile- We formed quite a party, for, , of course, there was a donkey-boy with - each donkey. These boys, always wiry, j athletic fellows, will run behind for miles. ( Their one great drawback is the "buck- j sheesh" habit, but that of course is the • prevailing failing of the country. My t particular donkey-boy. Gassim, was a s happy exception to the rule, and was ( the first native who ever attracted mc. i He had a good face and a sunny smile, and he never once 'asked for backsheesh. I He spoke good English, which he learned I at an American 'mission school. It was ] his practice to earn enough in the winter to pay for his schooling .in tho summer. bui. owing to tho small tourist traffic this year ho had made very little. "It has been a hard year, my friend." he said, i "and I would he very glad if you are pleased with Abu Simbel to give me a < hard recommend to your friends who come here." i A ride of two or three miles brought us to the ruins of Thebes, where we first visited the Memnoniiim of Rameses j 11., in which is » broken granite monument of that monarch weighing no less | than 1000 tons. After visiting several I other temples we left for the Tombs of the Kings, following a rough track over , a rocky saddle and up a gorge. This, of I course, is desert co intry, for the desert i begins at Thebes. j The tombs are chambers cut out of the solid rock, the whole of the interior ; being adorned with carvings, which have - been coloured. i Our guide took us to a tomb contain- 1 ing some 20 mummies. The door of the j chamber had never been found, and the i tomb had been discovered by excavation. ! With the thought of profit uppermost | as usual, the guide suggested that we should search the. mummies for curios. I the idea being that we should pay the | attendants "a little something" for the j privilege. But the idea of ransacking a | mummy chamber did not appeal to us, so I wc declined. The caretakers then produced with a grea,t show of mystery a | cloth containing a mummy's hand and several feet, which they offered for 10s. On the way back to Luxor we passed the Colossi of Meinnon sitting amid fields ; of barley which were almost ripe. With the natives harvesting the crop around the gigantic monuments, it was hard to think of the history those figures had I witnessed. The Ethiopian and Assyrian had swept past them in triumph, only to vanish. The Greek thought he had | found the image of his fabled hero. Mem- I non. the son of the dawn, and when the ! story arose that at sunrise a nolo of I music, sounded from this figure uf King | Amenhotep, rulers came to catch the I divine sound- Before the feet of this figure waited Gall us the subduer of Egypt, Hadrian, who built the British wall, and others. And still the figures stand, but kings came only as sightseers. The fellaheen cultivates the land which once was trodden by a past race. ; One thing only they have in common— grateful hearts to the Giver of Life, the ancient Nile. j The. train left Luxor on the return journey that evening, reaching Cairo J about'B o'clock. Thus in 36 hours we I travelled 850 miles and spent 12 hours j unoug the of ancient Egypt, j