EGYPT'S CHILDREN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9092, 23 November 1907, Page 2

EGYPT'S CHILDREN.

Much-loved and __ef-l Little Ones.

(By HARRIET QUIMBY in "Leslie's

Weekly.")

There is no race suicide in Egypt. From Alexandria to Assuan the country is filled with babies, round-faced and solemn-expressioned little tykes who look out upon the world with great eyes that are painted with kola, making their tiny faces appear top-heavy, so large do they seem. As in all Oriental countries children in Egypt are welcomed. Tne more the merrier. The wife is not even considered a true wife until she becomes a mother. The estimation in which she is held, not only by her husband, but also by her friends, depends, in a great degree, I upon her fruit fulness and upon the "preservation of her children; for, by men and women, rich and poor, barrenness is considered a curse and a reproach. So highly are babies esteemed in that 6trange country of the Nile, that in the days before slavery was abolished a slave who contributed a child to her master's family circle and which he acknowledged as his own, thereby earned her freedom according to the law ; and in the majority of instances she was' further honoured by being taken as her master's wife, or one of them, and becoming ENTITLED TO THE LtTX-I-IES OF THB HAREM. So frequently do babies come, and so numerous are their deaths, that the Egyptian Government has never been able to procure a census that was at all satisfactory, and even the recent attempt made this year cannot be accepted as^ an official statement of the country's population. In Egypt births and deaths aro not recorded except in the memories of those immediately concerned. Three characteristics of S Egyptian babies impress themselves upon the ourist. The first is their beauty ; for, although many of them are % blind, or nearly so, from uncleanlinessand ophthalmia, they aro all round-faced and" exquisitely modelled, their features are classically beautiful, and their colour is exactly like bronze. Self-control is the next most impressive feature about these little folds, for it is a most unusual thing to hear an Egyptian baby cry. Noticeable also, is these little folks' usefulness. It would take' a very indifferent person indeed to fail to notice the infant toilers" in Egypt. Not. so much in Cairo or in the other large settlement?, but in the stretches of country between. From the boat on the Nile or the railroad one will see babies of tyro and a half and three years tending flocks of goats, and tots that are too sniall to make known, their wants in intelligible language seem to be pottering about, assisting, in their small way, in whatever task their elder relatives are engaged. In Cairo little boys of ten and twelve years are seen in the weaving .mills working the okl-fashioned hand looms, which requdre considerable strength as well as skill. Also, in the furniture or turners' shops are small boys, using, like their fathers, both hands and feet in the chiselling and turning of table and chair legs, all of which is done in the most primitive manner, although the articles look like THE RESULT OF SKILLED WORKMAN-HIP. With all their earnestness and solemnity the young toilers are happy to a degree, and they apparently enjoy themselves as much as do the children who do nothing but play. In Luxor, children ranging in age from seven to twelve years are employed in carrying baskets of rubbish from the temples in Karnac. which are being cleared of the accumulation of sand and broken rock burying some of tlie pillars, and these children sing at the top of their voices as they trudge to and fro with their burdens tilted upon their heads. One would be inclinecf to feel sorry for them were it not foT the fact that the honour of being so employed is greatly coveted by the children. These children in Luxor earn from two to three piastres (fifteen cents) a day, and out of this trifling amount some of them have saved up quite a sum, which they bury in sand where no ono but themselves knows where to find it. Another thing which attracts the eye of the stranger in Egypt is the manner in which Egyptian babies are "toted," as a Southerner expressed it. They are not cradled in their mothers' arms as are the babies of this country, but they are hoisted upon the shoulders of thoee carrying them, where they sit astride and cling for dear life. Tiny youngsters scarcely old enough to sit up straight are carried about the streets in this novel manner, and they maintain their seemingly perilous position with absolute fearlessness and without a whimper. Many of the little Egyptians are entirely naked, and only the scantiest clothing is worn by any of them. Although Egyptian parents of the poorer and middle classes believe in their children being useful, they are still extravagantly indulgent to them in every way. But however much children are caressed and fondled, they feel and manifest the most profound respect for their parents. Disobedience to parents is considered by the Moslem as I ONE OF THE GREATEST OE SINS, and classed with the six other greatest sins, which are— idolatry, murder, falsely accusing modest women of adultery, wasting the property of orphans, taking usury, and desertion in an expedition against infidels. While ignorance is more in evidence than learning with both the adults and the children, there are, nevertheless, many schools in all of the large cities and the majority of the small ones. The most important branch of education is that of religion. The first lesson, that of tho " wudoo," or how to perform the ablutionß previous to prayer, and the prayers, or one of them, is generally taught by the father to his son. Girls are seldom taught anything unless they belong to a wealthy or an unusually enlightened family, when a prayer or two and a bit of needlework is considered enough education foT them. An Arab school is one of the most interesting places in Cairo to visit. The children, with the schoolmaster, sit upon the floor or the ground in a semi-circle, and each has a tablet of wood which is painted white and upon which the lessons are written. When the latter are learned they are washed out and replaced by other lessons. During "study hour the jLRAB SCHOOLS REMIND ONE OF THE CHINESE for the children all study aloud, and as they chant they rock back and forth like trees in a storm, and this movement is continued for an hour or more at a time. The schoolmaster rocks back and forth also, and altogether the school presents a most novel appearance as well as sound. Worshippers in the mosques always move about while reciting the Koran, as this movement is believed to assist the memory. The desks of the Arab (schools are odd contrivances of palm sticks, upon which is placed me Korqn, or one of the thirty sections of it. After learning the alphabet the boys take up the study of the Koran, memorizing entire chapters of it until the sacred book is entirely familiar. A peculiar method i 3 followed in learning the Koran. The study begins with the opening chapter, and from this it skips to the last. The J last but one is then learned, " then the last two, and so on in inverted order, ending finally with the second chapter. During the student's progress it is customary for the schoolmaster to serid on the wooden tablet a lesson painted in black and red and green to jthe father, who returns it after inspection, with a couple of piastres plaoed upon it. The salaries or schoolmasters are very ; meagre indeed, and in some instances [the only payment made is that of cloth-

ing and food and a yearly present of a turban and some cloth.