THE AFRICAN COAST.

67

eral hours after losing sight of Italy, no land was visible in any direction; but presently the bold mountains on the Ionian Islands appeared at our left. A day later on, old Mount Elias, on the Grecian shore, presented itself, capped with ice and snow. This mountain rises from the Mediterranean to the height of seventy-nine hundred. feet, and is a conspicuous landmark for mariners.

As soon as daylight of the third morning dawned, we were on the alert; and in a short time we discerned the low coast of Africa, which appeared to rise but a few feet above the water. Soon Pompey's Pillar became a prominent object in the gray of the early morning. It is of red, polished granite, one hundred feet high. Among the few remains of antiquity still to be seen in Alexandria, this is one. But the name it bears is erroneously applied. According to the Greek inscription on the base, which is still legible, this pillar was erected by the Egyptian prefect, Publius, in honor of the emperor Diocletian.

Next the light-house, and then the shipping of Alexandria, looking like a forest of dead trees, came to view. Then swarms of windmills, standing on an elevation at our right, presented a unique and singular appearance. We were a long time in getting up to the landing-place, as the harbor is a difficult one to enter. It is protected by an outer and an inner wall, that vessels may ride in safety, and not be driven upon the

68

THE DIN OF HUMAN VOICES.

rocks. We landed at seven o'clock in the morning, and, surrounded by the sons of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, yelling the languages of Europe, Asia, and Africa in our ears, made our way with difficulty to a hotel.

IN THE ORIENT.

69

CHAPTER VI.

IN THE ORIENT.- ALEXANDRIA.—ST. MARK.— POPULATION OF EGYPT.

THE RIVER NILE. THE LAND OF GOSHEN.-CATCHING FISH. — THE DELTA. SQUALID VILLAGES. EGYPTIAN CEMETERIES. IRRIGATION. NO FORESTS. THE CITY OF CAIRO.

WORKING-TEAMS.

ALEXANDRIA was founded by Alexander the Great, in the year 332 B.C. It is evident that the founder intended to establish there the government of his vast empire. Napoleon pronounced the site on which the city stands to be unrivaled in importance. And Alexandria, for a long period, in wealth, learning, and power, was one of the foremost places in the world. A few weeks after our visit there, it was substantially destroyed by the British army. But, ages before this, it had become a very ordinary place, half European, the other half Oriental. Though earth and sea remain unchanged, the glory of the ancient city long since departed: and imagination can hardly find a place for the massive walls (fifteen miles in length) which inclosed the city; for the magnificent Temple of Serapis, on its platform of one hundred steps; or for the four thousand palaces, and the homes of six hundred thousand inhabitants.

one

70

ST. MARK THE EVANGELIST.

Here it was that luxury and literature, philosophy and commerce, once dwelt together. Here Cleopatra reveled with her Roman conquerors; and here St. Mark preached the truth of the gospel, upon which Origen attempted to refine, — the same Origen (philosopher and scholar) who slept on the ground, and was stoned in the streets.

Christianity took early root in Alexandria. At this place St. Mark the evangelist - the one who, in the Acts, is called John Mark - preached the Word. He was the son of a certain Mary, who had a house in Jerusalem, which served the Christians as a place of refuge. St. Mark's Gospel is more concise than the others, though it contains one parable and two miracles not mentioned by the other evangelists. Ecclesiastical tradition speaks of a missionary expedition made by Mark, not only into Egypt, but into the west of Africa also. He was the first bishop of Alexandria, where he sojourned a long time, and where he gathered and ministered to large congregations. It is the general belief, that he suffered martyrdom in that city, and that his body was carried to Venice, where he is the patron saint.

The entire population of Egypt, of which Alexandria is the seaport, is eight millions and a half. Of this number nearly eight millions are Egyptian-Arabs, the great majority of whom are engaged as husbandmen. Their social condition is of a low grade. They are generally poor, and

THE RIVER NILE.

71

naturally idle and slovenly. They have nothing that an ordinary New-Englander would accept as a gift. Those who reside in the towns are somewhat higher in the scale of being, but not much. A popular writer makes this criticism: "When not engaged in their professional or religious duties, they are generally found in the coffeehouses, listening to story-tellers; or in places of public resort, where mountebanks, jugglers, serpent-charmers, and dancing-girls are performing."

The Nile is the main river of Egypt and of Africa. For a distance of six hundred miles it flows through a valley bounded by hills which are from three hundred to twelve hundred feet high. While the mouths of this peculiar stream are in latitude 32° north, its sources are at the equatorial line. The river runs north. The width of the valley of the Nile is from six to twelve miles. About one hundred miles from the sea, the high hills disappear; and the river enters an extensive alluvial plain, where, twelve miles below or north of Cairo, it separates into two great streams. These continually diverge until they reach the Mediterranean by mouths eighty miles apart. This triangular space inclosed by the two arms of the Nile and the sea is the famous delta.

It is well known that Africa consists largely of deserts; but the valley of the Nile, in Egypt, is an exception. By the annual inundation of much of this valley, the soil is kept in a high state