West Side High School - Legenda Yearbook (Saginaw, MI)

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large as an ordinary doll, beside him. The men in bloomers remind one of the ‘‘new woman,” who is causing so much a citation in America. Turbans are worn by many. W bite shows descent from the prophet, while green is an indication that the wearer has made three pilgrimages to Mecca. A tur¬ ban should be seven times as long as the head so that it may be used after death for a winding-sheet. Women of the lower classes wear only the blue gown and a veil. Those of the upper classes have a silk cloak and a kind of mantle. A white gauze, after the fashion in Constatinople veils the face up to the eyes. If they are wealthy one or more runners, called eunuchs, pre¬ cede their carriages. It is a universal custom to color the eyelashes black and the finger nails a light brown. As a rule, babies are carried by the women astride on their shoulders. Here, as in Italy, burdens are balanced on the head. Water carriers with goat skins on their backs are also frequently encountered. A visit to Heliopolis and the Virgin ' s Tree, to the north¬ east of Cairo, was very attractive. A drive through an avenue of tamarisks, acacias, and eucalyptus—trees brought us to the gardens and blue palace of Abbas II. Hilmi, the present Khedive of Egypt. Every morning at nine o ' clock his High¬ ness drives to his Cairo palace to transact public business, returning late in the afternoon. He does not care to stay in town, as he is very superstitious. His grandfather was a victim of a mutiny and his father died there. An old-fashioned well, with an ox going blind folded round and round was next passed. The energy is communicated by a shaft to a large wheel with jars, which, when down, are filled with w T ater. Half a revolution turns them upside down, thus allowing the water to flow into the trough. In this way, the whole of an ex¬ tensive field of barley is irrigated. A short ride on the edge of the Arabian Desert took us to the site of Heliopolis, the city of the sun. This was one of the most ancient Egyptian cities. During the reign of one of the early Pharaohs, a famous temple was built here. Later, the most learned and celebrated college of priests in all Egypt was established. Frequent

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are paid by the students, so that the professors have to support themselves by teaching: in private houses and by donations. The instructor sirs cross-legged on a straw mat and directs an advanced student to read the Koran to the circle of pupils crouching around him. After each sentence he adds an ex¬ planation. The students either listen attentively or take notes. The eagerness and earnestness that they display might well be imitated in our high school. The primary students are en¬ gaged chiefly in learning the alphabet. Some are not over six years old. They write with a black paste on tin slates, using reed pens. The school-master often commands obedience by resorting to blows. When something exceptionally diffi¬ cult is accomplished they sit in groups of two and sway their little bodies to and fro hoping that Allah will give them divine inspiration and make their memories retentive. The courses of study vary in length from three to six years. After master¬ ing the letters and numbers, a knowledge of the Arabic gram¬ mar is obtained. The chief aim and object of all Moham¬ medan education is, of course, the learning of the Koran. When this has been accomplished mental development has practically reached its limit. Other less important branches of study are religious science and law. Logic and rhetoric receive slight attention. Independent investigation is not en¬ couraged in any way. As we left, the call of the priest, summoning to prayer was heard. Five times daily he repeats in Arabic “Allah is great. I testify that there is no God but Allah.” Those who are unoccupied respond to these imperative summons by ap¬ pearing at the nearest mosque. Others stop work for a mo¬ ment and kneel down for prayer wherever they happen to be. After a day’s stay in Cairo many peculiarities of Eastern life were brought before us. Of the several hundred mosques in Cairo only two are open to women. The latter generally occupy an insignificant position. As I yesterday saw in the temple of Luxor, this disregard for women dates from an¬ tiquity. Several colossal statues of Kameses II. twenty-three feet high have an exceedingly small image of the Queen, as

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mention of Heliopolis is made in The Bible. Moses received his education here, and Joseph married Asenath the daughter of a priest of the temple. Only insignificant ruins remain. In front two great obelisks were erected about 2,100 B. C. by rsertesen I. The larger of the two, the oldest in existence, still stands almost uninjured. It extends partway into the ground, but the base may be reached by a stair-wav. The same hieroglyphics on the four sides record its erection by the king. Beggars were swarming around us crying: “bakshish,” the Arabic for gift. This is the first word that babies learn. From the time that he arrives until he is safely beyond the confines of Egypt it resounds continually in the traveller ' s ears, “Ma fish,” I have nothing for you. is usually answered. “Bokra” to-morrow, is also affective. Should everything else fail, “ruh,” or “imshi,” get away, are used. A stick is fre¬ quently convenient. Together with “neharah said,” good morning, and about a dozen words used in bargaining or in giving directions to the donkey boys, this constitutes the limit of my knowledge of Arabic. We proceeded to visit the Virgin ' s Tree, a sycamore tig, under which the infant Jesus is said to have slept on the flight to Egypt. The present tree was, however planted after 1672. Its predecessor may quite probably have shaded the Holy Family. It was presented to the Empress Eugenie of France by Ismail, the ex-Khedive, but, when Napoolean III lost his throne, it was confiscated by the government. Another interesting excursion was that to the island of Koda and Old Cairo. On the former we saw the place where, according to the Bible, Moses was found in the marshes by Pharaoh ' s daughter. An inscribed stone has been found here, giving absolute proof that this island belonged to the daughter of Pharaoh, at the time when Moses was born. Old Cairo is the quarter largely inhabited by Capts. These are the real unmixed descendants of tin ancient Egyptians. They were converted to Christianity in the first century A. I). For many centuries they were oppressed but religious freedom is now enjoyed. With their much adulterated religion, they