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REPORTS 



Consuls of the United Stat 



No. rt44.-SEPTEMBER. -1892. 

ISSUED FROM THE BUREAU OF STATISTICS, DEPARTMENT OF STA ii;. 
ALL REQUESTS FOR THESE REPORTS SHOULD BE AD. 
DRESSED TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 




WASHINGTON! 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

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THE FimjRE OF THE TIN-PLATE INDUSTRY. IH 

Mr. Rogers replied {hi^^sa matter of fact such was not the case. Trac, house rent was 
higher there, but the necessities^C life to workingmen and their families were very cheap. 
The best class of clothing was alsoinore expensive, but that for workingmen was not. The 
weather was exceedingly hot durinahis visit, and one of the first things Mr. Rogers did was 
to purchase a cool, thin suit, which iost him 521., which he didn't think he could get as cheap 
in this country. Then, as to the h«t, those who went to America got so accustomed to it 
thai they didn't mind it more than toey would here. One day while he was there the tem- 
perature was 105° in the shade ; the nN(^ay it was 103°, while another day it was 96°, so 
that on the whole it was quite pleasant. UpNo being asked whether the belief generally en- 
tertained here was correct, viz, that the weather at times became so extremely hot that men 
engaged in steel, iron, and tin works were oblged to relinquish work for more or less pro- 
longed periods, Mr. Rogers replied that thes^ men worked as steadily there during the hot 
weather as they did here. Referring to the est of living, Mr. Rogers instanced the case of 
a Llanelly tin-plate worker, for whom he had lound employment, who told him that not only 
was he in a position to live comfortably upon thV wages he earned about ^6s. a week, but he 
was able to send about half of it to his family atVpme. 

Conversation then ensued upon the condition olHrade in South Wales, Mr. Rogers declar- 
ing that it was really worse now than it was twelve nliMiths ago, which was proved by the 
number of works which were either partially or wholly iaie. He could not account for it, 
and feared that a bad period had set in, while he could see no prospect of a change. 

Mr. Rogers was then asked whether he had read the recckt utterances of Mr. D. Randell, 
M. P., who declared that the action of Messrs. Morewood L Co. in erecting works in the 
United States before waiting to see the results of the Novemler elections was not only " self- 
ish and suicidal," but also ** ill-timed, misjudged, and unpJtriotic." Mr. Rogers smiled in 
reply, and added that his attention had been called to the honorable member's sj^eech. 

" The unpatriotic people," proceeded Mr. Rogers, " are ftiose who set class against class 
and labor against capital, and it is those whom the working classes ought to blame for the 
depression which is settling down upon our manufactures. Fif\en months ago, when inter- 
viewed by a reporter, I said as follows : ^V 

" *■ All such methods of propping up wages rates as limiting the maqe to so many boxes in 
a given time will have to be thrown to the wind, and all will have to ob their best to make 
the greatest use of the appliances and materials at their disposal. If thl men will not make 
the best and most economical use of their arms we shall be compelled to displace them by 
machinery, or move our works to other countries, where materials and labor and tariffs will 
enable us to carry on oiur business profitably.' [ 

** My warning and advice have not been heeded, and I am not, undenthose circumstances, 
to blame that the results which I predicted have been fulfilled." \ 

" Well," interposed the interviewer, " would you mind telling me whaWinduced the firm 
to erect such works in America?" ^*V 

" Our action is by no means entirely due to the McKinley bill. I know perfectly well 
that the day must come when the duty will be reduced in America, and I don't think that the 
majority of the voters, who are workingmen, are so shortsighted as to think it wJuld be to 
their benefit that the duties should be at present reduced. To erect works naw^X-usting to 
the high duty imposed by the McKinley bill, would be very unwise.'* : i 

** How can you reconcile this statement with your action ? " '\ 

" What really carried weight with us in our decision to erect works in Ametw^ was the 
doctrines and actions of the leaders of the workingmen. They cry out against capiUl, de- 
nounce it as an evil to the country, and say they must crush it. We capitalists on oum)art 
say : * Very well ; if you don't like to have us in the country, and you, who are the majoity 
of the voters, wish to have such laws as will injure and hamper us in the conduct of Lur 
manufactures, we will go to other countries where the value of capital is appreciated bykll 
classes, and every inducement held out to us to erect works and to invest oiu* capital.* MaVy 
of our politicians coquette with labor and other questions, instead of, as true friends shouljL 



"^ ^^^'^ ^ 



112 COTTON IN EGYPT. 

pointing out to the working classes the folly of the course they pursue. I don't so much 
blame the genuine workiugman leader, but, owing to want of knowledge and experience, 
he takes too local and narrow a view of trade questions, and acts and advises as if Great 
Britain were the ^hole world. She is only a very small part of the manufacturing world, 
and has not now the advantages she used to have ; rather the contrary." 
" Have you commenced erecting your works near New York ?'* 
" Ob, yes ; but we do not anticipate starting operations until October." 
** Sup()osing the present tariff is maintained, will the fact of its being so affect South Wales 
and the Cwmbwrla works ?" 

"We don't anticipate stopping our works here whatever happens; at any rate, so far as 
our steel works and mills are concerned. The best evidence of that is that we are putting 
up in them more modem and perfect machinery. We intend making a hard fight to ke^p 
our works here and at Cwmbwrla running. Our American works are what is called in sport- 
ing terms a 'hedge,' so that if the actions of the leaders of the working people and the 
houses of Parliament make it unprofitable for us to carry on our works in this country, we 
shall still be able to be. large manufacturers. If the presidential election had been a month 
ago, and if Mr. Cleveland had been elected, it would make no difference whatever to what I 
say." 

Referring to the remark made before a public audience that it was "unpatriotic" on the 
part of the firm to erect works instead of waiting until November, Mr. Refers .observed that 
the November elections, however they might go, would have no effect upon what they were 
doing. As he had said before, the McKinley tariff was only a secondary cause for their action. 
" Capital," he added, " is sensitive and timid, and will always flow to the countries which 
offer most security and the freest opportunities for untrammeled development, and where 
capital is most abundant there will be the greatest prosperity, most regular employment, and 
most happiness." 

ftoceeding, Mr. Rogers remarked that some of the Democrats said : " We are quite pre- 
pared to admit that if the duties are reduced wages will have to be correspondingly reduced, 
but our aim is that wages shall be so far reduced that our manufacturers can undersell Europe 
in neutral markets, such as India, Australia, etc. ; but we believe that the cost of living and 
of luxuries should also be so reduced that workmen would be as well off at the lower wages 
as they are now at the higher wages." 

" Are there any other works in com^e of erection in America now?" 
"Yes, there are several. When President Harrison was chosen, Mr. McKinley gave 
figures showing that there were twenty-five tin-plate works either built or in course of erec- 
tion, the accuracy of which I can not confirm, as I only visited a few. The manufacture of 
tin plates is, however, very rapidly taking root in the United States, and some very magni- 
ficent plants have been erected. In one works which I visited was the finest plant which I 
have ever seen. An enormous steel and tin plate concern is being built in Chicago." 
"Does this plant dispense with any of the manual labor necessary here?" 
The interview closed with the remark that it did, and to a very great extent. 



COTTON IN EGYPT.* 

REPORT BY ACTING CONSUL-GENERAL GRANT, OE CA/RO.f 

It appears that cotton was known to the ancient Egyptians. In ancient 
times it grew here in a wild state. Herodotus mentions a plant which bore 
flowers of a pinkish color and a fibrous fruit. It is thought that the seed 

* Samples of Egyptian cotton which accompanied this report have been transmitted to the Department of 
Agriculture. 

f I have obtained most of the information contained in this report from the General Produce Association 
of Alexandria, the president of which very kindly responded to my inquiries. — L. 13. G. 



COITON IN EGYI'T. II3 

came from the far East, as the plants gave a woolly product of short ar.d 
weak staple. It was only in the early part of the present century that the 
cultivation of cotton began to extend and exotic seed- to be imix)rted. Mako 
and Jumel were the names given to the new product, which was of a white 
color and of long staple. Mako was the name of a large landed proprietor 
who especially lent himself to the culture of the new cotton. Jumel was the 
name of a French agriculturist who first imported seed from America. In 
France Egyptian cotton is still called Jumel. 

As an article of exix)rt cotton dates from the year 1821, but during 
thirty-five years the quantity varied only from 150,000 to 500,000 cantars 
(cwts. of 98 pounds). A great stimulus was given to this culture by the Vice- 
roy Mehemet Ali. It is said that he planted all the seed he could get on 
his own land with successful results, and, being stimulated by the high price 
obtained for the new fiber in the European markets, he encouraged its cul- 
tivation throughout Lower Egypt, the soil and climate of which were found 
to be admirably adapted to its growth. 

It was in 183 7-* 38 that this culture really l)egan to take serious propor- 
tions. Abbas Pasha I still further encouraged it. In i860 the export duty 
was reduced from 10 per cent to i per cent ad valorem, which, of course, 
helped to stimulate the culture; but the great impetus was given by the 
Aiherican civil war, the high prices at that period causing the cultivation to 
be pushed to the utmost limits. 

Up to our days the Mako-Jumel has experienced many changes and evolu- 
tionsy which are attributed to the nature of the soil. The color gradually 
became a yellowish brown, and took the name of Ashmouni, from the village 
of Ashmoun, where this change was first noted. 

VARIETIES. 

The present varieties of Egyptian cotton as known to commerce are the 
followiiig: Ashmouni, Mit-Afifi, Abiad, Bamieh, and Gallini. 

Ashnwuni, — For many years this quality formed the bulk of the Egyptian 
crop, but it is now almost entirely superseded by Mit-Afifi. In color it was 
of a lightish brown, lighter than the Mit-Afifi, and with a staple rather over 
I inch in length. It is still cultivated in some parts of Lower Egypt, notably 
in the neighborhood of Mehala-el-Kebir, but the acreage of this quality is 
decreasing every year. In Upper Egypt, however, it is more extensively 
cultivated, as the nature of the soil there is less favorable to the Mit-Afifi 
cotton. 

Mit-Afifi, — The seed of this cotton was discovered by a Greek merchant 
living in the village of Mit-Afifi, where he first planted it and whence it de- 
rives its name. The seed has a bluish-green tuft at the extremity, which 
first attracted his attention. On planting this seed he found that it possessed 
many advantages over the Ashmouni. It matured earlier and was therefore 
much less susceptible to damage from the salt fogs, which are very often 
prevalent in September. Its chief superiority, however, consisted in the 
No. 144 8. 



114 COTTON IN EGYPT. 

greater" proportion of lint yielded to the seed. At first the cantar of 315 
rotols (pounds) yielded about 112 rotols of lint, and sometimes even more; 
but now it has deteriorated and rarely gives so much, generally averaging 
106 to 108 rotols. Ashmouni rarely attains 98 rotols. The finder kept the 
secret for some years, but it ultimately became known. The Mit-Afifi is of 
a darker and richer brown than the Ashmouni. It is of excessive strength, 
but, except in some districts, the staple is not longer than that of Ashmouni. 
The districts where it has longer staple are about Cafr Zayat, Chibin-el-Koom, 
and notably Birket-es-Sab. 

Abiad, — Abiad, as its name indicates, is white cotton, and is chiefly 
grown at Zifta, Mit-Gamr, and, to a smaller extent, at Birket-es-Sab. In 
other districts it is only grown sporadically, and even in the districts above 
mentioned it is rapidly giving way to Mit-Afifi. The staple is much longer 
than that of American cotton, the bulk reaching about i inch in length, 
while some fine lots are to be found having a length of \y^ and even \y^ 
inches. The yield is 105 to 112 rotols. 

Bamieh. — This quality is yearly degenerating.' The form of the tree is 
quite different from the other varieties of cotton, being tall and not bushy. 
It is supposed to have been produced by accidental hybridization of the 
Ashmouni cotton tree and the Bamieh .plant, as it resembles the latter in 
several points. Its chief charactistics are great length, fineness, and silkiness 
of staple and a rather lighter color than Ashmouni, but generally a greater 
weakness of staple. The tree, however, is more delicate than the other varie- 
ties, and is therefore very susceptible to September fogs. It yields about 
100 to 105 rotols of lint per cantar of 315 rotols. The chief districts now 
producing the best quality of this variety are : First, Mansoorah ; second, 
Semenood; and then Mehala-el-Kebir. 

Gallini, — This variety has almost entirely disappeared from cultivation, 
as the quality had deteriorated to such an- extent that it became most difificult 
to sell. Only one small lot of 1 22 can tars appeared in the Alexandria market 
this year, and, I am informed, is still unsold. It has been said that this 
variety was originally produced from imported Sea Island seed, but I am 
informed by competent authority that this is an error. It was first found 
accidentally at a place called Galleen, in the province of Garbieh, about 
the year 1863 on land belonging to Haidar Pasha, and from there k spread 
all over that province. Attempts at cultivation in other districts were not 
successful, which proved that its proper development depended entirely on 
the quality of the soil. Though very fine, silky, and strong, it differed 
greatly from Sea Island, being of a brown color instead of white. Many 
attempts have been made to introduce the culture of Sea Island cotton in 
Egypt by importing seed from the United States, but all experiments failed. 
Although the cotton produced was very long and fine, it was so weak in 
staple that all spinners condemned it. 

Other varieties, — New varieties are continually springing up. Just now 
9, variety called HamouH is coming into the market. This is strong and of 



COTTON IN EGYPT. II5 

a good mellow brown color, but not so long in staple as Mit-Afifi. Here 
again the chief incentive to its culture is the good yield of lint. So far, how- 
ever, the amount cultivated is extremely small. Another variety called 
Zeplyri is also spoken of, but nothing is yet known of this, as only a few 
cantars were known to exist last year. There is also another variety, of which 
very little is known yet, because the possessors of the seed keep the matter 
secret This resembles Sea Island much more than Gallini, having all the 
requisite characteristics and the same white color. 

PLANTING AND CULTIVATION. 

■ 

Planting takes place in March and April. In this connection I can not 
do better than quote McCoan. He says, in *' Egypt as It Is" (p. 189): * 

The cultivation of the plant, of whichever variety, differs slightly according as the ground 
sown is balieh^ i. e., watered solely by annual inundation, or miscoxvehy which is not thus fully 
irrigated, but requires to be artificially watered several times before and after seed-sowing. 
In Lower Egypt, where the land is fatter and stronger than above Cairo, one plowing gen- 
erally suffices before seed time, but in the upper valley two at least are necessary; deep if the 
soil be light, but shallower where it is heavy. Small patches of ground are hoed where the 
cultivator can not afford the cattle power required for the plow. The ground being next 
leveled with the hoe or a rude kind of harrow, furrows are made about 2 feet apart, in which, 
at intervals of some 3 feet, holes are drilled 3 or 4 inches deep. Into each of these the sower 
drops half a dozen seeds, which he covers in with earth and waters (or not), and the operation 
is complete. The ba/iek lands are thus sown in March and the misanveh in April. Near 
the towns' vegetables are generally planted between the furrows, to make the most of the 
ground ; where tbis is not done the plants are thinned and earthed up by plowing between 
the ridges. 

The cotton fields are artificially watered about eight times during cultiva- 
tion, generally by bringing the Nile water between the ridges on which the 
plants are growing, thus saturating the soil completely. The general ripen- 
ing of the pods begins in September (but the Mit-Afifi ripens about a month 
earlier), and the cotton is ready for the first picking in October. A second 
picking takes place in November or at the beginning of December and a 
third in January and February. 

The wages of pickers are: For men, from 20 to 30 cents per diem; for 
children, about 15 cents per diem. 

After the last picking the cotton ti:ees are generally pulled up and used 
for fuel. In some few instances they are only cut down close to the ground, 
and a second crop is produced from the same plants. This second crop, 
however, is not as good as the first, and it is becoming a universal custom 
to use fresh seed for every crop. In the interval between the last picking 
and the new sowing the cotton fields are sown with "berseem," or Egyptian 
clover, which grows quickly and can be removed in time for the next cotton 
planting. Continuous growing of cotton on the same lands impoverishes 
the soil, and the quality of the product deteriorates year by year. For this 
reason it is customary to follow a kind of rotation system. For example, 
cotton is rarely grown on the same lands for more than two years in succes- 
sion, and in most cases for not more than one year, Tha ^'^co^^ ^-^ "^^Sjcl^ 



ii6 



COTTON IN EGYPT. 



year, as the case may be, these lands are devoted to cereals or some crop 
which does not injure the soil and which aids it to recover its good qualities. 
By some growers rice is considered the best crop to grow in the interval. 
During its cultivation the soil regains its strength, on account of its con- 
tinual submersion. 

The best producing lands are those which are left two years under light 
crops and planted with cotton only every third year. 

AREA. 

The total area planted with cotton during the season i89o-'9i was 855,- 
479 acres, and during the season 1891-92 it was 831,241 acres. This area 
Vill probably be increased in proportion as more lands are brought under 
irrigation. As the means of irrigation are being improved year by year, it 
is probable that in time there will be a considerable increase in the produc- 
tion of cotton, as it is one of the best-paying crops. It is thought that next 
season's crop will be still larger than that of last year, although it is impos- 
sible to give any idea of the exact increase of area. 

PRICES. 

During the last cotton season prices have been very low. It will be ob- 
served by a glance at the following table that only on four previous occa- 
sions have the prices of Egyptian cotton been so depressed, viz, in the years 
1843, iS4S> ^848, and 1851. 

Table shnving the exportation and average price of cotton from 182 1 to i8g2. 



Year 



x8az 

Z833 

1823 

x8a4 

iSas 

X826 

X897 

X828 

x8a9 

X830 

X831 

1832 

«833 

1834. 

183s 

1836 

X837 

X838 

X839 

X840 

X84X 

x84a : 

XS43 ..M 

* Reduced from piasters tarif ; x piaster tariff 5 cents 
t X cantars98 pounds. 



Average 

price per 

can tar.* 



$x6.oo 

15-50 
15.50 
17.00 
13.00 
13.00 
13.00 
13.00 
13. 00 
13.00 
xo. 50 
15.00 
25.00 

30.75 
as- as 
xS.so 
13.00 
15.00 
X8.25 
13.00 

xo.oo 

7.75 



Exports. 



Cantars.^ 
908 
35,108 
159,426 
228,078 
218,312 
2x6,181 
159,642 

59, ass 
104,920 

ai3,58s 
186,675 

136,127 
56,067 

143,893 
ai3,6o4 
343,330 

315,470 
338,833 

X34,097 
159,301 

193, 507 
2x1,030 

361,064 



COTTON IN EGYPT. 



117 



TaiU shffU'hig the exportation and average price of cotton from 1821 to r8g2 — Continued. 



Year. 



X844.. 
1845... 

1846-- 
1847.. 

1848.., 

1849.. 
1850.. 
1851.. 
1852.. 
X853.. 
X854.. 
X855.. 
X856.. 
1857.. 
X858.. 

X859.. 
x86o.. 
x86x.. 
x86a.. 
X863.. 
1864.. 
i365.. 
1866.. 
1867.. 
1868.. 
1869.. 
1870.. 
1871.. 
1872.. 
X873.. 
1874.. 

X875.. 
X876.. 
X877.. 
X878.. 
1879.. 
x88o.. 
x88z.. 
X882.. 
X883.. 
X884.. 
X885.. 
x886.. 
X887.. 
x888.. 
X889.. 
X890.. 
X891.. 
X893.. 



Average 

price per 

canur. 


Exports. 




Cantars. 


$18.00 


X53.3<»3 


6.00 


344.955 


10.35 


202,040 


xo.oo 


357. 49a 


7. as 


119.965 


xo.oo 


257, 510 


XX. 75 


364,816 


8.7s 


384»439 


X0.35 


670, xa9 


10.00 


477,390 


9.00 


477,905 


9.25 


520,886 


10.7s 


539,885 


16.25 


490,960 


12.75 


5x9.537 


12.00 


502,645 


12.25 


501,4x5 


14.00 


596,200 


23.00 


721,052 


36.25 


1,181,888 


45.00 


X, 718, 791 


31-75 


2,001,169 


35-25 


1,288,762 


22.50 


1,260,946 


19.00 


», 253, 455 


23.00 


^289.714 


19.50 


x,35X,797 


IS- 75 


1,966,215 


21.00 


2,108,500 


18.55 


2,013.433 


16. 15 


2,575,648 


14.95 


2,206,443 


18.85 


3,007,719 


13.70 


2,439.X57 


12.25 


2,583,610 


13.60 


X, 680, 595 


»4-05 


3,123,515 


14.35 


2, 792, 184 


13-75 


2,846,237 


15.00 


2,293,537 


X3-50 


2,686,382 


X2.55 


2,591,486 


11. 00 


2,904,84a 


12. 00 


3,025,965 


X3-7S 


3,593,327 


16.00 


2,648,640 


X3-40 


3,496,108 


IX. 50 


4,159,405 


8.75 


4,750,000 



I am informed by the Alexandria General Produce Association that this 
fall in prices is entirely attributable to the enormous crop in America. I 
must add, however, that the last Egyptian crop was the largest ever pro- 
duced, reaching 4,750,000 cantars. Therefore, the low prices can be attrib- 
uted to the general overproduction of the world. 



n8 COTTON In EGVPt* 

The cost of production on large farms in Egypt is about 1^9.74 to ;Jii.i7 
per acre, exclusive of the land tax, which varies from $1 to 1^7.41 per acre.' 
The small Arab cultivator, who works with his family on his 3 or 4 feddans, 
can produce cotton much cheaper. The average production of lint per 
acre is about 340 pounds, but good lands will yield as much as 700 pounds. 

Owing to the absence of any regular statistics it is difficult to say exactly 
what is the cost of land in Egypt. There is no sort of relation between 
the value of land and its taxation. I am informed that the highest rate 
common for cotton lands in Lower Egypt is ^17.50 to ^8 per acre. With 
that tax good lands sell for ^100, ^150, and, in rare cases, even for |2oo, 
but on many inferior lands this tax is so crushing that they are almost un- 
salable. 

GINNING, PRESSING, ETC. 

The cotton gins used in Egypt are Piatt's patent roller gins. The total 
number of ginning mills throughout Upper and Lower Egypt is about one 
hundred. They are distributed in all the chief cotton centers. Large towns 
like Mansoorah, Zagazig, Cafr Zayat, Tantah, and Mehala-el-Kebir have 
from ten to twenty mills each. There are hydraulic presses attached to 
nearly all the mills, so that the cotton comes from the mills to Alexandria 
in hydraulic-pressed bales. Only about four of the interior mills have steam 
presses. With the exception of the bales sent from these four mills all the 
cotton is steam pressed in Alexandria before exportation. From two or 
three places cotton is still sent to Alexandria in bags of about 2)4 can tars 
each, but the bale system is increasing every year. 

During the busiest season, say during October, November, December, 
and January, most of the larger mills work night and day. In this case 
there are two relays of employes who work twelve hours each, turn and turn 
about. When business slackens the working hours are from fifteen to six- 
teen per day, beginning at 6 a. m. and ending at 9 p. m. But in these 
cases only one set of hands is employed, whose daily wages are reckoned at 
the rate of one and one-third days to the day of fifteen to sixteen hours. 
Wages vary a good deal, according to the district, namely, from 10 to 25 
cents per diem for ordinary hands. As the season comes gradually to a 
close the mills work very irregularly. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

The large cotton merchants are nearly all resident in Alexandria. They 
send their agents among the villages to purchase the cotton from the various 
growers. It is then sent to the nearest mills, where it is ginned and pressed 
in hydraulic bales, after which it is transported by rail or boat to Alexan- 
dria. Here it is pressed in steam presses into bales weighing from 750 to 
780 pounds, and measuring about 20 cubic feet. It is then ready for ex- 
portation. 

It will be noticed that America is not mentioned among the other coun- 
tries in the table of exportation. This is because almost all the cotton ex- 



cottojj IN ecvrT. 



m 



pdiicA from Egypt to America is shipped via England, especially Liverpool, 
where it is transshipped. The figures in the table of exportation to the 
Uriitfcd States are takeii froni the invoice books of the consulate-general at 
Cairo and the cdnsular agency at Alexaridria, where dll invoices of mfer- 
t^handise shipj^d from Egypt to the United States are certified: They itiay 
therefore be cdnsidered accurate. There are doilbtless some purchases t^f 
Egyptian cottdrl made ill ICngland for the American market^ but such ship- 
ments would figure in the exports from England; 

The cotton shipped td the United States is used for mixing and fot 
itiaking thread; 

Local consumption; 

"f he only consumption of cotton in figypt is fdr stuffing pillows knA 
mattresses. This need not be taken into account for statistical purposes, £ls 
it is chiefly cotton waste. 

EXPORTATION. 

The following table shows the exportations to various countries during 
the years 1884 to 1889 : 

ToA/e showing the quantity and value of cotton exported from Egypt to various countries 

from 1884 to i8Sg. 



Countries. 



England ~... 

France and Algeria. 

Austria-Hungary... 

Italy.... 

Spain. 

Other 

Total 



1884. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Cantars. 

2,oa9,oj7 ia7.679.99$ 

24«,797 3» 248, 540 



1885. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Cantars. 

i» 847, 581 #22,150,830 



293. 334 
323,808 

201 , 723 

63,055 
20,796 



3,073«57® 



3.600,13s 

3,692,6^3 
840,94s 
"39,175 



S»8,245 
250,657 

247,4" 

206,876 

88,106 

3o,«45 



41,188,745 I 3*188,82* 



I 



6,27^,650 

3.052,135 
3,049,965 

2,690,325 

i,o3.;,28s 

219,815 



1886. 



Quantity. 



Cantars. 

1,869,292 

450, I 7K 
266,150 

345,24s 
163,403 

29,988 

>6,55' 



38,53^,995 i 3»«>40,8o3 



Value. 



^2,143,890 
5, 198, 140 

3# 130. 655 
2,796,895 

1,882,505 

359,845 
"2,130 



35,604,060 



Countries. 



Iriwglaffjl , , , , ,.. - ,- . , 

Russia.. . 

Crance «oA Algeria.......^ ^ 

Austria-Hungary. 

Spain >....., 

Other ..«.«^ 



• • •<•<• •<»•■ • 



Toul. 



1887. 



Quantity. 



Cantars. 

•,956,306 

37'»723 
«34,6f8 
-232,862 
216, 130 
90,792 
34,532 



Value. 



»888. 



Quantity. 



3,067,013 



524,162,8*5 
4,614,870 
2,888,015 I 
2,899.625 ! 

2,555,635 j 
262,925 j 
328,950 1 



Cantars.. 
», 6*9, 444 

375.983 
208^31.4 
v253,o64 

*8j,495 
^8,043 

25,492 



Value. 



520,665,000 

4,744,095 
2,636,650 

3,173,990 

2,3>5,4i5 

367,990 

213,415 



37,712,835 : 2,691,835 34,116,555 

i I 



1889. 



Quantity. 



Cantars. 
2,000,430 

314,353 
248,795 
355,446 
231; 328 

20,139 
35,7" 



3, 206, 202 



Value. 



$26,763,545 
4,207,845 

3,312,2 o 

4.751,080 

3,1x4,09^ 

266,415 

323,385 



42,738,58^ 



I20 



COTTON IN EGYPT. 



The following table shows the value of exportations of cotton from 
Egypt to the United States during the nine years ended 1891 : 



Year. 



1883. 

1884. 
1885. 

x886. 
X887. 
x888. 



Value. 



Year. 



#3,781 
a5,<x>4 

47.719 
9.8x6 

"2.577 
191 » 73' 



1889. 
1890. 
1B91. 



Total. 



Value. 



$580,631 

728,05a 

2,417.168 



4»««7,o79 



There were no exports of cotton to the United States during the years 
1881 and 1882. 

For the quarter ended March 31, 1892, the exports to the United States 
amounted to ilS 23, 725.43. 

Table showing the quantity and value of cotton seed exported from Egypt to various coun- 
tries from 1884 to i8Sg. 



Countries. 




England 

France and Algeria. 
Other 



1885. 



Bushels. 
9,481,950 
1,430,487 
3»9 



Total I 10,913,116 



Quantity. | Value 



#6,352,730 

967,535 

240 



Bushels. 
10,407,518 
926, 222 

77,374 



7,320,505 I 11,411,114 



^>, 575,085 

571,200 

49,670 



7,195,955 



x886. 



Quantity. 



Bushels. 
",641,333 
918,946 
1,689 



12,561,968 



Value. 



$5,928, X75 

480,465 
«»o75 



6,409*7«S 



Countries. 



1887. 



England 

France and .Al};eria. 
Other 



Tdtal. 



Quantity. 

Bushels. 

",505,786 

1,015,432 

71,753 



12,592,971 



Value. 



15,834,815 
513,260 

37.175 



1888. 



Quantity. 



Bushels. 

10,503,444 

907,769 

2,503 



6,385,250 



11,413,716 



Value. 



$6,008,680 

538,520 

1,515 



6,548,715 



1889. 



Quantity. 



Bushels. 
10,825,843 
702,157 

14,239 



",542,239 



Value. 



^,815,980 

444,455 
9.025 



7,269,460 



LOUIS B. GRANT, 

Acting Consul- General, 
United States Agency and Consulate-General, 

Cairo, May 21, i8g2. 



Do you ever 

have occasion to use a 

Les^al Directory? 

Thirty law firms, who JoinUy forward orer one 
hmdnd and fifty thouiind items of buEineH to 
their lepil coiTcspondenU annually, and who are 

■tantly their eiperience with their Tarious corr 

aontblythedirectory which they use. Thatiuc 
Hat la auperior to one compiled in the ordinniy v 
and psbliihed annually or semi-annually, e-Xf' 
outsayixe^ Each iiiueconUinl thecollecUonla 
of the varioua lUiu, tabulated, besides a good d 



Th6 Mercantile Adjuster, 

P.O. Box 609, NEW YORK. 

Room 76 Thibunc Buildino. 




aotta T*»v. 

WparYeir, %*.tO puy»tt (tnnlgi.} 39c.rwCt|qr. 

AMERICAN 
NATURALIST 

A MONTHLY JOURNAL 

OSVOTSD TO THB NATURAL SCIBNCBI 

IN THEIR WIDEST SENSE. 

MANAOina iMTORa: 

PHor. E. D. COPE, Philadelphia. PeBa, 
Prof. J. S. KINGSLEV, Boilon, Masa. 

jiaaociATi iDiTona: 

Pxor. W. S. BAYLEY, of Colby Uaiveraltr, Wa- 
tervilie Mc, Dept. of PetrDgraphy. 

Prop. W. H. HOBIIS, Madison, Wise, Dept. <-r 
Mineralcv;. 

Da. C. E. BESSEY, of The University of Neb- 
raska, Lincoln, Neb., Dept. of Botany. 

PaoF. C. M. WEED, of College of New Har- 
■hire, Durham, N.H., Dept. of Entamolog]'. 

Phof. E.A.ANDREWS, of Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, Bslliniore, Md., Dept. of Embryology. 

H. C. MERCES of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, Dept. oi Anthropology. 

PH. C. O. WHITMAN, of Chicago University, 

Chlcogo, 111., Dept. of Microscopic Technique. 

THE EDWARDS A DOCKER CO., 

BIg-SM MInv St., PblUd«l[dila. 



The Nlcaraupa Canal 

when built, will be the shortest water 
route for commerce from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific. The 



is the shortest route from possible 
financial disaster to au assured com- 
petency for the bereaved family. 
SIO.500.000 Paid in Losses. 
Cost 40% usual rates. 



GEO. A. LITCHFIELD. Pres. 

53 State StreeV. Vwistwr.. 



LITTELL'S LIVING AG-E. 



^ieti!' ] No. 2649. -April 13, 1895. | "'Tof^g^^' 



C O N T E NTS. 

I. Robert Southey. By George Saints- 
bury, MacmillaiVs Mmjazine^ . . 07 

11. The Touch of Spring. By D. Storrar 

Meldmm, Blackioood\H Man a zinc, • . 78 

-— ^™-"°— ^"" f-"^— f'^ 

rv. The Crisis in Newfoundland. By 

William Greswell, Fortnightly RevieWj . 98 

V. The Builder of the Round Towers. 

By Emily Lawless, . . . . . Nineteenth Century, . . . 104 

VI. Among the Snow-Mountains of the 

Tyrol. By A. E. W. Mason, . . Temple Bar, . . . .113 

YII. Women of the French Revolution. 
The Great Citoyenne (Madame Roland). 
By M. Dale, Belgravia, . . . . 1 18 

Vin. Italian Granite, Chambers^ Journal, ... 127 

p () K T R Y. 

Home to Thee, 66 Nature's Magic, .... 66 

A Fajbbtwell, 6C 



PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY 

LITTELL & CO., BOSTON. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 

For Eight Dollars remitted directly to the Publishers, the Living Age will be ponotually for- 
warded lor a yeai", yrce of postage. 

Bemittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If 
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obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orden should be made 
I»ayM>lo to the order of Littell & Co. 

Single copies of the Lxvuro Age, 18 cents. 



66 



Home to TheCy etc. 



HOME TO THEE. 

Home — but not to thee, sweet, 

As so oft before, 
Home — but home to thee, sweet. 

Never, nevermore. 

Laggard grow the feet, sweet, 
• Dragging wearily, 
That stepped once so fleet, sweet. 
Home to Love and thee. 

Thou'rt not there to greet, sweet. 

Nor to welcome me, 
I no more shall meet, sweet. 

Home and Heaven in thee. 

Home ! without thy smile, sweet ? 

Home ! without thy kiss ? 
Home ! without thy heart, sweet ? 

Home ! and that to miss ? 

Home ! no, not to me, sweet, . . 

Till there can be this — 
Daylight without sun, sweet. 

Heaven without bliss. 

Yet — thou art at home, sweet, 

Waiting still for me. 
While I homeless roam, sweet, — 

Home eternally. 

And my steps may be, sweet, 

Evermore may be. 
Home, still home to thee, sweet. 

Home to God and thee I 

Gomhill Biagazine. 



A FAREWELL. 
[E. S. PIGOTT, FEBRUARY 23RD, 1895.] 

Friend, farewell, the word is true and 
sweet. 
Although I say it not with any thought 
Of parting long or severance complete. 
Farewell, and yet farewell I may there be 
nought 
To hinder thy safe passage o^er the line 
Invisible that parts the lingering way 
Which still is ours from that which now is 
thine. 
Be here the darkness left ; meet thou th^ 
encountering day. 

Light be thy foot that has grown slow of 
late. 
And free thy breath, unstayed by fog or 
chill, 
Thy shoulders lightened of each mortal 
weight, 
No prick of whin-strewn moor or thorny 
hill; 



Hosen and shoon thou gayest with liberaK 
hands. 
Kind words and gentle judgment ever 
thine ; 
Now take thy way, content, o'er flowery- 
lands, 
And meet, benignant thou, the etemaB 
smile benign. 

I far advanced upon the self -same road. 
My heart forestalling still the footsteps- 
slow. 
Waiting the opening of those gates of God» 

Sick of believing, sick to see and know. 
No word of parting say, no tear will shed. 
But speed with tender greeting and witb 
praise 
The guest that to a fairer hostel led. 
Goes from our winter forth, content, by- 
happier ways. 

Till next we meet ! and if meanwhile ere I 
Make up to you, you meet with those of 
mine 
Of whom we talked 'neath this same- 
wintry sky 
The other day ; oh friend, a friendly sign,. 
A kind word give, as 'twas thy habit here. 

Ever forestalling question with reply. 
As ** All is well, eh ?" lending to the ear 
A token kind of home, to be remem- 
bered by. 

Then pass thou on, all cheerful \o thy 
place. 
Thou whom no whisper of the envious- 
crowd 
E'er moved to evil word, suspicion base. 

Or echo of ill rumor, low or loud. 

The age is almost past was thine and mine,. 

The saner days and better near their end» 

How glad would I my lingering past resign. 

And faring forth like thee, recover manyr 

a friend ? 
Spectator. M. O. W. O.. 



NATLTIE'S MAGIC. 

Give her the wreckage of strife — 

Tumulus, tumbled tower, 
Each clod and each stone she'll make her 
own 

With the grass and innocent flower. 

Give her the Candlemas snow. 
Smiling she'd take the gift. 
And out of the flake a snowdrop make. 
And a lambkin out of the drift. 
Good Worda. ViDA Briss*. 



The Nile. 



87 



' lingered at their tryst a minute behind 
Ihe hour. 

At the stab to her pride that the 
-discovery gave, the blind dropped from 
her hand. The next instant she had 
plucked it aside, as if to scourge her 
mature sense with the sight of her raw 
humors. '^ So that is the end of that," 
she thought, as she watched the white 
sail mount to the opposite shore. She 
would never marry Broomielaws ; that 
ihad been settled for her. Whether 
:she ever could have married him was 
beyond consideration now ; yet it 
seemed to her that it was as likely she 
should have married him as that she 
-should marry this laddie, who was even 
now landing on the other side of the 
Porth. She was a girl when the boy 
»came to her that morning, with the 
^rst touch of spring, the harbinger of 
her womanhood. The boy had sailed 
away from a woman, years older than 
himself in knowledge, and ripe in the 
•consciousness of what the world held 
in store for her. No ; she would never 
marry Teddy. 

And, indeed, he did not ask her 
again. 

D. Stobrab Meldrum. 



THE NILE.1 



From Nature. 



I AM to speak to you to-night of the 
Kile, and I think I may fairly say it is 
4he most famous river in all the world ; 
famous through all the ages, for the 
•civilization that has existed on its 
banks ; famous for its mystic, fabulous 
rise, about which so many sages and 
philosophers have pondered ; famous 
for its length, traversing one-fifth the 
distance from pole to pole ; famous, 
and apparently destined to be famous, 
for the political combinations that ever 
•<;entre around it. But I feel I must 
begin by an apology, for now that 
Egypt has come so completely within 
the tourist's range, probably many of 
my hearers have seen more of the Nile 
than I have. 

1 A lecture delivered at the Royal Institution, 
-on January 25, by Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff . 



If a foreigner were to lecture to his 
countrymen about the river Thames, 
and were to begin by informing them 
that he had never been above Green- 
wich, he might be looked upon as an 
impostor ; and perhaps I am not much 
better, for I have never been higher 
up the river than Philse, six hundred 
and ten miles above Cairo. For infor- 
mation regarding anything higher up, 
I must go, like you, to the works of 
Spcke, Baker, Stanley, and our other 
great explorers. I shall not, then, de- 
tain you to-night with any elaborate 
account of this upper portion of the 
river, but will only remind you briefly 
of that great inland sea, the Victoria 
Nyanza, in extent only a little less 
than the American Lake Superior, 
traversed by the equator, and fed by 
many rivers, some of them taking their 
rise as far as 6** S. lat. These rivers 
form the true source of the Nile, the 
mystery only solved in the present gen- 
eration. 

The outlet of this great lake is on ils 
north shore, where the river rushes 
over the Kipou Falls, estimated by 
Speke at only four hundred or five hun- 
dred feet wide, and with a drop of 
twelve feet. Thence the river's course 
is in a north-west direction for two 
hundred and seventy miles, to where it 
thundera over the Murchison Falls, a 
cliff of one hundred and twenty feet 
high. Soon after that it joins the 
northern end of Baker's Lake, the Al- 
bert Nyanza, but only to leave it again, 
and to pursue its course through a 
great marshy land for more than six 
hundred miles, to where the Bahr Ga- 
zelle joins it from the west ; a little 
further down the great Saubat tributary 
comes in on the east. This is the 
region in which the river is obstructed 
by islands of floating vegetation, which, 
if checked in their course, at last block 
up its whole width, and form solid ob- 
structions known as sadds, substantial 
enough to be used as bridges ; and ob- 
stacles, of course, to navigation, until 
they are cleared away. The waters of 
the Saubat are of very light color, and 
tinjje the whole river, which, above its 
junction, is green and unwholesome, 



88 



The Nile. 



from the long chain of marshes which 
it traverses. Hence it is called the 
White Nile. Six hundred miles fur- 
ther brhigs us to Khartoum, where the 
Blue Nile from the Abyssinian moun- 
tains joins it, and at two hundred miles 
still further to ihc north it is joined by 
the Atbara Biver, also from Abyssinia, 
a torrent rather than a river. 

Baker gives a graphic account of how 
he was encamped by the dry bed of 
the Atbara on June 22, 1861. The 
heat was intense, the country was 
parched with drought. During the 
night the cry went forth that the floods 
were coming, and in the morning he 
found himself on the banks of a river, 
he sa^'s, five hundred yards wide and 
from fifteen to twenty feet deep. All 
nature had sprung into life. A little 
north of the junction of the Atbara is 
Berber, whence you will remember is 
the short cut to Sua kin in the Bed Sea, 
which so many thought would have 
been the true route for our army to 
take in relieving Gordon. From Khar- 
toum to Assouan is a distance of eleven 
hundred miles of river, during which it 
makes two immense curves, for on a 
straight line the distance is not half so 
much, and it is in this part of its course 
that it passes over the six great cata- 
racts or rapids which block all ordinary 
navigation. The first or furthest north 
cataract is just above Assouan, a dis- 
tance of seven hundred and fifty miles 
from the Mediterranean, through the 
country known as Egypt. From the 
junction of the Atbara to its mouth in 
the Mediterranean, a distance of six- 
teen hundred and eighty miles, the 
Nile receives no tributary. On the 
contrary, during every mile of its 
course its waters are diminished by 
evaporation, by absorption, and by irri- 
gation. The river gets less and less as 
it fiows through this rainless land, and 
its maximum volume is to be found 
during the floods at the junction of the 
Atbara, and at other seasons at Khar- 
toum, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
five miles from the Mediterranean. 

The whole distance by river from the 
Victoria Nyanza to the sea is about 
thirty-five hundred miles. It may not 



be easy to derive any clear impressioD 
from this bare recital of mileage. Let 
me try to convey to you in some other 
ways the idea of the length of the 
Nile. Standing on the bridge at Cairo,. 
I used to reflect that I was just about 
half-way between the source of the 
Nile and the White Sea. Or to put il 
another way : if we could suppose a 
nver crossing our English Channel^ 
and that tlie Thames should find hs 
outlet in the Euphrates and the Persian 
Gulf, that river wouM be about as long 
as the Nile. 

In this short sketch of the course of 
the Nile, I must not forget to mention 
one interesting feature. About forty 
miles south of Cairo, the low Libyan 
chain of hills which bounds the Ntle 
valley on the west is broken by a gap, 
through which the waters of the river 
can flow, and beyond this gap lies a 
saucer-shaped depression called the 
Fayiim, of about four hundred square 
miles in area, sloping down to a lake of 
considerable size, the surface of whose 
waters stands about one hundred and 
thirty feet below that of the sea. This 
lake is known as the Birket el Kur^n. 

From the time of the earliest Egyp- 
tian records, this province of the 
Fayiim was famed for its fertility, and 
to the Egyptian taste for its delightful 
climate. Many of the most precious 
monuments of antiquity have been 
found in the Fayiim. The famous 
Labyrinth is supposed to have stood 
just at its entrance ; and what has ex- 
cited most interest for the ensjineer in 
all times, it is here that Herodotus 
places that wonderful Lake Moerrs, 
which receiving for half the year the 
surplus supply of the Nile, rendered 
it back again in irrigation to Lower 
Egypt during the other half. Where 
this lake actually was, has excited dis- 
cussion since any attention- has been 
paid to ancient Egyptian history. It 
seems pretty clear that in earlier da} s 
the Birket el Kuriin was of much 
greater proportions than it is now, but 
how it ever could have been large 
enough to allow of its waters flowing 
back into the Nile valley ;^hen the 
river was low, without at the same 



The Nile. 



89 



time drowning the wliole Fayiini, is 
not very clear. 

Now, what are the functions of a 
great river, what are the offices which 
it renders to man ? And first of ail, at 
least ill this latitude, we would mention 
the carry iii<; off to the ocean of the 
surplus water that descends from the 
skies. Nobly does the Nile fulfil this 
duty ; but with this enormous qualifica- 
tion, that it trauHixirls the water from 
tmcts where there is too mucl), and 
carries it all free of cost, not to waste 
it in the sea, hut to bestow it on tracts, 
where it is of priceless value, more 
than taking the place of rain in water- 
ing the fields. 

The next function of a river is to 
form a highway through the land, and 
for most of its course the Nile fulfils 
this dutv well too. Gordon considered 
it possible for steamers to ascend the 
Nile during the floods from its mouth 
to the Fola rapids, a distance of about 
three thousand and forty miles ; but at 
other seasons, the six cataracts cannot 
be passed. Leaving out the eleven 
hundred miles which they occupy, there 
is an unbroken seven hundred and fifty 
miles in the lower, and nearly twelve 
hundred miles in the upper river. I. 
cannot look on it as probable that it 
will ever pay to make navigable canals 
and locks round these cataracts, as it 
would entail so much hard rock-cut- 
ting. 

Another function of a river is to pro- 
mote industry by the employment of 
its water-power. We know how valu- 
able is this power even in England, and 
how much more in countries like Switz- 
erland, where it abounds, and on the 
<?reat rivers of America. Excepting a 
few very rude wooden wheels in the 
Fayiim, I do not know, through all the 
annals of the past, of a single water- 
wheel ever turned by the power of the 
Nile. But that power exists to an 
almost unlimited extent. And may we 
not prophesy that some day in the fu- 
ture, when that long stretch of Nubian 
cataracts has fallen into civilized hands, 
and when we know how to transmit 
electric enerjjv with economy, that 
then our descendants will draw wealth 



to Egypt from its chain of barren cata- 
racts ? 

As a drainage outlet to a continenl, 
as a long highway, as a source of' 
power, the Nile is great ; but not so' 
much so as many other rivers. Iis> 
unique position is due to the benefit it 
confers on Egypt in turning it froiu 
being a desert into l>eing the richest of 
agricultural lands, supporting with ease 
a population of about six hundred ta 
tlie square mile. Herodotus truly said 
Egypt is the gift of the Nile. It more 
than supplies the absence of rain, and 
this it does, fii*st, by the extraordinary 
regularity with which it rises and falls ; 
and secondly, by the fertilizing matter 
which the waters carry in suspension,, 
and bestow upon the land. Imagine 
what it would be to the English farmer 
if he knew exactly when it would rain 
and when it would be sunshine. When 
the Irrigation Department of Egypt is 
properly administered, the Egyptian 
farmer possesses this certainty, and he 
has this further advantage — that it is 
not merely water that is poured over 
his lands, but, during nearly half the 
year, water charged with the finest 
manure. 

According to the early legend, the 
rise of the Nile is due to the tears shed 
by Isis over the tomb of Osiris, and 
the texts on the Pyramids allude to the 
night every year on which these tear- 
drops fall. The worship of Isis and 
Osiris has long passed away, but to this 
day every native of Egypt knows the 
Lailet en Nuktah, the night in which a 
miraculous drop falls into the river, 
and causes it to rise. It is the night of 
June 17. Herodotus makes no allusion 
to this legend of Osiris. In his time, 
he says, the Greeks gave three reasons 
for the river's rise. He believed in 
none of them, but considered, as the 
most ridiculous of all, that which as- 
cribed the floods to the melting of 
snows, as if there could possibly be 
snows in such a hot region. It was 
many centuries after Herodotus's time 
when the snowy mountains of central 
Africa were discovered. 

The heavy rains commence in the 
basin of the White Nile during Aprii^ 



90 



Tli^ NUe. 



and firet slowly drive down upon Egypt 
the green, stagnant waters of tiiat 
marshy region. These appear at Cairo 
about June 15. About a fortnight later 
the real floo<l begins, for the rsiius have 
set in in Abyssinia by May 15, and the 
Blue Nile brings down from the moun- 
tains its supply of the richest muddy 
water. It is something of the cf^>r 
and nearly of the consistency of choc- 
olate, and the rise is very rapid, as 
much sometimes as three feet per diem, 
for the Athara torrent having saturated 
its great sandy bed, is now in full flood 
also. The maximum flood is reached 
at Assouan about September 1, and it 
would reach Cairo some four days later, 
were it not that during August and 
September the water is being diverted 
on to the land, and the whole Nile val- 
ley becomes a great lake. For this 
reason the maximum arrives at Cairo 
about the beginning of October. The 
rains cease in Abyssinia about the mid- 
dle of September, and the floods of the 
Blue Nile and Atbara i*apidly decrease ; 
but in the mean time the great lakes 
and marshes are replenished in the 
upper regions, and slowly give off their 
supplies, on which the river subsists, 
until the following June. Yearly this, 
phenomenon presents itself in Egypt, 
and with the most marvellous regular- 
ity. A late rise is not more than about 
three weeks later than an early rise. 
In average years the height of the flood 
at Assouan is about twenty-five and 
one-half feet above the minimum sup- 
ply. If it rises twenty-nine feet above 
this minimum, it means peril to the 
whole of Egypt, and the irrigation 
engineer has a liard time of it for two 
montlis. If the river only rises twenty 
feet above the minimum, it means that 
whole tracts of the valley will never be 
submerged. Such a poor flood has 
happened only once in modern times, 
in 1877, and the result was more serious 
than the devastation caused by the 
most violent excess. 

The mean flood discharge at Cairo is 
about two hundred and eighty thou- 
sand cubic feet per second, the maxi- 
mum about four hundred thousand. 
The mean lowest Nile is about four- 



teen thousaud cubic feet per second at 
Cairo, but seme years there is not 
moi^e than ten thousaud cubic feet per 
second passing Cairo in June, and 
within three months after this may 
have increased forty-fold. 

Until this century, the irrigation of 
Egypt only employed the flood watera 
of ihe river, and it was this that made 
it the granary of the world. No doubt, 
rude madiines for raising Nile water 
were ^ used at all seasons and from all 
times. But by these it was not possi- 
ble to irrigate on a large scale, and in 
reality they were only employed for 
irrigating vegetables or gardens, or 
other small patches of land. It must 
not be thought that the water of the 
flooded river is ever allowed to flow 
where it lists over the lands. The gen- 
eral slope of the valley on each side is 
away from the river, a feature which 
the Nile shares with all Deltaic streams. 
Along each edge of the river, and fol- 
lowing its course, is an earthen em- 
bankment, high enough not to be 
topped by the highest flood. In Upper 
Egypt, the valley of which seldom ex- 
ceeds six miles in width, a series of 
embankments have been thrown up, 
abutting on their inner ends against 
those along the river's edge, and on 
their outer ends on the ascending sides 
of the valley. The whole country is 
thus divided into a series of oblongs, 
surrounded by embankments on three 
sides, and by the slope of the desert 
hills on the fourth. In Lower Egypt, 
where in ancient days there were sev- 
eral branches of the river, this system 
was somewhat modified, but was in 
principle the same. These oblong 
areas vary in extent from sixt}*^ thou- 
sand to three thousand or four thou- 
sand acres, and the slope being away 
from the river, it is easy to cut short, 
deep canals in the banks, which fill as 
the flood rises, and carry the precious 
mud-charged water into these great 
flats, or, as they are termed, basins of 
irrigation. There the water remains 
for a month or more, some three or 
four feet deep, depositing its mud, and 
then at the end of the flood it may 
either be run off direct into the reced- 



The Nik. 



n 



log river, or, more usually, passed off 
tbrou^b sluices from one basin to an* 
Giber, and ultimately back into tlie 
river. In November ibe waters bavc 
passed off, and wbercver a man and 
a pair of bullocks can walk over tbe 
mud, and seratcb its surface with a 
wooden plou^^b, or even tbe branch 
of a tree, wheat or barley is sown, 
and so saturated is tbe soil tbat the 
grain sprouts and lipens in April or 
May without a drop of rain or any 
fresh irrigation. And a fine crop is 
reaped. Que of our great brewers told 
me tbe other day, that when barley 
grown in this country was spread in 
the mal ting-bouse, about three per 
cent, of it must be counted on as not 
sprouting and being dead. If grain 
two or three years old was used, as 
much as twenty per cent, would be 
found dead. With Egyptian barley, he 
said, even after several years, you 
could count on every grain germinat- 
ing. The crop once reaped, the fields 
remain drv, and crack in the fierce 
summer heat until next flood comes on. 
The tourist who only comes to Egypt 
to shun " winter and foul weather," 
knows nothing of tbe majestic glories 
of Ihe Nile flood. The ancient Kilo- 
meter at the south end of the island of 
Roda, just above Cairo, is one of the 
most interesting sights of the place. 
The water enters from the river by a 
culvert into a well about eighteen feet 
square, with a graduated stone pillar in 
the centre. On each side of the well is 
a recess about six feet wide and three 
feet deep, surmounted by a pohited 
arch, over which is carved in relief a 
Kutic inscription, and a similar inscrip- 
tion is carried all round the well, con- 
sis tins: of verses of the Koran. A 
staircase goes down Ihe well, from the 
steps of which the initiated may read 
the height of the water on the pillar ; 
but they are few in number, and the 
hereditary sheikh of ihe Nilometer, 
whose duty it is to keep the record, is 
a person of some importance. The 
Kilometer dates from A.D. 861, and I 
behove in the archives of Cairo may be 
found Ihe daily record for one thousand 
years. 



I deed bareify MX you thai when our 
English engineers took the river in 
hand, we established a number of 
gauges at Wadi Haifa, Asaouan, Cairo, 
and many other points, on more scieiir 
tific principles than ihe venerable Kilo- 
meter of the Roda Island. 

After the river has begun to rise, its 
height is daily chanted through the 
Cairo streets until it reaches sixteen 
cubits on the gauge. At this point ihe 
Khalig el Masri, the old cannl that 
flows through the heart of Cairo, is 
opened — up to this point it is dry, and 
full or empty it is little more than a 
sanitary abomination at present; but 
in former days it occupied an important 
place, and when the Kile water was 
liigh enough to flow down its bed, it 
was looked on that the flood had fairly 
set in, and that the kindly fruits of the 
earth might be duly expected. 

The head of this canal is on the right 
bank of the river, just south of Cairo. 
The water enters a channel some thirty 
feet wide, with a high wall on its left, 
and a sloping bank on its right or 
southern flank. The water then flows 
under the pointed arch of an old stone 
bridge. The bed of the canal is cleared 
so that it would flow in at a stawsfQ of 
about fourteen and one-half cubits, but 
an earthen bank is thrown across it 
about four feet higher. 

There is no more interestin<; cere- 
mony in Egypt than the annual cutting 
of the Khalig, as the opening cere- 
mony is called. It takes place be- 
tween August 5 and 15. Days before 
preparations are being made for the 
festival. Tents with innumerable 
lamps are placed along the wall on *the 
one side. Frames for all manner of 
flre works are erected on the sand-bank 
on ihe other side. All the notables are 
there in full uniform, or in canonicals. 
The khedive himself, or his represen- 
tative, the Sheikh ul Islam (the highest 
dignitary of the Muhammedan faith), 
the Sheikh el Bekri, the Sheikh es 
Saddt, all ihe learned scribes of the 
srreat university of the Azhdr, the cab- 
inet ministers and under-secretaries, 
ihe sirder of the army and his staff, the 
judges and the fluanciers. 



92 



The Nile. 



The Egyptian troops are turned out, 
salutes are fired, and about eight 
o'clock in the warm summer night the 
classes all assemble under the gaily 
lighted tents, the masses crowd round 
the frames for the fireworks, the street 
is lined with harem carriages full of 
closely veiled figures, though it is not 
much that they can see from their 
broughams. Out in the river, just 
opposite the canal's mouth, is moored 
an old hulk of a certain sea-going out- 
line, which has been towed up from 
Boulnk during the day, and is an 
emblem of the time when the great 
republic of Venice sent an envoy to 
witness the ceremony. This boat is 
full of lamps, and fireworks too. As 
the night deepens the excitement in- 
creases. The populace on the bridge 
and the opposite bank are shouting, 
yelling, and dancing wildly round the 
fireworks. On the other side are the 
gay uniforms and lighted tents, from 
whence we can look over the wall 
down on the dark water, where you sec 
brown figures plunging in and waist- 
deep digging with their hoes at the 
embankment that blocks the canal's 
mouth. 

Long before midnight the fireworks 
have gone out, and left the splendid 
stars to themselves ; the grandees have 
all gone to bed, but the people keep up 
the revelry, and in the morning, by 
7.30, every one has come back. Then 
but little of bank is left uncut ; a few 
more strokes of the big hoes will do it, 
and the brown skins and the brown 
water reflect the bright sunlight from 
above. Then the Sheikh ul Islam 
solemnly thanks the Ahnighty, Allah 
the All-powerful, the All-merciful. He 
implores his blessing on the flood, and 
at a signal the bank is cut, the waters 
rush in, and with them a crowd of 
swimmers. A bag of silver piastres is 
scattered among them, and the cere- 
mony is at an end. 

There is a pretty legend, worth tell- 
ing, of the cutting of the Khalig. 
Amr, the Muhammedan general, took 
Cairo in a.d. 640. Long before then 
there had been a heathen ceremony, 
and a virgin was yearly sacrificed to 



the god of the river. When the season^ 
came round, Amr was called upon a&. 
usual to sacrifice the girl. He sternly 
refused. That year the Nile flood was 
a failure. You can fancy how the in- 
dignant heathen population nmst have 
raged at the invader, and said, ^' We 
warned you what would happen if you 
didn't propitiate the river god." Can.- 
not we fancy, also, how Amr's wild 
Arab soldiers must have had their faitb 
sorely tried, and how they must have- 
felt puzzled as to whether in this^ 
strange new country, with all those 
demon-built temples and pyramids,, 
obelisks, and sphinxes, it might not be 
as well to make friends of the locat 
gods. Could Allah really help them 
here ? Asrain the Nile flood came 
round. This time surely Amr would 
sacrifice the girl, and save the land. 
No ; he would not. The people rose 
in rebellion. Amr stood firm. But he 
wrote to the Kalif Omar for orders 
(Omar, whoso name you will reniem- 
ber has come down in history as the 
destroyer of the Alexandrian library). 
Omar approved of his conduct, but sent 
him a paper to throAV into the Nile. 
On the paper was written, " From Abd 
Allah Omar, Prince of the Faithful, to 
the Nile of Egypt. If thou flow of 
thine own accord, flow not ; but if it 
be Allah, the one the mighty, who 
causeth thee to flow, then we implore 
him to make thee flow." Ann* threw 
the paper into the water, and the Nile 
rose forthwith exactly as it was wanted. 
Since that day no girl has been sacri- 
ficed ; but a pillar of earth is yearly 
left to be washed away in the middle of 
the canal, called the bride or the girl. 

Such, as I have briefly describcMl it, 
wfis the irrigation of Eirypt until this 
century, when it fell under the rule of 
Muhammed Ali, a very sairncious and 
stron<r if a very unscrupulous ruler. 
He saw that the country could produce 
far more valuable crops than cereals. 
The Eui'opean market could be sup- 
plied with these from the fields of 
Europe, but Europe could not produce 
cotton and sugarcane. Egypt had the 
climate, had the soil, had the teeming 
population ; but these crops required 



The Nik. 



93 



-water at all seasons ; nor would it do 
to flood the fields to any depth, for just 
tat the flood season the cotton crop is 
ripening. There was plenty of water 
Aw the rivet* ; but how was it to be got 
on to the land ? Perennial irrigation 
^was a fresh departure. As I have said, 
(the Nile rises about twcnly-flve and 
one-half feet. A canal then running 
(twelve feet deep in flood has its bed 
thirteen and one-half feet above the 
surface of the Low Nile. Either the 
Kile water had lo be raised, or the beds 
of the canals had to be lowered, in or- 
der that one should flow into the other, 
and after that the water had to be 
raised from the canal on lo the land. 
Muhammed All began by lowering the 
•canal beds of Lower Egypt, an enor- 
mous work considering the great num- 
'^ber of the canals; and as they had 
been laid out on no scientific princi- 
ples, but merely to suit the fancies of 
TTurkish pashas or village sheikhs, and 
:as those who had to excavate them to 
this great depth had only the slightest 
:&nowledge of levelling, the inevitable 
Tesult followed — the deep channel be- 
came full of mud during the flood, and 
.-all the excavation had to he done over 
.again. Incredible as it may seem, this 
great work was done year after year. 
It was a great serf population ; if they 
were not fighting Muhammed All's 
'battles in Arabia and Syria, they might 
as well be digging out tlie canals. No 
one thought of paying or feeding the 
worknien. The bastinado was freely 
4ipplied if they attempted to run away. 
If they died under the labor there were 
plenty more to come. But of course 
the work was badly done. The water 
might enter the canal; but as the bed 
was not truly levelled, it did not follow 
that it w*ould flow far. Then, as the 
river daily fell, the water in the canals 
fell too, and lessened in volume as the 
heat increased, and more was required. 
At hist — in June, perhaps — the canal 
was dry, and the cotton crop that had 
been sown and watered, weeded and 
"nurtured, since March, was lost alto- 
;gether. 

Then some one advised Muhammed 
Ail to ithrow a dam across the river. 



aud so raise the water, and the result 
was the great Barrage. 

About twelve miles north of Cairo 
the Nile bifurcates, and finds its way 
to the sea, by the Rosetta and Damietta 
branches. Across the heads of these 
two branches were built two stone 
bridges, one of seventy-one, the other 
of sixty-one arches, each five metres or 
16-4 feet span. These arches were in- 
tended to be fitted with gates ; by low- 
ering which, all the water would be 
dammed up, and diverted into three 
great trunk canals, taken out of the 
river just above these bridges. One to 
the right or east of the Damietta branch 
was to supply water to all the provinces 
of the eastern delta, one between the 
two bridges was to supply the splen- 
didly fertile central delta, the third to 
the left or west of the Rosetta branch 
was to water all the western delta 
down to Alexandria. 

There was no intention of water 
storage at the Barrage, but it was 
merely with the object of controlling 
the supply. While there was water 
enough in the river, by closing the 
gates it could be kept to a uniform 
level, and sent down the three trunk 
canals, from which it was to branch, 
into many minor ones. As the river 
went down, gate after gate would be 
closed, and so a constant supply could 
be kept in the canals. The idea was 
thoroughly sound. The execution was 
feeble. 

Mougel Bey, the French engineer in 
charge of the work, had no doubt many 
difiiculties to contend with. The work 
went fitfully on for many yeai*s, thou- 
sands of men being forced to it one 
year, and carried off to a campaign 
the next. But at last it was sufiiciently 
finished to allow of an opening cere- 
monial in 1861. Gates had been fitted 
into the Rosetta branch arches, never 
into the Damietta. 

The central canal had been dug in 
tolerably satisfactory style. The west- 
ern canal, too, had been dug, but pass* 
ing through a strip of desert it had 
become very much filled up with sand. 
The eastern canal was dug some five 
miles, and then stopped. Of course 



94 



The NUe. 



the Barrage without these canals was 
useless. However, they began to ex- 
periment with it, closing the gates on 
the Bosetta side. It was intended to 
hold up four and a half metres, or four- 
teen feet nine inches of water. It 
never held up five feet, till in 1867, it 
cracked across from top to bottom, on 
the western side. An immense coffer- 
dam was built round the cracked por- 
tion, and the water was never held up 
again more than about three and a half 
feet, while the work was looked on as 
a deplorable failure. In 1883, all hope 
of making anything out of the Barrage 
was abandoned, and the government 
was on the point of concluding a con- 
tract with a company to supply Lower 
Egypt with irrigation by means of an 
immense system of steam pumps, to 
cost £700,000 to begin with, and £250,- 
000 a year afterwards. 

That year there was a wretched serf 
army of eighty -five thousand men 
working i^ canal clearances for one 
hundred and sixty days, unfed, unpaid. 
The burden wiis nearly intolerable. 
The irrigation was all by fits and starts. 
There WaS no drainage ; every hollow 
became sour And water-logged. With 
waterway^ everywhere, there was no 
navig^itiou. In Upper Egypt things 
were better, as the system was a sim- 
pler one. But when we came to look 
into the ni too, we found great abuse, 
and on an average about forty thousand 
acres never succeeded in obtaining 
water, though in the midst of abun- 
dance. 

The Fayiim had long been a much- 
neirlected province, though a most pic- 
turesque and attractive one. From 
carelessly allowing Nile water to flow 
into the lake during the floods, it had 
risen enough to swamp ten thousand 
acres of valuable land, and this mis- 
chief we found still increasing. 

Throughout the whole country drain- 
age had been absolutely neglected. 
And here I would point out that irriyfa- 
tion without drainage means the sure 
deterioration of the land sooner or 
later. Considerable pains had been 
taken in Egypt to get the water on to 
th^ Iftnd. No sort of effort had been 



made to get it off. In a properly irri* 
gated tract, between every two canals 
of supply, there should flow a drainage 
channel ; the former shcmld follow as 
far as possible the highest lands, the 
latter should follow the lowest. The 
Cimal gets smaller, till at last it is ex* 
hausted, giving itself out in innumer- 
able branches. The drain, like a river^ 
gets larger as it proceeds, being con- 
stantly joined by branches. But if 
there be no drains, and if the canals 
are laid out to flow into one another, so 
as to divide the country into, as it 
were, a cluster of islands, you can un- 
derstand how the drainage water has 
no means of flowing off into the sea, 
and settles in unwholesome swamps. 
These we found prevailing to an alarm- 
ing extent in the rich provinces of the 
delta. Such was the wretched state of 
Egyptian agriculture — the one single 
source of the country's wealth — when 
Lord Dufferin laid down the lines of 
the English administration, which have 
been amplified and pursued ever since. 

It was in May, 1883, that I took 
charge of the Irrigation Department in 
Egypt, having before then had some 
twenty yeara' experience of similar 
work in India ; and I soon had the in- 
estimable advantage of being joined by 
a band of the most indefatigable, en- 
ergetic and able engineers, also from 
India, with whom it was my great priv- 
ilege and happiness to be associated for 
the next nine years. I cannot talk too 
highly of these my colleagues — men 
who knew their work and did it, who 
kept constantly moving about in the 
provinces, badly lodged, badly fed, de- 
nied domestic comforts, constantly 
absent from their wives and families 
(they were all married men). 

My friends, happy is the reformer 
who finds things so bad that he cannot 
make a movement without making an 
improvement. Happy the reformer 
who has as colleagues a staff of thor- 
ousrhly loyal, duty-doing and capable 
men. Happy the reformer who is not 
pestered on all sides by the ofiicious 
advice of the ignorant. Happy the 
reformer who has behind him a strong, 
brave chief, as honest and truthful as 



The JS'iU. 



9& 



he is strong. Such rare happiness fell 
to me iu Ejurypl with my uoble col- 
leagues, aud with Lord Cromer as our 
chief. 

It is not my intention to enter into 
any deUiils tu-ui«i(lit of what our work 
was in Egypt. I have lately spoken 
about that elsewhere, and there would 
be no time to do sj now. I must just 
describe it generally. 

On fit*st arrival, I was pressed, both 
by English and Frenchmen, to go into 
the question of the storage of the flood 
waters of the river on a large scale. 
I declined to do so, considering it 
would be time enough to think of in- 
creasing the quantity of wat-er at our 
disposal when we had profitably used 
all that we already bad, and while 
mighty volumes were daily flowing 
out to the sea, it could not be said that 
we were doing that. The first great 
work to be studied was the Barrage. 
We were warned on all sides to have 
nothing to say to it, as it was thor- 
oughly unsound ; but we felt sure we 
must either make it sound or build an 
entire I3' new one, and we resolved on 
the former. The work had failed be- 
cause it was faulty in design, the 
floorings and foundations not being 
sufiiciently massive, and faulty in exe- 
cution from the dishonest use of bad 
materials and from bad workmanship. 
The bed of the river consists of noth- 
ing more stable than sand, and alluvial 
mud for at least two hundred feet 
deep. It was out of the question to 
think of getting down to solid rock. It 
was not, as we thought, very safe to 
excavate very deeply close to the exist- 
ing works, so we decided not to try it, 
but merely to strengthen and consol- 
idate the foundations, built as they 
were on sand. I have said that the 
work consisted of two great bridges 
over the two branches of the river. 
We could not shut up either branch 
entirely ; but we decided to strengthen 
and complete one-half of each bridge 
each season, which meant four sea- 
sons' work. While the river was still 
in considerable flood each November, 
we began to throw out great embank- 
ments of earth about two hundred feet 



from the bridge ; one up-stream, the 
other down-stream of it, beginning at 
the shore end, and ultimately enclos- 
ing one-half of the river as in a pond. 
This used to take three months' hard 
work. Then we pumped the water out 
of this enclosure, and laid bare the 
very bed of the river. Then we laid a 
massive stone flooring, five and a half 
feet thick, extending one hundred feet 
up-stream, and as much down-stream, 
of the bridge. This was very diflicult 
and hard work. It was kept going day 
and night, without intermission, from 
March till the end of June. Then we 
cut great holes in our embankments, 
cleared out our machinery, and pre- 
pared for the arrival of the fiood at the 
beginning of July. Each year one-half 
of one bridge was finished, and the 
whole was completed at the end of 
June, 1890. 

In connection with the Barrage were 
completed the three great canals to 
carry off all the river supply from 
above it. So that practically now the 
Low Nile is emptied every season at 
the Barrage and diverted into these 
canals, and no water at all escapes to 
the sea. The natives wade everywhere 
across the river north of this point. 
Since it was completed the Barrage has 
given no trouble. It holds up every 
year four metres, or thirteen feet of 
water. The three trunk canals were all 
supplied with locks one hundred and 
sixty feet by twenty-eight feet, and 
adapted for navigation. The whole of 
these works cost about £800,000. The 
annual increase of the cotton crop, 
compared to what it was before 1884, is 
never less than two and a half millions 
sterling, which has not been a bad in- 
vestment for Egypt. 

Turning to Up|>er Egypt, my col- 
league. Colonel Ross, directed his at- 
tention very closely to the adjustment 
of canals overlapping one another, 
passing under and passing over one 
another ; so that in future I trust that 
with the feeblest Nile flood it will be 
possible to pour water over every acre 
of the land. 

The question of drainage was very 
thoroughly taken up. Twelve yean 



«6 



Tlie NUe. 



ago it may be said Ih at lb ere were no 
drainage channels in Egypt. Two 
years ago there were about one thou- 
sand miles of such channels, some with 
beds as wide as sixty feet and flowing 
deep enough to carry cargo boats, 
others with beds only three or four 
feet wide. I am glad to say by these 
means large tracts in Lower Egypt 
ivhich had been abandoned as totally 
ruined have now been restored to culti- 
vation. The level of the lake in the 
Eayiim was reduced by thirteen feet 
between 1885 and 1893, and most of 
the inundated lands around it have 
been again dried. 

I have already mentioned the cruel 
hardship of the corvee, the serf army of 
•eighty-live thousand men who were 
employed in the canal clearances from 
January to July, nearly half the year. 
I believe this institution was as old as 
the Pharaohs, and it was not easy to 
abolish it. But of course it went sorely 
against our British grain. Little by 
little we got money to enable us to pay 
our labor. By an annual outlay of 
J£400,000 this spring corvee has en- 
tirely ceased since 1889, and now the 
Egyptian laborer carries out these 
clearances in as free a manner as hi-s 
brother in Middlesex, and gets paid 
for his work. 

Having thus, to the best of our 
]>owers, utilized the water in the river 
blowing past us, we turned our atten- 
tion to the storage of the surplus 
waters. Without some such storage it 
is impossible to increase the cultivation 
during the Low Nile. All the water is 
used up. During High Nile there is 
always a great volume escaping useless 
to the sea. 

There are two ways in which the 
water may be stored : either by throw- 
ing a dam right across the river and 
forming a great lake above it, or, if 
such a place can be found, by diverting 
the flood water into some suitable hol- 
low, and drawing it off from there at 
the season of low supply, as done by 
Herodotus's celebrated Lake Moeris. 
At one time there was a hope that such 
a storage basin might be found. An 
American geatleman, named Mr. Cope 



Whitehouse, in search of the real 
Moeris, found a very remarkable saucer- 
shaped depression just south of the 
Fayiini. We knew il could not have 
been Moeris, because in its bed we 
found no traces of a deposit of Nilotic 
mud, but it might be possible all the 
same to utilize it. The place was very 
carefully surveyed, and the project was 
estimated ; but it was found that the 
cost of conveying the waler into this 
basin would be so great that it was out 
of the question. 

Attention was then turned to the 
possible sites where a stone dam might 
be built right across the river. The 
southern boundary of Egypt just now 
is near Wady Haifa, the second cata- 
ract. It is no use going to look for 
sites south of this, for the country is in 
the hands of the Mahdi and his fierce, 
dervish soldiers. North of this point, 
unquestionably the best site, perhaps 
the only possible site is where the Nile 
valley is traversed by a broad dyke of 
hard Syenite gmnite, in passing over 
which the river forms its first cataract 
just south of Assouan. It is here 
divided into several channels between 
rocky islands, and no channel is deep, 
so that it would be easy to divert the 
water from one after another, to lay 
bare the bed of the river, and lay the 
foundations of the dam in the open 
air. It wants no engineer to under- 
stand what an advantaire this is. 

And the great dam, such as was de- 
signed by Mr. AVillcocks, would have 
been a work worthy of the land of the 
Pyramids and Karnak — a great wall of 
squared granite blocks — eighty - two 
feet thick at base, of a maximum 
height of one hundred and fifteen feet, 
a mile and a quarter long, pierced by 
sluices large enough to allow of the 
whole Nile at highest flood rushing 
through. The lake formed would have 
been one hundred and twenty miles 
long. Would this not have been a 
work of some majesty to commemorate 
forever the English rule in Egypt — a 
work one would have been proud to 
have had a hand in ? But it was not 
to be. The Egyptian saw no objection 
to it. The money could have been 



TheNUe. 



97 



found. But there was an insupemble 
obstacle created when, on the Island of 
Phila3, about 250 B.C., Ptolemy II. built 
a temple to Isis, on the site of older 
buildings long disappeared. Bound this 
temple other buildings clustered, built 
by Greeks and Bomans. Those of you 
who have not seen them, are probably 
familiar from pictures with the group 
of venerable buildings standing amidst 
palm-trees on the rocky island, and 
reflected in the waters below. 

Had Ptolemy only built his temple 
on tiie island of Elephantine, a few 
miles north, it would have been un- 
affected by the great dam, but Philae is 
just to the south, or up-stream side of 
where the great dam must necessarily 
have come, and in consequence the 
island, with its temples, would be 
drowned for about six months every 
year. You probably remember the 
outburst of rage and indignation which 
the announcement of this proposed 
desecration created in London last sum- 
mer. It was not to be tolerated that 
England should commit such vandal- 
ism. In vain it was answered that the 
place belonged to Egypt, not to En- 
gland — that Ihe Egyptian, who was 
to gain so much by the dam, cared 
absolutely nothing about Ptolemy and 
his temples — that he was prepared to 
pay a large price for a great work to 
beiieOt his cotmtry. What business 
was it of England to forbid him ? 

And it was not only the English who 
were indignant. For once, and only 
for once, I fear, since we occupied 
Egypt in 1882, was educated opinion in 
England and France at one. Both 
alike insisted that Philse should not 
be drowned. Nor must I admit had 
all the engineers that were interested 
in the question the full courage of 
their opinions. While they longed to 
build the dam, and lamented the per- 
verse fate that had put Philae there, 
still they wished to spare Philse — and 
their voice has prevailed. The majes- 
tic structure has been cut down twenty- 
seven feet, and now will only be 
eighty-eight feet high, and Philas will 
stand henceforth in; a lake, but will 
never be drowned. 

LIVIKO AGE. VOL. VI. 267 



Personally I accept the situation, for 
I never believed that it would be sac- 
rificed. But yet as an engineer I must 
sigh over the lost opportunity for En- 
gland of making such a splendid reser- 
voir. And as a friend to Egypt, I sigh 
still more thai; the country will not 
have such a splendid supply of water 
as would enable Upper Egypt to have 
the full benefits now possessed by 
Lower Egypt, and Lower Egypt to ex- 
pand and flourish. 

The reduced scheme will, however, 
be a great boon to the country, and I 
tioist will now be put in hand without 
delay. 

In 1884, when the expedition up the 
Nile was first being considered, I was 
asked by the general oflicer command- 
ing in Egypt, whether I thought there 
was any possibility of the Mahdi 
diverting the river in the Soudan, and 
depriving Egypt of its water. The late 
Sir Samuel Baker was in Cairo at the 
time, and I consulted him as to 
whether he knew of any place in the 
Nile valley where during highest flood 
the water spills off to the right or left, 
towards the Bed Sea or the Libyan 
Desert. He said he was sure there 
was no such place, and I then told the 
general it would be impossible for the 
Mahdi to divert the Nile. I was sure 
that with his savages he would never 
dam up the low supply until its surface 
attained the height of flood supply, and 
if even then during flood there was no 
spill channel, Egypt was safe enough. 

But what the Mahdi could not do, a 
civilized people could do. A govern- 
ment official has no business to talk 
politics, and the Koyal Institution is 
no place for politics ; but I may be 
allowed to point out an evident enough 
fact, that the civilized possessor of the 
Upper Nile valley holds Egypt in his 
grasp. 

At this moment the Italians are on 
the eastern edge of that valley — a na- 
tion, I must say, who have been con- 
sistently most friendly to us in Egypt. 
Supposing that they occupied Khar- 
toum, the first thing they would natu- 
rally and very properly do would be to 
spread the waters of the Low Nile ov^r 



98 



Ilie Crisis in Newfoundland. 



the Soudan ; aDd no nation in Europe 
understiinds irrigation so well. And 
what then would become of Egypt's 
cotton crops ? They could only be 
secured by a series of the most costly 
dams over the river, and the fate of 
Fhilse would surely be sealed. But 
more than this : a civilizsed nation on 
the Upper Nile would surely build reg- 
ulating sluices across the outlet -of the 
Victoria Nyanza, and control that great 
sea as Manchester controls Thirlemere. 
This would probably be an easy oper- 
ation. Once done, the Nile supply 
would be in their hands ; and if poor 
little Egypt had the bad luck to be at 
war with this people on the upper 
Waters, they might flood them, or cut 
off their water supply at their pleasure. 
Is it not evident, then, that the Nile 
from the Victoria Nyanza to the Medi- 
terranean should be under one rule ? 
That time is perhaps far off. I con- 
clude what I have to say to-night, by 
giving you the assurance^ -ami I chal- 
lenge 'contradtcXTcJn, *th&t at no time 
in the long history of Egypt under 
Pharaoh or Ptolemy, Boman or Arab 
or Turk, have the people of the coun- 
try been so prosperous, or so justly 
ruled as during the last nine years. 



From The Fortnightly Review. 
THE CRISIS IN NEWFOUNDLAND. 

It is rarely that a Brilish colony, 
having once achieved responsible gov- 
ernmenl, contemplates a return to the 
conditions of a crown colony. Yet, 
from the latest information to hand, it 
would appear that such a return is 
within the range of practical politics in 
Newfoundland. The first step would 
"be the appointment of a Royal Com- 
mission in the island to inquire into 
the existing and most deplorable state 
of affairs, and although the govern- 
ment is naturally averse to this, local 
opinion, now thoroughly on the alert, 
is largely in favor of it. For some 
time past the colonists have been face 
to face with a most serious commercial 
crisis. The revenue for January is 
* only thirty thousand dollars, being only 



one-sixth of the amount received ia 
the corresponding month last year, and 
a largo deficit is feared at the end of 
the quarter. The secretary of the 
Colonial and Continental Church So* 
ciety reports that "every one is de- 
pressed beyond description. There is 
no labor for the poor because there is 
no money to pay for it. We are organ- 
izing relief parties to provide for the 
prevailing distress." A correspondent 
also states that the hungry and half- 
clad crowds are in a miserable condi- 
tion, and what they need most is warm 
clothing for the biting month of March. 
The missionaries themselves are in an 
evil plight ; as one of them pleads 
earnestly for an overcoat for himself, 
and clothes for his children. In a 
climate where the thermometer is often 
below zero in the winter, such tales of 
hardship must elicit our warmest sym- 
pathy. 

Great as were the calamities and pri- 
vations that followed the great Mauri- 
tian hurricane of April 29, 1892, they . 
were, nevertheless, more endurable 
than those of Newfoundland, for the 
horrors of famine and starvation are 
largely mitigated in a warm and trop- 
ical climate. The appeal to the charity 
of our philanthropists is great, and it is 
to bo hoped that it will meet with a 
ready response. It is not long ago thatf 
a most destructive fire (July, 1892) de- 
stroyed a large portion of St. John's, 
the capital of Newfoundland, and the 
centre of government. But now the 
colonists are faced with the more per- 
manent and terrible evils of bank- 
ruptcy. 

It is well known that the prosperity 
of Newfoundland has always depended 
upon the successful prosecution of one 
industry, viz., the fishing industry. 
Newfoundland cod is considered supe- 
rior to that caught off the coasts of 
Scotland, Norway, Iceland, and the 
Faroes. It is the task of the New- 
foundland fishermen to provide fish for 
Eoman Catholic Europeans, for Bra- 
zilians, and for the colonists of the 
West Indies, and the trade has fallen 
chiefly into the hands of a few capi- 
talists. 



REPLrlBS TO HIS CRITICS. 

IN THIS NUMBER. 



Elirbtj-flrBt Ifear. TrosTyriusqueiiiibi uullodiMriiuineai^etur. Vol. 16 Is No. 1 



THE 



NORTH AMERICAN 

REVIEW, 

B»««UkMtah*d by AIJ.BK THORNDIKB RIO& 



EDITED BY LLOYD BRYOE. 




July, 1895. 

PENIMORE COOPER'S LITERARY OFFENCES. 

By MARK TWAIN 




\ 



\ 



\ 



Contemporary Egypt . The Hon. Frederic C. Penfield, 

^eTU and ConsulrOeneral to Egypt. 

How Free Silver Would Affect Us . The Hon. E. O. Leech, 34 

Late Director of the Mint, 

Wild Traits in Tame Animals — HI. . Dr. Louis Robinson 43 
The Disposal of a Cit/s Waste . Col. Geo. E. Waring, Jr., 49 

Commissioner of Street-Cleaning of the City of New Yoi k, 

•Personal History of the Second Empire — VII. The Con- 
spiracy of the Carbonaria . . Albert D. Vandam 57 
" Coin's Financial School" and Its Censors . W. H. Harvey, 71 

Author of *'Coin*8 Financial SchooV^ 
DEGENERATION AND EVOLUTION. 

I. A BBPL7 TO VY OBITIOS ..... By Dr. Max Nordau 80 

U. XIDD'S " SOCIAL EVOLUTION " 

By the Hon. Theodore Boosevelt 94 

nZ. THE DE0A7 OF LITEBAB7 TASTE . By Edmund Gosse 109 

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



V New Lighten English History .... Edward Porritt 119 
\lndustrial Future of the South . . Frederic G. Mather 121 
The Need of Better Roads Martin Dodge 125 

NEW YORK : 
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Stop-ovum SI, SaDdwlcb Islands and r^amon. Send 
10 oeDtB In PoBtBKe StampB for "EilaineBi," a 
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FLORIDA 



lOO acres of solid Orange 
Grove ; 50 acres of other 
fruit trees, vegetables and 
fodder crops. All irrigated 
by the most complete plant 
in the State ; 1 50 acres in 
wild pine and hammock land. 
In all, 300 acres, situated on 
the shores of Lake Harris, 
for sale at a sacrifice, one- 
quarter the cost, or the 
value of the irrigation plant, 
buildings, etc., only. 

For further particulars ad- 
dress 

THE PALMS, 
LANE PARK, UKE COUNTY. 



CONTEMPORARY EGYPT. 

BT THE HON. FBEDEBIC C. PENFIELD, U. S. DIPLOMATIC AGENT 

AND CONSUL-GENEBAL TO EGYPT. 



The ending of two lives that had run in channels strangely 
similar redoubles interest over that country ever paramount in 
anomalous conditions — Egypt. Vocabularies of praise and cen- 
sure have been well nigh exhausted on Ismail Pasha and De 
Lesseps^ whose recent deaths were chronicled simply as items of 
news rather than events ; but the nineteenth century is indebted 
to them for a work of incalculable value to the whole world, 
Egypt alone excepted. 

Egypt reaps no benefit from the international waterway cross- 
ing its domain, uniting the Orient with the Occident ; in fact, the 
Suez Canal, which has played a mighty political part, made and 
unmade khedives, and which, by strange fatality, passed from the 
control of the nation that built it to that of the country that 
strenuously fought its construction, is responsible for the modern 
bondage of the Egyptian people. 

Prior to the giving of the canal concession, Egypt had no 
debt. Her credit was first pledged in Europe by Viceroy Said, 
who^ to add lustre to his name, headed the subscriptions to the 
capital of the enterprise with 117,000,000, although the under- 
taking was to cost Egypt nothing, and from which for ninety- 
nine years she was to receive fifteen percent, of the gross receipts. 
This laid the corner-stone of the new house of bondage. 

Ismaal succeeding to the throne, lent himself readily to the 
seductive project, learning how easy it was to borrow money by 
affixing his signature to an innocent-looking paper thoughtfully 
prepared in Europe. His first transaction was a matter of 130,- 
000,000, and thenceforth there was frequent exchange between 



14 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

His Highness and Paris and London of these innocent-looking 
papers, for gold . 

There were many investors in the scheme, but it seemed as if 
Egypt alone fed the insatiable monster with money. Native work- 
men digging the ditch, received no pay. It was forced labor. 
But the French Emperor awarded the French company an 
enormous sum for IsmaiFs breach of contract, when he sent 
the fellaheen back to their fields, such of them as survived fevers 
and starvation. Egypt paid, of course. 

The colossal work completed, Ismairs magnificent extrava- 
gance devised a celebration of fitting splendor, from his Oriental 
standpoint. The opening of the canal in 1869 outranked in gor- 
geousness anything described in the Arabian Nights. Boyalties 
and notables, from Europe, were treated to a fSte in Cairo trans- 
cending the wildest dreams of Haroun-al-Raschid, lasting a month, 
over which the Merry Monarch spent 121,000,000 of the people's 
money. 

History reveals nothing equal to IsmaiTs carnival of extrava- 
gance. In thirteen years he added to Egypt's exterior burden 
1430,000,000, and increased the taxation of his subjects more 
than fifty per cent. 

A day of reckoning came, however, when engagements could 
not be met^ for Egypt was hypothecated to its fullest value, and 
the usurers of Europe made such outcry that Ismail was forced by 
the Sultan to surrender his throne and go into exile. Forseeing 
the crash, he had sold to the British Government his own shares 
for $20,000,000, on which the Egyptian treasury for twenty years 
faithfully paid five per cent, interest. This purchase illustrated 
Disraeli's shrewdness, for by prompt action he prevented the 
shares from going to France. They are to-day worth more than 
four times what they cost, and secure to England the voting con- 
trol. The promised fifteen per cent, of tolls had also been sacri- 
ficed by Ismail, as security on which to borrow the last few mill- 
ions necessary to complete the canal. 

The dethroned Khedive's bequest to his country was a debt of 
1450,000,000, not two-thirds of which sum ever left the hands of 
the bankers' agents and negotiators. The principal work over 
which it was spent was the canal, not to belong to Egypt until 
1968. Docks at Alexandria and Suez, and a few hundred miles 
of railways and telegraphs, costing perhaps ten per cent, of the 



CONTEMPORAR Y EO YPT. 15 

sum borrowed^ represented the benefits to his nation. Steam yes- 
sels of useless pattern^ stucco palaces^ gilded coaches and operatic 
scores and costumes^ formed meagre assets. 

In Tewfik's reign there wore many evidences of financial dis- 
integration^ such as obdurate creditors^ commissions of liquida- 
tion^ an Anglo-French financial control^ and the like. The bur- 
den of the fellaheen was almost unbearable. The cry of *^ Egypt 
for the Egyptians'* meant much, and the Arabi rebellion, a di- 
rect outcome of the people's condition, menaced the authority of 
the Khedire, until stifled by an English fleet and soldiers in 1882. 
France, it is asserted, did not deem it necessary to bombard the 
Alexandrian forts held by the rebels, and, declining to share the 
responsibilities of such an act, her -fleet steamed away from the 
Egypt in which Frenchmen had held sway from the coming of 
Napoleon in 1798. 

Military and civil ^^ occupation ''by the British followed, its ob- 
ject being to restore the authority of the Khedive and repair the 
fortunes of the land by administrative reform. Consequently the 
year 1882 becomes the epoch from which dates everything current 
in discussin r^ Egyptian affairs. The indebtedness when the reform 
policy was instituted reached nearly $475,000,000, bearing six or 
seven per cent, interest, speaking generally. As a class Egyp- 
tian securities ruled very low on European bourses in 1882. 
"Unifieds"for a time were 46-J, and other designations were 
even less. An average quotation for several months was 50, 
meaning that prudent investors would give only 1237,500,000 for 
the Egytian debt. 

It has never been possible to determine the nationality of 
holders of Egyptian bonds. Interest coupons are presented in 
London, Paris, Berlin and Cairo, and naturally at the place where 
exchange is highest, or where income taxes can be escaped. It is be- 
lieved, however, that English people hold morethanhalf of them. 
A British financier estimates that five-eighths better represents 
the stake of his country-people. If so, England's share of the 
debt in 1882 was about $296,875,000, worth in the market $148,- 
437,500. 

Entanglements of every sort beset the work of regeneration 
entered upon by Tewfik Pasha and the foreigners electing to labor 
with him. For years it was a neck and neck race with bankruptcy. 
Indemnification of Alexandrians whose property was destroyed 



\ 



16 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

by reason of the rebellion^ the military disaster resulting in the 
loss of the Soudan^ and other inevitable expenses swelled the debt 
by nearly $40,000,000. The soil — the sole producing agent of 
the country — needed better and more extended irrigation, and a 
fresh loan was actually negotiated in Europe to make useful the 
Nile barrage, at the apex of the Delta, regulating the supply of 
water used by the cotton cultiyators. 

At last fortune turned, and hypercritical Europe was satisfied 
of the solvency of the country of the Nile. It is a popular fallacy 
that the debt has been reduced since England^s co-operation 
began : it has been materially added to. But the character of 
the security — in other words, the intrinsic worth of the country — 
has been so improved that owners of bonds have willingly reduced 
the rate of interest by nearly half. 

Egypt's emergence from practical bankruptcy, with its obli- 
gations quoted almost as high as English consols, reads like a 
romance ; and there is no better object lesson in economical pro- 
gress, through administrative reform, than that presented by 
contemporary Egypt. 

Taking the figures of the debt in 1882, with England's share 
estimated at $296,875,000, and '•' Egyptians'' now touching four 
per cent, premium, the appreciation is something enormous. 
The difference between the estimated value then and the known 
value to-day of England's supposed share is no less than $149,- 
625,000 ! Of course the advance has benefited all bondholders 
proportionately— French, German, Italian, Austrian and Russian, 
as well as English. 

The amount and details of the debt at the present time are as 
follows : 

Ooaranteed loan, 3 per cent, (quoted CA4 premium) $42,442,866 

PriyUe«ed debt. 8Vi per cent, (qaoced IfC premium) 142,854,798 

Unifled debt, 4 per oent. (quoted 494 premium! 272,037,625 

Domain loan, 4^ per cent, (quoted 7 premium) 19,418.421 

Daira Sanieh loan, 4 per cent, (quoied 2\it premium) 82,191,689 

Total bonded debt $508,945,299 

This debt, applying as it does to an agricultural population of 
7,000,000 people, where manual labor is worth from fifteen to 
twenty cents a day, and to only about 9,000 square miles of till- 
able soil — an area a trifle less than New Hampshire or Vermont 
in extent — ^is almost overpowering. Frenchmen and Englishmen 
owe more per capita, but their resources are incomparably greater. 



CONTEMPORARY EGYPT. 17 

and their creditors are their own countrymen. The American^ 
owing about |15> may well pity the lot of the Egyptian^ who owes 

$72.70. 



The Egyptian question in its popular aspect is one of adminis- 
tration^ rather than of politics^ and that the work of establishing 
financial equilibrium has been successful is obvious. Becuperation 
has been brought about by checking waste and dishonesty^ and 
developing the soil and adding to the cultivated territor y by irriga- 
tion. The abolition of slavery merits universal praise^ as does the 
suppression of forced labor for public works> with the attendant 
curse of the courbash. The improvement in native jurisprudence 
has likewise been conspicuous^ for native courts now have more 
than a semblance of justice. The reduction by half of the price 
of salt, and railroad and postal rates^ proves the wisdom of legis- 
lating for the earning classes, by double service. 

Changes of any sort are made with difficulty, because of 
unique conditions. The cash box guarded by representatives of 
six European governments, and treaty privileges existing with 
fourteen powers, some of which are not in harmony with the 
present conduct of affairs in Egypt, make progress difficult. 
Hence the restoration of the country to easy prosperity, at a pe- 
riod when shrinkage in prices of cotton, sugar and grain has btten 
great, must be regarded as a conspicuous triumph. Khedive 
Abbas and his co-workers, whoever they may be, have much to 
accomplish still. But system and economy now established, the 
attainment of permanent success will not be difficult. 

It is too early for speculation as to the reversionary value of 
the Suez Canal. Yearly more and more necessary to commercial 
interchange with India and the bountiful East, sceptics assert 
that in time it may be treated as toll roads and bridges have been 
the world over — thrown open to the public, and maintained by a 
nominal tax on vessels using it, after the manner of lighthouses. 
It has brought Egypt into unfortunate prominence as stragetical 
ground, certainly, and^the prospect is not reassuring, say carpers, 
that the world^s greatest artery of marine travel (responsible 
for the borrowing habit of past rulers of Egypt) will ever bring 
substantial benefit to the Egyptians, Some indemnification of 
Egypt would be demanded by public opinion, surely. Last year's 
tolls were about 115,000,000, and for 1895 should be as good as 
$17,000,000. In 1894 the British flag represented 71i per cent, 

VOL. CLXI. — KG. 464. 2 



18 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

of the traffic^ as against 5^ for France. The number of steamers 
passing through was 3,352. Next to England^ Germany is the 
principal user of the canal. 

As in other small countries^ where the gulf between the masses 
and the upper class is wide, bureaucracy is a crying evil. It is 
estimated that two per cent, of the able-bodied men serve the 
government in some capacity. Nepotism formerly had full play, 
and it is difficult now to make the people understand that merit 
rather than favor should place one in the public service. Minis- 
tries and public offices appear to be overloaded with subordinates 
of every conceivable nationality. As a rule, the responsible 
heads of departments are Englishmen, but among the clerks more 
French than British subjects are found, and official correspond- 
ence is couched in French or Arabic. Salaries seem strangely 
out of proportion. Cabinet members are paid 115,000 a year, 
and under-secretaries $7,500 — ^twice what Washington officials 
receive. Offices are open only in the forenoon, and five hours is 
the official day's work. In that halcyon period known as '* the 
good old days,'' there were more civil servants in Egypt than in 
Great Britain, with five times the population. Thorough reform 
has yet to be accomplished, in the opinion of the economist. 

The " international " aspect of Egypt is a hindrance to prac- 
tical economy, say many. The Commission of the Debt, for 
illustration, brings to Cairo delegates of the powers which are the 
country's creditors. Each is paid a salary of $10,000 by the 
Khedivial Government for watching the interests of his country- 
men, who hold bonds quoted at a handsome premium. Having 
no voice in fixing the rate of interest or the amounts going to the 
different countries, it occurs to the reformer that a competent 
accountant could perform the service of these six men, with a 
great saving to the taxpayer. Also, the railway system of less 
than eleven hundred miles, is managed by three princely-paid men, 
acting for England, France and Egypt. Similarly, the spirit of 
internationalism dominates the Daira Sanieh, State Domains, and 
other divisions of the government, and aggregates a mighty draft 
on the exchequer. But the customs and post office departments, 
each with a single head, are models of perfection. 

A striking feature of railway management in Egypt is that 
only 43 per cent, of the receipts go for operating expenses. 
Native labor and moderate speed of ordinary trains make this 



CONTEMPOBARY EGYPT. 19 

possible. The goyernmental railways last year carried 9^827^813 
passengers, and receipts from all sources were $8,870,000. By 
reason of sweeping redactions in fares the number of passengers 
has been doubled in six years. Two years hence all-rail travel 
will be possible from the Mediterranean to the first cataract of 
the Nile. 

Augmentation of winter travel to the Nile is helping the lot of 
the Egyptian materially. Last season^s pleasure and health- 
seekers, 7,500 in number, distributed $5,000,000 in the country, 
half of which came from Americans. 

The purchasing power, held to be indicative of a nation's 
pecuniary condition, has kept pace with other statistics. In 1882 
the imports were valued at $32,127,650 ; in 1890, $40,409,635 ; 
and 1894, $46,330,000. Exports for the same years—ootton, 
cotton seed, grain and sugar — were valued at $54,977,850, $59,- 
373,490 and $59,420,000 respectively. Over fifty per cent, of the 
foreign commerce is with Great Britain. The cotton crop, 
wholly exported, produces nearly $45,000,000. Of this, the 
United States buys about $3,000,000 worth annually. The ton- 
nage at the port of Alexandria has nearly doubled since 1882. 
Last year the arrivals represented 2,221,145 tons. That of French 
ships has multiplied at a rate unequalled by any other fiag. 

There has been vast improvement in the morale of the Egyptian 
army, and it is now as well disciplined and efiScient as when Gen- 
eral Stone and his American associates placed it on a stable foot- 
ing a quarter of a century ago. It comprises 15,000 men, but 
with the military police as an adjunct in emergencies, the full 
strength is 21,000. Soldiers are conscientiously looked after, 
well clothed and fed, and hygiene is considered. The commander 
and seventy-six other officers are '* borrowed ^' from the British 
Government and paid twice the amount of their home salaries. 
The common soldier gets only five cents a day. In the towns the 
practice is general to purchase immunity from conscription, cost- 
ing $100 a man, which adds considerably to the war office funds. 
The British Army of Occupation, garrisoning Oairo and Alexan- 
dria, numbers 4,200 men of all grades. Its status must be that 
of a component part of the Khedive's forces, although there is 
misconception regarding the matter. The red coats are in Egypt 
on liberal financial terms, for Egypt pays only the difference be- 
tween the cost of home and foreign service. This is about $435,000 



20 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

a year. The British Go verDment's share is abont 11,250,000 
annually. There can be no monetary loss to the country in which 
they are quartered, for most of the soldiers spend all their pay, 
England^s and Egypt's money as well. How long the arrange- 
ment is to be maintained is a problem which, like the fine dis- 
tinctions between ^^ occupation '' and " protection,'^ can only be 
treated by one writing of political Egypt. 

To carry on the government requires about $50,000,*000 a 
year. It was more in times when budget-making was the merest 
guesswork, and deficiencies could be explained by the conrenient 
phrase '^insuflSciency of receipts.'' The Budget of the current 
year allows expenditures of $48,000,000, and is based upon re- 
ceipts of $51,300,000. Any balance will be divided equally be- 
tween the governmental sinking fund and a reduction of the debt. 
The heaviest outlay is for interest on foreign indebtedness, $18,- 
854,185, while the annual tribute to the Sultan consumes $3,325,- 
205 more. The Khedive, khedivial family, and palace expenses 
coming under the head of " Civil List," call for $1,169,305. To 
maintain the army and military police costs $2,381,085, and civil 
and military pensions $2,150,000 more. 

Direct taxation on laud, date trees, etc., produces $25,000,- 
000, the balance of revenue being made up by ^^ indirect 
taxes "—customs receipts (eight per cent, on imports and one 
per cent, on exports), profit from the salt monopoly, stamp 
duties, receipts from railways, post offices, telegraphs, ports and 
courts of justice. 

A reform of the greatest importance now in progress, is the ad- 
justment of inequalities in the land tax, the present scheme be- 
ing full of anomalies. It is not unusual to find land rented at 
$30 and $35 per acre paying only $2.50 in taxes. In olden times 
there was no rule for its collection, and the collector went pre- 
j)ared to take from the farmer every penny his crops had pro- 
duced, and then flog him into borrowing on mortgage any addi- 
tional sum his rapacious master felt in need of. There was no 
pretense of fairness, and not until Tewfik's reign was a receipt 
of any kind given the peasant to show he had paid his taxes and 
that no more was due for the current year. Simple as it was, 
nothing more potent for alleviating the position of the masses 
was ever inaugurated. It was a reform that benefited every tiller 
of the soil, and was operative before " the coming of the English." 



CONTEMPORARY EGYPT. 21 

The scheme of taxation now in force is arbitrary and inequit- 
able. A definite tax is specified for large tracts^ which some of 
the land only is capable of paying. The work in hand is to base 
this schedule upon rental Talues^ that each acre may be assessed 
commensurately with its producing capacity. The country is 
promised that the total tax— $23,900,000 on the 5,237,200 acres 
of cultivated soil — is not to be increased. This means that the 
small holder is to pay less per acre, and the pasha landlord, once 
powerful enough to have his thousands of acres assessed at what- 
ever he chose, will pay more proportionately. The glaring in- 
equalities had been brought into prominence by the low prices of 
crops, and it had become imperative to devise a remedy. 

It will surprise American farmers to know that their bretliren 
in ancient Egypt, some of them, pay a land tax of 18.20 per 
acre annually, and that the average tax for the country is 14.56 
per acre. This maximum tax is on lands in the Delta, possess- 
ing such exceptional richness that five hundredweight or more of 
cotton per acre is produced each year with comparative certainty. 

The land tax has ever been the millstone about the neck of 
the Egyptian, sapping his energies and stunting his intellectual 
growth. The ancestors of the peasant now toiling from long be- 
fore sunrise until after sunset, nearly every day in the year, have 
been farmers since the world began. What has their incessant 
toil produced ? Nile farmers have ever been wretchedly poor, 
certainly. 

To day^s prosperity of the fellah, permitting him to have a 
few dollars after harvesting, to eat meat occasionally, and seek 
recreation at religious fairs, is of recent origin and slow growth. 
It began with the introduction of tax receipts, and has been nur- 
tured at intervals by trifling reductions in taxation, as the area 
has been added to by irrigation at a rate in excess of the govern- 
ment's pecuniary needs. 

Being humanely treated, the Egyptian to-day realizes that he 
is a human being, and it is the opinion of those capable of judg- 
ing, that more has been done in the last fifteen years for him 
than ever before in a century. Tewfik Pasha inaugurated the 
good work, and the administration, headed by Abbas Pasha, is 
carrying it forward with intelligent perseverance. 

The country's obligations to European creditors are sufQl- 
ciently menacing to compel the small farmer to keep out of the 



22 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

clutches, of the money-lender at his gates, if he can. Neverthe- 
less, the indebtedness secured by farm mortgages is greater than 
it should be, and critics allege this as certain proof that the 
boasted prosperity of the country is fictitious, and exhibit 
statistics to coincide with their argument. Oritics of another 
sort array figures calculated to show that the aggregate mortgage 
indebtedness is very small, less than $40,000,000, and that it is 
the large holders — owning from fifty acres upwards — ^who have 
pledged their property ; and, further, that they have done this 
to buy more land^ confident of an appreciation of values. It is a 
fact that the proportion of small holders borrowing by mortgage 
is trifling, and they are the people whose welfare first deserves 
consideration. 

It is claimed that less than nine per cent, of the land bears 
mortgages, the aggregate indebtedness amounting to $8 an acre. 
An average value of the cultivated soil is thought to be 1115 an acre. 

Headers of mathematical mind, discovering that the foreign 
indebtedness represents definitely 197.17 on every acre of produc- 
tive soil, and adding the $8 of home burden (probably under- 
stated), find that but little equity remains to the Egyptian, who 
for more than seven thousand years has been the most industrious 
and light-hearted of husbandmen. Simply speaking, it means 
an equity of only $10 an acre ; or, each inhabitant averaging three- 
quarters of an acre of productive earth, a remaining " margin'' 
of $7.50 per person. And his energy must not fiag for genera- 
tions to come, lest his fellow-creature in enlightened Europe be 
in arrears over his interest on ^' Egyptians.'' Blessed be Allah ! 

Egypt presents a striking example of a Mussulman country 
possessing a system of laws harmonizing with European and 
Western world civilization. Its international tribunals are un- 
paralleled in the great domain of civil law, yet comparatively 
little seems to be known of them outside the Levant. 

The " capitulations," or treaties, between the Ohristian powers 
and the Ottoman Empire regulating the privileges of foreigners 
within the Turkish dominions, some of which are many centuries 
old, occasioned so much confusion of jurisdiction in Egirpt, where 
so many Christian nation dities were represented, that Nubar Pasha 
called the attention of Ismail to the necessity for some reform, 
and himself drew up a project which was communicated to all the 
governments having representatives in Egypt. 



CONTEMPORARY EGYPT. 28 

As a result an International Commission assembled in 1869, 
nnder the presidency of Nubar, who was Minister of Foreipni 
Affairs, and united in a report recommending the scheme. This 
was signed by the representatives of the United States, Austria, 
Germany, England, France, Sussia and Italy. At subsequent 
conventions Belgium, Spain, Holland, Greece, Portugal, Den- 
mark and Sweden-Norway approved the plan. On June 28th, 
1875, Khedive Ismail inaugurated the Court at Alexandria, 
although it was not until February 1st, 1876, that the new system 
of jurisprudence was actually launched. 

The procedure is practically that of France, the Code Napo- 
leon, modified to suit the circumstances of a country where local 
custom and religious obligations must be respected. The juris- 
diction is stated in this extract from the Code itself : 

" The new tribunals shall have cognizance of all controversies in matters 
civil or commercial between natives and foreigners, or between foreigners 
of different nationalities. Apart from questions touching the statut per- 
sonnel (questions of wiUs, succession, heirship and the like, which are regu- 
lated by the laws of the country of the individual), they shall have cogni- 
zance of aU questions touching real estate between aU persons, even though 
they belong to the same (foreign) nationality." 

It is of good augury for the national progress that the Tri- 
bunals have won the confidence of both natives and foreigners, 
and that the government bows to their authority. Europe 
needed no better proof of their efficacy than when Ismtul and the 
government itself were brought before the Court of Appeal as 
defendants, having failed to meet obligations to foreign creditors. 

An idea of the work of the Tribunals is given in the statistics 
of their labors from February 1, 1876, to October 31, 1894, show- 
ing that 135,555 suits had been instituted, and 130,449 termi- 
nated by decision. Thousands of suits have been concluded 
without decision — ^by arbitration or withdrawal. In addition to 
final decrees, many thousands of intermediate judgments and de- 
crees have been pronounced ; and all have to be written out, not 
only as to terms, but motives justifying the conclusion of the 
court also. 

The practice is common for a native having an important suit 
to assign his interest to a foreign friend, to give the Interna- 
tional Courts jurisdiction of his cause, thus securing intelligent 
and fair consideration. Two years since, when some of the powers 
were dilatory in giving their adhesion to the extension of the 



24 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

courts — ^for every five years there is a formal renewal — something 
like a panic occurred among the commercial community. 

Courts of First Instance are located at Gairo^ Alexandria and 
Mansourah^ and the Oourt of Appeal is at Alexandria. The 
minimum pecuniary limit of appeal is 1400. Three languages 
are recognized in pleadings and documents — French, Italian and 
Arabic. The foreign counsellors of the appellate court, nine in 
number, receive a yearly salary of 19,250 each, and their four 
native colleagues half as much. For the three lower courts 
twenty-seven foreign judges are employed, each receiving a salary 
of 17,000, their fourteen native coadjutors receiving half as 
much. Five judges — three foreign and two native — sit at a time. 
The United States, like other great powers, have one representative 
in the upper, and two in the lower courts. While the Tribunals 
were not intendied to be profit-earners, their receipts for years 
have been considerably in excess of expenses. 

England^s participation in the affairs of Egypt has not been 
felt in the Mixed Courts, where the English language and law 
are unknown. It is claimed there has never been occasion for 
British influence to show itself, the institution being strictly in- 
ternational, with thirteen other nations watchful of their rights. 
Consular courts still have criminal jurisdiction, in accordance 
with the original "capitulations'' of the Sublime Porte. 

The lay investigator meets many obstacles in an attempt to un- 
derstand the procedure of the Native Tribunals, of which there 
are seven at populous points, with a Court of Appeal at Cairo, 
and many summary courts. Almost eyery variety of law is dealt 
in— organic, Koranic, usage, etc. Nearly 32,000 cases were de- 
cided last year in these courts. 

It is the veriest fiction of thought that the Egyptian himself is 
being Europeanized, as one learning of the Egyptian administra- 
tive policy might infer. He is being superficially modernized 
only, which he does not object to so long as his beloved religion 
is not molested. At heart he is as unchangeable as the sphinx, 
and Islamism must ever dwell on the banks of the Nile. 

Fbbdebio Coubtlakd Penfield. 



THIRTY YEARS IN THE GRAIN TRADE. 

BY EGEBTON B. WILLIAMS. 



On viewing briefly the history of the grain trade for the last 
three decades, which measure nearly the limit of the writer^s ex- 
perience, the chief difficulty encountered is not that of calling to 
mind the many prominent changes, developments and their most 
important effects, but of giving full credence thereto ; and this in 
the face of personal knowledge of many of them and of authentic 
statistical corroboration of many more. In no previous thirty 
years of this country^s history has such phenomenal progress been 
made in all that pertains to man's material welfare — ^progress so 
far beyond any precedent that we are tempted to believe there can 
be no counterpart in the future. 

In this article we shall consider the word '^ trade '' not merely 
in the ordinary significance of traffic, but in the broader sense, 
inclusive of production and consumption. 

The first effect of an extended and cheapened telegraphic ser- 
vice was the seeming drawing nearer to each other of the grain 
importing countries of lETurope and the exporting countries of 
America, Asia, Australia, and Argentina, resulting in an almost 
complete abandonment of the old — ^and since Europe's infant 
commercial days — established custom of procuring and storing 
supplies several months in advance of their requirements. A 
hand-to-mouth system was adopted, purchases were made by 
cable, and time of shipment arranged to meet the wants of the 
European miller and corn factor. This new method brought 
about in time keener competition and reduced commissions or 
profits to the exporter, the importer, and the European factor. 

The differences in value between the markets of consumption 
and those of production narrowed to an unprecedented extent, 
and this narrow margin for expenses and profit has, in exceptional 



26 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

instances, continued ever since, and bids fair to continue indefi- 
nitely. This reduction in the cost of delivered grain inures, of 
course, chiefly to the consumer's advantage. 

It is an anomalous condition of things commercial, but never- 
theless generally true, that the more grain there is to be trans- 
ported the less are the per-bushel-earnings of the inland and ocean 
carrier. The solution lies in the fact that, as a rule, large crops 
produce low prices, consequent upon supply being in excess of 
demand^ and low freights are the usual accompaniment of low 
prices. The converse of this proposition is generally a commer- 
cial fact. 

The railroads of late years have entered so keenly into com- 
petition with the Lake routes for the grain traffic that, to meet 
this speedy, effective, and cheap land transportation, the con- 
struction of steam vessels and tows of very large capacity and in- 
creased speed, became imperative. These lake leviathans require 
in the aggregate but few men for their management, and being 
run at very small expense, compared with other tonnage differ- 
ently constructed, or, when their immense capacity is considered, 
have been able not only to successfully compete with land tran- 
sit, but to make such minimum rates of freight as to result in 
driving from the traffic — if not from the lakes — vessels of small 
tonnage, and in placing a permanent embargo upon their further 
construction. 

Freights have fallen from an average range on the lakes of 
7-15c. to l-3c. ; on the ocean, from 10-15c. to 2-6c. ; and all 
rail to the seaboard from 30-45c. to 9-15c. per bushel. 

The adoption of the hand-to-mouth policy by our millers and 
dealers (and this same policy governs their customers and their 
customers' customers, until the purchaser of the 10-pound bag 
of flour is reached) is largely due to the narrow margin of profit 
generally obtainable. This profit is not very infrequently, par- 
ticularly in large transactions, so small and unremunerative that 
a reversal of the old system is very often the safer course. Sale 
is made by the miller of his product, and by the dealer of grain 
or flour, before the purchase is effected. What can better illus- 
trate the radical change a few short years have effected in busi- 
ness methods than we here find, in that, what at as late a period 
as the 70's was deemed hazardous gambling, indulged in by a few 
and frowned upon by a vast majority, is now commended and 



VINDICATES A SLANDERED WOMAM 



IN T H IS Nt HW BN . 
Blslitietli If ear. Tros Tjriasqne inihi nullo disorimine a^etur. Vol. 159: No. 1. 



THK 



NORTH AMERICAN 

REVIEW. 

Re-established by ALLBN THOBNDIKE BJOB. 






> EDITED BY LLOYD BRYCE. 



July, 1894. 

^^HE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION OF NATIONAL 

AFFAIRS. 

By Ex-Speaker BEED i 

Problems and Perils of British Politics . Prof. Gold win Smith 1 1 
The Postal Service at New York . Hon. Charles W. Dayton, 24 

Postmaster at New York. 

France and England in Eg^t . . . . . Madame Adam ^ 

^""l^ast'WQM^ the Souin Cafolfna" Liquor^Caw : 

I. By the Governor of South Carolina ... 46 

II. By the Mayor of Darlington, S. C 53 

How to Make West Point More Useful . . . F. A, Mitchel 61 

The Aims and Methods of the "A. P. A.'' , W.J. H. Traynor, 67 

President of the American Protective Association, 

Life at the Holy Sepulchre, 

The Rev. Godfrey Schilling, O. S. P., 77 
Vice-Commissary of the Holy Land . 

Our Family Skeleton Clark Howell 88 

How to Protect a City from Crime .... Thomas Byrnes, 100 

Supt, of the New York Police Dept. 

IN DEFENCE OF HARRIET SHELLEY.— 1. 

By MABK TWAIN 108 

notes and comments. 

The Prospects of Mexico Walter M. O'Dwyer 120 

The Dangers of Vaccination, . . William B. Hidden, M. D. 124 
Is Country Life Lonely ? C. H. Crandall 127 

NEW YORK : 
No. 3 EAST FOURTEENTH STREET. 

London : Paris : 

WM. HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford St, W. C. BRENTANO'8, 87 Avenue de TOpera. 



SlBffle NnmbeirB, 50c. Pnbllshed Monthly. T^«t KT^Tt^oLTDL^ 



EX-SPEAKER REED OH 



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NEW YOEE OFFICE : 

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THE POSTAL SERVICE AT NEW YORK. 



33 



helj^s to maintain that part of the government which it repre- 
senti 

Mo^ has been said regarding the feeling of jealousy existing 
towards^e city of New York in other parts of the country. 
So far as^^e postal service is concerned, such a sentiment 
should have mi place ; because whatever is done to improve the ser- 
vice here finds nnmediate reflex of benefit everywhere throughout 
the land. The d^toer the merchant can have his order for goods 
delivered here, the -^ner the goods will be delivered ; and so with 
the constant intercha^e of finance, no matter how far distant 
the point ot interchan^of letters ; and thus it is that the per- 
fection of the postal ser\^e in New York means that other cities 
of the Union near and fai^ will grow towards occupying corre- 
sponding positions in the pril^lem of postal magnitude and postal 
perfection. 

There is no branch of the g<Svernment nearer to the daily lives 
of our own people and to " all sorts and conditions of men'' the 
world over. True economy in its^ministration consists in lib- 
eral appropriations, carefully and Intelligently expended; and 
for every dollar so properly invested tHe government will receive, 
as it does in this city, a plentiful return! 

iEs W. Dayton. 




VOL. CLIX. — NO. 452. 



FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN EGYPT. 

BY HADAM ADAM. 



As France refused to shed Egyptian blood and to take part 
in the odious bombardment of Alexandria, she ought all the more 
energetically to have prepared herself for her peaceful struggle 
against the occupant of Egypt, thus serving her own interests, 
those of the oppressed people, and of those numerous colonies of 
strangers, which give to Egypt her peculiar character of inter- 
nationality. 

Every struggle allows of the choice of arms. Now what can 
one think of a combatant who is simple ^enough to change his 
weapon every day, and imprudent enough when he begins to use 
it well to deliver it over to his ^versary ? This is what the French 
government has done in Egypt since its occupation by the English. 
I shall first take for example a series of facts — as to the relation- 
ship which the traditional policy of France should desire to see 
continued between the governments of Egypt and of Turkey. 

France had perhaps sustained Mehemet Ali in exaggerated 
fashion against the Sultan ; Napoleon the Third was eager to obtain 
firmans which would deliver Egypt, under Ismail, from excessive 
vassalage and sanction its internationality. Tewfik, on ascending 
the Khedival throne, careful about the opinions of the foreign 
colonies in Egypt, had no idea of going to Constantinople to 
reoeive investiture and to make a personal act of submission. 

When Abbas Pasha ascended the throne the English had not 
entertained for an instant the idea of sending the young Khedive 
to receive investiture at Constantinople, in spite of their conviction 
that one day or another — if Egypt returns to her traditions of 
vassalage — it would be the colonies of foreigners, always ready to 
resist the occupation of Egypt, who would suffer most. The 
Foreign Office has long known that at a given moment the Porte 



FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN EGYPT. 35 

may have diplomatic, financial or military need of England, and 
at that moment she may extort from it the protectorate of Egypt 
as she extorted that of Cyprus. 

The English advisers occupied themselves only with negotiat- 
ing with the Sultan on the subject of the firman of investiture to 
be received at Oairo. 

The negotiations had for their object the transfoi ming of 
^aJP^'s administration of the territ nes of Akaba and Sinai, in 
Arabia Petrea, into a definitive incorporation into Egypt itself, so 
that when the day of total absorption should arrive England should 
possess an important frontier on the Asiatic coast and both banks 
on the north of the Bed Sea. 

France then had a diplomatic success with which it would 
have been wise to rest contented. The Sultan replied to the 
English demands by publishing an irad^ declaring that Akaba 
and the points occupied by Egypt on the east side of the Eed Sea 
should be comprised in the Turkish vilayet of Hedjaz, and that 
for the peninsula of Sinai the status quo would be maintained. 
The ground, for the first time since " the occupation,^* was solidi- 
fying under our feet. 

The Khedive had felt that the influence of France, com- 
bined with that of Russia at Constantinople, could overcome that 
of England and check it. The native population felt that we were 
not passive in the face of what was occurring, and this was an 
advantage which should have been satisfactory for the time. 
But our diplomacy— one knows not in truth why — and at the very 
time when the young Khedive was trying to encourage the pride 
of the natives by his own pride ; at the very time when he was 
allowing the foreign colonies to foresee the possibility of some 
day finding again, in Abbas II., a proper representative of the 
Khedivate of Ismail, leaving to the foreign colonies the free 
play of a development which was exercising itself in favor of 
general progress ; at that hour, I say, our Minister at Cairo, fol- 
lowing either his own individual idea or the instructions of our 
government, commenced a systematic effort to deliver the Viceroy 
of Egypt again to the complete vassalage of the Sultan. 

Our diplomacy was thus made to serve the future interests of 
England, the Ottoman influence being that on which finally Eng- 
lish diplomacy has most power to act. 

The rescript of the Khedive on his departure for Constant!* 



36 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

nople was lamentable and of extreme importance in the sense that 
I indicate. In appointing Biaz Pacha, Kaimakan, that is to 
say Regent, Abbas II., used a phrase that neither Mehemet Ali 
nor Ismail nor Tewfik would have employed : 

" Having made arrangements by the grace of God to repair to Constaii- 
tinople to lay our respectful homage at the foot of oar august Master, his 
Majesty the Sultan, etc." 

This voyage, which superficially might appear as a provocation 
to England — the English advisers being opposed as a matter of 
form to it — French diplomacy gloried in as in a success, and 
her colony at Cairo had the imprudence to applaud it. The 
Saltan, who is one of the finest and most astute diplomats, took 
care not to neglect such advantages. He covered the young 
Khedive with flowers, but he made him follow the grand Vizier — 
thus reminding him that he was only a simple " Vali,'* and that 
Egypt is simply a Turkish province. 

Thus, for an apparent success, French diplomacy forgot its 
traditional policy: Egyptian autonomy, and its separation from 
Turkish authority. At that moment I uttered a warning cry 
which, had it been heeded, might have saved the situation. 

To-day they are talking of a direct understanding between 
London and Stamboul, and we have there, as I said at the com- 
mencement, not only changed our weapons, but surrendered our 
arms to England. 

If France continues to act blindly so as to undo the work 
of fifty years, she will create with her own hands danger for 
the future. A direct understanding between England and the 
Porte may one day be very costly to Downing Street, but will help 
it to conquer a legal title in Egypt in the easiest manner. What 
results for our policy and for the independence of Abbas II; as 
regards England has the voyage of the young Khedive to the 
banks of the Bosphorus had ? Besults more than negative. 

Through the flowers that were thrown to keep up appearances 
before the Mussulman world there was administered to the 
'^ vassal'^ at Constantinople a lesson which the English advisers 
of Cairo would not have repudiated. 

Certainly Abdul Hamid could not answer with too much 
haughtiness the supplications of a faithful people, whose spokes- 
men addressed him in terms like these : 



« 



O Khaliff, we humbly approach thee, in submitting to thee, that the 



FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN EGYPT. 37 

stranger who came into our country, with false pretexts and with 
promises, i>eriodically repeated, to go away, remains in occupation. 

" O Khaliff. it is the land of Egypt, it is the sacred soil, it is the door- 
way of Mecca and Medina, whose people come before thee in tears, on ac- 
count of him who is thy vicar, and thy representative, to render thee homage. 

" Beceive him with favor because he and we are blindly subject to thy 
wilL 

*' Deliver us from the presence of the stranger, for we are like the bird 
caught in the net of the snarer, and put an end to our tribulation by the 
power of Ihe sword of the Khalifate.*' 

Bat so far the young Khedive has obtained nothings not even 
the recall of the Ottoman Commissioner^ of whom Abbas 
Helmi Pacha complained as not being sufficiently opposed to the 
English. 

It is an illusion to believe that the Porte will ever break with 
London^ where rightly or wrongly she expects help in the hour 
of financial crisis, or political peril. It is therefore a grave fault 
to have urged the Khedive to go to Dolma-Bagtch6, and to have 
accentuated by act and by word the homage laid by the vassal at 
the foot of his august master. 

If our diplomacy answers the fears of the ^'previsionists/^ 
as to the "opportunist** policy, by alleging that nothing has 
been lost, I would remark (beyond the bad results of the 
abandonment of a traditional polity, and of the greater intru- 
sion of Turkish authority in Egypt) that in the place of an 
ardent young Khedive, impatient of the yoke, desirous of en- 
franchising himself, and thinking himself capable of doing so — 
and in consequence determined to push his way ahead — we shall 
see a Khedive more prudent, less audacious, as a result of the 
counsels of patience that have been given him, and who for the 
future will reflect twice before assuming a responsibility, or mak- 
ing a bold decision. 

No personality is more engaging than that of the young 
Khedive trying to find an outlet through all the obstacles with 
which he is surrounded and with which the pathways of his destiny 
are blocked. Who knows if the Khaliff did not tell him to submit 
himself to England in the same manner that his father, Tewfik, 
appeared to submit himself. I use the term ''appeared,*' for 
Mr. Ghaill6 Long, late United States Consul, ex-colonel in the 
Egyptian army, and chief of the American Military Mission 
under Tewfik, wrote to me after a speech by Mr. Gladstone : 

" Mr. Gladstone praises Tewfik, and among the hitherto unknown quail- 



38 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

ties of the late Khedive he attributes to him loyalty and devotion to Great 
Britain. I know myself the contrary. Tewflk told me, in an interview that I 
had with him in 1889, that he cursea the English, that he detested them cor- 
dially ; and he explained to me the horror and the hatred he felt for 
their domination and occupation of his country , which toeighed horribly 
upon him" 

Tewfik unable to control himself showed his spirit of revolt 
against the oppressor^ and secretly placed himself in communica- 
tion with the National party of Egypt. Then he died sud- 
denly. His death fulfilled the wishes of Lord Salisbury. With 
Tewfik and his secret opposition getting more and more coura- 
geous, the noble Lord had anxiously awaited the approach of the 
general elections. Thus, he was ready for all audacities. 

The very young Khedive who succeeded his father was of an 
age to submit without the least reservation to the most absolute 
tutelage. But note this mischance — at the first command given 
by Lord Cromer the English pupil revolted. 

In an interview Lord Cromer explains his displeasure in words 
which give a shock of cold to one^s heart. He said of Abbas II. : 
"He is young, he has not yet suffered like his father the effects of 
rebellion, and perhaps he does not yet know the power of England.'' 

Will the young Khedive be victorious over his tyrants, or will 
he be vanquished by them ? It is to be desired that he may be 
clever and capable, so that he can extricate hiraseU from the 
English machinations, and train the Egyptian people, so little as 
yet prepared for it, to assimilate the idea of nationality. 

A book of the highest interest, which unveils the thoughts of 
England about Egypt, whose author is Mr. Milner, appears to me 
to sum up the question as follows : 

Passive obedience of the Khedive of Egypt, who is bound to 
consider all "advice '' coming from England as an " order.*' 

" We have only the right to give counsel to Egypt, *' says Mr, 
Milner. 

But Lord Granville, who is not often accused of being vigorous 
in his expressions, showed clearly to Sir Evelyn Baring in 1884 
that counsel did not differ from command. 

" It is indispensable,** wrote Lord Granville, '^for the government of 
Her Majesty, that the advice given the Khedive be followed. The ministers 
and Egyptian governors wh>o do not foiUow this policy must resign their 
positions.** 

Mr. Milner further cites the phrase of Lord DuflEerin : " The 



FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN EGYPT. 3t) 

all-powerfnl hand of a resident will soon have curbed all under 
his will." 

Thus Abbas Pacha can neither choose nor change one of his 
ministers without the authorization of his English adviser. 

This pretension was made public on the occasion of what is 
known in England as the coup d^Hat of the young Khediye. In 
what diplomatic convention did the delegate of England^ salaried 
by the Egyptian Government, acquire the sovereign right of vetof 

England has not attempted to justify her temporary occupation 
except by proclaiming in an official act, at the bottom of which 
is the signature of her representatives, that she occupies Egypt 
only to maintain internal peace to aid in the proper working of the 
administration, and finally to give up Egypt to the Egyptians* 

Perfidy and falsehood I 

The most sincere man in England, the editor of Truth, Mr. 
Labouchere, wrote : 

" The real gravity of the situafcion is that, np to the present time, we 
have justified our occupation and the violation of the undertakings which 
we have given Europe, by making the pretext, that we are prolonging 
the period of the occupation for the greater happiness of the Egyptians. It 
is not possible to play this game any longer, and to get people to believe 
we are in earnest. 

'* Bightly or wrongly, the Egyptians like better to govern themselves than 
to be governed by us. The action of Abbas is so manifestly approved by aU 
his people, that we are strengthening our garrisons, not to defend Egypt 
against the Soudanese, but to defend our occupation against the Egyptians, 
and yet we are considering the simple expression of the natural aspirations— 
in favor of our departure— as a crime of high treason. • • • Like the 
Irish, the Egyptians want home rule. We cannot call this sentiment patriot- 
ism with the Irish, and treason with the Egyptians." 

Voices are lifted up from time to time in England against the 
cynicism of the Egyptian occupation, but they are rare, and pro- 
voke the imprecations of the majority of the Liberal party itself, 
in spite of the promises made by Mr. Gladstone when he was 
leader of the Opposition. 

Concerning the Blue Book published in March-April, 1893, and 
the dispatch of Lord Rosebery to Lord Cromer, which recalled 
to the young Khedive a lesson too soon forgotten, the Globe 
declared that it is 

" Clear that England under a Conservative or Gladstonfan Government 
will not retreat before her responsibilities.'* 

The mockery of a speech of Mr. Gladstone, who humorously 
proved that France had nol the same rights in Egypt as England ; 



40 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

the comedy of the interpellation of Sir Charles Dilke, stating 
after this public declaration that *^ even if the .Liberal Govern- 
ment did nothing towards carrying oid its promises of evacuation 
he. Sir Charles (author of Greater Britain), would not propose 
a vote of want of C07ijidence." All went to prove that the Liberal 
party, then in power, had in its policy towards France one more 
fault than the Conservatives — impertinent hypocrisy. 

Mr. Milner argues "that the Egyptians are incapable of acting 
for themselves as soldiers, as well as in civil affairs." They have, 
he says, need of being commanded and supported by individuals 
of "a superior race." 

English pride is unbounded. Do we not know by the 
Standard of May 11, 1893, 

" That there only is one Empire on the earth, the English Empire, and 
that the English race belongs to what Macaulay calls ' the hereditary aris- 
tocracy of humanity* " ? 

Erom time to time a loyal spirit tells the truth to his country, 
but he is forthwith classed as an eccentric individual, like Mr. 
Labouchere or Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, who published an article in 
the Nineteenth Century which attracted general attention, in 
which he confronts England with the falsehoods that she had 
heaped on the benefits of her occupation of Egypt. 

A characteristic illustration of the tendency of the Eng- 
lish — to find identical resources in all arguments good, bad or 
contradictory — is the astounding reply of the Pall Mall Gazette 
of March 29, 1893, concerning the picture of chaos and disorder 
made by Mr. Blunt. 

'* All that is false, but if it were true it would prove that England can- 
not abandon Egypt." 

Unskilfulness, contradiction, disorder, waste, administra- 
tive injustice, inefficiency, unsurpassed crimes of *' creatures '* 
of the English, cruelties of the police — such is very nearly the 
balance sheet of occupatidn. Here and there certain monstrosi- 
ties like the odious article in the Egyptian Gazette throw a sinister 
light upon the Egyptian situation. 

^^ The line of conduct of England,^' ventured to write the 
official organ of England at Cairo, "appears to be to allow the 
inhabitants of the Upper Nile to die of hunger, just until those 
who survive have arrived at such a state of utter feebleness that 
the work of conquest will offer no further difficulty.'' To satisfy the 



FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN EGYPT. 41 

bondholders, to pay them a high interest, sach is the sole ideal of 
her English advisers in Egypt ; then under cover of this guaran- 
tee to ruin and starve Egypt, so as to place her more easily at its 
mercy. The holder of Egyptian bonds only sees one thing — 27 
milKons of surplus in 1892 for the public revenue of that year, 
and 45 millions of surplus deposited for the payment of the debt. 
As to Egypt, if she exhausts and devours herself, what does that 
matter to the bondholder ? When the English speak of their 
hard task, when they speak of a reserve fund of the debt, of the 
cultivation and perfected crops, and of abolition of Bakhsheesh, 
now driven away, they tell nothing new to those who have lived 
in Egypt under the reign of Ismail or Tewfik, at the epoch of 
the control of the condominium. At that period, things 
worked at least as well as now in Egypt. There was a real 
reserve fund, and the debt diminished, whereas it has increased 
30 per cent, during English occupation, which is a pertinent 
fact. As to the contractc for public works and supplies 
there, no Egyptian will admit that they are transacted in 
regular and legal fashion, which is also a matter of some 
gravity I 

These assertions have obtained for me the honor of being 
roughly handled by the partisan English press of Egypt, but they 
were never seriouslv denied. 

Lord Granville exaggerated, in 1884, the reported ruin of 
Egypt. Further than this, by financial quotations, of which art 
the English are masters, and through all the jugglery, the 
balance of the budget of Cairo goes on improving. 

But, while the apparent resources grow larger and salaries 
aud pensions increase, England is multiplying new offices. She 
often undertakes public works which are frequently as excessive 
in number as they are useless. 

Yes, Egypt pours into English coffers more money than she 
2)aid into Egyptian coffers, but neither the fellahs nor the general 
commerce become enriched in the same proportion. It is, there- 
fore, by exhaustion and not by the creation of new resources that 
this has been done, and it remains to be discovered if Egypt has 
found in the cost of her new administration any compensation for 
her sacrifices. 

To that one can answer ^^No," for the English themselves at 
Cairo are forced to admit to what an extent all the public ser- 



42 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

vices are neglected. One of my friends wrote to me from there 
some time ago : 

'* The sanitary condition of Bgypt is the cause of daily complaints. In 
Egypt, constantly threatened with cholera from India, the appropriation 
for sanitary purposes only amounts to seventy thousand pounds for the 
care of its five millions of inhabitants, while the rate of mortality reaches 
occasionally sixty per thousand." 

The defective organization of the Egyptian army is notorious. 
They have not^ moreover^ ceased to lead them to certain defeat — 
in fighting the Soudanese. 

The instruction of the army is deplorable^ and what they have 
learned comes from the French and American missions, which 
the English wish suppressed. The only thing that the English 
have been forced to keep intact is the military school, which is 
in the hands of a Frenchman, Larm6e Pacha, who could not 
be replaced, 'Hhe English not having sufficient instruction 
to take charge of the school.'' This is the exact phrase used by 
Larm^e Pacha to Colonel Ohaill^ Long, who repeated the words 
to me. In an access of alcoholic folly did not an officer of the 
army of occupation burn the precious documents and scientific 
reports, the fruit of thirty years labor, of the officers of the French 
and American missions ? 

The English have so little faith in their famous reorganization 
of the Egyptian army, that they constantly reinforce the army of 
occupation, which from 3,000 men has been increased to 10,000, 
thus further exhausting impoverished Egypt for this new expense. 
From time to time the English genends drag a portion of the 
native army to the Soudanese frontier. Then the tragi-comedy 
recommences. They repel an incursion of dervishes, a certain 
number of Egyptian soldiers are killed, and thus the '' Soudanese 
peril '' so dear to Lord Salisbury is renewed. 

It would be necessary to devote many pages to prove that Eng- 
land deliberately lowers the standard of studies for the youth of 
Egypt, and that she endeavors to keep them in a state of 
ignorance which guarantees the invader against the claims of 
a host of young and educated patriots. 

Those who continue the work of Mr. Milner will have a good 
opportunity in a few years to declare-that the Egyptians are with- 
out any personal valor and need to.be led by a superior race. 

All the documents that have been communicated to me, and 



FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN EOYPl. 43 

that I have caused to be published and circulated by all the 
means in my power — by the press, by pamphlets and by republica- 
tion, etc. — if I could give them in a short review article, would, 
without possible refutation, confirm what I have just advanced. 

Here is one of the documents that I have received from a 
trusty source, and that I have already published : 

" Mortgages on real ^estate and land in Egypt, which from 1833 to 
1891 increased to the enormous extent of 30 per cent., are stiU increas- 
ing on account of the severity with which taxes are collected from 
the farmer. The mortgagees purchase for £15, sometimes for £10, lands 
which two or three years ago were worth £30 the feddan. At the pres- 
ent moment the lands of Lower Bgypt, belonging to native farmera, are 
mortgaged at an average rate of 10 per cent. As a result of this, in 
about four years the half of these borrowers lose their lands.** 

All that is the fruit of the occupation and of the systematic ex- 
ploitation of the toiler, who fosters against the European a danger- 
ous and daily increasing hate. On every side he runs against 
English implacability. Spurned, driven back, he is on all occa- 
sions the prey of those who invaded his country, with the solemn 
promise of helping him to govern it, and to deliver up Ejypt 
to the Egyptians. They tell the oppressed one that he is poor 
and without intelligence — and they try to make him poorer and 
more stupid. 

If I were to enumerate at length the English traps in which 
France and her agents have allowed themselves to be caught, 
the list would be a lamentable one. 

The project of judiciary reform as expounded by Mr. Scott 
contains one of the gravest dangers to which foreign colonies are 
exposed in Egypt. 

The matter maybe summed up as follows — native jurisdiction 
is not yet in our hands, but we are preparing Egypt for its. des- 
tiny of servitude to ourselves. 

We will people it with our friends and creatures, and we will 
so manoeuvre that by and by the life and property of Europeans 
will be entirely at our discretion, and then we will dispose of 
Egypt. We will surround the- fusion of mixed tribunals and 
native tribunals with all the appearances of guarantees and all 
imaginable promises. We will employ all the terms known to 
diplomacy, we will yield, we will make formal concessions, but 
we will gain our point. 

When we shall no longer be hampered by the Consular Courts, 



44 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, 

vestiges of a former epoch, and when we shall have lessened 
the power of the Court of Alexandria, we shall say to the Powers 
that, having suppressed for the Egyptians purely national juris- 
diction they cannot require us to maintain for their benefit on the 
soil of Egypt all these foreign and distinct jurisdictions. ** The 
arguments invoked for the creation of the Reform tribunals we 
will use in favor of our recombinations,*' say the English, and 
thus the Consular Courts and the ^^capitulations," the only pro- 
tection for Egypt against our final seizure, will no longer exist. 

What have we done up to the present time to struggle against 
the manoeuvres of our rivals, of our enemies at Cairo ? By what 
acts have we practically and continually protected Egypt against 
her gradual seizure by perfidious Albion ? When have we taken 
in hand the interests of the oppressed Egyptian people ? We 
have done nothing in favor of the oppressed ones and, worse 
still, we have been opposed to the abolition of forced labor. Our 
agents have often appeared not only to be tired of the contest 
against England, not only to be powerless to continue it, but more 
than once the attitude of our Ministers at Cairo has been, as one 
of our national Deputies recently informed me, "a source of en- 
couragement to anti-French enterprises.'* 

And it is at the solicitation of our agents that our government 
has given its consent to the worst measures against the future of 
Prance and the French colonies in Egypt. 

Except in two instances — that of the license law, and 
the action of the Sultan as to Akaba and Sinai — let us frankly 
admit that since 1882 we have given up all courageous, in- 
telligent, and far-seeing resistance to the English invasion of 

But now at last we clearly understand the role played by 
England for the past ten years — which is established by a thou- 
\ sand proofs — that in place of increasing the prestige and author- 
/ ity of the Khedive, she has lowered and broken them ; that 
instead of aiding the native capacity in its development, she has 
simply crushed it ; that sooner than help the local element, or 
enlighten the national spirit of Egypt, England would weaken 
them, and place her sinister influence upon them ; that, in short, 
instead of working for the reorganization of Egypt for the benefit 
of the Egyptians, she has with implacable hate done her best to 
make such reorganization impossible. 



> 

[ 



FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN EGYPT. 45 

It is necessary to conclude. To-day we have tested the 
probity of the Liberal party 'of England and its loyalty to its 
promises — let us struggle with the only arms that remain in our 
hands. Let us defend the rights of the people of Egypt ; let us 
also protect those of the foreign colonies; let no concessions 
be made as to treaty rights ; finally let us co-operate by our 
support with the Khedive, not in intrigues, but in his legitimate 
sovereignty, with the final aim, in accordance with equity and 
with the law of history, of restoring Egypt to the Egyptians. 

Juliette Adam. 




ST WORD ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA 

LIQUOR LAW. 

BY THE h1^. B. R. TILLMAN, GOVBRKOB OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 

iND THE HON. W. F. DARGAN, MAYOR 
OF DARLINGTON, S. 0. 



GOV. TILLMAN : 

The experimen\of legislation for the control of the liquor 
traffic which has beeiMmde in South Carolina, during the year 
beginning July, 1893,l(as excited widespread interest. In pre- 
yious articles in The BWiew I have given my opinion as to the 
merits of the Dispensary l|;stem, together with such facts as were 
then obtainable, tending toUiow the superiority of the Dispensary 
over the licensed saloon^ fronk a temperance standpoint. Every- 
thing promised a speedy and anaost total suppression of the illegal 
traffic in liquor, when, on Apri^9 last, the Supreme Court by a 
vote of two to one declared the mspensary law unconstitutional. 

It would be difficult to describe^yie surprise and disgust mani- 
fested by a la'fge majority of our pbpple when this intelligence 
reached them. The constitutionality^ the law had been sustained 
by the United States Circuit judge ; sewi out of eight of the State 
Circuit judges had sustained the law ; the^jiquor Dealers^ Associa- 
tion, of Charleston, had employed the o^st legal talent in the 
State, and had received it as the opinion of Ihe attorneys that the 
law was impregnable and could not be attacked on its constitu- 
tionality. The Supreme Court itself, in a pn|[ious case arising 
under it, in May, 1893, unanimously declared 

** The only question reaUy inyolved here is whether said^t Tiolates the 
constitution in forbidding the granting of licenses to r»t^U spiritnoas 
liquors beyond the SOth day of June, 1803, and to that question^e have con- 
fined our attention, and have reached the conclusion that the saic^^t, being 
in effect an act to reguUUethe aaZe of spirituous liguors,— to doVrhich is 



•%. 



« 



OM "THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE SALOON. 



BlCfhttetb ITear. Tros Tyri usque mihi nuUo disohiuine agetur. Vol* 169s No* 4* 

NORTH AMEmCAN 

REVIEW. 



Re-e8tablished by ALIjEN THOBNDIKB BIOB. 



EDITRD BY LLOYD BRYCE. 



October, 1894. 

ISSUES OF THE COMING ELECTIONS. 

I. By the Hon* WILLIAM L* WILSON. . . 385 
II. By the Hon. THOMAS B* REED 394 

Astronomy and Religion Sir Edwin Arnold 404 

The Peril of the Treasury . The Hon. George S. Boutwell, 416 

Ex-Secretary of the Treasury, 
The Transatlantic Mails ... J. Henniker Heaton, M. P. 424 

How Shall the Indians Be Educated ? . Senator James H. Kyle, 434 

Chairman of the Committee on Education, 

THE MUNICIPAL PROBLEMS OP LONDON. 

By the Lord Mayor of London 44^ 

Reorganization of the Personnel of the Navy, 

The Hon. William McAdoo, 457 

Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 

The Primitive Child Dr. Louis Robinson 467 

Side-Lights on the Exploitation of Egypt, 

The Hon. Frederic C. Penfield, 479 



U, S, Diplomatic Agent and ConsulGeneraZ to Egtmt, 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE SALOON. 

By thfe Most Bey. Archbishop IRELAND. . . 49^ 

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 

Drought Fires Felix M. Oswald 506 

The Prejudice Against Foreign Phrases . . Lucy C. Bull 509 
A Needed Profession J. Lindsay Reid 510 

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SIDELIGHTS ON THE EXPLOITATION OF EGYPT. 

BY THE HOIST. FBEDEBIC C. PENFIELD, U. S. DIPLOMATIC AGENT 

AND C0K8UL-GENEBAL TO EGYPT. 



AMOiiirG the nations of the earth stands one unique in history 
and in unusual and paradoxical conditions. Surprising and fasci- 
nating as it was to Herodotus, even so is it to the observer of to- 
day, who easily discovers why the Land of the Nile has so long 
been written of as Egypt the Mysterious, the Inexplicable, and 
the Unexampled. And the student who interprets the trend of 
current events must admit that the twentieth century will dawn 
on a new Egypt, Egypt the Prosperous, ruled by a Khedive thor- 
oughly in earnest in his resolve to mark his reign as one of hu- 
manity and progress. 

The country^s political condition has no parallel. Nominally 
a province of the Ottoman Empire, it is also autonomous, subject 
to an annual tribute to the Sultan* of about $3,500,000. The 
title of its ruler means sovereign, or king, without qualification 
or limitation ; yet the country is in a great measure administered 
by six European powers, who practically hold it in trusteeship for 
creditors, one of which is dominant and in '^ occupation ^^ with 
an army and hundreds of civil functionaries. Egypt is purely 
agricultural, yet has no department or ministry of agriculture. 

TVhatever its degree of abundance in forgotten ages — and in 
Biblical times it was a land flowing with milk and honey — the era 
of utilitarianism and practicability, now faily launched, will for 
the next few years be sufficient to draw universal attention to the 
old land of Pharaoh and Joseph. 

Until recent years Egypt represented a large part of north and 
central Africa. But since Gordon^s death and Hicks Pasha's 
defeat the process of territorial contraction has been rapid. The 



480 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

whole of the upper valley of the Nile and the vast regions under 
Egyptian rule, extending almost to the Equator, are lost — 
'^ abandoned,'^ say English chroniclers — and the deposed Ismail 
sees his hopes of a magnificent empire perish, never likely to be 
realized by his khedivial grandson. 

But now comes the season of expansion — ^not to be accom- 
plished by battling armies, diplomatic victories, or purchased 
acquisitions. Irrigation is to be the factor — ^the irrigation of defi- 
nite science, rather than of chance or guesswork, and the scheme 
is grand enough to take its place with the building of the Pyra- 
mids and the Suez Oanal. Stated simply, it is the doubling of 
the cultivable area of a country dependent on the soil 

The Egypt of the map shows upward of 400,000 square miles, 
an area seven times as great as New England ; but the practical 
Egypt — that which sustains life — is not as large as the States of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut together. This is the ribbon-like 
strip of alluvial land bordering the Nile, and forming, strictly 
speaking, an elongated oasis in the desert. As readers know, 
Egypt is almost rainless and dewless. The exploitation is no 
less magnificent in conception than the forcing back of the 
Libyan and Arabian deserts so far that nearly two Massachu- 
setts and two Gonnecticuts may be brought under the plough. 
This is exploitation in its true sense, and its accomplishment will 
be a verification of the saying that Egypt is the Nile and the 
Nile is Egypt. 

The Pyramids and the Sphinx have borne testimony through 
the centuries to the grandeur and power of execution which dwelt 
within the Nile Valley. And what more fitting now than that 
the same valley be the theatre of a gigantic engineering exploit, 
audacious, but of almost certain results P 

Until recently the Nile was a blessing only half appreciated ; 
but a mightier Egypt is at hand, whose fertile fields will extend 
beyond the horizon upon those sands where now only the camel 
contends with primitive ns^ture ; and the same Nile on which 
Moses was cradled will be harnessed to man's purposes and guided 
by canals far into that desert through which he led the children 
of Israel. 

What an object-lesson in the application of science I It can 
have no more interested observers than in America, especially in 
Golorado, Nevada, and California, and other States of the West, 



SIDELIGHTS ON THE EXPLOITATION OF EGYPT. 481 

where the irrigation expert is succeeding the railway builder as a 
developer. 

I will claim a wider audience, comprising every person inter- 
ested in cotton culture in the United States, however remotely. 
Thirty years or so ago, when that dauntless English traveller, 
Samuel Baker, gave to the world an account of his researches in 
equatorial Africa — which proved that the Nile had its origin in 
Lakes Victoria and Albert — he went so far as to say : 

" The Nile might be so controlled that the enormous volame of water 
that now rashes uselessly into the Mediterranean might be led through the 
deserts to transform them into cotton-fields that would render England 
independent of America.** 

To read these lines in the light of subsequent events, with 
England taking as keen an interest in Egypt as if it were part of 
the British Empire, causes one to ponder long and deep. Sir 
Samuel Baker was a far-seeing man ; and his gift of prophecy 
was his strongest characteristic, in my judgment. 

The expansion so generally discussed means more to the people 
of the United States than they realize. But I will treat the work 
in its universality, leaving the sidelights of American interest to 
be made apparent. 

The question of irrigation was considered and experimented 
upon by the Pharaohs and Ptolemies; it must have been, as in their 
day Egypt was the granary of the world. When Napoleon con- 
quered the country in 1798, his engineers and savants were given 
the task of augmenting the cultivation of the soil, that the peas- 
antry might be lifted from degraded poverty. Mehemet Ali laid 
down the sword for the plough, and irrigatfon affairs have ever in- 
terested his successors. The Barrasce, near Cairo, ministering to 
the fertility of the Delta, was built by them, with the aid of 
French constructive skill; and the reign of the present Abbas 
promises to be rich in triumphs of this order, whatever the 
nationality of the engineers whose abilities play a part. 

Since the events of 1882, a feature of the British codperation 
in repairing the broken fortunes of the Nile country has been 
enhanced irrigation. Engineers of other nations have devoted 
untiring study to the safe storage of the surplus waters of high Nile, 
that they may be systematically employed during the months of 
low Nile, when the whole country is athirst; and none more unself- 
ishly than Cope Whitehouse, an American, who has spent the best 
VOL. OLIX. — KG. 466. 31 



482 THE NORTH A MERICAN REVIEW. 

part of ten years and much money in an intelligent study of the sub- 
ject, keeping it persistently before the notice of the Khedivial 
Government. His Lake Moeris project, however, is not considered 
adaptable to giving the thirsty upper Nile Valley its water for 
summer crops. It would be a boon to the Fayoom and the Delta, 
and may eventually be utilized. It is argued that the money to 
be expended belongs to every husbandman in the land, and that 
all should be benefited. This is a reason for placing the reservoir 
above Assouan, from whence its waters would reach every section 
of industrial Egypt. 

As in the case of all great works, there are many plans and 
theories for accomplishing the same end. Each has points of 
merit, and drawbacks more or less grave. 

To better assist the Public Works department of the Egyptian 
Government in a decision as to the best plan under submission, 
a committee of three European hydraulic experts was called to 
Egypt a few months ago, and the matter laid before them in its 
entirety. It has been generally spoken of as an International 
Technical Commission, and the opinion was current that it had 
plenary power to select a plan. I cannot discover why the com- 
mission was called ^^ International,^' in a sense applicable to a 
country where six powers must be consulted on all questions in- 
Tolving unusual financial outlay, and fourteen powers on measures 
pertaining to judicial and sanitary questions. The commission 
naturally was headed by an English engineer. Sir Benjamin Baker, 
of Forth Bridge fame, and his associates were a Frenchman and an 
Italian. Every effort to have an American included, as advised 
by no less a judge of such matters than Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff, 
was futile. 

The several projects were laid before the committee, presum- 
ably, to select the one possessing the most obvious advantages, 
independent of sBsthetic and archaeological considerations. Four 
contemplated the construction of a dam across the river ; and 
another, originating with Whitehouse, proposed to employ a de- 
pression in the desert, which, when filled, would be as large a 
body of water as Lake Geneva in Switzerland. 

Imagine the consternation of every person in the Old and 
New Worlds, of artistic or classical tastes, when the English and 
Italian members of the committee reported in favor of a dam 
seventy feet high at Assouan, which would bury from sight the 



SIDELIGHTS ON THE EXPLOIT A TION OF EGTPl . 483 

ruins of the Island of PhilsB^ that most brilliant gem in the diadem, 
of Ancient Egypt. This was to art an unhappy verdict, indeed, 
whose devotees could not believe that the spoliation of Philae was 
demanded. Every one applauded the magnificent prospect of in- 
creased prosperity to Egypt, but the clamor for another site was 
great — a site that would reconcile the interests of agriculture 
with those of history, art, and archaeology. 

Newspaper dispatches followed, stating that representatives of 
the Department of Public Works had gone to England with 
plans of machinery required for building the Assouan dam. 
This accentuated the feeling of horror to such an extent that the 
press of Europe cried out against the impending, sacrilege. 

Meetings have been held by many learned societies to protest 
against any disturbance of PhilsB, and their memorials are pour- 
ing into Egypt. In England, the Society for the Preservation of 
the Monuments of Ancient Egypt has-been untiring to save 
Philae and the dozens of temples and remains in close vicinity. 
Besides its memorial, widely signed in England, Scotland, and 
Ireland, others of similar tenor and purpose have been prepared 
in France by the Acad^mie des Inscriptions and by about 250 of 
the foremost members of the Institut de France. In Germany 
about 600 distinguished persons, including Egyptologists, pro- 
fessors, artists, antiquaries, archaeologists, and literary men, have 
joined in a very strong protest. Sir Frederick Leighton, Presi- 
dent of England^s Royal Academy, has not hesitated to say that 
any tampering with Philae would be a lasting blot on the British 
occupation of Egypt. 

The ruins, of Philae are the most imposing and beautiful mon- 
uments of Upper Egypt, owing to their peculiar situation upon a 
rocky island commanding the passage»of the Nile above the First 
Cataract. Assouan and this neighboring island are the objective 
points of hundreds of Americans every winter, whether they 
journey by the independent dahabiyah, or under the guidance of 
that universal benefactor. Cook, whose enterprise opened the Nile 
to travellers of moderate means or limited time. The German 
lines of steamers running from New York to Alexandria have 
made of Egypt the winter playground for thousands of well-to-do 
Americans, and many go to Philae. Some visit the Nile for that 
purpose alone. 

England's diplomatic representative. Lord Cromer, evidently 



484 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

feeling that an outburst of disapproval would follow the an- 
nouncement that Philse was in danger, oflBcially informed his 
government : 

*' It wiU, in the event of the Assouan project as it now stands being, 
from other points of view, considered preferable to any other, be necessary 
to consider what weight should be attached to the archaBological argument 
based on the evident undesirability of submerging or removing the temple 
of Philae. I still hope that some plan may be found for conciliating engi- 
neering necessities with the archsBological interests which are at stake.** 

Mr. Garstin, the astute Under-Secretary of Public Works, an 
Englishman, one of whose associates had advised the removal of 
the precious temple to an adjoining island, or to lift the entire 
island of Philae to a height clearing the flood line of the proposed 
reservoir, recorded his views in these words : 

" Any work which caused either partial damage to, or the flooding of, 
this beautiful temple would be rightly considered by the whole civilized 
world as an act of barbarism^ Moreover, it would be an act not absolutely 
necessitated by the circumstances, for we have other possible though some- 
what inferior sites upon which to construct dams.** 

On the other hand Mr. Garstin says : 

** Could the removal of the temple be successfully carried out, I cannot 
myself see that it would be an act of vandalism, which, as I read it, is a 
term meaning the wanton destruction of interesting relics.** 

Sir Benjamin Baker favors the raising of the island, as a whole, 
some twelve feet, and offers to do it for a million dollars, guaran- 
teeing its safe accomplishment. 

Think of moving Bunker Hill Monument to another site, or 
placing it on stilts, to reconcile it to a new order of landscape 
gardening ! 

The engineers who advocated the moving of Philae did so be- 
cause the Assouan site offered superior advantages from an engi- 
neering standpoint. The foundation of the dam would be a solid 
bed of granite. A situation farther up the river, at Kelabsheh, 
which would leave Philse unmolested, would insure exactly the 
same benefits, it is claimed by competent judges, but the founda- 
tion would be sandstone. Public opinion is almost unanimous in 
demanding that it be adopted, if Egypt is to place on her frontier 
any dam ponding back a hundred miles into Nubia a body of 
water suflBiciently vast to leave no living thing in Egypt's valley, 
were it liberated by foe or accident. 

The French engineer advises against a great storage reservoir 
anywhere, favoring a series of smaller dams extending nearly to 



SIDELIGHTS ON THE EXPLOITATION OF EGYPT. 485 

Ehartonm, to carry out which plan would necessitate a conquer- 
ing army to precede the battalions of masons and diggers. 

I would call the attention of scholarly America to the jeopard- 
ized position of one of the world's greatest treasures^ in the 
country that begot science and learning. All ttilk about remov- 
ing PhilsB is too fantastic even for the pen of a Jules Verne. If 
its wondrous structures are disturbed at all, let them be re-erected 
on the Island of Bhoda» at Cairo. This would carry the spirit of 
utilitarianism to its utmost degree^ and bring to the doors of the 
tourists' hotels one of the incentives of a winter's voyage up the 
Nile. 

It is difficult to believe that the recommendation of the Eng- 
lish and Italian engineers will not be set aside in deference to 
the opinion of that greater jury — ^the public. 

To complete a Nile dam and its canals no less a sum than fif- 
teen million dollars will be necessary. The money is actually in 
hand, the result of an economy effected by the recent conversion 
of a portion of the nation's debt from a high rate of interest. 
The six European powers will approve its expenditure in so prom- 
ising an improvement, as a mortgagee favors the making of re- 
pairs on a bonded property, at the expense of the mortgagor. The 
Egyptian treasury will expect to be recouped, two or three years 
after the completion of the reservoir and its system of distribut- 
ing canals, in taxes levied on the land as it becomes productive. 
Financially it presents a roseate future, certainly. 

Naturally there will be obstacles, structural at least, whatever 
project is agreed upon. But those who express opinions pub- 
licly, in Egypt and Europe, touch slightly upon them. When one 
learns that the population is comfortably occupied with the cul- 
tivation of the present area, he appropriately asks where the in- 
crease of labor to till the double Egypt is coming from. Irriga- 
tion is not going to supply it, and it is not easy to induce the 
people of the Soudan and Nubia in any numbers to take up hus- 
bandry under Egyptian masters. I shall look to labor-saving 
machinery to solve the problem, however great the fellah's aver- 
sion to it, and I would like to see American implements and in- 
ventions succeed the slow-coach tools of medisBval times in the 
hands of those tilling the new Egypt. 

Perennial irrigation is agreed upon by all taking part in the 
country's management, and it means much to the United States 



486 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

of America^ if those assisting the Khedivial Goyernment possess 
the opinion expressed by their countryman. Explorer Baker^ 
thirty years ago. Every acre wrested from the desert by the 
magical mud and water of the Nile will be capable of producing 
a bale of cotton^ superior enough to command a quick market^ 
presumably to the exclusion of a bale of American-grown cotton, 
for Egypt is already our aggressive competitor in that important 
fibre. 

Whatever the crop may be in the Southern States, it surely is 
"king^^ in Egypt, with the Delta of the Nile for its throne. 
The soil and climate are so perfectly adapted to cotton raising 
that it is the governing crop, and brings enough money to the 
country to indirectly pay the interest on the enormous debt 
created by the lavishness of Ismail, and is so surely redeeming 
the land from the grasp of its creditors that Egyptian bonds 
have sold at a premium during the recent times of financial dis- 
trust. 

Eight or ten years ago Egypt was insolvent. To-day she is 
bristling with prosperity. The position of the fellaheen is con- 
stantly improving. The corvee is abolished, and the people have 
no more compulsory labor, except to keep the Nile within bounds 
at high flood, for which they are paid. The land taxes are grad- 
ually being reduced, and extortion and corruption seem to have 
been stamped out. She sells cereals enough to pay for the im- 
ported articles necessary to maintain her simple standard of life. 
I can't help thinking that cotton— or the money it produces- 
has played a part of no small importance in the work of admin- 
istration that has brought all these blessings. 

A bird's-eye view of the area of cotton cultivation would give 
the outline of a half -opened fan. From the point of the Delta 
near Cairo it stretches nearly to Port Said on the northeast and 
beyond Alexandria on the northwest, this simile being helped by 
the great arc curving into the Mediterranean, the narrow strip 
devoted to cotton along the Nile from Cairo, a hundred miles 
southward, forming tHe handle. This area is veined with in- 
numerable canals, branching from the Eosetta and Damietta 
arms of the Nile, which distribute the vitalizing waters. 

The soil, first created by the deposits of the great river and 
ever fertilized by it, is perhaps the richest in the world, and is 
tilled with such ease and certain results as to compel the New 



SIDELIGHTS ON THE EXPLOITATION OF EGYPT. 487 

Englander who sees it to draw a comparison between farming at 
home and that occupation there. The Egyptian peasant is by 
instinct at once farmer and irrigation expert. With two or three 
primitive implements, such as a wooden plough, a mattock, and a 
water-hoisting ^'shadoof/^ his labors are blessed with success be- 
yond the possibility of tillers of the soil elsewhere. The Nile, 
the cause of this fertility, brings from the Abyssinian mountains 
the deposit so wonderfully rich that other fertilizers are unneces- 
sary, and the subsidence of the annual flood leaves the ground 
in a condition requiring scarcely more than a scratching with the 
plough to prepare it for planting. This done, the farmer has only 
to raise water dailv from the river and direct it to the roots of his 
crops. Experience teaches him to ^^rotate^^ cotton with a less 
exhausting cereal, and he never has drought, frost, labor or tariff 
questions, or other serious menace, to deal with. His family 
supplies most of the labor, the women taking a lighter share of 
the work. This peasant has few ordinary comforts. He subsists 
on a meagre vegetable diet, receives no governmental documents 
dealing with agricultural facts and statistics, has no need for 
newspapers — in fact, only knows how to read the Koran. His 
concern in life appears to be, with Allah's help, to grow a good 
crop, harvest it at the right moment, and dispatch it to the 
nearest ginning establishment, get his cash, or be released from 
financial obligations, pay his land tax, and renew the lease of his 
farm. The land tax is heavy, and he has little money left after 
paying his rent to the landlord pasha, living in Cairo or Alexandria. 

Added irrigation provided, what I have pictured as a half- 
opened fan — the Delta — may be unfurled on its western boundary 
almost indefinitely, and cotton would certainly have preference 
over other crops, as the Delta is given up to it. The incalculable 
increase of acreage there would come into definite competition 
with our country, while sugar and corn would naturally follow the 
alluvial extension between Assiout and Assouan. 

This year's cotton territory is at least 1,072,500 acres. As 
desert soil is reclaimed, cotton cultivation is extended in prefer- 
ence to other crops, for Egypt's long staple commands a ready 
market at high prices. This accounts for the increase from 
329,000 bales in 1882-83 to 680,085 bales in 1892-93. An 
Egyptian bale weighs from 700 to 750 pounds, against our bale 
of about 500 pounds. 



488 TSiE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

Good Egyptian cotton brings from one to two cents per pound 
more than American npland cotton, owing to its superior staple 
and silky appearance, and the entire stock is exported. Last year 
it realized upwards of $45,000,000. About ten years ago 
Egyptian cotton was introduced into the United States and its 
advantages so successfully explained to millowners of New Eng- 
land that the trade grew with astonishing rapidity, until the ex- 
portation from Egypt aggregated upwards of 42,000 bales in the 
season of 1892-93 — the equivalent of more than 60,000 American 
bales — valued at over $2,500,000, and constituting 2i per cent, 
of the staple consumed last year in America. 

To the casual reader this will be surprising, and he will be 
slow to believe that the United States — ^which produce twice as 
much as the combined crops of India, Egypt, Brazil, Peru, 
Turkey, and the West Indies — ever imported a bale of raw cotton. 

This yearns cotton area is the largest ever planted in Egypt, 
and I can predict the greatest crop in the country^s record, 
namely, 700,000 bales, or the equivalent of 1,050,000 American 
bales. This prognostication will reveal, to one who analyzes 
closely, that the Egyptian fellah gets what would be an American 
bale from an acre, while the Southern grower considers himself 
fortunate to secure a bale from two acres, as cotton lands run. 
Over-production has few terrors for the Egyptian, and he can 
stand a falling market better than the American grower. 

Those interested insist that the use of Egyptian cotton is not 
antagonistic to home principles, for with its strong staple be- 
tween an inch and an inch and a half in length, it is employed in 
the production of fine underwear, balbriggan hosiery, and fine 
threads requiring a finish for which home-grown cotton is un- 
suited. It gives to fabrics a gloss like silk, which makes it inval- 
uable for use in cotton-mixed "silk goods.'' Further, it is 
claimed by those wishing to prove that it does not conflict with 
American cotton, that its use has developed a profitable business 
in manufactures for which the latter is not adapted ; also that 
native-grown staple is utilized in a manner impossible without 
the imported article as a basis. What argument is made by South- 
em planters against the importation of this coton de luxe I am 
not informed. The Egyptian cotton has almost entirely super- 
seded American cotton abroad for the production of lisle thread 
goods. The extent of its introduction in this country would be 



SIDELIGHTS ON THE EXPLOITATION OF EGYPT. 489 

enough to show that it must be making even greater headway 
abroad. Outside the United States it is largely used where Sea 
Island was formerly. 

Eesourcef ul America, I believe, can fortify her position in this 
matter. The Egyptian staple having an admitted value for special 
manufactures, why should not our agricultural genius meet the 
want ? The suggestion is obvious to one aware of the enormous 
demand for the Egyptian fibre, which is clearly a favorite. Who 
can say it will not be the cotton of the future ? 

With our range of climate and soil, any crop should be pos- 
sible. One would suppose the Mississippi bottom lands would 
offer conditions approaching those of Egypt. I am glad to know 
that the Agricultural Department is taking a very active interest, 
in this question. Experiments should be systematically pursued 
until the South can supply Northern mills with cotton as accept- 
able as that produced by the fellaheen of the Nile. The prospect 
of offering this particular staple to Europe in competition with 
Oriental labor presents little hope, as possible reductions in land 
rent and taxation would give the Egyptian — content with a frac- 
tion of the pay of the workingman of the South — a lead not easily 
to be overcome, without reference to the quality of his cotton. 

- A writer in a Boston journal, commenting on a recent com- 
munication by me to the State Department, on the subject of 
the marvellous growth of the use in America of Egyptian cotton, 
goes into an analysis of the business, admitting that the Egyptian 
article is a necessity for diversified manufacture, and that its use 
is more helpful than otherwise to our cotton manufacturing inter- 
est. He goes further and affirms that the cultivation of long- 
stapled cotton in the South can be effected only under forced 
conditions, high natural~or artificial richness of soil, and com- 
prehensive husbandry, costing money and intelligence. 

If money and intelligence may be made useful in supplying 
domestic spindles with domestic fibre of the highest grade, we 
can command the situation, surely. 

Cotton growers of India until recently believed they could not 
produce long-stapled cotton. Now, as a result of judicious ex- 
periment with Egyptian seed, they find they can, and purpose 
entering the field of competition. 

Fbedebig Ooubtlaitd Pekpield. 



THE RENAISSANCE OF WOMEN. 

BY LADY HENBY SOMEESET. 



What has changed woman's outlook so that she now desires that 
of which her grandmother did not dream ? This is the question 
that is asked to-day from pulpit and platform, in magazine and 
newspaper, with fatiguing reiteration. Is the woman of our time 
less feminine in her instinct, less domestic in her tastes, or less 
devoted to the interests of her family ? As well might we ask 
whether the man of our time is less courageous because he no 
longer buckles on a coat of mail to wage an endless war with his 
near neighbour ; less honorable because he does not avenge 
insult in a duel ; less devout because he no longer 
believes that by conquering a distant land and planting the 
cross instead of the crescent on the heights of Jerusalem he is 
doing God's work in the world. Times have changed, and with 
the years the standard of social custom changes also. Woman, 
like man, is adapting herself to her environment. In ancient days 
her home was a great domestic manufactory of which she was the 
head. The flax was spun, the linen woven, by her deft fingers ; 
the bread was baked in a glowing oven under her watchful care; 
and by her the perfume was distilled from summer flowers. She 
was the artist whose embroidery decked the cathedral and the 
palace ; for home was not only the factory that supplied domestic 
wants, but the studio whence came the choicest objects of skill 
and beauty But with the birth of applied science the mar- 
vellous invention of man robbed her one by one of her employ- 
ments. The steel fingers of machinery replaced her skill- 
ful and ingenious hand ; the city bakeries provided food ; the 
sweet perfumes of flowers were perfectly imitated in a thousand 
chemical laboratories, and tapestries and silks were woven to the 
tune of steam while the roomy old homesteads disappeared and 



THE RENAISSANCE OF WOMEN. 491 

rows of little houses took their place where operatives eked out a 
monotonous existence. The school with kindergarten attach- 
ment undertook to educate her children's powers ; trained nurses 
watched over the pillows of the sick, and woman with folded 
hands looked out upon the world, her employment wellnigh 
gone. In view of such a situation^ the reasoning mind must ask. 
Is not woman to adjust herself to these far-reaching changes, even 
as man, has suited himself to the new environment that steam, 
electricity, and the printing-press have brought to him ? The arts 
and crafts that centred for centuries in the home have expanded 
until they have become the possession of the world, and man has 
taken them under his supervision. Why, then, should not 
woman keep her native place in the world's economy by the reg- 
ulation of that wider home which has now spread outside the 
four walls of her own house, and which we call society and gov- 
ernment, and take her place with man in framing laws that affect 
the well-being of those who formerly worked within her kingdom, 
but who now dwell outside, in that larger family circle that we 
call a nation ? 

The arguments used by those who oppose woman's entrance to 
public life are in these days usually based on the line that woman 
is too sacred, her influence too pure and precious, to be frittered 
away in the sordid quarrels and mean ambitions entailed by party 
politics ; that her presence has ever been the magnet of the 
home ; and that the nation will be wisest and best that preserves 
the sanctity of its womanhood and the influence of its mothers. 
It is precisely because I believe in the truth of this argument that 
I maintain that to debar woman from any one single right, to 
exclude her from any prerogative, is to create for her not only a 
disability by reason of her sex, but to build up a barrier that 
must ever effectually hinder her widest influence. It is well to 
talk of the mother guiding the son in life, but from the hour that 
the boy understands that his mother's prerogatives end at the 
garden gate, that she has no voice whatever in the moulding of 
the nation's laws, that her precepts are good for the fireside but 
unavailing at the hearthstone of government, there insidiously 
creeps into the boy^s thought a realization of the fact that his 
mother is classified by the rulers of the land witk the lunatic and 
the idiot ; and I maintain that this discovery has done more than 
sons are themselves aware of to undermine the influence that is 



492 TJSE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

deemed so precious and yet which is sedulously preserved for 
^* home consumption '' only. Moreover, to deprive a government 
of the keen moral sense that is native to women as a class (though, 
to the great hindrance of humanity, they have too long ad- 
mitted that their moral standard must necessarily be higher than 
that of man), is to rob the nation of a strong support by which it 
would undoubtedly benefit. Another argument that is brought 
forward to prove that woman does not need to have a share in 
government is that her interests are ably represented by men. If 
this be so, women are the only class *^ably represented^' by those 
who have in many instances a wholly separate interest from theirs. 
The very fact that the question of the woman's vote has been so 
long treated as a subject fit only for stale and silly jokes, or to be 
put aside with pompous platitudes, is in itself sufficient proof that 
women's interests are not guarded with the same care as men's ; 
and the code of laws that places property in the hands of the hus- 
band, gives him complete power over the children, and protects 
him in conjugal authority over his wife, proves the impractica- 
bility of securing justice to women as a class until they them- 
selves have an equal voice with men in the making of the law. 
We have been told that woman's true work comes to her in the 
gentler calls of a sorrowing world ; that her leisure should be 
spent in assuaging misery and suffering, and in the exercise of 
that charity which man has not the time or inclination to dis- 
pense : but there is probably no surer symptom of the change 
that is coming over society at large with regard to the great social 
problems of the age than the view now taken of the best methods 
of dealing with poverty and crime. This change is the outcome 
of the slow, but sure, sifting of social questions that is going on in 
the minds of all classes. Charity was considered to be a sort of 
moral patchwork ; it was excellent for the soul of the giver, and 
helped the recipient to exist under circumstances that would 
otherwise have been intolerable. But it was, and is still, uncon- 
sciously, too often a mere ethical anaesthetic. We have many of 
us in England passed through the phase of going from cottage to 
cottage in country districts or in those village towns which abound 
in our land, listening to the oft-repeated story, — ^* twelve shillings 
a week, ten children, afraid to complain — the farmer from whom 
the wretched pittance is earned would turn us out. There was scar- 
let fever (or typhoid) in the village last year, the inspector came 



I 



THE 



COIS^TEMPORAK^ 
REVIEW. 

PUBLISHED MONTHLY, 

March, 1895. 



The hou-sk of commons: a plea for action. 

by j. pletcher moulton, q.c.. 
tbk county council asd tiif. music i1au,s. 

By WILLIAM ARCB 

THE REFERENDUM IJi SWITZF.RLAND- By NUHA Dl 

EMERSON, TRANSCBNDBKTALTST AND I'TILITARIAN. 

By VERNON 1 

THE DESCENT IKTO KADES. By Professor PERCY GARDV 

THE MANCHi:STF.R Sl^HOOI.. By GOLDWIN SMI' 

7. THE ENG LISH FAILUH-E IN ECVPT. By a CAIRB 

I~ «. EXI'EHIENCES OP AN ANGLICAN CATHOLIC 
f9. THE MEANING AND MBASL'RB OF " UNI- MI'LOVMENT." 
10, P 
LEC 
con 
^( 



RELrCION AND THE STATE. 



By JOHN A. HOBf 
By JOHN CLIFFOl 



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THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL. 389 

the difiEerent sections of the United Kingdom — all for the purpose of 
forcing on the nation a policy in which we had never believed, and 
which the nation, if the issue could be clearly tendered to it, free 
from irrelevant subjects of agitation, would manifestly condemn ? We 
had never bound ourselves to Mr. Gladstone's leadership. We rejoiced, 
of course, when he gradually came over to us and carried Liberal 
measures, such as University Reform and Irish Disestablishment, 
which he had once opposed. We rejoiced when the most distinguished 
member of the Government which made the Crimean War, not only 
abandoned, but denounced, our Protectorate of Turkey. On the 
question of Free Trade Mr. Gladstone was always with us, and we 
knew how to value his support. Still, there were points of difference. 
Mr. Gladstone seemed to be unchangeably committed to the principle 
of English Church Establishment. He seemed also strongly attached 
to hereditary institutions, and we hardly knew of which party he 
would have become the leader if Disraeli had been out of the way. 
Bright left Mr. Gladstone's Government on the Egyptian Question, and 
I know that he felt strongly about it, though he was too chivalrous to 
attack in public the Government of which he had been a member. 
Our chiefs had preserved perfect independence, and when we went 
with the survivor of them on the Irish Question, we were being true 
to personal connection as well as to public principles. 

Society, as was said before, may be at the opening of a new era 
and on the eve of a complete reconstruction. Even in that case it 
may be hoped that the champions of Free Trade, retrenchment, 
religious equality, peace, and " a government squared to the maxims 
of common sense and a plain morality," will be held to have done not 
badly in their brief day. How it will fare with our belief in liberty 
and property remains to be seen. If coercion and confiscation gain 
the day and make the world happy, our principles will lie for ever in 
the grave of extinct superstitions. Otherwise, Besurgemus. 

GoLDwiN Smith. 



THE ENGLISH. FAILURE IN EGYPT. 



THE EngUshman's bashfulness is proverbial, bnt it is not confined 
to the individnal. The disease has attacked the nation as a 
whole, and is causing it to look back after putting the hand to the 
plough. The English have come to Egypt and there undertaken a 
task which almost* rivals that of Sisyphus. In spite, however, of 
enormous difficulties — ^the greater part of which, it must be confessed, 
is of their own making — they have succeeded in introducing a little 
cleanliness into that Augean stable and in teachiug the Oriental that 
there actually is such a thing as an honest official. Yet the English 
people are still mistrustful of their own work. I have been asked 
till I am tired of hearing the questions: "But are we popular?' 
**Do the natives like us?*' "Are they grateful to us for what we^ 
have done for them?" "Have our reforms taken root in the 
country ? " To all these questions there is but one answer — No ! 

The English are not liked ; their influence and 'prestige are less 
to-day than they were three years ago, and with the departure of 
their red-coats, their reforms also would vanish into air. Within six 
months scarcely a trace would be left of the latter, except in the 
reaction which would inevitably follow. English ideas and work in 
Egypt would be stamped under foot more efiEectually than was Puri- 
tanism after the Eestoration. There is not even a remnant of the 
native population which would be faithful to them. The Englishman 
at present does the work and the native looks on, sometimes anta- 
gonistically, sometimes wonderingly, more often with apathy. Since 
the beginning of this century the Egyptians have been accustomed to 
seeing their country made the victim of European doctrinaires and 
speculators, but the experiments have never lasted longer than was 
needful to leave the subjects of the Khedive worse off than they were 



THE ENGLISH FAILURE IN EGYPT. 391 

before. Why should not English reforms meet with a like fate ? 
Now and then, indeed, a native is found who seems to have assimilated 
the spirit of his English superiors, and in whom they fondly hope to 
have a colleague, if not a successor ; it only needs a slight shock to 
English influence to show that his sympathy with English ideas of 
reform was but skin-deep. The recent case of Maher Pasha is a 
case in point. 

Such is the result of twelve years of occupation and ten of practical 

government. The public at home may well ask why this should be 

so ? The causes are numerous, but there are two which far outweigh 

all others. One of these is the ready way in which the English 

official has been made to ignore his own presence in the country. 

Whatever benefits he may have bestowed upon the natives have been 

ascribed to the Khedive^ his native Ministers, or the Sultan — to every 

one, in fact, except their real authors. The English occupation of 

Egypt may be a veiled Protectorate, but the veil is so thick that the 

ordinary man cannot see through it. Now and again, it is true, it' 

has been torn aside ; but this has been in despite of the Euglish 

administration, and in consequence of deplorable *'inddents." Then, 

to the surprise of the Egyptian, another power has shown itself 

behind that to which he has been told to look up, and in opposition 

to that from which he has been taught to believe that all his benefits 

have been derived. This is the power of England, seeking to undo 

the rdgime which has been so good to him, but retreating again as 

soon as it has been fooled by one of those verbal concessions of which 

the Oriental is a master. WhOe the machinery works well, while 

taxes are lightened and equal justice is administered, nothing is heard 

of England and the English ; it is only when tobacco is forbidden to 

be grown, when a patriotic Khedive is humiliated, or the army of 

occupation (and therewith its attendant charges) is increased, that 

the hand of England shows itself. In the management of Egypt, 

English national bashfulness has been carried to an extreme, and last 

winter we had an example of what might be expected from such self* 

efiacement. The Khedive and his Ministers had really begun to 

share the belief of the rest of his subjects that they were the de facto 

rulers of the country, and they acted upon it accordingly. Attempts 

were made to tamper with the Egyptian army, and it was only the 

prompt action of the Sirdar which prevented consequences of the 

most serious nature. The Egyptian is of all men the least able to 

understand a government which is not personal ; a power, therefore, 

which makes itself felt only when an '< incident " occurs, is a power 

for which he not only has no respect, he is not even able to realise 

that it exists. 

If, then, England is to expect gratitude from the Egyptian, or even 
simple recognition of the services she hQAT^ud^t^\^ c^^^xs^sr^^^i^^ 



392 THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW. 

must cease to play her present game of hide-and-seek. Were it not 
for the English officers of the Egyptian army and native police and 
the irrigation officials there would be little sign of her presence. 
And as these necessarily act in the name of the Khedive, the 
Egyptian natarally conclades that they are as mnch the creation of 
Abbas II. as they would have been of Abbas I. The Khedive 
accordingly is regarded as the author of whatever measure of justice 
and well-being the fellahin now enjoy, and any attempt to oppose 
or humiliate him on the part of the English becomes a plain proof 
of their hostility to the good government of the country. If only 
the English army of occupation would depart and the Khedive be 
allowed to carry out his philanthropic plans without fear of hindrance, 
the valley of the Nile would return to the Golden Age. 

But, it will be said, such ideas are confined to the fellahin ; the 
educated native knows better. Apart, however, from the fact that 
some of the best educated men in the country are to be found among 
the well-to-do fellahin^ this is by no means the case. The educated 
native of the town ignores the English initiative and control quite as 
much as his brethren in the country. And with good reason, since 
except when an " incident '* occurs any such initiative is studiously 
hidden out of sight. The motive force is invisible except when the 
machinery goes wrong. And then it is discovered that without the 
motive force the machinery cannot move, at all events in a desirable 
direction. But the discovery is made chiefly by European officials 
and journals ; the Egyptian either never makes it, or forgets it 
.^immediately afterwards. 

This is in great measure due to the second and perhaps primary 
cause of the little hold English ideas of reform have taken upon the 
Egyptian mind. It is a cause, the gravity and importance of which 
'^ can be fully realised only by those who have lived in Egypt. England 
has not only effaced its officials, she has also effaced the English 
language. There are natives indeed who know the English language, 
but they are chiefly to be found among the donkey-boys, the drago- 
mans, and the shopkeepers who are brought into contact with the tourist. 
The official Europeanlanguage of the country still remains French. The 
absurd spectacle is presented of English officials writing and speaking 
to one another in bad French, sometimes to the miscarriage of the 
business in hand. The result is that the native who desires an official 
post — and what native is there who does not desire one ? — is obliged 
to make French the European language which he specially studies. If 
he adds to it a knowledge of English, this is but a work of super- 
erogation, and in a country where everything is judged by its pecu- 
niary value, works of supererogation are necessarily rare. 

French, consequently, is the only European language which is 
really known to any extent by the vast majority of educated natives. 



THE ENGLISH FAILURE IN EGYPT. 39:^ 

Ifc is the only one which they can read with any facility, and there- 
fore the only one which is read by them. Sach Europeanised ideas 
as they have are supplied by French novels and Egypto-French news- 
papers. The moral consequences of a training of this kind may be 
easily imagined. The French novel which falls in the way of the 
Egyptian is not calculated to improve his moral character ; too often 
it destroys what little he possesses. But the moral consequences of 
excluding the young Egyptian from what we believe to be the purer 
literature of the English-speaking race, we do not now wish to dwell 
upon ; it is the political consequences to which we would draw 
attention. The hostility of French journalism to the presence and 
work of England in Egypt is notorious, and nowhere is it more acri- 
monious or less regardful of the truth than in Alexandria and Cairo. 
And yet it is from this poisoned source that the larger part of the 
educated class of natives derives it views of English work and English 
policy. Every effort is made to pervert and misrepresent them, and 
to inculcate the belief that they are evils to be got rid of as soon as 
possible. 

Nor is the influence of French journalism confined to those who 
can read the French language for themselves. It is disseminated 
through the country by the native journalists, whose knowledge of 
French and ignorance of English throws them for their information 
and ideas upon the French newspapers. With the exception of the 
Mokattam, which the Egypto-French press is perpetually seeking to 
discredit on the ground that its editors are Syrians, the Arabic news- 
papers of Egypt are either wholly or in part in the Egypto-French 
interest. And the influence of these newspapers is but imperfectly 
realised in England. They penetrate into almost every village of the 
country, they are read aloud and discussed at the cafes, and their 
words are regarded as the utterances of an oracle. The oflScial class 
of Egypt is already as a body anti-English, full of deep hatred or 
mistrust of English efforts and methods of reform, and the other 
classes of the country, thanks to the Arabic newspapers, are rapidly 
becoming so too. 

History and science alike teach us that the surest, if not the only, 
way of influencing a community is through the language with which 
it is familiar. This is a truth which was recognised by the Boman 
Empire, and which is recognised to-day by France, but it lias never 
been recognised by the rulers of England. They have left education 
to take care of itself, and regarded law and finance, public security 
and national defence as alone worth the attention of a politician. But 
they have forgotten that unless a people is educated into understand- 
ing and appreciating the laws and administration of its government 
the latter are but a house built upon the sand. How is it possible 
for the rising generation of EgyptiauB to sym^p^VSKwafc ^SSii '^^^^^'^^^k^. 



394 THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW 

measures of reform, much less to co-operate with them, when the 
European education they receive is so contrived as to make them 
believe* that these measures are so many evils forced upon them by a 
foreign tyranny, or else, in so far as they are beneficial, not English 
measures at all ? How can they be expected to enter into and 
assimilate the spirit that underlies the English administration of 
Egypt when such European training as they get is diametrically and 
openly opposed to it ? If England wants to educate Egypt into 
carrying out English ideas and political principles^ she must begin 
with the root and not with the crown of the tree. To imagine that 
the reforms she has initiated can be carried out by those whose 
intellectual training and attitude are not only unsympathetic, but 
antagonistic, is worse than absurd ; it is a political blunder of the 
first magnitude. The mind and spirit of a nation is reflected in its 
language, and so long as the European language of the Egyptian 
official remains French his political mode of thought and action will 
be French also. And in Egypt this means Egypto-French. 

As might be expected, every year sees the French language, and 
therewith the influence of Egypto-French journalism, gaining a 
tighter hold over the native official mind. The rising generation is 
better educated than its predecessor, and therefore it has a better 
knowledge of the European language to the acquisition of which its 
best energies are devoted. It takes accordingly an increasing plea- 
sure in reading such French books and newspapers as fall in its way, 
and in forming its opinions from them. Moreover, the schools of the 

• American Mission in which English was made the school-language, 
and from which most of the English-speaking officials have come, 
have been practically superseded by the Government schools in which 
French holds the chief place. French is fast becoming the single 
European language of the railway and postal services, so far as these 
are not worked in association with Messrs. Cook & Sons, in spite of 
the fact that the vast majority of European travellers in Upper Egypt 
during the winter months are English-speaking tourists, many of 
whom do not speak French. Formerly there were always clerks at 
the Central Post-office in Cairo who knew English ; now it is pos- 
sible for the English soldier who speaks neither French, Italian, nor 
Arabic, and wants information, there to be obliged to have recourse to 
the language of signs. A whole department of the public service — ► 
that of the conservation of the antiquities — has been so completely 
handed over to the French that an Englishman is not even allowed 
to hold a post in it ; and as it is just this department which is most in 
evidence throughout the country (as opposed to the capital) it is 
naturally the language of this department which has the most chance 
of being cultivated by the natives. The innocent attempt lately made 

In Cairo to encourage a study of English among the Egyptian boys 



THE ENGLISH FAILURE IN EGYPT. 395 

by giving prizes for proficiency in it, has been officially suppressed, 
and notices which only a short time ago appeared in the official 
journal in English are now published in French. 

Those of course who are anxious that the English occupation of 
Egypt shall be indefinitely prolonged will doubtless regard such a 
state of things with satisfaction. England has undertaken to remain 
there until the reforms she has set on foot can be safely left to the 
native Government to carry on. But unless the younger generation 
of natives is taught to read English books and papers, and so to 
assimilate English modes of thought and moral and political principles, 
she will have to remain there till* doomsday. English reforms, as 
things are at present, would all vanish on the day of the departure 
of the British army, and on the day following they would be replaced 
by the exact contrary. About this there ought to be no mistake. 
We cannot really influence the pind and morale of a people except 
through the language in which they are taught to think and feel, and 
as long as England neglects to educate the Egyptian in English modes 
of thought and action, the edifice of reform she has been slowly and 
painfully building up in the valley of the Nile will prove to be a 
mere house of cards. 

A Cairene. 



THE EXPERIENCES OF AN ANGLICAN 

CATHOLIC. 



Respectfully dedicated to the Dean of Lichfield. 



THE pain and sorrow that I feel at the coarse of action adopted 
by the Archbishop of Dublin, in the matter of the consecration 
of a Spanish bishop for the small dissenting community which has 
separated itself from the Catholic Church in that country, lead me 
to lay before your readers some account of my own personal experi- 
ences, and of the difficulties I have had to face, and for the most 
part, I humbly hope, have surmounted, in my fidelity to the great 
principle of Catholicity. 

I was born and brought up a member of the Society of Friends, 
and, in looking back on the associations of my early life, I am bound 
to admit that, in all my varied experiences since I emerged from that 
condition of religious ignorance, I have never met with more beautiful 
examples of the highest Christian character than were exhibited by 
several of those who then belonged, and, if living, still belong, to 
that heretical sect. Since I have learnt to believe that it is through 
the sacraments that the divine grace which enables us to lead a really 
Christian life is conveyed to us, I have often marvelled how it is that 
the distinctive features of the Christian ethos are so strikingly appa- 
rent in those who have neither part nor lot in the sacramental system. 
I remember once putting this difficulty to a clerical friend of mine 
who was a strong Catholic, though, I am afraid, a somewhat weak 
Christian. At any rate, in consistency of life he was certainly much 
the inferior of those of whom I was thinking. His explanation was 
ingenious, if not conclusive. It was to the effect that most probably 
the devil made things easy for such persons, in order that their 
amiability and virtues might lead others to be less disposed to avail 
themselves of divine grace in the sacraments, concluding, as they 
naturally would, that such a high standard of goodness proved these 



IN THI8 NUMBER. 



11U« U ik9 Origimmi JUi«iM» JPrimUd im MmgUmUL mwtd ««mmI <» Amwri^m hw muthtii 

NINETEENTI 

CENTUEY 



A MONTHLY REVIEW 

EDITED BY JAMES KNOWLES 



No. 207, MAY, 1894. 

I. The Lore Odes of Horace (Five Specimens). By the Right Hon. '^ 
Gladstone, M.P. 

II. Shall Indian Princes Sit in the House of Lords ? By the Right Hon 
Earl of M£Ath. 

III. Democratic Ideals. By William Barry, D.D. 

rV. Intellectual Progress in the United States. By George F. Pai 
( United States Consul^ Birmingham). 

V. Simon Ryan the Peterite. (Concluded^ By the Rev. Dr. Je&sopp. 

VI. Aspects of Tennyson. VII. As a Humourist. By H. D. Traill. 

VII. Modem Surgery. By Hugh Percy Dunn, F.R.C.S. 

VIII. The English Libro d'Oro. By J. H. Round. 

IX. The Profits of Coal-Pits. By G. P. Bidder, Q.C. 

X. Life in a Russian Village. By J. D. Rees, CLE. 

XI. The New and the Old Art Criticism. By Mrs. Costelloe. 

XII. Sunshine and Microbes. By Professor Percy Frankland, F.R.S. 

XIII. Recent Archaeology. By Professor Mahaffy. 

XIV. Nile Reservoirs and Philse. By Sir Benjamin Baker, ELC.M.G. 

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1894 863 



NILE RESERVOIRS AND PHIL^ 

The International Technical Commission, appointed by the Egyptian 
Government to consider the various proposals of the engineers of the 
Public Works Department for the establishment of reservoirs of un- 
precedented magnitude for the storage of the flood water of the Nile 
for summer use, has just finished its three months' investigations. 
Although the Eeport has not yet been pubKshed, there can be little 
indiscretion in referring to its contents, as the desire of the Egyptian 
Government and of the Public Works officers throughout has been 
for the amplest and most unbiassed discussion of the whole question, 
so that, in the words of Lord Cromer and of Mr. Garstin, the Under- 
Secretary of State, the course followed may be * the one best calculated 
to serve the interests of the country,' and that * what is wanted is 
that Egypt shall have the best possible reservoir, whether it be in the 
Wadi Eayyan or in the Nile Valley itself.' Having regard to the 
position which Great Britain at present holds in relation to Egypt, 
and to the fact that she has assumed the responsibility in the eyes of 
Europe for the proper management and development of the resources 
of that country, any proposal of such far-reaching magnitude as the 
establishment of reservoirs, and the changing the system of agri- 
culture of vast areas of land in Middle and Lower Egypt deserves the 
most serious and unprejudiced consideration of all thoughtful people 
in this country. The essence of the question is not whether PhilaB 
temple may or may not be more or less interfered with during 
British occupancy, but whether, whilst having due regard to the sus- 
ceptibilities of European scholars and tourists. Great Britain has 
made the amelioration of the condition of the hard-working and tax- 
laden labourers of Egypt her first consideration, and has not from 
timidity or a reluctance to face the opposition of those prepared to 
fight any British proposal in Egypt, postponed until to-morrow reforms 
which might have been carried out to-day. 

Immediately on completion of the four years' exhaustive study of 
the reservoir question by Mr. Willcocks, the Director of Eeservoirs, 
and his large staff of engineers, Mr. Garstin, the Under-Secretary of 
State, summarised the results of these studies in a Eeport to the 
Egyptian Government which, from its masterly ex.^^\^\ss^^*l ^'issweoiMss^ 
details acd it& absolute impartiality, "woxiiLd a^g^^^^^^^^^^^^^'^'^^^^ 



864 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY May 

the summing-up of one of her Majesty's judges than the report of 
an engineer. In this report Mr. Grarstin suggested the appointment 
of an International Commission to revise his own conclusions and 
those of the engineers of his department, and as a result Sir Benjamin 
Baker, K.C.M.G., was appointed British Commissioner; M. A. Boule, 
Inspecteur-general des Fonts et Chaussees, French Commissioner ; and 
Signor G. Torrecelli, Professor of Agricultural Engineering, Italian 
Commissioner. In the course of their investigations the Com- 
missioners inspected the Wadi Eayyan depression adjoining the 
Fayoum Province, or site of the ancient Lake Moeris, and also the route 
of the thirty-two-mile long canal to connect the depression with 
the Nile, and the whole of the Nile Valley itself as far as the second 
cataract at Wadi Haifa. 

Up to the present time the chief interest manifested in this 
country with regard to the vast works proposed by the representatives 
of Great Britain in Egypt for the improvement of the condition of 
the most needy of the large agricultural class in that country has 
been in connection with the ruins on Philae Island. In Egypt, on 
the other hand, one hears perhaps too Uttle of the ruins, as, in the 
opinion of those interested, the question of one temple more or less 
dwindles into utter insignificance as compared with the vast material 
benefits which even the most ignorant of the fellaheen know must 
result from the establishment of a Nile reservoir. This marked con- 
trast in the views of the two countries no doubt must appear strange 
to the middle and upper classes of the natives, who are constantly 
being reminded that England is in Egypt, not for her own benefit, but 
in the interests of Egypt herself. It is, however, doubtless only a 
temporary phase of feehng in this country, due to an imperfect 
knowledge of the circumstances of the case. On first impulse pro- 
bably ninety-nine out of every hundred cultivated persons would 
say Philae must not be touched. On a thorough examination of the 
facts, however, it is no less probable that the same percentage of 
persons would endorse ihe conclusions of the Public Works Depart- 
ment and the majority of the Foreign Commissioners, that some inter- 
ference with PhilsG is an absolute necessity in the interests of Egypt. 

To understand the Egyptian way of looking at the question, let 
us assume, for example, that the London County Council had dis- 
covered some cheap and easily-executed plan for clearing the Thames 
of sewage, annihilating London fogs, and at the same time solving 
the great problem of agricultural depression throughout the country. 
Incidental to this scheme, however, there was involved an interference 
with some picturesquely situated ruins — say Tintem Abbey on the 
Wye, which the guide-books tell us are, * from the beauty of the 
situation and the elegance of the building, the most romantic Cister- 
cian ruins in Britain.' Should we not deem it very unsympathetic, 
to say the least, if the American pubKc, instead o? coiigr»fcv3L\aim% ua 



1894 NILE RESERVOIRS AND PHILjE 865 

upon the good things in store, called us * Vandals ' and other uncom- 
plimentary names because we ventured to contemplate any interference 
with ruins which they visited and appreciated so much? This, 
without exaggeration, is in Egyptian eyes a parallel case to the Nile 
reservoir and PhilaG question, and it is no wonder, therefore, that some 
disappointment is felt in Egypt at the way in which the latter has 
hitherto been discussed in England, and the sooner this is set right by 
deahng with the subject on a broader basis, the better for all parties. 

All reasonable men — and in no matter is it possible to satisfy 
faddists — will agree, whether they be artists, archaeologists, or 
engineers, that if a reservoir be absolutely essential to the development 
of Egypt, and no other practically available site exists than the one 
involving an interference with Philae, then all the sacrifice that can 
be legitimately demanded of Egypt is that the interference shall be 
the least possible. This is in accordance with the action of Parliament 
in this country in relation to railways, the construction of which 
constantly and inevitably involves interference with cherished objects 
and the destruction of the picturesque. It is in accordance also with 
the course followed by other nations — notably in the case of the Tiber 
improvements through Rome, where, to facilitate the discharge of 
the flood waters, several of the historic bridges have been pulled 
down and rebuilt with the original stones, but on deeper foundations. 
The most important and responsible duty of the International Com- 
mission, therefore, was first to satisfy themselves that a reservoir of 
some kind was a necessity ; and secondly, if so, whether it could not 
be placed elsewhere than at Philae. 

The Government engineers submitted four projects to the Com- 
mission ; but, reading between the lines, it was clear enough that they 
had little confidence themselves in the practicability or expediency of 
three out of the four plans, and they expressly threw the final 
responsibility of rejection upon the Commission. The questions to 
be considered by the Commission, at the request of the Grovemment, 
were five in number. (1) The proposal to construct a dam at some 
point of the Nile between Wadi Haifa and Cairo, and to form a storage 
reservoir in the valley of the river itself. (2) The proposal to con- 
struct a storage reservoir in the Wadi Eayyan depression in the desert. 
(3) An examination of all the designs, plans, and estimates prepared 
for the different projects. (4) An opinion as to whether the sanitary 
condition of the country will be affected in any way by the storage of 
such a body of water as is now proposed. And (5) A selection from 
among the different projects which have been submitted for the in- 
formation of the Egyptian Government. It will be observed that the 
question of Philae temple was not referred to the Commission, but, on 
the contrary, it was expressly stated elsewhere in the Report that 
* this was a question for the Govemmeiit to de^cv!i<fe^ '^S.^^^iX^^^ ^^^*^^ 
question of the necessity of a reservoii leiext^^^^ Ni)aBd\\sv3^^^"^ 



866 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY May 

was, of course, absolutely impossible for them not to have these two 
questions ever present in their minds. 

As regards the absolute necessity for the construction of a 
reservoir with the least possible delay, no shadow of doubt was ex- 
pressed by any member of the Commission. The estimated direct 
ultimate annual return to the State was over three-quarters of a million 
sterHng, and the increased value of the crops would result annually 
in a benefit of ten times that amount to the cultivators. Making 
every allowance for possible errors in the estimating, the margin of 
profit would still be so enormous that no project could be suggested 
in any part of the globe which would at all compare, as regards 
financial results and benefits to the country at large, with that of the 
Nile reservoirs. This being so, it may reasonably be demanded by 
sceptical financiers why this mine of wealth has been so long 
neglected, when even Central Africa is being exploited by all the 
European Powers. The answer is simple. Until the barrage at the 
apex of the Delta had been sufficiently strengthened by Sir Colin 
Scott Moncreiff, and Colonel Western, to enable the whole of the 
existing summer supply in the Nile to be thrown on the lands, it was 
useless to augment that supply by the construction of reservoirs. 
The barrage referred to was built forty years ago by an eminent 
French engineer, Mougel Bey, but from the reckless rapidity with 
which he was compelled to carry on the works it was a practical failure 
until the past two or three years. At present, however, by its means 
every drop of water at low Nile is thrown upon the lands, and so 
valuable is the water that the sluice-gates are even caulked with rags 
to stop the smallest waste. Notwithstanding this, the demand for 
water by the cultivators is as great as ever, and no means exists for 
satisfying their wants but by storing up the water which runs use- 
lessly to sea during the flood for use when most required. By the 
construction of the proposed reservoirs the flow down the Nile when 
water is of the highest value will be considerably more than doubled, 
so no detailed calculations are required to show that the direct and 
indirect returns to Egypt must be enormou8,^and that the condition 
of the cultivators will be vastly improved. To illustrate the extent 
of the change it may be mentioned that Mr. Foster, the Inspector- 
General of Irrigation for Lower Egypt, estimates that in the small 
province of Giseh alone the area under summer crops will be in- 
creased from 5,000 to 60,000 acres, and as the average value of the 
summer crop is no less than \0l. per acre, there would be a nett 
increase of over half a miUion sterling in that Uttle district itself. 

It was easy enough, therefore, for the Commissioners to satisfy 

themselves that they could not evade the difficulty of selecting a 

reservoir site by saying that no reservoir at all was necessary, and it 

devolved upon them to consider in fall detail each of the four projects 

Dr^nared by the Grovemment engineers, as well aa any ottieta \ii«l rcd^ht 



1894 NILE RESERV01B8 AND PHILJS 867 

occur to them as a result of their own personal inspection of the Nile 
Valley. The first project examined by the Commission was Mr. Cope 
Whitehouse's Wadi Eayyan reservoir, which, as all the world knows, 
consists in the conversion of a deep depression in the desert, dis- 
covered by him, into a vast lake of nearly three hundred square miles 
area. If the British Commissioner had any views on the question of Nile 
reservoirs before undertaking the investigation of the problem, he 
must confess it was in favour of Mr. Cope Whitehouse's brilliant and 
original suggestion, and it was a matter of regret to him that as the 
investigation proceeded one difficulty after another appeared, and so 
the realisation of the scheme was rendered far less easy than he had 
originally anticipated. Coming fresh from experiences on the 
Manchester Ship Canal, he knew that nothing was more difficult to 
estimate than the apparently simple work of an excavated channel 
for water through doubtful soil ; and in the case of the Wadi Eayyan 
project the depression was so remote from the Nile, and the depth of 
cutting for the connecting canal was in places so great, that the cost 
became excessive, due regard being had to the contingencies attach- 
ing to the work. The Commissioners were unanimous in the opinion 
that the Government engineers had largely under-estimated the cost 
of the Eayyan project ; but it was explained to them that the 
engineers were specially instructed, in cases of doubt, to give the 
advantage to the project, so that it might not be said that they were 
biassed against Mr. Cope Whitehouse's scheme. Apart from cost, 
moreover, the Commissioners were unanimous in the opinion that, 
even if executed, the Eayyan reservoir would not meet all of the re- 
quirements of Egypt, and that certain elements of doubt attached 
to it as regards the supply of water at critical times and the effects 
of percolation. 

The second Government project examined by the Commission 
was that for a dam across the Nile Valley at Gebel Silsila about fifty 
miles down stream of Philae. At this point the rock was found 
to be inferior sandstone with bands of clay, easily acted upon by 
water, and the Commissioners were unanimous in rejecting the 
Government project on the grounds of insecurity alone, quite apart 
from other important objections, such as great depth of water and 
narrow width of river between the high banks. The only other 
alternative Government project to that of the Philae dam was a dam 
at Kalabsha, about thirty miles above Philae ; and here again, although 
the quality of the rock was all that could be desired, the depth and 
width of the river were such as to render the construction of the 
Government dam, as strengthened and otherwise modified by 
members of the Comnjission, absolutely impossible on financial 
grounds alone, apart from engineering difficulties. 

Up to this point the British, French and ItaliasL Go^Tsssc&ajs^^^ss^^ 
it will be observed, were in accoid m T^\ee\ia;i% >iJci^ ^^Ni^ccss^vscfi^. 



868 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY May 

projects ; but here the divergence of opinion occurred. The French 
Commissioner continued his objections to the whole of the proposals, 
whilst the British and Italian Commissioners were unreservedly in 
accord with Mr. Grarstin and Mr. Willcocks, and indeed with the 
whole of the Government engineers, in the opinion that the Philse 
site offered all the advantages desired by an engineer for the con- 
struction of a dam at reasonable cost and of a stability which under 
every condition should be beyond all doubt. Nowhere else in the 
whole of the Nile Valley did they .find such advantages of site : sound 
rock, numerous islands, a wide section, so that the action of the 
water issuing from the sluices would be minimised, and shallow 
water in which to work. As regards details of construction, the 
British and Italian Commissioners required certain modifications in 
the Grovemment designs, with a view to give increased security, and 
these modifications were accepted by Mr. Willcocks without reserve 
as important improvements on the original designs — in the prepara- 
tion of which, it is only fair to say, the Government engineers were 
hampered by certain instructions given to them to adopt the same 
type of construction for all the different sites, to facilitate the 
making of comparative estimates. The original plans having been 
published in several of the illustrated journals in this country, it may 
be well to state that, in the designs as now approved, the openings 
through the dam for the discharge of the Nile water, which in times 
of excessive flood may amount to the enormous quantity of 14,000 
tons per second, have been very much reduced in size and correspond- 
ingly increased in number, so that the force of the issuing water 
may be more distributed ; and further, that the whole of the openings 
will be lined with cast iron, one and a half inch thick, so that no 
stone can be torn out, or piece of masonry destroyed, by the 
constant impact of large volumes of water at high velocity. Again, 
the width of base of the dam has been increased, so that the pres- 
sure on the solid granite masonry will be less than that on any of 
the great dams in the world. The security of the dam has thus 
been doubled at an increased cost of about twenty-five per cent, on 
the original estimate of 1,600,000Z. 

The French Commissioner did not join in the detailed criticism 
of the construction of the PhilsD dam, as he rejected this site at 
once on the sole ground of the presence of the temples, which 
unless removed or raised would be partially submerged for some 
months in the year. It is true that the question of the temples 
was expressly reserved for the Government, and not for the Com- 
missioners, whose individual opinions on such a subject were of 
course not worth more than that of any other three men. How- 
ever, it was satisfactory to the British and Italian Commissioners 
to know that any objections their French colleague had to their 
proposals were not based on engineering g;ro\md3, aivd ^a x^^^x^<& 



1894 NILE RESERVOIRS AND PHILJS 869 

the Egyptian Government previous experience with mixed com- 
missions had warned them that a wholly unanimous report was 
not to be expected, so no disappointment was experienced. That 
there are two plausible sides to every engineering question is evi- 
denced clearly enough by the proceedings in parliamentary committee- 
roomB ; and under present political circumstances it would be as hope- 
less to expect an engineer representing one country in Egypt to 
be cordially in accord with engineers representing certain other 
countries, as it would be to find the engineers of two rival lines of 
railway promoting Bills in Parliament in accord. Nor is this any 
practical . detriment to the elicitation of the truth, which was the 
primary object of the Egyptian Government in the appointment of 
the Commission, for the criticism of an able man opposed to a scheme 
would naturally be more searching in many points than that of a 
critic not so opposed, and any defect which might exist would be 
sure to see the light. The Government project for a dam at Philae, 
as amended by the British and Italian Commissioners, having been 
subjected to such criticism and proved absolutely unassailable both on 
engineering and financial grounds, the aim of the Government in the 
appointment of the Commission was therefore completely attained. 

The outcome of the Commission, briefly summarised, is that the 
whole of the Commissioners are unanimous in recommending the 
construction of a reservoir in the Nile Valley, and the majority of 
the Commission are absolutely convinced that it is practically im- 
possible to place the dam elsewhere than at Philae. The French 
Commissioner claimed that * impossible ' was an unknown word to 
French engineers ; but the British Commissioner thought it was often 
a very useful word in relation to practical problems, and he had indeed 
used it himself with good eflfect some years ago when reporting to 
a group of financiers on the Panama Ship Canal. The French Com- 
missiener thought that the engineers and contractors throughout 
Europe should be invited to study the Nile reservoir question and 
send in competftive designs, but the majority of the Commission 
were satisfied that this would only be useful if delay were the object, 
as the question had been exhaustively investigated by the Govern- 
ment engineers for four years, and the members of the Commission 
themselves were unable to suggest any reasonable alternative after 
going over the whole of the ground. The French Commissioner 
under reserve made certain suggestions as to alternative projects ; but 
approximate estimates, prepared at the request of the majority of the 
Commission, showed that, even if practicable, the cost of the cheapest 
of these alternatives would be several millions greater than that of the 
Philae dam, so that the projects were ' impossible ' in the ordinary 
meaning of that useful word. Apart from cost, moreover, the type 
of dam proposed by the French Commissioner was such as neither 
the Government engineers nor the XM^oiifc^ ^l 'Oofc ^Ts>ffiKNK»ss^iSBs.% 
Vol. XXXV— No. 207 '^^^ 



870 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY May 

could accept. The latter maintained that if you ask people to live 
below a dam holding up 3,000 million tons of water to a height of 
eighty feet above their heads, you are bound to make the safety of 
the dam your first consideration, and, to attain that, the more your 
dam resembles a massive ridge of rock springing from the rocky bed 
of the river the better. The French Commissioner, on the other hand, 
proposed an open dam, or barrage-miobile, made up of isolated narrow 
piers with numerous sluices sixteen feet wide and up to eighty feet in 
height. In the opinion of the British Commissioner a slight tremor of 
earthquake, such as the Parthenon has recently experienced, the explo- 
sion of a boatload of powder dropped down the river by a few dervishes, 
or of a high explosive shell fired against one of the sluices or placed in 
position by an Anarchist, would suflSce to destroy one of these huge 
sluices, and then the rush of the impounded ^waters would throw 
down each pier and sluice in succession and the country below would 
be devastated. These details are of interest only as illustrating the 
kind of difficulties which arise when an attempt is made to devise a 
dam at reasonable cost elsewhere than at Philse. But it is hardly 
necessary to say that every patriotic Englishman would rather seethe 
stones of Philae temple broken up for concrete than allow Egypt to 
be involved in financial ruin either by embarking in an enormously 
costly scheme, or by building a structure of doubtful stability, so long 
as his countrymen have the leading voice in the management of 
Egyptian affairs. 

Such being the facts of the case, and the whole of the respon- 
sible engineers of the Grovemment and the majority of the Commis- 
sioners being in absolute accord on all points, what is the conclusion 
to which the average common-sense individual must inevitably ulti- 
mately be driven? It has been proved beyond dispute that the 
establishment of a reservoir in the valley of the Nile is a pressing 
necessity which will result in incalculable benefit to the country at 
large, and that at Philse alone are found the conditions necessary 
for the building of an absolutely safe and reasonably cheap dam. 
The dam, therefore, must be built at Philse, and with the least possible 
delay, or in the event of the occurrence of one or two * bad Niles,' and 
the loss of several million pounds' worth of summer crops. Great Britain 
will be morally responsible for the loss and individual suffering. Lord 
Cromer, Sir Edwin Palmer, and others, representing Great Britain 
in Egypt, together with Nubar Pasha and his Ministry, can and will 
do the work in spite of all opposition, but the former will look for, 
and doubtless obtain, the encouragement and support of the Home 
Government and of every well-wisher of Egypt in this coimtry. 

As regards Philse temples the matter stands thus : The Under- 
Secretary of State and the Commissioners have stated in no equivocal 
terms their appreciation of the importance of the question. The 
British Commissioner has personally examined tbe ruins^ and is in 



1894 NILE RESERVOIRS AND PHIL^ 871 

the possession of plans showing every detail. He is of opinion that 
the solidity of their construction, the absence of windows, and the 
solid rock foundation, render it far easier to raise these temples 
bodily than any of the buildings he has seen so dealt with in 
America. The well-drilled garrison at Assouan would be delighted 
to work the elevating screws with military precision, and do doubt 
can be entertained as to the success of the opera^tion. When raised, 
the ruins surely must be of greater interest to any intellectual tourist 
than before. Half of the wonder and admiration excited by the 
monumental works of ancient Egypt arises from the magnitude of 
the masses handled and transported by the old Egyptians rather 
than from their artistic merit. It would be in accord, therefore, 
with the spirit of the surroundings if English engineers raised tens 
of thousands of tons where the Egyptians raised hundreds. From 
the archaeological point of view the condition of the temples when 
raised would be unchanged, as every stone would remain as originally 
laid by the builders, and as shown on every drawing and photograph. 
From the artistic point of view the appearance would be enhanced, 
because the temples would rise out of a wide placid lake, whereas 
when now visited by tourists the Nile is low, the stream insignificant, 
and PhilaG island appears to stand in a hollow. It is true that care- 
ful levelling would show that the floor of the temples stood some 380 
feet above the Mediterranean, instead of 340 feet, and that fact may 
be fatal to the project in some minds. Whether, on being told that 
the temples had been raised bodily the visitor would exclaim * How 
wonderful ! ' and examine the ruins with renewed interest, or whether 
he would say * What Vandalism ! ' and return indignantly to hi& 
' Cook's steamer,' would depend upon his individual temperament. * 
However, if the temples are neither to be raised, removed, nor occa- 
sionally flooded, the only course wiU be to find some other site for a 
reservoir, and to induce the British Parliament to contribute the 
extra cost of three or four millions sterling, or to raise that amount by 
public subscription, for Egypt certainly will not find the money. Such 
being the present state of affairs, lovers of Philge may do well, per- 
haps, to remember that under some circumstances * silence is golden,' 
and that the present may be such an occasion. The cost of raising 
Philse temples is included in the estimates submitted to Govern- 
ment, and possibly not too much curiosity will be evinced as to how 
the sum intended for compensation for property and buildings i& 
made up. If, however, there should be a great deal of talk about 
Philse, it is not improbable that the natives, who care not a piastre 
about the ruins, may suggest that those who do should find the 
200,00OZ. required, and not the Egyptian taxpayers. 

Hard words have been used in connection with Philse, but it is to 
be hoped that with a better knowledge of the facts this willoft^afc. 
To call an engineer a * Vandal ' becaiise troixi \3aft ioxcfc dl ^Ytc«Q5SisS^»2ssR«a. 



872 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY May 1894 

be is compelled to interfere with an interesting ruin, is as silly and 
oflfensive as to style a man a * snob ' because from causes beyond 
control lie is compelled to wear a shabby suit of clothes. Mr. 
Willcocks, the Director of Eeservoirs, has personally inspected every 
yard of the Nile Valley, and tramped the adjoining deserts for 
hundreds of miles under circumstances often of great hardship, with 
the view to find, if possible, an alternative to the Philse reservoir ; and 
the labours of the other engineers of the Public Works Department 
in the same direction acquit them of all charge of Vandalism. 

The conclusion to which most Englishmen will come after a 
careftd consideration of the facts relating to Nile reservoirs and 
Philse probably will be that the whole question may be safely left 
in the hands of their able and tried representatives in Egypt, whose 
successes in the past in the face of the most persistent opposition, 
and whose intimate knowledge of the requirements of Egypt, consti- 
tute them far better judges of the best policy to adopt than any 
individual or body of individuals in this country could be. The work 
will be an arduous one, but the representatives of Great Britain in 
Egypt are men of exceptional zeal and ability, who can be relied upon 
to bring any work they undertake to a satis&ctory conclusion, what- 
ever may be the personal sacrifices involved or opposition encountered. 

Benjamin Baker 



The Editor of The Nineteenth Centubt cannot undertake 

to return unaccepted MSS. 



IN THIS NUMBER. 



This is the Original Edition Jt'rinted in England and issued in America hy authority 

of the English publishers* 

NINETEENTH 

OENTUET 

A MONTHLY REVIEW 

EDITED BY JAMES KNOWLES 



No. 212, OCTOBER, 1894. 

I. The Seven Lord Roseberies. By St. Loe Strachey. 

11. Wagner at Bayreuth. By the Countess of Galloway. 

III. The Alleged Sojourn of Christ in India. By Professor Max MIiller. 

IV. English Art Connoisseurship and Collecting. By Sir Charle! 
Robinson. 

V. Cholera and the Sultan. By Ernest Hart. 

VI. Did Omar Destroy the Alexandrian Library ? By R. Vasudeva Rau. 

.^H^^ "A 'Dhriog«eim^*e8ss^-*>By^ih««fiQa.»J^ ' -nwvt,- 

VIII. A Scottish Vendetta. By Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.lP;''^ *" -- 

IX. The Farce of University Extension : a Rejoinder. By Charle: 
Whibley. 

X. A Suggestion to Sabbath-keepers. By Professor Alfred R. Wallace. 

XI. The Chinaman Abroad. By Edmund Mitchell. 

XII. A Trip to Bosnia- Herzegovina. By Mons. de Blowitz. 

XIII. The Perilous Growth of Indian State Expenditure. By Sir Aucklan] 
CoLviN, K.C.M.G., K.C.S.I. 

Note from Mr. Gladstone. 



NEW YORK: 

LEONARD SCOTT PUBLICATION COMPANY, 

231 BROADWAY. 



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CONTEMPORARY REVIEW. NINETEENTH CENTURY. FORTNIGHTLY REVISV 

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84,30 per Annum. %\t\%\^ ^^\«^ ^'^ ^^"^ 

JRe^lfltered at New York Poat-Omce am Secoud.C\»A%'t^»^-'««» 



1894 



v 



|i-- •• ■ 



Y * 






'•i: 



DID OMAR DESTROY 
THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY? 








To those nna(KpEnted with the inner life of the Moham- 
medans, with the real spirit of the teachings of the latest of Prophets 
on earthy with the circumstances nnder .which, and the state of 
society in which, Mohammed lived and laboured for the regeneration 
of his fellow-creatures, and with the esoteric significance of the pre- 
cepts of the Sacred Book of nearly a fifth of the human race, in whose 
hearts is yet living the flame of religious zeal and £edth, and whose 
eveiy action and word can be traced to it, no enormity has appeared 
too improbable to be imputed to the Mussulmans. During the 
greater period of European history since the Crusaders, when the 
descendants of the Aryan and Semitic races were brought face to feMse 
in deadly strife^ notwithstanding the characteristic qualities — * 
strength of purpose, nobility of soul, bravery, and contempt of per- 
sonal danger — displayed by Saladin, the Commander of the Faithful, 
even in the heai of religious feuds and disagreements, the European 
nations have persisted in depicting the followers of Islam as a bar- 
barous and destructive people, the subverters of peace and order — ^in 
short, as monsters in human shape. This state of the public mind 
rendered it easy for the reception of the most unfounded stories and 
fictitious narratives, whose sole object api>ears to have been to blacken 
with a yet deeper dye the already gloomy picture of that unfortxmate 

The impresaion that generally prevailed in Europe against the 
Mohammedans only acquired colour and strength from the exag- 
gerated reports of th^ Crusaders, many of whom returned from the 
Holy Land with stories of suflTering and cruelty of the wildest de- 
scription. It is a well-known &ct that such is the avidity with which 
the human mind receives communications of the marvellous, and such 
the interest attached to those researches which describe any remote 
or extraordinaiy event, that the judgment of the traveUer receives a 
bias, which induces him to fix upon that extreme ^m\.\XL\^^ ^^\sfiL^<si^ 
which is calculated to afford the gxeaiesl suxpi\a^ «sidL vc^jcttteX.. T^^ 
cbancteriatic of the hum^ mind no doubt aSoxd^ «• eoisi^Vie^ %^«c- 



556 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Oct. 

tion. But a more important, not to say a stronger, argument is that 
the pilgrims who carried to their remotest homes these wonderful 
tales of their suflFerings, and their one-sided impressions of the customs 
and manners of an alien people, were largely actuated by motives of 
religious hatred, intolerance, and superstition. 

The historians of Europe of the times gave currency to such float- 
ing accounts in their works, and thus unconsciously stamped them 
with the seal of their authority. The writers themselves were zealous 
Christians, and considered themselves, with what sufficiency of grounds 
we need not pause to consider, smarting under a sense of personal 
injury at the hands of the * unbelieving infidels ' who followed the 
* False Prophet ' ! It is not to be wondered at that they threw in 
their lot with vulgar opinion, and loudly proclaimed the imaginary 
shortcomings — nay, barbarities — of the ' turbaned * Saracenic hordes. 
The science of history had not come to be cultivated in any critical 
spirit. The genius of a Gribbon or a Buckle had not dawned. Calm 
dispassionate criticism was entirely unknown. A& a consequence, we 
at the present day find that a mass of false allegations were at one 
time laid at the door of the Mussulman nation, for which that nation 
was not in the least degree responsible. ' a ^ ■,•> - i> ^ • 

The subject of the present essay is of this class. We shall, in the 
course of the following pages, discuss thei question fully with a view 
to find out what blame, if any, attaches to the Mohammedans for 
the destruction of the once fEunous Boyal Alexandrian Library. 

In discussing and arriving at a definite conclusion on this subject, 
it will be necessary to have recourse to the writings of historians of 
the East as well as of the West, who in their works have in any 
manner referred to itj and which are accepted as of any value at 
cdl. In this connection, and in. assigning their respective values to 
the compositions of the West as agaflbt the East and vice versa^ it 
will be necessary to premise a few introauctory remarks. * ? • • 

It is admitted by the enlightened critics of this nineteenth century 
that the rudest people are entitled to respect in the annals of their 
own country, provided of course they do not contradict probability. 
When the writings of an Eastern nation coincide witiL those of 
European authors, histoiy is strengthened ; when they are silent, the 
silence naturally leads to inquiry and drcumspeotion. But when 
the writings are opposed to each other, the question arises as to 
whom we are to believe. Are we to believe the natives, who might 
have had access to genuine records, or the enemies of their race and 
religion, who probably never could have had such access? -j 

This question is not so difficult to decide when the Arabs of 
Eastern nations and the C hr isti an monkish writers of Europe re- 
present the parties. When we remteber how few writers £edtiifiilly 
record the facts even of their own e^mience and obmcs«J(ksa\>^G«sGL 
we bear in mind the peculiar bent oi 'V\ T\Ti\«r\t\Tv^ niVskiSt^ ^^kc^srs^ 






m 



1894 OMAR AND THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY 557 

writers to record passing events concerning their country, their ideas,, 
or their party, in a manner conducive" to tlwr best credit ; when we 
bear in mind the necessity, which even th^nost enlightened and 
impartial minds the world has ever seen have found, of swimming 
with the tide of popular prejudice ; when we often see that rational 
evidence and unvarnished truth are sacrificed to vanity, fiction, 
exaggeration, or tke support of an individual theory ; in short, when 
we consider such circumstances, it must candidly be confessed that 
we should pause before placing implicit belief in any particular class 
of historians to the 'exclusion of any other. In the darker ages of 
every community the materials available to the historian are but 
few indeed, and the place of &cts is not unfirequently supplied by 
ideas evolved out of a strong and fertile imagination. 

During the period with which we are here concerned the light 
of spiritual faith, accompanied by a revival of letters, had dawned on 
Arabia, while Europe was yet slumbering in the long intellectual 
night of the Dark Ages. For the first three centuries after the rise 
of Islam, it was a rule observed by aU[|the Arab historians to quote 
the authority which they relied upon m mentioning any fact ; and 
in cases in which they obtained their information second-hand or 
third-hand, &c., they used to mention the names of all the intermediate 
authorities. It was another rule with them to reject any authority 
whose writings may have been proved even in one single instance to 
be untrue, Thus history, as it was written by the Moslems in their 
early days, was very trustworthy. ^ 

>: With the greatest respect to the monkish historians of the 
Dark Ages of Europe, it cannot be denied that they have strung 
together masses of impracticable and imtrue circumstances into the 
contiguous whole of history, indenting largely on their imagination 
for fjEu^ts. The historians of the Middle Ages belonged to the 
clerical order. According to Buckle,^ history, as habitually written 
by the highest European authorities, previous to its improvement in 
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, * was little else than a 
tissue of the grossest errors.' The learned author proceeds to show 
' that, during several centuries, Europe did not possess a single man 
who had critically studied the past, or who was even able to record 
with tolerable accuracy the events of his own time.* 

Tracing the history of the origin of historical literature. Buckle 
(voL i. p. 307) points out that ^ 

Shortly before the final dissolution of the Boman Empire, the literature of 
Europe feU into the hands of the clergy, who, taken aa a body, have always looked 
on it as their duty to enforce belief rather than encourage inquiry. Hence litera- 
ture during many agea, instead of benefiting society, injured it, by increasing 
credulity, and thus stopping the progress of knowledge. Indeed^ Uist v^^a^^A^l^^ 
falsehood became bo groat that there was nothing \9V^<^ tdsil*^^?c^ ^oxs^^Xss^ \.^ 

' Vide BisUfy iff OivOitati^min EngliMid,\*^%V, 



558 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Oct. 

believe. Nothing came amiss to their greedy and credulous ears. Histories of 
omens, prodigies, apparitions, strange portents, monstrous appearances in the 
heavens, the wildest and most incoherent absurdities, were repeated from mouth 
to mouth, and copied from book to book with as much care sa if they were the 
choicest treasures of human wisdom. 

As an instance of the absurd notion that prevailed in former days 
in Europe regarding Mohammed and his religion, we shall here relate 
a story, as given by Matthew Paris, the most eminent and learned 
historian, not only of his time, but of the Middle Ages, to explain 
why the ^ Faithful ' refuse to eat pork. * It appears that Mohammed, 
having on one occasion gorged himself with food and drink till he 
was in a state of insensibility, fell asleep on a dunghill, and in this 
disgraceful condition was seen by a litter of pigs. The pigs attacked 
the fallen Prophet and suffocated him to death, for which reason his 
followers abominate pigs, and refuse to partake of their flesh.' ' 

Some modem compilers of ancient history may be inclined to 
dispose of the whole range of the literature of tJie East as wild, unin- 
teresting, and obscure. But, as an intelligent writer remarks, * such 
a mode of indiscriminate censure can only tend to perpetuate error. 
Truth ought to be searched for wherever it can be found ; and a well- 
authenticated fjEust, if told by a Persian, an Arab, or a Chinese, should 
remove an improbability, though adorned with all the eloquence of 
Greece or Eome.' ^ - 

Alexander the Great, the son of Philip of Macedon, conmiemo- 
rated his conquest of Egypt in B.C. 332 and his capture of Tyre, 
which yielded only after a determined resistance, by building the 
city of Alexandria, at the mouth of the Nile, to which the conmierce 
of which Tyre had till' then been the centre was transferred as being 
the most convenient situation connecting the Eastern with the 
Western world. Though the conquests of Alexander were not of a 
permanent character, the imwieldy empire he had founded having 
fallen to pieces imimediately aftentts death, the centres of Greek 
civilisation which he had planted m the shape of Greek colonies 
flourished for a long time after and left their mark in the history of 
the conquered countries. The province that profited most was 
Egypt, and, as a matter of course, Alexandria— the only one of the 
cities of that name founded by the great conqueror to mark his 
exploits — which rose to eminence, and became its capitaL This city, 
as it was intended to be by its royal founder, soon became the centre 
of intellectual and literary life, as well as of commerce and industry. 
Geography and ethnology, and the practical sciences— mathematics, 
mechanics, and natural history (to promote the study of which sciences 
Alexander laboured hard, a predilection no doubt derived finom the 
teachings of Aristotle, whose pupil he was)— flourished greatly. *^* V ' 

In the scramble for territory that ioWo've^ Vk<^ d^o^ dl ^^ 

« Buckle's JBRjeory, L a\5. ^'-^' 



I 



!894 OMAR AND THE ALEXASDimN ^IBRARY 559 

Oonqneror, one of his £euiiou8 geneTale|jg^x>lemy, the son of Lagus, 
snmamed Soter, obtained possession of Egypt in B.C. 323. He 
developed Egypt into ^ great militaiy and naval State. During 
his reign, Alexandria became the great centre for Greek civilisation 
•and cultme, both for the Eastern and theWestem world. Like his royal 
master, Ptolemy also was the pupil of Aristotle, and the taste for 
learning which he displayed was no dodbt imbibed from that great 
philosoj^ier. His most celebrated institution was the Museum, 
which contained the Alexandrian Library, and residences for 
philosopliers, poets, and scholars. Ptolemy|s Museum, unlike its 
modem namesake, which is only a repository of curiosities, was a 
unique institution. It 

was a portion of the king's palace, appropriated to men of learning, who were there 
maintained hj the royal liberality, and provided with all the appliances for facili- 
tating their studies. The vast lihraries containing upwards of 700,000 Tolumes 
were dose at hand. There was a hotanical gardoi for the phytologists, a menagerie 
for the zookgiBts, a dissecting room for the anatomists. Here the astronomers were 
supplied with every instrument known to their science— armillaiy spheres, astro- 
hheSf mural quadrants, dioptras. Here poets, grammarians, historians, astronomers, 
mathematicians, engineers, chemigfe physicians, theologians, magicians, and astro- 
logers dwelt under one roof and aflftt one table. Sometimes the momurch himself 
would preside at their repasts. Verily these were golden days for men of learning. 
To Alexandria, as to a centre, were attracted the studious of every nation, of whom 
there were, it is said, at one time, no fewer than 14,000 gathered together.* 

When Ptolemy abdicated in fiftyonr of his youngest son, 
Fhiladelphus, the latter continued to extend the same patronage to 
.art and literature. The institution founded by his father, attained, 
under his unremitting care, the highest prosperity. Natural history 
in particular was studied with great ardour, and many scientific books 
were produced. His son and successor, the third Ptolemy, also was 
41 great patron of letters, and added largely to the treasures of the 
Alexandrian Library. Thus it was in the reigns of the first three 
Ptolemies that Alexandria flourished as the centre of Greek civilisa- 
tion and enlightenment, and the Boyal Alexandrian Library was 
mostly collected. The later kings of Egypt of the same name were 
indolent and debauched in the extreme; in consequence of which, 
after numerous vicissitudes, Egypt became a Soman Province, about 

JB.C. 30. 

The obligations which the Alexandrian school of philosophers has 
laid the world under, in almost every branch of learning and science, 
are immense. This school produced some of the most eminent men, 
among whom may particularly be mentioned the following : Euclid, 
Ihe mathematician (b.c. 323-283), Aristarchus of Samos, who, in the 
third century B.G., distinguished himself by his e£forts to establish 
the Pythagorean doctrine of the earth's motion; Archimedes, the 
Syracusan mathematician ; Hipparchus, the NewtAXL oi \Xi^ ^<^9d&& 



560 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Oct.. 

(b.c. 160-125) ; and the great astronomer Ptolemy, who flourished 
about A.D. 1 50. The greatest service to modem science, however, ren- 
dered by this school is * the adoption of a method of attacking the pro- 
blems of nature, that thenceforth proved the true and fidthful method 
of natural science ... in which observation, experimental investiga- 
tion, and a careful sifting of facts took the place of deductions from 
assumed principles and of theories based upon foregone conclusions or 
false analogies.' 

It will thus be seen that a Boyal Library did exist at the capital 
of Egypt ; that it was established in the pre-Christian period of the- 
idolatrous kings of Egypt; and that the library contained almost all 
the writings of the world then known, collected by Greek industry 
from various sources. The existence of the Library having been- 
proved, it remains to find out when and by whom it was destroyed ; 
and particularly whether it was the Mussulmans who, as is the general 
belief in Europe, destroyed it in their first outburst of religious en- 
thusiasm, insatiable thirst for conquest, and blind iconoclasm. 

Direct evidence on this point there is none. * No historian — 
Christian, Pagan, Jew, or Moslem — who lived at the time of the 
Saracenic conquest of Alexandria (a.d. 642), or who was present at the 
capture of the city, or lived so near that period that he could have 
learnt from one who lived at the time or witnessed the event, has- 
ever mentioned this subject. 

The authorities relied upon by the historians of Europe in this 
controversy are four — Abulpharagius, the Armenian historian, and the 
three Arabic authors, Haji Khah'fa, Makreezi, and Abdul Lateef of 
Bagdad. We shall proceed to a detailed and critical examination of 
the writings of these authors. 

Abulpharagius was bom in A.D. 1226 in Malatfa (Asia Minor), and 
was early brought up in the tenets of the Jacobite £edth, which his 
father, a Jewish physiciioi, had embraced. He was appointed to the 
bishopric of (xuba in his twenty-first year, in consideration of his 
extensive learning, knowledge inaKvinity, and linguistic attainments. 
Ultimately he became primate, a rank that is second only to that oT 
patriarch. The most celebrated of his works is his History of ihe 
Arabian Dynasties ^ composed originally in the Syriac language, 
which displays great erudition coupled with extensive research. He- 
also wrote an abstract of this history in the Arabic language, whichi 
was translated into Latin and first given to the European world by 
Dr. Pococke in 1664. The abstract differs in inany points firam the- 
original Dynasties^ one of them being that the destruction of the- 
Alexandrian Library under orders firom the Caliph Omar finds mention 
in the former, (ribbon wrote : 'Since the 2)2^7ia«tie8o/il&ti2pAaragrit6» 
were given to the world in Latin version, \he tale Has been repeatedly 
transcribed.' The celebrated historian adds : ^J^or my o^nLiQ«ii L«ss^ 
strongly tempted to deny both the fact mA VSaa ocstkawspsswsRR^^ 



1894 OMAR AND THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY 561 

Before entering into a discnssion as to the weight to be attached ta 
the testimony of Abiilpharagiiis,'Ve give below a literal translation of 
the passage bearing on 'this point from the Arabic abstract of Abnl- 
pharagins, called Mokthaaar-'Udr'Da/wal : — 

And, at tliis time, John^j^ho in our language is sumamed FhHopcniu, came ta 
he known among the Arabs. He was a resident of Alexandria and a Jacobite 
Christian. He afterwards denied the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Hereupon 
aU the priests of Egypt joined together and requested him to relinquish hifr 
(heretical) belief He did not listen to them. In consequence of which, he was 
degraded from his rank. He liyed to an old age ; so much so that when Amr 
Ibn-ul-A'as tookAlezandria, he presented himself before Amr. As Amr had 
already heard or%s abilities, he treated John with great respect, and listened 
to his philosophical discussiona, such as were entirely unknown to the Arabs.. 
These discussions created such a deep impression on Ajnr*s heart that he became 
enamoured of him. Amr was a cleyer, intelligent, and discreet individual ; and 
the society of John, therefore, became a necessity to him, and he never used to- 
separate him from himself. 

One day John said to Amr, ' You are master of every land of thing in Alex- 
andria. I do not wish to object to your remaining in possession of those things 
that may be useful to you ; but we peop|[^» more entitled to such things as are 
not useful to you.' Amr asked him ^hat he wanted; to which John replied, ' The 
books on philosophy that are in the Royal Libraries.' Amr said that he could 
give no order on the subject without obtaining the sanction of the CaUph Omar. 
Amr then informed the Caliph of John's request. The following reply waa 
received : ' Regarding the books j^ou refer to, if they are in accordance vdth the 
Book of God (Koran), then in the face of the existence of that book, there is no 
need for them ; but if the subjects they treat of are contrary to the Book of Qtod^ 
then let them be destroyed.' Amr commenced to distribute them among the baths 
of Alexandria, and bum them. In short, it took them six months to be completely 
consumed. Thus, listen to what happened and wonder I 

Abiilpharagius was a high dignitaiy of the Christian Church, who 
flourished about the same time as Matthew Paris, whose story to ex- 
plain why the Moslems refose to eat of the flesh of the pig has already 
been related. In the next place, he wrote six hundred years after 
the capture of Alexandria, and was the first writer who gave currency 
to the stoiy in the shape he is supposed to have done. We say, 
* supposed to have done,' because we have no authentic information 
to show that Abulpharagius did mention the alleged circumstance. 
Its absence in the larger and fuller original work in Syriac is a point 
not to be lost sight of. This circumstance leads to the conjecture 
that the mention of the Alexandrian Library and its fate in the 
Arabic abstract Mokthasa/r-udnDanval is a spurious interpolation 
by some ingenious writer, who perhaps wanted to clothe a common 
tradition with the authority of the great historian. Even supposing 
that Abulpharagius himself gave insertion to the story in the Arabic 
abstract, it cannot be held to strengthen the truth of the incident. 
For, as is common in every age and in every dime, there are many 
traditional narratives which are handed down for centurie^^ f&csisiL 
generation to generation, which are but tlie fsbiiciBkAOTi^ ^IVsi^jsGCkSss^ 



^62 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Oct. 

story-tellers^, who are guided by no higher motives than those of 
making them exciting and interesting by supplying a large number 
of exaggerated details. That there did exist, at one time, a vast 
•collection of books in Alexandria, and that the library was destroyed, 
Are, as we have already pointed out, historical facts. The Christian 
story-tellers might have innocently made capital out of these circum- 
stances and invented a story to blacken the character of their enemies 
in race and religion. This story may thus have been a Christian 
invention, handed down for generations among the Christian inhabi- 
tants ; and Abulpharagius, being a Christian Primate, may have men- 
tioned it as such in his Arabic abstract. But, however this may be, 
it stands to reason that, under such suspicious circumstances, a stain 
of this magnitude cannot be allowed to attach itself to any nation on 
the uncorroborated testimony of an alien in religion who lived six 
hundred years after the alleged event in Asia Minor, and wrote of 
Alexandria in an age when religious bigotry always tortured events 
to the best advantage of its votaries. The olprobabLlities of the 
story are also very great, as we shall point out in a future paragraph. 
The next authority we shall consider is Haji KhaUfsi.. His words, 
translated, are as follows : — 

The Arabs, in the early days of Mohammedanism, did not turn their attention 
to any branch of knowledge except lexicography, revealed law, gnd medicine. Only 
this species of learning, on account of its general utility, was cultivated by a few. 
The reason for this was, aa the principles of the &ith of Islam and people's beliefs 
had not become firm and rooted, it was feared that they (the beliefs, &c.) might be 
shaken by (a cultivation of) the ancient sciences ; so mudi so, that it ii said that 
the said people, at the time of their capture of cities, destroyed the books which 
they found. 

This general hearsay statement of Haji Khali& about the destruc- 
tion of books at the capture of cities, which is all that in the r^ 
motest degree has any reference to the question at issue, used to be 
construed into evidence in support of the accusation. But when 
Baron de Sacy pointed out the exact nature of Haji Khalifa's testi- 
mony, it was put forward as corroborative evidence. Evidence in order 
to be corroborative must be direct. Not only is there not the slight- 
est reference to the Alexandrian Library, or, for the matter of Uiat, 
any Ubrary in Egypt, but even the general allegation is prefiEu^ed by the 
introductory phrase * it is aaidy which removes all responsibility froPTL^ 
the writer. This evidence is therefore entirely valueless against the 
Mussulmans. 

* The following instance is quoted from Gibbon : * The Christians, rashly enough, 
have ascribed to Mohammed a tame pigeon that seemed to descend from heaven and 
whisper in his ear. As this pretended miracle was brought forward by Gi#iu8 (De 
verUate religianis Christiana), his Arab translator, the learned Fdoocke, inquired of 
him the names of his authors, and Grotius was obliged to confess that it mA unknown 
to the Mohammedans themselves. Lest, however, it should provoke their indignation 
and ridicule, the jpiaui liewsa suppressed in the Arabic irwriKtyn ^ Vmv. <^\\ irtv^\TvVa>\Tv%. ^ 

conspicuous place in the numerous editions oitlielAitintexl? . ^ ^ \ 



1894 OMAR AND THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY 563 

Next we shall give a txae translation of Abdnl Lateef s passage, 
which has been transcribed in his book by Makreead, who, however, 
has no independent evidence to offer. It is therefore unnecessary to 
say anything farther of MakreezL. Abdnl Lateef, in his history, has a 
chaptear on The Minaret of Savari, in which, after describing the 
minaret around which are said to have existed 400 smaller 
colunms, he adds : ' And it is said that this is one of those columns 
which supported the roof of the portico of Aristotle, wherefrom 
Aristotle tau^t medicine, that in it was located an Academy, as 
also the libijlry which Amr Ibn-nl-A'as burnt under the orders of 
the Caliph Omar/ . 

Abdul Lateef lived five hundred years after the conquest of Egypt. 
He was not so much of an historian himself as a compiler. He com- 
piled his history from the earlier works of the earlier writers. If he 
were indebted to any historian fixr this description, he would have 
referred to his authority. That no Arab author before the time of 
Abdul Lateef mentions the destruction of the Alexandrian Library is 
convincing proof, not only of the baseless nature of the allegation, but 
of the fact that Abdul Lateef had no valid authority — indeed, no 
written authority of any historian, contemporary or subsequent — for 
making the statement. Nor does Abdul Lateef appear ignorant of this 
circumstance. The very style in which he has expressed it shows 
that he only casually mentions a hearsay tradition, to which neither 
does he attach any importance himself nor expect his readers to 
attach any. •. . 

All the circumstances contained in the above extract are untrue ; 
and this strengthens our opinion that Abdul Lateef gave no credence 
to it, but, in the manner of historians when inserting popular beliefs 
and stories, he has prefaced his statement by the irresponsible ' it is 
said.' , , 

The absence of any mention of this important event in any con- 
tempoiary work, or in any work for near five centuries after its alleged 
occurrence, is a strong argumenr^gainst its truth. If the Library 
were so vast at the time of the Saracenic conquest as historians 
have made it appear, and had the Caliph ordered its destruction on 
the grounds imputed to him, it was only natural that the Moslem 
historians who have sung the praises of this great conqueror should 
have made capital out of it, and extolled, with Oriental exaggeration, 
the Caliph's order as having proceeded firom a devout follower of the 
Prophet, who had once compared Omar to Noah,^ and have gloried 

* Sale, in his Alcoran, p. H6, note, thus wrote : * Among the seventy prisoneis 
whom the Moslems took in this battle (Bedr) were al Abb^ one of Mohammed's 
ancles, and Okail, the son of Aba Taleb,and brother of Ali; when they were brought 
before Mohammed, he asking the advice of his companions what should be done 
with them, Abu Beer was for releasing them on their paying ransom, saying that they 
were near relations to the Prophet, and God might possibly forgive them on their 
repentance; but Omar was for striking off their heads, as professed patrons ot 



564 THE NINETEENTH CENTURT Oct. 

in it. But there is no mention of it whatever in any book on any 
subject that was composed in any language for five hundred years 

afterwards. 

Before proceeding further, we shall have to consider what position 
in the world the Arabs occupied from the seventh to the tenth century 
after Christ, in order to understand clearly the value that should be 
attached to this negative evidence. 

That Mohammed had enjoined religious toleration, especially with 
regard to the Christians, is evident from a curious document, the 
authenticity of which may be considered sufficiently guaranteed by 
the high reputation for piety, integrity, and learning, enjoyed by 
Eichard Pococke, Bishop of Meath, who quotes it in his book called 
A Description of the East and other Ootmtries, vol. i. p. 268, ed. 
1743. The document is entitled : ' The patent of Mohammed, which 
he granted to the monks of Mount Sinai, and to Christians in general.' 
It is dated the third day of Moharrum, in the second year of the 
Hegira, and is a promise of toleration and protection to the Christians, 
to hold good * until the end of the world ' ; and further plainly points 
out that anyone who acts contrary to it * becomes truly an apostate 
from God and His Divine apostle.' The document is based upon the 
express word of God that says : * Do not molest those who have a 
veneration for the books that are sent from Otod ; but rather, in a 
kind manner, give of your good things to them, and converse with 
them, and hinder everyone from molesting them.' This spirit is evident 
in the actiou of the Caliph Omar, who, after his capture of the city of 
Jerusalem in a.d. 637 (five years before the conquest of Alexandria), 
made his triumphal entry into the town in the company of the 
Patriarch Sophronius, conversing with him on the antiquities of that 
city. - '■'',< 

To further prove that toleration was inculcated by their Prophet 
and practised extensively by his followers, we shall make two extracts. 

A Christian writer in Ohamhers'a EneydopcBdia says : * One 



.1* 



infidelity. Mohammed did not approve of the latter adrice, bat observed that Abu 
Beer resembled Abraham, who interceded for ofEenden, and that Omar was like 
Noah, who prayed for the ntter extirpation of the wicked antedilavians ; sod there- 
fore it was agreed to accept a ransom for them and their f eUow-captives — soon after 
which, Omar, going to the Prophet's tent, f oond him and Aba Beer weeping, and 
asking them the reason of their tears, Mohammed aoqnainted him that this verse 
(Unless a revelation had been previoosly delivered from God, veiily Jrsevere ponish- 
ment had been inflicted on yon, for the ramom which ye took from the oaptwet at 
Bedr) had been revealed condemning their ill-timed lenity towards their prisoners 
and that they had narrowly escaped the Divine vengeance for it, adding that if God 
had not passed the matter over, they had certainly been destroyed to a man, excepting 
only Omar and Saad Ebn Moadh, a person of as great seterity, and who was also for 
putting the prisoners to death. Yet did not this crime go ^^Intely onpunished 
neither; for in the battle of Ohod the Moslems lost seventy men, eqaal tA ^^lynas^a^. 
of prisoners taken at Bedr, which was so oideied b^ Qo9l «a «b'K^A2&«:&<csi^ ^sl v^ss&sk^ 
ment for the same.' - . v^ 

I 



1^ - 
.'-"-■ <- 



1894 OMAR AND. THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBBAR7 565 

remarkable feature of the MoBlem rule in Spain deserves mention, as 
it contrasts them so mvouiably with the contemporary and subsequent 
rulers of that country — and that is their universal toleration in religious 
matters.' » • ^ 

Godfrey Higgins "wrote :— 

Nothing is so common as to liMur the Christian priests abuse the religion of 
Mohammed for its bigotry and intdeianee. Wonderful assurance and hypocrisy ! 
Who was it tlMl^ expelled the Moriaooes from Spain because they would not turn 
Christians P Who was it that murdered the millions of Mexico and Peru and 
gave them all away as slaves, becanse they were not Christians P What a con- 
trast have the Mohammedans exhifaited in Ghreece I For many centuries the 
Christians have been permitted to lire in the peaceable possession of their proper- 
tiesy their religion, their priests, luahops, patriarchs, and churches ; and the war 
between the Greeks and Turks was no more waged on account of religion than was 
the war between the negroes of Demerara and the English. 

,■•-,. ■ - ■ » 

The latest instance of Ghriatian intolerance is the persecution of 
the Jews in Russia at the present day. What a different treatment 
they received under the Moslems, when, during their rule in Spain, 
we read of learned Jews occupying high positions at the head of the 
great Moorish schools and universities I 

If the Mussulmans had destroyed the Alexandrian Library, they 
can only be supposed to have done so from a spirit of religious intoler- 
ance. But after the patent above referred to, how could they have 
destroyed the property of the CShristians ? — for such the Library must 
have become when the Christians became the rulers of the country. 
This raises the presumption that at the time of the Mussulman 
invasion of Egypt the Library had been shorn of its grandeur, even 
supposing that a wreck of it did exist. This question we shall 
discuss further on. 

History teaches us that the Arabs had a true aptitude for science, 
literature, and philosophy, for these found a home with that nation 
when Europe was steeped in ignorance and barbarism. Three 
Caliphs, who ruled at Bagdad from the middle of the eighth to the 
middle of the ninth century of the Christian era, deserve special 
mention in this connection. They are Jaafer al Mansur, Haroun ar 
Raschid, and Mamoun ar Baachid. These three Caliphs were great 
patrons of learning ; and, as examples of their spirit, may be related the 
facts that in the time of Mansur the services of a Christian physician 
were engaged to instruct his people in the healing art ; that Haroun 
decreed that a school should be attached to every mosque throughout 
his vast dominions, and placed the schools under the superintendence 
of John Masue, a Nestorian Christian — fisusts which go to prove that 
these Arabs looked upon a man's intellectual fitness, and not his 
religious principles, as constitiiting the criterion of his ability to 
perform the duties entrusted to him. The reign of Mamoun (a.d. 
813-833) is regarded as the Angustan age of Arabic learning. In 



566 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Oct. 

his time, his capital, Bagdad, became the recognised seat of learning. 
Hundreds of ripe scholars, and students eager to learn, flocked to his 
capital from all parts and nationalities, as they did twelve centuries 
ago to Alexandria. The Caliph ^ent out his emissaries to all parts 
of the then known world to collect ancient manuscripts to his library, 
and it was not an unusual sight to see, in his days, trains of camels 
entering Bagdad laden with the literary treasures his emissaries had 
succeeded in hunting up from the four comers of the world. One of 
the stipulations of a treaty which Mamoun concluded with Michael 
the Third, the Grreek Emperor, was that one of the libraries of 
Constantinople was to be given r^p to him. 

Nor were there wanting signs of alarm expressed by orthodox 
theologians at this indiscriminate patronage of ancient learning. * It 
is recorded that a Doctor of Divinity of the period took upon himself 
to denounce such studies, asserting that the Caliph would assuredly 
draw down upon himself the vengeance of Heaven for daring to per- 
mit the diffusion among the &ithful of philosophies and sciences 
which might unsettle their beliefs.' But the protest fell upon deaf 
ears. The Caliph not only ordered a measurement of the spherical 
earth to be made, but caused an Arabic translation to be prepared of 
Ptolemy's great work on Astronomy. This was completed in 827, the 
translation being called Almagest. ' . 

Thus it will be seen that we modems are greatly indebted to the 
Arabs for preserving and handing down to us, together with their 
own researches,^ the ancient sciences and learning during a period of 
some centuries, when Europe was sunk in ignorance, so much so that 
even kings could not sign their names, and priests could hardly read.^ 
It will also be evident that the Arabs were not such an ignorant or 

' Improved preparation of gunpowder; cultivation of silk; weaving of silk; fabri- 
cation of finely tempered weapons, as in the fiunons Toledo blades ; preparation of 
the best kind of leather, still called Morocco and Goidovan; training of the horse, so 
that the world obtained a variety of that noble animal possessing the highest 
development of its finest qualities ; use of the mariner's compass — these are but a 
few of the advances' in the arts of civilised life which we owe to the Arabs. We 
must not omit to mention another invention of theiis which has in no slight degree 
contributed to the diffusion of learning, and that is paper made of fine linen, to take 
the place of the far more costly parchment. ,, 

' Draper, in his History qf the Intellectual Development 'of EwropOy wrote : < A 
man might walk through Ck)rdova in a straight line for ten miles by the light of the 
public lamps ; 700 years after this there was not so much as one public lamp in 
London. The streets of Cordova were solidly paved: in Paris, centuries afterwards, 
whoever stepped over his threshold on a rainy day, stewed up to the ankles in mud.' 
Compare the beautiful residences of the Moorish ^fnnces of Granada, and the 
Alhambia Court, with *the dwellings of contemporary monarchs of France, Qermany, 
and England, which are described as mere hovels, without windows or chimneys, and 
with mere holes in the roofis for the smoke to escape.* 

Everywhere in the extensive dominions of the Anbs, xmivendties, colleges, and 
schools had been established. Spain alone boasted of seventy public libraries* ThA 
Royal Library of Spain contained 60(^000 volumes. Th&'^ilCnaxs «i(> ^^oic^ ^ssti^s&a^s^ 
an immense number ot books. Cairo ^las also the &eaX c^ fic ^s^eoX T&e^<(»i2L vSi^^v^ 



1894 OMAR AND THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY 567 

# 

illiterate race as to allow such a splendid opportunity to pass unheeded, 
of recording one of the gnnde^ achievements of iconoclasm the 
world has ever witnessed (t]iat is to say, supposing the Alexandrian 
occurrence had its foundatioDL in truth) as a monument for their 
future glorification. 

Next let us turn our attention to the question of probabilities. 
Even here we find ourselves eonfironted by numerous obstacles in the 
way of giving credence to iMs tradition. As pointed out by historians, 
this Library during the greater part of seven centuries sustained 
great damages firom fire, war, plunder, and theological bigotry. We 
shall mention one instance of popular commotion. In the commence- 
ment of the fifth century A.D., bitter disputes and deadly feuds 
existed among the three principal classes that composed the popubi- 
tion of that city — Christians, Jews, and Pagans. In a.d. 415 lived the 
famous Hypatia, a female cultivator of mathematics and astronomy. 
She was murdered by the Onristians at the instigation of their £ema- 
tical leader CyriL This marks the last stage of the Alexandrian 
schooL And yet this was Mly two centuries before the Moslems 
took that city, ' 

Draper, in his History cf the Conflict between Religion cmd 
Science (p. 103), in referring to Abulpharagius's description of the 
destruction of the Alexandrian Library, wrote : — 

m 

But it must not be supposei that the books which John the labour-lover 
(Philoponus) coveted were tiiose which constituted the Great Iiibraiy of the 
Ptolemies, and that of Eumenes, Xing of Peigamus. Nearly a thousand years had 
elapsed since Philadelphus began his collection. Julius Caesar had burnt more 
than half; the Patriarchs of Alemdria had not only permitted, but superintended 
the dispersion of almost all the mst. Orosius expressly states that he saw the 
empty cases or shelves of the lifaraiy twenty years after Theophilus, the uncle of 
St. C^ril, had procured from the Emperor Theodosius a rescript for its destruction. 
Even had this noble collection newer endured such acts of violence, the mere wear 
and tear, and perhaps I may add the pilfering of a thousand years, would hav6 
diminiRhed it sadly. Though John, as the surname he received indicates, might 
rejoice in a superfluity of occupation, we may be certain that the care of a library 
of half a million books would tmacend even his well-tried powers ; and the cost 
of preserving and supporting it, that had demanded the ample resources of the 
Ptolemies and the Caesars, was beyond the means of a grammarian. Nor is the 
time required for its combustion or destruction any indication of the extent of the 
collection. Of all articles of fad parchment is, perhaps, the most vTretched. 
Paper and papyrus do excellently weU as kindling materials, but we may be sore 
that the bathmen of Alexandria fid not resort to parchment so long as they could 
find anything else, and of parchment a very large portion of these books was 
composed. 

Allotting one volume per diem to each of the four thousand 
baths of Alexandria, we find that the number of volumes, to last for six 
months, must have been . 728,000 ! This represents, however, the 
number that existed in the palmiest days of the Ptolemies, Bwtbi^ 
tory proves that tliis vast collection soSeie^ mesikxi^siX^^ ^^sxs^^^^ Vs^ 



^68 THE NINETEENTH OENTUEF .* Oct. 

•centuries. How, then, are we to believe that there was even a remnant 
of the Library when Amr took Alexandria? 

We must also bear in mind that at the time of the Saracenic 
conquest Alexandria was the second city, in matter of importance, in 
Ohristendom. We read that the Saracenic siege lasted for near four- 
teen months before it was taken. During this period Heraclius, the 
Byzantine Emperor, helped the beleaguered city by sending reinforce- 
ment and provisions firom the sea side, which was 9pen to his fleet. 
Many of the richer citizens also eacaped from the city, by sea, with 
all the worldly effects that they coold carry, when, they found that 
their chances of holding out much longer against Saracenic odds were 
feeble indeed. The emperor could easily have. caused the treasures 
of the Library to be transferred to Obnstantinople ; and probably he 
did so. Or more probably the books might have been removed two 
centuries before, when Theodosius the Second established his library 
in Constantinople ; particularly as the majority of that collection was 
composed of books from Egypt and Ana Minor, 

Draper, however, is. of opinion, thai '.there can be little doubt that 
Omar gave this order ; ' and in support of this states that ' the Ehalif 
was an illiterate mim ; his environment was an environment of 
&naticism and ignorance.' V - ' ^ ; t ,.; ^ >. , ,rj , 

That Omar gave such an order is highly improbable^ In the first 
place, the existence of even a wreck of the Alexandrian Library has 
not been proved. Next we have to bearih mind- the patent of pro- 
tection, granted by the Prophet* to the Christians iii general. We 
read of treaties concluded by Jesuiabbaa^ the Pontiff of the Nestorians^ 
with the Prophet and the Caliph Omar. We; have seen that Omar 
made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, on its capture in 637, 
discoursing with the Patriarch Sophronins on the antiquities of that 
city ; which further shows that Omar was not illiterate.* It was 
Omar who first appointed the Hegira, wiiich dates from the 16th of 
July, A.D. 622. Anur, the general who took Alexandria^ was, according 
to Abulpharagius's own showing, aninteOigent and shrewd individual, 
who delighted in the company of Philoponus. When we remember 
that Amr had unbounded influence over the Caliph-— for it was on his 
own initiative that he undertook the conquest of JEgypt, against the 
inclination of Omar — ^it is easy to see thai Amr could, and would cerv 

* The following stoiy of Omar's conversion to Uam faither proVes that he was c 
not illiterate. It must be remembered that Omar was, before his conversion, one of V 
the most uncompromising, but most generous of tlie Prophet's ^enemies. * Omar had 
been highly displeased with his sister Ameina for having embraced the new faith, so 
that finding her one day reading the Koran aloud, be struck her violently, dashing, at 
the same time, the book on the ground. The ma id e n, calm and collected, picked up 
the volume, but still persisted in refusing to give it to her brother, who, now stiU 
more exasperated, snatched it from her ; but, his ey glancing involuntarily over some 
of its lines, he was seized with wonder and, conviction succeeding to admiration, He 
became a Mussulman on the spot.' — Davenport's Apologj/ for MohaxMN^ onul 1^ 
Xorm, pip. 21-22, ^. , v' ' 



■ 1894 OMAR AND THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY 569 

taiiily have pleaded for the preservaiioii of ihe library, had it existed. 
Again, if the Libraiy had really been destroyed by tiie Moslems, the 
books of John, the labour-lover, would have been the first to perish ; 
but all his works are extant, and Arabic translations of them exist. 
None of the biographers of Philopooas, who have studied and admired 
his productions, mention this incident. Nor can it be urged thai 
Philoponus rewrote hiB works after the destruction of the Library ; 
for John was already an old man at the time of the Saracenic con- 
quest, and, during the short term of life he enjoyed since, it is impos- 
sible that he could have recomposed his numerous and voluminous 
works — the production of a long lifetime. 

The period of the Caliph Omar was not one of ignorance, as will 
be evident from the following extract. The Prophet and the first 
four Caliphs belonged to the £breM& tribe of the Arabians. 

The^T^oreish tribe were tbe noblest and most learned of all the Western Arabe ; 
they were also the greatest merchants, and carried on an extensive commerce with 
every adjacent State ; whilst the KaahOf or Square Temple of Mecca, which before 
the era of Mohammed was solely under their guardianship, drew annually a great 
concourse of pilgrims from every Arabian tribe and every coimtry where the 
Sabian religion prevailed. , 'Where many strangers are accustomed to assemble at 
stated times, politeness and refinement are a natural consequence. Numbers of 
the pDgrims were people of the first ranl^ and possessed of all the science peculiar 
to their country or their age.. Ghreat furs were held during their residence, and a 
variety of gay amusements filled up the intervals of their religious duties. Of 
those entertunments, literary compositions held the most distinguished rank ; 

, every man of genius considering not his own reputation alone, but even that of his 
nation or his tribe as interested in his snccess. Poetry and rhetoric were chiefly 

' cultivated and admired ; the first being looked upon as highly ornamental, and the 
other as a necessaiy accomplishment in the education of every leading man. An 
assembly at a place called Ocadh had beeoi in consequence, established about the- 
end of the sixth century, where all were admitted to a rivalship of genius. Th» 
merits of their respective productions were impartially determined by the assem- 
bly at large ; and the most approved of their poems written on silk, in characters of 
^ gold, were, with much sohunnityi suspended in the temple, as the highest mark of 
^ honour which could be oonferrad on literary men. These poems were callecl 
MoaUakat (suspended) ^ fit Mosahebat (golden). Seven of them are in many 
European libraries, being the compositions of Amralkeis, Tara/a, Zoheir, Zebid, 
AntarOf Amruf and IZareM.^® ' *'* ** - ' * 

Omar was no fanatic ; nor was his period one of fanaticism. The 
light of religions enthusiasm which the Prophet had kindled burnt 
on with undimmed brightness during the period of the first four 
Caliphi, Gibbon wrote ^'The wars of the Mohammedans were sancti- 
fied by the Prophet j but, among the yarious precepts and examples of 
his life, ihe Caliphe Bdeded Oie Usmma of tolenUion ^^ that might tend 
to disarm the resistance of the unbelieving.' 

* - . • , 

* The Saramile fsntial who took Alexandria, and who is 'supposed to have 
destroyed the Libffmi7 under orders from the Caliph Omar. The name is written in 
Arabic with a f, which is silent U is pnnooaoed Amr. 

i> John Bibbardson*s JMiterUtIm 'm EuUm JMiom, prefixed to his Persian 
Arabic, and Xiiglish DioUonaiy (}90t^ voL i pp. iL and iiL ' 

*' The italics ate oim. 
Vol, XXXn — ^No. 21S ^ ^ 



570 THE NINETEENTH 0ENTUR7 Oc 

Omar undoubtedly was a man imbued with a strong sense of what 
was due to God and his apostle. He was a veiy severe man. But 
when the idolaters and polytheists had been extirpated from Arabia — 
* the temple and patrimony of the Grod of Mohammed ' — ^the intolerant 
zeal of the Moslems was converted into the steady and wise policy of 
allowing the conquered nations to retain their freedom of conscience 
and religious worship, on payment of tribute. This is what happened 
in the case of Alexandria. That city had resisted the attempts of 
the Saracenic besiegers for near fourteen months. Numerous assaults 
and sallies were made, in one of which Amr, the general of the Mos- 
lems, himself was taken prisoner, but he subsequently managed to 
escape. Twenty-three thousand Saracens were slain. Under such 
circumstances, it might naturally be expected that the city, inmie- 
diately after its capture, would be given up to plunder and massacre, 
had the Saracens been what they are depicted to have been, viz. an 
intolerant and fematical people. But no such thing was done. The 
Saracenic general, in reporting his exploits to the Galiph, gave a glow- 
ing account of ' its four thousand palaces, four thousand baths, four 
hundred theatres, twelve thousand shops for the sale of vegetable 
food, and forty thousand tributary Jews.' The Galiph ordered that, 
in addition to a tax of two dinars per head of the population and the 
usual land tax, a special tribute should be levied^ and that the lives 
and properties of the citizens should be protected. This arrange- 
ment by no means savours of fematicism* - «'-^ • - 

From the foregoing it must be evident to the impartial observer 
that no blame can possibly attach itsdf to the Mussulmans over the 
alleged Alexandrian incident. We would, however, request those who 
will, notwithstanding, persist in their erroneous beUef to practise 
a little more of that Christian charity which they profess. Them 
we shall request to read what Godfrey Higgins says^— ^ In all the 
history of the Caliphs there cannot be shown anything half so in- 
famous as the Inquisition.' Them we shall pray to compare the almost 
bloodless capture of Jerusalem by the Moslems with its subsequent 
capture by the Christian Crusaders, whose list of atrocities is thus 
summed up : ' The brains of young children were dashed against the 
walls ; infants were thrown over the battlements ; every woman that 
could be seized was violated ; men wd:e roasted on fires ; some men 
were ripped open to see if they had swallowed gold ; the Jews were 
driven into their synagogue and there burnt; about 70,000 people, 
men, women, and children, were cruelly butchered.' 

The words of M. Jurien ar^ very pregnant : 'The Mahometans, 
according to the principles of their fidth,- are required to employ 
violence to destroy other religions j " and yet they tolerate them now, 
' • • • ; •"■■■• •' • ■■•' - ■• - .- ..':. wivf. ■ 

" This, however, is not true. - As Gibbon wrote : <1!he disciples of Abraham, of 
Hoses, and of Jesos were solemnly invited to accept the more perfect revelation of 
Mohammed ; but, if they preferred the paynoBt ot «b il^^«cbX^ \xSge^]^^^«1 



% 



THE QUEEN AND LORD PALMERS ft 

IN THIS NUMBER. 



SM« U tH» OrigtHmt M MtU n PrtetMl t» XmgUmi «hI iMWMl <i» A.mfHam ty mulhorttg 

•/ (k« AvHcft ptiHUh»r», 

NINETEENTH 

CENTUBY 

A MONTHLY REVIEW 

EDITED BY JAMES KNOWLES 



No. 208, JUNE, 1894. 

I. Checks on Democracy in America. By George Washburn Smalley. 

II. India : the Political Outlook. By General Sir George Ghesney, M.P. 

III. Art at the Salons. By Charles Whibley. 

IV. The Queen and Lord Palmerston. By the Hon. Reginald B. Brett. 
V. Pedigrees of British and American Horses. By James Irvine Lupto] 

F.R.C.V.S. 
VI. Noticeable books. By the Right Hon. Earl Cowper, Profe8s< 
Max MtfLLER, Sir Alfred Lyall, W. S. Lilly, Richard L 
Gallienne, Frederic Harrison, and the Editor. 
VII. Some Great Churches of France. No. 2. V^zelay. By Walter Pater. 
VIII. A Recent Run to the East. By the Right Hon. Lord Brassey. 
IX. Modern Explosives. By Wentworth Lascelles-Scott. 
X. Love. By Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.P. 
XI. The proposed Nile Reservoir : 

(i) The Devastation of Nubia. By Professor Mahaffy. 
(2) The Submergence of Phike. By Frank Dillon. 



i.V«*rit»*»-.,_j; » ; ■ i.^ 



Judge Emden. 



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1894 1013 



THE PROPOSED NILE RESERVOIR 



THE DEVASTATION OF NUBIA 

In an article which appeared in the last (May) number of this Eeview, 
Sir Benjamin Baker, a distinguished engineer, has done his best to 
vindicate the proposed scheme of turning Lower Nubia into a reservoir 
for the benefit of Middle and Lower Egypt. He discreetly confines 
his estimate of the damage which the execution of this plan wiU cause 
to the loss of the temples and inscriptions at PhilsB, and most of his 
adversaries have been content to confine their opposition to the same 
ground. 

But, as Sir Benjamin Baker and his friends say, they court * the 
fullest and most unbiassed discussion,' it is well to insist that the loss 
to archaeology and the violation to sentiment caused by the submer- 
ging of Philae are not the only elements in the question, as was stated 
last month in the adjoining article — the whole of Lower Nubia will be 
put under water. The flourishing little town of Shelal, containing 
perhaps 1,000 people, with their houses, stores, farms, palm trees, &c., 
must be sacrificed ; so must all the dwellings and little ferms on both 
sides of the Nile for fifty miles at least, and perhaps as far as the 
turn of the river at Korosko. 

There is not one word in Sir Benjamin Baker's article about the 
ruthless expatriation of the inhabitants of all this district. And for 
what purpose ? For the enriching of the population of another province ! 
What is to be done with all these poor Nubians ? They cannot be 
driven up into the desert, nor is it shown where any new land can be 
found for them ; if they are to be quartered on the inhabitants of 
Middle or Lower Egypt, the discontent of both exiles and hosts will 
go far to counterbalance the advantages of a larger water supply. 
Moreover, with submerging of houses and farms will follow the ruin 
of many other temples, upon which the article in question is silent. 
What about Debet, Dakkeh, Kalabsheh, Gartass, Tehfa, Dendur, at 
all of which are picturesque historic ruins, not thoroughly explored, 
and /inscriptions not yet adequately co^\<eii'i \x^\Jafe^«2ss^^ ^nss^x^ 
tbereare, doubtless, many inscribed stoTi^^,MidLm>(Xi^^ssvs5ss5»<:>^.^^ 



1014 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY June 

Christians many papyrus rolls of the greatest value, yet to be dis- 
covered. All this area, so precious to archaeology, is to be sunk under 
the water. The material mischief, however, both actual and prospec- 
tive, will be enormous quite apart from questions of sentiment. A 
considerable number of harmless people are to be turned out of their 
homes, without any provision being proposed for their support, not 
to say any consideration taken of their feelings. 
And for what? Our author tells us (p. 866) that 

As to the absolute necessity for the construction of a reservoir with the least 

possible delay no shadow of doubt was expressed by any member of the Com- 
mission. 

Fortunately, he goes on to explain this absolute necessity. Will the 
reader believe that it amounts simply to this : an estimated gain to 
the State of 750,OOOf. yearly, and of ten times that amount to the 
cultivators of Lower Egypt ? It is not pretended that this population 
is in want : it is not true that there is any want in Egypt ; the people 
never were so prosperous since Ptolemaic times : the absolute necessity 
of the engineers is simply the stand-point of greed on the part of the 
State, perhaps of certain bondholders, doubtless of the farmers in Lower 
Egypt, of whom Sir Benjamin Baker naively tells us (p. 866), that after 
the perfecting of the Barrage near Cairo, and the consequent enormous 
increase of water supply during the last few years — * Notwithstanding 
this, the demand for water by the cultivators is as great as ever, and 
no means exist for satisfying their wants ' by storing up more water^ 
&c. If the State did not sell water, and so increase its revenues, such 
a statement might pass for mere philanthropy ; as it does, we may here 
again translate Sir Benjamin Baker's curious English into its proper 
equivalent : * No convenient means exist for making more legitimate 
taxes out of the people,' or of satisfying their unlimited demands. 

If he complains that we will not take his words in their natural ac- 
ceptation, we reply that in the present case we deny that any want- 
exists in Egypt, and in any case we are only applying the lesson he 
^ himself teaches us concerning his use of the English language. Com- 
menting upon the statement (p. 869) that the majority of the Com- 
missioners are absolutely convinced that it is practically impossible to 
place the dam elsewhere than at Philse, and upon the very just criti- 
cism of the French Commissioner, that the word impossible was absurd, 
he says : 

that the British Commissioner [i.e. he himself] thought it was often a very iispful 
word in relation to practical problems, and he had indeed used it with good effect 
when reporting some years ago to a group of financi^^rs on the Panama Ship 
Canal. 

One hardly knows whether to thank him for the honesty of this 
statement, or for the reverse ; at all events, we now know that when- 
ever he uses the word impossible, it may be merely because it is 



1894 THE PROPOSED NILE RESERVOIR 1015 

usefvZ, especially in making a report to people whom he cannot 
easily persuade by argument. 

In the present case, Sir Benjamin Baker's impossibility corresponds 
very well to his necessity. The scheme he advocates is necessary 
because he is convinced of its soundness ; the scheme he opposes is 
impossible because he is opposed to it. But, however useful he may 
have found this use of terms when dealing with a group of financiers, 
he will find it the reverse when deaUng with people who understand 
ordinary logic and ordinary English. It makes us slow to accept his 
facts, and very suspicious of his arguments. It leads us never to take 
on trust his necessities and impossibilities, but to sift every one of 
his statements. Perhaps even more significant than these are his 
silences. He never tells us that one of the schemes is to make a 
reservoir a little above Philse, thus saving at least that precious island. 
He will not contemplate the feasibility of making several small 
reservoirs, thus obviating the risk of one great dam, where an accident 
might entail a devastation of all the country. He will not tell us 
definitely the objections to the Wady Eayan scheme, but puts us off 
with vague generalities. 

Why, then, is he so positive that one scheme, and one only, is 
practically possible ? Simply because he is convinced that it will 
cost less, and so much less that any other plan must be considered 
extravagant, and a mere expensive luxury to be paid for by any 
sentimental objectors on the ground of archaeology. Now, in the 
first place, we cannot be sure that he has correctly estimated the cost 
of the dam at Philse. He has said nothing about the indemnity 
required for the homeless Nubians ; he has said nothing about the 
yearly loss to Upper Egypt and Nubia from the disappearance of 
tourists. Mr. Cook could doubtless tell us how many thousands 
sterling are involved in this latter item. Probably the loss would 
not be less than one million when capitalised. Although, therefore, 
Mr. Willcocks's scheme is called the cheapest, it may possibly be" the 
dearest, even in actual outlay of cash. But even on Sir Benjamin 
Baker's statement, even if the dam below PhilsB be the cheapest plan, 
let us count the cost of its cheapness. If the gain to Lower Egypt is 
indeed, according to his figures, to be nearly 10,000,000i. per annum, 
would it not be quite reasonable for the country to pay a single half- 
year of this profit to save its temples, and to avoid disturbing the 
Nubian population ? If these poor people are as fond of their homes 
as other nations, the hardship of having these homes put under 
water to make people 500 miles off richer is surely a grave objection. 
If 5,000,000i. would avoid this cruelty and save the sentimental 
primacy of Egypt, is it reasonable to say that Egypt must not pay it, 
and we must subscribe to support our fads? To say that the natives 
do not care about such things and therefore would not pay for them, 
is only to put them on a level with the engineers who can see no 



1016 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY June 

value in antiquities except as vast masses of stone to be hoisted into 
the air as a display of modem science (p. 87 1). Among intelligent and 
civilised people, the answer could hardly be doubtful. As Sir Benjamin 
Baker uses an illustration from imaginary English circimistances, so 
shall I. Supposing the water supply of London, though sufficient, 
was such that people were ready to pay for twice as much water, and 
so the engineers declared (in the interests of their profession or of a 
company) that a great new reservoir was * absolutely necessary,' and 
one plan was to dam up the Thames, so as to submerge all its valley 
as far up as Oxford, including Magdalen College, which lies close to 
the river — supposing an alternative were proposed, which could be 
carried out at the increased cost of six months income of the expected 
profit, and which would save all the vaUey with its villages, its 
churches, and Magdalen College, would anyone in the nation, except 
an engineer who loved a dam more than a mediaeval college, hesitate? 
We argue, then, that the Kalabsheh dam, or the Wady Sayan scheme, 
even if costing five millions more than the other alternative, would 
be for the best, and in the highest sense the cheapest, for the country. 
But Sir Benjamin Baker leads us to believe, by his use of the word 
vmpossible, that the difiference in cost is out of all proportion. Now, 
will the reader consider the following figures, copied for me by a 
friend from Mr. Willcocks's report. They are the estimated cost of 
all the alternatives. 

If the dam were constructed at Silsileh . . 1,650,000/. 

Below Philse 1,400,000/. 

Just above Philse 1,750,000/. 

Kalabsheh (50 miles above Philae) . . . 1,600,000/. 

The difiference of cost is therefore not worth mentioning. What, 
then, can have possessed Sir Benjamin Baker to call U the schemes 
but his own impossible ? 

For instance, the Kalabsheh scheme, which Mr. Willcocks reports 
as estimated at l,600,000i., is declared (p. 867) * absolutely impossible 
on financial grounds alone ' as against the scheme which the same 
authority estimates at l,400,000i. Surely here his fancies have 
completely overriden his facts. Doubtless, an engineer has senti- 
ment, though of a very peculiar sort. There must be engineering 
beauties or difficulties in one scheme, as compared with another of 
nearly the same cost, which make him declare the one perfect and 
the other abominable. Sir Benjamin Baker and his Commission must 
have fancies like these, which they cannot justify by their own figures. 
Naturam expdlas furca, tamen usque recurret. But is the techni- 
cal sentimentality of the engineer to override the archaeological and 
artistic sentiments of the mass of cultivated men ? 

Still worse is the greed of the financier, or his longing to show 
an increased surplus in the Egyptian revenue, which overrides all 
other views of the well-being and civilisation of the country. Is it 



1894 THE PROPOSED NILE RESERVOIR 1017 

certain that the people would be happy if the shadoof and sakya 
were abolished, and water sold to them at their doors by a native 
official ? Is it certain that the water of the Nile, cleared of its 
deposit by standing in huge reservoirs, will not lose a large part of its 
fertilising qualities? Are not great experts, like Colonel Eoss, 
opposed to the scheme ? 

If a clear and unbiassed discussion were indeed desired, such 
points should be fully and carefully argued. But our author, whose 
abilities certainly do not appear in the field of controversy, * lets the 
cat out of the bag ' for us on this point also. 

Lord Cromer (he tells us, p. 870), Sir Edwin Palmer, and others, &c., can and 
will do the work, in spite of all opposition, but will look for, and doubtless obtain, the 
encouragement and support of the Home Government and of every well-wisher of 
Egypt in this country. 

This can only be described as the language of a set of buUies who 
have determined upon an act of tyranny, yet are afraid of public 
criticism. They know perfectly well that almost every well-wisher of 
Egypt in this country is against them. The Home Government will 
probably regard the question simply from its political side, and 
will be otherwise indififerent. Only the sordid interests of speculators, 
of greedy financiers, the hopes of contractors, and the curiosity of 
constructors may be with them ; they will never gain over enlightened 
public opinion. They may dam up the Nile, but they will not dam'up 
public indignation; they may submerge the most beautiful and 
historic island in the world, but they will not choke the love of the 
beautiful in the hearts of civilised men — a treasure which no^dams 
can satisfy. They may pretend that they wiU hoist into the air acres 
of temples, a scheme perhaps as visionary as many ,other more 
reasonable engineering schemes ; they will succeed in hoisting them- 
selves into a pillory of public and lasting obloquy. 

The claims of the valley of the Nile upon the sympathies of the 
civilised world, and its importance as compared with the valley of the 
Indus, or any other river, are of historic importance. The love oV 
history, the care of historical monuments, is one of the main evidences 
of civilisation as contrasted with barbarism, which only comprehends 
the present and its material interests. It is in the nature of money 
speculations to lead back even intelligent and well-bred men from 
the spiritual civilisation which their fathers have acquired into the 
spiritual barbarism from which their ancestors have escaped. The vice 
of exclusive devotion to finance has infected the whole administration 
of Egypt, since the departure of the one financier who adds to his spe- 
cial genius for dealing with money an enlightened interest in higher 
things. Therefore, when Sir Benjamin Baker tells us in conclusion 
* that the whole question may safely be left in the hands of our able 
and tried representatives in Egypt,' he asks us to do what the recent 
Vol. XXXV— No. 208 Vt 



1018 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY June 

history of Egypt commands ns to refuse. Lord Cromer and his col- 
leagues have proved over and over again that, in questions concerning 
the antiquities of Egypt, they are the very last people to be trusted. 
They have either openly expressed their contempt for this department 
of Egyptian wealth, or they have used it as a sop to humour the 
sensibilities of the French, whom they desired to oust from other 
departments. They have surrendered the whole charge of the 
antiquities to the French exclusively, so much so that an Englishman, 
desiring to excavate at his own cost, has to seek permission from a 
Frenchman in Egypt. They have long neglected to extend police 
control to the care of tombs and temples, which are being ravaged by 
natives and dealers without let or hindrance. They have hitherto 
omitted to find a safe housing for the vast treasures now in danger 
of destruction at Gizeh. On every question concerning antiquities 
they have shown themselves .either utterly careless or utterly weak. 
And yet these are the men in whose hands we may safely leave the 
present problem ! 

Sir B. Baker, at all events, has not supplied us with a single 
shred of good argument in favour of the proposed scheme. Perhaps 
there g,re other and better reasons for the proposal. If so, let them 
be produced and subjected to an unbiassed discussion before the com- 
mission of what now appears to be a giiBat crime. 

J. P. Mahaffy. 



1894 1019 



THE PROPOSED NILE RESERVOIR 

II 

THE SUBMERGENCE OF PHIL^E 

Some years ago an opportunity was afiforded me, in the pages of this 
Eeview, of calling attention to the destruction that menaced the 
Arab monuments of Egypt. It would be out of place at the present 
moment to reopen that discussion except in so far as it bears upon 
the question of the preservation of the monuments of Ancient Egypt. 

Less fragile than the graceful structures that adorn the modem 
cities of the East, these monuments afiford, with their inscriptions, a 
lasting record of a bygone civilisation such as no other country in 
the world has yielded. At the period referred to it was generally 
believed that the temples of Ancient Egypt were safe in the custody 
of the eminent men entrusted with their safety and preservation. 
It is only lately that the decay inseparable from the work of human 
hands has attracted the attention of the guardians appointed to pro- 
tect these precious relics. A society has been formed, at the sug- 
gestion of Mr, E. J. Poynter, E.A., now Director of the National 
Gallery, for the special purpose indicated by its name — The Society 
for the Protection of the Monuments of Ancient Egypt. In hia 
capacity of honorary secretary, Mr. Poynter has worked with un- 
remitting zeal in conjunction with his colleagues, among whom may 
be reckoned several eminent engineers, with the view of securing the 
objects of the society. Their exertions have, in several instances, 
been crowned with success. The steps that are being taken for the 
preservation of the great temple at Kamac will, it is hoped, arrest 
the disintegration that threatens the columns of the Great Hall, and 
at Abou-Simbel the Egyptian Government has, at the instigation of 
the society, adopted measures which will protect the temple from a 
serious danger to which it was exposed. It will readily be believed 
that the society received with consternation the news that the beau- 
tiful island of Philae, with its group of temples — ^that gem of the 
Nile which, for a century at least, has won the admiration of every 
traveller — ^is menaced with destruction. 

The Technical Commission on the question of reservoirs have 

3 t 2 



1020 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY June 

expressed their unanimous opinion that a reservoir should be con- 
structed in the Nile VaUey, rejecting the Wady Eayan project as 
being too costly; but, after examining the various projects, they 
disagree as to the one most suitable for adoption. Sir Benjamin 
Baker and Signor Torricelli are decidedly in favour of the dam at 
Assouan. M. Boule, the third member of the commission, rejects 
the Assouan scheme, on account of its interference with PhilsB and 
its temples. 

It would be impossible within reasonable limits to enter at 
length into a discussion upon the diflferent phases of a difficult and 
intricate question, but Sir Benjamin Baker, whose opinion on the 
engineering features of the case I should be the last to challenge, 
leaves the opponents of the scheme no alternative but to reply. It 
is hardly necessary to say that any question involving the welfare of 
the Egyptian people is deserving of our most anxious consideration* 
The point where we are at issue is the manner in which that desirable 
end is to be attained. 

Sir Benjamin Baker rests his arguments a good deal upon the 
belief that the people of Egypt are profoundly indififerent to the 
preservation of monuments belonging to an age too remote to appeal 
directly to their understanding ; but surely this is an argument that 
cuts both ways. It is usually regarded as a function of a protecting 
Government to foster every civilising agent that would promote the 
welfare of the people. It is true that he ofifers as a solatium the 
prospect of more abundant crops, but under a wise and honest 
system of government, the reverse of that under which the native 
inhabitants have so long groaned, they would still have enough to 
render them the envy of many nations less favoured by nature so far 
as the resources of their country are concerned. 

The surpassing beauty of the spot and its surroundings have 
perhaps thrown into the shade other aspects of the question of 
even greater importance than the threatened submersion of Philae. 
A letter addressed to the Society of Antiquaries by Mr. Somers 
Clarke calls attention to the disastrous consequences that would 
ensue if ever this gigantic scheme were carried into eflFect. The 
summary inserted in the Times of the 13th of April would be too 
long for insertion here, but a brief extract may help to prove that it 
is not only from a sentimental point of view that the question should 
be regarded. Mr. Somers Clarke writes : 

The irrigation engineers have recommended a vast reservoir, the base of which 
would be formed by a dam placed at a short distance below the island of Philte. 
The dam will create a reservoir of enormous extent, not only drowning the island 
of Philae but extending southwards into Nubia for nearly a hundred miles. When 
full the waters of the reservoir will rise several feet above the highest level of the 
pylon of the Temple of Isis at Philae. The rocks surrounding the island are full of 
Jkieroglfpbic iDscnptiona; these will spend many months under water, and there 
isj-et much to be diBcorered in the immediate neigh\)OMc\ioo^. • . • 



1894 THE SUBMERGENCE OF PHILjE 1021 

It may be mentioned in passing that the Temple of Isis is 
adorned with painted columns, the preservation of which is a marvel, 
considering the age of their construction, Eich harmonies in gr^en 
and blue, relieved in places by bands of red — colours which the lapse 
of ages has left almost untouched — will be left to moulder in the 
waste of waters by which they will be submerged. 

Mr. Somers Clarke mentions other structures which would be 
destroyed, including a Ptolemaic temple at Debot, retaining its 
original girdle wall, and Gertasseh, a small hypsethral temple of great 
beauty and in fair preservation, and the most magnificent temple to 
be found in Lower Nubia, at Kalabsheh — all to be submerged, and 
the inhabitants transported he knows not whither. 

The concluding passage refers to a matter that seems hitherto 
not to have been fully considered. How are the unfortunate inhabi- 
tants to be compensated for the discomfort and privations which no 
pecuniary reward can adequately allay ? 

The promoters of * the biggest thing in the world ' and their 
underlings will doubtless reap a rich harvest. Undisturbed by the 
adverse criticism of * mere sentimentalists,' which they can afiford to 
despise, they will embark with a light heart in a scheme that will 
earn for us the just reprobation of the whole civilised world. 

As an instance of the petitio principii which it would be hard to 
match. Sir Benjamin Baker dogmatically asserts that, no other site 
being available, the thing must be done. When railways were 
first introduced into Eussia it was represented to the Tzar Nicholas 
that a certain projected line should be made to deviate from its 
intended course in order to avoid injury to some valuable property, 
upon which H. I, M, called for a rule and drew a straight line from> 
point to point, saying, * That is the direction the line must take. 
This is the autocratic tone adopted by the English Commissioner 
with regard to the island of Philse. Frenchmen may exclaim, rien 
n^est 8acr4 pour le aapeur. 

Mr. Heathcote Statham, the editor of the Builder , aUuding to 
the proposal to meet the case by removing these temples to a neigh- 
bouring island, writes : 

The mere fact that such a proposal should have been made only shows how 
totally impossible it is for engineers to understand the architectural aspect of the 
subject. 

In the same connection Mr. Cecil Ton says : 

The temples at Philas were designed for the island. They follow the curves 
of the shore and the undulations of the ground in consummate harmony with 
every feature of the landscape. Put them on another site and all this beauty is 
destroyed. 

It has been the custom with a cert^aiiL A^sse* q1 ^itOcfifcOss^s^^^^*^ 
underrate the Ptolemaic temples o? "Egj^^ cm. >3cl^ ^cs^qs^-^'v^^-.^''®^'^ 



1022 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY June 

comparatively modem, they must necesEarily represent a debased 
period of art, an opinion that I must distinctly traverse. Greek 
influence has imposed a certain grace of line into their^contour that 
more than compensates for the absence of the massiveness which 
characterises the earlier periods of Egyptian architecture. The fact, 
moreover, that they form a link in the chain that marks their evolu- 
tion and transition confers upon them a peculiar interest and renders 
it all the more imperative that their preservation should be de- 
manded and insisted upon. Eager to seize upon any plea that might 
seem to fEivour their designs, these iconoclasts seek to minimise the 
gain to humanity and true civiUsation offered to the world by these 
splendid monuments, and measure their enterprise by its bigness 
rather than by any inherent merit it may possess. 

It is difficult to believe that Sir Benjamin Baker can be in earnest 
when he suggests that the temples at Phil» might be raised above 
the water level, a feat which he says could be accomplished without 
injury to a single stone* Yet he insists upon this monstrous proposal 
in terms that are calculated to appeal to the uncultivated taste of 
such of his countrymen as would regard this tour de force in the 
same light as an exhibition of strength by an acrobat at the 
Aquarium. Granting that this treatment of the ruins were capable 
of achievement, what are the conditions under which they would 
be seen ? Perhaps the best way of answering thi^ question will be 
to quote Sir Benjamin Baker's own words : 

When raised (he says), the ruins surely must be of greater interest to. any in- 
tellectual tourist than before. Half of the wonder and admiration excited by the 
monumental works of Ancient Egypt arises firom the magnitude of the masses 
. handled and transported by the old Egyptians rather than from their artistic merit. 
It would be in accord, therefore, with the spirit of the surroundings if EnglUh 
engineers raised tens of thousands of tons where the Egyptians raised hwadreds} 

It would be difficult to find words to characterise the absurdity of 
this statement. Has Sir Benjamin Baker ever condescended to read 
any of the books descriptive of the temples of Egypt : the great 
work published under the auspices of Napoleon ; in Germany, Lepsius 
and Ebers ; in our own country. Sir Gardner Wilkinson and Flinders 
Petrie, and many others ? Did these men find nothing to admire in 
the Great Hall at Kamac, the temple of Luxor, or the wonderful and 
awe-inspiring Abou-Simbel beyond their measurement and weight ? 
Even a visit to our British Museum would suffice to dispel the illusion 
that size is the chief element in the grandeur of the Egyptian monu- 
ments. Then we are told that from the artistic point of view the 
appearance of Philae would be enhanced because the temples would 
rise out of a wide placid lake instead of appearing in a hollow ! 

If, with the permission of Sir Edward Watkin, Sir Benjamin 
Baker were to conceive the plan of transporting Stonehenge to the 

* The italics are my cwik ^ 



1894 TEE SUBMERGENCE OF PEIL^ 1023 

summit of Snowdon in order to make room for some projected railway, 
it would scarcely surpass in extravagance the project of hoisting up 
the temples. The Cook's tourist credited with the exclamation * How 
wonderful ! ' would, it is likely enough, return to his steamer dazzled 
by the magnitude of this engineering feat, but possibly it might fail 
to excite the enthusiasm of a class of travellers who would regard 
these precious relics from a different standpoint. 

Passing to the practical consideration of the comparative sites that 
have been suggested for the reservoirs, Sir Benjamin informs us that: 

The Goyemment engineers submitted four projects to the Commission ; but, 
reading between the lines, it was clear enough that they had little confidence 
themselves in the practicability of three out of the four plans, and they expressly 
threw the final responsibility of the rejection upon the Commission, 

Now it is not for me to dispute the faculty claimed by Sir Benjamin 
Baker of reading between the lines, but it is unfortunate that we are 
not in possession of the causes of this want of confidence. This im- 
portant factor in the consideration of the question is passed over 
lightly, as if it were self-evident. We are not, for instance, clearly 
informed of the reasons for rejecting Mr. Cape Whitehouse's * brilliant 
and original suggestion' in favour of the Wadi Eayan reservoir, 
except on the ground of expense and certain elements of doubt as 
regards the supply of water and the effects of percolation. The second 
Grovernment project was that of a dam at Gebel Silsila, where the rock 
was found to be of inferior sandstone with bands of clay. This scheme 
appears to have been rejected on more substantial grounds, but 
neither of the above schemes would interfere with the monuments. 
The next project was for a dam at Kalabsheh, which it was admitted 
had many advantages, but was rejected on financial grounds in 
favour of the only other alternative, the selection, namely, of the 
Philse dam. Here M. Boul6, the French Commissioner, diverged 
from the^ opinion of his colleagues on the ground that it would involve 
the injury or destruction of the temples at Philae. This demurrer^ 
• redounding as it does to his honour, is a feir index of the reception 
that will assuredly be accorded to the scheme in France and on the 
Continent generally. 

Now the objections raised to the first three projects on the ground 
of expense would equally, or perhaps in a greater measure, apply to 
the Philse scheme when, coupled with the compensation to the 
inhabitants of the flooded districts we add the cost of raising or re " 
moving the temples — an item the expense of which is only approxi- 
mately stated. With regard to the suggestion that the temples 
might be raised so as to dominate the great mass of water intended 
to be accumulated above the dam, the question arises. What would be 
the aspect of these buildings at certain seasons, with the river at its 
normal level ? How would the intervening ^^^jci^^ \i^ ^iJ^^^s^"^. Viso 
present, resting on their natmaV \ev^\, XXie^ %Sl«^ %\jc>rw«. "cs^^ ^^jrt^ 



1024 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY June 

• 

constitute a natural framework to these beautiful ruins. The palm 
trees — some of the finest of which have, I regret to say, already been 
ruthlessly destroyed — would, of course, perish. The acacia bushes 
which fringe the shore would suffer the same fate, and the temples 
would rise in their naked baldness and present a spectacle so ridiculous 
that their greatest admirers would rather see them totally submerged. 
No assurance on the part of the British Commissioner that the 
Temple of Isis, with its frescoed columns, could be raised without 
injury, will suffice to allay our anxiety on this score. The stones 
might be raised with safety, but the plaster upon which the colours 
are laid would infallibly crack and perish. 

Sir Benjamin Baker may rest assured that a large number of our 
countrymen who hitherto have viewed the occupation of Egypt with 
satisfaction would regard it in a very different light if it involved 
the destruction of any important monument ; and while the question 
is still trembling in the balance, it behoves all who desire to maintain 
our position in that country to raise their voices in condemnation of 
such a scheme. Mr. Gastin, the Under Secretary of State, is, we are 
assured, strongly in favour of saving Philse, if this can be done con- 
sistently with the plan of constructing a dam * on a spot best calcu- 
lated to serve the interests of the country,' and we might find comfort 
in this assurance were it not vitiated by the fact that he favoured the 
scheme of removing the temples to a neighbouring island — meaning 
probably Biggeh. But this project seems now to have been abandoned 
in favour of the equally fantastic plan of raising the temples to a 
higher level — a choice of evils with which we need not trouble our- 
selves, seeing that either plan would be preposterous. 

Nothing could be more infelicitous than the holding up of the 
present condition of Rome as an example and a justification of the 
proceedings that threaten to injure or destroy some of the monuments 
of Ancient Egypt. * Two blacks do not make a white,' and if the 
Italians of the present day think proper to deface their capital by 
' improvements ' tending to reduce it to a commonplace modem city,« 
it is an example to be avoided rather than copied. It should, how- 
ever, be noted to the credit of the Italian Government that the anti- 
quities have as far as possible been spared, so that, although the 
picturesque element is missing, the archaeologist has little to com- 
plain of. 

That art and engineering have not always been divorced is evi- 
denced in the structures of ancient Some, and, later, the period of the 
Eenaissance affords examples, especially in Italy, of what their com- 
bined forces have been able to achieve. The dark cloud that now 
obscures the beauty and interest of modem £ome, the utter taste- 
lessness that pervades most of the so-called improvements that render 
a visit to the sacred city a source of regret to the traveller who knew 
her before this relapse into barbarism — all this is held up to us as an 



1894 THE 8UBMER0ENCE OF PHIL^ 1025 

excuse for the drowning of a vast tract of country in Nubia, culmi- 
nating in the submersion and, ipso facto, the destruction of the 
island of Philae. 

Sir Benjamin Baker takes exception to the term Vandalism in 
connection with the proposed destruction of Philse. It must be 
admitted that the comparison is hard upon the Vandals, who, after 
all, were simply barbarians let loose upon the world in search of loot ; 
while the modem engineers, with all the advantages of education 
and culture, seem to think that the world was created solely as a field 
for their enterprise and for opportunities of gain. This is apparent in 
the suggestions they oflfer us in compensation for the injury they 
would inflict upon places hallowed by association, and monuments 
which reflect the mind that conceived them. Absolutely without the 
religio lod, so important an element in the appreciation of architec- 
ture, the promoters of this scheme seek to satisfy us by promises the 
performance of which would either prove abortive or result in a great 
sham that would render us the laughing-stock of civilised Europe. 
Fortunately, the Commissioners are not the final arbiters on this ques- 
tion. The ultimate decision rests with higher powers, who, it is to 
be hoped, will not hesitate to condemn a project that would be a 
stigma upon the British occupation of Egypt. 

Frank Dillon. 



1026 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY June 



THE EVICTED TENANTS BILL 



An article on this subject has recently appeared in this Beview from 
the pen of Mr. Michael Davitt. Other Eeviews have also dealt with 
the subject before the Government Bill was published, but so far as 
I am aware there has been little or no public comment since the Bill 
has been printed and circulated. 

Moreover, the articles I have seen have approached the matter 
rather from the points of view of the political partisans on either 
side. My attitude is somewhat different. I approach the subject 
from an Irish point of view, disregarding party considerations. I 
shaU try, moreover, to treat it without any landlord bias, and espe- 
cially at the outset I wish to disclaim any sympathy with the vin- 
dictive feelings imputed (though I am sure in the great majority 
of cases unfairly) to the landlords affected. I heartily endorse every 
word quoted by Mr. Morley from Mr. Balfour's speech in 1891, on 
the 13th clause of the Act of that year : — 

And for my own part, if I were an Irish landlord, even if it were not wholly to 
my own personal and pecuniary interest, I should desire to restore peace to that part 
of the country in which my property was situated, and to see that on fair, equitable, 
and even generous terms the tenants were restored to their ancient homes. 

Such vindictive feelings, operating as a bar to reinstatement of 
solvent tenants, I believe to be quite exceptional, though landlords 
who have been attacked by * the Plan ' would be more than human 
if they felt very charitably disposed even towards the tools of that 
conspiracy. But it would be wiser, in my opinion, to afford a locus 
poenitentice even to the ringleaders, if solvent, or capable by any 
means of retrieving their character and position. 

Another argument I wish to repudiate is that of draining the 
Land League funds, which is not only, in my opinion, an unworthy, 
but a most misleading one ; for had it not been for the split among 
the Nationalists, I am satisfied that an appeal for the evicted tenants 
would have brought more money from America and Australia than 
would have sufficed to carry on the war on the campaign estates. 
And though the continuance of the split gives the argument a cer- 
tain tactical importance for the time which politicians cannot ignore, 
jt 18 not one which a statesman desiring the pacification of the 

'-^ can avow or on which lie can greatly ie\y. 



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FREDERIC CHAPMAN. 
Born November 15th, 1823 ; died March Ist, 1891 

Tt is v^h great regret that we announce to our readerjfthe death of 
Mr. FreSaric Chapman, the managing Director of Mjlfesrs. Chapman 
And Hall,li|imited, proprietors of the Fortnightly^eview. 

Mr. Chapman was the popular centre of a wid^ circle of friends 
And acquainta!^es, literary, artistic, and sogral; and the news 
<of his somewhat unexpected death on the USt of last month has 
been received with wide-spread sympatkly and sorrow. His 
death breaks a link with the literary n|rat. He was one of the 
diminishing company of those who had JSeen in personal touch with 
the great writers of the early and m^dle Victorian period, with 
Thackeray and Dickens and Thoma/Carlyle, with both the Lord 
Lyttons, Anthony TroUope, Xaixn J^rster, the Brownings, Harrison 
Ainsworth, Charles Lever and ^jpyte Melville ; with all of these 
men he was on terms of cordyA {nf^rsonal acquaintanceship and of 
jsome he was the life-long friend. \ 

No man possesses a host j^ friends ^tmd well- wishers, high placed 
and low, without some ra^B and generotifi qualities of his own, and 
Mr. Chapman was a maiL^of a hearty and i^st companionable nature, 
who under the thin disgfise of an incisive mlmner, which imposed on 
no one, hid a fund of Uncommon kindliness and geniality. 

Frederic Chapman was born at Hitchin, in Pertfordshire, in the 
liouse that once belonged to his ancestor Gd^rge Chapman, the 
Elizabethan drapfatist and translator of Homer.\ Of the famous 
Elizabethan Mnr Frederic Chapman was the lineal descendant. He 
was thus a coipitryman born and bred, and fond o?\ country ways. 
He was a fiw shot and a straight rider, and all his^.life long he 
delighted jb. rural life, but his country breeding did tlot stand in 
the way or a very busy London career. In early manhood he went 
into th^ublishing house of Messrs. Chapman and Hall, ^ cousin, 
Mr. Ed/ward Chapman, being then the leading member of th% house 
whicVsoon became famous through its connection with Dickens, 
Carljle, and other eminent writers. Li 1864, he became the \ead 
of me firm. Li 1880, the business 'waa coa^et^^dL \xjL\a ^ \l>5sSNi5k^ 
Lidbilitjr Company. 
VOL. LVll. N.8.- o o 



\ 



I 



THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 

The performance of what threatens to become the annual pantomime 
at Cairo, in which the Khedive Abbas and the British authorities play 
their accustomed^ parts with the ease and grace of practised actors, 
while the well-trained press and telegraphic claqiie applaud or hoot 
the right persons at the right times without any hitch, has one dis- 
tinct advantage — it calls the attention of people in this country to 
what is going on in Egypt. In former years the attention thus 
arrested and bestowed has been fleeting, but this year it has the 
appearance of being more permanent. The press, in its monthly, 
weekly, and daily productions, has this year devoted more time to 
the state and condition of Egypt than it has done for many years 
past, and there are healthy symptoms that its views on the subject 
are more independent than they were formerly, and that they are 
founded on knowledge drawn from other than purely official sources. 
The general idea expressed up to the present time has been one of 
smug content at the great success that has attended Great Britain's 
unselfish and almost heroic efforts for the benefit of the fellaheen, 
with a half-pious, half-contemptuous regret that these latter are too 
benighted to realise the solid advantages they have gained, and too 
degraded to recognise the altruistic motives of their great bene- 
factor. This year an uneasy feeling of doubt seems to be disturbing 
these pleasant dreams, and hints as to the failure of the British 
occupation in Egypt are freely expressed by many of our instructors 
in the press. 

The word " failure" has an ugly sound, and when applied to the 
enterprise of a great Power should not be used lightly. Popular 
opinion has a tendency to rush to extremes, and if on any 
subject opinion has been for a time too favourable, it has a habit 
of becoming for another period too unfavourable. The question 
as to whether the occupation of Egypt by Great Britain has 
proved a success or a failure depends mainly on the object the 
Qt)vemment yoljhe country had in view when the occupation was 
.dfii»d©d^QiL-^If, for instance, the object was merely to restore order, 
save the country from bankruptcy, and establish financial credit 
on a firm basis, there cannot be the shadow of a doubt that the 
results of the occupation have been as successful as they possibly 
could be. If, on the other hand, the object was not only this, but 
also to teach the Egyptians the art of self-government, and so to 
manage their affairs that they might recognise and appreciate the 
advantages of a civilised form of government, and learn to hate and 



THE SITUATION IK EGYPT. 511 

despise the semi-civiHsed government under which they had lived 
from tim e immemorial^ the result is undoubtedly a failure. 



One grave mistake which, in my opinion, has been made by those 
who are responsible for the administration of ajBEairs in Egypt dur- 
ing the last twelve years, has been their evident distrust and fear 
of pubHc opinion in this country, and their dread of a discussion on 
Egyptian matters in the House of Commons. Public opinion, 
doubtless, often, for a time at least, goes wrong, and debates in the 
House of Commons on foreign or colonial affairs do not attain to the 
high level they used to in times past, and may occasionally be pro- 
ductive of mischief ; but still Parliament is responsible for whatever 
is done in the name of Great Britain at home and abroad, and the 
only power beyond and behind Parliament is public opinion, and it 
is essential that both should be fully, and not partially, informed on 
all matters done on their responsibility. This is not, I know, the 
official view in many quarters. Well-informed and thoroughly 
capable officials have a not unnatural contempt for the ignorance of 
matters with which they themselves are well acquainted, displayed 
by a large majority of the members of the House of Commons. They 
are experts, and the representatives of the people are not, and it 
would be absurd to expect them to be such. But it is for the experts 
to give all the information they possess, ^ and then to leave the 
responsibility of decision with those who are elected to bear it. All 
ledgers have two sides, but in Egyptian affairs connected with the 
British occupation, the aim hitherto has been to let the general public 
and Parliament see the credit side only. 

The credit side is certainly one of which no nation need be 
ashamed. In 1882 the country was in a state of anarchy and 
impending bankruptcy, and the intervention of Great Britain 
restored law and order, and under the British occupation baiikruptcy 
has been averted and the finances placed on a sound and healthy 
basis. At the time of reconstruction, in 1883 and 1884, this country 
and Egypt were most fortunate in being able to avail themselves of 
the services of one of the ablest financiers and administrators of the 
day, then Sir Evelyn Baring, now Lord Cromer. He not only 
restored equilibrium in the finances, but, by his far-sighted financial 
policy, has permanently increased the wealth of the country. In 
futuroiimfisjhe chief ^ monuments of. Lord Cromer's administration 
^pR^ypf ^^Tn;rii|T^n7^?^^ the Barrage, and it is one of 

which any Administrator may well feel proud. The credit of over- 
coming the enormous engineering difficulties is entirely due to Sir 
Colin Scott Moncrieff, but Sir Colin would never have had the 
chance of overcoming them had it not been for the foresight and 
firmness of Lord Cromer. He saw the financial advantages of the 
scheme, and provided the necessary funds at a time when it was 

oo2 



612 THE SITUATION IK EGYPT. 

. most difficult to procure them. When Egypt appeared almost 
crushed under the weight of her debt, and when a new loan was 
absolutely necessary to pay the Alexandrian indemnities and other 
pressing claims, he insisted firmly on the loan being so increased 
that the completion of the Barrage, which had hitherto been 
despaired of, should be made a certainty. It has been completed, 
and it is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the benefits its 
completion has conferred upon Egypt.___Itha8j3jarfiJtfe^3L_ doubled 
the q uantity of pround dft yn tfid t^ th** c^ TtiYat iftT Jl .?£i*2!!!^^ ] aS3 
had it not been for this, Egypt, in consequence of the enormous 
decline in the price of cotton, might again this year have been in 
serious financial difficulties. It has already added largely to the 
wealth of the country, and, with the new reservoirs which are con- 
templated and the new system of irrigation, it is certain that that 
wealth will be greatly increased. 

In addition to this the good work commenced under the dual con- 
trol of England and France, of levying the taxes fairly, and of 
adapting the collection of them to the convenience of the peasants 
who have to pay them, and of abolishing the corvee and the use of 
the courbash, has been successfully qarried out. A new and well- 
equipped and well-drilled army has been formed under Sir Francis 
Grenfell, and has been kept up under Sir Herbert Kitchener. The 
police have been re-organized, and though the re-organization may 
not have been so successful as the formation of the new army, the 
re-organized force is a great improvement upon that which existed 
prior to 1882. The conditions of the prisons have been greatly 
improved imder the supervision of Dr. Crookshanks, and efibrts have 
been made, though not with sufficient zeal and energy, to amend the 
administration of justice. The management of the street traffic in 
the few towns is greatly ameliorated. The helter-skelter fashion in 
which vehicles used to rush about without any attention to the rules 
of the road, is stopped^ and in Cairo itself the traffic is really better 
controlled than it is in Paris, and almost as well as it is in London. All 
the towns have thriven under British protection. In Cairo, house 
building has progressed at a greater rate comparatively than in any 
European capital, during the last twelve years, and the magnificent 
new hotels and splendid buildings, with good shops on the ground 
floors and superb suites of apartments in the upper stories, bear 
ample testimony to the increased prosperity of the city. As to the 
Egyptians generally, a highly educated and well-informed Egyptian, 
whose whole life has been passed in Egypt, and who knows the coun- 
try districts as well as the towns, said to me some little time ago, 
'^ that never since Egypt was a nation had the people been so pros- 
perous or enjoyed such liberty and personal freedom as they had 
done, and did under this British occupation ; in fact,'' he added, as 



THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 613 

though it was a thing unheard of, which it is in the East, " every- 
body can do what he likes and go where he wishes, without fear of 
being stopped at every turn by some official." 

The advantages which all the inhabitants of Egypt have gained, 
and are now enjoying, under and by reason of the British occupa- 
tion are enormous, and the credit side of the ledger stands very well 
for Great Britain, and to the uninitiated the one cause of wonder is 
that the Egyptians still are not happy, but hate their benefactors. 
That they do so there seems little doubt. I do not think the fellaheen 
in the villages do; and were the matter placed before them in a 
manner which they could understand, whether they would prefer the 
British occupation with the lives they have led for the past twelve 
years, or the Khedivial or Vice-regal Government of the years before, 
they would at once pronounce in favour of the continuance of the 
occupation. But the natives in the towns, according to the able 
special correspondent the Times has now in Egypt, and according to all 
I could learn myself, dislike the British more than ever. In Decem- 
ber last I noted down a conversation I had with the same Egyptian 
whose opinion on the prosperity of Egypt I have already mentioned. 
He said, in reply to a question I addressed to him, that the 
" English are simply detested by the natives." And when I asked 
him whether this had always been so, he replied, " No. It is chiefly 
since the accession of the present Khedive.*' 

** Why is it?'' I asked. 

*' Because the natives have begun to despise the English, and in 
this country contempt means hatred." 

** But why," I asked, " do the Egyptians despise us P" 

** Because they think you are weak. They see that the English 
authorities do not protect English interests, and that they do not 
ever stand by Egyptians who support them, and this they attribute 
to weakness. They see you give way to any pressure that may 
come from the young Khedive or the French, and this they put 
down to weakness, not to good nature, as you flatter yourselves. 
The Khedive has stuck to and rewarded his supporters, while the 
English Government have deserted theirs, and the natives think the 
Khedive powerful and the English weak. There are numbers of 
Egyptians who used to support the English who have now been to 
the Khedive, and on their knees asked his pardon for having done 
so, and they have promised never to do so again in future. Then," 
he adds, '' there is that terrible Besendila affair ! That has shaken 
the confidence of the natives in British honesty and straightforward- 
ness more than I can say. The outlook is very black, and it is all 
your own fault." 

This and other results may be accounted for by a glance at the 
debit side of the ledger. The chief item, however, which stands at 



514 THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 

the top is well known to the British public, though I doubt whether 
its grave and disastrous importance has ever been realised by them. 
It is the abandonment of the Soudan in 1884. This was the most 



se rious a nd most_fatal pj„ thfiLwany mistakes made by the Gladstone 
C abine tof 1880- 1885. Its results, up to the present time, have 
[been thethrowing back of vast provinces from a semi-civilised state 
[to a state of barbarism and anarchy, the sacrifice of over five mil- 
ions of lives, the waste of a vast amount of British and Egyptian 
oney, the total destruction of a trade lucrative to Egypt and Great 
ritain, and the imposing upon us the duty which must some day 
e performed of reconquering the country. In addition to this, it 
has created a new subject of contention and irritation between 
England and France. Lord Cromer at the time was the British 
Oonsul-General, but it is not fair to place the responsibility of the 
abandonment upon his shoulders. His first acquaintance with 
Egypt was in a financial capacity in 1877, and from that time to 
the time of his appointment as Consul- General in 1883, he had been 
employed solely in financial matters in Egypt and in India. To the 
financier the Soudan might well have appeared an expensive luxury, 
as the deficit it brought to Egypt was some £300,000 a year ; and as 
Lord Cromer was appointed Consul-General with a special view to 
re-organizing the finances of a country that then appeared to be in 
the throes of bankruptcy, it is no wonder that he acquiesced in, if 
he did not recommend, the abandonment policy in favour with Lord 
Granville and the British Cabinet. 

The blame is theirs, and what made their responsibility much 
greater was that the course was adopted in spite of all the best 
opinions on the subject being against it, including those of the 
Khedive Tewfik, the then leading ministers in Egypt, Sheriff', Riaz, 
Nubar Pashas, of Sir Samuel Baker, General Gordon, and of the able 
correspondent the Times then had in Egypt, Mr. Moberley Bell. That 
the Power that holds Cairo should also control Khartoum, was the 
maxim held by such Eastern statesmen as Mahomet Ali and Ismail 
Pasha, and it was recognised by all European statesmen as sound, and 
the non-recognition of this principle by us in 1884 has now rendered it 
incumbent upon us to restore the Soudan to Egypt before our occu- 
pation ceases. 

Though, however, the abandonment of the Soudan is the chief 
mark against Great Britain on the debtor's side of the ledger, it is 
not the one that has affected our popularity most. The memory of 
it may still rankle in the bosom of some of those who have guided 
Egypt's destinies in former times, but it cannot be said to affect the 
populace much. The items on this side of the book which have done 
most harm are the general weakness of our administration, and the 
cynical disregard it has displayed to the claims of justice and to the 



THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 615 

feeKngs of the natives, and the lack of poKtical foresight displayed in 
many matters, and especially in the management and arrangements 
of the different governmental departments. 

The opinion prevalent in England has been, and is, that the one 
element to be admired in onr administration of Egypt is its strength. 
Allusions are constantly made by apparently knowing journals to 
the iron hand and velvet glove, and whatever differences of opinion 
they may have had as to the material of which the glove was made, 
there has been none as to the composition of the hand. People 
in Egypt may not know much about the glove, but they will tell you 
that the hand that has ruled since the accession of the present 
Khedive is not one of iron, but one of potter's clay, which has been 
twisted into all kinds of shapes and contortions by the youthful 
Khedive and his playmates, as well as by the emissaries of France. 
The weakness on many occasions displayed in dealing with the 
Khedive and the French is almost incredible. The Khedive is a 
Turk, and it would be well if those who manage affairs in Egypt 
would act upon the principles laid down by Lord Palmerston, who 
was the best friend the Turks had in Europe. 

" The Turks," he said, "respect you according to their opinion of your /orce. 
If, however, you wish that force to have a permanent influence, and to be un- 
accompanied by dislike, you must blend its exercise with justice ; and if you 
wish to arrive at a quick result through- all that ambuscade of intrigue and 
doubts and fears and prejudices which will be sure to be secretly formed 
against it, you must tell the Turk what he is to do, why he is to do it, when he 
is to do it, and show him that you only ask quietly and reasonably what you 
have a right to demand. In this way and in this way alone will you do busi- 
ness with him. If he sees you act thus he will not only agree with you, but 
rely upon you." ^ 

What the Turks and the Egyptians expect is force and firmness. 
Weakness has been the characteristic of our dealings with the 
present Khedive. He was a mere boy when he came to the throne, 
and it was only right that he should have been treated, as he doubt- 
less was, with great kindness and consideration. But this treatment 
is not incompatible with firmness. The moment he kicked, he 
should have been firmly resisted, and he would not have kicked 
again. The bitter consequences of the British Government yielding 
to him, when he was allowed to dismiss Mustapha Pacha Fehmi, has 
been that all Ministers are afraid of supporting Great Britain, and 
the young Khedive has been encouraged to go on kicking for ever. 
Some people in Egypt think that the weakness displayed by Great 
Britain was part of a deep-laid Machiavelian scheme of giving the 
youthful ruler rope enough so that eventually he might utilise it. 
I am certain it was nothing of the sort. I think it was the result of 

^1) Viscount Falmeraton, K. 0, By the Marqxiis of Lome, K.G. Sampson Low & Co. 
P. 74. 



616 THE SITUATION IN EaYPT. 

a somewliat careless good nature. It was, and has proved itself to 
he, thoroughly misplaced kindness. Had the British Administration' 
acted in a statesman-like manner, they would have nipped the* 
nascent rebellion in the bud, insisted on all the Ministers they 
had appointed keeping their portfolios, and dismissed from the palace- 
all the evil counsellors who were trading upon the Khedive's youth 
and credulity. Instead of that, the Ministers friendly to us were 
dismissed, and the evil counsellors promoted and rewarded. The^ 
result of our weakness has been to create two distinct parties in 
Egypt — the Khedivial and the British ; and the Khedivial is far the- 
largest, and, as far as native support goes, the strongest. The 
natives have no course open to them but to support the Khedive 
against us. They have not forgotten how we deserted our allies in 
the Soudan, and especially at Dongola ; and when they are constantly 
hearing that people of authority in England consider the occupation 
as only temporary, and one which may be put an end to, a sense of 
self-preservation compels them to side with the Khedive. 

The weakness displayed by the British Administration in dealings 
with the French is even greater than that which it has showa 
in dealing with the Khedive. Great Britain is responsible for the 
government of Egypt, and it was by the expenditure of British 
money, and at the cost of British lives, that order was restored and i& 
maintained in the country, and yet it is France that reaps all the 
benefit ; and she only growls at us for letting her get it. All the 
departments are practically in French hands, though nominally at 
their head there may be British advisers. The most striking^ 
instance of this is the Contention, the legal department for conduct- 
ing the law cases of the Government, whose functions are very 
similar to those of our Attorney-General and the Solicitor to the 
Treasury combined. The three principal officials in the office are 
French Corsicans, and all the minor officials and clerks speak French, 
and the English language is never heard. British interests are often 
at stake in the law courts, and it may well be imagined what protec- 
tion they get from a department composed of such elements. The 
first patriotic duty of a Frenchman in Egypt, if not elsewhere, is to- 
be anti-English, and in Egypt the French are all earnest patriots. 
Is it any wonder that it is absolutely an impossibility for any English- 
man to obtain justice in Egypt P There is no doubt about the fact. 
A recent case is that of Mr. Fell ; and it is to be hoped that his case 
may draw attention sufficiently to the subject to render a radical 
reform necessary. 

Mr. Fell is a tramway contractor, carrying on business at Leam- 
ington, of which town he has been the mayor. He is a member of 
the National Liberal Club, a strong supporter of her Majesty^s 
present Government on all matters excepting those affecting Egypt,, 



THE SITUATION IK EGYPT. 517 

and has already stood as a Radical candidate for Parliamentary 
honours in one of the Worcestershire divisions. In 1890, he obtained 
a concession for constructing tramways in Egypt, which has since 
heen taken away from him and handed over to a Belgian Company, 
supported by French influence. Mr. Fell, with that faith in the 
law which is a distinguishing characteristic of our coimtrymen, 
brought an action against the Government for damages, and, as 
might have been anticipated by any one acquainted with Egyptian 
law suits, has lost it. Space prevents me entering into the merits 
of his case, and I only wish to call attention to two points in it as 
illustrating the mode of action of the ''Contention." 

One of the points in dispute was, whether an extension of time had 
been given to Mr. Fell, and to prove that it had he put in a letter 
of Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff, who was then the Under-Secretary of 
the Public Works Department. The letter was written on official 
paper from the proper office, but Sir Colin omitted to put under his 
signature his official description of Under-Secretary, and he also 
omitted to register the letter in some book kept at the office. The 
" Contention," acting for the Finance Department, at once took 
advantage of this omission of the Government's own official, and 
pleaded that the letter was not binding upon the Department, and the 
Mixed Courts have upheld the plea ! The pleasure to the French 
officials of seeing an English contractor hoist by a British petard and 
suffer because an English official, who had conferred the greatest 
benefits upon the country in whose service he was, had made a slight 
omission in signing a letter, may easily be imagined ! 

The other point was this : Mr. Fell, upon the granting of the 
concession, had deposited with the Finance Department unified 
bonds of the value of £2,200, to secure the sum of £2,000 which 
under the concession he was bound to deposit. When the conces- 
sion was finally withdrawn and, as the Finance Department con- 
tended, the £2,000 forfeited, Mr. Fell asked for the remaining £200, 
but he was told that the bonds had been sold on May the 12th, 1891, 
when they only realised £2,090, and that therefore, only £90 was 
due to him. This statement was made in the pleadings by the Con- 
tention, and yet the whole turns out to be a fabrication. The bonds 
had never been sold at all ! 

These are only specimens of what occurs in the Departments. 
I could mention many more if space allowed. Mr. Fell was so 
disgusted that he wrote to one of the English officials in the follow- 
ing epigrammatic language : " It is my misfortune to be an English- 
man. If I had been an Armenian, a Jew, a Corsican, a Greek, or 
anything else but an Englishman, there is not a man in your 
Government who would have dared to have done to me as they have 
done.'' The official to whom this letter was written admitted its 



518 THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 

correctness to me, and bitterly deplored the helpless condition in 
which commercial Englishmen found themselves in Egypt in com- 
parison with the men of business of other nations ; " but," he added, 
" what can you expect when all the departments — ^though some may 
have an Englishman as nominal head — are full of Frenchmen, or 
Copts and Syrians who know French, but who do not know English, 
and consequently always side with the French." 

Englishmen do not suffer at the hands of the Contention alone. 
It is the same in all departments. The fact that, out of the five 
millions spent upon railway plant since the occupation, only fifteen 
per cent, has found its way to British pockets, while seventy per 
cent, has been absorbed by France and Belgium, speaks volumes on 
the subject. Notwithstanding the number of new bridges that 
have been made, not one British tender has been accepted. The 
official answer to this is glibly given that all contracts are given to 
the lowest tenders. Considering the respectful attention the 
Government at home pay to the trades unions, it would have been 
thought that one of the first lessons they would have taught the 
Egyptians is that the lowest tender system is a very bad one. Were 
tenders invited based upon an estimate of fair wages and the proper 
prices of good materials, with specifications that could be strictly 
carried out, there is no doubt that English contractors would have 
now, as they had before the occupation, the majority of the con- 
tracts, and both England and Egypt would be the gainers ; but as 
the governmental departments are at present organized, they have 
not a shadow of a chance. 

Had the British administration had any political foresight, they 
would, from the very first moment of the occupation, have done 
everything to encourage the learning and use of the English lan- 
guage. They have not only neglected it, but have actually dis- 
couraged the efibrts of voluntary workers. Incredible as it may 
sound, it is well known that when many eminent British officials 
like Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff, Sir John Scott, Bogers Pasha, Mr. 
Dunlop, and others tried to make good the culpable neglect of the 
British Government, and out of their own pockets subscribed funds 
to give prizes for efficiency in the English language, and when the 
experiment had proved an enormous success, the British Ad- 
ministration withdrew its countenance from the attempt because the 
French took umbrage at the idea of the English language competing 
with the French ! 

The consequences are what might have been anticipated. The 
French like us none the better. They despise our weakness, and, 
knowing what they get by playing upon it, are always trying to 
get more. With the French as with the Khedive, it is certain that 
had firmness been displayed by the British Administration ia 



THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 619 

dealing with them, their constant bickerings and querulous com- 
plaints would long ago have ceased. 

The disregard often shown for the feelings of the native popu- 
lation is as foolish as it is reprehensible, and what my informant 
called that " terrible Besendila affair " is one glaring example. 

This Besendila estate is a part of the domains of the Daira Sanich 
and is situated in the Gharbieh Province, and consists of some 
120,000 feddans or acres of fertile land. The Daira wished to sell it 
and they decided to put it up to public auction. Before the sale it 
was pretty well known that the competition for it would rest mainly 
between a Greek Company, known as the Bohera Irrigation Com- 
pany, of which Nubar Pasha s son was chairman, and a native 
syndicate known as Messrs. Abdul Bey et Bally & Co. The Greek 
Company had for many years received an annual sum of money from 
the Government to perform certain services, and under the agree- 
ment which had been made with them the Government was liable to 
pay this sum for some years to come, though the services were no 
longer required. Prior to the sale there had taken place negotiations 
between the Greek Company and the Finance Department, with the 
object of letting the company have the land in question and the 
government being released from paying future annual subscriptions ; 
they were not successful and the property was put up to public 
auction. Both the bidding companies were equally solvent and both 
had paid the necessary deposit of £20,000. Eventually the native 
group bid the highest and the property was knocked down to them 
for £274,000. In due course under ordinary circumstances it 
should have been conveyed to them, but the Greek Company dis- 
covered that the purchase made was a good bargain and tl^ey cast 
envious eyes upon it, and then commenced a series of intrigues 
between certain agents of the Greek Company and certain members 
of the finance department, which, if only half that is publicly 
reported about them in Cairo is true, are discreditable in the highest 
degree to all concerned. It is commonly reported, and, as far as I 
know, it has never been denied, that no less a sum than £10,000 was 
spent by the Greek Company in what is vulgarly called " greasing 
the wheels." Be this as it may, the Greek Company got the pro- 
perty behind the backs of the native syndicate. It seems that with 
regard to the land sold by the Daira Sanich, the Government have 
the right of pre-emption, even if the land has been sold at public 
auction, if their advisers are of opinion that the property has been 
sold for too small a sum. But in this case the native company 
were so anxious to have the land that they were willing to advance 
upon the £274,000 for which the property had been knocked down, 
and it is said, that they sent such offer to the Financial adviser, but 
that he did not communicate it to the Government, who so managed 



520 THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 

that eventually the Greek Company became possessed of the pro- 
perty for a lesser sum than the Egyptian group had ofiFered. 

The bitterness of feeling against Great Britain caused by this 
episode amongst the native population, it is impossible to exaggerate. 

A question has been asked in the House of Commons, and 
the usual misleading answer given. What is requisite is a strict 
inquiry into the whole subject by some impartial persons, and 
a report to the House upon it. The worst accusations have been, 
and are, made against British officials, and are greedily swallowed 
and firmly believed by the native population. It is to be hoped that 
such an inquiry as the one suggested would prove their baselessness, 
and then the gain to the good name of our Administration would 
be clear. If, on the other hand, the inquiry proved that the charges, 
or any portion of them, were true, the action the British Govern- 
ment would be sure to take would clear this country from any com- 
plicity in the matter. To leave matters as they are at present dis- 
plays a cynical indifference to our reputation for fairness, and must 
tend to lower our influence in Egypt. 

The disregard to just claims by natives against the Treasury, and 
especially those arising out of the Soudanese disasters, is notorious. 
The claimants are referred to the native tribunals, but it is well 
known that, constituted as the legal department, the " Contention,*' 
is at present, such a reference is a mockery. It is true that many 
excellent English lawyers have given advice on legal reforms, and a 
most eminent lawyer and impartial judge now fills the post of Legal 
Adviser in the person of Sir John Scott ; but he is impotent to carry 
out reforms. In such matters as these claims he is never consulted^ 
as the consultation would in many cases certainly end in making the 
Treasury liable for considerable sums of money. If commentary was 
wanted on the real inefficiency of the native courts to try such cases, 
it is not necessary to look farther than to the recent action of the 
Government itself. Though, during the twelve years of the occupa- 
tion, apparent efforts have been made to reform the native courts, the 
Government itself has had such little confidence in them, that it has 
been compelled to create a special tribunal to try criminal offences 
against British subjects. 

Specimens have now been given on both sides of the ledger, and 
it is undoubted that considerable additions could be made to either^ 
but for the purpose of this article they are sufficient. If it is asked 
on which side is the balance, the answer depends on what the balance 
implies. In the result total Great Britain has not gained, except 
from the fact that we still occupy the position ; Egypt has gained 
much in every respect, except in the loss that she has sustained by 
being forced to abandon the Soudan. The European bondholders 
have been the greatest gainers, and they (and the majority are 



THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 621 

French) will admit that they have gained more than they antici- 
pated. The real cause of complaint is that Great Britain, who has 
borne the heat, and burden, and cost of the day, might have gained 
much, that the benefits to Egypt might have been much greater 
than they are, and that the bondholders might have been in exactly 
as good a position as they are now, if British policy had been dif- 
ferent to what it has been. The only advantage to be gained by 
calling attention to this policy is in the hope that it may soon be 
entirely altered ; if it is the results in the future will be very different 
to what they have been in the past. The folly of our weak and vacil- 
lating action in 1882 and 1883 is now acknowledged by all parties, 
and the only object of ever referring to it is to prevent such egregious 
blunders being repeated. Had the Ministry of the day, after Tel- 
el-Kebir, proclaimed a protectorate, undertaken the guarantee of any 
new loan that was necessary and done openly what they did covertly, 
as they were advised to do by all who knew the country, it is as 
certain as anything can be that almost all the disasters that have 
since occurred would have been avoided. These times and oppor- 
tunities cannot be recalled, and the practical question, is how can 
more recent defects in policy be made good. 

The chief defects are uncertainty, want of continuity, and the 
air of mystery that surrounds our actions in Egypt. . It looks as 
though Great Britain had n&ver faced the situation, nor realised 
what the occupation of the country implies. In Egypt the govern- 
ment of the country is despotic. It must be so. It has been so for 
thousands of years. To expect to alter it, at least within a century, 
is only a dream of dreamers or a display of ignorance. At present 
Great Britain is the despot. The word despotism is not a &vourite 
one in British ears. Despotic government is abhorrent to most of 
us. But we are as much despots in Egypt as we are in India ; and 
circumstances compel us to be such. In India our despotism has 
had most beneficial results, and the governors and. the governed 
have been alike gainers. One of the last, and certainly one of the best 
qualified witnesses to the fact was Lord Boberts, when he spoke in the 
House of Lords on July 20 of last year, on the subje ct, and he gave 
the reason. "Thd extTUuidiiuwy posittofTwe ocdupjTm TSdia is 
mainly due to the native's firm reliance on our integrity and honesty 
of purpose, and on our determination to do what is right a nd best for 
them.'' If a Government must be despotic, as n piauLlcaily neces- 
sary in the East, it is essential that he or. those who wield the power 
should be known, so that there should be no. shirking of responsi- 
bility. An unknown and irresponsible despot may well create terror 
and do endless mischief without being brought to account This 
is the case in Egypt. The Government is despotic, but the despot 
has taken. such pains. to hide himself behind. forms and buffers. 



522 THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 

that it is generally impossible to get at him. In theory the Govern- 
ment is carried on by the Khedive on the advice of his Council 
of Ministers. The Khedive, with youthful ingenuousness, has 
occasionally tried to act on the theory, with results that are too 
well known. The British Administration takes advantage of it 
when they wish to screen themselves from the responsibility of any 
conduct that may be considered odious or objectionable. On a 
recent occasion all the relatives, including the Khedive himself, and 
all the old friends of Ismail Pasha, and certainly the majority of the 
Egyptians, were extremely anxious that the ex- Khedive Ismail 
might be allowed to return to his own country to die. Whatever 
his faults and extravagances may have been, he was the originator of 
nearly all the new improvements from which Egypt is now deriving 
so much benefit, and he had done more than any preceding ruler to 
introduce into his country European civilisation, and to let the 
country reap the advantages of European, and especially English, 
machinery. He had suffered severely by sixteen years of banish- 
ment, and but a short time ago it was known to himself and his 
family and the British authorities, that his life could not possibly 
last for many months. These few months, he who had spent the first 
fifty years of his life in Egypt wished most naturally to pass in his 
native land. He was refused. Great Britain was the despot who 
refused, but probably, being ashamed of her action, the form she 
put it in was in an announcement through the press that the ''Council 
of Ministers saw grave objection to the return of Ismail Pasha.*' 
What power, it may well be asked, have the Council of Ministers ? 
The answer is, *' None." The power lay entirely with this country. 
Many illustrations may be given of this, but I will give only 
one. 

JS'ot very long ago a request was made to the representatives of 
Great Britain with regard to a certain distinguished individual. 
Before the request was answered, the representatives referred the 
matter to the Foreign Office at home. The Foreign Office replied 
that it was not a case for Great Britain to interfere in, and that the 
Egyptian Government might deal with the case as they thought 
proper. The matter was then taken to the Egyptian so-called 
Prime Minister. He at once said that he had no power to act 
without consulting the representative of Great Britain. He was 
told that the British Government had decided not to interfere with 
the Egyptian Government, but to let them do what they thought 
proper. "Tes,*' said he, *'but what is the Egyptian Govern- 
ment ? *' *' The Khedive and his Council," was the reply. " Not 
a bit of it>" said the humorous so-called Prime Minister. "It is 
Lord Cromer, Lord Cromer, Lord Cromer." ** Besides," he added, 
". the British Financial adviser has oautioned me and told me not 



THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 623 

to commit myself, as the matter you refer to is not in my 
province." 

The so-called Prime Minister was wrong in mentioning so em- 
phatically three times the name of Lord Cromer, but Easterns 
judge from what they see, and to him Lord Cromer is the embodi- 
ment of British power. The real name should have been that of 
Great Britain, which is first shaded from view by the Foreign 
Office, then by the British Consul- General, and by the British 
advisers and a host of other minor officials. 

This hide-and-seek kind of despotism, under which it is impossible 
to find the despot when he does anything of which he is particularly 
ashamed, is the worst of all forms of government, and yet it is 
the one this country is carrying on in Egypt at the present time. 
It naturally produces uncertainty and want of continuity of policy 
— grave defects in the management of a country. Foreigners in 
Egypt despise us for it, the French adroitly utilise it for their 
own purposes whenever opportunity offers, the British officials 
loathe and detest it, and, though I have no authority for saying 
so, I am sure no one hates it more than Lord Cromer himself. 
No minister abroad has ever been more loyal to the Government 
at home than our present Consul- General at Cairo, but that loyalty 
must not be construed into an approval of the policy the Home 
Government has adopted. A study of the blue books alone will show 
that on several occasions Lord Cromer has often carried out a policy 
against which he has personally protested, and he has done so 
rather than increase the difficulties of the Government and the 
country by resigning. The Government is alone responsible, and 
Parliament is responsible for the Government ; but, unfortunately, 
Parliament, and especially the House of Commons, is very ignorant 
of the matters for which it incurs responsibility. 

As a matter of fact*, this country made a very bad start in the 
business of occupation in 1882. The sooner this is recognised the 
better. The absurd and Quixotic speeches then made by ministers 
with regard to the occupation have had their natural efl^ect. They 
have hampered every succeeding Government. They were probably 
made for party purposes, but, whatever their object, the impression 
they left was that the occupation would be of short duration. It 
was only to last for the brief period that was necessary to teach the 
Egyptians the easy art of self-government. To the ordinary Badical 
in France or England this would mean a few months, or at most a 
few years. To serious statesmen it was nonsense. Nobody was 
more hampered by these ridiculous speeches than was Lord Salisbury 
when he took office in 1885, and again in 1886, but he never 
attempted to evade the engagements made or implied in them. He 
made an honest and straightforward attempt to carry them out in 



524 THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 

the Drummond- Wolff Convention. The French are entirely respon- 
sible for the abortiveness of that convention ; in so far as Great 
Britain is concerned, we are clear from any responsibilities that 
might have been imposed by the reckless and silly speeches of 1882. 
The responsibilities and engagements of this country with regard to 
Egypt now rest upon official documents and diplomatic engagements, 
and they are exactly the same as those under which France lies with 
regard to Tunis. A study of the blue and yellow books in which 
these are contained and of a correspondence which has recently 
taken place between a Frenchman of high authority and a gentle- 
man who has been a twenty years' resident in Egypt will prove this. 

It may not be flattering to one's self love iu be asked to copy the 
French, but no fair-minded person can deny that the conduct of 
France with regard to Tunis has been much more dignified than 
that of Great Britain with regard to Egypt. No French orators 
have indulged in the hypocritical whines which have been heard on 
this side the Channel of the benefits bestowed by their unselfish 
action and of the ingratitude of the benighted Tunisians. I doubt 
very much whether they have conferred anything like the benefits 
on the Tunisians that we have on the Egyptians, but what they have 
done they have done openly and above board, and they have let the 
world know that they intend to remain where they are for such a 
time that French capitalists are not afraid of investing their money 
in the countrv. 

Our action has been on the exact opposite lines. Everything is 
done by stealth. We appear ashamed even of our good works. The 
result is that nobody trusts us, and British capital is scared out of 
the land. What is wanted is a decision — are we going to stay, or 
are we going to scuttle ? 

In my opinion, the latter policy is impossible. There might have 
been some question in 1882, whether it was the interest of this 
country to interfere or not. There were doubtless arguments on 
both sides, though I think those for interference far out-weighed 
those for non-interference; but having once decided on interfer- 
ence, I do not see any way out of accepting all the consequences 
of that interference. One of these consequences is to act like the 
French are acting in Tunis, and show that it is certain we shall 
not quit the country for the next half century at least. If this 
were accepted as a fact, nearly all the French and Egyptian in- 
trigues would cease, and certainly British capital would be invested 
for the mutual benefit of Great Britain and Egypt. The 
Egyptians would then willingly work with us. They cannot be 
expected to work with us now when they are in constant expectation 
of our leaving, and being left to the revenge of those who may be our 
successors. 



THE SITUATION IN EGYPT. 525 

It would not be necessary to proclaim a protectorate. The 
present system is called euphemistically "a veiled protectorate." 
In fact it is a protectorate, whatever name people may choose to call 
it. The important point is, whether it is to continue for two or 
three or for fifty years. Our words induce people to believe that 
it will last for the shorter period, but acts show that we intend it to 
last for the longer period. Is it astonishing that the Easterns are 
confused and the French irritated P Twelve" years ago the French 
practically gave us a free hand to pursue our own course in Egypt 
and the Soudan by relinquishing voluntarily the dual control which 
for some few years they had exercised with Great Britain. It was 
only when they saw that the British Government was afraid of its 
own shadow and had not the courage to act as they themselves were 
doing in Tunis, that they commenced that series of petty intrigues 
and annoyance which have since given so much trouble. So long 
as they see the same timid hesitation they will pursue the same 
tactics ; and it is impossible to blame them for it. Delay on our 
part in acting energetically is all in their favour. Our reckless aban- 
donment of the Soudan has raised hopes in their minds that they may 
become possessed of Khartoum. If they did Cairo would be at their 
mercy. When the late Sir Samuel Baker urged this point upon 
those responsible for the government of Egypt and the Soudan they 
ridiculed the idea and acted in defiance of it. These very indivi- 
duals would now admit that the highest authority on the subject is 
Sir Colin Scott MoncreifP. The following are the words he used on 
the 25th of January last, at the Royal Institute, in his lecture on 
" The Nile." 

** A civilised nation on the Upper Nile would build regulating sluices across 
the outlet of the Yictoria-Nyanza, and control that great sea as Manchester 
controlled Thirlmere. This would probably be an easy operation. Once dam 
the Nile, supply would be in their hands ; and if poor little Egypt had the bad 
luck to be at war with this people in the upper waters, they might flood Egypt 
or cut off its water supply at pleasure. Was it not evident that the Nile, from 
the Victoria-Nyanza to the Mediterranean, should be under our rule ?** 

It was Great Britain that deliberately, eleven years ago, forced "poor 
little Egypt " into this position of danger. If there be such a thing 
as international duty, it is as clear as the sun at noonday that it is 
Great Britain's duty at once to place the country she pretends to be- 
friend in as secure a position as she found it. It is not a party 
matter. It should be faced in Parliament, and no information should 
be withheld, and a policy at once intelligible and continuous should 
be decided on. Great Britain should act in Egypt as she has done 
in India. Her action should be firm and just. 

W. T. Markiott. 

VOL. LVII. U.S. P P 



XBE LIBERAL PARTY AND ITS CANDID FRIENDS. 

V 

In a \^ell-known passage of his Provincial Letters, Pascal com] 
the condition of the Gallican church in his day to that of a 
who fallsSaniong thieves, and, being grievously wounded, j^ds for 
the three lading physicians of the neighbouring town8.^Fhe first 
probes his wounds, finds them very serious, and advisesJiim that in 
the help of thd, Almighty lies his only hope. The sjlEond, coming 
up shortly aftet*^ tells him that, on the contrarv^he has quite 
strength enough Mt to carry him home, loads t^first with abuse, 
and resolves to desfkoy his professional reputati^. The sick man, 
distracted between th^, turns in the greatest^mxiety to the third, 
who takes' the part of toe second, and with hiC help drives away the 
first. " How do you finc^me ? " then sa^f the patient ; " have I 
strength enough to move a^rne ? " " Qirtainly not," replies the 
third doctor, " you will neverNite able |6 walk properly unless Gtoi 
sends you some extraordinary i^ean/^' " What, sir ! " cries the 
unhappy sufferer, " you are not, thW of the same opinion as your 
friend here as to my real condition/^ >/* I confess I am not,*^ replies 
the wiseacre. We are then told Jnat tflte^sick man was unreasonable 
enough to complain of the ambiguous |)roceedings of the third 
doctor, gets rid of him and Ids friend, rect^ the first, confesses to 
Heaven his lack of strength; and then with^he divine succour is 
carried safely home. Though not quite in so\prry a condition as 
Pascal's traveller, the I^neral party at the preset moment is, we 
are assured by many of its advisers, rather out of sorts, and requires 
very careful nursing ;yand some of its friends are pointing out to it 
the treatment it shoi^d adopt to make it as strong aisf^ever it was. 
Unfortunately the toeatment varies with the physician. 

On the other ly(nd, the party has its cheery medicos wkp tell it 
that there is noting at all the matter with it ; that it mustVeep up 
its spirits ; and that, in spite of the few slight shocks it hak sus- 
tained, there/' is no reason why it should not live on wit^un- 
diminished salaries, and return from the country, when it elect! 
take that .bracing change, to enjoy a renewed lease of official li 
Meanwhite its opponents stand round rejoicing at the 
poking fun now at this doctor; now at that, and not caring to 
conceal their opinion that they can thrash it soundly in its present 
demoralised condition whenever it plucks up spirit enough to join 
Imttle. 

It cannot be denied by the staimchest Liberal that the un- 
refirenerate are entitled to their laugh. The amateur doctor is only 



^^ 



^^^S OF RESe^^ 



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THE 



NEW 



YORK 



OBELISK 



ALEXIS .\. lVlVA¥.^. 



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^ 



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THE 



YORK 



OBELISK 

BY 
ALEXIS A. JULIEN. 



PREFACE. 



The following reprints of recent papers on the Egyptian Obelisk 
in Central Park, New York City, are presented in this form, with the 
special object of interesting you in behalf of the proper completion 
of this monument — the restoration of its ancient gilding and splendor, 
as Symbol of the Sun-Beam. The question of its permanent preser- 
vation may be considered settled, at least for centuries to come, by 
the renewal and deepening, during the summer of 1893, of the 
preservative process (application of melted paraffin) over those spots 
most injured during the unfortunate exposure of the Obelisk without 
protection from the weather, from 1881 to 1885. The restorations 
now proposed consist of two parts. 

1. A gilded metallic cap, to cover the upper part of the pyra- 
midion. The Park Commissioners have already placed a zinc cap, 
coated with a film of gold-leaf, unburnished. This cap is perishable 
and temporary, and cannot be expected to last but a few years. A 
cap of some durable metal will then be needed in its place, probably 
aluminium, well plated with gold and burnished. 

2. The re-gilding of the hieroglyphs, so far as they remain dis- 
tinct, over the lower part of the pyramidion and down the four faces 
of the shaft. This will require the application of four coats of gold- 
leaf (not to the whole surface of the Obelisk but only to these charac- 
ters) and thorough burnishing. 

A copper lightning-rod, connecting the metal-cap with the ground, 
would be also an advisable precaution. 

The Obelisk was presented by the Khedives of Egypt as a free 
gift to the City of New York. It was removed and again re-erected 
at the expense (over $100,000) of a single liberal citizen, the late 
Mr. William H. Vanderbilt. We may now naturally look to other 
citizens of our city to supply the small sum (less than $3,000) yet 
needed to complete the restoration. New York, however, holds this 
unique monument virtually as a trust for the whole Western Conti- 
nent, and, throughout its most remote and wildest regions, this 
ancient Obelisk is known and its mysterious influence appreciated. 
From some friend, the gift will come, which will restore the beauty 
of the once brilliant emblem, and link a second generous name with 

the most enduring of all human memorials. 

A. A. J. 
Columbia College, Nov. i, 1893. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 



By Alexis A. Julien, Ph.D. 



Reprint from the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society 

FOR March, 1893. 



THE MISFORTUNES OF AN OBELISK* 



BY 



ALEXIS A. JULIEN, PH.D. 

It is not as a traveller that I come before you, but, 
by proxy, in behalf of a traveller, an aged traveller, who, 
after a journey of some five thousand miles — carried 
on somewhat leisurely, in truth, since it covered a trifle 
over thirty-five centuries — has lately settled down, 
within our quiet borders, in the hope of a little repose. 
By a part of our citizens the strange newcomer upon 
the knoll in our Park, from its arrival in 1881 even 
until now, has been looked at askance. For wanderers 
from every clime, there was room within the Park wall : 

* LITERATURE. 

Arundale, Francis, and Bonomi, Jos. * Gallery of Antiquities selected from the 
British Museum, with descriptions by S. Birch. London. 

Bartlett, W. H. The Nile Boat, or Glimpses of the Land of Egypt. London^ 
<849. 

Brugsch, Heinrich Karl. History of Egypt under the Pharaohs, derived 
•entirely from the monuments. Translated by H. D. Seymour. Two vols. 
London, 1879. 

Burton, Ja., Jr. Excerpta Hieroglyphica. Cairo, 1825-1837 (?). 

ChampoUion, Jean Fran9ois (le Jeune). Monumens de TEgypte et de la Nubie 
■d'apr^s les dessins executes sur les lieux sous la direction de ChampoUion- le-Jeune, 
«t les descriptions autographes qu'il en a redigees. Four vols. Paris, 1845. 

Champollion-Figeac, Jac. Joseph Egypte Ancienne. Paris, 1858. 

Clark, E. L. Daletli, or the Homestead of the Nations; Egypt illustrated. 
Boston, 1864. 

Cole, Lieut. Henry Hardy. The Architecture of Ancient Delhi, especially the 
ibuildings around the Kutb Minar. London, 1872. 

Cooper, William Ricketts. A Short History of the Egyptian Obelisks, with 
translations of many of the hieroglyphic inscriptions, chiefly by M. Fran9ois 
Chabas. London, 1877. 

66 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 67 

for shrubs and flowers of every form and hue ; for ex- 
quisite carved work in soft freestone, daily rotting into 
sand ; for apes and costly hippopotami ; but as for an 
Obrlisk! 

I come indeed to plead the cause of a priceless 
monument in danger, which was put in the keeping 

D'Avennes, Prisse, Achille Constant Theodore Emile. Histoire de 1' Art 
Egyptien, d'apr^s les monuments depuis les temps les plus recules jusqu'^ la 
Domination Romaine. Two vols. Paris. 1878. 

De Cosson, M. The Cradle of the Blue Nile. London, 1877. 

Denon, Dominique Vivant, Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute 6gypte, pendant 
)es campagnes du General Bonaparte. Two vols, and Atlas. London and Paris, 
1802. 

Ebers, George. Egypt: Descriptive, Historical and Picturesque. Translated 
by C. Bell. With an Introduction and Notes by S. Birch. Two vols. London, 
Paris and New York, 1879 (?)• 

Edwards, Amelia Blandford. A Thousand Miles up the Nile. London, 1889. 

Freeman, Edward A. History of Architecture. London, 1849. 

Gau, Franz Christian. Antiquites de la Nubie, ou Monumens inedits des bords 
•du Nil, situes entre la premiere et la seconde cataracte, dessines et mesures en 
1819. Stuttgart et Paris, 1822. 

Gorringe, Lieut. -Commander Henry Honeychurch. Egyptian Obelisks. New 
York. 1882. 

Hamilton, William. Remarks on Several Parts of Turkey. L iEgyptiaca. 
With Atlas. London, 1809. 

Hoskins, G. A. A Winter in Upper and Lower Egypt. London, 1863. 

Kenrick, John. Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs. Two vols. London 
1850. 

Lenormant, Charles. Musee des Antiquites Egyptiennes, ou Recueil des Mon- 
umens Egyptiens, accompagne d'un Texte explicatif. Paris, 1841. 

Long, G. Egyptian Antiquities in the British Museum. Two vols. London. 

Mariette (Bey), Auguste Edouard. The Monuments of Upper Egypt. Alex- 
andria, 1877. 

Maspero, Gaston Camille Charles. Egyptian Archaeology. Translated by 
A. B. Edwards. New York and London, 1887. 

Mayer, Luigi. Views in Egypt, from the original drawings in the possession 
of Sir Robert Ainslie, with historical observations. London, 1801. 

Merriam, Aug. C. Translation of the Obelisk in New York. The American 
Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, VI. (1884), 167. 

Miln. James. Fouilles faites k Carnac (Morbihan), les Bossenno et le Mont 
Saint Michel. Paris, 1877. 

Moldenke, Charles E. The New York Obelisk, Cleopatfa's Needle, with a 



MHM 



MM 



68 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 

of New York twelve years ago. If pnce convinced of 
the danger, the influence and efforts of the intelligent 
citizens of New York, and of its responsible officials, 
will surely be exerted to save the name of our fair city 
from the certain disrepute, or disgrace, which will fol- 
low any neglect of such an accepted trust. The public 

preliminary sketch of the history, erection, uses and signification of obelisks. 
New York, 1891. 

Montelius, Oscar. The Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times. Trans- 
ated by F. H. Woods. London and New York, 1888. 

1 Norden, Capt. Frederic Louis. Voyage d' Egypte et de Nubie. Two vols. 
Copenhagen, 1755. 

Osburn, W., Jr. Antiquities of Egypt, with a notice of those that illustrate the 
Scripture. London, 1847. 

Parker, John Henry. The Twelve Egyptian Obelisks in Rome; their history 
explained by translations of the inscriptions upon them ; including remarks of T. 
W. Donaldson on Egyptian obelisks, and notes upon obelisks by Dr. S. Birch. 
Second edition. Oxford and London, 1879. 

Perrot, Georges, et Chipiez, Charles. Histoire de 1' Art dans T Antiquite. 
Five vols. I. L' ifigypte. Paris, 1 882-1 890. 

Petrie, W. M. Flinders. Egyptian Exploration Fund. Second Memoir. Part 
L Tanis. London, 1885. 

Pinkerton, John. A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting 
Voyages and Travels in all Parts of the World. Seventeen vols. XV. The 
Relation Respecting Egypt. Abd Allatif. Cairo, A.D. 1203. London, 1814. 

Pococke, Richard. A Description of the East and Some Other Countries. 
Two vols. London, 1743. 

Poitou, Eugene Louis. Un Hiver en Egypte. Tours, i860. 

Rawlinson, George. The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World. 
Three vols. Second edition. New York, 1871. 

Rawlinson, George. History of Ancient Egypt. Two vols. London and New 
York, i88i. 

Sandys, G. A Relation of a Journey begun An. Dom. 1610. The third 
edition. London, 1627. 

Stuart, Henry Windsor Villiers. Nile Gleanings concerning the ethnology, 
history and art of Ancient Egypt, as revealed by Egyptian paintings and bas-reliefs, 
with descriptions of Nubia and its great rock- temples. London, 1879. 

Stuart, Henry Windsor Villiers. The Funeral Tent of an Egyptian Queen, with 
the latest information regarding other monuments and discoveries. London, 1882. 

Valentia, Viscount George Annesley. Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, 
the Red Sea, Abyssinia^ and Egypt, in the years 1802 to 1806, Three vols. 
London, 1809. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 69 

interest i^ this monument has not waned, I am sure, 
outside of this city. A few weeks ago, a friend from a 
country village, on a hurried visit to New York, wished 
to be shown first our two surpassing attractions, in his 
eyes, '*the Brooklyn Bridge and the Pyramid T' Of 
course he was assured that if our merchants undertook 
to import a pyramid, that pyramid would have to come ; 
but up to this time only an Obelisk had arrived. 

With that ancient Egyptian Obelisk, for the last nine- 
teen centuries in Alexandria, which now looms up with 
surprise in the midst of our modern city, you are all 
doubtless familiar. You have heard of crumbling decay 
which threatened its sculptured surface until eight years 
ago — of the water-proofing process then applied — of the 
appointment, in 1889, of a Committee of Experts by our 
Commissioners of the Public Parks, to examine the Obe- 
lisk, and their unanimous report that the process had 
been found so entirely satisfactory in stopping all vis- 
ible decay over the general surface, that it would be wise 
to deepen its action in certain cracked spots by a new 
mode of application, whose details were worked out 
by a second Committee in July, 1890. Let us 
then ask to-night, is this ancient relic worth to us the 
constant attention, watchful care, and a certain amount 
of expense involved in its protection ? Is it of any real 
value to the City of New York? 

I will offer a few thoughts— in part, gathered from 
the works of Gorringe, Moldenke and others — on the 
significant idea of the Obelisk, with examples from na- 
ture, prehistoric monuments, and early records in Asia 
and Europe : a brief history of our own peripatetic 
monolith until it swam over the sea to its present site. 



70 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

in 1 88 1 : our entire neglect of it and its rapid decline^ 
until 1885 : and the steps since taken, or left undone^ 
for its protection from our fierce climate. 

I. Natural Obelisks. First, consider some strange 
forms in natural scenery, towering rock shapes, hewn by 
the lifeless forces which spring from the Sun. Through 
the very ravages caused by its rays, the Sun becomes a 
builder, an excavator, a sculptor of wonderful outlines in 
stone. Here, on some broad plain, as in Colorado, he 
calls the winds out of the Ocean of Air as his stone- 
cutters, whirling along the keenedged sand-grains as 
tools, biting into the cliffs of sandstone or limestone, and 
scooping them out into curious domes, castles, turrets^ 
and slender spires of rock, like the Cleopatra's needle 
in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado — all carved by 
the force of the Sun. Elsewhere the bosom of the Sea 
is lashed into billows, which hurl themselves in thunder- 
ing surf upon the breasts of rocky coasts. There the 
Sun-force sculptures walls and piers, arches and lofty 
columns, such as the Stacks of Duncansoy, in Scotland. 
Or again, gently and silently, by the trickling rain- 
drops, which the Sun has lifted high as vapor and then 
let fall, and by fierce heat of summer rays, and by pry- 
ing of winter frost, which is but the recoil of a spring- 
long compressed by solar force, the same Patient 
Sculptor quietly loosens and undermines and picks 
away a mountain-wall into tall pillared forms, like the 
Cleopatra's Needle at DeviVs Lake,Wisconsin. All over 
the earth, great stone fingers are thus left, pointing- 
meaningly upward at the falling darts of the one Vast 
Force in nature, the blazing orb which has carved out 
these, the most ancient and stupendous of Sun Obelisks. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 71 

2. Prehistoric Obelisks. It is not strange that these 
weird forms were early imitated by man, especially near 
rocky coasts along which such natural pillars abound, 
as those of Brittany. There colossal rude pillars of 
stone, like those at Carnac (Morbihan),* were set up 
by prehistoric races, of whose times and of whose 
very names we have now little or no record. Some- 
times these were solitary columns, like the Stand- 
ing Stones of Dunbar and Lundin Links, in Scotland. 
Or these were massed in rows which stretched over the 
land for miles like the menhir of Brittany. Or we find 
them, perhaps, lifting their heads in clusters, like the 
lonely groups in Sweden and at Stennis and those 
among, the desolate mountains of the island of Arran^ 
off the west coast of Scotland. Or the same Standing 
Stones meet our view in the significant arrangement of a 
ring like the disc of the Sun, such as the so-called Druid- 
ical circle at Callernish, on the island of Lewis. Or it 
may be, in some solitary dell in Asia Minor, there stands 
a circle, about which the peasants tell the tale of 
the wrath of an enchanter of old, who, as a wedding 
party merrily crossed the plain, turned them suddenly 
into stone ; and there they stand — is it sadly or gladly ? 
bride and bridegroom and all — a petrified honeymoon 
for a thousand years, without a cross word! In most 
cases, a great stone shaft rises in lonely grandeur in the 
middle of some broad plain, like the standing stone at 
Loch Eynert, the primitive form rudely hewn but 
impressive, of the Obelisk of Prehistoric Time. Its 
meaning, to the ancient people who set it up, is now 
but a subject for conjecture. Is it only a fancy, that^ 

*Miln, op, cit,^ 199. 



72 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

gilded or reddened by the blush of dawn, this 
glittering column of crystalline granite suggested to the 
human mind, even then, a fitting and cheery emblem of 
the first beam which shot up from the glorious disc, rising 




STONE AT LOCH EYNERT. SCOTLAND. 



from the horizon, which, from earliest times, as a sym- 
bol of Almighty Power, has received the adoration of 
our race ? 

That these rude stones were indeed Obelisks appears 
to be confirmed by the common application of that term 
to them by early travellers in Scotland, Thos. Pen- 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 73 

nant, Brand, etc., and by the surviving reverence of the 
peasantry toward them, through Saxon and Danish 
down to Christian times. A curious example of this 
was found in the Obeh'sk at Ruthwell, a square shaft 
about 20 feet in height, and 18 by 16 inches at the bot- 
tom, but in three pieces,** broken by an order of Gen- 
eral Assembly in 1851, under pretence of its being an 
object of superstition among the vulgar.*'* 

3. Prehistoric Tumuli. But often, not far away from 
the upright menhir, another low object catches the eye, 
which suggests sorrow and loss. It may be a natural 
hummock or cone of earth, which tells where the 
trunk or stump of some great tree has crumbled away 
into dust. It may be a low mound or bafrow or cairn, 
under which the bones of a slain warrior are entombed. 
Or it may swell into a broadly based, conical tumulus, 
fifty or even a hurxdred feet in height, beneath which a 
viking lies at rest. 

These two are the monuments, roughly shaped, of the 
prehistoric races ; the one, an upright column of stone, 
bright like the sun-ray, suggesting light, birth, life, 
hope ; the other, a cone-shaped gray mound, speaking 
of sadness and death. Sometimes we find even the rude 
column surmounting the mound, like the ** bauta-stone " 
upon the barrow, near Godestad in Halland.f 

4. Distinction of Steloe. We may here, in passing, 
refer to the more carefully hewn pillar of early historic 
age, which has been often called an obelisk, by Raw- 
linson and others, but is better distinguished by the 
Greek name of stela - an upright rectangular slab with 

* Pennant ; see Pinkeiton, op. cit,, III., 213. 
f Montelius, dp. cit.^ 208. 



74 



The Misfortunes .of an Obelisk. 



rounded summit, such as the stela of black basalt from 
NimrQd* in Assyria, set up, it may be, as a record of 
victory, for an epitaph, or as a kind of monumental 
placard. Such too is the Assyrian stela of black mar- 
ble, erected by Shalmaneser II., covered with figures in 




STELA AT AXUM, 



triumphant procession. Sometimes it became dedicated 
to the king of the nation, vicegerent of the deity upon 
earth, like the stela, adorned with the sculptured form 
of King Samas-Vul II. of Assyria: a record, as Defoe 
puts it, of " the divine right to govern wrong." The most 
ancient example known is perhaps the round topped 
stela of Begig, in the Fayoum, Lower Egypt, erected 

* RawlinsoD, Five Great Monarchies, I.. 266. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 75 

by Osirtasen I., 45 centuries ago. One of the least 
known, and of undetermined origin, is the lofty stela dis- 
covered by Viscount Valentia, in 1806, at Axum, in 
Abyssinia, a granite monolith, 80 feet in height.* 
Other pillars stand, as solitary decorations, in the 
middle of courts of ancient palaces, like the Assyrian 
stela in the palace at Khorsabad,f the half-sunken, 
shrine-crowned pillar of Cashmere, the serpent col- 
umn of Constantinople, or the great column of 
wrought iron at Delhi, the Masjid-I-Kutb ul-lslam, 
now over twenty feet in height, whose lower part 
is buried in the soil to at least the depth of 
fortv feetj Others have been raised as memorial 
monuments to great and beloved citizens, like the 
curious triangular pillar of white marble, to C. Cas- 
sius Philiscus, found by an old traveller, at Nice, in Asia 
Minor.§ On a smaller scale, in modern times, the 
obeliscoid form has been commonly devoted to the 
honor of the dead, like that which stands on a knoll in 
Rockland Cemetery, where lies asleep he who brought 
over to us oiir Obelisk from Alexandria, Lt. Comman- 
der Gorringe. 

All these stelae, however, with the upright tablets 
raised for more commonplace uses, to mark boundaries, 
goal-posts, mile-stones, etc., have bee;i but secondary 
forms of use, examples of divergence, to lower objects, 
from the prominent design of upright stone monoliths 
in prehistoric times. 

Even by the sun-loving Assyrian -and Greek, the 

* Valentia, op. cit,. III., 87, and De Cosson, op, cit, I. ch. 11. 
f Perrot etChipiez, op, cit.t I, 257. 
X Cole, op, cit,, PI. I. 
§Pococke,^^ «V., II., Pt. II., 123. 



76 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 

noble thought of the Egyptian seems to have been im- 
perfectly understood. The Greek amused himself by 
applying, to the slender pointed shaft of the Nile valley, 
the nickname, ofie\icfKo<; (a little skewer or spit); but, like 
many another nickname, this has become a designation 
of honor. 

In Egypt, from the very beginning, the Obelisk 
was adopted as the symbol of a lovely thought — the 
pledge of the sunbeam as a gift of life and coming immor- 
tality from a Kindly Power, a message of dedication to 
the symbol of that Power, the most majestic object in 
nature — (as Whitman calls it) **the splendid silent 
Sun !*' This continues to be to us too, of the Nine- 
teenth Century A.D., of the most fascinating interest, 
since we definitely know that, from that vast source of 
light and force come the sigh of every breeze, the roar 
of the gale, both ripple and storm billow of oceail, 
every thrill of nerve and swell of muscle, every stroke 
of wing or fin, every form and phase of life, voice, 
thought, existence itself ! 

5. The Sun in Egyptian Mythology, This view of the 
all important relationship of the Sun to man is no novel 
conception of our own time, science or theology. You 
will allow me to review briefly some well established 
facts. The men of earliest history, nowhere more clear- 
ly than on the sunny banks of the Nile, felt the same de- 
pendence on that brilliant fountain of life and light and 
joy. Listen to a part of the prayer of Queen Nefer-i- 
Thi, in the year 1466 B.C. 

'* Thou Disc of the Sun, Thou Living God ! There is 
none other beside Thee ! Thou givest health to the 
eyes through Thy beams. Creator of all beings. Thou 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. yj 

goest up on the eastern horizon of the heaven, to dis- 
pense life to all which Thou hast created : to man, four- 
footed beasts, birds, and all manner of creeping things on 
the earth, where they live. Thus they behold Thee, and 
they go to sleep when Thou goest down. Grant to Thy 
Son who loves Thee, life in truth : to the Lord of the 
land, that He may live united with Thee in eternity."* 

At the basis of all ancient faiths, the single visible 
Sun became the natural symbol of the Single- Invisible 
Deity, Amen-Ra, the Hidden One, King of the Gods, 
with the life symbol in His right hand. All other 
superior gods of Egypt were but emanations from Him- 
self, and in all cases assumed the addition Ra to their 
proper names. Thus the Divine vengeance was indi- 
cated as another deity with head of crocodile, Sevek-Ra : 
the Divine spirit, Knum-Ra : the Creative energy, 
Khepe-ra: the height and depth and omniscience of the 
Divine Mind, as the hawk-headed Sun-God of Morning 
and High Noon, Ra or Phre of Memphis, with the head 
of the bird of loftiest flight in Egypt, the sparrow hawk 
(like our own eagle), with its keen sight, and 
soaring and plunging course through the air. All the 
gods were gods of the Sua. 

But with the Sun's daily passing to and fro, and the 
cheering or depressing effect of his reappearing and 
disappearing on men's hearts, another phase of the wor- 
ship of Ra was connected. At the sun-setting, gilding 
the placid bosom of the Nile, they looked sadly, as at 
the departure of a friend, but with hope for his speedy 
return. Sunrise they hailed as fulfilment of their hope, 
while the hateful darkness fled away. So in the holy 

* Brugsch, op. cit. , I . , 450. 



78 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

City of the Sun, An or Heliopolis, in Lower Egypt, 
with the first flight of the sparrow-hawk at dawn arose 
the glad hymn to Ra-Hor-Khuti, the Rising Sun, the 
Guardian of the Upper World. At eve, the solemn 
chant floated over the river to Atum-Ra, or Turn, the 
Setting Sun, just about starting westward under the 
stars of night, on his dangerous voyage through the 
Lower World, till, in the East, the morning came again 
In this cloudless Nile-land, bathed in never ending sun- 
light, we find a cheerful and contented people, to whom 
life was a delight and but too short, the earth a glad- 
some place they were loath to leave. What wonder 
they paid their vows to the visible symbol of Ra, whose 
every ray bore in a friendly hand the gift of life to King 
and Queen and to all their people. Their deepest hope 
lay in its renewal and eternal continuance, and therefore 
in the preservation of their bodies for the coming resur- 
rection of Osiris. For their worship was that of the 
Sunbeam — the token of all that was brightest in human 
life and hope. 

6. Obelisk and Pyramid. What more fitting emblem 
of this idea could the Egyptian set up — what more 
worthy of our sympathy and reverence — than the 
Obelisk — a towering shaft of ruddy stone, like the first 
beam of rosy light which flashes up from the daybreak ? 
This too is the birth, the first suggestion of the Cathe- 
dral Spire. Out under the open sky, therefore, should 
the old monolith fitly stand for all time, to tell us this 
story. 

While the Obelisk thus sprang up significantly on the 
east side of the Nile — such as that of An — on the side 
of the Rising Sun, far away to the west, however, and 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 79 

only there, amid rock-cut cemeteries and subterranean 
sepulchres, you see the Pyramid, solitary and indepen- 
dent, the solemn emblem of the Sun after its Setting, the 
midnight Sun of the under-world, the type of death and 
darkness and the grave, enclosing the mummy of some 
mighty king. We find here the same contrast as in 
the prehistoric monuments : the Standing Stone or 
Menhir has developed into the more shapely hewn and 
polished Obelisk : the burial Tumulus, the Pyramid. 
And yet, to the Egyptian mind. Life and Death, they 
are but one ; on the summit of the Obelisk is the sacred 
crown, the Ben-ben or pyramidion. In fact, like the 
** bauta-stone " on the tumulus, there are very early in- 
stances of an obelisk surmounting a pyramid. 

7. Origin of the Obelisk in Egypt, A link yet remains 
missing in the chain of my argument. If both menhir 
and hewn column have sprung from an idea first sug- 
gested by natural, sun-carved rock-needles, scattered 
over the face of the earth, where in the Nile Valley did 
the home-loving Egyptian first catch the suggestion of 
the Obelisk? I would submit to your consideration, 
that this locality, this birth-place of the obelisk idea in 
Egypt, was at its extreme southern boundary, under the 
line of the Tropic, on the Nubia frontier. There 
on the upper Nile, stood the old city of Sun-t, ** allow- 
ing the entrance " (as the Egyptian called it), Syene 
(the Greeks), or Assouan (the present Arabs). 
Farther north was the site of Thebes, with the temples 
of Karnak and Luxor, 136 miles below. Still farther 
down the Nile, we now see Cairo, with the pyramids 
of Gizeh and the site of An, 560 miles below ; and 
there, Alexandria, on the sea-toast, over 700 miles below. 



8o The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 

At Sun-t, a vast rib of red hornblendic granite, 
(much like our red Nova Scotia granite), juts out from the 
desolate ranges of the Libyan desert in a belt of remarka- 
bly wild and picturesque scenery ; in crossing the Nile, 
it breaks it up into the famous First Cataract. From the 
earliest ages and in classic times, as the writings of Seneca 
and Cicero record, this rugged region had a frightful re- 
nown, particularly from the reports of the terrible roar 
of the waterfall, by which all the inhabitants for miles 
around were made as deaf as the stones themselves. It 
was famed also for its '^shadowless well," and the locality 
where, at noon, on the longest day of the year, you 
might look down at your feet and find that you cast no 
shadow. 

As late as 1714A.D. came the traveller, Paul Lucas, 
who, in accounts of former voyages,had announced to the 
geographers of Europe that, with his own eyes, he had 
seen giants leaping up the peaks of Thessaly like the 
steps of a staircase : one-legged men who ran with amaz- 
ing swiftness : and, at an interview in the desert, the 
hermetic philosopher Nicolas Flanel and his wife Per- 
nelle, although certainly three centuries after their 
death.* After his return home from his visit to Syene, he 
gravely related to Louis XIV. that the waterfalls there 
fell at several places from a mountain over 200 feet in 
height, with one sheet thirty feet wide, behind which 
visitors might pass without wetting themselves ; he also 
repeated the marvellous story of the Land of the Deaf ; 
all of which, with the deference properly due to a man 
of science, was swallowed by the Grand Monarque. 

The travellers who have succeeded him, however, 

* ChampoUion-Figeac, op. cit.^ article •* Syene." 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 8i 

unite in enthusiast c description of the wild grandeur of 
the scenery along the river, in ascending the cataract, 
mainly due to the vertical clefts which seam the granite 
walls, as in the well-known rock of Abousir. In the 
year 1802, the traveller Denon, with the great French 
Expedition under Napoleon, vividly describes the 
scenery near the First Cataract, and gives a view, in 
the desert, of the picturesque Two Mountains, the 
Djebelein, in which the columnar structure of the gran- 
ite, throughout this region, is well shown. The sketches 
of Gau* also illustrate the same vertical fissures, in his 
views around the First Cataract and farther up, toward 
the Nubian boundary. Freeman has already observed: 
" The birthplace of Egyptian architecture is certainly to 
be looked for in the rock excavations of Nubia, which 
stretch from the frontier of Egypt as far as the ancient 
Meroe." f 

Concerning this upper part of the Nile, Villiers 
Stuart writes : ** We left pretty Maratta behind us, 
borne quickly along by the seething waters, and were 
presently amidst the castellated piles of granite boul- 
ders, so well known to all who have visited Nubia." 

It is now that we approach the point, after ascending 
the Nile above the First Cataract, about nine miles 
above Syen^ the island of Aareq't, ** the island of ceas- 
ing," or Philse, of which Stuart says : '* Just above the 
cataract, at a point where the Nile takes its course 
through enormous piles of black granite boulders, its ro- 
mantic temples and palm groves lie imbedded like a fairy 
scene amid the surrounding desolation." J 

* Gau, op, cit., PI. I. 
f Hist, of Arch., 8i. 
]: Stuart, Nile Gleanings, 201. 



82 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

This was, you will remember, to the ancient world, 
the most astonishing spot upon the surface of the 
earth : a fitting place, as we might anticipate, for the 
birth of one of the world's wonders. To the Egyptian, 
this region of almost unearthly wildness, was the burial 
place of Osiris, the true Source of the Nile, the natural 
holy shrine of Isis herself, for pilgrimage of king, phi- 
losopher and priest : where no Egyptian offered to go 
without express and rare permission, over which no 
bird dared to fly, by which no fish ventured to swim. 

Here, in 1743, came a reliable English traveller, who 
gives this description : " The rocks here are very 
high, on which the antient Syene was built. . . 
Some of them are in the manner Strabo describes : a 
rock standing up like a pillar, and a large rock on it, 
hieroglyphics being cut on some of them. . . . Re- 
turning I took a view " {i. e., made a rough sketch) *'of 
some extraordinary high rocks in a regular figure, as rep- 
resented in the 50th plate ; on them are cut hieroglyph- 
ical inscriptions and figures of men and they directly 
face the north end of the isle."* In the year 1755, the 
place was visited by a Captain of the Danish navy, 
and he gives us a view of the same Island of Philae, from 
the upper end of the Cataract, with a better drawing of 
the same lofty mass of columnar rocks, represented on 
the right, f In his travels, in 1863, Mr. Hoskins ob- 
serves concerning Philse : ** Few views in the world 
can rival the one from this, the west side of the great 
Temple. There may be finer granite rocks in other 
lands, but where will you find them equally bold and 

*Pococke, op. cit., I., 121. 

t Norden, cp, cit.. Atlas, PI. CXXXVI. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 83 

picturesque in their form ? Rhomboidal masses, piled 
one upon another, some of them looking as if they 
only wanted a wind strong enough to hurl them into 
the river, combined with palm and acacia trees. . . . 
To the right, are three picturesque columnar rocks, cov- 
ered with tablets of hieroglyphics."* This remarkable 
column I illustrate from an old drawing.f Again, 
Bartlett gives us a picture of the approach to Philae 
from the north, including the same lofty granite col- 
umn, on the right. Through all these drawings rough 
sketches or, it may be, somewhat idealized, the same 
prominent feature is constantly shown. Such a view is 
better than a photograph, in one respect; for we need to 
be impressionists, for our present purpose, and, from 
the influence of this scenery on modern travellers, form 
some idea of that produced on the still more impress- 
ible mind of the ancient Egyptian. The same wonder 
and enthusiasm are expressed by the late Miss Amelia 
B. Edwards, in her description of the view from Philae : 
** Perhaps the most entirely curious and unaccus- 
tomed features in all this scene are the mountains. 
. . . Other mountains are homogeneous and thrust 
themselves up from below in masses suggestive of prim- 
itive disruption and upheaval. These seem to lie . 
upon the surface, foundationless ; rock loosely piled on 
rock, boulder on boulder ; like stupendous cairns, the 
work of demi-gods and giants. Here and there, on 
shelf or summit, a huge rounded mass, many tons in 
weight, hangs poised capriciously. . . . But the 
most amazing of all is a natural monolith on the east 

*Hoskins, op, rtV., 295. 

f ChampoUion-Figeac, op, cit., PI. 78. 



84 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 



bank, down by the water's edge opposite, near the 
carob-trees and the ferry. . . , Though but a sin- 




gle block of orange-red granite, it looks like three ; and 
the Arabs, seeing in it some fancied resemblance to an 
arm-chair, call it ' Pharaoh's Throne.' Rounded and 
polished by primeval floods, and emblazoned with njyal 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 85 

•cartouches of extraordinary size, it seems to have at- 
tracted the attention of pilgrims in all ages. Kings, 
conquerors, priests, travellers have covered it with rec- 
ords of victories, of religious festivals, of prayers and 
offerings and acts of adoration. Some of these are old- 
er by a thousand years, and more, than the temples 
on the island opposite."* Here, therefore, at Philse, 
I think, was the birth-place of the very idea of the Obe- 
lisk. To this huge natural shaft, Pharaoh's Throne, 
and the numberless upright pillars of granite which 
loomed up around and above the First Cataract, the 
Egyptian mind probably owed its first impression of 
that which was to become an imposing feature of the 
national architecture. 

8. Granite Quarries at Syend, The invariable source 
of the material for the obelisks was found very early in 
excavations a little below the Cataract at Sun-t or 
Syene, which developed into the famous quarries, prob- 
ably the most ancient in the world. These yielded the 
bright colored and durable stone suitable for a repre- 
sentation of the sunbeam; the rose-colored granite, 
**machet" or ** heart-stone," as the Egyptians called it. 
With chisels of copper, and perhaps of iron, and copper 
saws fed with sand or corundum, the old quarrymen 
managed to cut long series of shallow holes along 
every quarry-face, now left as rows of wedge-marks 
along the ledges. In these holes, some think, wooden 
wedges were tightly driven, whose swelling, after wet- 
ting with water, caused the splitting away of the se- 
lected block. According to another view metal 
wedges were inserted in the holes, as now in our own 

* Edwards, op, cit,^ 231. 



86 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

quarries, whose continuous beating from one end 
toward the other, at one time, by great gangs of work- 
men, caused the stone to part. 

You are probably aware, through the public journals, 
that the State of Wisconsin has just flung defiance to 
Ancient Egypt in the production, for the Columbian 
Exposition at Chicago, of a monolith obelisk, 115 feet 
high, 10 by 10 feet at the base, and 4 by 4 at the top. 
This is indeed gi feet taller than the Lateran obelisk 
at Rome, the highest Egyptian obelisk which happens 
now to be standing. With five steam channellers, it 
was cut out, at the Prentice Brown-stone Quarries, in 
three months and a half, all but the loosening of the 
bottom of the stone from its bed. This was accom- 
plished by wedges, and is thus described : 

** For this work wedges had been entered, and all 
that remained to be done was to drive them, upon a 
given signal, until the rock was wholly separated. Fifty 
men were carefully selected for this work, and with 
mauls raised, on November 18, they waited for the 
signal. 

** The word was given at 1 1 o'clock by President Pren- 
tice, of the Prentice Brown-stone Company, who 
donates the stone to the State of Wisconsin. At the 
sound of his voice the mauls descended. As each man 
struck a wedge he stepped forward, from the base to 
the apex, striking a wedge at each step. The men 
kept step like soldiers, and the fifty mauls descended 
as though wielded by one man. The first crack ap- 
peared at the base. It gradually widened and spread 
as the blows continued to descend, until, at last, the 
entire shaft separated from the ledge. There was a 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 87 

slight tremble at the moment of complete parting, and 
there lay the great monolith." 

But this stone is, after all, but brown-stone, not 
granite, and it is simply to be dressed before it is borne 
to Chicago, in place of the elaborate sculpture in hiero- 
glyphics, polishing and gilding which the intensely hard 
granite obelisks of Egypt received. The enormous 
unfinished obelisk, 95 feet long, with a base 11 feet 
square, which still lies in one of the old quarries of 
Syen4 is over 400,000 pounds heavier than the mono- 
lith of the Wild West ; it is roughly hewn on three 
sides, but underneath yet undetached from the rock. 

We may gladly remember that there are no as- 
sociations of oppression or sorrow connected with the 
construction of the obelisks. It required the most 
skilled, and therefore willing labor. The words of one 
thorough Egyptologist, in regard to another class of 
monuments, may here be recalled : 

** It was not an enfeebled race of captives who built 
the pyramids, groaning under the lash as they toiled, 
but a youthful and vigorous nation, who, during long 
centuries of peaceful inactivity, spent their superfluous 
energy in joyful labor, to accomplish an almost super- 
human task, under the very eyes of princes whom they 
reverenced as divine." * 

There is no evidence that the hand of a slave ever 
rested upon our own Obelisk, except, it may be, in 
later times, as an emblem of hope and coming deliver- 
ance. 

9. Various Egyptian Obelisks. In regard to the an- 
tiquity of the obelisk, there is one record, now nearly 

* Ebers, op. cit.^ I., 139. 



88 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 

5000 years old, showing the obeh'sk of Khufu, with its 
attendant priest, in the Fourth dynasty, sixteen cen- 
turies before the quarrying of our own obelisk began. 
In many very old hieroglyphic inscriptions, the symbol 
of the obelisk (tekhen) stands among the characters, 
in one inscription within a pyramid. The figures of a 
pair of obelisks remain sharply cut on two faces of the 
London Obelisk; and a corresponding pair is recognized, 
half-effaced, by Dr. Moldenke, on the south side of the 
New York Obelisk. A similar representation of a pair 
of obelisks was also found by him on a piece of 
mummy cloth, a fragment of the Ritual of the Dead.* 
The oldest obelisk of all, of the IVth or Vth dynasty, 
about 3000 B.C., was little more than a model, as it 
was but a little over two feet in height ; it was found 
inside of a tomb at Thebes by Lepsius, and is now in 
the Berlin Museum. Stuart also has described two 
others of a small size and simple form, found at Deah 
Abou'L Neggah, near Thebes, with inscriptions of King 
Entef of the Eleventh dynasty, about 2400 B.C. But, 
with these exceptions, all the obelisks occur- on the 
east or morning side of the Nile, where they once stood, 
always in pairs, before the gates of some temple. How- 
ever, according to Ebers, smalll ** obelisks bearing the 
name of the owner were sometimes to be seen near the 
gates of the Egyptian country- houses. "f We owe 
to Chipiez an imagined restoration of the approach 
to the Temple of Luxor, which gives some idea of their 
original position among the flying standards, and of their 
imposing effect at the end of the long double line of huge 

* 

* Moldenke, op, cxt,^ 33. 

\ Egyptian Queen, Trans, by E, Grove, I. 7. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 89 

sphinxes. Those at Luxor were erected by Rameses 
the Great and his fair queen, Nofre-Tari, about 1360 
B.C., and the most perfectly executed of all existing 
obelisks ; so sharply were the hieroglyphics cut, and to 
such depth (2 inches), that the Arabs managed to mount 
by inserting their toes. The one on the left, the east, 
still remains there, but that on the west was taken down 
by the French, carried to Paris, and there erected in 
1836 on the Place de la Concorde, a shaft about 75 feet 
in height. This western obelisk is shown in the illus- 
tration as it stood at Luxor,* upon its original pedes- 
tal; this base, however, was left behind by the French, 
and remains buried. 

Forty obelisks of Egypt have survived, down to our 
day, out of the hundreds which once adorned her tem- 
ples and palaces. All these are more or less mutilated, 
only nine now standing in Egypt, ten fallen and broken, 
and the greater part carried away to foreign lands. In 
Rome there are nine of Egyptian origin, of which 
seven probably belonged to the glittering company 
which once shot up, near the New York Obelisk, in the 
City of An, viz.: 

Campensis Obelisk, on the Monte Citorio, erected 
by Psametik II. at An, now in five pieces and with 
most of its hieroglyphs effaced, 71 feet and 5 inches in 
height. 

Flaminian Obelisk, on the Piazza del Popolo, erected 
by Seti I. at An, now in several pieces, 783 feet in 
height. 

Mahutean Obelisk, before the Pantheon, erected by 

* D'Avennes, op, ciU^ I., last plate. 



90 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

Rameses II. atj^An, with its lower part broken off, 
and now 20_feet in height. 



WESTERN OBELISK.-LUXOR. 
Vatican Obelisk, on the Piazza di San Pietro, once 
erected at An, perhaps by Menephthah I., the largest 
entire obelisk out of Egypt, 83 feet and \\ inches in 
height 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 91 

Sta. Maria Maggiore Obelisk, probably erected orig- 
inally at An, without inscriptions, 48 feet and 5 inches 
in height. 

Monte Cavallo Obelisk, before the Quirinal, once 
probably erected at An, without inscriptions, 45 feet 
in height. 

To the above, some authorities also add : 

Lateran Obelisk, in front of Church of San Giovanni 
in Laterano, perhaps ereeted originally at An, by 
Thothmes IV., broken in two and re-cemented, the 
loftiest of all erect obelisks, 105^ feet in height. 

Besides these, there are elsewhere, of the same glori- 
ous company : 

Atmeidan Obelisk, in Constantinople, erected by 
Thothmes III. at An, the lower part broken off, and 
now 55 feet and 4 inches in height. 

Boboli Gardens Obelisk, in Florence, Italy, erected 
probably by Rameses II. at An, 16 feet and i inch in 
height. 

Alexandrian Obelisk, in London, erected by Thoth- 
meses III. at An, as companion to the New York 
Obelisk, with hieroglyphs largely obliterated on three 
sides, 68 feet and 55 inches in height. 

Cleopatra's Needle, in New York, erected byThoth- 
meses III. at An, with hieroglyphs badly defaced or ob- 
literated around the bottom and up two sides, 693 feet 
in height; By its original granite pedestal and lime- 
stone base, the height of this monument is increased 
to nearly 80 feet above the pavement. 

A significant fact is found in the fractures, defacement 
and mutilation shown in nearly all the obelisks which 



92 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

once stood at An, in comparison with the general 
preservation or perfection of those at Thebes. 

It is but the story of our New York Obelisk that we 
can now briefly review : as you will see, a record of 
repeated misfortunes, in the shifting changes of Egyp- 
tian — but, we will hope, not of American — politics. 
Again and again it has been threatened with, and just 
escaped, the destruction which overwhelmed its com- 
panions. But its last, its recent calamity, was the most 
dangerous of all. 

lo. Conveyance of Obelisk from Syend. With several 
others (probably three) this monolith was hewn out at 
Syene in the Eighteenth dynasty, the most glorious 
period of Egyptian history. Thence the sprightly 
company of youthful obelisks started on their journey 
down the Nile valley, for almost 600 miles, to the city 
of An. As to the mode of conveyance of such 
huge masses of stone, there is some uncertainty, no 
picture nor inscription having been found with any 
direct bearing on this subject. The fitness of the Nile 
as the medium of transportation is at once suggested ; 
but of this there is no record. The position of all the 
great obelisks on the same side of the Nile, the eastern, 
as that on which the quarries stand, is but a proof, in 
the opinion of some authors, of the ancient necessity of 
conveyance of these heavy masses by land, rather than of 
any choice from a religious point of view.* The only 
picture extant, having any bearing on the matter, is 
that from the tomb in El Bersheh, which represents a 
colossal statue dragged along upon a sledge by main 
strength, with the labor of several hundred men, while 

* Stuart, Nile Gleanings, 213. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 93 

a few in front pour a liquid over the road-bed, possibly 
oil, more probably water, to dampen the chafing ropes * 
or to harden the sand and facilitate the dragging.f 

In the approach to the quarries of Syen^ from the 
north, Denon states: ** In the afternoon I found, in the 
middle of the desert, the trace of a grand antique road, 
bordered with large masses of cut stone, which led in a 
straight line to Syene." % 

An ancient historian also records§ that, in one case, it 
required the labor of a couple of thousan d men, three 
years, to transport a huge monolithic chamber to Saisin 
the Delta. You recall also the tale of Pliny, how an early 
King, Rhamsesis (probably Rameses II.) brought down 
an obelisk to the city oi An, by the exertions of 120,000 
men, and then bound his own son to the summit of the 
shaft, during its erection, so that the officials might 
not neglect any care. The first instance of the removal 
of Egyptian obelisks to a foreign land occurred 664 B. C, 
when Assurbanipal, with his Assyrian hosts, ravaged 
Thebes and carried two obelisks to his palace at Nine- 
veh, evidently as far as the Red Sea overland; these were 
ultimately destroyed, with Nineveh itself, by the Medes, 
606 B.C. II 

But, in addition to this method, it is highly probable 
that the Egyptians were accustomed to float obelisks, 
colossi and huge blocks down the Nile in barges or rafts, 
during its inundations. It is recorded that they had 
vessels sometimes 1 20 feet in length, and others are re- 

* Parker, op, cit,^ Thos. L. Donaldson, 35. 

f Compare ChampoUion-le-Jeune, op. cit,^ IV., Plate ccclxxxix. 

X Travels, II., 68. 

§ Herodotus, II., 175. 

II Records of the Past, VI. Cooper, op. cit., 18. 



94 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

ported of 420 feet. Under the Sixth dynasty, Una, 
a governor, thus describes his conveyance of stones for 
a pyramid: ** I made first a boat of burthen, 60 cubits 
long and 30 cubits broad," no by 55 feet; "as soon 
as the water rose, I loaded the rafts with immense 
pieces of granite for the pyramid." * 

The Chief Architect under Amenhotep VI. states 
concerning the transport of colossal statues of that 
King: " I caused eight rafts to be built; the statues 
were carried on the river." 

Much later, 380 B.C., according to Pliny,f Nectan- 
ebo, of the Thirtieth dynasty, cut out an obelisk from 
the quarry, 80 cubits long (140 feet), which Ptolemy 
Philadelphus afterward floated on a raft down the 
Nile and through a canal, and erected in the Arsinoite 
Nome, near Alexandria. J 

But I think that I have found other circumstantial 
evidence to the same effect, in the records of the 
Eighteenth dynasty. The inscription § (quoted in full 
beyond) on one of the obelisks of Queen Hatasu at 
Karnak states : 

" Her Majesty began the work in the fifteenth year 
of her reign, the first day of the month Mechir, of the 
sixteenth year, and finished it on the last day of the 
month Mesore, making seven months from its com- 
mencement in the quarry.*' On this Cooper remarks, 
**the month Mechir began about 17th December, and 
Mesore about the 1 5th of June," and there he stops. But 
it happens that on the 17th of June falls the *'nightof the 

* Bnigsch, op, cit„ I., 425. 

f Nat. Hist., bk. xxxvi, ch. 14. 

X Kenrick, op. cit., II., 503. Parker, op, cU,y 21. 

§ Cooper, op, di,^ 32. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 95 

• 

drop," Leila-en-mekta, as the Arabs still call it at Cairo, 
the momentous night when, according to a dainty con- 
ceit of the ancient Egyptians, the mother goddess, Isis. 
ever lamenting for her slain husband (Osiris), let fall 
*^the divine tear," somewhere upon the upper Nile — 
and the Nile began to rise! Certain it is that the rise 
of the eagerly watched sacred river, hardly perceptible 
at the beginning of June, suddenly every year becomes 
strongly marked between June 15th and June 20th. 
So the rush of the work upon the Queen's obelisks to 
their completion upon exactly that date hardly looks 
as a mere coincidence, but rather as a sign of carefully 
planned dispatch, that the obelisks might be ready for 
the rise of the river, and therefore that their transport 
was to be effected by floating down the stream. As 
Queen Hatasu was the sister, the predecessor on the 
throne, and, for a time, the co-regent of Thothmeses 
III., an equally energetic monarch, it is probable that 
his obelisks also — i. ^., at least, the New York, London 
and Constantinople obelisks— were both fashioned 
and conveyed to the Delta in a very short time, 
probably therefore on the bosom of the Nile. 

We have next to consider certain rulers of Egypt, 
whose history, with long intervening intervals, is more 
or less blended with that of our Obelisk, and, in part, in- 
scribed upon its faces. Of these there are five, so that 
our monolith might well be styled the Obelisk of the 
Five Kings. 

1 1. The Kingly Builder, Thothmeses III. Our Obelisk 
was brought down to An at the command of the 
Pharaoh Dehuti-mes III. (in Greek, Thothmes, or 
Thothmeses), and in the early part of his reign, about 



96 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

the year 1585 B.C. This great and warlike monarch 
has been styled the Alexander the Great of Egyptian 
history, the empire, during his reign, having been ex- 
tended over the whole known world. At the same 
time, he was one of the great scholars of his kingdom. 
His verj' name, Thothmeses, signified "offspring of 
Thoth," the god of learning and sciences; in the library 
of the palace at Amada, he is pictured, standing before 
Sefekh, the goddess of writings and history. During 
his active life, he erected many temples and palaces, 
adorned with obelisks, at An and Memphis and Thebes. 
The portrait of the Royal Builder of our Obelisk was 
therefore of as much interest to his subjects as 
to us, constantly represented by brush of painter and 
tool of sculptor. He received the epithet, Mai-Re, 
Beloved of the Sun. His name was held in such high 
veneration that it is found inscribed on large numbers 
of scarabs aiid amulets, and on one he is represented 
worshipping the Sun-Ray, the Obelisk.* 

Any object bearing his name, it was positively known, 
would bring great good luck to the possessor. So mote 
it be to our fair city of New York! For down the 
centre of each face of our Obelisk, nearly 3,500 years 
ago, the King had written, with the usual modesty of 
kings, his title and his great name, and there they are 
to this day! During fifty-four j^ears, this mighty mon- 
arch, Thothmeses III., ruled over Egypt, and, at his 
death, was entombed with royal honors, in the Valley of 
the Kings, near Thebes, for his long sleep, to wait for the 
call of Osiris. But neither for the body of the King, 
nor for the obelisks he planted in An, was there to be 

^"" ■ ~ 1111 II -^^■■■^^^^^^^ 

* Parker, op. cit. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 97 

rest. As the obelisks, at a later period, were carried 
away to another site, at Alexandria, so there came rude 
disturbance to the sleeping King. In some time of 
invasion or danger, the faithful Theban priests came to 
the valley by night, lifted all the coffins of kings and 
princes out of their stone sarcophagi, bore them over 
the hills to a wild gorge, Deir-El-Bahari, and there, in 
the darkness, piled them up hastily in a cavern they 
had secretly excavated, and covered up its stone portal 
under a vast heap of sand. The position of this mass 
of sand, lying so far up on the hillside, excited the sus- 
picion of a wandering Arab in 1879. It is a strange coin- 
cidence that, just at the time, in 1880 and 1881, when 
the Obelisk of Thothmeses was again oveturned, to be 
<:arried from Egypt over the ocean to New York, the 
King^s resting place was rediscovered and again violated, 
and the mummy of the Kingly Builder of our Obelisk 
was for the third time borne away and deposited in the 
Museum at Cairo. By its side, wrapped tightly in 
swaddling bands, the paddle was ^seen, wherewith, in 
Paradise, the risen Thothmeses might guide his boat 
over the Sea of Joy. And the mummy was unrolled, 
and the King's face uncovered, and his right hand, 
-clasping, over the hollow where his heart had been, the 
King's greatest treasure, not a crown-jewel but a stone 
scarab, emblem of his hope of resurrection and im- 
mortality. Even of that emblem, it was found, he had 
been already robbed by some Arab, through an open- 
ing cleft through the mummy. There was but just 
time to take a hasty and imperfect photograph, and 
then, before the bystanders and to the dismay and 
despair of the Director of the Museum, ** the features 



98 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

crumbled to pieces and vanished like an apparition^ 
and so passed away from human view forever." Yet a 
wreath of flowers which had been wound around the 
body by loving hands, before the burial, was found sa 
wonderfully preserved, that even their colors could be 
distinguished, and they looked as if only recently dried; 
while a wasp, which, tempted by the flowers, had flown 
into the coffin before it was closed, thirty-five centuries 
ago, was found dried up but still perfect, having lasted 
better than the King.* And this was the last of Earth 
to Thothmeses. 

12. The Architect of our Obelisk. Another question 
of interest is, who was the architect that planned and 
supervised the erection of our Obelisk? The names are 
on record of a large number, at least forty, of the great 
architects of that wonderful land. The glory of Egypt 
was her architecture, and, as historians recount 
her architects were held in royal honor. Nearly all 
were married to daughters or granddaughters of the 
reigning Pharaoh. One family of successive architects 
has been studied, reaching from the reign of Seti I. to 
that of Darius, from father to son for twenty-two gen- 
erations, f Statues were often erected in their honor, 
such as that of the great architect of Memphis, Ra-Ne- 
fer, which was dug up near Cairo. 

We fortunately know at least the name of the illus- 
trious architect who erected, at the city of An, the tem- 
ples and palaces of Thothmeses III., with their decora- 
tions, doubtless including our own New York Obelisk. 



* Stuart, Fun. Tent, 4 and 135. 
f Brugsch, op, cit.^ I. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 99 

His offices and titles are thus styled, in an inscription 
of that day : 

** The hereditary Lord and First Governor in Mem- 
phis, the true author of the arranging of the temple- 
feast, the Architect in the town of the Sun, the 
Chief Superintendent of all the offices in Upper and 
Lower Egypt, the Head Architect of the King, the 
Chief Field-officer of the Lord of the Land, the Stew- 
ard of the King's palace of Thothmeses HL — Amen- 
men-ant." 

To the names then of Upjohn, Renwick, Hunt, 
Smith, Bartholdi and others most worthy of honor for 
the best architecture and decoration of New York, let 
us add the name of Amen-men-ant, the Architect of our 
Obelisk. 

13. The City of the Sun. In Lower Egypt, at the 
upper end of the Delta, rose the little city of An, or 
Heliopolis as the Greeks called it, the City of the Sun,, 
bristling with obelisks. ** It stood upon a lofty plateau 
of rocks and sand, surrounded by deep canals and broad 
lakes, bordered by papyrus meadows and sycamore 
groves." The outer line of the present mounds has been 
traced out by the traveller, Pococke. 

In approaching the front of the Temple of the Sun 
from the northwest, the pilgrim first passed between the 
most ancient pair of obelisks, erected by Osertasen L 
of the Twelfth dynasty, about 2300 B.C. One of 
these was overturned by the Arabs, 11 60 A.D., in 
search of hidden treasure, and the other still stands 
erect, the famed Obelisk of An, the oldest erect obelisk 
in Egypt. Then passing through the huge Pylon, the 
way lay through a long avenue of marble sphinxes 



lOO The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

(some of which still remained at the visit of Pococke in 
1 743). Beyond rose four obelisks, immediately before 
the face of the temple. In the first pair, the one on 
the left, the north-eastern, was the one now in New 
York ; the other, on the right, was the one now in Lon- 
don. In the second pair, was the one now standing in 
Constantinople, and the fate of the other is unknown. 

To the Temple within, as the pilgrim was in- 
formed, the wonderful Bird of the Sun, with plu- 
mage of red and gold, the Ben-nu or Phoenix, 
came flying from Arabia, once in five hundred years ; 
according to one tradition,* it bore a great ball 
of myrrh, with the body of its father enclosed, for 
burial ; according to another, it flung itself into the 
altar-flame, was consumed, and rose again from its 
ashes — a consolatory type of the imperishability of all 
force and life and bloom. Around and about rose 
obelisks in wonderful number, some of them, accord- 
ing to report, a hundred and eighty feet in height, a 
Temple and City of Obelisks, as they called it, An-nu. 
So many of these remained even down to the visit of 
Abd-el-Latif, in 1203 A.D., that he refers to them as 
'*an innumerable multitude." f With the exception of 
a temple at Memphis, this was the most ancient of 
all Egypt — of antiquity so great that no chronicle 
existed even then of its first erection. The men who 
set up our Obelisk at An in the days of Thothmeses, 
nearly 3500 years ago, looked around, with the same 
reverence as we now gaze upon our own surviving 
monument, on the hoary walls of the Temple itself, and 

* Herodotus, Euterpe, II., 73. 
f Pinkerton, op. cit., XV., 807. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, loi 

on the still more venerable shaft, the great obelisk of 
An and its fellow, set up on the rebuilding of the Tem- 
ple, over 700 years before. 

The slender, pointed shafts of the countless obelisksr, 
blazing with gold, rose glittering into the bright clear 
air of the Egyptian Delta, before the thronging mul- 
titudes of worshippers, almost blending, before their 
admiring eyes, with the keen though kindly rays of 
the all-conquering Ra, the Sun-Force, the symbol of the 
warming, vivifying, re-creative power of Nature. 

If this town was the actual birthplace of Thothmeses 
III. (as suggested by the statement on the west face 
of our Obelisk), very naturally he *' embellished the 
house where he was born.** So here, in the early part 
of his reign, probably between 1590 and 1580 B.C., amid 
the joyful din of the great Thirty Year Festival (as re- 
corded on the south face), our Obelisk and its fellow 
were upraised before the taller pair, in front of the 
Temple of the Sun, thirty-five centuries ago. 

It found itself surrounded by the far-famed seat and 
origin of the profound learning of Egypt, the holy fane 
to which pilgrims thronged from all the world to seek 
wisdom. The city was small, about three-quarters of 
a mile square, and every visitor must have passed 
almost under the shadow of our Obelisk. 

Whatever in later days has inspired mankind, through 
the spirit and influence of a great world-university, such 
as that at Alexandria, Leyden, Salamanca, Heidelberg, 
and Oxford, was here concentrated in the Temple of Ra» 
with its 1 3,000 priests chanting before the huge mirror of 
burnished gold, the sacred hawk in the golden cage, the 
awful death-emblem, the pyramidal ben-beny in its secret 



I02 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

chamber, and the sacred calf, Mnevis, on its purple bed. 
The anxious care, which this earliest of the nations gave 
to the education of woman, was shown in the convent 
school near by for the Ahi-t, young women of families of 
the priests ; from its doors came the wedding procession 
of Asenath, the daughter of the High Priest, Poti-pher- 
Ra, on her way to the house of Joseph, the Hebrew- 
Prime Minister of an early king. 

At a later day, among the priests, there was one, after- 
ward the Hebrew law-giver, Moses, who here received 
his education, and (according to Hecatseus, Strabo and 
Manetho) finally stood before the Sun-god as a priest. 
As he went in and out through the great portal of the 
Temple, he daily passed between a pair of obelisks, 
his robe probably at times brushing against the base of 
the eastern one, which now stands in our Park. 

This city of An, too, we may venture to say, was one 
of the few places of early antiquity where at times might 
be gathered an assemblage of geographers ; for the keen- 
witted Egyptian, though home-loving, was eager for 
knowledge concerning the wide world outside of the 
Land of Chem. Salt water, indeed, was to him an 
abomination and defilement, since it was the abode of 
evil spirits. So it was not until the time of the prede- 
cessor of Thothmeses HI., his sister, the energetic and 
clever Queen Hatasu, of Amara, that Egypt had a fleet, 
the conscientious scruples of her warriors having been 
removed, before they embarked, by manning her ves- 
sels with Phoenician sailors. Egypt also continued in 
constant connection with foreign geography through 
the overland caravans, as well as through the enter- 
prise of the Phoenician voyagers themselves, who were 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 103 

glad to bring to her spices from the Land of Pun-t, tin 
from Cornwall, corundum from the Island of Sapphire, 
and all other needed commodities from distant shores, 
at the very lowest market prices. 

But the city of An was ever the particular goal of 
the foreign traveller. Among these students of the 
olden time, in humble attendance at the schools of the 
Temple of the Sun, were Pythagoras, Thales, the Gre- 
cian law-giver, Solon, the historian of Egypt, Manetho, 
and that great traveller, whom we call the Father of 
History, Herodotus. Here, later, came the geographer 
Strabo, to whom they pointed out the house in which, 
three centuries and a half before, Plato had spent three 
years under the instruction of the Egyptian priests, 
with Eudoxus, the astronomer, as his fellow-student. 
Memories of war, too, cluster around our monolith dur- 
ing its stay at An. It looked down upon the hosts of 
Shishak, marching northward past the walls to the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, and three centuries later on the 
glorious array of Alexander the Great on his conquer- 
ing march through the Land of Goshen. 

We may well congratulate ourselves on the posses- 
sion of a monument whose history has been so inti- 
mately linked, through these precious associations, with 
the City of the Sun, over which, at the time of his re- 
building of the sanctuary, Amenemha I. breathed the 
pathetic prayer (now recorded on the ancient leathern 
roll in the Museum at Berlin):* 

May it not perish by the vicissitudes of time. 
May that which is made endure. 

But through the desolations of war and of treasure- 

* Ebers, op. cit,, I., 187. 



1 04 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

hunting, and the devastations produced by the building^ 
of Cairo, >five miles to the southwest, there remains 
now, on the site of the famous city, near the little Arab 
village of Mataria, the ancient obelisk of An as the 
only vestige, with a few rude mounds, ruined heaps of 
mud from the walls of a later Coptic town, the old 
spring of the Sun, and a venerable tree, the traditional 
resting-place, at a later time, of two Jewish*fugitives and 
a little Child. 

In the ancient time, however, at the period of the 
greatest glory of An, here stood our Obelisk for about 
1055 years — a happy millennium, soon to be followed by 
disaster after disaster. 

14. The Second King^ Rameses II. In the Nineteenth 
dynasty, probably 200 years after (about 1385 B.C.),. 
the illustrious Pharaoh, Rameses IL, steps out on the 
field of Egyptian action. This is the second of the 
monarchs whose names are connected with our Obelisk. 

This warrior-king Iqd out his armies in every direc- 
tion, and struck fierce blows at all the surround- 
ing nations, who successively yielded to his sway. 
Among these, haughty Persia, overcome and ravaged 
by the armies of Egypt, trembled, but bided her time. 
Then Rameses, in the pride of his manhood, inscribed 
his name and glory, in double columns of hieroglyphs,, 
on every one of the faces of our Obelisk, and reigned 
in peace. The long wars were ended, and the warriors 
rested and the priests sang, and the people rejoiced 
around our Obelisk within An. But from outside its 
walls came a minor tone, the sad refrain of the black- 
bearded captives from the land of Canaan in the brick 
fields. These are pictured at work on the walls of a 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 105 

tomb of that period ; their hard labor is done under 
the eye of the Egyptian task-master, who squats near 
by, with an inscription, '* the stick is in my hand, be not 
idle!" 

The great king Rameses died, after a long reign of 
sixty-seven years, and was buried in the Valley of 
the Kings. On the strange discovery of his coffin 
also, in 1881, among the others in the wild Libyan 
gorge, the royal mummy was taken to the museum at 
Cairo, unrolled, and the face of the monarch revealed, 
in his old age. Under the next reign, that of Meneph- 
tah I., the captives escaped from the brick fields and 
out of the city of An to Canaan, where they found a 
protector in Cyrus, the king of long humbled Persia. 

15. The Third King, Osarkon I Once more there 
is a record on our Obelisk, in the decline of the Egyp- 
tian monarchy, 400 years after Rameses II. Then 
came Osarkon I., 933 B.C., in the Twenty-second 
dynasty, a monarch probably of Assyrian origin. Of 
him it is said,* ** There is every reason to believe that he 
was a peaceful and wholly undistinguished prince, con- 
tent to add a few sculptures to the Bubastite portico of 
his father, and to rule Egypt in quietness during such 
term of life as Heaven might allow him. His portrait 
is that of a mild prince, not remarkable for energy or 
determination." 

This gentle Pharaoh, greedy too after everlasting 
fame in Central Park, narrowly inspected our Obelisk 
and found two little spots vacant near the lower part of 
each face, and there he too inscribed his modest tale 
of viriue. 



* Rawlinscn. Hist. Anc, Eg., I., 425. 



io6 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

1 6. The Fourth King^ Ra-mesuth. Four centuries 
after this, the opportunity presented itself to Persia, 
ever mindful of her past humiliation at the hands of 
Rameses, to wreak her long delayed vengeance. 

In the sixth century B.C., the white sails of the 
Phoenician fleet suddenly glistened off the curved coast 
of Aigab-t, around the mouths of the Nile, as allies of 
Persia ; swept the navy of Egypt from the Mediterra- 
nean, and came sailing up the sacred river. From the 
north a vast Persian host invaded Egypt, and defeated 
the forces of Psametik III., after a fierce battle near Pelu- 
sium, in which 50,000 Egyptians and 20,000 Persians fell. 
Thus the savage Persian leader, Cambyses (or Kemba- 
thet) reigned as king of Egypt, assuming the throne-name 
of Ra-mesuth. Later in his reign, maddened by failure 
of an expedition and by suspicion of his subjects, he 
insulted and stabbed the embalmed body of an Egyp- 
tian predecessor, Amasis ; scoffed at the god Pthah of 
Memphis, destroyed his images, and stabbed the 
sacred bull. Then marching his army through the 
Delta, he desolated the land with fire and sword, 
taking the city of An by storm, and the flames of 
the ancient Sun-Temple rose to the sky. The obe- 
lisks he hurled down, or mutilated, using fire and vio- 
lence (as Strabo sorrowfully recounts), above all, we 
may be sure, on th^ first pair of Obelisks in front of 
the Temple, on which the hated cartouches of Thoth- 
meses III. and of Rameses II. were incised. There was 
in the city (it is reported by Pliny), one magnificent obe- 
lisk, 1 1 cubits in breadth and 1 20 cubits in height (more 
than thrice that of our own), to whose foot the con- 
flagration had reached, when the anger of the Persian 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 107 

King gave way to admiration, and he bade his warriors 
extinguish the fire. So passed away the glory of An, 
about the year 520 B.C., and Alexandria gradually took 
her place as the world's centre of learning. 

And there among the ruins, burned and blackened — 
possibly overthrown and prostrate, as some think — re- 
mained that first pair of obelisks, our own and its fel- 
low, for over five centuries, with no new inscription 
but the fire-mark of the last King Ra-mesuth. 

1 7. The Fifth King, Augustus. The recorded his- 
tory of our Obelisk and of its mate now in London, 
thus traced for nearly sixteen hundred years, now ap- 
proaches our era, when Egypt became a part of the 
Roman Empire. In the year 12 B.C., the eighteenth 
of the reign of Augustus Caesar at Rome, these obelisks 
were both carried by the Romans from An to Alexan- 
dria on the sea-coast, and raised once more in front of 
the grand water-entrance of the Csesareum (or Sebas- 
teum), the great temple erected to commemorate the 
conquests of the Roman armies. For some reason, now 
unknown, the name ^* Cleopatra's Needle," even down to 
a recent day, has been attached to our own Obelisk 
while at Alexandria. It is certain that she had died 
eight years before the removal of the obelisks from An, 
but it is possible that the plan of their removal may 
have originated with her. It also appears that there 
were other monuments or public works in Alexandria 
with which her name was formerly connected. In re- 
gard to one of these, called, in 1 743, the Calisch or 
Canal of Cleopatra, Norden remarked: **The name of 
Cleopatra, which it retains to this day, gives no ground 
for assumption as to the time of its original construction. 



io8 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

Some work of repair, carried out at command of a 
queen of such celebrity, some amusement in which she 
may have taken part in that locality, or some festival 
which she may have there displayed, could easily have 
given occasion to this name."* The same explanation 
is applicable to the long current name of the Needle at 
Alexandria. 

In the re-erection of the two obelisks, on their arrival 
from An, the Romans found the lower angles of both 
shafts badly broken away, and inserted four huge 
bronze crabs, about sixteen inches in diameter, under 
each shaft for support. This gave opportunity for an- 
other series of inscriptions on the crabs themselves. 
These record, in Greek and in Latin, the names of the 
emperor, prefect and architect, by whom the re-erection 
of the obelisks has been effected. Fragments of two of 
the ancient crabs are preserved in the Metropolitan Mu- 
seum of Art, in this city, the original four having been 
replaced under our monolith by new castings of the 
same form, size and inscriptions. 

At Alexandria, the two monuments remained through 
the exciting scenes of the revolt of the heathen in 366 
A.D., in which the Caesareum and neighboring temples 
were burned ; through the capture by the Persians in 
616 A.D.; through the siege and sack of the city by 
the Saracens in 640 and 646 A.D.; and through 
later captures in 823, 924 and 928 A.D. In 1203 A.D.^ 
both obelisks were seen standing by the Arab physician, 
Abd-el-Latif. In 1301, and again in 1303 A.D., violent 
earthquakes occurred, by one of which its companion 
was probably overthrown, while our own stout monolith 

* Norden, op. cit., 19. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 109 

firmly held its place. After that date there are occasional 
records in the hasty visits of foreign travellers, and futile 
attempts were made to unravel the mysteries of its hiero- 
glyphics. 

One old traveller's note in 1610 A.D. reads thus: 

** Of Antiquities there are few remainders: onely an 
Hieroglyphicall Obelisk of Theban marble, as hard well- 
nigh as Porphyr, but of a deeper red, and speckled 
alike, called Pharos Needle, standing where once stood 
the palace of Alexander: and another lying by, and 
like it, halfe buried in rubbidge."* 

And another account in 1738: 

*' To-day there are only two solitary obelisks, of 
which one still stands in its ancient position, but the 
other is broken and almost buried in the ruins.^f 

To recapitulate its history thus far: 

Our Obelisk was quarried about 3470 years ago at 
Syene, and borne to the City of An, and there stood for 
1055 years. 

About 520 B.C., burned and defaced by Cambyses, it 
remained over 500 years longer among the ruins of the 
city. 

In 12 B.C., carried by the Romans to Alexandria, and 
there set up. it stood for 1890 years, down to 1879. 

For at least 165 years previous to that date, the lower 
portion of the shaft and the entire pedestal and founda- 
tion had been buried in the sand up to the height of 
about twelve feet on the shaft, as reported by the trav- 
eller, Paul Lucas, who very likely chanced to tell the 
truth, when he visited Alexandria in 1 714 A.D. It 

* Sandys, op, cit, 
f Norden, <?/. f/V., I., Introduction. 



I lo The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

is not generally known that when, on the defeat 
of Napoleon, in iSoi, the Viceroy of Egypt presented 





. p-J 


^^^^^K ' iL i>JB^^^I 


13 



the fallen obelisk at Alexandria to England, he after- 
wards gave the standing one (now in New York) to 
France. The French were several times at the point 
of its removal to Paris, but found fault with its marred 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 1 1 1 

hieroglyphics. Led by their love for artistic perfection, 
they accepted the advice, in 1829, of Champollion 
the Younger, and, in 1836, took the beautiful eastern 
obelisk from Luxor in its place. Fortunately for us, 
for the loss by the marring of the Alexandrian mono- 
lith, however great, at the hand of time and violence, 
is far more than offset by the historic interest we pos- 
sess, in the very scars of this veteran shaft of the an- 
cient City of An. 

18. The Rescue by the Republic, In its latter days at 
Alexandria, the monolith was fast approaching destruc- 
tion through the climate, absence of protection from 
mutilation, and encroachments of the sea in the subsi- 
dence of the coast. Its threatening fate impressed a 
distinguished archaeologist, who wrote : 

'* The venerable monument, in its sordid surround- 
ings, aroused no sentimental feelings ; and it was only 
when it was seen from the sea that it had some pictur- 
esque charm or reminded us of the past greatness of 
the Greek city.'* * 

Gorringe has reminded us of the neglect with which 
the Obelisk was treated in the suburb of that city and 
** the feeling of disgust aroused by some of its surround- 
ings. No one deemed it worthy of protection and care, 
even to the extent of preventing its defacement and the 
accumulation of offal around it. Two men made a 
business of breaking pieces from the angle of the shaft 
and edges of the intaglios, for sale to relic hunters. 
The disagreeable odors and clamors for backsheesh 
hastened the departure of strangers, who rarely devoted 
more than a few seconds to its examination. The con- 

*Eber?, op, cit.^ I., 23. 



1 1 2 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

stant washings of the surf had begun to affect the 
foundation, and. for the last fifteen years, the Obelisk 
had been gradually inclining more and more toward the 
sea. In a few years it must have fallen, and almost cer- 
tainly been broken by the fall. But a more ignoble fate 
threatened it, in the proposition of some of the foreign 
residents of Alexandria to erect an apartment house on 
the adjacent ground, around the Obelisk, which was to 
adorn the courtyard." * This should suffice in reply to 
the question, sometimes asked, whether our Obelisk 
should not have been left to stand in its native land. 
In 1877, the first active effort to acquire the Obelisk 
for this country was made by Mr. William Henry Hurl- 
bert, at that time editor of the New York World. It is 
fair to add that, ever since, the Obelisk has found, in the 
Press of New York, its most watchful and efficient de- 
fender in time of need. Through a single conversation 
with Mr. Hurlbert, a generous and public-spirited citizen, 
the late Mr. Wm. H. Vanderbilt, became interested in 
the matter, and undertook to defray all the expenses re- 
quired to transport the Obelisk to New York, and to 
re-erect it at the chosen site in Central Park. These 
expenses much exceeded the original estimate, and ulti- 
mately amounted to the sum of $102,576. The trans- 
port of the Luxor Obelisk to Paris cost the French 
Government nearly $500,000. At the instance of 
Mr. Henry G. Stebbins, at that time a Park Commis- 
sioner, and of Secretary of State William M. Evarts 
the assistance of our Consul General at Alexandria, 
Mr. E. E. Farman, was invoked. In 1879, ^^e Egyp- 
tian Government, through the Khedive, Ismail, and 

* Gorringe, op. cit,, i. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 113 

his successor, Tewfik, consented to the presentation of 
the Obelisk, as a free gift, to the City of New York. 
In order to carry out the conveyance to New York, the 
services of the late Lieut. Commander Henry H. Gor- 
ringe of the United States Navy were secured. 
Through his skill as a diplomat, an engineer and a 
navigator, as well as his courage as a man in face of the 
opposition of the foreign residents and subordinate 
officials at Alexandria, the Obelisk was successfully 

• 

taken down, embarked and conveyed to this city. 
With reasonable pride, Gorringe reminds us that " the 
French waited about twenty-five years, and the English 
nearly seventy-five years before removing the obelisks 
they had selected. There was a feeling in Egypt that 
the Americans would certainly require a century to per- 
fect their arrangements." The total period from the 
acquisition and taking down of our Obelisk to its re- 
erection in Central Park, inclusive, was less than four- 
teen months ! 

The series of steps in this transfer have been described 
in full detail, in the work of Gorringe. From the bottom 
of the shaft and pedestal the sand was dug away. A 
staging was first erected, and the entire shaft and pyra- 
midion sheathed with heavy plank, after the re- 
moval of the staging. The column was then sup- 
ported upon steel towers and enormous trunnions, 
gradually turned and lowered, finally launched in a 
caisson, towed to Alexandria, raised in a floating 
dock, and embarked in the steamer ** Dessoug," 
through a hole in its bow. After a voyage of thirty- 
seven days with a picked-up crew and rough officers, 
^hom Gorringe describes as well fitted for a pirate, the 



1 1 4 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

pedestal was landed at West 56th Street, New York ; 
but the shaft was disembarked at Staten Island upon 
pontoons, towed to the foot of West 96th Street, and 
there landed. Thence it was slowly dragged around 
the north end of Central Park, down Fifth Avenue, 
and on a trestle work at 82d Street, over to the knoll 
in the Park ; once more raised and turned upon the 
heavy trunnions ; lowered into its place, and at last suc- 
cessfully re-erected on its present site. It should be added 
that this alone, of all obelisks removed from Egypt, now 
stands on its original granite pedestal, and, beneath this, 
the original base of three tiers of lime stone slabs. 

The Obelisk was thus finally raised, as we hope, for 
all time, on January 22, 1881. It had hardly settled 
into its place and the grounds around it been re- 
arranged, when, only five months after, his life-work 
done, at the age of forty-four, Gorringe died. From 
photographs kindly made for me by Mr. Harry G. Caf- 
fall, of this city, I have already shown a view of the 
monolith obelisk which has been raised, as a memorial 
over the grave of Gorringe, in Rockland Cemetery, near 
Piermont, N. Y.; and I am glad to exhibit, what Com- 
mander Gorringe was too modest to include in the 
illustrations of his fine monograph on Egyptian 
Obelisks, his portrait, from the bronze medallion on 
the same monument. Born in Barbadoes, his life offers 
another example, like that of Alexander Hamilton, of 
the debt which New York owes to the energy of 
adopted sons of West India origin. As the inscription 
on his tomb records : 

Brave, tender and true, 
He passed away lamented by those who knew his worth, 
Whose loving hands have raised this obelisk to his memory. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 1 1 5 

19. The Hieroglyphic Proclamations, — It will not be 
without bearing on our purpose, if we give attention to 
some of the hieroglyphs which cover the four faces of 
the Obelisk, and to which we owe our chief knowledge 
of its history and antiquity. These are well shown, 
though with some errors and imperfections, in the 
drawing made by Burton and Bonomi in 1827, 
while our monolith stood at Alexandria. Down the 
centre of each face of the shaft runs the self-laudatory 
inscription of the royal builder, Thothmeses III. In 
the column on each side you notice the modest remarks 
of Rameses II., two hundred years after. At the very 
base, the ascriptions of long life to the King — like the 
Hoch ! the Hurrah ! or the Vive TEmpereur ! of later 
days. Near the bottom, on each side, the little bare 
spots which Osarkon I., four hundred years after, 
covered with his glory in diminutive characters. 

Exception has been sometimes taken to the some- 
what magniloquent and self-assertive tone of Thoth- 
meses and his successors in these inscriptions, as well 
as the absence of greatly desired information from so 
ancient a record. But it will interest you to glance for 
a moment at the vignette, from the dedication of Capt. 
Norden'sworkon Egypt to King FredericV.of Denmark, 
a little over a century ago.* In this the King stands en- 
throned as a god, with the obelisk bowed down before 
him, the pyramid withdrawn to the rear, the Sphinx 
aghast with admiration, the globe at his feet, and the 
President of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Copen- 
hagen kneeling in humble submission. 

20. The Brilliant Gilded Cap, We have next to con- 

* Norden, op cit.^ I. 



Ii6 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

sider the evidence of the former capping of the apex 
of the pyramidion of our Obelisk with gilded metal 




SOUTH FACE OF OBELISK. NEW YORK. 
The cut is from Dr. Moldenke's work, by permission of the publiahere. 

coating, and of the propriety of its restoration, at least, 
and of regilding the rest of the pyramidion below. 
Notwithstanding the defacement of the characters on 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 1 1 7 

the south side of the New York Obeh'sk, there is good 
authority * to show that those in the central column 
inform us : 

** Thothmes III. has made this to be his monument, 
in honor of his Father Tum [/. ^., the Setting Sun], the 
Lord of An, and . . . has set up for him two 
large obelisks [note their sign in the middle of the face], 
the pyramidion being covered with gold metal," etc.; 
/. ^., on this emblem of the sunbeam, the point or 
apex of the pyramidion was surmounted by a cap of 
gold or gilded bronze, which would glitter at the first 
touch of Ra, the morning light, and at eve send back 
the last gleam of Tum, the Setting Sun. 

The careful archaeologist, Ebers, believes that the hier- 
oglyphs on our Obelisk were themselves gilded. He 
states, **The hieroglyphs engraved in the granite, to per- 
petuate the glory of his name, were inlaid with silver 
gilt, and its point was capped with the same metal. It was 
dedicated to the Sun-God, Ra, and formerly the beams 
of the day-star were mirrored in the polished surface of 
the granite and gold." To this, he adds the footnote : 
** The expression on the Obelisk itself, tasm or uasm, 
appears to mean gilded ; for the word does not appear 
in any lists of metals, nor does it enter into the compu- 
tations of metals, or lists recording the weight of differ- 
ent kinds of gold.^f Moldenke translates the same 
word, u.^em, as gold metal, with the note : "The gold 
metal mentioned here may have been only an alloy of 
copper and gold. Some think that it was the electrvm 
of the ancients, which was an alloy of silver and gold." 

* Moldenke, op. cit., 76. 
f Ebers, op. cit.^ I., 23. 



1 1 8 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 

Elsewhere he states : '* The stone was polished to a high 
state of perfection, and the inscriptions added in intag- 
lio-relievo by skilled stone-cutters, under the direction 
of scribes. Whether the figures of these inscriptions 
were filled out with copper or gold, as some maintain, 
is extremely doubtful. With the pyramidion, it was 
different. While its usual dedicatory inscriptions re- 
mained undoubtedly as they were chiselled, the point 
or apex seems to have been surmounted by gold or 
gilded bronze. ... It would appear, from extant 
obelisks, that, in order to have the gold added, the stone 
apex was not brought out to a fine point, but left rug- 
ged and incomplete." * 

Exactly the same testimony is borne by the inscrip- 
tions on the obelisks at London, Paris, and Rome. The 
archaeologists of London and Paris have repeatedly ex- 
pressed strong protest f against the omitted replacement 
of the ancient gilding upon the two monoliths in 
those cities, which now, gray, dull and forlorn, present 
but a dismal caricature of their ancient glory. 

On this deplorable effect, a French traveller in Egypt 
remarks : 

** The Luxor Obelisk, after so many centuries of anti- 
quity, is now as young, as brilliant as the day when the 
hand of Sesostris placed it upon its pedestal. Its stone 
has the same tints of a pale rose color ; and under the 
floods of light which this fiery sky pours down upon it, 
one would suppose it to have but yesterday arrived from 
the bosom of the quarry of Syene. I confess that I 
could not avoid some comparison, since that time, when 

* Moldenke, op, cit.y i8 and 59. 

f Perrot et Chipiez, op. cit., I., 621, etc.; Cooper, op cit.^ 85, etc. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 119 

once more I looked upon its twin brother, transferred 
to the midst of the fogs of the Seine, dyed by the rain 
to a grayish tint which made it resemble the Fontaine- 
bleau sandstone, bleached, discolored and already 
disintegrating, under the influence of a foggy and in- 
hospitable sky."* 

The inscriptions on the pedestal of the Paris Obe- 
lisk, in the Place de la Concorde, are gilded, and M. J. 
J. Hittorf, the designer of the pedestal, offered a strong 
argument in favor of putting a bronze cap, possibly 
gilded, upon the pyramidion of that monument. 

Other authorities state, of the same obelisk, **the 
apex is left unfinished, and still seems to demand, in 
the damp air of Europe, the protection of its former 
gilded cap,"f and '* it appears belittled by its erection 
as a solitary monolith, in the Place de la Concorde, and 
without its former gilding." % 

On the London Obelisk, the former companion of 
our own at An, in the central column, on the first (east) 
side §, Thothmeses announces : 

** He made [this] in his monuments to his father Horem-mak-khou. He 
erected two very great obelisks, capped with gold (when he celebrated) the 
panegyryof his Father, who loves him. He did (it), the son of the Sun, Thoth- 
meses, the bfest of existences, Beloved of Hor-em-makh-khouV \ 

The sign of the pair of obelisks, above referred to, 
is distinctly preserved both on the second and fourth 
faces of this obelisk, and is well shown by Champollion- 
le-Jeune in Plates ccccxlv. and ccccxlvi. {op, cit.). This 
testimony from the London monument is equally con- 

♦Poitou, op. cit.j 275. 
f Cooper op. cit., 85. 
X Perrot et Chipiez, op. cit., 621. 
§ Cooper, op. cit., 134. 
Parker, op. cit., T. L. Donaldson, 29, and S. Birch, 43. 



1 20 The Mis/or tun \y 0/ an Obelisk. 

elusive in regard to its New York consort, particularly 
in view of the results of Dr. Moldenke^s study of the 
characters on its south face. 

For other evidence in the same direction we may 
return to the very tip of the pyramidion of our own 
monolith. It is not generally known, and no reference 
is made to the fact in Gorringe's book, that this apex 
was imperfect when the Needle stood at Alexan- 
dria. This is distinctly shown in all photographs 
up to 1879, ^^ many of the drawings by travellers for a 
hundred and fifty years before, and in Plate ccccxliv. 
of Champollion-lejeune. Gorringe had this apparent 
defect repaired in 1880 by surmounting it with a new 
piece of granite about six inches in height. This is now 
the more plainly visible from below, as the cement with 
which it was attached has been unfortunately in part dis- 
solved out by rains, and has run down and whitened the 
faces of the pyramidion below. It is, I think, more than 
a curious coincidence, that the pyramidion of the Lon- 
don obelisk is also truncated in the same way, as shown 
in the two plates of Champollion-le-Jeune, already men- 
tioned. In regard to this it is stated: **The apex is 
roughly cut and damaged, it having been covered, like 
most of the obelisks of Thothmeses III., with a bronze 
«^ap. 

The same truncation and imperfection have been 
already noted by Champollion-le-Jeune on obelisks in 
the second court of the Palace at Karnak (Plate scccxii., 
cccxiii., and cccxiv.), and by all observers, in regard to 
the ancient obelisk at An, the Luxor obelisk and 
its fellow at Paris. In the case of these last two, a 

* Cooper, op. cif., 125. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 1 2 1 

shoulder around the base of the pyramidion renders 
certain, what may be equally true of the New York 
obelisk and the rest, that the shaft was originally left 
imperfect at the top, with the expectation that it would 
be perpetually covered by a metal cap. But it is also 
possible, in our own monolith and that of London, that, 
during its mutilation by the Persians at An, the glit- 
tering gilded tip may have been struck off, both metal 
and the stone beneath, as a piece of plunder. 

Again, before the new tip was put on the pyramidion 
of our monolith, Gorringe found traces of ancient 
cement adhering to the faces below. He gathered a 
gram of this, to be chemically examined for traces of 
gold or copper, as he states,* **to determine whether or 
not the pyramidion had been gilded or covered with 
bronze." As only a mere trace of copper (0,04 per 
cent.) was found in these few particles of cement, he 
came to the conclusion that *' there was no evidence of 
either gold or copper having been attached to it at a 
previous period." However, the very presence of that 
cement would seem to testify to the former attachment 
of some object to the pyramidion — plainly the gilded 
cap referred to in the inscription below. 

There is another fact, observed in the figures carved 
upon the pyramidion, which may have similar bearing 
on our present subject. In the squares on two of the 
four faces, the Sun-god Ra is represented, and on the 
other two, the Sun-god Turn, It is strange that the 
head of Ra in both cases is now nearly effaced, while 
that of Atum is well preserved. Gorringe states : ** It 
is barely possible that the head of Ra may have been 

* Gorringe, op, cit,^ Appendix, 159. 



^ 



1 2 2 The Misfortwies of an Obelisk. 

gilded, while that of A turn was only polished like the 
rest of the surfaces, and that this gilding may have been 
the cause of the obliteration."* However, if either 
was to be distinguished by gilding it would certainly 
have been Atum, to whom the Temple of the Sun was 
dedicated, at least during the XVIIIth dynasty; the 
effect of gilding could only have been toward protec- 
tion against the sun and weather ; and the eflacement 
of the head of Ra may have been due to the hand of 
violence of some zealot of Alum, or of some marauder 
in the service of Cambyses. 

Again, the exquisite and wonderful sharpness and 
perfection of a large part of the hieroglyphs on the four 
faces of the pyramidion, surfaces peculiarly exposed to 
weather erosion, may indicate former protection by di- 
rect gilding upon that part of the stone. 

Another reason for the replacement of the gilded 
cap upon our Obelisk is the fact of the general, if not 
universal, Egyptian custom of decoration of their obe- 
lisks in their original condition, both by high polish of 
the stone, and by attachment of gold in the form of 
gilding to the entire surface of the pyramidion, or of a 
gilded cap of copper or bronze, or by filling the incised 
hieroglyphs over the entire monument with pure gold 
or gilded bronze, or by gilding the whole shaft (except 
the intaglios) from top to bottom. In the Hay Collec- 
tion of Antiquities at Boston, Mass., there is now "a 
large fragment of well polished, red syenitic granite, 
having upon its surface the remains of gilding." •}• Some 
of the evidence on this point will be here presented. 

*Gorringe op. cit.^ 62 and 63, tiote, 
4 Cooper, cp. cit., 23, footnote. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 1 2 3 

As to the oldest erect obelisk, that of Osirtasen I. of 
the Xllth dynasty, now standing on the site of An, and 
its long buried companion, the Arab writer Kodhai refers 
to them both as *' being extremely wonderful. On their 
summit are two pointed caps in copper/' probably 
gilded bronze. * This obelisk is square, formed of a 
single block, pointed at the top, which is a covering of 
copper as yellow as gold, above which is the figure of a 
man sitting in his chair, looking at the rising sun. The 
companion was overturned by the Arabs in 1160 a.d., 
in search of treasure supposed to be buried be- 
neath, of which exploit Mohammed, the son of Ab- 
darrahim, discreetly remarks, *'that one of the obe- 
lisks of Pharaoh, which were at Mataria, near Cairo, 
fell down, and a great quantity of copper was taken 
from the top."t The copper cap on the erect obelisk 
at An was still seen, in 1203 a.d., by the Arabic physi- 
cian Abd-el-Latif, and by various other observers since.;}; 

The two obelisks of the temple of Luxor, in Thebes, 
were erected by Rameses II., and excel all others in 
artistic execution ; one still remains at Luxor, and the 
other was removed in 1836 to Paris. Mariette main- 
tains that the summit of each was covered with a cap 
of gilded bronze,§ and this is confirmed by the rough 
execution of the pyramidion, and by a bevel below, in- 
tended to receive the edge of the cap. He also believes 
that the rough faces of the entire shaft were completely 
gilded, with the exception of the highly polished bot- 



* Moldenke, op, cit.^ 123. 

f Parker, op: cit.^ 29. 

X Pinkerton, op. ciL^ xv., 802 and 827. 

§ Also Wilkinson, Gen. View of Egypt, 316. 



124 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

toms of the hieroglyphs, which remained uncovered,, 
retaining the natural color of the granite. 

At Karnak are two obelisks of Queen Hatasu of the 
XVIIIth dynasty, the sister of Thothmeses III.; one is- 
fallen and the other erect, the latter 97^ feet in height^ 
the loftiest now standing in Egypt. Around the base- 
runs an inscription : 

*' The Queen, the pure gold of Monarchs, 

Had dedicated to her father, Amen of Thebes, 

Two obelisks of mahet stone (red granite), 

Taken from the quarries of the south. 

Their upper parts were ornamented with pure gold, 

Taken from the chiefs of all nations. 

Her Majesty gave two gilded obelisks to her father Amen, 

That her name should remain permanent. 

Always and forever in this Temple. 

Each was made of a single stone of red mahet stone, 

Without joint or rivet. 

Her Majesty began the work 

In the fifteenth year of her reign. 

The first day of the month Mechir, of the sixteenth year, 

And finished it on the last day of the month Mesore, 

Making seven months from its commencement in the quarry.'* * 

In reference to this inscription, Mariette-Bey states : 
** I. The summit of the obelisk was covered over 
with * pure gold taken from the chiefs of the nation.' 
Unless this simply implies an apex overlaid with a cas- 
ing of gilded copper, as the apex of the obelisk at 
Heliopolis must have been, this inscription possibly re- 
fers to the sphere (of gold ?) which is represented on 
certain bas-reliefs at Sakkarah. 

** 2. The obelisk itself was no doubt gilded from top to 
bottom ; in examining closely, one may notice that the 
hieroglyphs were carefully polished, and moreover that 
the plain surface of this monument was left compara-^ 

* Cooper, op. cit., 32. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 125 

tively rugged ; from which it may be inferred that the 
plain surface, having a coating of white stucco, the like 
of which may be seen on so many Egyptian monu- 
ments, alone received this costly embellishment of gild- 
ing, the hieroglyphs themselves retaining the original 
color and actual surface of the granite." * 

There are also at Karnak two obelisks of Thoth- 
meses I., one fallen and broken, the other erect, 71 
feet and 7 inches in height. Concerning the pyramid- 
ion of the latter. Cooper states : '* The pyramidion at 
the apex, which is rather more acute than in the later 
examples, is also adorned with a votive vignette, and is 
the oldest illustration of that practice. Evidently, 
therefore, this obelisk was never designed for a metal 
covering, but it may have had its summit gilded for the 
better preservation of the sculpture upon it . . . for its 
highly polished surface would not prevent such an appli- 
cation of the precious metal." 

On the walls of the Temple at Karnak, according to 
Wilkinson,f there is a representation of the dedication 
of an obelisk (probably the Lateran obelisk), in which 
this is described as ** resplendent with gold." On this 
obelisk of St. John Lateran, now at Rome, by some 
authorities^ considered one of the former companions of 
the New York obelisk at An, the hieroglyphs of the 
right column, on the south side, inform us : 

*• The son of the Sun, Thothmes (IV. ), 
Diadem of diadems, set it up in Thebes; 
Capping it with gold, 
Illuminating Uas with its beauty." S 

* Mariette Bey, op. cit»^ 171. 

f Manners and Customs, III., 237. 

X Parker op. cit. , 2. 

§ Birch, in Parker, op, cit.^ 45; Cooper, op. cit.^ 40. 



126 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

** In a fragment from the Temple of El Assasif, 
amidst a list of offerings which this monarch presented 
to the Temple of the god . . . are described 

* two obelisks (of granite) rising to a height of io8 cubits, inlaid with gold 
throughout their length, made in their rays.' * 

These obelisks have long disappeared." 

Dr. Birch also mentions that the tombs in the Libyan 
range, behind Gournah and El Assasif, ** are full of the 
scenes of the reign of Thothmeses (HI.)- Two great 
obelisks of i88 cubits high, with gilded tops, are re- 
corded in these sepulchres.** 

Two obelisks were also given by Thothmeses III. to 
the Temple of Amen. *' On each is one vertical line, 
containing the names and title of the King, and that 

* he has set up two great obelisks capped (ben ben am nub) with gold.* " f 

At Tanis, Petrie observed a sunk surface all over the 
pyramidion of one obelisk : **This was doubtless to fit 
on a cap of metal, flush with the general surface. It is 
singular that this evidence of a cap should remain, 
while the fellow obelisk is quite smooth to much nearer 
the apex." % 

A singular application of another metal to the same 
purpose, only possible in so arid a climate, is recorded 
on the last of the Pharaonic obelisks, two small ones 
of Nectanebes, from the vicinity of Memphis, and now 
preserved in the British Museum. On one side, the 
King states, *'he has set up an obelisk in his house of 
basalt; it is capped with black metal (iron); they have 
given him all perfect life, like the sun.' § 

*Lepsius, Abth. ill., tab. 27, ii. 
f Dr. Birch, Parker, op, cit.^ 42. 
X Petrie, Tanis, 26. 
g Parker, op. cU., 55. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 127 

Again, it should be remembered that the very object 
and idea of the obelisk, as an emblem of the dazzling 
Sun-beam, required, for the desired impression, both 
lustrous polish and brilliant gilding. The imposing and 
inspiring effect originally produced by this decoration 
may be understood from the following quotations : 

In an inscription on a wall in the Temple of Amen 
at Ape, there is a description of the obelisks raised by 
Thothmeses III., in the construction of which silver, 
gold, iron and copper were not spared, and "which 
now shine in their splendor on the surface of the water, 
and fill the land with their light like the stars on the 
body of the heavenly goddess Nut." 

In a similar way the impression produced by the 
obelisks of Queen Hatasu (or Hashepes) is described : 

" The woman-King Makara, the gold among Kings, she has executed (these 
obelisks) as her memorial for her father, Amen of Thebes, since she had erected 
to him two large obelisks of hard granite of the South ; their tops are covered 
with copper of the best war-tributes of all countries ; they are seen a great many . 
miles off; it is a flood of shining splendor when the sun rises between the two."* 

Their effect at a distance must have been (as sug- 
gested to me by Prof. G. W. Plympton) like that of 
our modern heliographs. 

In the Flaminian obelisk, formerly erected at An 
by Seti I., and now on the Piazza del Popolo, at Rome, 
Seti is mentioned in the inscriptions of the central col- 
umn on the west side, as 

'* The King, Pharaoh, establisher of justice, 
(Who) fills An-nu with obelisks, 
To illustrate with (their) rays \ 
(Or, •* in the light of the beams of") % 
The Temple of the Sun;" 

* Brugsch, op, cit.t I., 378. 

f Parker, op, cii,, 16. 

X Birch, Parker, op, cit.^ 47. 



128 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

here also we find a plain allusion to these monoliths as 

emblems of the Sun-beam. 

In view, therefore, of these four points, viz., 

(i) the testimony of the hieroglyphs on the south 

face of our obelisk, and of those on its fellow, now at 

London ; 

(2) the indications of cement still adhering to the 
pyramidion and its broken off apex ; 

(3) the predominant custom of gilding their obelisks 
by the ancient Egyptians and by the sovereigns of this 
dynasty, particularly at An ; and 

(4) the appropriate effect of brilliance, intended to 
be produced by an emblem of light, 

'I would submit to the judgment of this Society, the 
educated citizens of New York, and the intelligent Park 
Commissioners who have this monolith in their care, 
that good taste and consistency require the following 
restorations : 

(i) the addition of a well gilded pyramidal cap of 
some durable metal, for a short distance down over the 
apex of the pyramidion, perhaps nearly down to the 
picture squares. For the protection of the monolith 
from lightning, this cap might be connected with the 
ground by a stout copper lightning-rod, running down 
the N. W. (the least conspicuous) corner; it should be, 
at least in the upper part, gilded, to prevent staining 
the stone. 

(2) the gilding of the surface of the stone, over the 
rest of the pyramidion-surface. 

(3) the gilding of the hieroglyphs below, perhaps 
only those of the original central column of Thoth- 
meses III., down to the bottom of the shaft. This 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 1 29 

would chiefly apply to the N. and E. sides, as the hiero- 
glyphs are largely obliterated on the S. and W. sides. 

Such a replacement of the ancient decoration need 
not be expensive, and would prove a very efficient ad- 
ditional protection of the monolith from weather attack 
and entrance df moisture at its summit, the most vul- 
nerable point, as well as within the hollows of the 
intaglio^. 

21. The Attack of the Last Enemy. It need hardly 
be added, how irreparable would be the loss to the value 
and interest of the obelisk in our eyes, if the/e should be 
any further injury to these hieroglyphics. Through them 
we trace almost its whole story of adventure. Yet this 
is the very danger which still threatens many of them,, 
but a danger which can be prevented. For we have 
now to consider the decay of its surface until eight 
or nine years ago. As to the causes of that decay 
many views have been advanced, whose discussion is 
deferred to another occasion. ' When warned, it is 
said, even before the erection of the monolith, in regard 
to its need of protection against our climate. Com- 
mander Gorringe seemed to find it as difficult to believe 
that the imperishable ** heart-stone'* of Syen^ could be 
in danger, as to anticipate that, in a few months more, 
his own stout heart would give way forever on earth ; 
and he replied : ** The Obelisk has lasted nearly 4000 
years, and will probably last 4000 more."* This 
seemed to be confirmed by the examination of a geolo- 
gist from Philadelphia, who reported that the stone 
was sound. But, in defiance of the Quaker, within a 
couple of years, little pieces of the granite began to 

* Trans. N. V. Acad. Sci., V. (188O). 



1 30 The Misfortunes of -an Obelisk. 

drop all around the base. Almost an ounce of these 
was then swept up by another expert and carefully 




FRESH GRANITE. QUARRY AT SYENE. 

weighed, who reported that, at that rate, it would take 
6000 years to do any appreciable harm.* 

But now great Hakes began to fall. For there was a 
deep and insidious internal decay going on, of which 

• Evening Poei, N. Y., Oft. 30, 1E83. 1 LJldine, VI. (1887), No. 34, r 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 131 

he had no suspicion. This I can now illustrate to you 
by two views ; first', by a photograph, under the micro- 
scope, of a thin slice of the original granite fresh from 
the quarry of Syene. This shows the feldspars and 



■JMBp^^popi 


^^^^Hl 


W^^'--^'^kM 


^B^H 


^^mm^' l^^iSl 


H'^^l 


^^^^m 


\ ^,^C\S^^BL 


^H 


3 


L. "^Bt ■ fflK 


^^j^QI^H 



VEATHERED GRANITE. FLAKE FROM NEW YORK OBELISK^ 

other minerals in a comparatively solid and transparent 
condition, tightly hugging that bright little crystal of 
oligoclase — the most perishable of all — in the middle. 

But now look on this picture — a similar slice from a 
decayed flake on the surface of the Obelisk, after near- 



132 The Misforiunes of an Obelisk. 

ly five years' weathering — as it must be confessed, full 
of the crow's feet and wrinkles and lines of age. Such 
are the results of life in New York ! 

In the fall of 1884, the danger was brought to the 
notice of the Park Commissioners, who decided, but 
not until the fall of 1885, to resort to a water-proofing 
process, founded on the application of melted paraffin 
to the artificially warmed surface of the stone. As I 
was not then consulted on the matter, I feel the more 
free to express the opinion that the selection of this 
process was most fortunate, in regard to its own fitness 
for the purpose in view ; while, of course, if it had not 
been under patent, its application to a public monu- 
ment would have been preferable and less open to objec- 
tion. Meanwhile the poor Obelisk had stood here, en- 
tirely unprotected from the elements, for four years 
and eight months. 

In the preliminary cleaning of its surface, many spots 
were found deeply decayed, especially on the south 
and west sides of both shaft 'and pedestal— some large 
pieces so loose that they would scarcely bear the hand 
upon them without falling. A Park Commissioner 
directed the manager *' not to remove any flakes from 
the surface unless he was obliged to do so." A large 
number of those flakes hanging most loosely and crum- 
bling were so removed, to the extent of two and one-half 
barrels full. This whole procedure, which, of course, had 
no necessary connection with the subsequent process of 
treatment, was due to a most deplorable error of judg- 
ment. All the loose fragments should have been hard- 
ened and re-cemented in place, whatever the time and 
cost required. The sculptured surface of the Obelisk, 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 133 

in its misfortune, should have been skilfully treated for 
preservation, as a jeweller would treat the crumbling 
surface of an ancient intaglio. 

On Nov. 6, i885,^the water-proofing was begun and 
completed in a week. Flat surfaces of the stone were 
warmed for a couple of minutes by a charcoal stove, 
held an inch or two away, and projecting parts by a 
benzine blast-lamp. Then the melted paraffin was ap- 
plied with a brush, and, the surface being re-warmed, 
the paraffin sank into the stone, probably a little over 
half an inch. Since that date, during the last seven 
years, there has been no sign of further change in the 
stone, no visible decay, not a single fragment fallen. 

In regard to the preservation of similar obelisks in 
Europe, it may be added that the Paris obelisk, for- 
merly at Luxor, was varnished with a solution of caout- 
chouc; th€ London obelisk, soon after its arrival, by 
the engineer, John Dixon, with a solution of water- 
glass, and again, later, by Mr. John Browning, with a 
solution of gum dammar, contain ng also wax and cor- 
rosive sublimate. There is some uncertainty whether, 
on either monolith, the surface has been satisfactorily 
protected from crumbling. 

In the winter of 1889, a committee of six persons, 
appointed by the Park Board, as experts, re-examined 
the Obelisk, made various experiments, and unani- 
mously reported, in the following May, 1890, that they 
had found the general surface satisfactory, and the 
water-proofing process so well adapted to the purpose 
that it was desirable to introduce more paraffin to a 
greater depth into certain of the old badly decayed 
spots. A chart of these was prepared, numbered down- 



I .'54 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 

ward on each face. When lightly tapped, such a spot 
gave forth a dull, hollow sound, indicating that a fine 




DECAYED SPOTS, FACE OF NEW YORK OBELISK. 



crack ran underneath, whicli, on account of its depth, 
may not have been filled with paraffin during the water- 
proofing. If ever such a crevice should allow the en- 
trance of rain-water, there will enter, too, the spear of 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 135 

the Ice King, the tiny sheet of water will expand with 
irresistible force, and a hieroglyph will fall. 

In the early part of July, 1890, a second committee 
devised certain changes in the apparatus and process, 
to promote the utmost safety in its application. Ex- 
periments were carried on upon a huge boulder of 
granite of similar nature, discovered near Bronxville. in 
Westchester County, fully three times the bulk of the 
obelisk. But let no one trust the apparent evidence 
of his own eyes and hereafter charge that this huge 
boulder was roasted until it split in twq ! Nature 
cleaved that rock long agd. The low degree of ^warmth 
really used fcin^ bd judged from the fact that a child 
might plunge his hand, like a martyr of old, into the 
caldron of melted paraffin, but without discomfort ; it is a 
temperature of 146° F., that in which the surfaces of 
this and other happy obelisks have basked in the sun 
of Egypt for thirty or forty centuries. 

It was recommended by the Committee, to use 
only the charcoal stove, and to apply that at a dis- 
tance of two feet from the decayed surface, for a 
period of at least two hours on each spot ; then immedi- 
ately to adjust closely to the spot a three-sided tank, 
kept filled with melted paraffin, as long as this would 
soak into the warmed stone — to a depth of about 2 
inches. The process would require over four hours' 
careful work on each of the decayed spots, of which 
there are about 1 1 1. 

As to cost, you may remember the statement by the 
Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that the 
care of a single collection in that building now costs 
$4000 per year. The expenditure of about half that 



1 36 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 

sum, once for all, is likely to complete the protection 
of these spots. So far too, remember, the Obelisk has 
itself cost New York City nothing ; with the help of 
its good friend, it came to us a free gift. The only ex- 
pense, less than a thousand dollars, resulted from our 
own neglect of it, up to the year 1885. 

In response to these recommendations of the com- 
mittees, nothing was done in the summer of 1890. But 
a perusal of the attractive columns of- the City Record, 
December 30, 1890, exhilarated our hearts over an 
official notice, to the effect that, at last, on application 
of the Eark Board, the expenditure of $2800 on the 
re-treatment of the decayed spots, had te'dff authorized 
by unanimous vote of the Mayor and Board of Alder- 
men. 

Since then the two Committee reports have reposed, 
perfectly safe and innocuous, in the archives of the 
Park Board. 

Last June, 1892, however, an application was made 
by the President of the Park Board, for an appropria- 
tion of $2000 for the purpose, to the Board of Esti- 
mate and Apportionment, and, I am informed, this ap 
propriation for the repair of the Obelisk has since been 
made. Under the supervision of the President of the 
Board and his able associates, we may now confidently 
look forward to speedy preparations for this important 
work, since they have now entire authority for the ex- 
penditure, and also — most lucky of Boards— the means ! 
But beyohd the coming summer, there is peril. Where 
an Obelisk is concerned, it is as dangerous to play with, 
frost as wfth fire. We know the fancied security and 
its cirsastrous results from the years 1881 to 1885. 



The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. 137 

Meanwhile, there stands the monoiith, in this last mis- 
fortune, to face the bitter winter, its decayed spots still 
giving to the touch that ominous hollow sound. If we 
have reason to prize it as a unique relic of antiquity, 
the oldest on our continent ; or for its testimony to the 
workingman of New York of the patient and thorough 
work of his brother at Syen^ ; or for its precious his- 
torical and religious associations ; or, above all, as it 
seems to me, for its cheery message from the wisest 
and meat patent of ancient nations to the most active, 
restless and discontented nation of Co-day, a message 
of light and hope— the good time coming — then let us 
guard and care for our trust. 

All Centra! I'ark in its beauty might be blotted out 
and be revived again ; but all the wealth of New York 
could not replace one fallen hieroglyph. 






m 



IV. — A Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

BY ALEXIS A. JULTEN. 
Bead ApHl 24, 1893. 

LITERATURE. 

Bolton, H. Carrington . Scientific jottings on the Nile and in the desert. 

Transactions of the New.York Academy of Sciences, IX (1890), 110-126. 

Coojey, James Ewing. The American in Egypt, with rambles through Arabia 

•PetrsBa and the Holy Land. New York, 1842. 
Dalrymple, Donald. Meteorological and Medical Observations on the Climate 

of Egypt. Lon<Jon, 1861. 
Delesse,A. Snr la syenite rose d'Egypte'. Bulletin de la Soci6t6 G6ologique 

de France. 2« S6rie, VII (1850), 484. Paris, 1850. 
Description de I'Egypte, ou Recueil des Observations et des Recherches qui 
<)nt 6t6 faites en Egypte, pendant I'Exp^dition de l'Arm6e fran9aise. 
Paris, 1809. 
Coutelle, J. M. J. Observations M^t^orologiques faites au Kaire en 1799, 

1800, et 1801. Histoire Naturelle, Texte, I, 334. 
Gratien-le-P6re. Memoire sur la Ville d'Alexandrie. fitat Moderne, III, 

279. 
Jomard, Edme Francois. Description de Syfene et des Cataractes. De- 
scription. M^moires, I, 61. 
Nouet. Observations M6t6orologiques et Hygrom6triques faites dans 
diverses Villes de l'6gypte. Histoire Naturelle. Texte, I. 
Draper, Daniel. Abstract of Registers : New York Meteorological Observatory 
of the Department of Public Parks, Central Park. New York, 1880- 
1889. 
Dudley, P. H. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, V (1885), 

67. New York, 1886. 
Egleston, Thomas. The Disintegration of the Egyptian Obelisk in the Central 
Park, New York. American Society of Civil Engineers, XV (1886), 
79-84. New York, 1886. 
Foissac, Pierre. De la M6t^orologie dans ses rapports avec la science de 

I'homme. Deux tomes. Paris, 1854. 
Frazer, Persifor. Cleopatra's Needle : Mineralogical and Chemical Examina- 
tion of the Rock of the Obelisk, lately transported to New York by 
Lieut. -Commander Henry H. Gorringe, U. S. N. [From Transactions 
of the American Institute of Mining Engineersi XI (1883), 353-379.] 
New York, 1883. 

Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci., VIII, June, 1893. 



94 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

Lane, Edward William. Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modem 

Egyptians, 1833-35. Fifth edition. Two volumes. London, 1871. 
Lef^vre. Bulletin de la Soci6t6 G^ologique de France. 1* S^rie, X (1838). 

Paris, 1839. 
Lebas, Jean Baptiste Apollinaire. L^Ob^lisque de Luxor ; Histoire de sa 

Translation k Paris. Paris, 1839. 
Lepsius, Karl Richard. Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsala of 

Sinai. Translated by L. and J. B. Horner. London, 1853. 
Lockyer, J. Norman. On some Points in the early History of Astronomy. 

Nature, Vols. 43, 44, and 45. London, 1891. 
Mariette-Bey, Auguste Edonard. Karnak : £tude Topographique et Arch§o- 

logique, avec un Appendice comprenant les principaux Textes fai^ro- 

glyphiques. Planches. Leipzig, 1875. 
Newbold, Lieut. On the Geology of Egypt. Proceedings of the Geological 

Society of London, June 29, 1842 (See Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 

IV (1848), 324). 
Petrie, W. M. Flinders. Eahun, Gurob, and Hawara. Memoir of Egyptian 

Exploration Fund. London, 1890. 
Poole, R. S. Encyclopedia Brittanica. Article "Egypt.** VII. 
Report on the Condition of the Obelisk in Central Park, New York, by Com- 
mittee of Experts appointed by the Department of Public Parks. Ex- 
tracted from Official Documents of the Board. Document No. 118. Jnne 

18, 1890. New York, 1890. 
Savary, Claude Etienne. Letters on Egypt. Translated from the French. 

Two vols. Second Edition. London, 1787. 
Shaw, Thomas. Travels or Observations Relating to Several Parts of Barbary 

and the Levant. Oxford, 1738. 
Stelzner, Alfred. On the Biotite-holding Amphibole-granite from Syene 

(Assuan). Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, 

XI (1883). 
Volney, Constantin Francois Chassebceuf, Corate de. Travels through Syria 

and Egypt, in the years 1783, 1784, and 1785. Translated from the 

French. Two vols. London, 1787. 
Wigner, G. W. Analyst. London, 1878. 
Wilkinson, John Gardiner. Topography of Thebes and General View of 

Egypt. London, 1835. 
Wilkinson, John Gardiner. Thebes and Pyramids. Topographical Survey 

of Thebes. Maps. London, 1830. 
See also List of Literature preceding my paper on 

The Misfortunes of an Obelisk. Bulletin of the American Geographical 

Society, XXV (1893), 66. New York, 1893. 



To the geologist, musing over a rusty coated, ice-scratched peb- 
ble — picked up, perhaps, the other day in Central Park, not far from 
the base of the Obelisk, or over some huge boulder, which, on tap 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 95 

of hammer or thrust of cane, tumbles at once into fragments, a 
fascinating but most perplexing problem is offered in trying to 
unravel the vicissitudes of its past history. Through the work of 
Doloraieu, T. Sterry Hunt, and others, we have caught some glimp- 
ses of its quiet youth, when, locked up within the original rock- 
stratum, its rounded form was first slowly etched out by the under- 
ground gnomes — the forces of subterranean disintegration and 
chemical decay. 

Then followed the stirring experiences of its middle age, when, 
in our latitude, torn out by torrent or by the continental glacier 
from its softened bed, it was rasped by partly decayed and angular 
gravel, hurled down deep fissures, crushed under the enormous 
weight of thousands of feet of ice, jammed against other boulders, 
ground down over the rocky glacier-bottom, and at times rolled 
over and over in the rush of a glacier-river. 

At last came old age, when, stranded upon the surface of the 
land, it was drenched by rains or melting snow, repeatedly surface- 
dried by intense heat of summer^s sun, even roasted at times by 
passing forest- fires, frozen and thawed again and again, and soaked 
in organic acids from soil or swamp, until completely changed in 
molecular arrangement, and partly in material, through and through. 

Within, by absorption of oxygen and water, and consequent 
production of new salts and combinations of increased molecular 
volume, the entire aggregate of mineral crystals remained locked 
in intense strain, the relief attained by partial closing of old joint- 
planes having been offset by development, through such minerals 
as the feldspars, of innumerable fine clefts and spongy vacuoles. 

Without, by the insinuation of water and thrusting force of frost- 
crystals, the co-adherence of the grains was loosened, the inner 
strain largely relieved, and the outer part of the boulder expanded 
in a series of coats, successively softer, more porous and swollen 
toward the exterior. 

So at last the successive crusts have tended to exfoliate and fall 
away, until many an aged boulder has crumbled to fragments and 
dust, with its story forever untold. 

In the case of some particular boulder, the student may often 
make out part of this history, its original site and source, its glacial 
experience, the distance of its transport, etc. ; but as to the exact 
agents of decay, their relative efficiency, and, especially, the dura- 
tion of the trial, he possesses no measure and can make no estimate. 



96 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

If only some boulder could be found whose whole story was known, 
whose hieroglyphic striae could be entirely interpreted! 

It has occurred to me that on many of these points we may be 
able to gain some facts of value through a special study of at least 
one huge block of hewn granite, whose known but vast antiquity 
renders it, to some degree, comparable with a natural boulder, while 
its record of varying experiences of natural and artificial agencies 
of destruction is quite definitely known. A recent re-awakening of 
public interest in the Egyptian Obelisk, now in Central Park, New 
York, and of anxiety as to its permanent preservation, led to the 
appointment, in 1890, by the Board of Commissioners of the Public 
Parks, of two successive Committees of Experts to consider these 
subjects. Service on these committees gave me the opportunity of 
commencing a series of experiments, whose continuance, at inter- 
vals, during the last three years, has yielded the results presented 
in this paper. 

Moreover, the Nile valley, as well as the streets and squares of 
European capitals, is strewn with similar Egyptian boulders, of huge 
size and of the same homogeneous granite, which have long lain iu 
definite positions, exposed to known agencies of geological change, 
during periods coeval with the establishment of ancient dynasties, 
often yet plainly recorded upon their faces. For at least the partial 
elucidation of our problem, we are fortunate to possess, in this 
peculiar class of historical monuments, a happily arranged series of 
trial-boulders of approximately known age and tests. 

The history of the Obelisk is naturally divided into four periods, 
corresponding to the four sites it has occupied: Syeue (Sun-t or 
Assouan), where it was quarried ; An (On or Heliopolis), where it 
stood erect for about 1060 years, and then perhaps lay prostrate for 
513 years longer ; Alexandria, where it stood for 1893 years ; and 
New York, where it has fought with the elements for over 12 years, 
since its re-erection, January 22, 1881. 

I. Syene. 

At this point, 560 miles north of Cairo, the great range of the 
Libyan Mountains, called the Gebel Silsilih, "Mountain of the 
Chain," is crossed by the Nile through a narrow gorge. Above, 
its obstruction of the waters of the river, with a chain, as it were, 
of rocky ledges, forms the famous First Cataract. In these mouu- 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 97 

tains, on the east side of the river, a short distance above the present 
village of Assouan, lie the old quarries of Sun-t ("Entrance giver") 
of ancient Egypt, which yielded the so-called ''oriental granite," 
"syenitic marble," or "Thebaic Stone," out of which nearly all 
obelisks and colossi were cut. This was the " machet" or "mahet," 
" heart-ston«," of the old Egyptians, so-called, it may be, on account 
of its hardness and durability,^ perhaps in connection with its bright 
red color. For the same reason, on account of its flame-colored 
crystals of microcline, the Greeks afterward called it pyropcecilon, 
the fire-variegated stone. 

1. Mineral constitution of Syene granite. 

According to the observations of Russegger, as Prof. Alfred 
Stelzner states : 

"The structure and composition of the 'Oriental granites' are 
very variable. Coarsely granular varieties* made porphyritic by 
microcline^ crystals, which are distributed without regularity in the 
main mass, seem to be the most usual. They occur immediately in 
the neighborhood of Syene (Assuan). Out of these are developed 
locally (for instance, on the road along the cataracts of Syene) such 
coarsely granular masses, that the individual feldspar and quartz 
constituents reach the size of a cubic foot; in other places, the size of 
the grains diminishes, and then there results, by a parallel arrange- 
ment of the flakes of mica, a gneissoid rock. Among the varieties 
of composition three are especially given. That which seems to be 
most widely distributed is an amphibole-granite, containing biotite, 
in the composition of which microcline,^ oligoclase, quartz, amphi- 
bole, and biotite take part. Some of the principal localities for this 
are the old quarries near Syene, and, besides this, Djebel Gareb and 
Djebel Ezzeit. This principal rock, by the gradual diminution of 
its hornblende, either merges into normal biotite-granite, which may 
be either rich in mica (east side of the hill on which the town of 
Syene is built) or poor in mica (Debu) ; or it passes, by disappear- 
ance of its quartz and the predominance of its hornblende, into nor- 
mal syenite." 

By the last term, Stelzner refers to the combination of microcline 
(or of orthoclase) with hornblende, free from quartz, to which the 
German petrographers now confine the name syenite. The por- 
phyritic hornblendic granite of the old quarries of Syene varies also 

1 Lenormant, op. cit., 25. * Frazer, loc. cit., 367. 



98 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

greatly in lithological constitution. Commonly it consists of bright 
red to yellowish red microcline in large twins ; white oligoclase, 
sometimes yellowish or greenish ; smoky and gray quartz ; black 
biotite, sometimes brown or green ; the last often replaced in part 
or altogether by black amphibole. Less commonly occur yellow 
mica, pyrite, magnetite, and dark brown garnet. Hematite in 
hexagonal or rhombic reddish plates, yellowish red titanite, color- 
less apatite, zircon, viridite, and yellowish green needles of pistazite 
have also been detected. Newbold also reports:^ "Schorl, black 
and green, and actinolite are minerals occasionally found in the 
gr§,nite of Upper Egypt, as well as the chrysoberyl." 

In the quartz, Stelzner also distinguishes capillary black needles, 
which I have recognized as rutile; and in its larger grains, cloud- 
like zones of fluid cavities, in the smaller of which the bubbles 
show invariably more or less motion. To this I can add, from 
examination of my own thin sections of rock from the Obelisk, that 
the fluid contents of these cavities consist sometimes of brine, some- 
times of liquid carbon dioxide. Delesse attributes its smoky tint 
to the presence of a very small quantity of organic matter. 

As to the proportion of the main constituents, the following per- 
centage results have been reported : — 

By Tolume.' By weight.* 

Mica 4 36 

Quartz 44 33 

Microcline 43 ^^^ 

Oiigoclase 9 / 

100 100 

In my examination of the four sides of the Obelisk in 1890, while 
hanging in a chair from its summit during several days, I recog- 
nized, in addition to the common constituents already named, the 
occasional presence of magnetite, and, on the upper part of the N.N.E. 
face, very rare particles of pyrite, giving rise to slight ochreous 
rings of decomposition. 

2. Distribution and condition of minerals on the surface 

of the Obelisk, 

In examining the W.N. W. face of the shaft, black mica was found 
to be specially abundant, in bright scales in large part inclined about 

1 Newbold, loc. cit., 340. « Delesae, loo. cit., 489. 

* G. W. Wigner, loc. cit. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 99 

45° toward the north. Occasional large bunches of granular horn- 
blende occur, elongated, with their major axes inclined to the N.N.E., 
marking the original bedding plane of the granite. The microcline 
crystals are often 1 inch long by ^ to | of an inch wide, with high 
lustre on many fresh faces. Those of the white feldspar (oligoclase) 
were occasionally bright, but, in larger part, dull and whitened. 
However, I was rarely able to detect fine cracks in any of the feld- 
spar, even on the old weathered surface. Near the bottom of the 
shaft occurs a thin seam of hornblende-gneiss, several yards in 
length, dipping sharply toward the north like the vein at the bot- 
tom of the E.S.E face. 

On the N.N.E. face of the shaft, the feldspar generally looked 
dull, except on small half inch cleavage-planes, here and there. 
Many masses of hornblende occur, all of dull black color, but with- 
out products of decay. A small bunch of pyritous material, nearly 
2 cm. in length, was seen, blackened and dull. A large crystal of 
white oligoclase, 2 cm. long, was covered with a dull white crust, 1 
mm. in thickness. In and around the two cartouches of the second 
row from the top, a large amount of hornblende occurs. At the 
two cartouches of the third row, below the middle of the shaft, the 
decay and dropping out of mica scales have caused much pitting of 
the surface. 

On the E.S.E. face of the shaft, between the legs of the middle 
bull, a streak of hornblende-gneiss occurs, 10 cm. in length, with a 
dip of 35° to the north ; others are found in that vicinity, with the 
same inclination. Most of the feldspar presents a waxy lustre (in 
part due to the paraffin absorbed during the water-proofing treat- 
ment in 1885), with occasional cleavage-planes of microcline, show- 
ing bright lustre ; in places, however, below, the feldspar is often of 
brownish red rusty appearance. Between the two cartouches of the 
second row, across the body of the owl, runs a black seam of horn- 
blende-gneiss, two feet in length. A little above a lower cartouche, 
in the north column, are rusty stains, like those from decomposing 
pyrite ; the feldspar grains are sprinkled with bright red spots ; and 
the surfaces of the oligoclase crystals are dull white and pitted. The 
bottom of this cartouche is crossed by a lenticular black mass of 
hornblende-gneiss, dipping about 40° to the north; smaller ones 
occur beneath. Below this, fresh and bright surfaces of oligoclase 
were noticed, but it was generally dull and whitened; and indeed 
the feldspar planes, all the way down this side, are often softer and 



100 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

more inclined to powder than on the north side. At the bottom of 
the shaft occurs the great seam of hornblende, of which the cleft has 
now been partly filled with cement. 

On the S.S.W. side of the shaft, at the top, the feldspar and mica 
appear bright on all the fresh surfaces. About a third of the way 
down, near the second row of cartouches, the red microcline, quartz, 
and mica continue to be wonderfully bright and glittering; the 
feldspar crystals sometimes 3 inches long by | of an inch wide, and 
the quartz in occasional flakes, 3 to 4 inches long. A small lens of 
hornblende-gneiss, 2 inches long, was seen just below the pyramid- 
ion, but none further down. About 22 feet above the bottom of the 
shaft, the grains of quartz and feldspar are often bright, and appa- 
rently with as few cracks as in any fresh granite; the feldspar crys- 
tals are salmon-colored to pink, generally \\ inches long by J to ^ 
inch wide, and some show dull lustre. The white grains of oligo- 
clase are here abundant, dead-white and covered with snow-white 
films (calcium carbonate?), forming irregular dull spots, |^ to | inch 
in length. Many little flakes of black hornblende here occur, ap- 
parently as numerous as those of black mica, and often surrounded 
by ochreous particles and spots. The scales of black mica are shin- 
ing and flat, and never show curling. Along the bottom of the 
lowest cartouche, in the east column, near the bottom of the shaft, 
the black streaks consist of flakes of black hornblende. A crystal of 
microcline was noticed below, with pale altered edge. 

In regard to the distribution of the biotite and hornblende on the 
four faces of the Obelisk, I found that it varies greatly, biotite in 
general largely replacing the hornblende. Where the latter occurs, 
it may be alone and scattered in grains, or intermixed and closely 
interpenetrated with biotite, or concentrated in large masses, often 
lenticular in outline, or thinning out at one or both ends into wedge- 
like seams. In these masses, the plates and bunches of hornblende, 
as well as of any biotite intermixed, are arranged in nearly parallel 
planes ; so that, in fact, they present all the features of intermixed 
masses of hornblende-schist, more or less biotitic. Still further, the 
planes of these schist-enclosures lie very nearly parallel, so that this 
obelisk-mass presents to us the last stage of a transition of horn- 
blende-schist into a gneissoid hornblendic or biotitic granite. The 
most extensive of these enclosures of hornblende-schist is that near 
the base of the shaft which forms a narrow black seam running up 
the W.N. W. face, and, on the E.S.E. face, has in olden time partly 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 10 J. 

weathered or fallen out and formed the well-known rift or notch' at 
the east base, partly filled and pointed with cement, at the time of 
the treatment of the Obelisk in 1885. 

There is an interesting correspondence, in both constitution and 
origin, between the rocks of New York Island and those of Syene. 
The so-called " Gray wacke Knoll," on which the Obelisk now 
stands, consists of biotitic hornblende-schist and gneiss, closely 
resembling th.e black seams in the monolith. This mass is crossed 
by a vein of coarse endogenous granite, very similar in places to 
that of the Obelisk itself, which is now covered by the western 
steps leading up to the platform ; some branching seams of this 
granite still project on the sides of the steps. On account of this 
resemblance, except in the brighter red color and porphyritic char- 
acter of the Obelisk-granite, a box of fragments of rubbish from this 
vein was kept at hand by the workmen, at the time of the water- 
proofing of the monument in 1886, to satisfy the constant demands 
of visitors from all parts of the country for specimens from the 
monument, and admirably answered the purpose to the gratifica- 
tion of both parties. 

It would appear that the strongly marked bedding, apparent in 
photographic views of the old quarries at Assouan, and in con- 
formity with which all the obelisks were hewn, is not, at least in 
all cases, the true plane of original stratification. This bedding 
plane is shown in the gneissoid structure of our Obelisk and now 
stands upright in the shaft. But, to the geologist's eye, the New 
York Obelisk is merely a long block of biotitic, porphyritic granitoid 
gneiss, in part hornblendic, crossed by seams and lenticular nodules 
of black hornblende-schist, whose lamination (probably signifying 
the true original bedding) now happens to be set up, so to speak, 
with a strike of W.N.W. to E.S.E., and a dip of 40° to N.N.E. 

3. Entasis of E.S.E, face of the New York Obelisk, 

While here discussing the locality and original source of the 
material of Egyptian obelisks, we may refer to one feature of the 
New York monolith to which my attention was first called by 
Prof. R. 0. Doremus, a slight curvature, longitudinally convex, of 
its present E.S.E. face. On farther examination, there appeared to 
me, also, a very slight lateral convex curvature of the same face, 

^ GorriDge, op. cit., 12. 



102 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

from each edge up to a central line; but the opposite (W.N.W) 
face appears to be plane and its edges straight. The exact determi- 
nation of this point could not be well carried out from my unsteady 
position in a swinging boatswain's chair. 

A corresponding curvature or entasis has already been noticed in 
several Egyptian obelisks. In the northern erect Obelisk of Queen 
Hatasu at Karnak, a decided convexity of at least one of its faces 
was observed by Verninac St. Maur.* In the Obelisk of Thothme- 
ses III, now in front of the Church of St. Giovanni in Laterano, 
at Rome, of which the shaft is 105 feet 7 inches in height, the 
western face is slightly convex, and the pyramidal finish at the top 
has a small convexity on each of the four sides.* But the best 
known and most marked entasis occurs in the two obelisks of 
Luxor (of which the western is now at Paris). In each, the N.W. 
and S.E. sides are convex, to an extent of 030 and 0.035 meter* 
respectively (1^ and 1^ inches), at the middle of the rounding, 
measured from a straight line across from edge to edge. In regard 
to the object of this curvature, Wilkinson states:* *' The faces, par- 
ticularly those which are opposite to each other, are remarkable for 
a slight convexity of their centres, which appears to have been 
introduced to obviate the shadow thrown by the sun, even when on 
a line with a plane surface. The exterior angle thus formed, by the 
intersecting lines of direction of either side of the face, is about 3° " 
Both the Luxor obelisks, however, have also a longitudinal curva- 
ture of the same two faces, amounting to 0.020 and 0.045 meter 
respectively, in the Paris Obelisk, that on the N.W. face being con- 
vex and that on the S.E. concave. Hence all their longitudinal edges 
are convex to the N.W., i. e., toward the Nile, By Prof. Donald- 
son*^ these curvatures are looked upon merely as defects in quarry- 
ing, as he states: "I imagine that the first block must have been 
irregularly marked out and worked, and the second one compelled 
to follow the faulty line in the quarry.*' 

In regard to this feature in the New York Obelisk and those of 
Luxor, I think it probable that at least longitudinal curvatures, 
especially if with corresponding concavities on opposite side of the 
blocks, may be but instances of tendency to curvature in splitting, 
commonly observed in natural joints of granite and on the longer 

1 Gorringe, idem, 121. > Long, idem, 336. 

« Lebas, idem, 63. * General View of Egypt, 167. 

> Parker, idem, 33. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 103 

faces and bedding-planes of its quarries ; of this some evidence seems 
to be shown in photographs of ledges in the Syene quarries. 

It may be added that there is abundant evidence in the old 
quarries of Syene of the great care and economy with which the 
Egyptians worked their highly prized '* heart-stone," and therefore 
of the probable good condition in which their hewn blocks were 
delivered ready for transport. But natural flaws occurred in the 
stone, and the unequal strains produced by rude methods of quarry- 
ing may have occasionally resulted in injury to some of the larger 
blocks, e. g.y the apparent cross-fissure in the famous partly hewn 
quarry-obelisk. Such defect may be now represented in local weak- 
ness in parts of the New York Obelisk and others, and in fractures 
to their pyramidia. 

The most noted example was the cracked base of the western 
obelisk at Luxor, discovered, on the arrival of the French, by the 
hollow sound it yielded to a gentle blow of a hammer.^ This caused 
the engineer Lebas, at the time, great dismay and embarrassment, 
lest he might afterwards be charged to have cracked the obelisk 
while lowering it from its pedestal. The main fissure was twelve 
feet in length, running along about one-sixth of the length of two 
of the faces (as now shown in photographs of the Paris Obelisk). 
It was '* crossed by two dove-tailed mortises, filled with a yellowish 
dust, the remains of wooden dogs, which must have been driven in, 
before the erection, to prevent any possible widening of the crack." 

4. The nick in the north-northwest edge. 

About half-way up the shaft, on the N.N.W. corner or edge, a 
peculiar deep nick occurs, easily remarked from below, which also 
appears in all photographs of adjacent faces of the monolith, taken 
while it stood at Alexandria, previous to 1879. This seems hereto- 
fore to have escaped particular attention, doubtless because it has 
been considered a mere defect, like others of smaller size along that 
and other edges of the shaft. I had opportunity to examine it with 
some care, during my trips in the hanging chair up and down the 
adjacent sides, and found it to possess quite a symmetrical form, 
that of a quarter section of a hemisphere. The height of the little 
curved vault of the cavity is 7 inches, and the depth of its floor, 
measured from the angle (radius of the hemisphere), 5 inches. 

1 Lebas, idem, 45. 



104 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

Through the rock in its vicinity small bunches of black hornblende 
are scattered, but none on the sides of the cavity. It does not 
therefore appear to be the result of weathering away and dropping 
out of any hornblende-mass or of other ordinary products of decay ; 
and its outlines do not conform to the natural cleavage of the stone. 
Its peculiar shape, and its position — which is, I believe, exactly 
half-way up the shaft, suggested the possibility that it may have 
been an ancient artificial cut, perhaps a niche or shrine excavated 
for the reception of a small golden image of some deity. If so, 
whether this was done during the construction of the shaft at 
Syene, or by Egyptian, Greek or Roman, at later date, at An, can 
now be but a subject of conjecture. No corresponding cavity ap- 
pears in photographs of other Egyptian obelisks, however, nor in 
that of the fellow-obelisk now in London. 

5. Decay of granite at Syene. 

A general opinion has long prevailed that the climate of Syene 
is one not only of extreme heat, but of unvarying aridity, and that 
its rocks are consequently fresh and free from any but the most 
superficial decay. 

Thus Jomard,^ in 1809, refers to Syene as "a place surrounded 
on all sides by naked and browned rocks; a burning sky, never 
tempered by a drop of rain. Martial has characterized in a single 
line this aridity and this sombre color of the ground : 

* Scis quoties Phario madeat Jove fusca Syene.'* 

If you break off a chip from these dark colored rocks, you are 
surprised to see the rose-colored and brilliant tint which the frac- 
ture has revealed. You wonder whether it is the action of the 
air or that of the sun to which the surface owes its brown and deep 
color. But what could an atmosphere of perpetual dryness pro- 
duce on so hard a material ? And, as to the heat, one can hardly 
attribute this effect to it, except on the supposition of a period of 
prodigious length ; because the hieroglyphs inscribed on these rocks 
for a long time are still of a quite bright rose-color." Elsewhere 
he explains that the wedge-marks and hewn surfaces in the granite 
quarries still retain the same bright color. Lefevre,' in 1838, refers 
to the more ancient syenite forming ** cliffs resembling heaps of 

1 Jomard, op. cit., I, oh. ii, 61. « Epigramm, Bk. IX, epigr. 36. 

' Lef^vre, loo. cit., 144. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 105 

rounded altered blocks," and Delesse also states/ "Near the cata- 
ract, the separated blocks of syenite have sometimes a spheroidal 
form, and they disintegrate in concentric layers.'^ Lieut. Newbold 
also reports:* "The granite of Egypt is freer from the decay, the 
maladie du granite than that of India, arising probably from the 
peculiarly dry atmosphere of Egypt, which has been mainly instru- 
mental in preserving, almost in their original freshness, its magnifi- 
cent sculptures and vivid frescoes." 

As to the climate, however, there is abundant evidence of past 
exaggeration of its arid character, and of the occurrence of heavy 
falls of rain, though at long intervals, as well as of the constant 
heavy dews. These render it certain that the action of water in 
erosion, infiltration, and hydration has ever played a slow but 
important part in effecting decay of the rock in that region. 

For example, Lepsius relates, in his account of travel through 
Egypt, that he encountered at Assouan a violent thunder-storm, 
with heavy rain, which afterwards rolled down the Nile valley for 
nearly 600 miles, as far as Cairo.* 

Concerning the Libyan hills, Ebers also states;* "From time to 
time — rarely indeed, and in most cases only once a year, in the 
winter months — dark storm-clouds gather around the heads of the 
mountains ; and soon the rain pours down with such violence, on 
the hill country, that it seems as if all the collected vapors of the 
year were being restored to the earth in one tremendous torrent. 
The brooks and cascades that tumble down the rifts and crevices in 
the mountains collect in the valleys ; the streams form a regular 
system of little rivers ; and at last, gathering in one main valley, 
the flood rolls on, either slowly and majestically, or vehemently, 
ruining all it meets with on its way, till it loses itself in the Red 
Sea or the Nile." 

Further data on this subject are given beyond, in the notes on 
the climate of Alexandria (Section 11). 

It is also apparent, by a study of views and photographs from 
this region and of references to its scenery by passing travellers,, 
that the picturesque character of the vicinity of Syene is mainly 
due to the extent and character of general rock-decomposition, 
which there prevails. Thus Denon,^ in 1802, describes the scenery 

' Delesse, loc. cit., 488. 2 Newbold, loc. cit., 340. 

* Lepsius, Letters from Egypt, 119. * Ebers, op. cit., LI, 333. 

5 Denon, op. cit., 83. 

Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci., VIII, July, 1893.— 8 



106 Stvdy of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

near the First Cataract: *' These mountains, all bristling with 
black and sharp projections, cast their sombre reflections in the 
waters of the stream. . . . After passing the cataracts, the rocks 
grow loftier, and, on their summit, blocks of granite are heaped up, 
appearing to cluster together and to hang in equipoise, as if with 
the purpose of producing the most picturesque efifects. Through 
these rough and rugged forms, the eye all at once discovers the 
magnificent monuments of the Island of Philse." Miss Amelia B. 
Edwards' also refers to the same scene : " Perhaps the most entirely 
curious and unaccustomed features in all this scene are the moun- 
tains. . . . Other mountains are homogeneous and thrust them- 
selves up from below in masses suggestive of primitive disruption 
and upheaval. These seem to lie upon the surface foundationless; 
rock loosely piled on rock, boulder on boulder ; like stupendous 
cairns, the work of demi-gods and giants. Here and there, on shelf 
or summit, a huge rounded mass, many tons in weight, hangs 
poised capriciously." 

The peculiar features which mark an extensive, deep and long 
continued decay of rock in place are well shown in the accompany- 
ing illustration, from a photograph made by my friend. Dr. H. 
Carrington Bolton, of a granite-cliff about 2 milefs south of Syene 
(PI. IV). We have here all the indications of a slow decay, progress- 
ing most rapidly along the planes of bedding and jointage, also eating 
out the latent lines of shrinkage and weakness, and so dividing the 
whole mass into angular fragments, with slight adherence, only 
remaining in place by gravity, like the boulders in a stone-wall. 
Exfoliation has partly rounded the angular blocks at their corners 
and edges, even in position ; while those on the crest, and those 
that have rolled out into full exposure to sun and to night-radia- 
tion, have been largely rounded off into true boulder form. 

[At this point a series of recent photographs was exhibited, in- 
cluding the following: Yiew of the First Cataract from the S.W., 
with deeply etched and roughened boulders and tops of columns, 
on the crest of the cliff in the foreground : View of an old watch- 
tower near Syene, showing horizontal bedding and strong joints 
in the cliff, and several well rounded boulders, with surface scaling 
off in successive coats: Frith's view of Philae, from the head of the 
cataract, on the north, showing the deep erosion of the strong joints, 

1 Edwards, op. cit., 231. 



Study of ihr. New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 107 

and etched surfaces of rounded boulders, near the level of the river : 
Views from Philse to the N. and to the S. W., showing development 
of columnar structure by the decay, in the direction of the strike, 
and formation of elongated boulders : Views of Philse from the E. 
and from the S.W., showing the eroded columns of ** Pharaoh's 
Throne," rounded ledges, with hard seams (of quartz?) projecting 
above the eroded surfaces, and huge exfoliating boulders.] 

These* forms are so familiar to the geologist's eye, as character- 
istic of rock-decomposition in a climate of heavy rainfall and winter 
frosts, that it is at first hard to believe that these occur in one of 
the most arid regions on the globe, where frost is unknown. The 
topographical features suggest the probability that, throughout the 
entire upper stratum of granite, to which the Egyptian quarrymen 
were compelled to limit their exploitation, not exceeding a thickness 
of 60 or 70 feet, the stone was already quite uniformly affected by a 
kind of *'dry rot." Further light on this matter will be presented 
beyond, in physical tests made on the freshest stone I have been 
able to procure from the Assouan quarries. 

To Villiers Stuart* we owe an archaeological observation at the 
First Cataract, whose geological importance seems to have been 
overlooked: "We landed at the island of Schael, just below the 
falls, to examine the inscriptions on the rocks; they are very 
numerous and curious, and extend over a period of 2000 years. 
The earliest we saw was of Ousertasen the Third, of the Xllth 
dynasty (2200 B. C, Lepsius) . . There is a special interest about 
Ousertasen's, for it was inscribed while the Nile was still at its 
original level, 23 feet higher than now ; and accordingly it stands 
high upon the rocks. . . . They are all cut in granite, and Ouser- 
tasen's showed its great age by the fact that a process of decay in 
the granite itself had set in, the once polished surface being corroded 
and eaten by the tooth of time, and the outlines somewhat blurred. 
High up among the loftiest rocks of the island, however, I found 
another inscription and a statuette cut in bold relief in a niche 
which must have been much older even than Ousertasen ; the 
granite had so entirely decayed that the features of the statue had 
dissolved and were undistinguishable. There were many lines of 
hieroglyphics in like manner quite decayed and illegible. No clue 
therefore existed to the date except the condition of the stone, 

1 Nile GleaniDgs, 203. 



108 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

which, though in a sheltered angle of the rocks and less exposed 
than Ousertasen's, was much further gone. It may have been of 
the Pyramid period" (IVth dynasty, 3124-2840 B. C, Lepsius). 
This would involve an exposure of 50 or more centuries. 

On the other hand, Delesse states :^ *' In the Egyptian Museum of 
the Louvre, the feet and the head of the colossal statue of Amenophis 
III, as well as a large number of sculptures, which, under the per- 
petually pure sky of Egypt, have not experienced any alteration 
during the greater part of the time, have even preserved the most 
perfect polish after nearly 4000 years." 

From all these observations at Syene, the following conclusions 
may be drawn : — 

(1). The predominant destructive process has not been external, 
such as disintegration by the heat of the sun, attrition by sand 
whirled by the wind, etc.; here, as elsewhere, these have played a 
secondary part. A certain degree of polish has been produced on the 
surface of ledges by sand-attrition, by occasional heavy rains, and 
by the mud-laden waters of the Nile up to the limit of its flood-line. 

(2). The main process has been one of internal decay, most 
. eflBcient along the joint- and bedding-planes of the granite, even to 
the lowest depths now observable, and producing long columnar 
masses. The chemical decay and disintegration have also seriously 
attacked the irregular planes of contraction and eaten them out into 
an irregular network of fissures, which mark the latent lines of 
weakness throughout the material, and divide it into angular blocks. 

(3). The gradual decomposition of the ferruginous silicates over 
the surface of the ledges (biotite, hornblende, and the feldspars) has 
left their feebly soluble bases, in this arid climate, as a polished 
black crust of iron and manganese oxides. The other more soluble 
and finer products of decay have been removed by occasional rains 
and constant action of the wind. 

(4). The outer forms assumed by the cliffs largely indicate their 
variation in materials and in their resistance to decomposition and 
erosion : the projecting masses consist of the more compact kinds of 
granite and porphyry, and even thin projecting seams and nodules 
of quartz : the hollows and fissures, of softer granite and of inter- 
calated seams of hornblende-schist. A considerable internal expan. 
sion of material is shown by the general scaling of the surface and 

* Delesse, loc. cit., 490. 



Study of the New York Oheluk as a Decayed Boulder, 109 

rounding of angles and edges. The predominance of these rounded 
forms in loosened and isolated blocks, and in the projecting tops of 
columns, probably signifies the eflBcient help of the heat of the sun 
and of alternations of temperature. 

(5). As to the amount of degradation of the surface, we may 
probably get some estimate through the observations of Stuart on 
the effacement of the older hieroglyphs on the island of Schael. 
Since the ordinary depth of such carvings is from 2 to 4 centi- 
meters, we may infer that the granite has decayed in these places, 
during the period which has elapsed since their execution, from 40 
to 60 centuries, to the depth of at least 1 centimeter and perhaps 
over 2 centimeters. 

It must always be a subject of regret that Commander Gorringe, 
during his stay at Alexandria for the removal of our Obelisk, was 
not able to visit this region and to become impressed with the uni- 
versal and deep decay prevailing throughout this durable rock of 
Syene. In that case, it is probable that he would not have replied, 
as in 1880, to a suggestion of the need of the New York Obelisk of 
protection from the weather by some preservative : '* It has lasted 
nearly 4000 years and will probably last 4000 more. I think we 
need not trouble ourselves about it."* It was but a repetition of 
the mistake of his predecessor, Rameses II, who, in his invocation 
to the gods, recorded in the poem of Pen-ta-our, alludes to the 
" eternal stones" which he has erected in his temples to their honor. 

II. An. 

The next step in the history of our Obelisk was its conveyance 
from Syene to the ancient city of An (or Heliopolis, as the Greeks 
called it), near the site of the present Arab village of Mataria, about 
6 miles N.E. of Cairo. 

6. Position of our Obelisk at An. 

This city of An was built upon a somewhat raised, artificial plat- 
form, extending over an area (according to Mariette-Bey) of about 
4660 by 3460 feet. Here our Obelisk, together with its companion, 
now in London, was raised before the Temple of the Sun by Thotb- 
meses III of the XlXth dynasty, about the year 1600 B. C. As 

1 Report on Condition of Obelisk, 4. 



110 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

to the situation of the great Sun Temple, and of the great gate or 
propylon standing before it, archaeologists agree in assigning it to 
the western part of the city, toward the Nile and the setting sun. 
The English traveller, Pococke, in 1743, traced out the boundaries of 
the mounds, as indicating the outlines of the ancient city. Brugsch, 
however, maintains that these mounds show only the limits of the 
walls of the temple, and are themselves but the remains of the walls 
of a Coptic town which occupied the site of the temple, a few cen- 
turies before our era. 

The temple was specially devoted to Atum-Ra or Tum, the God 
of the Setting Sun. Before the great propylon, in approaching it 
from the west, rose a pair of Obelisks of Usertesen I of the Xllth 
dynasty, probably erected about 2300 B. C, fully 700 years before 
our own monolith. Pococke located these almost opposite to the 
passage through the mounds which he considered to be the west 
city gate, but a little more to the south. One of the pair fell in 
1160 A.D , having been undermined by treasure-hunters, and has 
long disappeared. It was perhaps last seen prostrate in 1753 A.D., 
by Robert Clayton ;* of the present erect shaft, Savary stated in 
1787, "this and one sphynx of yellowish marble, thrown in the 
dust, are the only remains of Heliopolis."'* 

Passing next through the propylon and between two rows of 
marble sphynxes, the temple itself was reached, with two pairs of 
obelisks before it. The pair next the portal of the temple was the 
more ancient, consisting of the monolith which now stands at Con- 
stantinople (the Atmeidan Obelisk, with its lower end broken off, 
but still 55^ feet in height), and of a missing companion, of whose 
fate nothing is now known. The outer pair consisted of the obelisk 
now at London, on the right (S.W.), and of our own Obelisk on 
the left (N.E.). 

7. Orientation of sides of our Obelisk at An. 

In regard to the position in which the sides of the Obelisk were 
then placed, a consideration of the inscriptions within the pictured 
squares on the four faces of the pyramidion throws some light. In 
those of the present N.N.E. and E.S.E. faces,' the King Thoth- 
meses is represented in the form of an androsphynx, worshipping 
the God of the Rising and Noon-day Sun, Hor-Khuti-Ra. In the 

* A Journal from Grand Cairo, 7. ' Savarj, op. cit., I, 123. 

' Moldenke, op. cit., 54 and 47. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 111 

pictures of the S.S.W. and W.N.W. faces' of the pyramidion, the 
object of the king's worship is Atum-Ra, the God of the Setting 
Sun, to whom the Sun Temple at An was specially dedicated, at 
least during and after the Xllth dynasty, by the re-builder of the 
sanctuary, Amenemhat I. In harmony, therefore, with the pur- 
pose and custom of the sun-worship, the former two faces must 
have been originally so placed, on the erection of this shaft at An, 
as to have been lit by the rays of the rising sun, and the latter two, by 
those of the setting sun. The similar pictures on the pyramidion 
of the London Obelisk intimate that its faces were arranged in a 
corresponding position. Indeed the same key to the position of 
their faces is afforded by the similar pairs of pictures on the faces 
of the pyramidia of several other obelisks. 

A more definite indication is probably shown in the position of 
Ihe faces of the present Obelisk of An, which probably stood in 
front of the pylon of the Sun Temple, at a site more westerly than 
that of the New York and London obelisks. As to this, Niebuhr 
has noted that its angles are now directed to the S.S.E., N.N.W., 
E.N.E., and W.S.W.^ Archaeologists, however, have pointed out 
the evidences of a historical catastrophe, in early Egyptian history, 
unrecorded in the inscriptions, during which, perhaps by a great 
revolution or invasion, all the monuments, temples, and obelisks of 
Lower Egypt were overturned ; some writers attribute it to inva- 
ders, such as the Hykshos, 2398 B. C Some of the monuments 
have ever since lain prostrate, e.g.^ the stela of Begig of Userte- 
sen I, in the Fayoum. Others, like this Obelisk of An and its 
former companion, were afterwards re-erected by the Egyptians. 
Their ancient low pedestals, consisting of a layer of sandstone 
blocks, had been probably undisturbed, and probably guided their 
re-adjustment in their former and proper position. The evidence 
of this surviving obelisk on the site of An is therefore that the 
front of the pylon, the fa9ade of the Sun Temple beyond, and the 
corresponding western faces of all its six obelisks (if Niebuhr's 
observation is exact), faced to about W.N.W., i e., W. 22° N. 

We have evidence, in the ancient documents, of a ceremonial 
attending the foundation of an Egyptian temple, which signified a 
deliberate design as to the direction in which it was to be laid out; 

1 Moldenke, idem, 50 and 52. > Long, idem, 316. 

* Cooper, idem, 17. 



112 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

in this, the King and the God are represented holding stakes upright 
between them, around which a looped cord is drawn tightly, so as 
to indicate a definite direction ; along the line then shown by the 
stakes, driven into the ground, a boundary wall of the new temple 
was erected. In an inscription dating over 2000 years B. C, this 
ceremonial is related concerning the foundation of this very Sun 
Temple at An, by the founder of the Xllth dynasty, Amenemhat I, 
and his son and co-regent, Usertesen I, who afterwards set up the 
present Obelisk of An : 

*'Arose the King, attired in His necklace and the feather-crown ; 
All the world followed Him, and the Majesty of Amenemhat. 
The Kolchyt read the sacred text, during the stretching of the 

measuring-cord and the laying of the foundation-stone on 

the piece of ground selected for this temple. 
Then withdrew His Majesty Amenemhat; 
And King Usertesen wrote it down before the people." 

As to the intent of the particular direction given to the measuring- 
cord, we now have a satisfactory explanation through the investiga- 
tions of Nissen, in 1885,* and of Lockyer (op. cit.) in 1891. The 
varying courses of the axes of diflferent Egyptian temples appear 
to have been directed to points on the horizon which marked the 
periodical rising or setting of the sun, moon, or certain stars, par- 
ticularly at the summer and winter solstices. The apertures in the 
huge pylons and in the series of separating walls and portals beyond, 
toward the Holy Place, exactly represent the diaphragms in the 
modern telescope, and were intended to keep the light pure, from 
the luminary rising or setting on the horizon, and so lead it directly 
into the sanctuary at a definite moment. A solar temple was there- 
fore so oriented to the horizon, a^ a solstice, that, either at sunrise 
or at sunset, the light of the sun should pour along the axis from 
end to end. Several of the solar temples were thus directed toward 
the point of the setting sun at the summer solstice, when the day 
was longest ; and to this class, of course, must have belonged the 
Sun Temple of Atum-Ra at An. There, once a year, past its double 
emblem before the pylon, the pairs of obelisks, the sunbeam sped 
through the huge portal, through the double line of sphynxes and 
the colonnade of temple-columns, through opened doorways and 
parted curtains, and flashed through the portal of the dark Holy of 

* Rheinisches Museum fiir Philologie, 1885. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 113 

Holies as a glittering spot of light upon the end-wall — for a few 
moments only, it may be, and then vanished away. So began the 
first day of Thoth, the first month of the Egyptian year. The 
orientation of the axis, over a quarter mile in length, of the mag- 
nificent Solar Temple of Amen-Ra, at Karnak, has been determined 
with an amplitude of W. 26° N.,> and that of Abydos, W. 27° N. 
The latitude of Karnak is about 26° N., and that of An about 30° 
N., which (according to an approximate calculation made for me by 
Prof. J. K. Rees, of the Astronomical Observatory at Columbia 
College, New York) would add about one degree to the amplitude 
of the sun-setting point at the summer solstice. 

Although, therefore, not a single stone remains of the ancient 
Sun Temple of An, it appears quite certain that its axis was directed 
to W. 27° N., and to that point faced the front side of the New 
York Obelisk, over thirty-five centuries ago. 

8. The mutilation of the Obelisk by fire. 

After standing, probably undisturbed, for about 1050 years, the 
Persian Invasion of Egypt occurred, during which, about 525 B. C, 
the city and Temple of An were destroyed, as related by the geo- 
grapher Strabo,^ who visited Egypt 24 B. C. : 

** There, too, is Heliopolis, situated on a large mound. ... At 
present the city is entirely deserted. It has an ancient temple con- 
structed after the Egyptian manner, bearing many proofs of the 
madness and sacrilegious acts of Cambyses, who did very great 
injury to the temples, partly by fire, partly by violence, mutilating 
in some cases and applying fire in others. In this manner he in- 
jured the obelisks, two of which that were not entirely spoilt were 
transported to Rome. There are others, both here and at Thebes 
(the present Diospolis), some of which are standing, much corroded 
by fire, and others lying on the ground.^^ 

There are two reasons for believing that our Obelisk and its com- 
panion would particularly attract the fierce indignation and attack 
of the Persians, perhaps above all the others which gave to the city 
its name of the *'City of Obelisks:" first, their prominent position 
before the fa9ade of the Temple of the Sun : secondly, the names 
of the two kings repeatedly inscribed in cartouches, among the 
hieroglyphs over every side of these two shafts. 

1 Compare Map No. 1, Wilkinson, Thebes and Pyramids. 
« Book XVII, i, 27. 



114 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

To the westward, for reasons before explained, the present W.S.W. 
angle of onr monolith must have been directed, so that, to one who 
approached the Temple, the inscriptions on the present S.S.W. and 
W.N. W. sides first became visible. This conspicuous position might 
have been sufficient in itself to invoke the special fury of the destroyer. 
But to this must have been added the intense hatred of the Persian 
toward the two warlike and ambitious monarchs of Egypt, Thoth- 
meses III and Rameses II, who had both in succession, at an inter- 
val of two centuries, not only extended the sway of Egypt over 
Persia, but had subjected the native land of the present invader, 
Cambyses, to special cruelty and humiliation. We may then fairly 
infer that the fires must have been the hottest and longest continued, 
and the utmost efforts at mutilation most persistent, toward this 
Obelisk and its mate, on which the cartouches of these Pharaohs, 
constantly repeated and glittering with gold, caught the Persian 
eye. Such fires would be specially kindled and fed on the two 
prominent faces of our Obelisk, above designated. The lesser in- 
jury to the Obelisk of Usertesen, before the pylon, is thus explained, 
reaching merely for a few yards above its base. 

What evidences of such violence, then, still remain upon our 
own Obelisk? 

(1). The strange condition of the pedestal. It has probably re- 
sulted from the envelopment of the bases of nearly all the obelisks, 
in Upper Egypt, by sand, as at Luxor and Karnak at Thebes, and, 
in Lower Egypt, by mud from the overflow of the Nile, that but 
little is known in regard to their pedestals. 

At Luxor, the excavation of the bases of both the obelisks of 
Rameses II, which preceded the removal, by the French engineer,* 
of the western obelisk to Paris, . revealed, beneath each shaft, an 
elaborately sculptured granite pedestal, resting upon a platform of 
three blocks of sandstone. The monolithic pedestal (see figure in 
my paper, Misfortunes of an Obelisk, loc. cit., page 90), which 
originally stood under the western obelisk and was left behind by 
the French, was decorated with figures of pairs of cynocephali or 
apes (representing the god of wisdom, Thoth) on two opposite 
sides, and, on its face, with figures of the Nile god,. Hap, present- 
ing offerings to Thoth, and with rows of hieroglyphics, once proba- 
bly filled with gold; this block was 2 6 meters (10 feet) in height. 

1 Lebas, idem, 71. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 115 

The other pedestal, beneath the eastern obelisk of Luxor, and now 
buried in sand twenty feet deep, out of sight, was 3.4 meters (11^ 
feet) in height, sculptured and decorated in the same way. 

At Karnak, the standing obelisk of Queen Hatasu, the sister of 
Thothraeses III and his predecessor on the throne, has a low square 
pedestal, whose sides are covered with rows of hieroglyphs, also 
probably filled with gold like those on the shaft above.^ 

The Corfe Castle Obelisk, formerly on the Island of Philae, has a 
sandstone shaft, 22 feet and 1^ inches in height; its sandstone 
pedestal is 5 feet 9 inches in height, and covered with Greek in- 
scriptions of Ptolemy Euergetes II, in part cut in the stone, and 
in part painted upon it, or, according to Cooper, originally written 
in letters of gold.'* 

The Obelisk of An, according to Lenormant, stands upon a 
simple foundation, now buried several feet beneath the Nile silt, 
consisting of two broad steps or slabs of sandstone, each about 2 
feet high ;* but, on account of its ancient disturbance, we have no 
certain knowledge concerning its original support. 

In regard to the Campensis or Monte Citorio Obelisk, at Rome, 
which the Romans tried to use as a sun-dial, it was stated in 1803, 
** there can still be seen at Rome the original pedestal of the horary 
obelisk overturned on the Campus Martins,'' and also that there 
was' in the Vatican " a granite base cut with a cavity, probably to 
receive an obelisk."* 

Note the singular fact, however, that we find the huge granite 
pedestal of the New York Obelisk devoid of sculptures, inscrip- 
tions, or even polish ; its sides approximately even, but with 
roughened surface ; its edges and angles nicked and uneven ; its 
corners greatly rounded off; and many large spots, showing inter- 
nal cracks by their hollow sound, when lightly tapped. Yet the 
shaft above shows amusing evidences of the struggle of two suc- 
cessors of Thothmeses III on the throne of Egypt, Rameses II 
and Osarkon I, to find sufficient room on which to record their 
inscriptions of self-appreciation ; while apparently there were over 
220 square feet of blank space waiting for glory on the pedestal 
below. It seems more than a probability that this pedestal, in its 
original condition at An, was completely covered with hieroglyphs 

1 Lepsius, DeDkm&ler, Plate 24. * Gorringe, idem, 139. 

' Gorringe, idem, 123. 

^ Quatrem^re de Qaincj, De rArchitecture flgyptienne, 198, 108. 



1 1 6 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

and sculptures, like those which Eameses II had carved upon the 
pedestals of his fine monoliths at Luxor : that their entire disap- 
pearance, succeeded by a roughened surface, points to the violent 
mutilation and fire of the Persians: and that, at the time of its 
transfer to Alexandria, the Romans were content to dress the 
damaged faces somewhat, to an even surface, rather than to cut 
new figures or hieroglyphs into the hard granite; of their poor work 
in imitation hieroglyphs, they have left us samples in some of their 
own obelisks at Rome. 

A corroborative fact is found in the pedestal of the fellow-obelisk, 
which the English left buried in the sand at Alexandria. As this 
consists of limestone, it seems likely that the original granite 
pedestal of that shaft at An was found by the Romans so badly 
injured or destroyed, that they replaced it at Alexandria with a 
block of the easily hewn and abundant material, limestone, from 
the quarries beyond the Nile, adjacent to Heliopolis, at Masara or 
Turra. 

(2). The extreme mutilation of the bases of the two shafts (and 
these only, of all Egyptian obelisks), particularly at their corners. 
These are so greatly and irregularly rounded oflF, that Gorringe 
estimated that not over two-thirds of the area of the bottom of our 
Obelisk could come into contact with its pedestal. So great is the 
rounding on the heel of each shaft, that one old writer, in 1738 A.D., 
describes it as hemispherical, fitting into a corresponding cavity or 
hollowed-out socket in the pedestal, and states : " but the Basis or 
Foot may perhaps be the most remarkable Part of these Obelisks, 
especially if that at Alexandria is to instruct us. . . . They would 
bear a nearer resemblance to Darts and massive Weapons, thus 
more expressive of Rays of the Sun."* 

As Gorringe states, " that marring of the heel, to the extent of 
breaking off large masses at the corners, cannot be attributed to 
the present age. The fractures are abo too irregular to admit the 
theory that they were purposely brokeu off to facilitate the opera- 
tion of raising the Needle."^ The mutilation must have occurred 
before the erection of the Obelisk at Alexandria, since the Romans 
then found it necessary to introduce their bronze crabs as supports 
beneath the four corners. According to one author, " one effect of 
the removal of the obelisks by the Romans was to break off the 



1 Shaw, op. cit., 411. Also Pococke, op, cit., I, 7. 
* Gorringe, idem, 102. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 117 

edges at the bottom. . . . Daring the transportation, a large por- 
tion of the edges at the base was very badly damaged."^ Such 
rude and clumsy handling, however, is not likely, in view of the 
known skill of the Roman engineers : their experience twelve years 
before, according to Strabo, in conveying a pair of obelisks from An 
to Rome : and the perfect condition of the bases of the Egyptian 
monoliths now in Rome, and, in fact, that of the delicate pyramidion 
of this very Obelisk. The mutilation must have occurred at An, and 
it is significant that it occurs, in both obelisks, in just that part of 
the shaft which must have been most exposed to the fire. If the 
obelisks were then overturned, the injury may have been intention- 
ally increased by mechanical violence. 

It is also highly probable that the destructive action of fire was 
aided by dashing cold water upon the heated stone, as far up as it 
could be thrown from below, a method of destruction of rock well 
known to all the ancient nations, and commonly used in their 
mining. 

(3). The partial to complete obliteration of a large portion of the 
inscriptions on all sides of the base of the shaft, with a peculiar 
smoothing of the surface, up to a height of 10 or 12 feet above the 
top of the pedestal. The upper limit of this, the so-called " sand- 
line," running horizontally around the shaft, begins on the N.N.E. 
side, about half-way between the two lowest rows of cartouches. 
In addition to the eflfacement of hieroglyphs, the peculiar even and 
shining surface should be noted, which is, to a large degree, free 
from the pitting, often deep, which covers the surface of the shaft 
above the line. On the E.S.E. and S.S.W. faces, the same round- 
ing of corners and of edges of the hieroglyphs occurs. But on the 
W.N.W. face, many sharply carved intaglios remain but little 
injured, near the bottom of the shaft and for a yard above ; thence 
the same rounding and partial effacement of characters extend up 
to the same line. All these facts point to an ancient destruction of 
the lower surface of the shaft by some agency which left it covered 
with smoothly cleaved planes and broken corners, and to a subse- 
quent protection of the smooth surface from the weathering which 
caused the pitting above the line. 

It is known that at least as far back as the visit of the traveller, 
Paul Lucas, to Alexandria, in 1714 A. D., the shaft was buried in 

> 1 Moldenke, idem, 20, 39. 



118 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

sand up to the height of 12 feet, and to its action the obliteration 
of the characters has been attributed by some, the upper limit 
having been denominated the ** sand-line." But envelopment in 
sand has served usually, in Egypt, as the best protection. Thus it 
is stated of two of the most ancient obelisks discovered, those of 
King Entef of the Xlth dynasty, over 2400 B. C, "the hiero- 
glyphics in these obelisks were very well preserved, owing to the 
friendly protection of the sand beneath which they were buried."* 
The same protection of hieroglyphs, on the under side of the fallen 
obelisk at Alexandria, was noticed at the time of its exhumation in 
1801. The same fact may be even more strongly shown. in the 
remarkable preservation of the Greek and Latin inscriptions upon 
the bronze-crabs, during nineteen centuries, among whose charac- 
ters, only partly filled with metallic oxides, the keen eye of our 
American archaeologist fortunately detected the important lost 
numeral.' 

The upper line which bounds most of the obliteration seems to 
me therefore, perhaps, to mark the highest limit of the most intense 
flames of the fires at An, and more surely the limit of protection of 
this smoother fire-flaked surface, from much subsequent erosion and 
pitting by the weather and drifting sands, during its envelopment 
to that depth. 

(4). The belts of obliteration which stretch up the S.S.W. and 
W.N.W. sides of the shaft, uniting in the cracked W.S.W. corner. 
This effacement of hieroglyphs has been attributed to several causes. 

(a). The damp climate and sea-breezes^ of Alexandria This 
will be discussed beyond, where it is shown that the side which 
then faced the Mediterranean is the present E.S.E. side, on which 
the inscriptions remain in excellent state of preservation. 

(b). The long continued action of the sun. This view appears 
at first the more plausible, since it is probable, for reasons already 
given, that the badly injured W.N.W. and S.S.W. faces did really 
stand at An for about 1050 years, as they do now, in full exposure 
to the afternoon sun. But the present N.N.E. side faced the sun 
afterwards still longer, at Alexandria, for 1891 years, to the W.S.W., 
and is the best preserved of all the faces. Nor has such injury 
been noted on any other of the obelisks, constructed of exactly the 
same granite, which have stood, in the same climate, at An and at 

1 Stuart, Nile GleaniDgs, 273. Long, idem, 302. 

> Merriam, loc. cit. ^ Clark, op. cit., 31. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 119 

Thebes, for still longer periods. The present Obelisk of An has 
reniained on its site, only a few rods distant from that of our 
Obelisk, for at least 700 years longer, since about 2300 B. C, and 
the condition of its surface may throw light on the present ques- 
tion. In 1743, a traveller reports:* ''It is discolored by the water 
to the height of near seven feet. It is well preserved, except that, 
on the west side, it is scaled away for about fifteen feet high." 

In 17r)5, Capt. Norden states:* "I have represented the western 
side of this obelisk, because it is the best preserved. I should further 
state that the bottom of the obelisk on the east is almost entirely 
ruined, to such an extent, that almost no trace of a hieroglyph can 
be distinguished upon it." 

In 1787, Savary remarks:* " The obelisk is in good preservation 
except toward the southwest, where the granite is chipped to a 
certain height." These travellers show the usual careless designa- 
tion of the decayed side ; Niebuhr found that the sides faced N.N.E., 
E.S.E., S.S.W., and W.N W. No evidences of present decay and 
scaling are on record, after an exposure of 43 centuries. 

As to the obelisks at Luxor, erected about 1350 B. C, before the 
pylon of that Temple, and fronting N. W., Pococke reported ;* " The 
hieroglyphics are cut in with a flat bottom, an inch and a half deep; 
and the granite has perfectly retained its polish, which is the finest 
I ever saw. . . . They are exceedingly well preserved, except that 
about half the pyramid of the western obelisk is broke off, and the 
southwest corner of the eastern one is a little battered for about 
six feet high." The one still at Luxor, and also that of Queen 
Hatasu at Karnak, remain renowned for the perfect sharpness and 
exquisite polish of their hieroglyphs, even on the sides which have 
faced the afternoon sun, undisturbed, for 32 to 35 centuries. 

In regard to the stela of Begig, in the Fayoum, which lies, fallen 
and broken, about 43 feet in length, erected also by Usertesen I, 
Pococke observed,*^ that " the obelisk is much decayed all around, 
for ten feet high, but mostly on the south side ; the west side is 
almost entirelv defaced." 

(c). Attrition by the whirling sands of the desert. On this, a 
writer remarked, in 1847: "The obelisk that is still erect among 
the ruins of Alexandria retains much of the freshness, sharpness, 

> Pococke, idem, I, 23. * NordeD, op. cit., I, 104. 

8 Savary, idem, I, 123. * Idem, I, 107. 

^ Long, idem, 319. 



120 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

and high polish of its first execution on its north and east faces ; 
but the minute particles of sand with which the air is charged, in 
passing over the desert, have entirely defaced its south and west 
sides, by beating against it during the 1600 years in which it has 
stood in its present position."* 

In favor of this view is the fact of the greater injury on the 
present S.S.W. and W.N.W. sides, those which fronted the K ham- 
seen, which, in Egypt, blows at intervals from the S. and S.W., 
driving fine sand, though seldom for more than a day in duration.* 

But, even on these sides of the shaft, the deepest injury is at the 
upper part of the W.S.W. corner, most out of reach of flying sand, 
and of a different character from the superficial erosion effected by 
that agency. It was only during the last few centuries that the 
obelisks have been exposed to sand at Alexandria, having been 
previously protected within the wall of the city; while, at An, the 
sands of the desert have never reached their site. 

The excellent condition of the partially sand-enveloped obelisks 
of Thotbmes I and of Hatasu at Karnak, and of Rameses II at 
Luxor, show how limited is the erosion attributable to this agency, 
as well as to the heat of the sun, on Syene granite, during long 
periods. 

(d). Disintegration by nitrous efflorescence. Injurious action of 
this origin was noticed in 1809 by Hamilton,' on sandstone from 
the quarries at Hadjar Silsilis: **The rock^ in which these quarries 
have been excavated, is a very uniform, compact granular sand- 
stone, enclosing sometimes ligneous petrifactions. It is extremely 
hard when exposed to a dry climate and a warm sun, but easily 
softened by rain, so as to be damaged when moist by whatever 
touches it too rudely. The exterior of those temples which have 
been built of it preserves a very clear sandy color ; but the walls 
of the inner apartments are blackened by the confined damps, and 
b}^ the action of the nitre with which the air is impregnated. In 
these rooms, the surface of the stone is easily detached in thin 
flakes." 

In his study of the Great Temple at Karnak, Mariette-Bey 
observed, in 18T5: '* Every year the river penetrates it by infiltra- 
tion, and, uniting with the saltpetre with which the soil is impreg- 

1 Oaburn, op. cit., 49. * Rawlinson, Hist. Anc. Eg., I, 46. 

3 Hamilton, op. cit., 85. 



Study of the New York, Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 121 

uated, corrodes and eats away the foundations of the monument. 
The Grand Temple holds itself up, only because it is supported by 
the soil in which it is plunged. Naturally there is not a temple in 
Egypt where the fall of walls happens more frequently.'^* 

Elsewhere, he repeats: *' For many years the grand Temple of 
Karnak has been assailed, more than any other Egyptian temple, 
by the infiltration of the Nile, whose water, saturated with nitre, 
eats away the sandstone;" and again, ** Karnak has found its prin- 
cipal enemy in the nitre that corrodes the base of its walls. "^ 

Dr. Rossiter W. Raymond has also called my attention to the 
deep disintegration and scaling away which he observed at the 
bases of the great pillars in this Temple, and which can also be 
readily distinguished in some photographs. My brother. Rev. 
Matthew C. Julien, recently in Egypt, informs me that he also 
observed the same scaling on the vertical walls at the entrance of 
the Serapflwim. 

There can be no question of the decay and serious damage which 
have been caused, in Egypt, as elsewhere, by efflorescent salts, but, 
in that country, only on porous sandstone, in enclosures whose soil 
is saturated with these salts in the immediate vicinity of filthy Arab 
villages, and to a height of but a few feet above the ground, rarely 
over a yard. 

Therefore, although an early description of ancient Alexandria 
refers to its '* battlements decayed and the stones corroded and dis- 
figured by saltpetre,"' there is no evidence nor probability of any 
granite obelisk having suffered exfoliation from this agency. 

(e). Erosive solution by the Nile-waters or Nile-mud. This 
theory, often suggested, of attack by the Nile- waters, or by organic 
acids of the rich black soil of the Land of Cham, I think, has not 
been supported by observed facts. No such decay surrounds the 
shaft of the Obelisk of Heliopolis. Its base was found, by the 
French expedition in 1807, to be buried in the alluvial plain to the 
depth of 1.88 meters* (6 feet, 2 inches), of which Wilkinson found 
that 5 feet, 10 inches had accumulated during the last 1700 years. 
The actual rise of the waters was found to have reached 1.52 meters 
higher (6 feet), but no corresponding band of exfoliation is noted. 

Nor have the carved flutings and hieroglyphs suffered in sharp- 
ness, on the colossal statue of Rameses II, once erected, before the 

I Karnak, 7. * Monuments of Upper Egypt, 180, 197. 

s Volney, op. cit., I, 5. * Histoire Naturelle, Texte, I, 407. 

Aknals N. Y. Acad. Sci., VIII, July, 1893.— 9 



122 Study of the New York Obelisk, as a Decayed Boulder. 

Temple of Ptah at Memphis, which has since lain buried in the 
Nile-mud, face downward, for over twenty centuries, until its 
recent exhumation near Cairo 

Even though we grant, in the absence of proof, that our Obelisk 
was overturned in the destruction of the Temple at An, about 
515 B. C, it seems impossible that five centuries of burial in the 
soil could have effected the damage we now see upon its faces. 

(f ). The burning of the stone by the Persians. This appears to 
me the only satisfactory theory to account for the great injury to 
the S.S.W. and W.N.W. sides of the shaft. The fiercest flames of 
the Persian fires, naturally kindled at the most prominent W.S.W. 
angle, seem to have licked up the adjacent faces, and were probably 
aided by throwing water upon the heated stone. With the flaking 
away and fall of the lowest of the hated cartouches of Thothmeses 
and Rameses from those sides, and the blackening of the rest, the 
Persian vengeance was sated. 

A consideration of all these facts has led me back to the old view^, 
which was thus readvanced, some years ago, by Dr. W. C. Prime: 
*' It is hardly to be questioned that this ancient destruction of the 
surface was due to the fires of Cambyses, before the stone was 
transferred to Alexandria. It is probable that, when so transferred 
and erected in front of the Sebastion, the best preserved side was 
placed in front, facing the sea. That the monolith was once sub- 
jected to severe fire, especially affecting the lower part, and more 
intense on one side, seems very probable."^ If also overturned 
and prostrate for five centuries, as some believe,' it may have so 
fallen as to have buried its present N.N.E. and E S.E. sides, with 
its summit under the sand, its heel exposed to mutilation, and its 
present S.S.W. and W.N.W. sides mainly uncovered to the action 
of the weather, down to the line now marked by the preserved 
eastern column of hieroglyphs on its present S S.W. face. 

Our conclusion also confirms that of Denon, at his examination 
of the two obelisks in 1801: "Inspection of the actual condition 
of these obelisks, and the fractures which existed at the very time 
when they were erected on this site, prove that they were already 
fragments at that period, and transported from Memphis or Upper 
Egypt."' 

' N. Y. Journal of Commerce, Dec. 16, 1889. 

' Gorringe, idem, 72. > Denon, idem, I, 33. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 123 

III. Alexandria. 

In the year 12 B. C, the New York Obelisk and that of London 
were conveyed by the Romans to Alexandria, probably on a float 
through a canal and down the Nile, and re-erected near the seashore 
on the New Port, to ornament the approach to the Caesareum or 
Sebastion. There is little likelihood that they suffered any injury 
while in the care of the skilful engineers of a nation so experienced 
in the handling of architectural materials, a care exemplified by the 
elaborate bronze crabs devised and introduced under each shaft, to 
ensure its permanent support and safety. 

The substitution, already suggested, of a limestone pedestal for 
the ruined granite block which probably supported the London 
Monolith at An, suggests also that the present limestone founda- 
tion of our own Obelisk, with its various enclosures and the sub- 
stratum of sandstone blocks, may not be of the same age as the 
pedestal and shaft above, but more likely Roman. Limestone has 
been the easily quarried, abundant, convenient, and cheap building- 
stone of Lower Egypt, in all ages; and the limestone blocks in the 
three tiers of the foundation retain a suspiciously new look and 
wonderfully sharp arrises, to have passed through the fires and 
mutilation of An. 

9. Position of Obelisk at Alexandria, 

On its new site, it was shaken by at least the two recorded earth- 
quakes of 1301 and August 8, 1303, A.D., one of which was suffi- 
ciently violent to hurl down its companion. Later, it shared with 
the city, but apparently without harm, its varied experiences in 
insurrection, siege, and sack, and remained in the same place un- 
disturbed until the close of 1879. Frequent references are made to 
it by passing travellers and visitors, such as Abd-El-Latif, Philo, 
Sandys, etc. 

In 1714, the English traveller, Paul Lucas, found the pedestal 
completely buried in sand, and even the shaft up to a height of 12 
feet. But this sand had evidently blown away in part in 1738, 
when Shaw* states, '*the Height of it is found to be fifty (French) 
Foot, three whereof are buried underground." Again, in 1743, 
Capt. Norden observed: "This Obelisk of Cleopatra is situated 

1 Shaw, idem, 412. 



124 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

almost in the middle, between the New City and the Little Phar- 
illon. Its pedestal, of which a part is buried, is elevated 20 feet 
above the level of the sea. Between this monument and the Port 
runs a thick wall, flanked with a great Tower on either side of the 
Obelisk ; but this wall is in such a ruined state, that its top is 
almost level with the pedestal of the Obelisk. The inner part of 
the wall is but ten feet from this monument, and its outer part but 
four to five steps from the sea."* 

In 1787, the pedestal seems to have been visible, according to 
Savary : *' Towards the eastern part of the palace are the two 
obelisks, vulgarly called Cleopatra^s needles, of Thebaian stone, and 
containing numerous hieroglyphics; one is thrown down, broken, 
and covered with sand; the other still rests on its pedestal."* 

In 1801, it was remarked by Mayer: **The Obelisk near Alex- 
andria, called Cleopatra's needle, is a block of granite, not quite six 
feet in diameter at it's base, and near seventy feet high originally ; 
but it's pedestal, and part of it's base, are buried in the sand.'" 

Again, in 1843, Cooley represented* the base of the Obelisk free 
from sand, but its pedestal still buried, standing in a pit from which 
the sand had been dug out, for examination by the visitor. 

On old maps, the position of the two monuments is commonly 
marked by two little squares, whose sides on Pococke's " Plan of 
Alexandria" face about N. W.,* but, on most maps, are placed parallel 
to the shore, which here runs about E.N.E., i, 6., they front about 
N.N.W. 

In the more elaborate and faithful drawings of the many repre- 
sented in plates, in early works of travel, I have made a careful 
examination of the hieroglyphs, and of the cartouches, whose posi- 
tion and number differ greatly on the different sides of the shaft ; 
also in many photographs, taken at Alexandria at various periods, 
which show clearly the inscriptions and the well-marked nick, which, 
as already explained, was probably directed nearly to N.N.W., as 
the Obelisk stood at An. 

[Here the following drawings and photographs were exhibited by 
lantern projection: View of Alexandria from the sea, in 1755, 
showing the erect obelisk and remnant of the wall: Views of the 
Obelisk in 1756, showing the present E.S.E. side, then facing the 

* Norden, idem, I, 5. * Savary, idem, I, 36. 
« Mayer, op. cit., 29. * Cooley, op. cit., 155. 

* Pococke, idem, I, 2. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 125 

N.N.W. : Views of Obelisk in 1801, with truncated apex on pyra- 
midion, in 1830, and in 1842, with the sand dug away from pedestal : 
Photographs in 1870 and about 1880, showing the "nick" directed 
landward: Views of the fallen obelisk in 1755, and the present 
London Obelisk, with fractured edges and pyramidion.] 

All these plainly and certainly show that, in the position of the 
shaft at Alexandria, this nick was directed toward the S.S.W. 

In other words, when the Romans re-erected the shaft at Alex- 
andria, they placed it before the new Temple of the Caesars, front- 
ing the sea and the water-gate, i. «., toward the N.N.W. ; and 
moreover, turned the shaft about half round from its original orien- 
tation, so that its two best preserved sides would meet the view of 
the visitor, on his approach to the Temple from the north. The 
two burned and mutilated sides were turned to the S.S.E. (toward 
the Temple) and to the E.N.E. The same position, and probably 
a similar rotation, were carried out in the re-erection of the com- 
panion monolith, now at London. 

The view above expressed, however, does not agree with that of 
Gorringe. In Plate XI of his work, evidently prepared in very 
careful detail, he gives a plan of the pedestal and steps of the foun- 
dation, as they stood at Alexandria, with the angles marked N., S., 
E., and W., each with an arrow, as if to impress its exactness. On 
the opposite page (18) he also refers to the "S.E. face of the struc- 
ture" and the ** S.W. face." Nor does he make any reference to 
the change and rotation in the position of the faces of the shaft 
above. 

10. Condition of the Obelisks at Alexandria, 

We may now report some of the testimony of travellers in regard 
to the condition of the surface of these monoliths and their theories 
to account for the injury observed. 

In 1738, Shaw related: **But the Alexandrian Obelisk, lying 
nearer the Sea, and in a moister Situation, hath suffered very much, 
especially upon that Side which faceth the Northward; for the 
Planes of these Pillars, no less than those of the Pyramids, seem 
to have been designed to regard the four Quarters of the World. "^ 

In 1740, a Danish gentleman in the squadron of Admiral Had- 
dock, reported thus' in Florence: ''The hieroglyphs on two adja- 

* Shaw, idem, 412. * Norden, idem, I, f. 



126 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

cent sides (the W. and the N.) are of great beauty; but the others 
(on the E. and S.) have been much injured by wind and damp ; 
that is why I have represented them exactly as they occur." 

In 1743, Capt. Norden observed: "There are only two of the 
faces which are well preserved ; the two others are defaced, and the 
hieroglyphs can hardly be seen by which they were anciently 
covered. . . . The injury and effacement on two sides of a stone of 
such hardness enable us to understand the great difference between 
the climate of Alexandria and that of all the rest of Egypt; for it 
has neither been fire nor the hand of violence which has injured 
these stones. It is clearly evident that it has been only the injury 
of Time which has eaten away some of the characters and has 
effaced others, although incised to considerable depth. "^ 

In the work of Maver in 1801, it was remarked: "The sides 
facing the N.W. and S.W. are best preserved, the hieroglyphics on 
the other two sides being greatly defaced, especially toward the 
lower part, large scales falling from the stone, notwithstanding its 
hardness."* 

Lenormant, in 1841, concluded: "The obelisk, which has re- 
mained erect, has suffered greatly from the saline and corrosive 
dampness of the sea, principally on the N. and W. faces which front 
the Mediterranean ; that which lies overturned is perhaps still more 
worn than the other."' 

In 1842, Lepsius observed: "The two obelisks, of which the 
one still standing is called Cleopatra's Needle, are very much de- 
stroyed on the sides which are exposed to the weather, and in part 
have become totally illegible."* 

It was remarked by Long : " Only two of the faces are in a state 
of good preservation ; the other two, the E. and S sides, being so 
much damaged by the moist atmosphere of Alexandria, that one 
can hardly see the sculptures on them. The S. side has suffered 
most of all."*^ 

In 1864, Clark observed that these obelisks were "sadly out of 
place amid the poverty and dampness of a sea-town. One of these 
is fallen, and the other is wasting away in the unfriendly air.''* 

In these quotations several careless references occur in naming' 
the sides, as those of the N.N.W. and W.S.W. (usually called the 

' Norden, idem, I, 7. * Mayer, idem, 29. 

* Lenormant, idem, 47. * Lepsius, Letters from Egypt, 42. 

* Long, idem, 302. « Clark, idem, 31. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 12T 

N. and W., or the N.W. and S.W.) were the ones in good preserva- 
tion, and those of the E.N.E. and S.S.E. (usually called the E. and 
S.) were the ones badly decayed. 

As to the fallen (London) obelisk, whose base or pedestal prob- 
ably still lies a few yards S.W. of the former site of the New York 
Obelisk, two of its sides, ordinarily designated as fronting N. and 
W.^ at Alexandria, exhibit very good hieroglyphs, but its heel and 
edges are battered. 

Cooper also states: "The apex is roughly cut and damaged, 
having been covered, like most of the obelisks of Thothmes III, 
with a bronze cap. . . . The base of the monument and its two 
steps or gradu^s remain entire ; they are of limestone and are nearly 
seven feet high. . . . Owing to the position in which it fell, the 
monolith has been much exposed to injury, alike from the friction 
of the sand and the corrosive action of the salts in the sea-breezes ; 
indeed, the S. side has suffered most of all, the hieroglyphics being 
in many places wholly illegible ; the E. face has also suffered 
severely; the W. face and that which rests upon the ground have 
been better preserved."^ The following statement in regard to the 
surface of the under side of this obelisk, in 1801, after five centuries' 
partial burial in the sand, implies that the influence of this material, 
even so near the seashore, has been for protection rather than cor- 
rosion : " The Needle was likewise turned over, and the hiero- 
glyphics, on the side it had so long lain on, found fresh and entire."' 

It will be readily seen, on reviewing these opinions, that there is 
no agreement as to which were the faces of our Obelisk on which 
the hieroglj^phs were damaged. So unquestionable were the two 
facts, the mysterious but serious effacement of hieroglyphs on two 
sides and the great difference of climate in the new home of the 
Obelisk, that the passing traveller was often unable to accept the 
evidence of his own eyes. However, it is equally beyond question 
that it was the present E.S.E. and N.N.E. sides of our Obelisk and 
the corresponding sides of its London fellow which bore the brunt 
of attack by the sea-winds at Alexandria for nineteen centuries, 
and that these are in excellent condition. The injury to the other 
two sides must then have preceded the Roman transfer of the 
monoliths from An. 

1 Gorringe, idem, 97, 108. * Cooper, idem, 125. 

3 Bombay Courier, June 9, 1802. 



128 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

11. Climate of Alexandria, 

As the unanimous conclusion of the authors just quoted was to 
attribute the decayed condition of the surface of the obelisks to the 
damp and saline atmosphere of Alexandria, it is pertinent to con- 
sider here some notes on the climate of that city, in comparison 
with that of Upper E^ypt. M. Gratien-Le-Pere, Chief-Engineer of 
the Corps Royal des Fonts et Chaussees, in the French Expedition 
to Egypt in 1801, states: "The climate of Alexandria is quite 
healthy; although very warm in summer, this is tempered by the 
coolness of the nights. The dews of evening, especially in the 
season of the Etesian winds, are here, as in the entire maritime 
border of Egypt, of a saline dampness which penetrates all bodies. 
Winter is very rainy at Alexandria.'^^ 

Yiscount Valentia, in 1802, observed: **The climate is by no 
means unpleasant, as the heat is tempered in summer by the strong 
gales, which almost constantly blow from the north, and carry with 
them the thick black clouds, that, after breaking on the mountains 
of the interior of Africa, return in the floods of the Nile to fertilize 
the plains of Egypt."'' 

In Southern Egypt, during the summer (April to October), the 
temperature varies during the day from 100° to 112° F. in the 
shade ; in Northern Egypt it is cooler. The minimum rarely falls 
below 40° F. In the French Expedition, the observers noted a 
minimum of 36^° F., in January, 1799; the average during the 
night was 46° F. In 1874, a minimum temperature of 23° F. was 
observed by Rohlf in the Libyan desert. In the Upper Nile val- 
ley, showers ordinarily fall only on about 5 or 6 days in the year ; 
heavy rains are rare, occurring about once in 15 or 20 years. It is 
commonly stated that frost and snow are wholly unknown in Egypt; 
yet it is recorded that frost has been seen at Cairo,' and in the Alge- 
rian desert, in latitude but a few degrees further north, snow fell 
in the year 1847. 

At Alexandria, "rain is as common in winter as it is in the south 
of Europe. But during the rest of the year, as little falls as in the 
upper country ; and at 50 or 60 miles from the coast, the winter 
rains cease, the climate of Cairo being no less dry than that of the 
Thebaid."* 

1 Gratien-Le-P^re, op. cit., Ill, 279. « Valentia, op. cit., 466. 

3 Foissac, op. cit., II, 263. * Rawlinson, Hist. Anc. Egypt, 1, 43. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 129 

*' The general height of the thermometer in tte depth of winter 
in Lower Egypt, in the afternoon and in the shade, is from 50° to 
60°; in the hottest season, it is from 90° to 100°, and about 10° 
higher in the southern parts of Upper Egypt. "^ 

'* On the coast of the Mediterranean rain is frequent, but, in other 
parts of Egypt, very unusual. At Cairo, there is generally one 
heavy storm in the winter, and a shower or two besides. ... At 
Thebes, a storm occurs but once in about four years, and light rain 
almost as rarely. The wind most frequently blows from the N.W., 
N., or N.E., but particularly from the first direction. ... The 
southerly winds are often very violent, and, in the spring and sum- 
mer, especially in April and May, hot sand-winds sometimes blow 
from the south, greatly raising the temperature."' 

A recent traveller* states concerning the rainfall between Feb- 
ruary 1 and April 15, 1889: ''My first experience in Egypt was 
calculated to give the impression that it is a rainy country, for I 
saw two showers in three days. In passing through the Suez 
Canal (January 31st), a heavy shower, lasting half an hour, drove 
the passengers to shelter, and a brilliant rainbow delighted be- 
holders. Two days later, rain again fell at night in Cairo, making 
the dirty streets more nasty still. Of course this experience was 
exceptional, as rain is a rarity in Cairo. Authorities give the rain- 
fall at Alexandria as about 8 inches per annum, and at Cairo about 
1.2 inches; while in Upper Egypt the precipitatjon of moisture is 
far less ; there are adults living there who say they have never seen 
rain. 

I noticed, on the other hand, unmistakable signs of recent rains, 
such as dried mud-puddles, raindrop-prints, etc., at s^everal points 
near Cairo, east of Thebes (Wadi Bab-el-Molook), and in the penin- 
sula of Sinai, and I was impressed with the belief that more rain 
falls in Egypt than is usually supposed. A local shower, passing 
over a sandy gravelly region, makes but little impress on it; and 
there is no corps of trained observers, outside of Cairo and Alexan- 
dria, to record the phenomenon. ... On February 16th I visited 
a wild valley west of Thebes, known as Wadi Bab-el-Molook. . . . 
The valley throughout shows that water has at some time been 
energetically at work ; the floor resembles a dried-up mountain 

^ Lane, Modern Egyptians, Introd. 
« R. S. Poole, Encyc. Brit., VII, 703. 
3 Bolton, loo. cit., 113, 117, 118. 



130 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

torrent ; banks of gravel, sand, and boulders rise several feet above 
the bridle-path on each side; and, at the lowest part, small channels 
wind about the large rocks. The hillsides are furrowed by ravines 
excavated by water. Here and there, in low places, usually at the 
foot of a large boulder, are unmistakable signs of recently formed 
raud. The scales and mud-cracks were quite fresh, and seemed to 
indicate that water had accumulated in pools not more than two or 
three weeks before. On my return to Luxor, I was informed that 
rain had fallen about three weeks before (February 16th)." 

In a discussion of the heavy dews in Egypt, Volney states: 
*' These dews as well as the rains are more copious towards the sea, 
and less considerable in proportion to their distance from it ; but 
differ from them by being more abundant in summer than in win- 
ter. At Alexandria, after sunset in the month of April, clothes 
exposed to the air and the terraces .are soaked with them, as if it 
had rained."^ 

All these facts, therefore, bear out the idea of the moist character 
of the climate at Alexandria. 



12. Removal of the Obelisk from Alexandria. 

The details of the great enterprise of the lowering of the huge 
monolith at Alexandria, in 1879, and of its conveyance to New 
York, have been fully set forth by the engineer in charge, the late 
Commander H. H. Gorringe. It will be sufficient here to refer only 
to certain points which might be considered to have some bearing 
on possible strain or injury to the monument in transit On Octo- 
ber 29, 1879, the work of excavation began, and the bottom of the 
lowest step of the foundation was found to lie nearly at meau sea- 
level. This indicated a probable subsidence of the coast of about 
17 feet in 1900 years, attended with a decided and increasing incli- 
nation of the top of the shaft toward the sea, which must have soon 
resulted in its fall. 

The sides of the lower part of the shaft (as illustrated by a photo- 
graph of the bottom of the W.S.W. side, taken at the time of the 
removal of the London Obelisk) showed the same effaced hiero- 
glyphs, rounded corners, and peculiar smoothed surface as now 
seen. 

Gorringe states that in turning the Obelisk, its bottom bound 
against the top of one of the crabs, and " removing the crabs was 

1 Volney, idem, I, 56. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 131 

very difiBcult, by the lead which had been poured into the mortices 
in the pedestal while molten."* From this it may be inferred that 
he found the crabs attached only to the pedestal. 

In December, 1879, while the shaft, carefully sheathed in heavy 
plank, was being turned on enormous trunnions, supported on steel 
towers, a little accident occurred, which he has thus described :' 
*' Immediately following a creak louder than any previous one, the 
motion was suddenly arrested ; then there was a sharp snap — one 
of the tackles had parted. Instantly the order was given to slack 
the other tackle rapidly, using it merely to retard the motion and 
not to arrest it ; but the man attending the fall had lost his wits, 
and, instead of slackening, he held it fast and it very soon broke. 
The obelisk was at that moment about half over. It moved slowly 
at first, and then more and more rapidly, until it struck the stack of 
timbers, rebounded twice, and came to rest in the position" shown 
in an illustration. " There was intense excitement ; many of the 
Arabs and Greeks about the grounds had fled precipitously, when 
the obelisk began to move rapidly ; and when it rested on the stack 
of timber uninjured, there arose a prolonged cheer. . . .The two 
upper tiers of plank were crushed; aside from this, no loss or injury 
to any person or anything resulted from the successful accomplish- 
ment of the first essential feature of the work of removal." 

Later, during the launching of the caisson which enclosed the 
Obelisk, its safety was endangered in the surf by a rising storm, 
and Gorringe allowed the caisson to fill, in order to diminish its 
buoyancy and prevent it from thumping heavily on its ways. The 
shaft thus remained immersed in salt water for several days. 

After the monolith had reached the floating dock, and had been 
at last safely introduced into the hull of the Steamer '* Dessoug," 
Gorringe states, "to obviate all risk of breaking the Obelisk by the 
working of the ship, it was placed on a bed of Adriatic white pine, 
very spongy and soft, and ten feet of the extremities left without 
support. To prevent it from moving laterally, a sy«tem of hori- 
zontal, diagonal, and vertical shores were fitted into the hiero- 
glyphs, and driven against stringer-pieces of the steamer's hull."' 
During the voyage of 37 days, some stormy weather was encount- 
ered, both in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. In spite of all 

1 Gorringe, idem, 14. * Gorringe, idem, 15, 

* Gorringe, idem, 27. 



132 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

care, it looks probable that certain projecting hieroglyphs may 
have been subjected to some undesirable degree of strain. 



IV. New York. 

On its arrival at New York, the pedestal was directly landed 
upon New York Island, but the shaft was first landed on Staten 
Island, September, 1880, then towed to the foot of West 96th 
Street, again landed, and thence dragged around Central Park and 
re erected on *' Graywacke Knoll," January 22, 1881. 

13. Position of the Obelisk at New York. 

The foundation of the monolith was laid upon the outcrop of the 
vein of endogenous granite, already mentioned. Gorringe states : 
*' The earth having been removed from the top of the Knoll, the 
surface of the granite was levelled and the cavities filled with 
cement. A thin layer of this was then laid over the granite, and 
the foundation was replaced exactly as it had stood in Alexandria, 
each piece in the same relative position to the others and to the 
points of the compass."' 

In Plate XI of the same work, as already explained, he desig- 
nates these points of the compass, for the angles, as N., E., S., and 
W. Elsewhere, he refers to the four sides of the shaft, as facing 
N., S., E., and W., taking those terms from Chabas and Brugsch, 
wh(» used them, it may be presumed, loosely, in a general way. 

On examination with a compass, however, I was surprised to find 
that the sides do not now face N. 45° E. (N E.), S. 45° E. (S.E.), 
etc., but respectively N. 27° E. (nearly N.N.E.), S. 63° E. (nearly 
E.S.E.), etc. 

Gorringe's statement refers only to the foundation of the Obelisk, 
but a reader would naturally infer that the shaft was also replaced 
here "exactly as it had stood in Alexandria." However, I must 
call your attention again to the tell-tale nick, now directed to about 
N. 18° W., while at Alexandria it pointed to about S. 23° W. It 
thus appears that, on its re-erection in New York, not only was the 
whole foundation changed in position from that which it occupied on 
its Alexandrian site, but that also the shaft was twisted nearly half 
round to the right : so that both shaft and pedestal now stand once 

' Gorringe, idem, 32. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 133 

more in the original position at An. The incorrect statement of 
Gorringe as to the Alexandrian position of the foundation, and his 
silence on the readjustment of the shaft, remain without explanation. 
But in his fortunate accuracy in that readjustment, I can only con- 
jecture that he may possibly have been guided by a knowledge of 
the true orientation of a surviving companion of our Obelisk, the 
one still on the site of An : if it shall be found, by more close obser- 
vation than that recorded by Niebuhr, that this really faces to the 
present direction of the W.N.W side of the New York Obelisk, 
W. 27° N. 

I have plotted, on the accompanying illustration (Fig. 1), the 



Fig. 1. 







at 
c/i^^^^Im::. 



S," 



positions which our roving monolith has successively occupied on 
its three sites, always accompanied, until now, by its London fellow 
on its left : viz., its positions at An and at New York, by the square 
with dotted line and nick ; its position at Alexandria, by the square 
with broken line and nick; and, for comparison, its position at Alex- 
andria, according to Gorringe, by the square with continuous line. 
The interspaces, between the two obelisks and between them and 
the shore, are contracted in the illustration, for convenience. 

It is much to be regretted that a satisfactory explanation of the 
statement in question has probably been lost by the death of the 
eminent engineer, in July, 1881, only five months after the comple- 
tion of his great enterprise, in the successful transfer and re-erection 
of the Obelisk. 



134 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

14. 2%e sudden decay of the surface of the Obelisk. 

In regard to the condition of the surface of the New York Obe- 
lisk, immediately after its arrival, there is the following testimony 
by an experienced geologist,' in February, 1883: " The first thing 
that strikes one is the freshness and soundness of the rock. No 
' maladie du granit' is observable, and this fact will answer the first 
and natural question as to why this rock was so much preferred by 
the Egyptians for monumental purposes." 

On thin sections from the same specimen, Prof. Alfred Stelzner' 
also states, though with some confusion of the products of meta- 
morphism with those of decay: " The microcline . . . is very fresh 
and free from interpositions. . . . Secondary formations are almost 
entirely wanting in the sections before me; in only two places ap- 
pear viridite and yellowish green translucent needles of pistazite. 
The rock of the * Needle' can therefore be regarded as unusually fresh 
and * healthy,' in spite of the honorable age which it possesses." 

The specimen, on which these examinations were made, probably 
formed part of the material cut off, in 1880, from portions of the 
base of the shaft, by direction of Commander Gorringe, in order to 
increase its bearing surface on the pedestal and stability, and to 
facilitate the attachment of the new bronze crabs. About four 
barrels full of pieces were at that time removed, and are now pre- 
served in the American Museum of Natural History. 

Within about a couple of years afterward, the incipient decay of 
the surface seems to have been first indicated by small pieces of 
granite, lying around the base, evidently fallen from above. This 
sudden and strange disintegration was met at first with great in- 
credulity, since it was plainly not due to old age ; the monolith had 
yet seven centuries to catch up with the age of its sturdy old com- 
panion, still on the site of An. 

In October, 1883, this change was brought to the attention of 
Dr. F. A. P. Barnard,' who found "the surface of the stone step, 
immediately below the plinth, sparsely strewn with minute frag- 
ments of the rock," carefully swept them ofl", collected and weighed 
them, to the amount of 24.56 grams (about | of an ounce). From 
this he calculated the waste per square meter of the surface of the 

1 Frazer, loc. cit., 864 ; Gorringe, op. cit., 161. 

« Frazer, loc. cit., 872-374; Gorringe, op. cit., 166-167. 

8 Evening Post, New York, Oct. 30, 1883. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 135 

inonument per annum to be 0.457 gram, or, from the entire wasting 
surface, 10.88 grams; and estimated that if "the mass of fragments 
actually collected was not more than a tenth part of what had fallen 
during the time the Obelisk has been in our Park, it would still 
require 6000 years to reduce its volume to the depth of one centi- 
meter on each side.'' 

During the next year, 1884, the progress of the decay became 
still more manifest by the flaking away and fall of fragments, some- 
times of considerable size. Commander Gorringe could hardly be- 
lieve that they came from the monolith, and expressed the hope that 
some day it would be polished. 

In the autumn o^ the same year, the attention of the Park Com- 
missioners was directed to this serious decay, and they finally 
decided to make use of a waterproofing process, founded on the 
application of melted paraffin to the artificially warmed surface of 
the stone. This was begun on September 25, 1885, after the Obe- 
lisk had stood, entirely unprotected from the elements, for 4 years 
and 8 months after its re-erection. 

In the notes of another observer,* made at this time, on the 
weathered exterior of the Obdisk, it is stated : " Most of the frac- 
tures of the flakes seemed of recent origin, although under most of 
them was found a green vegetable growth of unicellular plants. 
However, beneath some pieces, the accumulated black dirt showed 
the fractures to be of more remote origin. . . . Placing a fragment 
of the rock under the microscope, portions of it show decided dis- 
integration, parts of the hornblende being broken down and dis- 
solved, while ^ome of the white feldspar is broken into such minute 
fragments that they exhibit the Brownian movement when placed 
in water. In the minute crevices can be seen the green cells of 
vegetable growth, and, on either side of the crevice, may sometimes 
be seen, with the microscope, the rosy hue indicating internal strains 
in the very minute fragments, a slight increase of which would 
complete the fracture ; and it is possible that the growing cells may 
furnish the necessary strain." All these vegetable cells were green, 
some rod-shaped, others round like those of Frotococcus pluvialis. 

On the S.S.W. side of the shaft, where the decay was most pro- 
nounced, some of the adhering flakes of rock were found to be 
parted above from the shaft as much as one-quarter of an inch, a 
crevice of that width being sometimes found filled with moss and 
black earth. 

1 Dudley, loc. cit., 67. 



136 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

In regard to the Frotococcus, I may reply that its superficial 
adherence to stone-work is of common occurrence in this country 
as abroad ; and, though often considered unsightly, its presence has 
never been connected with the decay of stone. The naturalist fami- 
liar with its delicate isolated cells will need proof of their ability to 
produce internal strains in the crevices where they find refuge. 

In the preliminary cleaning of the surface, before the waterproofing 
process was begun, it was discovered that very many spots were in a 
deplorably decayed condition, especially on the S.S.W. and W.N.W. 
sides of the shaft. Some large pieces were so loosely attached that 
they would scarcely bear the hand upon them without falling away. 
One large slab on the E.S.E. face, with the hieroglyphic symbol 
of the sun in its centre, actually dropped off in the grasp of a person 
who laid his hand upon it, to steady himself, while walking by upon 
the scaffold. This piece was left below, stolen over night and never 
recovered. No attempt was made to harden or recement this crum- 
bling surface, but it was decided to remove only the looser flakes, 
most likely to fall, and then apply the preservative. In the course 
of this removal, one fragment, showing hieroglyphs, was separated 
from the upper part of the W.S.W. corner of the shaft, w^hich 
measured 18 j inches in length, 3^ inches in width, and | of an inch 
in thickness; but most of the scales were small pieces, often cracked 
and ready to crumble. In all, about 2^ barrels of pieces were 
removed, found by the Park Superintendent to weigh 780 pounds; 
of these, three-quarters or more came from the S.S.W. and W.N.W. 
faces of the shaft. In regard to the great error of judgment shown 
in the above action, I have elsewhere^ expressed the universal pub- 
lic opinion. 

15. The waterproofing treatment of the Obelisk, 

The entire surface of the Obelisk was then warmed,' in successive 
portions, by the application of a square pan of burning charcoal, 
with front of wire grating, for two or three minutes, at a distance 
of about one inch. The projections and hollows on the surface 
wore warmed by means of a benzine blast-lamp. Immediately 
after the warming, the compound of paraffin, containing creasote 

^ Misfortunes of an Obelisk, loc. cit., 132. 

< RoWrt M. Caffall, Seientilic American, XXI (1886), Sapplement, p. 8391; 
and in paper on **The Preservation of Building Materials by the Application 
of Paraffin, as recently used upon the Obelisk,*' Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., V 
(1S85), 5t>-6G. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 137 

dissolved in turpentine, was applied at its melting-point (146° F.) 
by means of a brush, and the stone then warmed again until the 
excess of parafl&n was absorbed beneath the surface. The surface 
treated, on shaft and plinth, amounted to about 220 square yards, 
and absorbed 67 J pounds of paraflBn, to an estimated depth of half 
an inch or a little more. An equal surface of brownstone would 
have taken from 40 to 50 pounds, and of brick from 70 to 110 
pounds ; so that the great porosity of the weathered coating of the 
Obelisk is clearly shown. Little difference in the action of different 
parts of the surface toward the paraffin was noticed, except that the 
black masses of hornblende were particularly absorbent. 

A few months afterwards. Dr. T. Egleston presented views founded 
on an inspection of the Obelisk and of pieces derived from its decayed 
surface. In these he observed, under the microscope, deep irregular 
cavities, near the grains of hornblende, empty or partly occupied by 
that mineral, and crevices containing the green Protococcus referred 
to by Mr. Dudley. He concluded that disintegration had been long 
going on and was still in progress in the interior of the stone, not 
of chemical but purely physical cause, mainly the repeated expan- 
sion and contraction produced by the rapid and extreme changes of 
temperature in this climate. In regard to the waterproofing process 
applied to the Obelisk, he states:^ "The method of applying the 
present protecting coating seems to have been a fatal mistake. * 
Nothing of any account has been dissolved out of the stone ; there 
is therefore nothing to be replaced. If there had been, paraffin in 
solution would have been one of the best materials to fill them. 
Granite is not porous ; there were, therefore, no cavities to be filled. 
The stone being full of cracks from natural causes, the heat which 
was used to cause the paraffin to sink into the body of the stone^ 
when applied to the outside, would cause an expansion, which would 
not be responded to by the interior of the granite^ and the cracks 
already there would increase in size, and pieces would chip off as 
they did, and new cracks would be formed in the stone, already 
weakened by long exposure. . . . Even if the surface was entirely 
waterproofed, the cold of winter and the heat of summer would act 
below the surface both of the coating and of the stone, causing the 
coating to break or fissures through it to occur, so as to let in the 
moisture, and then both causes would operate together a§ before.'' 

* Egleston, loc. cit., 81, 
Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci., VIII, July, 1893.— 10 



] 3vS Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

The crumbling decayed stone from the surface of the Obelisk was 
very unsatisfactory material from which to determine the condition 
of the stone beneath, and misled the three observers to quite oppo- 
site conclusions concerning the decay: Dr. Barnard, to disbelieve 
in its extent and progress: Mr. Dudley, to connect it with strains 
produced by the cells of Protococcus: and Dr. Egleston, to attribute 
it mainly to temperature-variations in our own climate. However, 
the slight plant-growth was doubtless merely accessory. It will be 
shown beyond that granite is really porous, and its cavities occupied 
by a substance, moisture, which must be displaced for the proper 
introduction of any preservative : that this is too powerful a stone 
to be injured by gentle warming : and that oscillations of tempera- 
ture had nothing to do with the sudden disintegration of the surface 
of the Obelisk in 1882-1885. 

In regard to this mooted and important question — the effect of 
moderate elevations of temperature on granite, I have next to pre- 
sent, first, the results of a series of experiments on the application 
of artificial heat to various building-stones and to the granite of 
Syene: secondly, some comparative statistics, reduced and tabu- 
lated, from meteorological reports on thermometric oscillations in 
Egypt and New York. 

16. Experiments on granite with artificial heat, 

" In view of objections taken against the application of heat to 
granite, as used in the process of waterproofing the Obelisk in 1885, 
I have made sundry experiments to determine the degree of heat 
then used and the exact periods of time during which it was applied, 
repeating exactly the same process with the same apparatus and 
workmen. 

On testing with a thermometer the melted paraffin compound in 
the *'U. S. pot" used in the process, it was found, if the paraffin 
was allowed to become entirely fluid, that its temperature rose to 
70° to 75° C. But when, as always occurred during work, a cake 
of solid paraffin was kept floating in the liquid, the temperature 
varied from 59° to 67° C, closely approximating 63° C. (146°* F.). 

During the autumn of 1889, the ordinary waterproofing of stone 
buildings near New York City was carefully studied. On a cold 
day, at Qrange, N. J., I carefully watched the application of the 
process to surfaces of Nova Scotia sandstone, in a state of incipient 
decay, to ascertain the periods during which the stone surfaces 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 139 



were heated, the melted paraffin applied, and the stone reheated. 
A condensed statement of the observations is here presented. 





Surface treated. 


No. of 

observa^ 

tions. 


Periods (in seconds). 


« 


Experi- 
ment. 


Fhrst 
heating. 


Paraffin- 
ing. 


Second 
heating. 

18 
34 

17 . 


Total. 


1 
2 
3 


Stone chimney .... 

Decayed brick wall . . 

Stone jambs and muUious 

of a window .... 


3 
5 

3 


29 

78 

21 


21 

17 
17 


68 
55 


4 


The same 


5 








45 


5 


The same 


4 








65 


6 


Brick wall 


7 


28 


21 







The temperature of the air was 6° C. (43° F.), which happens to 
be about that which prevailed during the waterproofing treatment 
of the Obelisk in 1885. In the treatment of Nos. 1, 2, and 6, the 
charcoal-stove was applied, at a distance of 1 to 3 inches from the 
surface ; in that of Nos. 3, 4, and 6, the benzine blast-lamp, over a 
surface of about 40 square inches. During the heating, a few sandy 
particles fell from the decayed and softened surface. From the 
totals, it appears that the entire treatment of a stone-surface, as 
observed with several workmen, was completed, on the average, in 
58 seconds. 

These results served as a basis for arrangement of a series of 
experiments, carried on some weeks later, with the same process 
and apparatus, in the north court of the old building of Columbia 
College, at 50th Street, New York City. The treatment was 
applied in the usual way to various surfaces of old brickwork, 
covered with hard and dry cement-stucco. In each experiment a 
thermometer was so inserted, beneath the stucco, that its bulb lay 
at the depth of 3 mm. {^ inch) below the heated surface ; the object 
was to determine the rise in temperature of the superficial layer of 
cement. Temperature of the air, 15°. 5 C. 





Original 
tem- 


Ex- 
peri- 
ment. 


perature 

of 
cement. 


7 


12.° 


8 


13°.5 


9 




10 


17°.5 



Source of 
heat. 



Blast-lamp. 
Blast-lamp. 
Stove. 
Stove. 



First heating. 



Period ( in ! Resultin g 
seconds), temperature. 




24° to 34° C. 
34° 



Paraffining. 


Reheating. 


Period. 


Temp. 


Period. 


Temp. 


35 


25 




35 


39°.7 


25 


40° 


35 




35 




30 




20 


42°.5 






145 
115 
205 
100 



i«l» 



140 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

It was apparent that the temperatures recorded by the thermome- 
ter only indicated the inferior conduction of heat by the layer of 
cement. Other tests satisfied me that, with a layer of compact 
stone like granite, the final temperature in each experiment would 
have risen at least 20° higher than those above observed. 

In order to determine the surface-temperature attained during the 
heating, the treatment was then applied to a series of dressed cubes 
of various building-stones, one inch square, imbedded in square 
cavities, one inch deep, cut in the surface of the cement, so that 
the outer faces of the cubes in each group lay in the same plane 
with the surface of the cement. At the end of the second heating, 
the bulb of a thermometer was instantly applied to the surface of 
the cubes and covered with felt to prevent radiation. 



Ex- 




First 


Paraf- 


Second 


Total 


Final 




peri- 


Source of 


heating: 


fining: 


heating: 


period (in 


tempera^ 


Kind of stone. 


ment. 


heat. 


Period. 
85 


period. 
35 


period. 
15 


seconds). 


ture. 




11 


Stove. 


135 


42°.l C. 


Dark sandstonea. 


12 


Stove. 


95 


27 


30 


152 


64°.7 


Granites and 
marbles. 


13 


Stove. 


112 


38 





150 


51°.6 


Limestones. 


14 


Stove. 


94 


22 


24 


140 


62°.7 


Light- colored 
sandstones. 


15 


Blast-lamp. 


49 


16 


19 


84 


67°.3 


Granites. 


16 


Blast-lamp. 


73 


31 


13 


117 


70°.l 


Granites. 


17 


Blast-lamp. 


68 


34 


16 


118 


69°.8 


Granites. 



To the final temperatures found, I saw reason to attach no im- 
portance, as they were evidently much diminished by the rapid 
radiation, before adjustment of thermometer and felt. So both 
stove and blast-lamp were then each applied directly to the bulb of 
a thermometer, at a distance of one inch, shifting the source of heat 
about in the usual way. It was thus found, on repeated trials, that 
a temperature approaching 80° to 85° C. (185° F.) was momen- 
tarily attained. 

From these results we may gather the following as probable 
conclusions, in regard to the conditions of temperature during the 
waterproofing treatment of the Obelisk in 1885 : — 

(a). The period of heating by stove or blast-lamp and by the 
melted paraffin was probably a little longer than in the regular pro- 
cess, i. e,j 2 to 3 minutes (instead of 1). 

(6). The temperature of the melted paraffin, as applied, did not 
exceed 61° C. (153° F.), and in general was about 63° C. (146° F.). 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 141 

(c). The surface of the stone was rarely subjected to a higher 
temperature than 85° C. (185° F.), and probably never, when the 
stove was used. 

(d). Only a very thin outer layer of the granite of the Obelisk 
was heated beyond the melting-point of paraffin, 60-63° C. (146° 
F.), probably between 6 and 12 mm. {^ to ^ inch) in thickness. 

Some effort was also made, in these experiments, to ascertain 
whether the surface of the granite of the Obelisk could have suffered 
damage from the temperatures (60° to 85° C.) and treatment indi- 
cated. Among the samples of granite imbedded in the surface of 
the cement were pieces of the original fresh stone of the Obelisk, 
each with a polished face set in flush with the general surface. These 
faces had been previously studied under pocket-lens, and then under 
a microscope, with magnifying power of 30 diameters. On re- 
examination, after the conclusion of the treatment, no effect what- 
ever was detected on the surface subjected to the stove; on the 
other, treated by the blast-lamp, two or three very minute checks or 
crevices, perhaps a millimeter in depth, seemed to have developed. 

On the same question, some information may be derived from 
the experience of lithologists, in the mode of mounting thin rock- 
sections for microscopic examination. After having t)een ground 
down to transparent pellicles of extreme thinness and delicacy, these 
are commonly immersed, on a slide, in a drop of partially inspissated 
and hardened Canada balsam. 

In the first experiments on this subject, a drop of balsam on a 
glass slide was heated upon a mounting-table, usually from 3 to 5 
minutes, for the partial evaporation of the excess of turpentine, its 
natural solvent. At this point, in place of a rock-section, the bulb 
of a delicate thermometer was inserted into the drop, and a tem- 
perature of 107° C. (220° F.) was noted. 

Again, a quantity of the balsam, about 200 c. c, was slowly 
evaporated in a shallow tin-pan, over a low flame. The tempera- 
ture, 50° C. during the first half hour, then rose to 108-110° C, 
and so remained for 3 hours ; after 7 hours, when the medium had 
attained the proper viscidity, the temperature fell to 80°, and, while 
cooling and still viscid, to 60°. 

Since, therefore, the scrupulous needs of the lithologist, in the 
investigation of intricate structures of rocks and minerals, are not 
endangered by subjecting a thin rock-section to a temperature of 
*'ven 107° C. for a minute or more: there seems to be no reason to 



t0m 



142 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

presume that any injury could have been done to the surface of the 
Obelisk, in the waterproofing process, by warming at a temperature 
which rarely approached 86° C, during a period not exceeding 2 
or 3 minutes. 

IT. Effects of the sun^s heat on granite. 

In regard to the action upon granite of high natural tempera- 
tures, it should be noted that those of rock surfaces, exposed to the 
sun during the heats of summer, often rise to 150° F. (66° C.) and 
over, especially if the rock is dark- colored ; and that of the sands 
of African deserts sometimes reaches 200° F. 

An interesting application of this natural warming of surfaces of 
stone occurred during the hottest period of August, this last sum- 
mer (1892), at Sandy Hook, N.J. The casemates of the fortifica- 
tions are constructed of a dark concrete, in large part composed of 
fragments of '*bluestone'' (flagstone from the base of the Gatskill 
Mountains). On account of the porosity of the concrete and its 
permeability by rain-water, these constructions had been under- 
going for some months the same waterproofing treatment with 
paraffin as that applied to our Obelisk in 1886. On certain hot 
afternoons, It was found that the surfaces of those bomb-proofs 
which lay exposed to the sun had already become heated to such 
a degree that artificial heating could be dispensed with and the 
melted paraiffin directly applied. 

It is a question of some interest, in reference to the durability of 
building-stones used in New York City, to determine how often the 
direct heat of the sun reaches its maximum in this climate. By a 
collation of the observations of Mr. Daniel Draper,* the Director of 
tlie Meteorological Observatory in Central Park, the following table 
has been prepared, presenting for ten years the maxima in the sun 
of 140° F. or over and of 146° F. or over. The latter temperature 
(63° C.) is that of the melting-point of the particular paraffin re- 
ferred to above. 

1 Abstract of Registers, 1880 to 1889. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 143 





Nu««. 


B OF Days on which M 


iXUtlL. IN Sun KEtCHED OB EXCKEDB 








140= F. 




HB= P. 




Y^ 


Maj, 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


S.pt 


Oct. 


ToUl. 


May 


Juue. 


jBly. 


Aug. 


Sept 


Total 


leso 


a 


(< 


4 


•7 


ri 




25 


1 






a 


4 


8 








K 


in 


« 




33 






!> 


•^ 


!• 




1882 






a 


1 


1 




4 





















1 








2 


















•f. 




n 


n 


1 


11 








1 


'). 


3 


1885 






M 


n 


1 




17 






:i 


a 




5 








ti 


1 


'/ 










a 




1 


3 


1887 






•i 








2 















188B 














11 















1S39 






























Total 


„„., 


lerof 


d»JB 


fortf 


□ yo 


.„ 


103 












32 



The extreme maxima reached were 151° F., t 
1880. and 154° F., on September 7, 1881. The hours at which 
the temperature in the sun reached its maximum are recorded for 
each day in 1885, 1886, and 1887; from these we may conclude 
that the maximum continues on an average for about 1^ hours, or 
perhaps Bomewhat less. If we assumed that the light colored sur- 
face of the granite of the Obelisk reached on these days the same 
temperature as that indicated by the bulb of the maximum ther- 
mometer in the sun, which is not probable, we might infer that the 
surface of the monolith ie occasionally heated to the temperature of 
146° to 150° F. for short periods, which amount, on an average, to 
less than five hours during the whole year. 

There is then no foundation for the fear, expressed by some 
persons, that the paraOin, at that melting-point, may flow or has 
already flown down from the surface to the base of the monument, 
under the attack of our summer sun. It is more probable, so far 
as the heat of the sun may ever cause the surface of the paraffin 
to melt, that this will recement and solidify, during each summer, 
the superficial minute cracks produced in the paraffin through con- 
traction by the cold of the preceding winter. 

As to the intense heat of the Egyptian sun, there is abundant 
evidence. Burckhart observed the temperature of the air at Bsn6 
at 139° F., and Coutelle, that at Cairo at 121° P., and at Philse, 
129° F.' Coutelle records a constant temperature at Philw, from 

' Foisaao, idem, II, 272. 



144 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

12 to 3 P.M., at lOT^.S to 109°.5 F., on the north and in the shade; 

in the sun, in open air, up to 113° F. ; in the sand, 158° F.* Nouet 

found, opposite the ruins of Thebes, that a thermometer in the sand, 

at noon, rose to 153°. 5 F. ; in the shade, 100°, with light wind from 

N.W.^ Also at Philae, he observed thermometer in the sand at 

153°.5 F., and in the shade, 109°. During the removal of the 

western Luxor Obelisk to Paris, in July, 183B, the engineer in 

charge, M. A. Lebas, states that the sands burned his feet, the 

temperature of the air, on one day, remaining for four hours at 66° C. 

(151° F.): a sun which strongly recalled, as he feelingly remarks, 

"the energetic and fitting expression of Moses in regard to Egypt 

* this furnace of fire.' ''* 

Dr. Donald Dalrymple,* in 1 86 1 , called attention to the considerable 

diurnal variations of temperature in the climate of Egypt. His series 

of observations of the temperature of the air, on a Nile boat, during 

the winter of 1859-1860, showed the following average ranges: — 

December, 1859 . . . . 360 F. February 50O F. 

January, 1860 . . . . 440 F. March 30© F. 

He also states that "the minimum never registered within 6 
degrees of freezing-point out of doors." 

More definite on this point are the meteorological observations of 
Dr. J. D. Hutcheson,* at Thebes, during five months of the coolest 
season, from November, 1881, to March, 1882, inclusive. During 
each of these months, the daily maxima in the sun, when reduced 
from his tables, are found to vary as follows : — 



November, 1881 
December 
January, 1882 
February 
March . 



139°-171° F. (59°-73° C). 
136°-145° F. (58°-63° C). 
1250-139° F. (52°-59° C). 
119°-143o F. (48°-62° C). 
134°-155° F. (57°-68° C). 



These figures show that the maximum heat of the sun must be 
in Egypt far more intense, continuous, and severe upon stone than 
in the climate of New York. This surprising conclusion is exactlv 
contrary to the prevailing opinion, frequently expressed, concerning' 
the trying climate of New York, with its supposed extraordinary 
and sudden ranges in temperature. To these has been mainly 
attributed* the mysterious and sudden destruction which began to 
aflfect the surface of our Obelisk, soon after its re-erection in New 

^ Coutelle, loc. cit., 334. « Nouet, loc. cit., 341. 

* Lebas, idem, 60. * Dairy mple, op. cit., 7, 11, 25. 

* Stuart, Fun. Tent of Eg. Queen, 146. ^ Egleston, loc. cit. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 145 

York (January 22, 1881). As it fortunately happened that the 
period covered by Hutcheson's observations began in the autumn 
of that year, it would be interesting to compare the similar obser- 
vations made by Draper at the same time in this city. As conclu- 
sions from averages are also often deceptive, it appears desirable to 
present the daily observations at both localities. In the following 
table, I have therefore reduced the daily ranges in temperature 
during those five months, at each place, in Fahrenheit degrees^, 
between the maximum in the sun and the minimum in the shade. 



Daily Ranges in Temperature (F.) between Maximum in Sun 

and Minimum in Shade. 



New York. 


Thebks. 




1881. 




1882. 




1881. 




1882. 






Nov. 


Dec 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


1 


9 


26 


48 


63 


13 


103 


89 


89 


82 


94 


2 


13 


68 


65 


64 


68 


83 


85 


94 


84 


92 


3 


24 


41 


61 


73 


71 


93 


86 


88 


79 


90 


4 


65 


12 


65 





66 


83 


88 


87 


90 


92 


5 


68 


65 


63 


75 


65 


80 


90 


88 


92 


93 


6 


66 


42 


10 


68 


26 


76 


88 


83 


88 


98 


7 


14 


17 


8 


65 


71 


77 


87 


77 


89 


96 


8 


18 


64 


6 


68 


78 


74 


83 


82 


90 


94 


9 


26 


63 


52 








77 


92 


85 


89 


89 


10 


67 


74 


59 


58 


68 


79 


88 


83 


89 


89 


11 


72 


73 


54 


68 


66 


77 


88 


74 


89 


92 


12 


20 


45 


57 


68 


43 


77 


86 


80 


90 


89 


13 


73 


54 


3 


15 


71 


83 


89 


81 


86 


95 


14 


66 


29 


58 


63 


73 


81 


94 


79 


93 


90 


15 


68 


34 


54 


64 


63 


84 


91 


87 


96 


86 


16 


68 


74 


52 


10 


59 


87 


86 


88 


76 


73 


17 


73 


63 


39 


78 


72 


87 


87 


86 


86 


89 


18 


30 


66 


20 


68 


70 


86 


92 


87 


93 


92 


19 


17 


51 


70 


. 


75 


88 


94 


84 


94 


92 


20 


65 


27 


19 


75 


55 


85 


85 


84 


89 


85 


21 


49 


40 


8 








86 


86 


83 


88 


91 


22 


64 


10 


80 


64 


60 


85 


87 


80 


70 


93 


23 


20 


75 


72 


71 


70 


84 


89 


83 


63 


85 


24 


55 


58 


61 


67 


55 


84 


90 


89 


72 


84 


25 


69 


57 


44 


79 


69 


82 


92 


83 


86 


89 


26 


68 


41 


18 


62 


65 


82 


92 


87 


87 


87 


27 


68 


8 


62 


74 





81 


88 


86 


86 


83 


V8 


69 





4 


60 


69 


82 


85 


83 


91 


90 


29 


67 





66 




69 


85 


90 


87 




87 


30 


76 


54 


62 




63 


87 


88 


85 




82 


31 




51 


7 




66 




88 


87 






Averages 


51 


44 


44 


54 


57 


83 


88 


85 


86 


87 



146 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

The similar averages, at New York, for the remaining months of 
1882, were as follows: — 



April .... 49 

May 41 

Jane .... 61 



July .... 60 
August ... 59 
September ... 38 



October ... 30 
November . . » 50 
December ... 50 



These figures show that while the changes in the range of tem- 
perature at New York are frequent and sudden, and correspondingly 
trying from the physiological point of view, the actual daily ranges 
of temperature at Thebes are 60 per cent, greater than those at New 
York, constant, aftd proportionately severe in the amount of repeated 
expansions and contractions of the surface of stone caused by such 
daily oscillations. The ranges at Thebes do not lose in importance 
from the fact that they occur somewhat further up the scale than at 
New York, since the question of frost is a distinct subject for con- 
sideration. 

A natural conviction as to the severity of our climate, with its 
intense heats of summer, bitter cold periods during midwinter, and 
frequent and sudden alternations of rains, snow, and sunshine, 
thawing and freezing, during spring and autumn, has influenced 
the popular judgment on the true causes of stone-decay. 

The common, and, as I think I have shown, mistaken view, 
thereon upheld, may have been partly founded on inexact apprecia- 
tion of the intervals between conspicuous extremes of temperature 
at New York. Thus, in January, 1882, the observed temperatures 
varied at one time from 97° F. in the sun to — 6° F. in the shade, 
but with an interval of six davs between these extremes, and no 
greater range than 58° on any one of those days. At Thebes, in 
the same month, the variation of 94° occurred on a single day (the 
2d), viz., from 45° to 139° F. 

But the actual ranges of temperature to which the surface of a 
solid body must have been subjected at Thebes, between the extreme 
heat of the burning sun by day and the cold produced by radiation 
toward the cloudless sky of Egypt by night, may be probably better 
estimated with reference to the minima recorded at night by a 
thermometer on the grass. From Hutcheson's tables for these 
minima and for the maxima in the sun, I have deduced the follow- 
ing variations of the daily ranges of temperature during each of the 
same five months. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 147 



November, 1881 
December 
January, 1882 
February 
March 



90°-in° F. (50°-.62° C). 
94°-109° F. (52°-.61« C.). 
86°-106° F. (48°-59° C.). 
72°-110° F. (39°-61° C). 
760-117° F. (42°-65° C). 



It therefore appears that, even during the coolest season at 
Thebes, the surface of solid bodies must be subjected to daily 
variations of temperature approaching 12° to 117° F., i.e., about 
100° F. every day. Also, from the table of maxima already given, 
that a surface of stone is daily heated for a time, during eight or 
nine months of the year, to a temperature at or above that of melt- 
ing paraffin (146° F.). So far then as concerns mere oscillations in 
temperature, the climate of Egypt must be far more trying to the 
surface of stone than that of New York ; the Obelisk, since its 
transfer to New York, has been in much less need of protection 
from injury by mere variations of heat and cold; and its sudden 
decay immediately after its arrival here was certainly not due to 
this agency. 

This subject has been here considered and discussed in some 
detail, on account of the divergence of my conclusion from the 
common view, and of its practical bearing on the true cause of 
injury to building-stones, as well as to the Obelisk, to be feared 
from our climate, and on the proper method for their protection. 

We have also invaluable evidence, already presented, as to the slow 
action of even the burning sun of Egypt, as well as of its extreme 
diurnal changes of temperature, upon the surface of granite, in the 
condition of all the obelisks and of their sides which faced the mid- 
day and afternoon sun (paragraph 8, (4), b), during recorded periods 
of enormous length. 

18. Waterproofing treatment of other Egyptian obelisks. 

We may here pertinently refer to processes adopted abroad for 
the protection from the weather of other Egyptian obelisks of the 
same granite, and to the scanty testimony concerning their results. 

(1). The London Obelisk. — This monolith, once the fallen com- 
panion of our own at Alexandria, reached the Thames, January 20, 
1878, and was re-erected on September 12 of the same year. As 
to its condition on arrival. Prof. Bartlett, of London, has stated in 
a letter : " Soon after it arrived in the Thames, I was requested to 
examine its then condition, and to advise a professional friend at 



148 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

the Metropolitan Board of Works. My report was that the granite 
had become largely decomposed at the surface, and was more or less 
undermined by the action of the weather during many centuries; 
that one face was far more eroded by the attrition of the sand, and 
perhaps by the chemical action of the Nile water, than were the 
other three sides. In short, that the granite was precisely in that 
absorbent state that it would imbibe dampness from our atmos- 
phere, and become liable to exfoliate and throw off scale after scale, 
under the influence of frost, until but little of the inscriptions would 
be likely to remain, after one or two of our English winters." As to 
the preservative soon after applied, Mr. John Dixon, the engineer 
who conveyed the monolith to London, writes, in a recent letter 
(May, 1891) to the London Times: — 

'*My attention has been drawn to some statements in the House 
of Commons as to the alleged decay of the Egyptian obelisk on the 
Thames Embankment. 

** After making a careful personal examination of the monument, 
my critical eye fails to detect upon its surface a sign of any decay 
whatever. Were there such, there could be no doubt there would be 
grains of the stone lying on the altar steps and top of the pedestal. 
I climbed up and could not see one sign of any decay. I also could 
see glittering points on the surface, of the solution of silica supplied 
to me by the skilled chemists of the British Museum, at the sugges- 
tion of my old friends, Sir Richard Owen and Dr. Birch, and of 
which three coats or washes were given with the greatest care, 
before the trunnions and fastenings for the final lift were placed 
around it." 

However, it has also been stated,' probably in reference to a sub- 
sequent treatment, that the same monolith *' was treated, in 1879, 
by Mr. Henry Browning, with a solution of gum dammar dissolved 
in benzin, to which a small amount of beeswax was added, and a 
very small quantity of corrosive sublimate." 

(2). The Paris Obelisk. — After its removal from Luxor to Paris, 
in 1836, this monolith lay untouched for 22 months, while its pedes- 
tal was being quarried from a granite outcrop in the western part 
of France. After its erection, *'as a protection against a climate so 
much more rigorous than that of its native land, the surface of the 
obelisk was covered with a concentrated solution of caoutchouc."' 

I Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., V (1886), 67, and Gorringe, op. oit., 107. 
* Gorringe, idem, 92-93. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 149 

It has also been stated that several attempts were made to 
weatherproof this obelisk with the silica treatment. 

As to the present condition of this monolith, Prof. Egleston* 
states: "The obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris is 
reported cracked all over its surface. Both the European obelisks 
are therefore in danger of being seriously damaged within the next 
hundred years." 

1 9. Examination of Obelisk by Committees of Experts, 

On November 30, 1889, the Commissioners of the Public Parks 
of the city of New York requested the following persons to act as 
a Committee of Experts, to make an examination of the Obelisk 
and report to the Board, as soon as practicable, as to its condition, 
with reference particularly to its preservation, viz., Lt.-Col. G. L. 
Gillespie, of XJ. S. Engineers, Profs. J. S. Newberry, Albert H. 
Gallatin, and R. 0. Doremus, Mr. E. E. Farnam, former U. S. 
Consul General in Egypt, and the author. On May 20, 1890, the 
Committee reported^ that they had found the general surface of the 
Obelisk **in as perfect a state of preservation, apparently, as when 
it was treated with the parafl&n wax compound, over 4 years and 6 
months ago,'^ and "in no present need of any additional treatment." 
They recommended an additional local treatment, by the same pro- 
cess, of certain spots on the monument, which, before 1885, had 
become more deeply decayed and yet give a hollow sound to a light 
blow. Of these spots a full individual description was given in an 
Appendix to the Report, together with a chart of the four faces of 
the Obelisk, showing their exact location. It was further recom- 
mended that the process should be modified for this special purpose, 
by application of more gentle and longer continued warmth, with- 
out the use of the blast-lamp ; that no stone should be removed from 
the surface of the monolith : that a preliminary experiment should 
be carried on upon a large block of coarse granite, to determine the 
depth of penetration of the compound into the stone : and that the 
retreatment of these spots on the Obelisk should take place during 
the hottest part of the following summer, July or August, when 
the stone was in its driest state. The recommendation of re-treat- 
ment of these spots simply meant that, in view of the deep decay 
and exfoliation which had occurred up to 1885, the process had been 

1 Loo. oit., 84. * Report, p. 10. 



150 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

then carried on too rapidly to insure, in such spots, an infiltration 
of melted paraffin to a sufficient depth for perfect safety. 

On June 30, 1890, the Park Commissioners appointed a Second 
Committee, consisting of the late Prof. John S. Newberry, (Prof. 
Albert H. Gallatin, who was unable to serve) and the author, to 
carry out the proposed experiment and define the details of the 
modified process. On July 24, this Committee sent in their Re- 
port. This and the preceding Report (with the exception of its 
Appendix and chart) have been printed by the Park Department, 
but only in small number. It is therefore desirable to present here 
the principal facts, including the more scientific and technical details. 

"The object of the experiment was to determine the best condi- 
tions for the re- treatment of the decayed spots upon the Obelisk 
during the coming month of August. ... It was necessary in the 
first place to obtain a large block of granite of approximately the 
same mineral composition and texture as that of the Obelisk, and, if 
possible, of the same size." After much exploration of the granite 
yards of New York City to obtain the use of a block of sufficient 
size, and many inquiries concerning the granite quarries up the 
Hudson River, in Connecticut, near Say brook and along the Sound, 
and in the islands oflf the coast of Maine, " our attention was directed 
to the many large transported boulders of granite or coarse granitoid 
gneiss which are strewn over the surface of Westchester County. 
In masses of rock like these, exposed to the weather for ages, we 
might fairly expect to find the better material for which we were 
looking — that which had experienced an incipient internal decompo- 
sition and increased power of absorption, as in the granite of our 
ancient Obelisk. Near Tuckahoe and New Rochelle several such 
boulders were found, though of insufficient size, on the lands of 
Mr. F. Wiede and of Mr. C. Morgan, to whom also our thanks are 
due for offered assistance. 

At last, near the summit of a hill on Midland Avenue, about two 
and one-half miles southwest of Bronxville, an enormous boulder, 
nearly twenty feet in height, of granitoid gneiss, was found on the 
DeWitt property, which seemed well enough suited for our object. 
Its mineral components were found to be very nearly the same as 
those of the Obelisk, viz. : white feldspar (triclinic), potash feldspar, 
quartz, hornblende, biotite-mica, and a little garnet, magnetite, etc. 
The volume of the entire boulder was measured and ascertained to 
be nearly three times that of the Obelisk; but it was divided in two 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 151 

ft 

parts by a deep cleft. Our application to Mr. William D. DeWitt for 
its use met with his ready consent, and whatever help we needed." 

In the ensuing experiment, the Committee had two points in 
view : — 

First, **to determine the rate of penetration of a definite amount 
of heat into a huge mass of granite, when applied continuously to a 
small spot on one surface." The practical object was to ascertain 
the time needed to bring the temperature of a layer of the granite, 
one to two inches in thickness, up to or a little above the melting- 
point of parafl&n, without injury to the stone. 

Secondly, to determine the most efifective way, and proper appa- 
ratus, for the application of melted paraffin, to cause the deepest 
penetration and thorough saturation of the warmed stone and of 
any cavities or crevices lying beneath its surface. 

(1). The application of heat. — The N.E. corner of the huge 
boulder was selected for the main experiment, where two vertical 
faces, approximately eveh and smooth, met nearly at a right angle. 
The N. face presented, in cross-section, the edges of the vertical 
laminae of the gneiss. The E. face was reserved for the application 
of the heat, and on the N. face, at a point about 6 feet above the 
ground, a series of 13 horizontal holes, about 2 cm. in diameter, were 
drilled at right angles to the face, each to the depth of about 10 inches, 
for the insertion of a set of thermometers in a sloping line. The 
direction of these holes was controlled by means of an instrument 
constructed on the principle of parallel rules ; by this also the exact 
distance was ascertained between the bottom of the hole, where the 
bulb of the thermometer would lie, and a marked spot on the east 
face of the boulder, 10 inches south of the corner The holes were 
arranged in a line sloping upward at an angle of about 45°, with the 
purpose that every thermometer-bulb should lie horizontally behind 
the warmed spot on the east face of the boulder, and yet without the 
interposition of any other of the bored holes and interference with 
heat-waves which might thence result. Into these holes the set 
of long delicate thermometers, with open Centigrade scale, were 
inserted and firmly packed with soft asbestos-wool or cotton, so 
that their bulbs were arranged at the following successive distances 
from the east face, 1.7, 2.4, 2.8, 3.1, 4, 4 8, 5.6, 6.5, 8.3, 24.6, and 
50.1 centimeters : and so that the degrees above 20° C. were visible 
at a glance, upon the projecting parts of the scales, from an observer 
on a small platform near the corner on the north side. 

In front of the east face a shears was erected, supporting the 



152 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

• 
source of heat, a flat charcoal stove or upright pan, 20 by 14 inches 

in dimensions, with its face covered by coarse wire-grating, kept 
filled with charcoal at red heat. This stove was suspended usually 
at a distance of about 25 inches from the marked spot on the east 
face. In order to direct and control a uniform heat upon this spot, 
the stove was partly surrounded by a sheet-iron screen, extending 
from the stove to the surface of the rock. 

The degree of surface temperature was determined by another 
thermometer, whose bulb lay against the same marked spot. It 
was controlled by moving the stove occasionally back and forth, 
when the ignited charcoal varied a little in radiated heat, as on the 
addition of fresh fuel, so that the temperature should remain at 
about 88° C. (190° F.); it was found to be under easy control, 
within a few degrees, with the apparatus described. The experi- 
ment began at 11 A. M., on Tuesday, July 20, 1890, in charge of 
both members of the Committee, and continued for 7^ hours until 
sunset, the thermometers being constantly observed and noted. 
The day happened to be very suitable for the experiment, clear 
and warm, the temperature during the afternoon varying from 25° 
to 21° C. ; the air was nearly calm, with only now and then a very 
light breeze, which was continuous after 5 P. M. At any time 
during the experiment, the observer could without discomfort lay 
his hand on the warmed surface of the rock, alongside of the ther- 
mometer. With constant and careful inspection of the surface, 
during the heating and at its close, "no evidence whatever was 
seen of cracking, scaling, or any other injury to the warmed stone" 
on the east face, or on its section on the north face. 

(2). The application of melted pai'affin. — To the spot on the 
east surface of the boulder, warmed for 4^ hours as just described, 
melted "paraffin, colored red by alkanet root, was applied with a 
brush for a few minutes, before the sun went down and brought 
this experiment to an end. The reddened paraffin was found to 
have penetrated at least 1.7 centimeters (§ of an inch), even with 
so short an application." 

"During that experiment, however, another stove was applied 
in the same way to a neighboring boulder of the same stone, of 
smaller size, during two hours. To this spot a shallow metal tank 
was taken quickly and tightly fitted, with its side open against the 
warmed rock, and filled with the same colored paraffin, kept liquid 
for one hour longer. The tank was then removed, and, on the next 
day, the face of the rock was cut oflf and the depth of penetration 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 153 

of the paraffia observed on the cross-section. At that part of the 
face of the rock which had been subjected to the melted paraffin for 
one hour, it was found that a layer of twenty-five to thirty-two 
millimeters (one to one and one-quarter inch) had been saturated."' 

To facilitate observation of the depth of penetration, the melted 
paraffin had been previously dyed to a deep red color by alkanet 
root. But the curious fact was observed that, although the color 
was apparently held in true solution, it was strained out of the 
paraffin by the outer layer of decayed rock, about 3 millimeters in 
thickness, and only uncolored paraffin penetrated below. As the 
latter was easily distinguished, this result was of no practical im- 
portance. I presume that it may have been due to a precipitation of 
the color, as a '* lake," by the kaolin or free alumina in the weathered 
crust of the rock. 

The Report concluded with the following five recommendations 
by the Committee: — 

"1. That the comparatively slow penetration of paraffin into the 
solid granite, after so long an application of heat, confirms the view 
of the shallowness of the present layer so saturated upon the sur- 
face of the Obelisk, as accomplished nearly five years ago by the 
usual quick process. Therefore the experiments of the present 
Committee lead us to renew the recommendation of local re-treat- 
ment, in order to insure the safety of the cracked and more badly 
decayed spots. The absence of the least indications of injury to the 
stone, after four hours' continuous warming, seems to us to show 
that the process can be used without danger. . . . 

"2. That the heat should be applied to each spot in the way and 
with the apparatus already described, at a distance not less than 
twenty-four inches, in such a way as to keep a thermometer, with 
its bulb applied to the warmed surface, at a temperature not exceed- 
ing one hundred and ninety degrees Fahrenheit, and for a period of 
about two hours. 

"3. That those decayed spots whose small size (three or four 
inches), indistinct sound on tapping, and freedom from visible 
cracks, indicate the probable shallowness of the decayed or loos- 
ened flake, shall be then, while still continuously warmed by the 
stove, repeatedly painted over with melted paraffin, by means of a 
brush or sponge, for about one-half hour to one hour, until the 
rejection of the paraffin shows their perfect saturation. 

1 Report, 14. 
Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci., VIII, July, 1893,--11 



154 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

" 4. That those decayed spots whose large area (sometimes reach- 
ing a diameter of twenty inches), deeper hollow Bound, and display 
of cracks, indicate the depth of their decay ajad the possibfe exist- 
ence beneath of a cleft or cavity of some size, ^hall be submitted, 
immediately after two hours' warming, to the action of a tank of 
melted paraffin for about an hour, or until there is. evidence of the 
arrest of absorption of paraflBn. 

''For this purpose we also recommend the use of tanks of greater 
height, in order to increase the hydrostatic pressure of the melted 
paraffin and its consequent penetration Jnto the interstices of the 
rock. 

'*5. We particularly recommend the eareful treatment, in the 
latter method, of the large loosened flakes upon the west face of the 
pyramidion and vicinity, and of the southwest corner of the Obelisk 
for thirty feet below, and that the cracks be left neatly .filled up or 
'pointed' with solid paraffin." 



20. Experiment on rate of penetration of heat into granite. 

For the practical end in view in the experiment described, the 
rough estimate stated was entirely aufficieat. . But .the figures 
obtained were available for a closer determinatkm aftbe rat© of 
penetration of the heat-wave, and this haa. been since.. calculated 
and is now presented below. 

Before the experiment, the entire set of thermometeiHS, :Nos. \ to 
13, were carefully compared, in the park of the scale used (above 
20° C), in warmed solutions at successively increasing tempera- 
tures, with a pair of standard thermometers,. made by Tojinelot, of 
Paris, marked Nos. 60 and 52, kindly loaned to me for the purpose 
by Dr. Charles F. Chandler. In theae, the constants had. .been 
already determined at the Yale College Observajtoryw The com- 
parative trials were carried on in the Laboratory of Microbiology 
of Columbia College, but need not be described in detail. The 
results of the comparison yielded the following correations,. :which 
have been applied to all the observations recorded, beyond. . 



No. of ther- ") 
mometer. j" 


1 
0. 


2 
0. 


3 

0. 


4 
0. 


6 


6 
0. 


7 


8 


9 
—.8 


10 


11 


12 


13 


Correction . . 


+.7 


+.2 


—.2 


+.1 


+.1 


—.6 


—.2 



In the following table, the corrected figures are given from the 
observation note-book : 







Siurfy 0/ (ft« ^cw Tor* O&ciiaA ae a Decayed Boulder. 153 


1 
1 P 

1 r 

• s * 


IfelWf 
iillti 

l«SslJ| 

iii 


it 

il 

i 


II 
1 1 

i ll 


i! 1 

2 = 1 

I.I 1 1 l| 

111 1 1 II 

z a o 3 K 


s 


i 


a 


; 


s s 


sa 


S 3 ^ i a S 


s 


.§ 


^ 


s 


^ ^ 


s s 


^ i i 1^ 1 1 


d 


s 


3- 


3 5 


s; 


a s 3 


if i s s X s 


2 


3 


ar 


S 3 i 


^ 1 


s = 3 


ssaa 9 i 


. 


S 


ST 


S S 3 


^ i 


S ^ 9 


a i s- S i i 


- 


s 


i7 


s 




s 3 i 


S 8 S § S 3 S 


- 


5 


"■ 


s 1 


S K 


5 a s J 


^ 5 ,1 i E S 


. 


■J 


s- 


s S si 


3 3 


a a 1 


i S ?: ^ S fj 


- 


^ 


* 


=! S i 


1 3 


5 s a 


e ^ 5 3 . 1 


- 


a 


ff 


i 3 i 


^ § 


i 3 E 


S ^ S E K £ 


- 


3 


- 


i S' s 


1 ; 1 


! S « 


^ i 9 s s i 


- 


= 


- 


s i 4 


iiii 


i S g 


1 ^ 9 i y i 


- 


" 


si 


i S s s § 


i i 


s s 3 


E ^ i i £ !S g 


"11 




S 2 s 




s -. -. -. 


...=.., 


Jf 




t- 


sags 


S S 3 S 


s S S S i S a 




ill 




S S 8 S S 


? 5^ s s 


S S 9 


^ , ? U ? 3 " 



156 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 



From these figures I have plotted the curve (Fig. 2), showing 
rate of penetration of heat into this stone. 



■ ^ci^kmtina lUr 



m 
dntmilim. 



Fig. 2. 

2A«f* 



JtJma^ 



riiM« 






inSti. 






^ 






irv 



'^j*^ 



Mi 



O 



c 



From a consideration of the figures in the table, and this plotted 
curve, the following conclusions may be drawn : — 

(1). That the progress of the heat-wave into the stone is curiously 
intermittent, with alternations of slow advances and rapid plunges, 
lessening however in contrast, in proportion to the increasing depth. 

As the stone, though gneissoid in structure, is comparatively 
homogeneous, and the direction of penetration is normal to the 
lamination-planes, we may reasonably attribute this character of 
the curve mainly to the moisture locked up, in varying proportions, 
in the interstices of the successive layers. The. increment of heat 
seems to be repeatedly absorbed, during a period of one-half to one 
hour, during the vaporization of moisture in a layer of about one 
centimeter in depth, and its advance thereby delayed. Then the 
balance of forces is suddenly broken, possibly by a lateral escape of 
vapor through some crevice, and a rapid advance of the heat-wave 
ensues during a few minutes, at first to a depth of two or more 
centimeters. Then comes the resistance of gathering vapor as 
before. 

(2). The determination of the rate of increment of heat, in this 
experiment, has been aflfected by several sources of disturbance and 
variation. The acquirement of exact and uniform figures would 
involve the prevalence of the following theoretical conditions : the 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 157 

emission of heat of definite amount, at a constant rate, from a point, 
through a homogeneous medium ; even thus, the rates of increment, 
at successive points along a radius of the spherical heat-wave pro- 
jected through the medium, would evidently decrease, at a rapidly 
augmenting geometrical ratio with the distances from the center. 
In our experiment, however, the following sources of variation and 
disturbance must have accompanied these theoretical conditions : — 

(a). Irregular distribution of temperature through the rock, 
before the experiment. 

(b). Irregular source of heat: an indefinitely large number of 
points, yielding heat in varying amount and intensity. The fuel 
had to be re-adjusted in the stove, twice during the afternoon, with 
distinct influence in cooling the surface of the stone ; and farther 
variation must have been produced by the slight breeze which 
sprang up in the latter part of the afternoon. 

(c). Heterogeneous medium : an aggregate of several minerals 
of difl'erent conductivity of heat, chiefly quartz, feldspars, biotite, 
and hornblende : the occurrence of these minerals in crystals of 
varying size, lying in all positions, with Interstices of irregular size 
intervening: separation of the aggregate into laminae of varying 
thickness (mostly 2 to 3 centimeters) and texture, with the biotite- 
plates mostly arranged in parallelism with the lamination-planes 
and in part along those planes. 

(d). Presence of moisture in the interstices, probably in varying 
quantity in difi^erent layers of the rock, and producing irregular 
conversion of sensible into latent heat, during the production and 
the escape of vapor. 

(e). Radiation of heat and vapor, both from the heated surface, 
on the east face of the boulder, and laterally from the north face. 

In considering the figures in the table, the influence of these, and 
probably other conditions of variation, is strongly marked. Taking 
as a standard the average number of seconds in time required for an 
increment of one degree of temperature (Centigrade) to a depth of 
one centimeter, we find great oscillation along any line, either of depth, 
as marked by a particular thermometer, or of period of time, par- 
ticularly of the latter. At any depth, within about 8 or 9 centi- 
meters from the surface, the average increment of 1° per cm. varies 
from 25 to over 50 seconds, say about 36 seconds ; while at any 
periods, passing across the columns of depth, the average increment 
varies up to more than 100 seconds. At the extreme depths of 25 



158 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

and 50 centimeters, which also were most affected by lateral radia- 
tion and loss of heat through the north face of the boulder, the 
average increment lessened to a rate of over 2 minutes for 1^ of 
temperature per centimeter of depth. 

It would have been interesting to repeat the experiment from 
the north side of the boulder, on a series of thermometers, with 
bulbs lying at successive depths along the direction of lamination 
or strike of the boulder. Our experiment has at least thrown 
light on some conditions and precautions, which would require 
attention, in properly carrying on a series of such experiments on 
the conduction of heat through various species of rock, in directions 
varying in reference to planes of structure. 

The curve presents at a glance the practical result of our experi- 
ment, that the temperature of the melting-point of the paraffin-com- 
pound (63° C.) reached a depth of 5 to 6 centimeters in about 2 
hours. 

21. Absorption-coefficients of Syene granite. 

With a view to determine the exact changes in physical condition 
in the interior of Syene granite, under the influence of long weather- 
ing, both by the conditions of the climate of Egypt and of that of 
New York, I have made the following experiments, with particular 
reference to absorptive power. The essential features of my method 
are founded on a distinction between two modes of absorption of 
liquid by a porous solid : 

(a). Lateral absorption^ i. e., from one surface ; such as occurs 
in construction, when ashlar is moistened by rain upon its face. 
The soaking up of water is here but partial, effected almost entirely 
by interstices between the constituent grains, which may be distin- 
guished as the 7'ock-pores: 

(b). Total saturation^ where water is forced into all the interstices 
of the rock, including the more minute interstices within the con- 
stituent mineral-grains, which may be distinguished as the mineral- 
clefts. This therefore includes the amount of liquid in the rock- 
pores, and the difference enables us to estimate the volume of the 
second class of voids. 

All kinds of mechanical strain to which a rock may be subjected 
(such as tension, jar, frost, etc.) are likely to develop mainly an 
increased volume in the rock-pores ; while the irregular contractions 
and expansions, incident to the combinations, losses, and solutions 



Study of the Neiv York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 159 

which attend chemical dec&jj tend to develop mainly the micro- 
scopic clefts in the interior of mineral-grains. 

The rock-pores connect in chains of easily communicating voids, 
forming an intricate network which freely imbibes water, by capil- 
lary attraction, from any moistened surface, until completely filled. 
The communication between the mineral-clefts is interrupted and 
difficult, and their occupation by liquid is slow, on account partly 
of their minuteness and partly of their content of air, probably as 
a condensed film. The distinction of the two classes of voids, of 
their origin, and of conclusions from their proportion, seems to me 
important. 

The apparatus and process employed for the purpose need to be 
first described. After some modifications, they were applied by 
me some years ago to a long series of trials on building-stones of 
this country, and were found to yield uniform and satisfactory re- 
sults. 

The main apparatus consists of a low bell-jar, 12 inches in diame- 
ter and 6 inches in height, with glass knob for convenient handling; 
this stands in about half an inch of distilled water in a large shallow 
tray. Within the bell-jar and half immersed in the water, is a 
round, soft clay tile, with even and smooth upper surface, 9 inches 
in diameter and about 1 inch in thickness. Before use, this tile 
must be repeatedly boiled in distilled water to remove all soluble 
matter from its interstices. 

On the top of the tile several pads of sheet-rubber, 3 to 4 inches 
across, are laid. In the centre of each pad a square opening, 1 
inch on a side, is occupied by a pad of thick soft blotting-paper, 
which, of course, remains constantly saturated with water drawn 
up from the tile. Each of the rubber pads is also kept covered with 
a small low glass cover or inverted dish, to prevent the fall of con- 
densed water from the vault of the bell-jar. The water lost by 
evaporation outside the bell-jar is constantly replaced, so as to keep 
a constant level. Without a suitable precaution, the raising of the 
bell-jar from the water would be accompanied by a sudden inrush 
of water and flooding of the tile. This is prevented, either by a 
short bent piece of glass tubing, which passes from outside down and 
around the edge of the bell-glass and so up into its interior, so as 
to provide constant communication between the air outside and in; 
or more conveniently by a half-inch hole bored through the vault of 



160 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

the bell-glass, closed by a cork, which is removed every time, before 
the bell-glass is raised. 

The stoDe to be examined is either cut into a dressed cube of an 
inch on a side, or broken into a fragment of about that form and 
size ; with either, the result seems to be the same. A sawn cube is 
always previously digested in ether or chloroform to remove any 
oil or grease possibly adhering or absorbed during the sawing or 
handling. All cubes are first dried in a desiccator, over sulphuric 
acid. Before every weighing, the cube is wrapped tightly in a 
doubled sheet of tin-foil of known weight. 

The process consists of the following steps : The cube, on removal 
from the desiccator, is weighed in its tin wrapper, pressed down 
into firm contact upon the yielding wet pad of blotting-paper, 
covered, and there left under the bell-jar until filled by lateral 
absorption. This usually requires 2 or 3 hours, and is often indi- 
cated by little drops of water exuding upon the upper surface. 
The cube is then quickly pressed surface-dry in a piece of filter- 
paper, instantly wrapped in the tin-foil and weighed. This is 
repeated to insure constant weight. The cube is then immersed 
in non-aerated distilled water and put in the vacuum of an air-pump 
until eflfervescence ceases, again wiped surface-dry, and weighed in 
its tin wrapper ; this is repeated to constant weight. Finally the 
cube is weighed in distilled water at determined temperature. 

Four specimens were examined in this way, viz. : — 

A. Granite from the ancient quarry at Syene, selected from a 
large number of specimens, on account of its fresh appearance. 

B. Granite from the Syene quarry, apparently showing slight 
decomposition, by dulled color and lustre, and by some fine cracks. 

C. Fresh granite of the Obelisk, obtained in January, 1881, soon 
after the erection of the Obelisk, and probably derived from chip- 
pings off the heel of the shaft, done under direction of Commander 
Gorringe. 

D. Flake of disintegrated granite, removed from surface of the 
Obelisk in 1885, supplied by the Park Commissioners. 

The trial of these paired specimens yielded the following results: 
The actual weights obtained, in grams, are given in the table 
beyond. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 161 



Specimens tested. 



A 
B 
C 
D 



Fresh granite, Syene quarry 
Decayed granite, Syene qnarry 
Fresh granite, Obelisk in 1881 
Decayed granite, Obelisk in 1885 



Dried 
cube. 


Cube 

moistened 

by lateral 

absorption. 


Cube 
saturated 
by immer- 
sion. 


28.539 
68.183 
82.415 
32.735 


28.586 
68.365 
82.483 
32.792 


28.595 
68.436 
82.640 
32.886 



Cube in 
distilled 

wat«r 
at 26«> C. 



17.770 
42.755 
51.193 
20.513 



From these weights the following coeflBcients have been calcu- 
lated ; a and &, in percentage of weight of the rock : c, df and 6, in 
percentage of its volume : and / and g, in percentage of its Total 
Voids. 

Determinations of Absorption of Syene Oranite, 

fresh and decayed. 



00 

B 

I 


a. 


6. 


c. 


d. 


e. 


/. 


^• 


A. 


• 

t. 


CoeflSclent 

of lateral 

absorption. 


Satura- 
tion 
coefScient. 


Rock 

voids 

(pores). 


Mineral 

voids 

(clefts). 


Total 
voids. 


Bock 
pores. 


Mineral 
clefts. 


Specific 

r 

Mineral 
matter. 


gravity. 

A 

Entire 
rock and 
inter- 
stices. 


A 
B 
C 
D 


.165 
.267 
.083 
.174 


.196 
.371 
.273 
.461 


.434 

.709 
.216 
.461 


.083 
.276 
.500 
.759 


.517 

.985 

.716 

1.220 


84 
72 
30 
37 


16 
28 
70 
63 


2.650 
2.681 
2.640 
2.678 


2.636 
2.655 
2.621 
2.646 



I have long hoped to confirm and develop these results, by similar 
experiments on a more extended series of specimens of granite from 
Syene, for which I have been waiting. These were to include, 
especially, specimens of fresh rock, to be reached by blasting from 
some depth below the present surface in the quarries. On these, 
chemical analyses were also to be made. But the recent death, in 
the midst of his own useful investigations, of the friend, Mr. F. 
Cope Whitehouse, on whose offered assistance I relied to procure 
this material from Egypt, has decided me to publish at once the 
results so far obtained. 

22. The causes and progress of the decay of the Obelisk, 

From the foregoing figures the following conclusions, I think, 
may be safely drawn, even from this limited series; though we 



162 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

must allow for differences in constitntion of the rock, in considering 
such small quantities, and for unknown variations in the length of 
exposure of these specimens to the weather. 

(1). This granite, from whatever source derived, is by no means 
a compact niass, but is traversed by interstices in notable propor- 
tion, amounting to (see column e on total voids) from one-half to 
over one per cent, of its voltrme, according to its fresh character or 
condition of incipient decay. 

In other words, even the dense Syene granite is finely spongy 
throughout, in its freshest state. 

(2). In regard to the rock aggregate, the fresh granite (c) from 
the Obelisk, probably broken from the ever sheltered heel of its 
shaft, apparently represents either accidentally the most compact 
variety, or else the freshest condition of the Syene granite in my 
series, retaining the lowest coefficient of lateral absorption (.083), 
i. 6., the smallest proportion of rock-pores, about \ of one per cent, 
of the volume (.216). But in regard to the constituent minerals, 
the fresh granite, as just arrived from Alexandria, contained nearly 
60 per cent, more voids (716 to 517) than that at Syene, chiefly in 
its more abundant mineral interstices. This may indicate the effici- 
ency of hydration in the damper climate of the Egyptian sea-coast. 

(3). The progress of decay of the surface chips of the granite, in 
the quarry at Syene, was attended with increase in the minute inter- 
stices of its component minerals rather than in the pores of the rock ; 
the original relationship (columns g and/) 16 to 84 became 28 to 72. 

This seems to show that, in the arid climate of Syene, the cbief 
element of decay in the granite was chemical, consisting in the ab- 
sorption of oxygen and water by its minerals. The limited absorp- 
tion of the latter, however, is shown by the determination of the 
loss by incineration at 0.66 per cent., and in the microclin at 0.35 
per cent* 

(4). The progress of decay in the granite of the Obelisk, on the 
other hand, from 1881 to 1885, has yielded an increased proportion 
of rock-pores ; the relationship of 70 to 30 having changed to 63 to 
37. The mineral voids have increased 50 per cent. (.500 to .759), 
and the rock- voids have more than doubled (.216 to .461). 

This indicates the action of a chemical force on the minerals, 
increasing their clefts, and a still more efficient mechanical action ; 

* Del esse, loc. cit., 489. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 163 

the latter, between the arrival of the Obelisk at New York and the 
autumn of 1885, had produced a widening of the pores in the sur- 
face of the rock and incipient disintegration. This seems to me to 
prove that the active absorption of water, in our rainy seasons, by 
the minerals on the surface of the Obelisk, was the first and a con- 
tinuous cause of decay. But there was, as plainly, a rending force, 
apparently greater than that which can be attributed to expansion 
by hydration. 

(5). One result of decay, both in the granite of the quarry at 
Syene and in that of the Obelisk during its 4f years exposure in 
New York, consists in an increase of specific gravity, both in the 
mineral matter and in the entire rock with all its interstices. This 
is a further indication that the actual expansion by hydration, in 
the decayed surface, just referred to above, must have been very 
small, and that the rending force must be sought in some other 
direction. 

The specific gravity Of the granite of our Obelisk was determined 
by Persifor Frazer in mass, including its cavities, at 2.6618; when 
determined in grains of the size of a pea, at 2.7188; giving the 
weight of one cubic foot of the rock at 166.1625 pounds avoirdupois. 
According to G.^V. Wigner, the specific gravity of the stone of the 
London Obelisk was 2.682; absorbent power of the fresh stone, at 
the rate of 5.4406 grams of water per square meter, and of the 
weathered surface at a rate six times as great. 

There are only two other forces, to whose sudden application or 
increased action the rapid exfoliation of the surface of the Obelisk 
from 1881 to 1885 has ever been attributed. 

One of these is our climatic variation in temperature, with fre- 
quent sudden changes within a single day, enhanced by the strong 
heat of the sun. But I have already shown, from the even wider 
ranges of temperature in the climate of Egypt, at a higher portion 
of the scale, and from the observed results upon the sun-exposed 
faces of all obelisks, that this supposed cause had little or nothing 
to do with the surprisingly sudden disintegration which attacked 
the Obelisk immediately after its arrival. 

It seems therefore established that we must attribute those visible 
eflfects of decay entirely to the violent force which was then exerted 
upon the monolith, almost for the first time in all its history — that 
of frost. The power exerted by the expansion of water in freez- 



■1 



164 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder, 

ingf withia the pores of a stone, is so well known, that it needs no 
discussion here. 

It is therefore evident that, for the protection of the Obelisk from 
this fierce attack, it was only necessary to insure the complete ex- 
clusion of moisture. 

Any process, however, in which waterproofing material is applied 
in solution, even to a theoretically dry stone, must be imperfect 
per se. On the evaporation of the solvent, which constitutes the 
chief volume of the solution, the outer pores of the stone, empty to 
a slight depth, are in large part simply lined instead of filled with 
the protective residue. Nor can this deficiency be supplied by fur- 
ther applications of the solution, in successive coats: for already 
many of the pores have been sealed to further permeation, and the 
result must be a merely superficial cellular coat. On the other 
hand, practically, in any large solid mass of stone or masonry ex- 
posed to the weather iji our climate, the pores are already occupied, 
and permanently, almost to the surface, by water, even in the 
hottest and driest weather. This forbids the satisfactory penetra- 
tion of a waterproofing solution to any material depth. 

The process theoretically called for by the decaying Obelisk, in 
1885, was one by which the pores of the granit% should be first 
emptied of moisture to the depth of at least two inches, by some 
gently applied but long continued absorbent, such as dry air or 
gentle heat: and by which, secondly, the empty pores should be 
completely saturated to that depth with a liquid preservative, of 
melting-point above the mean temperature of the stone, strongly 
adherent, permanent under weathering, and solidifying with slightest 
possible contraction. These conditions were, I think, fortunately 
approached by the process then applied, and will be still more closely 
approximated by the modified process, recommended by the two 
Committees, for the special retreatment of the decayed spots upon 
the Obelisk. 

As an additional means of protection to the injured surface, I 
have elsewhere^ suggested the propriety of restoring the ancient 
gilded cap to the apex of the pyramidion, regilding the remainder 
of the surface of the pyramidion below the cap, and regilding the 
hieroglyphic intaglios on the four vertical faces of the Obelisk. 
Aside from the appropriateness of this restoration from the archseo- 

1 The Misfortunes of an Obelisk, 128. 



Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 165 

logical point of view, already fully discussed in the paper referred 
to, such an impervious metal film would serve as an efficient cover- 
ing, to shed rain-water, sleet, and melting snow from the sloping 
sides of the pyramidion and from the hollows of the deep intaglios 
which cover the shaft below. To these hieroglyphs the Obelisk 
owes its chief interest as a historical monument, and, unfortunately, 
their cavities and projections, although still preserved, have suffered 
the chief injury by the surface-decay. The regilding could be car- 
ried out at small expense, and would be a most useful ally to the 
waterproofing treatment. Nothing too much can be done by our 
City authorities to secure both the preservation and proper decora- 
tion of this unique Symbol of the Sun on American soil, and to 
offset the deplorable neglect of our City, up to 1885, in its care of 
this magnificent gift from a generous citizen, the late Mr. William 
H. Vanderbilt. 

Finally, then, when we return to our rust^jr pebble and the 
Egyptian boulder, what conclusions may we fairly draw as to the 
conditions attending their decay ? 

A. The main agency, by far predominant over all others, in the 
decay of these granite masses, has been aerated rain-water ; this has 
been aided in Egypt by extreme and constant oscillations of tem- 
perature. Their means of action have been two-fold. 

(1 ). Chemical f by absorption of water, together with oxygen, in 
combination with part of the bases of the unlocked silicates, and 
gradual removal of the rest in solution, producing irregular changes 
of volume and proportionate increase of the mineral-clefts. 

(2). Mechanical, through expansion by the sun's heat and con- 
traction by night-radiation, aided by artificial roasting in some 
cases, tension and jar during transportation, further washing out 
of soluble matters, and, in our climate, freezing: all producing 
increase of the rock-pores. 

B. The rate of action of each process is approximately indicated 
by some of the facts stated : — 

(1). Chemical action with a limited rainfall, efficiently aided by 
oscillations of temperature, has tended, in the hot and comparatively 
arid climate of Syene, to cause the disintegration and removal of a 
layer, at least one centimeter in thickness, from the surface of the 
granite-cliffs at Syene, during a period of five to six thousand years. 
Forty-five centuries have been generally insufficient to produce any 
visible external injury and exfoliation. 



166 Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 

(2). Mechanical action, predominantly that of frost, has worked 
in the climate of New York at a vastly more rapid rate. On the 
surface of the Obelisk, already scarred and weakened by fire, it 
completely loosened a shell of about 0.78 mm. in thickness in 4| 
years, equivalent to 1 centimeter in 70 years — or more nearly 1 
centimeter in 50 years, when we allow for the decayed and parti- 
ally loosened material which has not been removed from the surface 
of the monument. But although this rate far exceeds that of the 
estimate of Dr. Barnard (1 cm. in 6000 years) there is no evidence 
that it must be continuous ; the chief exfoliation has been probably 
already effected in the weakened, thin outer layer of stone i the 
main stone below is practically sound. 

It appears then that an andient column of granite- like this, while 
unfitted to mark the flying hours on a Roman dial, may yet serve 
us as a true gnomon to record some phases of rock-decay at inter- 
vals in geological time. 



> 



1. 



■ 



') 



■ j 



ANNALS N, V. ACAD. SCII^NCES. 



VOL, VIIL, PLATE IV. 







vV: 



« • 



4'-' 

■-••:..:<• 



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