Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 407, 25 February 1904, Page 7

Traveller.

AN INKY OBDEAL. an illustration of the difficnltyoi j'lWz im P'* uß - in ? the native mind in MjK 'ha Soudan with a proper respect for the grinciples of Weßtern jurisprudence, Mr. Bonham-Carter, in a memorandum enclosed in-Lord Cromer's report on Egypt, cites an interesting case which occurred recently a|t Dongola Mondirieh. 'There: was,' he writes, *bo dispute »s to th : e tacts. Taha Ali and Ahmed Hamad carried on the business of butchers in' partnership. Taha Ali informed Ahmed Hamad that a sam of £8 belonging to the partnership, which had bean left with bim had bsea stolen. Ahmed Hannd did not believe tho story and accused Taha Ali of theft They de-' cided to refer the matter to a fakir, who had settled is the seighbouihood, to be tried by a system of ordeal. •The two men accordingly went to the fakir. He copied some passages-from cejtain religious books in his possession upon a native writing board with European copying ink, washed eff the writing with water into-a bowl, dipped some bread into the water, and divided the bread and water between the two disputants, telling them that the one who wasia the wrong would become very ill, After eating the brsad and drinking the water the two disputants went away. Taha Ali -was thortly afterwards seized with violent pains, and returning to the fakir confessed that he had stolen tie money. His condition became rapidly worse, and he died a few hours later. The medical examination disclosed no sign of poisoning. : •With the object of ascertaining how far the belief was prevalent that the ordeal was a reasonable method of detecting crime, I told the story to two native?, the one a religious sheikh holding a high position, the ether a native servant who hsd for many years been in the service of English masters. * The sheikh, while not doubting that crime could be detected by similar if employed by a man if holy life, was of opinion that the fakir was an impoßter. At the same time, he did not consider that he should be punished. He. repeated a well known story of a man who died at his friend's house immediately after eatsome honey. Grave suspicion fell upon the friend, who only escaped punishment by the diecoverf of a dead serpent coiled up at the i bottom of the pot. The sheik concluded; that, in this case, possibly a snake might have spat into the pot. •The servant did not doubt that the means adopted were an effective method of detecting crime. He expressed eurprise that a man after confessing and restoring the property had nevertheless died, and thought that it showed that he was an exceptionally bad man, who had committed other crimes at which Gtod was angry.', j

TO WAX THE SPHINX. A plan for saving the Sphinx from further iajury by the elements has been suggested by Mr. Edward Caffall, an ex pert on stone preservation. At a cost of about £I6OO, he thinks, the great figure in the Egyptian sand can be protected for an indefinite time from the wear and tear of the sand storms and the rains. That the Sphinx is crumbling more„ rapidly than it did in previous centuries seems to be admitted. For instance, Mr. D. Gt. Longworth, writing in a papsr called the Cairo Sphinx, recently pointed out the reason for this more rapid decay." The irrigation of Egypt has decicedly changed the climate in the last few decades Instead of being constantly, dry, the Sphinx now becomes rain-soaked for from fifteen to eighteen days of each year, The wind from the desert, 'khamasseen,' carrying the sand before it, beats upon the soft limestone of t*e Sphinx while [i!; is wet, and eats ib away exactly as does the sand blast used in manufactures. When the sand blast is used for etching on glass, jthe parts which are not to be affected fere covered with paraffia. Mr, Caff*ll believes, theiefore, that if the surface of the Sphinx were treated with paraffin it would much better withstand the sand storms and tbe rain. Experimentally he has found that under a 'rubbing-bed' the stone so treated wears away only one-quarter as fast as the natural stone. The experience in treating the obelisk in the Central Park, New Tori, which was in similar danger of decaying, has shown just the methods that woald be necessary on the Sphinx. Experiments which were made then at the city's expense, showed that stone can be heatedto the melting point of wax, ; a'q far below the surface as 20 inches. The wax being applied with a brush, the hot stone absorbs it, filling up the pores completely and excluding moisture. The bbalisk, when treated in 1885, had so disintegrated from the frosts that 7851b. of flakes and chips were removed when it was being waterproofed In some casas flakes of 18 inches in diameter and 4 inches thick had become detached. In order to fill up whatever; cracks might exist beneath the surface, a triangular tank was used, and the melted paraffia forced against tbe face of the stone by, hydraulic, pressure, thua entering all the interstices, and sealing tbe partly detached fragments in their places. The same method would probably have to be used on the Sphinx Altogether the operation" would probably sake about two months.

Mr. is in hope that bobm arcbse 5logical society or public-spirited man will look into the practicability pf his plan. If the great monument is really in danger of destruction, and his process will save it, he thinl* that' an experiment should at least bes made. He is doubtful if the Khedive's Government could bi prevailed on to take an interest in the project. Tet in view of the extraordinary historical interest and value of the groat Sphinx, rjjo time or money wouid seem too great to{ expend if it would really tend to ito preservation, as Mr. Caffall confidently asserts it will. .