EGYPT—ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 482, 21 June 1890, Page 4

EGYPT—ANCIENT AND MODERN.

j LECTURE AT THE AUCKLAND r INSTITUTE. ) 3 Auckla® I, June 17. i I Siu William Fox delivered an interesting j address at the Auckland Institute last 3 evening, upon “ Reminiscences of Egypt.” As the land of the Pharaohs is ever interest--3 ing, it is almost needless to state that the lecture hall of the Museum Buildings was crowded by an audience that manifested the liveliest interest as the lecture proceeded. Mr Stewart, President of the Institute, occupied tho chair, and- briefly introduced a the speaker. t Sir William Fox mentioned that a few r years ago he had visited Egypt, and he 3 showed numerous photographs and watern colour sketches of notable temples, obelisks, o etc. Ho said that the subject natuially •. divided itself into ancient and modern, but Ij he would deal more particularly with a the former. He then briefly explained n how it was that Britain now practically governed Egypt. He said that some years Q ago the Egyptian Government borrowed , large sums of money, in fact, went in for the 'j Vogelian policy. No less than £95,000,000 g was borrowed, principally from England , • and France, for expenditure in a country not much larger than the province of Welj lington. Of that sum, owing to jobbery, not more than £36,000,000 reached Egypt, and e only about £15,000,000 was spent in re- (. productive public works. Then came the .. time when interest could not be paid, and Q the English and French bondholders Q practically asked their Governments to put in a distraint. This was done, though he y considered it should not have been, for „ if the people made a fool’s bargain, they should take a fool’s reward. Perhaps, however, the statesman had an eye for the future. At all events a joint commission was appointed to collect the ' revenue and pay a certain rate of interest to the bondholders. Then came a time when there was a small surplus, and the Egyptian Government claimed it. The revolt of Arabi Pasha followed, ending with the bombardment of Alexandria. Another reason why the British nation governed in y Egypt was no doubt the interest in the 3 Suez Canal. That canal was first designed II by the greatest of the Egyptian Pharaohs, 3 Rameses the Second, about 1400 years before f Christ, and just before the Israelitish exodus e from Egypc. It was not, however, carried y out.- Afterwax’ds Darius Hysterpses eon--0 structed the canal 300 years before Christ, a and it remained in operation for about 1700 k years until the invasion by the Mahommedans, when it was destroyed. Napoleon the r First saw the necessity for the canal, 11 but his engineers said that tho work could not be carried out, as there was a great n dillerence in the levels of the Mediterranean f and tho Red Sea. In 1835 the English, k Fx-encb, and Austrian Governments sent '• out engineers, who proclaimed that both ' seas were about the same level. Baron de r Lesseps ultimately constructed the canal, a although Robei’t Stevenson, the English "• engineer, had stated that the work could e never be carried out. Seven years ago 11 when he had himself passed though tho '■ Suez Canal he saw seventy-two ships passe ing through, and all but three were ? Biitish. That showed how much their own nation was interested at the present time. 0 Lord Beaconsfield finding that the viceroy of Egypt was hard up, bought one half of 0 the shares, and now England had practie cally got control of the canal, and would do I so as long as she had colonies and an in--3 terest in India. Egypt was ao present in--6 habited by a pauperised population, and I therefore, modern Egypt was interesting. • He did not think that there was any such I river in the world as the Nile. It was full all the summer and low in the winter. It was '• also owing to the Nile that there was any II fertility in Egypt. The Government therea fore regulated taxation according to the '« height that the river Nile rose in the 0 season. Cairo, which he visited, was built • in the time of the Caliphs. It was ineffably 0 dirty, and had a population of about ■ 5,000,000. The city was remarkably beau--1 tiful, the mosques being magnificent. No less than 300 domes and minarets could be t seen in this city. Buildings had been ■ erected of variegated marble, and were 1 covered with most exquisite tracings. 3 One peculiar feature was that one person in 3 six was blind, and one in three had lost an > eye. Mothers would not drive the Hie 3 from the babies’ eyes, as it was unlucky. 3 They thus carried the dreadful optbalmia 3 from one person to another. f The temples and tombs were described by ■ the lecturer, who remarked that there was 3 no doubt that the ancient Egyptians were i the descendants of Ham. They believed in > the resurrection of thedead, metempsychosis • of souls, and worshipped animals. They recognised a great unknown God, who was > never named. Then there were minor gods, to each of whom some special animal was

dedicated, which fact explained how it was that thousands of mummies of various animals were discovered in Egypt. Thus the land was full of tombs. That was the jeer that the Israelites threw at Moses, “ Were there no tombs in Egypt, that thou hast brought us out here to die ?” Sir William Pox then described the magnificent tombs of Beni Hassan, which he estimated were built before the time of J Abraham. Inside these were still visible the pictures illustrating the whole of the domestic history of Egypt. He next mentioned the tombs of the kings at Thebes, which covered seven squares miles and were the creation of Rameses 11. ■ He also stated that the Egyptians were the inventors of beer and wine. The land was ( suited to the growth of grapes and barley. 1 The lecturer quoted from a copy of a

papyrus in which the writer stated, “Thou goest from tavern to tavern, smelling ol beer at eventide.” In another portion the writer asks, “Hast thou forgotten thy pledge?” The lecturer said it was fair to assume therefore that there were not only hotels in ancient Egypt, but also Good Templars of some kind. Mummies and crocodile caves were next | described, and Sir William mentioned that shiploads of mummified cats were now sent to England as an article of manure. The Pyramid of Cheops was referred to at length; also the numerous obelisks, 60 to 70 feet high ; the Collossi, who had sat in solemn giandeur for 4,000 years ; the wondrous Sphinx, and the temple of Carnac with its several acres of pillars, each 70 to 80 feet in height. The lecturer attributed the ruin of these monuments to the invasion and occupation of Egypt by the Persians, who, uot being idolaters, spread devastation amongst the supposed idols. He stated that the granite of which the Pyramids were erected had to be ” transported some 800 miles, and he believed that there must have been some system of railroad, although they were not moved by steam, as pictures recently found showed immense numbers of men dragging along large blocks of stone. In conclusion the lecturer mentioned some of the great men of ancient Egypt, such as Phra Ramsiuitus, the richest man that had ever lived ; Rameses the Second, : thegreatestofthePbaraohsj andCambyssee, !

the Persian who broke the power of the priesthood. He, however, considered that above all these stood tho alien—Moses the lawgiver of the Hebrews. On the motion of Dr. Purchas a vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer.