Part 6
[Illustration: CITADEL, CAIRO, EGYPT.--This citadel affords a magnificent view of the city and surrounding country. It was erected in 1166, and built by stones taken from the small pyramids at Gizeh, the site having been selected, according to Arabian history, owing to the fact that meat could be kept here fresh twice as long as in any other part of Cairo. The fortress commands the city, yet its site is unfavorable, as a commanding height close by compelled its surrender during the wars of 1805.]
[Illustration: MOSQUE OF MOHAMMED' ALI, CAIRO, EGYPT.--The "Alabaster Mosque," whose lofty and graceful minarets are so conspicuous from the distance, form one of the landmarks of Cairo. In plan, it represents the Turkish mosques, built on the model of Hagia Sofla, at Constantinople. The execution of the design displays but little artistic taste, and the treatment of the material is somewhat unsatisfactory. The alabaster used for the incrustation of the masonry consists partly of blocks and partly of slabs. The beautiful yellow-tint stone soon fades when exposed to the sun.]
[Illustration: STREET SCENE, CAIRO, EGYPT.--Most of the streets in the old part of the town are unpaved, inaccessible to carriages, and often excessively dirty. They present an inexhaustible field of amusement and delight, admirably illustrating the whole world of oriental fiction. The lanes separating the rows of houses in the Arabian quarter are so narrow that the projecting balconies of harems, with their gratings, often nearly meet. Rickety, tumbling houses of every variety of oriental architecture strike the beholder at every turn, as is illustrated above.]
[Illustration: PALACE OF GEZIREH, CAIRO, EGYPT.--This palace is located on the Nile, at one end of a park by the same name. Its external appearance is simple. All the distinguished guests who were invited to attend the ceremony of the opening of the Suez Canal were entertained here. The building is State property and rarely occupied. The interior is furnished in the most sumptuous and elaborate manner. The onyx mantel-pieces, with mirrors, cost each $15,000. Portions of the palace are fitted up in suites of apartments for visitors, each consisting of bed-room, dressing-room and sitting-room.]
[Illustration: ON CAMEL-BACK, EGYPT.--To people accustomed to all the comforts and luxuries of the world, who have never experienced desert tent-life, nor traveled through countries where there are no people to consult, it is hard to convey an idea of oriental camel-back traveling. The "ship of the desert" is a most faithful animal, and loved by his master as much as a child; but his back affords a very uncomfortable seat. The long backward and forward motion recalls to the rider the swells of the sea. The above picture is a perfect specimen of hundreds of such caravans during the traveling season.]
[Illustration: PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH, EGYPT.--Here are represented the great Pyramids of Gizeh, occupying a plateau gradually ascending from east to west, parts of which are very precipitous at places. The three pyramids are so situated on this plateau as to face the four points of the compass, although the magnet shows a deviation toward the west. The Sphinx is situated close by. Numerous tombs, almost all in ruins, surround these pyramids, and extend over the plateau to the east. They are sometimes hewn in the form of grottoes in the external rocky slope.]
[Illustration: THE SPHYNX, EGYPT.--
"Since what unnumbered year, "No faithless slumber snatching, Hast thou kept watch and ward, Still couched in silence brave, And o'er the buried Land of Fear, Like some fierce hound long watching, So grimly held thy guard?" Above her master's grave."
[Illustration: LANDING ON SUEZ CANAL, EGYPT.--The Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean, was completed in 1863. During the time of construction, which lasted five years, 25,000 men were employed, and 1600 camels to supply them with water. The cost of constructing the canal was $95,000,000, part of which was raised by shareholders, and the balance by the Khedive. This picture represents a landing stage and one of the English trading vessels sailing between England and India. A number of camels and Arabs are seen on a ferry-boat, ready to be taken across the Canal, the latter furnishing the great highway for all European vessels sailing to or from the Orient.]
[Illustration: POST-OFFICE, SUEZ, EGYPT.--The site of this town is naturally an absolute desert, and, until the water of the Nile was introduced by the fresh water canal in 1863, the water-supply of Suez was brought across the head of the gulf from the "wells of Moses," on the Arabian coast, or else carried on camels, after an hour's journey, from the fortified brackish of Bir Suweis. In spite of its favorable position for commerce, the place was quite small prior to the time of the canal, and even to-day the canal carries traffic past Suez rather than to it. The picture shows the post-office square.]
[Illustration: IN CENTRAL AFRICA.--No country in the world creates more interest among the civilized nations than does Africa. In the far interior, where African explorers have failed to find traces of the outer world, every variety of savage humanity exists. These uncivilized people, who know nothing of the progress of nations, live in tribes, preying upon each other's settlements, whenever opportunity presents itself. The above picture represents the typical natives of the Dark Continent.]
[Illustration: YAFFA OR JAFFA, PALESTINE.--Jaffa is a small town lying on the coast of the Mediterranean, at the foot of a rock one hundred and sixteen feet in height. This town is very ancient, and a road runs directly from it to Jerusalem. The houses are built of tuff-stone, and the streets are generally very narrow and dirty, and, after the slightest rain, exceedingly muddy. The town walls are falling to decay, and the interior of the town is uninteresting. Tradition points out the place as the one in which Napoleon is said to have caused plague-patients to be poisoned, and in which St. Peter once fished; but the authenticity of it seems to proceed from a confusion of ideas.]
[Illustration: JERUSALEM, PALESTINE.--Here is a place of overwhelming interest, but at first sight sadly disappointing. Little is seen of the ancient City of Zion and Moriah, the far-famed capital of the Jewish Empire, in the narrow, crooked and ill-paved streets of the modern town. The combination of wild superstitions, with the merest formalism which is everywhere observed, and the fanaticism and jealous exclusiveness of the numerous religious communities of Jerusalem, form the chief modern characteristics of that memorable city which was once the fountain-head from which the knowledge of the true God was wont to be vouchsafed to mankind, and which has exercised the greatest influence on religious thought throughout the world.]
[Illustration: WAILING-PLACE OF THE JEWS, JERUSALEM, PALESTINE.--Outside of the enclosure of Mosque El Aksa, at Jerusalem, is the noted wailing-place of the Jews. A large number of them, including old and young, male and female, gather here on Friday, kiss the stones and water them with their tears. They bewail the downfall of Jerusalem, and read from their well-worn Hebrew Bibles and prayer-books the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The following few words are an exact copy from their litany: "For the Palace that lies desolate, we sit in solitude and mourn." They present a curious spectacle.]
[Illustration: STREET SCENE, JERUSALEM, PALESTINE.--The above photograph represents one of the fourteen stations of the "street of pain," over which Christ is said to have carried the cross on His way to Golgotha. The place where Christ was laid upon the cross, the house of Dives, the rich man, where Simon of Cyrene took the cross from Christ, the house against which Christ is said to have leaned, or near which He fell a second time, and the place where Christ is said to have addressed the women that accompanied Him, are all seen along this avenue.]
[Illustration: GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, PALESTINE.--This holy place is situated at the foot of Mount Olivet across the Kedron, and noted as the scene of our Lord's agony. Jesus frequently came here, as did also His disciples. It is a small irregular spot surrounded by a high wall. This wall was built in 1847 by Franciscan monks, who claimed it necessary to keep from the garden, pilgrims who injured the olive trees. There are seven of these trees remaining in the Garden, whose trunks, nineteen feet in circumference, are cracked open with age, and claimed to date back to the time of our Saviour.]
[Illustration: BETHLEHEM, PALESTINE.--"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel." In Hebrew the word signifies the "place of bread," or, more generally, "the place of food," and is possibly derived from the fact that the region about Bethlehem has from very remote antiquity presented a marked contrast to the surrounding "wilderness." We learn from the Bible that the inhabitants of Bethlehem possessed cornfields, vineyards and flocks of goats, and that they made cheese. The natural products of to-day in every respect confirm this record.]
[Illustration: DEAD SEA, PALESTINE.--This sea, situated sixteen miles from Jerusalem and visible from the Mount of Olives, occupies that deep depression thirteen hundred feet below the Mediterranean, which extends from the mountains of Lebanon to the Gulf of Akabah, and is forty-six miles long and about ten miles wide. The River Jordan and smaller streams empty their waters into it, and it has no visible outlet. The water of the Dead Sea contains a large quantity of mineral substances, consisting of chlorides of sodium, calcium and magnesium, which give it a bitter taste, and render it smooth and oily.]
[Illustration: NAZARETH, PALESTINE.--This village, situated in Galilee about sixty-five miles from Jerusalem, is the place where Jesus grew up from infancy. From its highest elevation the most beautiful views of the Holy Land can be taken. The place must have been very small in the time of Christ, as the village is not named in the Old Testament. The population in those times was mainly Jewish, but it now has Greek, Latin and Moslem quarters and a Protestant mission. During the Middle Ages many Christians visited Nazareth, but when the Turks seized Palestine in 1517, they were again driven out.]
[Illustration: JACOB'S WELL, PALESTINE.--Jews, Christians and Muslims agree that this is the "Well of Jacob" of Scripture. (Gen. XXXIII., 19.) It is situated on the high road from Jerusalem to Galilee, according perfectly with the narrative of St. John IV., 5-30. In summer, it is often dry. It is seven and one-half feet in diameter and lined with masonry. If, as is probable, this well was the scene of Christ's conversation with the Samaritan woman, the tradition had already attached to it, that this was Jacob's Well, and around it was the field which he purchased, and where Joseph was afterwards buried. (Joshua XXIV., 32.)]
[Illustration: BEYROUTH, SYRIA.--The above city, located on the Mediterranean, is one of great antiquity. The city proper is an irregular square, open towards the sea, and surrounded on the land side by a substantial tower-flanked wall. The streets are wider than is usual in Syrian towns, and are paved with large stones. The houses, for the most part, are lofty and spacious. During the hot season the wealthier inhabitants move inland. The surrounding hills consist of reddish sand, interspersed with rock, and are covered with a light soil.]
[Illustration: GREAT MOSQUE, DAMASCUS, SYRIA.--It is possible that during the first century of the Christian era, a heathen temple stood on the site of the present mosque. The building was converted into a Christian church, and contained a casket in which the head of John the Baptist was shown. The Christian church was destroyed, and the present mosque erected. Antique columns were collected in towns of Syria, and used in the decoration. The pavement and lower walls are covered with rarest marbles. The ceiling, from which hang six hundred golden lamps, is of wood, inlaid with gold. The urn above the altar is said to still contain the remains of the head of John the Baptist.]
[Illustration: BAALBEC, SYRIA.--These magnificent ruins have excited the wonder and admiration of every beholder. In view of the fact that the Jewish style of architecture is mingled with that of the Doric and the Corinthian order, this building is supposed to have been the house that Solomon built for his Egyptian wife. It may be surpassed in classical taste by the Temple of Athens, and, in some respects, Rome may rival it. Even in magnitude the Nile exceeds it, but there is something about Baalbec that causes it to stand alone, and makes it peer of all. Its origin is not known, yet it passed through the Greek, Arab and Roman hands, and suffered assaults by the Crusades.]
[Illustration: MECCA, SYRIA.--The pilgrimage to Mecca, which every Muslim is bound to undertake once in his life, is a most curious religious custom. In the neighborhood of Mecca the pilgrims undress, laying aside even their head-gear, and put on aprons and a piece of cloth over the left shoulder. They then perform the circuit of the Ka'ba, kiss the black stone, hear the sermon on Mount Arafat, near Mecca, pelt Satan with stones in the Valley of Mina, and conclude their pilgrimage with a great sacrificial feast. The picture shows the famous cemetery of Mecca, the bodies all buried above the ground.]
[Illustration: KALBADEVIE ROAD, BOMBAY, INDIA.--The city of Bombay, under English rule, with a population of nearly a million inhabitants, is one or the most flourishing cities in India, on account of its nearness to the Suez Canal. The approach from the sea discloses one of the finest panoramas in the world, the only European analogy being the Bay of Naples. The town itself consists of well-built and usually handsome native bazaars, and of spacious streets devoted to European commerce, of which the above is one of the principal avenues.]
[Illustration: BENARES, INDIA.--The city here represented is the religious centre of Hindooism, and one of the oldest cities on the globe. The bank of the Ganges is entirely lined with stone, and there are many very fine landing-places, built by pious devotees, and highly ornamented. The internal streets are so narrow and winding, that there is not room for a carriage to pass; and it is difficult to penetrate them even on horseback. The houses are built of Chanar stone, and are lofty, none being less than two, and many five and six, stories high.]
[Illustration: TROPICAL SCENERY, INDIA.]
[Illustration: HEATHEN TEMPLE, INDIA.]
[Illustration: ROYAL OBSERVATORY, INDIA.]
[Illustration: WONG TAI KEN, CHINA.--The people of China are a thoroughly settled class of agriculturists and traders. They are partially Buddhist, and have a peculiar monosyllabic, uninflected language, with writing consisting of symbols, which represent words, not letters. The photograph represents one of the better class, dressed in a richly made costume after the fashion of her country. Her feet, like all of her race, are extremely small and encased in velvet sandals, with thick wooden shoes, which are peculiar to these people.]
[Illustration: TYPICAL SCENE, SANDWICH ISLANDS.--The ravines and mountain-slopes on the windward side of the larger islands contain much forest growth, while the leeward uplands and plains are comparatively bare. Among the most remarkable forms of vegetation is a screw-pine and candle-nut tree, so named from the fact that the natives string together the kernels, which are very oily, and make candles. The natives derive their sustenance chiefly from pork and fish, both fresh and dried, and from the banana, sweet potato, yam, bread, fruit and cocoanut.]
[Illustration: SITKA, ALASKA.--Sitka, the capital of Alaska, is situated on the west coast of the Baranoff Island, which is one of the principal of the Alexander Islands. It is the second town in size, and has a custom house, a Greco-Russian church, a hospital, a half dozen stores, schools and several saw mills. Its principal business is fishing, and a number of steamers ply between this place and Portland, Oregon. The island is about seventy miles long and fifteen miles wide, and is densely timbered.]
[Illustration: TOTEM POLES, ALASKA.--A totem is a class of material objects which a savage regards with superstitious respect, believing that there exists between him and every member of the class an intimate and special relation. These poles, which rise to the height of 70 feet, are elaborately carved from top to bottom with a succession of figures, representing the wolf, frog, bear, eagle, whale and a variety of other animals. They are planted near Indian villages, but it is hoped church steeples will soon tower in their places and work a change in these strange people.]
[Illustration: PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA, CANADA.--The capital of the Dominion of Canada is situated on the Ottawa River, four hundred and fifty miles from New York, and one hundred and twenty-six miles from Montreal. It is one of the most flourishing cities in Ontario, on account of the great lumber products in the surrounding districts. The city was founded sixty-three years ago, its chief attraction being the Government Buildings, which stand on Barrack Hill, and are built mainly of light-colored sandstone. The style of architecture is that of Italian Gothic. The main building is five hundred feet long, covering nearly four acres, and involving a cost of $4,000,000 in its construction.]
[Illustration: GOLDEN GATE, CALIFORNIA.--This forms the entrance to San Francisco Bay, which is about seventy miles long and from ten to fifteen wide, and is narrowed into a channel only about one mile wide; here the waters escape in a current as the tide ebbs and flows to and from the ocean. As one approaches from the ocean towards the bay, the south side of the Golden Gate exhibits a shelving point of land which terminates in a long fortification called Fort Point. The portion of the strait between the light house on the north and the fort on the south, is termed "The Golden Gate," or "Chrysopylae."]
[Illustration: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.--The city is the commercial metropolis of California, and is situated nearly six miles from the ocean on the west side of the magnificent bay from which it derives its name. It stands on a plain which inclines towards the bay, and has numerous hills behind it. The city is regularly laid out, the streets crossing each other at right angles. Market Street, which has four street-car tracks, two of which are cable lines, is the principal business street; it runs south-west from the bay, and divides the older from the newer portion of the city. The city was originally called Yerba Buena ("good herbs"), and was settled by the Spaniards about 1777, but was changed to San Francisco in 1847.]
[Illustration: YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.--The Yosemite Valley is situated one hundred and fifty miles distant, in a direct line, a little to the southeast of San Francisco. It is six miles in length and from half a mile to a mile in width, and sunk from two thousand to three thousand feet in perpendicular depth below the general level of the surrounding country. The waterfalls in and about this valley are of great beauty and variety. The Nevada and Vernal Falls of the Merced River, which flows through the whole length of the valley, are wonderfully grand.]
[Illustration: MIRROR LAKE, YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.--Up the canyon of the Tenaya is situated this beautiful little lake, called "Mirror Lake," which is an expansion of the Tenaya Fork. It is generally visited early in the morning, for the purpose of seeing the reflection of the overhanging rock, which is known as Mount Watkins. Mirror Lake is one of the principal points of interest of this marvelous depression of nature.]
[Illustration: GLAZIER POINT, YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.--Glazier Point, one of the most remarkable and striking features of nature in the world, is composed of solid rock, thirty-two hundred feet in perpendicular height. It is reached by a trail from the floor of the valley, and the time generally consumed is from four to six hours. From this great point of interest, a general view of the whole valley can be obtained, and nothing is more soul-stirring to the beholder than to look at the great and marvelous wonders of nature abounding in the Yosemite Valley.]
[Illustration: BIG TREE, CALIFORNIA.--The big trees of California are known the world over and are specifically termed the _sequoia gigantea_, and abound only in California. They occur in groves or patches, which are scattered over limited areas. They grow to a great height, ranging from two hundred to three hundred feet, and attain a circumference from seventy-five to one hundred feet. The above is a photograph of one of the trees, showing the trunk, through which a four-horse stage coach passes. This tree measures twenty-five feet in diameter, and it stands in the Mariposa Grove.]
[Illustration: GREAT MORMON TEMPLE, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.--The Mormon religion was founded by Joseph Smith, at Manchester, New York, in 1830, and the same year was published "The Book of Mormon," in which Joseph Smith was declared to be God's "Prophet." He soon removed, with his followers, to Kirtland, Ohio, which was to be the seat of the New Jerusalem. Several years later the Mormon band emigrated to Missouri, and later to Salt Lake City, Utah. After the death of Smith, Brigham Young succeeded, until 1877, when he died and left a fortune of $2,000,000 to seventeen wives and fifty-six children. Here they prospered and started to build the great temple, which is not yet quite finished.]
[Illustration: PULPIT TERRACE, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.-The Yellowstone Park has in the vicinity of the Mammoth Hot Springs many remarkable terrace-building springs, which are situated one thousand feet above the Gardiner River, into which they discharge their waters. The water finds its way to the surface through deep-lying cretaceous strata, and contains a great deposit of calcareous material. As the water flows out at the various elevations on the terraces through many vents, it forms corrugated layers of carbonate of lime, which is generally hard while wet, but becomes soft when dry. While these springs are active, vegetation dies in their vicinity; but when dry, grass and trees again grow on the crumbling calcareous deposit.]
[Illustration: OBSIDIAN CLIFF, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.--This noted and volcanic glass mountain, situated in the Yellowstone Park, glistens like jet, is opaque and rises like basalt in almost vertical columns, from the shore of Beaver Lake. It is unequalled in the world, and is about two hundred feet high and one thousand feet in length, being variegated with streaks of red and yellow. When the carriage road was constructed over the side of the mountain along the lake, great fires were built upon the masses of Obsidian; and after they had been sufficiently expanded by the heat, cold water was thrown on them, which fractured the blocks into fragments that could be handled. Thus a glass carriage way was made one-quarter of a mile in length, which is without doubt the only piece of glass road in the world.]
[Illustration: MAMMOTH PAINT POTS, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.--Among all the geysers and hot springs in Yellowstone Park, there is nothing more striking to behold than the Mammoth Paint Pots, which measure forty by sixty feet, with a mud rim on three sides from three to four feet in height. The whitish substance in this basin, which looks like paint, is in constant agitation, and resembles a vast bed of mortar with numerous points of ebullition. There is a constant bubbling up of this peculiar formation, which produces a sound similar to a hoarse whisper. Its contents have been reduced by the constant action to a mixed silicious clay, which in former years consisted of different colors, but is now active only in the white portion of its formation.]