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[Page 20]
just as if two huge pieces of cloth one yellow and the other green had been sewn together. On the one side we have the famous Sahara Desert, looking except for the white tents of Mena Camp nestling at the foot of the Pyramids, as endless, as pitiless and as bare as one could ever imagine. In great contrast is the other side with every spot except for Cairo and the roads covered with beautiful waving green crops, forming one vast paddock for there are no fences. Right underneath us is the cemetery of ancient Memphis, once capital of Egypt, with its long regular rows of mud mustabas
(native tombs) and a palm tree here and there to relieve the monotony. Of course I carved my name on the stone on the top. After descending we went to the Sphinx and had a look at that great statue which was once a beautiful piece of work but now spoilt by great pieces broken off the features. Near this statue is the Valley Temple of the second pyramid, just being excavated, with its hugh pillars of granite, and floors of alabaster. Miers and I took a camel back to meet the others at the Great Pyramid and after mounting and going through the ordeal of hanging on whilst he got up, making us tilt backwards at a dangerous angle as he mount on his front feet, and then shooting us forward as his great hind legs came into play. Miers must have touched him with his spurs for he promptly sat down again. However, we managed to get him going again and at last reached our destination. We stayed in town to tea and we certainly needed it, when we got there, for a native boy offered us a card with the name of a British Restaurant on it saying it was only 2 minutes away. After we had followed him for about a quarter of an hour we reached the native quarter and so gave up the chase, turned and retraced our steps to the Café de la Paix all the more hungry for our fruitless trip.
Sunday 13/2/16 – This afternoon Tad, Miers Stewart and I visited the Zoo, and could hardly have spent a more interesting afternoon. There are I believe about 400 different species of animals and birds and the interest these aroused and the beautiful glimpses of scenery one gets as he walks along the shady foot paths, all decorated with pretty designs worked in different colored pebbles makes it seem like paradise after walking some of these revolting