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[Page 45]
Yesterday having a few hours to spare I took the opportunity of visiting a native village quite close to camp. The little children scampered away at first sight of us but quickly recovered sufficiently to come & request from us cigarettes, or piastres & to offer for sale or-an-gers (oranges). They are very dirty but at a short distance very picturesque in their print dresses of red, yellow, blue, & various other colours. They wear fringed fascinator affairs over their heads, which lends a finish to their dress. The walls of the houses are made of mud & sun dried bricks. On Friday a couple of us ascended the Pyramid of Cheops. We were surprised to find a boy waiting for us on top with cups of coffee (1 Pt.) & a couple of Arabs with oranges. We visited the excavations at a burial place at the foot of the Pyramid. The view from the top was excellent. The height is 451 ft. It took twenty years to collect the stone & thirty years to build it. In the distance we saw the six other Pyramids, smaller though including one where Rameses was buried. We saw some natives casting seed on the ground & hoeing them in with a rude hoe in a most primative fashion. They make a ridge every few yards