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[Page 63]
obtained from Cheops which is magnificient enough for anyone. Due east the old Sphinx sits facing his master, the sun. Further east, & hovering like a dream city over the foliage of the date palm plantations with only an occasional smoking chimney to prove its reality, lies Cairo. Beyond again, the great quarries from which this very stone was taken thousands of years ago. All around are excavations marking the resting places of dead generations – now entirely destroyed by scientists. North lies the Australian camp & the long stretch of road – Canberra. The main attraction, however, is the Nile Valley, a continuous stretch of green with the old Nile, verily the Egyptian's god, crawling like a huge silver snake through the centre. The fertile valley is well watered by the most wonderful irrigation scheme in the world – deep channels cut on a system calculated to ensure the flooding of the pastures at the periodical rising of the river. After an hour we commenced the descent. This was even more nerve racking than the ascent. We knew a slip would just give us time to say "Allah be praised" & then oblivion. Continually extending the feet downward & feeling for the grips whilst hanging on the ledge