Grant's tour around the world; with incidents of his journey through England, Ireland, Scotland .. . eNile ceased its office Egypt would have to be abandonedand these fertile plains given over to the desert. In fact,Egypt is only an annual struggle between the river andthe desert. If ever the river surrenders, Egypt will be-come a barren, treeless plain of rocks and sand. The sand was blowing heavily as we entered had not been expected, so there were no ceremonies,and we could wander as we pleased. We dismountedunder a grove of trees and went on foot into the town, ourdonkeys and donk
Grant's tour around the world; with incidents of his journey through England, Ireland, Scotland .. . eNile ceased its office Egypt would have to be abandonedand these fertile plains given over to the desert. In fact,Egypt is only an annual struggle between the river andthe desert. If ever the river surrenders, Egypt will be-come a barren, treeless plain of rocks and sand. The sand was blowing heavily as we entered had not been expected, so there were no ceremonies,and we could wander as we pleased. We dismountedunder a grove of trees and went on foot into the town, ourdonkeys and donkey boys following after. We strolled AROUND THE WORLD. 295 tlirougli the bazaars, which meant that we crowded ourway through narrow, dusty passages where the tradesmansold his wares. The assortment was not varied—beads,grain, cloths, dates, pipes and trinkets. We went into onehouse where the potter was busy over his wheel. In Kenehpottery is an industry. The clay makes a fragile, porousvessel, through which the water evaporates in summer,acting as a filter and a water cooler. These vessels are. POTTER AT WORK. grateful in the summer days, and there is quite a trade inthem between Keneh and Lower Egypt. We had observedcoming up rafts of stone jars, bound together withboughs, floating down the stream, very much as the oldflatboats used to float down the Mississippi to New Orleans,laden with Western produce. The jars kept their ownbuoyancy, and one raft would require not more than threeor four men to ply it. The potter was very skilful. Hischild moistened the clay, and with deft fingers he fashionedit into form—into graceful lines and curving shapes, show-ing artistic sense. The cheapness of the work when done 296 GRANTS TOUR was amazing. The retail price was about eighty cents ahundred for small jars useful for the table. We went intoa mill where the corn was grinding. It was the sameprocess that we read about in the Bible—the horse goinground and round, the grain crushing
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Keywords: ., bookcentury180, bookdecade1870, booksubjectvoyagesaroundtheworld
