ckshish," an expression with which every traveler soon becomes
familiar.

From Aden we had a pleasant voyage up the Red sea to Suez. The cholera
was, so to speak, in the air, and our steamer was the last one which
escaped quarantine. From Suez I traveled in company with some other
passengers by rail to Cairo. We stopped an hour at the little city
Ismailia, which is situated on the canal, and is a fine place, noted
especially for the great fete given by Count F. de Lesseps at the
opening of the Suez canal, for which occasion a fine palace was built
for the accommodation of Empress Eugenie of France. On the way to Cairo
we passed through the valley which in the Bible is called Goshen, and
which Pharaoh gave to the brothers of Joseph to live in, and where the
brick yards are located in which the Israelites were compelled to make
brick without straw and oppressed in different ways by their
task-masters.

During the day I had occasion to see a portion of the canal "Bahr
Jussuf," or Joseph's canal, a masterwork some four thousand years old,
which the legend ascribes to Joseph, and which still proves what a
blessing this man conferred upon the people of Egypt, not only by
warding off the dread famine, but also by executing many great and
useful works. The canal began at Siut, on the Nile, and meandered
through the valley on the west side of the river for a distance of
nearly two hundred and fifty miles, until its level was so far above
that of the river that its waters could be carried westward into the
province of Fajuin, and change its formerly sterile soil into the
richest and most fertile fields.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Cairo--Cheop's Pyramid--Venice--The St. Gotthard Tunnel--On the
Rhine--Visit in Holland and England--Father Nugent--Arrival at New
York.

The train has stopped, and we are in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. The
beautiful, the joyous, the memorable Cairo, with its gorgeous mosques,
its half mystic, half historical monuments, its narrow streets, and a
life, a commotion and an oriental splendor strongly reminding one of the
legends "One Thousand and One Nights." In company with a friend from
America I visited the principal mosques, bazars, parks and other places
of interest, and the next day we drove out to the great Cheop's pyramid,
which is located about eight miles from the city. Here I again met with
a monument of antiquity which filled me with wonder and admiration. The
pyramid of Cheops was buil