DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4592#0034
34 HABITATIONS.
afford much water. The Needle of Cleopatra now
standing, is a granite obelisk, rising to the height of
sixty feet, and suddenly sharpening at the top. It is
covered on all sides with hieroglyphics. On the side
facing the Desert, and on which the sirocco has beaten
for many centuries, the characters are nearly obliter-
ated ; while" on the other sides they stand out fresh and
fair. A few yards from this lies the prostrate brother,
and partly buried in the sand, ,It is said to-have been
taken doWn many years ago, for the purpose of remo-
ving it to England, but that the Pacha finally refused
to have it taken away. It is about the size of the
standing one, and like it covered with characters,
which only mock the sciences of the present day.
In the immediate vicinity of Cleopatra's Needles, I
noticed a long range of miserable clay huts, No
human habitations can possibly present more of degra*
dation and extreme Wretchedness, than were there
seen, We were told by our guide, that these were
houses for the soldiers' families. They appeared
to be wholly constructed of clay, with slight covers
ings of reeds and straw with the bare earth to sit or lie
on. Women and children of the most .filthy and
squalid appearance, were either seated or wandering
among these miserable kennels, for they deserve no
better name. I have seen many Indian wigwams in
the American forest, but nothing like the degraded
picture of extreme wretchedness seen among' these
cells in Alexandria and other parts of Egypt, These
dens of wretchedness abound in all the suburb parts of
that city.
Round the outskirts of the city are constantly seen
afford much water. The Needle of Cleopatra now
standing, is a granite obelisk, rising to the height of
sixty feet, and suddenly sharpening at the top. It is
covered on all sides with hieroglyphics. On the side
facing the Desert, and on which the sirocco has beaten
for many centuries, the characters are nearly obliter-
ated ; while" on the other sides they stand out fresh and
fair. A few yards from this lies the prostrate brother,
and partly buried in the sand, ,It is said to-have been
taken doWn many years ago, for the purpose of remo-
ving it to England, but that the Pacha finally refused
to have it taken away. It is about the size of the
standing one, and like it covered with characters,
which only mock the sciences of the present day.
In the immediate vicinity of Cleopatra's Needles, I
noticed a long range of miserable clay huts, No
human habitations can possibly present more of degra*
dation and extreme Wretchedness, than were there
seen, We were told by our guide, that these were
houses for the soldiers' families. They appeared
to be wholly constructed of clay, with slight covers
ings of reeds and straw with the bare earth to sit or lie
on. Women and children of the most .filthy and
squalid appearance, were either seated or wandering
among these miserable kennels, for they deserve no
better name. I have seen many Indian wigwams in
the American forest, but nothing like the degraded
picture of extreme wretchedness seen among' these
cells in Alexandria and other parts of Egypt, These
dens of wretchedness abound in all the suburb parts of
that city.
Round the outskirts of the city are constantly seen