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15
T H E _ SOUTHER N I SR A E L I T E
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Th
o s e
P
o o r
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Arab
Travel Impressions of a Journalist
By THEODOR HERZI.
This hitherto unpublished travel de
scription. by the founder of The Modern
Zionist Movement will thrill you. On his
way to Palestine, Dr. Herzl stopped long
enough in Cairo to observe Arab life in the
Egyptian city. Herzl on the Arabs! What
a feast for discerning readers.— Editor.
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but to raise and improve it. This puzzling
intruder spreads light, creates order, pro
vides for cleanliness, protects health,
brings justice, regulates the finances, lets
every one follow the dictates of his own
soul, safeguards the streets, builds dams
and operates the water supply, the water
of the Nile, as no other sovereign of Egypt
THEODOR HERZL
Nile branches, water ditches, water
wheels, buffaloes, camels, asses with their
riders and drivers, here and there a vih
lage—that is, a group of large mud clumps
whose shape indicates imitation of the tent
-then a larger town with its dirty, noisy,
gaudily colorful market place; the high
way once more, with its camels and asses,
with more water-wheels and buffaloes—
such is the trip. Until the outlines of pyra
mids rise from gardens, spires, mosques,
palaces—Cairo!
The street before the
hotel is a carnival. One site
on the large terrace fan
ning away flies and letting
things come to one and
pass on. Colors and shouts.
Hundreds of offers by
guides and merchants. The
hildishness and filth of the
Orient. But in the midth
<>f all this stand some
austere guardians of the
peace, with something of
he British manner, almost
policemen. A division of
Highlanders marches past,
rim boys in kilts—the
Army of Occupation. Other
Englishmen, officers, wear
he tarbush, which is taller
han the Turkish fez. And
hey know how to make
rder without brutality or
ropical heat; the results
u’e marvelous. For incon-
eivable ages the people of
'&ypt has been used to be-
Jg ruled by strangers.
Sow a stranger has come
;ho looks more fabulous
an all the conquerors,
Tber princes and despots
the past; an overlord
"? se aim it is not to ex-
oit or crush the people
—Courtesy National Recreation Association
AT THE JERUSALEM PLAYGROUND
has done in all the centuries. The fellah
does not know, and if he did know would
not understand, that the overlord provides
all these benefits because of a lofty and re
mote thirst for power.
Even more remarkable is the gentleness
with which this foreign despot preserves
the beautiful and ancient and traditional.
Homage is paid the local genius. An Eng
lishman, indeed, cannot imagine hindering
any one in the free pursuit of his faith or
tongue or tradition. That is why a nation
which has the good fortune to be subju
gated by England learns to enjoy a free
dom of which it never even dreamed
before.
Many hours could be spent in thoughts
of this sort as one fans away flies on the
terrace and gazed down at the carnival of
the street. Excursionists return from the
pyramids, others ride out to the graves of
the Caliphs, to Memphis or Heluan or even
farther, to the ostrict farms of Matarije,
near Helipolis, to the Spring of Moses and
all the other places which a conscientious
globe-trotter must see if he wants to be
able to show his face after he gets back
home. For globe-trotters here are the same
as everywhere else and add an amusing
note to the fullness of the picture, though
they do contribute a touch of ordinariness.
The street of Cairo is almost too modern,
too European. But suddenly a recalling
shout resounds in the road, and we are in
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiii'iMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiMiHNiNiiiiimiiiiiiiiiHiiiniiiiiiiHniEgy pt oik e more. The shout comes from
two barefoot, gold-galloon-
ed runners who precede a
luxurious carriage drawn
by splendid steeds; the
common people, thus warn
ed, must get out of the
way—else the runners scat
ter blows with their wands.
Within the closed car
riage sits ladies eveloped in
black silk. Their brows and
eyes are bare, the lower
part of their faces is cov
ered with rose-colored veils
so opaque that one feels
the wearers must be be
witching. Dark eyes shine
—one senses a perfumed
mystery. The East!
The street — Arabian,
Levanthine, European—en
tertain me. All the dregs
of all the world are here.
All day and until late at
night this mixed life rolls
past the hotel terrace. The
open carriages with their
swift little horses remind
me of the carrozzelle of
Naples. And the wornQ on
the balconies also are more
South European than
North African. But the
—Courtesy National Recreation Association merchants aild guides who
AN ARAB WEDDING—A SCENE FROM THE PURIM CARNIVAL (Please turn to page 58)