Roosevelt's first host in Africa; Clayton Bey, of the Sirdar's staff, and Captain Meredith, of the steamer Dal, on which the party had come from Gondokoro.

The ex-President tried to make the affair as lively as possible, but he was considerably moved when it came to shaking hands with those whom he was not likely to see again for a long time. He expressed the greatest admiration for Captain Cuninghame's strenuous and unremitting labors, and those of the naturalists, by reason of which the expedition had been made such a marked success. He subsequently attended a reception by the officials of Khartum at the Grand Hotel. Here the band of the 12th Soudanese Infantry played a special programme of native music, which is peculiarly weird and inspiring, for the benefit of Colonel Roosevelt. Later a group of native women gave an exhibition of dances peculiar to the Soudanese.

An interesting event of the afternoon was the placing in position by Colonel Roosevelt of the keystone of the arch for the new cathedral. The affair was conducted with considerable ceremony. The former President also received a deputation of Syrians at the palace in the afternoon.

In a speech at the Egyptian Officers' Club Colonel Roosevelt advised the officers to drop politics while they were soldiers. He was a soldier himself, he said, and a politician, but he never let them intermix. In the Spanish war many of his men differed from him in politics, but that made no difference in his or their position. He said:

"The soldier who mixes in politics becomes a bad politician and a poor soldier. So long as he wears his uniform a soldier is bound in honor to spend all his thought, will and energy in working for the greatness of the flag under which he has fought or has engaged to fight.”

He told the Egyptian officers to remember also that a non-political attitude was the safest, as they were sworn to the service of their country. His address was received with much enthusiasm, and as he departed in company with Slatin Pasha for the palace he was warmly cheered. At 9 o'clock that evening he and the members of his family entered the train, and Khartum soon vanished from sight in the darkness of night.

TH

CHAPTER XXXIV

Roosevelt in the Valley of the Nile

HE railway journey of the Roosevelt family from Khartum to Wady Halfi, 575 miles down the historic Nile, was necessary to take them past the cataract region of the river, the sixth cataract being situated not far below Khartum and the second in the vicinity of Wadi Halfa. At that point the Nile voyage was to be resumed as far as Assouan, the site of the first cataract. Leaving Khartum on a special train at 9 o'clock on the night of the 17th, the station at Wadi Halfa was not reached until a late hour of the next night, so that there was a whole day's ride through the country.

Colonel Roosevelt observed it with much interest, and was enthusiastic in praise of the luxury of the railway travel through the desert. He pleased his hosts by remarking that this road was a monument to the colonizing enterprise of the British people, who seemed able to overcome all difficulties. "The desert offers a striking contrast to the green of the wilderness where I've lately been," he observed. "The mirages on both sides of the road remind me of those I saw in the Sotik country in British East Africa. In one I saw a rhinoceros which I believed to be standing in a shallow lake, which proved to be a mirage."

Mr. Roosevelt was especially interested in the purple colorings on the occasional hills, thrown up probably by volcanic action. The colonel talked much with Captain Middleton, director of railways in the Soudan and one of his companions on the train, about the campaign against the Khalifa, in which the captain had taken part. He said that its success was largely the result of engineering enterprise, since the difficulties of the desert had been overcome by the building of a railway for the conveyance of troops and supplies. Had such means existed fourteen years before, the Mahdi would have been shorn of his triumph.

He also thoroughly discussed the irrigation work in Egypt and the Soudan with Sir William Garstin, a noted engineer, who was on the train. Egypt owes her most modern irrigation works to the engineering capacity of Sir William, who took a leading part in the construction of the great Assouan dam and is one of the highest authorities on the subject of irrigation.

At Halfa the travelers found awaiting them the steamboat Ibis, which was to take them to Shellal, at the head of the first cataract, about 150 miles down the Nile.

At Shellal there was much to interest them. Here was the beautiful temple to Isis, the most charming relic of Egyptian architecture. Unfortunately, modern needs have here proved seriously destructive to ancient art, the great Assouan dam, built for the good of the people, having raised the level of the river until the Island of Phile and the splendid buildings erected upon it are largely submerged. Only the great columns of the temple, thirty-two in number, rise like a marble grove above the water, and the party was taken through them in a boat, admiring much the beauty of their form and capitals. From the temple they were taken to the great dam, a magnificent piece of masonry. While it has drowned the island and its triumphs of art, it has added a considerable area of fertile irrigated soil to the farming region of Egypt and largely improved the food supply.

On their way down the river they had halted to visit the famous rock temple at Abu Sambul, the finest of its kind in the world, where the four colossal statues of Rameses the Great sit in solitary but serene majesty overlooking the valley of the Nile. Colonel Rooseveit sharply condemned the vandals who had cut their names on the breasts and arms of the figures, saying the Government should treat them as they would be treated in America, as, for instance, in Yellowstone Park, where guilty vandals of this kind are compelled to return at their own expense and erase their work.

An interesting example of Egyptian archæology was seen at Assouan in the recently excavated tombs containing the mummies of Egyptian princes of 3,000 years ago. Colonel Roosevelt was interested in those which presented pictures of the domestic life of

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those days, showing a king fishing with a two-pronged spear and watching donkeys entering a town. He returned in the launch to Shellal, expatiating on the exquisite beauty of Philae in the twilight, with the long shadows cast by the columns and rocky hills in the rose lights of the evening.

On leaving Assouan the travelers returned to the railway, taking the regular train for Luxor, which was due at that station on the evening of the 21st. Here are the ruins of ancient Thebes, the splendid capital of the kingdom of Egypt during its later centuries. But the Thebes of to-day is a very different place from the Thebes of old. The Roosevelts found there modern hotels, filled with tourists, many of them from their own far-off land, and all overflowing with enthusiasm in the opportunity of welcoming their former President. It was the first breaker of that tidal wave of admirers which awaited him in Europe.

English and Egyptian officials also greeted them cordially and the Italian consul sent his carriage to convey the travelers to the hotel. It was the traveler's first carriage ride since he had entered the jungle. Dinner was served on the hotel verandah, and afterward he gave an informal reception to about a hundred Americans, who hailed him gladly as their own. Three hearty cheers were given him, followed by the familiar cry, "What's the matter with Roosevelt?" and the stereotyped answer, "He's all right!"

"All I have to say," Colonel Roosevelt remarked, smiling characteristically, "is that I'd like to give three cheers for each of you from California, through Idaho and Nebraska and Iowa and Illinois, clear to Massachusetts and for the States from which you hail."

Accompanied by his wife, Ethel, Kermit and Director of Antiquities Wiegall, he then visited the Karnak temples. He had been here thirty-seven years before, when Luxor was without hotels, and he described it then as a scene of barbaric beauty. That recollection now paled before the magnificence of the sight. A half-moon, occasionally obscured by the clouds, bathed the ruins in soft light, lending a fairy touch to the scene.

"It is beautiful," he exclaimed, as he strolled through the

Temple of Ammon, which is considered the superb creation of an age peculiarly noted for its architectural creations.

The following day was largely devoted to a visit to the famous tombs of the kings, the men of the party mounting horses, while a comfortable carriage was provided for the ladies. The party first entered Sethos, the most beautiful of the Biban El Moluk tombs. The caverns in the rocky hills reached back into long corridors lighted by fitful candles and occasionally by electricity, recalling the descent into mines.

At the tomb of Jenophis the party was led through the darkness by a railing. Suddenly the light was turned on and they looked at a crypt containing a mummy-shaped coffin with the blackened remains of the king, his arms folded in the manner of Napoleon. This is the most dramatic sight in connection with the antique monuments of Egypt.

The party was then taken to another tomb, where Harold Jones, the English artist, was painting on canvas the beautiful frescoes. Mr. Weigall, the inspector-general, who accompanied the party, then showed the tomb of Noremheb, which was discovered two years ago and had not yet been opened to the public. The day was the hottest since Colonel Roosevelt reached civilization, the southwest wind resembling a sirocco.

When the inspection of the tombs was completed, Mr. Weigall, wishing to test the famous endurance of the ex-President, suggested a tramp across the cliffs, which led through a perilous path where the heat is intensified by the reflection on the rocks, expecting that Mr. Roosevelt would object. No objection came and the hardy traveler led in the tramp, making Mr. Weigall admit that he had underestimated the strength of the American. On returning, four men of the party, including Mr. Roosevelt, engaged in a horse race for a mile over the desert in the hot sun, Colonel Roosevelt winning easily by the grace of his horse, as he laughingly said. Mr. Weigall and Kermit tied for second place.

"He astonished me by his knowledge of the relations of the rulers who lived several thousand years ago," observed Mr. Weigall. In connection with Hatesu VIII, Mr. Roosevelt recalled that she was