Life in the Egyptian Deserts

Abstract

After an absence of nearly six years in the military service of H. H. Ismail Pacha, Khedive of Egypt, I have returned to the United States, with a vast and varied store of information upon the distant lands which I have visited, not as a mere tourist, but as an explorer, student and observer. It is my purpose to present this information to the American public, principally in the form of a series of lectures, the subjects of which divide themseles naturally and spontaneously into three distinct parts: First, Antiquities of Egypt, viewed in connection with a brief synopsis of her ancient history, her temples, her ruins, her tombs, all of which I have visited, and of which I have brought back a complete collection of photographs and illustrations. The second branch is Modern Egypt, as it has been made by Mohammed Ali and his successors down to the present day; the people and their various races; their religion and manners; their customs of marriage and divorce; their harems and the condition of their women ; their music, festivals and fashions; their laws and tribunals; the army, its officers and soldiers, drill and discipline; all this illustrated by many views and portraits and types of the people, the women, the soldiers, c distant expeditions in the remote provinces of Egypt, especially in the eastern desert, between the Nile anid the Red sea, and the western desert as far as Kordofan and the frontiers of Darfour. It is to treat of this last branch of the subject that I have the honor to address you to-night, in compliance with the courteous and