from a great
distance for the erection of temples and palaces, as for this granite
and alabaster temple of the Sphinx, the Egyptians probably adopted the
simplest way of conveying the material in a land where task-masters
drove tens of thousands of slaves to labor on the public works. That is,
they probably excavated canals from the Nile to the quarries,
supplementing these, where necessary, with stone roadways or slides, and
made other canals from the Nile to the location selected for the
buildings, and transported the unwieldy masses of stone on barges to
their destination."

"I made some calculations for comparison last night," continued the
professor, seeing that we were interested in his statements. "Professor
Petrie, the archaeologist, says that there are over two million large
blocks of stone in the Pyramid of Cheops, or ninety-two million cubic
feet."

"Now, Professor," said one of the ladies, interrupting him, "you are
getting above our comprehension when you soar into millions."

[Illustration: BEARING ON HIS BACK AN UNWIELDY GOATSKIN.]

"Am I?" he replied. "Well, I will leave the millions and give you
something more familiar. The Capitol at Washington is seven hundred and
fifty feet long,--just the length of each side of the base of
Cheops,--but the Capitol is not half that in width. The Capitol covers
an area of three and one-half acres; the Pyramid spreads over thirteen
acres. The apex of the Pyramid is one hundred and sixty feet higher than
the head of Freedom on the dome at Washington. The Capitol is a hollow
structure; the Pyramid, a solid mass, excepting the comparatively small
chamber of the tomb and passage ways. The stone used in the construction
of Cheops would be sufficient to build the Capitol and the Library of
Congress, and there would be enough material left over for capitol
buildings in each of the states in the Union. When you have time,
calculate how many miles of stone wall might be constructed with
ninety-two million cubic feet of stone. It is only by comparison that we
can comprehend the stupendous bulk of these magnificent monuments, and
realize the prodigious amount of labor that was required for their
erection."

It was but a short drive from the Hotel Grand Continental to the Muski,
the narrow street that is the centre of the bazaar district, a district
which every visitor is sure to find soon after his arrival in Cairo.
When we entered the crowded Muski, we left the broad avenu