SUGAR CULTURE IN EGYPT.

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CHAPTER XII.

SUGAR PLANTATIONS AND MILLS.-SNAKE-CHARMERS.-SIGHTS AT BENI-HASSAN.

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HE first regular halt of the steamer was at Beni-sooef, where the passengers were allowed two hours by the printed schedule. Of course they went on shore at once, and devoted themselves to sight-seeing until recalled by the whistle. The town has a population of about five thousand, and is the capital of a province of the same name. Frank and Fred strolled through the bazaars, but were disappointed, as there was nothing to be found there which they had not already seen in the bazaars of Cairo. The trade of the place has diminished considerably, and Beni-sooef is of less importance to-day than it was three or four centuries ago.

At Minich, the next halting-place, they had an opportunity to visit a sugar-mill, and eagerly embraced it. Minieh is the centre of the sugar culture in Egypt, and the first sugar-mill in the country was erected here and is still in operation. Of late years some very large mills have been built, employing hundreds of people, and during the height of the season they present a busy scene.

The mill visited by our friends was one of the largest. It was so constructed that, from the time the cane enters the crushers till the dry sugar is taken out, there is no lifting or handling of the material, except in a few instances. The machinery is all of French manufacture, and very expensive. A large amount of sugar is manufactured here every year; but there is no profit in the business, partly owing to the great cost of the mills, and partly, it is whispered, in consequence of the frauds of the

managers.

The sugar culture is in the hands of the Khedive, and about two hundred and fifty thousand acres of land are devoted to it, chiefly on the west bank of the Nile between Cairo and Sioot. There are more mills than are really needed for the amount of sugar made, and there is a large quantity of machinery which has never been put up, but lies neglected and rusting on the banks of the river. There is a system of railways for bringing the cane to the mills, and connected with the line of railway

from Cairo up the Nile. The labor on the sugar estates is very poorly paid, and more frequently is not paid at all. The laborers are gathered from the villages along the river, and compelled to work three months on the sugar estates when they should be cultivating their own fields at home.

OPPRESSION OF THE MODERN EGYPTIANS.

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Frank and Fred could not understand this mode of conducting business till the Doctor explained it to them after their return to the steamer. "You observed," said the Doctor, "that the laborers included both sexes, and all ages from five years old to fifty or sixty."

"Yes," answered one of the youths; "and I saw that they did not take much interest in their work, and appeared to be half starved."

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"You will not be surprised at it," replied Doctor Bronson, "when I you they are never paid in money, with the exception of the chiefs of gangs, and the men in charge of the machinery.

"They receive a daily allowance of bread; it is not such bread as we are accustomed to, but simply coarsely ground wheat flour, containing a liberal proportion of mud and chopped straw, and very carelessly baked. With so bad a quality you might suppose the quantity would be abundant, but it is not; a laborer can devour his day's allowance at a single meal, and frequently it is not enough to satisfy his hunger."

"But is that all they get?" one of the boys asked.

"That is frequently all they get," was the reply. "True, they are promised something more, but they do not often receive it.

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"According to an official report on the subject," the Doctor continued, the wages of hands in the factories are fixed at fifteen cents a day for a man, and eight cents for a boy, while those of the field hands are eight cents for a man, and five for a boy. And when they are paid at all it is invariably in kind--that is, in grain, sugar, or molasses, at a high priceand not in money. It is difficult for them to sell these articles, and the best they can do is to eat them, or perhaps barter them off for something more desirable. Not one laborer in twenty has anything to show for his work on the sugar estates or in the factories except his thin cheeks, and the bones half protruding from his skin."

"It is no wonder," said Fred, "that they begged so hard for backsheesh, and that they seemed, unlike the Arabs of Cairo, to be very grateful when we gave them some small coins."

Frank thought it very strange that the sugar culture in Egypt should be unprofitable when the labor cost next to nothing. The Doctor answered that it would undoubtedly pay handsomely whenever it was honestly and economically managed, but from present indications there was no prospect of a change for the better.

After visiting the sugar-mill our friends went to the market-square of Minieh, where a juggler was amusing a crowd of natives with his tricks. His performances were not remarkable for any particular skill, but they served to entertain the people, though he did not succeed in drawing

much money from them. After pretending to swallow knives, coins, and other inconvenient and indigestible things, he drew some snakes from a basket and twined them around his neck.

Everybody was inclined to stand at a respectful distance during this part of the show. Whenever the juggler wished to enlarge the circle of spectators, he put the snake on the ground, and the crowd immediately fell back without being invited to do so. The snake was a huge fellow, seven or eight feet long, and perfectly black. The Doctor said he was not dangerous, so far as his bite was concerned, as he belonged to the family of constrictors, and killed his prey by tightening his coils around it.

Doctor Bronson farther explained to the youths that the snakecharmers of Egypt are a peculiar class. They give exhibitions in the streets in front of houses, and when they do so the favorite place for seeing the show is an upper window or balcony, as in that case the spectator is out of the reach of any possible harm. There are several snakes in Egypt, but only two or three of them are

poisonous. The cobra di capella, the famous hooded snake of India, is often carried about by the performers; but he is imported from the land of his nativity, and does not belong to the Valley of the Nile. Before he is used for show purposes he is deprived of his fangs, and is therefore harmless, but it is not a pleasing sight to see him strike as though he meant serious business.

The Egyptian snake-charmers have a way of making a living by going to houses, and pretending to discover that snakes are concealed about the