HANDBOOK

FOR

EGYPT AND THE EGYPTIAN SÛDÂN.

Practical Information for Travellers.

to

(1) Routes Egypt.-Starting from London, the traveller may journey to Egypt the whole way by sea, or he may use one of the quicker transcontinental routes. To those who have sufficient time, and who are either indifferent or superior to sea-sickness, the long sea route offers many attractions; it occupies from 12 to 14 days. The principal long sea routes to Egypt are :—

From London, by the Peninsular and Oriental, Orient, and Royal Mail lines.

From Liverpool, by the Bibby, Anchor, Henderson, and other lines of steamers.

If the traveller decide to employ one of the transcontinental routes, he may embark at Marseilles, Toulon, Trieste, Venice, Genoa, Naples, or Brindisi, from which ports there is frequent communication with Egypt. Full particulars as to the days and hours of sailing, fares, etc., may be obtained from the offices of Messrs. Thos. Cook & Son.

(2) Season for Travelling.-Speaking generally, the season for travelling in Egypt extends from the beginning of November to the end of April. In Lower Egypt, that is. all the country north of Cairo, November, February, March. and April are delightful months, but in Cairo it is somewhat cold in December and January, and when during these months rain falls in heavy showers throughout the Delta the climate occasionally is unpleasant. Those who like heat will find both May and October very enjoyable months, especially in Lower Egypt. Travellers who are intending to visit Palestine and Syria as well as Egypt cannot do better than select November, December, January, and February, or until the middle of March, for their Nile journey, and March, April, and May, the most genial months of the year, for Palestine. (See pp. 286-288). On the other hand, many people prefer to see the Holy Land in the

autumn, and in this case they should travel there during October and November, and make their journey up the Nile when they return in November or December..

(3) Length of Visit. No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down as to the time which it is necessary to spend in Egypt in order to get a general idea of the country, for in the majority of cases this depends entirely on the individual. A traveller who can endure an ordinary amount of fatigue, and is tolerably active and industrious, and will be contented to be advised by those who have a practical knowledge of the country, can in from 35 to 40 days see a great deal of Egypt; moreover, each year brings with it new and increased facilities for travelling, and the traveller can now move with extraordinary rapidity from one great town to another. All that is wanted is a carefully thought-out plan, and fixity of purpose to carry it out. If a traveller can spare five weeks for his journey in Egypt itself he should give two days to Alexandria, 14 days to Cairo, and 20 to 24 days to his trip to Aswân, including a stay of three or four days at Luxor. In five weeks all the principal temples and ruins between Cairo and the First Cataract can be seen, and if another week can be spared, a visit to the Second Cataract and Wâdî Ḥalfah, and to the temple of Rameses II at Abu Simbel, can be included. Invalids and persons seeking relief from sickness or disease must, of course, follow the instructions of their medical advisers, and their movements cannot be taken as the standard for moderately healthy folk who have only a very limited time to spend on their trip, and who intend to see all they can in a short period. Before the advent of Messrs. Thos. Cook & Son's Tourist Steamers in 1886 it was customary for travellers to make the voyage up the Nile in a dahabiyyah, i.e., a kind of large house-boat with sails, and it was no uncommon thing for a party to spend four or five months in travelling from Cairo to Wâdî Ḥalfah and back. By the aid of steam it was found possible for the tourist to see the principal antiquities on both banks of the Nile in about 30 days, and large numbers availed themselves of the opportunities offered to them by Messrs. Cook. The Tourist Steamer has been the means of throwing open the wonders of Egypt and the Nile to thousands of people who would otherwise have been debarred by expense from seeing one of the most wonderful countries in the world.

(4) Expenses and Hotels.-The cost of a tour in Egypt varies according to its length and the needs of the traveller,

and it is futile to estimate the daily cost of living unless the place of abode and the habits of the visitor are known. From 20s. to 30s. a day should pay for board and lodging in an ordinary way, but carriages and the services of a good and capable dragoman, or interpreter, are somewhat expensive items if required frequently. The electric trams, though the clang of their bells is deafening, afford a very quick and cheap means of locomotion, and they have made readily accessible many parts of the city which formerly could only be visited in a carriage. There is no doubt that the cost of living comfortably in Cairo has risen since the War, and that servants of all kinds are not satisfied with the gratuities which would have been received gratefully a few years ago. It must, however, be remembered that it costs more to live among clean surroundings and in comfort than in discomfort, and that the proprietors of large luxuriously furnished hotels, built on sites in the most expensive and fashionable quarters of a town, must charge a higher rate per day than those who own hotels and pensions which stand in old and insalubrious quarters.

Thos. Cook & Son have made such arrangements in the East that the most inexperienced travellers may avail themselves of them without fear of not being able to get on as well as on the beaten Continental routes. Hotels. Accommodation may be secured in advance through Messrs. Cook & Son at any class of hotel, from single bedrooms to suites of apartments, on any floor, with whatever aspect may be desired, and "en pension" terms are arranged for an extended stay. Those who propose making a Tour to Egypt, with extension to Palestine, Sinai, or elsewhere, should furnish a list of the places they wish to visit, and Thos. Cook & Son will promptly send them a quotation which will represent the lowest price possible for which the journey can be accomplished, according to the class of travel and character of the accommodation required.

(5) Dragomans.-The traveller who is a stranger in Egypt, and has no knowledge of the language, will find his pleasure greatly increased if he hires a dragoman,* i.e., an * This interesting word is derived through the Arabic targumân, from the old Assyrian, ^«<, tar-gu-man-nu.

ވ

ترجمان

,

Assyrian,«,

The word occurs in a list of officials written on a tablet in the British Museum (K 2012, Rev., line 5).

"interpreter," for good dragomans save their employers time, trouble, and money. It often requires considerable moral courage to keep these individuals in their proper places, for the more useful and capable they are the more easy is it for their employers to lose control over them. Dragomans are of two classes, i.e., those who undertake the charge of parties on long journeys, and those who act merely as guides to the various places of interest in cities or towns. The former are often educated men, and can speak from two to five languages; the latter can usually speak English or French, but are useful chiefly in conducting the traveller from one part of the city to another when his time is limited.

Messrs. Thos. Cook & Son are now able to select their dragomans from a number of well-qualified candidates, and at the present time they are inferior to none in the country in general information about the temples, tombs, etc., and in courtesy. Many Egyptians who offer to escort the tourist, and call themselves dragomans, are neither authorized nor qualified to act as such, and they bring discredit on Messrs. Cook's well-informed dragomans.

(6) Money and Coinage.—Travellers are recommended to carry the money they require on the journey in Circular Notes issued by Thos. Cook & Son as these afford great security, and can be cashed readily. Circular notes are issued for sums of £20 and upwards (in notes, £20, £10, and £5 each), and Letters of Credit for sums of £100 and upwards. Foreign moneys can be obtained from the head office and principal branches of Thos. Cook & Son, who, having branch offices and correspondents in all parts of the East, are in a position to offer special facilities to travellers for the arrangement of all matters connected with Foreign Banking and Exchange.

The Egyptian pound (£E.) contains 100 piastres, and each piastre contains 10 millièmes; it is worth 20s. 6d., or nearly 26 francs. The pound being divided into 100 piastres, each piastre, which is called a piastre* tariff (P.T.), is worth 2d., and a millième is therefore worth d. The English pound or sovereign is worth 97 P.T.; the Napoleon, or 20-franc gold piece, is worth 772% P.T.; and the Turkish pound is worth 873 P.T. Silver coins are the Riyâl, or dollar,

*From the Low Latin plastra, a plaster, a thin piece of money (French piastre, Spanish and Italian piastra). The Arabic for piastre is kirsh

. غرش or ghirsh و فرس

which is worth 20 piastres, the half and quarter Riyâl, worth 10 and 5 piastres respectively, and the 2-piastre and 1-piastre pieces. In nickel we have pieces worth 1 piastre, 1, 2, and 5 millièmes respectively. In the old system of coinage a piastre was worth 40 para, and 2-para and 1-para pieces are struck at the present time. These are, however, chiefly used for scattering among children as bakshish.

Egyptian Coins and Nickel Coinage.