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| THE PRIDE OF THE DESERT - We have here a
beautiful Nubian youth, such as for perhaps five thousand years the
deserts of African Koosh have produced for the delight of Ethiopian
poets and the despair of maidens of the Upper Nile. The boy before
us in the engraving is Mohammed Ali, of the Nubian troupe in the
Street of Cairo. Nor should it be thought that this youth of
eighteen years must not support his fame with deeds of valor, for he
is the scion of a race of fanatics whose crimes in the name of
religion and patriotism have made the southern deserts a land of
death. The careful manner of dressing the hair is shown in the
engraving, and the plaits and fine ringlets are made possible by
lavish use of coconut oil. Mohammed Ali arrived in Chicago, April
13, 1893. Beside his encounters with the sword and crooked stick, he
was a patient and effective performer on the drum or tambour, a
cylindrical vessle covered with skin at one end, and beaten with the
fingers and palm of one hand.
DANCING GIRL IN THE STREET OF CAIRO THEATRE - This girl
was one of the famous Eastern dancers from Madame Roza's Cafe
Chantant, in Paris. Her dance was a series of postures, ending in
furious contortions and swift muscular rhythm, with little action of
the feet, which were barely visible. |
