June 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



MINERAL SUBSTANCES FOR WRITING ON. 505 



Maliomedan bigotry, yet understanding the general laws of humanity ; 

 they have been, however, so ground down by centuries of oppression, 

 that a low cunning has been developed painful to note. Gratitude they 

 are unacquainted with ; it is quite unknown to them, and this failing 

 often disappoints Europeans ; they are lazy, except in agriculture, 

 sensual, dirty, and obstinate ; on the other hand, they are wonderfully 

 hardy, working out in the fields during the full heat of the sun, with 

 nothing on them save a covering for the loins, and a camel's-hair 

 bonnet ; not revengeful, and considering their religious feelings against 

 Christians can be got to work pretty well by those who study their 

 character. The best way to manage them is by fear, being at the same 

 time just and truthful. The women and children work almost as much 

 as the men, and bear fatigue wonderfully. It is just to say that the 

 English workmen who have gone out to work steam-ploughs, cotton- 

 gins, &c, have generally acted badly, beating the natives, getting drunk, 

 and working little, though many earn from 201. to SOL a month, besides 

 board and lodging. Say the Arabs, " These Christians eat our dates, and 

 throw the stones in our faces." 



The greatest nuisance in dealing with the natives is the system of 

 backshish which pervades all classes. European intercourse is, how- 

 ever, improving this state of things. 



Labour might be obtained from Greeks and Maltese, but they are 

 a treacherous and unsafe people to deal with, though they have the 

 advantage of working on Friday, which the native has not. 



MINERAL SUBSTANCES FOR WRITING ON. 



By means of writing mankind record their fleeting thoughts ; they 

 engrave them on stone and metal, and thus from the remotest ages does 

 the information reach us of what once existed. Long since have those 

 nations passed away, who first trod the path of civilisation and raised 

 themselves to refinement and power ; scarcely a vestige or a trace of 

 their existence remains, yet do they still speak to us on stones and 

 rocks, and what they engraved with hammer and chisel has been 

 reserved for all ages. But these records are mysterious and obscure, and 

 their interpretation an art calling for all the ingenuity of man to effect. 

 On the Obelisks, which rear their pinnacles on high among the ruins 

 and Pyramids of Egypt, is engraved in hieroglyphics the history of an 

 extinct age. While wandering among the gigantic ruins of Perstpolis 

 the City of the ancient Persian Kings, the eye of the explorer will 

 especially dwell upon the inscriptions on the dilapidated walls. For a 

 long time these cuneiform inscriptions were a mystery, but now their 

 obscure meaning is solved and they speak to us as witnesses of an a^e 



