Pte George Milne (Lilydale), 6^th Battalion: In camp in Egypt. In a letter to his mother in Lilydale – ‘Am fortunate in landing here at this time of year, on account of holidays, and have made full use of same in seeing all I could. Cairo is an eye-opener; a very mixed population; abounds with smells, mostly from their viands, which they have cooking in front of their shops, also on street barrows. Anyone with a sense of smell soon gives these streets a wide berth. The most striking things of Cairo are the wonderful productiveness of the irrigated areas adjacent to the Nile. Here one can see sugar cane, tomatoes, and lucerne all grow in profusion, though their mode of tillage is as ancient as the city.

Their architecture is very striking, and they have evidently lost none of their old time art. Most pleasing effects are everywhere observable, and a visit to Heliopolis City, about six miles from Cairo, reveals some wonderful architectural attainments. Though the city has been built up in 10 years only, its progress has been remarkable. Each block of a street contains one building only, divided off into about twelve to fifteen shops, and in this way the designs are most pleasing. Private houses also are most wonderful in their construction. The whole of Egypt is one vast sand plain, except where the lands can be irrigated from the Nile. If we had the same heat in Northern Victoria, on the irrigated areas, as here, land would then produce anything at any time.

Rainfall for the whole year averages one inch. Evidently this has had the effect of preserving such a lot of their buried ancient cities, one of which we visited today. American scientists have been busy unearthing one of these, and the sculptured figures, etc., on the walls have been wonderfully preserved. Natives are a source of trouble and the only way to rid oneself is to be severe with them’.