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. [Illustration: INTERIOR OF A SUGAR-MILL.] 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. [Illustration: A SECURE POINT OF VIEW.] Doctor Bronson farther explained to the youths that the snake-charmers 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 walls. They offer to remove them for a stipulated sum, and their proposal is generally accepted. Then they begin a sort of incantation, calling upon the snake to come forth, and threatening him with death if he does not. In a little while the snake falls from the ceiling or from a crack in the wall, and is picked up by the performer and exhibited to the family as proof of his skill, and that he has earned his money.