A RAMBLE THROUGH THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.
From the café Doctor Bronson and his young friends continued their excursion in the direction of the bazaars, which both the boys were impatient to visit. They had heard and read of the bazaars of Cairo, and the strange things to be seen in them, and as they went along the Doctor supplemented what they already knew by an explanation of the differences between Oriental and Occidental shopping.
AN ORIENTAL SHOPKEEPER EXAMINING HIS BOOKS.
"In our own land," said Doctor Bronson, "as well as in most countries of Europe, you find shops and stores scattered about so as to catch as much custom as possible. As a general thing a tradesman endeavors to set up his business in a block or street where there is no one in the same line, and it is only in rare instances that you see two establishments of the same kind side by side. But in the East all the men in a certain line of trade gather together, and out of this tendency we have the bazaars of Cairo and Constantinople. Suppose you go out in New York or Chicago in search of a book, a coat, a pair of shoes, a piece of silk, some perfumes, and an article of jewellery. You might find them all in a single walk of a few hundred yards, as it is quite possible that a book-store, a clothing-store, a shoemaker's shop, and the other establishments might be found in a single block. But in Cairo you would need to visit several bazaars or collections of shops; the book-stores are all in one place, the clothing-stores in another, the shoemakers in another, and so on through the list. It would take hours to accomplish what you would do at home in a few minutes, and there is nothing better than this system of shopping to illustrate the Oriental disregard of time. The shops in any given bazaar are pretty much alike, and contain almost identically the same articles; the customers wander from one shop to another, and spend a great deal of time in bargaining and examining the goods. Time is of no consequence either to them or to the dealers, and you will often wonder how the latter can possibly make a living."
INTERIOR OF A CARAVANSARY.
As the Doctor finished his remarks the guide called their attention to a large gate-way, and at his suggestion they passed inside. They found themselves in a broad court, which was formed by a series of rooms running round a square, and opening toward the enclosed space. Goods were piled in many of these rooms; in the court-yard there were boxes and bales scattered about, and several camels with burdens on their backs were standing quietly, or being led by their owners according to the will of the latter. Near one side of the square there was a fountain like a pile of whitewashed bricks, and a horse was drinking from a trough in front of it.
GATE-WAY OF A CARAVANSARY.
The guide explained that the place they had entered was a caravansary or inn (usually called a khan), and that it might be taken as a fair sample of the Oriental hotel. "The rooms," said he, "are let out to travellers or merchants for a small sum, and the keeper will provide food for man and beast, just as a tavern-keeper would in America. The rooms have no furniture, nothing but the bare walls, and floors; the occupant spreads his carpet and bedding on the floor, and if he has any merchandise he piles it up, and can, if he chooses, convert the place into a shop. There are stables for camels and other beasts of burden on the side opposite the entrance; if you go into them you will find a small platform over the farther end of each compartment, and the trough or manger is directly beneath it. The drivers sleep on these platforms, so as to be near their animals, to prevent their being stolen, and to look after them generally."
Frank asked if the Eastern caravansary of the present day was like the same institution mentioned several times in the Bible.
"There can be little doubt that it is," the Doctor answered, "as the customs of the country have changed very little from Bible times to our own. It was just such a place as this where our Saviour was born, and the trough or manger where he was cradled was like any one of the feeding-troughs in this caravansary."
While they were looking at the rooms and other parts of the caravansary, the khanjy, or keeper, came forward and asked what they wanted. The guide explained that they were strangers who wished to see the place, and he accompanied the explanation with a small backsheesh. The khanjy said they might remain as long as they liked; but they had seen all there was of interest about the place, and soon withdrew.
A STREET IN A BAZAAR AT CAIRO.
Soon after leaving the khan they entered the cloth bazaar, where the shops were principally filled with cloths of different kinds. The merchants endeavored to attract their attention, and the runners were at times so troublesome that the Doctor instructed the guide to say that they had not come there to buy, but simply to look around. He took the opportunity to tell the boys that the word bazaar is Persian, and means "a collection of shops," while the Arabic word of the same meaning is sook. "We thus have," said he, "the 'Sook el Hamzowee,' the 'Sook el Attarin' (drug bazaar), the 'Sook-es-Soudan' (bazaar for Soudan products), and many others whose character we shall learn by-and-by."
SHOPPING SCENE IN THE HAMZOWEE.
"We are now," said the guide, "in the 'Sook el Hamzowee,' or cloth market, though a more literal translation would make it 'the market of the Christians.' The merchants here are all Christians, either Syrians or Copts, and they close their places on Sunday. Many of the cloths here are of European manufacture, and the merchants are just as keen as their Moslem competitors in demanding exorbitant prices for their wares. The man you see running up and down with a roll of cloth on his head is a dallal, or auctioneer; he is shouting out the last offer for the goods he is carrying, and is asking if anybody will give more. If he receives a new offer he instantly calls it out, and when nobody will give any more he shouts for the owner of the goods to come and close the transaction."
Our friends encountered several of these auctioneers in the course of their walk, and Frank remarked that there was a fine opportunity for fraud if anybody chose to practise it. He thought that while out of sight round a corner the piece of cloth might be exchanged for a cheaper one of the same general appearance, and the purchaser would be defrauded.
"Not much chance of that," responded the Doctor; "these fellows are altogether too sharp to be imposed on in that way; and if an auctioneer should play that trick once, and be detected, he would be forbidden to come into the bazaars to practise his profession."
The narrow street that formed the double row of shops in the bazaar was covered with an arched roof containing openings for admitting the light. The Doctor said that the dealers did not object to the sombre aspect of the place, as it made their goods appear finer than when submitted to the full glare of day. "You may sometimes notice," said he, "that the tailors of New York and other American cities take their customers to the rear of the shop when exhibiting materials, rather than to the front where the light is strongest. The reason is the same there as here; textile fabrics have a finer appearance under a subdued light than under a powerful one."
From the Hamzowee the promenade was continued through other bazaars, till the youths had seen a great deal more than they were likely to remember. They went through the bazaar of the jewellers, which consists of a series of narrow lanes, rather irregularly connected, and in many places not more than a yard in width; Frank thought the place was originally intended for a labyrinth, and his opinion was confirmed when they came around in their wanderings to the point whence they started. Frank wanted to buy something for his sister and Miss Effie, but was restrained by the Doctor, who advised him to postpone his purchases till he was better acquainted with the ways of dealing with the jewellers.
EASTERN NECKLACES.
We may as well record at this point that he returned another day, and bought some necklaces which he thought would be prized at home, and the result proved the correctness of his theory. For his sister he chose a necklace consisting of a string of gold coins about as large as silver five-cent pieces, with one in the centre much larger than the rest. For Miss Effie he selected one of curiously shaped links, with tiny globes between them, while from the lower point of each link there hung a heart-shaped plate of gold that was intended to sparkle whenever the wearer moved. There were many of these necklaces for sale in the bazaar, and Frank had no difficulty in finding one that suited his taste.
The boys found that they could not buy things in a hurry in the bazaars of Cairo. As before stated, time is of no consequence to an Oriental, and he expects to spend an hour at least over a bargain. Frank had been properly instructed, and so when he set out to buy the necklace for his sister he carelessly asked the price of one he was looking at.
The dealer named a figure, and Frank shook his head.
The dealer named another figure, five or ten per cent. lower. Frank again shook his head, and then the dealer asked what he would give.
Frank offered about a third of the price that had been demanded originally.
It was now the dealer's turn to refuse, and he did so. He emphasized his refusal by putting the necklace back into the show-case, which he carefully locked.
WEIGHING GOLD IN THE JEWELLERS' BAZAAR.
Frank offered a little advance on his first proposal, but the dealer again declined it, and our friends moved away. Just as they did so the dealer named a lower price than he had yet asked for the article, but to no purpose, however.
They went a few steps and stopped at another shop. While they were looking at something it contained they were called back by the merchant with whom they originally talked, and the bargaining was renewed.
The dealer slowly lowered his figures, and Frank as slowly advanced his offer. In fifteen or twenty minutes they met, and Frank secured the necklace at a little more than half what had been demanded originally. The Doctor told him he had done very well, and could be trusted to deal with the Orientals.
"Remember," said the Doctor, "that these people are never in a hurry, and consequently you must be like them if you are to deal with them. They think it absolutely necessary to pass a certain time over a transaction, and do not understand our Western habits of coming to terms at once. You have bought that necklace for a certain price, and it is safe to say that the merchant has made a good profit by the transaction. If you had offered him that figure at first he would have refused it, and continued to refuse, as he would thereby have missed the necessary chaffering and haggling.
"When I first visited Egypt I was sometimes impatient of delay, and used to tell the dealers I had only one price to give, and would not bargain with them. I thought I could bring them to terms, though my friends told me I could not. One day I went to the Hamzowee, and tried to buy a cafieh, or silk handkerchief, in gaudy colors, and embroidered with gold, which was worth about fifteen francs. The merchant demanded thirty-five francs for it. I offered him sixteen, and he fell to thirty at once.
"I did not raise my bid, but repeated my offer two or three times. He fell to twenty-five francs, and would not go lower. I did not rise above sixteen, and he allowed me to go away. A friend of mine stood by, but pretended not to know me, and when I had finished my effort and gone he began to bargain for the cafieh, just as you bargained for the necklace. He offered five francs to begin with, and by spending half an hour over the matter he bought the article for fifteen francs, or one less than had been refused from me!
"There was a shrewd old Syrian who used to come around the hotels to peddle silk goods. Knowing the fondness of English and Americans for the one-price system, he would say, when exhibiting an article worth twenty francs,
"'If you want to bargain for it, it is fifty francs; but if you want the last price, without bargaining, it is thirty-five francs.'
"Strangers were occasionally tricked in this way, and gave him his price without question, if they wanted the article; but those who had been a week or two in the country knew better, and began to bargain with thirty-five francs as the asking price. The result would be that they would bring him down to twenty francs after the usual amount of haggling. You must bargain for everything here when dealing with natives, and they are not to be believed if they say they have only one price. I have heard a man offer an article in about these words, after a bargain had been progressing for some time:
"'The very lowest I can sell this for—I give you my word of honor it cost me that—is fifty francs. I will take nothing less than fifty francs, and you need not offer me anything under it.'
"You believe he is not speaking the truth, and offer him thirty. He declares that the thing cost him fifty, but he will take forty-five, and absolutely nothing less. You offer him thirty-five—he falls to forty, and the bargain is concluded."
Frank profited by the advice, but carried the lesson too far. When he went the next day to the post-office to send some letters to America, the clerk weighed the letters, and told him the postage amounted to two francs and a half. The youth offered one franc and a half, and on the clerk refusing to accept it he turned to walk away. Suddenly realizing the mistake he had made, he returned, bought the necessary stamps, affixed them to the letters, and dropped them in the letter-box.
The journal kept by the youths contained the following record of their adventures in the bazaars:
"In the bazaar of the jewellers, or rather of the gold and silver smiths, we saw the men at work with implements as primitive as those of the jewellers of India. The bellows of the silversmith was nothing more than a conical bag of goat-skin open at one end, where the air was pumped in by a skilful manipulation of a pair of handles. At the other end was an iron tube, which carried the air to a lump of clay supporting a charcoal fire. A few hammers and pincers constituted the entire 'kit' of the workman, but with them he managed to turn out articles of many different shapes. We were told that strangers are liable to be swindled, as the dealers often sell plated-ware and declare it is solid, and the government stamp to indicate its genuineness cannot be relied on. When a wealthy native desires an article of fine gold or silver he buys the metal, and then has the jeweller go to his house and work directly under his eye, so that there can be no cheating.
KITCHEN UTENSILS.
"From the jewellers' bazaar we went to the 'Sook-en-Nahhasin,' or bazaar of the coppersmiths, where we saw some trays of copper and brass, and a great many pots and utensils for the kitchen and domestic use generally. We bought a couple of ink-and-pen holders, such as the Arabs write with: there is a long handle for containing the little reeds which they use as pens, and a bottle at the end for holding ink. The apparatus is stuck into the waist-belt, and you see it worn by a great many people.
BASIN AND EWER.
"There were many shapes and sizes of the kitchen utensils, and all were made of brass or copper. There were tongs and shovels very much like our own stewpans, with and without handles, and a little pot with a long handle, in which they make coffee. One of the prettiest things we saw for household use was a basin and ewer, or pitcher, for washing the hands after dinner. The Doctor explained the manner of using it, and said it was carried round the table by a servant, who poured water on the hands of each guest, and allowed it to run into the basin after the ablution was performed. There is a perforated cover in the centre of the basin, and it has a cup in the top for holding a ball of scented soap. The ewer has a long slender spout opposite the handle, and there is a perforated cover to keep out the flies and other undesirable things.
BOTTLE FOR ROSE-WATER.
"In the perfume bazaar we were welcomed by a variety of agreeable odors, and by the shop-keepers and their runners, who tried to sell us ottar of rose and oil of sandal-wood, which are the perfumes most sought by strangers. Every shop promised to give us the genuine article, and said there was no other place where it could be bought. The Doctor says it is simply impossible to get the real ottar of rose anywhere in the bazaar, no matter what price you pay, and consequently it is best to be moderate in your figures. The veritable perfume is worth, at the place of manufacture, about fifty dollars an ounce, and therefore, when you buy it for two or three or five dollars an ounce, you can hardly expect to get the best. It is very funny to hear the strangers at the hotel talk about their purchases of ottar of rose. Each one knows a place, which has been shown him in strict confidence, where the genuine perfume can be bought; but it can only be obtained on a promise not to reveal the locality, or some similar nonsense. If you ever come to Egypt this ottar of rose business will afford you much amusement if you are careful to manage it properly.
ORIENTAL GUNS.
"The shoe bazaar and the arms bazaar were not particularly interesting, as the former contained little else than a great lot of shoes, and the latter had a miserable collection of weapons that were hardly worth carrying away. Formerly the arms bazaar was a favorite spot for visitors, as there were many old and curious things to be found there, but nearly everything worth buying up was secured long ago. We saw some Oriental guns with funny shaped stocks. The Doctor says the barrels of these weapons are nearly all from Europe, while the stocks are of Egyptian or other Oriental manufacture. There is a strong prejudice against explosive caps, and if you give a gun with a percussion-lock to a native, he will have it changed as soon as possible to a flint-lock. They rarely use shot, and the best of the native sportsmen would hardly think of shooting a bird on the wing.
BAB-EL-NASR.
"From the bazaars we continued our walk to the Bab-el-Nasr, or 'Gate of Victory,' one of the most important gates of Cairo. It was built in the eleventh century, and is mostly of hewn stone, with winding stairways leading to the top, holes for cannon and small arms, and is so large and strong that it was selected by Napoleon as the central point of defence while he held the city. It is a little fort in itself, and we were very glad to have the opportunity of examining it.
"We gave a little backsheesh to the gate-keeper, and he allowed us to go to the top, where we had a view of the nearest part of the city, and of the heaps of rubbish lying outside the gates. There were several wolfish-looking dogs prowling among the dust-heaps, and they growled as they caught sight of us, and saw that we were not natives. The dogs of Cairo have a great hatred of foreigners, as we shall have occasion to say by-and-by."
STREET SCENE NEAR THE BAB-EL-NASR.