The train now runs to the W. through the Arabian Desert, intersected here by the Wâdi Tûmîlât, and skirts the Ismaîlîyeh Canal (p. [454]).
Near (85 M.) Abu Hammâd begins the well-watered and well-planted E. part of the Nile Delta. To the S. of the railway lies the Biblical land of Goshen (Gen. xlv. 10), which was miserably neglected during the Turkish period, but has now awakened to new life.
97 M. Zakâzîk (Buffet; Brit. cons. agent, G. Diacono; pop. 60,000), capital of the E. Egyptian province of Sharkîyeh, favourably situated at the junction of several railways and on the Muizz Canal (part of the ancient Tanite arm of the Nile, see p. [418]), is a rapidly improving place. It is the chief seat of the Egyptian cotton and grain trade. The large cotton-mills give some quarters of the town quite a European look.—Near Tell Basta, ½ hr. to the S.E. of Zakâzîk, are the ruins of the ancient Bubastis (Egyp. Per-Bastē, the Pi-beseth of Ezekiel xxx. 17).
116 M. Benha, and thence to (145 M.) Cairo, see p. [438].
Cairo.[[7]]
Railway Stations. 1. Central Station (Pl. B, 1; Buffet), for Alexandria, Port Said, and Upper Egypt, to the N.W. of the town, beyond the Ismaîlîyeh Canal, ½ M. from the Ezbekîyeh.—2. Pont Limûn Station, or Gare de Matarîyeh, adjoining the central, for Matarîyeh (Old Heliopolis), for the electric line to the Heliopolis Oasis (see p. [441]), etc.—3. Bâb el-Lûk Station (Pl. B, 5), for Helwân (p. [464]).—The hotel omnibuses and the porters and tourist-agents (p. [441]) await the arrival of the express trains. Or an Arab porter, wearing a metal badge on his arm, may be engaged to carry luggage to an omnibus or a cab (tariff, see p. [441]). Heavy luggage is taken to the hotels in separate vehicles.
[7]. A Street is often called sikkeh or tarîk. A shâria (French chareh) is an avenue or boulevard; derb is a road (also caravan-route); hâra, a lane (also quarter of the city); atfa, a blind alley or cul-de-sac; mîdân, a square. Most of the names have been affixed, since the British occupation, in Arabic character and in English or French transliteration. It should be noted that in the Plan and in the text the English ee is replaced by the continental and more usual i or î and the French ou or English oo usually by u or û.
Hotels (mostly in the English style and excellent, but generally crowded in Jan.-March; advisable to telegraph for rooms from Alexandria or Port Said; closed in summer or charges reduced).
In the Town: *Shepheard’s Hotel (Pl. B, 3), Shâria Kâmel, with terrace, garden, restaurant, bar, post-office, etc., pens. from 80 pias., patronized by American and English travellers; *Savoy (Pl. B, 4), Mîdân Suleimân Bâsha, pens. from 80 pias., with excellent restaurant (déj. 30, D. 50 pias.); *Semiramis (Pl. A, 5), Kasr ed-Dubara, on the Nile, with garden and roof-terrace, restaurant, post-office, etc., pens. from 80 pias.; *Continental (Pl. B, C, 3), Place de l’Opéra, with terrace, restaurant, etc., pens. from 70 pias., frequented by English travellers; *Hôt. d’Angleterre (Pl. B, 3), Shâria el-Maghrâbi, with terrace, etc., pens. 70–80 pias.—*National (Pl. B, 3), Shâria Suleimân Bâsha, pens. from 50 pias.; New Khedivial Hotel (Pl. B, 2), Shâria Bâb el-Hadîd, pens. from 45 pias.; Eden Palace (Pl. C, 3), Shâria el-Genaïneh, pens. from 50 pias., frequented by English and American travellers; Villa Victoria (Pl. B, 3; private hotel), Shâria Shawarbi Bâsha, quiet and well-situated, pens. 70 pias.; Villa Nationale, Shâria Shawarbi Bâsha (Pl. B, 3), also a private hotel, with garden and tennis-court, pens. 50 pias.; Bristol & du Nil (Pl. C, 2, 3), Mîdân el-Khaznedâr, pens. from 65 pias., commended; Métropole (Pl. B, C, 3), Hâret Zogheb, pens. 50–60 pias., well spoken of; Hôt.-Pens. Rossmore House (English), Shâria el-Madabegh 13, pens. 40–50 pias.—Hôt. des Voyageurs (Pl. B, 2), Shâria Nubar Bâsha, pens. 45–50 pias., with good cuisine, patronized by the French; Hôt. Royal (Pl. C, 2), Shâria Wagh el-Birket, with bodega, pens. 60 pias.; Hôt. de Londres (Pl. B, 2, 3), Shâria Kâmel, pens. 40 pias.; Hôt.-Pens. Suisse, Shâria el-Genaïneh 10 (Pl. C, 3), pens. 33–40 pias.