[18]. The practice in question is indeed as prevalent among the Arab dealers in Egypt, Syria, and Bagdad as among those of London and Paris.
[19]. A ràwi is a professional reciter of romances, around whom a circle of listeners may always be seen gathered about sunset in Alexandria or Cairo.
[20]. A kawàss, or janissary, in Egypt is an upper servant in attendance on a pasha, a consul, or a person of rank; he is generally a Turk, wears a sword, and is frequently dignified by the title of Aga.
[21]. Hassan’s experience seems to have taught him that, in addressing Turkish officials, the use of that language in place of Arabic is the likeliest method of obtaining attention and a courteous reply.
[22]. Two thousand piastres are about £20 sterling.
[23]. Arabs are divided into two classes, distinguished in their own language by the names of “People of the tent” and “People of the domicile”; the former, who are the Bedouins, and nomadic in their habits, have a sovereign contempt for the latter, who live in villages and cultivate the soil. In Egypt there are found on the borders of the desert and arable land a few small tribes who partake of both characters; that is, though Bedouins by birth, they have partially settled down to an agricultural life, and pay a tax to the Government for the land which they occupy. The prisoner under arrest belonged to this latter class.
[24]. Fayoom is a fertile region in Upper Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile.
[25]. The Arabs of the north-western shores of Africa are termed “Moghrebin,” from the word “Moghreb,” “the place of the setting sun.” Most of the pehlivans or wrestlers seen in Egypt are Moghrebin.
[26]. Pehlivan is the name common in Turkey, Arabia, and Persia for a “wrestler” or “athlete.”
[27]. Delì signifies “mad” in the Turkish language, but it is frequently applied to those who have distinguished themselves in war by acts of daring courage.