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.
