Cairo, Old and New—A Visit to the Ancient City—The Nilometer, what is it? Measuring the Rise of the Nile—Moses in the Bulrushes—Tombs of the Caliphs—An Egyptian Funeral—Curious Customs—“Crowding the Mourners”—Water-carriers and their Ways—A Noisy Tobacco-vender—Glimpses of the Arabian Nights—Among the Bazaars—Street Scenes in Cairo—A Cavalcade of Donkeys—Hoaxing a Donkey-boy—Amusing Spectacle—Putting Up a Ride at Auction—An Arab Story—A Nation of Liars, and why?—Mosques of Cairo—Stones from the Great Pyramid,........[...468]
CHAP XXXVIII—THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.—EGYPTIAN CURIOSITY SHOPS.
More about the Bazaars—how they Sell Goods in Cairo—Furniture, Fleas, and Filth—Trading in Pipe-stems and Coffee-pots—A Queer Collection of Bric-a-Brac—Driving Close Bargains—A Specimen of Yankee Shrewdness—A Miniature Blacksmith Shop—A Cloud of Perfumes—Gems, Guns, and Damascus Blades—An Arabian Auction—At the Egyptian Opera—The Dancing Girls of Cairo—The Ladies from the Harem—A Scanty Costume—The Ballet of the “Prodigal Son”—The Ladies of the Opera and their Life,........[...478]
CHAP XXXIX—ADVENTURES WITH A DONKEY.—A DAY AT THE RACES.
A “Syce” what is he?—A Man with a Queer Dress and Large Calves—A Gorgeous Turnout—An Escort of Eunuchs—Veiled Beauties—A Flirtation and it Consequences—The Tale of a Dropped Handkerchief—The Donkey as a National Beast—A Tricky Brute and an Agile Driver—An Upset in the Mud—Astonishing the Natives—A Specimen of Arabic Wit—Going to the Races—The Grand Stand—A Dromedary Race—An Aristocratic Camel—The Arrival of the Khedive—Starting Up the Dromedaries—Cutting an Empress,........[...488]
CHAP XL—THE PASHA AND HIS PRIESTS—EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE—SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.
Egypt and her Relations with Turkey—The Army and Navy—Egyptian History Boiled Down—The Reigning Family—Wonderful Relics—Mohammed Ali as a Ruler—The Pasha and the Priests—Ordering a Wedding—Married on Short Notice—Gratifying the Empress Eugenie—An Arab School-room—A College with Nine Thousand Students—A Jaw-Breaking Language—How to Indite an Epistle in Arabic—The Caravan to Mecca—Going on a Pilgrimage—A Horrible Ceremony—Trampling on Dervishes—The “Bride of the Nile”—Extraordinary Customs,........[...499]
CHAP XLI—THE GREAT PYRAMIDS—IN THE KINGS’ BURIAL CHAMBERS.
A Visit to the great Pyramids—A Fellah not a Fellow—Sakkiehs and Shadoofs—A File of Camels and Donkeys—A Striking Spectacle—A Horde of Arabs—Troublesome Customers—The great Pyramid—How we Climbed It—A Giant Stairway—Dimensions Extraordinary—The Lost Arts—Standing on the Summit—The Judge’s Predicament—Arab Cormorants—What we Saw from the Top of the great Pyramid—Wonderful Contrasts—Performance of an Arabian Acrobat—A Race down the Pyramid Stairs—A Perilous Descent—Penetrating the Interior—The King’s Chamber—A Dusty Receptacle of Coffins—The Sphinx—A Mysterious Statue,........[...513]