Murad Bey has, of late years, thought it necessary to institute a marine; to effect which, he has caused three or four vessels to be built, and has purchased some from the Europeans. The whole has been attended with no small expense, and promises no adequate advantage. The largest of these vessels carries twenty-four guns. Six of them were moored before Jiza, whence they cannot be navigated, except during the time of the Nile’s increase. They were well appointed, and had their full complement of mariners, chiefly Greeks of the Archipelago, moderately skilful in their art, and receiving every encouragement from the Bey. They were commanded by a native of Sagos named Nikôla reis, Admiral, or Captain Nicholas.
Not far south of Jiza is Geziret-ed-dahab, a small island, intended, as appears, by Diodorus Siculus under the name of Venus aurea.
North-east of the city are gardens, and some spacious houses, the property of the great, who occasionally leave the city to divert themselves in this retreat; and have there an open space, where the Mamlûks perform their military evolutions, and exercise their horses. The ground under the mountains to the East is filled with tombs. The mountain is of white sand and calcareous stone, and destitute of verdure.
The tomb of the Imâm Shafei is without the walls of the city, near the castle. It is in a mosque of good architecture, and kept in complete repair. On Friday, the day of devotion among the Mohammedans, the women being at liberty to visit the tombs of their relations, crowd to this mosque to provide substitutes, the place being the Daphne of Kahira, and sacred to the blandishments of Venus.
There is a much more considerable canal, styled Chalige ibn Menji, which, from its opening to the Nile near Bulak, extends to Bilbeis, (according to D’Anville, the Pharbæthus of antiquity, which Herodotus, Pliny, and Ptolemy, make the capital of a Nome,) where it joins another canal, and passes to the lake Sheib.
The pleasure boats used by the great on the increase of the Nile are very numerous. They are light and of elegant form; rowers from four to eight. Those for the women covered with wainscot; such as are for the use of the men, are covered above, and open at the sides, or only latticed. Others are kept for hire, like the Venetian gondolas. They are used in the chalige, and upon the river.
The gates of Kahira are numerous; but the most striking are two at the northern extremity of the city, called Bab-el-Nasr, and Bab-el-Fituch, which present a splendid display of Saracenic architecture.
Romeili is an open place, of an irregular form, where feats of juggling are performed. The charmers of serpents also seem worthy of remark, their powers appearing extraordinary. The serpent most common at Kahira is of the viper class, and undoubtedly poisonous. If one of them enter a house, the charmer is sent for, who uses a certain form of words. I have seen three serpents enticed out of the cabin of a ship, lying near the shore. The operator handled them, and then put them into a bag. At other times I have seen the serpents twist round the bodies of these Psylli in all directions, without having had their fangs extracted or broken, and without doing them any injury.
The Egyptians pretend to numerous kinds of magic. The powerful influence of the name of the Divinity, Ism Ullah, an account of which is contained in the Kitab-el-rihani, is supposed to work various miracles. The mode of its application is divided into halâl, lawful, and harâm, unlawful. Though the practice terminate in perpetual disappointment, the credulous, who still confide in it, are not few. There are three or four places on the mountain, above Kahira, to which the Arabs ascribe some influence of magic. El Maraga, where they say the earth trembles. Bîr-el-kuffâr, the well of the infidels.—Cassaat el Molûk.—Ain el Siré, a spring of salt water, to which they attribute medical virtues.
The dancing girls form a distinct class. They are always attended by an old man and woman, who play on musical instruments, and look to the conduct of the girls, that they may not bestow their favours for an inadequate reward; for, though not chaste, they are by no means common. Their dances exhibit all that the most luxurious imagination can picture—all the peculiar motions and arts for which Martial has remarked the Egyptians as celebrated,