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beyond these, a richly cultivated country backed by the desert. On the left, between the stems of the trees, I discovered Cairo itself, with its walls, and minarets, and domes, and towers, basking in the sun, apparently at the very foot of the Porphyry Mountains, which, contrary to all other mountains, appear red at a distance, even when their tops seem to blend with the sky. Beheld from afar, Cairo truly appears worthy to be the metropolis of Egypt. Skirted by groves and gardens, its light, airy structures seem to be based upon a mass of verdure; long lines of buildings, white, glittering, and infinitely varied in form, rise behind each other; and the palace and citadel, cresting a steep projection of the Mokattam ridge, conduct the eye to that vast rocky barrier which protects the victorious city from the blasts of the desert. At the termination of the grand avenue, where the road from Boolak unites with that of Shoubra, immense mounds of rubbish, with the appearance of natural eminences, obstruct the view of the Nile; but, on the left, the eye is still refreshed by the sight of numerous gardens of banana, lemon, orange, and citron trees, laden with ripe fruit, and scattering a faint but delicious perfume through the air. The Alexandrians had taught me to expect a very different prospect. The entrance from Shoubra to the capital, they said, was mean, naked, insignificant but I found it otherwise. In fact, the near view of the city from this side seemed more imposing

*

Masr el Kahira, or "the Victorious," the Oriental name of Cairo.

104

ASPECT OF THE CITY.

than the distant one. Lofty garden walls, over which long, regular rows of palm trees were waving their elegant pendent branches; houses, in many cases new, spacious, and furnished with glass windows, or very neat lattice-work, conducted us to the Place Esbekeyah, an immense square, containing large sheets of water, fields of green corn, and groves of noble sycamores; and traversed by a fine, broad gravel walk, over which crowds of people were passing to and fro, some on foot, others mounted on horses, or asses, or camels, or dromedaries, in every variety of costume, from the meanest to the most gorgeous. Two sides of this immense square are surrounded by palaces; the others are occupied by ranges of lofty antique structures, which, though considerably dilapidated, have still a striking Oriental air, resembling, in some respects, the architectural pictures of Prout and Canaletti. Having crossed this open space, the only one worth mentioning in all Cairo, we plunged into the narrow, tortuous streets leading to the Frank quarter, through so motley a crowd as no other city, perhaps, in the world could have supplied :- Arabs, Jews, Armenians, Copts, Turks, Negroes, Germans, Poles, Italians, French, English, Greeks, -all in their national dresses, red, blue, yellow, green, gray, black, white; -in short, all the colours of the rainbow. At the Hotel del Giardino, kept by an Italian officer, formerly in the service of the Pasha, we found tolerably good apartments, at a price not, perhaps, exorbitant; and there we remained during our stay in Cairo.

VILLAGE OF THE ALMÉ.

105

CHAPTER V.

VILLAGE OF THE ALMÉ

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MANNERS AND DRESS OF THE DANCING

GIRLS REMARKS ON THEIR PERFORMANCES MANNERS OF THE
CAIREENS THE CITADEL THE PASHA'S MENAGERIE THE
PALACE AUDIENCE CHAMBER THE GOVERNOR VIEW OF
CAIRO THE MINT-WELL OF JOSEPH-STORY OF A MURDER
-LOSS OF AN ARAB — TRANSLATION COMMITTEE
WITH A FAKIR PRINTING-OFFICE COUNCIL CHAMBER-THE
HAREM THE PASHA'S CHILDREN MOSQUE IN THE CITADEL
-REMAINS OF SALADIN'S PALACE SARACENIC CEMETERY —
TOMBS OF THE PASHA'S FAMILY-TOUSSOUN PASHA.

DIALOGUE

Tuesday, Nov. 29.

LVIII. AMONG the most interesting and remarkable spectacles in the modern capital of Egypt, are the performances of the almé, of which many travellers have made mention, without, however, bestowing on the accomplished actresses all the praises which they appear to deserve. In reality, what is termed the "dance of the almé," is the opera of the Orientals. All ranks, and both sexes, young and old, delight in the exhibition; and the ladies of the harem, instructed in the art by the almé themselves, perform in their own apartments, for the amusement of their families. Even the wives and daughters of Europeans, who have long resided in the country, contract a partiality for this dance, and are no more ashamed to entertain their friends by the lascivious movements which it requires, than they are, in Europe, to waltz. On my

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arrival at Cairo, therefore, my first inquiry was concerning the dancing girls, who, I was told, lived apart from the profane vulgar, in the little rural village of Sha'arah,-the Eleusis of modern Egypt, where the mysteries of Athor, the Mother of the Universe, are still celebrated by those youthful priestesses. Accompanied by one of my companions across the Delta, and an interpreter, I this morning rode out to the opera, which is got up at a few minutes' notice, at any hour of the day or night. Traversing nearly the whole of the city, we issued forth into the fields, through one of the most ruinous and unfrequented suburbs, and, in about half an hour,

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"Facilis descensus Averni,”

arrived at the village, which, I am sorry to say, consists of a small collection of mud huts, huddled together without order, though less poor and more cleanly than any of the other villages we had seen; so that Sin, in Egypt, cannot be reproached with the gorgeousness of her appearance; the Mohammedan saints and hermits being, in general, better lodged than the courtesans. On our arrival, a number of almé, many of them in very elegant attire, and adorned with a profusion of ornaments, came forth to meet and welcome us. They were all young; none, perhaps, exceeding twenty; and the majority between ten and sixteen years old. Some few would have been considered handsome, even in London; but the greater number, though fairer than the Caireen women usually are, had little beside their youth and the

THEIR DRESS AND ORNAMENTS.

107

alluring arts of their profession to recommend them. When they were informed that we were desirous of witnessing their performances, they proceeded to conduct us to the coffee-house, where, it would seem, that the greater part of their lives is consumed, in sipping coffee, singing, and that sort of piquant conversation which becomes their calling.

LIX. In the great room of the coffee-house there were, perhaps, a hundred dancing girls assembled,— all intent on the enjoyment of the moment,

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of that sage school which teaches, " carpere diem, quam minimum credula postero." Not being habituated to wine, coffee appeared to produce in them the same excitement and petulant gaiety to which Champagne or Burgundy sometimes gives birth among European women; and, having no motives for concealment, they expressed the subject of their meditations with a cynical intrepidity worthy of a Lais or a Phryne. Two or three-the handsomest of allwere elegantly, or rather, sumptuously, dressed, in short embroidered jackets, fitting close, and showing the whole contour of the form; with long loose trousers of half-transparent silk, a bright-coloured shawl round the waist, and small graceful turbans of muslin and gold. Their hair, which escaped in long black tresses from beneath the head-dress, was ornamented with strings of gold coins, strung like pearls, which, in some cases, depended in barbaric profusion over the forehead. Considerably the greater number were below the middle size, like the generality of their

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