Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria, and across the desert into Egypt ...

264
TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
The length
of the citv, from north to south, is about a league
and a half, and its breadth
nearly
a
league.
It is provided with se-
veral gates, or entrances, the principal one of which, leading^ in a.
northern direction towards Sj/ria, is called Babel Nasser. On en-
tering the city by this gate, the traveller finds himself in a long
and narrow street, which, as it is one of those more particularly
appropriated to commerce, is very populous, and constantly thronged
with
passengers.
It contains many bazars, or shops, fitted up
for the different trades and professions, and which are not ill sup-
plied with the commodities and manufactures of the country, as
well as with those imported from Europe. In this street, and in
several others which are respectably inhabited, a kind of wooden
chandeliers are suspended in the centre, at a convenient height, to
be employed in the illuminations which take place on the celebra-
tion of the different festivals.
Each of the coffee-houses of Cairo is frequented by a reciter of
extemporaneous verses, or perhaps by several. By contributing to
the amusement of the company, these improvisatori collect small
sums to relieve their necessities, which, as their sole dependence is
placed on the skill they have acquired
in the recital of their, im-
promptu's, are of the most urgent kind. Accordingly, they are to
be met with, not only
in the coffee-houses, but on the best fre-
quented roads, in the most impoverished and abject condition, fre-
quently with a cap of rushes on the head, as a distinctive mark of
their vocation. They there lay the passengers under contribution,
by the recital of verses iii their praise, which, notwithstanding those
whom they accost are utterly unknown to them, are certain to be
filled with the most fulsome adulation.
It was impossible for me to form an accurate idea of the population
of Cairo, which I was, however, led to think very consi-
derable. This opinion was probably in some measure influenced by
the narrowness of the streets, which occasions them to be almost
constantly crowded with passengers. It is proper to state, howe-
ver, that there are in that city very large areas, or spaces of ground,
unoccupieti, independently of die very extensive openings which
surround the mosques, the houses of the Beys, and the public build-
ings. Any inference I could draw on this head from the mortality
which took place during my stay there, would be
very
uncer-
tain.
I could not learn that there are any wells of fresh water at Cairo,
with the exception of one in the citadel, which boasts a considera-