A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

ASPECT OF CAIRO. 47
camel ; but, by dint of cries and blows, my
ragged henchman kept me so free from harm,
that I soon lost all apprehension, and was enabled
to give my undivided attention to the novel
scenes that surrounded me, instead of allowing it
to be absorbed by my individual safety.
The interior aspect of Cairo is far more striking
and original than that of Constantinople ; it is
purely an Arab city— the city of Haroun-al-
Raschid and of Salah-e'-deen, of Zobeide and of
Amine, and, par e,vcellence, of the one-eyed
Calendars. The houses are most picturesque in
their construction, with large prominent windows
of wooden lattice-work elegantly carved, the
upper stories projecting over the lower ones so as
almost to exclude sunshine from the narrow
streets, in many of which the opposite houses
nearly touch each other. Mosques and public
fountains are numerous and beautiful ; the shops
are, like those of Constantinople, small, and pre-
senting no outward show of merchandize ; the
owner sits crosslegged upon a carpet spread over
his sliop-board, which contains just space enough
to accommodate one customer upon the cushion
that occupies the other end. But the population
of Cairo is the most striking feature of the place ;
for it has preserved its Oriental aspect both in