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CHAPTER XIX
Concerning the Tombs of the Caliphs and the
Mamelukes ; and Mohammedan Funerals
THERE
are certain spots in the world so beautiful that,
to use the touching old Bible phrase, your heart leaps
within you when you behold them. Of such are the Piazzetta
between St. Mark's and the Doge's Palace at Venice ; the
Forum of Rome, or the Acropolis of Athens at sunset ; the
Hall of the Giants at Karnak by moonlight ; or dawn in
the Rocky Mountains. And hardly any of them displays the
quality of pure beauty to a higher degree than the Tombs
of the Caliphs at Cairo.
The first morning that I stepped out into the Street of the
Camel at Cairo a vendor of postcards dazzled me with a
picture of a gorgeous and fantastic mosque, with its noble
flight of steps hung with rich carpets. It was grand enough,
antique enough, Oriental enough for Saladin and his Court.
And the colour of the atmosphere in which it was bathed
was incredible. I looked at the inscription idly, Tombes des
Califes. I put it aside as sheer exaggeration and never gave
it another thought till months afterwards, when I had visited
Khartum and had lingered long among the marvellous tombs
and temples of the Pharaohs at Thebes and Karnak. Then
a soldier friend who had come down with us from Khartilm,
wishing to have a sort of picnic with us, suggested that wc
should take donkeys and ride out to the Tombs of the
Caliphs.
In Cairo foreigners do not ride donkeys nowadays, and
officers in uniform are not allowed to ride them inside the
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