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The Tombs of the Caliphs and Mamelukes 215
city walls, though officers in uniform seldom move an inch
without a donkey at Khartum except when they are on
duty or on horseback. A man who keeps several chargers
generally has a black or white donkey as well for going
to balls and garden parties and other odd jobs. You can
leave a donkey so much more unceremoniously than a
horse.
Donkey riding is the best way of going to the Tombs
of the Caliphs for those who arc too idle to walk the mile
or so between the first and last tomb, and you can always
get donkeys in the square under the Citadel where the trams
stop.
But if you can manage a little exertion, the way to see
the Tombs of the Caliphs to the best advantage is to drive
down the Musky in a cab and dismiss it at the gate opposite
the Windmill Hills, at sunset. There is a level footpath
which winds between the hills. Do not take that, but
climb the highest, and do not look before you till you get
right to the top. Then lift up your eyes and you will see
as beautiful a spectacle as there is to be seen in the whole
world. I shall never forget the first time I saw it. That
postcard, instead of seeming an exaggeration, fell pitiably
short of the unearthly splendour of that long line of ancient
and fantastic mosques illuminated by the deep glare of the
Egyptian sunset. Instead of being hung with mere carpets
from old Oriental looms, behind each mosque was a
flashing veil which seemed to be woven of threads drawn
out from rubies. Every inch of masonry, every foot of the
desert was tinged with the richest hues in God's paintbox.
The desert sand and the sandstone of the mosques seem to
inhale the splendour and breathe it forth again.
I did not pay my sunset visit to the tombs till after
the first long ride through them in the heat of a Cairo
morning ; but to take in their magic you should pay the
sunset visit first and drink in your full of the spectacle,
without heeding that the swift-falling Egyptian darkness will
not give you time to visit the tombs individually ; that can
be done on another day.