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The Old Coptic Churches in Cairo Itself 297
and extraordinary crucifix and pictures, was striking enough.
But a Copt of the better class who spoke good EngHsh was
obviously distressed at our witnessing that unseemly scene,
and begged us to go with him into the lower church, which,
he said, was much older and more beautiful. In it the
service was being conducted more impressively. An old
man was reading from a grandly illuminated Gospel by the
light of two feeble candles, whose flickering flames were
reflected on the old brass-work and the unlit lamps which
were hanging from the altar screen. Here, too, the crucifix
was buried in roses. There was a grand crystal chandelier,
but it was not being used, and the church was very dark,
and the principal part of the service was being conducted
by a choir of very small boys. The gentleman who brought
us down tried in vain to explain the Coptic services, though
he spoke very good English, so the instant the old man had
done reading the Gospel he hurried us up to the lectern to
examine the book, which had grandly illuminated initial
letters, and which he found, on looking at the title-page
at the end of the book, I think—to be over three hundred
years old. While he was hunting for the title-page he blew
out one of the candles and put it into the superbly illumi-
nated volume to keep the place.
The church had not so many ancient and splendid features
as the churches of Old Cairo, so it did not take so long to
examine. He showed us all over it, and laughed and talked
quite loudly as he tried to explain things to us all the time
the service was going on. And when he found that there was
nothing more to interest us, he took us up into the convent.
There was one quite decent-looking room, though very plainly
furnished, where he introduced us to an old lady who looked
like a respectable servant, as the abbess. She told him to
take us over the convent, the rest of which looked like the
worst sort of Greek hotel in a place like Damietta. It was
simply a collection of dirty rooms, with dirty women huddling
in them on earthen floors, most of which seemed to be used
as kitchens of the humblest sort, judging by the litter of
dirty cooking-pots and food. They were all extremely
—