e approaching Cairo, and were yet two or three leagues away,
the dim outline of the everlasting pyramids could be seen, through the
shimmering haze, softly limned against the evening sky, firing the
imagination, and causing an involuntary and quicker pulsation of the
heart. It was impossible not to recall the glowing words of the Humpback
in the Thousand and One Nights, as we saw the pyramids and glistening
minarets coming into view: "He who hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the
world: its soil is gold; its Nile is a wonder; its women are like the
black-eyed virgins of Paradise; its houses are palaces, and its air is
soft,--its odor surpassing that of aloes-wood and cheering the heart;
and how can Cairo be otherwise when it is the Mother of the World?"

CHAPTER IX.

Cairo and the Arabian Nights.--Street Scenes and Cries.--Camels and
Donkeys.--Turkish Bazars in Old Cairo.--Water Carriers.--The
Pyramids of Gizeh.--The Sphinx.--Interesting Visit to a Native
House.--Mosque of Mehemet Ali.--The Rotten Row of Cairo.--The
Khedive's Palace.--Egyptian Museum.--Mosque of Amer.--Whirling and
Howling Dervishes.--Suez Canal.--Ismailia and Port Said.--Island of
Malta.--City of Valetta.--Palace of the Knights.--Bird's-eye View.

Cairo is nearly the size of Boston, having a population of about four
hundred thousand. It forms a strange medley of human life,--a many-hued
crowd constantly pouring through its thoroughfares, dirty lanes, and
narrow streets, in picturesque confusion. On one side the observer is
jostled by a liveried servant all silver braid and bright buttons, and
on the other by an Arab in loose white robe and scarlet turban; now by a
woman with her face half-concealed beneath her yasmak, and now by one
scarce clothed at all; by jaunty Greeks in theatrical costume, and
cunning Jews with keen, searching eyes; by tempting flower-girls, and by
shriveled old crones who importune for alms; by Franks, Turks, and
Levantines; by loaded donkeys and lazy, mournful-looking camels--a
motley group. The water-carrier, with his goatskin filled and swung
across his back, divides the way with the itinerant cook and his
portable kitchen. In short, it is the ideal city of the Arabian Nights.
The Esbekyeh is the Broadway of Cairo, and its contrast to the mass of
narrow lanes and passages where the native bazars are located, as well
as the dingy houses of the populace, only adds to its brilliancy.