t. The sunshine of Egypt has a great radiance, but it has also--and
this is especially visible when one looks across any breadth of
landscape--a pleasant quality of softness; it is a radiance which is
slightly hazy and slightly golden brown, being in these respects quite
unlike the pellucid white light of Greece. The Greeks frown; even the
youngest of the handsome men who go about in ballet-like white
petticoats and the brimless cap, has the ugly little perpendicular line
between the eyes, produced by a constant knitting of the brows. Like the
Greek, the Egyptian also is without protection for his eyes; the
dragoman wears a small shawl over the fez, which covers the back of the
neck and sides of the face, the Bedouins have a hood, but the large
majority of the natives are unprotected. It is said that a Mohammedan
can have no brim to his turban or tarboosh, because he must place his
bare forehead upon the ground when he says his prayers, and this without
removing his head-gear (which would be irreverent). However this may be,
he goes about in Egypt with the sun in his eyes, though, owing to the
softer quality of the light, he does not frown as the Greek frowns. For
those who are not Egyptians, however, the light in Cairo sometimes seems
too omnipresent; then, for refuge, they can go to the bazaars. The
sunshine is here cut off horizontally by thick walls, and from above it
is filtered through mats, whose many interstices cause a checker of
light and shade in an infinite variety of unexpected patterns on the
ground. This ground is watered. Somehow the air is cool; coming in from
the bright streets outside is like entering an arbor. The little shops
resemble cupboards; their floors are about three feet above the street.
They have no doors at the back. When the merchant wishes to close his
establishment, he comes out, pulls down the lid, locks it, and goes
home. A picturesque characteristic is that in many cases the wares are
simply sold here; they are also made, one by one, upon the spot. You can
see the brass-workers incising the arabesques of their trays; you can
see the armorers making arms, the ribbon-makers making ribbons, the
jewellers blowing their forges, the ivory-carvers bending over their
delicate task. As soon as each article is finished, it is dusted and
placed upon the little shelf above, and then the apprentice sets to work
upon a new one. In addition to the light, another thing one notices is
the amazing way