ar generally used in that country, consisting of a
red cap called "fez," which is made of very thick, soft felt, and fits
very closely to the head. With this cap on and wearing a tightly
buttoned black coat I rode in the equipage already mentioned to the
palace. Ishmael Pasha, the former khedive, who had just abdicated and
left the country, had been very popular among his servants and
adherents. I was of the same size and build as he, my beard was cut like
his, and in my red fez I looked so much like him that when our carriage
passed through the gateway to the palace some of the servants whispered
to each other that Khedive Ishmael had returned, and when the coachman
stopped at the entrance I was surrounded by a number of servants who
greeted me and evinced the greatest joy. The poor creatures soon
discovered their mistake. Their good friend the khedive will never
return to Egypt, for England and France will not allow it. He was too
sincere a friend of his own people, and too independent in dealing with
the shareholders of the Suez canal built during his reign.

Alexandria has a population of two-hundred-fifty thousand. It was
founded by Alexander the Great three hundred years before Christ, on
account of the great natural advantages of this place as a seaport. At
the time of Christ it had about half a million inhabitants. It was
repeatedly ravaged by destructive wars, and finally completely pillaged
by Caliph Omar, who is also said to have burnt its library, the largest
and most valuable collection of books of antiquity, an act by which
civilization suffered an irreparable loss, the library containing the
only copies of a number of ancient literary works. It is claimed that
the caliph gave his generals the following characteristic answer, when
asked what was to be done with the library: "If it contains anything
contrary to the Koran it is _wrong_; if it contains anything that agrees
with the Koran it is _superfluous_; therefore, at all events, it ought
to be burnt."

[Illustration: PILLAR OF POMPEII.]

The most remarkable of the ancient monuments still remaining in
Alexandria is Pompey's pillar, which is a monolithic shaft of polished
red granite, seventy-three feet high and twenty-nine feet eight inches
in circumference. One of the most interesting objects of a more recent
origin was the Cafe El Paradiso. It consists of an immense restaurant
and concert hall, or rather halls, for there are many of them. One of
thes