eiling shows the indistinct figures of a double
row of natives listening to the nasal cadences of a band who play a
pizzicato accompaniment on small three-stringed violins.

Here, as in Europe, the cafes are the providential rendezvous for
idlers and gossips, exchanges for real-estate brokers and players
at cards.

Europeans recently arrived frequent them particularly. Some go only
to satisfy their curiosity; others out of an inborn scorn for the
customs of civilization. They go to sleep as Frenchmen, they awake
Mohammedans! Their love for "Turkish art" only leads them to haunt
the native shops and to affect oriental poses.

If we quit for a moment the interior of the city to follow between
two hedgerows of mastics or aloes, one of those capricious paths
which lead one, now up to the summit of a hill, now to the depths
of some ravine, very soon the tones of a rustic flute, the
modulations of the _Djou-wak_, will betray some cool and peaceful
retreat, some rustic cafe, easily recognized by its facade, pierced
with large openings. To my eyes, nothing equals the charm of these
little buildings scattered here and there along the edges of a
stream, sheltered under the thick foliage, and constantly enlivened
by the coming and going of the husbandmen of the neighborhood.

Certain old Moors from the neighboring districts, fleeing the
noises of the city, are the faithful habitues of these agreeable
retreats. Here they instal themselves at dawn, and know how to
enjoy every moment of their day with tales of their travels and
youthful adventures, and many a legend for which their imagination
takes all the responsibility.

[Illustration: COFFEE HOUSE IN CAIRO]

[Illustration: HULLING COFFEE IN ADEN, ARABIA]

Gerome's painting of the "Coffee House at Cairo," which hangs in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gives one a good idea of the
atmosphere of the Egyptian cafe. The preparation and service is modified
Turkish-Arabian. The coffee is ground to a powder, boiled in an _ibrik_
with the addition of sugar, and served frothing in small cups.
Story-tellers, singers, and dancers furnish amusement as of yore. The
Oriental customs have not changed much in this respect. Trolley cars,
victorias, and taxis may have replaced the donkeys in the new sections
of the larger Egyptian cities; but in old Alex