28

PERIOD OF VOYAGE ON THE NILE.

to seduce the men from their duty, merited our highest encomiums. I cannot give a better proof of the good behaviour of the Arab boatmen than by stating that on no one occasion during the whole voyage were we called upon to reprimand or to inflict the slightest punishment upon any individual in the crew.

The following statistics connected with the voyage may prove of some interest to those who intend to spend a winter in the delightful climate of Egypt.

Time of sailing and towing the boat from Cairo to Wady Halfeh (second cataract), fifteen days eight hours.

Time of mooring the boat between Cairo and Wady Halfeh, twelve days eighteen hours.

Time of rowing and sailing from Wady Halfeh to Cairo, twelve days five hours.

Time of mooring the boat between Wady Halfeh and Cairo, twenty-four days nineteen hours.

Total voyage from Cairo to Wady Halfeh and back, sixty-five days two hours.

CHAPTER XII.

CAIRO.

ARRIVAL AT CAIRO-BAZAARS-SIGHTS OF CAIRO-THE NILOMETER -SHOOBRA - HELIOPOLIS MAHMOUD- PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE-ESCORT OF BEDOUIN ARABS.

"DONKEY, Hawagee!" shouted vociferously the dusky troop of Cairene donkey-boys long ere the boat had reached the quay of the port of Boolak. A brisk canter through the avenue of sycamores brought us to the Suez gate of the city,* whence the race round the Esbekíeh, or great square, between the ass and its driver, was far more amusing to the lookers-on than to the Hawagee, who was trying to maintain his balance upon the lofty pillion, that nearly eclipsed the little animal under him.

With what anxiety are letters opened! with what avidity are their contents devoured! what files of newspapers to be read! what wars and

* See Note A, at the end of the volume.

rumours of wars to be discussed! Still, though lowering the aspect, the elements at strife, and deep crimson tinging the horizon in which set the sun of 'Forty-Eight, the storm yet hovered around; France had indulged in no new revolution; but stranger far, Louis Napoleon Buonaparte was President of the French Republic, elected by a majority of some millions of votes over Dictator Cavaignac.

January is not the month, of all others, to spend in Cairo. Plash, plash, beats the rain against your windows, and when at last the sun bursts forth in all its strength, the poor donkey, so despised and ill-used in England, is the only resource in your peregrinations through the narrow and dirty streets of the capital. During my stay in Cairo, I struck up a great friendship with a Turk, who kept a miscellaneous shop for seggádels (prayer-carpets, or as we should call them, hearth-rugs), fezzes, amber mouthpieces, and every species of turban and girdle wherewith to entrap the unwary Frank. Scarcely a day passed that I did not pay a visit to his shop in the Turkish Soock (market), where he always welcomed me, and notwithstanding my noncompliance with the general practice of taking

off one's shoes and leaving them below, made me mount the raised floor of his cell and seat myself in oriental fashion on his carpet. The tobacco purse is drawn from his bosom and given to the boy, who fills a pipe, lights it, replaces the mouthpiece, and hands it to the guest. He then sends to the nearest coffee shop, and in less than a minute the cárágee appears with two small coffee cups brim full of thick boiling coffee, while for the Frank sugar is provided. Sometimes a second cup is brought when the pipe is refilled. In this manner have I spent many an odd half hour, and seen more of eastern life and eastern manners in a short month, watching the different scenes in the bazaars and observing the passers-by, than I could have learnt under the guidance of an experienced dragoman in a year. My very small stock of Arabic was considerably increased by the force of circumstances in attempts at conversation with my Turkish friend; for I never visited him with a laquais de place or dragoman, for several obvious reasons; and in the end, I not only brought him considerable custom, but my friends were enabled to make their purchases at from fifteen to twenty per cent. cheaper than they could have done with a laquais de place,

82

BARGAINING IN THE BAZAARS.

hose per centage is not unfrequently one-fifth of the whole purchase-money. Buying and selling are here as at Stamboul very tedious operations, and require no small stock of patience on the part of the purchaser, particularly if he come fresh from England, with notions of a fixed price for every article. When asked the price of anything the shopkeeper generally demands about double the real value of the article; the customer offers, perhaps, a third of the sum named. This is of course refused,but the original demand is lowered; the customer then bids something more, and at length with the aid of a pipe and a cup or two of coffee a price is agreed upon and the purchase effected. A bargain of any importance is never concluded under half an hour, and sometimes days are required to arrive at the juste milieu, during which time a constant war of words is carried on with great apparent warmth and vehement gesticulation, but in spite of appearances with great good-humour on both sides. Many articles are brought into the bazaars by their owners and delivered to the dellalin or auctioneers, who perambulate the market and receive biddings, calling out the last offer. These auctions are carried on in so leisurely a way that there is no fear