About the middle of the day we again sallied forth, the streets of
Cairo being so narrow that the sun is completely shut out, and shade
thus afforded at noon. The air was not unpleasantly warm, and we
suffered no inconvenience, excepting from the crowd. Mounted upon
donkeys, we pushed our way through a dense throng, thrusting aside
loaded camels, which scarcely allowed us room to pass, and coming
into the closest contact with all sorts of people. The perusal of
Mr. Lane's book had given me a very vivid idea of the interior of the
city, though I was scarcely prepared to mingle thus intimately with
its busy multitude.
We had some shopping to execute, or rather we had to pay for some
purchases made by Mohammed for us in the morning, and to return that
portion of the goods sent for inspection that we did not intend to
keep. We liked the appearance of the shops, which, in all cases of the
more respectable kind, were well stocked, whole streets being devoted
to the sale of one particular branch of merchandize. A long avenue
was occupied by saddlers and the sellers of horse-furniture; another
displayed nothing but woollen cloths; a third was devoted to weapons
of every description, &c. &c. The wax-chandlers reminded me very much
of those in England, being decorated in a similar manner, while the
display of goods everywhere was much greater than I had ever seen in
Eastern cities, in which for the most part merchandize of the best
description is hidden in warehouses, and not to be found without deep
research.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145