BOTTLE FOR ROSE

WATER.

the hands of each guest, and allowed it to run into the basin after the ablution was performed. There is a perforated cover in the centre of the basin, and it has a cup in the top for holding a ball of scented soap. The ewer has a long slender spout opposite the handle, and there is a perforated cover to

keep out the flies and
other undesirable things.

"In the perfume ba-
zaar we were welcomed
by a variety of agreeable
odors, and by the shop-
keepers and their run-
ners, who tried to sell us
ottar of rose and oil of
sandal-wood, which are
the perfumes most sought
by strangers. Every shop
promised to give us the
genuine article, and said
there was no other place
where it could be bought.

The Doctor says it is simply 'impossible to get the real ottar of rose anywhere in the bazaar, no matter what price you pay, and consequently it is best to be moderate in your figures. The veritable perfume is worth, at the place of manufacture, about fifty dollars an ounce, and therefore, when you buy it for two or three or five dollars an ounce, you can hardly expect to get the best. It is very funny to hear the strangers at the hotel talk about their purchases of ottar of rose. Each one knows a place, which has been shown him in strict confidence, where the genuine perfume can be bought; but it can only be obtained on a promise not to reveal the locality, or some similar nonsense. If you ever come to Egypt this ottar of

ORIENTAL GUNS.

rose business will afford you much amusement if you are careful to manage it properly.

"The shoe bazaar and the arms bazaar were not particularly interesting, as the former contained little else than a great lot of shoes, and the

latter had a miserable collection of weapons that were hardly worth carrying away. Formerly the arms bazaar was a favorite spot for visitors, as there were many old and curious things to be found there, but nearly everything worth buying up was secured long ago. We saw some Oriental guns with funny shaped stocks. The Doctor says the barrels of these weapons are nearly all from Europe, while the stocks are of Egyptian or other Oriental manufacture. There is a strong prejudice against explosive caps, and if you give a gun with a percussion-lock to a native, he will have it changed as soon as possible to a flint-lock. They rarely use shot, and the best of the native sportsmen would hardly think of shooting a bird on the wing.

"From the bazaars we continued our walk to the Bab-el-Nasr, or 'Gate

66

THE GATE OF VICTORY."

77

of Victory,' one of the most important gates of Cairo. It was built in the eleventh century, and is mostly of hewn stone, with winding stairways leading to the top, holes for cannon and small arms, and is so large and strong that it was selected by Napoleon as the central point of defence while he held the city. It is a little fort in itself, and we were very glad to have the opportunity of examining it.

"We gave a little backsheesh to the gate-keeper, and he allowed us to go to the top, where we had a view of the nearest part of the city, and of the heaps of rubbish lying outside the gates. There were several wolfish-looking dogs prowling among the dust-heaps, and they growled as they caught sight of us, and saw that we were not natives. The dogs of Cairo have a great hatred of foreigners, as we shall have occasion to say by-and-by."

FRO

CHAPTER VI.

MOSQUES, DERVISHES, AND SCHOOLS.-EDUCATION IN EGYPT.

ROM the Bab-el-Nasr our friends returned, by the direction of the guide, through a street that led them past several of the famous mosques of Cairo. They entered the Mosque of Tooloon, which is the oldest in the city, and said to be modelled after the Kaaba at Mecca; ac

cording to the historians it was built about A.D. 879, and there are several legends concerning it. One is that it stands on the spot where Abraham sacrificed a goat in place of his son, and another puts it on the site where Noah's ark ran aground, though the general belief of the Moslems locates the latter event near Moosool, in Syria.

The mosque has been neglected in the latter centuries of its existence, and at present is not specially inviting. It covers a very large area (about six hundred square feet), and consists of a series of arcades running around a court-yard, which has a fountain in the centre. On the east side there are five rows of these arcades, but on the other three sides there are only

two rows.

MOSQUES AND THE MOSLEM FORM OF WORSHIP.

79

The west, north, and south sides are used as lodgings for poor people, and their continual begging renders a visit the reverse of agreeable. The east side is the holiest part of the edifice, but at the time our friends went there it was not easy to discover that it was any more respected than the other sections.

The guide said there were not far from four hundred mosques in Cairo, and that a good many of them were in ruins, and not likely to be repaired. The government does not build any new ones, as it has more practical uses for its money, and the followers of Mohammed seem to be growing more and more indifferent to religious observances every year. The Moslem Sabbath is on Friday; the mosques are tolerably filled on that day, but during the rest of the week the attendance is very light. Formerly it was difficult or even dangerous to enter some of the mosques, but at present the whole matter can be arranged on payment of a backsheesh. Once in a while a fanatic insults a stranger, but he is generally suppressed immediately by his friends.

Frank and Fred found that the general plan of the mosques was the same, and the difference was mainly in the outer walls and the style of architecture. In every mosque there is a mihrab, or alcove, usually opposite the entrance, and this mihrab points toward Mecca, so that the faithful may know how to direct their faces when saying their prayers. Near the alcove is a pulpit with a steep flight of steps ascending to it, and over the pulpit there is generally a column, like the spire of a church in miniature. On each side of the alcove is an enormous candlestick, and there is generally a frame with swinging lamps, not more than eight or ten feet from