VIEW FROM THE CITADEL OF CAIRO.

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to give diversity to the picture. Beyond the city was the bright green of the rich Valley of the Nile. In front of us was the famous old river of Egypt, like a broad, irregular belt of silver, reflecting the light of the setting sun, and forming a sharp contrast with the land through which it flows. Across the green fields, which were stippled with the white walls of palaces or dotted with the brown villages of the peasants, our gaze rested on the yellow desert, backed by the Libyan mountains which form the western horizon. From the edge of the desert the great pyramids rose in all their grandeur, and it was not difficult for us to realize their enormous proportions. From other points the pyramids had appeared to be almost on a level with the valley of the river, but as we viewed them from the Citadel we could see that they stood on a rocky platform fully a hundred feet in height.

"Doctor Bronson says every traveller should make his plans so as to come often to the Citadel, and there can be no better time for the view than at sunset. In the morning there is liable to be a haze on the landscape, and at noon there is too much glare of light, especially when the eye is turned toward the desert. At sunset the colors of the Egyptian sky are at their best. You may have wondered sometimes, when looking at pictures of Egypt, whether there is really as much color as the artists give us. We can assure you that no painting we have yet seen is at all exaggerated, and if you could have a sunset view from the Citadel of Cairo you would fully agree with us.

"The Citadel was built by the great conqueror Saladin, and stone for its construction was brought from the pyramids and from the ruins of Memphis, a few miles farther up the river. The spot was not wisely chosen, as the hill is commanded by a higher one just back of it. On this latter hill Mohammed Ali placed his cannons, and compelled the surrender of the Citadel, and consequently of Cairo. There are two roads leading up to the Citadel, one a broad carriage-way, and the other a narrow lane. We went by one and came by the other. In the latter -the narrow lane-the guide showed us a spot which has an historic interest, and perhaps you would like to hear about it:

"There was a body of soldiers in Egypt called the Mamelukes, and they ruled the country for several centuries. They chose the governors of the provinces, and could place one of their number on the throne at any time they wished; in fact, they controlled the country, and the nominal ruler was obliged to do as they wished. When Napoleon came here in 1798 they fought him in the famous Battle of the Pyramids, and were defeated; many of them were killed, and others fled to Upper

MASSACRE OF THE MAMELUKES.

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Egypt, but enough remained to give trouble. When Mohammed Ali came to Egypt, after the French had been driven out by the English, the Mamelukes made him understand that he could do nothing without them. He soon determined to do something with them, and get rid of their interference.

"He sent invitations for the chiefs-four hundred and seventy in all -to come to the Citadel on the first day of March, 1811, to a grand banquet, where they would discuss the plans for a campaign into Nubia. They came at the appointed hour, and assembled in the narrow lane I told you of, waiting for the upper gate to open. When they were all in the lane the lower gate was shut, and there they were in a trap! Then the Albanian soldiers of Mohammed Ali began to fire on the Mamelukes from the loop-holes and the top of the walls. All were killed except one man, Enim Bey, who made his horse leap through a gap in the wall. The horse was killed by the fall, but his rider's life was saved. This was the end of the power of the Mamelukes in Egypt.

"Fred says Mohammed Ali reminds him of the Spanish warrior who said, on his death-bed,

"I leave no enemies behind me; I've shot them all!'

"The mosque, which was begun by Mohammed Ali and finished by his successors, is on the site of the palace erected by Saladin. It is built of alabaster, from the quarries up the Nile, and though faulty in many points of its architecture, is an interesting structure. It is sometimes called the 'Alabaster Mosque,' and as we went through it our admiration was excited by the richness of the materials of which it is composed. The tomb of Mohammed Ali is in one corner of the building, and is surrounded with a handsome railing, but there is nothing remarkable about the tomb itself. Close by the mosque is the palace; but it is in a half-ruined condition, and contains only a few rooms worth visiting.

"We went to Joseph's Well, which is a shaft nearly three hundred feet deep in the limestone rock; the tradition is that it is the well into which Joseph was cast by his brethren, but it probably gets its name from Yoosef,' which was the other name of Saladin the Conqueror. There was a well here when Saladin built the Citadel, but it was choked with sand, and the great ruler ordered it to be cleared out and made. useful. It is probable that the well was originally made by the ancient Egyptians, and, if so, it may be the one into which Joseph was cast by his brethren. There is a sakkieh for raising water in this well, but it is of little importance at present, as the Citadel is now supplied by means of a steam-pump."

From the Citadel our friends went to "the Tombs of the Caliphs," which extend along the east side of the city, and are conveniently reached by the Bab-el-Nasr. They are supposed to be the burial-places of the caliphs or sultans who ruled from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. Some of them are or were magnificent structures, while others are

comparatively plain in appearance. Down to the beginning of this century they had large revenues for keeping them in repair, and were guarded by the descendants of the sheiks and their followers, who had charge of them during their days of glory. Their revenues were taken away by Mohammed Ali, and since the time of that ruthless despot the custodians of the tombs have lived by what they could beg from visitors. Beyond the Citadel is a similar necropolis, called "the Tombs of the Mamelukes."

Evidently the buildings were erected, in most instances, without regard to cost, and before they began to decay they were to be ranked among the triumphs of Moslem architecture. Some of the domes and minarets are still magnificent, particularly those marking the resting-place of Sultan Barkuk and Keit Bey. The latter is considered the finest of all, and is the one most frequently drawn or painted by artists.

The boys paid a second visit to the tomb of Keit Bey, and carried along their sketching materials. They found the architecture more difficult to represent than they had supposed, and Frank made two or three attempts at the graceful minaret before he succeeded in satisfying him

A FAMOUS MAUSOLEUM.

95 self. The minaret is one of the finest in Cairo; it rises from a corner of the building, and has three stages or balconies, which diminish as they approach the top. The summit is shaped like a pear, and is usually disfigured with poles, from which flags are hung on days of festivals. The dome bears a marked resemblance to that of the Taj Mahal at Agra, in India, and terminates in a sharp spire instead of the conventional halfmoon that generally surmounts a Moslem edifice. While Frank was busy

with the structure, Fred made a sketch of several camels that were halted in front of the famous mausoleum, and the work of the two youths was afterward united into a single picture.

An early day was devoted to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Boulak, a suburb of Cairo, and practically a part of the city. An excur