New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-01-08
vRoM NETWORK TO EIEEVEH.
TWO DAYS IN ALEXANDRIA.
- - . arx,,zsrns

In naFste, IN detaI, III. PeInOi.ai "a PoiA''~
au,iog the past two days. What | have seen
\. still too close before my eyes for that lmpef
,onal general description, which the traveller can
never give fairly tall he has left the place "ne'eo'
he writes Apanorama however, furnishes oe''
,er idea OF country than geological discourse
even though the coloring be faint and the hgufes
badly drawn.
We entered the old harbor Of Alexandra, Dc,
,u.en the island Of Pharos and the main lana
fsov G. injected by peRinsular strip Oh WIN"
Abe Frank quarter is built,) soon aHef sums
ys,terday morning. The water s"atheu VIZ"
ho.ts before the anchor dropped, and the Egypt
,.nha.I,b officer had no sooner departed than
,..,e boarded BIZ crowd of dragomen hote
,,oners and boatmen. a pectable-looklng
Arab. who wore white dress and red sash,
.eco,ted me in Italian, offering to conduct me TO
the Oriental Hotel Two other passengers, who
had been recommended to the same house,
,0lned me and we lost no time IN being boated
lahore, with our baggage. We landed on pie
OF stones, not far from a mean-looklng edlhce
called the Custom House. Many friends were
there 10 welcome US, and shall never forget me
eaperness with which they dragged US ashore
and the zeal with which they pommeled one an
other in their generous efforts to take charge o
our effects. True, we could have wIsheu 'hst
their faces had been better washed, their paggy
t,owsers less ragged and their red caps less
greasy. and we were perhaps ungrateul III al
lnwing our Arab TO rate them soundly and cuit
Abe ears of the more obstreperOus, before our
trunks and carpet bags could be por,ioned among
them Al the Custom.House we were visited
by tw o dark gentlemen, in turbansand black, How
ps robes, who preferred passing our baggage
without scrutiny, in order that they might re
eeive the customary backshish. Our procession
Of porters was then set in notion and we passed
through several streets of wnite-washed, two
story houses, to the great square OF the Frank
quarter, which opened before us warm and bnl-
liant in the morning sunshine.
The principal hotels and consulates front on
this square. The architecture Is Italian, With
here and there dash Of Saracenic, IN the WIN
dOws and door-ways, especially IN new pull
tknes. small obelisk OF alabaster, present
lom Mehemet Ali, stands in the centre, on
pedestal which was meant for fountain, but
has no water. All this | noted, as well as
crowd OF donkeys and donkey-boys, and a string
Of laden camels, on our way to the Oriental to-
TEL This is a long and not particularly clean
edifse on the northern side of the square. The
English and French steamers had Just arrived
and no rooms were to be had until after the de-
parture Of the afternoon boat for Cairo Oar
dtragoman, who called himself lbrahlm, spg-
rested bath as the most agreeable means oil
passing the intermediate time and as we were
M no humor TO commence sight. seeing, we con
scented.
The clear sky, the temperature, (hke that of
mid July day al home and the novel interest o.
the groups in the streets, were sufficient to com.
Densate Tor any annoyance but when we
reached the square Of The French Churcl and
saw garden OF palm-trees waving their coro-
mails OF gliltering leaves everything else was Tor
gotten. My German friend who had never seen
palms, except as starvellng exo!lcs IN Sorrento
aud Smyrna, lifted his hands in rapture, and
oven |, who had heard tens OF thousands rustic
In The hot winds OF the Tropics, feel my heart
leap az if their beauty were equally new to my
eyes.
The bath was one story building, OF very
snprepossesslng exterior. AS we entered the
low vaul,ed entrance, my ears were saluted
with doorous, grooming sound, which at first
eoulectured to proceed from the persons under
ro,pg the operation, but which | aiterward as
sertained was made by a wheel turned by
buffalo, employed IN raising water from the well
In sort OF basement hall, smelling OF soap suds,
And with large tank of water IN the center, We
were received by the bath.keeper, who showed
ne into a room containing three low divans with
psllcws Here we disrobed, and lbrahim, who
had procured a quantity OF napkins, enveloped
our heads in tmbans and swathed eur IONS IN a
simple Adamlte garment. Heavy wooden clogs
were attached to our feet, and an animated
bscuze statue led the way through gloomy pas
cages, sometimes hot and steamy, sometimes
cold and sospy to small vaulted chamber,
lighted by few apertures IN the ceiling. The
moist heat was almost suffocatlng hot water
lowed over the floor, and the stone
benches we sat upon were somewhas cooler
than kitchen stoves. The bronze individual
leh us, ead very soon, sweating at every pore,
We began t. think of the three Hebrews m the
furnace. Our comfort was not increased by the
Eroaning sound which we still heard, and by
seeing, through hole m the door, five or SIX
naked figures lying motionless along the edge
Of a sleammg vat, IN the outer room.
Presently our statue returned with pair OF
coarse hair gloves on his hands. lie Snaiched
of our tnshans. and then. seizing one OF my
friends by the shoulder as II he had been sheep.
began . sort of rasping operation upon his back
This process, varied occasionally by dash OF
scalding water, was extended to each Of our
three bodies, and we were then suffered 10 rest
awhile. course OF soap-suds followed, which
was softer and more pleasant IN It's effect, eN-
sept when he took us 10y the hair, and holding
back our heads, scrubbed our faces most Justify
~ If ,hero were no such things rs eyes, noses
and mouths By this time we had reached such