Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-09-12
NO. 35.

, As you Walk along one OF the mOderl
, streets you meet the London cockne,
i'll his plaid suit, beaver hat, eye-glas
and Dundreary whiskers, just as OF
the Paris boulevard The well ap
, pointed and numerous hacks Will
their freight of ladies in the lates
Partisan fashions along the well payet
streets. But Just turn the corner o
this narrow lane, and In twenty places
you are i'll the age as we'll as the coun-
try of the "Arabian Nights" You
will be shown the very streets III which
some of the adventures of this cele
brated book are located The one
eyed water carrier with his bloated
lookin" goat skin of water on his back
the vtiled lady, the VIC 1ed black ell
much. the little hunch backed t,ilor
there they are You could swear that
| they are the same people, IN the same
dresses, for the fashions of dress have
not changed for centuries among the
genuine Arabs. Just knock at that
giant looking arched door with its
curious iron ArabesGue and its enor-
nous wooden lock, and You need not
be surprised if it is opened hy these
very same three 'calenders" who re-
lated their wonderful stories as writer,
III the Arabian Nights. aud / could
vow that [ have seen the very oil lars
in which the forty thieves were scald-
ed. Only wait till the midnight hour.
and doubt not that you Will meet
the Caliph Harraoun er Rasheed with
his trusty Mesrour efambulat.ng the
streets in disguise lust as they did
eight hundred years ago. There are
the same bazaars, with the same dis
play of Barbaric splendor. The little
| shops are Just as described, nothing
but little recesses IN the wall, about
ten feet wide and six or eight deep.
The floor of the shop is about two feet
| above the level of the street which is
| twelve or fifteen feet wide There the
| turbanod merchant sits cross legged
smoking his long pipe and waiting for
| custom. Perhaps veiled woman is
sitting opposite to him also cross-leg-
| ged, and chatlering about tie prices
| of his goods-or perhaps flirting with
| INN. Or else n lady of high rank.
astri,le of her white donkey, with
enormous saddle, geld embnssel bri-
die and gold embroidered housings
does her shopping without lismonnt-
ing, with nm eunnch or two to guard
| and attend her. The flow of life in
| these narrow street il wonderful.
Crowds of common people in long
| hlne cotton blonses hanging to their
| feet, with red tnrbouSil surrounded
| by several folds OF white cotton stuff
| by way OF tnrhnnS- The women of
| tie poorest la ~ Wear nothing but a
long loose gown of deep blue wooden
stuff open from the throat to below
| the waist, around which they wear
no sort nf belt or girlle. But the
| Arab woman's mndesty is satisfied so
that her face IS covered no matter
what else Is exposed. Over their
heads they wear Il long blue veil of
the same stutf, hanging down the
back, and one corner of it down over
the face, or else Il piece of white or
blue cotton is worn from the ewes
| downward. The streets are ahso-
lutcly swarming, being so narrow.
Besides the crowds on foot, arc great
numbers on donkeys, some on horse
back, and even carriages are seen
pr aceded by their ''sais," (pro-
nounrcd sah-eess). Then there are
long strings of camel~, fiftecu or
twenty, i'll single iilr loaded with the
building stone used in Cairo. or with
planks and timbcrs. OF with enormous
bags of straw. Yet all these get along
without confusion or accidents, and IT
is very seldom that ynu sec y block"
of vehicles anywhere.
Here, [ must say word aholt the
Snis. They are an institution in this
city and it would he Impossible to ride
a horse or drive Il carriage through the
narrow quarters without them. They
are generally Bcrhcrs-an interior
tribe of chocolat" color, but with moth
ing of the negro hair. featurcs. or form
Ot head. They are remarkably we'll
formed. The business of the Sais is
To take care of the horses as a groom,
but chiefly to run before the carriage
or horse. They are all dressed in the
same style: IA red tHrbouSh surrounded
10y folds of red and yellow silk as u
| turhan; Vest of dark cloth or green
| silk embroidered with gold; loose
| white muslin sleeves leaving the arm
J bare from the shoul1er Around the
waist silk or cashmere sash; below.
a short white cotton prttIcoat very
full. falling little short uf the knees.
legs and feet bare, like the arms
| i'neir endurance is wonderful. They
| will run for hours before ii carriage at
full trot without giving ont. 1t is on
record that the Sais OF Mehcmet, be
fore the days of railroads. ran before
his carriage from Cairo to Alexander,
| l:}O miles. in two Gays. But this case
was extraordinary if true The Sais
ctrries perpendicularly III their right
hand stick about six feet long. with
which they used to strike those who
did not get out of the way quick
enough. but they have stopped that,
except when they Int poor Arab to
show their importance They run
along shouting Va cfalWk-mind your
back; iIa riviak, mind your feet.
| finance nntr, go to right; SI|u40liE, go
to the left. The people thus warned
squeeze against the houses to let the
carriage pass. In the new broad
streets, the Sai>s ara not needed, and
sometimes get behind the carriage OF
on the box: bnt in the narrow quarters
they are necessary. [ have one, Il very
good looking fellow. who attends to
my horse, and whose name | can rep,
resent only by this combln ition ot
letters Urrrt$xS Princes and Pachas
arc not always satisfied with ono Sais.
One beautiful monnlight night | saw q
carriage fuil of veiled women, drawn
by IL handsome pair of English horses.
In front were four Sais i'll pairs-thcI
two more h"nring "n poles :ressets
full { l,nrning pitch notwithstanding
the rnonlight At each carriage dool
WAS ., Mack cnnnch mounted on
splendid horse, and two more followed
b hind 1t was the wives of prime,
taking a moonlight ride, well guarded
as usual.
To give an idea of the cost of service
IN Cairo, | will state That Il SaiS get
usually $40 Il month, on which h'
hnar.ls and cloth - himself Cooks ge
more, and other servants less. Al IN
skilled labor is extremely cheap.
ro return to the description of Cal
ro. This vast city contains abnn
400, NO0 souis, and, taking MI its qnai
ters together, is about four miles i
length and three in breadth, from th'
Nile to the dessert Wherever wi,tr
can br raised it Develops wonderful
fertility; where IT cannot, ~ III. dr.>fFt
bat the most arid spot of the deseI
wall liOISonl the moment water