The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-04-18

Un the days when you do not feel dia-
posed TO climb 70 the citadel you have
the fashionable road 70 the gardens Of
shoObra, with the lines Of sparkling equip
ages Frankish and Egyptian With strings
of laden eamek; with ambling Arabs Of
the Purest breed with dark-eyed hours,
hypocritically veiled ia their yashlnaks
with the runping Syces with their long
wands Of Office, and their crimson-girdled
draperies of white. In short, your first
few fine days in Cairo fully realize your
fondest dreams, and you iseI that for
months of such unalloyed bliss Il was
worth while to oyerdaw your credit with
your bankers.
But in brief space Of time, even under
the most favorable circumstances, YOU find
il borne in upon you that all earthly pleas
ures are. .heeting. The drynes and the
warmth Of the air begin to tell upon
temperament accustomed 70 damp and
cold, There is little inducsment toindulgs
in pedestrian exercise. There Is turf in
the Uzbekeeh, kept up at vast expendi-
ture on water-works, but everywhere else
everything Is burned aud barren. There
are masses Of dust lying thick upon the
roads, and the trees that line the drive to
Shoobra, are changing rapidly from green
to gray. The clatter Of tongues in the
crowded thoroughfares begins 10 deafen
you, and the jostling Of uncivil Moslsms
become intolerable. When the first i'm.
pressions Of novelty wear Of, the goods
displayed for sale appear palsry. There
can be no doubt that the aienches are hor
rible, and the people ARE not much cleaner
than their streets or their dwellings You
begin 10 tire Of your life in the hotel. The
bedrooms are somewhat bare, the saige-a-
maager is decidedly bleak, and the wire
covers over everything on which fies can
settle are unpleasantly suggestive Of one Of
the most noisome plaques Of Egypt You
are losing the fine edge Of your appetite,
and are inclined to grumble at the mono
tony Of the fare. The fowls are lean, 50
are the mutton and the beef. Most likely
the company bOres you; the pleasantest Of
the guests are mere birds of passage, lott
eriug homeward-bound from India, or else
on their way to tho Upper Nile Yetyoa
must remain perforce where you are, for
there are no private apartments to be hired,
and il may be presumed that you are not
of such exalted degree as to induce the
Khedive to place palace at your disposal.
All this is supposed to be in fine weather,
too; but if the weather breaks, as il has
done this season, where are you then
There is no fire in your room, and nothing
in the dark salon below stairs but close
and cherries stove Of tiles, Your win
dows rattle with each gust that shakes
them, and the wind comes whistling in
under the door and takes dismal liberties
with the bit of carpet before your bed.
Out Of doors the bright blue sky has
changed to chilly gray. Your relaxed
frame is chilled and shrivelled by the keen
sirocco, which searches out any latent in
trinity in the way of rheumatism, neural
gia, or toothache. II fills your clothes,
your eyes, and your nostrils with the dust
that circles round you In cloudy pillars.
You long for rain to lay It, and when the
rain come II makes you only more wretch
ed still. For you must take your stroll
abroad through oceans Of mud There IL
something intensely depressing in the warm
damp that envelopes you, and there Is
nothing in the surrounding cafes, theatres,
and the like, 70 cheer you with factitious
excitement So, on the whole, il seems
serious risk to arrange deliberately for .
whole season in Cairo.