New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-05-02
EGYPT REVISITED.
BAYARp TAYLOR ON THE SIGHTS IN AND
AROUND CAIRO.

CAIRO, March 81 must begin with the "e"'"0i
"A theme unknown TO Egyptian oonVefsa'ioi' -
less ii happens to be very extraordinary AZ -.
You cannot saw what fine day III OOD'
where all normal DAYS are fine; nor eAc"ans9 Pr
S;o.iors when tomorrow and next week. and next
month are known in advance by everyp ouy' EESP'
has heretofore been a certain refuge 10 al VINO are
Very Of o1r endless meteorological small talk Duu
Ihogin 70 doubt whether il viii continue TO remain
90 The Mexicans always have said that the Anglo
Saxon race changes the climate wherever u settles
So here. il almost seems as If the increase Oh INC
Frank element and the introduction OF FRANK CIV
ilization have given lawlessness and chahse 10 au
atmosphere which once seemed calm as the SPHINX
and steady as the Pyramids
For two DAYS past the thermometer has fallen 10
a. in the mornings Day before yesterday 1t showed
at suez and passenger just arrived from says
thai the VOYAGE up the Red Sea. known as very
horror Of heat. was painfully cold We have tired
in vain 10 get even an Arab man0aL or brazier OF
Goals; but the hotel has none TO Offer 30 we put Oh
sbawls and overcoat through the day. and 60 10 pea
early that warmth may come back under double
blanksts 'Tis the cline of the East, tbs the iand
of the sun - Turn over yOur Byron, and when founu
make a note Of Toward evening there is a heaYy
shower or two and last night 1t ralned again IuIl
ously The DID, unpayed streets thus become almost
impassable from mud and the authorities have IN
away. The consequence is that the level Oh the
streets is rapidly sinking and ia a few years more
the merchants will sit on high banks while their
customers stand below and bargain. His hIghness'
the Khedive il sppears, being engaged IN erecting
several new palaces in addition 70 the thirty or forty
he already possesses has no money to spare for the
cleansing and paving Of Cairo. 1t sad condition,
and one which claims our deepest sympatmes
For the past two or three days have been learn
v,ragtR Ivraz
itself into toerably definite bounds. \ line drawn
north and south the entrance OF the Mooskee the
ancient Frank street separates what is left of the
old city from the modern squares and avenues in the
west The latter are thus embraced in an irregular
quadrangle extending 70 the Nile at the former
towns Of Boulak and Roda. The first impression
made upon the stranger is thus the worst; for the
chief hotels are near the line of demolition and IN
complete restoration which separates the two por-
tons of the capital. Here, acres of old SaTacemc
houses are being leveled to the ground OF have LETT
gaps of stone and dust behind them; blocks Of grow
ing buildings are unsighty with scafolding and
heaps of prepared material; old trees are cut away
new ones are making efforts to grow and sun, wind
and dust alternately assail yOu. Two, three, or at
the utmost five years, may these gaps closed, the
streets rooted with shade the new gardens filled
with bowery foliage and the transition thereby re-
heyed of its present disageeable features. When
that much is accomplished Cairo may be more at
tractive than ever.
The old streets seem crowded with life as never
before. and here as in Alexandria, ] notice no
change OF any consequence IN the appearance OF
habits Of the Mosem population. The CaiTenes
were always more tolerant Of the Franks than the
Syrian Arabs or the Turks at ConstantinoPle; but
now when one wears fez and speaks a little
Arabic they cannot be sure he is not in the Pashas
aaryice arc c0urrpoug Us a matter Of pglCV. The
ngIy women still go closely vailed. and the young
and beautiful seem inclined 20 adopt the Turkish
custom of wearing thin white gauze, which keeps
up the Oriental proprietes. while allowing them TO
enjoy the new luxury Of admiration. have seen
numbers Of Pashas' wives and Odalisques-Iurkish
or Circassian women-riding out in their carriages
with their lustrous eyes and nts of milk and roses
scarcely dinmed 70 the public eye. Some Of them
were exquisitely beautiful.
Another evidence of a change in the ideas of the
governing class may be found in the character Of
their dwellings. The curiously latticed balconies
of carved wood. behind which the women were
wont TO sit unseen, are no longer constructed; the
many windows of the new Italian houses have no
more formidable guard than ordinary Venetian
blinds. In place of high stone walls around the
gardens there are frequently iron ratings; even
little ornamental statues beginning to creep IN
among the flowers. l am not able to say how far
the daughters of the higher class educated, but
since many Of them are now able to read and speak
French aud are allowed to associate Familiarity with
European ladies' they must gradually become discon-
tented with the jealous surveillance Of the Orient
II viii be a long time, however, before any reform
of this kind strikes down among the lower orders Of
the people.
Ihave almost come 70 the conclusion that there is
no more cheerful and patient race in the world than
the Egyptian Moslem. Ny remembrance of their
nature. IN this respect, is more than confirmed on
seeing them again. The classes who make their
living out Of strangers are the watch for a good
bargain. Of course, bur they easily manageable,
and much less apt 10 violate agreement than the
Italians. Even the country children with their in
cessant cry of bqcsheesh ~ their laughing eyes and
cheerful acceptance Of refusal contrast pleasantly
with the incessant whine and the per d Do"
winch one hears in Rome and Naples have spoken
to numbers of Fellahs tradesmen in the streets,
and always receive a courteous and frank answer.
If one of the natives happens to be rude in crowd
he IS generally repro1ed by the bystanders. Even
sudden quarrels among the people settled with
out malice, and You often two good friends who
Is minutes before were pummeling each other. II
is the worst possible policy for traveller to lose his
temper, here; firm but cheerful bearing viii carry
him triumphantly through all straits.
i have found one thing quite mchanged-the old
avenue of Indian sycamOres and acacias leading 10
the palace and gardens of ShOobra. That is, the
trees themselves remain, with their gnarled and
twisted gray trunks their immense snaky arms and
their uninterrupted arch of shade forming vista
five miles long but villas and gardens on either
side have crept far out the former fields. and
the broad stretches of harvest land over which you
once saw the Pyramids and the Mokattam hills
have shrunk into scattered patches destined also 70
IL.