The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-04-22
Street Scenes in Cairo.

The Moosker is the broadway of the city.
1t is about thirty feet wide, and leads
from the Ezbekeeyah-the park and the
French quarter of the city, where ars
The hotels, cafes, etc.-to the MOkattam
hills. 1t is lined with small shops,
nearly all of which have no windows but
the whole front stands open to the street.
There are, perhaps, a dozen French
Jewelry stores that have show windows,
and that is all. In the busy hours the
street is crowded, but yet not so much
as cross street, near the farther end,
which we call Bazaar Street, as the bazars
are entered from it, and it is exceedingly
difficult here to get the right name for
anything among these Arabs. On GER
tam days this street is perfect jam 1t
is lined with little shops; there hundreds
OF women with yelled faces will squat
ON the ground about three feet in front
OF the shop and display SMALL stocks of
greasy cakes, pieces of sugar-cane,
few pairs of slippers and other goods.
VI the crowd slowly moving in opposite
directions, there are many men and
women carrying trays, water-jars OF
other articles on their heads, and all the
women who carry their children place
them astride their left shoulder, and the
little ones soon learn to chang ON to
the shawl or wrap covering their moth
err heads. Then man bearing a goat
SKIN full of water occasionally squeezes
through the throng. and a woman COM
pletel y enveloped in black silk, riding
astride on donkey, with feet drawn up
beneath as high as possible, goes along.
Next comes carriage, with sails, or
runner, in picturesque costume, who
goes ahead, carrying a gold-tipped rod,
with which he urgently taps people who
fail to get out of the way at his stento-
rian shout of "Shemalak !" left,
Amenak !" right. The crowd makes
way for the carriage Just about as water
makes way for boat, closing in it.
Then comes two or three camels, bur-
dened with huge loads of green clover,
their long necks and supercilious noses
extending over the crowd. As all the
people are costumed in bright colors and
strange styles, the jam seems to us more
like grand masquerade, especially as
everybody is so good natured. and jost-
ling is matter of course.
The bazars are the most interesting
places in Cairo. There are sections for
almost every variety of business-gold
and silver work, slippers, rugs and car
pets, saddles, perfumery, spices, books,
crockery and dry goods-all have sep
arate quarter. You step out of the
crowded street, through an old arch-gate-
way, and find yourself in the silver ba-
Ear. where the workmen are busy ham
mering out all sorts of silver iewelrv,
such as bracelets, necklaces, etc. The
gold and silver bazar consists of a dozen
short, narrow passages about six feet
wide, running around corners this way
and that, and loosely rooted over with
Stats or mating The space between
the buildings is occupied for about
eighteen inches on each side with
platform about as high as an Or
binary chair, which is called the masta-
bah, and is an extension of the floor of
the shop. This is for the customers to
sit on, the natives dropping their slippers
and sitting on their feet, according to
the Turkish fashion. The space between
the mastabahs is only about three feet,
for the passage of the public, and in
places it is impossible for two persons to
walk abreast. The ground is unpaved
and uneven, and, being wet down twice
day, is often slippery. The dusty, din
gy buildings and the dilapidated appear
ance of the partial covering gives to
these little lanes very nasty look, but
the impression is removed when you
look at the goods displayed by the shop
keepers. Their shops are about five or
six feet square and entirely open in the
front. A part of this space is occupied
by workman. who with little furnace.
hammer, small anvil, pair of plyers
and few other tools, is working silver
and gold into attractive shapes. His as
sistant will open am old safe and
show you very beautiful gold and
silver ornaments, which they have
manufactured in the same styles
as were popular and fashionable
two or three thousand years ago, as
proved by old jewelry or pictures found
in the ancient tombs. The merchant
will often order coffee to be brought and
you take a cup, shaped like half an egg
shell and holding about three table
spoonsful, by way of politeness. The
jewelry lacks the fine finish we are ac-
customed to see on such goods, but the
styles are most attractive and show what
can be done by patient hand-labor and
almost without tools. The goods are sold
very cheap,-that is, when you have
gone through the regular custom of beat
ing the asking price down to about one
half. 1t sometimes requires two or three
days to make the purchase of some COW
eted article at the lowest price; but as it
prolongs our visits to the bazars, and the
enjoyment of seeing the people at their
work and the panorama that's constantly
moving by, we do not consider it mis-
fortune, while the shop-keepers seem
also to enjoy the time spent in making
bargain.
The slipper bazaar is about as narrow
as that of the gold and silversmiths, and
all manner of red and yellow slippers,
with queerest pointed toes, are offered
for sale. The manufacture of the Slip
pers goes on in these little cubby-hoes.
One merchant | noticed had a space of
only three feet wide and eighteeS inches
deep, and this is partly occupied by mar
row shelves for his goods. He has barely
room to sit on his feet between the side
shelves. The other bazars are not so
narrow, say from eight to ten feet wide.