Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-09-28
THE MAMELUKE'S LEAP.
A Story OF Modern Egypt.

There are few more striking city land
scapes in the whole Of Africa, though
there may be many handsomer, than the
panorama of Cairo, where ancient and
modern Mohammedanism stand repre-
scented side by side. As mere picture,
the traveller may perhaps give his prefer
ence to the towering red cliffs and ter
raced streets of Oran, the magnificent
crescent of white houses surrounding
the green sloping hills and sparkling
waters of Algiers Bay, or the strange
little eagles nest of Constantine pcrched
on all sides but one by hideous chasm
five hundred feet in depth. But in its
picturesque mingling of the past and
the present, of quaint Eastern barbar-
ism and iaunty Western civilization,
Cairo stands alone.
1t must be owned, however, that the
late Khcdiyes efforts to make his capi-
tai cheap edition of Paris have had
anything but unsatisfactory result. Mos
lem cities are rs conservative as their
inhabitants, and do not take kindly to
the busting, new-faHgled notions OF the
west. The Stub, . Gardens, indeed
(Which form the Park of Cairo). are
charming foil to the hot, dusty plain all
around, and so, too, is the long avenue
of date palms extending from the Milo
almost to the point where the mighty
crests of the Pyramids are seen looming
against the rich tropical sky on the bor-
der of the everlasting desert. But there
is q gariSh, offensive smartncss about
every street of the new "lsmailiyeh
Quarter with its tall white hotels and
bridc-cake-liko villas, and inclosed
grass-plots sorelyin need Of watering;
and ii Is quite relief to turn from this
''made to order town into the maze of
dark narrow, Oriental streets around
the base of the citadel hill, where one
may still see what the great city was in
the DAYS when she first received her Ar
able title OF ''Al Kahira."
Here, indeed, you may take your FIJI
of Eastern associations. You seem TO
be looking up from the bottom of n
well at the bright summer sky which is
only visible rs n little ribbon OF burning
LIGHT far overhead. between the flat,
eavy-battlemented roofs of the strange
old houses, with their blank, massive
walls and deep tunnel-like doorways. -
All around YOU the quaint old-wOrld life
Of the arabian Nights is in full swing
The gray bearded barber is chatting to
his Arab, customer as ne shaveS his
crown. The laden camel, striding up
the narrow, rubbish -heaped street, al
most tramples upon turbancd ioafcr
who is too lazy TO get out of the way
The "kabobki' (sclcr of cooked meaO
sets out upon the narrow board before
him his little squares of smoking NUT
ton, each impalcd upon its own tiny
spit. The barc-lmhed water carrier
waddlcs past under his dripping bag of
skin, eyed obviously by the tattcrcd
dusty pilgrim from Mecca, who is look
inc round in search of Il bath house
The yelled woman glides noisolessly
past in her Shroud-like robe, like risen
corpse, while the gaunt, half-clad, Wild
eyed dervi,h (rcligious deyotee) stalks
through the crowd yelling like a mad
man, and tossing his bare arms frantic
ally in the air.
Amid such scene, one would hardly
he surprised to come upon khojah Has
san, or Sindbad, the sailor, snugly seat
ed in a shady corner and recountiug to
circle of admring listeners one OF
those intcrmiuables stories which delight
ed the Caliph Haroun Al-RaSchid, Be
fore YOU reach the foot of the winding
path leading upward to the citadel YOU
will be quite ready to assent To the ole
saying that "lle who hath not seen Cal
70 hath not seen the world
But the gem of the whole panoram:
IS the citadel itself, which stands upor
y steep rocky bluff overlooking the
town. True, the massive walls are fas
crumbling to decay, and n military en-
gineer would be anything but satisfied
either with the condition of the defense
or with that of the guns mounted upoi
them. But the most resolute fault-iiud
'er could hardly object 10 the stated,
white front and tapering minarets of y,
great mosque, or to the wealth of color
ing laytshed upon the graceful columns
and frettcd cornices and deep, shaGowl
archways of its beautiful interor-a ii
monument of the greatness of its found
.er, Mehemet Ali Pasha, the Napoleon o
Egypt, who ruled the country with
roo of iron in the earlier part OF the pres
.ent century.
Beyond the mosque, in the outer angl
of the fortress, and just at the poir
where the rocky face of the Hill upo
(which it stands falls away into shct
tprccipice. lies a spacious quadrangle: