The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-10-21
CAIRO BAZARS.
Market Places and shops In the Egyptian
Capital. -

CAIRO BAZARS.
Market Places and shops In the Egyptian
Capital. .
The appearance of oriental shops Is
well known. A square cavity followed
out of wall two feet above the ground,
that Is a shop at Cairo. Strictly speak.
ing, 1t is nothing more than large
rectangular niche opening onto the
| street, with no way out either ut the
back or the sides, in which, instead OF n
statue, is merchant squatting amongst
his wares or workman at his task
These shops, instead of being scattered
about in different streets, as in Europe,
are all together at certain corners; and
when these corners are rooted in, they
become bazar. For there is not at
Cairo a special structure for protecting
these shops, as there is at Constanti-
nople or at Tunis
All these shops make curious pictures
There behind mass of pots and pans,
dishes and plates of red and yellow cop
per-some black and rusty with age
others spick and span with newness,
with here and there CLEANS of the red
or straw-colored gold so dear to painters
of still-life subjects-an Arab is busy at
| repousse-work, his hammering making
a deafening noise which is heard afar
off. Egyptian metal work is very fine,
with dignity all it's own, and the COM
mon ever in use amongst the poorest Is
of really extraordinary beauty of style
Further on we come to collection of
red, black, or gray earthenware, cheap
stoves, pipes, and vases engraved wit ,
ornaments in intaglio, painted blue or
red. This common Egyptian pottery,
disdained, know not why, by dealers
in oriental ware, is extremely interest
ing. Its shape is often grand. and the
forms found in Egyptian tombs have
been preserved.
Next, cleaning like a border of Jon
quils and poppies with its masses of red
and yellow, is a shoe shop, a regular
/ flower bed for color And in the midst
of confusion of Turkish slippers in
scarlet or saffron leather, crouches the
cobbler, stitching away or drilling holes
with his awl
| The bazar, par excellence, is broken
up in an extraordinary manner. Fancy
an alley so short that it is barely two
hundred PAGES long; so twisted that you
can only see a scrap of it at time; SO
narrow that the houses seem to be
scowling at and ready to fall upon
their opposite neighbours; and beneath
the dull-hued lean-to walls, in every
nook and corner, are shops full of daz-
cling objects; many-colored oriental
stuffs, figured brocades, dainty Arab
jewelry, cleaning daggers and sabres.
ancient damascened helmets, silver
wine bottles, spread out or piled
up for sale. And amidst this
confusion of stutfs, weapons, and
jewels in glass cases, or of I'M
folded silks, is the merchant, squatting
in the shadow and smoking with abso-
lutte indifference, his dreamy eyes gaz-
ing forth in kind of ecstacy of melan-
choly, whilst before him, in the trans
parent bowl of his nargileh, at each
breath he draws, floats regular flo
tilla of rose leaves, dancing, whirling
round, and suffering shipwreck amongst
the big bubbles on the surface These
shrewd old merchants really look like
poets lost in the third heaven of bliss
full contemplation.
Immediately after sunset the life and
motion of Cairo cease, and it is rare
thing to meet a native returning home
on dark night with white paper
lantern in his hand, or to see an Arab
cafe still lit up, and with the candles
hung up round the door. making a
brightness in the deserted streets. II
we want something to do for another
hour, the only resource is to pay visit
to the almehs. Leaving the French
quarter, you turn into gloomy pas
sage amongst tottering houses, and find
yourself opposite to long straight
street of somewhat sinister aspect
The same solitude everywhere, not a
ghost of a passenger absolute silence;
but above each door fiickers the flame
of little watch-light floating in a
vessel of oil, and casting ray of light
upon the mud houses opposite. -Har-
per's Weekly.