DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5073#0131
120
CAIRO.
it must have been when the bearded chin overhung the
temple and the altar between its paws, and the group of
lions crouched in front. It is believed to have been exe-
cuted by Thothmes III., who was fond of architectural
caprices, but we must all be thankful to him for a
" caprice" as grand and enduring and noble as this.
It is a marvellous mystery, keeping its own secret, be-
hind those wide-open eyes and within that serenely
smiling mouth, and one wanders round it, vainly
searching for the key to what one feels instinctively is
full of meaning, but which is now, and perhaps for ever,
locked beneath the eternal veil of sand.
That evening we went on to Cairo, and arrived at
Shepheard's Hotel on the 25th of March, and for the
next ten days we were employed in a ceaseless labour
of shopping — wearisome enough anywhere, but at Cairo
really dreadful: one hunted the whole day for some
indispensable trifle, seldom having the slightest idea
where to go to, and at the end of the day found the
thing in the first shop one had been in. We were soon
in despair at the invariable answer to all inquiries for
articles, that they had none; but a Cairo lady, who was
so kind as to help us very much in our difficulties,
assured us that meant only laziness, and at last we
learnt to answer " We will help you to look for it," and
by dint of opening drawers and searching for ourselves,
we sometimes found what we wanted. But one never
could guess where to look for anything: for instance,
we found books and trunks at the tailor's, boots and
shoes at a watchmaker's, a French dressmaker behind
a butcher's stall, and some strong, useful dresses at a
warehouse for glass beads. Many things we never
found at all, and we had to get on as best we could till
they were sent out to us from England after some
CAIRO.
it must have been when the bearded chin overhung the
temple and the altar between its paws, and the group of
lions crouched in front. It is believed to have been exe-
cuted by Thothmes III., who was fond of architectural
caprices, but we must all be thankful to him for a
" caprice" as grand and enduring and noble as this.
It is a marvellous mystery, keeping its own secret, be-
hind those wide-open eyes and within that serenely
smiling mouth, and one wanders round it, vainly
searching for the key to what one feels instinctively is
full of meaning, but which is now, and perhaps for ever,
locked beneath the eternal veil of sand.
That evening we went on to Cairo, and arrived at
Shepheard's Hotel on the 25th of March, and for the
next ten days we were employed in a ceaseless labour
of shopping — wearisome enough anywhere, but at Cairo
really dreadful: one hunted the whole day for some
indispensable trifle, seldom having the slightest idea
where to go to, and at the end of the day found the
thing in the first shop one had been in. We were soon
in despair at the invariable answer to all inquiries for
articles, that they had none; but a Cairo lady, who was
so kind as to help us very much in our difficulties,
assured us that meant only laziness, and at last we
learnt to answer " We will help you to look for it," and
by dint of opening drawers and searching for ourselves,
we sometimes found what we wanted. But one never
could guess where to look for anything: for instance,
we found books and trunks at the tailor's, boots and
shoes at a watchmaker's, a French dressmaker behind
a butcher's stall, and some strong, useful dresses at a
warehouse for glass beads. Many things we never
found at all, and we had to get on as best we could till
they were sent out to us from England after some