DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6272#0145
142
VOYAGE UP THE NILE.
thousand objects that, tell of the rich orientalism of the city.
And the air is so delightful! Not, perhaps, what the air of
Upper Egypt is, nor such as ten days since I breathed on the
plains of ruined Thebes and Esne, nor such as cheered my
lungs, as I sailed up and down the lovely, lovely Nile; but a
rich atmosphere of delight, nevertheless.
Feb. 16th, Abbas Pacha returned from Constantinople to
Cairo. He had been there to visit the Sultan, after receiving
from him the appointment of Hatti Sheriff. His entry into
Cairo was brilliant, with the cortege of carriages and retinue
of mounted cavaliers. The city was all joy; and in the
evening, all the principal streets and bazaars were brilliantly
illuminated. In the Esbekiah were the fireworks. Those of
every nation, and many riding on camels, were thronging the
thoroughfares in the most picturesque costumes. The turbaned
Turks, in crowds on foot; the Caireen women, the Copt in his
white and muslin; and the Jew in his dark, close-fitting robes,
the Bedouin in his wild'desert dress, the Arabs in the burnou-
ses ; boatmen of the Nile, Effendis on horseback, with armed
attendants and blacks, less distinguished Caireens on donkeys,
Arab women with simple dress and unveiled faces, and num-
berless Franks with ladies, and alone, formed a panorama as
you walked through Cairo, worth seeing. It was a joyful
evening,—and how well behaved the people,—how different
from an European or American holiday ! How little drunken-
ness and bad conduct ! Surely Christians might come to the
East to learn manners. "I never saw," says an English
gentleman, " such courtesy, such good-humor, such an absence
of rudeness, and such happiness, in any city." Indeed it was
beautiful.
Defterdar Bey; that pious member of the Geographical
VOYAGE UP THE NILE.
thousand objects that, tell of the rich orientalism of the city.
And the air is so delightful! Not, perhaps, what the air of
Upper Egypt is, nor such as ten days since I breathed on the
plains of ruined Thebes and Esne, nor such as cheered my
lungs, as I sailed up and down the lovely, lovely Nile; but a
rich atmosphere of delight, nevertheless.
Feb. 16th, Abbas Pacha returned from Constantinople to
Cairo. He had been there to visit the Sultan, after receiving
from him the appointment of Hatti Sheriff. His entry into
Cairo was brilliant, with the cortege of carriages and retinue
of mounted cavaliers. The city was all joy; and in the
evening, all the principal streets and bazaars were brilliantly
illuminated. In the Esbekiah were the fireworks. Those of
every nation, and many riding on camels, were thronging the
thoroughfares in the most picturesque costumes. The turbaned
Turks, in crowds on foot; the Caireen women, the Copt in his
white and muslin; and the Jew in his dark, close-fitting robes,
the Bedouin in his wild'desert dress, the Arabs in the burnou-
ses ; boatmen of the Nile, Effendis on horseback, with armed
attendants and blacks, less distinguished Caireens on donkeys,
Arab women with simple dress and unveiled faces, and num-
berless Franks with ladies, and alone, formed a panorama as
you walked through Cairo, worth seeing. It was a joyful
evening,—and how well behaved the people,—how different
from an European or American holiday ! How little drunken-
ness and bad conduct ! Surely Christians might come to the
East to learn manners. "I never saw," says an English
gentleman, " such courtesy, such good-humor, such an absence
of rudeness, and such happiness, in any city." Indeed it was
beautiful.
Defterdar Bey; that pious member of the Geographical