GRAVE OF BURCKHARDT. 315 opposite end of the chamber, where, from a sentiment higher and purer than that of jealousy, their very graves are hidden from the public eye. Delicacy so refined could never, I apprehend, have existed independently of very exalted love. A few devout persons still repair to these mosques to pray; and two or three Arab families, perhaps by hereditary right, perform the pious office of protecting them from profanation. DXCV. Returning from these splendid monuments, and turning aside towards the right, we visited the spot, where, amid innumerable Mohammedan graves, stands the humble tomb which covers the remains of Burckhardt. It is repaired and kept clean by Osman Effendi, -a personal friend of the traveller, who has carried his respect for him beyond the grave; and but for whose care it would soon be utterly forgotten, since it is distinguished neither by name nor inscription. A monument, however, is due to Burckhardt; not as a means of augmenting his reputation, which must be based upon his works, but as a mark of the gratitude of the English nation, ever ready to do justice to departed merit. The ordinary Turkish tombs differ very little from those in our own churchyards, consisting of a slab, with an upright columnar stone at either end; the one at the head being surmounted by a larger turban over a male, and a smaller one over a female grave. In some cases, the tombs of women are adorned with the figure of a rose, probably emblematic of the virgin state. All these tombs being hollow, with a small arched opening at either end, are inhabited by dogs, jackals, snakes, and other beasts and reptiles. The object of those apertures I was unable to discover; most probably there is some superstition at the bottom; but hence it is that Mohammedan cemeteries are the constant haunt of wild beasts. DXCVI. In returning to the city, we passed the Bab el Footoor, one of those beautiful Saracenic gates, erected by the old sultans of Egypt, of which a very small number now remain. It terminates above in a perfect arch, adorned with an astragal and serpentine fillet, alternating with a band of open lozenges, each containing a rosette, a star, or some similar object. Other elegant and tasteful ornaments enrich the higher portions of the gateway, which may be considered as a magnificent specimen of Oriental architecture. Proceeding westward along the walls, we traversed the Khalish, or great canal, which intersects the road, and is lined on either side, throughout the greater part of its course, by houses and gardens of a mean appearance: the water was now green and stinking, evidently deteriorating the air, and stunting the vegetation on its banks, where the plants and trees were discoloured and withered. In fact, the Khalish, as Clarke very justly observes, is a filthy ditch, which would be regarded as a nuisance in any country in the civilised world. Yet HOUSE OF BURCKHARDT. 317 here it was that Burckhardt selected his place of residence, in the vilest and most unhealthy quarter of Cairo, where the very atmosphere is pestilential, and must constantly induce dysentery and malignant fevers. 318 BAZARS OF CAIRO. CHAPTER XIII. PRINCIPAL BAZAR OF CAIRO SCRIPTS OF THE KORAN ITINERANT AUCTIONEERS MANU BAZARS THRONGED WITH LADIES COSTUME-SLAVE MARKET IDEAS OF THE ORIENTALS RESPECTING SLAVERY APPEARANCE OF BLACK FEMALE SLAVES ABYSSINIAN GIRLS GREEK YOUTHS - DISINGENUITY OF THE PASHA-HISTORY OF A GREEK LADY AND HER SON EXTRAORDINARY HISTORY OF ANOTHER GREEK FAMILYESCAPE FROM THE HAREM APOSTASY ARTIFICIAL HATCHING OF CHICKENS HATCHING OVENS PROCESS OF HATCHING — NUMBER OF EGGS- VALLEY OF THE WANDERINGS-OSTREA DILUVIANA- IMMENSE AGATISED TREES RED HILL ANCIENT FERTILITY OF THE DESERT -FORESTS OF UNKNOWN TREES. DXCVII. AMONG the bazārs of Cairo, the prmcipal and most frequented appears to be the one situated near the slave market. Here we observed what in this country are termed auctions: that is, a man having a shawl, a gun, a turban, or any other object, for sale, stands up in the bazar, and inquires who will bid for it. Some person says, "one piastre;" another, "two;" while the seller, holding up the article, walks to and fro, proclaiming the highest sum offered, until he is satisfied with the price. The throng in this bazār was so dense, that it required some patience and physical power to force a way through. One of the itinerant chapmen was a book MANUSCRIPTS OF THE KORĀN. 319 seller, whose stock consisted of certain manuscript copies of the Koran, enclosed in beautiful cases of embroidered silk or cloth of gold. On my expressing a desire to purchase one of the volumes, he drew the Koran out of the case, and, thrusting the manuscript into his bosom, presented me with the envelope; steadily refusing, even for the love of gain, to place the holy volume in the hands of a Christian. Indeed, he would not even allow me to look at it. The different parts of the bazār are divided from each other by heavy iron chains, suspended across the passages, about three feet and a half from the ground, beneath which it is necessary to stoop. Here the thronging and pressing is commonly so great, particularly among the women, who constitute the principal population of the bazārs, that many a lady of rank must frequently, I apprehend, lose her slippers in the crowd. The appearance of the shops, when viewed separately, is far from splendid; no one merchant making any extraordinary display of wealth, or imagining that a profusion of mirrors, or costly gilding, could, in the eyes of his customers, enhance the value of his merchandise. But the general aspect of the bazăr is highly striking and picturesque, from the extraordinary mingling of races, complexions, and costumes exhibited; where the half-naked negro, the tattered Arab, the Turk with flowing drapery and majestic beard, and the Greek in his gorgeous * * As sometimes happened, according to the New Arabian Nights, in the bazārs of Irak. "More than one lady of rank lost her slippers in the crowd."— Story of Ardashir, i. 78. |