tables, fruit, pipes, and the like, there being no attempt at
classification. Woe be to the unwary who approach these bazars without
the ability to "bargain"; for there is ever a scale of prices, and the
topmost one is usually exorbitant!

[Illustration: _A bridge spanning the Nile at Cairo_]

Within the open space of his shop sits the dealer, ready for the
contest, sometimes complacently sipping his coffee, or smoking a
cigarette, the long Turkish pipes having been largely abolished. The
courtesy of coffee or a cigarette is often extended to the purchaser,
which possesses a mollifying effect if the discussion over a purchase
has waxed high.

It is said that the scenes in the Turkish bazars on a fete day are like
a picture from the "Arabian Nights," the places being illuminated by
many candles or chandeliers, and covered by awnings formed of rich
shawls, scarfs, and embroideries brought from the interior. This gives
each bazar the appearance of a reception room, with the dealer seated
within, dispensing hospitality, every one being dressed in holiday
attire. The bazars in Cairo are considered an important feature of the
life of the city (as they are in every place throughout the Eastern or
Western Orient), but they are less attractive than those I visited in
Tunis, Constantinople, or Damascus.

The crowd that is passing the shops often proves more interesting than
the display within, as there are natives of all ages and descriptions,
Arabs, Bedouins, Turks, and Egyptians, some mounted on donkeys and some
driving heavily laden camels. Water-carriers with jars, mostly women,
are among them, while the natives usually carry under the arm the
characteristic pigskin, filled with water. These are the sights to be
seen, together with the venders of fruit and vegetables, alternating
with richly equipped carriages, and funeral or bridal processions. Men
and women in their Oriental dress jostle the crowd of sight-seers who
ever throng these ways.

In these, but more often in a better class of streets, we pass the
lovely meshrebiya windows, with their intricate turned lattice-work
designs; they are very frequently oblong projecting windows, but instead
of glass there is used the fine tracery or lattice-work in wood. Sad to
relate, this fine work is sharing in the general decay to be found in
the old quarters of Cairo, and, in a few years, the tourist will only be
able to view the specimens even now being sent to the Arabian Mu