their belief amid the
Mohammedan population all about them. It must be mentioned, however,
that they had been pronounced heretics by the Council of Chalcedon
before the Arabian conquest; for they had refused to worship the human
nature of Christ, revering His divine nature alone. They are the
guardians of the Christian legends of Egypt. In a crypt under one of
their churches they show two niches. One, they say, was the
sleeping-place of Joseph, and the other of the Virgin and Child, during
the flight into Egypt. Near Heliopolis is an ancient tree, under whose
branches the Holy Family are supposed to have rested when the sunshine
was too hot for further travelling.

There are between four and five hundred thousand Copts in Egypt. It may
be mentioned here that the Christians of the country, including all
branches of the faith, number to-day about six hundred thousand, or
one-tenth of the population. The Copts are the book-keepers and scribes;
they are also the jewellers and embroiderers. Their ancient tongue has
fallen into disuse, and is practically a dead language. They now use
Arabic, like all the rest of the nation; but the speech survives in
their church service, a part of which is still given in the old tongue,
though it is said that even the priests themselves do not always
understand what they are saying, having merely learned the sentences by
heart, so that they can repeat them as a matter of form. Copts have been
converted to Protestantism during these latter days by the American
missionaries.

They are not, in appearance, an attractive people. Their convents and
churches, at least in Cairo and its neighborhood, are so hidden away,
inaccessible, and dirty that they are but slightly appreciated by the
majority of travellers, who spend far more of their time among the
mosques of Mohammed. But both the people and their ancient language are
full of interest from an historical point of view. They form a field for
research which will give some day rich results. A little has been done,
and well done; but much still remains hidden. It has yet to be dug out
by the learned. Then it must be translated by the middle-men into those
agreeable little histories which, with agreeable little tunes, agreeable
little stories, and agreeable little pictures, are the delight of the
many.

KIEF

The large modern cafes of Cairo are imitations of the cafes of Paris.
They are uninteresting, save that one sees under their awnings,