add that
among the younger French writers are several who have abandoned these
methods. Gabriel Charmes's volume on Cairo contains an excellent account
of the place. Pierre Loti and Maupassant have this year (1890) given to
the world pages about northwestern Africa which are marvels of actuality
as well as of unsurpassed description.

The French at present are greatly angered by the continuance of the
English occupation of Egypt. Since Napoleon's day they have looked upon
the Nile country as sure to be theirs some time. They built the Suez
Canal when the English were opposed to the scheme. They remember when
their influence was dominant. The French tradesmen, the French milliners
and dressmakers in Cairo, still oppose a stubborn resistance to the
English way of counting. They give the prices of their goods and render
their accounts in Egyptian piasters, or in napoleons and francs; they
refuse to comprehend shillings and pounds. And here, by-the-way,
Americans would gladly join their side of the controversy. England
alone, among the important countries of the world, has a currency which
is not based upon the decimal system. The collected number of sixpences
lost each year in England, by American travellers who mistake the
half-crown piece for two shillings, would make a large sum. The
bewilderment over English prices given in a coin which has no existence
is like that felt by serious-minded persons who read _Alice in
Wonderland_ from a sense of duty. Talk of the English as having no
imagination when the guinea exists!

France lost her opportunity in Egypt when her fleet sailed away from
Alexandria Harbor in July, 1882. Her ships were asked to remain and take
part in the bombardment; they refused, and departed. The English, thus
being left alone, quieted the country later by means of an army of
occupation. An English army of occupation has been there ever since.

At present it is not a large army. The number of British soldiers in
1890 is given as three thousand; the remaining troops are Egyptians,
with English regimental officers. During the winter months the
short-waisted red coat of Tommy Atkins enlivens with its cheerful blaze
the streets of Cairo at every turn. The East and the West may be said to
be personified by the slender, supple Arabs in their flowing draperies,
and by these lusty youths of light complexion, with straight backs and
stiff shoulders, who walk, armed with a rattan, in the centre of the
pavemen