and
costumes of every tint and texture.

Let us study a little more closely the individual types and
occupations that make up the life of the streets, and a pleasant way
in which to do so is to seat oneself on the high bench of some native
cafe, where, undisturbed by the traffic, we may watch the passers-by.

The cafes themselves play an important part in the life of the people,
being a rendezvous not only for the refreshment provided, but for
gossip and the interchange of news. They are very numerous all over
the city, and are generally fronted by three or more wooden archways
painted in some bright colour and open to the street. Outside are the
"dekkas," or high benches, on which, sitting cross-legged, the
customer enjoys his coffee or his pipe. Indoors are a few chairs, and
the square tiled platform on which are placed the cooking-pots and
little charcoal fire of the cafe-keeper. Generally an awning of canvas
covered with patches of coloured cloth screens you from the sun, or
gives shelter from the occasional winter showers which clear the
streets of passengers and render them a sea of mud, for the streets
are unpaved and no drainage exists to carry off the surface water.

The cafe-owner is always polite, and glad to see you, and the coffee
he makes is nearly always excellent, though few of his European guests
would care to regale themselves with the curiously shaped water-pipes
with which the native intoxicates himself with opium or "hashish,"
and which are used indiscriminately by all the customers.

Like most of the small tradesmen, our host is clad in a "gelabieh," or
long gown of white or blue cotton, gathered round the waist by a
girdle of coloured cloth. Stuck jauntily on the back of his head is
the red "tarbush," or fez, universal in the towns, or, if married,
he wears a turban of fine white cotton; his shoes are of red or yellow
leather, but are generally carried in his hand if the streets are
muddy.

And now, having noticed our cafe and our host, let us sit comfortably
and try and distinguish the various types which go to form the crowd
which from dawn to dark throngs the thoroughfares.

First of all it will be noticed how many different trades are carried
on in the streets, most prominent of all being that of the
water-sellers, for Cairo is hot and dusty, and water is in constant
demand.

There are several grades of water-carriers. First, the "sakka," who
carries on his back a goat-skin filled wit