loud voices and many gesticulations bargain with the buyers.
The streets of the Mohammedan Quarter are filthy; those of the Jewish
Quarter are worse.
"Are these alleys ever swept or cleaned?" inquired one of the disgusted
visitors.
"Oh, yes!" answered the guide, "the city, being built on the hills, has
a natural drainage. Whenever there is a heavy rain the flowing water
washes the streets."
"Well," said the visitor, "the city of Constantinople has the reputation
of being the filthiest city in Europe, but it has a brigade of canine
street cleaners to assist the rainfalls in cleaning the thoroughfares.
If the city of Jerusalem were in Europe, it could easily claim the
leading place in respect to filth; for dogs are few here and heavy rains
do not appear to be frequent."
The tramp through these quarters was not agreeable to any of the senses.
The ears were annoyed with the jargon of many dialects; the harsh voices
of the natives, the loud exclamations of the dealers, and the whining
cries of the beggars for backsheesh. The eyes were offended by the sight
of the crowds of dirty beggars, who stretched out hands in appeal and
tried to clutch the garments of the tourists with their dirty fingers,
until disgust drove away all feelings of pity. The odors from the foul
thoroughfares, from the messes of soft cheese and mixtures of eatables
offered for sale, from the discarded and decaying cauliflower leaves
under neath the stalls, from the pipes of Turkish tobacco, and from the
donkeys and unbathed human beings with whom the tourists came in close
contact, were inhaled with loathing. The uneven, stone-cobbled paving of
the narrow streets without sidewalks, the steps up and down the grades,
and the slippery condition of the muddy surface when wet caused weary
feet.
"I will not give away another piaster," exclaimed a lady whose purse had
been drawn upon frequently during our tramp. "I never met such
disagreeable beggars. There were many beggars in other cities, but they
did not whine and display their dirty rags so disgustingly as these do.
I pitied those miserable lepers at the gate, but when I threw them some
money they crowded around and tried to touch me with their diseased
hands, instead of keeping at a distance and crying, 'Unclean! Unclean!'"
The beggars were the most objectionable feature of the city; they
persisted in following visitors and it was almost impossible to drive
them away. When rid of one lot, ot
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