I was not so much pleased with the Egyptian as with the
Syrian horses, for the former appeared to me less slim and
gracefully built.

The population of Cairo is estimated at 200,000, and is a mixed one,
consisting of Arabs, Mamelukes, Turks, Berbers, Negroes, Bedouins,
Christians, Greeks, Jews, etc. Thanks to the powerful arm of
Mehemet Ali, they all live peacefully together.

Cairo contains 25,000 houses, which are as unsightly and irregular
as the streets. They are built of clay, unburnt bricks, and stones,
and have little narrow entrances; the unsymmetrical windows are
furnished with wooden shutters impenetrable to the eye. The
interiors are decorated like the houses in Damascus, but in a less
costly style; neither is there such an abundance of fresh water at
Cairo.

The Jews' quarter is the most hideous of all; the houses are dirty,
and the streets so narrow that two persons can only just push by
each other. The entire town is surrounded by walls and towers,
guarded by a castle, and divided into several quarters, separated
from each other by gates, which are closed after sunset. On the
heights around Cairo are to be seen some castles from the time of
the Saracens.

As I rode to and fro in the town, my guide suddenly stopped, bought
a quantity of bread, and motioned me to follow him. I thought he
was going to take me to a menagerie, and that this bread was
intended for the wild animals. We entered a courtyard with windows
all round reaching to the ground, and strengthened with iron bars.
Stopping before the first window, my servant threw in a piece of
bread; what was my horror when I saw, instead of a lion or tiger, a
naked emaciated old man rush forth, seize the bread, and devour it
ravenously. I was in the mad-house. In the midst of each dark and
filthy dungeon is fixed a stone, with two iron chains, to which one
or two of these wretched creatures are attached by an iron ring
fastened round the neck. There they sit staring with fearfully
distorted faces, their hair and beard unkempt, their bodies
emaciated, and the marrow of life drying up within them. In these
foul and loathsome dens they must pine until the Almighty in his
mercy loosens the chains which bind them to their miserable
existence by a welcome death. There is not _one_ instance of a
cure, and truly the treatment to which they are subjected is
calculated to drive a half-witted person quite mad. And yet the
Europeans can praise Mehem