SIX months' bird collecting in egvpt. 89 



strange Babel from the mouths of men clad, I may say, hi 

 all known hues of burnous, scarf, and turban. Like Brewster's 

 kaleidoscope are the ever-shifting tints of so great a multi- 

 tude of many -coloured dresses beneath the vertical glare of 

 an eastern sun. The noiseless camel witli heavy load 

 bumps against the passer-by. Black eunuchs attend the 

 carriages of the ruler's hareem.* Veiled women ride on 

 white asses, nobly caparisoned. Gaily-dressed runners pre- 

 cede the carriages, vociferating to the crowd to get out of 

 the way, — and he who is run over after that, must blame 

 himself 



The seller of tobacco sits cross-legged on his divan. The 

 money-changer counts up coins of many nations. The ven- 

 dor of sweet liquor clatters his brass cups as he walks about. 

 There are men for every trade, and purchasers for every 

 ware. Pot-bellied boys, bareheaded derwishes, and blear- 

 eyed beggars jostle tlie subtle Greek with the embroidered 

 scarf and the grave old Bey on his red-pomellcd ass — ^jostle 

 American tourists, English speculators, French engineers — 

 jostle soldiers, muezzins, and artizans — all who come in 

 their way, rich and poor, high and low, walkers, riders, 

 drivers, in alleys so blind, in streets so crooked, in lanes so 

 narrow, as only the mind of an eastern architect could have 

 conceived. 



The public garden is called the Ezbekeah. It has been 

 laid out at great expense by the present Viceroy. Notwith- 

 standing every difficulty, a beautiful lawn of grass has been 

 obtained, such as I never thought to see in Egypt. On the 

 ornamental sheet of water are pinioned Tufted Ducks and 

 Pochards. Warblers resort to the trees, of which many 



* Eastern etiquette requires that all people should turn their heads 

 and look another way when the Hareem passes. He who does not 

 comply with this custom may chance to receive a blow from the flat of 

 the eunuch's sword. 



