r 



PORT SAID 



perfumes, silks, tapestries, silversmith's work, os- 

 trich feathers and the like. Either side the main 

 street lay long, narrow, dark alleys in which flared 

 single lights, across which flitted mysterious, long, 

 robed figures, from which floated stray snatches of 

 music either palpitatingly barbaric or ridiculously 

 modern. There the authority of the straight sol- 

 dierly looking Soudanese policemen ceased; and it 

 was not safe to wander unarmed or alone. 



Besides these motley variegations of the East and 

 West, the main feature of the town was the street 

 car. It was an open-air structure of spacious 

 dimensions, as though benches and a canopy had 

 been erected rather haphazard on a small dancing 

 platform. The track is absurdly narrow in gauge; 

 and as a consequence the edifice swayed and swung 

 from side to side. A single mule was attached to it 

 loosely by about ten feet of rope. It was driven 

 by a gaudy ragamuffin in a turban. Various other 

 gaudy ragamuffins lounged largely and picturesquely 

 on the widely spaced benches. Whence it came or 

 whither it went I do not know. Its orbit swung 

 into the main street, turned a corner and disap- 

 peared. Apparently Europeans did not patronize 

 this picturesque wreck, but drove elegantly but 

 mysteriously in small open cabs conducted by to- 

 tally incongruous turbaned drivers. 



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