CAIRO. 



foverrignty, the dynallv of the Aioubites. In the year jjya 

 of the Hr^'lra, A. D! 1 176, he built the walls that en- 

 compafi Gniiid Cairo, and the callie fituated on Mount Mo- 

 kattam. It is faid to be about 29,,500 cubits (3 leagues) 

 in circumference ; I5 league from north to fnitli, or, ac- 

 ■cordin^ to Brownc's'eftimate, about .3j;oo yards, and f of a 

 league from eall to weft. To the fouth-eaft and eaft of 

 Grand C^.iro is a ridge, called Mokattam, of the txtcnfive 

 chain, which runs along the courfe of the Nile to Upper 

 Egypt, fometimes receding and leaving a plain about a 

 league broad, and at other places oppollng its barrier to the 

 flrcam. This mountain is totally withovit verdure, and pre- 

 fents nothing to the eye but a dry fand and Hones calci;ied by 

 the fun, wliich of courfe refleft a fulFocating heat upon the 

 town, whenever the northerly wind does not blow. To the 

 north of the city a plain extends to the Dtlta, which it re- 

 femblcs in foil and produftions. Immediately under the 

 mountain is the. caftle, now incapable of defence, though 

 elleemed of great Arength, before the invention of artillery. 

 As it is commanded by the neighbouring mountain, it could 

 rot fuftrtin a battery from thence for two hours. It is more 

 than a quarter of a league in circumference : and the acctfs 

 to it is by two very lleep padages, cut out of the rock on 

 which it Hands, which lead to two gates, cntruftcd to the 

 guard of A(f;>bs (no longer exifting) and Jati'/.aries. The 

 former occupied the lower part of the fortrefs, and the others, 

 the part called tlic citadel. The interior of the callie con- 

 tains the palace of the fultans of Kgypt, almoft buried un- 

 der their ruins. In one of the halls of thefe ruined build- 

 ings, exhibiting only fonie (liattered remains of their ancient 

 magnificence, is fabricated the rich carpeting, or embroi- 

 dered cloth, which the Emir Hagg. or bey, who is prince 

 of the caravan, carries every year to Mecca, for the purpofe 

 of covering the Caaba. The pacha's apartments in the caftle 

 are jnean and incommodious ; the audience-hall, where tiie 

 divan is held three times a week, is a long room ftained with 

 the blood of the beys, malfacrcd by order of the Porte. At 

 the extremity of the place called " Cora Mii'idan," is the mint 

 (the only one for Egypt), where they coin in gold mah- 

 b6b3, and half-mabiibs, the Cril being worth about 5 (hil- 

 lings each ; and in copper wa!hed with filverthe fmall coins 

 worth about a half-penny, called in Turkidi " paras," in 

 Arabic " diwani," " fuddha," or " maidi ;" and by Eu- 

 ropean writers, " afpcrs," and " medines." On one llde 

 is the name of the reigning fnltan, and on the reverfe 

 " Mifr," and the date. The fcquins are worth about 

 6s. 3d. Englifli, and are made of the gold-dull brought from 

 Abyfiinia, which furniilies annually upwards of four millions. 

 One of the moft curious monuments in the caftle is the 

 " Well of Jofeph," hewn out of the rock, which, according 

 to Pococke, was funk about 700 years ago by a vifir, called 

 Jofeph, by order of fultan Mahommed, fon of Calaoun. 

 The Egyptians afcribe it to Salah Eddin. It is hardly ne- 

 eeffary to obferve, that fabulous tradition attributes it to 

 Jofeph the patriarch, whofe palace this caftle is faid to have 

 been. The well is 280 feet deep, and 42 in circumference. 

 A ftair-cafe of gentle defcent winds round it. Within this 

 •well, at a confidcrable depth, is an efplanade with a bafon ; 

 where oxen turn the wheel that raifes the water from the 

 bottom of the lower well ; other oxen, placed above, raife 

 it from this refervoir by the fame mechanifm. The water 

 proceeds from the Nile, and, as it fdters through a fand im- 

 pregnated with fait and nitre, it is brackilh. From the fa- 

 loon of the palace of Salah Eddin, fituate in the quarter of 

 the Janizaries, and exifting only in ruins, the view extends 

 OTer an immenfe horizon, including the whole extent of 

 Grand Cairo, a multitude of laofques and uiinarcts, the river, 



and on the fide of Eoulac, a rich country covered with hzr- 

 vefts, and interfperled with groves of diite-trces. Mafr- 

 Eo!lat appears to the fouth-wcft, and the plains of the 

 Said, or Upper Egypt, whin overflowed by the Nile, pre- 

 fcnt to view diffevenl hamlets, built on eminences, now con- 

 verted into ifland?. The landfcape is terminated by the py- 

 ramids, which, like the tops of mountains, lofc themfelvcs 

 in the clouds. This caftle commands the town, wUicli forms 

 an immenfe crefcent around it. The ftre^ts of tliis famous 

 city are narrow, crooked, and nnpaved, interfered here and 

 there with large vacancies, which become lakes during the 

 increafe of tlie Nile, and are gardens during the nil of llie 

 year. In the month of September they are palTable by 

 boats ; but in April they are covered with flowers and ver- 

 dure. The narrownefs of the ftreets, however, affords pro- 

 tection from the fierce effulgence ol the meridian fun. 



The " Chalige, " Khalig," or canal, which traverfcs 

 Grand Cairo from north to fouth, and which is opened 

 evei-y year with great folemnify, takes its rife near Mafr d 

 Attike, or Foftat, fills the lakes of the city, and lofis it- 

 felf four leagues beyond it, in the " Birqiie" (large piece 

 of water,) of the pilgrims of Mecca. Mr. Shaw calls this 

 the canal of Trajan. Pococke, and other modern writers, 

 afcribe the conftruftion of it to this emptror ; and it has been, 

 commonly denominated " Amnis Trajanus." Matrifi fay* 

 it was built by the emperor Adrian, Elmacin, cited by 

 Savary, fays, that this grand projedl was executed by Aiu- 

 rou, who, having announced the capture of Alexandria to 

 Omar, received hi^ inftrudlions to cut a khalig, by which 

 the produce of Egypt might be tranfported mto the fea of 

 Cnlzoum (or Red Sea), and from thence to the port of Me- 

 dina. It was called " the river of the prince of the faith- 

 ful ;" and boats, pafTmg from Foftat, conveyed the commo- 

 dities of Egypt into the Red Sea. Through the neghgence 

 of fucceeding caliphs it has been choked up, fo that it no 

 longer conveys its waters to the Red Sea. By opening this, 

 important communication with the Red Sea, a project 

 which engaged the attention of Bonjparte during his ihort 

 abode in Egypt, Grand Cairo would again become the 

 richcft^ and moft commercial capital in the world. For a. 

 further account of it, fee Can. 41,. At different feafuns of 

 the year, this canal, in its paiTage through Cairo, afTumes 

 various afpefls ; but its moft permanent charadler is that of 

 a dung-hill, or public receptacle for all kinds of offal. Be- 

 fore the rife of the Nile, it is cleaned, and becomes a ftreet ; 

 it is then filled by the increafe of the river, nnd exhibits the 

 appearance of a canal covered with boats. Tl.e kites fhriek. 

 wildly over this canal ; and the city is infcftcd with its ufual 

 herds of dogs ; while the tunle-covcs, unmolcfted by niea 



or chilJrcn, breed m the hotifes, building their nefts under 

 the projecting beams. 



The principal ftreet of Cairo runs parallel to the " Cha- 

 lige." And on this canal are all the houfes of the Europeans, 

 notwithftanding the ftench that proceeds from it, and that 

 is faid to produce the peftilence, to which, however, that 

 order of men is leaft fubject. Within the walls of Grand 

 Cairo are more than 303 mofques, moft cf which have fe- 

 veral minarets, or high fteeples, of a very light architec- 

 ture, and furroundcd with galleries. Thefe elevated ftruc- 

 tures give to the city an agreeable variety, which would 

 othcrwife appear too uniform, on account of the fiatnefs of 

 the roofs, all of them being in the form of terraces: and 

 they feem, alfo, to accommodate the public criers, who call 

 the people to prayers at the hours prefcribed by the Maho- 

 metan law. About Soo voices may be heard at the fame 

 inftant in every quarter of the town, reminding the people 

 of the feafons of devotion. 



Foiiv 



