CAIRO 
375 
On entering, we went directly to the hall of audience, where we 
expected to find the Pacha's son, but he had gone to visit his father. 
We were, however, received by an officer of the garrison, who pre- 
sented us with pipes and coffee, in a room which was formerly the 
zenana of the Pacha when he lived in the citadel, and looked di- 
rectly over the walls towards Old Cairo and the Pyramids. In the 
middle was a fountain ; but in other respects, it had nothing but its 
size, and its consequent coolness in summer, to recommend it. The 
officer attended us himself to the mint, where they coin gold zequins, 
half zequins, and quarter zequins ; also in silver, piastres and pa- 
rahs. As these are much adulterated, the profit of coining is very 
great to government, bringing in from one thousand to twelve hun- 
dred purses : it was more in the time of the Beys. The machineiy 
for striking the coin, is similar to that used in Europe before the 
inventions of Mr. Bolton, but of inferior merit. Instead of using 
rollers to flatten the metal, they beat it out with hammers. 
We next visited Joseph's well, which has been too frequently de- 
scribed to require an account of it here. It is an astonishing work, 
for it required no common mind to sink an oblong pit of twenty- 
four feet by eighteen, to the depth of one hundred and forty-six feet 
through the solid rock, and then, not baffled by the difficulty and 
want of success, to persevere in sinking another, still through the 
solid rock, to the depth of one hundred and thirty feet, where the 
rock ended, and the water was found. The size of this second is only 
fifteen by nine, according to Norden, which is sufficient for every 
purpose of utility. It was probably thought unnecessary to make it 
larger, as it is not visible from the top, and not forming one single 
piece, could not be considered as ornamental. 
