104 
GRAND CAIRO. 
Gardens. 
this sort. No writer has paid any attention to 
the origin of the painted glass in Cairo; yet the 
glaziers of this city seem to have preserved an 
art, which is supposed to be imperfectly known 
in Europe. From the open terraces in many 
of the principal houses, and from the ilat roofs 
common to all of them, the view is extended 
over the numerous gardens of the city. But 
every thing is disfigured, and rendered uncom- 
fortable, by dust : all the foliage of the trees is 
covered with it ; and the boasted vegetation of 
Cairo, (instead of displaying that pleasing ver- 
dure with which European'^, and particularly 
Englishmen, fill their imaginations, when reading 
descriptions of a city crowded with groves and 
gardens), rather exhibits the uninviting and uni- 
form colour of the desert. 
Ceremony Durinsf the first evening after our removal to 
of Vlula- ^ . . ^ 
tion in ho- our ncw habitation, we were serenaded by a 
Dead. spccics of vocal mclody, which we had never 
heard before. It commenced about sun-set; 
and was continued, with little intermission, not 
only throughout the night, but during many suc- 
ceeding nights and days. We were first doubt- 
ful whether the sounds we heard were expres- 
sions of joy or of lamentation. A sort of chorus, 
interrupted by screams, yet regulated by the 
