:iI6 FROM GRAND CAIRO 
cuj^v. days of hatching, the eggs are kept carefully 
> ,- — ' turned. At the end of that time, the culhng 
begins. Evei*y egg is then examined, being held 
between a lamp and the eye ; and thus the 
good are disting-uished from the bad, which are 
cast away. Two days after this culhng, the 
fire is extinguished ; then half the eggs upon 
the lower are conveyed to the upper tier, 
through the cylindrical passages in the floor ; 
and the ovens are closed. In about ten days 
more, and sometimes twelve, the chickens are 
hatched. At this time a very singular cere- 
mony ensues. An yirab enters the oven, stoop- 
ing and treading upon stones placed so that he 
may walk among the eggs without injuring 
them, and begins clucking like a hen ; continu- 
ing this curious mimicry until the whole are 
disclosed. We heard this noise, and were 
equally surprised and amused by the singular 
adroitness of the imitation. The chickens thus 
hatched are then sold to persons employed in 
rearing them. Many are strangely deformed; 
and great numbers die, not only in rearing*, but 
even during the sale; for, to add to the extra- 
ordinary nature of the whole undertaking, the 
proprietors of these ovens do not give them- 
selves the trouble of counting the live chickens, 
in order to sell them by number, but dispose of 
