Chapter IV

The water-carriers of Cairo — An Egyptian bath — The bazaars — Turkish gallantry — Shopping in the East — The slave market — The Court of the Cadis — Turkish justice.

The water-carriers of Cairo, who rejoice in the not very flattering appellation of beasties, form a large section of the population, there being one attached to every house. An abundance of water, everywhere so desirable, is here an absolute necessary, and, at the same time, is made the means of the most luxuriant enjoyment. Who has not heard of the cool fountains of the East, and of the value which is set upon them by Oriental nations? Those of Cairo, with the ever-flowing Nile, furnish a lavish supply of the precious element, which is carried in the goat-skin buckets of the beasties to every house, and poured in floods into the baths.

The baths are a feature in Eastern life, with which every European is impatient to be acquainted, and I had been but a short time in Cairo, ere I made my way to one—not, I must confess, without some dread of the severe handling of the attendants for which I had been warned to prepare. On entering, I found myself in a large octagonal room, encircled by a raised divan, several feet wide, and covered with matting. Here I resigned myself to a valet, who, after fulfilling the duties of his office, conducted me into a narrow passage of white marble, having a stream of tepid water, about an inch deep, running through it, leading to a small room, where the water, now quite warm, covered my feet, and ran over a marble slab on which I sat, enveloping me in vapour. I was then taken along another marble passage, where the water was warmer, into a second room, where it was still hotter, and so, through another passage and another room, in which the temperature gradually increased, to a large marble chamber, where the water was very hot, forming a complete vapour bath. This prepared me for the Arcanum, a room about nine feet square, as hot as a furnace, where the water, at scalding heat, was continually running over the floor, which sloped downwards, and was very slippery. There I was rubbed with a horsehair glove, then plunged into a bath of the hissing water, about five feet deep, and, being dragged out, was well soaped and scrubbed, drenched with cold water, turned on my back, and treated in the most violent manner. This process was followed by a second immersion, when I was again pulled out, and shaved—a difficult operation in a dark room, filled with steam; but which was happily accomplished, and all traces of it effaced by a third and final plunge in the bath which completed the course.

I had yet to undergo the severe operation of shampooing, for which I was led back through the various passages, with the graduated scale of water-heat, to the octagonal room, where beds had been laid out, and every other preparation made. Reclining on one of the beds, I gave myself up to the Philistines, and was shampooed till I seemed almost at the last gasp, when, to my great relief, I learnt that all was over. Coffee and pipes were then brought, and, under their soothing influence, I began slowly but steadily to recover. Two shillings was the charge for this luxury, which was certainly most agreeable in its effects, but must be very enervating if used frequently.

The bazaars of Cairo constitute one of the attractions of the city. A rather wide street, to the left of the Hôtel de l’Europe, leads to the European bazaar, which is, in fact, nothing but a succession of small and miserable shops, where every English luxury is sold, and, considering the distance they have travelled, at not very exorbitant prices. This is succeeded by a new street, the haunt of usurers and money-changers, conspicuous among whom stand the sons of Judah; who may be seen, with not a few Arab millionnaires, sitting at their well-worn desks, with a large Milner’s safe open behind them, their features impressed with that peculiar look of cunning, and sharpness, which stamps the Shylock. Hence you immediately emerge on a more crowded thoroughfare, and here, at last, a Babel of contending voices, and a scene of bustle, baffling description, announce the native Arab bazaar.

The street, nowhere more than ten feet wide, is thronged in every part, and the purchasers bargaining at the shops, are unceremoniously jostled by donkeys, which are continually passing, laden with flour, sand, and water, giving the idea of a Lilliputian market, while every now and then they are pushed aside by a cart, drawn by a buffalo, and loaded with sumptuous furniture, plate, or china, which the Pasha is removing, under an escort of soldiers, from one palace to another. On one occasion I was much surprised at the indifference with which the guards saw a piece of gilding chipped off a magnificent looking-glass as the cart moved clumsily by, crashing against a massive archway.

The whole of the people are in the street, as the shops, which are more like little cages, can hold only the proprietor, who sits on a floor, four feet from the ground, from which he can put his hand on all his commodities, ranged in a small chamber behind. These consist chiefly of the produce and manufactures of the country, such as pipe mouth-pieces, and tobacco, corn, fruit, and every species of grain, Arab cotton fabrics, and abundance of hardware and shoes. A savoury odour calls your attention to a shop, where a quantity of little pieces of meat, pinned through by a wire, are roasting at innumerable charcoal fires. They are just a mouthful, and such a mouthful! the toughest beefsteak ever cooked being tender to these kabobs. Yet the people eat them, with the coarse bread bought at a neighbouring floor, with wonderful relish; washing all down with water, which they buy for the tenth of a penny of the water- carrier, who walks past calling out “moira! moira!” After this plain breakfast, they adjourn to the coffee-shop, and regale themselves with the never-forgotten pipe, and a cup of pure and fragrant Mocha, undefiled by chicory, and pleasant in taste as in smell.

As the stranger advances, a different scene meets his eye. He has escaped from the throng, and only two or three rich natives, mounted on gorgeously-housed donkeys, are in the street, or a few Turkish ladies, closely veiled, each attended by two of the watchful ogres of the hareem. The richly-carpeted shops are enclosed in front by a divan, and an old Turk or wealthy Arab sits in the midst, smoking a handsome silver or gold narghileh, and complacently looking round on his wares, which consist of Parisian jewellery, splendidly-mounted pipes, mouth-pieces of lemon-amber, worth almost their weight in gold, rich silks from China, muslins from India, swords from Damascus, and costly hilts from Constantinople. A chain runs across the street in some places, and it becomes necessary to dismount from the donkey and walk. Strangers attract little attention, and I walked about here alone without exciting any observation; but when accompanied by an English lady, she became the centre of all eyes, and I have no doubt the old Turks were much shocked at such a public exhibition of an unveiled lady, though I overheard them likening her to a beautiful full moon, and making other flattering remarks on her charms.

But though not stared at, the moment I accosted any of the merchants, they replied to me in the kindest manner, and I was invited to sit on the divan, and smoke the best pipe, whilst gold filigree coffee-cups were dispatched for the thickest coffee, which made its appearance in the most complimentary quantities. My hosts did not talk much, and were very laconic in their replies to my questions as to the state of the nation. They inquired after our ladies, but had I made any such inquiry of them, they would have deemed it an unpardonable liberty. They were, however, very communicative about their children, and, from what I could learn, they all had a beautiful daughter at home. I went sometimes with the dragoman, and sometimes alone, when, indeed, I was best received, though I could only converse by signs, and this amused them much. But I soon picked up a few words, particularly “taib,” good, which I told an old Turk was the only word wanted there, as all was “taib.” He immediately set to work unlocking case after case for my amusement, displaying, among other precious things, some very rare slippers, which I was afterwards assured were worn by ladies in bed. They were one mass of pearls, and cost about £40 a pair. I was shown handkerchiefs of the Parisian open work, in every stitch of which was a pearl, rendering the article entirely useless; and mouth-pieces of amber were produced, varying in price from £100 to £150, the value being thus raised by diamonds, mounted in the gold rings between the joints.

I was never tired of this old man, and I saw him very often. He always addressed me as the “Cavaghi,” a word which I had at first half suspected to mean “dog of a Christian,” but was subsequently persuaded, meant “Illustrious Stranger.” He never seemed to expect me to buy anything—which indeed I never did, being content to see this done by others. A lady, very richly dressed, came to him one day, and negotiated for a pair of pearl slippers. She began by talking of all sorts of things, and then offered about one third of the price named. The Turk turned to me, and a long smoke ensued, when he came down a fourth, and she came up, after another interval, to within about six pounds of his last offer, and then she went off with the slippers, having stood the best part of an hour. While the negociation was in progress, I offered her my seat; but she did not seem to have the least idea of what I meant, and stared at me with her beautiful but expressionless eyes, as if she thought me extremely restless.

Lower down are numerous streets, composing the Greek bazaar and the guild of the shoemakers’. In the former are the Manchester goods; the latter is a sort of museum of red and yellow leather shoes.

One of the first of the public places in Cairo that I visited, was the slave-market. It is a small square, the four sides of which form a sort of barrack, or lodging-house, for the accommodation of the female slaves. The males are exposed without, and I found here some eight or ten little boys, from six to twelve years old, lolling about as they pleased. They were a jet black, with very glossy faces, and thick hair, matted with grease. They had a stolid look, and seemed very drowsy, but appeared to be well-fed and contented. From them I turned to the female slaves, and was introduced to one who was a beauty in her way, though of the negro style, having large lips and a reduced nose, but remarkably fine eyes, which, however, a tinge of dark blue round the lids sadly disfigured. I put several questions to her, for the purpose of ascertaining how far she was reconciled to her condition, and was surprised to find, from her replies, that she did not consider captivity irksome, preferring Cairo to her own country, and having a sanguine expectation that she should obtain a good master. One of her hopes for the future was, that she would be able to procure a good supply of grease, to use in the adornment of her hair, which was dressed in little plaits, having a very peculiar look, but was not at all dirty. Her ambition being so humble, I could not refrain from gratifying it on the spot, and won the life-long gratitude of herself and three other young slaves, by giving them sufficient money to command the largest supply of grease they had ever possessed. The price of these girls, I was informed, was about thirty pounds each, but some younger ones were rated at forty pounds. The boys ranged from five pounds to ten pounds. One point in this melancholy exhibition I remarked with pleasure, not the less because it was unexpected; and that was, the good understanding that seemed to subsist between the slaves and their masters, and the care with which the poor creatures were treated.

Our next ramble was to the Court of the Cadis, which, from its notorious corruption, should be called the court of _in_justice. Here the scales of justice are turned, not by the merits of the cause, but by the weight of the bribe; and witnesses as well a judge must be purchased. The judgment-hall includes three distinct tribunals, each of which has its separate Cadi, and its own particular jurisdiction. The Cadis are all appointed by the Sultan, at Constantinople, and pay a high price for their offices, which invest them, in return, with the power of dispensing justice to the highest bidder, and of practising the most audacious acts of oppression.

The Court of the third Cadi, who tries the least important causes, was a large open gallery, having a divan at one end, on which the reverend functionary was seated, while a group of lawyers and scribes sat in a semicircle before him. In this space two miserable Arabs, who had had a quarrel, were arraigning each other with great acrimony, and witnesses were called on both sides, who flatly contradicted each other in every point—a common occurrence here, where a witness may be obtained to swear anything for twopence halfpenny. Such petty causes are usually decided in a summary manner, and the party who has the least money, not only loses his cause, but is severely bastinadoed into the bargain.

In a large room above, we saw the second Cadi, a fine old man, with a long white beard, which gave him a very venerable appearance. None but great civil causes are tried by this court, which consists only of the Cadi, and his clerk. We were passing on, when the Cadi invited us to stay, and on our complying, ordered us coffee. Being accompanied by an interpreter, we were able to converse with him, which we did for about twenty minutes, and found him a strange compound of good sense, shrewdness, and simplicity. He was very inquisitive about English jurisprudence, and would hardly believe that corporal punishment was not administered in our courts of justice, or that there was frequently a long interval between the commission and the expiation of an offence. In the East, a man commits a theft, and is tried, convicted, and punished within the half-hour.

Leaving this hospitable magistrate, we proceeded to another room, where we found the first Cadi, who is the supreme judge of the vice-royalty, and tries only very difficult causes. He was magnificently dressed, in red and gold, and was sitting alone, in great state, on a divan of rich silk, where he smoked his long pipe in perfect ease. He seems to have duties corresponding with our Lord Chancellor’s, is perfectly independent of the Pasha, and subject only to the Sultan, from whom he derives power, when the ends of justice require it, to summon the Pasha and all his officers into his court, and call them to account. But I have already intimated that no one well supplied with money need have any misgiving about this great functionary. I must record one curious instance of this. Mr. P——, the agent of a well-known house, had a bill on a native, which he wished to recover, but it was necessary, as a first step, to prove that the bill belonged to him, and, of course, it bore the name of the firm. The difficulty seemed insurmountable, but a native lawyer suggested a resource; and a shilling being invested in witnesses, it was proved in court that Mr. P—— was the son of the firm; on which the money was ordered to be paid.