the European flute, while others were blown at the end.
"'The man next to the end is playing on a kemenjah or fiddle,' said the guide. 'The body of it is made of a cocoa-nut-shell, with a piece of fish-skin or some other thin membrane stretched over it, and the "bridge" rests on this thin covering. There are only two strings, and they are vibrated by means of a bow, just like what you see at home, though the shape is a little different. The long top-piece of the fiddle is of wood, while the lower end is of iron, and rests on the floor or ground. The performers are quite skilful, and it would surprise you to know how much music they can get out of a fiddle with only two strings.
"'The next man has a tamboora, or lute, which corresponds to the guitar, or banjo of Western countries. There are many sizes and shapes of this instrument, but the most common is the one you are looking at.
"'The most perfect tamboora is about four feet long, and has ten strings and forty-seven stops. Some of them cost a great deal of money, as they are made of valuable woods, and inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl. The form in use by the man in the band is called the ood, to distinguish it from the other varieties of the tamboora. It is about two feet long, and you observe that the handle bends back very sharply to accommodate the fingers of the player. A smaller variety of this instrument is called the sadz, and very often forms part of a soldier's equipment. As you travel about Egypt you will often see a soldier playing on the sadz, which he accompanies with his voice.
"'The next and last man of the party has a darabookah, a sort of drum, which he holds under his left arm while he plays on it with the fingers of his right hand. The body of the instrument is of earthen-ware or of wood, and a skin or membrane is stretched over the large end. It has changed its shape very little in three thousand years. You see pictures of the darabookah on the walls of the tombs, and on other ancient monuments of Egypt, and the manner of playing it is the same as of old.'
"So much, for the band of music, which I am sure will interest you. We sat down on little chairs, so low that it seemed like sitting on the floor, and then coffee was brought to us in little brass cups about as large as an egg shell, but a great deal thicker. Each cup had a holder of brass filigree work, with a knob or handle at the bottom, and we were expected to grasp the latter, and not to touch the cup with our hands. The coffee was in a pot, also of brass, and the whole service—pot, cups, and holders—was on a tray of the same material. The trays, with the brightly-polished utensils upon them, looked very pretty, and we resolved to buy some of these coffee services to send to our friends at home.
"We can't say much for the coffee, though possibly we may come to like it in time. It is made much thicker than with us, and if you let it stand for a minute before drinking, you will find a sediment at the bottom like fine dust. The servants stand ready to take away the cups as soon as you are done drinking, and they do it by holding out both hands, bringing one beneath and the other on top of the cup and holder. We watched them for some time, and did not once see them take hold of a cup as one would do in America. While waiting they stood with their hands crossed at the waist, and we were told that this is the proper attitude for a servant in Egypt."
Chapter V.
A RAMBLE THROUGH THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.
From the café Doctor Bronson and his young friends continued their excursion in the direction of the bazaars, which both the boys were impatient to visit. They had heard and read of the bazaars of Cairo, and the strange things to be seen in them, and as they went along the Doctor supplemented what they already knew by an explanation of the differences between Oriental and Occidental shopping.
"In our own land," said Doctor Bronson, "as well as in most countries of Europe, you find shops and stores scattered about so as to catch as much custom as possible. As a general thing a tradesman endeavors to set up his business in a block or street where there is no one in the same line, and it is only in rare instances that you see two establishments of the same kind side by side. But in the East all the men in a certain line of trade gather together, and out of this tendency we have the bazaars of Cairo and Constantinople. Suppose you go out in New York or Chicago in search of a book, a coat, a pair of shoes, a piece of silk, some perfumes, and an article of jewellery. You might find them all in a single walk of a few hundred yards, as it is quite possible that a book-store, a clothing-store, a shoemaker's shop, and the other establishments might be found in a single block. But in Cairo you would need to visit several bazaars or collections of shops; the book-stores are all in one place, the clothing-stores in another, the shoemakers in another, and so on through the list. It would take hours to accomplish what you would do at home in a few minutes, and there is nothing better than this system of shopping to illustrate the Oriental disregard of time. The shops in any given bazaar are pretty much alike, and contain almost identically the same articles; the customers wander from one shop to another, and spend a great deal of time in bargaining and examining the goods. Time is of no consequence either to them or to the dealers, and you will often wonder how the latter can possibly make a living."
As the Doctor finished his remarks the guide called their attention to a large gate-way, and at his suggestion they passed inside. They found themselves in a broad court, which was formed by a series of rooms running round a square, and opening toward the enclosed space. Goods were piled in many of these rooms; in the court-yard there were boxes and bales scattered about, and several camels with burdens on their backs were standing quietly, or being led by their owners according to the will of the latter. Near one side of the square there was a fountain like a pile of whitewashed bricks, and a horse was drinking from a trough in front of it.
The guide explained that the place they had entered was a caravansary or inn (usually called a khan), and that it might be taken as a fair sample of the Oriental hotel. "The rooms," said he, "are let out to travellers or merchants for a small sum, and the keeper will provide food for man and beast, just as a tavern-keeper would in America. The rooms have no furniture, nothing but the bare walls, and floors; the occupant spreads his carpet and bedding on the floor, and if he has any merchandise he piles it up, and can, if he chooses, convert the place into a shop. There are stables for camels and other beasts of burden on the side opposite the entrance; if you go into them you will find a small platform over the farther end of each compartment, and the trough or manger is directly beneath it. The drivers sleep on these platforms, so as to be near their animals, to prevent their being stolen, and to look after them generally."
Frank asked if the Eastern caravansary of the present day was like the same institution mentioned several times in the Bible.
