when I had finished my effort and gone he began to bargain for the cafieh, just as you bargained for the necklace. He offered five francs to begin with, and by spending half an hour over the matter he bought the article for fifteen francs, or one less than had been refused from me!
"There was a shrewd old Syrian who used to come around the hotels to peddle silk goods. Knowing the fondness of English and Americans for the one-price system, he would say, when exhibiting an article worth twenty francs,
"'If you want to bargain for it, it is fifty francs; but if you want the last price, without bargaining, it is thirty-five francs.'
"Strangers were occasionally tricked in this way, and gave him his price without question, if they wanted the article; but those who had been a week or two in the country knew better, and began to bargain with thirty-five francs as the asking price. The result would be that they would bring him down to twenty francs after the usual amount of haggling. You must bargain for everything here when dealing with natives, and they are not to be believed if they say they have only one price. I have heard a man offer an article in about these words, after a bargain had been progressing for some time:
"'The very lowest I can sell this for—I give you my word of honor it cost me that—is fifty francs. I will take nothing less than fifty francs, and you need not offer me anything under it.'
"You believe he is not speaking the truth, and offer him thirty. He declares that the thing cost him fifty, but he will take forty-five, and absolutely nothing less. You offer him thirty-five—he falls to forty, and the bargain is concluded."
Frank profited by the advice, but carried the lesson too far. When he went the next day to the post-office to send some letters to America, the clerk weighed the letters, and told him the postage amounted to two francs and a half. The youth offered one franc and a half, and on the clerk refusing to accept it he turned to walk away. Suddenly realizing the mistake he had made, he returned, bought the necessary stamps, affixed them to the letters, and dropped them in the letter-box.
The journal kept by the youths contained the following record of their adventures in the bazaars:
"In the bazaar of the jewellers, or rather of the gold and silver smiths, we saw the men at work with implements as primitive as those of the jewellers of India. The bellows of the silversmith was nothing more than a conical bag of goat-skin open at one end, where the air was pumped in by a skilful manipulation of a pair of handles. At the other end was an iron tube, which carried the air to a lump of clay supporting a charcoal fire. A few hammers and pincers constituted the entire 'kit' of the workman, but with them he managed to turn out articles of many different shapes. We were told that strangers are liable to be swindled, as the dealers often sell plated-ware and declare it is solid, and the government stamp to indicate its genuineness cannot be relied on. When a wealthy native desires an article of fine gold or silver he buys the metal, and then has the jeweller go to his house and work directly under his eye, so that there can be no cheating.
"From the jewellers' bazaar we went to the 'Sook-en-Nahhasin,' or bazaar of the coppersmiths, where we saw some trays of copper and brass, and a great many pots and utensils for the kitchen and domestic use generally. We bought a couple of ink-and-pen holders, such as the Arabs write with: there is a long handle for containing the little reeds which they use as pens, and a bottle at the end for holding ink. The apparatus is stuck into the waist-belt, and you see it worn by a great many people.
"There were many shapes and sizes of the kitchen utensils, and all were made of brass or copper. There were tongs and shovels very much like our own stewpans, with and without handles, and a little pot with a long handle, in which they make coffee. One of the prettiest things we saw for household use was a basin and ewer, or pitcher, for washing the hands after dinner. The Doctor explained the manner of using it, and said it was carried round the table by a servant, who poured water on the hands of each guest, and allowed it to run into the basin after the ablution was performed. There is a perforated cover in the centre of the basin, and it has a cup in the top for holding a ball of scented soap. The ewer has a long slender spout opposite the handle, and there is a perforated cover to keep out the flies and other undesirable things.
"In the perfume bazaar we were welcomed by a variety of agreeable odors, and by the shop-keepers and their runners, who tried to sell us ottar of rose and oil of sandal-wood, which are the perfumes most sought by strangers. Every shop promised to give us the genuine article, and said there was no other place where it could be bought. The Doctor says it is simply impossible to get the real ottar of rose anywhere in the bazaar, no matter what price you pay, and consequently it is best to be moderate in your figures. The veritable perfume is worth, at the place of manufacture, about fifty dollars an ounce, and therefore, when you buy it for two or three or five dollars an ounce, you can hardly expect to get the best. It is very funny to hear the strangers at the hotel talk about their purchases of ottar of rose. Each one knows a place, which has been shown him in strict confidence, where the genuine perfume can be bought; but it can only be obtained on a promise not to reveal the locality, or some similar nonsense. If you ever come to Egypt this ottar of rose business will afford you much amusement if you are careful to manage it properly.
"The shoe bazaar and the arms bazaar were not particularly interesting, as the former contained little else than a great lot of shoes, and the latter had a miserable collection of weapons that were hardly worth carrying away. Formerly the arms bazaar was a favorite spot for visitors, as there were many old and curious things to be found there, but nearly everything worth buying up was secured long ago. We saw some Oriental guns with funny shaped stocks. The Doctor says the barrels of these weapons are nearly all from Europe, while the stocks are of Egyptian or other Oriental manufacture. There is a strong prejudice against explosive caps, and if you give a gun with a percussion-lock to a native, he will have it changed as soon as possible to a flint-lock. They rarely use shot, and the best of the native sportsmen would hardly think of shooting a bird on the wing.
"From the bazaars we continued our walk to the Bab-el-Nasr, or 'Gate of Victory,' one of the most important gates of Cairo. It was built in the eleventh century, and is mostly of hewn stone, with winding stairways leading to the top, holes for cannon and small arms, and is so large and strong that it was selected by Napoleon as the central point of defence while he held the city. It is a little fort in itself, and we were very glad to have the opportunity of examining it.
"We gave a little backsheesh to the gate-keeper, and he allowed us to go to the top, where we had a view of the nearest part of the city, and of the heaps of rubbish lying outside the gates. There were several wolfish-looking dogs prowling among the dust-heaps, and they growled as they caught sight of us, and saw that we were not natives. The dogs of Cairo have a great hatred of foreigners, as we shall have occasion to say by-and-by."
Chapter VI.
