LIFE AND MANNERS AT CAIRO.

Timaru Herald, Volume CIII, Issue 15741, 27 August 1915, Page 4

LIFE AND MANNERS AT CAIRO.

A REALISTIC DESCRIPTION, BY A TIMARU BOY.

Paymaster Gordon Priest, son of Mr "Win. Priest, Tiinnru, and formerly of the office of Tripp and Rolleston, solicitors, writes to his parents a. long and very interesting description of Cairo and its curious inhabitants. The following are extracts from the letter: — Cairo derives its name from a very ancient town, on the site of which the present city stands, Kherc-oho (meaning "the place of combat," because two ancient Egyptian, gods are supposed to have fought there). It was not the original capital. Heliopolis and Memphis having each been the capital at different times. Cairo dates only from the 10th century. Tho present day Cairo is really two cities in one, for there is the modern quarter and the old native quarter: in the former is found up-to-date hotels, shops, commercial buildings, and modern houses; then if one passes down the street which we took in a few minutes one is amongst old khans (inns), mosques, Coptic churches, bazaars, and buildings dating back hundreds of years. Tfc is strange for one who has spent his life in a new country to find himself in such a place as Old Cairo. Hero and there, are tombs and ruins with hieorglyphics narrating many of the incidents mentioned in the Old Testament, and from excavations which have been made in connection with our camp, many ancient relics have been unearthed.

Having got into the native quarter, one is impressed by the narrow streets and alleys, and the types of many races which crowd the streets, clad in the gayest colours. Little children play about in tfie streets, and camels, donkeys, goats, sheep and birds are everywhere. The- quaint buildings, some- of them evidently verv old, with multicoloured awnings hanging from them, here and there old gates and archways, and tho appearance of the streets make ona wish that he was an artist and could put it all on canvas. The native cafes play an important part in the life of tho people, being meeting places from which all gossip and news is disseminated (and an Egyptian does know how to gossip). The Cairene native, is a noisy person, all his conversation being carried on in a loud voice, with the result that the streets are generally full of din. Trades of all kinds are carried on in the streets, and the shops are generally very small- and pokey. In leading one guide book, I find that the air is laden with the scent of incense in the native quarter. It may be incense j it certainly is some scent. The Timaru Borough Health Officer would do some hard thinking, if he took a walk through the native part of Cairo. The guide book also says that the proper way to study the various types of people is to take refreshments at a native cafe. If this be the only way, ignorance is bliss. One ti - ade that is extensively carried on is that of tho water-carriers, these being divided into several grades. First and lowest is the sakkha, who carries a, goat skin filled with water slung on his back, and one of the forelegs forms the spout. One feels inclined to jam a knife in the skin. This man is generally poorly clad in a ragged gelabieh, or gown. When one first comes here, one wonders if every one is walking in their sleep with their night-gowns on tied round the middle! The aristocratic water-carrier is called "sherbutli, " who is a kind of walking soda fountain and ice chest.. combined, his water-holder being :an elaborate affair. Here and there one sees a well-to-do merchant, in flowing robes, with a body built more for comfort than for speed. It adds to a man's caste if i his "Little Mary" is not entirely absent. Here and there along the street one passes richly carved and inlaid doors, entrances to merchant's houses and mosques. In most parts the streets ore very narrow,, and traffic is . often blocked; then you are surrounded by vendors of anything from a doubtful looking water melon to an equally doubtful looking gold replica of the sphinx, and on turning away from the persistent thing you find a ' donkey just about to sit down on the I other step of your carriage. (I forgot j to mention that we are now in a native ' gharry, driving to a brass bazaar under i the wing of a guide who picked us up i along the street). It is all very in-I I teresting, and one is afraid to look one way in case one misses something in- i teresting or humorous in the other ; direction. Cairo is a place where there i is always something funny to be seen in the streets. Our guide was employed by the bazaar to tout for customers, but he placed himself at our disposal for the rest of the -afternoon, and we proceeded on our way, our first call being at the Bab-el-Zuwella, or Gate of Zuwella, which is considered by artists to he one of the most picturesque parts of Cairo. Approaching the gate the street is very narrow, and cobbled, the cobbles looking very old. ;The gate is a very old : one of bronze, evidently used for shutting out undesirable aliens or husbands afraid to come home in the dark.' Near the gate is the Mosque el Muiyad, better known as the red mosque. We were provided with slippers at- the door; these were like Maori war canoes, and covered our boots, so iksX they would not touch holy ground. The door of the mosque i<= a magnificent one of bronze, greened with age. The mosque ' was built in 1421 A.D. On entering, one gets a good idea of the general architecture of a mosque. There aro something like 500 in Cairo, some of them of course being of no interest. In tho early days, if a man got too much spondulicks, the powers that were thought he could do with less and robbed him. So he dodged them by applying his money towards building a and such money was regarded as sacred, and could not be touched. This is why so many mosques were built. Many of them are older than the oldest English cathedrals. Very often the mosque became the tomb of its founder, in which case a dome was erected over his burial place, so that it is easy to distinguish whether the founder is buried there or not. The interior of the mosque is in the form of a square courtyard, unroofed. In the middle- is the hanafiesh where the Mohammedans wash before praying. The court is surrounded by high cloisters, the ceilings of which are inscribed with writings from the Koran. The pavements are generally of beautiful marble, and the walls ■of inlaid wood and ivory. The windows are generally very fine. The Sultan's palace -in Abdin Square is a. large building in modern style, and looked rather out of it after the interesting old building we had seen. We then went down past the Citadel to tho Mosque of the Rifaiya, which was not very interesting except that the tombs were rather elaborate, that of the founder being beautifully inlaid, the effect being rather spoiled by the candelabra at the corners— of solid silver —holding electrio lights. At the hotels here dinner is served at 8, and the Kursaal starts about 10. One could stand in the square near the railway station at Cairo and take down notes of what one sees in the life of the people alone which would cover many pages. I used to think that moving pictures of eastern places were exaggerated as regards colouring. This is by no means so; apart from the colours of native garments, the clearness of the air scorns to make colours of trees and buildings here more pronounced.

]VIy next excursion of interest was over to Heliopolis, where Mitchell and I went to dinner one night. The hotels .have terraces on which dinner is served, and in the street are erected screens on which moving pictures are shown j so that one can have dinner,

watch pictures, and listen to the Land at the same time. It is great to see the interest the natives take in the pictures. They squat on the pavement and give vent to exclamations of pleasure or disgust like a lot of kids. Hie following night 1 had to go over to Ghezireh Palace Hospital 1 to* see young Batchelor, of Christchure.h. It is on the other side of the Nile past Cairo, on an island formed by two Nile tributaries. This part of Cairo is very nice, the roads being shaded by trees, and there being some nice houses in this suburb. The hotel palace itself was built by the Khedive Ismail, who had a. mania for building palaces. It was enlarged just before the opening of. the Suez Canal, when the late King Edward stayed there. It is very suitable for a, hospital, owing to the cool breeze from the Nile.

I also had to visit the AngloAmerican Hospital, where 1 found Majors Shawo and Reid. They had not been wounded, but were somewhat run down, as has boon the case with several who have been doing hard work and long hours at the Dardanelles. At Ghezireh was Lieut. Kibblewhite, of Oamaru, who had -been blown out of a trench by a. shell, and was suffering from concussion of the spine. He is improving rapidly. I now have an additional duty, that of paying the nurses at Abbassia and the Citadel Hospitals. Needless to add. I am quite the most important man in Egypt from our nurses' point of view. They are all well, and doing good work.-, Abbassia is the regular Egyptian Army Hospital, and is therefore more convenient than the temporary hospitals. The Citadel Hospital is within the Citadel, and is very old. The rooms are very spacious, and as one walks through one wonders what Napoleon, who was there a century ago, would think of the present day struggle. Prom the Citadel one gets n. line view of the city. The other day 1 had afternoon tea. with about twentyfour nurses —English. New Zealand and Australian —and they were quite disappointed because I was not bashful. I have met Sister Scott, Sister Blackmore, two Sisters Nixon and Sister Brown (all of, or formerly of, Timaru); they axe all at the Citadel: we talked Timai-u at top. Dr. Eric Marchant is at Abbassia. Dr. Fenwiek also is here. Last Sunday our mess, or at least the Now Zealand members of it numbering 10, invited the nurses to tea. We had cakes and ices from town, and the Mounted band, and had quite a. nice afternoon. I have been getting a bad time for chumming up with a nurse, who mentioned 6he had passed Caroline Bav in the train.

On Sunday week Capt. Bolton, Capt. Cooper and I went to the Barrage, which is about 15 miles on the other side of Cairo. Wo left here at 8.30 in a car driven by Sergt.-Major Richards, and went through the City of the Dead and past tho Citadel. Between the camp and the Dead City we passed hundreds of natives at work making excavations. In their work they find lots of ancient relics, as the ground is literally riddled with old graves. They have overseers, so that all things found have to be handed in. We then passed the tombs <of the Caliphs, which are nothing more than a line of mosques. As an instance of how cities are built on top of one another, at the side of the road is a hole, which on inspection proves to be a hole in the top of the dome of another mosque. We did not stop here, but got out in the square near the Citadel to take some photographs. We then continued through the city, crossed the Nile, and found ourselves in the suburb of Shoubra, which is one of the best suburbs. After passing through this,..we,-.came into, thq..coivnt.ry, and here we got- a good 'idea of the'benefits' of irrigation. It is marvellous what can bo done with the water which is taken from the Nile in this manner. Even in ihis parching weather, all the crops look remarkably well. We passed all sorts of people on the' road, most of them accompanied by donkeys and camels. The Barrage is a big dam built at the head of tho Nile where two tributaries join. The dam is therefore a double one, and the two bridges _ are 600 and 500 yards long. The object of the dam is to store up the waters of the Nile so that a supply may be available when the river is low. It has proved a costly project, for when it was firet erected it was a failure, and it had to be extensively improved. The bridges are fine looking structures with towers at either end. It is surrounded by lovely gardens. . One cannot have any idea of life in Cairo unless one visits the place- Tfyese little polcey lanes with their hundreds of people in all the colours imaginable and the noise (not to mention the smell), cannot be described in a diary. The wonder is that there is_ not more disease than there is in Cairo, for the natives ;;re most lax as regards sanitation.