cupola or dome over the fountain, while the large windows, in the
recesses of which couches are placed, are filled with the beautiful
"mushrabiyeh" work we have noticed from the streets, or by stained glass
set in perforated plaster work. These rooms contain practically no
furniture, excepting the low "sahniyeh," or tray, upon which
refreshments are served, and the copper brazier which contains the
charcoal fire, but from the ceiling hang numbers of beautifully-wrought
lamps of metal and coloured glass. We can imagine how rich a scene such
a room would form when illuminated for the reception of guests whose
gorgeous Oriental costumes accord so well with its handsome interior,
while the finishing touch is given by the performance of the musicians
and singing girls with which the guests are entertained, leading one
instinctively to call to mind many similar scenes so wonderfully
described in the "Arabian Nights." Many of the adventures of its heroes
and heroines are suggested by the secret passages which the wall
cupboards often hide, and may well have occurred in houses we may visit
to-day in Cairo, for, more than any other, Cairo is the city of the
"Arabian Nights," and in our walks one may at any moment meet the
hunchback or the pastry-cook, or the one-eyed calender, whose adventures
fills so many pages of that fascinating book; while the summary justice
and drastic measures of the old khalifs are recalled by the many
instruments of torture or of death which may still be seen hanging in
the bazaars or from the city gates.

Everyone who goes to Cairo is astonished at the great number and
beauty of its mosques, nearly every street having one or more.
Altogether there are some 500 or more in Cairo, as well as a great
number of lesser shrines where the people worship. I will tell you how
this comes about. We have often read in the "Arabian Nights" in what a
high-handed and frequently unjust manner the property of some poor