UC-NRLF $B m DES 14 CAIRO OF TO-DAY visitors, and must be considered as approxi The tariff for the whole day is 60 p. There is a special tariff for the foUowinf Single. Eetiini. Polo Ground (Ghezireh) 5 P. 15 P. 1 hour's A '„ Abbassieh Barracks 7 15 „ 1 » Citadel . V „ 15 „ 1 5) Ghezireh Eace-Stand (race days) . 10 „ 30 „ 3 5J Tombs of the Caliphs 10 „ 30 „ 3 » Museum . 10 „ 20 „ 2 5> Hehopolis . 20 „ 40 „ 2 3> Pyramids . 50 „ 77 „ 3 5> Bargaining is, however, advisable, as cab-driver wiU occasionally take less, es the visitor speaks Arabic. Donkeys.—A good way of getting about quarters of Cairo is to hire a donkey b;y (3 or 4 piastres), or by the day (10 to 12 the donkey-boy as a guide. These donke one of the recognised institutions of Ca: are a smart and intelligent set of lads, and very obliging and communicative. The playful habit of christening their donkey names of English celebrities, both male anc a somewhat equivocal compliment. Electric Tramway.—Four lines have opened : from the Citadel to the Railway ; PKACTICAL INFOKMATION 15 Citadel to Boulaq ; Eailway Station to Abbassieh Esbekiyeh to the Kbalig (opposite Eoda Island). Fares for the whole distance, 1 p. first, and 8 mill, second class, with a minimum charge of 6 and 4 mill, respectively. A line is being constructed to the Ghizeh Museum and the Pyramids. Saddle-horses.—The usual charge is 30 p. the half day and 50 p. the whole day. Carriages.—Victorias and dog- carts can be hired at the Cairo ofi&ce of the Mena House Hotel, or at Shepheard's or the Continental. The usual charge is 60 p. for the morning or afternoon, and 80 p. for the whole day. Ladies' saddles can be had for 4 p. a day or 20 p. a week. Cycles. —These can be hired of Messrs. Moring and Co., near Continental Hotel ; Baiocchi (gunsmith) A. Joubert, Avenue de Boulaq ; and at the Cycling Club. Dahabeahs can be hired from Messrs. Cook or Gaze. The former firm have a large fleet of modern dahabeahs and a steam one. English Dentists.—Waller Bey, Mooski ; Mr. C. r. Faber (American), opposite Shepheard's. English Doctors.— II. P. Keating, M.B., 60 Sharia Masr-el-Atika ; H. M. K Milton, M.B., Sharia Kasr- en-Nil ; A. A. W. Murison, M.D., Sharia Kasr-en- Nil; E. M. Sand with, M.D., Sharia-el-Maghraby ; K, h THE LIBRARY SH OF L, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA pyal F»atrc PRESENTED BY ! PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 'ity, sur- SITUATI MRS. KOFOID ned with iound( PRUDENCE W. Electric adv£ all the Sanitary Light. B Hotel Arrangeme \xfi taircases. is built 01 Disinfecting z Canal. Branch Esi... CHARLES BAEHLER. Telegrams: "SHEPHEARD'S, CAIRO." Director: Cockspur Street, Aui)lv at the London Offices: 14 Sleeping Car Company where Plans W^ or any other Office of the S obtained, and Apartments maTbe consuUed, Tickets to all destinations expense. reserved in advance by telegram free of " Continental Traveller;' sent free by Post. The Company's Official Guide, The GH^IREH PALACE HOTEL CAIRO FORMERLY the Palace of the Khedive Ismail Pasha. The most com- fortable and luxurious Hotel in the world. Situated on the Nile and surrounded by an immense Park and Gardens of Oriental beauty and magnificence. Golf and Tennis, Permanent Orchestra. English Sani- tary Arrangements. Lifts. Moderate Tariff with or without Pension. Eight minutes drive from the Opera. BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT: VICTORIA HOTEL, ISMAILIA, {0)1 the Suez Canal). ' Telegrams: "PALACE, CAIRO." Director-" LUIGI ' STEINSCHNEIDER. Apply at the London Office: 14 Cockspur Street, S.W., or any other Office of the Sleeping Car Company, where Plans may be consulted, Tickets obtained to all destinations, and Apartments reserved in advance by telegram free of expense. The Company's Official Guide, "The Continental Traveller," sent free by Post. CONTINENTAL TRAVEL. INTERNATIONAL SLEEPING CAR & EUROPEAN EXPRESS TRAINS COMPANY. Chief London Offices : 14 Cockspur St., London, S.W. PARIS : 3 PLACE DE L'OPERA. The following are ainougst the Special Limited Trains de Luxe running on the Continent of Europe, composed of Restaurant, Saloon, and Sleeping Cars . o^vned and controlled by the above Company :— THE EOME EXPEESS.—London (Calais) to Aix-les- Bains, Turin, Genoa, and Rome direct. THE CALAIS-MEDITEERANEAN EXPEESS.-London (Calais) to the Riviera direct. THE PAEIS-MEDITEEEANEAN EXPEESS.-Paris to the Riviera. Three other Daily Services to the Eiviera.—The Riviera Palace Hotel, Cimiez. THE SUD EXPEESS.—Bordeaux, Biarritz, San Sebastian, Madrid, and Lisbon. The AvExiDA Palace Hotel, Lisbon. Hotel Terminus, Bordeaux. THE GIBEALTAE EXPEESS.— J^Iadrid, Cordova, and Gibraltar. THE PENINSULAE EXPEESS- -Brindisi, for Egypt and the East. The Grand Hotel International, Brindisi. THE OSTEND-TEIESTE EXPEESS.-Egypt and the East. The Ghezireh Palace Hotel, Cairo. Shepheard's Hotel, Cairo. THE NOED EXPEESS.—Berlin and St. Petersburg. THE CAELSBAD EXPEESS. — Daily (in the Season) to Carlsbad direct without cliauLre, witli special connections for Bayreuth, etc. etc, THE ENGADINE AND INTEELAKEN EXPEESS.-Direct without change, from Calais to Coire and Interlaken. The Maloja Palace Hotel. THE OEIENT EXPEESS. ~ Three times weekly to Constantinople, under contract for the carriage of mails for Eastern Europe. Daily between Paris and Vienna. Pera Palace and Theratia Palace Hotels. THE OSTEND -VIENNA EXPEESS.-Daily to Brussels, Cologne, Frankfort, Nuremberg, and Vienna. London to Vienna in 29 hours. Through to Constanza (for Constantinople) on Tuesdays. By special arrangement with the various Governments, Customs Officers travel with these trains, and passengers' luggage is examined en route, so that no delay or tiresome formalities have to be suffered on arrival at destination. Sleeping, Saloon, and Restaurant Cars (warmed when neces-sary and ventilated) on all the principal Ordinary Express Trains on the Continent. For Tickets, both RAILWAY and SLEEPING CAR, and at lowest rates, and for fall and detailed information respecting the above and Continental Services generally, apply to the Company's London Office— 14 COCKSPUR STREET, LONDON, S.W. Telegraphic Address: " SLEEPINGCARS, LONDON." The Company's OfficialJouraal and Guide, " The Continental Traveller," sent Post free on application. CAIRO OF TO-DAY CAIEO OF TO-DAY A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CAIRO AND ITS ENVIRONS BY E. A. REYNOLDS-BALL, B.A., F.R.G.S. AUTHOR OF 'MEDITERRANEAN WINTER RESORTS,' ' THE CITY OF THE CALIPHS,' ETC. WITH MAPS AND PLAN OF CAIRO LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1898 Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/cairooftodaypracOOreynricli CONTENTS PAGE IN'rRODUCTION vii PART I.-CAIRO 1. How TO REACH CaIRO 1 2. Practical Information . 12 3. Cairo as a Health Resort 24 4. Social Cairo 35 5. Hotels and Hotel Life . 44 6. The Mosques . 56 7. The Bazaars 68 8. The National Museum . 76 9. The Citadel 86 10. The Tombs of the Caliphs 92 11. Old Cairo and Roda Island 98 12. Minor Sights . 107 PART II.—EXCURSIONS 1. The Pyramids of Ghizeh 117 2. Memphis and Sakkarah 131 3. Heliopolis 142 4. Helouan and its Baths 148 5. Minor Excursions 156 6. Sporting Trips 162 ivi31.3854 VI CAIRO OF TO-DAY PART III.—THE NILE AND ITS MONUMENTS PAGE 1. The Nile from Cairo to Luxor .... 170 2. Luxor and Thebes 183 3. From Luxor to the Second Cataract 198 4. The Nile as a Health Resort 211 PART IV.—POLITICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN 1. The Regeneration of Egypt 223 2. Recent Archaeological Research .... 239 3. Bibliography of recent Popular Works on Egypt 247 INDEX 253 MAPS Plan of Cairo Facing page 12 Map of the Environs of Cairo . ,, ,,117 Map of the Nile from its Mouth to Berber -j ateiud INTRODUCTION Cairo, in spite of the Europeanising tendencies of Mehemet Ali, and the innovations of Ismail in his attempt to give a Parisian veneer to his oriental Capital, still remains one of the most attractive cities in the East. It is, of course, inferior in world-wide interest to Jerusalem or even Eome or Athens, but if a plebiscite were taken among tourists of the dozen most interesting cities in the world, Cairo would undoubtedly find a place in the list. Cairo, dating only from the tenth century, has of course no pretension to rank as an ancient historic capital, and its historic interest is purely Mediaeval and Saracenic. In short, the capital of Egypt, the cradle of the oldest civilization in the world and the fountain of European arts and sciences, is but a city of yesterday compared to Memphis, Heliopolis, Thebes, and other ancient cities of Egypt now buried under the desert sands, or the accumulation of the debris and rubbish of centuries. Vlll CAIRO OF TO-DAY But though historical students and erudite Egypt- ologists may consider Cairo a mere mushroom city, it is full of attractions for many tourists, who do not find it easy to resist the fascination of the picturesque oriental life in the native quarters. Fortunately the ' Haussmannizing ' of the Khedive Ismail's builders was mainly confined to the European quarter of the city, and did not touch the region of the Bazaars, where it is still possible, when once the Mooski—no longer a purely oriental highway—is crossed, for the imaginative traveller to realise the dreams of the Arabian Nights of his childhood. The artist, too, if he strikes out a line for himself, and ignores the hackneyed and limited itineraries of the interpreters and guides, will find Cairo full of the richest material for his sketch-book. Some portions of the chapters in Cairo of To-Day are reproduced by permission from my monograph, The City of the Caliphs (1 vol.