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of Cairo; squalor & filth had been the predominant features previously.
On the opposite side of the courtyard to the recess from which we had this view was the entrance to the mosque. It was a magnificent place, quite a reverent hush seeming to pervade it. The walls are of marble with coloured lights high up which reminded me of St Peter's R.C. in Melbourne. From the roof were hung hundreds of lamps, some arranged in huge chandeliers, others hanging singly: the oil lamps of old are now replaced by electric bulbs, & the splendour of the scene on one of the few (5 I believe) occasions during the year when the place is lighted up must be indescribable. One the floor was a beautiful carpet, but the furniture there was none. I tried 3 or 4 photos inside but now know that they are utter failures, underexposed. They could not, however, conveyed anything like an adequate conception of the interior.
As we were about to leave a number of worshippers came in & were most reverent in bowing, placing their hands on their heart, bowing till their forehead touched the ground, & so on. At 4 o'clock all whites were cleared out for ½ an hour, this being one of their times of prayer, & it was very noticeable as we went out that a number of wounded Indians (Punjaubis & Sikhs) were going up to pray.
From the Mosque we wandered round to one or two places on the battlements whence we got a splendid view across a gully southwards to a sheer face of cliffs of the hills abutting Cairo, on the top of which the fort built by Napoleon which dominated the Citadel & brought about its surrender, could be seen. The steep white face of (?) sandstone recalled at once the Pyramids, making me think that in all probability their stones came from this spot.
The sheer face of the flat-roofed village on a lower level & castle on top made me think of Jerusalem from some aspects must look similar. At one place we saw a deep well called "Jospeh's Well",