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[Page 127]
their hands, which seems amusing to us boys from Aussie. The natives of the superior class dress in European fashion, but always wear the inevitable tarbrush in preference to a hat of the English style. This class of people lounge in cafes from noon to night, drinking or playing dice or cards, & seem to have a very easy life.
Many & varied trades are carried on in the streets, the most prominent being the shoe blacks who chase one for miles to clean ones boots for half a piastre – then comes the water sellers. Cairo is a hot & thirsty city & these water-sellers must find their calling very profitable, as 2 millemes is charged for a glass of iced water. Thousands of donkeys are for hire in the streets; the animals bodies are shaved by the natives in such a way as to leave fancy designs on the legs & snout which gives the donkeys a peculiar appearance.
Flies!! Thousands of them & cause no end of annoyance & these pests seem to be the cause of the eye & many other diseases prevalent amongst the lower class of natives. I have seen children's eyes covered with flies, yet neither they or the mother would brush them off & the youngsters eyes suffer in consequence. The Egyptians are a filthy race & raid dust bins for particles of food rather than work for it. Their homes are of mud bricks, & donkeys, dogs & fowls seem contented living in the same rooms as their master & his family.