CAIRO, or, as it is often called, GRANT) Cuno, the chief city of Egypt, stands on the right or eastern bank of the Nile, a few leagues above the commencemeht the Delta. The body of the town is distant about hal. a league from the river ; and situated in the entrance to that immense plain, composed of alluvial soil, vs Lid: here suddenly' spreads out from the Nile, and compre hends the whole of Lower Egypt. Towards the cast of Cairo stands the citadel, built on a lofty rock in tic neighbourhood of a mountain called Mokaddent ; :.Lout a mile to the west stand the ruins of Boulac, lately the flourishing port of Cairo ; and at the same distance up the river is situated the populous suburb of rostat, for merly the capital of all Egypt.
Cairo, the queen of cities," and the boast and on mein of the .East, was founded, according to the Oriel, tal writers, in the tenth mum) of our xra, by Aloaz. the first Fatemite caliph, who called it El Kahira, o victorious, in commemoration of his conquest of Egypt. This prince having soon after transferred his scat of em pire from Barbary to Fostat, the Egyptian capital, made Cairo, in the vicinity, his place of residence, where he had a magnificent palace. After this period, if we may believe the same authorities, Cairo for the space of 200 years consisted of little more than gardens, barracks for soldiers, and the houses of a few grandees ; till in the 13th century, the victorious Christains, who had in vaded Egypt, gave a sudden impulse to its augmenta tion. Having taken Alexandria, and a number of other places, these formidable crusaders directed their march upon Fostat; but the Saracens, in the hope of disap pointing their avarice, had already set their capital on fire, which continued to burn for fifty-four days. The town being thus reduced to ashes, the miserable popula tion sought refuge in Cairo, which from that time be came the chief city, and now began to be known by the title Masr, or capital, which formerly was applied to Fostat. The Europeans, not understanding this circum stance thoroughly, speak of an old and a new Cairo, in stead of old and new Masr. Masr, or Mesr, seems a relic of Mizraim, the ancient name of Egypt.
Soon after this event, the famous Saladin, elevated to the throne of the Egyptian Sultans, became a great be nefactor to the new city ; for he not only adorned it with mosques, an university, and other public edifices, but rendered it a place of great strength. He entirely sur rounded Cairo with a wall, three leagues in circuit, which is still almost entire ; built, or at least strengthen ed, the citadel, and beautified the town with a great num ber of gates, one or two of which are the admiration of travellers for their simple magnificence. About the be ginning of the fifteenth century, Cairo was one of the richest and most flourishing cities in the world. It still preserved some remains of its ancient learning, it was the common storehouse of European and Asiatic mer chandise, and its commerce extended from the pillars of Hercules to the remotest regions of India. The subse
quent decay of this amazing city was occasioned by two concurrent causes,—the conquest of Egypt by the Turks, those merciless enemies of learning and of industry, and the discovery of a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope. Among the interesting particulars connected with the history of Cairo, we cannot forbear reminding the reader, that here, in 1801, a British force took a whole army of French prisoners, and sent them back to their own country laden with the curses of an outraged population.
Cairo is still of prodigious extent, being, according to Volney, equal in size to Paris. The town itself, inde pendently of its suburbs, is above an hour's walk in length, and its circumference more than nine miles. Its general figure is that of an immense crescent, wind ing round the bottom of the citadel. The general ap pearance of the capital from the Nile, is brilliant in the extreme. Sunk amidst the innumerable hillocks of rubbish, which have been accumulating in its vicinity for ages, the humbler buildings are concealed from the view ; while the more lofty edifices, the citadel, and countless minarets, rising out of the gay foliage of the garden trees, present a noble specimen of Egyptian scenery. On a nearer approach, however, the illusion in a great measure vanishes. Its environs are disfigur ed by moulds of lilth and rubbish, already mentioned ; and the multitudes of tombs, together with the stench of the common sewers, excite disagreeable sensations. Like all oriental cities, which are still what they were five hundred years ago, you perceive on entering it but an irregular assemblage of dirty hovels, or rather masses of villages, crowded and huddled together in the greatest confusion. The streets arc extremely crooked and nar row ; and as they are not paved, the crowds of men, camels, horses, asses, and dogs, which are continualli• bustling through these narrow passes, keep up an in cessant atmosphere of dust. It is a singular circum stance, that the streets are overrun with wild dogs, while clouds of hawks and pigeons are flying above. The principal streets of Cairo run generally from north to south, parallel to the great canal which intersects the town ; and the lesser from east to west. These last, many of which have no thoroughfare, communicate with a main street, which extends the whole length of the town, and is lined on both sides with shops, crammed from top to bottom with all kinds of merchandise. The houses, crowding often into groups, large vacant spaces intervene ; and these, together with the numerous courts and gardens included -within the walls, are, during the inundation of the Nile, converted into lakes ; so that what is covered with flowers and verdure in April, is in September sailed over in boats.