In another case, when the Kádee and the council of the ’Ulama were influenced in their decision by a Básha (not Mohammad ’Alee), and passed a sentence contrary to law, they were thwarted in the same manner by El-Mahdee. This Muftee was a rare example of integrity. It is said that he never took a fee for a fetwa. He died shortly after my first visit to this country.—I could mention several other glaring cases of bribery in the court of the Kádee of Cairo; but the above is sufficient. There are five minor Mahkem′ehs in Cairo; and likewise one at its principal port, Boolák; and one at its southern port, Masr El-’Ateekah. A Sháhid from the great Mahkem′eh presides at each of them, as deputy of the chief Kádee, who confirms their acts. The matters submitted to these minor tribunals are chiefly respecting the sales of property, and legacies, marriages, and divorces; for the Kádee marries female orphans under age who have no relations of age to act as their guardians; and wives often have recourse to law to compel their husbands to divorce them. In every country-town there is also a Kádee, generally a native of the place, and never a Turk, who decides all cases, sometimes from his own knowledge of the law, but commonly on the authority of a Muftee. One Kádee generally serves for two or three or more villages. Each of the four orthodox sects of the Muslims (the Hanafees, Sháfe’ees, Málikees, and Hambel′ees) has its “Sheykh,” or religious chief, who is chosen from among the most learned of the body, and resides in the metropolis. The Sheykh of the great mosque El-Azhar (who is always of the sect of the Sháfe’ees, and sometimes Sheykh of that sect), together with the other Sheykhs above mentioned, and the Kadee, the Nakeeb el-Ashraf (the chief of the Shereefs, or descendants of the Prophet), and several other persons, constitute the council of the ’Ulama[217] (or learned men), by whom the Turkish Báshas and Memlook chiefs have often been kept in awe, and by whom their tyranny has frequently been restricted: but now this learned body has lost almost all its influence over the government. Petty disputes are often, by mutual consent of the parties at variance, submitted to the judgment of one of the four Sheykhs first mentioned, as they are the chief Muftees of their respective sects; and the utmost deference is always paid to them. Difficult and delicate causes, which concern the laws of the Kur-án or the Traditions, are also frequently referred by the Básha to these Sheykhs; but their opinion is not always followed by him: for instance, after consulting them respecting the legality of dissecting human bodies, for the sake of acquiring anatomical knowledge, and receiving their declaration that it was repugnant to the laws of the religion, he, nevertheless, has caused it to be practised by Muslim students of anatomy.