By a stranger who merely passed through the streets, Cairo would be regarded as a very close and crowded city; but that this is not the case is evident to a person who overlooks the town from the top of a lofty house, or from the menaret of a mosque. The great thoroughfare-streets have generally a row of shops along each side. Above the shops are apartments which do not communicate with them, and which are seldom occupied by the persons who rent the shops. To the right and left of the great thoroughfares are bye-streets and quarters. Most of the bye-streets are thoroughfares, and have a large wooden gate at each end, closed at night, and kept by a porter within, who opens to any persons requiring to be admitted. The quarters mostly consist of several narrow lanes, having but one general entrance, with a gate, which is also closed at night; but several have a bye-street passing through them. ------------------------------------------- [Illustration: PRIVATE HOUSES IN CAIRO.] The street in this view is wider than usual. The projecting windows on opposite sides of a street often nearly meet each other, almost entirely excluding the sun, and thus producing an agreeable coolness in the summer. _Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 5_ ------------------------------------------- Of the private houses of the metropolis it is particularly necessary that I should give a description. The accompanying engraving will serve to give a general notion of their exterior. The foundation-walls, to the height of the first floor, are cased, externally, and often internally, with the soft calcareous stone of the neighbouring mountain. The surface of the stone, when newly cut, is of a light yellowish hue; but its colour soon darkens. The alternate courses of the front are sometimes coloured red and white,[16] particularly in large houses; as is the case with most mosques. The superstructure, the front of which generally projects about two feet, and is supported by corbels or piers, is of brick, and often plastered. The bricks are burnt, and of a dull red colour. The mortar is generally composed of mud in the proportion of one-half, with a fourth part of lime, and the remaining part of the ashes of straw and rubbish. Hence the unplastered walls of brick are of a dirty colour, as if the bricks were unburnt. The roof is flat, and covered with a coat of plaster.