[Illustration: HARBOR, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.--The perfectly flat coast of Egypt, and even Alexandria itself, are not visible to the steam-boat passenger until very shortly before the vessel enters the harbor. The latter consists of an outer breakwater, forming an obtuse angle nearly two miles in length. A second pier, nearly a mile in length, protects an inner harbor covering nearly five hundred acres of water, twenty-seven feet deep. No fewer than thirty thousand artificial blocks, weighing twenty tons each, and two million tons of natural blocks of stone were used in the construction of these magnificent harbor works.] [Illustration: PLACE OF MEHEMET ALI, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.--The site of this open square is embellished with trees and fountains. It became a scene of destruction during 1882. In the centre rises the equestrian statue of Mohammed' Ali, the founder of the reigning dynasty of Egypt. The Mohammedan religion forbids the pictorial or plastic representations of the human form. The erection of this monument was long opposed by the Ulama, or chief professor of divine and legal learning. The buildings on both sides are shops. That at the further end is the English church.] [Illustration: CITADEL, CAIRO, EGYPT.--This citadel affords a magnificent view of the city and surrounding country. It was erected in 1166, and built by stones taken from the small pyramids at Gizeh, the site having been selected, according to Arabian history, owing to the fact that meat could be kept here fresh twice as long as in any other part of Cairo. The fortress commands the city, yet its site is unfavorable, as a commanding height close by compelled its surrender during the wars of 1805.] [Illustration: MOSQUE OF MOHAMMED' ALI, CAIRO, EGYPT.--The "Alabaster Mosque," whose lofty and graceful minarets are so conspicuous from the distance, form one of the landmarks of Cairo. In plan, it represents the Turkish mosques, built on the model of Hagia Sofla, at Constantinople. The execution of the design displays but little artistic taste, and the treatment of the material is somewhat unsatisfactory. The alabaster used for the incrustation of the masonry consists partly of blocks and partly of slabs. The beautiful yellow-tint stone soon fades when exposed to the sun.] [Illustration: STREET SCENE, CAIRO, EGYPT.--Most of the streets in the old part of the town are unpaved, inaccessible to carriages, and often excessively dirty. They present an inexhaustible field of amusement and delight, admirably illustrating the whole world of oriental fiction. The lanes separating the rows of houses in the Arabian quarter are so narrow that the projecting balconies of harems, with their gratings, often nearly meet. Rickety, tumbling houses of every variety of oriental architecture strike the beholder at every turn, as is illustrated above.]