EGYPTIAN LIFE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3577, 28 December 1882, Page 4

EGYPTIAN LIFE.

The inhabitant of the Egyptian towns passes his life in a simple and uniform manner. Before sunrise he leaves his couch, performs the morning ablutions enjoined by his religion, and repeats his early prayer. To say his morning prayer after sunrise is forbidden by the ordinances of his religion, and to allow the sun to rise over one's slumbering head is regarded as prejudicial to health. He then drinks his cup of coffee, and smokes his pipe either at home or in the public coffee-house. His breakfast which he takes after the coffee, or sometimes before it, consists of the remains of his meal of tbe previous evening, or of cakes and milk, or for a trifle he procures from the market the ever ready national dish of f ul, that is, stewed beans. He then engages in his avocations, buys, sells, -writes, works, or moves about, all in the most comfortable, quiet, and deliberate manner. " What is not done to-day must bo done to-morrow " in Arabic, "to-morrow, if God please," stands written on his forehead in large letters. "' There is nothing for which the Egyptain mechanics can be said to be famous."* The things they used to excel in are rapidly being forgotton. The fine masonry of the older mosques would be thrown away on tho 'architectural tastes of the present day, and hence the race of skilful masons is becoming extinct. The coloured glass which used. to be made in great perfection for windows and lamps is the product of a forgotten art, and most of the glass and china used in Egypt—even the national coffee-cup.—are imported from Europe. The same has come to the turners who used to make beautiful lattice windowscreens ; people now prefer glass, and lattices being no longer required, turners are forgetting how to make them. The potters do a good trade in unglazed porous vessels for cooling water, and the palm furnishes occupation to many hands. Egypt is no longer famous for fine linen ; even its cotton and woollen stuffs are coarse, and its silk of poor quality. The tanners, however, have not foigotfcon their cunning in curing morocco leather, and the love of ornament, extending beyond slippers, supports goldsmiths in all the towns. —Month.