gilt crowns on their heads. A vestibule, roofed with massive granite, conducts to the church. The choir has been placed above the vestibule, so that there is nothing to interrupt the simple grandeur and magnificent proportions of the interior. The general form is that of a Greek cross, above which towers the vast dome, 330 feet above the black marble pavement. Around the church, which measures 364 feet by 230 feet, are forty chapels. The chief of these is, of course, the High Chapel, containing the high altar, and approached by a flight of veined marble steps. Forty thousand pounds were spent in this chapel in jasper, and onyx, and porphyry, and sculptures, and paintings. The two gorgeously decorated pulpits of rich marble were presented by Ferdinand VII., at a cost of £15,000. To the right of the high altar is a wonderful reliquary. Philip II. had a passion for holy bones. He collected no less than 7,421 genuine relics; skeletons, teeth, shin-bones, toe-nails, skulls-the smallest osseous contribution was gratefully received; occasionally he got duplicate skeletons of the same saint. One relic has an altar to itself: the consecrated wafer that bled when trodden under foot by the heretics at Gircum in 1525. We must only just mention the forty minor altars, with their pictures and ornaments; the two fine organs; the vaulted roof of the naves, frescoed by Giordano; the low dark oratories, where Philip II. and other monarchs knelt during mass; the statues of Spanish kings, by L. and P. Leoni; the sacristy, with its carved oaken presses full of splendid vestments, rich with gold embroidery, one of the vestments alone being valued at £45,000; and the Camaria, where there is a custodia or ark for the Host, presented by Isabella II., and containing ten thousand precious stones. There are still many paintings here although the best have been removed to the Real Museo. In the choir, thirty feet above the floor-level, are the magnificently illuminated and colossal choral books, some of them two yards wide. The carved stalls are very elegant. Here is the stall where Philip II. was kneeling when news was brought him of the battle of Lepanto, without distracting him from his momentarily interrupted prayers. The gem of the choir is the beautiful crucifix of Carrara marble made by Cellini; on this piece of work the great artist specially prided himself. Directly under the high altar is the mausoleum of the Spanish kings, called the Pantheon, an octagonal vault forty feet in diameter, wherein nearly all the sovereigns of Spain since Charles V. lie in niches one above another. In this gloomy crypt Isabella II. delighted to attend midnight masses. Only kings and mothers of kings are entombed here; queens whose sons did not reign, and princes and princesses, are in an adjoining pantheon of their own. Of the convent, with its halls and cells and cloisters, little need be said. The library is a long beautiful room, with fine frescoes by Tibaldi and Carducho, and portraits of the Kings of Spain. The collection of books and MSS. is large and precious, and it is to be hoped will be in time made more useful than has yet been the case. Philip's own library of 4,000 volumes formed the nucleus of the collection, which, despite serious losses by theft and destruction, is still very extensive. The palace contains little worthy of special notice. There are two picture galleries, from which the best pictures have been removed to the Real Museo. The room of Philip II. is a plain cell, near enough to the high altar for him to hear and see the mass when in bed. His invalid chair and his secretary's stool still remain. "Philip worked very hard," says O'Shea, "went to bed late, and the monks' chants awoke him every morning at four, when he heard mass, and so devoutly and fervently did he pray that tears were often seen streaming down his cheeks. For two months previous to his death he endured excruciating pain with firmness and patience. On feeling his death approach, he was taken in a litter all over the building of his creation, to see for the last time and bid adieu to all those portions which were more especially his favourites; and on Sunday, the 13th September, 1598, he expired during the usual morning service, with his eyes turned towards the high altar and the Host, and grasping in his hand the very crucifix which his father, Charles V., held when he died." The Capital of Arabdom-The "Victorious City"-Fostat-Improvements by Saladin-The Mameluke Sovereignty-Modern Cairo-The Ezbekeeyeh-Palaces of the Khedive-The Citadel-The Glory of the "After-glow"-A Marvellous ViewMosques in the Citadel-The Massacre of the Mamelukes-Bazaars-Oriental Customs-Religious Festivals-Legendary Sites-The Nile-Nilometer-Island of Roda-Boulak and its Museum-Heliopolis-The Virgin's Tree-The Pyramids -The Sphinx-Education in Egypt-A School Interior-Public Schools-The University-Population-Copts and their Worship-Fellaheen and their Cruel Bondage-Taxation. AIRO is the Queen of Eastern Cities. It is essentially Arab, and though in Africa, is the most Asiatic city in the world, except perhaps Damascus. The people do not call themselves Egyptians, but Arabs; Arabic is the language spoken, and the religion is that of the Arabian prophet. It does not possess the historical interest or the commercial importance of Alexandria, but it is the centre of Arab civilisation, and has more purely Oriental features than Constantinople or any other city of its size in Europe, Asia, or Africa. It is in Cairo rather than in Damascus or Bagdad that the scenes of the "Thousand and One Nights" can be realised; it is in Cairo only that gorgeous Orientalism can be seen in contrast-startling but not always inharmonious-with the latest results of modern civilisation. Its most interesting historical associations, dating back only as far as the days of the mighty Saladin, are but as yester SPHINX FROM THE SERAPEUM. day compared with those of Alexandria; its religious associations are of El-Islam only; its great men were all Caliphs and Khedives. Yet "it is the true capital of Arabdom-not its holy city, but its Paris." Cairo, Kahira, Masr el-Kahira, or "The Victorious City," is situated on the right bank of the Nile, at the foot of a spur of the Mokattam or Arabian hills, and occupies "the place in Egypt which the heart does in the human body. Its site is the natural centre of Egypt-the master of Cairo is the master of the whole country." It is the largest city in Africa, and the second city of the Turkish Empire. It is said that when Cambyses-B.c. 525 -conquered Egypt he founded New Babylon on the site where Old Cairo now stands. In A.D. 638 New Babylon was taken by a general of the Caliph Omar, and a curious legend attaches to the event. After the siege, when he was about to have the tent he had occupied taken down, the time having come when he should pursue his victorious march to Alexandria, he found that a pigeon had built her nest upon his tent (fostat), and with a tenderness not unknown to other warriors, he commanded that the tent should be left standing until the young birds should take wing. When he had captured Alexandria he returned to his tent, and lo! a city had sprung up around it, to which the name of Fostât was given. In the year A.D. 969, Gowher, a general of Moez, the first of the Fatamite sovereigns of Egypt, conquered Fostât, and founded Cairo, which henceforth became the capital of Egypt and the residence of the Caliphs. In proportion as Cairo increased Fostât decreased; in the time of the Crusaders it was utterly destroyed, and at the present time huge mounds of rubbish alone mark the place where it once stood. Under Saladin (Yoosef Salaheddeen) Cairo was greatly improved, the citadel was built, and a wall of solid masonry erected to enclose the city, which, under his luxurious and extravagant successors, was from time to time enlarged and improved. In the course of its history many reverses and |