Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/717

Rh variety, called morion. The same stone is found in com merce passing under the names of false topaz, Brazilian topaz, occidental topaz, and cinnamon stone (pierre de cannelle of the French). It is found in many parts of the world, Brazil producing the finest deep brown varieties; but fine stones also come from India, Bohemia, Mexico, and Pennsylvania. It is also found at the Cariibrae Mines, in Cornwall. In the cairngorm district masses weighing as much as 25 Ib have been obtained, and an Edinburgh lapidary cut nearly 400 worth of ornamental stones out of a single crystal. The cairngorm is chiefly used for Scotch jewellery, the mounting of gold and silver plaid- brooches, setting in the lids of snuff-mulls, the handles of dirks, &c., and the ornamentation of other articles connected with the Highland costume. The stones are most effec tively set by covering the undersets entirely with oblong facets arranged in regular rows, surrounding the table with triangular facets and keeping the stone as thick as possible. By this means great brilliancy combined with depth of colour, is secured.  CAIRO (in Arabic, Masr-al-Kahira, or, as the lower classes of the population call it, simply Masr), the modern capital of Egypt, occupies the natural centre of the country, being situated on the east bank of the Nile, 12 miles above the apex of its delta, 150 miles by rail from Alexandria, and 80 west from Suez, in 30 2 4&quot; N. lat. and 31 15 26&quot; E. long. It is built partly on the plain and partly on the lower slopes of the rocky range of Mokattem, on a spur of which stands the citadel, 250 feet above the level of the town. The prospect from the ramparts of this fortress is one of great magnificence and beauty. Below lies the city with its strongly-built walls and lofty towers, its gardens and squares, its palaces, and its mosques, in all the beauty of their delicately-carved domes and minarets covered with fantastic tracery, the port of Bulak, the gardens and palace of Shubra, the broad river studded with islands, the valley of the Nile dotted with groups of trees, with the pyramids on the north horizon, the fields, gardens, and villas on the west, and on the east the barren cliffs, backed by an ocean of sand. Ground-Plan of Cairo. Knvamcydan (Place Mehemet All) Rosetti Gardens I ost-Offlco. 4. French Theatre 5. Opera House. G. English and German Churches. As far as the portion within the walls is concerned, Cairo occupies a site of about seven miles in circumference; but during the reign of the khedive (properly hidiv), who was born in the city in 1830, it has extended, especially towards the river, so as to have a circuit of at least 8 or 9 miles. Its improvement has kept pace with its extension, and it can no longer be altogether described as little better than a labyrinth of tortuous lanes, narrow, unpaved, and continually swept with clouds of dust blown from huge mounds of rubbish outside the walls. New streets have been cut through the more crowded districts ; and the Ezbekeeyah, the principal sqtiare of the city, which was formerly allowed to lie waste, has been transformed into public gardens with a lake in the centre, while houses and shops of considerable pretensions have sprung up in the neighbourhood. Most important of the new streets is the Boulevard Mehemet Ali, which traverses the city in an almost northerly direction from the Citadel to the Ezbe keeyah. Between the western side of the older city and the river most of the ground has been laid out in building lots, and in various parts, as particularly in the direction of Bulak, it is already covered with regular rows of houses, arid forms the district of Ismaileeyah. Bulak, in fact, is not so much a distinct town as a mere suburb of the larger city. Gas has been laid down in all the principal streets, and water is supplied by a company to the houses of all those who comply with the necessary regulations. In spite of all these innovations, however, the city largely retains its Oriental character, and in a hundred of its narrow streets it is easy to forget that any change at all has taken place. The most of the houses of the poorer classes consist of miserable mud hovels, with filthy courts, dilapidated windows, and tattered awnings. In marked contrast to these are the houses of the wealthier citizens, built generally in a style of elaborate arabesque, the windows shaded with projecting cornices of graceful woodwork, and ornamented with stained glass. A winding passage leads through the ornamented doorway into the court, in the centre of which is a fountain shaded with palm-trees. The principal apartment is generally paved with marble ; in the centre a decorated lantern is suspended over a fountain, whilst round the sides are richly inlaid cabinets and windows of stained glass ; and in a recess is the divan, a low, narrow cushioned seat running round the walls. The basement story is generally built of the soft calcareous stone of the neighbouring hills, and the upper story, which contains the harem, of painted brick. The town is walled off into quarters, deriving their names from the character or condition of their occupants, and is intersected in its whole breadth by a canal which conveys the waters of the Nile from Old Cairo to the dif ferent parts of the city. The citadel or El-Kalah was built by Saladin about 1166, but it has since undergone frequent alteration, and now contains a palace erected by Mehemet Ali, and a mosque of Oriental alabaster founded by the same pasha on the site of &quot; Joseph s Hall.&quot; In the centre is a well called Joseph s Well, sunk in the solid rock to the level of the Nile. Next to the citadel in importance are the mosques, 400 in number, including, however, many that are falling to ruins. The most magnificent is the Mosque of Sultan Hasan, standing in the immediate vicinity of the citadel. It dates from 1357, and is celebrated for the grandeur of its porch and cornice, and the delicate honey comb tracery which adorns them. Besides it there is the Mosque of Tulun (founded 879 A.D.), exhibiting very ancient specimens of the pointed arch ; the Mosque of Sultan el 