master—a surly Turk—coming up to take
her home, put an end to the interview.
Next day we heard some bidding for her;
but the report had got abroad that she was
thin and sick, and very low offers were made.
We had resolved not to go and see her again;
but she beckoned to us in passing, and we
could not resist. Her first words, as
interpreted, were: "Nazarene! Cannot you find a
substitute to buy me for you?" That is to
say, a Mohammedan, to become the nominal
purchaser, we infidels not being allowed the
enviable privilege of possessing slaves in our
own right. She seemed really to anticipate
being left on the hands of her master, who,
we were told, attributed her meagerness
either to ill-humour or to the effect of the
evil-eye. We did not attempt to explain to
her that Christians abhorred slavery, and
were liable to a fine imposed by the consul of
a hundred pounds sterling (ten thousand
piastres), for encouraging it in any way. We
thought it best to affect poverty. That was
decisive. Her manner changed like that of a
young lady who learns that some impassioned
suitor is dreaming of love in a cottage,
because he has no expectations. She looked over
our shoulder at a huge greasy Turk who was
waddling that way. A short time afterwards,
she was parted with for about seventy pounds,
ornaments and all.

White slaves are kept at Cairo, in Wakâlfahs,
specially devoted to the purpose, but
under the superintendence of the common
sheikh of the slave-dealers. They are brought
there generally from Constantinople some
half a dozen at a time, but almost always
receive additions from the harim of the
place, for there are always "a few fine
young ladies" for sale, forming part of the
fortune of some deceased Turk. In the best
houses, each has a separate apartment, and a
separate duenna, or attendant—facts, which
we might have learned from report, but which
we happen to know from positive experience.
We were some years ago at Cairo, in the heyday
of youth and spirits, and chancing to
hear of the existence of these curious hotels,
as well as of the difficulty, not to say
impossibility of penetrating into them,
determined, at any rate, to try. Had we been
better acquainted with Eastern manners,
we should never have exhibited the blind
obstinacy which in such case can alone insure
success.

We started one day, a party of four,
mounted on donkeys equally spirited with
ourselves, and dashed into the narrow,
tortuous, thronged alleys of the city, loudly
informing our guide that we never meant to
return without having seen, a depôt of white
slaves. The fellow's single eye glistened
with wonder, but he put his hand to his head,
and exclaimed: "Trader—ready!" and
trotted before us, stopping to whisper to all
his numerous friends and acquaintances as he
passed, informing them, as we afterwards
learned, that he had four mad Franks in
charge, whom he was resolved to lead a
tremendous dance, in order to tame down their
absurd curiosity. In the first place, he took
us straight to the other extremity of the
city, near the Bab-el-Zontona, where are
the black-slave bazaars. We inspected them
rather hurriedly, being already acquainted
with that sort of thing, and then turning to
our one-eyed cicerone, who pretended to forget
what we really wished, said rather sternly:
"Well, sir?" He apologised, and when we
had satisfied the greedy demands of the
jellabs, trotted away to the other side of the
Bab-en-Nasr, where we saw some ladies from
Abyssinia of various degrees of bronze-colour,
and a few Galla girls, black as coal, but
wonderfully lovely in feature. This was not
what we wanted, and some of our party
began to talk of the propriety of cudgelling our
guide. He understood the pantomime, and
requesting us to mount again, promised with
many solemn asseverations to take us to the
therkh of the slave-dealers; and so we rode
about a couple of hours, having interviews
occasionally with several grave old white-
bearded gentlemen who were always at first
introduced as the sheikh, and who were then
admitted to be only deputies. They all made
long speeches to us, which we partly
understood, beginning by expatiating on the
impropriety of our wishes, and ending—when it
was evident that we were perfectly inaccessible
to reason—by referring us to a man in
the next bazaar.

We had started very early in the morning,
and it was not until an hour after noon
that we began to suspect we were being
merely played with: that is to say, that our
guide was in league with everybody to prevent
us from seeing these mysterious white slaves.
We had learned one fact, however, namely,
that a good number of Georgian and other
beauties were lodging in a vast house in one
of the principal streets—a continuation of
the Goreeyeh, if we remember rightly—of
course, under the care of a merchant. After
a serious consultation, therefore, we gave
Mohammed—he must have been named
Mohammed—the slip, and resolved to do
business on our own account. At that time of
day the streets of Cairo are very quiet and
lonely. Everybody is taking his siesta after
dinner, and even the coffee-houses are empty.
There happened to be one of these establishments
exactly opposite the great house in
question. We entered and called for pipes
and Mocha—paid extravagantly for the first
supply, and ordered a second. The kawajee
was delighted, and gave a ready ear to our
confidences. We told him what we wanted.
That great wall, striped horizontally with red
and white, rising to the height of some twenty
feet, without windows, and then having only
a sort of range of bird-cages projecting, but
jealously closed, stood between us and a
mystery which we were resolved to investigate.