12 illustration(s) from this book
"Convinced of the truth of this assertion, I consider myself possessed
of the chief qualifications for the proper accomplishment of my present
undertaking, from my having lived several years in Cairo, associating
almost exclusively with Arabs, speaking their language, conforming to
their general habits with the most scrupulous exactitude, and received
into their society on terms of perfect equality. Since the downfall of
the Arab Empire of Baghdád, Cairo has been the chief of Arabian cities:
its Memlook Sulṭáns, introduced into Egypt in their youth, naturally
adopted, to a great degree, the manners of its native inhabitants, which
the 'Osmánlee Turks in later days have but little altered. Cairo is the
city in which Arabian manners now exist in the most refined state; and
such I believe to have been the case when the present work was
composed."