BAZAAR OF THE COPPERSMITHS, CAIRO

THE Nahas'm is the district occupied by the coppersmiths, and lies not far from the Mooristan, and in the same line of street leading from the gate of the Metwalys. Mosques bound the streets, and beneath their walls shops, forming the bazaar, are niched in, as we see the sheds of dealers clustering and deforming the cathedral churches of France. Above we see the open loggias, which are the school-rooms attached to the mosques, sheltered by striped awnings or matting, and over all, the minaret, singular in its form, but whether intended to be so by the fancy of the architect, or truncated from a fear of insecurity if the weight of materials had been increased by its being carried higher, it is difficult to determine; the fluting ingeniously conceals the failure, if it were one, and gives a not unpleasing character to this form of a stunted minaret.

Such objects as the bazaars of Cairo afford to the pencil are often chosen for their picturesqueness by the artist, and never fail to illustrate the local character of Oriental, domestic architecture, as well as the costumes and pursuits of its inhabitants; and where at every turn views and objects present themselves of which he desires to possess memorials, a selection from them cannot easily be made from what is interesting only for its civic importance, or historical associations; and though three or four street scenes and five or six mosques may characterise the domestic and sacred architecture of Cairo, the folio formed  by the artist is so rich in the  picturesqueness of his subjects, that for such a publication as this it is difficult to make a selection in which the picturesque and the important shall be found together.

The Bazaar of the Coppersmiths is one of those local arrangements of the trades in the East, where those who require such articles have the benefit of a larger choice in a district chiefly occupied by the manufacturers or vendors of particular wares,- a custom which still exists in many of the cities even of Western Europe. Our bankers in Lombard Street, silkweavers in Spitalfields, watchmakers in Clerkenwell, and coachmakers in Long Acre, are probably relics with us of the same custom. The Bazaar of the Silkweavers of Cairo has been already illustrated, that presented other objects besides the shops or stalls of the dealers below; this appropriation of certain places or districts to certain callings is in no place more striking than at Cairo. Some, as in what is called the Turkish Bazaar, furnish, like that of our men's mercers, only the dresses of the men; others all could be found rich and elegant for the decoration of beauty, together with every article of the toilet of an Eastern hareem-  the Howell and James's, in fact, of the capital of Egypt; but apart from this general bazaar, at another, literally called the Hair-oil Bazaar, are sold only perfumes, oils, scents, and decorations for the hair. At another arms are obtained, fine Damascus blades of the "ice-brook's temper," and pistols and and other fire-arms richly inlaid. The Shoe and Boot Bazaar presents to the attention of purchasers every variety of Eastern chaussure; and smokers may buy in another the cheapest pipe or the most costly nargilah, and, in proportion to his means, indulge in the enjoyment of the weed which has never wanted apologists. 

Robert's Journal.

Wilkinson's Egypt.