1 54 AFRICAN WANDERINGS.

prisoner by the guard, and locked up under insults and abuse. It is perfectly a la Gessler! As the common vulgar here know how, in case of necessity, to take tlieir revenge by means of fire, which here (as the most of the houses are either all or mostly of wood) makes rapid and fearful devastations, so do the mob in uniforms insist, with brutal severity, on tlie observance of public orders. One evening Prince Wrede, with a small party (in jovial humour, from tlie grape), was returning home, but unfortunately without lanterns, which is forbidden. All at once the watch pounced upon him and his companions, and, with blows, dragged them to the prison of Woiwodin, placed them in a dungeon that not only already contained numbers of the vilest of tlie mob, but was so small that they had to stand the whole nicrht ; neither tlieir names and rank, nor threats, nor prayers, enabled them to send to their ambassador, or release them out of tins unpleasant scrape; nor afterwards, much as they complained to their country's envoy of such disgraceful treatment, and tlie time and money it had cost them, did they get the smallest redress.

In Egypt, indeed, one must also constantly carry a lantern with him after dark, and in the month of the liamadan, one may cliance to be taken up by the guard ; but these are so civil, as to at once let the prisoners go again for a few piastres, or at worst some cigars ; or if they will not do so, you have only to send to the consul, and you are at once set at liberty. It is common enough to forget this lantern, the more so when one goes out by day and does not return till evening ; but at every street corner, if not very late indeed, paper lanterns are to be had for half a piastre. In consequence of tliis constant forgetting of lanterns, one at last has a complete store of such in his house ; at Cairo, on counting ours, we found some fifty. Tlie small wax tapers for them, with which we could go from the Muske (Frank quarter) to our own homes, on the Esbekieh, cost five paras. These neat light-machines consist of folded paper, and it needs custom and gentle handling to convey tliem home, for should the wind blow a little fresh, or if the body reels a little from wine, one is every moment in danger of setting on fire the paper lantern, as well as oneself, — an accident by no means rare, especially when one wears