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A Syce

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A Syce.jpg Harps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the PyramidsThumbnailsAn Egyptian EunuchHarps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the PyramidsThumbnailsAn Egyptian EunuchHarps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the PyramidsThumbnailsAn Egyptian EunuchHarps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the PyramidsThumbnailsAn Egyptian EunuchHarps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the PyramidsThumbnailsAn Egyptian EunuchHarps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the PyramidsThumbnailsAn Egyptian EunuchHarps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the PyramidsThumbnailsAn Egyptian Eunuch

A stranger
is impressed during his first days in Cairo with the spectacle of runners in front of carriages to warn people to get out of the way. These fellows have a picturesque dress and muscular legs, and their duty is to clear the way, by keeping a few yards in advance and warning people that a carriage is coming. An appendage of this sort is called a syce, and formerly it was necessary that he should be a native born Egyptian, but at present a Nubian may aspire to the position, and it is not unusual to see syces of the complexion of charcoal in front of elegant carriages.