Visit to the Cotton factories. Iron foundries. Palace of Ibrahim
Pasha. English garden on an island in the Nile. Stables of Ibrahim
Pasha. Arabian horses. Bazaars. Slave market. Madhouse. The maniac
butcher.
The Egyptian monarch is fond of having his improvements inspected by
foreigners, and our own inclinations being in no wise averse to this,
we gave the 22d to an examination of a variety of objects of this kind
bordering on the Nile. Leaving the city by the Boulac gate, we turned
soon after down the avenue leading to Shubra, and, after, pursuing it
for a mile and a half, crossed some open gardens, and were then shown
into a large inclosure containing the summer palace and grounds of a
nephew of Mohammed Ali, and one of the officers of his court. It is a
pretty place, and as the day was growing hot, we particularly enjoyed
a marble kiosk, with fountains tossing their delicious waters into the
air. From this we proceeded to one of those large edifices that in our
moonlight sail up the river had fixed themselves so strongly on our
fancy; but in the broad daylight, instead of a magnificent palace,
with a scene of Eastern enchantment spread all around it, we found a
steam cotton factory, puffing and blowing, and sending jets of smoke
from every one of its numerous tall chimnies. But as we all called
ourselves philanthropists, we considered it, or tried to consider it,
a very pleasing sight; and our gratification was really great, as we
proceeded through the establishment and inspected its very extensive
operations. The principal building is for spinning and weaving, and I
counted here more than one hundred looms of cast iron, just imported
from England; in this they were just putting into operation a steam
engine of twenty horse power, also of English manufacture; the floor
of the second story in this edifice is supported by cast iron columns,
and every part is not only neat and convenient, but also substantial.
It is superintended by a Scottish gentleman, Mr. Galloway. Attached
to this is a yard for bleaching, a machine manufactory, and a long
building for printing the cottons. The printing is all done by blocks,
both made and worked by the natives, who in this business, we were
informed, show great aptitude and skill. The patterns, copied mostly
from the French, are handsome; and the colors are said to be enduring.
The price of labor here is almost nothing, and the Egyptian Pasha has
only to persevere, in order to succeed in all the Eastern markets.
A difficulty presented itself in the expense of fuel for his steam
engines, but his enterprise seems to be in a fair way to surmount even
this. Some explorations on Mount Lebanon, conducted by his orders,
have lately resulted in the discovery of a mine of bituminous coal, at
a place called Carnayl, on the western side of the mountain, about
four miles from the sea, and twelve northward from Beirout. Where the
stratum first presented itself, it was three feet three inches in
thickness, and the coal was too much mixed with impurities to be fit
for steam power; but when we left Beirout, there were indications that
it would increase both in quantity and purity. Mr. Brattell, an English
gentleman employed by the Pasha in these investigations, thinks there
is coal also on the eastern side of Mount Lebanon, and is sanguine also
in expectations of discovering lead and iron ores. There can be no
doubt that the latter is very abundant in that mountain.
From the manufactory we returned to rest ourselves in the cool kiosk,
where we were hospitably served also with fruits and other refreshments.
Returning from this along the banks of the river, we were conducted,
near the outskirts of Boulac, to a large foundry for iron cannon and
other castings; it contains, I believe, three furnaces; but at midday
on the 22d of July, in Egypt, we felt little disposition to be sticking
our heads among iron furnaces; and instead of this useful curiosity,
hastened to put all the Baldacs we could find in requisition, declaring
unanimously that we had never met with any fluid so delicious as
the water of the Nile. At Boulac are also manufactories for cotton
handkerchiefs, and for clothing for the army and navy, as well as
store-houses filled with their productions, which we were invited to
visit; but the heat had become so oppressive, as to leave little
disposition to bodily effort, and, mounting our steeds, we passed
through Boulac, and hastened to deposite our persons in the large and
cool palace of Ibrahim Pasha.
This palace, quite a new building, is situated on the outskirts of
Old Cairo, about two miles above Boulac, and a few hundred yards from
the banks of the river, from which it is separated by well-shaded
pleasure-grounds. The halls or passages by which it is crossed in the
manner already described, are here unusually spacious; and the stairway
being also wide, it has an air not only of magnificence, but of
delicious coolness. In the Audience hall a fountain gushes out of the
wall, about six feet above the pavement, and forming a succession of
small cascades at length reaches the floor, where it is received into
a large marble basin; from this it meanders in a marble channel to the
centre of the hall, and spreads out into a small lake about three feet
in depth. Along the channel are numerous fish, sculptured in marble, in
various attitudes.
The usual hospitable refreshment of sherbet, pipes, and coffee, was
presented us here, and, seated on the luxurious ottomans at the end of
the longitudinal hall, enveloped in odorous fumes, and listening to the
waterfall, or watching the natives, who, in their picturesque costumes,
were passing back or forward, we spent the time till the heat of the
day had passed.
About two hundred yards from this is the island at the head of which,
in an edifice erected for it, is situated the celebrated Nilometer, or
graduated column, for measuring the depth of the river, and from which
report is made when the river has attained an elevation sufficient to
ensure a favorable season. When this is done, the banks which restrain
the water from flowing into the canal leading to Cairo, are cut down,
the water flows in, floods the squares of the city, and then ensues a
season of hilarity and merry-making throughout the whole city.
The island contains about seven or eight acres, and, until lately,
presented nothing remarkable; but it is now a very fascinating
spot. About four years since, Mohammed Ali employed an English
horticulturist, Mr. Trail, to put it in order. He built a stone wall
around it, reaching from below low watermark, to a height above the
greatest elevation of the floods, and had machinery constructed for
irrigating it by means of canals, at all seasons of the year. It is
laid out partly in regular plots, but chiefly in the English garden
style, with winding walks, serpentine streams, lakes, grottoes, rustic
bridges, glades, and lawns; and, what in Egypt is rather curious, in
one place is ornamented with _artificial_ ruins of temples and similar
objects. The size of the trees here are a proof of the astonishing
fecundity of the soil when irrigation is well supplied; for, although
the time has been so short, the ground is covered with trees thirty
and forty feet in height; the shrubbery is luxuriant, and embosoms
many delicious retreats from the sultry sun. They have collected here
all the plants natural to the country, together with many of foreign
origin. Egypt, however, does not produce a great variety of flowers
or useful shrubs. Mr. Trail has a house at one side of the garden, in
which we were hospitably entertained.
On returning to the palace some of our party returned home, while
the rest of us proceeded to visit the stables of Ibrahim Pasha. This
warrior chief is a great lover of horses; and in the course of his
expeditions into Syria and Arabia, has had the best opportunities of
making a collection; and he appears to have profited by them.
The Master of Horse, who came to receive us, informed us that the
whole collection amounts to eight hundred, among which are many of
pure Arabian blood; but that the best were either out at pasture, or
with the Pasha’s army in Syria. At our visit there were about four
hundred animals of various breeds in the stables; and on entering we
were presented with a spectacle of ferocity bordering on the terribly
sublime. Whether it is a matter of instinct or education I cannot
say, but they no sooner caught sight of our foreign dress, and heard
our language, than each animal seemed changed into a fury; their eyes
flashed, their manes seemed to rise, they kicked, and writhed, and
tried every means to break loose; snorting, and showing in every part
of their distorted features the most savage rage. Their keepers went
among them, and succeeded in establishing a little more quiet; but it
was really curious to see the malice which they seemed to bear towards
us to the last.
Among them were eight full blooded Arabs of a superior breed; and I
suppose I shall suffer in the opinion of all amateurs of horses, when
I say that I was disappointed in them. Their limbs are well formed for
activity, but their necks appeared to me too short and heavy for the
highest kind of beauty; but I will add that I am no great judge of such
matters, and ought to offer an opinion with diffidence. We saw here
the horse that had carried Ibrahim in all his wars with the Wahabees;
it is a gray, and is a handsome animal; but is now thirty years old,
and, though well fed and kindly treated, is never used. There were one
or two others in the collection similarly situated; one I noticed, so
old as to be scarcely able to stand, and the picture of decrepitude.
Some horses from Dongola, in Upper Egypt, were striking animals; they
were large and very powerful, with glossy coats of pure jet black. The
Arabians were of various colors: white, bay, and brown. Among them were
numerous colts and some mules; we saw also a donkey, of a white color,
for which the Pasha had been offered $600. It was the largest animal of
this description that I have ever seen. A mule by an Arab mare was also
a beautiful object, it had legs like those of an antelope, and an eye
of fire. They informed us that two strong men were required to manage
it.
July 23d. Most of this day was spent in lounging among the bazaars.
Some of these are wide, and the roof or covering being elevated to a
height of forty or fifty feet, they are not only airy, but the effect
on the eye is good; but most of them are not at all remarkable, while
the generality of the streets in Cairo are, I think, narrower than
usual, even in Turkish cities. Provisions are abundant in them, and
very cheap. Passing one day along the bazaars, we turned into a court
adjoining them to take a look at the depository and market for slaves.
The court is not large, but is surrounded with houses of irregular
shape, swarming with slaves, tier back of tier, as far as our eyes
could reach. They were all of a jet black, with smooth glossy skins;
and the hair of the females was worked up by a greasy substance into
long ringlets, which fell on either side of the head. Their cheeks
were in some instances marked by scars in regular figures, evidently
designed to be an addition to their charms. As we passed among them,
they put on their best looks, and by smiles and gestures invited us to
become their purchasers; to which, I believe, we felt not the least
inclined, though their price was extremely low.
Taking a Cavass on another occasion, I went off to visit the madhouse,
of which I had heard some singular accounts. After threading a great
labyrinth of streets, he told me that we were approaching it, and that
it would be necessary for him to take them some provisions as a kind of
admittance fee. So I furnished him with money, and he filled his arms
with the cakes, somewhat like a thick pancake, which are the common
food of the lower classes in Cairo. On this introduction the keeper
admitted us, and I found myself in an open square or court, surrounded
by a stone edifice in which were the cells of the maniacs. It was a
sight not only mortifying to the pride of man, but adapted to harrow
up all his feelings of sympathy. The cells were not more than seven
or eight feet square, with uneven floors of stone or earth, and were
grated on the side towards the court. Their inmates were sometimes
fastened with chains, but sometimes at liberty to make the most of the
narrow precincts of their cells. They were quite in a state of nature,
filthy, and often covered with sores; and seemed, poor creatures, to
be badly fed. On seeing the cakes, their countenances brightened; they
stretched out their emaciated arms between the iron bars, and on being
supplied, began to devour rather than eat, till in a short time our
supply was exhausted. I turned, saddened and sickened, from the sight.
A short time before our visit, a butcher was brought and shut up here
in a state of complete and dangerous madness. After some time he grew
more gentle, and by and by was sometimes permitted by the keeper to
leave his cell and to go at large through the court. One morning the
latter, on returning to his duty, was met at the gate by this man,
with an expression of joy on his face, and invited to come in and
make a purchase of his meat, which he said he could highly recommend.
The keeper, on entering, found, to his surprise, in one corner of the
court a rude imitation of shambles, well furnished with meat cut up in
a variety of forms. He gazed with astonishment, and a horrible idea
now suddenly crossing his mind, he began a hasty examination of the
cells. He was right. The half-starved wretch had murdered one of the
other maniacs, and dragged the body piecemeal through the bars; and it
was the dismembered carcass of his comrade that was suspended on the
shambles.