MOSES’S WIFE.
Black, but such as in esteem
Prince Memnon’s sister might beseem.—MILTON.
Whilst at Assouan we received an intimation from the Governor that, if
agreeable, he would, at a certain hour in the afternoon, present himself
to our party. It was impossible that anything in the world could give us
greater pleasure. And so at the appointed time he arrived, attended by
a kavass and a pipe-bearer. The former he left on the bank, the latter
came on board with him. The Governor turned out to be quite as black as
a Guinea negro, but there the resemblance ended. His face was a good,
rather long oval, and his features as fine as those of a Greek Apollo.
Off a straight forehead he had a straight nose with a thin nostril. There
was no trace of coarseness about his mouth. His skin was as smooth, and
soft, and thin as that of an Arab girl. He was above six feet in height,
and clean-limbed. His build conveyed the idea of strength combined with
lithesome, panther-like agility; though, as he sat leisurely smoking
his pipe, and sipping his coffee, he did not at all look like a man who
was ever in a hurry. His manners were easy and dignified, full of grace
and smiles. He was very intelligent, and readily answered any questions
that were put to him through the dragoman about the condition of the
people, and of the country. He had been born at Assouan, and had never
been out of the neighbourhood. I regret now that I did not ask him some
questions about his parentage. I suppose his mother, at least, must have
been a Nubian, or Abyssinian. The colour of his complexion indicated
rather the former, his features perhaps the latter. Possibly there had
been much mixture of blood in his family for some generations, perhaps
through odalisque channels; for the children of odalisques and of regular
wives are treated as equals. An European might have made a companion, or
friend, of this man, a footing upon which he never could place himself
with a negro.
I have given the above account of our visitor for an historical purpose.
We find that some of the queens of Egypt were black. So must have been
the wife of Moses. Their physical and mental characteristics, then, I
suppose, must have resembled those of the Governor of Assouan.