* * * * *
CAIRO.
* * * * *
Arrival at Boulak--Description of the place--Moolid, or Religious
Fair--Surprise of the People--The Hotel at Cairo--Description of
the City--The Citadel--View from thence--The City--The
Shops--The Streets--The interior of the Pasha's
Palace--Pictures--Furniture--Military Band--Affray between a Man and
Woman--Indifference of the Police to Street Broils--Natives beaten
by Englishmen--Visit to an English Antiquary--By-ways of
the City--Interior of the Houses--Nubian
Slave-market--Gypsies--Preparations for Departure to Suez--Mode
of driving in the Streets of Cairo--Leave the City--The Changes in
travelling in Egypt--Attractions of Cairo.
It was half-past nine o'clock, on the evening of the 4th of October,
1839, that we arrived at the port of Boulak. We expected to find some
person in waiting to give us the pass-word, and thus enable us to
get into Cairo, the gates of the city being closed at nine o'clock.
Depending upon the attendance of the hotel-keeper at Cairo, who had
been apprised of our approach, we had not put the janissary on shore,
as we ought to have done, at the British Consul's country-house, who
would have furnished us with a talisman to pass the gates. We sent
Mohammed and the janissary on shore, to see what could be done.
Including the voyage up the canal, Miss E. and myself had passed (we
could not say slept) three nights on board a boat, the first without
an attempt at repose, the two latter lying down in our dressing-gowns
upon thin mattresses, stretched upon hard boards; we, therefore, could
not very easily relinquish the endeavour to procure a bed during
the time which would intervene between the period (an hour before
day-light) in which the gates of the city would be open.
I had a letter to the British Consul, which I gave Mohammed, telling
him to try the effect of bribery upon the guardians of the city.
During his absence, the Arab captain, feeling that we were left
under his protection, came and seated himself beside us, outside the
cabin-door. We conversed together without understanding each other's
language; he had nothing to offer us except snuff, of which we each
took a pinch, giving him in return, as he refused wine, a pomegranate,
to which I added a five-franc piece from the remains of my French
money. If any thing had been wanting to establish a good understanding
between us, this would have accomplished it. The rais, or captain,
took my hand in his, and pressed his own to his lips, in token of
gratitude; and when upon the return of Mohammed he perceived that I
was rather nervous at the idea of crossing the plank from the boat to
the shore, he plunged at once into the water to assist me over it.
The janissary brought word that there was a moolid, or religious fair,
held at the opposite end of the city, and that if we would make a
circuit of three miles round the walls, we might enter Cairo that
night, as the gate was left open for the convenience of the people
in the neighbourhood. Mohammed had aroused a donkey-man of his
acquaintance, who was in attendance, with a youth his son, and two
donkeys. To the boy was entrusted the care of the lanthorn, without
which no person is allowed to traverse the streets after nightfall,
and mounting, we set forward.
The streets of Boulak are narrow, but the houses appear to be lofty
and substantially built. We were challenged by the soldiers at the
gates, but allowed to pass without farther inquiry. The ride round
the walls at night was dreary enough, over broken ground, occupied
by bandogs barking at us as we passed. We met occasionally groups of
people coming from the fair, who gave us the welcome intelligence that
the gates were still open, and, pushing on, we came at length to the
entrance, an archway of some magnitude. Upon turning an angle of this
wall, we suddenly emerged upon a very singular scene. The tomb of
the saint, in whose honour the moolid was held, was surrounded by
devotees, engaged in the performance of some religious rite. Around,
and in front, throughout the neighbouring streets, gleamed a strong
illumination, produced by an assemblage of lamps and lanthorns
of various kinds. Some of the shops boasted handsome cut-glass
chandeliers, or Argand lamps, evidently of European manufacture;
others were content with a circular frame, perforated with holes,
in which all sorts of glass vessels, wine-glasses, tumblers,
mustard-pots, &c., were placed, filled with oil, and having several
wicks.
The articles displayed for sale at the fair were, as far as we could
judge from the hasty glances we cast as we passed along, good of
their kind, and of some value; the confectioners' shops made a gay
appearance with their variously-coloured sweetmeats, piled up in
tempting heaps, and we saw enough of embroidery and gold to form a
very favourable idea of the taste and splendour of the native dress.
We were, of course, objects of great surprise and curiosity; the
sudden appearance of two European ladies, the only women present, at
eleven o'clock at night, riding on donkeys through the fair, could not
fail to create a sensation. Our boy with the lanthorn walked first,
followed by the janissary, who, flourishing his silver stick, made
room for us through the crowd. Had we not been accompanied by this
respectable official, we should scarcely have dared to venture in such
a place, and at such a period. Mohammed and the donkey-man attended
at the side of Miss E. and myself, and though some of the people could
not help laughing at the oddity of our appearance, we met with no
sort of insult or hinderance, but made our way through without the
slightest difficulty, much more easily, in fact, than two Arabs in
their native costume, even if attended by a policeman, would have
traversed a fair in England.
The scene was altogether very singular, and we thought ourselves
fortunate in having had an opportunity of witnessing a native fair
under such novel circumstances. We could scarcely believe that we were
in a Mohammedan city, noted for its intolerance, and could not help
feeling grateful to the reigning power which had produced so striking
a change in the manners and conduct of the people. Upon leaving the
fair, we turned into dark streets, dimly illumined by the light of the
lanthorn we carried; occasionally, but very seldom, we met some
grave personage, preceded also by a lanthorn, who looked with great
astonishment at our party as we passed. At length we came to the door
of our hotel, and having knocked loudly, we were admitted into the
court-yard, when, dismounting, we proceeded up a flight of stone steps
to a verandah, which led into some very good-sized apartments. The
principal one, a large dining-room, was furnished at the upper end
in the Egyptian fashion, with divans all round; it was, however, also
well supplied with European chairs and tables, and in a few minutes
cold turkey and ham, and other good things, appeared upon the board.
Being the first arrivals from the steamer, we had to answer numerous
questions before we could retire to bed. Upon asking to be conducted
to our chamber, we were shown up another flight of stone stairs,
leading to a second and much larger verandah, which was screened off
in departments serving as ante-chambers to the bed-rooms. There was
sufficient space on the terraces of this floor, for the descent of a
few steps led to another platform, to afford a walk of some extent,
but of this we were not aware until the morning. We found a very
comfortable two-bedded room, supplied with glass windows, and
everything belonging to it in excellent repair, and apparently free
from vermin; most thankfully did we lie down to enjoy the repose which
our late exertions had rendered so needful.
Our trusty Mohammed had engaged donkeys for us the next day, and
promised to take us to every place worth seeing in the city. We were
strongly tempted to visit the Pyramids, but were deterred by the
danger of losing the steamer at Suez, and by the difficulties of the
undertaking. We were told that the Nile was not sufficiently flooded
to admit of our approach in a boat, and that we should be up to the
donkey's knees in mud if we attempted to go upon the backs of those
animals. We, therefore, reluctantly relinquished the idea, and
contented ourselves with what we could see of Cairo.
Our first visit was directed to the Citadel, a place which, I do not
scruple to say, was to me quite as interesting as any of the monuments
of ancient art that Egypt contains. The remains of ages long past, and
whose history is involved in unfathomable obscurity, excite our wonder
and admiration, and fill us with an almost painful curiosity to draw
aside the veil which time has thrown around them, and to learn secrets
that all the learning of man has hitherto been unable to unfold.
The citadel of Cairo, on the contrary, has been the theatre of
comparatively recent events; it is filled with recollections of the
hero whose exploits, narrated by the most eloquent pens, have charmed
us in our childhood, and still continue to excite interest in our
breasts--the Sultan Saladin. Here are the remains of a palace which he
once inhabited, and here is a well which bears his name. Who could sit
under the broken pillars of that roofless palace, or drink the water
from the deep recesses of that well, without allowing their thoughts
to wander back to the days of the Crusades, those chivalric times, in
which love, and war, and religion, swayed the hearts and the actions
of men; when all that was honoured and coveted was to be found in a
soldier of the cross, and when half-frantic enthusiasts, pursuing the
vainest of hopes, the recovery of the Holy Land, brought away with
them what they did not go to seek, the arts, and learning, and science
of the East! The janissary, who was with us, pointed out the direction
in which Damietta now stands, and I was instantly filled with a desire
to see Damietta, of which I had heard and read so much.
The most exciting romance of Oriental history is to be found amid the
deserts that surround Egypt; and even if the most spirit-stirring tale
of all, the _Talisman_, had not been written, the scenes in which our
own lion-hearted Richard figured, and which witnessed the exploits of
the Templars and the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, could not fail
to create the highest degree of pleasurable feeling in minds capable
of enjoying such brilliant reveries of the past. The Citadel of Cairo
is also fraught with the recollections of an event which startled
all Europe within the memory of many of the present generation--the
massacre of the Mamelukes. We were shown the broken cleft in the
wall from which the only one of the devoted men who escaped urged his
gallant horse; it was, indeed, a fearful leap, and we gazed upon,
the spot and thought of the carnage of that dreadful hour with an
involuntary shudder.
The Citadel of Cairo has less the air of a regular fortification than
any place of arms I ever recollect to have entered; it is, however,
I believe, exceedingly strong by nature, the situation being very
commanding. I regretted that I could not look upon these things with
a professional eye, and that I had no military authority at hand to
refer to. Near to the ruins of Saladin's palace, the Pasha is now
constructing a mosque, which, when finished, will be one of the most
splendid temples of the kind in all the Moslem land. It is to be lined
and faced with marble, very elegantly carved, but it will take three
years to complete it, and should any circumstances occur to delay the
work during the lifetime of the present ruler of Egypt, the chances
seem much in favour of its never being completed at all. Mounting on
the embrasure of one of the guns, I feasted my eyes upon one of the
finest and most interesting views I had ever beheld. The city, with
its minarets, towers, kiosks, and stately palm-trees, lay at my feet,
displaying, by its extent, the solidity, loftiness, and magnificence
of its buildings, its title to the proud name of "Grand Cairo."
Beyond, in one wide flood of silver, flowed the Nile, extending far as
the eye could reach along a plain verdant with its fertilizing waters.
To the left, the tombs of the caliphs spread themselves over a desert
waste, looking, indeed, like a city of the dead. These monuments,
though not equalling in size and grandeur the tombs which we find in
India, are very striking; they are for the most part surmounted by
cupolas, raised upon lofty pillars, with the spaces open between. Upon
one of these buildings we were shown a vessel in the form of a boat,
which upon a certain festival is filled with grain and water, for the
service of the birds.
The Pyramids, which rise beyond the City of Tombs, are not seen to
advantage from this point, an intervening ridge of sand cutting off
the bases, and presenting the pinnacles only to view; but the whole of
the landscape, under the clear bright atmosphere of an Egyptian sky,
is of so exquisite a nature, that the eye can never tire of it, and
had I been detained as a prisoner in the Pasha's dominions, I might
have become reconciled to my fate, had I been confined in a situation
which commanded this splendid prospect.
About the middle of the day we again sallied forth, the streets of
Cairo being so narrow that the sun is completely shut out, and shade
thus afforded at noon. The air was not unpleasantly warm, and we
suffered no inconvenience, excepting from the crowd. Mounted upon
donkeys, we pushed our way through a dense throng, thrusting aside
loaded camels, which scarcely allowed us room to pass, and coming
into the closest contact with all sorts of people. The perusal of
Mr. Lane's book had given me a very vivid idea of the interior of the
city, though I was scarcely prepared to mingle thus intimately with
its busy multitude.
We had some shopping to execute, or rather we had to pay for some
purchases made by Mohammed for us in the morning, and to return that
portion of the goods sent for inspection that we did not intend to
keep. We liked the appearance of the shops, which, in all cases of the
more respectable kind, were well stocked, whole streets being devoted
to the sale of one particular branch of merchandize. A long avenue
was occupied by saddlers and the sellers of horse-furniture; another
displayed nothing but woollen cloths; a third was devoted to weapons
of every description, &c. &c. The wax-chandlers reminded me very much
of those in England, being decorated in a similar manner, while the
display of goods everywhere was much greater than I had ever seen in
Eastern cities, in which for the most part merchandize of the best
description is hidden in warehouses, and not to be found without deep
research.
The greater number of the streets are covered in with matting in
rather a dilapidated state, and having many holes and crevices for the
admission of air; this gives to the whole a ragged appearance, and we
were told that the Pasha had determined not to allow in future awnings
of these frail and unsightly materials. The Frank quarter, which is
much better contrived, is the model for subsequent erections. This
avenue has a roof of wood sufficiently high to allow of a free
circulation of air, and having apertures, at regular distances near
the top, to admit the light. The streets in this part of Cairo are
wider than usual, and the shops appear to be large and convenient.
All sorts of European manufactures are to be found here, for the most
part at reasonable prices. The gentlemen who proposed to cross the
desert purchased Leghorn hats of very good quality, and admirably
adapted, from their size, lightness, and durability, for Indian wear.
Wearied, at length, with the confusion and bustle of the streets,
we took again the road to the Citadel, being exceedingly desirous to
feast our eyes with the sunset view.
After gazing long and earnestly upon a scene which, once beheld, can
never be forgotten, we gladly accepted the offer of Mohammed to
show us into the interior of the Pasha's palace, a large irregular
building, having no great pretensions to architectural beauty, and
mingling rather oddly the European with the Oriental style. Ascending
a broad flight of steps, we passed through a large kind of guard-room
to the state-apartments. These were of rather a singular description,
but handsome and well adapted to the climate. A third portion,
consisting of the front and part of the two sides of each room, was
entirely composed of windows, opening a few feet from the ground,
and having a divan running round, furnished in the usual manner with
pillows at the back. The windows of some of these apartments opened
upon gardens, laid out in the English taste and full of English
flowers; others commanded the finest prospects of the city and the
open space below. Round these rooms, at the top, forming a sort
of cornice, were pictures in compartments or panels, one series
consisting of views of the Pasha's palaces and gardens, another of the
vessels of war which belong to him, and more especially his favourite
steam-boat, of which there are many delineations. There is nothing
that more strongly exhibits the freedom with which Mehemet Ali has
thrown off the prejudices of the Moslem religion, than his permitting,
contrary to its established principles, the representation of objects
natural and artificial, which, both in painting and sculpture, is
strictly forbidden. Much cannot be said for the execution of these
pictures, which seem to have been the work of a native artist; but
they become exceedingly interesting as proofs of the decline of a
religion so completely opposed to the spread of knowledge, and to all
improvement in the moral condition of its followers.
The furniture in the Pasha's palace, though in a great measure limited
to carpets and cushions, is very handsome. The divans are covered with
rich brocade, figured satin, damask, or cut velvet. The attendants
drew aside, with great pride, the curtains which concealed the
looking-glasses, evidently fancying that we had never beheld mirrors
of such magnitude in our lives. I observed that the chandeliers in
some of the apartments did not match each other, but the whole was
very creditable to the taste and spirit of the owner. Below them was a
handsome apartment entirely lined with marble, and apparently designed
as a retreat for the hot weather, the floor being divided into two
parts--the one ascended by a step, in which the family might repose
upon cushions; the other scooped into basins, with a fountain to play
in the centre: the water either had not as yet been laid on, or the
season did not render it necessary. Near to this apartment was
the Pasha's bed-chamber, a fine room, also lined with marble, and
containing a fire-place, which in the warm weather revolved upon a
pivot, and was concealed in a recess made on purpose in the wall. The
bathing-rooms, close at hand, were of the most beautiful description,
the principal apartment and the antechamber having roofs which might
serve as models for all erections of the kind. These were fretted
in small compartments, light being admitted by a thick piece of
ground-glass in the centre of each, thus securing the utmost privacy,
together with one of the most beautiful methods of lighting possible.
While we were still sitting in the Pasha's palace, the military band
of the garrison began to play upon the parade-ground immediately
below. Mohammed, who seemed to be quite at home, conducted us to an
apartment which overlooked this space, opened one of the windows, and
requested us to seat ourselves upon the cushions, where we remained
for some time, listening to the well-known French airs played in the
court-yard of the palace of a Turkish prince! The band was not a
very large one, but the performers had been well-taught, and the
wind-instruments produced in such a situation a very animating effect.
They marched up and down the parade-ground, occasionally relieved by
the drums and fifes also playing French music. The performers were
clothed in white, like the men belonging to the ranks, and had the
same soiled appearance, it being impossible to keep white garments
pure in the dust of Egyptian cities.
The sun was now completely down, and we returned to our hotel, where,
to our great joy, we found our two female friends, who had not been
able to reach Boulak until many hours after our landing. We
had ordered dinner at seven o'clock, in the hope that our
fellow-passengers in the steamer would come up, and according to our
calculations, several dropped in. The possibility of getting to the
Pyramids was again discussed; the greater number of the gentlemen
determined at least to try, but we thought it best to avoid all danger
of missing the _Berenice_, and the ladies, adhering to their original
intention, determined to cross the desert together. We passed a most
agreeable evening, telling over our voyage up the Nile, and upon
retiring to my chamber, I regretted that it would be the last I should
for some time spend in Cairo.
Nothing can be more quiet than the nights in a city where all the
inhabitants retire after dark to their own homes, the streets being
perambulated by few persons, and those of the soberest description;
but with the sun, a scene of bustle and noise ensues, which
effectually prevents repose. The windows of my apartment looked out
upon a narrow street, in which the ground-floors were, as it is usual,
composed of shops, while several persons, having vegetables or grain
to sell, were seated upon the ground. The hum of human voices,
the grunting of the camels, and the braying of donkeys, kept up an
incessant din, and therefore some minutes elapsed before my attention
was attracted by a wordy war which took place beneath my window.
Hastily arraying myself in my dressing-gown, and looking out, I saw a
man and woman engaged in some vehement discussion, but whether caused
by a dispute or not, I could not at first decide. They both belonged
to the lower class, and the woman was meanly dressed in a blue
garment, with a hood of the same over her head, her face being
concealed by one of those hideous narrow black veils, fastened across
under the eyes, which always reminded me of the proboscis of an
elephant. Her hands were clasped upon the arms of the man just above
the elbow, who held her in the same manner, and several people were
endeavouring to part them, as they struggled much in the same manner
which prevails in a melodrame, when the hero and heroine are about
to be separated by main force. I thought it, therefore, probable that
they were a loving couple, about to be torn asunder by the myrmidons
of the law. Presently, however, I was set right upon this point, for
the man, seizing a kind of whip, which is generally carried in Cairo,
and flogging off his friends, dashed the poor creature on the ground,
and inflicted several severe strokes upon her prostrate body, not one
of the by-standers attempting to prevent him. The woman, screaming
fearfully, jumped up, and seizing him again, as if determined to gain
her point, whatever it might be, poured forth a volley of words, and
again the man threw her upon the ground and beat her most cruelly, the
spectators remaining, as before, quite passive, and allowing him to
wreak his full vengeance upon her.
Had I been dressed, or could I have made my way readily into the
street, I should have certainly gone down to interpose, for never did
I witness any scene so horrible, or one I so earnestly desired to
put an end to. At length, though the pertinacity of the woman was
astonishing, when exhausted by blows, she lay fainting on the ground,
the man went his way. The spectators, and there were many, who looked
on without any attempt to rescue this poor creature from her savage
assailant, now raised her from the earth. The whole of this time, the
veil she wore was never for a moment displaced, and but for the brutal
nature of the scene, it would have been eminently ridiculous in the
eyes of a stranger. After crying and moaning for some time, in the
arms of her supporters, the woman, whom I now found to be a vender of
vegetables in the street, told her sad tale to all the passers-by
of her acquaintance, with many tears and much gesticulation, but at
length seated herself quietly down by her baskets, though every bone
in her body must have ached from the severe beating she had received.
This appeared to me to be a scene for the interference of the police,
who, however, do not appear to trouble themselves about the protection
of people who may be assaulted in the street.
I afterwards saw a drunken Englishman, an officer of the Indian
army, I am sorry to say, beat several natives of Cairo, with whom
he happened to come in contact in the crowd, in the most brutal and
unprovoked manner, and yet no notice was taken, and no complaint
made. It was certainly something very unexpected to me to see a Frank
Christian maltreating the Moslem inhabitants of a Moslem city in which
he was a stranger, and I regretted exceedingly that the perpetrator
of acts, which brought disgrace upon his character and country, should
have been an Englishman, or should have escaped punishment. No sooner
have we been permitted to traverse a country in which formerly it was
dangerous to appear openly as a Christian, than we abuse the privilege
thus granted by outrages on its most peaceable inhabitants. I regret
to be obliged to add, that it is but too commonly the habit, of
Englishmen to beat the boat-men, donkey-men, and others of the poorer
class, whom they may engage in their service. They justify this
cowardly practice--cowardly, because the poor creatures can gain no
redress--by declaring that there is no possibility of getting them to
stir excepting by means of the whip; but, in most cases, all that I
witnessed, they were not at the trouble of trying fairer methods:
at once enforcing their commands by blows. The comments made by the
janissary and our own servant upon those who were guilty of such
wanton brutality showed the feeling which it elicited; and when upon
one occasion Miss E. and myself interposed, declaring that we would
not allow any person in our service to be beaten, they told us not to
be alarmed, for that the rais (captain of the boat), who was an Arab,
would not put up with ill-treatment, but had threatened to go on shore
at the next village with all his men.
An English gentleman, long resident in Cairo, had done me the honour
to call upon me on the day after my arrival, and had invited me to
come to his house, to see some mummies and other curiosities he had
collected. Accompanied by two of my female friends, and escorted by a
gentleman who was well acquainted with the topography of the city,
we set out on foot, traversing blind alleys and dark lanes, and thus
obtaining a better idea of the intricacies of the place than we could
possibly have gained by any other means. Sometimes we passed under
covered ways perfectly dark, which I trod, not without fear of
arousing some noxious animal; then we came to narrow avenues, between
the backs of high stone houses, occasionally emerging into small
quadrangles, having a single tree in one corner. We passed a house
inhabited by one of the superior description of Frank residents,
and we knew that it must be tenanted by a European by the handsome
curtains and other furniture displayed through its open windows.
Turning into a street, for the very narrow lanes led chiefly along
the backs of houses, we looked into the lower apartments, the doors of
which were usually unclosed, and here we saw the men at their
ordinary occupations, and were made acquainted with their domestic
arrangements. At length we arrived at a court, which displayed a door
and a flight of steps at the corner. Upon knocking, we were admitted
by an Egyptian servant, who showed us up stairs into a room, where we
found the master of the house seated upon one of the low stools which
serve as the support of the dinner-trays in Egypt, the only other
furniture that the room contained being a table, and the customary
divan, which extended all round. Coffee was brought in, served in
small China cups; but all the coffee made in Egypt was too like the
Nile mud for me to taste, and warm and fatigued with a walk through
places from which the fresh air was excluded, I felt myself unequal
to make the trial now.
Our friend's collection of antiquities appeared to be very valuable;
but I had been at the opening of a mummy-case before, and though
interested by the different articles which his researches had brought
to light, was more so in the examination of his house. It was very
oddly arranged, according to the ideas formed in Europe, many of the
rooms looking like lanthorns, in consequence of their having windows
on the stairs and passages, as well as to the street. This was
probably caused by a desire to secure a free circulation of air, but
it at the same time destroyed every idea of privacy, and therefore
looked exceedingly uncomfortable. There were glass-windows to several
of the apartments, but the house exhibited considerable quantities of
that wooden trellice-work, represented in Mr. Lane's book. Nothing,
indeed, can be more accurate than his descriptions; the English
inhabitants of Cairo say that, reading it upon the spot, they cannot
detect a single error; the designs are equally faithful, and those who
study the work carefully may acquire the most correct notion of the
city and its inhabitants.
The apartments at the top of the house opened, as usual, upon a rather
extensive terrace or court, but the surrounding wall was too high to
admit of any prospect; both here, and in a similar place at our hotel,
persons walking about could neither see their neighbours nor be seen
by them. We, therefore, gained nothing by climbing so high, and I was
disappointed at not obtaining any view of the city. I tried in each
place to make acquaintance with an Egyptian cat, but I found the
animal too shy. I noticed several, which seemed to be domestic pets;
they were fine-looking creatures of the kind, and I fancied larger
than the common English cat, but the difference, if existing at all,
was very slight. I returned home, so much fatigued with my walk, as
to be unable to go out again, especially as we were to start at four
o'clock for the desert.
Two of the ladies of the party, not having completed their purchases
at the bazaars, went out upon a shopping excursion, and passing near
the Nubian slave-market, were induced to enter. Christians are not
admitted to the place in which Circassian women are sold, and can
only obtain entrance by assuming the Turkish dress and character. My
friends were highly interested in one woman, who sat apart from the
rest, apparently plunged into the deepest melancholy; the others
manifested little sorrow at their condition, which was not, perhaps,
in reality, changed for the worse: all eagerly scrambled for some
pieces of money which the visitors threw amongst them, and the
sight was altogether too painful for Christian ladies to desire to
contemplate long.
They were much more amused by some gipsies, who were anxious to show
their skill in the occult science. Upon the morning after our arrival,
Miss E., who was always the first upon the alert, accepted the escort
of a gentleman, who conducted her to a neighbouring shop; while making
some purchases, a gipsy came and seated herself opposite, and by way
of showing her skill, remarked that the lady was a stranger to Cairo,
and had a companion, also of her own sex, who pretended to be a
friend, but who would prove treacherous.
As we had ridden through the fair together on the preceding evening,
it did not require any great effort of art to discover that two Frank
ladies had arrived at Cairo; but in speaking of treachery, the gipsy
evidently wished to pique the curiosity of my friend, and tempt her to
make further inquiry. Much to my regret, she did not take any notice
of the fortune-teller, whose words had been repeated by the gentleman
who had accompanied her, and who was well acquainted with the language
in which they were spoken. I should like to have had a specimen of the
talents of a modern scion of this race, in the country in which the
learned have decided that the tribe, now spread over the greater part
of the world, originated.
The arrival of the _Berenice_ at Suez had been reported the evening
before, and the mails had been brought to Cairo in the coarse of
the night. All was, therefore, bustle and confusion in our hotel;
gentlemen hourly arriving from the Nile, where they had been delayed
by squalls and contrary winds, or snatching a hasty meal before they
posted off to the Pyramids. Our camels and donkeys had been laden
and despatched to the outskirts of the city, to which we were to be
conveyed in a carriage.
I had observed in the court-yard of the hotel an English-built
equipage, of the britschka fashion, with a dark-coloured hood, for,
whatever might have been its original tint, it had assumed the
common hue of Egypt; and I found that two spirited horses were to be
harnessed to the vehicle, which was dragged out into the street for
our accommodation. A gentleman volunteered his services as coachman,
promising that he would drive carefully, and we accordingly got in,
a party of four, taking the baby along with us. Although the horses
kicked and plunged a little, I did not fancy that we could be in any
danger, as it was impossible for them to run away with us through
streets so narrow as scarcely to be passable, neither could we have
very easily been upset. I, therefore, hoped to have enjoyed the drive
amazingly, as it promised to afford me a better opportunity than I
had hitherto possessed of seeing Cairo, seated at my ease, instead
of pushing and jostling through the crowd either on foot or upon
a donkey. The gentleman, however, bent upon showing off, would not
listen to our entreaties that the grooms should lead the horses, but
dashed along, regardless of the danger to the foot-passengers, or the
damage that the donkeys might sustain.
So long as we proceeded slowly, the drive was very agreeable, since
it enabled me to observe the effect produced by our party upon the
spectators. Many sat with the utmost gravity in their shops, scarcely
deigning to cast their eyes upon what must certainly have been a
novel sight; others manifested much more curiosity, and seemed to be
infinitely amused, while heads put out of the upper windows showed
that we attracted some attention. My enjoyment was destined to be very
brief, for in a short time our coachman, heedless of the mischief that
might ensue, drove rapidly forward, upsetting and damaging every thing
that came in his way. In vain did we scream and implore; he declared
that it was the fault of the people, who would not remove themselves
out of danger; but as we had no _avant-courrier_ to clear the road
before us, and our carriage came very suddenly upon many persons, I
do not see how they could have managed to escape. At length, we drove
over an unfortunate donkey, which was pulled down by a piece of iron
sticking from the carriage, and thus becoming entangled in the load he
bore. I fear that the animal was injured, for the poor boy who drove
him cried bitterly, and though we (that is, the ladies of the party)
would gladly have remunerated him for the damage he might have
sustained, neither time nor opportunity was permitted for this act of
justice. On we drove, every moment expecting to be flung out against
the walls, as the carriage turned round the corners of streets placed
at right angles to each other. At length, we succeeded in our wish to
have the grooms at the horses' heads, and without further accident,
though rendered as nervous as possible, passed through the gate of
the city. We drove forward now without any obstacle through the
Necropolis, or City of Tombs, before-mentioned, and I regretted
much that we had not left Cairo at an earlier hour, which would have
permitted us to examine the interiors.
The desert comes up to the very walls of Cairo, and these tombs rise
from a plain of bare sand. I observed some gardens and cultivated
places stretching out into the wilderness, no intermediate state
occurring between the garden and the arid waste in which vegetation
suddenly ceased. We might have performed the whole journey across the
desert in the carriage which had brought us thus far, but as one of
the ladies was a little nervous, and moreover thought the road too
rough, I readily agreed to choose another mode of conveyance; in fact,
I wished particularly to proceed leisurely to Suez, and in the manner
in which travellers had hitherto been conveyed.
The mighty changes which are now effecting in Egypt, should nothing
occur to check their progress, will soon render the track to India so
completely beaten, and so deeply worn by wheels, that I felt anxious
to take advantage of the opportunity now offered to traverse the
desert in a more primitive way. I disliked the idea of hurrying
through a scene replete with so many interesting recollections. I had
commenced reading the _Arabian Nights' Entertainment_ at the age of
five years; since which period, I had read them over and over again
at every opportunity, finishing with the last published number of the
translation by Mr. Lane. This study had given me a strong taste for
every thing relating to the East, and Arabia especially. I trust that
I am not less familiar with the writings of the Old and New Testament,
and consequently it may easily be imagined that I should not find
three days in the desert tedious, and that I felt anxious to enjoy to
the uttermost the reveries which it could not fail to suggest.
In parting with our friend and the carriage, he declared that he
would indemnify himself for the constraint we had placed upon him, by
driving over two or three people at least. Fortunately, his desire
of showing off was displayed too soon; we heard, and rejoiced at
the tidings, that he upset the carriage before he got to the gate of
Cairo. Two or three lives are lost, it is said, whenever the Pasha,
who drives furiously, traverses the city in a European equipage. That
he should not trouble himself about so mean a thing as the life or
limb of a subject, may not be wonderful; but that he should permit
Frank strangers to endanger both, seems unaccountable.
No Anglo-Indian resident in either of the three presidencies thinks
of driving a wheel-carriage through streets never intended for
such conveyances. In visiting Benares, Patna, or any other of the
celebrated native cities of India, elephants, horses, palanquins,
or some other vehicle adapted for the occasion, are chosen. It,
therefore, appears to be the more extraordinary that English people,
who are certainly living upon sufferance in Egypt, should thus
recklessly expose the inhabitants to danger, to which they are not
subjected by any of their own people under the rank of princes.
Nothing can be more agreeable or safe than a drive across the desert,
and probably the time is speedily approaching in which the rich
inhabitants of Cairo will indulge, as they do at Alexandria, in the
luxury of English carriages, and for this purpose, the streets and
open spaces best adapted for driving will be improved and widened.
I cannot take leave of Cairo without paying the tribute due to the
manner in which the streets are kept. In passing along the narrow
lanes and avenues before-mentioned, not one of the senses was shocked;
dust, of course, there is every where, but nothing worse to be seen at
least; and the sight and smell were not offended, as at Paris or even
in London, when passing through the by-ways of either. Altogether, if
I may venture to pronounce an opinion, after so short a residence, I
should say that, if our peaceful relations with Egypt should continue
to be kept up, in no place will travellers be better received or
entertained than in Cairo.