KHARTOUM,
AND
THE BLUE AND WHITE NILES.
* * * * *
VOL. I.
[Illustration: _Khartoum and the Niles._
London, Colburn & Co. 1851.]
KHARTOUM,
AND
THE BLUE AND WHITE NILES.
BY GEORGE MELLY.
[Illustration]
Second Edition.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
COLBURN AND CO., PUBLISHERS,
GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1852.
LONDON:
Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
* * * * *
VOL. I.
KHARTOUM AND THE NILES _Frontispiece._
DRAGOMEN _Vignette._
MAP OF NUBIA _To face page_ 237
VOL. II.
IPSAMBOUL _Frontispiece._
THE AUTHOR _Vignette._
PREFACE.
* * * * *
The Work now presented to the public, is nothing more than a transcript
from a Journal kept by the Author during a tour in Egypt and Nubia,
(undertaken in company with other members of his family) only a few
months ago. The peculiarity of the relations of Egypt and the Porte at
the present moment, affords the Author the best excuse he can put
forward for appearing in print, and he hopes that observations so
recently made over a very interesting portion of the dominions of the
Pasha of Egypt, by a perfectly disinterested spectator, may be though
not unworthy the attention of the reader.
It is only here necessary to add, that we succeeded in penetrating Nubia
as far as Khartoum, the place of junction of the Blue and White Niles,
where few travellers had preceded us, and to which town no ladies had
ever penetrated before.
LONDON,
OCTOBER 5, 1851.
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
The Adriatic — Alexandria — The Grand Square — Pompey’s Pillar 1
— English invaders — Egyptian Cemetery — Cleopatra’s Needles —
Stroll through the streets — The Great Canal — The first pipe
CHAPTER II.
Up the Canal — Arab boats — Shoal of swimmers — Beautiful mirage 19
— Egyptian tillage — Atfeh — The lock — The Nile
CHAPTER III.
Cairo — Description of the inhabitants — Treatment of women 36
— Adventure of an Arab boy — Encounter with a native lady —
Courtship and marriage in the East — Taking home the bride
CHAPTER IV.
The water-carriers of Cairo — An Egyptian bath — The bazaars — 51
Turkish gallantry — Shopping in the East — The slave market — The
Court of the Cadis — Turkish justice
CHAPTER V.
The Citadel of Cairo — Mosque of Mehemet Ali — Moslem Carnival 70
— The College of Dervishes — Curious religious ceremony —
Presentation to the Viceroy — The Nepaulese Ambassador — Visit of
the ladies to Ibrahim Pasha’s hareem
CHAPTER VI.
Disgrace and flight of Artim Bey — Visit to Achmed Bey — Palace 87
of an Egyptian noble — Arabian horses — Tombs of the Caliphs —
The gardens of Shoobra — The imprisoned lady — Grotto of the
Virgin Mary — Heliopolis — Boulac — Ishmael Bey — The boats
CHAPTER VII.
Departure from Cairo — Ascending the Nile — Invasion of rats — 106
Our dragoman and retinue — The Pyramids — Nile etiquette — An
evening on shore — The Tombs of Beni Hassan — The first crocodile
— Shock of an earthquake
CHAPTER VIII.
Ossioot — The city gate — The mountain of tombs — Visit to Ismail 127
Pasha — Encounter with a Latin monk — Ekekian Bey — Story of a
cat — Arrival at Keneh — Visit to Hassan Said — The dancing girls
— Departure from Keneh
CHAPTER IX.
The Plain of Thebes 151
CHAPTER X.
Karnac and Luxor 165
CHAPTER XI.
Esneh — Dancing girls — Mehemet Ali — Summary justice — The 183
mountain of the Chain — Angling in the Nile — A battle with the
natives
CHAPTER XII.
Assouan — The treaty with the Reis — The quarries — The Persian 177
invasion — Caravan of slaves — Hunting for jackalls — Daireh’s
love story
CHAPTER XIII.
Philæ 208
CHAPTER XIV.
The first Cataract of the Nile 227
CHAPTER XV.
Korosko — Shooting excursion — Crocodiles — Ipsamboul — Colossal 231
statue
CHAPTER XVI.
Retrospect 255
CHAPTER XVII.
Itinerary for the Desert 282
------
APPENDIX 285
KHARTOUM,
AND
THE BLUE AND WHITE NILES.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
The Adriatic — Alexandria — The Grand Square — Pompey’s Pillar — English
invaders — Egyptian Cemetery — Cleopatra’s Needles — Stroll through the
streets — The Great Canal — The first pipe.
After a pleasant journey through Lombardy, and a very agreeable stay at
the city of gondolas and palaces, we arrived at Trieste on the 25th of
September, 1850, on our way to Egypt. Our party consisted of my father
and mother, my brother and sister, and myself. We had all travelled
much, and were thus pretty well accustomed to the small annoyances,
which those who leave comfortable homes in England to visit other lands,
must expect to encounter. But it should be borne in mind that two of our
number were ladies, which may show that the journey we contemplated was
neither too fatiguing nor too difficult; many may therefore follow in
our steps, and enjoy, as we did, a tour full of new and interesting
scenes.
We hoped, before returning, to be able to penetrate far into the depths
of Nubia; departing from the beaten track of Nile travellers, to reach
the 14th degree of north latitude, and add our names to those of the few
English who have gazed on the junction of the White and Blue Niles. Some
of us might have had wild wishes relative to the undiscovered source of
that mighty river: while others might have looked with some degree of
apprehension to the task of making a road where none existed, and
traversing a country hitherto explored only by men. We all agreed,
however, to go as far as it appeared safe and easy; meanwhile to bind
ourselves to nothing, but to be ruled entirely by circumstances; which,
in fact, are the real guide-books of travellers—more especially in an
unknown country.
The morning of the 27th of September, far as the year had advanced, was
a most charming one; for summer, like other visiters, lingers long on
the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean—never leaving the southern,
and but for a few brief months the northern coast of that blue lake.
In the middle of the harbour of Trieste, gay with Austrian frigates, and
Neapolitan corvettes, lay the ‘Europa,’ a large steamer, which was to
start for Alexandria at half-past eight. Before that hour we were all on
board; soon afterwards we bade adieu to Europe, and doubling the Pirano
point, stood down the Adriatic, skirting its rocky shores that were
backed by the distant blue hills of Illyria. Up to this moment we had
scarcely been able to look round us, so crowded were the decks with
shore-people, bidding adieu to Indian passengers, and Alexandria
merchants; but when delivered from these intruders, we found ourselves
in a large and commodious vessel, about the size of the boats plying
between Liverpool and Glasgow. Some thirty persons were walking the
deck, a few smoking cigars, and others lighting long chibouques, as if,
on weighing anchor to quit Europe, we were already in the East. We might
have thought that this was indeed the case; for the thick awning could
not protect us from the intense heat of the sun; and the Gulf of Venice,
unruffled by a single wave, looked more like a mirror than a sea.
As soon as we were well off, I observed a young Englishman, in a spirit
characteristic of our country, attack the captain about the passage—as
to whether it was likely to be rough or pleasant, with many similar
unanswerable questions as though the weather could be insured for the
next five days in the most changeable of waters. The captain—and when
does that authority not pretend to know the future movements of the
winds and waves?—averred that it would be a dead calm to Corfu, and
thence a “nasty bit.” That the dead calm might to a landsman be a stiff
breeze, I well knew; but the prospect of the “nasty bit” was really
serious, and remained a bug-bear to all concerned till the end of the
voyage. Like many such things, however, it proved more imaginary than
real; and we arrived at Alexandria after a beautiful passage of five
days, no one on board having any cause for disagreeable impressions.
Alexandria is flat, as is indeed all Egypt, up to the mountains which
form the Valley of the Nile. We were nearly at the end of our voyage
before we discerned any trace of the famous shores of Egypt; and then we
saw only the summit of Pompey’s Pillar, rising up, like some witness
from the past, to notify their antiquity and fame. Almost at the same
moment, we distinguished the masts of the Pasha’s fleet, and about half
an hour afterwards we could see the sand hills of Alexandria. At length,
we reached the port, entering through a channel between two rocks, not
two hundred yards apart, which constitute the natural defence of one of
the strongest harbours in the Mediterranean.
The instant we dropped anchor, the steamer was surrounded by boats, some
bringing off friends, and others sanitary officers; while many twenty-
four or thirty oared boats, full of sailors of the Pasha’s fleet,
dressed in white, kept continually passing and repassing, spite of the
burning sun, with all the animation of a regatta. In a few moments our
deck was covered. We had several ladies on board, who had come to rejoin
their husbands: they had deserted them and fled to Trieste on the
approach of the cholera—notwithstanding their conjugal vow as to
sickness and health. Their neglected spouses had hastened to receive
them, and were much affected at the reunion, sobbing like so many
children. Whether this, however, was in token of gladness, or in
lamentation for the loss of the liberty enjoyed during their
bereavement, it were hard to say. I observed that the gentlemen kissed
one another, and was surprised to find, on inquiry, that no relationship
existed between them, but that they were merely acquaintances. The
ladies, though it is their peculiar privilege in our own happy land,
were not complimented with these marks of affection; so completely is
the order of things reversed in this country!
Accompanied by a friend, who had kindly taken rooms for us at the
principal hotel, we made our way to the shore, where a carriage and some
donkeys, the animals most in fashion here, were pressed into service,
and we proceeded towards the great square, the chosen quarter of the
Franks. In the afternoon Mr.—— acted as our _cicerone_ to the lions of
Alexandria.
This, the first Eastern town to Europeans, and last of their country to
the Arabs—is of considerable extent. The houses are all flat-roofed, and
being chiefly white, look peculiarly glaring under the burning sun of
Egypt. The principal European square is a very gay place; and there the
traveller may take a last look at the mantillas, polkas, silks, crapes,
large-pattern trowsers, and black hats, which adorn the English and
French visitors and merchants, as they walk up and down on the shaded
side, parading themselves in the latest imported fashions. Each Consul
has his national flag flying from a high flagstaff, surrounded by a
circular staircase, from the top of which he can command a view of the
flat-roofed houses; the harbour sparkling with the flags of all nations,
and the beautiful blue sea beyond. English people, averse as they are to
public scrutiny, would, if exposed to it, consider these points of view
extremely disagreeable, they afford the means of discovering all that is
going on in neighbouring houses which they overlook.
In our way round the town we were obliged to resort once more to the
donkeys, and, to say the truth, they made no bad steeds. They are a
different race from those of England. The Egyptian donkey is always
pulling away at his bit, and is anxious to be off as fast as possible.
He never lies down, goes well, and scarcely ever seems spent. Instead of
a saddle, his equipment is a cushion of carpets, strapped over his sleek
and well-kept hide affording a comfortable seat.
The first of the Alexandrian antiquities that we visited was Pompey’s
Pillar, which, though it bears the name of the renowned General, was
raised by Diocletian. We could not but approach it with feelings of
veneration, as a tribute paid in a remote age to genuine heroism, and
majestic misfortune; but were disappointed to find that it was simply a
column of red granite, of great height, placed on the top of a hill. We
here, for the first time, noticed the disgraceful practice which has
grown up among travellers in the East, of defacing the temples and other
monuments of antiquity, by printing, smoking and carving their names on
stones which, apart from historical associations, Time has rendered
venerable. Pompey’s pillar has not escaped this irruption of the Huns
and Vandals; it is emblazoned in letters, two or three feet in length,
with the names of its barbarian invaders. I am sorry to add, that they
are British, as were most of those which we met with subsequently. After
expressing our disgust at the bad taste of such people, and their
effrontery in so parading it, we left the spot, wondering how so noble a
monument could have been subjected to such an outrage.
The hill on which this pillar stands, overlooks the burial-ground of
Alexandria, which, like all cemeteries in the East, is outside the town.
We learnt, on inquiry, that it is the custom to inter only one body in
every grave; and we were much struck with the curious appearance the
cemetery presented, each grave being marked by a little dome of plaster,
instead of a tombstone; being thus covered over as a protection from the
attacks of the numerous dogs that here prowl about at night. They are
also often surmounted by an aloe, the emblem of Eternity.
We rode homeward by Cleopatra’s Needles,—two fine obelisks of red
granite; one of them now lies prostrate, but the other, seventy feet in
height, may yet stand for ages. The fallen column is the property of the
English government, to whom it was presented by the Pasha; but a
disgraceful parsimony has hitherto prevented its removal.[1] Though
erected in honour of Ramesis III., an early King of Egypt, it is the
name of the wondrous Queen, that serpent of old Nile, that lends
interest to the spot, and we lingered to recal her strange, eventful
history, not without a feeling of sadness at the change which, since
that epoch, has come over her once mighty realm.
The streets of Alexandria are made of mud, battened down, which renders
them very dusty; and it is difficult, as there are no pavements, and
many people in the streets, to move along rapidly. Indeed, the crowds in
the Eastern towns excite great surprise in travellers; and it was not
till I went into the houses of some of the inhabitants, that I was able
to account for them. In England there are always, except in the leading
thoroughfares, more persons in the houses than out of them; but in
Egypt, during the afternoon especially, the entire population is from
home, except a few women employed in domestic duties. The children are
playing in the streets; the industrious are buying and selling in the
bazaars; and the idle, if poor, are lolling against the street walls,
or, if rich, smoking pipes and drinking coffee in the coffee-shops. Here
and there a carriage, full of gaily-dressed Frank ladies, preceded by an
out-runner, dashes by, in the avenue cleared for it by the Nubian’s
thick-lashed whip. Here a troop of soldiers, dressed in white, march
past, to the beat of a drum, which sounds as if it were broken; and with
the accompaniment of a fife, like a penny whistle, played grievously out
of tune; while in another quarter janissaries, in their hideous costume,
and armed with cracked pistols, hustle the people out of their way, as
they walk up and down. Every place is full of people, all trying who can
do the least, and kill time in the easiest manner; though occasionally,
at rare intervals, some young English clerk may be seen bustling along,
with his head full of business, quite indifferent to the scene around.
He is a new-comer, animated by our national activity, and it will take
some months to make him walk, and smoke, and loiter like one thoroughly
acclimated.
In the way back to our quarters, we passed the Mahmoudieh Canal, which
connects Alexandria with the Nile. This is one of the vast works of
Mehemet Ali, and the one, perhaps, in which he most signally displayed
his indifference to human suffering, and recklessness of human life. It
is said that 30,000 men were carried off by hunger and disease in the
prosecution of this gigantic undertaking—a fact which almost makes one
forget its great utility.
Here we saw many boats, but though they appeared sufficiently
commodious, they were generally very large, and we determined to wait
till we reached Cairo to select there the kind which we required, to
ascend the first cataract.
The thermometer being at 103°, the heat was very oppressive; we were
therefore anxious to get away as soon as possible, leaving the remainder
of the Alexandrian lions till our return. Accordingly, we made interest
with the Overland Transit Administration, who kindly entered into an
arrangement for providing a steamer to convey us up to Cairo.
Before we started, I was initiated into the art of smoking. We went to
call on a merchant, who received us in a room furnished all round with
divans—low sofas piled with cushions; and on our entrance, three
servants at once presented us with our first pipe of Latakia. I found it
more agreeable than I had expected, though—perhaps on the principle that
practice makes perfect—not so pleasant as many I smoked subsequently.
After this, little coffee-cups, holding about two spoonsfull, came on.
The cups were mounted in silver filagree; the coffee made thick, and was
extremely fragrant. I have never tasted any equal to what is made in
Egypt, though I am convinced it might be had, if we took as much trouble
to prepare it. The Orientals only roast the coffee when it is actually
wanted, and then put it, ground rather coarse, in boiling-water in a
little pot, containing just the quantity wanted. The moment it rises, it
is ready, and must be instantly drunk.
The custom of smoking, and coffee-drinking, is universal here, even
amongst the poorest Arabs, and you often see a peasant, arrayed in rags,
smoking out of a chibouque, the mouth-piece of which is worth at least
two or three pounds. It is often an hereditary pipe, handed down as an
heir-loom.