The Author visits Cairo—The Mahmoudieh Canal—Fire on board the
Steamer—Voyage up the Nile—Appearance of the Country—Condition of
the People—Arrival at Cairo—Visit to Abbas Pacha—Palace of
Schoubrah—Establishments of the Pacha—Industry of the Arabs—Visit to
the Pyramids—Quit Cairo.
Things appeared to go on so smoothly at Alexandria, and anticipating no
further difficulty in Syria, I took this opportunity of proceeding to
Cairo, to gain as much information as I could relative to the interior
of the country. The Pacha put his own steam-boat at my disposal, and
sent one of his officers as interpreter; and who, I afterwards found,
was likewise charged with paying the expenses of my journey. A palace in
the neighbourhood of Cairo was also put at my disposition, both of which
civilities I declined.
We embarked in a very tolerable boat on the 24th of January, and
proceeded by the Mahmoudieh Canal to Atfeh, where it joins the Nile. The
boat was dragged by horses at a good pace, and the distance, forty-eight
miles, was accomplished in about seven hours. At Atfeh there is a
tolerable inn, where we stopped.
According to a statement in Russell’s _Egypt_, this canal was begun by
Mehemet Ali in October, 1819, and finished early in December of the same
year. It is forty-eight miles long, eighteen feet deep, and ninety feet
broad. It is said that 250,000 persons were employed in cutting it, and
that 30,000 men, women, and children perished in the undertaking; but I
believe this number to be much exaggerated. Before the construction of
this canal, the produce of Upper Egypt was brought down the Nile in
boats to Damietta, and there transhipped into sailing vessels; and, in
fine weather, even open boats frequently undertook the voyage to
Alexandria. This occasioned much loss of time; and as they were
frequently wrecked, much destruction of life and property; for which
reasons Mehemet Ali decided on undertaking the construction of this
Grand Canal. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, the Pacha was anxious to
see his work completed in a short space of time, and the poor Fellahs
were driven in from the country like a flock of sheep, and set to
work,—the greater part unprovided with tools, and all ill-fed, and
unpaid; exposed on a scanty allowance of water to the heat of a broiling
sun by day, and with little or no shelter from the noxious dews at
night.
Under these circumstances, it cannot be wondered that the destruction of
human life was immense; but the Pacha troubled himself little about
their sufferings. He saw his work rapidly progressing; and the first
boat started just two months after its commencement. The Mahmoudieh
Canal, though certainly a grand undertaking, is, nevertheless,
incomplete; there are no locks at either end to communicate with the
Nile and the harbour of Alexandria; the goods are landed at the latter
place, and carried by railroad to the canal close by; and when they
arrive at Atfeh, are again disembarked, and transported to the Nile,
which is shut out by a badly constructed barage. The Nile, in the lowest
season, is below the canal; and the canal is several feet above the sea
in the harbour of Alexandria. It makes a considerable circuit round the
eastern end of the lake Mareotis; and, I believe, had a skilful engineer
been employed, it might have been greatly shortened.
At daylight on the morning of the 25th we embarked in one of the Pacha’s
steamers. I was accompanied by Mr. Larking, the English Consul, and his
lady,—the former in very bad health,—by Captain Martin, Mr. Waghorn,—the
active agent for the transport of goods and passengers (and indeed the
first projector of the enterprise) up the Nile and across the
Isthmus,—and several officers of the Carysfort. Mr. Larking has the
management of a farm belonging to a relation of his, on the banks of the
canal, which he conducts as nearly after the English method as the
difference of the country will allow. There was a very good house on the
estate, besides other extensive buildings.
Mrs. Larking was a capital caterer; and we owe to that amiable lady the
good cheer we met with in our passage up the Nile. The steamer was none
of the best as to speed; but her accommodations were good.
We had not proceeded many miles when she was discovered to be on fire in
the coal-bunkers. We ran her alongside the bank; and Mr. Larking, who
was ill, and could hardly walk, was with difficulty got on shore,
together with Mrs. Larking and his child. The decks were ript up; and,
notwithstanding the noise and confusion amongst the Arab crew, with the
assistance of the officers, we managed to get the fire under, without
materially injuring the boat. On examination, we found the beams of the
vessel were too close to the chimney; and after being completely
charred, they took fire, and ignited the coals. This was not a good
beginning; but was attended with no other consequence than the delay of
a few hours. The current was running down between two and three miles an
hour; and, although the wind was generally in our favour, we made little
progress, and were easily passed by the light country boats,
notwithstanding their miserable equipments. The Nile in most parts is
about a quarter of a mile wide; and the water not being low, was easily
navigated. Boats of all sizes crowd the river, conveying to Alexandria,
corn, chopped straw, cotton, and various other products of the upper
country. Most of these boats were the property of the Pacha, for he
monopolized the greater part of the trade, as well as most of the
produce of the country; and if I may judge by their appearance, Mehemet
Ali was as bad a ship’s husband, as he was an agriculturist; but he has
a mania of doing every thing himself. He was rapidly making himself
owner of all the land in Egypt, as well as of all the trade. It is a
common custom with him, when his crops are ready, to force the Fellahs
to leave their own villages to work on his property. At the same time,
he seizes all the boats on the river to bring down his produce, caring
very little what becomes of the property of others. This becomes
peculiarly oppressive when the Nile is rapidly rising, as it often
happens that the whole of their produce is swept away during the time
they are employed to save the Pacha’s.
When the wind blows down the river, the passage of the boats is very
slow. There is no towing path; no horses or mules; the crew land, and
they manage to tug their boats along from ten to twenty miles a day,
varying according to the size of the boat. The descent down, owing to
the current, unless the wind is very strong, may be about fifty or sixty
miles in the twenty-four hours; and considerably more when the wind is
fair.
Egypt in the Delta is about 160 miles wide; but when you ascend the
river, and are clear of the Delta, it narrows to from 11 to 20 miles,
and is shut in by sand-hills and mountains on each side. The country is
richly cultivated, and well irrigated, but in a very primitive manner.
The villages are raised considerably above the plain; but, nevertheless,
are sometimes much inconvenienced by a high Nile, and are of the most
miserable description. The people are poorly dressed in coarse blue
cotton shirts and petticoats; but their wants seemed few; and I saw no
appearance of discontent or unhappiness amongst them.
At sunset on the second day, in passing round a point where there was a
considerable bend in the river, the Pyramids opened to our view,
apparently only a few miles off; their gigantic size gave them this
appearance, though their distance could not have been less than thirty
miles. We continued our route during the night, and at daylight we
stopped considerably below Boulac, the Wapping, it may be called, of
Cairo. From thence we decided to prosecute our journey on foot. As the
vapour that hung over the river became dissipated by a brilliant sun
rising over the Mokhattan hills, on one hand appeared the spires,
mosques, and minarets of the City of Victory, whilst on the other its
beams gilded that part of the seven wonders of the world, the gigantic
relics of antiquity, the Pyramids. About an hour’s pleasant walk, under
the shade of a fine avenue of sycamore trees, brought us to the
comfortable hotel of Mr. Waghorn, to whose perseverance and activity we
owe the comparatively easy traject across the isthmus to Suez. By the
time we had dressed and breakfasted, our guide returned from the
Citadel, where I had sent him to announce our arrival to Abbas Pacha,
the grandson of Mehemet Ali, and the Governor of Cairo. Eleven was the
hour appointed to wait upon his Excellency, who sent a brilliant
cavalcade to conduct us to his palace, consisting of splendid Arab
horses, proudly champing their golden bits, under a profusion of crimson
velvet trappings, each led by a sais, or groom, and a tolerable coach
dragged by four cream-coloured horses; the coach we consigned to the
junior of the party, Captain Martin; Captain Williams and myself
preferred the horses. In this manner we entered the Citadel, the scene
of so many brilliant achievements, and of so many bloody deeds. Memory
failed not to recall one of the most appalling of the latter that
tyranny ever planned or perfidy carried into effect. The foul murder of
the Mamelukes will for ever be a deep stain on the character of Mehemet
Ali. It is true they were troublesome gentlemen, and had they lived
would, in all probability, have destroyed the Pacha; but nothing can
excuse the treacherous manner in which he accomplished his object.
Such were our feelings as we passed the gates so securely closed on that
fearful occasion, and as we cast a glance on these, on the appalling
height of these once blood-stained battlements, we could not help
admiring the bold spirit which ventured on such a leap, and wondering
how he survived to tell the tale. The place known as the Mameluke’s Leap
is near the gateway, the fall between thirty and forty feet. The horse
was crushed on the spot, but, strange to say, the bold rider escaped
unhurt, and lived for many years afterwards at Constantinople.
Abbas Pacha, the grandson of Mehemet Ali, has long been known for his
hatred to anything having the resemblance of a Frank, and this is little
to be wondered at, considering the education he has received. His
character is none of the best; he is devoid of talent, and much more
feared than either loved or respected. However, all things considered,
he received us with tolerable politeness. Pipes and coffee were
produced, and we were invited to take seats on the Divan. His appearance
is not much in his favour, being a dull heavy man, much more resembling
a butcher than a Pacha. After a short conversation on indifferent
subjects we took our leave, and were conducted through the different
apartments of the Palace, which were both elegant and comfortable. From
the Citadel we proceeded to the country palace and gardens of Schoubrah,
which we approached under the shadow of a noble avenue of Egyptian
sycamore, whose thick foliage rendered it quite impervious to the rays
of the sun. The palace of Schoubrah, built a few years back by the
Pacha, cost an immense sum of money, and as we strolled through the
delightful gardens, and inspected the fountains and kiosks, constructed
at immense expense, we could not repress a feeling of sorrow that the
ruler who had raised such a structure for his own ease and convenience,
had not turned more of his attention to the comforts of the poor Arabs,
who are lodged in the most miserable mud huts at the very gates of the
palace.
During the short period of our stay at Cairo, time did not hang heavily
on our hands. The crowded and covered bazaars, the mosques, the tombs of
the Caliphs and Mamelukes, together with the numerous manufactories and
institutions established by the Pacha, successively occupied much of our
time, and fully engaged our attention.
Had the Pacha shown a little more judgment and a little more nature in
the establishment of these institutions he would have deserved more
credit, but he has a mania of going ahead, and thinks that Egypt should
have manufactories of her own of all sorts, and be independent of other
nations; and really when we look at his founderies for cannon, his
manufactory for arms, and the industry with which the Arabs work, it is
quite surprising. Most of his establishments are directed by English or
French men; in the musket manufactory there is an Englishman, and he
assured me that the industrious manner in which the Arabs were working
on the day we inspected the establishment was their usual habit; if so,
I certainly never saw so much activity in any manufactory in my life.
The Pacha has begun to find out that the cotton and cloth manufactories,
&c., are far from profitable, and many of these establishments were shut
up, and the workmen discharged.
Amongst the scientific institutions, which are nearly all under the
management of Frenchmen, may be reckoned the hospital, with the schools
of surgery and medicine attached to them, under the superintendence of
Clot Bey; the academy of drawing, and that of mathematics; the students
being all taken from the class of common Fellahs, and, like the rest of
the Pacha’s subjects, compelled to work at whatever he thought fit, and
toil they do from morning to night, in hopes of being one day employed
as civil engineers, or draughtsmen.
The second day following our arrival we devoted to a pilgrimage, which
we could not but fulfil: a visit to the Pyramids.
After traversing the fine olive grounds and gardens planted by Ibrahim,
on what were formerly unsightly and huge heaps of rubbish, we crossed
the Nile at the Island of Rhoda, where he has likewise carried
cultivation to great perfection, and landed on the western bank, at
Gezeh, famed for the action that took place between the French and the
Mamelukes; the conquerors thought perhaps it would be more grand if
dignified as La Bataille des Pyramids, of which it is certainly in view.
Each of our party being duly accommodated with that most useful of all
animals in Egypt, a little jackass, after traversing fields waving with
the richest luxuriance of cultivation, we in due time reached the foot
of the first of those stupendous monuments the “Pyramids,” that of
Cheops; then, and not till then, were we aware of the huge mass at the
foot of which we stood. But descriptions without end have been written
of these stupendous works, and they rise as a memento of the folly of
those who consumed so much labour and time in raising such useless
fabrics. As numberless conjectures as to their purposes have been
ventured by various writers, I shall not increase the list, but refer
the reader to Belzoni, Wilkinson, Vyse, or fifty others.
On my return to Cairo I learned by telegraph that intelligence of
importance had arrived at Alexandria, which required my immediate
presence; this put an end to all the projects we had formed of further
exploring this interesting country, and next morning we bad adieu to
Cairo and its wonders, and soon found ourselves steaming down the broad
Nile, with the current in our favour, but a strong northerly wind right
in our teeth.