The real hot weather (speaking after the manner of the English) has
begun, and the fine sun and clear air are delicious and reviving. My
cough fades away, and my strength increases slowly. One can no longer go
out in the middle of the day, and I mount my donkey early and late, with
little Achmet trotting beside me. In the evenings comes my dear Sheykh
Yussuf, and I blunder through an hour's dictation, and reading of the
story of the Barber's fifth brother (he with the basket of glass). I
presume that Yussuf likes me too, for I am constantly greeted with
immense cordiality by graceful men in green turbans, belonging, like him,
to the holy family of Sheykh Abu-'l-Hajjaj. They inquire tenderly after
my health, and pray for me, and hope I am going to stay among them.
You would be much struck here with the resemblance to Spain, I think.
'Cosas de Espana' is exactly the '_Shogl-el-Arab_,' and Don Fulano is the
Arabic word _foolan_ (such a one), as _Ojala_ is _Inshallah_ (please
God). The music and dancing here, too, are Spanish, only 'more so' and
much more.
_March_ 10, 1864.--Yesterday was Bairam, and on Tuesday evening everybody
who possessed a gun or a pistol banged away, every drum and taraboukeh
was thumped, and all the children holloaed, _Ramadan Mat_, _Ramadan Mat_
(Ramadan's dead) about the streets. At daybreak Omar went to the early
prayer, a special ceremony of the day. There were crowds of people, so,
as it was useless to pray and preach in the mosque, Sheykh Yussuf went
out upon a hillock in the burying-ground, where they all prayed and he
preached. Omar reported the sermon to me, as follows (it is all
extempore): First Yussuf pointed to the graves, 'Where are all those
people?' and to the ancient temples, 'Where are those who built them? Do
not strangers from a far country take away their very corpses to wonder
at? What did their splendour avail them? etc., etc. What then, O
Muslims, _will_ avail that you may be happy when that comes which will
come for all? Truly God is just and will defraud no man, and He will
reward you if you do what is right; and that is, to wrong no man, neither
in person, nor in his family, nor in his possessions. _Cease then to
cheat one another, O men_, and to be greedy, and do not think that you
can make amends by afterwards giving alms, or praying, or fasting, or
giving gifts to the servants of the mosque. _Benefits come from God; it
is enough for you if you do no injury to any man, and above all to any
woman or little one_.' Of course it was much longer, but this was the
substance, Omar tells me, and pretty sound morality too, methinks, and
might be preached with advantage to a meeting of philanthropists in
Exeter Hall. There is no predestination in _Islam_, and every man will
be judged upon his actions. 'Even unbelievers God will not defraud,'
says the Koran. Of course, a belief in meritorious works leads to the
same sort of superstition as among Catholics, the endeavour to 'make
one's soul' by alms, fastings, endowments, etc.; therefore Yussuf's
stress upon doing no evil seems to me very remarkable, and really
profound. After the sermon, all the company assembled rushed on him to
kiss his head, and his hands and his feet, and mobbed him so fearfully
that he had to lay about him with the wooden sword which is carried by
the officiating Alim. He came to wish me the customary good wishes soon
after, and looked very hot and tumbled, and laughed heartily about the
awful kissing he had undergone. All the men embrace on meeting on the
festival of Bairam.
The kitchen is full of cakes (ring-shaped) which my friends have sent me,
just such as we see offered to the gods in the temples and tombs. I went
to call on the Maohn in the evening, and found a lot of people all
dressed in their best. Half were Copts, among them a very pleasing young
priest who carried on a religious discussion with Seleem Effendi, strange
to say, with perfect good-humour on both sides. A Copt came up with his
farm labourer, who had been beaten and the field robbed. The Copt stated
the case in ten words, and the Maohn sent off his cavass with him to
apprehend the accused persons, who were to be tried at sunrise and
beaten, if found guilty, and forced to make good the damage. General Hay
called yesterday--a fine old, blue-eyed soldier. He found a lot of
Fellaheen sitting with me, enjoying coffee and pipes hugely, and they
were much gratified at our pressing them not to move or disturb
themselves, when they all started up in dismay at the entrance of such a
grand-looking Englishman and got off the carpet. So we told them that in
our country the business of a farmer was looked upon as very respectable,
and that the General would ask his farmers to sit and drink wine with
him. '_Mashallah, taib kateer_' (It is the will of God, and most
excellent), said old Omar, my fellah friend, and kissed his hand to
General Hay quite affectionately. We English are certainly liked here.
Seleem said yesterday evening that he had often had to do business with
them, and found them always _doghri_ (straight), men of one word and of
no circumlocutions, 'and so unlike all the other Europeans, and
especially the French!' The fact is that few but decent English come
here, I fancy our scamps go to the colonies, whereas Egypt is the sink
for all the iniquity of the South of Europe.
A worthy Copt here, one Todorus, took 'a piece of paper' for 20 pounds
for antiquities sold to an Englishman, and after the Englishman was gone,
brought it to me to ask what sort of paper it was, and how he could get
it changed, or was he, perhaps, to keep it till the gentleman sent him
the money? It was a circular note, which I had difficulty in explaining,
but I offered to send it to Cairo to Brigg's and get it cashed; as to
when he would get the money I could not say, as they must wait for a safe
hand to send gold by. I told him to put his name on the back of the
note, and Todorus thought I wanted it _as a receipt_ for the money which
was yet to come, and was going cheerfully to write me a receipt for the
20 pounds he was entrusting to me. Now a Copt is not at all green where
his pocket is concerned, but they will take anything from the English. I
do hope no swindler will find it out. Mr. Close told me that when his
boat sank in the Cataract, and he remained half dressed on the rock,
without a farthing, four men came and offered to lend him anything.
While I was in England last year an Englishman to whom Omar acted as
_laquais de place_ went away owing him 7 pounds for things bought. Omar
had money enough to pay all the tradespeople, and kept it secret for fear
any of the other Europeans should say, 'Shame for the English' and did
not even tell his family. Luckily, the man sent the money by the next
mail from Malta, and the Sheykh of the dragomans proclaimed it, and so
Omar got it; but he would never have mentioned it else. This 'concealing
of evil' is considered very meritorious, and where women are concerned
positively a religious duty. _Le scandale est ce qui fait l'offense_ is
very much the notion in Egypt, and I believe that very forgiving husbands
are commoner here than elsewhere. The whole idea is founded on the verse
of the Koran, incessantly quoted, 'The woman is made for the man, but the
man is made for the woman'; _ergo_, the obligations to chastity are
equal; _ergo_, as the men find it difficult, they argue that the women do
the same. I have never heard a woman's misconduct spoken of without a
hundred excuses; perhaps her husband had slave girls, perhaps he was old
or sick, or she didn't like him, or she couldn't help it. Violent love
comes 'by the visitation of God,' as our juries say; the man or woman
must satisfy it or die. A poor young fellow is now in the muristan (the
madhouse) of Cairo owing to the beauty and sweet tongue of an English
lady whose servant he was. How could he help it? God sent the calamity.
I often hear of Lady Ellenborough, who is married to the Sheykh-el-Arab
of Palmyra, and lives at Damascus. The Arabs think it inhuman of English
ladies to avoid her. Perhaps she has repented; at all events, she is
married and lives with her husband. I asked Omar if he would tell his
brother if he saw his wife do anything wrong. (N.B.--He can't endure
her.) 'Certainly not, I must cover her with my cloak.' I am told, also,
that among the Arabs of the desert (the _real_ Arabs), when a traveller,
tired and wayworn, seeks their tents, it is the duty of his host,
generally the Sheykh, to send him into the hareem, and leave him there
three days, with full permission to do as he will after the women have
bathed, and rubbed, and refreshed him. But then he must never speak of
that Hareem; they are to him as his own, to be reverenced. If he spoke,
the husband would kill him; but the Arab would never do it for a
European, 'because all Europeans are so hard upon women,' and do not fear
God and conceal their offences. If a dancing-girl repents, the most
respectable man may and does marry her, and no one blames or laughs at
him. I believe all this leads to a good deal of irregularity, but
certainly the feeling is amiable. It is impossible to conceive how
startling it is to a Christian to hear the rules of morality applied with
perfect impartiality to both sexes, and to hear Arabs who know our
manners talk of the English being 'jealous' and 'hard upon their women.'
Any unchastity is wrong and _haram_ (unlawful), but equally so in men and
women. Seleem Effendi talked in this strain, and seemed to incline to
greater indulgence to women on the score of their ignorance and weakness.
Remember, I only speak of Arabs. I believe the Turkish ideas are
different, as is their whole hareem system, and Egypt is not the rule for
all Muslims.
_Saturday_, 12_th_.--I dined last night with Mustapha, who again had the
dancing-girls for some Englishmen to see. Seleem Effendi got the doctor,
who was of the party, to prescribe for him, and asked me to translate to
him all about his old stomach as coolly as possible. He, as usual, sat
by me on the divan, and during the pause in the dancing called 'el
Maghribeeyeh,' the best dancer, to come and talk. She kissed my hand,
sat on her heels before us, and at once laid aside the professional
_galliardise_ of manner, and talked very nicely in very good Arabic and
with perfect propriety, more like a man than a woman; she seemed very
intelligent. What a thing we should think it for a worshipful magistrate
to call up a girl of that character to talk to a lady!
Yesterday we had a strange and unpleasant day's business. The evening
before I had my pocket picked in Karnac by two men who hung about me, one
to sell a bird, the other one of the regular 'loafers' who hang about the
ruins to beg, and sell water or curiosities, and who are all a lazy, bad
lot, of course. I went to Seleem, who wrote at once to the
Sheykh-el-Beled of Karnac to say that we should go over next morning at
eight o'clock to investigate the affair, and to desire him to apprehend
the men. Next morning Seleem fetched me, and Mustapha came to represent
English interests, and as we rode out of Luxor the Sheykh-el-Ababdeh
joined us, with four of his tribe with their long guns, and a lot more
with lances. He was a volunteer, and furious at the idea of a lady and a
stranger being robbed. It is the first time it has happened here, and
the desire to beat was so strong that I went to act as counsel for the
prisoner. Everyone was peculiarly savage that it should have happened to
me, a person well known to be so friendly to _el Muslimeen_. When we
arrived we went into a square enclosure, with a sort of cloister on one
side, spread with carpets where we sat, and the wretched fellows were
brought in chains. To my horror, I found they had been beaten already.
I remonstrated, 'What if you had beaten the wrong men?' '_Maleysh_!
(Never mind!) we will beat the whole village until your purse is found.'
I said to Mustapha, 'This won't do; you must stop this.' So Mustapha
ordained, with the concurrence of the Maohn, that the Sheykh-el-Beled and
the _gefiyeh_ (the keeper of the ruins) should pay me the value of the
purse. As the people of Karnac are very troublesome in begging and
worrying, I thought this would be a good lesson to the said Sheykh to
keep better order, and I consented to receive the money, promising to
return it and to give a napoleon over if the purse comes back with its
contents (3.5 napoleons). The Sheykh-el-Ababdeh harangued the people on
their ill-behaviour to Hareemat, called them _haramee_ (rascals), and was
very high and mighty to the Sheykh-el-Beled. Hereupon I went away to
visit a Turkish lady in the village, leaving Mustapha to settle. After I
was gone they beat eight or ten of the boys who had mobbed me, and begged
with the two men. Mustapha, who does not like the stick, stayed to see
that they were not hurt, and so far it will be a good lesson to them. He
also had the two men sent over to the prison here, for fear the
Sheykh-el-Beled should beat them again, and will keep them here for a
time. So far so good, but my fear now is that innocent people will be
squeezed to make up the money, if the men do not give up the purse. I
have told Sheykh Yussuf to keep watch how things go, and if the men
persist in the theft and don't return the purse, I shall give the money
to those whom the Sheykh-el-Beled will assuredly squeeze, or else to the
mosque of Karnac. I cannot pocket it, though I thought it quite right to
exact the fine as a warning to the Karnac _mauvais sujets_. As we went
home the Sheykh-el-Ababdeh (such a fine fellow he looks) came up and rode
beside me, and said, 'I know you are a person of kindness; do not tell
this story in this country. If Effendina (Ismail Pasha) comes to hear,
he may "take a broom and sweep away the village."' I exclaimed in
horror, and Mustapha joined at once in the request, and said, 'Do not
tell anyone in Egypt. The Sheykh-el-Ababdeh is quite true; it might cost
many lives.' The whole thing distressed me horribly. If I had not been
there they would have beaten right and left, and if I had shown any
desire to have anyone punished, evidently they would have half killed the
two men. Mustapha behaved extremely well. He showed sense, decision,
and more feelings of humanity than I at all expected of him. Pray do as
I begged you, try to get him paid. Some of the Consuls in Cairo are
barely civil, and old Mustapha has all the bother and work of the whole
of the Nile boats (eighty-five this winter), and he is boundlessly kind
and useful to the English, and a real protection against cheating, etc.