Your letter has arrived to my great relief--only I fear you are not at
all well. About Maurice. If he wishes to see the Nile let him come, but
if he is only to be sent because of me, let it alone. I know I am
oppressive company now, and am apt, like Mr. Wodehouse in 'Emma,' to say,
'Let us all have some gruel.'
We know nothing here of a prohibition of gunpowder, at this moment some
Europeans are popping away incessantly at Embabeh just opposite.
Evidently the Pasha wants to establish a right of search on the Nile.
That absurd speech about slaves he made in Paris shows that. With 3,000
in his hareem, several slave regiments, and lots of gangs on all his
sugar plantations, his impudence is wonderful. He is himself the
greatest living slave trader as well as owner. My lads are afraid to go
out alone for fear of being snapped up by cawasses and taken to the army
or the sugar works. You will be sorry to hear that your stalwart friend
Hassan has had fifty blows on each foot-sole, and had to pay six pounds.
He was taking two donkeys to Shepheard's hotel before sunrise for a
French lady and gentleman to go to the Pyramids, when a cawass met him,
seized the donkeys, and on Hassan's refusal to give them up, spat on the
side-saddle and reviled Hassan's own Hareem and began to beat him with
his courbash. Hassan got impatient, took the cawass up in his arms and
threw him on the ground, and went on. Presently four cawasses came after
him, seized him and took him to the Zaptieh (police office), where they
all swore he had beaten them, torn their clothes, and robbed one of an
imaginary gold watch--all valued at twenty-four pounds. After the
beating he was carried to prison in chains, and there sentenced to be a
soldier. A friend however interfered and settled the matter for six
pounds. Hassan sends you his best salaam.
Last night was very pretty--all the boats starting for the _moolid_ of
Seyd el-Bedawee at Tanta. Every boat had a sort of pyramid of lanterns,
and the derweeshes chanted, and the worldly folks had profane music and
singing, and I sat and looked and listened, and thought how many thousand
years ago just the same thing was going on in honour of Bubastis.