resemblance to her father, having a countenance full of intelligence,
and capable of the most varied expression; generally quick and searching
in glance; but often beaming upon me with the sweetest smile imaginable.
She directed one of the Pasha’s favourites, the mother of two of his
children, to wait upon me.[38] This lady received the coffee from
another at the entrance of the chamber, and handed it to me in an
exquisite gold zarf, richly set with rows of large and small diamonds,
arranged spirally, and ornamented between the rows with most delicate
enamel. Yesterday was the fourth day of the Great ’Eed, or Great Beirám
(the latter of the two principal annual festivals of the Muslims), and a
day appropriated to visits of ceremony to her highness by those ladies
who have access to her; the three preceding days having been spent by
them in visiting the tombs of relations and friends. While I was sitting
with her, many ladies came in to pay their respects to her; but in
consequence of her illness, they were simply dressed, with the exception
of one lady, who was most splendidly attired. She had on the back of her
head a profusion of diamonds, and wore a long orange-coloured Cashmere
jubbeh, richly embroidered, and forming, as she walked, a glittering
train of gold. She only kissed the border of her highness’s robe, and
left the room without speaking; none of her visitors did more than kiss
her hand; nor did any one of them speak a single word; neither did
Nezleh Hánum take any notice of their salutation, otherwise than by
allowing them to take her hand. This etiquette, I am informed, is not
only observed during her illness, but at all times. The visitors never
raised their eyes; and here I felt peculiarly the advantage of being an
Englishwoman, for she kept up with me a lively conversation, and really
treated me as an equal. With true Eastern politeness, her highness
assured me that our presence made her feel really well; and begged I
would consider her house my own; using every persuasion to induce us to
prolong our visit. Sherbet was handed to us in deep purple cups,
exceedingly elegant and containing a very delicious beverage. I need
only say of the sherbet and coffee covers, and the napkins, that they
were as splendid as the most exquisite embroidery could render them; but
I must notice her highness’s pipes. The mouthpieces were most tastefully
adorned with brilliants, set in rich patterns, and the silk covering of
each was elaborately decorated with embroidery. She smoked incessantly;
but was the only lady in the room who did so. By the way, I have become
quite reconciled to sitting among those who smoke, for the scent of the
tobacco used by the ladies here is extremely mild, and quite unlike what
offends my sex so much in England.
Footnote 38:
She has lost both her children.
Nezleh Hánum requested me three times to remain when I proposed leaving
her; and when at length I urged that I must depart, as it was near
sunset, she bade me farewell in the most flattering terms she could
employ. On quitting her chamber, I found the lady next in rank to her
who handed me the coffee and sherbet, waiting with another cup of
sherbet for me to take _en passant_. I mention this because it is always
intended as a distinguishing mark of honour. Several ladies accompanied
us to the door, and the treasurer followed me with the present of an
embroidered handkerchief from her highness.
Do not think me egotistical, because I describe thus minutely my
reception: I consider it important in a description of manners,
especially as the receiving and paying visits is the every-day business
of an Eastern lady; and by thus entering into detail, I hope to give an
idea of the extreme politeness which characterises those with whom I am
acquainted. I may also add, that I think it due to the hareem of the
Pasha, and others of distinction, to show the respect they manifest
towards the English. Were I a person of rank, there would be nothing
remarkable in the honourable attentions I receive; but as a private
lady, I confess they are exceedingly beyond my anticipations. On
quitting the Kasr, my attention was attracted by one of the most perfect
visions of loveliness I have had the gratification of seeing, in the
person of a white slave-girl about seventeen years of age. She stood
leaning her head against the doorway, while the line of beauty was
described to perfection in the grace of her attitude: her complexion was
delicately fair; and her hair and eyes were neither of them dark, but of
that gentle shade of brown which harmonizes so charmingly with a fair
complexion. I cannot minutely describe her features; for there is a
perfection of beauty which defies description, and such was hers. There
was an expression of melancholy on her sweet countenance, and something
so impressive in her appearance, that those who have seen her once
cannot forget her.
I fear that I shall not soon receive my summons to the wedding in the
Pasha’s hareem. There seems to be some cause for delay which I do not
know; and it is a subject respecting which I cannot, consistently with
politeness, ask any questions of those who are able to give me the
desired information; but a cousin of the Sultán told me, a few days ago,
with the utmost gravity, in allusion to this affair, that there remained
_one point_ unsettled, namely, _the choice of a bridegroom_! Every thing
else was arranged. Among the great, in this part of the world, the
wishes of a daughter who is to be given away in marriage seem to be very
seldom considered. She is nourished and brought up in the expectation of
a day when she will be delivered over by her parents to the protection
of a husband, a stranger to her both in person and in mind. You may well
wonder that such conduct can be tolerated in any land; and may sigh for
those helpless women who are disposed of in this manner; but the reform
of such a practice, under present circumstances, is impossible; for I am
perfectly confirmed in my opinion that the women themselves would shrink
with horror at the proposal to make an intended husband personally
acquainted with his wife before the marriage.
Marriages among the middle classes in this city are often conducted with
much display of a most singular kind. A bridal procession, which passed
a few days ago through the principal streets in our neighbourhood, was
headed by a fool, or buffoon, who, mounted on a horse, and attired in
the most grotesque manner, with a high pointed cap, and a long false
beard, performed a variety of ridiculous antics. Two men upon camels,
each beating a pair of kettle-drums, of enormous but unequal dimensions,
attached to the saddles, immediately followed the fool. Then came a man
bearing a cresset, formed of a long pole, having at the top several
receptacles for flaming wood, which were covered with embroidered
handkerchiefs. This cresset, the proper use of which is to serve as a
light at night, was thus used merely for display. Next came a man on
tall stilts, and two swordsmen gaily attired in cloth of gold,
brandishing drawn swords, and occasionally engaging in a mock fight. The
swordsmen were succeeded by two dancing men, and these by vocal and
instrumental musicians, singing and playing with the utmost vigour. Then
followed five boys, each about five or six years of age, attired in
female apparel of the richest description, heavy with gold, and
decorated with a profusion of women’s ornaments composed of gold and
costly jewels, which dazzled the sight. These boys were being paraded
previously to circumcision; and each of them partly covered his face
with a folded embroidered handkerchief, to guard against the evil eye.
They were followed by four women, whose office had been to summon the
female friends to the wedding. Each of these, who, like all who followed
them, were on foot, had a rich piece of cloth of gold thrown over her
left shoulder, with the edges attached together on her right side. The
pieces of cloth were presents which they had received. About thirty
young girls, all veiled and handsomely dressed, and then about the same
number of married ladies (the latter of whom, enveloped in their black
silk habarahs, looked, to the eye of a European, as if they were attired
for a funeral rather than for a wedding) followed next; and then came
the bride. She was entirely covered by a rich Cashmere shawl, as usual;
but upon that part of it which covered her head-dress and bridal crown
were attached such splendid jewelled ornaments as are seldom seen except
in the hareems of grandees. Attended by two female relations, one on
each side of her, followed by others, and preceded by a woman, who
walked backwards, constantly fanning her (notwithstanding the coldness
of the weather) with a large fan of black ostrich-feathers, she walked
under a canopy of yellow gauze, supported by four poles, at the upper
ends of which were attached embroidered handkerchiefs. Behind this
walked a band of musicians. The whole was like one of those scenes
described in the Thousand and One Nights; so gay, so brilliant, and so
strikingly Eastern. The procession advanced almost as slowly as a
tortoise.
While on the subject of processions and marriage, I may mention a late
ridiculous occurrence, arising out of a matrimonial case. Four lawyers
of our neighbourhood were last week condemned to hard labour, and
paraded through the streets on asses, with their faces towards the
tails, for illegal conduct in a suit respecting a refractory wife. In
illustration of their offence, I may remind you of a case, which I heard
referred for judgment to our neighbour Deborah; that of a young man who
agreed to take as his bride a girl reported to have but one eye, because
she was a person of property. He did take her, and expended an
extravagant sum upon the wedding festivities; but the affair did not end
as he expected. He found his wife to be about thirteen years of age, a
little delicate child; but possessing some spirit; for she positively
and obstinately refused to acknowledge him as her husband. Having been
legally married, he could only divorce her, or cause her to be
registered as refractory; and he adopted the latter course; in
consequence of which he is not obliged to support the girl, her family
doing so until she shall resign herself to him. Cases of this kind are
of frequent occurrence, and though it often happens that a woman twenty
years of age submits without a murmur to be married to a man of
threescore, a girl who has not long passed the commencement of her
“teens” very seldom will accept a husband whose chin shows him to be a
man.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER XXII.
February, 1844.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
My brother’s account of the hareem, and all that he has written
respecting the manners and customs of the women of this country, I have
found to be not only minutely accurate, but of the utmost value to me in
preparing me for the life which I am now leading. His information,
however, on these subjects, being derived only from other men, is, of
course, imperfect; and he has anxiously desired that I should supply its
deficiencies, both by my own personal observation, and by learning as
much as possible of the state, and morals of the women, and of the
manner in which they are treated, from their own mouths.
When my experience with respect to the hareem was much shorter as to
time, and more limited as to its objects, than it has now been, I was
unwilling to express to you an opinion with which I was, forcibly,
impressed within a few months after my arrival in this country; that a
very large proportion of the men, and not a few of the women, are
frequently, and almost habitually, guilty of the most abominable acts of
cruelty and oppression. Though I have seen much that is amiable in the
persons with whom I am acquainted here, the opinion above expressed has
been so frequently and strongly confirmed that I cannot withstand the
conviction of its being correct.
The wives and female slaves, in the houses of the higher orders, are
generally, if I may judge from what I have seen and heard, treated by
the husband and master with much kindness; and the condition of the
slaves seems to be, in one respect, preferable to that of the wives; as
the latter are often in constant fear of being divorced; while the sale
of a slave, who has been long in a family, unless on account of
pecuniary distress, is reckoned highly disreputable; and if she have
borne a child to her master, and he acknowledge it to be his own, to
sell her is illegal. But among the middle and lower classes, both wives
and female slaves are often treated with the utmost brutality; the
former are often cruelly beaten; and the latter, not unfrequently,
beaten to death!
A neighbour of ours, a few weeks ago, flogged his wife in a most
barbarous manner, and turned her out of doors, because his supper was
not ready precisely at the time appointed. Two days after, however, he
brought her back. The same man, not long since, beat a female slave so
severely, that she lingered in great pain for about a week, and then
died. This man is a Copt, by profession a Christian! Another man beat
one of his female slaves until she threw herself from a window, and thus
killed herself on the spot. This man also is of the same profession!
Much are they mistaken who say “What need is there of missionaries here
to instruct the Copts, who are a Christian people?” One who knows them
well assures me that their moral state is far worse than that of the
Muslims; that in the _conduct_ of the latter there is much more
Christianity than is exhibited in that of the former. But the remarks
which I am making apply to both the Muslims and the nominal Christians,
but to these are more extensively applicable. How sad that the duty of
regarding truth should oblige me to make such a distinction!
The English Institution in this city, the chief object of which is to
introduce among the Copts that sound knowledge which is the first
requisite to improve their religious and moral condition, I look upon as
one of the most useful of all the establishments of the Missionary
Society. The accounts of it which have appeared in the publications of
that Society have scarcely shown its full importance; for this cannot be
duly appreciated by any one who does not know by experience the state of
the people whom it is designed to benefit, and the admirable judgment
and indefatigable and self-denying zeal with which its objects are
pursued. Connected with this Institution is a chapel, sufficiently large
and very commodious and comfortable, where I am thankful to have
opportunities to join in the service of our Church, and to hear many an
excellent sermon. But I must return from this digression, to resume the
subject which occasioned it.
Seldom do many days elapse without our hearing the most piteous screams
from women and children suffering under the whip or stick; and much
trouble do we experience in our endeavours to stop the barbarities
practised in our immediate neighbourhood. The answer usually returned to
our messages of reproach on these occasions are of the most civil kind,
assuring us, with many salutations, that, _for our sakes_, the offender
shall be forgiven. I believe that the cruelty which now seems so common
may, in some degree, be attributed to the oppression which its
exercisers themselves suffer; for every one who has studied the human
mind will agree with me, that, with few exceptions, the oppressed become
the hardest of oppressors.
The women generally seem full of kind and tender feeling, although (as I
have remarked) there are not a few instances of the reverse, and lately
we have been distressed by the conduct of two women, our near
neighbours. The one, old Deborah, whom I mentioned to you in a former
letter, has so cruelly beaten a little girl who lives with her, on three
or four occasions, that we have taken the poor child into our house each
time until she has, by her own choice, returned, when her cruel
mistress, who is said to be her grandmother, has promised us not to
repeat her violence.
The other was a more distressing case. A woman residing in a house
adjoining our own had lost seven piastres, and discovering that a little
grandson had stolen them, she sent for a man, by profession a _beater_,
to chastise him. One of my boys heard this; and finding that by mounting
a little ladder he could reach a window commanding the court of this
woman’s house, he did so, and immediately called to tell me that the
report was a true one; that the man had arrived, and was tying the arms
and legs of the poor child; but that his grandmother was standing by
him. That being the case, I assured my boy that her only object could be
to frighten the child by confining his limbs, and that I felt certain
she could not suffer him to be hurt. I formed this opinion from my love
for the grandmothers of England, whose children’s children are the crown
and glory of their age. Alas! for my mistake in supposing this Arab
possessed the feelings of woman’s nature! I hardly left the foot of the
ladder, when I was recalled by the screams of my own dear child, who was
crying and scolding in an agony of distress; for the man in the court
below was beating the limbs, the back, the chest of the poor little boy,
as in writhing and rolling on the ground each part fell under the
dreadful blows of a ponderous stick, while between each infliction the
old woman cried “again!” This brutality could not be suffered, and my
brother instantly sent one of our servants with such a threat of
vengeance if they did not immediately desist, that the child was at once
released, and quiet was restored to our house, but not tranquillity to
our minds. This same wretched woman periodically laments the loss of her
son, the father of this child, and fills the air with her discordant
wailings regularly every alternate Monday. She has always been to us a
most annoying neighbour, and is the more so now that we know the
hypocrisy of her lamentations.
The Muslim ceremonies that have reference to the dead are, however,
generally very interesting; and their wailings would always be deeply
affecting, were they always sincere, and not confined to stated periods;
for they seem to express the most intense, heart-breaking, despairing
grief. The art of wailing in the most approved style appears to be an
accomplishment that can only be acquired by long practice; and regular
professors of it are usually hired on the occasion of the death of a
person of the middle or higher classes. These accompany their
lamentations with a tambourine, and occasionally interrupt their screams
by plaintive songs. Their performances, and those of the female mourners
in general, are such as were practised in most remote ages; such as we
see pourtrayed upon the walls of the ancient Egyptian tombs, and such as
are mentioned in many parts of the Holy Scriptures; as in 2 Chron. xxxv.
25; Jerem. ix. 18; Amos v. 16; and St. Matt. ix. 23; vividly bringing to
mind “the minstrels and the people making a noise” for the death of the
daughter of Jairus. As illustrative of the Bible, these and other
Eastern customs are to me most especially interesting. “Consider ye,”
says Jeremiah, exhorting his countrymen to bewail their disobedience,
“and call for the mourning women, that they may come: and send for the
cunning women, that they may come: and let them make haste, and take up
a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids
gush out with waters:” and by the same means the feelings of a mourning
Eastern family seem to be most powerfully excited in the present day,
for, in general, the most piercing cries and screams that I hear, on
account of a death, are those which interrupt the lamentations of the
hired mourner, who is “cunning” in her art. The cemeteries in the
neighbourhood of Cairo are among the most picturesque of the various
scenes which surround us; and in these are many private burial-grounds,
each belonging to one family, who, if of sufficient wealth, have within
its walls a house of mourning. To this house the females of the family
regularly repair at the period of each of the two great annual
festivals, as well as on extraordinary ones, to bewail their dead;
having previously sent thither such furniture as is necessary for their
comfort; and there they remain, on the occasions of the two festivals
above mentioned, and immediately after a death, three or more days and
nights. Some of the houses of mourning are pretty and cheerful-looking
buildings, and enlivened by a few trees and flowers; and I believe that
the women often find no small pleasure in visiting them; their life
being in general so monotonous. Some women, who have not houses in the
burial-ground for their reception, have tents pitched for them when
requisite.
Yesterday we spent some hours at the Southern cemetery, which is
adjacent to the city, but within the confines of the desert; and were
much interested in examining the tombs of the family of Mohammad ’Alee.
The tombs in the cemetery exhibit a strange mixture of various tastes
and dimensions; some are in perfect repair, substantially and well
built; others are of more fragile kinds; though many of the smaller
monuments are composed entirely of white marble; but the most
picturesque are the most ancient; displaying exquisite taste in their
general forms, and more especially in their domes and minarets, and
their arabesque decorations; these are of yellow limestone, here and
there relieved by columns of white marble. The building containing the
tombs of the Pasha’s family is surmounted by several domes, but is low,
and in no respect deserving of much admiration. How can I tell you of
the cheerful appearance of the interior? Two noble saloons are filled
with tombs at nearly equal distances: these are cased with white marble,
and most gorgeously decorated with gilded and painted carved work. The
floors are covered with beautiful carpets, and the scene has at once a
complete air of gaiety and comfort. It has little that can lead the mind
to the reflection that this is the resting-place of the dead. Such a
variety of gay colours, and such varied forms meet the eye, that if the
consciousness intrude that it is a sepulchral building, it is soon
banished by the speculation as to which tombs may be considered more
splendid than those around them. We generally gave the preference to
that of the mother of Nezleh Hánum, and of Mohammad Bey Deftardár: the
latter, I think, bears the palm.
The tombs are generally about eight feet long, and four high; and on the
top of these is placed an oblong slab, about a foot thick: the upright
slabs at the head and feet are eight or ten feet high; and on that at
the head is a representation of the head-dress of the deceased, carved
in stone, and painted. There are four unoccupied tombs in the principal
saloon, raised, but not decorated. The embellishments altogether are
such as only suit saloons appropriated to festivity. Turkish taste is
ill calculated for decorating the abodes of the living, and does not
apply at all where quiet and solemn effect is indispensable. It is not
so with regard to Arabian taste: the Turkish is gaudy and florid: the
Arabian is chaste and elegant, as much in domestic architecture as in
the construction and decoration of sepulchres and mosques.
I felt that I could at any time spend a day in the saloons above
mentioned, admiring the beauties of the place, with much personal
comfort, and without the frequent intrusion of any melancholy
reflection.
In a charming house, adjoining the tombs, appropriated to the use of the
hareem of the keeper, we paid his ladies a visit, and were welcomed with
true Eastern hospitality. The chief lady, who was handsomely attired in
scarlet cloth, embroidered with gold, is a kind agreeable person, but
wofully mistaken in her manner of training the dispositions of children.
Two little babies belonging to the hareem were brought in to show us:
the eldest, a boy, could just walk; and as soon as he made his
appearance, the chief lady called for a stick, that puss, who was
quietly crossing the carpet, might be beaten for his amusement. Not
being aware that the beating was not to be in earnest, I interceded for
the cat; when my acquaintance replied mysteriously, “I like her very
much, I will not hurt her.” Accordingly, she raised her arm with
considerable effort, and let it fall gently. She next desired one of her
slaves to kneel, which the girl did most gracefully, and bent her head
with an air of mock submission, to receive the kurbáj; and the same
farce was performed. Though neither slave nor cat was a sufferer on the
occasion, the effect must have been equally bad on the mind of the
child. Alas! for the slaves and cats when he is big enough to make them
feel!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER XXIII.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Although so many have written of the pyramids, and a new description
cannot fail to have something of the character of an often repeated
tale, I find much that I must say respecting these stupendous monuments,
the greatest, perhaps, of the Wonders of the World, which have been
objects of our curiosity and astonishment even in the age of childhood,
and the sight of which forms an era in one’s life. I will, however, as
much as possible, avoid troubling you with a repetition of what you have
read, or may read, on this subject, in the works of various travellers.