Tombs at Benihassan — Boat aground — Cairo — The Esbekya — Abbas Pasha
and the Porte — The Census — Cairene ladies — Their evening parties —
Palaces of the Pasha — The Overland Route — An American — Mehemet Ali’s
Palace.
At sun-rise we made a start, and so did a stiff breeze from the north,
which presently brought us on a bank, where there were already two or
three rafts from Keneh, laden with pottery. These are constructed of
palm branches resting upon hundreds of large jars fastened together; on
them are placed a similar layer of jars—above which a kind of canopy is
raised to shelter the men. The voyage takes ninety days from Keneh to
Cairo.
We had passed Manfaloot with its numerous fields of sugar cane during
the night, and at three o’clock a large factory, where sugar is refined.
For miles round, sugar canes grow in extraordinary profusion, the land
being beautifully irrigated by a waterpump worked by steam, twenty miles
up the stream.
At half-past seven we arrived at Benihassan. The sepulchre is situated
at the base of a mountain, formed of regular steps or strata. There are,
I believe, thirty tombs; but we satisfied ourselves with an inspection
of the three most important ones. They are very similar, consisting of a
portico of two fluted columns, and a large square room in the interior,
with four or six columns of an extremely simple and elegant character,
supporting an arched roof, painted red and white, chess-board fashion.
The walls are coloured and covered with wonderful paintings, having such
subjects as a galley sailing on the Nile, in the transparent water of
which fishes are swimming, and a hippopotamus disporting—a series of
wrestlers, in fifty different postures—then came flax-dressers and cloth
manufacturers, glass-blowers and ironmongers—a barber operating on a
young man, apparently for the first time, for the indications of a beard
are very faint—a doctor bleeding an unfortunate wretch who appears to
have drank too much nectar over night—men and women being
bastinadoed—dwarfs in the trains of noble Egyptians: an example of that
patronage of littleness which became fashionable in Europe two thousand
years later—sportsmen catching ibex with a noose, and gazelles just
caught by grey-hounds—herds tended by cripples, having but one leg or
one arm, or exhibiting a withered and useless limb, reminding one of the
verse in Genesis that describes every shepherd as an abomination to the
Egyptians.
Our brilliant torch illumined these scenes splendidly; indeed, we beheld
them to much greater advantage than we could have done by day: the door
then giving the only light by which they can be seen. As we returned
into the bright moonlight, the sand looked so much like snow, that the
night air could scarcely dispel the illusion.
We passed Minieh in the night, and then a breeze sprung up, that shortly
turned to a gale, which so alarmed our Reis, that he wanted to stop at
Colosaneh, which we were closely approaching. This village being famous
for lentils, we were suspicious that he thought more of soup than of
wind, and were for proceeding, when the gusts came on sharper, and
therefore we agreed to anchor. Unfortunately we were not quite quick
enough, a gust drove us on a bank in the very middle of the stream, and
the boat swung round in the wind. The crew soon got us off, and we were
presently moored to the bank where we were glad enough to find ourselves
in safety: not the less satisfied were we when we beheld a boat fill in
the same place, a few minutes later, and in less than half an hour
another capsize.
Some hours subsequently, we again made sail; but the wind just allowed
us to get into the middle of the stream, when we received another taste
of its quality, which sent us within a yard and a half only of some
dangerous rocks. By all the men pulling lustily on one side, and having
the sail hauled as tight as possible, we managed to escape. Once more we
anchored, and did not again attempt to sail till the atmosphere had
become cleared from the clouds of dust and sand that prevented our
seeing a hundred yards before us, and it was nearly calm. Subsequently
we passed a complete fleet of small boats that had been detained by the
wind. With their large sails half-filled by the breeze, they came out
beautifully from the background of the setting sun.
We continued to make good progress, sometimes with our sail, and then
with our oars, till we had passed the false pyramid and the real ones of
Dashour, and came in sight of the well-known Mokattam range of hills,
and of the great pyramids of Gizah. At two o’clock, on the 18th of
February, we anchored at Rhoda Island: the next day were at Cairo.
We had accomplished the voyage from Korosko to Cairo in seventeen days;
considering the strong north winds we had encountered, a most unheard-of
feat.
The bazaars were more crowded by Europeans than they had been before,
and had a much gayer appearance, with winter-scarves, handkerchiefs and
furs. There had been an order from the Pasha, that within six months the
Mussulman ladies should dress entirely in white, to distinguish them
from the Christian ladies, which had created no slight sensation in the
hareems; and many having already obeyed the very despotic order, the
clean white dresses made a most agreeable contrast to the gay amber and
pink in which the less compliant ladies were habited.
The streets were more difficult of passage than ever, from the caravans
of donkeys that were galloping about loaded with flour, sand, and water;
they were abundantly watered, and unusually sure-footed was the long-
eared beast that did not land its rider once at least in the mud.
The Esbekya, or place of the Franks, was in an unusually lively state
from the droves of groaning camels, and eccentric Englishmen that
favoured this locality—the latter dressed in that original style which
is patronized by every true and enlightened Briton, whenever he happens
to have placed the channel between himself and the only public for whose
opinion he cares a rush.
Here a party are starting for Syria, and every description of box is
being heaped on angry camels, whose rough and filthy coats contrast as
strikingly with the appearance of our old friends, their relations from
the South, as the delicate white turbans and flowing robes of their
masters do with the manly bearing and state of semi-nudity of the camel-
drivers of Berber.
Here an ingenious youth, clad in a suit of grey, is thrashing an
impertinent donkey-boy for making an overcharge of five piastres for
going to the pyramids; whilst at the next hotel there is a spectacle of
a totally different character, in a young girl, of extraordinary beauty,
setting forth on a ride, whose cough and hectic colour declare that she
has only been brought here to die.
The lovely sky, the splendid sunset, and the numerous picturesque scenes
of Cairo, are certainly well worth a visit; but in her position “the old
familiar faces” of home, I should have thought, would have been
preferable for the light of the fading eye to rest upon. Possibly she
does not know her danger, or her friends are sanguine as to the effect
of a change of climate; but it is melancholy to think that a creature so
brilliant should be brought to a place so foreign in all its features,
to wander a few days among its scenes of rainbow-tinted life, and then
be hurried into an obscure nook among its gloomy dead.
I paid many visits, but had nothing to boast of in my reception at the
hands of Mustapha Bey, son-in-law of Latiffe Pasha. There was reason for
this: Latiffe is in disgrace here, Monsieur V—— having brought from
Khartoum some startling accounts of his proceedings, which had their
effect upon a government already sufficiently prejudiced against him,
and it is said that he has received an impressive communication from
Abbas Pasha.
I found Ekekyan Bey a great deal more cordial. He seemed anxious to
learn the opinions we had heard of Latiffe Pasha on our route,
especially among the inhabitants of his villages, and spoke highly of
the Viceroy, who, from his statements, is evidently a man of both
feeling and judgment. For the recruiting, which has brought so much
odium on his name, he assured us that he is less liable to censure than
the European Consuls, who urged him to the measure as soon as the Porte
manifested hostile feelings to his government, and put forward
pretensions to control his movements, to which it is impossible that he
can submit without a surrender of those powers that have been guaranteed
to him by treaties to which the English Government was one of the
contracting parties.
Under these circumstances, he has been advised to raise his army from
three thousand five hundred, to which low point he had suffered it to
fall, to thirty thousand the maximum of the regular force he is
permitted to maintain.
The number of the inhabitants of Egypt, so I was assured by Her
Majesty’s Consul, according to the census of 1848, was four million five
hundred thousand. As this is nearly double Sir Gardiner Wilkinson’s
estimate, I will state the data on which it is founded.
Every Egyptian, as I have already stated, has the greatest possible
horror of having his name put down in any list, which in his idea is
merely introductory to taxation or conscription; he, therefore, does all
he can to avoid so suspicious a distinction. Nevertheless there is an
entry of four millions and a half of names on the register. Many Fellahs
contrived to escape being included in the census, by presenting the
Sheiks with money.
Near the house of a friend of ours, in the country, there is a small
village, which he always thought contained from two hundred and fifty to
three hundred inhabitants. When the census was published, he was
surprised to find them estimated at five hundred. The Government was not
satisfied. In the middle of the night a regiment surrounded the village,
and at sunrise counted the people as easily as if they had been a flock
of sheep; they amounted to seven hundred and twenty.
That the country has increased in population at least one-third since
the death of Mehemet Ali, no one who knows Egypt, is disposed to deny.
In his reign, the drain upon it was very serious; for in the war in
Syria there perished hundreds of thousands, and in the construction of
the Mahmoudieh Canal thirty thousand died in a few months, as has been
stated before.
If the country is less gloriously, it is more wisely, governed; the
taxes have decreased thirty per cent.; and though there remains room for
much improvement, and a necessity for many wise laws, I do not despair
that in due time a race, unused to regular or very productive labour,
may rise to become a great commercial and agricultural community.
While calling upon Ekekyan Bey, I saw two or three Armenian ladies, from
an hareem, who were visiting there, and according to custom had left
their veils below stairs. They were at first disposed to hide their
pretty faces from the Frank, but afterwards became social and very
merry, and we had some pleasant conversation together.
It seems curious to our notions that the Eastern ladies should never be
allowed to call on, or see any of the male sex; but perhaps it may be
thought more so, that they do not wish it. No doubt they find sufficient
social gratification in visiting among themselves, on which occasions
they frequently have _réunions_ and supper parties, that are apparently
quite as agreeable as those in which the two sexes associate in Europe.
Some of their evening parties are managed in a peculiar manner. An
Egyptian gentleman gives a rout, at which two hundred of his male
acquaintances attend; pipes, coffee, iced-sherbet and brandy-and-water
are the only refreshments. An exhibition of dancing girls, tumblers,
jugglers, or something of the kind, is sure to be provided. The ladies
entertain, at the same time, a large party of their own sex, who witness
the performances from a gallery, having contrivances closely resembling
the nuns’ grating in Catholic churches. Here they can see perfectly, and
hear also; but from what I have heard of such performances, I do not
think they would be greatly edified.
A young man who is about to be engaged to some unknown beauty, can at
these entertainments display all his mental and personal recommendations
to the lady of his mother’s choice, who, silent and veiled, has an
opportunity of judging of their extent.
No one can leave Cairo at night without a pass; which, however, Mr.
Walne easily procures for his compatriots. I wanted to visit a friend at
his boat, at Rhoda Island, and was sent the pass for the night, which
was the word “Arish.” I met with no difficulty in reaching my
destination with the assistance of this little word; and then found my
way back with the same facility.
The Pasha’s masonmania continues. Since we saw him at the Kaisoon
Palace, he has completed the Abbasia, the Suez Palace, and is now
commencing a similar structure opposite Rhoda Island. He has now about
nine palaces in ten square miles, and uses each rather more than one
month every year, having a complete establishment in all.
He is said to have already expended £2,000,000, and the Porte wants to
limit him to £400,000 a-year, as he is economical in every branch of the
public service, except the palace and hareem items. The Abbasia is a
magnificent range of building, about a mile out of Cairo, on the Suez
side. It is painted green, red, yellow and white, with a very showy
effect, though not exactly gaudy.
Abbas Pasha has encouraged all his grandees to follow his example; and
already the Suez Road is becoming a street of Beys and Pashalic palaces.
Then, half way to Suez, forty miles from any drinkable water, is the
Desert Palace, every stone of which had to be carried there on camels
from Cairo, and every drop of water for the mortar or cement. Had he the
lamp of Aladdin he could scarcely have conquered greater difficulties.
Palaces, however, form but a small portion of his improvements. The Suez
Road, now more than half completed, is a fine broad macadamized turnpike
road, with trees on each side for the first few miles. This is
undeniably a great work, as every Indian traveller who has been tossed
about in the bathing machine vans will readily testify.
As regards the overland route, we were told that the Government had last
year lost £4,300 by the transit. This seems incredible, when we
recollect that each traveller pays £16: besides, the horses are used for
the Pasha’s travelling carriages, and the steamers for the excursions of
his friends. It should be remembered that Egyptian book-keeping is in
its infancy—and I have heard, that as long as cash is forthcoming the
_employés_ will not trouble themselves about keeping correct accounts.
The charge to the traveller may be high—but then it ought not to be
forgotten, that water for four hundred horses has to be carried on the
backs of camels from Cairo to every station.
We met several intelligent travellers at the _table-d’hôte_—among others
a Russian Prince, an American gentleman, and an Englishman—all of whom
had visited different parts of the world; and their conversation was
equally interesting and instructive. The latter had come from England by
Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Constantinople, Syria, had been up to Assouan
and back, and was about to return to England by the Lower Pyrenees and
Spain. He considers the voyage down the Volga as extremely interesting.
Colonel W——, an American, who sat at the bottom of the table, a fine old
man, with a magnificent white beard, was singularly characteristic in
his conversation.
“Here now,” said he exultingly, drawing a frame about the size of a
farthing from his pocket, “here is a greater wonder than anything you
ever saw—beats the Pyramids hollow. It is the Lord’s Prayer written in
the smallest hand that ever anything was written in—and I wrote it: with
the finest crow-quill that ever was made—and I made it: from a crow, the
smallest that ever was killed—and I killed it: with the best gun that
ever was shot with—and I shot with it: the pen made with the sharpest
knife that ever was bought—and I bought it.”
Everything he had, or had anything to do with, was the best and the
fastest that could be found throughout the world. His boat passed
everything on the Nile—and he had the fastest horse that ever was
created. We could not test the qualities of his steed—because it
remained in the States: but the boat, though it had had four days start,
was subsequently passed by a friend of ours at Keneh.
The Greek merchant, a little dirtier than we had found him six months
ago, and a lady and gentleman from India, whose politeness and
conversation appeared to have been dried up by the climate they had
left, made up our party.
The old Pasha’s palace in the citadel is a pretty country house,
surrounded by about a hundred yards of English garden. It is built on a
rock overhanging the city, just where the last Mameluke leaped his
horse—preferring the small chance of life in the abyss below, to the
certainty of death from Mehemet Ali’s Janissaries above. It is well
known that his horse was killed under him, and that he escaped
unhurt—this must appear “a hair-breadth ’scape” indeed, to any one who
takes the trouble to examine the awful leap.
The palace is gorgeously fitted up, and is one of the prettiest places
of the kind I have ever seen. The rooms are well shaped and admirably
furnished—though it appears as if a housemaid formed no part of the
establishment.
The large divan is fitted up completely with magnificent Cachmere
shawling; though I quite as much admired the private sitting-room in red
and gold damask silk. The Turkey carpets are the largest I have met
with. The floors were as usual of polished alabaster, the bath most
elegantly furnished, and the sculpture from Rome in the best possible
taste. Ship pictures in panelling are in all the apartments—and in one
there was a portrait of the Sultan, carefully covered with silk
hangings, which might be thought good enough for the sign-post of a
village alehouse.
Abbas has never been in this palace, though it exceeds in splendour any
of his own which he is now furnishing. We had frequent opportunities of
observing his acquisitions in this way, for we met loads of the
costliest gilt cornices, beautiful statues, rich glass lamps, and other
choice drawing-room decorations piled in bullock-carts, without springs,
merely covered with silver-paper; and from their frequent collisions
their route might be traced by the fragments of gilding they left in
every street through which they passed.