_A “Syce” what is he?--A Man with a Queer Dress and Large Calves--A Gorgeous Turnout--An Escort of Eunuchs--Veiled Beauties--A
Flirtation and its Consequences--The Tale of a Dropped Handkerchief--The Donkey as a National Beast--A Tricky Brute and an Agile
Driver--An Upset in the Mud--Astonishing the Natives--A Specimen of Arabic Wit--Going to the Races--The Grand Stand--A Dromedary
Race--An Aristocratic Camel--The Arrival of the Khedive--Starting Up the Dromedaries--Cutting an Empress._
A STRANGER is impressed during his first days in Cairo with the spectacle of runners in front of carriages to warn people to get
out of the way. These fellows have a picturesque dress and muscular legs, and their duty is to clear the way, by keeping a few yards
in advance and warning people that a carriage is coming. An appendage of this sort is called a syce, and formerly it was necessary
that he should be a native born Egyptian, but at present a Nubian may aspire to the position, and it is not unusual to see syces of
the complexion of charcoal in front of elegant carriages. Public fiacres and ordinary private carriages have each but a single syce,
but the carriages of the Khedive and all official turnouts must have a pair of syces running side by side.
The syce carries a stick, which he holds perpendicularly in the air. As he goes along he warns people by his shouts; it occasionally
happens that a crowd of common Arabs will be in the way with their donkeys, and if they do not move at the vocal admonition, the
stick is brought into use with no savor of mildness. {489}The most gorgeous turnouts in Cairo were, of course, those belonging
to the reigning family, and used on state occasions. The Khedive ordinarily rides with very little display; he has a two-horse
carriage, open or closed according to the weather or other circumstances, two syces in front and two outriders or household guards
behind him.
[Illustration: 0504]
The carriages of the harem are quite as gorgeous as his, and they have the additional escort of one or two eunuchs, sometimes on
horseback, and at others seated on the box with the driver. Sometimes the blinds are drawn, and again they are open, but in either
case the face of the fair occupant cannot be seen, as it is invariably covered with a veil.
The eyes only are visible and they are generally pretty, I think I may say invariably so, and have that soft, melting lan{490}guor
for which the Orient is famous. Concealment has its advantages here as elsewhere; what we can see is rarely as beautiful as what
we do not see. The unattainable is always of more value than what is within our reach. Possibly all the women of the harem are not
beautiful, but I had the word of a lady who has been in the sacred enclosure, that there are faces there whose beauty is rarely
equalled in the Occident, and there was one that roused my informant to a pitch of enthusiasm more appropriate for a young and
ardent man.
Some of these carriages of the harem have been associated with scandals of a mediocre character. I was told of one whose occupant
used to drop her veil to a dashing young officer when promenading on the Shoobra Road, and on one occasion let fall an embroidered
and perfumed handkerchief, which he picked up and retained.
As the story goes, he was imprudent enough to speak of the adventure and to show the trophy, and one day he was told his presence
was no longer needed in the Egyptian army, but that his resignation would be accepted. How much truth there is in the story I
cannot say, I am sure; I was not present; never saw officer or handkerchief to my knowledge, and neither have I ever seen the veiled
beauty. But who among us would have neglected to peep at her face if he had the opportunity?
The beast par excellence of Egypt is the donkey; he ought to have a place on the national coat-of-arms, as much so as the llama has
on that of Peru. The horses of Egypt are magnificent, some of pure Arabian, and some of a cross between English and Arabian stock,
and are famous for their speed and beauty. But they are a luxury that not everybody can afford, as their support requires a constant
outlay, not to speak of the first cost of the property. But the donkey is universal, and everybody can have one, unless he is the
poorest of the poor.
At every hotel door there are groups of them ready saddled at all hours of the day, and you can hire them cheaply. If you can make
a bargain in advance you can hire a donkey at three or four francs a day, inclusive of the boy, to drive him, though the latter
generally looks for backsheesh in addition to the price of the beast and saddle. I have hired donkeys frequently for half
{491}
[Illustration: 0506]
{493}a franc an hour, though the hotel keepers tell you that a franc an hour is the proper fare.
Most of the excursions in and around Cairo must be made on these animals, and even in many places where you can take a carriage the
donkey is preferable. You can ride in the narrow lanes and among the bazaars, or you can go into the open country at a gallop, as
though pursued by a wolf, or a guilty conscience. No matter how fast you go, the boy will keep up with you, and he never seems to
be out of breath. If you want to go slowly he does not understand you, and will continue to cluck and strike the beast at the very
moment you are expostulating with him.
One day I took a donkey for an afternoon ride to old Cairo, and explained to the boy that I was in no hurry, and wished to go
gently. “I understand,” he said, and as we started he hit the donkey a violent blow, that sent him off on a gallop.
Two or three times I expostulated, and finally I threatened to thrash him with my cane if he struck the donkey again without orders.
“I understand,” he said, “no strike donkey no more,” and we were off again.
Within two minutes he struck the animal. The promised thrashing was administered, and even that was not enough to make the boy
mindful of what I wanted, and several times he involuntarily hurried the animal ahead. It was the force of habit, which to him was
perfectly uncontrollable.
The donkey is a patient beast; he never kicks or runs away, never takes fright, never asks for backsheesh, and he can bear a burden
that seems out of all proportion to his size. He does not get drunk or stay away from home by circumstances which he cannot control,
and he can be boarded and lodged at a very cheap rate. His food consists of beans and chopped straw, with an occasional _bonne
bouche_ of fresh cut grass, of which you see great loads coming daily into the city on the backs of camels and donkeys.
The pace of the donkey is a walk, an amble, or a gallop according to circumstances, and at whatever speed he is going he is
generally as easy as a cradle. The natives ride without stirrups, owing to the donkey’s tendency to stumble; he does not fall very
{494}often, but you never know when he will go down in a heap under you, and he is most likely to do this when at full speed, the
very time when you least relish this sort of business.
[Illustration: 0509]
When I reached Cairo I was not up to the dodge of riding without my feet in the stirrups, but I soon concluded that I had better
learn. One afternoon I had a donkey that was very good, from a progressive point of view. There was a party of us, and we went at a
gallop, and my beast was ahead most of the time. Suddenly he went down, very much as a wet towel falls on the floor when you drop it
from your hand, and I went down like another wet towel when it is not dropped but flung into a corner.
Had my feet been out of the stirrups they would have touched the ground as I fell, and I should have been standing erect and
dignified, and could have contemplated my donkey in a heap as Xerxes contemplated the remains of his fleet at Salamis. But I was
comfortably fixed in the stirrups, and so I went forward and turned about eleven-sixteenths of a somersault before I settled into a
sprawling position on and in the sand, to the great delight of the multitude who are never happier than when seeing a {495}stranger
make an ass of himself. I got up and found myself uninjured, though I presented the appearance of having been used as a street
sweeping machine.
You may think this is drawing the donkey business to a considerable length, but you wouldn’t think so if you knew what a prominent
place the animal has in the life and locomotion of modern Egypt. But through fear of wearying you, I will stop now; only let me tell
you of the wit of one of the drivers.
One day I hired a donkey for a franc to make a journey for which the driver demanded three francs at the outset. When the bargain
was concluded we started, but the beast was very slow, and I said to the driver that his steed was not good.
“Yes, donkey good,” was his reply. “Give donkey three francs, he good donkey; he no good for one franc.”
Soon after my arrival we had the pleasure of attending the horse races and noticing some of the peculiarities of the country.
The track for the Cairo races is two or three miles out of the city, on a large plain to the right of the Abooseer Road.
We left our donkeys in charge of their drivers, and bought tickets for the Grand Stand. The spectators were a mixed lot of natives
and Europeans, nearly all the former being in European dress, with the exception of the fez or red cap, which covers the head at all
times, whether in doors or out. A good many eunuchs were there and mingled freely with the crowd in and around the stand. They were
nearly all tall--some of them unusually long in the legs--were clad _a la European_, and were rather gorgeous in the matter of watch
chain. One who stood near me had a double length vest chain, a fob chain, and a chain around his neck. If there had been any other
way of wearing a chain I presume he would have adopted that also.
Many of these neutral gentlemen were active in the discussion of the races; some of them made considerable wagers, and one of
them, taller and rather older than the rest, appeared to exercise considerable authority over the jockeys, and superintended their
mounting and weighing. The jockeys were of all colors and nationalities; there were English, French, and Italian jockeys; and there
were Arab, Egyptian, and Nubian jockeys. There was comparatively little betting over the result, and quite {496}an absence of the
yelling and hooting heard at all races in England and at some in America.
[Illustration: 0511]
Just before the commencement of the races, a dozen carriages came upon the ground, bringing the ladies of the harem. A separate
space was assigned to them; in this space the carriages were driven and a rope was drawn around, and guards were stationed to keep
out intruders.
The ladies remained all the time in their carriages, and as they were closely veiled and the blinds of the carriages were partially
closed, nobody got a peep at them. It is quite an innovation for them to come to the races at all; the seclusion of the women of the
Orient is so great that a man would usually be as likely to think of taking his dog to see an entertainment as of taking his wives,
or any one of them. I believe the day is not {497}far distant when the ladies of Egypt will discard the veil and go with uncovered
faces like their Occidental sisters. The Khedive has done much in the way of assimilating his people with those of Europe, and he
will do more as time goes on.
On the second day the affair opened with a race of dromedaries. Four of these animals were entered, but only three put in an
appearance. They were not beautiful beasts; I don’t believe one of them, in his wildest moments, ever imagines that he is handsome,
and he ought not to do so if he sets himself down to tame deliberation. The dromedary is a sort of fine edition of the camel; he
bears the same relation to a camel that a setter or terrier bears to that “yaller” dog of America. He kneels to be mounted, and he
starts off at a swinging pace, arching his neck rather gracefully, and not appearing to be in a hurry.
The saddle for racing is a sort of hollow dish, in which the rider sits. He does not straddle the beast as we would mount a horse,
but he sits in this trough, or dish, and crosses his legs in front of him. His place is not an uncomfortable one, except that it
is pretty high in the air and a fall from it would be no joke. Since I saw that race I have done some camel travelling, and have my
opinions, but of that I will speak by and by.
These three dromedaries started off very well at the word of command, and went around the track at the rate of twelve miles an hour,
though they did not appear to be doing half as much.
The dromedary race did not begin until after the arrival of the Khedive, who came in a carriage with his sons and some of his
ministers, and was accompanied by a dozen or so of riders, and there was a good deal of bowing and hat lifting, but there were
no cheers. Cheering after the Western plan does not seem to be in vogue in Egypt, and certainly it would not take well with the
dignified demeanor of the Orient.
The Khedive acknowledged the compliment by a bow to the right and the left as he entered the grounds, and the carriage moved rapidly
to the stand set apart for him and his friends. On the stand he mingled unceremoniously with the rest of the party. Among them
there was one lady, the Duchess of Parma, to whom he was courteously polite. Quite a contrast, this, I thought to the conduct of the
Sultan, whom I saw in 1867, at Paris, rudely {498}walk past the Empress without offering his arm or even speaking to her. She was a
woman and an Infidel Christian; no one could expect the commander of the Faithful to be polite to her.
There are different ways of regarding the subject from our standpoint; we think that Mohammedanism degrades woman below her proper
level, by secluding her and by treating her not as a companion of man, but as a thing for his amusement, or for the perpetuation
of the human race, as the soil is made to perpetuate the fruits of the earth. And the Mohammedan looking at us thinks that we raise
women above their proper level and allow them too much part in our affairs. But the Western theory is yearly gaining more adherents,
and the position of woman is yearly becoming more exalted. And the enlightened ruler of Egypt is the first Mohammedan Prince or King
who has ventured to show in public a feeling of respect toward the gentler and prettier half of humanity.
[Illustration: 5513]
{499}
[Illustration: 0514]
CHAPTER XL--THE PASHA AND THE PRIESTS.--EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE--SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.
_Egypt and her relations with Turkey--The Army and Navy--Egyptian history boiled down--The reigning family--Wonderful
Relics--Mohammed Ali as a ruler--The Pasha and the priests--Ordering a Wedding--Married on short notice--Gratifying the Empress
Eugenie--An Arab school-room--A college with nine thousand students--A jaw-breaking language--How to indite an epistle
in Arabic--The caravan to Mecca--Going on a pilgrimage--A horrible ceremony--Trampling on dervishes--The “Bride of the
Nile”--Extraordinary customs._
EGYPT is sufficiently independent to have a government of her own, and to maintain a standing army. She pays an annual tribute to
Turkey of half a million pounds sterling, but the amount varies somewhat, according to circumstances. In return for this tribute she
is allowed to do pretty much as she pleases in the way of contracting loans and making internal improvements. The army is restricted
to fifteen thousand men, but by means of an arrangement for short terms of service it is practically four or five times as large.
The organization of the army is very much on the European model, and the troops are drilled according to the modern systems of
tactics.
The artillery arm of the service has been made as effective as possible, and the batteries consist of breech-loading cannon, from
Krupp’s manufactory in Germany. The navy is not large, but the ships that compose it are of the most approved construction and their
armament is of steel breech-loaders, like the land batteries. {500}The infantry are equipped with improved rifles, and the cavalry
has a revolving carbine, with a removable stock, so that the weapons may be changed at will into a pistol or a rifle. In the last
few years, the government has availed itself of the services of many foreign officers, the most of them from America. These are
scattered among all branches of the service, the most of them being in the corps of engineers. Under their management the country is
being carefully surveyed, and an elaborate map is in preparation.
Egypt has had a great many rulers. The dynasties of Kings of ancient Egypt were no less than thirty-four in number, and then came
the Romans about the beginning of the Christian Era. They reigned for a few hundred years, then the country was conquered by the
Arabs, and later on, it fell into the hands of the Turks. Near the end of the last century, it was invaded by the French, they
remained about three years only, when they were expelled by the English, and soon after their arrival the renowned Mohammed Ali was
made the ruling pasha.
He reigned from 1806 to 1848, when he became imbecile, and was succeeded by his son Ibrahim Pasha, who died after a reign of
two months. Ibrahim was followed by his nephew Abbas Pasha who reigned from 1848 to 1854, and was succeeded by the fourth son of
Mohammed Ali, under the name of Said Pasha. In 1863 Said was succeeded by the present ruler Ismail Pasha, second son of Ibrahim
Pasha, the eldest having been drowned in the Nile in 1856.
There you have Egyptian history boiled down into a small space. I have not thought any reader would care to know the names of all
the kings of Egypt from Menes, five thousand years before Christ, to Ismail nearly two thousand years after Christ.
Some were jolly old fellows, who lived as luxuriously as they knew how, though I dare say, none of them ever tasted raw oysters on
the shell, or prairie chicken broiled and on toast. They used to dress rather elaborately, and they built some magnificent temples
and tombs, which still remain to be wondered at by modern mortals.
No construction of the present day can begin to compare with them in grandeur, but of this I shall have more to say by and by.
{501}The kings were buried with great care, but their tombs have been plundered in modern times, so that very little of the royal
relics can be found.
Occasionally they stumble on something and it is at once put into the museum at Cairo. Through the kindness of the director of this
museum I was one day allowed to hold in my hand the heart of one of the most famous of the warrior kings of the XIXth Dynasty. It
wasn’t much of a heart, a dried and bandaged affair of little consequence, but it was no common occurrence to grasp it, and remember
that it once beat beneath the breast of a great warrior, who lived and loved, and ruled and died, three thousand years ago.
Nearly all the modern greatness of Egypt is due to her present ruler. Mohammed Ali, was a man of great ability, and under his rule
the country received an impetus in the right direction. He founded schools, dug canals, and did many things for the prosperity of
the country, and when he had determined to act in a certain direction, he didn’t allow himself to be thwarted. At one time he had
decided to widen the Mooskee, now the principal street of the old part of Cairo, and was about to begin work when the Moslem priests
interfered and declared they would bring anathemas upon him if the design was not relinquished.
He ordered the contumacious fellows arrested, and threatened to decapitate them unless they behaved themselves, They were in no
hurry to be ushered into the presence of Mohammed the Prophet, and so they yielded to Mohammed the Ruler.
This recalls the story of Peter the Great, when he founded St. Petersburg and compelled the priests to bring the bones of one of the
saints from their resting place at Vladimir. The priests did not like the new location, and one day they took the bones and started
off for Vladimir, declaring that the ghost of the departed had told them to do so. Peter sent after them, with the threat of making
ghosts of all of them, unless they returned, and they did return, bones and all. There is nothing like having a will of your own,
and the power to use it.
The Khedive is like his grandfather in many things, and is not easily thwarted when he has made up his mind to anything. He is a
liberal ruler, and believes in the enterprise and progress of {502}the Occident, rather than in the slow coach system of the Orient.
Though a Mohammedan he is no bigot, as is shown by the perfect freedom accorded to all religions, and by his personal gift of land
to any Christian society that wishes to build a church.
He has a difficult position to occupy, as he is a Mohammedan and ruler of Mohammedans; when he comes in contact with any of the
prerogatives of the religion, he is obliged to devise a course that shall keep the religion inviolate. For example he wishes to
abolish slavery and to destroy the slave trade, but here he comes in contact with the Koran, which permits the ownership of human
property.
He sends an army into the regions of the Upper Nile, and destroys the business of kidnapping and the importation of slaves; he
cannot liberate the slaves now held in Egypt, but he orders that when a slave runs away the machinery of the law shall not be used
for his recapture. Any slave in Cairo may run away, and be safe from arrest; owners and slaves are aware of this state of things,
and consequently the owners treat their slaves so well that they are not inclined to run away. I was told that slaves were generally
better treated than free laborers. This state of affairs was not unknown in some parts of our own border states previous to our
civil war.
As an illustration of the power of the Khedive over his subjects, I will mention an incident which was narrated to me.
When the Empress Eugenie was in Egypt she expressed a desire to witness an Egyptian wedding. The Khedive summoned an officer of his
staff, and told him to be ready to be married the next day.
One of the ladies attached to the harem was designated as the bride, and the wedding came off in grand style, to the delight of the
Empress and of all concerned. His Highness paid the bills and set up the couple in good style, including the present of a house,
where the Empress paid them a congratulatory visit.
An Arab school is a curiosity. The pupils study their lessons aloud, and make the place about as noisy as a political meeting, and
how they can learn, any thing is a surprise to a person from the Occident, where silence is considered desirable in a school-room.
I looked repeatedly into these schools, and generally
{503}
[Illustration: 0518]
{505}knew where they were, at least half a minute before I reached their doors. The master squats on the floor at one side of the
room, or stands among some of his pupils who are seated in rows or promiscuously through the rest of the apartment. Their lessons
are given to them upon slates or large cards, and they sit rocking back and forth and studying aloud.
When they have committed a lesson, they go to the teacher and recite it, and if found perfect they receive another. The instruction
consists of reading and writing, the latter generally including passages from the Koran.
Down to the time of Mohammed Ali, the schools of Egypt were not based upon any system; anybody who wished to to open a school could
do so, and children were sent there and received on payment of a small fee. Under that ruler a public school system was established;
it declined somewhat under his immediate successor, but has been revived and improved, to some extent, by the Khedive.
The schools are divided into civil and military, and the civil schools are subdivided into primary, secondary, and special.
In the primary schools, the pupils receive instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in most of them some foreign
language, generally French, is taught. When a certain proficiency is reached, the pupils enter the secondary schools, where they
are instructed in Arabic, and may also study Turkish, French, and English. The Arabic course includes history, pure mathematics,
geography, and drawing, and sometimes algebra and _belles-lettres_.
From these schools a pupil may be passed by examination into one of the special schools, which are five in number, as follows:
Land Surveying and Commercial School; Law School; Polytechnic School; _Arts et Metiers_ School; and the Medical School.
The time required for study and graduation in these schools varies from two to four years each. The Medical School has a school
of midwifery for women, and is the only institution for feminine education in Egypt. The military schools include every branch of
military education; they are on the European model, and many of the professors are Europeans. {506}Every Christian community in
Cairo has its own schools, and some of them are quite large. There is an American mission school, and also an English one, and there
are French, Greek, Armenian, and Coptic schools, so that the Christians are not likely to grow up in ignorance. Many of the mosques
have free schools, and _medresse_, or colleges, attached to them.
The _El Azhar_ mosque is the great college of Cairo, and also the principal university of the East. There are small porticoes,
divided into apartments, for the use of natives from different parts of Egypt and the Orient, each province or country having a
room to itself. The professors receive no salaries, but live upon presents from the pupils, and by copying books or performing other
literary work. There are nine thousand students, and more than three hundred professors attached to this university! Nearly all the
sciences taught in all the colleges of the globe have a place here.
Arabic is not an easy language to acquire to perfection, but I am told that one can learn to talk it fairly in about twice the time
that it would take for learning a European language. In the short time that I was in Cairo I picked up a smattering, as I make it a
rule to do in all countries where I expect to stay more than a month.
You will be astonished to find how far you can get along with a few words, if you only set about it in earnest. My Arabic was much
like the English of some of the donkey drivers; there were no prepositions and conjunctions in it, and the construction of the verbs
placed all the rules of grammar at defiance.
In fact, you can get along without many verbs when you are put to it. All you want is the name of the thing you are after, and the
words for “how much.” Then you must have the numerals, and thus armed and equipped, you may set out on a shopping excursion with a
brave heart, and a consciousness that every shop-keeper you deal with will cheat you if possible.
The Arabs begin to read a book where we would finish it, and they generally read from right to left, though not always. When they
write they hold the paper in the left hand, and grasp a small stick in the right. This stick is sharpened to a point, like a pencil,
and dipped in the ink, and with it the letters are formed with considerable rapidity. {507}As in some of the cities of Europe, there
are men whose profession it is to write letters for those unable to write, and you see these men squatted on the sidewalk, with
paper, pen, ink and sand before them, ready for a customer. They have a peculiar kind of ink-stand in Cairo; it is made of brass,
and has a long handle running back nearly a foot. This handle is hollow, and holds the pens, and it serves the purpose of sustaining
the ink-stand in the girdle. The ink is generally a little thicker than ours, but they can write with European ink without trouble.
You see these ink-stands very often in the girdles of merchants and accountants in the bazaars, and it is not unusual to see a man
standing or squatting on the sidewalk, and engaged in the production of a letter. And the oddest thing of the whole business is to
see him holding the paper in his hand; if you ask an Arab to sit at your desk to write a letter, the chances are fifty to one that
he will pick up the paper instead of placing it on the flat surface, as is our invariable custom. In the government offices they
have learned to write with the paper flat on the desk, but they do not take to it kindly.
I have seen a high official sit at his desk and pick up a document in order to affix his signature, and he continued to hold the
paper until he had signed it and appended his seal. The seal is a very necessary part of the business; it is not put on with wax,
but is stamped with ink.
Every year a caravan leaves Cairo for Mecca, and is accompanied by pilgrims to the birth-place of Mohammed. The march is through the
desert, and consumes from sixty to eighty days, sometimes exceeding the latter number. The annual pilgrimage from all parts of the
Mohammedan world is about seventy thousand, the number going by land is steadily decreasing, for the reason that one can now go
by steamer to Djeddah, on the Red Sea, and from thence two or three days on foot will bring him to the Holy City. Steamers run
regularly from Suez to Djeddah, and in the season of pilgrimage there are extra boats that carry deck passengers at a very low fare.
The departure of the annual caravan from Cairo is a scene of great pomp. A camel is designated to carry the Mahmal, or sacred
canopy; it was originally designed to contain such of the {508}wives of the Caliphs as wished to make the journey, but latterly
it contains nothing, and has become simply a rich decoration, which ultimately finds a place in one of the mosques. Another camel
carries the _Kiswe Ji en nebbe_, a quantity of rich silk, covered with sentences from the Koran, embroidered in letters of gold.
It is annually supplied from Cairo for lining the temple at Mecca; the old one is returned and cut into small bits for distribution
among those of the faithful who are unable to make the pilgrimage.
The caravan starts from the Citadel, and there is generally a large crowd in attendance, to see it off. It has always been the
custom for the reigning Viceroy or Caliph to witness the departure of the caravan, but for two years the Khedive has not been
present in person. He has sent a deputy, in the shape of his son; the Viceroy or his deputy presents a purse of gold to the rider
of the camel to pay the expenses of the journey, and, formerly, this purse was noted for its size and weight. It has grown small by
degrees, and beautifully less, and the probability is that before many years, the presentation will cease altogether. The Khedive
shows a most emphatic desire to put an end to the useless and expensive mummeries that have been handed down to him from the early
days of Mohammedanism.
The return of the pilgrims is quite an event in Cairo, but not so great as the departure, for the reason that the caravan straggles
a great deal, and the individual members are inclined to hurry to their homes with as little delay as possible. Formerly there was a
suspension of labor and a grand festival, but at present there is little more than a procession of the returning pilgrims.
There is a much more disagreeable occurrence on the birthday of Mohammed, when the ceremony of the _doseh_ is performed.
The word in Arabic means “treading,” and is descriptive enough as far as it goes. The return of the pilgrims from Mecca is arranged
so that it falls near the anniversary of the _Moolid en-Nebbe_, or birthday of the Prophet. There are many festivities on this day
which correspond to our Christmas; services are held in all the mosques, and those who can afford a good dinner and {509}suit
of clothes are sure to have them. There are ceremonies not only in the mosques, but on the streets. Dervishes go about with pins
sticking through their flesh, or bearing heavy burdens, and show no signs of pain or fatigue.
Formerly there were dervishes who went about with coils of live serpents around them, and occasionally they amused the crowd by
eating one of the snakes. This pleasant practice has been discontinued, partly for the reason that many over-sensitive people
objected to it, and partly because the dervish stomach could not easily digest this irregular food. A man may eat a live snake, but
I doubt if he is likely to “hanker after it” any more than the countryman in the “crow” story.
The public squares are filled with booths, swings, and other means of amusement, and there is always a dense crowd around them.
Reciters of romance are numerous, and any person familiar with the language of the country may hear the tales of the Arabian Nights,
or similar works of fiction, chanted in slow, measured accents, by men who have carefully committed them to memory. Formerly there
were many _Ghawasee_, or dancing girls; their employments were not entirely confined to dancing, and their appearance in public has
been forbidden by the authorities. There are frequent processions of dervishes, and at night the streets are hung with lanterns and
otherwise made more gay than usual.
The ceremony of the _Doseh_ takes place just after the noon prayers, and a great crowd is always gathered to witness it. The
Sheik of the Saadeeyah dervishes passes the night and forepart of the day at the Mosque of Hassaneyn and devotes the time to the
repetition of prayers and invocations which shall fit him for the ceremony. When all is ready he mounts a horse and sets out,
accompanied by a numerous delegation of Moslems from various parts of the city. His horse is led by two men, and he proceeds at a
walking pace.
At the spot selected for the performance some two or three hundred persons lie down in the street, closely wedged together so that
they make a very fine imitation of a corduroy road. Their heads are all one way and resting upon their folded arms, and the crowd
ranges close against them in a very compact hedge. Their {510}backs are upward, and they mutter “Allah!”
“Allah!” without intermission while waiting the conclusion of the ceremony.
When the Sheik approaches this novel causeway his horse becomes restive, and refuses to go on, but he is pulled by the two men who
hold the bridle and urged by those behind so that he does not hesitate a great while. But evidently he does not like his employment.
[Illustration: 0525]
He ambles rather hastily over the human pavement, and toward the end he gives a jump that would break into a gallop were he not
restrained by the man at his bridle. The fellows forming the pavement rise up the instant the horse passes over them, and join the
crowd which presses from behind, with an irregular shout of “Allah! Allah!” and this is the ceremony of the _dosch_.
The Moslems insist that no harm comes to any one from the tread of the horse, as the dervishes are protected by the direct
interposition of Providence. Each person receives at least two treads from the horse’s feet, and in addition he has the gentle
footsteps of the two men leading the horse. One of these {511}worthies walks on the heads and the other on the feet of the prostrate
forms, and they endeavor to give everybody a show. They take short steps so that nobody shall be missed, and between them and the
horse, the corduroy performers ought to be satisfied. Whether from motives of delicacy or out of regard for the animate soil on
which they tread, these grooms walk barefooted, and carry their shoes in their hand. It is also worthy of remark that the horse
ridden by the Sheik is of medium size, and wears no shoes, and the Sheik is always a small man. In having a miracle wrought before
the eyes of the people, the Moslem priests are careful to make the conditions as easy as possible. They might select a horse of the
largest size, have him freshly and sharply shod and ridden by a Sheik whose weight would entitle him to the Presidency of the Fat
Men’s Association. But they know what they are about, and do nothing of the sort.
I have talked with Moslems and other residents of Cairo about the _dosch_. The former insist that the prostrate men are saved by
a miracle, while the latter believe that more or less harm comes every year to the performers, and is concealed by the rush of the
crowd from behind. Any cry of pain that may be uttered is completely drowned by the shouts of the crowd; the horse steps on that
portion of the body which is very useful in occupying a chair, and can sometimes be kicked with impunity, and it is possible that
his feet have no lasting impression.
At any rate not a shriek is heard, and no one is ever known by the public to have been injured. The dead and wounded, if any,
are dragged away and kept out of sight, and so great is Eastern stoicism, that not one of those trampled on will venture to give
utterance to his pain, as by so doing he would lose the protection of Allah; and be denied admission within the gates of Paradise!
When the Nile has reached a certain height during the period of the inundation, there is a ceremony of cutting the embankment and
allowing the water to spread over the land. This was formerly an affair of great consequence; its origin is unknown, as the custom
existed in the time of the Pharaohs, and among the earlier dynasties. The place selected is at the opening of the canal, a short
distance from old Cairo, and formerly nearly half the population turned out to see the performance. {512}At the appointed hour the
Governor of Cairo, or a deputy of the Pasha, makes his appearance, accompanied by a gorgeous retinue of officers, and preceded by a
band of music. When all is ready half a dozen men rush forward and open the embankment with hoes and spades, and instantly the water
rushes in and fills the bed of the canal. The governor then throws a handful of money into the canal, and this is scrambled for by a
crowd of boys, who stand ready for it.
Tradition says that formerly a virgin was thrown into the water and sacrificed to the river god, but the custom no longer prevails,
at least, in its original form. A pillar of earth is built up just below the opening, and dressed in white, and this is supposed to
represent the Bride of the Nile. Sometimes a doll is thrown into the water, as a substitute for the living girl formerly sacrificed;
whether the River God is satisfied with this offering, I am unable to say, but as the fertility of the Nile Valley is the same from
year to year, it is fair to presume that the sacrifice by proxy does not displease him.
There are several other ceremonies at Cairo, but they are steadily declining in importance as year after year rolls on. The
government is becoming more and more practical, with each succeeding change of seasons, and as the government goes the people
follow. Cairo was once a stronghold of Islam; to-day it has ceased to be a reliance of the Moslem power, and probably the end of the
century will see it far more Christian than Mohammedan in character. It has ceased to be a center of fanaticism, and a Christian may
now walk through all its streets without fear of insult on account of his religion.
{513}
[Illustration: 528]