city. It has been originally walled, but at present only fragments
remain. The dimensions of the city from North to South[14] greatly
exceed those from East to West. There are several open spaces,
but the houses, generally speaking, are close to each other. The
_Chalige_, which pierces the city from North to South, commencing near
Misr-el-Attiké, assumes various aspects, according to the season of
the year. Its most permanent character is that of a dunghill, a public
receptacle for all kinds of offal. Before the rise of the Nile, it is
cleaned, and becomes a street; it is then filled by the increase of
the river, and exhibits the appearance of a canal covered with boats.
Here it may be remarked in general concerning that noble river,
that its rise seems to remain the same as in the most antient
times, namely, sixteen cubits, or twenty-four feet in perpendicular
height. The medium increase is nearly four inches a-day; and takes
place, as is well known, from the end of June to the beginning
of September, from which period to the following solstice it is
gradually falling, again to rise. Those versed in antient astronomy
know, that the rise of the river was indicated by the heliacal rising
of Sirius, or the Dogstar, a few mornings before; whence that star
was denominated, as resembling the fidelity of a dog, in warning
his master to remove his effects from the ravages of the stream. It
is asserted that Sihor, or Sihir, is an antient name of the Nile,
as well as the Indus, whence _Siris_, corruptly _Sirius_, another
appellation of the most brilliant of all the fixed stars.
Mr. Gray’s well-known description of Egypt, as immersed under the
influx of the Nile, is exquisitely poetical, but far from just. In
Upper Egypt the river is confined by high banks, which prevent
any inundation into the adjacent country. This is also the case
in Lower Egypt, except at the extremities of the Delta, where the
Nile is never more than a few feet below the surface of the ground,
and where inundation of course takes place. But the country, as may
be expected, is without habitations. The fertility of Egypt arises
from human art. The lands near the river are watered by machines;
and if they extend to any width, canals have been cut. The soil in
general is so rich as to require no manure. It is a pure black mould,
free from stones, and of a very tenacious and unctuous nature. When
left uncultivated, I have observed fissures, arising from the extreme
heat, of which a spear of six feet could not reach the bottom.
The greatest breadth of this majestic river may be computed at two
thousand feet, or about a third of a mile. Its motion is even slower
than that of the Thames, and does not exceed three miles an hour. The
water is always muddy: in April and May, when it is clearest, it has
still a cloudy hue. When it overflows, the colour is a dirty red. It
is replete with a variety of fish; those I have chiefly observed are,
_Bûlti_, Labrus Niloticus; _Kelb-el-bahr_; _Farhôn_; _Charmût_,
a round fish about eight inches long, and said to be poisonous;
_Tabân-el-bahr_, the eel, Muræna Anguilla; _Nefâsh_, apparently
a species of salmon, and found of very large size. It seems not
now determinable of what species, or whether of any now known,
was the fish called _Oxyrynchus_, so famous in the antiquities of
Egypt. D’Anville says it is the one now called _Kesher_. The best is
the _Bûlti_, somewhat like the white trout, but sometimes attaining
such a size as to weigh fifty pounds. Except good and large eels,
none of the fish have a strict similitude of the European.
From Kâhira to Assûan, a distance of about three hundred and sixty
miles, the banks, except where rocky, present no natural plant; they
somewhat resemble the steps of stairs, and are sown with all sorts
of esculent vegetables, chiefly that useful plant the _Bamea_. It
grows to a little more than three feet in height, with leaves like
those of the currant-bush; and produces oblong aculeated pods,
which lend a pleasant flavour to the repast.
Among several kinds of water-fowl which frequent the Nile, may be
mentioned what is here called the Turkey goose, _Anas Nilotica_,
LIN. a large fowl, the flesh of which is palatable and salubrious
food.
Other striking and antient features of this distinguished stream, are
the rafts of _Belasses_, or large white jars, used for carrying water;
little rafts of gourds, on which a single person conducts himself
with great philosophical dignity across the stream; and the divers,
who, concealing their heads in pumpkins, approach the water-fowl
unperceived, and seize them by the legs. Concerning the crocodile
and hippopotamus so much has been said, that I despair of adding any
thing new. The latter I never saw or heard of in Egypt; in Nubia they
are said to abound. The crocodile itself seems reduced in number,
and is confined to the district above Assiût, where he is dangerous
to bathers. A young man bathing at Dendera, a day or two before I
arrived, had his leg bitten off by one of those unwieldy animals.
Parallel to the _Chalige_[15] runs the principal street. It should
be observed that the houses of the Europeans are all on the
_Chalige_, the stench of which has been supposed to operate in
producing the pestilence, to which that order of men is however
the least subject. The mosques in Kahira are computed at more
than three hundred; four or five of them far exceeding the rest in
splendor. The _Jama el Az-her_ is a very considerable eleemosynary
establishment, supplying chiefly poor ecclesiastics, to the amount of
some thousands, with broth and other articles. Most of the mendicants
in Kahira are ecclesiastics, who urge their studies as an excuse for
idleness. Blindness, I know not from what cause, affecting one or
both eyes, is extremely common among the Egyptian beggars. The mosque
called _Jama el Az-her_ is one of the most magnificent of Kahira,
ornamented with pillars of marble, and Persian carpets. The property
attached to this mosque is immense. A shech, being an ecclesiastic
of the highest order, presides over the establishment; which also
supports a number of persons distinguished for their profound skill
in theology, and accurate knowlege of literal Arabic. It is furnished
with an extensive collection of MSS. and lectures are read on all
subjects which are here called _scientific_, being commonly removed
farthest from science.
The other mosques most frequented are, that of _Sultan el Ghouri_,
_el Hassanein_, and, of later date, that erected by Mohammed Bey
Abudhahab. For the construction of the latter the most costly
materials were provided, and it is esteemed a _chêf-d’œuvre_
of oriental magnificence.
The Saracenic structure on the island _Rouda_, which contains the
_Mokkias_, or Nilometer, has been represented in various designs, and
repeatedly described. The graduation of it is confused, imperfect,
and not to be depended on: so that they who would inform themselves
correctly as to the Nile’s increase, should make their observation
on some smooth surface, washed by the river, and perpendicular to
its plane; never depending on the public report, which the cryers
are suborned to make agreeable to the will of government; and which
at the beginning of the increase generally exceeds the truth, and
afterwards falls short of it.
Large and sumptuous reservoirs are found in various parts of the
city, where water is given to passengers. Baths, adorned with marble,
and provided with every possible convenience, and plenty of water,
also abound. The attendants are extremely dextrous, and the charge
very reasonable.
The Okals, or warehouses, are spacious, strongly built, commodious and
clean. These are for wholesale goods. For retail, are the bazârs, as
_Khân Chalîl_, _Hamsâwi_, &c. extensive buildings, with convenient
shops, each trade in its allotted quarter, and copiously supplied
with every commodity.
Through the greater part of the city the houses are built with stone,
two, or sometimes three stories high, with flat roofs. The windows of
the upper stories are latticed, the ground floor being either a shop
or having no windows to the street. Sometimes the lattices suffice;
a few have paper windows, some of the rich have glass.
The houses of the great chiefly surround _Birket-el-fîl_, a pool
which receives the Nile water from the _Chalige_. The palace of
a Bey contains a square court, one or two sides occupied by his
Mamlûks. Apart is the Harem. The room in which the Bey generally
sits in summer has a contrivance in the roof to admit a copious
supply of fresh air. In Kahira fire is only employed in cookery,
the effects of cold being sufficiently obviated by warmer clothing.
The apartments of the women are furnished with the finest and most
expensive articles; but those of the men are only remarkable for
a plain style of neatness. The houses in general are irregular,
but substantial and commodious.
The Mamlûks breakfast before sun-rise, make their second meal
at ten, and the third about five in the afternoon. Animal food
abounds. A large dish of pilau appears in the middle of the table,
surrounded with small dishes of meat, fish, and fowls. The meat is
cut into minute pieces before it be dressed. Drink only water, and
immediately after the meal, coffee is served. At the tables of the
great _sherbet_ is introduced. Egypt produces no wine; the Greeks
and Franks procure that commodity from other quarters.
The Egyptians still make a fermented liquor of maize, millet, barley
or rice, but it bears little resemblance to our ale. It is of a light
colour, and in the hot season will not keep above a day; but it is
sufficiently pleasant to the taste. It is drank in considerable
quantities in Kahira and in Saïd. The native Christians mostly
distil for themselves, from dates, a liquor called by the general
name _Araki_; it is also made from currants, or the small grapes
imported from Cerigo.
When brought into the houses, the water of the Nile is put into jars,
called _hammam_, previously rubbed, in the inside, with a kind of
paste, made of bitter almonds. Thus preserved, it becomes quite
clear and limpid in two hours. But it is often drank in its most
muddy state, without any ill effects.
The eyes and fingers are the only parts of a woman that are
visible in public. In general, the women of Kahira are not tall,
but well formed. The upper ranks tolerably fair, in which and
in fatness, consist the chief praises of beauty in the Egyptian
climate. They marry at fourteen or fifteen, and at twenty are
passed their prime. For what reason the natives of hot climates
ordinarily prefer women of large persons, I have not been able to
discover. Nevertheless, the Coptic women have interesting features,
large black eyes, and a genteel form.
The population of Kahira consists, 1. of the Arabs, or lower class
of Mohammedans, who form the body of the people, and who pride
themselves in the name of _ibn Arab_, son of an Arabian. 2. Of the
Coptic Christians, who form a considerable number, here and in Upper
Egypt; in the Delta they are rare. 3. Mamlûks. I was assured that,
during the last eleven years, not fewer than sixteen thousand white
slaves, of both sexes, have been imported into Egypt. A plague had
carried off a thousand Mamlûks, and other causes had reduced their
number to about eight thousand, so that there was a great demand
for the article. Still I cannot venture to estimate the number of
Mamlûks at more than ten or twelve thousand. 4. Greeks, Syrians, and
Armenians; Muggrebîns, from Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco, who have a
quarter to themselves, are remarkable for industry and frugality,
and are attracted hither by the great profits of trade. Other
Mohammedans from Arabia Proper, and yet farther East. There are very
few Turks established in Egypt, but many come hither on business,
and return to Constantinople. Jews were once numerous, but are now
on the decrease. Exclusively of negro slaves in every house, there
are blacks from Nubia, who act as porters at the gates of the rich,
and sometimes sell _bouza_ and eatables.
In general, the total population of Kahira cannot certainly be
estimated at less than three hundred thousand souls. Egypt may
contain, in all, two millions and a half.
In speaking of the population of Egypt, and other countries under
the same circumstances, it may be remarked, that among ourselves,
to obtain a tolerably correct knowlege of the number of people
in a town or city, it is sufficient to know the number of houses,
and the average number of inhabitants in each house. In Egypt the
case is widely different. A large proportion of the people has no
visible dwelling. The slightest shelter suffices to protect them from
the inconsiderable variations of a regular climate, and obscurity,
under the falcon eye of power always a blessing, is here sought with
peculiar avidity.
Of all those descriptions of men, the Copts, or original inhabitants,
most interest curiosity. There are some peculiarities of feature
common to all of them. I was not struck with any resemblance of the
negro features or form. Their hair and eyes are indeed of a dark hue,
and the former is often curled; but not in a greater degree than
is occasionally seen among Europeans. The nose is often aquiline,
and though the lips be sometimes thick, by no means generally so;
and on the whole, a strong resemblance may be traced between the
form of visage in the modern Copts, and that presented in the antient
mummies, paintings, and statues.
Their complexion, like that of the Arabs, is of a dusky brown;
it is represented of the same colour in the paintings which I have
seen in the tombs of Thebes.
The Coptic language may be considered as extinct. Numerous and minute
researches have enabled me to ascertain this fact. In Upper Egypt,
however, they unknowingly retain some Coptic words, such as _Boyúni_,
the name of a month.
Nevertheless, in the Coptic monasteries, the prayers are read in
Arabic, and the epistle and gospel in Coptic; but the priest is a
mere parrot, repeating a dead letter. Coptic manuscripts are found
in some of the convents, and leave to copy them might be obtained
from the Patriarch.
Their creed is the Monothelite, or Eutychian heresy. The solely divine
nature of Christ, the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father
alone. The Copts embrace transubstantiation; in which, and other
points, the Catholics of Kahira think they approach their faith nearer
than the Greeks. Yet the Copts have adopted from the Mohammedans
the custom of frequent prostrations during divine service, and of
public individual prayer; of ablution after the conjugal rites, &c.
The Copts are an acute and ingenious people. They are generally
writers and accomptants. In business they accumulate money steadily,
without shew; long experience having taught them, what the other
Christians have yet to learn, that, under an arbitrary government,
obscurity is safety. Melancholic in their temperament, but when called
into action, industrious and laborious. Otherwise, fond of their
distilled liquor, and rather licentious in their amours. The Copts
are zealous in their faith, and their ecclesiastics are numerous.
It is remarkable, that in Egypt the children of Europeans seldom
survive their second or third year. This proceeds, it is likely,
from the improper warmth of place and clothing, in which they are
kept by the injudicious fondness of their parents, while the children
of the natives run about almost naked, and enjoy a constitution firm
and vigorous.
CHAP. VI.
KAHIRA.
_Commerce — Manufactures — Mint — Castle and well — Misr
attiké — Antient mosque — Antient Babylon — Fostat — Bulak
— Jizé — Tomb of Shafei — Pleasure-boats — Charmers of
Serpents — Magic — Dancing girls — Coffee-houses — Price of
provisions — Recent history of Egypt — Account of the present
Beys._
Before the revolution in commerce, occasioned by the discovery of the
passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, that of Kahira was very
extensive. It has since gradually declined, and is now restricted
to the following articles.
From Yemen are imported coffee, odours, gems, and several useful
drugs. From Surat, and other neighbouring parts of India, muslins
and various articles of cotton manufacture, a portion of the spices
of Ceylon; shawls from Cashmîr.
Kahira may still be regarded as the metropolis of the trade of
eastern Africa, as Tripoli chiefly possesses that of the west. A
few slaves are brought from Habbesh (Abyssinia) by the way of Jidda
and Mecca. Caravans pass to and from Sennaar, Dar-Fûr, and Fezzan,
bringing slaves, gold-dust, ivory, horns of Rhinoceros, Ostrich
feathers, gum, drugs.
There is another uncertain caravan from Morocco, which employs
five thousand camels for merchandise; part passes to Mecca, and
part remains to transact business, and await the return of the
pilgrims. The other caravans are merely for the carriage of goods;
and the camels are supplied by the Arabs, who rove through the
deserts which form the boundaries of Egypt.
The navigation of the Red Sea cannot be conducted upon worse
principles than it is by the Egyptians and Arabs. The ships are
constructed on a wrong plan, being sharp, while the shallows and rocks
require vessels that draw little water; and they are overcharged with
passengers and goods. Hence the passage would be dangerous, even
if managed by able navigators; but the mariners here are extremely
unskilful, and only pique themselves on avoiding the sunk rocks near
the shore, in which it must be confessed they are very dextrous. The
ships employed by persons residing in Egypt are thirty-seven in
number, so far as I could learn from an agent at Suez, and so many are
lost, that the continual building barely supplies the usual number.
European imports in general have been specified under the head
Alexandria. From Tunis and Tripoli are brought oil, red caps,
of a particular manufacture, for which Tunis is famous, and fine
flannel, used for garments by the Bedouins and others. From Syria
arrive cotton, silk, crude and manufactured, soap, tobacco, beads of
glass. From Constantinople, besides white slaves, male and female,
all kinds of brass, copper, and iron manufactures.
Proceeding to exports, those to Europe have been mentioned in
treating of Alexandria, and those to Dar-Fûr shall be enumerated
when we come to visit that kingdom. To Sennaar and Fezzan, the
same with Dar-Fûr. Hedjas, in Arabia, is wholly supplied with
grain from Egypt, but the trade to India and Jidda is carried on
chiefly by money. To Constantinople, black slaves, chiefly eunuchs,
great quantities of coffee, and some Indian goods, though these be
for the most part conveyed thither by caravans.
Egypt was formerly the granary of Rome and of Constantinople. The
exports of rice remain very great, with considerable quantities of
wheat from Upper Egypt, in favourable years. No oats are seen in
Egypt; and the barley is consumed by the horses.
To Syria are exported rice, crude leather, flax, and sometimes wheat.
The manufactures at Kahira are not numerous. The sugar cane
being cultivated with ease in Egypt, it was manufactured in great
quantities at Kahira, so as to supply Constantinople. But a capital
being requisite, Government made demands on it which crushed the
trade. The sugar, though of less strength than that of the West
Indies, was nevertheless well refined, of a close texture, pure and
of a light white. It is now extremely bad, and so scarce as to sell
for fourteen pence the pound, retail.
The sal ammoniac made at Kahira is of a very good quality. Glass
lamps, saltpetre, and gun-powder, red and yellow leather, for
home-consumption. There is a great manufacture of linen cloth made
of the fine Egyptian flax.
The mode almost peculiar to Kahira, of hatching eggs without incubation,
has been very minutely described by former travellers.—The practice is
said by the Egyptians to proceed from the experience that, at a certain
season, the eggs fostered only by the hens are commonly unprolific. Of
those hatched in the ovens, on the contrary, not quite one third is
lost.—The ovens where these eggs are placed are of the most simple
construction, consisting only of a low arched apartment of clay. Two
rows of shelves are formed, and the eggs placed on each in such a manner
as not to touch each other. They are slightly moved five or six times in
twenty-four hours, and the whole time they are in the oven does not
exceed twenty-two days, when the chickens free themselves from the
shell. All possible care is taken to diffuse the heat equally
throughout, and there is but one small aperture, large enough to admit
a man stooping. During the first eight days the heat is rendered great,
and, during the last eight is gradually diminished; till at length, when
the young brood is ready to come forth, it is reduced almost to the
state of the natural atmosphere. At the end of the first eight days, it
is known which eggs will not be productive. Those who have eggs to be
hatched, bring them to the master of the oven, and contract to pay so
much a hundred; and when the chickens appear, he receives his money
on delivering them. Those which have not succeeded, are required to
be produced. The oven is public property.
Kahira is the only mint for Egypt, where they strike in gold mahbûbs
and half mahbûbs; the first about five shillings in value. In copper
washed with silver the small coins worth about a halfpenny, and
called in Turkish _paras_, in Arabic _diwani_, _fuddha_, or _maidi_:
by European writers, _aspers_, and _medines_. On one side is the
name of the reigning Sultan, on the reverse, _Misr_, and the date.
The mint is fixed in the castle, built by the celebrated _Yussuf
abu Moddafar ibn Aiûb_, whose title of honour was Salah-eddîn,
in the sixth century of Mohammedism. The people of the country,
who are in the habit of confounding all history and chronology,
attribute it to Joseph the son of Isaac, whose palace they say it
was; but it is unnecessary to confute an opinion wholly unsupported
by facts. Including the quarters of the Janizaries and Assabs (the
latter of whom no longer exist), the building occupies a large
space. But it is irregular, and the Pasha’s apartments are mean
and incommodious. The well is of great depth, and has been hewn with
much labour through the solid rock, but as that rock is of a soft
nature, the magnitude of the work is not comparable to that of some
excavations which have been executed in several other places. The
broken remains of the palace of Salah-eddîn, are indeed worthy of
remark. An apartment of great length overlooks the city, the river,
and the adjacent country; and several beautiful columns raise their
heads out of the general wreck. In a chamber of this building is
fabricated the embroidered cloth, which the munificence of the Porte
annually devotes to the use of the _Kaba_.
Misr-el-Attiké, to the South of the present city, is pleasantly
situated, and well inhabited. It can now only be esteemed a faux-bourg
of the former. A mosque there, said, probably without reason, to
have been built by order of the Chalîfé Omar, was lately rescued
from the oblivion to which it was hastening, by the mandate of Murad
Bey. This mosque is a building of great extent; there may be thirty
or thirty-five columns remaining in their original position. The rest
have been reversed, and again set up without any regard to order. The
most perfect remain is a small octagon building in the middle of
the mosque, supported by eight Corinthian columns, the shaft, about
ten feet high, of blue-and-white marble. In this small edifice is
a chamber, which is said never to have been opened. Multitudes of
columns appear around, to the number of more than a hundred, some in
black marble, one has a small cavity, fabled an impression made by
the hand of the Prophet. The cement is so hard as to evince that the
Saracens were no strangers to the antient mode of preparing it. Many
arches of an elliptical form remain, and some inscriptions, on the
West, probably the place of the antient gate, as it is of the modern.