changes which have taken place in that country. Ibn Djassau Oglu
has been raised to the Pashalik of Aleppo; he approached that town
with a large army, and promised safe conduct to all the Janissaries,
on condition, that they should give him up Ibrahim Aga Herbily. The
latter in vain offered to his comrades to defray all the expenses
of the war; they themselves laid hold of him and delivered him
to the Pasha, who soon afterwards found means to entice also the
other chiefs to his palace, where he had them all massacred. In
the possession of Ibrahim Herbily, who was cruelly tortured before
his death, forty thousand purses were found, the greater part of
which were hidden in the house of Raphael P———. Five hundred
Janissaries were killed. Mamuel, one of Mr. Barker’s, shared
the same fate. The Pasha has been quarrelling with all the Consuls
and has behaved extremely ill to the Franks. Soleyman Pasha still
keeps Acre, and has now the whole sea coast up to Latikia under his
orders. Soleyman Pasha of Damascus has already twice conducted the
Syrian war to Mekka, and remains in his government.
I hope that you have found Sir Joseph Banks in good health. That
venerable and noble minded patron of science has written me a letter
containing expressions which I could expect only from a parent. As
such I really revere him, and my gratitude towards him would alone
be sufficient to induce me to pursue my task, even if so many other
considerations of honour and duty did not concur in demanding from
me every exertion of my faculties towards this object.
During the succeeding nine months, the attention of Mr. Burckhardt
was almost entirely devoted to the regaining of his impaired
strength, and to the preparation of his Nubian and Arabian journals
for the Association. The following are extracts from three letters
addressed by him to the Secretary of the Association during this
period.
_Alexandria, 2d September,_ 1815.
I am sorry to say that the cure of my long protracted illness was
not so expeditious as the assurances of my physicians at Cairo led
me to expect. I had several relapses of my fever; the intense heat
contributed to weaken my system still more, nor was my remaining
strength supported by any confidence in the medical skill of the
persons who attended me: I determined therefore to go to Alexandria,
fully persuaded that the sea-breeze, and the society of Col. Missett
would powerfully co-operate to the re-establishment of my health. I
have now been here for the last sixteen days. Col. Missett’s
kind and generous hospitality is too well known to all Eastern
travellers, to stand in need of my commendations; the deplorable
state of his own health did not prevent him from watching with
the liveliest interest over the recovery of mine, and it is to his
attentions and the friendly assistance of Dr. Meryon, physician of
Lady H. Stanhope, whom her Ladyship had sent here to attend the
Colonel, that I attribute my present convalescence. Lady Hester
has been occupied travelling over Syria for the last three years,
and has established herself at Mar Elias, a convent above Seyda.
I shall leave Alexandria next week and return by way of Damietta
to Cairo, where I hope to finish my journals. The worst effects of
my fever were shewn in a depression and listlessness which seldom
permitted me to take up the pen. I hope however soon to make amends,
and to be able to put a speedy term to my stay in Egypt. Convinced
as I still am, that the Fezzan route presents fewer difficulties for
penetrating into Africa from the East, than any other, my departure
from Cairo must depend upon the arrival and redeparture of a Fezzan
caravan. I trust that I shall have a less severe trial of patience
than that which made me lose nearly a twelve month in Upper Egypt,
before I could find an eligible conveyance into Nubia; yet it was to
that patience that I owed the success of my journey, and I have laid
it down as an invariable rule never to sacrifice security to time,
however reluctantly I may submit to the privation of almost every
means of instruction, and to the total want of rational society. The
latter, which is but feebly felt in travelling, engrosses all one’s
leisure thoughts during the tediousness of a long protracted fixed
residence in any part of these uncivilised countries.
The city of Cairo has been lately exposed to serious
disturbances. The Pasha, after his return from Arabia, attempted to
introduce the Nizam Djedid, and began to drill both his infantry
and cavalry according to European tactics. The discontent of
the troops soon broke out into open rebellion, and Mohammed Aly,
who had carried his victorious arms to the remotest parts of the
Turkish empire, had the mortification to see his capital exposed to
the fury and avidity of his own soldiers, who stripped the greater
part of the shops, and sacked all the principal Bazars of the town,
after which they retreated quietly to their quarters, having in
vain endeavoured to break open the gate of the Frank street. The
Nizam Djedid has now been given up, and the Pasha, conscious of
the strength of the rebels, has not deemed it advisable to adopt
any strong measures of punishment; but in order to conciliate the
good will, and in case of need the assistance, of the town’s
people, he has reimbursed to them, out of his own pocket, the whole
amount of their loss, which has been calculated at four millions
of piastres. The rebellion happened during the first days of last
month. Many Franks have left Cairo. Several of them have been much
ill treated, and shot at by the soldiers, even after the two days
of plunder. It was the vulgar belief that the Franks had persuaded
the Pasha to the adoption of European tactics.
The Wahabi war draws to a conclusion. The Pasha on quitting Arabia
let his son Tousoun Pasha, at the head of his small army, in the
northern parts of the country. In April last, during the time of
my residence at Medina, Tousoun took possession of the province of
Kasyne, a fertile district between Medina and Derayeh, the chief
seat of the Wahabi; he fought there several battles with the Wahabi,
in one of which Ibrahim Aga, his treasurer, the first officer of
his court, was killed after a desperate resistance. This man, who
was Governor of Medina during the latter part of my stay there,
was a Scotchman, who had been taken at the battle of Rosetta, and
who had turned Turk and was become the favourite of Tousoun Pasha,
whose life he had once saved in an engagement with the Bedouins. His
determined bravery, and faithful attachment to the cause of the
Pasha would probably have procured him the rank of a Pasha of two
tails, if he had had the good fortune to return to Egypt. Before
he fell under the lances of the Wahabi he killed five of them
with his own hand. The Chief of the Wahabi, Abdallah Ibn Saoud,
was apprehensive that the repeated advantages gained by Tousoun
Pasha might cause the principal of his adherents to join his enemy;
he therefore commenced negotiations. In the month of June he paid
a visit to Tousoun Pasha, and although the articles of peace were
not ultimately settled during their conferences, yet little doubt
was entertained when the last dispatches were sent off from Arabia
that they would soon be concluded. Abdallah Ibn Saoud, in returning
to Derayeh, left his own child, two of his brothers, and upwards of
thirty of the principal Shikhs of Derayeh in the hands of Tousoun
Pasha, as hostages for his good behaviour. Mohammed Aly demands from
the Wahabi Chief an enormous sum in retribution of his pillaging
the temple of the Prophet at Medina; he endeavours to prevail upon
him to do hommage to the grand Signior for the possessions of the
Wahabi in Arabia, but leaves him in the exercise of his new religion,
provided he takes no further steps for propagating it.
_Cairo, 8th February,_ 1816.
I have the honour of enclosing herewith the journal of my tour
through Nubia, from Upper Egypt to Souakin and Djidda. It has been
ready for some time, but the hope of the arrival of a slave caravan
which is daily expected, had made me delay its dispatch, in order to
be able to clear up some doubts from the testimony of these traders,
whom I might have examined here with much more leisure and safety
than I could do in their own country. The caravan however is not yet
arrived, and as I wish this to reach you before the yearly meeting
of the African Association, I send it off at present, reserving the
additional remarks and notes for a future period. I am busy now in
arranging my Arabian journals, which are more voluminous than the
enclosed, because I found myself more at liberty, and much less
observed at Mekka and Medina than I was in Soudan.
I am sorry to say that my hopes of departing from Cairo are not
likely to be quickly realised. No Moggrebyn caravan has arrived,
although the yearly epoch of its arrival in Egypt has long passed
by. Almost out of patience myself, I am little able to intreat my
employers not to lose theirs; but if my former labours have convinced
them that I am averse from trusting my hopes to the chances of rash
and ill-prepared measures they will also (I hope) have experienced
that I am not likely to give up projects to which I have once pledged
myself. My success must be the fruit of patience and caution, and I
should be wanting in duty both to my employers and myself, as well
as in the gratitude which I owe to providence for having hitherto
bestowed success upon my patience, if I were now to lose it. I am
far from feeling myself comfortable in Egypt, and every private
motive engages me to wish for a speedy departure from this country.
Tousoun Pasha, left by his father Aly as governor of Arabia,
concluded, in June, 1815, a treaty of peace with the Wahabi. The
possession of the whole desert and the far greater part of the
Bedouin tribes were given up to them, while the holy cities
with their territories were acknowledged as dependencies of the
Sultan. The Wahabi promised to put no obstacles in the way of
the great pilgrim caravans. But it is contrary to the politics of
Mohammed Aly to quell that war entirely, for he knows that as long
as Arabia is in an unsettled state, and Mekka in danger, he becomes
necessary to the Mussulman world in his governorship of Egypt, of
which he might possibly be soon deprived if the Hedjaz was quiet;
he has therefore refused to ratify the treaty, and his younger son,
Ibrahim Pasha, is now proceeding to Arabia with a new armament of
troops. The expenses of the war are covered by the income of Djidda
and the great profits accruing to the Pasha from his monopolies
in the trade of the Arabian coast. A lucky chance has put me in
possession of very interesting papers concerning this Wahabi war,
which together with the information I collected in the Hedjaz,
will enable me to throw considerable light upon the whole Wahabi
sect and their affairs.
For three successive years the plague has raged at Cairo, and great
apprehensions are entertained of its return this spring. If it be
so I shall neither imitate my Mussulman neighbours in taking no
precaution whatever against its attacks, nor the Greeks and Franks
who shut themselves up for three or four months in their houses
as close prisoners; but I shall leave the infected borders of the
Nile, and seek for refuge among the Bedouins. As I have at present
completely recovered my health, which I principally ascribe to an
excursion through the Delta, after my visit to Alexandria, I do not
despair, provided my health keeps pace with my spirits for the next
three or four years, to bring my labours to a successful completion.
I send this with a messenger to Alexandria, from whence it will be
forwarded by Col. Missett. It has been my peculiar good fortune
to have met in Syria and in Egypt with such men as Mr. Barker
and Col. Missett. The latter is now on the point of retiring from
office, for his infirmities increase rapidly, and the climate of
Egypt is little calculated to remove them. His public and private
virtues are such as will ever make him regretted by the Europeans
of this country, whose zealous protector he has often been, in most
trying circumstances, and to many a kind benefactor. I have known
few men who treat and know Turks so well as he does. His rigid
integrity, his accuracy in business, and his inflexible firmness,
are the only checks which Mohammed Aly has experienced in his
relations with European governments, for the other Consuls are
under such great obligations to him that they never dare uphold
their nation’s interests when they are in opposition to those
of the Pasha. Nevertheless, the urbanity and generosity of the
Colonel’s character conciliated the friendship of all the Turks
who were known to him, and he departs sincerely regretted both
by Egyptians and Europeans, but particularly by myself, who have
always experienced from him the most friendly solicitude.
_Cairo, 18th April,_ 1816.
I depart the day after to morrow for Mount Sinai. The plague has
declared itself in this town, and all the Franks are shut up. I
should not like to imitate them, and still less to expose myself
to the infection. As the disorder is likely to spread among the
villages on the Nile, I have thought that I could not do better
than retire while it lasts to the Bedouins, who among their many
advantages over the settled Arabs, enjoy a total exemption from
the plague. I shall endeavour to push on as far as Akaba, and trace
the direction of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, which, as far as
I know, has never been seen by European travellers.
In the following letter Mr. Burckhardt furnishes the Association
with a short account of the result of his journey in the peninsula
of Mount Sinai.
_Cairo, 1st July,_ 1816.
I acquainted you in a former letter with my intention to pass the
time of the plague in the desert of Sinai. My return to Cairo was
about the time when the infection usually ceases. From the convent
of Mount Sinai I made an excursion towards the eastern gulf of the
Red Sea, which I followed up nearly in its whole length, till I came
within sight of Akaba (Elana, not Ezion Geber). Circumstances did not
permit me to visit that spot itself, but I could see enough to trace
the direction of the gulf as well as of the chains of mountains by
which this part of Arabia is linked to Syria. The sea of Elana is
much narrower than that of Suez. Close to the shore, on both sides,
are high mountains; its main direction is more easterly than is
generally laid down upon the maps. Bedouin of the Arabian coast
navigate it, in open boats, in which they carry their cattle to
the inhabitants of the peninsula for sale, and they fish for pearls
in several parts of it. Excepting a small island, called El Deyr,
not far west of Akaba, where some ruins are seen, no vestiges of
ancient settlers, which could be attributed to the Israelites, fell
under my observation. At Wady Fizan (one day and a half S. W. of the
convent of Sinai), are some remains of small towns, of the date of
the Lower Empire, erected at the time when the monastic order had
spread over the whole peninsula, which appears to have contained at
that time a great number of convents, forming an establishment much
resembling that existing now at Mount Athos. The most interesting
antiquities are the celebrated inscriptions of Wady Mekatteb,
which have never been fully copied yet; and which are so numerous,
that they would afford several days labour even to an experienced
draughtsman. I have met with similar inscriptions in many other parts
of the mountain, but invariably to the West of Djebel Mousa, which
is a strong argument in favour of the belief, that the authors of
them were pilgrims coming from Egypt; and not Israelite shepherds,
as many have supposed. They evidently appear to be mere names, to
which the sign [Digamma-like symbol] is always prefixed. I saw no
inscriptions of more than a line or two; it appears that each pilgrim
in passing wrote his name, and the inscribed rocks are constantly
found on the side of the different great roads, leading from Suez
to Djebel Sinai, usually near the resting places, which were chosen
where some impending rock afforded shelter from the sun; and where
the same convenience still induces travellers to halt. In the lower
part of the mountains the inscriptions are cut in sand stone, in the
higher upon granite; the characters have no depth, but upon granite
even this would be a labour exceeding the strength and leisure of
ordinary pilgrims. The want of water, especially about Wady Mekatteb,
precludes the idea of an army having passed that way, the soldiers of
which might have wished to perpetuate their names. Perhaps some of
the drawings of animals, particularly those of camels and mountain
goats, (in Arabic “Beden,” which are to this day very common
in the mountain) may have been done by the Israelite shepherds;
I saw similar drawings, without inscriptions, upon rocks not far
from Akaba. Upon the whole these inscriptions appear to me to have
a strong resemblance to some I have seen in Nubia, written in the
ancient Egyptian current character; some letters at least appear
to be common to both. My opinion is that they were the work of
Egyptian Christians, or perhaps Jews, during the first centuries
of our era. Besides those of Wad Mekatteb, the most numerous and
well written, are those at the foot, on the declivity, and at the
summit of Djebel Serbal, a high mountain, apparently the highest of
the whole chain, situated S. W. b. W. from the convent about forty
miles distant, and which, as far as I know, has not been ascended by
any former traveller. Many circumstances indicate that its pointed
summit was once the object of a pilgrimage. Artificial steps lead
up to it, and the inscriptions about the top are innumerable. From
what causes this mountain derived its sanctity, I could not learn,
neither from the Arabs nor the priests of the convent, who were
even ignorant of the ruins of a large convent, situated near the
foot of Djebel Serbal.
A botanist would find a rich harvest in these high regions, in
the most elevated parts of which, a variety of sweet scented herbs
grow. The Bedouins collect to this day the manna, under the very same
circumstances described in the books of Moses. Whenever the rains
have been plentiful during the winter, it drops abundantly from
the tamarisk (in Arabic Tarfa); a tree very common in the Syrian
and Arabian deserts, but producing, as far as I know, no manna
any where else. They gather it before sunrise, because if left in
the sun it melts; its taste is very sweet, much resembling honey;
they use it as we do sugar, principally in their dishes composed of
flour. When purified over the fire, it keeps for many months; the
quantity collected is inconsiderable, because it is exclusively the
produce of the Tarfa, which tree is met with only in a few valleys
at the foot of the highest granite chain. The inhabitants of the
Peninsula, amounting to almost four thousand, complain of the want
of rain and of pasturage; the state of the country must therefore
be much altered from what it was in the time of Moses, when all the
tribes of Beni Israel found food here for their cattle. About the
highest part of the peninsula, springs and wells are in plenty; in
the middle parts and near the shore water is scarce. The present
inhabitants are a motley crowd of Bedouins from all quarters,
Arabians, Syrians, Egyptians, Moggrebyns, united at present in
three tribes, who are called masters of Sina, and who live like
true Bedouins. They are in possession of several fruitful valleys
where date trees grow, and where agriculture is practised by a minor
set of Arabs, the descendants of Christian families, servants of
the convents, who turned Mussulmans in the sixteenth century, and
are no longer to be distinguished from their neighbours. To trace
the route of the Israelites in this desert becomes very difficult,
from the change which the proper names seem to have undergone. I
could find very few watering places, whose names correspond with
those in the Arabic version of the scriptures, although there are
several principal valleys and watering places, which must have
been in the time of Moses, as they are now, the main places of
resort of the shepherds of this province. About half way from Ras
Abou Mohammed to Akaba, lies Dahab. (Deuter. I. i.), an anchoring
place, with date plantations, and several mounds of rubbish covering
perhaps ancient Hebrew habitations; five hours north of Ras Abou
Mohammed lies the harbour of Sherm, the only one on this coast
frequented by large ships. In its neighbourhood are volcanic rocks;
I could find no others of that description in any part of the Sinai
deserts, although the Arabs as well as the priests of the convent,
pretend that from the mountain of Om Shommar (about eight hours
S. S. W. from Djebel Mousa), loud explosions are sometimes heard,
accompanied with smoke. I visited that mountain, but searched in vain
for any traces indicating a volcano. The library of the convent of
Mount Sinai contains a vast number of Arabic MSS. and Greek books;
the former are of little literary value; of the latter I brought
away two beautiful Aldine editions, a Homer, and an Anthology. The
priests would not show me their Arabic memorandum books, previous
to the fifteenth century. From those I saw, I copied some very
interesting documents concerning the former state of the country,
and their quarrels with the Bedouins.
On my return to Cairo, on the 14th of June, Mr. Salt delivered
to me a couple of pocket compasses, and a letter, to my address,
which you had ordered to be forwarded to him. This letter was from
my mother; and I can find no terms adequate to express my thanks
for your kindness in informing my mother of my welfare, and of the
satisfaction which my services have caused to my employers. Next
to the desire of contenting the latter, that of contributing to the
happiness of my mother is the most fervent I have in this world. So
flattering a testimony as that which came from you, could not fail
to excite in her heart very lively emotions, and has created in mine
sentiments of lasting and heartfelt gratitude towards their authors.
I can still give you no hopes of my speedy departure from hence. The
time has gone by when the Fezzan caravan might have arrived at
Cairo, and I am left in a state of suspense in which I master with
difficulty my impatience. My uneasiness encreases by the reflection
that this prolonged stay in Egypt may be falsely interpreted in
England, by those who do not know me personally. Yet I cannot prevail
upon myself to take a false inconsiderate step; and however acute my
feelings may be on that score, I will rather expose myself to the
temporary imputation of a neglect of duty, than act with rashness
and against my conviction. Futurity alone can shew whether I was
worthy of the full confidence of my employers, or not. If, as it
is said, the great Moggrebyn pilgrim caravan is to pass here on
its way to Mekka in October, I may perhaps join it on its return,
if no earlier occasion offers. I shall thus be enabled to reach
Fezzan by a circuitous route. Of this I shall of course give the
African Association further advice, if I should resolve upon it.
Mr. Salt I believe has already acquainted you with our project of
conveying the fine granite head of the Memnonium to Alexandria,
with the intention of sending it to England, and of offering it
in our joint names to the British Museum. You know that beautiful
specimen of Egyptian workmanship; the impression which it made upon
you and your travelling companions in Upper Egypt, was the chief
incitement to Mr. Salt, who had not yet seen it, to engage in the
proposed scheme. Mr. Belzoni, a Roman, lately in the service of the
Pasha, who is a good mechanician, has had proper machines made here
for its transport, and is gone to Gorne to fetch it. Mr. Salt and
myself have made a common purse to defray the expenses of the land
and water carriage, &c. and have given Mr. Belzoni the necessary
instructions. If we do not succeed, our intentions at least were too
good to be laughed at, but should the head reach its destination,
and become as it deserves to be, an object of general admiration,
it will afford me infinite satisfaction to have been a promoter
of this enterprize. The heads of the colossi, at Ebsambal (See my
journal in Nubia.) bear a great likeness to this, with the difference
that they are of sand stone. The expression of the face is the same;
perhaps a little more gravity is perceived in those of Nubia, but the
incomparable serenity, and godlike mildness are remarkable in both.