new discovered continuation of the entrance passage was opened in
the time of the Khalif who opened the pyramid, and that it has been
choaked up ever since. If I am to believe Sherif Edrys, the author
of a history of the Pyramids, a book, I believe, unknown in Europe,
and which I have lately purchased here, the interior of the pyramid
is full of passages and rooms, and several sarcophagi are yet to be
discovered. This author wrote in the twelfth century, and himself
minutely examined the pyramid.
I cannot dismiss the subject of Egyptian antiquities, without saying
a word of Mr. Drovetti’s collection. It is certainly at present the
finest of all those extant, in Italy, France, and England. There
are few large statues, but great numbers of middle sized, and
an innumerable series of idols, scarabees, medals, intaglios, and
other articles illustrative of the religion and domestic life of the
Egyptians, their dress, furniture, &c. &c. His rolls of papyrus are
particularly valuable. He has ten quite entire, three of which are,
I believe, the largest ever found in this country, together with a
great number of smaller ones; and a large Coptic manuscript, written
upon gazelle skin, found in the island of Omke, above the cataract
of Wady Halfa. Many large specimens of Egyptian sculpture may yet
be obtained, but it will be long before so complete a collection
of smaller articles will be collected by one person. Mr. Drovetti
has been for twelve years a person of great influence, and even
power in Egypt; and his great object has been, to augment his
collection, for which purpose he employed people in every part of
the country. As it often happens in the Levant, with Europeans, long
settled there, mercantile and pecuniary interests have at last got
the better of his love for antiquity, and Mr. Drovetti having now
turned corn-dealer, is desirous of converting his collection into
cash. It would certainly be most desirable to have the collection in
England. I believe that it has cost him about fifteen hundred pounds,
and is certainly worth three or four times that sum in Europe.
I am in anxious expectation of a caravan for Lybia, and I have been
long prepared to start at the shortest notice; I shall now leave
Egypt with the more pleasure, because I shall not have to regret
the abandoning of my journals in a rude state, which would have
been the case if I had departed last year; for it will afford me
no small consolation in my future travels, to think that whatever
may be my fate, some fruit has been reaped from my pursuits, and
that the Association is now in possession of several journals,
containing new information upon very interesting countries.
_Cairo, March 23d,_ 1817.
If any thing can give me pleasure, it is the information which you
give me, that my employers are contented with me, and I beg you
to assure them, that as long as I shall have the honour to be in
their service, no efforts shall be left untried by me to deserve
their approbation. I fully appreciate the permission they have
given me, to pass so long a time out of the intended direction of
my labours. If some credit be due to me for the manner in which
I have spent this time, no less is due to their liberality, in
affording me the means of applying my exertions to countries and
subjects, that fell not within the immediate scope of my mission;
although I flatter myself, that the purposes of the latter were at
the same time considerably advanced.
It affords me much satisfaction to understand that what I have
written on the Bedouins has been found of interest. My last additions
to those papers, which complete all the information I possess on
that nation, have perhaps not reached you. I have illustrated their
manners, laws, and character, with much pleasure, because I hold
them to be infinitely superior to their neighbours the Turks. They
have happily escaped the corruption of Levantine manners and morals,
and this alone entitles them to the attention of the European public,
although few travellers have thought them worth noticing, otherwise
than as a nation of bloody, savage, and faithless robbers.
When you ask me whether I know Antar, you probably forget that the
first knowledge I gained of that author, was from an odd volume in
your own library.[14] I fully agree with you in your sentiments
concerning it; it has certainly every characteristic of an epic
poem; it is throughout of high interest, and often sublime. I have
attentively read little more than one twelfth part of it; the copy
I bought at Aleppo is among the MSS. which I sent to England from
Syria. Its style is very remarkable; without descending to the tone
of common conversation, as the One Thousand and one Nights often
do, it is simple, and natural, and clear of that bombast, and those
forced expressions, and far-fetched metaphors, which the Orientals
admire even in their prosaists, but which can never be to the taste
of an European critic. The poetry appears almost every where to be
the effusion of real sentiment, and the heroic strain of Antar’s
war and love songs, his satires and bursts of self-praise, are as
exalted as they are natural. You are no doubt informed that this
same Antar was one of the poets of the Moallakat, and that Osmay,
who relates his life in this work, occupied a high rank among
the poets at the court of Haroun er-Rashid, and his son Mamoun. I
believe Sir William Jones was the first to call the attention of
the public to this romantic poem, in his Comment. Poes. Asiat. He
possessed only one or two volumes of it, yet enough to convince him
of the excellence of the whole performance, of which he speaks in
terms of the highest praise.
Having occasion to write to your brother[15] not long since,
I suggested to him the expediency of making some abridgement,
in case of his publishing a translation of any part of Antar,
for there are many repetitions, in which the Arabs delight, but
which lessen the general interest of the work. I am confident that
the translation of the abridged Antar would extremely gratify the
public, and nothing would give me greater pleasure, than to see
the noble Bedouin romance ushered into this world.
_Cairo, 18th May,_ 1817.
By the present opportunity I transmit to Sir Joseph Banks, my journal
in the peninsula of Sinai, and to you, a volume of proverbs and
popular sayings current at Cairo. I am afraid the Committee will
be startled at all the Arabic it contains, and exclaim that the
writer was sent to these countries not to become a translator but
a discoverer. I can only say in excuse, that as my stay in this
city has been unfortunately, but necessarily, so much prolonged,
I thought that with a view to forward my future designs, I could not
do better than pursue my study of Arabic, and in so far I can assure
you, that I have derived essential benefit from this compilation,
while at the same time I hope that a knowledge of the Arab nation,
and of their present language, may be somewhat advanced by it,
and facilitated to others. In translating and explaining these
sayings, I have been actuated by another motive; I wished to leave
a memorial with my employers, as well as with the public, that I
had acquired a competent knowledge of the vulgar dialect of the
people whom I have described in my journals. The simple assurance
to that effect, would go very little way with those, who know
that for the last fifty years few Europeans have published their
travels among Arabs, without pretending to be familiar with their
language, and at the same time giving proofs of gross ignorance of
it. It is true that from the perusal of my journals, and from the
information which I collected in the course of my travels without
the help of interpreters, the reader will probably infer that I
must have understood something of this language; but he would still
be left in utter ignorance whether that acquaintance was such,
as to confirm or detract from the veracity of the stated facts;
the latter being often applicable to those, who hear and understand
only by halves, yet enough to make them believe that they are not in
want of a Dragoman. I have therefore thought it incumbent upon me,
to give some clear proof how far I really possess that knowledge,
and cannot help flattering myself that by this little work I have
given a greater degree of authenticity to my journals. If I am not
able to display the learning of a profound Arabic scholar, I trust
at least that those who take the trouble to peruse this volume,
will give me credit for understanding the language of the bazar,
and of the peasants, and that is all I wish for at present.
From what I have just said, you will perceive that I am desirous of
having these sheets published. The number of amateurs of Arabic is
so very small in Europe, and the printing of Arabic is so expensive,
that even the advantageous sale of such a work would, I believe,
hardly defray one third of the expenses. It is reasonable to
doubt whether the African Association would like to engage in an
undertaking, so foreign to its avowed pursuits, although I shall be
very happy to find that I am mistaken in this surmise. But it strikes
me that the Directors of the East India Company, who patronise so
liberally every branch of Oriental learning, may perhaps be willing
to lend their assistance to this publication.
Mr. Salt has already acquainted you with the further discoveries near
the pyramids. He and Mr. Briggs made a common purse to enable Captain
Caviglia, whose pecuniary resources were exhausted by his works,
in the interior of the pyramid, to pursue his labours under their
directions in its neighbourhood, and especially near the Sphinx. The
small temple which the Sphinx holds between its monstrous paws, is
certainly very interesting, and of the best Egyptian workmanship. The
hieroglyphics upon its walls are beautifully cut, and belong to the
best period of Egyptian art. The many fragments of sculpture found
between the paws are of a less remote period, and seem to have been
placed there as offerings by the Greek Egyptians, who wrote the Greek
inscriptions found on one of the paws and upon a large detached
slab of stone; they belong to the reigns of Claudius, and Adrian,
&c. The flight of steps cut out of the rock, that lead down to the
avenue in front of the paws about sixty feet distant from them, and
which describe a curve, bear likewise more resemblance to Greek than
to Egyptian work. The designs which Mr. Salt has made are strikingly
correct, and will indemnify future travellers, for having missed
the opportunity of inspecting these curious monuments. Very few of
them can have the satisfaction to admire these beautiful ornaments
of the Sphinx, a colossus that is to me more imposing even than the
pyramids, for the latter, after all, appear like small mountains;
while the former is a gigantic animal. The labourers will no sooner
quit the place, than the sands will return to their former situation,
and few people will have the courage to dig them out again. Captain
Caviglia, who continues at the work with incredible ardour, says that
with two thousand pounds he should be able to clear the whole Sphinx,
from top to bottom on all sides, and little doubt can be entertained
of his finding in that case, other important monuments of antiquity;
perhaps large temples or grottos cut out of the rock, below and on
the sides of the Sphinx, which appears to stand in a hollow.
Our colossal head is to leave Alexandria very soon, on board a
transport which Admiral Penrose has sent to load corn. Mr. Belzoni,
who is at present with Mr. Beechy, the secretary of Mr. Salt, at
Thebes, has made many excavations there, and has found at Karnak a
colossal head very little injured equal in beauty and size to ours,
and in the highest preservation. Among other things he has found
two large bronze vases covered with hieroglyphics.
As soon as the plague is over at Alexandria, I shall transmit to
England a large chest of Arabic manuscripts. My whole collection,
including two chests already sent to England, amounts to about four
hundred volumes, composed principally of historical books, among
which are many not found in Europe, and very scarce even in the East.
I have still to regret the non-arrival of caravans from the west,
and I can only repeat that whenever one arrives, I shall certainly
accompany it, on its return to Fezzan. In the meanwhile I must rely
on the justice of the Association, not to put any other construction
on my delay than those which I have stated. I am conscious that
I subject their patience to a very severe trial, but mine at the
same time is put to the torture.
Did I not indulge the reasonable hope that my conduct, since I
have been in their service, entitles me to the confidence of my
employers, I should be inclined to load my camel, and enter Lybia
alone, to prove to them that it is neither want of courage, nor of
zeal, that keeps me so long in inaction.
_Cairo, May 18th,_ 1817.[16]
My journal in the peninsula of Sinai has grown to such a bulky
volume, that I am somewhat apprehensive, of its being less
acceptable on that account, but as there is no necessity for its
being published at full length, the editor may cut off at pleasure
all the less interesting matter. I had more liberty to write during
the greater part of this journey, than I possessed in several former
ones. This small country so important to the history of mankind,
has never before been described in detail. The commentary on the
route of the Israelites, which I have annexed to it, I submit
with much diffidence to the perusal of the Committee, as I cannot
but feel apprehensive that what strikes me to be correct, may
not appear equally so to persons who have not visited the desert,
and have not travelled with Bedouins. Should my opinions meet with
approbation, I shall be particularly gratified, in having been able
to elucidate some obscure points of early history, and to vindicate
the authenticity of the sacred historian of the Beni Israel, who
will be never thoroughly understood, as long as we are not minutely
informed of every thing relative to the Arabian Bedouins, and the
country in which they move and pasture.
There was a time when I never wrote to you, without being able
to acquaint you either with the termination of some interesting
excursion, or with my being just upon the start for another. Instead
of which, I have been obliged to content myself now for nearly two
years, with comments upon former journeys, or to offer you of future
ones, the promise instead of the deed.
I cannot yet move from hence as no caravan has yet arrived from
the west; it is indeed expected, but so it has been for a length
of time, and that very expectation prevents me from undertaking
any other journey, and chains me to this town, the air of which
presses more heavily upon my lungs than did the pestilential
exhalations of the saltmarshes of Medina. Had I any reasonable
hope of being able to reach my destination by any other route,
than that of Fezzan, believe me, not a moment’s delay should be
incurred, to relieve myself from the most painful sensation I have
felt since I left England, that of being more or less exposed to
the blame of relaxation or want of spirit, in the performance of
my duty. Had I less at stake I should perhaps be less prudent,
but when I consider that during eight years, I have done my best
to acquire the proper qualifications for the undertaking, I am
unwilling to risk the prospect of success now in my hands, while if
I can finally set out upon my journey in an eligible manner, I have
some well founded expectations of bringing it to a happy issue. If
I fail, it must cost my successor many years of apprenticeship,
to be able to enter the gates of Libya, with as much confidence,
as I shall now be able to do. I believe that the non-arrival of
the Fezzan caravan is to be ascribed to the encreased demands of
black slaves on the coast of Barbary, to replace the white slaves
so gloriously delivered by the English fleet, for I have understood
that the intercourse between Tripoly and Fezzan has been very brisk
for the last twelvemonth. The demand for slaves, however, is no less
great in Egypt, where the plague has made for the last four years,
great ravages among the black species, which it appears to attack in
preference even to the white; and if the Barbary market is glutted,
which already must be the case, the Fezzan traders will again drive
their human cattle to the slave folds of this town.
Mohammed Aly has within the last month begun a work for which he
would deserve great credit, were it not clear that far from its
being made subservient to the benefit of his subjects, it will only
furnish him with pretexts for new extortions. He is re-opening the
ancient canal from Rahmanye to Alexandria, a measure that becomes
from year to year more necessary, as the bar of Rosetta is almost
choaked up by sand; and has been during this winter for four
months quite impassable, even to the flat bottomed boats of this
country. Already last year the Pasha had caused a causeway to be
carried across the mouth of the lake of Madye, and thus stopped the
communication of that lake with the Sea, establishing by these means,
a land-road all the way from Rosetta to Alexandria. But the Lybian
Bedouins who were called with their camels, to transport the corn
collected at Rosetta from all Egypt, by this new road to Alexandria,
were so ill-treated by the Turkish officers, and so much curtailed
of their freight, that they soon fled back to the desert, and thus
the trade has as yet derived very little profit from that road. The
opening of the canal, which is calculated to be a work of two years,
for sixty thousand men, at an expense of about two millions of
dollars, will open a water communication from all parts of Egypt to
Alexandria, uninterrupted through the whole year, but such imposts
will be levied, as will soon cause the native merchants to regret
the ancient passage by the bar of Rosetta; the Fellahs meantime
employed in this and the other public works, are treated much in
the same manner as were the Israelites by Pharaoh. The income of the
Pasha, which upon a moderate calculation is two and a half or three
millions sterling, per annum, (and of which he spends at most half,)
added to the low price of labour, and the abundance of hands, render
similar undertakings in Egypt much less difficult than they would be
in other parts of the Turkish dominions. Perhaps the canal between
the Nile and the Red Sea will be opened afterwards; if the direct
intercourse with India, which the Pasha has already set on foot,
succeeds according to his wishes, and is not opposed by the East
India Company. Such enterprises might cause any other country to
flourish, and to increase in wealth and industry; but here, none
will benefit by them but the Pasha himself, and those employed by
him in lucrative situations, while the mass of the people bewail the
long duration of these works, in the execution of which they are in
every instance defrauded of their dues; they are forced by government
to attend to the labour, and are obliged to accept two thirds, and
sometimes only half of the price that labour holds in the country.
We are left without precise news from the seat of the war which
Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mohammed Aly, conducts in the Hedjaz
against the Wahabi. Until within the last two months, he had not
pushed on farther than Hanakye, a station three days journeys in
advance of Medina, towards the interior of the Wahabi country. He
is reported to have obtained several advantages over small corps
of the enemy, and to have defeated them even in a more important
battle, but his success appears not to have been decisive, as he
has not advanced. Meantime reinforcements are continually sent
to Arabia. Three Frenchmen who are in the suite of Ibrahim Pasha,
have written lamentable letters to Cairo, stating that they were
one night robbed of their whole baggage, and left in their shirts,
while sleeping in a tent adjoining to that of the Pasha, whose
military chest was carried off on the same occasion. A frigate is
building at this moment at Bombay, for Mohammed Aly, with which he
intends to harass his enemy in the Persian gulf; and to protect his
commerce in the Red Sea which he daily extends, and from which he
will succeed to shut out in a short time all private adventurers
from Egypt and the Hedjaz.
_5th of June._ I have sent off by this opportunity, a packet to
Mr. Hamilton, containing a collection of popular sayings of the
Arabs of Cairo, written in the vulgar dialect of the city. Captain
Gambier, of the Myrmidon, who has come here for a few days, and
who departs immediately for Malta, has promised to forward both
packets from thence. I hope that within a few weeks, the colossal
head will also be embarked at Alexandria.