AN EGYPTIAN HAMMAM--INHUMAN TORTURES--THE BARBER--THE
CHIROPODIST--DELIGHTFUL RESPITE--PALE ALE AND MANILLAS--RAVEN’S
COLLECTION--DR. A.--ANTIQUITIES--MR. BELL--HIS AFRICAN ADVENTURES--THE
WHITE NILE EXPEDITION.
Entering a large vaulted chamber of stone, and delivering up my watch
and valuables to a person appointed to receive them, (a precautionary
measure against loss,) I was led by an obsequious and smiling Arab to
one of the numerous little rooms which opened out of it, and shewn to
a queer-looking bed upon the floor, which I forthwith appropriated,
and casting my clothes thereon, they were rolled up in a bundle by
my attendant, and deposited at the head. On parting with my last
garment, I was enveloped in a gaudy carpet, which came up under my
arms, and being drawn together tight at the back, was secured by a
pin. A flowing-white turban, of the finest muslin, was now bound round
my head, and thus accoutred, my feet were thrust into the thongs of a
pair of wooden sandals, and I was led across the outer apartment into
one of much larger dimensions, where, round a fountain of hot water
which squirted up in the centre, were seated some dozen or more of
naked Arabs, sousing and splashing each other like a lot of dolphins.
The atmosphere of this chamber was of such a temperature, as to make me
feel rather uneasy on first entering it, but this feeling soon passed
off, and my guide, seeing that I was all right again, then conducted
me into a little hole of a place, quite filled with dense steam, where
I literally gasped for breath. Here I was committed to the tender
mercies of a black bearded fellow, all reeking with perspiration, who,
forcing me down on a narrow stone slab, where I lay gasping on my back,
proceeded to curry me over with a hard sort of fibrous brush, like the
outer husk of a cocoa-nut. The skin peeled off me in little rolls, to
which my operator exultingly pointed, exclaiming, “_taib, taib!_”[10]
at each stroke of his teazle, until I nearly roared with pain, though
I felt at the same time a most pleasing and indefinable sensation
creeping through me, accompanied by a delicious healthful glow over the
whole of my body. Having pretty well tired himself, and reduced the
whole superficies of my skin to a flaming red colour, he next made a
fine bowl of suds with tow and yellow soap, and lathered over my whole
person, filling my eyes and ears also, and completely preventing any
attempt at expostulation, by the prospect of a plentiful gulp of the
unsavoury compound, if I dared to open my mouth. Having concluded this
portion of the ceremony, my Arab seized me by the nape of the neck, and
settled me into a sitting posture; then from a fountain which gushed
from the wall, he dipped up in a brass basin about half-a-gallon of
scalding water, which he deliberately poured over my head. This I found
to be too much of a good thing, and was taxing me beyond my powers of
endurance, so seizing the brass pan, I refused to submit to any more
of the scalding baptism, unless he could lower the temperature of the
fountain. This was easily managed, as there was both a cold and a
hot-water tap, and I could qualify the water to my liking.
At this stage of the bath, a man, whose insignia bespoke him a barber,
thrust his head in at the door-way, and inquired if I wanted shaving,
but being answered in the negative, made way for a second individual,
who proved to be the chiropodist in ordinary to the establishment. He,
in like manner, took his departure, evidently astonished at finding
nothing to operate upon.
My ablutions were now finished, and my first attendant, bringing
dry cloths and a clean turban, re-conducted me to the couch, where,
covering me over with a light blanket, he left me to the enjoyment
of a pipe of fragrant _gibelee_ and a cup of coffee, administered by
another of the numerous servitors. This is probably the most agreeable
part of the whole proceeding, for the feelings which take possession,
both of mind and body, are indescribably pleasurable. One seems to be
inoculated with the genuine elixir of life, and the limbs feel restored
to the elasticity of early youth, whilst the mind appears for the
moment to be divested of all care and solicitude.
In the present instance, however, this enviable state of things was
not suffered to be of long duration, for I was speedily recalled to
a full sense of my position, by the pertinacious corn-cutter, who,
under cover of my closed eye-lids, was scraping away at my heels with
a piece of pumice-stone, and tickling me back into consciousness.
Having previously declined his services, I thought it no harm to repeat
my disinclination for them, by a well-directed kick, which sent him
rolling. But my hopes of enjoying the pipe and coffee were destined
to be signally defeated, for no sooner had I got rid of my Egyptian
Eisenberg, than another tormentor made his appearance. As I lay, I was
compelled to submit to the cracking of all my joints; my head was
forced back farther than I ever fancied it _would_ go, and then twisted
both ways round, and again downwards: every finger and toe was pulled
at and cracked, and, finally, the breath was nearly squeezed out of
my body, by a convulsive jerk on the part of my executioner, who had
encircled me with his two arms. I was then laid down again, and a small
mirror being handed me, was suffered to invest myself once more in my
own clothes, from which I must have been absent more than two hours.
The price of the Arab bath varies considerably, the more so, that each
individual operator expects a fee, a practice which sometimes causes a
deal of trouble and confusion. I paid generally ten piastres, (about
two shillings,) to the door-keeper for distribution, and with this sum
I found them abundantly satisfied. A Frank, however, is expected to pay
better than a native, who would never think of giving more than three
or four piastres.
At Cairo, I staid nearly a fortnight, making some very agreeable
acquaintances, for Raven’s little office was a snuggery which every
Englishman in the place considered he had a right to visit at least
once in the day; and as a copy of “Galignani,” arrived three times
a month, with an occasional “Times” or “Chronicle” addressed to
myself, the divan under the window was generally occupied by Dr. A.,
or some magnate from the Consular Office, who would sit an hour to
chat over the latest news, and tap a bottle of Moline’s “pale India.”
One particular drawer in Raven’s desk was filled with a choice lot of
Manillas, to which all had access, and so thoroughly was this liberal
system of smoking appreciated, that a box of a thousand, generally
disappeared in the course of a fortnight, for some, not content with
the few they could consume in the room, made off with a bundle of ten
or a dozen, to kill the musquitoes in their own quarters.
Raven’s office, though not more than fourteen feet by eight, contained
an incredible number of drawers, and it was rarely that he was asked
for anything, which he could not immediately produce from one or other
of these receptacles. Travellers very often leave things behind them,
in the hurry and confusion of packing, and thus it happened that a
heterogeneous collection of articles from all parts of the globe, fell
into the hands of Raven, who, if he failed to identify them, would
deposit them carefully away, in the hope that some day or other, the
owner might return and claim his property. It more often happened,
however, that these stray properties were never afterwards inquired
for, and many is the goodly cloak and well-stuffed carpet-bag, with
now and then a watch or a snuff-box, which has thus found a protector.
Dr. A., the only English physician in Cairo, (and he by the way is an
American,) to whom I have before alluded, lives in a quiet part of the
city, in a large and straggling, but commodious house, fitted up in
the Oriental style. The doctor has considerable practice amongst the
townsfolk and Frank residents, who are pretty sure to call him in on
any emergency; but I fancy, that one passing windfall, in the shape of
an English traveller, or an invalid officer on leave from India, suits
the book of the worthy _Hakeem_, better than a whole hospital of sick
Mahometans.
When not occupied by his Esculapian duties, the doctor devotes a part
of his time to the formation of a cabinet of Egyptian antiquities,
and he is so well known to the Arabs as a collector of rarities, that
relics of all descriptions find their way to him, the bearer being
generally rewarded according to the outward appearance of the article,
by a sum often strangely disproportionate to its real value. Among
other objects of great interest, is a ring of solid virgin gold of
great weight, which from its hieroglyph, is supposed to have belonged
to one of the Pharaohs. By this, the doctor deservedly sets great
store, and has repeatedly refused to part with it, although a very high
price has been offered. Mummy ornaments of all descriptions, with holy
beetles and scaribei, form a prominent portion of the collection, which
is visited by most travellers as one of the sights of Cairo.
During my first sojourn in the capital, I was naturally anxious to
get to the Pyramids, and satisfy the burning curiosity I had always
felt to see these extraordinary monuments. I was dissuaded, however,
from paying them an immediate visit, by a promise on the part of Mr.
Raven, to get up and personally conduct an expedition to explore them
at leisure, and as he had assisted Colonel Vyse in opening those of
Ghizeh, which had been partially explored by Belzoni, and then once
more closed, I was the more ready to submit to this arrangement and
profit by his experience. The rising of the Nile too, which was now
rapidly filling, was an obstacle, inasmuch as the distance from Cairo
to the first Pyramids is but five miles, by the ordinary route when the
water is off the plain, whilst at the time of the inundation, it is
twenty miles or more, and the road rendered difficult and dangerous.
I therefore contented myself with visiting such objects of interest in
Cairo and its immediate neighbourhood, as were within the compass of a
walk, as the mad-house, and citadel, and the royal gardens of Shoubra
and Rhoda, &c.
In these little excursions, I was accompanied by a gentleman named
Bell, to whom I was introduced by Dr. A., at whose house he was a
visitor. He had but just returned from a long journey into Abyssinia
and the Galla country, where he had met with much hardship and
adventure. It happened that a certain Colonel Ashton, who had ventured
into that uncivilized part of the world, had died, as was asserted,
of brain-fever, but his relatives, not satisfied with this account
of the unfortunate gentleman’s death, had begged Dr. A. to send off
some trustworthy person to ascertain the real state of the case. Bell,
who, at that moment happened to have nothing particular to do, and
found time hanging heavily upon his hands, volunteered his services,
which were forthwith accepted. Taking with him a sufficient escort, he
disembarked at Missouah, and penetrated as far southward as the spot
where the Colonel died, finding the account, in the main, perfectly
correct, and satisfying his relatives that he had not met with a
violent death. Some of Bell’s adventures were curious and amusing, and
it is matter of considerable regret to me, that I have not preserved
a more complete record of his perils and escapes. By one chief he
was detained as a sort of prisoner, and was not allowed to proceed
on his journey until he contrived to purchase his liberty by some
well-displayed feats of arms, which completely won over the heart of
the old king. On one occasion, he was called upon to _play_ (!) a
tilting match with his majesty, who, doubtless proposed to himself
great sport in knocking Bell off his horse, and maybe sending a long
spear through his body. My countryman, who by the way, was a powerful
athletic fellow of six feet one or two, young and full of vigour, and
a perfect horseman, vaulted gaily into his saddle, and acting only
on the defensive, happily succeeded in parrying the strokes of his
adversary’s lance which glanced harmlessly off his shield, calmly
awaiting a favourable opportunity to take his turn at the opposing
target. This came sooner than he anticipated, for the chief, thrown
off his guard, probably by a false estimate of Bell’s skill in this
sort of tactics, slacking his attention for a moment, received a
well-directed lance in the very centre of his shield, which sent him
rolling on the grass, to his own infinite amusement, as well as that
of such of his liege subjects as witnessed the sport. The old chief,
was, in fact, so well pleased with the courage and address displayed
by Bell, that he presented him with the white mule, from which he had
but a moment before so ignominiously parted company, and conferred a
sort of knighthood upon him into the bargain, by the gift of a splendid
gold-embossed shield, ornamented with the lion’s tail, which is one of
the insignia of royalty.
From this moment, our friend stood high in the favour of the Court,
and attended the king on several excursions against a neighbouring
tribe, with whom he was then at war. On one of these occasions, Bell
was severely wounded by a lance through his hip, but was carefully
nursed by the chief’s family, who, although very loth to part with
him, suffered him at length to continue his journey, loading him with
provisions and presents, and increasing the number of his escort.
Farther south, he was attacked by robbers, who plundered him of
everything save his arms, and left him for dead upon the ground, with a
lance through his head, which entering the nose, came out at the back
of the neck, and was eventually withdrawn without doing much injury.[11]
Having accomplished the object of his mission, Bell returned to Cairo,
where it was that I fell in with him very shortly afterwards. A few
months subsequently, he again set out for Abyssinia in company with
two other gentlemen, with the intention of reaching the source of
the White Nile, by which name the main stream is distinguished. It
was a totally different branch which Bruce traced to its rise, and
the true position of the sources of the Nile still appears to be
unauthenticated. It remains to be seen what success has attended their
efforts.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] “Good, good.”
[11] These facts I give to the reader as I had them from Bell, who
subsequently suffered acutely from the wounds in his head.