DWARKANAUTH TAGORE--STORM IN THE MAHMOUDIEH--A CHAPTER OF
ACCIDENTS--THE HALF-DROWNED CADET--ARAB KNAVERY--EFFECTS OF THE
MURRAIN--DONKEY-CHAIRS--A MIDNIGHT GALLOP--ALTERATION IN PROSPECT--MY
VAN AND ITS OCCUPANTS--AN ENRAGED PORTUGUESE--DISAGREEABLE
SITUATION--CHRISTMAS-EVE--MIDNIGHT INTERRUPTION--GOOSE AND CHAMPAGNE.
As it is not my intention to weary the reader with a description of
each of my several journeyings across the Isthmus, I shall allude only
to two more at the close of the year 184-, when my engagement with
Messrs. Waghorn came to an end.
On one of these occasions, I had the pleasure of conducting the late
lamented Baboo, (Dwarkanauth Tagore,) who was returning to India with
a large retinue of friends and dependants, after a rather protracted
stay in England. On our way up the Mahmoudieh, the boat of which I
was in charge, encountered a very severe storm or tornado, the wind
setting with extraordinary violence right in our teeth, and bringing us
to a complete stand still. We lay-to whilst it lasted, for the space
of half-an-hour or so, and as we had no sail, or other impediment,
to offer any resistance, it passed over us without doing any injury;
but its effects, on resuming our course, were very apparent. A mile
farther up the Canal, we found a fine boat turned completely upside
down, and floating in a sea of sesamen and grain; hen-coops and dead
poultry, with half-emptied baskets of provisions, covered the surface
of the now still water, whilst the banks were strewed with fragments
of earthenware, and such valuables, as had been rescued from the
wreck. Two little children had perished, and the distracted mother
was wringing her hands and tearing her hair, in the intensity of her
sorrow. Farther on, a second boat lay swamped, with a portion of the
mast only out of water. A half-resuscitated English gentleman lay
gasping on the bank, having been rescued by one of the boatmen, who had
dived under to his assistance. A little brandy served completely to
restore him, and I then recognised a Mr. L----, who had been staying
for some time in Alexandria, having retired from India on a pension.
We took him a mile or two with us, and then transferred him to another
boat, deeply bewailing the loss of some valuable property, which the
ducking would render useless.
This trip seemed destined to be replete with accident. A young cadet,
who had vainly sought below for some place wherein to stow himself
for the night, rolled himself up in two or three pea-jackets, and
lay down to sleep on the roof. A sudden lurch pitched him over into
sixteen feet of water, and had not some one who lay near him, heard
the splash, and raised an alarm, it would have been all over with him,
for the night was dark, and we were shooting rapidly a-head. The boat
was instantly stopped, and I then bade one of our Arabs to jump in
and rescue the unfortunate lad, promising him a liberal _bucksheesh_.
No, he would not go--if it had been in the day time, a dip would have
been of no consequence, but at night he was afraid. His companion was
equally inexorable, so, seeing that farther delay must prove fatal to
the cadet, I pushed the first in, when the other, fearing to lose a
share of the _bucksheesh_, followed of his own accord. Then succeeded
a few moments of very painful suspense, for they had a long way to
swim before reaching the spot where the accident occurred, and it was
probable that the cadet, encumbered as he was with three coats, had
sunk at once to the bottom. Great was our relief, therefore, when the
exclamations of the Arabs assured us that they had succeeded in landing
him, although it was not very easily that animation was restored. As
the young gentleman himself had little or nothing to offer in the shape
of reward, to those who had been the means of saving him, and seemed
indeed to regard his return to mother earth with perfect _nonchalance_,
a subscription was got up among the passengers, and one of the dripping
Arabs went round to collect the offerings, which were liberally
showered into his greasy _tarboosh_. About three or four pounds were
thus netted, which certainly ought, in equity, to have been divided
between the two boatmen, but the glitter of the precious metals proved
too strong a temptation for our worthy collector, who, as he emerged
from the cabin, cast one glance towards the poop, where his companion
was seated at the tiller, and then securing the cap with its contents,
between his teeth, glided noiselessly over the side of the boat, and
dived clear off with his booty. I afterwards learned, that he ran back
to Alexandria, and invested his treasure in the purchase of a snuff and
tobacco shop.
As Dwarkanauth travelled with many retainers, and there was also the
usual average of Overland passengers, our party for Suez was rather a
large one, and the murrain having robbed us of upwards of a score of
horses during the last few weeks, there was but little accommodation
in the way of carriages. The invalids, and most of the ladies, got
seats, but the rest were obliged to have recourse to the donkey-chair
or saddle, whilst I selected a light dromedary, and trotted along with
the hindermost. We found it very difficult to keep together, and as the
darkness increased, were guided only by the harsh cries of the drivers,
as they urged on their unwilling animals. Every now and then some chair
would come down with a run, from the unequal motion of the two donkeys
attached to it, spilling the frightened occupant on to the hard sand,
or, what was still worse, a portion of the wretched harness would give
way, and cause the dropping of one corner of the sedan, which, if not
speedily rectified, is sufficient to tire the patience of the most
stoical. If the donkeys are well trained, no locomotion could be more
agreeable than that of these machines, but should the foremost animal
indulge in a canter, whilst his follower is not to be coaxed out of a
trot, the effect is perfectly indescribable.
Our mishaps and delays were so frequent, that I at length grew weary of
perpetually dismounting from my lofty perch to render assistance, and
having fallen in with an interesting companion in the person of T----,
of Anti-slavery celebrity, we made up our minds to push on together,
the more especially as the Calcutta steamer was waiting for the Baboo
and his party. At No. 5 Station, we exchanged our tired _montures_,
for two of our van horses, which had been left by one of the foremost
of the carriages, and thus, with halters of twisted straw, and without
saddles, we galloped away through the darkness, very much to the
amusement and satisfaction of my fellow-traveller, who declared he had
seldom experienced anything so pleasurable in the way of a ride. It was
certainly a glorious night, and the road, saving where an occasional
stone or piece of rock, threatened to bring down our stumbling hacks,
safe and pleasant. I could not, however, enter very fully into the
feelings of my companion, for I was fearful that the steamer might have
put to sea before we could reach Suez, and I had yet a good deal to
receive from several of the passengers, who had quitted Cairo before I
had collected their monies. There was nothing either to be got at the
Stations in the way of provision, for the parties who preceded us, had
demolished everything eatable, saving a few potatoes and onions, which
we sliced up and made into soup.
By the time we reached the hotel, every one was gone to the ship,
to which I also made the best of my way in a light skiff. They were
raising the anchor as I gained the deck, and I had but little time to
parley with such of the passengers as were on my books. With the Baboo
I had no trouble, as he immediately handed me a cheque on his bankers,
but with some of the others I was not so fortunate, for finding
themselves in security, and the vessel almost under weigh, they would
fain have taxed their bill. In this emergency, I pencilled a hasty note
to our agent at Bombay, which I dropped into the letter-box on board,
and having taken this precaution, quitted the ship.
I was driven back alone to Cairo in two days, staying the intervening
night at No. 4 Station. As we approached No. 2, which is some twenty
miles from the city, we came upon Messrs. F---- and D----, of the
Peninsula and Oriental Company, making a trial of one of the new iron
carriages, constructed for desert use, by the eminent builder, Andrews
of Southampton. In respect of comfort and appearance, they are all that
can be desired, but the account which I received of their go-a-head
capabilities, was certainly not much in their favour. My two friends
had quitted Cairo two days before I fell in with them, with four horses
and a plentiful larder, and after countless stoppages, had at last come
to a complete standstill, in the middle of a vast field of loose sand,
in which the narrow iron wheels were effectually embedded, more than
half way up to the axle, and still deeper they would have gone, but
for the body of the carriage, which was resting on the sand. I found
the two travellers and their driver lolling at great ease, over a fine
ham and sundry chickens, and as they robbed my driver of two of his
horses, we levied a counter contribution on them, and made free with
their knives and forks. Soon after quitting them, they made another
advance of half-a-mile, and then, finding the loose sand too powerful
an opponent to their progress, turned their horses’ heads round, and
returned to Cairo. These new carriages do not appear (to me at least,)
adapted to the peculiarities of the desert, inasmuch as the wheels are
too small, and the tyres not nearly broad enough, whilst the cranked
axles are directly opposed to easy draught. I am not aware with whom
the design originated, but it would have been wiser in my opinion, to
have fairly established a fault in those already so long in use, than
to have risked the expense of building half-a-dozen new ones, on a
principle, which any one moderately experienced in Egyptian travelling,
would have immediately condemned. The carriages used by Mr. Waghorn, in
appearance, a cross between a bathing-machine and an errand-cart, are
really constructed on good sound principles, and cost Raven a great
amount of trouble and expense in their perfection. The wheels are six
feet in diameter, and will clear a tolerably large lump of rock or
stone, without breaking a spring; they are also so skilfully balanced,
that when loaded, there is but little weight thrown on the shaft horse,
and their motion is both easy and agreeable.
Two or three days after my return to Cairo, and during some
conversation with Raven, I learnt that the affairs of the Company
by whom I was employed, were likely to undergo a change, and that
arrangements were about to be entered into, to dispose advantageously,
of the whole concern. I should scarcely have received this information
so soon, but for the kindness of Raven, who was anxious that I should
be on the look out for some other mode of employing myself, as in the
course of another month or two, the management would probably pass into
other hands, and I should then be at loose ends in a foreign land.
In the event of my wishing to remain in Egypt, he promised his best
influence in my behalf with his successors, though it was not likely
they would retain many English in their employ.
Thanking him very cordially, I promised to think the matter over, and
proceeded once more to Alexandria, to meet the “Great Liverpool,”
and make my last official trip across the desert. She arrived on
the 29th of the month, and brought some thirty or more passengers,
among whom were the Imaum of Muscat, and to my great satisfaction,
my friend P----, with his amiable and accomplished wife, whom he was
transplanting from the bogs of Ireland, to cheer his solitude in Egypt.
We reached Cairo without let or hindrance, but scarcely had we passed
the tombs of the Sheiks, on the verge of the desert, than our horses
began to _gib_, and I foresaw that a night of trouble was before us.
The van in which I rode, contained rather a mixed party, in the persons
of the Rev. Dr. T., a Frenchman, a Portuguese nobleman, and myself,
together with two or three bottles of _orgeât_ and _eau sucrèe_, and a
heavy carpet bag, the property of the Hidalgo.
With considerable difficulty we got past No. 2 Station, between which
and No. 3, we came to a complete standstill, and no efforts on the part
of either the driver, _Seis_, or myself, could induce our poor horses
to move: they were completely done up, and as ours was the last van of
the six, there was no chance of assistance from any of our own people.
After waiting for about an hour, the doctor and the French gentleman
decided upon attempting to reach No. 4 Station on foot, which they
might easily accomplish, though being late at night, and quite dark,
it required some presence of mind. Fearful, however, that they might
wander from the track and get into difficulty, I dispatched the Seis
with them as a guide.
The Portuguese declared he would stick by his carpet-bag which
contained all his valuable property, and we two, therefore, made what
service we could of the two seats of the van, and rolled up in our
cloaks, slept till near day-break; the Arab driver curling himself
up as close as possible to one of the horses which lay on the sand,
almost incapable of motion. At dawn we awoke and tried anew to get the
horses on, but with no better success than before, and at this fresh
disappointment, my companion’s slender stock of patience entirely
forsook him, and he showered upon me a volley of abuse in such
curiously broken English, that despite our unpleasant predicament, I
could not refrain from laughter. “I sal soot yous,” said he at length,
as quivering with rage, he unlocked his carpet-bag to put his threat
into execution; and I think it very possible that he would have let the
dawning day-light into me, had I not assured him, through the medium
of my equally broken Italian, that in putting me out of the way he
could gain nothing, and lose all chance of saving himself; that should
the Bedouins come down on him, they would be sure to appropriate his
carpet-bag, and perhaps carry him off as well. By degrees I managed
to convince him, that instead of blubbering like a child, it would be
more expedient to aid me in devising some means of locomotion, by which
we might reach the next Station. Making a bundle of all the cloaks
which had been left in the van, I slung them and the carpet-bag across
one of the leaders, flinging my prayer-carpet over the whole by way
of a saddle. My ferocious Portuguese was thus tolerably mounted, and
sending with him the Arab driver, on a second horse, to show him the
way, I bade him “good speed,” and particularly enjoined him not to omit
sending me some assistance on arriving at the Centre Station. This he
promised faithfully to do, although I afterwards found, he had abused
me like a pickpocket, on finding himself once more in safety.
I was now left to the quiet enjoyment of the empty carriage, and a
bottle of the _eau sucrèe_, left behind by the Frenchman. Upon a
portion of the latter, and one or two limes which I had in my pocket,
I made a sort of breakfast, and was thinking of composing myself
to sleep, by way of shortening the weary hours which must elapse
before assistance could reach me, when I was startled by the sound of
voices. Looking out, I saw two Bedouins approaching, on dromedaries,
to whom, when they came up, I at once explained my unpleasant
position, soliciting their aid to set me once more a-going. There was,
fortunately at this time, a very good feeling existing between our
people and such of the Bedouin tribes as frequented this portion of the
desert, as it was to them we looked for the supply of camels to convey
the mails and baggage between Cairo and Suez, paying them according
to an established tariff, varying with the price of provision. I had,
therefore, no sooner explained to them who and what I was, than the
good fellows dismounted, and drawing from their saddle-bags a feed of
chopped straw, which they saturated with water, I very soon had the
satisfaction of seeing my two jaded horses on their legs again. To
myself they administered a few hearty whiffs of a _chibouque_ which
wonderfully animated me, and then, putting our shoulders to the wheel,
we succeeded in moving a turn or two ahead. Having fairly started
me,--my two friends, stoutly refusing any offer of remuneration,--gave
me a parting blessing, and sent me on my way rejoicing.
I did not reach No. 4 Station until near two in the afternoon, when I
found the _Seis_ coming to the rescue with a pair of fresh horses. Dr.
T. and the Frenchman had arrived safely on foot, and had been taken on
in another van, whilst the Portuguese was sleeping off the fatigues of
his ride in one of the bedrooms above. I called him down to partake of
some refreshment, and at three o’clock, we again pursued our journey,
reaching Suez at midnight, and becoming on the way, the best friends
imaginable.
Having some business of importance to transact for Mr. Raven, I had
no time to take any rest in Suez, and therefore, set off almost
immediately on my return to Cairo. It was Christmas eve, and the night
proved unusually cold, whilst I found it impossible to keep off the
wind, which blew steadily through the open cart, piercing the ample
folds of my _bernous_. On we jogged through the dark, the weary Arab
fast asleep on his driving seat, bobbing his head to the measured creak
of the springs; that, and the jingle of the harness, being the only
sounds which disturbed the silence of the desert. Warming my inner man
with a spoonful of brandy, I threw myself into the bottom of the cart,
and giving my slumbering jehu an apparently accidental poke in the ribs
to recall him to his duty, courted some short repose. We had, however,
reached a portion of the desert, which one would think ought more
properly to have belonged to Arabia _Petrea_, so covered is it with
large round stones. Every now and then a wheel would come in contact
with one of these, giving us a shock sufficient to drive the breath
out of us, and recalling me from pleasant dreams of roaring fires and
Christmas cheer, to a chilly sense of my uncomfortable position at the
bottom of the cart, with the wind whistling through every crevice.
Being however considerably fatigued, I again relapsed into an unquiet
slumber, which gradually subsided into a complete state of repose, as
we exchanged the stoney track for the fine hard sand. I slept long and
uninterruptedly, until I was suddenly aroused by a shock which had
well nigh thrown me out of the vehicle. Raising myself, I looked out
and missed my only companion, the driver. The shaft horse had fallen
over the body of a dead camel, and had brought the other down with
him, whilst poor Hassan had been pitched clean off his perch, and was
picking himself up with many lamentations. I scrambled out in front
as well as I could, to assist him in getting under weigh again, for
our contiguity to the carcass was anything but agreeable. Fortunately
nothing had been broken, and after a delay of ten minutes or so, we
were jogging on as before, although both of us were now thoroughly
awake. A good supper awaited us at No. 6 Station, and as I had to
perform half the journey with the same horses, I turned for a few hours
into bed.
[Illustration: THE DEAD DROMEDARY.]
Christmas-day broke as brightly and almost as frosty as in old England,
but where was I to look for the compliments of the season? Certainly
not from the old cook who brought me my coffee in the morning. _He_
didn’t know the day of the month, nor the month of the year, nor his
own age, nor anything else, except that it wasn’t Rhamadān, nor _high
Nile_, the only two epochs _he_ had been taught to identify, so I
wished myself a merry Christmas and a happy new year, and all sorts of
things, and pre-pictured the odd sort of cheer I should find at No.
4 to make merry upon, when I should halt there for my dinner. I was
destined, however, to be agreeably disappointed, for on my arrival at
the outer gate, I was hailed with a shout of welcome by an old friend
from Alexandria, one T----, of the Peninsular Company. Leading me in
triumph to the kitchen, he pointed to a goose which was frizzing and
spitting at the end of a cord suspended from above, whilst a Maltese
cook was chopping onions at a side table. In honour of the day, we next
rescued from a cobwebby corner, a dusty bottle or two of Champagne,
and prevailed upon Mrs. S. to make us some pancakes, and thus provided,
we sat down to what we considered an excellent dinner, and although the
goose had been grubbing about in the sand only an hour before, and the
Champagne was all “Walker,” we pronounced them both faultless.