CAIRO.
It was half-past nine o’clock,
on the evening of the 4th of October, 1839, that we
arrived at the port of Boulak. We expected to
find some person in waiting to give us the pass-word,
and thus enable us to get into Cairo, the gates of
the city being closed at nine o’clock.
Depending upon the attendance of the hotel-keeper at
Cairo, who had been apprised of our approach, we had
not put the janissary on shore, as we ought to have
done, at the British Consul’s country-house,
who would have furnished us with a talisman to pass
the gates. We sent Mohammed and the janissary
on shore, to see what could be done. Including
the voyage up the canal, Miss E. and myself had passed
(we could not say slept) three nights on board a boat,
the first without an attempt at repose, the two latter
lying down in our dressing-gowns upon thin mattresses,
stretched upon hard boards; we, therefore, could not
very easily relinquish the endeavour to procure a bed
during the time which would intervene between the
period (an hour before day-light) in which the gates
of the city would be open.
I had a letter to the British Consul,
which I gave Mohammed, telling him to try the effect
of bribery upon the guardians of the city. During
his absence, the Arab captain, feeling that we were
left under his protection, came and seated himself
beside us, outside the cabin-door. We conversed
together without understanding each other’s
language; he had nothing to offer us except snuff,
of which we each took a pinch, giving him in return,
as he refused wine, a pomegranate, to which I added
a five-franc piece from the remains of my French money.
If any thing had been wanting to establish a good understanding
between us, this would have accomplished it. The
rais, or captain, took my hand in his, and pressed
his own to his lips, in token of gratitude; and when
upon the return of Mohammed he perceived that I was
rather nervous at the idea of crossing the plank from
the boat to the shore, he plunged at once into the
water to assist me over it. The janissary brought
word that there was a moolid, or religious fair, held
at the opposite end of the city, and that if we would
make a circuit of three miles round the walls, we
might enter Cairo that night, as the gate was left
open for the convenience of the people in the neighbourhood.
Mohammed had aroused a donkey-man of his acquaintance,
who was in attendance, with a youth his son, and two
donkeys. To the boy was entrusted the care of
the lanthorn, without which no person is allowed to
traverse the streets after nightfall, and mounting,
we set forward.
The streets of Boulak are narrow,
but the houses appear to be lofty and substantially
built. We were challenged by the soldiers at the
gates, but allowed to pass without farther inquiry.
The ride round the walls at night was dreary enough,
over broken ground, occupied by bandogs barking at
us as we passed. We met occasionally groups of
people coming from the fair, who gave us the welcome
intelligence that the gates were still open, and,
pushing on, we came at length to the entrance, an
archway of some magnitude. Upon turning an angle
of this wall, we suddenly emerged upon a very singular
scene. The tomb of the saint, in whose honour
the moolid was held, was surrounded by devotees, engaged
in the performance of some religious rite. Around,
and in front, throughout the neighbouring streets,
gleamed a strong illumination, produced by an assemblage
of lamps and lanthorns of various kinds. Some
of the shops boasted handsome cut-glass chandeliers,
or Argand lamps, evidently of European manufacture;
others were content with a circular frame, perforated
with holes, in which all sorts of glass vessels, wine-glasses,
tumblers, mustard-pots, &c., were placed, filled with
oil, and having several wicks.
The articles displayed for sale at
the fair were, as far as we could judge from the hasty
glances we cast as we passed along, good of their
kind, and of some value; the confectioners’ shops
made a gay appearance with their variously-coloured
sweetmeats, piled up in tempting heaps, and we saw
enough of embroidery and gold to form a very favourable
idea of the taste and splendour of the native dress.
We were, of course, objects of great
surprise and curiosity; the sudden appearance of two
European ladies, the only women present, at eleven
o’clock at night, riding on donkeys through the
fair, could not fail to create a sensation. Our
boy with the lanthorn walked first, followed by the
janissary, who, flourishing his silver stick, made
room for us through the crowd. Had we not been
accompanied by this respectable official, we should
scarcely have dared to venture in such a place, and
at such a period. Mohammed and the donkey-man
attended at the side of Miss E. and myself, and though
some of the people could not help laughing at the
oddity of our appearance, we met with no sort of insult
or hinderance, but made our way through without the
slightest difficulty, much more easily, in fact, than
two Arabs in their native costume, even if attended
by a policeman, would have traversed a fair in England.
The scene was altogether very singular,
and we thought ourselves fortunate in having had an
opportunity of witnessing a native fair under such
novel circumstances. We could scarcely believe
that we were in a Mohammedan city, noted for its intolerance,
and could not help feeling grateful to the reigning
power which had produced so striking a change in the
manners and conduct of the people. Upon leaving
the fair, we turned into dark streets, dimly illumined
by the light of the lanthorn we carried; occasionally,
but very seldom, we met some grave personage, preceded
also by a lanthorn, who looked with great astonishment
at our party as we passed. At length we came to
the door of our hotel, and having knocked loudly,
we were admitted into the court-yard, when, dismounting,
we proceeded up a flight of stone steps to a verandah,
which led into some very good-sized apartments.
The principal one, a large dining-room, was furnished
at the upper end in the Egyptian fashion, with divans
all round; it was, however, also well supplied with
European chairs and tables, and in a few minutes cold
turkey and ham, and other good things, appeared upon
the board.
Being the first arrivals from the
steamer, we had to answer numerous questions before
we could retire to bed. Upon asking to be conducted
to our chamber, we were shown up another flight of
stone stairs, leading to a second and much larger
verandah, which was screened off in departments serving
as ante-chambers to the bed-rooms. There was
sufficient space on the terraces of this floor, for
the descent of a few steps led to another platform,
to afford a walk of some extent, but of this we were
not aware until the morning. We found a very
comfortable two-bedded room, supplied with glass windows,
and everything belonging to it in excellent repair,
and apparently free from vermin; most thankfully did
we lie down to enjoy the repose which our late exertions
had rendered so needful.
Our trusty Mohammed had engaged donkeys
for us the next day, and promised to take us to every
place worth seeing in the city. We were strongly
tempted to visit the Pyramids, but were deterred by
the danger of losing the steamer at Suez, and by the
difficulties of the undertaking. We were told
that the Nile was not sufficiently flooded to admit
of our approach in a boat, and that we should be up
to the donkey’s knees in mud if we attempted
to go upon the backs of those animals. We, therefore,
reluctantly relinquished the idea, and contented ourselves
with what we could see of Cairo.
Our first visit was directed to the
Citadel, a place which, I do not scruple to say, was
to me quite as interesting as any of the monuments
of ancient art that Egypt contains. The remains
of ages long past, and whose history is involved in
unfathomable obscurity, excite our wonder and admiration,
and fill us with an almost painful curiosity to draw
aside the veil which time has thrown around them, and
to learn secrets that all the learning of man has
hitherto been unable to unfold. The citadel of
Cairo, on the contrary, has been the theatre of comparatively
recent events; it is filled with recollections of the
hero whose exploits, narrated by the most eloquent
pens, have charmed us in our childhood, and still
continue to excite interest in our breasts the
Sultan Saladin. Here are the remains of a palace
which he once inhabited, and here is a well which
bears his name. Who could sit under the broken
pillars of that roofless palace, or drink the water
from the deep recesses of that well, without allowing
their thoughts to wander back to the days of the Crusades,
those chivalric times, in which love, and war, and
religion, swayed the hearts and the actions of men;
when all that was honoured and coveted was to be found
in a soldier of the cross, and when half-frantic enthusiasts,
pursuing the vainest of hopes, the recovery of the
Holy Land, brought away with them what they did not
go to seek, the arts, and learning, and science of
the East! The janissary, who was with us, pointed
out the direction in which Damietta now stands, and
I was instantly filled with a desire to see Damietta,
of which I had heard and read so much.
The most exciting romance of Oriental
history is to be found amid the deserts that surround
Egypt; and even if the most spirit-stirring tale of
all, the Talisman, had not been written, the
scenes in which our own lion-hearted Richard figured,
and which witnessed the exploits of the Templars and
the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, could not fail
to create the highest degree of pleasurable feeling
in minds capable of enjoying such brilliant reveries
of the past. The Citadel of Cairo is also fraught
with the recollections of an event which startled
all Europe within the memory of many of the present
generation the massacre of the Mamelukes.
We were shown the broken cleft in the wall from which
the only one of the devoted men who escaped urged his
gallant horse; it was, indeed, a fearful leap, and
we gazed upon, the spot and thought of the carnage
of that dreadful hour with an involuntary shudder.
The Citadel of Cairo has less the
air of a regular fortification than any place of arms
I ever recollect to have entered; it is, however,
I believe, exceedingly strong by nature, the situation
being very commanding. I regretted that I could
not look upon these things with a professional eye,
and that I had no military authority at hand to refer
to. Near to the ruins of Saladin’s palace,
the Pasha is now constructing a mosque, which, when
finished, will be one of the most splendid temples
of the kind in all the Moslem land. It is to be
lined and faced with marble, very elegantly carved,
but it will take three years to complete it, and should
any circumstances occur to delay the work during the
lifetime of the present ruler of Egypt, the chances
seem much in favour of its never being completed at
all. Mounting on the embrasure of one of the
guns, I feasted my eyes upon one of the finest and
most interesting views I had ever beheld. The
city, with its minarets, towers, kiosks, and stately
palm-trees, lay at my feet, displaying, by its extent,
the solidity, loftiness, and magnificence of its buildings,
its title to the proud name of “Grand Cairo.”
Beyond, in one wide flood of silver, flowed the Nile,
extending far as the eye could reach along a plain
verdant with its fertilizing waters. To the left,
the tombs of the caliphs spread themselves over a desert
waste, looking, indeed, like a city of the dead.
These monuments, though not equalling in size and
grandeur the tombs which we find in India, are very
striking; they are for the most part surmounted by
cupolas, raised upon lofty pillars, with the spaces
open between. Upon one of these buildings we
were shown a vessel in the form of a boat, which upon
a certain festival is filled with grain and water,
for the service of the birds.
The Pyramids, which rise beyond the
City of Tombs, are not seen to advantage from this
point, an intervening ridge of sand cutting off the
bases, and presenting the pinnacles only to view; but
the whole of the landscape, under the clear bright
atmosphere of an Egyptian sky, is of so exquisite
a nature, that the eye can never tire of it, and had
I been detained as a prisoner in the Pasha’s
dominions, I might have become reconciled to my fate,
had I been confined in a situation which commanded
this splendid prospect.
About the middle of the day we again
sallied forth, the streets of Cairo being so narrow
that the sun is completely shut out, and shade thus
afforded at noon. The air was not unpleasantly
warm, and we suffered no inconvenience, excepting
from the crowd. Mounted upon donkeys, we pushed
our way through a dense throng, thrusting aside loaded
camels, which scarcely allowed us room to pass, and
coming into the closest contact with all sorts of
people. The perusal of Mr. Lane’s book
had given me a very vivid idea of the interior of the
city, though I was scarcely prepared to mingle thus
intimately with its busy multitude.
We had some shopping to execute, or
rather we had to pay for some purchases made by Mohammed
for us in the morning, and to return that portion
of the goods sent for inspection that we did not intend
to keep. We liked the appearance of the shops,
which, in all cases of the more respectable kind,
were well stocked, whole streets being devoted to
the sale of one particular branch of merchandize.
A long avenue was occupied by saddlers and the sellers
of horse-furniture; another displayed nothing but
woollen cloths; a third was devoted to weapons of
every description, &c. &c. The wax-chandlers reminded
me very much of those in England, being decorated
in a similar manner, while the display of goods everywhere
was much greater than I had ever seen in Eastern cities,
in which for the most part merchandize of the best
description is hidden in warehouses, and not to be
found without deep research.
The greater number of the streets
are covered in with matting in rather a dilapidated
state, and having many holes and crevices for the
admission of air; this gives to the whole a ragged
appearance, and we were told that the Pasha had determined
not to allow in future awnings of these frail and
unsightly materials. The Frank quarter, which
is much better contrived, is the model for subsequent
erections. This avenue has a roof of wood sufficiently
high to allow of a free circulation of air, and having
apertures, at regular distances near the top, to admit
the light. The streets in this part of Cairo are
wider than usual, and the shops appear to be large
and convenient.
All sorts of European manufactures
are to be found here, for the most part at reasonable
prices. The gentlemen who proposed to cross the
desert purchased Leghorn hats of very good quality,
and admirably adapted, from their size, lightness,
and durability, for Indian wear. Wearied, at
length, with the confusion and bustle of the streets,
we took again the road to the Citadel, being exceedingly
desirous to feast our eyes with the sunset view.
After gazing long and earnestly upon
a scene which, once beheld, can never be forgotten,
we gladly accepted the offer of Mohammed to show us
into the interior of the Pasha’s palace, a large
irregular building, having no great pretensions to
architectural beauty, and mingling rather oddly the
European with the Oriental style. Ascending a
broad flight of steps, we passed through a large kind
of guard-room to the state-apartments. These
were of rather a singular description, but handsome
and well adapted to the climate. A third portion,
consisting of the front and part of the two sides of
each room, was entirely composed of windows, opening
a few feet from the ground, and having a divan running
round, furnished in the usual manner with pillows
at the back. The windows of some of these apartments
opened upon gardens, laid out in the English taste
and full of English flowers; others commanded the
finest prospects of the city and the open space below.
Round these rooms, at the top, forming a sort of cornice,
were pictures in compartments or panels, one series
consisting of views of the Pasha’s palaces and
gardens, another of the vessels of war which belong
to him, and more especially his favourite steam-boat,
of which there are many delineations. There is
nothing that more strongly exhibits the freedom with
which Mehemet Ali has thrown off the prejudices of
the Moslem religion, than his permitting, contrary
to its established principles, the representation of
objects natural and artificial, which, both in painting
and sculpture, is strictly forbidden. Much cannot
be said for the execution of these pictures, which
seem to have been the work of a native artist; but
they become exceedingly interesting as proofs of the
decline of a religion so completely opposed to the
spread of knowledge, and to all improvement in the
moral condition of its followers.
The furniture in the Pasha’s
palace, though in a great measure limited to carpets
and cushions, is very handsome. The divans are
covered with rich brocade, figured satin, damask,
or cut velvet. The attendants drew aside, with
great pride, the curtains which concealed the looking-glasses,
evidently fancying that we had never beheld mirrors
of such magnitude in our lives. I observed that
the chandeliers in some of the apartments did not
match each other, but the whole was very creditable
to the taste and spirit of the owner. Below them
was a handsome apartment entirely lined with marble,
and apparently designed as a retreat for the hot weather,
the floor being divided into two parts the
one ascended by a step, in which the family might repose
upon cushions; the other scooped into basins, with
a fountain to play in the centre: the water either
had not as yet been laid on, or the season did not
render it necessary. Near to this apartment was
the Pasha’s bed-chamber, a fine room, also lined
with marble, and containing a fire-place, which in
the warm weather revolved upon a pivot, and was concealed
in a recess made on purpose in the wall. The
bathing-rooms, close at hand, were of the most beautiful
description, the principal apartment and the antechamber
having roofs which might serve as models for all erections
of the kind. These were fretted in small compartments,
light being admitted by a thick piece of ground-glass
in the centre of each, thus securing the utmost privacy,
together with one of the most beautiful methods of
lighting possible.
While we were still sitting in the
Pasha’s palace, the military band of the garrison
began to play upon the parade-ground immediately below.
Mohammed, who seemed to be quite at home, conducted
us to an apartment which overlooked this space, opened
one of the windows, and requested us to seat ourselves
upon the cushions, where we remained for some time,
listening to the well-known French airs played in the
court-yard of the palace of a Turkish prince!
The band was not a very large one, but the performers
had been well-taught, and the wind-instruments produced
in such a situation a very animating effect.
They marched up and down the parade-ground, occasionally
relieved by the drums and fifes also playing French
music. The performers were clothed in white,
like the men belonging to the ranks, and had the same
soiled appearance, it being impossible to keep white
garments pure in the dust of Egyptian cities.
The sun was now completely down, and
we returned to our hotel, where, to our great joy,
we found our two female friends, who had not been
able to reach Boulak until many hours after our landing.
We had ordered dinner at seven o’clock, in the
hope that our fellow-passengers in the steamer would
come up, and according to our calculations, several
dropped in. The possibility of getting to the
Pyramids was again discussed; the greater number of
the gentlemen determined at least to try, but we thought
it best to avoid all danger of missing the Berenice,
and the ladies, adhering to their original intention,
determined to cross the desert together. We passed
a most agreeable evening, telling over our voyage
up the Nile, and upon retiring to my chamber, I regretted
that it would be the last I should for some time spend
in Cairo.
Nothing can be more quiet than the
nights in a city where all the inhabitants retire
after dark to their own homes, the streets being perambulated
by few persons, and those of the soberest description;
but with the sun, a scene of bustle and noise ensues,
which effectually prevents repose. The windows
of my apartment looked out upon a narrow street, in
which the ground-floors were, as it is usual, composed
of shops, while several persons, having vegetables
or grain to sell, were seated upon the ground.
The hum of human voices, the grunting of the camels,
and the braying of donkeys, kept up an incessant din,
and therefore some minutes elapsed before my attention
was attracted by a wordy war which took place beneath
my window. Hastily arraying myself in my dressing-gown,
and looking out, I saw a man and woman engaged in
some vehement discussion, but whether caused by a
dispute or not, I could not at first decide. They
both belonged to the lower class, and the woman was
meanly dressed in a blue garment, with a hood of the
same over her head, her face being concealed by one
of those hideous narrow black veils, fastened across
under the eyes, which always reminded me of the proboscis
of an elephant. Her hands were clasped upon the
arms of the man just above the elbow, who held her
in the same manner, and several people were endeavouring
to part them, as they struggled much in the same manner
which prevails in a mélodrame, when the hero and
heroine are about to be separated by main force.
I thought it, therefore, probable that they were a
loving couple, about to be torn asunder by the myrmidons
of the law. Presently, however, I was set right
upon this point, for the man, seizing a kind of whip,
which is generally carried in Cairo, and flogging
off his friends, dashed the poor creature on the ground,
and inflicted several severe strokes upon her prostrate
body, not one of the by-standers attempting to
prevent him. The woman, screaming fearfully,
jumped up, and seizing him again, as if determined
to gain her point, whatever it might be, poured forth
a volley of words, and again the man threw her upon
the ground and beat her most cruelly, the spectators
remaining, as before, quite passive, and allowing him
to wreak his full vengeance upon her.
Had I been dressed, or could I have
made my way readily into the street, I should have
certainly gone down to interpose, for never did I
witness any scene so horrible, or one I so earnestly
desired to put an end to. At length, though the
pertinacity of the woman was astonishing, when exhausted
by blows, she lay fainting on the ground, the man
went his way. The spectators, and there were many,
who looked on without any attempt to rescue this poor
creature from her savage assailant, now raised her
from the earth. The whole of this time, the veil
she wore was never for a moment displaced, and but
for the brutal nature of the scene, it would have
been eminently ridiculous in the eyes of a stranger.
After crying and moaning for some time, in the arms
of her supporters, the woman, whom I now found to be
a vender of vegetables in the street, told her sad
tale to all the passers-by of her acquaintance, with
many tears and much gesticulation, but at length seated
herself quietly down by her baskets, though every bone
in her body must have ached from the severe beating
she had received. This appeared to me to be a
scene for the interference of the police, who, however,
do not appear to trouble themselves about the protection
of people who may be assaulted in the street.
I afterwards saw a drunken Englishman,
an officer of the Indian army, I am sorry to say,
beat several natives of Cairo, with whom he happened
to come in contact in the crowd, in the most brutal
and unprovoked manner, and yet no notice was taken,
and no complaint made. It was certainly something
very unexpected to me to see a Frank Christian maltreating
the Moslem inhabitants of a Moslem city in which he
was a stranger, and I regretted exceedingly that the
perpetrator of acts, which brought disgrace upon his
character and country, should have been an Englishman,
or should have escaped punishment. No sooner
have we been permitted to traverse a country in which
formerly it was dangerous to appear openly as a Christian,
than we abuse the privilege thus granted by outrages
on its most peaceable inhabitants. I regret to
be obliged to add, that it is but too commonly the
habit, of Englishmen to beat the boat-men, donkey-men,
and others of the poorer class, whom they may engage
in their service. They justify this cowardly
practice cowardly, because the poor creatures
can gain no redress by declaring that there
is no possibility of getting them to stir excepting
by means of the whip; but, in most cases, all that
I witnessed, they were not at the trouble of trying
fairer methods: at once enforcing their commands
by blows. The comments made by the janissary
and our own servant upon those who were guilty of such
wanton brutality showed the feeling which it elicited;
and when upon one occasion Miss E. and myself interposed,
declaring that we would not allow any person in our
service to be beaten, they told us not to be alarmed,
for that the rais (captain of the boat), who was
an Arab, would not put up with ill-treatment, but
had threatened to go on shore at the next village
with all his men.
An English gentleman, long resident
in Cairo, had done me the honour to call upon me on
the day after my arrival, and had invited me to come
to his house, to see some mummies and other curiosities
he had collected. Accompanied by two of my female
friends, and escorted by a gentleman who was well
acquainted with the topography of the city, we set
out on foot, traversing blind alleys and dark lanes,
and thus obtaining a better idea of the intricacies
of the place than we could possibly have gained by
any other means. Sometimes we passed under covered
ways perfectly dark, which I trod, not without fear
of arousing some noxious animal; then we came to narrow
avenues, between the backs of high stone houses, occasionally
emerging into small quadrangles, having a single tree
in one corner. We passed a house inhabited by
one of the superior description of Frank residents,
and we knew that it must be tenanted by a European
by the handsome curtains and other furniture displayed
through its open windows. Turning into a street,
for the very narrow lanes led chiefly along the backs
of houses, we looked into the lower apartments, the
doors of which were usually unclosed, and here we
saw the men at their ordinary occupations, and were
made acquainted with their domestic arrangements.
At length we arrived at a court, which displayed a
door and a flight of steps at the corner. Upon
knocking, we were admitted by an Egyptian servant,
who showed us up stairs into a room, where we found
the master of the house seated upon one of the low
stools which serve as the support of the dinner-trays
in Egypt, the only other furniture that the room contained
being a table, and the customary divan, which extended
all round. Coffee was brought in, served in small
China cups; but all the coffee made in Egypt was too
like the Nile mud for me to taste, and warm and fatigued
with a walk through places from which the fresh air
was excluded, I felt myself unequal to make the trial
now.
Our friend’s collection of antiquities
appeared to be very valuable; but I had been at the
opening of a mummy-case before, and though interested
by the different articles which his researches had
brought to light, was more so in the examination of
his house. It was very oddly arranged, according
to the ideas formed in Europe, many of the rooms looking
like lanthorns, in consequence of their having windows
on the stairs and passages, as well as to the street.
This was probably caused by a desire to secure a free
circulation of air, but it at the same time destroyed
every idea of privacy, and therefore looked exceedingly
uncomfortable. There were glass-windows to several
of the apartments, but the house exhibited considerable
quantities of that wooden trellice-work, represented
in Mr. Lane’s book. Nothing, indeed, can
be more accurate than his descriptions; the English
inhabitants of Cairo say that, reading it upon the
spot, they cannot detect a single error; the designs
are equally faithful, and those who study the work
carefully may acquire the most correct notion of the
city and its inhabitants.
The apartments at the top of the house
opened, as usual, upon a rather extensive terrace
or court, but the surrounding wall was too high to
admit of any prospect; both here, and in a similar
place at our hotel, persons walking about could neither
see their neighbours nor be seen by them. We,
therefore, gained nothing by climbing so high, and
I was disappointed at not obtaining any view of the
city. I tried in each place to make acquaintance
with an Egyptian cat, but I found the animal too shy.
I noticed several, which seemed to be domestic pets;
they were fine-looking creatures of the kind, and I
fancied larger than the common English cat, but the
difference, if existing at all, was very slight.
I returned home, so much fatigued with my walk, as
to be unable to go out again, especially as we were
to start at four o’clock for the desert.
Two of the ladies of the party, not
having completed their purchases at the bazaars, went
out upon a shopping excursion, and passing near the
Nubian slave-market, were induced to enter. Christians
are not admitted to the place in which Circassian
women are sold, and can only obtain entrance by assuming
the Turkish dress and character. My friends were
highly interested in one woman, who sat apart from
the rest, apparently plunged into the deepest melancholy;
the others manifested little sorrow at their condition,
which was not, perhaps, in reality, changed for the
worse: all eagerly scrambled for some pieces
of money which the visitors threw amongst them, and
the sight was altogether too painful for Christian
ladies to desire to contemplate long.
They were much more amused by some
gipsies, who were anxious to show their skill in the
occult science. Upon the morning after our arrival,
Miss E., who was always the first upon the alert, accepted
the escort of a gentleman, who conducted her to a
neighbouring shop; while making some purchases, a
gipsy came and seated herself opposite, and by way
of showing her skill, remarked that the lady was a
stranger to Cairo, and had a companion, also of her
own sex, who pretended to be a friend, but who would
prove treacherous.
As we had ridden through the fair
together on the preceding evening, it did not require
any great effort of art to discover that two Frank
ladies had arrived at Cairo; but in speaking of treachery,
the gipsy evidently wished to pique the curiosity
of my friend, and tempt her to make further inquiry.
Much to my regret, she did not take any notice of
the fortune-teller, whose words had been repeated by
the gentleman who had accompanied her, and who was
well acquainted with the language in which they were
spoken. I should like to have had a specimen of
the talents of a modern scion of this race, in the
country in which the learned have decided that the
tribe, now spread over the greater part of the world,
originated.
The arrival of the Berenice
at Suez had been reported the evening before, and
the mails had been brought to Cairo in the coarse of
the night. All was, therefore, bustle and confusion
in our hotel; gentlemen hourly arriving from the Nile,
where they had been delayed by squalls and contrary
winds, or snatching a hasty meal before they posted
off to the Pyramids. Our camels and donkeys had
been laden and despatched to the outskirts of the
city, to which we were to be conveyed in a carriage.
I had observed in the court-yard of
the hotel an English-built equipage, of the britschka
fashion, with a dark-coloured hood, for, whatever
might have been its original tint, it had assumed the
common hue of Egypt; and I found that two spirited
horses were to be harnessed to the vehicle, which
was dragged out into the street for our accommodation.
A gentleman volunteered his services as coachman,
promising that he would drive carefully, and we accordingly
got in, a party of four, taking the baby along with
us. Although the horses kicked and plunged a
little, I did not fancy that we could be in any danger,
as it was impossible for them to run away with us through
streets so narrow as scarcely to be passable, neither
could we have very easily been upset. I, therefore,
hoped to have enjoyed the drive amazingly, as it promised
to afford me a better opportunity than I had hitherto
possessed of seeing Cairo, seated at my ease, instead
of pushing and jostling through the crowd either on
foot or upon a donkey. The gentleman, however,
bent upon showing off, would not listen to our entreaties
that the grooms should lead the horses, but dashed
along, regardless of the danger to the foot-passengers,
or the damage that the donkeys might sustain.
So long as we proceeded slowly, the
drive was very agreeable, since it enabled me to observe
the effect produced by our party upon the spectators.
Many sat with the utmost gravity in their shops, scarcely
deigning to cast their eyes upon what must certainly
have been a novel sight; others manifested much more
curiosity, and seemed to be infinitely amused, while
heads put out of the upper windows showed that we
attracted some attention. My enjoyment was destined
to be very brief, for in a short time our coachman,
heedless of the mischief that might ensue, drove rapidly
forward, upsetting and damaging every thing that came
in his way. In vain did we scream and implore;
he declared that it was the fault of the people, who
would not remove themselves out of danger; but as
we had no avant-courrier to clear the road
before us, and our carriage came very suddenly upon
many persons, I do not see how they could have managed
to escape. At length, we drove over an unfortunate
donkey, which was pulled down by a piece of iron sticking
from the carriage, and thus becoming entangled in the
load he bore. I fear that the animal was injured,
for the poor boy who drove him cried bitterly, and
though we (that is, the ladies of the party) would
gladly have remunerated him for the damage he might
have sustained, neither time nor opportunity was permitted
for this act of justice. On we drove, every moment
expecting to be flung out against the walls, as the
carriage turned round the corners of streets placed
at right angles to each other. At length, we succeeded
in our wish to have the grooms at the horses’
heads, and without further accident, though rendered
as nervous as possible, passed through the gate of
the city. We drove forward now without any obstacle
through the Necropolis, or City of Tombs, before-mentioned,
and I regretted much that we had not left Cairo at
an earlier hour, which would have permitted us to
examine the interiors.
The desert comes up to the very walls
of Cairo, and these tombs rise from a plain of bare
sand. I observed some gardens and cultivated
places stretching out into the wilderness, no intermediate
state occurring between the garden and the arid waste
in which vegetation suddenly ceased. We might
have performed the whole journey across the desert
in the carriage which had brought us thus far, but
as one of the ladies was a little nervous, and moreover
thought the road too rough, I readily agreed to choose
another mode of conveyance; in fact, I wished particularly
to proceed leisurely to Suez, and in the manner in
which travellers had hitherto been conveyed.
The mighty changes which are now effecting
in Egypt, should nothing occur to check their progress,
will soon render the track to India so completely
beaten, and so deeply worn by wheels, that I felt anxious
to take advantage of the opportunity now offered to
traverse the desert in a more primitive way.
I disliked the idea of hurrying through a scene replete
with so many interesting recollections. I had
commenced reading the Arabian Nights’ Entertainment
at the age of five years; since which period, I had
read them over and over again at every opportunity,
finishing with the last published number of the translation
by Mr. Lane. This study had given me a strong
taste for every thing relating to the East, and Arabia
especially. I trust that I am not less familiar
with the writings of the Old and New Testament, and
consequently it may easily be imagined that I should
not find three days in the desert tedious, and that
I felt anxious to enjoy to the uttermost the reveries
which it could not fail to suggest.
In parting with our friend and the
carriage, he declared that he would indemnify himself
for the constraint we had placed upon him, by driving
over two or three people at least. Fortunately,
his desire of showing off was displayed too soon;
we heard, and rejoiced at the tidings, that he upset
the carriage before he got to the gate of Cairo.
Two or three lives are lost, it is said, whenever the
Pasha, who drives furiously, traverses the city in
a European equipage. That he should not trouble
himself about so mean a thing as the life or limb
of a subject, may not be wonderful; but that he should
permit Frank strangers to endanger both, seems unaccountable.
No Anglo-Indian resident in either
of the three presidencies thinks of driving a wheel-carriage
through streets never intended for such conveyances.
In visiting Benares, Patna, or any other of the celebrated
native cities of India, elephants, horses, palanquins,
or some other vehicle adapted for the occasion, are
chosen. It, therefore, appears to be the more
extraordinary that English people, who are certainly
living upon sufferance in Egypt, should thus recklessly
expose the inhabitants to danger, to which they are
not subjected by any of their own people under the
rank of princes. Nothing can be more agreeable
or safe than a drive across the desert, and probably
the time is speedily approaching in which the rich
inhabitants of Cairo will indulge, as they do at Alexandria,
in the luxury of English carriages, and for this purpose,
the streets and open spaces best adapted for driving
will be improved and widened.
I cannot take leave of Cairo without
paying the tribute due to the manner in which the
streets are kept. In passing along the narrow
lanes and avenues before-mentioned, not one of the
senses was shocked; dust, of course, there is every
where, but nothing worse to be seen at least; and
the sight and smell were not offended, as at Paris
or even in London, when passing through the by-ways
of either. Altogether, if I may venture to pronounce
an opinion, after so short a residence, I should say
that, if our peaceful relations with Egypt should continue
to be kept up, in no place will travellers be better
received or entertained than in Cairo.