The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
THE HOME & TRAVELLER’S LIBRARY SEMI-MONTHLY.
II.
PHILADELPHIA:
G. B. ZEIBER & CO.
1845.
No. I.
OF THE
HOME AND TRAVELLER’S LIBRARY
CONTAINED
TEXAS
AND
THE GULF OF MEXICO;
OR
YACHTING IN THE NEW WORLD.
BY MRS. HOUSTOUN.
With Illustrations.
No. II.
THE
ENGLISHWOMAN IN EGYPT.
BY MRS. POOLE.
To be followed, at intervals of about two weeks, by
No. III.
NIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE.
AND
No. IV.
SKETCHES
OF
CREDULITY, IMPOSTURE AND DECEPTION.
ETC. ETC. ETC.
II.
THE
ENGLISHWOMAN IN EGYPT;
LETTERS FROM CAIRO,
WRITTEN DURING A RESIDENCE THERE IN 1842, 3, & 4.
WITH
E. W. LANE, Esq.,
AUTHOR OF “THE MODERN EGYPTIANS.”
BY HIS SISTER.
PHILADELPHIA:
G. B. ZIEBER & CO.
1845.
C. Sherman, Printer, Philadelphia.
PREFACE.
v
The desire of shortening the period of my separation
from a beloved brother, was the first and strongest motive
that induced me to think of accompanying him to the
country in which I am now writing, and which he was
preparing to visit for the third time. An eager curiosity,
mainly excited by his own publications, greatly increased
this desire; and little persuasion on his part was necessary
to draw me to a decision; but the idea was no sooner
formed than he found numerous arguments in its favour.
The opportunities I might enjoy of obtaining an insight
into the mode of life of the higher classes of the ladies in
this country, and of seeing many things highly interesting
in themselves, and rendered more so by their being
accessible only to a lady, suggested to him the idea that
I might both gratify my own curiosity, and collect much
information of a novel and interesting nature, which he
proposed I should embody in a series of familiar letters
to a friend. To encourage me to attempt this latter object,
he placed at my disposal a large collection of his
own unpublished notes, that I might extract from them,
viand insert in my letters whatever I might think fit; and
in order that I might record my impressions and observations
with less restraint than I should experience if
always feeling that I was writing for the press, he promised
me that he would select those letters which he
should esteem suitable for publication, and mark them to
be copied. The present selection has been made by him;
and I fear the reader may think that affection has sometimes
biased his judgment; but am encouraged to hope
for their favourable reception, for the sake of the more
solid matter with which they are interspersed, from the
notes of one to whom Egypt has become almost as familiar
as England.
Sophia Poole.
CONTENTS.
vii
LETTER I.
Approach to Alexandria—Old and new harbours—General aspect of the town—Costume and appearance of the inhabitants—Shops and shopkeepers—European part of town—Pharos (or lighthouse)
Situation and construction of Alexandria—Supply of water—Climate and degree of salubrity—Telegraphs—City wall—Cleopatra’s Needle—Pompey’s Pillar—Tradition respecting the burning of the Alexandrian Library—Necropolis of Alexandria
Voyage from Alexandria to Cairo—Canal from Alexandria to the Nile—Boats on the Nile—Town of Fooweh—Village of Shubra Kheet—Ancient town of Sais, and present state of the remains—Egyptian festivals—Voyage up the Nile—Boats and boatmen—Instances of mirage—Banks of the Nile—Arrival at Boulak, and equipment in Egyptian costume—Ride from Boulak to Cairo
Arrival at Cairo—Bridal processions—Funeral processions—General form of construction of the better class of houses in Cairo—Annoyance arising from the supposed visits of an ’efreet (evil spirit or ghost)—Extraordinary noises made by the supposed ’efreet—Want of cleanliness of the female servants
General physical sketch of Egypt—Lower Egypt—The Nile—The valleys of the Nile—Soil and cultivation—Annual inundation of Lower Egypt by the Nile—Gradual rise and decrease of the river—Use of the water for drinking—Rapidity of the current, and navigation of the river
Physical sketch of Egypt, continued—Climate of Egypt—Heat—Infrequency of rain—Prevalence of northwesterly winds—Other winds—Khamáseen winds—The Samoom—Whirling pillars of sand—The ‘saráb,’ or mirage—Irrigation of the fields—Physical and agricultural calendar of Egypt for each month of the year
The Ramadán, or month of abstinence—Severity of the fasting—Imposing effect of the night-call to prayer by the Mueddins—Meals at night during the Ramadán—Oppressive heat, and annoyance occasioned by insects and vermin—Flies, musquitoes, bugs, fleas, rats, lizards, spiders, scorpions—Extraordinary storm of wind—Unusual rise of the Nile—Murrain among the cattle
Danger in travelling through the streets of Cairo—Prejudice against Europeans, and oppressive treatment of Christians and Jews—Procession of the Mahmal, preparatory to the departure of the great caravan of pilgrims for Mekkah—Origin of the ceremony of the Mahmal
General appearance of Cairo—Narrowness of the ‘shárës,’ or great thoroughfare-streets, and inconveniences of transit through them—Costume of the inhabitants, as seen in the streets—Shops—‘Darbs,’ or by-streets—‘Sooks,’ or markets—Kháns—Khán El-Khaleelee—‘Wekáleh-el-Gellábeh,’ or market of the slave-merchants—Quarters of the Jews, Greeks, Copts, and Franks—Vacant spaces, lakes, cemeteries, and gardens of the city—‘El-Khaleeg,’ the canal which traverses the city—General description of the mosques
Difficulty experienced by Europeans of obtaining access to the interiors of the principal mosques—Mosque of the Hasaneyn—Custom of taking off the shoes or slippers—El-Záme-el-Azhar, or ‘the splendid mosque’—Paupers supported in the mosques—Variety of scenes presented by worshippers, lecturers, and students—Mosque of Mohammed Bey—Ruinous state of the mosque of the Khaleefeh El-Hákim
xCollegiate mosque called Barkookeeyeh—Tomb, mosque, and hospital of the Sultán Kalá-oon—State and treatment of the lunatics confined in the máristán, or hospital—Anecdotes concerning the lunatics—Mosques of the Sultán El-Ghóree, the Sultán El-Mu-eiyad, and the Sultán Hasan—Mosque of Ibn-Tooloon—Ruined castle or palace called Kal’at-el-Kebsh, or Castle of the Ram—Sebeels, or public fountains—Hods, or watering-places for beasts of burden—Hammáms, or public baths—Kahwehs, or coffee-shops
Citadel of Cairo—Ruins of the old palace called Kasr Yoosuf, or Deewán Yoosuf—Remarkable view of Cairo from the edge of the hill on which are the remains of ‘the house of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen’—The celebrated well of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen—Mount Mukattam—Cemeteries—Lakes and gardens—Aqueduct by which the water of the Nile is conveyed to the citadel—Island of Er-Ródah, or ‘island of the garden’—Town of Masr el-’Ateekah—Mosque of ’Amr—Kasr esh-Shema, an old Roman fortress—Town of El-Geezeh—Shubra, the favourite country residence of the Pasha—Site of Heliopolis—Village of El-Khánkeh
Various noises made in “the haunted house” by the supposed ’efreet—Appearances and proceedings of the pretended spirit—is shot at by one of the servants
Visits to some of the principal hareems—Necessity of riding the high ass in paying visits to the high hareems—Hareem apartments—Costume of the Turkish ladies—Ceremonial observance—Use of the Turkish and Arabic languages—Manners and customs of the ladies of the East—Fountains and baths—Ceremony of re-attiring and taking leave
The “haunted house”—Climate of Egypt—State of the poor—Respect paid to the mother of a family—The wife—Preparation of food and manner of eating—Eastern etiquette—Dinner arrangements—Sacredness of the hareem, and respect paid to females—Usage of marrying without having seen the future wife
Treatment of slaves in Egypt—Dancing and singing—Influence and power of wives among the higher classes, and tyranny of husbands among the lower classes—Employments of females in the hareem—Beauty of the embroidery executed by them—Can seldom read and write
Plague in Egypt—Means used to ascertain whether the disease be contagious or not—Enforcement of quarantine—Egypt visited by pestilence, murrain, and locusts—Extravagance of marriage festivities—Fondness of the Egyptians for gardens and water—Extreme heat
Distress exhibited by the females of the hareem of a Turkish grandee, in consequence of his imprisonment—Fear of the ‘evil eye’—Interest which the ladies of the hareem take in politics—Courteous manners of the chief ladies, and dress and ornaments worn by them—Large serpent—Serpent-charmers—Intended repairs of Cairo—An instance of pretended death and burial.
Visit to the hareem of Mohammad ’Alee—Decorations of the rooms and splendour of the furniture—Reception by the wives of the Pasha—Dinner, dinner-arrangements, and courtesy displayed by the chief ladies—Number of beautiful women in the hareem of Mohammad ’Alee—Description of the dress worn by the Turkish ladies in Egypt
Etiquette of the hareems as to order and precedence—Arrangement of the apartments, and doorkeepers—Facility of admission to the houses of grandees, as distinct from the hareems—Turkish etiquette and French politeness—Organization of the hareems—Modesty of the females—Prejudices against Christianity—Maternal tenderness, and superstitions of the ‘evil eye,’—Uncouth dresses worn by the females in winter—Climate in winter, and storm of thunder and rain
Visit to the eldest daughter of Mohammad ’Alee—Affability of the reception, company present, and general ceremonial of visiting—Her Highness’s pipes—Bridal processions among the middle classes—Ignominious punishment of four lawyers—Circumstances connected with the early marriage of females
xiiiTreatment of females in the hareems—Cruelty practised by the middle and lower orders—Missionary Society in Cairo—Instances of cruel treatment of wives, children and slaves Muslim ceremonies with respect to the dead—hired mourners, &c.—Cemeteries and tombs—Tombs of the family of Mohammed ’Alee
Visit to the pyramids—Approach to the pyramids, and inadequate idea of their dimensions—Tombs occupied as dwellings—Circumstances connected with Mr. Lane’s visit to the pyramids in 1825—Guards and attendants at the present visit—Description of the Great Pyramid—Dr. Lepsius’s account of the mode of construction—Present state of the exterior of the Great Pyramid—View from the top—Dangers to which visitors to the pyramids are exposed
Wives of Mohammad ’Alee—Visit to his hareem in the citadel—Apartments and reception—Ceremony on quitting this hareem—Visit to the hareem of Habeeb Efendee—Courteous behaviour of his wife and daughters, and political conversation with them—Mrs. Damer’s “Tour”
The blessing of going into port, at the conclusion of a
first long voyage, awakens feelings so deep and so lasting,
that it must form a striking era in the life of every
traveller. Eagerly, during a long morning, did I and my
children strain our eyes as the low uninteresting coast of
Egypt spread before our view, that we might catch the
first glimpse of one or more of those monuments of which
we had hitherto only heard or read. The first object
which met our view was the Arab Tower, which stands
on a little elevation; and shortly after, the new lighthouse
on the peninsula of the Pharos, and the Pasha’s
army of windmills, showed our near approach to Alexandria,
and the Pillar (commonly called Pompey’s) seemed
to rise from the bay.
The coast presents to the Mediterranean a long sandy
flat, bearing throughout a most desolate aspect, and in no
part more so than in the neighbourhood of Alexandria.
To the west of this town we see nothing but a tract of
14yellowish calcareous rock and sand, with here and there
a few stunted palm-trees, which diversify but little the
dreary prospect.
The old or western harbour (anciently called Eunostus
Portus) is deeper and more secure than the new harbour
(which is called Magnus Portus). The former, which
was once exclusively appropriated to the vessels of the
Muslims, is now open to the ships of all nations; and the
latter, which was “the harbour of the infidels,” is almost
deserted. The entrance of the old harbour is rendered
difficult by reefs of rocks, leaving three natural passages,
of which the central has the greatest depth of water.
The rocks occasion a most unpleasant swell, from which
we all suffered, but I especially; and I cannot describe
how thankfully I stepped on shore, having passed the
smooth water of the harbour. Here already I see so
much upon which to remark, that I must indulge myself
by writing two or three letters before our arrival in Cairo,
where the state of Arabian society being unaltered by
European innovations, I hope to observe much that will
interest you with respect to the condition of the native
female society. I do not mean to give you many remarks
on the manners and customs of the male portion
of the people, my brother having written so full a description
of them, the correctness of which has been attested
by numerous persons, who cannot be suspected (as
his sister might be) of undue partiality.
To tell you of our landing, of the various and violent
contentions of the Arab boatmen for the conveyance of
our party, of our really polite reception at the customhouse,
and of our thankfulness when enjoying the quiet
of our hotel, would be to detain you from subjects far
more interesting; but I long to describe the people by
whom we were surrounded, and the noisy crowded streets
and lanes through which we passed. The streets, until
we arrived at the part of the town inhabited by Franks,
were so narrow that it was extremely formidable to meet
15any thing on our way. They are miserably close, and
for the purpose of shade, the inhabitants have in many
cases thrown matting from roof to roof, extending across
the street, with here and there a small aperture to admit
light; but the edges of these apertures are generally
broken, and the torn matting hanging down: in short,
the whole appearance is gloomy and wretched. I ought
not, however, to complain of the narrowness of the streets,
for where the sun is not excluded by matting, the deep
shade produced by the manner in which the houses are
constructed, is most welcome in this sunny land; and,
indeed, when we arrived at the Frank part of the town,
which is in appearance almost European, and where a
wide street and a fine open square, form a singular contrast
to the Arab part of the town, we scarcely congratulated
ourselves; for the heat was intense, and we
hastened to our hotel, and gratefully enjoyed the breeze
which played through the apartments. I hear that many
persons prefer the climate of Alexandria to that of Cairo,
and pronounce it to be more salubrious; but a Caireen
tells me that their opinion is false—that it is certainly
cooler, but that the air is extremely damp, and although
the inhabitants generally enjoy a sea-breeze, that luxury
involves some discomfort.
But I must tell you of the people; for there appeared
to my first view none but dignified grandees, in every
variety of costume, and miserable beggars, so closely assembled
in the narrow streets, that it seemed as though
they had congregated on the occasion of some public festival.
On examining more closely, however, I found
many gradations in the style of dress of the middle and
higher classes; but the manner of the Eastern (even that
of the well-clothed servant) is so distinguished, and their
carriage is so superior, that a European glancing for the
first time at their picturesque costume, and observing
their general bearing, may be perfectly at a loss as to
what may be their position in society.
16I believe that I have already seen persons of almost
every country bordering on the Mediterranean, and I can
convey but a very imperfect idea of such a scene. The
contrast between the rich and gaudy habits of the higher
classes, and the wretched clothing of the barefooted poor,
while many children of a large growth are perfectly in a
state of nudity, produced a most remarkable effect. The
number of persons nearly or entirely blind, and especially
the aged blind, affected us exceedingly, but we rejoiced
in the evident consideration they received from all who
had occasion to make room for them to pass. I should
imagine that all who have visited this country have remarked
the decided respect which is shown to those who
are superior in years; and that this respect is naturally
rendered to the beggar as well as to the prince. In fact,
the people are educated in the belief that there is honour
in the “hoary head,” and this glorious sentiment strengthens
with their strength, and beautifully influences their
conduct.
Many of the poor little infants called forth painfully
my sympathy: their heads drooped languidly; and their
listless, emaciated limbs showed too plainly that their
little race was nearly run; while the evident tenderness
of their mothers made me grieved to think what they
might be called on to endure. You will naturally infer
that I expect few children to pass the season of infancy,
and you will conclude justly; for I cannot look at these
little creatures, and suppose that they will survive what
is here the most trying time, the season of dentition. I
may have been unfortunate; for among the numerous infants
we have passed, I have only seen two who were
able to hold their heads in an erect position, and, indeed,
of those past infancy, most were very wretched-looking
children. Over their dark complexions there is white
leprous hue, and they have a quiet melancholy manner,
and an air of patient endurance, which affected me sensibly.
17It is sad to see the evident extreme poverty of the
lower orders; and the idle, lounging manner of the working
class surprised me: and yet when called on to labour,
I am informed that no people work so heartily, and so
patiently. I rather think they are very like their good
camels in disposition, with the exception that the latter
scold often if an attempt be made to overload them, and
in some cases will not rise from their knees until relieved
of part of their burden, while the Arabs really suffer
themselves to be built up with loads as though they had
no more sense of oppression than a truck or a wheelbarrow.
The Arab groom, too, will run by the side of his
master’s horse for as many hours as he requires his attendance
without a murmur. The physical strength of
these people is most extraordinary. I had an opportunity
of remarking this during the removal of our luggage
from the boat.
The windows of our hotel command a view of the great
square, and I can scarcely describe to you the picturesque
attraction of the scene. Among the various peculiarities
of dress, feature, and complexion, which characterize the
natives of Africa and the East, none are more striking
than those which distinguish the noble and hardy western
Bedawee, enveloped as he is in his ample woollen shirt,
or hooded cloak, and literally clothed suitably for a Russian
winter. You will believe that my attention has been
directed to the veiled women, exhibiting in their dull disguise
no other attraction than a degree of stateliness in
their carriage, and a remarkable beauty in their large
dark eyes, which, besides being sufficiently distinguished
by nature, are rendered more conspicuous by the black
border of kohl round the lashes, and by the concealment
of the rest of the features. The camel-drivers’ cries of
“O’a,” “Guarda,” and “Sákin,”[1] resound every where,
18and at every moment, therefore, you may imagine the
noise and confusion in the streets.
In the open space before the hotel, there are long trains
of camels laden with water-skins, or with bales of merchandise,
winding slowly and cautiously along even in
this wide place, while their noiseless tread, and their dignified
(I might almost say affected) walk, at once distinguishes
them from all other beasts of burden.
I must not omit mentioning the shops of Alexandria,
for they resemble cupboards rather than rooms; and this
I understand to be the case in most Turkish and Arabic
cities. A raised seat of brick or stone about three feet
high, and the same or more in width, extends along each
side of the street, and upon this the tradesman sits before
his shop, either smoking or at work. It is really amusing
to see how easily they appear to gain their livelihood:
the fact is, that they are an exceedingly contented
people, and there is much of real philosophy in their conclusions.
They are seldom disposed, when working on
their own account, to labour for more than enough, and
have the quality, so rarely found in Europe, of considering
that enough is as desirable as abundance: therefore
they are happy, and “their best riches, ignorance of
wealth.” I have observed, at corners of the streets, or
wherever else there was sufficient space, groups of men
and women seated on the ground, with baskets before
them containing bread and vegetables for sale.
The quarter occupied by the Europeans is the southeastern
part of the town, by the shore of the new harbour.
This situation I conclude was chosen for the convenience
of landing and shipping their merchandise; but now that
the old harbour is open to their vessels, the situation is
not so advantageous for them. On the east side of the
great square is a large building called the New Wekáleh
(by the Europeans Occále), for the reception of merchants
and others, on the shore of the new harbour. It surrounds
19a spacious square court; and the ground-floor of the
building consists of magazines towards the court, and
shops and the entrances of the dwellings towards the
exterior.
My brother has given me a piece of information with
regard to the present Pharos, which you shall receive in
his own words:—
“The modern Pharos is a poor successor of the
ancient building, erected by Sostratus Cnidius, from
which it derives its name; though from a distance it has
rather an imposing appearance. Several Arab historians
mention the telescopic mirror of metal which was placed
at the summit of the ancient Pharos. In this mirror,
vessels might be discerned at sea at a very great distance.
El-Makreezee[2] informs us that the Greeks, being
desirous of effecting the destruction of the Pharos, or of
obtaining possession of the wonderful mirror, employed
a deep stratagem. One of their countrymen repaired to
the sovereign of the Arabs, El-Weleed the son of ’Abd-el-Melik,
and professed himself a convert to the faith of
El-Islám, pretending that he had fled from his king, who
would have put him to death. He informed the prince
that he had acquired, from certain books in his possession,
the art of discovering where treasures were concealed
in the earth, and had thus ascertained that there
was a valuable treasure, consisting of money and jewels,
deposited beneath the foundation of the Pharos of Alexandria.
The prince, deceived by this artful tale, sent a
number of workmen with his crafty adviser to pull down
the Pharos; and when more than half the building had
been destroyed, the Greek made his escape to his own
country, and his artifice thus became manifest. The
same author relates that part of the Pharos was thrown
down by an earthquake, in the year of the Flight 177
20(A. D. 793–4); that Ahmad Ibn-Tooloon surmounted it
with a dome of wood; and that an inscription upon a
plate of lead was found upon the northern side, buried in
the earth, written in ancient Greek characters, every
letter of which was a cubit in height, and a span in
breadth. This was perhaps the inscription placed by
the original architect, and which, according to Strabo,
was to this effect—‘Sostratus Cnidius, the son of Dexiphanes,
to the protecting gods, for the sake of the mariners.’
It is also related by Es-Sooyootee,[3] that the
inhabitants of Alexandria likewise made use of the mirror
above mentioned to burn the vessels of their enemies,
by directing it so as to reflect the concentrated rays of
the sun upon them.”
2. El-Makreezee flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries.
3. A celebrated Arab theologian and historian, so called
from his birth-place Usyoot, or Suyoot (commonly pronounced
Asyoot), in Upper Egypt.
The causeway of stone which connects the fort and
lighthouse with the peninsula of Pharos, is now called
Ródat-et-Teen (or the Garden of the Fig), on account of
a few fig-trees growing there. Its southwestern extremity
is called Rás-et-Teen (or the Cape of the Fig).
Upon this rocky peninsula are a palace of the Pasha,
and some other buildings, with the burial-ground of the
Muslims, adjacent to the town.
I must endeavour in my next letter to give you a brief
general account of the town, and must close this by
remarking on the affecting sound of the Mueddin’s chant
or Muslim call to prayer. I should be grieved to think
that we are impressed by the solemnity of their sonorous
voices, simply because we hear them for the first time;
and trust we may always feel a mixture of pity and
admiration when we believe our fellow-creatures to be in
earnest in the service of God, however mistaken their
opinions. The sight of the Muslim engaged in his
devotions I think most interesting; and it cannot fail,
21I should hope, in impressing the beholder with some
degree of veneration. The attitudes are peculiarly
striking and expressive; and the solemn demeanour of
the worshipper, who, even in the busy market-place,
appears wholly abstracted from the concerns of the
world, is very remarkable. The practice of praying in
a public place is so general in the East, and attracts so
little notice on the part of Muslims, that we must be
charitable, and must not regard it as a result of hypocrisy
or ostentation.
LETTER II.
Alexandria, July, 1842.
My dear Friend,
We find little to interest us in this place, excepting by
association with bygone times; therefore our stay will
not be long. But I will give you concisely an account
of all that has excited our curiosity.
I am not disappointed in Alexandria (or, as it is called
by the natives, El-Iskendereeyeh), for I did not imagine
it could possess many attractions. It is built upon a
narrow neck of land, which unites the peninsula of
Pharos to the continent, and thus forms a double harbour,
as did anciently the causeway, which, from its
length of seven stadia, was called the Heptastadium.
The ground which is occupied by the modern town
has been chiefly formed by a gradual deposit of sand on
each side of the Heptastadium; and the present situation
is more advantageous for a commercial city than the
ancient site. The houses are generally built of white
calcareous stone, with a profusion of mortar and plaster.
Some have the foundation walls only of stone, and the
superstructure of brick. They generally have plain or
22projecting windows of wooden lattice-work; but the windows
of some houses, viz., those of Europeans, the palaces
of the Pasha, the Governor of Alexandria, and a few
others, are of glass. The roofs are flat and covered with
cement. There is little to admire in the interior architecture
of the houses, excepting that they have a substantial
appearance. Many ancient columns of granite
and marble have been used in the construction of the
mosques and private dwellings.
The water here is far from good; the inhabitants
receive their supply from the cisterns under the site of
the ancient city (of which I must tell you by and by).
These are filled by subterranean aqueducts from the
canal during the time of the greatest height of the Nile;
but in consequence of the saline nature of the soil through
which it passes from the river, the water is not good.
Almost every house has its cistern, which is filled by
means of skins borne by camels or asses; and there are
many wells of brackish water in the town.
As the northern coast of Egypt has no harbour, excepting
those of Alexandria, it is a place of considerable
importance as the emporium and key of Egypt; but
otherwise it appears to me in no respect a desirable
residence, and around it nothing but sea and desert
meets the eye, excepting here and there the house of a
rich man, and scattered in every direction extensive
mounds of rubbish. Ancient writers have extolled the
salubrity of the air of Alexandria. This quality of the
air was attributed, according to Strabo, to the almost
insular situation of the city, the sea being on one side,
and the lake Mareotis on the other. The insalubrity of
the climate, of later years, has been regarded as the
result of the conversion of the lake into a salt marsh.
The English army, in 1801, made a cut by which the
water of the sea was admitted from the lake of Aboo-Keer
into the bed of the lake Mareotis; and the operation
was repeated by Mohammed ’Alee in 1803, and
23again by the English in 1807: on each occasion, as you
will have supposed, military policy dictated the measure;
and as soon as the object in view had been attained, the
gap was speedily closed, as it cut off the supply of fresh
water from Alexandria by interrupting the course of the
canal. While the communication between the two lakes
remained open, it was not found that the climate of
Alexandria was at all improved; and the evaporation of
the waters of the lake Mareotis afterwards must have
had a pernicious effect. The damp and rain during the
winter here, and the heavy dew at night throughout the
year, have a particularly baneful influence. Cases of
fever are very general; and it is always observed that
this town is one of the places where the plague makes
its appearance many days earlier than in the interior of
Egypt. With all these objections to Alexandria as a
place of residence, it is wonderful that any persons
should prefer it, and consider the climate more agreeable
than that of the valley of the Nile, which all allow to be
so salubrious.
There is a series of telegraphs from Alexandria to the
metropolis, a distance of more than a hundred and twenty
British miles. The towers composing this series are
nineteen in number; the first is on the peninsula of
Pharos, and the last in the citadel of Cairo.
The wall which surrounds the site of the old Arab
city was rebuilt not many years since. This work was
commenced in 1811. Mohammed ’Alee, fearing another
invasion of the French, deemed it necessary to strengthen
this place; for the wall I have mentioned defends the
town on the land side, and surrounds the cisterns from
which the inhabitants derive their supply of fresh water.
The wall has four gates, and I cannot describe to you
the complete scene of desolation which presented itself
on entering the enclosure by that gate, which is nearest
to the modern town, the “sea-gate;” indeed, it can
scarcely be conceived: for mounds of rubbish and
24drifted sand occupy nearly the whole site of the ancient
city. Within the area surrounded by the present wall,
besides some monuments of the ancient city, are two
convents and a synagogue, several groups of houses and
huts, with a few walled gardens containing chiefly palm-trees.
You will think it strange when I tell you that there
are also two lofty hills of rubbish, each of which is surmounted
by a fort, commanding an extensive view. It
appears to me most extraordinary that any persons
should choose such a foundation; but I understand it is
far from remarkable, and that these accidental eminences
are improved to advantage in this flat country, the face
of which in a course of years has undergone important
changes, from the habit of the people of leaving crumbling
ruins to accumulate. Here the line of the principal
street can be traced, extending in a straight direction
from the shore of the old harbour to the Gate of Resheed,[4]
which is at the eastern extremity of the enclosure; and
the direction of the other great street, which crossed the
former at right angles, is observable.
4. Resheed is the name of the town which the English
call Rosetta.
It must have been an extensive city, but it is impossible
to mark its precise limits. Certainly its remains alone
convey an idea of its having been a flourishing town,
and considerably more important than the Arab city
which succeeded it.
Desiring to see the obelisks before the heat of the day,
we set out early, and having passed the great square, we
entered the field of ruins, and found a number of peasants
loitering among miserable huts, while a few children, in
a state of nudity, and extremely unsightly in form, were
standing or sitting in the entrances of their dwellings.
I was grieved to see that the bodies of these poor little
children were distended to a most unnatural size; while
25their limbs, which were very thin and small, appeared,
from the contrast, to be sadly emaciated.
Among the mounds we observed the mouths of some
of the ancient cisterns; each, with few exceptions, having
the hollowed marble base of an ancient column placed
over it. The cisterns seem to have extended under a
great part of the ancient city; and there remain a sufficient
number of them open and in good repair for the
supply of the modern town. They have arched or
vaulted roofs, which are supported by columns or by
square pillars, and some of them have two or three
ranges of pillars and arches, one above another, and are
very extensive.
We saw little worthy of remark until we reached the
obelisks, which are situated at an angle of the enclosure,
almost close to the shore of the new harbour; I mean
those obelisks called Cleopatra’s Needles. Each is composed
of a single block of red granite, nearly seventy feet
in length, and seven feet and a half wide at the base.
And here I wondered, as so many have done before me,
that the ancient Egyptians contrived to raise such solid
masses, and concluded that their knowledge of machinery,
of which they have left such extraordinary proofs, must
have been remarkable indeed.
Three lines of hieroglyphics adorn each of the four
faces of either monument. My brother tells me that the
central line bears the title and name of Thothmos the
Third, who appears, from strong evidence, to have
reigned shortly before the departure of the Israelites from
Egypt: the lateral lines were sculptured at a later period;
for they bear the name of Rameses the Great, or Sesostris.
The inscriptions near the base of the erect obelisk seemed
nearly obliterated, and the prostrate one is so encumbered
with rubbish, that much of it is concealed. Pliny relates
that Rameses erected four obelisks at Heliopolis: those
of Alexandria are perhaps two of the four thus alluded
to. Their antiquity being so much greater than that of
26Alexandria, suggests the probability of their having been
taken from Heliopolis to adorn a temple or palace in the
new city. The fact of the name of Rameses the Great
being sculptured on them may have given rise to the
tradition that they were erected by that king. An
adjacent fort occupies the site of an old tower which
belonged to the former wall (that is, to the old wall of
the Arab city), and which was called by European travellers
“the Tower of the Romans;” as it was apparently
of Roman origin. Near this, standing on a mound of
rubbish, we saw the shore of the new harbour, behind the
wall on the left of the fort.
When the British army was in Alexandria in 1801,
operations were commenced for transporting the fallen
obelisk to England; but the commander-in-chief refusing
to sanction the undertaking, it was abandoned, and
nothing is said of its being resumed, although Mohammed
’Alee offered the monument to us some years ago.
After viewing the obelisks, we thankfully turned homewards,
for the sun had risen, and the heat became intense.
Not far from the eastern gate (perhaps two miles and
a half) is the field of the memorable battle of the 21st of
March, 1801, in which Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who
commanded our victorious army, received his mortal
wound. At the spot where the battle raged most furiously,
by the sea-shore, is a quadrangular enclosure,
surrounded by substantial, but now ruined walls, constructed
of calcareous stone and large bricks, in distinct
layers, like many other Roman buildings. The ruin is
called Kasr-el-Káyasireh (or the Pavilion, or Palace, of
the Cæsars). It marks the site of a small town, which
received the name of Nicopolis, in commemoration of a
famous victory obtained there by Octavius Cæsar over
Antony.
The pillar called Pompey’s is undoubtedly a magnificent
monument. The shaft of the column is a single
block of red granite, sixty-eight feet in height, and nine
27feet in diameter at the bottom, according to my brother’s
measurement. The capital is a block of the same kind
of stone, and is ten feet high. The base, plinth, and
pedestal are likewise of red granite, and each is a single
block. The combined length of these three pieces is
seventeen feet. The total height of this superb monument
is therefore ninety-five feet; and the substructure,
which is partly modern, is four feet in height. The shaft
is beautifully wrought, but sadly disfigured by numerous
names inscribed in very large characters, with black
paint. They have mostly been written by persons who
have ascended to the summit. This they have contrived
by flying a large paper kite, and causing it to descend so
that the cord rested on the top of the capital; by these
means, they succeeded in drawing a stout rope over it;
and having accomplished this (to use the naval term)
they easily “rigged shrouds,” by which to ascend. This
exploit has been performed several times, generally by
naval officers, who have caused the name of their ship to
be painted on the shaft.
Among the adventurers, an English lady once ascended
to the summit. There is a Greek inscription on the pedestal,
but it can only be faintly seen when the rays of
the sun fall obliquely upon the surface of the stone.
Every traveller who examined the Pillar since the time
of Pococke believed the inscription to be entirely obliterated,
until Colonel Squire again discovered it. That gentleman
with Mr. Hamilton and Colonel Leake deciphered
(with the exception of a few characters) the lines, four
in number, which record the dedication, by a “Prefect of
Egypt” (whose name is almost illegible), to the “most
revered Emperor, the protecting divinity of Alexandria,
Diocletian the Invincible.” The name of the “Prefect”
also has since been deciphered by Sir Gardner Wilkinson—it
is Publius. This inscription certainly proves
that the column, or the building in which it stood, was
dedicated to the Roman emperor whose name is thus
28recorded, but not that the column was erected in honour
of that individual, any more than the lateral lines on the
obelisks which I have described prove that they were
erected in the reign of Sesostris.
I may here briefly give you the tradition respecting
the burning of the Alexandrian library (deriving my information
from my brother), which took place in the
time of ’Omar, as it is connected with the history of the
great pillar. ’Abd-el-Lateef and El-Makreezee affirm,
that this pillar originally belonged to a magnificent building,
containing a library, which ’Amr, the Arab general,
burned by the command of ’Omar. A particular account
of the burning of this library is given by Abu-l-Faraj;
but the statement of that author has been disbelieved,
because the story is related by few other writers; yet
why should they record what they considered an event
of scarcely any importance? It is evident from the
slight manner in which ’Abd-el-Lateef and El-Makreezee
mention the fact, that they regarded it as a very unimportant
occurrence. They allude to it merely as connected
with the history of the great Pillar. The former
says, “Here was the library which ’Amr Ibn-el-’A’s
burned by permission of ’Omar.” El-Makreezee says,
“The Pillar is of a red speckled stone; hard and flinty.
There were around it about four hundred columns which
Karaja, Governor of Alexandria in the time of the Sultán
Saláh-ed-Deen Yoosuf Ibn-Eiyoob (called by Europeans
“Saladin”), broke, and threw them into the sea, near the
shore, to prevent the vessels of an enemy from approaching
the walls of the city. It is said (he adds) that this
pillar is one of those which stood in the portico of Aristotle,
who there taught philosophy; and that this academy
contained a library, which ’Amr Ibn-el-’A’s burned by
direction of ’Omar.” The Arab General ’Amr, having
taken Alexandria, was solicited by one Johannes, surnamed
“the Grammarian,” to spare the library above
mentioned, and to suffer it to remain in the possession of
29its former owners. ’Amr, willing to oblige the philosopher,
wrote to his sovereign, desiring to know his pleasure
respecting these books, and received the following
answer:—“As to the books which you have mentioned,
if they contain what is agreeable with the book of God,
in the book of God is sufficient without them; and if
they contain what is contrary to the book of God, there
is no need of them; so give orders for their destruction.”
They were accordingly distributed about the city, to be
used for heating the baths, and in the space of six
months they were consumed. “Hear what happened,”
writes Abu-l-Faraj, “and wonder!” The author here
quoted does certainly speak of this event as one of lamentable
importance; but he was a Christian writer. The
Muslims, though they love and encourage many branches
of literature, generally imagine that the books of the
Christians are useless, or of an evil tendency.
I must now leave Alexandria and its environs, saying
a few words respecting the ancient Necropolis, or “City
of the Dead,” which I have not seen, being satisfied with
my brother’s account of it, and being anxious to proceed
to Cairo.
The name of Necropolis has been given to a tract of
nearly two miles in length, on the southwest of the site
of the ancient city, between the old harbour and the bed
of the Lake Mareotis. The sepulchres are all excavated
in the rock, which is calcareous, or rather soft. Those my
brother saw were small and rudely cut, without painting
or any other decorations. One of the catacombs is very
spacious. It is the only one that is well worthy of being
examined. The principal chamber is described as being
of a circular form; and the roof is excavated like the
interior of a dome. Around it are three recesses, which
were doubtless receptacles for mummies; and around
each of these are three troughs cut in the rock, designed
to serve as sarcophagi. In other chambers are similar
receptacles for the dead. The entrance of the principal,
30or circular, apartment being ornamented with pilasters
and a pediment, it is evident that the period of the formation
of the catacomb was posterior to the founding of
Alexandria. Along the shore of the harbour are many
other excavations, but of small dimensions, which are
also sepulchres. Many of them, being partly below the
level of the sea, are more or less filled with water; the
part of the rock which intervened having crumbled away,
and left the interior exposed to the waves. Some of
these have been called “the baths of Cleopatra,” though
evidently sepulchres like the rest.
And now, if my account of Alexandria and its monuments
has been too brief, I must plead as my apology,
my anxiety to pursue our route; but I must add, that
although the modern Alexandria is the successor of one
of the most illustrious cities of ancient times, it disappoints
me, and occasions only melancholy reflections.
Truly history confers a deep interest on this spot, once
the chief seat of Egyptian learning, the theatre of many
wars and bloody tragedies, the scene of the martyrdom
of St. Mark, the birth-place and residence of many of
the most eminent fathers of the church, and the hot-bed
of schisms and heresies. But it is only in retrospect we
find that on which our minds can rest, and which can
give rise to reflections which may be pursued to advantage.
LETTER III.
31
Cairo, July, 1842.
My dear Friend,
To-day we have arrived with thankful hearts at Cairo,
our voyages by sea and by river completed for a time.
On leaving Alexandria, we engaged an iron track-boat,
used chiefly for the conveyance of travellers on their way
to India from Alexandria, by the canal called the Mahmoodeeyeh,
to the Nile. The boat was very large, containing
two large cabins, the foremost of which was furnished
with benches and tables, and apparently clean; and being
drawn by four horses, passed so rapidly along, that we
enjoyed, from the current of air, a feeling of freshness,
which led us at nightfall into a grievous mistake; for we
laid down, and expected rest without arranging our musquito-curtains.
Those who had fitted up the boat had
covered the wide benches with carpet. Imagine such a
couch in such a latitude! we were positively covered by
fleas, and swarmed by black beetles, and the latter of
such a growth as are never seen in England. Too late
we repented of our error, and I should strongly recommend
any person travelling in Egypt to sleep under musquito-curtains
winter and summer. There is certainly a
consciousness of heat and want of air, for perhaps a
quarter of an hour after the curtain is closely tucked in,
but what is that compared to the constant attacks of
vermin of an extraordinary variety, to which the traveller
in the East is subject? Our first night in the track-boat,
without musquito-curtains, will not be easily forgotten.[5]
5. Since I wrote the above, the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company have, I believe, undertaken
the conveyance of travellers from Alexandria to Suez.
Be this as it may, it is due to the Company to say, that
our voyage from England to Egypt was rendered as pleasant
as a splendid vessel, excellent attendance, and every
desirable accommodation could make it; and the manner
in which travellers are brought through Egypt, on their
way to India, is now, I am told, as comfortable as any
reasonable person could desire.
32On the following morning we arrived at the point
where the canal enters the Nile, and found that the boat
which we expected would be ready for our voyage to
Cairo, had conveyed a party towards the scene of a
festival, and might not return for some days. Here our
situation was one of severe suffering. We were stationed
between two high ridges, composed of mud thrown up in
forming the bed of the canal, very dry of course, and
exceedingly dusty, and covered with mud huts. The
intense heat, the clouds of dust, and the smell of this
place, where we were hemmed in by boats and barges
for two days and nights, without being able to improve
our situation (because it was necessary in order to be
ready for the Nile-boat to continue near the entrance of
the canal), was infinitely worse than sea-sickness, or any
thing else in the way of inconvenience we had hitherto
experienced. Indeed the sea-sickness was welcome to
me, for it confined me to my bed, and spared me the pain
of seeing my own dear country, which holds so many
and so much we love, fade from my sight. However long
or however short may be the time proposed by any person
for the purpose of visiting other countries, however pleasurable
their expectations, however full of hope their
prospects, there are regrets—there is a pang—on quitting
England, which must be felt by the wayfarer, but can
never be described, and is never fully anticipated. But I
must not wander from my proper subject. Where the
canal runs along the narrow neck of land between the
33salt marsh of Mareotis and that of Aboo-Keer, the sides
are formed by solid masses of stone, to prevent, in some
degree the filtration of salt water into the Mahmoodeeyeh,
as it supplies the cisterns of Alexandria. In scarcely
any part does this canal occupy the bed of the ancient
canal of Alexandria, which it crosses in several places.
More than three hundred thousand men were employed
to dig it; and about twelve thousand of these are said to
have died in the course of ten months; many of them in
consequence of ill-treatment, excessive labour, and the
want of wholesome nourishment and good water. Their
only implements in this work were the hoes which are
commonly used in Egyptian agriculture; and where the
soil was moist they scraped it up with their hands, and
then removed it in baskets. The whole length of the
canal is nearly fifty British miles, and its breadth about
eighty or ninety feet. It was commenced and completed
in the year 1819. The name of Mahmoodeeyeh was
given to it in honour of Mahmoud, the reigning sultán.
In two days our promised boat arrived, and we joyfully
left the Mahmoodeeyeh, and its gloomy prospect, where
the peasants appeared to be suffering from abject poverty,
and where the mud huts, rising one above another, many
of them being built in a circular form, bore the appearance
by moonlight of the ruined towers of castles, with
here and there a gleam of red light issuing from the
apertures.
The communication between the canal and the Nile
was closed, therefore we walked for a few minutes along
the bank, and we rejoiced on entering our boat to feel the
sweetest breeze imaginable, and to look upon the green
banks (especially on the Delta side) of one of the most
famous rivers in the world.
The boats of the Nile are admirably constructed for
the navigation of that river. Their great triangular sails
are managed with extraordinary facility, which is an advantage
34of the utmost importance; for the sudden and
frequent gusts of wind to which they are subject, require
that a sail should be taken in almost in a moment, or the
vessel would most probably be overset. On many occasions
one side of our boat was completely under water,
but the men are so skilful that an accident seldom happens,
unless travellers pursue the voyage during the
night.
We ordered that our boat should not proceed at night,
therefore we were three days on the Nile.
A custom which is always observed by the Arab boatmen
at the commencement of a voyage much pleased
me. As soon as the wind had filled our large sail, the
Reyyis (or captain of the boat) exclaimed “El-Fát-’hah.”
This is the title of the opening chapter of the Kur-’an (a
short and simple prayer), which the Reyyis and all the
crew repeated together in a low tone of voice. Would to
Heaven that, in this respect, the example of the poor
Muslim might be followed by our countrymen, that our
entire dependence on the protecting providence of God
might be universally acknowledged, and every journey,
and every voyage, be sanctified by prayer.
On the first day we passed the town of Fooweh, where
I could distinguish eleven mosques with their picturesque
domes and minarets, and a few manufactories; the dwellings
are miserable, but when viewed from a little distance
the whole has a pleasing appearance, for the minarets
are whitewashed, and the houses, for a town in Egypt,
have been good. Numbers of women and girls belonging
to this town were filling their pitchers on the bank as we
passed; while others were washing clothes; which done,
each proceeded to wash her hands, face, and feet, and immediately
returned with her pitcher or bundle on her
head. A piece of rag rolled in the form of a ring, and
placed upon the head, served to secure the pitcher in its
erect position; and I constantly saw, during our stay on
35the Mahmoodeeyeh, large and heavy pitchers carried by
the women on their heads, without a hand upraised to
keep them steady.
Fooweh, like Matoobis, is celebrated for the beauty of
its women; but as our boat kept in the middle of the
stream, I had no opportunity of pronouncing on their
personal attractions. The lower orders are mostly, I
think, remarkably plain. Their usual dress (and indeed
frequently, their only article of clothing, except the head
veil) is a plain blue shirt, differing little from that of the
men, which is also commonly blue. It is a general custom
of the Egyptian women of this class to tattoo some
parts of their persons, particularly the front of the chin
and the lips, with blue marks; and like the women of
the higher classes, many of them tinge their nails with
the dull red dye of the henna, and arrange their hair in a
number of small plaits which hang down the back.
I must not omit telling you that Fooweh is also famous
for its pomegranates, which are both plentiful and
excellent in flavour.
We reached the village of Shubra Kheet shortly after
sunset, and as our boatmen recommended that our boat
should be made fast under this place, we remained there
until the morning. It was then curious to see the various
occupations of the peasants, and to observe the lassitude
with which they labour. During our voyage
several poor fellows floated towards the boat, sitting as it
were upright on the water, paddling with their feet, and
bearing each three water-melons, one in each hand, and
one on their heads. Their manner of swimming is extraordinary—they
seem perfectly at their ease.
On the second day we passed renowned Sais, and afterwards
had a glimpse of the great desert, and its almost
immeasurable sea of sand. Sais was the ancient capital
of the Delta, one of the most celebrated cities of Egypt,
and the reputed birth-place of Cecrops, who, it is said,
led a colony of Saites to Attica, about 1556 years before
36the Christian era, founded Athens, and established there
the worship of Minerva (the Egyptian Neith), the tutelar
goddess of his native city. This place is so choked up
with rubbish that its ruins are scarcely worth visiting;
but the labour of excavation would probably be rewarded
by interesting discoveries. The modern name of the
place is “Sá-el-Hagar,” that is, “Sais of the Stone,” probably
allusive to the great monolithic chapel described
by Herodotus as the most remarkable of the monuments
here existing in his time. The remains of Sais, viewed
from the river, appear merely like lofty and extensive
mounds. They chiefly consist of a vast enclosure, about
half a mile in length, and nearly the same in breadth.
This is formed by walls of prodigious dimensions, being
about fifty feet thick, and, in several parts, considerably
more than that in height, constructed of large crude
bricks, fifteen or sixteen inches in length, eight in
breadth, and seven in thickness. The rains, though very
rare even in this part of Egypt, have so much decayed
these walls, that from a little distance they are hardly to
be distinguished from the rubbish in which they are
partly buried. Within the enclosure are only seen some
enormous blocks of stone, and the remains of some
buildings of unburnt brick, which appear to have been
tombs, and several catacombs, which have been explored
and ransacked. The enclosure contained the famous
temple of the Egyptian Minerva, described by Herodotus,
the portico of which surpassed in its colossal dimensions
all other works of a similar nature, and was
adorned with gigantic figures and enormous andro-sphinxes.
Before it was the famous monolithic chapel I
have mentioned, which was twenty-one cubits long, fourteen
wide, and eight high. It is related by Herodotus
that two thousand boatmen were employed during the
space of three years in transporting this monolith down
the Nile from Elephantine. There was also, before the
temple, a colossus, in a reclining posture (or, more probably,
37a sitting posture), seventy-five feet in length, similar
to that before the temple of Vulcan at Memphis,
which latter colossus was the gift of Amasis. Behind
the temple was a sepulchre, but for whom it was destined
the historian declines mentioning. Lofty obelisks were
likewise raised within the sacred enclosure, near a circular
lake, which was lined with stone. This lake
served as a kind of theatre for nocturnal exhibitions of
solemn mysteries relating to the history of the unnamed
person above alluded to, who was, probably, Osiris; for,
from feelings of religious awe, many of the Egyptians abstained
from mentioning the name of that god. Many
other towns in Egypt disputed the honour of being regarded
as the burial-place of Osiris. All the Pharaohs born in
the Saitic district were buried within the enclosure which
surrounded the sacred edifices of Sais; and one of those
kings, Apries, founded here a magnificent palace. Of
the grand religious festivals which were periodically
celebrated in Egypt in ancient times, the third, in point
of magnificence, was that of Sais, in honour of Neith; the
most splendid being that of Bubastis, and the next, that
of Busiris, both in Lower Egypt. That of Sais was called
“the festival of burning lamps,” because, on the occasion
of its celebration, the houses in that city, and
throughout all Egypt, were illuminated by lamps hung
around them.
I mentioned that the boat we had been promised at
the Mahmoodeeyeh had conveyed a party towards the
scene of a festival; and you may be surprised to hear
that the manners of the modern Egyptians are not
wholly different from those of the ancient Alexandrians,
who flocked to the licentious festivals celebrated at Canopus
in honour of the god Serapis. Innumerable boats
covered the canal by night as well as by day, conveying
pilgrims of both sexes, dancing, singing, and drinking,
and availing themselves in every way of the religious
licence afforded them. So, in the present day, vast
38numbers of the male inhabitants of the metropolis of
Egypt, and persons from other parts, with numerous
courtesans, repair to the festivals celebrated in commemoration
of the birth of the seyyid[6] Ahmad El-Bedawee
(a celebrated Muslim saint), at Tanta, in the
Delta, where swarms of dancing-girls and singers contribute
to their amusement, and where, I am told, brandy
is drunk almost as freely as coffee.
6. Seyyid is a title given to the descendants of the
Prophet.
We passed, to-day, by the village of Kafr-ez-Zeiyát,
which exhibited a busy scene: numerous visitors of the
seyyid landing there, on their way to Tanta, and others
embarking to return to their homes.
We arrived late at the village of Nadir, under which
we remained for the night. In the morning we found
ourselves surrounded by fine buffaloes standing in the
water. Their milk is chiefly used, and the butter made
from it is very white and sweet. We often saw numbers
of these animals standing or lying in the water, for the
Nile is in many parts extremely shallow, and abounds
with moving sandbanks. Hence the boats frequently run
aground, but they are generally pushed off without much
difficulty by means of poles, or the crew descend into
the water and shove the vessel off with their backs and
shoulders. In a calm, the boat is towed by the crew;
and in several cases during our voyage, the whole boat’s
crew, consisting of ten men, were thus drawing it, while
no one remained with us but the Reyyis. It was astonishing
to see how well they performed this laborious
task, in the heat of July; very seldom stopping to take
rest, and then only for a short time. The boatmen generally
sing while the vessel is under sail, and they often
accompany their songs with the rude music of the
darebukkeh and zummárah, which are a funnel-shaped
earthen drum and a double reed-pipe. There is something
39very agreeable in the songs of the boatmen, although
the airs they sing are most strange. There is so much of
contentment in the tones of their voices that it does one
good to hear them.
The most common kind of passage-boat, or pleasure-boat,
is called a kangeh, also pronounced kanjeh. It is
long and narrow, and does not draw much water. It has
two masts, with two large triangular sails, and a low
cabin, which is generally divided into two or more apartments,
having small square windows, which are furnished
with blinds, or glasses, and sliding shutters in the
inside. In our boat we were exceedingly worried by
beetles, bugs, and fleas; and these seriously annoyed me
on account of my poor children, whose rest was sadly
disturbed, and their very patience and cheerfulness increased
our sympathy. Indeed, these young wayfarers
made us cast many a longing wish for their sakes towards
the comforts of a home.
During the nights our musquito-curtains diminished
but did not remove the inconvenience; but they are invaluable,
as they prevent all attacks from large reptiles,
although bugs and fleas are proof against all precaution.
The boats belonging to the Turkish grandees are very
gay: bunches of flowers are commonly painted on the
panels of the cabin, both within and without; and the
blood-red flag, with its white crescent and star or stars,
waves at the stern. Other boats are more simple in their
decorations, and all extremely picturesque.
On this day of our voyage, we passed little worthy of
remark, excepting, indeed, the groups of noble and graceful
palm-trees, which form a characteristic and beautiful
feature in every Egyptian landscape. The villages presented
a curious effect, from almost every hut being
crowned with a conical pigeon-house, constructed of
earthen pots. With these cones, frequently as large as
the huts themselves, almost every village hereabouts
abounds.
40We observed many carcasses of cattle floating upon
the water, or lying by the banks of the river, for Egypt
is at present visited by a severe murrain.[7]
7. This murrain lasted more than three months, and
reminded us of that in the time of Moses.
During our voyage we saw several instances of mirage
(called by the Arabs seráb); but the apparent clearness
of the mock water destroyed the illusion; for the Nile,
generally turbid, was then particularly so; and it was
impossible to strain the imagination so far as to conceive
that a clear lake should exist near the banks of the river.
Yet it was an interesting and curious phenomenon, and
indeed rendered painfully interesting by the knowledge
that many a perishing wanderer in the desert had bitterly
tasted the disappointment its mimicry occasions.
I can say little of the beauty of the banks of the Nile.
They are in many places sufficiently high to obstruct the
view, and broken and perpendicular. The Delta side
certainly often presented to the eye a sloping bank of
refreshing green, but with scarcely any diversity. I am
not disposed to underrate the prospect; but you have
doubtless heard that the borders of the Nile are seen in
all their beauty about a month after the decrease of the
river, which has left its fertilizing soil for a considerable
space on either side, when its banks seem covered with a
carpet of the brightest emerald green, and its little islands
are crowned with the most brilliant verdure.
Our voyage was made during its increase; and when,
on the third night, our boat was made fast to a sandy
island, no village being in the neighbourhood under
which the Reyyis thought we could safely pass the night,
we all congratulated ourselves and each other that our
boating was nearly at an end.
Early on the following morning we descried the venerable
Pyramids, but the undulations of the heated atmosphere
on the surface of the intermediate plain prevented
41their being distinctly visible. They were three leagues
distant.
We shortly after arrived at Boulak, the principal port
of Cairo, and with our arrival came the necessity that I
and my sister-in-law should equip ourselves in Eastern
costume. There was no small difficulty in this ceremony,
and when completed, it was stifling to a degree
not to be forgotten. Imagine the face covered closely by
a muslin veil, double at the upper part, the eyes only uncovered,
and over a dress of coloured silk an overwhelming
covering of black silk, extending, in my idea, in
every direction; so that, having nothing free but my
eyes, I looked with dismay at the high bank I must
climb, and the donkey I must mount, which was waiting
for me at the summit. Nothing can be more awkward
and uncomfortable than this riding-dress; and if I had
any chance of attaining my object without assuming it,
I should never adopt it; but in English costume I should
not gain admittance into many hareems: besides, the
knowledge that a Muslim believes a curse to rest on the
“seer and the seen,” makes one anxious not to expose
passers-by to what they would deem a misfortune, or
ourselves to their malediction.
My brother, in his “Modern Egyptians,” has represented
the manner in which the habarah is worn by the
native ladies of Egypt. The Turkish ladies close it in
front, esteeming it improper to show the colour of the
sebleh or tób beneath.
The house dress is well suited to the climate and
extremely picturesque, but the walking-dress is grotesque
and curious.
With a short account of our ride of nearly two miles
from Boulak to Cairo, I shall conclude.
All mounted, and preceded by a janissary, we looked
in wonder, as we rode through Boulak, at the dilapidated
state of this suburb. There are, indeed, good houses
42there, I am assured, but we had not the good fortune to
see them, and we emerged gladly from its narrow streets
to an open space, where soon, however, the dust (which
rose in clouds from the tread of our easy-paced donkeys)
so annoyed us, that for the first time I felt it desirable
that nothing but the eyes should be uncovered. At length
we fairly entered Cairo, and my astonishment increased
tenfold.
I wrote to you that the streets of Alexandria are narrow;
they are wide when compared with those of Cairo.
The meshreebeeyehs, or projecting windows, facing each
other, above the ground-floors, literally touch in some
instances; and in many, the opposite windows are within
reach.
The first impression received on entering this celebrated
city, is, that it has the appearance of having been
deserted for perhaps a century, and suddenly repeopled
by persons who had been unable, from poverty or some
other cause, to repair it, and clear away its antiquated
cobwebs. I never saw such cobwebs as hung in many
apertures, in gloomy dark festoons, leading me to consider
the unmolested condition of their tenants. I wish
I could say that I do not fear these creatures; but surely
in the insect world there is nothing so savage-looking as
a black thick-legged spider.
After passing through several of the streets, into which
it appeared as though the dwellings had turned out nearly
all their inhabitants, we arrived at an agreeable house
situated in the midst of gardens, in which we are to take
up our temporary abode. Graceful palm-trees, loaded
with their fruit, meet our eyes in every direction, while
acacias, bananas, orange and lemon trees, pomegranate
trees, and vines, form a splendid variety, and but for one
essential drawback, the coup d’œil would be charming.
This drawback is the want of refreshing showers. The
foliage on which we look is perfectly covered with dust,
43and the soil of the gardens is watered by a wheel worked
by a patient bullock, who pursues his round-about with
little intermission, and thrives in his persevering labour.
The plan of the gardens is very curious; they are divided
by long parallel walks, with gutters on either side, and
subdivided into little square compartments, each about
two yards wide, by ridges of earth about half a foot high,
and the water is admitted into these squares, one after
another. When I looked upon the little ditches and
squares of water, remaining for some time without absorption,
I could not but remember our bright pretty gardens
in England, and how carefully in watering our flowers we
avoided saturating the mould, both because it would be injurious
to them, and displeasing to the eye—and these recollections
almost brought me to the conclusion that a garden
in Egypt is not worth the trouble of cultivation—so much
for national prejudice and love of home scenes. Adieu!
LETTER IV.
Cairo, August, 1842.
My dear Friend,
Although prepared by the motley groups at Malta, and
the changing scene and variety of costume at Alexandria,
for much that is more astonishing to the European in
Cairo, I find the peculiarities of this place and people are
beyond my most extravagant expectations. The Shubra
road passes very near our windows, and I am constantly
attracted by the various processions which wind their
way to and from this city.
The wedding processions, in which the poor bride
walks under a canopy of silk, not only veiled, but enveloped
in a large shawl, between two other females, amuse
44me much; while the tribe before the “destined one,”
occasionally demonstrate their joy by executing many
possible, and, to our ideas, many impossible feats, and the
rear is brought up by the contributions of children from
many of the houses en route. The bride must, indeed, be
nearly suffocated long before she reaches her destination,
for she has to walk, frequently almost fainting, under a
midday sun, sometimes a long distance, while a few musicians
make what is considered melody with drums and
shrill hautboys, and attending females scream their zag-háreet
(or quavering cries of joy), in deafening discord
in her train.
The funeral processions distress me. The corpse of a
man is carried in an open bier, with merely a shawl
thrown over the body, through which the form is painfully
visible. The body of a woman is carried in a covered
bier, over which a shawl is laid; and an upright
piece of wood, covered also with a shawl, and decorated
with ornaments belonging to the female head-dress, rises
from the forepart. The corpses of children are borne on
this latter kind of bier.
One sound that I heard as a funeral procession approached,
I can never forget; it was a cry of such deep
sorrow—a sob of such heartfelt distress, that it was clearly
distinguished from the wail of the hired women who
joined the funeral chorus. We were immediately drawn
to the windows, and saw a man leading a procession of
women, and bearing in his arms a little dead infant, wrapt
merely in a shawl, and travelling to its last earthly home.
The cry of agony proceeded, I conclude, from its mother,
and could only be wrung from a nearly bursting heart.
Contend against me who may, I must ever maintain my
opinion, that no love is so deep, no attachment so strong,
as that of mother to child, and of child to mother.
The funerals that pass are very numerous; but other
spectacles that I see from my windows afford various and
endless entertainment, and make me long to look into the
45houses of this most curious city, as well as into the
streets and roads. After much consideration, however,
I have determined to defer my intended visits to the hareems
of the great, until I shall have acquired some little
knowledge of Arabic; for, although Turkish is the language
usually spoken in those hareems, Arabic is generally
understood by the inmates; and as the latter is the
common language of Egypt, some knowledge of it is indispensable
to me.
But our first object has been to find a comfortable
dwelling; and notwithstanding the kind assistance of
numerous friends, my brother has experienced great difficulty
in attaining this object. The friendly attention
that has been shown to us all is most highly gratifying;
and I have already had some experience of the manners
and usages of the hareem;, two Syrian ladies having devoted
themselves in the most amiable manner to render
us every possible service.
After having searched for a house here during a month
in vain, we were delighted by the offer of an exceedingly
good one, which appeared in almost every respect eligible,
and in which we are now residing. But our domestic
comfort in this new abode has been disturbed by a singular
trouble, which has obliged us to arrange as soon as
possible for a removal. The house is an admirable one,
being nearly new, though on the old construction; therefore
I shall endeavour to give you an idea of the better
houses of Cairo by describing this; and some knowledge
of the plan of its interior will enable you more fully to
understand the annoyance to which we are subjected.
On the ground-floor is a court, open to the sky, round
which the apartments extend, gallery above gallery.
Round the court are five rooms; one large room (a mandarah)
intended for the reception of male guests, with a
fountain in the centre; a winter room; a small sleeping-room,
for any male guest; a kitchen, and a coffee-room,
for servants. On the right hand, immediately on entering
46the street-door, is the door of the hareem, or the entrance
to the stairs leading to the ladies’ apartments; the
whole of the house, excepting the apartments of the
ground-floor, being considered as the “hareem.” On the
first-floor is a marble-paved chamber, with a roof open
towards the north, and sloping upwards, conveying into
the chamber generally a delightful breeze. There are
also five other rooms on the first-floor; and in each of the
two principal apartments, the greater portion of the floor,
forming about three-fourths, is raised from five to six
inches, the depressed portion being paved with marble.
The reason for thus laying the floors is, that the outer
slippers are left on the depressed portion, and the raised
part, which is matted, is not to be defiled with any thing
which is unclean. The feet are covered, in addition to
the stockings, with a kind of inner slippers, the soles of
which, as well as the upper leathers, are of yellow morocco:
they are called mezz; and the outer slippers, which
are without heels, are styled báboog. The latter, by the
way, I am often losing, and I fear I shall continue to do
so, for I despair of learning to shuffle, like the ladies of
the country. When wearing the riding or walking-dress,
the mezz are exchanged for a pair of high morocco socks,
and the báboog are worn as usual. They are always
pale yellow. The walls throughout are whitewashed, and
the ceilings composed of fancifully carved woodwork, in
some instances extremely tastefully arranged. Besides
the rooms I have mentioned, there are three small marble-paved
apartments, forming, en suite, an antechamber, a
reclining chamber, and a bath. We little thought, when
we congratulated ourselves on this luxury, that it would
become the most abominable part of the house. Above
are four rooms, the principal one opening to a delightful
terrace, which is considerably above most of the surrounding
houses; and on this we enjoy our breakfast and supper
under the clearest sky in the world; but we always
remember that the sweet air which comforts us in the
47mornings and evenings of our sultry days, blows from the
direction of our own dear country; and the thought renders
it the more welcome.
We were much surprised, after passing a few days
here, to find that our servants were unable to procure any
rest during the night; being disturbed by a constant
knocking, and by the appearances of what they believed
to be an ’efreet, that is, “an evil spirit,” but the term
’efreet is often used to signify “a ghost.” The manner
of the servants’ complaint of the latter was very characteristic.
Having been much annoyed one morning by a
noisy quarrel under our windows, my brother called one
of our servants to ascertain how it had arisen, when he
replied, “It is a matter of no importance, O Efendee, but
the subject which perplexes us is that there is a devil in
the bath.” My brother being aware of their superstitious
prejudices, replied, “Well, is there a bath in the
world that you do not believe to be a resort of evil spirits,
according to the well-known tradition on that subject?”
“True, O my master,” rejoined the man, “the case is so;
this devil has long been the resident of the house, and he
will never permit any other tenant to retain its quiet possession;
for a long time no one has remained more than
a month within these walls, excepting the last person
who lived here, and he, though he had soldiers and slaves,
could not stay longer than about nine months; for the
devil disturbed his family all night.” I must here tell
you that during our short stay in the house, two maids
had left us, one after another, without giving us any
idea of their intentions, and had never returned, and the
cause of their sudden disappearance was now explained
by the men, their fellow-servants. Certainly our own
rest had been grievously disturbed; but we had attributed
all the annoyance to a neighbour’s extraordinary demonstrations
of joy on the subject of his own marriage, and
whose festivities were perhaps the more extravagant because
he is an old man, and his bride a young girl: but
48as I hope to give you a particular account, on a future
occasion, of the manner in which the people of this country
celebrate a marriage, suffice it to say at present, the
noise was deafening during the whole of eight nights,
and that, when we were becoming accustomed to the
constant din, we were roused by three tremendous reports
of fire-arms, which rung through the apartments of our
own and the neighbouring houses, and shook our dwelling
to the very foundation. It is therefore not remarkable
that we did not hear the noises which disturbed our poor
servants, in addition to the sufficient uproar without.
It appeared, on inquiry, that the man to whom this
house formerly belonged, and who is now dead, had
during his residence in it, murdered a poor tradesman
who entered the court with his merchandise, and two
slaves: one of these (a black girl) was destroyed in the
bath, and you will easily understand how far such a story
as this, and a true one too, sheds its influence on the
minds of a people who are superstitious to a proverb.
We can only regret that my brother engaged the house
in ignorance of these circumstances; had he known
them, he would also have been aware that the prejudice
among the lower orders would be insurmountable, and
that no female servant would remain with us. The sudden
disappearance of our maids was thus quaintly explained
by our doorkeeper. “Why did A’mineh and Zeyneb
leave you?” “Verily, O my master, because they
feared for their security. When A’mineh saw the
’efreet she said at once, ‘I must quit this house; for if
he touch me, I shall be deranged, and unfit for service;’
and truly,” he added, “this would have been the case.
For ourselves, as men, we fear not; but we fear for the
hareem. Surely you will consider their situation, and
quit this house.” This (he thought) was putting the
matter in the strongest light. “Try a few nights longer,”
my brother said, “and call me as soon as the
’efreet appears to-night; we might have caught him
49last night, when you say he was so near you, and after
giving him a sound beating, you would not have found
your rest disturbed.” At this remark it was evident that
the respect of both servants for their master had received
a temporary shock. “O Efendee,” exclaimed one of
them, “this is an ’efreet, and not a son of Adam, as you
seem to suppose. He assumed last night all imaginary
shapes, and when I raised my hand to seize him, he
became a piece of cord, or any other trifle.” Now these
men are valuable servants, and we should be sorry to
lose them, especially in our present predicament; therefore
my brother merely answered, that if the annoyance
did not cease, he would make inquiry respecting another
house. But to obtain a house, excepting in the heart of
the city, is no easy matter; and on account of my children,
we feel it to be indispensable for the preservation
of their health that we should reside on the west side of
the city, and close to the outskirts, where the air is pure
and salubrious, and where Ibraheem Pasha has caused
the mounds of rubbish to be removed, and succeeded by
extensive plantations of olive, palm, cypress, acacia, and
other trees. These plantations are open to the public,
and form a charming place of resort for children.
I have not mentioned to you that the inhuman wretch
to whom this house belonged bequeathed it to a mosque,
perhaps as an expiation for his crimes, but left it, for the
term of her life, to the person who is our present land-lady;
and now a circumstance was explained to our
minds which we had not before fully understood. On
the day before we desired to remove here, we sent one of
our servants to hire some women, and to superintend the
clearing of the house; and on his arrival there the land-lady
(whose name is Lálah-Zár, or bed of tulips) refused
him admission, saying, “Return to the Efendee, and say
to him that I am baking cakes in the oven of his kitchen,
that I may give them away to-morrow at the tomb of the
late owner of the house, to the poor and needy. This is
50a meritorious act for your master’s sake, as well as for
my own, and your master will understand it.”
Poor woman! it is now evident to us that she hoped
by this act of propitiation to prevent farther annoyance
to her tenants, and consequent loss to herself.
The morning after the conversation I have related took
place, the servants’ report was considerably improved.
They had passed, they said, a comfortable night, and we
hoped we might arrange to remain here, but the following
day a most singular statement awaited us. The doorkeeper,
in a tone of considerable alarm, said that he
had been unable to sleep at all; that the ’efreet had
walked round the gallery all night in clogs![8] and had
repeatedly knocked at his door with a brick, or some
other hard substance. Then followed the question why
one of the men had not called my brother, evidently because
neither of them dared pass the gallery round which
the supposed ’efreet was taking his midnight walk, striking
each door violently as he passed it. For many
nights these noises continued, and many evenings they
began before we retired to rest, and as we could never
find the offender, I sadly feared for my children; not for
their personal safety, but lest they should incline to superstition,
and nothing impoverishes the mind so much
as such a tendency.
Another singular circumstance attending this most
provoking annoyance was our finding, on several successive
mornings, five or six pieces of charcoal laid at the
door leading to the chambers in which we sleep; conveying
in this country a wish, or rather an imprecation,
which is far from agreeable, viz.: “May your faces be
blackened.” However, under all these circumstances, I
rejoiced to find my children increasingly amused by these
pranks, and established in the belief that one or more
wicked persons liked the house so well, that they resolved
51to gain possession, and to eject by dint of sundry noises,
and other annoyances, any persons who desire its occupation.
It is, however, a more serious matter to poor
Lálah-Zár than to us; for it is very certain that the
legacy of the late possessor will never prove a great
benefit either to her or the mosque. You will be surprised
when I tell you that the rent of such a house as
this does not exceed 12l. per annum. It is a very superior
house, and infinitely beyond the usual run of houses,
therefore always styled by the people of the country, the
house of an Emeer (a Nobleman).
One thing we much regretted, that A’mineh (whom I
mentioned early in this letter) had taken fright. She
was the best of our maids; and her gentle respectful
manners, and the perfect propriety of her demeanour,
made her a very desirable attendant. I am sorry to say
we have met with no other, but those who have proved
themselves in every respect inefficient. The men-servants
are excellent, and become attached to their masters almost
invariably, when treated as they deserve; but as to the
maids, I scarcely know how to describe them. I really
do not think they hardly ever wash themselves, excepting
when they go to the bath, which is once in about ten
days or a fortnight. On these occasions a complete
scouring takes place (I can find no other term for the
operation of the bath), and their long hair is arranged in
many small plaits: from that time until the next visit to
the bath, their hair is never unplaited. I speak from
having watched with dismay all we have had, excepting
A’mineh, who was a jewel among them, and from the
information of all our friends in this country. These
maids are extremely deceitful, and when directed with
regard to their work, will answer with the most abject
submission, although really disheartened by the most
ordinary occupation. They sleep in their clothes, after
the manner of the country, and the habit of doing so,
coupled with the neglect of proper washing, involving a
52want of that freshness produced by a complete change of
clothes, is especially objectionable. Were they strict in
their religious observances, their cleanliness would be
secured, as frequent ablutions are ordered in their code
of law; but the lower orders of the women have seldom
any religion at all.
Believe me, you are fortunate in England, in this respect,
as well as many others, and I hope you will prize
our English maids, if you have not done so already.
LETTER V.
September, 1842.
My dear Friend,
That you may be better prepared for future letters, you
wish me to give you a general physical sketch of this
most singular country, which is distinguished by its
natural characteristics, as well as by its monuments of
antiquity, from every other region of the globe. As my
own experience will not enable me to do so, my brother
has promised to furnish me with the necessary information.
The country (as well as the metropolis) is called Masr,
by its modern inhabitants. It is generally divided into
Upper and Lower. Upper Egypt, or the Sa’eed, may be
described as a long winding valley, containing a soil of
amazing fertility, bounded throughout its whole length by
mountainous and sandy wastes.
Lower Egypt is an extensive plain, for the most part
cultivated, and copiously supplied with moisture by the
divided streams of the Nile, and by numerous canals.
All the cultivable soil of Egypt owes its existence to the
Nile, by which it is still annually augmented: for this
53river, when swollen by the summer rains which regularly
drench the countries between the northern limits of the
Sennár and the equinoctial line, is impregnated with rich
earth washed down from the mountains of Abyssinia and
the neighbouring regions; and in its course through
Nubia and Egypt, where rain is a rare phenomenon, it
deposits a copious sediment, both in the channel in
which it constantly flows, and upon the tracts which
it annually inundates. It is every where bordered by
cultivated fields, excepting in a few places, where it is
closely hemmed in by the mountains, or the drifted sand
of the desert. The mud of the Nile, analyzed by Regnault,
was found to consist of 11 parts in 100 of water;
48 of alumine; 18 of carbonate of lime; 9 of carbon; 6
of oxide of iron; 4 of silex; and 4 of carbonate of magnesia.
The Nile is called in Egypt “El-Bahr” (or “the
river”); for bahr signifies a “great river,” as well as the
sea. It is also called “Bahr en Neel” (or “the river
Nile”), and “Neel Masr” (or “the Nile of Egypt”).
The Arabs, generally believe the “Neel Masr” to be a
continuation of the “Neel es-Soodán” (or “Nile of the
Negroes”).
Of the two great branches, called “El-Bahr el-Azrak”
(or “the blue river”), and “El-Bahr el-Abyad” (or “the
white river”), which, uniting, form the Nile of Nubia
and Egypt, the former (though less long than the other)
is that to which Egypt principally owes its fertility. Its
chief characteristics (its colour, the banks between which
it flows, &c.) are similar to those of the Nile of Egypt.
Its dark colour, arising from its being impregnated with
soil during the greater part of the year, has caused it to
receive the name of “the blue river,” while the other
branch, from the opposite colour of its waters, is called
“the white river.” The latter is considerably wider than
the former; its banks are sloping lawns, richly wooded,
54and very unlike the steep and broken banks of the Nile
of Egypt.
At its entrance into the valley of Egypt, the Nile is
obstructed by innumerable rocks of granite, which cause
a succession of cataracts, or rather rapids. The mountains
on the east of the river, as well the islands in it, are
here of granite: those on the western side are of sandstone.
From this point, to the distance of thirty leagues
southward, sandstone mountains of small altitude extend
on each side of the river. The valley, so far, is very
narrow, particularly throughout the upper half of the
sandstone district; and there is but very little cultivable
land on the banks of the river in that part; in some
places the mountains are close to the stream; and in
others, only a narrow sandy strip intervenes. At the distance
of twelve leagues below the cataracts, the river is
contracted to little more than half its usual width, by the
mountains on each side. Here are extensive quarries,
from which were taken the materials for the construction
of many of the temples in the Thebais. This part is
called “Gebel es-Silsileh,” or “the Mountain of the
Chain.” Where the calcareous district begins, are two
insulated hills (El-Gebelyn) on the west of the Nile; one
of them close to the river, and the other at a little distance
behind the former. The valley then becomes
wider, and more irregular in its direction; and the Nile
winds through the middle of the cultivable land, or nearly
so. Afterwards the valley assumes a less serpentine form,
and the river flows along the eastern side; in many places
washing the sides of the precipitous mountains. The
calcareous district continues to the end of the valley,
where the mountains on both sides diverge; the Arabian
chain running due east to Suez, and the western hills extending
in a northwest direction, towards the Mediterranean.
Near the termination of the valley is an opening
in the low western mountains, through which a canal
55conveys the waters of the Nile into the fertile province
of El-Feiyoom. On the northwest of this province is a
great lake, which receives the superfluous waters during
the inundation. The length of the valley of Egypt, from
the cataracts to the metropolis, is about 450 geographical
miles. The distance by the river is above 500 miles
from the cataracts to the metropolis, and about 400 miles
from Thebes to the same point. The difference in latitude
between the cataracts and the metropolis is six
degrees, or 360 geographical miles; and the distance
from the latter point to the sea, in a straight line, is
rather more than ninety miles. The width of the valley
is in few parts more than eight or ten miles; and generally
less than that. The width of that part of Lower
Egypt which constituted the ancient Delta, is about 120
miles from east to west.
The whole of the fertile country is very flat; but the
lands in the vicinity of the river are rather higher than
those which are more remote. This has been supposed
to result from a greater deposit of mud upon the former;
which, however, cannot be the case, for it is observed
that the fields near the river are generally above the
reach of the inundation, while those towards the mountains
are abundantly overflowed; but while the latter
yield but one crop, the former are cultivated throughout
the whole year; and it is the constant cultivation and
frequent watering (which is done by artificial means)
that so considerably raise the soil; not so much by the
deposit of mud left by the water, as by the accumulation
of stubble and manure. The cultivable soil throughout
Egypt is free from stones, excepting in parts immediately
adjacent to the desert. It almost every where
abounds with nitre.
Between the cultivable land and the mountains, there
generally intervenes a desert space, too high to be inundated.
This tract partly consists of sand and pebbles,
covering a bed of rock, and partly of drifted sand which
56has encroached on the cultivable soil. In some places,
this desert space is two or three miles in width.
The extent of the cultivated land in Egypt, my brother
calculates to be equal to rather more than one square degree
and a half; in other words 5,500 square geographical
miles.[9] This is less than half the extent of the
land which is comprised within the confines of the
desert; for many parts within the limits of the cultivable
land are too high to be inundated, and consequently are
not cultivated; and other parts, particularly in Lower
Egypt, are occupied by lakes, or marshes, or drifted
sand. Allowances also must be made for the space
which is occupied by towns and villages, the river,
canals, &c. Lower Egypt comprises about the same
extent of cultivated land as the whole of Upper Egypt.[10]
9. He made this calculation from a list of all the towns
and villages in Egypt, and the extent of cultivated land
belonging to each. This list is appended to De Sacy’s
“Abd Allatif.” It was made in the year of the Flight
777 (A.D. 1375–6); and may be rather underrated than
the reverse. The estimate of M. Mengin shows that in
1821, the extent of the cultivated land was much less;
but since that period, considerable tracts of waste land
have been rendered fertile.
10. The term “sharákee” is applied to those lands which
are above the reach of the inundation, and the term “rei”
to the rest.
The annual inundation irrigates the land sufficiently
for one crop; but not without any labour of the fellah (or
agriculturist): for care must be taken to detain the water
by means of dams, or it would subside too soon. The
highest rise of the Nile ever known would scarcely be
sufficient if the waters were allowed to drain off the
fields when the river itself falls. A very high rise of the
Nile is, indeed, an event not less calamitous than a very
scanty rise; for it overflows vast tracts of land which
57cannot be drained, it washes down many of the mud-built
villages, the huts of which are composed of unburnt
bricks, and occasions an awful loss of lives as well as
property. Moreover the plague seldom visits Egypt excepting
after a very high rise of the Nile. It is, however,
far from being an invariable consequence of such
an event. When the river begins to rise, all the canals
are cleared out, each is closed by a dam of earth at the
entrance, and opened when the Nile has nearly attained
its greatest height, towards the end of September. When
the river begins to fall the canals are closed again, that
they may retain the water. The lands that are not inundated
by the overflowing of the Nile are irrigated artificially,
if sufficiently near to the river, or to a canal.
As all the cultivable soil of Egypt has been deposited
by the river, it might be expected that the land would at
length rise so high as to be above the reach of the inundation;
but the bed of the river rises at the same time,
and in the same degree.
At Thebes, the Nile rises about thirty-six feet; at the
cataracts about forty; at Rosetta, owing to the proximity
of the mouth, it only rises to the height of about three
feet and a half. The Nile begins to rise in the end of
June, or the beginning of July; that is to say, about, or
soon after, the summer solstice, and attains its greatest
height in the end of September, or sometimes (but rarely)
in the beginning of October; that is, in other words,
about or soon after the autumnal equinox. During the
first three months of its decrease, it loses about half the
height it had attained; and during the remaining six
months, it falls more and more slowly. It generally remains
not longer than three or four days at its maximum,
and the same length of time at its minimum: it may
therefore be said to be three months on the increase, and
nine months gradually falling. It often remains without
any apparent increase or diminution, at other times than
those of its greatest or least elevation, and is subject to
58other slight irregularities. The Nile becomes turbid a
little before its rise is apparent, and soon after it assumes
a green hue, which it retains more than a fortnight. Its
water is extremely delicious even when it is most impregnated
with earth; but then the Egyptians (excepting
the lower orders) usually leave it to settle before they
drink it, and put it in porous earthen bottles, which cool
it by evaporation. While the Nile is green, the people
generally abstain from drinking the water fresh from the
river, having recourse to a supply previously drawn, and
kept in cisterns.
The width of the Nile where there are no islands is in
few parts more than half a mile. The branches which
enclose the Delta are not so wide, generally speaking, as
the undivided stream above; and the river is as wide in
most parts of Upper Egypt as in the lower extremity of
the valley.
The rapidity of the current when the waters are low is
not greater than the rate of a mile and a quarter in an
hour; but during the higher state of the river, the current
is very rapid, and while vessels with furled sails are
carried down by the stream with great speed, others ascend
the river at an almost equal rate, favoured by the
strong northerly winds, which prevail most when the
current is most rapid. When the river is low, the wind
from the north is often more powerful than the current,
and vessels cannot then descend the stream even with
the help of oars.
I believe that I shall have occasion to add a few more
words on the Nile some days hence, when I hope to send
you the remainder of the general sketch.
Meanwhile, believe me to remain, &c.
LETTER VI.
59
October 13th, 1842.
My dear Friend,
Since I last wrote to you, the weather has continued
intensely hot; but during the last three days almost constant
lightning throughout the evening, though succeeded
by excessive heat during the nights, has given us hope of
speedy relief. This heat is attributed to the present state
of the Nile, which has continued most unusually increasing
up to this time (the 13th of October), and given
rise to serious apprehensions; for unless the water drain
quickly off the land when the river begins to fall, it is
feared that a severe plague may ensue. In such a case,
we propose going up to Thebes for four months, but we
earnestly hope it may please Almighty God to avert so
dreadful a calamity as a pestilence must inevitably prove.
I now resume the sketch I left unfinished in my last
letter.
The climate of Egypt is generally very salubrious.
The extraordinary dryness of the atmosphere (excepting
in the maritime parts) is proved by the wonderful state of
preservation in which bread, meal, fruits, &c., have been
found in the tombs of ancient Thebes, after having been
deposited there two or three thousand years. The ancient
monuments of Egypt have suffered very little from the
weather: the colours with which some of them are
adorned retain almost their pristine brightness. There
arises from the waters of the fields a considerable exhalation
(though not often visible), during the inundation,
and for some months afterwards; but even then it seems
60perfectly dry immediately within the skirts of the desert,
where most of the monuments of antiquity are situated.[11]
The heat in Egypt is very great; but not so oppressive
as might be imagined, on account of that extreme dryness
of the atmosphere of which I have spoken, and the
prevalence of northerly breezes.[12]
11. The damp at this period, slight as it is, occasions
ophthalmia, diarrhœa, and dysentery, to be more prevalent
now than at other times.
12. The general height of the thermometer (Fahrenheit’s)
in Lower Egypt during the hot season, at noon, and in
the shade, is from 90° to 100°; in Upper Egypt, from 100°
to 110°; and in Nubia, from 110° to 120°, and even 130°,
though in few years. In the latter country, if placed in
the sand and exposed to the sun, the thermometer often
rises to 150° or more. The temperature of Lower Egypt
in the depth of winter is from 50° to 60°.
Rain is a very rare phenomenon in the valley of
Egypt. In the Sa’eed, a heavy rain falls not oftener,
on the average, than once in four or five years. My
brother witnessed such an occurrence at Thebes, a tremendous
storm of lightning and rain, in the autumn of
1827. Lightning is frequently seen, but thunder is seldom
heard. On that occasion it was quite terrific, and
lasted throughout a whole night. The torrents which
pour down the sides and ravines of the naked mountains
which hem in the valley of Egypt, on these occasions,
though so rare, leave very conspicuous traces. Here, in
Cairo, and in the neighbouring parts, there fall on the
average four or five smart showers in the year, and those
generally during the winter and spring. Most unusually
(but this is in every respect an unusual season), it rained
heavily on the night of the 30th of September. A heavy
rain very rarely falls, and when it does, much damage
is done to the houses. In the maritime parts of Egypt,
rain is not so unfrequent.
61The prevalence of the northwesterly wind is one of
the most remarkable advantages of climate the Egyptians
enjoy. The northwest breeze is ever refreshing and
salubrious, beneficial to vegetation, and of the greatest
importance in facilitating the Nile at almost every season
of the year, and particularly during that period when the
river is rising, and the current consequently the most
rapid. During the first three months of the decrease of
the river, that is, from the autumnal equinox to the winter-solstice,
the wind is rather variable; sometimes blowing
from the west, south, or east; but still the northerly
winds are most frequent. During the next three months
the wind is more variable; and during the last three
months of the decrease of the river, from the vernal
equinox to the summer solstice, winds from the south, or
southeast, often hot and very oppressive, are frequent,
but of short duration.
During a period called “El-Khamáseen,” hot southerly
winds are very frequent, and particularly noxious. This
period is said to commence on the day after the Coptic
festival of Easter-Sunday, and to terminate on Whit-Sunday;
thus continuing forty-nine days. It generally
begins in the latter part of April, and lasts during the
whole of May. This is the most unhealthy season in
Egypt; and while it lasts the inhabitants are apprehensive
of being visited by the plague; but their fears cease
on the termination of that period. It is remarkable that
we have already suffered much from the hot wind, for it
is most unusual at this season. During July and August
it was frequently distressing; and I can only compare it
to the blast from a furnace, rendering every article of
furniture literally hot, and always continuing three days.
Having, happily, glass windows, we closed them in the
direction of the wind, and found the close atmosphere
infinitely more bearable than the heated blast. This
was a season of extreme anxiety, being quite an unexpected
62ordeal for my children; but, I thank God, excepting
slight indisposition, they escaped unhurt.
The “Samoom,” which is a very violent, hot, and
almost suffocating wind, is of more rare occurrence than
the Khamáseen winds, and of shorter duration; its continuance
being more brief in proportion to the intensity
of its parching heat, and the impetuosity of its course.
Its direction is generally from the southeast, or south-southeast.
It is commonly preceded by a fearful calm.
As it approaches, the atmosphere assumes a yellowish
hue, tinged with red; the sun appears of a deep blood
colour, and gradually becomes quite concealed before the
hot blast is felt in its full violence. The sand and dust
raised by the wind add to the gloom, and increase the
painful effects of the heat and rarity of the air. Respiration
becomes uneasy, perspiration seems to be entirely
stopped; the tongue is dry, the skin parched, and a
prickling sensation is experienced, as if caused by electric
sparks. It is sometimes impossible for a person to
remain erect, on account of the force of the wind; and
the sand and dust oblige all who are exposed to it to keep
their eyes closed. It is, however, most distressing when
it overtakes travellers in the desert. My brother encountered
at Koos, in Upper Egypt, a samoom which was said
to be one of the most violent ever witnessed. It lasted
less than half an hour, and a very violent samoom seldom
continues longer. My brother is of opinion that, although
it is extremely distressing, it can never prove fatal, unless
to persons already brought almost to the point of death
by disease, fatigue, thirst, or some other cause. The
poor camel seems to suffer from it equally with his master;
and will often lie down with his back to the wind,
close his eyes, stretch out his long neck upon the ground,
and so remain until the storm has passed over.
Another very remarkable phenomenon is the “Zóba’ah,”
and very common in Egypt, and in the adjacent deserts.
63It is a whirlwind, which raises the sand or dust in the
form of a pillar, generally of immense height.[13] These
whirling pillars of sand (of which my brother has seen
more than twelve in one day, and often two or three at a
time during the spring) are carried sometimes with great
rapidity across the deserts and fields of Egypt, and over
the river. My brother’s boat was twice crossed by a
zóba’ah; but on each occasion its approach was seen, and
necessary precautions were taken: both the sails were
let fly a few moments before it reached the boat; but the
boxes and cushions in the cabin were thrown down by
the sudden heeling of the vessel, and every thing was
covered with sand and dust.
13. “I measured” (says my brother) “the height of a
zóba’ah, with a sextant, at Thebes, under circumstances
which insured a very near approximation to perfect accuracy
(observing its altitude from an elevated spot, at
the precise moment when it passed through, and violently
agitated, a distant group of palm-trees), and found it to
be seven hundred and fifty feet. I think that several
zóba’ahs I have seen were of greater height. Others
which I measured at the same place were between five
and seven hundred feet in height.”—Modern Egyptians,
3d Edition, Part I. chap. x.
The “Saráb,” called by Europeans “mirage,” which
resembles a lake, and is so frequently seen in the desert,
tantalizing the thirsty traveller, I mentioned to you in a
former letter. The illusion is often perfect, the objects
within and beyond the apparent lake being reflected by
it with the utmost precision. You probably know that
the reflection is produced by a heated stratum of air upon
the glowing surface of a plain, and you may have seen
something of the same kind in England.
The fields in the vicinity of the river, and of the great
canals, are irrigated by means of machines at all seasons
of the year, if not subject to the natural inundation.
64For a description of these, I refer you to the “Modern
Egyptians,” 3d edition, Part II., chap. i.; and I will now
conclude this letter with a concise physical and agricultural
calendar of Egypt, drawn up by my brother from
Arabic works, and from his own observations.
January.—The mean temperature in the afternoon
during this month at Cairo is about 60°. The waters
which, during the season of the inundation, had been
retained upon the fields by means of dams, have now
sunk into the soil; but water still remains in some of the
large canals, their mouths having been stopped up. The
river has lost about half the height it had attained; that
is to say, it had sunk about twelve feet in and about the
latitude of Cairo. The wind at this season, and throughout
the winter, is very variable; but the northerly winds
are most frequent. People should now abstain from
eating fowls, and all crude and cold vegetables. The
poppy is sown. It is unwholesome to drink water during
the night at this season, and throughout the winter. The
fifth Coptic month (Toobeh) begins on the 8th or 9th of
January.[14] Now is the season of extreme cold. Beef
should not be eaten at this period. The fields begin to
be covered with verdure. The vines are trained. Carrots
are plentiful. Onions sown. The date-plum sown.
The ripe sugar-canes cut.
14. See a note on the beginning of the first Coptic month,
in September. The Egyptians (Muslims as well as
Christians) still divide the seasons by the Coptic months;
but for dates, in their writings, they generally use the
lunar Mohammedan months.
February.—The mean temperature in the afternoon
during this month at Cairo is about 66°. End of the
season of extreme cold.[15] The fields every where throughout
65Egypt are covered with verdure. The sixth Coptic
month (Amsheer) begins on the 7th or 8th of February.
Warm water should be drunk fasting at this season.
The wind very variable. The harvest of beans. The
pomegranate tree blossoms. Vines are planted. Trees
put forth their leaves. The season of the winds which
bring rain, called el-Cawákeh. The cold ceases to be
severe.
15. Such is the statement of the Egyptian almanacs; but
there are generally as cold days in the month of Amsheer
as in Toobeh, and sometimes colder.
March.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during
this month, at Cairo, about 68°. End of the season for
planting trees. The seventh Coptic month (Barmahát)
begins on the 9th of March, Variable and tempestuous
winds. The Vernal Equinox. During the quarter now
commencing the river continues decreasing; the wind
often blows from the south or southeast; and the samoom
winds (from the same quarters) occur most frequently
during this period; the plague also generally visits Egypt
at this season, if at all. The weather becomes mild.
Northerly winds become prevalent. The wheat-harvest
begins. Lentils are reaped; cotton, sesame, and indigo
sown; and the sugar-cane planted. The barley-harvest
begins.
April.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during this
month, at Cairo, about 76°. Time for taking medicine.
The eighth Coptic month (Barmoodeh) begins on the
8th of April. Samoom winds. Time for the fecundation
of the date-palm. Rice sown. The wheat-harvest in
Lower Egypt. Beginning of the first season for sowing
millet. The Khamáseen winds generally commence in
this month.
May.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during this
month, at Cairo, about 85°. The Khamáseen winds prevail
principally during this month; and the season is
consequently unhealthy. Winter clothing disused. The
ninth Coptic month (Beshens) begins on the 8th of May.
Time for taking medicine, and losing blood. Season of
the yellow water-melon. Cucumbers sown. The apricot
66bears; and the mulberry. Turnips sown. End of the
first season for sowing millet. The apricot ripens. Beginning
of the season of great heat. Beginning also of
the season of hot winds, called “el-bawáreh,” which
prevail during forty days.
June.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during this
month, at Cairo, about 94°. Strong northerly winds prevail
about this time. The water of the Nile becomes
turbid, but does not yet begin to rise. The tenth Coptic
month (Ba-ooneh) begins on the 7th of June. The banana
sown. Samoom winds. Strong perfumes (as musk,
&c.) are disused now, and throughout the summer. The
yellow water-melon abundant. The plague, if any existed
previously, now ceases. Honey collected. People should
abstain from drinking the water of the Nile at this season
for fifteen days,[16] unless first boiled. “The drop” (en
nuktah) descends into the Nile, and, according to popular
belief, causes it to increase soon after;[17] this is said to
happen on the 11th of Ba-ooneh, which corresponds with
the 17th of June: it is the day before the Coptic festival
of Michael the Archangel. The flesh of the kid is preferred
at this season, and until the end of summer. Samoom
winds blow occasionally during a period of seventy
days now commencing. The Summer Solstice; when
the day is fourteen hours long in Lower Egypt. During
the quarter now beginning (i. e. during the period of the
increase of the Nile) northerly winds prevail almost uninterruptedly,
excepting at night, when it is generally
calm. Though the heat is great, this quarter is the most
healthy season of the year. The Nile begins to rise now,
or a few days earlier or later. The season for grapes and
figs commences. Peaches plentiful.
16. Commencing from the 10th of Ba-ooneh (or the 16th
of June).
17. It is really a heavy dew which falls about this time.
July.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during this
67month, at Cairo, about 98°. The rise of the Nile is now
daily proclaimed in the metropolis. Locusts die, or disappear,
in every part of Egypt. The eleventh Coptic
month (Ebeeb) begins on the 7th of July. Violent northerly
winds prevail for fifteen days.[18] Honey abundant.
People should abstain from eating plentifully at this season.
The noonday heat is now excessive. Ophthalmia
prevails now, but not so much now as in the autumn.
The bawáheer, or seven days of extreme heat, fall at the
end of this month.[19] Grapes and figs abundant. Maize
is now sown. Harvest of the first crop of millet. The
date ripens.
18. Fleas disappear now; and if you can form a just
idea of the annoyance they occasion, you will not think
the insertion of this information unimportant.
19. They are said to commence on the 20th of Ebeeb, or
26th of July.
August.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during
this month, at Cairo, about 92°. Season for pressing
grapes. The last Coptic month (Misra) begins on the
6th of August. Onions should not be eaten at this time.
Radishes and carrots sown. Cold water should be drunk,
fasting. Water-melons plentiful. The season for gathering
cotton. The pomegranate ripens. Violent northerly
winds. Sweetmeats should not be eaten at this time.
“The wedding of the Nile” takes place on the 14th, or
one of the five following days of the month of Misra (the
19th to the 24th of August); this is when the dam of
earth which closes the entrance of the canal of Cairo is
broken down; it having been first announced that the
river has risen (in the latitude of the metropolis) sixteen
cubits, which is an exaggeration.[20] Second season for
68sowing millet. Musquitoes abound now. End of the
seventy days in which samoom winds frequently occur.
20. The true rise at this period is about 19 or 20 feet;
the river, therefore, has yet to rise about 4 or 5 feet
more, on the average.
September.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during
this month, at Cairo, about 88°. White beet and turnip
sown. Windy weather. The beginning of the month
Toot—the first of the Coptic year; corresponding with
the 10th or 11th of September, according as five or six
intercalary days are added at the end of the Coptic year
preceding.[21] Ripe dates abundant, and limes. Windy
weather. The Autumnal Equinox.; The Nile is now,
or a few days later, at its greatest height; and all the
canals are opened. During the quarter now commencing
(i. e. during the first three months of the decrease of the
river), the wind is very variable; often blowing from the
west, and sometimes from the south. The exhalations
from the alluvial soil, in consequence of the inundation,
occasion ophthalmia, diarrhœa, and dysentery to be more
prevalent in this quarter than at other seasons. Harvest
of sesame.
21. “Five intercalary days are added at the end of three
successive years; and six at the end of the fourth year.
The Coptic leap-year immediately precedes ours: therefore,
the Coptic year begins on the 11th of September,
only when it is the next after their leap-year; or when
our next ensuing year is a leap-year: and consequently
after the following February, the corresponding days of
the Coptic and our months will be the same as in other
years. The Copts begin their reckoning from the era
of Diocletian, A. D. 284.”—Modern Egyptians, Part I.,
chap. ix.
October.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during
this month, at Cairo, about 80°. The leaves of trees
become yellow. Green sugar-canes cut, to be sucked.
Drinking water at night, after sleep, is pernicious at this
season. The henna-leaves gathered. Winter vegetables
69sown. The second Coptic month (Bábeh) begins on the
10th or 11th of October. Wheat, barley, lentils, beans,
lupins, chick-peas, kidney-beans, trefoil, fenugreek, colewort,
lettuce, and safflower are sown now, or a little
later. Bleeding is injurious now. The dews resulting
from the inundation increase.
November.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during
this month, at Cairo, about 72°. The cold during the
latter part of the night is now pernicious. The third
Coptic month (Katoor) begins on the 9th or 10th of November.
Rain is now expected in Lower Egypt. The
“mereesee,” or south wind, prevalent. The rice-harvest.
The maize-harvest, and second harvest of millet. Winter-clothing
assumed. Bananas plentiful.
December.—Mean temperature in the afternoon during
this month, at Cairo, about 68°. Tempestuous and
cloudy weather. Strong perfumes, as musk, ambergris,
&c., are agreeable now. The fourth Coptic month
(Kiyahk) begins on the 9th or 10th of December. The
leaves of trees fall. The Winter Solstice; when the
day is ten hours long in Lower Egypt. The wind is
variable during this quarter. Beginning of the season
for planting trees. Fleas multiply. The vines are pruned.
Beef is not considered wholesome food at this season.
LETTER VII.
70
October 18th, Ramadán, 1842.
My dear Friend,
The leading topic of conversation in this country, at
the present time, is the state of the Nile, which has
hitherto (to the 18th of October) continued rising, and
occasioned a general fear that a severe plague will ensue
on the subsiding of the inundation. In 1818, it rose
until the 16th of October; but never so late since that
time, nor for a considerable period before. Our house is
flooded in the lower part; and in some of the streets of
Cairo, the water is within a foot of the surface, while it
has entered many of the houses.
This is the 12th day of Ramadán, or the month of abstinence;
and I do heartily pity those who observe the
fast, for the weather is again intensely hot, and it is marvellous
how any person can observe the law, denying
himself from daybreak to sunset even a draught of water.
I really think there are very many conscientious fasters;
and it would interest you exceedingly to walk through
the streets of Cairo during this month, and observe the
varieties of deportment visible among the people. Some
are sitting idly, holding an ornamented stick, or with a
string of beads in their hands. Boys, fasting for the
first time, and even men, are endeavouring to distract
their attention with the most childish toys; while many
are exhibiting, in various ways, that fasting does not improve
their tempers.
Some days since, as it drew near the hour of sunset,
an aged couple were passing near our present dwelling,
the old woman leading her blind husband by the hand,
and carrying his pipe, that it might be ready for him as
71soon as the law should allow him to enjoy it. Bent as
they were by age and infirmity, it was sad to see that
they were evidently among the fasters, and it was a sight
to excite compassion and respect; for as so many of the
aged sink into their last earthly home, when the month
of abstinence has passed, the fear that they too might
prove martyrs to the requirements of their religion was
far from groundless, and naturally present to the mind of
the observer.
The great among the Muslims in general turn night
into day during Ramadán; therefore they are seldom
seen in the streets. Most of them sleep from daybreak
until the afternoon; while others break their fast in private.
I do not think that this is done by the lower orders;
and no one can hear the cry of joy which rings and
echoes through the city at sunset, when, in token that
the fasting is over, for at least some hours, a cannon is
discharged from the citadel, without rejoicing with the
people, that another day of Ramadán has passed. But
no sound is so imposing as the night-call to prayer from
the numerous menarets. I mentioned to you our impressions
on hearing it first at Alexandria; but here, in
Cairo, it is infinitely more striking. On some occasions,
when the wind is favourable, we can hear perhaps a hundred
voices, in solemn, and indeed harmonious, concert.
Here the Mueddins, raised between earth and heaven,
call on their fellow-creatures to worship Heaven’s God;
and oh! as their voices are borne on the night-wind, let
the silent prayer of every Christian who hears them
ascend to a throne of grace for mercy on their behalf.
They are more especially objects of pity, because they
have the light of the Gospel in their land; but how is
that light obscured! prejudice, and (shall I write it?) the
conduct of many Europeans dwelling among them, and
calling themselves Christians, have blinded their eyes,
and because of the sins of others, the true Christian
spends his strength in vain. Far be it from me to cast a
72sweeping censure, but our respectable and respected
friends here will join me as I raise my voice against
those nominal Christians, who, by their profligacy, prove
ever “rocks a-head” to the already prejudiced Muslim.
This always important city may now be ranked among
“men’s thoroughfares” in a wide sense, and we must
only hope that the day may come when the phrase,
“these are Christians,” will no longer convey reproach.
The Mohammedan months are lunar, and consequently
retrograde; and when Ramadán occurs in the summer,
the obligation to abstain from water during the long
sultry days is fearful in its consequences. At sunset, the
fasting Muslim takes his breakfast; and this meal generally
commences with light refreshments, such as sweet
cakes, raisins, &c.; for, from long abstinence, many persons
find themselves in so weak a state, that they cannot
venture to eat immediately a full meal. Many break
their fast with merely a glass of sherbet, or a cup of
coffee. This refreshment is succeeded by a substantial
meal, equal to their usual dinner. They often retire to
obtain a short sleep. Usually, two hours after sunset,
criers greet all the persons in their respective districts,
beating a small drum at the doors, and saying something
complimentary to the inmates of each house. Again,
the morning call to prayer is chanted much earlier than
usual, perhaps an hour and a half before daybreak, to
remind all to take their second meal; and the crier also
goes another round, making a loud noise, in which he
perseveres until he is answered, at each house where his
attention is required. Thus, you see, no small pains are
taken to remind the faster to avail himself of his opportunities;
and it is singular to hear the variety of noises
which disturb the nights of this most unpleasant month.
At daybreak, each morning, the last signal is made from
the citadel, by the firing of a cannon, for the removal of
all food; and on some occasions, this report seems to
shake the city to the very foundations. The open lattice
73windows oblige us to hear all the noises I have described.
Our windows are furnished with glazed frames, in addition
to the carved wooden lattice-work, but the former
are only closed in the winter, for those who desire to enjoy
any sleep during the hot season must keep all windows
(and if possible doors also) open. Judging by my
own surprise at the degree of heat we have endured since
our arrival, I imagine you have no adequate idea of it.
On my opening, a few days since, a card-box full of sealing-wax,
I found the whole converted into an oblong
mass, fitting the lower part of the box.
As to the vermin of Egypt, I really think that the flies
occasion the greatest annoyance, so abundant are they,
and so distressing. Nets placed at the doors and windows
exclude them; but there are days, indeed weeks and
months, in Egypt, when the temperature is so oppressive,
that it is not possible to allow the air to be impeded, even
by a net. Musquitoes, too, are very troublesome in the
mornings and evenings, and much reduce the comfort of
early rising. This is a serious inconvenience here, for we
find the most agreeable hours are in the early mornings
and in the cool evenings, after sunset. The old houses
abound with bugs, but in this respect we have been particularly
fortunate; for we have not been annoyed by these
very disgusting insects. Fleas are very troublesome during
their season, I am told, but with us their season has not
yet begun; and I think and hope cleanliness in our houses
will, in a great degree, prevent their attentions. “There
are insects” (as I once heard a lecturer on natural history
express himself) “which must be nameless in all polite
society;” therefore, my dear friend, they must be nameless
here, but of these we have seen five. These arrived
at five different times in parcels of new linen from a bazaar,
and their arrival has occasioned the closest scrutiny
when any thing new is brought to us.
Rats, also, are extremely annoying, and nothing escapes
their depredations, unless secured in wire safes, or hung
74up at a sufficient distance from the walls. These animals
run about our bedrooms during the nights; and I sometimes
think they come in at the open windows. They are
generally harmless, but sufficiently tiresome. Lizards,
too, are very common, but perfectly innocuous, and occupy
themselves entirely on the ceilings and windows in chasing
flies, on which they seem to subsist. I told you I feared
much from the antiquated cobwebs that spiders would be
numerous. They are so, truly, and so very large that I
will not risk giving my opinion of their size; it is so far
beyond any European specimen I have seen. But the
gravest annoyances are scorpions, and of these we have
found three, one of which was exactly three inches in
length. I was much distressed on finding these, but comforted
on hearing that if the wound they inflict be immediately
scarified, and an application of sal ammoniac be
made, it does not prove fatal. These applications, however,
though absolutely necessary, are very painful; and I
trust we may be spared the necessity of resorting to such
means. Fearing for my children, for their sakes I am a
coward, and I feel it is ever necessary to bear in mind
that we cannot wander where we can be outcasts from the
care of Heaven, or strangers to the protecting Providence
of God.
I have suffered this letter to remain unfinished for a
whole week, expecting daily that I might be able to tell
you of the end of this year’s inundation. This I am now
able to do; but must first mention, that we have experienced
a most extraordinary storm of wind, accompanied
by such clouds of dust, that we were obliged to close our
eyes and wait patiently until its fury had in some measure
passed away. When it abated we looked out upon
the city, and could only see the tops of its menarets above
the sea of dust, and its lofty palm-trees bending before
the blast. I have heard such a hurricane, during the
night, once since our arrival in Cairo, and fearful indeed
it was, but I have never seen its effects until now. This
75was not one of the winds to which the Easterns give a
name, such as the Zóba’ah, the Khamáseen winds, or the
Samoom; but a strong sweeping wind from the northeast.
In looking down upon the many ruins of Cairo, I feel
astonished by the fact of their withstanding such a hurricane.
A storm like this is generally preceded and followed
by a perfect calm.
This day (the 25th of October) is the first of the decrease
of the Nile. It is usually at its greatest height, as I have
already mentioned, at the end of September. It is not
extraordinary that it should be a high inundation; that is
well accounted for this year, as it has been in the two preceding
years, by the construction of many new embankments,
but it is the lateness of the inundation which is so
exceedingly unusual. It rose considerably on the 23d
instant, and on the 24th slightly; and I find no one with
whom we are acquainted here among the residents who
remembers such an occurrence.
“A very grievous murrain,” forcibly reminding us of
that which visited this same country in the days of Moses,
has prevailed during the last three months, and the already
distressed peasants feel the calamity severely, or rather (I
should say) the few who possess cattle. Among the rich
men of the country, the loss has been enormous. During
our voyage up the Nile, we observed several dead cows
and buffaloes lying in the river, as I mentioned in a former
letter; and some friends who followed us two months
after, saw many on the banks; indeed, up to this time,
great numbers of cattle are dying in every part of the
country, and the prevailing excitement leads me to recur
to the subject.
LETTER VIII.
76
November 26th.
My dear Friend,
I have just returned from witnessing the curious procession
of the Mahmal, preparatory to the departure of the
great caravan of pilgrims to Mekkah. We were early on
the way, and after riding for nearly an hour we found
ourselves in the main street of the city, opposite to the
Khán el-Khaleelee, the chief Turkish bazaar of Cairo. I
felt more than ever convinced that donkeys were the only
safe means of conveyance in the streets of this city. A
lady never rides but on a donkey, with a small carpet laid
over the saddle. For gentlemen, horses are now more
used than donkeys; but their riders encounter much
inconvenience. In many cases, this morning, our donkeys
threaded their way among loaded camels, where
horses were turned back; and my apprehensions lest the
large bales of goods should really sweep my boys from
their saddles, were scarcely removed by the extreme care
of their attendants, who always kept one arm round each
of my children, in passing through the dangerous thoroughfares.
I assure you it is an exceedingly awkward thing
to ride through the streets of Cairo at any time, but especially
so during a season of festivity.
We had engaged for the day a room on a first-floor,
commanding a good view of the street, and we had not
been long seated before an extraordinary uproar commenced.
This arose from crowds of boys, provided with
sticks, and absolutely privileged (as is usual on the days
of this procession) to beat all Christians and Jews. A poor
Frank gentleman was attacked under the window we
were occupying, and protected with difficulty by some
77Arabs, who interposed with much kindness. It was
especially matter of congratulation to-day, that our party
were supposed to be Easterns, and that we had so learnt
to carry the dress that we were not suspected. On one
occasion, not long since, my donkey stumbled, and a
Turkish gentleman, who was passing me, exclaimed,
“Yá Sátir” (O! Protector). Had he supposed I was an
Englishwoman, I imagine he would not have invoked
protection for me. The prejudice against Europeans is
especially strong, as they are said to have enlightened
the Pasha too much on matters of finance; but to-day
I will dismiss this subject, and tell you of the procession,
while it is fresh in my recollection.
The first persons who passed, belonging to the procession,
were two men with drawn swords, who engaged
occasionally in mock combat. Next came a grotesque
person, well mounted, and wearing a high pointed
cap, and an immense beard of twisted hemp, and clothed
in sheep-skins. He held a slender stick in his right
hand, and in his left a bundle of papers, on which he
pretended, with a tragi-comical expression of countenance,
to write judicial opinions. Next followed the gun
of the caravan, a small brass field-piece, an hour and a
half before noon, preceded by a company of Nizám troops,
and followed by another company, headed by their band;
the musical instruments being European. I cannot praise
their performance, yet it approached nearer to music than
any attempt I have heard in Egypt. It remains, however,
for me to hear the professional singers of this country;
and I am told by persons of undoubted taste, that if
I do not admire the airs they sing, I shall be surprised
at their skill and the quality of their voices.
The soldiers were followed by a long procession of
Darweeshes. First came the Saadeeyeh, with numerous
flags, bearing, in many cases, the names of God, Mohammad,
and the founder of their order, on a ground of
green silk. Most of these Darweeshes were beating a
78small kettle-drum called báz, which is held in the left
hand, and beaten with a short thick strap. Some were
beating cymbals, and all repeating religious ejaculations,
chiefly names and epithets of God. They were perpetually
bowing their heads to the right and to the left
during the whole repetition, and this motion was rendered
the more apparent by many of them wearing very
high felt caps; then, the variety in their costume, and,
more than all, the gravity of their deportment, combined
to rivet our attention. These Darweeshes were followed
by a body of their parent order (the Refá-eeyeh), bearing
black flags, and also beating bázes and cymbals, and repeating
the like ejaculations. Their sheykh, a venerable-looking
person, wearing a very large black turban, rode
behind them, on horseback. Then passed the Kádireeyeh
Darweeshes: their principal insignia were borne by
members of their order; viz. palm-sticks, for fishing-rods;
and fishing-nets strained on hoops, and raised on
long poles, with many small fish suspended round them.
They carried white flags. Next followed the Ahmedeeyeh,
and Baráhimeh Darweeshes, bearing red and green
flags; and immediately after these came “the Mahmal.”
The Mahmal is a mere emblem of royalty, and contains
nothing; but two copies of the Kur-án, in cases of
gilt silver, are fastened to the exterior. It is an imitation
of a covered litter, borne on the back of a camel; and it
accompanies the caravan yearly, forming, if I may use
the expression, the banner of the pilgrims. Many persons
have understood that it contains the Kisweh, or new
covering for the temple of Mekkah; but they are mistaken.
The origin of this ceremony, as related in the
“Modern Egyptians,” was as follows:—“Sheger-ed-Durr
(commonly called Shegerel-ed-Durr), a beautiful Turkish
female slave, who became the favourite wife of the Sultán
Es-Sáleh Negm-ed-Deen, and on the death of his son
(with whom terminated the dynasty of the house of
Eiyoob) caused herself to be acknowledged as Queen of
79Egypt, performed the pilgrimage in a magnificent Hódag
(or covered litter), borne by a camel; and for several successive
years her empty litter was sent with the caravan
merely for the sake of state. Hence, succeeding princes
of Egypt sent with each year’s caravan of pilgrims a kind
of Hódag (which received the name of Mahmal, or Mahmil)
as an emblem of royalty, and the kings of other
countries followed their example.”[22] The usual covering
of the Mahmal has been black brocade; that I have seen
this morning is red, and I understand that it is shabby in
comparison with those of former years: indeed each year
(my brother tells me) all that is connected with this procession
becomes less remarkable, and less money is expended
on it by the government. But to me, and to
those of us who had not previously seen it, it was extremely
interesting. There were none of the great men
habited in cloth of gold, who preceded it on former occasions;
neither were the camels handsomely caparisoned.
The half-naked sheykh who has for so many years followed
the Mahmal, incessantly rolling his head, for which
feat he receives a gratuity from the government, rode on
a fine horse immediately after it. If he be the same man
(and I am informed he is the very same) who has year
after year committed this absurdity, it is wonderful that
his head has borne such unnatural and long-continued
motion. There followed him a number of led camels and
horses, and their decorations were extremely picturesque,
but not costly. The camels were ornamented in various
ways; one having small bells, strung on either side of a
saddle ornamented with coloured cloth; others with palm-branches,
ostrich feathers, and small flags fixed on similar
saddles decorated with cowries. These were succeeded
by a company of regular troops, followed by the Emeer-el-Hágg
(or chief of the pilgrims). Then passed the usual
collection of the presents which are distributed during the
80pilgrimage; and then, a number of drummers mounted
on camels, and beating enormous kettle-drums: after
these, some more led camels, and a numerous group bearing
mesh’als, the tops of which were covered with coloured
kerchiefs. “The mesh’al is a staff with a cylindrical
frame of iron at the top filled with wood, or having
two, three, four, or five of these receptacles for fire.”[23]
These were for the purpose of lighting the caravan; as
the journey is mostly performed during the cool hours of
night. Another company of officers and soldiers followed
these; and then the litter and baggage of the
Emeer-el-Hágg. His first supply of water passed next,
borne by a number of camels, each laden with four skins;
and these were succeeded by led camels closing the
procession.
Had we gone merely with the view of seeing the spectators,
we should have been amply rewarded. The shops
and their benches were crowded with people of many
countries; and the variety in their costume and manners
formed an amusing study. The windows of the first and
second floors were perfectly full of women, children, and
slaves; and here and there a richly-embroidered dress
was seen through the lattice.
On one point all denominations of people seemed
agreed; viz. in purchasing something for their children
from almost all the venders of sweets, and many passed
constantly on this occasion; therefore their poor children
kept up a continual system of cramming during the whole
procession; and here my eyes were opened to a new manner
of accounting for the generally wretched appearance
of the children of this country. Their parents put any
thing and every thing that is eatable into their mouths,
without the slightest regard to its being wholesome or
otherwise. How then can they be strong or healthy?
I have already attempted to describe to you my impressions
on my first entry into Cairo. My ideas of it,
for a considerable time, were very confused; it seemed
to me, for the most part, a labyrinth of ruined and half-ruined
houses, of the most singular construction; and in
appearance so old, that I was surprised at being informed
that, only a few years ago, it presented a far less unhappy
aspect.
Cairo is dignified with the name of Umm-ed-Dunya
(the Mother of the World) and other sounding appellations.
Though it has much declined since the discovery
of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and
more especially of late years, it is still one of the most
considerable cities in the East. It is altogether an Arabian
city; and the very finest specimens of Arabian
architecture are found within its walls. The private
houses are in general moderately large; the lower part
of stone, and the superstructure of brick; but some are
little better than huts.
The streets are unpaved, and very narrow, generally
from five to ten feet wide. Some are even less than four
feet in width; but there are others as much as forty or
fifty feet wide, though not for any great length. I must
describe the streets under their different appellations.
A shárë’, or great thoroughfare-street, is generally
somewhat irregular both in its direction and width. In
most parts the width is scarcely more than sufficient for
two loaded camels to proceed at a time; and hence much
inconvenience is often occasioned to the passenger,
82though carriages are very rarely encountered. All burdens
are borne by camels, if too heavy for asses; and
vast numbers of the former, as well as many of the latter,
are employed in supplying the inhabitants of Cairo with
the water of the Nile, which is conveyed in skins, the
camel carrying a pair of skin bags, and the ass a goat-skin,
tied round at the neck. The great thoroughfare-streets
being often half obstructed by these animals, and
generally crowded with passengers, some on foot, and
others riding, present striking scenes of bustle and confusion,
particularly when two long trains of camels happen
to meet each other where there is barely room enough
for them to pass, which is often the case. Asses are in
very general use, and most convenient for riding through
such streets as those of Cairo, and are always to be procured
for hire. They are preferred to horses even by
some men of the wealthier classes of the Egyptians.
Their paces are quick and easy; and the kind of saddle
with which they are furnished is a very comfortable seat:
it is a broad, party-coloured pack-saddle. A servant
generally runs with the donkey; and exerts himself, by
almost incessant bawling, to clear the way for his master.
The horseman proceeds with less comfort, and less speed,—seldom
beyond the rate of a slow walk; and though
preceded by a servant, and sometimes by two servants to
clear his way, he is often obliged to turn back: it is,
therefore, not often that a numerous cavalcade is seen in
the more frequented streets; and there are some streets
so contracted that a person on horseback cannot pass
through them. It is not uncommon for individuals of
the higher and middle classes in Cairo to exchange salutations
in the streets, though unacquainted with each
other. Thus the Muslim salutation was often given to
my brother, a fact which I mention merely to show the
fallacy of the opinion that the natives of the East can
easily detect, even by a glance, a European in Oriental
disguise.
83A stranger, with lofty ideas of Eastern magnificence,
must be surprised at the number of meanly-dressed persons
whom he meets in the streets of Cairo. Blue is the
prevailing colour; as the principal article of dress, both
of the men and women of the lower orders, is a full shirt
of cotton or linen, dyed with indigo, which is the production
of the country. The blue shirts of the men,
particularly of the servants, often conceal vests of silk
and cloth. Some persons are so poor as not even to possess
a ragged turban; their only head-dress being a close-fitting
cap of white, or brown felt, or an old tarboosh;[24]
and many are without shoes. Christians and Jews are
distinguished by a black, or blue, or light-brown turban.
The costumes of the women, and especially of the ladies,
are the most remarkable in the eyes of the European
stranger. The elegant dress which they wear at home
is concealed whenever they appear in public by a very
full silk gown (called tób), and a large black silk covering
(called habarah) enveloping almost the whole person;
or, instead of the latter, in the case of unmarried ladies,
a white silk covering: the face veil (burko’) is of white
muslin; it is narrow, and reaches from the eyes nearly
to the feet. Thus encumbered, it is with some difficulty
that the ladies shuffle along in their slippers; but they
are seldom seen in the crowded streets on foot: well-trained
donkeys are hired for their convenience, and are
furnished, for this purpose, with a high and broad saddle,
covered with a carpet, upon which the lady sits astride,
attended by a servant on each side. A long train of
ladies, and female slaves attired in the same manner, one
behind another, a whole hareem, is often seen thus
mounted; and passengers of all ranks make way for
them with the utmost respect. The women of the inferior
classes wear a black face veil, which I think much
more becoming than the white. It is sometimes adorned
84with gold coins and beads; or they draw a part of the
head veil before the face, leaving only one eye visible.
24. The red cloth skull-cap, round which the turban is
wound.
Numbers of blind persons are seen in the streets of
Cairo; and many more with a bandage over one eye;
but I seldom see a woman with diseased eyes.
Shops, which (I have before remarked) are merely
small recesses, and most of which are poorly stocked,
generally occupy the front part of the ground-floor of
each house in a great street; and the houses, with few
exceptions, are two or three stories high. Their fronts,
above the ground-floor, projecting about two feet, and
the windows of wooden lattice-work projecting still further,
render the streets gloomy, but shady and cool. On
either side of the great streets are by-streets and quarters.
A darb, or by-street, differs from a shárë’ in being
narrower, and not so long. In most cases, the darb is
about six or eight feet wide, is a thoroughfare, and has,
at each end, a gateway, with a large wooden door, which
is always closed at night. Some darbs consist only of
private houses; others contain shops.
A hárat, or quarter, is a particular district consisting
of one or more streets or lanes. In general, a small
quarter contains only private houses, and has but one
entrance, with a wooden gate, which, like that of a darb,
is closed at night.
The sooks, or markets, are short streets, or short portions
of streets, having shops on either side. In some of
them, all the shops are occupied by persons of the same
trade. Many sooks are covered overhead by matting,
extended upon rafters, resembling those I observed at
Alexandria, and some have a roof of wood. Most of the
great thoroughfare-streets, and many by-streets, consist
wholly, or for the most part, of a succession of sooks.
Many of the kháns of Cairo are similar to the sooks
just described; but in general, a khán consists of shops
or magazines surrounding a square or oblong court.
Khán El-Khaleelee, which is situated in the centre of
85that part which constituted the original city, a little to
the east of the main street, and occupies the site of the
cemetery of the Fawátim (the Khaleefehs[25] of Egypt),
particularly deserves to be mentioned, being one of the
chief marts of Cairo. It consists of a series of short
lanes, with several turnings, and has four entrances from
different quarters. The shops in this khán are mostly
occupied by Turks, who deal in ready-made clothes and
other articles of dress, together with arms of various
kinds, the small prayer-carpets used by the Muslims, and
other commodities. Public auctions are held there (as
in many other markets in Cairo) twice in the week, on
Monday and Thursday, on which occasions the khán is
so crowded, that, in some parts, it is difficult for a passenger
to push his way through. The sale begins early
in the morning, and lasts till the noon-prayers. Clothes
(old as well as new), shawls, arms, pipes, and a variety of
other goods, are offered for sale in this manner by brokers,
who carry them up and down the market. Several
water-carriers, each with a goat-skin of water on his
back, and a brass cup for the use of any one who would
drink, attend on these occasions. Sherbet of raisins, and
bread (in round, flat cakes), with other eatables, are also
cried up and down the market; and on every auction
day, several real or pretended idiots, with a distressing
number of other beggars, frequent the khán .
Another of the principal khán of Cairo is that called
the Kamzáwee, which is the principal market of the
drapers and silk-mercers.
25. The bones of the Khaleefehs were thrown on the
mounds of rubbish outside the city.
There are few other kháns in Cairo, or rather few
other buildings so designated; but there are numerous
buildings called wekálehs, which are of the same description
as most of the kháns, a wekáleh generally consisting
of magazines surrounding a square court.
86The Wekálet el-Gellábeh (or Wekáleh of the slave-merchants),
which is near the Khán El-Khaleelee, has
lately ceased to be the market for black slaves. It surrounds
a spacious square court, in which were generally
seen several groups of male and female slaves, besmeared
with grease (of which they are very fond), and nearly in
a state of nudity, excepting in winter, when they were
better clad, and kept within doors. As there is a thoroughfare
through this wekáleh, the slaves were much exposed
to public view. The market for black slaves is now at
Káid-Bey, which is a city of the dead, comprising a few
old habitations for the living, between the metropolis and
the neighbouring mountain. The slave-merchants were
obliged to transfer their unfortunate captives to this cemetery
in the desert in consequence of its having been represented
to the government that epidemic diseases originated
in the slave-market in Cairo. I have not visited
them, nor do I intend to do so; for although slavery in
the East is seen under the most favourable circumstances,
I am not disposed to try my feelings when I can do no
good. But I am told that they appear careless and happy;
for their greatest troubles are past, and they know that the
slave of the Muslim fares even better than the free servant.
Some of the more valuable of the female slaves (as
the white female slaves, to whom another wekáleh is appropriated)
are only shown to those persons who express
a desire to become purchasers.
Having now described the streets and markets of Cairo,
I may mention some particular quarters, &c. There are
some parts which are inhabited exclusively by persons of
the same religion or nation. Many quarters are inhabited
only by Muslims.[26]
26. About three-fourths of the population of Cairo are
native Muslims.
The quarter of the Jews (Hárat el-Yahood) is situated
in the western half of that portion of the metropolis which
87composed the original city. It is very extensive, but
close and dirty. Some of its streets, or rather lanes, are
so narrow, that two persons can barely pass each other in
them; and in some parts, the soil has risen by the accumulation
of rubbish a foot or more above the thresholds of
the doors.
The Greeks have two quarters, and the Copts have
several, of which some are very extensive. The Franks
inhabit not only what is called the quarter of the Franks
(Hárat el-Ifreng), but are interspersed throughout a considerable
district, situated between the canal (which runs
through the city) and the Ezbekeeyeh, of which latter I
shall presently give you a description.
The motley population of the part of the metropolis
where most of the Franks reside, gives it the appearance
of a quarter in a sea-port town, like Alexandria. Some of
the Franks retain their national costume; others adopt
partly or wholly the Turkish dress. The chief thoroughfare
street in this part of the town is the market, called
the Mooskee, where are a few shops fitted up in the European
style, with glass fronts, and occupied by Franks,
who deal in various European commodities. The Hárat
el-Ifreng is a short street leading out of the Mooskee, on
the southern side.
There are several vacant spaces of considerable extent
in the interior of the metropolis, some of which, during
the season of the inundation (the autumn), become lakes.
The principal of these I must here mention.
The great place which bears the name of the Ezbekeeyeh
is an irregular tract, the greatest length of which
is nearly half a mile, and the greatest breadth about a
third of a mile. It is a very favourite resort of mine, as
my children are there secure from the many dangers
which I fancy surround them in the crowded streets.
On the south are two modern Turkish palaces, with
gardens. On the west is a plain wall (part of the wall of
the metropolis), and another Turkish palace, occupying
88the site of the mansion of the famous Memlook Bey El-Elfee,
which became the residence of Napoleon, and of
Kleber, who was assassinated in the adjacent garden. On
the north side is a Christian quarter, presenting a long
row of lofty but neglected houses. During the season of
the inundation, the Nile enters this extensive tract by a
canal, and the place is partially inundated; the water remains
three or four months, after which the ground is
sown. It was formerly, during the season of the inundation,
one extensive lake, but is now converted into something
like a garden, with an agreeable mixture of trees
and water. I am told that the place has a much more
pleasing appearance when entirely clothed with green,
than it had when it was a lake; and so I should imagine,
for the water is very turbid.
The Birket el-Feel (or Lake of the Elephant) also
receives the water of the Nile, during the season of the
inundation. Only a small part of it is open to the
public.
There are two small lakes in the western part of the
metropolis, and several others in its vicinity. There are
also several cemeteries in the eastern part of the town,[27]
and many large gardens. These gardens are chiefly
stocked with palm-trees, acacias, sycamores, oranges,
limes, pomegranates, &c. Little arrangement is displayed
in them. They have generally one or more sákiyehs,
which raise the water for their irrigation from
wells.
27. The principal cemeteries are without the town.
The canal[28] (El-Khaleeg) which traverses the metropolis
is no ornament to it. In most parts of its course through
the town, it is closely hemmed in on each side by the
backs of houses; therefore it cannot be seen, excepting in
a few places, by the passengers in the streets. Most of
the bridges over it are moreover lined with shops on both
89sides, so that a person passing over cannot see that he is
crossing the canal. The water of the Nile is admitted
into the canal in August, and the entrance is closed by a
dam of earth not long after the river has begun to subside;
consequently, after three or four months, only stagnant
puddles remain in it. While it continues open, boats
enter it from the Nile, and pass through the whole length
of the metropolis.
Of the public buildings of Cairo, the most interesting
certainly are the mosques, the more remarkable of which
I have described to you. They are extremely picturesque,
and exquisite taste is displayed in the variety and elegance
of their mád’nehs or menarets: but the beauty of
these and other parts is, in my opinion, much injured by
the prevalent fashion of daubing the alternate courses of
stone with whitewash and dark-red ochre. The central part
of a great mosque is, in general, a square court, which is
surrounded by porticoes, the columns of which are, in
few cases, uniform; for they are mostly the spoils of ancient
temples, as are also the rich marble slabs, &c.,
which have been employed to decorate the pavements and
the lower portions of the inner faces of the walls in many
of the mosques.
The domes are beautiful in form, and, in some instances,
in their decorations. The pulpits, also, deserve
to be mentioned for their elegant forms, and their curious
intricate panel-work. The pulpit is placed with its back
against the wall in which is the niche; is surmounted by
a small cupola, and has a flight of steps leading directly
(never tortuously nor sideways) up to the little platform
which is the station of the preacher. The congregation
range themselves in parallel rows upon the matted or carpeted
pavement, all facing that side of the mosque in
which is the niche. These few general remarks will
enable you better to understand the accounts of particular
mosques, or to supply some deficiencies in my descriptions.
90Many of these buildings are doubtless monuments of
sincere piety; but not a few have certainly originated in
ways far from creditable to their founders. I passed by
one, a handsome building, respecting which I was told
the following anecdote. The founder, on the first occasion
of opening his mosque for the ceremonials of the
Friday prayers, invited the chief ’Ulama to attend the
service, and each of these congratulated him before the
congregation, by reciting some tradition of the Prophet,
or by some other words of an apposite nature, excepting
one. This man the founder addressed, asking wherefore
he was silent. “Hast thou nothing to say,” he asked,
“befitting this occasion?” The man thus invited readily
answered, “Yes. If thou has built this mosque with
money lawfully acquired, and with a good intention,
know that God hath built for thee a mansion in Paradise,
and great will be thy felicity. But if thou raised this
temple by means of wealth unlawfully obtained, by money
exacted from the poor by oppression and tyranny, know
that there is prepared for thee a place in hell, and evil
will be the transit thither.” The latter was the case; and
within a few hours after he had thus spoken, the only
one among the company of ’Ulama who had dared to
utter the language of truth on this occasion—to do which,
indeed, required no little courage—suddenly died, a victim,
as was well known, of poison.
LETTER X.
91
Cairo, November, 1842.
My dear Friend,
Being extremely anxious to see the interiors of the
principal mosques, I was much vexed at finding that it
had become very difficult for a Christian to obtain access
to them. My brother might, perhaps, have taken us
without risk, as he is generally mistaken for a Turk; but
had he done so, we might have been spoken to in some
mosque in the Turkish language, in which language we
could not have replied; whereas, if we were conducted
by a Caireen, no Turkish ladies were likely to address us,
and if any Arab ladies should do so, our Arabic would
only induce them to imagine us Turks. At length an
old friend of my brother offered to take me if I would
consent to ride after him in the streets and follow him in
the mosques, and appear to be, for the time being, the
chief lady of his hareem.
It appeared to me that I should commit a breach in
etiquette, by consenting thus to displace his wife (for he
has but one); but finding he would not consent to take
me on any other terms, and being bent on gratifying my
curiosity, I agreed to submit to his arrangement, and the
more readily because his wife expressed, with much
politeness the pleasure she anticipated in contributing to
my gratification. I had never seen my kind old conductor
but once, and then through the hareem blinds,
until the morning arrived for our expedition, when I and
my sister-in-law mounted our donkeys, and submitted
ourselves to his guidance. He rode first in the procession;
I next; then followed my sister-in-law; and lastly,
92his wife. We endeavoured on several occasions to induce
her to take a more distinguished place, but in vain, and
therefore came to the conclusion that she must be infinitely
better acquainted with Eastern manners than ourselves,
and that it would be safer and better not to oppose
her. I use the expression safer, because I was fully
aware that if we appeared in any respect un-eastern, or
rather if we did not look like Muslims, we should incur
the risk of being turned out of any mosque we might
enter, and loaded with reproach and insult.
With (I confess) nervous feelings, we stopped at one
of the entrances of the mosque of the Hasaneyn, which
is generally esteemed the most sacred in Cairo. It
was crowded with ladies who were paying their weekly
visit to the tomb of El-Hoseyn.
I felt that I had rather have been initiated before
entering the most sacred mosque, and thought I had been
too bold. Never did a submissive wife walk more meekly
after her husband than I followed the steps of my governor
pro tempore. I gained, however, some confidence by remarking
the authoritative air he assumed as soon as he
had passed the threshold of the mosque; indeed he played
his part admirably.
At the threshold all persons remove their shoes, or
slippers, the ladies walking, in the mosque, in the yellow
morocco socks, or boots, which I have before described to
you; and here I must remark on the scrupulous attention
which is paid to cleanliness; for the pale yellow morocco
is scarcely injured by a whole day spent in perambulating
these Muslin sanctuaries. The men generally carry the
shoes in the left hand through the mosque, placed sole to
sole, and some ladies carry theirs, but we, like many
others, preferred leaving them with our servants, for the
walking-dress in itself is so exceedingly cumbrous, and
requires so much management, that two hands are scarcely
sufficient to preserve its proper arrangement.
93The mosque of the Hasaneyn,[29] which is situated to the
north of the Azhar, and not far distant, was founded in the
year of the Flight 549 (A.D. 1154–5); but has been more
than once rebuilt. The present building was erected
about 70 years ago. The fore part consists of a handsome
hall, or portico, the roof of which is supported by
numerous marble columns, and the pavement covered
with carpets. Passing through this hall, I found myself
in that holy place under which the head of the martyr
El-Hoseyn is said to be buried deep below the pavement.
It is a lofty square saloon, surmounted by a dome. Over
the spot where the sacred relic is buried, is an oblong
monument, covered with green silk, with a worked inscription
around it. This is enclosed within a high screen
of bronze, of open work; around the upper part of which
are suspended several specimens of curious and elegant
writing. The whole scene was most imposing. The
pavements are exquisite; some of virgin-marble, pure and
bright with cleanliness, some delicately inlaid: and the
whole appearance is so striking, that I am persuaded if a
stranger were to visit the shrine of El-Hoseyn alone, he
would never believe that El-Islam is on the wane.
29. By the Hasaneyn are meant Hasán and Hoseyn, the
grandsons of the Prophet.
All the visitors whom I saw passed round the tomb,
walking from left to right, touching each corner of the
screen with the right hand, and then applying that hand
to their lips and forehead, reciting at the same time, but
inaudibly, the Fát’hah (or opening chapter of the Kur-án),
a ceremony also observed on visiting other tombs. Many
were most devoutly praying, and one woman kissed the
screen with a fervour of devotion which interested while
it grieved me. For myself, however, I can never think
of the shrine of El-Hoseyn without being deeply affected
by reflecting upon the pathetic history of that amiable
94man, in whom were combined, in an eminent degree so
many of the highest Christian virtues.
We next bent our steps to El-Záme el-Azhar (or the
splendid mosque[30]), which is situated, as I have said, to the
south of the Hasaneyn, and not far distant, midway
between the principal street of the city and the gate
called Báb El-Ghureiyib. It is the principal mosque of
Cairo, and the University of the East; and is also the
first, with regard to the period of its foundation, of all the
mosques of the city; but it has been so often repaired,
and so much enlarged, that it is difficult to ascertain
exactly how much of the original structure we see in the
present state of the mosque. It was founded about nine
months after the first wall of the city, in the year of the
Flight 359 (A. D. 969–70). Though occupying a space
about three hundred feet square, it makes but little show
externally; for it is so surrounded by houses, that only
its entrances and mád’nehs can be seen from the streets.
It has two grand gates, and four minor entrances. Each
of the two former has two doors, and a school-room above,
open at the front and back. Every one takes off his
shoes before he passes the threshold of the gate, although
if he enter the mosque by the principal gate, he has to
cross a spacious court before he arrives at the place of
prayer. This custom is observed in every mosque. The
principal gate is in the centre of the front of the mosque:
it is the nearest to the main street of the city. Immediately
within this gate are two small mosques; one on
either hand. Passing between these, we enter the great
court of the Azhar, which is paved with stone, and surrounded
by porticoes. The principal portico is that which
is opposite this entrance: those on the other three sides
of the court are divided into a number of riwáks or
95apartments for the accommodation of the numerous
students who resort to this celebrated university from
various and remote countries of Africa, Asia, and Europe,
as well as from different parts of Egypt.
30. Some travellers have strangely misinterpreted the
name of this building, calling it the “mosque of flowers.”
These persons, being mostly in indigent circumstances,
are supported by the funds of the mosque; each receiving
a certain quantity of bread and soup at noon, and in the
evening. Many blind paupers are also supported here,
and we were much affected by seeing some bent with
age, slowly walking through the avenues of columns,
knowing from habit every turn and every passage, and
looking like the patriarchs of the assembled multitude.
The riwáks are separated from the court, and from each
other, by partitions of wood, which unite the columns or
pillars. Those on the side in which is the principal
entrance are very small, there being only one row of
columns on this side; but those on the right and left
are spacious halls containing several rows of columns.
There are also some above the ground-floor. Each
riwák is for the natives of a particular country, or of a
particular province in Egypt; the Egyptian students
being of course more numerous than those of any other
nation.
In going the round of these apartments, after passing
successively among natives of different divisions of Egypt,
we find ourselves in the company of people of Mekkeh
and El-Medeeneh; then in the midst of Syrians; in
another minute among Muslims of central Africa; next
amidst Maghár’beh (or natives of northern Africa, west
of Egypt); then, with European and Asiatic Turks; and
quitting these, we are introduced to Persians, and Muslims
of India: we may almost fancy ourselves transported
through their respective countries. No sight in
Cairo interested me more than the interior of the Azhar;
and the many and great obstacles which present themselves
when a Christian, and more especially a Christian
lady, desires to obtain admission into this celebrated
96mosque, make me proud of having enjoyed the privilege
of walking leisurely through its extensive porticoes, and
observing its heterogeneous students engaged in listening
to the lectures of their professors.
To the left of the great court is a smaller one, containing
the great tank at which the ablution preparatory
to prayer is performed by all those who have not done it
before entering the mosque. The great portico is closed
by partitions of wood between a row of square pillars, or
piers, behind the front row of columns. The partition of
the central archway has a wide door; and some of the
other partitions have smaller doors. The great portico is
very spacious; containing eight rows of small marble
columns, arranged parallel with the front. That part
beyond the fifth row of columns was added by the builder
of one of the grand gates, about 70 years ago. The walls
are whitewashed: the niche and pulpit are very plain;
and simplicity is the prevailing character of the whole
of the interior of the great portico. The pavement is
covered with mats; and a few small carpets are seen
here and there.
A person of rank or wealth is generally accompanied
by a servant bearing a seggádeh (or small prayer-carpet,
about the size of a hearth-rug), upon which he prays.
During the noon-prayers of the congregation on Friday,
the worshippers are very numerous; and, arranged in
parallel rows, they sit upon the matting.
Different scenes at other times are presented in the
great portico of the Azhar. We saw many lecturers
addressing their circles of attentive listeners, or reading
to them commentaries on the Kur-án. In most cases
these lecturers were leaning against a pillar, and I understand
that in general each has his respective column,
where his pupils regularly attend him, sitting in the form
of a circle on the matted floor. Some persons take their
meals in the Azhar, and many houseless paupers pass the
night there, for this mosque is left open at all hours.
97Such customs are not altogether in accordance with the
sanctity of the place; but peculiarly illustrative of the
simplicity of Eastern manners.
We next visited the fine mosque of Mohammad Bey,
founded in the year of the Flight 1187 (A. D. 1773–4),
adjacent to the Azhar. This is remarkable as a very
noble structure, of the old style, erected at a late period.
The great mosque of that impious impostor the Khaleefeh
El-Hakim (who professed to be a prophet, and
afterwards to be God incarnate) derives an interest from
the name it bears, and from its antiquity. It is situated
immediately within that part of the northern wall of the
city which connects the Báb en-Nasr and Báb el-Futooh.
This mosque was completed in the reign of El-Hákim, in
the year of the Flight 403 (A. D. 1012–13); but was founded
by his predecessor. It is now in a state of ruin, and no
longer used as a place of worship. It occupies a space
about 400 feet square, and consists of arcades surrounding
a square court.
LETTER XI.
November, 1842.
My dear Friend,
I will continue the subject I left incomplete in my last.
Several of the finest mosques in Cairo front the main street
of the city. In proceeding along this street from north to
south, the first mosque that particularly attracts notice is
the Barkookeeyeh, on the right side.
This is a collegiate mosque, and was founded in the
year of the Flight 786 (A. D. 1384–5). It has a fine dome,
and a lofty and elegant mád’neh; and the interior is particularly
handsome, though in a lamentable state of decay.
98A little beyond this, on the same side of the street, are
the tomb, mosque, and hospital of the Sultán Kalá-oon,
composing one united building. The tomb and mosque
form the front part; the former is to the right of the latter;
and a passage, which is the general entrance, leads between
them to the hospital (Máristán.[31]) These three
united buildings were founded in the year of the Flight
683 (A. D. 1284–5). The tomb has a very large mád’neh,
and is a noble edifice; its front is coloured red and white,
in squares: the interior is very magnificent. The mosque
is not remarkable. The hospital contains two small oblong
courts, surrounded by small cells, in which mad persons
are confined and chained; men in one court, and
women in the other. Though these wretched beings are
provided for by the funds of the establishment, it is the
custom to take them food, and they ask for it in a manner
which is most affecting. But here I must make one consolatory
remark: the poor creatures have certainly more
than enough to eat, for none seemed hungry, and I observed
that one of the men threw down a piece of bread
which was given to him.
Judging by my own anxiety to ascertain the real state
of the poor lunatics in the Máristán, I cannot describe to
you their condition too minutely. Our ears were assailed
by the most discordant yells as soon as we entered the
passage leading to the cells. We were first conducted into
the court appropriated to the men, one of our servants
attending us with the provisions. It is surrounded by
small cells, in which they are separately confined, and
each cell has a small grated window, through which the
poor prisoner’s chain is fastened to the exterior. Here
seemed exhibited every description of insanity. In many
cells were those who suffered from melancholy madness;
in one only I saw a cheerful maniac, and he was amusing
some visitors exceedingly by his jocose remarks. Almost
99all stretched out their arms as far as they could reach,
asking for bread, and one poor soul especially interested
me by the melancholy tone of his supplications. Their
outstretched arms rendered it frequently dangerous to pass
their cells, for there is a railing in the midst of the court,
surrounding an oblong space, which I imagine has been
a tank, but which is now filled with stones; and this railing
so confines the space appropriated to visitors, that one
of our party was cautioned by the superintendent when
she was not aware she was in arms’ length of the lunatics.
I trust that the mildness and gentleness of manner we
observed in the keepers were not assumed for the time,
and I think they were not, for the lunatics did not appear
to fear them. The raving maniacs were strongly chained,
and wearing each a collar and handcuffs. One poor
creature endeavoured, by constantly shaking his chain, to
attract pity and attention. They look unlike human
beings; and the manner of their confinement, and the
barren wretchedness of their cells, contributed to render
the scene more like a menagerie than any thing else. It
is true that this climate lessens the requirements of every
grade in society, so that the poor generally sleep upon the
bare ground, or upon thin mats; but it is perfectly barbarous
to keep these wretched maniacs without any thing
but the naked floor on which to rest themselves, weary, as
they must be, by constant excitement.
I turned sick at heart from these abodes of wretchedness,
and was led towards the court of the women. Little
did I expect that scenes infinitely more sad awaited me.
No man being permitted to enter the part of the building
appropriated to the women, the person who had hitherto
attended us gave the provision we had brought into the
hand of the chief of the female keepers. The maniacs sit
within the doors of open cells surrounding their court, and
there is no appearance of their being confined. I shrunk
as I passed the two first, expecting they would rush out;
but being assured that they were chained, I proceeded to
100look into the cells, one by one. The first lunatic I remarked
particularly, was an old and apparently blind woman,
who was an object of peculiar interest, from the
expression of settled sadness in her countenance. Nothing
seemed to move her. A screaming raving maniac was
confined in a cell nearly opposite to hers; but either from
habit, or the contemplation of her own real and imagined
sorrows, the confusion seemed by her perfectly unheeded.
The cell next to hers presented to my view a young girl,
about sixteen or seventeen years of age, in a perfect state
of nudity; she sat in a crouching attitude, in statue-like
stillness, and in the gloom of her prison she looked like
stone. The next poor creature was also young, but older
than the preceding, and she merely raised her jet-black
eyes and looked at us through her dishevelled hair, not
wildly, but calmly and vacantly. She, too, had no article
of clothing. I was ill-prepared for the sight of such
misery, and I hastily passed the poor, squalid, emaciated,
raving maniacs, all without any covering; and was leaving
the court, when I heard a voice exclaiming, in a melancholy
tone of supplication, “Stay, O my mistress, give me
five paras for tobacco before you go.” I turned, and the
entreaty was repeated by a nice-looking old woman, who
was very grateful when I assured her she should have
what she required. She was clothed, and sitting almost
behind the entrance of her cell, and seemed on the lookout
for presents. The woman who was the superintendent
gave her the trifle for me, and I hope she was permitted
to spend it as she desired. She and the first I saw were
the only two who were not perfect pictures of misery. If
insanity, the most severe of human woes, calls for our
tenderest sympathy, the condition of these wretched lunatics
in Cairo cries aloud for our deepest commiseration.
How their situation can be mended, I know not; the government
alone can interfere, and the government does not.
We were informed that the establishment was endowed
with remarkable liberality. It is, and always has been,
101a hospital for the sick, as well as a place of confinement
for the insane; and originally, for the entertainment of
those patients who were troubled with restlessness, a band
of musicians and a number of story-tellers were in constant
attendance.
The friend who conducted us related some anecdotes of
the poor maniacs, to which I listened with interest. The
first, I am told, has been related by some European traveller,
in a work descriptive of the Egyptians; but as I do
not know by whom, and you may not have read or heard
it, I will give you that as well as the others.
A butcher, who had been confined some time in the
Máristán, conceived an excessive hatred for a Delee (a
Turkish trooper), one of his fellow-prisoners. He received
his provision of food from his family; and he induced his
wife one day, on the occasion of her taking him his dinner,
to conceal, in the basket of food, the instruments he
had used in his trade, viz., a cleaver, a knife, and a pair
of hooks. I must here observe, that those lunatics who
do not appear dangerous have lighter chains than others,
and the chains of the person in question were of this description.
When he had taken his meal, he proceeded to
liberate himself; and as the cells communicated by the
back, he soon reached that of his nearest neighbour, who,
delighted to see him free, exclaimed, “How is this? Who
cut your chains?” “I did,” replied the first, “and here
are my implements.” “Excellent,” rejoined the other,
“cut mine too.” “Certainly,” said he; and he proceeded
to liberate not only one, but two, three, and four of his
fellow-prisoners. Now follows the tragical part of the
story. No keepers were present—the man who possessed
the cleaver attacked the poor Delee, chained and unarmed
as he was; slaughtered him; and after dividing his body,
hung it on the hooks within the window of the cell, and
believed himself to be—what he was—a butcher.
In a few minutes the liberated lunatics became uproarious;
and one of them growing alarmed, forced open the
102door by which the keepers usually entered, found one of
them, and gave the alarm. The keeper instantly proceeded
to the cell, and seeing the body of the murdered
man, exclaimed:
“What, have you succeeded in killing that Delee? he
was the plague of my life.” “I have,” answered the delinquent;
“and here he hangs for sale.” “Most excellent,”
replied the keeper, “but do not let him hang here;
it will disgrace us: let us bury him.” “Where?” asked
the maniac, still holding his cleaver in his hand. “Here
in the cell,” replied the other, “and then the fact can never
be discovered.” In an instant he threw down his cleaver,
and began to dig busily with his hands. In the mean
time, the keeper entered by the back of the cell, and
throwing a collar over his neck, instantly chained him,
and so finished this tragedy.
Some time since, the brother of the person who gave
the following anecdote, on the occasion of his visiting the
Máristán, was accosted by one of the maniacs by name,
and greeted him with the usual salutations, followed by a
melancholy entreaty that he would deliver him from that
place. On examining him particularly, he found him to
be an old friend; and he was distressed by his entreaties
to procure for him his liberation, and perplexed what to
do. The lunatic assured him he was not insane, and at
length the visitor resolved on applying for his release.
Accordingly he addressed himself to the head-keeper on
the subject, stated that he was much surprised by the
conversation of the patient, and concluded by requesting
his liberation. The keeper answered that he did appear
sane at that time, but that perhaps in an hour he might
be raving.
The visitor, by no means satisfied by the reply of the
keeper, and overcome by the rational arguments of the
lunatic, urged his request, and at length he consented,
saying, “Well, you can try him.” This being arranged,
in a short time the two friends set out together; and, engaged
103in conversation, they passed along the street, when
suddenly, the maniac seized the other by the throat, exclaiming,
“Help, O Muslims! here is a madman escaped
from the Máristán.” He wisely suffered himself to be
dragged back in no gentle manner to the very cell whence
he had released the poor lunatic; and the latter, on entering,
called loudly for a collar and chain for a maniac
he had found in the street, escaped from the Máristán.
The keeper immediately brought the collar and chain;
and while pretending to obey his orders, slipped it over
his neck, and secured him in his former quarters, I need
not say, to the satisfaction of his would-be deliverer.
Our conductor also related, that some years ago, a maniac,
having escaped from his cell in the Máristán, when
the keepers had retired for the night, ascended the lofty
mád’neh of the adjoining sepulchral mosque, the tomb of
the Sultán Kala’oon. Finding there, in the gallery, a
Muëddin, chanting one of the night-calls, uttering, with
the utmost power of his voice, the exclamation “Yá
Rabb!”(O Lord!) he seized him by the neck. The terrified
Muëddin cried out, “I seek God’s protection from
the accursed devil! God is most great!”—“I am not a
devil,” said the madman, “to be destroyed by the words,
‘God is most great!’” (Here I should tell you that these
words are commonly believed to have the effect here ascribed
to them, that of destroying a devil.) “Then what
art thou?” said the Muëddin. “I am a madman,” answered
the other, “escaped from the Máristán.” “O
welcome!” rejoined the Muëddin: “praise be to God for
thy safety! come, sit down, and amuse me with thy conversation.”
So the madman thus began: “Why do you
call out so loud, ‘O Lord!’ Do you not know that God
can hear you as well if you speak low?” “True,”
said the other, “but I call that men may also hear.”
“Sing,” rejoined the lunatic; “that will please me.” And
upon this, the other commenced a kind of chant, with the
ridiculous nature of which he so astonished some servants
104of the Máristán, who, as usual, were sitting up in a coffee-shop
below, that they suspected some strange event had
happened, and hastily coming up, secured the madman.
After what I have told you of the miserable creatures
at present confined in the Máristán, I am very happy to
add, that their condition will, I believe, in a few weeks, be
greatly ameliorated. They are, I have since heard, to be
removed to an hospital, where they will be under the
superintendence of a celebrated French surgeon, Clot
Bey.
I now return to the subject of the mosques.
Proceeding still southwards along the main street, we
arrived at a fine mosque, called the Ashrafeeyeh, on the
right. It was built by the Sultán El-Ashraf Barsabáy,
consequently between the years 825–41 (A.D. 1421 et seq.).
Frequently criminals are hanged against one of the grated
windows of this mosque; as the street before it is generally
very much crowded with passengers.
Still proceeding along the main street, through that
part of it called the Ghóreeyeh (which is a large bazaar, or
market), we arrive at the two fine mosques of the Sultán
El-Ghóree, facing each other, one on each side of the
street, and having a roof of wood extending from one to
the other. They were both completed in the year of the
Flight 909 (A.D. 1503–4). That on the left, El-Ghóree
designed as his tomb; but he was not buried in it.
Arriving at the southernmost part of the main street,
we have on our right the great mosque of the Sultán El-Mu-eiyad,
which was founded in the year of the Flight
819 (A.D. 1416–17). It surrounds a spacious square court,
and contains the remains of its royal founder, and of
some of his family. It has a noble dome, and a fine lofty
entrance-porch at the right extremity of the front. Its
two great mád’nehs, which rise from the towers of the
gate called Báb Zuweyleh (the southern gate of that portion
of the metropolis which constituted the old city).
Of the mosques in the suburban districts of the metropolis,
105the most remarkable are those of the Sultán Hasan
and of Ibn-Tooloon, or, as the name is commonly pronounced,
Teyloon.
The great mosque of the Sultán Hasan, which is situated
near the citadel, and is the most lofty of the edifices of
Cairo, was founded in the year of the Flight 757 (A.D. 1356).
It is a very noble pile; but it has some irregularities
which are displeasing to the eye; as, for instance, the
disparity of its two mád’nehs. The great mad’neh is
nearly three hundred feet in height, measured from the
ground. At the right extremity of the northeast side of
the mosque is a very fine lofty entrance-porch. From this,
a zigzag passage conducts us to a square hypæthral hall,
or court, in the centre of which is a tank, and near this, a
reservoir with spouts, for the performance of ablution;
each crowned with a cupola. On each of the four sides
of the court is a hall with an arched roof and open front.
That opposite the entrance is the largest, and is the principal
place of worship. Its arched roof is about seventy
feet in width. It is constructed of brick and plastered
(as are the other three arches), and numerous small glass
lamps, and two lanterns of bronze, are suspended from it.
The lower part of the end wall is lined with coloured
marbles. Beyond it is a square saloon, over which is the
great dome, and in the centre of this saloon is the tomb
of the royal founder. Most of the decorations of this
mosque are very elaborate and elegant, but the building,
in many parts, needs repair.
The great mosque of Ibn-Tooloon (or, as it is more
commonly called, Gámë’ Teyloon), situated in the southern
part of the metropolis, is a very interesting building.
It was founded in the year of the Flight 263 (A.D. 876–7),
and was the principal mosque of the city El-Katáë, a city
nearly a century older than El-Káhireh. The space
which it occupies is about 400 feet square. It is constructed
of brick, covered with plaster, and consists of arcades
surrounding a square court; in the centre of which
106is a tank for ablution, under a square stone building, surmounted
by a dome. The arches in this mosque are
slightly pointed: this is very remarkable, as it proves, as
the mosque was constructed A.D. 876–7, and has never
been rebuilt, that the Eastern pointed arch is more
ancient than the Gothic. This remark I borrow from
my brother’s manuscript notes. A great mád’neh, with
winding stairs round its exterior, stands on the northwest
side of the mosque; with which it is only connected by
an arched gateway. The whole of this great mosque is
in a sad state of decay; and not even kept decently clean,
excepting where the mats are spread. It is the most ancient
Arabian building, excepting the Nilometer of Er-Ródah
(which is about 12 years older), now existing in
Egypt: for the mosque of ’Amr, though founded more
than two centuries before, has often been rebuilt.
In the neighbourhood of the mosque above described is
a large ruined castle or palace, called Kal’at el-Kebsh
(or the Castle of the Ram), occupying, and partly surrounding,
an extensive rocky eminence. It was built in
the middle of the seventh century after the Flight (or the
thirteenth of our era). Its interior is occupied by modern
buildings.
The mosques of the seyyideh Zeyneb, the seyyideh Sekeeneh,
and the seyyideh Nefeeseh (the first and second
situated in the southern part of the metropolis, and the
third in a small southern suburb without the gates) are
highly venerated, but not very remarkable buildings.
There are many other mosques in Cairo well worthy of
examination; but those which I have mentioned are the
most distinguished.
I have been surprised at my having visited the most
sacred of the mosques of Cairo without exciting the
smallest suspicion of my being a Christian. A few days
ago a party of Englishmen were refused admission into
the Hasaneyn. They were conducted by a janissary of
the Pasha, and he was exceedingly enraged against the
107officers of the mosque. They seized him, however, and
drew him into the mosque, and closing the doors and
windows, detained him, shutting out his party; but the
interpreter of the Englishmen, being a Muslim, obtained
admission by a back door, and liberated the prisoner.
There are, in Cairo, many public buildings, besides the
mosques, which attract attention. Among these are several
Tekeeyehs, or convents for Darweeshes and others,
mostly built by Turkish Pashas, for the benefit of their
countrymen. Some of these are very handsome structures.
Many of the Sebeels (or public fountains) are also remarkable
buildings. The general style of a large sebeel
may be thus described. The principal part of the front is
of a semicircular form, with three windows of brass
grating. Within each window is a trough of water; and
when any one would drink, he puts his hand through one
of the lowest apertures of the grating, and dips in the
trough a brass mug, which is chained to one of the bars.
Above the windows is a wide coping of wood. Over this
part of the building is a public school-room, with an open
front, formed of pillars and arches; and at the top is
another wide coping of wood. Some of these buildings
are partly constructed of alternate courses of black and
white marble.
Hóds, or watering-places for beasts of burden, are also
very numerous in Cairo. The trough is of stone, and
generally in an arched recess, over which is a public
school-room.
There are, as my brother has remarked, about sixty or
seventy Hammáms, or public baths, in Cairo. Some are
exclusively for men, some only for women: others, for
men in the morning, and for women in the afternoon.
When the bath is appropriated to women, a piece of
white cotton is hung over the door. The apartments are
paved with marble, have fountains and tanks, and are
108surmounted by cupolas, pierced with small round holes
for the admission of light.
The last of the buildings I shall mention are the Kahwehs,
or coffee-shops, of which Cairo contains above a
thousand. Only coffee is supplied at these; the persons
who frequent them taking their own pipes and tobacco.
LETTER XII.
December, 1842.
My dear Friend,
From the city, you must now accompany me, in imagination,
to the citadel. If you could do so in reality, you
would be amply repaid for the trouble of ascending its
steep acclivities; not by the sight of any very remarkable
object within its walls, but by gazing on one of the most
striking and interesting views in the Eastern world. The
citadel (El-Kat’ah) is situated at the southeastern extremity
of the metropolis, upon an extensive, flat-topped,
rocky eminence, about 250 feet above the level of the
plain, and near the point of Mount Mukattam, which
completely commands it. It was founded by Saláh-ed-Deen
(the famous Saladin), in the year of the Flight 572
(A.D. 1176–7); but not finished till 604; since which latter
period it has been the usual residence of the sultans and
governors of Egypt. Before it is a spacious square,
called the Rumeyleh, where a market is held, and where
conjurers, musicians, and storytellers are often seen, each
surrounded by a ring of idlers.
The Bab el-’Azab is the principal gate of the citadel.
Within this is a steep and narrow road, partly cut through
the rock; so steep, that in some parts steps are cut to
109render the ascent and descent less difficult than it would
otherwise be for the horses and camels, &c. This confined
road was the chief scene of the massacre of the
Memlooks in the year 1811. I may perhaps have something
to say, on a future occasion, respecting that
tragedy.
A great part of the interior of the citadel is obstructed
by ruins and rubbish, and there are many dwelling-houses
and some shops within it. The most remarkable
monument that it contains is a great mosque, built by
the Sultán Ibn-Kala’-oon, in the early part of the eighth
century after the Flight (or the fourteenth of our era).
It is in a ruinous state, and no longer used as a place of
worship. It consists of porticoes, surrounding a square
court.
On the northwest of this mosque, stood, about twelve
or thirteen years ago, a noble ruin—an old palace, commonly
called Kasr Yoosuf, or Deewán Yoosuf, and believed
to have been the palace of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen;
but erroneously. European travellers adopted the same
opinion, and called it “Joseph’s Hall.” My brother informs
me, on the authority of El-Makreezee, that this
noble structure was built by the prince before mentioned.[32]
Huge ancient columns of granite were employed in its
construction; their capitals of various kinds, and ill-wrought,
but the shafts very fine. It had a large dome,
which had fallen some time before the ruin was taken
down. On entering it was observed, in the centre of the
southeastern side, a niche, marking the direction of
Mekkeh, like that of a mosque, which in other respects
this building did not much resemble. Both within and
without are remains of Arabic inscriptions, in large
letters of wood; but of which many had fallen long before
its demolition.
A little to the west of the site of the old palace were
110the remains of a very massive building, called “the house
of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen,” partly on the brow, and partly
on the declivity of the hill. From this spot, on the edge
of the hill, we have a most remarkable view of the metropolis
and its environs. Its numerous mád’nehs and
domes, its flat-topped houses, with the sloping sheds
which serve as ventilators, and a few palms and other
trees among the houses, give it an appearance quite unlike
that of any European city. Beyond the metropolis
we see the Nile, intersecting a verdant plain; with the
towns of Boolák, Masr Ateekah, and El-Geezeh; on the
south, the aqueduct, and the mounds of rubbish which
occupy the site of El-Fustát, and in the distance, all the
pyramids of Memphis, and the palm-groves on the site of
that city. On the north of the metropolis are seen the
plains of Heliopolis and Goshen. No one with a spark
of feeling can look unmoved on such a prospect: the
physical sight has enough to charm it; but the deepest
interest is felt while, in gazing on this scene, the mind’s
eye runs rapidly over the historic pages of the Word of
God. The oppression and the deliverance of the tribes of
Israel, and the miracles which marked that deliverance,
all these events are overwhelmingly present to the memory,
while looking on the scenes they have consecrated—their
subsequent prosperity, disobedience, and punishment,
all pass in melancholy review. O! that the power
of Almighty God may be present with those who labour
for their restoration, and “may they at length,” as Mr.
Wilberforce beautifully expresses his petition on their
behalf “may they at length acknowledge their long-neglected
Saviour.” Well have they been described as
“tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast.” Often
“houseless, homeless, and proscribed,” they endure every
indignity and become inured to every hardship; but the
eye of God is still upon them, and his ear is open to their
prayers. How true it is, that hitherto “they will not
turn to Him that they might receive mercy,” but they
111are not forsaken; and while we hear with thankfulness
of the zeal of many from among their own people in the
cause of Christianity, we trust that the day is not far off
when, rather than
“Weep for those who wept by Babel’s stream,
Whose shrines are desolate, whose land a dream,”
we shall rejoice in the prospect of that blessed time when
the Lord God shall “give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness;” when all nations of the earth shall
“rejoice with Jerusalem, and be delighted with the abundance
of her glory.”
Adjacent to the Kasr Yoosuf is a very large mosque,
not yet completed; a costly structure, with a profusion of
alabaster columns; but of a mixed style of architecture,
which I cannot much admire, though the effect of the
building, when it is finished, will certainly be grand. I
need hardly add, that the founder of this sumptuous edifice
is Mohammad ’Alee, by whose name it is to be
called.
The famous well of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen, so called
because it was excavated in the reign of that Sultán, is
near the southern angle of the old great mosque. It is
entirely cut in the calcareous rock, and consists of two
rectangular shafts, one below the other; with a winding
stairway round each to the bottom. In descending the
first shaft my heart and limbs failed me, and I contented
myself with seeing as much as I could through the large
apertures between the stairs and the well. Our guide
bore a most picturesque aspect; she was a young girl,
and if I might judge by her beautiful dark eyes, her
countenance must have been lovely. She held a lighted
taper in each hand, and stepped backwards before us,
down the dark and (in my opinion) dangerous descent.
Accustomed to the winding way, she continued fearlessly
112through the gloom, while her light and graceful figure
receded slowly, and the glimmer of her tapers shone on
the damp rock on either side, and made the darkness
seem intense.
The upper shaft is about 155 feet deep, and the lower
about 125; therefore the whole depth of the well is about
280 feet. The water, which is rather brackish, is raised
by a sákiyeh at the top of each shaft.
There are several large edifices in the modern Turkish
style, worthy in this country of being called palaces, in
the southern quarter of the citadel, and in the quarter of
the Janisaries, which did not form a part of the old citadel,
and which lies to the east of the latter. Some of the
walls, together with many houses, on the northern slope
of the hill, were overthrown by the explosion of a magazine
of powder, in the year 1824. On the western slope
of the hill is an arsenal, with a cannon-foundry, &c.
Mount Mukattam overlooks both the town and citadel
of Cairo, and is composed of a yellowish calcareous rock,
abounding with testaceous fossils: it is entirely destitute
of verdure. Upon its flat summit, a strong fort has been
erected, with a steep causeway, upon high narrow arches
ascending to it. On each side of this causeway, the rock
has been extensively quarried. On the western side of
the mountain are many ancient sepulchral grottoes; but
they are difficult of access, and I do not propose visiting
them. My brother has seen them, and he could find no
traces of hieroglyphics, or other decorations, in any of
them.
On the north of the metropolis are many gardens, and,
in the season of the inundation, many lakes, in one of
which (Birket er Ratlee) abundance of lotus plants are
seen in blossom in the month of September. In the same
tract is a ruined mosque, which was founded by Ez-Záhir
Beybars, in the year of the Flight 665 (A. D. 1266–7).
The French converted it into a fort.
113Opposite the Báb en-Nasr is a large cemetery, occupying
a desert tract; and here is the tomb of the lamented
Burckhardt.
The great Eastern cemetery, in the sandy waste between
the metropolis and the mountain, contains the
tombs of many of the Memlook Sultáns. Some of these
mausolea (which have been erroneously regarded by some
travellers as the tombs of the Khaleefehs) are very noble
buildings; particularly those of the Sultáns Barkook,[33]
and Káid-Bey,[34] or Káitbey. None of the tombs of the
Khaleefehs of Egypt now exist: Khán el-Khaleelee (as I
have mentioned in a former letter) occupies their site.
The central part of this cemetery contains several almshouses,
and is commonly called Káid-Bey. Here, and
for some distance towards the citadel, the tombs are
closely crowded together, and the whole cemetery, being
intersected by roads, like streets in a town, may justly be
called a Necropolis, or City of the Dead. All the tract is
desert; and few persons are to be met here, excepting on
the Friday morning, when it is the custom of the Muslims
to visit the tombs of their relations and friends.
Numerous groups of women are then seen repairing to
the cemetery; each bearing a palm-branch, to lay upon
the tomb she is about to visit.
33. Built by his son and successor Fárag, in the beginning
of the ninth century after the Flight, or the fifteenth
of our era.
On the south of the metropolis is another great cemetery,
called El-Karáfeh, still more extensive, but not containing
such grand mausolea. This, also, is in a desert
plain. Many of its tombs are very beautiful: one kind
is particularly elegant, consisting of an oblong monument,
generally of marble, canopied by a cupola, or by a pyramidal
roof, supported by marble columns. In the southern
part of this cemetery is the tomb of the celebrated Imám
114Esh-Sháfe’ee, the founder of one of the four orthodox sects
of El-Islám, that sect to which the people of Cairo chiefly
belong. This Imám died in the year of the Flight 204
(A. D. 819–20.) The present mosque which covers his
tomb, is a plain whitewashed building, with a dome cased
with lead. This mosque has been twice rebuilt, the present
being the third building, and about two centuries
and a half old. A little to the north of it is a low building,
which is the burial-place of the present Pasha’s
family. Between this cemetery and the mountain are
many ancient mummy-pits choked with rubbish. They
evidently show that this tract was the Necropolis of
Egyptian Babylon.
Along the western side of the metropolis are several
lakes and gardens. The most remarkable of the latter
are those of Ibraheem Pasha; but these I might more
properly call plantations. I have mentioned them in a
former letter. A great portion of the tract they occupy
was, a few years ago, covered by extensive mounds of
rubbish, which, though not so large nor so lofty as those
on the east and south, concealed much of the town from
the view of persons approaching it in this direction. All
the camels, asses, &c., that die in the metropolis are cast
upon the surrounding hills of rubbish, where hungry
dogs and vultures feed on them.
On the bank of the river, between Boolák and Masr el-’Ateekah,
are several palaces, or mansions, among which
is one belonging to Ibraheem Pasha, besides a large square
building called Kasr El-’Eynee (which is an establishment
for the education of youths destined for the service
of the government,) and a small convent of Darweeshes.
A little to the south of these buildings is the entrance of
the khaleeg, or canal of Cairo; and just above this commences
the aqueduct by which the water of the Nile is
conveyed to the Citadel. A large hexagonal building,
about sixty or seventy feet high, contains the sákiyehs,
which raise the water to the channel of the aqueduct.
115The whole length of the aqueduct is about two miles. It
is built of stone; and consists of a series of narrow arches,
very gradually decreasing in height, as the ground has a
slight ascent, imperceptible to the eye. The water, towards
the end of its course, enters a subterranean channel,
and is raised from a well in the Citadel. This aqueduct
was built (in the place of a former one of wood) in
the early part of the tenth century after the Flight (or the
sixteenth of our era.) To the south of the aqueduct lies
the town of Masr el-’Ateekah, the principal houses of
which face the river, and the island of Er-Ródah.
This island (the name of which signifies the Island of
the Garden) is about a mile and three-quarters in length,
and a third of a mile in breadth. The branch of the river
on its eastern side is very narrow; and when the Nile is
at its lowest point, the bed of this narrow branch becomes
nearly dry. The island contains several pleasure-houses
and gardens; and the palm, the orange, the lime, the
citron, the pomegranate, the vine, the sycamore, (which
affords a deep and broad shade,) and the banana, form a
luxuriant variety. The banana is especially beautiful;
its long leaves spreading and drooping from the summit
of the stem, like the branches of the palm-tree. On this
verdant island we find also the henna-tree, so much esteemed
by the women of this country for the dye afforded by
its leaves, and so justly valued by persons of all countries
for the delicious perfume which its flowers exhale. But
the great charm of Er-Ródah is a garden belonging to
Ibraheem Pasha, under the able superintendence of Mr.
Traill, who has rendered it the most attractive thing of its
kind in the neighbourhood of Cairo.
Masr el-’Ateekah, though more than a mile in length,
is a small straggling town, lying along the bank of the
Nile, and occupying a part of the site of El-Fustát. Many
of the vessels from Upper Egypt unload here; and a constant
intercourse is kept up, by means of numerous ferryboats,
between this town and El-Geezeh. Behind the
116town are extensive low mounds of rubbishy covering the
rest of the site of El-Fustát. In this desolate tract are
situated the Mosque of ’Amr, the Kasr esh-Shema, and
several Christian convents.
The Mosque of ’Amr has been so often repaired and
rebuilt, that almost every part of it may now be regarded
as modern: yet there is something very imposing in the
associations connected with this building, where the conqueror
of Egypt, surrounded by “companions of the Prophet,”
so often prayed.
The building occupies a space about 350 feet square;
its plan is a square court, surrounded by porticoes, and its
whole appearance very simple and plain. The exterior is
formed by high bare walls of brick. The portico at the
end of the court towards Mekkeh has six rows of columns;
that on the left side, four rows; that on the right, three;
and on the entrance side only one row. The columns are
of veined marble; some, being too small, have an additional
plinth, or an inverted capital, at the base. The
capitals are of many different kinds, having been taken,
as also the columns, from various ancient buildings.
The Kasr esh-Shema is an old Roman fortress, which
was the stronghold of Egyptian Babylon, and the headquarters
of the Greek army, which the Arabs, under ’Amr,
contended with and vanquished. It is said that this
building was, in ancient times, illuminated with candles
on the first night of every month; and hence it derived the
name it now bears, which signifies “the pavilion of the
candles.” The area which it occupies extends about a
thousand feet from north to south, and six or seven hundred
feet from east to west. Its walls are very lofty, constructed
of brick with several courses of stone, and
strengthened by round towers. The interior is crowded
with houses and shops, occupied by Christians, and it
contains several churches; among which is that of St. Sergius,
where a small grotto, somewhat resembling an oven,
is shown as the retreat of the Holy Family. The Egyptian
117Babylon was situated on a rocky eminence, on the
southeast of the Kasr esh-Shema. El-Makreezee and
other Arab historians prove that this was the Masr which
’Amr besieged and took. There was another fortress
here, besides the Kasr esh-Shema, called the Kasr Bábel-yoon
(or the pavilion of Babylon.) This, I am told, was
the spacious square building since called Istabl ’Antar (or
the stable of Antar,) which in later times became a convent,
and is now converted into a powder-magazine. To the
west of the hill of Babylon, and close to the Nile, is the
small village of Atar em-Nebee; so called from a stone,
bearing the impression of the Prophet’s foot, preserved in
a small mosque, which rises, with a picturesque effect,
from the verge of the river.
El-Geezeh, which is opposite to Masr el-Ateekah, is a
small poor town, surrounded, excepting on the side towards
the river, by a mean wall, which would scarcely avail to
defend it from a party of Bedawees. It has been supposed
to occupy a part of the site of Memphis; but this conjecture
is known to be erroneous.
I must mention also a few places north of the metropolis.
A fine straight road, bordered by mulberry trees,
sycamores, and acacias, leads to Shubra, the favourite
country residence of the Pasha, rather more than three
miles from Cairo. The palace of Shubra is situated by
the Nile. Its exterior is picturesque, especially as viewed
from the river, and it has an extensive garden laid out
with much taste.
About six miles distant from the northern gates of the
metropolis, towards the north-northeast, is the site of Heliopolis,
the City of the Sun, called by the Egyptians,
“On;” and by the Arabs, “Eyn-Shems,” or, “the fountain
of the sun;” though, to bear this signification, the
name should, I am told, be written “Eyn esh-Shems,”
which may also be interpreted, “the rays, or light of the
sun.” The route from Cairo to the site of Heliopolis lies
along the desert; but near the limits of the cultivable soil.
118This part of the desert is a sandy flat, strewed with pebbles,
and with petrified wood, pudding-stone, red sandstone,
&c. A small mountain of red sandstone, called
“El-Gebel el-Ahmar” (or “the red mountain,”) lies at a
short distance to the right, or east. On approaching
within a mile of the site of Heliopolis, the traveller passes
by the village of El-Matareeyeh, where are pointed out an
old sycamore, under the shade of which (according to tradition,)
the Holy Family reposed, and a well which afforded
them drink. The balsam-tree was formerly cultivated in
the neighbouring fields: it thrived no where else in Egypt;
and it was believed that it flourished in this part because
it was watered from the neighbouring well. The name
given by the Arabs to Heliopolis was perhaps derived
from this well. In a space above half a mile square, surrounded
by walls of crude brick, which now appear like
ridges of earth, were situated the sacred edifices of Heliopolis.
The only remaining monument appearing above
the soil is a fine obelisk, standing in the midst of the enclosure.
The Arabs call it “the obelisk of Pharaoh.” It
is formed of a single block of red granite, about sixty-two
feet in height, and six feet square at the lower part. The
soil has risen four or five feet above its base; for, in the
season of the inundation, the water of the Nile enters the
enclosure by a branch of the canal of Cairo. Upon each
of its sides is sculptured the same hieroglyphic inscription,
bearing the name of Osirtesen the First, who reigned not
very long after the age when the pyramids were constructed.
There are a few other monuments of his time:
the obelisk of the Feryoo’m is one of them. ’Abd El-Lateef,
in speaking of Eyn-Shems, says that he saw there
(about the end of the twelfth century of the Christian era)
the remains of several colossal statues, and two great obelisks,
one of which had fallen, and was broken in two
pieces. These statues, and the broken obelisk, probably
now lie beneath the accumulated soil.
Such are the poor remains of Heliopolis, that celebrated
119seat of learning, where Eudoxus and Plato studied thirteen
years, and where Herodotus derived much of his information
respecting Egypt. In the time of Strabo, the city
was altogether deserted; but the famous temple of the sun
still remained, though much injured by Cambyses. The
bull Mevis was worshipped at Heliopolis, as Apis was at
Memphis. It is probable that the “land of Goshen” was
immediately adjacent to the province of Heliopolis, on the
north-northeast.
Thirteen miles from Cairo, in the same direction as
Heliopolis, is the village of El-Khánkeh, once a large town,
and long the camp of the regular troops. El-Khánkeh is
two miles to the north of the Lake of the Pilgrims, which
is so called because the pilgrims collect and encamp by it
before they proceed in a body to Mekkeh. This lake is
more than two miles in length, from west to east, and a
mile in breadth. It is filled by the canal of Cairo during
the season of the inundation.
LETTER XIII.
December, 1842.
My dear Friend,
You must bear with me if I recur to the subject of the
haunted house, for our disturbances came to a sort of
climax which I think as curious as it was exciting, and
so strikingly characteristic, that I must describe to you
the particulars of the case.
Ramadán ended about a month ago, and with it ended
the comparative quiet of our nights. To describe to you
all the various noises by which we have been disturbed is
impossible. Very frequently the door of the room in which
we were sitting late in the evening, within two or three
120hours of midnight, was violently knocked at many short
intervals: at other times, it seemed as if something very
heavy fell upon the pavement close under one of the
windows of the same room, or of one adjoining, and as
these rooms were on the top of the house, we imagined
at first that some stones or other things had been thrown
by a neighbour, but we could find nothing outside after
the noises I have mentioned. The usual noises continued
during the greater part of the night, and were generally
like a heavy trampling, like the walking of a person in
large clogs, varied by knocking at the doors of many of
the apartments, and at the large water-jars which are
placed in recesses in the galleries. Our maids have come
and gone like shadows ever since our residence here, excepting
during Ramadan, and sauve qui peut seems to
have been their maxim; for they believe that one touch
of an ’efreet would render them demoniacs.
A few evenings since, a maid, who had only passed
two days in the house, rushed to our usual sitting-room,
whence she had just removed our supper, exclaiming that
a tall figure in white had stood with arms outspread at
the entrance of the upper gallery to prevent her passing.
We all immediately returned with her, and as you will
anticipate, found nothing. This white figure our servants
call a saint, and they assert that the house is haunted
by a saint and an ’efreet. One man assures us that this
same saint, who is, to use his expression, “of dazzling
whiteness,” applied himself one night to the bucket of
the well in the court, and having drawn up water, performed
his ablutions and said his prayers. Frightening
servant maids is rather inconsistent, I ween, with such
conduct. Certainly the servants do not complain without
reason, and it is particularly grievous, because there is
not, throughout the whole healthful part of the city, one
comfortable house vacant.
During Ramadan, the Muslims believe that ’efreets are
imprisoned, and thus our servants accounted for our
121freedom from annoyance during that month. We on the
other hand believed we had bolted and barred out the
offender, by having discovered his place of ingress, and
were much disappointed at finding our precaution useless.
A few days since, our doorkeeper (a new servant),
complained that he not only could not sleep, but that he
never had slept since his arrival more than a few minutes
at a time, and that he never could sleep consistently with
duty, unless the ’efreet should be destroyed. He added,
that he came up every night into the upper gallery leading
to our sleeping-rooms, and there he found the figure I have
mentioned, walking round and round the gallery; and
concluded with an anxious request that my brother would
consent to his firing at the phantom, saying that devils
have always been destroyed by the discharge of firearms.
My brother consented to the proposal, provided
the servant used neither ball nor small shot. Two days
and nights passed, and we found on the third, that the
doorkeeper was waiting to ascertain whether the spectre
were a saint or a devil, and had therefore resolved to
question him on the ensuing night before he fired.
The night came, and it was one of unusual darkness.
We had really forgotten our man’s intention, although
we were talking over the subject of the disturbances until
nearly midnight, and speculating upon the cause, in the
room where my children were happily sleeping, when we
were startled by a tremendous discharge, which was
succeeded by the deep hoarse voice of the doorkeeper,
exclaiming “There he lies, the accursed!” and a sound
as of a creature struggling and gasping for breath. In
the next moment, the man loudly called his fellow servant,
crying, “Come up, the accursed is struck down before
me!”—and this was followed by such mysterious sounds
that we believed either a man had been shot, and was in
his last agonies, or that our man had accidentally shot
himself.
My brother went round the gallery, while I and my
122sister-in-law stood like children trembling hand in hand,
and my boys mercifully slept (as young ones do sleep),
sweetly and soundly through all the confusion and distress.
It appeared that the man used not only ball-cartridge,
but put two charges of powder, with two balls,
into his pistol. I will describe the event, however, in his
own words. “The ’efreet passed me in the gallery and
repassed me, when I thus addressed it. ‘Shall we quit
this house, or will you do so?’ ‘You shall quit it,’ he
answered; and passing me again, he threw dust into my
right eye. This proved he was a devil,” continued the
man; “and I wrapped my cloak around me, and watched
the spectre as it receded. It stopped in that corner, and
I observed attentively its appearance. It was tall and
perfectly white. I stooped, and before it moved again,
discharged my pistol, which I had before concealed, and
the accursed was struck down before me, and here are
the remains.” So saying, he picked up a small burnt
mass, which my brother showed us afterwards, resembling
more the sole of a shoe than any thing else, but
perforated by fire in several places, and literally burnt to
a cinder. This, the man asserted (agreeably with a
popular opinion), was always the relic when a devil was
destroyed, and it lay on the ground under a part of the
wall where the bullets had entered.
The noise which succeeded the report, and which
filled me with horror, is, and must ever remain, a
mystery. On the following morning we closely examined
the spot, and found nothing that could throw
light on the subject. The burnt remains do not help us
to a conclusion; one thing, however, I cannot but believe—that
some one who had personated the evil one suffered
some injury, and that the darkness favoured his escape.
It is truly very ridiculous in these people to believe that
the remains of a devil resemble the sole of an old shoe.
It reminds me of the condensed spirits of whom we read
in the “Thousand and One Nights,” who were (so say
123tradition) bottled up, hermetically sealed, and thrown
into the sea, by order of Suleyman the son of Da-ood.
I need scarcely say that the servant was reprimanded
for disobeying his orders with regard to charging the
pistol. With this one exception, he proved ever obedient,
most respectful, and excellent in every point. I really
believe the man was so worn out by want of sleep, and
exasperated by finding the same figure nightly pacing
round the galleries, and preventing his rest, that he became
desperate.
You will remember the story, in the “Thousand and
One Nights,” of the revenge threatened by an ’efreet on
a merchant, for having unconsciously slain his son by
throwing a date-stone, which occasioned a mortal wound.
The fear of unknowingly injuring an ’efreet and incurring
his resentment is as strong as ever in the minds
of these people. They always say “Destoor” (permission)
when about to step down from any elevated place, or
when they see another person going to do so. A poor
little boy fell on his face the other day near our house,
and hurt himself certainly, but before he cried, he exclaimed,
“Destoor!” I suppose concluding that if he had
fallen on an ’efreet unwittingly, the asking permission
after the fact might cancel the offence; and having done
so he was satisfied, and cried heartily.
LETTER XIV.
124
Cairo, February, 1833.
My dear Friend,
You know how much I desire to obtain access to respectable
hareems, as well those of the highest as those
of the middle classes; and now that my hope has been realized,
I find that I did not desire what would disappoint
my expectations. Indeed I have felt exceedingly interested
in observing the manners of the ladies of this country; in
some cases I have been amused by their familiarity, and
in many fascinated by the natural grace of their deportment.
I am aware that by description I cannot do
them justice, but I will endeavour to give you faithful
pictures of those hareems I have already seen; and first
I must tell you that I am indebted exceedingly to the
kindness of Mrs. Sieder, the lady of our excellent resident
missionary, who has gained the confidence of the most
distinguished hareems in this country, and has given me
some introductions I particularly desired, without any
reserve, and in the most ready and friendly manner.
Among the ladies to whom she has introduced me are
those of Habeeb Eféndee, the late governor of Cairo; and
in relating to you the particulars of my first visit to them,
I give you an account of my initiation into the mysteries
of the high hareems.
I had been some time in Cairo before I dared to mount
the “high ass;” for their appearance is really formidable.
I adopted the plan followed by many ladies here, that of
a prayer-carpet spread on a common saddle; but in visiting
the high hareems, it became necessary to ride the
high ass; and I found it infinitely more agreeable than
my usual donkey’s equipment. Certainly I was obliged
125constantly to stoop my head under the gateways, and
came nearly in contact with some projecting first-floor
windows; therefore I found it necessary to be on the
alert; but setting aside these objections, there is no comparison
to be made between the “high ass” and the
ordinary donkeys—the former is so decidedly preferable.
When we arrived at the house of Habeeb Eféndee, and
had passed the outer entrance, I found that the hareem
apartments, as in other houses of the great in this country,
are not confined to the first and upper floors, but form
a separate and complete house, distinct from that of the
men. Having passed a spacious hall, paved with marble,
we were met at the door of the first apartment by the
elder daughter of Habeeb Eféndee, who gave me the
usual Eastern salutation, touching her lips and forehead
with her right hand, and then insisted on removing my
riding-dress herself, although surrounded by slaves. This
was a mark of extraordinary condescension, as you will
presently see. In the houses of the middle classes, the
ladies generally honour their visitors by disrobing them
of their riding-dress; but in the high hareems this office
is generally performed by slaves, and only by a member
of the family when a guest is especially distinguished.
In visiting those who are considered the noble of the
land, I resume, under my Eastern riding costume, my
English dress; thus avoiding the necessity of subjecting
myself to any humiliation. In the Turkish in-door costume,
the manner of my salutations must have been more
submissive than I should have liked; while, as an Englishwoman,
I am entertained by the most distinguished,
not only as an equal, but generally as a superior. I have
never given more than the usual salutation, excepting in
the case of addressing elderly ladies, when my inclination
leads me to distinguish them by respectfully bending,
and lowering my right hand before I touch my lips and
forehead, when I am presented, and when I leave them.
On receiving sweetmeats, coffee, sherbet, or any refreshment,
126and on returning the cup, plate, &c., which contain
them, I give always the customary salutation to the chief
lady of the hareem, whose situation on the divan points
her out as the superior of the party.
At home, and when visiting ladies of the middle class,
I wear the Turkish dress, which is delightfully comfortable,
being admirably adapted to the climate of this country.
I have never gone out but in the Eastern riding-dress,
which I have already described to you.
When the lady I have mentioned had removed my
surtout apparel, a slave in attendance received them in
an exquisite pink kerchief of cashmere, richly embroidered
with gold. The kerchiefs of this kind, in the hareems
of the wealthy, are generally very elegant, but that was
the most perfect specimen I have seen of correct and
tasteful embroidery. The riding-dress was immediately
taken into another room, according to a usual custom,
which is observed for the purpose of creating a short
delay, giving an opportunity to offer some additional refreshment
when the guest has proposed to take her leave.
My new acquaintance then conducted me to the divan,
and placed me next to the seat of honour, which was
reserved for her mother, the first cousin of the late Sultán
Mahmoud, who soon entered the room, and gave me a
cordial welcome, assigning to me the most distinguished
seat on her right hand, the same to which her daughter
had conducted me, while the grandmother of Abbas
Pasha sat on her left. She was soon followed by her
second daughter, who greeted me with much politeness,
and in a very elegant manner assured me that I was
welcome. She was more richly attired than her sister;
therefore I will describe to you her dress.
She wore on her head a dark handkerchief twisted
round a tarboosh, with a very splendid sprig of diamonds
attached to the right side, and extending partly over her
forehead. The sprig was composed of very large brilliants,
disposed in the form of three lutes, in the centre,
127from each of which a branch extended, forming an oval
shape, at least five inches in length. High on the left
side of her head she wore a knot or slide of diamonds,
through which was drawn a bunch of ringlets, which,
from their position, appeared to be artificial; her tarboosh
had the usual blue silk tassel, but this was divided and
hanging on either side. Her long vest and trousers were
of a dark flowered India fabric; she wore round her
waist a large and rich cashmere shawl; and her neck
was decorated with many strings of very large pearls,
confined at intervals by gold beads. She was in one
respect strangely disfigured; her eyebrows being painted
with kohl, and united by the black pigment in a very
broad and most unbecoming manner. Many women of
all classes here assume this disguise: some apply the
kohl to the eyebrows as well as to the eyes, with great
delicacy; but the lady in question had her eyebrows so
remarkable, that her other features were deprived of their
natural expression and effect.
A number of white slaves formed a large semicircle
before us, and received from others, who waited in the
ante-chamber, silver trays, containing glass dishes of
sweetmeats. There were three spoons in each dish, and
two pieces of sweetmeat in each spoon. These were
immediately succeeded by coffee, which was also brought
on silver trays; the small china cups being, as usual, in
stands, shaped like egg-cups; but these were not, as in
ordinary houses, simply of silver filigree, or plain, but
decorated with diamonds. They were certainly elegant,
but more costly than beautiful. The coffee is never
handed on the tray, but gracefully presented by the attendant,
holding the little stand between the thumb and
finger of the right hand. After these refreshments a
short time elapsed, when two slaves brought in sherbet
on silver waiters, in exceedingly elegant cut-glass cups,
with saucers and covers. Each tray was covered with a
round pink richly-embroidered cover, which the slave
128removed as she approached us. To receive our cups, of
the contents of which, according to custom, we drank
about two-thirds, another slave approached, with a large
white embroidered kerchief, ostensibly for the purpose of
wiping the mouth; but any lady would be thought quite
a novice who did more than touch it with her lips.
In the course of conversation, I expressed my admiration
of the Turkish language, and, to my surprise, the
elder of the young ladies gave me a general invitation,
and proposed to become my instructress: addressing herself
to Mrs. Sieder with the most affectionate familiarity,
she said, “O my sister, persuade your friend to come to
me frequently, that I may teach her Turkish; in doing
which, I shall learn her language, and we can read and
write together.” I thanked her for her very polite offer,
but made no promise that I would become her pupil;
foreseeing that it would lead to a very considerable waste
of time. In all the hareems I have visited, Arabic is
understood and spoken; so I do not expect any advantage
from a knowledge of Turkish, unless I could devote
to its study considerable attention.
The perfect good humour and cheerfulness which pervaded
this family-circle is well worthy of remark, and
much engaged my thoughts during the morning of my
visit. All that I observed of the manners of the Eastern
women, at Habeeb Eféndee’s and elsewhere, leads me to
consider the perfect contrast which the customs of Eastern
life present to the whole construction of European
society. If you have read Mr. Urquhart’s “Spirit of the
East,” you have felt interested in his view of the life of
the hareem, and have thought that the Eastern “home”
which he represents in such a pleasing manner possesses
considerable attractions. Believe me, there is much to
fascinate and much to interest the mind in observing
peculiarities in these people which have no parallel in the
West; and I could furnish a letter on contrasts nearly as
curious as Mr. Urquhart’s.
129How extraordinary it seems that girls, until they are
given away in marriage, see only persons of their own
sex, with the exception of a few very near male relations,
and then receive as their future lord and master one with
whom no previous acquaintance has been possible! This
is so revolting to the mind of an Englishwoman, that the
mere consideration of such a system (which indeed, I am
told, is beyond what the rigour of the law requires) is
intolerable; therefore I must observe, and admire all
that is admirable, and endeavour to forget what is so
objectionable in the state of Eastern society.
Before our departure it was proposed that I should see
their house; and the elder daughter threw her arm round
my neck, and thus led me through a magnificent room
which was surrounded by divans; the elevated portion
of the floor was covered with India matting, and in the
middle of the depressed portion was the most tasteful
fountain I have seen in Egypt, exquisitely inlaid with
black, red, and white marble. The ceiling was a beautiful
specimen of highly-wrought arabesque work, and the
walls as usual whitewashed, and perfectly plain, with
the exception of the lower portions, which, to the height
of about six feet, were cased with Dutch tiles.
I was conducted up stairs in the same manner; and I
could not help feeling exceedingly amused at my situation;
and considering that these ladies are of the royal
family of Turkey, you will see that I was most remarkably
honoured.
When we approached the bath, we entered the reclining
room, which was furnished with divans, and presented
a most comfortable appearance; but the heat and
vapour were so extremely oppressive in the region of the
bath, that we merely looked into it, and gladly returned
to the cool gallery. I am not surprised that you are
curious on the subject of the bath and the Eastern manner
of using it; and I hope to devote a future letter to a
description of the operation (for such indeed it may be
130styled), and the place in which that operation is performed.
On our reaching the stairs, the second daughter of
Habeeb Eféndee took her sister’s place; and with her
arm round my neck, we descended the stairs, and re-entered
the room where I had received so kind a reception.
When we rose to take our leave, the elder daughter
received my riding-dress from a slave, and was about to
attire me, when her sister said, “You took them off; it
is for me to put them on.” The elder lady partly consented,
retaining the habarah, and thus they dressed me
together. Then, after giving me the usual salutation,
they each cordially pressed my hand, and kissed my
cheek. We then descended into the court, attended by
the ladies, and a crowd of white slaves. Having crossed
the court, we arrived at the great gate, through which I
had before passed, which was only closed by a large mat,
suspended before it, forming the curtain of the hareem.
This mat was raised by black eunuchs, who poured from
a passage without, and immediately after the ladies bade
us farewell, and returned, followed by their slaves. The
principal eunuch ascended first the mounting platform,
and placed me on the donkey, while two others arranged
my feet in the stirrups; our own servants being kept in
the background.
A few days after this visit, I received a second invitation
from this hareem, with the polite assurance that they
intended making a festival and fantasia for my amusement.
LETTER XV.
131
April, 1843.
My dear Friend,
You will congratulate us on our having quitted “the
haunted house;” and you will do so heartily when I tell
you that six families have succeeded each other in it, in
as many weeks, since our departure. The sixth family
was about to quit immediately when we heard this news;
five having been driven out by most obstinate persecutions,
not only during the nights, but in broad daylight,
of so violent a description, that the windows were all
broken in a large upper chamber, our favourite room.
The sixth family suffered similar annoyances, and also
complained that much of their china was demolished.
Like ourselves, no one has been able to obtain quiet rest
in that house, or rather I should say, others have been in
a worse state than ourselves, for we obtained some relief
in consequence of our doorkeeper’s achievement. And
now I hope I have done with this subject. I have said
much upon it, but I must be held excusable, as “’tis
passing strange.”
Our present house is extremely commodious, and much
taste and judgment have been displayed in its construction.
The terrace is extensive and very picturesque, and
the upper rooms are well situated. Most of the rooms are
furnished with glass windows, and the house altogether,
being exceedingly well built, is adapted for affording
warmth in the winter, and proving a cool summer
residence.
With regard to a sojourn in Egypt, it is not an easy
matter to give you the pour et contre. Of one thing I am
convinced, that persons must remain a year in this country,
132that is, they must go the round of the seasons, or
nearly so, before they can fully judge of the comforts it
offers. I well remember the extreme annoyance I experienced,
for some months after our arrival, from the unusually
prolonged heat, of which I complained to you,
and from the flies and musquitoes, which were really and
constantly distressing; and I could scarcely believe what
people told me, namely, that I should soon find myself
very well contented with the climate of the country. As
to the musquitoes, they interfere so much with enjoyment,
that a traveller who visits Egypt during the great
heat may assert, with truth, that he has no comfort by
day, nor by night until he enters his curtain. I confess
that I often feared we could not remain here as long as
I wished. No sooner, however, did the Nile subside, than
my hopes revived; and finding that the most charming
temperature imaginable succeeded the heat, I began to
understand what travellers mean when they call this a
delicious climate. November is a sweet month here—December
and January are rather too cold, taking into
consideration that there are neither fire-places nor chimneys
in any of the houses, excepting in the kitchens.
February and March are perfectly delightful, the temperature
then being almost as mild as summer in England.
During April there occur some instances of hot wind,
otherwise it is an agreeable month. In May the hot
winds are trying, and then follow four months of oppressive
heat.
Devoted as I am, justly, to my own dear country and
her blessed associations, I can give you my candid opinion,
without any fear that I shall be suspected of preferring
a residence in the Levant to my English home,
and will show you, without reserve, in what consist the
fascinations of this part of the East;—in the climate, in
the manners of the people, and in the simplicity of their
habits, which not only attract my admiration, but render
me much less affected by their general poverty than I am
133by less distress in my own country. It is very certain
that if a daily journal were published in Cairo, we
should not see paragraphs headed “death by starvation,”
“distressing case,” &c.; but why is it? for there are no
houses here for the reception of the poor, as in England.
It results from the contented spirit of the poor, if provided
simply with bread and water; and, more than all, from
the sort of family union which subsists throughout the
East, and which literally teaches the poor to “bear each
other’s burthens.” In visiting the middle and higher
classes of society, the same family compact is observable,
and the mother of the family continues always the mother
and the head; her gentle reign lasting with her valued
life, and the love and respect of those around her increasing
with her years. It is asserted, that when Mohammed
was asked what relation had the strongest claim on
affection and respect, he replied with warmth, “The mother!
the mother! the mother!”
All blood relations in the East take precedence of the
wife, who is received into a family as a younger sister.
It could scarcely be suffered here, or in Turkey, that a
father or mother should quit a house to make way for
a son’s wife. This you will remember is remarked in
Mr. Urquhart’s “Spirit of the East;” and let me ask you,
is not this as it should be? I cannot understand how
any person with a spark of nature in his breast could
allow a beloved parent to resign what a child should be
willing to shed his heart’s blood to preserve.
In obtaining an insight into the habits and manners of
the women, I possess considerable advantages; first, from
my brother’s knowledge of the East, and secondly, from
my plan of adhering strictly to habits cherished by the
people, which system has secured at once their respect,
while it has excited their surprise. We have even gone
so far as to adopt their manner of eating; and here
I must digress to beg you not to say “How very disgusting!”
134but read how we do it, and then you may confess
that it is not so unpleasant as you thought. The dishes
are prepared in a very delicate manner; for instance,
small cucumbers and other vegetables of a similar kind
are scooped out and stuffed with minced meat and rice;
minced meat is wrapped in vine-leaves, and so dexterously
cooked, that each leaf with its contents continues
compact, and is easily taken in the fingers. Fried meat
in cakes, and the same in form of sausages, are equally
convenient; and all I have mentioned, and a hundred
others (for there is a great variety in their cookery), may
be taken almost as delicately as a slice of cake. For
soups, rice prepared in the Eastern manner, and stews,
we use spoons; and so do the Turks. One difficulty
occasionally presents itself; but not at home. The chief
lady of a house, to do her guests honour, presents them
with morsels of her own selection, with her own fingers;
and in some cases repeats this compliment frequently.
It would be a positive affront to refuse these; and I am
quite sure that no Englishwoman can so far strain her
politeness as to eat as much as her hostess, in her excessive
hospitality, desires, though the latter sets her a wonderful
example. I have really seen the ladies of this
country eat as much as should suffice for three or four
moderate meals at one sitting. But to return to my
difficulty. I always found it to be the best plan to
receive readily, for a time, the morsels which were
offered; and when satisfied, to accept perhaps another,
and sometimes two or three; at the same time assuring
my entertainer, that they were redundant, but that her
viands were so extremely well chosen, that I must, after
the repast, inquire who has superintended the cuisine,
and derive from her some information. Thus I removed
the impression which was immediately formed, that the
dinner was not dressed agreeably with my taste: and
induced only the remark, that “the English eat so much
135less than the Easterns;” accompanied by regret that so
little satisfied me, but followed by an expression of pleasure
that the dinner was so agreeable to me.
I have not found the system of Eastern etiquette difficult
of adoption; and from the honourable manner in
which I have been received, and treated, and always
pressed to repeat my visit, I may draw the conclusion
fairly, that I have understood how to please the people.
It has been a favourite opinion of mine, and one in which
I have been educated, that a little quiet observation of
the manners and habits of others will always prevent
those differences about trifles which so often disturb
society, and sometimes separate even friends. Here I
have indeed found the advantage of exercising this observation,
and it has proved the means of securing to me
invariably polite attention and respect.
I think you would be amused could you see our dinner-arrangements
at home. First, a small carpet is spread
on the mat; then, a stool cased with mother-of-pearl, &c.
is placed upon it, and serves as the support of a round
tray of tinned copper, on which is arranged our dinner,
with a cake of bread for each person. A maid then
brings a copper ewer and basin, and pours water on the
hands of each of our party, and we arrange ourselves
round the tray, our Eastern table-napkins spread on our
knees. These are larger and longer than English hand-towels,
that they may cover both knees when sitting in
the Turkish manner. During the meal, the maid holds a
water-bottle, or defends us from flies with a fly-whisk.
Having no change of plates, knives, or forks, no time is
lost at dinner; and it usually occupies twenty minutes.
Thus, much valuable time is saved by avoiding works of
supererogation. One or two sweet dishes are placed on
the tray with those which are savoury; and it is singular
to see the women of this country take morsels of sweet
and savoury food almost alternately. Immediately after
dinner, the ewer and basin are brought round, the stool
136and carpet are removed with the tray, and the stool is
always placed in another room until again required.
There is something very sociable in this mode of sitting
at table, and it is surprising to see how many persons
can sit with comfort round a comparatively small tray.
I should advise you and other friends in England to
resume the use of small round tables: I have often
regretted they are no longer in fashion: for a small
family, they are infinitely more comfortable than the
large square or oblong tables used in England.
It is true, as you suppose, that I am sometimes amused
at my position, and more particularly so, when, on the
occasion of any thing heavy being brought into the
hareem, one of the men passes through the passage belonging
to it. Their approach is always announced by their saying
audibly “O Protector! (Ya Sátir) and “Permission!”
(Destoor), several times. Excepting on such occasions,
no man approaches the hareem but the sakka, or water-carrier;
and I often think that any person with a knowledge
of Arabic, and none of the habits of the people,
would think these sakkas devotees, judging by their constant
religious ejaculations. The men are quite as careful
in avoiding the hareem, as the ladies are in concealing
their faces, and indeed, in many cases, more so.
I have been amused particularly by the care of one of
our men, who, having lived many years in a Turkish
family, is quite a Turkish servant. On one occasion, on
returning home from riding with my boys, my donkey
fairly threw me off as he entered the court; and when
this man raised me up (for my head was on the ground),
I supported myself for a moment with my hands against
the wall of the house, while I assured my poor children,
who were exceedingly frightened, that I was not hurt,
forgetting that I was showing my hands not only to our
own men, but to the men who attended the donkeys!
I was immediately recalled to a consciousness of where
I was, and of the impropriety of such an exposure, by the
137servant I have mentioned, who most respectfully covered
my hands with my habarah, and wrapped it around me
so scrupulously that the men had not a second time the
advantage of seeing a finger.
No person can imagine the strictness of the hareem
without adopting its seclusion, nor can a stranger form a
just estimate of the degree of liberty enjoyed by the
women without mixing in Eastern society. One thing is
certain, that if a husband be a tyrant, his wife is his
slave; but such cases are extremely rare. I do not pretend
to defend the system of marrying blindfold, as it
were; nor do I look for those happy marriages which
are most frequently found in England; but I am pleased
to find the Eastern women contented, and, without a
single exception among my acquaintances, so cheerful,
that I naturally conclude they are treated with consideration.
The middle classes are at liberty to pay visits, and
to go to the bath, when they please; but their fathers and
husbands object to their shopping; therefore female brokers
are in the frequent habit of attending the hareems.
The higher orders are more closely guarded, yet as this
very circumstance is a mark of distinction, the women
congratulate each other on this subject; and it is not uncommon
for a husband to give his wife a pet name, expressive
of her hidden charms, such as “the concealed
jewel.”
There lives opposite to us a good old woman, a devotee,
who is a sort of Deborah to the quarter, and who
passes judgment from her projecting window on all cases
which are proposed for her opinion, much to our edification.
One occurred a few days since, which will show
you that the system I have described is not confined to
any particular grade in society. A young man in the
neighbourhood had been betrothed to a very young girl,
upon the recommendation of his fellow-servant, without
sending any of his own female relations to ascertain if her
appearance was agreeable, or the reverse. Becoming
138anxious on this subject, two days after the betrothal, he
sent a female friend, who asserted that his bride had but
one eye, that she was pitiable in appearance, and unfit to
become his wife. The person who had recommended
her was a married man, and the bridegroom accused him
of culpable negligence, in not having ascertained whether
she had two eyes or not, as he might have sent his wife
to pay her a visit; while, on his own part, he had taken
no such precaution, and, being the most interested, was
certainly the most to blame. Such was the state of the
case when referred to Deborah. After hearing it patiently,
she said to the young man, “My son, why did you
consent to be betrothed to a girl who was not known to
your mother and to the women of your house?” “They
have been, since my betrothal, to see her,” he answered,
in a very melancholy tone of voice, “but she sat in a
dark room, and they could not tell whether she had two
eyes or not; and, in truth, O my mother, I have bought
her many articles of dress, and I have paid four hundred
piastres as her dowry, the savings of many months.”
“Has she learnt any trade?” asked the old woman,
“that so much was required as her dowry?” “No,” replied
the bridegroom; “but she is of a higher family than
mine, possessing houses, and lands, and property.” “Property
belongs to God,” replied she; and so saying, she
retired from the conference. We have since heard that,
although the family of the girl is too respectable to permit
that her betrothed husband should see her face even in
her mother’s presence, he has put the houses, and lands,
and property in the scale, and found her defect too light
to be worthy of consideration.
LETTER XVI.
139
April, 1843.
My dear Friend,
I do assure you that slavery in the East is not what
you imagine it to be. Here, perhaps, the slave is more
in the power of the master than in the West, and there
are some monsters, at whose names humanity shudders,
who dreadfully abuse the power they legally claim; but,
generally speaking, an Eastern slave is exceedingly indulged,
and many who have been cruelly torn from their
parents at an early age, find and acknowledge fathers and
mothers in those to whom they are sold. They are
generally extremely well-dressed, well-fed, and allowed to
indulge in a degree of familiarity which would astonish
you. If they conduct themselves well, they are frequently
married by their masters to persons of respectability, and
the ceremony of the marriage of a slave in the high
hareems is conducted with extreme magnificence. It is
not unusual for a grandee to give away in marriage several
female slaves, and sometime concubines, on the
same day, to husbands of his own selection. In some instances,
the slaves are distressed at being thus disposed
of, and would rather remain in their old home, but generally
a marriage of this kind is a subject for extraordinary
rejoicing; and accustomed as the women are to submit to
the will of others in the affair of matrimony, from the
highest to the lowest in the East, the fact of their superiors
choosing for them their husbands rather recommends
itself to their approval, and excites their gratitude.
On the day of their marriage they are dressed in the
most costly manner; while in the hareems to which they
belong, Cashmere shawls, sometimes cloth of gold, are
140laid that they may walk over them. Singing and dancing
women are engaged for the occasion, and several girls
bearing censers, and others sprinkling perfumes, attend
each bride. You have heard and read of the Arab
dancing, which is far from delicate, but the dancing in
the Turkish hareems is not in any respect objectionable.
The girls throw themselves about extravagantly, but frequently
gracefully; and turn heels over head with amusing
dexterity. It is not a pleasing exhibition, but not a
disgusting one.
I cannot admire the singing, the women choose generally
such exceedingly high keys that it resembles screaming
rather than singing. I sometimes think that with the
support of a tolerable accompaniment the songs might be
agreeable, but the instruments of the country are any
thing but musical, and interfere considerably with the
purposes of harmony. The voices of the singers are remarkably
fine, and would be perfection under European
culture; and the performers are usually enthusiastic in
their love for their art, but still more so are their hearers.
The vocalists are for the most part respectable.
When the slave of a grandee is given away in marriage,
the man chosen as her husband is almost always
somewhat of a dependant; and the lady generally treats
him as if he were somewhat of a dependant with respect
to herself.
I have been exceedingly amused lately, by reading in
the “Sketches of Persia,” the account which is given by
some natives of that country (including persons occupying
high offices under government, therefore the noble of the
land), of the liberty and power of their women; and I am
disposed to think with them, that women, in many respects,
have the ascendancy among the higher orders
throughout the East. We imagine in England that the
husband in these regions is really lord and master, and
he is in some cases; but you will scarcely believe that
the master of a house may be excluded for many days
141from his own hareem, by his wife’s or wives’ causing a
pair of slippers to be placed outside the door, which signifies
that there are visitors within. It is true that the
husband sometimes becomes tired of frequent exclusion,
and forbids, as indeed he has a right to do, the constant
admission of visitors; but in so doing, he draws down on
his head much discomfort. He has his remedy, certainly;
but how sad is the system of divorce! Who can
defend it? Where a wife has become a mother, the husband
is seldom willing to divorce her; but where this is
not the case, the affair is far too easily managed.
Among the lower orders, some of the husbands are sad
tyrants. The fact is, that the men foolishly marry such
little young creatures, they are more like their children
than their wives, and their inexperience unjustly provokes
their husbands. While on this subject, it occurs to
me to tell you that Deborah has a most refractory granddaughter,
who is certainly the plague of her life. This
child is in the habit of reviling the neighbours’ servants;
and a few days since she used abusive language to a man
who was sitting in his master’s doorway. The doorkeeper
was exceedingly provoked, and at once retorted,
“When I have a little more money, I will marry you,
and punish you every day.” This manner of revenge is
something really new to us Europeans.
Last week, a little bride was paraded through the
streets in our neighbourhood, whose age could scarcely
have exceeded ten years. Thinking the procession, and
the whole affair, an exceedingly good joke, she was impatient
of control; and instead of walking under the
canopy, and submitting to march between two of her female
friends, preceded by a woman fanning her, she
insisted upon walking backwards before the former, and
fanning them herself. This will give you some idea of
the mere children who are married here.
The employments of the hareem chiefly consist in embroidery,
on an oblong frame, supported by four legs; but
142they extend to superintending the kitchen, and indeed the
female slaves and servants generally; and often ladies of
the highest distinction cook those dishes which are particularly
preferred. The sherbets are generally made by
the ladies; and this is the case in one hareem I visit,
where the ladies, in point of rank, are the highest of Eastern
haut ton. The violet sherbet is prepared by them in
the following manner:—The flowers are brought to them
on large silver trays, and slaves commence by picking off
the outer leaves; the ladies then put the centres of the
violets into small mortars, and pound them until they have
thoroughly expressed the juice, with which, and fine sugar,
they form round cakes of conserve, resembling, when
hardened, loaf-sugar dyed green. This produces a bright
green sherbet, prettier than the blue or pink, and exceedingly
delicate. I do not know of what the blue is composed,
but am told that it is a particular preparation of
violets: the pink is of roses; the yellow of oranges, apricots,
&c. It would be tedious were I to describe the variety
of sherbets; but those I have mentioned will give
you an idea of these cooling summer drinks. About four
table-spoonfuls of syrup in three quarters or a pint of water
form a most agreeable beverage.
You will be surprised to hear that the daughter of the
Pasha, in whose presence the ladies who attend her never
raise their eyes, superintends the washing and polishing
of the marble pavements in her palaces. She stands on
such occasions barefooted on a small square carpet; holding
in her hand a silver rod: about twenty slaves surround
her; ten throw the water, while others follow them wiping
the marble, and lastly polishing it with smooth stones.
It is very grievous that the women in general are
merely instructed in handiwork. But I must not speak
slightingly of their embroidery; for it is extremely beautiful—as
superior as it is unlike to any fancy-work practised
in England. Taste of a very remarkable kind is displayed
in its execution; and similar, in many respects, to that
143exhibited in the most elaborate decorations of Arabian
architecture; but its singular beauty is in some measure
produced, where colours are employed, by the plan of often
taking the colours at random.
The embroidery which is done in the hareems is very
superior to any other, and frequently interspersed with
precious stones, generally diamonds, pearls, emeralds, and
rubies. The rich large brocade trousers often are richly
ornamented with jewels, and are stiff with decorations;
but the Saltah (a small jacket) for chasteness and elegance
is that which I most admire of all the embroidered articles
of dress. For winter wear, it is of velvet, or fine cloth,
lined with silk. Saltahs of rich silk are worn during the
autumn and spring; and, during the summer, dresses of
European muslin are almost universally adopted, and are
the only kind of apparel suited to the intense heat of an
Egyptian summer.
Few of the ladies can read and write even their own
language. I know, however, some exceptions. In one
family, the daughters have been extremely well instructed
by their brother, whose education was completed in Europe.
In their library are to be found the works of the first Italian
poets and the best literature of Turkey; and these they
not only read, but understood.
LETTER XVII.
144
Cairo, June, 1843.
My dear Friend,
There has been an alarm of plague in Cairo, and several
of the great hareems have been in quarantine. The apprehension
has been induced by the fearful murrain which
has raged during nine months, as a similar misfortune
has proved in former years the forerunner of a severe pestilence.
I mentioned to you some time since that such a calamity
was dreaded; and it has in some measure arrived.
At El-Mansoorah, the cases of plague have not been few;
and while on this subject I must tell you an extraordinary
fact, which will show you that it is even possible to extract
sweet from one of the bitterest of human draughts. Some
Russians have been at El-Mansoorah for the purpose of
studying the disease. As a means of discovering whether
it be contagious or not, they have employed persons to
wear the shirts of the dead, and paid them five piastres a
day for so doing. This was a considerable salary, being
equal to a shilling per day! Now when the poor of this
country consider half a piastre per day a sufficient allowance
for each person, and maintain themselves well, in
their own opinion, on this trifling sum, you can conceive
how charmed they might be with the liberal offers of these
Russian gentlemen, were it not for the risk they incurred.
Risk, however, they did not imagine. The poor flocked
to the physicians from all parts of the town, and entreated
to be permitted to wear the plague-shirts. One old man
urged his request, saying, “I am a poor old man, with a
family to maintain; do not refuse me; by your life, let me
wear a shirt.” The women crowded round the house
145where their imagined benefactors had taken up their
quarters, to bless them for having undertaken to support
them, their husbands, and their children: and when the
chief of these adventurous gentlemen found the dwelling
thus surrounded, he walked forth among them, and, taking
off his hat, made a courteous low bow to his dark-eyed
visitors; whereupon they made the air resound with the
shrill zaghareet, or cries of joy.
Not one of the shirt-wearers died, although the physicians
after a short time (during which they awaited the
result of their experiment) had recourse to heating the
shirts to 60° Réaumur. Still the poor peasants lived, and
throve on their good fare; but one of the physicians died.
How he took the disorder is of course a subject for controversy,
but that the shirt-wearers escaped, is a great
triumph to the non-contagionists of Cairo; and from all
we can learn, the best informed are of this party.
In the house of a merchant in Cairo, a slave has lately
died of plague, and, according to custom, a soldier was
placed at the door to enforce strict quarantine. The merchant
did not relish this restraint, and desired the comfort
of going in and out at pleasure. Accordingly, he
attacked the cupidity of his temporary gaoler, and coaxingly
addressed him, saying, “Thou knowest, O my brother,
that I am a merchant, and therefore have much business
to transact in the markets, where my presence is
necessary. Let me go, I beseech thee, and I will hire
another to take my place. Consider my case in thy generosity,”
he added, putting into his hand a piece of nine
piastres; and the soldier found his pity so sensibly touched,
that further remonstrance was unnecessary: the merchant
passed, and the substitute was accepted—a new way of
keeping quarantine!
Long since I told you that I feared the plague might
induce us, this year, to go to Upper Egypt; but the accounts
have never been such as to show us the necessity;
indeed, on the contrary, though constantly making the
146most anxious inquiries, we did not hear that there had
been many cases of plague in the city, until the time of
danger had passed.
It is a singular and sad fact, that during our few
months’ sojourn here this country has been visited by
three of its peculiar plagues—murrain, boils and blains
(or common pestilence), and locusts. The first has destroyed
cattle to an almost incredible amount of value;
the second has not been so severe as it usually is; but the
locusts are still fearfully eating the fruits of the ground.
In the gardens of Ibraheem Pasha and others, the peasants
are employed to drive them away by throwing
stones, screaming, beating drums, &c.
My assertion with regard to the small daily pay that
contents these poor people will show you how much it is
in the power of a person of moderate income to dispense
comfort to a considerable number of poor grateful fellow-creatures;
and could you but see the blind, lame, old people
who solicit alms in the streets of Cairo, you would
yearn to supply their simple wants.
Those who are above distress are, with the exception of
a very small proportion, such as we should number in
England among the poor; but, in many respects, they
husband their little property in a very strange manner:
though they never waste a morsel of food, they are sometimes
extravagant with trifles, simply from want of management.
A short time since we received from a shop
a little parcel about a span long, round which was wound
forty-seven feet of string, so that the paper was only here
and there visible; and this was not, as you might suppose,
on account of the value of its contents, which cost
but a few pence.
The climate produces a great degree of lassitude, and
the people will often use any thing within their reach (if
their own property) rather than make the smallest exertion;
and yet, as I have remarked to you some time since,
no people can work harder or more willingly when called
147on to do so. I do exceedingly like the Arabs, and quite
delight in my rides in remarking the grace and politeness
which cast a charm on their manners. It is very interesting
to see two peasants meet; there appears so much
kindly feeling among them, many good-humoured inquiries
ensue, and they part with mutual blessings.
While riding out, a few days since, I was surprised by
witnessing the extreme display which is exhibited during
the wedding festivities of a mere peasant. When I arrived
within a few doors of the house of the bridegroom,
I passed under a number of flags of red and green silk,
suspended to cords extending across the street; above these
were hung seven immense chandeliers, composed of variegated
lamps; and awnings of green and white canvass
were stretched from roof to roof, and afforded an agreeable
shade. Here the bride was paraded, covered with a
red Cashmere shawl, numerously attended, and preceded
by her fanner, beneath a rose-coloured canopy.
A stranger might imagine that the feast which concludes
this display is the result of extreme hospitality,
but this is not the case; I was surprised at hearing of
the system on which it is conducted. A peasant, for instance,
will often buy two sheep, two hundredweight of
flour, and butter in proportion; these things forming
always the chief articles of a feast prepared for the lower
orders in Egypt. He will then add different kinds of
fruit according to the season, and abundance of tobacco
and coffee; and for the amusement of his visitors, he engages
singers, and sometimes dancing-girls. To effect
this, he will borrow money, and his next step will be to
invite all his relations, and all his friends and acquaintance.
These feel obliged to accept the invitation; and
no one joins the party without a present in his hand:
therefore, at the conclusion of the feast, the bridegroom is
often rather a gainer by the festivities than otherwise.
In every instance his friends enable him to repay those
from whom he has borrowed. Real hospitality has no
148part in the affair whatever. Ostentation alone actuates
the bridegroom in making his preparations.
On the morning after his marriage he is generally accompanied
by his friends into the country, or to a garden,
where they feast together, and are usually entertained by
dancing and songs. The expense of this fete champetre,
in like manner, seldom falls heavily upon the bridegroom.
The Egyptians have an especial passion for gardens and
water. Even stagnant water, if sweet, they consider a
luxury: running water, however dirty, they hold to be
extremely luxurious; and when, during the inundation,
the canal of Cairo is full, all the houses on its banks are
occupied by persons who sit in their leisure hours smoking
by its muddy waters: but the height of their enjoyment
consists in sitting by a fountain—this they esteem Paradise.
How much I wish we had the comfort of occasional
showers in Egypt: however, one of my boys amuses me
often by supplying this desideratum by watering their
garden from an upper projecting window; employing for
this purpose a large watering-pot with an ample rose,
whence many a refreshing shower falls before the lower
windows, washing the thick dust from a mulberry-tree,
and really giving an agreeable idea of coolness.
This same mulberry-tree was an object of great admiration
to a man who described our present house to us
before we saw it: he said, after stating the accommodation
which the house afforded, “And there is a tree in
the court!” Having forgotten what sort of tree it was, he
blessed the Prophet (as these people do when they want
to brush up their memory), and then said, “It is a vine.”
This sultry day I can write no more; and if able to
forget the heat, the poor little sparrows would remind me
that it is indeed oppressive, for they are flying in and out
of our windows with their beaks wide open. They do
not seem calculated to bear this intense heat; and they
congregate round their food and water on the terrace,
149looking so pitiable during a hot wind, that we should
like to transport them to England. There, however, I
am afraid they would not tenant the houses so fearlessly
of harm as they do in Egypt. Here is no wanton cruelty:
a great deal of apathy with regard to suffering is apparent
in the character of the people; but I do not think the
Arabs, in general, ever inflict an intentional injury.
LETTER XVIII.
July, 1843.
My dear Friend,
Since I remarked to you the general cheerfulness
which reigns in the hareems I had then seen, I have
visited one belonging to a Turkish grandee, which offers
a sad exception, and touchingly exhibits a picture of
family love and blighted happiness. The old and beloved
master of this hareem is under a cloud; he is suffering
the displeasure of the Pasha, and is confined in the state
prison. I received a most kind welcome from the ladies
of his family. I remarked with regret the depression
which weighed down the spirits of all who composed it,
and I was shocked to hear from the chief lady that she
also was a prisoner, having orders not to quit her house.
She was attired in a kind of morning-dress, of white,
embroidered with black; but wore a splendid kind of
crown.[35] This was composed of diamonds, set in gold,
forming flowers, &c.,—the whole being of a convex shape,
circular, and about six inches in diameter. It was worn
upon the crown of the head, attached to the cap round
which the headkerchief was wound, and had a very rich
150appearance, the diamonds being so near together, that
the interstices only served, like the red gold in which the
stones were set, to heighten their brilliancy. At a little
distance, the crown seemed like one heap of diamonds.
When this lady referred to her heart’s trouble, tears
rolled down her cheeks; and I do not think there was
one lady or slave present whose eyes were not suffused
with tears; one especially interested me, for she was
quite unlike any Eastern I have seen, having the complexion
and the auburn hair and eyes of the pretty Irish.
She manifested by the expression of her countenance
more distress than her companions. I imagined she was
one of her master’s wives; for she was attended by her
nurse carrying her child (an exquisite little cherub) and
several slaves. She did not, however, sit on the divan by
“Hánum,” or the chief lady.
The mothers here exceedingly fear the evil or envious
eye; and it is quite necessary, when an infant or young
child appears, to exclaim, “Máshálláh,” and to refrain
from remarking its appearance; it is also important to
invoke for it the protection and blessing of God; and
having done so by repeating the expressive phrases used
on such occasions in Eastern countries by Christians as
well as Muslims, the parents are happy that their children
have been introduced to the notice of those who put
their trust in God.
The apartments of this hareem are situated in a large
garden; and the interior decorations are like those of
most Turkish palaces in this country. The walls are
painted in compartments, and adorned with ill-executed
landscapes, representing villas and pleasure-grounds.
I once told you that in all the hareems I had seen, the
chief lady was the only wife: I can no longer make such
a boast; but look and wonder, as an Englishwoman, how
harmony can exist where the affection of the husband is
shared by —— I do not like to say how many wives.
Hareem-gardens are never agreeable places of resort in
151or near a town; for the walls are so high that there is no
free circulation of air, and the trellises for the support of
vines over the walks are really roofs, necessary certainly
at noon-day under a nearly vertical sun, but excluding
the only refreshing morning and evening air.
I was surprised, during my second visit to the hareem
of Habeeb Effendi, to find the ladies (whom I had not
seen for a long time on account of the late plague) immersed
in politics, and painfully anxious on account of
the difference of opinion which has arisen between the
Emperor of Russia and their cousin the Sultán. They
earnestly inquired whether England would espouse the
cause of Turkey, and were in some measure comforted
by a reference to the friendship which England had so
warmly manifested for the young Sultán, and the active
measures which our government had adopted for the re-establishment
of his rule in Syria. I find the feeling
very strong in favour of England in the hareems; and I
conclude that I hear general opinions echoed there. I
judge not only from the remarks I hear, but from the honourable
manner in which I am treated; and the reception,
entertainment, and farewell I experience are in every
respect highly flattering.
I told you of the great politeness that was shown me
on the occasion of my first visit to the royal ladies I have
just mentioned. On my second visit to them I was almost
perplexed by the honour with which they distinguished
me; for the chief lady resigned her own place, and seated
herself below me. I was obliged to comply with her desire;
but did so with much reluctance.
I saw nothing that I need describe, in the way of dress
or ornament, on this occasion, excepting the girdle of the
elder daughter. This was a broad band, of some dull
material of a pale-gray colour, embroidered with small
white beads, which composed an Arabic sentence, and
having a most splendid diamond clasp, in the form of
two shells, somewhat wider than the belt. There was
152another visitor present, who by her title and appearance
I saw to be a lady of very high rank; and if the Turks,
as some people say, admire fat women, she must be considered
a prodigious beauty. I have seldom, if ever, seen
a larger person.
One of the most beautiful women I have seen in Egypt
is the wife of a celebrated poet. I love to look on a pretty
face, and hers is especially sweet. Her manners, too, are
charming; her welcome on my introduction was particularly
cordial, and her request that I would pay her a long
visit was made with evident sincerity of kindness. With
the exception of her diamond crown, her dress was simple,
and her whole demeanour free from affectation; I should
imagine her character is a source of cheerful contentment
to her husband and her children. You will forgive my
national pride and prejudice when I say she reminded
me of an Englishwoman.
The house of this lady’s family is of the old Arab description,
and is situated on the margin of a lake in the
outskirts of the city, surrounded by excellent and very
picturesque houses, having on the ground-floors, courts
roofed with trellises, supported by pillars, and other fanciful
wood-work, and covered with jasmines and vines.
In these the male inhabitants spend their pastime or idle
hours, looking on the water. The upper floors are furnished
with meshrebeeyehs (the projecting windows I
have described to you) overlooking the lake.
From visits I turn to visitors; to tell you that a most
unwelcome guest made his appearance yesterday. Between
the blind and glass of a window in the room where
we usually sit, I discovered a large snake, more than a
yard and a half long. It was outside the window; but
directly it saw me through the glass, it raised its head,
and protruded its black forked tongue. It was of a light-brown
colour, and down the centre of its back its scales
were of a bright yellowish hue. It was in such a situation
that it was scarcely possible to catch it, and indeed
153my brother was the only man in the house who would
attempt to do so; for our servants were so overcome by
superstitious dread, that they would not approach the
intruder, and one of the men dared not even look at it:
we were therefore unwilling he should touch it, and persuaded
him to send for a snake-charmer.
There was a considerable difficulty in finding at such
a moment, a man of this profession, although Cairo
abounds with them. At length a poor old man arrived,
who was nearly blind, and mistook a towel (which was
pressed between the sashes to prevent the creature entering)
for the object of my dread. He addressed it with
much courtesy, saying “O Blessed!” several times, which
expressed an invitation: to this, however, the snake turned
a deaf ear; and twining itself dexterously through the
trellis blind, it curled into a window in the court, and
was entirely lost. We certainly would rather it had been
found, although assured it could only be, from our description,
a harmless house-snake.
You have doubtless read many accounts of the feats of
Eastern snake-charmers, and wondered at their skill.
Very lately, a friend of ours witnessed an instance of the
fascination, or rather attraction, possessed by one of these
people. He was in the house of an acquaintance when the
charmer arrived, who, after a little whistling, and other
absurd preliminaries, invoked the snake thus: “I conjure
thee, by our Lord Suleymán” (that is, Solomon, the
son of David), “who ruled over mankind and the Ján”
(or Genii); “if thou be obedient, come to me; and if
thou be disobedient, do not hurt me!” After a short
pause, a snake descended from a crevice in the wall of
the room, and approached the man, who secured it. No
other snake appearing, it was decided that the house was
cleared, and our friend requested the snake-charmer to
accompany him to his own house. He did so, and invoked
the snakes in the same words. The invocation
154was attended by the same result: a snake descended, and
in the same manner resigned itself to the serpent-charmer.
With regard to the serpent still in our house, let us
say, with the Muslims, we are thankful it is not a scorpion.
Their philosophy is a lesson to us.
Several poor neighbours have lately been stung by
scorpions: we sent them some carbonate of ammonia
to apply to the wounds, and it was the means of producing
the happiest results.
Cairo, with its many ruined houses, affords innumerable
nests for noxious reptiles; and the progress of its
decay has lately been so rapid, that at last a proclamation
has been issued by the Pasha for extensive alterations
and repairs throughout the city. The houses are to be
whitewashed within and without; those who inhabit
ruined houses are to repair or sell them; and uninhabited
dwellings are to be pulled down for the purpose of forming
squares and gardens; meshrebeeyehs are forbidden,
and mastabahs are to be removed. Cairo, therefore, will
no longer be an Arab city, and will no longer possess
those peculiarities which render it so picturesque and
attractive. The deep shade in the narrow streets, increased
by the projecting windows—the picturesque
tradesman, sitting with one friend or more before his
shop, enjoying the space afforded by his mastabah—these
will be no more; and while I cannot but acknowledge the
great necessity for repairing the city, and removing the
ruins which threaten the destruction of passengers, I
should have liked those features retained which are
essentially characteristic—which help, as it were, to
group the people, and form such admirable accessories to
pictures.
I must add to this letter an account of a shameful and
very ridiculous imposition which was practised upon us
a fortnight ago. A poor old man who had for some time
filled the situation of doorkeeper to our quarter, had long
155been ill, and had been assisted by several gentlemen in
procuring some necessary comforts. One day my brother
received a letter from the Sheykh of the quarter, telling
him that poor Mohammad the doorkeeper had received
mercy at the sixth hour of the preceding night, and expressing
a hope that he would give them the price of his
shroud. My brother, accordingly, sent one of his servants
to the house of Mohammad, where he found his
body laid out, a washer of the dead attending, and his
wife apparently in great distress on account of her loss.
She returned the most grateful acknowledgments for the
bounty which was sent to aid in enabling her to bury her
poor husband; and after a while the affair passed from
our recollection (we never having seen the poor man), or
if remembered, it was only to inquire who would supply
his place.
The old woman removed to another house a few days
after; and a maid-servant of ours, on passing by chance
her new dwelling, was surprised to the last degree to see
the late doorkeeper sitting within its threshold. “What,”
exclaimed she, “my uncle Mohammad alive, and well!”
“Praise be to God,” he answered, “I am well, and have
lived on the bounty of your master, the Efendee; but, by
your life, my daughter, do not tell him that I am alive.”
The old man, I should here tell you, is no relation of the
maid’s; this being one of the usual modes of address
among the lower orders. The maid promised his existence
should continue a secret; but she found on her return
home it was impossible to keep her word, and the
quarrel which ensued between her and the servant who
conveyed the money for the shroud (both believing their
own eyes) was as violent as that between Hároon Er-Rasheed
and his wife Zubeydeh, or rather that between
their two emissaries, on the subject of Abu-l-Hasan the
wag.
LETTER XIX.
156
September, 1843.
My dear Friend,
In describing to you the honourable reception and elegant
entertainment I experienced in the Pasha’s hareem,
I cannot be too minute.
The chief residence of his ladies is the Kasr-ed-Dubárah,
a fine house situated on the west of Cairo, on the eastern
bank of the Nile, and justly their favourite retreat. After
riding through the plantations of Ibraheem Pasha, which
almost surround the palace, we arrived at the great gates
of the Kasr, through which we entered a long road within
the high walls covered with trellis closely interwoven
with vines. At the end of this we dismounted, and
walked on a beautiful pavement of marble through several
paths, until we arrived at the curtain of the hareem.
This being raised, we were immediately received by a
young wife of Mohammad ’Alee, who addressed my friend
Mrs. Sieder in the most affectionate terms, and gave us
both a most cordial welcome. In a moment a crowd of
ladies assembled round us, vying with each other in paying
us polite attention; and having disrobed me, they
followed us (the wife of the viceroy with us leading the
way) to the grand saloon.
This is a very splendid room, paved with marble, as
indeed are all the passages, and, I imagine, all the apartments
on the ground-floor; but as several are entirely
covered with matting, I cannot assert this to be the case.
The pavement in the saloon is simply white marble, the
purest and best laid I have seen in the East. The ceiling
(which is divided into four distinct oblong compartments)
is painted admirably in stripes of dark and light blue,
157radiating from gilded centres, from each of which hang
splendid chandeliers containing innumerable wax-lights.
The corners and cornices are richly decorated. The
pavement under the two centre compartments is not matted,
but the two ends, to the right and left on entering, are
covered with fine matting, and fitted with crimson divans.
The windows are furnished with white muslin curtains
edged with coloured fringe, some pink and some blue.
All the looking-glasses (of which there are perhaps six in
the saloon) are furnished with festoons and curtains of
pink and blue gauze. There is one table with a cover of
pink crape embroidered in stripes of gold, and having
upon it a large glass case of stuffed birds.[36] On either
side of the door are fanciful stands for large square glass
lanterns, composed of pillars, round which are twined
artificial flowers. The windows are European in form,
and the hareem blinds are composed of tasteful ironwork;
I can scarcely say filigree, the pattern is too bold.
The entire interior decorations are in light and summer
taste, and the saloon charmingly cool.
36. These were taken from the United States, where they
were prepared and set up.—Ed.
We crossed to an apartment on the opposite side, where
the same lady placed us on the divan and seated herself
by our side. This room is entirely covered with matting,
and furnished with most luxurious divans, extending
round three sides, not raised (as is usual) on a frame
about a foot or more in height, but entirely of cotton,
forming mattresses two feet in thickness, placed on the
ground. These are covered with very gay chintz, as are
also the cushions which incline against the walls; and at
the right and left upper corners are distinct square
cushions, covered with white muslin embroidered with
black braid, and each having back cushions to correspond.
Above all these there is a row of small cushions,
covered with white muslin and embroidered with black,
158corresponding in pattern with the corner seats. The
curtains resemble those in the saloon.
Here we received coffee, which was handed to us by
the chief lady of the household, the treasurer, a particularly
lady-like person, to whom it was handed by a lady
who bore it on a silver salver, attended by several others;
one carrying the little coffee-pot in a silver vessel, suspended
by chains, and also used as a censer, containing
burning charcoal. The whole group was most picturesque,
and many of the ladies were fair, young, and
beautiful.
The lady of the Pasha then proposed our returning to
the saloon, that she might conduct us to the widow of
Toosoon Pasha, and to the daughter of Mohammad ’Alee
Pasha, who were sitting at the upper corner. I found
the former lady seated on a cushion on the ground, next
to the right-hand corner, and the daughter of the Viceroy
took the seat of honour, which was also a cushion placed
on the ground. Numerous ladies and slaves were in
attendance; all standing in a line before the edge of
the mat.
We were soon joined by another wife of the Pasha, the
mother of Mohammad ’Alee Bey (a boy about nine years
of age); her designation is “The lady, the mother of
Mohammad ’Alee Bey.”
It would be a breach of etiquette, and contrary to
hareem laws, were I to describe particularly the persons
of the wives of the Pasha, or any lady after distinguishing
her by her name or her situation in a family; but I may
in general terms express my admiration of the two ladies
I have seen, and I think they are the only wives of the
viceroy. Both are young—the one is a dignified and
handsome person, and the other especially gentle and
very lovely.
Soon after noon, dinner was announced; and the widow
of Toosoon Pasha led the way to a room adjoining the
saloon, where a most elegant dinner was arranged, on a
159very large round silver tray, placed on a stool, and surrounded
by cushions. The passages we passed were
occupied by innumerable black female slaves, and some
eunuchs, dressed in all the variety of gay Eastern costume,
and forming a curious contrast and most picturesque
background to the ladies and white slaves who
surrounded and accompanied us. On either side of the
door several ladies, each with an embroidered napkin
hung on her right arm, held silver ewers and basins that
we might wash our hands before advancing to the table.
No one was admitted to the table but the widow of
Toosoon Pasha, the daughter of Mohammad ’Alee Pasha,
the mother of Mohammad ’Alee Bey, with ourselves, and
a lady of great importance in the East, the foster-mother
of ’Abbás Pasha.[37] The place of the younger wife was
vacant.
37. ’Abbás Pasha is the reputed successor to the Páshálik.
The tray was covered with small silver dishes filled
with various creams, jellies, &c., and most tastefully garnished
with exquisite flowers. In the centre was a forequarter
of lamb, on piláv. I was truly glad, on this
occasion especially, that my home-habits had been Eastern;
had the case been otherwise, a joint of meat to be
eaten without knife or fork would have been a formidable
object; for, under any circumstances, I should not have
anticipated that the widow of Toosoon Pasha, who is also
the mother of ’Abbás Pasha, and who, being the eldest, was
the most honoured at table, would have distinguished me
as she did, by passing to me, with her own fingers, almost
every morsel that I ate during dinner. The mother of
Mohammad ’Alee Bey in the same manner distinguished
Mrs. Sieder.
The lamb was succeeded by stew; the stew by vegetables;
the vegetables by savoury cream, &c., composing
an innumerable variety; and each was removed, and its
place filled, when perhaps only tasted. Sweet dishes,
160most delicately prepared, succeeded these in rapid succession;
and, with one exception, all were in silver dishes.
Ladies attended close to our divan with fly-whisks; behind
them about thirty formed a semicircle of gaily-dressed,
and, in many cases, beautiful women and girls;
and those near the door held large silver trays, on which
the black slaves who stood without placed the dishes, that
the table might be constantly replenished.
Black female slaves in the houses of the great are not
permitted to enter an apartment where are visitors; but
black eunuchs, when favourites with their masters, are
constantly to be found in the very centre of a high
hareem.
In presenting the morsels to me, the widow of Toosoon
Pasha constantly said, “In the name of God;” and these
words are always said by the Muslims before eating
or drinking. “Praise be to God” is the grace after
either.
There is one particularly agreeable custom observed
after dinner in the East; each person is at liberty to
leave the table when satisfied. To a European it is
really a relief to do so, the dishes are so numerous, varied,
and rich.
There is much grace in the manners of the ladies of
the East even in the most trifling actions: it was pretty
to observe the elegance with which the silver ewers and
basins were held for us when we left the tray. We were
succeeded at the table by the highest ladies of the household;
and I imagine others, according to their rank,
dined after these, until all had taken their meal.
We returned to the saloon, where we were met by the
younger wife of the Pasha, who had been prevented joining
us at table by indisposition. She gave me a most
kind general invitation to the Kasr ed-Dubárah, and a
particular one to a festival which is to take place on the
occasion of a grand marriage some time before I quit this
country. The fantasia, she assured me, is to be the most
161splendid that can be prepared or arranged; and I shall
soon be permitted to tell you the name of the bride. This
she told me; but I must not mention it until the day is
fixed for the marriage. It is an Egyptian state secret!
There are many extremely beautiful women in the hareem
of the Pasha, and many handsome young girls;
some not more than ten years of age. The Turkish
ladies, and the Circassians, and Georgians, are generally
extremely fair; and I must particularly mention one who
was remarkably beautiful, and more splendidly dressed
than any of her companions. She did not enter the
saloon until we heard dinner announced; and her appearance
was something very attractive. Her yelek and shintiyan
(or long vest and trousers) were of rich plum-coloured
silk, and the quiet colour of her dress exhibited
with brilliant effect a profusion of costly diamond ornaments.
Her head-dress was tastefully arranged, and the
richer sprays of diamonds were lavishly interspersed in a
dark crape headkerchief.
I cannot take a better opportunity of describing the
Eastern dress, as worn by the Turkish ladies, than while
the hareem of the Pasha is fresh in my recollection. The
tarboosh (or red cap) is trimmed with a very large and
full tassel of dark blue silk, which is separated and spread
over the crown, and those ladies who wear rich ornaments
almost always display their most costly jewels on
the back of the head, either in the form of a kurs, which
I have described to you, or a spray, very much resembling
in form a fleur de lis, but broader and shorter; this is
placed at the division of the tassel, which latter is often so
broad when spread, as to extend an inch beyond the head
on either side in a front view. The headkerchief is
wound round the head, partly over the forehead, and the
fringed ends are arranged on one side; the front hair is
cut short, and combed towards the eyebrows, and this is
extremely unbecoming, disfiguring even a beautiful face,
excepting in cases where the hair curls naturally, and
162parts on the forehead. The long hair is disposed in numerous
small plaits, and looped up on either side over the
headkerchief. In many cases, the hair of the younger
ladies, and white slaves, is dishevelled, and hanging
loosely on the shoulders; but this I have only observed in
the Turkish hareems: many in the Kasr ed-Dubárah
wear their long hair flowing on their shoulders, and, in
some instances, their attractions are considerably heightened
by this simplicity; but no coiffure, however studied
or simple, is so pretty as that worn by the Arab ladies,
whose long hair hanging down the back is arranged in
many small plaits often lengthened by silk braid, and
generally adorned with hundreds of small gold ornaments,
resembling oval spangles, which harmonize better with
the Eastern costume than any other fashion.
To return to the Turkish ladies: they wear the yelek
considerably longer than their height; the back part
resting on the ground, and forming a graceful train; and
in walking over a mat or carpet, they hold the skirts in
front over the arm. The shirt is of silk gauze, fine muslin,
or a very beautiful thin crape, with glossy stripes,
which is made of raw silk in the hareems, and is cream-colour;
the sleeves of this are not confined at the wrist.
The shintiyán are extremely full, and generally of a different
material from the yelek: the former being of rich
brocade, large patterned muslin, or chintz, or sometimes
of plain satin, or gros de Naples. The yelek, on the contrary
is made of a material with a delicate pattern, generally
a small stripe, whether of satin, Indian silk, or
muslin.
Those ladies who are not perfectly idle, and who have
not slaves as train-bearers, tuck their skirts through their
girdles; and thus, I think, the dress is very gracefully
worn. Ladies of distinction always wear Cashmere
shawls round the waist, generally red; and those in Kasr
ed-Dubárah had a narrow edge of gold, with gold cords
and tassels at the corners. There, the nurz were different
163from any I had before seen; being of embroidered cloth,
of various colours; and the daughter of the Pasha, and
others, had their long sleeves buttoned at the wrist. The
sleeves are always so made that they can be buttoned if
their length prove inconvenient; but as the great ladies of
the land do not occupy themselves in any way, but spend
their time on their divans, they can scarcely find these
hanging draperies incommodious.
This description of dress leads me back to the lady
whose appearance so especially attracted my admiration.
After I requested that my riding-dress might be brought,
I observed several ladies crossing the saloon, among
whom she walked, bearing it towards me, and looking
like a queen in person and in dress. She dressed me
with much grace, and then with her companions stepped
back into the doorway to receive and give the parting
salutation. One circumstance I have omitted, namely,
the crimson embroidered curtains, which hang before all
the doorways in the palace; for the doors stand open, a
closed door being never permitted in the hareems. Much
taste is displayed in the embroidery of these curtains;
indeed, the perfection of taste is to be found in the decorations
of the Kasr ed-Dubárah.
LETTER XX.
164
December, 1843.
My dear Friend,
I cannot better give you an idea of the order and discipline
observed in the hareems of the great and wealthy
than by comparing each to a petty state, with its rulers
and its officers. The person occupying the place of
highest rank, next to the master, is the chief lady, who is
often called, properly or improperly, Hánum, or, correctly,
Khánum. This title, which literally signifies “My Lord,”
(for Turkish ladies, whom we in England generally look
upon as persons treated with little respect, are honoured
with male titles) by right belongs first only to those
ladies of the Sultán whom we call sultanas; that is, to
any of the near female relations of the sovereign, and to
any of his ladies who has borne a prince or princess;
secondly, to the wives of the grand vezeer; but it is sometimes
given by courtesy to the wives of grandees in general,
and sometimes to ladies of inferior grades. The
male title Efendim (literally “My Master”) is also given
to the same ladies.
The chief lady of the hareem is the mother of the
master; or, if his mother be not living, his sister, or
sisters, take precedence; and next to them ranks his favourite
wife. The question of priority among the wives
of one man is more easily arranged than you, with European
notions respecting the rights of women, could imagine
possible. It is generally settled thus: the first
wife, if she become a mother, retains her rank above any
wife subsequently taken; but if not, she yields to another
more fortunate, and consequently, more beloved and honoured.
165The other wives take their stations according
to the preference of their husbands.
Each wife, among the higher classes, has her separate
apartments, and distinct attendants; for even Eastern
wives might manifest jealousy under circumstances of
constant intercourse with each other. In the cases of the
great, it is not unusual for each wife to occupy a separate
mansion; but whether in one large house, or several
smaller ones, the hareem of the grandee occupies the
whole, or nearly the whole, of the abode, which is generally
enclosed by garden walls as lofty as the houses in
the immediate neighbourhood. Without the aid of scaling
ladders, or the more effectual mean of admission—intrigue,
the hareem of the Turkish grandee is well secured from
illicit visitors. At the outer door is stationed a bowáb, or
doorkeeper, and the second is guarded by eunuchs. Beyond
the second is suspended the hareem curtain which I
have before described; and in the first of the inner apartments
are the black female slaves who undertake the
menial offices of the hareem. After passing the outer
apartments white slaves are found carrying silver sprinkling
bottles of scented water, small silver censers suspended
by chains, coffee, pipes, sherbet, and sweetmeats;
each set of coffee-cups or sherbet-cups being placed on a
small tray, and often concealed beneath a round splendidly
embroidered cover, bordered with deep and heavy gold
fringe. Among the white slaves may be observed several
who are considered superior to their companions, walking
about as though superintending their arrangements; and
among the former, especially, I have found the most
lovely girls in the hareems, many of them fully justifying
my preconceived ideas of the celebrated Georgian and
Circassian women. Excepting in two cases, cheerfulness
has appeared to me to reign among these fair prisoners;
entirely excluded as they are from intercourse with any
persons of the other sex, except their master and his very
near relations. If any other man attempted to pass beyond
166the first entrance, his temerity would in all probability
be punished with death the moment his purpose
should be discovered.
The houses of the grandees, separate from their hareem,
are generally accessible; and the liberty of ingress is
sometimes not a little abused. Last month Mohammad
’Alee was residing in his palace at Shubra, and two
Europeans resorted thither for the purpose of seeing the
gardens. They wore the Frank dress, with the exception
of their having adopted the tarboosh, a shawl round the
waist, and red shoes. After perambulating the gardens,
they entered the palace, and meeting with no opposition,
they examined one apartment after another, and at length
entered the bedroom of the Pasha, where sat his highness,
nearly undressed! Although taken by surprise, his
Turkish coolness did not forsake him: calling for his
dragoman, he said, “Inquire of those gentlemen where
they bought their tarbooshes.” The Europeans replied,
“They were purchased in Constantinople;” “and there,”
rejoined the Pasha, “I suppose they learned their manners.
Tell them so.” Judging from this retort that their presence
was not agreeable, the Franks saluted the viceroy,
and withdrew.
This reminds me of another late occurrence, in which,
however, was exhibited only a want of knowledge of
Turkish etiquette; no absence of gentlemanly mind. An
European gentleman who lately visited Egypt was introduced,
among others in this city, to a grandee, and was
accompanied to his residence by a friend of my brother,
and Mons. L——, both of whom, during many years,
have resided in this country, and visited in the best
Eastern society. After they had partaken of the usual
refreshment of pipes and coffee, sherbet was brought, and
handed first to the stranger. He looked at it for a
moment, and then at the gaily embroidered napkin hung
over the arm of the slave who presented it; and following
the impulse given, I conclude by his preconceptions of
167Eastern habits of cleanliness, dipped his fingers in the
sweet beverage, and wiped them on the napkin. Mons.
L——, with the perfect delicacy which characterises
French politeness, followed his example, dipped his fingers
in the sherbet, and wiped them on the napkin. I wonder
whether their host understood his motive for such strange
doings. My brother’s friend sat at a little distance from
his companions, and confessed that he drank his sherbet.
To return to the organization of the great hareems:
the Hánum generally has four principal attendants, two of
whom are elderly, and act simply as companions: the third
is the treasurer, and the fourth, the sub-treasurer. The
next in rank are those who hand pipes and coffee, sherbet
and sweetmeats; and each of these has her own set of
subordinates. Lastly rank the cooks and house-slaves,
who are mostly negresses. The hareem is a little world
of women, in which many have passed their infancy and
their childhood; the scene of their joys and sorrows, their
pleasures and their cares; beyond which, they have no
idea of a wider theatre of action; and from which they
anticipate no change but to the hareem of their husbands.
The ideas entertained by many in Europe of the immorality
of the hareem are, I believe, erroneous. True
it is, that the chief ladies have much power which they
might abuse; but the slaves of these ladies are subject to
the strictest surveillance; and the discipline which is
exercised over the younger women in the Eastern hareem
can only be compared to that which is established in the
convent. A deviation from the strictest rules of modesty
is followed by severe punishment, and often by the death
of the delinquent. The very framework of Eastern society
is so opposed to the opinions of Europeans, that I will
venture to prophecy it must be the work of several generations
to root up prejudice before the mind of the Eastern
can be prepared for the reception of our ideas of civilization.
That Christianity is the only medium through
168which happiness may be attained by any people is most
certain; therefore as the Easterns are very far from
being Christians, except in the mere dogmas of their
faith (inasmuch as they acknowledge the Messiah, though
denying his divine nature, and his atonement for sin), so
they are very far from being really happy.
The prejudice existing among the Turkish women
against the pure doctrines of Christianity is evident from
occasional, or rather, I should say, from frequent remarks
made in my presence, and to my friends. One
lady, who gave me a general and warm invitation to her
hareem, and treated me really affectionately, so far betrayed
her opinions, that she exclaimed to me, and to my
friend, “What a pity that you are Christians!” Alas!
such feelings are too general for our minds to be blinded
to the fact of their existence; and so long as martyrdom
awaits the convert to our blessed faith, little or no progress
will be made by those benevolent men, whose devotion
of happiness and of life to our Saviour’s cause will
secure for them the favour of their God, however unsatisfactory
may be the results of their labours.
Of those female slaves who, after the age of childhood,
have been brought from countries where they have enjoyed
almost unbounded liberty, few, perhaps, become reconciled
to the confinement within the narrow and limited
precincts of the hareem. Some, by their personal charms
rendered favourites of the master, doubtless delight in the
luxurious prison. Others, who have, in addition to his
favour and affection, a stronger tie to their foreign home—that
of their having borne him a child, would receive
their emancipation, if accompanied by a dismissal and a
marriage to some other person, with earnest prayers for
the retraction of the intended boon. Brought up, in
general, with Muslim feelings, they become the most
affectionate of mothers. Their maternal tenderness is
often most especially manifested by their dread of the
169evil eye; a superstition which obliges me, in my intercourse
with Muslim mothers, to observe the utmost caution
in making any remarks upon children.
In one instance, I was unfortunate, in one respect, in a
remark of this kind; but fortunate in another respect,
inasmuch as one of my own children was the subject. I
occasioned much distress to an Arab lady who was
passing the day with me (when, in the course of conversation,
the effects of climate on the constitution of the
young were discussed) by observing that my eldest boy
had not suffered as the rest of our party had done from
the heat; adding thankfully, that I considered him strong.
In an instant she vociferated, “Bless the Prophet! bless
the Prophet!” and repeated this for some time, while she
coloured deeply, and exhibited the most extraordinary
agitation. I confess I was at first confounded; for
although I perceived that in her enthusiasm she feared
that I had endangered my dear boy’s welfare by expressing
my opinion of his health, and that she earnestly
desired I should avert my calamity by doing as she
directed at the moment, I was not at all disposed to bless
the Prophet; but I endeavoured to quiet her apprehensions
by repeating in Eastern phraseology “Praise be to
God for the health of my family,” and “If it please God
may it continue.” Finding me calmly and gravely endeavouring
to convince her that the English do not fear
expressing their satisfaction in the welfare of those they
love, she became more tranquil, but I do not think she
felt reassured. By saying “O God, bless our Lord Mohammad!”
the effect of the evil eye is believed to be
prevented; and it is not a little singular, that my friend
feared the effect of my own admiring eye, upon my own
child.
It is very difficult for a stranger, like myself, to avoid
making mistakes in various other ways. For example, I
heard footsteps on the stairs leading to our terrace a few
days since, and beckoned a maid, who was passing, that
170she might inquire for me who was gone up stairs, when,
to my astonishment, she ran from me immediately; and
though I called her by name, and induced her to look
round, she saw me again beckoning with my hand, and
continued her flight. Annoyed at what appeared to be
perverseness, I clapped my hands, and she at once returned.
“Why did you run away when I beckoned
you?” said I. “Because,” replied she, “you made a
signal to me to go away.” That is, I turned towards her
the back of my hand. Had I reversed the position, or
beckoned with the palm downwards, she would have
understood that I wanted her; as it was, she supposed
that she was to run away as fast as possible.
I do not remember that I mentioned to you the uncouth
dresses that are worn here at this season of the year by
the ladies of the higher classes. When I pay an unexpected
visit to such persons, I generally find most of
them in quilted jackets of a description as little becoming
as can be imagined, or enveloped in any warm covering
that they have at hand. Their rooms are warmed by
means of the brazier, which produces a close and suffocating
smell, such as I cannot easily endure; and, indeed,
I seldom feel much occasion for a fire. The weather
is now really delightful; but it has not been so uniformly
since the commencement of winter. As in the cases of
most travellers, our residence here has been marked by
peculiarities. The extraordinary inundation of last year,
and the heavy rain of this, are events which have had no
precedents on record during the lives of the present generation.
After wishing for occasional showers during
eight months in vain, not a drop of rain falling, we had
on the thirtieth of October a tremendous storm of rain,
attended with thunder and lightning, and one almost continuous
peal of thunder lasted two hours, rattling and
rolling in a most awful manner, while the rain fell in
torrents; but on the first of last month, the rain was
still more copious: it poured through the roofs and
171ceilings; and we and our servants during the storm were
seeking dry corners in which to deposit cushions, mattresses,
and other furniture; and were running hither
and thither to remove them as the water gained upon us.
Our house is extremely well built for Cairo, and yet, in
the upper rooms, pretty smart showers fell through the
ceilings for some time after the storm abated, and only
one room in the house escaped the general flooding. Our
poor neighbours suffered severely, and fearful has been
the illness which has ensued; indeed, the inhabitants are
still feeling lamentably the effects of that tremendous
storm. Many houses have fallen in consequence of it;
and others have been greatly injured. The roofs, in many
instances, are seldom plastered with any thing better
than mud, but simply composed of planks and strong
beams, on which coarse matting is laid; and often over
all only rubbish is strewed to preserve the matting from
being blown away: therefore the showers which penetrate
these roofs sometimes become showers of mud, to the
destruction of furniture. Rain, however, seldom falls in
this part excepting in the cooler season, when a few
showers occur, and those are generally light.
LETTER XXI.
172
January, 1844.
My dear Friend,
I was presented yesterday to Nezleh Hánum, by my
friend Mrs. Sieder. My reception was remarkably flattering,
and perhaps unusually so, because it took place in
her bedroom. I was not aware that she was suffering
from severe indisposition when I called at the Kasr ed-Dubárah,
and would not have intruded when I was informed
that this was the case; but when she heard that I
had arrived, she expressed her desire to see me as soon as
her two physicians, then in attendance, should have quitted
her chamber. Her highness is the eldest daughter of
the Pasha, and therefore holds the highest rank among
the ladies of Egypt. I have before said that she is the
widow of the Deftardár Mohammad Bey.
While we were sitting in one of the rooms opening into
the saloon, the curtain before our door was suddenly
closed; for the physicians were passing. In a few minutes
the curtain was withdrawn, and I was conducted to the
presence of her highness. She was supported by pillows,
and evidently suffering much from cough and oppression
of the chest. She received me with much affability, and
at once requested me to sit by her side on a raised divan,
which I imagine is her bed. Low divans surrounded the
room, and the pavement was covered with a Turkey carpet.
It had in no respect the character of a bedroom,
but rather that of a luxuriously furnished Turkish winter
sitting-room. It opens into a noble saloon, over that which
I formerly described to you. I found the youngest son of
the Pasha, Mohammad ’Alee Bey, sitting on a cushion at
the feet of his sister, Nezleh Hánum; and finding me to
173be unacquainted with Turkish, he politely conversed with
me in French. He is nine years of age, and in a few
months will be considered beyond the hareem age. His
mother, and other ladies, sat on my left hand. Thus I
saw, on the one hand, a lady about fifty years of age—the
daughter of the Pasha, and on the other, a very lovely
young woman, step-mother to her highness, the wife of her
father, and the mother of her little brother.
Her highness, in features, and especially in her eyes,
bears a strong resemblance to her father, having a countenance
full of intelligence, and capable of the most varied
expression; generally quick and searching in glance; but
often beaming upon me with the sweetest smile imaginable.
She directed one of the Pasha’s favourites, the mother
of two of his children, to wait upon me.[38] This lady received
the coffee from another at the entrance of the chamber,
and handed it to me in an exquisite gold zarf, richly
set with rows of large and small diamonds, arranged spirally,
and ornamented between the rows with most delicate
enamel. Yesterday was the fourth day of the Great
’Eed, or Great Beirám (the latter of the two principal annual
festivals of the Muslims), and a day appropriated to
visits of ceremony to her highness by those ladies who
have access to her; the three preceding days having been
spent by them in visiting the tombs of relations and
friends. While I was sitting with her, many ladies came
in to pay their respects to her; but in consequence of her
illness, they were simply dressed, with the exception of
one lady, who was most splendidly attired. She had on
the back of her head a profusion of diamonds, and wore a
long orange-coloured Cashmere jubbeh, richly embroidered,
and forming, as she walked, a glittering train of gold.
She only kissed the border of her highness’s robe, and left
the room without speaking; none of her visitors did more
than kiss her hand; nor did any one of them speak a
174single word; neither did Nezleh Hánum take any notice
of their salutation, otherwise than by allowing them to
take her hand. This etiquette, I am informed, is not
only observed during her illness, but at all times. The
visitors never raised their eyes; and here I felt peculiarly
the advantage of being an Englishwoman, for she kept up
with me a lively conversation, and really treated me as an
equal. With true Eastern politeness, her highness assured
me that our presence made her feel really well; and begged
I would consider her house my own; using every
persuasion to induce us to prolong our visit. Sherbet was
handed to us in deep purple cups, exceedingly elegant
and containing a very delicious beverage. I need only
say of the sherbet and coffee covers, and the napkins, that
they were as splendid as the most exquisite embroidery
could render them; but I must notice her highness’s pipes.
The mouthpieces were most tastefully adorned with brilliants,
set in rich patterns, and the silk covering of each
was elaborately decorated with embroidery. She smoked
incessantly; but was the only lady in the room who did
so. By the way, I have become quite reconciled to sitting
among those who smoke, for the scent of the tobacco used
by the ladies here is extremely mild, and quite unlike
what offends my sex so much in England.
Nezleh Hánum requested me three times to remain
when I proposed leaving her; and when at length I urged
that I must depart, as it was near sunset, she bade me
farewell in the most flattering terms she could employ.
On quitting her chamber, I found the lady next in rank
to her who handed me the coffee and sherbet, waiting with
another cup of sherbet for me to take en passant. I mention
this because it is always intended as a distinguishing
mark of honour. Several ladies accompanied us to the
door, and the treasurer followed me with the present of an
embroidered handkerchief from her highness.
Do not think me egotistical, because I describe thus
minutely my reception: I consider it important in a description
175of manners, especially as the receiving and paying
visits is the every-day business of an Eastern lady;
and by thus entering into detail, I hope to give an idea of
the extreme politeness which characterises those with
whom I am acquainted. I may also add, that I think it
due to the hareem of the Pasha, and others of distinction,
to show the respect they manifest towards the English.
Were I a person of rank, there would be nothing remarkable
in the honourable attentions I receive; but as a private
lady, I confess they are exceedingly beyond my
anticipations. On quitting the Kasr, my attention was
attracted by one of the most perfect visions of loveliness I
have had the gratification of seeing, in the person of a
white slave-girl about seventeen years of age. She stood
leaning her head against the doorway, while the line of
beauty was described to perfection in the grace of her attitude:
her complexion was delicately fair; and her hair
and eyes were neither of them dark, but of that gentle
shade of brown which harmonizes so charmingly with a
fair complexion. I cannot minutely describe her features;
for there is a perfection of beauty which defies description,
and such was hers. There was an expression of
melancholy on her sweet countenance, and something so
impressive in her appearance, that those who have seen
her once cannot forget her.
I fear that I shall not soon receive my summons to the
wedding in the Pasha’s hareem. There seems to be some
cause for delay which I do not know; and it is a subject
respecting which I cannot, consistently with politeness,
ask any questions of those who are able to give me the
desired information; but a cousin of the Sultán told me,
a few days ago, with the utmost gravity, in allusion to
this affair, that there remained one point unsettled,
namely, the choice of a bridegroom! Every thing else
was arranged. Among the great, in this part of the
world, the wishes of a daughter who is to be given away
in marriage seem to be very seldom considered. She is
176nourished and brought up in the expectation of a day
when she will be delivered over by her parents to the protection
of a husband, a stranger to her both in person and
in mind. You may well wonder that such conduct can
be tolerated in any land; and may sigh for those helpless
women who are disposed of in this manner; but the reform
of such a practice, under present circumstances, is impossible;
for I am perfectly confirmed in my opinion that the
women themselves would shrink with horror at the proposal
to make an intended husband personally acquainted
with his wife before the marriage.
Marriages among the middle classes in this city are
often conducted with much display of a most singular
kind. A bridal procession, which passed a few days ago
through the principal streets in our neighbourhood, was
headed by a fool, or buffoon, who, mounted on a horse,
and attired in the most grotesque manner, with a high
pointed cap, and a long false beard, performed a variety
of ridiculous antics. Two men upon camels, each beating
a pair of kettle-drums, of enormous but unequal dimensions,
attached to the saddles, immediately followed the
fool. Then came a man bearing a cresset, formed of a
long pole, having at the top several receptacles for flaming
wood, which were covered with embroidered handkerchiefs.
This cresset, the proper use of which is to serve
as a light at night, was thus used merely for display.
Next came a man on tall stilts, and two swordsmen gaily
attired in cloth of gold, brandishing drawn swords, and
occasionally engaging in a mock fight. The swordsmen
were succeeded by two dancing men, and these by vocal
and instrumental musicians, singing and playing with the
utmost vigour. Then followed five boys, each about five
or six years of age, attired in female apparel of the richest
description, heavy with gold, and decorated with a profusion
of women’s ornaments composed of gold and costly
jewels, which dazzled the sight. These boys were being
paraded previously to circumcision; and each of them
177partly covered his face with a folded embroidered handkerchief,
to guard against the evil eye. They were followed
by four women, whose office had been to summon
the female friends to the wedding. Each of these, who,
like all who followed them, were on foot, had a rich piece
of cloth of gold thrown over her left shoulder, with the
edges attached together on her right side. The pieces of
cloth were presents which they had received. About
thirty young girls, all veiled and handsomely dressed, and
then about the same number of married ladies (the latter
of whom, enveloped in their black silk habarahs, looked,
to the eye of a European, as if they were attired for a
funeral rather than for a wedding) followed next; and
then came the bride. She was entirely covered by a rich
Cashmere shawl, as usual; but upon that part of it which
covered her head-dress and bridal crown were attached
such splendid jewelled ornaments as are seldom seen except
in the hareems of grandees. Attended by two female
relations, one on each side of her, followed by others, and
preceded by a woman, who walked backwards, constantly
fanning her (notwithstanding the coldness of the weather)
with a large fan of black ostrich-feathers, she walked
under a canopy of yellow gauze, supported by four poles,
at the upper ends of which were attached embroidered
handkerchiefs. Behind this walked a band of musicians.
The whole was like one of those scenes described in the
Thousand and One Nights; so gay, so brilliant, and so
strikingly Eastern. The procession advanced almost as
slowly as a tortoise.
While on the subject of processions and marriage, I
may mention a late ridiculous occurrence, arising out of
a matrimonial case. Four lawyers of our neighbourhood
were last week condemned to hard labour, and paraded
through the streets on asses, with their faces towards the
tails, for illegal conduct in a suit respecting a refractory
wife. In illustration of their offence, I may remind you
of a case, which I heard referred for judgment to our
178neighbour Deborah; that of a young man who agreed to
take as his bride a girl reported to have but one eye, because
she was a person of property. He did take her, and
expended an extravagant sum upon the wedding festivities;
but the affair did not end as he expected. He found
his wife to be about thirteen years of age, a little delicate
child; but possessing some spirit; for she positively and
obstinately refused to acknowledge him as her husband.
Having been legally married, he could only divorce her,
or cause her to be registered as refractory; and he
adopted the latter course; in consequence of which he is
not obliged to support the girl, her family doing so until
she shall resign herself to him. Cases of this kind are of
frequent occurrence, and though it often happens that a
woman twenty years of age submits without a murmur to
be married to a man of threescore, a girl who has not long
passed the commencement of her “teens” very seldom
will accept a husband whose chin shows him to be a
man.
LETTER XXII.
February, 1844.
My dear Friend,
My brother’s account of the hareem, and all that he
has written respecting the manners and customs of the
women of this country, I have found to be not only minutely
accurate, but of the utmost value to me in preparing
me for the life which I am now leading. His information,
however, on these subjects, being derived only
from other men, is, of course, imperfect; and he has
anxiously desired that I should supply its deficiencies,
both by my own personal observation, and by learning as
much as possible of the state, and morals of the women,
179and of the manner in which they are treated, from their
own mouths.
When my experience with respect to the hareem was
much shorter as to time, and more limited as to its objects,
than it has now been, I was unwilling to express to
you an opinion with which I was, forcibly, impressed
within a few months after my arrival in this country;
that a very large proportion of the men, and not a few of
the women, are frequently, and almost habitually, guilty
of the most abominable acts of cruelty and oppression.
Though I have seen much that is amiable in the persons
with whom I am acquainted here, the opinion above expressed
has been so frequently and strongly confirmed
that I cannot withstand the conviction of its being correct.
The wives and female slaves, in the houses of the
higher orders, are generally, if I may judge from what I
have seen and heard, treated by the husband and master
with much kindness; and the condition of the slaves
seems to be, in one respect, preferable to that of the
wives; as the latter are often in constant fear of being
divorced; while the sale of a slave, who has been long in
a family, unless on account of pecuniary distress, is
reckoned highly disreputable; and if she have borne a
child to her master, and he acknowledge it to be his own,
to sell her is illegal. But among the middle and lower
classes, both wives and female slaves are often treated
with the utmost brutality; the former are often cruelly
beaten; and the latter, not unfrequently, beaten to
death!
A neighbour of ours, a few weeks ago, flogged his wife
in a most barbarous manner, and turned her out of doors,
because his supper was not ready precisely at the time
appointed. Two days after, however, he brought her
back. The same man, not long since, beat a female
slave so severely, that she lingered in great pain for about
a week, and then died. This man is a Copt, by profession
180a Christian! Another man beat one of his female
slaves until she threw herself from a window, and
thus killed herself on the spot. This man also is of the
same profession! Much are they mistaken who say
“What need is there of missionaries here to instruct the
Copts, who are a Christian people?” One who knows
them well assures me that their moral state is far worse
than that of the Muslims; that in the conduct of the latter
there is much more Christianity than is exhibited in that
of the former. But the remarks which I am making
apply to both the Muslims and the nominal Christians,
but to these are more extensively applicable. How sad
that the duty of regarding truth should oblige me to make
such a distinction!
The English Institution in this city, the chief object of
which is to introduce among the Copts that sound knowledge
which is the first requisite to improve their religious
and moral condition, I look upon as one of the most
useful of all the establishments of the Missionary Society.
The accounts of it which have appeared in the publications
of that Society have scarcely shown its full importance;
for this cannot be duly appreciated by any one
who does not know by experience the state of the people
whom it is designed to benefit, and the admirable judgment
and indefatigable and self-denying zeal with which
its objects are pursued. Connected with this Institution
is a chapel, sufficiently large and very commodious and
comfortable, where I am thankful to have opportunities
to join in the service of our Church, and to hear many an
excellent sermon. But I must return from this digression,
to resume the subject which occasioned it.
Seldom do many days elapse without our hearing the
most piteous screams from women and children suffering
under the whip or stick; and much trouble do we experience
in our endeavours to stop the barbarities practised
in our immediate neighbourhood. The answer usually
returned to our messages of reproach on these occasions
181are of the most civil kind, assuring us, with many salutations,
that, for our sakes, the offender shall be forgiven. I
believe that the cruelty which now seems so common
may, in some degree, be attributed to the oppression which
its exercisers themselves suffer; for every one who has
studied the human mind will agree with me, that, with
few exceptions, the oppressed become the hardest of oppressors.
The women generally seem full of kind and tender
feeling, although (as I have remarked) there are not a few
instances of the reverse, and lately we have been distressed
by the conduct of two women, our near neighbours.
The one, old Deborah, whom I mentioned to you
in a former letter, has so cruelly beaten a little girl who
lives with her, on three or four occasions, that we have
taken the poor child into our house each time until she
has, by her own choice, returned, when her cruel mistress,
who is said to be her grandmother, has promised us
not to repeat her violence.
The other was a more distressing case. A woman residing
in a house adjoining our own had lost seven
piastres, and discovering that a little grandson had stolen
them, she sent for a man, by profession a beater, to chastise
him. One of my boys heard this; and finding that
by mounting a little ladder he could reach a window commanding
the court of this woman’s house, he did so, and
immediately called to tell me that the report was a true
one; that the man had arrived, and was tying the arms
and legs of the poor child; but that his grandmother was
standing by him. That being the case, I assured my
boy that her only object could be to frighten the child by
confining his limbs, and that I felt certain she could not
suffer him to be hurt. I formed this opinion from my
love for the grandmothers of England, whose children’s
children are the crown and glory of their age. Alas! for
my mistake in supposing this Arab possessed the feelings
of woman’s nature! I hardly left the foot of the ladder,
182when I was recalled by the screams of my own dear
child, who was crying and scolding in an agony of distress;
for the man in the court below was beating the
limbs, the back, the chest of the poor little boy, as in
writhing and rolling on the ground each part fell under
the dreadful blows of a ponderous stick, while between
each infliction the old woman cried “again!” This brutality
could not be suffered, and my brother instantly
sent one of our servants with such a threat of vengeance
if they did not immediately desist, that the child was at
once released, and quiet was restored to our house, but
not tranquillity to our minds. This same wretched
woman periodically laments the loss of her son, the father
of this child, and fills the air with her discordant wailings
regularly every alternate Monday. She has always been
to us a most annoying neighbour, and is the more so now
that we know the hypocrisy of her lamentations.
The Muslim ceremonies that have reference to the dead
are, however, generally very interesting; and their wailings
would always be deeply affecting, were they always
sincere, and not confined to stated periods; for they seem
to express the most intense, heart-breaking, despairing
grief. The art of wailing in the most approved style appears
to be an accomplishment that can only be acquired
by long practice; and regular professors of it are usually
hired on the occasion of the death of a person of the middle
or higher classes. These accompany their lamentations
with a tambourine, and occasionally interrupt their
screams by plaintive songs. Their performances, and
those of the female mourners in general, are such as were
practised in most remote ages; such as we see pourtrayed
upon the walls of the ancient Egyptian tombs, and such
as are mentioned in many parts of the Holy Scriptures;
as in 2 Chron. xxxv. 25; Jerem. ix. 18; Amos v. 16; and
St. Matt. ix. 23; vividly bringing to mind “the minstrels
and the people making a noise” for the death of the daughter
of Jairus. As illustrative of the Bible, these and other
183Eastern customs are to me most especially interesting.
“Consider ye,” says Jeremiah, exhorting his countrymen
to bewail their disobedience, “and call for the mourning
women, that they may come: and send for the cunning
women, that they may come: and let them make haste,
and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down
with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters:” and
by the same means the feelings of a mourning Eastern
family seem to be most powerfully excited in the present
day, for, in general, the most piercing cries and screams
that I hear, on account of a death, are those which interrupt
the lamentations of the hired mourner, who is “cunning”
in her art. The cemeteries in the neighbourhood
of Cairo are among the most picturesque of the various
scenes which surround us; and in these are many private
burial-grounds, each belonging to one family, who, if of
sufficient wealth, have within its walls a house of mourning.
To this house the females of the family regularly
repair at the period of each of the two great annual festivals,
as well as on extraordinary ones, to bewail their
dead; having previously sent thither such furniture as
is necessary for their comfort; and there they remain, on
the occasions of the two festivals above mentioned, and
immediately after a death, three or more days and nights.
Some of the houses of mourning are pretty and cheerful-looking
buildings, and enlivened by a few trees and
flowers; and I believe that the women often find no small
pleasure in visiting them; their life being in general so
monotonous. Some women, who have not houses in the
burial-ground for their reception, have tents pitched for
them when requisite.
Yesterday we spent some hours at the Southern cemetery,
which is adjacent to the city, but within the confines
of the desert; and were much interested in examining the
tombs of the family of Mohammad ’Alee. The tombs in
the cemetery exhibit a strange mixture of various tastes
and dimensions; some are in perfect repair, substantially
184and well built; others are of more fragile kinds; though
many of the smaller monuments are composed entirely of
white marble; but the most picturesque are the most ancient;
displaying exquisite taste in their general forms,
and more especially in their domes and minarets, and
their arabesque decorations; these are of yellow limestone,
here and there relieved by columns of white marble.
The building containing the tombs of the Pasha’s family
is surmounted by several domes, but is low, and in no respect
deserving of much admiration. How can I tell you
of the cheerful appearance of the interior? Two noble
saloons are filled with tombs at nearly equal distances:
these are cased with white marble, and most gorgeously
decorated with gilded and painted carved work. The
floors are covered with beautiful carpets, and the scene
has at once a complete air of gaiety and comfort. It has
little that can lead the mind to the reflection that this is
the resting-place of the dead. Such a variety of gay colours,
and such varied forms meet the eye, that if the consciousness
intrude that it is a sepulchral building, it is
soon banished by the speculation as to which tombs may
be considered more splendid than those around them. We
generally gave the preference to that of the mother of
Nezleh Hánum, and of Mohammad Bey Deftardár: the
latter, I think, bears the palm.
The tombs are generally about eight feet long, and four
high; and on the top of these is placed an oblong slab,
about a foot thick: the upright slabs at the head and feet
are eight or ten feet high; and on that at the head is a
representation of the head-dress of the deceased, carved
in stone, and painted. There are four unoccupied tombs
in the principal saloon, raised, but not decorated. The
embellishments altogether are such as only suit saloons
appropriated to festivity. Turkish taste is ill calculated
for decorating the abodes of the living, and does not apply
at all where quiet and solemn effect is indispensable. It
is not so with regard to Arabian taste: the Turkish is
185gaudy and florid: the Arabian is chaste and elegant, as
much in domestic architecture as in the construction and
decoration of sepulchres and mosques.
I felt that I could at any time spend a day in the saloons
above mentioned, admiring the beauties of the place,
with much personal comfort, and without the frequent
intrusion of any melancholy reflection.
In a charming house, adjoining the tombs, appropriated
to the use of the hareem of the keeper, we paid his ladies
a visit, and were welcomed with true Eastern hospitality.
The chief lady, who was handsomely attired in scarlet
cloth, embroidered with gold, is a kind agreeable person,
but wofully mistaken in her manner of training the dispositions
of children. Two little babies belonging to the
hareem were brought in to show us: the eldest, a boy,
could just walk; and as soon as he made his appearance,
the chief lady called for a stick, that puss, who was quietly
crossing the carpet, might be beaten for his amusement.
Not being aware that the beating was not to be in earnest,
I interceded for the cat; when my acquaintance replied
mysteriously, “I like her very much, I will not hurt her.”
Accordingly, she raised her arm with considerable effort,
and let it fall gently. She next desired one of her slaves
to kneel, which the girl did most gracefully, and bent her
head with an air of mock submission, to receive the kurbáj;
and the same farce was performed. Though neither
slave nor cat was a sufferer on the occasion, the effect
must have been equally bad on the mind of the child.
Alas! for the slaves and cats when he is big enough to
make them feel!
LETTER XXIII.
186
My dear Friend,
Although so many have written of the pyramids, and a
new description cannot fail to have something of the character
of an often repeated tale, I find much that I must
say respecting these stupendous monuments, the greatest,
perhaps, of the Wonders of the World, which have been
objects of our curiosity and astonishment even in the age
of childhood, and the sight of which forms an era in one’s
life. I will, however, as much as possible, avoid troubling
you with a repetition of what you have read, or may read,
on this subject, in the works of various travellers.
Having arranged that, during our visit, we should
spend our days in a sepulchral grotto, and our nights in
a tent, we set out on this agreeable excursion with the
most pleasing anticipations. The illusion so general in
the East with regard to distance, occasioned by the extraordinary
clearness of the atmosphere, is strikingly demonstrated
in approaching the pyramids; it is very remarkable
that the nearer we approached the objects of our
destination, the less grand and imposing did they appear.
From their aspect, as I first drew near to them, I should
have formed a very inadequate idea of their dimensions.
As soon as we had crossed the river they appeared within
a mile of us; and after we had proceeded more than a
league from El-Geezeh, I could scarcely believe that we
were still a full league from the pyramids; for the distance
to them from El-Geezeh, by the route which we took, is
more than six miles, though it is just five miles in a direct
line. When we arrived within a mile of the pyramids,
the illusion became greater: the courses of stone were
187then plainly discernible, and it was easy to calculate that
they were not more in number than the courses of brick
in a house about fifty or sixty feet high. These presented
a scale by which the eye was much deceived in estimating
the altitude of the structure; being unaccustomed to the
sight of stones of such enormous magnitude employed in
building. But neither of these causes would be sufficient
to produce such an illusion if there were any neighbouring
object with which the pyramids might be contrasted.
I was fully convinced of this when I arrived at the base
of the great pyramid. It was then curious to observe
how distant appeared those places where I had thought
myself nearly at my journey’s end. The clearness of the
air would have deceived me then, as before; but I was
looking at objects less strange to me; such as palm-trees,
villages, and the tents of Arabs.
A conspicuous object as we approached the pyramids
was an old ruined causeway, most probably a part of that
which was built by Kara-Koosh for the convenience of
transporting stones from the pyramids to Cairo, when he
constructed the citadel, and third wall of that city; and
this portion may have been raised on the ruins of that
which Herodotus describes, as the more ancient causeway
was raised for the purpose of facilitating the conveyance
of stones from the quarries on the eastern side
of the Nile to the site of the Great Pyramid, to line the
passages of that structure, and perhaps to case its exterior.
When we were at least a mile from our journey’s end,
I remarked to my brother, “The pyramids do not appear
so grand as I expected now we are almost close to them.”
“Almost close to them!” replied he; “wait a little, and
then tell me what you think.” Accordingly we rode on;
the provoking appearance of nearness to the objects of
our visit surprising me during our whole approach. At
this season it occupies three hours to reach the pyramids
from Cairo, and this month, on account of its coolness, is
188particularly agreeable for such an excursion. A kind
friend, Mr. Bonomi, well known for the length of time he
has spent in this country, and his extensive acquaintance
with its monuments, was staying at the pyramids, and
prepared for us a tent, and another comfortable place of
abode, an ancient sepulchral grotto in a rock, which latter
has served as the foundation of a pyramid, now for the
most part destroyed. This excavation we found ample
and airy, having three large square apertures, serving us
as windows, besides the entrance. Our tent was pitched
near it, our carpets spread, and our home in the desert
had an air of comfort I had hardly anticipated. There
is much that is homeish in carrying one’s own carpet:
place it where you will, in the boat or in the desert, your
eyes rest upon it while thinking, and its familiar patterns
afford a sort of welcome. The habit of placing the seggádeh
(a small carpet) on the saddle enables an Eastern
lady to take it wherever she may wander. When she is
disposed to rest, her attendants spread it; and nothing is
more refreshing during a desert excursion than to rest
upon it, and take a simple meal of bread and fruit, and a
draught of delicious Nile water.
As soon as possible after our arrival, we mounted the
rock on which the pyramids are built, and there observed
the effect I have described with regard to the objects we
had passed on our way. From the brightness of their
colour, apparently little changed by the thousands of
years that have passed since their erection, the pyramids
do not appear venerable: there is an appearance of freshness
about them which amazed me: but with regard to
their wonderful magnitude, I found that I was no longer
disappointed when I had ascended the rocky elevation on
which they rest: when I was within a few yards of the
base of the Great Pyramid, I was enabled to the full to
comprehend its vastness.
We lingered late among the objects of our visit, and
were interested in observing the enormous shadows of
189the two greater pyramids, stretching across the cultivated
plain to the river, as the sun was setting. The general
view from the rocky eminence on which they are built is
the most imposing that can be conceived.
Returning to our grotto, we enjoyed our evening meal
with the appetite of desert travellers, and went to rest
with our minds impressed by reflections on what we had
seen, and by the novelty of our situation.
We were not the only dwellers in tombs during our
stay near the pyramids; for a row of sepulchral excavations,
which Colonel Vyse and his party occupied in
1837, are now inhabited by a Nubian, who has taken
possession of them to afford lodgings (for a small remuneration)
to travellers. Also at a short distance from our
grotto, an Arab had taken up his abode in a similar but
better tomb. Living there as a hermit, he is esteemed a
saint by the people of the neighbouring villages, and is
supported entirely by casual charity. Very probably he
has adopted the life of an anchorite because he is idle,
and finds it easier to depend on others than to gain his
own bread. It is common to see the Arabs on their way
to leave a deposit of bread or other food, and sometimes
money, with this recluse, more especially on Friday,
when he receives numerous visitors.
My brother, during a long visit to the pyramids in
1825, occupied one of the tombs of which the Nubian
has now taken possession. They are excavated in the
eastern front of the rocky eminence on which stands the
Great Pyramid. At that time a family consisting of a
little old man (named ’Alee), his wife (who was not half
his equal in age), and a little daughter, occupied a neighbouring
grotto; guarding some antiquities deposited there
by Caviglia. Besides these, my brother had no nearer
neighbours than the inhabitants of a village about a mile
distant. The Sheykh ’Alee made himself useful in
bringing water from a well which Caviglia had dug in
the sandy plain, just at the foot of the slope before the
190grottoes. He was a poor half-witted creature, but possessed
strong feelings, as was exemplified by an occurrence
which happened during my brother’s stay at the
pyramids. One afternoon, his cook had sent old ’Alee’s
little girl to the neighbouring village to purchase some
tobacco. The child not having returned by sunset my
brother became uneasy, and despatched a servant to
search for her, and bring her back. ’Alee had also become
anxious, and had sent his wife for the same purpose;
but when the night had closed in, and he had
received no tidings of the little girl, he became almost
frantic: he beat his breast, stamped on the ground, and
continued for some time incessantly screaming, “Yá
Mebrookeh! yá Mebrookeh!” (the name of the child,
signifying blessed.) After my brother had endeavoured
for a little while to pacify him, he set off towards the
village. About five minutes more elapsed, and my brother
was sitting before the grotto, wondering that no one
had returned, and that not even his two Bedawee guards
had come as usual, when he was alarmed by loud and
piteous cries in the desert plain before him. Leaving a
servant in the grotto—for a strange youth was there—my
brother ran towards the spot whence the voice
seemed to issue. As it was dark, he could see nothing;
but after he had proceeded some distance, he heard the
following words repeated very rapidly over and over
again. “I testify that there is no deity but God, and I
testify that Mohammad is God’s apostle;”—and soon he
found poor old ’Alee lying on the ground. He told my
brother that an ’efreet (or demon) had seized him by the
throat, and thrown sand into his mouth, and that he was
almost suffocated. (It seems that the Arabs are subject
to a spasm in the throat, which they attribute to the
above cause.) The two Bedawees, in the meantime,
whom the servant and ’Alee’s wife had engaged to assist
them in their search, had found the child, and were, like
my brother, drawn to that spot by the old man’s cries.
191They helped him to walk back, but the poor creature
had been so terrified and distressed, that for several days
after he was quite idiotic.
On the second day after my brother had taken up his
quarters at the pyramids, a young Bedawee—the stranger
I have mentioned—claimed from him the rights of hospitality.
He remained with him until he quitted his
sepulchral abode, and, being a very clever and witty
youth, amused him exceedingly, every evening while he
was smoking his pipe, by reciting stories and verses
from the popular romance of ’Aboo-Zeyd: but at the
same time he gave much offence to my brother’s Egyptian
servants, by his contempt of the felláheen (or
peasants). He had deserted from the Pasha’s army of
regular troops, as he frankly confessed; and was afraid
to enter the villages, lest he should be recognised, and
sent to the camp. When my brother was leaving the
pyramids, he asked this young man what he would now
do for provision, as he dared not enter the villages. He
replied, “Who brought you here? God is bountiful.”
On the occasion of our visit to the pyramids, my
brother inquired of our guards if they knew or remembered
poor old ’Alee, to which one of them replied that
he was his son, and that he had been dead for some
years. He then inquired whether Mebrookeh was living—“Yes,”
answered the man, “she is well and married,
and the mother of two children.” He went on to assure
my brother he remembered his former visits well, and
there was something satisfactory in the prospect of being
guarded by one man, at least, who, for old acquaintance
sake, might be on the alert. This man, though especially
remarkable for his honesty, is not distinguished for
his social virtues—he has married ten wives, and says he
would marry twenty if he could afford to do so; asserting
that although he has divorced several, he has only done
so because they deserved it, for that they failed in their
duty to him, notwithstanding his kindness to them.
192According to his own account, he was always good to
them; he never reviled, but only beat them! The facility
of divorce is a prodigious evil; often productive of want
and misery. It is sadly common to find wives rejected
for some trifling offence; when a kind admonition would
have shown them all that had been amiss in their conduct,
and would have rendered them valuable helpmates.
I grieve to say that wives here are generally divorced
merely from caprice.
Our guards, three in number, were remarkably picturesque
objects; more like Bedawees than like peasants;
belonging to a tribe which, not many years ago, exchanged
the life of desert-wanderers for that of agriculturists; and
having retained the dress of their fathers, which consists
chiefly of a loose shirt, and a kind of blanket, which envelopes
the body, and gives to the wearer an appearance
quite primeval. It was at first amusing but at last very
tiresome, to hear these men calling to each other during
the whole night, as though they feared their companions
might be asleep; their constant repetition of, “Open
your eyes! open your eyes well!” effectually kept us
watching also. One guard lay outside the tent, close to
my head, and amused himself by singing constantly. I
should have been very happy if something more substantial
than canvass had separated me from such a
lively neighbour. We rose in the morning fatigued, but
the invigorating desert-air soon revived us; and we set
out on our adventures with becoming energy.
The bed of rock on which the Great Pyramid is situated
is about one hundred and fifty feet above the sandy
plain which intervenes between it and the cultivated land.
It is a soft testaceous limestone, abounding particularly
with those little petrifactions described by Strabo as found
in great quantities around the pyramids, and supposed to
be petrified lentils, the leavings of the workmen who
built the pyramids! These abound in many parts of the
chain of mountains by which the valley of the Nile is
193confined on this side. The stone, when newly cut, is of
a whitish colour; but, by exposure to the air, it becomes
darker, and assumes a yellowish tint. The level parts
and slopes of the rock are covered with sand and pebbles
and fragments of stone, among which are found pieces of
granite and porphyry, rock crystal, agates, and abundance
of petrified shells, &c.
The Great Pyramid is that which is described by Herodotus
as the work of a Pharaoh named Cheops, whom
Diodorus Siculus calls Chemmis. Diodorus adds, that some
attributed this pyramid to a king named Armæus. According
to Manetho (a better authority in that case), it
was founded by Suphis, the second king of the Fourth
Dynasty, which was the second dynasty of the Memphite
kings.
Colonel Vyse’s most interesting discoveries of the hieroglyphic
names of the royal founders of the first and
third pyramids afford remarkable confirmations of the
truth of the statements of Manetho and others respecting
these monuments. The name of the founder of the Great
Pyramid in hieroglyphics, according to the pronunciation
of different dialects is Shofo, or Khofo; the former nearly
agreeing with the Suphis of Manetho, the latter with the
Cheops of Herodotus.
The height of the Great Pyramid is not much greater
than that of the second; the former having lost several
ranges at the top; while the upper part of the latter is
nearly entire; but the base of the former is considerably
larger, though the difference is not very remarkable to
the eye, and in the solidity and regularity of its construction,
it is vastly superior.
The pleasure which is felt by the modern traveller in
surveying the pyramids is not a little increased by the
consideration of their venerable antiquity, and the reflection
that many philosophers and heroes of ancient times
have in like manner stood before them, wrapt in admiration
and amazement. The stupendous magnitude of the
194Great Pyramid is most clearly apparent when the observer
places himself near one of its angles. The view of
the pyramid from this point, though the best that can be
obtained, cannot convey an adequate idea of its size; for
a gap in the angle, which appears to be near the summit,
is not much more than half-way up. Thus greatly is the
eye deceived by this extraordinary object.
Each side of the base of the Great Pyramid is seven
hundred and thirty-three feet square, and the perpendicular
height is four hundred and fifty-six feet, according to
my brother’s measurement. It consists of two hundred
and three courses, or layers of stone; therefore the average
height of a single course is about two feet and a
quarter: but the courses vary in height from about four
feet to one foot. The lower courses are higher than the
rest; and the lowest is hewn out of the solid rock; as is
also part of the second. Opposite the angle from which
my brother’s view was taken, about twelve feet distant, is
a square place, twelve feet in width, and between two and
three inches in depth; apparently marking the place of
the original corner-stone of the pyramid. About the middle
of each side of the pyramid, the exterior stones have
been much broken by the masses which have been rolled
down from above; but at the angles they are more entire,
and there, consequently, the ascent is not difficult. The
upper and lower surfaces of the stones are smoothly cut;
but the sides have been left very rough, and in many
cases, not square: the interstices being filled up with a
coarse cement, of a pinkish colour. This cement is, in
some parts, almost as hard as the stone itself; and sometimes
very difficult to detach. Among the dust and small
fragments of stone which have crumbled away from the
sides and yet rest upon the upper surfaces of the steps, or
exterior stones, we find a great number of the small
petrifactions in the form of lentils, which I have before
mentioned.
Dr. Lipsius lately gave, at a meeting of the Egyptian
195Society in this city, a very interesting account of the
mode in which the Great Pyramid, and similar monuments,
appear to have been constructed, as suggested by
Mr. Wild, an English architect, accompanying the Doctor.
The following engraving will explain the description
of the system which appears to have been adopted:—
A structure of moderate size, a with its sides slightly
inclining inwards, containing, or covering the sepulchral
chamber, and with a flat top, was first raised. Then a
structure, bb, the same height as the former, with its exterior
sides similarly inclined, and its top flat, was raised
around. Next, another structure, c, was raised on the
first. Another circumstructure, dd, was raised around
that marked bb; then another, ee, around the structure c,
then another structure, f, upon the latter. After this
manner, the building probably continued to increase (like
the royal tombs at Thebes) as long as the founder reigned.
The structure was finished, as Herodotus says, from the
top downwards. A small pyramid being constructed on
the top, occupying the whole of the highest platform, and
the angles formed by the other platforms, and the sides of
the structures against which they were built being filled
up, the simple pyramidal form was made out. The several
platforms composed convenient ample stages on
which to raise the massive stones employed in the construction.
196This mode of construction was certainly practised
in some of the pyramids, and most probably in all,
excepting those of very small dimensions. That the
Great Pyramid and others originally presented plane
sides has been proved by Colonel Vyse.
On each side of the Great Pyramid is an accumulation
of fragments of stone and mortar which have fallen down
from the summit and sides of the building, and have composed
a very compact mass, which rises, in the centre, to
about fifty feet above the base. The sand of the desert
has contributed but little to augment these slopes of rubbish,
which are nearly of the same height on each side of
the pyramid. That on the northern side forms a convenient
acclivity to the entrance.
The ascent to the summit of the Great Pyramid is not
dangerous, though rather tedious, as the description of the
exterior must have shown. At, or near, any of the angles,
there is, on almost every course, or range of stones, a
secure and wide footing; but some of the steps are breast-high;
and these, of course, are awkward masses to climb.
I had fully determined to attempt the ascent; but the
wind was so high during the period of our visit, that I
dared not do so. On some other occasion I hope to be
more fortunate.
Many stones have been thrown down from the top of
the Great Pyramid, which consequently wants about
twenty-five feet (or perhaps something more) of its original
height; for, without doubt, it terminated in a point.
It appears, therefore, that its original height was, at the
least, four hundred and eighty feet. It is worthy of remark
that Diodorus Siculus describes the top of the pyramid
as being six cubits (or nine feet) square; Pliny states
it to have been, in his time, twenty-five feet; or, according
to some copies of his work, fifteen feet; the latter of
which readings must be considered the more correct.
Several courses of stone have been thrown down in later
ages; so that now, on arriving at the summit, there is a
197platform thirty-three feet square, upon which, near the
eastern edge, are a few stones yet remaining of two upper
courses. Upon these the names of many travellers are
cut. The platform is quite flat; the stones being well
joined and cemented. The ascent to the summit generally
occupies between fifteen and twenty minutes.
The view from the summit of the Great Pyramid is described
by my brother as being of a most extraordinary
nature. On the eastern side the eye ranges over an extensive
verdant plain, watered by numerous canals, and
interspersed with villages erected upon mounds of rubbish,
and surrounded by palm-trees. In the distance is the
Nile; beyond which are seen the lofty minarets and
citadel of Cairo, backed by the low yellow range of Mount
Mukattam. Turning towards the opposite side, the traveller
beholds a scene exactly the reverse: instead of
palm-groves and corn-fields, he sees only the undulating
sandy hills of the great Syrian Desert. The view of the
second pyramid, from this commanding situation, is extremely
grand. A small portion of the third pyramid is
also seen; with one of the small pyramids on its southern
side. The space which lies on the west of the Great Pyramid,
and north of the second, is covered with oblong
tombs, having the form of truncated pyramids; which
from that height appear like patches of gravel. The head
of the Great Sphinx, and the distant pyramids of Aboo-Seer,
Sakkárah, and Dahshoor, are seen towards the
south-southeast.
About half an hour or more after sunset, the gloom contributed
much to the grandeur and solemnity of the scene.
On one occasion my brother ascended the Great Pyramid
about two hours before daybreak, and waited upon the
summit until sunrise. He found it extremely cold, and
the wind, sweeping up the northern side of the pyramid,
sounded like a distant cataract. The second pyramid
was at first faintly discernible, appearing of vastly more
than even real magnitude. Soon after, its eastern side
198was lighted up by the rising moon; and the effect was
truly sublime.
On the second day after he had taken up his quarters
at the pyramids, during the visit to which I have referred,
he went out without his pistols; and in the evening
one of his guards reproved him for having done so. “How
easy,” he observed, “would it be for one of our people
(the Bedawees) to rob you, and, if you resisted, to murder
you, and throw you down one of the mummy-pits, and
who would ever know what was become of you?” On
the following day he ascended the Great Pyramid alone,
but not unarmed. While on the summit, he perceived a
solitary Arab, making towards the pyramid, from the
west. He began to ascend the southwestern angle; and
when he arrived about half-way up, little thinking that
my brother’s telescope was directed towards him, he stopped,
and took out a pistol from a case which was slung by
his side, looked at it, and then continued the ascent. As
it was evident that the fellow had no good intentions, my
brother called to him, and desired him to descend; but he
either did not hear him, or would not obey. My brother
then discharged a pistol, to show him that he was not
without the means of defence. Upon this, he immediately
began to return, and, having reached the base, walked
slowly away into the desert.
Under the present government, travellers seldom are
subjected to any danger from the natives in this or any
other part of Egypt; but from the crowding and importunity
of the Arab guides at the pyramids they generally
suffer much annoyance. They are always attended for a
considerable distance, sometimes even from El-Geezeh, by
a party of Arabs who are in the habit of extorting money
from the traveller on the top of the Great Pyramid before
they will suffer him to descend. A few days ago, a gentleman
of distinction bargained with some of these men
to attend him to the summit of the Great Pyramid; and
when they had done so, they claimed the promised payment,
199saying that they had fulfilled their engagement.
Being afraid to descend without their aid, he was compelled
to submit to their exactions, and paid them five
dollars.
SECTION OF PASSAGES
It is pitiable to observe the haste which most of the
travellers to and from India are obliged to make, if able
to visit the pyramids at all: some arrived during our stay,
ran up the Great Pyramid, descended as rapidly, spent a
few minutes within it, and disappeared in little more than
an hour.[39]
39. Most visitors to Niagara do the same thing to their
great loss. From a single hurried visit, the true impression
of the grandeur of the falls is never obtained; the
first impression is almost uniformly that of disappointment.—Ed.
LETTER XXIV.
February, 1844.
My dear Friend,
The entrance of the Great Pyramid[40] is over the sixteenth
course, or layer of stone, about fifty feet above the
base; a slope of rubbish, as I said before, leading up to it.[41]
It is nearly in the centre, or equidistant from either angle
of the northern side of the pyramid: the eye would hardly
discover that it is not exactly so; though really twenty
feet, or rather more, to the eastward of the centre. The
opening of the pyramid seems to have been attended with
considerable difficulty; a vast number of stones having
been torn down above and before the aperture. An inclined
plain before the entrance forms an angle of twenty-six
200degrees and a half with the horizon, being in the same
place with the floor of the first passage. The size of the
stones above the entrance, and the manner in which they
are disposed, are worthy of remark. There is no granite
at the entrance of the pyramid; all the blocks are of limestone.
Before the traveller enters the pyramid, he should
divest himself of some of his clothes (for the heat of the
interior is oppressive) and resume them immediately on
coming out, to prevent any check of perspiration. The
passage by which we enter the Great Pyramid is only
four feet high, and three feet six inches (almost exactly
two ancient Egyptian cubits) in width, and we are consequently
obliged to descend in a crouching position. It is
lined above and below and on each side with blocks of
limestone,[42] of a more compact kind than that of which
the pyramid is mainly constructed. This superior kind
of stone appears to have been brought from the quarries
on the eastern side of the Nile, directly opposite the site
of Memphis; for stone of the same quality is not found
nearer; and Herodotus, and several other ancient writers,
inform us that the quarries of the Arabian mountains[43]
supplied materials for the construction of the pyramid.
Indeed, they assert that the pyramid was entirely built of
stones from these quarries; but this, evidently, was not
the case: the stone of which the structure is mainly composed
was quarried from the rock in its neighbourhood.
The nicety with which the stones are united in the sides
of the first passage is very remarkable. In some parts
the joint cannot be discerned without a close and minute
examination. In the flooring of this passage, and of all
201the sloping passages in this pyramid, notches have been
roughly cut, like steps, to prevent the feet from slipping;
but I found them very far from producing the desired
effect, being now polished by the naked feet of the guides.
These notches have been the work of modern explorers.
At the distance of nearly seventy feet (measuring from
the outer surface of the huge block above the entrance)
we find that one of the stones which form the roofing of
the passage has been hewn away precisely at the point
where the second passage branches off in an ascending
direction (see the letter c in the section). Here we discover
the square end of a granite block, which closes the
entrance of the second passage, being exactly fitted to fill
up the aperture. The persons who opened the pyramid,
being unable to remove this obstacle, have made a forced
communication with the ascending passage. At the distance
of eighty feet (from the entrance of the pyramid) is
the forced aperture, on the right side of the passage (see
d in the section). It has been made by hollowing out the
roofing, and cutting away the upper part of the side of
the lower passage.
42. Some travellers, their memories deceiving them, have
described this passage as lined with granite; others have
asserted that it is of white marble.
43. The mountains on the east of the Nile are so called
by ancient Greek and Roman writers, and those on the
west the “Lybian mountains.”
Here the explorer must light his candle (if he have not
done so before), and having ascended through this opening,
finds himself in a large place, which appears like a
natural cavern in a rock. We now see the upper end of
the granite block before mentioned, or of a second block.
Above it is another, of which a part has been broken off.
Above this the passage (ef) is seen clear of other incumbrances,
running upwards, but in the same southern course
as the first, or descending passage. It is of the same dimensions
as the first, and has the same inclination; but
its sides and roofing are very rough, and consequently it
has the appearance of having been cut through solid
rock, which is not really the case. It is a hundred and
nine feet long (measuring from the southernmost of the
granite blocks above mentioned), and the flooring projects
a foot and a half in the same direction. The ascent
202of this passage is rather fatiguing. On emerging from
it, we find ourselves at the foot of the Grand Passage (see
fm in the section).
This great passage, ascending to the principal chamber,
is, in comparison with those which lead to it, wide
and lofty. Its length being great, and its sides and every
part of it blackened, as if by smoke, the further extremity
was invisible to us as we stood at the lower end; and its
whole appearance singularly imposing. On our right, as
we stood here, we observed the entrance, or mouth, of
what has been called “the well” (g). There we also, at
the lower end of the Grand Passage, remarked some Arabic
inscriptions, rudely cut with a chisel. These, I believe,
were first noticed by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson. My
brother read them to me thus—“Ezbek and Beybars have
been here.” “Beybars and Kalaoon El-Elfee have been
here.” “Sultán Mohammad ... Sa’eed.” These three
persons were Memlook sultans of Egypt, who reigned in
the latter half of the thirteenth century, at which period,
it appears, the Great Pyramid was open; if these inscriptions
be genuine, which my brother is a little inclined to
doubt.
Under the grand, ascending passage, runs another,
which is horizontal, low, and narrow. The entrance of
the latter (h) is fifteen feet three inches from the projection
of a foot and a half before mentioned. This passage
is three feet eleven inches high, and three feet five inches
wide. I found almost as much difficulty in proceeding
here as I had in ascending and descending the sloping
passages; the dust and the heat together being here especially
oppressive. It continues of the same dimensions to
the distance of ninety-three feet. Here we find a descent
of one foot eight inches in the floor; so that the remainder
of the passage is nearly high enough for a person of middling
stature to walk along it without bending down the
head. At the distance of a hundred and ten feet nine
inches (from its entrance) it terminates (see i in the section)
203at the eastern corner of the north side of a chamber,
which is nineteen feet long, and seventeen feet broad (see
k). This has been called by some travellers the “Queen’s
Chamber;” from the supposition that the queen of the
founder of the pyramid was buried in it. The roof is
formed of long bricks of stone, leaning against each other.
The height of the chamber, to the commencement of the
roof, is thirteen feet and a half; and to the summit, about
seven feet more. The floor, sides, and roof are constructed
of the same kind of limestone as the passages. In the
eastern end (not in the middle, but rather to the right) is
a high and narrow recess, five feet wide at the bottom,
but becoming narrower towards the top, like the sides of
the Grand Passage. It is three feet five inches deep.
Within it, four feet from the floor, is the entrance of a
forced passage, four feet wide. At the commencement it
is square, and smoothly cut; but further on it becomes
irregular; and at the distance of fifty feet it terminates at
a hollow space, wider and more irregular than the rest.
In this chamber and forced passage there is little to detain
us. We return to the Grand Passage.
Above the entrance of the horizontal passage which
leads to the chamber above described, is a perpendicular
(marked h in the section). This perpendicular, together
with the height of the said passage, is seven feet three
inches. The flooring then ascends in the same direction
as the other ascending passage; at an angle of twenty-six
degrees and a half. At the distance of three feet five
inches is another perpendicular or step of only eight
inches, above which the floor has the same inclination
again; and notches have been cut in it to facilitate the
ascent, which is not easily performed unless without
shoes. There is a bench of stone on each side all along
the passage, and in the tops of these benches are oblong
holes at short intervals: their use is unknown. The
width of the passage (including the benches, which are
one foot eight inches and a half square), is six feet ten
204inches; about four ancient Egyptian cubits. The sides
of the passage are composed of nine courses of stone
from the benches upwards. The stone is of the same
kind as that of which the lower passages are constructed.
Some travellers have supposed it to be white marble, but
no marble is found in any part of the pyramid. The
two lower courses are even with each other, but each
course above projects three inches beyond that below it;
and so does each corresponding course at the upper and
lower ends of the passage. The length of the whole passage
is a hundred and fifty-eight feet. At the distance
of five feet and one inch before we reached the upper
end, we ascend another perpendicular of two feet eleven
inches. The floor beyond is horizontal, forming a small
platform (see l in the section). From this commences a
horizontal passage three feet seven inches and a half in
height, and three feet five inches and a half in width (see
m). Within it, on the right, is the entrance of a forced
passage, made in search for other chambers than those
already known. At the distance of four feet five inches
(from the entrance of the true passage), commences an
open space above (see n), the upper part of which is
nearly twice as wide as the passage, and nine feet eight
inches in length: but the passage below is contracted
again to its former height by a kind of portcullis, formed
of two blocks of granite one above another, each one foot
three inches thick; these have been let down from the
space above between two small projections on each side
which form a pair of grooves. Beyond this, the passage
(which is here of granite), is open as before, to the space
above, and there are grooves for the reception of three
other portcullises of granite, by which the architect
thought that he should for ever prevent access to the
mysterious chamber which contains the sarcophagus;
but these have been broken and their fragments carried
away. The passage beyond (see o), is of its former
dimensions, and continues so to the distance of eight feet
205five inches, its whole length, from the top of the Grand
Passage, being twenty-two feet and a half. It terminates
at the eastern extremity of the north side of the Grand
Chamber (see p in the section).
The dimensions of the Great Chamber are especially
worthy of remark: the length is thirty-four feet four
inches and a half; just twenty ancient Egyptian cubits;
the width exactly half that measure. The height is about
two feet more than the width. It is entirely constructed
of red granite. Near the western end is the sarcophagus;
which is also of red granite. It is seven feet and a half
in length, three and a half in breadth, and the sides are
half a foot thick. No hieroglyphics nor sculpture of any
kind adorn it either within or without; its sides are perfectly
plain and polished, and its form is simply that of
an oblong chest, in every way rectangular. Its lid has
been carried away, as well as its original contents; and
we find in it nothing but dust and small fragments of
stone. It has been much injured at one of its corners
by a number of travellers, who have broken off pieces to
carry away as memorials. When struck with any thing
hard, or even with the hand, it sounds like a bell. It
rests upon a block of granite considerably larger than
any of the other blocks of which the floor is composed.
Why was such an enormous mass placed there? The
alabaster sarcophagus in the great tomb opened by Belzoni
in the valley of Beebán-el-Mulook, at Thebes, closed the
entrance of a deep descent of steps, which has never
been explored to its termination: the soft and crumbling
nature of the rock through which it is cut rendering any
attempt to clear it out extremely dangerous. The enormous
mass of granite under the sarcophagus in the
Great Pyramid may have been placed there for a similar
purpose, or to cover the mouth of a vault or pit; so that,
in case any violater of the sacred edifice should succeed
(notwithstanding the portcullises of granite), in effecting
an entrance into the Great Chamber, he might, on discovering
206the sarcophagus, believe the object of his search
to be accomplished. An excavation has been made (I
believe by Col. Howard Vyse), beneath this huge stone,
but it seems hardly to have been carried sufficiently far.
The sides of the chamber are formed of six regular
courses of granite blocks, which are united with the
greatest exactness, and their surfaces are perfectly even
and polished, without hieroglyphics or any other inscriptions
or ornaments. In the northern side near the
corner of the entrance is a small aperture, and opposite
to it on the southern side is another. Col. Vyse discovered
the termination of each of these, in the exterior
of the pyramid: they seem to have been designed for
the purpose of ventilation. The roof of the chamber
consists of nine long granite blocks which extend from
side to side. The half only of the stone at each end is
seen, the other half resting on the wall.
Returning from this chamber we stop at the platform
at the upper end of the Grand Passage (see l in the section).[44]
Here we observe at the top of the eastern wall
(that is on the left of a person facing the end of the passage),
at the height of twenty-four feet, a square aperture
which is the entrance of another passage (q). Small
notches have been cut at the corner all the way up, for
the reception of the ends of short pieces of wood, which
were thus placed one above another so as to form a kind
of ladder. These have been taken away, and the ascent
without them is difficult and dangerous. When my
brother was here alone some years ago, two Arabs contrived
to climb up by means of the little notches, and
took with them a strong rope, the end of which he tied
round him, and so they drew him up to the top. As soon
as he was freed from the rope they demanded of him a
207present, threatening that if he refused they would descend
and leave him there. Though my brother laughed
at their threats, they would not for some minutes confess
that they were joking. The passage in which he found
himself is only two feet four inches square. It turns immediately
to the right, and to the distance of a few feet
it continues square and of the same dimensions as before,
but much clogged with dirt; afterwards it becomes irregular
both in direction and in the construction of its
sides, and it was difficult for my brother to drag himself
along it, while numbers of bats escaped from within and
flew against his face. At the distance of twenty-four
feet the passage terminates at the northeast corner of a
large but low place (r). This chamber (if such it may
be called) was discovered by Mr. Davison, who was
British Consul at Algiers, and who visited Egypt with
Mr. Wortley Montague in 1763 and 4, and it is called by
the discoverer’s name. It is directly above the Grand
Chamber, and is of the same width as that chamber, but
four feet longer. The long granite blocks which compose
the roof of the lower chamber form the floor of this,
and the first and last of these blocks are here seen entire.
The upper surface of each of them is very rough, and
they are not all of the same thickness. The roof also of
this place is formed of long blocks of granite eight in
number. The height is scarcely more than three feet.
In the southeast corner is a small forced passage which
ascends a few feet. The second roof above the Grand
Chamber was made to secure the lower roof, which
otherwise might have been broken down by the superincumbent
masses. Col. Vyse discovered over Davison’s
chamber three others similar to it one above another, and
above the uppermost of these another with a pointed
roof; and in making this discovery he made one of much
greater importance, that of two hieroglyphic names,
rudely inscribed as quarry-marks; one of them certainly
the name of the founder, as before mentioned; the other,
208according to some, a variation of the same name; according
to others, the name of a predecessor or successor
of the founder.
44. There is a remarkable echo in this passage, on account
of which it is a custom of travellers to fire a pistol
or gun here.
I scarcely need tell you that I did not descend what is
called the well. It was explored by Mr. Davison, and
afterwards in 1801 by Col. Coutelle; but its termination
and use remained involved in uncertainty and mystery,
until it was cleared out in 1817 by Caviglia. On the
right of the lower end of the Grand Passage two feet
below the floor, are three low steps occupying a space of
four feet and a half in length. Beyond them is the
mouth of the first shaft which is two feet two inches
square. Here are little notches roughly cut in the sides
in which to place the fingers and toes, and as the space
is narrow, a person may descend without the aid of a
rope, as my brother did, but he found it difficult and
dangerous to do so. The ascent is attended with less
danger, and seems precisely like climbing a chimney.
At the depth of a few feet it becomes very rugged and
irregular, and continues so for nearly fifty feet. After
descending rather more than sixty feet, an aperture is
seen on the southern side, which is the entrance of a
kind of grotto (s) between five and six feet high, and
about three times as long, turning to the right. It is
hollowed out in a vein of coarse but compact gravel, and
the well in consequence of this vein, is lined with
masonry for the space of a few feet above and below the
grotto. Where the masonry ceases (t) the well takes
a sloping direction and continues so to the bottom; but
towards the bottom (see u in the section) the slope becomes
more steep. All the sloping part is cut through
the solid rock below the foundation of the pyramid, and
is of a square form. At the bottom of the well (v) is a
horizontal passage six feet long, communicating with the
first passage, two hundred and twelve feet below the
aperture by which one ascends to the second passage.
The first passage of the pyramid from the aperture last
209mentioned, continues in the same direction, and is of the
same dimensions, but is cut through the solid rock, and is
not lined with masonry. The aperture which communicates
with the bottom of the well is two feet ten inches
broad. It is on the right of a person descending the first
passage. This passage continues in the same direction
to the distance of twenty-three feet further (see w in the
section), beyond which it is horizontal, and so low and
encumbered with rubbish, that the explorer is obliged to
drag himself in a prostrate position. At the distance of
sixteen feet nine inches there is a recess (x) on the right
side three feet four inches deep, and six feet five inches
wide. Four feet and a half beyond this, the passage terminates
at the eastern extremity of the north side of a
large excavated chamber (y).
The Great Excavated Chamber is nearly under the
centre of the pyramid. It is twenty-seven feet broad, and
sixty-six feet long. The roof is flat, but the floor is very
uneven. At the entrance the chamber is fifteen feet high;
towards the western end the rock rises perpendicularly
half-way towards the ceiling, and there are masses of
strange forms, but not altogether irregular, rising still
higher, and nearly touching the top of the chamber. In
the floor at the lower end is a wide hollow space nearly
filled with rats’ dung. Immediately opposite the entrance
is a level passage (z), low and narrow, running towards
the south; it terminates abruptly at the distance of fifty-five
feet. The floor of the chamber is just a hundred feet
below the level of the external base of the pyramid. It
appeared evident to my brother that this great chamber
was an unfinished excavation. Mr. Salt thought otherwise:
“He had flattered himself that it would turn out to
be that described by Herodotus as containing the tomb of
Cheops, which was insulated by a canal from the Nile;
but the want of an inlet, and its elevation of thirty feet
above the level of the Nile at its highest point, put an end
to this delusive idea.” This great chamber was discovered
210by Caviglia, of whose operations in the Great Pyramid,
and in the neighbouring tombs, an interesting account is
given in the 19th vol. of the “Quarterly Review.” After
having explored the well, and endeavoured, in vain, to
draw up the rubbish with which the lower end was filled,
he turned his attention to the clearing of the first passage
of the pyramid, which, until that time, had been supposed
to terminate just below the aperture which communicates
with the second passage. In the prosecution of this work
(which was one of much difficulty, as the passage was
choked with large fragments of stone), he discovered the
communication with the bottom of the well, and, continuing
his operations, soon after entered the Great Excavated
Chamber.
Such is the description of all that is now known of the
interior of the Great Pyramid. It has been calculated
that there might be within this stupendous fabric, three
thousand seven hundred chambers, each equal in size to
the Sarcophagus Chamber, allowing the contents of an
equal number of such chambers to be solid, by way of separation.[45]
Yet this enormous pile seems to have been
raised merely as a sepulchral monument, to contain, perhaps,
one single mummy, not a particle of which now remains
in the place in which it was deposited with so
much precaution:[46] unless there be yet undiscovered any
other receptacle for the royal corpse than the sarcophagus
in the Granite Chamber. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus
assert that the building of the Great Pyramid occupied
about twenty years, and according to the former, a hundred
thousand men—according to the latter three hundred
and sixty thousand men—were employed in its construction.
46. Most ancient authors who have described this monument
assert, in opposition to Diodorus, that its founder
was buried in it.
The Great Pyramid is surrounded, on three sides, by
almost innumerable tombs. On the east are three small
pyramids; and on the same side, and on the west and
south, are many oblong tombs, flat-topped, and with sides
inclining inwards. Some persons who have been unreasonable
enough to doubt whether the pyramids are sepulchral
monuments, must, I think, be convinced of their
error by the discoveries of Colonel Vyse: long before
which, my brother found bones and mummy-rags in the
principal pyramid of Sakkárah.
LETTER XXV.
February, 1844.
My dear Friend,
I fear that I might weary you if I gave you a description
of the other pyramids as full as that of the first; and,
as they are far less interesting, I would pass them over
entirely; but a few remarks respecting them, some of
which I owe to my brother, I do not refrain from offering,
as I think they will interest you. It is no trifle, I
assure you, for a woman to explore the interior of the
Great Pyramid. My mind continued so impressed with
the difficulties of this undertaking, for some time, that I
could not forget them, even in my dreams. The examination
of the others is somewhat less arduous.
The name of the founder of the Second Pyramid, commonly
called that of Chephrenes, still remains involved in
some degree of doubt. But in some of the tombs in the
neighbourhood, we find a king’s name, in hieroglyphics,
which, according to different dialects, may be read Khephré
or Shefré; and it seems highly probable that the
king to whom this name belongs was the builder of the
pyramid in question.
This pyramid is but little inferior in magnitude to the
first. From some points of view, it even appears more
212lofty, as it stands on ground about thirty feet higher than
that on which the first rests, and its summit is almost
entire. A large portion of its smooth casing remains on
the upper part, forming a cap which extends from the top
to about a quarter of the distance thence to the base. Notwithstanding
this, Arabs often ascend to its summit; and
many European travellers have done the same. In its
general construction, this pyramid is inferior to the first;
and its interior is less remarkable. By a sloping passage,
similar to the first in the Great Pyramid, but cased with
granite, and then by a long horizontal passage hewn
through the rock, broken by two perpendicular descents,
and sloping ascents, we reach the Great Chamber. This
is similar in form to the “Queen’s Chamber” in the Great
Pyramid, and contains a plain sarcophagus of granite,
among blocks of the same material lately torn up from the
floor, in which the sarcophagus was embedded.
Several Arabic inscriptions are scrawled with charcoal
upon various parts of this chamber. Most of these were
written before the opening of the pyramid by Belzoni, and
are nearly illegible; generally recording the visits of
Arabs, and in the modern Arabic characters. My brother
could not find any date among them. From his manuscript
notes, I copy the following observations respecting
one of these inscriptions which has excited especial attention:
consisting of two lines, written in the same characters
as the rest, and with the same material, but not so
imperfectly legible. “Belzoni particularly remarked these
two lines, and took a Copt scribe to copy them; but this
man did not faithfully execute his task: he concluded that
the second line was a continuation of the first, which is
far from being certain, and gave a transcript in which he
presumed to restore what was defective in the original.
His transcript has been thus translated by Mr. Salame:
‘The Master Mohammed Ahmed, lapicide, has opened
them; and the Master Othman attended this (opening);
and the King Alij Mohammed at first (from the beginning)
213to the closing up.’ This inscription has exceedingly
puzzled the learned Orientalists of Europe; and great
pains have been taken to find out who was the king mentioned
in it, and at what period he reigned. It unfortunately
happens that the first line is almost wholly defaced;
a traveller having scribbled his name over it: the
two first words, however, have not been written over; and
I must pronounce it very uncertain whether they are as
in the transcript above mentioned, and consequently,
whether the inscription contain any mention of the ‘opening’
of the pyramid. But the second line, which is the
more important, has not been defaced like the first; and
the greater part of it is so plain that it can hardly be read
otherwise than thus: ‘El-Khaleel ’Alee, the son of Mohammad
..., has been here;’ or, in the order of the
Arabic words, ‘Has been here El-Khaleel ’Alee, the son
of Mohammad....’ It is quite evident that the word
which Belzoni’s copyist makes ‘el-melik,’ or ‘the King,’
is a proper name. Another inaccuracy in the copy published
by Belzoni is the omission of the word signifying
‘son,’ after ‘’Alee.’ Thus we find that this inscription
(instead of recording the visit of a king, or perhaps, even
alluding to the opening of the pyramid) is probably nothing
more than the Arabic scrawls which are seen in great
numbers on many of the monuments of Egypt. It, and
others similar to it, are of some interest, however, as
showing that the pyramid was open at a comparatively
late period.”
The third pyramid, commonly attributed to Mycerinus,
or Mencheres, was opened by Colonel Vyse, who found in
it the mummy-case of its founder, bearing the hieroglyphic
name of Menkaré. This pyramid, though small in
comparison with the first and second, its base being about
three hundred and thirty feet, and its perpendicular height
about two hundred, is a very noble monument. Its construction
is excellent; and it was distinguished by being
partly, or wholly, cased with granite. Several courses of
214the granite casing-stones remain at the lower part. The
chamber in which the sarcophagus was found, and the
entrance-passage, are formed of granite; and the roof of
the former is composed of blocks leaning together, and
cut so as to form an arched ceiling. The sarcophagus
was lost at sea, on its way to England. The third pyramid
was the first that I entered; and highly was I gratified
by the view of its interior, after I had summoned
courage to crawl through its entrance, which was almost
closed by huge masses of stone.
Adjacent to the pyramids which I have mentioned are
several others; but these are comparatively insignificant;
and I shall not attempt to describe them: nor shall I undertake
to give you a detailed account of any of the numerous
tombs to which I have before alluded. Most of
these lie in a large space to the west of the Great Pyramid,
and north of the second; and are, with few exceptions,
disposed in regular lines, from north to south, and
from east to west; their walls, like the sides of the pyramids,
facing the four cardinal points. Some of them are
nearly buried in the drifted sand; and many are almost
entirely demolished. Some contain no chambers above
ground; but have a pit, entered from the roof, descending
to a sepulchral chamber. Others contain narrow chambers
within their walls, adorned with painted sculptures
in low relief, representing agricultural and other scenes.
Most of these are of the same age as the Great Pyramid.
In one of them, which is of that age, are represented persons
engaged in various arts, carpenters, makers of papyrus-boats
(probably like the ark in which Moses was exposed),
agricultural employments, the wine-press, eating,
dancing, &c. Among the subjects in this tomb, we find
two men sitting at a tray which is supported by a low
pedestal, and loaded with food; one is holding a fowl in
his left hand; and, with his right, tearing off one of the
wings: the other is holding a joint, and about to bite off
a piece. Each of these persons is almost naked; had
215they more clothing, they would exhibit a true representation
of two modern Egyptians at their dinner or supper.
There are also many sepulchral grottoes, excavated in the
rock, in the neighbourhood of the pyramids. In one we
find representations of the flocks and herds of the principal
occupant, with the number of each kind: he had 835
oxen, 220 cows with their young, 2234 he-goats, 760
asses, and 974 rams. This interesting tomb is of the remote
age of Khephré, or Shefré, before mentioned. It is
in the front of the rocky elevation on which the Great
Pyramid stands, a little to the right of Colonel Vyse’s quarters,
facing the valley of the Nile.
Had I attempted a regular description of the pyramids
and the monuments around them, I should have begun
with the Great Sphinx, which faces the traveller approaching
the Great Pyramid by the easiest route from the
southeast, and lies but a short distance from that route.
Its huge recumbent body, and its enormous outstretched
fore-legs, are almost entirely buried in sand and rubbish.
The head alone is twenty feet high. The face (which
lays claim to be regarded as a portrait of Thothmos IV.,
whom many believe to have reigned during the bondage
of the Israelites in Egypt, or shortly before or after, and
who may have been the very Pharaoh in whose reign the
Exodus took place) is much mutilated; the nose being
broken off. This loss gives to the expression of the face
much of the negro character: but the features of the
countenance of the ancient Egyptian, as well as the comparative
lightness of complexion, widely distinguished
him from the negro; and the nose of the former greatly
differed from that of the latter. At first the countenance
of the Sphinx, disfigured as it is, appeared to me absolutely
ugly; but when I drew near, I observed in it a peculiar
sweetness of expression, and I did not wonder at
its having excited a high degree of admiration in many
travellers. The whole of this extraordinary colossus was
doubtless painted: the face still retains much of its paint,
216which is red ochre, the colour always employed by the
ancient Egyptians to represent the complexion of their
countrymen; yellow or pink being used by them for that
of the Egyptian women. All that is visible of the Sphinx
is hewn out of a mass of limestone rock, which perhaps
naturally presented something of the form which art has
given to it.
I did not think to have written to you so much on the
pyramids and the monuments around them; but having
entered upon the subject, I have found it difficult to stop.
So wonderful in themselves are the principal pyramids,
and so impressive by reason of their remote antiquity,
that all other existing works of man must, I think, in
comparison with them, sink into insignificance. I could
hardly believe that monuments of such stupendous magnitude,
and such admirable construction, were erected
several centuries before the period of the Exodus, were it
not for the fact that the Tower of Babel, probably an equally
wonderful edifice, was raised in an age yet earlier.
During this excursion I was gratified by observing
among innumerable Arabs belonging to the villages not a
single instance of blindness, a calamity so common in
Cairo. These peasants seem to enjoy a very small share
of this world’s goods; but the exhilarating air usually
blowing from the neighbouring desert has an extraordinary
effect on their health and spirits.
On the morning before our departure several well-dressed
young Bedawees arrived near our tent, the sons
of the sheykh of a distant village. After dismounting and
loitering about for nearly an hour, they confessed to one
of our party that they had ridden several miles in the
hope of seeing the faces of some European ladies, who,
they had been informed, were passing a few days at the
pyramids, and they were seriously disappointed on finding
veiled ladies only. A few weeks since these same young
men enjoyed the treat of seeing an American lady who is
travelling in Egypt, and who is a beautiful person. A
217friend of ours asked their opinion of the lady on that occasion,
when they replied that her appearance was “excellent.”
“But,” exclaimed one of the young men, “the
sword! the sword! if we dared to use it, we would kill
that man,” alluding to the lady’s companion, “whether
her husband, or her brother, and take her ourselves.”
’Tis well for pretty women travelling in the East that
these lawless Arabs are kept under a degree of subjection
by the present government.
LETTER XXVI.
March, 1844.
My dear Friend,
You may have heard of a famous magician in this famous
city of Cairo, who, though not supposed to be possessed
of art equal to that of Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers,
has perplexed and confounded several of the most
intelligent travellers, by feats very nearly resembling that
performed by the Witch of Endor at the request of Saul.
Having inscribed a magic square upon the palm of the
right hand of any young boy or girl, and poured into the
centre of it a little pool of ink, he pretends by means of
the repetition of certain invocations to two spirits, and by
burning some small strips of paper inscribed with similar
invocations, in a chafing-dish containing live coals sprinkled
with frankincense and coriander-seed, or other perfume,
to make the boy see in this pool of ink the image
of any person, living or dead, called for by his employer.
My brother has fully described his performances as witnessed
by himself and several other travellers more than
ten years ago; the performances of which he was himself
witness were not altogether inexplicable, for some of the
persons called for were not unknown to fame, and the correct
description of others might have been the result of
218mere guessing; but the facts which he has related on the
testimony of others have induced several persons whom I
could name to believe them the effects of supernatural
agency. The supposed mystery, however, my brother
thinks he can now explain, at least so far as to satisfy
any reasonable person respecting most, if not all, of the
most surprising of the feats to which I have alluded. (See
Appendix.)
A few weeks ago, he was requested by two English
travellers, Lord N. and Major G., to witness the performances
of this magician, and to act as interpreter on the
occasion, in order that they might feel themselves secure
from any collusion. But I must give you his own account
of the exposure which this request occasioned.
“I was unwilling,” he said, “to accede to the proposal
made to me, and expressed a reluctance to do so;
but I am glad that I at last consented. The magician
tried with two boys, and with both of them he utterly
failed in every case. His excuse was, that the boys were
liars, and described the objects which they saw otherwise
than as they appeared to them; that the feats were performed
not by his own means alone, and that he was not
secure from being imposed upon by others. Now if we
admit that there is still such a thing as real magic, and
we know from the Bible such was once the case, we
must allow that by occasional failures this man does not
show that he is not a true magician, as long as he employs
an agent, upon whose veracity and particular
qualifications he asserts the success of his performances
to depend. Partly, perhaps, from feelings of mortification,
and partly with the view of upholding his reputation
by urging what he had done on former occasions, he remarked
to me that he was successful in the days of
’Osmán Efendee, and that since the death of that person
he had been unfortunate.
“This was indeed, for him, a most unfortunate remark.
The inference to be drawn from it, that the person whom
219he named was the main spring of his machinery, was
inevitable, more especially when I considered, that in all
the instances of his surprising success of which I had
heard, this person served as the interpreter; and when I
further reflected, that since his death, which took place
nearly nine years ago, hundreds of persons had witnessed
the performances of this magician, and I had been assured
that his successes had been such as could not be said to
be even the results of lucky guesses or mere accident,
for he had almost always failed. I was at first unwilling
to believe that a person whom I always regarded as an
honest man, and whom I knew to have been possessed of
many excellent qualities, had consented to be a means of
imposition; and I remembered that, in the performances
which I had myself witnessed, I ascertained that he gave
no direction either by word or sign; that he was generally
unacquainted in these instances with the personal appearance
of the individual called for; that I took care that he
should have no previous communication with the boys;
and that I had seen the experiment fail when he could
have given directions to them or to the magician. But
the inferences to be derived from these circumstances, in
favour of the magician, are surely outweighed by the
facts which I have mentioned, resting not only upon the
assertions of others, but also upon his own confession.
’Osmán perhaps considered it a light matter to practise
such an artifice as that which is thus imputed to him,
and perhaps was unwilling to practise it upon me, or
feared my detecting him if he attempted to do so. Besides,
if many of the performances of the magician had
not been far more surprising than those which I witnessed,
he would have gained but little notoriety. I satisfied myself
that the boy employed in a case which I have mentioned
in my work on the ‘Modern Egyptians,’ was not
prompted for the part he played, by my having chosen
him from a number of others passing by in the street;
and I also felt satisfied that the images which he and
220another boy professed to have seen, were by some means
produced in the ink by the magician, in consequence of
their refusal to accept presents which I offered them, with
the view of inducing them to confess that they did not
really see what they proposed to have seen. As to the
former point, I was doubtless right; but as to the latter,
I now feel that I was deceived. I believe that the boys
saw nothing, and that, having deceived me, they feared
to confess the truth. Another difficulty, however, lies in
the way of the explanation which I have proposed; two
travellers (one of them M. Leon Delaborde, the other an
Englishman), both instructed by the magician of whom
I am speaking, are stated to have succeeded in performing
similar feats. But is it not almost certain, after
what I have said, that those feats were accomplished by
means of the suggestions of the interpreter or interpreters?
Perhaps the same person who interpreted in
other cases which excited so much surprise did so in
those also.
“I have stated all that I can for and against the
magician, and leave it for others to decide upon the case.
For myself, I am satisfied that his successes are to be
attributed chiefly to the interpreter, but partly also to
leading questions, and partly to mere guessing. Let us
consider these three means as employed in one of the most
remarkable cases. A number of individuals being called
for, most of them (perhaps all), are correctly described.
With the personal appearance of many of these individuals
the interpreter is acquainted, and he is therefore
able to suggest to the boy what he should say. When he
has had no previous knowledge of the peculiarities of the
appearance of a person called for, it has often happened
that he has acquired such knowledge during the performance.
One of the company, for instance, saying
that he will call for such a person, adding that he is remarkable
in such and such respects. When the first
means cannot be employed, much may be done by the
221second, that is, by leading questions. When a person
having but one leg, or one leg shorter than another, is
called for, he is perhaps vaguely described, and the boy
is in consequence asked if there is any thing peculiar in
his legs: this question suggests to him that there is some
peculiarity in his legs, and he probably ventures to say
that he can only see one leg, then if this be unsatisfactory,
he may add the person has turned round, and
that he sees him to be lame. The third means (guessing)
without the others is not likely to be of much service;
but with them it may help to supply trifling deficiencies,
and when the guessing is wrong respecting a trifling
matter, his error is considered trifling; but when he is
right, his description is often considered striking for its
minute accuracy.
“The last performances of this magician in my presence
were ridiculous for their complete want of success.
A woman was described as a man, a tall person as short
or middle-sized, the very old as of a middle age, and so
on. Two boys were employed; one was very stupid and
appeared much frightened, the other seemed accustomed
to the performance.”
A friend has just described to me the latest performance
of the magician, and you can hardly conceive any
thing more unfortunate and absurd. He had been sent
for to gratify the curiosity of a party of English travellers
at the French Hotel, a frequent scene of his impositions,
where he often finds a boy ready to be employed by
him, familiar with his tricks, and an interpreter disposed
to aid his deceptions. A donkey-boy was sent for; and
after the usual preparations, Lord Auckland was named
as the first person whose image was to be presented to the
boy, in the mirror of ink. He was merely described as
short and thin. O’Connell was next represented as short
and thin, dressed in white, young, without a beard
wearing a white hat with a handkerchief tied round it
(like a Frank endeavouring to preserve his head from the
222heat of an Egyptian summer sun), and having only one
hand. Several other persons were called for, relations of
individuals present, with various success; and much
laughter was occasioned, which made the magician
accuse the boy of not telling what he saw. Another
boy was sent for; and he seemed to have been employed
previously: sometimes he got on before the magician.
After many ridiculous failures, the Prince of Wales was
described with white hair, yellow beard, black coat, and
white trousers. (Beards, I should tell you are worn here
by many European travellers.) The party agreed not to
laugh; and the names of persons present were given as
those of individuals whose images were required to
appear. Sometimes the image described was right in
being tall, but wrong in being fat: right as to coat, but
wrong as to trousers: just as you would expect in cases
of guessing. Five dollars were put upon a chair before
the magician; but he had the presence of mind to wait
for more, which, I believe, he received. I assure you he
reaps a fine harvest from the pockets of travellers.
If you wish to know what the performances of this
man were in earlier times, in the most remarkable instances,
read an account of them in No. 117 of the
“Quarterly Review;” and especially a note there, following
the remarks of the reviewer. You will see, from
what is there stated, that the subject was deemed worthy
of serious consideration, and that a discovery of the
means employed by the magician, which were thought to
be of a very ingenious kind, was regarded as an interesting
desideratum. That these means were not merely
leading questions, and the like, as a late writer has suggested,
is evident when we reflect that the magician is
not known to have been even generally successful on any
single occasion since the death of the interpreter ’Osmán,
and it is not likely that intelligent travellers (of whom
many might be named) would have been at a loss for the
explanation, if such means would have sufficed.
223One further remark I must make on this subject. If
we give to some persons that credit which they are
believed to deserve, we must admit that excited imagination,
in the child employed as an agent in the deception,
has sometimes produced images in the mirror of ink; but
these images have been always such as the child expected
to see. The successful performances have been supposed,
by some, to have been effected by means of mesmerism;
and some have attributed them to diabolical agency. As
the grandest discoveries in science are often the most
simple, so what appears to us at first most unaccountable
is often capable of the most simple solution.
LETTER XXVII.
April, 1844.
My dear Friend,
When I promised you a description of the Bath, I did
not anticipate that I should enter upon the subject with
pleasure. Whatever others may think of it, I confess that
the operation of bathing in the Eastern manner is to me
extremely agreeable; and I have found it singularly beneficial
in removing that lassitude which is occasioned by
the climate. It is true that it is followed by a sense of
fatigue, but a delightful repose soon ensues; and the consequences,
upon the whole, I find almost as enjoyable as
the process itself.
The buildings containing the baths are all nearly on
the same plan, and are much alike in appearance; the
fronts being decorated fancifully, in red and white, and
the interiors consisting of several apartments paved with
marble. I will describe to you, in a few words, one of
the best in Cairo, which I visited with three ladies of my
acquaintance,—English, Abyssinian, and Syrian.
224After we had passed through two passages, we found
ourselves in the first large apartment, or chamber of
repose, in which the bathers undress previously to their
entering the heated chambers, and in which they dress
after taking the bath, and rest on a raised marble platform,
or wide bench, on which are spread mats and carpets.
In the centre is a fountain of cold water, over which
is a dome. For a detailed account of the public baths of
Cairo I refer you to my brother’s description; and shall
only relate to you the scenes through which I passed on
the occasion to which I have referred.
In the first apartment, each of us enveloped herself in
a very long and broad piece of drapery,—which, but for
its size, I might call a scarf,—and proceeded through a
small chamber, which was moderately heated, to the principal
inner apartment, where the heat was intense. The
plan of this apartment is that of a cross, having four recesses;
each of which, as well as the central portion, is
covered with a dome. The pavements are of white and
black marble, and small pieces of fine red tile, very fancifully
and prettily disposed. In the middle is a jet of hot
water, rising from the centre of a high seat of marble,
upon which many persons might sit together. The pavement
of each of the recesses is a few inches higher than
that of the central portion of the apartment; and in one of
them is a trough, into which hot water was constantly
pouring from a pipe in the dome above. The whole
apartment was full of steam.
On entering this chamber a scene presented itself which
beggars description. My companions had prepared me
for seeing many persons undressed; but imagine my astonishment
on finding at least thirty women of all ages, and
many young girls and children, perfectly unclothed. You
will scarcely think it possible that no one but ourselves
had a vestige of clothing. Persons of all colours, from
the black and glossy shade of the negro to the fairest possible
hue of complexion, were formed in groups, conversing
225as though full dressed, with perfect nonchalance,
while others were strolling about, or sitting round the
fountain. I cannot describe the bath as altogether a
beautiful scene; in truth, in some respects it is disgusting;
and I regret that I can never reach a private room in any
bath without passing through the large public apartment.
I will turn to the more agreeable subject—the operation
of the bath, which is quite luxurious. The sensation
experienced on first entering the hottest chamber is almost
overpowering—the heat is extremely oppressive; and at
first I believed that I could not long support such a temperature;
but after the first minute, I was relieved by a
gentle, and afterwards by a profuse perspiration, and no
longer felt in any degree oppressed. It is always necessary
for each lady to send her own bathing-linen, a pair
of high clogs, a large copper vessel for hot water, two
copper bowls, and towels.
The first operation is a gentle kneading the flesh, or
shampooing. Next the attendant cracks the joints of
those who desire to submit to this process. I confess I
did not suffer such an infliction. Some of the native women
after this are rubbed with a rasp, or rather with two
rasps of different kinds, a coarse one for the feet, and a
fine one for the body; but neither of these rasps do I approve.
A small coarse woollen bag, into which the operator’s
hand is inserted, is in my opinion preferable.
Next the head and face are covered with a thick lather,
which is produced by rubbing soap on a handful of fibres
of the palm-tree, which are called leef, and which form a
very agreeable and delicate-looking rubber. It is truly
ridiculous to see another under this operation. When her
head and face have been well lathered, and the soap has
been thoroughly washed off by abundance of hot water, a
novice would suppose that at least they were sufficiently
purified; but this is not the case: two or three of such
latherings, and as many washings, are necessary before
the attendant thinks her duty to the head and face accomplished.
226Then follows the more agreeable part of the
affair,—the general lathering and rubbing, which is performed
by the attendant so gently, and in so pleasant a
manner, that it is quite a luxury; and I am persuaded
that the Eastern manner of bathing is highly salubrious,
from its powerful effect upon the skin.
When the operation was completed, I was enveloped in
a dry piece of drapery, similar to the bathing-dress, and
conducted to the reposing-room, where I was rubbed and
dressed, and left to take rest and refreshment, and to reflect
upon the strange scene which I had witnessed. I
wish I could say that there are no drawbacks to the enjoyment
of the luxury I have described; but the eyes and
ears of an Englishwoman must be closed in the public
bath in Egypt before she can fairly enjoy the satisfaction
it affords; for besides the very foreign scenes which cannot
fail to shock her feelings of propriety, the cries of the
children are deafening and incessant. The perfection of
Eastern bathing is therefore rather to be enjoyed in a private
bath, with the attendance of a practised velláneh.
LETTER XXVIII.
April, 1844.
My dear Friend,
I remember writing, in my simplicity, that I believed
Mohammad ’Alee Pasha to have but two wives; but having
been introduced to another of his wives, the mother
of Haleem Bey, in his hareem in the citadel, I conjecture
that there is yet another, making the full Muslim allowance,
namely, four wives.
The ride to the citadel is not an agreeable one; and at
this time the ascent is attended with some danger, as the
227Pasha has directed the repair of the road leading from
the Báb el Weezer; in consequence of which heaps of
stones and rubbish almost obstruct the way. I had
chosen this route because it is unpaved, and my experience
had made me dread the slippery paved entrance by
the Great Gate, mounted, as I was, on a “high ass.” Although
expecting a tumble in riding over the rubbish, I
could not help remarking the enormous size of some
stones which had been thrown down from an old wall, so
much resembling stones which lie scattered around the
pyramids, that I do not doubt they are some of those
which were transported by Karakoosh when he was employed
in building the citadel.
The Kasr appropriated to the hareem of the Pasha in
the citadel is a noble mansion, the finest domestic structure
I have seen in Egypt. The interior is on the usual
Turkish plan. On the ground-floor is a spacious saloon,
paved with marble of a bluish white, nearly surrounded by
suites of apartments which open into it; and on the
first-floor are rooms on the same plan. Accompanied by
my friend Mrs. Sieder, I passed from the principal entrance
to a large square court, and having crossed this,
we found ourselves in the lower of the two saloons. We
then ascended by an ample marble staircase to the saloon
on the first-floor. Here a most magnificent prospect burst
upon our view: three windows which are opposite the
head of the stairs, command the whole of Cairo, and the
plain beyond; and every object of interest to the north
and west of Cairo within the reach of our sight lay in
picturesque variety before our admiring gaze; the green
carpet of the Delta, and the plain of Goshen, terminating
the view towards the north. I would willingly have lingered
here, but our attendants were impatient to conduct
us into the presence of the chief lady.
We found her sitting in a room which was carpeted and
surrounded by a divan, attended by three ladies. She received
228us with much respect and cordiality, and as I had
been informed that she had the reputation of being an
exceedingly haughty person, I was agreeably surprised
by finding in her conversation and deportment the utmost
affability and politeness. She conversed with me freely
of my children, told me that her son was under twenty
years of age, and introduced to my notice two nice little
girls, children of the hareem, one of whom presented me
with a bouquet. The subject of the number, health, and
age of each lady’s children is always the darling theme of
conversation in the hareems, and truly to a mother ever
agreeable. One lady asked me with perfect gravity,
whether one of my boys, being thirteen years of age, was
married. I conclude she meant betrothed, for the same
word is used to express marriage and betrothal. I explained
to her that, in England, a boy must become a
man before he thinks of marriage, or even betrothal; and
that if he entered into the marriage state at twenty years
of age, and a girl at fifteen, they would be considered too
young. The lady whom I addressed, and her companion,
listened with much attention, and one of them earnestly
maintained that the English were quite right in objecting
to such young marriages as take place constantly in the
East.
With respect to the beauties in this hareem, I can only
say that one was very remarkable; and among the ornaments
that I saw there, there was nothing deserving of
particular notice excepting the pearl necklaces of the chief
lady and two others: these were composed of the largest
pearls that I have ever seen, but nearly tight round the
throat.
On quitting this hareem, I was conducted by the ladies
with the ceremony I have not described, which was that
of holding the habarah on each side, while I crossed the
saloons, and until I reached the hareem curtain. These
attendant ladies, in imitation of their superiors, vied with
229each other in paying us every polite attention, and each
and all in the hareem of the citadel were pictures of
cheerfulness.
I was informed that no Franks had ever before been
admitted into this hareem, and I believe it to be the case;
though a portion of the same building, entered from the
other side, and in which the Pasha had some rooms fitted
up in the European manner, has been frequently seen by
travellers. Some European ladies, a short time since,
offered twenty dollars to procure admission, and were refused.
I did not offer a bribe; for I never have condescended
to obtain access to a hareem through the servants,
and have either been introduced by my kind friend
Mrs. Sieder, or paid my visit without any explanation to
the slaves, and have never met with the slightest opposition.
On quitting, it is necessary to give a present to the
chief eunuch, or to the doorkeeper.
After paying this visit, I called on my old friends, the
hareem of Habeeb Efendee; and I confess I approached
their house with some apprehension that, instead of their
usual hearty welcome, I might meet with a cold reception,
during the present state of things. England and
France having lately required of the Sultán a concession
which every Christian must ardently desire, but which it
is almost impossible for him, as a Muslim sovereign, to
grant, and the result being not yet known, it was particularly
agreeable to our feelings, in visiting his near relations,
to find the whole family prepared to welcome us
with even more than their usual affection. The ladies in
that hareem being particularly well-informed, the conversation
during our visit takes always a lively, and often a
political turn; and as soon as we were seated yesterday,
the passing events were discussed, and the question of
liberty of conscience on religious subjects soon introduced.
But here I must digress, to remark to you one circumstance
which much pleased me. While I was in conversation
with a lady who was sitting next to me, we both
230heard the whole company, consisting of the daughters
and several visitors, suddenly rise, and, following their
example immediately, I observed that the chief lady was
entering the room. Very delightful is this outward respect
for parents, which is not here, as in England, confined
to a few of the families of the great; and when accompanied
with that devotion of heart so evident in the
conduct of the daughters of Habeeb Efendee. Their
veneration for their amiable mother is complete; while
they are permitted by her, in their conversation and manners,
to indulge in the sweetest familiarity of affection.
This good lady saluted us in her usual charming manner,
and took her seat, placing me, as she always has
done, on her right hand; after which all resumed their
places, and she listened with extreme interest to our conversation,
which was translated to her into Turkish by
her daughters. In common with all the Turkish ladies I
have seen in this country, the wife of Habeeb Efendee
speaks sufficient Arabic for the usual purposes of conversation;
but when any particularly interesting topic is discussed,
they all like it explained in their own language.
The eldest daughter requested to be informed particularly
of the nature of the demand lately made by England
and France on the Sultán; and when it was explained
that he was required to protect from martyrdom such
persons who, having been originally Christian, had become
Muslims, and subsequently returned to their first
profession, she replied, with an earnestness of manner
which interested my friend and me extremely, “It is but
the fulfilment of prophecy! When I was a little child, I
was taught that, in this year, great things would commence,
which would require three years for their completion.”
Surely she drew a beautiful conclusion, and under circumstances,
too, of painful feelings to one strictly attached
to the laws of her religion. And here I must faithfully
observe, that I have not met with this lady’s equal in
231Eastern female society, in gentleness, sweetness, and good
sense; and, withal, she has decidedly a cultivated mind.
The Hon. Mrs. Damer has very agreeably described this
lady in her “Tour,” and has particularly mentioned her
affection for her mother. I must not omit to tell you of
the curiosity of the whole hareem on the subject of Mrs.
Damer’s book. They had been informed that she had described
them, and questioned us closely on the subject.
We had much pleasure in assuring them that the description
in that lady’s work consisted in honourable mention
of her reception by the hareem, and of their agreeable
manners, and perfect politeness and cordiality. They inquired
the exact period of her visit, that they might perfectly
recall her to their recollection. Secluded as they
are, they remember the visits of Europeans as eras in
their lives; and I am persuaded that they feel the pleasure
they so agreeably express when we pay them a
visit.
Mrs. Sieder has shown them the portrait of the present
Sultán in Mrs. Damer’s book; and the eldest daughter
has made a copy of it in colours, very creditable to a
Turkish lady. It will doubtless excite great interest in
every visitor of the family; and, unless protected by a
glass, it will perhaps, in the course of a few weeks, be
kissed entirely away, like a miniature portrait of a Turkish
grandee of which I was lately told.
233APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
235
[From Mr. Lane’s “Modern Egyptians.”]
MAGIC.
A few days after my first arrival in this country, my
curiosity was excited on the subject of magic by a circumstance
related to me by Mr. Salt, our consul-general.
Having had reason to believe that one of his servants was
a thief, from the fact of several articles of property having
been stolen from his house, he sent for a celebrated Magh-rab’ee
magician, with the view of intimidating them and
causing the guilty one (if any of them were guilty) to
confess his crime. The magician came; and said that
he would cause the exact image of the person who had
committed the thefts to appear to any youth not arrived
at the age of puberty; and desired the master of the
house to call in any boy whom he might choose. As several
boys were then employed in a garden adjacent to
the house, one of them was called for this purpose. In
the palm of this boy’s right hand the magician drew, with
a pen, a certain diagram, in the centre of which he
poured a little ink. Into this ink he desired the boy
steadfastly to look. He then burned some incense and
several bits of paper inscribed with charms; and, at the
236same time, called for various objects to appear in the ink.
The boy declared that he saw all these objects, and, last
of all, the image of the guilty person; he described his
stature, countenance and dress; said that he knew him;
and directly ran down into the garden, and apprehended
one of the labourers, who, when brought before the
master, immediately confessed that he was the thief.
The above relation made me desirous of witnessing a
similar performance during my first visit to this country;
but not being acquainted with the name of the magician
here alluded to, or his place of abode, I was unable to obtain
any tidings of him. I learned, however, soon after
my return to England, that he had become known to later
travellers in Egypt; was residing in Cairo; and that he
was called the sheykh ’Abd-El-Kádir El-Maghrab’ee. A
few weeks after my second arrival in Egypt, my neighbour
’Osmán, interpreter of the British consulate, brought
him to me; and I fixed a day for his visiting me, to give
me a proof of the skill for which he is so much famed.
He came at the time appointed, about two hours before
noon; but seemed uneasy; frequently looked up at the
sky, through the window; and remarked that the weather
was unpropitious; it was dull and cloudy, and the wind
was boisterous. The experiment was performed with
three boys; one after another. With the first it was perfectly
successful; but with the others, it completely failed.
The magician said that he could do nothing more that
day; and that he would come in the evening of a subsequent
day. He kept his appointment; and admitted that
the time was favourable. While waiting for my neighbour,
before mentioned, to come and witness the performances,
we took pipes and coffee; and the magician
chatted with me on indifferent subjects. He is a fine, tall,
and stout man, of a rather fair complexion, with a dark-brown
beard; is shabbily dressed; and generally wears a
large green turban, being a descendant of the prophet.
In his conversation, he is affable and unaffected. He
237professed to me that his wonders were effected by the
agency of good spirits; but to others, he has said the reverse—that
his magic is Satanic.
In preparing for the experiment of the magic mirror of
ink, which, like some other performances of a similar nature,
is here termed darb el-mendel, the magician first
asked me for a reed-pen and ink, a piece of paper, and a
pair of scissors; and, having cut off a narrow strip of
paper, wrote upon it certain forms of invocation, together
with another charm, by which he professes to accomplish
the object of the experiment. He did not attempt to conceal
these; and on my asking him to give me copies of
them, he readily consented, and immediately wrote them
for me; explaining to me, at the same time, that the object
he had in view was accompanied through the influence
of the two first words, “Tarshun” and “Taryooshun,”
which, he said, were the names of two genii, his
“familiar spirits.” I compared the copies with the originals;
and found that they exactly agreed.
“Tarshun! Taryooshun! Come down!
Come down! Be present! Whither are gone
the prince and his troops? Where are El-Ahmar
the prince and his troops? Be present,
ye servants of these names!”
“And this is the removal. ‘And we have removed from thee
thy veil; and thy sight to-day
is piercing.’ Correct: correct.”
Having written these, the magician cut off the paper
containing the forms of invocation from that upon which
the other charm was written; and cut the former into six
strips. He then explained to me that the object of the
latter charm (which contains part of the 21st verse of the
Soorat Káf, or 50th chapter of the Kur-án) was to open
the boy’s eyes in a supernatural manner; to make his
sight pierce into what is to us the invisible world.
I had prepared by the magician’s direction, some frankincense
238and coriander-seed,[47] and a chafing-dish with
some live charcoal in it. These were now brought into
the room, together with the boy who was to be employed:
he had been called in, by my desire, from among
some boys in the street, returning from a manufactory:
and was about eight or nine years of age. In reply to
my inquiry respecting the description of persons who
could see in the magic mirror of ink, the magician said
that they were a boy not arrived at puberty, a virgin, a
black female slave, and a pregnant woman. The chafing-dish
was placed before him and the boy; and the latter
was placed on a seat. The magician now desired my
servant to put some frankincense and coriander-seed into
the chafing-dish; then, taking hold of the boy’s right
hand, he drew, in the palm of it, a magic square, of which
a copy is here given. The figures which it contains are
Arabic numerals.[48] In the centre, he poured a little ink,
and desired the boy to look into it, and tell him if he
could see his face reflected in it; the boy replied that he
saw his face clearly. The magician, holding the boy’s
239hand all the while,[49] told him to continue looking intently
into the ink; and not to raise his head.
47. He generally requires some benzoin to be added to
these.
48. The numbers in this magic square, in our own ordinary
characters, are as follows:—
4
9
2
3
5
7
8
1
6
It will be seen that the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal
rows give each the same sum, namely, 15.
He then took one of the little strips of paper inscribed
with the forms of invocation, and dropped it into the
chafing-dish, upon the burning coals and perfumes, which
had already filled the room with their smoke; and as he
did this, he commenced an indistinct muttering of words,
which he continued during the whole process, excepting
when he had to ask the boy a question, or to tell him
what he was to say. The piece of paper containing the
words from the Kur-án, he placed inside the fore part of
the boy’s tákeeyeh, or skull-cap. He then asked him if
he saw any thing in the ink; and was answered “No;”
but about a minute after, the boy, trembling, and seeming
much frightened, said, “I see a man sweeping the
ground.” “When he has done sweeping,” said the
magician, “tell me.” Presently the boy said, “He has
done.” The magician then again interrupted his muttering
to ask the boy if he knew what a beyrak (or flag)
was; and being answered “Yes,” desired him to say,
“Bring a flag.” The boy did so; and soon said, “He
has brought a flag.” “What colour is it?” asked the
magician: the boy replied “Red.” He was told to call
for another flag; which he did; and soon after he said
that he saw another brought; and that it was black. In
like manner, he was told to call for a third, fourth, fifth,
sixth, and seventh; which he described as being successively
brought before him; specifying their colours, as
white, green, black, red, and blue. The magician then
asked him (as he did, also, each time that a new flag
was described as being brought), “How many flags have
you now before you?” “Seven,” answered the boy.
While this was going on, the magician put the second
and third of the small strips of paper upon which the
forms of invocation were written, into the chafing-dish;
240and fresh frankincense and coriander-seed having been
repeatedly added, the fumes became painful to the eyes.
When the boy had described the seven flags as appearing
to him, he was desired to say, “Bring the
Sultán’s tent; and pitch it.” This he did; and in about
a minute after, he said, “Some men have brought the
tent; a large green tent: they are pitching it;” and presently
he added, “they have set it up.” “Now,” said the
magician, “order the soldiers to come, and to pitch their
camp around the tent of the Sultán.” The boy did as he
was desired; and immediately said, “I see a great many
soldiers, with their tents: they have pitched their tents.”
He was then told to order that the soldiers should be
drawn up in ranks; and, having done so, he presently
said, that he saw them thus arranged. The magician
had put the fourth of the little strips of paper into the
chafing-dish; and soon after, he did the same with the
fifth. He now said, “Tell some of the people to bring a
bull.” The boy gave the order required, and said, “I
see a bull: it is red: four men are dragging it along;
and three are beating it.” He was told to desire them to
kill it, and cut it up, and to put the meat in saucepans,
and cook it. He did as he was directed; and described
these operations as apparently performed before his eyes.
“Tell the soldiers,” said the magician, “to eat it.” The
boy did so; and said, “They are eating it. They have
done; and are washing their hands.” The magician
then told him to call for the Sultán; and the boy, having
done this, said, “I see the Sultán riding to his tent, on a
bay horse; and he has on his head a high red cap: he
has alighted at his tent, and sat down within it.” “Desire
them to bring coffee to the Sultán,” said the magician,
“and to form the court.” These orders were given
by the boy; and he said that he saw them performed.
The magician had put the last of the six little strips of
paper into the chafing-dish. In his mutterings I distinguished
nothing but the words of the written invocation,
241frequently repeated, excepting on two or three occasions,
when I heard him say, “If they demand information,
inform them; and be ye veracious.” But much that he
repeated was inaudible, and as I did not ask him to
teach me his art, I do not pretend to assert that I am
fully acquainted with his invocations.
He now addressed himself to me; and asked me if I
wished the boy to see any person who was absent or dead.
I named Lord Nelson; of whom the boy had evidently
never heard; for it was with much difficulty that he pronounced
the name, after several trials. The magician
desired the boy to say to the Sultán—“My master salutes
thee, and desires thee to bring Lord Nelson: bring him
before my eyes, that I may see him, speedily.” The
boy then said so; and almost immediately added, “A
messenger is gone, and has returned, and brought a man,
dressed in a black[50] suit of European clothes: the man
has lost his left arm.” He then paused for a moment or
two; and, looking more intently, and more closely into
the ink, said, “No, he has not lost his left arm; but it is
placed to his breast.” This correction made his description
more striking than it had been without it: since
Lord Nelson generally had his empty sleeve attached to
the breast of his coat: but it was the right arm that he
had lost. Without saying that I suspected the boy had
made a mistake, I asked the magician whether the objects
appeared in the ink as if actually before the eyes, or
as if in a glass, which makes the right appear left. He
answered, that they appeared as in a mirror. This rendered
the boy’s description faultless.[51]
50. Dark blue is called, by the modern Egyptians, eswed,
which properly signifies black, and is therefore so translated
here.
51. Whenever I desired the boy to call for any person,
to appear, I paid particular attention both to the magician
and to ’Osmán. The latter gave no direction either by
word or sign; and indeed he was generally unacquainted
with the personal appearance of the individual called for.
I took care that he had no previous communication with
the boys; and have seen the experiment fail when he
could have given directions to them, or to the magician.
In short, it would be difficult to conceive any precaution
which I did not take. It is important to add, that the
dialect of the magician was more intelligible to me than
the boy. When I understood him perfectly at once, he
was sometimes obliged to vary his words to make the boy
comprehend what he said.
242The next person I called for was a native of Egypt,
who has been for many years resident in England, where
he has adopted our dress; and who had been long confined
to his bed by illness before I embarked for this
country: I thought that his name, one not very uncommon
in Egypt, might make the boy describe him incorrectly;
though another boy, on the former visit of the
magician, had described this same person as wearing a
European dress, like that in which I last saw him. In
the present case the boy said, “Here is a man brought on
a kind of bier, wrapped up in a sheet.” This description
would suit, supposing the person in question to be still
confined to his bed, or if he be dead.[52] The boy described
his face as covered; and was told to order that it
should be uncovered. This he did; and then said, “His
face is pale; and he has mustaches, but no beard:”
which is correct.
52. A few months after this was written, I had the pleasure
of hearing that the person here alluded to was in
better health. Whether he was confined to his bed at
the time when this experiment was performed, I have
not been able to ascertain.
Several other persons were successively called for; but
the boy’s descriptions of them were imperfect; though not
altogether incorrect. He represented each object as appearing
243less distinct than the preceding one; as if his
sight were gradually becoming dim: he was a minute, or
more, before he could give any account of the persons he
professed to see towards the close of the performance; and
the magician said it was useless to proceed with him.
Another boy was then brought in; and the magic square,
&c. made in his hand; but he could see nothing. The
magician said he was too old.
Though completely puzzled, I was somewhat disappointed
with his performances, for they fell short of what
he had accomplished, in many instances, in presence of
certain of my friends and countrymen. On one of these
occasions, an Englishman present ridiculed the performance,
and said that nothing would satisfy him but a correct
description of the appearance of his own father, of
whom, he was sure, no one of the company had any knowledge.
The boy, accordingly, having called by name for
the person alluded to, described a man in a Frank dress,
with his hand placed to his head, wearing spectacles, and
with one foot on the ground, and the other raised behind
him, as if he were stepping down from a seat. The description
was exactly true in every respect: the peculiar
position of the hand was occasioned by an almost constant
headache: and that of the foot or leg, by a stiff knee,
caused by a fall from a horse, in hunting. I am assured
that, on this occasion, the boy accurately described each
person and thing that was called for. On another occasion,
Shakspeare was described with the most minute correctness,
both as to person and dress; and I might add
several other cases in which the same magician has excited
astonishment in the sober minds of Englishmen of
my acquaintance. A short time since, after performing
in the usual manner, by means of a boy, he prepared the
magic mirror in the hand of a young English lady, who,
on looking into it for a little while, said that she saw a
broom sweeping the ground without any body holding it,
244and was so much frightened that she would look no
longer.
I have stated these facts partly from my own experience,
and partly as they came to my knowledge on the
authority of respectable persons. The reader may be
tempted to think that, in each instance, the boy saw
images produced by some reflection in the ink; but this
was evidently not the case; or that he was a confederate,
or guided by leading questions. That there was no collusion,
I satisfactorily ascertained, by selecting the boy
who performed the part above described in my presence
from a number of others passing by in the street, and by
his rejecting a present which I afterwards offered him
with the view of inducing him to confess that he did not
really see what he had professed to have seen. I tried
the veracity of another boy on a subsequent occasion in
the same manner; and the result was the same. The experiment
often entirely fails; but when the boy employed
is right in one case, he generally is so in all: when he
gives, at first, an account altogether wrong, the magician
usually dismisses him at once, saying that he is too old.[53]
The perfumes, or excited imagination, or fear, may be
245supposed to affect the vision of the boy who describes objects
as appearing to him in the ink; but, if so, why does
he see exactly what is required, and objects of which he
can have had no previous particular notion? Neither I
nor others have been able to discover any clue by which
to penetrate the mystery; and if the reader be alike unable
to give the solution, I hope that he will not allow the
above account to induce in his mind any degree of scepticism
with respect to other portions of this work.”
53. It has been suggested (in the “Quarterly Review,” No.
117) that the performances were effected by means of pictures
and a concave mirror; and that the images of the
former were reflected from the surface of the mirror, and
received on a cloud of smoke under the eyes of the boy.
This, however, I cannot admit; because such means could
not have been employed without my perceiving them; nor
would the images be reversed (unless the pictures were so)
by being reflected from the surface of a mirror, and received
upon a second surface; for the boy was looking
down upon the palm of his hand, so that an image could
not be formed upon the smoke (which was copious, but
not dense) between his eye and the supposed mirror.
THE END.
Transcriber’s Notes:
Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
Typographical errors were silently corrected.
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant
form was found in this book.
