UCSS LIBRARY 
 
 A NEW SEA AND AN OLD LAND
 
 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN BLACKWOOD 8 MAGAZINE

 
 A NEW SEA AND AN OLD LAND 
 
 PAPEES SUGGESTED BY A VISIT TO EGYPT 
 AT THE END- OF 1869 
 
 W. G. HAMLEY 
 
 rOLONEL IN THE CORPS OF ROYAL ENGINEERS 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 MDCCCLXXI
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 WHEN, in the autumn of 1869, I was invited to visit 
 Egypt, to witness the opening of the Suez Canal, 
 I took account of what I knew of the Old Land. 
 Hitherto I had fancied that my knowledge, though 
 not profound, was tolerably accurate and extensive : 
 examination proved to my chagrin how confused and 
 imperfect it was. So at once I set to work, attempt- 
 ing to verify and supplement unsettled ideas, in the 
 hope to escape even yet the reproach of ignorance 
 when I should mingle with the well-informed world 
 who would flock to the fStes. Arrived in Egypt, 
 great was my surprise to find that hardly anybody 
 was conversant with her past or present, and that my 
 scanty reading enabled me to speak with some con- 
 fidence on the subject nay, that I was sometimes 
 referred to as an authority. Seeing this, it was, I 
 hope, no presumption to imagine that there were 
 many in the world who might desire to be taken so 
 far as even I could take them toward a knowledge 
 of Egypt ; and hence originated the papers in this 
 volume which treat of history and antiquities. 
 
 Thus I have not the smallest pretence to write as a 
 teacher of this profound subject. At the most I can
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 pretend to have got into a somewhat higher form 
 than very many of my countrymen, who possibly 
 may thank me if I help them to the level that I have 
 reached. On my side I shall be happy if, by raising 
 a curiosity concerning Egyptian history and remains, 
 I can extend the inclination to study them. 
 
 The papers describing the opening of the Canal and 
 the sights of Cairo give simply my personal adven- 
 tures and the reflections which are written in my 
 diary. I had arranged with Mr Blackwood, before 
 I left England, to publish an account of the affair. 
 My residence in Manchester, the headquarters of the 
 Northern District in which I am employed, will 
 account for my correspondent being a magnate of the 
 city of cotton. 
 
 The narrative of the journey to Venice, as it takes 
 the reader over deeply-trodden ground, requires some 
 apology. It was written and sent to the Magazine 
 to gratify a longing which I felt to express myself on 
 the subject, and I fear, without sufficient reflection as 
 to whether any one would care to go over the track 
 again in my company. Some pleasant criticisms, 
 which I thankfully acknowledge, have secured it a 
 place in the volume. 
 
 From looking back to the brilliant doings at Port 
 Sa'id and Ismailia, only a few months old, the mind 
 cannot but by an effort return to things present, so 
 much has the scene changed. In Egypt the talk was 
 all of peace and universal brotherhood ; the signs
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 were of goodwill, and of high and beneficent enter- 
 prise. France, as the patron of the Canal, had the 
 foremost place among the assembled nations ; and 
 France's graceful and gracious Empress, the most 
 noted personage in so great a company, seemed to 
 our short sight the most favoured of beings. At her 
 side the Crown Prince of Prussia, who, in less than a 
 year, was to deal the first of those blows which were 
 mortal to the French Empire, evinced cordial amity 
 and the sense of common enjoyment. It was impos- 
 sible then to suppose that the next summer would 
 witness one of the bloodiest and most eventful wars 
 that have ever desolated Europe, or that the French 
 Empire could be demolished in two months after 
 swords were drawn. It is but fourteen months since 
 I saw the things of which I write, yet many of them 
 have been thrown back into dimness of the past by 
 the astounding events which have crowded since 
 then to occupy the thoughts of men. Thus the 
 opening of the Canal had scarcely its share of in- 
 terest. But, though the Continent has changed so 
 greatly, it is once more at peace, and it may be 
 hoped, perhaps, that attention will again be directed 
 to the peaceful subjects from which it was so rudely 
 startled. I trust that there are many who, now tired 
 of ideas of change and strife, will feel it a relief to 
 revert to the old things of Egypt, and to the new 
 work so bravely wrought on her Isthmus. 
 
 W. G. H. 
 
 March 1871.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. EGYPT AND THE STOEY OF THE SUEZ CANAL; . 1 
 
 IT. GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE, . .... 39 
 
 HI. THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL, ... 86 
 
 IV. THE VOYAGE FROM ISMAILTA TO SUEZ, . . . 135 
 
 V. THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO, . . . . . 179 
 
 VI. ABOUT WHAT THE OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW, . . 228 
 
 VII. ABOUT HOW THE OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED, 270 
 
 ILL USTRA TIONS. 
 
 THE NILE BY MOONLIGHT, Frontispiece. 
 
 A NEW THING IN COTTON, 84 
 
 THE LANDING OF THE EMPRESS, . . . . .122 
 
 SHIPS ENTERING THE CANAL, 139 
 
 THE HADJI BEFRIENDS US, . . . . . .162 
 
 DONKEY PROCESSION TO THE PYRAMIDS, . . . .193 
 
 AN AWKWARD RENCONTRE, .... 208
 
 A NEW SEA AND AN OLD LAND, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EGYPT AND THE STOEY OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY PAPER. 
 
 December 1869. 
 
 THERE are few minds that will fail to be moved at 
 the mention of Egypt. So closely has that country 
 been connected with all generations of the world, that 
 to have no chord which vibrates at the name argues a 
 low intelligence. Divine teachings, science old and 
 new, history, tradition, fable, war, research, politics, 
 commerce, colonisation if there be any interest, if 
 there be any pursuit, all own some association with 
 that long-famous land. Nor are its relations with 
 learning and science alone. They are interlaced with 
 everyday life and household words. The Mummies, 
 the Nile, the Pyramids, are nouns familiar even to the 
 unlearned and unwashed. Our bluff countryman for 
 whom, without much knowledge, suffices the faith in 
 England's glory and invincibility, must turn to Egypt 
 
 A
 
 2 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 for some favourite instances. He can tell of Alex- 
 andria and Aboukir, though unwitting, possibly, of 
 the hemisphere in which they lie. 
 
 And now again Egypt asserts her affinity with the 
 active peoples of the world. Another stupendous 
 work upon her soil, wrought by myriads of men, at 
 a cost exceeding the value of many a principality, 
 calls thither the great and talented and enterprising 
 of the earth to celebrate the artificial union of two 
 seas, and to stamp on men's minds the significance of 
 the achievement. It is progress which gives this last 
 prominence ; it is anticipation of an unborn future 
 that attracts the nations. A few days, and the nar- 
 ration of the events on the Isthmus, and speculation 
 on the changes that are to follow, will be all-absorb- 
 ing. But there is yet an interval of expectation 
 before we turn the page, and it may profit us if, 
 while we wait, we glance back at the wondrous re- 
 cords that lie behind. We will shout to-morrow for 
 the Egypt of the nineteenth century after Christ, but 
 to-day let us ponder over the Egypt of the past the 
 Egypt of Cheops and Sesostris, of Joseph and Moses 
 the Egypt of rites, and spells, and monuments, and 
 symbols : marvellous, mystic land ! 
 
 When we think of the great age of Egypt as a 
 nation, how in her antiquity she stands alone, more 
 venerable than any nation in the world, the truth 
 cannot be grasped without an effort of the mind. 
 Following the lead of the antiquary or the native 
 annalist, we in these islands are lost in the maze of
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 3 
 
 primitive barbarism when we have reached the Briton 
 and his paint and his edged axle : this is withered 
 eld ; this is the beginning of things. But what is 
 this epoch in respect of the old days of Egypt, which 
 had passed her meridian, great in arts and arms, be- 
 fore the Druid or the Pict was heard of ! Or if we 
 take the days before England had a history, and mete 
 the eras of Greece and Rome, or even of Assyria, we 
 cannot attain to Egypt's early youth by this measure- 
 ment. The Jews alone of all the nations of Asia can 
 trace an antiquity approaching that of Egypt : and, 
 even here, how stands the case ? When Abram, re- 
 presenting in his single person the Jewish nation of 
 his day, went down into Egypt, Egypt was already a 
 country with a settled government. Egypt is so old 
 that no trace of her youth, and, d fortiori, none of her 
 infancy, can be found. She first appears on the page 
 of history armed, learned, subtle, and inscrutable, like 
 Pallas from the brain of Jove ! Not only her barbar- 
 ous and fabulous period is lost to recollection, but the 
 records which she may have left of her early strength 
 have perished from very age. If it be asked, How 
 can antiquity be proved beyond the records of it ? 
 the answer is, that the very oldest remains to which 
 we can affix a date are of such a character that they 
 could have been produced by only an advanced and 
 instructed people. 
 
 Comparison will be assisted by the insertion of a 
 few dates. It should, however, be premised that the 
 era of Menes, the founder of the Egyptian monarchy,
 
 4 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 is taken from the calculation of Mr Osburn, who 
 brings it to a very late year by unsparingly cor- 
 recting the chronology of others. "' 
 
 First record of Egypt, 446 years before Abram = 2364 B.C. 
 
 Ninus the Assyrian, . . . . 2059 B.C. 
 
 Abram in Egypt, . . . . 1918 B.C. 
 
 Supposed date of Homer, . . . 884 B.C. 
 
 Romulus, . . . . .714 B.C. 
 
 Socrates died, . . . . 400 B.C. 
 
 Caesar invaded Britain, . . . 55 B.C. 
 
 " There is no difficulty," says Mr Kenrick,t " in 
 fixing on the country from which ancient history 
 must begin. The monuments of Egypt, its records 
 and its literature, surpass those of India and China in 
 antiquity by many centuries." 
 
 The antiquity of Egypt is, however, only part of 
 the wonder : to complete it her vitality must be 
 taken into account. In the days of Noah, or soon 
 after, she owned the same name and much the same 
 character that she bears to-day. She has seen her 
 vicissitudes, no doubt she has been triumphant and 
 down-trodden at different times ; but while younger 
 nations were all-powerful for a season as witness the 
 Assyrian, the Macedonian, and the Eoman empires 
 and then perished for ever, she has battled with 
 
 * According to Herodotus, the Egyptian monarchy was founded 11,806 
 B.C. ; according to Manetho, 3893 B.C. Mr Rawlinson says, in a note to 
 his translation of Herodotus : " The Egyptian claims to a high relative an- 
 tiquity had, no doubt, a solid basis of truth. It is probable that a settled 
 monarchy was established in Egypt earlier than in any other country. 
 Babylonian history does not go back beyond B.C. 2234, Egyptian begins 
 nearly 500 years earlier." 
 
 t Kenrick's ' Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs. '
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 5 
 
 oblivion and obscurity, awoke up to life again after 
 depression, and, like her mummy wheat, outlasting 
 millenniums, has proved the strength of her principle 
 of life ! 
 
 The conquests of Egypt have been pushed far be- 
 yond the bounds of Egypt proper, into Arabia, Judea, 
 Assyria, and Ethiopia. On the other hand, foreigners 
 have conquered and subjugated Egypt. But it would 
 seem as if nature had forbidden the integrity and 
 individuality of Egypt to be affected by these political 
 changes. She did not absorb into the State the 
 countries which she conquered, neither was she 
 denationalised by her invaders. In many instances 
 a native prince was, after the deposition of the 
 legitimate king, set up by the conqueror, subject 
 to the payment of tribute. Where this was not the 
 case, the conquerors conformed to Egypt more than 
 the Egyptians conformed to them, and the foreign 
 invasions altered the native race no more than the 
 Norman settlers, spoliators and rulers though they 
 were, converted the race of these islands from Anglo- 
 Saxon. Taken in connection with these recollections, 
 the attitude of Egypt just now is significant. Twenty 
 years ago she made a great stride towards freeing 
 herself from the rule of Turkey, and she became a 
 separate Viceroyalty. At this moment she is rousing 
 herself to energy, and the memory of her old name 
 and a desire to command respect seem to be animat- 
 ing her and her ruler. Who shall say that before the 
 close of the century there may not be once more
 
 6 EGYPT AND THE STOKY 
 
 an independent Egypt the same Egypt which was 
 known to the Patriarchs and the Greeks vying 
 with European and Asiatic lands in modern arts 
 and modern commerce "? 
 
 And if Egypt's national life be wonderful, so also 
 is her physical life and her physical life is the Nile 
 a name as famous as any that the world can show. 
 Many a river of the earth has had, or has, its distin- 
 guishing epithet and its stirring history. Horace, 
 stamping the Hydaspes as legendary, traced in that 
 word a title of nobility. But what word or what 
 cluster of words can express the sublime ideas which 
 awaken at the name of the Nile ! " Egypt," said 
 Herodotus 2300 years ago, " is the gift of the Nile." 
 Mr Osburn says to-day, " Egypt is the Nile, and the 
 Nile is Egypt." If in pagan days divine honours 
 were ascribed to the Nile, it was for a better reason 
 than could be rendered for most heathen worship. 
 To natural perception the river was the giver of all 
 good things : its favour was health and plenty ; 
 the withdrawal of its benefits would be ruin. And 
 its mysteries might well impress and awe the. mind. 
 Its beginnings, so men thought, were from everlast- 
 ing : no one could declare its generation ; its course 
 was immeasurable ; the waters rose and fell without 
 apparent cause. A time came when the Nile ceased 
 to be divine ; but it did not cease, and has not ceased, 
 to be a marvel. Its crocodile is no longer adored, but 
 that and behemoth too are still hallowed by associa- 
 tion. In short, to regard the Nile with sang froid is
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 7 
 
 impossible, steel our hearts philosophically as we may. 
 That ark of bulrushes among its flags pictured to our 
 imaginations when reason had scarcely dawned, will 
 present itself amid our studies and our researches. 
 Pharaoh's dream, the frogs, and the water of blood, 
 the magicians with their enchantments, the rod of 
 Aaron astonishing the monarch on the river's bank, 
 cannot be driven away from the visible tide. Herod- 
 otus and his stories, Cleopatra and her charms, all 
 these memories rush in when we think of the Nile. 
 And this as if the Nile, devoid of interest in itself, 
 required the aid of imagination to give it charm ! 
 Nay, the truth is rather that the Nile, in all senses 
 gifted and affluent, and not as other rivers are, 
 superadds a spiritual power to a surpassing natural 
 grandeur. This volume of water which has rolled 
 thus for forty or fifty centuries along a course of 
 2000 miles, has been and is one of the greatest 
 physical wonders. 
 
 Mr Osburn, in his ' Monumental History/ shows 
 us clearly how a daily observation of the Nile affects 
 a visitor from Britain. About the winter solstice 
 the Nile will be found, he tells us, "a magnificent 
 expanse of tolerably clear water, with the blue tinge 
 which also distinguishes the waters of the Khone as 
 they issue from the Lake of Geneva." The overflow 
 is just past, and the scene is of a fertility and beauty 
 unequalled. " The vivid green of the springing corn ; 
 the groves of pomegranate-trees ablaze with the rich 
 scarlet of their blossoms ; the fresh breeze laden with
 
 8 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 the perfumes of gardens of roses and orange-thickets ; 
 every tree and every shrub covered with sweet- 
 scented flowers : these are a few of the natural 
 beauties that welcome the stranger to the land of 
 Ham. There is considerable sameness in them, it is 
 true, for he would observe little variety in the trees 
 and plants, whether he first entered Egypt by the 
 gardens of Alexandria or the plain of Assouan. Yet 
 it is the same everywhere, only because it would be 
 impossible to make any addition to the sweetness of 
 odours, the brilliancy of the colours, or the exquisite 
 beauty of the many forms of vegetable life, in the 
 midst of which he wanders. It is monotonous, but it 
 is the monotony of Paradise." 
 
 But to comprehend the power of the transfor- 
 mation, the Nile must be viewed at midsummer, 
 contracted, turbid, slimy, stagnant, with black sun- 
 cracked mud forming both its shores. All beyond 
 them is sterility and sand, with the forms of trees, 
 dust-coated and scarce distinguishable, withering 
 before the Spirit of the Desert. Thus must nature 
 lie for a season that the reinvigorating power of the 
 flood may have opportunity for beneficence. And lo ! 
 its harbinger, the north wind, cleaving the sandy, 
 burning atmosphere, makes its presence felt. The 
 dust disappears, the colours of nature shine out again, 
 and all is expectation of the next great act. It 
 comes at last. The word is heard from Cairo that 
 the waters are rising, and the first green slimy con- 
 dition of the augmented stream attests the fact. This
 
 OP THE SUEZ CANAL. 9 
 
 greenness, however, is soon gone, and the waters wax 
 more turbid as the tide advances rapidly. They be- 
 come at last deep red like a river of blood, opaque 
 and thick, throughout Upper Egypt. This is the Eed 
 Nile. The rise goes on now somewhat fitfully but 
 incessantly. The thick opaque character sometimes 
 partially disappears, but the deep - red hue never, 
 during high Nile, until the lower lands are reached, 
 by which time much of the sediment has been 
 deposited. 
 
 Along the banks nature a-tiptoe waits for the 
 welcome flood. Indefatigably it spreads itself over 
 the burnt face of the wilderness, and the green herb 
 is possible once more. Dams burst, and obstructions 
 are carried away with a mighty noise, but the sound 
 is not one of terror : all living things know it, and 
 rush to meet the kindly power. And yet, though it 
 comes to bless, its majesty, like the state of Jove, 
 may be dangerous to the rash or improvident : an ill- 
 fenced farm or village will be swept away like a hen- 
 roost ; but these are rare accidents. The general 
 feeling is joy. " The men " (these are the words of 
 Osburn, who has all along been followed in the de- 
 scription of the overflow) " the men, the children, 
 the buffaloes, gambol in its refreshing waters, the 
 broad waves sparkle with shoals of fish, and fowl of 
 every wing flutter over them in clouds. Nor is this 
 jubilee of nature confined to the higher orders of 
 creation. The moment the sand becomes moistened 
 by the approach of the fertilising waters, it is literally
 
 10 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 alive with insects innumerable. It is impossible to 
 stand by the side of one of these noble streams, to see 
 it every moment sweeping away some obstruction to 
 its majestic course, and widening as its flows, without 
 feeling the heart to expand with love and joy and 
 
 confidence in the great Author of this annual miracle 
 
 f 
 
 ot mercy. 
 
 By midwinter the river is again running blue 
 within its banks. 
 
 And now, ere we pass to the chronicles of Egypt, a 
 few thoughts are due to some important uses to which 
 Providence has been pleased to put this land. Abram, 
 perishing of famine, was led thither and nourished at 
 a time when he was childless, and his death must 
 have frustrated the splendid promises which were to 
 take effect through him. Later on, his descendants, 
 still a small band, preceded by Joseph, found an 
 asylum in Goshen, and multiplied there a peculiar 
 people, although at length evilly entreated. Again, 
 on the banks of Nile the compassion of Pharaoh's 
 daughter reached the little being in whose doomed 
 life were wrapped up, so to speak, the oracles of God, 
 and the deliverance of His people. And, lastly, when 
 another Joseph fled by night from the sword of Herod, 
 and took the young Child and His mother, it was into 
 Egypt that he departed. Thus were the purposes of 
 Heaven and the hope of the world made mysteriously 
 to survive through the shelter of Egypt ! 
 
 It is impossible, in a paper of the length to which 
 this can reach, to give an historical account, however
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 11 
 
 meagre, of the country and its government; and yet 
 to say nothing of its annals would be to omit one of 
 the most interesting of the topics proposed for con- 
 sideration. Perhaps if some well-known epochs in 
 other history be selected, and the measure of Egyp- 
 tian periods be taken by them as a scale, we may get 
 something of an outline which, filled in with a note 
 or two, may take us irregularly down the stream of 
 Time. For, as the learned reader will not require 
 to be told, the Egyptians, as far as we know, were 
 innocent of dates referring to any well-known era. 
 They have recorded the lengths of reigns, but left it 
 doubtful in regard to some of these whether they 
 were distinct and consecutive, or wholly or partially 
 contemporaneous. The student, therefore, can do no 
 more than determine, to the best of his judgment, the 
 actual succession and chain of kings down to some 
 known date ; and then, by means of the chronology 
 so obtained, work back and reduce occurrences to 
 our standard of time. It is an interesting truth, that 
 the old Egyptians left a profusion of records in the 
 forms of tablets, papyrus -rolls, obelisks, pictures, 
 statues, mummy-cases, &c. ; and that knowledge of 
 the men and facts to which these relate has by no 
 means reached its fulness, as it was supposed a 
 century ago to have done. On the contrary, the 
 light, eclipsed at that time, seems to have been grow- 
 ing stronger ever since ; and not only has knowledge 
 of the most ancient Egyptians increased most remark- 
 ably, but there is the best reason to hope that the
 
 12 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 means of full and accurate knowledge exist, and that 
 the science of deciphering is all that we want to make 
 us intimately acquainted with this wonderful people 
 and their long-sped ages. Great learning and acu- 
 men have been brought to bear on this alluring 
 subject ; and the regret now seems to be, not that the 
 means of knowledge fail us, but that time and oppor- 
 tunity will not in our day suffice for the use of a 
 modest fraction of the means. 
 
 While we were ignorant ourselves, we moderns 
 after the manner of benighted and satisfied people 
 largely imputed ignorance and mendacity to chroni- 
 clers. Dear old Herodotus was reviled as a story- 
 teller (in a bad sense) or a dupe ; Manetho and Era- 
 tosthenes as wilful impostors ; Diodorus and Strabo 
 as men to be heard with extreme caution. But the 
 admission of the light has tended to reconcile these 
 ancients with each other, and with contemporary 
 history. Discrepancies enough there are still ; but 
 instead of sneering at these, our pundits now indulge 
 a hope that the difficulty has been only in ourselves, 
 and that the keys of the enigmas are in the temples, 
 or the pyramids, or the tombs, or graven with an iron 
 pen and lead in the rock for ever. 
 
 We all remember how, in the Eastern story, All 
 Baba, after he had robbed the robbers, took to measur- 
 ing his gold in a vessel he had so much that he 
 could not possibly count the coins, and so he took 
 account of them by the bushel. Something in the 
 same way, Egyptian histories, embarrassed by the
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 13 
 
 wealth of their lore, give us bushels or sheaves of 
 kings, reckoning them by dynasties, not reigns. It is 
 very well for Roman empires, French monarchies, and 
 such ephemera, to note the names of consuls or kings : 
 old Egypt tells off its Pharaohs as we buy hobnails 
 by the score. Thirty-one dynasties, say the autho- 
 rities, make up the account of government from the 
 beginning of history to the Macedonian subjugation. 
 And now to raise some idea of what these dynasties 
 were. 
 
 The most ancient fact popularly known concerning 
 Egypt is, of course, the visit of the patriarch Abram. 
 He found a Pharaoh on the throne, and this Pharaoh, 
 as is said by some who have taken much trouble to 
 investigate the matter, was King Acthoes of the llth 
 dynasty. The llth dynasty, let it be noted! and 
 Acthoes was the 6th " ? of his dynasty. There had, 
 therefore, been ten dynasties and five reigns of 
 another dynasty (to say nothing of god -dynasties 
 and hero-dynasties) before the day of Abram. Who 
 and what were all these dynasties \ Well, some of 
 the earliest to wit, the gods and heroes who do not 
 count in the thirty-one were shadows, if not fables : 
 shadows if, as some of the learned think, they repre- 
 sent Adam, Seth, Noah, and Noah's son and grand- 
 sons ; myths if their literal character of gods and 
 demi-gods be not removed. And perhaps it may be 
 thought, if proof of antiquity be the object, that 
 
 * Or 16th, according to some. The more moderate calculation is here 
 taken.
 
 14 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 Adam might serve the turn of the most ambitious. 
 This, however, is by no means the case, for Adam 
 the Adam that we are descended from was created 
 only 4004 years before Christ, whereas Egypt claims 
 to have had a king 18,000 years before their first 
 historical king ; and further, the priests told Herod- 
 otus that the first historical king reigned 11,366 years 
 before Herodotus was in Egypt that is, 11,800 years 
 before Christ ! This boast, however, their own chron- 
 icler, Manetho, does not undertake to make good. 
 He is content with 3555 years before Christ as the 
 time of the first - recorded Pharaoh, which takes 
 Egypt back, at any rate, to a date anterior to the 
 Flood ; and we find that there are moderns who, with 
 a sort of geological licence, by no means wish to 
 limit the dates of Egypt to the Flood or the Creation. 
 It is not here intended to say how these questions 
 should be determined. Even if one of the god-kings 
 be Noah himself, and another Phut his grandson, and 
 another Mizraim, as some suppose, these, as Egyptian 
 rulers, can hardly be called historical. And there is 
 the less reason for dwelling on such speculations, that 
 we do not get down very far in the lists before we 
 come on a name that can be verified. Herodotus 
 names a king Menes. Manetho's list has the same 
 name at the head of the first dynasty ten dynasties 
 before Abram's friend. Now, a false list of names 
 may have been given to Herodotus, and another false 
 list may have been published by Manetho nothing 
 was easier : it was only to invent the names, and the
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 15 
 
 thing was done. But when men in the nineteenth 
 century after Christ begin to learn how to read Egyp- 
 tian inscriptions ; and when, on tablets and in tombs 
 of undoubted antiquity, and of a date little posterior 
 to the monarch, we find, fresh and uneffaced, his name 
 and the names of his successors, and an account of his 
 works ; when some of the works themselves, and the 
 remains and traces of others, are yet to be seen on 
 the surface of the earth ; and when the inscriptions 
 and the works agree with the accounts of ancient 
 writers, then we begin to feel that we are on solid 
 ground. And we have the above proofs, all the 
 learned agree, in the case of Menes. There was such a 
 king ; he was Egypt's proto-monarch ; and if we put 
 aside all calculations that would disagree with Scrip- 
 tural chronology, and accept the most modest anti- 
 quity for Menes, we must even then put him down as 
 having lived 446 years before Abram. He is known 
 not only to have lived, but to have undertaken vast 
 engineering works, which means that he reigned over 
 an advanced people. 
 
 Menes, then, is our starting-point ; but we must 
 not jump down to Abram yet. Another important 
 king or two have to be noted before we arrive at 
 Abram's friend. Lord Byron wrote : 
 
 " What are the hopes of man 1 Old Egypt's king 
 
 Cheops erected the first pyramid 
 And largest, thinking it was just the thing 
 
 To keep his memory whole and mummy hid ; 
 But somebody or other rummaging, 
 
 Burglariously broke his coffin's lid.
 
 16 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 * 
 
 Let not a monument give you or me hopes, 
 Since not a pinch of dust remains of Cheops." 
 
 In truth it is highly probable that not one pinch of 
 dust does remain of Cheops. As regards his mummy, 
 therefore, the design has been a failure ; not so, how- 
 ever, as regards his memory ; for, even since Lord 
 Byron wrote, this generation has made acquaintance 
 with old Cheops, and (if we may parody Sir Lucius 
 OTrigger) though his dirty dust may have slipped 
 through our fingers, his memory and his family 
 pictures are as fresh as ever. The recognition came 
 about on this wise. The pyramid was robbed, the 
 sarcophagus broken, and nothing was demonstrable 
 except that somebody had lain there. Nevertheless 
 Cheops was a match for Time. They ransacked his 
 tomb, and thought they had exhausted the secrets of 
 the pyramid, but they had not. A cunning chamber 
 was contrived in the mass of masonry, which was 
 entered in the year 1837 or thereabouts, to which 
 time, from, the date of its construction long before 
 Abram, it had never been seen by mortal eye, never 
 trodden by mortal foot, we may confidently believe. 
 Before this discovery no hieroglyphic had been found 
 in the pyramid, and it was believed that the invention 
 of hieroglyphics was posterior to the building of the 
 pyramid. The discovery of the chamber showed how 
 little we knew about the matter. Whether or not it 
 was a crafty device of Cheops to keep his inscriptions 
 locked away by themselves, certain it is that he did 
 secure his inscriptions until an age when men knew
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 17 
 
 their value and could read them. And now we know 
 that Cheops, otherwise Shufu, otherwise Suphis, did 
 build the Great Pyramid. His name and titles are 
 emblazoned therein, as are also the names of his kin- 
 dred. Cheops was a king of the 4th dynasty. 
 
 Chephren, the brother of Cheops, built the second 
 pyramid, in which his name is inscribed ; and the 
 third pyramid was said by Herodotus to have been 
 built by Mycerinus or Mencherinus, the son and suc- 
 cessor of Chephren. Manetho calls the same person 
 Mencheres. The story of the building, and the exist- 
 ence of Mencheres himself, were set down as fables by 
 the scoffers, and the world was cautioned against 
 receiving the imposture. Colonel Vyse, however, 
 thirty years ago, vindicated the credit of the histor- 
 ians, and confounded the sceptics, by finding the 
 mummy and cerements of Mencheres, and the top of 
 his coffin with his name thereon. So now the deposed 
 and somewhat friable monarch, personally produced 
 in court at the tender age of about 4000 years, with 
 a label to prove his identity the oldest inhabitant 
 being unable to speak to the fact is reinstated in 
 all his rights and privileges. To speak seriously, the 
 proofs of Mencheres having reigned and built the 
 third pyramid, and been buried in it, are accepted by 
 the learned as conclusive. 
 
 From Mencheres down to Abram's friend Acthoes 
 we do not care to mention any name. Acthoes seems 
 to have settled a long intestine strife which had been 
 raging concerning the limbs of the god Osiris for some 
 
 B
 
 18 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 generations ; and we know that he was most attentive 
 to Abram and Sarai, and that he had a polished off- 
 hand way of apologising for any little inadvertence. 
 
 Phiops, Apappus, or Aphophis, of the 14th dynasty, 
 is understood to be the Pharaoh who reigned when 
 Joseph was sold into Egypt. He reigned at Helio- 
 polis, the scriptural On. He lived to receive Jacob 
 and the patriarchs, and to establish them in Goshen, 
 and died being eighty years old. His son Melaneres, 
 and his immediate successors, continued the same 
 benevolent policy towards the Israelites, who multi- 
 plied and throve in Egypt until the 19th dynasty, 
 wherein " there arose up a new king over Egypt which 
 knew not Joseph." This king, there is reason to 
 believe, was no other than the great Rameses ; and 
 some commentators go the length of saying that the 
 great Rameses is no other than the great Sesostris. 
 Let this identity be accepted, and we have the illus- 
 trious Sesostris the first cause of the plagues and the 
 Red Sea catastrophe. He is not, however, our hard- 
 hearted acquaintance of the Book of Exodus. Sesos- 
 tris was a great builder of cities, monuments, and 
 forts, as well as a great warrior. He was of a dif- 
 ferent stock from the monarchs who were friendly to 
 Israel, and he made the children of Jacob toil in his 
 quarries, form his bricks, drag his huge statues, exca- 
 vate tombs, &c., instead of allowing them to thrive in 
 the land of Goshen as heretofore. Thus were they 
 disestablished and disendowed when Moses was born 
 and ordered to be thrown into the Nile. His daugh-
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 19 
 
 ter, the tender-hearted Thuoris, it is suggested, was 
 the preserver of Moses, and his mother by adoption, 
 who bred him up in all the learning and wisdom of 
 the Egyptians, with the intention of placing him on 
 the throne of Egypt. For this compassionate princess 
 had been, for political purposes, married to an infant 
 husband, a husband who was as young as Moses 
 was when he lay in the bulrushes, and she did not 
 hope to give birth to an heir. It may not have been 
 her purpose at the time of the rescue to place Moses 
 on the throne, because she had a brother then living ; 
 but this brother died soon after his father Sesostris, 
 leaving a very young son, in whose minority Thuoris 
 herself reigned, and it was during this reign of hers 
 probably that she formed such a large destiny for 
 Moses. This explains the amount of the sacrifice 
 which Moses made when he refused to be called the 
 son of Pharaoh's daughter, and preferred to suffer 
 affliction with the people of God. When Moses slew 
 the Egyptian, Thuoris was probably dead, and it was 
 her husband Siphtha, now a middle-aged man, who 
 sought to slay Moses. Siphtha, too, was dead before 
 the day of the burning bush, by which time Sethos, 
 the nephew of Thuoris, and during whose youth she 
 had reigned, had succeeded to her throne, vice Moses, 
 who declined the appointment. This Sethos is the 
 man who could not be brought to see the importance 
 of removing his Jewish disabilities, and who braved 
 plagues and drowning rather than let Israel go. Be- 
 sides his punishment while alive, he underwent that
 
 20 
 
 greatest of Egyptian misfortunes that he could not 
 be made a mummy of, seeing that he lay dead in the 
 Eed Sea.* 
 
 For some time after the exodus the Scriptures say 
 nothing about Egypt, until, in the First Book of 
 Kings, we hear of Hadad, a young Edomite, who fled 
 into Egypt, and married the sister of Tahpenes the 
 queen. This must have been in the 21st dynasty. 
 In the 22d we arrive at that Shishak to whom Jero- 
 boam fled, and with whom he found shelter until 
 after the death of Solomon. This Shishak was the 
 first of the many foreign enemies who entered Jeru- 
 salem and pillaged the Temple. 
 
 It is now necessary to hurry on, or space will fail. 
 Somewhere in the 24th Egyptian dynasty Kome was 
 founded. About the same period the power of Egypt 
 was declining, and she found it hard to keep off her 
 Eastern enemies. Assyria now begins to be the great 
 power, and to domineer over the neighbouring coun- 
 tries. In the 25th dynasty the Assyrians got a check 
 from Tirhaka or Tehrak, and the evil day was post- 
 poned. Then Egypt and Greece fought side by side 
 for a season, and the former took a part in wearing 
 out the Jewish kingdom. Neco slew King Josiah, 
 and carried Jehoahaz prisoner to Egypt ; but this 
 same Neco quailed before Nebuchadnezzar, who after- 
 wards, it is supposed, invaded Egypt. The glory was 
 
 * In this glance at the period from Jacob to Moses, Mr Osburn's recon- 
 struction of Egyptian history has been followed. There are other and dis- 
 similar methods of uniting Egyptian with Jewish chronology.
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 21 
 
 now rapidly departing, and the 26th dynasty was 
 brought to an end by the Persian invasion. The old 
 country had now to endure a whole dynasty (the 
 27th) of Persian kings, kicking hard all the time, but 
 unable to remove her bonds, until at last, about 400 
 years B.C., she reconquered her freedom, and was ruled 
 by Egyptian kings through the 28th, 29th, and 30th 
 dynasties. Then again she was reduced by the Per- 
 sians, who furnished her 31st dynasty, and held their 
 ground till the conquest by Alexander the Great, 
 332 B.C. Just before the Christian era, Egypt shared 
 the fate of the other countries of the world and 
 became a Eoman province the story of Cleopatra 
 marking the period as a romantic point in history. 
 
 The language of this remarkable people is another 
 curiosity. There is every reason to believe that the 
 native Christian population read their Bibles and 
 preserve their hymns and religious books in the same 
 tongue which was used in the days of the Pharaohs. 
 It has not been in common use since the twelfth 
 century, but it would seem that there were persons 
 who could speak it as late as the seventeenth century. 
 This language has become a most important study, 
 now that keys have been found for some of the hiero- 
 glyphics ; for the country is absolutely covered with 
 inscriptions, and most of these inscriptions contain 
 information that we much desire to possess. Inscrip- 
 tion, fortunately for the curious of this country, was 
 a perfect mania with the old Egyptians. Not only 
 did they inscribe great monuments, tombs, &c., but
 
 22 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 they put their mark on everything that could carry it. 
 There are, we firmly believe, the means of ample 
 knowledge if we can but find the wit to interpret. 
 But, be it remembered, it is not so much the language 
 (which, as has been said, is still preserved in sacred 
 books) as the characters in which it is written, which 
 present the puzzle. One perplexity arises from the 
 fact that there were two languages one for ordinary 
 uses, and the other known only to the priests. Be- 
 sides which there were varieties of writing, used pos- 
 sibly according to fixed rules, but very confusing till 
 the rules shall be found. Three varieties are recog- 
 nised thus far. One would appear to be alphabetical 
 writing, although done in pictures that is to say, 
 there is a sign for every letter, and, unfortunately, 
 more than one sign for each. A second is simply 
 pictorial writing, wherein a drawing of the object 
 stands for it. The third is a symbolical writing, 
 where pictures do not stand for the objects which 
 they represent, but for some other objects signified by 
 them figuratively or arbitrarily. In this last kind, 
 the representation of some natural object as a bird, 
 a serpent, a hatchet may represent a whole word, a 
 syllable, or a letter. There are no stops. It has, 
 however, come to light that very often, besides the 
 characters which form the word, a drawing of the 
 thing intended is given. The three kinds of writing 
 are often intermixed in one inscription wherefore, 
 we know not and thus a pretty complication was 
 presented ; indeed, it was no wonder that at one time
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 23 
 
 the hieroglyphics were looked upon as little more than 
 quaint devices of little or no significance. Great 
 genius, however, and great patience, having been exer- 
 cised in respect of the writings, have at length solved 
 some of the difficulties, and shown us how the rest 
 may be solved. A stone was dug up at Kosetta in 
 1798, having on it an inscription three times graven, 
 and each time in a different character. One of the 
 characters was the Greek, which could be read ; and 
 it being suspected that the other two were the Egyp- 
 tian forms of the same words, the learned set to work, 
 and before long had something like the beginning of 
 an alphabet. It was not till 1822 that M. Champol- 
 lion, the most successful discoverer, published his 
 vocabulary, which gave at once a clue and a new 
 impetus to the ingenious of all countries. 
 
 There are so many other heads under which it 
 would be gratifying to write of ancient Egypt, that 
 to have to turn away from them for want of space 
 is grievous. Arts, sciences, religion, manners, monu- 
 ments, dress, might all have furnished interesting 
 periods. Possibly the pleasure of treating of these in 
 a popular form may yet be in reserve, if the public 
 mind continue to be occupied with Egypt. At pre- 
 sent, it is imperative that we turn to those works of 
 ancient Egypt which lead up to the achievement that 
 has put modern Egypt on every man's tongue this 
 day. Canals are not new things in Egypt. Menes 
 constructed water-works on a magnificent scale. The 
 draining of natural lakes and swamps, and the con-
 
 24 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 struction of artificial lakes, the diversion of the courses 
 of streams (branches of the Nile), enclosing of stone 
 reservoirs, and so on, appear to have occupied all 
 generations. The skill and labour-power being theirs, 
 the application of them in this way was obvious, 
 where terrestrial water was of such importance. It 
 does not appear, however, to have occurred to any 
 one before Sesostris to open up a water-communica- 
 tion with the Ked Sea. He conceived such a design, 
 and some say that he executed it ; but there is no 
 certainty as to whether he did the latter or not. 
 Traces of a canal connecting the Nile with the Red 
 Sea have certainly been discovered ; and it is known 
 that Pharaoh-Neco either re-formed that which Sesos- 
 tris had before made, or was the author of the work. 
 " It went off," says Mr Kenrick, " from the Nile in 
 the neighbourhood of the modern town of Belbeis, 
 supposed to represent the Bubastis Agria of the 
 Greeks, and ran eastward through a natural valley, 
 the Goshen of Jewish history, till it reached the Bitter 
 Lakes, which derive their quality from the saline im- 
 pregnations of the Desert. The influx of the waters 
 of the Nile rendered them sweet, and they abounded in 
 fish and aquatic birds. Issuing from these, it pursued 
 a southerly course to Suez. Towards the western end 
 its traces are very visible notwithstanding the deposit 
 of the Nile, which has partly filled it up ; towards the 
 east, where the influence of the Desert is more power- 
 ful, it has nearly disappeared." Neco did not, how- 
 ever, perfect his canal, though he expended myriads
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 25 
 
 of men in the excavation. Darius, who followed 
 him on the work, effected the junction with the sea. 
 Ptolemy II. completed the operation, and added a 
 flood-gate. The work, after all, was abandoned, and 
 became only a relic of past greatness and daring and 
 skill. As an antiquity, the French explored its course 
 during their occupation of Egypt at the beginning of 
 the century. 
 
 Although to connect the Red Sea with the Nile was 
 in a manner to connect it with the Mediterranean, the 
 junction of the two seas does not seem to be what the 
 Pharaohs had in view. They desired to make a port 
 on the Red Sea available for shipping their own pro- 
 duce, and for trade between Egypt and the East, and 
 something like a dockyard seems to have been estab- 
 lished by them at Suez. What thought of barbarous 
 Europe or her interests had great Egypt when she 
 did this ? what recked Europe whether Egypt did it 
 or not \ 
 
 Now let fall the curtain on old Egypt. 
 
 Raise the curtain again on the latter part of the 
 nineteenth century after Christ, and what is the scene? 
 The nations of the West grown to manhood, and 
 civilised as no nations of the earth have ever before 
 been, have penetrated to the ends of the world, and 
 carried wealth and skill and energy into every zone. 
 They have made the sea a highway, and ploughed it 
 with keels borne down by mighty freights. The 
 West and East, no longer strange one to another, 
 advance each year in intercommunion and brother-
 
 26 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 hood. Means of intercourse, facilities of transport, 
 increase apace, but as yet there is a stern physical 
 impediment the way is long. Who shall minister 
 to the impatience of modern minds I Who shall 
 abridge the passage between the rising and the set- 
 ting sun ? Then stands forth Egypt the Egypt that 
 was Pharaoh's waking from a long sleep, decayed 
 and halting, but trembling with a reflux of life. She 
 vaunts that she will bring two seas together, that 
 she will make the path of Europe and Asia straight. 
 But men doubt doubt her ability, her resources, her 
 knowledge doubt her, stamped as she is with the 
 achievements of fifty centuries. She may fail; but 
 while we can look at the Pyramids, and the Sphinx, 
 and the Labyrinth, it is impious to predict a failure. 
 Egypt came to the rescue, and we have the word 
 of Egypt's Viceroy that the design of piercing the 
 Isthmus was conceived by the native Government, 
 and was not adopted on the motion of a foreigner. 
 This, if we would judge impartially of the achieve- 
 ment, is a very important consideration; for we know 
 how, from the very first, it has been imputed that 
 European intrigue was the parent of the undertaking, 
 and that political, not cosmopolitan, ends were to 
 be served by it. If, then, the voluntary declaration 
 of the Egyptian Prince can be relied on, it was with 
 a view of regaining for his country an honourable 
 place in the councils of the world, and of establishing 
 her fame and his own, that he took the project under 
 his protection, and resolved that the great idea should
 
 OP THE SUEZ CANAL. 2*7 
 
 unfold into a mighty work. Well would it have 
 been for the work and for its promoters if this had 
 been understood ten or twelve years ago ! well, 
 perhaps, for all concerned, except M. F. de Lesseps. 
 He is excepted, because, if there had been only smooth 
 sailing if there had been no imputation, no misre- 
 presentation, no prophecy of failure, no scoffing 
 then the perseverance, energy, and confidence of M. 
 de Lesseps could not possibly stand out as they now 
 do. The opponents of the scheme have given oppor- 
 tunity to M. de Lesseps of proving himself to be one 
 of the great. In a tableau toward which the regard 
 of the whole world is directed, his is the principal 
 figure. With the fame of a work which rivals the 
 works of Sesostris and of Cheops, the name of M. de 
 Lesseps is associated for all time. 
 
 They who have been watching the close of the 
 affair for the last year or two may well be astonished 
 when they look back and perceive how men refused 
 to believe that which is now a patent fact nay, how 
 they did believe in and affirm results which have 
 never come to pass. Our English commercial bodies, 
 it is true, highly approved of the scheme when it 
 was propounded to them. They were taken captive, 
 partly by the splendour of the conception, partly 
 by the prospect of expansion which opened to their 
 own profession. They signified their approval and 
 good wishes, but this meant neither belief nor effec- 
 tual support. It meant that, waiving the question 
 of the practicability of the design in an engineering,
 
 28 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 a financial, or a political acceptation, they would be 
 delighted to see accomplished the maritime canal 
 which had been propounded to them by the lively 
 portraiture of M. de Lesseps, or the forcible repre- 
 sentations of Mr Lange. The living faith which is 
 necessary to the excavation of long canals no less 
 than to the removal of mountains, was not in them. 
 They wished rather than hoped ; and when they 
 looked through the length and breadth of England, 
 they found little to help their unbelief. The Prime 
 Minister, a chief grown grey in worldly wisdom, to 
 whom they were accustomed to look for a shrewd, 
 penetrating, perspicacious opinion of public acts, took 
 the lead in denouncing the scheme. The dismember- 
 ment of Turkey and seizure of Egypt by a rival power 
 that should bar us from our empire in the East, were 
 what he saw foreshadowed in M. de Lesseps' pro- 
 spectus ; in M. de Lesseps himself he saw a charlatan. 
 He refused to believe that there was the least inten- 
 tion of making a canal ; and boldly affirmed that, if 
 attempted, the work would be frustrated by natural 
 impediments, and the promoters ruined by the failure. 
 Such was the tone of the head of the Government, 
 who did not fail to sway his subalterns, or to send a 
 general misgiving through the country. Referring to 
 the tone of the press, we find many a journal that is 
 now lauding the Canal in all its numbers, and pre- 
 paring to electrify its readers with a description of the 
 opening ceremonies, pointing the finger of scorn, drop- 
 ping about such terms as " swindle," " bubble," and
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 29 
 
 otherwise damning with praise far beyond faintness. 
 This encouraging notice would be kept up all the 
 week, and, at the week's end, the weekly mentor 
 which cannot err would decree that the thing was 
 impossible and ruinous. Such dicta, inferior only 
 to the words of fate, if inferior to them, would have 
 stopped any ordinary man. Then it was set forth 
 how M. de Lesseps was living deliciously how he 
 was madly flinging away the money of his dupes 
 how he was in league with the Viceroy to devote the 
 Egyptians to a worse than negro slavery, and to death 
 in the wilderness. " The Canal will be a stagnant 
 ditch," said some. " It will be a wild unmanageable 
 current," said others. " It will silt up with the deposit 
 of the Nile." " It will be filled by the sand of the 
 Desert." " The Bitter Lakes, through which it is to 
 pass, will be filled up with salt." " The Mediterranean 
 entrance cannot be kept open." These, and many 
 more, were the cheering prophecies that M. de Les- 
 seps was complimented with in English journals, 
 which, after deciding that the Canal could not be 
 made, were especially careful to affix to it the brand 
 of commercial infamy by showing that it would not 
 pay. 
 
 M. de Lesseps procured a concession from the 
 Viceroy sanctioning the commencement of the works ; 
 but this concession was not good without the Sultan's 
 ratification, and great pressure was put upon the Sul- 
 tan to induce him to withhold his approval. The 
 difficulty was at length overcome through the perse-
 
 30 EGYPT AND THE STORY OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 verance and insistance of M. de Lesseps, who forth- 
 with made a demonstration by commencing the 
 works. The scorn with which this act was treated 
 by some of our writers could hardly be exceeded. 
 It was an impudent pretence, they said, got up to 
 quiet the weak minds of his dupes paltry, futile, 
 and disingenuous. In spite of this, M. de Lesseps 
 worked on. 
 
 Now, whether the Suez Canal will prove a triumph 
 of engineering, whether it will ultimately be a paying 
 speculation, and whether it may be made to operate 
 injuriously to England, are questions which it is not 
 intended here to decide. They must receive a solu- 
 tion shortly, and we may await it. But many of the 
 accusations against M. de Lesseps and against his 
 work have already been repelled. He has answered 
 the taunt, that he never contemplated any real work, 
 by actually completing a very great work : he has 
 shown that an enormous amount of dredging may be 
 kept continually in process. He has made no slave 
 in the wilderness. M. de Lesseps is clearly no char- 
 latan. If he should fail, it will be said of him as of 
 Phaethon, " Magnis tamen excidit ausis." 
 
 It is time now to say something of what M. de 
 Lesseps undertook to do; and, the better to under- 
 stand this, it will be well to look at the map which 
 accompanies this paper, and which is reduced in scale, 
 by permission of the author, from a map which was 
 appended to Mr Hawkshaw's, F.RS., Report to the 
 Egyptian Government in 1863, concerning the Canal.
 
 SUEZ CANAL 
 
 General Map.
 
 32 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 The ultimate design was to pierce the Isthmus from 
 the Bay of Pelusium to Suez by a ship-canal ; but in 
 order to do this, preliminary works were necessary. 
 Suez had no fresh water save what was brought in 
 tanks from Cairo ; it therefore was required, for the 
 existence of the workmen and for the prosecution of 
 the works, that plenty of fresh water should be forth- 
 coming. A fresh-water canal from the Nile to the 
 ship-canal was in consequence designed and executed. 
 It leaves the Nile near Cairo, and takes the course 
 indicated by the line on the map to Lake Timseh. It 
 is 26 feet wide and 4 feet deep. While it was in pro- 
 gress, water had to be brought to the workmen on the 
 backs of camels ; but when it was once complete, a 
 supply along the line of the ship-canal was possible. 
 Having thus got water, the next care was the con- 
 struction of a depot, and this was established on the 
 north shore of Lake Timseh. Ismailia is the name 
 of it, derived from that of the Pacha Ismail. This 
 town has now grown so large that it contains 5000 
 inhabitants. 
 
 In making the fresh- water canal, the Company 
 foresaw that by this means much land heretofore 
 desert might be brought into cultivation. They 
 therefore procured the right of cultivating such land 
 as they might render fertile. This right they after- 
 wards sold back with the fresh-water canal to the 
 Egyptian Government, who are bound to maintain 
 the Canal works. The sale appears to have been 
 much to the Company's advantage.
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 33 
 
 Nothing now barred the realisation of the project 
 of the ship-canal, which was accordingly proceeded 
 with. This canal takes the line (see map) from Port 
 Said, a creation of the Company, in the Bay of Pelu- 
 sium, by Lake Menzaleh, Lake Buleh, Lake Timseh, 
 and the Bitter Lakes, to Suez. " In that part of the 
 Isthmus of Suez," says Mr Hawkshaw, in his Report,* 
 " extending from the Eed Sea to the Mediterranean, 
 there is a remarkable valley or depression of the soil. 
 Beginning at the upper end of the Eed Sea, this 
 depression passes from Suez round the north-eastern 
 side of the mountain of Geneffe", by El Ambak, Sera- 
 peum, Timsal, El Guisr, and Kantara to Port Said, 
 and sinks in places below the surface of the Red Sea 
 and of the Mediterranean." It was along this depres- 
 sion that the ship-canal was intended to run. For- 
 merly a belief existed that the Eed Sea level was 
 higher by 30J feet than the level of the Mediter- 
 ranean. A survey made at the end of the last 
 century, by direction of the first Napoleon, seemed 
 to confirm this belief. The belief was nevertheless 
 proved to be an error, by the incontrovertible evi- 
 dence of M. Bourdaloue, who, in 1846, executed a 
 most careful survey, and ascertained that the levels 
 of the Eed .Sea and the Mediterranean, if they differ 
 at all, differ by only a few inches ; that is to say, 
 inappreciably as regards the Canal. 
 
 It was of course proper to execute the different 
 
 * Keport of John Hawkshaw, F.K.S., to the Egyptian Government, 3d 
 February 1863.
 
 34 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 portions of this great work in such order that every 
 part done should aid the completion of the remainder ; 
 and communication between the Bay of Pelusium 
 and Lake Timseh being manifestly an auxiliary, the 
 first instalment of the ship-canal was a channel of 
 comparatively small dimensions, joining those points. 
 This work appears to have been at first of about the 
 same section as the fresh-water canal before men- 
 tioned, sufficient, nevertheless, for the passage of flat- 
 bottomed boats of small draught of water. It was 
 formed by dredging through Lake Menzaleh, and by 
 digging and excavating over the ground between 
 Lakes Menzaleh and Timseh. A portion of the jetty 
 at Port Said was likewise executed, and another 
 depot, with workshops, plant, and machinery, was 
 there established. This work at Port Sai'd, not more 
 than seven years old, was the germ of a town which 
 now contains 10,000 inhabitants. Not only has the 
 town been built, but much of the site of it has been 
 reclaimed from the sea in that interval. Beginning 
 by drawing its provisions, water, and fuel from Da- 
 mietta, a town far to the westward, the town of Port 
 Said, as it and the works of the Canal advanced to- 
 gether, gradually threw off its dependence on Da- 
 mietta, and a co-operative relationship between Is- 
 mailia and Port Said ripened. The fresh water is 
 now pumped by a fifty-horse-power engine through 
 pipes from "the canal near Ismailia to Port Said, and 
 of course to every intermediate station on the line of 
 the maritime canal.
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 35 
 
 At this stage then, we have, 1st, The water of the 
 Nile brought to Lake Timseh ; 2d, Port Said and 
 Ismailia established ; 3d, A boat-canal, in working 
 condition, from Port Said to Ismailia ; 4th, Fresh 
 water carried all along the line north of Timseh ; 5th, 
 A jetty, partly constructed, at Port Said. Lake 
 Timseh was generally dry, or nearly so ; and when 
 its basin was connected with the Mediterranean, as 
 recorded above, the waters of the sea rushed into the 
 basin, and began to fill it. It was five months be- 
 fore the basin was full. Let it be noted that the 
 levels of the fresh and salt canals are not the same, 
 and that they are separated by two locks. It will be 
 seen at once how stone, quarried anywhere along the 
 line between Ismailia and Port Sa'id, could be made 
 available wherever wanted for the works. Stone 
 from the shores of Timseh is in the jetty of Port 
 Said. 
 
 The next undertaking was the extension of the 
 fresh- water canal to Suez ; and this was successfully 
 carried out. Suez now, like Port Said, enjoyed its 
 continuous supply of fresh water, and new and excel- 
 lent stone-quarries at Genefie became available for the 
 whole works. The southern branch of the fresh-water 
 canal runs, through part of its length, in the channel 
 of the old canal of the Pharaohs. It need not be 
 added, if the reader has kept bis eye on the map, that 
 as soon as the fresh-water canal was complete to Suez, 
 there was water -communication for flat -bottomed 
 boats from the Mediterranean to the Ked Sea. All
 
 36 EGYPT AND THE STORY 
 
 that was yet done was, however, but preliminary 
 work. The formation of a harbour at either end, and 
 of the great canal for ships, had now to be proceeded 
 with, and the last five years have been spent in inde- 
 fatigably pushing forward these operations. 
 
 The whole length of the Canal is about ninety 
 miles. From Suez to the Bitter Lakes is above twelve 
 miles ; the passage through the Bitter Lakes is about 
 twenty-four miles ; eight miles from these to Lake 
 Timseh ; through Lake Timseh, three miles ; on to 
 Lake Buleh, eleven miles ; eleven more to Lake Men- 
 zaleh ; and through Lake Menzaleh, twenty miles. 
 The established width is 328 feet ; but, where difficult 
 cuttings occur, the width is less. The sides slope to 
 a width at bottom of 246 feet. The highest ground 
 cut through is at El Guisr, where the excavation is 
 85 feet. At Serapeum there is a cutting of 62 feet. 
 Nearer Suez there is a cutting of 56 feet. Through 
 the lakes the channel was of course dredged. The 
 depth of the Canal is 26 feet. 
 
 The last act recorded was the letting in of the 
 waters of the Red Sea to the Bitter Lakes, which, it is 
 presumed, are still filling, they having been almost 
 dry till the Canal was made.* 
 
 Two jetties or moles stretch into the sea, one nearly 
 3000 yards long, the other 2000 yards, to form the 
 harbour of Port Said. At 3000 yards from the coast- 
 line a water-depth of 30 feet is found. The harbour- 
 works have, of course, been very heavy and expensive. 
 
 * This was written in October 1869.
 
 OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 37 
 
 At Suez the Company are forming a mole of 900 yards 
 long, under shelter of which the ship-channel to deep 
 water has been formed by dredging. 
 
 Somewhere about 12,000,000 have been expended 
 upon the work. The quantities of earth excavated 
 and dredged out have seemed fabulous when put in 
 figures. The machines used have been, to a great 
 extent, invented for this work, and are of great power 
 and ingenuity. The dredging and pumping has gone 
 on night and day. A rail way, * it should be added, 
 has been made from Suez to Ismailia. 
 
 Such is the work as it stands. All who may see it 
 will say that it is gigantic ; but they will only half 
 appreciate the achievement if they view it indepen- 
 dently of the force and constancy with which it has 
 been pushed forward. 
 
 So far every difficulty has been overcome. It still 
 remains to be proved whether access to, and depth in, 
 the Canal can be maintained with reasonable labour, 
 and whether, if it be maintained, the income will 
 exceed the outlay. It is certain that the ancient 
 canals of the Isthmus were for some reason or other 
 abandoned, and that the result was the same on every 
 occasion of their trials. But the conditions in the 
 present day are widely different from what they have 
 ever before been ; and there is every reason to expect 
 that the skill which, so far, has overcome all diffi- 
 culties, will not have been at fault in reckoning the 
 ultimate value of the performance. 
 
 * Not shown on the map.
 
 38 EGYPT AND THE STORY OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 Before this paper can be in type, the initial suffici- 
 ency of the Suez Canal will have been tested by the 
 passage of a fleet of steam-ships freighted with the 
 great, the beautiful, the rich, the curious. Let Great 
 Britain wish success with all her heart, casting aside 
 dark forebodings and narrow jealousies. It has been 
 her boast hitherto that she has made her greatness 
 consist with the progress of mankind, not that it has 
 been antagonistic thereto. New defences, new treaties, 
 a new policy, will doubtless now be necessary; and 
 should some knot worthy the remedy gather, we must 
 cut it, as we have done before, with the sword. There 
 is a parry for every thrust ; therefore let us turn from 
 the speck of shadow, and look towards the extended 
 prospect of brightness. That which brings Europe 
 near to ludia, brings also India near to Europe, and 
 India is England's. We must do our duty by India, 
 and make her a source of strength ; then we, and not 
 our rivals, will be the gamers by the piercing of the 
 Isthmus.
 
 39 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 A LETTER TO BULLION BALES, ESQ. OP MANCHESTER, 
 FROM HIS FRIEND MR SCAMPER. 
 
 July 1870. 
 
 MY DEAR BALES, My three telegrams one only 
 two days old must have advised you that I am 
 alive and moving. How I have lived and moved I 
 now propose to tell you. Imprimis, with reference 
 to those favourite similes of yours about a child 
 bounding from the schoolroom, or a bird liberated 
 from a cage, believe me, they do not apply to folk 
 like you and me fleeing from our desks and ledgers. 
 Manchester goes with us, hanging on like Sinbad's 
 old man. One who has been long in populous city 
 pent does not, if he has been pursuing a business 
 therein, disengage himself from the populous city so 
 easily as a poet may think. Prythee, then, Bales, 
 give over your similes, for they prove to those who 
 have travelled that you have not. 
 
 I was not unprepared for the feverish bustle of my 
 last few days before starting. Where fresh work
 
 40 GETTING OUT OP THE SMOKE. 
 
 comes pouring in up to the last minute, it is in vain 
 that you seek those few quiet hours which are to be 
 devoted to the plans and provisions of the journey; 
 "rusticus expectat dum defluit amnis," the leisure 
 never comes, and you go away distracted. You have 
 forgotten a good many necessary things, and you are 
 persuaded that you have forgotten a great many 
 more, which afterwards turn out all right ; you 
 would many times on your way to the station stop 
 the carriage and turn back if you had not run the 
 time so fine ; it is anything but a luxury that first 
 half-hour's communing with your own spirit. And 
 when, at last, comes the reflection that it is too late 
 to remedy an omission in regard to personal wants, 
 you don't subside into calm. There are a hundred 
 business matters first intended to be done by your- 
 self, then to be carefully committed to the doing of 
 another, which, you think, have been neither done 
 nor committed ; and you study how the shortest 
 possible form of words shall convey the necessary 
 instructions in the telegrams which you will rush to 
 despatch as soon as you are out of the train. 
 
 As you rummage your vocabulary to make these 
 concise, a proverb keeps buzzing about your brain 
 that brevity is the soul of something or other, but 
 telegraphy is too long a word to fit in. What is 
 the word \ Hang the word ! how the deuce shall I 
 abridge this message to Bales without vitiating its 
 import ? How often do you say in your haste that 
 a holiday is not worth having on these terms ; that
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 41 
 
 but for shame you would turn back now, and bring 
 your perplexity and your trip to a sudden end to- 
 gether ! You can't do this, and by-and-by you find 
 out that there is no remedy for your forgetfulness, 
 except the telegrams which you have invented ; and 
 so that trouble is dismissed, but only to make way 
 for another. You have arranged to do so many 
 things in London and its suburbs ! and the time 
 allowed, which cannot be exceeded, will never suffice 
 for all these, and you begin to enumerate them for 
 your comfort. It all seemed simple enough when 
 you were planning, but now it is clear that it never 
 can be done. Thus does your mind, once set a-fret- 
 ting, find the means of continuing its own disquiet. 
 
 Well, you get to London, and don't send off the 
 pithy telegrams which took such a world of labour 
 to frame ; you find that seven-eighths of the things 
 supposed to have been forgotten or unprovided for 
 have been carefully looked to ; and that, although 
 you have no spare time in London, you do get through 
 all your programme and are prepared to start at the 
 appointed time. On making this departure from 
 London for the coast, and not before that, you really 
 begin to feel that you are leaving some of your cares 
 behind. 
 
 What I have described above has always been my 
 experience in getting away from business. But two 
 or three days once past without the sight of new 
 work make a different man of you, as I felt on turning 
 out in a fresh morning to take the train for Dover. I
 
 42 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 felt still better when I arrived on the pier and got 
 a sight of the sea. Embarkation was no difficult 
 matter, but it would have been much easier than it 
 was if a broader stair had been provided at the pier ; 
 for where there is a down current and an up current 
 of mankind and two people can scarcely stand abreast, 
 ascent and descent cannot be pleasant. It was a fine 
 unsuspicious morning enough, nevertheless I found 
 people making themselves up for a blow, or at any 
 rate for a shipment of seas ; so, to be in the fashion, 
 I adopted the prevailing uniform, which was a long 
 tarpaulin dress fashioned with pieces of spun yarn for 
 frogs and headed by a capacious hood, so that the 
 passengers, whom I felt inclined to speak of as the 
 brethren, resembled a convent afloat. After pacing 
 the length of the deck once or twice I thought it 
 prudent to sit down ; and accordingly I secured a 
 place on a bench which held three, near the waist of 
 the vessel, the two other occupants being an old 
 gentleman and a lady. You know how, when you 
 come among a crowd of strangers, there is always 
 some group or some individual that more than all the 
 rest attracts your notice, don't you 1 Well, on board 
 the steamer I was not long in singling out a gentle- 
 man as an object of interest. He did not robe himself 
 as a monk, but it was not this singularity that caused 
 me to observe him. He wore two wideawake hats at 
 once, a black one over a brown one, yet neither was 
 this the reason of my regarding him. I was fasci- 
 nated by his peculiarly handsome face, and by the
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 43 
 
 gracious expression of it. He Lad something to say 
 to almost everybody on board, certainly to all those 
 who walked to and fro ; and at last he collected a 
 crowd of passengers of all classes on the forward part 
 of the deck and addressed them earnestly. I was too 
 doubtful of my own behaviour on the high seas to 
 rise and join his audience as I wished to do, but I 
 found out afterwards that he had discovered a new 
 interpretation of Scripture, and was anxious to caution 
 all men that the common teaching is utterly erroneous, 
 and that they can know nothing of real religion until 
 they study his version. He was carrying with him 
 to the Continent translations into many languages of 
 one of the gospels ; but whether he travelled solely 
 on a missionary errand, or improved the occasions' 
 created by other business by dropping divine know- 
 ledge on his path, I did not discover. I spoke to him 
 before we left the ship, and learned that he was going 
 to make a wonderfully long journey without a halt. 
 His age may have been five-and-thirty years. But 
 my first proceeding after settling myself in my seat 
 was to establish relations with my immediate neigh- 
 bour, whom I found to be an elderly and infirm 
 gentleman going to the South for his health. The 
 lady on his other side was taking care of him, he 
 being a widower but lately bereaved. Had he not 
 told me this I should never have discovered that he 
 was a mourner : neither his garb nor manner beto- 
 kened it. For many years he had resided abroad on 
 his wife's account, she having been a great sufferer from
 
 44 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 nervous disease. " Nervousness/' I said to him, " is a 
 sad complaint to witness ; but don't you think that, 
 where there is a strong will, a good deal may be done 
 towards subduing the symptoms \" "I do, sir I 
 do," replied the old gentleman with emphasis ; " but 
 if you tell them that, they only say you're cruel and 
 unfeeling." I imagine that he did tell his wife that 
 very frequently, and that his remark was not well 
 received ; perhaps it was not kindly made. I received 
 from our converse the impression that they had 
 differed a little on this head, and at the last had 
 parted without much regret on either side. 
 
 Our voyage was rapid, and less rough than had 
 been anticipated. Only one or two had been seri- 
 ously ill during the three half-hours that we had been 
 steaming ; and now our hearts beat joyfully at the 
 thought of a trial well past, for there, just before us, 
 was Calais pier. But our hearts were far too hasty, 
 and were rudely counselled not to get frolicsome on 
 speculation. A signal was made from the shore 
 showing that it was dead low-water of spring tide, 
 and that our boat, small as she was, could not float 
 alongside the pier. A tug-boat came off and took the 
 mails from us, and we were kept waiting about a mile 
 from the shore to be knocked about for two hours and 
 a half a longer time than it took to get from Dover 
 to where we lay, until the tide should rise sufficiently 
 for us to run in and land. The ship or the sea got 
 into a great passion at this check, and began to pitch 
 violently ; we passengers got slightly enraged too,
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 45 
 
 those of us who had the pluck to show fight against 
 adverse fortune : a good many, alas ! who had crossed 
 the mid -sea gallantly, now succumbed, and were 
 cruelly exercised. 
 
 This misfortune occurs not more than three or four 
 times a-year, and it was my supreme luck to hit one 
 of those red-letter days. The harbour and pier 
 arrangements are just not sufficient to meet known 
 and regularly-recurring contingencies, and that they 
 are not made sufficient is a just reproach on all con- 
 cerned. It is likewise deserving of the brand of 
 infamy that the Steam -Packet Company on these 
 occasions take off only the mails in a smaller boat. 
 They ought undoubtedly to provide also for landing 
 passengers and their baggage. But as this was not 
 done, there was nothing for it but to submit to fate 
 and get over the time as best we might. Now, Bales, I 
 have the pleasure of informing you that one of your 
 pleasant predictions came to nought : my vagrancy 
 was not even in this last tribulation punished by sea- 
 sickness ; but I was one of those who stamped about 
 the deck, and threatened law proceedings, and vowed 
 they would write to the * Times/ and who would have 
 properly denounced the Company if the language had 
 afforded expressions heavy enough for the purpose, 
 and who finally were somewhat appeased at the 
 steward's locker, and then dispersed themselves into 
 little knots to commune about all things whatsoever 
 and certain others. A group toward which I gravi- 
 tated was listening to a gentleman with a clear voice,
 
 46 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 a sharp eye, and the air and sang froid of an experi- 
 enced traveller, who, after explaining how the delay 
 on board would affect the journey of anybody going 
 any whither, at last showed how travellers proceeding 
 by the Brindisi route would have to modify their 
 plans. Apropos of which route he observed that there 
 must be a great number of people working that way 
 at present " to be fooled by that Egyptian delusion." 
 I asked if he meant the Suez Canal ; and he replied 
 that he meant what some fond people were pleased to 
 call the Suez Canal, but what he took leave to call the 
 Ship-trap of the Egyptian Swindle Company (unlim- 
 ited). You see he was in this respect a man after 
 your own heart, Bales, thoroughly imbued with dis- 
 belief in the undertaking, and determined that it 
 should not succeed. I ought to have known by sad 
 experience how unprofitable is debate with a man 
 whose eyes are firmly closed against facts and his 
 heart steeled against conviction ; yet, untaught by 
 the perverseness of a friend of mine in Lancashire, I 
 ventured a mild remark in reference to the passage of 
 a heavy ship reported only a day or two before, and 
 for my pains I got, " I only hope, my dear sir, that 
 you are not a shareholder in that precious Company. 
 As to ships going through, I shall be happy to bet 
 you a hundred pounds that the first ship that may 
 try it will fail to effect the passage, or that you, if you 
 are about to hazard the experiment of going through 
 in a steamer, will stick in the mud just as all the pro- 
 moters of the bubble will be found to have done."
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 47 
 
 My favourable opinion of the work was not sufficiently 
 strong or sufficiently weak, which ? to lead me into 
 opposition harangues and offers of bets ; but it re- 
 mains, and I think will remain, unchanged. 
 
 The stoppage came to an end at last ; our steamer 
 moved up to the pier, and we were speedily on shore. 
 I don't know whether any examination was ever made 
 of Bloody Mary's heart to ascertain whether or not 
 the name of Calais was written thereon, as she said it 
 would be. I don't know whether Calais was in later 
 years a place that it would have been worth while for 
 England to retain, but it is one the retention of which 
 by England France was not likely to endure a moment 
 longer than was unavoidable. My only wonder is 
 that we kept it so long as we did. Just fancy our 
 having possession of an entrance into France, using 
 the same at our pleasure, and barring the French 
 from the use of it. 
 
 This poor-looking old place, without harbour accom- 
 modation to suit the mail service at all times of the 
 tide, has made its noise in the world, and its little 
 mark in history too ; and we should never pass it 
 without a thought for those heroic citizens who pre- 
 sented themselves ready trussed for Mr Calcraft's 
 remote predecessor. Devotion which is to lead to a 
 coronet or "Westminster Abbey is not so uncommon ; 
 but a cool walk to ignominious death, simply that 
 others may escape the vengeance of an enraged con- 
 queror, places a man on a sublime pinnacle of human- 
 ity, a level which hardly one in a millennium reaches.
 
 48 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 It is good to ponder on such examples in these utili- 
 tarian days, when the Forum may gape till it is filled 
 by navvies, Scaevola will roast his chestnuts on his 
 neighbour's fingers, and the returning Ulysses finds 
 
 " Some friend who holds his wife and riches, 
 And that his Argus bites him by the breeches." 
 
 Delayed though we had been, I was not sorry to 
 find on landing that there was yet a delay of a quarter 
 of an hour, which occasion I improved by taking a 
 meal, for it was now near three o'clock and we had 
 breakfasted before seven. As the porter closed the 
 railway carriage in which I was seated, the faintest 
 whisper of a gratuity was wafted through the com- 
 partment. No man could say that it proceeded from 
 the official whose lips moved not, neither did his 
 gesture betray connection with the mysterious sound. 
 It was the most delicate insinuation of the kind that 
 I had ever heard, and in this instance it led to nothing 
 except the conviction in the minds of those not pre- 
 viously informed that fees are forbidden. 
 
 Now the consequences of my landing so late extend 
 for good or ill to you, Bales, and to all whom you 
 may suffer to read these advices of mine ; for assur- 
 edly it was in my mind to take note of the appear- 
 ance of the country on my way into Belgium, and 
 then to have written something of the city of Brussels, 
 where I meant to sleep. But because it grew dark 
 soon after our departure from Calais, I was, 
 
 " For the book of knowledge fair 
 Presented with a universal blank 
 Of nature's works ;"
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 49 
 
 and because my arrival at Brussels would be too late 
 to go to bed, I took the advice of a German gentle- 
 man in the carriage, and determined to go through 
 to Frankfort without halting. So all that I did in 
 Brussels was to call at the Hotel de 1'Europe on my 
 drive between terminus and terminus, and to get your 
 letter, which I knew to be in one of the bags from 
 which we were so ruthlessly parted by the tug-steamer. 
 The first-class carriages on this southern line are so 
 comfortable that I scarcely regretted the loss of my 
 bed, but talked till we both fell asleep with my 
 German acquaintance, who had saved me all trouble 
 about my ticket and baggage at the Brussels station, 
 and who afterwards despatched me with equal kind- 
 ness from Cologne, where our ways parted. His was 
 not an exceptional bit of civility,' but all the way I 
 journeyed through and beyond their country, I found 
 German travellers anxious to give advice and infor- 
 mation, and most liberal in their personal attentions. 
 Of this kindness they, I am sure, thought very little ; 
 but it led me to reflect whether I had ever at home, 
 without thinking it worth remembering, taken any 
 trouble to assist strangers on journeys. I trust that 
 I have ; and whether I have or not, I should like 
 very much, if I return safely, to meet some German 
 in difficulties on some of my frequent journeys about 
 England. 
 
 When the morning broke I was four-fifths of the 
 way between Cologne and Mayence. The carriage 
 was full, the other passengers being all masculine and
 
 50 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 all German. They woke up very early and imme- 
 diately began to talk. I was much struck with the 
 similarity of their tones and gestures to those of 
 Englishmen ; as I heard their accents confused by the 
 noise of the train, the whole party might have passed 
 for my countrymen. And yet, except historically, we 
 hear nothing about our relationship to these people. 
 They whose consanguinity we do prate about have 
 not the same witness from nature by a hundred 
 degrees that they are of our kith and kin. To find 
 our real cousins we must> look in the land of cloudy 
 philosophy and sauer-kraut ; there we may meet a 
 people of like minds and feelings to our own. 
 
 The country through which we were travelling was 
 flat and little marked, in so much that to English 
 apprehension it might in the twilight have been 
 thought a waste. With the stronger light all the 
 marks of cultivation appeared ; it is only the want of 
 fences and ditches that makes Britons think of a 
 waste : we never see at home cultivated land that 
 isn't hedged and ramparted and fosse'd like an in- 
 trenched camp. "Take notice, all the world," says 
 John Bull, " this is my bit of ground ; these are my 
 boundaries and landmarks ; overstep them if you 
 dare ! If you only look at my property, do it respect- 
 fully mind it is mine" Foreigners appear to get on 
 with less jealous precautions, and perhaps with fewer 
 lawsuits. Might not John have more comfort in his 
 fields if he showed more confidence toward his neigh- 
 bour, and were less defiant toward mankind in
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 51 
 
 general ? There is another question which perplexes 
 me, and which you, my urban friend, will scarcely be 
 able to answer. Whether wisely or unwisely, the 
 country here is all open : why then do not the country 
 gentlemen hunt foxes ? But all these speculations 
 are soon dissipated by the disappearance of the land- 
 scape which occasioned them. We are running along 
 the bank of the Rhine and getting into the shadow of 
 the everlasting hills. What a new set of sensations 
 wake up at sight of them ! " High mountains," said 
 Lord Byron, " are a feeling," and so they are ; the 
 sight of them is like the influence of romance. Among 
 the hills men will bear and forego, and give and be- 
 lieve, as they never do in plains and cities. Ha ! a 
 train of smoke ; there is, then, a steamer before us 
 breasting the unseen stream. We are gaining on her, 
 for the cloud becomes darker and darker, and now we 
 must be close ; yes see, there is her chimney ! No, 
 it is a chimney, but a brick chimney, not an iron one 
 so there was no great merit in overtaking it with a 
 locomotive. And now we see that it rises over a 
 large factory, the roofs of which are visible above the 
 river's bank. I know exactly what you have just 
 said to yourself on reading the foregoing sentence. 
 " Oh yes, of course ; foreigner going to undersell us," 
 didn't you \ My dear Bales, he is going to do 
 nothing of the kind. LOOK at the thorough way in 
 which we do what we take in hand compared with 
 his way ! Why, he thinks he has done a hard day's 
 work when you think you have scarcely earned your
 
 52 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 luncheon. Catch him scorning delights and living 
 laborious days, catch him consuming the midnight 
 oil over his ledger as you do hardly allowing himself 
 time to eat or sleep ! No, no, my friend ; he may 
 really be a wiser and a happier man than you, but he 
 knows he hasn't a chance of underselling you, what- 
 ever advantage cheap labour may give him. And 
 here note that among foreigners I have met with 
 none except the Germans who can speak without 
 malice of the momentum which belongs to an English- 
 man as such throughout Europe who can see with 
 equanimity how the John Bull impress is itself a 
 letter of credit, and the Briton is allowed, as none 
 other is, to threaten and command. " You are known 
 as a nation," they are fond of saying now. " Every- 
 body knows what an Englishman means. As for us, 
 who has ever cared about the inhabitant of some little 
 principality which could hardly be seen on the map ? 
 But we are a nation now, and we hope that ere long 
 the name of a German may carry some weight with 
 it." There can be no doubt that they are quite in 
 earnest about this ; but whether to do may be as 
 easy as to will, has yet to be proved. 
 
 " Observe that castle on the island," said a fellow- 
 traveller to me as we rolled along in full view of the 
 river ; " it was built as a refuge by a poor man who 
 had fled up and down tne earth before an agonising 
 terror. Some say he was a monomaniac, but I don't 
 know." 
 
 " What was his terror VI inquired.
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 53 
 
 " A belief that he was pursued by mice. Early in 
 life he forsook cities and populous places, retreating 
 to mountains and deserts, fens and forests, in succes- 
 sion, but surely followed up and down the world by 
 his tormentors. At last, being hunted to this neigh- 
 bourhood, he saw the island in the Ehine, whereupon 
 he felt a conviction that this should be his refuge, and 
 the goal of all his wanderings ; so he built the castle, 
 and lived and died in it." 
 
 " And once he believed he was safe, of course his 
 trouble departed : did he grow rich and fat in his 
 asylum \ " 
 
 " There was hardly time for it," said my companion ; 
 " he was devoured by mice a fortnight after he took 
 possession." 
 
 " Very likely," you remark, Bales ; " don't think 
 there's any truth in the story ; and if there is, why 
 on earth didn't the fellow buy innumerable mouse- 
 traps, keep a pack of terriers, and encourage the 
 domestic cat ? " 
 
 Manchester can't believe in the inevitable in phy- 
 sical things ; in stocks and shares and profits, which 
 are metaphysical, and entirely removed out of the 
 category of material entities, it acknowledges the 
 power of fortune and of fate ! 
 
 It was snowing fast when our train ran in to 
 Mayence, and there was burcold comfort anywhere. 
 During the half-hour of delay I got a sort of break- 
 fast, standing at the counter of the refreshment-room 
 in the keen draught of the doorway. After this I
 
 54 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 walked myself warm on the platform, and then 
 entered a different carriage to proceed to Frank- 
 fort, which I reached in the course of the morning, 
 and found it white with snow, the depth of which a 
 pitiless storm was increasing every minute. I could 
 not travel farther without some rest, and so drove to 
 a hotel, where I ordered a fire, that I might wash and 
 dress. While the stove was being lighted I sat in my 
 wraps on a sofa shivering, for the apartment was re- 
 markably cold ; perceiving which, the zealous domes- 
 tic, to hasten my relief, upset the stove, which, with 
 its fuel and pipes, strewed the floor, and took about 
 an hour to re-establish. I did get warm at last, and 
 then I got a remarkably poor dinner at the table 
 d'hdte, which, however, was flanked by a rather large 
 company, consisting of many Prussian officers, and 
 French and Germans in plain clothes not a few. The 
 only representatives besides myself of the British 
 Islands were an elderly couple from somewhere near 
 Bow Church, as I should judge, using great freedoms 
 with the letter H, and recklessly saturating a sentence 
 with negatives. The old gentleman had not been 
 long enough divorced from his business to have got 
 over the first expansion of freedom, and he conversed 
 with much geniality and singularly incorrect phrases 
 in English, French, and German, being entirely satis- 
 fied that he was mistake^! for a person of distinction. 
 The meal being over, and the day being nearly over 
 too, I did nothing worthy of note at this resting- 
 place ; but I got a sound night's rest in a tolerably
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 55 
 
 snug bed, with a wonderful cushion dancing upon me 
 and vibrating like a lump of calves'-feet jelly every 
 time I stirred. After an early breakfast I was off 
 again for Munich, and in the carriage soon made 
 acquaintance with another German gentleman, who 
 kindly helped me through all my traveller's diffi- 
 culties from thence to Verona. By his advice I do 
 not halt at Munich, which we reach late in the even- 
 ing, but go on, through a bitter cold night, another 
 stage the object of this haste being to secure a free 
 passage of the Brenner, which it is feared that this 
 severe snow-storm may obstruct, and also to effect the 
 passage by daylight, which, as you will find, we did. 
 One is not much inclined to be observant in stepping 
 out of a railway carriage in the middle of the night, 
 with ten or twelve degrees of frost ; nevertheless, if 
 things had been much worse than they were, I could 
 not have failed to be struck with the picturesque faces 
 and dresses of the peasantry as they grouped about 
 the gloomy savage waiting-rooms. The figures were 
 notable enough in Bavaria, but much more so in the 
 Tyrol. The number of peasant -travellers was ac- 
 counted for by the circumstance that to-morrow 
 would be All -Souls' Day, and they were passing 
 loaded with wreaths and posies from their places of 
 labour or sojourn, to revisit the earth which hid the 
 remains of dear ones whose travels and whose toils 
 were over. 
 
 Four o'clock on an awfully cold morning was not a 
 pleasant time for arriving at Innsbruck ; but fatigue
 
 56 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 will cause one to rejoice in even a cold inn and a bare 
 chamber. It is a comfort to get one's clothes off, if 
 it be only for an hour or two. I turned every minute 
 of my time to account, and having made out three 
 good hours of sleep, woke up quite refreshed and 
 ready to scale the Alps if the snow had left us the 
 chance. So, breakfasting and departing, we took our 
 tickets for Trent soon after eight o'clock, hoping for 
 considerable exaltation and depression before night. 
 The road was reported open, which reassuring intel- 
 ligence and the fresh clear air raised our spirits to a 
 glorious pitch, and away we went merrily. 
 
 The ascent commences almost immediately after 
 leaving Innsbruck : alps with white tops tower in 
 front from the first, and very soon the train is 
 drawn into the pass and enclosed by alps. That 
 sensation of rolling up at a steep angle is not very 
 pleasant till you get accustomed to it : you have an 
 idea that the smooth surfaces, iron against iron, will 
 not bite the wheels of the engine may be turned 
 forward, and yet the whole train be sliding back- 
 ward ; but you are soon convinced that you do 
 ascend, and that, too, at a tolerably rapid rate, for 
 the hills on either side are becoming higher, and they 
 too are beginning to show white tops. Below the 
 tops the snowfall has no more than powdered the 
 scene ; and the rocks, and villages, and the clumps 
 of trees, principally pines, can be distinguished by 
 their colours, though these are for the most part dull. 
 The paths are generally snow-covered, but the streams
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 57 
 
 run along clear and sparkling, and are the liveliest 
 objects that we see. The foreground of course gets 
 whiter, and the air colder, as we ascend ; and now we 
 are so certainly hemmed among the mountains, that 
 we see high peaks glistening behind us, and long 
 ranges of pinnacles and ridges, when there is an 
 opening to right or left. Of course the railway is 
 a natural or artificial ledge on the mountain -side, 
 following for the most part an inclined contour, and 
 crossing a ravine or piercing the shoulder of a hill 
 only when progress by the corkscrew process would 
 have been impossible or intolerably tedious. The 
 engineer has followed the advice given in one of 
 Lord Lytton's novels by a cautious matron to a too 
 ambitious youth, who nevertheless turned out a high- 
 wayman he has proceeded by " insinivation, not 
 bluster ; " and ably has he performed his task, taking 
 advantage of nature's unpromising accidents, and by 
 patient turnings scratching out an even path through 
 a region where, before his work, not a line or patch 
 of even surface could be seen, and where all was dis- 
 jointed and impracticable, as if the said nature had 
 gone wild at this stage of her work, and revelled in 
 points and edges, and precipices and chasms. Where, 
 however, a ridge or spur did come in his way, the 
 artist did not hesitate to tunnel it, and where it was 
 manifestly necessary to go straight across a gulf he 
 threw his bridge unflinchingly over ; but his trump- 
 cards, so to speak, were not produced but where they 
 were wanted, Nee Deus interfuit nisi dignus vindice
 
 58 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 nodus. His favourite method was in skirting the 
 sides of hills and doubling round the heads of val- 
 leys like a hare. " Look at that chapel on your 
 right," said my German friend to me ; " in three or 
 four minutes you will pass it again, as close to the 
 back of it as you are now to the front." " Impos- 
 sible ! " I said ; " the turn is as narrow as the loop 
 of a lady's hair-pin, and here is a wen on the moun- 
 tain's side pushing out between our course and the 
 other edge of the chasm." As I spoke we rushed 
 into a tunnel which pierced the offshoot hill, and in 
 two minutes, as he had said, we had doubled the 
 narrow curve and were pushing quite close to the 
 chapel's back on our way to another tunnel which 
 gaped for us above. A series of such twists and 
 risings and borings constitutes the path by which 
 you traverse the Brenner by rail. The meanderings 
 and expedients of the way are infinitely attractive, 
 and might well command your admiration in other 
 circumstances. But it is not of the rail that you can 
 think much. Above and around are the Alps, thrown 
 and broken into all imaginable forms, towering one 
 above another, sometimes perpendicularly, sometimes 
 in a long view. The effect is very grand, but it is a 
 grandeur such as I do not desire to share with any 
 one. I would enjoy it alone : a remark is irritating : 
 silence and solitude befit the scene. It is a landscape 
 wherein figures are not wanted. Even the chamois- 
 hunter, diminished to a speck, is better away. The 
 solitary graves that are passed seem more in harmony
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 59 
 
 with the scene than breathing men, for the graves tell 
 of the impotence and frail being of man in presence of 
 the eternal and giant sublimities of nature. The low 
 clear tinkle of the telegraph bell, sounded by a hand 
 perhaps two hundred miles off, is the right and suffi- 
 cient association with the living in a scene like this. 
 It is a reassuring voice from the far-off world of men ; 
 but man's immediate presence disturbs. 
 
 And yet this thought of man's utter abasement 
 before nature rouses humanity to vindicate itself. If 
 the individual man be but a clod of the valley, man 
 in his generations can accomplish his mission and 
 subdue the earth. Even here he has girt the moun- 
 tains with an iron chain, and pierced their sides, and 
 made their slopes subserve his purposes, riding upon 
 them as it were upon a horse. Regard but his single 
 effort, and nature's vastness reduces man's force to 
 nothing ; but give time as man's auxiliary, and he 
 will make a slave of matter ! 
 
 The line is now quite white ; the foregrounds are 
 white ; the firs only have shaken off the drift, and 
 still maintain the sombre green patches. A little 
 wayside chapel, too, here and there sends up a 
 coloured tower, which, amid the waste of white, 
 looks marvellously gay. Occasionally we run sud- 
 denly upon a small open area not quite snowed over, 
 and sprinkled with birch or beech trees rejoicing yet 
 in the remains of their autumn brown. But all is 
 cold and grand ; and following the peaks up and up, 
 the eye is not relieved, the snowy expanse is but more
 
 60 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 affecting; for that attenuated spirit of colour, that 
 faintest suspicion of ten thousand hues that have 
 dissolved almost before they have glanced upon the 
 summit, serves only to make the whiteness appear 
 exceeding white. If I shut my eyes for a little relief 
 from the glare, I saw still the white expanse, with 
 only a dark streak here and there. " Well," you say, 
 " the picture, after all, is little more than one huge 
 blank, varied in forms, and rising to an awful height 
 still you have depicted but a waste of snow." Have 
 I ? Then, by heaven, I have shown the arch without 
 its keystone, the body without the soul ! for above 
 and behind the highest outlines is a sky of intensest 
 blue, and from that sky the all-hallo wn sun, still in 
 his autumn brightness, is glancing on peaks, and tor- 
 rents, and clefts, and surfaces ; the reverse slopes and 
 crags are in deep shadow, and the form of every hill is 
 projected against the neighbouring hillside. Motion 
 there is none, save when a solitary cloud, floating in 
 the ether, changes the shades as it sails by. 
 
 Sometimes stretching away in a double line, with 
 the straitest valley between; sometimes beetling over 
 our track in perpendicular altitude ; sometimes form- 
 ing an amphitheatre on one or both sides of us, the 
 mountains seem to rise higher as we rise. The sum- 
 mit eludes us : repeatedly, as our watches tell us that 
 the crest must be near, we decide that that in front 
 of us is the supreme peak, and then a few yards of 
 travel reveal alp upon alp behind. Is there indeed 
 a topi
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 61 
 
 Our observation of the mountains did not discover 
 when the height was won ; but while we were still 
 gazing and noting the hour, and wondering whether 
 this ascent could have an end, a change of motion 
 was perceptible, the carriages ran almost on a level 
 or, as we fancied, went down-hill ; and although the 
 Alps were still above us, wearing a bold face though 
 overcome in truth, we knew that we were as far from 
 the world's centre as we were likely to be that day. 
 I have never been able to understand why, when we 
 found ourselves upon an even keel, each of us drew a 
 long breath. We hadn't been pulling the train to the 
 ridge of the Alps, and therefore needed not to refresh 
 our lungs ; and it couldn't be sympathy with the 
 engine which had done the work, because that power 
 which had been sighing and groaning considerably for 
 the last three hours, had just taken to a rapid easy 
 respiration. The wheels rattle along just as in ordi- 
 nary travelling, and now our great desire is to look 
 down upon the land whither we are going. We have 
 done for the present with northern Europe ; we have 
 passed the fountains of the streams which go to swell 
 the rolling Danube, and from the ground that we have 
 reached, just past the beam of the balance, melting 
 snows and all heaven's water gather themselves to- 
 gether to traverse sunny plains and complete glorious 
 landscapes, then to be absorbed in the blue Mediter- 
 ranean. We are bound exactly the same way ; and 
 it would be pleasant to look down as old Hannibal 
 did upon that southern land, and feed the eye upon
 
 62 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 its flowery champaigns. But no; the road still winds 
 and winds, and the hills overlap in our front, shutting 
 up the vision enviously. Ha ! a triangle of blue ! 
 here, then, is something belonging to the nether 
 world ; the sea, surely, showing between the melting 
 hills and a belt of clouds above. How lovely, how 
 deeply blue ! we soon shall see the shore, and then 
 the woods and fields of Italy. Fool ! the sea, the salt 
 sea the sea to which men go down in ships the sea 
 wherein leviathan rolls is five thousand feet below 
 you, and at least two hundred miles away; that in 
 your front is another sea, and they that occupy their 
 business therein are Orion and Pleiades, and suns and 
 moons and systems rolling for ever in its depths it 
 is the azure firmament, the ocean of incomprehensible 
 space ! 
 
 But there is now undeniable evidence that we are 
 descending, and the sharp cutting air which we have 
 had all the morning is blown back, as it were, for 
 moments by a softer wave. It is the first breath of 
 the South charged with kindness and comfort, a 
 pledge from the genial land winning its gentle way 
 through contending currents and inclement blasts, 
 and carrying hope to the mountain's top. Anon 
 we get some glimpses of the lower levels, for we 
 descend rapidly ; the snows are about us still, but 
 by degrees there creeps in a middle ground of colour. 
 The sun's rays begin to be felt in the carriage ; and 
 very soon green valleys, with cattle feeding, refresh 
 our eyes. The roads are at last distinguishable and
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 63 
 
 look grey ; the streams are limpid and seem almost 
 
 warm. The little towers are no longer so remarkable, 
 
 for colours quite as gay as theirs begin to pervade the 
 
 landscape. Many of the roofs show colours instead 
 
 of snow, and a warm atmosphere saturating an 
 
 occasional clump of trees affords a pleasant change. 
 
 Every twenty feet brings us into a new climate. 
 
 The snow keeps away toward the highest tops, and, 
 
 the sun being somewhat behind the hills, streaks of 
 
 warm atmosphere, like the fingers of a hand, come 
 
 feeling round the irregular cones. We own that this 
 
 is Italy and rejoice. And as the scene changes, how 
 
 changes emotion also ! It is no more solitary musing 
 
 that one desires. There is a craving for sympathy, a 
 
 desire to touch some one at every turn, every fresh 
 
 beauty, and to call on a kindred spirit to admire in 
 
 unison. Our lips are unlocked, and we are stirred into 
 
 gesticulation by the light and warmth which dispose to 
 
 companionship. Surely the wise man understood this 
 
 when in the same sentence with " Eise up, my love, 
 
 my fair one, and come away," he wrote also " For, 
 
 lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone ; the 
 
 flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of 
 
 birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in 
 
 our land ; the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, 
 
 and the vines with the tender grape give a good 
 
 smell." To us coming from the North this is a 
 
 sudden change to the prospect of summer ; the dew 
 
 of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of 
 
 corn and wine, bless the land that is before us ; and
 
 64 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 more alluring a thousand times than these material 
 things are the legends of thought and deed associated 
 with this outspread lovely country. 
 
 " Italia ! too Italia ! looking on thee, 
 Full flashes on the soul the light of ages, 
 Since the fierce Carthaginian almost won thee, 
 To the last halo of the chiefs and sages, 
 Who glorify thy consecrated pages." 
 
 Minora canamus. You will hardly thank me for 
 getting into this vein, Bales ; therefore, though greatly 
 intoxicated by the mountain air and the pleasant 
 places, I will avoid sentiment as much as may be. 
 By way of a descent, then, let me remark that I began 
 to feel rather warm, and threw off my greatcoat ; also 
 that I felt very hungry, and looked out keenly for the 
 station at which I was to dine. That is the proper 
 thing to look out for, eh, Bales ! As to crossing the 
 Alps, what of that ? Everybody does it, and a man 
 of any proper feeling will make no fuss about it. In 
 truth I begin to feel, my friend, that I have somewhat 
 compromised my Anglo-Saxon dignity in writing as 
 above. I would obliterate the twaddle if there was 
 time. But do not, I beseech you, allow any one to 
 speak evil of your friend on account of it. Conceal 
 his weakness ; palliate his extravagances; say that he 
 bore himself on his journey in every way as becomes 
 a Briton ; that he did the Brenner Pass as he once 
 had the small-pox, and thought each a good thing 
 got over ; that he dined afterwards in great state at 
 the small auberge by the wayside, talking loudly all
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 65 
 
 the time to another Briton at the opposite end of the 
 room, and cursing everything by his gods ; that he 
 called for brandy, and then brake in pieces the miser- 
 able petit verre which the garfon brought, demanding 
 a flagon and a mighty glass ; that he scattered crowns 
 where others dispensed centimes ; and that he swag- 
 gered out of the saloon wrapped in his many-folded 
 cloak, regardless of abominable foreigners and their 
 wretched property, oversetting the tables of the fruit- 
 vendors and the seats of them that sold dolci ; and 
 that he was ushered to his carriage with shouts of 
 Milor Anglais, and 'Cellenza si, with all the dignity 
 of one English-born, great, uncompromising, and in- 
 scrutable. 
 
 Coming over the hills takes it out of you some- 
 how. I assure you I was glad to arrive at Trent, and, 
 after writing a letter or two, to get supper and go to 
 bed. And shall I tell you what I thought about 
 before I slept ? By some caprice of my nature not 
 about the Alps or Italy, not of the great Council 
 nor of Trent not of this Trent that is to say, but 
 of another Trent now hundreds of miles off, and of 
 Glendower and his conspirators parcelling out the 
 realm of England, while evermore returned to my 
 ear the jingle of 
 
 " I'll have the current in this place damm'd up, 
 And here the smug and silver Trent shall run 
 In a new channel, fair and evenly." 
 
 And I saw the captious Percy chafing and quarrelling, 
 and smiting the point of his scabbard on the floor as 
 
 E
 
 66 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 he stretched his finger toward the map. Possibly I 
 was a little over-excited ; but this did not prevent 
 my falling asleep in reasonable time, and having a 
 sound refreshing night of it. In the morning I had 
 just time to look at what is called the Citadel, a place 
 scarcely defensible, but containing a barrack occupied 
 by some Austrian troops. There was a general officer 
 in the town ; and either he was there for the time 
 making his inspection, or Trent is the headquarters 
 of a military district. The glories of the town seem 
 wholly to have passed away, and one wonders how it 
 could have been that this place was selected for the 
 meeting of a council. Perhaps you will condescend 
 to read here what this council occupied itself with. I 
 know you would not take the trouble to search in a 
 book for the information. But as we know there is 
 at this time present another council about to sit at 
 Rome, it is just as well to understand that the sub- 
 ject discussed at Trent was not the infallibility of the 
 Pope, but the ascertaining and declaring of the faith 
 of the Church, the proposing of such reforms as the 
 time might require, and the denouncing of Luther and 
 his doctrine It appears to have got over the ground 
 very slowly, having sat for eighteen years, and under 
 three Popes which dilatory action, I suppose, is a 
 radical quality in ecclesiastical councils. I am aware, 
 my dear Bales, of the contempt with which you regard 
 these matters, as they are unconnected with stocks 
 and shares, and do not influence the price of cotton ; 
 but then remember that the Council at Rome is sure
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 67 
 
 to be talked about in Manchester, and you may rather 
 astonish some of our princes after dinner if you are at 
 all informed. One of the brothers Pompus may pos- 
 sibly be aware of the fact that there was a Council of 
 Trent, and attempt to silence the company by that 
 knowledge ; but if you, waiting your opportunity, 
 show that you have some inkling of what the said 
 Council did, you may extinguish him incontinently, 
 and be stared at as a man possessed of much general 
 information and sagacity. The practical consequences 
 of such a reputation I need not dilate on. 
 
 I journeyed from Trent to Venice on the festa of 
 All Souls ; and our interest was of course much en- 
 grossed by the numbers of visitors to be seen in all 
 the graveyards that we passed, and by the mourners 
 that we took up or dropped at the many halting- 
 places. What impressed me most was the willingness, 
 nay, eagerness, to talk about the departed, which was 
 generally manifested. Whether the grief was old and 
 scarred over, or whether this was the first anniversary 
 of souls since the mourned soul had taken its flight, 
 it seemed a fashion, or perhaps I might say a passion, 
 to talk about the dead, whether the discourse was 
 calm and careless, as denoting that the loss was old 
 and the wound healed, or whether an agony of tears 
 during the telling betokened that this was the first 
 renewal of grief. One poor woman entered our car- 
 riage at a time when it did not contain one other 
 Italian to sympathise with her, and insisted upon 
 confiding to us how, last summer, her daughter, aged
 
 68 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 fourteen, had been taken from her, and upon detailing 
 the particulars (some of them rather unnecessary) of 
 the illness and death. Consumption it was to which 
 she owed her great grief and I believe that she was 
 sorely afflicted ; so you see that our foggy climate has 
 not quite a monopoly of this dread disease, which can 
 on occasion snatch a victim from under the sky of 
 Italy. 
 
 As you approach Verona you must be astonished 
 by the great circle of fortifications which surrounds 
 the city. Long before you can see a street or a 
 church, you find that you are passing the advanced 
 works constructed to make the place secure. Yet 
 with all this display of preparation, I do not find that 
 the fortress ever took an active part in great wars or 
 stood a siege. It fell, nevertheless, as sometimes hap- 
 pens in modern warfare, not by direct attack, but in 
 consequence of vigorous operations enacted in the 
 open field. The battle of Marengo was well worth 
 the skill and persistence which were required to win 
 it. " What though the field be lost I all is not lost," 
 could hardly be said by the Austrians on this occasion, 
 for all ivas lost. That battle, the fate of which was 
 balanced on a knife-edge, and decided, so to speak, by 
 the weight of a hair, destroyed not the army only, 
 but the power of the empire ; and one of the provi- 
 sions of the treaty of Luneville to which the battle led, 
 was the dismantling of the fortifications of Verona. 
 And this was not altogether a bad move for Austria. 
 She mourned at the time over the humiliation and
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 69 
 
 her wrecked property ; but in effect she was rid of 
 old-fashioned works which were not again required in 
 those wars, and she has since had the opportunity of 
 constructing, on a most favourable site, extensive de- 
 fences according to the new German system. The 
 fortress is something more than a place of shelter ; it 
 is a screen behind which an army can be collected to 
 issue at a happy moment into the open, and strike 
 like a thunderbolt of war. So, in connection with 
 other neighbouring fortresses, Verona is once more 
 worth talking about ; and ten years ago, when the 
 French were again invaders of the Austrian territory, 
 these fortresses barred the way, and inclined the 
 victor to make terms, as you know. But do you 
 know, or do you recollect, Bullion, that this Verona 
 helps to make up the Quadrilateral ? 
 
 At Verona I parted from my German friend, hoping 
 that we might meet again in Egypt, whither we were 
 both bound, and went on my solitary way to Venice. 
 I had, with a self-restraint which you will approve, 
 resisted when approaching Verona all foolish refer- 
 ences to its Two Gentlemen. I could read plays at 
 home, you know, when I had nothing else to amuse 
 me, and so I needed not to be losing my time over 
 Launce teaching his dog manners, and Madam Julia 
 going about like Dr Mary Walker, here whither I had 
 come to regard men and cities ; I was proof likewise 
 against Montagues and Capulets. And so, with the 
 help of my friend's conversation, and seeing that the 
 plays are not my favourites, I had resisted the tempter
 
 70 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 and be fled from me ; but this was but the beginning 
 of trials. We were running to Padua, and Padua was 
 but the way to Venice. I had no companion now to 
 keep tiresome scraps from buzzing in my ear, but I 
 did my best to amuse myself with the people in my 
 carriage ; they, however, seemed, by their silent mood, 
 to be in league with my infirmity, which at length 
 achieved a temporary advantage. " Come you from 
 Padua, from Bellario \ " was the ding-dong that went 
 on, geeking and galling at me ; and when this grew 
 to be quite intolerable I sought relief in following up 
 the words, and soon came to a stand-still. Then, to 
 recover the poetry, I ventured to think over one or 
 two of the scenes, and was overcome. Jessica and 
 Portia rose up in great force, and at last the irrepres- 
 sible Shylock came on, making a mere child of me. 
 I confess that I took down my bag from the net, ex- 
 tracted the divine Williams, and had it out with the 
 old rascal of a Hebrew from beginning to end. I 
 would recommend my friends not to read this play 
 here, and the same advice extends to the reading of 
 the Moor, with whom I afterwards had some commerce 
 at Venice. The effect is rather disillusionising. You 
 have in your mind a very satisfactory Venice and 
 Belmont and Padua to fit every turn of the plays, but 
 the sight of the real Venice or Padua does not make 
 them more distinct or vivid. Shakespeare was not 
 a Venetian any more than he was a Greek or a Roman. 
 He was an Anglo-Saxon, and so are you and I, Bales 
 think of that, my boy !
 
 GETTING OUT OP THE SMOKE. 71 
 
 From Charing Cross to the Eialto, with only two 
 nights in bed (for I don't count my three hours' sleep 
 at Innsbruck a night's rest), was tolerably fleet travel- 
 ling, especially for the winter-time. And when, after 
 all this motion, I understood that I should probably 
 remain in Venice four whole days, it looked like a 
 protracted sojourn wherein so many and great changes 
 might occur that it was impious to anticipate the end 
 of it. So I unpacked my clothes, asked what palaces 
 were for hire, inquired me out the most esteemed pur- 
 veyor, clothier, hairdresser, notary, physician, under- 
 taker, and so forth, and proceeded to arrange the 
 routine of my daily life. All the leading facts had 
 been sketched out very satisfactorily as I lounged in a 
 fauteuil covered with crimson velvet, and I had just 
 decided that, notwithstanding my philosophical prac- 
 tice of doing when in Borne as Komans do, I would 
 remain a Protestant, when my plans were interrupted 
 by the entrance of a young woman, with an extensive 
 cap and dark eyelashes, who came to suggest that, if 
 I was making but a short stay, it might be expedient 
 to retain the services of a blanchisseuse that very 
 evening, as the profession was much in request. The 
 intrusion was irritating ; and . I bade the girl go her 
 way for this time, and said that at a convenient 
 season I would send for her, when an unpleasant 
 impulse the heritage from a former life spent in 
 Manchester caused me to number my days and 
 apply my heart to wisdom. In ten minutes I had 
 covered a piece of vellum with a catalogue of the pro-
 
 72 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 perty ordaiued to purification. I should have done 
 it in five in the French tongue, but I chose to ham- 
 mer it out in Italian, or what I fancied such, and 
 delivered both inventory and bundle to the damsel. 
 It is one of the miseries of being from home alone that 
 you have to meddle with buck-washing. Now the 
 mention of buck- washing suggests the " rankest com- 
 pound of villanous smells that ever offended nostril ; " 
 but, with all deference to the fat knight, I think there 
 is a smell that beats a buck-basket ; and that smell is 
 to be met with on the canals of Venice. She may 
 look a sea Cybele, with her tiara of proud towers ; 
 and " all gems in sparkling showers " may have been 
 poured into her lap ; but with all that she is a very 
 dirty belle, got up merely for appearance, and with 
 her feet, which are out of sight, standing in one of the 
 foulest puddles of Christendom ! I didn't mean to 
 begin writing of Venice in this strain of disparage- 
 ment ; I didn't, indeed, Bales. I was going to give 
 you first my delightful impressions of the Doges' city, 
 and then, lest the praise should appear indiscriminate 
 and unfaithful, to make an unwilling honest admission 
 that she is not so cleanly in her person as could be 
 desired, had not that unfortunate mention of buck- 
 washing upset the whole scheme, and introduced the 
 wrong end first. I ought to have begun by telling 
 you how, on your first visit, though your preconcep- 
 tion of the scenes may have been tolerably correct, 
 the suddenness with which you enter on the fruition 
 of your hopes is remarkable. The railway terminus
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 73 
 
 is the bank of the Grand Canal. Five minutes after 
 the arrival of the train, you are, with your luggage, in 
 a gondola, not because you are so impatient that you 
 at once commence sight-seeing, but because it is the 
 only means of getting conveyed to your hotel. Thus 
 it was my luck to make acquaintance with the Bridge 
 of the Rialto, the Place of St Mark, and the Bridge of 
 Sighs, before I saw mine inn, to one side of which I 
 was taken on a by-channel, where it looked so like a 
 warehouse that I expected to have been hoisted with 
 my baggage to the second floor by tackle. But herein 
 did my imagination perpetrate a grievous wrong, for 
 there was a water-gate and a flight of marble steps 
 leading from the gondola thereto, and a state porter 
 with a gold band on his cap, and a crowd of common 
 porters at his back, who welcomed me with such 
 deferential affection that I began to consider whether 
 I might be a prodigal returned, and almost expected 
 a bleat from the cow-house. 
 
 Now, Bales, I have no hesitation in saying that you, 
 if ever you go to Venice, will be impressed by it in a 
 manner which will make you despise yourself. "In 
 Manchester," I fancy you saying, "men move, and 
 things are moved, through dirty streets ; in Venice 
 they are all pushed or paddled along dirty canals : 
 what the deuce is the great difference 1 " And yet you 
 will feel that there is a difference. Then and there, my 
 boy, the heart of stone is taken out of you, and there 
 is given to you a heart of flesh ; you float along 
 admiring, overcome, not reckoning the time or
 
 74 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 distance from point to point, but lounging deliciously 
 on the yielding pillows, and desiring only that the 
 vision may not pass away. This first effect is, I 
 think, independent of associations, a direct influence. 
 You do not reflect that it was Dandolo's Venice, or 
 Desdemona's Venice, or Titian's Venice, or that it is 
 now, through no merit of his, Victor Emmanuel's 
 Venice. Afterwards rise up the scenes which have 
 been enacted there, or the fables so cunningly devised 
 that they bear the stamp of truth, increasing your 
 delight a thousand-fold. 
 
 Oh that I had had a month instead of a few days 
 to spend in that city of enjoyment ! I saw a great 
 deal, but saw too rapidly. Churches, pictures, palaces, 
 sculptures, art-treasures ! but often where one edifice 
 would have afforded study and gratification for a 
 week, running over it in an hour or two. The only 
 thing of which I did not feel stinted was floating 
 along the watery streets and looking at the glorious 
 lines of sea-sprung palaces magnificent, many- 
 coloured, full of romance. My liveliest memory is of 
 the ducal palace and the prisons. There is still to be 
 seen the lion's mouth into which went the accusations 
 that led to secret trial and secret death. There still 
 are the dread chambers where councillors in masks 
 heard evidence in their mysterious fashion, tried the 
 accused, and decreed his fate. There are the secret 
 passages communicating from the council-rooms, over 
 the Bridge of Sighs, with the state dungeons. And 
 oh what places those dungeons are ! where the
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 75 
 
 prisoner lay in chains, without light or guidance, fed 
 through a hole in the wall, his body and spirit broken 
 in every way, while they importuned him to confess a 
 crime which perhaps he never committed. Then, 
 when the despairing wretch had made or feigned a 
 confession, descended in the night the awful Three 
 dragged him forth into a vaulted passage, and there 
 read his sentence, inexorable, not suffering the least 
 delay ; for there in the shadow stood the ready execu- 
 tioner there where the victim stood was already the 
 apparatus of death there in a second the floor was 
 red with his blood, and he, or what was left of him, 
 in a sorry chest, was thrust through the fatal window 
 into the barge of the dead, which glided noiselessly to 
 some coral depth where he and his fate were concealed 
 for ever. 
 
 But these were only the horrors of the basement, 
 of which we to-day know more than did the people 
 in whose midst they were committed. Over the 
 ditch and up above, very different scenes were com- 
 mon in the light of day. The great hall, where 
 the Doge, in state, did honour to illustrious guests, 
 received embassies, and transacted the grandest 
 ceremonies what a place it is ! of immense 
 proportions, and its walls covered with paintings 
 by the greatest masters, illustrative of the glories 
 of the old state. Here, behind the ducal seat, is 
 the largest painting in the world, extending the 
 whole breadth of the hall. It is the work of Tin- 
 toretto, and measures eighty -four feet by thirty-
 
 76 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 four, the subject being "The State of the Blessed 
 in Paradise." 
 
 I say more of the size than of the details of the 
 picture, because I think Paradise a wonderfully ill- 
 chosen theme. All of us agree that the people are 
 supremely happy there, but we do not agree as to 
 what constitutes supreme happiness. Far less do we 
 agree as to the material embodiment of a supremely 
 happy community. If, as old Berkeley said, there be 
 no matter except in our perceptions, then Paradise 
 would require to be only a place wherein every one 
 should perceive things to be exactly in harmony 
 with his own likings. I tried, after I was in bed, to 
 imagine the paradise that would suit me ; but, after 
 deciding that I must transport my earthly love 
 thither as Tintoretto has done, and that there should 
 be prevalence of benevolence, justice, and virtue, with 
 only the smallest and most reasonable reservation in 
 favour of cakes and ale, I found no end in wander- 
 ing mazes lost. When I slept my dreams went on 
 framing paradisiacal arrangements, and I thought it 
 was revealed to me how there could not possibly be 
 one invariable paradise to suit all mankind, but that 
 a series of paradises was necessary in which men 
 would be classed according to their tastes. Some of 
 these paradises were very amusing, but I was anxious 
 to see the place prepared for sound Manchester men, 
 and was at last favoured with an intuition as to the 
 state of the Manchester blessed. This community 
 will be supremely happy, but its felicity will be
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 77 
 
 altogether dependent upon perception, as I had sus- 
 pected when awake. Almost any scene will do, the 
 beatified of this section not being very sensible of 
 what are called on earth the pleasures of the imagi- 
 nation ; nevertheless they have spiritual joys of their 
 own on which the consummation of their bliss de- 
 pends, and these consist in every man being firmly 
 persuaded that he is in all respects getting advantage 
 of his neighbour ; while his neighbour is equally con- 
 vinced that he gains the advantage of him, and 
 thrives at his expense in mind, body, and estate. 
 At certain revolutions every spirit has the pleasure 
 of reading the names of those spirits who owe him 
 nothing in the ' London Gazette/ of seeing executions 
 in their houses, and themselves battening in the work- 
 house all which ills he has predicted as just rewards 
 of their pride and presumption. Everything that he 
 goes in for profits him a thousand per cent. I was 
 not half through with the succession of pleasures when 
 I awoke. 
 
 Then you have the chambers and antechambers of 
 the secret councils, the halls of the legislative body, 
 and the courts where offences not political were tried. 
 This last, I believe, was pretty fairly done. It must 
 be in the council hall, though, that the most potent, 
 grave, and reverend signiors are represented as look- 
 ing into that little abduction case with which we in 
 England are so familiar. Although the young lady 
 smarted pretty severely afterwards for her infatuation, 
 and is to this day a caution to disobedient children,
 
 78 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 and to nigger-worshippers, the senators are exhibited 
 as dealing out very even-handed justice. But it was 
 not of these illustrious men or of their functions that 
 I was intending to write on this page, but of their 
 halls, which excel in beauty and glory all buildings 
 that I have seen, all that I have imagined save one 
 and that one Pandemonium. I have not opportunity 
 here of consulting the biographies of Milton so as to 
 ascertain whether it has ever been supposed that this 
 ducal palace suggested the picture of that which 
 "rose like an exhalation" in the depths of hell. 
 But I know that I had moved but a small way 
 through the " fabric huge " before his lines rushed 
 into my mind, they were so exactly realised by the 
 magnificence before me : 
 
 " Where pilasters round 
 Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid 
 With golden architrave ; nor did there want 
 Cornice of frieze with bossy sculptures graven ; 
 The roof was fretted gold." 
 
 I hope that I quote correctly, but I do not carry 
 about a ' Paradise Lost ' as I do a divine Williams. 
 Howbeit, whether I cite the passage evilly or well, 
 the place was Satan's palace ; and by jingo, Bales ! 
 the roof was fretted gold where it was not painted 
 by a Maestro not gilt, you understand, but over- 
 laid with solid gold, which looks to this day bright 
 and rich as when the artist wrought it, though never 
 since that day burnished. Barbaric pearls were not 
 plentiful, but barbaric golf), which the unlucky Turk,
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 79 
 
 I fancy, contributed, was there in inconceivable opu- 
 lence. Query, Did Napoleon's braves, when they were 
 in Venice, know that these ceilings were the genuine 
 article I I trow not, or the ceilings would not be 
 there to excite my untutored admiration and make 
 me write nonsense. 
 
 Outside the palace, in the piazza, we were shown 
 the spot where those convicted of capital crimes that 
 did not affect the Government were executed. These 
 were brought out to die like men in the presence of 
 their fellow-citizens ; they w r ere, I fancy, not unfairly 
 tried, and the community had some satisfaction in 
 regard to their offences and punishment. They were 
 not confined in the same prison with the political 
 suspected, but whether they were promptly brought 
 to trial or not I have not ascertained. Anything done 
 in daylight was better than that habeas corpus ad- 
 dressed to the muffled gondoliers outside the trap- 
 door, which was the peculiar privilege of the State 
 prisoners. 
 
 The King's palace, which is not far from the old 
 ducal halls, has just been beautifully furnished. The 
 luck of that monarch is such as does not occur in 
 every age. Where a man has won power or territory 
 for himself, the world is apt to turn from the scrutiny 
 of his title, and in some sort to admit that his might 
 constitutes a right. His glory gilds over the forcible 
 appropriation. But here is the case of a King being 
 richly rewarded with spoil for being soundly thrashed. 
 Custozza and Lissa certainly did not give him a con-
 
 80 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 queror's claim, and yet there he is owning this fair 
 domain by right of the sword the sword of his big 
 brother ! 
 
 Don't smile grimly if I tell you something, Bales. 
 At Venice, the other day, I learned for the first time 
 in my life how to look at a picture. I don't want to 
 make war upon any of your sacred convictions. Of 
 course a person possessing the power of vision can 
 direct his regard to a picture as well as to anything 
 else. As Addison said of viewing nature, " It is but 
 to open the eye and the scene enters." For all that, 
 it is not always given to man in his natural state 
 to behold a picture to his greatest advantage. Now 
 there is something for you to ruminate on, and quar- 
 rel with me on hereafter, when you bring your plain 
 common -sense and common English to bear on a 
 matter of every day's experience, and say of your 
 poor friend with hopeless horror, "Doth he not 
 speak parables ? " 
 
 One morning our valet de place took us to examine 
 the interior of La Fenice by daylight, and in the 
 course of our wanderings we found ourselves on the 
 stage, in a darkness visible, which discovered num- 
 erous sights of woe. There was the whole area a 
 wreck as if it had stood a siege trees, doors, win- 
 dows, practicable bridges, pieces of interiors, pictures, 
 waterfalls, and rocks lying about in admirable con- 
 fusion, and looking fearfully coarse and ill-coloured. 
 There were the carpenters nailing up and pulling 
 down ; and there were the scrubbers and those who
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 81 
 
 cleaned the globes of the lights. These among them 
 had pretty well occupied or littered the boards, all 
 but one spot, and there was the most woeful sight of 
 all. On an area of some six feet by six was a dancing- 
 girl taking her lesson. She was habited from the 
 waist downward in ballet costume. Above her waist 
 she had little clothing of any kind indeed there was 
 but one garment to be seen. A man with a fiddle 
 was playing snatches of music, but both he and the 
 girl were continually interrupted in their proceedings 
 by a maitre de danse, who did not disguise the sever- 
 ity of his art by any silly suavity of manner. In 
 truth he was a savage, ill-tempered brute ; and his 
 pupil, on a near view, was the reverse of prepossessing, 
 She had fat ill-shaped limbs, a coarse skin, and a 
 tallowy face, which, without its supplemental paint, 
 was anything but a pleasant spectacle. Add to this 
 that her exertions had brought her to a condition 
 which probably led her to make the remark, si suda 
 molto, although I must not say the same in English ; 
 and you will agree with me that, however fond one 
 may be of the ballet, it is expedient to take it, like 
 Mrs Gamp's beer, " rigler and drawed mild/' but by 
 no means to be present at the brewing. 
 
 My four days, Bales, which in prospect appeared so 
 long, were lived out, as it seemed, in four hours ; and 
 just as I was beginning to know what a pleasant 
 place Venice is, I was called upon to leave it. I was 
 fearfully exercised by the summons, and made indis- 
 creet promises, as raw men do at the end of a violent 
 
 F
 
 82 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 flirtation, to rush thither again the first opportunity, 
 and never, never, never, &c. but my boat was at the 
 water-gate, and my bark was on the sea, and I had to 
 postpone the remainder of my vows until I should 
 have settled my bill and embarked with my effects. 
 
 How fortunate are they to whom going to sea is 
 a pleasure ! In their migrations or wanderings, a 
 voyage, long or short, is only an additional enjoyment ; 
 whereas to them who are not of " an hardie stomake," 
 the briefest sea-passage is a serious per contra in their 
 excursions. " How often have I told the stupid fel- 
 low this !" you will say. Certainly, my dear Bales, 
 you have said so, and so frequently that I can hardly 
 at any time go to sea through inadvertence. I know 
 what a man of my temperament encounters on the 
 water ; and yet, spite of my own experience, and your 
 never- withheld advice, I was so encouraged by the 
 fine sky and exhilarating amusement, that although 
 I might have gone by rail to Brindisi and taken 
 ship there, I, preferring companionship on board, and 
 trusting implicitly in Fortune, determined to go by 
 sea. Fortune was in her best of humours, and treat- 
 ed me as she does the brave. I steamed into Brindisi 
 in high spirits, wondering how I could have conceived 
 such an absurd prejudice against the sea a presump- 
 tion which, on a future day, may rise up retributively 
 when I am moaning at full length, and staring into a 
 Staffordshire pattern miserably. 
 
 All that I should have said to you about Brindisi 
 is, that it is a place with which tourists are likely ere
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 83 
 
 long to become well acquainted, through the new lines 
 of steamers which are to run from thence eastward 
 in view of which acquaintance hotel accommodation 
 is being rapidly provided, had it not been for an inci- 
 dent which especially demands a record. I had been 
 walking with a party through the streets to see the 
 house where Virgil is reputed to have died, the ter- 
 minus of the Appian Way, and so on, when at the 
 corner of a cross street our attention was called to an 
 object lying on the ground, first by a bystander, and 
 then by a little crowd of priests and women who 
 quickly collected. Surely some great curiosity, only 
 to be seen here, and here but seldom ! It was not an 
 anthropophagus, it was not a man whose head did 
 grow beneath his shoulders, it was not Vitellius his 
 toothpick, it was not Domitian's patent revolving fly- 
 gun ; and yet it was an object whose exhibition, for 
 the enlightenment of English travellers, caused my 
 lungs to crow like chanticleer. It was a small sheet 
 about as big as an ordinary hearth-rug, on which lay 
 some vegetable product drying in the sun. An old 
 lady first took up a piece and delivered a short lec- 
 ture thereon, which, being expressed in a decidedly 
 provincial dialect, would have been utterly lost on us 
 had she not at its termination taken into her other 
 hand the skirt of her dress and spread it out trium- 
 phantly, evidently intending to overwhelm us by the 
 disclosure of some mysterious connection between the 
 dress and the vegetable substance. We were not 
 much astonished ; whereupon a priest, thinking that
 
 84 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 
 
 the old lady must have failed to expound the marvel, 
 took up his parable, and, in language somewhat more 
 intelligible to us, went again over the story, winding up 
 with not only a reference to the old lady's dress, but a 
 withdrawal of the sleeve of his cassock, that we might 
 see the under sleeve fastened round his wrist. Still 
 we were not sufficiently impressed, at which the crowd 
 became somewhat excited, and opened in concert, all 
 clamouring, and each one pushing into view some ar- 
 ticle of dress a kerchief, a child's frock, a head-dress 
 or other gear (one lady exhibited her leg for the 
 stocking's sake), all to illustrate the uses of the mar- 
 vellous substance under discussion. By the beard of 
 the Prophet, it was a cotton-pod and nothing else 
 with which these fond country-people sought to as- 
 tonish the minds of us Britons, one of us being a 
 Manchester man not ten days from home ! 
 
 Bales, if there be one particle not utterly adaman- 
 tine in your composition, this will teach you humility ; 
 Ponder it, my friend, and as your nature urges, weep 
 or smile. But what is to be done for the information 
 of this benighted folk, who probably are not alone in 
 their ignorance ? Organise missions, endow evangel- 
 ists, tell it out among the heathen that Manchester is 
 queen. Gods ! to think there should be people calling 
 themselves civilised, lettered, and yet in their crassest 
 simplicity believing that they have anything to tell 
 us concerning cotton ! ! 
 
 And now, as I am going to take to the sea in earn- 
 est, I shall close this epistle and commit it to an
 
 <d
 
 GETTING OUT OF THE SMOKE. 85 
 
 Italian post-office. Not in the least fulfilling any of 
 your croaking prophecies, but in higher spirits the 
 farther I go, and panting with expectation of the 
 pleasure before me, I depart for Egypt, hoping to see 
 Athens and perhaps Constantinople on the way. The 
 sky is blue, the winds are soft, there is just ripple 
 enough upon the ocean to break the sunlight into 
 countless gleams. A yellow coast-line with crags 
 and castles marking the heights, and behind these the 
 mighty Apennines rising in autumn grandeur with 
 many colours, till they meet a purple mist that de- 
 scends on them from heaven, are the characters of the 
 shore that we are leaving ; but we shall sail through 
 summer still to lands as beautiful though not the 
 same, and make our holiday where nature smiles. 
 And you, how is it with you, stern Bullion, this No- 
 vember? I have visions of a figure in a dog-cart, 
 girt about with waterproof, with weed alight and 
 head down, driving cheerlessly through sleet and mist 
 and smoke into an office in dirty Manchester, where 
 by gas alone can one see at noon. If you find this 
 pleasanter than the light of Eastern climes and starry 
 skies, chacun d son gout, I don't quarrel with you ; 
 but be merciful in your turn to a weakness for some- 
 thing brighter in your roving but loving friend 
 
 SCAMPER.
 
 86 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL: 
 
 AS COMMUNICATED TO BULLION BALES, ESQ. OP MANCHESTER, 
 BY HIS FRIEND MR SCAMPER. 
 
 January 1870. 
 
 CAIRO, 25th November 1869. 
 
 MY DEAR BALES, I take for certain that you are 
 well informed of my doings up to the last embarka- 
 tion ; and concerning the voyage which succeeded 
 that event, I have only to say that it was of the 
 rough-and-tumble species, the very worst passage of 
 this my grand tour. But its disagreeables and it 
 was exceedingly disagreeable never for an instant 
 occupied my mind, from the hour of its conclusion 
 to this present writing ; and I think, my friend, that 
 when I relate the events which succeeded it, you too 
 will lose all wish to hear about my sufferings, even 
 though some of your awful predictions were verified 
 thereby. It was on the morning of the 15th of No- 
 vember that our cruise ended. Soon after the dawn 
 of that day I awoke from a troubled slumber ; and 
 after being violently jerked through the arc of a semi- 
 circle, to and fro, for some five minutes she rolled
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 87 
 
 grievously, she didn't .pitch I chose, as the less of 
 two evils, to stagger out of my berth, and to tumble 
 (literally) into a salt-water bath, deriving much com- 
 fort therefrom. Then I went through my toilette in 
 the fashion which you have heard me graphically 
 describe when I have related my astonishing adven- 
 tures in Manchester over a sea-coal fire for the amuse- 
 ment and edification of shall I say it, Bales 1 the 
 unenterprising ! Pass that expression, and learn that, 
 when I reached the deck, it was positively affirmed 
 that, although the land was too low to be yet visible, 
 I might see, if I chose to look, the masts of ships in 
 the harbour of Port Said. I did look, and saw the 
 masts of some seven ships, and the funnels of some 
 of them. But one funnel smokes, how then can the 
 vessels be lying at anchor ? " Oh yes, they are at 
 anchor the smoke is nothing." But I see three of 
 them smoking now ; the ships are steaming along ; 
 and now, look to the right, there are three more ; 
 now to the left, there is another, and, farther off, a 
 pair. Every minute reveals a new ship. They are 
 going the same way as ourselves. We are converg- 
 ing on a common point, and that point is Port Said, 
 invisible as yet. Breakfast-time came, but all refused 
 to descend, looking pertinaciously for some material 
 guarantee of the land's proximity. " There is a mast," 
 sang out somebody, " which does not taper, and has 
 neither flag nor rope." " Much you know about 
 masts," to him answered another salt of some ten 
 days' experience. " You have probably got hold of
 
 88 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 a tall funnel through a foul glass ; let me look." 
 "You be hanged!" replies the first jolly tar, wounded 
 to his nautical centre. " Bet you three to one it isn't 
 a funnel or a common mast." " Done ! the skipper 
 shall settle it." The skipper has had his glass on 
 the object for a couple of minutes. He has no 
 doubt : it is the lighthouse. " Of course, of course 
 of course it's the lighthouse," we all say. How 
 singular that such seasoned tars should have failed 
 to recognise it ! And, do you know, it really was 
 the lighthouse, and we were told that we should 
 be in harbour in three-quarters of an hour; and 
 we went to breakfast, the roll (of the ship, not of 
 breakfast) being now reduced to an arc of some 
 eighty-five degrees. So, the meal being more com- 
 fortable than any for the last two days, a disposition 
 is manifested to sit and talk and speculate. This, 
 however, is soon dissipated by the sounds of artillery, 
 and up w^e go with one consent. We were too far 
 off as yet to discover the cause of the firing, or to dis- 
 tinguish in front anything but a sea of masts, and 
 flags, and floating smoke. To the right we discern 
 the long mole, which is the western boundary of the 
 harbour, like some huge cyclopean structure, extend- 
 ing a little behind us to the Mediterranean, and to 
 the front, farther than the eye can follow it. On the 
 other side, and not far before us, is the extremity of 
 the eastern arm. Five minutes more and we are 
 fairly in the artificial basin, almost stunned by the 
 continued cannonade. " What can it be about ? "
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 89 
 
 " Oh ! a salute to some great one, of course." " Tre- 
 mendous noise ! what will be the size of the guns \ " 
 " Nine-pounders, I should think ; or, I don't know, 
 they may be twenty-fours," says one who ought to 
 have known better. They were hundred-and-twenty- 
 pounders, at the least, crashing away, regardless of 
 everything save the effort to make a noise. We 
 could see now what is making the guns roar so, 
 if there were but wind to blow away the smoke. 
 Despite the smoke, we soon get an idea of the cause. 
 The furious ship is flying the Austrian eagle at the 
 main ; at the fore and the peak is the crescent. The 
 Turkish flag-ship is saluting the Emperor of Austria, 
 who arrived an hour before us.* Her yards are 
 manned, and, as we get a little clearer view, we see 
 that the yards of fifty ships are similarly occupied 
 rows of sailors at different heights in the air. And 
 now it is not one ship of war, but several at a time, 
 that essay to imitate Jove's thunder and an awful 
 din they create. The clatter comes from all sides, 
 and, as it seems to us, most wildly and irregularly. 
 You no sooner change position to get a very little 
 out of the way of the last tormentor, when bang ! 
 under your nose almost, runs out a treacherous 
 piece, and sends a rocket through your brain, making 
 you almost leap from the deck. Men, as they were 
 interrupted in their speech or stunned by a discharge, 
 deprecated the shots in a forcible manly manner; and 
 some fair ones on board of us unconsciously moralised, 
 
 * The Crown Prince of Prussia had arrived before the Emperor.
 
 90 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 like Hotspur's friend, concerning the digging of villan- 
 ous saltpetre. In truth, there was a vast expenditure 
 of cartridges. 
 
 We began to swing in order to take up our berth, 
 and in so doing opened the broadside of the Emperor's 
 yacht, alongside of which two of the Khedive's barges 
 were waiting. Presently a crowd of plumes gathered 
 on deck, and we saw the Viceroy descend the side and 
 pull away, cheered by all the men on all the yards. 
 Later on the Emperor boarded the Khedive, and the 
 scene was repeated. 
 
 As we came up the harbour and remarked the 
 sailors of different nations in succession spread out 
 upon the yards, we had our jokes at the fellows' style, 
 and anticipated the satisfaction with which we should 
 soon behold something of a first-rate character ; but 
 another and another was passed Russian, Swede, 
 Dane, Belgian, Prussian, and what not and still no 
 appearance of the genuine article. The British fleet 
 was outside, and two of the ships, they told us, the 
 Royal Oak and Prince Consort, were aground. Not 
 pleasant this. Our statesmen have, no doubt, excel- 
 lent reasons for the attitude Great Britain has assumed 
 in regard to the Canal ; nevertheless I say it would 
 have gladdened mine eyes to come upon the mariners 
 of England in this great gathering. In the afternoon 
 I saw a union-jack at the masthead of a tiny steamer, 
 overshadowed by tall masts and oceans of bunting. 
 This obscure manifestation denoted the presence of 
 the British Admiral in his tender.
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 91 
 
 You are to bear in mind, as you read, that the 
 firing never stops. It is sometimes continued by 
 only one or two ships at a time, but it is the running 
 accompaniment to the events of all this day. A Dane, 
 quite close to us, and heavily armed, took especial 
 pleasure in hearing himself talk, to our no small 
 annoyance, for he lifted our steamer almost out of 
 the water at every discharge. Noise and confusion 
 are certainly a source of the sublime, though I do not 
 remember that Burke has said so. If ears were con- 
 founded by the uproar, so were eyes by the infinite 
 display of banners on ships and on shore. All along 
 the moles that enclose the harbour, all along the shore, 
 from the tops of all high buildings, from the masts 
 and rigging of the ships, streams bunting, stamped 
 with all colours and devices, and waved about by the 
 softest of airs. The sea and sky are blue, the sun is 
 bright, nature is aiding the endeavour of man to make 
 this a holiday. 
 
 It took a long time to comprehend the scene on the 
 water, which was in itself a complete pageant ; but, 
 having satisfied myself therewith, I landed with a 
 party and began to explore the town, where every- 
 thing was as lively and as brilliant as on the water. 
 A large company was promenading the streets and 
 wharves, but no special ceremony was enacted this 
 day. Heat, sand, thirst everybody in summer at- 
 tire, umbrellas plentiful, men with puggarees and 
 veils. We proceeded along the strand, facing which 
 are buildings, most of them temporary, decked with
 
 92 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 flags and prepared for illumination. On the other 
 side is a row of banners hooked on to upright poles, 
 and flying from little staves at right angles to the 
 uprights. These latter are surmounted by gilded 
 crescents, and would be more imposing if they looked 
 less like stable - forks ; but the profusion of gauzy 
 banners streaming in the clear air has a fairy-like 
 beauty. Seaward of the line of stable-forks are three 
 gorgeous pavilions the largest in the centre is rich 
 with crimson and gold, and overshadowed by the flags 
 and arms of all nations, grouped in divers colours, and 
 seeming to denote universal brotherhood. Twice over 
 I saw our striped acquaintance of the battle and the 
 breeze mingling its folds affectionately with the flags 
 of demonstrative foreigners, as if it were natural for 
 a St George's and St Andrew's cross to hug and 
 kiss in that outlandish fashion ! Right and left of 
 the centre were smaller pavilions one crowned by 
 a cross, the other by a crescent both beautifully 
 draped and ornamented : the object for which they 
 were erected was explained later. We passed into 
 the town, which, being irregular, and built without 
 any architectural pretension, needs but slight descrip- 
 tion. Its rapid, almost magic growth, is its notable 
 record. 
 
 To a person possessed with the supreme importance 
 of the Canal, the most interesting sight in Port Said is 
 the fountain of fresh water which fills a large circular 
 basin in the Place de Lesseps, the great square. An 
 Englishman must muse a little before he can under-
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 93 
 
 stand the blessing that this precious circumference is 
 to the inhabitants. Even in the drought of 1868, 
 great Manchester endured little more than the appre- 
 hension of being restricted in the use of fresh water. 
 The supply may have been shut off for an hour or two 
 in the twenty-four, and possibly the dust of the city 
 was not laid with the same lavish flow as at other 
 times ; but we never felt what it is to be straitened. 
 But what must have been the condition of the living 
 things in Port Sa'id when their supply had to be con- 
 veyed to them by boat or camel from streams twenty 
 or thirty miles distant? Think of their feelings when 
 they saw spring up through the parched soil a bubbling 
 jet from the Nile's flood, forced from Ismailia to them 
 through tubes by the power of steam, and brought to 
 Ismailia by the fresh -water canal! The power of 
 man's mind, penetrating and compelling the powers 
 of nature, achieved this. Can it escape the mind of 
 the European who beholds the work, that he is stand- 
 ing but a short distance, comparatively, from the spot 
 where a man's arm, animated by the power of God, 
 smote the hard rock, and the waters flowed out ? 
 Surely science, heaping precept on precept, and line 
 upon line, picking here a little and there a little, but 
 surely if slowly advancing to grand results, is of kin 
 to inspiration, whatever antagonism frail minds may 
 imagine between them. It will be a great improve- 
 ment when the population come to understand, not 
 only the blessing of sufficient water, but how pure 
 water ought to be treated. We shall not then see
 
 94 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 filthy Arabs who come to draw and to fill their skins, 
 plunging their feet into the basin, and standing and 
 walking therein. If the practice be thought to im- 
 prove the water for domestic uses, the sooner that 
 superstition follows the many which are being day by 
 day surrendered by the Arabs, the better. 
 
 There being a regiment encamped outside the town, 
 I went to look at the camp. They were in bell-tents 
 pitched on the sands, and rather closely, without any 
 apparent order. In rear were a few dozen horses 
 picketed, some wearing artillery harness of villanously 
 dirty and dilapidated appearance, and some without 
 saddle or cloth, exhibiting their lean carcasses and 
 ungroomed coats. While I looked, an officer of rank, 
 probably the colonel of the regiment, with sleeves 
 covered with lace, appeared, and had his horse 
 brought up, grandly caparisoned. He left the camp 
 in great state. The soldiers, I observed, carried their 
 packs much as ours do. The uniforms are gay, and 
 generally blue. 
 
 Beyond the encampment, again, was an Arab vil- 
 lage, where there was little to attract, but much 
 squalor, and where the smells and sights were very 
 disgusting. Eeturning, I looked into a mean building 
 which served as a mosque. A few of the faithful, 
 sprinkled over its area, were worshipping with their 
 faces toward Mecca. The worship appeared to consist 
 of prayer or praise with the arms extended, and pros- 
 trations with the forehead to the ground, alternately. 
 
 All the native women were veiled ; but, as far as I
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 95 
 
 saw at Port Said, the veils, which were black, covered 
 only the lower part of the countenance below the eyes, 
 being suspended from the head by a black band. 
 
 Finding not much more to see just now in the 
 town, I turned back toward the landing-place, passing 
 through the same motley crowd that I had before 
 traversed. But an arrangement which certainly had 
 been spoken of before, but in which no one seemed to 
 believe, received just at this time a corroboration that 
 was beyond all contradiction; for, looking through the 
 open window of what appeared to be a restaurant, I 
 perceived some of my fellow- voyagers refreshing and 
 enjoying themselves with that air of ease and abandon 
 which is so offensive to others who are hot and dusty 
 and weary, and who nevertheless have come to no de- 
 finite determination as to how they too will refresh 
 and enjoy themselves. A friend, with a beaming 
 countenance, and with pressing hospitality, held up 
 a champagne-bottle to allure me to enter. He made 
 me think of the modern Greek at Haidee's feast, who 
 will occupy himself with no business, subscribe to no 
 doctrine except that the capon on which he is engaged 
 is fat, and that good wine ne'er washed down better 
 fare. Jolly dog ! thought I. Kind, liberal, open- 
 hearted fellow! The jollity and hospitality, however, 
 turned out to be of a character which makes them 
 easy of demonstration. The whole entertainment 
 was at the Viceroy's expense. The guests were all 
 the strangers who had come to witness the inaugura- 
 tion of ihe fetes. Here let me add that at Ismailia as
 
 96 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 well as at Port Said public tables were provided for 
 all visitors, and meals and wines supplied free of cost. 
 Temporary buildings, containing comfortable, though 
 not very private, sleeping accommodation, had also 
 been provided ; and, among the vast crowd that 
 assembled there, there must have been many right 
 glad to use the kindly shelter. 
 
 An hour or two of daylight still remained, and 
 presented an opportunity for looking round the new 
 harbour. I was surprised to find how loosely the 
 blocks which composed the moles had been put to- 
 gether. They have been thrown in in most admirable 
 disorder, abutting as they may ; and as they are all 
 regular six-sided figures, this mode of huddling them 
 together leads to a very loose and honeycombed wall. 
 I had heard before I left home that the masonry was 
 without cement, but I had imagined that the blocks 
 were laid accurately with their beds horizontal and 
 sides and ends vertical, so as to form an even struc- 
 ture. And why they were not so built I do not now 
 understand. The form of the blocks would indicate 
 that there had been an intention of laying them 
 regularly. No doubt there is a reason, and a strong 
 one too, to account for a mode of construction which 
 entails many manifest disadvantages : as, for instance, 
 that the many interstices allow of the passage of much 
 fine mud into the harbour ; that the wall is not only 
 weaker as a whole, but that many of the blocks have 
 been broken through the irregular bearings and their 
 efforts to find adequate support ; and that the appear-
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 97 
 
 ance of this, a new work, is that of a ruin. The blocks 
 are huge masses of concrete, weighing upwards of 
 twenty tons each, and all compounded at Port Said. 
 A short view of the moles convinces one of the justice 
 of Mr Hawkshaw's prediction, that these walls will 
 have to be built over again before the Canal attains 
 a great age. The section gives 80 feet as the width 
 at base, 20 feet as the width at top, and the average 
 height 35 to 40 feet. The western mole is nearly 
 3000 yards long, the eastern about 2000. 
 
 The appearance of the strand on which the eastern 
 mole abuts furnished testimony to the amount of force 
 which has been expended. It was literally covered 
 with boilers, capstans, crabs, cranes, shackles, bolts, 
 trucks, and engineers' apparatus such a display as I 
 never before saw. Two obelisks of wood at present 
 mark the entrance to the Canal. They are of con- 
 siderable height, and when decked for a festival, as I 
 saw them, looked imposing. Their slight structure, 
 however, would imply that they are not intended to 
 remain. I pulled a little way into the passage and 
 landed on the banks to look at Lake Menzaleh. The 
 descriptions which I had read had given me, I found, 
 a just idea of the scene. The banks which have been 
 thrown up separate the Canal from a sandy wash 
 sometimes, and sometimes from sheets of deep water, 
 or water that looks deep. Landward, that is south- 
 ward, no firm land was to be seen. Only at Port 
 Said and in its immediate neighbourhood, and along 
 the banks of the Canal, did the dry laud appear. 
 
 G
 
 98 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 Keturning now to my ship, I heard with gratifi- 
 cation our National Anthem played on board the 
 Viceroy's yacht. It was explained afterwards that 
 this was done in compliment to some of our party 
 who had been visiting there. "Without at the time 
 knowing or much caring for the cause, I was gratified 
 to hear any recognition of England ; it was galling to 
 see her of such small account. At night there was a 
 most comprehensive reception on board the Khedive's 
 yacht. I did not attend it, because I did not feel 
 attuned for gaiety ; but I afterwards heard it de- 
 scribed as very crowded and very sumptuous, the 
 refreshments including smoking. There was no re- 
 striction as to dress. The fitting and furnishing of 
 the yacht are magnificent. 
 
 While I peacefully reposed on the deck in the light 
 of the full moon and the warmth of the Egyptian 
 climate, witnessing a sort of rehearsal of the grand 
 illumination intended for to-morrow, I was better 
 pleased to hear our neighbours on board the Danish 
 man-of-war troll forth in strong concert a series of 
 national airs, than I could then have been by any 
 festive entertainment. All the day long had been 
 working within me the consciousness that this was 
 very Egypt, the realm of mystery and awe. By hear- 
 ing sounds and seeing sights, and by constant motion, 
 I had kept the sentiment down till dusk; but now, 
 when the night fell, came a crowd of thoughts and 
 recollections demanding entertainment. Tolie down 
 was not to sleep, though perchance to dream to dream
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 99 
 
 awake. With desire had I desired to behold this 
 world-renowned region, possessing supreme claims on 
 the mind, mingling with the first tiny shreds of know- 
 ledge, and related to all the knowledge that the 
 mind can receive. What visions had I seen of it 
 in infancy ! How had I figured to myself the hole 
 in the sand where Moses hid the Egyptian whom 
 he had slain ! How had I conjured up the scene 
 when the sons of Jacob, looking one upon another, 
 confessed that they were verily guilty concerning 
 their brother ! How had I read and wondered over 
 Belzoni's travels, and the glimpses there given of the 
 grand antiquities locked up in the sand and the 
 deposit of the Nile, and waiting for the search of the 
 enterprising ! And as I pondered on these things, 
 there came up memories dormant for years and years 
 the form and furniture of a room, yea, the very 
 pattern of a carpet showed themselves, and the echoes 
 of voices long ago hushed in death, were heard once 
 more distilling gentle lessons as when life was young, 
 and I knew not how hard a world I had to face. It 
 is impossible but that Egypt must command wider 
 regards than any region on the earth. Countries 
 there are, it is true, from whence have come arts, and 
 philosophy, and the records of mighty thoughts and 
 deeds, but these are objects of interest to only the 
 educated. Egypt possesses the same attractions for 
 the learned ; and to this is added that every child 
 which has been ever so slightly instructed in the lore 
 of the religions of the civilised world, or which has
 
 100 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 acquired the first smatterings of profane knowledge, 
 cannot fail to have a place in its mind for venerable 
 Egypt. Hers is a soil to be trodden with measured 
 footstep and bated breath, as by men who walk over 
 the ashes of their kind. Much as I yearned toward 
 her, I believed that I never should look on her. My 
 way of life, though checkered enough by accident and 
 travel, has led me hitherto to parts of the earth where 
 my affections were not. At last a wish is realised ; I 
 note a bright spot in a wearying life. Weird coun- 
 try, House of bondage, Land of Egypt, I have heard 
 of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye 
 seeth thee ! 
 
 To me, my friend, nothing that man has written 
 seems so fit to stir emotion as some of the scrip- 
 tural stories connected with this land from which 
 I am writing. Often and often have I wept over 
 them, and now that I am seared and worn, they can 
 touch the springs of feeling as no other legends can. 
 In Joseph making himself known to his brethren 
 there is a terrible delight a shaking of the nerves, a 
 hardly endurable satisfaction, such as no poetry, or 
 drama, or tale beside can arouse. And again, the 
 swoon of Jacob, when they said to him, "Thy son 
 Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the 
 land of Egypt," what a transporting picture do we 
 not form from it ! how one revives with him, and 
 breathes again after the shock, and thinks it is as 
 much one's own utterance as the patriarch's, " I will 
 go down and see him before I die," for the speaker
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 101 
 
 must be one with all who read his words ! And 
 sweetest, perhaps, of all are the words of aged Israel, 
 spoken by him not as a prince of God, or as a prophet, 
 but in simple thankfulness and unmeditated speech, 
 " I did not think to see thy face, and, behold, God 
 hath showed me thy seed;" epitomising the whole 
 charmed story, calling up the coat of many colours 
 soaked in blood, the cruel bereavement, the restora- 
 tion of Joseph from death, whence his father received 
 him in a figure Joseph's splendid destiny, and the 
 blessed reunion. 
 
 Well, it is past. I do not often indulge in reverie, 
 Bales, so this lapse may be forgiven. The light is 
 breaking through my cabin-window. Murmurs arise 
 which grow to noises, and the noises to a din. The 
 excited multitude is stirring again, impatient to press 
 on the doings which are to precede the great trial of 
 the Canal. I rouse myself, too. I can join as heartily 
 as any here in the ceremonies and gaieties. I have 
 wished for the success of M. de Lesseps' work, and I 
 have never doubted that he would succeed. We 
 shall see. The above is written as if I had expected 
 to dress quietly, and then make my little programme 
 for the day leisurely. I did expect something of the 
 kind, but never was more deceived. Before my slip- 
 pers were well on, a rattling, to which the rattling of 
 yesterday seemed only mild and moderate, shook the 
 sea and sky. Distant cheers are borne along on the 
 wind. I guess what is the matter, wrestle myself 
 into some garments spasmodically, seize my glass, and
 
 102 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 rush on deck. All I can see is, that the men are out 
 upon the yards as they were yesterday; all I can 
 hear is the crashing discharges of all the cannon in 
 the harbour as it seemed at once. The ships are 
 berthed so close together, and so miscellaneously, 
 that the noise and smoke must be as great as in a 
 fleet - action. One inwardly prays that they will 
 cease, if it be. but for a moment, that one may speak 
 to one's fellow, and ask or tell where the point of 
 interest may be. There is an instant's lull at last, 
 and cheers are heard, but still distant. The Empress 
 is certainly coming, but where 1 Cheering again. 
 Hah ! the Viceroy enters his galley and puts off. 
 Certes ! he goes to meet Eugenie. More cheers, and 
 nearer, yet where is she? What are those plaguy 
 ships about, changing their berths 1 Is it some late 
 steamer dropping in, or are they making way for 
 L'Aigle ? It is a ship I see, for there she comes, that 
 dark thing there with bare masts and black funnel 
 out of keeping with the pageant. No ! not bare ; 
 there is something or other fluttering against the 
 mast, but it is half-way down. There it goes up 
 again. Why, what does it mean \ Mean ! why, it 
 must be the dip of a flag returning a salute ; there is, 
 then, some great personage on board, that is certain. 
 Look well at the flag which is now at the masthead 
 and flying out tricolor bees the Imperial standard 
 it is L'Aigle and no other. That's luck, for her 
 course is right across our bows. If the Empress be 
 on deck we shall see her ; but no, she is not, for there
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 103 
 
 is a dense crowd amidships, and then there is an 
 envious glass enclosure from which, no doubt, every- 
 thing can be seen, but into which we see only through 
 a glass darkly. Provoking, when the opportunity 
 seemed so good ; but we shall have other chances. 
 Speriamo. At any rate we will have a look at the 
 outside passengers the gay party under the canopy 
 astern of the tantalising glass. There they are, not 
 more than a dozen ; splendidly dressed, and keeping 
 well apart to indulge us ; and that last figure, it 
 seems as if one had seen it before. It draws near 
 like a beautiful statue. Why no yes impossible 
 but it is, though, and none other the Imperial 
 lady herself majestic, beautiful, face to face with us 
 at the distance of an arrow's flight ! That her hus- 
 band is not by her side is a circumstance that lends 
 interest to her appearance as slowly and swanlike she 
 floats by ; while from the decks and riggings, and 
 from the deepest hearts of men of all nations, come 
 cheers after cheers, making the heavens ring. The 
 shouts are first raised for the Empress ; but all seem 
 immediately to forget that they are hailing aught save 
 a being gifted with the highest qualities of woman- 
 hood gracious, gentle, and fashioned like a sculptor's 
 dream. She passes on God save her ! and L'Aigle 
 takes her berth opposite us, but unfortunately she 
 does not lie transversely ; and, as she swings round, 
 the firing is hushed for a while, and the air is pierced 
 through and through from all points by the notes of 
 " Partant pour la Syrie." By the trident of Neptune
 
 104 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 it has been a glorious pageant ! such a one as is seen, 
 perhaps, but once or twice in the life of an ordinary 
 mortal, but which men tax their skill to imitate in 
 pictures, and theatres, and sculptures, and to paint in 
 words for the amusement of their fellows. / have seen 
 the reality here, and am transported by my good fortune. 
 
 There occurred now, what from the poverty of lan- 
 guage I must call a lull, meaning by that that there 
 was not much passing that required one to be con- 
 tinually straining the eye. Visits were going on 
 between the great personages, and the French ships 
 had now to return all the shots that had been fired 
 during the morning. But they were the ships of one 
 nation only, and could not maintain such a crashing 
 as the ships of conspiring nations. Moreover, they 
 were not very near us, and so I call it a lull ; and the 
 lull continued till afternoon, to the satisfaction, I 
 should think, of everybody in the harbour. 
 
 Afternoon, however, brought its own fete, and there 
 was everybody pushing for a sight again, molgre the 
 rubs, and scrambles, and concussions they had already 
 undergone. A ceremony was to be enacted on the 
 shore, probably unlike any that has been witnessed on 
 the earth. There was to be a religious inauguration 
 of the Suez Canal, at which the crowned heads were 
 all to assist. The novelty does not lie in this, but in 
 the fact that of the crowned heads present two are 
 Roman Catholics, one a Protestant, and the fourth a 
 Mohammedan. The Cross and Crescent are both to 
 overshadow worshippers who will prefer to heaven a
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 105 
 
 common prayer for the success of the work which has 
 been accomplished, repudiating selfish policies, and 
 pleading that their aim is peace, goodwill towards men. 
 The pavilions which I had seen in my walk of yester- 
 day are to be the scene of the rite ; and thither will 
 crowd great and small before three o'clock. I landed 
 in due time in company with two friends, a gentleman 
 from the north of England and his young fair daugh- 
 ter. We pass from the landing-place along causeways 
 and under arches, till we are on the line of the 
 expected procession, which is marked out by a flooring 
 of loose planks over the sand. The notabilia of the 
 road as distinguished from yesterday are, that the 
 crowd is hurrying all one way, and that the sides of 
 the route are flanked by troops in line. We got a 
 position which seemed promising, and took some little 
 pains to establish ourselves therein. This we effected, 
 and as I found my elbows were against the sides of two 
 English baronets, I imagined that we had not chosen 
 badly. There was some little objection on the part of 
 the military to our standing where we did, but when 
 they looked at the lady who belonged to our party, 
 the gallant Mussulmans withdrew all opposition. 
 There were two or three commands to stand back, 
 which raised the hope that the procession was at 
 hand, but these ended in nothing except murmurs. 
 At last, after another command to stand close, there 
 was manifestly a number of persons coming soberly 
 along the boarded walk, like the head of a procession, 
 with uniforms, and robes, and gay streamers. It was
 
 106 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 composed of different officials, military and civil, of 
 many nations. Our Consul-General and our Admiral 
 were among them. These passed onward and took 
 their stations on the central platform. I was sorry to 
 observe, just after they passed, that a naval officer 
 (French, I think) stumbled and fell : it was not clear 
 whether from illness or from catching his foot. There 
 was an interval, and then another batch of procession- 
 ists notabilities this time, though ; for among them 
 was the enviable De Lesseps himself, leading his 
 charming fiancee. A proud man he must have been, 
 and ought to have been, that day. And near him was 
 Madame de Lesseps, his daughter-in-law, on the arm 
 of what appeared to be a general officer, but turned 
 out to be a literary gentleman of reputation, jammed 
 into a red coat rich with decorations, and plumed like 
 Mars a sublime sight, or within a step of it ! It has 
 occurred to me that Mrs B. might not object to learn 
 how the lady who is so soon to be Madame de Lesseps 
 was habited on this great occasion ; and, according to 
 my ability, I proceed to describe her dress. She wore 
 a short black silk dress, and a black hat, with two 
 veils the one next her face a grey gauze, outside 
 that a spotted black. The group was tolerably large, 
 but I had not time to observe all its members ; and 
 so these passed on to the platform. And now at last 
 the troops present arms, there are tall banners waving 
 in the distance, and the sounds of military music 
 the sceptred guests this time, no doubt. They come 
 on, preceded by some of the Khedive's household a
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 107 
 
 cluster of great ones such as may not often be seen 
 together. The Empress of the French, the Emperor 
 of Austria, the Viceroy of Egypt, the Crown Prince of 
 Prussia, and the Viceroy's young son. They are walk- 
 ing slowly, on a level with the crowd, and within 
 distinct view of all beholders. The Empress leans on 
 the arm of the Emperor of Austria. The cheers are 
 hearty as they come along. She draws near. The 
 Empress, the cynosure, smiling as only some ten 
 women in the world can smile, winning hearts, ap- 
 plauded, worshipped ; but she passed, and it was as 
 if the sun had been eclipsed. A right worthy party 
 they appeared, and I believe the salutations which 
 met them this day were as genuine as they were numer- 
 ous and loud. The suites of the different princes made 
 up the procession, which had soon filed on to the 
 centre platform. During the short interval before the 
 commencement of the services, the naval officer whom 
 I had seen fall was led away between two comrades, 
 looking very weak and wan. I am afraid that he was 
 struck by some disease, but I never heard more of 
 him. A parenthesis here for Mrs B., whom I had 
 forgotten in writing the above. The Empress wore a 
 short pale-grey silk, with deep white Brussels lace 
 arranged en paniers and flounces, as my fair com- 
 panion explained to me. Her hat and veil were 
 black, and there was a black velvet ribbon round 
 her neck. 
 
 The Mohammedan pontiff who officiated on this 
 occasion was understood to be a man of surpass-
 
 108 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 ing sanctity, who had come from a great distance. 
 He was old, and his voice feeble, so that his utter- 
 ances were not very distinctly heard, a circumstance 
 which, to the European part of the audience, could 
 not have been of much importance, as he, of course, 
 spoke in Arabic. Whether it may have been a prayer 
 or an exhortation which he gave voice to, it was but 
 short. And then followed prayers on the Roman 
 Catholic side of the platform. But the event of 
 the meeting was yet to come namely, an address 
 by M. Bauer, her Majesty's confessor, commencing, 
 " Monseigneur, Madame, Sire," Monseigneur indi- 
 cating, as I understood, the Viceroy. It is hardly a 
 disparagement to say that this oration contained no 
 new information or idea. It was impossible that a 
 subject which had been so long and so generally dis- 
 cussed could be put into an entirely new light for this 
 public day. But it is, I think, a fair objection to the 
 speech that, being of necessity composed of somewhat 
 trite matter, it was couched in grandiloquent phrases. 
 Familiar ideas do not admit of being dressed in high- 
 sounding words. I shall be curious to see whether, 
 when the discourse is published in the papers, as it 
 will be, the judgment which I have formed of it will 
 be supported by the critics. The orator magnified 
 the work now achieved as one of the grandest which 
 history can record, and dilated on the benefits deriv- 
 able from it both to the present and the future. He 
 thought that the day of creation and the 16th day of 
 November 1869 would both figure in the chronology
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 109 
 
 of the future in ineffaceable characters. Then he pro- 
 ceeded : " II y a deux mondes unis dans un seul. Le 
 splendide orient et Toccident merveilleux se rappro- 
 chent, se saluent : salut ! splendide orient d'ou nous 
 viennent a la fois la lumiere du soleil et celle de 
 Intelligence. Et toi aussi salut ! Occident qui as 
 recueilli cette lumiere et en as fait le patrimoine 
 commun de tous. C'est aujourd'hui la grande fete 
 de rhumanite' tout entiere ! " The Canal, which 
 seems only a means of increasing wealth, is never- 
 theless to be the great river which of two worlds 
 shall make a single world, and of all the races of the 
 earth a single humanity. Manners, language, cus- 
 toms, are all to be assimulated. *' II n'y aura plus 
 qu'un unique fairceau, I'humaniteV' These are very 
 fine words, and very grand promises, but are they not 
 rather lavish "? Our friend over the water will not be 
 long before he endeavours to emulate this work, or 
 rather to overwhelm and stamp it out of notice, by 
 the splendid piercing of the Isthmus of Darien. But 
 what will be the use of opening the second isthmus if 
 the opening of the first has already fused the nations 
 into " une seule humanite," and produced a millen- 
 nium \ Fortunately the gentlemen who are expected 
 to promote the junction of the Atlantic and Pacific 
 Oceans are not of a race likely to be outdone in tall 
 talk; and as they once discovered an oyster so big 
 that it required two men to swallow it whole, so they 
 may represent I' humanite as grown to such perfection 
 that it requires two canals to maintain it seule.
 
 110 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 M. Bauer, with better taste than distinguishes the 
 greater part of his address, complimented the Viceroy 
 on the success of the undertaking. " Ce que vous 
 avez sagement voulu," he said, " vouz avez courag- 
 eusement accompli. Jouissez aujourd'hui de votre 
 glorieux succes ! " but he immediately after relapsed 
 into bombast. I cannot, however, find much fault 
 with the few words which he addressed particularly 
 to the Empress Eugenie. " Madame, et ce n'est pas 
 en une parole banale 1'histoire dira tout ce que cette 
 oeuvre merveilleuse doit a vos chaudes sympathies. 
 Ici encore, votre cosur a battu a 1'unison de celui de 
 la France ! " Neither do I wish one word omitted 
 from the apostrophe which he made to the great 
 author of the work, and I joined heartily in the 
 cheer which attended the conclusion of it : " Tout 
 ce qui constitue le puissant initiateur, en est fait la 
 plus grande gloire du dix-neuvieme siecle. Ainsi 
 il est un nom que nous pouvons sans desa vantage 
 opposer a celui de Christophe Colombe, c'est celui de 
 FERDINAND DE LESSEES." (Bravo ! bravo !) 
 
 In awarding to the Emperor of Austria his share of 
 the compliments, M. Bauer said that the Adriatic Sea 
 made now only one river with the Indian Ocean. The 
 meaning of this flourish is not quite clear, but the 
 expression struck me and many of my friends with 
 whom I have talked the matter over as being in 
 questionable taste. An appeal to Heaven, quite 
 worthy to be inscribed with the rest of the oration, 
 ended it.
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. Ill 
 
 After the ceremony the illustrious actors in it re- 
 turned in the same order in which they had come to 
 the wharf, and thence on board their respective ships 
 under the indispensable salutes of cannon. I strolled 
 about Port Said, looking into some of the shops, which 
 seemed very fairly supplied. There was no public 
 entertainment this night, if that expression be appli- 
 cable when so many thousands were being entertained 
 at the Viceroy's expense, and when an illumination 
 was being prepared which should delight all eyes 
 ashore or afloat. I mean that invitations for a 
 dinner, ball, or other party were not issued by the 
 Viceroy, and it was understood that sovereigns and 
 princes would spend the evening as each should 
 please, and prepare for the passage of the Canal 
 to-morrow. 
 
 The early part of the evening was passed on board 
 in discussing once more the probabilities of the pas- 
 sage to-morrow, and the arrangements made in that 
 respect. Sinister rumours were afloat concerning the 
 grounding of a Turkish steamer in the Canal, on which 
 the prophets of evil began to croak hoarsely. I own 
 that I was surprised to find how little faith there was 
 even now in the sufficiency of the work. As the 
 Israelites imputed to Moses that he had brought 
 them out of Egypt to perish in the wilderness, so 
 did they of little faith affirm that M. de Lesseps 
 had decoyed us all from our hearths and altars to 
 witness a miserable failure. We should see. We 
 might go into the Canal, but our ship would have
 
 112 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 to be dug out of it, and we, landed in the wilderness, 
 might find our way to the coast as best we could. 
 The ladies, bless them ! showed less distrust than the 
 gentlemen, and argued against the probability of a 
 work which, through so many difficulties and dangers, 
 had been brought triumphantly to this point, being 
 allowed to come to nought at this supreme moment. 
 And so, in cheerful predictions and dining, we whiled 
 away the hours till the illuminations should com- 
 mence. 
 
 If M. de Lesseps was to lie open to our reproach 
 for seducing us from our homes to be disappointed in 
 respect of the Canal, he at any rate deserved credit for 
 bringing us to a better climate than our own. I could 
 imagine what an English evening would be like on the 
 16th of November very unlike the heavenly night- 
 fall in which we took to our boats to behold the illu- 
 minations and fireworks. The temperature was simply 
 delicious ; hardly a ripple was on the water, and the 
 moon, at the full, was riding in the heavens. We 
 pulled out into the small open passage left after 
 accommodating so many ships, and looked down the 
 rows of shipping to right and left. All were ablaze 
 with lamps, some variegated, others of uniform colour. 
 In some of them every inch of the rigging was studded 
 with these gay fires, and in all there was a profuse dis- 
 play. Near to you the glare quite dazzled, but the 
 lights mellowed with distance : three or four ships 
 off they were in lines and streaks ; farther on they 
 exhibited confused figures ; and at last they stretched
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 113 
 
 away into what seemed infinity an endless rosy 
 cloud. One ship of war, which had the appearance 
 of lying across the harbour, came out especially 
 strong in illumination; and the Viceroy's yacht was 
 most tastefully and profusely lighted, rigging and 
 hull too. To form an idea of all this, you must 
 consider the large area over which the fires extended. 
 Look which way you might, your eye could not find 
 a sombre spot ; the heavens seemed on fire, and the 
 calm depths on which we floated, reflecting all the 
 glories, multiplied indefinitely the brilliant figures. 
 Before we could take in the whole effects, rockets 
 began to rise from different quarters at once, and 
 these continued to be discharged during the whole 
 evening, the stars of some of them being most artis- 
 tically and beautifully contrived. Besides these, there 
 were all sorts of fiery projectiles, which, little by little, 
 joined in the general conflagration ; and at last, on 
 the strand, were exhibited all manner of feux d'arti- 
 fice, the most elaborate appearing near to one of the 
 obelisks which I mentioned as marking the entrance 
 to the Canal. Along this strand burned coloured 
 lamps. It was, indeed, a fairy scene, and to pull 
 about the harbour and enjoy it seemed the height 
 of pleasure. Our wayward nature, however, will 
 have change ; and, leaving the delights on the water, 
 we pulled to shore to see how it fared with the town. 
 There, too, all was light. Torches glared, names and 
 sentences spelt with stars were visible, Chinese lan- 
 terns gleamed high and low, and of all colours. It 
 
 H
 
 114 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 was like taking a walk through the zodiac. I never 
 saw such a glitter of artificial light as on this night. 
 The murmuring of many voices, and the shooting of 
 the projectiles, were the only sounds that broke the 
 stillness a delightful contrast to the banging and 
 rattling that had been going on all day. I do not 
 know what Port Said may be in its working clothes, 
 but in its holiday dress I bear testimony to its being 
 a most enchanting place. 
 
 The arrangements for commencing the passage of 
 the Canal next day were not announced till late on 
 the 16th, and some inconvenience ensued, so that the 
 order of proceeding was not strictly observed. There 
 was intelligence of the ship that had grounded in the 
 Canal being off the bank ; but still the doubters were 
 dissatisfied, and went to bed with doleful hearts. It 
 was a comfort to learn this evening that the two 
 English ships had been got off the mud outside. 
 
 The morning of the 1 7th began with firing, like 
 the preceding two days. As I knew what the firing 
 meant, I did not suffer myself to be startled out of 
 my cabin, as I had done the day before, but dressed 
 leisurely, judging from the sounds without what was 
 going on. The ships of war had been directed to 
 enter first, and there were to be intervals of a quarter 
 of an hour each between every two ships. When, 
 therefore, after the first cannonading I heard our 
 Danish neighbour playing " Partant pour la Syrie," I 
 knew that L'Aigle was entering the Canal. More 
 firing, and the Hymn to the Emperor, showed that
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 115 
 
 the Austrian imperial yacht had gone in. and so on. 
 Our national anthem was being played as I came out 
 to view the scene, and Sir A. Milne, in his tender, 
 was just passing between the obelisks. After seeing 
 the first few begin the passage, and watching their 
 masts as long as we could see them, we went to 
 breakfast. The news at table was that, by incredible 
 exertions continued all night, the obstructing ship 
 had been removed ; but still heads were shaken and 
 predictions hazarded against a successful passage. 
 For my part, I was not in the least surprised to hear 
 that a ship had touched in the Canal, or that they had 
 got her off. The smallest error in steering must put 
 a long ship on the bank ; but the officers of the Canal 
 were no doubt prepared for accidents of the kind, and 
 no doubt they took care that everything should be 
 clear on this eventful morning. I was so far from 
 thinking worse of the Canal because a ship had taken 
 the ground, that I rather rejoiced in the accident, as 
 it gave an opportunity of showing how readily it 
 could be dealt with. 
 
 It was afternoon before we in our turn steamed 
 into the jaws of the Canal. We were about in the 
 middle of the procession, so that it must have been 
 evening before the last ship entered. The orders were 
 to proceed at the rate of five miles an hour, and to 
 maintain the initial distance between the ships. Of 
 course the transmission of instructions from either 
 end of the flotilla to the other by signals was easy. 
 It was delightful to reflect that we were actually in
 
 116 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 the much-canvassed water, and then to feel that our 
 ship, which did not then draw much over twelve feet, 
 sped along as easily as if she had been at sea. The 
 water about us looked somewhat disturbed, as if the 
 preceding ships, either by actual contact with the 
 ground, or by the wash on the sides of the Canal 
 which their passage occasioned, had troubled the 
 waters ; but we went along. When we first slackened 
 speed, in order to keep the required pace, the ship 
 which followed us showed a disposition to run up and 
 attempt to pass an attempt which was of course 
 thwarted. I mention it to show that there were 
 irregularities committed in endeavours to get forward 
 places, which might have led to blocks and difficulties, 
 and which were extremely inconsiderate at a time 
 when the object of every ship admitted should have 
 been to make a fair trial of the capabilities of the 
 passage. We sounded continually. The lead was 
 heaved by Italian, not English, sailors, but I was 
 assured that they were finding on this first day never 
 less than 23 English feet of water, and sometimes as 
 many as 30 feet. I am afraid, however, that we did 
 not test the very shallowest parts, or that there 
 was some mistake in the reduction of the soundings 
 to English measure. However, those before us were 
 advancing, great and small ; the greatest draught 
 being 18 or 19 feet that of the Peluse, a French 
 ship. 
 
 Only a dreary expanse of shoal- water and inunda- 
 tion is visible from the northern end of the Canal.
 
 THE OPENING OP THE SUEZ CANAL. 11 7 
 
 Lake Menzaleh, which in these latter days has been 
 more a swamp than a lake, is extensive and unvaried. 
 The Canal has been driven through it by dredging, 
 and the Canal's banks are the only pieces of contin- 
 uous hard ground that traverse its waters. On these 
 are a few huts and stations for the workmen whom 
 we saw at work on the finishing processes. Some 
 were driving piles for warps, some completing the 
 banks and slopes, or excavating small basins at the 
 sides, and all working hard apparently. Donkeys, 
 mules, and camels were carrying on their backs the 
 earth that had to be moved, and the groups presented 
 a picturesque scene to the artist, if rather a primitive 
 one to the engineer. I have in my lifetime done 
 some pieces of work by negro-labour, Bales, and can 
 form an idea of the difficulty of pushing forward such 
 a labour as this by means of Egyptians and Arabs 
 obstinately wedded to old thriftless ways, and per- 
 sistently wasting the labour of their hands by reject- 
 ing method and order. The dredging-machinery and 
 the plant used in making the Canal had been got out 
 of sight somehow or other, and I was astonished that 
 I saw so few evidences of work which, I heard, was 
 kept briskly going up to the 15th or 1 6th. 
 
 Our amusement was to watch the small steamers, 
 some of them passage-boats, and some belonging to 
 the works, which frequently went up and down, using 
 greater speed than we could dare to put on, and to 
 return heartily their hearty salutations. We noted, 
 too, the enormous flights of wild-fowl on the lake, and
 
 118 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 saw now and then the ibis at home. It was a relief 
 to the eye when, towards evening, some high ground 
 and an extent of dry land, the famed Wilderness of 
 Zin, I suppose, were discernible. The hillsides were 
 distinctly stratified, and there was just enough undula- 
 tion in the plain to assist the light and air in making 
 a glorious prospect. The sun was sinking, and the 
 air, gently simmering through some agency of the 
 climate, received the rich purple light, which over- 
 spreads with its warmth all the views that I have 
 seen in the land of Egypt. We knew that we saw a 
 desert, yet it looked an Eden ; the foregrounds lovely 
 in rich light and shadow, and the distances showing a 
 mirage of rocks and mountains and cities, all glowing 
 in a soft and many-coloured light. But as the sun 
 approached the horizon the purples dissolved into all 
 the colours of the rainbow, red and yellow ruling in 
 the sky a prodigality of colour, an enchanted scene. 
 And gliding along on an even keel, we sat in silence 
 in the genial evening watching the dying beauty 
 of the day, which did not die, for there was no 
 obscurity, no damp of night, no eclipse of beauty. 
 Before the sun was down the moon was up, and her 
 silver stole timidly over the lone region, as if depre- 
 cating rivalry with the great light which had just 
 sunk in surpassing glory. But she rose in heaven 
 with a glory all her own, touching the waters with 
 her sheen, and bathing the desert in amber beams. 
 Long sharp shadows from the rigging fell on the else- 
 where illuminated deck ; the Egyptian night was
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 119 
 
 calm and without a cloud ; and I listened to a voice, 
 soft, gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman, 
 extolling the tranquil scene, and giving token how 
 truly nature's loveliness had touched an ingenuous 
 soul. This was enjoyment, but it was not destined 
 to endure. There is a hoarse screaming whistle from 
 the steamer in front of us ; she stops, we stop. " What 
 the devil is the matter ? " issues from some dozen 
 throats at once. Nobody replies, for nobody knows. 
 " There it is ! I knew it ! " sings out every croaker. 
 " It's all up ; we shall have to scramble ashore, and 
 walk to Ismailia ; pleasant fix ! " And then followed 
 a rumour, derived none could say whence, which 
 affirmed that the ships in front were all aground, and 
 our chance of passing completely hopeless. Some 
 were for going at once on shore and seeking camels 
 to take them and their baggage on; some, a little 
 more rational, advised the postponement of the step 
 till morning ; but the counsel which, backed by the 
 ladies as before, ultimately prevailed, was to pull 
 ahead in the boats and endeavour to ascertain the real 
 state of the case. As I entertained apprehension of 
 nothing worse than a short delay, I did not go in the 
 boats, but watched their course, as far as I could see 
 it, from the forecastle. It was not very long before 
 they returned without any certain information, but 
 with their fears strengthened, and bidding us to 
 expect the worst. Again it was proclaimed a " pre- 
 cious mess/' and again proposals were made to go on 
 shore and seek conveyances ; but before the hubbub
 
 120 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 and fretting had been succeeded by action, some im- 
 portant intelligence had arrived. One of the party, 
 determined to find out how things were, had landed, 
 and trudged along the bank till he reached ships far 
 before our own. He was now seen returning tired 
 and slowly through the heavy sand. While we were 
 lowering a boat to take him off, he informed us at the 
 top of his voice that there was nothing at all the 
 matter ; but that orders had been sent from Ismailia, 
 where the leading ships already were, for no more 
 ships to enter the harbour that night, but to anchor 
 in the Canal till morning. Thus this alarm, too, 
 ended, and we now waited patiently for the day. 
 
 Early on the 18th we emerged from the Canal and 
 entered the waters of Lake Timseh, which may now 
 be called the harbour of Ismailia, and a splendid 
 basin it is. On the north-west shore is the new town, 
 which now was gleaming with as many colours as 
 Port Said was the day before. The ships in harbour, 
 too, were in holiday trim. We advanced and took 
 up our appointed berth, having now penetrated with- 
 out accident some fifty miles from the Mediterranean 
 into Egypt. 
 
 Ismailia viewed from the water is a pleasant sight. 
 The palace built for the reception of the illustrious 
 guests of to-day is what first arrests the eye. Large 
 as it is, you are told that it was built in three 
 months, which would be a very marvellous circum- 
 stance if the growth of the whole town had not been 
 rapid in proportion. The ships are not so numerous
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 121 
 
 nor so closely packed as they were in Port Said ; and 
 when the men-of-war begin to fire, as they soon do, 
 they are more tolerable than the huge dark masses 
 which were vomiting their fire almost into each other's 
 sides on the 16th. And, apropos of that, I observed 
 a curious performance connected with the firing of 
 heavy guns from some of the foreign ships. The guns 
 were never run in to load, but immediately after each 
 discharge a head was thrust through the port-hole, and 
 a sailor, with a sponge in his hand, took his seat astride 
 on the muzzle of the gun. From this position he 
 sponged and rammed. I need not add that, in real 
 warfare, a man so exposing himself must be slain by 
 a rifle-bullet immediately. 
 
 It was the landing of the Empress of the French 
 which gave occasion for the firing which I have men- 
 tioned ; and the firing is followed by deafening shouts 
 from the shore as she takes her way to the palace 
 which has sprung up as rapidly almost as did Alad- 
 din's. She is to inspect the wonders of the new town 
 and to witness the horsemanship of Arab chiefs for a 
 morning's entertainment, and at night she is to grace 
 a grand ball at the palace. Here let me relate an 
 anecdote. On board the same ship with myself was 
 an Italian gentleman of middle age, clever, spirited, 
 quaint, reckless, pleasant. I sometimes thought he 
 was Italian by mistake, and intended for an Irishman, 
 for which character he had the further qualification 
 of being somewhat out at elbows. He had been capi- 
 taine, exile, wanderer, writer ; had worked his passage
 
 122 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 home from Australia in an English ship ; spoke four 
 languages well ; smoked twenty cigars a-day ; had 
 had several duels, and had like to have slain one ; and 
 knew a short road to a lady's heart. (I know a pair 
 of bright eyes that would look severely on this last 
 expression if they could see it ; but fiat justitia, you 
 know, Bales, I must be honest.) He had got an invi- 
 tation from the Viceroy to attend the fetes in some 
 capacity or other, and he had made himself a favour- 
 ite with all on board. This hero happened to be on 
 shore at the moment when the Empress was about to 
 mount a camel, probably for the first time in her life. 
 The richly-caparisoned animal was on it knees and 
 haunches to receive its fair burden, and Eugenie, sit- 
 ting well forward of the hump, was about to order 
 that the animal should rise, when the Italian, who 
 knew something about camels, as he did about most 
 things, taking his cigar from his mouth, called out to 
 her, " Tenez-vous en arriere, ou vous ferez la culbute " !"" 
 This is not the style in which imperial personages are 
 generally addressed, but the gracious lady with real 
 dignity accepted the honest advice. She bowed 
 kindly, saying, " Je vous remercie, monsieur ; " and 
 immediately altered her position. The camel, in ris- 
 ing, lengthens its hind legs first. And while I am 
 digressing, let me introduce a message for madame. 
 The Empress, when on the camel, wore a yellow 
 alpaca dress and jacket of the same, a large Leghorn 
 hat, and a yellow veil. 
 
 * Hold yourself back, or you will turn a somersault.
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 123 
 
 I landed before noon at one end of the town, and 
 found myself on a strand of deep loose sand, crowded 
 with Mussulmans and cattle, and showing a few tem- 
 porary houses, with many sheds and tents. There is 
 now something like a native population to be seen. 
 At Port Said there were so many strangers of all na- 
 tions, that the town seemed to belong no more to the 
 Egyptians than it did to the Germans or the English. 
 Now, however, the predominance of the turban and 
 the fez showed clearly who were at home and who 
 were not. Before I was off the beach I saw a sight 
 which proved how different from those of Europe are 
 the modes that prevail here. One of the faithful 
 who was moving some wood incurred the wrath of 
 his employer, a fat Mohammedan, who let into him 
 with a pole a yard and a half long, and about the 
 thickness of a man's arm, belabouring him unmerci- 
 fully, falling into the most violent rage, and venting 
 his wrath in words as well as blows. What with the 
 dress and the exaggerated action, the incident was so 
 like what one sees in a pantomime, that I could not 
 refrain from laughing, though it was certainly no 
 joke to the poor fellah. 
 
 A very few steps in from the sea-beach you come 
 upon the fresh-water canal which flows through the 
 town. The part which I saw looked muddy, and one 
 could guess why ; for there were savages standing in 
 it, and cattle brought to drink were allowed to go 
 into it too. Through nasty sheds, very nasty animals, 
 and particularly nasty people, I had to pass about a
 
 124 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 hundred yards along the banks, encountering terrible 
 odours before I reached a bridge which allowed me to 
 cross to the more respectable part of the town. Here 
 was a fair broad street, with a hard road (the other 
 ways were all loose sand), and along this I passed, 
 observing the houses on either side, some of which 
 were very good. Most of them were detached, and 
 stood among trees, shrubs, or flowers, so that this 
 town in the desert has rather a pleasing appearance. 
 Some way on towards the palace there was a square, 
 with hotels and baths in it, and on one side thereof 
 were donkeys for hire the only public conveyance. 
 It was broiling hot, and I did not fancy walking 
 on the sand. On the other hand, I was somewhat 
 squeamish about exhibiting myself on the outside of 
 a donkey, and there was a conflict of emotions. Ex- 
 hausted nature prevailed over pride, and I approached 
 a donkey-proprietor, making signs that I wished to 
 know the price per hour. He understood me perfect- 
 ly, and said, " Ten shilling hour." I was convinced 
 that he must use the word shilling for some other 
 coin, and, having compassion upon his ignorance, took 
 some pains to satisfy him of his error. But he was 
 quite intelligent and wide awake. " Half-suvveru," he 
 said ; " muss pay ; all donkey wanted." He was 
 fixed as kismet, utterly immovable, but a rogue who 
 had overshot his mark. A reasonable advance of 
 price must have been, of necessity, submitted to on 
 the occasion ; but this rascal's assurance defeated its 
 object, and I was glad, later in the day, to see his
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 125 
 
 animals standing apparently fresh and unnoticed. I 
 made a push now for the palace, in viewing which I 
 expected at any rate a solid footing instead of the 
 sand, and shelter from the sun ; but when I got there 
 I was informed that visitors were not admitted, as 
 preparations for the ball at night were in progress. 
 Foiled here, I and some friends whom I had joined 
 looked at the outside of the building, which is plain, 
 but lofty and extensive. (The inside I saw at a later 
 hour.) It has a plantation of palm-trees round it, 
 and is separated by a low wall from the road. After- 
 wards, attracted by a green grove just beyond, we 
 entered an enclosure, and were most politely received 
 by M. Pierre, the manager of the fresh-water works, 
 whose domain this was. He was good enough to 
 take us over his garden, where, by sluices, jets, and 
 artificial rain drawn from the Nile, he has contrived 
 to raise vegetables innumerable, and to surround his 
 house with elegant plants and flowers. Splendid 
 creepers, convolvuluses, the magnificent poinsettia, 
 oleanders, and I know not what other gay blossoms 
 mingling with rich green leaves, shaded walks, and 
 pavilions overrun with climbing plants, and with the 
 moisture dripping all round them, hardly suffered the 
 mind to realise what this spot was some six years 
 since the very heart of an African wilderness. We 
 were also gratified by the sight of a pond absolutely 
 full of the celebrated lotus-plant, whose large leaves 
 nearly hid all the water. The fruit, dark in colour, 
 is shaped like a saucer with a cover on it (I do not
 
 126 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 know how better to describe it), and it is pierced 
 with numerous holes, or rather tubes, visible in the 
 upper surface, and descending through the fruit to 
 the lower. The diameter is three inches, or there- 
 abouts. In a word, it much resembles the rose of a 
 watefing-pot. Having shown us his pretty fresh 
 grounds, and presented us with fruit and flowers, 
 M. Pierre added to his favours by showing us the 
 engines and wheels by which the water is sent over 
 Ismailia, and to Port Said and the stations on the 
 northern half of the Canal. The engines are of fifty- 
 horse power, and they send 400,000 gallons per diem 
 to Port Said. The price of the water, both at Ismailia 
 and Port Said, is 1 franc for 100 gallons, the cost of 
 100 gallons to the company being 20 centimes. The 
 works cost 280,000 sterling. We had now to thank 
 M. Pierre for the large portion of his time which on 
 this busy day he had devoted to our entertainment, 
 and to take our leave. Let me add, that on every 
 occasion where I had to apply to an Egyptian official 
 I found in him the utmost patience and politeness, 
 and a hearty desire to serve. A great many of 
 them speak English well. M. Pierre, before parting, 
 told us that he believed every one of these donkey 
 rascals was well paid for this occasion by the Viceroy, 
 and in strict justice could demand no pay at all. He 
 advised that we should take the donkeys, and at 
 the end of the ride give whatever hire we thought 
 proper. 
 
 Refreshed by our stay at the water-works, we now
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 127 
 
 strolled back through the main street, where we 
 looked at the governor's house, and saw M. de 
 Lesseps ride up to and enter it. We found out, 
 too, the offices of the different consuls, and those 
 of some of the Egyptian ministers ; and, heat and 
 fatigue compelling again, I was fain to get a donkey, 
 and a lady of the party having consented to ride 
 a donkey also, we continued our promenade. The 
 railway station and another Arab encampment were 
 visited in this way, and then we went, the whole 
 party, to lunch with the Viceroy that is to say, we 
 entered an immense pavilion, and called for whatever 
 refreshment we required, gratis ! In exploring fur- 
 ther, my donkey came upon a street lined by soldiers, 
 and we found out, with some little trouble, that the 
 Empress was likely to pass that way on a drive round 
 the town. Waiting to watch what would happen, 
 we were surprised to see our Italian friend, and self- 
 constituted posture-master to the Empress, coming 
 along post-haste in an open carriage. He charged 
 without ceremony through the troops, who quickly 
 made way for him, and, espying us, invited four to 
 make use of the carriage, three inside and one on the 
 box, the carriage having been furnished, as so many 
 other things were, by the Viceroy. Driving back 
 through the lines of troops, we were soon aware of 
 some carriages approaching the contrary way, and, 
 drawing to one side, we were once more gratified by 
 a sight of the crowned heads and princes, whom we 
 followed, and whom, as they returned, we passed yet
 
 128 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 once more. Just after we saw them first our capi- 
 tano's cigar went out, and he reillumined it by the 
 strangest means I ever saw used for such a purpose. 
 He bade a soldier on duty in the ranks to hand him 
 the weed of some person in the rear; and this the 
 soldier did without making any remark, return- 
 ing it again to the owner when the capitano's was 
 alight. 
 
 We went to see the Arab tournament, or whatever 
 they may call it, but I cannot say that I derived 
 much amusement or instruction therefrom. The 
 chiefs were all independent, and had come in with 
 certain of their tribes to do voluntary honour to the 
 Empress and Khedive". They were enveloped in their 
 long white shaggy mantles and hoods, and with their 
 gaily-caparisoned horses were, I suppose, much to be 
 admired. They rode short, as we know that the 
 Arabs do, and dashed their horses up and down the 
 lists without rule or reason that I could discover, 
 frequently firing, but oftener presenting without fir- 
 ing, while their horses were in career. I was alto- 
 gether disappointed in the speed with which they 
 passed. Had they galloped like the wind, as we 
 read of Arabs doing, the facility with which they 
 used their weapons would have demanded admiration ; 
 but whether they were checked by the sand, or 
 whether their speed is exaggerated, the exploits did 
 not seem at all beyond the achievements of an English 
 dragoon or good rider to hounds. After the rifle- 
 exercise we had some tilting with lances. These
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 129 
 
 weapons, which are set on bamboo poles, can be 
 either thrust or hurled at an enemy. I have in this 
 case also to make the observation, that the moderate 
 pace, as compared with my expectation, at which the 
 feats were performed, made them subjects of neither 
 wonder nor interest. 
 
 Tired and heated though I was, I in the evening 
 landed again to go to the Khedive's ball. The streets 
 were illuminated as at Port Said. We had some 
 trouble in finding a carriage (all the carriages were 
 engaged by the Khedive'), but we did get one, and 
 drove through the many thousand lights to the pal- 
 ace. All the palms surrounding the building were 
 thickly hung with Chinese lanterns, creating a most 
 beautiful effect. The first step into the building 
 showed what sort of an attendance there was. The 
 very vestibule was crammed. We did, however, 
 manage to cross that ; but when we attempted to get 
 tickets for our wraps, the crush was dreadful. There 
 was no thoroughfare past the bureau, but each person 
 had to advance through a narrow gorge to the win- 
 dow and then to get back again, the fight between 
 comers and goers being most vigorous. About eight 
 or ten rooms were open, but they were all filled to 
 suffocation. The ladies who were lucky had seats all 
 round the walls, and the remaining ladies with the 
 gentlemen covered every inch of the area of each 
 room. The number of the company was estimated 
 at 6000, and it was by no means select. Very odd- 
 looking Europeans were there in all kinds of dresses
 
 130 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 (except working dresses, which I did not see), and 
 some with countenances of a somewhat villanous cast. 
 The Moslem attendance must have been also very 
 mixed ; for although Arab gravity did not allow 
 much to be divined from the countenance, the dress 
 and the peculiar flavour of many of the true believers 
 bespoke slight acquaintance with the ways or the 
 water of the beau monde. It was not surprising, 
 therefore, to hear next morning of ladies having lost 
 their watches or ornaments ; nor to be told by a 
 gentleman whom I accompanied, that in one of the 
 rooms he felt a hand carefully examining his pockets 
 at a time when he was so crushed that it was impos- 
 sible to turn. I was aware that in the situation which 
 he indicated, a person in eccentric costume, and with 
 a face not benevolent, had persistently interposed 
 between us. That person was, however, in the 
 higher walk of his profession, and did not stoop to 
 folly for folly's sake ; for, finding only a spectacle- 
 case in my companion's pocket, he refrained from 
 abstracting that useful article. And, after all, one 
 must not complain very grievously if, where hospi- 
 tality was so extended, a few social difficulties found 
 their way, but rather admire the zeal and courage 
 with which they pursued their calling ; for had any 
 of them been complained of, they had little to hope 
 for from laws made expressly for their protection, or 
 from the pig-headedness of an enlightened jury, but 
 it is possible that Ismail would have summarily 
 extinguished ingenuity and life together.
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 131 
 
 In one of the largest rooms of the suite were to be 
 seen M. de Lesseps and his party. He appeared to 
 be in the highest spirits, and was receiving the felici- 
 tations of his friends as the latter could make their 
 way to him through the company. Any one who 
 had the patience and energy to accomplish the middle 
 passage through the crowd could see that night every 
 celebrity that was in Ismailia, and had a chance of 
 encountering friends of whose presence there he had 
 no suspicion. I saw two English officers, colonels of 
 the same corps, gravitate towards each other from 
 a distance at which only the uniform could be recog- 
 nised ; and when they at length met near me, I heard 
 the surprise expressed by each at the unexpected meet- 
 ing. Ministers of State, military and naval officers 
 of all grades, civil officials in their decorations, Jews, 
 Greeks, Turks, Moors, Albanians, Egyptians, and one 
 Hungarian noble, in their national costumes, mingling 
 with the crowd of black frocks and swallow-tails, made 
 up a most gay and picturesque multitude, the parts 
 of which, after at first working independently, and 
 resisting, and withstanding, and counteracting each 
 other to the utmost, found the advantage of arranging 
 themselves into currents, after which the eddies and 
 narrows were the only very dangerous places. Wher- 
 ever it was possible to see the carpets, strips of ribbon, 
 lace, tulle, ruchings, puffs, streamers of tarlatan, flounces, 
 and whole parterres of crushed flowers, were there in 
 ruins ; and towards morning, when the crowd thinned, 
 some of the hapless owners might be seen flitting
 
 132 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 to and fro, bare and dishevelled, clasping the dear 
 remains. 
 
 The furniture of the rooms, when a piece could be 
 viewed, was seen to be very splendid, and of the new- 
 est fashion ; but any comprehension of the general 
 effect was manifestly out of the question. The scarlet 
 liveries of the Khedive's innumerable domestics, who 
 were laced and powdered to the utmost capabilities of 
 their persons, increased the variety of colours, as the 
 persevering wearers endeavoured to make their devious 
 way through the mass to offer ices and other refresh- 
 ments to faint beings, who, after grasping the coveted 
 glass or saucer, found they could not raise their hands 
 to their mouths. 
 
 The spacious supper -pavilion was not, however, 
 crammed with human beings wedged together as were 
 the other rooms. It was spread with many long 
 tables for the supper, and cross- tables at one end 
 were loaded with ices, fruits, wines, orgeat, sherbets, 
 cates, and every delicacy that could be readily dis- 
 cussed without much ceremony. The less dainty of 
 the guests, especially the Egyptians, had a rapid way 
 of dealing with these viands, and of disposing of peels, 
 stones, stems, &c., which were not the only offerings 
 which they made to the floor. Even the true believers 
 yield to the potent influence of the times. Who does 
 not remember how secret that old rascal Sheik Ibrahim 
 had to be in indulging his fancy for wine with Nour- 
 eddin, and how he trembled at the thought of the 
 Caliph discovering his horrid infirmity ! And now,
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 133 
 
 here, in the palace of the ruler of a Mohammedan 
 country, were wines and strong drinks not only per- 
 mitted, but temptingly offered to the palates of all 
 comers ! 
 
 It was near midnight when the Khedive and his 
 greatest guests entered the first of the suite of rooms 
 and began to move slowly round it. Their appear- 
 ance only caused the crowd to wedge themselves more 
 closely into blocks. Only a very few of the front 
 ranks were gratified by a sight of them, and, after 
 a short progress through the company, the high per- 
 sonages retired to a reserved apartment. After this 
 were begun what were called dances exercises by 
 which I trust that the actors were delighted, though 
 I own to an inability to understand the pleasure. 
 
 This was the last public appearance of the Empress 
 Eugenie during ihQ/Stes. About one in the morning 
 she was conducted into the same spacious pavilion 
 where the general company supped ; but one end of 
 the room i.e., the end opposite to that where I have 
 said that the refreshments were had been cunningly 
 screened by a wall of high plants, and the most dis- 
 tinguished guests sat within the fence. To say that 
 Eugenie the Empress was here seen in a new situation, 
 is to say that she was revealing new fascinations no 
 longer answering the greetings of a crowd, but con- 
 versing freely with princes, animated, and evidently 
 pleased with the entertainment. It is impossible to 
 overrate the influence of this gracious lady's presence 
 on the character of the fStes. The occasion itself,
 
 134 THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 
 
 great though it was, the Khedive's profusion, M. 
 Bauer's grandiloquence, could never have given them 
 their romance had not Eugenie been there. She it 
 was who raised the spirit of chivalry in the gathering, 
 subdued the strifes and emulations and intrigues of 
 men, and over commerce, science, avarice, spread the 
 gauzy hues of poetry. 
 
 We were all satisfied now, and retreated to our 
 boats, which waited duly at the wharf. The deep 
 calm and stillness of the water contrasted with the 
 lights and sounds of revelry on shore. As we pulled 
 to the ship in the soft moonlight, "Partant pour la 
 Syrie " first, and then the Hymn, told of the different 
 departures and embarkations. 
 
 I must pause now, Bales, but I have more to tell. 
 I am fascinated by old Egypt, and long to make you 
 share my satisfaction. It is an enchanted country, 
 inexhaustible in its charms Copt, Jew, and Arab, 
 each a study and a mystery, all being actors in its 
 wondrous history. The very light of heaven falls on 
 it as on no other land that I have seen, and makes 
 life here a gilded vision. My enjoyment will be short, 
 but so far it is real and thorough. Yours, Bales, from 
 the Banks of the Nile, 
 
 SCAMPER.
 
 135 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE VOYAGE FKOM ISMAILIA TO SUEZ : 
 
 AS COMMUNICATED TO BULLION BALES, ESQ. OP MANCHESTER, 
 BY HIS FRIEND MR SCAMPER. 
 
 February 1870. 
 
 MY DEAR BALES, You have stuck so closely to 
 your household gods and your iron safe that it would 
 be idle to ask you whether or not you believe the 
 proverb, " Coelum non animum mutant qui trans 
 mare currunt." For my part, wanderer as I have 
 been, I believed it thoroughly the few instances 
 where it did not apply in my experience being but 
 brief ecstasies of hot youth, exceptions to prove the 
 rule. Whether I sojourned beneath a vertical sun or 
 in a frozen climate, whether my pace was fast or slow, 
 if I gave myself up to sloth, or if I took the wings of 
 the morning and fled to the uttermost parts of the 
 sea, still black care was behind me. The inevitable 
 Ego, moving as I moved, halting where I halted, 
 would never let me escape. I could flee from zone 
 to zone, but my consciousness, my trouble, my bur- 
 den, they travelled as fast as I : heat could not quell 
 a fault of disposition, nor ice remove a pain. Vanity
 
 136 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 and vexation, I said. It is but lost labour. I cannot 
 gain a stride on myself. The heavens, the earth, the 
 shores, the woods are different, but I am I. Then 
 one day I passed into a region where the sun's rays 
 seemed to come to us through an amethyst, they were 
 so warm and purple where every inch of the soil had 
 power -to compel the mind, it was so rich in tales and 
 relics where the figures as they walked to and fro 
 were as though they belonged to some phantasm a, 
 some other life where dreams became material and 
 realities fled away into dreamland. Every faculty of 
 the mind was attracted by outward things, and flew 
 toward them as the nails from the Calendar's ship 
 sprang to the rock of adamant ; not one could spare 
 a glance inward to observe how it was being wrought 
 upon. There was food enough for thought, but it was 
 food that tempted across the gulf of centuries, and 
 among ruins and in riddles. I walked and enjoyed 
 without stint or fear. I knew it not, but I was I no 
 longer ; my identity was gone ; I was transported 
 out of myself not the sky only, but the mind was 
 changed. This transformation, Bales, was wrought in 
 Egypt, where, as it was in the beginning, is now, and, 
 I suppose, ever will be, magic pervades the earth and 
 sea and sky where a mysterious veil comes down 
 between you and the outside former world, and you 
 are lapped in scenes and thoughts of another existence. 
 I found that I recovered the power of enjoying almost 
 like a child that memories, cares, and pains were 
 softened down, and the atmosphere was one rainbow
 
 ISMAJtLIA TO SUEZ. 137 
 
 So I lived and dreamed. One only link remained to 
 bind me to the world which I had left one which 
 resisted sorcery, yea, and will resist. I have never 
 ceased to yearn toward a hearth far away in Eng- 
 land, nor to think of the faces gathered round it in 
 the dark cold evenings, where, haply, they talk of me 
 the wanderer, and reckon how long it may be till I 
 rejoin the circle. This link at least is perfect and 
 unweakened ; sorcery would attempt in vain. The 
 magicians did so with their enchantments, but they 
 could not. 
 
 As I read over this beginning of my letter, I think 
 the internal evidence will pretty well prove what I 
 have said about my mental condition. One that tries 
 to pass for a staid commercial man, too ! I think I 
 see your elongated face and arched eyebrows as you 
 read. " Poor fellow ! " you have been saying for the 
 last five minutes ; " poor fellow ! I knew that he was 
 a little flighty, but this this is really very sad in- 
 deed. Restlessness is always indicative of something, 
 you know something very unsettled ! " Your fore- 
 finger may have unconsciously sought your forehead 
 as you said so ; but fear not any serious aberration 
 for the present, Bales. To prove to you that I have 
 not quite lost control of my pen, I will deliver myself 
 immediately like a man of this world. And now let 
 me think what was I going to tell you "? I an- 
 nounced in my last my arrival at Ismai'lia and the 
 doings there. Now perpend as I go on with my 
 adventures.
 
 138 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 After the Viceroy's ball there was not much to 
 interest one in the newly-risen town. I saw two 
 or three Egyptian regiments one lancers, the rest 
 infantry moving. On the whole, their appear- 
 ance was good, the men looking for the most part 
 sinewy and smart, and stepping well. The cavalry 
 horses were certainly not to be admired. They 
 were small, and though showing good necks and 
 chests, invariably fell away in the hind quarters. 
 They were over - caparisoned, too. Very gorgeous 
 housings are tolerable on only remarkably fine 
 animals. 
 
 Some of my companions went to see the perform- 
 ance of dancing dervishes, which appears to have 
 consisted chiefly of a spinning course in which the 
 devotees went round one after the other until ex- 
 hausted. Then there were wonderful waggings of 
 the heads, and unintelligible shoutings and groan- 
 ings, the whole having probably a religious meaning 
 that is hid from aliens like us. Later on I saw some 
 dervishes myself, but could make nothing of their 
 doings. 
 
 On the 19th the Empress entered the southern 
 portion of the Canal, and all of us should have recom- 
 menced our voyage, but a want of clear instructions 
 brought about considerable delay. We received some 
 silly order to shift our berth, and got up steam for the 
 purpose of obeying it, which when other ships saw, 
 they assumed that we were going to forestall them 
 in the passage, so they too got up steam, and there
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 139 
 
 was an ugly competition. During the scramble, a 
 Russian ship that ought to have followed us attempted 
 to run across our bows so as to reach the Canal before 
 us. It was a manoeuvre admitted on all sides to be 
 unwarrantable, and our Russian friend made rather a 
 bad thing of it, for he produced a collision of which 
 he did not get the best. He hauled off from us rant- 
 ing and swearing vehemently, and with one of the 
 planks on his port quarter uncomfortably smashed. 
 The effect of the disorder was, that further passage 
 on that day was prohibited, so that we had to wait 
 another night in Lake Timseh. On the morning of 
 the 20th, however, we got once more into the Canal, 
 and sped along for some time freely. After breakfast 
 we were alarmed by a stoppage ; and the Canal mak- 
 ing a bend to the right about half or three-quarters of 
 a mile in front of us, we were enabled to see what was 
 going on for some way toward Suez. Right before us 
 and up to the bend all the ships were stationary. 
 Beyond the bend, at the very limit of our ken, were 
 ships, diminished to the size of boats, and their masts 
 to fine lines, calmly advancing ; but running the eye 
 along them backwards towards ourselves, with sharp 
 scrutiny we soon came upon the masts and funnel of 
 one which did not advance, and which was evidently 
 blocking the rest. This was the Peluse, a ship draw- 
 ing some 19 or 20 feet. Her hull was screened by 
 the bank of the Canal, but we saw her masts and 
 flags, and the smoke rising from her funnel, by which 
 last sign we knew that she was doing what she could
 
 140 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 to get off, and did not consider her case past praying 
 for. That occupation of watching a distant object is 
 not at all pleasant, especially when it has to be long 
 continued, as it had in this instance, for we looked 
 and looked, but could not be satisfied that the masts 
 moved a tittle. At first we kept flattering ourselves 
 that the ship was slowly advancing, but every idea of 
 the kind proved erroneous ; and after a while we got 
 the mainmast in a line with a rock and a bush from 
 a particular spot on our own forecastle, and by this 
 method soon ascertained beyond a doubt that she was 
 fast. When the stoppage had lasted about an hour 
 and a half, I confess to you that it began to look 
 serious. There was not, however, a very fine oppor- 
 tunity afforded to them of little faith for prophecy or 
 denunciation, because, firstly, there was reason to hope 
 that the leading ships were already close to, if not in, 
 the waters of Suez ; and, secondly, because, if our ship 
 could not get on in reasonable time, the fresh-water 
 canal and the new railway both tolerably near 
 presented means of sending on passengers and bag- 
 gage. It could be only a partial failure at the best, 
 and so the whining had to be done gently. A small 
 tug-boat now passed us, bound, as we soon saw, for 
 the scene of the accident, for her smoke was shortly 
 seen close to the smoke of the Peluse. We at length 
 gave up our watch, and dispersed according to our 
 fancies some to lie down, some to smoke, and some 
 to pack their clothes, which now they were assured 
 they must send on shore. I went below to write a
 
 ISMAILIA TO SUEZ. 141 
 
 letter for the post at Suez, and I wrote for some half- 
 hour or more, when it occurred to me that I would 
 go up and see how the Peluse was faring before 
 lunch. I had picked out exactly the right minute 
 for my examination; for, on taking my station in line 
 with the rock and the bush, our landmarks, and di- 
 recting my glass on the mainmast, I saw plainly that 
 either the Peluse or we had moved a little she had 
 moved some yards, or we had swung or drifted a few 
 inches. The change sufficed, however, to revive the 
 interest of watching, and I soon had the satisfaction 
 of observing that the Peluse was, beyond a doubt, 
 once more under way a piece of intelligence which I 
 was not long in communicating to my fellow-voyagers. 
 As this was the greatest so it was the last hindrance 
 that happened throughout our passage of the Canal. 
 The Peluse must have stuck between the stations of 
 Tussoum and Serapium. Presently after starting 
 again we came up to the former station. The 
 capitano whom I mentioned in my last letter had 
 been along the whole line of the Canal before ; so 
 he, taking his cigar from his mouth as the station 
 opened to view, said, for general information, " This 
 is Tussoum." 
 
 "Too soon!" -answered a staid, matter-of-fact pas- 
 senger, who was very angry with the Peluse, and 
 much dreaded that she had lost him a week in the 
 transmission of an important despatch to Europe. 
 " Too soon ! I should like to know how : anything 
 but that."
 
 142 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 " Yes, of course, it is Tussoum. I am sure of it," 
 said the capitano. 
 
 " That may be your view, but you'll find very few 
 to agree with you. I don't call it too soon." 
 
 The rapid capitano began to discern ; he turned to 
 me and withdrew his cigar once more. "No, it is 
 not too soon, because it is too late ; but it is Tus- 
 soum all the same. He is droll ; " and he sucked at 
 the cigar again. The staid passenger threw him a 
 look of compassionate imbecility, and resumed his 
 walk, fuming. It was exactly like the blunder of a 
 farce. 
 
 We were getting now into view of some tolerably 
 high ground to the right of the Canal Chains of 
 hills, trending from the direction of Cairo upon Suez, 
 broke the monotony of the desert. They showed 
 some strata of hard rock. These were the ranges of 
 Ge'neffe, Awerat, and Attaka. About there the Canal 
 is cut through some comparatively high ground ; and 
 here, perhaps, more than at any other point of the 
 work, the fall of drift-sand into the channel is to be 
 dreaded. That some obstruction, entailing a running 
 charge, will be continually caused by the sand along 
 most of the cuttings, there is every reason to expect ; 
 but this apprehension, so plausible when propounded 
 in general terms, dwarfs rapidly when estimated by 
 rule and expressed in figures. It is calculated that 
 some 20,000 per annum no very great sum in 
 respect of the magnitude of the work and certain 
 large expenses of maintaining it will pay for the
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 143 
 
 removal of all drift-sand from the bed of the Canal, 
 and of that which may be washed in from the banks 
 or with the sea-water. And it must be remembered 
 that between Ismailia and Suez, where the fresh- 
 water and maritime canals run in parallel directions, 
 the former will have a very favourable influence as 
 regards the moving sand, by its power of producing a 
 broad strip of vegetation on either side of it, and of 
 thereby lessening, to an extent which we cannot yet 
 exactly estimate, the quantity of loose sand in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 After passing Serapium we were soon in view of 
 the Bitter Lakes, which, on this 20th November, 
 stretched out a broad fine expanse of water, particu- 
 larly refreshing to eyes that had been so long watch- 
 ing the monotonous features of a sandy wilderness. 
 The large area of water, and the apparent depth of it, 
 greatly astonished me ; for I remembered and you will 
 remember when I allude to the circumstance that it 
 was only in autumn last that the waters of the Eed 
 Sea were led into these basins ; and, to judge from 
 the time that Lake Timseh took to fill, the Bitter 
 Lakes, eight or ten times as large, would have re- 
 quired a year at least. But there is this to be con- 
 sidered, that the salt water from Lake Timseh had 
 been allowed to pass through the Canal into the basin 
 for some time previous to the severance of the bar- 
 riers which kept out the Red Sea ; that Lake Timseh 
 was filled from the Mediterranean alone, while the 
 Bitter Lakes drew from both seas : and that the
 
 144 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 section of the Canal, when it began to feed Lake 
 Timseh, was a very much smaller figure than it is 
 now. In making comparisons at a distance one is 
 apt to overlook these little circumstances which so 
 materially affect results, an observation which might 
 have been suggested by the result of almost every 
 operation related to the Canal. I entreat you to bear 
 it in mind when you read the predictions which are 
 still being recklessly published as to the Canal's 
 future. Stubborn facts, which it was beyond the 
 power of pen and ink to extenuate or contradict, 
 have all along proved that De Lesseps, Voisin, La- 
 vallay, and the other bold minds, knew very well 
 what they were about when they proclaimed to the 
 world what they intended to do. It is not they, but 
 their supercilious ignorant revilers that have through- 
 out the history of the work been found in the wrong. 
 Choose, then, Bales, whether you will follow blind 
 guides who have misunderstood and misrepresented 
 almost every step in this great work, and have done 
 and are doing their best to verify their own predic- 
 tions, or whether you will trust those who have estab- 
 lished the highest claim to your confidence by work- 
 ing out, in spite of physical and moral difficulties 
 attending the execution, and in spite of detraction, 
 these immense designs ! 
 
 Whether the Bitter Lakes are full or not, it is cer- 
 tain that there is sufficient water in them to allow 
 large steamers to scour along regardless of the exact 
 line of the Canal. As you work out of the long
 
 TSMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 145 
 
 narrow passage and float into the broad inland sea, 
 there is a disposition to frisk and deviate, to try the 
 pinions, as it were, and feel that the good ship can 
 slant and double, and turn on her centre, and shake 
 the water from her tail whenever she has room to 
 disport herself. In our case, however, the energy 
 called up by the expanse was not wasted in gambols. 
 We breathed our barky and did a bit of business at 
 the same time. For it so happened that a rival, a 
 ship belonging to a company which had had the 
 impudence to proclaim our company a delusion and 
 a snare, and to say that our boats were miserable 
 creeping barges, scarcely able to drag their slow 
 lengths six miles an hour, was before us. But our 
 enemies, though they had written a book, and proved 
 their superiority in ink, had carefully avoided the 
 minor test of a trial in salt water. Our skipper had 
 said nothing as the last few furlongs of the Canal 
 were passed; but it is probable that mighty thoughts 
 were seething in his breast, for no sooner did we see 
 ourselves in the open lake than he signified his inten- 
 tion of bringing the enemy to action. He was a mild 
 Italian, with a musical voice, and did not use very 
 terrible words ; but his sentiments, taken out of the 
 bocca Romano, and put into a bocca Sassonese, would 
 read thus : " By jingo ! here's this backbiting lubber 
 right ahead ; he can't haul off, and must show what 
 he's made of. Clap on then, my lads, and we'll bring 
 him to his bearings before he can say Jack Eobinson. 
 Confound him !" We began to gain upon him ; seeing 
 
 K
 
 146 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 which, and instinctively divining our purpose, the 
 enemy spread a lot of canvas, hoisted up his boats, 
 which he had been towing, and made all taut for 
 a race. After this it was soon apparent that we 
 did not gain upon him as at first : it was certain that 
 we could not pass him immediately ; it was doubtful 
 whether we could pass him at all. Faint cheers from 
 the enemy's decks ; he is taking heart ; the betting 
 not at all in favour of our own ship ; reactionary 
 feeling ; hah ! why the devil did you try it ? Skipper 
 probably did not know that he was valiant and so 
 cunning of fence, or he had seen him damned ere he 
 had challenged him. Skipper does not give in, 
 though. Fas est et ' ab hoste doceri. He does not, 
 for some reason or other, incline to carrying much 
 canvas, but he, too, is towing his boats up with 
 them ! Boats are got in and cradled ; barky seems 
 to feel some relief; she is certainly stepping out 
 better ; does she gain at all now 1 betting very dull ; 
 enemy seems to hold his own ; he will enter the Canal 
 at the end of the lakes before us again. Skipper ex- 
 cited; everybody excited; it will be a neck-and-neck 
 thing at the worst. No, by Jove ! no. We are gain- 
 ing, though but slightly. Enemy sees it, and ceases 
 to cheer; puts on all his steam; so do we; advantage 
 slightly on our side. In the mid-lake the two boats 
 are nearly abreast ; cheering from our decks ; enemy 
 disheartened ; enough of the lake left for us to get a 
 full length ahead at this pace. We do more ; we beat 
 him out and out, and show him the name on our stern
 
 ISMAILIA TO SUEZ. 147 
 
 as we go first into the Canal. Hurrah ! hurrah ! The 
 passengers in both ships are as keen about the race as 
 if they had a personal interest in their respective 
 ships carried away by the spirit of rivalry, like Dr 
 Johnson at Plymouth, when he said, "Sir, I hate a 
 Docker." 
 
 The race has taken us through the lakes, and as the 
 shades of evening fall we are in the last stage of our 
 transit namely, the Chalouf cutting and the exca- 
 vated channel between that and the Red Sea. It is 
 amusing to find how the bugbears that were so ela- 
 borately dressed up to look specious and frighten 
 people from the thought of the Canal have had their 
 stuffing shaken out of them. It cannot be forgotten 
 how evaporation was to dry up the Bitter Lakes 
 much faster than the Canal could feed them with 
 water, and how the salt deposited by the evaporation 
 was to fill up the basin in half no time. Well, the 
 salt water has run very steadily in, and is undoubt- 
 edly, in fact, able to supply the lakes much faster 
 than evaporation can diminish them ; and as for the 
 salt, it seems to have altogether slipped out of notice. 
 Even theoretically the terrors will not bear handling. 
 Taking* the probable amount of evaporation over the 
 whole surface of the Bitter Lakes, it may amount, Mr 
 Hawkshaw calculates, to from 9 to 10 feet in depth 
 in a year, but the tides from Suez will send in twice 
 as much water as would thus be withdrawn. The 
 deposit of salt, even if it were not disturbed by 
 currents or wind?, and were allowed to settle quietly
 
 148 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 down, which it will not be, would not amount to 
 three inches in a year ! 
 
 While in the Chalouf cutting we were ordered to 
 drop our anchor for the night, that we might enter 
 the harbour of Suez by daylight. There was such a 
 general impression now that we were to get through 
 that nobody took the trouble to misrepresent the 
 meaning of this order, or to make it a text for 
 lamentations. Far otherwise ; it was the last night 
 that the same party would all spend together on 
 board, and we resolved that this dinner should be 
 the most cheery of a very cheery series. To this 
 end we went to work with a will, and there being 
 on board every requisite for getting up the moral 
 steam, we were a marvellous short time in becoming 
 kindly affectioned one to another, and in finding out 
 that everybody was the best fellow that everybody 
 else had ever known. We drank cordially to the 
 health of our kind host and hostess, who had brought 
 us under such pleasant circumstances to see these 
 great sights, and then we flung about toasts rather 
 wildly and irrelevantly, fighting off, as it were, what 
 we knew was coming, and was to be the health of 
 the evening. Our skipper had earned the goodwill 
 of every one on board. He was only an Italian, and 
 could not therefore be expected to know the deport- 
 ment which we Northmen consider essential to the 
 dignity of the quarter-deck. Accordingly, when 
 asked a question, the poor fellow had always given 
 a civil answer; if he saw a landsman perplexed, or
 
 ISMAILIA TO SUEZ. 149 
 
 heard him blundering about marine affairs, he kindly 
 explained matters ; and whenever he found the rules 
 of the ship giving real inconvenience to any of the 
 party, he relaxed them as much as possible. At 
 anxious times he allowed himself to be questioned, 
 and had always a comforting response ; and when, 
 after being warned and entreated, we persisted in 
 getting, one after another, between him and his 
 helmsman, he displayed the long-suffering of Job. 
 It had been decided that we should not leave the 
 ship without arrangements for presenting him with 
 a souvenir of our pleasant and most interesting 
 voyage ; and our request that he would accept the 
 offering was to be preferred in proposing his health 
 this night. There was no doubt as to who ought to 
 be our spokesman on the occasion, as there was a 
 person on board whom every one marked for the 
 lead ; but this person could not speak Italian at 
 least he could speak only a peculiar dialect of it (I 
 have heard him say, " Avete upsetto il mio groggo "), 
 and the skipper did not know a word of English. 
 Here was a difficulty, but it was speedily met by 
 the proposal that my friend the ever-ready capitano 
 should interpret after the speaker. Accordingly the 
 toast was proposed, clause by clause, like the general 
 confession, which method proved to be anything but 
 a detriment ; for the proposer experienced a difficulty 
 which had occurred to Moses in the same part of the 
 world some years before, he was " slow of speech 
 and of a slow tongue." Moreover, he put the offer
 
 150 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 of the present a little bluntly, so as to have hurt the 
 skipper's sensibility, perhaps, if the original had been 
 understood by him. But any defect was immediately 
 cured, and more than cured, by the ability and tact 
 of the capitano. The sentiments were everything 
 that could be wished ; it was the language only 
 that wanted smoothing, and this was transmitted 
 to the skipper's ear like " gold from the furnage," 
 as Mrs Gamp has it. It went to the capitano good 
 honest Anglo-Saxon, and it reappeared from his mouth 
 flowing and impressive Italian, all the edges rounded 
 off, all the gaps bridged over, and the circumlocutions 
 made straight. The thing was delightful. The skip- 
 per's facial muscles were a study as the accents fell 
 upon his ear, and all who saw that he was a little 
 bit moved could not help feeling slightly too. And 
 I assure you that the pressure of the steam was very 
 high when we came to the cheering, and any stray 
 Ghouls or Afrits that may have been about the desert 
 that night must have started not a little. The waes- 
 heal of the Vikings was storming their solitudes ; 
 the West was upon the East once more ; the spirits 
 thought, perhaps, of the last sounds that they heard 
 in that fashion " Hierosolyma est perdita, hur- 
 rah!"* I like drinking healths in proper measure 
 
 * A writer in ' Notes and Queries,' No. 142, says : 
 
 " ' Hip, hip, hurrah ! ' what was the origin of this Bacchanalian excla- 
 mation, and what does it mean ? I make the inquiry, although I annex an 
 attempt to define it, which was cut from the columns of the Edinburgh 
 ' Scotsman ' newspaper some years ago : 
 
 " It is said that ' Hip, hip, hurrah ! ' originated in the Crusades, it being 
 a corruption of H. E. P., the initials of 'Hierosolyma eat pcrdUa,' (Jerusa-
 
 ISMAILIA TO SUEZ. 151 
 
 and at proper times. That it is a custom more 
 honoured in the breach than the observance was 
 very well for a moon-struck moralist like Hamlet 
 to say. As he never did anything but talk, and 
 never meant to do anything, and never could do 
 anything worth the naming, he naturally looked at 
 the dark side of the practice and condemned it as 
 sottish and debasing. But fellows who have any " go" 
 in them know the value of ripening opinions and 
 bringing resolutions to a head by a well-conceived 
 toast. They know how mind takes fire from mind, 
 how enthusiasm passes like an electric current when 
 conditions are favourable, how men pledge themselves 
 to noble acts when in open-hearted fellowship. And 
 they are something of old Falstaff's way of thinking 
 in regard to " your excellent sherris " as a means of 
 freshening the mind for the conception of generous 
 
 lem is lost !) the motto on the banner of Peter the Hermit, whose followers 
 hunted the Jews down with the cry of ' Hip, hip, hurrah ! ' " 
 
 That the deserts of Egypt echoed to the war-cries of the Crusaders is 
 proved by the following among many passages that might be quoted from 
 historians: "The King of Jerusalem" (Baldwin) "having no longer the 
 Turks of Bagdad or the Turks established in Syria to contend with, turned 
 his attention towards Egypt, whose armies he had so frequently dispersed. 
 He collected his chosen warriors, traversed the desert, carried the terror of 
 his arms to the banks of the Nile, and surprised and pillaged the city of 
 Pharamia, situated three days' journey from Cairo." Michaud's ' History 
 of the Crusades.' 
 
 Afterwards, in St Louis's Crusade : " From the Canal to Mansourah, 
 and from the Nile to the shore whereon the Crusaders had just landed, 
 the country presented but one vast field of battle, where fury and despair 
 by turns animated the combatants, where torrents of blood were shed on 
 both sides, without allowing either Christians or Mussulmans to claim the 
 victory." Ibid. 
 
 The Sultan of Cairo, we are told, promised a gold byzant for every Chris- 
 tian head that should be brought into his camp.
 
 152 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 ideas. Depend on it, the people who drink healths 
 are people who admire great deeds and mean to emu- 
 late them ; who make public profession of their faith 
 in effort; who will hold together to the last thread. 
 Fill up, then, to those that are worthy ; there is 
 nothing to blush for in the generous draught ; it 
 didn't much hurt our race of old, why should we 
 give it up now \ We won't ; no, we won't ! Fill 
 up there ! hip, hip, hip, hurrah ! again, again, again ! 
 hurrah ! hurrah ! one cheer more, hurrah ! Hamlet 
 be condemned ! 
 
 Lest you should ask me, Bales, as you are so fond 
 of doing, whether seriously and literally you are to 
 understand the above to be my fixed opinions, I say 
 at once that, resuming my pen at half-past ten o'clock 
 in the morning, I am not prepared to stand by every 
 jot and tittle of this writing. Tempora mutantur et 
 nos mutamur ab illis. Just now, I think the ideas 
 a little strong ; but there are times when I would 
 endorse every syllable of them. 
 
 Those who desired to see the sun rise and the 
 Chalouf cutting the stiffest bit of work in the 
 whole Canal rose by candle-light at four o'clock. 
 I was one of them. There was more work going on 
 here than at any point that I had seen. The Egyp- 
 tians, after their fashion, seemed really to be working 
 hard. It was painful to hear the number of coughs 
 that proceeded from them. This was their winter, 
 although it felt like summer to us, and that fact 
 may account for the sounds of catarrh. It is to
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 153 
 
 be hoped that there was nothing worse than a cold 
 there : consumption, or even bronchitis, would be 
 inexcusable in a climate like that. 
 
 Fortunately it was determined to form the Canal 
 at Chalouf before letting the waters of the Red Sea 
 into the Bitter Lakes. Had a smaller channel been 
 first formed to fill the lakes, as was done in the case 
 of Lake Timseh, the excavations at this point would 
 have been exceedingly tedious and expensive : for the 
 workmen came down upon rock which had to be 
 blasted ; and blasting rock under water, and moving 
 and landing it after blasting, are formidable operations. 
 The parties which we saw at work as we passed were 
 still, I fancy, clearing rocks from the sides and taking 
 away earth to form the requisite slopes. As many as 
 ten thousand men were working here at once last 
 summer ; and Chalouf, like Port Sa'id and Ismailia, 
 sprang to its first stage of township almost by magic. 
 As yet there are only wooden huts there, but these 
 will soon be replaced by more substantial erections if 
 it be found advisable to establish a town there. It 
 was in this cutting that we were startled by some 
 marvellous noises made by our machinery or screw, 
 and by the steamer heeling over on her port side as 
 if we had been in a rolling sea. Things were soon 
 steady again, and the explanation given to us was, 
 that the ship being now very light from consumption 
 of coal, the screw had accidentally got almost un- 
 covered for a minute, when, meeting no resistance, 
 it spun round uncontrolled, making the astonishing
 
 154 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 noise and frighting the ship from her propriety. 
 And this quieted us at the time. What had really 
 happened we understood better when we made our 
 return-voyage along the Mediterranean. 
 
 And now, somewhere about eight o'clock on the 
 morning of the 21st, we emerged from the maritime 
 Canal into the harbour of Suez, having safely accom- 
 plished the passage from Port Said. That what had 
 been so loudly and so constantly proclaimed an 
 impossibility had been actually done, and fairly done, 
 we could no longer question, for we had tested its 
 sufficiency and been satisfied. I did not, however, 
 just now indulge in reflection or exultation as perhaps 
 I ought, for I was calculating rather anxiously the 
 chances of being able to reach Cairo in time to dress 
 and attend a ball at the palace of Kasr el Nilo to 
 which I had been invited ; and the chances appeared 
 to be considerably against my doing so. I deter- 
 mined, nevertheless, to make a push for it. A few 
 minutes after we dropped our anchor, one boat came 
 alongside us bringing some official. Thinking she 
 would wait for him I was on my way to ask if he 
 would take me ashore with him on his return, when 
 a gentleman, whose companion I had been on most of 
 our shore excursions, met me and said " That boat 
 is going to shore again immediately, and we are 
 going in her, as we prepared for such a chance long 
 ago : if you had only had your things ready we might 
 have all gone together." Now I flatter myself, Bales, 
 that I can be a little smart upon occasion, notwith-
 
 1SMAILIA TO SUEZ. 155 
 
 standing that you are sometimes pleased to animad- 
 vert severely on my ways of doing things. My 
 friend on board evidently didn't form a lower opinion 
 of me when, ton d'apameibomenos, I declared that I 
 was in all respects ready, and required only to have 
 my traps brought from the cabin. " Bravo ! " he said, 
 "then we go together and at once." Not knowing 
 exactly the time of daybreak I had risen a little early, 
 and had then improved the occasion by getting all 
 my baggage ready for a move, regarding the possibil- 
 ity of some sudden call Nobody but we three (my 
 friend's "we" included a young lady) was prepared 
 to take passage in the first boat, in which we therefore 
 put off, after taking leave of our kind skipper and his 
 first officer. The rest of our party we expected to 
 meet before long on shore. 
 
 My only opportunity for observing the harbour 
 and works at Suez was while the ship was running to 
 her anchorage, and while I pulled to shore. I could 
 therefore only ascertain the positions of the several 
 works of which I had heard or read ; I could make 
 no inspection of any. As regards the Canal Company, 
 the only works absolutely required from them after 
 carrying the Canal into the Gulf, were the formation 
 of a channel through the head of the latter to deep 
 water, and the construction of a mole to protect the 
 southern entrance of the passage against high tides 
 and strong southerly winds. Both of these are nearly 
 complete. The stone of which the mole is constructed 
 was quarried at Attaka, not far from Suez. I was
 
 15G THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 glad to hear that, in dredging the channel to deep 
 water, rock was not encountered : there were some 
 reasons to apprehend that the bottom might be found 
 to be rocky, and, in that case, the operations would 
 have been less simple, and the expense far greater ; 
 but, happily, the difficulty did not occur. Besides 
 the two indispensable works which I have mentioned, 
 the Company have set about the reclamation of land 
 from the sea, using for their embankments the mud 
 which they dredge out of the ship channel. This 
 reclamation is an adventure which, it is thought, will 
 repay them. Although these are the only works of 
 the Company at Suez, they are not the only works 
 in progress there. A basin and a graving-dock are 
 being constructed on the west side of the harbour, 
 and a branch from the Suez and Cairo Railway is 
 extended to them over an artificial bank ; but these 
 last are the undertakings of the Messageries Imperi- 
 ales, not of the Ship Canal Company. 
 
 Coming up to the anchorage at Suez, we steamed 
 past a ship with a piece of new plank, just primed 
 with paint, in her port quarter. It was our Russian 
 friend that had been so anxious to get before us at 
 Ismailia, bearing our card. It is to be hoped that the 
 wood will be a long while getting dark, and that it 
 may prove a wholesome memento of the indiscretion 
 of pushing and elbowing. 
 
 A fresh breeze was blowing as we and our baggage 
 were carried to the landing-wharf under the guidance 
 of three Egyptians, and lying back in the boat was
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 157 
 
 a rather luxurious repose. It was the last scrap or 
 shadow of repose that we were destined to enjoy that 
 day. Before we could land, a hundred pushing rascals 
 swooped upon our luggage, and the packages were 
 unceremoniously lifted and were about to be carried 
 off, it was impossible to say whither, by this impudent 
 horde. There was one only hope or chance that those 
 trunks and bags would ever again form a united band, 
 and that chance lay in the very promptest action 
 against the marauders. Accordingly the heads and 
 shins of the most active were assaulted (this was a 
 language which they understood) just as they were 
 making off with the prey ; and they being discomfited, 
 the slower villains gave in and dropped their spoil. 
 With great difficulty and a thick stick the stuff was 
 collected on the wharf under charge of the boatmen, 
 who had not been paid, and who had not a chance of 
 being paid until they should be relieved of this respon- 
 sibility, as we made them understand, notwithstand- 
 ing their cries of " Baksheesh ! baksheesh ! " which 
 were strange to us then, but with which we were 
 better acquainted before we were many hours older. 
 In this state of things it was deemed safe for my 
 friend to proceed to the railway terminus to inquire 
 concerning our chance of being conveyed to Cairo, 
 while I, in command of the boatmen, kept watch over 
 the lady and the property, maintaining with much 
 effort a clear circle, round which were clamouring and 
 gesticulating, and yearning but not daring to over- 
 step it, as rude a crew as the fiends in Freischiitz.
 
 158 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 The sun was getting high by this time, and it was 
 hotter on the wharf than we had found it on the 
 water. I began to realise how tedious service in the 
 lines of Torres Vedras must have been. Heat, dul- 
 ness, and inaction, with a watchful enemy outside. 
 Now we have a little diversion. Two friends from 
 the ship, Italians, have likewise found their way to 
 the wharf. I send out a detachment to assist in res- 
 cuing them from the natives. They are rescued. 
 Their goods are brought into the circle. The Italians 
 are added to the garrison. We feel safe, but we are 
 uneasy at the long tarrying of my English friend. 
 He, however, comes at last, and brings the cheering 
 information that a special train will start before long 
 to take on the Khedive's guests who have landed this 
 morning from the Canal. This was a relief. We 
 now cause our boatmen to engage a sufficient number, 
 and no more, of porters to lift our traps, and one as a 
 chief to be responsible for the rest, and to arrange 
 the account. When this was done, and not till then, 
 the boatmen were paid for their boat and time, and 
 dismissed ; and we, preceded by our band of porters, 
 trudged off to the station. I shall never forget that 
 station there reigned there such a hurly-burly, such 
 a Babel, such a blind unintelligent multitude, such an 
 utter absence of anything like means to an end, such 
 a worrying of officials by the crowd, such a resisting 
 of the crowd by officials, such runaway trunks on the 
 backs of Arabs, such wind-broken owners in pursuit 
 of their trunks, such frantic endeavours to be under-
 
 ISMAILIA TO SUEZ. 159 
 
 stood where every second man was a stranger, such 
 threatenings, such wrath, such despair, and all this 
 supplemented with an incessant chorus of " Baksheesh ! 
 baksheesh ! " As I write about it, the whole infernal 
 rout comes back and makes me feel half mad again. 
 But we had less reason to be mad than most other 
 sufferers. It was bad at the best ; but we, strong in 
 our union, and with something of a plan of operations, 
 had little to endure except a brisk shoving about, and 
 an uncertain and unaccountable delay. At last a 
 train of carriages was run up to the platform, and as 
 there now appeared some prospect of getting away, we 
 began to examine into the claims of the luggage- 
 bearers, and to put together their guerdon, when it 
 appeared that the boatmen had received the greater 
 part of our silver, and the broken money of the whole 
 party did not suffice for the payment of our debt. 
 This seemed, however, no such insuperable difficulty 
 at a railway station ; and it being my turn now to 
 explore the interior, my friend stood by the stuff, and 
 by the more precious charge his daughter, while I 
 worked my way through men of all the nations of the 
 earth, and every species of travelling-mail that was 
 ever invented, to the station office. There I saw a 
 Turk at a desk. I took out a napoleon and placed it 
 before him ; he bowed, shook his head, and gave me 
 the napoleon back. I took out a small silver coin to 
 show that I wanted the napoleon changed into silver. 
 He bowed again, raised his palms, and shook his head. 
 I was not likely to get much out of this fellow ; but
 
 160 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 I saw through an open door another Turk sitting at 
 another desk. Him I approached and did obeisance, 
 and then I took out my napoleon again and placed it 
 upon the desk. The official laid his hand upon his 
 breast, smiled sweetly and bowed. He was evidently 
 under the impression that I wished to bribe him into 
 some rascality, and afraid, though not indisposed, to 
 take the bait. I took out my napoleon and my 
 small silver coin together, making signs that I wished 
 the one converted into the other, when the official 
 collapsed and his countenance fell. He had mistaken 
 my meaning altogether, and the shock of finding that 
 I was not tampering with him was too much. He 
 peremptorily pushed aside my money, and waved me 
 away. But I was getting desperate, and let him see 
 that I was determined to be served ; whereupon he 
 opened his empty desk, invited me to inspect the in- 
 terior, shrugged his shoulders, and smiled once more. 
 My mission did not seem promising, and I was alarm- 
 ed lest the train should be moving, or my friends 
 should get into a carriage and I be unable to find 
 them. Suddenly seized with this terror, I was mak- 
 ing off, when in the passage I encountered a Mussul- 
 man of superior mien and dress a hadji at least, I 
 thought he must be, from his appearance, and he 
 looked and moved as one having authority. " Ha ! " 
 thought I, " here is the man that can open the till : 
 the others are thieving understrappers, whom no man 
 dares trust ; this excellent man will give me silver." 
 And I advanced to the hadji and addressed him in
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 161 
 
 the French tongue according to my ability, which is 
 not remarkable ; for I will confess to you, Bales, that 
 my French, though passing current in Manchester for 
 something stunning, is in truth not of the very first 
 water. I addressed the hadji, I have said, in French, 
 but he replied politely, " Nong parley Fronksay" I 
 had another resource, my Italian, which is about as 
 pure and fluent as my French. To this the hadji simply 
 said again, " Nong parley" I pulled out my napoleon, 
 when, to my infinite discomfiture, the hadji shook his 
 head as the understrapper had done, waved his open 
 hand deprecatingly towards me, raised his shoulders, 
 and was turning away with a stately bow. I was 
 beside myself with chagrin : I could not contain my 
 vexation. " G d d n it ! " I said (and you know, 
 Bales, how perplexed I must have been ere such an 
 expression could escape my lips), "I'll get change 
 from some of you, or know the reason why." And 
 then the hadji with much dignity answered and said, 
 " Oh, if it's God-damning you're after, I can do that 
 too." Once discover a man's speciality, and you need 
 have no difficulty in getting on with 'him. "Then, 
 by that honest phrase," said I, " which proves that 
 we have both been nurtured in a Christian land, I 
 conjure you to change this napoleon into silver." 
 " The devil a farthing have I got," said the hadji, 
 " and you are not likely to get any here ; this is only 
 a goods station, ordinarily, and all the paying is done 
 at Suez proper, which is farther up : they'll give you 
 change up there." Then said I, " If you can't give 
 
 L
 
 162 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 me change, at least come and aid my party, if haply 
 they still survive ; there is an English lady among 
 them, and it would be a charity to get her safely 
 into a carriage." This draft the venerable hadji was 
 ready to honour. Rolling stock, not money-taking, 
 was evidently his department. " Come along, then," 
 answered he, briskly ; " 111 put that straight/' My 
 friends were just where I had left them, sore beset. 
 " Well, you have been a long time getting change ; 
 we thought you were lost," said they. " I have not 
 been idle for all that," I answered, composedly. " I 
 have brought you a gentleman that will help to get 
 us off." Whereupon one of our Italian friends, using 
 his native tongue, addressed the hadji at about the 
 same instant when the young lady said to me, " What 
 does he speak English 1 ?" The Saxon gutturals, 
 especially when gliding over a silver tongue, can 
 sometimes effect more than the lingua Toscana. The 
 hadji's fez was off in a second. " This way, ma'am, if 
 you please," said he ; and, unlocking a carriage, he 
 installed the lady therein without more ado, inviting 
 us to follow. But the change ! How were the por- 
 ters to be paid ? Well, they were paid, I don't know 
 how. Somebody, I think, remembered seven francs 
 and a half in his travelling-bag. It was lucky he 
 didn't think of them before, or I shouldn't have dug 
 out the hadji and sworn him to our service. In a 
 trice we were all in one of the viceregal carriages, the 
 last of us that entered being desired, before leaving 
 the platform, to point out our higgage. "All right,"
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 163 
 
 said the hadji ; " 111 see that properly stowed ; you'll 
 find it in No. 3 van when you get to Cairo : and now, 
 if you please, I'll lock you up, and if you are wise 
 you'll pull up all the blinds till you get out of the 
 station, or you may get a lot of foreigners in with 
 you." Having said which, the benevolent hadji lifted 
 his fez once more, and turned the key upon us. I 
 expected that when our deliverance was complete he 
 would turn into a gnome, or a genie, or something of 
 that sort, but he didn't. I saw him again in Cairo in 
 a carriage behind a pair of horses, when I was driving 
 the other way. I caught his eye, though, and waved 
 my hand to him : he waved his in return. I'll take 
 my that is, I am positive, Bales, that he recog- 
 nised me. 
 
 For some little while after we were locked up we 
 kept our blinds closed as we had been directed, and 
 it would have been well for us perhaps if we had 
 continued to do so till fairly running away for Cairo. 
 But somehow we never find precautions answer with- 
 out persuading ourselves that the results would be 
 just as satisfactory without the precautions, and so 
 impunity leads to foolhardiness. If Roderick Dhu 
 had held on by his trusty targe ; if Mrs Lot could 
 have refrained from examining into the set of her 
 panier ; if Baba Abdallah* had kept the ointment 
 off his right eye ; if the royal Calendar had not 
 opened the golden door ; or if mother Eve had let 
 
 * See the Story of " Baba Abdallah, the Blind Man," in the ' Thousand 
 and One Nights.'
 
 164 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 the apple alone, how differently would a good many 
 histories be written ! To compare small things with 
 great, how much more elbow-room should we have 
 preserved if we had kept our carriage closed ! But 
 then, who the deuce could \ The hubbub from which 
 we were withdrawn was going on outside us just as 
 before. It was only natural that we should wish to 
 see how it fared with those on the platform, and to 
 take a cautious peep at them, as we suppose the 
 spirits of the just to do at those who are still 
 struggling, and screaming, and blundering, and fail- 
 ing here below. First we opened the merest chinks, 
 then we made the chinks wider ; nobody came in, 
 and so at last we said, " Oh, it's all right, nobody 
 wants to come in here," and let the blinds fairly 
 down. Mon Dieu ! wasn't there a rush two minutes 
 after ! The foreigner was upon us as the hadji had 
 predicted, and he not only crowded up the carriage, 
 but he crammed it full of his wonderful bags and 
 bottles, and kept everybody uncomfortable while he 
 was shelving and arranging the same. The carriage 
 was double, or triple for aught I know; and by the 
 time the train was fairly off, many of the invaders 
 had vanished, whether into air or into other com- 
 partments I know not, but our carriage was com- 
 paratively clear again. And now we saw the town 
 of Suez, but shot by it full speed. " Bravo ! " we 
 said, " the special train does not stop at Suez, why 
 should it ? And now we are all snug and comfortable 
 till we get to Cairo." Oh, how miserably deceived we
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 165 
 
 were ! It must have been a full mile beyond Suez 
 where the train stopped ; and from that distance it 
 was backed with deliberate cruelty to the Suez sta- 
 tion, where a scene of confusion, in comparison of 
 which the scene at the goods station below was a 
 quiet, orderly, and reasonable scene, ensued. Any 
 attempt to describe the tumult would fail. Again 
 the foreigner was upon us ; again it rained trunks 
 and carpet-bags, and cloaks and wicker-cases ; and 
 this time the carriages were so full that there was 
 no subsidence or dispersion after the first rush, but 
 rather an increased pressure ; for the cross passages 
 were thronged with passengers who never sat down 
 except upon a bandbox or a baby, or anything they 
 found lying about, and otherwise passed their time 
 in driving in and pulling out leather cases and 
 curiously-fashioned boxes below the seats and over 
 our heads, keeping us from becoming inattentive or 
 comatose. It was past noon before we escaped from 
 the Suez station and its crush and clamour ; but we 
 did then start in earnest, and there was nothing there 
 worth waiting for. The town is small and insignifi- 
 cant, with houses built of mud or native brick, or 
 more rarely of European brick. To the right and 
 left of it all is sand. The railway at first runs just 
 behind the Canal-banks, but it leaves this direction 
 and turns westward. 
 
 It was a comfort to be able at last to close the eyes 
 and collect one's thoughts again after all this turmoil. 
 Our party was strong enough to occupy the entire
 
 166 THE VOYAGE FEOM 
 
 end of a carriage, so that the trunk and bag movers 
 had no excuse for molesting us. I closed my eyes, I 
 say, and in doing so thought of the weary longings of 
 excellent old Job for only a moment's ease, and the 
 very unusual use to which he would have put that 
 moment. Things must have changed greatly since 
 his days. He wished for peace that he might swal- 
 low down his spittle a privilege which nobody in 
 Egypt seemed to appreciate, for they voided their 
 rheum about our beds and about our paths, and 
 contaminated all our ways. 
 
 It was a comfort to be able to think over all one 
 had been seeing so rapidly for the last hundred hours, 
 and the various opinions that one had heard uttered 
 in regard thereto. Of this, at any rate, I think we 
 may feel certain the Canal is an established fact. 
 It will disappear no more. Centuries ago, although 
 great improvers possessed the energy and ability re- 
 quired for the construction of astonishing works of 
 this kind, it might have been predicted how surely 
 their surpassing labours would come to nought. The 
 concentrated effort for execution could be made it 
 was the steady continuous toil of maintenance that 
 was hopeless. The moment man's vigilance should 
 relax, nature, who never slumbered nor slept, would 
 promptly use the occasion to fill in and exhaust and 
 efface. In ages when a canal could be turned to but 
 limited account, it was impossible that, in a country 
 like Egypt, it could be made to pay the expense of 
 keeping it up impossible also that the State could
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 167 
 
 at all times command the resources for that purpose. 
 After the gigantic efforts of a Sesostris or a Neco, 
 succeeded probably a reactionary period, wherein ruin 
 advanced beyond hope of retrieval. A great man 
 could pierce the desert as a strong man rent the 
 oak, but for both came the inevitable rebound the 
 proof of nature's persistent strength. To-day, how- 
 ever, the conditions are changed. It is not a single 
 nation nor a contracted area that the maritime Canal 
 is to benefit ; the East and the West will join their 
 powers to keep open the valuable strait. It would 
 be presumption to say that our science exceeds the 
 science of the glorious old Egyptians. We don't 
 know how much they knew, and we have lately 
 come down a peg or two in our pretensions to 
 superiority ; but it is certain that the number of 
 persons who feel an interest, no matter of what 
 kind, in M. de Lesseps' Canal, is immensely greater 
 than the number which could have known or cared 
 about the former canals which were constructed with 
 so much travail, only to perish, or to leave upon the 
 earth traces sufficient to remind posterity of great 
 failures. No man who has passed through the new 
 work can have any other belief than that the civilised 
 world will insist upon maintaining it, whether it can 
 be made remunerative or not. 
 
 As to the prospects of the present Company, ap- 
 pearances are such as to hold an unprejudiced mind 
 in doubt. It is clear to the most cursory observer 
 that a great deal more work remains to be done,
 
 168 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 and of this the greatest part will be dredging. The 
 uniform depth of 26 feet has not been -attained, and 
 it must be attained before the Canal can be utilised 
 to the extent possible. We have lately seen that a 
 ship drawing 1 7^ feet of water went through without 
 a rub, but I do not think such a passage could be 
 relied on for ships drawing over 1 5 feet ; and we 
 know that to provide a sure passage for only ships 
 of 15 feet draught and under is to offer no accom- 
 modation to the largest Indian traders, or to the 
 Australian ships, whose tonnage is already very large, 
 with a tendency to increase : it is, consequently, to 
 stop short at the very line beyond which lies the 
 greatest chance of remuneration and profit. It may 
 be taken for granted that the deepening of the Canal, 
 wherever required, will be at once proceeded with. 
 Another labour not absolutely imperative like the 
 deepening, but nevertheless very desirable indeed, is 
 the provision of wide basins where ships can pass 
 each other, as at Kantara. These will, no doubt, be 
 made ; indeed I think it probable that the breadth of 
 the whole Canal will some day be doubled, or, what 
 may perhaps be better, a second parallel canal will 
 be formed. These two services viz., deepening and 
 widening are those which principally affect traffic, 
 and which the public will insist upon having done. 
 As regards other operations, they are of such a 
 nature as to leave the Company a choice between 
 a large immediate outlay and a continued drain for 
 works of maintenance. I allude to such works as
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 169 
 
 paving the side slopes to resist the wash of the water, 
 erecting barriers to intercept the drifting sand, and 
 making branches from the fresh-water canal to increase 
 vegetation in the neighbourhood. 
 
 By the time all requirements are provided for, an 
 expenditure of 20,000,000 will probably have been 
 incurred. And we next encounter the question, How 
 can the traffic through the Canal be made to yield an 
 adequate return for an outlay so enormous ? The 
 answer which most Englishmen give to this question 
 is, that the Canal cannot possibly pay the original 
 shareholders, and that the attempt to make it remu- 
 nerative by levying heavy tolls will have an effect 
 directly the opposite of what would be intended i.e., 
 the tolls will render the route of Suez more expensive 
 than the long sea- voyage by the Cape of Good Hope. 
 Ten francs per ton, they say, is too large a charge ; 
 and before the public can benefit by the Canal, 
 the possession and management of it must have 
 passed to other hands. When the tolls can be re- 
 duced to five francs the ton, then the route by Suez 
 will be incontestably the cheapest between England 
 and India. But the present shareholders cannot 
 afford to pass freights at five francs a-ton ; therefore 
 they will find it most for their interest to incur at 
 once the inevitable loss, parting with their property 
 in the Canal at a fraction of its value, and making 
 over the management at a low rate to a new set of 
 men who may be able to repay themselves out of 
 moderate tolls.
 
 170 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 I cannot adduce one word of commercial or arith- 
 metical argument to oppose to the foregoing.* I say 
 that to those who walk wholly by sight the case 
 seems fairly put against the hopes of the promoters. 
 But there are men who walk by FAITH ; and if ever 
 there can be an occasion when it may be pardonable, 
 nay, almost a duty, to hazard something on the assur- 
 ance of other men, this is surely the opportunity. 
 Against hope, against prophecy, against figures, 
 against demonstration, M. de Lesseps and his con- 
 frdres have kept tryste and kept time, answering 
 objections by facts, not words. Men who have so 
 frequently proved themselves to be in the right, not- 
 withstanding the grave and specious objections 
 brought against them, are surely entitled to some 
 little attention when they persist in putting forward 
 a decided opinion ! As far as I can ascertain, they 
 have never yet receded from the assertion that the 
 Canal will speedily repay its original promoters. It 
 should be remembered that lookers-on may, in their 
 caution, have over-estimated the expense of work yet 
 to be done, and that they may take a too unfavourable 
 view of the present capabilities of the Canal. It is 
 quite right to be cautious, but it may not be quite 
 right to put forward the mere suggestions of caution 
 as of equal weight with the knowledge and the 
 guarantees of men who have the best possible means 
 
 * The case of the Canal as viewed by most of our countrymen was ably 
 put by Mr Charles Clarke, president of the Liverpool Chamber of Com- 
 merce, in a paper which he read before the members of the Chamber and 
 their friends, on the 14th December 1869.
 
 ISMAtLIA TO SUEZ. 171 
 
 of information, and who are content to stake well- 
 earned reputations on their correctness in this parti- 
 cular. I will say once more to you, Bales, what I 
 have already said to many, "I cannot prove these 
 men to be right ; but, until they actually are seen to 
 fail, I will not believe them to be wrong/' 
 
 " Holloa ! what's the matter \ where are we \ " 
 " Well, we are at the dinner station, and there is a 
 halt of twenty minutes will you dine ? " Certainly 
 we would dine, and be very glad of the chance ; 
 after we get to Cairo we shall have barely time to 
 dress for the ball, if we have that. Let us dine here 
 by all means. And we did dine. How we fared I 
 do not exactly remember, but I believe pretty well. 
 What I do remember is, that we paid not one sou for 
 either the dinner or the conveyance to Cairo. 
 
 It was getting time now to leave off musing and- to 
 look about, for the country was assuming an appear- 
 ance very different from that which hitherto had con- 
 stantly met us. The same sandy waste had continued 
 many stages from Suez. The surface of the ground, 
 it is true, began to be irregular, and hills, showing 
 much stratification, were frequent ; but the soil, high 
 or low, was barren, and its complexion pink through- 
 out. The atmosphere was pink. Stone, sand, and 
 clay could be seen, but no vegetation. At length the 
 character of the landscape began to change as we 
 lessened our distance from Cairo. Muddy fields first, 
 and then fields with pools of water lingering about in 
 places, attested that we were within the limits of the
 
 172 THE VOYAGE FEOM 
 
 Nile's inundation. In some places the water had been 
 retained by small dams when the river subsided, but 
 in most lands there was just the slimy surface which 
 the river left, unbroken as yet by spade or plough. 
 When we were fairly in the Delta, where, I suppose, 
 the fields had been thoroughly and speedily saturated, 
 and where there could be no inducement to prolong 
 by art the fertilising process, ploughing was to be 
 seen, and green crops. Ahead of us appeared sud- 
 denly what seemed a long continuous fence made of 
 tall bamboos, but what proved to be the curved masts 
 of very many Egyptian boats, bending some one way 
 some the other, so as to resemble the crossed poles of 
 a fence. We were passing a canal or a natural branch 
 of the Nile. And after this we were speedily in a 
 rich green country, covered with young crops of 
 maize, sugar, wheat, plantains, cotton, and, if I mis- 
 take not, potatoes. Groves of trees, too, refreshed the 
 sight cocoa-nuts, golden oranges, and bunches of 
 dates hanging plentifully among them. This Delta 
 into which we were now entering must be exception- 
 ally rich ; there is an untold depth of fat alluvial soil, 
 and a certain manuring and irrigation done by nature 
 in the most perfect manner. I say certain advisedly, 
 Bales, not at all forgetting the seven years of famine ; 
 so don't cavil. I believe the said seven years were 
 a most exceptional judgment, and that since the 
 days of Joseph there has not been a total failure of 
 the inundation, certainly not failures for successive 
 years. Now and then the rise of the river is very
 
 ISMAILIA TO SUEZ. 173 
 
 insufficient, and for that year in which the insuffici- 
 ency occurs the country suffers accordingly, but the 
 succeeding year generally yields the accustomed 
 fruits. The soil of the Delta may, I think, be com- 
 pared to that of Guiana, the husbandman in both 
 places working ground that great rivers have been 
 forming for countless ages. Only, in the former there 
 is a temperate climate, and, by the provision of 
 nature, only one harvest in the year; in the latter 
 there is a tropical sun to ripen at all seasons, copious 
 rains with only short intervals throughout the year, 
 and opportunities of taking off three crops in twelve 
 months. 
 
 I had settled myself in my seat, and become lazy 
 and pensive when it grew dark. I took no note of 
 time. The intelligence came rather suddenly upon 
 me that we had reached the Cairo Station, and I had 
 to rouse myself. The luggage was got out with some 
 trouble and labour, but without accident or loss a 
 circumstance most creditable to the Railway, after 
 such a scramble. "We inquired for a carriage, but 
 were told there was no such thing to be had. We 
 had, however, surmounted too many difficulties that 
 day to be easily persuaded of impossibilities ; and 
 after waiting a little, we got a carriage for ourselves 
 and a truck for our luggage. We got also the ser- 
 vices of a paragon of a true believer, who got the 
 packages on to the trucks as smartly as it could be 
 done, poising heavy trunks on his shoulder and run- 
 ning with them as if they were hat-boxes. He was a
 
 174 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 smart man, too, in the matter of baksheesh; for, being 
 invited to come to our hotel in the morning to be 
 paid, in order that the time and annoyance of settling 
 with him in the dark might be saved, and that we 
 might have the chance of engaging his valuable services 
 again in the morning, he plainly expressed his doubt 
 of ever getting any payment if he should let us slip 
 now ; said he was a poor man and couldn't afford 
 to work for nothing, and insisted upon immediate 
 liquidation. Away, at length, go carriage and truck, 
 and we are not long in reaching the Oriental Hotel, 
 which in the gas-light looks a very handsome build- 
 ing. We found the lobby in confusion, the manager 
 distracted, the servants rushing hither and thither, a 
 very Babel of swearing, entreating, protesting, and 
 repudiating, prevalent. Luggage was coming in in 
 heaps, but none being cleared off. Some fuss about 
 rooms, but we had telegraphed for ours, and finally 
 found we were provided for. With considerable im- 
 portunity the despairing manager is induced to get 
 the lady's luggage carried to her room. She is out of 
 the throng, fortunately, and the rest of us separate 
 our property into parcels, and wish that it may, some 
 time or other, be moved, as we all hope that we shall 
 go some day to heaven. I caught sight of an address- 
 board, and, looking thereon, perceived an imitation of 
 the name Scamper against 91. I assumed an official 
 air and tried to overawe the manager ; but he was 
 past the stage where bullying could avail. Then I 
 laid hands upon a passing Mussulman, and refused to
 
 ISMAlLIA TO SUEZ. 175 
 
 let him move in any direction except to my luggage. 
 He protested ; I compelled ; I threatened personal 
 chastisement. He saw that I meant to lay on, and 
 took up a portmanteau ; at sight of which a brother 
 fellah, and a very smart fellali too, mysteriously 
 appeared to his aid, and took up another article, as 
 when, after a first vulture has perched upon a carcass, 
 a second vulture in three seconds emerges from the 
 depths of space and perches on it too. They ascend 
 and disappear. I guard the remainder of my pro- 
 perty till they return. I and the last packages go up 
 together to 91, where I find water and light, unpack 
 and wash ; then I lock the door and descend. I 
 afterwards found that lords, ladies, baronets, and 
 squires had been obliged to double and treble up, and 
 that the hall, writing-room, and every corner of the 
 house were occupied by roomless destitutes. I thought 
 I couldn't be such an utter muff after all ! At ten 
 o'clock we met at tea in the satte ; at half-past ten 
 we went off, nothing daunted by our trials, in all of 
 which we were more than conquerors, to dress for the 
 ball. Five napoleons for a carriage ! Well, it will 
 take more than that to stop us now. Soon after 
 eleven we are off to the palace, having passed on the 
 stairs as we descended the rest of the party from our 
 ship, tired and just arrived, having all their fight 
 about rooms and luggage yet to come, and perceiving 
 that for them the ball was a perished hope. 
 
 The Kasr el Nilo, the palace where the ball was to 
 be given, was soon reached. It was magnificently
 
 176 THE VOYAGE FROM 
 
 illuminated, and at the first step within its gates one 
 was convinced that better order and a more refined 
 style reigned here than at the ball in Ismailia. Our 
 invitation-cards were scrutinised at the door, and 
 when these were found satisfactory we were intro- 
 duced with much ceremony. The Viceroy had, how- 
 ever, left the station in which he had been receiving 
 his guests, just before we arrived; and glad enough, 
 I should think, the poor man must have been to go 
 off to comparative repose with the Emperor and the 
 Crown Prince in a saloon that was reserve. There 
 was no intolerable crowd here, no tearing away of 
 ladies' garments, no licence as to dress. There were 
 all the observances and all the magnificence of a State 
 ball. The dancing-room was spacious and splendid ; 
 ornamented in the Saracenic style, four-square or 
 nearly so, and very lofty. The refreshment-room was 
 large and well ventilated, with plenty of attendants, 
 and every requirement within easy reach. The sup- 
 per-room was sumptuously provided, and admitted of 
 every guest being seated ; while he might regale him- 
 self to his heart's content, as I did, for it was eight or 
 ten hours since I had eaten anything worthy to be 
 called a meal, and then I had eaten in haste, with my 
 loins girded, of not the most delicate viands. The 
 suite of drawing-rooms was very elegantly furnished, 
 and all the rooms were well lighted. The beauty of 
 the ladies (none of whom, of course, were Mohamme- 
 dan) was not remarkable ; though, to do them justice, 
 many of them had taken infinite pains to appear to
 
 ISMAILIA TO SUEZ. 177 
 
 advantage, and by no means acquiesced in the award 
 of nature. Powder had been profusely used, and cer- 
 tain other beautifiers laid on with the prodigality of 
 a Rembrandt. In the course of the evening I had the 
 pleasure of meeting again the German acquaintance 
 in whose company, as I told you, I crossed the Brenner. 
 He was full of projects for sight-seeing, on many of 
 which action was afterwards taken. And so, with one 
 agreeable diversion after another, I managed quite 
 to forget the long tiresome day that I had passed, 
 and to be really indifferent about going to bed. The 
 morning was somewhat advanced before we thought 
 of retiring, but we had to think of it at last. As we 
 were going to enter our carriage, my German friend 
 came up and said that there remained something 
 which we had omitted to see, and that we must give 
 five more minutes that was all that would be re- 
 quired to avoid a life-long remorse. Thus urged, we 
 moved off once more, not into the palace, but round 
 an angle of it, out of the glare of the lamps, and were 
 suddenly in solitude and quiet. In two minutes we 
 stood on a terrace looking over a balustrade across a 
 placid water. That water, Bales, was the mighty 
 Nile under the light of the full moon. Surely it was 
 a spell of Egypt ; the sudden sight, the rush of 
 thoughts entangled, many -figured, overwhelming, 
 seized on the mind, and stirred every pulse. This 
 awful stream, knit to all past Time, echoing with a 
 thousand great names, brimful of fancies, the nurse of 
 her that nursed all human knowledge there it rolled, 
 
 M
 
 178 THE VOYAGE FROM ISMAlLTA TO SUEZ. 
 
 past banks that had felt the tread of sages and con- 
 querors, prophets, magicians, builders, mighty men 
 that were of old, men of renown. And I was stand- 
 ing where once Menes stood and the many Pharaohs, 
 where Moses wrought wonders, where Cleopatra 
 stepped from her gilded galley. As I gazed, every 
 ripple reflected the beams, which ran in quivering 
 streaks of light along the sacred waters ; the rich 
 moonshine gleamed on masonry and shipping ; the 
 shadows fell so dark and sharp that they seemed 
 substances ; there was not a wave in the air, not a 
 
 vapour in the sky. Bales, my boy, it was but I 
 
 cannot describe what I felt, neither can I pass now 
 from the Nile to meaner things till I sleep. After 
 rest I will tell you more of Egypt. Au revoir. 
 Yours, 
 
 SCAMPER.
 
 179 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIEO : 
 
 AS COMMUNICATED TO BULLION BALES, ESQ. OF MANCHESTER, 
 BY HIS FRIEND MR SCAMPER. 
 
 March 1870. 
 
 MY DEAR BALES, Did it ever occur to you what 
 important illustrations of national character might be 
 obtained from a study of national oaths \ I don't 
 mean fantastic expressions, such as Bob Acres' " odds 
 triggers and flints," or Mr Brisk's "let me perish," 
 but the vernacular outpourings of overcharged minds 
 venting themselves otherwise than in goodwill to- 
 wards men. It has been acutely observed how much 
 ballads have to do with the creation of national sen- 
 timents, but nobody, so far as I know, has traced the 
 relation between character and oaths. I will explain 
 why I have begun my letter with the above question. 
 The idea was suggested to me as I lay in bed the 
 morning after the Khedive's ball at Kasr el Nilo, 
 somewhere between eight and nine o'clock. You will 
 remember that I had retired to rest the same morning 
 between four and five, after being very actively em- 
 ployed for more than twenty-four hours ; and you may
 
 180 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 suppose that, notwithstanding the crowd of thoughts 
 likely to present themselves in my first solitude, I 
 was not long in falling asleep. I slept till after eight, 
 and should probably have done so till after eleven 
 had I been suffered to take mine ease in mine inn. 
 But fate ordered things her own way ; my rest was 
 rudely broken, and it was broken by a concordia 
 discors of execrations ; that is to say, there was entire 
 concord and unanimity as to the consignment which 
 every railer was making of his neighbour's immaterial 
 and material being, but a harsh, incongruous, and anti- 
 morphic clamour used to express the same. Had I 
 been a rash and irascible man, it is possible that, on 
 being disturbed, I might have offered my mite where 
 so many rich men were casting their gifts into the 
 treasury of condemnation ; but being, as you know, 
 a model of self-restraint, I fell to moralising on what 
 I was obliged to hear, and propounded to myself that 
 little theorem concerning oaths and character which 
 I have just passed on to you. I would have pre- 
 ferred to sleep on, it is true ; but as to getting into a 
 rage, because in such a place I couldn't, that would 
 have been inexcusable. When young Bailey was 
 supposed to be, like young Lycidas, dead ere his 
 prime, and not to have left his peer, Mrs Gamp ob- 
 served that "he was born into a wale, and must take 
 the kinsequences of sich a sitiwation ; " and in like 
 manner, as I think, every man who went skylarking 
 to the SuezfStes was bound to take the consequences 
 of whatever situation he might fall into. For my
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 181 
 
 part, the wale to which I had betaken myself, though 
 not always a smooth and flowery wale, had left me 
 with few losses or injuries, and had presented many 
 delights. I began to feel on good terms with Fortune, 
 and was not prone to believe that every little incon- 
 venience was really for my ultimate damage ; there- 
 fore, I say, I did not fall into great wrath, but lay 
 and rested my limbs, though I could not sleep. 
 Sleep ! well, it would have been difficult. The occa- 
 sion of the row I could pretty well guess. The state 
 of the hotel the evening before gave sure token of 
 what would happen next day. The bells, I fancy, 
 were unanswered, and soon rendered dumb by fierce 
 pulling ; the water, too, though raised through pipes 
 (Nile water, Bales), had unfortunately failed that 
 morning (not a very serious privation, by the by, to 
 many of the honourable comminators) ; boots and 
 clothes were unbrushed ; coffee was not forthcoming ; 
 all the world had got out of bed on the wrong side, 
 and with one consent was raising its cheerful voice. 
 But as the world is no longer of one speech and of 
 one language, its cheerful voice was of necessity of 
 many sounds, though of very even intensity while it 
 raved. There were shrieks and howls, roars and 
 squalls, gutturals and sibilants, liquids and solids, 
 rolling sonorous oaths, oaths that went off as sharp as 
 crackers, earnest wicked oaths, appealing tragic oaths, 
 despairing oaths, sudden frantic oaths in chorus in- 
 dicating that the skirt of a fellah was seen in the far 
 distance, composite poetical oaths, oaths of sublime
 
 182 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 simplicity. And there lay I amused, while China- 
 men, Germans, Yankee-doodles, Gauls, English, Par- 
 thians and Medes and Elamites, Cretes and Arabians, 
 every man in his own tongue, gave utterance to what 
 Friday called " de great dam." 
 
 Well, I lay and thought that if ever again I should 
 know the delights of a winter evening and an easy- 
 chair, I would make a profound philosophic inquiry 
 into the oaths of all nations; and you should ask 
 Blackwood, who is, I know, a friend of yours, to give 
 it a place in ' Maga ' will you 1 
 
 At last the tumult began to subside, the speakers 
 dropped away hither and thither, and a few only of 
 the most eloquent were yet breathing out threatenings. 
 These last, too, died away in low anathemas. The 
 corridors became tolerably quiet, and I could hear the 
 wretched fellahs creeping cautiously from their holes 
 and pattering along the floor as they went about 
 their daily work There was no more chance of 
 quiet, and, besides, there was a bright sun shining in 
 at my window ; therefore, though they had waked 
 me too soon, I did not slumber again, but got up, and 
 had a refreshing wash wash, I say for, Bales, my 
 boy, I have not lived in Manchester for nothing. I 
 foresaw that water might be at a premium ; and the 
 night before, amid all the hurry of arrival and dress- 
 ing for the ball, arranged, through a baksheesh of one 
 franc, to have a sitz-bath brought then into my 
 chamber, and there filled with Nile water. Oblige 
 me by mentioning this on 'Change in the hearing of
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 183 
 
 old Pinch, if you can manage it. He got to wind- 
 ward of us in that matter of the maddapollans, but I 
 mean to show him a trick of Egypt when I get back. 
 
 Cairo viewed by day proved quite as prepossessing 
 as when viewed by lamp-light. I opened my window 
 and stepped out on the balcony, in my dressing-gown, 
 to reconnoitre. It was a delicious morning, of about 
 the temperature of the English June. Palm-branches 
 stirred gently against the purple sky ; groves and 
 plains stretched toward the city from a not very 
 distant horizon ; and mosques and minarets inter- 
 spersed among high and principally modern houses, 
 all standing, or appearing to stand, among trees and 
 gardens, formed the foreground of a very different 
 landscape from those which met us in the desert. 
 This was my first impression from Grand Cairo ; but 
 it was a false and hasty impression, very unlike any 
 of the images of the same renowned city which I 
 have carried away stamped on my brain, to remain 
 there till death us do part. Modern Cairo is no 
 more the Cairo of the mind than Ishmail Pasha, in a 
 frock-coat and patent-leather boots, is Haroun al 
 Raschid. In both cases the modern forms are the 
 natural creations of moving time, and possibly great 
 improvements on the old "but oh the difference 
 to me ! " 
 
 I needed not, however, to have been so hasty in 
 making my moan over the things of yore. However 
 incompatible past and present may be elsewhere, it is 
 certain that in Cairo they coexist. A turn to your
 
 184 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 left, ten steps down an alley, and you have gone back 
 six centuries at least, out of the sight of houses five 
 storeys high, with plate-glass windows and gas and 
 water service, into the real presentment of the ' Arabian 
 Nights. 5 If you can be amazed, this transition must 
 astonish you. You don't for the moment reflect that 
 it isn't Bagdad, it is so exactly like the Bagdad that 
 you have read and dreamed about. There are the 
 little, close, narrow passages, crowded with Mussul- 
 mans, Jews, Greeks, Copts, veiled women, saucy boys, 
 and donkeys, jabbering, shouting, struggling, and star- 
 ing, despite the filth and stench. There are the tall, 
 old, curiously-built houses, with a little stall on the 
 ground-floor of each, just large enough to hold the 
 proprietor and possibly his man or boy assistant, 
 and some of the wares. It is likely that all the 
 merchandise may be contained in the shop when 
 the vendors are out of it ; but while they are there, 
 room is made for them by ranging half of the stock 
 outside on the door-posts or on little benches. The 
 floors of the boutiques are raised a little say two 
 feet off the ground ; above that level the fronts 
 are all open, with neither doors nor windows. Cross- 
 legged on the floor, with a pipe in his mouth, sits the 
 dealer, if he be an Egyptian, while his assistant arranges 
 wares and recommends them to passengers. A Jew or 
 Greek proprietor may occasionally be seen seated on 
 a chair somewhere about the premises. Many of 
 the trades have their own particular quarters in the 
 bazaar. Goldsmiths and jewellers are all together ;
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 185 
 
 silversmiths have their proper alleys; and silks, cloth- 
 of-gold, and embroidered stuffs, by far the most showy 
 of the merchandise, are congregated in their separate 
 neighbourhood. The less one sees of the places where 
 the necessaries of life are sold the better. The 
 butchers', bakers', confectioners', and fruiterers' es- 
 tablishments, having nothing to distract attention 
 from the dirt and meanness, are disgusting. In 
 looking at them it is a comfort to remember that 
 there is a modern Cairo where your provisions are 
 bought. Grocers, chemists, medicine - vendors, to- 
 bacconists, and chandlers, have none of them very 
 inviting magazines ; and as for a bookseller and 
 stationer, I do not remember to have seen such a 
 thing in all the old part of the city. You very 
 soon find out that the gold, silver, jewels, curiosities, 
 and ornamented cloths are the wares that attract you 
 most ; to them you go again and again but one walk 
 through the region of necessaries and household stuff 
 will probably suffice. Yet in these latter you find all 
 manner of memories stirred up. You recognise that 
 intelligent cobbler who sewed Cassim's body together, 
 and afterwards, with a bandage over his eyes, found 
 his way through the intricate streets to the very door 
 whither he had once been conducted blindfold. There 
 he is in his little box, just as he sat when Morgiana 
 accosted him. And, by the by, is not that Morgiana 
 herself that has just walked up to his stall, with a 
 long veil and a fillet round her forehead ? Then that 
 doctor's shop, with all its nastiness, can be no other
 
 186 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 than the shop of Ebn Thaher ; and that old party 
 with the turban and yellow slippers must be Ebn 
 Thaher himself, the man who contrived love-meetings 
 for Schemselnihar and the Prince of Persia. The 
 venerable old fruiterer opposite I can also call by 
 name ; I have known him for many, many years, 
 although I never saw him in the flesh before. He 
 is Abdallah, and he was once very kind to King 
 Beder. Indeed it all looks terribly familiar, sug- 
 gesting the operation of magic, from the venerable 
 dervish and staid dealer down to the ragamuffin 
 faithful with their clamour, amongst whom you loog 
 to see the renowned Cadi appear with his dreaded 
 satellites and the supple wand so effectual in ad- 
 ministering the bastinado. But, as I said before, 
 you leave these regions for the gold and jewels, 
 where the paths are by contrast clean. No sooner 
 do you appear than there are fellows at you on each 
 side. For a moment, perhaps, you are distracted, but 
 you recover your Anglo-Saxon self-possession and 
 incline to your right or left without at all knowing 
 which is preferable. The dealer who has got you 
 immediately exhibits his shawls, necklaces, slippers, 
 robes, and so on, recommending the same furiously. 
 You admire them all, but fix your eyes on something, 
 a santal-wood fan perhaps, which you think you will 
 buy. The conscientious tradesman, who has been 
 watching your look, immediately resolves to add 
 about eighty per cent to the price, and asks you 
 three and a half napoleons, assuring you that it will
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 187 
 
 ruin Mm to part with the article at that figure, but 
 that he has taken a liking to you, and is resolved that 
 you shall be gratified. You think even the three and 
 a half rather strong ; but the vendor, who is an im- 
 pulsive, open-hearted fellow, rather than you shall be 
 balked, bids you, in Allah's name, take the fan for 
 sixty-five francs why should two or three miserable 
 livres prevent the dealing \ You pay your money, but 
 are not without misgivings that a little more patience 
 and firmness might have procured you a better bar- 
 gain. There are some indications that you have been 
 mistaken for a flat as, for example, the gathering of 
 a very importunate crowd around you, and the shout- 
 ings of some individuals in that crowd to respectable 
 merchants further on, who, on hearing the shouts, 
 assiduously unlock their caskets and expand their 
 gimcracks. You are a little abashed at first, and 
 show symptoms of hesitation, but, recollecting that 
 this will never do for a free-born Briton among a 
 gang of ignorant savages, you resolve to show the 
 villains that you know what you are about, and that 
 if you suffer yourself to be imposed upon it is only 
 because such is your pleasure. 89 you swagger sud- 
 denly up to a bawling shopman, don't wait for him to 
 entice you, but at once take up a gold necklace, hung 
 with sequins and crescents, and demand the price. 
 " Four napoleons," replies the dealer, who can speak 
 very badly every European language, and has carefully 
 got up his English numerals. " Of course, then, it is 
 gold," you say. " Oh no silver gilt," replies the just
 
 188 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 Mohammedan ; " if gold, fifteen napoleons," and he 
 spreads out his five fingers three times. This can- 
 dour rather shakes your resolution ; still, for the sake 
 of your own self-respect, you must suggest abatement. 
 Three napoleons, you remark, are quite enough. The 
 seller signifies by a gesture that he is amused by the 
 facetiousness which you are pleased to exhibit. Se- 
 cretly you waver, but you deem it expedient not to 
 give in too quickly, so you turn away to some other 
 object and begin to examine it ; whereupon the Arab 
 sets to work with diligence, wrapping the necklace in 
 soft paper and packing it in a box of card you soon 
 see why. He presents the box to you with a smile, 
 saying, " Give tree." You got off a napoleon any 
 way, but still you think these fellows' prices have 
 a wonderful margin, the extent of which it will be 
 well to ascertain. So you walk on, your crowd of 
 followers having increased, and the shouts sent 
 before you up the alley being louder than before. 
 You want another necklace, and so you look at one. 
 Five napoleons are asked. " Two," you say. " Im- 
 possible," is the reply. " Two is enough." " No, 
 four." You try your former trick and turn away 
 to other goods. Your diversion is permitted for a 
 moment, but in a minute the necklace is again 
 pushed before you. " Four, cheap ! " You turn 
 away impatiently, when a bystander interfere's. 
 " Gold, good, four." You turn savagely round at 
 this intruder, who, however, only smiles and enters 
 into an energetic conversation with the master of the
 
 THE SIGHTS OP CAIRO. 189 
 
 shop, then he looks towards you and says persuasively, 
 " Tree." This is rather disgusting, and you move 
 away. Your crowd, however, remains, and there is 
 no shouting. You feel yourself almost forsaken as 
 you approach a stall on the other side, where a grave 
 Turk preparing for you takes his pipe from his mouth. 
 But you are not permitted to speak to him at present. 
 Your whole former following moves up, headed by the 
 owner of the last necklace, who holds out the orna- 
 ment, saying, " Give, give." You are angry, and 
 refuse to be interrupted ; you stalk resolutely for- 
 ward. " Two, give ? " persists the vendor. " Go to 
 the devil ! " you say. Then the Turk in front comes 
 to your aid and exhibits his treasures. The other 
 fellow is disappointed, and withdraws; but the gentle- 
 man who so kindly interfered in your behalf demands 
 baksheesh, which you, if you are wise, administer with 
 your cane. Finally you buy a necklace from the Turk 
 for thirty francs, which is somewhere about its value 
 in Cairo. The crowd come up again, but perceiving 
 that your education has advanced, take part with you 
 now, and enjoy the discomfiture of the traders, whom 
 you treat without ceremony, depreciating their wares, 
 and offering for them a tenth of what they ask. 
 
 At one of the stalls I saw a facetious young 
 gentleman who endeavoured to attract custom by 
 his sprightly manners. A circlet for a lady's head, 
 made of gold, purple, and embroidery, caught my 
 attention, and I moved it about with my hand, 
 observing its appearance in different lights ; where-
 
 190 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 upon the youth, pulling off first his turban, and then 
 a linen cap, showed his close-shaven head, and put the 
 circle thereon for me to admire the effect. For this 
 performance he demanded, but did not get, baksheesh, 
 neither did he at that time sell the band. 
 
 The parade of so much gorgeous stuff in so poor a 
 place produces an effect of barbarous grandeur which 
 is rather impressive. Most likely the same goods ex- 
 hibited in a commodious, well-fitted European shop, 
 would make a very paltry show. But undoubtedly 
 imagination is busily at work here, and it is much 
 wiser to believe that things are as you see them, than 
 to seek to remove the glamour. Everything in Egypt 
 is more or less enchanted. If the " Nights " were 
 written, as some of the learned have supposed, by 
 an Egyptian or Egyptians, their magic is accounted 
 for. The difficulty in that land is not to believe in 
 marvels. 
 
 The night after the ball Cairo was illuminated 
 rather there were illuminations in Cairo, but they 
 were not general. True to my instincts, I desired 
 to see the old part of the city in the glare of artificial 
 light; and accordingly, after dinner, I again trudged 
 off to the narrow streets. All was gloomy there, how- 
 ever, and as the ways were neither smooth nor clean, 
 I found groping my way far from pleasant. After I 
 had walked some time a glare of light appeared in 
 the distance, and a confused noise indicated that 
 something was astir. The light came nearer, and so 
 did a series of loud shouts, which at last took the
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 191 
 
 sound of Huarda, huarda, as three or four Arabs ran 
 by bearing torches, and were immediately followed by 
 a coach containing several persons, after which came 
 two more torch-bearers. It seemed that something 
 sensational was going on among the natives, for more 
 cries of Huarda, huarda, and more coaches were soon 
 perceived. Some of these had mounted guards as 
 well as the runners with the torches, and some of 
 them contained ladies from the great harems, whose 
 veils could be seen as the torch-light flashed on them. 
 There being no footway, one had to cling closely to 
 the walls to avoid the tramp and wheels, so I made 
 the best of my way back to the broader streets. Ere 
 I was quite out of the ancient region, I saw, in a 
 place where some of the houses and shops were still 
 open and lighted, a turbaned and bearded orator 
 holding forth to a not very numerous nor select audi- 
 ence in front of an uninviting cafe. I remained to 
 listen to him, but of course could comprehend nothing 
 but his earnest delivery and his gestures, with which 
 the hearers seemed much impressed. First I thought 
 he was a political mob-orator, until I reflected that 
 amid all her plagues Egypt was free from this one. 
 Then I imagined that it must be a holy man preach- 
 ing and giving wisdom by the wayside to irreligious 
 Mussulmans. But it was the things of my former 
 life that were misleading me. What had brawling 
 Eadicals or street-ranters to do there in Egypt \ No, 
 it was a very different sort of party, though perhaps 
 of imagination all compact with the disturbers that I
 
 192 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 first thought of. The fellow was, no doubt, a story- 
 teller, and relating some wonders of love, or war, or 
 enchantment, for the delight of the faithful after the 
 manner of his kind. The ears of (I will not say the 
 unwashed, which is not a very distinguishing epithet 
 in Egypt, but of) the illiterate are regaled with 
 amusing stories instead of sedition or snuffling in- 
 spiration. The deeds of Antar, or some other ro- 
 mance, had been preparing the poor men for pleasant 
 dreams and healthy slumber, not sending them home 
 full of envious thoughts and railing accusations, or of 
 terrifying images of Gehenna. 
 
 Afterwards I found the illuminations, which hardly 
 repaid me for my tramp. An avenue here and there 
 was brilliantly lighted, but the most luminous place 
 was the great square. Here things looked very gay, 
 and the population were promenading the area and 
 apparently enjoying the amusements, forming little 
 knots round professors of different sciences, all of 
 which I thought but poorly represented. There was 
 a juggler, very slow and with stale tricks ; some 
 dancers of a most uninteresting type ; some musicians 
 and singers who were a caution ; confectioners with 
 forbidding stalls. I was glad to go to bed and sleep. 
 
 Not that even this was to be a compensatory night. 
 Five o'clock was our appointed hour of reveille, and 
 an hour before the swearing could begin we were to 
 start for the Pyramids. And it was so : at twenty 
 minutes before five I awoke and lit a candle, shaking 
 off dull sloth ; at five o'clock I early rose ; at six I
 
 TH-E SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 193 
 
 stood in the lobby amid sleepers on sofas and in 
 cloaks, who had no holes like the foxes, nor nests 
 like the birds of the air, and who had not been 
 educated up to the Oriental resource of laying their 
 heads in tombs. We were not going to start in a 
 very great hurry, but our experience of the establish- 
 ment taught us that an early breakfast, and an early- 
 packed basket of provender, would be achieved with 
 difficulty, if achieved at all. All was achieved, 
 though at some expense of time and breath, and while 
 it was yet cool morning we had started for Grhizeh. 
 The drive through the city in the early hours has its 
 peculiar gratification. You see the place far more 
 with its natural aspect at that time than at any 
 other. Very few Europeans are astir ; but the 
 Moslems, who are all early risers, are about their 
 usual business. We were scarcely clear of the streets, 
 when, passing under the arch of an aqueduct, we 
 encountered a person of some distinction, Jew or 
 Arab, seated upon an ass and ambling quietly, escorted 
 by a large attendance on foot. He was richly and 
 tastefully dressed, and his long flowing robes, in great 
 measure covering the donkey, saved the rider from 
 the ridiculous appearance which a European so 
 mounted would present. The Sheik or Rabbi, or 
 whatever he was, preserved an entirely dignified mien, 
 and forced you to think of Balaam the son of Beor. 
 Strings of camels passed us laden with long sawn 
 timbers, with casks, with packages ; there were oxen 
 and buffaloes in droves ; there were country people in 
 
 N
 
 194 THE SIGHTS OF CA1EO. 
 
 troops. A few well-mounted equestrians passed us, 
 but these were exceptional. Most of the travellers 
 were on foot. A good deal of work, such as draining, 
 road-making, and fencing, was going on, the labourers 
 being women and men in about equal proportions. 
 The women, who wore no veils, must have been of a 
 very low class indeed. The country through which 
 we passed was for the most part bearing crops, but 
 was not much varied in feature. The air was still 
 fresh and exhilarating when we reached the village of 
 Old Cairo. Here was pointed out to us a modest 
 Christian church, said to be the very house in which 
 the Holy Family dwelt when they fled into Egypt. 
 The houses in the village were neat, and adjacent was 
 a large barrack with defensible walls. We were just 
 beginning to find it warm, when, turning sharp to the 
 right and passing a few houses, we saw our way 
 stopped by the Nile. When I saw the river yester- 
 morn, its presence made the pulses leap and set the 
 brain a-spinning ; but it might have been the Tagus, 
 or the Essequibo, or the Mersey, or any other full 
 stream, for all the emotion it could produce at present. 
 It was not the stream, but its hither bank, which 
 forced the beholder's -attention. The road led down 
 to a narrow strand, all along which, boats as thick as 
 they could possibly lie were packed, with their prows 
 on the beach. It seemed as if nothing could be easier 
 than to hire one of these, shove out, and cross or 
 navigate the river. But it would appear to be a law 
 of Egyptian life that no transaction of the kind shall
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 195 
 
 be effected decently and in order. As land differs 
 from water, so there was a difference between the 
 scene on this beach and that which I witnessed at the 
 Suez railway station ; but in respect of the utter con- 
 fusion that reigned in each, they were the same. 
 There was no wheel nor steam-engine to help the 
 noise on the river's bank, and therefore, probably, it 
 was that the human voice was more freely drawn 
 upon to keep up the requisite clatter in the latter 
 situation. To this day, I cannot conceive what all 
 the discussions were about. There were plenty of 
 passengers wanting boats, and there were plenty of 
 boats wanting passengers ; but the difficulty was to 
 get a passenger into a boat. There was no sign that 
 customers and boatmen were making their little 
 bargains. Most of the boats were without men on 
 board ; and the owners were pacing up and down the 
 strand, exchanging observations at the top of their 
 voices with every person whom they encountered. 
 The customers were doing exactly the same thing. 
 How such proceedings could ever end in embarka- 
 tions I cannot imagine. In the background were the 
 carriages or other conveyances in which some of the 
 company had arrived, carts laden with provisions and 
 merchandise, horses, oxen, and one or two camels ; 
 the middle strand was covered by people moving to 
 and fro and talking loudly, as I have above described, 
 and by donkeys ; in front, and down a pretty steep 
 and rugged descent, were the boats, unconscious of 
 the row that was being made about them in the
 
 196 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 world. I never in my life witnessed such an unmean- 
 ing scramble. It was something like the motion you 
 observe on first disturbing an ant-hill, only that this 
 never did resolve itself into any order. And as for 
 the noise, there may be some effects of machinery 
 equally disagreeable to the ear, but I don't think that 
 any other human organs could equal it. The com- 
 parison of many waters, and so on, would wholly fail : 
 this was a noise of many Egyptians, and like nothing 
 else. 
 
 Now my party and I were in no particular hurry, 
 so we waited a while and amused ourselves with the 
 dresses and outcries and incomprehensible motions of 
 the crowd. When we had had enough of these, we 
 did, what I recommend every one to do who may 
 find himself at that perplexing ferry we desired our 
 donkey-men (who must be engaged on this side) to 
 see to getting the donkeys and themselves across, and 
 then we boarded and took possession of a craft, speak- 
 ing no word good or bad to any man. After a time, 
 the owners, during a pause in their horrible vocifera- 
 tion, espied us and came on board, with their appetite 
 for jabber painfully excited, and wanted to draw us 
 into foolish disputation, which we, with stern forbear- 
 ance, declined. We likewise, with sterner forbearance, 
 refrained from knocking them into the river, and in 
 the end had our heavenly patience rewarded by being 
 pushed away from the land. The waters at this time 
 had more than half subsided, and were of a clear 
 brown colour ; but the stream was still strong, inso-
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 197 
 
 much that, with sails and oars together, it was difficult 
 to hit the landing-place on the opposite bank. The 
 island of Rawdah, just below our course of transit, is 
 said, we were told, to be Moses' birthplace on what 
 authority I am unable to say. A fresh breeze made 
 the water pleasant ; but there were not many craft 
 about a small steamer or two, that was all. Only 
 two or three other boats crossed at the same time 
 with us, and we flattered ourselves that we had got 
 clean away from the babel on the Cairo bank, the 
 sound of which, sunk to a murmur of confusion, 
 reached us in the mid-channel. But they change 
 their bank, not their affliction, who run across the 
 Nile at this point. On the further shore was another 
 scene of confusion and babbling awaiting us, to get 
 through which, and to find our donkeys and our pro- 
 vender, took us a good half-hour, during which I had 
 an opportunity of examining what looked like a corn- 
 market. In a small square, heaps of different kinds 
 of grain were exposed on sheets wheat, rye, barley, 
 maize. The wheat, or what was pointed out to me 
 as such, was darker in colour than any that we grow 
 at home, and rounder in the grain. There was no 
 very great quantity, and the sellers appeared to be of 
 the very lowest of the population. Several young 
 girls without veils, and apparently of a very low class, 
 were selling fruit in the same place. 
 
 After a certain interval of choosing and mounting, 
 every one of our party was mounted on a donkey. 
 The donkeys are saddled with large soft pads covered
 
 198 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 with red leather, and, as a general rule, the same 
 saddle may be used by either sex indifferently. The 
 donkey-men were urgent that our ladies should sit 
 astride, which was of course peremptorily objected to. 
 The difficulty of the saddle was got over somehow, 
 and we started. It is one peculiarity of the donkey- 
 saddle that both stirrups are attached to one long 
 leather running loosely through a groove under the 
 seat. You do well, therefore, to maintain an even 
 balance ; for should you allow your weight to incline 
 to one side, the treacherous stirrup will give way, 
 and you may be undonkeyed. 
 
 We soon got on to a good broad road, which lasted 
 all the way to Ghizeh. Why we could not have 
 taken our carriages across and driven I never dis- 
 covered. Donkeys seemed to be the custom of that 
 road, and accordingly it was covered with groups on 
 donkeys. Neither were all ladies scrupulous as to 
 attitude, as some ladies had that day shown them- 
 selves to be. Of those we met or passed and their 
 name was legion a good half crossed their saddles 
 in male fashion. It was observable, too, that a good 
 many gentlemen unsexed themselves to maintain the 
 balance of attitudes, and preserve the eternal fitness 
 of things. These assumed a reciprocal position one 
 which an old drill-sergeant, once known to me, who 
 was a superficial classic, and got muddled about his 
 v's, would have spoken of, in reference to the other, 
 as vivd voce ; meaning, unsophisticated Bullion, 
 vice versd. They let their legs dangle both on one
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 199 
 
 side, and showed how easily they could adapt them- 
 selves to any need that is, half of them were spilt, 
 and the others laughed; afterwards the others were 
 spilt too. 
 
 It is time that I gave over this nonsense about 
 donkeys ; and, indeed, we were now reaching a point 
 where large thoughts forced their way into the mind. 
 Since we crossed the river we had been jogging along 
 very merrily across marshes, and cultivated land, and 
 canals, seeing not much worthy of remark in the 
 husbandry or the landscape, and excessively merry 
 and noisy, when suddenly we were aware of the pre- 
 sence of the three Pyramids, and interrupted our 
 mirth like chidden infants. The skirts of past time 
 were looming over us ; the religion of the place over- 
 came us. These were the precincts of pre-eminent 
 antiquity, where the spirits of departed centuries 
 gather round the oldest existing works of man. 
 
 Perhaps I had formed an extravagant idea of the 
 effect which the Pyramids would produce by their 
 size, for the size did not at first impress me much. 
 Indeed I thought, when first we began to see them 
 plainly, we must be further distant than we proved 
 to be. Another half-hour of expectation and urging 
 of donkeys, and a turn to the right up a rather steep 
 ascent, brought us face to face with the work of 
 Cheops ! 
 
 My first perception was of an effort of mind to 
 take in the truth of what I saw. Our minds at home 
 are pretty well educated to the comprehension of
 
 200 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 antiquities such as we in Europe possess, and I think 
 we habitually associate the ideas of old things with 
 fragments, rottenness, damp weeds, and pity for fallen 
 greatness. It is not easy, then, for a mind so trained, 
 to believe that these solid structures, compact, sym- 
 metrical, and uninjured save by scratches of barbar- 
 ism, belong to a period in comparison of which the 
 birth of all our ruins was but as yesterday to believe 
 that, though they can still challenge Time and Vandal, 
 they are little younger than Day and Night ! Now, 
 I say, Bales, that this is a thing hard to be under- 
 stood ; I say that, when you look at the strong, 
 regular Pyramids, with their massive blocks and even 
 joints, you come short of their greatest significance 
 till you have reflected that the world's whole history 
 its empires, its wars, its religions, its works, its 
 knowledge, all that it still possesses, and the greater 
 all that it has lost for ever, have come into existence 
 since Cheops and his fellows wrought the mighty 
 masonry which is now confronting you. When I 
 thought of the works of all succeeding men, the pas- 
 sage, once and twice put aside, would suggest itself 
 again, not profanely, " They shall perish, but Thou 
 shalt endure ; they all shall wax old as doth a gar- 
 ment ; " but for the Pyramids, there they stand, the 
 testaments of those nourished in nature's youth : must 
 we call them the excellency of her strength ; or has 
 she since reared, and will she rear again, such strong 
 men as Cheops, and Chephrenes, and Mycerinus? 
 Well, we have some portion of their spirit in us now,
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 201 
 
 if we may say no more. Men of the nineteenth 
 century have pierced the Isthmus from sea to sea, 
 and these at least may stand in the shadow of the 
 Pyramids and not be ashamed. 
 
 There was a crowd of visitors at Grhizeh that day, 
 and the face of the Great Pyramid was covered with 
 climbing tourists and the Arab assistants. This was 
 hardly an advantage ; but a traveller ought to be able 
 to make his own uses of what he sees, independently 
 of the proceedings of others ; and indeed it was in- 
 teresting to observe how little the solemnity of the 
 mass was disturbed by the escalade of two or three 
 hundred human insects, many of whom clearly knew 
 and cared nothing about the pile, except as a thing 
 to be ascended and descended. 
 
 I saw one gentleman who had escorted two ladies 
 to the top and back refreshing them and himself 
 after the labour. He was beaming with satisfaction, 
 having done Cheops the distinguished honour of in- 
 scribing the name, Thomas Smith, on the apex. " Ay, 
 I done it well ; it was on the very top damme, there 
 couldn't be none higher," observed Mr Smith, in 
 strong Lancashire, as he wiped the Bass foam from 
 his lips with the sleeve of his coat. All the world, 
 however, does not refresh after the manner of Mr 
 Smith. For the poor ignorant foreigner, who, per- 
 haps, when Egypt is twice as old as she now is, will 
 hardly have been educated up to the appreciation of 
 treble X, there were water-carriers, with long jars of 
 ancient figure, slung like quivers across their shoul-
 
 202 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO, 
 
 ders. Each jar had a metal tube projecting from its 
 mouth, so as to be about three inches higher than the 
 carrier's shoulder ; and when any wretched devil of a 
 water-drinker desired to moisten his clay he bought a 
 draught, which the waterman drew cleverly by giving 
 his left shoulder a certain twist into a position which 
 allowed the water to run over the shoulder and be 
 caught in a glass or cup which he held before his 
 breast. 
 
 The whole neighbourhood is covered with sand, but 
 the sand is not sufficiently deep in the hollows to 
 entirely efface the features of the ground. There is a 
 fall north and south from the Pyramids, and you go 
 down a sandy wearying road to find the valley in 
 which the Sphinx is half buried in sand. I am sorry 
 to say that the nose of this monster has been very 
 roughly handled, and that the features generally are 
 much damaged. It was told me that the Mamelukes 
 used to make the figure a target for musket-practice 
 
 the wretches ! The back and haunches are still 
 clear of sand; but the paws, and the entrance to the 
 temple, which is between the fore legs, are invisible. 
 There was a rumour that Ismail was about to have 
 the whole figure cleaned for the Emperor's inspection ; 
 but this was never done while I could benefit by it, if 
 it was done at all. 
 
 You need a veil while you traverse this ground, 
 and, if the wind will allow you, you should spread 
 your umbrella, as the sun is very hot. I carried my 
 umbrella for some time ; but in turning the north-west
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 203 
 
 angle of the Pyramid it was caught by a little whirl- 
 wind and turned inside out in an instant, while my 
 eyes and mouth were filled with sand. The inside of 
 the Pyramid is insufferably hot. You scramble down 
 a very steep descent and arrive at the sarcophagus- 
 chamber, which is all that you can reach except with 
 extraordinary means, and then you find the Arab's 
 candle or torch to be next to useless, and you see 
 nothing to reward your exertion, but are glad to 
 return to cooler air and daylight. 
 
 Unless you go to measure or explore, the sight is 
 soon seen. Such vast objects are easily taken in by 
 the eye : it is by the mind that they are long of com- 
 prehension. We did not tarry near them late in the 
 day, but it was absolutely necessary to rest and re- 
 fresh a little after our survey. And while sitting in 
 the shade, I thought how much the great builders 
 had been assisted by the climate. Even these huge 
 structures must have presented a very different ap- 
 pearance had they stood so long in a more northern 
 latitude. Our stoutest granite yields in time to the 
 weather ; and we see castles and cathedrals ruined by 
 the decomposition of the stone after a few hundred 
 years, and the images of crusaders fairly washed from 
 their tombstones. But this consideration ought not to 
 diminish in our eyes the achievements of the Egyp- 
 tian builders. It is only fair to credit them with a 
 full knowledge of the means at their disposal, and 
 their fitness for the end in view. In a country where 
 stone must perish, men who would emulate Cheops
 
 204 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 must hit on some other method of keeping their 
 memory whole for thousands of years. 
 
 Well, Bales, I have looked on the Pyramids of 
 Ghizeh, and have carried away recollections that shall 
 afford me pleasant thought to the end of my days. 
 We were a very sober party when we set out on our 
 return to Cairo ; but we met troop after troop of 
 visitors, all hastening to the scene which we had just 
 left, and little by little we became pretty lively again. 
 On the way we halted to see a garden-palace of the 
 Khedive, built in the style of the Alhambra, and 
 exceedingly beautiful. The grounds in which it 
 stands are tastefully and elaborately laid out with 
 grottoes, terraces, and artificial water. There was 
 profusion of flowers and fruits, many of which were 
 gathered and offered to us by the attendants. After 
 loitering here for half an hour we reached the gates of 
 another palace, and entered the enclosure, as we were 
 permitted to do everywhere, that we might look at 
 the building and grounds. This was clearly a resi- 
 dence, as there were servants in the viceregal livery 
 in the colonnade, and other signs of habitation. As 
 we walked up through the parterre in front, we came 
 upon a strong gang of labourers making some altera- 
 tions in the drives and fences. They were working 
 under a taskmaster, who bore a strong stick, and 
 continually laid it on when things were not done 
 exactly to his liking. We wished to see the interior 
 of the palace, and on requesting to be allowed to do 
 so, were told that if we had come a little earlier we
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 205 
 
 might certainly have entered ; but the Emperor, to 
 whom this palace was assigned during his visit, was 
 expected back from a drive immediately. " Indeed, 
 here he comes/' said the officer to whom we had 
 applied; and we had barely time to withdraw to 
 the other side of the drive when the Emperor and 
 Crown Prince drove up in a low carriage and alighted, 
 their suite coming up in two or three similar carriages. 
 Nobody seemed to resent our lounging about the 
 domain, and the great personages very graciously 
 returned our salutation before they passed in. Of 
 course we now left the front drives ; but not the 
 least objection was made to our visiting the gardens 
 in rear and the stables, after looking at which we 
 moved off towards the river to engage a passage 
 across, as fortunately we were not to return by that 
 babel near Old Cairo. Some of the party, however, 
 who had lingered about the precincts of the palace, 
 came now running to call us back, and to tell us that 
 we would all be sent over in a boat of the Khedive's. 
 Accordingly we returned, and embarked by a private 
 stair on board a small steamer, which speedily trans- 
 ported us to the other side, where we found carriages, 
 and were taken to our hotel, after a very fatiguing 
 but most delightful day's excursion. 
 
 I went with a party to see Cairo races. We reached 
 the course with difficulty, seeing that the last mile of 
 our drive thither was over some remarkably heavy 
 ground, without trace of a road, where the horses gave 
 in repeatedly, and across which we should scarcely
 
 206 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 have had the will to proceed had we not seen the 
 world of Cairo all zealously toiling through the same 
 slough. By dint of whip and coaxing we established 
 ourselves at last opposite the grand stand, and released 
 for a while our unfortunate horses. The attendance 
 was worthy of better sport ; there was much beauty 
 and much European fashion, and such a mingling of 
 the costumes of- all nations in carriages and on horse- 
 back as composed a very gay scene. The stand was 
 well filled, and everything seemed got up for the occa- 
 sion with much care ; the course, however, looked 
 heavy. Tickets had been presented to us for this as 
 for most other amusements. I should mention that 
 before the racing began there was a field-day of the 
 Khedive's troops on a further part of the plain. 
 About five thousand of all arms turned out and man- 
 oeuvred for a short time very respectably. Service 
 in the army seems to be here the best instead of the 
 worst calling that a man can take to ; and I have an 
 idea that these Egyptian troops would be effective in 
 the field. It is quite clear that they are heartily 
 endeavouring to be so, and that they are conforming 
 to the best European usages as far as their religion 
 and customs will allow. Their music is rather bar- 
 barous, so far as I had opportunity of judging ; and I 
 suppose it was their best military bands that attended 
 at the race-course, and gave us the Emperor's Hymn 
 as the Emperor and Khedive came on to the course, 
 and afterwards maltreated a number of favourite 
 pieces. One of the early races, and I think the one
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 207 
 
 best worth winning, was gained by a horse of the 
 British Consul-General a plate of 300. But all the 
 races were very slow affairs, not excepting the camel- 
 race, which for its novelty I waited to see. It was a 
 stupid business, the most interesting part of which 
 was to observe how the Arab riders endured the jolt- 
 ing of the long trot. The race was, if I remember 
 rightly, three miles ; and after the first round of the 
 course the four or five camels that started were so far 
 asunder that all interest in the competition was at an 
 end. I left the course before the sports had well 
 reached their height, and went back into the city to 
 procure a little cash, of which somehow or other I had 
 run very short. At the Bank of the Delta, or some 
 other bank where I presented my circular note (for I 
 have forgotten the name of the establishment, though 
 I could find their house of business readily enough), 
 one of the clerks, reading my name, came up to his 
 little wicket and made a keen survey of my counte- 
 nance. Then he said, " Mr Scamper, from Manches- 
 ter, is it 1" to which I replied that I came from Man- 
 chester. " Ah, sir," said he, " I remember you well, 
 and Mr Bales ; I hope he is still flourishing. Sharp 
 business man that, and no mistake ! ! " It was that 
 young fellow Keene, whom we thought a little too 
 much interested in that Cleansweep absconding busi- 
 ness. Well, you see how these men get on ; he has 
 got a red beard and mustache now, and is a person of 
 some consequence, I can tell you. 
 
 I was going straight home with my bag of money,
 
 208 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 when at a street-corner a little wretch who appeared 
 to be deformed, his chest projected so, ran up and 
 asked baksheesh in the usual way. As I bore down 
 upon him without paying the least attention to his 
 petition, he had to skip aside ; but in another instant 
 he was again before me, and putting his hand into his 
 bosom he drew out a snake about a foot long, and put 
 it on the pavement right in my path. It was my turn 
 to skip aside now, and I did so before the shock of so 
 unexpectedly seeing the reptile had passed. Imme- 
 diately the urchin drew out another snake and placed 
 it by the first. I was composed enough now to look 
 at them, though from a respectful distance, and I 
 marked the beautiful way in which the two snakes 
 made their contortions in exactly parallel curves, as 
 if they had been drilled to it. After betraying this 
 much of interest in the little villain (whom even the 
 fastidious Saturday will probably allow me to call a 
 street Arab), I felt bound to give baksheesh. When 
 he put out his hand to receive my donation, I looked 
 behind the front of his only garment into his bosom. 
 He wasn't deformed ; he had a nest of about fifty 
 snakes there aspics of the Nile, for anything I know. 
 They made my blood run cold. 
 
 With all the vigour which the Government exhi- 
 bits and inculcates, there is, somehow, an immense 
 idle population in Cairo. Idle fellows are about 
 everywhere. They seem ready enough to get a job ; 
 but whether they would take to continuous labour, 
 and whether they could get it if they would, are
 
 pa
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 209 
 
 questions which I have not solved. They seemed 
 exceedingly sharp, and a great number of them could 
 express themselves, after a fashion, in three or four 
 foreign tongues. The little ragamuffins remind one 
 exceedingly of the Neapolitan small fry. The boys 
 are much better looking than the girls ; children of 
 both sexes have the most beautiful teeth and gums I 
 ever saw. Except at the ball at Ismailia, I never 
 heard of any of our party losing so much as a hand- 
 kerchief ; and it was worthy of remark, not only that 
 everything turned up right in the end, but that people 
 who got the chance handling of our property took 
 careful note of what they received, and gave an 
 account of all when their service was done. I feel 
 certain that they are not all naturally rogues, though 
 they are not registered Al in respect of honesty ; and 
 that though they may be idle and thriftless (I have 
 no proof that they are so), there is the making of a 
 fine people in them. The Arab villages are the most 
 shocking places I ever saw. The houses, if houses 
 they may be called, are simply shelters of the very 
 meanest construction very little above the lairs of 
 beasts. There was not the slightest sign of any 
 household property not even of a bed. I fancy that 
 the shaggy garments which they wear serve them for 
 night as well as day ; indeed it is clear,, by many 
 infallible signs, that, like the laws of the Medes and 
 Persians, they never can be changed. Their cooking, 
 such as it is, is done out of doors : washing may be 
 left altogether out of the account. 
 
 o
 
 210 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 My visit to the noted Citadel occupied a morning 
 very pleasantly. As a place of strength there is not 
 much in these days to be said for it ; but as occupy- 
 ing commanding ground it deserves the praise of 
 enabling those who enter it to enjoy a glorious pano- 
 rama. The city, old and young, the Nile, the green 
 fields, the ranges of hills, the palm-trees, the desert, 
 all bathed in that purple atmosphere which I have so 
 often spoken of, and stretching away into distances 
 which show no horizon, but fade into a rosy cloud, 
 afford a series of sights which delight by some influ- 
 ence beyond their mere grandeur or beauty. There 
 is witchcraft about the whole sight ; a charm hangs 
 not so much over the landscape as over you, the 
 beholder, which, while it makes you thoroughly enjoy, 
 keeps suggesting that it is an unsubstantial pageant, 
 a glorious vision from which you will awake. Believe 
 me it is very delicious idleness to wander about these 
 heights ; but there are other things to be seen besides 
 the views. One of the buildings contains a large 
 hall, rich in ornament and of dazzling brilliancy, with 
 that fairy-palace appearance so often met with in the 
 East. At first I thought it was a mosque, from see- 
 ing many believers at their prayers and prostrations, 
 but I believe it was only that the hour of prayer hap- 
 pened to arrive while I was there ; for when, by the 
 voice of the muezzin or other signal, they are made 
 aware that the time has come, they commence their 
 devotions without regard to place or spectator. 
 
 A bronze gate, backed by a rich curtain on your
 
 THE SIGHTS OP CAIRO. 211 
 
 right as you enter the hall, indicates that there is 
 some inner apartment. A Mussulman presents him- 
 self with a key in his hand, and, after receiving bak- 
 sheesh, opens the gate. You enter and find yourself 
 in a well-lighted and rather gay-looking room, in the 
 centre of which stands the tomb of Mehemet Ali, the 
 first Viceroy. The tomb itself is of marble, very rich, 
 and highly ornamented. It was a rather different- 
 looking place from one of our sepulchral vaults, 
 Bales. 
 
 One of the sights of the Citadel is Joseph's Well. 
 The tourist who has not properly primed himself is 
 apt to prick up his ears at this name, and to fancy 
 that he has struck the trail of the patriarch, who, he 
 knows, got fourteen years with hard labour some- 
 where hereabout for going abroad insufficiently 
 dressed. Was the digging of this well, then, the 
 substitute for the crank and the mill? Is it the 
 living record of how Joseph and his butler and 
 baker fellow-sufferers were made to toil when their 
 feet were hurt in the stocks and the iron entered 
 into their souls \ Or is it a great achievement of 
 Joseph in after-years, when, having passed triumph- 
 antly through the terrors of adversity and the prison, 
 and the still more dreadful outrages to which the 
 unprotected male was in that day subject, he was 
 governor over all the land of Egypt, and wielded its 
 mighty labour power 1 Pooh ! not a bit of it. The 
 Joseph who made the well and gave his name thereto 
 is a very different person from the great interpreter
 
 212 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 of dreams ; and yet he is an old acquaintance, too, as 
 you will own at once if I call him by his other name 
 of Saladin. It was that renowned Moslem who dug 
 the well, and he dug it nearly three hundred feet 
 deep, down to the level of the Nile ; the object 
 being, of course, to secure water-supply for the 
 garrison in case of siege. A winding gallery de- 
 scends round and round the well from the top to 
 the base, having windows at certain levels looking 
 into the well. To get up this spiral incline is rather 
 a stiff pull. 
 
 I could not loiter here as I was tempted to do, my 
 time being short, but had to start off, regardless of 
 dust and heat, to visit the tombs of the pachas. 
 These are in a large building, all raised above the 
 ground, and well lighted. Each tomb is built up 
 in two or three tiers, the large block at the base 
 being, as I understood it, merely a pedestal, the 
 centre and somewhat smaller block containing the 
 body, and the uppermost and smallest block being 
 solid. The tombs are of marble, and richly gilt and 
 painted, the inscriptions being, of course, in Arabic. 
 From the foot of each rises a marble pillar, on the 
 top of which is a device announcing the rank and 
 sex of the personage who sleeps below. A fez indi- 
 cates a pacha. Ladies and princes have their separate 
 signs. Many tombs are covered with baize or holland 
 as a protection from the dust. There are two or three 
 large chambers full of these tombs. 
 
 From the tombs we went into the city to see differ-
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 213 
 
 ent mosques, before entering which they made all of 
 the masculine gender take off our boots. Ladies 
 not, of course, from a feeling of gallantry, but because 
 an unveiled woman moving about at her pleasure 
 bothers them entirely, and is a thing which their 
 laws and regulations do not recognise are allowed 
 to keep their feet covered. The mosques are not 
 very splendid, but some of them appear to be very 
 old. The interiors of most are almost empty. A 
 wooden pulpit stands against the wall, and the floors 
 are handsomely laid. In one we saw through an iron 
 grating some very sacred spot (whether a tomb or not 
 I could not learn), where perpetual prayer is made 
 day and night by a succession of priests, each of 
 whom remains on duty for a set time, and is then 
 relieved by another. In another mosque was the 
 tomb of Ali's sister, a very sacred place, fenced round 
 with bronze railings, which the people approached and 
 kissed devoutly as the toe of the black St Peter is 
 kissed at Rome. 
 
 When I could command an hour or two I liked 
 to spend them in the wonderful old bazaars where 
 nothing seems to become obsolete. The gold bazaar, 
 for instance, is a labyrinth of close dirty alleys 
 and foul puddles where you may very soon lose 
 yourself. In these dark, mean, and intricate pas- 
 sages, where, with extended arms, you may touch 
 both sides at once, and where a donkey can hardly 
 pass, are collected the jewellers and working gold- 
 smiths, who, some workmen and some merely sellers,
 
 214 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 are doubled up in their little boxes as the shopmen 
 are in the fancy bazaar. Here, however, there is no 
 display of dazzling wares to conceal the poverty of 
 the region. You must ask for what you want; and 
 when you do so, a dreadfully dirty Turk unlocks a 
 safe which you have not before seen, and produces 
 ornaments in plenty, or offers to make them to order. 
 Ornaments for the person were what seemed most to 
 abound, and these not of a very elaborate or expensive 
 description. But it was the quaint old place that was 
 so well worth seeing, the gossiping idle population, 
 the crowd, mixed up with donkeys, pushing through 
 the gates and ways, which are exactly of the same 
 class as those which lead to life, and which so few 
 discover. A walk hither makes you quickly under- 
 stand how Haroun, and Mesrour, and Giafar found 
 out, by personal observation, so much of what was 
 going on in Bagdad. They had only to elbow their 
 way through places like this to understand a great 
 deal of everybody's business. I never saw anything 
 that resembled the body of a lady in a sack on its 
 way to the river; but there were Sindbads and 
 Hindbads in plenty, barbers and barbers' brothers, 
 all ready to talk, hunchback tailors, Jewish phy- 
 sicians, and here and there a jovial-looking fellow, 
 with a merry twinkle in his eye, who might be Abon 
 Hassan, the Arabian Christopher Sly. And, in answer 
 to Master Doubloon Bales's criticism, be good enough 
 to inform that ingenuous youth that the ' Thousand 
 and One Nights' belong as much to Egypt as to Arabia
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 215 
 
 or Persia, and are understood to describe Arab life in 
 one as much as in the other. If he can get hold of 
 the edition of 1846, of the Kev. E. Forster's transla- 
 tion, he may there read in the Introduction, that Mr 
 Lane, the writer on Egypt, considered the author or 
 authors to have been Egyptian. It would appear, 
 however, that many of the purely Egyptian stories 
 are lost.* We have Cairo, nevertheless, introduced 
 in the story of Ali Cogia, and the scene of the 
 adventures of the Prince and the King of the Genii 
 is Cairo. He is a sharp lad, that Master Doubloon; 
 but, as Mr Weller said to the young gentleman in the 
 hairy cap, " He'd better not show that fine edge too 
 often, in case anybody was to take it off." There 
 was one race of caliphs here, Fatimites, I believe, 
 who exercised all the authority, spiritual and tem- 
 poral, of the Bagdad and Damascus caliphs, until 
 they degenerated, and the last of them was dethroned 
 by Saladin, who assumed the royal but not the sacer- 
 dotal office, he having no pretence to the latter, as he 
 could not claim to be in any way related to the 
 Prophet. The tombs of these caliphs and their 
 families may be seen to the east of Cairo. They 
 
 * "This traveller (Dr Clarke) obtained a transcript of the 'Arabian 
 Nights,' which was brought to him in four quarto cases, containing one 
 hundred and seventy- two tales, separated into one thousand and one 
 portions for recital during the same number of nights. This valuable 
 acquisition was unfortunately lost, an event which is the more to be 
 regretted because many of the tales related to Syrian and Egyptian 
 customs and traditions, which have not been found in any other copy of 
 the same work." From 'A View of Ancient and Modern Egypt,' by the 
 Rev. M. Russell, LL.D.
 
 216 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 are plain in comparison with those of the pachas, 
 and are erected in small mosques, each mosque con- 
 taining three or four tombs. They date from the 
 tenth to the twelfth century, and neither buildings 
 nor tombs are very carefully preserved. One large 
 hall near the caliphs' tombs is fitted all round with 
 large strong doors, very securely closed, except one 
 pair of folding-doors, which I saw open. They, when 
 shut, concealed a series of shelves reaching almost to 
 the roof, on which, no doubt, had rested the bodies of 
 true believers, but which were empty now, except for 
 some fragments of wood which lay about. Whether 
 the closed cupboards were likewise empty or full I 
 could not discover. The door of this chamber is of 
 massive iron, and presents a most imposing parade of 
 security. The fastening is a short stick run through 
 the staples, which any child may remove at pleasure. 
 The great burying-plaee of the city is here, where the 
 caliphs lie ; and there are tombs of all classes, some 
 highly-ornamented buildings, some plainer sepulchres, 
 and the great mass simple graves, each, however, 
 having its distinguishing mark of the family, or 
 trade, or sex of the tenant. 
 
 On the way back from the necropolis, I passed 
 through the horse-market and the camel-market, both 
 exceedingly unsavoury places. The jades in the for- 
 mer were pitiable creatures, fit only for the kennel. 
 Of the camels I could not judge, but I should not 
 think any that I saw there a very valuable or desir- 
 able animal. Had there been more spare time and
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 217 
 
 less aroma, I would have waited to observe some of 
 the dealing. 
 
 The On of Scripture has been identified by the 
 learned with Heliopolis. Every traveller makes a 
 day's excursion from Cairo to pay this ancient place 
 a visit, and in one sense goes over it, but nevertheless 
 does not see very much not even ruins. What, then, 
 has become of the city that it should so utterly have 
 perished ? Well, a great deal of it, we are informed, 
 is just where it was, and the reason why we cannot 
 see it when we go there is, that it is under our feet. 
 The fate of the cities of the plain volcanoes earth- 
 quakes Vandals are suggested to the European mind 
 when this fact is stated, but a minute's reflection suf- 
 fices to determine that their agency has not operated 
 here. There has been no violent outbreak of nature, 
 no sudden visitation of divine wrath, no barbarian 
 irruption to blot out ancient On. The cause of its 
 disappearance is a phenomenon as regular in its occur- 
 rence as the rising and setting of the sun a power that 
 has wrought steadily since the days of Noah. Egypt 
 truly is, as Herodotus said, the gift of the Nile ; but 
 she is not a sudden munificence, not a capricious en- 
 dowment. Since its first act of bounty in the youth of 
 time the river has never ceased to give ; if it should 
 cease, Egypt would be one desert. We know how 
 year by year the revivifying waters overspread the 
 land, and we ought to reflect that the fertilising slime 
 then deposited is every year an addition to the soil of 
 the Delta a thin layer almost inappreciable as a
 
 218 THE SIGHTS OF CAIKO. 
 
 unit, but very effectual when multiplied by a hundred 
 or a thousand. In the course of centuries, then, the 
 gift of the Nile, overspreading year by year the site 
 of the old city On, has at length buried its buildings 
 and remains. The account given to me stated that 
 Heliopolis stood on undulating ground, and that the 
 present general level is at the height of its greatest 
 eminences. Possibly it may hereafter be thought 
 worth while to disinter these interesting remains, but 
 until that is done the traveller's visit to the place will 
 be to little purpose. The most striking object there 
 is the obelisk, dating probably from the reign of 
 Amenemes of the Xllth dynasty. It stood before the 
 great temple of Athom or the sun, and is all that now 
 remains of that great temple, parts of which have been 
 carried to Rome and to Constantinople. The obelisk 
 is inscribed on three faces with hieroglyphics, to this 
 day perfectly sharp and distinct, and is said to bear 
 the name of Osortasen or Sesortasen. 
 
 Not far from the obelisk is the tree known as 
 Mary's Sycamore. It is large and spreading, and 
 doubtless very old ; but whether so old as the flight 
 of the Holy Family into Egypt, as we were told it is, 
 may be doubted. It has been climbed so often that 
 there are now established tracks up the trunk and 
 along the branches. By this very scale I mounted 
 and examined its parts. I found that I followed in 
 the footsteps of a very literary crowd of predecessors, 
 the interesting facts of whose visits were recorded on 
 the bark. On this occasion England did not appear
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 219 
 
 to have all the glory to herself, as beside the names 
 of the celebrated travellers William Smith and John 
 Jones appeared those of Alphonse Blancbec, Karl 
 Schafkopf, Giovanni Battista Scioccone, and of 
 several other distinguished Europeans. 
 
 It may have appeared to you, Bales, an omission 
 that, writing to a man of such well-known reverence 
 for facts and figures, I have never mentioned the 
 difference of height between low and high Nile. It 
 would have appeared still stranger to you if you had 
 been here with me and witnessed the extreme diffi- 
 culty which I experienced in finding any one who 
 knew or cared about it. The rise of the river is the 
 event of the year on which their very lives depend, 
 and yet to find information so hard of access ! The 
 Egyptians are said to be kept purposely in the dark 
 by their Government, which keeps a meter, and issues 
 notices of the rise so notoriously fabricated for fiscal 
 purposes, that perhaps the mystified natives have 
 given up in despair the attempt to be well informed. 
 This does not account for the indifference on the same 
 subject of Europeans, of whom many that I chanced 
 to fall in with could tell me nothing on the subject, 
 and others told what was incorrect. Of course I 
 made it out at last. It is 25 English feet, more 
 or less, at Cairo ; higher up the stream the rise is 
 from 35 to 48 feet; while at the mouths it is scarcely 
 4 feet. " A nilometer," says Sir Gardner "Wilkinson, 
 " stood at Eileithyias in the age of the Ptolemies ; 
 there was one at Memphis, the site of which is still
 
 220 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 pointed out by tradition ; that of Elephantine remains 
 with its scales and inscriptions recording the rise of 
 the Nile in the reigns of the Roman emperors ; a 
 movable one was preserved in the temple of Serapis 
 at Alexandria till the time of Constantine, and was 
 afterwards transferred to a Christian church ; the 
 Arabs in 700 A.D. erected one at Helwan, which 
 gave place to that made about 715 by the Caliph 
 Suleyman in the Isle of Roda, and this again was 
 succeeded by the 'Mekeeas' of Mamoon, A.D. 815, 
 finished in 860 by Motawukkal-al- Allah, which has 
 continued to be the Government nilometer to the 
 present day." 
 
 I never half drank my fill of the sights and doings 
 of Cairo ; for before we were well aware, or in any 
 way willing to go, came the inevitable day of depar- 
 ture. Somehow hearts don't get very heavy in that 
 atmosphere, but still it was difficult in preparing for 
 our exodus to keep the spirits up to anywhere near 
 concert-pitch. Indeed it was rather a piece of luck 
 for the said spirits that they got moved as they did 
 by the sight of some highly - imaginative accounts 
 which the manager of the hotel had by this time 
 become sufficiently tranquil to compose. The friend 
 with whom I travelled to Cairo, and with whom I 
 purposed to proceed to Alexandria, had an instinc- 
 tive foreknowledge that the merits of these produc- 
 tions could not be fully appreciated at one perusal, 
 especially such a perusal as we might be able to give 
 them at parting. He therefore pressed on the publi-
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 221 
 
 cation of the interesting documents, and by dint of 
 some salutary threatenings as to non-payment, suc- 
 ceeded in bringing them to light. When they did 
 appear, wrath for a time displaced regret, our great 
 minds descended to the details of filthy lucre, and we 
 dissected the whole of these arithmetical delusions. 
 Rising from this great council we rent every one his 
 clothes, and decreed that the man who had done this 
 thing should surely die. Which, translated into the 
 barbarisms of the West, Bales, does not mean that 
 we desired the death of the sinner, but rather that 
 he should turn from his wickedness and lower his 
 demands. To the better attainment of which end 
 we besought my friend and travelling companion to 
 put lance in rest on behalf of us the lambs, and to do 
 battle with the wolf. Eight manfully did he fulfil his 
 devoir : he had some experience of the lupine nature, 
 and like Anna Soror blarneying the pious tineas,* or 
 Mrs Todgers decimating the veal cutlets, he selected 
 for his attack the tenderest places in the manager's 
 system, who, nothing daunted, threw before his body 
 his warlike shield of brass. Our champion did val- 
 iantly, pressing the foe till he had to abandon his 
 items one by one, and making havoc with his sixes 
 and sevens : 
 
 " In single opposition, hand to hand, 
 He did confound the best part of an hour 
 In changing hardiment ; " 
 
 by the end of which time the wolf surrendered at 
 
 * " Sola viri mollis aditus et tempera noras." -JEneid, IV.
 
 222 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 discretion. Every one of us benefited largely by 
 the result of this encounter. I got relieved, I re- 
 member, of an appreciable percentage ; and an Italian 
 gentleman, whom the wolf had marked for a peculiar 
 prey, profited to the extent of one-third of a heavy 
 bill. So this little episode and the thought that we 
 had got the settling done overnight was some comfort. 
 Getting to the railway was not an easier or pleas- 
 anter operation than getting from it had been. We 
 had, however, daylight for the former ; and if I were 
 t& describe to you the babel at the booking-office, I 
 should only repeat the descriptions of Egyptian 
 babels with which I have formerly seasoned my 
 epistles, save in this respect, that the last babel was 
 under cover, and in a confined space a thrice-con- 
 founded confusion, the science of obstructiveness 
 brought to perfection, the most involved disorder, 
 and the most distracting uproar of which human 
 nature is capable. It was a serious look-out this 
 time, too, for there was no unlimited delay ; the 
 train was intended to start punctually that is to 
 say, within three quarters of an hour or an hour of 
 the time prescribed wherefore we had need of 
 circumspection, and, after using our utmost efforts, 
 narrowly escaped being left behind. Our seats were 
 at last obtained, but the means by which we 
 got them would not have stood a severe scrutiny. 
 I am afraid that bribery and corruption, and intimi- 
 dation amounting to personal chastisement, might 
 have been so plausibly imputed, that nothing but
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 223 
 
 an independent and enlightened jury offered the 
 least chance of establishing our innocence and that 
 palladium is not to be found here. Baksheesh and 
 cowhide are very coarse machinery. I grant you, 
 Bales, that we do things more politely in the West, 
 carefully withholding the mirror from nature, and 
 never shocking vice with the sight of her own image. 
 The journey to Alexandria occupied, as well as I 
 remember, five hoars. We reached the city by day- 
 light, found letters, and found also our steamer and 
 our friend the courteous skipper. There was enough 
 of the day left to view rapidly Cleopatra's Needle, 
 Pompey's Pillar, and the Catacombs ; also to find out 
 what manner of place Alexandria is. It surprised me 
 agreeably. I had heard an unfavourable report of it, 
 and did not quite see what its great offences are. It 
 is well laid out, and has some good streets and squares. 
 I did not try a hotel, but several that I saw looked 
 large respectable establishments : there were also 
 some good shops. The roads certainly are not well 
 kept, as we were painfully certified when we drove 
 a little way into the country. For all that, the drive 
 was pleasant, as the groves and gardens looked fresh, 
 and the parching influence of the desert was not so 
 hard to keep at bay. I find they have rain here 
 occasionally, the law of drought not extending to the 
 sea-coast. Indeed I knew by many symptoms that I 
 was being gradually disenchanted, that the hues and 
 softness of fairyland were fading, and the hard 
 rugged outlines of the work-a-day world becoming
 
 224 THE SIGHTS OP CAIRO. 
 
 more and more apparent. I lay down that night in 
 my cabin full of regrets, it* is true, but with those 
 regrets blunted and corrected by the thought of how 
 much I had been refreshed in mind and body, and by 
 the retrospect of all that I had been seeing and doing. 
 The ceaseless activity of Egyptian life almost forbade 
 reflection, which came now as a new if a more sober 
 pleasure. How delightful it is to let the boiling 
 chaos of ideas wherewith you are charged settle 
 down, and separate and take lifelike shape, and 
 remould itself in pictures for the memory ! But the 
 digestive process is a sleepy one : instead of the 
 feverish expectation which had visited me my first 
 night in Egypt, came, on this my last, the soothing 
 draught of fruition. Amid spectres of turbans, ships, 
 camels, sheiks, banners, sphinxes, railway officers, don- 
 keys, porters, veiled figures, tombs, and palm-trees, I 
 went quietly and soundly to sleep, my last confused 
 vision being of the lively capitano, who, with his 
 countenance expanded to colossal dimensions, was 
 pulling away at a huge cigar, shaped like a pyramid, 
 but not smoking very successfully, and his lungs 
 appeared to be failing, when suddenly the hadji, 
 armed with a railway lever, having at its end a ball 
 as big as the moon, inserted the same into the back 
 of his head, which thereupon became an air-pump, 
 and was exercised by the hadji until the whole 
 delicate weed was ablaze. I forgot to tell you that 
 we left the capitano in Egypt. I wonder if I shall 
 ever see him again !
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 225 
 
 With morning and breakfast came the knowledge 
 that we were likely to have a limping voyage back to 
 Italy ; for the bumping and lurching which I men- 
 tioned to you as having occurred a little before we 
 reached Suez, had been attended with the fracture of 
 two blades of our screw. It was now supposed that 
 some heavy piece of iron part of a dredging-machine 
 perhaps had been left sticking in the bed of the 
 Canal, and that our evil fortune had sent the screw 
 against it. The steamer had, of course, gone back by 
 the Canal, and from Port Said to Alexandria, where 
 we found her waiting. It was not very cheering to 
 see three or four ships drop into port all after time, 
 and considerably tumbled, and giving sad accounts 
 of the weather outside. We had to face whatever 
 might betide ; yet, truly, as we brought our anchor 
 up, things looked as smooth and sunny as they had 
 been lately looking. But the inevitable hour had 
 struck. We had loosed from Alexandria, and were 
 gently floating down the harbour amid the freight- 
 ships and the ships of war of all nations, the shore 
 looking unreal and purple as before, and the city and 
 the shipping flashing back the rays of the sun. We 
 disengaged from the anchorage, and, with more way 
 on, still stretched out our hands to the receding coast, 
 rich with legend and relic, and with the ineffable 
 gramarye of old, old Time. We saw the hills break 
 into headlands, and the heavy batteries armed with 
 cannon cast on English ground frowning down upon 
 us as we neared the sea. And then the distance
 
 226 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 
 
 began to lend literally enchantment to the view. 
 The mists gathered, but they were the haze of com- 
 mingling rainbows, not murky vapours nor sullen 
 shrouds. The lights from minaret and lattice and 
 gilded vane still reached us through the tinted ether ; 
 and the outlines of palaces and streets and hills, glori- 
 fied by distance, but distinct and warm and fair, 
 watched over our departure and dissolved unwillingly 
 as we were borne away. All merged at last in one 
 soft variegated cloud. I knew not when I last dis- 
 tinguished an object, or when the scene became but 
 one commixture of mellowed hues ; neither could I 
 say when the last fleck of colour waned and a grey 
 sky spake of tempest and of travail. 
 
 Thus in soft light, like to the hue of youth, dis- 
 appeared the witching pageant; thus passed Egypt 
 from the sight of eyes that shall behold her face 
 again no more. I am glad that I have looked on her, 
 that I have made though but a few hasty strides on 
 her soil, that I have exchanged fancies for realities, 
 and that I have memories in place of dreams. And 
 as the wind raised its first whistle through the cor- 
 dage, and the first billow became crested with foam, 
 I said farewell to her who had afforded me a few 
 gilded days, and felt a desolation as I turned from 
 her. 
 
 Ancient of Days, Enchantress, long - descended 
 Queen, Farewell ! 
 
 And now, Bales, it is a snorer ; the white horses 
 are tumbling about, and the good ship, as she cleaves
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CAIRO. 227 
 
 a billow, quakes as if in a convulsion. If anything 
 can be sure, it is certain that she will exercise us this 
 night. But and if she take us once more out of the 
 boiling surge and within reach of land, then by these 
 presents you will learn, my dear Bales, the safe return 
 to Europe of 
 
 Yours, through good and ill, 
 
 SCAMPER.
 
 228 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 ABOUT WHAT THE OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 
 August 1870. 
 
 PERHAPS it is true that, ever since man first found 
 himself at large upon the earth, and commissioned to 
 replenish and subdue it, he has been improving in 
 wisdom and accomplishments. Interruptions more 
 or less partial we know that there have been, when 
 the world seemed to be going back ; but these may 
 have been only the reflux of the waves in a tide 
 which, notwithstanding undulations, was clearly gain- 
 ing ground, and majestically overspreading the strands 
 of simplicity and ignorance. Thus the history of the 
 world, like the history of a nation, is a record of the 
 advance of man from the first dawn of knowledge, by 
 a rather unsteady progression, to modern philosophy 
 and arts and sciences ; and an examination of any 
 considerable period of time is sure to show us man- 
 kind more instructed and more capable at the end of 
 it than at the beginning. 
 
 The above was a universal creed fifty or sixty
 
 ABOUT WHAT THE OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 229 
 
 years since, and it is apprehended that, even to-day, 
 any other belief may be counted heretical. But what 
 are we to think when the antiquary, grubbing in the 
 dust and silt of five thousand years ago to discover 
 some traces of infant effort some rude specimens of 
 the ages of Magog and Mizraim, in which we may 
 admire the germ that has since developed into a 
 wonderful art breaks his shins against an article so 
 perfect that it equals, if it does not excel, the supreme 
 stretch of modern ability ? How shall we support 
 the theory if it come to our knowledge that before 
 Noah was cold in his grave his descendants were 
 adepts in construction and in the fine arts, and that 
 their achievements were for magnitude such as, if 
 we possess the requisite skill, we never attempt to 
 emulate 1 ? It is not intended to answer these ques- 
 tions here ; they are proposed only because modern 
 inquiry is bringing to light so many methods of 
 measuring the achievements of the men of old, and so 
 many facts belonging to their days, that bold com- 
 parisons have been made already, and schools will 
 certainly take sides as to the continuity or the rise 
 and fall of intellectual advancement. The object of 
 this paper is rather to recapitulate some of the things 
 which one very old nation knew in early days ; and 
 this is attempted not because there is lack of accurate 
 and most interesting information within reach of the 
 general reader, but because the information is embed- 
 ded in thick volumes, so teeming every one with new 
 facts, new speculations, and new connections, that
 
 230 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 the results which they exhibit cannot be reached but 
 with labour and research ; for the learned expositors 
 are in this respect but pioneers advancing cautiously 
 with tablets in their hands but swords dangling at 
 their wrists, pausing at every stage to survey their 
 position, and to do or obviate battle for the ground 
 gained. Thus their works are necessarily diffuse; 
 and thus it is that the student, rather than he who 
 drinks of knowledge by the wayside, appropriates the 
 lore which they present. 
 
 Egyptology, though, like geology, a strictly modern 
 science, yet busies itself with things anterior to all 
 history ; and as the authority for all geological 
 doctrine must be the book of nature, so sound Egyp- 
 tology must rest on that marvellous book, the works 
 which the remote Egyptians have left for our perusal. 
 But there is this difference between the two sciences ; 
 namely, that whereas there is not reason to think that 
 any one before the end of last century ever recorded 
 a fact with a view to unfold the early growth of the 
 earth, we know now (and we have not known it long) 
 that there were men in the dark, dubious, but no 
 longer unfathomable past, who took effectual means 
 for preserving some points and outlines, if no more, 
 of early Egyptian chronicles. Yes; they wrought 
 enduring hieroglyphics, which for ages since the 
 Christian era were to the reader foolishness which 
 were at length, by the power of strong indefatigable 
 minds, made to yield up some portion of their hid 
 treasures, and the full import of which may yet be
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 231 
 
 unravelled, abounding more and more to perfect 
 knowledge ; for the inscriptions are innumerable, 
 and the art of deciphering them is steadily advanc- 
 ing. But while profound investigators are with much 
 travail slowly accumulating their facts and establish- 
 ing their theorems, lo, Egypt herself suddenly starts 
 into activity, and once more challenges the attention 
 of the world ! No longer a worm-eaten, musty theme, 
 relegated to Dryasdusts and profound thinkers, she 
 interests now the active, the enterprising, the politic, 
 the mighty of the age. The days are fast coming 
 when to know nothing accurately of her past will 
 argue an indifference to her future, and when indiffer- 
 ence to her future will be a reproach. Every one of 
 us who knows anything at all has a pretty correct 
 implicit knowledge of Egypt can talk of the Phar- 
 aohs and Sesostris, of the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the 
 obelisks and knows that " ancient," " marvellous," 
 " colossal," " wise," are epithets applicable to her mon- 
 uments and her people; but when it comes to meas- 
 uring or defining the antiquity, knowledge, power, 
 achievements, &c., there is not such prompt utterance. 
 It is good for us, then, to talk over the things which 
 have been established regarding ancient Egypt, and 
 to evolve clear ideas of her characteristics, avoiding 
 discussions and controversies which Time, the un- 
 raveller, will probably determine for us, and keeping 
 as clear as we may of extreme views and wild spec- 
 ulations. 
 
 As we have not yet discovered any trace of the
 
 232 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 rude savage Egypt, but have seen her in her very 
 earliest manifestations already skilful, erudite, and 
 strong, it is impossible to determine the order of her 
 inventions. Light may yet be thrown upon her rise 
 and progress, but our deepest researches have hitherto 
 shown her to us as only the mother of a most accom- 
 plished race. How they came by their knowledge is 
 matter for speculation that they possessed it is 
 matter of fact. We never find them without the 
 ability to organise labour, or shrinking from the very 
 boldest efforts in digging canals and irrigating, in 
 quarrying rock, in building and in sculpture ; and as 
 it was through these arts that attention was, during 
 long, dark, sleepy ages, kept drowsily fixed upon 
 Egypt, until at last the world woke up to some 
 appreciation of her, there is reason for considering 
 them first. 
 
 In the first historical reign the reign of Menes 
 there was a little dabbling in water-works, but merely 
 this, that the whole stream of the Nile, or of one of 
 its main branches, was diverted from its course to 
 favour the planting of the city of Memphis. The 
 engineer who undertook the job and tradition credits 
 the monarch himself with the execution must have 
 possessed the soul of Mrs Partington, with something 
 more than that lady's scientific acquirements. Menes 
 took accurately the measure of the power which he 
 resolved to oppose, and constructed a dyke " whose 
 lofty mounds and strong embankments," says Wilkin- 
 son, " turned the water to the eastward, and effectually
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 233 
 
 confined the river to its new bed.''"'' The dyke was 
 doubtless shown to Abraham, in whose day the diver- 
 sion of the river was as old a story as the account of 
 Joan of Arc or Jack Cade is to us. This is taking 
 the very mildest calculation of the antiquity of Menes. 
 And in the reign of Moaris, farther on, was formed an 
 artificial lake, measuring, according to Herodotus, 
 four hundred and fifty miles in circumference, and 
 three hundred feet in depth. This huge lake was fed 
 by the Nile through artificial channels ; it received 
 and stored a portion of the annual overflow, and when 
 that subsided, regurgitated upon the river by all the 
 channels, prolonging the times of refreshing, and 
 extending the fertilising influence to land that, with- 
 out the aid of art, would be absolutely barren, and no 
 doubt was barren before the days of Mreris. Herod- 
 otus, and those who exactly followed him, were 
 wrong, it is now thought, in supposing that this 
 immense lake was wholly a work of art. There 
 was probably a natural basin to suggest the scheme, 
 but this was greatly increased ; and all the feeding 
 streams, the arteries and veins of the system, were 
 undoubtedly artificial. These last had their flood- 
 gates, dams, and locks, and were managed with the 
 greatest skill. The retention of the waters seems to 
 be all that is wanted to make the wilderness blossom ; 
 and yet for centuries and centuries younger Egyp- 
 tians, although they had been shown the way, were 
 
 * Sir J. G. Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient 
 Egyptians.
 
 234 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 unequal to the pursuit of such mighty designs, and in 
 that most essential science were as dead men by com- 
 parison with the subjects of Menes and Mceris. In 
 citing these two great works as instances, it is in- 
 tended to show how generally the power of control- 
 ling streams and floods was possessed of old in the 
 Delta and in Middle Egypt, and how thoroughly the 
 value of it was understood by those primitive men. 
 If he who has made one stalk of corn to grow where 
 nothing grew before, is a benefactor of his kind, 
 where, in the catalogue of philanthropists, shall we 
 place old Moeris, to whom, under Providence, it was 
 owing that once dry Egypt had corn enough and to 
 spare when Syria and Arabia fainted from lack of 
 sustenance \ There can be little doubt that modern 
 Egypt, now that her soul is returning to her, will 
 ere long address herself to the reclamation of her soil. 
 At first it is perhaps a necessity that she labours to 
 attract the wealth of the stranger ; but, her treasury 
 once replenished, she will surely search for and find 
 the riches that may be drawn from her own bosom. 
 
 The mass of masonry in the Great Pyramid, accord- 
 ing to Bunsen, measures 82,111,000 feet, and would 
 weigh 6,316,000 tons. The dimensions of the separ- 
 ate stones are not very great, but the quantity raised 
 shows with what readiness these old workmen did 
 their quarrying. And they not only got this stone 
 out, but tooled and laid it with some skill. Mr 
 Kenrick, speaking of the casing of the Great Pyra- 
 mid, says : " The joints are scarcely perceptible, and
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 235 
 
 not wider than the thickness of silver-paper ; and the 
 cement so tenacious, that fragments of the casing- 
 stones still remain in their original position, notwith- 
 standing the lapse of so many centuries, and the 
 violence by which they were detached. All the fine 
 work of the interior passages, where granite is not 
 expressly mentioned, is of the same stone, 4 ' and 
 finished with the same beautiful exactness." But the 
 skill in quarrying was displayed more in the extract- 
 ing of the huge blocks out of which obelisks and 
 colossal statues were hewn. Obelisks ninety and 
 statues forty feet high, each fashioned out of one 
 stone, were not uncommon things ; and the blocks 
 selected for these monuments were not chance 
 splinters from barbarous efforts of splitting and 
 smashing, but clean slices separated secundum artem 
 from the native rock, after being selected and accu- 
 rately defined. And how was this done by driving 
 in huge iron wedges ? No, indeed ; that would pro- 
 bably have split the stone. By infinite labour, then, 
 in chiselling and sawing 1 Pooh ! the old Egyptians 
 knew a trick somewhat cleverer than that : they cut 
 a small groove along the whole length of, say, 100 
 feet, and in this inserted a number of dry wooden 
 wedges ; then they poured water into the groove, 
 and the wedges, expanding simultaneously and 
 with great force, broke away the huge fragment as 
 neatly as a strip of glass is taken off by a diamond. 
 They had a way, too, of moving about these vast 
 
 * To wit, the limestone of the Mokattam quarries.
 
 236 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 monoliths which we, with all appliances and means to 
 boot, would find it hard to imitate. 
 
 Now such work would have been very astonishing 
 even if it had ended in Cyclopean savagery like Stone- 
 henge ; but we know very well that it ended in no- 
 thing of the kind. The separation from the native 
 rock was but the beginning of artistic treatment. 
 Every fragment, great or small, had its billet, and was 
 taken off to undergo a series of transformations ; the 
 least that could happen to any one being to be plain 
 wrought, and then set with consummate skill in a build- 
 ing. And now that we come to buildings, it is not 
 desirable to spend time in speaking of the Pyramids 
 of Ghizeh, which, perhaps, are better understood 
 generally than any work of art in Egypt. It is pro- 
 posed, therefore, to pass on to some of the structures 
 which have been less spoken of, and the history of 
 which is still confined, or nearly so, to learned pages. 
 And, writing twenty years ago, it would have been 
 wise to say little or nothing of the Labyrinth, not- 
 withstanding that Herodotus considered it to be a 
 wonder not second to even the Pyramids. For such 
 have been the destructions and inhumations of this 
 splendid work, that nobody believed in the proba- 
 bility of recovering even its site, and not a few were 
 inclined to look upon the whole account as an inven- 
 tion. The French, however, at the end of last cen- 
 tury, affirmed that they had found the ruins ; and 
 forty years later antiquaries began to test and verify 
 the French work. Gradually it came to be acknow-
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 237 
 
 ledged that the foundations, at least, of the Labyrinth 
 might yet be traced, and the labours of the Prussian 
 Commission effected a complete recognition of the 
 remains of this vast building. But there is still much 
 dispute about the purpose and the form of it; and 
 what has been realised is as yet valuable, more, per- 
 haps, because it tends to confirm the account of Herod- 
 otus than for any other result. It is certain that the 
 old Greek was not romancing when he wrote of it ; 
 and although criticism still amuses itself with find- 
 ing flaws in his description, so much of that descrip- 
 tion is certified by an examination of the ruins that 
 it is only fair to credit him with accuracy throughout, 
 and to accept his details, which we cannot disprove. He 
 tells us that it had 3000 chambers, half of them above 
 the ground and half below, and he goes on to say : 
 " The upper chambers I myself passed through and saw, 
 and what I say concerning them is from my own ob- 
 servation. Of the underground chambers I can only 
 speak from report ; for the keepers of the building 
 could not be got to show them, since they contained 
 (as they said) the sepulchres of the kings who built 
 the Labyrinth, and also those of the sacred crocodiles. 
 Thus it is from hearsay only that I can speak of the 
 lower chambers. The upper chambers, however, I 
 saw with my own eyes, and found them to excel all 
 other human productions ; for the passages through 
 the houses, and the varied windings of the path across 
 the courts, excited in me infinite admiration as I passed 
 from the courts into chambers, and from the chambers
 
 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 into colonnades, and from the colonnades into fresh 
 houses, and again from these into courts unseen before. 
 The roof was throughout of stone, like the walls ; and 
 the walls were carved all over with figures. Every court 
 was surrounded with a colonnade, which was built of 
 white stones, exquisitely fitted together. At the 
 corner of the Labyrinth stands a pyramid forty 
 fathoms high, with large figures engraved on it, 
 which is entered by a subterranean passage." * This 
 is perhaps enough to say here concerning a structure 
 of which there is so little now to be seen ; but there 
 is another marvellous palace or temple, or both, at 
 Karnac a part of what was once Thebes the gran- 
 deur of which a visitor may see for himself. The 
 ground covered by this mass of buildings is nearly 
 square, and the side measures about 1800 English 
 feet. Travellers one and all appear to have been 
 unable to find words to express the feelings with 
 which these sublime remains inspired them. They 
 have been astounded and overcome by the magnifi- 
 cence and the prodigality of workmanship here to be 
 admired. Courts, halls, gateways, pillars, obelisks, 
 monolithic figures, sculptures, rows of sphinxes, are 
 massed in such profusion that the sight is too much for 
 modern comprehension. Champollion, the great French 
 Egyptologist, said of it; "Aucun peuple ancien ni 
 moderne n'a conu 1'art d'architecture sur une echelle 
 aussi sublime, aussi grandiose, que le firent les vieux 
 Egyptiens ; et 1'imagination qu'en Europe s'elance 
 
 * Eawlinson's translation.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 239 
 
 bien au-dessus de nos portiques, s'arrete et tombe 
 impuissante au pied des 140 colonnes de la salle hy- 
 postyle de Karnak."'" In one of its halls, we are told, 
 the cathedral of Notre-Dame at Paris might stand 
 and not touch the walls. Denon, another Frenchman, 
 says : " It is hardly possible to believe, after having 
 seen it, in the reality of the existence of so many 
 buildings collected on a single point, in their dimen- 
 sions, in the resolute perseverance which their con- 
 struction required, and in the incalculable expenses 
 of so much magnificence." And again : " It is neces- 
 sary that the reader should fancy what is before him 
 to be a dream, as he who views the objects themselves 
 occasionally yields to the doubt whether he be per- 
 fectly awake." There were lakes and mountains 
 within the periphery of the sanctuary. 
 
 These two edifices have been selected as examples 
 from a list which is next to inexhaustible. The 
 whole valley and Delta of the Nile, from the Cata- 
 racts to the sea, were covered with temples, palaces, 
 tombs, pyramids, and pillars. 
 
 The magnitude of some of the sculptures has been 
 already spoken of, but they were worthy of the high- 
 est praise for their execution also. Critics are not 
 agreed as to the spirit of their chiselling; but as to the 
 mechanical perfection to which the artists wrought in 
 granite, serpentine, breccia, and basalt, there is not, 
 cannot be, disagreements. Animals, plants, chariots, 
 and almost all natural and artificial objects, were 
 
 * Here quoted from a note to Kenrick's Ancient Egypt.
 
 240 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 freely sculptured ; and battles by sea and land, as 
 well as an infinite variety of peaceful scenes, are found 
 on the bas - reliefs. Those who could perceive a 
 soul in these productions were unmeasured in their 
 approval. Dr Richardson, speaking of the temple of 
 Dendera, says : " The female figures are so extremely 
 well executed that they do all but speak, and have a 
 mildness of feature and expression that never was 
 surpassed." It need not be added that there was 
 hardly a wrought stone in Egypt that was not sculp- 
 tured with hieroglyphics. Most of these the older 
 ones especially were accurately and beautifully 
 chiselled. It is stated of the obelisks of Luxor that 
 the Arabs climb them by sticking their feet into the 
 excavated hieroglyphics, which are two inches or 
 more in depth, and cut with the highest degree of 
 perfection. 
 
 The works that have been cited were all executed 
 before the exodus of Israel, some of them before the 
 visit of Abraham ; and the Egyptians were capable of 
 executing them at the remotest epoch at which we 
 can show that there were Egyptians. Sir Gardner 
 Wilkinson says that their first introduction to us is 
 as a people already possessing the same settled habits 
 as in later times. He can trace no primitive mode of 
 life, no barbarous custom, not even the habit, so slowly 
 abandoned by all people, of wearing arms when not 
 on military service, nor any archaic art. Can it, then, 
 be otherwise than an interesting study to trace down- 
 wards the achievements in mechanism, science, and
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 241 
 
 art of the different accomplished nations of the earth 
 since the days of Moses, and to ascertain by what 
 steps, and to what extent, they have outdone the 
 subjects of the early Pharaohs ? 
 
 But the works above alluded to are only those 
 which, from their magnitude, compel attention. There 
 are others equally astonishing which research has 
 brought to light. First among these (as being an 
 indispensable preparation for free and rapid writing) 
 we may consider the art of papermaking. This the 
 Egyptians practised we will not say discovered, for 
 we know nothing about the invention as early as 
 they practised anything that we know of. They 
 took out the pith of the papyrus, dissected it with a 
 pointed instrument, and then flattened it into strips, 
 which they glued together. These they strengthened 
 by cross strips, also glued together, and the surface so 
 prepared was fit to receive writing. Such surfaces did 
 receive writing, and some of those written on in the 
 days of the early Pharaohs are yet in existence. How- 
 beit, our knowledge of these precious records is entirely 
 new. Till lately, it was believed that the use of the 
 papyrus for writing was introduced about the time of 
 Alexander the Great ; then Lepsius found the hiero- 
 glyphic sign of the papyrus-roll on monuments of the 
 twelfth dynasty; afterwards he found the same sign 
 on monuments of the fourth dynasty, which is getting 
 back pretty close to Menes the protomonarch ; and, 
 indeed, little doubt is entertained that the art of writ- 
 ing on papyrus was understood as early as the days of 
 
 Q
 
 242 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 Menes himself. The fruits of investigation in this, as 
 in many other subjects, are truly most marvellous. 
 Instead of exhibiting the rise and progress of any 
 branches of knowledge, they tend to prove that no- 
 thing had any rise or progress, but that everything 
 is referable to the very earliest dates. The experi- 
 ence of the Egyptologist must teach him to reverse 
 the observation of Topsy, and to " 'spect that nothing 
 growed," but that as soon as men were planted on the 
 banks of the Nile, they were already the cleverest men 
 that ever lived, endowed with more knowledge and 
 more power than their successors for centuries and 
 centuries could attain to. Their system of writing, 
 also, is found to have been complete from the very 
 first. They not only wrote, but they had a passion 
 for writing, as the learned of these latter days have, 
 to their great delight, found out. Every surface that 
 would receive hieroglyphics was covered with inscrip- 
 tions. Kocks, stones, walls, furniture, implements, 
 coffins, tombs, as well as the papyri, were all left 
 in a condition to tell their wondrous tales ; and, 
 mirabile dictu ! we did not know till about fifty 
 years ago that they had any tale to tell ! Yes : for 
 about fifty years only we have known that they had 
 an accessible meaning; and they have been there, 
 some of them, for fifty centuries, challenging the 
 regard of races, which nevertheless grew more and 
 more darkened, until at last the vision was sealed 
 up, the oracles were dumb, and in the very midst of 
 copious flashing light men walked in a vain shadow.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 243 
 
 By surpassing patience and penetration the key to the 
 enigmas was at last rediscovered ; then the pursuit of 
 hieroglyphic literature was entered upon with ardour, 
 and with such success that now year by year the mists 
 are clearing away, and such tableaux are unfolding 
 themselves of life under the Pharaohs as it can- 
 not have entered into the mind of any modern to 
 conceive. 
 
 The well-known exploits of Sesostris go to prove 
 that he and his people were well versed in the science 
 and practice of war. Their armies marched from 
 home, subdued Asia, Asia Minor, and part of Europe, 
 and then returned. They maintained great wars, too, 
 in their own land, sometimes Egyptian being arrayed 
 against Egyptian, and sometimes against troublesome 
 neighbours. If we may entirely believe the inscriptions 
 and pictures, they were a very formidable people in- 
 deed, terribly rough customers to meet in anger. But 
 there is much reason to suppose that the language of 
 the inscriptions is unwarrantably tall, and that the 
 tableaux exhibit a decidedly partial view of opera- 
 tions. And this exaggeration has so damaged their 
 reputation that some writers doubt whether the great 
 Sesostris's expeditions be not fables, and whether the 
 exploits of the professing conqueror were not confined 
 to the neighbourhood of the Nile. That this people 
 constructed war - chariots there can be no doubt. 
 Homer says that through each of the hundred gates 
 of Thebes issued two hundred men with horses and 
 chariots ; and we know that there were six hundred
 
 244 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 chariots with the army that pursued after Israel. 
 These war-chariots appear to have been of a magni- 
 ficent construction, though they were very light 
 the smooth level roads of Egypt not demanding 
 clumsy strength. Mr Kenrick says in general terms : 
 " In short, as all the essential principles which regu- 
 late the construction and draught of carriages are exem- 
 plified in the war-chariots of the Pharaohs, so there is 
 nothing which modern taste and luxury have devised 
 for their decoration to which we do not find a proto- 
 type in the monuments of the eighteenth dynasty." 
 It is presumed that springs * are included in this 
 ascription of refinements. The warriors in chariots 
 were, as far as is known, the only cavalry ; and 
 students have as yet come upon no record of the 
 strategical principles observed in war. The battle- 
 pieces in the bas-reliefs and pictures exhibit only the 
 melees in which acts of individual prowess are being 
 performed by the king. The heavy-armed men fought 
 in coats of mail ; but the infantry in general had quilted 
 tunics, and helmets without metallic coverings. The 
 bow was a favourite weapon, but the soldiers wore 
 double-edged swords and daggers, and carried shields 
 more or less cumbrous according to the class of troops. 
 They used also javelins, spears, and pikes. The light 
 
 * Mr Kenrick should, it is thought, have made an exception in regard to 
 springs, as we understand that appliance. Some means certainly were used 
 for mitigating the jolting of the chariot ; but the elaborate description of 
 chariots by Sir G. Wilkinson, which has been examined since the observa- 
 tion in the text was written, gives no countenance to the supposition that 
 the vehicles were set on metallic springs.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 245 
 
 troops had darts and slings. The charioteers wielded 
 maces and battle-axes. Siege operations were some- 
 times executed : the assailants advanced by a passage 
 covered with boards, and pushed huge spears, worked 
 each by a squad of men from the approaches, against 
 the defenders on the walls. The covered passages had 
 trap-doors in the roofs to enable the besiegers to re- 
 connoitre, or possibly to muster on the top and shoot 
 from a vantage-point. Scaling-ladders and all the 
 arts of escalade were perfectly understood. The bat- 
 tering-ram was a common expedient ; and the Egyp- 
 tians, being such adepts in quarrying, were not slow 
 to attach the miner to an obstructive wall, and bring 
 it scientifically down. There is only one representa- 
 tion of a naval combat, where the fight is by soldiers 
 on board ship ; in this each mast-head has a basket 
 with an archer in it run up. 
 
 According to the present state of Egyptian science, 
 the great flourishes about victories were not borne 
 out by corresponding attention to, or knowledge o 
 the art of war ; but it is much safer to mention what 
 the Pharaohs and their people did, than what they 
 did not, for research is so fruitful that the discovery of 
 to-morrow may contradict the negative of to-day. If 
 we were to find that they had been using Armstrong 
 guns, the circumstance would not be more astonishing 
 than many that have already come to light. 
 
 The proficiency of the Egyptians in mathematical 
 science has not yet been defined. In proof of their 
 having; been foremost in this as in most, we have the 
 
 O '
 
 246 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 testimony of the Greek authors, and the fact that the 
 ancient mathematicians whom we revere as the fathers 
 of geometry went to Egypt to be instructed therein. 
 May it not indeed be now admitted that the regions 
 which we have been fond of designating as the cradles 
 of the arts and sciences were second-hand cradles \ 
 Our former belief and doctrine were that " the arts 
 of War and Peace " had risen in the Isles of Greece, 
 as Byron sang. Some rudimentary knowledge was 
 ascribed to Egypt ; but Greece was credited with the 
 first cultivation of art and science from their very 
 elements. Yet before Greece was, the arts were ripe 
 and old. Though the nations at large were in dark- 
 ness, though Greece was at its hornbook, there sat on 
 the other side of the Levant sea a power already at 
 her meridian in wisdom pre-eminent, in works a 
 giant ! 
 
 Land-surveying, an art resting on geometry, the 
 Egyptians undoubtedly understood, since Joshua took 
 away with him sufficient skill to divide the Holy 
 Laud after he had conquered it. It is on record that 
 they made maps. They were also most observant 
 astronomers, watching the periods of planets and con- 
 stellations, and calculating eclipses. The rotundity 
 of the earth, the sun's central place in our system, 
 the obliquity of the ecliptic, the starry composition 
 of the Milky Way, and the borrowed light of the 
 moon, are thought by Wilkinson * to have been no 
 secrets to them. In dividing time they were very 
 
 * See Appendix II. chap, vii of Rawlinson's Herodotus.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 247 
 
 accurate. The true length of the year appears to 
 have been known by them at a very early period, and 
 Mr Kenrick thinks that the precession of the equi- 
 noxes was also a fact understood by them. Records 
 were made every day of the rising and setting of 
 stars, and particular influences were believed to pro- 
 ceed from these positions and conjunctions of the 
 heavenly bodies : moreover, the priests claimed the 
 power of prophecy through astral motions. The true 
 meridian had been correctly ascertained before the 
 first pyramid was built, and there were clocks and 
 dials for measuring time. The cubit was the estab- 
 lished unit of linear measure being 1.707 feet of 
 English measure ; but the unit of weight is not 
 known, although, of course, they had weights. Arith- 
 metical notation and calculation they managed less 
 cleverly than the Arabians,""" and (what is certainly 
 astonishing among so many refinements) their money 
 was in gold and silver rings estimated by weight. 
 They had both the decimal and duodecimal modes of 
 calculation from the earliest times, but there is no 
 appearance of algebra ; and notwithstanding the im- 
 mense mechanical power which they could bring into 
 operation, it cannot be ascertained that they under- 
 stood the philosophy of what are called the mechanical 
 powers. 
 
 What has been written concerning irrigation is 
 
 * There have been writers who asserted that the Arabians learned their 
 notation from the Egyptians; but this belief is getting old-fashioned. 
 Twenty years make a striking difference in Egyptology.
 
 248 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 sufficient to show how interested the Egyptians were 
 about agriculture. Corn and Egypt are so associated 
 in the minds of most of us, that the connection is 
 proverbial. Nature did astonishingly for Egypt, giv- 
 ing her a fruitful soil and the swelling Nile ; and 
 yet her gift would have been useless if she had not 
 raised there a highly intelligent, enterprising people. 
 The Nile, left to its natural channels and its natural 
 ebb and flow, would fertilise but a fraction of what 
 had become corn-bearing Egypt in patriarchal times. 
 The elements of plenty are always there, but they 
 want the regulating hand of man to fructify them. 
 The means of making the land bear were very differ- 
 ent from those which are approved in Europe ; hoeing 
 almost sufficed for turning the soil, instead of plough- 
 ing : once the river had risen, nature had done her 
 part toward production ; and art and skill were 
 applied to the retention and dispersion of the waters. 
 No manuring, no management of the soil, was neces- 
 sary ; husbandry was almost entirely proved in regu- 
 lating irrigation, and it was practised with surpassing 
 effect. 
 
 After corn, flax seems to have been the chief crop ; 
 and with this the Egyptians wrought not by halves 
 nor rudely, but, according to their wont, in the high- 
 est style. When Joseph first found favour in the eyes 
 of Pharaoh, he had the monarch's own ring put on 
 his hand, a chain of gold thrown over his neck, and a 
 vesture ofjine linen given to array his person. Now, 
 what one age may call fine another may call coarse ;
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 249 
 
 the epithet alone, therefore, does cot carry much 
 weight ; but it is a fact that the linen of Egypt was 
 celebrated all over the world ; and, what is more, it 
 may be seen and handled to this day, for the mum- 
 mies were nearly all wrapped in it, and the wrappings 
 are in excellent preservation. Mummy-cloths do not, 
 of course, represent the finest linen, but we have a 
 clear idea conveyed by Pliny of what was considered 
 fine in the days of King Amasis ; that is, six hundred 
 years B.C. Each single thread of a certain garment 
 sent to Lindus by King Amasis was composed of 365 
 minor threads twisted together, so that Egyptian 
 fineness was fine indeed. Not only was linen spun, 
 but it was dyed and richly embroidered in the very 
 earliest times. So far as we can trace, however, this 
 work was all done by hand. And here it may be 
 well to note that all the workmanship of which the 
 Israelites in their wanderings between Egypt and 
 Canaan showed themselves capable was due to the 
 teaching of the Egyptians ; and any one who will 
 refer to the embellishment of the holy tabernacle, and 
 to the vestments of the high priest in the sacred 
 books, will see in how many ornamental arts Egypt 
 must have been accomplished. The spoil which Israel 
 got from the natives in their flight consisted of jewels 
 of silver and jewels of gold ; and these jewels, it turns 
 out, were very unlike what the country was in the habit 
 of producing if they were not beautifully wrought. 
 Cutting, polishing, and setting precious stones was 
 done in excellent style by Egyptian lapidaries.
 
 250 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 Emeralds were found in the neighbouring deserts. 
 These they cut and polished beautifully, and learned 
 to imitate with great success in glass. But all the 
 foreign gems of the East were known, and quantities 
 of them acquired. Egypt had its gold and silver 
 mines. The revenue derived from them was immense. 
 The gold was dug and separated with very great 
 labour and skill ; the silver would seem to have been 
 more simply procured. Besides these precious metals, 
 they also found copper, lead, and iron near the Ked 
 Sea. It is uncertain whether they could temper steel, 
 but Wilkinson thinks that they could ; and he very 
 fairly says that, whether they could steel iron or not, 
 they certainly had some secret equally profound and 
 equally useful, by means of which their exquisite 
 chiselling was achieved. There is enough of negative 
 proof that they were familiar with steel, since they 
 wrought sculpture which, as far as we know, nothing 
 but steel could effect. 
 
 The most curious, if not the most useful, of the arts 
 of Egypt, was that by which they disposed of their 
 dead. Let us not tarry now to inquire into the 
 belief or fancy which urged them to the practice, nor 
 into the remarkable ceremonies with which funerals 
 were solemnised, but let us regard mummification 
 simply as an art. It was, then, the will of the Egyp- 
 tians to have their bodies, or the principal portions of 
 them, preserved as long as possible from decay; and 
 this was effected so successfully, that the sight-seer of 
 to-day may examine the corpses of men and women
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 251 
 
 over whom thousands upon thousands of years have 
 rolled without bringing to them corruption, or de- 
 priving them of the human form. Indeed we know 
 of no limit to the endurance of the mummy if left in 
 Egypt, the climate for which it was prepared. The 
 processes (for there were three processes) of embalm- 
 ing required from two to three months to complete 
 them. The body was never embalmed whole. Some 
 portions were always removed, and not always, there 
 is reason to suppose, preserved ; but commonly the 
 separated portions were preserved by themselves and 
 placed in jars. The exterior body was then filled 
 with myrrh, cassia, and other gums, and after that 
 saturated with natron. Then there was a marvellous 
 swathing of the embalmed form, so artistically exe- 
 cuted that professional bandagers of the present day 
 are lost in admiration of its excellence. " According 
 to Dr Granville there is not a single form of bandage 
 known to modern surgery, of which examples are not 
 seen in the swathings of the Egyptian mummies. 
 The strips of linen have been found extending to 
 1000 yards in length. Eossellini gives a similar 
 testimony to the wonderful variety and skill with 
 which the bandages have been applied and inter- 
 laced." * The exclusion of the air from the surface 
 of the body was the object of this patient labour, and 
 every proper expedient was resorted to to make the 
 cerements fit tightly. Not the large limbs only, but 
 the fingers and toes, have been separately bandaged 
 
 * Kenrick's Ancient Egypt.
 
 252 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 in the more elaborate mummies. The body was 
 generally labelled, having its card, so to speak, placed 
 within the linen folds, and generally on the breast. 
 The identification was usually a plate of metal en- 
 graved, but sometimes it was a small image of a god, 
 or an animal, with the name of the mummy on it, 
 and this has been found sometimes within the body. 
 Beads, earrings, necklaces are frequently turned out 
 from among the wrappings. The bandaging effected, 
 the next thing was to fit the mummy's surtout, which 
 was made of layers of cloth pasted or glued together 
 till they formed a pasteboard. Before it could be 
 called a board, however that is to say, while it was 
 yet moist and pliable it was placed about the 
 wearer, whose shape it was made to take accurately. 
 As soon as the artist was satisfied with the fit, the 
 garment was sewn up at the back, and then allowed 
 to harden. A mask, representing the features of the 
 deceased, was put over the head, and continued some 
 way over the shoulders. Male mummies wore a 
 reddish-brown, and female a yellowish-green mask as* 
 a rule ; but the faces of some mummies, and some- 
 times even their whole surfaces, were gilded over. 
 Commonly the pasteboard case was painted in bright 
 colours, whose brilliancy was as lasting as the mummy 
 itself. Hieroglyphics were emblazoned on it, and it 
 was in some instances stuck over with beads and 
 spangles. The legend would describe the departed, 
 or include a prayer or invocation. The mummy was 
 thus complete, but it was boxed up afterwards in
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 253 
 
 three coffins made to follow its shape as nearly as 
 could be. 
 
 From the particular chemistry adopted for the 
 pickling of ancestors to chemistry at large is a natural 
 transition ; and it will be found on inquiry that the 
 successful embalming was not a chance discovery, or 
 an art known by rule of thumb only, but that it was 
 as fairly brought out from definitions and maxims as 
 was any induction of Faraday's. The word " chemis- 
 try" comes from Chemi, and Chemi means Egypt. 
 The science was rightly named after the country; for 
 Egypt, through all her vicissitudes, kept alive the 
 knowledge of chemistry, and had it all to herself up 
 to the time of the Arabian conquest, when it became 
 generally understood through Europe and Asia. The 
 decorative borders found on Greek vases, and whose 
 invention is ascribed to the Greeks, were, Mr Kenrick 
 says, only copies from the Egyptian vases. The 
 figures of them are to be seen on the walls of a tomb 
 of the age of Amunoph I, a period when Greece did 
 not yet exist. Metallurgy the Egyptians understood 
 before the earliest period of their history known to us. 
 Colonel Howard Vyse found a piece of iron in a joint 
 of the Great Pyramid, placed there, without doubt, 
 when the pyramid was built. The mines of iron and 
 copper were in the sandstone at Sinai, where to this 
 day may be seen in large heaps the scoriae produced 
 by smelting. It may fairly be presumed that the 
 chemistry and metallurgy, as understood by the 
 philosophers, were at the bottom of the magic.
 
 254 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 The Egyptians paddled about a good deal on the 
 Nile, whether expanded or shrunken, but they are 
 not known to have had any great liking for, or ac- 
 quaintance with, the salt sea. Some of their monarchs, 
 about the time of the Exodus, built fleets and made 
 incursions into foreign lands, but these were only 
 forced movements ; the nation never took kindly 
 to " the briny," if one may take the liberty of using 
 Mr Swiveller's expression. Sea-going nations have 
 generally been, in their early times, such as could 
 find very little to attract them in their own lands, 
 and a good deal that was attractive in the lands of 
 others. It must be confessed, although the avowal 
 reflects somewhat pointedly on many of our own 
 respected progenitors, that ancient mariners were, for 
 the most part, ancient robbers, who found that ships 
 were convenient means of descending upon a neigh- 
 bour's coast, and of carrying away the plunder there to 
 be procured. After sowing their wild oats in a course 
 of freebooting, piracy, usurpation, and roystering, 
 such races have occasionally settled down into loudly- 
 professing moralists and sticklers for the rights of 
 humanity, with a holy yearning for peace at any 
 price ; though, happily, a leaven of the old bucca- 
 neers' spirit may be left ready to rise through the 
 lump at times, and confound canting Puritans. But 
 old Egyptians, it is clear, had learned before the times 
 of which we have knowledge to see in Egypt herself 
 all that could be desired, and to devote all their 
 energies to the improvement and embellishment of
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 255 
 
 their native land. They developed so much wealth, 
 and were so industrious at home, that they did not 
 care to go filibustering, and so failed to foster that 
 roving spirit which might have made them afterwards 
 energetic traders. When they did take to the ocean, 
 though, they did it, as they did everything else, to 
 some purpose. Neco II. fitted out a fleet on the Ked 
 Sea, and sent it out to explore the shores of their 
 native continent. The fleet was two years absent, 
 and then came back, not through the Strait of Babel- 
 mandeb, but through the Strait of Gibraltar. Herod- 
 otus, the enlightened Greek, speaks compassionately 
 of this fable of the Egyptians. It might do for less 
 acute nations, who stood intellectually in the same 
 relation to the Greeks that marines do to sailors, but 
 for philosophic Greeks no, no ! The silly Egyptian 
 fellows proved a little too much, and so convicted 
 themselves of drawing the long-bow. Didn't they 
 say that returning homewards they had the sunrise 
 on their right hands ? " a thing," says the old histo- 
 rian, " which to me appears incredible." And yet this 
 assertion, which was to the Greeks foolishness, is to 
 us Britons, who have traversed the same waters once 
 or twice ourselves, incontestable proof that the Egyp- 
 tians did verily double the Cape of Good Hope. They 
 anchored successively at two convenient places, 
 landed, and sowed corn, and remained to reap the 
 same ; then set sail again, and finally steered in 
 triumph through the Pillars of Hercules, and east- 
 ward along the Mediterranean. Any one looking at
 
 256 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 our maps of ancient geography may see one of them 
 subscribed orbis veteribus notus, on which is shown 
 the northern shore of Africa and Egypt all the rest 
 of the continent without form and void. If there 
 had been no ancients except the Greeks and Romans, 
 such a map would do justice to ancient knowledge ; 
 but there was a people much more deserving of the 
 term " veteres " than Romans or Greeks, who knew 
 what the form of Africa was. The Greeks, young in 
 knowledge, sounded a trumpet before them, and called 
 upon all the world to admire their ability. Old Egypt, 
 grown grey in wisdom, was so secure of her acquire- 
 ments that she did not invite admiration, and cared 
 no more for the opinion of a flippant Greek than we 
 do to-day for that of a Feejee islander. Egypt did 
 not seek to teach the Greeks ; the Greeks went to 
 Egypt to pick up what they could. 
 
 Inland navigation, as we have said, was much less 
 strange to Egyptians than the passage of the ocean. 
 Their famous river was their great highway. Traffic, 
 ceremonies, processions, funerals, pilgrimages, friendly 
 intercourse, were principally effected by traversing its 
 waters ; and the sights to be seen there must have 
 been glorious " in the brave days of old." The mon- 
 arch and his princess floated in barges with deck 
 pavilions, hull and cabins, masts and rudder being 
 richly gilt, and the sails being painted in the most 
 brilliant colours. Great arks freighted with merchan- 
 dise were towed up and down the stream : smaller 
 and more manageable boats of all sizes the largest
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 257 
 
 moved by thirty or forty oars, or by the wind on 
 sails of papyrus or canvas in numbers traversed the 
 scene ; while the solitary passengers, through all, 
 paddled their own canoes of earthemvare, or a coarse 
 sort of pasteboard. The Egyptians, then, were not 
 a roaming nation. " Their characteristic has been 
 patient, sedentary industry, employed in agriculture 
 and manufactures. The productions of the East 
 have been deposited in Egypt, and from thence dis- 
 tributed over the West ; but strangers have brought 
 them, and strangers have carried them away." * 
 
 Wine was so commonly made in all countries where 
 the vine would bear, that there is nothing remarkable 
 in Egypt having pressed her own grapes. But it is 
 remarkable that she brewed beer in large quantities, 
 her working population appearing to have been as 
 fond as ours of this beverage. The exact strength or 
 quality we do not know, but no man can say that 
 our knowledge on this head may not soon increase ; 
 for we may come down some day on the private 
 cellar of Cheops, or the establishment of a Coptic 
 Allsopp, and find the original of the X's to have been 
 hieroglyphics emblazoned on the barrels. One must 
 credit these people, too, with having done their brew- 
 ing as well as they did everything else. Nothing but 
 potent stuff can have sufficed for the fellows who 
 built the Pyramids ; and if ever we do come upon 
 one of their ale-vats, we shall find the liquor has 
 body in it still. There would be something sensa- 
 
 * Kenrick. 
 R
 
 258 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 tional in tasting home-brewed, that has been in wood 
 since the Deluge ! Misraim's Entire. 
 
 Glass was manufactured in all its varieties. We 
 find sculptures of glass-blowing ; and the bottles, 
 vases, &c., may yet be seen. Sir Gardner Wilkinson 
 says that the Egyptians cut, ground, and engraved 
 glass, and had even the art of introducing gold be- 
 tween two surfaces of the substance. He also says 
 that they imitated, with glass, pearls and precious 
 stones. 
 
 It was supposed until recently that the Egyptians 
 were not very musical ; but Time, which is continually 
 raising this people in estimation, has shown that they 
 were fond of music, and that they understood its 
 influence on the spirit. A farther acquaintance with 
 the monuments has discovered them playing in con- 
 cert, the leader beating time by clapping his hands. 
 It is thus clear that they understood the laws of 
 harmony. They had their sacred music, domestic 
 music, and military music. The lyre, harp, and flutes 
 were played when the high priest offered incense, and 
 the priests at the same time sang a song called the 
 Pcean, which word, Wilkinson says, is Egyptian. 
 For festive music, guitars, single and double pipes, 
 and castanets, were added to the above. Trumpets, 
 drums, and tambourines, with cymbals and other 
 noisy contrivances, made a crash in the presence of 
 troops. The harp seems to have been the instrument 
 most in repute. There were various kinds of them, 
 as the lyre, sambuc, ashur ; but some resembled the
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 
 
 modern harp, and were very complete, having as 
 many as twenty-two strings. We may not claim for 
 Egypt the invention of this instrument, since we 
 know that Jubal, a descendant of Cain, " is the father 
 of all those who handle the harp and organ ; " but 
 there can be no doubt that she perfected the instru- 
 ment, and that the harps which were afterwards 
 hanged upon a tree when the minstrels faltered at 
 singing the Lord's song in a strange land, were of a 
 pattern derived from Egypt, memorials of another 
 captivity. The superiority of the Egyptian lyre to 
 the Greek is quite admitted ; indeed the Egyptian 
 instruments generally were superior, and they were 
 made with that daintiness which shows them to have 
 been favourite toys with the rich, not simply profes- 
 sional implements. The woods were often rare and 
 costly, sought out in distant countries ; some were 
 painted, some inlaid, some covered with coloured or 
 ornamental leather. Parts of them are elaborately 
 carved. The use of catgut for strings was well 
 understood. 
 
 Pythagoras and many other studious Greeks learned 
 the science of music in Egypt, and refugees from 
 Egypt were encouraged in Greece as teachers of 
 music. The Alexandrians had the character of being 
 the most skilful and scientific players. Philosophic 
 students of music hold that in any country great pro- 
 gress has been made in the science when, having 
 passed through the ruder stages of drumming, clash- 
 ing, and blowing, performers have come to understand
 
 260 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 the extraction of harmonious sounds from an instru- 
 ment of many strings, and the multiplication of notes 
 by shortening the strings upon the neck of an instru- 
 ment. Now this the Egyptians thoroughly under- 
 stood. The harp, lyre, and guitar are found repre- 
 sented in every conceivable form, adapted to stand 
 on the floor, to be suspended from the neck, to be 
 carried over the shoulder, to be held up by the hands 
 which are to play it, to be rested on a single leg, to 
 be raised on a table, to be held under the left arm 
 like a bagpipe. In Bruce's Travels,* he, speaking of 
 harps in a tomb at Thebes, says : " They overturn all 
 the accounts hitherto given of the earliest state of 
 music and musical instruments in the East, and are, 
 altogether, in their form, ornaments, and compass, an 
 incontestable proof, stronger than a thousand Greek 
 quotations, that geometry, drawing, mechanics, and 
 music were at the greatest perfection when this instru- 
 ment was made ; and that the period from which we 
 date the invention of these arts was only the begin- 
 ning of the era of their restoration." The Spanish 
 castanet had its origin in Egypt, where, however, it 
 was made of metal instead of the chestnut-tree. 
 
 Nothing has yet been said of the science of medi- 
 cine. This was assiduously studied in Egypt ; but 
 there is no proof that any of the great discoveries of 
 modern times were forestalled there nothing leads to 
 the suspicion that the circulation of the blood or the 
 nervous system was understood. Such as it was, 
 
 * Here quoted from Sir G. Wilkinson.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 261 
 
 however, the practice of medicine was established, 
 and very strictly subdivided. Every practitioner 
 kept to his own branch. There was the dentist and 
 the oculist ; if your digestion was affected, there was 
 a doctor to treat you ; if you suffered in the head, 
 there was a physician whose punishments were ex- 
 clusively capital. Even if you were ill and didn't 
 know the seat of your disease, there was a healer for 
 you, one who addicted himself wholly to dealing with 
 obscure complaints. They had very just ideas con- 
 cerning diet, and they set more store by temperance 
 than by medicine. It is known that they were an 
 exceptionally healthy race, the even climate, pure 
 water of the Nile, abundance of food and of clothing, 
 being eminently in their favour ; possibly, therefore, 
 their healing art was high in proportion to their 
 requirements. 
 
 Of arts and sciences which the Egyptians possessed 
 in common with other ancient peoples, it is not neces- 
 sary to speak here. They could do all that their 
 neighbours could, and a very great deal more that no 
 other nation on the earth could then accomplish nay, 
 they did, as we know, some works which have never 
 been equalled in either ancient or modern times. 
 
 A consideration of the above outline must throw, 
 it is thought, much light on the character of Moses. 
 Though he was largely favoured with immediate in- 
 spiration on grand occasions, he was nevertheless, like 
 St Paul, carefully prepared for all the ordinary calls 
 of his great position. He was learned in all the wis-
 
 262 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 dom of the Egyptians this was to be learned indeed! ! 
 Moses, however, seems to have seen that the Egyptian 
 theory of government was unsuited to the Israelites. 
 Possibly their bondage under royal rule made the 
 name of king odious to the sons of Jacob ; but it 
 is certain that to Pharaoh's hereditary subjects his 
 sceptre represented a mild and civilised sway. The 
 training of the monarch, enforced by law, was such as 
 to make him fit to rule a wise people ; and his power 
 was hedged about with every guard that could bring 
 dignity and credit. If there be anything that we 
 English plume ourselves on having invented in rela- 
 tion to the kingly office, it is the vicarious responsi- 
 bility of the ministers of state expressed in the maxim, 
 "The king can do no wrong."* This is a lofty and 
 refined conception undoubtedly, but if we fancy that 
 it is original with us, we are mistaken. A people 
 quite as clever and shrewd as we are, imagined and 
 acted upon it thousands of years before our era, and 
 the Egyptians were that people. Thus it is clear that 
 in two of our sublimest ideas, which seemed to belong 
 to us first and solely namely, the personal innocence 
 of the sovereign, and the merits of malt liquors we 
 were forestalled by the children of Ham. Perhaps, if 
 we could get back at all to their experimental nascent 
 ages, we might even find them using trial by jury ; 
 but, as has been already said more than once, we 
 know nothing about them till after they had discarded 
 all manner of barbarisms. 
 
 * ' ' That the king could do no wrong is a much older notion than we
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 263 
 
 Besides the curious question concerning progressive 
 improvement noticed at the commencement of this 
 paper, there is another which may equally interest 
 the speculative. How did Egypt contrive to become 
 what she was by her own lights and her own material 
 resources alone ? It is a doctrine of the present day, 
 that intercommunication of minds and workers is 
 necessary to effectual progress in the sciences and arts. 
 But what intercommunication had old Egypt, or what 
 could she have learned from any contemporary nation ? 
 By her own mind and energy she was what she was. 
 Eesting on the noble river which had won her from 
 the waters, and had raised and nourished her since the 
 Almighty fiat went forth and the dry land appeared, 
 she sat serene, and thought and wrought and throve. 
 The barbarism of the external world gave her no 
 anxiety, raised no interest in her, did not retard her 
 progress. She knew that she possessed the true secret 
 of subduing the earth, and, fully believing in her- 
 self, she did not call in all her neighbours to confirm 
 her in her belief. She sent out no evangelist, she 
 asked no help. She sufficed for all her mighty de- 
 signs ; it may be said that she rose and flourished and 
 fell alone : almost it may be added, that wisdom died 
 with her. The time that has elapsed since her grand- 
 est age, has not availed to bring all the arts back 
 again to where they were in her day ; and yet she 
 
 generally imagine vide Diod., i. 70 : TOV fitv j8a<n\ea rtav tyKKefjiaruv eat- 
 pov/jtevovs, &c. The title given to them, ' living for ever,' seems also to bear 
 analogy to the idea of the king never dying." Footnote from Wilkinson's 
 Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.
 
 264 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 was separated from Europe and from Asia by no very 
 formidable barriers. Greece, when she began to 
 understand her mission, found no difficulty in sending 
 a sprinkling of her sons to the banks of the Nile to 
 pick up information. But this was after Egypt had 
 become great and old ; this had nothing to do with 
 the rise of Egypt. Unassisted, unappreciated from 
 without, Egypt wrought out her own magnificence, 
 solitary, self-relying. That little eruption of Sesostris's 
 just sufficed to show what she could do when the 
 humour took her. But the humour didn't often take 
 her. She found nothing outside comparable to what 
 she was familiar with at home ; the worlds beyond 
 the Nile's overflow were not such that she should 
 weep for them to conquer. Like the dove, she found 
 no rest for the sole of her foot, and returned into the 
 ark which, washed on every side by the waters of 
 barbarism, enclosed all that was great and subtle and 
 able on the surface of the earth. 
 
 Great and splendid as are the things which we 
 know about oldest Egypt, she is made a thousand 
 times more sublime by our uncertainty as to the 
 limits of her accomplishments. She presents not 
 a great definite idea, which, though hard to receive, is, 
 when once acquired, comprehensible and clear. Under 
 the soil of the modern country are hid away thousands 
 and thousands of relics which may astonish the world 
 for ages to come, and change continually its concep- 
 tion of what Egypt was. The effect of research seems 
 to be to prove the objects of it to be much older than
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 265 
 
 we thought them to be ; some things thought to be 
 wholly modern having been proved to be repetitions 
 of things Egyptian, and other things known to have 
 been Egyptian being by every advance in knowledge 
 carried back more and more towards the very begin- 
 ning of things. She shakes our most rooted ideas 
 concerning the world's history : she has not ceased to 
 be a puzzle and a lure : there is a spell over her still. 
 
 Besides her early maturity, and the solitariness of 
 her career, there is another mystery concerning Egypt ; 
 and that is the thick darkness that so long shut her 
 out from sight. We are wont to call those ages dark 
 wherein the wisdom of Greece and of Eome became 
 dim to the world at large, and was treasured by the 
 few ; but what was this darkness in comparison of the 
 utter obscurity which settled with a weird persistence 
 over Egypt herself, over all her wisdom and all her 
 works ? As year by year the deposit of the river was 
 entombing her material works, so was the cloud of ob- 
 livion enveloping and surely obliterating the memory 
 of her glory and her ability ; and this in spite of the 
 most determined resistance that any nation has ever 
 offered to time and his effacing power. The monu- 
 ments would not, could not, perish for ever ; but 
 they were ineffectual to avert an eclipse that lasted 
 for ages. It is little less than a miracle that such a 
 country could quietly sink out of sight, and the world 
 begin life again, fancying that it was originating 
 thought and art, while close to the tyros lay a nation 
 that had proved ages before every mode of human
 
 266 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 ability, and whose credentials did not rest on tra- 
 dition or history, but were shining on the earth 
 splendid, gigantic, palpable obvious to the regard of 
 the aspiring and the inquisitive. As one ponders on 
 these things, it is impossible to be regardless of the 
 denunciation of the Hebrew prophet * who foretold 
 this obscurity. " The pomp of her strength shall 
 cease in her : as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and 
 her daughters shall go into captivity." The period 
 of forty years during which no foot of man or foot 
 of beast was to pass through Egypt is not plain, but 
 the condition to which Egypt fell is only too distinctly 
 painted. " I will make the land of Egypt desolate in 
 the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her 
 cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be 
 desolate forty years : and I will scatter the Egyptians 
 among the nations, and will disperse them through the 
 countries." The " cloud," we may suppose, began to 
 break at the beginning of this century : from without 
 came the regard of nations, from within arose reani- 
 mation and the desire to be known once more. The 
 nations of the world resort thither again, and find this 
 kingdom truly " a base kingdom;" but things look as 
 though she had resolved to acquiesce no longer in her 
 baseness. Already one sees how the highway from 
 Egypt to Assyria, foretold by the prophet Isaiah, 
 may be accomplished. The Canal of the Isthmus 
 will undoubtedly lead to the contraction of the 
 desert, so that the way into Assyria will be com- 
 
 * Ezekiel.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 267 
 
 paratively easy. And when life, and vigour, and 
 civilisation shall return, what great results may be 
 expected to accompany them ! To a nation waking 
 up to consciousness after centuries of coma, every- 
 thing about her present self must be unsatisfactory 
 and distasteful a condition to be reformed as soon 
 as possible, and banished from sight and memory. 
 Her consolatory thoughts all centre in the past. As 
 she looks back with pride and glory at what she was, 
 the hope of what she may again be is lively within 
 her, and she can feel a trust in herself. Her reviving 
 ambition will feed upon the mighty deeds of old, and 
 her sons will gain strength from the knowledge of 
 the glorious dead. When this spirit shall come upon 
 Egypt when, instead of leaving research to the 
 stranger that may come from a far land, Egyptians 
 themselves shall make it a pleasant labour to ascer- 
 tain the wonderful past of their native country 
 then, perhaps, the world will truly understand what 
 the wisdom of the Egyptians was. 
 
 And now, to come back to the idea named at the 
 beginning of this paper viz., the continuous progres- 
 sion of mankind in knowledge and power. For him 
 who believes that his puny efforts are tending to the 
 establishment of a golden age and leading the human 
 race to perfection, there can be no corrective more 
 effectual than the study of ancient Egypt. From 
 thence he may learn the truth that human wisdom 
 and human knowledge cannot perpetuate themselves. 
 Great, strong, wise as she was, the glory of Egypt
 
 268 ABOUT WHAT THE 
 
 came to nought, her science perished, her engraved 
 characters became riddles. Progress was arrested, 
 and thick darkness overspread the earth not for a 
 short interval, but during a very large fraction of the 
 world's existence darkness which has never yet been 
 dispersed. It is true that, if we cannot build pyramids, 
 or hew out colossal statues, or divert the course of a 
 river like the Nile, we can use the printing-press and 
 control the forces of electricity and steam. But when 
 we have summed up gains and losses, what is the 
 amount of advancement since the days of Moses 
 that we can fairly credit ourselves with \ Truly it 
 is very little, and that little due to a renaissance in 
 the last two or three centuries. 
 
 But if we, creatures whose life is half an age, may 
 not influence the destinies of the world on which we 
 live, or of our remote successors, that consideration 
 need not damp our spirits ; it does not show us that 
 our labour for the benefit of humanity is in vain. We 
 may design and build, though we may not attempt a 
 tower whose top shall reach to heaven. Plenty of 
 legitimate work is given us to do ; we are commis- 
 sioned to subdue the earth, but we are not commis- 
 sioned to determine its future. That future will be as 
 little affected, probably, by our acts and labours, as 
 our present has been by the wisdom and works of 
 the Egyptians. A great nation a community of 
 great nations may die like a mighty man, and 
 then all their thoughts .perish. The earth is not 
 ours. Nevertheless we have a field for labour
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS KNEW. 269 
 
 greater labour than we shall ever accomplish. Let 
 us benefit, if we may, our own generation and that 
 which is to follow us, trusting to the providence of 
 an ever-living Power to determine whether any part 
 of our work shall survive and be a heritage for our 
 descendants ; or whether it shall perish utterly; or 
 whether, like the glorious deeds of old Egypt, it shall 
 lie for millenniums under a mysterious cloud, and live 
 again hereafter to a race such as it has not entered 
 into our hearts to conceive.
 
 270 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 ABOUT HOW THE OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED 
 AOTD DIED. 
 
 September 1870. 
 
 IT may be said concerning most of the races of men 
 which have passed away, that our knowledge of them 
 does not extend to their ordinary lives and customs. 
 Some few strongly-scored facts there may be, as that 
 our Briton ancestors wore mustaches, and were so 
 devoted to art that they never moved about except 
 in company with some representation of heavenly or 
 earthly bodies ; but such facts give us only isolated 
 points ; the Briton as he really existed can never be 
 revived to our apprehension. A conventional idea of 
 a Briton may be published and accepted, but it can be 
 only a fiction. ^Let us try to form a correct notion of 
 the Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Carthaginians, 
 as they were in their best days, or in any age, and we 
 shall soon find ourselves without a true image and 
 without a guide. Gifted men, by joining together 
 traces of outline more or less marked, and by fur- 
 nishing the connecting lines from their shrewd guesses 
 or their vivid dreams, have sometimes amused us by
 
 HOW THE OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 271 
 
 revivals of scenes in the Acropolis or in the Colisoeum, 
 or by the Sea of Galilee, but they have not been able 
 to show that their witness is true. Nay, to come 
 nearer home and nearer our own age, is it not 
 admitted that we have lost beyond recovery the 
 impression of what life in England was under the 
 Norman kings ? We have lively perceptions, it is 
 true, of Cedric and the Templar and the Friar, but 
 we perceive the phantasms of the enchanter, not the 
 real impress of the men of old. Neither is it possible, 
 the learned say, to produce now a true presentment 
 of those times ; they have left little more than a rack 
 behind. 
 
 If, then, the generations who left the scene two or 
 three centuries ago have become so indistinct that we 
 fail to recognise what manner of men they were in 
 their lives, habits, and appearance, what chance have 
 we of recovering and becoming intimately acquainted 
 with the beings from whom we are separated -by tens 
 of centuries \ By the foregoing theorems there is no 
 chance at all, the attempt would be mere vanity and 
 presumption. If we solve the question mathematically 
 or logically, this is the inevitable answer. But it is 
 not by reasoning that we will arrive at our truth ; it 
 is not proportion that shall convict this paper's super- 
 scription of folly. An irrepressible, wayward fact, 
 defying speculation, inverting axioms, shows itself; 
 and philosophers are confounded, a new book is 
 opened, the extremes of time are brought together. 
 For, as if in very derision of mundane belief, the
 
 272 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 oldest race of which history can speak is an excep- 
 tion to the rule of oblivion. Crusaders may have 
 perished for ever the sons of Romulus and of 
 Cecrops may have become dreams and fables ; but 
 some of them who saw Babel, and of the first gene- 
 rations who thence inherited the Coptic tongue, are 
 living yet on the tableaux of Egypt ! 
 
 Was, then, the prescience of those primitive men as 
 wonderful as their workmanship and their invention ? 
 Did their vision pierce through barbarous misty cen- 
 turies, and anticipate the time when far posterity 
 should yearn to them with awakening reverence, and 
 seek for their remains as for hid treasures "? It would 
 seem that it did. But whatever their intention may 
 have been, they have certainly left clear elaborate 
 records of themselves as they were once to be seen 
 in their worship, processions, ceremonies, in battles 
 and sieges, and in all the situations of domestic life. 
 We may see for ourselves how they sacrificed, with 
 what weapons they fought how they sowed, reaped, 
 bought and sold, slaughtered, cooked, wrought at 
 trades, feasted, danced, gamed, rejoiced, mourned, 
 died, were embalmed and buried ; nay, more, we 
 know exactly in what manner they fancied that 
 their souls were disposed of after death. We can 
 study their features, dresses, implements ; and so 
 mightily has nature wrought with them to preserve 
 the memorials, that "their domestic habits, their 
 social institutions, their very modes of thought, are 
 disclosed to us, and so minutely, that we know
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 273 
 
 more of the men among whom Abram dwelt and 
 conversed in Egypt, than of our own British and 
 Saxon ancestors." ~* 
 
 Carving and inscribing seem to have been the 
 besetting infirmity of the ancient Egyptians. The 
 desire of the diminutive, bandy - legged, noseless, 
 Plantagenet Montmorency Smith, to be photo- 
 graphed, front and profile, and in all conceivable 
 ungraceful attitudes, in every city of Europe, is 
 not stronger than was the inclination of an old 
 Memphite or Theban to carve out in detail, to paint, 
 or to describe in writing, his form and semblance, as 
 on different occasions he went through the employ- 
 ments of his life. His processes did not admit of 
 seizing sudden expressions or effects ; but if he did 
 not catch Cynthias of the minute, he gave typical 
 Cynthias and types of every class of human beings 
 of the animals or things with which they occupied 
 themselves, and examples of the manner in which 
 they operated. If they consecrated a temple or stuck 
 a pig if they held a symposium or pickled a mum- 
 my if they danced or hunted, ate or fought the 
 style in which the thing was done was stamped 
 imperishably. When the time comes for speaking 
 of their burials and tombs, reasons will be given for 
 much of this zeal in chiselling and limning. But 
 there is much to say, and space is not a discretion, 
 therefore order must be observed, or we have no 
 chance of fulfilling our design. So we will assign a 
 
 * Oslrarn's Monumental History, end of vol. i. 
 
 S
 
 274 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 place to each division of the subject, and the first 
 place is due to the great Pharaoh ; let us therefore 
 contemplate THE KING. 
 
 Absolute power as executive entire personal sub- 
 mission to the laws this was the strange combina- 
 tion which characterised the office of a Pharaoh. All 
 the vigour of despotism in the governor, all possible 
 safeguards for the governed ; the monarch irrespon- 
 sible to any, and yet so thoroughly restrained and 
 advised that no man doubted his piety, justice, and 
 discretion. And how was this brought about ? Not 
 by finely-spun theories inoperative in practice ; not 
 by intricate constitutional checks which in one age 
 might enable the ruler to set at nought the rights 
 and wishes of his people, and in another might trans- 
 fer the whole power of the State to the lowest stratum 
 of the populace, and so reduce the sovereign to a mere 
 puppet ; not by the institution of an antagonism, 
 according to which it was the instinct of either side, 
 governor or governed, to encroach on the liberties or 
 prerogatives of the other ; but by a far more refined 
 and yet simpler method simpler in itself, but pos- 
 sible for only a refined, highly-civilised people. The 
 nation, in times beyond our ken, had made up its 
 mind about the qualities of its ruler, and took its 
 measures for securing such a one as should realise its 
 ideal. The leaders knew the fallibility of checks and 
 constitutions perhaps they knew it by experience 
 and went nearer to the root of the matter, and looked 
 for their security in the mind and disposition and
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 275 
 
 life of the king. Their requirements call up the 
 words of Cowper 
 
 " I venerate the man whose heart is warm, 
 Whose words are pure, whose doctrine and whose life 
 Coincident exhibit lucid proof 
 That he is honest in the sacred cause." 
 
 Let not any ardent purist, however, suppose that 
 this hints in the darkest manner at competitive 
 examinations : let us keep in mind that the aim of 
 the Egyptians was far higher than simply to counter- 
 check evil ; they aspired to, and laboured for, positive 
 good. They specially educated their ruler for his 
 great career from early youth if they could ; but, 
 young or old, they would have him submit himself to 
 a training and a routine of life such as were pre- 
 scribed for no other. They made him comprehend 
 the dignity which attached to his position ; the 
 (literally in his case) divinity which does hedge a 
 king. He could not be as other men were, but in all 
 the acts of his daily life he conducted himself after a 
 royal pattern, never forgetting that he belonged to 
 the State. His toilette, exercise, meals, were settled 
 by law ; his amusements, both as to times and kinds, 
 might be only such as became so distinguished a 
 person, the very quantity of his wine being regulated 
 to guard against the possibility of excess. His 
 associates and attendants were all of the first fami- 
 lies, and of high education. These were blamed and 
 punished if their august master should ever allow his 
 passions to influence him in the exercise of his office-
 
 276 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 As was said in a former paper,"" the king could do no 
 wrong ; but his ministers were held strictly responsible 
 if any wrong was done, it being held that impro- 
 priety or injustice could scarcely be a solitary fail- 
 ing, but was a sign of general circumspection having 
 been relaxed. From the very birth of an heir- 
 apparent to the throne, his future companions, 
 nurslings of the same age as himself, were set apart 
 and trained. 
 
 The king must have been bred a priest or a soldier. 
 If he happened to be the latter, he was forced to 
 become a priest on ascending the throne ; and his 
 priesthood was not a nominal or ex officio headship, 
 but he had to study all the mysteries of religion, the 
 services of the temples, the laws and the moral code 
 of the country, and to be in all respects a capable and 
 officiating pontiff. On days of high ceremonial the 
 king himself publicly made offerings to the gods ; but 
 in ordinary routine he was only present at religious 
 services during particular hours. 
 
 The viands of the royal table were limited to 
 certain kinds of food. The king might not exceed 
 a certain quantity of wine ; he might not consort 
 with whomsoever he would ; neither could he pass 
 his time according to his own fancy. Hard con- 
 ditions these, one is apt to think ; but yet if any 
 nonsense had been talked about the monarch being 
 denied the freedom that was permitted to the mean- 
 est of his subjects if it had been said that, provided 
 
 Chapter VI.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 277 
 
 his public duty was accurately performed, he might 
 surely turn his hours of relaxation to whatever account 
 he might choose it would have been answered that 
 what might be very good for a humble Egyptian was 
 not at all suitable for Pharaoh ; that the man they 
 wanted must exist for the State, not the State for 
 him ; and that if he could not bear restraints himself, 
 he was manifestly incompetent to restrain and guide 
 a whole nation ! We do not find that political trouble 
 ever arose from attempts of his Majesty to kick over 
 the traces ; indeed, opinion was so strong and so inva- 
 riable on the point, that the wise and well-trained 
 monarch must have seen the ruin involved in such a 
 course, supposing that he wished to pursue it, which 
 probably he did not. 
 
 The secret of how this was accomplished of how 
 a mighty and absolute sovereign could be induced, 
 without any apparent control, to walk within the 
 very straitest limits, and to merge his personality in 
 his glorious office is one that cannot be thoroughly 
 penetrated until some modern nation, as perspicacious 
 as the Egyptian was, shall comprehend the general 
 good as they understood it, and exhibit again the 
 perfection of government. We do, however, some- 
 times get glimpses of such finished organisation when 
 highly-cultivated dispositions, by happy chance, come 
 together in a family or other association. We are 
 charmed by the devotion with which each member 
 postpones his selfish inclinations for the general bene- 
 fit, by the noiseless accuracy with which the machinery
 
 278 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 turns, by the absence of all visible moving or regu- 
 lating power, and yet by the consummate working of 
 the whole. We know, nevertheless, that there must 
 be a power somewhere, and that it is outwardly 
 invisible, because it is applied to the highest per- 
 ceptions of our nature. So, also, there was a power, 
 and an admirable one, cementing and guiding the 
 powers of the State in Egypt very subtle, applicable 
 only to the most generous spirits, but in them more 
 potent than the sternest tyranny. The horse that 
 may be guided with a silken thread is alone perfectly 
 broken ; the one moving straight under thongs and 
 iron, and evermore looking askance at the whip, does 
 little credit to his trainer. The government of the 
 Pharaohs was doubtless invented by the priests ; the 
 power which, like the force of gravity in nature, kept 
 every member in his place, was in the national reli- 
 gion, into whose mysteries the monarch, as we have 
 seen, was invariably initiated, and whose dictates 
 were unquestioned by a surpassingly devout people. 
 When we come to discuss their religion, we shall see 
 how hard it is to recognise this inward and spiritual 
 power in it, and how much more we have to learn 
 before we discover the mainspring of their wonderful 
 system. 
 
 In times of war the king generally took the field, 
 and commanded the army. He often took the heir 
 with him (thus Sesostris, while very young, made his 
 first campaign with his father, and had his bapteme 
 de feu) ; but he could appoint a general to the chief
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 279 
 
 command when reasons of State should show that 
 course to be advisable. All triumphs, decrees, and 
 national works were ascribed to him, and the relations 
 between sovereign and people appear to have been so 
 good that his fame and theirs were identical : they 
 were satisfied that he was really and truly the imper- 
 sonation of the State. 
 
 Greek writers used to speak of the crown as elec- 
 tive ; but the monuments which now supersede all 
 other chronicles show that the succession was 
 hereditary, except in case of the country being con- 
 quered, or the very rare occurrence of a successful 
 rebellion. An election took place only when there 
 was no heir, male or female for a princess could 
 inherit the sceptre. Although frequently the same 
 sovereign ruled both Upper and Lower Egypt, these 
 were always regarded as two distinct kingdoms. 
 Sometimes each kingdom had its own separate king, 
 and the two were at variance. The royal head-dress 
 of the Upper country was white, a high conical cap 
 terminating in a knob at the top : that of the Lower 
 country was red; it encircled the head to the height 
 of the poll, and the back was prolonged to double the 
 height of the cap. The king who might govern both 
 countries wore both crowns together, that of Lower 
 Egypt outside the other, and the composite head-dress 
 of the two crowns was named the pschent. There 
 were other royal head-dresses according to the par- 
 ticular office which the king might be discharging; 
 but what will probably be most astonishing to an
 
 280 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 inexperienced reader is, that he often wore a wig. 
 Modern speakers, chancellors, judges, and State coach- 
 men may find comfort for their souls by a study of 
 some of the monuments nay, of the relics ; for speci- 
 mens of the wigs are, it is believed, preserved. 
 
 There would seem to % be a popular belief that the 
 Pharaohs were unfeeling and tyrannical, a belief de- 
 rived probably from the circumstances of the Exodus ; 
 but it should be remembered that the disposition 
 of the Pharaoh who would not let Israel go was 
 supernaturally vitiated. Some infatuation made him 
 treacherous and cruel ; but the fact that his heart 
 was hardened specially to make him act unworthily, 
 goes to prove that in his normal condition he would 
 have been incapable of such conduct. The Pharaohs 
 who knew not Joseph pursued an illiberal policy 
 towards the children of Jacob, and the book of Moses 
 shows them in no very favourable light ; yet they do 
 not appear to have been personally odious, neither is 
 there a hint of their government having been oppres- 
 sive or hateful to the Egyptians. And then, when we 
 come to regard the kings who did know and respect 
 Joseph and his memory, their characters should form 
 a counterpoise, and help us to an even judgment of 
 these celebrated rulers. Joseph's personal patron, 
 who is more graphically presented in the sacred book 
 than any obnoxious Pharaoh, was certainly wise and 
 amiable, and his successors for some generations re- 
 garded Israel with favour. That Egypt throve as 
 it did under their sway is a sufficient proof of the
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 281 
 
 ability and integrity of the kings in general ; and the 
 mourning which the people made for Pharaoh when 
 he died, and which the historians carefully distinguish 
 from a formal prescribed manifestation, attests the 
 esteem and veneration in which he was generally 
 held. 
 
 If we pass now from the monarch, who is a very 
 intelligible figure, to that which doubtless contains the 
 key to all the character, wisdom, and exploits of the 
 country namely, the national religion we are at 
 once in a very thick atmosphere, where, though 
 objects innumerable present themselves, their connec- 
 tion and significance are difficult to trace. Judged 
 by its outward and visible signs, this religion can be 
 described as only gross idolatry and polytheism. The 
 high reputation of the race has saved them from 
 much reproach on this head ; writers hardly ever 
 mention the worship without deprecating the reader's 
 injurious opinion of it, or without explaining its 
 hidden spirituality. But the religion itself, as we see 
 it, is so loosely jointed and so indefinite, that an in- 
 genious commentator, starting with a plausible idea 
 or two, may speedily on this material foundation 
 erect a structure of types and metaphysics reaching 
 up to a pure theology. To make good these words, 
 let us for a while put aside the fancied or imputed 
 meaning, and say what the worship was. 
 
 The gods were so numerous that we cannot reckon 
 them, neither can we say that we have now got, or 
 that we shall ever get, to the limits of the pantheon.
 
 282 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 Gods crop up in all directions. Some have human 
 figures and heads ; some have the forms of beasts, 
 birds, fishes, and reptiles ; some are compounded of 
 heads of some of the above animals joined to the 
 bodies of men or women, being monsters of that class 
 the idea of which made Horace exclaim, " Eisum 
 teneatis, amici?" some are grotesque, deformed, and 
 shocking. A pair (male and female) or a trio (parents 
 and child) of gods were adored in the same temple ; 
 and of these, as of the Greek consonants, it is said, 
 "Inter se cognati sunt;" but unfortunately, after 
 one relationship has been noted, the same deities, or 
 others suspiciously like them, are found in other 
 places with an entirely new set of kinsfolk. Prince 
 Hal * had an illustration that would have suited their 
 affinities, but he was innocent of Egyptology. It was 
 not only the images of animals, however, which the 
 Egyptians venerated : live bulls, crocodiles, jackals, 
 beetles, and one knows not what besides, were had 
 in reverence. The worship of what were called the 
 great gods, and especially of one pair, was wellnigh 
 general on the Nile; but the smaller powers were 
 worshipped in certain districts only, while in other 
 districts they were abominations, and the setting up 
 or putting down of one of them was as serious a 
 matter as the exaltation of a German prince is in 
 these days it led sometimes to furious wars for 
 ideas. 
 
 * " Page. A proper gentlewoman, sir, and a kinswoman of my master's. 
 Prince Henry. Even such kin " King Henry IV.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 283 
 
 There were several orders of gods, but it is not 
 clear to us how the orders were divided which is 
 not astonishing when the frequent interchange above 
 mentioned of attributes, symbols, and affinities is 
 taken into account. It is, however, generally re- 
 ceived that the gods creators and sustainers, and 
 the sun and moon and elements, occupied the high- 
 est places under various names. Inferior gods all 
 partook of the nature and functions of these, but 
 were inferior in scope and degree. One god named 
 Typho or Typhoon was regarded as the spirit of evil. 
 But of all these gods, two and they not of the first 
 order are more celebrated than all the rest, and 
 were of unquestioned sanctity from one end of Egypt 
 to the other. The reader is already prepared for the 
 famous names Osiris and Isis. The popular legend 
 concerning them is that there was jealousy between 
 Typho and Osiris ; that Typho, by a manoeuvre which 
 recalls the ballad of the " Old Oak Chest," or the story 
 of " The Fisherman and the Genie " in the ' Thousand 
 and One Nights/ entrapped Osiris into a box, and, god 
 as he was, confined him in the heart of a tree, whence 
 Isis got him out and carried him to Buto in the month 
 Tybi (27th of December to 26th of January), and there 
 concealed him ; but Typho, whose delight it appears 
 to have been of a shiny night at that season of the 
 year to hunt in the marshes, put him up by moon- 
 light, and cut him up too, to make sure of him, into 
 fourteen pieces.* Isis with great pains found thirteen 
 
 * Osburn says twenty- six pieces.
 
 284 . ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 of the pieces in different places, aud buried each where 
 she found it ; the fourteenth piece had been unfor- 
 tunately devoured by fishes. Afterwards, before the 
 visit of the patriarch Abram, the whole country was 
 convulsed for years by the act of King Mencheres or 
 Mycerinus, who got the scattered limbs together at 
 Abydos. The wars so occasioned ended in the reign 
 of Acthoes of the Xlth dynasty, as has been shown,""" 
 which, according to Mr Osburn, is the true account 
 concealed under the myth that Isis joined the body 
 together once more. The alarms which the Pans and 
 Satyrs felt while these dreadful adventures were pro- 
 ceeding became proverbial, and gave to wild terrors 
 the name of Panics for all time. This high deriva- 
 tion, from the immortal gods, of this nervous condi- 
 tion, may be comfortable to gentlemen who were about 
 the Stock Exchange and Capel Court last July. For 
 their sakes it is recorded. 
 
 Now, after all the pains and they have been very 
 great which learned men have taken to discover 
 some consistent theology of Egypt, it must be con- 
 fessed that the whole subject remains a " muddle," 
 as one of the characters in Mr Dickens's ' Hard 
 Times ' is fond of saying ; and that muddle (for, 
 as we see it, it is not entitled to the name of system) 
 cannot be defended against the charge of being the 
 grossest and silliest idolatry. Then, as if the religion 
 were not of itself difficult enough to be understood, 
 it was further complicated by the vanity of the old 
 
 * Vide Chap. I., p. 17.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 285 
 
 Greek writers, who set to work to show that the gods 
 of Greece were, under other names, the same as the 
 gods of Egypt. Thus the great Amun of the Egyp- 
 tians was identified with Zeus or Jupiter, and in later 
 days became Jupiter Ammon, whose great temple was 
 in the Oasis ; Phthah, a god whom the Egyptians re- 
 presented as a mummy, w^as Vulcan or Hephaestus ; 
 Osiris was Bacchus ; Anouke was Vesta ; and so on. 
 But these comparisons were fanciful, and do not in 
 the least assist us to a comprehension of the nature 
 of the Egyptian gods as Egyptians regarded it. 
 
 There can be no doubt that, viewed in certain of 
 their phases, some of the gods may be seen to per- 
 sonify the powers or works of nature. Amun may be 
 the sun, or, in another view, the atmosphere. Osiris 
 and Isis may be, and in one acceptation probably are, 
 the Nile and the land of Egypt; but attempt to follow 
 ,up these " allegories on the banks of the Nile " (which 
 are not the same that Mrs Malaprop spoke of), and 
 they will not half satisfy as to the character, power, 
 or nature of any deity. For instance, assume Osiris 
 to be the Nile, and a great deal of what is said of him 
 seems to become clear, the allegory corresponding for 
 some distance with known natural facts ; but in a 
 while we find Osiris presiding as the judge of the 
 dead, the great power of Amenthe or the shades below, 
 and we are violently jerked out of the pleasant little 
 groove in which our imaginations have begun to run 
 at ease. There is nothing consistent or definite about 
 any of these gods ; the character of each is like a series
 
 286 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 of dissolving views, continually, as we regard it, fading 
 to indistinctness, and then reappearing in new colours 
 and proportions. 
 
 The boldest thing that has been said regarding the 
 whole tangled mythology is, that the Egyptians never 
 really lost, after the death of Noah, the knowledge 
 of one supreme Intelligence, almighty, inexhaustibly 
 good, Whom no man had seen at any time, Who could 
 not be represented by anything made with hands ; 
 but that the priests attempted to show to the people, 
 under the form of gods, His attributes, His creation, 
 His ways of dealing with men, His glory, His will. 
 Each god, then, being a part or emanation of the 
 Deity, which might manifest itself in various ways, 
 had many figures and descriptions contradictory and 
 often incompatible when ascribed to a distinct being, 
 but consistent and intelligible when applied to a 
 quality or power. Thus divine love might be ex-- 
 hibited as cherishing, chastising, shining ever like 
 the sun, outraged, averted, returning, delivering, ani- 
 mating, restraining. And this method of looking at 
 the subject would in a sort explain the notion of 
 Typho, who was thought to be in some things not 
 unkind, he being the violent power which convulses 
 or destroys ; but, inasmuch as these convulsions and 
 destructions are very awful, and often connected 
 with much apparent evil, his terrible aspect well- 
 nigh eclipsed all other idea of him, and he came 
 to be regarded as an adverse power. 
 
 Now this daring theory cannot be proved any more
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 287 
 
 than the tamer allegorical explanation. Both are fol- 
 lowed because our minds refuse to accept the outward 
 and visible as the true religion of the Egyptians. The 
 high character of the people, our involuntary convic- 
 tion of the superiority of their wisdom and knowledge, 
 forbid the acceptance of the evidence as complete. "We 
 labour to clear the reputation of a people whom we 
 cannot but honour, and in so doing possibly add to 
 the difficulties of a true understanding. When specu- 
 lation has exhausted itself, and the mind is giddy with 
 effort, we are no nearer than at first to our goal. 
 Time may yet help us ; let us trust to time. 
 
 One strong argument to support the opinion that 
 the Keligion was not what it appears, is the certainty 
 that the people, far from being blinded or debased, 
 were enlightened, as we have shown, and civilised to 
 an incredible degree. Let us remember what Wilkin- 
 son has said of their having relinquished the habit of 
 wearing arms when not on service. Something was 
 elevating and improving them, and if this was not the 
 religion, what was it? The rites were not savage and 
 cruel, the moral doctrine was excellent. Old tradi- 
 tions existed, as they existed in most nations of any 
 antiquity, concerning human sacrifices in early days. 
 A king named Arnosis has the credit of having abol- 
 ished the sanguinary practice, and of having substi- 
 tuted a waxen image for the victim. But the religion, 
 as we know it, was mild and liberal somewhat too 
 liberal, if we believe some writers ; advancing know- 
 ledge, however, although it wholly confirms the bene-
 
 288 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 volent character, quite contradicts the imputation of 
 licentiousness. 
 
 Animals undoubtedly were sacrificed on the altars 
 of the gods, but even the pure religion of the Jews 
 prescribed this ; and besides living things, almost all 
 the characteristic productions of the country appear 
 before the shrines, the papyrus, water-melon, lotus, 
 onion, fig, an interminable series. Incense was fre- 
 quently used, but it differed according to the hour of 
 the day : that used at sunset in the temple of the sun 
 was named Kuphi, and was compounded of sixteen 
 fragrant substances. * 
 
 The celebrated magicians of Egypt were, no doubt, 
 priests of the higher orders, who retained in their 
 own hands the chief knowledge of the sciences. 
 Either they wrought their wonders and practised 
 divination by the aid of chemistry, metallurgy, and 
 optics ; or else they really did enjoy, in their partially 
 enlightened state, a degree of genuine inspiration. 
 The latter thought supposes no more than we know 
 to have been true in the case of Balaam the son of 
 Beor, who, though, like many another sanctimonious 
 rascal both of ancient and modern times, he wanted 
 to combine the service of religion with rewards of 
 place and power for himself, yet did undoubtedly 
 receive communications from on high. And, while 
 we think of these matters, let it be remarked that the 
 books of Moses, intolerant as they are of idolatry, and 
 little reason as their writer had for being tender with 
 
 * Kenrick.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 289 
 
 Egypt, do not anywhere denounce the religion of the 
 country as grossly pagan. On the contrary, much of 
 the guilt attaching to Pharaoh and his people seems 
 to spring from the implied belief that they were 
 sufficiently instructed to know that their conduct was 
 indefensible. 
 
 A loose linen robe with full sleeves, secured round 
 the waist, or else a robe extending from the waist 
 only to the feet, and suspended by straps from the 
 shoulders, was the ordinary dress of an officiating 
 priest. He wore sandals or slippers on his feet. The 
 chief priest, and the king when he appeared as a high 
 priest, wore a garment made of a whole leopard's 
 skin. The habit of the priests were calculated to 
 secure extreme purity ; and though they were very 
 strict, they did not tend to impoverishing the blood 
 or depressing the system, but were judged to be 
 highly salutary. Shaving, ablution, and great sim- 
 plicity of living and dress, were most strictly attended 
 to : the priests ate neither pork nor fish, but geese 
 were plentiful, and apparently not prohibited, and 
 yet the unhappy clergyman (for clerks the Egyptian 
 priests may very properly be called) might not for 
 his life eat goose with onions : beans were an abom- 
 ination the priest would not look at one if he could 
 avoid it. The restraints which the priests prescribed 
 for the people they imposed in a tenfold harsher degree 
 on themselves. They obtained and kept the respect 
 of the people, we are told, by their highly benevolent 
 morals, and by their religious lives and conversation.
 
 290 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 We must not omit to state, although there is not 
 space to go at any length into the subject, that in- 
 numerable sacred animals were maintained in great 
 state in various temples. Of these the bull Apis was 
 probably the most remarkable ; but different places 
 had different fancies in this line, some taking to cro- 
 codiles, some to birds, and almost all to the scarab or 
 beetle of the Nile. The real belief concerning these 
 animals is as much a matter of controversy as the 
 intention in worshipping the gods. It is impossible 
 to say whether Apis himself was considered divine, or 
 whether he was but a visible emblem of some divine 
 being, power, or quality. 
 
 The belief and practice which sprang from the 
 religion of whose form the above is a very feeble out- 
 line, will be best learned from what has to be said of 
 Egyptians' lives, and of Egyptians' deaths and judg- 
 ments. Let us therefore get out of the temple for 
 the present, and look at some scenes in the lives of the 
 laity. Suppose we take a country gentleman of the 
 period (temp. Joseph to Moses), a tolerably well-to- 
 do squire. We find this person had a good idea of 
 making himself comfortable among his "lands and 
 beeves." His house, gardens, vineyards, artificial 
 ponds, and corn-lands were laid out very cleverly, and 
 in a style more or less costly, the larger mansions 
 having propyla and obelisks, like the temples. To 
 give a general idea of one of the houses, a quotation 
 from Wilkinson is advisable. 
 
 " About the centre of the wall of circuit," he says, " was the main
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 291 
 
 entrance, and two side gates, leading to an open walk shaded by 
 rows of trees. Here were spacious tanks of water, which faced the 
 door of the right and left wing of the house, and between them an 
 avenue led from the main entrance to the stables, and to what might 
 be called the centre of the mansion. After passing the outer door 
 of the right wing, you entered an open court with trees, extending 
 quite round a nucleus of inner apartments, and having a back 
 entrance communicating with the garden. On the right and left of 
 this court were six or more store-rooms, a small receiving or waiting 
 room at two of the corners, and at the other end the staircases which 
 led to the upper story. Both of the inner facades were furnished 
 with a corridor, supported on columns, with similar towers and gate- 
 ways. The interior of this wing consisted of twelve rooms, two 
 outer and one centre court, communicating by folding gates ; and on 
 either side of this last was the main entrance to the rooms on the 
 ground-floor, and to the staircases leading to the upper story. At 
 the back were three long rooms, and a gateway opening to the gar- 
 den, which contained a variety of fruit-trees, a small summer-house, 
 and a tank of water. 
 
 " The arrangement of the left wing was different. The front gate 
 led to an open court, extending the whole breadth of the facade of 
 the building, and backed by the wall of the inner part. Central and 
 lateral doors thence communicated with another court, surrounded 
 on three sides by a set of rooms, and behind it was a corridor, upon 
 which several other chambers opened. 
 
 " This wing had no back entrance, and, standing isolated, the 
 outer court extended entirely round it ; and a succession of door- 
 ways communicated from the court with different sections of the 
 centre of the hoiise, where the rooms, disposed, like those already 
 described, around passages and corridors, served partly as sitting 
 apartments and partly as store-rooms." 
 
 The proprietor of such a seat as the above would 
 have had his house-steward and his land-steward, and 
 with the latter it may be supposed that the principal 
 business of his life would be transacted. We see him 
 on the sculptures as he appeared when he took account 
 of his stock, as he watched his servants at seed-time,
 
 292 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 as he managed the irrigation, as they put in the sickle 
 and gathered the ripe corn, as the oxen on the thresh- 
 ing-floor trod out the grain, and as the farm-servants 
 stored it in the granary. Then he had his orchard 
 and vineyard wherewith to amuse himself when the 
 humour took him. There were palms, sycamores, and 
 vines to be tended, or their fruit to be gathered ; and 
 one way of gathering the fruits rapidly was to employ 
 monkeys to help the servants. Jacko did help, it is 
 true, but always with an unconcealed eye to the grati- 
 fication of number one. There he is, well up the 
 trees, and in the very coolest manner gorging himself, 
 while the attendants wait below and he leers at them. 
 The grapes once off, the kids were turned in to browse 
 on the vines. The juice of the grapes was expressed 
 by putting them in a bag, the opposite ends of which 
 being twisted in contrary ways by means of poles, the 
 liquor streamed through into a vase. The extended 
 arms of one man did not, however, give sufficient 
 length of lever for a pole, and hence we see a man at 
 each end of each pole, putting his whole strength into 
 the squeeze, the bag being by this means wrung to a 
 most exhausting degree ; while a fifth fellow, with his 
 feet against one pole and his hands against the other, 
 prevents the bag from shortening, and throws all his 
 energy into a most complicated wrench, like that kick 
 with which old Tony Weller finished off the shepherd. 
 The wringing of the bag was sometimes done a little 
 more scientifically by means of a frame, and by having 
 strong eyes attached to the ends of the bag, one eye
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 293 
 
 being then fixed to the post of the frame while the 
 other moved freely, being passed through a hole in 
 the opposite post, the whole squeezing party bent 
 their strength on a lever which passed through the 
 last-mentioned eye, and so brought down in a shower 
 the precious liquor. 
 
 There was also a foot-press (more used in Upper 
 Egypt), where, the grapes being duly arranged on their 
 proper floor, a lot of trampers seized each a rope radi- 
 ating from a knot in the centre of the ceiling, and 
 starting off centrifugally round and round, soon 
 mashed the fruit, and let the juice stream through a 
 sieve or colander into a receptacle beneath, from which 
 it ran away into vats. We are obliged to pass over 
 the different kinds of wines for fear of overrunning 
 our space. 
 
 The beer, of which mention has been before made,* 
 was the genuine extract of barley; but as the Egyp- 
 tians had not the hop, they gave a flavour with lupin, 
 the skirret, or the root of a certain Assyrian plant not 
 identified. This beverage was in general use through- 
 out Egypt ; and though there may have been a 
 smaller consumption in the wine-growing than in the 
 corn districts, there is reason to think that brewing 
 was done very regularly on all the estates. Neverthe- 
 less, as in our day, the beer of every district was not 
 considered equally good, and the favourite brand was 
 that of Pelusium on the Levant their Burton-on- 
 Trent. When we remember the great facilities for 
 
 * Chapter VI., p. 257.
 
 294 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 water-carriage which existed during the inundation, 
 it seems probable that Pelusium (now Port Said) may 
 have driven a considerable business in this commod- 
 ity, as the wealthy would take care to have that of 
 highest reputation; and the reputation of Pelusiac 
 beer was not confined to Egypt, but was notorious 
 in Greece. It may be an addition to our useful 
 knowledge to learn that any unfortunate person who 
 may happen to be what Mr Weller called " overtook," 
 will, if he be drunken with wine, lie on his face ; 
 whereas, if beer has been his seducer, he will lie on 
 his back. No apology is offered for advancing this 
 dogma in a somewhat positive manner, as it proceeds 
 from no satirist or profane person, neither rests on 
 the doubtful evidence of a toper who had made trial 
 of both kinds, but is the grave assertion of Aristotle 
 the philosopher : we have only, therefore, to bow the 
 head and believe ; and we English are more strictly 
 bound to this humility, as we have no practical know- 
 ledge of the subject. 
 
 But to return to our Coptic squire. It is not 
 certain that he would be a thrifty man, always con- 
 ferring with his stewards and inspecting his fields ; 
 and it is hardly likely that, however notable he might 
 be, he would not sometimes amuse himself with field- 
 sports. Whenever it might be his pleasure to hunt, 
 shoot, or fish, there were glorious opportunities of 
 having an exciting day or series of days. The game 
 was not, of course, exactly the same as that which 
 a British sportsman, in the year of grace 1870, is at
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 295 
 
 pains to destroy ; but, except in regard to one or two 
 circumstances, the modern reader is likely to marvel 
 more at the extreme similarity of the Egyptian sport- 
 ing expeditions and adventures to our own than at 
 any striking peculiarity in the sports. And one may 
 well marvel, when the immense distance of time is 
 considered, at the strong similarities which are 
 brought home to us, not by verbal descriptions alone, 
 but by the most spirited sculptures, the chefs-d'ceuvre, 
 probably, of Egyptian art, where some conventional 
 restraint which hampered the artist in portraying 
 gods and men seems to have been removed, so that he 
 could give a loose to his genius. The situations of 
 the chase are generally such as are familiar to us 
 the setting out of the hunting-party, the beat, the 
 find, the setting on of the dogs and other animals, 
 the sportsmen assisting with their bows and javelins, 
 the animals turning to bay, the death, and the return 
 with the game. There were Landseers on the earth 
 in those days. 
 
 Foxes, wolves, jackals, hyenas, and leopards were 
 destroyed for sport or for their skins ; but gazelles, 
 ibexes, oryxes, wild oxen, deer, wild sheep, hares, 
 and porcupines, were hunted for their flesh as well 
 as for amusement. The ostrich also was chased for 
 his feathers, ornaments which were highly prized. 
 Hounds and other dogs were the principal animals 
 used in pursuit ; but mention must not be omitted of 
 two species of the genus felis, which, in such a con- 
 nection, may rather astonish : one is the lion, which
 
 296 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 was tamed for a sporting beast ; the other the do- 
 mestic cat, which was educated to be a retriever in 
 fowling. 
 
 Birds, besides being taken in snares, were liable to 
 be lulled by a decoy, and then knocked down with 
 sticks, or more sportingly slain with darts. It is 
 very clear how it was all done, and the zest with 
 which the sportsmen laboured, Fishing with nets 
 and baits and prongs went on in the days of Joseph 
 much as it does now. The kinds of fish which were 
 then caught may be seen in representation to this 
 day, as may also the kind of knives with which they 
 were opened, and the modes of curing them. Of fly- 
 fishing there is no record, only of netting, spearing, 
 and angling with ground-bait. 
 
 There were two sports to which we cannot pretend 
 to find parallels in our land and day, viz., hippo- 
 potamus-hunting, in which a harpoon and reel were 
 used, making it, to that extent, like whaling and 
 crocodile-hunting. The Tentyrites are said to have 
 been so bold in this latter pursuit, that one of them 
 would not hesitate to swim singly after a crocodile, 
 jump on its back, and thrust a bar into its mouth, 
 which, being used as a bit, the gallant rider made the 
 crocodile carry him to shore ! Herodotus, however, 
 tells us that the way to catch a crocodile in his time 
 was to bait a hook with a piece of pork, then to set a 
 pig screaming on the bank. The crocodile running 
 to look after the pig, would observe the pork, and 
 swallow it en passant; whereupon he was hauled
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 297 
 
 ashore and blinded with mud, so that he could offer 
 but little resistance to his fate. 
 
 When our bucolic Egyptian got home after being 
 afield, he took his bath, and was ready then for some 
 refreshment, which was brought him in separate dishes, 
 and served upon a small round table with one leg, at 
 which he sat on a high or low stool, but did not re- 
 cline. His meal, the history of which may be read 
 on the sculptures, from the slaughter of the animal 
 or the gathering of the vegetable or fruit up to the 
 moment of serving, was tolerably luxurious ; and 
 probably a bill of fare might here be furnished, only 
 that meals will be better treated of when we come 
 to Entertainments, and before they are mentioned 
 something ought to be said of the thriving citizen of 
 an Egyptian city. 
 
 Town-houses, when small, touched each other, and 
 formed the sides of a narrow street. Large houses 
 were detached, and stood each in its own area, with 
 entrance-doors on two or three of its sides. The plan 
 of these detached houses was rectangular, and either 
 the apartments ran round three sides of an inner 
 quadrangle, or a spacious court was reserved on one 
 side of the buildings joining them to the boundary- 
 wall. Low houses appear to have been the fashion, 
 except in splendid Thebes, where, Diodorus says, the 
 houses were four or five stories in height. " They 
 had a portico or porch before the front door (Janua), 
 supported on two columns, below whose capitals were 
 attached ribbons or banners, the name of the person
 
 298 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 who lived there being occasionally painted within, on 
 the lintel or imposts of the door ; and sometimes the 
 portico consisted of a double row of columns, between 
 which stood colossal statues of the king. 
 
 " A line of trees ran parallel with the front of the 
 house ; and, to prevent injuries from cattle or from 
 any accident, the stems were surrounded by a low 
 wall, pierced with square holes to admit the air. . . . 
 The height of the portico was about twelve or fifteen 
 feet, just exceeding that of the cornice of the door, 
 which was only raised by its threshold above the 
 level of the ground." * The walls of the reception- 
 rooms were raised to only a moderate height, and 
 carried no roof, but an awning was stretched over 
 them while the sun shone, and a stream of cool air 
 was by architectural arrangement carried through the 
 rooms. These rooms were rich with columns, and de- 
 corated with banners. The distribution of the rooms 
 of the family was various, according to taste or need, 
 as we are informed by many examples. The doors 
 had locks and keys keys, that is, which could be 
 taken out of the locks how early we know not, but 
 certainly as early as thirteen and a half centuries B.C. 
 There was a terrace on the top of each house covered 
 by a roof on columns. The ceilings were beautifully 
 painted as to both colour and design ; and on Egyp- 
 tian ceilings at least 800 years older than Homer and 
 1000 years older than Romulus, Wilkinson found 
 splendid examples of what we have been accustomed 
 
 * Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 299 
 
 to call Greek and Etruscan patterns, the lotus, the 
 square, the diamond, the circle, and above all, he says, 
 the succession of scrolls and square within square, 
 usually called the Tuscan border. The basement 
 rooms were appropriated as offices and stores, and 
 these were generally covered by regular keyed arches 
 Roman arches, as it is the fashion to call them. 
 
 Now these citizens seem to have been a remarkably 
 sociable class, not " fat chuffs, gorbellied knaves/' that 
 hated the long-ago-mummied men about town, who 
 might in that day have described themselves as " us 
 youth," but liberal, open-handed fellows, giving of 
 their abundance, and unwilling to eat their morsel 
 alone. " To see a few friends " was clearly a great 
 delight to them ; and how they entertained their 
 guests we may learn as accurately and minutely as 
 if we had been present. We see the soberer magnates 
 borne to the door in their palanquins, surrounded by 
 a crowd of attendants, each of whom carried some- 
 thing which his master might possibly require during 
 the visit, such as a stool to alight by, his tablets, and 
 so on ; we see the footman knocking at the door, and 
 the servants within getting ready water for the guests' 
 feet; and then we see the young swells, evidently 
 after time, dashing up in their curricles, and making 
 sensation among the company already assembled, 
 while grooms run to the horses' heads. And the 
 water for the feet and hands was offered in the houses 
 of people of distinction in a style becoming citizens 
 of no mean cities ; none of your delf, none of your
 
 300 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 porcelain even, none of your figured glass, none of 
 your alabaster or such common wares to wash in, but 
 golden ewers and basins, beautifully fashioned. After 
 he had washed, each guest was anointed by a servant 
 with perfumed unguents out of porcelain or alabaster 
 boxes, then he was crowned and garlanded with 
 flowers, and so made fit to enter the reception-room, 
 where he found ladies and gentlemen seated on otto- 
 mans, chairs, stools, and sofas. 
 
 The entertainment began by an offer of wine being 
 made to all the guests, female and male ; and then, 
 while dinner was being prepared, the said guests con- 
 versed or listened to favourite airs played on the 
 harp, pipe, flute, and tambourine by professional 
 musicians. Anon came the repast ; but we are not 
 asked to sit satisfied with seeing that there are dishes, 
 and plenty of them we are taken through the 
 slaughter-house and through the kitchen, and by the 
 most minute description thoroughly informed as to 
 the preparation. There is to be seen the ox, gazelle, 
 oryx, or kid bound for slaughter, and the butcher 
 applying his fatal knife ; and let it be remarked that 
 these ancient butchers wore in their belts and tied to 
 their aprons steels for sharpening the knives. The 
 whole process of preparing the animals for the table 
 is then laid bare, and we are introduced to the head 
 cook and his assistants, who are seen to be spitting, 
 mincing, pounding, garnishing, poking the fires, and 
 blowing the bellows with their feet. Joints, hors- 
 d'ceuvres, savoury meats, were thus prepared, and not
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 301 
 
 a few tasty messes made with geese and other poultry, 
 while the most delicious vegetables entered largely 
 into the composition of almost every dish. Who does 
 not call to mind the murmurs of the Israelites at 
 Taberah r ( " We remember the fish which we did 
 eat in Egypt freely ; the cucumbers, and the melons, 
 and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic." The 
 baking (including unmistakable macaroni) and con- 
 fectionery were intrusted to another set of artists, of 
 whom Pharaoh's ill-fated chief baker was probably 
 a director. Everything is shown us, down to the 
 minutest circumstance; and we even know what 
 parts, when that which was thought worthy to be 
 cooked for the guests had been selected, were given 
 to the poor. But we must not loiter, though the 
 temptation to do so is strong. 
 
 We find the guests (to return to the party) enter- 
 tained sometimes by sexes separately, though in the 
 same room, and sometimes with the ladies and gentle- 
 men intermixed at the same table. The table was 
 generally, though not invariably, round ; and the 
 dishes with loaves of bread were placed on it, the 
 table itself being removed with every course, and 
 another substituted with the next course. But at 
 other times the table remained all through the meal, 
 and the viands were brought in baskets. Wine was 
 freely handed about to ladies as well as gentlemen ; 
 and there is reason to believe that the former even 
 liked it, and sometimes went so far as to take a 
 thimbleful too much, as the unmerciful sculptor has
 
 302 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 not scrupled to record. They not only could get 
 merry and frisky, but one young lady (and we feel 
 certain that not a practice of the girl of the period, 
 but a particular accident, must have suggested the 
 sculpture) is very unwell indeed, as if she was at 
 sea, and you see all her distress, and the assist- 
 ance rendered to her oh my ! ! Of course, where 
 such a thing could be imagined of a lady, gentle- 
 men were not unfrequently elevated pa va sans 
 dire. 
 
 But while we contemplate their hilarity and indis- 
 cretion, mention must be made of a most remarkable 
 custom at feasts : media de fotite leporum surgit 
 amari aliquid; while they are at the height of their 
 enjoyment, servants enter bearing in a mummy, or 
 the semblance of one, and this hideous object is 
 handed round to every guest. The application of this 
 incident rested, of course, with each guest accord- 
 ing to his disposition ; some regarded it as Falstaff 
 said he did old Bardolph's face saw in it a memento 
 mori to recall them to serious reflection ; while 
 others looked at it much more as Falstaff really would, 
 and drew the moral, " Let us eat and drink, for to- 
 morrow we die." The intention was, no doubt, to 
 restrain intemperance and levity. 
 
 After dinner, music and singing were resumed. 
 These were followed by dancing and feats of agility 
 and tumbling. Almost all the achievements in this 
 line which amuse us to-day are to be seen executed 
 to the life on the sculptures, the effects of which on
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 303 
 
 the mind, when the lapse of time occurs to it for a 
 moment, are absolutely startling. Something that 
 you saw last week, after it had been trumpeted as the 
 most astonishing novelty, you may see to-day facing 
 you in a museum on an Egyptian tableau of incalcul- 
 able antiquity. Magicians, professors of gymnastics, 
 and sleight-of-hand men were all occasionally intro- 
 duced, the conjuring being, of course, a favourite 
 amusement. Mr Kenrick, being for a moment a little 
 simple or a little pompous, writes thus of one of the 
 tricks : " We see two men seated with four inverted 
 cups placed between them, and it is evident that the 
 game consisted in guessing beneath which of the cups 
 some object was concealed." In homelier phrase, the 
 noble science of thimblerig was understood and prac- 
 tised ; and it is satisfactory to find, by subsequent 
 reference to Wilkinson, who speaks less fastidiously, 
 that this interpretation is true. Draughts and dice 
 were much played at, and wrestling and single-stick 
 gave delight to some. Buffoonery seems to have been 
 appreciated by all. 
 
 Occasion was taken in a former paper* to speak 
 of the art of making musical instruments, and inci- 
 dentally to mention the later opinions concerning the 
 musical taste of the Egyptians. But we did not say 
 then neither can we say now one tithe of what it 
 is desirable to say on this subject. The introduction 
 on the tableaux of music on every possible occasion, 
 shows how generally the science was appreciated ; and 
 
 * Chapter VI., p. 258.
 
 304 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 the beautiful stringed instruments which even yet 
 survive, tell us of themselves how devoted the people 
 were to the hearing of sweet sounds. Specimens of 
 the instruments as of most other things of general 
 use or estimation were laid up in the tombs, where, 
 unseen and undisturbed, they were left to gratify the 
 eyes of the spirit whose mummy, with its countless 
 bandages, lay embalmed in the same sepulchre. In 
 one of these tombs, the date of closing which was 
 ascertained to be more than a thousand years before 
 Christ, a harp of many strings was discovered in 1823. 
 One of the exploring party laid his hand upon the 
 instrument, and, let him who may read it without 
 emotion the chords which had been motionless and 
 silent for upwards of three thousand years vibrated to 
 his touch, and woke the echoes of the tomb with 
 musical sounds ! 
 
 "O wake once more ! how rude soe'er the hand 
 That ventures o'er thy magic muse to stray. 
 O wake once more ! though scarce my skill command 
 
 Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay ; 
 Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, 
 
 And all unworthy of thy nobler strain ; 
 Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, 
 
 The wizard-note has not been touched in vain. 
 Then silent be no more ! Enchantress, wake again ! " 
 
 From the few particulars, meagre though they be, 
 which have been given, it may be understood that a 
 tolerable degree of luxury and a somewhat ostenta- 
 tious taste existed in Egypt. Just as wealthy mod- 
 erns develop or invent all manner of fancies, and
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 305 
 
 spare no expense to gratify their caprices, so did opu- 
 lent Egyptians deny themselves nothing in the way 
 of wines, equipages, works of art, pleasure-boats, slaves, 
 animals, trees, &c. "But while the funds arising 
 from extensive farms and the abundant produce of 
 a fertile soil enabled the rich to indulge extravagant 
 habits, many of the less wealthy envied the enjoy- 
 ment of those luxuries which fortune had denied to 
 them ; and, prompted by vanity and a desire of 
 imitation, so common in civilised communities, and 
 so generally followed by fatal results, they pursued 
 a career which speedily led to an accumulation of 
 debt, and demanded the interference of the Legisla- 
 ture." * Now the interference of the Legislature was 
 remarkable, inasmuch as it was ordained that when a 
 man had been so silly as to get deeply into debt, he 
 should give his father's (or, as Wilkinson supposes, his 
 nearest relation's, since his father may not yet have 
 been mummified) mummy in pledge for payment. Not 
 to have redeemed the mummy would have rendered 
 the debtor infamous. He was therefore thus put 
 under the strongest obligation to acquit himself of 
 the debt, and generally did acquit himself. The 
 liberal creditor, not altogether caring to domesticate 
 the mummy, was commonly satisfied with possession 
 of the tomb. This was quite enough to brand the 
 debtor and his family too if the account remained 
 long unpaid ; and the pledge and the penalty being 
 so awful, it is suggested that some relation say an 
 
 * Wilkinson's Manners and Customs, &c. 
 U
 
 306 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 uncle would come forward and receive the precious 
 deposit, to keep the affair within the bounds of the 
 family. Being too much occupied to follow up this 
 suggestion, pregnant as it is, we hereby unreservedly 
 present it to the etymologists, by whose labours we 
 hope to see a remarkable but perplexing modern form 
 of speech clearly connected with the earlier Coptic. 
 
 The design of this paper being but to present some 
 striking points of Egyptian life, with a view of in- 
 ducing a comprehensive study of it, we pass now from 
 the lives (most meagrely glanced at) of that ancient 
 people to their deaths, or the circumstances connected 
 therewith, premising that everything belonging to 
 death and funerals was of immense importance ; and 
 thoughts of, and preparations (both material and 
 moral) for death, appear to have occupied individ- 
 uals as much as the requirements of their lives. 
 Although they had a consciousness of the soul's sepa- 
 rate existence in a spiritual world called Amenthe, 
 there was nevertheless some strong idea, not yet 
 clearly evolved, of communication maintained be- 
 tween the soul and the mummy, as long as the 
 latter should not be wholly dissolved. Hence they 
 came to look upon the tomb in which a man was to 
 lie for thousands of years as his real home, in contra- 
 distinction to his house, which, as a stranger and a 
 pilgrim, he would occupy for some fraction of a cen- 
 tury. Accordingly, a man of any means, from the 
 king downwards, set about the provision of a tomb 
 for himself as soon as he attained to independence,
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 307 
 
 and lie lavished his wealth in making his long home 
 worthy of him. He furnished and he decorated it ; 
 architecture, sculpture, painting, all the arts contri- 
 buted to its magnificence ; furniture, instruments, 
 utensils, jewels, records, were stored there in profu- 
 sion ; indeed it is in these tombs that we find our 
 most interesting relics, as the harp above spoken of, 
 or the sculptures placed around the mummy to recall 
 familiar scenes and pleasures. 
 
 Now, mummification having been, as we showed 
 before, 4 '" an art so important and so well understood, 
 people while in health would naturally declare their 
 wishes, and make their provision in that regard. But 
 although every man hoped to become some sort or 
 other of mummy an Egyptian being always con- 
 sidered worth his salt yet it depended upon his 
 means in what style he should be packed for eter- 
 nity. Herodotus gives three principal methods, but 
 it is probable that these admitted of modifications 
 according to price. One can hardly realise the satis- 
 faction of going into an embalmer's establishment, and 
 cruising about to choose after what pattern one would 
 " be a body," as Mr Mantilini put it. But the quest 
 must have had its fascinations. " Genteel, well-cured 
 mummy very sound, only 7 minee (20)," would 
 meet the eye on one side, and seem very eligible ; 
 but then the price ! Well, then, look at this " 22 
 minae (60), and a perfect gem at the money. Extra 
 natron warranted to last 10,000 years equal to 
 
 * Chapter VI., p. 250.
 
 308 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 first-class in duration difference in external materials 
 only." Or, if that does not satisfy, then " In this 
 style, finest that can be made, with latest improve- 
 ments, one talent (250)." So, after a great deal of 
 hesitation and balancing of expense against quality, 
 a decision would be arrived at. Quack embalmers, 
 of course, there were, heading their advertisements 
 with " Why give more \ " " To persons about to 
 perish." " When you die send your body to us." 
 " A perfect cure ; you last forty centuries or your 
 money returned," and such ad captandum snares ; 
 but it was too serious a matter altogether for any 
 discreet person to chaffer with charlatans in respect 
 of it. For the confounded risk was this : the spirit 
 would not be provided with another body for 3000 
 years ; and if in the mean time its old temple should 
 be dissolved, what was to become of it, the spirit 
 aforesaid ? 
 
 Now we quite remember that the spirit was under- 
 stood to have gone to Osiris in Amenthe ; we have 
 just said that it still maintained its place in the old 
 firm of which the body had declined into a sleeping 
 partner, and that it hovered about the tomb, and 
 didn't forget its old tastes and habits ; and we have 
 now to add that, in the interval between the decease 
 of the old human body and its entering a new one, it 
 passed 3000 years in bodies of beasts, birds, fishes, and 
 reptiles ! How to reconcile these destinies ? Well, it 
 can't be done at present, but the fault, no doubt, is 
 with us, who don't half understand as yet the things
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 309 
 
 which have been transmitted to us. The Egyptians 
 were certainly most earnest about the life hereafter, 
 and they were too shrewd and too logical to be satis- 
 fied with any hocus-pocus doctrine on a subject so 
 important. We must wait for more light, remember- 
 ing that a great deal of what is ascribed to the Egyp- 
 tians, and what has been accepted by the moderns, is 
 only the account of the Greeks, who may have wholly 
 misunderstood the theology of the superior people 
 whom they professed to portray. Greek specula- 
 tion must go down before the monuments. 
 
 No sooner had a member of a family died than the 
 females of the house plastered their heads and faces 
 with mud, and rushed into the streets, striking their 
 bare bosoms and uttering mournful cries. They were 
 there joined by relations and friends, who all added 
 their lamentations. This was the beginning of a woe 
 which was continued with variations throughout a 
 period of seventy-two days * i. e., while the corpse 
 was taken to the embalmers, made a mummy of in 
 due process, and returned impregnably corned to the 
 wailing relations. After this last event, a new set of 
 ceremonies was proceeded with. The mummy had 
 assigned to it a closet in the house, where it stood 
 upright against a wall, when entirely unoccupied. 
 But the leisure of a young mummy was but scanty, 
 there being innumerable ceremonies and domestic 
 
 * See the account of the mourning for Jacob: "And forty days were 
 fulfilled for him ; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are em- 
 balmed : and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days." 
 Gen. 1. 3.
 
 310 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 meetings at which it was required to attend. A 
 small sledge was used for moving it about from, 
 chamber to chamber. It was taken out of its closet 
 and anointed with oil or ointment ; it was embraced 
 and mourned over; libations, incense, and offerings 
 of vegetables were presented to the gods on its be- 
 half ; liturgies were recited by priests. It sometimes 
 even happened that the mummy was placed at table, 
 as if friends desired to enjoy its society. 
 
 For an indefinite period, ranging from a few weeks 
 to a year, the mummy was an inmate of the house ; 
 but sooner or later arrived the time when it had to 
 be deposited in the tomb, and then there was some- 
 thing like a stir. Not only are the funeral proces- 
 sions described, but several have been depicted in 
 all their details. The magnificence with which peo- 
 ple of rank were borne to the grave could not be 
 exceeded. 
 
 " First came several servants carrying tables laden with fruit, 
 cakes, flowers, vases of ointment, wine and other liquids, with three 
 young geese and a calf for sacrifice, chairs and wooden tablets, nap- 
 kins, and other things. Then others bringing the small closets in 
 which the mummy of the deceased and of his ancestors had been 
 kept, while receiving the funeral liturgies previous to bxirial, and 
 which sometimes contained the images of the gods. They also 
 carried daggers, bows, sandals, and fans, each man having a ker- 
 chief or napkin on his shoulder. Next came a table of offerings, 
 fauteuils, couches, boxes, and a chariot ; and then the charioteer 
 with a pair of horses yoked in another car, which he drove as he 
 followed on foot, in token of respect to his late master. After these 
 were men carrying gold vases on a table, with other offerings, boxes, 
 and a large case upon a sledge borne on poles by four men, superin- 
 tended by two functionaries of the priestly order ; then others bear-
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 311 
 
 ing small images of his ancestors, arms, fans, the sceptres, signets, 
 collars, necklaces, and other things appertaining to the king, in 
 whose service he held an important office. To these succeeded the 
 bearers of a sacred boat, and the mysterious eye of Osiris as God of 
 Stability, so common on funereal monuments the same which was 
 placed over the incision in the side of the body when embalmed, was 
 the emblem of Egypt, and was frequently used as a sort of amulet, 
 and deposited in the tombs. Others carried the well-known small 
 images of blue pottery, representing the deceased under the form of 
 Osiris, and the bird emblematic of the souL Following these were 
 seven or more men bearing upon staves or wooden yokes cases filled 
 with flowers, and bottles for libation ; and then seven or eight women, 
 having their heads bound with fillets, beating their breasts, throwing 
 dust upon their heads, and uttering doleful lamentations for the de- 
 ceased, intermixed with praises of his virtues. . . . Next came 
 the hearse, placed in the consecrated boat upon a sledge, drawn by 
 four oxen and by seven men, under the direction of a superintendent, 
 who regulated the march of the procession. A high functionary 
 of the priestly order walked close to the boat, in which the chief 
 mourners, the nearest female relations of the deceased, stood or sat 
 at either end of the sarcophagus ; and sometimes his widow, holding 
 a child in her arms, united her lamentations with prayers for her 
 tender offspring, who added its tribute of sorrow to that of its afflicted 
 mother."* 
 
 The rich sarcophagus was decked with flowers. 
 Sometimes the mummy rested on the outside ex- 
 posed to view, but more frequently it was enclosed 
 in the case a panel of which was, however, taken 
 out on some occasions to show the head of the 
 mummy. The procession wound up with the male 
 relations and friends, leaning on long sticks, and 
 either beating their breasts or walking in solemn 
 silence. 
 
 It was, no doubt, such a procession as the above 
 which went up to Abel-Mizraim with the remains of 
 
 * Wilkinson's Manners and Customs, &c.
 
 312 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 Jacob; and Canaan probably never before and never 
 since saw a funeral conducted with such pomp and 
 splendour. None can doubt that the funeral of Joseph 
 himself, when he was consigned to the tomb wherein 
 he lay until the Exodus, was of unparalleled grandeur. 
 And here let us note, in passing, that there is some 
 reason to think that this tomb has been found/" 
 
 It may be imagined that, having described the 
 funeral procession, we have completed the " last scene 
 of all that ends this strange eventful history," but 
 such is not the case ; there remains behind a custom 
 more remarkable than any other part of the obsequies. 
 Between the road over which the mummy travelled as 
 above and the tomb which had been prepared for it, 
 there intervened an obstacle. Every nome (or Egyp- 
 tian province) had its sacred lake barring the passage 
 to the tomb until he whose mummy sought to be at 
 rest had established his character as one deserving to 
 lie among the worthies of Egypt who had gone before 
 him. There was a sacred boat and a boatman (the 
 Egyptian for which word is Charon^), but before the 
 mummy could be embarked, or the boatman would 
 pull a stroke, the permit of forty-two assessors, who 
 had been expressly summoned, and who stood in a 
 grave semicircle on the bank, had to be obtained. 
 There might or might not be an accuser or accusers 
 present. If there were, he or they were bound to 
 prove that the deceased had led an evil life, on pain 
 
 * Osburn's Monumental History. 
 
 t Of course the original of our Stygian acquaintance.
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 313 
 
 of the severest punishment in case of failure. If 
 there were no accuser, still the character of the dead 
 had to be examined on every point seriatim of Egyp- 
 tian morality. His acts, his omissions, his example, 
 were rigidly passed in review, and it was not until 
 the assessors had decided that he was altogether 
 worthy that his mummy could be lowered into the 
 sacred ark. Should the sentence be against the dead, 
 or should he be proved to be heavily in debt, the body 
 had to be returned by the way it came, amid the con- 
 fusion and grief of all the family, and kept concealed, 
 until the production of further evidence, the expiation 
 of any offences that admitted of being cancelled, or, in 
 the worst case, the lapse of time, enabled the afflicted 
 family to obtain for it the shelter of the tomb. Phar- 
 aoh himself was not exempt from this ordeal, and there 
 were certainly instances where the royal mummy was 
 refused a passage. By such cases we get a little in- 
 sight into the moral forces by which a Pharaoh was 
 kept in equilibria. But, supposing all to go well, no 
 sooner was the testamur issued, and the candidate 
 pronounced to have passed this his " great go," than 
 the assembled crowd, abandoning the mournings and 
 lamentations and woe which they had so long in- 
 dulged, broke out into acclamations, extolled the 
 glory of the deceased, and rejoiced that he was to 
 remain for ever in Amenthe with the virtuous and 
 approved. In the entrance passage, usually, of the 
 tomb, but certainly in some part of the tomb, was 
 registered the whole acquittal of the dead : how he
 
 314 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 had been able, by his representatives, and to the 
 satisfaction of his judges, to assert his innocence of 
 all the sins known to the Egyptian law as they were 
 called over one by one. 
 
 The real import of the ceremony was of far more 
 concern than could attach to any purely earthly ver- 
 dict. The trial which was seen and heard was only 
 the shadow or reflection of the unseen awful challenge 
 at the bar of Osiris : the result was believed to repre- 
 sent the more terrible result which was recorded there. 
 The fate of the soul has been depicted for us as much 
 in detail as that of the body. We see it conducted to 
 the gates of Amenthe where Cerberus is warder ; we 
 see it weighed in the balance ; we see it, if accepted, 
 taken into the blessed presence of Osiris, Isis, and 
 Nepthys, where from the throne in the midst of the 
 waters rises the undying Lotus, bearing on the mar- 
 gin of its blossom the four Genii ; we see it, if rejected, 
 quailing before the sceptre of Osiris, inclined towards 
 it in token of condemnation, and doomed to return to 
 earth under the form of a pig, or some other unclean 
 animal. " Placed in a boat, it is removed, under the 
 charge of two monkeys, from the precincts of Amenthe, 
 all communication with which is figuratively cut off 
 by a man who hews away the earth with an axe after 
 its passage ; and the commencement of a new term of 
 life is indicated by those monkeys." 
 
 One of the sacred books, the Book of the Dead, 
 often found in the wrappings of the mummy or about 
 the tomb, is a most extraordinary document, having
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 315 
 
 reference to the passage of the soul. It is certainly 
 not yet understood perhaps it is not accurately read 
 but it may contain valuable information on the 
 subject of Egyptian belief. The wonderful pains 
 which this people took to do battle with the worm 
 and the elements, and the motives which incited them 
 thereto, were probably known to the learned St Paul, 
 whose answers to the question, "How are the dead 
 raised up 1 and with what body do they come ? " may 
 have been addressed not only to contemptible pagans, 
 but also to this erudite people, whose desires were 
 admirable, but whose knowledge was warped and 
 erring. How applicable to them the sentence, " Thou 
 fool, that which thou so west is not quickened except 
 it die ! " 
 
 And now, all unsatisfied, first, that we may say no 
 more, and, secondly, that we have so feebly and im- 
 perfectly presented a few glimpses of a most interest- 
 ing subject, we take our leave of these mighty men of 
 old of whom we have read and thought till they seem 
 as well known to us as the characters in * King Henry 
 IV.,' or the actors in ' Ivanhoe.' The pleasure of this 
 acquaintance we recommend to all who may have 
 taken the trouble to wander with us through these 
 pages, assuring them that it is no ignis fatuus, no 
 lame and impotent conclusion in pursuit of which we 
 would engage them, but that the wonders inside the 
 caravan immeasurably surpass the promise of the 
 wretched canvas which we have displayed ; in support 
 of which assertion let us close with these words of
 
 316 ABOUT HOW THE 
 
 Mr Kenrick : " We possess means for ascertaining the 
 form, physiognomy, and colour of the ancient Egyp- 
 tians, such as no other people has bequeathed to us. 
 AVe find in Greek, Eoman, or British sepulchres only 
 the ashes, or at most the skeleton, of the occupant ; 
 but the Egyptian reappears from his grotto, after the 
 lapse of 3000 years, with every circumstance of life, 
 except life itself." 
 
 Several learned and interesting works have been 
 repeatedly referred to in this and preceding articles 
 concerning Egypt. It w r ould be painful to take leave 
 of the subject without an acknowledgment of the 
 information and pleasure which have been thence 
 derived by the writer ; and a reader who may have 
 been attracted by the subject would hardly forgive 
 the omission, if, after exciting a desire for Egyptian 
 lore, we should fail to show how it may be gratified. 
 
 As giving most graphic pictures of the times of 
 old, in a free and lucid style, with incidents more 
 startling than the most daring romancer has imagined, 
 and of an interest which never declines, ' The Manners 
 and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians/ by Sir G. 
 Wilkinson, stands alone. This fascinating work is in 
 two series : the first containing an Egyptian history, 
 with the manners and customs of the people generally ; 
 and the second being an account of the gods and of 
 religious ceremonies, including funerals. It is pro- 
 fusely illustrated. 
 
 Mr Kenrick, in his work on ' Ancient Egypt,' goes
 
 OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 21 7 
 
 over much the same ground as Wilkinson, but in a 
 somewhat severer style. His division of the subject 
 is most convenient, and he has condensed into moder- 
 ate space a large amount of information and infer- 
 ences. 
 
 The 'Monumental History of Egypt,' by Mr 
 Osburn, traces the early history from the monuments 
 alone or chiefly, and shows that there is a concord 
 between the Scriptural accounts and chronology, and 
 the order of events as they have been recorded in the 
 sculptures and papyri. It contains a full and inter- 
 esting account of the hieroglyphics, and a detailed 
 explanation of the inscription of Rosetta. Its narra- 
 tives and inquiries are enlivened with most interesting 
 inferences and suggestions, all bold and independent. 
 
 The volume of the Family Library on 'Ancient 
 and Modern Egypt/ by the Rev. M. Russell, is a short 
 critical resume of the discoveries as they stood some 
 thirty years ago, and of Egypt under Mehemet Ali. 
 
 The second volume of Rawlinson's ' Herodotus ' is 
 in itself a repertory of Egyptological facts. The 
 notes and appendices by the learned translator, by his 
 brother Sir H. Rawlinson, and by Sir G. Wilkinson, 
 not only illustrate the text, but supplement the old 
 historian so thoroughly as to make the reading of the 
 " Euterpe " a full study of the subject. 
 
 Lastly, we name with reverence the exhaustive 
 work of Biinsen, ' Egypt's Place in History/ in which 
 the subjects of Egyptian history, chronology, theo- 
 logy, and writing are discussed. This profound work
 
 318 HOW THE OLD EGYPTIANS LIVED AND DIED. 
 
 is in five volumes, and must be read by veritable 
 students of Egyptology. 
 
 The work of the Prussian Dr Lepsius is known to 
 the writer of this paper only at second-hand, but in 
 pointing a finger-post toward old Egypt his name 
 must be prominently written. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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