Ex Ubris 
 C. K. OGDEN
 
 JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS 
 
 EGYPT, NUBIA, ARABIA PETR^EA, 
 PALESTINE, AND SYRIA. 
 
 VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH, M.P. 
 
 ) (lustrations from (Original ulraunnqs 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. T. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, 
 
 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 1847.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE time that has elapsed since these 
 notes were written, and their cursory nature, 
 afford sufficient proof that they were des- 
 tined for the amusement of a family circle, 
 without the remotest intention that the read- 
 ing world, already so amply provided with 
 descriptions of the East, should be called 
 upon to endure their perusal. Nor could 
 I have ventured upon their publication at 
 this time had I not entertained the hope of 
 thus being enabled to add some slight con- 
 tribution to the magnificent charity afforded
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 by this country towards the relief of her 
 afflicted sister. 
 
 The plates are selected from a large 
 collection of drawings taken on the spot by 
 one of my companions, Mr. A. Schranz, of 
 Malta.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHA1TEK I. 
 
 Sail from Southampton Cadiz Gibraltar 
 Malta Island of Servi Alexandria - - p. 1 
 
 CIIAPTEK II. 
 
 The Bazaars Boghos Bey The Pacha's Com- 
 merce Sanitary Regulations Palace and 
 Gardens of Said Pacha Arsenal Departure 
 from Alexandria Atfe Boulak Cairo - 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Departure from Boulak Beni Souef Colo- 
 saneh Siout Excavations The Luxor 
 Temples Karnac Temple at Edfou - 4,5
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Boat upsets on the Nile The Cataracts Temples 
 of Philae Irrigation Wady Haifa The 
 Nile at the Cataracts - -75 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Temple in the rocks near Fareyg Great temple 
 at Abousimbel Ibrim Derr Seboua 
 DakkeGerf Hussein Kalabshe Temples 
 of Finite Biggeh 93 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Passage of the Cataracts Quarries at Assouan 
 Ombos Excavations at Hagar Silsilis 
 Temple of Edfou El Kab Almeh, or Danc- 
 ing Girls at Esne Hermonthis Thebes - 113 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Sunrise from the Statue of Memnon Luxor 
 Religious ceremonies of the Dervishes 
 Karnac Palace of Gornou Belzoni's Tomb 
 Dendera Abydos Sugar Man ufactory 
 Beni Hassan Pyramids of Dashur Arrival 
 at Cairo - 133 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Currency Regulations at Cairo Marble Arch- 
 way Rhoda Shoubra Pyramids - 157
 
 CONTENTS. VI 1 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Memphis Saccara The Sphinx Pyramid 
 called Abou Ruash Characteristic Anec- 
 dotes The Jews of Cairo at their own 
 Residences 177 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Procession of Pilgrims from Mecca Tomb of 
 Mehemet All's Family Suleiman Pacha 
 The Scheriff of Mecca A Turkish Dinner 
 Scorpions 197 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Damietta branch of the Nile The Pacha's new 
 bridge Foreign assistance Mehemet Ali's 
 approach to Mehallet el Kebir - - - 21 1 
 
 CHAPTER XI T. 
 
 The Mosques at Cairo Sultan Hassan Gar- 
 dens of Rhoda Petrified Forest Tombs of 
 the Caliphs Mehemet Ali and the Eastern 
 Question Obelisk at Matarieh - 243 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Suez Desert Range of Gebel Ataka 
 Passage of the Israelites Suez Springs of 
 Moses Mount Sinai The Convent - 263
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 ENCAMPMENT IN THE DESERT OF PARAN Frontispiece. 
 
 PHIL.E to face p. 108 
 
 JERUSALEM 197 
 
 MOUNT SINAI FROM MOUNT ST. CATHERINE 289 
 
 VOL. II. 
 DAMASCUS - Frontispiece. 
 
 PASS OF EL AIN - - - to fftC6 p. 19 
 
 PASS OF ES SUFAH ... ?j 157 
 
 THEATRE AT PETRA ,, 177 
 
 NATURAL BRIDGE, MOUNT LEBANON - 253 
 
 VIEW IN MOUNT LEBANON - - 259
 
 DIAEY 
 
 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Sail from Southampton Cadiz Gibraltar Malta 
 Island of Servi Alexandria. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON the 3rd of November, 1841, I sailed 
 from Southampton, on board " The Circassian," 
 bound for the East, with my friend Captain 
 Lyon, who was kind enough to give me a 
 berth. We made Cape Ortegal on the 7th, 
 and, having been favoured by cloudless skies, 
 were enabled to admire at leisure the bold 
 scenery of Cape Finisterre, Monte Cico, and 
 Cape St. Vincent, and to arrive off Cadiz 
 about midnight on the 12th. 
 
 Nov. 13th. A thick haze to day prevented 
 our seeing more than the outline of the town, 
 rising from the sea. The small village of Rota, 
 the shape and features of the bay, and Port 
 St. Mary, with the bold hills of Ronda in the 
 background, gradually disclosed themselves as 
 
 B2
 
 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the mist rolled away. The shore is sandy and 
 parched, with scanty verdure, and few trees. 
 The harbour extends for four or five miles up 
 the bay, and a canal surrounds the city to the 
 south and west. After landing among a crowd 
 of idlers and vagabonds of all sorts, small sol- 
 diers, ugly hags, and noisy beggars, we passed 
 through a low archway into the market-place. 
 Every costume of the country was to be seen 
 here. The peasant in his macho, the water- 
 carriers, the scowling ruffian, muffled in his 
 cloak and sombrero, as well as the dirty dandy, 
 whom we sometimes hail as an exotic in 
 Regent-street or the Quadrant, formed their 
 respective groups. Some were smartly dressed 
 in jackets covered with gold or silver buttons, 
 with brilliant sashes ; others held their mantles 
 raised closely to their eyes, evidently wishing 
 to conceal the deficiency of their wardrobes, or 
 to shun a too familiar glance. There were 
 but few women present, and, as far as I could 
 judge, the men appear to have the advantage 
 in personal attractions, for in general they are 
 tall, with handsome faces, lighted by the 
 fierce and brilliant eyes peculiar to this people. 
 The ladies, on the contrary, appear short in
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 5 
 
 stature, and brown as their own olives, re- 
 sembling, in colour and limited growth, the 
 stunted trees which are thinly scattered over 
 the land. 
 
 On entering a cafe', where there were all 
 sorts of loungers, from the man who sold 
 lottery tickets, and the beggar who came to 
 light a cigar, to the wealthy merchant, or the 
 more important official, or military chief, the 
 ease and politeness of all were as remarkable 
 as they were praiseworthy ; there was no rude 
 stare or loud talking that could either annoy 
 or offend. In their apparent good-nature and 
 obliging disposition, they presented a striking 
 contrast to our own countrymen, whose charac- 
 teristic it unhappily is to be generally over- 
 bearing and uncourteous in public places. 
 
 Nov. 14th. To-day we landed and saun- 
 tered through the town. Mr. Cuthbert gave 
 us a Spanish dinner. The olla-podrida is made 
 of beef stewed to rags, with a lump of lard, a 
 sausage of garlic, and a hotch-potch of vege- 
 tables; formidable as it sounds, the mess is 
 rather good. Roast pig, red mullets, sweet 
 potatoes, olives, acorns, and Catalan wine, 
 made up our repast. It certainly was not an
 
 6 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 epicurean feast, but we had the satisfaction of 
 knowing that it was national. 
 
 Nov. 15th. We started for Port St. Mary, 
 where there are extensive cellars. The usual 
 practice of tempting visitors to taste different 
 mixtures of sherry was resorted to, but with 
 little effect on us, for after trying a few varie- 
 ties, we declined intoxication so early in the 
 day. It is amusing to recollect the erudition 
 of some of our English friends, who talk so 
 fluently about good sherry. The whole busi- 
 ness consists in mixing different ingredients to 
 suit various palates, for if the pure juice of the 
 grape were tasted, in all probability it would 
 not be swallowed. The mixtures of Manza- 
 nilla, a weak, dry wine, Amontillado, which is 
 stronger and better, and a certain quantity of 
 brandy, for the English palate, constitute the 
 material of the various vintages. Wines of 
 different years are also added, and, in the 
 weaker and dryer ones, recourse is had to the 
 skins and stalks. 
 
 We saw palm trees, for the first time, near 
 Port St. Mary, rising above the aloe hedges, 
 and dwarf pines. They are more graceful 
 and picturesque than the surrounding objects,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 7 
 
 and decorate the flat and sandy shore, on which 
 they bestow an eastern character. 
 
 Nov. 16th. We went to the ramparts and 
 strolled round the walls. By the land side the 
 town is so strongly fortified as to be almost 
 impregnable. There is a narrow causeway, 
 extending for some miles, commanded by up- 
 wards of eighty pieces of cannon. These are 
 partially dismantled, and probably steam would 
 render this fortification useless, but in former 
 times it presented a formidable barrier to any 
 approach. Along the ramparts there are large 
 hotels, imposing enough from a distance, but 
 on a nearer view they resemble ruined barracks, 
 decayed like the fortunes which originally 
 created them. These were the dwellings of 
 the merchants of Cadiz, in her palmy days, 
 when her port teemed with the wealth of suc- 
 cessful commerce, and she boasted and deserved 
 the name of the Tyre of the west. 
 
 Nov. 18th, Gibraltar. The schooner came 
 to anchor near the quarantine boat last night, 
 and we saw the lights ashore, twinkling under 
 the black mass of rocks which towered above 
 them. On the other side of the bay were the 
 fires at Algeziras, marking out its position.
 
 8 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 This morning we received pratique, and moved 
 off to the Mole, anchoring close to shore. 
 
 We visited the celebrated galleries, which 
 are too well known to require description. 
 Having seen St. George's Hall and St. Michael's 
 cave, we descended the hill in a storm of wind 
 and rain which effectually spoiled our prospect. 
 The rock is covered at the summit with dwarf 
 palms, and lower down flourish the aloe and 
 the cactus. The gardens are chiefly laid out 
 upon terraces, and countless orange and lemon 
 trees, covered with blossom, load the air with 
 perfume. Jessamine, heliotrope, and verbena, 
 flourish in rich luxuriance, of which, in our 
 colder climate, we have no idea. The African 
 hills, when visible, rival the splendid ridge near 
 Honda, which is seen here to greater advantage 
 than at Cadiz. 
 
 Europa Point is IOAV and bluff, and covered 
 with cannon, under which the smugglers lie 
 for shelter, carrying the English flag. British 
 goods are prohibited in Spain, principally to 
 benefit the province of Catalonia and town of 
 Barcelona; but there is scarcely a Spanish 
 peasant who has not a printed cotton dress 
 from Glasgow or Manchester, or a mountaineer
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 9 
 
 who will not have his shirt of English manu- 
 facture. Handkerchiefs, shawls, and muslins, 
 tire poured into Spain by scores of contra- 
 bandistas, who, when the government vessels 
 are off their guard, effect the landing of their 
 goods along the coast. If chased, they retire 
 under cover of the English guns, and the 
 batteries would not hesitate to fire at any 
 guarda costa chasing within range of the 
 fortress. 
 
 We arrived at Malta on the 26th. The 
 church of St. John is the first object that 
 attracts attention. It covers a good deal of 
 ground, but there is nothing in the exterior 
 particularly remarkable. The magnificent 
 hotels in the main street are now used for 
 purposes far different from those to which 
 they were destined in the days of chivalry. 
 As we passed the Hotel de Castillo, a military 
 band was playing, and the halls where the 
 knights of St. John had banqueted, resounded 
 with the drums and trumpets of England. 
 Other large establishments belonging to the 
 Order, such as the Hotels de Provence, France, 
 and Angleterre, have likewise been turned to 
 some account. The former is, I believe, a club.
 
 10 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 The age of chivalry is past, but not forgotten, and 
 one cannot but love the vestiges it has left be- 
 hind. At home there are also our grand masters, 
 and our political warriors ; but we look back 
 to the great leaders of other days with even a 
 more reverential feeling than we can bestow 
 on those of our own time. The Church of 
 St. John is an oblong hall, of considerable size, 
 and not very like a place of worship. The 
 arms of England surmount a throne close to 
 the high altar. The edifice is paved with 
 flag-stones of marble, covered with escutcheons 
 and armorial bearings, and there are some fine 
 monuments still remaining, and a pair of mas- 
 sive silver gates. 
 
 Dec. 6th. We left Malta on the 1st, and 
 proceeded on our voyage, meeting with al- 
 ternate calms and squalls. On the evening of 
 the 5th, it blew a whole gale. The wind 
 shifted from S.W. to N.E., and it was too thick 
 to see our way. We lay to between Cerigo 
 and C. Matapan, and until twelve next day 
 endured the brunt of the blast. At one it 
 began to clear, and we made sail to look into 
 the bay in which the island of Servi is situated. 
 Passing under Cerigo, with the mountains of
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 11 
 
 Matapan rising round us, we seemed almost 
 enclosed in a basin. The mists were rising 
 from the hills, and, as the sun set, the colouring 
 and the shadows on the high lands were worthy 
 the attention of the most ardent admirers of 
 tint and tone. The island of Servi seems to.be 
 but a barren rock; Cerigo little better. The 
 forms of the highland peaks of Arran and Skye 
 are far more grand than the outlines here. 
 I have seen the former, as I behold these 
 islands, shrouded in mist, with the clouds 
 sweeping through their glens and valleys; 
 and think that both in fine weather and in 
 storms, the western isles carry off the palm 
 of picturesque grandeur from their southern 
 rivals. We are lying close under Servi, wait- 
 ing for daylight to go ashore and look for some 
 swans or other wild animals which the tra- 
 dition of previous explorers hands down to us. 
 A great many sails passed through the passage, 
 bound to the west, and one or two brigs have 
 taken shelter in the bay, where there is an 
 anchorage. 
 
 Dec. 7th. All turned out at seven, and 
 after breakfast prepared to go ashore. We 
 ran into the bay, and round the east point of
 
 12 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the island, which is rocky and abrupt, with vil- 
 lages perched upon the hill tops. A few small 
 hamlets near the water with boats drawn upon 
 the beach, and some miserable enclosures marked 
 the abodes of the inhabitants. The nearest 
 land appeared low and sandy, and covered with 
 brushwood. We pulled ashore in the gig, and 
 as we beached the boat, some wild ducks and 
 two or three snipes, rose inside the sea bank ; 
 these, however, seemed to comprise the whole 
 sporting stock of the place. We walked and 
 beat over the ground for some time, and saw 
 nothing but larks and water-wagtails. The 
 swans were, I presume, at the " vada Mseandri." 
 Some fresh mutton was highly desirable, and, 
 therefore, we made for a flock of sheep and 
 goats. A little boy clothed in a blanket made 
 his appearance from under a rock, but from 
 him we could get neither mutton nor swans. 
 He would not sell the one, nor did he know of 
 the other. In despair it was determined to 
 advance inland to a low ridge of rocks, near 
 which a primitive plough, without any iron on 
 the share, drawn by small wild looking oxen, 
 and handled by as ugly a looking fellow as I 
 ever beheld, was doing duty on the sandy soil.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. IS 
 
 After a parley the Greek could not tell us any- 
 thing. He referred us back to the pool near the 
 shore, where he said there were some ducks, and 
 he talked of a few quails sometimes at certain 
 periods of the year; but knew nothing at all 
 about swans. Upon which, we decided to re- 
 turn to our boats. 
 
 The natives dwell in the rock, and it was 
 impossible to have guessed that a human habi- 
 tation was there, had not the people been 
 found on the spot. They seemed half stupid, 
 not even stopping from curiosity to look at our 
 party, which to .them must have been an un- 
 usual one. Nothing appeared to surprise 
 them ; they neither asked for money, nor offered 
 their services as guides. I believe they are 
 grievously oppressed under the paternal govern- 
 ment of King Otho, having to pay ten times as 
 much for their independence, in the way of 
 taxation, as they had under the Turk, with 
 very little difference as to the extent of 
 tyranny under which they labour. But free- 
 dom is, I am afraid, unsuited to them. All 
 over the world the modern Greek is the same. 
 He is indolent and careless. There is no trace 
 in him of his ancestral blood, nor of pride of his
 
 14 DIAKY OF A JOUHNEY 
 
 race. Fit victim of any master, liberty would 
 be useless to him ; for he would not understand 
 its purpose. It is said that the mountaineers 
 of Albania, and the chiefs who fought for their 
 independence, are fine fellows in their way; 
 but that even the best of them could not lay 
 aside their predatory habits and native jealousy. 
 Though some are under the Porte, and others 
 under Otho, they still retain the wilder features 
 of their national character, and are as little 
 civilized as ever. 
 
 On our way back we had time to admire the 
 scene. Taygetus was in the distance, covered 
 with snow on his five peaks a magnificent 
 mountain marking the spot where Sparta 
 "was founded, flourished, and decayed;" Eu- 
 rotas winds at its base. Mistra is the town 
 nearest to the site of Lacedasmon. The sun was 
 shining upon the hills, lighting up their peaks 
 and valleys with minute distinctness, and pour- 
 ing a sheet of fire on the Gulf of Colokynthia, 
 which lay between us and the land. In our 
 front was Servi low, dark, and barren ; beyond 
 it, Cerigo ; and on our left, C. St. Angelo, with 
 Mount St. Elias. 
 
 The soil we walked over was light, sandy,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 15 
 
 and covered with stones. Various herbs, wild 
 thyme, marjoram, rue, and others, of which I 
 know not the names, were growing in the 
 greatest luxuriance. Dwarf rhododendrons 
 and azalias, prickly shrubs, box-trees a vege- 
 tation entirely new to our eyes were spread 
 before us, and the air was filled with perfume. 
 
 Dec. 8th. To-day we passed Cerigotto, and 
 are now coasting along the western side of 
 Candia, with C. Chrio before us, and holding 
 our course for the small island of Gozo. 
 
 Bounding C. Chrio, we steered for Alex- 
 andria. The coast of Candia is rocky and 
 mountainous, the hills high and bold, but there 
 is no sign of vegetation anywhere, nor are 
 there any harbours on this side of the island. 
 
 Dec. llth. Went on deck at seven; saw 
 nothing but a thick white haze over " all the 
 land of Egypt." We were making great way, 
 however, and soon the lighthouse rose slowly 
 from the water, with Pompey's Pillar near it. 
 Gradually the city broke upon us. First the 
 shipping, (about fifteen sail of the line, besides 
 many merchantmen,) then the Pacha's palace 
 or harem, and a square tower, with a light- 
 house masking the new port.
 
 16 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 Dec. 12th. We moved from our anchorage 
 of 'last night, higher up the harbour, and abreast 
 of the harem and palace of the Pacha. There 
 seems to be only one ship here actually in 
 commission. Many of those in the basin pre- 
 sent an imposing appearance, and are said 
 to be Well built; though I suppose, if we 
 took them in hand at home, we should find 
 plenty of faults, and have enough to do to 
 make them suit our notions of naval archi- 
 tecture. The contrast is remarkable between 
 these handsome ships and the poor and 
 wretched buildings along the shore. The 
 Pacha's palace is situated near the meanest and 
 most miserable dwellings, some nothing more 
 than apertures cut out and burrowed in the 
 rocks or sand, it is an ugly edifice, in the 
 French style, and the harem is a flat-roofed 
 mass of walls, with latticed windows, sur- 
 rounded by a garden. Next to it in import- 
 ance as a building, is the arsenal, and a small 
 mole, newly constructed. The lighthouse is a 
 fine work, and will be very useful. 
 
 We landed, and, after seeing the bazaars, 
 slave market, and the principal square, paid 
 a visit to Pompey's Pillar. It is situated on a
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 17 
 
 hillock, above a burying-ground. We duly 
 admired the matchless shaft, at the top of which 
 we saw the name of " the Gem," inscribed by 
 its adventurous master. The slave-market 
 is an enclosure, shut out by high Avails from 
 air and light. In this space, dirty, and reeking 
 with horrid smells, we saw a crowd of human 
 beings, male and female, adults and children 
 from the lowest caste blacks, to the more 
 comely Abyssinians. Many of these excited 
 disgust rather than pity. Some were miserably 
 thin, with short woolly hair plastered down 
 with oil or fat, and bound into tresses with 
 beads or coins ; others had bracelets of different 
 kinds by way of ornament. They grinned in 
 order to show their teeth, played all sorts of 
 antics, like monkeys, and were very clamorous 
 for "backshish." Their average price was 
 about 101. 
 
 VOL. i.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Bazaars Boghos Bey The Pacha's Commerce 
 Sanitary Regulations Palace and Gardens of Seyd 
 Pacha Arsenal Departure from Alexandria 
 Atfe Boulak Cairo. 
 
 c 2
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DEC. 20TH. Atfe is distant from Alexandria 
 about 40 miles, at the termination of the Mah- 
 moudieh canal, the work of Mehemet Ali, which 
 connects the Nile with the city of the Ptolemies. 
 To the point of junction the traveller is towed 
 up in a boat by horses ; after this, when once 
 on the river, he is dependent upon wind and 
 stream; the journey to Cairo being made in 
 boats propelled by large lateen sails, or towed 
 by the crews in case of calm or adverse breeze. 
 
 The bazaars disappointed our expectations : 
 the best are not much better than a booth at a 
 country fair. The wares are exposed for sale 
 on each side of a narrow passage, and there is 
 scarcely room to pass through the crowd. 
 Camels and donkeys walk through the mass of
 
 22 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 people, and every one pushes his neighbour to 
 avoid them. The stranger should beware of 
 stopping to look at some lazy old Turk smoking 
 his pipe, or saying his prayers, in the middle of 
 his shop. He will be hustled, or run over, by ani- 
 mals of every variety of colour, dress, and form. 
 
 Dec. 3rd. This morning we paid a visit to 
 the Prime Minister of Mehemet Ali, Boghos 
 Bey. His house has nothing to distinguish it. 
 A throng of slaves and dependents were wait- 
 ing round the door. We found a wooden 
 staircase, whitewashed walls without any ap- 
 pearance of state or comfort, a low small door, 
 and close to it, a plainly dressed old man, whom 
 I nearly fell over. This was Boghos Bey. He 
 led us into his room, which was furnished with 
 the utmost simplicity, with two French clocks, 
 a mat, that covered the whole floor, and a 
 divan at one end. He desired me, in French, 
 (which he speaks perfectly,) to sit on the 
 divan, and placed himself on a chair by me. 
 Pipes were brought in, and coffee, and after- 
 wards sherbet. 
 
 After hoping that my health was good, and 
 that I liked the country, he assured me that Me- 
 hemet Ali, his master, whom he had served for
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 23 
 
 thirty-seven years, was determined to act upon 
 the promises he had made to the Great Powers, 
 that his Highness was in Upper Egypt, turn- 
 ing his mind to commercial and agricultural 
 matters ; that he wished to live peaceably, 
 improve the people and the country, con- 
 tinuing his plans and his domestic policy, 
 without giving cause for foreign interference, 
 and hoping that circumstances might be favour- 
 able to him in these views, at the decline of a 
 long and stormy life. 
 
 Boghos Bey seemed to have got his lesson 
 by heart, and spoke it well. I was very 
 much struck with his mild and pleasing man- 
 ner, sometimes playful, but acute and guarded, 
 and with a turn for the sarcastic. Once 
 when the Consul began, as I thought, with 
 doubtful tact to say something about the 
 Custom regulations, and to make some com- 
 plaint, Boghos said quietly, having previously 
 been talking of his master's long difficulties 
 and position, " Monsieur le Consul, vous savez 
 bien que les petites choses sont souvent plus 
 embarrassantes que les grandes." 
 
 He was overpowering in his offers of being 
 of use said all he had was ours ; that he would
 
 24 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 write to Cairo, and prepare our way, and that 
 he would acquaint the Pacha of our intention 
 to ask to see him. That he would order our 
 goods and chattels to pass unvisited, and, in 
 short, that he was our slave, and that we had 
 only to command him. He finally sent for 
 more pipes ; and when we took leave, came to 
 the head of his staircase, and ordered his car- 
 riage to take us back. 
 
 On entering the mansion of a Pacha, or Bey, 
 where ceremony is to be observed, each per- 
 son receives a pipe, or not, according to his 
 rank. One man attends to each pipe, and 
 brings it lighted to the guest. Coffee is given 
 in the same way, with one man to each coffee- 
 cup, so that there are sometimes ten or fifteen 
 slaves, or servants, in the room, for four or five 
 people, whose orders are usually communicated 
 by signs. A man's station is measured by his 
 seat at the divan, and the number of pipes he 
 receives. If the master of the house does not 
 get up, the visitor is nothing in his eyes. If 
 he goes to the door, it is a great compliment ; 
 but if he receives him outside, it is the highest 
 respect he can pay. 
 
 Dec. 14th. There are few mansions, as we
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 25 
 
 should call them, except in the neighbourhood 
 of the " Place." These are built in the French 
 style, and appear to promise well, but the in- 
 terior presents nothing but dirt and discomfort > 
 The dwellings in general are shaped like a 
 square box, perforated with holes, the top of 
 which, in summer, is the sleeping quarter of 
 the inmates. The palace is like a French villa, 
 with a great scarcity of furniture. It is fitted 
 with French paper, chairs, and silk hangings. 
 We saw one handsome circular room, with an 
 indifferent chandelier, which did not seem to 
 be much used. 
 
 Dec. 15th. To-day we sallied out into the 
 country, by the Rosetta gate. Here there is 
 desolation on all sides, except in the vicinity 
 of some European-built houses, with gardens, 
 on which a large sum has been expended by the 
 proprietors, who are either officially employed, 
 or merchants of the town. Palm-trees abound, 
 with the cactus, the fig, and the orange, among 
 hillocks of sand, covered with broken stones 
 and fragments of buildings. Wherever the 
 traveller advances, he treads upon the ruins of 
 palaces or huts, both equally laid low. We 
 saw the famous battle-field, and at a distance
 
 26 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the bay of Aboukir, lake Mareotis, and the 
 canal. The whole land has a dreary aspect. 
 Desolation has set its seal upon it, and there 
 appears to be little or no attempt at improve- 
 ment. The road or track out of the town is 
 covered with large stones. Dirt accumulates 
 in heaps, and in some places it is a service of 
 danger to move. 
 
 The account given of the Pacha's commerce 
 is curious. He buys everything in the shape 
 of produce, such as grain, cotton, &c., and sells 
 it at his own price to the exporting merchants. 
 The importers are less in his power, because, 
 what they buy elsewhere, they sell to the native 
 population without interference, and dispose of 
 as they choose. But the exporters, of whom it 
 seems there are not many, are obliged to accept 
 the Pacha's terms, and by receiving a com- 
 mission for goods or stores, arms or ammu- 
 nition, at a large profit, sometimes sixty or 
 seventy per cent., they repay themselves for 
 the hard bargains of their master. The whole 
 system of his policy is, however, so well known, 
 and has been described so often, that it is use- 
 less to enter further into it. 
 
 The sanitary regulations ought to command
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 27 
 
 immediate attention from our government. 
 Can there be anything more absurd than a 
 quarantine between this port and Beirout ? This 
 is enforced by a Board of Health. If you come 
 from Beirout overland, there is no regulation, 
 nor any guard to stop you. If you proceed 
 by sea in the Emetje mail packet, you are un- 
 shipped with your goods, and put into the laza- 
 retto (which is part of the same building, 
 as the Plague Hospital) for fifteen or twenty 
 days as it may be. Besides this annoyance, 
 in the very town you are prevented entering, 
 cases of plague are occurring daily, whereas 
 at Beirout there is frequently no plague at 
 all. We were told that six people arrived 
 in the packet, and were at once crammed 
 ashore into the lazaret, which was neither wea- 
 ther tight nor large enough to hold them. 
 Here they passed seven or eight days under 
 the greatest privations, totally unable to obtain 
 any necessaries from the town. Either there 
 ought to be no quarantine at a port which is 
 itself foul, or a proper place should be appointed 
 for quarantine, where there is no risk of catch- 
 ing the plague on landing, of being crippled by 
 the weather, or devoured by the rats.
 
 28 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 One poor man landed at Damietta from 
 Syria. They would not let him enter the town, 
 but picketed him on the sea-shore, half a day's 
 journey off, where he spent seven days under a 
 burning sun, with no sustenance but a few bis- 
 cuits and half a bottle of brandy. The Board 
 of Health alter their regulations constantly, 
 without notice, and if any one suffers there is 
 no redress. 
 
 Dec. 16th. We rode out to visit Seyd 
 Pacha's palace and gardens, passing through a 
 gate on the right of the Rosetta entrance, and 
 along the banks of the canal. The houses, 
 which resemble sheep-folds, are divided into 
 partitions not more than seven or eight feet 
 square, with low doors or holes into which the 
 inmates creep on all fours. Let the reader 
 imagine these habitations with human beings 
 of all sizes and ages, dogs prowling about for 
 offal, here and there donkeys and camels thread- 
 ing their Avay along the narrow divisions, all 
 reeking and steaming under a hot sun, covered 
 with sand and dust, and still he will have but 
 an imperfect idea of the horrors of an Egyptian 
 suburb. 
 
 We passed by several mounds, among which
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 29 
 
 are tombs inhabited by those who have no other 
 abode. The dead have given place to the liv- 
 ing, and the latter seem created to be swept off 
 by plague or fever, after a life of privation and 
 wretchedness, from which there is no hope of 
 release. And yet they are gay and careless, 
 patient and passionless. They submit to be 
 beaten by any one whose brief authority con- 
 fers a privilege ; never repining, or returning an 
 imprecation for a blow. The people in autho- 
 rity are as careless in disposing of human life 
 as the " Fellahs " seem to be indifferent to the 
 enjoyment of it. 
 
 We fought our way through crowds of native 
 soldiers, Bedouins of the desert, with their long- 
 guns and loose blankets, sitting near their 
 camels ; fruit stalls, tobacco sellers, and various 
 dealers in small wares ; till we arrived at the 
 entrance of the gardens in which is situated the 
 palace. Seyd Pacha, the son of Mehemet Ali, 
 is said to have been well educated. He has 
 lately been visiting the Sultan, and was re- 
 ceived with great honours. The palace is, as 
 usual, in French taste. The stucco work is 
 fulling to pieces ; the glass is so bad that it is 
 not worthy of a place in an alehouse window,
 
 30' DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 and the rooms are large, without any furniture 
 except divans. The harem is distinguished by 
 lattices on the lower part of the windows, so as 
 effectually to exclude a prying glance. The 
 gardens are irrigated by canals from the Nile, 
 the water being forced up by large wheels. The 
 soil is beyond measure productive, the river 
 fertilizing it better than any manure. All the 
 ground appears to have been excavated or built 
 upon, and every step taken is upon the rem- 
 nants of the busy life of by-gone ages. 
 
 Dec. 18th. I started this morning to go 
 over the arsenal. Mahomet Bey, who has been 
 some years in England, studying under Mr. 
 Fincham, and others, received us. He speaks 
 English perfectly, as did another officer em- 
 ployed under him, who had also passed his 
 time in the dock-yards at Sheemess, and 
 Portsmouth. The establishment is very exten- 
 sive. There are above 2000 artificers em- 
 ployed, besides convicts, of whom there are 
 2000 more. All necessaries for state purposes 
 are furnished here not only stores and pro- 
 visions for the army and navy, but clothing 
 and accoutrements are manufactured and pro- 
 vided. There is a rope-walk, 1200 feet long;
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 31 
 
 near this we saw some Paixhan guns, which 
 have been purchased since the Syrian War. 
 They are now being fitted on carriages, for 
 immediate service, and I presume are intended 
 for batteries along the shore. 
 
 From this arsenal all articles required for 
 public works in the country are produced. 
 Agricultural implements, cloth, linen for the 
 workmen, &c., are mixed up in the same esta- 
 blishment, with sails and spars, bunting and 
 nails, copper bolts, and all the material of the 
 navy. There are joiners, carpenters, tailors, 
 tinkers, sail-makers, and mechanics of all trades 
 in active employment. We were asked to 
 observe several scientific instruments, which 
 had been constructed, and there is a printing 
 and lithographic press, which is a great inno- 
 vation upon Eastern customs. 
 
 Dec. 20th. We took leave of Alexandria, 
 having stowed our baggage in the track-boat, 
 which was to land us at Atfe, the termination 
 of the Mahmoudieh Canal. A pair of gaunt 
 and wiry horses drew our vessel along, at a 
 much faster pace than I could have expected 
 from them. The country, after passing a few 
 villas belonging to the richer merchants, is as
 
 32 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 flat and desolate as can be conceived. On the 
 right the Lake Mareotis, on the left the desert 
 plains of the Aboukir country, and its lake, are 
 dimly seen ; and before the traveller extend Lake 
 Etko, Lake Bourlos, and the distant wilds of the 
 Delta. The canal is a work which must have 
 cost the Pacha dear, both in money and hu- 
 man life. It is said that 40,000 men were 
 originally employed upon it. Mehemet Ali 
 was told that it would take him six months, 
 with 10,000 men ; his answer was, that the work 
 must be finished in two months. The banks in 
 general are higher than the deck of a small 
 boat, such as the one we had. Here and there, 
 were perceived glimpses of cultivation, and 
 the soil appeared more like black mud than 
 sand. A line of semaphores is established 
 along the canal, and occasionally we passed a 
 small watch-tower. The villages have the 
 same character, so that when one has been 
 seen, it will pass muster for all. 
 
 On the right, we saw the town of Daman- 
 hour, and the junction, with the Mahmoudieh, 
 of a branch canal from that part of the coun- 
 try, which supplies and keeps it full of water, 
 when occasion requires. The opening into the
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 33 
 
 Nile is closed, for if the water had a free pas- 
 sage, the sand would speedily choke up the 
 channel. Occasionally we passed some soli- 
 tary palms, the only picturesque feature of 
 these dreary wastes. Our horses were changed 
 six times between Alexandria and Atfe, and 
 the distance was performed in seven hours. 
 
 When we arrived at Atfe, it was nearly 
 dark, and we found each side of the canal lined 
 with vessels loading grain, and other cargoes, 
 so that we had great difficulty in reaching our 
 boats. This was, however, at last accom- 
 plished, and we lay down to rest, surrounded 
 by most of the plagues of Egypt, among which 
 that of creeping, things was not forgotten. 
 
 Dec. 21st. Having resumed our voyage, 
 we are going merrily along with a fair wind, 
 and have passed Er Ramanieh, the first village 
 of any note. Here, there is a country palace, 
 and an encampment of the Pacha's troops. 
 Their tents are low and dark; scarcely to be 
 distinguished from the soil on which they 
 are pitched. Many of the soldiers were bath- 
 ing, others praying devoutly with innumer- 
 able prostrations. This ceremony takes place 
 four times a day, and as the men always wash 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 '34 DIAEY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 before prayers, they ought to be tolerably 
 cleanly. The country at first, from its 
 novelty, is interesting, but as the last vil- 
 lage, with its mosque and mud huts, palms 
 and burying-ground, is the same as the first, 
 the traveller is soon wearied. The country is 
 as flat as the great river itself; scarcely any 
 novelty strikes the eye, and instead of refresh- 
 ing turns of the stream, dreary reaches stretch 
 away to an extent that seems interminable. 
 
 The Rais of our boats is an old gentleman, 
 with a blue shirt which hangs down to his 
 ankles, a red turban, and long white mous- 
 tache and beard. He passes his time sitting 
 near the bow of the vessel, smokes all day 
 long, and seems as if nothing could move him 
 except his prayers, at which time he warms 
 up into something like energy. The crew are 
 a mixed mass of all colours and clothes. All 
 dirty and wretched, but good humoured, and 
 perpetually talking and laughing. 
 
 Dec. 23rd. Very little wind, and not much 
 progress. We shot a few doves on shore, and 
 walked through a large and dirty village. 
 Many of the children are stark naked. Kites 
 and crows hover over the roofs, and dogs
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 35 
 
 prowl about half famished, and as eager as 
 jackals for prey. 
 
 Dec. 24th. To-day we descried the distant 
 pyramids. The pictures and descriptions that 
 have been made and written, portray them 
 so faithfully that I hailed them as old friends. 
 But they appear to great advantage here 
 from the extreme flatness of the country, 
 which, except near Cairo, boasts not a hill on 
 which the eye can rest. 
 
 Dec. 25th. At one in the morning, we 
 reached Boulak, the port of Cairo. The noise 
 was so intolerable that sleep was out of the 
 question. As soon as it was light, we made 
 all ready to go ashore. My companions re- 
 mained on board with the servants to guard 
 the baggage, while I went up to the hotel. 
 Such a scene I never saw as the inn -yard! 
 Imagine a small court containing a half-starved 
 ostrich, looking like a spectre, a monkey, a 
 lynx, donkeys innumerable, camels, drome- 
 daries, Arabs, couriers, dragomen, waiting to 
 be hired; and in the midst of all, various 
 specimens of the John Bull tribe, starting for 
 India, by way of Suez, in Mackintoshes, straw 
 hats, pea-jackets, and every variety of costume. 
 D 2
 
 36 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 I must not forget a bevy of ladies in green 
 veils and poke bonnets, waiting to be shut into 
 boxes like diminutive sedans, to be jolted 
 across the Suez desert, or looking in utter 
 despair at the broken-down donkeys on which 
 they were to trust themselves, if they pre- 
 ferred a quadruped to a packing case. In 
 spite of all the noise, crowds, and scramble, 
 we found capital rooms, and good accommoda- 
 tions for this country, Avhere, in general, you 
 have four walls, a stone floor, and a divan, as 
 your stock of furniture. 
 
 Dec. 26th. To-day we had an explanation 
 with the Rais's of our boats, who have demurred 
 to sink them. This process is necessary in order 
 to get rid of the rats in possession, and there 
 is no end of the trouble and manoeuvring and 
 chicane to which you are obliged to resort, to 
 make the owners comply with your wishes. 
 First they say, " God help them, do you wish to 
 destroy them, and their boat ?" Afterwards, 
 they hint that you are mad, and they cannot 
 understand why you object to rats and cock- 
 roaches; then they get into a passion, and 
 scream so loud that you might hear them a 
 mile off; and all this is for the sake of a little
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 37 
 
 advance in price, which being given, they assent 
 to your wishes. But if you offer this at once, 
 tind without the squabble, it is of no use what- 
 ever, and they only increase their demands. 
 
 Dec. 27th. I cannot help thinking, that 
 our diplomatic position here is defective, not 
 from incapacity in the persons employed, but 
 because they neither have the means nor sta- 
 tion necessary to cause themselves to be re- 
 spected by the authorities. Their information 
 is rarely as good as that which the French 
 obtain, and France is infinitely more alive to 
 all that concerns this country has tenfold the 
 influence that we possess, and endeavours in 
 every way to injure our interests. If she could 
 prevent our communications with India, she 
 would desire nothing better. 
 
 Dec. 28th. To-day we went into the Ba- 
 zaars and bought some shawls, tobacco-bags, 
 and other articles. The Bazaars are more 
 roomy and the streets more solid in appearance 
 than at Alexandria. 
 
 Dec. 29th. I visited the Slave-market, 
 which differs little from that at Alexandria. 
 The poor creatures are huddled together, 
 swarming with vermin, and covered with filthy
 
 38 DIAEY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 rags, masses of grease and dirt, with nothing 
 in their favour but their misfortunes. We 
 groped our way into some dark dens in this 
 miserable abode, where the better or handsomer 
 victims were said to be kept. I saw no- 
 thing that could boast of beauty. It is strange 
 that these poor creatures do not seem to mind 
 their fate. But let no admirer of the fairer 
 part of the creation go to a slave-market with 
 the idea that he will see anything to charm or 
 please the eye. Nakedness is fearfully hideous 
 when it exposes filth or deformities. We 
 stayed as short a time as possible, and de- 
 parted, leaving a tribe of our countrymen, 
 who were satisfying their curiosity with won- 
 derful perseverance. 
 
 Our evenings are long and tedious. The 
 city seems asleep at nine o'clock, and, but 
 for the barking of the dogs, there is complete 
 silence. The deep shadows are so well-defined, 
 and the buildings so picturesque, by moonlight, 
 that I advise any one who wishes for a pleas- 
 ing delusion to stroll out after sunset in this 
 climate. In the day, all the dirt and misery 
 are too readily distinguished; at night, things 
 are blended together in fantastic and pleasing
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 39 
 
 shapes, and minaret and mosque, gable and 
 porch, harem and cottage, harmonize together 
 in the yellow refulgence which is cast over all. 
 
 Nothing takes off so much from the interest 
 and beauty of these regions as the total absence 
 of female forms. The Fellah women, who are 
 the lowest and poorest of their sex, dressed 
 in long blue gowns, opening a little at the 
 throat, with a veil over one eye, conceal their 
 coarse features as much as possible, and of 
 their figures very little can be seen. The 
 better class either waddle along with each hand 
 on their stomachs, and the thumbs turned up, 
 slip-shod, dowdy-looking, and almost completely 
 hidden by silk capotes, with white veils; or 
 else get astride upon donkeys, and in either 
 case there seems to be but a slight difference 
 between them and a bundle of clothes. The 
 face is very much disfigured by the veil they 
 wear, which is suspended by a piece of tape 
 from the forehead, making each individual 
 resemble a person who has had his face plas- 
 tered and bandaged at the hospital for a broken 
 nose. 
 
 There is much uncertainty with respect to 
 money in this country, and it is difficult to
 
 40 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 know what to take. Plenty of gold pieces are 
 in circulation, and before we arrived, the cur- 
 rency of the Sultan was legalized, as well as 
 that of the Pacha. Since the late events, how- 
 ever, the latter has prohibited the Turkish 
 currency, and many who held it were severe 
 losers. The consequence is, that every one 
 who pays, endeavours to pass away some 
 Turkish money, and in the gold currency it is 
 extremely difficult for a foreigner to tell the 
 difference. Then again, many of the Pacha's 
 pieces of gold have been depreciated, and 
 clipped or split. These the people object to 
 take at their value, and deduct half or a whole 
 piastre, as they think expedient, and you have 
 no chance of righting yourself, unless you con- 
 descend to wrangle, and bargain, and scheme, 
 like the persons you have to deal with. 
 
 Jan. 2nd, 1842. We explored to-day the 
 environs of the citadel. There is a magnificent 
 view from the walls, comprising the whole city, 
 the Nile, pyramids, and tombs of the sultans. 
 Climbing an eminence, we found ourselves 
 close to a large burial ground. There is nothing 
 impressive or solemn in these last abodes of 
 mortality. Two small stones mark the ex-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 41 
 
 tremities of the graves. A few of these are 
 more ornamented than others, according to the 
 station of the deceased. Some have a turban 
 roughly carved at the head of the tomb. The 
 sepulchres of the rich or great have domes 
 over them, and these sometimes are richly or- 
 namented and exceedingly picturesque. They 
 seem like miniature mosques, but the distinc- 
 tion is, that the tombs have no minarets, which 
 are the places appointed for the muezzin, or 
 priest, to call his congregation to prayer. 
 These are the greatest and the most important 
 features in all Eastern towns. The number in 
 Cairo is very great, and at a distance they are 
 beautiful objects, but when examined closely, 
 are like everything else in this country, out of 
 repair and left to fall into ruins. 
 
 It is the same case with the houses as well 
 the hovel as the palace. It appears as if the 
 Avhole city had been built at one time, and not 
 one touch of repair had been given to it since 
 its original construction. Strange is the con- 
 trast of the eternal pyramids, which will lift 
 their bared summits to the sun long after these 
 modern attempts at grandeur shall have passed 
 away. One would almost suppose that these
 
 42 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 enduring monuments had been raised as a sign 
 to nations, the more impressively to mark the 
 almost universal decay of this devoted land. 
 Ruin is all around. Hopeless misery is the lot 
 of the people. Dilapidation and wretchedness 
 the landmarks of the country. Nothing seems 
 to thrive or prosper. No one can amass wealth 
 for fear of having it wrested from him. No 
 one cares to improve his house or his land, lest 
 it should excite suspicion of his riches. Men 
 live in fear and trembling, and all is swallowed 
 up by the despotism which takes everything 
 from the people, and gives nothing back but 
 blows. 
 
 Dreary and gloomy as this prospect is in 
 detail, and when the mind reverts to the real 
 state of this country, nevertheless the view to 
 a traveller from this height is one of the finest 
 in the world. The pyramids form the back- 
 ground, of a picture which embraces all Cairo. 
 Mosques, tombs, palaces, harems, cupolas, and 
 minarets, rise in endless variety, and in the 
 indistinct mass it is impossible to distinguish 
 the heaps of ruin and rubbish which disfigure 
 every portion. 
 
 Jan. 5th To-day has been entirely taken
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 43 
 
 up with packing baggage. Six or seven camels 
 carry our stores to the boats. These consist 
 of chairs, beds, tables, trunks, crockery, kitchen 
 utensils, rice, macaroni, potatoes, fowls, bread, 
 oranges, and lemons. Add to this, wine and 
 beer, and boxes of made dishes, and pots, and 
 pans, and kettles, and tins of every sort, and a 
 faint idea may be entertained of our start for 
 Boulak. I subsequently went to the baths, 
 and feel haunted by the figures of the lean, 
 gaunt Arabs, who shampooed me. They look 
 like imps of darkness, grinning as they clutch 
 one.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Departure from Boulak Beni Souef Colosaneli 
 Siout Excavations The Saxon Temples Kar- 
 nak Temple at Edfou.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 JAN. Gth. This morning we left the port 
 of Boulak. The wind was blowing up the 
 river, and in about an hour we were abreast of 
 Ghizeh. It however soon dropped, and we are 
 now tying under the banks, with no chance 
 of moving before morning, as there is scarcely 
 ever a breeze in the night when it has fallen 
 to a calm at sunset. The boats are more 
 agreeable than at first. A small closet forms 
 the stern, which serves very well for dry 
 packages; next to this is a room about seven 
 feet square, with a fixed bench, or divan, on 
 one half of the floor. The adjoining cabin is 
 double the size, and in it is a large divan, 
 which good cushions and cotton have made 
 very comfortable.
 
 48 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 Jan. 7th. This morning we halted at a 
 small village, where we got milk and eggs, 
 and some turkeys. We have on board a Ja- 
 nizary from Cairo, who belongs to Ali Be}*, 
 the governor, and has been lately employed in 
 carrying dispatches to the Pacha. I am told 
 he may be useful in case of any difficulty, but 
 it is a bad plan to let these people go ashore 
 to buy provisions, as they sometimes frighten 
 the natives, who are so much used to be 
 under forced contributions, that they dread 
 the sight of a Janizary. Your servants, also, 
 if they are not honest, will use the Janizary's 
 name, to get food and provisions, without 
 paying for them. 
 
 The stream here is wide and rapid. The 
 view of Cairo, with the chain of the Mokat- 
 tan, the sand-cliffs above it, and the tombs 
 and mosques rising into the blue sky, is very 
 striking. We passed powder magazines of the 
 Pacha's, and a railroad he has made, on which, 
 however, there is no steam. Stone for build- 
 ing is the principal article conveyed. Along 
 the cliffs are numerous excavations and tombs, 
 some of which are converted into granaries. 
 The land appears covered with pyramids, the
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 49 
 
 larger ones rising conspicuous above all. One 
 glance takes in Ghizeh, Saccara, and Dashur; 
 round the latter, less imposing than those 
 of Ghizeh, are innumerable smaller ones, most 
 of them crumbling to decay, in the waste of 
 sand, which extends as far as the eye can 
 reach. 
 
 Jan. 9th. We had an adventure last night. 
 After dark two shots were heard : on inquiry, 
 the firing was said to have come from two 
 Nubian boats, whose crews were quarrelling; 
 but the sharp reports of an English double- 
 barrel were not to be mistaken, and soon after 
 I heard a third. In about five minutes, Captain 
 Lyon was abreast of us, having hoisted his 
 mainsail, which we both had agreed previously 
 not to do, in order to let the small boat keep 
 up with us. He hailed, saying that a large 
 boat had run into him and carried away his 
 mizen, and wished us to give chase, as the 
 crew had given no answer when spoken after 
 the accident, and the vessel being rigged with 
 larger sails had passed us. The shots we heard 
 had been fired to induce them to stop. 
 
 After a long chase we caught her. She 
 turned out to be a craft laden with corn, and 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 DIAEY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 belonging to Ibrahim Pacha, having some sol- 
 diers and a Nubian Eais on board. He, of 
 course, thought he had it all his own way. Our 
 Janizary, however, now came into play, and 
 stating that we were travellers, proved that the 
 people in the offending boat were clearly in the 
 wrong first, for running foul of the boat, and 
 then not answering when hailed. Captain 
 Lyon insisted upon all going ashore, and having 
 the matter settled, taking our Rais Ali as um- 
 pire. I believe they wrangled for about an 
 hour about the value of five piastres, and the 
 affair ended by the Nubian Rais paying for the 
 damage. Meantime, we lost two hours in the 
 delay, and as soon as the contending parties 
 got on board, the wind fell away, and it became 
 calm. 
 
 This morning after breakfast we landed to 
 shoot across a plain studded with groves of 
 palm trees and fields of corn. There were 
 magnificent crops, but no birds, except hawks, 
 kites, and crows. At last we arrived at Boussa, 
 where the Pacha has a store of grain. Here 
 we found flocks of doves and hoopooes. These 
 birds are extremely tame, and run about the 
 villages, scarcely moving out of the way of the
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 51 
 
 stranger, so that there is neither skill nor sport 
 in destroying them. Far different are the wild 
 fowl, which swarm in myriads. There are 
 geese, ducks, cranes, pelicans, swans, spoonbills, 
 and many other kinds of water birds ; but the 
 sportsman can scarcely ever approach them or 
 do any execution, except with a rifle. 
 
 Jan. 10th. Beni Souef, at which we have 
 at last arrived, is a village distinguished by a 
 cotton manufactory belonging to the Pacha. 
 Here we found some squadrons of cavalry quar- 
 tered, and a public market. Soon after leaving 
 this place, our crew began to dance and play on 
 the tomtom and pipe. The whole performance is 
 extremely grotesque, consisting in certain con- 
 tortions and gestures, frequently repeated to 
 the sound of very monotonous music. 
 
 We heard that the Pacha was at Feshn, a 
 small town about twenty -five miles off, where 
 he has a palace. Many droves of cattle are 
 passing along the banks of the river, which are 
 purchased by his highness, in his journeys to 
 the provinces, and sent down to Cairo or else- 
 where for sale. He buys sometimes in person, 
 accompanied by his officers, and always fixes 
 his own price in the markets, or when the 
 E 2
 
 52 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 people come to him, which they are more fre- 
 quently forced to do. He does not always pay 
 badly, but the money is pillaged by the sub- 
 ordinate officers before it gets into the hands 
 of the sellers, so that the latter are almost 
 always losers. 
 
 Jan. llth. We passed Feshn at about five 
 in the evening. In the morning, as usual, we 
 made an expedition ashore, and found some 
 miserable huts, and a party of peasants, who 
 possessed only one goat among them, which 
 was for sale. We gave their children a few 
 paras, as they were evidently frightened at 
 the sight of strangers. The Sheikh of the 
 village rode by a wild-looking personage 
 followed by crowds of miserable wretches, 
 who are employed on government works. 
 About three o'clock, there being no wind, and 
 the Rais declaring that we should be two hours 
 before we could reach Colosaneh, it was deter- 
 mined to walk, leaving the boats to proceed the 
 usual way. Rais All grumbled at our decision, 
 and declared that it was dangerous, and that 
 we might be robbed or get into a scrape. 
 Then he said the distance was twice as great 
 as he had originally declared, and endeavoured 
 by every means he could to dissuade us from
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 53 
 
 the attempt. However, the Janizary accom- 
 panying us, we set off. 
 
 Our expedition began pretty well. We 
 wandered on through very fine crops of corn 
 and beans, and a rich and luxuriant vegeta- 
 tion, with here and there a village containing 
 its usual dogs and date-trees, dirt and dove- 
 cotes. It at last became clear to us that the 
 Janizary, who declared he could show us the 
 way to Colosaneh, knew nothing about it; 
 and after two hours walk we were forced to 
 ask our road at a village called Xesle Benim- 
 hamed. Here we found the Sheikh, who de- 
 clared that the town was before us, but begged 
 us to stay at his house, as it was late. We, how- 
 ever, declined his hospitality, and trudged on, 
 not knowing which path to follow, as we soon 
 left the village, and lost the track. In a field 
 near, we caught sight of some jackals, at which 
 we fired without effect. We saw more of 
 them afterwards, and heard them hunting like 
 a pack of fox-hounds. 
 
 Evening set in fast. We were in an im- 
 mense plain, covered everywhere with thick 
 reedy grass, above our knees, without a track ; 
 the atmosphere was thick and hazy, and there 
 were plenty of holes and ditches, but not a
 
 54 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 solitary star to guide us. At last some lights 
 were discovered, for which we made. In half an 
 hour's hard walking and scrambling, we reached 
 a number of camels, donkeys, goats, sheep 
 and dogs, with a dozen wild-looking Arabs, 
 men and women, clustered round a watch-fire. 
 We asked the way, but for a while they were 
 afraid, or unwilling to show it. 
 
 It was clear that our Janizary was frightened. 
 The wild cries of these people, and their ges- 
 tures were anything but friendly ; but eventu- 
 ally we prevailed on one of them to point out 
 the track. At once all the rest rose and fol- 
 lowed. I thought it very likely that the 
 Janizary might find himself in a scrape, caught 
 at night among these poor Fellahs, over whom 
 he might, perhaps, have been formerly an in- 
 strument of extortion or injustice ; and he was 
 evidently not happy till he got out of their 
 clutches. We followed the track, and soon 
 after met the Pacha's post on the way to Cairo. 
 From the messenger we got directions, and 
 pursued our weary journey. At last, after a 
 walk of nearly twenty miles, at nine o'clock, 
 we reached the village. 
 
 In the meantime our boats were wending
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 55 
 
 their way slowly up the stream, and there was 
 little chance of their being at Colosaneh before 
 morning. Hungry and tired, we found Assan 
 Bey encamped on the bank of the river. Clot 
 Bey had given me a letter to this chief, who 
 is governor of a large tract of country, but it 
 was in the boat, and probably miles off. At 
 last, I determined to apply to him, and state 
 our case. He sent back word, that there was a 
 place to which we might go. This did not 
 seem civil, but shelter was better than the open 
 air, and we were taken into a circular tent, 
 close to the Bey's. Very soon we received 
 cushions and pilloAvs, coffee and bread and 
 milk. Many of the Bey's people came in to 
 stare at us, but at last we sent them away 
 and prepared to sleep. 
 
 At this moment our cook appeared with a 
 lantern, announcing the arrival of the boats. 
 We hurried as fast as we could to our old 
 quarters, too happy to be there, instead of 
 lying to be gnawed by rats, or stung by mos- 
 quitoes in the Bey's tent. When I got on 
 board, we sent off the letter, to prove to him 
 that we were not impostors. It appeared very 
 soon that our cook and the old Rais had been
 
 56 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 quarrelling. The cook, very properly, had 
 insisted upon the Rais bestirring himself to 
 get on to Colosaneh, but the other, in sheer 
 obstinacy, tried to move the boat as slowly as 
 he could, in order to punish us for disregard- 
 ing his advice. The Rais, at last, threatened 
 to give the cook the bastinado. As I had 
 found out previously, that Rais Ali was ob- 
 stinate and sulky, I determined to have him 
 up before the Bey. 
 
 Jan. 12th. This morning we went to the 
 Bey's tent. We paid him the usual compli- 
 ments, and he ordered coffee and pipes, and 
 said, " all he had was ours." After some time I 
 brought forward my complaint against the 
 Rais, begging he might be admonished, but not 
 beaten. The Bey frowned, and looked as if he 
 would have liked having recourse to the cere- 
 mony of the stick ; however, he sent for the old 
 man, who came up, and made a very good fight, 
 as we were told afterwards, obstinately disputing 
 inch by inch, every foot of debateable ground. 
 I complained of him simply upon his threat to 
 beat my servant. His defence was, that he 
 was not obliged by his contract to go on after 
 sunset ; which was not true. After a great deal
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 57 
 
 of wrangling between the parties, I professed 
 to be satisfied if he would ask pardon, which 
 the Bey declared he must do, and also make 
 friends with the cook. It was amusing enough 
 to see their two heads knocked together by 
 force, for neither would embrace the other, 
 to the evident disgust of both parties. 
 
 We soon took our leave, and seeing the Bey 
 taking snuff, I asked if he would like a fresh 
 supply, and as he graciously nodded, I sent 
 him some. In return, he gave us a sheep. 
 After this ceremony, we started with a foul 
 wind, and are tracking slowly along. Cer- 
 tainly, the best part of last night's adventure, 
 was our reception in the encampment. The 
 scene was Avild in the extreme ; the watch-fires 
 round the Bey's tent, the camels and horses 
 picketed near, and the dark scowling faces 
 gleaming among the lights, which fluttered 
 and streamed up to the tops of the highest 
 palms, and danced across the river, were well 
 worthy of an artist's pencil. 
 
 We have just passed the Mountain of Birds. 
 Several Christian monks live upon it, who 
 subsist on charity. Some of them descended 
 from the rocks and swam across the river, to
 
 58 DIARY OF A JOUKNEY 
 
 ask alms. It seemed no easy task to stem so 
 wide a stream, but it was evidently nothing to 
 them. The convent is built upon a sand rock, 
 two hundred feet above the river. Here we 
 saw some enormous rafts, guided by long 
 branches of trees, instead of oars. The people 
 on them were as strange-looking as their 
 crafts, which came from Ghene, where there 
 are earthenware manufactories. 
 
 Jan. 13th. To-day at two o'clock we are 
 abreast of Melawi. The breeze freshened yes- 
 terday in the afternoon, and soon after losing 
 sight of the convent, near the Mountain of 
 Birds, we found ourselves at Minieh, which a 
 recent traveller calls minareted, I suppose for 
 the sake of alliteration, as there are no more 
 minarets at Minieh than anywhere else in this 
 part of the world. 
 
 Abreast of Wady Metaghara, and near Beni 
 Hassan, are some extensive catacombs and ex- 
 cavations, where the early Christians sought 
 refuge at the time of their persecution. They 
 are dreary and desolate abodes, fitter for hawks 
 or jackals, than for man. The country now 
 seems bolder, but there is nothing like a 
 mountain to be seen from Alexandria to this
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 59 
 
 place. The landscape is bleak and dreary, 
 without variety or beauty, and neither affords 
 interest for the painter or the sportsman. 
 Near Manfalout the cliffs are filled with exca- 
 vations. There is nothing to distinguish it from 
 other Egyptian towns, or to vary the usual 
 features of mosques, palm-trees, mud walls, 
 ruined houses, dirt, and misery. We passed 
 two or three boat-loads of wretched slaves. 
 The Government has been accused of paying 
 its troops, when the treasury was empty, by 
 allowing the soldiers to hunt these poor crea- 
 tures down like wild beasts, in the higher 
 regions beyond Nubia, and afterwards bring 
 them for sale to Cairo. 
 
 Siout is beautifully situated, under a hilly 
 ridge of sand-cliffs, perforated with innu- 
 merable excavations. The road to the town 
 leads through richly cultivated soil, deposited 
 by the periodical overflowing of the Nile. The 
 verdure is beautiful, and the acacia and Palma 
 Thebaica, which you now first meet with, vie 
 with each other in their picturesque appear- 
 ance. This town, the capital of Upper Egypt, 
 is the ancient Lycopolis. Here, formerly, the 
 jackal was worshipped, as were the crocodile
 
 GO DIARY OF A JOUKNEY 
 
 and other animals elsewhere. There are some 
 pretty buildings in this place, as well as some 
 baths, by which we profited. The latter were 
 even better than those at Cairo. The bazaars 
 are poor, the shops dirty, and the wares in- 
 ferior in every way. 
 
 Jan. 16th. This morning we started to the 
 excavations above the town. The ascent is 
 neither steep nor long. In several places are 
 tiers of cavities, like the port-holes of a frigate, 
 and occasionally larger ones, which seem to 
 have been the principal edifices, whether 
 temples or tombs. The first we saw was ap- 
 proached by a doorway, cut in the solid rock, 
 with figures on each side. These are nearly 
 effaced and broken by the chisel, or blasted 
 with powder. Inside, are two or three cham-- 
 bers, which have been hacked and hewed by 
 ruthless hands, so as to have lost all resem- 
 blance to what they originally might have 
 been. There are also remains of pillars, with 
 shapeless capitals, the bases and shafts of which 
 are broken and demolished. The inscriptions 
 are almost entirely gone, and a few years more 
 will complete the work of destruction. I 
 should doubt whether originally these excava-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 61 
 
 tions were highly ornamented. They are 
 curious as the last vestiges of an age whose 
 memorials will gradually but surely be extin- 
 guished. 
 
 A second temple contains some chambers, 
 the roofs of which have been painted with 
 various designs. The ground is blue, spotted 
 with stars, and there are, here and there, 
 squares, chequered like a chess-board ; but the 
 cement has been broken off, and the same 
 ruin which has visited the sculptured hiero- 
 glyphics, has not spared the painting. Round 
 about are innumerable fragments of earthen- 
 ware, bones, and mummy clothes. 
 
 Pursuing our way up the hill, we found the 
 ground covered with large masses of rock, ap- 
 parently basaltic. Here there are several 
 fossil shells. From the top of the hill the view 
 was superb. The course of the Nile, for miles 
 above and below Siout, was seen winding 
 through an edging of green, sometimes ex- 
 panding into sheets of water, at others appeai;- 
 ing like a silver string, with the stern and 
 dreary desert, hemming in the bright verdure 
 on its banks, and distinctly marking the course 
 of the river. The crops over this vast district
 
 62 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 were magnificent. Clover of the most luxuriant 
 growth, barley, beans, lentils, in a mass of the 
 richest green, were spread out under our feet, 
 with the river winding through them; the 
 framework of the picture being the yellow 
 sand, boundless and desolate. Clusters of 
 palm-trees occasionally marked the site of 
 villages, so picturesque from a distance, so 
 dirty when near. Under us was a large burial- 
 ground, in front Siout, with its minarets, and 
 behind us the great Lybian desert. 
 
 Returning down the mountain, we passed 
 more excavations, some deep and wide, others 
 left unfinished. There is little to justify the 
 Avalk, except the prospect from the top of the 
 hill, and the curiosity which prompts the tra- 
 veller to visit the graves of an unknown race. 
 The larger excavations are said to be of an 
 early date. There were, probably, places of 
 interment at hand, so that the dead might be 
 buried near the edifices in which they had 
 worshipped. After this, successively, came 
 the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman, who 
 laid a rude and ruthless hand upon these once 
 sacred places, and by converting them to other 
 purposes, set the first example of destruc-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 63 
 
 tion. Subsequently the persecuted Christians 
 fled for shelter to these caves of the rock, and 
 hid themselves near the fanes, once sacred to 
 Isis and Osiris, but destined in after ages to 
 receive within their precincts the persecuted 
 worshippers of Christ. By these hermits, 
 probably, the smaller cells and passages 
 were constructed, which are cut through the 
 rocks. Civilization brought another spoiler. 
 The chisel, the hammer, powder and pick-axe 
 have done their work, and to crown all, the 
 Pacha has established quarries, and destroys 
 more than Greek or Roman, antiquary or tra- 
 veller. A few more years will pass, and then 
 the stranger will gaze upon yawning caverns 
 where the marks of blasting and of iron mil 
 tell their destructive tale. 
 
 The natives believe that Europeans come to 
 seek for treasure, and our donkey-boys, while 
 we broke some stones, looked on in silent as- 
 tonishment, saying they knew when we got 
 home we should turn them into gold. Even 
 the Pacha, when Colonel Yyse went to so 
 much expense in excavations, could not be- 
 lieve that a man would throw money away if 
 he did not expect to recover its value in hard
 
 64 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 metal. However, his highness is now about 
 to establish a museum, in consequence of 
 which he will not allow antiquities of any sort 
 to be exported, without special leave. 
 
 Jan. 18th. Last night we made but a short 
 run. The breeze failing, we halted near Ca- 
 tieh, a small village, formerly celebrated for 
 being the abode of a horde of robbers, most of 
 whom Ibrahim Pacha destroyed. Our crew 
 never consent to stop at a reasonable distance 
 from a village, but prefer running alongside, 
 or into the middle of as many boats as they 
 can find. In vain I order it otherwise. 
 They like society, and smoke and chatter the 
 whole night through. Too lazy to go ashore, 
 they generally take up their position exactly 
 over my head, and at starting before daylight 
 the noise is indescribable. Often the river is 
 so full of sand-banks, near the shore, that no 
 tow-rope will reach from the boat to the land. 
 The only resource is to push her along with 
 heavy poles. When the wind is strong against 
 them, the crew cannot drag the boat. The 
 river, too, winds so unceasingly, that we 
 appear all day to be under one sand-bank, or 
 close to the same village.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. G5 
 
 We sailed by Aboutij, where there is no- 
 thing worthy of remark, and afterwards 
 two villages, eastern and western Gau, the 
 former, I believe, the site of AntaBopolis. At 
 Mishte, we passed the dark hours. At Temeh, 
 about twelve o'clock, we saw a barge with a 
 Turkish flag flying, and two smaller boats near. 
 A group of people were collected on shore, and 
 one of these was protected from the flies by a 
 huge flapper, which an attendant was vigo- 
 rously using. When we got near, we found 
 it was no less a personage than the Governor 
 of Upper Egypt. Having a letter to him, I 
 stepped ashore, and passed into his boat, 
 which differed but little in size or accommoda- 
 tion from our own. Having asked me to be 
 seated, he hoped my health was good, and sent 
 for coffee. He offered to give me a giraffe 
 (which, however, I declined), and requested 
 me to visit him on my way back. He told me 
 he would give me a letter to facilitate the hire 
 of boats or camels at Assouan. On my thank- 
 ing him, and accepting the offer, he sent out 
 his secretary to write the dispatch ; this done, 
 the Pacha rubbed the ink over his signet with 
 his finger, and stamped it, according to the 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 usual fashion in the East. He was originally 
 a Circassian, and a Mameluke (I believe), who, 
 having been protected by Mehemet Ali, escaped 
 the fate of his comrades. He is a man about 
 sixty, with a long black beard, very polite, but 
 ignorant of European affairs, like most of 
 those I have as yet seen, excepting always 
 Boghos Bey. 
 
 Having received the letter, we parted from 
 the Governor; our crew resumed the towing- 
 ropes, and running round the outer edge of the 
 Pacha's boats containing his domestics and 
 suite which were moored to the shore, soon 
 dragged us out of sight of the great man. 
 The remark is quite true, that you can trace 
 in all these people the wandering "nomade" 
 habits of their ancestors, and the tribes from 
 which they spring, to which they cling with 
 curious tenacity. Their tents are ready for 
 striking, if they are encamped. If they are in 
 their houses, their divan and a carpet or two, 
 some cushions and cooking utensils, make up 
 all their furniture. They are here to-day and 
 off to-morrow always prepared for a start. 
 They never read a book, seldom write a line, 
 and yet some are supposed to be as able diplo-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 67 
 
 matists as Talleyrand or Metternich, in all that 
 concerns themselves. 
 
 Jan. 19th. The river presents the usual 
 features. Winding along, it pursues its course, 
 sometimes through flat sand-banks, at others, 
 round the base of the low hills which form its 
 margin. The only new occurrence has been a 
 quarrel between the Rais and one of his people. 
 They first had a screaming match, and after- 
 wards the Rais told the man he would not keep 
 him, and that he might find his way to Cairo 
 as he could. He accordingly was paid; his 
 bundle was pitched ashore, and he was sent 
 after it. The Janizary is utterly useless, and I 
 believe if there was a disturbance would be the 
 first to run away. 
 
 Jan. 20th. We passed the night near Er 
 Reineh, opposite to the tomb of Sheikh Heredy. 
 Our Rais declared this place dangerous, as he 
 said there were robbers in the mountains, and 
 told us a long story of Selim Pacha having 
 been robbed of a diamond decoration, by an 
 Arab who swam across the river in the dead 
 of night, climbed by the rudder of the boat, 
 and let himself into the window of the room in 
 which the Pacha slept. He was not discovered 
 F 2
 
 68 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 till some months after, when, as a matter of 
 course, he was put to death. As, however, 
 there is no instance known of Franks being 
 attacked, and having plenty of fire-arms, we 
 went to rest without any idea of receiving 
 these nocturnal visitors. 
 
 Jan. 22nd. We passed last night at a vil- 
 lage called Ghezireh Shendowil, where we were 
 treated to the old story of robbers, which I 
 believe to be pure fiction. To-day, at dusk, 
 as usual, the wind died away, when we were 
 close to Menshieh, about five miles from 
 Ekhmrm. About three in the morning I was 
 roused by the howling of the wind and waves. 
 I found the people on deck rolled up in their 
 blankets, and either unconscious of danger or 
 too idle to move. The scene changed, how- 
 ever, suddenly enough, for the boat struck on 
 a bank. In the midst of the noise and con- 
 fusion of getting in the sails, the sleepers got 
 up as they best could, shaking themselves with 
 fear and cold. The Janizary looked white as 
 paste, and the others no better. Luckily our 
 suspense lasted only long enough to wake us 
 thoroughly, and in an hour or two we found 
 ourselves at Girgeh.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 69 
 
 Jan. 23rd. We reached a small village 
 called Haou last night, and are now scudding 
 past Dendera, celebrated in earlier times for 
 its umbrageous palms, and the beautiful temple 
 which we hope thoroughly to inspect when we 
 return. 
 
 Jan. 24th. Last night, as usual, we were 
 stopped by the calms, which succeed to sunset 
 almost as regularly as darkness to light. All 
 day long the breeze was unkind, but at last we 
 came to a turn in the river which disclosed the 
 obelisks and propylon at Karnac. The first 
 feeling was curiosity, the next disappointment. 
 From a short distance the Luxor temples look 
 poor and almost unsightly. The columns strike 
 the spectator as large and noble, but being 
 buried so deep in the sand they appear dwarfish, 
 and are deprived of grace and majesty. 
 
 In a few minutes we jumped ashore ; guides 
 came by the dozen, headed by an old Turk 
 appointed to look after strangers. We soon 
 found ourselves under the shadow of the now 
 widowed obelisk, and in the front of the portal 
 of the temple. Two giant statues are seated 
 on each side. Of these masses scarcely a form 
 or feature is unbroken ; but imagination comes
 
 70 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 to the rescue, and furnishes what the destroyer 
 has defaced. There is something solemn and 
 striking in these figures. But the whole effect 
 of the scene is destroyed by the Arab huts and 
 dovecotes, which rise on every side. The 
 spaces between the pillars of the temple are 
 turned into dwellings or stables. Pigs, goats, 
 and donkeys, with squalid and dirty children 
 by swarms, are pent up together with their 
 dirtier parents, among walls covered with the 
 most elaborate hieroglyphics, and rich in the 
 most coveted and admired treasures of the 
 antiquary and the savant. There are here five 
 boats with English colours flying, and we have 
 manfully disregarded the Pacha's order against 
 the use of foreign flags, finding all others do the 
 same. A party, with tents pitched, were bivou- 
 acking on the sand near the river. Nothing 
 could be more picturesque than the scene, with 
 the camels lying round a watchfire in front of 
 the ruins, and the guides sleeping beside them. 
 In the evening, by the rays of a beautiful 
 moon, after looking again upon the dark portal 
 of Luxor, and its gloomy sentries, we started 
 for Karnac. There was formerly a broad road 
 leading from the portal of Luxor to the great 
 gate at Karnac. We passed through fields of
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 71 
 
 long bent grass, and in half an hour reached a 
 village, with its mud walls and straggling 
 palms. The dogs turned out, snarling and 
 howling, as usual. At first, we could see no- 
 thing, neither temples nor ruins. Everything 
 seemed low and indistinct. Turning round a 
 bank we arrived at the famous avenue of 
 sphinxes, and here the first propylon of the 
 great temple was before us, with the moon 
 streaming upon it, and its long deep shadow 
 sleeping upon the plain. As we came nearer, 
 it seemed by degrees to grow upon us ; but not 
 till we stood under it were its colossal dimen- 
 sions evident. The guides and horses seemed 
 like dwarfs. So matchless are the proportions, 
 and so simple and so grand the form, that no 
 idea can be formed of the size until it over- 
 whelms one. Passing through it, we entered a 
 small temple, from the neighbourhood of which, 
 the view which presents itself is extraordinary. 
 Mass upon mass of stones, fragments of pillars, 
 blocks of granite, heaped in endless confusion, 
 meet the eye everywhere, looking as though 
 shaken down by some superhuman power. 
 Wonderful must have been their elevation, but 
 more wonderful still, their fall ! 
 
 I can give no accurate measurement of the
 
 72 DIAEY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 size of some of these fragments, but a horse and 
 rider would disappear behind many of the 
 single pieces. Beside the portal are two sit- 
 ting statues of granite, facing each other. The 
 great hall of the temple then appeared in all 
 its sublimity. We felt that to behold these 
 magnificent remains more than repaid us for 
 what we had endured. The sight surpassed 
 both all I had heard and all I had anticipated. 
 Who can describe such majestic desolation? 
 How came such enormous masses to be shaken 
 to their foundation? No human power, one 
 would suppose, could have worked such ruin. 
 Dread, indeed, must have been the scene, and 
 the hour of the downfal of Karnac ; for column 
 upon column, tower on tower, walls, roofs, and 
 even foundations broken up and cast down, lie 
 on every side. 
 
 The " abomination of desolation " sits upon 
 Karnac. The wind has carried the drift of the 
 desert round about it, but still the vast fabric 
 remains. Mountains of sand could not conceal 
 these vestiges of an earlier and mighty age. 
 Wondrous must have been the power and 
 genius of the people who raised them ; and yet 
 how signal is their doom ! The Persians and
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 73 
 
 Greeks may have defaced, the Mahometan may 
 have mutilated the records of the past, but it 
 must have been a mightier hand and a stronger 
 arm which accomplished this destruction. It 
 was not with the tramp of war-steeds, the noise 
 of chariots, or the march of legions that the earth 
 shook, and the temples reeled; but it would 
 seem that the judgment of Heaven descended 
 upon the land, and left an awful lesson to future 
 ages, to be read and pondered on among the 
 silent halls of this greatest of earthly temples. 
 
 Leaving this impressive scene, we arrived at 
 another portal, before which there are two 
 statues of colossal size, as usual, disfigured and 
 broken. Passing them, we entered a second 
 avenue of sphinxes, which leads through palm 
 trees to a reservoir of solid masonry, built to 
 receive the waters of the Nile at the time of the 
 inundations, and rode back to Luxor, our 
 guides with their long lances keeping pace with 
 us. I possessed a rarity in the shape of a good 
 horse with a light mouth, and was agreeably 
 surprised to find myself more at home than I 
 expected in a high Turkish saddle. 
 
 Jan. 27th. This day nothing occurred to 
 break our monotonous life. We reached Edfou
 
 74 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 about sunset, and set off to visit the temple. 
 It is in good preservation, but the workmanship 
 and execution of the figures and sculpture are 
 far inferior ; and this structure is modern, com- 
 pared with the splendid edifices of Karnac. 
 The portal, which is entire, leads into the 
 dromos, or court, surrounded by numerous 
 columns, of which, however, little more is to be 
 seen than the upper part. All the interior is 
 profusely covered with hieroglyphics. On the 
 outside and inside of the gateway are traced 
 gigantic figures of the various deities, but the 
 proportions and workmanship are bad. The 
 temple seems entire, and would be well worth 
 clearing from the huts of the surrounding 
 Arabs. 
 
 Jan. 28th. We are nearly abreast of Hagar 
 Silsilis. The quarries here have furnished the 
 materials for many of the finest works of this 
 country. The river is becoming gradually 
 more narrow, and the cultivation is, like the 
 river, within more confined limits.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Boat upsets on the Nile The Cataracts Temples of 
 Phihe Irrigation Wady Haifa The Nile at the 
 Cataracts.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JAN. 28th. We passed Oinbos, where there 
 is a sudden bend in the river, so that the 
 traveller approaches the ruins of the temple 
 sideways, but at the turn there is an admirable 
 view, as they present a commanding front to 
 the stream which washes their base. 
 
 We had a Nubian Rais on board, who had 
 asked a passage of Rais Ali to his own country, 
 and took upon himself to pilot us into Assouan. 
 Rais Ali was not much acquainted with this 
 part of the river, having been chiefly engaged 
 between Cairo and Atfe. I had gone to fetch 
 something out of the after-cabin, when sud- 
 denly the boat struck on a sandbank. This 
 was no unusual occurrence, but it happened 
 this time with force sufficient to knock several
 
 78 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 of the crew down, and throw the Janizary, who 
 was half sleeping over his pipe, sprawling upon 
 the deck. There was a sudden confusion, the 
 boat reeled on her side, and, in one instant, 
 over the deck, in at the cabin windows, in 
 every direction where it was open to its force, 
 the relentless river poured in upon us. 
 
 When I was struggling to make my way 
 to the front window, I heard Tardrew calling 
 to me to catch hold of a rope which he held ; 
 and, shivering the panes of glass to pieces, 
 which impeded my progress, he hauled me 
 through the window. The boat was on her 
 side. Everything was adrift, and all our light 
 baggage was floating about us. The Arab 
 sailors sat motionless and cramped up, and 
 Rais All was squatting on part of the rigging 
 with our servants, who were half-drowned, and 
 shivering with cold. Not one of the crew 
 seemed capable of exertion, and prayers and 
 threats were used in vain. At last two of the 
 Arabs, through much pressing, yielded to the 
 usual talisman, a bribe, and got into the water 
 to see if any brandy could be recovered from 
 the hold. After a good deal of ducking and 
 diving, two bottles were produced, which,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 79 
 
 drenched to the skin as we were, probably 
 proved our salvation. This supply we distri- 
 buted among all our fellow-sufferers, and did 
 not find any religious scruples interfering. 
 We next determined to send off to Assouan 
 for assistance. The people declared it was not 
 above a mile distant, and another present 
 induced two of the crew to swim ashore. 
 There was an island between us and the main- 
 land, which they had to cross, and the distance 
 could not have been more than a quarter of a 
 mile. But they never came back. 
 
 Hour after hour passed, which seemed like 
 centuries. The wind was bitterly cold, and 
 the moon, which had risen behind the hills, 
 only served to show us the horrors of our posi- 
 tion. At times, in the uncertain light, we 
 fancied the boats were coming, but our hopes 
 were always frustrated. One of our mattresses 
 floating on the water was picked up, and behind 
 this we nestled together. 
 
 At last help came. By great good luck, 
 a boat belonging to Mr. Lyall, which we had 
 passed the day before, took the same channel 
 we had followed, (which was the wrong one,) 
 and seeing our wretched plight, instantly came
 
 80 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 to the rescue. This gentleman was accom- 
 panied by his wife and three children, who 
 were going from Calcutta to England, and 
 were adventurous enough to take the Nile on 
 their way. They proved themselves good 
 Samaritans, by their kindness and the assis- 
 tance they rendered us. They gave us dry 
 blankets, tea, and brandy, and shared every 
 comfort they possessed. But the delay pre- 
 vented their getting to Assouan that night, 
 for which they had been most anxious. 
 
 When morning broke I was awakened to 
 the sense of our pleasant position, as Mr. 
 Ly all's boat was proceeding to Assouan. We 
 determined to send assistance immediately to 
 the wreck, little dreaming how difficult a mat- 
 ter it was, and to accompany Mr. Lyall, leaving 
 two of the servants, and the Janizary, who, 
 since the moment of our upset, had done 
 nothing but howl for his sword and pistols, 
 which were at the bottom of the Nile. After 
 three hours tracking we arrived at Assouan, 
 the distance to which must have been at least 
 five English miles. Our first business was to 
 send a servant to the Governor, to inquire 
 whether boats could be sent down; he was
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 81 
 
 also to present the letter which Selim Pacha 
 had given me. In the meantime, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lyall, after offering every assistance in 
 their power, and permitting us to remain in 
 their boat until their return, set off to the 
 cataracts, intending to make sail the same 
 night, for Cairo. We found some of our coun- 
 trymen here, who kindly offered the use of 
 their boats, with food and clothes, and any- 
 thing of which we were in want. Our ser- 
 vants returned from the Governor's, reporting 
 that nothing yet had been done, but that per- 
 haps boats would be sent off that evening. 
 We were surprised at the utter inefficiency of 
 Selim Pacha's letter; and even the Pacha's 
 firman was of no avail. 
 
 All our baggage had now been nearly twenty 
 hours under water, and not one of the natives, 
 in spite of our offers of money, had given us a 
 helping hand. Soon after the Governor came 
 down, with two officials, who smoked their 
 pipes and drank their coffee with as much 
 coolness as if nothing had happened. I got 
 little out of them but the old promise, that 
 they would send as soon as they could. In 
 the meantime, at the wreck, things were as- 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 suming a different aspect. One of the sailors, 
 who happened to be a skilful diver, had gone 
 to exercise his talents for our benefit. Our 
 second boat also, which we had left far astern 
 the day before, came up about three o'clock, 
 and both crews worked as well as they could 
 for the recovery of damaged stores. 
 
 The next day, Sunday the 28th, we got a 
 tent pitched, and spread our clothing to dry, 
 having established a watch all round. There 
 was certainly what the newspapers would call 
 a very great " destruction of property." The 
 low sandy beach was completely strewed with 
 writing-boxes, gun cases, and trunks, in vari- 
 ous stages of decomposition, their contents 
 scattered in every direction rice, coffee, 
 candles, gunpowder, medicines, books, papers, 
 crockery, beds, cooking utensils, were, more or 
 less, saturated with water. Nothing was pre- 
 served unharmed, but strange to say, eventu- 
 ally every article was recovered. Boxes were 
 broken, the contents of gun cases were heaped 
 together in one common mass, with rusty 
 knives, scissors, and needles, which we had 
 taken out as presents. These were, in point 
 . of fact, what we most cared for, as they were
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 83 
 
 not to be replaced. The articles of clothing 
 and bedding had not suffered much, still they 
 were full of sand. 
 
 A boat was engaged, which lay above the 
 cataracts, for our Nubian voyage, and in order 
 to get the new craft in trim for the ascent, it 
 was necessary to shift all our baggage, and 
 send it by land to Misseed, the village above 
 the rapids. There is great knavery in all this 
 story of the ascent of the cataracts. Count 
 Pahlen, who was very kind to us at Assouan, 
 was taken up in a much larger boat than ours 
 without moving anything. Mr. Lyall, on the 
 other hand, could not get his crew to take him 
 on, though the vessel was much smaller. The 
 Sheikh of the cataracts is always to be bribed, 
 and one of our fellow-travellers discovered that 
 his Rais had gone in the morning with a pre- 
 sent in order to induce a declaration that the 
 Cairo boat was too large. Thus any Cairo 
 Rais who happens not to wish his boat to go 
 up, or who gets bribed by the Sheikh, may 
 force the traveller to proceed by one of the 
 country -boats, which are more wretched and 
 inconvenient than any description can do 
 justice to. In short, such is the duplicity of 
 G 2
 
 84 DIABY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the natives, from highest to lowest, beginning 
 with the Governor, who wanted bribes for him- 
 self and money for his people before he would 
 undertake to move, down to the sailors, who 
 would not stir upon the wreck without a pre- 
 sent, that no one can tell to what risk he may 
 be exposed. And yet money does not always 
 command the desired object, for either from 
 ignorance the wrong person is bribed, or too 
 much is given, which is often worse than 
 giving too little. 
 
 On Tuesday the repairs were so far in a 
 forward state that we determined to start for 
 Misseed. Our boat, which had been raised out 
 of the river, was not, as I have said, allowed to 
 ascend the cataract on account of her size. She 
 therefore became the depository of all our 
 extra stores. The Janizary was left on board 
 to smoke his pipe, if he thought fit, at the rate 
 of five piastres a day; and on Wednesday 
 morning, having sent on our tent and baggage, 
 we started on donkeys to cross four miles of a 
 desert plain between Assouan and Misseed, the 
 village above the cataracts. Half-way there is 
 a little cupola surmounting a large earthen 
 vessel, which is filled with water brought from
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 85 
 
 Assouan by camels. This, it is said, was a 
 bequest of the former Governor, more chari- 
 tably disposed, I imagine, than his successor. 
 The track lay through ridges of rock and sand. 
 The stone is of a deep violet tint, and the 
 masses rising out of the drift, which is of a 
 reddish tinge, formed beautiful and singular 
 colouring. A sudden turn brought us into a 
 miniature oasis, hemmed in with masses of 
 granite, which rise on every side from the bed 
 of the river. The Nile forces its way through 
 large masses of Syenite (so called from the 
 ancient Syene, near the site of which modern 
 Assouan is built) with a force and rapidity that 
 creates what are called the cataracts which are, 
 in fact, only violent streams and then rushes 
 impetuously through a narrow channel, inter- 
 sected with rocky islands, until, free from this 
 last barrier, it pours its fertilizing waters over 
 the plains of Egypt. 
 
 A\ T e found our tent pitched under some 
 palm-trees, and, having walked along the shore 
 to get a view of the temples of Phike, were well 
 repaid by this beautiful scene. The learned 
 criticise them as being of too modern a date, 
 but the general effect of the temples rising
 
 86 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 amidst the dark blue granite, and contrasting 
 their classic proportions with the surrounding 
 rocks, mingled with the graceful palm-trees, 
 growing side by side with their pillars, is 
 matchless. The river coils like a serpent 
 round their base, and the only signs of life that 
 met our eyes and ears upon that now almost 
 desolate shore were the Nubian, supporting 
 himself on his log in the midst of the waters, as 
 he piloted himself across the rapids with a 
 branch of palm, and the shrill voices of a group 
 of children, naked as tadpoles and very like 
 them, screaming for " backshish," and gather- 
 ing round the passing stranger. 
 
 Before we set our sail, the Rais of the cata- 
 racts came to be paid 250 piastres, the price of 
 his services in taking the boat up. This sum 
 was divided amongst nearly 200 Nubians, who 
 had assisted. There was a ludicrous scene at 
 starting. One of our crew had taken upon 
 himself, without asking leave, to kill one of 
 the sheep that we had on board. This being 
 a long operation among the Arabs, as there is 
 a great deal of ceremony in skinning, looking 
 over, speculating upon, and dividing the car- 
 case of the victim, it was likely to delay us;
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 87 
 
 besides, it was a high breach of discipline. 
 We caught the culprit with the sheep's head 
 in his hand, gloating over the morsel, which, 
 without ceremony, was seized and tossed into 
 the river. In an instant the whole crowd 
 rushed into the water, scrambling for the 
 prize, while the rest of the spoil was thrown 
 on shore for the benefit of the weaker par- 
 ties. 
 
 We left Phila3 with a fresh breeze, which 
 continued more or less throughout the day. 
 The river becomes narrower, and the banks 
 still preserving the granite formation, are bold 
 and picturesque. Temples succeeded each other 
 on the banks, till we halted for the evening 
 near Taphis. The next day, pursuing our 
 course, we passed through the rapids of Ka- 
 labshe, entered the tropics near Abouhor, and 
 stopped at Dandour, having made a short voy- 
 age, on account of the want of wind. The 
 day following we sailed by Gyrshe, Dakke, and 
 some other temples, resting at Seboua, where 
 there is a temple which once boasted an avenue 
 of sphinxes. That evening brought us to Ko- 
 rosko, a small village on the eastern side ; here 
 we went on shore, and made some purchases
 
 88 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 of ostrich eggs, lances, and shields. Our next 
 stage was tedious, as the river turns here from 
 south almost to north, as far as Derr, which 
 we only succeeded in reaching late in the 
 evening, after tracking all day. From Derr, 
 another day brought us to a village called 
 Ermyne, and this morning we saw the rock 
 temples of Abousimbel. 
 
 In this part of the Nile, large wheels are used 
 for irrigation, by which the water is brought 
 up to a higher level, and by such means the 
 miserable peasant of Nubia is enabled to pro- 
 duce his three-fold harvest. They work rather 
 like dredging machines. A clumsy piece of 
 wood-work, turned by a pair of oxen, causes a 
 rope to revolve, to which at a very short dis- 
 tance asunder, are fastened earthen pitchers; 
 these, as they go down to the water, by the 
 revolution of the rope, are filled, and on arriv- 
 ing at the level, discharge their contents into a 
 channel made to receive them. Where the banks 
 are too high for this operation to succeed, a 
 reservoir is made half way up, and this is kept 
 constantly filled by manual labour. A contriv- 
 ance somewhat similar is often used in Eng- 
 land and France for drawing water. A weight 
 at one end of a beam, counterbalances what is
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 89" 
 
 to be brought up by the other. One man is 
 stationed at the edge of the river, with a 
 bucket, a second above him, and sometimes a 
 third ; thus the water is conveyed to the bank, 
 being thrown up until it reaches a height suffi- 
 cient for the large machine to work. It is 
 hard to conceive a more melancholy sound 
 than that caused by these sakkiehs, as they 
 are called, which creak and groan by day and 
 night it is as though some one was suffering 
 torture, so horrible is that unceasing screech 
 and moan. 
 
 Leaving Serra at sunrise, we passed along a 
 still drearier reach than any we had previously 
 seen. The shores were lower, and more sandy. 
 The wind, which was blowing fresh, contri- 
 buted, as it always does upon a river, to the 
 bleakness of the prospect. The village of 
 Wady Haifa has nothing to distinguish it 
 the country is flat and desolate. Opposite to 
 it are the ruins of a temple, which appear 
 to have been once very considerable; little, 
 however, now remains but fragments of brick- 
 work, which seem to have formed part of the 
 propylon, and some broken columns, which 
 serve to mark the size of the structure. 
 
 Fortune appears determined to frown upon
 
 90 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 us ; for, on arriving at Wady Haifa, we sent to 
 the Governor to procure dromedaries to carry 
 us to Dongola, having intended to continue our 
 journey to Meroe. Dongola is eight days from 
 Wady Haifa, and Meroe about fourteen days 
 further. In a short time that chief appeared, 
 accompanied by his suite, and, after pipes and 
 coffee, he informed us that all the camels and 
 dromedaries in the country had been sent off 
 five days before, with troops to Dongola, by the 
 Pacha's order. We offered double the price 
 usually paid, but the fact was indisputable, and 
 we were obliged to give up our project. We 
 met Count Pahlen here, and the arrangement 
 we have made to descend the Nile in company 
 goes far to reconcile us to our disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 Yesterday we started to see the cataracts in 
 a boat, instead of adopting the usual course of 
 a two hours' ride on donkeys, to the craig of 
 Abousir. Mounting the stream as far as the 
 foot of the falls, we found that our boat was 
 rotten, very crank and leaky, with a dangerous 
 mast, and a sail in tatters. The river does not 
 increase in rapidity until near the rocks which 
 form the cataracts. Here among innumerable
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 91 
 
 islands of granite, covered with patches of sand, 
 and a few stunted bushes, we saw large flocks 
 of cranes and other wild fowl, and multitudes 
 of pigeons. 
 
 The higher the stream is ascended, its bed 
 becomes more intersected by masses of granite, 
 some the size of half an acre, others only show- 
 ing their dark points above the water. Through 
 these, which in some places are so close toge- 
 ther that there is scarcely room for the boat, 
 the water rushes with the force of a mill stream. 
 They extend for about five miles, and divide 
 the river into various channels; but scarcely 
 one of them rises more than twenty feet above 
 the stream. It is perilous work to sail up, for 
 if the wind should suddenly fail, the water is 
 too deep for poles to reach the bottom, and the 
 boat may be carried down by the velocity of 
 the current. At one time the wind took us 
 aback in the middle of the rapids, and for a mo- 
 ment we thought we were going to be plunged 
 a second time into this inhospitable river. 
 However, after some difficulty, the boat was 
 stranded upon a shelving beach of sand, im- 
 mediately under Abousir, and we scrambled up 
 the sandy cliff, about three hundred feet above
 
 92 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 the bed of the river. It is curious to see the 
 mighty stream penned up and imprisoned, yet 
 forcing its way through myriads of granite 
 islets; but the absence of any bold feature in 
 the prospect, the insignificant height of the 
 rocks, and the little vegetation, make the view, 
 however peculiar, by no means so imposing 
 as might be anticipated.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Temple in the rocks near Fareyg Great temple at 
 Abousimbel Ibrim Derr Seboua Dakke 
 Gerf Hussein Kalabshe Temples of Philce 
 Biggeh.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FEB. 16th. We started on our downward 
 voyage, and reached Debeyra. Next day, land- 
 ing at Serra, we found a mud enclosure con- 
 taining some of the Pacha's cattle, which are 
 sent down in large droves to Cairo. Here we 
 beheld a wretched hut, in which were a soldier, 
 or guard, his wife, and a slave. There were 
 near the spot some squalid peasants who came 
 to gather up the sand on which the beasts were 
 lying. This they sifted to pick out any peas 
 or seeds they could find among the refuse. 
 Xakecl as they were, and cowering under the 
 scanty brushwood which sheltered them at 
 night, when they slept in holes in the sand, 
 thin as skeletons, one could scarcely believe 
 them to be human beings. On giving them
 
 96 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 some piastres, they seemed scarcely to under- 
 stand the use of money. 
 
 On Monday, we had less wind, and dropped 
 down the stream to a small temple cut in the 
 rock near the village of Fareyg. This has 
 been since used as a Greek church, and con- 
 tains some rude paintings of saints. Among 
 others, St. George is conspicuous, mounted on 
 a superb dray horse a curious contrast with 
 the vestiges of the older paintings, and the 
 hieroglyphics now nearly effaced. 
 
 Half an hour more saw our boats once more 
 moored under the rocks of Abousimbel. We 
 passed the whole day in the large temple. The 
 exterior, which is, beyond all doubt, the finest 
 specimen of excavation of which Egypt can 
 boast, is most imposing from its enormous size, 
 and the gigantic proportions of the four co- 
 lossi, which appear to support the mountain 
 itself. 
 
 The great temple is entered by a portal, im- 
 mediately over which is a hawk-headed figure 
 with a globe. On either side of this deity, are 
 two figures presenting offerings ; but they are 
 merely delineated upon the surface of the stone. 
 On each side of the portal, the colossi are
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 97 
 
 seated on thrones, marked with the insignia, or 
 cartouche, of Rameses the Great. The northern 
 figure is buried in sand as far as the head. 
 Traces remain of whitewash over the face, 
 which were caused by taking a cast of the 
 features. The person who defaced this mag- 
 nificent work might at least afterwards have 
 removed these marks ; for the colossus looks as 
 if prepared to be shaved, and the majesty of 
 the facade is destroyed. The next statue is 
 less covered. The third is broken to the 
 centre ; the legs, however, remain entire. The 
 fourth is perfect, towering above the spectator, 
 sixty feet in height. There they have re- 
 mained, century after century, with their large 
 eyes and placid smile, looking towards Egypt, 
 as if their mighty original and founder wished, 
 even in distant Nubia, to show that his glance 
 was always fixed, and his thoughts intent upon 
 his people. Their expression is sweet and calm, 
 and majesty and grandeur pervade the whole : 
 face, attitude, position, all are in keeping. 
 
 We descended a declivity of sand, into the 
 Hall of Statues, where eight giants of stone, 
 in high conical bonnets, stand out from the 
 wall, supporting the roof of the mighty fabric. 
 
 VOL. I. II
 
 98 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 They are more than twenty feet in depth, and 
 in good preservation. One has lost his nose, 
 another his arm; but in this land of mutila- 
 tion it is rare to find a work so little injured. 
 Through these " Osiride pillars," after passing 
 a second chamber, a narrower one succeeds, 
 where the traveller pays his respects to four 
 grim looking figures seated in the Adytum or 
 innermost sanctuary. These are the tutelar 
 deities of the place. The hawk-headed figure is 
 called Ra. The others are, Isis, Osiris, and 
 Kneph. There is an altar of stone before them, 
 probably used for sacrificing victims. 
 
 We returned to the great hall, and gazed on 
 the mild expression of the statues, which are 
 now seen better than on our first entrance, as 
 the stranger is dazzled on leaving the sunlight, 
 and entering the dark chamber. The features 
 are extremely handsome all resembling one 
 another, but bearing no likeness to the exterior 
 colossi. The noses have a slight curve, and 
 the lips are not so thick. We then explored, 
 with candles, several chambers of this wonder- 
 ful edifice. All are more or less painted, and 
 some of the designs and figures well preserved. 
 The most remarkable are in the great hall.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 99 
 
 One of Rameses in his war-chariot, and another 
 of the same monarch, killing his enemy with a 
 battle-axe, are the finest specimens. 
 
 Little has been said of the small temple of 
 Abousimbel, which, though it would be highly 
 esteemed anywhere else, is eclipsed by its giant 
 neighbours. Some think it an older structure, 
 upon which the larger temple is an improve- 
 ment; and others maintain it was built by 
 " Nofri-ari," the wife of Rameses. The exterior 
 is supported by standing colossi, and the car- 
 touches and other ornaments on the face of the 
 rock, are deeply and beautifully cut. The 
 interior is supported by six square pillars, 
 with heads of Isis: it contains an adytum 
 or sanctuary, and two or three other small 
 chambers. 
 
 After dark, we scrambled up the sand to 
 the temple, having procured torches, and in 
 addition, made a huge fire. It was curious 
 to watch the wild and strange effect of the 
 lights and shadows in these mysterious pre- 
 cincts, which however soon became stifling 
 from the heat and smoke, and we were glad to 
 emerge, after having satisfied our curiosity. 
 
 We halted next evening at Fonnundi, a 
 H 2
 
 100 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 miserable village. On Wednesday, we were 
 abreast of Ibrim, where we landed and visited 
 the excavations. The paintings and hierogly- 
 phics are nearly effaced; but in one cave there 
 is a small adytum, with three deities. On the 
 hill above nothing remains but walls broken 
 down and two modern churches, which are de- 
 faced and destroyed ; and some granite capitals 
 are scattered about, evidently of the same date. 
 It is believed that this place is Premnis, taken 
 by Petronius. The last time these desert cliffs 
 were disputed, was in 1812, when the Mame- 
 lukes were attacked by Ibrahim Bey. They 
 afterwards retreated, having laid waste the 
 whole country and destroyed the town. We 
 found fragments of pottery, which abound 
 everywhere. 
 
 Feb. 17th. On landing at Derr, we pro- 
 ceeded to explore the temple excavated in the 
 rocks above the village. Marching through 
 the town, after having passed a long bank of 
 sand that divides it from the river, we were as- 
 sailed on all sides by a crowd of the inhabitants 
 uttering the most discordant sounds. Mats, 
 dates, leaves, pigeons, fowls, and every descrip- 
 tion of the produce of the country were offered
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 101 
 
 for sale by a multitude of candidates, all 
 screeching and screaming together. The 
 women and children are generally afraid of 
 strangers, and it is almost impossible to satisfy 
 them that you are not going to do them harm, 
 or carry them away. While the crowd stood 
 outside, we visited the ruins. The structure is 
 half built and half excavated. It is said to 
 be one of the oldest in Nubia, and from the 
 appearance of the interior, and the sculpture 
 in the walls, I am inclined to share in this 
 belief. The same may be said of the little- 
 temple at Hasseya, or Amada, which we visited 
 this morning after sunrise. 
 
 We left Derr before daylight, and were very 
 soon close to the temple, which is small, and 
 almost buried in sand. The interior is curious, 
 full of sculpture, hieroglyphics, and paintings 
 of the usual character. It has been used as 
 a church by the Greeks, who plastered the 
 interior from top to bottom, covered the 
 images of a former age, and built a cupola 
 upon the top. Much of this plaster has been 
 taken away by the zealous antiquarian, who 
 discovers, with every piece that is removed, 
 some new memorial of the past. It is now
 
 102 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 used as a fold for sheep and goats, and is 
 choked up with dirt and sand. 
 
 Feb. 18th. We reached Seboua last night 
 at sunset, just in time to see the temple by the 
 fading light. The fabric is evidently one of 
 the most ancient in Nubia. Two mutilated 
 statues, and four sphinxes, broken and half- 
 buried in the sand, mark the entrance. There 
 is nothing else left except the propylon, on 
 which are large sculptured figures, a prostrate 
 colossus, and the upper part of the walls, which 
 mark the dimensions of the interior, and adytum. 
 At Meharraka, which we next visited, are four- 
 teen columns supporting the entablature, which, 
 though picturesque, are despised by the anti- 
 quary, for bearing marks of a later age than 
 that of the Pharaohs. The walls, as usual, 
 have been painted over with images of Greek 
 saints. We started after breakfast to walk to 
 Corti, where there is a remnant of a diminutive 
 temple, whose proportions are only about ten 
 paces in length. There are few sculptures re- 
 maining except the winged globe. 
 
 At a village on the way to Corti, we wit- 
 nessed some curious scenes in endeavouring to 
 buy some ornaments from the women, who,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 103 
 
 from being at first very shy and timid, ended 
 by coming forward without reserve, and pro- 
 ducing what they had to dispose of; I pur- 
 chased several gold and silver rings, but not 
 without great trouble. The noise and scuffling 
 were unceasing, as it is the constant practice of 
 those whose goods you do not buy, to try and 
 prevent others from selling to you. Even 
 among these wild people, it is the same battle 
 over again as in more civilized Egypt. 
 
 The arm is generally the most perfect object 
 in the form of the women, who are very grace- 
 ful in the use of it ; and when they lift or sup- 
 port on their heads the high pitchers in which 
 they cariy water from the river to their homes, 
 the act is seldom unaccompanied by a display of 
 native grace, which, ugly as they are in most 
 other respects, fixes the attention of the ob- 
 server. An ivory bracelet, worn by one of the 
 women, was offered for sale. On our agreeing to 
 purchase, she disappeared, and did not return. 
 After a few moments a crowd gathered, and, 
 on going up, we found the poor creature lying 
 on the sand, her arm covered with oil, and two 
 men pulling at it with all their force to get off 
 the bracelet. This was not to be endured, and
 
 104 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 I at once put a stop to the proceeding by giving 
 her the price asked, and refusing the coveted 
 prize. The poor creature looked so pleased that 
 we were amply reAvarded. These ornaments 
 are put on in youth, and are never taken off, 
 so that, as the limbs increase in size, it becomes 
 almost impossible to remove them. 
 
 At five o'clock we arrived at Dakke, the 
 ancient Pselcis. This is a very perfect temple, 
 not Pharaonic, or of the best age, but built, as 
 it is said, by Ergamoun or Ergamenus, an 
 Ethiopian king, and improved and enlarged by 
 the Ptolemies. Part of the interior is beauti- 
 fully sculptured, and there is a small chapel 
 that displays some workmanship as sharp and 
 fresh as if it had been executed yesterday. 
 The propylon is of a modern date, and has a 
 winding staircase in each tower. It was dedi- 
 cated to Hermes Tresmegistos, or Knouph. 
 
 Feb. 20th. The exterior of Gerf Hussein, 
 or Gyrsche, is not to be compared to that of 
 Abousimbel, either in size, position, or appear- 
 ance. It is terribly mutilated, and though the 
 form is preserved, and there exist traces of 
 what it has been, the edifice appears to have 
 been constructed originally with less care than
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 105 
 
 many others. Here the extent of destruction 
 is surprising. Masses of stones, broken pillars, 
 and capitals, were lying about everywhere. 
 
 The people gathered in a body with torches, 
 and guided us to the interior, which, unlike 
 Abousimbel, so long buried in the preserving 
 sands, has been open to the tribes of the desert r 
 who have stabled their camels in its precincts T 
 defaced the walls, and mutilated the paintings 
 and sculpture. It is blackened with smoke 
 throughout, and though here and there the 
 traces of the work can be distinguished, the 
 result is unsatisfactory, and exhibits, as Cham- 
 pollion remarks, the signs of a very slovenly 
 performance for the days of the great Ra- 
 meses, to which era it is said to belong. 
 The interior is supported by six dwarfish 
 and ill-proportioned colossi. The traveller 
 should visit this temple, on going up the river r 
 and before he sees Abousimbel, for after the 
 wonders of the latter, Gerf Hossein excites a 
 feeling of disappointment. In the interior are 
 four niches, containing each three figures of 
 deities, as in the inmost sanctuary at Abou- 
 simbel. Dandour is a picturesque ruin, with 
 a small propylon, much of which has fallen
 
 106 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 down. The outer, or surrounding wall, is of 
 solid masoniy, and well built, but bears marks 
 of having been left unfinished. 
 
 Passing out of the tropics at Abouhor, 
 through a small rapid, we reached Kalabshe, 
 where there is another shelaal, or rapid. The 
 great temple here is said to be on the site of the 
 ancient Tahnis. The interior presents an im- 
 posing heap of ruins, among which are to be 
 found some fine remains of columns, several 
 chambers, masses of sculpture, and some paint- 
 ing, with very fresh colours. A splendid pro- 
 pylon faces the river, with a paved approach, 
 and the remnant of a terrace, or quay, with an 
 external rampart, which here, as everywhere 
 else, seems to prove that these temples were 
 used either as fortresses or places of refuge. 
 At Bet Wallee there is a vivid delineation of a 
 siege, and the conquerors are throwing the 
 enemy from the walls of the propylon. Bet 
 Wallee is the smaller temple at Kalabshe 
 hewn out of the rock. It is considered a per- 
 fect specimen of the Pharaonic style, in finish 
 and execution, and though very small, the 
 sculptures are spirited and fine, representing 
 the conquests of Rameses.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 107 
 
 Feb. 21st. We landed at Taphis, near ex- 
 tensive ruins of a town and two small temples. 
 Afterwards we passed Kardassy, and admired 
 the position of some columns perched on a 
 rock near the river, which had formed part of 
 a temple dedicated to Isis. Here are large 
 quarries from which the stone has been taken 
 for many of the neighbouring temples. A 
 small chapel, or niche, is among the rocks, 
 where there are various sculptures, and innu- 
 merable Greek inscriptions. 
 
 Feb. 22nd. At Dehmyt, I was wakened be- 
 fore daylight by a terrible disturbance. The 
 whole village was in arms ; the natives shriek- 
 ing and gesticulating, brandishing spears and 
 knives. On inquiring the cause, I found that 
 one of our servants had been offered a date, 
 encrusted with salt, for which the owner asked 
 four dollars, declaring that there was a jewel 
 inside. The man was fool enough to believe 
 it, but before buying, wishing to make sure of 
 his prize, he cracked the date, and found, of 
 course, the kernel, and nothing else, upon 
 which he declined to pay. The peasants were 
 so much enraged that nothing could pacify 
 them, and when we pushed off, they followed
 
 108 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 us in crowds to Deboud, where several swam 
 across the river to our boat. We were, at last, 
 obliged to show our fire-arms, in order to keep 
 them off, and this had the desired effect. 
 
 The temple here is scarcely worth seeing; 
 there are very few sculptures, and those not of 
 the best kind ; but two hours of sunshine and 
 calm brought us once more to one of the love- 
 liest spots in the world. As we floated gently 
 down the stream, the columns of the small 
 temple of Philse, or, as it is called, the Pharaoh's 
 bed, rose before us, crowning the rocks of 
 granite in the centre of the river. There is 
 no view in all Egypt comparable to this first 
 glimpse of the island and its towers as the boat 
 descends the current. Having got ashore with 
 all despatch, our first move was to the great 
 temple, and here all the wonders of the spot 
 burst upon us at once. It is impossible to see 
 this magnificent work without feelings of un- 
 Hiingled admiration. All' that the Egyptian 
 school of architecture produced in its earlier 
 ages, has here been imitated, and, I think, ex- 
 celled, by the Ptolemies and the Roman em- 
 perors. The two propylons are entirely covered 
 with sculptures. In truth, so rich is the whole
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 109 
 
 mass that no description can do justice to its per- 
 i'ection. Critics find much that is meretricious ; 
 many figures out of drawing and various faults ; 
 but I defy them to abridge the merit of the glori- 
 ous whole. There is scarcely a portion of these 
 temples, or the chambers they contain, which 
 does not bear the marks of immense labour, as 
 if its founders were determined to equal, if not 
 eclipse, in richness all that had been done before. 
 
 This place was considered a spot of peculiar 
 sanctity, sacred to Isis, Osiris, and Horus their 
 son, who, by the way, afterwards married his 
 mother, and she produced Mandoule, who was 
 worshipped at Kalabshe. It has been ascer- 
 tained that other temples existed here long be- 
 fore the present ones were constructed, by the 
 fact of the ovals or cartouches of the Pharaohs 
 being found sculptured upon the granite rocks, 
 near the island, whereas in the temples which 
 now exist, the insignia and bearings are Ptole- 
 maic and Roman. 
 
 In front of the propylons are two colonnades, 
 one of which has sixteen columns, the other 
 about thirty. These are small, but well-pro- 
 portioned, and the capitals are all varied. In 
 the unfinished colonnade is a small chapel, de-
 
 110 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 dicated by Ptolemy Epiphanes to Esculapius. 
 I found the Greek inscription which Wilkin- 
 son refers to, and also the small chapel at 
 the south part of the colonnade, dedicated to 
 Athor, by Nectanebes, called by Champollion, 
 " Ce pauvre Nectanebe," who reigned after the 
 Persian invasion, and about 387 years before 
 Christ. There is a small obelisk at the end of 
 the colonnade, and another small chapel, of 
 which six columns are standing. From this 
 spot the rocks descend perpendicularly to the 
 river. There appear to have been steps, and 
 a fine landing-place. The interior of the great 
 hall is supported by splendid columns, the capi- 
 tals of which still preserve their colours. It is 
 rich and gorgeous beyond measure. 
 
 An inscription over the doorway records an 
 expedition sent by the Pope, with some pre- 
 sents for the Pacha of Egypt. Little did the 
 Caesars imagine, when they were adorning and 
 improving the works of a Ptolemy, that ano- 
 ther age would see Roman names on these 
 very walls, no longer as masters and lords, 
 with the cartouches and symbols of conquest 
 and dominion, but as humble visitors to a more 
 than semi-barbarous people, paying a tribute
 
 TO DAMASCUS. Ill 
 
 to the memorials of the glory of their ances- 
 tors. Here also, in another place, is the 
 French inscription, commemorative of Desaix, 
 and his warriors, who drove the Mamelukes 
 "jusqu'au dela des cataractes." Along his- 
 tory sets .forth this fact, and over it some tra- 
 veller has written " Une page de 1'histoire ne 
 doit pas etre salie." This has a double sense. 
 Whether the writer meant to be severe on the 
 French defacer of the wall, or to protect the 
 inscription from others, does not seem clear. 
 
 The smallest temple is unfinished, though 
 graceful and ornamental. It is said to have been 
 constructed over the tomb of Osiris, who is 
 by some supposed to have been buried here. 
 Near it, we saw two chambers, where Cham- 
 pollion lived, and some blocks of stone mark 
 out a ruined altar, where he made his kitchen. 
 
 Feb. 23rd. This morning we rambled over 
 the ruins, and crossed to Biggeh, another and 
 rather large island, where vestiges of a temple 
 exist, dedicated to Athor, commenced by the 
 Ptolemies, and finished by the Romans. We 
 scrambled up to the highest point of the crags, 
 and had a magnificent view of the cataracts. 
 No one who comes here should miss this pros-
 
 112 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 pect, yet I cannot find that any one mentions 
 it, or has taken the trouble to ascend the rocks. 
 From these quarries, celebrated for their red 
 granite, a great deal of that used in the obelisks 
 and statues of Lower Egypt has been taken. 
 They rise in large masses on all sides, and the 
 scene is wild and striking. The spectator 
 looks down upon the green spots of verdure 
 fringing the bed of the river, then comes the 
 frame of granite, and beyond all, sand and 
 desert.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Passage of tlio Cataracts Quarries at Assoua Om- 
 bos Excavations at Hagar Silsilis Temple of 
 Apollinopolis Painted Sepulchral Chambers at El 
 Kab Almeh, or Dancing Girls at Esne Hermon- 
 tliis Thebes. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FEB. 25th. To-day, at seven o'clock, having 
 struck our tents, we bade a long farewell to the 
 towers of Philse. Crossing over to the oppo- 
 site shore, we found the Rais of the cataracts, 
 and all his people, waiting for us. The instant 
 the boat touched ground, she was boarded by 
 more than forty men, shrieking and hallooing 
 at the highest pitch of their voices. They 
 proceeded to turn our crew out of their places, 
 and possessed themselves of the oars. An old 
 fellow, as wild as the rocks about us, seized 
 the helm, and struck up a long chant, that 
 re-echoed among the rocks, scaring the wild 
 fowl, which rose in large flocks around us. 
 The current increases rapidly into a rush of 
 water, causing small whirlpools in many parts 
 i 2
 
 116 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 of the stream. There was often not an inch 
 of room to spare for the boat, which sometimes, 
 by the force of the current, seems to be going 
 broadside on the rocks. The people prayed 
 and ejaculated thanks to Allah, after every one 
 of the falls, and this not in their usual care- 
 less fashion, but as if they knew and felt the 
 risk they were incurring. The old Rais of the 
 cataract trembled with anxiety ; a boat belong- 
 ing to him having lately been dashed to atoms. 
 The last falls are to be passed only by fas- 
 tening ropes in various places to the rocks, in 
 and above the stream. It is impossible not to 
 admire the great dexterity of the people, who 
 jump or swim from point to point, dashing 
 into the falls, or scrambling over the crags,, 
 scarcely ever making a mistake. Sometimes 
 we swung by a single, and not a very thick 
 rope, fastened to a rock, with the water roaring 
 and boiling all round. If this rope had bro- 
 ken, we were lost, and the tackle seemed any- 
 thing but capable of holding us. The crags 
 were covered with boys and children, and 
 every now and then these imps of darkness, 
 jumping . on a log, threw themselves headlong 
 into the eddies, and swam like fish.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 117 
 
 On the whole the scenery is tame ; there is 
 no verdure, not even ti solitary palm or an 
 acacia is to be seen. The approach to Assouan 
 is more cheerful, and the old town, which is a 
 mass of ruins, rises in curious contrast with the 
 modern one. We reached our old anchorage, 
 and Rais Ali, who had come up to assist 
 in our descent of the cataracts, immediately 
 hoisted his colours in man-of-war style. We 
 then visited the quarries, where there is an 
 unfinished obelisk of a prodigious size, and how 
 it was ever to have been carried away is difficult 
 to conceive ; but the Egyptians must have pos- 
 sessed some mechanical power of which we 
 have no idea. How otherwise could they have 
 raised the enormous piles of building which 
 still attest their great conceptions and wonder- 
 ful power of execution ? Leaving the quarries, 
 we crossed to Elephantina, where little re- 
 mains but some hieroglyphics, sculptured upon 
 some fragments of granite, a few square pil- 
 lars, marking the site of a temple, and a statue, 
 the size of life, of Osiris (I believe) sitting 
 companionless at the foot of a heap of rubbish, 
 and looking as if it wondered how it got there. 
 
 Feb. 27th. We reached Ombos last night,
 
 118 DIARY OF A JOUENEY 
 
 as the evening began to fall, and the temples 
 were gilded by the sun's last rays. The greater 
 edifice is said to be of Grecian origin, dedi- 
 cated to the crocodile god, Savak, and it would 
 seem that the deity, " O'er his own regions 
 lingering loves to shine," for it was here that we 
 first fell in with these animals on ascending the 
 river, and on our return we saw them in great 
 numbers basking on the banks and islets of the 
 stream. Their scaly armour bids defiance to 
 bullets, for we found, after repeated shots, that 
 they merely shifted their quarters by slipping 
 or waddling into the water. There are thirteen 
 pillars of this temple standing, but half buried 
 in the sand, so that one treads on a level with 
 the winged globe surmounting the doorway. 
 In the interior are to be seen the remains of 
 colouring still fresh and vivid. There was 
 formerly a more ancient structure, of which 
 little is preserved but the propylon, said to be 
 of the age of Tothmes III. As seen from the 
 river these ruins are imposing, and the site, at 
 an elbow of the stream, is, perhaps, the most 
 picturesque of any on the Nile, with the ex- 
 ception of Philae. 
 
 As night came on, we once more unmoored
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 119 
 
 and glided gently down the current, here 
 shining in the bright moonbeams, and there 
 darkened by the giant shadows of the palace of 
 crocodiles. The morning found us approaching 
 Hagar Silsilis, where there are vast quarries of 
 sandstone on each side of the stream. The 
 excavations are various and interesting, par- 
 ticularly those on the western bank. The 
 quarries on the eastern shore are much the 
 largest in extent, and so fresh are the traces 
 of the chisel that the work appears still in 
 progress, though centuries have rolled on 
 since the last sounds of labour were heard 
 upon these deserted cliffs. Crossing the river, 
 we visited three small excavations on the 
 western side, which are said to belong to the 
 times of the eighteenth dynasty, bearing the 
 insignia of Rameses the Great. The largest 
 and most curious excavation consists of a long 
 gallery, supported by square pillars, containing 
 two small chapels and an adytum, in which are 
 six standing figures ; an exception to the sitting 
 posture, which appears the usual rule. 
 
 The earliest dawn found us at the temple of 
 Apollinopolis or Edfou, which is imposing 
 from its height and extent, though not of the
 
 120 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 best age. On each side of the propylon are 
 staircases and chambers, which might be turned 
 to good account as stores or granaries. Yet 
 these huge piles of stones are untenanted save 
 by the owl and the bat. and surrounded by 
 filthy huts built up against the base of the 
 walls, half filled with sand, so as to be ut- 
 terly useless. The Vandalism of the govern- 
 ment has in many instances destroyed similar 
 remains of antiquity in order to provide mate- 
 rials for building warehouses. Here these are 
 ready prepared, and with very little care and 
 labour might be rendered convenient and use- 
 ful. By removing the accumulated masses of 
 dirt heaped round the walls, and clearing out 
 the interiors, the authorities would benefit 
 themselves and render an essential service to 
 the Fine Arts. At Esne, this has been done 
 partially, but I believe it to be a solitary in- 
 stance. We declined creeping into the smaller 
 temple, as it is nearly choked up. The only 
 entrance is through the floor of a wretched hut, 
 and the process of crawling on your chest 
 behind a lighted torch is not to be endured 
 unless there is something worth the enterprise 
 to repay the trouble.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 121 
 
 Returning on board, we pursued our way to 
 El Kab, or Eilethyas, where we moored abreast 
 of the town. There is little here to see, and 
 we at once sought the heights above, in which 
 the tombs and excavations are very remarkable. 
 More extensive than those at Ibrim and Hagar 
 Silsilis, they also seem in better preservation. 
 In some of these burying-places are successive 
 pictures of different scenes in the life of the 
 departed. The cultivation of his farm, his 
 field sports, fishing, and fowling, his banquets, 
 and the interior of his harem, where he is re- 
 presented as sitting by his wife, who bears a 
 monkey on her wrist, are all portrayed with 
 great precision; and, finally, the close of his 
 life, with his embalming and funeral obsequies, 
 concludes the drama. 
 
 Leaving the hills, we struck across the plain, 
 which is entirely desert, and, passing by a ruin 
 half excavated and half constructed, said to 
 have been dedicated to Lucina, containing the 
 figure of a lion, and outside of which is a re- 
 markable tablet, apparently of older date than 
 the building, we arrived at the most interesting 
 of all the ruins of Eilethyas. This very small 
 temple was built by Amunoph the Third. It
 
 122 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 has been spared by Time, and is almost perfect 
 outside, while, in the interior, the sculptures 
 and ornaments have suffered little mutilation 
 or injury. Tothmes the Fourth is associated 
 with Amunoph, his son, in the insignia near 
 the doorway. The ruin is almost surrounded 
 by sandstone hills. A caravan of the Ababde 
 Arabs, on its way to Sennaar from Cairo, 
 wound its slow length along the valley, and 
 the plodding camels and their drivers were the 
 only moving objects the eye could rest upon for 
 miles across this desolate region. Daylight 
 began to fail before we left it, and there is little 
 twilight ; for, after the sun sets, darkness comes 
 on rapidly. We had three long miles to walk 
 over a stony plain, here and there studded with 
 pools strongly impregnated with salt, and after 
 wading through some, and breaking our shins 
 over fragments of rock, we hailed with great 
 joy the lights of our boat. I shall long recol- 
 lect this lonely temple, far more striking in its 
 solitary repose than the more lordly piles of 
 Esne and Edfou. Cows and sheep, dogs and 
 goats, and human beings almost as degraded as 
 the beasts of the field, dwell among, and pollute, 
 the nobler sanctuaries ; while, near this lowly
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 123 
 
 pile, no object is seen but the bird of prey has- 
 tening from his crag to the river; no sound is 
 heard but the cry of the hyaena or the jackal, 
 and the finger of Time is the only weapon of 
 destruction that has left its trace upon the once 
 sacred walls. 
 
 We reached Esne after some hours, and 
 petitioned to be allowed the use of the Pacha's 
 bath, which other travellers had been able, 
 in Mehemet All's absence, to procure. This 
 brought down the Governor to assent, and 
 pay us a visit, in return for which he was pre- 
 sented with some snuff and a riding whip. 
 Here we saw the Almeh, or dancing girls, who 
 have been banished from Cairo by the Pacha. 
 They were collected in a dirty hut, smoking, 
 and drinking brandy made from dates, and did 
 not appear to be anxious to exhibit their art, 
 until made aware that we were ready to pay 
 for the sight. However, upon this explanation, 
 an old hag who was squatting down near the 
 door, busily occupied in grinding coffee, pro- 
 duced a drum, or tomtom, and the ladies, fitting 
 on some metal castanets, began to execute the 
 measure, which is as different as it is possible 
 to conceive from European dancing. The feet
 
 124 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 have little or nothing to do, and while the per- 
 formers are shuffling round and round appa- 
 rently upon the same space, the body is thrown 
 into attitudes which show off the flexibility of 
 the frame, but certainly are neither decorous 
 nor picturesque. I cannot say much for the 
 beauty of any of the party, and when the 
 novelty of the exhibition was over it was not 
 worth a repetition. 
 
 The interior of the temple at Esne has been 
 somewhat cleared from the encumbering sand. 
 The effect of the uncertain light, partially ad- 
 mitted from the aperture of the doorway, is 
 solemn and mysterious, and veils, at first, the 
 abundance of ornament which awaits the 
 closer inspection of the antiquary. The pillars 
 are about seventy feet high, and all have dif- 
 ferent capitals, roof, walls, and shafts of 
 columns, are entirely covered with sculptured 
 emblems and hieroglyphics. So deeply has 
 this edifice been buried in the sand, that the 
 flooring is forty feet below the surface of the 
 ground; upon which, in the lapse of years, 
 habitations have been built, and the traveller 
 is obliged to descend into the interior, between 
 the capitals of the columns.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 125 
 
 Hermonthis is a small temple, some distance 
 from the river, and is said to have been built 
 by Cleopatra, in honour of her son Csesarion. 
 It bears their united images, under the forms 
 of Isis and Horus, upon almost every part of 
 the edifice ; and traces may be distinguished of 
 the different events of the child's birth, nurs- 
 ing, education, and training; and, also, the 
 various offerings made to him and his mother, 
 as though they were divine persons. 
 
 March 5th. We reached Thebes at a late 
 hour. The noise of guides and donkey-boys 
 aroused us in the morning, and we started 
 for Medeenet Habou. Far across the plain, 
 covered wherever the eye could reach with 
 luxuriant crops of grain, we saw the giant 
 statues, the silent, motionless, and eternal- 
 guardians of the once proud city of the 
 hundred gates. As we advanced upon them, 
 storied memories of the centuries that have 
 passed away since they first were piled upon 
 the earth, crowded fast upon the mind. Earli- 
 est history has invested them with a solemn 
 and mysterious interest ; and not less wonder 
 is excited in the imagination of the pilgrim of 
 later years, who walks around the huge base of
 
 126 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the statue, "which at sunrise played," than was 
 felt by the warrior, the statesman, or the philo- 
 sopher of old, who, in other ages, and in re- 
 motest times, has recorded his name upon its 
 imperishable foundation. 
 
 Full fifty feet above us, towered the huge 
 masses of rock, once sculptured and fashioned 
 with all the skill and resource of art, now 
 broken, splintered, and defaced yet are they 
 not cast down ; but after their years are 
 counted by thousands, they still raise their 
 stony foreheads to the sky as if defying the 
 attacks of Time, Leaving Shamy and Damy, 
 as they are called by the Arabs, we approached 
 the mighty ruins of Medeenet Habou. There 
 are four different edifices here, Roman, Ethi- 
 opian, Ptolemaic, and Pharaonic; the latter of 
 the times of Tothmes II. and III. The palace 
 of Rameses is distinguished by the style of 
 ornament and the immense labour displayed 
 and lavished on every part of the pile. 
 
 Passing on, we entered the principal temple, 
 so celebrated for its spacious and florid in- 
 terior, covered even to the most minute details 
 with deeply cut and beautifully executed 
 sculpture. It is, perhaps, the finest specimen
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 127 
 
 of the true Pharaonic character; but the vast 
 columns are rent and broken down, nor can 
 the spectator at a glance embrace its splendid 
 proportions ; for the court is choked up with 
 sand and fragments of stone, and covered with 
 the remnants of ruined huts. From hence we 
 crossed through fields of standing corn, to the 
 Memnonium, as it is commonly called : near it 
 lies the famous colossus, supposed to be the 
 image of Sesostris. The roof, consisting of 
 huge blocks of stone, is supported by vast 
 pillars. Around the walls, trophies and sculp- 
 tured achievements of monarchs and warriors 
 meet the eye ; and in this respect there seems 
 no variety in the temples of Egypt. This 
 superb edifice is more defined than Medeenet 
 Habou, being more free from habitations, and 
 comparatively uncovered. From here, as in- 
 deed from every part of the plain, the twin 
 statues strike the eye, like monstrous tomb- 
 stones marking the grave of the Ekatompylos. 
 The plain is covered with fragments of granite 
 and prostrate colossi. 
 
 It is supposed that the greatest temple of 
 Thebes was built by Amunoph III., the ap- 
 proach to it being between the vocal JVIemnon
 
 128 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 and his companion. It is thought also that 
 this temple extended nearly to the hills from 
 various marks and vestiges which have been 
 discovered. If this be so, and that the muti- 
 lated remains scattered over the soil formed part 
 of an avenue of statues leading to the palace, 
 what an idea is created of the magnificence and 
 grandeur of these early potentates ! and if we 
 add to this the speculation that the tombs of 
 the kings on the other side of the ridge under 
 which the city stood were approached by ex- 
 cavations through the bowels of the earth, it 
 cannot but impress the mind with admiration 
 for the genius and power, which, while the world 
 was still fresh and young, overcame such diffi- 
 culties and achieved such triumphs. Amu- 
 noph's temple still stands in the solitary wilds 
 of Eilethyas, but here not one stone stands upon 
 another to mark the seat of his pomp and 
 power. All that remains of him is the solemn 
 and silent chamber of death in the western 
 valley of tombs. 
 
 From the Memnonium, we passed over hil- 
 locks and mounds of sand and rubbish among 
 innumerable places of sepulture, into all of 
 which the destroyer has broken. . The dead lie
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 129 
 
 coffinless around them, bleaching in their 
 ghastly shrouds, and the ground is strewn over 
 with fragments of humanity. Skulls, arms, and 
 legs are to be seen with their last coverings still 
 adhering to them ; and in many places large piles 
 of bones are heaped together like cairns upon 
 the plain. Proceeding up the valley of Assasif, 
 we saw a small and ancient temple, said to have 
 been built by one of the early Pharaohs; the 
 insignia are, however, partially erased, and re- 
 placed by those of Tothmes TT. But it appears 
 useless to thread the labyrinth of discussions 
 which Egyptian discoveries have provoked, and 
 the more such controversies are examined, the 
 greater appears the uncertainty of speculation. 
 It should be added, that this temple presents 
 some curious colouring and sculpture, and a, 
 small red granite pylon partially destroyed. 
 
 Descending towards the river, we visited 
 some burial places remarkable for their size, 
 and the labour bestowed upon them. Many 
 contain figures representing the deceased with 
 his wife or family placed in the furthest re- 
 cesses, like the deities in the larger temples, 
 which scowl grimly at the intruder who ap- 
 proaches them with his flaming torch. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 March 6th. Our guide, Abou Harb, con- 
 ducted us to a dwelling among the tombs where 
 a Greek antiquary has taken up his abode. He 
 buys from the natives everything they collect, 
 and retails these spoils at enormous prices to 
 any stranger who may be anxious to possess 
 them. I believe many of his treasures are 
 manufactured elsewhere for the purpose of sale 
 to the unwary; for it is almost impossible to 
 find anything really valuable, so completely 
 have previous explorers and antiquarians ex- 
 tracted all that was worth carrying away. 
 We arrived at a hut surrounded by a low wall 
 forming a court filled with mummy cases, the 
 dried-up tenants of which were standing in a 
 row along the walls a hideous troop ! The 
 doors and windows were evidently made out of 
 coffin-wood, which also was heaped up in each 
 corner, and as it is painted over with figures 
 and hieroglyphics, there is no mistaking from 
 whence it comes. The interior of the dwelling 
 was filled with funeral furniture of every de- 
 scription. There were images, beads, idols, 
 bronzes, papyri, rolls of linen from mum- 
 mies, bags of corn which had been collected 
 from the same source, and various descriptions
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 131 
 
 of animals, snakes, and birds preserved with as 
 much care as the remains of man. 
 
 March 7th. We visited the tombs of the 
 queens, which are situated in a lonely glen 
 behind the palace of Medeenet Habou. They 
 are called " Harem Sultan " strange asso- 
 ciation of pleasure and. death ! There is a de- 
 licate question as to whether they were really 
 queens or rather the pellices mentioned by 
 Strabo. We entered three of these excavations, 
 finding the usual elaborate paintings on the 
 walls, and fragments of mummies round the 
 entrance and in the interior. The last we at- 
 tempted to explore was so full of smoke that 
 we were nearly stifled. The guides informed 
 us that an English lord had amused himself by 
 collecting a heap of mummies, and setting fire 
 to this awful pile. The fire had been burning 
 ever since, for he had not long been gone. 
 This memorable achievement had blackened 
 and partly destroyed one of the most curious 
 of these abodes. It was the one supposed 
 to have contained Taia, the black queen of 
 Ametnoph III., and her image was the prin- 
 cipal object upon the Avails. Where all the 
 other pictures of men and women were red, the 
 K 2
 
 132 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 contrast of this black face, with its long hair 
 and extreme beauty, was most remarkable, but 
 our countryman's exploit had injured and de- 
 faced the colouring. 
 
 To reach our boats, we passed through the 
 valley of Deir el Medeenet, where there are two 
 tablets cut in the rock, of the time of Amunoph, 
 or the early Pharaohs, and a curious Ptolemaic 
 temple rich in hieroglyphics and sculpture, 
 which we explored on our way to the river.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Sunrise from the Statue of Memnon Luxor Reli- 
 gious ceremonies of the Dervishes Karnac Palace 
 of Gornou Belzoni's Tomb Ruins of Dendera 
 Abydos Sugar Manufactory Ruins of Beni Hassan 
 Pyramids of Dasluir Arrival at Cairo.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARCH 9th. We started at four this morn- 
 ing, to see the sun rise from the base of Mem- 
 non's statue. Slowly, between the masses of 
 Luxor and Karnac, behind a low bank of 
 sand, he appeared, like a vast globe of fire. 
 His reflection on the hills behind Medeenet 
 Habou, showed itself in a thousand hues upon 
 the sandstone cliffs. The rocks assumed, by 
 turns, every colour of the rainbow; changing 
 from violet to pink and red, and at last 
 shining like gold. 
 
 The scene was, in truth, magnificent ; though 
 neither vocal nor instrumental music enhanced 
 it though Memnon was voiceless, the tongues 
 of hoary centuries were speaking to us from 
 the forms of the ruined temples, the dese- 
 crated altars, the broken statues, and the
 
 136 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 prostrate columns. Who would not mo- 
 ralize among these memorials ! A few more 
 years may be added to the stores of Time, 
 and our own proud England, with her ca- 
 thedrals and her palaces, her princely mansions 
 and her endless workshops, her mighty cities, 
 her railways, with their long array of tunnels, 
 bridges, and viaducts, her stately mausoleums 
 and spacious cemeteries, may, like Thebes, be 
 laid waste and desolate. The hand that cast 
 down the Theban in his pride, is still all 
 powerful to preserve or destroy ; and we are 
 told that the latter days of the earth shall be 
 marked by heavier visitations even than those 
 which declared the will of the Almighty in 
 earlier ages. "No" has been rent asunder. 
 Egypt, in every spot upon its plains, bears 
 evidence of the condemnation pronounced upon 
 it. Who shall say what prophecy is to be ful- 
 filled in our own case ? Empires as powerful 
 as England have passed away ; why, therefore, 
 should we be exempt from the lot of nations ? 
 To look upon such desolation, should impress 
 us with the certainty of the decay of all earthly 
 power, and make manifest the truth of Holy 
 Writ. The evidences that idols and false
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 137 
 
 gods have been cast out and utterly destroyed, 
 abound on all sides, in awful fulfilment of the 
 denunciation of Scripture. 
 
 The Egyptians of old built up their pyra- 
 mids and temples with the most earnest labour 
 for their solidity, seeking by every contrivance 
 to defeat the inroads of age. Their statues 
 are more massive than those of later times. 
 Whether sitting or upright, no stretched out 
 limb invites destruction no part is to be 
 found less compact than the rest. The annsr 
 are folded on the breast or falling by the side ; 
 the legs are not separated; even the drapery 
 and the ornaments adhere as closely as possible 
 to the frame. This attention to durability, it is 
 true, could not be so well carried out in their 
 paintings; but it must be remembered that 
 this species of decoration Avas usually adopted 
 in the interior of tombs or within the pre- 
 cincts of temples, where there was greater 
 protection than the open plain afforded. But 
 the figures that are exposed to the air, are 
 as solid as the thrones upon which they sit, or 
 the pedestals on which they stand; yet with 
 all this foresight and calculation, they have 
 not escaped the ravages of the destroyer.
 
 138 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 After returning to our boats, we crossed the 
 river and moored opposite the columns of 
 Luxor. They present a fine front to the 
 water's edge, but the ruins are surrounded and 
 concealed by modern habitations. The in- 
 terior cannot boast of great redundance of 
 ornament, nor was there anything to delay 
 our revisiting the field of ruins at Karnac, 
 where we wandered till sunset. There are 
 everywhere within these walls rich treasures 
 for the antiquary. We are told that the in- 
 signia of Osirtesen mark some of the oldest 
 parts of these structures. This monarch is said 
 to have been the Pharaoh who protected 
 Joseph. There are also cartouches of sovereigns 
 reputed to have been even of earlier date, and it 
 would appear that succeeding dynasties, as well 
 as priests, had continued from age to age to con- 
 tribute their offerings to this holy city. The 
 great sanctuary was evidently in the centre, 
 with avenues of statues and sphinxes converg- 
 ing towards it from various points of entrance. 
 Much of its splendour must have been shorn 
 by the Persians, but as late as the Ptolemies 
 the marks of additions and reparations are to 
 be recognised. So mixed together, however,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 139 
 
 are the different cartouches, in various places, 
 that it is very difficult to arrive at a satis- 
 factory conclusion as to who Avere the founders 
 or who the improvers. 
 
 March 10th. After passing the day at 
 Karnac, we strolled about the edge of the 
 river and were amused by one of the strangest 
 ceremonies at which it was ever my lot to 
 assist. This was an assembly of dervishes, 
 followers of some saint who is buried in a 
 mosque adjacent to the ruins of Luxor. We 
 took up our post near a corner of the temple, 
 from which, after some unearthly cries, there 
 issued nearly a hundred half-clothed wretches, 
 who formed a circle among the columns of the 
 edifice. The rites began at the bidding of an 
 old man with hair perfectly white, who ap- 
 peared to be the chief among the motley group. 
 There was at first a long chant in a low 
 monotonous tone, ending in a yell repeated 
 for some minutes without any variation 
 every one simultaneously bowing to the 
 ground. Up and down they went, each time 
 faster and faster, till suddenly the chief changed 
 his measure and action. Upon this, they sunk 
 on their haunches as if curtseying, with a
 
 140 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 different cry and a more piercing shriek. 
 Again and again, the postures and sounds were 
 altered, till the exercise became excessive, and 
 they showed signs of fatigue ; however, a new 
 howl gave them fresh vigour, and on they 
 went, tearing and raging till they were in a 
 perfect frenzy, foaming like maniacs, and roar- 
 ing and gesticulating in frantic chorus. There 
 was a dim light in the mosque, from two 
 wretched torches ; the moonbeams also fell upon 
 the ruins behind the dancers, and rendered the 
 scene more spectral. It was like the chorus of 
 fiends in " Robert le Diable," and it seemed as 
 though the huge mummies would burst their 
 cerements, and join in the unhallowed rites. 
 The music, however, was certainly not Meyer- 
 beer's. The bright stars gleaming above us, 
 and the shadowy outlines of the gigantic 
 columns, increased the stage effect, and finished 
 the picture. 
 
 Tired of the repetition of these antics, we 
 visited a band of Almehs who had quartered 
 themselves about a mile out of the village. 
 With a single lantern to scare the dogs that 
 rushed out upon us from every hut, we threaded 
 our way across the sand towards the light of
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 141 
 
 some fires, that marked the place tor which 
 we were bound. A circle of matting suspended 
 round the trunks of a cluster of date trees, 
 formed this primitive green-room, where, in a 
 space about twenty feet square, we found six 
 women, some black, and none conspicuous for 
 beauty, three men, a tribe of four donkeys, and 
 two or three children. The same performance 
 took place which we had witnessed at Esne, 
 but the dancers were evidently of a lower de- 
 scription. As we returned to our boats we 
 heard the distant sounds of the fanatic dervishes, 
 who had not concluded their revels nor dimi- 
 nished their frightful yelling. 
 
 March llth. Karnac again occupied our 
 morning. Xear the northern pylon there is a 
 temple of the date of Amunoph III., a confused 
 mass of fragments. The pylon is marked with 
 the cartouche of Ptolemy and Berenice, but is 
 supposed to have been constructed at a much 
 earlier period. After wandering among sphinxes 
 and chriosphinxes, strolling over mounds under 
 whose shadows, perhaps, treasures of sculpture 
 undiscovered and unknown are hid from the 
 research of man ; having looked over the plain 
 of ruins from every point, and rested by the
 
 142 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 broken reservoir, whose stagnant pool with its 
 bright water flowers is the haunt of numberless 
 wild birds, we returned to assist at a wedding 
 feast. Outside the bride's house at Luxor, 
 were a band of votaries of the pipe and tomtom 
 chorusing the same eternal and monotonous 
 rhyme; and, in the midst, some women closely 
 veiled, dancing or rather gliding to the tune. 
 The crowd then clapped their hands in mea- 
 sure, but so slowly did the figures, with their 
 long white garments, move, and so noiseless 
 was their tread upon the sand, that they might 
 have been taken for phantoms. 
 
 March 12th We crossed the river, and 
 
 moored near Gornou. Here our former guide, 
 Abou Harb, met us, as he had no right to 
 cross the river, the eastern and western banks 
 having each their respective cicerones. The 
 palace of Gornou would be imposing anywhere 
 but where it is. The traveller who visits it 
 after other ruins, has become so satiated with 
 the wonders of Egyptian art, that his curiosity 
 evaporates, and his ardour becomes cold. The 
 colonnade is conspicuous for its want of sym- 
 metry and proportion, which fault, prevailing 
 as it does among all the Theban remains, is
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 143 
 
 most remarkable here. Through honey-combed 
 banks and mounds of tombs, we rode up the 
 mountain to the famous Biban el Moloch, or 
 the tombs of the kings. Ascending the hills, 
 we found them intersected with small ravines, 
 into one of Avhich, after an abrupt turn, we 
 passed, through a passage hewn out of the 
 rock. Here walls of stone rose perpendicularly 
 above us, and through this colossal doorway 
 we entered the royal cemetery. Cutting a 
 mountain asunder was a worthy mode of pre- 
 paring the last home of a Pharaoh. His rest- 
 ing-place Avas dug out of the solid rock, deep 
 in the earth, where chamber after chamber, 
 adorned with paintings and sculpture of most 
 elaborate workmanship, attested the honours 
 paid to the departed. 
 
 We visited the most remarkable of these re- 
 ceptacles, which in plan resemble one another, 
 though the diameter of the ornaments of several, 
 as well as their superior preservation, render the 
 latter most worth seeing. The sarcophagus is 
 to be found in the most remote chamber, if not 
 already destroyed or carried away. Wilkinson 
 and others have so well described these tombs 
 that it is useless to dwell upon them. They
 
 144 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 have been numbered by him in succession, and 
 should be visited as he recommends. The 
 most remarkable are Nos. 2, 9, 15, and what 
 is called Belzoni's tomb. No. 9 is called 
 Bruce' s tomb, having been discovered by him. 
 From this one the sarcophagus was removed, I 
 believe, by Mr. Salt. We returned over the 
 ridge into the valley of Assasif, and as we 
 crossed the heights, the view embraced both 
 the palaces and the sepulchres of the monarchs. 
 March 15th. We rode to the western valley, 
 and descended into two excavations, that were 
 not in such good preservation as those we 
 had already seen, and were apparently of 
 older construction. One of these is said to 
 be the tomb of Amunoph III. The descent 
 into these was perpendicular and difficult. 
 The plaster and colouring is falling from the 
 walls, and a few years will efface every trace 
 of decoration. We determined to revisit Bel- 
 zoni's tomb, which, after all, is perhaps the 
 most perfect and beautiful of these remains. I 
 could readily understand his feelings, when, at 
 last, he burst through the wall that impeded 
 his progress, and discovered these gorgeous 
 chambers. Alas ! here, too, destruction is busy
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 145 
 
 at her work, for each succeeding descent into 
 the vault impairs the freshness of the paint- 
 ings. The torches of the guides leave their 
 dark traces on the roof and walls, and many 
 visitors, both stranger and native, hack and 
 destroy for the sake of carrying away some 
 relics of antiquity, on which the sun's rays 
 have never rested. Soon there will be nothing 
 left. One " savant" removes a group ; another 
 a sarcophagus ; and a third takes casts, leaving 
 a whitewashed ruin to mark the devastation 
 he has caused! The great figures on the 
 temple at Abousimbel are not the only suf- 
 ferers in this way, for the same eager artist 
 has left his traces here, and we again recognised 
 the unhallowed hand that defaced the finest 
 monument of Upper Egypt. The naked walls 
 of the catacombs will soon be the only evi- 
 dences of their former splendour. 
 
 We bade a long farewell to the Valley of the 
 Kings, lingering for the last time on the cliffs, 
 and unwilling to quit the mysterious desolation 
 we were about to leave, yet to remember for ever. 
 Before evening, we explored an excavation in 
 the valley of Assasif, said to be the tomb of a 
 priest, whose name was Petamunap. It was 
 
 VOL. i. L
 
 146 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 full of noxious vapour, and appeared remark- 
 able only for its extent. After some other un- 
 interesting researches prosecuted in foul air, 
 with the addition of the effluvia from the 
 torches, we returned to our boats, and once 
 more committed ourselves to the bosom of the 
 Nile. 
 
 March 17th Our Arabs, contrary to ex- 
 press orders, had bought corn in Upper Egypt, 
 to take home to their families, getting it thirty 
 per cent, cheaper than at Cairo. As the river 
 became shallower, we got aground repeatedly, 
 and at last discovered the cause, in our addi- 
 tional cargo; there was, however, no use in 
 objecting, when it was too late to remedy the 
 evil. At Ghene, Seyd Hassan, a sort of non- 
 descript agent for foreigners, paid us his re- 
 spects, and insisted on our visiting him, and 
 writing our names in a book, in return for 
 coffee and pipes. There is nothing to be seen 
 or remarked here, but on the opposite shore 
 are the ruins of Dendera. 
 . The path to the temple lies across a richly 
 cultivated plain, bounded by the river on one 
 side, and the hills of the desert on the other. 
 Near the stream are long lines of date trees, and
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 147 
 
 the Palma Thebaica grows in great luxuriance ; 
 but in the neighbourhood of the ruins there is 
 not a sign of any foliage. Approaching from 
 the river, a pylon, with a huge mound of bricks 
 and earth adjoining, conceals the colonnade 
 until the traveller is close upon it, so that, 
 in point of site, Dendera has little to boast of. 
 Neither is the interior so remarkable. Behind 
 the pillars there is a vast hall, similar to that 
 at Esne, with lateral chambers leading from it, 
 profusely decorated with sculpture, principally 
 in honour of and representing Cleopatra and 
 Cesarion, as at Hermonthis. The evil deity, 
 Typhon, is very conspicuous, and there is a 
 small temple apparently dedicated to him, and 
 another to Isis. 
 
 March 21st. We found ourselves this morn- 
 ing at Beliane, and landing, started across the 
 country for Arabat el Matfoon, the ancient 
 Abydos, sending on our boats to Girgeh. The 
 ruins are distant from Beliane about two hours' 
 fast walking. Crossing over a vast plain, 
 covered with various crops, and studded with 
 nocks, and herds, we saw here and there small 
 encampments, surrounded by cane palisades, 
 where during harvest the peasants take up a 
 L 2
 
 148 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 temporary abode. These enclosures were filled 
 with animals of various descriptions camels, 
 donkeys, goats, sheep, geese, pigeons, dogs, and 
 children being all mingled together. The cattle, 
 collected here in large herds, appeared the best 
 in the country, and we found some good-looking- 
 horses and brood mares. Having passed through 
 two small villages, we arrived at Abydos. 
 The temple where the celebrated tablet was 
 discovered is almost buried in the sands. Some 
 masses remain, but they diminish every day, 
 as the country people use them in building, or 
 for grinding stones. We crept into the inte- 
 rior, which was richly ornamented with paint- 
 ings and sculpture ; the colours, however, were 
 fast fading away. This is supposed to have 
 been the burial-place of Osiris, a spot of pecu- 
 liar sanctity, and here Rameses, or Sesostris, 
 lavished his skill and treasure. As elsewhere, 
 the work of excavation and destruction has 
 been carried on, and the ground is covered 
 with bleaching bones. 
 
 March 22nd. We arrived at Souhedj, a 
 village north of Ekhmiin, and halted to buy 
 provisions, but after a few hours continued 
 our course downwards, as far as Ghezireh
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 149 
 
 Shendowil, where our old adversary, the wind, 
 set his face against us, and put a stop to our 
 progress. Here, while sitting in the cabin, I saw 
 a pelican under the opposite hank. The river 
 being nearly a mile in width, we got into a small 
 boat, and after pulling up the stream, a long 
 way above our quarry, let ourselves drift with 
 the current ; then hiding as much as possible, 
 waited the event. As we neared him, he looked 
 suspiciously at us, but instead of flying off, 
 rose on his legs lazily, and walked up a sand- 
 bank. I fired at him, with a heavy gun loaded 
 with cartridge, and the effect of the second 
 barrel was to make him wheel round as he 
 rose, evidently disabled, and settle about forty 
 yards off. Before we could approach him a 
 second time, he got up again, and flew up 
 the river. Every flap of his long wings 
 came more slowly and feebly. Anxiously we 
 watched his progress ; at last, he rose straight 
 up in the air, wheeled round, as if stupified, 
 and then dropped like a stone in the water. 
 He soon floated down to us, and on taking 
 our prize on board, we found he measured 
 nearly eight feet, from the point of one wing 
 to the other.
 
 150 DIAEY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 March 23rd. Passing by Tahta and Temeh r 
 we have been borne merrily along the stream, 
 the wind having ceased to persecute us. As 
 we neared Siout, a boat with English colours 
 approached, and met us on her way up the 
 river. She had been engaged by an old and 
 valued friend of mine, Captain Basil Hall, who 
 with his family were on their way to Thebes. 
 We each moored as soon as possible, and they 
 received us hospitably on board, where we 
 had enough to tell each other, as they were 
 fresh from England, and we from the regions 
 to which they were bound. Those only who 
 have experienced such a chance meeting can 
 appreciate its charm ! Alas ! I never saw my 
 excellent friend again. 
 
 March 24th. On reaching Siout we paid a 
 second visit to the Governor, whom we found 
 in full divan, administering justice and sur- 
 rounded by a dozen bearded suitors, each 
 squatting in silence near the chief. At last 
 two fresh applicants arrived, and a discussion 
 gradually arose, soon increasing in violence 
 and gesticulations to such a pitch that the 
 Pacha turned the disputants out of the room, 
 and addressing our interpreter, said, " These
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 151 
 
 are priests ; tell the English they are trouble- 
 some people in every country." After some 
 time, as we were about to depart, the great 
 man signified his wish that I would accept a 
 beautiful giraffe, which was at my service, and 
 insisted upon my taking her off to Cairo. In 
 spite of the trouble, expense, and inconve- 
 nience, I found I could not well refuse, and was 
 obliged to hire a boat and people to take 
 charge of the costly present. I was more 
 easily disencumbered than I expected, for after 
 we had left Siout about an hour, we were 
 hailed by some people on the bank who had 
 pursued us. Their errand was to explain that 
 the animal had been duly deposited in the boat 
 we had hired, and carefully bound so as to pre- 
 vent, if possible, her struggling to release her- 
 self; yet, in spite of all precautions, she had 
 broken the cords, and after nearly upsetting 
 the craft, had plunged into the river, and was 
 never seen afterwards. Whether the tale was 
 true or not it is not for me to say ; it seemed 
 rather unlikely that so large an animal should 
 have so suddenly disappeared, and I am not at 
 all sure that she was not conducted back to 
 her paddock, as soon as the donor saw we were
 
 152 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 safely under weigh. The object of the pre- 
 sent was accomplished, the civility was shown, 
 the servants received presents, and the Rais and 
 boatmen were paid. So when nothing more 
 was to be got, perhaps it was just as well to 
 keep the giraffe. I was of the same opinion, 
 and never cared to investigate the transaction 
 further. 
 
 As we had passed Manfalout, Tarout es 
 Sheriff, and Melawi, it was thought advisable 
 to rest for the night near a large sugar manu- 
 factory, which the Pacha has established here. 
 Mr. Macpherson, the manager, was exceedingly 
 kind and hospitable, and after caring for our 
 creature comforts in eveiy way he could de- 
 vise, conducted us over his works. Here we 
 saw heaps of sugar in store, and inspected the 
 various processes by which it is made from the 
 canes, which are produced in the countiy with 
 great pains, and richly manured : vast numbers 
 of pigeons being kept solely for the sake of their 
 dung. Mr. Macpherson is alone in the business, 
 and appears to be systematically thwarted by 
 every one of the natives under him. He says 
 his salary is properly paid, but not so the wages 
 of the workmen, who often are without their
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 153 
 
 earnings for months together; and when at 
 last the accounts are cleared, are forced to ac- 
 cept their wages in kind, by which they are 
 generally losers. The sugar is made in small 
 pots of clay, perforated at the bottom. Into 
 these earthenware forms the sugar is poured, 
 and the molasses runs off into small saucers. 
 This process, however, requires excessive 
 labour, as well as space, besides which, there is 
 endless waste. The sugar is said to be better 
 in quality than that of Jamaica, but is deficient 
 in quantity. Ribbon canes are planted here 
 that are three times the size of the native plant, 
 and, of course, when thoroughly introduced, 
 will make a great improvement. The land is 
 inexhaustible in fertility, and will bear almost 
 anything. The rum and sugar are sent off 
 to Cairo for sale, or may be retailed at the 
 manufactory. We saw some Copts purchasing 
 liquor, who sell again to the Fellahs ; the latter 
 are afraid of being known to drink spirits, and 
 therefore employ the former as go-betweens. 
 
 Mr. Macpherson has been here three years, 
 and appears thoroughly disgusted. He com- 
 plains that there is no acknowledgment of his 
 industry, and that the more he accomplishes,
 
 154 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the greater are the demands of his employers. 
 In one month he constructed an immense 
 chimney, and when the Pacha visited the place 
 soon afterwards, he never even inspected the 
 work. 
 
 March 26th. We reached the ruins of Beni 
 Hassan in the afternoon. The Speos Artemidos, 
 or Temple of Diana, is situated in a very narrow 
 valley, crowded with places of sepulture. The 
 exterior of the building is covered with sculp- 
 ture, and the chambers are excavated in the 
 rock. To reach other tombs, we were obliged 
 to retrace our steps and take to the boats. 
 Landing further down, we climbed the moun- 
 tain, and found ourselves repaid by inspecting 
 the paintings of some of the grottoes, which are 
 extremely curious. There were here several 
 sporting subjects, such as processions of wild 
 animals, and nights of birds, with a gigantic 
 figure, perhaps the Captain Ross of the day, 
 bending his bow and taking a deadly aim. No 
 cartouches were to be seen upon the walls of 
 the excavations, but several of the ornaments, 
 as well as the pillars, were exceedingly graceful. 
 Sir G. Wilkinson narrowly escaped being mal- 
 treated while pursuing his researches here, and
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 155 
 
 was only saved by good weapons and English 
 courage. 
 
 Having passed Minieh, we found ourselves 
 at the dawn of day abreast of Colosaneh, and 
 nearing Beni Souef. In twenty-four hours we 
 have accomplished a distance which required, 
 as we ascended the river, no less than six 
 days. But our nerves have been repeatedly 
 tried by the banks of sand on which we have 
 been perpetually aground. Either the river 
 alters its channel, or the sands shift so much 
 that the navigation is at all times uncertain, 
 and would be very difficult in many places for 
 a steamer. 
 
 March 28th. This morning found us abreast 
 of the pyramids of Dashur. The wind was 
 fearful in violence, the air dark with sand, and 
 the palms bending in the gale. As usual, we 
 got near a bank, upon whicli rose a wretched 
 village, that must have been the head quar- 
 ters of all the rats in Egypt. The stench 
 during the night was intolerable, and we were 
 invaded by troops of these devouring pirates 
 until morning brought light and calm, though 
 Avith heavy and continual rain, under which 
 we arrived once more at Boulak, effected our
 
 156 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 landing, bade a long adieu to " Haylee Sa," 
 " Argal allah," and " Gedouni" sounds which 
 every pilgrim of the Nile will remember to his 
 latest hour and again threaded our way amid 
 the narrow, but swarming streets of Cairo.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Currency Regulation at Cairo Marble Archway 
 Rhoda Shoubra Pyramids.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 As it turned out, from various causes, that 
 our stay at Cairo was prolonged for more 
 than a month, on looking back to my notes 
 I have preferred making extracts from them 
 relating to the matters which most inter- 
 ested me, and laying aside the more formal 
 record of each day's occupation. Our house 
 was roomy enough, but destitute of furniture. 
 It was rendered more habitable by the dis- 
 tribution of travelling beds and carpets, 
 and the few English articles of comfort 
 which had escaped from the mishap upon 
 the Nile, and although we suffered from the 
 cold wind at one period, and at another 
 were parched with heat, we had the satis-
 
 160 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 faction of feeling that our abode was at least 
 more cleanly than any other lodging we 
 could have obtained. The rent was about five 
 pounds per month, the price which, I believe, 
 had been paid by our predecessors ; the pro- 
 prietor, a very fat old lady, having already 
 profited by some English tenants. We had 
 been thoroughly disappointed with our ser- 
 vants during our river voyage, and although 
 obliged to put up with them, could not 
 reckon upon anything like comfort derivable 
 from such a source. 
 
 I had occasion, on my arrival, to get some 
 money, and for this purpose visited Mr. 
 Walne, the consul, to whom I had been re- 
 ferred by Messrs. Briggs and Co. There is 
 invariably some difficulty as to this mat- 
 ter, owing to the constant changes in the 
 price of gold coin, and it is disagreeable 
 to have explanations on this score with 
 persons whose position appears at best an 
 anomaly. A consul counting out dollars and 
 estimating the value of gold pieces seems a 
 little out of his place ; in one capacity repre- 
 senting the interests of his country ; in an-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 161 
 
 other, the commercial concerns of Briggs and 
 Co. I could not but remark, during my stay, 
 how much better France, Russia, and other 
 states, are represented by their respective 
 agents than Great Britain would appear to be. 
 
 Whether a false system of economy at 
 home, which pays public " employes" so ill 
 that they are obliged to resort to monetary 
 transactions to increase their means, or, on 
 the other hand, whether ill-bestowed patro- 
 nage in the appointments, lies at the root of 
 the evil, I know not probably both causes 
 are accessory to this lamentable state of 
 things; but it is certain that the agent of 
 England, as well in these less civilized coun- 
 tries as in others, should be a man of moral 
 weight and character who could and would 
 make himself respected and looked up to. 
 
 The grandees of the East, but more espe- 
 cially here, are as well aware of the rank 
 and consequence of the representatives of 
 foreign powers at home, as their own com- 
 patriots, and if not are soon made acquainted 
 with the facts by the jealousy of the other 
 members of the corps diplomatique. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 DIAEY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 March 31st. To-day we visited Old Cairo, 
 or Fostat. This town was built by the con- 
 quering army of the Caliph Omar, when 
 they wrested Egypt from the already relaxed 
 grasp of the last of the Romans. Fostat 
 signifies a camp, and here the victors' tents 
 were pitched. Here, too, he built a mosque, 
 the oldest in Egypt, which bears his name. 
 On our way, we passed a beautiful gate, 
 forming the entrance of what was formerly 
 a Mamlook's palace. It is an archway 
 partly composed of oriental alabaster, and 
 partly of white marble. The desolate court- 
 yard of this ruined palace presented a 
 strange contrast to the busy street without. 
 There were to be seen the gayest costumes, 
 there were to be heard the laugh, the cries 
 of busy throngs, each individual labouring 
 in his vocation, either sitting outside his 
 house on a mat, smoking, drinking coffee at 
 the shop, bargaining for goods, urging a 
 string of loaded camels, or belabouring a 
 helpless donkey; women were chattering, 
 children howling, dogs yelping in short, 
 Bedlam seemed broken loose.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 163 
 
 Through the portals of the marble arch 
 reigned silence deep as death. The fountain 
 in the court had ceased to flow, the large 
 door was wide open, the grand staircase, 
 covered with dust and cobwebs, and the 
 walls, once painted and decorated, were 
 tumbling to decay. Here the crested barb, 
 with his fiery eye and expanded nostril, 
 caparisoned in jewels and gold, like the 
 prince chief who rode him, no longer waited 
 for the coming of his master, and the 
 sand before his stable-door was undisturbed. 
 The crowd of servants, Janizaries, and 
 eunuchs, slaves and dependents, no longer 
 filled the halls. The harem was silent, for 
 its light was gone not even an old crone 
 remained to tell the story of that chief- 
 tain's fall. Was it he who rode his horse 
 over the wall of the citadel, when the Pacha 
 surrounded the chivalry of that day with 
 his cannon, when the shriek and groan of 
 death were heard amid the roar of musketry 
 and the crash of ordnance ? or did he fall, 
 fighting gallantly with his compeers, at the 
 close of that dreadful scene? Nothing re- 
 ar 2
 
 164 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 mains of him but his princely dwelling, where 
 even his name is forgotten and his history 
 unknown. 
 
 The Mosque of Amrou consists of a square 
 of great size, surrounding a fountain. Round 
 this open space is a roofed colonnade sup- 
 ported by innumerable pillars of marble. 
 Two minarets adorn this ancient building; 
 which, however, except from its age, is not 
 worth a visit. We remarked some pillars 
 here, and were told that whoever squeezed 
 his body between them would be cured of 
 disease. The sides were worn away by de- 
 votees who had tried the experiment. Near 
 this place, passing the Frank burial-ground 
 and a Greek convent, we saw the exterior of 
 Ibrahim Pacha's palace, which is extremely 
 unattractive, and, having entered some ex- 
 tensive workshops in the vicinity, where he 
 constructs his carts and implements of hus- 
 bandry, we crossed the water to the island of 
 Rhoda. Here Ibrahim Pacha has reclaimed 
 about fifty acres from the Nile, which are 
 laid out as a garden, in the English style, by 
 a Scotch gentleman. The air is literally
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 165 
 
 loaded with the perfume of orange trees ; the 
 weeping wiUow grows near the bamboo, and 
 the Indian palm associates with English oak ; 
 on one side, is the oleander and the pepper 
 plant, and near them a fine ash tree, with a 
 seat round its stem, covers the ground with 
 foliage, and gives a delightful shade. But 
 the verdure is not that of our own bright 
 land, the walks are sandy, and the soil is like 
 the banks of the river. Mr. Traill, the chief 
 manager of the establishment, states that an 
 incalculable sum of money has been spent 
 here during twelve years. The improvements 
 have been under his direction, and he has 
 planted every tree. The land, when he 
 came, was laid out in patches of a few acres, 
 producing scanty crops. The whole district 
 is now watered by Persian wheels, and 
 rills flow through every part. But the Nile 
 pays them visits occasionally, and, when the 
 river is in high flood, nothing escapes. Last 
 year 25,000 trees were destroyed. They 
 will not go to the expense of banking out 
 the waters, but allow the evil to go on un- 
 checked, and, when the Nile carries all away
 
 166 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 with it, they replace and restore as well as 
 they can. 
 
 We re-crossed the river in a crazy ferry- 
 boat, returning into town through large 
 olive plantations and reclaimed land, all 
 cultivated and brought into order by Ibra- 
 him Pacha. A few years ago it was like 
 the desert, barren and bleak, boasting only a 
 few solitary palm trees. It is now loaded 
 with produce of every sort, and crops of the 
 richest luxuriance. 
 
 No one who has lived in Europe all his 
 life can imagine the trouble and difficulty of 
 buying anything here. No article is pro- 
 perly finished and perfected for sale. The 
 dealers are afraid of keeping anything in their 
 possession which can be taken from them, 
 and are so unwilling to be considered rich 
 or in good circumstances, that they have 
 nothing by them which would be thought 
 valuable. All the best articles come from 
 Constantinople. The arms, such as swords, 
 pistols, guns, &c., are generally injured, and 
 you can find nothing that has not to undergo 
 the ceremony of being reset, remounted, and
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 167 
 
 rearranged; for each of which processes the 
 article must pass through the hands of a 
 different merchant or dealer. f! 
 
 Shoubra, Mehemet Ali's country palace, 
 is approached through an avenue of syca- 
 mores and acacias, about three miles in 
 length, extending near the river to the 
 northward of the town. We saw the 
 minarets of Boulak on the left; on the 
 right was the Necropolis of the Caliphs, 
 and beyond it lay the desert. After pass- 
 ing the principal gate, which is low and 
 covered with creepers, with a fountain on 
 each side, we entered a garden laid out in 
 long narrow alleys, in some places arched 
 over with trellice-work, in others open on 
 each side. The spaces are completely filled 
 with orange trees, lemons, and citrons. 
 Every gale is full of perfume, and you cannot 
 move a step without brushing against a fruit 
 or a blossom of these favoured plants. Here 
 and there a choice shrub or tree proclaims 
 its western origin, but, unlike Rhoda, they 
 are few and far between. The principal 
 object is an immense kiosk, with a fountain
 
 168 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 of white marble, placed in a reservoir con- 
 structed from the same material. Richly 
 ornamented columns support a roof painted 
 in the worst style of art, with figures 
 out of proportion, and landscapes worthy 
 only of sign-boards. Innumerable work- 
 men are employed to finish this wonder 
 of the age, as they consider it, which has 
 been eight years in construction. The sculp- 
 tures are bad and out of place, with the 
 exception of the columns and basin, upon 
 which is carved in relief almost every fish that 
 belongs to the Nile or the sea. The palace 
 looks desolate, and the latticed windows of 
 the harem give it the aspect of a dirty bird- 
 cage. An expensively constructed aviary is 
 here, containing only some dirty parrots, 
 a few doves, and one or two eagles. In 
 this place, the Pacha passes his time when 
 the plague rages; here he rejoices in his 
 harem and state, and finds coolness and 
 shade in the bowers of Shoubra, wrung 
 from the soil by the fertilizing river, in 
 spite of its aridity and apparent barrenness. 
 When the traveller once more passes the gates,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 169 
 
 he returns to the noise and bustle of the city, 
 for the avenue of sycamores is crowded with 
 horses and camels, donkeys, and cattle of all 
 sorts, Turks, Arabs, soldiers, Jews, and 
 every kind of passenger, biped and quad- 
 ruped. 
 
 April 4th. We started for the pyramids, 
 having, according to a previous arrange- 
 ment, met Sir G. Wilkinson at Old Cairo, 
 and crossed the river with him. The road 
 from Ghizeh, opposite to the island of 
 Rhoda, lies through a large and culti- 
 vated plain, and a walk of two hours brought 
 us to the tombs under the base of the pyramid 
 of Cheops, in which our baggage was depo- 
 sited. These excavations are inhabited by 
 Arabs, who occasionally take the trouble of 
 cleansing them for the sake of any travellers 
 who may be inclined to take up their tempo- 
 rary abode within their precincts. The pro- 
 cess of mounting the pyramid is neither 
 difficult nor dangerous, and disagreeable only 
 because the blocks of stone are so large that 
 you cannot step or spring up; the ascent, 
 therefore, requires both time and exertion.
 
 170 DIARY OF A JOUKNEY 
 
 At the summit, a splendid prospect awaited 
 us, disclosing an extent of boundless deserts, 
 stretching in every direction, through which 
 the Nile wound its slow length along in 
 sinuous and serpentine folds. The descent 
 is a more uncomfortable proceeding, arising 
 from the shock of jumping down from block 
 to block ; but the Arabs go up and down like 
 monkeys, and the girls carry water in small 
 clay bottles, which, whenever the traveller 
 stops for breath, are thrust under his nose. 
 Having reached the bottom, we furnished 
 ourselves with a rope ladder and candles, 
 and entered the pile. The doorway is 
 not in the centre of the structure, but 
 so artfully concealed near it, that the 
 conclusion that it was masked for the 
 sake of secrecy is inevitable. An angular 
 entrance, composed of huge blocks, resting 
 one against the other, supports the huge 
 fabric above them. Under these extends a 
 long passage, leading downwards, as if to 
 the base of the pyramid. Having proceeded 
 some distance, the traveller is forced to 
 scramble and crawl over vast masses of
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 171 
 
 stone, and after surmounting these obstacles, 
 an ascent is again effected into the passage, 
 by passing under the huge block of granite 
 with which it is blocked up. Whether 
 this was placed there by the original con- 
 structors or not, it is impossible to say, 
 but close to it is a deep pit, communicating 
 with another passage below, through which 
 it is supposed that the masons entered in 
 order to fix the block, and having done so, 
 made their retreat and closed the pit after 
 them. 
 
 The queen's chamber is a small low 
 room, which leads to the most remark- 
 able part of the pyramid, a long and 
 lofty gallery running up an inclined plane 
 to the entrance of the king's chamber. 
 The passage excels all that can be con- 
 ceived in solidity and massive work. The 
 sides are beautifully polished, and the 
 joinings of the stones fitted with the ut- 
 most care. ^ Along this gallery the sarco- 
 phagus of the monarch must have been 
 dragged or forced by levers to its final rest- 
 ing-place.
 
 172 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 We scrambled to the upper end, where 
 we could admire at leisure the wondrous 
 symmetry and proportion of this vast hall. 
 Its length must be more than two hundred 
 feet, its breadth and its height about sixty; 
 but of course, by this conjecture, the dis- 
 tance of the roof at the top of the in- 
 clined plane from its base, is not estimated ; 
 Floor and roof run up equi-distant at a 
 certain angle with the ground, which there 
 was no time to measure. At the top of the 
 great passage stands the entrance to the 
 chamber containing the sarcophagus. It 
 is unadorned by inscriptions or sculpture, 
 and this is more remarkable, if Cheops, or 
 Suphis, is correctly supposed to have been 
 the tenant of this tomb. Strange con- 
 trast with the burial places at Thebes! 
 There are here neither sculptures nor paint- 
 ings, not even a solitary tablet proclaims 
 the tale of death. Four bare walls with an 
 arched roof, and a niche at the end of the 
 chamber opposite the sarcophagus, are all 
 that remain. Could there ever have been 
 any ornament here? Were these chambers
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 173 
 
 once decorated with jewels and gold, or lined 
 with rich stuffs and costly brocades? Were 
 they formerly adorned with all the attributes 
 of the tombs of the Kings, and afterwards by 
 the first riflers of their pride stripped of their 
 gorgeous riches ? Did the caliphs, when they 
 broke into these stone mountains, carry off 
 all that these chambers of death contained ? 
 or were they from all time simple and un- 
 adorned, except by the beauty of the masonry 
 and the gigantic conception that gave them 
 birth? Who shall tell? But the mystery 
 that hangs over these huge buildings is 
 shrouding them still, as of old, and though 
 much is discussed and disputed, little or 
 nothing is certain respecting them. 
 
 Passing into the gallery, we found that 
 in order to visit the upper chambers of the 
 pyramid, it was necessary to mount to the 
 roof of the gallery. Some bars of wood, 
 fixed into holes in the rock, gave us a 
 frail and uncertain support. After this, 
 we trusted to a rope ladder, and were 
 soon poised in air upon very weak tackle, 
 and hanging on to a very uncertain looking
 
 174 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 piece of wood, about forty feet above the 
 floor of the inclined plane, and still twenty 
 from the roof. The Arabs who preceded 
 us were forced to cling upon the rock, to 
 make a purchase for the ladder, so that 
 they had no hands to offer by way of assis- 
 tance, and we were obliged to scramble 
 over their bodies in a place not two feet 
 square. Crawling along, we arrived at 
 what is called Davison's chamber; above 
 it, is another recess, and afterwards three 
 chambers one over the other, lately dis- 
 covered by Colonel Vyse, and called suc- 
 cessively by the names of Wellington, Nel- 
 son, and Lady Arbuthnot. The last is 
 the highest, and having an arch in the 
 roof is evidently the last. These are 
 supposed to have been left unfinished, being 
 immediately over the roof of the king's 
 chamber, in order to lighten the weight of 
 masonry, that might otherwise have fallen 
 in ; a reasonable conjecture, as it is difficult 
 to conceive any other purpose for which 
 they could have been made, being too low 
 and small for the reception of a sarcophagus.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 175 
 
 With, great difficulty and some danger we 
 climbed up into these rooms, through the 
 solid masses of the Pyramid. 
 
 It is impossible to stir without the assist- 
 ance of the Arabs, who take care to make 
 every step more difficult and uncomfortable, 
 in the hope of astonishing and getting more 
 money from the visitor; and acting upon 
 this principle, always attempt to close up a 
 passage with sand after a tomb has been 
 visited, in order, by removing it again, to 
 show their activity to a new comer. We 
 descended in safety to the grand passage, 
 and once more reaching the large granite 
 block I have mentioned, entered a narrow 
 channel leading downwards into the heart of 
 the Pyramid. This descent Avas very rugged 
 and painful, for we were obliged to force 
 our way through the broken fragments of 
 rock which encumbered it, as far as the 
 entrance of the lowest chamber, in which 
 there is a deep pit surrounded by heaps of 
 stones and rubbish. And now we had seen 
 all that has as yet been discovered in this 
 pyramid; and when its vast size is consi-
 
 176 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 dered, as well as how small a portion is laid 
 open, it may readily be believed that many 
 chambers and galleries are as yet unknown 
 and concealed within its recesses, which 
 some future enthusiastic admirer of anti- 
 quity may be fortunate enough to explore 
 iind bring to light.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Ancient Memphis Saccara The Sphinx Pyra- 
 mid called Abou Ruash Characteristic Anecdotes 
 The Jews of Cairo at their own Residences. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 APRIL 5th. To day, at sunrise, we started 
 for Mitraheny. This distance, about twelve 
 miles, is increased by the winding of the 
 track, which changes its direction every 
 moment, through fields of corn, or across 
 watercourses which you are forced to pass 
 over. Of the ancient Memphis, little re- 
 mains but the famous colossal statue, and 
 some tombs that we visited afterwards. 
 Kameses lies prostrate on his face in the 
 midst of the plain. The features are quite 
 perfect unmutilated, and " severe in youth- 
 ful beauty." There is a serenity about the 
 eye and mouth that is very remarkable, and 
 the face resembles those of the colossi in 
 the interior of the temple at Abousimbel. 
 N 2
 
 180 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 This is supposed to be one of the statues- 
 spoken of by Herodotus, and the other can- 
 not be far off. 
 
 Crossing a wide plain we arrived at the 
 Saccara pyramids. Around their base are 
 various tombs handsomely decorated, though 
 much broken. We looked back upon the 
 Dashur pyramids, and those of Abousir rose 
 before us. Here are two fine sarcophagi, 
 half buried in the sand, covered with hiero- 
 glyphics. A crypt or tomb which we ex- 
 plored, is full of mummies of the Ibis. It 
 consists of a long low passage through the 
 rock, on every side of which are heaped up 
 piles of earthen jars, some broken and some 
 entire, which contained the embalmed re- 
 mains of the sacred bird. Some bones, 
 and even feathers, were still to be seen 
 in those that we opened. In this vault 
 there was a badly executed sarcophagus, 
 without any inscription. Returning home- 
 wards, we paid our homage to the mighty 
 and mysterious sphinx. The doubts which 
 have been created by this extraordinary work 
 of art, its unknown purpose and gigantic
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 181 
 
 proportions, invest it with a degree of interest 
 hardly felt even for the pyramids. It is 
 entirely cut out of the solid rock; but its 
 form and features exist no more ; for the nose 
 is broken, and the face almost demolished. 
 The sphinx is a creation worthy of the mo- 
 narch who planted the two statues on the 
 plains of Thebes, as the portals of his giant 
 palace. 
 
 From this we went into the tomb of num- 
 bers, as it is called, from the figures of oxen, 
 geese, fish, fowls, and other animals within 
 it. We subsequently penetrated into a small 
 pyramid, opened by Colonel Vyse, where the 
 name of a king is rudely marked upon the 
 stones of the roof in a chamber containing a 
 sarcophagus. 
 
 April 6th. To-day, we started at sunrise 
 to visit the ruined pyramid of Abou Ruash. 
 This monument, or rather its remains, are 
 to the north of the others, on a commanding 
 height, at a distance of five English miles. 
 After three hours AVC reached the ruined 
 mass, and were forced to be content witli 
 seeing the remnants of the base ; and we ate
 
 182 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 our breakfast in what was once a chamber, 
 but which now looks like a quarry. Near 
 the tap of the hill, where the finest view is 
 to be obtained of the whole of the pyramids, 
 exist the remains of an extensive causeway, 
 or road, leading to the entrance, similar to 
 the one near the pyramid of Cheops, and 
 the whole structure bears the marks of 
 having been cased with granite, as numerous 
 masses lie around and encumber the base. 
 Descending to the plain, we arrived at the 
 village of Abou Ruash, containing large 
 ruins of crude brick, and some tombs of little 
 interest. A grove of palm trees, intersected 
 by a stream of water, afforded us rest and 
 refreshment ; and again we started over the 
 plain, keeping our course nearer to the river, 
 in the cultivated part of the valley of the 
 Nile. Here abundant crops were to be seen, 
 with large flocks and herds, while storks, 
 kites, and vultures were constantly on the 
 wing near us. 
 
 April 7th. Before leaving our sepulchral 
 abode, we walked once more over the ruins 
 surrounding the pyramids. The one opened
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 183 
 
 by Belzoni is said to be the tomb of 
 Cephren, or Cephrenes. The top is still 
 covered with an external casing, broken 
 off some distance from the apex, which 
 renders the ascent perilous and difficult. 
 The footing on the highest part is uncer- 
 tain and precarious, and there is great dan- 
 ger in getting from the part where the casing 
 is damaged to that where it exists and 
 projects considerably from the surface. Ad- 
 vancing towards the sphinx, we saw several 
 deep pits, among which is one opened by 
 Colonel Campbell, and called by his name. 
 This is a very large square, cut into the 
 rock, and extremely deep and spacious. A 
 wide trench surrounds it, that must be 
 crossed before the explorer can stand upon 
 the wall of the excavation. Here are to be 
 seen a huge sarcophagus, with the traces of 
 an arch that had once covered it, but which 
 had been removed by the government. 
 This reckless act is much to be regretted, 
 because plenty of materials for building 
 might have been found on the spot, without 
 breaking up the arch, and raising the stones
 
 184 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 from the pit at a considerable expense. 
 There is no limit to the wanton destruction 
 carried on everywhere, and in this case, 
 where great expense was incurred in the 
 discovery, to have spoiled the work was a 
 most useless and gratuitous piece of ill- 
 nature. 
 
 Taking leave of our guides and the Sheikh 
 of the tombs, as he is called, we started 
 across the plain to Ghizeh. Yet when we 
 turned to survey once more the lofty and 
 imposing structures we were leaving, they 
 seemed as near as ever, and as if with eastern 
 hospitality they were accompanying us to 
 the door. For a long time, the distance 
 is imperceptible; on the contrary, the py- 
 ramids seem as though they increased in 
 size, while the spectator recedes from their 
 
 April 8th To-day, I went with Sir G. 
 Wilkinson to order some clothes from a vene- 
 rable Turk named Hafiz, whom we found 
 smoking at the bazaar in placid repose, and 
 every now and then caressing his beard, or 
 speaking to a passing acquaintance. We
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 185 
 
 were invited to sit down, and he handed his 
 pipe to Ismael Effendi, by which name Sir 
 Gardiner Wilkinson is known here. 
 
 My business was explained to him, after 
 which he rose, put his feet into his papooshes, 
 tucked up his long caftan, and departed, but 
 he soon returned, bringing with him another 
 Turk. At least a quarter of an hour was 
 spent by them in animated discussion. The 
 second Turk then left us, and, after a long 
 time, returned with a small piece of cloth. 
 New discussion arose, and fresh pipes were 
 called for, with coffee and sherbet. Then 
 there was some silk to buy. Hafiz got into 
 his papooshes again. Another quarter of an 
 hour elapsed, and then a new consultation 
 began. Then came the measuring, and a 
 great row arose upon a declaration from 
 Turk No. 2, that he wished to see a part 
 of my dress as a pattern. We tried to get 
 him to terms without this, but in vain. 
 After two weary hours, we had only suc- 
 ceeded in buying the silk and cloth, and left 
 Hafiz, promising to revisit him another time. 
 
 This is an exact and faithful picture of
 
 186 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the dealings and business of this country. 
 The merchant goes through the form of pipes, 
 coffee, and rigmarole with you, but then 
 you must wait, while he proceeds to another 
 stall, where he gets a pipe, and more rigma- 
 role; and if he returns again to you, the 
 same farce is repeated, so that the whole 
 affair of cloth, silk, buttons, lining, lace, 
 measuring, fixing, time, and fashion, may oc- 
 cupy half a day, and yet the work may be 
 unfinished. Dawdling through life is their 
 passion, and as great a discussion is made 
 about a para or two, more or less, in their 
 price, as we should make about ten pounds. 
 If you want a sword, you must first buy 
 the blade ; the handle is sold by one 
 man, and ornamented by another, a third 
 polishes and cleans it, a fourth makes the 
 scabbard, a fifth the belt or cord, and so on ; 
 thus the business becomes endless. The 
 dealers have no idea of time, and had rather 
 not dispose of their wares at all than sell 
 them without the whole ceremony of talk, 
 smoke, and coffee. 
 
 I was told an amusing story, illustra-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 187 
 
 tive of these people. A man travelling on 
 his own business, went to pay a visit to the 
 Nazir of the place through which he was 
 passing ; his dress was plain white, with an 
 ordinary shawl and a common tarboush or 
 cap. The Nazir never asked him to sit 
 down, but took no notice of him, and paid 
 no attention to his presence. Irritated at 
 this, he returned the next day, dressed 
 in a cloth suit, with a handsome cache- 
 mire, and a sword. The Nazir, as soon as 
 he saw him, desired him to be seated, and 
 gave him a pipe and coffee. When the pipe 
 was brought, the stranger deliberately took 
 the silk sleeve of his dress, put it over the 
 mouth-piece and began smoking through it. 
 The Nazir stared, but said nothing. On 
 taking his cup of coffee, the stranger dipped 
 the end of his sash into the cup, and returned 
 'it. On this the Nazir lost patience, and 
 asked what he meant by smoking through 
 his sleeve, and staining his sash. He an- 
 swered, " You give pipes and coffee, not to 
 me, but to my dress let the dress have 
 what belongs to it."
 
 188 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 Another story was told of a vulgar old man, 
 who was often in the habit of committing some 
 outrage against good breeding, very much 
 to the annoyance of the Pacha, to whom he 
 was on a visit. One day, the Pacha offered 
 him some fruit, upon which, in full divan, he 
 began to munch an apple with extreme gusto, 
 to the great amusement of the Beys, who were 
 watching the scene, too happy in finding 
 food for their satire. The Pacha, soon after- 
 wards, when they were alone, remonstrated 
 with his guest upon the impropriety he had 
 committed, and instructed him, when he 
 received anything eatable, to put it to his 
 forehead, and then his breast, and eat it at 
 some more convenient time. The old man 
 promised obedience, and the matter ended. 
 Some days afterwards, at a large dinner, 
 a Bey sitting next to him, with Turkish po- 
 liteness, took one of the cabobs of mutton* 
 from the pilaff, and offered it to him. The 
 old man, to the consternation of all, gravely 
 carried the greasy morsel to his head, and 
 finally deposited it in his bosom. The mirth
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 189" 
 
 of the Beys, and the anger of the Pacha, 
 may easily be conceived. 
 
 To these characteristic anecdotes, I may 
 add that the host of a friend of mine, when 
 the fish was brought at dinner, took some up 
 in the palm of his hand, and crumbling to- 
 gether some bread and salt, made the mess 
 into a bolus, which he insisted upon convey- 
 ing to the mouth of his guest, who was forced 
 to swallow it in the best way he could, and 
 yet to smile all the time, and look happy. 
 So much for Eastern civility. 
 
 April 9th. This day, Clot Bey's inter- 
 preter, Joseph, conducted us into the Jewish 
 quarter, to visit some of their houses. Being 
 himself of that persuasion, he is favoured 
 with the entree. The first house was dis- 
 tinguished by a latticed balcony and win- 
 dows, some very curious arabesque carv- 
 ing, and a spacious court-yard. On going 
 up stairs, we found two women of a certain 
 age, splendidly attired, their hair plaited 
 with gold coins, and their whole cos- 
 tume extremely gorgeous. On the divan
 
 190 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the master of the house was sleeping. After 
 the ladies had returned our salute, by touch- 
 ing their foreheads, he arose, and taking 
 my hand in his own, offered to kiss it. 
 The room was spacious, and richly orna- 
 mented, but he motioned us to follow into 
 a smaller, but much more splendid one, en- 
 tirely covered with carpets of every hue, 
 and surrounded by a divan of the finest 
 materials. Cushion was piled upon cushion, 
 in cloth of gold and silver. Lamps were 
 hanging from the roof, and -inlaid tables were 
 covered with silver and gold vessels. Here 
 we sat down, and pipes were brought to 
 us. (The Jews on the Sabbath day, which 
 this was, never smoke.) The children of 
 the house then entered, as choicely dressed, 
 and in the same fashion, as their mother 
 and her sister. With them appeared a beau- 
 tiful slave, who gave us coffee and sherbet. 
 After half an hour, when we rose to depart, 
 the master of the house insisted upon our 
 going over his dwelling, which was by far 
 the most comfortable I have seen, inde- 
 pendently of its costly furniture. The beds
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 191 
 
 were covered with magnificent quilts, superb 
 cushions decorated the divans, and there 
 was a marble bath, of spacious dimensions. 
 A large room, which we visited afterwards, 
 on the lower story, contained the fountain 
 from which the bath above was supplied. 
 
 The next house was more European. The 
 master wore a Frank dress, but his wife was 
 in her native costume, and sat doAvn beside 
 us on the divan, after a signal of permission 
 from her liege lord. Soon after, the daugh- 
 ter of the house entered, bearing some cups 
 of sherbet, and her beauty was most re- 
 markable; so much so, that we lingered, 
 unwilling to depart. 
 
 The next dwelling we visited was that of 
 a money broker, or seraff. Here we found 
 a room of two compartments, Avith large 
 divans, on which were seated the ladies of 
 the family. I was presented to a great- 
 great-grandmother, and, next, to the smiling 
 infant who had just given her the title. 
 Nearly a hundred years had shed their 
 silver hue upon the old lady's brow. Near 
 her were other women, of different ages,
 
 192 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 from very young girls, to the mother who 
 was nursing her child, but all members of 
 the same family. Their hair was plaited 
 with gold, and glittered with coins, yet there 
 was nothing like the splendour we had 
 observed in the first house. We were 
 asked to imbibe some sherbet of which 
 I had already drank four large glasses 
 and the usual ceremonious conversation 
 about health, took place ; but in this house 
 none of the women spoke to us except a 
 young girl, who being called by her father, 
 came and sat upon the divan. On our de- 
 parture the old lady arose, and walking 
 across the room, appeared so bent, that her 
 chin approached nearly -half way to the 
 ground. It was singular as well as pleasing 
 to behold this venerable creature caressing 
 the children who gathered round her, with 
 the utmost affection. 
 
 The more Cairo is examined, the more, 
 it is to be appreciated and admired. At 
 every step some picturesque object strikes 
 the eye. The long, narrow streets which 
 the sun is scarcely allowed to penetrate,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 193 
 
 with lattice rising upon lattice, old-fashioned 
 and picturesque gables and rafters, decked 
 with fantastic ornaments, and scattered in 
 lavish profusion, delight the eye, and entice 
 the wanderer to proceed farther. He might 
 indeed remain here for years, and yet every 
 day find some new object for his mind or 
 pencil. Still nothing is new or smart ; the 
 colours are faded and mellowed down ; the 
 wooden lattices are covered with dust and 
 cobwebs, and where the painted glass is 
 visible, it is darkened by dirt. But these 
 details only heighten the general effect of 
 the scenery. The bazaar and mosque of 
 Gorieh are splendid. This place has a roof 
 of huge rafters, across which, the sunlight 
 streams upon the walls of the mosque, and 
 the shops under it. Everywhere there is 
 something quaint, either in colouring or 
 sculpture, of wood or stone. Should the 
 stranger admire animated nature, it is almost 
 impossible to discover more picturesque and 
 singular figures than those that throng 
 around. From the sedate old Turk, whom 
 he passes quietly by, he runs against a 
 VOL. i. o
 
 194 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 swaggering cut-throat-looking Arnaout or 
 Albanian, with dagger and pistols in his 
 belt. Then comes a specimen of the Cairo 
 dandy; followed by the eunuchs, who are 
 great men in their way, as they are always 
 treated with more consideration than any 
 other servants, and of course, presume 
 more. These fellows are often impertinent, 
 and will push or ride against a Frank, 
 when they dare. The sais or groom, is by far 
 the neatest looking public functionary, and 
 his dress is pretty, and generally clean. The 
 scribes are demure, sedate, people, with white 
 turbans, and the usual inkstand in their 
 girdles. They ride generally on mules, and 
 have a sleek and comfortable appearance. 
 Sometimes the traveller meets a monk from 
 Mount Sinai or Jerusalem, or overtakes a 
 knot of Bedouins, with their peculiar head- 
 dress and coloured handkerchief. Now, too, 
 that the pilgrims are returned from Mecca, 
 the streets abound with people of every 
 Eastern nation. The Hadjis, as they are 
 called, are not to be mistaken. They look 
 half-starved, and bronzed with the sun dusty
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 195 
 
 and tattered. Wild and fierce faces swarm 
 in every quarter, and figures marked by an 
 endless variety of costume. Besides this, the 
 various trades and callings have their own 
 peculiar attire; and lastly, the women sail 
 along in their huge black mantles of silk, 
 muffled to the teeth, or straddle across a 
 donkey, Avith their knees touching their 
 mouths, supported by their eunuchs, and 
 form a curious feature in the scene. 
 
 Droves of donkeys, with skins of water, 
 camels in strings, with their heavy burdens, 
 or dromedaries carrying their wild masters, 
 stop one's progress at every turn. By way of 
 a change, one meets some straggling Franks, 
 who are disreputable-looking vagabonds, and 
 a disgrace to more civilized Europe. It is 
 strange that most of these imports are of 
 the worst description. No town was ever 
 more filled with scamps of various sorts than 
 Cairo. The lowest haunts of London do not 
 produce a worse class than the wretches, who, 
 driven out probably from every other city, 
 take refuge here to prey upon the unwary 
 and each other. The better sort of Euro- 
 o 2
 
 196 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 peans, who pass through this place, stay so 
 short a time that they are hardly known, 
 and consequently the people judge of us, if 
 they judge at all, by the specimens who gain 
 a livelihood by cheating and robbing in every 
 shape.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Procession of Pilgrims from Mecca Tomb of Mehe- 
 met Ali's Children Suleiman Pacha The Scheriff 
 of Mecca A Turkish Dinner Scorpions.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 APRIL 12th. I woke early with the noise 
 of cannon from the citadel, which announced 
 that the procession of pilgrims from Mecca 
 had started from their encampment, at the 
 Birket-el-Hadji, to enter the town. Mr. 
 Lane's book gives an excellent account of 
 this ceremony. A rich canopy is borne to 
 Mecca eveiy year upon the back of a camel 
 to replace its predecessor, and this is placed 
 near the holy stone, or tomb of the pro- 
 phet. When the old one is brought back, 
 it is either sent to Constantinople or pre- 
 sented as an offering to some mosque in the 
 Mahometan dominions. This canopy is
 
 200 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 called the Mahmil, and the camel that bears 
 it is considered holy. 
 
 The day before the procession, a curious 
 scene takes place on the road to the camp at 
 Birket-el-Hadji, about an hour's ride from 
 the walls, when the population of the city go 
 forth in crowds to meet their relatives who 
 are returning from the pilgrimage. Whole 
 harems of women proceed on their march 
 to the camp with music and flowers, to wel- 
 come the travellers who have completed their 
 long and perilous journey. The meetings 
 are, of course, full of joy and vociferous 
 gladness, and the embraces on all sides 
 most abundant. Then the Hadji is taken 
 home in triumph by his family and friends. 
 A sheep has been killed for him, or perhaps 
 a fatted kid. Alms are distributed; his 
 house is illuminated, and music and danc- 
 ing reign throughout the night. The 
 Hadji either goes out to join the procession 
 next day, or meets it and falls in with it on 
 entering the town. But if he has unhappily 
 perished in the desert, far from his kindred 
 and home, there is weeping and wailing, and
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 201 
 
 dirt is taken up and swallowed, and every 
 paroxysm of grief in its wildest shape is 
 exhibited. 
 
 We started for the Gorieh bazaar, through 
 whieh the procession passes. Having placed 
 ourselves on the roof of a shop, and in front 
 of the mosque, we spread carpets, took our 
 pipes, and awaited the arrival of the caravan. 
 First, arrived the full military band of the 
 Pacha, and a large body of troops, in dirty 
 white jackets and rusty tarboushes. This- 
 was the guard of honour, which marches 
 with the Mahmil from the gate of the town. 
 After these, came a camel, with a red cloth 
 package on his back, containing a huge pro- 
 vision of carpets. Then the Mahmil ap- 
 peared, entering the Gorieh, with great shout- 
 ing, beating of tomtoms, jingling of bells, 
 and loud cries from the people. It is a small 
 square canopy, with a pointed top covered 
 with gold embroidery, tarnished and faded 
 by long and distant travel. Behind the 
 Mahmil, on another camel, came a fanatic saint 
 or Sheikh, who was said to have accom- 
 panied the procession to Mecca and back, for
 
 202 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 many years half naked, and rolling his head 
 from side to side with hideous contortions. 
 The people, one and all, tried to touch the 
 Mahmil as it passed by them. Some let 
 their shawls drop from the nearest windows ; 
 others reached forward in the throng and 
 scrambled to get near. Crowds of little 
 children and women were pressing round in 
 every direction to get their clothes or hand- 
 kerchiefs in contact with the housings or the 
 cloth of gold. 
 
 All this time the noise was unceasing, 
 wliile the Mahmil passed slowly on its course 
 through the immense crowd. The scene was 
 beautiful, while the sun broke through the 
 rafters of the roof of the bazaar, parts of 
 which were in deep shadow, and others tinted 
 with the most brilliant colours. Through 
 this long and lofty passage the caravan wound 
 its way. The shops were crammed with 
 people, the roofs covered, and the street pre- 
 sented a moving mass of turbans and tar- 
 boushes. A string of camels advanced with 
 drums, and music, and flowers. To these 
 succeeded the mounted Hadjis, worn out
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 203 
 
 from long travel, and with the desert sand 
 still clinging to them. Every sort of costume 
 was there. They came from Algiers, from 
 Tunis, and Tripoli, and Morocco, as well as 
 from Constantinople and Smyrna, or from 
 Damascus and Bagdad ; their eyes, lighted up 
 with wild enthusiasm, glared still more fero- 
 ciously from their haggard features. To 
 these succeeded a troop of Arnaouts, whose 
 steeds plunged and reared, pranced and cur- 
 veted, while the rider brandished his long 
 tufted lance, crying out as if charging an 
 enemy. And with this strange group, fol- 
 lowed by children and w r omen beating drums 
 and cymbals, the procession closed. 
 
 We rode round some by-streets into the 
 square before the citadel. Here we found 
 the garrison under arms, formed into three 
 sides of a square. There was a brigade of 
 guns behind for saluting. Crowds of mounted 
 Turks were galloping about, throwing the 
 jereed, or practising the manege, with a mul- 
 titude of eunuchs and slaves. The caravan 
 entered the square, and three times passed 
 round the troops, who then iired a salute.
 
 204 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 So ended the affair, altogether the most 
 curious spectacle I ever beheld. It is the very 
 essence of Orientalism, and the type of every- 
 thing belonging to Mussulmans ; while, though 
 the finery is tawdry, and there is nothing half 
 as smart as one of our own state-coach horses, 
 the scene is more imposing, perhaps, than any 
 other ceremony in the world, from the fanatic 
 enthusiasm which, from first to last, charac- 
 terizes the whole of the proceedings. 
 
 In the afternoon, I visited the tombs of 
 Mehemet Ali's children and relatives. This 
 structure lies to the south of the town, among 
 a mass of minarets and tombs of scheikhs, of 
 every conceivable shape, whether arch, dome, 
 or tower. Each looks like a palace in 
 miniature, but all are fast going to ruin and 
 decay. Yet the forms and outlines are still 
 there, and the colouring is beautiful. They 
 cover the ground to the base of the Mo- 
 kattan chain of hills, and on the face of the 
 cliff there are some which resemble the 
 towers on the Rhine. 
 
 Mehemet Ali's tombs have no external de- 
 coration. They consist of two chambers with
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 205 
 
 domes, under which are seen the grave-stones 
 of all the members of his family. The cham- 
 bers are handsomely carpeted, with lamps 
 suspended from the roof, and the tombs are 
 made of white marble, and richly painted and 
 gilded. At the head and foot of the grave 
 there is an upright tablet; if of a man, it 
 bears a turban ; those of the women have a 
 different ornament. When the children die 
 in infancy, several are buried together, and 
 one sarcophagus commemorates their fate; 
 but there is a separate tablet or turban for 
 each. At the top of the second chamber is 
 situated the vault said to be intended by 
 the Pacha for his own remains. 
 
 From the vast number of children buried 
 in these tombs, some idea may be formed of 
 the size of a Turkish harem; and, to our 
 notions, it seems curious that when the ladies 
 visit this mausoleum, they bring provisions 
 for a feast, with baskets of flowers, and howl 
 and sing over the tombs, reclining on the rich 
 carpets that cover the pavement, with lamps 
 burning above and around them. 
 
 I was introduced to-day to Suleiman Pacha,
 
 206 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 who is in high favour with Mehemet AIL 
 He it was who defended Beyrout, and was 
 Ibrahim Pacha's second in command in all 
 the Syrian business. He is undoubtedly a 
 man of great energy and talent. His man- 
 ners are hospitable and kind, and his bearing 
 that of the "vielle moustache" of Napo- 
 leon's day. We had a long conversation 
 about the Syrian war, and the anecdotes 
 he told were most interesting. Among other 
 things, he mentioned what I had heard before, 
 that if we had fallen in with the French 
 squadron off the coast of Syria, there was 
 no ammunition in our fleet to fight them. 
 Our ships had sent for a supply to Malta, 
 but in vain. 
 
 Suleiman Pacha was angry with Napier, 
 to whose bravery and character, however, 
 he did ample justice, for not having con- 
 tradicted the report, in an English paper, 
 that he allowed fresh provisions for the sick 
 to be taken off to the English fleet, as he 
 was afraid of Napier's reprisals, in case of 
 a refusal on his part. He declared that 
 nothing ever was further from truth. " Je
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 207 
 
 nc fais pas la guerre aux blesses," said he. 
 " Je lui ai fait parvenir ce qui etoit neces- 
 saire, et Napier devroit savoir que ce n'est 
 pas la crainte de ses canons qui ni'a pousse 
 a faire ce que je crois mon devoir. Mais 
 je trouve que lorsqu'il a vu ce fait con- 
 state sur les journaux il auroit du le faire 
 dementir." 
 
 The young Scheriff of Mecca is here, on his 
 way to Constantinople. The son of the chief 
 of a family directly descended from Maho- 
 met, he belongs to nearly the oldest race in 
 Europe of an almost unbroken succession. 
 The Scheriff lives in one of the hotels 
 of the Mamlooks, where he holds a sort of 
 court. The persons of these chiefs are con- 
 sidered holy, and are looked upon with the 
 greatest reverence and respect. We had 
 given him notice of our coming, and were 
 shown into his divan. He was in an adjoin- 
 ing room, with a thick, heavy curtain before 
 the door, on each side of which stood two 
 black slaves, Avith magnificent shaAvls and 
 daggers. Their arms were beautiful, and 
 quite unlike the common trash offered for sale. 
 
 The Scheriff soon made his appearance
 
 208 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 from behind the curtain, and his personal 
 demeanour, as well as extreme dignity and 
 grace, at once impressed us in his favour. 
 He is very handsome; slight, but sinewy 
 and well-made, with dark piercing eyes, a 
 very sweet smile, and beautiful teeth. He 
 wore a snow-white turban of the finest 
 muslin, under which could be seen his tar- 
 boush not an ugly red cap, like the Egyp- 
 tian head-dress, but one of various colours 
 richly embroidered. His caftan was of 
 green silk; he wore no arms except a 
 sabre, which he carried in his hand, and 
 over all, hanging from his shoulders and 
 sweeping the ground, was an abba, or cloak, 
 of white stuff embroidered with gold. After 
 him, entered his attendants, all variously 
 dressed in the costume of the Hedjaz, and 
 well armed. No man appeared there with- 
 out his dagger. They were all bare-footed 
 except three, who sat down on the divan at 
 a distance from the Scheriff; the rest stood 
 before us, while we had pipes and coffee. 
 Our host did not smoke, but conversed with 
 us through Clot Bey's interpreter, Mr. 
 Joseph. At last, he said he wished us to
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 209 
 
 see a dromedary he had brought for the 
 Pacha, with its saddle and housings, and ac- 
 cordingly gave some orders to his people. 
 In a few minutes, from the window we be^ 
 held, perhaps, the most beautiful animal that 
 Arabia ever produced. The creature was 
 perfectly broke, and seemed as gentle and 
 docile as a lady's horse. His saddle and 
 housings were covered with gold embroidery, 
 and when his rider got upon him, and his 
 snake-like head was stretched forward, 
 guided only by a slight silken cord, he 
 looked as perfect a prince of the desert as 
 the Scheriff, his master. 
 
 Dr. Abbott gave us a Turkish dinner in 
 the Eastern form. We sat on the floor, 
 round a small tray or low stool, on which, 
 one after another, the dishes were placed. 
 First came gazelle soup; but I was dis- 
 agreeably surprised at finding no plates, 
 and we were all obliged, in Turkish fashion, 
 to put our spoons into the bowl, and struggle, 
 in turn, for bits of meat and broth. To 
 this succeeded fish, which we took out of 
 the dish with the fingers of the right hand 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 (the left never being employed on these 
 occasions), and munched as we best could. 
 Then appeared a haunch of gazelle, frag- 
 ments of which we tore from the bone, dip- 
 ping them in salt, and of this each person 
 puts a small portion on the part of the tray 
 near him. It is no easy task to convey the 
 food on its journey, and the chances are, if 
 his hand is not very steady, that the novice 
 covers himself with greasy dainties. The 
 gazelle was followed by sausages, pancakes, 
 and twenty other dishes, so that we were 
 almost satiated by the variety and quantity 
 of our fare. 
 
 After dinner, while we were looking over 
 some books and antiques, a scorpion made 
 his appearance among them. We placed 
 him in a plate with some charcoal lighted, 
 and his tail certainly curled up, but I should 
 be unwilling to believe the common suppo- 
 sition, that when escape is cut off, these 
 animals sting themselves to death. They 
 abound in this country, and great care is 
 necessary to avoid sitting on them unawares, 
 or finding them in the bed and among the 
 clothes.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Damietta branch of the Nile The Pacha's new 
 bridge Foreign assistance Mehemet All's ap- 
 proach to Mehallet el Kebir. 
 
 p 2
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 HAVING determined to pay our court to 
 Mehemet Ali, we started for Boulak, and 
 engaged a boat for the journey to Man- 
 sourah. Soon we were floating down the 
 Damietta branch of the Nile. The river 
 is much narrower, and the country being 
 more verdant and better cultivated, than 
 above Cairo, is more pleasing to the eye. 
 About mid-day, we arrived at Foum-el-Ka- 
 rinen, a village between Dagoeh and Batta, 
 where Mr. Linant is engaged in making a 
 large bridge, with flood-gates, over an arti- 
 ficial communication between the river and 
 a canal that extends itself all through the 
 province. We found him in his boat and
 
 214 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 moored alongside. There was a rude en- 
 campment, with several officers' tents, round 
 which were the attendants of the Governor 
 of the province, who was there in person, 
 assisting Mr. Linant in carrying on his 
 works. Near these, were innumerable booths, 
 in which provisions of all sorts were selling 
 coffee, dates, apricots, bread, &c. 
 
 At a little distance, we came in sight of 
 the bridge, which is built with flood-gates 
 between each span. Five thousand people 
 were at work, some carrying stones, others 
 baling out with baskets the water that 
 escaped; one set employed in making the 
 mortar, another gang perfecting the ma- 
 sonry. A band of pipes and tomtoms 
 amused the workmen in their labours, and 
 this mighty machine of human power was 
 moving in an orderly and regular way with- 
 out much more noise than Arabs usually 
 make. It was an extraordinary sight to 
 see these masses swarming like ants about 
 their work. The Pacha will not hear of 
 steam power being applied ; " Fellah" power 
 being so much cheaper. The multitude is
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 215 
 
 paid per day, twenty paras per man, not in 
 money, but this sum is deducted from the 
 taxes to government and carried to the la- 
 bourer's account by the Sheikh of his village. 
 When men are wanted they are pressed by the 
 chiefs of the towns and kept until the work 
 is done. We were told that no one was 
 paid in money, and that for two years not a 
 para had been given to any of the Pacha's 
 employes. Some of the secretaries, clerks, &c. 
 had not received enough to pay the barber 
 for shaving them, and yet many were obliged 
 to keep a horse for the mere purpose of 
 getting through their duties. Nevertheless, 
 daily and hourly contributions are levied on 
 the miserable population. All the works 
 from Assouan to Alexandria, such as canals, 
 bridges, roads, railways, are said to be in 
 the same state. Each native authority in- 
 terferes with whatever is done by European 
 science, and every Turk thinks himself pri- 
 vileged to come and give orders, perhaps 
 directly the reverse of what is right. 
 
 The people appear to be most ignorant 
 and besotted, as the following story attests.
 
 216 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 An English engineer was employed in min- 
 ing for coal in Syria. The mine was profit- 
 able, but some one or other of the officials 
 suggested that the Englishman did not get 
 coal as fast, or in such large quantities, as the 
 natives could if they were allowed to try. 
 Permission was granted, and the engineer 
 sent off to Alexandria upon some excuse. 
 Meantime, the Turks set to work, and in two 
 or three days, with very little labour, pro- 
 duced five times as much coal as the 
 Englishman had ; this was reckoned an im- 
 mense triumph; but one fine morning the 
 whole excavation fell in and buried the 
 workmen. What was the fact? The en- 
 gineer, as he undermined, had left large 
 pillars of coal to support the earth above, 
 which the Turks immediately knocked down, 
 and the prize served to fill their baskets on 
 the first days of their supposed triumph. The 
 catastrophe, however, would, one should 
 have supposed, have been a lesson to them. 
 No such thing. " It was the will of God." 
 So they killed the goose that laid the golden
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 217 
 
 eggs ; but the moral of the tale was thrown 
 away. 
 
 This is universally the case. A foreigner 
 comes here, sets to work, and for some time 
 goes on well. The natives then lay plans 
 for his ruin, and declare they can do as 
 well without him. The man is got rid of 
 either by an excuse or a direct dismissal ; the 
 natives take up his works, fail, and then the 
 whole concern goes to destruction. 
 
 The land is fertile beyond expression, 
 and the cultivation universal. But it is im- 
 possible to see these fields loaded with mag- 
 nificent crops without a feeling of sorrow 
 and disgust at the thought that the farmers 
 and labourers reap no advantage from the 
 bounties of this prolific nature. The riches 
 and the profit go into the pocket of their 
 rulers, and scarcely is a bare subsistence left 
 to them; so much so is this the case, that 
 they are obliged to pilfer the grain they have 
 planted themselves, or live upon part of the 
 seed given to them to produce a new crop. 
 What hope can there be for a people so de-
 
 218 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 graded? or what chance of their improve- 
 ment under such despotic masters? Truly 
 and fearfully has the Egyptian curse been 
 fulfilled, and every day and every scene afford 
 ample proof of this, though a beneficent 
 nature still smiles over the moral and physical 
 desolation of the country. 
 
 The banks of the river swarm with flocks 
 and herds, the stream is crowded by droves 
 of buffaloes, with their huge bodies immersed 
 in the water, and children are bathing among 
 them, climbing on their backs, and hanging 
 on their shoulders. Child and buffalo seem 
 thoroughly happy, and are evidently excellent 
 friends. Every now and then, vast flocks 
 of sheep are passed ; or led horses, belonging 
 to some great man ; village Sheikhs ride by 
 with their petty state; or an Arab of the 
 desert is seen with his wild costume, and 
 his string of camels; and at every turn 
 of the river appear minarets and mud-houses, 
 which, though poor indeed on a nearer in- 
 spection, look picturesque at a distance. 
 
 On reaching a small village near the 
 opening of a canal, it was announced that
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 219 
 
 an officer of the Pacha was coming to pay 
 us a visit. Before we had time to make 
 any preparation for his reception he made 
 his appearance, and acquainted us that the 
 Pacha had dispatched him three days before 
 to Mansourah, where he had been waiting 
 our arrival. Mehcmet Ali had sent us word 
 to meet him to-morrow at Mehallet el Kebir. 
 April 23rd. At six o'clock in the morning, 
 our horses were ready ; a fine strong grey 
 Arab, covered with gold housings and capa- 
 risons, was assigned to me ; and two mounted 
 Janizaries, with four sais's, or grooms, on 
 foot, made up our body-guard. We rode 
 for about an hour and a half at a foot's pace 
 along a raised embankment, on each side of 
 which the wide plains of the Delta, covered 
 with luxuriant crops, extended themselves as 
 far as the eye could reach. Sugar canes, 
 cotton plantations, wheat, castor-oil trees, 
 and occasionally willows and large spread- 
 ing sycamores, succeeded each other, with 
 clover, lupines, beans, and almost every 
 species of vegetation. Here and there were 
 large deep pools covered with wild fowl, so
 
 220 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 tame, that the duck hardly left her brood as 
 we passed along her rushy kingdom. At a 
 distance before us lay Mehallet el Kebir, the 
 principal town of the Delta, distinguishable 
 by its numerous minarets. 
 
 We had been informed that the Pacha 
 would arrive by land from Nabaroueh 
 about mid-day, and as we neared the 
 town, the cannon announced his approach. 
 There was a general movement across the 
 plain to the so-called palace, where he 
 had taken up his quarters. Nazirs of vil- 
 lages, Sheikhs, Moodirs, and other func- 
 tionaries, were trooping in with the utmost 
 speed, some on donkeys, but the higher 
 classes on mules or horses. The Fellahs, 
 too, were on foot, hastening to the spot, and 
 droves of sheep and oxen, loaded camels and 
 dromedaries, all seemed approaching the same 
 point. A few minutes before twelve we found 
 ourselves at the entrance of a short avenue 
 leading up to the door of the " chateau." 
 Occasionally there was a guard of soldiers, 
 or some troop-horses picketed here and 
 there, while near them, in parties of two or
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 221 
 
 three, their masters smoked their pipes with 
 becoming gravity. A little further on was 
 a cluster of green tents belonging to the 
 chief officers of the suite. The dress of the 
 Egyptian is the same, from the highest to 
 the lowest. A tarboush or red cap, blue 
 jacket, and pantaloons, very large about the 
 hips, and quite tight from the knee down- 
 wards, red slippers, and a sword. The dif- 
 ference of rank is marked by the decorations 
 they wear, which are generally made of dia- 
 monds for the highest functionaries and the 
 relatives of Mehemet Ali, and continue in n 
 descending scale of value till they diminish 
 to a single brass mark. 
 
 The palace is situated in a garden of 
 fruit-trees, and belongs to Abbas Pacha, the 
 Viceroy's grandson, Mehemet Ali merely 
 using it is a halting-place in his progress. 
 Abbas Pacha has forsaken it for some other 
 more recent acquisition, and the place ap- 
 peared neglected. A few steps led us into a 
 hall, where a few Cavasses, or, as we erro- 
 neously call them, Janizaries, were lounging 
 about, and lying on mats. The Pacha's officer
 
 222 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 showed us the way up stairs, and I asked 
 if he was taking us at once to the Pacha. 
 " Oui, voila son altesse !" he replied. A red 
 curtain was suddenly thrown aside, and we 
 found ourselves in the presence. 
 
 The Pacha was at dinner, with his back 
 to the door, so that we could not see him, 
 concealed as he was by the attendants, until 
 we reached the table. It must here be stated 
 that all our conversation was carried on 
 through an interpreter, as the Pacha 
 speaks only Turkish. On seeing us, he 
 said "Welcome, I am glad to see you 
 sit down and eat." We were placed to 
 the right and left of his highness, and as the 
 silence of the meal lasted some time, I had 
 leisure to observe him. Mehemet Ali gave 
 me, from first to last, the idea of a sprightly, 
 well-bred old man. It is nonsense to talk, 
 as some have done, about his cold and stern 
 eye, and his hollow, heartless laugh. His 
 eye is fine and expressive; if he chose, he 
 could appear to look through you but his 
 expression is soft, at least the one which ap- 
 parently is habitual to him. He has dark
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 223 
 
 eyebrows, not particularly shaggy, and his 
 beard is celebrated for its silver whiteness, 
 and the luxuriance of its growth. His hands 
 are weather-beaten, but were formed for 
 strength, and had no marked wrinkles, such 
 as one would expect from his age, which is 
 seventy-five. I could not correctly see his 
 figure, which was completely concealed by 
 the Eastern dress. 
 
 On his head was a tarboush, by no means 
 new or smart, but his cap, worn under it, 
 was of a clear and dazzling white, and his 
 caftan (for he wears the long robe), was 
 dove-colour, lined with white fur; his under 
 jacket crimson, striped with yellow. His 
 trowsers were very 7 large, of the same colour 
 as the caftan, having very little embroidery; 
 he wore no decoration; and his sash was 
 a plain cachemire shawl, trimmed with a 
 old border. On a cushion on the divan 
 
 O 
 
 which surrounded the room, lay his sword, 
 which was as plain as a soldier's; a white 
 handkerchief and a pair of gloves completed 
 his equipment. So much for his dress. 
 Behind his chair, which I was told had been
 
 224 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 given to him by Sir Moses Montefiore a 
 common " Dover," with leather straps for 
 arms, and two cushions stood the attendants, 
 wearing silver decorations. One held a wisp 
 of palm-leaves, to keep off the flies, and the 
 other a snuif-box, which the Viceroy em- 
 ployed a great deal during dinner, with par- 
 ticular grace, and with so much cleanliness 
 as to allow no particle to fall upon his dress, 
 beard, or moustache. The room was matted, 
 and a smart divan extended round the 
 whitewashed walls. In a corner, stood a 
 small table, at which the wine was poured 
 out and served. Towels with gold embroi- 
 dery, and a small muslin handkerchief, were 
 placed by the side of our plates, and then a 
 multitude of dishes succeeded each other, 
 nicely served, and well cooked. The Pacha 
 is helped first by an attendant standing op- 
 posite to him, whose duty it is to carve 
 every dish. Very little is placed on each 
 plate, and the instant this is done the dish 
 is removed, so that the guest has no chance 
 of obtaining a second portion. 
 
 In the middle of dinner, a nargileh was
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 225 
 
 brought to the Pacha, of which he took two 
 or three long draughts. He talked very 
 little at the meal, and I found when he did 
 it made him cough, for the Orientals are 
 habitually silent while eating. The style of 
 attendance at table is entirely French. The 
 officer who carves is a Frenchman, and the 
 entertainment was like a Paris dejeuner, ex- 
 cept in the profusion of dishes. 
 
 Mehemet Ali said he had heard of our 
 coming, and had expected us last night. I 
 replied, I could not make up my mind to 
 leave his dominions without paying him my 
 duty, not only as the sovereign of the coun- 
 try, but as one of the most distinguished 
 men of the day ; and added, that I was sur- 
 prised to see him in such vigorous health at 
 his time of life. 
 
 He said he had nothing to complain of 
 that he was always moving about, and never 
 felt fatigue. He had never been ill till 
 lately, and when he was, he made his doctor 
 take a little blood from him, and that was 
 all his remedy. He confessed to being fond 
 
 VOL. i. Q
 
 226 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 of sugar and sweet things, which he used to 
 dislike in his younger days, and remarked 
 that old age did this for him, which had also 
 brought about many changes. " Wellington 
 is my age," he observed. " I hear his health 
 is breaking." 
 
 " The Duke has undergone a life of con- 
 tinual labour," I replied. 
 
 " I, too, have not been an idle man," said 
 he, " nor am I now. I have never spared 
 myself; but I am stronger, I think, than 
 Wellington, from what I have heard." 
 
 When I thought of the Duke's frugal 
 meal, with his glass of sherry drowned in 
 soda water, I could not help contrasting it 
 with the luxuries before me, and the Pacha's 
 free enjoyment of them. On his asking if 
 Wellington rode on horseback, I replied in 
 the affirmative. 
 
 " I ride sometimes on horseback," he 
 added, " when I am with troops ; but I prefer 
 a mule. You rode my horse to-day; how 
 do you like him?" 
 
 " I was delighted to ride an animal that 
 had carried your Highness," I answered,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 227 
 
 " but I had rather have seen you on his 
 back." 
 
 Upon asking him where his cavalry was, 
 he said they were encamped at different 
 places on the Nile ; but I did not think he 
 liked the subject. He then said he had sent 
 troops to Abyssinia, as there had been some 
 misunderstanding there, and had given 
 orders that they should enter the country. 
 I told him he ought to take Abyssinia; to 
 which he made no answer. 
 
 Very shortly afterwards the Pacha rose, 
 and so quick was his action that we were 
 quite unaware of it. In a moment, a basin 
 and ewer were brought to him, and he 
 washed his hands and face and beard care- 
 fully, turning his back to us ; one man hold- 
 ing the embroidered towel, another the soap, 
 a third the basin, and a fourth pouring 
 water from the ewer. He then seated him- 
 self on the divan with great alertness, and 
 putting one leg under him, and the left arm 
 on a high cushion, took up his position, and 
 made me sit close by him. 
 
 Two attendants entered, each bearing a 
 Q 2
 
 228 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 long pipe with a magnificent mouth-piece of 
 amber, set in diamonds. The pipe-sticks 
 were of jessamine, covered with silk and 
 gold, and the two ends ornamented with 
 broad bands of enamel. The tobacco was- 
 heaped upon the bowl with such care that 
 every particle seemed to have its place, and 
 so beautifully was the pyramid arranged, 
 that the contents burnt evenly and without 
 an}- effort, and kept alight without any 
 trouble. 
 
 Coffee was brought upon a small tray, 
 with a cover upon it of cloth of gold, and 
 the Pacha's cup was studded Avith diamonds 
 and rubies. When Mehemet Ah" had drank 
 his coffee, all left the room, except the in- 
 terpreter. The Pacha then said, " Say some- 
 thing, or tell me something." I expressed 
 the pleasure I felt at seeing this part of his 
 kingdom, the plains of the Delta, after I had 
 traversed it from nearly one end to the 
 other, and, above all, my satisfaction at be- 
 ing permitted to behold him without cere- 
 mony. 
 
 He replied, " Yes, you have seen much r
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 229 
 
 but in a few years you will see more." 
 Then I expressed my astonishment at the 
 extreme fertility of the soil and the abund- 
 ance of the crops. 
 
 " I have done this," he said; " a few years 
 back, and there was nothing. I have made 
 the country what it is. When I came to 
 Egypt, there were only two canals. Xow 
 the land is intersected and irrigated every- 
 where." 
 
 As I wished to get him on this subject, I 
 asked whether the Xile was not the source 
 of all the fertility of the country? " Yes," 
 he said, " but it destroyed what it created, 
 until properly regulated. In a few years 
 more we shall control it, make use of its 
 power, and prevent its evils. By flood- 
 gates we shall bar its course when we choose, 
 or admit it when we like. I have formed 
 canals round the land to the foot of the 
 mountains, where water never flowed tefore, 
 and I have made tracts bear crops, where 
 an ear of corn never grew. I oblige the 
 people to do this, and do not pay them be- 
 cause it is for their good. They make their
 
 230 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 villages near the river, and wait till the 
 inundation sweeps them away, and are so 
 idle, that they will not raise a hand unless 
 they are forced, to ward off their own ruin. 
 I have set them to dig canals to carry 
 off the water, which labour not only pre- 
 serves them and their homesteads, but 
 brings fresh tracts into tillage, and carries 
 the sediment of the river even to the base 
 of the hills. They do not see this, for they 
 are blind : you in England have everything 
 finished and ready you have little to do. 
 I have everything to do, and nothing ready. 
 And yet much has been done, and much 
 more remains and will be done." 
 
 I remarked that he seemed to superintend 
 all himself. 
 
 " Yes," he replied, " I cannot depend 
 upon having orders executed as you do in 
 England, by deputy. But when the Arabs 
 see and hear me, they know the work must 
 be done." 
 
 I was afraid to inquire what he did with 
 all the money he took from the people ; and 
 to remark that no one here could hope,
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 231 
 
 under his government, to realize an inde- 
 pendence as in our country. Eventually 1 
 asked him if he remembered Lord PracQioe? 
 
 " Yes," he replied, and inquired if he 
 was married. On my answering in the 
 negative, he said, u Tell him it is wrong ; he 
 promised me he would. He is very rich, is 
 he not?" he asked. I answered this and 
 some similar inquiries, to which he added 
 others which were not so easily disposed of, 
 respecting the exact amount of the incomes 
 of certain wealthy peers. He was equally 
 inquisitive respecting our public journals, 
 and seemed surprised at the freedom per- 
 mitted them. " I allow no papers," he said, 
 " except one published at Cairo, under the 
 auspices of my government, and this is 
 merely a return of prices current, &c. 
 Then he said, " the French papers abuse the 
 English, and the English the French, as if 
 they were the representative powers of the 
 country." 
 
 I told him I had much admired Linant's 
 work at Foum-el-Karinen, and the way in 
 which the multitude were performing their
 
 232 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 various tasks. He did not seem to relish 
 this, but remarked some time after, " You 
 passed over a bridge to-day. I built it. I 
 was my own architect, and it cost me very 
 little, and I mean to build a great many 
 more." 
 
 " Why does your Highness," I inquired, 
 " not employ steam in raising water from 
 the Nile?" 
 
 " Steam is too dear," he replied, " but I 
 have constructed two steam-engines at Cairo, 
 and mean to put them on board a ship I am 
 building." On my saying I hoped they would 
 succeed, he answered, " Everything English 
 is good but the price, and I can get labour 
 which will go as far as steam, for nothing." 
 He then said he intended to make a railway 
 across the Delta, a distance of forty miles, 
 to transport goods cotton, wheat, rice, &c., 
 from one branch to the other ; but not for 
 passengers, because the people were too 
 poor. He asked many questions on the 
 capabilities of locomotives, and in the re- 
 plies I gave he seemed to think I was 
 romancing. I advised him not to have any
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 233 
 
 Arab employed on his railroad, as it would 
 lead to accidents. On his remarking that 
 he would have English, I told him he would 
 probably patronise the French, as I had 
 seen a Frenchman employed on the con- 
 struction of a small engine in the Dock- 
 yard ; he smiled, and said nothing. 
 
 I informed him that we were going to 
 Syria, and had heard the country was not 
 safe for travellers. He replied he did not 
 know. When he knew Syria it was as safe 
 as Cairo. " Stay with me," he said ; " I am 
 going in ten days to Alexandria, and will 
 take you with me, and we will see all the 
 country together." On my endeavouring to 
 excuse myself, he seemed desirous of de- 
 taining me, and at last silenced my excuses 
 by saying, " You will dine and sleep here, 
 and breakfast with me to-morrow, and then 
 the wind will blow fresher after twelve 
 o'clock, and you may depart." I replied, I 
 was at his Highness's disposal. Soon after, 
 I begged permission to retire, which he ac- 
 corded. 
 
 An officer accompanied us across the
 
 234 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 garden to a detached building, where we 
 found sentries at the door, and another was 
 placed at the head of the stairs, near our 
 room. The staircase led to a gallery, round 
 which were several empty apartments, with 
 bare white-washed walls, and divans; and 
 into one of these we were ushered. In a few 
 minutes, the Pacha's valet de chambre, Mon- 
 sieur Donnadieu, appeared, saying, he had 
 orders to stay with us, and to see that we had 
 all we desired. Presently pipes and coffee 
 were brought. Soon afterwards, we were 
 joined by the Pacha's physician, who sat with 
 us for some time, during which Abbas Pacha 
 was announced, and I went to the foot of the 
 stairs to receive him. He is rather corpu- 
 lent, good-natured, and somewhat dull, and 
 his manner very different from the natural 
 sharpness of the Viceroy. After this, we 
 were left to our repose, until it was made 
 known to us that the Pacha was going to 
 dinner. 
 
 As soon as we entered the room, the table 
 was brought in, and five musicians appeared, 
 with two fiddles, an instrument made of
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 235 
 
 wires stretched upon a sounding board, 
 cymbals, and a tambourine. The fifth mu- 
 sician was the vocalist, who did not sing, but 
 literally howled and yelled. The fiddles 
 moaned and screeched, the tambourine 
 jingled, and the pseudo-pianoforte whined. 
 This, however, did not spoil our eating, or 
 the Pacha's digestion. 
 
 After dinner, which was conducted pre- 
 cisely like the other meal, we had coffee, and 
 when the viceroy's pipe was brought, he 
 again opened the conversation by " say 
 something." I stated that Abbas Pacha 
 had done me the honour of paying me a 
 visit. 
 
 " Yes, I told him you were here," he re- 
 plied; " Abbas Pacha is a great farmer, and 
 likes the country. I take him with me in 
 my excursions, and he leaves his second in 
 command, Ali Bey, at Cairo. Have you 
 seen Ibrahim Pacha?" 
 
 " No," said I ; "I saw his steamer arrive 
 at Foum-el-Karinen, but I did not choose to 
 intrude on his Highness." I then tried to 
 speak of Syria, by asking him if he had seen
 
 -236 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the memorandum of the Porte, published in 
 the papers. He said he had, but did not 
 believe it was authentic. He stigmatized the 
 paper as childish, and said, that it was absurd 
 for the Porte to declare its independent 
 action, when all the world knew, that without 
 the powers of Europe she could do nothing. 
 That it was vain to boast of the resources of 
 Turkey, of which every one was well aware 
 she made, or could make, no use. That as 
 for reverting to the old system, and shutting 
 the door on reforms, she ought never to have 
 made those reforms so quickly as to disgust 
 and alienate the people ; or, if she did, the 
 greatest act of folly was, after they had been 
 made, to admit their impolicy. " Correct 
 your system, if you please," he added, " but 
 do not afterwards confess to the people, who 
 ought to have confidence in you, that you 
 have been wrong. They will never trust 
 you. Look at my reforms here; I have 
 carried them on slowly but surely. I did 
 nothing in a hurry. I advised the Porte to 
 do the same, but they would not listen to 
 me."
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 237 
 
 I asked him, " If Rescind Pacha was dis- 
 graced as minister how came the}' to em- 
 ploy him as ambassador?" 
 
 He answered, " They are children. He 
 will thwart them, and create confusion if he 
 can, and this memorandum is a proof of it." 
 
 I remarked, " They can never hold Syria, 
 and govern it as your Highness did." 
 
 He replied, after some minutes, " I spent 
 more money upon Syria than years will re- 
 pay. I drained Egypt to keep it in order. 
 You might have gone securely from one end 
 of it to the other. It is no affair of mine 
 now. But you may tell Lord Palmerston 
 jii id Lord Ponsonby, if ever you see them 
 in England, that I know they wished to 
 do me all the harm in their power; but I 
 now thank them, for, instead, they have done 
 me good. They have taken away a great 
 source of anxiety, and have enabled me to 
 do more for this country'. I came here with 
 everything to make. What is made I have 
 made, alone and unassisted ; and now I will 
 do more, for I can devote its resources to 
 their perfect and full development, and leave
 
 238 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 other matters to their own destiny. But 
 remember, the question of the East is not 
 settled, nor ever will be, as long as the 
 Powers of Europe act as they do." 
 
 He then asked, " Why did not England 
 leave me alone?" 
 
 I said it was not England, but the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " I know no minister or party," said he, 
 " but the acts of a country ; and it is all the 
 fault of England. They have good heads, 
 but in this instance they were wrong for the 
 objects they had in view, and time will prove 
 this. France and England hate each other." 
 
 I assured him that well-disposed persons 
 on either side of the Channel had no such 
 feeling. 
 
 He said, " Read the newspapers, as I do." 
 
 I admitted that I did not always attach 
 implicit faith to these authorities. He re- 
 marked that we should quarrel some day. 
 I replied, no; if France desired this she 
 would have done so on the Syrian question. 
 
 " Why," he inquired, " will not the Powers 
 of Europe let the Porte alone ? Let England
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 239 
 
 and the rest Avithdraw, and then we shall see 
 what turn matters will take." 
 
 I humbly suggested that Russia was not 
 so easily disposed of. 
 
 He then made allusions to our differences 
 with the United States, which I endeavoured 
 to explain ; but had much greater difficulty 
 in speaking of the state of parties at home, 
 and the working of our political system. He 
 acknowledged that he did not understand the 
 difference between one ministry and another, 
 but considered that the Parliament of England 
 governed as it liked, and that it was respon- 
 sible for the acts of the state whether they 
 were good or evil, and that the country could 
 not shake off its liability by shifting it from 
 ministers in, to ministers out of, power. 
 
 Changing the conversation, he told us that 
 the French were building some new steamers. 
 
 I replied, I did not know this, nor did 
 we in England much care. Our merchant 
 navy alone, I assured him, could boast of 
 more steamers than all Europe put toge- 
 ther; all of which could be rendered effec- 
 tive, and manned and armed in time of
 
 240 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 war. " Yes," said he, " you are a great 
 commercial nation." He alluded to the 
 English consuls in Egypt ; said he had liked 
 Salt, who was a good man, and spoke very 
 highly of Colonel Campbell. He talked of 
 the difference of rank in England, said he 
 did not understand why the term " lord" was 
 applied to all peers except dukes, and ques- 
 tioned me as to the position of younger sons, 
 and what we call titles by "courtesy;" to 
 which I gave the best answers I could. 
 
 " The French tell me," resumed the Pacha, 
 " that they have got coal at Toulon, and 
 they expect much from it. As the English 
 tax their coal, I shall buy French. The 
 English send good coal, but it is too dear. 
 I am boring for coal myself, and hope to find 
 some. It would do wonders for me." 
 
 I said it was an expensive experiment to 
 bore through watery land, which he ad- 
 mitted. He asked about Mr. Hume, and 
 Dr. Bowring, and said he liked Napier, who 
 was a great reformer, and a good and honest 
 man. When he thought it was my turn to 
 speak, he always paused, and said, " Tell me
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 241 
 
 something." At last I requested leave to 
 retire. 
 
 Another room had been fitted up for us, 
 with a smart divan, and a splendid carpet, 
 into which we were conducted by Mr. Don- 
 nadieu. Large cotton mattresses were thrown 
 upon the divan, sheets and cotton coverings 
 were brought, a large green mosquito cur- 
 tain was hung over it, and we were left to 
 our repose. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Mosques at Cairo Sultan Hassan Gardens of 
 Rhoda Petrified Forest Tombs of the Caliphs 
 Mehemet Ali and the Eastern Question Obelisk of 
 Osirtesen. 
 
 R 2
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 APRIL 23rd. When I visited Mehemet 
 Ali to-day, he was standing near an open 
 window, through which there was a splendid 
 prospect of the broad and fertile plains of 
 the Delta. 
 
 " You English are a clever people," he 
 observed; "you have good heads, but very 
 bad land." To this I replied, that it was 
 the head that gave the land heart. 
 
 " God made the land, not man," said he. 
 
 " Your Highness," I replied, " God made 
 all your canals, and irrigations, and I hope 
 He will bless His work." 
 
 The Pacha then entered the room where 
 our morning repast was served as before.
 
 246 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 After the meal, he again took up his position 
 on the divan, and as usual, commenced with, 
 " Tell me something." A dialogue neces- 
 sarily followed, upon a variety of subjects, 
 in which I endeavoured to answer his innu- 
 merable questions. At last, my conversa- 
 tional powers were nearly exhausted, and I 
 tried to get away, as I was anxious to start 
 for Cairo. He repeated his desire, that we 
 should go with him to Alexandria, but with 
 many excuses I took leave, casting one long 
 look at this remarkable man, and then the 
 curtain, which covered the doorway, hid him 
 from our sight. 
 
 All the people were on the alert, as we de- 
 scended the stairs. The horses were brought 
 to the door, the guard turned out and pre- 
 sented arms, and in a few moments we were 
 galloping across the fields to the Nile. 
 Having reached our boat in about an hour, 
 we set sail with a foul wind and dirty sky. 
 
 April 24th. This morning we had hoped 
 to reach Foum-el-Karinen ; but the sun came 
 out without a cloud or a breath of air to 
 check his power, so that we had recourse to
 
 TO DAMASCUS, 247 
 
 our old method of journeying with a towing- 
 rope. After long hours of labour, we found 
 ourselves at Shoubra. Here we decided on 
 leaving the boat, the discomfort of which 
 had become too great for endurance, and, 
 sending for donkeys, rode into Cairo. 
 
 April 27th. Having put on Turkish 
 dresses, we started with a government 
 Cavass or Janizary, to visit the mosques. 
 One of these is most difficult of access for 
 Christians, as it contains a school or univer- 
 sity, where the devout Mussulman youth 
 is taught the principles of his creed. Here 
 fanatic teachers abound, and, of course, as 
 their pupils partake of the feeling of con- 
 tempt for those not of their own faith, which 
 is early instilled into them, it is dangerous 
 for the Christian to enter unless he is pro- 
 tected. We, however, found no obstacles ex- 
 cept threatening looks and ominous whisper- 
 ing. In an immense court-yard were hun- 
 dreds of people employed in prayer. Some 
 old men preached Avith a ring of students sur- 
 rounding them. Others were making their 
 ablutions at a large fountain- The mosque
 
 248 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 itself occupies one side of the quadrangle, and 
 consists of a vast hall, supported by pillars, 
 with a pulpit projected from the wall. There 
 was little to remark except the extent of the 
 place and the various employments and occu- 
 pations of the people. We subsequently in- 
 spected the Morestan, where a lunatic asylum 
 is attached to the institution, and also an 
 hospital. 
 
 The tomb of the founder stands in a sepa- 
 rate part of the building, and is richly orna- 
 mented. This edifice has been repaired 
 lately, and with the usual good taste of the 
 East, the red granite columns which support 
 the dome have been painted over with green. 
 Some smaller ones remain untouched, as if 
 to show the contrast of the barbarian change. 
 Rear this mosque we visited a tomb where 
 five turbans of cloth, with long draperies, 
 were ranged in line upon a sort of catafalque, 
 placed over the vault in which the bodies lie. 
 From the arrangement of the coverings, the 
 stranger would imagine that the remains 
 were above ground. Four priests are already 
 buried here, and the remaining turban is in-
 
 TO DAMASCUS, 249 
 
 tended for the Sheikh of the mosque when 
 death summons him to his long home. 
 
 From this tomb, which is richly adorned 
 both within and without with Arabesque in- 
 scriptions, tablets, and amulets, we rode to 
 the mosque of Sultan Hassan. One mosque 
 resembles another so much in details, that 
 there is little variety except in the size r 
 which at this last, the Saint Paul's of Cairo, 
 strikes the traveller very forcibly. The inte- 
 rior court, like the rest, open to the sky, 
 is of immense extent. The tomb of the 
 Sultan, its founder, was distinguished by 
 a large Koran, lying upon the catafalque, 
 with his sword, banners, and turban. On 
 the flooring of this chamber, they show 
 the marks of the blood of Sultan Hassan's 
 vizier, who rebelled against him, and whose 
 head his master cut off on the spot. This 
 recals the story of the stains at Holyrood, 
 where they kill a fowl occasionally to give 
 fresh colour to the boards. Here the spots 
 are on a much larger scale, and would re- 
 quire at least a sheep. 
 
 From Sultan Hassan we went to Sultan
 
 250 DIAEY OF A JOUKNEY 
 
 Tailoon, the oldest mosque in Cairo, with the 
 exception of that of Amrou. The arches 
 round a square court are of Gothic shape, 
 and the minaret, which is rather lofty, com- 
 mands an excellent view of the city. 
 
 May 1st. I started this morning, accord- 
 ing to appointment, to look at a regiment of 
 lancers and the military school. After riding 
 out to Old Cairo, we found Suleiman Pacha 
 waiting for us, with his son, a very pretty 
 boy, dressed in an Albanian costume. The 
 regiment manoeuvred in the great square of 
 a barrack of immense size. The men are 
 poor looking specimens. Some of the horses 
 are clever, but what with their bad accoutre- 
 ments and want of neatness in the turn- 
 out, the effect is not imposing. The tar- 
 boushes and large breeches of the men 
 are unsightly, and although they have 
 been rigged out in green and red, to re- 
 semble French dragoons, it is difficult to 
 avoid a laugh at the unintentional carica- 
 ture. To do them justice, they worked 
 together, and their horses are so well broke 
 that little irregularity appeared in their
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 251 
 
 movements, and whether halting or gal- 
 loping, they kept their line. After many 
 evolutions, they marched past, and we then 
 adjourned to a large riding-school. 
 
 The adjutant, who is a French officer, 
 rode in with a detachment of picked men. 
 In this troop both officers and privates were 
 working together. They executed all sorts 
 of manoeuvres and figures, as at a tourna- 
 ment, charging with lances and sabres, car- 
 rying off wooden heads at full speed, then 
 tossing them up and catching them on the 
 lance point. Afterwards they jumped the 
 bar, performing similar feats, the heads 
 being so placed as to receive the point of 
 the lance while the horse was jumping. 
 The barracks were fitted with iron beds and 
 presses, where each man kept his clothes. 
 These presses contained also some books, 
 which I found were encouraged as much as 
 possible ; a great innovation in a Mahometan 
 country. Their arms were neat and clean ; 
 their bridles and bits the reverse, for they 
 were made of bad leather and of very in- 
 ferior metal.
 
 252 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 May 2nd. To-day is a great feast with 
 the people, who congregate in the gardens for 
 the sake of enjoying themselves. The city is 
 almost empty, no sort of work is performed, 
 and every one makes holiday. It is the first 
 day of the Khamsin wind, and the citizens go 
 out to meet the air as they call it, though 
 why they should rejoice in this unwholesome 
 visitor I know not. It blows across the 
 deserts, and brings with it heat like the 
 breath of a furnace, lasting for about fifty 
 days. 
 
 The gardens of Rhoda were crowded with 
 the population lounging under the trees, 
 some lying down smoking or sleeping, others 
 eating and drinking: the women gathered 
 in heaps, and all veiled. In England we 
 break off branches and destroy flowers; but 
 here, though there were thousands of roses 
 and orange blossoms in every direction, no 
 one touched a twig. Was this from fear or 
 from a sense of propriety? 
 
 May 3rd. This morning, at sunrise, we 
 started with Dr. Abbott to the petrified 
 forest. Passing out of the gate of Bab-el-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 253 
 
 Nasr, near the Tombs of the Caliphs, and en- 
 tering a small valley, we soon lost sight of 
 Cairo, and found ourselves in the desert, 
 crossing a wide waste of sand, bounded by 
 a ridge of low mountains, and a few camels, 
 like dark moving spots, were seen at an 
 immense distance browsing upon the scanty 
 vegetation of the plain. We rode through 
 the rocks on the right of our track up a 
 gentle rise, and found ourselves on a plain 
 covered with the remnants of what was once 
 a forest, but is now turned to stone. The 
 bark and the fibre are there, and the chips 
 and the knots, but not one tree is standing ; 
 and large trunks are lying prostrate, as 
 if they had been felled by the axe. The 
 ground is covered with varieties of fossil 
 shells, and all around is an ocean of sand. 
 It is a singular scene, and I must leave its 
 secrets to be explained by more scientific 
 observers. 
 
 On the return to Cairo, the view is en- 
 chanting. Emerging from a small valley, 
 the path leads through the caliphs' tombs. 
 Two of the finest are on each side, between
 
 254 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 which are seen the domes and minarets of 
 the city glittering in the clear blue sky. 
 Some of these last homes of the dead are 
 almost as large as the mosques of the city r 
 and more beautiful, perhaps, than any. 
 Their finish is more exquisite, and they 
 stand alone, unencumbered by houses, so- 
 that the outlines of the buildings can be 
 seen in all their perfection. There are per- 
 haps twenty or thirty scattered round, and 
 planted on the very edge of the desert. All 
 are deserted and falling to decay. A few 
 years more and they will gradually disap- 
 pear, for the government is already dooming 
 them to destruction in order to obtain 
 building materials; and the finest tomb of 
 all, at least the one dearest to fame, the 
 tomb of Malek Adhel, which stands at a dis- 
 tance from the others, is half destroyed. 
 
 May 4th. To-day it was announced that 
 Said Pacha, the Pacha's favourite son, is to 
 marry the daughter of the Sultan, and 
 also to be made Capitan Pacha. Ibrahim 
 Pacha is said to have been offered Syria, if 
 he chose to return, and Sami Bey, who
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 255 
 
 was sent to Constantinople, has been ap- 
 pointed to some other office. This news 
 is curious, coupled with the famous memo- 
 randum of the Porte, which has been so 
 much discussed. It would appear that the 
 Sultan, to keep up the position he wishes to 
 maintain, is determined to get on good terms 
 again with his powerful vassal, Mehemet Ali, 
 who, he thinks, will be better as a friend than 
 alienated from him. R ussia probably has had 
 some share in this business, being sore at the 
 policy of England, and at losing her exclu- 
 sive privilege of passing the Dardanelles. 
 It is not unlikely that she may have been 
 stirring, in order to create confusion in the 
 status quo that Lord Ponsonby thought he 
 had brought about and settled for ever. 
 France, too, perhaps has not been an idle 
 spectatress of events. 
 
 Who shall predict what may happen, if, 
 looking at the fact of Russian officers having 
 been found actively employed in China, and 
 other causes, " La Grande Nation" were to 
 ally herself with the Czar, against England ; 
 the Porte and Egypt being, of course, ready
 
 256 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 to side with them, particularly if America 
 should move, as seems not unlikely, con- 
 sidering the bad blood that exists, and 
 that Prussia and Austria, from Russian 
 connexion and influence, should remain 
 passive ? 
 
 Of Mehemet Ali, my opinion is that he 
 is somewhat over-rated. " Dans lepays des 
 aveugles" it is not difficult to be a king; 
 and to have achieved all he has, might have 
 been the lot of many a man of inferior 
 ability, who had an unscrupulous turn of 
 mind would stick at nothing to cany a 
 point, and had such people to deal with, as 
 all his life, the Viceroy has been placed 
 Among. It is very true that he got rid of 
 the Mamlooks, by what some would call a 
 great stroke of policy. What was it but 
 wholesale and indiscriminate murder, not 
 to be palliated by any excuse, or defended 
 on any pretext ? and, after all, the stratagem 
 had not the merit of originality, for it had 
 been employed already at Constantinople, in 
 the affair of the Janizaries. 
 
 It is true that he has improved the ex-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 257 
 
 ternal appearance of the land of Egypt, but 
 its internal condition is as bad as it was 
 under the Marnlooks he destroyed. Instead 
 of having many masters, the wretched people 
 are now ground down by one. Their land 
 is his, their grain for seed comes from his 
 stores, their labour is at his disposal, and he 
 takes it whenever it suits him. Money they 
 have none, comfort is unknown to them 
 they are lucky if they escape conscription or 
 forced labours, and are treated worse than 
 the slave population of the West. Xo com- 
 fort have they in the present ; no hope in the 
 future ; when their Avretched frames are 
 unfit for work, they may die as their fathers 
 have, and their posterity will, without 
 leaving a trace behind of their hopeless 
 suffering, except in the canals which inter- 
 sect the country in all directions, or in the 
 embankments and works at which they toiled. 
 Whenever the Viceroy requires money, a 
 demand is made upon the Sheikhs, or heads 
 of the villages, who are bound to produce 
 the necessary sums by a certain day. More 
 is generally asked than the required order, 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 and they always exact more from the 
 wretched Fellahs. The extortion continues, 
 and the victims are obliged to part with 
 everything, even the little ornaments of 
 their wives and children. If anything is 
 hidden, the culprit is half killed with blows 
 over the feet until he confesses where it is. 
 If one man cannot pay, his neighbour must ; 
 and if one village does not contribute enough, 
 the next is squeezed to the uttermost. 
 
 These drains are perpetual, so that there 
 is no life -blood left in the country. Of 
 what use are the magnificent harvests, thrice 
 repeated in the year, to the poor Arab ? He 
 sees the earth bring forth fruits from her 
 prolific bosom, after the Nile has reposed 
 there its appointed time, only for the bene- 
 fit of his despotic rulers. He brings up, or 
 rather takes the chance of rearing his family, 
 with the certain knowledge that their state, 
 so far from being better than that of their 
 fathers, will be probably far worse. He lives 
 like the brutes that perish in his moral con- 
 dition little superior ; and in habits and exist- 
 ence, nearly the same. And yet Mehemet
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 259 
 
 All has found his panegyrists, either in those 
 who have been won by his courtesy, or who 
 have merely looked at this country with a 
 superficial glance. 
 
 It is indeed a painted sepulchre. The 
 more closely it discloses itself the more de- 
 based and degraded does it appear ; glorious 
 and lovely without, it is all rottenness and 
 decay within. How surely have the foreign 
 rulers, who were foretold to the first Egyp- 
 tians, set their foot upon the necks of the 
 people and crushed the land with their iron 
 heel! 
 
 May 8th. The Khamsin wind is giving 
 us a taste of its power. It blows a hurricane, 
 and the air, besides being as hot as the 
 interior of an oven, is filled with dust and 
 sand. To-day, found us packing up, with 
 the usual confusion. Mahmoud, our fac- 
 totum, is like all other Arabs, and though 
 possibly the best man in the world, is never 
 so happy as when he receives ten pounds 
 to spend at the bazaars, and as he comes 
 nearly every day for supplies upon various 
 pretences, I think it is high time to be off. 
 s2
 
 260 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 The hot wind continues its visitation. In 
 England, we have fogs and mists ; here, the 
 sand and gravel are worse than both. 
 Sheikh Hussein brought me, as a present, a 
 leather pouch belt, worked by the women 
 of the tribe. By the way, the Sinai Arabs 
 are fine looking fellows, and appear willing 
 and good humoured, a different race from 
 the Fellahs of Egypt. 
 
 The Sheikh has been sitting for his pic- 
 ture, much against his will, as it is for- 
 bidden by the Koran, and this has evidently 
 weighed heavily on Hussein's mind. So 
 that it is only by the gift of a pair of pistols, 
 that he has been prevailed upon to allow 
 himself to be immortalized by Lewis. 
 
 May 10th. We rode this morning to the 
 obelisk of Osirtesen at Matarieh, through a 
 beautiful plain cultivated in every direction. 
 The territory belongs to Ibrahim Pacha, and 
 I should think he made it sufficiently profit- 
 able. The obelisk of Matarieh stands in a 
 garden; it formerly adorned the entrance 
 to a large temple, and probably rejoiced in
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 261 
 
 a twin brother ; but the traces of the temple 
 have perished, and the avenue of sphinxes 
 is buried beneath the sand. The brick 
 Avails which mark the site of Heliopolis 
 are covered by the desert, and appear only 
 as mounds. The garden is pretty, and the 
 stately obelisk in the centre forms the point 
 of junction for four walks, overhung by 
 apricot trees. A sakkieh forces a stream 
 through the garden, and irrigates the roses 
 and wild flowers, sheltered from the sun by 
 a hedge of cactus in magnificent blossom. 
 The obelisk is almost perfect, but the in- 
 scriptions on it have been filled up with 
 baser material, and it is only at the foot 
 that the full deep cutting of the earlier 
 Egyptian artists can be recognised. 
 
 From this spot we returned to the vil- 
 lage of Matarieh, about a quarter of a mile 
 nearer Cairo than the old site of Heliopolis. 
 In a garden near this place an old syca- 
 more is considered peculiarly sacred, from 
 the tradition of the Virgin having rested 
 under it with the infant Saviour. It is
 
 262 A JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 surrounded by humble aspirants to its leafy 
 honours, in the shape of orange and lemon 
 trees; and some tall palms make an ad- 
 mirable contrast, with their shapely stature, 
 to its gnarled and withered trunk.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Suez Desert Range of Gebel Ataka Passage 
 of the Israelites Suez Springs of Moses The 
 Wadys Mount Sinai The Convent.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MAY 12TH. We left Cairo at nine, this 
 morning. The confusion at starting was in- 
 describable, and the disputes as to who should 
 be forced to take the heaviest loads, and the 
 struggles for a light one, were carried on 
 in the most vehement and angry tones, sub- 
 siding again as suddenly as they arose. 
 
 The motion of a dromedary is more agree- 
 able and easy than I had expected, and I 
 found no difficulty from the first in keeping 
 my seat. The saddle is made with two 
 high pommels, fore and aft, so that the tra- 
 veller can sit like a lady if he likes, on either 
 side, or ride as usual. These positions can be 
 shifted Avhen the rider is tired, and there is no 
 bridle to trouble him, as the animal requires
 
 266 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 nothing by way of rein but a rope fastened 
 to the head. He seems to have a perfect 
 consciousness of his duty, and the only dis- 
 agreeable part of his rider's acquaintance 
 with him, is getting on his back. If, how- 
 ever, he take the precaution to lean forward 
 while the hind legs are being raised, to pre- 
 vent him being thrown on the fore pommel, 
 and reverse the process when the animal 
 rises, he will not come to much harm. 
 
 In half an hour, the last dome of the 
 Necropolis had disappeared, and soon after 
 we arrived at No. 1 station, which is a hut 
 in the midst of the plain, the first of those 
 established between Suez and Cairo by the 
 East India Company, for the convenience of 
 travellers coming from India overland an 
 arrangement which has taken off a great deal 
 of the poetry and illusion of the Suez desert. 
 
 We have nearly sixty Arabs with us, in- 
 cluding men and boys, and at least the same 
 number of camels, and all are to be paid for, 
 though many carry scarcely anything. 
 
 When the camp breaks up, the baggage 
 is packed, the tents are struck, and the
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 267 
 
 camels file off with a rapidity which is won- 
 derful, considering the variety of their loads. 
 In spite of the greediness of the people, I 
 must do them the justice to say that they 
 are civil and obliging. They treat us, to 
 our faces, with deep respect ; apparently as 
 if they individually took an interest in our 
 well-being and comfort, and when we en- 
 camp or depart all are ready to lend a hand. 
 But conversation is with them a necessary 
 of life, like sleep or food, and they some- 
 times become so furious and excited while 
 talking, as to appear ready to tear each other 
 to pieces. The next moment, as if by magic, 
 the storm ceases and all is quiet. 
 
 Our road extends across a wide waste of 
 sand, bounded on the south by the ridge of 
 hills which terminate in Gebel Ataka, or 
 the Mountain of Deliverance, on the shore of 
 the Red Sea, and on the north by a lower 
 range composed only of sand. It is strewn 
 with the skeletons of camels, who have tra- 
 velled here their last journey, and have 
 sunk from fatigue or been left to perish. 
 We saw one poor animal near the track,
 
 268 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 lying among some stones, so weak as not to 
 be able to reach the prickly shrubs which 
 grew near. The birds of prey, a very ill- 
 looking set, were waiting for their victim, 
 some resting on stunted acacias,, and others 
 more presuming, almost perched upon him, 
 as they hovered around. 
 
 Our tents were pitched about an hour's 
 distance from Adjerout, where we found the 
 fires lighted, and the baggage piled up. 
 The fort of Adjerout was a faint object in 
 the distance, and before us rose the range of 
 Gebel Ataka. These were the mountains 
 which the children of Israel looked upon in 
 the hour of their fear and the day of their 
 deliverance. Those brown summits, frown- 
 ing upon the sandy plains below, saw Judah 
 saved, and the mighty host of Pharaoh, 
 with his chariots and horses, his men of 
 war, and his captains, overwhelmed by the 
 breath of the Lord. At this spot, was con- 
 tinued that series of miracles by which the 
 Almighty proved his own might and power, 
 as well as his affection to his chosen people, 
 iind though they had rebelled, and through
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 2 6 
 
 their long trials never ceased to rebel against 
 him, He led them to the land he had pro- 
 mised, and established them as a mighty 
 people. Writers and travellers are divided 
 in their opinions as to the exact place where 
 the sea was dried up for the passage of the 
 children of Israel, and their various theories 
 are obstinately discussed and maintained. 
 My own opinion coincides with that of Dr. 
 Robinson, that the flying multitudes ar- 
 rived from Goshen, or what we should now 
 designate as the banks of the Nile, opposite 
 the Delta. As the Scriptures declare their 
 flight to have lasted three days, the nearest 
 point they could have attained within that 
 period, was the plain below Gebel Ataka, 
 and this stopped their further progress south, 
 with its precipitous rocks, rising like a 
 barrier near the sea, while on the ground 
 below it they were hemmed in, between the 
 mountains and the waters, by the pursuing 
 Egyptians. The question as to whether 
 they crossed at Ras Ataka, the promontory, 
 or actually at Suez, over the shoals, laid 
 bare by the action of a sudden wind, can-
 
 270 DIAKY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 not alter the engrossing interest of this 
 region, for all the land must have borne the 
 traces of their footsteps, when the mighty 
 multitude filled the plain. 
 
 May 16th. We left our tents at sunrise 
 to find a good point for sketching Gebel 
 Ataka; and when the caravan had moved 
 off, followed slowly on our dromedaries, 
 having the blue sea stretched out before us, 
 washing the base of Gebel Ataka, and the 
 opposite shores of Sinai. Early in the day we 
 passed the fort of Adjerout, which is merely 
 a pile of low ruined walls. Our track 
 shows that death has not confined his visits 
 to the poor animals of the caravan. The 
 tired Hadji, who sinks on his way from 
 Mecca, is covered with a few stones to dis- 
 tinguish him from the carcase of the aban- 
 doned camel that lies by him. The hyena', 
 probably, feeds on both. 
 
 After two hours we passed Birr, another 
 miserable fort, where the caravan halted for 
 the sake of some brackish water, as there is 
 none at Suez, or nearer than the wells of 
 Moses, on the opposite shore. This is said
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 271 
 
 to be a reason for not fortifying Suez, of 
 which Mehemet Ali once had some inten- 
 tion. He could not supply his garrison 
 from any source, and if Suez were taken by 
 an invading force it could not, for this rea- 
 son, be held for any considerable time. The 
 town is desolate and dirty, not above the size 
 of a small fishing village, and like everything 
 else in the country, falling to decay. The 
 shore is low, sandy, and in many parts 
 covered with beautiful shells. Pearls are 
 obtained occasionally here, and lower down 
 the gulf there is a quantity of coral. 
 
 In the streets AVC saw Bedouins of various 
 tribes, soldiers, and officers of the Pacha, 
 Arnaouts, Syrians, and Fellahs, with some 
 few Europeans, all talking loudly over their 
 various occupations, and as busy as if the 
 fate of the world depended on their labours, 
 in striking contrast with the crumbling walls 
 and roofs above them. Outside the town, 
 and under the mole, towards the shore, ex- 
 tends a vast expanse of sand, which at ebb 
 tide is covered with crabs and shell-fish. 
 On the Asiatic side, the chain of Gebel-el-
 
 272 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 Kahal extends along, and Suez lies about 
 midway between the former and Gebel Ataka. 
 The sea is evidently retreating from its an- 
 cient limits, and tracts of land above Suez 
 are now laid bare, which must once have 
 been covered by the ocean. 
 
 Our caravan had at last arrived on the 
 opposite bank, having been four hours going 
 round the head of the Gulf, we therefore 
 embarked in a boat manned by eight blacks, 
 who pulled us across in very good style, 
 rowing with oars very short in board, 
 having circular blades. After landing, a 
 dreary plain of sand and loose stones was 
 traversed, until a few stunted palm trees at a 
 distance, and some low buildings, marked 
 out the springs of Moses, or, Ain Mousa, as 
 they are called, which are merely pools of 
 bad water, from whence all Suez is supplied. 
 Laborde does not believe that these foun- 
 tains are connected with any events recorded 
 in the Pentateuch. Other Biblical illustra- 
 tors, however, suppose that here the Israelites 
 landed, while Miriam sang her hymn of 
 triumph for the overthrow of the horse and
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 273 
 
 his rider. The French and English consuls 
 have laid out gardens in the sand, irri- 
 gating them from these springs; which pro- 
 cess may succeed to a certain extent, but 
 there is no deposit to create fertility as 
 in Egypt, where the Nile enriches all it 
 touches. 
 
 Across the same wide expanse of sand and 
 stone, only varied on the left by the low 
 ridge of El Kahal, and on the right by the 
 sea, which here and there enlivened it, lay 
 our dreary road. At mid-day the khamsin 
 began to blow, and we pitched our tent, 
 which, every instant, was in jeopardy. Gusts 
 of this furious blast, charged with clouds of 
 sand and gravel, darkened the air. As we 
 lay cowering under the tent, the sand drifted 
 over us from every quarter. A solitary acacia 
 bush supplied some of our guides with a 
 miserable shelter; the rest crouched under 
 the lee of their camels. After four hours 
 spent in this way, we managed to reach Wady 
 Taibe, near Wady Wardan . These Wadys are 
 mere depressions of the level of the sand, and 
 become water-courses whenever rain sets in. 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 They are generally marked by a few stunted 
 shrubs, making desolation more desolate. 
 
 Amidst these regions of eternal solitude, 
 no sound breaks the stillness of the air. 
 Even the camel's foot falls softly upon the 
 sand, and the traveller does not hear his 
 companions who follow or precede him. 
 To-day, before the khamsin came, we traced 
 its course along the sand hills, and saw the 
 clouds which marked its approach. The 
 tent was pitched for some hours, during 
 which the storm raged with unabated fury. 
 About four, the breeze coming from the sea 
 partially cooled the atmosphere, and after 
 passing Hawara, we entered Wady Ghurun- 
 del, said to be the Elim of Scripture. Here 
 we found the red berries called Ghurkud, and 
 were glad to cool our lips with the refreshing 
 juice. This shrub is supposed to be the tree 
 mentioned in Scripture as sweetening the 
 bitter waters of Mara. 
 
 May 20th. The wind blew with fearful 
 violence last night, and, though our tents 
 were pitched under the lee of some bushes, 
 we felt all the fury of the blast. Sand and
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 275 
 
 pebbles were whirled against them, and, of 
 course, our rest was broken. The tempest 
 abated a little before the sun rose, and we 
 reached the springs of Ghurundel. Deep 
 in a secluded glen of dreary-looking rocks 
 and sandstone, the eye rests on a tangled 
 mass of the greenest verdure, and a forest 
 of reeds interspersed with palms, among 
 which flow these beneficent waters. Here 
 we made our dromedaries kneel down, and 
 restrained their impatience with the help of 
 our Bedouins, while each drank his fill. 
 Then came the turn of our thirsty beasts, 
 who eagerly rushed into the jungle, and 
 revelled in the stream. The waters were 
 soon darkened, and, when we turned away 
 to depart, a turbid and muddy pool had 
 usurped the place of the fair fountain. 
 
 Continuing our journey, we now turned 
 from Wady Ghurundel, having Gebel Hum- 
 mam on our right hand, and Gebel Thai on 
 our left ; and passing through Wady Ussait, 
 marked by a feAv stunted acacias and some 
 desert palms, entered Wady Gosha, and 
 afterwards found our tent pitched for the 
 T 2
 
 276 DIAEY OF A JOUKNEY 
 
 mid-day halt in Wady Thai. We are now 
 entering on the verge of the Wilderness of 
 Sin, soon to look upon the theatre of those 
 strange and awful events which here marked 
 the sojourn of God's chosen people. The 
 scenery becomes wilder and more varied, and 
 the hills groAv into mountains ; but desolation 
 and dreariness have made them their abode, 
 and this region is indeed a howling wilder- 
 ness. Yet the summits are tinted, and 
 streaked with the colouring of various strata, 
 altering as they lie in sunshine or shadow, 
 and the eye, so long weary with the mono- 
 tony of the sand, is at last refreshed. 
 
 May 21st. Two hours before the sun 
 rose we were on our way. Proceeding along 
 Wady Humr, and leaving Sarbut-el-Gemayl 
 behind us, we entered a narrow defile, with 
 precipitous rocks rising on each side. The 
 summit of Gebel Tih, the Mountain of the 
 Wandering, frowned above us in gloomy 
 grandeur, for the sun had not yet lightened 
 the darkness of his peaks, and his aspect 
 was black as night. The rocky hill on our 
 left is called Um-es-Zuweibin, and here we
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 277 
 
 found the first traces of those inscriptions in 
 an unknown character, that no one has been 
 able to decipher, and of which the history is 
 shrouded in mystery. They are very rude, 
 mixed with uncouth figures of animals, and 
 badly cut. 
 
 From the bare and bleak sand ending 
 upon the sea-shore, we have been by slow 
 but progressive degrees prepared for even 
 yet more sublime scenes. The stones be- 
 come rocks, and the rocks hills, and the hills 
 mountains, and these terminate in Sinai and 
 Horeb as a crowning whole ! 
 
 Following our course along Wady Humr, 
 we crossed the plain, and descending into 
 Wady Nusb, found our tent pitched under 
 the rock where Burchardt, Seitzen, Laborde, 
 and so many distinguished travellers have 
 reposed. Wady Humr stretches away under 
 the bold ridge of Gebel Tih, which, when 
 we left it, was shining like gold with the 
 morning light. We rode on up Wady Suhair, 
 and here the first sign of human life we had 
 met since we entered the desert,. presented 
 itself. At first, two or three wallets were
 
 278 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 discovered hanging in a withered tree, then 
 a few miserable sheep and goats, and an old 
 woman who hid her face while the strangers 
 passed. Further on, we met three more 
 women who did the same, and tried to avoid 
 us. They also were keeping their flocks. 
 
 In these gloomy and sequestered valleys, 
 while the stranger wends his way around 
 the bases of hills, where every stone has a 
 tale to tell, and every mountain is a witness 
 to some wondrous mystery, it is impossible 
 to divest oneself of a feeling of identity and 
 co-existence with characters long since passed 
 into dust. Here, everything appears old, 
 from the Ishmaelites who proffer their camels 
 and give their protection, down to the very 
 sheep and kids, scattered upon the road, that 
 look as if they had walked out of a Domeni- 
 chino. For centuries these dwellers of the 
 mountains have passed their solitary lives in 
 the same unvarying and monotonous course, 
 tending their scanty flocks, which produce 
 food and clothing, and all the means of their 
 existence. No dwellings have they; the 
 rocks give them shelter; or if they have a
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 279 
 
 tent, which few possess, it is a thing of shreds 
 and patches, leaning upon some friendly 
 branch of an old acacia. Their husbands 
 have, perhaps, a camel among three or four 
 families. The people we met had a dog, the 
 first we have seen. The road at every turn 
 seemed closed against us, and yet as we 
 approached the rocky barrier, an opening 
 hitherto unseen always presented itself. 
 Almost everywhere, too, in these passes 
 among the mountains, we found very large 
 and fine acacias, which give a colouring to the 
 landscape and discloses its size and extent. 
 
 We were soon winding round the base 
 of Sarbut-el-Khadem, a fine bold moun- 
 tain, splintered and torn by volcanic action, 
 like all its neighbours. Entering a sort of 
 gorge, and following Hussein, who went 
 slowly on before, we reached the top in about 
 five minutes under the hour. The mountain 
 is about the average height of the Scottish 
 hills, and the climbing far easier. There are 
 one or two "bad steps," but I never saw 
 anything to stop even a moderate cragsman. 
 Here we beheld the strange monuments
 
 280 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 which have been the cause of so much spe- 
 culation and discussion. That they are 
 Egyptian no one disputes; but how came 
 they at the very top of a mountain which 
 takes an hour to ascend, and up which the 
 stranger is forced to climb, as there is no 
 practicable track. Were these tablets, covered 
 with hieroglyphics, and near a ruined temple 
 of Isis (one pillar of which remains, besides 
 part of the excavation), placed over actual 
 tombs or pits? or were they only commemo- 
 rative of the lives of the persons described 
 upon them? In either case, who were the 
 mysterious owners of these honours ? Some 
 suppose that the miners, who died during 
 the working of the copper mines, are 
 interred under these stones. The matter 
 could be solved, if it were worth while or 
 practicable to excavate. As it is, the inte- 
 rest attaching to these tomb-stones is chiefly 
 attributable to their dreary and elevated 
 position, and the uncertainty which sur- 
 rounds them. They are situated on the top 
 of a ridge at the summit of the mountain, 
 A few remain upright others are broken
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 281 
 
 and scattered. The small temple of Isis, like 
 those in Egypt, is demolished. Upon most 
 of the stones there are characters, and upon 
 some the names of kings are introduced. 
 
 We descended the face of the rock, crossing 
 over into another corrie. This walk carried 
 me far away to greener glens and more grassy 
 mountains, and my delight was increased 
 tenfold when at a pass, very narrow and 
 steep, I saw three cairns or piles of stones 
 placed so as to command it, and, on asking 
 Hussein, found it was a spot where the wild 
 goat (Ibex) and antelopes, or gazelles, cross 
 as they feed, and the Bedouin of Sinai, like 
 the Highlander of the north, awaits his prey 
 at similar spots, conceals himself in the same 
 way, and follows his sport in the same man- 
 ner. There are many points of similitude be- 
 tween the Bedouin and the Gael. Both are 
 shrewd, wary, and suspicious, but kind and 
 willing where they once are attached ; living 
 among the wild hills, they go armed, because 
 in the desert le droit du plus fort is often the 
 law and protection against man and beast. 
 
 May 22nd. Passing Wady Urn Rayah
 
 282 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 and Wady Sheikh, we entered Wady Berah, 
 a stony track enclosed by steep and rocky 
 hills. Here are the remains of a wall, built 
 by the Arabs to defend themselves against the 
 Pacha's troops who came to wreak his ven- 
 geance upon them for attacking a caravan. 
 The poor Bedouins imagined that the soldiers 
 must pass through the valley, and that they 
 could attack them from behind the wall; but 
 the troops came upon and above the Arabs 
 in such numbers, that they were easily driven 
 back and dispersed. We continued our way 
 to the pass of Wady Gine, and descended to 
 our encampment in Wady Berah. The watch- 
 fires gleamed cheerfully, and the moon shone 
 in full splendour over as magnificent a scene 
 as I ever beheld. On the right, were 
 the lofty peaks of Gebel Howat ; on the left 
 the sacred pinnacles of Sinai. The hills 
 before us rose like the waves of a stormy 
 sea, broken and rent into fantastic shapes, 
 and we were so elevated as to be almost on 
 a level with many of them, only the loftier 
 points appearing above us, Mount St. Ca- 
 therine towering over all.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 283 
 
 May 23rd. Continuing our march down 
 Wady Berah, we entered Wady Osh. Just 
 as we left the former, Gebel Serbal appeared 
 before us on the right, the highest mountain 
 of the peninsula of Sinai. We turned into 
 a branch Wady leading from Wady Osh into 
 Wady Sheikh; at the end of Wady Osh is a 
 small burial ground, where Hussein and 
 Hassan stopped their dromedaries, and going 
 to a grave which seemed recent, knelt down 
 to pray. They afterwards gathered some 
 brushwood, and placed it at the head and 
 foot of the tomb, already covered with these 
 votive offerings. This was the grave of Hus- 
 sein's mother, and he told us that his tribe 
 were all buried in this spot, and that he 
 also intended to be interred there. The 
 Bedouins bury their own dead. Neither 
 priest nor dervish reads a prayer over the 
 body. They have a feast once a year for 
 their departed relatives, when they kill a 
 sheep, and offer up prayers on the grave. 
 
 We soon arrived at Hussein's tents. 
 Some camels, kids, and a few sheep, with 
 about a dozen children, were all the living
 
 284 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 objects we saw. As we rode rapidly past, 
 the cry of joy was heard, peculiar to the 
 women of Egypt, at marriages and feasts. 
 This was the welcome home to such of 
 their husbands, or brothers, or sons, who 
 had accompanied us, and also a greeting 
 to ourselves. Hussein then made us sit 
 down, and gave us coffee, while dinner 
 was preparing. Meantime, numerous Arabs 
 arrived on their dromedaries, all dismount- 
 ing on the side unoccupied by the women ; 
 and on entering the tent, saluted the other 
 guests. Some who were probably relations, 
 kissed each other on each cheek, others 
 merely touched each other's palms, raising 
 the hand to the forehead. Nothing was 
 heard but " salame, bis salame, salamat, 
 salam aleikum," while the coffee drinking 
 and smoking went on furiously. At last, 
 dinner came. Three dishes were put down 
 on a skin before us, all consisting of mutton 
 in different shapes. The Sheikh did not sit 
 down, but attended to his guests ; and por- 
 tions were given to every two or three 
 Arabs as they sat round in a circle; after
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 285 
 
 which, water was brought, and there was a 
 general ablution. 
 
 Leaving the camp, we pursued our jour- 
 ney. Around us, on every side, rose a sea 
 of granite. What fitter region than this 
 could the Almighty have chosen, into which 
 to lead his chosen people? Accustomed as 
 they were to the monotonous and unvary- 
 ing flats of Egypt, their minds must have 
 been excited, and their feelings awakened, at 
 every step, by the sight of nature in her 
 wildest form. The might and majesty of 
 the Creator must ever have been present 
 before them ; and when, at last, he descended 
 in glory upon the top of the Mount, and 
 deigned to make His visible presence known 
 to the host of Israel, hardened, indeed, 
 must have been the hearts of those who, 
 with such wondrous manifestations actu- 
 ally before their eyes, would not be con- 
 vinced of His Omnipotence. 
 
 We rode up a gradual ascent, to the pass 
 of Nubk Hawa, then entered the Valley 
 of the Winds, as it is called, and wound our 
 way slowly along this tremendous defile:
 
 286 DIARY OF A JOUBNEY 
 
 Gebel Frey on the left, Gebel Howat on the 
 right, were the giant portals through which 
 we advanced. Eising almost perpendicularly 
 in some parts, they are split into the most fan- 
 tastic shapes, and huge masses of granite are 
 scattered around, above, and below the track. 
 On reaching the head of the pass, Mount 
 Horeb was immediately before us, and the 
 vast plain of Er Rahab, leading to its base, 
 which was at a distance of about three 
 miles, lay stretched beneath our feet. We 
 stood here in a circle of mountains peaks 
 rising on peaks on every side. Evening 
 fell upon them, and as darkness began to 
 cover their salient points, they looked, if 
 possible, larger than by the light of day. 
 Riding down the plain, we advanced nearer 
 and nearer to Horeb, until at last we 
 touched the mount. It rises, like a wall, 
 from the plain below, in sublime grandeur, 
 without a ledge of rock, or even a slope to 
 connect it with the area beneath. The dis- 
 quisitions as to the exact point upon which 
 the Almighty descended, and from whence 
 the Law was given, are scarcely worth enter-
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 287 
 
 ing upon. Robinson justifies his theory by 
 the nature of this part of the mountain, and 
 the space of Er Rahab extending all around 
 it, so suitable for an encampment. Lord 
 Lindsay and Mr. Kinnear have, I believe, 
 endowed Gebel Minnegia with the sacred 
 attributes. The Monks of the convent hold 
 that the Law was given from the highest 
 peak of Sinai. All these different views 
 have their supporters ; but surely it is suf- 
 ficient to know that the favoured region 
 upon which the Almighty descended in per- 
 son, surrounds us on all sides. The exact 
 spot is a matter of minor importance, and 
 one which must for ever remain uncertain. 
 It was eight o'clock when we passed the 
 garden of the convent, whose tall cypresses 
 rising high in air marked this Eden of the 
 desert. The next morning I sent my letters 
 to the Superior, and soon afterwards the cus- 
 tomary mode of entrance was afforded us. 
 A noose with a piece of wood attached to a 
 strong rope was the conveyance, upon which 
 we were hoisted up by a windlass about 
 thirty feet. At the top we were received
 
 288 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 by the Superior and some Monks, one of 
 whom spoke French; but one of my com- 
 panions being able to converse in modern 
 Greek, he seemed highly gratified, and made 
 but little use of his interpreter. We were 
 conducted at once to the great church of the 
 convent, which is adorned with silver and 
 gold lamps of costly workmanship, and 
 rich and massive plate covers the high altar. 
 The sides are hung with quaint old paint- 
 ings of the most ancient, as well as modern 
 times. The screen is a mass of gilding, 
 the roof blue and gold. Here and there are 
 spread cloths of gold and silver tissue, on 
 the various shrines and small chapels. We 
 entered barefooted the chapel of the Burn- 
 ing Bush, built, as they say, on the spot 
 where the sacred manifestation took place. 
 
 The strangers' apartments are situated 
 in a distinct quarter from those occupied 
 by the monks. After coffee, the Supe- 
 rior proposed to show us the cemetery and 
 the garden. The latter is approached by 
 a subterraneous passage, and the green 
 of its vines and olives, the cypress and the
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 289 
 
 sycamore, was unspeakably refreshing to 
 eyes so long thirsting for a change from 
 rock and sand. Upon entering a small 
 court, the monks burnt incense. Here we 
 were treading upon the graves of the bre- 
 thren who had been lately buried. Opposite 
 to us was a low door, on entering which we 
 found ourselves in the midst of skulls and 
 bones. The remains of patriarchs or bishops, 
 or of any saintly pilgrims who have died in 
 the convent, are put away and preserved in 
 cases. We were introduced to all that was left 
 of two monks, who endured the penance of 
 wearing a mail shirt and chains round their 
 legs. The mail and chains still cover the 
 bones. A hideous skeleton was fastened 
 near the wall; the head bent on one side, a 
 rosary round the neck, and a portion of a 
 winding-sheet covered the shoulders; the 
 arms were gone, as well as the trunk and 
 legs. These fragments belonged to a man 
 who had been the porter of the brotherhood 
 more than a thousand years ago. 
 
 The convent appears like a fortress among 
 the mountains. Cannons are mounted on 
 
 VOL. i. u
 
 290 DIARY OF A JOURNEY 
 
 the walls, and it possesses a garrison of well- 
 armed monks. They feel the necessity of self- 
 protection where there is but little law, save 
 that of might ; and as long as no enemy but 
 the Bedouin directs his fire against the frown- 
 ing wall, the community may bid defiance 
 behind their stone ramparts to any force 
 sufficiently daring to attack them. But they 
 take every precaution ; and hence the strict- 
 ness of the watch and ward, the cord and 
 noose. A daily dole is given to the poor pea- 
 sants who swarm about the gates, and have 
 no other subsistence ; but it is said that the 
 monks are becoming more and more penu- 
 rious, that the bread is poorer and scantier 
 than formerly, and that the Arabs are discon- 
 tented and complain. The tribe who have 
 the privilege of bringing strangers to the 
 convent, were once kept at the expense of 
 the brotherhood, and fed during their stay. 
 When they repaired to the Greek convent in 
 Cairo, there also they were in the habit of 
 receiving food or amis as they arrived. Of 
 later years, however, the monks have closed 
 their purses, and the Bedouin no longer 
 praises their liberality.
 
 TO DAMASCUS. 291 
 
 This convent was built and founded by 
 the emperor Justinian, and Theodora his 
 wife. It is called St. Catherine, because 
 the monks brought down the bones of this 
 saint, who died on the mountain which bears 
 her name, and deposited them in a splendid 
 shrine, near the high altar, .covered with cloth 
 of gold. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 T. C. Savi]], Printer, 4, Chandos-ftreet, CoTent-garden.
 
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