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 6
 
 DIARY IN THE EAST.
 
 LONDON • 
 
 PBINTED BY WOODFAI.L AND EINDEB, 
 
 MILFORD LANE, STRAND, W.C.
 
 1
 
 DIARY IN THE EAST 
 
 DUEINa THE TOIJE 
 
 PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES. 
 
 WILLIAM HOWAED EUSSELL. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. L 
 
 LONDON: 
 GEOEGE EOUTLEDGE AND SONS. 
 
 THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. 
 
 1869.
 
 \^^}.H
 
 TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 THE PEINCESS OF WALES. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 The gracious permission I have received from your 
 Royal Higliness to dedicate this Volume to you, causes me 
 to feel regret that it is not more worthy of that great 
 honour ; but I trust that the goodness which induced your 
 Royal Highness to confer such a favour on the Work, will 
 lead you to regard with an indulgent eye this Record of the 
 
 interesting Tour in part of which I accompanied the Prince 
 of Wales. 
 
 I am, Madam, with profound respect. 
 
 Your Royal Highness's 
 
 Most faithful, obliged, and humble Servant, 
 
 WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL-
 
 
 TO THE EEADEE. 
 
 It will be seen from tlie concluding paragraph of 
 the Preface, that I intended to include in this work 
 a chapter on the Nile Basin and on the Suez Canal 
 from a scientific point of view, as well as some obser- 
 vations on the Ornithology and Natural History of 
 Egypt, for which I would have been indebted to 
 Professor Owen and others. 
 
 The size of the volume has, however, far exceeded 
 my original design, and I am obliged, very unwil- 
 Imgly, to omit the contributions to which the Preface 
 refers. 
 
 W. H. EUSSELL.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface .1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure of the Prince and Princess from London — Paris — At 
 Compiegne — A day's shooting — On board the Freya — Stock- 
 holm — -Fredensborg — Arrival at Hamburgh — Departure of 
 the Ptoyal cbildren — Order of the Black Eagle — Arrival at 
 Vienna — Skating at Vienna — Departure of the Ariadne — 
 Reception at Alexandria — Cairo 8 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Modern travelling — The Mont Cenis route — St. Michel — The 
 trout of Mont Cenis — A haze of neuralgia — The friend of 
 Garibaldi — A dirty place — Juvenile labourers — Brindisi — 
 The harbour — Ad Brundusii gloriam — Ionian fishermen — 
 The gregale — "Malta mafeesh ! " — Sea talk — The welcome — 
 Alexandria — The Consular tribunals — Reception at Cairo — 
 Our residence "22 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A Cairo dejeuner — Haussmannization of Cairo — The Nile Flotilla 
 — The Arsenal — Visit to the Viceroy — A difficult start — 
 Ophthalmia — The sugar-cane season — In the streets — Looks 
 and words — Boulak — Wild ducks — The Grand Barrage of 
 the Nile — A peaceful scene — An intrenched camp — The inevi- 
 table lunch — The Professor and the ass — In equilibrium — 
 A sunset in Cairo 43
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PAUE 
 
 Tewfik Pasha— Departure for Ismailia— The Cah-o station— M. de 
 Lesseps— IsmaiUa— Lake Tunsah— Port Said— A view from 
 the lighthouse— The town and its resources — Lake Men- 
 zaleh — The Desert smiles — Departure from Port "Said — 
 Back to Ismaiha — Departui-e for Suez — Sheik Ennedek's 
 tomh — The great dredges — Strange fish — Chalouf— Old and 
 new canals— The great cuttings — Suez in sight — On the 
 Red Sea — Works at Suez — The docks — Port Ibrahim — 
 Troops from India — Arrival in Cau'O — General impres- 
 sions 
 
 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Hekekyan Bey— The Bey's theories— A Cairene interior— Volun- 
 tary slavery — The ]\Iuseum at Boulak — Egyptian philosophy 
 — A false alaiTu — Egyptian barracks — Egyptian soldiers — The 
 preparations — Kasr- el-Nil — The Royal squadron — The Con- 
 sular tribunals— The plague of Egypt— The Royal approach- 
 Arrival at the Palace — The Esbekiah Palace — The Cairo 
 Theatre — The Harem boxes — Street Ai-abs — Smiting the 
 Egyptians — The Mecca pilgrimage — Mahmal and Kisweh — 
 Route to the Citadel — The bazaars — "Women in the streets — 
 The crowd — The Citadel — The procession — The revolving 
 head — The chief of the caravan — The procession in tlie streets 
 — The pilgrims — Egyptian troops — The end — Donkey 
 riding — The new Palace — Dancing der^•ishes — The Cairo 
 Grisi — Ameahs 97 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Departure from Cairo — The flotilla — The start — The Nile near 
 Cairo — The quarries— The tourists — Ruins and sights — A 
 false alarm — Om- crew and company — The first halt — The 
 bagpipes— The first night — Nile scenery — The warning voices 
 — The hippopotamus — Benisoueff — Hamed — The natives — 
 The bazaar — A school — Voluntary slavery- — Infant slavery- — 
 The weather— Wind and dust— Feshn— Sheik Fodl— INIummy 
 ^ogs — Coptic clergymen — Coptic convent — The Chmxh in 
 Egypt— Sport on the river— INIinieh-Sugar factory— Sugar 
 manufacture— The tomato merchant— The telegraph in Egypt 138
 
 C0NTE2^TS. xi 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Beni Hassan— The gi-ottoes— Tlie pictui-es on the walls— Writings 
 on the walls — An incuhus — A small incident — Dolce far 
 niente— Birds and beasts — Egyptian poor laws— Labour in 
 vain— Drawing a blank— Land slips— The water-carriers — 
 Birds on the banks— Manfaloot—Sioot— The jereed— The 
 city— Course of the river— No crocodiles- The stuffing bos- 
 Pigeons 176 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Gebel Hareedi — Souhadj — Misneah and Girgeh — Good behaviour 
 Native notions — Itahan domestics — Crocodiles — Keneh — Xu 
 escape — The donkey boys — The Enlevement — The fantasia — 
 The watchman — An Almeah — Dendera — The ruins — Turks 
 and bees — Coptos — Shootiug 199 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Hamed — Hippopotamus Johnny — The discovery — Luxor — Mus- 
 tapha Aga — Karnak — The procession — Avenue of Sphinxes 
 — Rameses his temple — The learned Lepsius — The great 
 hall — The sanctuary — Exploring — Rest in the ruins — 
 Rameses II. — The obelisk — Night at Luxor. — The tombs of 
 the Kings — A genuine antique — Bab-el-Molook — Osiii's bed 
 — Bruce's tomb — Epiphany's nil admirari — -The witching 
 hour — The return — Mummy pits — The decay of ruins — 
 Pharaoh now and then — A night surprise — The illuminations 
 — The halls of dazzUng light — The return to the ship . .219 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Leave Thebes — The citizens — The temple — Leave Esno — Abab- 
 deh Arabs — Temple of Edfou — Hard aground— Our Royal 
 dinner — Ovis ammon — Assouan — The reception — A tragedy 
 on the Nile — The impending separation — River scones — 
 The start for Phil* — A trying position — Shooting the rapids — 
 The Island of Philas — Inscriptions — Farewell banquet — Pre- 
 parations — The separation 252
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A dilemma— Lady Duff Gordon— The telegraph and the tourists— 
 A slight mistake — Kamak again — Keneh — Nile swimmers — 
 Sand-banks — Fellaheen — Village police— A judgment — Mid- 
 night musketry — Two obstinate animals — Abydus abandoned — 
 A fly-phylactic — Souhadj — Nile emigrants — An order for tur- 
 keys— Teme 275 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Ah Captan — Off and on again — Incidents of Nile travel — A 
 victory — The conquering Mudir — Children of Ishmael — An 
 adventure — Forcing the pass — The storming of Sioot — A 
 Sioot Cerito — An Egj^ptian special — A Cairo concert — The 
 Citadel — The Egyptian Parliament — The Pyramids — State 
 baU — Alexandria — The Ariadne — Farewell — Alexandria at 
 night 297 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Preparing for pilgrimage — The tourists again — "Why do they do it? 
 — Abstract and concrete — The pros and cons — The Russian 
 steamer — Imperial Navigation Company — Where is it ? — Port 
 Said — The inner port — Jaffa — Hamed in the gate — Fortifi- 
 cations — The Ramleh convent — Fra Giovanni — Road to Jeru- 
 salem — The Arabs— Turkish traffic-taker — Church of St. 
 George — Recruits — Jerusalem — The Jaffa Gate — Inside the 
 Holy City — Turks in possession — Hotels at Jerusalem — A 
 Jerusalem guide — Mount of Olives — Gethsemane — Tomb of the 
 Virgin — Shut out — " Rob Roy " — Jordan water — ^A vision . 318 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The explorations — Lieut. Warren — The road — A new crusade — 
 A suspicious accident — The Haram — Dome of the Rock — 
 Betlilehem — Holy places— Departure from Jerusalem — An 
 enthusiast — Departure from Ramleh — Ramleh mencUcants — 
 Bashi Bazouks — Gardens of Jaffa — Streets of Jaffa — The 
 Consular agent 355
 
 CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Departure from Jaffa — Paina^ays — The slaves' return — A rude 
 joke — Port Said once' more — The lihedive's arrival— The 
 popular reception — The restaurant — Borrowed plumes — The 
 Khedive's ball — The Khedive's reforms — Sir Samuel Baker 
 Bey — A susj)icious incident 373 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The voyage to the Second Cataract — Crocodiles in sight — 
 Hyaenas — Waiting in vain — A crocodile at last — Abou-Simbel 
 — Wady Halfeh— The desert lunch— The tents— The dere- 
 lict boy — Expectations — Sand-banks again — Ai-rival at Philce 
 — Departure from Assouan — The Paid Rabanie abandoned — 
 Dance at Mustapha Aga's — 'Treasure trove — At Sioot — A 
 shipwreck — Minieh — Return to Cairo — Visits in Cafro— Visit 
 to the Khedive— The Boulak Museum— The two Pharaohs- 
 State banquet— The British school — The races — An invitation 
 — The Viceroy's request — The harems — The bazaars — 
 Bairam— The Khedive — The procession— The reception— 
 The Viceregal Harem — The last day 386 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Baksheesh— Departure fr-om Cairo— The Desert— Suez— Chalouf— 
 Serapeum— Ismailia— The city — The pioneers of the canal- 
 Life in the Desert— Port Said— Sand accumulations— Selec- 
 tion of Port Said— The Suez Canal— The workshops— Three 
 hard rolls— Arrival in Alexandria— Transfer to Ariadne— The 
 parting— The Arab boy— Native divers- Farewell to Egypt . 426 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Impressions — Condition of Egypt — Comparisons — Slavery — 
 Pharaoh's slaves — Ancient ejectments — Sultan and Viceroy — 
 The Fii-mans- The Ffrman of 1867— The capitulations— The 
 climate— Life on the Nile— Residence in Cairo— The Nile 
 weather— The Nile of Scriptui-e- Want of water in the Nile . 452
 
 xiv CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Dardanelles — The big giins — The stone shot— Gallipoli — 
 Constantinople in sight — The Golden Horn — The Grand 
 Vizier — Saleh Bazaar — Dolmabakslii — Visit to the Embassy 
 — The Sultan's band — Our attendants — The least wish an 
 order — Procession to the Mosque — Turkish women — The 
 Sultan — Omar Pasha — The Sweet Waters — Theatre Naoum 
 — Seraglio Point — The Bagdad Kiosk — The Sultan's dinner 
 — The menu — Visit to the Harem — Church at the Embassy — 
 The Scutari cemetery — Mr. and Mrs. Williams — The bazaars 
 — Missirie — Palace of Beyler Bey — The new Palace — 
 Tdhamlidja — Mustapha FazU Pasha — Halil Bey — Ball at the 
 Embassy — The Tophaneh — The British Memorial Church — 
 Fete at the Theatre Naoum — "L'Africaine " — The Sultan's 
 stables — Banquet at the British Embassy — Aali Pasha's 
 house — The Grand Vizier's daughter — Packing up — The 
 depai-ture— Farewell — The Bosphorus — Royal visits — Tui-kish 
 prejudices — Cairo and Constantinople — Balls in Islam — The 
 two Coiu-ts — -Baksheeshia 468 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Crimea — " There 'is Sebastopol ! " — General de Kotzebue — 
 Programme — The Memorial Chapel — The Russian cemetery 
 — Gortschakoflf— The Belbek— The Telegi-aph Tower— The 
 Alma — Return to Sebastopol — BourUouk — The climate — -. 
 Ruins— The Redan — The right attack — Cathcart's Hill — Our 
 camps— The Windmill — Inkennan — The " Schlacht-feld " — 
 October the twenty-sixth — The Malakhoff — ^The dockyard — 
 Lazareflfs monument — The Karaite Patidarch — Departure 
 from Sebastopol — British Head-quarters — "Lord Raglan's 
 Head-quarters" — The house — "^Mother Seacole's" — Balaclava 
 — The Light Cavalry charge— M. Plumet — The Phoros Pass 
 — Livadia — The Palace — !Morniag calls — Imperial chalets — 
 Orianda — Alupka — Departure from the Crimea — Attractions 
 to tourists— The Tartars — The war — The results of the war — 
 " Up-firkin" — An accident — Baksheesh — Mustapha Fazil 
 Pasha — The Sultan's visit — Taher Bey — Depaiture from the 
 Bosphorus 522
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Anchored in the Dardanelles — Departure from the Dardanelles — 
 The Ethiopian serenaders— The Pirfeus— The Royal meeting 
 — The landing — The King's Palace — The views— Servants — 
 Modern Athens — The Acropolis — State banquet — Theatre of 
 Bacchus — Illuminations — Depai-ture for Corfu — Isthmus of 
 Corinth — Arrival at Corfu — The Queen— Lent — Greek aspira- 
 tions—Brother and sister — The King of the Hellenes— The 
 future — The party leaders— St, Spiridion — The procession — 
 Ai-rivals and departures — A political difficulty — Govino and 
 Vido — Sporting excursion — M. Valaority — Coropiskopous — 
 Quiet hours — Prince Napoleon — Naval inspections — The 
 Prince's visit — The picnic — A delightful day — St. Spiridion 
 again — Frightening the Evil One— The farewell — Illumina- 
 tions — Good-bye to Greece — A man overboard — "He's lost, 
 gii- 1 "_" On ahead ! Full speed ! " 678 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 Brindisi — The Brindisi route — Pros and cons— Home again . . 626 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 Scutari Cemetery 683 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 INIemorial Church 644 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 The Pera Address 649
 
 EEEATA. 
 
 Page 34, line 10 ) 
 35 „ 18 f 
 38 „ 3) 
 54, headline, for 
 
 199 „ 
 
 200 ,, and line 22 
 250, line 15, /or " pyroteconic," read pyroteclinic 
 
 97, headline, and line 13 
 99, line 24 
 
 fur "Tomasio," read Tommaso. 
 
 Boulaq," read Boulak. 
 
 for "Sonhadj," read Souhadj. 
 
 for "Hekekan," read Hekekyan. 
 
 %* Oriental words and names, such as ''hak&hetsh." and "Boulak," admit 
 of great varieties of spelling. The more erudite the writer, the more eccentric to 
 our eyes is his orthography, because he seeks to render the true plionetic value 
 of Arabic, in English, letters.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE made my own journal the basis of tlie 
 following account of the tour of the Prince and 
 Princess of Wales, although I felt some inconve- 
 nience would arise from adopting that course. In 
 the first place, I had to obtain from others the 
 materials for the itinerary of the Poyal travellers 
 between London and Alexandria, without which the 
 record would not have been complete. Interpolated 
 between that short chapter, which principally con- 
 tains names and dates, and the narrative of the 
 voyage to the First Cataract, there is a little sketch 
 of the proceedings of the party with which I started 
 from Paris, and of our life in Egypt previous to the 
 coming of the Prince and Princess. 
 
 When I left England, to accompany the Duke of 
 Sutherland and his friends, I had no intention of 
 extending my tour beyond the Nile and the Suez 
 
 B
 
 2 PREFACE. 
 
 Canal. It had been arranged that we were to await 
 the arrival of the Prince and Princess at Cairo, 
 and attend their Eoyal Highnesses to the First 
 Cataract in a steamer placed at the Duke's 
 disposal by the Viceroy of Egypt. Beyond that 
 there were no definite plans with respect to our 
 movements. 
 
 In the early part of the year the relations between 
 Turkey and Greece were so threatening, that a 
 royal visit to Constantinople or Athens seemed to be 
 impolitic, if not altogether impracticable. If Con- 
 stantinople could not be approached, of course it 
 would be impossible for the Prince and Princess to 
 visit the Crimea. There is no real political incog- 
 nito in the case of exalted personages ; and the Baron 
 and Baroness of Eenfrew cannot make an excursion 
 from which the Prince and Princess of Wales are 
 debarred. But the cloud which hung ov«r that 
 stormy Icarian Sea, where the Eastern question is 
 riding so uneasily, lifted in spring-time, and the 
 Poyal tour expanded as the sky became clearer. 
 
 Whilst the Prince and Princess were engaged 
 on their expedition, between the First and Second 
 Cataracts and back, I went on a very hasty pilgrim- 
 age to Jerusalem. I have borrowed the account of 
 their excursion from the note-book of a friend. They
 
 PREFACE. S 
 
 made a more rapid descent from the Second Cataract 
 than -was anticipated. Consequently I was com- 
 pelled to leave Palestine after a brief stay, and to 
 return to Cairo, in conformity with a promise I 
 had made to await there His Royal Highness's 
 arrival, in case he desired, or found it convenient to 
 go to the Crimea. I was fortunate enough to arrive 
 at Port Said on the same day as the Viceroy, 
 and I was invited to accompany him in his inspec- 
 tion of the Suez Canal. On reaching Cairo, I received 
 an intimation from the Prince of Wales that he 
 would visit Sebastopol, and an invitation, couched in 
 the most gracious and considerate terms, to form 
 one of his suite on the occasion. From that period 
 up to the date of the arrival of the Royal party in 
 Paris, on their way home, the narrative is founded 
 on my journal. 
 
 It will be readily understood, that he who writes 
 an account of a recent Royal progress in foreign 
 countries, has to encounter difficulties which would 
 not lie in his way if he were travelling under ordi- 
 nary conditions. It must not be inferred that there 
 was anything to complain of, if I say that the guest 
 of a King cannot very well sit down to criticise 
 the arrangements of the Palace in which he was 
 lodged, as if he were writing of his last hotel — 
 
 B 2
 
 4 PREFACE. 
 
 or that there was anything to condemn, if I remark 
 that he cannot indulge in comments on people he 
 met there, a few days after parting from them, as 
 freely as if he had seen them in the street, or had 
 heard of them by popular report. From a height, 
 one sees more, but he does not make out the 
 details so well as on the plain ; and if his horizon 
 be wide, his steps are limited. But, at the same 
 time, he can observe objects on the summit, which 
 are scarcely visible to those beneath. 
 
 If the advantages of visiting strange countries be 
 recognized in the case of private persons, these, 
 whatever they may be, should certainly be largely 
 developed when the stranger is one whose know- 
 ledge of foreign lands, acquaintance with distin- 
 guished men, and intimacy with different Courts, 
 will be turned to account some day when he is 
 the ruler of a vast empire which possesses interests 
 all over the world. Although the direct control 
 of the king be constitutionally reduced to a 
 minimum by our system of ministerial action 
 and responsibihty, the influence of the monarch, 
 always considerable, is augmented in proportion to 
 his personal ability and energy; and in many 
 affairs he has, perhaps, a larger and more direct 
 share of management than is generally supposed.
 
 PREFACE. 5 
 
 It is of benefit to the country that the true 
 value of political questions and the actual 
 characters of foreign statesmen should be known 
 to the man who is destined to take such an 
 important part as a judicious and strenuous king 
 can always assume, without unconstitutional en- 
 croachments, in guiding our administration of 
 foreign affairs. The Prince of Wales has just 
 visited every Court in Europe, except that of 
 Russia, with which he is already acquainted, and 
 those of Italy and Portugal, which are, perhaps, 
 reserved for a future occasion. Spain is courtless. 
 There is not a statesman or politician of note, from 
 Copenhagen to Cairo, with whom he has not con- 
 versed, and of whose views on most great questions 
 he is not informed. Their armies, navies, social 
 institutions, religious systems, educational establish- 
 ments — he has seen something of these wherever 
 he has gone, to his own great profit, and no doubt 
 to the ultimate use of the State. 
 
 In the course of our Odyssey there occurred many 
 incidents, there were seen many men, manners, and 
 cities. Some of the men are so near to us — others 
 were beheld under such peculiar circumstances — the 
 manners and cities are so familiar — that it would 
 not be justifiable to transcribe passages relating to
 
 6 PREFACE. 
 
 tlieni from a private memorandum-book; but, on 
 the whole, the narrative of our daily life will be 
 given without restraint, though I am aware that 
 there is nothing in many of the scenes, or in the 
 course of the tour itself, to warrant minute details, 
 and that it is in the travellers themselves, and in 
 the circumstances surrounding them, rather than 
 in their travels, that whatever interest there is in 
 these pages will be found to centre. 
 
 I alone am responsible for any expression of 
 opinion and indication of feeling which may be found 
 in the following pages, and in no instance are they 
 to be attributed to those whose sentiments would 
 be entitled to the highest consideration. If I have 
 written with perfect freedom, I have endeavoured 
 to avoid injury to just susceptibilities. I hope my 
 readers will pardon any deviations from the subject 
 indicated in the title, which may arise from the 
 introduction of personal incidents and recollections. 
 My recurrence to the aid of friends I feel sure 
 does not need an apology. 
 
 To Professor Owen my thanks are due for a 
 chapter on the Nile Basin and on the Suez Canal, 
 from a scientific point of view; to the knowledge 
 and notes of some I confess my obligations in all 
 matters relating to ornithology and natural history ;
 
 PREFACE. 7 
 
 to the accomplished pencils of others I owe the best 
 of the illustrations ; and to all my companions, 
 from the highest, I am indebted for unvarying 
 kindness, for a long series of pleasant hours, and 
 for grateful reminiscences of many happy days.
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS FROM 
 
 LONDON. PARIS. THE HUNT AT COMPIEGNE. 
 
 COPENHAGEN. STOCKHOLM. BERLIN. VIENNA. 
 
 DEPARTURE FROM TRIESTE. ARRIVAL IN CAIRO. 
 
 November 17th, 1868. — The Prince and Princess 
 of Wales, witli their three eldest children, attended 
 by Lady Carmarthen, General Sir W. Knollys, 
 Lt.-Col. Keppel, and Dr. Minter, E.N., left Marl- 
 borough House, on their way to the Continent. 
 They travelled by the 8.30 p.m. mail train from 
 Charing Cross Station; and after a rapid passage 
 across the Channel in the Maid of Kent steamer, 
 reached the Hotel Bristol, Paris, a little before 
 9 o'clock on the morning of the ISth of November.
 
 CHAP. I.] AT COMPIEGNE. 9 
 
 On 20tli November the Prince and Princess 
 went to Compiegne, on a visit to the Emperor and 
 Empress. They left Paris at 10 o'clock a.m. in the 
 Imperial train, and reached Compiegne shortly 
 after 11 o'clock. The Emperor was waiting at 
 the station, and conducted his guests in open 
 carriages through the town to the Palace. 
 
 A dejeuner was served soon after their arrival, and 
 then their Eoyal Highnesses drove to the Eendezvous 
 de la Chasse, about four* miles off in the forest, for a 
 stag hunt. Horses were provided for the Prince of 
 "Wales and his equerry. The Emperor did not ride. 
 About a mile distant the hounds were waiting, and 
 His Eoyal Highness having ridden to the spot, they 
 were turned off. 
 
 To ride through the forest was impossible : it was 
 necessary to go by one of the numerous allees, in 
 which the forest abounds, in the direction in which 
 the hounds were running. Shortly after the com- 
 mencement of the hunt, a curious accident happened 
 to the Prince of "Wales. As he was galloping 
 along one of the drives, a stag rushed across and 
 knocked him and his horse completely over. He 
 got up again at once, and, though slightly bruised 
 and shaken, remounted and continued on horse- 
 back till it got too late to pursue any longer.
 
 10 A DATS SHOOTING. [chap. 
 
 The stacr was not killed till some time after dark. 
 The curee took place, in the courtyard of the Palace, 
 after dinner. 
 
 On 21st November the Emperor gave the Prince 
 a day's shooting, the game chiefly pheasants and 
 rabbits. There were ten guns out. The shoot- 
 ing party consisted of the Emperor, the Prince 
 of Wales, Marshal Bazaine, the Due d'Albe, 
 the Comte de Moltke, the Comte Mercy Argen- 
 teau, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Comte 
 Bedinur, General Sir W. Knollys, and Lieut. -Col. 
 Keppel. His Eoyal Highness bagged 270 head ; 
 Lord Lansdowne came next, with 260 head, and 
 the Emperor third, with 239 head. 
 
 After the day's shooting was over, the Prince 
 and Princess returned to Paris, the Emperor and 
 Empress accompanying them to the station at 
 Compiegne. 
 
 Thursday, November 26th, 1868.— The Prince 
 and Princess left Paris at 5 p.m., via Namur and 
 Liege, and reached Cologne at 5 a.m. on the 
 morning of the 27tli. They left Cologne in the 
 evening at 7.15, and reached Hohendorf soon 
 after 7 on the morning of the 28th. The 
 passage across the Elbe was effected in a steam 
 ferry, and a slow train thence brought their Eoyal
 
 I.] ON BOARD THE FREYA. 11 
 
 Highnesses to Liibeck in about two and a half hours- 
 At Liibeck they embarked on board the Danish 
 Government steamer Freya, and after a sea pas- 
 sage of about eight and a half hours from Trave- 
 munde, reached Korsoer in the course of the 
 night. 
 
 Sunday, November 29th. — Soon after 9 a.m. the 
 Crown Prince of Denmark came on board the 
 Freya to welcome the Prince and Princess. At 
 9.30 they landed, and were loudly cheered by 
 the assembled crowed. They proceeded by special 
 train to Fredensborg, via Copenhagen, where they 
 were met by the King and Prince Waldemar. The 
 Queen and Princess Thyra were waiting at the 
 station of Fredensborg, and thence the party drove 
 to the Slot. The Princess of Wales was greatly 
 cheered by the people. 
 
 Tuesday, December 1st. — The birthday of the 
 Princess of Wales. At 1.15 p.m. the ladies and 
 gentlemen in waiting and several friends, assembled 
 in the large saloon of the Palace, and offered their 
 felicitations. In the evening there was a large 
 dinner-party, to which Sir C. Wyke, the British 
 Minister, and his attaches were invited. The King 
 proposed in Danish the health of the Princess, 
 saying it was six years since he had had the pleasure
 
 12 STOCKHOLM. [chap, 
 
 of having her with him on her birthday ; and that 
 when he looked back upon the anxious time of her 
 severe illness of the previous year, he could not be 
 sufficiently grateful to Almighty God for being able 
 to have her now sitting by his side almost completely 
 recovered. 
 
 On December 2nd, and on several subsequent occa- 
 sions, the Prince of Wales went out shooting. On 
 these occasions the peasants sent their carriages, 
 holding three persons, besides the driver, and drawn 
 generally by a pair of excellent cobs, to take His 
 Majesty's guests to the shooting-ground. In former 
 days they were compelled to do so, but now the King 
 always pays for the carriages he requires. 
 
 Tuesday, December 15th. — The Prince of Wales 
 left Predensborg, by special train, at 11 a.m. for 
 Stockholm. The Crown Prince of Denmark accom- 
 panied him as far as Helsingborg across the Sound, 
 which place they reached after a rapid passage of 
 twenty minutes. The Prince proceeded as far as 
 Jonkoping, where he slept. 
 
 Wednesday, December 16th. — The Prince left 
 Jonkoping at 6.45 a.m., and reached Stockholm 
 at 7.15 P.M. The King of Sweden met the Prince 
 at the railway station, and conducted him to the 
 Palace. The Prince remained at Stockholm till
 
 I.] FREDENSBORG. 13 
 
 Tuesday, December 22 nd, during which time he 
 was made a Freemason, and was present at a ball 
 at the Palace, and at one given by Prince Oscar 
 of Sweden. 
 
 On the morning of the 22nd December, the Prince 
 left Stockholm at 6 o'clock, and was accompanied by 
 the King to the first station. He reached Helsing- 
 borg at 3.30 on the morning of the 23rd, whence 
 a special steamer and train brought him back to 
 Predensborg by 6 a.m., in twenty-four hours after 
 leaving Stockholm. 
 
 Monday, December 28th, — The Danish Court 
 moved to Copenhagen from Predensborg, and on 5th 
 January, 1869, the Prince and Princess were present 
 at a full-dress state ball at the Christianborg Palace. 
 
 January 15th. — The Prince and Princess of Wales, 
 with the infant Princes, and with Lady Carmarthen, 
 Hon. Mrs. W. Grey, Sir W. KnoUys, Lieut.-Col. 
 Keppel, Lieut.-Col. Teesdale, Capt. Ai-thur Ellis, Lord 
 Carington, the Hon. 0. Montagu, and Dr. Minter, 
 E.N., in attendance, left Copenhagen at 8.30 p.m. 
 At the railway station the Foreign Ministers and 
 various officers of Court, in full imiform, were wait- 
 ing to bid adieu to their Eoyal Highnesses, who 
 quitted the hospitable Court and city, where they 
 had received such genuine kindness and heartfelt
 
 14 ARRIVAL AT HAMBURGH. [chap. 
 
 attention, with great regret. To one of tliem there 
 was, of course, a special and natural reason for 
 sorrow. All, without exception, entertained a lively 
 sense of the warmth of the right royal welcome. 
 The King and Queen of Denmark, the Crown 
 Prince, Sir Charles Wyke, Mr. Strachey, and Mr. 
 Macdonald, accompanied the Prince and Princess 
 to Korsoer. Countess Reventflow, Admiral Irminger, 
 Captain Lund, and Captain Bardenfelt, were of the 
 suite. 
 
 It was midnight when the party reached the 
 port and embarked on board the Freya despatch- 
 boat. Commander M'Dougall. The King and Queen 
 of Denmark then took leave of their daughter and 
 of the Prince, and the steamer, proceeding at once 
 to sea, lay on her course for Liibeck, which she 
 reached in ten hours, and where Mr. Moore, the 
 English Minister for the Hanse Towns, was in at- 
 tendance. A special train conveyed the Royal party 
 to Hamburgh at 1.30 p.m. The weather was cold, the 
 thermometer marking five degrees of Reaumur. The 
 party, forty-two in all, were put up at the Hotel 
 Victoria, where a dinner was given in the evening 
 to the Duke and Duchess of Grliicksburg, the Prin- 
 cess Louise, and Prince Julius of Grliicksburg. 
 
 On the following day the first token of the long
 
 I.] DEPARTURE OF THE ROYAL CHILDREN. 15 
 
 journey before the Prince and Princess was given 
 by the departure of the Eoyal children, who, in 
 charge of Lady Carmarthen, Sir William Knollys, 
 and Lieut.-Col. Keppel, left the hotel at 7.30 in 
 the morning, on their way to England. 
 
 The same day, soon after noon, the Eoyal travellers 
 left Hamburgh, and arrived at Berlin at 7 o'clock 
 at night. They were met at the station by the 
 Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Prussia, Prince 
 Henry of Hesse Darmstadt, Lord Augustus Loftus, 
 Mr. Petre, Lord Brabazon, Mr. Frank Lascelles, and 
 Mr. O'Connor, attached to Her Britannic Majesty's 
 Legation, and Mrs. Petre, Lady Brabazon, and Mrs. 
 Prank Lascelles. The weather was bitterly cold, 
 Reaumur marking eight degrees of frost. 
 
 On the following day (the ISth of January being 
 one of the two days in the year on which it can be 
 held) a Chapter of the Order of the Black Eagle 
 was convened, and the Prince of Wales was invested 
 with the Collar. At 2.30 a procession was formed 
 at the Old Schloss, Heralds, Pages, Officers of State, 
 the nineteen Knights Grand Cross entering in the 
 following order : — General Von Eoon (1 ), Baron 
 Yon Moltke (2), Count Von Eedern (3), Count Von 
 Bismarck (4), General Vencker (5), Count Von Wal- 
 dersee (6), Count Von Werderer (7), General Von
 
 16 ORDER OF THE BLACK EAGLE. [chap. 
 
 Bresenniay (8), Prince Adolph Hohenlolie (9), the 
 Chancellor, Field Marshal, Count Von Wrangel (10), 
 Prince Albert of Prussia's Son (11), the Duke of 
 Mecklenburg- Strelitz (12), Prince August of Wur- 
 temberg (13), Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia 
 (14), Prince Alexander of Prussia (15), Prince 
 Adelbert (16), Prince Albert of Prussia (17), the 
 Crown Prince (18), the King (19). All Knights 
 wore their robes and collars ; the King alone 
 remained covered. He wore his helmet, and, stand- 
 ing on the throne in the Pittersaal, after a short 
 address, proceeded to invest the Prince, who was 
 introduced by the Crown Prince and Prince Albert, 
 when he had taken the necessary oaths, with the 
 Collar. The whole ceremony was exceedingly im- 
 posing, and the brilliant decorations in the hall and 
 the display of old plate very striking. 
 
 An early dinner at the Eoyal Palace permitted the 
 company to proceed afterwards to the Opera House, 
 where they witnessed the ballet of " Sardanapalus." 
 
 The weather was so cold that every opportunit}' 
 was given to indidge in the amusement of skating, 
 and on the 19th and 20tli there were very pretty 
 exhibitions at the Thiergarten. 
 
 On the night of the 20th January, the Royal 
 travellers left Berlin by the ordinary night express
 
 1.] ARRIVAL AT VIENNA. 17 
 
 train, the Crown Prince and Princess, together with 
 their household, the British Embassy, and many 
 of the Ministers, accompanying them to the station. 
 
 Ten degrees of frost, and a country whitened with 
 snow, made them sensible of one of the few advan- 
 tages which the English climate possesses over that 
 of the dry plateaux of Northern and Central Em-ope. 
 
 It was 8 o'clock at night when the train reached 
 Vienna. At the station, the Emperor, in full uni- 
 form, the Duke of Wurtemberg, the Archduchess 
 Therese, Prince Augustus of Saxe Coburg, the Princess 
 Clementine, the Princess Amalie, Prince William of 
 Schleswig-Holstein-Gliicksburg, Prince Hohenlohe, 
 Lord Bloomfield, the British Ambassador, with the 
 members of the Embassy, the Danish Minister, and 
 many others, were in waiting, and received the Eoyal 
 travellers, who were driven to the Burg, where the 
 Empress, attended by the Princess Thurn-Taxis and 
 the Countess Hunyady, welcomed them, and shortly 
 afterwards they were left to the enjoyment of repose 
 in the fine old Castle. The rooms are almost count- 
 less, of great size, the floors of exquisite parquet. 
 In one there is a series of the largest and finest 
 mosaics in the world, which formerly belonged to 
 the Grand Duke of Tuscany. 
 
 The cold next day increased to nearly fifteen 
 
 c
 
 18 SKATING AT VIENNA. [chap. 
 
 degrees, and a sharp wind gave an edge to its in- 
 tensity. Visits, grand dinners, and the theatre, 
 occupied the party during their sojourn at Vienna. 
 Skating, too, had a share in the disposition of the 
 time ; and all the civilities and courtesies in which 
 the Coui't of Vienna excel were lavished upon the 
 Royal party, and tended to render their stay exceed- 
 ingly delightful. 
 
 The Prince and Princess paid visits to the King 
 and Queen of Hanover in their retirement at Hiet- 
 zing, near Vienna. 
 
 On the 27th January the Prince and Princess 
 left the Burg. The train, which started at 7 o'clock, 
 having passed the Sommering in all the glories of 
 bright sunshine, arrived at Trieste at 7.30 p.m. The 
 Prince and Princess and suite embarked on board 
 H.M.S. Psyche (Commander Sir P. Blackwood), 
 and went off in her to H.M.S. Ariadne ' (Captain 
 P. Campbell),* which burnt blue lights and 
 rockets. 
 
 Two hours after midnight a terrible fire broke out 
 in the town of Trieste, and all the Royal party were 
 aroused to come up on deck, and look at the raging of 
 the flames, which destroyed a long line of warehouses. 
 
 * Captain F. Campbell, A.D.C. to the Queen, was sent out from 
 London to take command of the ship, in consequence of the lamented 
 illness of Captain Colin Campbell, who was obliged to remain at Malta.
 
 I.] DEPARTURE OF THE ARIADNE. 19 
 
 The Ariadne got ready for sea, weighed at 9 a.m. 
 on the morning of the 28th January, and proceeded 
 on her way to Alexandria ; but her progress was not 
 very rapid. Next day was squally and misty, with 
 a southerly wind right ahead ; the speed fell off 
 from eight to six, and then to five knots. On the 
 following day, the speed increased to nine knots, 
 but the wind was still adverse, and the weather 
 cloudy. The next day (Sunday), with a calm sea, 
 and lighter breezes, the Ariadne made good way, 
 passing the Albanian coast, with its ranges of snow- 
 capped mountains, Zante, and Navarino. Mr. On- 
 slow, the chaplain, read service at 11 o'clock. Every 
 hour brought an increase in the temperature ; and 
 the usual enjoyments on board ship in fine weather 
 came into play. There were singing and hornpipe 
 dancing, electro-biology and mesmerism, on lawful 
 days, between decks. 
 
 At 9 o'clock on the evening of the 2nd of 
 February, the Ariadne arrived off" Alexandria, 
 fired a gun, sent up rockets, burnt blue and 
 red lights ; but it was too late to try the inner 
 passage to the harbour, which is only safe by 
 daylight. 
 
 At 7 o'clock next morning, February 3rd, the 
 Prince and Princess, with their suite, were in rea- 
 
 2
 
 20 RECEPTION AT ALEXANDRIA. [chap. 
 
 diness to land. Colonel Stanton, H.B.M. Consul- 
 General, came off from the Psyche, accompanied 
 by Sir Samuel Baker, and paid his respects to 
 their Eoyal Highnesses. The Ariadne steamed 
 into the harbour at 8 o'clock, a.m., all the 
 Egyptian and foreign men-of-war saluting, man- 
 ning the yards, and dressing ship. The French 
 and Danish Consuls-General, the captain and ofiicers 
 of the French frigate, Mourad Pasha, Abd-el- 
 Kader Bey (attached to the Eoyal j^arty during 
 their stay), the Governor of Alexandria, &c., 
 repau'ed on board. At 11.30 o'clock the Prince 
 and Princess left the Ariadne, in the state barge, 
 and repaired to the landing-place, where they were 
 received by Mehemet Tewfik Pasha and Sheeref 
 Pasha, and a great crowd of officials, all in uniform. 
 The Prince of Wales was in his uniform of General, 
 and his suite were also attired in the dress of their 
 rank. 
 
 At a quarter past 5 o'clock they arrived at Cairo, 
 at the Kasr El Nil. 
 
 So far, the account of the Eoyal tour has been 
 carried by other hands. Having now seen the 
 Prince and Princess safely into Cairo, I wall go 
 back a few days to my o^wn party, which was 
 anxiously awaiting their arrival in the Egyptian
 
 I.] CAIRO. 21 
 
 capital, and will give some description of our 
 doings on the way to it and in it, and of an excursion 
 on the Suez Canal, which was made in the interval 
 whilst we were expecting the Prince and Princess 
 of Wales.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND'S PARTY 
 
 FROM PARTS. ST. MICHEL. MONT CENIS. TURIN. 
 
 BRINDISI. ALEXANDRIA. CAIRO. OUR PALACE. 
 
 " HE Prince and Princess 
 > were enjoying the hospitali- 
 ties of the Northern Courts, 
 ' Avhilst the Duke of Suther- 
 land's party, assembled in 
 Paris, were preparing for 
 
 ^ their visit to Egypt. And 
 
 Paris is the worst place in the world to start
 
 CHAP. 11.] MODERN TRA VEILING. 23 
 
 from after a sliort stay, for it is the least pleasant 
 to leave — that is, as long as one has money 
 in his purse and friends around him. But 
 at 8.40 on the night of 14th January we de- 
 parted for Brindisi, over Mont Cenis. We vk^ere 
 six in all, not including the faithful Alister (the 
 Duke's piper), and the domestics. Our travelling 
 impediments were reduced to the smallest size and 
 least weight consistent with comfort. A saloon 
 carriage — a director or two in attendance — plenty 
 of room — civil and attentive guards, who keiDt 
 the doors against all comers — and great powers of 
 sleeping, and of contenting ourselves when waking, 
 made the long route seem short, though nothing 
 could render it always warm. 
 
 Now-a-days men travel by villages and towns very 
 much as in old times they went past milestones ; nay, 
 they are even less noticed, unless the traveller have 
 some interest in them. People go and come like 
 shadows, in the night and the day. The face we 
 are longing to know more about lightens up as 
 the train halts at some station, is embraced by 
 Monsieur as its owner alights, and vanishes for 
 parts unknown in the interior. And if you take 
 an interest in the face, what chance is there of 
 you knowing anything about it? There! As you
 
 24 THE MONT CENIS ROUTE. [chap. 
 
 are musing or staring, the whistle sounds and 
 you move ofF, and in ten minutes are five miles 
 away, while the face is going off by some poplar- 
 lined road to Boissy le Sec or Chateau Belle- 
 fille. In the old days you might hold a long con- 
 versation on the subject ere the horses were put to, 
 and learn a family history. But these are not the only 
 differences between now and then, and it would be a 
 big book which would hold them all. The greatest 
 interest of the through-route traveller in cities and 
 stations is now connected with his animal wants. 
 " Macon at — a.m. Capital buffet !" " Ten minutes 
 at Culoz." "Try those little game pies, and avoid 
 the coffee and wine !" And so on, 
 
 I do not know whether I would advise any one 
 unpressed by violent hurry in travelling to take the 
 Mont Cenis route for choice in winter. It is very 
 picturesque, very grand, very cold, and not very 
 comfortable. And if for us it was so, what may it 
 not be for ordinary passengers, who must not ex- 
 pect directors in attendance, special trains, saloon 
 carriages, ordered banquets, and accommodation be- 
 spoken by telegram from the superior authorities ? 
 In fact, opening a new route across the Alps is 
 very much like making a new line on the Ameri- 
 can continent. In the latter case you have to
 
 ir.] ST. MICHEL. 25 
 
 carry inns, accommodation, and necessaries of life 
 along with you. In the former, yon must slowly 
 break through the crust of old-established civili- 
 zation and the hardened forms of torpid life which 
 have prevailed for centuries — break them down, as it 
 were, with the buffer of the engine. Old diligences 
 still linger lovingly here at the stations and at the 
 termini of the adventurous young lines which climb 
 mountains, pierce through rocks, cross torrents, and 
 descend swiftly down Alpine slopes into the far- 
 reaching plains. The stalactite innkeepers do not 
 understand it at all. They do not see why people 
 should be in such haste. They cannot quite meet 
 the wants of passengers who desire reserved bedrooms 
 and special accommodation. But they are gradually 
 warming up to the great fact that people who need 
 these things must pay for them. St. Michel, where 
 the party arrived in the afternoon of February 
 15th, is certainly not a tempting place for a tra- 
 veller to live in — at least, for more than a day or 
 two. The situation, indeed, is picturesque. Buried 
 in one of these Alpine valleys, which eat into 
 the mountain barriers, as if seeking to find a pas- 
 sage — surrounded by fir-clad steeps and rugged 
 mountain spurs, growing pile upon pile into the 
 snow-covered summits — it is shut out for many
 
 26 TEE TROUT OF MONT CENIS. [chap. 
 
 hours from the rays of the blessed sun in its 
 shivering depths. A one-streeted, many-laned, 
 crooked-housed, rugged-paved place, with a Savoyard 
 population, regulated by the usual proportion of 
 booted gendarmerie, a small traj66.c carried by 
 enormous barrels on attenuated carts, two gaunt 
 inns, wine shops, and the various magazines which 
 supply the wants of a southern French town 
 introduced into an Alpine village — these, seen 
 under the influences of bitter wind, clouds of 
 granite-like snow whirling through street and 
 passage and window-frame, were not very Hkely 
 to lead to warm appreciation of the advantages 
 of the situation of St. Michel. But, when 
 the night came, indeed, and the whole party 
 assembled in a large cavernous room, lit by 
 cresset lamps, and sat down to a most excellent 
 dinner, the interior of the Hotel de la Poste 
 we found could give better cheer than would 
 have been anticipated. St. Michel has its master- 
 pieces of cookery. On the top of Mont Cenis 
 there is a lake which, even in winter time, yields 
 store of famous trout. They grow, feeding the 
 Lord knows how, to the weight of eight or ten 
 pounds. Pale-skinned, feebly-speckled, large-headed, 
 unpromising on the outside as St, Michel itself.
 
 II.] A HAZE OF NEURALGIA. 27 
 
 they are, beneath the scaly surface, worthy of 
 the table of kings. And then, too, there is a 
 very clever dish of Savoyard origin, which, with 
 the trout, is quite enough for any man's dinner. 
 But, ascending from the plain to such an altitude, 
 and meeting so great a change of temperature, 
 indisposed more than one of the party. " Miser- 
 able pain surprised" me. How the night passed, 
 or the next day, or the day after, I scarcely 
 remember. I was aware of many kind attentions 
 from friends; of being animated by feeble hostility 
 towards beneficent persons who inquired from time 
 to time how I felt ; of gazing, through a haze of 
 suffering, at beautiful landscapes ; of looking through 
 vales of agony into vast ravines bedecked with rocks 
 and precipices and tumbling torrents ; of passing 
 through dark tunnels ; of making great descents 
 through covered ways. I have a sort of a cloudy 
 idea of a reception at Susa, where Count Arrivabene 
 met the Duke, and a misty notion of a change of 
 carriages, and of an arrival towards nightfall in Turin, 
 and of a grand procession, up lighted passages and 
 corridors in the Hotel de I'Europe, and of an induc- 
 tion into a right royal suite of apartments, and of a 
 mystic visit to the opera. But neuralgia was over it 
 all. The recollection of the journey is now like that
 
 28 THE FRTEND OF GARIBALDI. [chap. 
 
 which one has of a protracted nightmare. Early 
 next morning — yes, — there ivas a bill. And all I 
 am glad to say is that it rarely happens to us to 
 have the privilege of sharing in payment of such 
 a document ; but then dukes, with gold mines, and 
 companions, who would have gold mines if willing 
 could do it, are not to be had at Turin every day. 
 
 January 18th. — It was close on 11 o'clock a.m., 
 when the train reached Brindisi. We had taken 
 some twenty-eight hours to make the run from 
 Turin. What famous places had been passed night 
 and day by our rattling chariot wheels — Piacenza, 
 Parma, Modena, Bologna, Eimini ! What fair fat 
 fields, enriched by many battles ! What world- 
 renowned sites, dear to antiquary, artist, and 
 man of letters ! — to us now mere notches on the 
 finger-post of the time-table. Through our route 
 yesterday it rained heavily, and there were few 
 workers in the fields, and but small gatherings 
 at the stations. But still it was known that 
 an English duke was somewhere about ; and the 
 name he bears is dear to many Italians, who believe 
 that the friend of Garibaldi must be the friend of 
 their great idea. At Turin, indeed, when some of our 
 party went to the opera, it was supposed the Prince 
 of Wales was present incognito. The audience saw
 
 II.] A DIRTY PLACE. 29 
 
 a fair-haired, blue-eyed Saxon with flaxen moustache 
 in the box presented by the municipality to the 
 Duke for the night, and they took it for granted 
 it was His Eoyal Highness ; and no doubt, in spite 
 of certain modest retirements on his part, it gave our 
 friend a pleasurable thrill. "I was taken for the 
 king," says Miiller in the play, " and hang me if I 
 didn't feel like one ! " At Brindisi, however, there 
 were no doubtful honours awaiting the travellers or 
 their chief. And, indeed, how could we escape them ? 
 The vessel would not sail till 9 p.m. There was 
 a great reception. There were municipal bodies, and 
 sotto prefettos, and magistrates, and civic and port 
 personages awaiting to welcome " il duca di Suther- 
 land, I'amico di Garibaldi." And they took posses- 
 sion. We were carried off to the hotel, of which I 
 shall say nothing, because it is only a makeshift — 
 the old original tavern, which contented Brindisians 
 for ages past. There is a new hotel in posse on the 
 quay — a heap of sand and rubbish and a pile of 
 timber mark the spot. But till it is built, let 
 passengers provide store of food, unless they are 
 content with what they can get — it will be sm-- 
 prising if they are — and let them come prepared for 
 a sojourn in one of the dirtiest places I ever saw. 
 The whole nature of the people must be changed.
 
 30 JUVENILE LABOURERS. [chap. 
 
 their habits and customs completely purified and 
 altered, ere the streets of Brindisi can cease to 
 be an offence to civilized human beings. Will 
 '* Brindisi fara da se ? " It would be so much the 
 better for the agricultural interest near at hand if 
 she would. It will not do to discount the future. 
 Do, dear sotto prefetto, think of this ! Passengers 
 will not face present discomforts sustained by the 
 hope of comforts hereafter; and men, and even 
 women, are nsually very exacting when they arrive 
 after a long journey by sea or land. Horace — no ! 
 not one word of the Iter ad Brundusium this time ; 
 nor of Virgil's house, nor of Roman arches and 
 remains, nor of historical reminiscences ! After a 
 light repast at the Inn, we set out in two boats to 
 visit the port; and landing at the works on the 
 north-western side of the harbour, beheld a very 
 busy scene — men, boys, and children at work in the 
 quarries of lava-like rock, preparing blocks for 
 transport by the rough rail, to continue the jetty 
 or breakwater which is to complete the harbour. 
 Eagged as Horace's edile, bright-eyed, sallow- 
 skinned, merry enough they seemed, although the 
 taskmasters over the little ones were harsh of 
 voice and prompt of cane. Once, indeed, a yonng 
 one of the party was so roused by the sight of a
 
 11.] BRINDISL 31 
 
 sound wliack on a blubbering boy's back that he 
 was urgent to execute Eton justice on the authority, 
 and was only deterred by force majeure. As we were 
 " in charge " of local magnates by sea and land, we 
 had to do all the works minutely, and to ask many 
 questions and collect much information. So we 
 travelled on one of the trucks to the end of the 
 jetty, and saw the blocks thrown into the sea, which 
 plashed up eagerly to meet and swallow them, and 
 admired the sinewy frames and handsome faces of 
 some of the labourers, who sang in chorus and 
 cheered themselves in rude rhymes as they toiled. 
 Then, embarking, we inspected the Citadel or Castle 
 on the island, — a most interesting memorial of the 
 old Spanish rule. It contains an internal harbour 
 for boats and galleys, surrounded by the walls of 
 the Castle. There were a few soldiers in the place, a 
 chapel, and some monuments, much desolation and 
 decay, and a good deal of dirt. On the crumbling 
 parapet, seawards, there was a newly made gabion- 
 nade, with traverses ; and a few guns ready to be 
 mounted, some freshly repaired furnaces, and small 
 heaps of shot and shell, indicated a purpose of defence 
 should any Austrian vessel have ventured to attack 
 the newly created station. Tor the Brindisians had 
 "a scare" in 18GG. One of the ironclads from the
 
 32 THE HARBOUR. [chap. 
 
 fleet, after Lissa, might have come down and done 
 just as it pleased, notwithstanding these defences ; 
 and no doubt, if the war had lasted, and Trieste had 
 had its way, such a comphment might have been 
 paid. "It's a splendid harbour!" exclaimed one 
 of our Italian friends. " Some fine day the British 
 fleet might anchor in it." 
 
 " That is a long way off"," replied an ancient 
 mariner, in a laced cap. — " One frigate was in here 
 some time back, and could scarcely get out again." 
 
 "It is easy to approach in all winds," continued 
 the first. 
 
 " Except when the wind is strong from the south, 
 or north, or west," said the other. 
 
 " Why, a sailing ship can tack in with the wind 
 from any quarter ; three-fourths of all the points of 
 the compass, any way." 
 
 " If she does not run ashore," quoth the sailor. 
 
 " Oh ! you are an Austrian Lloyd's man, and you 
 are prejudiced." 
 
 And no doubt he was — a little. For the harbour 
 is better than he made it out, and in the future it is 
 to be all that can be desired, if the plans be carried 
 out — land-locked, with splendid moorings and quays, 
 and deep channels, and good lights. So good luck to 
 the Future. The Italian Grovernment, however, must
 
 II.] AD BRUNDVSII OLORIAM. 33 
 
 stretch, out a hand to meet it. The funds granted 
 towards the works are nearly exhausted, and the 
 annual vote should be increased. 
 
 In the evening the Duke and his friends were 
 entertained at dinner by the Municipality in 
 the Inn, and were introduced to the wines of 
 the country, which were better than might 
 have been expected ; and made and heard speeches, 
 ad Brundusii gloriam. The wonderful properties 
 of the Italian tongue were set forth in a remark- 
 able manner by our excellent friend Count Arriva- 
 bene, who acted as interpreter; for a few abrupt 
 sentences in English expanded from his lips into 
 rolling orations, which roused burgomasters and sub- 
 prefects to the highest enthusiasm, and inspired them 
 with great admiration for the eloquence of their 
 guests, the benevolence of their sentiments, and the 
 magnificence of their promises. And so we went 
 out into the street in a blaze of glory, and repaired 
 on board the steamer which lay alongside the jetty. 
 There Captain Vecchini, best of mariners, received us, 
 and, after a warm leavetaking of our warm-hearted 
 and hospitable Brindisians, we prepared for our 
 voj^age. There were no other passengers ; the ship 
 was all our own. On such an occasion the selfishness 
 of human nature is sure to come out. " How jolly ! 
 
 D
 
 34 IONIAN FISHERMEN. [chap. 
 
 We are tlie only people on board !" Poor Company ! 
 If it were always so, the Brindisi route must soon 
 close up ; but it is seldom indeed such advantages are 
 to be obtained by a party of friends at the expense 
 of the Societa Anonima; and I am glad of it, now 
 I am on shore. There seems every reason for the 
 line to prosper. Marseilles and Trieste may flourish 
 too. The world is big enough for all three, and 
 increase of appetite will grow by what it feeds on. 
 
 At 9 o'clock P.M., II Principe Tomasio steamed 
 out of Brindisi Harbour for Alexandria. We went 
 swiftly during the night, and the Captain took 
 the vessel through the inner passage, between the 
 islands and Albania, of which we could see the 
 snow-capped mountains, and the black-looking coast 
 near at hand, when morning broke. Passing the 
 Ionian Islands in a short chopping sea, next 
 morning we saw a few Greek boats scudding 
 towards shore. "It is difierent times with them 
 now the English are gone," quoth Captain Yec- 
 chini. " They used to have fine times of it, catch- 
 ing fish, and supplying the tables of those lords at 
 great prices. Now, they get little or nothing for 
 what they catch. They regret you, when it is too 
 late, and find they cannot live upon the glory of 
 belonging to the Hellenes."
 
 II.] TEE GR^GALE. 35 
 
 January is scarcely the best time for navigating 
 the Adriatic. 
 
 Our good Captain could not always keep near 
 land, and, once out at sea, the gregale was upon 
 us in all its fury, to the great despair of the 
 Captain, who desired to show how the Prince 
 Thomas could make a good passage. Next day, 
 it was still the gregale which blew, and the seas 
 came swishing overboard, and running down- 
 stairs and playing about in the cabin. We 
 passed Cerigo and Cerigotto, and the Cape of the 
 Morea scowling through drifting sheets of foam. 
 The Principe Tomasio can roll under such circum- 
 stances, and we were all knocked about, and as 
 miserable as could be. P. M. suggested a vigorous 
 policy. Candia was under our lee, but it was fenced 
 round by jealous corsairs. F. M. advised that we 
 should run the blockade of the Turk, and take 
 shelter in any port which lay handy. Whereat 
 the Captain told terrible tales of Turkish cruisers, 
 of their reckless firing at everybody, and of his 
 own captivity once — for the Prince Thomas had 
 been overhauled and detained, although she was, 
 he said, far outside the line of blockade. " Who 
 knows what a Turk will do when he has 
 got cannon? The only chance we should have
 
 36 "MALTA MAFEESEP' [chap. 
 
 would be tliat they are all lying snug under cover 
 somewhere. Otherwise the first warning they 
 would give us — the brigands ! — would be a round 
 shot; though they seldom hit anything they fire 
 at." Captain Yecchini had evidently no good opinion 
 of Turkish, nor, for the matter of that, of Egyptian 
 sailors either. "How long do you think they would 
 keep at sea, if they had no European engineers ? 
 How long would they last at all, only they have 
 money to buy and pay with ? They get robbed, of 
 course they do." And then he tells the famous 
 anecdote of the Egyptian captain who was ordered 
 to take his ship to Malta for repairs, and who re- 
 turned to Alexandria with the statement that there 
 was no such place as that tight little island. " Malta 
 mafeesh!" he reported. "There is no such place. 
 Malta's gone!" And all the time the Captain 
 was on board a steamer built by Palmer, with 
 Grlasgow-made engines, and Scotch engineer. 
 
 But that our party was in a condition of unstable 
 equilibrium, the voyage might have been enjoyed; 
 for the table was excellent and well served, every 
 one willing to please, capital stewards, and all the 
 means of making life pleasant — if the sea would but 
 keep quiet ! The Captain Avas held in constant 
 conversation. " Ask the Captain, please, if he
 
 ir.] SEA TALE. 37 
 
 thinks the wind will go dowm." "What does 
 the Captain — ask him — think about Garibaldi?" 
 That one subject lasted for hours. Then we 
 diverged to the Papal Government, the afiairs 
 of Ancona, and the bravery of one of our 
 Brindisian friends, who, as soon as peace was pro- 
 claimed, challenged an Italian general for a blow 
 given in active service, and kept a promise he made 
 to shoot him through the hand which inflicted the 
 insult. Austria, the Emj)eror of France, the price 
 of tobacco and of land, and the future of Italy ! 
 Oftentimes the querists taxed the powers of their 
 poor interpreter beyond his resources. It is aston- 
 ishing how little one knows of a language when 
 he is tried in intricate subjects — especially about 
 navigation ! 
 
 One more night — one more day — a night again 
 — the wind moderating — the ^2ixij recovering — 
 that is, the suffering members. 
 
 The last day of all became sunny and nearly 
 calm, though the shoals of flying fish could still 
 spring from the top of a rolling wave as vantage 
 for their flight, and the stability of cups and 
 glasses was not to be confided in. 
 
 On the 23rd of January we anchored in Alex- 
 andria a little before noon, having maintained our
 
 38 THE WELCOME. [chap. 
 
 speed of ten knots an hour on the run. Even now 
 I shall not be deterred from, asserting that II 
 Principe Tomasio is a capital boat, though I know 
 I hurt susceptibilities. All will agree that 
 Captain Vecchini is a capital sailor. As a worthy 
 British officer from India wrote in the ship's book : 
 " I am sure the Captain is a regular brick, 
 although my ignorance of the lingo he used pre- 
 vented my having much talk with him." A 
 Grovernment boat with eight oars came alongside, 
 and an Egyptian official boarding us, presented the 
 Duke with an autograph letter of the Viceroy, 
 bidding him and his party welcome, and full of 
 pretty compliments. Ali Eisa, the officer in 
 question, speaks Enghsh, French, Grerman, Italian, 
 Arabic, Persian, and his native language, Turkish, 
 He took charge of the Duke and his friends ; and, 
 I may fairly say, from that hour, he never lost 
 sight of us till our departure from Egypt. There 
 was also the consular dragoman, who must be 
 as well known as Pompey's Pillar or Cleopatra's 
 Needle, to lend his voice, his staff of office, the 
 splendour of his laced attire, and the terror of 
 his curved scimitar, to the landing, which was 
 performed with a serenity such as is seldom atten- 
 dant on the proceeding in Alexandria. How many
 
 11.] ALEXANDRIA. 39 
 
 thousands of tempers are lost there annually ? "Who 
 can withstand the temptation to incur the loss 
 offered by porters, donkey boys, beggars, touters, 
 and Egyptian cabmen*? Now, they moved in a 
 revolving circle around us, afraid to come within 
 reach, but unable to overcome the force of habit ; 
 just like jackals wheeling round a carcase which a 
 lion is guarding. Some Europeans like an excuse 
 for the excitement of assault and battery. It pleases 
 them to indulge in their weakness of " hitting a 
 nigger " with impunity. And nowhere are there such 
 excuses as in this ancient town — ancient, yet very 
 modern. 
 
 The population is a very cloaca gentium. It does 
 not flow. It stagnates, and precipitates a villain- 
 ous deposit. No city in the world contains such a 
 heteroc^eneous inflow of various races and rascalities. 
 In self-defence, the respectable inhabitants, of whom 
 there are many, are obliged to draw a broad and 
 deep line outside the fortress of their own circle, 
 and good society in Alexandria is difficult of 
 access. The stories one hears of the doings of our 
 Christian friends from some of themselves are 
 nearly inconceivable. No wonder that the Viceroy 
 is anxious to obtain some sort of control over the 
 immigration which finds it worth while to resort
 
 40 THE CONSULAR TRIBUNALS. [chap. 
 
 to his dominions, but refuses to obey the laws of 
 the land, or to be subject to the rule of the 
 authorities. I am not now prepared to say that it 
 would be quite safe to sweep away the Consular 
 Courts absolutely and offhand. Sound guarantees are 
 needed for the administration of justice between 
 Egyptians and Europeans. But it is obviously im- 
 possible that the present system can go on if Egypt 
 is to prosper. No country can tolerate, within its 
 centres of trade and commerce, some dozen and 
 more of distinct national existences, with separate 
 and independent jurisdictions, frustrating justice, and 
 offering strenuous opposition to improvement, re- 
 fusing to contribute to municipal funds, or in any 
 way to aid the state by then- purses, no matter 
 how well filled they may be. 
 
 A special train was in readiness to take the 
 party to Cairo ; but after so much fatigue, Ali 
 Risa, who has a profound respect for creature com- 
 forts, considered rest and refreshment absolutely 
 essential, and a banquet was ready, spread by the 
 adroit hands of M. Joseph at the Hotel de I'Europe. 
 We had a drive through the to^vn, visited the 
 Needle and Pompey's Pillar, and at last, with a 
 great following of native and European servants in 
 the Viceroy's employment, started on our journey.
 
 II.] RECEPTION AT CAIRO. 41 
 
 arriving at Kafr e' Zyat in a couple of hours, where 
 another banquet was laid out, and so on to Cairo, 
 which we reached about 10 o'clock p.m. 
 
 At the Station carriages and cavasses, and the 
 animated lanterns which precede private vehicles in 
 Cairo — men carrying iron frames on long poles, 
 from which burning tar, coals, and strips of pine 
 throw a bright yellow light on the roadway — were 
 in readiness. In a few minutes the carriages, driv- 
 ing in succession through a gateway into a narrow 
 courtyard, deposited the party at the gate of the 
 Palace. A double line of servants in black received 
 and showed them upstairs. The rooms were a 
 blaze of light. Ali Eisa insisted that supper was a 
 matter of the first necessity, and, late as it was, we 
 had to repair to the dinner saloon, where there 
 was another great meal, to which some meritorious 
 persons of the party did ample justice. 
 
 The Palace consisted of a large central hall and 
 two corridors, or smaller halls, on the ground floor, 
 the one leading to it from the front entrance, the 
 other leading to the garden at the back, and to the 
 out-offices. Off the first, there were four large 
 rooms, in which the servants lodged. The dinner 
 saloon and other rooms were off the inner passage. 
 From this hall a marble staircase, supported on four
 
 42 OUR RESIDENCE. [chap. ii. 
 
 pillars of the same material, ran to tlie upper 
 floor, on which, to the right, was a spacious and 
 handsome drawing-room, on each side of which were 
 two large bedrooms, one occupied by the Duke of 
 Sutherland, the other b}^ his son. On the left hand 
 a similar large room, which was not used for 
 any state purpose, served to give access to four bed- 
 rooms, which were occupied by Colonel Marshall, 
 Major Alison, Mr. Sumner, and myself The draw- 
 ing-room was richly furnished. Satin- and damask- 
 covered ottomans, sofas, and easy chairs lined the 
 walls; rich carpeting was spread on the floor; and 
 the windows were hunof with the most massive em- 
 broidered silken curtains. But it was curious to see 
 how recklessly nails were driven into the walls, how 
 windows were cracked, how doors were left without 
 paint, and what ruinous legs and backs were united 
 with frameworks of fine stufi", which had no doubt 
 cost sums that would have astonished Holland or 
 Gillow.
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE BUZZARDS. NEW CAIRO. THE ARSENAL. THE 
 
 KASR-EL-NIL. THE GREAT BARRAGE. THE NILE. 
 
 THE PROFESSOR IN EQUILIBRIUM. 
 
 January 23rd. — There is a peculiar sound in tlie air, 
 coming in througli the jalousies of the open window. 
 It announces the East at once — an Oriental people, 
 without cares about sewage or rates for the Victoria 
 Main Drain. It is the shrill whistle of the innumer- 
 able buzzards — a quavering, not unmusical, note, re- 
 peated for the livelong day on all sides, as they flap 
 over house-top and garden. Listen to the cries 
 which come from the street outside the Palace wall, 
 the voices of people always in each other's way, 
 and raised in incessant warning ! Veiled women, 
 strings of camels and asses, covered with loads of 
 a certain pulse, on which all the cattle are 
 feasting freely, preparing for the heats of summer 
 — men on donkeys, smoking pipes as they ride — 
 men on foot, with bundles of sugar-cane under their 
 arms; men and women in open carriages and
 
 44 A CAIRO DEJEV^'ER. [chap. 
 
 buggies — all jostling, bumping, and shouting in the 
 dusty road ! The Egyptian, who is more liberal and 
 civilized than the Turk, is to all appearance far more 
 Oriental and Mahometan. Eeflections cut shoi-t by 
 a tub of water, deliciously cold, also by troubles con- 
 nected with musquito bites. The sleeping miscreants 
 being detected as they reposed, bloated and helpless, 
 on the curtains, inside which they had secreted them- 
 selves, met their death. Ali Risa came charged 
 with messages from the Viceroy, who desired to see 
 the Duke at 1 o'clock. Then, after undress levees 
 from room to room, the company assembled for 
 breakfast in the saloon do^Tistairs. The table was 
 covered with fruit and flowers, and plate, and 
 delicate decanters, and fine glass and china, all 
 marked with the Viceroy's cipher, " I. P." The 
 attendants — Italians mostly — polyglot, dressed in 
 black, and wearing the fez or tarboosh. The cooking 
 excellent ; oysters and fish from Alexandria, European 
 dishes, French and Grerman wines. Eastern pilaffs, and 
 tiny eggs, and many sweets. After breakfast we went 
 upstairs to the drawing-room, and pipe-bearers and 
 coffee-bearers entered in succession, the latter bearing 
 trays on which stood, in diamond- and ruby-studded 
 holders of immense value, cups of real coffee; the 
 others with long-stemmed pipes, having vast amber
 
 III.] HAVSSMANNIZATION OF CAIRO. 45 
 
 moutlipieces, blazing witli precious stones, in one 
 hand, and a metal dish to receive the pipe-bowl in the 
 other. When an Egyptian takes a j)ipe, he raises 
 his hand to his forehead, as a token of thanks. The 
 bearer inclines the pipe-stem, so that the bowl 
 shall rest easily on the stand, as the mouthpiece is 
 held to the lips, and then puts his hand on his 
 stomach, as a salutation, and retires backwards. The 
 bearer of the coffee-tray carries on his left shoulder 
 a velvet cloth or cover, ornamented with golden 
 bordering, in which are set many precious stones. 
 These gentlemen were Turks or Arabs, Europeans 
 not being worthy or capable of such important 
 charges. "When these pipes and coffees had been 
 puffed and drunk, we descended to the court, w^here 
 carriages, driven by coachmen in the gold-laced livery 
 of the Viceroy, were in readiness, and took a turn 
 through the city, each vehicle preceded by a running 
 footman, in richly laced vest and wide white shirt- 
 sleeves, loose white drawers, cut off a little above the 
 knee, and leaving the legs bare, who maintained an 
 eternal cry to the passers-by to get out of the way. 
 Cairo is undergoing, in its way, a process of Hauss- 
 mannization. Whole quarters have been pulled down, 
 and new houses and new streets perplex the traveller 
 who remembers the ancient places, where he was wont
 
 46 THE NILE FLOTILLA. [chap. 
 
 to walk in fear and trembling through the mazes of the 
 decayed honeycomb of a city. There is a fine open 
 space in front of Shepheard's Hotel, and the New 
 Hotel beyond. Here the Viceroy appears divided 
 between his desire to form a park and his wish to get 
 money for building sites ; for the sake of the city let 
 us hope the first may prevail. 
 
 Our first visit was made to the river, to inspect 
 the boats which had been prepared for the ex- 
 pedition up the Nile, those for the Eoyal party 
 having been fitted out under the superinten- 
 dence of Colonel Stanton and Sir Samuel Baker. 
 The vessel set apart for the Duke and his friends 
 was the Viceroy's favourite steamer, The Pride 
 of the Two Seas, and the fastest craft on the 
 river. She is about the size of a Dover packet, 
 and draws four and a half feet of water. The 
 accommodation below, set forth in rosewood and 
 gold, consisted of a long saloon, at one end 
 of which was a bath-room, and a small cabin 
 appropriated to A. S. (by himself) little provident 
 of the results of its proximity to the boiler; at 
 the other end two cabins, which were told off to 
 the Marquis of Stafford and to myself; and then 
 beyond, a V-shaped divan, on the sofas of which 
 the Duke and Colonel Marshall made their beds.
 
 III.] THE ARSENAL. 47 
 
 Bj-and-by I will describe how we were lodged, 
 and give an account of the little flotilla. 
 
 Whilst we were at the river-side, we came across 
 what is called the Ai'senal. There were some field- 
 pieces and gun-carriages to justify the name, but 
 the main object to attract the attention of the 
 intelligent foreigner, is a vast collection of 
 Fowler's steam ploughs, Appold's pumps, agricultural 
 engines, and various costly apparatus of the kind, 
 lying in dislocated rusty heaps all over the 
 enclosure. Cosas d'Egitto ! Ordered by Said Pasha, or 
 some other ruler — found to be in advance of the 
 age — the cart before the horse — and so left to the 
 dust and rust. At a rough guess, there was some 
 £30,000 worth of machinery there. "What it cost 
 Egypt, who can say? I was going to add that 
 rust, owing to the dryness of the aii', was not of 
 rapid formation in Cairo ; but it actually rained a 
 little this afternoon, and, a few days before our 
 arrival, a deluge fell on and astonished the city. 
 
 At 1 o'clock we drove to the Kasr-el-Nil, or Nile 
 Castle, and visited the Viceroy. The Palace, which 
 stands over the water's edge, is full of mirrors, chande- 
 liers, rich carpets, and damask and satin furniture. It 
 is not large, and, indeed, may almost be described as 
 being cosy. The view from the windows, out over the
 
 48 VISIT TO THE VICEROY. [chap. 
 
 ever-flowing stream, margined by the forest-like masts 
 of the native boats, and the pyramids of Ghizeh rising 
 above them towards the west, is animated and inter- 
 esting. The reception of the Duke's party was of a 
 most friendly character, and the Khedive was exceed- 
 ingly gracious to all, for he retains a lively recol- 
 lection of the efforts made by the Duke of Suther- 
 land to show him attention when he was in Eng- 
 land. He expressed the great pleasure he ex- 
 perienced at the coming to Egypt of the Prince 
 and Princess of Wales. He particularly desired 
 that the party should visit the Barrage of the Nile, 
 the works of which he is about to urge forward, 
 in the hope of efiecting the irrigation of a great 
 district below Cairo. The visit lasted about haK 
 an hour, and was graced with the pipe and coffee 
 of honour. 
 
 In the evenino^ we went to the Theatre. The 
 company (French), retained at a great expense by 
 the Viceroy for the Prince of Wales — remarkably 
 fat women and lean men — rendered two of the 
 flimsy little pieces of the Palais Eoyal, which 
 seem so attractive to the Caii-enes. Not that 
 the house was very full, although the Viceroy 
 was present, for, as a rule, the natives are not 
 yet civihzed enough to appreciate French farces.
 
 in.] A DIFFICULT START. 49 
 
 January 24tli. — The early business of tlie day 
 over, our courtyard resounded with the cries of 
 the attendants as they summoned the carriages 
 to drive to the steamer in which we were to visit 
 the Barrage of the Nile. The start was not so 
 easily effected, for the turn into the crowded 
 street through the gateway is narrow, and our gold- 
 laced master of the whip took a sharp angle, and 
 had to draw up his horses in the gateway to 
 avoid demolition of the hind wheels. He could 
 not back, for the carriage would have come against 
 the gate. It was amusing to see the derangement 
 caused to the attendants by this little catastrophe. 
 Whilst they were chattering over it, the Europeans, 
 to the discomposure of Ali Risa, got down and 
 lifted the carriage wheels, so as to clear the 
 dangerous portal; and then, heralded by our 
 running footmen in laced jackets and bare legs 
 and feet, we cleft our way through the throng 
 of the busy street very much as a steamer 
 goes tlirough a shoal of herrings. The shrill cries 
 of the herald to " Clear the way ! — take care ! " 
 act on the mass of people — on the veiled women 
 and swarming children — like an instinct. They 
 do not look to see what is coming, but gather 
 up to the side of the street, and merely glance at 
 
 £
 
 50 OPHTHALMIA. [chap. 
 
 tlie passing vehicles without curiosity or surprise — 
 without even that half-resentful, half-pleased look 
 which lights up the face of a European who has just 
 escaped being run over. 
 
 The streets of Cairo have often been described — 
 that is, painters in words and in colour have 
 made innumerable efforts to convey the impressions 
 produced on the eye by the combinations in 
 architecture, in animal and human life, which are 
 in their entirety quite beyond reproduction, and 
 defy adequate representation on paper or canvas. 
 To add one more to the list of failures in that 
 way, is not a legitimate ambition, though, where 
 so many masters have not succeeded, it would 
 not be discreditable to achieve another fiasco. To 
 my mind there is one great drawback to the pleasure 
 with which the eye would otherwise rest on such 
 an animated scene as every thoroughfare in Caii'O 
 affords to the stranger. It is that the population 
 have such a limited allowance of eyes among them. 
 I doubt if there is a good sound pair to be 
 found among every three persons — men, women, 
 and childi'en. Aged and young, it is all the 
 same. The prevalence of ophthalmia, produced, 
 perhaps, humanly speaking, by dust, dirt, and flies, is 
 most destructive to the comeliness of the race ; but,
 
 m.] THE SUGAR-CANE SEASON. 51 
 
 someliow or other, the women of the better class of 
 lower orders are, as far as one can judge, free from 
 the worst ravages of this plague, and gaze on the 
 stranger with a fair share of the organs of vision 
 above their masked cheeks. The eyes afflicted by 
 the disease are surrounded by bleared lids, and 
 are either half-closed or diminished in size, so that 
 the pupil, dull and whitened with opaque spots, is 
 like that of a half-boiled fish. The basane tint of 
 the Egyptian skin is often blurred with the marks of 
 disease, and the hue would give one the idea that 
 the ablutions of the race do not extend above the 
 neck. But the crowds who may be seen washing 
 in the river, show that they are clean or religious. 
 The poor children crawl about in the streets and 
 the doorways like neglected kittens, each the centre 
 of a swarm of flies, which have their main points of 
 attraction in the eyelids of the little miserables. 
 What do they care for that? Has not every one 
 of them a piece of sugar-cane a couple of feet 
 long, and perpetually renewed, to chew and suck 
 at? This is sugar-cane season — men, women, and 
 children are at it in all directions. People 
 walk about with bundles of cane six feet long 
 under their arms, and eat it as it were unconsciously. 
 A poor wretch is he who has not a couple of yards 
 
 E 2
 
 62 IN THE STREETS. [chap. 
 
 au consommation ; and all along tlie paths people 
 sit in the midst of patches of masticated pulp, and 
 munch the live-long day. In the fields near and 
 inside the city, they are busy cutting it, and loading 
 asses and camels with the mounds of the sweet 
 porous canes. One is at a loss to think what they 
 will all do when sugar-cane time is over. Any way, 
 the practice does not hurt their teeth, which, if 
 we are to judge from what we see, are the whitest, 
 cleanest, and soundest part of their body. 
 
 At the present time Cairo is full of pilgrims 
 about to start on their pilgrimage to Mecca, 
 and either it is fancy or fact that the devout 
 people are not fair to look upon. Assuredly they 
 are a long way from godliness, if cleanliness 
 be a mark of approximation to the beauty of 
 Mahometan holiness. Such picturesque, scowling, 
 monoptical old vagabonds look up at the infidels 
 with an unpleasant light in the only visual ray 
 directed against our persons ! They are smok- 
 ing in doorways, or at the shop fronts, or are 
 slouching in their grandly draped figures (no 
 matter how poor the texture of the robe, it 
 is sure to be well put on) — sombre, grave, if 
 not sad or fierce looking. Sometimes, oh ! 
 horror ! — cometh one in a huge pair of horn
 
 III.] LOOKS AND WORDS. 53 
 
 spectacles, incongruous with beard and turban. 
 But be it noted, by the way, that the Egyptian 
 hereabouts is not grandly bearded like some of 
 our Indian friends — Sikhs for example ; or like 
 Asiatic Turks and Syrians. At times a blind, 
 
 vindictive, but sincere, Mahometan, led by a boy, 
 approaches, cursing in good set terms all infidels 
 in general, and your Highness in particular, in 
 that your domestic has driven him against the wall,
 
 54 BOULAQ. [chap. 
 
 which is not always the place of honour in the 
 East. I am not quite sure that the ladies, as 
 being more pious than the men, are not also more 
 unkindly in look; but it is hard to judge from a 
 veiled face. 
 
 The carriages drove through the gateway of the 
 Palace, which is also a barrack, and the sentries, 
 at the sight of the viceregal livery and runners, 
 seemed in doubt whether to turn out the guard or 
 not, but gave the guard the benefit of it. 
 
 We passed on board the steamer, and were soon 
 running down the Nile. The wind was exceed- 
 ingly strong, and by no means warm. But a 
 terrible fate sits behind the wanderer in distant 
 lands, and impels him to do all sorts of un- 
 pleasant things to himself. The steamer shot by 
 the Arsenal, where repose in inglorious peace the 
 implements, which a Viceroy imported without 
 the workmen, and found too late he could not 
 work. The lower part of Cairo is not often seen 
 by strangers now, as the rail has put the old 
 route by water from Alexandria long time out of 
 date. But it is worthy of a visit, if it be only for 
 a view of the tumble-down picturesque old houses, 
 hanging over the water, ready to fall into it 
 on the least provocation, and the long lines of
 
 III.] WILD DUCKS. 55 
 
 the native boats, witli tlieir crews of diverse looks 
 and sorts, and enormous yards, some more than 
 a hundred feet long, drawn up by the shore, or 
 bowling along with the wind, or beating across the 
 river. There are also many kiosks and palaces to be 
 seen, steam pumps for irrigating the land, side by 
 side with the patriarchal water-wheel and double 
 bucket. Much to be admired at is the pertinacity 
 with which people spend their money in building 
 walls of masonry, jetties^ and quays, by the banks of 
 the wily and unconquerable old Nile, who bores into 
 and splits and searches them out in their inner 
 places, and rifts them up and topples them over. 
 The ruins abound nevertheless, like most warnings 
 and awful examples — fruitless of good. Palace 
 succeeds palace. They are only two storeys high, 
 flat-roofed, with Venetian blinds to the windows, 
 and very plain outside, being generally washed in 
 grey, blue, and white; but each has its mirrors, 
 chandeliers, carpets, and furniture. Apparently 
 there is no idea of repairing or doing up one of 
 these residences. "When a great man's house be- 
 comes shabby, he builds him another. 
 
 It was most interesting and exciting to watch 
 the incredible multitudes of wild duck which rose 
 from the water on the ajDproach of the steamer.
 
 56 THE GRAND BARRAGE [chap. 
 
 They did not mind the native sail-boats coming 
 within a hundred yards, but paddled off from 
 all comers to that distance, and were quite wary 
 enough to test skill and patience. Among them 
 were occasionally flocks of geese, which kept by 
 the shores, some few flights of teal, flocks of pintail 
 and crested widgeon. One lovely sheldrake on a 
 bank quite invited a long shot ; but we were not out 
 for sporting; "and let the sportsman note," as old 
 Izaak Walton says, that this latter end of January 
 is a trifle too late for Upper Nile shooting. The 
 duck are now going North, and are congregating 
 in the waters, between Alexandria and Cairo, where 
 there is still excellent snipe shooting, as many 
 as a hundred couple between breakfast and dusk 
 being possible in some places to a good shot. 
 
 In an hour and a half or so we came in sight 
 of the Grrand Barrage, which far exceeded the con- 
 ception we had formed of it. The project of Linant 
 Bey, a Frenchman in the Egyptian service, was to 
 construct two great dams across the two branches 
 of the Nile, which divides here, and forms a large 
 island, so as to keep up the level of the waters to 
 a height which would permit canals cut at the 
 sides to irrigate the country after the Nile had 
 sunk below the high- water mark; in other words.
 
 III.] OF THE NILE. 57 
 
 to maintain a constant water-liead for the purposes 
 of fertilizing many thousands of acres. To form an 
 idea of such an undertaking, we must fancy what it 
 would he to throw a harrier across the Thames at 
 Greenwich, in the height of a full tide running 
 down, with this exception, that the hottom of 
 the Thames would afford much greater facility for 
 laying the foundations, for the Nile bed is for many 
 feet only soft mud. The appearance of the whole 
 structure is so very light and graceful, that the 
 spectator is apt to overlook the difficulty and the 
 greatness of the work itself. The Barrage is archi- 
 tecturally very beautiful, with a noble front and a 
 grand general effect, produced by a line of castel- 
 lated towers which mark the site of each of the 
 sluice-gates. There are also two lofty crenellated 
 towers in the centre of the dam, to correspond 
 with towers over the gateway at each end. The 
 towers on the right-hand side are constructed with 
 small sentry-box-like chambers inside ; but they 
 were not used as sentry-boxes, though there was 
 a guard of soldiers at each end of the dam. As far 
 as I could count, there are sixty-two arches in the 
 Barrage. They are made of carved stone, and rise 
 to a height of some forty or fifty feet above the 
 river. A considerable number of the sluices were
 
 58 THE GRAND BARRAGE [chap. 
 
 down, and the Nile was raised six feet above the 
 level ; but in the middle, where the flood-gates were 
 open, the water was rushing through with immense 
 rapidity, and in great volume. They do not 
 venture to put down all the gates, because the 
 pressure of such a vast mass of water would, it 
 is feared, bear down the whole Barrage before 
 it. But would that be the case if the intended 
 canals were ready to carry off the upraised waters ? 
 There is at present only one canal, which irrigates 
 a portion of country of most fertile character, and 
 of great importance in consequence of its vicinity 
 to Cairo, on the right bank. Why this canal is 
 insufficient to carry off the water, or whether it be 
 really so, could not be exactly ascertained, as the 
 communication between the Eg}^tian officers in 
 charge of the works and ourselves was not always 
 easily established. But it seems to be the rule to 
 declare that the Barrage has not done its work — that 
 it is a complete failure ; or, to use the words of Mr. 
 Murray, that " the works have ended in being a very 
 useless impediment in the river." There is a lock 
 and sluices at the side of the river, on the right 
 bank, which permit the navigation to be carried on 
 without any considerable impediment. Now, in Mr. 
 Fowler's opinion — which is that most men of com-
 
 III.] OF TEE NILE. 59 
 
 mon sense would come to without examining the 
 question from an engineering point of view and with 
 special knowledge of the subject — the Barrage must 
 be regarded as a great work not yet completed, or in 
 a state of imperfect development, not as a failure 
 at all. When the Viceroy's financial position will 
 permit the execution of the large schemes which he 
 contemplates for the improvement of the country, 
 there is reason to think the original design will not 
 fall short of the full measure of good which it was 
 calculated it would effect. 
 
 The boat was made fast to the side of the 
 quay of the first of the Dams, where a group of 
 Egyptian officials connected with the Ponts et 
 Chaussees awaited us, and behind them a crowd 
 of syces, with horses, apparently belonging to a 
 cavalry regiment. As there was an exceedingly 
 cold wind, the party preferred to walk along the 
 Barrage, which is broad, and well protected by a 
 cement or chunam floor, over which animals and 
 light traffic can pass easily. The Egyptian officers 
 proceeded to show the construction of the sluices, 
 which are formed of double cones of hollow iron, 
 in a semicircular form, working on radii of rods 
 fixed to a central axis at each side of the sluice- 
 gate. These double cones increase in size from
 
 60 THE GRAND BARRAGE. [chap. 
 
 the lower part of the curve to the top, and the 
 lowest, which are the largest, fill with water as they 
 descend into the bed prepared for them in the 
 masonry at the bottom of the sluices. The labour 
 of two men at the crank raised one very slowly 
 against the great pressure of the water from its 
 bed; when the gate was lowered, it was easy to 
 understand the advantage of the curved surface 
 in pressing obliquely against, instead of directly 
 opposing, the current. At the other side of 
 the Dam, near the end of the causeway, a series 
 of strong earthworks, facing the south and west, 
 was visible. These works are evidently meant as a 
 tete-de-pont, and a small amount of labour would 
 soon make them fit for use in war-time. On the 
 right of the causeway leading to the Dam, there 
 is a large native village, in which the soldiers 
 engaged in guarding the bridge were quartered. 
 Here were the usual groups of veiled women and 
 half-naked children, and fellahs, sugar-cane in hand 
 and mouth. There is probably a toll leaded on 
 the traffic, carriers and passengers, over the Barrage, 
 for several uneasy-looking people started up at our 
 approach as if to demand their fees. But the 
 Viceroy's friends do not pay for anything, and we 
 passed on, and dawdled about whilst the engineer-
 
 III.] A PEACEFUL SCENE. 61 
 
 ing details underwent elaborate descrijDtion and 
 discussion. 
 
 Two girls, closely veiled, were walking by the 
 river-side near us. An old Egyptian rushed out of 
 the guard-house, and shouted to them; the young 
 ladies at once turned and shuffled along at a 
 trot into a place of safety. What harm did the 
 ancient man of Egypt suppose we could do to the 
 ladies whom he warned off so peremptorily? We 
 were not all so fair to look upon that he thought 
 their peace of mind was in danger, and they only 
 showed us their eyes through a slit in a black 
 mask with a piece of reed jealously barring the 
 bridge of their dear noses. But so it was, and we 
 were obliged to be content with the aspect of the 
 village from afar, and with observing the manners of 
 certain respectable Moslems, who came one after 
 another to the lock-head, spread their carpets on the 
 stones, and devoutly said their prayers and bowed 
 their heads to the ground, standing and kneeling 
 alternately. 
 
 It was a pleasant and peaceful scene; the 
 swallows wheeled around us boldly; the large pied 
 kingfisher flopped into the stream close at hand, 
 and the little ox-eyed dotterel ran along the banks 
 in constant activity. Far away, the tops of the
 
 62 AN INTRENCHED CAMP. [chap. 
 
 Pyramids rose above the belt of date palms which 
 barred the horizon, and the tall lateen sails of 
 the river-boats glided as if free to steer their 
 course over field and meadow. But there is not 
 much time for strangers in the land to take their 
 ease. Poor victims ! if they come so far to see, 
 why see they must ; just as in some country houses 
 visitors are persecuted by daily programmes founded 
 on the horrible hypothesis that they must all and 
 each be always doing something and going some- 
 where, travellers are presumed to be dissatisfied if 
 they are ever left in peace. Away back again, over 
 the Barrage to the right bank of the Nile, where 
 our steeds await us, and then in a procession, some 
 preferring the safety offered by a seat on the back 
 of the placid donkey, others on hard-bitted jun- 
 keting nags, we canter along a narrow and dusty 
 road across the -Delta to the other great Barrage 
 which forms the dam across the Damietta branch of 
 the Nile. It resembles the work over the Eosetta 
 branch in most respects, but it is in a more 
 secure condition ; perhaps some day, not far distant, 
 thanks to the new water-works, it will turn out 
 of vast utility. Just now, however, the object of 
 the works around it seems to be intended for war 
 rather than for peace. We were in the midst of
 
 III.] THE INEVITABLE LUNCH. 63 
 
 a very considerable military position, in the nature 
 of an intrenched camp, with a wet ditch and 
 strong parapets, on which are abeady mounted 
 some of the armament. An enemy marching on 
 Cairo must either mask these worts, or take the 
 chance of leaving a powerful corps in his rear. It 
 is quite obvious that the city is immensely corrobo- 
 rated by the existence of the works covering the 
 heads of the Dams, and by the intrenchments, 
 within which an army of 20,000 men could be 
 well covered. Some of our party attempted to 
 mount the parapet, to get a view of the surround- 
 ing country, but they were ordered down by the 
 sentries. There were hundreds of workmen en- 
 gaged in deepening and widening the bed of 
 the canal which is to irrigate the Delta, and 
 will, it is to be hoped, prove a permanent blessing 
 to the country — for it is a blessing to have crops 
 five or six times a year, is it not? — a blessing to 
 somebody far away, if not to the growers. What 
 other favours of Heaven may follow who can say ? 
 As in all excursions, as long as we were the Vice- 
 roy's guests, there was a lunch to be eaten. We 
 were conducted to a pleasant little kiosk in a garden 
 full of trees, where a repast was spread with 
 the usual profusion — champagne, hock, claret, bur-
 
 64 THE PROFESSOR AND THE ASS [chap. 
 
 gundy, sherry, seltzer water, caviare, curries, pate 
 de foie gras, hot and cold dishes of fish, flesh, and 
 poultry, salads, dessert ad infinitum — coffee and 
 pipes to follow. The gardener sent in bunches 
 of flowers, and the table was loaded with mandarin 
 oranges, apples, and exotic fruits. 
 
 A circumstance not in any way connected with 
 the dessert distinguished our return. The Egyptian 
 ass is a very useful animal — all asses are useful in 
 their way ; but in no country in the world is 
 donkey power so largely employed as in the land 
 of the Nile. No matter what horses, carriages, 
 and chargers may be in waiting, there is sure to 
 be a succursale of the humble creature which 
 bears so much of Egyptian life on its back. So 
 in this present case, our locomotive powers were 
 in due course augmented by the accession of a 
 number of the asses of the land; and on one of 
 these a learned and valued Professor, who can 
 clothe a valley of dry bones with flesh, and 
 open their old skeleton secrets with the keys of 
 science, sat himself down, and prepared to trot oflf 
 gaily, amid the noise of the captains and the 
 shoutings. But the animal was of a morose dis- 
 position — -jealous of the paces of the high horse; 
 bent on teaching the Professor a lesson of its own
 
 III.] IN EQUILIBRIUM. 65 
 
 on the force of the laws of gravitation. It be- 
 came evident, from a certain oscillating motion, in 
 which the Professor's seat on the saddle was the 
 centre and his head the arc of part of a circle, that 
 the lesson was likely to come off, along with the 
 corpus delicti, very soon. Genius is fertile in re- 
 sources, and so is the donkey boy. The former, in 
 the person of the Professor, called on the latter, and 
 the latter called to his fellows, and in a few seconds 
 our friend appeared with a satrap on each side. 
 He sat his donkey, as it were on a throne, proudly 
 and securely, his legs pendulous and sweeping the 
 ground, his arms cast round the neck of the two 
 children of Ishmael, one on each side, who pre- 
 served his equilibrium as if he were Europa herself. 
 And thus he gained the end of his land journey, 
 and alighted amidst the congratulations of his 
 friends — and who with him and near him are 
 not? — on his own feet, and at the end of his 
 journey. After a pleasant ride back to the steamer, 
 with many salaams to the officials, we proceeded 
 on our way towards Cairo. 
 
 There was a glorious sunset to welcome us, 
 just as there had been a rainbow of transcendant 
 brightness and beauty to herald our downward 
 journey. As its rays brought out the Gizeh Pyra- 
 
 F
 
 6Q A SUNSET IN CAIRO. [chap. hi. 
 
 mids boldly and sharply, and turned the hue of 
 the palm, trees into deep ebon on our right, they 
 struck the landscape on the left with many-coloured 
 fingers ; and house, and field, and tree responded to 
 the touch, and warmed into an outburst of gorgeous 
 splendour, framed by the. waters of the river, on 
 which were reflected the lower part of the picture, 
 amid a mass of slender spars and lofty sails. 
 
 It was nearly dusk when we reached the city, and 
 it needed many cries to prevent our chariot making 
 a Juggernaut-like track through the narrow streets. 
 In the fields on either side, among the water- courses 
 and sugar-canes, the watch-fires flickered in the centre 
 of the family groups encamped there for the night, 
 with horses, camels, asses, and goats around them.
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE WEATHER. VISITS. THE SUEZ CANAL. ISMAILIA. 
 
 PORT SAID. SUEZ. CAIRO. 
 
 January 25tli. — To an invalid, who expected to find 
 an agreeable warm morning to greet liim on his 
 awakening, the weather at 8 a.m. would have been 
 disappointing. There was neither fog nor frost, 
 nor raw east wind; but though the air was pure 
 and light, there was a sharpness in it, which 
 suggested the use of a warm coat or a brisk walk. 
 As the road before the Palace, which, by the way, 
 is also the thoroughfare to the fashionable drive, 
 is not in first-rate condition, an army of children, 
 boys and ghls, has been turned on to cut down 
 the hillocks and fill up the hollows. It was painful 
 to watch the little creatures, toddling about with 
 baskets of earth on then- heads, and bags of the 
 same held against their stomachs with both hands, 
 
 F 2
 
 68 TEW FIE PASHA. [chap. 
 
 while task-masters, rod in hand, stood by to 
 stimulate their energies. Still they seemed merry 
 enough, and if they did not execute very much 
 work, they probably gave full value for the few 
 piastres they received for their labour. 
 
 After breakfast, Tewfik Pasha, the eldest son of 
 the Viceroy, accompanied by Mourad Pasha, came to 
 the Palace to return the Duke of Sutherland's visit, 
 and the rest of the party were presented to him. 
 He is seventeen years of age, of middle stature, 
 slight, good-looking, with an agreeable smile and 
 fine dark eyes. He was dressed plainly in the 
 Turkish- cut frock-coat, with the eternal fez or 
 tarboosh on his head, and a star on his breast. 
 Pipes were brought in, but His Highness only 
 held the amber to his lips, and did not smoke. 
 The conversation was sliort, and the incident not 
 very remarkable ; but an interest attaches to the 
 young gentleman, as he is heir-apparent to the 
 Viceregal throne under the new dispensation, which 
 overturns the ancient law, and fixes the succession 
 in the elder line, excluding the Viceroy's brother, 
 Mustafa Pazil Pasha, and creating, it is said, much 
 uneasiness in the minds of the Faithful. That the 
 change must be salutary in its general efiect on the 
 Viceroyalty cannot be doubted; for of all the mis-
 
 IT.] DEPARTURE FOR TS3fAILlA. 69 
 
 fortunes, in regard to its rulers, to which a countiy 
 like Egypt can be subject, none, perhaps, are 
 more formidable than intrigues and disturbances 
 connected with a disputed succession. It is feared, 
 however, by those who see the advantages of 
 the change, that in the event of the Viceroy's 
 death, a little pressure, and a great deal of other 
 influence, may procure a new firman from Constan- 
 tinople. 
 
 According to arrangement, the party started for 
 the Suez Canal in the afternoon. There was first 
 a small difficulty to be got over. They were the 
 Viceroy's guests, but M. de Lesseps is King of the 
 Canal, and he had invited Mr. Towler and Professor 
 Owen to join in the excursion. Although His High- 
 ness has a couple of summer residences along the 
 route, he could not give the party the same facilities 
 for seeing the Canal. If they did not accept the 
 hospitality of M. de Lesseps, they would have had 
 to camp out, sending tents and horses and food to 
 various stations ; not to say a word of the harassing 
 of governors and deputy-governors, and the trouble 
 about boats and steamers all along the line. The 
 Viceroy gave orders that a special train was to be 
 at the Duke's disposal, and thus the two parties 
 were comfortably amalgamated.
 
 70 THE CAIRO STATION. [chap. 
 
 The scene at the station was very strange to a 
 new-come Europe man. A train was about starting, 
 and the open cars were thronged by a very vociferous 
 — nay, screaming — swarm of Egyptians, Turks, 
 Syrians, and Arabs, who struggled for places with 
 the utmost apparent ferocity, but submitted at once 
 to the law of the stronger. This was frequently 
 administered by the servants of the railway, through 
 the simple agency of a thick stick. Wonderful 
 was the strange noise which rang out of the 
 skulls of most respectable-looking persons on the 
 application of this cogent bye-law ; and admirable 
 the submissiveness and peace produced by the second 
 or third decision of the court ! There was as much 
 shouting on the platform as in the carriages. Cer- 
 tain of the latter were shut in and latticed closely, 
 being reserved for women of rank, simple enough 
 in their tastes and food, judging by the supplies of 
 dates, oranges, and water, handed in through the 
 windows by their sable attendants. The women 
 sat crouched in groups by themselves, and did not 
 always leave the men the squabble-making and con- 
 troversy. Sundry stolid religieux, bound for Mecca, 
 with all their goods in a bundle the size of a hat- 
 box, and with a water-bottle and some dried beans 
 as their sole viaticum, regarded the confusion as a 
 
 I
 
 IV.] M. DE LESSEPS. 71 
 
 part of the sufferings to whicli the pilgrimage is 
 subject. It is surely a thorn in the flesh of the 
 staid stay-at-home Moslem, that they should he 
 obliged by their faith to undertake such a distasteful 
 journey as soon as they can afford it, after paying 
 all just debts, and providing for their wives and 
 families. 
 
 At the station, M. de Lesseps, who was ac- 
 companied by Count Waldstein, M. Voisin, M. 
 Le Clercq, &c., met the party, and the special train 
 got off at 2.45 P.M. for Ismaiha. The route of 
 the new line, which bisects a triangle of land 
 between the Nile and the old rail, affords a daytime 
 passenger an excellent opportunity of seeing the 
 best part of a fertile and well- watered district. 
 M. de Lesseps was of course irresistible. He 
 proves as conquering when he deals with mind as 
 he has done in his conflict with matter ; and as the 
 train rattled unevenly towards Ismailia, he made 
 the Desert smile with his fanciful, and perhaps well- 
 founded, dissertations on the land of Groshen, the 
 route of the ancient Israehtes, the wandering of 
 the Tribes, and his treatment of similar topics which 
 the locality was likely to suggest. 
 
 It is impossible to do justice to Ismailia now. 
 "Wait till we come to it somewhat later, when the
 
 72 ISMAILIA.^ [chap. 
 
 Paris of the desert was dressed out to welcome tlie 
 Viceroy and the Prince and Princess, And then 
 it will not be easy to give the least idea of the 
 strange effect of this toy city in the wilderness. 
 The French made, in a few months, a little Paris at 
 Kamiesh, in the Crimea. They established right- 
 angled streets and police ; whereas at Balaclava 
 and Kadikoi, as at Donnybrook, higgledy-piggledy, 
 tempered by the Provost Marshal, was established. 
 Kamiesh is a Tadmor, fourteen years old, in 
 ruins. What may Ismailia become? There is no 
 germ in it of long life, perhaps. But it is a 
 pretty butterfly. And may it live a thousand 
 years ! It was evening — 6 o'clock — when the train 
 reached the station. There were horses and car- 
 riages, with broad wheel-tires, to travel over the 
 sands, and a whole host of French gentlemen 
 connected with the Canal, who came to welcome 
 M. de Lesseps and his guests. In a few 
 minutes we were all settling down in various 
 chalets, to prepare for dinner. In front of my 
 window there was a boulevart parallel to a sandy 
 beach, against which waves were breaking with a 
 gentle rustle, and a lighthouse near at hand cast 
 its rays, paled by the moon, over the water. " What 
 is that ? Is it a sea, or is it a fresh- water lake ? '*
 
 IV.] LAKE TIMS AIL 73 
 
 "Neither, Monsieur. It is Lake Timsali, which 
 they tell me is Arabic for a crocodile. I re- 
 member when all you see was quite dry, but it is 
 now thirty feet, aye ! and forty deejD, in places. 
 It is filled from the Mediterranean, and the water 
 is Salter than that of the sea itself, but it is full 
 of fish. It was made by M. de Lesseps." 
 
 At dinner there were some forty persons present, 
 among them two ofiBcers of a French frigate, which 
 has been carefully exploring the Eed Sea, and has 
 found out an excellent channel free from reefs, 
 rocks, or shoals, from Suez to Aden. 
 
 Next morning, early — too early for most of us — 
 we were awakened, and descended to a light meal 
 of coffee and bread, and as 7 o'clock struck, we 
 were on our way to La Mathilde, a little steamer, 
 which was to take the party to Port Said on the 
 Mediterranean. It was a Canal day indeed ! Never 
 were men so plied with questions. There were 
 M. de Lesseps, M. Yoisin (who is a Bey, by the 
 bye), and M. Guichard, and M. de la Eoche, 
 and M. Le Clercq, and sundry others, to each 
 of whom was attached a sedulous Britisher, bent 
 on informing his mind and finding out some 
 weak point in the Canal, and full of doubts and 
 suspicions. The perseverance of these gentlemen
 
 74 PORT SAID. [chap; 
 
 was not, however, too much for the temper and 
 tact of the French officials. Mr. Fowler began 
 to admit that the engineers knew their business, 
 and that they had accomplished a great deal — nay, 
 that the Canal was "a very considerable work." 
 In the evening — an hour before sunset — spires 
 and masts were visible above the level banks, 
 and beyond them the sea. 
 
 The masts and the spires marked the site of 
 Port Said. 
 
 , Two large full-rigged ships in the inner basin 
 were dressed out in flags in honour of the 
 strangers. The vessels belonged to Eussia and 
 Great Britain, and were laden with coal from Eng- 
 land, which can be got at Port Said for 44 francs 
 a ton. This " caused to reflect " one of our party, 
 at all events, whose bill for three days' chauffage 
 in his room, at a very good, but rather exalted, 
 hotel in Paris, was equal to what he would have 
 paid for one and a half ton of coal here ! There 
 were, in addition to the ships, one large bark, 
 twelve brigs and schooners, and a fleet of small 
 craft, feluccas, &c., gi^Ting a great show of acti\dty 
 and life to the port. As the Mathilde entered 
 the inner basin and glided onwards towards the 
 outward harbour, which lies between the two great
 
 IV.] " ' PORT SAID. 75 
 
 arms of masonry extending into the sea, there was 
 full opportunity to contemplate and admire the 
 extraordinary progress of this singular enterprise. 
 
 Having run down past the Western Pier, the 
 steamer turned and made for the shore end of 
 the Eastern Pier. Here we landed and inspected 
 the vast — for they are vast — preparations for 
 making the blocks of artificial stone for the piers. 
 M. de Lesseps pointed out to Professor Owen a 
 shell imb.edded in one of the blocks, and ex- 
 claimed, " There, Professor ! There 's a curious 
 fossil ! Can you make out the epoch of the for- 
 mation ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " replied the Professor. " It 's what 
 may be called a very recent formation indeed. I 
 know it, though I have not seen it before. It 's la 
 formation Lessepsienne." 
 
 Embarking in boats, we were landed at the 
 other side of the Port. Here there was a Light- 
 house to be visited, which casts its rays out to 
 sea, to guide the voyager to this port, as yet 
 unmarked in many charts, yet destined, perhaps, 
 to a great future in the commerce of the two 
 worlds. It was well worth while to chmb the 
 tortuous staircase and look do^vn from the lantern 
 gallery on the newly created town, which has
 
 76 A VIUW FROM TEE LIGHTHOUSE. [chap. 
 
 sprung up as if some great conqueror had ordered 
 an Alexandria to be founded anew. To the north 
 lay the long arms of the port, thrown out lovingly 
 to catch the coy commercial beauty which seemed 
 so little likely to spring from the foam. The sad 
 sea-shore extended east and west, marking its limits 
 on the belt of sand which separates the Mediterranean 
 from marshy salt lagoons, and the placid waters of 
 Lake Menzaleh, by a line of breaking foam. Below, 
 the town of Port Said, spacious and sandy streeted, 
 enclosing the basins in which float the ships which 
 have found out a new emporium, and the canal, like 
 a broad street, thinning away between its banks, 
 southward, into a thread. The wind blew sharply 
 from sui'ly Europe, and we descended with alacrity 
 to find shelter in the comfortable residence of the 
 Chief of the Section, where we enjoyed all that 
 hungry and weary men could expect in far better 
 known and more luxurious cities. After dinner the 
 moonlight tempted us to visit the City. Miraculous 
 are the efforts that Port Said has made to assert 
 itself as a civilized place. Dominoes, billiards, beer, 
 cigars, and music can be had by those who want 
 them ! It was observable, however, that certain 
 men with bludgeons were not dispensed with as 
 guardians of the night ; and the Oriental character
 
 IV.] THE TOWN AND ITS RESOURCES. 77 
 
 of the streets was sustained by the dogs, which 
 gambolled and growled in the moonlight, unvexed of 
 infidels. In a little cafe which we entered, there were 
 two groups of men, drinking beer, playing dominoes, 
 and smoking cigarettes, of such quaint attire and 
 ruflSanly aspect that they would have made a repu- 
 tation for a London ballet-master. With a moon- 
 light strong as day blazing in on us, we retired to 
 sleep, deeply impressed by the greatness of the work 
 we had seen, and not at all sorry that the duty of 
 seeing so much of it had been successfully terminated. 
 January 27th. — The wind was blowing strongly 
 from the west over a cold grey sea, scarcely lighted 
 yet by the faint light from the clouds in the far 
 east when we were roused from sleep. " M'sieu de 
 Lesseps ! " — (for M. de Lesseps is partout here) — 
 " il faut eveiller ces Messieurs." And, Messieurs 
 rose accordingly, each in his own frame of mind, 
 as the steps and taps and voices of his awakener 
 aroused him to a sense of his situation and duties. 
 My window looked out on the side of the "city," 
 next Lake Menzaleh, facing the south-west. There 
 lay a great expanse of dark slime, which might be 
 taken for a lake dotted with sand-banks, the seeming 
 banks being really patches of water, on which the 
 dawn cast a strange reflection. This stretched away
 
 78 LAKE MENZALEH. [chap. 
 
 to the horizon, and as the light grew stronger 
 the early cranes and flamingoes became visible 
 stalking about in search of unlucky crustaceans 
 out too late at night or up too soon in the morning. 
 Near at hand and bordering the lake a belt of 
 sand extended between the houses of the town, 
 and this was spotted by groups of dogs, or by 
 isolated figures of pious Moslems waiting for the 
 first ray of sun to begin their prayers. Draped 
 figures passed, hurrying from the Arab quarter to- 
 wards the workshops, wrapped up in their bournous 
 to keep them from the biting wind; for the air 
 nipped keenly. The sun did not shine out, but the 
 bell of the principal workshop announced the hour at 
 which all in Port Said who had work to do — and 
 who had not? — must get up. Straggling down 
 at intervals, each member of the party came to 
 his breakfast of cafe au lait, bread and diminutive 
 eggs ; and those who came last found that their 
 predecessors had acted on the principle of " first come 
 first served," and had remembered the great precept 
 of " Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera." 
 
 Before 7 o'clock some enthusiasts were already 
 improving their minds and their French by a 
 walk on the western jetty. Our charming temporary 
 residence faced the sea, and gave us a view of the
 
 IV.] THE DESERT SMILES. 79 
 
 roller-like waves beating against the long line of the 
 jetty, and of sheets of foam flying over it. In the 
 garden at the rear, the marvellous effects of fresh 
 water on the Desert soil were visible in the 
 groups of bananas, of rose lauriers, and flowering 
 plants neatly disposed in bordered plots, and fed by 
 small rigoles from the central reservoir of water, 
 ■ furnished by pipes all the way from Ismailia. The 
 trees and plants were moderately healthy looking — 
 some, indeed, fine and vigorous — but the leaves of 
 the banana are easily torn by high wind, and have 
 nothing of the trim conservatory air about them. 
 From the tall chimneys of the factories volumes of 
 smoke mingled with the dust, and the clang of 
 machinery and hammers rose above the moan of the 
 waves on the beach. The shops were open as we 
 marched through the fine soft sand which rises to the 
 instep towards the ateliers and chantiers. There is 
 the " Grand Cafe de France." Menazet, Coiffeur, 
 who sells "postiches pour dames," is shaving an 
 €arly and an ugly customer of unknown nation- 
 ality. Billiards and dominoes are yet asleep, but 
 various persons, who might have just left off play- 
 ing at them, are not ; and what with the dogs 
 romping in the streets, and groups of Arabs crouched 
 about the sheds and in the front of stalls of provi-
 
 80 DEPARTURE FROM PORT SAID. [chap. 
 
 sions, Port Said lias a busy air; though seawards 
 there is only to be seen a solitary steamer plongeur 
 depositing its load of sand far outside the jetties. 
 
 As it was desirable to get in good time to 
 Ismailia, we were obliged to forego visiting the 
 Hospital, the Church, the Cemetery, and the Arab 
 village. The latter lies to the west of Port Said, 
 and contains about 3,000 souls, to which large ' 
 accessions are being steadily made. 
 
 It was 8 o'clock when we got on board La 
 Mathilde, which lay alongside the jetty with her 
 steam up ; and having bade good-bye to our friends, 
 we set out on our way to Suez. It strikes me 
 that the name of Port Said was a mistake. To 
 most Europeans the words give the idea of a 
 mere " port," a place for landing and embarking 
 goods. The name is due to the desire of M. de 
 Lesseps to pay a compliment to the late Viceroy, 
 who w^as such a patron of the enterprise. It 
 will not be easy to change it now, and persons 
 who do not find Port Said in Guide-Books or 
 time-tables, will be astonished to hear that nearly 
 100 sail of foreign vessels came into the harbour 
 last year, and that this very day, when we leave, 
 three steamers — one of the Eussian Company, one 
 of the Messageries Imperiales, and one of the
 
 IV.] BACK TO ISMAILIA. 81 
 
 Austrian Lloyd's — will arrive to land and receive 
 goods and passengers. 
 
 The return voyage to Ismailia along the Canal 
 presented no unusual incidents. For ever the same 
 annular sand-hills bound the banks, dotted by 
 Arabs and fellahs, who find it pleasant walking by 
 the side of the water, and cream-coloured mounds 
 which hide the desert at each side — the same 
 succession of dredging machines and their atten- 
 dant flats and boats. A¥e had proof of the speed 
 of the lateen-rigged Arab boats in smooth water. 
 Two of them kept ahead of La Mathilde for more 
 than five miles, though the steamer was making 
 thirteen kilometres an hour. The Arab steersmen 
 enjoyed the contest with sombre delight. Each 
 tried to jockey the other and take his wind in the 
 most approved fashion; but when the steamer, 
 panting and puffing, overtook first one and then 
 the other, it was too much for the feelings of the 
 helmsmen ; and they turned their backs, in order 
 not to behold the victory of the infidel contrivance 
 over the plain sailing and homely agency of the 
 wind. And so to Lake Timsah and Ismailia once 
 more. 
 
 Thursday, January 28th. — Not quite so early a 
 start as usual this morning. There was an excellent 
 
 o
 
 82 DEPARTURE FOR SUEZ. [chap. 
 
 breakfast to fortify us against the day's fatigue, and 
 at 8 o'clock we were on our way to the La Mathilde, 
 which was lying at the little jetty of Ismailia. 
 What is that we see on board? A tartan plaid 
 cloak, and a smart little riding-habit ! Look again, 
 there is still another riding-hat, and another cloak. 
 And listen ! There is the ringing of silvery laughter. 
 M. de Lesseps has filled the Desert, not with flowers 
 and with pleasant watercourses only. 
 
 The Mathilde dived her bow at once into the 
 bright briny waters of Lake Timsah. It is not 
 possible by words or painting to give an accu- 
 rate impression of the newly created sea which 
 has found out its ancient bed. It is in parts 
 three-and-a-half miles broad ; but longitudinally 
 the expanse is broken by numerous islands and 
 sandbanks. Grrebes plunged deep at our approach, 
 flocks of wild duck fluttered along the surface and 
 squattered down at a safe distance; the boats of 
 Grreek fishermen were busy near the shore, and the 
 smoke of the bateaux plongeurs streaked the sky. 
 The surrounding Desert, hillocks of sand, dotted 
 Avith tamarisks, spread to the horizon. As we drew 
 farther away, Ismailia stood well out against the 
 background, and formed a fine object in the strange 
 landscape. The tall factory chimney, the white 
 
 I 
 I
 
 IV.] SHEIK ENNEDEK'S TOMB. 88 
 
 verandahed houses, the front of the street facincr 
 the lake, gave the idea of a fashionable sea-side 
 watering place. 
 
 The Fresh - Water Canal runs close by. At 
 times we see the sails of the boats which are using 
 it as a highway to Cairo rising above the desert 
 level. We now enter the cuttings from the Lake. 
 The Canal here is dredged to six metres deep, 
 and is twenty-two metres broad at the bottom. 
 Huge banks of very light sand rise high on either 
 side. There is, no doubt, some danger in this ; 
 but the Desert is covered with tufts of low 
 brushwood, and it is hoped that some growth 
 of arenarian grasses, such as there is on the Dunes, 
 may be established, to check the flying clouds. As 
 yet we are assured no positive injury has been ex- 
 perienced from them. We pass a once dilapidated 
 tomb — now renovated by the pious care of French 
 engineers — which marks the resting-place of Sheik 
 Ennedek, of whom I regret to own I can say nothing 
 except that he was a holy man, and that his memory 
 is much venerated. Even now it is not a very impos- 
 ing structure, as it might be easily mistaken for a 
 whitewashed molehill or a primitive oven ; and as 
 it stands alone in the Desert, a little way above 
 Toussoum, it is not likely Sheik Ennedek will 
 
 G 2
 
 84 THE GREAT DREDGES. [chap. 
 
 ever have occasion to anathematize the disturber 
 of his ancient bones. In half an hour the party 
 came to the end of the Canal southwards from 
 Lake Timsah. The cutting here is very deep — 
 some seventy feet apparently ; and the water floated 
 a large dredging machine, which was biting busily 
 away into the bank before it, and casting the 
 earth and sand into the barges, which were to 
 carry it away and deposit it in Lake Timsah. 
 There were many of these barges on their way to 
 the lake, as we came down the Canal. The sight 
 of this machine, working its hardest, was very in- 
 teresting. The way it is brought to bear on the 
 bed of the Canal is not novel to engineers, but to 
 ordinary mortals it seemed most ingenious. The 
 earth and sand at the end of a section are first cut 
 down and carted away by men, camels, asses, and 
 mules, till a flat surface, the breadth of the canal, is 
 left, a few inches above the water. The dredge is 
 brought up to this, her anchors are carried inland 
 and firmly fixed, the machinery is set to work, and 
 speedily the edges of the buckets, tooth-Hke, bite in 
 and fill their stomachs with the earth. As we landed 
 from La Mathilde, a proof of the immense energy 
 of fishes in seeking new pasture, and of their enter- 
 prise in exploration, was afibrded to us. A couple
 
 n.] STRANOE FISH. 85 
 
 of Grreek or Italian sailors were casting a net close 
 to the dredge, witliin a few feet of the fast-yielding 
 bank. At every throw the net came up with a fair 
 haul of fish. Tliey varied from -lib. to 31b. each, 
 and consisted of five distinct species — one, a large- 
 eyed, very deep fish, with broad scales, like our 
 sea carp; another like a sea bream; and two which 
 looked like varieties of grey mullet. Professor Owen 
 did not see them, I think, and I am not able to 
 assign their true character. These fish had groped 
 their way from Lake Timsah, and as that lake 
 was filled from the Mediterranean, very soon there 
 will be between the fishes of that sea and of the 
 Eed Sea a meeting, after many roving years, of 
 those that had been long estranged, which may 
 prove most distressing to future geologists. AVlio 
 knows what M. de Lesseps may have to answer 
 for on that head? A -vasit to the fish markets 
 at Alexandria and Suez enables one to appreciate 
 the vast difference between the denizens of the seas 
 of the middle earth and those which swarm in 
 tropical waters around their coral reefs. It is 
 evident the fish of the Canal will make ac- 
 quaintance with strange bed-fellows on the sf)awn- 
 ing grounds. Maybe the shark, now a visitor to 
 the Nile, and a visitor, parens et infrequens, to
 
 86 CHALOUF. [chap. 
 
 the waters of Alexandria, will take a turn up and 
 down the Maritime Canal ere long. 
 
 At Serapeum the preparations for turning the bed 
 of the Bitter Lakes into a series of inland seas were 
 going on with activity. The principal object of the 
 engineers is to construct a dam-head to arrest the 
 flow of the waters from the Mediterranean through 
 Lake Timsah, and to form an enormous reservoir from 
 which the overflow will be discharged into the Lakes. 
 Careful investigations have led to the conclusion that 
 it will need about five months to fill the enormous 
 area of the Bitter Lakes, so as not to damage the 
 works, or impede the progress of the labourers in 
 the other parts of the Canal. It is a vast enterprise 
 to let the waters of two oceans into a basin upwards 
 of 100,000 acres in extent. 
 
 The party mounted horses and made for Chalouf, 
 to which we came after a pleasant canter over the 
 Desert. The station consists of a few houses of 
 wood, and workshops, erected on a small plateau of 
 sand. Here there have been some very curious 
 remains dug up — sharks' teeth (one of which Pro- 
 fessor Owen carried off with glee), wood-work appa- 
 rently belonging to an ancient sluice in the Canal 
 of Pharaoh Necos, some hieroglyphicized tablets, and 
 a part of a monohthic image. It may be noted that
 
 IV.] OLD AND NEW CANALS. 87 
 
 a traveller will find tlie sign-board at any rate of a 
 "Hotel du Canal Maritime" there. It was 1.30 
 P.M. when we halted, and after lunch we mounted 
 our horses once more, and rode to the station of the 
 Suez railway, where we bade farewell to the fair 
 ladies, whom we most likely were never to see again, 
 and watched them flying at full speed over the 
 Desert back to Ismailia, till they were hid by the 
 intervening sand-hills. The party crossed the old 
 canal of Pharaoh Necos (Darius' Canal), which has 
 been filled with fresh water, and a special carriage 
 and engine took us on towards Suez. 
 
 Sails and boats were visible on our left, where the 
 Fresh- Water Canal and the Maritime Canal run 
 almost parallel to the railroad. To complete the 
 civilized air of the place, once sacred to solitude, 
 sand, simooms, and Bedouins, telegraph posts and 
 wires flank our course. Once more, after a run of 
 half an hour, we left the railroad, and, mounting 
 a fresh set of horses, proceeded along the line of 
 the Canal works to Suez. They presented a very 
 striking picture. The work here is very much 
 like that in the northern sections, when the Canal 
 was first begun. Salt blocks, and earth, and sand, 
 and stone are being cut away, by the incessant 
 exertion of upwards of 7,000 men. The course of
 
 88 TRE GREAT CUTTINGS. [chap. 
 
 ,the Canal is marked out in sections, separated by 
 dams of various thicknesses and heights. As we 
 rode along the bank, formed of the earth excavated 
 by these hybrid multitudes, we beheld such a scene 
 of activity as Egypt never saw since the days of 
 the Pyramids. A Londoner may form some idea of 
 it by a peep into a great cutting of the Metro- 
 politan Railway — if he fancies it ten times as broad 
 and five times as deep, and fills it in his mind's eye 
 with camels, asses, and half-naked Grentiles from all 
 the swarming multitudes of the East. At intervals, 
 on the banks, are fixed steam-engines, which drag 
 up laden carts on one line of rail to discharge their 
 contents over the rapidly increasing embankment 
 at each side, whilst the empty carts are let down on 
 another line of rails by a chain, so that the two lines 
 are worked simultaneously. The soil is of a mixed 
 character. Sometimes there is a section of clay, like 
 that of the Lower Nile bed — sometimes calcareous 
 limestone — sometimes sand ; the amount of infil- 
 tration between the beds necessitates the use of 
 engines to pump out the intensely salt water. The 
 native workmen often sleep in the recesses, or in holes 
 cut in the side, of the banks they have made, 
 covered with loose planks. At every hundred paces 
 or so there is a rude cabin made of nailed deal
 
 IV.] BUEZ IN SIGHT. 80 
 
 boards, in which the European, whatever he may be 
 — rrenchman, Italian, or Greek — has his domicile. 
 Tor seven or eight miles we rode along the 
 bank of this curious highway, crossing culverts, 
 riding under water ducts, where the steam-engines 
 were pumping out water or letting down trucks, and 
 continually intercepting lines of asses and camels 
 passing up and down the incline between the top of 
 the bank and the bottom of the Canal. At last, far 
 away, the high mountains over Suez came in sight, 
 and presently we beheld the masts of ships in the 
 road, and the houses of Suez itself. A few minutes 
 more, and we see at the end of the vast trench the 
 gi'eat arm of an elevator, which must be afloat. 
 Asrain a few minutes, and there lies a filled canal 
 before us. We dismount and leave our horses to 
 the syces. There is a steamer waiting at the dam- 
 head. "We embark. A few kilometres more, and 
 there comes another dam in view. We land here, 
 and walk along the bank of the Canal, not yet filled, 
 but deeply cut and scooped out, and alive with 
 labourers. Prom the top of the bank a wide 
 expanse of sand, now and then submerged by 
 the sea, stretches away to Suez on our right. On 
 the left, across the Canal, a sad fawn-coloured 
 desert spreads over to the liills which rise above
 
 90 ON THE RED SEA. [chap. 
 
 the undulating lowlands of Arabia. It was almost 
 with, a sense of awe we looked at the Eed Sea far 
 away, waiting so tranquilly to be let in to its old 
 domains. Our walk is terminated by another dam, 
 at the far side of which there was a canal filled 
 with water, on which several elevators were busily 
 engaged. Here two steam-launches awaited us. We 
 embark once more. This time we are at the end of 
 our journey. 
 
 " Messieurs ! nous flottons maintenant sur les 
 eaux de la Mer Eouge!" The sun had set in a blood- 
 red arch over " the Plain of the Wandering " ere we 
 embarked, and our course down the Canal was only 
 lighted by the lanterns in the vessels. But the lights 
 of Suez could now and then be seen astern of 
 us, on our starboard side. The steamers were 
 fast, and in less than an hour we had turned 
 the end of the long jetty which runs into the sea 
 and marks the course of the canal, and passing 
 the Arab dows and native boats which lay along 
 the course of the newly-formed pier on the western 
 side of the entrance, landed at the Hotel Pier. 
 What a change in Suez since I saw it in 1858! 
 When the canal works began, there were only 3,000 
 people in the town. There are now 20,000, and 
 the greater part of the increase has taken place in
 
 IV.] WORKS AT SUEZ. 91 
 
 the last year and a half. The last time I was here 
 one Egyptian sloop of war, a sailing vessel, a few 
 Arab dows, and one Peninsular and Oriental steamer, 
 were in port. There were visible, by the light of 
 the setting sun this evening, five large steamers 
 belonging to the Messageries Imperiales, two French 
 frigates, a French corvette, a French gunboat, one 
 Egyptian passenger-ship for pilgrims to Jeddah, 
 five Egyptian men-of-war, and H.M.'s transport 
 Jumna, with troops from Bombay. Ali Bey was 
 waiting to receive us, for w^e were once more the 
 guests of the Viceroy. The dinner was worthy of 
 one of the best hotels of Europe, the wines excel- 
 lent, and when the banquet was over we were in- 
 formed that there was — in Suez, mind — an excellent 
 cafe chantant, where French artistes were dehghting 
 a polyglot fez-capped public with the latest Parisian 
 songs a la Therese. 
 
 January 29th. — The early part of the day was 
 devoted to an examination of the Suez Canal Com- 
 pany. Indian passengers of a few years ago will 
 remember the great spread of sands just awash at 
 low tide, between the hotel pier and the roadstead 
 where the Peninsular and Oriental steamers were 
 wont to anchor. Well, there is now cast over this 
 a line of railway, not yet open, but nearly ready
 
 92 THE DOCKS. [chap. 
 
 for traffic, whicli will take goods and passengers 
 to and from the docks in course of construction. 
 There is also a causeway extending almost parallel 
 with the railroad to the establishment where the Suez- 
 Canal Company has formed a basin for its floating 
 materiel, with extensive offices. Here, among other 
 curious things, may be seen heaps of wooden frag- 
 ments of ships, about which M. de Lesseps has his 
 own theory. As they have been carried up by the 
 dredges, from places not far apart, it is just pos- 
 sible they may be the wrecks of the caravels which 
 were sunk in a famous sea-fight off" Suez, some 400 
 years ago, when the Portuguese, rounding the Cape, 
 found their way up here, and were encountered by 
 the Venetian galleys and the fleet of their Turkish 
 allies. 
 
 The Bassin de I'Arsenal is well worth a visit. A 
 dry dock, upwards of 400 feet long, has been made 
 by order of the Egyptian Government. This dock 
 is but a part of Port Ibrahim, but the works on 
 the basin are apparently suspended. It was sug- 
 gested by the Messageries Imperiales ; and the Vice- 
 roy, who desired to have the means of repairing 
 the vessels he keeps in the Eed Sea, gave them 
 permission to make a contract for the execution. 
 They employed M. Dussaud, whose name is weU
 
 IV.] PORT IBRAHIM. 93 
 
 known in connection with the great undertakings 
 at Cherbourg, at Marseilles, and at Smyrna. The 
 manner in which the dock has been executed does 
 credit to the firm. There was now a large Egyptian 
 vessel in it, and Captain Pickard, of the Jumna, 
 told us he had taken her in and found the dock 
 of great use. Wliilst the party were going over 
 the works, they were joined by Djemali Pasha, 
 the Egyptian admiral, a smart little man in new 
 uniform, the effect of which was somewhat impaii'ed 
 by his drawers falling down over his shoes. But 
 for his fez he might have passed muster for a 
 European flag-flier. With him were some Arab 
 ofiicers and sailors, one of whom eyed me with 
 great suspicion as I was entering little notes in 
 my drawing-book. At last his feelings were too 
 strong for him ; he stole behind the Admiral, 
 pulled his coat-tail, and directed his attention to 
 my proceedings. The Admiral looked, shrugged 
 his shoulders, and went on with an expression of 
 face which seemed to say, " I can't help it if they 
 blow up the whole port ! " 
 
 If the Suez Canal Company were the national 
 representatives of France, the Government of the 
 Viceroy might find ground for apprehension. The 
 extremity of the extended railway, the mercantile
 
 94 TROOPS FROM INDIA. [chap. 
 
 terminus, the emboucliures of the Canal, will be 
 in the hands of the Company. The entrances to 
 Port Ibrahim will be free towards the sea, but 
 towards the north-east they will be in connection 
 with the naval estabhshment, as it may be called, 
 of the Suez Canal Company. It is perfectly sure, 
 however, that not only cannot the Suez Canal 
 Company go to war with any one, but that war 
 would be one of the most terrible disasters that 
 could befall the shareholders. 
 
 Having inspected the basins and docks, the party 
 embarked in a little steamer and ran out to the 
 Jumna, which was filled with drafts of the 77th, 
 88th, 38tli Eegiments, &c., and some artillery 
 from India. The ship was as clean as a transport 
 can be with 700 men on board; but the pale faces 
 of the men, and the wan white cliildren, told their 
 tale ot barrack life in India. There was scarcely 
 a ruddy cheek, and many a very white one, among 
 the whole of the poor fellows. As we were on the 
 main deck, a little girl ran out of a group of play- 
 fellows to a hospital orderly, and exclaimed in 
 triumph, " Oh ! I 've seen the dead man ! I 've seen 
 the dead man ! " The Eed Sea exacts heavy tolls 
 from the homeward bound. 
 
 There was just time on our return to shore to
 
 IV.] ARRIVAL AV CAIRO. 95 
 
 take another run throngli the bazaars, which still 
 present a good picture of Oriental life. The old 
 back streets are wonderfully tumble-down and pic- 
 turesque, but the main thoroughfares are Judaized, 
 and Chinese pictures and Paris photographs are to 
 be had, which it would be much better not to 
 have. 
 
 At half-past 2 the party left Suez by special 
 train, and arrived in their quarters at the Palace 
 on the Schoubra Eoad, Cairo, soon after 8 o'clock. 
 
 Everything just as they left it ; rooms, servants, 
 lights, banquets. Ali Eisa went off to the Viceroy, 
 to render an account of the trip. The excursion had 
 afforded amusement and instruction to every one of 
 the party, varying, indeed, in kind. Mr. Fowler 
 was full of engineering facts and interesting details. 
 Professor Owen had added, if that were possible, 
 to the stores of his scientific knowledge. He had 
 beheld with rapture the impress of a bare foot 
 upon the desert sand, which he said filled him 
 with particular emotion, as it gave him an idea 
 how the marks read now with such interest were 
 made millions of years ago in primeval Sandstone. 
 Each entertained a different shade of belief, re- 
 specting the work itself; and if the sanguine 
 regarded the Canal as a fait accompli for the 15th
 
 96 GENERAL IMPRESSIONS. [chap. iv. 
 
 of October, others postponed the date, and be- 
 lieved it would take much more time and money 
 ere the triumph was achieved. But all were im- 
 pressed by the magnitude of the undertaking, and 
 admitted that it had attained a development for 
 which they were not prepared. In acknowledging 
 the candour and courtesy of their late companions, 
 there was a natural regret that, from various causes, 
 our countrymen had been led to look on the enter- 
 prise with a feeling stronger than coldness, and that 
 to France, or at least to Frenchmen, would belong 
 the great renown which must foUow from the com- 
 pletion of the Canal that promises to do so much 
 for the civilized world.
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 HEKEKAN BEY. THE MUSEUM AT BOULAK. KASR-EL- 
 
 NIL. THE CONSULAR TRIBUNALS. THE PRINCE AND 
 
 PRINCESS IN CAIRO. 
 
 For some clays, whilst waiting tlie arrival of tlie 
 Prince and Princess of Wales in Cairo, we had 
 nothing to do, except visit places of interest. "We 
 knew the Ariadne had left Trieste on the 27th, 
 and that she was contending with the waves of 
 the Adriatic. 
 
 The delay afforded opportunity to make pm-- 
 chases, to inspect bazaars and mosques, and to 
 partake of the hospitalities which the Viceroy was 
 bent upon dispensing. 
 
 Dining with Count Waldstein, one night, I had 
 the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Heke- 
 kan Bey, an Armenian gentleman resident in Cairo, 
 whose name is mentioned in almost every book 
 or letter written about that city. Formerly in the 
 service of the Viceroy, he has retired in his old 
 age, yet green and vigorous, to pursue his researches 
 after the mystic meaning of the old Egyptian 
 
 H
 
 98 THE BEY'S THEORIES. [chap. 
 
 monuments, and to cultivate his critical faculties 
 in the pursuit of the true character of civilization, 
 the religious, philosophical, and metaphysical 
 formulae, of which so many traces lie around him 
 in the land of his adoption. One of the old 
 regime, he is not, perhaps, so favourably impressed 
 with the somewhat violent efforts of the Grovern- 
 ment to civilize the Egyptians of to-day, as he 
 might be. A Christian, and a freemason, and a 
 mathematician, he is a profound believer in the 
 immense extent and profundity of ancient Egyptian 
 knowledge. To hear him speak, one would believe 
 that, in astronomy, the Egyptians of the time of 
 Pharaoh were, at least, as well versed as the Astro- 
 nomer Royal. His conversation was, to us all, 
 singularly interesting, instructive, and novel. Speak- 
 ing English with the greatest purity and ease (and, 
 indeed, what language does he not speak?) the 
 graceful old Armenian was wont to sit for hours 
 telling us of adventures amongst the Arabs of the 
 desert, when he was out surveying for the Grovern- 
 ment in times gone by, or propoundmg with the 
 utmost animation his astounding theories concern- 
 ing the nature of Egyptian monuments, to which 
 he attributed the deepest significance to be under- 
 stood only by the instructed.
 
 v.] A CAIRENE INTERIOR. 99 
 
 I was much interested by a Adsit which I paid 
 my friend one day at his house. It was close to 
 our so-called palace, surrounded by a lofty wall, 
 enclosing a courtyard in front and a large garden 
 in the rear. At the gateway slumbered an ancient 
 janitor, who pointed to the courtyard and called 
 out lazily to one of the servants within, when I 
 asked for his master. Three of the Bey's horses, 
 half-buried in the green pulse which is now given 
 in enormous quantities to cattle to prepare them 
 for the summer droughts, stood at one side of the 
 haJl-door in the court. A dromedary, beautifully 
 caparisoned, was in another corner, with its atten- 
 dant by its head. Some goats, were feeding in 
 another place close to a great Syrian house-dog, and 
 a couple of syces, with their heads covered, were 
 sleeping in the shade of a tree. I passed through 
 the hall to an inner court, where an Arab met me. 
 He led me upstairs to the library, where the vener- 
 able Bey sat, at a desk covered with piles of manu- 
 script in inscrutable characters, feeding on books. 
 
 About this Arab there is a little story. He is a 
 real child of the desert. When quite a boy, his leg 
 was broken by a fall from a camel. Hekekan 
 Bey set the limb, and won the man's affection so 
 thoroughly that he renounced his nomad life, and 
 
 H 2
 
 100 VOLUNTARY SLAVERY. [chap. 
 
 is now a staid domestic in the house. After a 
 while he went off to the desert, and there married 
 a woman of his tribe. But nothing would induce 
 her to abandon her people. Periodically she comes 
 to Cairo and visits her husband, and after a few 
 days she returns to the desert. Although full of 
 gratitude to the Bey for his kindness to her hus- 
 band, she has never yet let him see her face. She 
 sits veiled in his presence ; and only to the ladies 
 of his household does she uncover. 
 
 I was presented to the wife of the Bey, and to 
 the wife of his son. The latter speaks French with 
 fluency ; but I could only carry on conversation 
 with the elder lady by the assistance of the Bey, 
 who occasionally had to translate some lively in- 
 vective against his studies and pursuits from Syrian 
 into English. Cofi'ee was brought in by a young 
 negress. Slavery is prohibited in Egypt ; but, never- 
 theless, there are in the houses of nearly every 
 Egyptian, who can afford to pay for them, natives 
 of Nubia, Abyssinia, and the Soudan, in a condi- 
 tion which may be called voluntary slavery. They 
 could, we are told, go to the police-stations and 
 claim their liberty. But they do not. Some 
 doubting philosophers maintain that the abolition 
 of slavery is more a form of speech than a fact. 
 
 I
 
 v.] THE MUSEUM AT BOULAE. 101 
 
 Any way, this black handmaid would not leave 
 her home for the world. Where, indeed, could 
 she be so well off as in the house of this con- 
 siderate master, who never could regard a human 
 creature as a chattel? 
 
 One of the most pleasant excursions during 
 our stay in Cairo, was to the Museum of Antiqui- 
 ties at Boulak, a suburb on the Nile, which is 
 regarded as the port of Cairo. Every one who is 
 interested in Egyptian antiquities has heard, at all 
 events, of Mariette Bey ; but only those who have 
 seen this admirable collection can appreciate the 
 immense services he has rendered to antiquaries and 
 to historians, as only those who have conversed 
 with him can appreciate his felicity of illustration, 
 variety of knowledge, and vivacity of expression. 
 
 The preparations for the Eoyal reception received 
 some impetus or development every day. The 
 Palace in which their Royal Highnesses and suite 
 were to lodge became more brilliant with chan- 
 deliers and mirrors, and damask hangings. Bed- 
 steads of solid silver, mirrors set in costly frames, 
 luxurious ottomans, were poured into the place. 
 Dozens of gardeners were employed to force the vege- 
 tation of some flowers in the patch of sandy soil 
 between the walls of the Palace and the railing that
 
 102 EGYPTIAN PHILOSOPHY. [chap. 
 
 separates it from the street. The new theatre, or 
 circus, was pushed rapidly forward, men toiling 
 night and day. Fresh coats of paint, and more 
 gilding, were laid on the boats of the Royal flotilla. 
 A menagerie arrived. A troop of dancers. Cooks 
 were summoned from Alexandria. Stores of pro- 
 visions laid in suflBcient, one would think, for a 
 journey after Livingstone himself. 
 
 Every morning the first question asked was, " Any 
 news of the Prince and Princess?" 
 
 Ali Bey, reflecting the Viceregal emotions, became 
 uneasy. I saw him one morning, in company with 
 another Bey, sitting in our garden under a tree, 
 consoHng himself with a pipe and cofiee whilst the 
 breakfast was getting ready, " These things," said 
 he, " are in the hands of God ; He must know 
 the Prince has now been 144 hours at sea." It is 
 not an all- pervading belief in the actual presiding 
 influence of the Almighty which makes every 
 Oriental speak in some such fashion; it is a habit 
 of expression with many. The reprobate cobbler, 
 who never gives the smallest thought to the in- 
 junctions of the Koran, has an inscription over 
 his door from the sacred volume invoking the pro- 
 tection of God, and begins his day's work, or idle- 
 ness, with a pious ejaculation from the same source.
 
 v.] A FALSE ALARM. 103 
 
 On 2nd February, returning from an excursion 
 through the town, and a visit to Mr. Ivanovich's 
 remarkable collection of curiosities and antiquities, 
 the Duke received a dispatch from Colonel Stanton, 
 to announce that the Ariadne was just crossing 
 the Bar. The Viceroy was in readiness in his 
 Palace ; guards were paraded ; all the personages 
 of the Court were in full uniform ; cooks were busy 
 preparing the feast, when a later telegram announced 
 it was an error. It was the Psyche, which had been 
 taken for the Ariadne — the Soul for the Plesh — not 
 an uncommon mistake. 
 
 " What can have become of the Prince and Prin- 
 cess r 
 
 A theory was gaining ground that the Prince and 
 Princess had put into Corfu. All the official world 
 in Cairo was in a ferment. 
 
 I say "official world," because the circle over 
 which such an event exercises any influence in Egypt 
 is small indeed. Hundreds, nay, thousands of people 
 in Cairo, know nothing about the coming visit. To 
 the apathy of an Oriental race, in all matters except 
 religion, must be added an immense ignorance. 
 
 Wednesday, February 3rd. — At last they are 
 coming ! There is no doubt about it this time. 
 The Viceroy has received a telegram to report
 
 104 EGYPTIAN BARRACKS. [chap. 
 
 that the Ariadne is coming in hand - over - hand 
 towards Alexandria, with Prince and Princess on 
 board all well. 
 
 The Court was once more stirred to its depths. 
 The Viceroy's household was at once roused to the 
 fullest activity. 
 
 I have already described the palace of Kasr-el- 
 Nil. It forms but a portion of a series of large 
 buildings occupied by soldiers. As in most cities, 
 the Barrack is not far from the Palace. It would 
 teach the builders of such edifices as some home 
 barracks a lesson in some respects, if they could see 
 the amount of light and air, and at the same time 
 protection from sun and heat, which is afforded 
 in these barracks, by the arrangement of spacious 
 balconies and verandahs. The Viceroy has but to 
 look out of a window, and he will see, on one side, 
 his soldiers, horse and foot, drilling and manoeuvring, 
 beneath the shade of the trees, in the broad parade- 
 ground, and, on the other, the boat-covered Nile, 
 its banks teeming with people and vegetation. 
 
 The Zouaves of the Gruard, with a troop of Lancers, 
 were drawn up in the court, facing the palace. The 
 men appeared too big for the small active white 
 horses, by which they were standing at ease ; 
 but there was no fault to find in other respects
 
 v.] EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS. 105 
 
 with their personnel. They wear a red fez, blue 
 jacket with yellow facings, loose scarlet trousers 
 and boots, and are armed with a sabre, a lance 
 with green and j)u.rple flag, and a revolver carried 
 in the holster. Their horses were not well groomed, 
 and their accoutrements were so ill cleaned as to 
 draw an exclamation, not laudatory, from our 
 colonel. Still there is an immense improvement, 
 according to European notions, in the army, 
 since I last saw it ten years ago. In the inner 
 court we found a regiment of infantry drawn up 
 in columns of companies, which might have been 
 mistaken at a little distance for the Zouaves of the 
 Imperial Guard. A closer view would show that 
 the men were taller, and that they were more stiff 
 in bearing. A severe - looking captain was busy 
 adjusting his line, by pressing back protrusive 
 breasts with the flat of his sword, and he threw 
 down one objectionable chin with a smart tap 
 thereon. The officers, but for the fez, would 
 pass muster for those of the army of our gallant 
 allies ; gold-lace epaulettes, dark-blue frock coats, 
 small waists, baggy red trousers, patent leather 
 boots — " a sudden look they would beguile." France 
 affords the chosen model of the army of the Vice- 
 roy and Said Pasha spared no pains and expense
 
 106 THE PREPARATIONS. [chap. 
 
 to approximate as closely as he could to his well- 
 beloved beau ideal. The men are still armed with 
 muzzle-loading rifles, with cumbrous sights and 
 bright barrels. Just as with us, so here, the soldier, 
 when he has nothing to do, is best pleased to look 
 at a parade ; and the balconies of the spacious quad- 
 rangle were filled with the men of another battalion 
 gazing at their fellows. 
 
 By the wall of the Palace over the river, where 
 the boats of the Eoyal flotilla were moored, a crowd 
 of English collected about 4 o'clock. Nor, indeed, 
 were the Americans, who, next to our own people, 
 are the most numerous ^dsitors to Egypt, absent. 
 
 The railway sends ofi" a branch to the Palace, and 
 the platform abuts upon the garden, so that a 
 passenger can walk from his carriage to the porch. 
 
 Six open carriages, with coachmen, grooms, and 
 outriders, in English liveries, were drawn up in the 
 inner coui't. As the Viceroy is ^-nxious to patronize 
 both forms of civilization, he has also French 
 fourgons, Normandy horses, French postillions, 
 turned out in the unimpeachable style of M. 
 Fleury's dictatorship under the Second Empire. 
 English horses, carriages, liveries, and servants, for 
 His Highness' s personal use, are due, mainly, to the 
 influence of Mr. Smart. A guard of honour, with
 
 v.-j KASR-EL-NIL. 107 
 
 standards, was in attendance on the railway plat- 
 form ; knots of wonderfully brilliant staff officers, 
 of equerries, and aides-de-camp, formed around the 
 entrance to the Palace ; and the great officers of 
 state, in grande tenue, thronged the hall and the 
 passages. It was a very pretty scene, full of 
 colour and light, quickened by the rays of a bright 
 sun, which did not deprive the air of a keenness 
 natives and strangers agree in finding rather trying. 
 The Nile, crisped by a fresh breeze ; a regatta-like 
 fleet of lateen-rigged boats, beating, or running up 
 and down ; the shores lined with palm trees, shaking 
 their tufted crests in the wind ; the irregular out- 
 lines of houses, over which appear the tops of the 
 Pyramids, — these formed the background to the 
 picture. In the immediate front the colonnades of 
 the barracks, crowded with soldiers, the lines of 
 troops under arms, officers, and the gaily-dressed 
 crowds of ladies, forming a framework, to the front. 
 On the arrival of our party, we were shown 
 into the hall, and were summoned to the Viceroy's 
 presence. He was most anxious to know if every- 
 thing had been done for the accommodation of his 
 expected visitors ; and after a time. His Highness 
 led us into the courtyard, and descending the steps 
 to the Nile, proceeded to conduct us over the
 
 108 THE ROYAL SQUADRON. [chap. 
 
 steamers, and tlie dababealis, in wliich the Eoyal 
 party were to make the excursion up the river. 
 
 No expense had been spared to render the craft, 
 inside and out, worthy of those whom the Viceroy 
 desired to honour. Double - pile carpets to walk 
 upon ; gilt-legged damask-covered chairs to sit upon ; 
 luxurious satin couches to rechne upon ; mirrors 
 and brilliant panels to gaze upon ; devices such as 
 Cleopatra never dreamt of, were prepared for the 
 comfort of the Prince and Princess. It was puzzling 
 to decide whether they ought to live on board the 
 steamer, which was intended for their reception by 
 day, or on board the dahabeah which was fitted up 
 for their accommodation by night. 
 
 After we had admired everything sufficiently, the 
 Viceroy returned to the Palace, and I had the 
 honour of a conversation in his private reception 
 room. The question of the tribunals mainly 
 exercised him — that question which rises and meets 
 one at every turn in Egypt, and of which I have 
 heard so much since my arrival, and of which most 
 people know so little. " There are sixteen distinct 
 nations living in Egypt," said the Viceroy, "and 
 each nation is independent of my Courts, and 
 forms a distinct government of its own. They 
 administer sixteen distinct forms of justice, or, as it
 
 v.] THE CONSULAR TRIBUNALS. 109 
 
 often happens, of injustice. How is a country to 
 be governed, how are my subjects to respect the law, 
 when they see foreigners who have every privilege, 
 whilst they are exempt from every service, enjoying 
 a separate jurisdiction, and, although often opposing 
 each other, agreeing invariably in resistance to the 
 authorities of the country in which they live? I 
 ask nothing more than the formation of a court of 
 European judges, to be appointed by the Great 
 Powers, and to be paid by me, who, sitting with 
 Egyptian judges, shall conduct the trial of offences, 
 according to a code accepted by foreigners and by 
 Egyptians alike." 
 
 His Highness evidently feels more deeply upon 
 this matter than upon all or any other affecting 
 Egypt. 
 
 " Notwithstanding these tribunals," he proceeded, 
 " Egypt has prospered enormously. But we want 
 colonists. I do not mean labourers, for no European 
 could undergo the toil of the fellah who is obliged 
 to work with his body in the sun, and his feet in the 
 water, day after day, for many months ; but intel- 
 ligent artizans, workmen of various sorts, and skilled 
 mechanics, to whom my Government would offer 
 large advantages, liberal pay, and grants of land. 
 There is no fear of any fanatical opposition to their
 
 110 THE PLAGUE OF EGYPT. [cHAr. 
 
 settlement. We in Egypt are really liberal, and 
 admit tlie existence of religious differences amongst 
 us. We do not insist upon the profession of any 
 faith, as an essential condition of public service. Let 
 a man be honest and capable, and I care not whether 
 he be Armenian, Catholic, or Mussulman ; but before 
 colonization is possible, the question of the Consular 
 tribunals must be settled." 
 
 Among the causes assigned by the Viceroy for 
 some little check to the progress of Egypt recently, 
 was the epizootic. Strange to hear the Pharaoh of 
 to-day speaking of the cattle plague in terms that 
 might have been used by the King who would not 
 let the people of Israel go ! The murrain which 
 destroyed oxen, camels, sheep, and goats, did not 
 affect the buffalo. A learned Egyptian, in talking 
 of this, insinuated that the cattle of the children 
 of Israel which were exempted from the plague 
 were buffaloes ; but there appears to be no warranty 
 for this interpretation of the miracle. 
 
 From time to time there came in officers with 
 little scraps of paper to the Viceroy, and, handing 
 them to him with a low reverence, they stood till 
 His Highness had read. These were telegrams re- 
 porting the progress of the Prince and Princess. 
 " They are now an hour from Alexandria." — " They
 
 v.] THE ROYAL APPEOACIf. Ill 
 
 have had lunch." — " They are coming on again." — 
 " They have passed such a station." As the train 
 came nearer, the Viceroy vs^as more at ease ; for the 
 fear of accident, httle likely as it was, could not 
 quite be dismissed from his mind. 
 
 It was now near 5 o'clock. The last telegram 
 came in : " The Royal train is approaching Cairo." 
 
 " And now I must go and put on my uniform." 
 He had been wearing that very un-Oriental garb 
 which is in favour among Oriental personages, the 
 Quaker-cut single-breasted black frock coat. 
 
 In a few moments more we heard the whistle of 
 the engine, the officers calling the troops to atten- 
 tion in Arabic, the band on the platform striking 
 up " Grod save the Queen," which degenerated, or was 
 elevated, into that quaint air which serves as the 
 Egyptian national hymn, — wdld, martial, and not 
 unmusical. 
 
 The Viceroy passed through the garden from his 
 Palace, followed by a great crowd of his officers of 
 state, of the army, of the navy, and of his suite. He 
 wore a blue frock coat, which was a mass of gold lace 
 — that rich Egyptian lace, more golden and splendid 
 than similar manufacture in any place I have been 
 in — the riband of the Order of the Bath, and star 
 of diamonds ; a cuiwed scimitar, the hilt of which
 
 112 ARRIVAL AT THE PALACE. [chap. 
 
 seemed a great concrete of diamonds ; and the 
 universal fez, which it is impossible to ornament, 
 and which mars the effect of uniform, however 
 magnificent. He arrived on the platform just as 
 the American carriage, in which were the Prince 
 and Princess of Wales and their suite, slowly drew 
 alongside. There was a real cheer from the 
 English as the Prince and Princess appeared. 
 The Viceroy, stepping forward, welcomed them in 
 the most cordial manner, and led the way with 
 the Princess of Wales upon his arm, the Prince, 
 who wore his full uniform as a general officer, 
 being a little in advance. 
 
 There was a brief delay inside the Palace ere the 
 royal travellers reappeared. The Prince of Wales, 
 coming out first, stepped into a handsome open 
 carriage with two pair of fine English greys, and 
 took his seat with his back to the horses. The 
 Princess of Wales, leaning on the arm of the Viceroy, 
 was next handed in. Then came a little difficulty. 
 The Viceroy would insist upon the Prince changing 
 places. The Prince demurred. But who could resist 
 the Viceroy in Egypt ? And so, after this inter- 
 change of courtesies, the Eoyal party drove off, with 
 the Viceroy facing his guests, who sat in the place 
 of honom\ Tewfik Pasha handed Mrs. Grey into
 
 v.] THE ESBEKIAH PALACE. 113 
 
 the next carriage ; and the members of the suite 
 went off in order in the equipages provided for them, 
 the escort of Lancers having wheeled in after the 
 first carriage and covered the others with the dust, 
 which arises on the least provocation in Cairo. The 
 reception given to their Royal Highnesses was 
 enthusiastic. Waving handkerchiefs, upraised hats, 
 and cheers, marked the welcome of the response 
 of the English and European spectators ; but 
 when the cortege emerged from the Palace 
 gates, and passed out along the dusty road 
 towards the new Palace, they met only the 
 half-scared look of the crowd which, swept away 
 for a moment by the cavalcade against the walls, 
 fell out into the streets again, and watched 
 with a sort of languid curiosity the cloud which 
 marked the progress of the party towards their 
 new home — for home it was, so far as the Viceroy 
 could make it so. There w^as a guard of honour 
 at the gates of the Esbekiah Palace, there were 
 aides-de-camp in waiting, and the crowd of deferen- 
 tial servants in the hall. The Viceroy led his 
 guests in, showed them over the rooms, and 
 then retired. It was almost like livinsr in 
 public to be in rooms where numberless mirrors 
 turned one man into a crowd. Four-posters of 
 
 I
 
 114 THE CAIRO THEATRE. [chap. 
 
 silver, marble fountains, furniture clotted with 
 precious metals, immense chandeliers, and gigantic 
 looking-glasses in prodigious saloons, failed to give 
 the air which only can be realized in the 
 palaces of an ancient civilization, where pictures 
 and objects of art, and books, and a hundred little 
 evidences of taste, have been accumulated for gene- 
 rations. One gentleman of the suite had to sleep in 
 an apartment very like an unfinished metropolitan 
 church, with a marble floor, and a most costly 
 fountain of the same material, which in its mercy, 
 however, had given up playing. 
 
 After dinner there was a performance at the 
 theatre, to which the Prince and Princess and 
 suite went. The Viceroy received them at the opera- 
 house, and sat w^ith them during the performance. 
 It was not a theatre pare, but all the officers 
 of state were present, and the house w^as tolerably 
 well filled. In the pit there was an audience, most 
 of them wearing the fez, a few the Coptic turban, 
 others dressed in European fashion ; no ladies. The 
 boxes presented little to distinguish them, but for 
 the intrusion of the inevitable tarboosh, and the 
 quaint head-dress and faces of the negro servitors. 
 Four boxes were set apart for the suite. Directly 
 opposite the Prince and Princess were two large
 
 v.] THE HAREM BOXES. 115 
 
 boxes, next the stage, in front of which was a 
 lattice-work, from top to bottom, close and fine — 
 so close, indeed, as to render it impossible for a 
 searching opera-glass to pierce its mysteries. These 
 boxes were not empty, for a certain variation of 
 colour in the background, and a play of bright hues 
 inside, showed that the ladies of the harem, nearly 
 invisible to the outer world, were inside seeing every- 
 thing. Was it because a gap at the lattice-work 
 allowed a curious stranger to get a glimpse of a 
 face within, that an envious mat was suddenly thrust 
 into it by a black-faced, beardless gentleman in 
 attendance ? It is said that the Viceroy is meditating 
 a great coup. That lattice-work is some day to 
 disappear, and the ladies of the court are to sit 
 unveiled in the presence of the people. But that 
 day, from all I can hear, must be long distant. 
 The pieces — " Le Serment d'Horace " and " Con- 
 tributions Indirectes " — imported from the Palais 
 E-oyal, seemed not unsuited to the Cairo audience. 
 They took the points, laughed at the jokes, 
 applauded the morceaux when the Viceroy deigned 
 to nod; and if there was a little broadness 
 of tone in dialogue and acting, there was 
 certainly nothing of the wantonness of undress 
 which we see at home in Cliristmas panto- 
 
 I 2
 
 11(5 STREET ARABS. [chap. 
 
 mimes. The theatre is about the size of the 
 Haymarket. There is a cafe attached to it, a 
 restaurant, a bouquetiere, bills of the play, and a 
 saloon where smokers congregate between the acts. 
 And when you go out into the street, there is the 
 fellah lying on the bare earth, wrapped in his cloak, 
 and the wild dogs baying the moon, and the police 
 calling out the Arab watchwords of the night. 
 
 The contrast is striking to a stranger, because 
 he is looking out for such anomalies. Perhaps 
 if he were passing through the purlieus of Drury 
 Lane or Covent Grarden after the performance of 
 play or opera, he would, on examination, discover a 
 more discordant, significant, and terrible antithesis. 
 The fellah is not a freeborn Briton with innume- 
 rable proud privileges — he is to the manner born, 
 and can sleep where and how he lists, without 
 fear of vagrant laws, police cells, or magistrates. 
 When I was conversing with the Viceroy to-day, 
 I took the liberty of expressing the regret with 
 which I saw childi-en of tender years employed 
 mending the streets of Cairo, in charge of task- 
 masters. His Highness regretted it too ; but he 
 had his retort. 
 
 " You have also in London, my dear, your little 
 Arabs — vos Arabes de la rue. T have seen them. 
 
 I
 
 v.] SMITING THE EGYPTIANS. 117 
 
 I am quite sure they are far more to be pitied 
 than the little ones of whom you speak, each of 
 whom has some one to care for it, and who is at 
 least not a criminal, nor likely to become a pest to 
 society." 
 
 The " smiting " which was in vogue long ago in 
 the land, is a habit which does not, however, appear 
 so shocking to us, perhaps, as it must be to other 
 foreigners. There is much more use of the hand 
 in England, and among Anglo - Saxon populations 
 — of the argument called a " blow " — than on the 
 Continent. To strike one who displeases us is a 
 natural expedient, only to be restrained by fear or 
 coerced by law — either of public opinion or of police. 
 But in Egypt it would seem as if no one dreamt 
 of resisting the application of it on the part of a 
 superior, or of obtaining redress. Whoever can hit, 
 cuff, or kick, does it freely. Sir Anthony Absolute's 
 mode of ruling a household, and its results, may be 
 seen any day in the streets. There was a curious 
 illustration of this rule the other morning near 
 Shepheard's Hotel. Two men had a dispute over 
 some matter of sale, and from words one of them, 
 the larger and stronger, resorted to a sounding box 
 on the eye of his antagonist. The latter put his 
 hand to his face, looked round with one glaring
 
 118 THE MECCA PILGRIMAGE. [chap. 
 
 orb at the crowd which had been collected by the 
 controversy, and singling out a laughing donkey-boy, 
 administered to him a tremendous cufF on the side 
 of the head. A few yards away there sat a child 
 of eight or nine years of age against the wall of a 
 house, innocently sucking a piece of sugar-cane. The 
 donkey-boy at once charged him, and kicked him 
 in the ribs. The little fellow looked up, uttered a 
 cry of rage, and seizing a large paving-stone which 
 lay close at hand, flung it — at the donkey-boy? — 
 oh, certainly not ! but at a poor street dog, which 
 lay asleep close at hand. The dog immediately went 
 off howling, and no doubt bit a small puppy to 
 ease its mind ; and what revenge the puppy took is 
 beyond my knowledge, but no doubt he did some- 
 thing vindictive in his turn. 
 
 February 4th. — A bright sun and cold wind. 
 The Royal party were up early, and drove in car- 
 riages through the bazaar to the Citadel, to see the 
 departure of the pilgrims with the Holy Carpet 
 to Mecca. 
 
 Of the thousands of Europeans who visit Cairo, 
 there are few who have the fortune to behold the 
 spectacle, which may be described in many books 
 to me unknown, but which can never be adequately 
 described in any book at all. The sight is called
 
 v.] MAIIMAL AND KISWEH. 119 
 
 " the departure of the Pilgrims for Mecca." That 
 
 is a misnomer. It is in reality a procession of 
 
 sheiks and holy men and the sacred Mahmal and 
 
 Kisweh, escorted by irregular cavalry and guns, 
 
 which leaves the city to go out to the real pilgrims 
 
 encamped on the plain outside Cairo, The Mahmal 
 
 is a wooden canopy covered with gold brocade and 
 
 silk, which is symbolical of the litter of Sheger- 
 
 ed-Deen, the wife of the Sultan Es-Saleh-Nebn- 
 
 ed-Deen, on her journey to Mecca. The Kisweh 
 
 is the covering which is put over the Eaabeh, 
 
 in the Temple at Mecca. Several days ago the 
 
 pilgrims set out from Cairo, and encamped on the 
 
 Abbasaya. What rites and ceremonies they may 
 
 have been since performing, inside and out, I know 
 
 not ; but last night all sightseers were warned that 
 
 the ceremonial was to come off soon after 9 o'clock. 
 
 At that hour the Viceroy's carriages were in waiting 
 
 at the Prince's Palace, and a guard of honour, with 
 
 a trumpet band, was drawn up in the open space 
 
 between the building and the street. There were 
 
 very few people attracted by the show of horses and 
 
 guards; but the crowds which gathered in the narrow 
 
 streets through which the procession was to pass, 
 
 gave proof of the enormous population of this 
 
 swarming city. The Prince, Princess, and suite,
 
 120 ROUTE TO TEE CITADEL. [chap. 
 
 attended by the Duke of Sutherland and his party, 
 set out about 10 o'clock, and drove to the open 
 space beneath the Citadel, famous as the scene of 
 the demolition of the Mamelukes by ]\Iehemet 
 Ali. They were preceded by horsemen, and by the 
 running footmen who are the heralds of every 
 carriage in Cairo — by night pillars of fire; by day 
 bounding with feet that never tire before the horses, 
 crying out incessantly in Arabic, freely translated, 
 "Mind your toes!" or, "Look out, there!" To a 
 man of cruel or arbitrary disposition the office must 
 be enviable, for it gives, apparently, a right to the 
 bearer to smite whatever and whomever he pleases. 
 The number of unoffending men, and camels, and 
 asses punished in Cairo every day by smart raps 
 of a long cane, for doing nothing at all but being 
 alive, by these officials, must amount to many 
 hundreds ; and they all bear it with equal mind and 
 body. The route from the Prince's Palace to the 
 Citadel lies through a part of the town which is, 
 perhaps, the most striking and interesting of all 
 Cairo. Familiar as the city is to European tra- 
 vellers, there is about its streets an ingredient of 
 what may be understood, though not defined, by 
 the word " Orientahsm," which is ever suggesting 
 new ideas, or reviving old ones. A good deal of
 
 v.] THE BAZAARS. 121 
 
 interest, no doubt, is due to the belief wbicli un- 
 consciousl}^ underlies the spectator's wonder that 
 he is looking at people who are in thought, dress, 
 and habits very much what they were many centuries 
 ago, and who, aU alive, are yet as dead as if 
 they were mummified for all the purposes of this 
 progressive, practical, prosaical half-century. The 
 streets wind in and out at discretion, through a 
 mass of houses, mosques, and bazaars, very much 
 as mites march through a cheese. The word 
 " street " gives no conception of the lane which 
 scarcely ever yields a view of 100 yards in front or 
 behind, and which at times seems to end abruptly 
 in the cordial greeting of two houses at opposite 
 sides. There is quite enough to detain the stranger 
 for a pleasant ten minutes — for every ten paces if 
 he likes — to loiter and be jostled by asses and 
 shoved aside by the crowd, or scared by growling, 
 fierce-toothed camels. There are the shops, with 
 their varied stores and still more varied owners 
 and customers, the incorrigible, persecuting, stick- 
 disregarding donkey-boys, who never desist from 
 importunate solicitation to mount "Champagne 
 Charley," "Lord John Eussell," " Palmerston," or 
 some other famous quadruped with long ears and 
 indomitable back-bone. Over the shops rises the
 
 122 WOMEA'' IN THE STREETS. [chap. 
 
 lattice-windowed frontage of the houses, sometimes 
 projecting from the drawing-room floor upwards on 
 frail beams, sometimes coyly retiring, seldom guilty 
 of a real perpendicular. While all below is life, 
 and noise, and activity, from the first floor upwards 
 there is silence in the house. Now and then a 
 child may be caught sight of at the lattice, or a 
 draped face gleams out of a pair of inquiring eyes 
 on the world below; but mostly there is a blank 
 in the Egyptian quarter. To-day this was changed, 
 and all womankind was enjoying its rare holy day, 
 and enjoying it more, perhaps, too, than its sister- 
 hood in England would if it were all going ofi" to 
 the poll, headed by Miss Becker and Mr. Mill, to 
 record its vote for some political Apollo Belvedere. 
 The women, clad in sweeping robes, which in theii* 
 combination form such tempting, yet distracting 
 subjects, for the artist who loves to paint masses of 
 coloured drapery, sat with their children chattering 
 in every safe recess in the streets. They gazed out 
 of the latticed windows, through the sluice-like open 
 traps, and through the open casements, crowded 
 the flat roofs, swarmed on the mosque-tops, and 
 clustered in the doorways. If eyes can be an 
 index to the character of the rest of the face, many 
 of the ladies must have been very beautiful; but
 
 v.] THE CROWD. 123 
 
 some showed the ravages of ophthalmia, which the 
 artifice of blackened eyebrows only made more 
 evident. The men and boys of the different nations 
 and faiths which have their representatives here 
 — Arabs, Jews, Copts, Syrians, Egyptians, Turks, 
 Franks, Nubians, Albanians, Anatolians, Greeks, 
 Persians, Circassians, "barbarians," and dwellers in 
 partibus infidelium, dressed each after his kind, lined 
 the streets and sat in the bazaar shops, and on the 
 shifting kaleidoscopic multitude, over which the fine 
 dust rose from the tread of many feet, there came 
 down, through the chinks in the latticed screen 
 which covers in the street, raj^s of sunshine which 
 produced the most striking and charming effects. 
 Through this scene imagine camels plodding along 
 with ponderous loads of green vetches, asses hidden 
 under mounds of vegetables and tares for fodder, 
 or laden with important portions of a small 
 family ; horses and ponies, and their riders ; mules 
 and dromedaries, with their turbaned or veiled 
 burdens ; and then, pressing through the throng, 
 an advance guard of native outriders, followed by 
 a host of running footmen, in front of an open 
 carriage with prancing horses, driven by an unmis- 
 takable British coachman, — and fancy the expression 
 of delight and surprise on the fair face, dear to so
 
 124 THE CITADEL. [chap. 
 
 many millions of people in islands far away. Now 
 and tlien, when a refractory camel blocked the path, 
 or a dog gave warning of some small personal grief, 
 or the carriage was caught at a narrow corner by 
 stray dromedaries with far-extending platforms on 
 their backs, the Princess evinced a transient 
 anxiety. The good humour of the people, their 
 civility and temper, as carriage after carriage 
 came crushing and squeezing them out of the 
 roadway into shop-fronts and side lanes — nay, 
 even the placidity of holy men and dervishes ol 
 renown, whose donkeys and camels were cuifed, and 
 whose venerable persons were shoved unceremoni- 
 ously aside — were much to be commended. At last 
 the cortege emerged into the open space below the 
 Citadel. Here, round the sides of a large extent of 
 cleared ground, were drawn up the troops of the 
 line. Lancers and Zouaves of the Gruard, and the 
 400 irregular cavalry which were to guard the 
 pilgrims and escort the treasure annually sent to 
 the sheiks of the Arab tribes and to Mecca. Behind 
 this line were congregated crowds of people. They 
 were on the citadel walls, on the flat roofs, and on 
 the sides of the mosques, wherever they could see ; 
 and above them all shone a bright sun in a sky 
 of heavenly blue. As the Prince and Princess of 
 
 I
 
 v.] THE PROCESSION. 125 
 
 Wales came in siglit, the troops presented arms 
 along the lines, the irregular cavalry tapped their 
 little saucer-like drums, and the bands saluted 
 with the Zouave '' As tu vu la casquette, &c., de 
 Pere Bugeaud," now familiar to so many Britishers. 
 The carriages drove up to a raised dais, draped 
 with curtains of scarlet and gold, and provided 
 with chairs, where the Viceroy's eldest son, Tewfik 
 Pasha, surrounded by the officers of State in full 
 uniform, received them. Seats were provided for 
 the Consular body and their friends and the principal 
 residents and visitors. Indeed, a white face, a bad 
 hat and shabby travelling clothes, seem to be a 
 passport here to every place. The Prince made the 
 acquaintance of the little Pasha, the Viceroy's 
 youngest son, who was beautiful in scarlet stockings, 
 scarlet and gold knickerbockers, and a cream-coloured 
 jacket slashed with gold lace. The superior officers, 
 mounted on their richly caparisoned Arabs, sat in 
 front of the dais. After a time the head of the pro- 
 cession emerged from under an archway at the 
 opposite side of the esplanade. It was preceded 
 by men with sticks to keep away the crowd, who 
 certainly " kept their sticks going " in a way which 
 would astonish a line of beaters in a home covert. 
 Then came men and boys chanting and shouting
 
 126 THE REVOLVING HEAD. [chap. 
 
 in front of the camels, one of which hore the 
 Mahmal. Some sustained lofty saddles and saddle 
 bao-s, decorated with orange branches and short flag- 
 staffs with banners; others carried holy hadjees or 
 sheiks. One was honoured by a peculiar, if not 
 agreeable load — a very sainted personage, whose 
 great merit it was and is, to keep turning his 
 head round on his neck, as if it were fixed on 
 a universal joint, all the way to Mecca. This man, 
 very crass and unctuous, was bare headed ; his 
 grizzled, dirty-looking locks, divided in the centre, 
 being his only covering from the blazing sun of 
 Arabia. His body was stripped down to the 
 waist, and gave evidence that, in spite of his head 
 turnings, the holy man put on flesh wonderfully. 
 His eyelids were half closed, his fat face had an 
 utter want of expression, quite suitable to the head 
 it belonged to, which went round and round at 
 every jog of the much more intelhgent-lookins" camel 
 which he bestrode. Year after year this saint has 
 turned his empty head, and seems none the worse 
 — nay, all the better for it ; though thousands of his 
 fellow-pilgrims, who do not turn their heads, perish 
 miserably in the pilgrimage. When the holy camel 
 of the Kisweh came to the dais, the Pasha was 
 handed one of the holy cords, and kissed it, and
 
 v.] THE CHIEF OF THE CARAVAN. 127 
 
 then the chief sheik took it and kissed it, and 
 the procession of camels, of singing men and 
 shouting boys, defiled twice in a circle in front 
 of the dais, while the guns of the citadel thundered 
 out a salute, and then marched away towards 
 the city to take part in the greater procession. 
 Now, dashing at fuU speed from the end of 
 the esplanade, came a solitary horseman holding 
 a long quivering lance, which he poised across 
 his saddle, and now and then thrust right 
 and left. This was the leader of the irregular 
 horsemen, "the Lord of the Land," a great chief 
 in Egypt this day. He threw his horse on his 
 haunches with a cruel bit, wheeled round, wielding 
 but not throwing his lance, and careless of the 
 multitude, which now broke into the enclosed space 
 and pressed round the dais. It is the habit to 
 give money annually at this festival, and frightful 
 fighting and confusion ensued ; but in consideration 
 for the Princess it was not observed. The results 
 of a scramble might be guessed from the scene 
 which occurred when the police and the cavalry had 
 to clear the way through the " people " in a way 
 which would have done Superintendent Walker good 
 to see. Sticks ? I should think so. Bludgeons ! 
 Whips ! It rained blows on the heads and shoulders
 
 12S THE PROCESSION IN THE STREETS. [chap. 
 
 of King Mob, wlio has a very hard time of it. 
 How no skull was cracked was a marvel to those 
 who opine the Egyptian cranium is not solid. 
 But no corpses were left on the ground, and the 
 carriages drove oif to see the procession. The route 
 lay now through narrow lanes and streets in which 
 there was scarcely a sign of life. Here and there 
 a workman, more industrious or less religious than 
 his fellows, sat cross-legged beside a heap of cakes 
 or sweetmeats, and a few inhabitants wondering at 
 the sight of the passing carriages. After a time, 
 however, we came out into the crowded thorough- 
 fare, and, with greater difficulty than before, the 
 little cortege made its way through the people 
 to the house provided for tlie accommodation ot 
 the Prince and Princess. Passing through an 
 open porte-cochere, where the Prince and Princess 
 were received by gentlemen in waiting, the party 
 ascended a steep staircase which led to two large 
 rooms furnished with carpets and divans, the open 
 windows of which looked on the street. Far as 
 the eye could reach, up and down, and on either 
 side, it was crowded in the same way as the part 
 of the city which I have already tried to describe. 
 Pipes and coffee were brought in by the servants, 
 and unaccustomed lips made some shght experi-
 
 v.] THE PILGRIMS. 129 
 
 ment on the massive amber mouthpieces. But a 
 hum and bustle in the crowd summoned the party 
 to the windows. Round a turn in the street there 
 came in view an irregular multitude, preceded by 
 horsemen tapping small saucer-like drums, and by 
 men on foot with sticks and balls slung- to cords 
 like those used by jugglers at home, who cleared the 
 way for a very motley, picturesque, and eccentric 
 procession of footmen, marching abreast — four, or 
 five, or six in front. The turbans worn by each 
 section of orthodox sects were of the same colour. 
 Banners — green, and white, and yellow, inscribed 
 with texts from the Koran — every few yards, were 
 borne in pairs, suspended from lofty poles Avith 
 gilt tops. There were many hundreds of these ban- 
 ners, which are stored up carefully by the sheiks 
 when the ceremony is over. Between the banner- 
 bearers came men and boys uttering shrill cries, 
 or chanting in unison, with a certain sort of mono- 
 tonous sweetness, verses from the Koran. Others 
 marched to the sound of flageolets and drums. Occa- 
 sionally there appeared some singular, if not revolt- 
 ing, object. Now men, stripped to the waist, hold- 
 ing, by hilt and point, a curved sword, whicli they 
 pressed against their naked stomachs. The edges 
 were blunt. But the point was not always so, since 
 
 K
 
 130 THE PILGRIM ii. [chap. 
 
 an indiscreet sabreur who forgot tliat fact cut 
 his fingers, to his evident discomfiture. Now, men 
 holding by the tail writhing serpents, three or four 
 feet long, which darted out their forked tongues 
 at the bare legs of the shrinking crowd. Anon, it 
 was a shirtless man, who leapt about, brandishing 
 two unsheathed swords across his neck and belly. 
 Now a group of boys slinging balls of metal, like 
 cup and ball, or burning incense in braziers. Again 
 venerable men on asses and mules, inveterate old 
 pilgrims in long-robed dresses, descendants of the 
 Prophet, in green turbans. Men with big drums, 
 cripples and mendicants Avho live on piety and 
 exceeding uncleanliness of person, men singing 
 and beating cymbals, and tambourines. The 
 strains of martial music announced the approach 
 of the Egyptian troops. They were preceded 
 by the officer in command and his staff, well 
 mounted, and by a picturesque avant-garde of 
 pioneers, with bearskins like those of the Old Gruard, 
 white leather ajDrons, and great axes en regie. 
 The first battalion which marched past were tall, 
 well-set-up, fine young men, dressed in fez, light 
 blue jackets, vests with yellow facings, scarlet 
 trousers and gaiters a la Zouave — whose uniform 
 the Egyptians say was borrowed from their arm}'-.
 
 v.] EGYPTIAN TROOPS. 131 
 
 They kept time to a man, and, altogether, looked 
 as if they could meet any troops that could be 
 brought against them on equal terms, if officered 
 properly. Breechloaders are not come to them 
 yet. 
 
 Three battalions, each headed by its trumpets 
 plajdng the Zouave pas, went by, and after them 
 the cavalry, with green and purple-flagged lances, 
 swords, and pistols, headed by a band which was 
 described by a young gentleman fresh from England 
 as " a caution to rattlesnakes." Their horses, full of 
 life, were small, active, unshod, ill-cleaned. Their 
 di-ess, a fez, blue jackets and yellow facings, yellow- 
 striped blue vest, and red trousers. Next came 
 the General of Cairo, with a very showy staff, in 
 front of whom rode a few horsemen with breech- 
 loading revolving carbines. Another detachment of 
 infantry followed. And then the holy camels and 
 the man with the revolving head went by, and after 
 them, flowed on a crowd vdih. banners and devices 
 and dervishes, just like the first. Then the irregular 
 cavalry, beating their tom-toms, mounted on all 
 sorts of horses, armed with many kinds of weapons, 
 having pistols stuck everywhere over them, mms 
 of all kinds in their hands and slung over their 
 backs, and pendant from their saddles. A specimen 
 
 K 2
 
 132 THE EM). [CHAP. 
 
 of every firearm made for the last 150 years could 
 assuredly have been collected from among their 
 armament. Their music was terrible, and the wild 
 troopers must have been a thorn in the flesh to 
 small boys, as it was their sport to pluck off the 
 fezzes and skull caps of the unwary, and fling them 
 among the crowd or under the hoofs of their 
 shoeless horses. Next, as the end of all things, a 
 field battery of six rifled bronze guns, with two 
 mules to each gun, followed by another tumultuous 
 crowd and mounted men ; and at last the tail of 
 the procession, which if long drawn out was by no 
 means always linked sweetness, disappeared round 
 an angle of the street, which was at once filled by 
 the people who had previously lined it. After the 
 procession passed, the Prince and Princess returned 
 to the Palace ; and later in the day the Princess 
 drove out quietly with Mrs. Grey through the 
 bazaar, and did a little original shopping. The 
 Prince drove to the Viceregal Palace, A^sited the 
 Viceroy, and had pipes and cofiee, and thence went 
 to the Nile, to inspect the Alexandra dahabeah 
 and the flotilla prepared for the Eoyal party. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon, and somewhat 
 to the discomfiture of refined courtiers, who do not 
 think donkey riding compatible with dignity, some
 
 v.] DONKEY RIDING. 183 
 
 of the party proceeded in a long train through 
 the bazaars in that fashion, to the great delight 
 of the donkey boys, who soon learned the rank 
 of the distinguished personages who had honoured 
 them with their patronage. 
 
 A visit to the Duke of Sutherland's Palace was 
 included in the excursion by the Prince and Princess 
 and suite, and there again pipes and coffee were for 
 the third time presented to them. In the evening 
 " La Grande Duchesse " was represented for the first 
 time in Cairo, and was exceedingly appreciated by 
 the native part of the audience. 
 
 Pebruary 5th. — At 12 o'clock the Eoyal party, 
 with the Duke of Sutherland and friends, visited
 
 134 THE NEW PALACE. [chap. 
 
 the New Palace of the Viceroy at Gizeh, on the 
 left bank of the Nile. 
 
 The object of building a new palace must be 
 best known to him who is master of so many. 
 Here, certainly, he has succeeded in obtaining one 
 of the most beautiful residences that king or em- 
 peror can desu'e. The palace is not yet finished, 
 but has already cost more than £250,000. It is 
 not alone sumptuous halls, immense saloons, de- 
 corated in the most exquisite manner in imitation 
 of the Alhambra, nor gorgeous mirrors, nor chande- 
 liers, nor furniture covered with beaten gold that 
 renders it so. The floors of the rooms are composed 
 of difierent coloured marbles. The taste and fancy 
 of Europe have been lavished on the architecture 
 of the Moor. It stands in the midst of gardens, 
 set in by a framework of date-palms ; one wanders 
 through groves of exotics, and alleys bordered by 
 oriental plants, watered continuously by noble foun- 
 tains. There is a menagerie of wild beasts close 
 at hand, and cranes, and saruses, and flamingoes 
 stalk about the avenues. 
 
 Outside there is a kiosk and a harem, correspond- 
 ing in richness and finish with the main building. 
 The party proceeded through the bazaar, and thence 
 went to see performances of the dancing dervishes.
 
 v.] DANCING DERVISHES. 135 
 
 Here is one of the liolj men ! He does not dance, 
 but spins round like a humming-top. There are 
 some twenty of them, tapering away from the tallest 
 who is in the centre, and the whirling of each has an 
 orbit, so that every man slowly describes an ellipse. 
 There is supposed by the savans to be some astrono- 
 mical truth typified in the dance — the motions of the 
 
 sun and planets — but the dervishes did not look at all 
 pliilosophical, and they certainly were not indifferent 
 to terrestrial matters in the way of backsheesh. The 
 crowd regarded the performance without enthusiasm ; 
 but I never saw a bishop of any church who looked 
 at all equal to doing the like of it. 
 
 The Princess of Wales and Mrs. Grey, in the 
 afternoon, visited the harem of the Viceroy, where 
 they were received by the Valideh, and were pre-
 
 136 TEE CAIRO GRISI. [chap. 
 
 sented to tlie ladies of the establisliment. The 
 Princess was the object of great attention on the part 
 of the ladies during the three hours she remained 
 there,' and returned with niany pleasant anecdotes. 
 
 A donkey ride along the Schoubra Eoad helped 
 to get over a portion of the day; and after dinner 
 the Eoyal party went to the theatre, where " La 
 Belle Helene" was performed. Menelaus was 
 certainly to be congratulated on the departure of 
 his faithless spouse, and I am sure Paris bounded 
 nimbly out of his bark when the curtain fell. 
 
 There is little else to be done in the evening in 
 Cairo. There are no parties or balls ; no receptions 
 which ladies can attend. The Viceroy, however, 
 being desirous of showing His Eoyal Highness an 
 exhibition of the native dancing and singing, with 
 which the upper classes are entertained in their own 
 houses, invited him and his suite to the Kasr-el- 
 Nil after the play. 
 
 We had the opportunity of hearing the Cairo 
 G-risi, a woman of about forty years of age, neither 
 fat, nor fair to look upon, who sang at fitful 
 intervals, to the accompaniment of six chosen 
 musicians. The music put one much in mind of 
 that in Upper India. The lady's voice was some- 
 what cracked; but there were quaint odd notes, in
 
 v.] ALMEAES. 137 
 
 which still lingered traces of the melody which she 
 possessed in her youth. Her principal attraction 
 now, however, is said to be her wit and liveliness. 
 She talked to the Viceroy without the smallest 
 gene ; and in a keen encounter of wit between 
 her and Sir Samuel Baker in Arabic, it was said 
 by proficients that the Enghshman had the worst 
 of it. There were six women dancers, who per- 
 formed singly and in pairs. 
 
 The Egyptian dance has often been described. 
 Some varieties of it, executed by these ladies, were 
 stated — on what authority I know not — to date 
 from the time of the Pharaohs. Others were content 
 with putting them down roughly at 2,000 years old; 
 to suit the antiquity of the performances, the ladies, 
 with two exceptions, were ancient and mummified. 
 
 The srentlemen were seated on divans round the 
 room, and it was considered a mark of attention on 
 the part of the Almeah, or Dancing Girl, to select 
 some particular person whom she fancied to be 
 worthy of her consideration, and to dance specially 
 before hira. 
 
 It was rather a relief, on the whole, when the 
 Viceroy led the way with the Prince down to 
 supper, from which we did not return to Cairo 
 tiU half-past 2 in the morning.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DEPARTURE EROM CAIRO. — THE FLOTILLA. A FALSE 
 
 ALARM. THE FIRST HALT. THE FIRST NIGHT. — • 
 
 BENISOUEFF. FESHN. SHEIK FODL. THE CHURCH 
 
 IN EGYPT. MINIEH. 
 
 February 6tli. — The entertainment given by the 
 Viceroy last night led to rather a late breakfast ; but 
 the Royal party were ready to start at an earlier 
 hour than we expected. At 12 o'clock the Prince 
 of Wales and his suite drove to the Citadel to visit 
 the Viceroy's son, where they had pipes and coffee. 
 
 It is the etiquette of the East, that one who is 
 visited by a great personage, should immediately 
 return the compliment; and no sooner had the 
 Prince got back to his palace, than the Pasha 
 made his appearance with his suite, and paid his 
 parting compliments to His Royal Highness; for 
 this was the day of the departure of the two 
 parties from Cairo.
 
 CHAP. VI.] DEPARTURE FROM CAIRO. 139 
 
 There were beys, and aides, and cavasses flying 
 about in all directions ; and a gathering of many 
 officials round the doors of the Prince's palace. 
 There is always a little bustle attendant on the 
 starting of a large party ; and our small palace was 
 pretty lively from 10 till 1 o'clock, when all the 
 boxes, portmanteaus, bags, and gun-cases were safely 
 loaded on trucks and sent down to Kasr - el - Nil, 
 where the steamers were moored. The Duke of 
 Sutherland and party went to the railway station to 
 meet Lord Albert Grower and Sir H. Pelly, who were 
 coming from Alexandria, quite unconscious of their 
 fate. They were touring about and had telegraphed 
 to announce their arrival at Alexandria ; and it was 
 resolved that they should be taken up the Nile, the 
 very moment they arrived. It is seldom a man is 
 called on to execute such a sudden journey in con- 
 tinuation of a route which was intended to end for 
 the time at a railway terminus. 
 
 Soon after 1.30 o'clock the Prince and the Princess, 
 in plain travelling clothes, suited to the climate, started 
 in an open carriage, the suite following in others, and 
 drove at a rapid rate to Kasr-el-Nil. There were 
 very few of the natives who appeared to know or 
 to care for their departure. Not even a scurry of 
 Egyptian outriders, or gentlemen in waiting in
 
 140 DEPARTURE FROM CAIRO. [chap. 
 
 their peculiar costume — black jacket, embroidered 
 vest, with sash, black knickerbockers, black em- 
 broidered leggings — and a guard of cavasses riding 
 at full speed, and warning all to get out of the 
 way, created much excitement among the people ; 
 and when the cortege got out on the mound-marked 
 road, leading through fields of sugar-cane and tares, to 
 
 the bank of the river, the peasants, working at their 
 leisure, in the fields, and the fellah men and women, 
 scarcely raised their heads to give a speculating 
 glance at the cloud of dust which whirled along the 
 causeway. At the entrance to the castle-yard, the 
 guard turned out in their white summer fatigue- 
 jackets, knickerbockers, and gaiters, and saluted. 
 
 I
 
 
 ' l>
 
 VI.] THE FLOTILLA. 141 
 
 The Palace itself was all silent ; the jalousies closed 
 as if the Viceroy did not like to see his guests' 
 departure; and there were not fifty people in all, 
 including the stray soldiery in the court at the 
 Nile wall, to see the start of the flotilla. The Duke 
 of Sutherland and his party were already on board 
 The Ornament of Two Seas. 
 
 The Prince and Princess and Mrs. Grey occupied 
 the Alexandra dahaheah, which was towed by the 
 Eoyal steamer. There was also a kitchen steamer 
 attached to it. 
 
 Lieut. -Col. Teesdale, Captain Ellis, Mr. Montagu, 
 Dr. Minter, Lord Carington, Sir Samuel Baker, 
 Prince Louis of Battenberg, and Mr. Brierly were 
 accommodated on board the steamer, in which the 
 Poyal party daily assembled for breakfast and 
 dinner. 
 
 Another steamer was provided for Mourad Pasha 
 and Colonel Stanton, on board of which Major 
 Alison, who belonged to the Duke of Sutherland's 
 party, was provided with a berth. Mr. Fowler 
 and Professor Owen, who had been invited by the 
 Duke to accompany him, finding that the room on 
 board the fourth steamer was rather limited, were 
 wont to take refuge in the evening on board Colonel 
 Stanton's boat.
 
 142 TEE START. [chat. 
 
 A lighter, containing stores, was towed by the 
 kitchen steamer; another lighter, with four horses, 
 and a riding-donkey for the Princess, was towed by 
 the steamer assigned to Colonel Stanton. 
 
 His Eoj'-al Highness has got Mr. Baker, a clever 
 naturalist and taxidermist, on board. His punt 
 is well adapted for the sport to be had on the river, 
 and is in charge of Webster, who was with Lord 
 Londesborough on the Nile some years ago, when 
 he made up his famous tale of 10,000 head of birds 
 in one season. 
 
 Talk of the doings of djins and afreets ! What 
 did they know of champagne and soda-water and 
 French pates ? One of them could not have got a 
 bottle of brandy to save his life — the genii who lived 
 in the vessel in the sea surely could not have obtained 
 his freedom had it depended on producing a flask of 
 Curasao. Well, on board the store boat, for fear of 
 one going athirst on the voyage, there was, it is said, 
 a supply of 3,000 bottles of champagne, 20,000 bottles 
 of soda-water, 4,000 bottles of claret ; and so on as 
 to sherry, and ale, and liqueurs of all sorts. 
 
 About 2 o'clock the start was effected, and a very 
 pretty sight it was. First the Prince's steamer moved 
 off, with the Eoyal Standard and Ottoman flag fly- 
 ing ; next the Alexandra dahabeah, or sleeping-boat ; 
 
 i
 
 VI.] TEL NILE NEAR CAIRO. 143 
 
 then, the steamer on board of which were Colonel 
 Stanton, Professor Owen, Mr. Fowler, and Major 
 Alison ; next the cookinc^ steamer ; then the Duke of 
 Sutherland's steamer, and a boat serving as a tender 
 to the little flotilla, each in turn towing a barge 
 full of provisions. There was a good deal of shout- 
 ing ; but on the whole not much to complain of. 
 I am not going to try my hand at a Nile picture. 
 Mr. Murray, by the aid of Sir Gardner "Wilkinson, 
 has indicated every object of interest on the banks 
 of the river after leaving Boulak. The photographer 
 and the colourist (if a painter submits to be so 
 called) must do the rest ; for it is but a useless repe- 
 tition of words, conveying no just impression to the 
 mind of the reader, to write of mosques and palaces 
 and ruins on the banks; of weaving date-palms; of 
 water-wheels at work ; of green fields ; of fellah 
 women, with covered heads and bodies and bare legs, 
 by the river side ; of men, only to be distinguished 
 from women by their turbaned heads; of minarets 
 in the distance ; of lateen-rigged boats, with stumpy 
 masts and enormous yards ; of Arab crews and 
 cargoes — mounds of chopped straw piled on deck, 
 heaps of water-jars, coops of noisy fowl, gobblino- 
 turkey-cocks ; one might go on enumerating such 
 things for ever, as we paddle up the great water-way
 
 144 THE QUARRIES. [chap. 
 
 which is the artery of life and commerce for five 
 millions of people clustered along its course. 
 
 The last sight of interest was the great mosque 
 of Sultan Hassan, in Cairo — far away — which came 
 in view at a bend of the river, and shone out glori- 
 ously in the rays of the setting sun, giving fair reason 
 to question the judgment of the critics who have 
 complained of the slenderness of the two graceful 
 minarets, which, to our eyes, were exquisite in pro- 
 portion and efiect. 
 
 The worst of a steamboat, in one respect, is, 
 that it always enables one to go on, — and on he 
 goes accordingly ; whereas, in the sailing vessel, 
 odious as delays may be, there is much involuntary 
 sight-seeing to be done when the wind is foul. No 
 doubt we passed many interesting places — the 
 quarries, for example, whence, for thousands of 
 years, magnesian limestone has been cut for- monu- 
 ments, palaces, and cities, and where a man may 
 wander in the galleries hewn into the mountain for 
 a day without coming to an end of them. The 
 Nile is so low that the various layers of successive 
 years' inundations may be traced, like strata in 
 rocks. 
 
 " The proper study of mankind is man," parti- 
 cularly if you have good lorgnettes and telescopes.
 
 VI.] TEE TOURISTS. 145 
 
 I would be asliamed to say liow mucli more we were 
 interested in watching the progress of the Eoyal 
 yacht, and in observing those on board of her, than 
 in scrutinizing the sites of famous places on both 
 sides of the river above Cairo. " There is the 
 Princess ! You can just see her in the saloon on 
 deck ! " The mounds of old Babylon, and the 
 mosque built over the " Footprint of the Prophet," 
 were on one side ; on our right towered the Pyramids 
 of Gizeh, and as the steamers cleft their way 
 against the turbid stream, there rose in sight the 
 Pyramids of Abooseer, Sakkara, and Dashoor : but 
 they could be seen at any time, whilst it was not so 
 certain when we could get a glimpse of the Prince 
 on the Nile, in the abandon of shooting-jacket, 
 knickerbockers, and felt hat. If such were the feel- 
 ings of the party, what might not be pardoned to 
 Mr. Cook's Tourists, who were in full cry up the 
 river after the Prince and Princess? Some of our 
 companions had come from Brindisi with the British 
 caravan, and gave accounts which did not tend to 
 make us desire a closer acquaintance. Pespectable 
 people — worthy — intelligent — whatever you please ; 
 but aU thrown off their balances by the prospect of 
 running the Prince and Princess of Wales to earth in 
 a Pyramid, of driving them to bay in the Desert, of 
 
 L
 
 140 Bums AKD SIGHTS. [chap. 
 
 hunting them into the recesses of a ruin — enraptured 
 at the idea of being able possibly to deliver " an 
 address " in the temple of Karnak, or of gazing at 
 their ease on the Eoyal couple, enclosed in their 
 toils on the Island of Philse. The quarries of El 
 Mahsarah and Toora, worked twenty centuries and 
 more before the Christian era, which furnished the 
 materials of the Gizeh pyramids, and the Temples 
 of Thebes and Memphis, were on our left hand, and 
 we were obliged to take, on hearsay, that there were, 
 in the galleries of these mothers of many cities, 
 marks, as legible as if they were cut yesterday, of 
 the kings who ordered the works. Far away over 
 the opposite bank, you can note the mounds of rub- 
 bish which are all that remain of what was once 
 " imperial Memphis." " I can see the Prince ! he 
 is just forward there, speaking to Baker!" There 
 is certainly some subtle sort of pleasure in looking 
 at Royalty through a powerful glass. You are a 
 long way off*, and you cannot be considered intru- 
 sive. And so you stare — I beg your pardon, sir, or 
 madam, if I wrong you ! — very much with the sort 
 of satisfaction a stalker experiences, at a calm, con- 
 templative, all-over look from the top of some heathery 
 knoll at an Imperial or Royal head, unconscious of 
 the inspection. We pass the sulphur springs of
 
 VI.] A FALSE ALAEM. 147 
 
 Helwan, where it is conjectured Amenopliis sent 
 lepers and other incurables to live aj)art from the 
 rest of Egypt. Manetho says he did the thing, 
 but does not mention the name of the place — that 
 is, Sir Gardner Wilkinson declares Manetho makes 
 the statement. I confess I have not consulted 
 the passage in wliich the extract from Manetho is 
 recorded, and that I am as unlearned respecting 
 Manetho as was the worthy gentleman in the " Vicar 
 of Wakefield," who quoted him and Sanconiathon. 
 But recent researches have enhanced the value of the 
 ancient priest's chronicles, and Egyptologists bless the 
 fortunate chance which, in the writings of another, 
 saved his lists from destruction. Just now, as mound 
 after mound denote the graves in which whole cities 
 lie buried — Aphroditopolis, the city of Acanthus, the 
 temple of Osiris — there is an alarm " The tourists 
 are coming ! " 
 
 A cloud of smoke rises from a steamer astern, 
 but after a time it is made out that she is a local 
 merchant craft bound to one of the sugar factories, 
 and peace of mind is restored. The signal for 
 dinner flies along the line, and Ali Risa, who pre- 
 sides, is proudly conscious that there is no difference 
 made in the menu by the change of scene, and 
 that our Spanish cook and Italian domestics, trans- 
 
 L 2
 
 148 OUB CEEW AND COMPRINT. [chap. 
 
 ferred from tlie palace, are resolved to make The 
 Ornament of the Two Seas a rival of the dwelling 
 on the Schoubra Eoad. 
 
 Our steamer does not present much to talk about. 
 There is the usual grave, keen-eyed, dark-faced old 
 Arab reis, in white turban and flowing robes, at the 
 wheel — a handsome old fellow, wdio is relieved by 
 another — his very ditto, only a shade graver, and 
 better - looking ; our captain, a blue-eyed, rather 
 feeble-faced Turk, who is afraid "to go ahead," and 
 has not quite recovered the effect of the Eamadan ; 
 the crew of marines, in greyish coats, blue trousers, 
 and fez, all the worse for wear, taking measure of 
 the new-comers ; in the bow, the butchers arraying 
 the fore-rigging with carcases of poultry and sheep ; 
 astern, our excellent Italian servants, our old staff 
 at the Palace, cheerfully chatting as they prepare 
 for il 231'anso. Some of our good sailors, taking in 
 turn a flat cushion on the quarter-deck, say their 
 prayers, and shame us all by their open-air courage 
 of devotion. The evening became cold by the 
 time we had got twenty miles up the river, and 
 our steamer, faster and lighter than the Prince's 
 boat, which was, moreover, towing the dahabeah, 
 went on ahead, and lost sight of the flotilla in 
 a bend of the river. The Prince ran aground soon 
 
 I
 
 VI.] THE FIRST HALT. 149 
 
 after we left him, and others did the same, so 
 that they made very slow work of it. At dusk, 
 we sidled up to the bank of the river on the 
 right, near a village called Kafr (or " \^llage ") 
 labt, or Ayabt. The Prince's boat, and attendant 
 steamers, came up and clawed the bank alongside 
 later in the evening. It is easy work to moor 
 a vessel, as a stake driven into the soft rich 
 earth is sufficient to hold the warp of a large 
 ship. A plank is thrown out to the steep bank, 
 and steps are cut up to the top by the sailors. 
 At each plank sits or stands a swarthy Egyptian, 
 holding a pole, atoj) of which is an iron frame-work 
 holding a mass of blazing pine and coals, which 
 throws a bright light ' on the landing- j)lace, and 
 lights up the hulls and white funnels of the 
 vessels and the dusky waters. The line of these 
 beacons, and the lanterns slung from the mizen- 
 rigging, formed an effective illumination, but did 
 not attract the natives out of the mud-heaps 
 called villages. After dinner, the party were invited 
 to go on board the Prince's boat, and scrambled 
 along the bank to the gangway. If there were any 
 wandering fellahs about, they must have heard the 
 tinkle of the piano, touched by a fair and practised 
 hand, and the refrain of songs, and clamour of
 
 150 TEE BAGPIPES. chap. 
 
 choruses, not unfamiliar in England, What the 
 theories of the hypothetical auditors may have been 
 respecting the strains, who can determine ? 
 
 But I can assure you, when deep called unto deep 
 — when Alister, beating the deck proudly with his 
 foot, made the date groves resonant with " the 
 sweetest notes ear ever heard " (on the pipes, be 
 it understood), and summoned Peter Robertson to 
 generous, but not successful, emulation, on bag and 
 slender reed — when " Farewell to Lochaber " was 
 borne on the evening air from The Ornament of 
 the Two Seas to be re-echoed from the Prince's 
 ship by eldrich slogan — they must have been stout 
 aborigines who stood unmoved, and the feelings of 
 the guardians of our watch-fires on the bank must 
 have been too deep for words. It is no fault of Peter 
 E-obertson that he cannot play the pipes as well 
 as Alister, w^ho has a gift that way, and who was 
 born past master in the fearful and mystic art; for 
 he can touch heart and feet, and set both beating 
 tosrether. But Peter is OTeat in the forest and on 
 the " hull," and it is not given to all to excel on the 
 bagpipes and in the chase. By persevering efforts, 
 which the fellahs and I would prefer to have deve- 
 loped at first in some lonely glen, rather than in our 
 immediate vicinity, he may dominate the tender and
 
 VI.] THE FIRST NIGHT. 151 
 
 pathetical power of the instrument, from which now 
 rush martial sounds and war's alarms, as though 
 -^olus had loosed his windy caverns in anger. 
 Hamed, Hadji Ali, Achmet Captan, Ali Cap tan, the 
 Reis — in the plural ; I cannot say Reises — and the 
 crews, agreed that it was capital music altogether, 
 and that they had never heard the like of it 
 before. 
 
 We shook down pretty comfortably at night. 
 There is a cabin astern, with a long sofa on 
 both sides, which gave resting-place to the Duke 
 and Colonel Marshall. Two small cabins, between 
 it and the dining saloon, were occupied by the 
 Marquis of Stafford and myself. The cushions 
 round the dining saloon afforded sumptuous beds 
 for Lord Albert Gower and Sir Henry Pelly, and 
 at the end of the companion ladder outside Mr. 
 Sumner held high state in the largest cabin, which 
 was only unfortunate in its vicinity to the boilers 
 and to the bath-room — an apartment with a zinc 
 hip bath, which, filled with Nile water, was in 
 much request, and the object of considerable in- 
 trigue, foul play, and manoeuvring before breakfast. 
 
 Sunday, February 7th. — The morning was dull 
 and the sun overcast — the wind cold for the country 
 and the time of year. The fleet got under weigh
 
 152 mLE SCENERY. [ciiAr. 
 
 soon after daybreak, and pressed on against the 
 current of tlie Nile, now hugging one shore — 
 again creeping to the other — now keeping the 
 middle, as the skippers were warned by the cries 
 of the watchmen on the banks, or by the advice of 
 the native boats. The channel is for ever shift- 
 ing. To provide as far as possible against our 
 running aground, the Viceroy sent up instructions 
 six weeks ^aio to have the course of the river 
 closely observed ; and ever since, day and night, 
 the people have been watching and waiting for 
 us. Groups of horsemen, here — men in boats, there 
 — voices sounding from bank to bank, exchange 
 the words of council with our captain and the Arab 
 reis at every turn. 
 
 The character of the scenery has a certain mo- 
 notony, of which we do not tire. There are the 
 Pyramids of Lisht ; there is the False Pyramid. 
 There a mass of rock as like a Pyramid as if 
 Nature were trying to emulate the grand freaks 
 of these great builders. There are groups of 
 women, by the water's edge, with their heads 
 covered, in dark blue robes, and legs naked to 
 the knee, filling the huge jars, which they bear 
 gracefully on their heads, or crouching down to 
 plash their limbs — -along the banks men riding
 
 VI.] TEE WARNING VOICES. 153 
 
 — villages — date trees — gliding sails — the railway 
 and the telegraph posts. 
 
 The river is covered with boats, the crews of each 
 a study for a painter ; their cargoes a wonder ; their 
 abihty to float at all — not to mention their speed —
 
 154 THE EIPF0F0TAMU8. [chap. 
 
 something to be surprised at, for they need a luteing 
 of mud and chopped straw round the hatchway to 
 keep out the water. After a run of three hours, 
 the Prince's steamer stopped — at first voluntarily — 
 to get breakfast from the kitchen boat, and next 
 involuntarily on a sand-bank. Our boat went on 
 ahead. We passed an ancient Coptic convent — 
 Dehra Mahmed ; a deserted Christian village ; the 
 lone tomb of a holy man, solitary on the sand, 
 guarded by a few palm trees ; another tomb of a 
 sainted lady, whose memory is held in veneration 
 by devout Mahometans, who come in pilgrimage 
 to the shrine — another of her daughter, who is 
 also of blessed memory. Small dust storms 
 whirl round and round on shore. The steamer 
 shoots by El Mazabyeah-o-Bitashar, observed of 
 many detached gatherings of men apart and 
 women apart on the banks. We look for croco- 
 diles with the eye of credulity, but Hamed says 
 there are none to be seen now much below Assouan, 
 and that as long as the wind is cold they stay in 
 the river, and do not visit the banks. The hippo- 
 potamus is not met with below Berbeh, which is 
 north of IQiartoam. Hamed says a thousand years 
 ago it was found as low — as far north — as we are 
 now ; I believe Hamed in any matter relating to
 
 VI.] BENISOUEFF. 155 
 
 hippopotami, even to the extent of a thousand years. 
 The district hereabouts has a sad story of its own. A 
 short time ago a man rose up and gathered the 
 fellahs to his standard, which was that of a new 
 religion. His following increased rapidly, and he 
 refused to disband at the summons of the Viceroy's 
 officers. A body of regular troops was sent against 
 them, and not far from Benisoueff the advance 
 guard, with six guns, came on the rebel or fanatic 
 leader. Ignorant of the nature of cannon, he at 
 once led his band to the attack. The guns opened 
 on them with grape, and mowed down lanes in the 
 multitude. Among the slain, killed by the first dis- 
 charge, lay the leader of the men, whom he had 
 comforted with the assurance that he was invulner- 
 able. So far Ali Bey told us ; but he did not add 
 what Lady Duff Gordon asserts, that there was a 
 wholesale desolating war of extermination — if war 
 it could be called — carried on against the wretches 
 who fled, and that thousands were hunted down 
 and put to death. 
 
 We went so slowly that the fear grew on us lest 
 Cook's tourists should overhaul the flotilla. But at 
 3 o'clock we arrived ofi" Benisoueff*, a large town 
 with a population varying from 45,000 (according 
 to a cavass translated by Hamed) to 15,000,
 
 156 EAMEB. [CHAP, 
 
 according to another native authority, and to 
 5,000, according to Ali Bey and Colonel Stanton. 
 There was a line of troops on the bank to act 
 as a guard of honour. A great number of 
 sheiks in white turbans were in attendance, and 
 a crowd of 400 or 500 people, men and boys, 
 turned out to sit on the bank, which was as 
 good a place to sit on as anywhere else. There 
 was a Palace of the Viceroy at our disposal, if 
 needed. Where has the Viceroy not got a Palace ? 
 And where is there not a Palace of the Viceroy ? 
 There was a pleasant Governor or Deputy-Grovernor 
 in waiting, and a great heap of caA^asses with 
 scimitars and belts full of pistols. Hamed — ex- 
 cellent Hippopotamus Johnny, ever wilhng, always 
 showing his white teeth in a smile when he 
 is asked a question or desired to make himself 
 useful — led a detachment up the plank on shore, 
 and took his way along the bank of the river 
 towards the town. He was joined by a cavass, 
 who was a thing of terror to the small boys and 
 other backsheesh hunters. Capital fellow, indeed, 
 is Hamed, but a bad fellow to go astern of in fine 
 sand with the wind strong ahead. His red shoes 
 are lovely to look at, but they are spiked at the top 
 as if meant to shovel up the dust ; and, if that be
 
 VI.] THE NATIVES. 157 
 
 the object, tlie designer must be congratulated on 
 rare success. The dust was blinding. Our way 
 lay through a ragged parade-gi'ound extending 
 from the Pasha's house near the landing - place 
 to the mud-walled enclosure around the garden 
 of the Governor, inside which were visible the 
 jalousied windows of a neat residence. The town 
 looked like a village surrounded by a wall. We 
 entered the main street, which was about twelve feet 
 wide, and wound right and left through lines of 
 
 buildings, two storeys in height, of which the outer 
 wall facing the street was often only a brown bank 
 of mud, pierced by an opening for the closed portals. 
 On and on, meeting no one save frightened children 
 or timid women, who bolted into doorways like 
 rabbits in a w^arren at the approach of the fowler. 
 Such a chattering of voices as they made when
 
 158 THE BAZAAR. [chap. 
 
 safe inside ! From the suburb we turned into 
 the Bazaar. I strongly advise any one who may 
 read these notes not to halt at Benisoueff with- 
 out doing the same. The street rambles at will, 
 bordered by shops, to which the arts of the 
 Frank are unknown. It is covered in at the 
 top, and the rays of light fall through the chinks 
 of the matting and boards in pillar-like shafts, 
 producing wonderful effects of light and shade. 
 The sellers were more interesting than their wares, 
 not but what there were strange things in con- 
 fectionery and utensils and clothing of various 
 kinds, to be seen mixed up with Austrian cut- 
 lery and Manchester cottons. The owners scarcely 
 moved their eyes as the strangers passed. Young 
 and old, all apathetic, indifferent to commercial 
 enterprise, thinking it ungentlemanly, perchance, to 
 solicit custom. There were no crowds such as may 
 be seen at Cairo or Stamboul, but each shop had 
 a wee clientelle of its own, wdio, if they bought 
 nothing, kept the keeper in conversation. There 
 were barbers in active employ; scribes writing letters 
 which have to undergo the various vicissitudes 
 to which the "Poste Eegie Egiziane" will expose 
 them ; tin-plate workers, where Egyptians of six 
 or seven years of age were assiduously tinkering
 
 VI.] A SCHOOL. 159 
 
 and soldering pots and pans ; butchers, fly infested ; 
 kibob makers, whose shops sent forth the odour 
 of savoury meats ; khans and cafes, and the omni- 
 present tobacco merchant, the various traders keep- 
 ing well together, as if to promote wholesome com- 
 petition, or distract the intending buyer. In and 
 out, right and left, the street wound in its shady 
 course, the cavass shoving or thumping a way for us 
 through the crowd till once more we threaded a lane, 
 silent save when a dog uttered its yelp of alarm, 
 or the bully turkey-cock, sunning himself on a flat 
 roof, gobbled defiance to the noisy intruding infidels. 
 Now we passed a sombre mosque, and could see 
 the scattered worshippers, and hear the hum of 
 their low prayer. Stopping to investigate the cause 
 of a tremendous Babel, we discovered a school 
 of little ones packed as close as could be in a 
 dark cave-like room, who were following the master 
 in chorus as he read out a lesson from a larg-e 
 slate. The master, a young man of twenty or 
 twenty-five years of age, seated on his hams, once 
 turned to look at us, and then, as though to set 
 his flock a good example, like him in the " Ancient 
 Mariner," "tm-ned no more his head." Beside him, 
 in the place of honour, was a swell scholar, a big- 
 wig's son, splendid in embroidered jacket ; but the
 
 IGO TOLUNTABY SLAVERY. [chap. 
 
 most of tlie forty or fifty boys and girls belonged, 
 one might guess, to the lower stratum of the 
 middle classes, — bright-eyed, white-teethed, they 
 stared at us with all their might, and gave glances 
 of great meaning to where the cavass, sword and all, 
 darkened the entrance, whilst they kept shouting 
 out their lessons. And there were bad boys among 
 them, I am sorry to say — Egyptian Jack Horners 
 who had no pie to eat, but sat right doleful in 
 corners, with faces turned to the wall, gazing at 
 large sums set forth on cruel slates. An infant 
 truant who toddled in with a make-believe face 
 that "it was all right," was pounced on by a boy- 
 usher, armed with a rod, and at once provided \vith 
 a calculation which it would puzzle the eminent 
 Bidder to solve. 
 
 Having exhausted the sights of Benisoueff we 
 returned to the steamer, which was making up 
 supplies of coal. Strings of children were carrying 
 loads in baskets on their heads, whilst the men 
 looked on, or now and then quickened them up 
 with a stick. A gang of girls arrived with cakes 
 for the crew, but they were not allowed or would 
 not come on board. At the shore end of the 
 gangway they put down their baskets, and the 
 master of the flock and some boys carried the
 
 VI.] INFANT SLAVERY. 161 
 
 cakes to the steamer. There was a striking proof 
 of the force of example. An infant Egyptian, 
 quite naked, was condemning himself to voluntary- 
 slavery on the bank under our eyes. He could 
 not have been more than three years old, but he 
 was assiduously piling lumps of coal on a cab- 
 bage-leaf on the top of his head, and resolutely 
 picking them up when they fell from his little pate, 
 as though he meant to earn his pay, and not shirk 
 his self-appointed task. It was a glorious sunset. 
 The wind fell, and with it the dusk, but the sun 
 dipped into a warm bath of crimson, and threw 
 up splashes of orange and gold into the sky ere he 
 sank. It was dark before the Prince came up and 
 moored close to us. The Consul's dragoman caught, 
 on a night-line, a huge siluroid, which Professor 
 Owen carried off to the Prince with the hook in 
 its mouth. There was the usual stroll on the 
 bank before dinner, and in the evening most of the 
 party on board the Duke's steamer were invited 
 to join the Eoyal circle. 
 
 February 8th. — Cold night, windy morning, clouds 
 of dust, all windows and ports closed. There was 
 less trouble concerning the tubbing arrangements, 
 as a screen has been fitted up on deck which 
 permits the natives on shore to view the eccentric 
 
 M
 
 162 THE ^V FATHER. [chap. 
 
 proceedings of the stranger, but hides him from the 
 crew. Grievous things have occurred. The net 
 which was intended to ensnare the solitary crocodile 
 turned out yesterday to be adapted rather for the 
 capture of the multitudinous herring. It is too 
 much to expect that the crocodile will prove obliging, 
 and, out of pure civility, believe he is a herring. 
 Then, again, the night-line, from which a good 
 deal was expected, came to nought. The hook 
 was baited with the entrails of a fowl, which 
 proved very tempting to some monster of the deep. 
 But he was strong and tyrannous : in a contest of 
 "pull monster, pull dragoman," the line broke, 
 and we saw not the conqueror. 
 
 Benisoueff was probably wide awake when the 
 flotilla cast off from the banks at dav/n, but the 
 world on board, save Eeis, captain, and crew, was 
 fast asleep. The Duke's steamer led. For the first 
 time in ten years, it is said, a shower of rain fell 
 this morning; and why it fell it is hard to 
 conceive, inasmuch as a wind strong enough to 
 blow it into mist rushed down the stream, and 
 raised clouds of sand along the shore, which 
 rendered it impossible to see the banks at times. 
 A learned man prognosticated a fine day from 
 the sunset last night. Alas, how wrong he was !
 
 VI.] WIiXD AXD DUST. 163 
 
 When the pattering of the rain cea.sed, the dust 
 rose. No effort could keep that fine torment from 
 going where it Hsted, and it liked to settle in 
 the cabins, and on beards, and up nostrils, and in 
 eyes. Of com-se this is an exceptional day; but 
 we are in for abnormal weather it seems. 
 
 The wind, cold enough as long as the boats were 
 under the bank, was exceedingly fierce when we 
 got out into the stream. Hour by hour it waxed in 
 power, cresting the dun-coloured waves with white 
 foam, till the sun was shrouded in clouds. These 
 grew denser, and produced the effect of a fog. The 
 palm-trees, moved into life by the blast, with stems 
 hidden by the lower and heavier strata of the volatile 
 sand-banks, threw their feathery leaves like " knightly 
 plumes " in their play. A yellowish screen shut out 
 the Nile, yielding occasionally, so as to show 
 through the rifts the low-lying shores — here covered 
 with sugar-cane in patches, there bare and desert- 
 like — lined with high banks, or barred by mounds 
 of limestone. 
 
 Pumping-machines for irrigation, and tall chim- 
 neys, denoted the existence of the rich sugar districts 
 which we heard of but could not see. 
 
 The fellah men and women, with garments 
 streaming in the blast, seemed as much annoyed 
 
 M 2
 
 164 FESHN. [chap. 
 
 by the unusual storm as we were. A valetudinarian 
 sent from England by a doctor, and encountering 
 such an afternoon, would, if he were an irritable 
 and unjust-minded person, not disposed to be 
 charitable in respect to climatic irregularities, wish 
 that his medical adviser were out in his place. 
 We thought of the Suez Canal when we saw the 
 dun and yellow clouds, which seemed able to fill 
 up whole seas. 
 
 As the Prince's boat was not visible when we got 
 as far as Feshn, a village with two mosques, our boat 
 was put in to shore and secured. Sumner took his 
 gun, carried off "Hippopotamus Johnny," and, accom- 
 panied by Colonel Marshall and myself, walked across 
 the fields towards a small village shrouded in palm- 
 trees, and distinguished by a mosque and minaret, 
 and a tomb-like structure ; but there was nothing to 
 be met with except natives, domestic pigeons, hawks, 
 and larks. A pigeon fell first, but as if in revenge at 
 his undeserved and illegitimate fate, dropped into a 
 patch of long grass, in which two amateur beaters 
 sought in vain to discover it ; a buzzard was also 
 unlucky, and finally some sort of wild beast — fox, 
 jackal, or wolf — les trois se disent — was rolled over, 
 but got up again and escaped in the growing crops. 
 Outside the village is a railway station, and at it were
 
 VI.] SHEIK FODL. 165 
 
 waiting one turkey-cock, two liens, ten dogs, and two 
 natives. As the Eoyal flotilla was coming up, the 
 party abandoned any attempt to improve their minds 
 by investigating the village, and got on board. Then 
 we all set off together, and, lor ever pelted by wind 
 and sand, got into a wider Nile which opened out 
 at times like a lake. 
 
 Arrived at Aboo Girgeh at 4 p.m., passing Shekh 
 Embarak, a lofty mountain ridge which comes close 
 down to the water's edge. The Eoyal steamer did 
 not come up for nearly an hour later. The Prince 
 went off in the punt with Webster, and made a 
 good shot, getting seven spoonbills and two black 
 storks ; then netted the river, and had two hauls, 
 one a blank, the other bringing in some small fish, 
 which were cooked for dinner. There were plenty 
 of wild geese, but they were very much alive to 
 danger, and kept circling high in air, uttering a 
 prolonged trumpet-like cry to warn their brethren. 
 
 Towards sundown the steamers sidled in to the 
 left bank at Sheik Fodl, 122 miles from Cairo, to 
 make fast for the night. 
 
 It would be slow work if all the places men- 
 tioned by Murray were to be inspected, for the 
 Nile becomes a water way, with landing-places for 
 the antiquary at every mile. The limestone ridges
 
 106 MUMMY DOGS. [chap. 
 
 which hedge the Desert here sweep down close to 
 the risrht hank, and tower ahove the traveller. 
 
 Fehruary 9th. — The thermometer 58°. Soon after 
 our departure from the mooring stakes at Sheik 
 Fodl, what should come on but a dense fog ! It is 
 very seldom indeed such an unpleasant hindrance to 
 navigation occurs on the Nile ; but it so happened 
 that as we had wind and rain yesterday, there 
 was a fog this morning ; not one of your dense 
 choking yellow mediums, in w^hich the lungs con- 
 tend with an enemy of potency, but a soft white 
 milky cloud, more like a rainless Scotch mist (if 
 such a thing there can be) than anything else. So 
 there was a great sounding of steam whistles, and 
 the steamers lay to on tbe river, just giving a turn 
 now and then to keep their bows to the stream. 
 
 We saw nothing of the ruins, of which Sheik 
 Fodl boasted two, till modern science improved them 
 away into materials for the sugar manufactory at 
 Minieh. Nor did we visit the pits in which the 
 fathers of village dogs, in all the comfort of embalm- 
 ment, are buried with the mummies of their owners 
 or well-wishers, each of whom, like the untutored 
 Indian, seemed to think that, — 
 
 Admitted to the equal sky, 
 His faithful dog should bear him comi)any.
 
 VI.] COPTIC CLERGYMEN. 1G7 
 
 Nor did we see "Mary's Well" (Bir Sitti 
 Mariam), a cave in a rock, wherein the Nile water 
 rises during the flood, near which the Copts still 
 bury their dead. In an hour, as soon as the fog 
 cleared ofl*, the steamers headed up stream as hard 
 as they could, passing the limestone quarries of 
 Sheik Hassan, and its remains, Golosaneh, and the 
 quarries of E' Serareeh, in which Sir Gardner AVil- 
 kinson states two painted grottoes existed, belonging 
 to the early reign of Pthahmen, son of Rameses 
 the Great, One was destroyed by the Turks ; the 
 other still remains, thanks to Sir Gardner's exer- 
 tions with the Viceroy. 
 
 We were coming up to the famous Gebel-e-Tayr 
 — very like Gibraltar that name — the mountain, or 
 rather lofty ridge, where the birds of Egypt meet 
 annually in Parliament assembled, and select a 
 victim who is to stay on the rock for a year. 
 He may not be a victim, indeed — he may be an 
 honoured bird ; whether he is called on to " sing " 
 all the time I cannot say, but, any way, the bird 
 being placed en faction, is deserted by the whole 
 Parliament, which flies off" to Greece, whence it 
 returns in a year to liberate the sentinel, and to 
 choose another to take his place. From an odd 
 fortress-looking building, with low cupolas and
 
 168 COPTIC CONVENT. [chap. 
 
 mud buttresses, placed on tlie plateau of this 
 ridge, divers natives were rushing violently down 
 the steep, and diving headlong into the stream; 
 they swam out towards the flotilla, dropping down 
 on them in the current reckless of paddle-wheels, 
 with black heads bobbing up and down in the 
 water like fishermen's buoys. 
 
 *' Look at those naked black fellows ! Look at 
 them jumping into the river ! Pirates ? Oh, Eeis ! 
 Eobbers, or madmen ? What do they want ? " 
 There is a scarce concealed smile of contempt on the 
 Mahometan's face. " No, only Christians, efiendi ! " 
 
 And soon they are alongside, clutching at the 
 rudder, and striving to grasp the sides of the 
 dahabeahs, whilst they shout out, sputtering, " Bak- 
 sheesh, Hawadjee ! Ana Christianne ya Hawad- 
 jee ! " These are the brethren of the Coptic convent, 
 Sitteh Mariam el Adrah (Our Lady Mary the Virgin), 
 which is also called Dehra el Bukkar, or " Convent 
 of the Pulley," from the means employed to raise 
 food, and to gather in the holy fathers. They 
 got nothing but a good swim for their pains. I 
 think that they would give a mile in two to any 
 Christian brotherhood in the world, and beat them 
 in a fau' swimming- match ; but our native friends 
 did not think much of them, or of Copts in
 
 VI.] TEE CHURCH IN EGYPT. 169 
 
 general, and spoke of these as intolerant Christians 
 speak of Jews in more civilized lands. The old 
 Church of Africa seems dead in faith and in works. 
 It has added another instance to the many which 
 refute the dogma that persecution' is a fostering 
 power to the truth. 
 
 From what I hear, there seems but little likeli- 
 hood that the ancient light will be reillumined for 
 many a year to come in this once Christian land. 
 It is the land in which, thousands of years ago, 
 the Lord worked miracles, and the hearts of the 
 people are hardened now, as was that of Pharaoh. 
 To all preachings and warnings they have been 
 obdurate. Saints have taught and suffered, and 
 fathers of the Church have evangelized, and there 
 is the Egyptian now, whatever may be said of 
 his future, as devout an infidel as when he was 
 the follower of strange gods, against whom Moses 
 lifted up his A^oice and his rod. The march of 
 civilization passes over his body, and leaves its 
 impress on the outer man. Eulers, enlightened and 
 energetic, drive their car over the quivering mass. 
 All in vain. There does not exist the influence 
 which led nations to change their faith at the 
 bidding of a king. The Egyptians are not to be 
 converted, as the Britons were, by the example of a
 
 170 SPORT ON THE RIVER. [chap. 
 
 ruler, wlio, indeed, would be rash if lie tried to 
 Christianize himself. 
 
 The Copts are now reckoned at no more than 
 100,000 souls. Many have gone over to the Church 
 of Eome, and so rapid were the conversions that 
 the Grovernment took measures to check the in- 
 fluences to which they were said to be due. So, 
 in Egypt at least, human power can mar the 
 agencies which are said to be too powerful for 
 State interference in countries nearer home, inas- 
 much as the conversions were very rapidly put a 
 stop to. It is certain that in some quarters here, 
 Roman Catholicism is looked on as a peculiar 
 French power, and is dreaded, or rather discour- 
 aged, on that account. 
 
 At Meghara the flotilla lay to, in order that 
 the Prince might get a shot at the numerous 
 flocks of birds on the banks. They are very 
 wary at this time of year, but the Prince is 
 patient and never loses a chance. On this occasion 
 he managed to get twenty-eight flamingoes at one 
 shot. 
 
 The river here becomes tortuous, with lofty lime- 
 stone rocks on the right bank, cut into fantastic 
 shapes ; on the left, sand-banks and rich alluvial 
 fields, lined with date palms. It is a peculiarity
 
 VI.] MINIEE. 171 
 
 of our navigation that no one can tell where we 
 wiU pull up at night. Certainly the inquiring 
 strangfer will g-et no assistance from the native 
 sailors, Eeis, or captain. If you ask, " When 
 shall we arrive ? " — the answer is, " God grant 
 you facilities." Ask "How far it is" — the 
 answer is, "As God pleases." "Do you think 
 we shall reach Nileville to-night?" — "It depends 
 on God." Ali Bey was so contraried by the 
 difficulty of getting at time or distances in his 
 journeyings up the river, that he constructed an 
 itinerary for himself, and I am bound to add that 
 his mileage differs very materially from that of 
 Mr. Murray. 
 
 Small bodies of horsemen were in attendance 
 at various points along the banks, to give assist- 
 ance and direct the course of the steamers through 
 the sand-banks. The Ornament of the Two Seas 
 steamed ahead of the Eoyal steamers, which waited 
 for the Prince's punt, and at 2.30 p.m. arrived at 
 Minieh. A Governor, or Bey, and his suite were 
 in attendance, a gathering of the curious cavasses 
 and sheiks grouped on the banks of the river. 
 Two standards floated from flag-staffs at the head 
 of a flight of wooden steps at the landing-place. 
 Long before we reached the city — if it may be
 
 172 SUGAR FACTORY. [chap. 
 
 called so — tlie tall chimney — not quite safe or 
 straight, by the bye — of the Viceroy's sugar fac- 
 tory was in view before us, tainting the air with 
 a column of smoke ; and when we landed and 
 got through introductions and salutations, we were 
 led to the factory, which fronts the river. 
 
 There is a large plant of machinery by Derosne, 
 Cail, & Co., of Paris ; but the cane is put between 
 the rollers by men, instead of being gathered in 
 by the machine. The furnaces under the boilers are 
 fed by the refuse of the cane, which is carried away 
 and spread out to dry in the sun, after it has been 
 crashed. The heat and glare, the swarthy figures, 
 nearly naked, toiling, with strange cries and yells, 
 at the never-ending work of feeding the many gaping 
 furnace-mouths with the light fuel, which blazed 
 away in a series of flash-like outbursts, suggested an 
 Inferno. We had to mount the top of the boiler 
 to inspect the crushing machinery, and then take 
 a look at the refining pans and operations. The 
 number of young girls and boys moving about in 
 the smothering atmosphere did not produce an 
 agreeable effect, and we were glad to be released 
 from statistical researches and get into the air. 
 
 Out of doors there was one of those spectacles 
 too common in Egypt. A procession of girls, from
 
 Ti.] SUGAR MANUFACTURE. 173 
 
 five to twelve years of age, was moving up an 
 inclined plane to the second story of a building 
 where the masons were at work, each with a heavy 
 basket of bricks, or heap of mortar on her head. 
 Poor Httle creatures ! They sang a wailing sort of 
 song, all together, as if to give them heart for 
 their work. 
 
 Another procession descended at the same time. 
 It seemed as if their song was lighter and more 
 cheerful. They had got rid of the load, and if 
 they were going for another, at least they had not 
 reached it yet. Some, seated in a circle on the 
 ground, were eating from a pile of coarse, brown, 
 ill-baked cakes of maize flour; others w^ere mixing 
 mortar with their hands. Boys and girls, half- 
 naked, were sweeping up the fragments of cane 
 which fell from the loaded camels that came in 
 solemn file ceaselessly from the fields with their rich 
 burthens. These were thrown on the ground of the 
 outer yard, and formed in large heaps, whence they 
 were removed in armfuls by the men, who took them 
 to the crushing mills. The factory can turn out 500 
 kantars of 1001b. each in the day, and has produced 
 60,000 kantars in the year. The sugar, which fetches 
 about ^\d. a pound, is very white and exceedingly 
 sweet. The refuse molasses is sold to the natives.
 
 174 THE TOMATO MERCHANT. [chap. 
 
 in large sealed jars, and tliere is also a rum or raki 
 factory in connection with the factory. The estab- 
 lishment is one of the more important enterprises 
 of the Viceroy, and is worked on his account with 
 very profitable results. He employs 1,500 camels for 
 transport, not to speak of steamers, barges, &c. The 
 men get 6r/., the children 3c/., a day for their work, 
 which is not bad considering the price of provisions. 
 The Prince and Princess arrived in the evening, but 
 it was too dark for them to visit the factory. 
 
 There was nothing to be seen in the town. The 
 Governor has a pretty garden, and there is a fair 
 market ; the bazaar was shut. As we strolled along 
 the bank of the river after dinner — a very hazardous 
 process by the bye, if it were not for the animated 
 lamp-posts who line it — we came on a boy sitting 
 in the darkness gravely under a tree, with a tray 
 full of tomatoes. It was odd to find a young tomato 
 merchant so full of faith in customers as to stay 
 out at night in hope of a person coming to buy. 
 But on inquiry, the affair wore a different aspect. 
 Ali Bey averred that the boy had been put there to 
 watch the basket by a man who had stolen the 
 tomatoes from the Grovernor's garden. He, seeing 
 Ali Bey, fled to the outer darkness of sugar-cane, 
 and intended to couch there tiU we left, in which
 
 VI.] THE TELEGRAPH IN EGYPT. 175 
 
 case he would come back for his tomatoes or his 
 money. 
 
 On our arrival some one wanted to send a tele- 
 gram to Cairo to ask after our mails ; but the 
 office was closed. It is the custom of the country 
 to become stone dead from 12 till 3 o'clock. 
 There was the EngHsli telegraphist, Mr. George — 
 a very good artist, by the way — on board the Consul- 
 General's steamer, and he was set to work to wake 
 up the clerks along the line ; but, though specially 
 warned, and, as might be supposed, expectant of the 
 Eoyal progress, these gentlemen had cleverly cut 
 off all communication with Cairo, and for hours 
 the needle made no sign. Yery probably the clerks 
 will hear something not at all to their advantage 
 for the artful stratagem. We are very apt to 
 regard the ways of those who have not our ways 
 just as the Greeks looked on the fashions of 
 those whom they styled Barbarians. The Egyp- 
 tians, who rise with the sun, would regard our 
 shopkeepers and clerks as lazy ne'er-do-wells for 
 lying in bed till 7 or 8 o'clock on a summer 
 morning. It will be some time ere they are vexed 
 with the habits and customs of people connected 
 with the daily press.
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 BENI HASSAN. ALI EISA. EGYPTIAN POOR LAWS. 
 
 FISHING AND SHOOTING. WATER-CARRIERS. SIOOT. 
 
 THE JEREED. 
 
 Wednesday, February 10th. — (Minieh.) A lovely 
 sunrise. As tlie dawn grew into day long flights 
 of geese streaked the horizon — spoonbills, cranes, 
 and flamingoes were visible stalking about on 
 the margin of the sand-bank just opposite our 
 boats. It was remarkable how silent they were. 
 They were too hungry, perhaps, to cry out, or 
 too wary to call attention to their doings at an 
 early hour, when they were relying on our sleepiness, 
 and venturing almost within shot. The Prince, to 
 try their craft, his own and Webster's, resolved to 
 remain at Minieh, "two shots at least" from the big 
 gun having been promised to him. The Zenet el 
 Bahareen did not go off till 8 a.m., leaving the 
 Eoyal party behind. We were anxious to visit the 
 monuments at Beni Hassan above, though we could
 
 CHAP, vii.] BENI HASSAN. 177 
 
 not read their records of old-world llistor3^ Our 
 course lay up a broader and more expanded Nile, 
 the landscape only varied by the shape of the lime- 
 stone formations on the right bank, by patches ot 
 palms, dates, and cultivated land, and by the 
 changing outline of the distant horizon of the 
 Desert. The day was warm, the sun bright, vast 
 quantities of geese, pelicans, ducks, cormorants, 
 herons, and cranes on the sand-banks — no crocodile. 
 It is a wonder there is even a bird, for the 
 shouting of pilots on land and in boats rings on 
 all sides. 
 
 About two hours and a half paddling upwards 
 brought us to the right bank below the caves of Beni 
 Hassan. Before the steamer arrived at the mooring- 
 place a polk of irregular cavalry came in view, 
 capering along the sand. The}^ were sheiks, who 
 had been warned to wait with their horses for 
 our party ; and as the vessel came to the shore 
 the horsemen, dismounting, stood by their steeds 
 to welcome us, and the children of Hassan, youug 
 and old, formed on the top in groups to inspect 
 the arrival. Between the slope of sand, covered 
 with boulders, which extends from the base of the 
 cliff, there is a patch of cultivated land overflowed 
 by the Nile at its rise, on which there is a small 
 
 N
 
 178 THE GROTTOES. [chap. 
 
 village ; southwards there are the remains of two 
 larger villages — almost towns — which have a story. 
 It is short. Ibrahim Pasha made an example of the 
 inhabitants. They were as a race rather given to 
 predatory practices, stopping boats, levying black- 
 mail, and picking and stealing generally. So the 
 ruler of the land made a swoop on them : such as 
 he could catch at the first flight he slew, the others 
 were sent to live in scattered villages ; and, to make 
 the place a sort of awful warning, he forbade any one 
 to reside in the two towns. Not a soul lives, nor is 
 any one allowed to harbour, in the roofless houses, 
 the walls of which stand erect and apparently quite 
 fit for use. The excavated tombs, of which " Murray'* 
 gives a good account, lie inland about a mile from 
 the present shore. They are confined to one level or 
 stratum of the rock, and extend for about three- 
 quarters of a mile. A short ride over the fields, few 
 of which were under crop, brought us to the sandy 
 ascent to the ridge on which are the grottoes and 
 mummy depositories. 
 
 Dismounting, we climbed in single file up to a 
 ledge, which forms a kind of esplanade in front 
 of the line of grottoes. Although the weight of 
 evidence and of learned opinion is against the 
 impression, it is scarcely possible to believe, at
 
 VII.] TEE PICTURES ON TEE WALLS. 179 
 
 first sight, that these excavations, or cut-out cham- 
 bers, were not intended for human residences. 
 The ceilings are vaulted ; externally, there are 
 few ornaments. The roof of each chamber is 
 supported on pillars, which divide it into three 
 parts. These pillars differ in character ; some are 
 polygons, with abacus ; others represent, it is 
 supposed, water reeds, with capitals of lotus : 
 some are of the natural colour of the stone ; 
 others are stained red. The walls are covered with 
 hieroglyphs, and in most of the chambers are deep 
 mummy pits cut down in the rock, with the 
 indents still visible by which the mummies were 
 lowered to their resting-places. On the sides of 
 the chambers, there is displayed for us, as in a 
 panorama, the whole life of the people who made 
 them. We see them engaged in war and in 
 hunting, in manufactures and in commerce, in 
 fishing, in playing. We see the trophies of their 
 victories — a procession of prisoners from Asia, says 
 Sir Gardner Wilkinson, because the men have 
 beards and the women ankle-boots — nay, we know 
 — our wise men say so — the name of their chief, 
 Absha ; and of his people, Mes-segur ; and of 
 the owner of the tomb, Nefoth ; and the date of 
 his being, viz. in the reign of Osirtasen I. and II., 
 
 N 2
 
 180 WRITINGS ON THE WALLS. [chap. 
 
 wlio reigned long ere Joseph came into Egypt. 
 Barbers are shaving and nail-cutting ; glass-blowers 
 are at work ; statuaries ; wrestlers contending, red 
 and black, in pairs ; criminals undergoing punish- 
 ment ; members of chess-clubs engaged at their 
 game ; the birds and animals of forest and plain, 
 and the fishes of sea and river, M. Victor Hugo 
 would be horrified to hear that the comprachicos 
 practised their trade in the time of the Pharaohs ; 
 for the critics aver that certain curious people, 
 depicted on the walls, are dwarfs and deformed 
 persons in the suite of grandees ! It has been 
 remarked that the horse does not appear in the 
 more ancient Egyptian monuments, and that the 
 first representations of it are found in those of 
 the eighteenth dynasty, about 1,500 years B.C. 
 
 We wandered from chamber to chamber in 
 wonder, not always silent. Professor Owen examin- 
 ing stones ; Mr. Fowler measuring ; each man 
 interpreting, after his fashion, the scenes painted 
 in blue, red, and black on the walls. In our train 
 came all the Italian servants and the Turkish 
 chibouquejees — for note that these latter are like 
 our shadows ; sometimes they precede instead of 
 following, and go on shore whenever we do ; 
 generally, too, selecting, as we discovered, tlie
 
 VII.] AN INCUBUS. 181 
 
 best horses, and cleligliting to scour the plain, 
 with our pipe-stems, like bundles of fishing-rods, 
 under their arms. It was worth while to notice 
 the interest taken in the p^rottoes by the Europeans, 
 and the utter indifference manifested by the Turks. 
 The cares of the former were divided between pro- 
 viding us with shght animal comforts, lugged up 
 from the steamer, and seeing the caves. The 
 latter were intent on making coffee and preparing 
 our pipes, exclusively. 
 
 Interesting as the excavations are, there is a 
 grievance and an eyesore intolerable in every cave. 
 The army of Snobland has been upon them. It is 
 some consolation that few English names could be 
 made out, though one " C. B. Elliott," in 1SC8, 
 cut his name boldly on the rock of a temple, and 
 Brown, Jones, and Eobinson have left their 
 marks. 
 
 There was a great terror on the fellah sheiks and 
 their followers who were with us — a silence so un- 
 usual to those who know what it is to be persecuted 
 for baksheesh, that it invited inquiry. Well, Ali 
 Risa, later in the day, as we were all sitting on the 
 ledge of rocks, enjoying the beautiful view of the 
 Nile valley as it spread its sheet of green, like a 
 broad riband laid down in the midst of the Pesert
 
 182 A SMALL INCIDENT. [chap 
 
 sand-hills, admitted that he had something to do 
 with it. But what that something was he would not 
 tell : it was a matter which had happened to himself 
 years ago, when he visited the place in company with 
 M. de Lesseps' family, and the result of which was 
 that the sheik then and there present would like very 
 much a chance of putting a bullet into Ali Bey's 
 interior ; whence it may be surmised that the said 
 sheik was rather the worse in some way for the 
 transaction. 
 
 Whenever Ali Eisa went away for a moment there 
 was a fellah man or boy by one's side, pointing to 
 the palm of his hand, and uttering softly that horrid 
 dissyllable — " Baksheesh." Little boys then bore 
 down boldly with calcareous casts of marine shells 
 and held them aloft, with the words, " Antic ! Antic ! 
 Baksheesh ! " till the redoubtable Bey's fez came in 
 view, when they collapsed at once. Eeturning a httle 
 in advance of the party towards the steamer, I had a 
 proof of either the blindness or the cunning of the 
 fellah. I rode towards the village, and came between 
 it and a little girl, who was tending goats in 
 some high grass on the sand-hill. The instant she 
 saw me, the frightened creature abandoned her 
 charge, and with piercing cries fled towards her 
 home. Her wailing increased in shrillness as she
 
 VII.] DOLCE FAR NIENTE. 183 
 
 perceived I cut off her retreat. She darted past the 
 horse as I remed up, and, sobbing still, ran into a 
 hovel in front of me. A piece of silver could not 
 tempt her near, and so I threw it on the sand, and 
 pointed out the spot to the probable father and 
 mother, who came out of the house. It was under 
 their noses, but they could not see it. They were 
 joined by others in the search, and all squatting 
 down ' within a yard of where it lay bright and 
 shining in the sun, either looked or made believe 
 to look for it, poking about with their fingers, till 
 one old fellow scraped the sand over it ; and so I left 
 them groping assiduously, and hope they got it. On 
 arriving at the steamer, there was a little excitement 
 going on in connection with an old fisherman, who 
 with the aid of a couple of men was spreading a 
 hand-net in the river : one end of it was fastened to 
 an earthen jar, another to a buoy, and when they had 
 payed the net out from the boat it floated upright 
 down stream. The boat, hailed by Hamed, came 
 alongside, and the old fellow handed up a basket of 
 fish, which was brought to Professor Owen. He 
 identified five species among the twelve fish — tlu*ee 
 siluroids, the bagrus and apu'tes — a fish like a carp, 
 which Hamed says attains the weight of 120 lb. in 
 the Upper Nile — and others.
 
 1S4 BIRDS AND BEASTS. [chat. 
 
 Then we had notliing to do. Even luncTieon was 
 eaten — a light one, ouJi/ caviare and tunny fish, 
 sardines, tongue, ham, rice, various jams, fruit, 
 Sauterne, claret, soda-water, coffee, and pipes. Dolce 
 far niente came on us as on the natives, who sat 
 chattering on the banks. This is their easy time, 
 poor fellows ! Soon they will be toiling with heads 
 in the sun, and legs in the water, for weary days and 
 weeks and months. It is pleasant to sit under the 
 awning on deck, and gaze on the water flashing in 
 the hot sun — to peer into dreamland — to wander 
 away there till we are lost, self, identity, and all ! 
 Hark ! There is a trumpet-sound from the very heart 
 of dreamland, summoning the airy hosts of its armies 
 to battle ! It is only an easy snore from the cabin. 
 But it wakes us up. It is not to be endured thus to 
 dawdle away our time. A\niat is to be seen through 
 the glass? Nothing save sails and the smoke of two 
 sugar-factory chimneys — most odious signs of civili- 
 zation in the land of the Pharaohs. Stay ! There is a 
 magnificent eagle placidly floating down the river on 
 a carcase. He is far away ; Mr. Fowler takes a rifle 
 and tries to stalk the bird-king, but as he creeps 
 among the sand-hills, tvro jackals dash out of the 
 fields far below, and the eagle, rising slowly from 
 his ignoble prey, alights on a sand-bank. Fowler
 
 vii.] EGYPTIAN POOR LAWS. 185 
 
 got a shot at a jackal, but it was a long one, and 
 tlie rifle threw high. I tried my fortune with the 
 eagle as he sat on the opposite hank, and sighting 
 Whitworth for 300 yards, sent a bullet so straight 
 that the on-lookers thought it broke his leg. The 
 sand flew up over him ; but the eagle rose from the 
 midst of his courtier crows and ravens, and circled 
 away to some securer roosting-place. It was now 
 4 o'clock, and there was no sight of our Prince or 
 his fleet. We open our mail-bags which were de- 
 livered last nio-ht. 
 
 Is it ill-natured to confess that we read of skating 
 in London and Paris, and of snow storms, with 
 some sort of selfish delight in our hot sun and 
 warm wind? To-day was heavenly — a day in 
 which to live was enough for all the outer sense, 
 and in which the inner hfe was possessed by a calm 
 serenity. 
 
 In the Times there was a heart-rending account of 
 "Death by Starvation" — a woman and her infant 
 starved to death in Christian miUionaire London — 
 si plein d'or et de misere. Her husband driven mad ! 
 
 What a reproach to us, to hear Ali Eisa, apropos 
 of the way in which slaves run away to the Soudan, 
 explain how, by the law of the land, every sheik is 
 obliged to feed all comers for the night, and give
 
 186 LABOUR IN VAIN. [chap. 
 
 them lodging, so that no man can starve in this poor 
 benighted heathen land. Slaves can or could thus 
 escape to their pet Soudan. Whilst we were waiting 
 for the Pnnce, a mild excitement was created by 
 throwing small coin on shore, which led to furious 
 and protracted controversy among sheiks, men and 
 boys, in which an idiot took a large part, and, as is 
 often the way of the world, got the money. Towards 
 dusk the Eoyal steamers appeared. When the fleet 
 was moored, the Prince started for a large sand-bank 
 ojDposite, and we had two draws of the net, and caught 
 one small fish, which was not a rich reward for the 
 labour of twenty-five or thirty people — hard labour in 
 tugging at ropes and shouting vigorously — hard for 
 the men, who had to carry us to and from the boats 
 over soft mud, and land the fishermen on the bank, 
 and row them back. The Prince takes great delight 
 in this, or would do so if the net would draw any- 
 thing in the shape of fish to shore. The failure of 
 the net is a misfortune. I believe it was left to a 
 distinguished naval officer to see that the net was 
 all right. Why to a naval officer ? Nets are used 
 in fresh water, nets are used in salt water; but 
 what an admiral can know about the sort of article 
 which is best suited to catch fish in the Nile more 
 or better than any other man, I am at a loss to
 
 VII.] DRAWING A BLAXK. 187 
 
 guess or imagine, unless it be that the said admiral 
 is very fond of fishing with nets. The result may be 
 described in a few words : there are no fish caught. 
 The net is rowed carefully out to a shelving sand- 
 bank ; one end is landed and given over to a party of 
 amateui's invited from the flotilla generally and to 
 the four sailors of the Ariadne, who "work" the 
 fishing and the boating, and keep the shoulders of 
 the Egyptian mariners to the wheel. One squad is 
 landed to man the shore end of the rope, and the 
 boat is then rowed ofi*, making a wide sweep, and 
 retui-ning to shore with the other end, which is seized 
 by party No, 2. Then with a pull all together the 
 ropes are dragged in, the Prince working as hard as 
 the best of them, — the sailors in the water, the 
 amateurs shouting and slipping in the soft sand ; 
 nearer and nearer comes what ought to be the purse. 
 It is landed at last. It is empty. Not a fin. " Oh, 
 deuce take Admiral Blank ! " 
 
 The Duke and his friends were invited to 
 dine on board the Eoyal steamer; and Achmet 
 Hassan, the Captain, was asked to join the 
 party, whom he entertained by his liveliness 
 and good-humour, and by the expressiveness of 
 his broken English, in which he managed to make 
 hard liits. He remembered, when on a visit to
 
 188 LAND SLIPS. [chap. 
 
 England years ago, seeing tlie Prince — " nice small 
 boy," and before dinner was over he rose amid 
 cheering and laughter, and proposed the " Health 
 of the Queen of England," and added, " Get you 
 all up, you know." The Prince of Wales then gave 
 the " Health of His Highness the Viceroy," which 
 was warmly received. The Governor of Sioot, Abde 
 Bey, who came down to meet the Prince and Prin- 
 cess after dinner, was also invited, and had pipes 
 and coffee on board. 
 
 Thursday, February 11th. — To make up for our 
 delay, which, if not dull, was becoming fraught 
 with danger of being overtaken by the Tourists, 
 the little fleet started at 4 o'clock this morning 
 from Beni Hassan. There was a sensible shock 
 given to our vessel soon after we left, which awoke 
 most of the sleepers. A mass of earth detached 
 itself from a bank of the river and fell into the 
 water, creating a wave which splashed violently 
 against the side, and threw the water into the 
 windows of some of the cabins. There must be 
 frequent changes produced by such agencies in the 
 riverine farms, as in the Mississippi lands, where a 
 man may find a good slice of his estate gone when 
 he wakes in the morning. 
 
 It must not be imagined that the Koyal pro-
 
 VII.] TEE WATER CARRIERS. 189 
 
 gress makes a great sensation in the country side. 
 The servants of the Governor, the local officers, 
 and the cavasses, are surrounded by a crowd of the 
 curious — water-carriers, and idlers ; but the im- 
 
 mense mass of 
 the populace 
 IS untouched. 
 The women 
 are rarely to 
 = be seen in the 
 crowd. A knot 
 of them here 
 and there, 
 coming down 
 to fill their 
 water-jars at the landing-places, linger a moment 
 or two longer perhaps than usual, and peep out 
 above the folds of their dresses at the steamers ;
 
 190 BIRDS ON THE BANKS. [chap. 
 
 but it is a languid interest after all, and tliey 
 stalk back, camel-like, swaying easily under their 
 heavy burthens, to their homes, and cast no 
 lingering look behind. They do not care how far 
 they expose their legs — at least, they go as far as 
 any Highlander, and not quite so far as a ballet- 
 girl ; but they are most careful as to neck and 
 shoulders; and I don't think of the hundreds we 
 have seen one has permitted the eye to rest on so 
 much of the upper section of the torso as is so 
 kindly authorized by fashion to be a correct com- 
 promise with the nude. It may be inferred that 
 there is no very definite idea in their minds as to 
 who the Prince of Wales is, and that they do not 
 know mach beyond the limits of their own village 
 and the local potentate. 
 
 The whole of the day was a marvel of loveliness, 
 to be marked with the whitest of chalk. The Nile 
 passes — more properly speaking, rushes — through a 
 richer country. There are sugar plantations, which 
 need manufactories at Ehoda, and elsewhere, to con- 
 sume the produce. There are more verdant fields 
 and broader patches of cultivation. The waterworks 
 are more frequent, and the labours of the shadoof 
 more constant. The stream is covered with sails, 
 or boats impelled against the wind by rowers tug-
 
 vn.] MANFALOOT. 191 
 
 ging at great oars, to the rliytlim of a plaintive 
 chorus. Then we come to a high range of rock 
 on the right bank, Gribel Aboofayda, and catch 
 glimpses of the Desert encroaching here and there. 
 There were heaps of birds along the shore ; pro- 
 digious multitudes of blue and grey herons on the 
 rocks spoke of plenty of fish in the river. Passing 
 the rocks of Aboofayda, the Prince made some 
 excellent shots at individual cormorants, swarms of 
 which, were roosting and flying about the recesses 
 of these grand cliffs. The range of limestone on 
 our left is bored in all directions by square aper- 
 tures, leading to the chambers, in which mummies 
 of sacred animals and possibly those of men were 
 buried. The navigation became very difficult, and 
 even our light steamer went once aground. 
 The river winds and twists like a snake, and 
 is as mischievous. A large town which we 
 passed towards evening, Manfaloot, was half de- 
 stroyed some years ago by the washing away of 
 the bank on which it stood. Here we shot by 
 two dahabeahs, one with the British, another with 
 the United States flag ; and farther on we over- 
 took a very large and handsome boat flying the 
 French tricolour, which greeted the Prince subse- 
 quently, with a royal salute from pistols, double
 
 192 
 
 SWOT. 
 
 [CIIAP. 
 
 barrel and single barrel, very entbusiastically. 
 
 Thanks to our gallant allies 
 
 We saw Sioot for more than an hour-and-a-half, 
 ere our steamer could reach the landing-place at 
 dusk. There were considerable preparations to re- 
 ceive the Eo3^al party. About thirty irregular 
 cavalry were drawn up on the bank, and the Governor, 
 Abde Be}', and his functionaries, with horses, car- 
 riages, and any number of donkeys, were in waiting. 
 The shore was brilliantly illuminated. Sioot has a 
 population of 30,000 souls, and is a place of 
 great importance in Upper Egypt. It is the start- 
 ing-point and terminus of the caravans between 
 Dongola and the province. Our party disem- 
 barked and went through the town. A bright-eyed 
 bo}', who joined in the informal procession of natives 
 in our train, burst out into very good English,
 
 til] the J ere ED. 193 
 
 and shook hands with eveiy one all round. He is 
 brother of the American Consul, who can speak 
 no English; and he learned to speak and write at 
 a school established by some American philanthro- 
 pists in the city. Tliere is no British Consul ; 
 but the Spaniards, of all people, have a functionary 
 of that description. 
 
 We visited in our ramble a school maintained by 
 the State, or, rather, passed in review a line of youths, 
 by no means remarkable for good looks, attired in 
 French cut frock-coats, red trousers with blue stripe, 
 and fez cap. They might have looked tolerable 
 in their native dress; but it would be difficult 
 to pick out a lot of more ill-favoured lads than 
 those fifty who were presented to us. There were 
 a number of others caught sight of at an open 
 door in a building in which they appeared to be 
 packed very close, but the door was shut on the 
 inquiring stranger as he approached. After visiting 
 the school, the party were entertained by the irre- 
 gular cavalry, a few of whom went through the 
 exercise of the jereed. There was nothing very 
 remarkable about the showmen, except the wonderful 
 rapidity with which they reined up their horses, 
 checked and turned them at full speed. But the 
 leader, armed with a long lance, wielded it with 
 
 o
 
 194 THE CITY. [CHAP. 
 
 much expertness, and set a fine example to his troop, 
 who might be useful as light cavalry, and who cer- 
 tainly were very picturesque. It was long after 
 dark before the Prince's fleet came up at full 
 speed — rather a perilous feat in the night. The 
 Prince came on board the Duke's steamer after 
 dinner. 
 
 Pebruary 12th. — (Sioot.) A cold night; thermo- 
 meter 58° at 9 A.M. It was a very disagreeable day 
 — a higfli wind and clouds of dust. The Duke's 
 party started after breakfast for Sioot, attended by 
 Hamed. The city lies about two miles from the 
 landing-place. The donkey boys were unusually 
 mahgnant and persecuting, and even Hamed had to 
 rouse himself to use strong language, which on some 
 occasions was rendered into muscular English by 
 the Chelebees. We set off", having asserted freedom 
 of election in the matter of donkeys, and made 
 a fine entrance into the city, which consists of the 
 usual mud-bricked houses, built anyhow, and caval- 
 caded the bazaar, made a solemn purchase of tar- 
 booshes and shot, at very fair prices, and returned 
 just as the Eoyal party was setting out for the 
 same \dsit. After breakfast the Prince and Princess, 
 attended by Mrs. Grey and suite, visited the city 
 and the American Mission School, under the charge
 
 VII.] COURSE OF THE RIVER. 195 
 
 of the Eev. Mr. Hogg — eighty pupils. As it is 
 very likely many an Eton man who knows all 
 about the Po and the Tiber is ignorant of 
 the course of the Humber or the Tweed, so 
 the lads, who answered very creditably, were, to 
 Sir Samuel Baker's great astonishment, found 
 to be unacquainted with tlie sources of the 
 Nile. From the school the Eoyal travellers went 
 to the Mosque, and thence proceeded to the 
 Egyptian school, but the boys were absent, as it 
 was a Friday. The rooms, containing some twenty 
 beds, were well ventilated and comfortable. The 
 Princess, in mounting her horse, sustained what 
 Dr. Minter called a luxation of the thumb, which 
 gave her great pain for the time, and made tears 
 come to her eyes, but she never complained of it. 
 The Prince and Princess made purchases in the 
 bazaar, and went back to the fleet, which started 
 at 2.30 P.M. On returning to the vessels, natives 
 came on board with specimens of pottery, and 
 sold a number of jars, coloured very prettily red, 
 black, and white, of classical and elegant shapes. 
 
 The country around Sioot is very rich, and 
 spreads far along the banks of the river. The 
 course of the stream is tortuous, and the channel 
 difiicult to keep. And here is a paradox : " If 
 
 2
 
 196 ^^0 CROCODILES. [chap. 
 
 the steamers get aground going np now, and tlie 
 river keeps falling every day till June, liow on 
 eartli are tliey to get back in March or April ? " 
 Thus asks Inductive Inquiry. To whom replies 
 Experience in the shape of the Captain. And All 
 Bey replies : " The river goes down, indeed, but 
 as it does the shallows disappear, and the waters, 
 in a more contracted channel, scoop out better 
 marked channels." Yoila comme les choses s'ex- 
 pliquent ! It is a NE. wind, which is a very 
 different sort of fellow from what he is in 
 England. On board the ship it is better than on 
 land, but still the dust blows into our cabins, 
 and it is too hot to shut the ports to keep it 
 out. Whether the river be less fishy here or not I 
 cannot say, but the absence of cormorants, compared 
 with their great abundance lower down, was remark- 
 able ; nor were flamingos, spoonbills, or ducks very 
 abundant. No crocodiles as yet. They are very 
 provoking. A reward is to be given for showing 
 one — usual fee 10 piastres— if he be slain, the 
 reward to the first demonstrator is 40 piastres. Be 
 sure the Arabs and fellahs are keen enough to look 
 out for them. But our great following, and the 
 noise of the paddles of so many steamers, not to 
 speak of the shouting of the men employed to keep
 
 VII.] THE STUFFING BOX. 197 
 
 watch and ward over our course, liave given the alarm 
 to the timid water-lizards, which, between the con- 
 stant "potting" of dahabeah sportsmen, and the 
 never-ceasing persecutions to which infant members 
 of the family are exposed, lead a troublous life 
 below the First Cataract. 
 
 The Prince's stuffer, Mr. Baker, has a workshop 
 on deck in the bow, formed of canvas and marked 
 "private," but is not unfrequently aggressed upon 
 by collectors of feathers for fly-tying. Science is 
 always exposed to the interruptions of the outer 
 world. He has got in a forward state spoonbills, 
 flamingos, mallard, merlin, hawk-owl, herons, cranes, 
 cormorants, hoopoes, doves, but of land game birds 
 little or none. I doubt if ever any one visited 
 the Nile under more favourable circumstances, so 
 far as the means of enjoying it are concerned; but 
 the Prince is not acting in accordance with the 
 advice given to travellers of seeing everything 
 while he can, and not putting it ofi' tiU he returns, 
 as every one hopes he will. 
 
 At an hour before sunset the fleet turned bows in- 
 shore, and the mooring stakes were driven into the 
 bank near a village called Isbah. The Prince and a 
 few friends went out shooting, and got some pigeons, 
 a small owl, a hoopoe, &c. They were attended by
 
 198 PIGEONS, [cnAr. vii. 
 
 a crowd, who were liiglily pleased when the Prince 
 ordered money to be given for the pigeons he had 
 killed. It is said that the natives do not like one 
 to come after the pigeons close to the villages, as 
 they are apt to fly away to other districts when 
 persecuted by small shot, but that they do not care 
 if the sportsmen go out into the fields. The villages 
 swarm with pigeons, wdiich are lodged far more 
 comfortably than their owners, and the young ones 
 are a very valuable addition to the limited resources 
 of the poor fellah. There was a glorious sunset, 
 the finest we have yet seen, over a distant line of 
 Desert hills which closes the wide expanse of bearded 
 wheat, dotted with dates and acacias, and here and 
 there blm-red by the brown heap which constitutes 
 a fellah village, crouching under groves of palms.
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 GEBEL HAREEDI. SONHADJ. GIRGEH. KENEH. DEN- 
 
 DERA. COPTOS. 
 
 Pebruary 13tli. — (Isbali.) One week to-day since 
 we left Cairo. The voyage seems to have proved 
 of service to the Princess, who looks better than 
 she did on arriving in Egypt. The fleet moved 
 off at 5.30 A.M., and went at a steady pace np the 
 river. A steamer was discerned following us far 
 off. " The tourists are coming^ ! " was the univer- 
 sal cry. Every glass was directed to the ship. At 
 last she was ]Dronounced to be a trading steamer 
 from Cairo, and a feeling of relief was at once ex- 
 perienced. At 9 o'clock, the immense cliffs of Gebel 
 Hareedi, towering perpendicularly upwards from the 
 sloping base of debris marked by the most enormous 
 boulders, presented a fine appearance. There was 
 some discussion as to their height. I estimated them 
 at 300 feet from the base of the debris. Mr. Eowler 
 put them at 700, which was surely too much. At 
 11 o'clock A.M. the steamers ran in and made fast to a
 
 200 SONHADJ. [cnAP. 
 
 high bank, and after breakfast all hands went on 
 board the Royal steamer to hear Mr. Fowler read 
 his report on the Suez Canal. Mr. Fowler dealt 
 tenderly with Mr. Stephenson's dicta, and was lenient 
 to Mr. Hawkshaw's cautious, yet compromising, 
 report on the Canal. His own opinion was that the 
 Canal would not pay unless a good deal of the Indian 
 and Chinese Cape traffic were diverted into it. Lord 
 Palmerston declared the Canal ought not to be made. 
 Mr. Stephenson said it could not be made. Mr. Hawk- 
 shaw averred it could not be finished in the esti- 
 mated time, and at the estimated cost. Mr. Fowler 
 declares it can be made at the estimated time and 
 cost ; that Lord Palmerston's objections have been 
 met by recent changes in the relations of the 
 Company to the Egyptian Grovernment; that Mr. 
 Stephenson's opinion is to be regretted; that Mr. 
 Hawkshaw's is erroneous ; but that the Canal will 
 not pay, unless there is something more than mail 
 and passenger traffic to go through it, in addition 
 to the trade which it may create for itself. 
 
 At 1 o'clock we halted at Sonhadj, where the 
 vessels coaled, and the Prince went out shooting, but 
 got no sport. There was a very small dahabeah 
 here flying the United States flag, and apparently 
 laden with " notions " of various kinds ; and some
 
 VIII.] MISNEAH AND GIRO EH. 201 
 
 distance farther on, we met a Britisher, cooing down 
 the river, which left Cairo two months ago. The 
 inhabitants were drawn up in rows at the landing- 
 place, where the officials were in waiting, with a 
 staff of cavasses in line to keep the little boys in 
 order; and at 2.30 p.m. the flotilla was off again. 
 At 4.20 P.M. passed Misneah, and, hugging the 
 right bank, made way against the strong current 
 which sweeps at the base of the great crags, rising 
 in well defined strata to a height of 300 or 400 
 feet above us. At one spot a body of dromedary 
 cavalry came down to serve as escort in case of 
 need — some fifteen or eighteen men — very wild and 
 picturesque-looking fellows, with long guns and 
 pistols in their belts ; but they were headed off by 
 a projecting cliff', dived into a cleft in the moun- 
 tain chain, and we saw them no more. The course 
 of the stream is carefully marked out by boughs of 
 palms and long feathery waving reeds stuck on the 
 shallows ; boats, with shouting crews, moored at 
 difficult places ; and watchmen who hail us from 
 the sand-banks and isolated shores of little islands. 
 At Girgeh, 341 miles from Cairo, which we 
 reached at G.30 p.m., the fleet was put in shore- 
 wards and lay to for the night. The Governor 
 is one of the richest men in these parts, of an
 
 203 GOOD BEHAVIOUR. [chap. 
 
 ancient family, possessing a splendid house at Man- 
 faloot, wliicli is open to all travellers. A line 
 of fifty lanterns, suspended from a line of posts, 
 lighted up the landing-place. There was the usual 
 establishment of animated beacons, with their blazing 
 torches of pine-wood in iron hoops at the end of 
 long poles. Tents were pitched on an open space 
 by the river-banks, outside the town, at which there 
 was to have been an entertainment of music and 
 dancing- girls ; but they were sent away, as it was 
 not possible to endure either the singing or the 
 dancing. Hundreds of men and boys assembled round 
 the fires and the blazing beacons, and sat on the 
 banks far into the late evening ; but it is observable 
 that, whether from fear of the cavasses, or natural 
 good manners, they did not crowd round the Prince's 
 ship, and stare into the windows, which were ablaze 
 with wax- candles and gilded mirrors. "What a contrast 
 to that crowd at Wimbledon, which no force of arms, 
 or threats, or prayers, could restrain from mobbing 
 the Sultan ! When the Prince went on shore for a 
 few moments, there was a considerable gathering 
 of the people, but they did not press upon or in- 
 commode him, and many of those who came nearest 
 belonged to the flotilla itself. Our ever-joyous cap- 
 tain, Achmet Hassan, came on board to dinner, and
 
 vm.] NATIVE NOTIONS. 203 
 
 was as quick and entertaining as ever. Fourteen years 
 at sea, poor man ! ere he Lad a little taste of shore 
 life. Yet he prefers the sea to Nile navigation. " I 
 never go down all day now — paddle-box, always 
 paddle-box, — shouting Fulley speed ! Halfey speed ! 
 Turney-stern ! At sea, give my course to officer — 
 lie down, go sleep. Sea much better." Ali Eisa 
 pointed out a jDassage in Lady Duff Gordon's Let- 
 ters which he was reading, as a proof of bad taste. 
 It related to the Prince of Wales's marriage. Omar, 
 her servant, was represented to have asked when the 
 Prince " would see his wife's face," which Ali Eisa 
 regarded as indehcate. So the Captain to-night, in 
 giving a general invitation to his house at Cairo, 
 on our return, said, " I will show you everything 
 — everything — only" (he smiled with all his white 
 teeth) " not my wife." 
 
 "But," said the Duke, "when you come to me 
 in Scotland, you will see the Duchess." 
 
 " Each country has its customs. If I take my 
 wife to Scotland, I let you see her face." 
 
 The Captain says he has only one wife ; and then 
 he taps his breast and laughs, and adds, " I am 
 Englishman — one wife — one wife." 
 
 There has been a difficulty between our vessel and 
 Colonel Stanton's ever since we started; and a
 
 204 ITALIAN DOMESTICS. [chap. 
 
 want of good faith in the matter of milk, meat, 
 and provisions generally, is reciprocally attributed 
 to the Commissariat department. When the two 
 steamers come alongside, the cackle of the poultry 
 in the pens, and the gobbling of the turkeys on 
 the paddle-boxes, is quite overpowered by the ani- 
 mated outburst of speech in which Virgilio, Griovanni, 
 Attilio, Griacomo talk all together to Guiseppe and 
 rilippo, Geronimo and Baptiste, over the side. One 
 of our waiters, going on board the Consular boat 
 to indulge in the charming gabble so dear to Italian 
 servitori, was ejected by the Captain. Grreat wailing, 
 and a complaint to Ali Bey. An explanation is called 
 for. The Caj)tain makes it clear that the Italian 
 was in undress, and could not be identified as a 
 person entitled to come on board, but recalls the 
 expulsion and manual application. Honour is satis- 
 fied, and peace is restored between Captain and man 
 by an afiectionate salute on the cheek. A case of 
 champagne was opened last night sine permissu 
 superiorum, and three bottles were abstracted. Our 
 Captain infers that it must be Christians who did so, 
 "because," observes he, logically, "my crew all Mus- 
 sulmen — Mussulmen only drink water." Perhaps so. 
 February 14th.— Left Girgeh at sunrise— such 
 a sunrise! — a cloudless sky, still studded with
 
 viii.] CROCODILES. 205 
 
 twinkling stars in the deep blue of the far west, 
 while the east was glowing with orange and amber. 
 The sunrise in Egypt, at this time of year, is 
 rather colourless — too white, owing to a want of 
 watery clouds in the sky. A very fine morning, 
 nevertheless ; wind firm, NE., fresh, but not keen 
 or chest-searching ; and a sun which gained in power 
 every hour. There is a sharp look-out for croco- 
 diles ; but the Eeis says it is in vain, for the 
 water is too cold and the air is not warm enough; 
 yet Sir S. Baker holds, that when the water 
 is cold and the sun is as bright as it is now, 
 crocodiles come out — or should do so. But they do 
 not. The Governor of Grirgeh, if rightly interpreted, 
 declared that a crocodile had not visited the neigh- 
 bourhood for the last sixty years ! But we have 
 passed the place where Lord H. Scott shot a beast, 
 according to Hamed, and where the Prince saw 
 many when he was last here. 
 
 After breakfast lay to off the right bank below 
 Farshoot for a time, having j)^ssed all that 
 remains of a large town, the rest of which will 
 soon, in all likelihood, follow into the bed of 
 the Nile. The tenacity with which the peoj)le 
 cling to the banks of the river, in spite of awful 
 warnings and constant depositions, is curious.
 
 206 KENEH. [chap. 
 
 As we lay to the daliabeali Feodalinda, witli 
 British colours, swept down with the stream, firing 
 a little salute from all her armoury, with three 
 Britishers standing, with heads uncovered, on deck. 
 To us it was a day of rest and thankfulness. To the 
 poor fellahs who were toiling by the river banks, only 
 to be distinguished from it in colour by the cloths 
 round their loins, and their head-pieces of felt, the 
 shadoof gives no rest from sunrise to sunset. Friday 
 — their Sabbath — brings them no repose. It is said 
 that there is a great scarcity to be feared from the 
 want of water in the Nile, and that the Viceroy is 
 making preparations to meet it by extensive pur- 
 chases of corn — for he is not a political economist. 
 He does not understand the principles of free 
 trade as they were applied to a certain country in 
 1846. The approach to Keneh is indicated by 
 the rafts of water-jars — some many thousands in 
 number — floating down the river. On the right 
 great fields of water-jars lay on the beach; and, on 
 nearing the town, a group of six white cylindrical 
 windmills, with extinguisher-shaped tops, mark the 
 hill, or irregular plateau, beneath which the town is 
 situated. In the present state of the Nile it lies 
 some two miles away from the high blufi* covered 
 with palm trees, and occupied by a native village.
 
 viii.] AN ESCAPE. 207 
 
 by wliicli the vessels were drawn up. There was 
 a crowd of turbaned sheiks waiting to do the Eoyal 
 party honour — the British Consular Agent, the 
 Deputy Governor of Esne, and many individuals of 
 repute in their way, with retinues of men, horses, 
 and asses — but it was too late to go to the town. 
 The Prince, however, accepted an invitation to the 
 Consular Agent's for the evening to see a dance. 
 
 There might have been a serious accident on our 
 arrival here. The Mudir had caused a landing-place 
 to be erected on a platform of wood, which was 
 covered with turf and earth, so that the visitors 
 might walk from the deck of the vessels on shore. 
 Getting on shore is one of the events of the day, 
 and there is a rapid movement from the steamers as 
 soon as the planks are laid. Fortunately, there are 
 always adventm'ous young men ready to take the 
 first step. Some said that the steamer, on coming to, 
 gave the platform a shake ; others averred there was 
 an original defect of weakness in its constitution. 
 Any way, as Lord Carington was bounding towards 
 the bank, a crash was heard, and he and the platform 
 tumbled down together, involving Mr. Montagu and 
 Prince Louis in part of the ruin. Lord Carington 
 fell into the Nile, but he soon scrambled up the 
 bank, dripping like a Newfoundland, and not a bit
 
 20S THE DOXKEY BOYS. [chap. 
 
 the worse for liis little immersion. It might have 
 been a very awkward fall for the Princess, and for a 
 time the Mudir was in great disfavour. But all 's 
 well that ends well. 
 
 There is bad news for the sportsmen. The 
 Prince's dogs roam about in vain, and never have 
 need to stiffen tail or arrest their course over 
 the fields. There are no quails, and one gets tired 
 of shooting pigeons, hawks, and weeny owls. 
 When it was dark. Colonel Marshall and I went on 
 shore, intending to see the fantasia at the Consular 
 Agent's, and were immediately beset by an irresistible 
 crowd of donkey boys. He is not quite a feather 
 weight, and except a French giant at a station on the 
 Suez Canal, and an awful negro who encountered us 
 at one of our halts, the like of him in stature was 
 not seen in Egypt. But what will not donkey boys 
 dare ? They seized on him as if he were a baby, and 
 by sheer force and united efforts put him first on 
 one donkey and then on another, according to the 
 temporary success of opposing factions. In vain 
 he frustrated their efforts by the simple expedient 
 of putting his feet on the ground, and letting the 
 delighted donkey walk away from between his legs. 
 They returned to the charge again and again. The 
 night was hot, and the climate exhausting, and the
 
 Tin.] THE ENLEVEMENT. 209 
 
 donkey boj^s were legion. I succumbed after a brief 
 struggle, and sat watching from my saddle a crowd 
 revolving in the dust, amidst which F. M. now 
 iipreared his huge bulk in spite of himself, now 
 descending to the earth, striking out like a steam 
 hammer, till, w^orn out and defeated, he called for 
 help I could not give, and was led off in triumph 
 towards Keneh. I followed, and as soon as we were 
 fairly disposed of, the crowd melted away, and left 
 us to some six or seven of the victors, who goaded 
 the animals into a gallop through the village, rousing 
 up all the dogs to madness by their cries. Suddenly 
 there darted out of a grove the most prodigious- 
 looking ruj0B.an we had ever seen — Frenchman, negro, 
 British cuirassier, all were dwarfs to him — and as 
 he rushed down, whirling a six-foot staff shod with 
 iron, I instinctively clapped my hand on my revolver, 
 and F. M. exclaimed, " Bid you ever see such a 
 scoundrel in your life?" My revolver was of course 
 in its case in the cabin, but the apparition meant 
 no harm. It turned out afterwards he was only the 
 village watchman. But, quis custodiem custodiet? 
 Watching an opportunity, I plucked his staff out of 
 his hand, and, to make assurance doubly sure, handed 
 it to F. M., who held it with iron grip, and gave it 
 an occasional flourish over the owner's head, whose 
 
 p
 
 210 THE FANTASIA. [chap. 
 
 feelings were not too deep for words, for lie yelled 
 hideously. With him in our train, we pricked over 
 the plain in the dusk, crossed the dry bed of a 
 branch of the Nile, and entered the town, which was 
 like any other town in Egypt. We were guided to 
 the scene of a fantasia by the dub-a-dub of the 
 drums, and the noise of voices, and dismounted at a 
 door surrounded by a crowd of people. The court 
 inside was crammed with turbans, and the heat was 
 smothering. The stairs leading up from the court to 
 the first floor of the Consular mansion were equally 
 thronged. As we entered, a black servitor made us 
 understand he wanted to announce us, and a great 
 fear fell on us too. We had not been invited ! Nor 
 had we been introduced to the Egyptian gentleman 
 who was good enough to take on himself to represent 
 the power of Great Britain and Ireland at Keneh. 
 Moreover, w^e had seen and heard enough, for some 
 of the dancers were visible at the doorway, and the 
 music beat fuU on our ear. And so we mounted 
 and fled, just as Ali Eisa came charging down 
 to bear us to the presence. Fled, but not far or 
 long. Flop ! down came F. M. and his donkey 
 in the dust, and, once there, the latter refused to 
 rise, and my quadruped e\dnced a strong tendency 
 to follow his example. The donkey boys were not in
 
 Tin.] THE WATCHMAN. 211 
 
 the least put out. Making for tlie first house at 
 hand, one opened a door, and in a moment emerged, 
 leading forth a hapless ass, which had fondly believed 
 its work was over for the night. But out came the 
 owner too ! And then such a clamour of words 
 arose ! In the midst of the controversy we cantered 
 off, just as the principal inhabitants were coming out 
 to engage in the dispute, and steering our course 
 through the intricate channels of the narrow lanes, 
 reached the plain at last, and had a most delightful 
 ride in the moonlight, which was asserting its 
 supremacy, back to our steamer. The watchman was 
 quite happy at the restoration of his staff, and at the 
 receipt of a small gratuity ; and in order to assert his 
 office and compensate himself for his temporary loss 
 of dignity and power, he hit a donkey boy, who was 
 doing nothing whatever, a smart tap on the skull 
 with the iron end. The Almeahs, or dancing-girls 
 of Keneh, are celebrated for their beauty — by the 
 natives. They are exceedingly like British gipsy 
 women of an ordinary type, but they do not bear 
 such a good reputation. Here is a portrait of the 
 fairest of them, who was not, however, so famous a 
 dancer as a stumpy little woman, who had acquired 
 the art of vibrating her person from the breast to 
 the hips, whilst the rest of her body was motionless, 
 
 p 2
 
 212 AN AL3IEAH. [chap. 
 
 to a degree wliicli is considered perfection. There 
 
 is one mistake in tlie sketch. The dancer should 
 not have shoes. 
 
 Fehruary 15th. — (Keneh.) In the morning the 
 Princess made her first acquaintance with an 
 Egyptian Temple. True, it is 1,800 years old — quite 
 a modern affair. True, it is so highl}' ornate that 
 real antiquaries do not think much of it ; but surely 
 it is something to gaze on the portrait of Cleopatra, 
 and to see the name of her son by JuHus Caesar 
 carved in solid rock while they v/ere still alive, as fresh 
 as though it were done yesterday. It is something 
 to wander through courts where Eoman legionaries
 
 YiTi.] DENBERA, 213 
 
 came from afar to worship the Egyptian Venus. 
 To the Eoyal party, at all events, the ancient 
 Temple and the neighbouring ruins were full of 
 deep interest. The Temple was cleared some years 
 ago by order of Mahomet Bey, but the sand appears 
 to be accumulating once more. 
 
 After breakfast, the steamers crossed over to the 
 other side of the river, and we set out to visit 
 Dendera, which, in the present state of the .Nile, is 
 about two miles from the shore. The Prince mounted 
 a horse belonging to the Viceroy's son, and the 
 Princess rode her own milk-white and noisy donkey. 
 The critics may talk as they please. They may 
 call the figures " graceless," and abuse the " over- 
 charged capitals ;" they may style the columns 
 " barbarous," an they list, but I am ignorant 
 enough to agree with Belzoni, and to confess my 
 admiration of this grand ruin — the most perfect, 
 it is said, of any in Egypt. " But," say the 
 Egyptologues, " that very perfection is a defect ! 
 The lonsr dead wall outside is hideous. When 
 rifted and broken, the beauty of a temple is 
 really seen." Here is a building of massive ma- 
 sonry, finished exquisitely, 220 paces long, by 50 
 paces broad, with a grand portico on twenty-four 
 .giant columns, 25 feet round and 40 feet high.
 
 214 DENDERA. [chap. 
 
 opening on columned chambers and haUs engraved 
 like a watch, older than any Christian temple 
 in the world. The capitals are ornamented with 
 women's heads with the ears of a cow. And 
 it is too rich, and too new, and too perfect for 
 the antiquaries ! These Ptolemies were mere 
 mushroom nobodies. It is nothing that this 
 Temple was built on the site of an edifice erected 
 by Cheops himself. There was an offensive zodiac 
 on the ceiling of the portico, wliich is enough 
 to damn the whole place, for it is not Egyptian 
 at all ! It is now safe in Paris. Then there are 
 Greek inscriptions ! And Aulus Avilius Flaccus, as 
 prefect of the time, Aulus Fulvius Crispus, Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and Sarapion Trychambus, Com- 
 mandant of the district, have had the audacity 
 to record their names as the dedicators of the 
 Temple to the very great goddess Aphrodite, 
 whom the Egyptians called Athor, in the reign of 
 Tiberius, when he was ordering the whole world 
 to be taxed ! The portraits of Cleopatra, I admit, 
 are disappointing ; but who has seen a satisfactory 
 likeness of Mary Queen of Scots? And this was 
 cut in hard stone. The face and figure are marred 
 by time, and so are those of Csesarion, her son by 
 the great Julius; who certainly ought to have
 
 Yiu.] THE RUINS. 215 
 
 made a mark in the world, Lad he lived, and 
 possessed any hereditary favours. Near the Temple 
 of Athor there is another, very small, containing 
 three chambers only. On the wall is cut the 
 semblance of the Sacred Cow; and it is related 
 that when the Sepoys who came to Egypt with 
 our Expedition from India, which landed on the 
 shores of the Eed Sea, and marched by the old 
 route to Keneh, visited the place, they all fell on 
 their faces and worshipped the emblem. The whole 
 building is full of interesting details. 
 
 Another building still remains, and I shall 
 leave it to antiquarians to decide whether it is a 
 " lying-in " place or not — the building where 
 Athor was confined, or a temple in honour of her 
 child. Then there is a wide waste of ruins — 
 walls, columns in various stages of decay, blocks 
 of stone ; slabs, all covered with hieroglyphs, por- 
 traits, emblems — the hawk, which is the Sun, Avitli 
 the Beginning and the End, Iris, and Nephthys, 
 by its side ; myriads of figures and signs in 
 stone ; a propylon of the grandest character, to 
 which the Arch of Triumph, not to speak of Temple 
 Bar, must yield — and its fellow in fragments. 
 And Tentyris is a heap of rubbish — all that 
 is left some heaps of brick and rubble ; and its
 
 216 TURKS AND BEES. [chap. 
 
 courtier cliiefs, who worshipped the divine Tiberius, 
 son of god Augustus, have left but their monumental 
 flatteries behind them. In addition to the sand 
 and time, there have been two agencies at work 
 to deface these magnificent temples. "With labour 
 villanouslj laborious, the brutalized Mahometan 
 has worked at the destruction of every face and 
 likeness on the walls, too often successfully, and 
 always leaving his indelible mark. Then myriads 
 of rascally bees, which make no honey, but appear 
 to be able to perforate solid stone, have constructed 
 cities which look as hard as the very rock, on 
 the outer walls of the Temple, covering over 
 inscriptions and images with an armour which no 
 one dare pierce. Professor Owen took rather an 
 interest in them, but his researches were terminated 
 by a disposition on their part to take an interest 
 in him. It was the prettiest picture possible to 
 see the Princess wandering about the ruins — to 
 watch her tracing- out the features, with the aid 
 of a cane, of stony Cleopatra on the wall. 
 What a contrast between oar fair mistress and the 
 Serpent of Old Nile ! For hours the party wan- 
 dered here and there, and the hum of voices 
 aroused up the bats and hawks in the recesses of 
 the ruins. A fire was kindled, and the repast was
 
 vm.] COP TO S. 217 
 
 spread in the shade of the portico ; and the 
 chibouquejees appeared with diamond-studded pipes 
 and jewelled coffee-cups, when lunch was over ; 
 and we reposed for a time out of the heat, in 
 the cool of the Temple. The thermometer marked 
 73° even there. 
 
 Then, after a grateful rest, the word was " To 
 horse" (read donkey passim please), and returning 
 to the steamers, sated with the wonders of Tentyris, 
 Prince and Princess and their following embarked, 
 and were on their way towards Thebes ere the sun 
 had sunk behind the solemn ruins. The flotilla 
 passed the site of Coptos, destroyed by Diocletian. 
 This was, says Sir Gardner Wilkinson, the mart of 
 Indian commerce. There were once temples here, 
 ■ attributed to Thotmes and to kings of the eleventh 
 dynasty. The early Christians pulled down these 
 temples to build them a church. That church has 
 now disappeared. 
 
 Then darkness menaced our timid captains. The 
 Soudan — Pezegoloo — for them if mishap comes to 
 Prince or Princess ! So they draw wp to the shore 
 and make fast at no place in particular. There 
 is a village some way off — Hamed says its name 
 is El Arabat. The El Arabatites were rather as- 
 tonished when the party landed from the steamers
 
 218 SHOOTING. [chap. yiii. 
 
 and commenced a brisk fusillade against all volatile 
 creatures till it was too dark to see. The Prince 
 seems to be the best shot of the "societe," for 
 no amount of loyalty will induce a man to go on 
 missing for ever. In compliment to the genius 
 loci of Tentyris, who had a great enmity to the 
 sacred crocodile, eager search was made along the 
 river banks for the interesting reptile, but he might 
 as well have been looked for between Putney and 
 Bichmond.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HAMED. LUXOR. KARNAK. THE LEARNED LEPSIUS. 
 
 NIGHT AT LUXOR. BAB-EL-MOLOOK. A NIGHT 
 
 SURPRISE. 
 
 " We shall be at Thebes in the morning ! " Our 
 last word at night. And Hamed, who has just said 
 his prayers in the moonlight — why I know not, for 
 we thought three times a day was the proper and 
 complete complement of devotion required of the 
 most devout of Moslem — says, " Taybe a very nice 
 place ; all old ruin about made by King Solomon, de 
 say." I have forgotten to tell you who Hamed is, 
 though he has been mentioned more than once. 
 When the Duke was waiting at Cairo for Prince 
 and Princess, he was assailed by people who wished 
 to be engaged as dragoman for his party on the 
 Nile. One, highly recommended, a Syrian gentleman 
 in spectacles, very nearly established himself. He 
 would leave remuneration to our noble selves. It 
 would do when we all returned. Whatever we gave 
 would be enough. But he was asked to preciser
 
 220 inPP0P0TA3IUS johnny. [chap. 
 
 himself, and to do it in writing. So he sent in an 
 estimate. At first it was supposed he was nnder 
 the idea that he was to provide food and drink for 
 all the party, and he was told we were the Viceroy's 
 guests, and that everything was paid for on board 
 the steamer. But he held fast to his figures, and 
 merely remarked that he " would like to pay de 
 donkey boy very handsome — just for the noble 
 Duke sake." When he was derided and rejected, 
 he came down some hundred per cent., but was still 
 soaring high in regions of the impossible. Finally 
 rejected, he did not despair of his prey, but came 
 out on us in the form of an antiquarian — " De most 
 lubly dings in Egypt. No one else hab them. Je 
 vous jure, altesse ! Cleopadre's neglace ! I find her 
 myself ! " How he haunted our doorsteps and sat in 
 our halls ! But one day Hamed turned up, and he 
 was at once secured. Do you remember the stout, 
 short, jolly person who waited on the hippopotami 
 long ago in the Zoological Gardens, and who, from 
 association with them, had become almost hippopo- 
 tamic in expression — dark-skinned, dark-eyed, sleek, 
 and round ? This was " Hippopotamus Johnny.'* 
 He came to England with the first little river-horse 
 — " all de same as my leetle child" — leaving his old 
 mother somewhere up in Nubia, in the parts near
 
 IX.] THE DISCOVERY. 221 
 
 Khartoum ; and he has since been dragoman for " de 
 long Desert caravan jerney." A devout man is 
 Hamed, and very honest, I think, and very slow. He 
 forgives even the hippopotamus all the wrong it did 
 him. " When T go wid de leetle calf he boder me 
 very troublesome. He go into him wash baat in 
 ship ; den him come out all wet — smell about for 
 Hamed, and roll me about wid him damp big nose. 
 I get no sleep — so says captain, ' I make you 
 sleep in hammick ; ' and he sling one in de house 
 where me and de calf wor. De first night I get in 
 de hammick when de calf in him water, and I hear 
 him come back, and smell — smell — all over for me : 
 round he go, and grunt, and grunt, and sniff. Then 
 I laugh to myself. Not long I laugh ! Helo ! my 
 face is grinded up agen de cabin top, and my eye 
 flash de fire and my nose he bleed. De leetle rascal 
 calf, he got up on him hind leg, and give me a 
 great dig wid him big snout, and knock hammick 
 and all agen de roof, and near kill me. I wor 
 very fond of him, to be sure ! " And Hamed was 
 engaged as dragoman, and found us more trouble- 
 some, I fear, even than his fat friend. 
 
 The whole party Avere awake early. We saw 
 the Princess and Mrs. Grey were on the deck of 
 their boat, and the Prince soon came up and joined
 
 222 LUXOB. [chap. 
 
 them. But the river is not very interesting just 
 here, for the valley is wide and low ; though on our 
 right the hills of the Desert rise abruptly to a con- 
 siderable height over the plain in which lie perdu 
 from us the Memnonium and the Colossi, On our 
 left is Karnak, and there, beyond, is Luxor, to which 
 we are tending — the Thebes in general of the tourist. 
 Alas ! that one must speak or write of what we 
 saw ! "Words ! words ! words ! How that grandeur 
 mocks you ! But here we are at Luxor. The 
 flotilla arrived at 9 o'clock. 
 
 It was intensely hot. The travellers' boats moored 
 below the ruins were covered in with sun-shades. 
 ISTor did many of the English, Eussians, and 
 Americans — whose nationality was indicated by 
 standards flying — venture out to see the arrival of 
 the Eoyal party. But they kept up volleys of 
 fowling-pieces from their boats in sign of welcome, 
 and a small gun on shore gave deeper volume to 
 the sound at irregular intervals. 
 
 From the summit of the ancient Temple, in 
 which Mustapha Aga, the British Consular agent, 
 has his dwelling, floated the flags of the United 
 States and of Grreat Britain, and the Austrian, 
 French, and Eussian banners were displayed from 
 various points, in company with the Ottoman
 
 IX.] 3IUSTAPHA AG A. 223 
 
 standard. The boats were hung with palm-branches, 
 lemons, and oranges, and on the bank of the river 
 the principal people of the place were assembled to 
 receive the Eoyal party. By-and-by I shall try to 
 say a word of Lnxor itself, but now I must take 
 the order of events as it came. 
 
 Mustapha Aga — who, next to the ruins, is perhaps 
 the best-known " object " about Thebes — went on 
 board to pay his respects. His feelings during the 
 Mason and Slidell controversy must have been of 
 a distracting character, for he is Consul for Great 
 Britain and Consul for the United States, and hoists 
 the flag of the one, and over his door is the 
 escutcheon of the arms of the other. The Prince 
 landed, and proceeded to his house to see the collec- 
 tion of curiosities, and a wonderful mummy, which 
 looks as fresh as if Mustapha Aga and his family 
 had just given it the last coat of paint and gilding. 
 
 I wish no harm to Mustapha, but I should like 
 very much to pull his house down, not about his 
 ears, but from between the ruins in which it stands. 
 It is planted up there like a swallow's nest against 
 the eave of a Greek temple. There was a haie of 
 twenty or thirty Europeans between the river bank 
 and Mustapha's porch, and a screen of reeds and 
 festoons was erected outside for the little procession
 
 224 KARNAK, [CHAP. 
 
 wliicli the Princess with Mrs. Grey headed from the 
 steamers. Pipes and coffee were of course brought 
 in, when mummy and scarabseus had been examined ; 
 and outside there was congregated a mass of donkey 
 boys, and some good horses, led by syces. As we 
 saw afterwards, there was a large gathering of natives 
 not two hundred yards away — market-day at Luxor. 
 But indolence, ignorance, or indifference — what you 
 will — its influence was so great, not one ever stirred 
 to inquire into the cause of the firings and general 
 tomasha. 
 
 About midday the Prince and Princess started 
 for Karnak, magna comitante caterva. And a very 
 pretty procession it was — the Princess on her milk- 
 white ass, caparisoned in red velvet and gold, and 
 the Prince on an animal of the same kind, of 
 darker hue. The donkey is the favourite beast of 
 the saddle. The horse is generally fidgety, head- 
 tossing, much neighing, given to ground and lofty 
 tumbling, which in a hot sun and on broiling sand 
 is not conducive to comfort. There were Mrs. 
 Grey, the Duke of Sutherland, Prince Louis of 
 Battenberg, the Marquis of Stafford, Lord Albert 
 Gower, Lord Carington, Colonel Marshall, Mr. 
 Montagu, Professor Owen, Mr. Fowler, Mr. Sumner, 
 Sir H. Pelly, Colonel Stanton, Sir S. Baker, Dr.
 
 IX.] THE PROCESSION. 225 
 
 Minter, Major Alison, Mourad Pasha, Abd-el-Kader 
 Bey, All Eisa, Mr. Brierly, Mr. George, and my- 
 self, witli a preceding and surrounding of clii- 
 bouquejees, syces, guides, cavasses, dragomans — 
 conspicuous among them the gorgeous Hadji Ali, 
 Colonel Stanton's dragoman, and Hamed — a gay 
 crowd on horses and asses, cantering, in clouds of 
 dust — all bright with fantastic dresses, turban ed, and 
 loose-robed — in a long stream, over irrigated land 
 and sandy desert ; now spreading out like a fan of 
 many colours, again condensed in an undulating 
 cord-like file over the plain. And so, chatting and 
 laughing, out from Luxor to the waste where once 
 trod many myriad feet — Mustapha Abd-el-Kader and 
 Sir S. Baker wheeling and whirling, according to their 
 skill, in the wild pleasures of jereed play, which, con- 
 sidering that the sun was excessively powerful and 
 burning, did not commend itself largely to our party. 
 Our Italian and French domestics and the Turkish 
 chibouqueaille always attend on these occasions, 
 and the brawny sailors of the Ariadne career glori- 
 ously on steed or ass, and emulate the hippodamic 
 chibouquejees. And wherever the Prince goes the 
 faithful Downie is sure to be ; nor is Peter Eobert- 
 son far off, nor the guardian of the Prince's gun. 
 Alister, of course, is ever with the Duke. We are 
 
 Q
 
 220 KARNAK. [chap. 
 
 going all wrong, of course. We should visit the ruins 
 on the left bank of the Nile first, and finish with 
 Luxor. I do not think it matters much. Certainly 
 it did not afi'ect any of the party around the Eoyal 
 travellers, and never were more joyous, light-hearted 
 people en route to Karnak. Some two hundred 
 people, perhaps, all in full cry, and merry as the 
 morn. And the solemn grandeur of the ruined 
 Temples came on us at last ! 
 
 Well ! It is in the idea of " what must have 
 been " that much of the impression produced by 
 these ruins is based. They are the only works of 
 human hands I know of which produce the effect of 
 awe. The immense antiquity of what we see affects 
 us only in relation to that fact. Any stone at our 
 feet is older by countless ages. But our fellow-men 
 hewed these blocks and built them up, and drew 
 those figures and cut those emblems in the nonage of 
 the world. There is a god-like grandeur in the 
 labours of these poor, nameless multitudes. Time 
 has cast over them the shadow of eternity. What 
 lies before us seems superhuman, but only because no 
 human creature now can wield the power to which 
 these owe their erection. "What this must have 
 been ! " That is the thought which fills the breast 
 with something like veneration as we walk down
 
 IX.] AVEUKE OF SPHINXES. 227 
 
 what was once the Avenue of Sphinxes, now a rough 
 broad path in the Desert sand, covered with stones, 
 sand, fragments of slabs, flints, and hned formerly 
 by a border of gigantic Sphinxes at short distances, 
 of which not one remains complete. These Sphinxes 
 had the heads of rams, the neck and busts of women, 
 and the arms and claws of a lion. So much can be 
 gathered from an inspection of the colossal fragments 
 of the hundreds which cover the ground. They 
 were sedulous destroyers who did so much work here. 
 The avenue formed by these Sphinxes led to a gate- 
 way or Pylon which is still erect, and rises to the 
 height of 140 feet, its massive blocks recording that 
 it is the work of Ptolemy Euergetes, and Berenice 
 his wife, who are, according to our guide-book, re- 
 presented making ofl'erings to their predecessors and 
 parents. Ptolemy is said to be shown somewhere 
 in a Greek costume, but I could not make him out. 
 
 The Eoyal party, in irregular procession, ap- 
 proached the ruins by this Avenue of Sphinxes, 
 which is at the south-west entrance, and passing 
 through the Ptolemaic Pylon, made an examination 
 of the sculptured stones, most of them dismounting 
 and handing over the animals to the syces. Thence 
 they proceeded down a second avenue of mutilated 
 Sphinxes, by fiir older than the first, and passed 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 RAMESES HIS TEMPLE. [chap. 
 
 through a Pylon, 80 feet high, into a court, in which 
 one perfect column alone remains to show how 
 grand must have been the stupendous rows of its 
 fellows, the fragments of which are lying all around. 
 It is said to be near 90 feet high, and the remains 
 of twenty-five, of similar size, can be counted in 
 this court, which belongs to a Temple built by 
 Eameses III. and his successors, dating about 1200 
 B.C. A Pharaoh who preceded Shishak, the contem- 
 porary of Solomon, also had a hand in it. 
 
 I do freely avow how ignorant I am of the man- 
 ner in which learned men work out their interpre- 
 tations, but, I believe. I remember long ago being 
 called on to accept it as a fact that the Latin word 
 " sylva," a grove, was derived from the Greek vXr), 
 and I did so. But what is to be thought of a dis- 
 pute concerning a hieroglyph which, if I understand 
 aright, is translated by some as "Amyrtseus" and 
 by others as " Nectanebo "? M. Marriette avers that 
 if an inscription be sent to half a dozen eminent 
 scholars, they will agree in rendering it as readily as 
 if it were Greek or Latin, and with very slight dis- 
 crepancies. And see ! there is Mr. Smith translating 
 passages for the Princess as fast as he can talk — and 
 that is pretty well. A thorough New Englander — 
 somewhere from Boston, I guess — pattering away
 
 IX.] THE LEARNED LEPSIUS. 229 
 
 about Eameses and Osiris. It is well for the Smiths 
 that the Pharaohs are no more, for republican 
 manners might have led to unpleasant results. The 
 Prince and Princess were then conducted into the 
 great roofless Hall of the Palace built, according to 
 Lepsius, by Rameses II., the Pharaoh who lived in 
 the time of Moses, and dating, according to that 
 authority, 1380 years before Christ. 
 
 The Lepsius in question is not the learned person 
 mentioned by Mr. Shandy, who composed a work 
 the day he was born, but he is a recent travelled and 
 learned Grerman, rather unjustly attacked for outrages 
 on the monuments of Egypt. Let all who visit 
 Luxor ask to see his very amusing and instructive 
 " Livre des Voyageurs." It begins with a hierogly- 
 phic title-page, in which it is recorded, in characters 
 taken from the monuments, with some modern adap- 
 tations, how Lepsius came out to Egypt under the 
 patronage of the King of Prussia. Then there is a 
 very learned, and yet light dissertation, on Egyptian 
 history and antiquities, and an expose of the pur- 
 pose of the book, which is, that travellers may record 
 observations in it — a very useful purpose — making in 
 time the volume a valuable record. And the sugges- 
 tion has been treated with marked neglect. Some 
 recommend their dragoman ; others try to express, in
 
 230 THE GREAT HALL. [chap. 
 
 various languages, poetical inflations about Thebes 
 and Karnak. One Britisher has discovered a curious 
 cartouch, which he commends to Dr. Lepsius. It is 
 copied in the book, and looks very like a " donkey 
 eating thistles ! " 
 
 To return to the Hall — the grandest work in the 
 world. It stands in the centre of a court, 278 feet 
 long by 329 broad, which is bordered by covered 
 corridors, with a double row of columns in the centre 
 leading to the Hall. There are advanced towers or 
 propyla to this enclosure, and our guide-book states 
 that the lintel-stones of the doorway want only two 
 inches of 41 feet in length. The stones of the 
 ceiling are of equal size, every one covered with 
 sculptures or paintings. In the centre there are 
 twelve columns of incomparable grandeur, 70 feet 
 high, with plinth and abacus, and 33^ feet in 
 circumference ; and in rows parallel to these are 
 no less than 126 columns, 42^ feet high and 28 
 feet round, in seven rows of nine columns each. 
 One column in this hall was presented in almost a 
 miraculous condition. Shaken by an earthquake, or 
 undermined by the overflow of the Nile, it had faUen 
 against its neighbour, so that the entablature rested 
 against the side, and thus the whole mass was upheld 
 at an acute angle, although it is composed of a num-
 
 IX.] THE SANCTUARY. 231 
 
 ber of great stones, which seem held together by 
 magic. The doorways are stupendous. There are 
 towers before each. 
 
 Passing out of this court, we came upon two obe- 
 lisks, one of which has been overthrown, and broken 
 into several pieces, and then upon another court, with 
 tw^o obelisks, one in a similar condition, the other 
 still erect, and measuring 94 feet in height. The 
 party was now lost in labyrinths of ruin — enormous 
 blocks of stone, broken columns, shattered pillars, 
 granite, limestone, and sandstone, alike in pieces. 
 The Sanctuary — a building of red granite, erected by 
 a Pharaoh, destroyed by Cambyses, and rebuilt by 
 Phihp — the pillars and columns of a Temple erected 
 by Thotmes III. — Alexander's Hawk — and ruins 
 again fill up the remainder of the vast area, which is, 
 measured, one and a half English miles. Persians 
 and Grreeks, Cambyses and Ptolemy, have done their 
 worst, and man built up that man might destroy. 
 The Nile aids time in completing the work. The 
 base of the columns and pillars is covered with 
 nitrous salts, left by the waters of inundation, and 
 I scraped oif some which burnt in paper like salt- 
 petre. As to the sculptui-es on the walls, nothing but 
 an immense series of photographs can give the least 
 idea of them. AVar is the chief subject — the vie-
 
 232 EXPLORING. [chap. 
 
 tories of Osiris. There is a bridge over the Nile to 
 be remarked, but the works of peace are few. One 
 compartment is interpreted as the representation of 
 the conquests of Shishak, in his expedition against 
 Jerusalem. In another place there are traces of early- 
 Christians, who selected the ruins as abiding refuges. 
 The Prince and Princess explored recesses and 
 chambers, and wandered about the ruins at will, the 
 party breaking up into little knots of independent 
 explorers. They had the advantage of being ac- 
 companied by Mr. Smith, who had his own expla- 
 nations to offer of the sculptures. The sun was 
 very hot, and the thermometer stood at 104° inside 
 the ruins — at least so a Celsius, which a philo- 
 sophical lady brought with her, was made to read. 
 But a shady place was found for lunch, in the 
 vast colonnade of the Great Hall. Carpets were 
 spread, and the resources of the providore were 
 displayed in the feast, to which the Prince invited 
 a Russian officer — Count Gerbel — and his wife. The 
 effect of the streaks of sunshine which fell through 
 the rifted walls and colossal columns on groups of 
 Egyptians, Arabs, Turks, Arnaouts, and guides, 
 gathered about the horses and donkeys in the Great 
 Hall, and on the various coated, booted, hatted, and 
 knickerbockered Europeans, was very picturesque.
 
 IX.] EUST IN THE RUINS. 233 
 
 The latter certainly must astonish the natives at 
 times by their costumes. Peter Eobertson, the 
 Highland piper, has invented a particularly inge- 
 nious adaptation of his kilted attire to the latitude 
 in which he is travelling". 
 
 We not unwillingly rested in the grateful shade, 
 whilst the servants laid out the banquet, which 
 would have astonished even Rameses in all his glory. 
 Then there were pipes and coffee and conversation, 
 and a brief repose; and when every one was refreshed 
 we proceeded in the Eoyal train to the southern 
 gate of the open court, at the side of which is an 
 inscription (said to be) concerning an eclipse of the 
 sun ; visited the temple dedicated by Alexander to 
 his father Philip ; thence, past the well which 
 supplied the defenders of the fortifications, to the 
 palace of Thotmes III., and to another court, 
 in which lie many mutilated statues. 
 
 Remounting, the Prince and Princess and their 
 following returned to Luxor as they came, and 
 went over the Temples, which are close to the Nile, 
 and form part of the town. They carefully examined 
 the monuments, in spite of the heat and dust. 
 
 We were sated with ruin, and the works of Amu- 
 noph and Eameses began to pall. But how stately 
 and how vast they are ! What would it not be worth
 
 234 RAMESES II. [chap. 
 
 to behold, at one coup d'oeil, the surpassing grandeur 
 of the scene which must have been presented here when 
 the Temples and Palaces were perfect, and when from 
 Luxor the priest-kings in all their glory proceeded 
 along the sphinx- guarded avenues, right away to 
 glorious Karnak, to celebrate feast, or rite, or victory ? 
 Here are temples built by Amunoph III., 1450 b. c. 
 — a mass of columns and sculptured stones — 
 sanctuaries and chambers. They are plastered and 
 bewattled to turn them into dwelling-places for the 
 Arabs, and we disturbed families of goats, children 
 and old women in their homes as we trod the halls of 
 the Pharaohs, Hovels of the vilest, and huts of mud 
 crowd the bases of the walls and pillars. There is 
 another grand work — a Temple and gateway — with a 
 facade 200 feet long and GO feet high, on the side of 
 which are sculptured the exploits of Rameses II. the 
 Grreat, son of Sesostris. What are we to say of the 
 Abyssinian Expedition, when we look at the records 
 of this monarch's victories in Asia and India, in the 
 fourteenth century before Christ? Two prodigious 
 statues of red granite still guard the gateway, all de- 
 faced and buried in sand and rubbish. One of the 
 servants of the ship chipped off a piece of his nose 
 as a souvenir ! The granite has yielded to time, 
 and falls away in flakes at a slight touch.
 
 IX.] THE OBELISK. 235 
 
 Can nothing be done by tlie civilized nations of 
 the world together to preserve Karnak and Luxor? 
 All nations have a common interest in the preserva- 
 tion of these magnificent monuments. They are in 
 great danger. The !Nile menaces them every year, 
 and it would need very little to cause the fall of 
 many a glorious pillar which a very little outlay could 
 render safe. And as to man. He ruins what he 
 cannot remove very often, and what he removes 
 is placed in museums, which may be rifled and 
 ransacked by conquest in time to come. 
 
 At the Prince's desire, preparations were made to dig 
 down to the base of the Great Obelisk, companion to 
 that in the Place de la Concorde, which was presented 
 to Great Britain. Mr. Smith stated, there were two 
 gigantic asses at the base of the obelisk, but it was 
 not found that they were in the place he indicated. 
 It is vain to express a wish for the removal of what 
 belongs to us, I suppose. The non-user of our right 
 has led to doubts of its existence ; and Colonel Stan- 
 ton had a sharp controversy with Mourad Pasha, who 
 denied that the Obelisk belonged to us at all. 
 
 It was 5 o'clock when we returned to the shade 
 of the awnings of the steamers, and of all the party 
 the Princess, who had seen most, seemed the least 
 fatigued. At night the flotilla was illuminated, the
 
 236 NIGHT AT LUXOR. [chap. 
 
 dahabeahs were hung with, lanterns, and the river 
 glittered with the reflection of hundreds of fires. 
 Blue lights were burnt, and there was a rivalry 
 between Woolwich and Egypt in the flights of 
 rockets which flew hissing into the serene, bright- 
 starred sky. The avenue of palm-branches and the 
 facade of Mustapha's house were illuminated also, and 
 blazing beacons bordered the bank of the river. 
 Native boats floated down to the music of wild 
 choruses, and vanished in the darkness. 
 
 The day and night were equally worthy of 
 remembrance. On board the Prince's ship there 
 was a dinner of more than usual state, and Mr. 
 Smith was invited to the Eoyal table, in addition 
 to the Eussian Count and others. 
 
 February 17th. — To-day was devoted to a visit to 
 the "Valley of the Kings," on the left (or west) bank 
 of the river, one of the most interesting excursions 
 in the world. Sixty or seventy horses and donkeys 
 were collected for the party, which was transported at 
 10 o'clock to the other side, lower down the Nile. 
 The news of the coming had gone abroad, and, in 
 addition to the usual gathering of syces, servants, 
 and retainers, there was an assemblage of natives, 
 who seemed to have come out of the Desert. Crowds 
 of Arab children, boys and girls, kept up with us the
 
 IX.] THE T03IBS OF THE KINGS. 237 
 
 whole wa}'' to the Valley, carr^dng pitchers of water, 
 and others presented "antiques" for sale at all points 
 of the route — timid persistent creatures, full of desire 
 to please and to secure baksheesh. The kindness 
 of the Prince and Princess to these little people on 
 the way soon made them favourites, and secured for 
 them rather too much attention. His Royal High- 
 ness has taken a fancy to a little soft-eyed, white- 
 toothed lad, named Yousouf, who follows his donkey, 
 and wants to take him to England. Yousouf is in 
 great perplexity of mind on the subject. The long 
 hot ride to the Valley terminated only that the ex- 
 ploration of the Tombs of the Kings might begin ; 
 and Prince and Princess dismounted in a blazingf 
 sun, and set to work under the guidance of Mr, 
 Smith, who is in grand " concurrence " with Mus- 
 tapha Aga, It was a very trying day. 
 
 Deep into the earth the Prince and Princess dived, 
 among broken slabs and rough stones, examining the 
 chambers of the dead, where painted records and 
 engraved stones preserve the memory of the deeds of 
 the departed tenants to those who can decipher them. 
 Belzoni's tomb, Bruce's tomb, and two others were 
 explored. The Princess bore the heat and the rough 
 ascents and descents with indefatigable good-will and 
 enterprise.
 
 238 A GENUINE ANTIQUE. [chap. 
 
 This was a day of lamentation for me. Some 
 way or other, the note-book I had been sedulously 
 filling all the way dropped out of my pocket in 
 clambering about the tombs. When the loss was 
 made known, although a great reward was offered 
 to the finder, the knowing ones shook their heads. 
 Colonel Stanton, and Mr. Smith, and Mustapha 
 Ali Eisa agrreed that the chances were much 
 against me. The reason was this, — "If an Arab 
 found it, he would keep it and hide it, lest he 
 should be accused of stealing it ! " "What a 
 commentary on the treatment of the people ! 
 They have no faith in the European, because he 
 is of the race, they think, which governs them, 
 and thus they act so as to deserve their old 
 traditional character, and cause every man's hand 
 to be against them. " Years hence," said Ali 
 Eisa, and with him agreed all the dragomanry, 
 "that pocket-book will be offered to some traveller 
 as an antica found in the Tombs, and then the 
 Arab will be horrified at getting a kick, or a 
 stick, or being laughed at for his pains." And 
 they were right. The sum I offered set every 
 one pretending to look for the book, but no one 
 found it. An Arab must have pounced on it at 
 once, as it fell.
 
 li.] BAB-EL-MOLOOK 239 
 
 One sees too much in a day to remember all 
 distinctly. The head becomes filled with pylons 
 and propylons, sphinxes, columns, obelisks, hiero- 
 glyphs, as confused and broken up and jumbled 
 as are the things themselves which have left the 
 impressions. But I recollect well enough that it 
 seemed the most interesting sight possible to watch 
 the young travellers, on whose future there are such 
 vast interests depending, moving about among the 
 poor Arabs in the gloom of these terrible 
 mortuary chambers, and trying to decipher the 
 records left thousands of years ago of their lives 
 and exploits by other Eoyal personages, on the 
 walls. Bab-el-Molook is a wonderful place indeed. 
 Desolate, exceedingly ; an arid valley of stone, 
 rock, and mountain, burnt by the sun, w^ithout 
 tree, or blade of grass, or green thing. Such it 
 could not have been when the kings of Thebes 
 chose it as the site of the subterranean City of 
 the Dead ; for the approaches, at least, were like 
 the barren plain on which the Memnonium and 
 the Colossi are placed ; then, doubtless, cultivated 
 — covered with trees and residences. 
 
 It would be wrong to say no living thing is to 
 be found in this valley. The rocks swarm with 
 scorpions, many of which were captured and bottled
 
 240 OSIEI'S BED. [chap. 
 
 off. What form of insect life the horrors feed upon 
 I cannot say. These, and a few outcast sand-martens 
 flitting about at the entrance to the Valley, were all 
 I could see outside the Tombs. Inside there were 
 bats, which shows that there must be insects about 
 at night; and once, as Alison and I were groping 
 down the shaft-like entrance to one of the tomb 
 galleries, candle in hand, something dark flew with a 
 clatter over the loose stones and vanished — -jackal, fox, 
 or hyena. Deep in the solid rock, more than 3,200 
 years ago, Osiri, father of Sesostris, prepared the 
 home for the alabaster sarcophagus in w^hich his 
 mummy was to rest ; now, I think, installed in the 
 British Museum. Belzoni, the fame of whose tre- 
 mendous size and strength still lives among the 
 Arab guides, was the modern discoverer of this 
 gallery, which now bears his name. It is 180 feet 
 below the surface, and to get at it you must first 
 descend a rough flight of broken steps cut in the 
 rock some thirty feet, which takes you to the first 
 landing from the top, and then go down a similar 
 flight which conducts you to the ground floor. 
 Here there is a passage which leads to a square 
 chamber — a sham — for the kernel of the nut lay 
 inside. Belzoni was not deceived, for he burst 
 through the wall, came upon a chamber with pillars,
 
 IX.] BRUCE' S TOMB. 241 
 
 descended from it to a chamber with two pillars, 
 went along two passages, entered another chamber, 
 found one still further on, and at last found himself 
 where we were standing, in a vaulted room, 20 feet 
 long and 30 feet wide, in which lay the plundered 
 sarcophagus described then as lying at the mouth 
 of a shaft cut at a slope into the rock for 150 feet, 
 with a flight of steps at either side. Amid these 
 chambers are smaller rooms and recesses in the 
 rock. We were now 320 feet from the entrance, and 
 there was, it may fairly be said, not a foot of the 
 walls or ceilings in all that course of gallery or 
 chamber which was not covered with paintings or 
 hieroglyphs on a sort of smooth plastered surface. 
 To give an account of these would be to write a 
 book, and a large one, which after all would be but a 
 dry catalogue, " Bruce s Tomb," as it is called, which 
 was prepared by Eameses III. for himself and friends, 
 is 405 feet long, and the walls are a perfect history 
 and record of life in Egypt. These kings afforded 
 constant employment to their subjects, though I 
 suspect it was not highly remunerated ; and they cer- 
 tainly must have been a trouble to their neighbours. 
 For centuries the Tombs have been visited by the 
 curious, and it is much to be regretted that instead of 
 recording their feelings about the objects they visited, 
 
 R
 
 242 EPIPHANTS NIL ADMIRARI. [chap. 
 
 they did not tell us sometliing about tlie people of 
 the time in the land in which they were travelling. 
 Thus we might have learned how the Egyptians 
 fared, and how they became what they are. Possibly 
 one of these visitors expressed the sentiments 
 towards the close of the day of some of our own 
 party. As Sir Gardner Wilkinson records, he wrote 
 as follows, in Tomb ISTo. 9 — that of Eameses V. : 
 '^TTKpavtos taroprjaa ovBev Se eOavfiaaa 77 fit] top \l0ov, 
 " Epiphanius saw nothing wonderful but the stone." 
 Mr. Epiphany has a large sect of philosophers of 
 his sort at the present time. The other tomb we 
 inspected was that of Pthamen-se-pthah. To visit 
 all would need a week; and there are more than 
 twenty of these tombs, if historians be correct, 
 which remain unopened to this day. 
 
 Her Eoyal Highness astonished the party by 
 indomitable spirit and resolution, in the full blaze 
 of an Egyptian sun, and by capacity to endure 
 fatigue. Those who looked far more able to go 
 through a long day's work, exploring mummy-caves, 
 and investigating dark catacombs, admitted the 
 Princess was much stronger. Her interest in what 
 she saw, and the delight which she manifested, 
 animated the Eoyal party. 
 
 The illumination of the Tombs by magnesium
 
 IX.] THE WITCHING HOUR. 243 
 
 wire torches produced the most beautiful effects, 
 though they were transient. One disagreeable result 
 was the excitement produced in the bat-world, the 
 citizens of which came swarming from dark corners 
 about the ears of the Eoyal party. Candles were 
 far more useful, as they enabled individuals to study 
 details at their leisure. At last we emerged finally 
 into the open day. And, lo ! there was a tent 
 pitched at the mouth of a tomb ; and there was a 
 strange sound heard outside, where the French 
 domestics of the Viceroy and the Prince's men are 
 preparing the feast. It was the churning of the 
 machine for making ice. The Turks were busy 
 making coffee. Hampers were unpacked, and camels 
 eased of their loads, and the Valley of the Tombs 
 of the Kings resounded with voices. Lunch was 
 laid in the shade of the entrance to a tomb. No. 9, 
 Eameses within not objecting. Indeed, judging 
 from the subjects depicted on the walls of the cata- 
 comb, it would seem that the Pharaoh of 3,000 years 
 ago was not indifferent to creature comforts, though 
 soda-water and ice-making machines and French 
 wines were not known to him. 
 
 The sun had lost some of its power when we 
 started to return, but the heat in the Valley was 
 excessive; and one wondered if it were true that 
 
 R 2
 
 244 THE RETURN. [chap. 
 
 Ibrahim Pasha led an army up through it on an 
 expedition against some Arab troublesomes. It was 
 even averred that a part of our Indian force pro- 
 ceeded some way in the uninviting road when they 
 were in Egypt. Several of the gentlemen took the 
 short way over the mountain crags at the side on 
 foot, with Arab guides, and from the account they 
 gave of the view of the Nile valley, and of Luxor on 
 the opposite bank, and of the plain below, I was 
 sorry I did not follow their example. It is a short 
 cut to the river, which we reached and crossed half 
 an hour ere sunset. The evening was so warm and 
 calm that the Prince, with Lord Carington, Mr. 
 Montagu, and Lord Stafford, took a boat across and 
 bathed at the other side. Mustapha Aga gave a 
 dance, which the Prince and suite and the Duke of 
 Sutherland's friends attended ; but the performance 
 was not remarkable, and only one of the women, and 
 she neither young nor good-looking, seemed inspired 
 with the spirit of the ancient mystic dance of Egypt. 
 They were all animated, however, by the modern 
 Egyptian spirit as to baksheesh. 
 
 Eebruary 18th. — The two parties started early 
 in boats across the river, and, taking horses and 
 donkeys at the other side, rode to the end of the 
 Assaseef, and to Deayr Bachree, where they examined
 
 ix.j MU3f3IY PITS. 245 
 
 the beautiful frescoes, passing through and by nume- 
 rous mummy catacombs, with the bodies and bone, 
 lying exposed in all directions. When I say that 
 the Royal party to-day visited the ruins at Assaseef, 
 Koorneoh, Medeenet Haboo, Dayr-el-Medeeneh, and 
 the Memnonium, returning by the two Colossi and 
 the Vocal Memnon, those who are acquainted with 
 the I'uins will admit that it was good work, performed 
 as it was in a sun only little less scorching than that 
 of yesterday. One of the least agreeable incidents 
 of our wanderings to-da}^, was the visit to the 
 mummy pits ; or rather the evidences of destruction 
 and disregard for the dead which lay around us 
 on. every side. The contents of the pits have been 
 dragged out, and skulls, with the hair still clinging 
 to the waxed cloth, legs, arms, jaws, ribs, were 
 scattered over acres of rock. Sometimes there was a 
 sickening odour, as though a slow decomposition 
 was still going on in the remains laid to rest thou- 
 sands of years ago. The Arab children offered us 
 mummies of the Ibis and Scarabsei, objects taken 
 from the Tombs, and now and then pieces of bone 
 or earthen vessels full of parched corn. 
 
 It is impossible to convey an idea of them ; but 
 every well-educated person has a conception of what 
 most of these ruins are like. Who has not seen the
 
 246 THE DECAY OF RUINS. [chap. 
 
 Colossi and tlie Memnonium in sketcli or engraving ? 
 Whole books, very large and very learned, have been 
 devoted to the Thebaid and its remains ; and for 
 many centuries in the old days of the ancient world, 
 ere the black night of barbarism put out the lamp of 
 learning, then flickering and feeble — for long genera- 
 tions, and ever since travel was practicable in the pre- 
 sent ages of the world, the antiquarian and illuminati 
 had visited, to theorize, to wonder, and sometimes to 
 despoil. Stolid utilitarians regard these awful ruins 
 as evidences of the ignorance of those who reared the 
 records of their vanity and their faith, which have 
 defied the 'rage of man, and the tooth of time, and 
 the strife of the elemental forces — they are all so 
 many illustrations of "unproductive labour," ex- 
 hausting caj)ital and devouring a nation's strength. 
 Others measure the stones and calculate the weight 
 of the blocks, and start notions respecting the means 
 by which they were transported. Some are content 
 to see, admire, and deplore. The only way to get a 
 full idea of these remains is to live among them for 
 weeks, to jDitch a tent and reside on the sj)ot day 
 after day, with a few chosen companions, and to 
 explore at leisure site after site. 
 
 It is a thousand pities that in all the modern 
 world, with its wealth and resources, no organization
 
 IX.] PHARAOH NOW AND THEN. 247 
 
 can be formed to clear away and explore the ruins, 
 guard and preserve what is left, and investigate what 
 yet remains hid. The Viceroy is animated with the 
 best spirit. But he has to deal with the H\4ng and 
 not with the dead. He has to regenerate and resus- 
 citate Modern Egypt. True there are guardians now 
 to the Temples, but they are ignorant and accessible 
 to influences. It is a vain hope that some united 
 action of the European Powers, in the interests of 
 history, may be brought to bear on Egypt. No one 
 who is acquainted with what has yet been done, can 
 hesitate to admit that enormous results might yet 
 be achieved in clearing away the clouds which hang 
 over the history of early civilization, by systematic 
 application of subsidized investigation. 
 
 I was very much struck, on my return to Cairo, by 
 the appearance of certain emissaries from the Prince 
 of Tigre in Abyssinia, who had come to the Viceroy 
 with presents. In one of the catacombs of Koornet 
 there is a representation of black officers, said to be 
 of Cush or Ethiopia, ofiering gold rings, fans, and 
 cattle to Ammon Thun, a stranger king, who is iden- 
 tified with Amunoph III. The men who came to the 
 Pharaoh of 1869 were like the ambassadors of the 
 land of Cush in face and dress, and they ofiered to 
 him gold rings and fans and ivory !
 
 248 A NIGHT SURPRISE. [ceap. 
 
 We got back to the steamer at 5.30 p.m. Abd el 
 Sultan Bey, Inspector Greneral of the Upper Province, 
 joined the party on board the Eoyal steamer, and 
 in the evening there took place the great event 
 which marked the visit to Thebes. After dinner 
 the Prince and Princess and party landed, and, at- 
 tended by a great crowd with lanterns and torches, 
 set out on donkeys and horses for the ruins of the 
 Temples of Karnak. The moon was only a few 
 days old, but still capable of casting strong shadow, 
 marking the outlines of the mounds of deserted 
 towns which lie outside Luxor. The more enter- 
 prising spirits dashed on ahead, and woke up the 
 night owls with imitations, for the most part rather 
 meritorious, of native war-cries. At last, the dim 
 outlines of the Great Euin commanded silence. 
 Cantering on down the Avenue of Sphinxes, the 
 horsemen plunged into darkness, among the columns 
 of the Temple. Dim shapes became visible, and 
 presently a voice sang out, " This isn't the way 
 in. Put your head about, if you j)lease." Colonel 
 Stanton, Sir S. Baker, with the men of the Ariadne, 
 and a band of Egyptian sailors, were before us, 
 preparing a surprise for the Princess. The horse- 
 men turned and headed back the Eoyal procession, 
 which, seen afar over the plain, seemed like a
 
 IX.] THE ILLUMINATIONS. 249 
 
 street full of lights taking a walk by itself, lamps 
 and all. They all turned down the Avenue ol 
 Sphinxes, and the peasants in the village skirted 
 on their way must have felt a strange fear as they 
 heard the tramp of many feet, and saw the torch- 
 light which flashed through the chinks of their 
 humble dweUings. The party, dismounting outside 
 the Euins, entered the solemn pile, and were left 
 to the light of the pale moon and of the watchful 
 stars which had so looked down on the priest- 
 kings — the Pharaohs — who built it thirty centuries 
 ago. Suddenly there came on us a blinding gleam 
 of intense whiteness from a recess in the ruin. 
 It grew in splendour and in power. The towering 
 columns of the portico, the plinths and obelisks, 
 grandiose blocks of carved stone, with all their 
 strange language in bird and beast, emblems, 
 secret histories, were revealed as if the sun had 
 burst on us out of the wall of hewn rock. What 
 a mass of pale faces there, shimmering ghostlike, 
 screening their eyes from the dazzling wonder! 
 What a hum of voices, swelling into a chorus of 
 admiration ! As the Prince and Princess slowly 
 made their way up to the colonnade, the brilliant 
 wire, from column to column, casting the blackest 
 shadows, threw its rays like fixed lightning. They
 
 250 THE HALLS OF DAZZLING LIGHT. [chap. 
 
 reached tlie end of tlie Great Hall. Then blue, red, 
 and green lights burned, and blazing torches, from 
 broken pillar and heaped-up ruins, were held by men, 
 motionless as statues. Colonel Stanton and Sir S. 
 Baker, and other aspiring persons, magnesium wire 
 in hand, were visible perched up on various " coigns 
 of Vantage." Then flew rockets on high, crossing 
 tlie Obelisks in their flight, and throwing down on 
 broken towers and walls showers of many-coloured 
 stars. For a time, when this died out, the Temple 
 was loft to darkness. But once more, when the 
 party turned into another of the Great Halls, the 
 illumination was renewed. No idea can be given 
 of the effect of the wdiole de\dce. The Prince and 
 Princess, accustomed to displays of pyroteconic art, 
 expressed as much pleasure as the other spectators. 
 The moon was at last left to assert its mild supre- 
 macy. Seats were placed and carpets spread in 
 one of the Great Halls. We sat there for nearly 
 an hour, amid the twinkle of many small lights, 
 till the Prince and Princess set out to return to the 
 ships. Mrs. Grey mounted a ship of the Desert, 
 and enjoyed a ride on a dromedary ; and the 
 Princess, amid a crowd of S3^ces with lanterns, went 
 full canter on her white donkey, at a pace which 
 began to tell on her suite at the last half mile.
 
 I 
 
 IX.] THE RETURN TO THE SHIP. 251 
 
 Her Eoyal Higlmess was so cliarmed witli lier ride, 
 that slie went back to pick up the part of the 
 cortege in which the Prince was coming at his 
 leisure ; and when they arrived at Luxor, they 
 were greeted with ringing cheers, as if to testify 
 the general satisfaction at the brilhant and curious 
 spectacle just witnessed. 
 
 I 
 
 \
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 LEAVE THEBES. ESNE. EDFOU. ASSOUAN. PHIL^. 
 
 February 19th. — The fleet left Luxor at 5.30, 
 in the light of a lovely dawn. Professor Owen 
 and Mr. Fowler parted company for England last 
 night. It is almost a comfort to hear that the 
 ruins of Erment, which we pass presently, are very 
 ruinous indeed. The temple built by Cleopatra, 
 who is represented on the wall of the chambers, 
 which are all that now remain, has been so much 
 dilapidated that one of our party who visited 
 it, said " it was only little wine cellars, all over 
 hieroglyphics." In a rapid visit, limited in lateral 
 excursions, it is impossible to do justice to Egypt, 
 i.e., to oneself. It is gratifying to find that even 
 Sir Grardner "Wilkinson was not able to visit all 
 the places which tradition or ancient remains render 
 worthy of inspection. The fleet arrived at Esne at 
 12 o'clock. Excellent Mudir of Esne ! How great are
 
 CHAP. X.] THE CITIZENS. 253 
 
 the uncertainties of life ! The preparations made to 
 do honour to the Prince and Princess by this worthy 
 Grovernor deserved a better fate than a hasty visit, 
 while the steamers were coaling and taking in pro- 
 visions. 
 
 Esne was swept, garnished, and whitewashed. 
 There was a landing-place, with steps, cut from the 
 river in the soft earth, to an avenue of palm-tree 
 branches, decorated with standards which scarcely 
 flew out in the faint breeze. There was a haie 
 formed from the end of this shady lane by much 
 be-pistoUed Arnaouts and be - scimitared cavasses 
 to the esplanade, where, in grave ordered line, 
 stood the white-turbaned sheiks and the masses of 
 the people in their blue robes, who had strayed 
 beyond the reach of the muezzin's voice to see the 
 Eoyal guests of the Viceroy. Not so much as a 
 " hush" broke the silence. A better regulated crowd, 
 in treble line of well-dressed " citizens," could not 
 well be met in Europe on a similar occasion. Behind 
 this line of turbaned heads rose the irregular outlines 
 of the town, with a background of mosque domes, 
 minarets, and date palms. There was a clear space 
 of three or four yards spontaneously kept between 
 the spectators and the banks of the Nile. The 
 Mudir and his officials were in readiness at the end
 
 254 THE TEMPLE. [chap. 
 
 of tlie platform ; but, on the receipt of a message 
 from the yacht, tliey returned to the Grovernor's 
 house and awaited the Prince's coming in the 
 porch. 
 
 I recommend travellers not to neglect paying a 
 visit to the beautiful Temple at Esne, which is 
 worthy of far more notice than Murray gives to it in 
 his admirable Handbook. The wonderful "efflores- 
 cence " of the work may, indeed, indicate the advent 
 of the period of decay which came upon Egyptian 
 art and architecture when the Caesars established 
 their rule in the land, but the richness of the 
 decoration of the vast columns, and the compara- 
 tively perfect condition of the remains of this 
 gorgeous Temple of Knuph, entitle it to special 
 attention. 
 
 We left Esne soon after 1 o'clock, and main- 
 tained a fair speed against the stream. At 4.30 
 we passed El Kab, where in old times Lucina was 
 worshipped. The Viceroy would not be at all dis- 
 pleased if there were more frequent invocations 
 to the goddess now-a-days, for the population is 
 not increasing, and the great want of the country 
 is people. 
 
 Every care was taken to mark our course by flags 
 on the sand-banks, and poles and date branches
 
 IX.] LEAVE esn£. 255 
 
 in tlie shallows; the Mudir had men on the look- 
 out for crocodiles, and did all he could to pro- 
 mote the success of the voyage. But there were 
 
 doubts and head -shakings in the land as men 
 looked on the Nile and thought of the great 
 steamers, which would have to find their way back.
 
 256 ABABDEH ARABS. [chap. 
 
 The heat (78°) was rather trying in the cabins, but 
 on decki under the awning, it was still fresh. 
 
 At dusk we reached Edfou, sixty-two miles above 
 Thebes. Here a party of Ababdeh Arabs, woolly- 
 headed savages, performed a sort of war-dance, and 
 gave an exhibition of sword-play, which was gro- 
 tesque and ludicrous rather than inspiring or interest- 
 ing. They embellished it with shrieks and howls 
 like those which, according to poor Aytoun, accom- 
 panied the assault of the chief of the clan McTavish 
 on the gallant and lamented Pherson. Hopping on 
 one leg, cutting with a claymore at the adversaries' 
 enormous shield, with crouching to the ground, or 
 leaping in galvanic jumps, was also a feature in this 
 exhibition, for all of which baksheesh was expected. 
 
 The woodcut on the preceding page will give a 
 good idea of the Ababdehs. 
 
 This evening there occurred the only contretemps 
 — a slight one — of the journey. Shortly before 
 10 o'clock the Prince of Wales, who was on board 
 the steamer, on deck, observed a light reflected on 
 the side of the dahabeah alongside. He at once 
 gave an alarm. The Princess of Wales and Mrs. 
 Grey were hurried on shore, but the fire was 
 speedily extinguished. The Duke of Sutherland, 
 seizing up a rug, dashed into the cabin, whence the
 
 X.] TE3IPLE OF EDFOU. 257 
 
 flames were issuing, and, assisted almost immedi- 
 ately by the Prince and others, beat them down. A 
 lighted candle in Prince Louis of Battenberg's cabin 
 had caught one of the curtains. The boat, with all 
 its muslin and wooden panels and paint, scorched by 
 an Egyptian sun, not to speak of cartridges and 
 powder in cases, would have been consumed in a few 
 minutes, and the explosion might have inflicted con- 
 siderable damage, and delayed the expedition, had not 
 the quick eye of the Prince discovered the danger. 
 
 February 20th. — (Edfou.) The party landed at 
 10.30 A.M. and rode over sand and dusty roads to 
 the Temple, about a mile and a quarter distant. The 
 Temple, thanks to M. Marriette, is cleared out, and, 
 thanks to the rubbish which so long saved it from 
 the destroyer, is in a fair state of preservation. But 
 the work of destruction is now going on. It is 
 almost incredible that men can take delight in 
 chipping away the faces and emblems of the 
 magnificent work we saw to-day; but those among 
 us who visited the Temple last year, pointed out 
 the marks of chisels or stones on the hieroglyphs 
 and figures which would, if uninjured, make each 
 massive block an historical record, and render the 
 Temple a vast volume of knowledge. 
 
 Couches and seats were placed in the shade of 
 
 s
 
 258 HARD AGROUND. [chap. 
 
 the Central Hall, and after the Prince and Princess 
 had walked through the building, and examined the 
 emblems which embellish every inch of the walls, 
 they rested, and the gentlemen had coffee and pipes. 
 The Eoyal party returned through the neat, well- 
 swept, crooked-streeted town. The quiet population 
 hung carpets out of the windows to do them 
 honour, and offered curious studies almost from the 
 nude in real life. At 12.30 the steam - whistle 
 sounded, the mooring stakes were lifted, and the 
 flotilla proceeded on its way in all the glory of a 
 July sun. "What will they say in England" — 
 the farmers at 2a\j rate — when they hear that 
 the corn is laden with creamy ears, which will be 
 cut in less than two months, stacked, and garnered, 
 and that before the Nile rises in June, another crop 
 — one of maize — will be lifted from the ground ? 
 
 All went well with us till we came near the 
 Quarries of Silsihs, about 4.15 o'clock. There the 
 surface of the stream gave token of the coming 
 trouble. Soon the Eoyal yacht stuck hard and 
 fast. In courtier-like sequence, boat after boat went 
 soft aground. There was a great deal of " Turn 
 a heady," " Stope," " FuUy speed," '' Halfey speed." 
 Eed-fezzed captains danced about emphatically on 
 the paddle-boxes, and much strong Arabic went
 
 X.] OUR ROYAL DINNER. 259 
 
 abroad ; but tlie Nile bed would not move, nor 
 would the ships. The Prince and Princess and all 
 the company landed on an island sand-bank, as the 
 sun set behind the Desert ridge. The sailors set 
 to work to lighten the vessels by carrying the bag- 
 gage on shore. It needed an hour's hard work and 
 more — blowing off the water from the boiler, shift- 
 ing cargo — to float the steamer. Wlien the vessel 
 forged ahead, there was a general cheer from all 
 hands. It was near 10 o'clock at night before the 
 ships were off the bank, and secured to the 
 mooring-place above Silsilis. The Prince and Prin- 
 cess, Mrs. Grrey, Lord Carington, Sir S. Baker, 
 Prince Louis of Battenberg, came to dinner on 
 board the Duke of Sutherland's steamer. The 
 banquet was prepared with great gusto by the 
 Itahan stewards. The Spanish cook gave his most 
 strenuous efforts to the task, and a masterpiece 
 of confectionery in burnt almonds, with a flag on 
 the top inscribed with " Ich Dien," crowned his 
 triumph. The wind blew strongly, unfortunately, 
 for the table was laid on the upper deck, and 
 the candles flared in spite of the awning, and of 
 artful contrivances of canvas at the sides. It was 
 the birthday of one of the little Princesses, and 
 the Duke proposed her health in a neat speech, 
 
 s 2
 
 200 OVIS AMMON. [chap 
 
 and due honour was done to the toast. After 
 dinner, a huge long-legged black sheep, with an 
 enormous pendulous tail, which on the morrow 
 would have been converted into mutton, in a happy 
 moment of inspiration strayed on deck in the way 
 of Lord Stafford, who brought it aft and introduced 
 it to the notice of the Princess. As if it had been 
 accustomed to the best society all its life, the creatm-e, 
 with a tact worthy of a ram-headed " Gentleman in 
 waiting " of the time of the Pharaohs, immediately 
 made itself at home, ate from the Princess's hand, 
 and rose at once to such a height of favour at Court, 
 tliat its life was spared, by Eoyal command, and 
 the creature is destined to grow fat and be glad in 
 the pastures of Sandringham. It was decked with 
 a garland of riband when its good future was 
 known, and received many marks of attention in 
 the shape of cabbages and the like from the crew. 
 And now it is " Her Eoyal Highness's Sheep." 
 
 February 21st. — At dawn the flotilla was on its 
 way before the cares of the day had summoned the 
 party to arise. Tlie Nile is so ]3ent in here by the 
 Desert, that the belt of cultivated land can be seen 
 with the naked eye right across on each side ; in parts 
 it does not seem to be three miles over. Our great ex^ 
 citement was running aground and getting off again
 
 X.] ASSOUAN. 261 
 
 all day, but there is a permanent, never-failing plea- 
 sure in the consciousness of being alive in such a 
 climate. Pyramids and ruins have defiled before 
 us like a panorama, on which we gazed with a 
 dreamy blissful tranquillity. Nil admirari can be 
 best understood in Egypt, where there is more 
 to wonder at than in any land of the earth. Still 
 it is getting hot — very hot. There is no denying 
 it ; and it will have been seen, too, that our weather 
 was not always to be enjoyed. 
 
 At 11 o'clock the Prince read prayers in the saloon. 
 Shortly before 1 o'clock to-day the Eoyal flotilla 
 arrived at Assouan, 581 miles south of Cairo. The 
 reception was very pretty. A considerable number 
 of dahabeahs were moored by the left bank, 
 on which the town is situated, and the owners 
 kept up a brisk fusillade in honour of the 
 occasion, and displayed all their bunting — 
 British, French, and American. At the landing- 
 place there was a stage with coloured lanterns, 
 lighted up at dusk, and on the flat sandy beach 
 left by the receding river, was stretched out an 
 array of caparisoned dromedaries, with horses and 
 saddled asses, which with their attendants — a crowd 
 of armed Arnaouts and cavasses — formed an ani- 
 mated foreground to the picture, enclosed by the
 
 262 THE RECEPTION. [chap. 
 
 fringe of date-palms, and the rocky ridge of the 
 Desert range beyond. A group of Arabs armed 
 with shields and long swords, whose hair was 
 dressed in a fashion that would set the whole 
 craft of London and Paris at defiance, went through 
 their exercises, and from a distance was heard the 
 long wailing cry of welcome which greeted the 
 passage of the flotilla from all the villages on the 
 banks as we approached Assouan. An Egyptian 
 officer in full uniform — French infantry in all but 
 the fez and sleeve lace — the Mudir, and principal 
 people of the district, were in waiting ; but the day 
 was hot, and it was arranged that the visit to Philae, 
 above the First Cataract, should be deferred till to- 
 morrow, time being needed to transfer the baggage 
 and stores to the smaller vessels above. Sir S. Baker 
 refreshed himself and revived memories of former 
 travel by a lively tournee or two on a fast drome- 
 dary, but did not induce many of the suite to em- 
 bark on the ships of the Desert. The Prince and 
 Princess, however, made a short excursion on them, 
 and paid a visit to the village, which is interesting 
 to those who care to see where Syene once was. 
 
 The news of a little tragedy reached us on shore. 
 At Edfou we had been told that an EngHshman had 
 shot himself on board his boat, and had been buried
 
 X.] A TRAGEDY OX THE NILE. 263 
 
 in the Coptic Church. It was not an Englishman, 
 however, but a young Hungarian noble. Count 
 Christophe Almasy. There was only one European 
 on board with him when the accident occurred, an 
 Hungarian, whom he picked up at Assouan, and 
 he avers that the dying man's last words were, 
 " It was my own fault." He discharged his dra- 
 goman at Assouan five days before. The latter 
 says that the deceased was very careless with his 
 firearms. Then there are rumours — an actress of 
 Vienna or Pesth ; but the poor lad lies at rest in 
 a strange land. He was found lying dead in his 
 cabin, shot through the body below the breast, 
 and the direction of the ball in a straight line, 
 and the situation of the wound, afibrded grounds 
 for suspicion that other hands than his held the 
 fatal weapon. So dragoman and crew are on their 
 way to Cairo in irons, to await inquiry. 
 
 If Juvenal had spent years composed of such 
 days as these, he could, perhaps, have borne his 
 banishment when he thought of ssevse incendia 
 urbis and the poetse recitantes in mense Augusto. 
 But what could he have done in inundation times, 
 or in the terrible months from June to the end of 
 September, when the earth is all water and the sky 
 all fire ? To some of us Assouan was a spot scarcely
 
 204 TEE IMPENDING SEPARATION. [chap. 
 
 less unwelcome than it must have been to the 
 banished satirist. The Prince and Princess were 
 good enough to express a wish that the Duke 
 and his party should go on with them to the 
 Second Cataract, but the difficulties — want of boats, 
 of time, and deficiency of towing power — were not 
 to be overcome ; and it was with great regret we 
 felt that the desire of our hearts could not be grati- 
 fied. Many were the councils and the suggestions 
 which were held over the matter. Her Eoyal High- 
 ness would not hear of any obstacle, and announced, 
 " That it is decided — you are to come on with us." 
 But, alas ! there was the First Cataract — noisy, and 
 ungentle, and resolute — above us. Our progress 
 from Thebes to Assouan, interrupted though it 
 had been by sand-banks, was delightful ; but the 
 description of a river flowing through a strip of 
 cultivated land, which is bounded on both sides 
 by ridges of limestone mountains, and is inha- 
 bited by the same sort of people, for ever engaged 
 in the same work, and living in villages as like 
 each other as two peas, is not apt to prove very 
 attractive to general readers, even though a Prince 
 and Princess be en voyage. One date-palm is like 
 another, each water-wheel is very much the same as 
 its neighbour, and the shadoofs vary only in the
 
 x.] EIVER SCENES. 265 
 
 number of lifts and of the men who work them; 
 and as to the men — well, unless we go very- 
 close, they are all uncommonly similar in hue and 
 dress, or want of it, though their rich brown is 
 now and then diversified by the intense blackness 
 of the Nubian's epidermis. The halt at sundown, 
 which allowed every one to go on shore — i. e., the 
 next field on the bank — was looked for with plea- 
 sure, the crowning joy of the day — if it be not 
 a bull to say so — being the soft cool hours when 
 the stars twinkled and the moon shone aloft. 
 Then we were invited to the hospitable saloon of 
 the Eoyal yacht, where a gracious welcome awaited 
 us, and a durbar was held till it was time to walk 
 the plank, and seek each one his ship by the blazing 
 torchlights, and sink to sleep, unmolested of mos- 
 quito, or nightly depredator. But if any one could 
 have been transported to a reach of the grand old 
 stream, and could have seen the Eoyal flotilla, he 
 would have beheld a spectacle of no ordinary in- 
 terest. The procession of steamers winding in and 
 out, ribandwise, and twining along the bends in the 
 river, with the sun flashing from the white sides and 
 gilt mouldings of the ships, and reflected back from 
 the burnished garniture of the saloons, was one of 
 the prettiest sights possible. The Prince might be
 
 266 THE START FOR PHIL^. [chap. 
 
 seen standing beneath the awning, on the look-out 
 for birds, with rifle and smooth-bore near at hand, 
 his suite reading or lounging in the easy chairs on 
 deck, and further aft, in a kind of boudoir, all bright 
 with mirrors and golden-backed fauteuils and sofas, 
 one could catch a glimpse of two ladies engaged in 
 reading or sketching. And now all was to end! 
 
 February 22nd. — A day of small misadventures 
 for Prince and Princess, and of sorrow pour nous 
 autres. The Nile above Assouan breaks into several 
 streams and meanders through rocky barren islands. 
 It was arranged that Her Eoyal Highness should 
 proceed by water to the foot of the First Cata- 
 ract, three miles above Assouan, where donkeys 
 were to be in waiting in charge of Abd-el-Kader, 
 while the Prince went to pay a visit to Lady Duff 
 Gordon, whose dahabeah lay a couple of miles above 
 us. The Princess, attended by the Duke of Suther- 
 land, the Hon. Mrs. Grey, Dr. Minter, Lord Caring- 
 ton, Captain Ellis, and Colonel Marshall, started 
 in a heavy native boat, took a wrong branch of 
 the river, and came to a bank of loose deep sand, 
 on a bed of craggy rocks, under a glaring sun. 
 The Prince, after paying his visit, proceeded to 
 another point below the Cataract, and landed on 
 a place exactly similar, some miles away. Abd-el-
 
 X.] A TRYING POSITION. 267 
 
 Kader, who had posted far-seeing Arabs on the rocks, 
 was in despair at the news that the Princess's 
 boat was ascending the wrong channel. He dashed 
 round with his corps of donkey-boys, to meet the 
 Princess at the place to which the boat appeared to 
 be going ; but when the asses arrived, the Princess 
 was not visible. By some lucky accident, two very 
 wretched donkeys were near the spot where the Prin- 
 cess landed. They had neither saddle nor bridle. 
 On the back of each was a pad without girths, and 
 on these pads the Princess and Mrs. Grey had 
 to poise themselves, and plod towards Philse. The 
 Princess laughed at her novel situation, and ap- 
 peared to enjoy the newly-found property of balan- 
 cing herself on a pad, without any girths. The 
 gentlemen of the party were obliged to trudge on 
 foot for three miles over sand into which the foot 
 sank over the ankle at every step, alternating with 
 rocky ridges and scattered stones and boulders. In 
 an hour or so they came up with the Prince and 
 Sir S. Baker, who had waited an hour and a half 
 for their donkeys. The party halted to look at 
 the performance of the Arabs, wdio swim down 
 the boiling current of the First Cataract in the 
 hope of baksheesh. It has been often described, 
 but it must be seen by those who want to form
 
 268 SHOOTING THE RAPIDS. [chap. 
 
 an idea of savage man as he battles with a moun- 
 tain torrent, before civilization has washed the 
 energy of his native force out of him. The 
 spectators stand on rocks at the end of the fall, and 
 distance lends decency to the black fellows, who 
 leap in from a ledge one after the other, and 
 in a moment are seen bobbing like the buoys 
 of a fisherman's net, and then, with arms raised 
 aloft alternately, are borne for a quarter of a mile 
 whirling through the whitish foam to the feet of 
 the spectators, and scramble up in their waistcloths 
 to fight for baksheesh. An Arab is never drowned 
 in the rush of waters. Several Englishmen have 
 tried it, and have perished. While the Prince and 
 Princess were continuing their ride towards Philse, 
 others, who had ridden over direct from Assouan — a 
 route seven miles long over a most trying country, 
 in a sun which would almost have cooked a beef- 
 steak — arrived at the little village below the 
 Island. It does not sound much, but the seven 
 miles were, under the peculiar circumstances, the 
 longest I ever travelled. At the foot, but not 
 under the shade, of two castle-like crags of rock, 
 we found pitched by the bank of the Nile a large 
 tent in three compartments, handsomely carpeted, 
 a dinner-tent capable of receiving forty guests, and
 
 X.] TnE ISLAND OF PHIL^E. 269 
 
 a couple of tents for the accommodation of the 
 servants. Close at hand were the vessels to which 
 the Eoyal party were to be transferred, and long 
 strings of camels were coming over the Desert with 
 stores, furniture, and baggage for the voyage to 
 the Second Cataract. Eefreshments had already 
 been sent to the Island of Philse, and thither, 
 heated and thirsty, repaired the weary riders of 
 stirrupless donkeys from Assouan. A rude bark 
 ferried us over, and alongside our boat revelled 
 Naiads, who floated on logs of wood, which they 
 propelled by foot or hand with great ease, brown 
 as the wood on which they lay in happy security. 
 Here is a sketch of one of the water-nymphs of 
 the Upper Nile and her companion.
 
 270 INSCRIPTIONS. [chap 
 
 We landed on the Sacred Island, which has em- 
 ployed so many pens and pencils in vain. In the 
 blazing sun we wandered about the ruins and pros- 
 trate slabs and columns of the Temples. No wonder 
 that visitors came here and ate the priests out of 
 house and home, so that they petitioned Ptolemy 
 to exempt them from the charge of providing them, 
 and had their prayer allowed, as is duly recorded 
 on the walls in Greek — an in terrorem to beggarly 
 travellers. "We had no priests to prey upon, and had 
 our own provisions. There are two other inscrip- 
 tions, which will explain themselves. The first is, — 
 
 "L'an VI de la E^publique, le 13 messidor, une 
 armee fran^aise, commandee par Bonaparte, est de- 
 scendue a Alexandrie. L'armee ayant mis, vingt 
 jours apres, les Mamelouks en fuite aux Pyramides, 
 Desaix, commandant la premiere division, les a pour- 
 suivis au dela des cataractes, ou il est arrive le 13 
 ventose de I'an VII : les generaux de brigade, 
 Davoust, Priant et BeUiard ; Donzelot, chef de I'etat- 
 major ; Latournerie, commandant I'artillerie ; Eppler, 
 chef de la 21' legere ; le 13 ventose, an VII de la 
 Eepublique, 3 mars, an de J. C. 1799." 
 
 The next is, — " E. P. An VII. Balzac, Coquebert, 
 Coraboeuf, Costaz, CouteUe, Lacipilere, Eipeault, 
 Lepcre, Mechain, Nouet, Lenoir, Nectoux, Saint-
 
 X.] FAREWELL BANQUET. 271 
 
 Genis, Vincent, Dutertre, Savigny. — Long, depuis 
 Paris, 30, 34, 16. Lat. boreale, 24, 1, 34," 
 
 The Eoyal party came not, and hour after hour 
 passed away, amid increasing uneasiness, till just 
 as we had taken boat again, and were returning 
 to the opposite bank, the shrill cry of joy of the 
 Nubian women was heard, and a group, among 
 whom the Prince and Princess, and Mrs. Grey, 
 were discernible, came in sight, making their way 
 towards the landing-place, in the rays of the de- 
 clininp' sun. On their return from Philse, dinner was 
 served in the large tent, in which a table was laid 
 out very prettily. Our cook was in high delight at 
 being selected to prepare the banquet, but prouder still 
 was he of the bit of riband, which he fondly believed 
 to have been worn by the Princess, and put on the 
 black ram preserved from the knife on Saturday. As 
 to the said ram, I regret to report unfavourably. It 
 was so pampered the moment it became a favourite 
 that it became unwell in body and evil in mind. 
 Eaisins, oranges, ratafia, candle-ends, cabbages, and 
 bonbons are not, it appears, good diet for the sheep 
 of the Desert. This, alas ! was the farewell banquet. 
 After dinner. Captain Achmet Hassan proposed 
 " The Health of the Prince and Princess of "Wales, 
 and of the Duke of Sutherland," in English peculiar
 
 272 FAREWELL. [chap. 
 
 to himself, but liis speech was intelligible, and was 
 received as the vivacious officer intended. 
 
 The Duke of Sutherland expressed the wishes of 
 his party — " A prosperous voyage and happy return 
 to the Prince and Princess," and proposed, " The 
 Health of the Viceroy," for which Mourad Pasha 
 returned thanks in an excellent speech, in French, 
 giving " The Health of the Queen of England," 
 which w^as drunk with great enthusiasm by the 
 party upstanding, and with many cheers. By the 
 light of the moon the guests, broken into groups, 
 sat by the river bank, listening to the songs of 
 the Arabs and to the "music" of native performers, 
 till it was time to go, some to the boats, others 
 across the Desert to Assouan, whilst a few re- 
 solved to gratify their taste for camping out, by 
 sleeping on the ground, in one of the tents. 
 
 February 23rd. — The exertions and fatigues of 
 the previous day infused a certain amount of lan- 
 guor into the movements of the tourists. 
 
 The Duke of Sutherland, Lord Stafford, Lord 
 A. L. Gower, and myself, who composed the party 
 designed expressly for the purpose of getting up to 
 see the sun rise, were not so fortunate as we deserved 
 to be, for the sun would insist on rising before we 
 did, and the result was, that only one of the
 
 X.] PREPARATIONS. 273 
 
 hardy persons who slept in the tent, roused by 
 the tremendous war-cry of the Princess's donkey, 
 awoke ; and he, patriarch hke, gazed out in solitary 
 silence on the sand-hills and rocks, warming into 
 life under the touch of the golden rays wliich 
 struck the Desert from the top of the crags beneath 
 which the tents were pitched. 
 
 A wonderful breakfast was spread in the ""large 
 marquee — fresh fish from the Nile, of strange scale, 
 said to be good by those who tasted them, and a 
 succession of dishes very good for the latitude and 
 longitude. The human vultures came slowly drop- 
 ping in from Assouan on asses' and camels' backs to 
 the feast. After breakfast the Princess, notwithstand- 
 ing the heat, which the absence of any breeze rendered 
 very trying, was rowed round the Island of Phila?. 
 
 There was much to be done in shifting and ar- 
 ranging on board the dahabeahs and the steamer; 
 and there was a good deal of quiet " looking on " 
 as the natives conducted the operations. 
 
 The Viceroy's French servants and the horses mean- 
 while were sent on shore, and the baggage reduced 
 to the smallest compass. But still the Royal boats 
 were full enough, and Arabs, Egyptian sailors, 
 boxes of provisions, coops of fowl and turkeys, and 
 live-stock, lumbered the decks. 
 
 T
 
 274 THE SEPARATION. [chap. x. 
 
 In the daliabeah with the Prince and Princess 
 were Mrs. Grey and Prince Louis of Battenberg; 
 in the second boat Colonel Teesdale, Lord Caring- 
 ton, Sir S. Baker, Mourad Pasha, Mr. Montagu, 
 Captain Ellis, Dr. Minter, and Mr. Brierly ; and 
 beds for two were laid on deck under an awning, 
 as the accommodation was limited. A third boat, 
 laderf with coal and provisions, was towed by the 
 small steamer in which the Poyal domestics and 
 attendants were embarked, and in which the cooking 
 was carried on. It was past 3 o'clock before all the 
 preparations for the upward voyage were complete. 
 
 Long time loth to depart, we halted on the bank ; 
 but at last the hour came for the Eoyal party, in 
 diminished state, to start on their course to the 
 Second Cataract. The Prince and Princess received 
 the Duke of Sutherland and his friends, and Colonel 
 Stanton, Major Alison, and Sir H. Pelly, who were 
 returning to Thebes, on board, and with many sin- 
 cere expressions of respect, and hearty wishes for 
 their prosperous journey and happiness, we bade 
 their Poyal Highnesses good-bye, and returned to 
 Assouan, in order to descend the Nile to Cairo. 
 To use the words of a little diary I have seen, 
 " We were all very sorry to part company."
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 A DILEMMA. L.\DY DUFF GORDON. DOWN THE EIVER. 
 
 JUDGMENT AND EXECUTION. AN ORDER FOR 
 
 TURKEYS. 
 
 " I DO perceive here a divided duty." I am in 
 
 what would in famiKar speech he termed "a fix." 
 
 The Prince and Princess have, to om- infinite regret, 
 
 separated from the party with which I am travelling, 
 
 and are bound up the river, which we are about to 
 
 descend. The Duke and his friends are setting out 
 
 for home in a few days after their arrival in the 
 
 Egyptian capital. It is plain that I can no longer 
 
 write from my own knowledge of what occurs as 
 
 the Eoyal travellers stem the stream. They are in 
 
 the hands, so to speak, of Sir Samuel Baker, who 
 
 does not pretend to any acquaintance with this 
 
 Lower Nile, and whose Arabic, as he approaches 
 
 the regions in which he learned his pronunciation 
 
 of the language, comes into play. Whilst they are 
 
 away, I must pass the time as best I can, for the 
 
 Prince was good enough to desire, as I had no 
 
 T '^
 
 276 LADY DUFF GORDON. [chap. 
 
 pressing engagements compelling me to return to 
 England with my party, that I would meet or 
 await him at Cairo. Assouan has no abiding place. 
 At Thebes, indeed, I might halt for a while, as 
 Colonel Stanton is to stay at Luxor, on his way 
 down, in order to dig for antiquarian treasures in 
 hallowed ground sasigned to the Prince.* But 
 success is doubtful, and as it is, his steamer does 
 not contain much extra accommodation. Then how 
 hard it would be to part with those who have been 
 my companions for many miles and hours, and who 
 have made them f)ass so pleasantly away ! I am 
 compelled to ask my readers to leave the Eoyal 
 party for a while, and to come with us down the 
 Nile, share an excursion to Jerusalem, revisit the 
 Suez Canal, and so return to Cairo, where they 
 will find the Prince and Princess, with whom we 
 will travel together till their wanderings in the 
 East are brought to a close. 
 
 On our way back from Philse to Assouan, the 
 Duke and some of his party paid a visit to Lady 
 Duff Gordon, whose " Letters" on Egypt had proved 
 so interesting on our voyage. The Prince's visit 
 
 * It is a way the Viceroy has of according favours to his friends. 
 Tliivs Lord Dufferin has a digging of which he gi'anted the usufruct to 
 the Duke in case he was inclined to prosecute researches.
 
 XI.] LADY DUFF GOBDON. 277 
 
 caused her very great pleasure and cheered her 
 exceedingly. Her son had been down to the flotilla 
 several times, and gave but sorry accounts of her 
 health — the sad cause of her exile for so many 
 years from home and family. At any moment her 
 life, hanging on a slender thread, might cease. The 
 warmth of her nature has been touched by the 
 apparent degradation of the Egyptian people, and 
 in her letters she has written of the Government, 
 and especially of Ismail Pasha, with great severity. 
 Her physical weakness rendered her dependent on 
 others, and there is no doubt that, perceiving the 
 direction of her mind and the tendency of her 
 inquiries, those around her were disposed to exagge- 
 rate any acts wliicli seemed repressive or harsh, and 
 to find out causes of complaint. Some time ago 
 Lady Gordon resided in rickety rooms, constructed 
 of very frail materials, in a story of a ruined temple 
 at Luxor ; but now she lives in a dahabeah, which 
 is at present moored above the town of Assouan, in 
 a sort of pool a couple of miles below the Falls or 
 Cataract. Most travellers call on the invalid, and 
 find it worth their while, if they are received, for 
 her conversation is spirituel and animated, and she 
 has a great deal of information, rather about the 
 people, however, than tlie country. We found our 
 Mr. Duff Gordon on board the boat, which was in
 
 278 LADY DUFF GORDON. [chap. 
 
 the full blaze of the sun, but was covered in on 
 deck; a modest but not uncomfortable dahabeah, 
 with a group of natives on deck, among whom we 
 recognized Lady Gordon's often-quoted dragoman 
 without the need of any description. 
 
 The lady was reclining on a sofa in the cabin, 
 w^hich was cool and airy. Her face, notwith- 
 standing traces of severe illness, presented in its 
 fine outlines a type of distinction and refinement, 
 and her clear deep eyes looked out on the world 
 with an expression full of sincerity and enthusiasm. 
 But her features were worn, and the hectic on her 
 cheek, the colour of her lips, and her wasted hands 
 and frame, prepared one for the difficulty with which 
 she spoke, and for the cough and catching of the 
 breath which interrupted her conversation. She wore 
 a long, loose, oriental robe, and a fez cap, beneath 
 which appeared her hair, fast turning white, cut short 
 all round. At this time there is an unusual trouble 
 upon the poor lady. A French newspaper, seizing 
 on a passage in one of her letters written long ago, 
 in which she described the misery of the fellaheen 
 and rated the Viceroy very sharply, has a bitter 
 article on the reported engagements of Mdlle. 
 Schneider and other expensive artists for the Cairo 
 Theatre. Ismail Pasha has been made aware of the 
 attack, and is said to be much incensed against the
 
 xr.] lADY DUFF GORDON. 279 
 
 writer. Indeed, Lady Duff Gordon believes that she 
 is scarcely safe, poor lady, and is sure that Omar, her 
 dragoman, will fall on evil days when she is no more. 
 I find that the most — as they seem to me — extra- 
 vagant notions prevail respecting the Grovernment at 
 Cairo. Poisoning, strangling, drowning, are said to 
 be common modes of getting rid of obnoxious persons. 
 But in one case given by Lady Gordon, of a wealthy 
 native gentleman exiled for some slight offence to 
 certain death in Fezegoloo, it was stated to us that 
 the man was alive and well on his estates on good 
 English authority. Lady Gordon led the conversa- 
 tion to the condition of the Egyptian peasantry, and 
 was giving an account of the apathy of the Viceroy 
 in the presence of the famine in Upper Egypt now 
 imminent, when Omar, who came in with pipes and 
 coffee, interposed, and said that so many thousand 
 measures of corn had just been sent up for the people. 
 Perhaps this information might not have been forth- 
 coming had we not been present. Our visit lasted 
 only half an hour, as we were obliged to get on 
 board our steamer and prepare for the return voyage.* 
 When we got back to Assouan, a telegraphic 
 despatch from Lord Clarendon was awaiting the 
 
 t Since the above lines were written, intelligence has reached 
 Enfilaud of the dealli of Lady Duff Gordon.
 
 280 THE TELEGRAPH AXD THE TOURISTS, [chap. 
 
 Consul-Greneral, to be forwarded to the Prince, which 
 was sent off by dromedary about 5 o'clock, and 
 which the Prince received next day. 
 
 The telegraph wires are stretched (with the excep- 
 tion of one break in the Desert) away to distant 
 Dongola. The posts are visible as we follow the 
 course of the river, on the banks of which plod the 
 reluctant camel and the patient peasantry. Pharaoh 
 is bent on swift intercourse with all parts of his 
 far-reaching viceroyalty. The water-wheel in use 
 thousands of years ago works creakingly by the side 
 of the stream, along which stretch the silent wires. 
 Before the smoke of the little fleet has been lost to 
 the view of the half-scared labourers who stare at 
 the pageant, Cairo knows how the guests of the 
 Viceroy are speeding and faring on their way, as 
 his steamers stem the current towards that m3'stic 
 South, where, hid in the mountains of an unknown 
 continent, lie the sources of the great river which 
 has been a wonder through all the centuries that 
 man can count in his history. 
 
 Cook's tourists have also arrived ! Their steamers 
 are just below us in the stream. The tourists are 
 all over the place. Some are bathing off the banks ; 
 others, with eccentric head-dresses, are toiling through 
 the deep sand, after an abortive attempt to reach Philse.
 
 XI.] A SLIGHT 3IISTAKE. 281 
 
 They are just beaten by a head in the race ! Another 
 day, and the Prince and Princess would have been 
 at their mercy. It is whispered that various unex- 
 pected causes of delay occurred down the river — that 
 coal was short; that supphes of provisions failed 
 at certain places; that the steamers went aground 
 very often. At all events, the tourists were just 
 too late, and they return to-morrow, disconsolate. 
 
 Wednesday, February 24th.— When we got up 
 this morning, our steamer was many miles north 
 of Assouan, which we left at daybreak. She 
 floundered, now aground, now afloat, over the shoals 
 at Silsihs — the narrowest part of the river, by 
 the bye — followed by the Consul's steamer; and 
 in the evening she reached Esne, ninety -two miles, 
 and moored for the night. There was nothing to 
 be done all day but take long shots at birds on 
 the banks with rifles. Once a deadly tube was 
 levelled at what was pronounced to be a crocodile. 
 In another instant, who knows what would have 
 happened ?— for just as the finger was tightening 
 on the trigger, a man made out with a glass the 
 object to be an Arab rolled up in his cloak asleep 
 on the sand ! Every one says we ought to have 
 stopped for an hour at Silsilis, where there are 
 most interesting remains, and very ancient and
 
 282 KARNAK AGAIN. [chap. 
 
 renowned quarries. Every one asks why we did 
 not stop, and no one answers the question. 
 
 February 25tli. — A hot wind. Ean down from 
 Esne rapidly, and reached Thebes (Luxor) at break- 
 fast-time (thirty-two miles). "Went on shore ; called 
 on Mustapha Aga, who made presents of scarabs 
 all round. Wandered over the place all day, and 
 made a most delightful excursion, in the bright 
 moonlight, to Karnak, where we mounted up to the 
 top of a gigantic pylon, and sat watching the 
 stars, and talking mild philosophy, far into the 
 niofht. I am not sure that the ruins were not 
 more impressive in their silent vastness, with the 
 moonbeams resting on the broken walls, and casting 
 mj'sterious shadows across the mighty halls, than 
 they were when touched up with red, blue, and 
 green — nay, I am sure they were. Perched up 
 here, one can almost agree with Hekekyan Bey, 
 that the eye of the ancient priest was a better 
 astronomical instrument than a six-foot achromatic, 
 that is, under the conditions he specified. " AVith his 
 senses purified by fasting, and his mind cleared 
 by vigil, the Pharaohonic astronomer, coming out of 
 a dark chamber in the heart of the pyramid and 
 taking his lonely stand on the level ledge, could ob- 
 serve the motions of the heavenly bodies, and detect
 
 XI.J KENEH, 283 
 
 their actions, at least as well as the modern pliilo- 
 soplier, who has been eating rich meats and drinking 
 wines, although he may have fine optical instruments 
 to aid him." The quantity of wine would certainly 
 have something to do with the matter. 
 
 February 26th. — It was after G o'clock when our 
 steamer, towing a felucca, in which the Princess's 
 sheep was a forecastle passenger, left Luxor, lighted 
 equally by sun and moon. Colonel Stanton remained 
 at Thebes, with Sir Henry Pelly and Major Alison 
 to assist in his explorations. Mustapha Aga was 
 not visible, but Said, his son, bound on occult 
 errands, took a passage with us. We reached 
 Keneh at 11 o'clock. The Consular Agent's son 
 came on board, and invited us to a banquet in the 
 town. It would be interesting to ascertain what 
 idea our Consular person at Keneh has of the em- 
 pire he represents. The representative of Said 
 Hamed Omazeen received the translation of the 
 Duke's speech refusing the invitation, and ex- 
 plaining that we were making for Cairo with all 
 speed, with obvious disappointment. 
 ■ As some consolation, the Duke and party wrote 
 their names on a sheet of note-paper, which gave 
 him every satisfaction. There was at all events no 
 need of imitating the caution of Talleyrand on a
 
 284 KILE SWIMMERS. [chap. 
 
 similar occasion. Here Said of Luxor left us, and 
 was seen glorious on a donkey, vanishing like a 
 shadow, desertwards, followed by another animal of 
 the same kind laden with his bed. Oh ! Said, where 
 
 is my No ! perhaps you forget all about it, and 
 
 I will not jog your memory. Whilst the steamer 
 was coaling, great excitement was extracted out of 
 the accidental appearance of an empty bottle in 
 the river. At the sight some mud-coloured Egyp- 
 tians, who had been sitting in a boat near at 
 hand, silent and motionless as so many Sphinges, 
 bounded into life, threw off their simple garments, 
 and dashed into the flood. They are strong swim- 
 mers, these Arabs. They swim edgeways, throwing 
 aloft their arms alternately, and dragging them 
 through the water so that the head and shoulders 
 rise out of the stream, as they strike powerfully 
 down with their legs. The empty bottle bobbed 
 up and down in the current, and one line young 
 fellah, running through his horses, seized it, and 
 returned triumphantly to shore. The fun was not 
 allowed to slacken for want of material. The Nile 
 bristled with empty bottles, and the water was 
 alive with black shaven heads, belonging to vigorous 
 bodies and contending arms. One master executed 
 a feat ; caught two bottles in one hand, held a
 
 XI.] SAXD-BAXKS. 285 
 
 third in the other, and pushed a fourth before him 
 with his chest. The hand with the two bottles was 
 held aloft, the other he used to keep his course, and 
 thus, after performing a tour de force in the water 
 which it would puzzle many a champion swimmer 
 at home to accomplish in such a stream, he gained 
 the edge of the boat from which he leaped. 
 
 Soon after leaving Keneh, the steamer alighted on 
 a sand-bank, and Ali Captan sacrificed several of the 
 crew to his divine rage at the water being so low, or 
 the land being so high, and abused all the natives 
 visible on shore in very effective Arabic. In vain 
 the crew poled in the way in vogue in Thames 
 steamers when th^y got aground about Kew, or 
 Hampton Court. In vain boats fiilled with chocolate- 
 coloured fellahs, who leaped into the water neck 
 high, and shoved with all their force — little it must 
 have been in such a case, as they could scarcely keep 
 their legs — came off from shore in quick succession ; 
 it was only b}^ putting out an anchor, and working 
 on it with hawsers, that we backed off the steamer, 
 after an hour's hard work. In an hour more the 
 vessel stuck again. Once more there came from 
 shore a swarm of fellahs, who grunted like a marsh 
 full of frogs, their heads alone above the flood ; 
 muscular fellows, with square high shoulders and
 
 286 FELLAHEEN. [chap. 
 
 narrow hips, the type of the ancient race depicted in 
 the temples ; light and thin, but, as a rule, fairly 
 grown and well made. They feed on the coarsest 
 bread, pulses, and maize. Their sole drink is water. 
 Not one had bad or discoloured teeth. Wlien a boat 
 alongside, which P. M. and myself strove to keep 
 from crushing them, by fending off from the saloon 
 windows, swerved in, they were obliged to crouch 
 down up to their noses. Some of the shorter went 
 quite under, and, cork-like, bobbed up again. Al- 
 though the sun was hot, they shivered, with chat- 
 tering teeth, as if it were mid-winter. At 6 o'clock 
 the ship was put round, and made fast to the left 
 bank, at Eeiseah, a very poor village, surrounded as 
 usual by date and doum trees. This grounding cost 
 us two whole hours, and our craft gave signs of rough 
 usage in extra creaking and shaking. It was full 
 moon, and after dinner some of us strolled on shore, 
 and had an opportunity of inspecting the working of 
 the police system, which is really as perfect as that 
 of London — in some respects, at all events. If dogs 
 will bark at roving Englishmen, roving Englishmen 
 will pelt dogs. A yelping of many dog power, caused 
 by the overthrow of a huge cur by a well aimed 
 brickbat, eliminated from some shaded retreat a 
 native gentleman, armed with a sharp short spear,
 
 XI.] VILLAGE POLICE. 287 
 
 who " invited " tlie truants to return to tlieir ship 
 in vain. He sent off a comrade, who returned with 
 an ancient firelock, and his feelings " may be more 
 readily imagined than described" when he saw the 
 illustrious strangers turning their faces towards the 
 river and yielding to timid solicitations, which 
 indeed they did not need, as the dogs had all fled. 
 Having achieved this victory, the man of the spear 
 
 and the man of the firelock sat down on the bank by 
 our watch-fire, and awaited events. It so happened
 
 288 A JUDGMENT. [cHAr. 
 
 tliat tliere was a great one to wind up our niglit. 
 Between the Italian intendanee and the Egyptian 
 crew, from Captain to lamp-lighter, there was a great 
 gulf fixed, in which raged a sea of acrimony and distrust. 
 From time to time wine had been missed on board, 
 and suspicion, like an agitated sparrow, flew from place 
 to place, and rested on head after head. Now, however, 
 for an anonymous person, employed to act as an ani- 
 mated lighthouse on shore when the steamer moored 
 for the night, hitherto in moderate repute, some 
 malignant star rose. He was caught by Giovanni's 
 brother gliding away with two bottles of our finest 
 Sauterne. Terentio, joyous, came swift to the saloon, 
 and advised Ali Eisa of the fact. That much-besought- 
 after officer laid aside liis cigar, hastened on deck, 
 held court, and pronounced sentence. Oh, Allah! 
 How the silent night was rendered hideous by the 
 edict of that righteous and not over stern judge ! 
 As Anonymous had offended on former occasions by 
 staring at the Prince and Princess — as moreover there 
 was reason to think he was the committer of many 
 a previous larceny — the sentence was that he be 
 then and there put over the side, and allowed to 
 find his way to Cairo as well as he could. His 
 worldly goods consisted of a piece of sackcloth, a 
 bottle, and a ragged calico gown, and these were
 
 XI.] MIBNIGHT MUSKETRY. 289 
 
 handed over the gangway readily. But their owner 
 was a stout fellow, and desperate. His shouts were 
 fiendish ; he resisted fiercely the efibrts of four men 
 to eject him, till with a shove all together he 
 was sent bounding on shore, where the poHcemen and 
 a sheik seated by the watch-fire were the, only 
 spectators of his calamity. How he screamed and 
 yelled, and invoked the moon to hear him ! How 
 he called on the Duke to protect him, and cited a 
 long life of unblemished reputation and the names 
 of famous ancestors as proofs of his innocence ! He 
 danced on the beach, kicked out the watch-fire, 
 and for more than an hour kept shouting and 
 appealing to Ali Eisa. At last the latter lost all 
 patience, called to sheik and policemen, and the de- 
 linquent was swiftly carried away into the interior, in 
 a tempest of outcries which was worthy of an angry 
 menagerie. Spirits of mischief were on the wing. As 
 we were sitting quietly in the cabin shortly after this, 
 bang went a gun in the village. After a minute the 
 report of a musket was heard from the opposite shore 
 ^ — then another ; and so in a moment of enthusiasm 
 I took out a Colt, which had been loaded the day 
 before the first unlucky Battle of Bull Eun, and dis- 
 charged barrel after barrel towards the opposite shore, 
 silencing the enemy's fire, and extorting the admira- 
 
 u
 
 290 TJFO OBSTINATE ANIMALS. [chap. 
 
 tion of tlie slieik and policemen. What the firing* 
 was about no one could divine, but more than one 
 heard the singing of a bullet. It is probable the 
 shots were fired by village watchmen to show they 
 were on the alert. There are robbers on the river, 
 and there is perturbation concerning a Greco-Italian 
 who is missing. He was apparently of a trustful or 
 ostentatious character, for he showed gold and silver, 
 to be observed of men in all places. Setting out 
 from Sioot on a mule of well-known perversity, he 
 was entreated by the Governor not to proceed, but he 
 was as obstinate as the animal itself. Well, the mule 
 never pulled up till it reached a station fourteen hours 
 from Sioot, where hunger induced the quadruped to 
 halt the next morning. The sheik of the town 
 begged the traveller to change mules. But he would 
 not : he mounted once more, and he may be making 
 straight for the Mountains of the Moon, for man or 
 mule have not been heard of since, and anxious 
 inquiries have been already made after him by the 
 Government, acted on by the consul, from Cairo. 
 
 Saturday, February 27th. — We left Eeiseah, the 
 City of the Outcast, rather too long after day- 
 break. Our captain, for an Egyptian, is not very 
 matinal, and such a shock as he had to his 
 nervous system last night is not easily recovered.
 
 XI.] ABYBUS ABANDONED. 291 
 
 There is a perceptible coldness in the air when 
 the sleeping- cabin window is opened by the early 
 riser; he is more apt to feel a sharp wind than he 
 was a week ago. We are running against the ever- 
 blowing north breeze, instead of going wdth it. 
 Last night the air was so chilly I was glad to 
 gather up the discarded quilted cotton bed-cover, 
 and draw it over the blankets. In council last night 
 it was decided to stop at Girgeh, in order to visit 
 the temples and ruins at Abydus ; but when the 
 morning broke a change fell upon us. The day 
 turned out to be an abominable anachronism — a 
 dim, watery sky, a wind driving sand and dust, 
 and not a ray of accustomed sunshine. Eelianeh 
 is the proper place to land if the traveller desires 
 to go to Abydus; but Ali Eisa stated that no 
 donkeys could be procured there, as we had made 
 no previous arrangements for the purpose, and that 
 we must go on to Girgeh. So speeding on, men 
 became vacuous as to Abydus. Murray was fur- 
 tively looked at and laid aside. It could not be 
 said he gave the least encouragement to any one 
 desirous of shirking Abydus on the ground that 
 it was destitute of interest. Hamed was consulted : 
 he declared roundly that it took two hours and a 
 half to go to Abydus on the very best donkeys, and 
 
 TJ 2
 
 293 .A FLY-PIIYL ACTIO. . [chap, 
 
 that a fair average was three hours — then an hour at 
 least would be needed for the most hasty survey 
 of the ruins, so that it would be dark ere we could 
 get back to Girgeh, and then it would be too late 
 to move that night. Need I say what the result 
 was? At 10.40 A.M. The Ornament of the Two 
 Seas swept past Girgeh in triumph. No doubt 
 most of us flattered ourselves that in a good time 
 coming we shall visit Abydus with a favouring 
 wind and no dust. 
 
 The skipper relieved the monotony of the course 
 by occasionally arranging attachments between the 
 bottom of the ship and the bed of the Nile, and, 
 rightly or wrongly, came in for a good deal of the 
 censure which is like to be sent forth from travellers 
 vexed with flies and idleness. Mem. as to flies— 
 a veil with large net, or a piece of coarse gauze, 
 stretched over a sheet of pasteboard, with a hole 
 cut in it to fit the head, is a very good fly- 
 phjdactic — I invented it in India, and used it 
 with marked success. You can breathe, read, and 
 write with your head-dress on, and if you wear 
 gloves you will be quite able to set at defiance the 
 loathsome, fat, filthy, persecuting plagues, and enjoy 
 their mortification even though you be laughed at 
 for your strange guise.
 
 XI.] SOUHADJ. 293 
 
 At Souliadj, where the steamer halted for nearly 
 an hour to take in coal, there was a repetition of the 
 scenes so familiar at every town along the banks 
 of the Nile. The same women busy drawing 
 water, washing feet and legs, crouching on the 
 sand, or stalking away, with water -jars on their 
 heads, like stately animals going to their lairs — 
 the same children along the banks — the same men, 
 in blue gowns and white turbans, squatted in the 
 same sized coteries. Ali Eisa went on shore and 
 took up with tlie same manner of sheiks as he 
 met before. Collections of mudirs, scribes, and 
 cavasses were at hand to welcome him, as if they 
 had all hurried on from the last station. The 
 same old men and boys, in tattered clothes, came 
 on board with the same small bags full of coal, 
 and emptied them into the bunkers ; and as for 
 houses, date-trees, and pigeon colonies and buz- 
 zards, it would be hard to say in what they 
 differed from those seen anywhere else in our 
 course up and down. Souhadj is a cit}^ of great 
 importance, and promises, if not washed away by 
 the Nile, to become greater. At the spot where 
 the steamer was fastened, there were one doctor 
 and two sheiks, three sheep, two donkeys, saddled, 
 one buffalo calf, three black boys, tliree women with
 
 294 XILE E3nGRANTS. [chap. 
 
 veiled heads, a dim-eyed, toothless hadjee of great 
 size, smoking a short chihouque, and seven fellahs, 
 all packed on top of water-jars and bags of mer- 
 chandise in a small craft, sunk down to the mud- 
 plastered gunwales. The buffalo mother, wdth a 
 rope fastened round her nostrils, in charge of a lad 
 on shore, stared, with that peculiar wild look which 
 marks the animal, at her disconsolate calf; but she 
 was not to be separated, for the lad swam off with 
 the end of the rope, which was made fast to the 
 side, and then, as the sail was loosed, the poor 
 creature was dragged along, struggling and blowing, 
 and half-drowning in the water, till her struggles 
 threatened to overturn the boat, and she was cast ojff 
 to return to shore, where she stood, piteously calling 
 to her young one, till she was butted on board a 
 larger boat to join it at the other side. Another 
 skiff crammed full of shrouded women, turbaned 
 men, asses, goats, sheep, a horse, general merchan- 
 dise, and children was also bound to the other bank 
 of the river, because the administration was supposed 
 to be less severe. Migration is much in favour 
 still in Egypt. Half a village will vanish in a 
 night, with a celerity and completeness to be envied 
 by the less expert practitioners in more civilized 
 lands.
 
 XI.] AN ORDER FOR TURKEYS. 295 
 
 The Governor, poor man ! was in much distress at 
 the receipt of an order to send 2,000 turkeys to 
 Cairo for the purpose of assisting at feasts to be 
 given on the occasion of the marriage of one of the 
 Viceroy's daughters. But that is not all. If our 
 interpreters were not wrong in gathering up and 
 rendering the rumours which perplexed the councils 
 of Souhadj, a similar order had been sent to each 
 of the eight governors of provinces ; so that an 
 army of 16,000 turkeys is demanded by the agents 
 of the Viceroy. The fellahs are driven into a market 
 which has, of course, followed the usual law of 
 supply and demand. They pay 100 piastres for 
 a turkey, and they get only 20 or 25 piastres 
 from the Government. 
 
 We left Souhadj with every wish for the success 
 of the worthy Governor in bagging his birds, and 
 delved through the river under great crags, perforated 
 with mummy caves, which rise above the eastern 
 bank. When Ali Captan was minded to run in shore 
 at sundown, for the night, the suppressed energies 
 of certain among us were aroused, and he was forced 
 to go on for a place marked Teme in Leake's map. 
 It is not easy to imagine what satisfaction is caused 
 by a little triumph of this sort over surrounding 
 functionaries, or the proportionate prostration of the
 
 296 TE31E. [chap. XT. 
 
 official mind at • being thwarted in tlie selection of 
 time and place for the conclusion of the day. A 
 lazy man, who wished to gain a reputation for active 
 habits, caused some resentment by objecting to the 
 compulsory proceeding on the ground that he would 
 have liked to have gone on shore for half an hour to 
 take a walk before dark ; which hypothetical peram- 
 bulation he insinuated he would have indulged in 
 had the Captain been allowed to take up his quarters 
 at an earlier hour. 
 
 At night the wind fell — it would appear to be its 
 wont at this time of j^ear in the evening — and the 
 moon, after a conflict with a screen of encumbering 
 clouds, cast them off, and sailed forth into a blue 
 clear sea of sky ; a small moon, however, neither 
 so bright nor so large as we see her in less genial 
 lands, nearer the cold and vaporous North.