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DIARY IN THE EAST.

LONDON •

PRINTED BY WOODFjU.L AND EINDEE,

MILFORD IiANE, STRAND, W.C.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2008 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/diaryineastdurin01russ

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uNGL AND FKIInGESS OF WALES.

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LONr« GrEOEGE EOUT]

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DIAEY 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.

\^^W

TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS

THE PEINCESS OF WALES.

Madam,

The gracious penrussion I have received from your Royal Highness to dedicate this Volume to you, causes me to feel regret that it is not more worthy of that gi'eat honour ; but I trust that the goodness which induced your Royal Highness to confer such a favoui' on the Work, will lead you to regard with an indulgent eye this Record of the

interesting Tom* 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- lingly, to omit the contributions to which the Preface refers.

W. H. EUSSELL.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Preface . .1

CHAPTEK I.

Departure of the Prince and Princess from London — Paris — At Compiegne — A day's shooting — On board the Freya — Stock- hohn — Fredensborg — Arrival at Hamburgh — Departure of the 'Rojal cbildren — Order of the Black Eagle — Arrival at Vienna — Skating at Vienna — Departure of the Ariadne — Reception at Alexandria — Caho 8

CHAPTER II.

Modern travelling — The Mont Cenis route — St. Michel — The trout of Mont Cenis — A haze of neuralgia — The friend of Garibaldi — A dirty j)lace — 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 Caho — 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 — Tlie 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.

PAOE

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 —Departure 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 Ibrahun — Troops from India — /Vi-rival iu Cako — 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 alarm — Egyptian barracks — Egyptian soldiers — The preparations — Kasr- el-Nil — The Royal squadron — The Con- sular tribimals— 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 the streets — The pUgrims — Egyptian troops — The end — Donkey riding — The new Palace — Dancing der^■ishes — The Cairo Grisi — Ameahs O''

CHAPTER VI.

Departure from Cah-o — The flotilla — The start — The Nile near Cairo— The quarries— The tourists— Ruins and sights— A false alarm — Our 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— Mummy ^ogs — Coptic clergymen — Coptic convent — The Chm-ch in Egypt— Sport on the river— IMiuieh— Sugar factory— Sugar manufacture — The tomato merchant — The telegraph in Egypt 138

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

Beni Hassan— The gi-ottoes— The pictui-es on the walls— Writings on the walls — An incubus — A small incident — Dolce far niente— Burds and beasts — Egyptian poor laws— Labour in vain — ^Drawing a blank— Land slips — The water-carriers- Birds on the banks- Maufaloot— 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 — ItaUan domestics — Crocodiles — Keneh — An 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 — Kamak — The procession — Avenue of Sphinxes — Eameses his temple — ^ The learned Lepsius — The great hall — The sanctuary — Exploring — Rest in the ruins — Rameses II. — The obeHsk — Night at Luxor. — The tombs of the Kings — A genuine antique — Bab-el-Molook — Osu-i's bed — Bruce's tomb — Epiphany's nU admu-ari — -The witching hour — The return — Mummy pits — ^The decay of ruins — Pharaoh now and then — A night surprise — The illuniinations — The halls of dazzhng light — The return to the ship . . ^19

CHAPTER X.

Leave Thebes — The citizens — The temple — Leave Esnc — Abab- deh Arabs — Temple of Edfou — Hard agroimd — Our Royal dinner — Ovis ammon — Assouan — The reception — A tragedy on the Nile — The impending separation — Paver scenes — The start for Philaj — A trying position — Shooting the rapids — The Island of Philse — Inscriptions — Farewell banquet — Pre- parations— The separation 252

xli 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 — Ab^'dus abandoned — A fly-phylactic — Souhadj — Nile emigrants — An order for tur- keys—Teme 275

CHAPTER XII.

Ali Captan — Off and on again — Incidents of Nile travel — A victorj^ — The conquering Mudir — Children of Ishmael — An adventure — Forcing the pass — The storming of Sioot^ — A Sioot Cerito — An Egyptian 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 — Bethlehem — Holy places — Departure from Jerusalem — An enthusiast — Departure from Ramleh — Ramleh mendicants — Bashi Bazouks — Gardens of Jaffa — Streets of Jaffa— The Consular ageiit 355

CONTENTS. xiii

CHAPTER XV.

PAGE

Departure from Jaffa — Pama^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 suspicious 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 Philje — Departure from Assouan — The Paid Rabanie abandoned — Dance at Mustapha Aga's — 'Treasure trove — At Sioot — A shipwreck — Minieh — Return to Cafro — 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 from 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 . 420

CHAPTER XVIII.

Impressions — Condition of Egypt — Comparisons — Slavery — Pharaoh's slaves — Ancient ejectments — Sultan and Viceroy — The Ffrmans— The Firman of 18G7— 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 Dai-danelles — The big giins — The stone shot— Gallipoli — Constantinople in sight — The Golden Horn — The Grand Vizier — Saleh Bazaar — Dolniabakshi — Visit to the Embassy — The Sultan's band — Our attendants — The least Tvish 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 Fazil 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 — Progi-amme — The Memorial Chapel — The Russian cemetery — Gortschakoflf— The Belbek— The Telegi-aph Tower— The Alma — Return to Sebastopol — Bourliouk — -The chmate — -. Ruins — The Redan — The right attack — Cathcart's Hill — Our camps— The Windmill— Inkei-man — The " Schlacht-feld " — October the twenty-sixth — The Malakhoflf — ^The dockyard — Lazareffs monument — The Karaite Patriarch — 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 — IMorning 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 — Departure from the Bosphorus 522

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER XXI.

PAGE

Anchored in the Dardanelles — Departure from the Dardanelles — The Ethiopian serenaders— The Piraeus— 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 633

APPENDIX B. Memorial Church 644

APPENDIX C. The Pera Address 649

EEEATA.

Page 34, line 10 J

35 „ 13 [ fur 38 „ 3) 54, headline, for

199 )

200 ',; and line 22 ! ^'^ " ^°°^"'^^''" ''^'^'^ ^°'^^"'^J- 250, line 15, /o?- " pyroteconic," rea.d pyroteclmic.

97, headline, and line 13 99, line 24

' Tomasio," read Tommaso. •Boulaq," read Boulak.

for "Hekekan," read Hekekyan.

%* Oriental words and naines, such as ''hak&htQ&h." and "Boulak," admit of great varieties of spelling. The more erudite the writer, the more eccentnc to our eyes is his orthography, because he seeks to render the true plmietic value of Arabic, in English, letters.

PREFACE.

I HAVE made my own journal the basis of the 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 Renfrew 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 Royal 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 wdio 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 —

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 w^ith 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 responsibility, 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 pohtical 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, rehgious 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, with 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 httle 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 Boyal 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 stag 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 27th. 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 FREYiL 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 eicrht 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 Treya to welcome the Prince and Princess. At 9.30 they landed, and were loudly cheered by the assembled crowd. 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 Fredensborg, 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 22nd, 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 1 5th. — 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. Arthur Ellis, Lord Carington, the Hon. 0. Montagu, and Dr. Minter, R.N., in attendance, left Copenhagen at 8.30 p.m. At the railway station the Foreign Ministers and various officers of Court, in full uniform, were wait- ing to bid adieu to their Poyal 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 Peventflow, Admiral Irminger, Captain Lund, and Captain Bardenfelt, were of the suite.

It was midnight when the party reached the poi-t 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 Eoyal 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 tlie following day the first token of the long

I.] DEPARTURE OF THE ROYAL CHILDREN. 15

journey before tlie Prince and Princess was given by the departure of the Eoyal children, who, in charge of Lady Carmai-then, 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. Frank Lascelles. The weather was bitterly cold, Eeaumur 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 Von 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 Adolpli 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- teniberg (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 lOtli and 20th there were very pretty exhibitions at the Thiergarten.

On the night of the 20th January, the Eoyal travellers left Berlin by the ordinary night express

I.] 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 Enghsh cHmate possesses over that of the dry plateaux of Northern and Central Europe.

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 Court 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 destroj^ed 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-

0 2

20 RECEPTION AT ALEXANDRIA. [chap.

diness to land. Colonel Stanton, H.B.M. Consul- Greneral, came off from the Psyche, accompanied by Sir Samuel Baker, and paid his respects to their Royal 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 Royal party 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 Ml.

So far, the account of the Royal tour has been carried by other hands. Having now seen the Prince and Princess safely into Cairo, I will go back a few days to my own 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, whilst 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. II.] MODERN TRAVELLMG. 23

from after a short 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 were 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 kept 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 u]) 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 CENTS 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 carnages, 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

II.] ST. MICHEL. 25

carry inns, accommodation, and necessaries of life along with you. In the former, you 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 THE 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 traffic 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 FRIEND 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 sur- 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 asrricultural 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 usually 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 young one of the party was so roused by the sight of a

II.] BRINDISI. 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. For 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"," rephed 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 aU 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 s^ailor.

" 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 GLORIAM. 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 voyage. 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 Vec- 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.] THE G REGALE. 35

January is scarcely the best time for navigating tlie Adriatic.

Oar 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. P. 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 MAFEESHP' [chap.

would be that 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 was held in constant conversation. " Ask the Captain, please, if he

ir.] SEA TALE. 37

thinks the wind will go down." "What does the Captain — ask him — think abont Garibaldi?" That one subject lasted for hours. Then we diverged to the Paj^al Government, the affairs 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 kejDt 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 party 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 Yecchini 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 Risa, 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

II.] 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 heterogeneous 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 liis 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 tlieir 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 E-isa, 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 town, 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 veliicles in Cairo — men carrying iron frames on long j)oles, 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 w^ere 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 haU 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 larsre rooms, in which the servants lodged. The dinner saloon and other rooms were off the inner passage. Prom 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 by 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 chau*s lined the walls; rich carpeting was spread on the floor; and the windows were hung 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 through 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 DEJEVJS'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 short 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 downstairs. 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, "LP." 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 cofiee-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 j)ipes, having vast amber

III.] HAVSSMANNIZATlOy OF CAIRO. 45

mouthpieces, blazing witli precious stones, in one hand, and a metal dish to receive the pipe-bowl in the other. When an Egyptian takes a pipe, 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, w^e 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

By-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 au% 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 Ivasr-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 Dnke's party was of a most friendly character, and the Khedive was exceed- ingly gracions 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 effecting the iiTigation of a great district below Cairo. The visit lasted about half an hour, and was graced with the pipe and coffee of honour.

In the evening: 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 httle 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. — Tlie 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 Eisa, 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 through 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

E

50 OPHTHALMIA. [chap.

tlie passing veliicles 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 Cairo 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 children. 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 TEE STREETS. [chap.

au consommation ; and all along the paths people sit in the raidst 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 hui-t 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 approach 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,

in.] 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 woald be to throw a barrier across the Thames at Greenwich, in the height of a full tide running down, with this exception, that the bottom 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 w^ater 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 THE NILE. 59

mon sense would come to witliout examining tlie 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 Fonts 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 levied on the trafiic, 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 description 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 j)ied kingfisher flopped into the stream close at hand, and the little ox-eyed dotterel ran along the banks in constant activity. Ear away, the tops of the

62 AN INTRENCHED CAMP. [chap.

Pyramids rose above the belt of date palms wbich 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 works, 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 cle 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

in.] 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 oflB,cials, 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. ni.

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 him 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 girls, 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 their heads, and bags of the same held against their stomachs with both hands,

r 2

68 TEW FIR 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-

tv.] DEPARTURE FOR ISMAILIA. 69

fortunes, in regard to its rulers, to whicli 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. Fowler 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 tlie sufferings to whicli tlie pilgrimage is subject. It is surely a thorn in the flesh of the staid stay-at-home Moslem, that they should be 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 Ismailia. 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 Goshen, 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

73 ISMAILIA.' [chap.

Paris of the desert was dressed out to welcome the Viceroy and the Prince and Princess. And then it will not he 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 estahlished right- angled streets and police ; whereas at Balaclava and Kadikoi, as at Donnyhrook, higgledy-piggledy, tempered hy 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, wliich tliey tell me is Arabic for a crocodile. I re- member when all you see was quite drj'-, but it is now thirty feet, aye ! and forty deep, 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 oflBcers 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., ginning 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 climb the tortuous staircase and look doAvn from the lantern gallery on the newly created town, which has

76 A VIEW FROM THE 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 surly 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 exjDCct in far better known and more luxurious cities. After dinner the moonlight tempted us to visit the City. Miraculous are the efibrts 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 ruffianly 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 liis 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 w^iich 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, -wTapped 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, Stragghng 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 early 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 tlie Canal presented no unusual incidents. For ever the same annular sand-hills bound the hanks, 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. We 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 with 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

IV.] SHEIK ENNEDEK'S TOMB. 88

verandahed houses, the front of the street facinsr 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 liave occasion to anathematize tlie disturber of liis 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

IV.] STRANG E 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 -Jib. 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 wa}^ 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 Red Sea a meeting, after many roving years, of those that had been long estranged, which may prove most distressing to future geologists. Wlio knows what M. de Lesseps may have to answer for on that head? A visit to the fish markets at Alexandria and Suez enables one to appreciate the vast diff'erence 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 sj^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 o£F 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 the 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 THE 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 Egj^pt 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.] liUEZ IN SIGHT. 89

boards, in which the European, whatever he may be — Frenchman, Italian, or Greek — has his domicile. For 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 great arm of an elevator, which must be afloat. Aeain 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. From the top of the bank a wide expanse of sand, now and then submerged by the sea, stretches away to Suez on oui' right. On the left, across the Canal, a sad fawn-coloured desert spreads over to the hills which rise above

90 C».V 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 w^e 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 coui'se 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 lialf. 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- shi^) 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 we 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 Ave 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 TEE 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 impaired 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 embouchures 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 establishment, 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 wdtli 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 meu, and the wan white children, 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 through the bazaars, which still present a good picture of Oriental hfe. 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 Ptisa 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.

CHAPTER V.

HEKEKAN BEY. THE MUSEUM AT BOULAK. KASR-EL-

NIL. THE CONSULAR TRIBUNALS. THE PRINCE AND

PRINCESS IN CAIRO.

For some days, 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 pui'- 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 Eoyal. 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 tlie desert, when he was out surveying for the Grovern- ment in times gone by, or propounding 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 bj a visit 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 aflfection 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. Cofl'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.

v.] THE MUSEUM AT BOULAK. 101

Any way, this black handmaid woukl not leave her liome 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 Royal 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. [ciiAr.

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 Eoyal flotilla. A menagerie arrived. A troop of dancers. Cooks were summoned from Alexandria. Stores of pro- visions laid in sufficient, 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.

tliat tlie 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 hoots, and are armed with a sabre, a lance with green and purple 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 ofiicers, 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-loadiug rifles, with cumbrous sights and bris-ht 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- rano-le 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 visitors 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 court. As the Viceroy is ^^nxious to patronize both forms of civilization, he has also French fourgons, Normandy horses, French postilhons, turned out in the unimpeachable style of M. Fleury's dictatorship under the Second Empire. Enghsh 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.] KASR-EL-NIL. 107

standards, was in attendance on tlie 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 dababeahs, in wliicli 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 sufi&ciently, 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 Eg3'pt," 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 Grreat 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 Grovernment would offer large advantages, liberal pa}'', and grants of land. There is no fear of any fanatical opposition to their

110 THE PLAGUE OF EGYPT. [chap.

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 APPRO ACE. Ill

have had lunch." — " They are coming on again." — " They have passed such a station." As the train came nearer, the Viceroy was more at ease ; for the fear of accident, little 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 Eoyal 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, — wild, 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 curved 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 oflB.cer, 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 Yiceroy, was next handed in. Then came a little difiiculty. 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 honour. 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 Eoyal 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 was 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 livinsf 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 w4th 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 Eoyal, 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

116 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 feUah 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 Garden 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 pri\dleges — 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 chikben 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

T 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 poHce. 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 cuiEF 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 ver}^ 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 THE 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 Mehemet 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 wbicb 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, all 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 WOMEN- 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 off" 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, rays 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, wlien 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 humoui' 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 cuffed, 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 Guard, 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, di'aped 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 tlie 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 full 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, who 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 off 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 the 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 slight experi-

I

v.] THE PILGRIMS. 129

ment on the massive amber moutlipieces. 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 ta23ping 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 with 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, which they pressed against their naked stomachs. The edges were blunt. But the point was not always so, since

K

130 THE PILGRIMS. [chap.

an indiscreet sabreur who forgot that 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 aprons, 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 armj'-.

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 trumr)ets plapng 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 desciibed by a young gentleman fresh from England as " a caution to rattlesnakes." Their horses, full of life, were small, active, unshod, ill-cleaned. Their dress, a fez, blue jackets and yellow facings, yellow- striped blue vest, and red trousers. Next came the G-eneral 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 with 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, guns of all kinds in their hands and slung over their backs, and pendant from their saddles. A specimen

K 2

13:2 TEE ESD. [chap.

of every firearm made for the last 150 years could assuredly have been collected from among their armament. Their music Avas 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 nn 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, idsited the Viceroy, and had pipes and coffee, 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 Poyal 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 different 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 continuous^ 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 holy 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 Yalideh, and were pre-

136 THE 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 many 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 Grisi, 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 him.

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 FROM CAIRO. — THE FLOTILLA. A FALSE

ALARM. THE FIRST HALT. THE FIRST NIGHT. — ■

BENISOUEFF. FESHN. SHEIK FODL. THE CHURCH

IN EGYPT. MINIEH.

February Ctli. — 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 depaiiure 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.

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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 Royal 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 Eoyal 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 THE START. [chap.

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 tliey 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.] THE NILE NEAR CAIRO. 143

then, the steamer on board of which were Colonel Stanton, Professor Owen, Mr. Fowler, and Major Alison ; next the cooking 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 photogi-apher 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 waving 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, gobbling 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 effect.

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 how 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 oui- 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 all 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

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146 BUINS AND 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 Grizeh 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 Eoyalty 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, aU-over look from the top of some heathery knoll at an Imperial or Eoyal head, unconscious of tlie inspection. We pass the sulphur springs of

VI.] A FALSE ALARM. 147

Helwan, wliere it is conjectured Amenopliis sent lepers and other incurables to live apart from tlie 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 which 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 Eisa, 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-

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148 OUB CBEW AND COMPRINT. [chap.

ferred from the 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, who 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 pranso. 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

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 " callage ") 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, atop of which is an iron frame-work holding a mass of blazing pine and coals, which throws a bright light ' on the landing-place, 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