Notes of an Overland Journey Through France and Egypt to Bombay by Miss Emma Roberts
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Miss Emma Roberts >> Notes of an Overland Journey Through France and Egypt to Bombay
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19 NOTES
OF
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY
THROUGH
FRANCE AND EGYPT
TO
BOMBAY.
BY THE LATE
MISS EMMA ROBERTS.
WITH A MEMOIR.
1841
This file was produced from images generously made available by
the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at
http://gallica.bnf.fr
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
MEMOIR
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
LONDON TO PARIS.
Departure from London--A French Steam-vessel--Unfavourable
Weather--Arrival at Havre--Difficulties at the
Custom-house--Description of Havre--Embarkation on the Steamer for
Rouen--Appearance of the Country--Inclemency of the Weather--Arrival
at Rouen--Description of Rouen--Departure by the Boat for
Paris--Scenes and Traditions on the Banks of the Seine--Journey by the
Railroad to Paris--The _Douaniers_--Observations on the Journey up the
Seine
* * * * *
CHAPTER II.
PARIS TO MARSEILLES.
Description of Paris--Departure by the Diligence--The Country--The
Vineyards--Hotels and fare--Arrival at Lyons--Description of
the City--Departure in the Steam-boat for Arles--Descent of the
Rhone--Beauty and Variety of the Scenery--Confusion on disembarking at
Beaucaire--A Passenger Drowned--Arrival at Arles--Description of the
Town--Embarkation in the Steamer for Marseilles--Entrance into the
Mediterranean--Picturesque Approach to Marseilles--Arrival in the
Harbour--Description of Marseilles--Observations upon the Journey
through France by Ladies
* * * * *
CHAPTER III.
MARSEILLES TO ALEXANDRIA.
Vexations at the Custom-house--Embarkation on the Malta
Steamer--Difficulties of exit from the Harbour--Storm--Disagreeable
Motion of the Steam-vessel--Passengers--Arrival at Malta--Description
of the City--Vehicles--Dress of the Maltese Women--State of
Society--Church of St. John--The Palace--The Cemetery of the Capuchin
Convent--Intolerance of the Roman Catholic Priesthood--Shops,
Cafes, and Hotels--Manufactures and Products of Malta--Heat of
the Island--Embarkation on board an English Government
Steamer--Passengers--A young Egyptian--Arrival at Alexandria--Turkish
and Egyptian Fleets--Aspect of the City from the Sea--Landing
* * * * *
CHAPTER IV.
ALEXANDRIA TO BOULAK.
Description of Alexandria--Hotels--Houses--Streets--Frank
Shops--Cafes--Equipages--Arrangements for the Journey to
Suez--Pompey's Pillar--Turkish and Arab Burial-grounds--Preparations
for the Journey to Cairo--Embarkation on the Canal--Bad accommodation
in the Boat--Banks of the Canal--Varieties of Costume in
Egypt--Collision during the night--Atfee--Its wretched appearance--The
Pasha--Exchange of Boats--Disappointment at the Nile--Scarcity of
Trees--Manners of the Boatmen--Aspect of the Villages--The Marquess
of Waterford--The Mughreebee Magician--First sight of the
Pyramids--Arrival at Boulak, the Port of Cairo
* * * * *
CHAPTER V.
CAIRO.
Arrival at Boulak--Description of the place--Moolid, or Religious
Fair--Surprise of the People--The Hotel at Cairo--Description of
the City--The Citadel--View from thence--The City--The
Shops--The Streets--The interior of the Pasha's
Palace--Pictures--Furniture--Military Band--Affray between a Man and
Woman--Indifference of the Police to Street Broils--Natives beaten
by Englishmen--Visit to an English Antiquary--By-ways of
the City--Interior of the Houses--Nubian
Slave-market--Gypsies--Preparation for Departure to Suez--Mode of
driving in the Streets of Cairo--Leave the City--The Changes in
travelling in Egypt--Attractions of Cairo
* * * * *
CHAPTER VI.
THE DESERT.
Equipage for crossing the Desert--Donkey-chairs--Sense of calmness and
tranquillity on entering the Desert--Nothing dismal in its
aspect--The Travellers' Bungalow--Inconvenient construction of these
buildings--Kafila of the Governor of Jiddah and his Lady--Their
Equipage--Bedouins--Impositions practised on Travellers--Desert
Travelling not disagreeable--Report of the sailing of the
Steamer--Frequency of false reports--Ease with which an infant of
the party bore the journey--A wheeled carriage crossing the
Desert--Parties of Passengers from Suez encountered--One of Mr. Hill's
tilted Caravans--Difficulty of procuring water at the Travellers'
Bungalow--A night in the Desert--Magnificent sunrise--First sight
of the Red Sea and the Town of Suez--Miserable appearance of the
latter--Engagement of a Passage to Bombay
* * * * *
CHAPTER VII.
SUEZ TO ADEN.
Travellers assembling at Suez--Remarks on the Pasha's
Government--Embarkation on the Steamer--Miserable accommodation in the
_Berenice_, and awkwardness of the attendants--Government Ships not
adapted to carry Passengers--Cause of the miserable state of the Red
Sea Steamers--Shores of the Red Sea--Arrival at Mocha--Its appearance
from the Sea--Arrival at Aden--Its wild and rocky appearance on
landing--Cape Aden--The Town--Singular appearance of the Houses--The
Garrison expecting an attack by the Arabs--Discontent of the
Servants of Europeans at Aden--Complaints by Anglo-Indians against
Servants--Causes--Little to interest Europeans in Aden
* * * * *
CHAPTER VIII.
ADEN.
Commanding situation of Aden--Its importance in former times--But few
remains of its grandeur--Its facilities as a retreat for the piratical
hordes of the Desert--The loss of its trade followed by reduction
of the population--Speculations as to the probability of ultimately
resisting the Arabs--Exaggerated notions entertained by the Shiekhs of
the wealth of the British--Aden a free Port would be the Queen of the
adjacent Seas--Its advantages over Mocha--The Inhabitants of Aden--The
Jews--The Banians--The Soomalees--The Arabs--Hopes of the prosperity
of Aden--Goods in request there--Exports--Re-embarkation on the
Steamer--Want of attention--Makallah--Description of the place--Its
products--The Gazelle--Traveller in Abyssinia--Adventurous English
Travellers--Attractions of the Arab life--Arrival at Bombay
* * * * *
CHAPTER IX.
BOMBAY.
Contrast between landing at Bombay and at Calcutta--First feelings
those of disappointment--Aspect of the place improves--Scenery of the
Island magnificent, abounding with fine Landscapes--Luxuriance and
elegance of the Palms--Profusion and contrast of the Trees--Multitude
of large Houses in Gardens--Squalid, dirty appearance of the
Native Crowd--Costume of the Natives--Inferior to the Costume of
Bengal--Countenances not so handsome--The Drive to the Fort--The
Burrah Bazaar--Parsee Houses--"God-shops" of the Jains--General use
of Chairs amongst the Natives--Interior of the Native Houses--The
Sailors' Home--The Native Town--Improvements--The Streets animated
and picturesque--Number of Vehicles--The Native Females--The Parsee
Women--The Esplanade--Tents and Bungalows--The Fort--The China
Bazaar--A Native School--Visit to a Parsee Warehouse--Real ornamental
China-ware--Apprehension of Fire in the Fort--Houses fired by
Rats--Illumination of Native Houses--Discordant noise of Native
Magic--The great variety of Religions in Bombay productive of
lamp-lighting and drumming
* * * * *
CHAPTER X.
BOMBAY--(_Continued_).
Bombay the rising Presidency--Probability of its becoming the Seat of
Government--The Anglo-Indian Society of Bombay--Style of Living--The
Gardens inferior to those of Bengal--Interiors of the Houses more
embellished--Absence of Glass-windows an evil--The Bungalows--The
Encamping-ground--Facility and despatch of a change of
residence--Visit to a tent entertainment--Inconveniences attending a
residence in tents--Want of Hotels and Boarding-houses--Deficiency of
public Amusements in Bombay--Lectures and _Conversaziones_ suggested,
as means of bringing the native community into more frequent
intercourse with Europeans--English spoken by the superior classes
of Natives--Natives form a very large portion of the wealth and
intelligence of Bombay--Nothing approaching the idea of a City to be
seen--The climate more salubrious than that of Bengal--Wind blows hot
and cold at the same time--Convenience a stranger finds in so many
domestic servants speaking English--Their peculiar mode of speaking
it--Dress of servants--Their wages--The Cooks--Improved by Lord
Clare--Appointments of the tables--The Ramoosee Watchmen--Their
vociferations during the night--Fidelity of the Natives--Controversy
concerning their disregard of truth.
* * * * *
CHAPTER XI.
BOMBAY--(_Continued_).
Residences for the Governor--Parell--Its Gardens--Profusion of
Roses--Receptions at Government-house--The evening-parties--The
grounds and gardens of Parell inferior to those at Barrackpore--The
Duke of Wellington partial to Parell--Anecdotes of his Grace
in India--Sir James Mackintosh--His forgetfulness of India--The
Horticultural Society--Malabar Point, a retreat in the hot
weather--The Sea-view beautiful--The nuisance of fish--Serious effects
at Bombay of the stoppage of the trade with China--Ill-condition
of the poorer classes of Natives--Frequency of Fires--Houses of the
Parsees--Parsee Women--Masculine air of the other Native Females
of the lower orders who appear in
public--Bangle-shops--Liqueur-shops--Drunkenness amongst Natives
not uncommon here, from the temptations held out--The Sailors'
Home--Arabs, Greeks, Chinamen--The latter few and shabby--Portuguese
Padres--Superiority of the Native Town of Bombay over that of
Calcutta--Statue of Lord Cornwallis--Bullock-carriages--High price and
inferiority of horses in Bombay--Hay-stacks--Novel mode of stacking
* * * * *
CHAPTER XII.
BOMBAY--(_Continued_).
The Climate of Bombay treacherous in the cold season--The land-wind
injurious to health--The Air freely admitted into Rooms--The
Climate of the Red Sea not injurious to Silk dresses--Advice to
lady-passengers on the subject of dress--The Shops of Bombay badly
provided--Speculations on the site of the City, should the seat of
Government be removed hither--The Esplanade--Exercise of Sailors
on Shore and on Ship-board--Mock-fight--Departure of Sir Henry
Fane--Visit to a fair in Mahim Wood--Prophecy--Shrine of Mugdooree
Sahib--Description of the Fair--Visit to the mansion of a
Moonshee--His Family--Crowds of Vehicles returning from the
Fair--Tanks--Festival of the _Duwallee_--Visit to a Parsee--Singular
ceremony--The Women of India impede the advance of improvement--They
oppose every departure from established rules--Effect of Education in
Bombay yet superficial--Cause of the backwardness of Native Education
MEMOIR.
* * * * *
Experience has, especially of late years, amply refuted the barbarous
error, which attributes to Nature a niggardliness towards the minds
of that sex to which she has been most prodigal of personal gifts;
the highest walks of science and literature in this country have been
graced by female authors, and, perhaps, the purity and refinement
which pervade our works of imagination, compared with those of former
days, may not unjustly be traced to the larger share which feminine
pens now have in the production of these works. It would appear to
countenance the heretical notion just condemned, to assume that
a robust organization is essential to the proper development and
exercise of the powers of the understanding; but it is certain
that, in several instances, individuals, who have exhibited the most
striking examples of female pre-eminence, have not reached the full
maturity of their intellectual growth, but have been lost to the world
in a premature grave: to the names of Felicia Hemans and Laetitia
E. Landon, besides others, is now added that of Emma Roberts, who,
although in respect of poetical genius she cannot be placed upon
a level with the two writers just named, yet in the vigour of her
faculties, and in the variety of her talents, is worthy of being
associated with them as another evidence against the asserted mental
inequality of the sexes.
Miss Roberts belonged to a Welsh family of great respectability. Her
grandfather, who was a gentleman of good property, and served the
office of High Sheriff for Denbighshire, North Wales, possessed the
fine estate of Kenmell Park in that county, which was disposed of
after his death to Colonel Hughes, the present Lord Dinorben, whose
seat it continues to be. He had three sons, all of whom entered a
military life, which seems to have had peculiar attractions to this
gallant family. The eldest, the late General Thomas Roberts, raised
a regiment, which became the 111th, and it is said he frequently
officiated as Gold Stick in Waiting to George the Third. A son of
General Roberts was aide-de-camp to Sir Arthur Wellesley in Portugal,
was taken prisoner by the French, and detained during the war: he
afterwards rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. The second son,
Colonel David Roberts, of the 51st regiment, distinguished himself in
the Peninsular war, having, on the 7th January, 1809, during Sir
John Moore's retreat, near the heights of Lugo, headed a party which
repulsed the French Light Brigade, on which occasion his cloak was
riddled with bullets, two of which passed through his right-hand,
which was amputated. He was then a major, but afterwards commanded the
regiment, in Lord Dalhousie's brigade, and subsequently in Flanders,
and was so seriously and repeatedly wounded, that his pensions for
wounds amounted to L500 a year. Colonel Roberts was an author, and
wrote, amongst other things, the comic military sketch called _Johnny
Newcome_. The youngest son, William (the father of Miss Roberts), in
the course of his travels on the continent, in early life, formed some
intimacies at the Court of St. Petersburgh (to which he was introduced
by the British Ambassador), and eventually entered the Russian
service; he was made aide-de-camp to General Lloyd, his countryman,
and served with great distinction in several campaigns against the
Turks. He afterwards entered the British army, but had not attained
a higher rank than that of captain (with the paymastership of his
regiment), when he died, leaving a widow, a son (who died a lieutenant
in the army), and two daughters.
Emma, the youngest daughter of Captain Roberts, was born about the
year 1794. After the death of her father, she resided with her mother,
a lady of some literary pretensions, at Bath. Though possessed of a
very attractive person, though of a lively disposition, and peculiarly
fitted to shine in the gayest circles of social life, her thirst for
letters was unquenchable, and the extent of her reading proves that
her early years must have been years of application.
Her first literary work was in the grave department of
history,--_Memoirs of the Rival Houses of York and Lancaster, or the
White and Red Roses,_ which was published in two volumes, 1827. In the
preparation of this work, Miss Roberts prosecuted her researches
into the historical records at the Museum with so much diligence
and perseverance, as to attract the notice of the officers of that
institution, who rendered her much assistance. This work did not
take hold of public attention; the narrative is perspicuously and
pleasingly written, but it throws no additional light upon the events
of the time. It is not unusual for young writers, in their first
essay, to mistake the bent of their powers.
On the death of her mother and the marriage of her sister to an
officer of the Bengal army (Captain R.A. M'Naghten), Miss Roberts
accompanied Mrs. M'Naghten and her husband to India, in February 1828,
taking her passage in the _Sir David Scott_, to Bengal. From Calcutta
she proceeded with them to the Upper Provinces, where she spent the
years 1829 and 1830, between the stations of Agra, Cawnpore, and
Etawah. Her active and inquisitive mind was constantly employed in
noting the new and extraordinary scenes around her, the physical
aspect of the country, the peculiar traits of its population, and the
manners of both natives and Anglo-Indians: the strong and faithful
impressions they made never faded from a memory remarkably retentive.
It is to these favourable opportunities of diversified observation, in
her journeys by land and water, along the majestic Ganges, or by the
dawk conveyance in a palanquin, and in her residence for so long a
period away from the metropolis of British India, which exhibits but
a mongrel kind of Eastern society, that the English public owe
those admirable pictures of Indian scenery and manners, which have
conquered, or contributed to conquer, its habitual distaste for such
topics.
Whilst at Cawnpore, Miss Roberts committed to the press a little
volume of poetry, entitled _Oriental Scenes_, which she dedicated to
her friend Miss Landon, then rising into eminence under the well-known
designation of L.E.L. This volume, which she republished in England,
in 1832, contains some very pleasing specimens of glowing description,
graceful imagery, and well-turned expression, which show that her
powers required only cultivation to have secured to her a respectable
rank among modern poets.
Mrs. M'Naghten died in 1831, and about this time (either soon after
or shortly before the death of her sister), she exchanged provincial
scenes and society for the more cheerful atmosphere of Calcutta, where
a new world of observation and of employment opened to her. The sketches
she has given of the City of Palaces, and of its inhabitants, prove how
accurately she had seized their characteristic features. Here her pen
was called into incessant activity; besides various contributions
to Annuals and other ephemeral works, Miss Roberts undertook the
formidable task (doubly formidable in such a climate) of editing a
newspaper, and the _Oriental Observer_, whilst under her direction,
was enriched by some valuable articles written by herself, indicating
the versatility of her talents, the extent of her resources, and the
large area of knowledge over which her active mind had ranged.
This severe over-employment, however, entailed the inevitable penalty,
loss of health, and in 1832, being now bound by no powerful tie to
India, and looking forward, perhaps, with innocent ambition, to a less
confined theatre for the display of her talents and acquisitions, she
quitted the country, and returned to England, the voyage completely
repairing the injury which the climate of India had wrought upon her
constitution. The reputation she had acquired preceded her to this
country, where she had many literary acquaintances, some of whom had
reached a high station in public esteem; and her entrance into the
best literary circles of the metropolis was thereby facilitated;
but the position which she was entitled to claim was spontaneously
conceded to talents such as hers, set off by engaging and unaffected
manners, warmth and benevolence of heart, equanimity and serenity of
temper.
The fruits of her observations in the East were given to the world
in several series of admirable papers, published in the _Asiatic
Journal_,[A] a periodical work to which she contributed with
indefatigable zeal and success, from shortly after her return to
England until her death. A selection of those papers was published, in
three volumes, in 1835, under the title of _Scenes and Characteristics
of Hindostan_, which has had a large circulation, and (a very unusual
circumstance attending works on Indian subjects) soon reached a second
edition. This work established Miss Roberts's reputation as a writer
of unrivalled excellence in this province, which demands a union of
quick and acute discernment with the faculty of vivid and graphic
delineation. Of the many attempts which have been made in this country
to furnish popular draughts of Indian "Scenes and Characteristics,"
that of Miss Roberts is the only one which has perfectly succeeded.
Her pen now came into extensive requisition, and the miscellaneous
information with which she had stored her mind enabled her, with
the aid of great fluency of composition and unremitted industry, to
perform a quantity and a variety of literary labour, astonishing to
her friends, when they considered that Miss Roberts did not seclude
herself from society, but mixed in parties, where her conversational
talents rendered her highly acceptable, and carried on, besides, a
very extensive correspondence. History, biography, poetry, tales,
local descriptions, foreign correspondence, didactic essays, even the
culinary art, by turns employed her versatile powers. Most of these
compositions were occasional pieces, furnished to periodical works;
to some she attached her name, and a few were separately published.
Amongst the latter is a very pleasing biographical sketch of Mrs.
Maclean (formerly Miss Landon), one of her oldest and dearest friends.
It was now seven years since she had quitted British India, during
which period important events had occurred, which wrought material
changes in its political and social aspects. The extinction of the
East-India Company's commercial privileges had imparted a new tone to
its government, given a freer scope to the principle of innovation,
and poured a fresh European infusion into its Anglo-Indian society;
steam navigation and an overland communication between England and her
Eastern empire were bringing into operation new elements of
mutation, and the domestic historian of India (as Miss Roberts may be
appropriately termed) felt a natural curiosity to observe the progress
of these changes, and to compare the British India of 1830 with that
of 1840. With a view of enlarging the sphere of her knowledge of
the country, and of deriving every practicable advantage from a
twelve-months' visit, she determined to examine India on its Western
side, and (contrary to the urgent advice of many of her friends)
to encounter the inconveniences of performing the journey overland,
through France and Egypt. Previous to her departure, she entered into
an arrangement with the _Asiatic Journal_ (the depository of most of
her papers on Indian subjects) to transmit, on her way, a series of
papers for publication in that work, descriptive of the objects
and incidents met with in the overland route, and of the "rising
presidency," as she termed Bombay. By a singular coincidence, the last
paper of this series was published in the very number of the _Asiatic
Journal_[B] which announced her death. These papers, which are now
before the reader, carry on the biography of Miss Roberts almost to
the end of her life.
She quitted England in September, 1839, and, having suffered few
annoyances on the journey, except a fever which attacked her in the
Gulf, arrived in Bombay in November, where she experienced the most
cordial reception from all classes, including the Governor and the
most respectable of the native community. Miss Roberts was known to
Sir James Carnac, and in his Excellency's family she became a guest
for some time, quitting his hospitable mansion only to meet with a
similar cordiality of welcome from other friends, at the presidency
and in the interior. Her residence at Parell has enabled her to draw,
with her accustomed felicity, in one of the papers published in this
volume, a lively sketch of the domestic scenes and public receptions,
as well as the local scenery, at this delightful place. It appears
from her letters that Miss Roberts meditated a tour into Cutch or
Guzerat, which probably was prevented by her subsequent illness. "It
is my intention," she wrote from Parell, December 30th, 1839, "to go
into the provinces, as I have received numerous invitations; I am at
present divided between Guzerat and Cutch: by going to the latter, I
might have an opportunity of seeing Scinde, the new Resident, Captain
Outram, being anxious that I should visit it." She adds: "I have
received much attention from the native gentlemen belonging to this
presidency, and have, indeed, every reason to be pleased with my
reception." She had projected a statistical work on this part of
India, and in her private letters she speaks with grateful enthusiasm
of the liberality with which the government records were opened to
her, and of the alacrity with which Europeans and natives forwarded
her views and inquiries. In a letter dated in February, 1840, she
says: "I am very diligently employed in collecting materials for my
work; I am pleased with the result of my labours, and think I shall be
able to put a very valuable book upon Bombay before the public. I
hope to go in a short time to Mahableshwar, and thence to Sattara,
Beejapore, &c." Her literary aid was invoked by the conductors of
periodical works at Bombay, to which she furnished some amusing
pictures of home-scenes, drawn with the same spirit and truth as her
Indian sketches. She likewise undertook the editorship of a new weekly
paper, the _Bombay United Service Gazette_, and with the benevolence
which formed so bright a feature in her character, she engaged
with zeal in a scheme for rescuing the native women, who (as her
observation led her to believe) impede the progress of improvement,
from the indolence in which they are educated, by devising employments
for them suited to their taste and capacity. The concluding chapter
of this volume contains some very sound and salutary reflections upon
native education.
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