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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The most exciting romance of Oriental history is to be found amid the
deserts that surround Egypt; and even if the most spirit-stirring tale
of all, the _Talisman_, had not been written, the scenes in which our
own lion-hearted Richard figured, and which witnessed the exploits of
the Templars and the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, could not fail
to create the highest degree of pleasurable feeling in minds capable
of enjoying such brilliant reveries of the past. The Citadel of Cairo
is also fraught with the recollections of an event which startled
all Europe within the memory of many of the present generation--the
massacre of the Mamelukes. We were shown the broken cleft in the
wall from which the only one of the devoted men who escaped urged his
gallant horse; it was, indeed, a fearful leap, and we gazed upon,
the spot and thought of the carnage of that dreadful hour with an
involuntary shudder.
The Citadel of Cairo has less the air of a regular fortification than
any place of arms I ever recollect to have entered; it is, however,
I believe, exceedingly strong by nature, the situation being very
commanding. I regretted that I could not look upon these things with
a professional eye, and that I had no military authority at hand to
refer to. Near to the ruins of Saladin's palace, the Pasha is now
constructing a mosque, which, when finished, will be one of the most
splendid temples of the kind in all the Moslem land. It is to be lined
and faced with marble, very elegantly carved, but it will take three
years to complete it, and should any circumstances occur to delay the
work during the lifetime of the present ruler of Egypt, the chances
seem much in favour of its never being completed at all. Mounting on
the embrasure of one of the guns, I feasted my eyes upon one of the
finest and most interesting views I had ever beheld. The city, with
its minarets, towers, kiosks, and stately palm-trees, lay at my feet,
displaying, by its extent, the solidity, loftiness, and magnificence
of its buildings, its title to the proud name of "Grand Cairo."
Beyond, in one wide flood of silver, flowed the Nile, extending far as
the eye could reach along a plain verdant with its fertilizing waters.
To the left, the tombs of the caliphs spread themselves over a desert
waste, looking, indeed, like a city of the dead. These monuments,
though not equalling in size and grandeur the tombs which we find in
India, are very striking; they are for the most part surmounted by
cupolas, raised upon lofty pillars, with the spaces open between. Upon
one of these buildings we were shown a vessel in the form of a boat,
which upon a certain festival is filled with grain and water, for the
service of the birds.
The Pyramids, which rise beyond the City of Tombs, are not seen to
advantage from this point, an intervening ridge of sand cutting off
the bases, and presenting the pinnacles only to view; but the whole of
the landscape, under the clear bright atmosphere of an Egyptian sky,
is of so exquisite a nature, that the eye can never tire of it, and
had I been detained as a prisoner in the Pasha's dominions, I might
have become reconciled to my fate, had I been confined in a situation
which commanded this splendid prospect.
About the middle of the day we again sallied forth, the streets of
Cairo being so narrow that the sun is completely shut out, and shade
thus afforded at noon. The air was not unpleasantly warm, and we
suffered no inconvenience, excepting from the crowd. Mounted upon
donkeys, we pushed our way through a dense throng, thrusting aside
loaded camels, which scarcely allowed us room to pass, and coming
into the closest contact with all sorts of people. The perusal of
Mr. Lane's book had given me a very vivid idea of the interior of the
city, though I was scarcely prepared to mingle thus intimately with
its busy multitude.
We had some shopping to execute, or rather we had to pay for some
purchases made by Mohammed for us in the morning, and to return that
portion of the goods sent for inspection that we did not intend to
keep. We liked the appearance of the shops, which, in all cases of the
more respectable kind, were well stocked, whole streets being devoted
to the sale of one particular branch of merchandize. A long avenue
was occupied by saddlers and the sellers of horse-furniture; another
displayed nothing but woollen cloths; a third was devoted to weapons
of every description, &c. &c. The wax-chandlers reminded me very much
of those in England, being decorated in a similar manner, while the
display of goods everywhere was much greater than I had ever seen in
Eastern cities, in which for the most part merchandize of the best
description is hidden in warehouses, and not to be found without deep
research.
The greater number of the streets are covered in with matting in
rather a dilapidated state, and having many holes and crevices for the
admission of air; this gives to the whole a ragged appearance, and we
were told that the Pasha had determined not to allow in future awnings
of these frail and unsightly materials. The Frank quarter, which is
much better contrived, is the model for subsequent erections. This
avenue has a roof of wood sufficiently high to allow of a free
circulation of air, and having apertures, at regular distances near
the top, to admit the light. The streets in this part of Cairo are
wider than usual, and the shops appear to be large and convenient.
All sorts of European manufactures are to be found here, for the most
part at reasonable prices. The gentlemen who proposed to cross the
desert purchased Leghorn hats of very good quality, and admirably
adapted, from their size, lightness, and durability, for Indian wear.
Wearied, at length, with the confusion and bustle of the streets,
we took again the road to the Citadel, being exceedingly desirous to
feast our eyes with the sunset view.
After gazing long and earnestly upon a scene which, once beheld, can
never be forgotten, we gladly accepted the offer of Mohammed to
show us into the interior of the Pasha's palace, a large irregular
building, having no great pretensions to architectural beauty, and
mingling rather oddly the European with the Oriental style. Ascending
a broad flight of steps, we passed through a large kind of guard-room
to the state-apartments. These were of rather a singular description,
but handsome and well adapted to the climate. A third portion,
consisting of the front and part of the two sides of each room, was
entirely composed of windows, opening a few feet from the ground,
and having a divan running round, furnished in the usual manner with
pillows at the back. The windows of some of these apartments opened
upon gardens, laid out in the English taste and full of English
flowers; others commanded the finest prospects of the city and the
open space below. Round these rooms, at the top, forming a sort
of cornice, were pictures in compartments or panels, one series
consisting of views of the Pasha's palaces and gardens, another of the
vessels of war which belong to him, and more especially his favourite
steam-boat, of which there are many delineations. There is nothing
that more strongly exhibits the freedom with which Mehemet Ali has
thrown off the prejudices of the Moslem religion, than his permitting,
contrary to its established principles, the representation of objects
natural and artificial, which, both in painting and sculpture, is
strictly forbidden. Much cannot be said for the execution of these
pictures, which seem to have been the work of a native artist; but
they become exceedingly interesting as proofs of the decline of a
religion so completely opposed to the spread of knowledge, and to all
improvement in the moral condition of its followers.
The furniture in the Pasha's palace, though in a great measure limited
to carpets and cushions, is very handsome. The divans are covered with
rich brocade, figured satin, damask, or cut velvet. The attendants
drew aside, with great pride, the curtains which concealed the
looking-glasses, evidently fancying that we had never beheld mirrors
of such magnitude in our lives. I observed that the chandeliers in
some of the apartments did not match each other, but the whole was
very creditable to the taste and spirit of the owner. Below them was a
handsome apartment entirely lined with marble, and apparently designed
as a retreat for the hot weather, the floor being divided into two
parts--the one ascended by a step, in which the family might repose
upon cushions; the other scooped into basins, with a fountain to play
in the centre: the water either had not as yet been laid on, or the
season did not render it necessary. Near to this apartment was
the Pasha's bed-chamber, a fine room, also lined with marble, and
containing a fire-place, which in the warm weather revolved upon a
pivot, and was concealed in a recess made on purpose in the wall. The
bathing-rooms, close at hand, were of the most beautiful description,
the principal apartment and the antechamber having roofs which might
serve as models for all erections of the kind. These were fretted
in small compartments, light being admitted by a thick piece of
ground-glass in the centre of each, thus securing the utmost privacy,
together with one of the most beautiful methods of lighting possible.
While we were still sitting in the Pasha's palace, the military band
of the garrison began to play upon the parade-ground immediately
below. Mohammed, who seemed to be quite at home, conducted us to an
apartment which overlooked this space, opened one of the windows, and
requested us to seat ourselves upon the cushions, where we remained
for some time, listening to the well-known French airs played in the
court-yard of the palace of a Turkish prince! The band was not a
very large one, but the performers had been well-taught, and the
wind-instruments produced in such a situation a very animating effect.
They marched up and down the parade-ground, occasionally relieved by
the drums and fifes also playing French music. The performers were
clothed in white, like the men belonging to the ranks, and had the
same soiled appearance, it being impossible to keep white garments
pure in the dust of Egyptian cities.
The sun was now completely down, and we returned to our hotel, where,
to our great joy, we found our two female friends, who had not been
able to reach Boulak until many hours after our landing. We
had ordered dinner at seven o'clock, in the hope that our
fellow-passengers in the steamer would come up, and according to our
calculations, several dropped in. The possibility of getting to the
Pyramids was again discussed; the greater number of the gentlemen
determined at least to try, but we thought it best to avoid all danger
of missing the _Berenice_, and the ladies, adhering to their original
intention, determined to cross the desert together. We passed a most
agreeable evening, telling over our voyage up the Nile, and upon
retiring to my chamber, I regretted that it would be the last I should
for some time spend in Cairo.
Nothing can be more quiet than the nights in a city where all the
inhabitants retire after dark to their own homes, the streets being
perambulated by few persons, and those of the soberest description;
but with the sun, a scene of bustle and noise ensues, which
effectually prevents repose. The windows of my apartment looked out
upon a narrow street, in which the ground-floors were, as it is usual,
composed of shops, while several persons, having vegetables or grain
to sell, were seated upon the ground. The hum of human voices,
the grunting of the camels, and the braying of donkeys, kept up an
incessant din, and therefore some minutes elapsed before my attention
was attracted by a wordy war which took place beneath my window.
Hastily arraying myself in my dressing-gown, and looking out, I saw a
man and woman engaged in some vehement discussion, but whether caused
by a dispute or not, I could not at first decide. They both belonged
to the lower class, and the woman was meanly dressed in a blue
garment, with a hood of the same over her head, her face being
concealed by one of those hideous narrow black veils, fastened across
under the eyes, which always reminded me of the proboscis of an
elephant. Her hands were clasped upon the arms of the man just above
the elbow, who held her in the same manner, and several people were
endeavouring to part them, as they struggled much in the same manner
which prevails in a melodrame, when the hero and heroine are about
to be separated by main force. I thought it, therefore, probable that
they were a loving couple, about to be torn asunder by the myrmidons
of the law. Presently, however, I was set right upon this point, for
the man, seizing a kind of whip, which is generally carried in Cairo,
and flogging off his friends, dashed the poor creature on the ground,
and inflicted several severe strokes upon her prostrate body, not one
of the by-standers attempting to prevent him. The woman, screaming
fearfully, jumped up, and seizing him again, as if determined to gain
her point, whatever it might be, poured forth a volley of words, and
again the man threw her upon the ground and beat her most cruelly, the
spectators remaining, as before, quite passive, and allowing him to
wreak his full vengeance upon her.
Had I been dressed, or could I have made my way readily into the
street, I should have certainly gone down to interpose, for never did
I witness any scene so horrible, or one I so earnestly desired to
put an end to. At length, though the pertinacity of the woman was
astonishing, when exhausted by blows, she lay fainting on the ground,
the man went his way. The spectators, and there were many, who looked
on without any attempt to rescue this poor creature from her savage
assailant, now raised her from the earth. The whole of this time, the
veil she wore was never for a moment displaced, and but for the brutal
nature of the scene, it would have been eminently ridiculous in the
eyes of a stranger. After crying and moaning for some time, in the
arms of her supporters, the woman, whom I now found to be a vender of
vegetables in the street, told her sad tale to all the passers-by
of her acquaintance, with many tears and much gesticulation, but at
length seated herself quietly down by her baskets, though every bone
in her body must have ached from the severe beating she had received.
This appeared to me to be a scene for the interference of the police,
who, however, do not appear to trouble themselves about the protection
of people who may be assaulted in the street.
I afterwards saw a drunken Englishman, an officer of the Indian
army, I am sorry to say, beat several natives of Cairo, with whom
he happened to come in contact in the crowd, in the most brutal and
unprovoked manner, and yet no notice was taken, and no complaint
made. It was certainly something very unexpected to me to see a Frank
Christian maltreating the Moslem inhabitants of a Moslem city in which
he was a stranger, and I regretted exceedingly that the perpetrator
of acts, which brought disgrace upon his character and country, should
have been an Englishman, or should have escaped punishment. No sooner
have we been permitted to traverse a country in which formerly it was
dangerous to appear openly as a Christian, than we abuse the privilege
thus granted by outrages on its most peaceable inhabitants. I regret
to be obliged to add, that it is but too commonly the habit, of
Englishmen to beat the boat-men, donkey-men, and others of the poorer
class, whom they may engage in their service. They justify this
cowardly practice--cowardly, because the poor creatures can gain no
redress--by declaring that there is no possibility of getting them to
stir excepting by means of the whip; but, in most cases, all that I
witnessed, they were not at the trouble of trying fairer methods:
at once enforcing their commands by blows. The comments made by the
janissary and our own servant upon those who were guilty of such
wanton brutality showed the feeling which it elicited; and when upon
one occasion Miss E. and myself interposed, declaring that we would
not allow any person in our service to be beaten, they told us not to
be alarmed, for that the rais (captain of the boat), who was an Arab,
would not put up with ill-treatment, but had threatened to go on shore
at the next village with all his men.
An English gentleman, long resident in Cairo, had done me the honour
to call upon me on the day after my arrival, and had invited me to
come to his house, to see some mummies and other curiosities he had
collected. Accompanied by two of my female friends, and escorted by a
gentleman who was well acquainted with the topography of the city,
we set out on foot, traversing blind alleys and dark lanes, and thus
obtaining a better idea of the intricacies of the place than we could
possibly have gained by any other means. Sometimes we passed under
covered ways perfectly dark, which I trod, not without fear of
arousing some noxious animal; then we came to narrow avenues, between
the backs of high stone houses, occasionally emerging into small
quadrangles, having a single tree in one corner. We passed a house
inhabited by one of the superior description of Frank residents,
and we knew that it must be tenanted by a European by the handsome
curtains and other furniture displayed through its open windows.
Turning into a street, for the very narrow lanes led chiefly along
the backs of houses, we looked into the lower apartments, the doors of
which were usually unclosed, and here we saw the men at their
ordinary occupations, and were made acquainted with their domestic
arrangements. At length we arrived at a court, which displayed a door
and a flight of steps at the corner. Upon knocking, we were admitted
by an Egyptian servant, who showed us up stairs into a room, where we
found the master of the house seated upon one of the low stools which
serve as the support of the dinner-trays in Egypt, the only other
furniture that the room contained being a table, and the customary
divan, which extended all round. Coffee was brought in, served in
small China cups; but all the coffee made in Egypt was too like the
Nile mud for me to taste, and warm and fatigued with a walk through
places from which the fresh air was excluded, I felt myself unequal
to make the trial now.
Our friend's collection of antiquities appeared to be very valuable;
but I had been at the opening of a mummy-case before, and though
interested by the different articles which his researches had brought
to light, was more so in the examination of his house. It was very
oddly arranged, according to the ideas formed in Europe, many of the
rooms looking like lanthorns, in consequence of their having windows
on the stairs and passages, as well as to the street. This was
probably caused by a desire to secure a free circulation of air, but
it at the same time destroyed every idea of privacy, and therefore
looked exceedingly uncomfortable. There were glass-windows to several
of the apartments, but the house exhibited considerable quantities of
that wooden trellice-work, represented in Mr. Lane's book. Nothing,
indeed, can be more accurate than his descriptions; the English
inhabitants of Cairo say that, reading it upon the spot, they cannot
detect a single error; the designs are equally faithful, and those who
study the work carefully may acquire the most correct notion of the
city and its inhabitants.
The apartments at the top of the house opened, as usual, upon a rather
extensive terrace or court, but the surrounding wall was too high to
admit of any prospect; both here, and in a similar place at our hotel,
persons walking about could neither see their neighbours nor be seen
by them. We, therefore, gained nothing by climbing so high, and I was
disappointed at not obtaining any view of the city. I tried in each
place to make acquaintance with an Egyptian cat, but I found the
animal too shy. I noticed several, which seemed to be domestic pets;
they were fine-looking creatures of the kind, and I fancied larger
than the common English cat, but the difference, if existing at all,
was very slight. I returned home, so much fatigued with my walk, as
to be unable to go out again, especially as we were to start at four
o'clock for the desert.
Two of the ladies of the party, not having completed their purchases
at the bazaars, went out upon a shopping excursion, and passing near
the Nubian slave-market, were induced to enter. Christians are not
admitted to the place in which Circassian women are sold, and can
only obtain entrance by assuming the Turkish dress and character. My
friends were highly interested in one woman, who sat apart from the
rest, apparently plunged into the deepest melancholy; the others
manifested little sorrow at their condition, which was not, perhaps,
in reality, changed for the worse: all eagerly scrambled for some
pieces of money which the visitors threw amongst them, and the
sight was altogether too painful for Christian ladies to desire to
contemplate long.
They were much more amused by some gipsies, who were anxious to show
their skill in the occult science. Upon the morning after our arrival,
Miss E., who was always the first upon the alert, accepted the escort
of a gentleman, who conducted her to a neighbouring shop; while making
some purchases, a gipsy came and seated herself opposite, and by way
of showing her skill, remarked that the lady was a stranger to Cairo,
and had a companion, also of her own sex, who pretended to be a
friend, but who would prove treacherous.
As we had ridden through the fair together on the preceding evening,
it did not require any great effort of art to discover that two Frank
ladies had arrived at Cairo; but in speaking of treachery, the gipsy
evidently wished to pique the curiosity of my friend, and tempt her to
make further inquiry. Much to my regret, she did not take any notice
of the fortune-teller, whose words had been repeated by the gentleman
who had accompanied her, and who was well acquainted with the language
in which they were spoken. I should like to have had a specimen of the
talents of a modern scion of this race, in the country in which the
learned have decided that the tribe, now spread over the greater part
of the world, originated.
The arrival of the _Berenice_ at Suez had been reported the evening
before, and the mails had been brought to Cairo in the coarse of
the night. All was, therefore, bustle and confusion in our hotel;
gentlemen hourly arriving from the Nile, where they had been delayed
by squalls and contrary winds, or snatching a hasty meal before they
posted off to the Pyramids. Our camels and donkeys had been laden
and despatched to the outskirts of the city, to which we were to be
conveyed in a carriage.
I had observed in the court-yard of the hotel an English-built
equipage, of the britschka fashion, with a dark-coloured hood, for,
whatever might have been its original tint, it had assumed the
common hue of Egypt; and I found that two spirited horses were to be
harnessed to the vehicle, which was dragged out into the street for
our accommodation. A gentleman volunteered his services as coachman,
promising that he would drive carefully, and we accordingly got in,
a party of four, taking the baby along with us. Although the horses
kicked and plunged a little, I did not fancy that we could be in any
danger, as it was impossible for them to run away with us through
streets so narrow as scarcely to be passable, neither could we have
very easily been upset. I, therefore, hoped to have enjoyed the drive
amazingly, as it promised to afford me a better opportunity than I
had hitherto possessed of seeing Cairo, seated at my ease, instead
of pushing and jostling through the crowd either on foot or upon
a donkey. The gentleman, however, bent upon showing off, would not
listen to our entreaties that the grooms should lead the horses, but
dashed along, regardless of the danger to the foot-passengers, or the
damage that the donkeys might sustain.
So long as we proceeded slowly, the drive was very agreeable, since
it enabled me to observe the effect produced by our party upon the
spectators. Many sat with the utmost gravity in their shops, scarcely
deigning to cast their eyes upon what must certainly have been a
novel sight; others manifested much more curiosity, and seemed to be
infinitely amused, while heads put out of the upper windows showed
that we attracted some attention. My enjoyment was destined to be very
brief, for in a short time our coachman, heedless of the mischief that
might ensue, drove rapidly forward, upsetting and damaging every thing
that came in his way. In vain did we scream and implore; he declared
that it was the fault of the people, who would not remove themselves
out of danger; but as we had no _avant-courrier_ to clear the road
before us, and our carriage came very suddenly upon many persons, I
do not see how they could have managed to escape. At length, we drove
over an unfortunate donkey, which was pulled down by a piece of iron
sticking from the carriage, and thus becoming entangled in the load he
bore. I fear that the animal was injured, for the poor boy who drove
him cried bitterly, and though we (that is, the ladies of the party)
would gladly have remunerated him for the damage he might have
sustained, neither time nor opportunity was permitted for this act of
justice. On we drove, every moment expecting to be flung out against
the walls, as the carriage turned round the corners of streets placed
at right angles to each other. At length, we succeeded in our wish to
have the grooms at the horses' heads, and without further accident,
though rendered as nervous as possible, passed through the gate of
the city. We drove forward now without any obstacle through the
Necropolis, or City of Tombs, before-mentioned, and I regretted
much that we had not left Cairo at an earlier hour, which would have
permitted us to examine the interiors.
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