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30 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The desire of shortening the period of my separation from a beloved brother, was the first and strongest motive that induced me to think of accompanying him to the country in which I am now writing, and which he was preparing to visit for the third time. An eager curiosity, mainly excited by his own publications, greatly increased this desire; and little persuasion on his part was necessary to draw me to a decision; but the idea was no sooner formed than he found numerous arguments in its favour
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LETTER I.
LETTER I.
My dear Friend , The blessing of going into port, at the conclusion of a first long voyage, awakens feelings so deep and so lasting, that it must form a striking era in the life of every traveller. Eagerly, during a long morning, did I and my children strain our eyes as the low uninteresting coast of Egypt spread before our view, that we might catch the first glimpse of one or more of those monuments of which we had hitherto only heard or read. The first object which met our view was the Arab To
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LETTER II.
LETTER II.
My dear Friend , We find little to interest us in this place, excepting by association with bygone times; therefore our stay will not be long. But I will give you concisely an account of all that has excited our curiosity. I am not disappointed in Alexandria (or, as it is called by the natives, El-Iskendereeyeh), for I did not imagine it could possess many attractions. It is built upon a narrow neck of land, which unites the peninsula of Pharos to the continent, and thus forms a double harbour,
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LETTER III.
LETTER III.
My dear Friend , To-day we have arrived with thankful hearts at Cairo, our voyages by sea and by river completed for a time. On leaving Alexandria, we engaged an iron track-boat, used chiefly for the conveyance of travellers on their way to India from Alexandria, by the canal called the Mahmoodeeyeh, to the Nile. The boat was very large, containing two large cabins, the foremost of which was furnished with benches and tables, and apparently clean; and being drawn by four horses, passed so rapidl
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LETTER IV.
LETTER IV.
My dear Friend , Although prepared by the motley groups at Malta, and the changing scene and variety of costume at Alexandria, for much that is more astonishing to the European in Cairo, I find the peculiarities of this place and people are beyond my most extravagant expectations. The Shubra road passes very near our windows, and I am constantly attracted by the various processions which wind their way to and from this city. The wedding processions, in which the poor bride walks under a canopy o
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LETTER V.
LETTER V.
My dear Friend , That you may be better prepared for future letters, you wish me to give you a general physical sketch of this most singular country, which is distinguished by its natural characteristics, as well as by its monuments of antiquity, from every other region of the globe. As my own experience will not enable me to do so, my brother has promised to furnish me with the necessary information. The country (as well as the metropolis) is called Masr, by its modern inhabitants. It is genera
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LETTER VI.
LETTER VI.
My dear Friend, Since I last wrote to you, the weather has continued intensely hot; but during the last three days almost constant lightning throughout the evening, though succeeded by excessive heat during the nights, has given us hope of speedy relief. This heat is attributed to the present state of the Nile, which has continued most unusually increasing up to this time (the 13th of October), and given rise to serious apprehensions; for unless the water drain quickly off the land when the rive
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LETTER VII.
LETTER VII.
My dear Friend , The leading topic of conversation in this country, at the present time, is the state of the Nile, which has hitherto (to the 18th of October) continued rising, and occasioned a general fear that a severe plague will ensue on the subsiding of the inundation. In 1818, it rose until the 16th of October; but never so late since that time, nor for a considerable period before. Our house is flooded in the lower part; and in some of the streets of Cairo, the water is within a foot of t
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LETTER VIII.
LETTER VIII.
My dear Friend , I have just returned from witnessing the curious procession of the Mahmal, preparatory to the departure of the great caravan of pilgrims to Mekkah. We were early on the way, and after riding for nearly an hour we found ourselves in the main street of the city, opposite to the Khán el-Khaleelee, the chief Turkish bazaar of Cairo. I felt more than ever convinced that donkeys were the only safe means of conveyance in the streets of this city. A lady never rides but on a donkey, wit
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LETTER IX.
LETTER IX.
My dear Friend , I have already attempted to describe to you my impressions on my first entry into Cairo. My ideas of it, for a considerable time, were very confused; it seemed to me, for the most part, a labyrinth of ruined and half-ruined houses, of the most singular construction; and in appearance so old, that I was surprised at being informed that, only a few years ago, it presented a far less unhappy aspect. Cairo is dignified with the name of Umm-ed-Dunya (the Mother of the World) and othe
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LETTER X.
LETTER X.
My dear Friend , Being extremely anxious to see the interiors of the principal mosques, I was much vexed at finding that it had become very difficult for a Christian to obtain access to them. My brother might, perhaps, have taken us without risk, as he is generally mistaken for a Turk; but had he done so, we might have been spoken to in some mosque in the Turkish language, in which language we could not have replied; whereas, if we were conducted by a Caireen, no Turkish ladies were likely to ad
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LETTER XI.
LETTER XI.
My dear Friend , I will continue the subject I left incomplete in my last. Several of the finest mosques in Cairo front the main street of the city. In proceeding along this street from north to south, the first mosque that particularly attracts notice is the Barkookeeyeh, on the right side. This is a collegiate mosque, and was founded in the year of the Flight 786 ( A. D. 1384–5). It has a fine dome, and a lofty and elegant mád’neh; and the interior is particularly handsome, though in a lamenta
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LETTER XII.
LETTER XII.
My dear Friend , From the city, you must now accompany me, in imagination, to the citadel. If you could do so in reality, you would be amply repaid for the trouble of ascending its steep acclivities; not by the sight of any very remarkable object within its walls, but by gazing on one of the most striking and interesting views in the Eastern world. The citadel (El-Kat’ah) is situated at the southeastern extremity of the metropolis, upon an extensive, flat-topped, rocky eminence, about 250 feet a
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LETTER XIII.
LETTER XIII.
My dear Friend , You must bear with me if I recur to the subject of the haunted house, for our disturbances came to a sort of climax which I think as curious as it was exciting, and so strikingly characteristic, that I must describe to you the particulars of the case. Ramadán ended about a month ago, and with it ended the comparative quiet of our nights. To describe to you all the various noises by which we have been disturbed is impossible. Very frequently the door of the room in which we were
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LETTER XIV.
LETTER XIV.
My dear Friend , You know how much I desire to obtain access to respectable hareems, as well those of the highest as those of the middle classes; and now that my hope has been realized, I find that I did not desire what would disappoint my expectations. Indeed I have felt exceedingly interested in observing the manners of the ladies of this country; in some cases I have been amused by their familiarity, and in many fascinated by the natural grace of their deportment. I am aware that by descripti
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LETTER XV.
LETTER XV.
My dear Friend , You will congratulate us on our having quitted “the haunted house;” and you will do so heartily when I tell you that six families have succeeded each other in it, in as many weeks, since our departure. The sixth family was about to quit immediately when we heard this news; five having been driven out by most obstinate persecutions, not only during the nights, but in broad daylight, of so violent a description, that the windows were all broken in a large upper chamber, our favour
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LETTER XVI.
LETTER XVI.
My dear Friend , I do assure you that slavery in the East is not what you imagine it to be. Here, perhaps, the slave is more in the power of the master than in the West, and there are some monsters, at whose names humanity shudders, who dreadfully abuse the power they legally claim; but, generally speaking, an Eastern slave is exceedingly indulged, and many who have been cruelly torn from their parents at an early age, find and acknowledge fathers and mothers in those to whom they are sold. They
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LETTER XVII.
LETTER XVII.
My dear Friend , There has been an alarm of plague in Cairo, and several of the great hareems have been in quarantine. The apprehension has been induced by the fearful murrain which has raged during nine months, as a similar misfortune has proved in former years the forerunner of a severe pestilence. I mentioned to you some time since that such a calamity was dreaded; and it has in some measure arrived. At El-Mansoorah, the cases of plague have not been few; and while on this subject I must tell
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LETTER XVIII.
LETTER XVIII.
My dear Friend , Since I remarked to you the general cheerfulness which reigns in the hareems I had then seen, I have visited one belonging to a Turkish grandee, which offers a sad exception, and touchingly exhibits a picture of family love and blighted happiness. The old and beloved master of this hareem is under a cloud; he is suffering the displeasure of the Pasha, and is confined in the state prison. I received a most kind welcome from the ladies of his family. I remarked with regret the dep
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LETTER XIX.
LETTER XIX.
My dear Friend , In describing to you the honourable reception and elegant entertainment I experienced in the Pasha’s hareem, I cannot be too minute. The chief residence of his ladies is the Kasr-ed-Dubárah, a fine house situated on the west of Cairo, on the eastern bank of the Nile, and justly their favourite retreat. After riding through the plantations of Ibraheem Pasha, which almost surround the palace, we arrived at the great gates of the Kasr, through which we entered a long road within th
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LETTER XX.
LETTER XX.
My dear Friend , I cannot better give you an idea of the order and discipline observed in the hareems of the great and wealthy than by comparing each to a petty state, with its rulers and its officers. The person occupying the place of highest rank, next to the master, is the chief lady, who is often called, properly or improperly, Hánum, or, correctly, Khánum. This title, which literally signifies “My Lord,” (for Turkish ladies, whom we in England generally look upon as persons treated with lit
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LETTER XXI.
LETTER XXI.
My dear Friend , I was presented yesterday to Nezleh Hánum, by my friend Mrs. Sieder. My reception was remarkably flattering, and perhaps unusually so, because it took place in her bedroom. I was not aware that she was suffering from severe indisposition when I called at the Kasr ed-Dubárah, and would not have intruded when I was informed that this was the case; but when she heard that I had arrived, she expressed her desire to see me as soon as her two physicians, then in attendance, should hav
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LETTER XXII.
LETTER XXII.
My dear Friend , My brother’s account of the hareem, and all that he has written respecting the manners and customs of the women of this country, I have found to be not only minutely accurate, but of the utmost value to me in preparing me for the life which I am now leading. His information, however, on these subjects, being derived only from other men, is, of course, imperfect; and he has anxiously desired that I should supply its deficiencies, both by my own personal observation, and by learni
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LETTER XXIII.
LETTER XXIII.
My dear Friend , Although so many have written of the pyramids, and a new description cannot fail to have something of the character of an often repeated tale, I find much that I must say respecting these stupendous monuments, the greatest, perhaps, of the Wonders of the World, which have been objects of our curiosity and astonishment even in the age of childhood, and the sight of which forms an era in one’s life. I will, however, as much as possible, avoid troubling you with a repetition of wha
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LETTER XXIV.
LETTER XXIV.
My dear Friend , The entrance of the Great Pyramid [40] is over the sixteenth course, or layer of stone, about fifty feet above the base; a slope of rubbish, as I said before, leading up to it. [41] It is nearly in the centre, or equidistant from either angle of the northern side of the pyramid: the eye would hardly discover that it is not exactly so; though really twenty feet, or rather more, to the eastward of the centre. The opening of the pyramid seems to have been attended with considerable
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LETTER XXV.
LETTER XXV.
My dear Friend , I fear that I might weary you if I gave you a description of the other pyramids as full as that of the first; and, as they are far less interesting, I would pass them over entirely; but a few remarks respecting them, some of which I owe to my brother, I do not refrain from offering, as I think they will interest you. It is no trifle, I assure you, for a woman to explore the interior of the Great Pyramid. My mind continued so impressed with the difficulties of this undertaking, f
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LETTER XXVI.
LETTER XXVI.
My dear Friend , You may have heard of a famous magician in this famous city of Cairo, who, though not supposed to be possessed of art equal to that of Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers, has perplexed and confounded several of the most intelligent travellers, by feats very nearly resembling that performed by the Witch of Endor at the request of Saul. Having inscribed a magic square upon the palm of the right hand of any young boy or girl, and poured into the centre of it a little pool of ink, he
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LETTER XXVII.
LETTER XXVII.
My dear Friend , When I promised you a description of the Bath, I did not anticipate that I should enter upon the subject with pleasure. Whatever others may think of it, I confess that the operation of bathing in the Eastern manner is to me extremely agreeable; and I have found it singularly beneficial in removing that lassitude which is occasioned by the climate. It is true that it is followed by a sense of fatigue, but a delightful repose soon ensues; and the consequences, upon the whole, I fi
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LETTER XXVIII.
LETTER XXVIII.
My dear Friend , I remember writing, in my simplicity, that I believed Mohammad ’Alee Pasha to have but two wives; but having been introduced to another of his wives, the mother of Haleem Bey, in his hareem in the citadel, I conjecture that there is yet another, making the full Muslim allowance, namely, four wives. The ride to the citadel is not an agreeable one; and at this time the ascent is attended with some danger, as the Pasha has directed the repair of the road leading from the Báb el Wee
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
A few days after my first arrival in this country, my curiosity was excited on the subject of magic by a circumstance related to me by Mr. Salt, our consul-general. Having had reason to believe that one of his servants was a thief, from the fact of several articles of property having been stolen from his house, he sent for a celebrated Magh-rab’ee magician, with the view of intimidating them and causing the guilty one (if any of them were guilty) to confess his crime. The magician came; and said
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