Notes from Egypt

My dear E

In my last letter dispatched from this interestingcity, I had not space left for any account of my voyage of thirty hours from Alexandria , which I shall now proceed with, before giving you my impressions of Cairo, of which I have already seen some of the chief lions, including the Pasha himself. The heat, though much below what it is a month earlier, still continues very high for the season, keeping steadily at 80° or 82° during the day; this morning at eight o'clock it was only 78°, and the sun when not veiled as it was yesterday by thin stratified clouds, is scorchingly hot, and the nights are still so warm that a single sheet is an ample covering under the mosquito net, which of course is a necessary evil, as it obstructs the ingress of cool, and the egress of heated air. Captain Lindguist, who has been residing six years at Suez , as an agent of the Oriental company, or Transit administration, tells me, that when here in ordinary seasons, he is accustomed to have a fire in his office from the 1st of November, and that this year the cold was so long protracted, that he did not leave off fires till the 25th of April, which really seems incredible in this latitude, 30°, and at the sea level. Mr. Trail, late gardener to Ibrahim Pasha at Rhoda, for whom I had a letter and pamphlet from Sir W. J. Hooker, and whom I traced out to his abode at Old Cairo yesterday, informs me, that hoar frost is no uncommon tiling here in the winter mornings, and that he has seen ice, (thin of course), formed on pools in the desert ; probably more through the brisk evaporation by the wind in this dry climate, than through the actually low temperature of the atmosphere. At present, I do not conceive that the most chilly person in the world would think of a fire in his room without a double distillation of lily dew at every pore, from the bare idea; but the temperature will perhaps fall rapidly when it begins to sink, and I am thankful when I look on the warm clothing, flannel waistcoats, &c, which I had the precaution to add to my travelling list on leaving England.

I left Alexandria at 5 p.m. on the 24th, in one of the boats for the conveyance to Cairo of ordinary passengers, (not going to India), and which is tracked by a small steamer that likewise has passengers on board, on the Mahmoudeh canal, as far as Atfeh, where the canal joins the Xile, and where a steamer of a larger size waits to receive the passengers and their luggage, and take them on to Cairo. These boats belong to the Transit administration, which is entirely in the hands of the Pasha, The time of departure was unfortunate, inasmuch as the most interesting part of the trip on the canal to Atfeh was performed in the dark, and indeed for most part of the night in a thick fog which shrouded from view all that a bright, but rather late rising moon would have revealed of the banks on either side of the canal. Hence, I got no sight of the former situation of Sais, once the capital of the Delta, and the new buildings at Atfeh, the locks, &c, were but dimly caught sight of across the mist which wetted everything on deck, and caused some unpleasant reflections on intermittent or remittent fever to cross my mind occasionally, as a few hours before embarking the heat was very great, and the air now felt chilly as well as damp, and I wished for a great coat in addition to the light clothing 1 had on, not desiring to be in the cabin below, which was crowded and insufferably close. We arrived at Atfeh before daybreak, and the fog on the river did not clear away till some hours after sunrise. Shortly after leaving Alexandria , we heard a great splashing in the canal, and much stir and vociferation on board the steamer, which caused us novices some alarm, as we imagined that a man had fallen overboard; it turned out to be only the landing a passenger, which was accomplished by his divesting himself of every article of clothing, then jumping overboard and swimming ashore, his wardrobe, previously made into a bundle, being flung after him. Our starting point on the Mahmoudeh Canal was about two miles from the hotel; the canal itself is of great width, and a wonderful undertaking, when one considers that it was finished through its entire length of about fifty miles, within a twelvemonth: but the reflection that the convenience to travellers derived from it was owing to a terrible exercise of arbitrary power, and attended with a fearful sacrifice of human life, became the predominant feeling at the sight of it.

Night soon closed in and hid the country from view, but that part of it which we saw on quitting Alexandria was pretty in its way, the banks of the canal being diversified with white villas, gardens, and small cultivated fields of maize, melons, and different kinds of vegetables, with fine sycamore and acacia trees planted along the roads. The night passed slowly and disagreeably owing to the thick wet fog on deck, and the stifling closeness of the cabin below, where, however I could have slept away the hours well enough, had there been room to lie down, but every place, even to the tables was occupied by recumbent passengers, Turks, Italians, Greeks, and non-descripts of all nations, by some of whom it would not have been prudent or agreeable to have bivouacked, and the cabin smelt strongly of tobacco, and odours less refined even than that. We had one distinguished person on board, of no less rank than a Pasha, I think he was called Kheredden Pasha, or something very like it, a stout middle-aged, jovial personage, with a round good humoured countenance, and jet black beard, who fared like any of the other passengers, and spent his time in smoking and playing cards. He wore the insignia of a Pasha, a crescent and star of diamonds on the vest in front, and the dress of a Turkish field officer and admiral, as he belongs to both services, and was present at the battle of Navarino. I understand that he contracts to furnish the Transit administration with butchers' meat, which is not thought derogatory to the high dignity he has attained. A day or two after this arrangement was made, he invited all the officers of the administration to a dinner in Cairo, at which, I am told that the cham- pagne, which is his Highness' pet beverage, flowed without scant. The diamond decoration of the star and crescent is conferred with the rank, but is only lent so long as the Pasha continues in favour; at his death, or deposition, it reverts to the Sultan, but may be purchased like any other jewel by the family. No ceremony was observed towards him while on board; he ate 3 drank, talked, and smoked, like all the rest, and his Highness favoured us with his company in an omnibus expedition on the Desert, which he appeared to enjoy as much as any of us. I fancy however that Khereddin Pasha holds a sort of brevet rank, as I understand he has no province to rule over: he is said to be a man of great energy and some talent: he certainly is marvellously inclined to good fellowship, and I think were he in power, could never prove a harsh or tyrannical governor, to judge from his countenance only.

During the whole of the 24th we had a good view of the Delta through which we passed. The features are very tame, and monotonously uniform. The yellow turbid Nile flowing between crumbling banks of brown alluvial soil, which offers nothing but a perfect dead level over which large towns and villages are thickly dispersed, each an assemblage of the most miserable hovels of mud or unburnt brick, with here and there a tenement or two of rather better description, perhaps the residence of the sheyk, or chief man of the village. Many of these places are of considerable size, and all have one or more mosques, the minarets of which are the only buildings that have the smallest pretension to anything like architectural design or skill. Of these towns or large villages, no one but the Arab knows the names, so that could I have remembered them 3 there was no possibility of learning their different designations: some of them were doubtless on the sites of ancient places of celebrity. Groves of date-palms which here shoot up to fifty, sixty, and seventy feet, usually surround these places, with here and there a spreading sycamore or acacia. A most oppressive tax of three piastres annually is levied on every date tree, which, when their great number is considered, and the extreme poverty of the inhabitants, must be a cruel impost, but I have great doubts of the correctness of the statement, as a tax of rather more than sixpence on every tree, where these amount to many hundreds, perhaps even thousands, is more than I can well conceive so destitute a population able to pay, being mainly, if not entirely made up of fellahs or cultivators of the soil, a wretched, half clad race, of coarse, ugly features, and squalid to the last degree. Camels, dromedaries, donkeys, and huge buffaloes, with a few dark brown sheep, are their chief possessions; the buffaloes may be seen continually lying in mid river, with their noses alone out of the water, or swimming across to the opposite bank, quiet inoffensive animals, used both for draught and burden. We remarked many persons ploughing with a camel and a buffalo yoked together in most ill assorted fellowship. Dovecotes swarming with myriads of pigeons, rose high above the houses in some of the larger towns,, of a conical shape, like immense haystacks, and pierced with innumerable holes for the birds to enter in and come out. Pigeons are a great article of consumption in Egypt, where poultry takes the place of butchers' meat in a great measure. These Egyptian towns have the same light brown colour as the soil; there is nothing to break the uniformity of their aspect, no contrast of colouring; the only arborescent vegetation is the date palm dispersed in groups, or forming groves, but giving no shade, which can only be had under an occasional acacia, sycamore, or nabr, a gigantic but common species of buckthorn, the small fruit of which is eaten by the Arabs : while the unvarying glare, and sameness of splendour in the sky, must soon fatigue and satiate the eye that has no diversity of scenery or of objects to turn to for relief on the earth beneath. The flats of Holland have more to interest than the Delta of the Nile; for there one sees a population flourishing in plenty and comfort: here, nothing but a people in the lowest condition as regards civilization, poor, and oppressed beyond that of any other country. I was coniderably disappointed in the verdure of the Delta, of which one hears so much: the cultivation, such as it is, appears to occupy patches; a great part of the river banks is still untilled, and either bare of vegetation, or producing coarse herbage, the nature of which I could not determine, but it is most monotonous in its character, and we were seldom near enough to the shore to ascertain the kind of crop with certainty. Maize seemed to be one of the most important productions, and I remarked sugar and tobacco occasionally, as also cotton, but many of the crops were only now springing up, the Nile having so lately begun to subside. From the low level of the steamer's deck no extensive view of the Delta can be obtained. Not even from the flat roof of this hotel, which is of very considerable height, nor from the still loftier elevation of the citadel, which offers one of the most magnificent panoramas in the world, can I descry anything of that lake-like appearance the country is said to present at the season of u hio-h Nile." I had fine views of the Delta from the skirts of the desert on the way to Suez two days ago, but at an elevation much too low, and with a sky too hazy to distinguish objects clearly. The effect was that of a Dutch landscape by one of the old masters, with much of that indistinctness which age gives to an oil painting, of a couple of centuries ago.

We passed the Barrage, where the Nile is prevented by strong embankments from subsiding in the Delta till the irrigation of the land is complete; and our approach to Boulak, the port of Cairo, did not take place till 10, p.m. of the 25th. We landed amidst a confused hubbub of camels, donkeys, and vociferous and quarrelsome Arabs, and found Mr. Sheppard, the proprietor of the English Hotel at which I am staying, ready, with two or three omnibuses, to whirl us away along an excellent road bordered with thriving acacias to his establishment in this magnificent Square, the Usbekeih, about a mile and a half distant from Boulak.

November 1st. This place is immeasurably above Alexandria in point of interest, as regards variety, comfort, and beauty; from the flat roof of this hotel I have a splendid view of the city, with its thousand mosques and minarets; and above all, conspicuous in the distance to the S.S.W,, yet seemingly close at hand, the mighty pyramids of Ghizeh, appearing like mountains against the pale blue sky; but with my invaluable companion at my side, the telescope, I can distinctly bring all the ranges of stone composing them into view. Below me is a waving sea of foliage, from rows of fine acacias, ( Acacia Lebbek ), sycomores of scripture, (Ficus Sycomorus), and other trees, with which the fine esplanade is thickly planted, but there is not an atom of turf, scarcely a blade of grass, or weed of any kind beneath the trees; all is bare ground, as in the desert — a poor, thin, wiry grass is only seen here and there in spots artificially irrigated.

My delight is to mount the roof about sun-set, and watch the departing rays, bringing out the pyramids in stronger and stronger relief as darkness approaches, till at length they can just be discerned as two dark masses like little mountains on the skirts of the desert. I have witnessed one or two splendid sunsets since my arrival in Egypt, but more frequently they have been dull and vapoury, the sky pale and milky by day, with dim starlight by night.

To day, November 2nd, the heavens are quite overspread with a thin veil of white vapour, with a faint blue sky, streaked and speckled with fleecy clouds, (^mackerel sky), here and there. We have had little else but south and south east winds lately, most unfavourable for travellers going up the Nile. Accounts have just been received from the Red Sea of the cholera having committed most dreadful ravages at Jeddah, the port of Mecca, among the pilgrims now assembled there. Cairo is at present quite free from the visitation. All residents with whom I have conversed, on the subject, are unan- imous in asserting that the season of greatest heat in Cairo, (that is, from July to September inclusive), is the freest of all the four from sickness of every kind, al- though inducing much personal discomfort; and that the winter is in fact the time looked upon by the inhabitants as the least healthy, on account of the comparative dampness of the air, and the vicissitudes of temperature. Although the cool season has commenced, the heat is still very considerable. I have not seen it under 80° night or morning, and at mid-day in my room I have noted it as high as 83 '. As the sun now sets before half-past five, the union of such short days with such long hot nights makes one feel as if one was between the tropics, as the temperature just now is as high and as agreeable as in the West Indies. It was at 90°, I understand, at Alexandria a few days ago. This house is quite modern, indeed almost new, with very thick stone walls, but from the bad clumsy fitting, and want of finish about the woodwork and painting, which last is never "renewed after the first application, you would suppose the building to be a century old. The room I occupy is a large, airy apartment, with whitewashed walls, coarsely coloured in fresco below in a sort of imitation of panel wainscoting of a slate colour, bordered with dark red brown, above which is a sort of fleur-de-lys pattern impressed on the walls in flaming scarlet ! The room, which has a south aspect, is nearly a square of about twenty-four feet, and has an alcoved roof, very little, if at all, less in height from the well laid stone floor, and finished in a cornice and oval of unpainted wood, pierced in an open pattern, displaying neither taste nor skill in design. Three very large glazed sash windows nearly fill up the front side, which looks on the Uzbekeih, and immediately below them runs a raised stone dado, covered with luxurious cushions or divans, of blue printed calico, which with window curtains to match, a light iron bedstead with mosquito curtains of thin muslin, &c. &c. complete the furniture of my domicile, which is very comfortable at this season, but I suspect, must prove cold in the winter. Mr. Sheppard is fitting up new premises on a more extensive scale than these, with every convenience for English travellers. The charges are forty piastres per diem, six shillings and eight-pence, if by the week; or fifty piastres, eight shillings and four-pence, for a less time. This includes lodging and board, which last consists of a most substantial breakfast at half-past eight, luncheon, with fruit, at one, dinner, (excellent), at half-past six, with a cup of coffee afterwards; but no tea, unless required, and paid for as an extra.

I find Cairo an extremely amusing place, and from its great size, its novelties are not soon exhausted. The population is variously stated, from eighty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand, and together with old Cairo and Boulak, which may be called suburbs, the extent of ground it covers is very great. For five piastres, or one shilling, I can get a donkey, (of which animal the choice is inexhaustible), for the whole day, on which, or sometimes on foot, I thread the inextricable labyrinth of crooked streets, lanes and alleys, of which the city is made up, trusting to chance to bring me into some familiar street, or open place from whence I can direct my steps homewards again. No one who has not visited Cairo can form an adequate idea of these strange thoroughfares, from the published views made from drawings by the cleverest artists; because none that I have seen, convey any just notion of the extreme dinginess and dilapidation that everywhere meet the eye. The worst parts of London cannot be compared with the residences of even the respectable class of Cairenes. The houses are solidly built of stone, at least as high as the basement story, which is commonly pierced with low doorways, gates, and iron barred windows, sometimes having quaint carvings or Arabic inscriptions above them, but mostly very dungeon -like in appearance, and opening into receptacles for dust and rubbish, or into square courts, which give light and air to the residents on the next and succeeding stories, — for the basement is seldom or never, I believe, inhabited, unless it may be by the poorer classes. The part of the house above the basement usually projects forward on timber beams, and presents a confused mass of plaster, with windows glazed, or more commonly with a cagelike projection, carved or rather pierced in elaborate patterns of brown unpainted wood. Some, however, of the principal thoroughfares are more regular, in better repair, and wider, and the city exhibits a variety of architecture that appears absolutely inexhaustible. You come at almost every step to some mosque, arched gate, or passage covered with tracery, or painted in various colours, and with Arabic inscriptions in fresco, or sculptured on the stone, for the most part in miserable taste and execution, but at other times in a style of elegance and finish, that surprises you by the taste and artistic skill displayed, and by the strange contrasts of the decorations on perhaps the same building. Some of the lanes or alleys are so narrow that there is barely room for a single donkey to squeeze himself through, but these are not either common or much frequented: very few of the streets are wider than the narrowest alley in London, and are always thronged with pedestrians, donkeys and their riders, with horses, camels, and occasionally with carriages and carts. I had been led to suppose that much caution and circumspection were required in riding through the streets and lanes of Cairo, to avoid accidents from collision with camels and wheeled carriages, but I find it the easiest and safest thing in the world to pass through the narrowest and most densely crowded thoroughfares, both on foot and on a donkey. In the latter case the animal seems to know how to save you the trouble of guiding him, and threads his way through the crowd with an adroitness that is surprising, even at a full trot or amble, their only serious defect being that they are apt to come down with you sometimes, (an accident which has not yet happened to me), and when it does occur, is in general only a subject for laughter. The pace of the camel is so extremely slow, that though noiseless, there is very little difficulty in avoiding; a string of these animals on meeting them, but there is a possibility of their coming against you unawares from behind, since unless furnished with bells, which is not always the case, their tread is quite inaudible, and you might be swept off your donkey by the enormous loads which project from their sides: but I have not witnessed or heard of such an occurrence. The approach of a carriage is always announced in time to avoid it, by a courier on foot, who cracks a ponderous whip to clear the way. Every one of rank amongst the natives, on driving, or riding out on horseback, is preceded by a running footman, attired with sash or girdle, bringing to mind the act of Elijah girding up his loins, and running before the chariot of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. The donkeys have been called the cabs of Cairo, and truly the comparison holds both as to their number and convenience. These animals literally swarm, as they are used equally by high and low, and you can never be at a loss for one in whatever part of the town you may chance to find yourself, but you will have to contend against a host of donkey boys, each endeavouring with loud vociferations to force his own donkey upon your notice as super-eminent for all valuable asinine qualities above its fellows. Fortunately these creatures are not much given to kicking, otherwise, it might fare ill with the pedestrian whilst making his selection from a dozen or more, all hustling and jostling, head and heels turned towards himself, (the centre of the group), indifferently. Their pace, whether amble, trot, or gallop, is extremely easy, and the saddles are famously padded; the pommel is very high and stuffed like a cushion, which in the event of a tumble must be a great advantage. The donkey boy accompanies you, to urge on the animal with his stick, and constant cry of "oai, oai," without which appliances, an Egyptian donkey could no more be incited to active locomotion than his English brethren by those of similar import, from whom I was surprised to find them, after what I had heard of their qualities, capabilities and appearance, differ so little. English donkeys that have been well treated and looked after, I do not think are inferior to those of Egypt in any points of importance. The race here is generally of rather slighter make, the legs longer, and flanks thinner than at home, indicating as we should say, more of blood ; they are perhaps also more active, but are not superior in size, and require as much urging to make them go, when not accompanied by their drivers, as ours usually do. Still they are admirable little animals for the service they have to perform, that of winding their way through over crowded streets, where horses could not find a passage in equal numbers, or with equal safety. I saw a donkey the other day with dark stripes across the legs, as if a cross with the Zebra; but as that creature does not inhabit Egypt or Northern Africa, the darker markings may have had some other origin.

With kindest regards to all our friends, Believe me, Your affectionate Brother, William Arnold Bromfield.