PRINCETON, N. J. l if p 
 
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A VILLAGE MARKET. 
 
AMONG THE HUTS 
 IN EGYPT. 
 
 SCENES FROM REAL LIFE. 
 
 BY 
 
 M. L. WHATELY, 
 
 ALTHOB OF "BAGGED LIFE I If EGYPT," " THE 8TOBT OF A DIAMOND, 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 £crrmU etittton. 
 
 SEELEY, JACKSON, & HALLIDAY, FLEET STREET, 
 LONDON. MDCCCLXXII. 
 
INTEODUOTION. 
 
 Having been frequently asked to publish some 
 scenes and sketches by friends who had read the 
 little work called " Eagged Life in Egypt/' and 
 especially to give some further details concern- 
 ing the people among whom I dwell, and the 
 schools established for their children (which I 
 commenced under such difficulties some years 
 ago), I have thought it best to extract from 
 diaries and letters written at various times, such 
 parts as seemed suitable. They are offered 
 almost word for word as they were written, in 
 the hope that the simplicity and truthfulness of 
 the sketches may atone for the homeliness of 
 some, and the want of striking incidents in 
 almost all. 
 
 I have had too much intercourse with the 
 humbler classes, both in town and country, not 
 to be fully aware of their ignorance, and of the 
 degradation of many of their customs and habits, 
 and have seen too plainly the difficulties attend- 
 
vi 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ing the endeavour to do good, to be at all 
 inclined to draw pictures coloured by undue 
 enthusiasm or romance. But the dark side is 
 not presented solely to the reader, nor are the 
 descriptions exaggerated by dislike, for I love 
 Egypt and her people sincerely, and appreciate 
 all that is to be admired in both. 
 
 While, therefore, the hindrances in the path 
 of Christian benevolence are not concealed, the 
 compensating blessings are heartily acknow- 
 ledged, and a series of brief photographic 
 sketches (if we may use the expression), giving 
 anecdotes of daily life and humble missionary 
 efforts, are offered to those who take an interest 
 in modern Egypt, and especially to those who 
 like to hear about the sowing of the Gospel seed, 
 whether in the lanes of the city, among the 
 huts, or on the shores of the ancient river. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGB 
 
 I.— Egyptian Summer and Second Spring 1 
 
 II.— The « Sook," or Bazaab 12 
 
 III. — The Fellah 27 
 
 IV. — Bread cast on the "Watees 47 
 
 V. — Egyptian Maeeiages 65 
 
 VI. — Khaleel and his Mothee 81 
 
 VII.— A Village Court-House 96 
 
 VIII.— Our, Scholars 108 
 
 IX. — The Eirst Fruits Gathered 122 
 
 X. — The Married Pupil 135 
 
 XL — The Isolated Copts 147 
 
 XII. — The Stray Sheep in the Wilderness 159 
 
 XIII. — On Visiting 170 
 
 XIV. — Visiting, Continued 193 
 
 XV. — A Visit in the Desert 206 
 
 XVI.— Pilgrims to Mecca 219 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XVIL— Village Mabkets 229 
 
 XVIII.— The Gbeek Slave 238 
 
 XIX. — SCATTEBED SEED 255 
 
 XX. — Difficulties about Infant Schools in the 
 
 East 266 
 
 XXL— The Obphans 286 
 
 XXIL— The Houses on the Sand 299 
 
 XXIIL— The Wind 310 
 
 XXIV.— The Date-Palm 320 
 
 XXV.— On Some Chabacteeistics of the Common 
 
 People 329 
 
 XXVI.— Conclusion 340 
 
AMONG THE HUTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 
 
 We are wont to speak of April and May as 
 spring, even when living in Egypt, from old 
 habit, but, in fact, our first spring here is over 
 by the beginning of April j then the fields 
 are white with ripening barley, and shortly 
 after golden with wheat. In May the harvest 
 is finished in the neighbourhood of Cairo, and 
 further south a good deal earlier still (near 
 Alexandria it is later, of course) ; but in no 
 part of Egypt is May anything but full glow- 
 ing summer. The trees which had shed their 
 leaves, as many do in April, are green again 
 and the orange blossoms have given way to 
 
 1 
 
2 EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 
 
 the tiny green oranges which take so long to 
 come to perfection : while common frnits (like 
 common characters, perhaps) , are ripened 
 rapidly, this royal fruit requires six months 
 or more to ripen it, and give its rich gold 
 colour to the rind. The summer of Egypt, 
 then, may be said to begin in April, and last 
 till September. It is rather a trying season 
 for foreigners from the extreme heat, but espe- 
 cially for those who are obliged to reside in 
 town, or indeed who do not possess a garden 
 of their own. Those who do, may revel in 
 flowers and shade all through the year more 
 or less, and by planting groves of tall reeds, 
 or a thick hedge or wall, on the sides near 
 highroads, may shut out dust in a great 
 degree, and enjoy the Eastern delight of " a 
 garden enclosed," which is alluded to in Scrip- 
 ture evidently as something dearly prized and 
 reserved for the owner's special use. 
 
 The less favoured individuals, on their rides, 
 when the freshness of early morning or the 
 sunset hour allows them to be out of doors, 
 cast a longing glance at the glimpses afforded 
 them as they pass these pleasant gardens : the 
 clustering creepers, gay with varied colours, that 
 
EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPEING. 3 
 
 peep over the wall or paling, and the broad 
 plantain leaf, seldom less than a yard and a-half 
 long, and of the brightest of greens, which 
 hangs out its flag, and the showy scarlet leaves 
 of the shrub here called the Consul's Daughter, 
 by the common people, and the graceful palm 
 towering over them all. But on the open roads 
 the sun and the dust have undisputed sway, and 
 the land seems like a great " hot plate," — only 
 heated from above, instead of from below like 
 the kitchen ranges. Soon the corn has been 
 cleared off; no need for us to "lay it up in 
 shocks to dry," as the infant-school song teaches 
 the little English children ; it is dry enough, and 
 crackles with dryness, indeed, as it is heaped on 
 the camels, and carried off to be threshed by the 
 feet of the patient oxen. Seated in a curious, 
 though simple kind of wooden chair, without 
 legs, the peasant drives round and round on the 
 threshing-ground till his corn is all trodden out 
 of the husk. Some of the great men have 
 lately introduced threshing-machines on their 
 estates, but the old plan is the one in common 
 use. I cannot help liking it, because of the 
 many Scripture associations, and also because it 
 is so much more picturesque than a steam 
 
4 EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 
 
 machine, but I dare not deny the disagreeable 
 fact that it mixes a great deal of dust and earth 
 with the corn, making it difficult to clean it 
 properly. 
 
 The summer nights are very fine generally, 
 though when the wind is in the hot quarter 
 there is but very little coolness even at night ; 
 when it is blowing from the north there is a 
 certain degree of freshness of course in the night j 
 and the moonlight is as different from the cold 
 silvery moonlight of Europe, and as much more 
 beautiful as a clear atmosphere can make it. 
 The soft, yellowish beams throw a strange 
 mysterious radiance on the waving palm- 
 branches, and the tall minaret towers visible 
 from our house-top; the shadows so deep, the 
 outlines so distinct, — it is indeed a fair sight, but 
 coming at the close of a long hot day is often 
 not fully appreciated because one is so tired ! I 
 hear of people going out to stroll in the moon- 
 light certainly, but either they must be unusually 
 vigorous, or else have spent most of their day in 
 repose. One who has been actively at work all 
 the forenoon (and afterwards the intense heat 
 makes rest often unattainable), is so thankful 
 to sleep when an approach to darkness and com- 
 
EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 5 
 
 parative coolness set in, that no possible delights 
 of moonlight rambles seem so refreshing as the 
 pillow. Moreover, the finest night has not the 
 refreshing, invigorating effect of early morning, 
 which is so delicious everywhere in fine weather, 
 but so peculiarly reviving to the mind and body 
 in the hot season of southern lands. 
 
 Well, at length April, May, and still hotter 
 June and July, are past ; the melons are in their 
 prime still, but where they get their abundant 
 juices is a wonder, so dry and parched is all the 
 earth. ■ The ground seems turning to powder 
 from sheer heat. August is begun, and the Nile 
 is the subject of every one's talk, whether it is cut 
 and the sluices let out to fill the canals, by the 5th 
 or 6th (the earliest time), or not till the 16th 
 or 17th (the latest). It depends on the river 
 having risen to a certain point, and this being in- 
 fluenced by the rains in the mountains, far away 
 where it rises, is to the inhabitants of Egypt 
 quite uncertain till the last moment. Sooner or 
 later the command is given by the authorities — a 
 festival is held by all classes who flock to the 
 river-side, and spend the night in diversions of 
 various kinds. Gradually the water now spreads 
 over the lower lands, and fills the numerous 
 
6 EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 
 
 canals; every hollow and ditch is before long full; 
 water abounds where it was so scarce a short 
 time before ; and after a very brief interval a kind 
 of second spring commences. 
 
 There is something very curious to the eyes 
 of a foreigner from the north in this season fol- 
 lowing the long dry summer. The fields which 
 had been first covered with harvest, then with 
 "thorns and thistles" (which rapidly ripened 
 their seed, even before they were cut down 
 by the plough), and then had looked as brown 
 and bare as fields in March in England, now 
 begin with amazing speed to send forth the green 
 shoots of corn, clover, and vegetables of all kinds. 
 
 The gardens, as before observed, are always 
 green, and those who possess them can at all 
 times enjoy the luxury of shade ; but the agricul- 
 tural districts are deficient in trees for such a 
 country, though many of the villages are sur- 
 rounded with splendid groups of sycamore, fig, 
 mulberry, and lebichs,* but not in such abundance 
 as the climate requires ; and during the summer, 
 shade is a blessing not always to be found, 
 though invariably desired. When September 
 
 * A species of acacia, but with a blossom unlike what we 
 call acacias in Europe, and a much denser foliage. 
 
EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 7 
 
 comes with its fresher air and plentiful moisture 
 in every place, there is less absolute necessity for 
 seeking shade than in summer certainly ; but the 
 sun in Egypt is always so strong that except in 
 midwinter one requires more or less protection. 
 In fact, the very words " shadow" and " shade" 
 bring ideas of delight to the mind of the inhabi- 
 tant or resident in a hot climate ; in any place a 
 shadowless view is glaring and devoid of beauty, 
 but it is impossible in words to do justice fully to 
 the value or the beauty of shadow in the East ! 
 The cool violet shadow which looks so refreshing 
 in contrast to the burning glare around, — nothing 
 gloomy is associated with it, for the hues in that 
 transparent atmosphere are too rich to convey 
 any idea of gloom ; depth and coolness alone are 
 suggested by the strongest shadow thrown by 
 a high wall or a steep rock on the desert, or 
 by the dense foliage of the dark green lebich 
 and the massive sycamore fig-tree. While riding 
 home, after an excursion to visit some poor per- 
 son, or to get some early morning air (and find- 
 ing that even by eight o'clock the burning heat 
 has already set in), how often I am reminded of 
 the passages in Scripture referring to shadows, 
 and how keenly is their beauty appreciated when 
 
8 EGYPTIAN SUMMEU AND SECOND SPKING. 
 
 a few minutes' rest under a wall seems to bring 
 such a grateful sense of repose : " As the sha- 
 dow of a great rock in a weary land " I sat 
 down under his shadow with great delight 
 " the shadow of a cloud/' etc. ; these and similar 
 passages come vividly to the mind on such 
 occasions. 
 
 But to return to the second spring. It is just 
 when the drought and heat are at their utmost, 
 that the waters of the great river having risen to 
 their fullest, are let out, and the gradual flow 
 commences, which in a few days has a wonderful 
 effect in cooling the air; the renewal of freshness 
 and verdure follow by degrees ; the gum acacia 
 puts forth a new crop of little golden ball-like 
 blossoms, deliciously fragrant ; then the jasmine 
 and roses begin to show buds ; and while the 
 gardens flourish thus, the fields are turned into 
 temporary lakes, glittering in the bright sun- 
 shine ; the dry and parched watercourses are 
 filled, and beside them the tall reeds wave their 
 green flags in the breeze. " The parched ground" 
 is become " a pool, and the thirsty land springs 
 of water" (Isa. xxxv.). Now the date palms 
 are in their glory ; the great clusters of ripe fruit — 
 some red, some almost black, and others of a 
 
EGYPTIAN SUMMER AXD SECOND SPRING. 
 
 9 
 
 golden yellow (according to the variety) — hang 
 in rich profusion from the crown of feathery 
 branches ; the yellow and red often looking in 
 the evening sunshine like gigantic bunches of 
 gold and coral beads ; a more beautiful fruit can 
 scarcely be seen than the ripe date as it grows. 
 The pomegranate and quince are also abundant at 
 this season : the former is, however, in its decline ; 
 and the date, in spite of its beauty, is not to 
 European taste so valuable a fruit as the apples 
 and pears of Europe, which are imported in 
 October and November into the Egyptian 
 markets, and always find a rapid sale. 
 
 Wherever you ride you see the peasants 
 carrying the beautiful purple and green sugar- 
 canes over their shoulders, or crunching pieces of 
 them with their fine strong white teeth ; and in 
 the fields a group often catches the eye engaged 
 in parching the young ears of maize, and par- 
 taking of this simple but much-esteemed article of 
 food; and sometimes a woman with parched corn, 
 wrapped in the corner of her veil, to carry home, 
 passes one, and recalls the thought of Ruth and 
 the reapers. This is more like autumn, indeed, 
 than spring; and yet the feel of the air, soft and 
 fresh, the absence of decaying leaves, the young 
 
10 EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 
 
 clover just peeping above the soil where the 
 water is subsiding, the roses and other flowers 
 in blossom, all seem to tell rather of spring; the 
 green vegetables are advancing towards ma- 
 turity; the country looking more and more 
 verdant, and the shortness of the day alone 
 reminds one that we are advancing towards the 
 end of the year. The first year I spent in 
 Egypt, it appeared to me as if everything were 
 turned round, and the seasons had lost their 
 characteristics — the strangeness, which enhanced 
 my admiration, somewhat diminished my plea- 
 sure ; but by the second year that passed away, I 
 could fully appreciate the fitness of every arrange- 
 ment of Providence in that wondrous country, so 
 unlike any other in the way in which it receives 
 moisture, and brings forth food for the use of 
 man. 
 
 How admirably does its curious system of 
 agriculture supply the servant of God with ready 
 painted pictures and illustrations for Gospel 
 truths ! The dry land where nothing vegetates, 
 turned by that little channel into a fertile garden 
 in a few days' time. That very water, drawn 
 from the exhaustless river, and then poured from 
 channel to channel, just like the Spirit of God 
 
EGYPTIAN SUMMER AND SECOND SPRING. 11 
 
 given to change man's barren heart. Then the 
 quotations which seem so peculiarly beautiful 
 when actually illustrated, " The garden of herbs 
 watered by the sole of the foot;" the souls 
 that shall be like "a, watered garden \ 9i 
 
 But, alas ! the poor labourer has been so long- 
 only occupied with the daily drudgery and animal 
 enjoyments of his life, that it is no easy task to 
 arouse his sluggish mind to turn from earth to 
 heaven. u ^Vhy should I hear new things/' he 
 says, " Mohammed is the prophet, and I am a 
 true believer; what more do I want?" And he 
 weeds his onion bed and opens his tiny water 
 rills with his hand, and closes them again with 
 his foot ; and it is hard to win him to turn for a 
 moment to hear of the water of life ! (Deut. iv.) 
 But " the Lord knoweth whereof we are made ; 
 He remembereth that we are but dust," 
 and He is patient and long-suffering with the 
 dull of heart. So must those endeavour to be 
 whom by his providence He sends to labour 
 among such. Late and early they must sow their 
 seed ; casting it now into the water, now upon 
 the ground, trusting in the Almighty's word 
 that in due season they shall reap if they faint 
 not. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE "SOOK"/' OR BAZAAR. 
 
 Innovations are rapidly creeping into the long 
 stereotyped Eastern ways, and even in Cairo 
 (which is far less Europeanized than Alexandria) 
 numbers of French, German, and Italian shops 
 are to be found now where a limited assortment 
 of articles, for the most part very dear and in- 
 ferior in quality, may be obtained ; still the chief 
 necessaries of life in the " raw material " (besides 
 all articles made in the country, of course) are 
 purchased from the native sooks or bazaars,* and 
 in the old Oriental way. A tedious way I allow 
 it is, and very tiresome if one is in haste, but 
 everything has a compensating side if one takes 
 the trouble to seek for it; and it is fair to concede 
 that the Eastern mode of shopping affords very 
 picturesque groups, and often a gooddeal of amuse- 
 
 * Sook is the Arab term. Bazaar is a word of Persian or 
 Indian origin, I believe. 
 
THE " BOOK," OR BAZAAR. 13 
 
 ment to an observant eye. But if the buyer is 
 pressed for time and "has many commissions to get 
 through, he finds his patience terribly tried; an 
 English friend has begged him to procure a 
 silk scarf, a few pairs of slippers, a bottle of 
 attar of roses, etc., and for each of these he has 
 to spend time and breath to an extent which the 
 distant giver of the errand little imagined ; a whole 
 long afternoon is frequently consumed in three or 
 four such little matters, and in the end the weary 
 buyer naturally overrates his treasures, and feels 
 as if they were hardly appreciated properly, be- 
 cause the amount of trouble he has taken some- 
 what enhances their value in his eyes. It is a fact 
 not known to all that the bargaining system pre- 
 vailed formerly in England and all over Europe as 
 it now does in the East, and that to the Society of 
 Friends we owe the more convenient custom of a 
 fixed price, which, begun by them, rapidly spread 
 over England, and thence to most parts of the 
 Continent. But surely in old times shopping 
 must have been even worse in the North than 
 the South. For in a damp chilly climate, standing 
 for an hour chaffering in a draughty doorway 
 must have been a great annoyance, unless our 
 active and time- valuing people managed to des- 
 
14 THE "SOOK," OR BAZAAR. 
 
 patch their bargaining more rapidly than is done 
 here, where time is not looked on as very precious, 
 and the delight in buying and selling is so great 
 that it appears always a mutual pleasure to make 
 the bargain last as long as possible. Another 
 inconvenience, besides the absence of fixed prices, 
 is the necessity for the purchaser to carry home 
 all his parcels, or bring a servant to do so, as no 
 shopman ever sends an article home, and in 
 this particular the European (or, as they are 
 generally called, Frank) tradesmen follow the 
 custom of their Eastern friends. 
 
 Here is a specimen of one kind of shopping. 
 I wished to buy some pretty vases of red clay 
 made in the " Upper Country/' and not always 
 to be had in the city. They are too brittle to be 
 very useful, but being of elegant forms and very 
 cheap, are often purchased as curiosities. Observ- 
 ing a good collection on a stall while riding- 
 through a street near one of the great mosques, 
 I looked about for the owner, and, not seeing him, 
 applied to an old man selling pipe-heads of the 
 same material close by, and asked where the 
 owner of the vases was. " He is gone away/' 
 replied the greybeard, lazily puffing the smoke 
 from a long pipe. " Is he anywhere near V "I 
 
THE a SOOK," OE BAZAAE. 15 
 
 don't know. - " Another man, also a pipe-seller, 
 interposed here, and said he was a friend to the 
 man of vases, and would sell for him. u How 
 much for this, then V- " So much.-" " No, that 
 is too dear; less by half?" " Nay," cries the 
 friend, his love of bargaining or hope of profiting 
 himself fairly roused, "by the Prophet! that is 
 nothing at all j so much — leave or take." The 
 noise of passers-by makes it difficult to hear, and 
 he holds up as many fingers as he desires coins 
 of a certain value. AVe hold up two in return ; he 
 shakes his head and lays down the vase. TTe 
 move on, but this is only a feint ; we return after 
 a few steps, and again repeat " So much." 
 " Very well," bawls the pipe-seller, " take \" and 
 he receiving the price, we seize the prize, which 
 seems enhanced by the difficulty of obtaining it, 
 and the words of Solomon seem truly applicable, 
 "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, but 
 when he is gone his way then he boasteth." 
 
 The great mass of native shops are small con- 
 cerns, and it often happens that you are obliged 
 to visit half-a-dozen to get a very few things 
 from the small stock in hand with each. How- 
 ever, the habit still adhered to of having particular 
 streets for particular articles facilitates the search 
 
16 THE ff S00K," OR BAZAAR. 
 
 a good deal. For example, you want some native 
 slippers or shoes, either to send to English friends 
 as curiosities or as really comfortable for wear in 
 hot weather (provided you know what kind to 
 ask for) ; you must then go to the " Shoe Bazaar/' 
 and find yourself in a long street with two or 
 three very narrow ones leading out of it, all lined 
 with small shops displaying red and yellow leather 
 slippers of various forms and sizes : some pointed 
 and turned up at the toe, some very wide and 
 rounded (these are specially worn by countrymen, 
 and have very thick soles, and are always a great 
 deal too large — a better fault, by the way, than 
 the frequent European error of having them too 
 small) ; others are elegantly embroidered : these 
 are for ladies' <vear — in short, the variety is endless, 
 and the colours being always red and yellow, the 
 effect of the stalls is very pretty. The makers of 
 saddles and housings for horses and donkeys, also 
 usually in bright coloured materials, have their 
 quarter in the same way, as have the less lively 
 manufacturers of sieves, combs, palm frames, 
 etc., and the brass-workers, whose region is 
 almost intolerable, from the noise of their ham- 
 mers on the brazen vessels so largely used in the 
 East. 
 
THE ff S00K," OK BAZAAR. 17 
 
 Sweetmeats are generally sold at stalls or 
 carried about on trays (whence the Arabic pro- 
 verb, " It is not every one that carries a tray who 
 sells sweetmeats meaning that there are excep- 
 tions in everything. The choicest kinds of 
 sweetmeats belong, as it were, to certain festivals, 
 and nothing will induce the Mohammedan confec- 
 tioner to make them except at the proper 
 season ; if asked, he will laugh rather scornfully 
 and reply, " It is not the time." 
 
 Another and more important kind of shopping 
 is only known to residents and householders, and 
 even they often depute it to servants; this is 
 visiting the native wholesale warehouses for the 
 purpose of laying in stores of such things as will 
 keep, and are needed in large quantities. A 
 good deal of money is saved by going to these 
 places, but time must be sacrificed for it; if, 
 however, a leisure day occurs, it is well worth 
 while to visit some of the " khans," as they are 
 called, as national customs and manners are 
 seen to greater advantage in them than any- 
 where else. I went over some of the khans at 
 Boulac (the port of Cairo) one day as much for 
 the sake of seeing the " humours M of the place 
 as of procuring a store of rice, etc. The word 
 
 2 
 
18 THE " SOOK/' OR BAZAAE. 
 
 khan properly signifies a sort of inn, being, in 
 fact, a place where merchants come to stay for a 
 time with goods from a distance, and contains, 
 also, warehouses of a simple and primitive de- 
 scription, a sort of dens built all round a large 
 court, often with arched gateways and handsome 
 pillars. The one we visited was a picturesque old 
 building, and the light and shadow afforded by 
 its massive stone architecture, with golden rays 
 of sunshine darting down here and there, was 
 beautiful. Some of the dens were locked up; 
 others open, their owners standing or sitting at 
 their doors bargaining with some travelling mer- 
 chants, whose asses and mules, waiting to receive 
 their burdens, stood near, while troops of fowls 
 ran about the court feasting on the scattered 
 grains of rice which afforded them a good sub- 
 sistence. Several merchants in white turbans 
 and flowing caftans of various rich colours were 
 quietly drinking coffee, and chatting ; their negro 
 and Nubian slaves attending upon them, as if 
 business were decidedly a matter to be taken 
 quietly and comfortably. We approached one of 
 the warehouses, and the owner saluted us politely, 
 and brought the whole party into his dark re- 
 ceptacle, where piles of sacks and baskets stitched 
 
THE "SOOK/' OR BAZAAR. 
 
 19 
 
 closely up lay heaped on each other. Samples 
 were produced from two or three (which he 
 opened before us) and handed round on a metal 
 tray; the cook, who had accompanied us, 
 solemnly rolled the grains in his fingers and 
 meditated for some moments ; then selecting a 
 specimen, beckoned to one of the attendants to 
 bring the bags that were to be filled. An inno- 
 cent stranger might have supposed the business 
 nearly over; on the contrary, it was only just 
 begun. A sum was named by the owner of the 
 rice, and scouted by the cook with indignation ; 
 he glanced at us significantly that we might echo 
 his astonishment and disgust ; we did so in the 
 best Arabic we could. The owner reduced 
 slightly — was snubbed more than before — became 
 proud and lofty, and shrugged his shoulders j 
 then the cook patted him on the shoulder and 
 softened him a little, raising his offer somewhat. 
 At last a sum was agreed on ; and the merchant 
 beckoned to one of his assistants, who, with a 
 bright brass inkstand stuck into the yellow silk 
 scarf that girt his waist, was making out accounts 
 on a piece of paper doubled up and held on the 
 hand instead of a table (according to the usual 
 Oriental style); he came forward to make the 
 
20 THE " sook," oe bazaar. 
 
 bill, and a slave at the same time brought a 
 measure ; but now it appeared that the intention 
 was to sell according to retail measure instead of 
 wholesale j in the hope that Europeans might not 
 be aware of the difference, which of course, as he 
 only sold in large quantities, was depriving us 
 of any advantage over purchasing in a small retail 
 shop. The cook angrily emptied his sacks and 
 hurried us out of the den at once, without listen- 
 ing to the excuses of the deceitful rice merchant ; 
 and proceeding to another den we had almost the 
 same scene to act all over again, but this time 
 the right measure was brought, and we came off 
 successfully with full sacks ! At the entrance of 
 this khan stood two chairs of handsomely carved 
 woodwork, evidently of considerable antiquity, 
 and exactly similar in form to those seen among 
 Egyptian collections and museums, as thrones for 
 kings and deities. Probably Joseph sat on a 
 similar one when superintending the selling of 
 corn while the sons of Israel stood beside their 
 asses waiting till their sacks should be filled, just 
 like the groups before us. It is these living 
 pictures, recalling Scripture narratives so fre- 
 quently and vividly, that are such a charm in the 
 East, and that compensate for so many incon- 
 veniences and troubles. 
 
THE "S00K," OR BAZAAR. 
 
 21 
 
 We had been at least an hour in the rice- 
 khan, and it was winter, and the afternoons 
 short ; so it was needful to hasten to the next 
 place we had to visit, which was the oil-mer- 
 chants' khan. The building here was not equal 
 to the former one, but the groups were still more 
 gay and picturesque, and the great oil-jars 
 heaped about in every direction were so graceful 
 in form as to make quite an addition to the scene. 
 These merchants appeared wealthy, judging from 
 their dress, at least. Their caftans of silk or fine 
 cloth were of the most brilliant colours and finest 
 texture, and certainly the coolness they showed 
 about securing purchasers would have led one to 
 suppose money was no object to them, were it 
 not that such is the custom of the country, until 
 the bargain is actually begun. It was some time 
 before any one of these oil-merchants could be 
 persuaded to look up from his acco ant-book, or 
 stop chatting with his friends. At length one 
 looked up and said, " What do you desire?" 
 On being informed, he called for samples, and a 
 woman came, bringing two vessels containing 
 some of the rich gold-coloured oil made from 
 lettuce-seed, which is used for common lamps 
 in Cairo. Latterly, indeed, the petroleum, or 
 
22 THE "SOOK," OE BAZAAE. 
 
 paraffin oil, is sold under the name of " gaz," a 
 corruption of gas, as they suppose this name to 
 mean a particular species of oil. Its brightness 
 in burning is a recommendation which, especially 
 among the heedless Egyptians, outweighs its 
 danger; but, at the time I allude to, it had not 
 been heard of in Cairo, and even now the con- 
 sumption of vegetable oil is considerable, the 
 people using it, not only for burning, but in 
 cookery. The woman invited us to judge of the 
 samples by the taste ; and when we declined she 
 laughed, and, dipping in her own finger, sucked 
 it with great relish, declaring it was excellent ! 
 When the long bargaining was ended, a jar was 
 obtained from a store kept for purchasers, and 
 weighed, filled, then weighed again, and sealed 
 up with a wisp of straw well plastered with mud, 
 and finally slung upon a donkey's back to be 
 conveyed to the purchaser's abode. Mr. Jones 
 or Mr. Smith would be amused if they could see 
 the contrast between this style of doing business 
 and their despatch ; and probably Hassan and 
 Mahmoud would be equally so if transported to 
 London ; and, however they admired the rapid 
 action and constant bustle, would be inclined to 
 thiuk it very fatiguing. " Fair and softly goes 
 
THE " SGOK," OR BAZAAE. 
 
 23 
 
 far in a day/' would better suit them than the 
 contrary proverb of " Time and tide wait for no 
 man/ ; which may be called the specially English 
 proverb. 
 
 Our difficulties with change of money, and a 
 want of proper coinage sufficient for the country, 
 are frequent and various. One year, no small 
 change was to be had ; and a seller would insist 
 on his customer taking more than he needed of 
 some cumbrous article, or going without any, 
 because he could not change a piece of silver. 
 A boy would be sent running from shop to shop, 
 with a message to ask Mr. Such-an-one to oblige 
 his master with a few piastres ! Then the tables 
 were turned, and we were inundated (if such a 
 term may be allowed for heavy metal) with copper 
 coin, and the weight would be more than any 
 reasonable purse could possibly contain. 
 
 One day, I recollect, a man wished to give 
 me change for a gold coin chiefly in copper 
 pieces, saying he had no silver. 
 
 " You must then hire a donkey and sack to 
 carry it for nie," was the reply. "But I am 
 sure you have some silver ; I saw it shine when 
 you opened your bag." 
 
 On being detected thus, the shopman, grin- 
 
24 THE "S00K," OB BAZAAR. 
 
 ning, acknowledged he had a little silver, but it 
 was so scarce, he did not like to part with it. 
 
 The workmen in the sugar manufactories and 
 elsewhere were, at the period I speak of (1889), 
 paid in coppers, and were frequently obliged 
 to bring great bags, and nearly fainted under 
 their loads, though the sum received was small 
 enough. 
 
 The old gold and silver coins of Egypt and 
 those of Constantinople are in circulation, but 
 are rare, and yearly will become more so, unless 
 a coinage is issued ; for the women wear them as 
 ornaments, and are loth to part with them, as 
 there are very few new ones at all equal to them. 
 They are beautiful coins ; the gold especially 
 being less alloyed than that of Europe, and the 
 edging and characters elegantly stamped. From 
 the deficiency of native gold and silver in ordi- 
 nary use, the coins of many European nations 
 circulate ; and, in getting change, one has always 
 to make a number of little arithmetical exercises, 
 very useful, doubtless, in keeping the four rules 
 in sharp practice, but somewhat troublesome 
 when the purchaser is in a hurry, or riding a 
 donkey or pony which does not like standing 
 still ! Perhaps it is a festival-time, and the 
 
THE ff S00K," OR BAZAAR. 25 
 
 narrow street is crowded with carriages, don- 
 keys, camels, and foot-passengers ; water-carriers 
 sprinkling you freely from their skins of water ; 
 Turkish soldiers pushing past on spirited horses, 
 which seem ready to trample the children throng- 
 ing the sweetmeat- stalls in their way ; turbaned 
 groups of Egyptians bargaining as coolly as if 
 there were no crowd ; servants running before 
 their owner's carriage or steed, forcing a passage 
 by dint of shouting, " Thy foot ! thy back ! oh, 
 man ! oh, girl ! make way ! make way V* And 
 in all this confusion, the busy householder who 
 has been out on a shopping-excursion, and is 
 returning with laden saddle-bags, and a servant 
 who carries as many small parcels in his loose 
 tunic as can be crammed into it (for, as I pre- 
 viously observed, you must biding home your 
 purchases yourself) — instead of getting the 
 change quickly, and hurrying out of the bustle, 
 must wait while the seller pulls out of his 
 long purse, first a Eussian rouble, then a French 
 two-franc piece, then a Spanish dollar, an Eng- 
 lish shilling, and, finally, perhaps, two or three 
 little Austrian coins of base metal, value three 
 or four pence. Each of these various pieces of 
 money has to be reckoned in piastres ; one goes 
 
26 THE "S00K," OR BAZAAR. 
 
 for thirteen and three- quarters, another for five 
 and a half, a third for seventeen and a fifth, etc., 
 etc. The little sums have to be performed while 
 the steed is getting more fidgety every moment 
 from the crowd that push against him. The 
 housekeeper thinks with affection of pounds, 
 shillings, and pence, as, after securing the varied 
 collection of coins, he breaks at last through the 
 impediments, and rides on ; but there is a feeling 
 of triumph in getting the desired things after so 
 much trouble that is cheering upon the whole ; 
 and one European evil is avoided by our Eastern 
 system of shopping — we have no bills! All is 
 ready-money in the Egyptian shop or warehouse. 
 In this one particular I hope they will not 
 imitate Europe, in spite of all the trouble of a 
 Babel of Coinage ! 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 Properly speaking, this term belongs to the 
 tiller of the ground, as the word signifies, but it 
 is loosely given sometimes to the poorer classes 
 even in towns, who have nothing to do with cul- 
 tivating land ; at the same time it is constantly 
 given to all engaged in agriculture, whether rich 
 or poor, whether the actual labourer or the 
 director of his labours — in fact, it answers to 
 farmer, countryman, and peasant. 
 
 The style of living among the real Fellaheen 
 (for this is the plural of Fellah, as Fellaha is the 
 feminine) in the country is pretty much the same ; 
 the primitive customs prevailing among them far 
 more unchanged than in town, of course, and the 
 difference between rich and poor is very slight, 
 apparently, except that the former is better fed, 
 and his wife wears gold instead of brass or silver. 
 
28 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 The wealthy peasant' has a larger house, but it is 
 of mud, like the huts of the poor, and if he has 
 a few carpets and mattresses, and half-a-dozen 
 little coffee-cups, and some brass vessels for 
 cooking, this is usually the extent of his furni- 
 ture. In some of the houses of Fellaheen there 
 is a separate apartment for the women, which is 
 called hareem, but the arrangements are of the 
 humblest kind, and truth compels me to say 
 everything is generally dirty and disorderly; 
 though the farmer's wife often looks very well 
 in her soft black muslin veil aud rich gold orna- 
 ments, and can even display a brocaded silk vest 
 and trousers on grand festivals. The poorer 
 Fellah has a hut with only one room, usually 
 devoid of windows, and with a door so low that 
 the owner must stoop to enter. Fastened by a 
 primitive wooden key of nearly a foot in length, 
 this door is the only piece of timber in the dwell- 
 ing, which is made of sun-dried mud; it is 
 always swarming with vermin, and dark and 
 suffocating in summer, but the people oftener 
 sleep outside in hot weather, and sit out all day 
 in winter to enjoy the sunshine. How the whole 
 family can possibly squeeze into the small space 
 of one of these huts is amazing ; and it is a painful 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 29 
 
 proof of the degradation of ignorance that they 
 should occupy such wretched abodes, even in 
 places where there is plenty of room and no 
 apparent reason for being so uncomfortably 
 crowded. The genuine Fellah of the country is 
 usually, in spite of this disadvantage, a fine- 
 looking, vigorous man — the fact is, that from 
 the ignorance of the mothers, and the dirt, and 
 mismanagement of the infants, a great number 
 die off under two years old ; and these, of course, 
 include all the weakly ones. Those who survive 
 the effect of dust, flies, and neglect of various 
 kinds, must be tolerably strong by nature, and 
 then the dangers of teething once over, the pure 
 air of the countryman d the out- door life with, simple 
 and coarse, but generally sufficient and nourishing 
 food, begin to do their part, and the little Fellah 
 develops into a well-knit, healthy man, capable 
 of a great amount of labour. The irrigation, on 
 which all the crops depend, demands a great deal 
 of hard work at certain seasons; and during the 
 winter, when there is less of that sort of employ- 
 ment, the care of the cattle, driving them daily 
 to distant pastures, and other matters, keep 
 the villagers pretty well occupied. Were it not 
 for a taxation, at once heavy and irregular, the 
 
30 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 Fellaheen would be well off for the common 
 necessaries of life, the land being so extremely 
 fertile, and the climate making the requisites of 
 fire and clothing so small, compared with those 
 in colder regions. 
 
 The so-called Fellaheen of the towns com- 
 prise the lower order of artisans, water-carriers, 
 sellers of fodder for cattle, fruit, milk, vegetables, 
 etc. These have their number frequently in- 
 creased by country people coming to settle in 
 town ; and as town life is much less favourable to 
 health, this doubtless keeps them from diminish- 
 ing much, as is the case in Europe. 
 
 The country habits are somewhat modified 
 naturally in these, and they partially resemble the 
 citizens in their ways, but always call themselves 
 Fellaheen, and retain their connection with the 
 country. Many of these town Fellaheen occupy 
 houses that once belonged to wealthy owners, but 
 from being in a bad or unfrequented situation, 
 or from some other cause, have been suffered to 
 fall into decay ; and in them may be seen fine 
 specimens of the beautiful carved lattice-work 
 for which Egypt once was famous, and broken 
 flooring of stone, or even marble, in the midst 
 of dust and ruin. But the greater part occupy 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 31 
 
 houses of mud-brick, with a few stones imbedded 
 in the plaster, and built in a curious, irregular 
 way, with a room here and a room there ; usually 
 two families or more inhabiting the same house, 
 and having the roof and entrance in common. 
 They are dirty, comfortless abodes enough, for 
 the most part, but have this advantage over 
 English dwellings of a similar class, that they 
 have more air. On the other hand, the want of 
 neatness, or rather the utter slovenliness of the 
 abode, outside and inside, is such as could only be 
 rivalled by the homes of the wretchedly poor or 
 vicious in our country. In a climate where great 
 energy and constant care are required to keep 
 even a stone house tolerably free from dust, it 
 may be supposed what those dwellings are which 
 are built of so crumbling a material as dry mud, 
 and whose owners are not energetic, and, more- 
 over, are generally quite indifferent to cleanliness. 
 Some are occasionally swept in a shiftless way — 
 the woman squatting on the ground with a short- 
 handled broom or bunch of twigs, with which she 
 makes a feeble clearance ; — but oftener a visitor 
 has literally to scramble over heaps of dust and 
 rubbish to ascend the steps, or find a passage in 
 the court, round which, sometimes three or four, 
 
23 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 sometimes as many as eight houses are built : 
 happily the police officer,, from time to time, goes 
 round and frightens the householders, otherwise 
 the rubbish would accumulate far more rapidly. 
 
 As a town resident, I know more, of course, 
 of the daily life of town Fellaheen than of those 
 in the country, and can therefore describe it 
 more accurately. Except in the month of Khama- 
 dan (when they are fasting by day and eating by 
 night), the people are generally very early risers, 
 especially in the summer, when most are astir as 
 soon as there is any light in the sky. The morn- 
 ing toilette of a Fellaha, or woman of this class, 
 is extremely simple, consisting merely in jumping 
 up and shaking herself like a dog (a cat would 
 spend more time on her toilette ; and I have often 
 observed what an example is this animal — so much 
 petted in Egypt — to its mistress, in this respect) . 
 Once in a while, it is true, the woman goes to the 
 public bath and undergoes a complete ablution, 
 but in the intermediate time she does not even 
 undo the plaits in which her hair is dressed ; and 
 the garments worn by day are slept in at night. 
 At six or eight o'clock (earlier or later, as may 
 happen) the Fellaha and her husband — if he has 
 not gone to work at a distance — and the children, 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 33 
 
 squat round a small earthen dish containing some 
 boiled beans and oil, or some pickles, or a mix- 
 ture of chopped herbs, etc. Sometimes they 
 merely divide a bunch of green onions, or raw 
 carrots, as a relish to their soft round flaps of 
 coarse leavened oread. Very often there is no 
 regular breakfast, and each takes a bit of cheese 
 and bread, or an orange, and strolls abont, or 
 lolls in the dust, to enjoy his meal ; but it is 
 commoner to have some sort of gathering for 
 breakfast, though in a very rude way certainly. 
 The good woman's household duties are not 
 varied ; she has no cups or plates to wash, or beds 
 to make ; and though she migltt sweep up her 
 house, she rarely does so : she, therefore, fre- 
 quently dawdles about, gossiping with her neigh- 
 bours, and seems to be doing nothing', although, 
 if I call in, and offer to read to her, she is very 
 likely to say, she " is not at leisure ! " If it be 
 breadmaking-day, however, this is no longer a 
 mere excuse ; she is really busy then, and her 
 daughter, or sisters, or old mother too. It is a 
 day's work for two or three, if the family be not 
 a very small one, between picking and cleaning 
 the com, carrying it to the mill to be ground, 
 sifting the flour, mixing* the leaven, working up 
 
34 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 the dough (a process which takes at the least two 
 hours, as they think an immense amount of work- 
 ing needful), shaping the loaves, each of which is 
 not larger in size than one moderately large slice 
 of bread, and finally baking in the mud-oven of 
 the house, unless, being without this, they take 
 the batch to the public native oven. After all 
 this trouble, and the length of time bestowed on 
 it, the bread is, to our taste, only eatable when 
 quite fresh, as it gets both sour and dry in 
 a short time. With a fourth of the labour, good 
 bread in large loaves might be obtained, but our 
 Egyptian friends would not, perhaps, relish it ; 
 and they are better off, after all, than the very 
 poor of England, because each family makes its 
 own bread, and there is no adulteration ; the flour 
 may be coarse, and a little dust get mixed up on 
 windy days, but none of the deleterious articles 
 by which our bakers' bread is often rendered 
 unwholesome. 
 
 The men of the family in this class of life are 
 rarely at home in the middle of the day, but get 
 their dinners from a stall or shop, or merely bring 
 a loaf in their vest, and purchase a handful of 
 any raw vegetables that are in season to eat with 
 it, in the intervals of labour. About half an hour 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 35 
 
 before sunset the humbler coffee-houses in town 
 are always thronged by those, whose work being- 
 done, take a short rest, and enjoy a cup of black 
 coffee and a pipe, before returning home. One 
 cannot help feeling that they have, in this respect, 
 greatly the advantage over the labourers of 
 England, who stop at alehouses and spirit-shops 
 for their refreshment ; the groups outside these 
 coffee -shops (in the evening generally) seem 
 happy and cheerful, without the unwholesome 
 excitement given by strong drink. Many, of 
 course, cannot leave their business so early, and 
 only return as the sun goes down, but a number 
 of shops in the native quarters close early in the 
 long days ; for though fond of gain in their own 
 way, the Orientals are not usually disposed to 
 sacrifice all the comfort of life to the attainment 
 of a little more money ; and in this it does not 
 seem that they act unwisely, for if men are 
 slaving till late in the evening, what time can 
 they have to enjoy the blessings obtained by 
 labour, and how hardly does such excessive work 
 press upon those who have no choice in the 
 matter ! But to return to our Fellah ; while he 
 has been occupied in his daily work, his wife, as 
 before observed, is sometimes very busy, some- 
 
36 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 times quite idle, according to circumstances. The 
 care of her children, unhappily, seldom takes 
 up much of her time { though very affectionate 
 mothers, and ardently desirous of offspring, they 
 are too ignorant, and are married at too early an 
 age, to have any idea of the incessant watchful- 
 ness needful to keep young children in a healthy 
 condition ; and consequently the infant mortality 
 is very great, in spite of the freedom from many 
 of the epidemics occasioned by severe cold, so 
 prejudicial to infants among the poorer classes 
 in England. ) Mere infants are often rolled up in 
 a heap of dirty rags, and popped down on a heap 
 of rubbish, or even of mud, and there allowed to 
 lie, covered with swarms of flies, for hours to- 
 gether. As soon as the child has a few teeth, it 
 is crammed with anything the mother is eating, 
 which always includes a quantity of raw vegeta- 
 bles; it is kept from the use of soap and water, 
 partly from dislike of trouble, but also partly under 
 the idea that these are injurious to the young ; 
 and altogether it is a wonder that any survive. 
 The children are very much spoilt in general 
 while little, but sometimes the girls are made 
 drudges as they get old enough to be of use { this 
 is especially the case in the too numerous in- 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 37 
 
 stances of divorced parents, when the girl is 
 living with her father and his second wife, her 
 own mother being yet alive; the stepmother often 
 treats her with harshness, and pnts all the hard 
 work upon her. There are, however, occasionally 
 pleasing cases of affection and kindness even in 
 this somewhat trying relation of life. I remember 
 once meeting a peasant woman, still young in ap- 
 pearance, who was playing with a child of about a 
 year old, and it came out, in the course of conver- 
 sation, that it was not her own. " He is my 
 son's child/' she said. I was surprised, as she 
 did not look old enough to be its grandmother ; 
 and she then told me he was not her own son 
 really, but her husband's, "his first wife was 
 not good and divorced him, and then he 
 married me/' she continued, " and I brought up 
 the boy and his sister, that girl who is keeping 
 the goats beside the green tree yonder j they are 
 good children to me, and I love them even more 
 than my own three, they never gave me bad 
 words, and are very good," she added, looking 
 tenderly at the young girl who was drawing near 
 with her charge, and having heard part of what 
 we were saying, was smiling at her. 
 
 The Fellaha, or peasant's wife, in the 
 
38 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 country, hardly ever departs from the dark-blue 
 cotton and black muslin veil, or occasionally a 
 long checked mantle, answering to veil and cloak 
 in one — which have been, I suppose, the national 
 garb for centuries — but in the town many wear 
 prints of various colours for trousers and for the 
 short waistcoat without sleeves, which is worn in 
 winter as an additional garment. The favourite 
 hues are orange, pink, and yellow, or else ma- 
 genta crimson. 
 
 The older women, even among quite poor 
 people, frequently dye their grey locks with the 
 leaves of the Hennah plant (also used for staining 
 the fingers of young girls, and particularly brides, 
 of a tawny colour). The effect of orange-tawny 
 mixed with grey, in the rough short locks on an 
 old peasant-woman's forehead, is not ornamental 
 to our taste j but the desire to appear young, or, 
 at any rate, to conceal the ordinary consequences 
 of advancing years is, we know, not found alone 
 in Egypt. 
 
 I had a curious instance of the devotion of 
 our sex to personal appearance, when visiting a 
 very poor fishing village one day, where several 
 of the women, ragged and rather barbarous in 
 their looks and ways, were squatted about among 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 39 
 
 dust-heaps at the entrances of their huts. They 
 were not uncourteous, however, and invited me 
 to stay a little with them ; and two or three, 
 after some conversation, listened to some pas- 
 sages which I read from the Testament I had 
 with me, and seemed interested, though exces- 
 sively ignorant, of course. One elderly woman, 
 with a face like a walnut in complexion, and 
 grizzled locks partially stained of a tawny colour 
 hanging over her eyes, sat gazing steadily at me, 
 and, I hoped, was attending to the story I was 
 trying to explain. 
 
 "Yes, yes,'; it's good," she presently ob- 
 served; "but I wish now to ask you a question." 
 And, on being given permission (I was naturally 
 hoping for some question on the subject of the 
 reading), she continued, "Have you something 
 in the way of medicine you could give me V 
 
 " What ! Are you sick ?" I asked. " Where 
 is your malady 
 
 {t I am not sick, but my hair is turning grey, 
 and I wish you to give me some sort of medicine 
 to make it as before ! " 
 
 "Ah, my good woman, this is not in my 
 power. Besides, at your age, it is only natural 
 to have grey hair. You are getting old ! Did 
 
40 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 you ever hear of Solomon, and what lie said 
 about this ? " 
 
 " We all know Nebby Suleyman " (the pro- 
 phet Solomon) , exclaimed a venerable, white- 
 bearded fisherman, who sat smoking his long 
 pipe near us. " His words must be good." 
 
 " Well, he said that the hoary head was a 
 crown of glory, if it be found in the way of 
 righteousness/'' 
 
 The old man applauded, but the poor woman 
 sighed deeply, and shook her head, as she stroked 
 a plait of parti-coloured hair that hung over her 
 shoulder, and said, f( Could you not find me a 
 medicine for it V* 
 
 I was obliged to disappoint her, and endea- 
 voured to show her the futility of her desires, 
 and to make her see the wisdom of higher 
 matters ; but, though one of her neighbours 
 and the old man both appeared moved in some 
 degree, and were ready to listen, she was too 
 absorbed in her hair to think of anything else. 
 
 As sunset draws near, troops of women bear- 
 ing pitchers on their heads are to be seen return- 
 ing from the river, or from the canal. The water 
 of the wells in Cairo is brackish, and not used 
 for drinking or cookery ; consequently, the fetch- 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 41 
 
 inof of water — often from a considerable distance 
 — is one of the regular occupations of the women 
 of the humbler classes. I think — fatiguing 
 though it is, no doubt, in the dry season, when 
 they have to go farthest, on account of the dry- 
 ing-up of the nearer canals — this daily walk in 
 the fresh air serves to keep many of the poor 
 townswomen in health and vigour. Certain it is 
 that the class just above them, who pay a water- 
 carrier to bring water in skins instead of fetch- 
 ing it, are far less strong and active, and suffer 
 often from bilious attacks. 
 
 Evening usually unites the Fellaheen families 
 at the chief meal of the day. I suppose it is 
 not uncomfortable to them, as they do not know 
 what a neatly-spread table is ; but, to look at a 
 circle of them seated on the ground, often in the 
 dirt, with one, or, if they are wealthy in their 
 line, two earthen pans of coarse red ware, each 
 containing some little mess, and dipping flaps of 
 bread into them all together, eating quickly, and 
 generally in silence — each rising and going away 
 as soon as he has had enough — it is difficult to 
 fancy it very pleasant and sociable. Sometimes 
 the man eats alone, or with his sons ; and the 
 women finish the bowl afterwards. I have heard 
 
42 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 a Moslem, rather above the peasant class, speak 
 of himself as a peculiarly kind and civilized hus- 
 band, because he allowed his wife to eat with 
 him. " Instead," said he, " of standing while 
 I eat, with a glass of water in her hand to wait 
 on me, I let her sit down and eat at my side — ■ 
 and our little black slave also ! " he added 
 (evidently showing that he made no great dif- 
 ference). 
 
 In the hareems, I believe, the women are never 
 suffered to eat with their lord ; however, the 
 Fellaheen are less exclusive, and, in general, all 
 take their supper together. When the meal is 
 over, those who are of respectability always have 
 a tin or brass basin and ewer brought by the wife 
 or daughter, or by a slave, if they have one, and 
 water is poured over their hands — a very neces- 
 sary proceeding, certainly, after eating with the 
 fingers ; but, among the common people, the 
 ceremony is often dispensed with. 
 
 Their supper consists of vegetables, cooked 
 with a little butter into a sort of soup or stew ; 
 or of pulse of various kinds. On festival occa- 
 sions, meat is always partaken of, and also every 
 day in the fast-month, by all who can possibly 
 afford it — or rather, every night. I recollect 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 43 
 
 once visiting a Fellah family, in a village near 
 Cairo, during that period ; and found the women 
 engaged in cooking, in preparation for the wel- 
 come sunset hour, when the long abstinence 
 might be broken ; and, accustomed as I was to 
 the frugal habits of the people in general, I was 
 amazed at the quantity they had made ready, 
 for the party only consisted (so they told me) of 
 the man, with his wife and mother, a young bro- 
 ther, and a little child. The mother was making 
 balls of meat, pounded or chopped, with a little 
 seasoning ; and had filled a vessel, such as the}' 
 use for washing, with the immense piles of this 
 dainty, while the daughter had prepared a moun- 
 tain of beans, which she was going to boil as an 
 accompaniment j and the flaps of new-baked 
 bread seemed sufficient for a regiment of soldiers. 
 But it is only in " Rhamadan," or on extra- 
 ordinary occasions, that they indulge in this 
 manner. Their usual fare is simple, and they 
 are by no means given to excess. 
 
 The Fellaheen, like all Egyptians, are good- 
 natured and hospitable in regard to food, and 
 always offer a share to any one who may come to 
 see them, or even to a passer-by, when eating ; 
 and I have seen poor boys frequently dividing 
 
44 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 anything given to them with several comrades, 
 though it might be but a mouthful for each. We 
 had a most pleasing instance of this kindly 
 feeling some little time ago in our school. A 
 poor boy, a Copt, was left by his family in town, 
 for some months, totally unprovided for (though 
 they had agreed to supply him with the means of 
 buying food, if we let him sleep with our servants 
 in the court). We were not aware for a long 
 while that his friends had neglected to send the 
 remittances, as he never complained ; but on in- 
 quiry, it appeared that the boys in the school, 
 his companions, both Copts and Moslems, clubbed 
 together to give him daily food constantly, from 
 the dinners they brought with them ; and he 
 gratefully acknowledged this, saying, " Thank 
 God, I have always had enough ! The boys are 
 very kind." 
 
 The habit of sharing with others is so general 
 in respect of food, that it is observed even among 
 young children, and is certainly a very pleasing 
 trait. 
 
 The Moslem Fellah has probably performed 
 his evening devotions before supper, spreading a 
 cloak or carpet on the ground, and going through 
 the formula with as much rapidity as is con- 
 
THE FELLAH. 
 
 45 
 
 sistent with, solemnity of manner. We cannot 
 but honour the conscientious performance of 
 religious observances when addressed to the true 
 God; but we must lament that the prayer is 
 really a string of epithets, rather than a supplica- 
 tion to the Most High. How far more accept- 
 able to the Father of Lights would be a single 
 cry from the heart, " God be merciful to me a 
 sinner ! " As to the women, it is very rare in- 
 deed for one of them to pray. They suppose 
 that it would be useless. They do not know the 
 long string of words used by their people, and as 
 they are unlearned, the whole ceremony is (except 
 with a few) entirely dispensed with ; and the 
 only way in which they ever name the Almighty, 
 is by incessantly taking His name in vain in 
 ejaculations, of whose profanity, poor creatures, 
 they are not aware ! Night draws on, and they 
 creep into their huts, as the animal into its 
 den, without thanksgiving or repentance; and, 
 rolling themselves and their babies on the mat, 
 or on a thin cotton mattress, fall asleep. 
 
 In the hot nights of summer, many sleep out 
 of doors ; and certainly it would seem to give 
 the best chance for sleep, as, in that season, even 
 night brings little coolness. Still, that little is 
 
46 
 
 THE FELLAH. 
 
 more attainable outside than within walls; but 
 foreigners are warned not to attempt the plan, 
 unless in the dry desert, as it is apt to give fever 
 to any but children of the soil. 
 
 Thus I have given a brief and imperfect 
 sketch of the life of the humbler classes of Egypt, 
 as it has come under my observation. In many 
 respects they probably retain the customs and 
 ways of their ancestors far more than is the case 
 in Northern climes ; and some of these we should 
 be sorry to see changed — only such as are merely 
 the consequence of ignorance and degradation. 
 And, most of all, we should wish to see the poor 
 Fellah, as he patiently plods through the burden 
 and heat of the day, learning to know Him who 
 said, " Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and 
 heavy-laden, and I will refresh you ! " 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 Every one who comes to Egypt goes up the 
 Xile, so that accounts of Nile voyages are only 
 too plentiful j but these are two months' voyages 
 at the least, and full of accounts of the marvel- 
 lous antiquities of Thebes and Luxor. Few of 
 the travellers have time to see anything of the 
 habits and ways of the people beyond a passing 
 glimpse, and if they lingered among the mud 
 huts (which have little to tempt the eye it must 
 be allowed), want of knowledge of the language 
 would restrict their observations to the meagre 
 and by no means very reliable details gained by 
 the interpretation of a servant. The Christian 
 traveller often longs to be able to say some- 
 thing to comfort the afflicted and instruct the 
 ignorant; and when giving, perhaps, a little eye- 
 water for the diseased, who come to beg for it, 
 he longs to be able to tell of One who opened 
 
48 BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 the eyes of the blind, and who still gives sight to 
 the blind in heart and understanding : and would 
 be glad to have a faithful and trusty interpreter 
 — such as one really acquainted with God's work 
 alone can be — to speak for him. To travellers of 
 this description, and perhaps some others who 
 love to hear of the sowing of the seed " beside 
 all waters," these brief extracts, taken from 
 journals written at the time, will not be devoid 
 of interest. The names of the villages and 
 towns are not given for certain reasons, but all 
 are upon the great river, which is thickly inha- 
 bited on its banks. 
 
 It was the last week in January (1870), our 
 little party were on the river for our yearly trip 
 of two or three weeks. The old Nile looked 
 more like a sea than a river, for the inundation 
 that August had been uncommonly great ; in 
 fact, it had done much damage, destroying many 
 villages on the low grounds, and the durra, or 
 maize, had perished in most places. The effect 
 now, however, was beautiful ; the wide reaches of 
 the river shimmering in the bright sunshine, were 
 delightful to the eye, and the sunset such as an 
 artist's heart would rejoice in ; the water-fowl 
 disporting on the calm surface of the water, 
 
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 49 
 
 tinged alternately with crimson, geld, and pale 
 green; and the palm groves, with their purple 
 shadows and feathery boughs, standing out 
 against an apricot sky, form a picture simple 
 enough in outline, and sometimes eveu mono- 
 tonous, but unsurpassed in colouring. 
 
 In the middle of the day one might almost 
 fancy it summer, so warm and genial were the 
 rays of the sun, but the mornings and evenings 
 were really cold, especially to persons accus- 
 tomed to the heat prevailing the greater part of 
 the year in Egypt. The winter cold is short 
 indeed ; but while it lasts the natives seem to feel 
 it a good deal, and no wonder, especially the pea- 
 sant worn eu, who are very ill protected by their thin 
 cotton raiment from a chill wind. In the country, 
 clothing is expensive and difficult to procure, 
 and the women come down to draw water just 
 before sunset, actually chattering and shivering 
 with cold as their loose robes and thin veils flutter 
 in the cold^breeze, and the water washes over 
 their bare ankles, and often up to their knees, 
 while standing to wash the great heavy pitchers, 
 which are then filled and carried away on their 
 heads. Some would glance admiringly, and per- 
 haps enviously, poor things ! at our warm woollen 
 
 4 
 
50 BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 shawls and knitted hoods ; but it doubtless never 
 occurred to them that the silver bracelets and 
 gold coins which adorned the arms and throats 
 of most of them would have purchased a whole 
 wardrobe of warm clothing ! 
 
 The men, on the other hand, are generally 
 more or less provided with winter comforts, in 
 the shape of great brown mantles of undyed 
 wool, spun by their own fingers from the fleeces 
 of their dark-coloured sheep ; and we frequently 
 see a group of sturdy peasants at the close of the 
 day, or during their mid-day's rest, sitting on the 
 bank of the river or in some sunny spot, each with 
 his primitive spindle dangling from his hands. 
 
 How often we have tried to interest such 
 groups in the words of eternal life, and have sat 
 in the midst of them till the last rays of light were 
 gone, and the grey shadows of evening replacing 
 the golden glow over the Nile ! Nor can we feel 
 that the efforts have been wasted, though it is only 
 in a very few cases that we have been enabled to 
 meet the same persons again, and though we are 
 far from imagining that the listening to a short 
 portion of Scripture necessarily implies a deep 
 and lasting impression. Does it in more civilized 
 lands ? Is it not everywhere more or less the 
 
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 51 
 
 same ? Of many who listen few receive the 
 Word into the good ground of an honest heart. 
 And of course the difficulties in the way of both 
 hearers and instructors are trebly great in a 
 country like this, where the peasantry are so 
 averse to anything of change, and so easily made 
 angry or frightened by whatever savours to them 
 • of novelty or of opposition to old habits and 
 customs. Untried zeal expects abundant success 
 against every probability, and sometimes tires 
 and withdraws ; when facts prove that the more 
 ignorant people are, the more obstinate they are 
 also, and the more indifferent to instruction ; but 
 faith can hope on, and labour on, under every 
 hindrance, remembering that there is joy in 
 heaven if one sinner repents, out of a hundred 
 who think that they need no repentance. 
 
 I was reflecting on these matters while making 
 my way over a ploughed field on the bank of the 
 river, towards a collection of mud huts, which 
 ranked as a village (and rather a large one). 
 The difficulties alluded to were still greater in mv 
 case, for my fellow-labourers had the advantage 
 of similarity of language (Arabic being the 
 national tongue of Syria as well as of Egypt, as 
 most people are aware). I had the hindrance 
 
52 BEEAD CAST ON THE WATEES. 
 
 of being a foreigner in speech, often ur 
 adequately to express all I wished, and some 
 unable to fully understand the rapid and 
 matic questions of my audience ; these ai 
 too, being female, were always far infe 
 knowledge and (generally speaking) in inte . 
 to the men, being married as mere child 
 their mental powers early stunted by da 
 gery and a life of utter monotony. An Jo 
 women a stranger finds it no easy task to mu 
 any way ; but love to souls is a strong motive 
 and sometimes wins an opening of the heart's door 
 when no other key would have a chance. And 
 now and then a ray of light shines out to cheer 
 us amid the darkness. Our first halting-place this 
 year had no particular interest, but in the next 
 there was something worth recording in the 
 humble annals of the voyage. While both the 
 missionaries were gone to different villages a 
 little inland, I was sketching some palms near 
 the shore, expecting that I should soon have 
 company, as proved to be the case. First only a 
 few children, ragged and dirty, but bright-eyed 
 and funny, peeping round, and wondering what 
 the " Frank woman " could be " writing trees " 
 or ! Then came several women, and seated 
 
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 53 
 
 themselves around me on the ground ; and when 
 I had got fairly into conversation with them, and 
 obtained their leave to read " a story out of my 
 book " to them, the party was increased by 
 several men. In town the women would have 
 immediately decamped or veiled their faces, but 
 here they seemed quite unconcerned, and not 
 one of the bronzed, healthy faces was hidden ; 
 only (as usual when men are among them) I 
 could not induce them to answer questions with- 
 out much trouble ; they seem to suppose that it 
 is manners to keep silence when their lords are 
 present, unless it be a matter of business, in 
 which case their tongues would run fast enough. 
 
 Among the four or five men who had come to 
 sit with the group which was collected round the 
 fallen palm on whose stem I was seated, was a 
 very iutelligent, pleasant-looking man of middle 
 age, who asked several questions about our boat, 
 and where we resided, etc. When he heard about 
 the schools in Cairo, he was greatly interested : 
 he was, he told me, a teacher himself; but in a 
 poor village like this, where the boys were needed 
 for hand labour as soon as they could walk almost, 
 his pupils were but very few — about ten I think 
 he said. He asked some rather curious questions, 
 
04 ±>KLAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 but the naivete of his manner, and his open 
 honest face, showed that his inquisitiveness did 
 not proceed from impertinence, but simplicity. 
 When he was satisfied in some degree, he turned 
 to the book I held, and begged to see it. I was 
 quite willing, on the condition that he would read 
 a portion aloud ; for I observed, " These women 
 will follow your reading much better than that 
 of a foreigner." He read with a fine voice and 
 clear enunciation part of the first chapter of St. 
 John's Gospel, but presently paused and said, not 
 angrily but gravely, " God forbid this word — 
 Son of God ! Why do you have this word V I 
 endeavoured to explain the meaning to him, and 
 he seemed to see it in a new light, but not to be 
 perfectly satisfied. So also on reading iu another 
 place of the death of Christ, he objected, saying, 
 " The Jews wanted to kill Seidna Eessa (the Lord 
 Jesus), but far be it from him that the Lord Eessa 
 should die ! This would be shame" 
 
 I thought of Peter's words, " Be it far from 
 thee, Lord!" almost the very same, and felt 
 that the " offence of the cross" is still a difficulty 
 among many. The thought of a crucified Re- 
 deemer is against the pride of man \ and even 
 those who deny his Divinity, revolt at the idea of 
 
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 55 
 
 the deaths without which the Gospel is vain. I 
 tried to show this to the teacher, saying, " My 
 brother, if Jesus did not die, you and I must 
 die eternally. We must be punished by everlast- 
 ing death for our sins unless the holy and sinless 
 One suffered death for us sinners. God's justice 
 and love met together in Jesus." He showed 
 his white teeth in a smile of doubtful meaning 
 at this, but presently resumed the discussion 
 seriously. Several of the others now went away, 
 having no taste for grave talk \ the remainder 
 seemed interested. I brought forward some 
 simple illustrations to show the need of atone- 
 ment for man, and at the same time warned my 
 new friend that being a stranger, and not perfect 
 in his language, my arguments might not seem 
 clear to him on this account, but that if he really 
 wished to understand this great truth, he could 
 come to our boat and he would see the gentlemen 
 who were now gone to a distant village, but 
 would shortly return, and they could far better 
 explain it to him. He wished to know if he 
 could procure a book like this, and of course I 
 told him we had several on board. "I know," 
 he said, " there are four books called Matthew, 
 Mark, and John, and another which I forget. I 
 
56 BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 much wish to procure them, and never have been 
 able/'' I suggested Luke as the fourth. "Yes, 
 yes ; that is it. Have you all those V 3 "Certainly, 
 and more beside/' was the reply. He had pro- 
 bably heard of the four Gospels from some Coptic 
 acquaintance, but his wishing to possess them 
 was a sign of unusual liberality and intelligence. 
 I now read one or two stories from the Gospel 
 suited to the limited powers of the poor women, 
 and then having no more time to stay, returned 
 to the boat, and was glad to see the teacher fol- 
 lowing me. We found Mr. Shakoor just returned, 
 and he invited the man on board the " Daha- 
 beeyeb," or Nile-boat. I found afterwards that he 
 had business on the opposite coast, and a small boat 
 was actually waiting to take him,but he sent a friend 
 to say he would not go, and the boat sailed with- 
 out him. It is not often an Egyptian will sacrifice 
 a worldly affair, if it be but to gain twenty pavas, 
 for spiritual information and intellectual acquaint- 
 ance. So we were much interested in this poor 
 man, who stayed nearly two hours on the deck, 
 reading chapter after chapter, and asking ques- 
 tions and receiving answers. It was well he had 
 one to reply to his difficulties and objections who 
 was fully acquainted with the Koran, and who 
 
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 57 
 
 knew all the ways of the people. He left us 
 at length, professing himself satisfied with the 
 explanation given him of the expressions that had 
 so puzzled him, and carrying a Testament under 
 his arm, and accompanied by earnest prayers. So 
 he went on his way, and we continued our voyage. 
 
 Our next visit was to a place of more conse- 
 quence than the mud villages, and where we had 
 a slight acquaintance with some Copts, amoDg 
 others a priest, whose wife I had formerly visited 
 (the Coptic secular priests like those of the Greek 
 Church, are married, as some of my readers may 
 be aware) . The wives have usually no more edu- 
 cation than their neighbours, nor are they in any 
 way superior to artisans' wives in the arrangements 
 of their dwellings, or their own dress, etc. The 
 only perceptible difference was a greater respect 
 for learning, and for the name at least of the 
 Scripture. 
 
 The wife and her sister received me- very 
 cordially, and insisted on spreading the bed, by 
 way of a sofa, for a seat ; which, though the mud 
 floor would have been preferable, I could not 
 refuse. They listened with apparent interest to 
 some reading from the Gospel, and the wife 
 actually promised to ask her husband to teach 
 
58 EKEAD CAST ON THE WATEKS. 
 
 her to read, on . my suggestion. She already 
 knew her letters, which he had taught her, and 
 she declared he would not be unwilling to give 
 her further teaching. I gave her some printed 
 Arabic texts as an assistance, and we had some 
 conversation about the great concerns of life and 
 death, which the recent loss of an infant made 
 especially suitable, as the poor young woman's 
 mind seemed softened by her late trouble, and 
 touched by friendly sympathy. I was going to 
 take leave when she urged me to partake of 
 their breakfast (it was only nine o'clock), and 
 in fact would not take a refusal; and I did 
 not like to hurt her feelings, or appear too proud 
 to sit down with them — though to a European 
 the fare was not served up in a very tempting 
 manner — nothing being clean about it. A small 
 round tray was brought by the eldest girl, who, 
 young as her mother looked, was at least ten 
 years. old, and put on a low stool, round which 
 the females present seated themselves on the 
 floor (the men did not eat with them ; I think 
 the priest was not come from church). A dish of 
 fried eggs, and another of sour curds, were then 
 placed on it, with a heap of dark-coloured thin 
 loaves, or flaps, of native bread; and every one 
 
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 59 
 
 took up a bit with a piece of this to assist the 
 fingers. After the meal, the girl brought a tin 
 basin and ewer with a long spout, and a piece of 
 cotton for a towel, and each washed her hands, 
 as is the custom in all Oriental families save those 
 mere peasants, or very poor, who simply lick 
 their fingers after eating, but no one who has 
 the least pretensions to propriety fails to wash in 
 the way described ; the servant — if there is one, 
 and if not, the youngest of the party — carrying 
 round the water, etc. 
 
 I tried to get the two sisters to come and 
 visit us at our " Dahabeeyeh but though they 
 seemed to think it would be a pleasant change, 
 especially the widow, who told us how much she 
 wished it — they dared not venture on what would 
 shock all their family. No women of that class, 
 nor any except the poorest peasants, went out of 
 their houses save to the church or bath, or very 
 rarely to market. The Copts are, indeed, even 
 more shut up than the Mohammedans, unless 
 where a dawning education has induced the head 
 of a family to relax the strict seclusion a little. So 
 I had to take leave of my friends at the mud steps 
 of their abode, and returned alone to the shore. 
 
 At another place we were delayed by contrary 
 
00 BREAD CAST ON THE WATEBS. 
 
 winds, on a part of the coast we had not hitherto 
 tried, as there was no village on the river banks. 
 Being detained there by necessity for a whole day, 
 we resolved to go a little way inland and see if any 
 people in the hamlets within a mile or two would 
 receive books. In spite of a high wind, the 
 walk was pleasant, being through fields of luxu- 
 riant clover and green corn, such as refresh the 
 senses of those whose lot it is to dwell in a town. 
 In the distance the yellow cliffs of the desert 
 appeared in view, while clumps of trees dotted 
 about the landscape, showed where villages existed. 
 The first of these was only a cluster of huts, con- 
 nected with a large " abadeeyeh/' or farm, whose 
 bailiff saluted us civilly, and made no objection 
 to our visiting his workpeople. A number of 
 Bedouin tents were pitched on one side of the 
 mud huts of the labourers, and I was informed 
 that these belonged to a tribe who were tem- 
 porarily employed as watchmen over the crops 
 and cattle during a certain part of the year. 
 This is customary in villages or farms bordering 
 on the desert, but the wandering race rarely mix 
 with the peasants by intermarriages, and pre- 
 serve all their old customs, or most of them,, 
 unchanged, probably from the time of Ishmael. 
 
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 61 
 
 Their tents of black goats'-hair are preferable to 
 any ceiled dwelling in their eyes, and the men 
 still wear the raiment of camelVhair and girdle 
 of leather, which was worn by John the Baptist, 
 who no doubt assumed the garb of the wander- 
 ing Arab during his residence in the deserts, as 
 suitable to that rough mode of life. 
 
 The Bedouin women have generally the same 
 dark blue or black cotton robe as that worn by 
 the fellaheen, or peasant women, but they are dis- 
 tinguished by face veils of either crimson or white 
 crape instead of a black one; these coverings 
 are short, barely reaching to the chin, and most of 
 them are fringed with coins of silver j their hair is 
 either cut short on the forehead, or else the long 
 plaits are twisted into a sort of horn just over 
 the eyebrows, which has a very curious effect. 
 
 I found two Bedouin women sitting among 
 the Egyptians, one of whom was a pretty young 
 woman, and evidently intelligent. In spite of 
 the young children who swarmed around the 
 little circle (and who tried in every way to hinder 
 any one but themselves from being attended 
 to), I managed at length to get a hearing, 
 and, having satisfied the curiosity of the poor 
 women about my dress, why I wore "several 
 
62 BREAD CAST ON THE WATEES. 
 
 dresses/' as they expressed it, and what was the 
 use of a " thing made of straw on the head, when 
 straw every one knew was only food for cattle ?" 
 and, above all, why I did not wear any jewels. 
 These and other questions being disposed of, we 
 got into real conversation about more important 
 matters. " She can read Arabic and says good 
 words, therefore she is certainly a Moslem/' said 
 one of the Bedouin women aside to a neighbour. 
 "No," said the other, "I think she is a Copt." 
 " I am a follower of the Messiah," I replied to 
 these overheard remarks, " and He is the 
 Holy One of God, the Saviour of the world. He 
 did not come for one sect only, but for all man- 
 kind. If we do not believe in Him, this is either 
 from our sin, or else that we do not know Him ; 
 not from want of love in Himself." I went on 
 to say that the Gospel was good news, and that I 
 would try and show them what it meant, and ex- 
 plained in the simplest words the forgiveness of 
 sin through a dying and risen Saviour. 
 
 One poor, ignorant old creature said, " These 
 words are so good that I think if you would lend 
 me your book to lay on my forehead it would 
 cure my headache, which troubles me all the 
 day ! " It was impossible to restrain a smile at 
 
BREAD CAST OX THE WATERS. 63 
 
 this foolish idea, but after all, is not the blessed 
 Gospel thus degraded by superstition in Ireland 
 and elsewhere, when scraps of it are sewed in a 
 bag and used as charms by the Roman Catholic 
 peasantry, under the sanction of those who ought 
 to teach them better ? I endeavoured of course 
 to show the true use of good words. The poor 
 Bedouiu woman listened with apparently sincere 
 interest. She asked if I prayed, and on being 
 answered in the affirmative, turned triumphantly 
 to one sitting behind her, " There ! did I not 
 tell you?" The poor people have no idea that 
 any except members of Islam ever pray, and 
 therefore she thought I must belong to them if I 
 could pray. I told her the true nature of prayer 
 did not consist in a string of words with little 
 meaning attached, nor even in praise ; "it is true," 
 I said, w that we should praise God for his great- 
 ness and his goodness, but prayer needs that we 
 ask for something we wish for, and that from the 
 very heart, not by the lips only." " I never heard 
 these things before," said the young Bedouin ; 
 "no one told me, and I am not learned !" How 
 sorrowful such words make one feel when the 
 opportunity of teaching is so short, for even 
 could I be sure of returning to the spot next 
 
64 
 
 BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS. 
 
 year, the same tribe would not, in all probability, 
 be found there ; they go to various places each 
 year, I was told, and wander in the desert again 
 as soon as their occupation in keeping watch 
 over the cattle during the season of clover is 
 ended. I could only pray for the poor child of 
 the desert ; and I told her that I did so, asking the 
 Lord then and there to have mercy on her, and 
 give her pardon and peace through the Saviour. 
 In a few simple words she bade me an affec- 
 tionate farewell, for the sinking sun now warned 
 us to be up and going. The men — one or two 
 Bedouins among them — had meantime been 
 grouped round Mr. Shakoor at a little distance, 
 listening to a chapter of the Gospel, while their 
 wives were occupied with me. We had to 
 hasten back as the wind was high ; and in Egypt, 
 when the winter sun has set, a sudden cold often 
 sets in, such as M. About describes, in his graphic 
 way, " as a mantle of lead falling suddenly on the 
 shoulders, and then," he adds, " there is no time 
 to lose in getting under shelter." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 There are few greater hindrances to the spread 
 of education in the East than the early ages at 
 which marriages are contracted. In Cairo the 
 evils of the system have come under my observa- 
 tion so frequently in my constant intercourse 
 with the people, especially the humbler classes, 
 that I can speak feelingly on the subject. It is 
 true Eastern children are a little forwarder for 
 their age than those in the North : they walk 
 sooner, and are rather older-looking than the 
 average of English children at any rate, perhaps 
 of Northern Europeans generally; but the dif- 
 ference is much less than is often supposed — a 
 year or two is all the advantage you could give 
 them, and an Egyptian of twelve is just as unfit, 
 either in bodily strength or by mental develop- 
 ment, to be the head of a family, as any other 
 girl of that age would be. In fact, she is treated 
 
 5 
 
66 
 
 EGYPTIAN MAREIAGES. 
 
 as a child in many respects, and not in general 
 trusted with money, nor with any authority in the 
 dwelling — her mother-in-law reigns there, and 
 in the families of the poor she is often quite a 
 drudge to the old woman for the first years of 
 her married life. 
 
 There seems little difference in this respect 
 between the habits of the Copts (who, as is well 
 known, are the remnant of the ancient Egyptian 
 Christians) and the Mohammedans, who — con- 
 sisting of those who conformed to the faith of 
 their fierce invaders, and doubtless mixed with 
 those invaders — are the larger number. 
 
 The ceremonies are, of course, different at 
 Coptic and Moslem bridals, but the important 
 point is that in which they both agree — namely, 
 that the girl is to be disposed of as early as 
 possible, and without the slightest reference to 
 her own wishes or feelings. 
 
 The Moslem weddings are conducted in the 
 day-time; that is to say, the actual ceremony of 
 bringing the bride and bridegroom before the 
 Mollah, and reading some paper in presence of 
 witnesses. A procession through the streets 
 precedes this, which is always a grand affair even 
 among the poor, as neighbours and friends are 
 
EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 67 
 
 assembled, and walk after the canopy which is 
 held over the bride j a band of music, in which 
 the native drum has the pre-eminence, accom- 
 panies the troop, and mingles its joyous though 
 rather discordant sounds with the shrill but 
 sweet zagareet of the women (a peculiar sound 
 made in the throat resembling small bells, and 
 exceedingly difficult to imitate by anyone not early 
 accustomed to it). The canopy held over the 
 bride is of red silk fastened to four poles, and 
 she walks within it surrounded by her mother 
 and older female friends, while the bridesmaids, 
 generally mere children, sometimes so young as 
 to be unveiled, walk or skip in front of her ; they 
 are always dressed in red or pink, the quality 
 and material according to their means. 
 
 Prints and pictures professing to represent 
 Eastern bridal processions sometimes represent 
 the bride as only sheltered by a flowing veil, her 
 features quite visible ; but, at least in Egypt, this 
 is quite incorrect; she has not even the eyes 
 exposed, as is the case with the women on all 
 other occasions, who wear a black or white cover- 
 ing tied under the eyes, hiding nose and mouth 
 only, but the bride is entirely covered, head and 
 face and dress, by a large red shawl ; an elabo- 
 
68 
 
 EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 rate ornament of diamonds (hired if they are 
 poor) is placed outside upon her head. The 
 effect is that of an idol exactly, and the sensation 
 to the poor victim must be very disagreeable if 
 the weather is hot (which is the case for seven 
 months in the year) , as the procession takes place 
 in the middle of the day, and they walk as slowly 
 as possible all the time ! Some of the wealthy 
 now employ carriages at weddings, and even those 
 who are in moderate circumstances are beginning 
 to use them. In the evening they have another 
 kind of procession, consisting only of men. I be- 
 lieve it is the bridegroom being conducted to the 
 bride's house ; this is exceedingly picturesque, 
 the friends who accompany the young man being 
 all provided with lighted tapers and large 
 bouquets of roses, jessamine, or orange flowers ; 
 and if it is the marriage of a tradesman who is in 
 good circumstances, the show is quite beautiful, 
 the lights glowing fitfully in the dark streets, and 
 falling here and there upon the rich coloured 
 caftans, crimson, orange, green, and purple — the 
 snowy turbans contrasting well with these bright 
 hues ; the bridegroom, however, usually wears a 
 turban of some fine shawl, and is dressed very 
 hands, mely. A curious chant is at intervals sung, 
 
EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 69 
 
 in which prosperity is wished to the new couple, 
 mingling with this many appeals to God and 
 their Prophet, according to custom. Among the 
 very poor much less ceremony is necessarily 
 used, and, to save expense, some will actually 
 prefer taking a divorced woman as a bride, be- 
 cause no procession, music, etc., is then required, 
 and the whole is conducted privately and quietly ! 
 The Coptic wedding festivities bear some resem- 
 blance to those of the ancient Jewish times, and 
 are, therefore, very interesting to witness ; a 
 feast forms a great part of the concern, in which 
 food is liberally distributed to the poor, if the 
 families to be united are at all of a wealthy class ; 
 but the prettiest part of the scene is the night 
 procession, in which the bride, attired in silk and 
 jewels (usually white brocade and diamonds with 
 plenty of gold ornaments — hired, if her family are 
 not very rich), is conducted to her husband's 
 house, after the marriage ceremony in the Coptic 
 church is over. The women — except the bride 
 and her little bridesmaids, who are as gay as 
 butterflies — are all in their black shrouding man- 
 tles, which hide the rich garments within while 
 they are in the streets ; but the men are in every 
 variety of colours, as with the Mohammedans; 
 
70 
 
 EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 and the torches gleaming as they pass, the boy 
 carrying incense in a silver vessel, and the joyous 
 groups winding through the narrow streets and 
 under dark archways, is beautiful and striking. 
 Both this and the nightly procession of the 
 Mohammedan Egyptians vividly recall the Scrip- 
 ture allusions, especially when standing at a 
 window to look out one hears the frequent cry, 
 u The bridegroom ! the bridegroom ! " but it makes 
 a believer think with painful interest of the dark 
 spiritual condition of the actors in these gay 
 scenes, who know so little of such Scriptures, and 
 it makes his heart long for them to be better pre- 
 pared to meet that heavenly Bridegroom whose 
 coming may be near, and which is, by God's 
 wisdom, hidden from us, so that we know not if 
 it shall be at morning or evening, or midnight, 
 or at the cock-crowing ! 
 
 But let us now see what sort of being the 
 young bride is for whose marriage all this festi- 
 vity takes place. We speak specially of the 
 young Moslem. We know she is a child, but 
 not exactly such a child as would be found in a 
 corresponding class in Europe — at any rate, in 
 Northern Europe. There a girl of twelve years 
 old is in a state of progress, an unfinished crea- 
 
EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 71 
 
 ture mentally ; whereas in Egypt she has to grow 
 in body only. Her few acquirements have been 
 attained already. She has no object in improv- 
 ing, and no one to show her what improvement 
 means, all around being alike ignorant. One 
 day she will be married, and there will be feast- 
 ing, and drums, and fine dress. She knows that ; 
 and if some troubles follow, some beatings from 
 the husband, and other domestic annoyances, 
 they are inevitable, and she is too young to look 
 forward much. 
 
 The little bride knows how to knead bread 
 and sift corn, etc. ; in some cases to sew, in a 
 coarse style also ; and she is up in all the gossip 
 of her quarter. Beyond this her mind is a 
 blank, and so is that of her grandmother of sixty ; 
 the only great difference is, that the old woman 
 is more full of superstitions and prejudices, and 
 likes to squat in a corner of her room, or at the 
 door (if of the poorer class, in the dust-heap of 
 the lane), with a long pipe, rather than to romp 
 with the girls, as her grand-daughter does. It 
 is only an old child and a young child, as far as 
 mind goes. But physically the difference is 
 much greater than the difference between age 
 and youth must be everywhere. Old age, when 
 
72 EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 not softened by the habits of civilization, the 
 cleanly garments and the self-respect and dig- 
 nity which so become declining years ; and yet 
 more, the light of Christianity, which can 
 brighten the evening of life like the rays of the 
 setting sun, when it sets in golden clouds only to 
 rise in another hemisphere ! — age, without these, 
 or any of these, is not pleasing to look at. In 
 Egypt woman is despised and made a slave of 
 from her youth up ; and what wonder that her 
 age is generally most unlovely ? Exposure and 
 utter want of cleanliness increase the natural 
 effect of time, and her leathern face and wrin- 
 kled throat, unshaded by muslin kerchief or 
 shawl, her rough, " grizzled locks peeping from 
 under a coarse black muslin veil, look as unlike 
 the slender, graceful creature at her side, as two 
 human beings can be one to the other. Yet that 
 nut-brown maiden, with her clear black eye and 
 laughing face, showing her rows of milk-white 
 teeth, as even and pure as few but Egyptian 
 teeth are, and her rounded arms and delicately- 
 formed fingers playing with her veil of rose- 
 coloured net (if it chance to be a festival, and 
 she is in the glory of her new clothes) — that very 
 Zeynab, or Zohrah, or Saida, will turn into just 
 
EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 73 
 
 such, a shabby, miserable-looking old thing, before 
 she has seen fifty years probably ! 
 
 In some we see the remains of really fine and 
 regular features, but these are exceptional as in 
 most countries. In general, fine eyes and teeth, 
 and a very pretty figure, are the dower of an 
 Egyptian maiden ; but, when these are gone, 
 nothing but wrinkles, dirt, and blear eyes are to 
 be seen peering out of a shapeless mass of limp, 
 dark-blue rags, huddled on without care one 
 over the other. Occasionally a kindly old face 
 looks up from the threshold where she is 
 crouched, and a cheerful, civil salutation shows 
 the pleasant nature ; but, as a rule, the old women 
 are my greatest trials among*the poor — so obsti- 
 nate, so dirty, so prejudiced, and so silly — poor 
 old creatures ! The young are the hope, cer- 
 tainly ; but the old are like a strong rope drag- 
 ging them the wrong way. It is hardly needful 
 to observe that I am speaking of the humbler 
 class in these remarks ; but they include many 
 respectable persons. 
 
 The early age at which the girls are married 
 is, as I said above, one of the greatest hindrances 
 in the way of female education ; for to get at 
 them, when married, as pupils, is quite impos- 
 
74 
 
 EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 sible. Some little good may be done by keeping 
 up occasional intercourse, but anything like 
 regular instruction is rarely permitted. In fact, 
 both with Moslems and Copts, the seclusion of 
 young married women is greater than any 
 other. While girls, a considerable amount of 
 freedom is given, and when middle-aged also; 
 but the young wife is often forbidden to stir 
 beyond her own doors, except to go to the bath, 
 and beaten by her mother-in-law if she dares to 
 disobey. A nice young woman — who comes, at 
 long intervals, to see the school, where she was 
 a scholar only for three months — told me that it 
 was a great favour when her mother-in-law 
 allowed her to accompany a relative's child who 
 came to school ; and as to visiting me weekly, 
 as I proposed, she shook her head at the very 
 idea as something out of the question. The 
 difficulty is not quite so great with Coptic pupils, 
 as, though they are as secluded as Moslems 
 if they belong to the old-fashioned set, there are 
 some who are getting more enlightened. One of 
 my former teachers was actually left in my em- 
 ployment till long past the usual age of marriage 
 — in fact, she could not have been less than 
 nineteen ; her bridegroom being of the same age 
 
EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 75 
 
 as herself, she was very willing to wait, and it 
 turned out well ; but the father, fearing ridicule, 
 gave out that she was but sixteen. I believe they 
 all knew better — but it sounded less like an " old 
 maid » ! 
 
 This young woman insisted on coming to visit 
 us after three weeks, instead of submitting to be 
 locked up for six months at the least, according 
 to old Coptic usage. Now, after more than two 
 years, the young couple continue to go on better 
 than many others. The husband frequently reads 
 to his family in the Scriptures; and the wife, 
 now a mother, is a little more independent in 
 her own department than is at all common. 
 
 The Coptic brides often get on very badly 
 with their husbands, especially in the early part 
 of their life. Being so unlit, from their extreme 
 youth, for the position into which they are forced, 
 they are quarrelsome, and not unfrequently insist 
 on going back to stay with their parents for a 
 long time ; but, sooner or later, the quarrels are 
 usually patched up, and they get to bear with 
 each other somehow, as the Coptic law is praise- 
 worthy in its strictness concerning marriage, and 
 nothing but grossly immoral conduct would make 
 a divorce possible. 
 
76 
 
 EGYPTIAN MAERIAGES. 
 
 The poor Moslems are far more defenceless, 
 therefore, for their law, as we all know, allows of 
 divorce on the most trivial pretext. A man may- 
 drive away his wife for anything or nothing ; and 
 the lower orders, who cannot afford to avail them- 
 selves of their Prophet's permission to marry 
 several at once, are sadly given to send one away 
 and take another, as if the mother of their 
 children were no better than a hireling ; nay, 
 worse, for except her own dowry and jewels, if 
 she have any, she goes away without wages and 
 without notice ! I think their consciences, seared 
 though they are, feel this to be wrong, as those 
 few who have remained faithful to each other 
 boast of it as a good thing. " I am not like such 
 a one, nor is my husband," said the mother of 
 one of our pupil-teachers ; u we have never been 
 married to any one else \" But the tie is of 
 course very differently looked upon from what it 
 is even among nominal Christians. One day 
 Mr. Shakoor was reading to a group of peasants 
 from the Gospel, and one of them begged him to 
 read some passage on the duties of wives, for the 
 benefit of his who was within hearing, and with 
 whom, it seemed, he had just been disputing ; 
 " for," said he, " when I tell her to do one 
 
EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 77 
 
 thing she does another." He listened atten- 
 tively,, praised the exhortation to obedience, 
 etc., which was given from St. Paul's Epistle 
 to the Ephesians, in answer to his request ; but 
 afterwards Mr. Shakoor read of the duties of 
 husbands, and especially what was said by our 
 Lord against sending away their wives, accom- 
 panying it with explanation, and showing them 
 how sinful and unfeeling their common practice 
 was. " But," said the man, " you surely don't 
 mean that there is no case in which a wife may 
 be rightly divorced, even if not wicked ; for 
 example, if she became blind one would be right 
 to drive her away ; do you not think so V* He 
 was astonished to be told that, on the contrary, 
 such a misfortune ought to call out his tenderest 
 care, and that they should bear the affliction 
 together, instead of turning out the unhappy 
 woman because she was afflicted ! Does not this 
 anecdote show the way in which marriage is 
 looked on among the Moslems ? There are, 
 doubtless, exceptions, but this is the common 
 feeling among the mass of the people, judging 
 from what I hear as well as from observation. 
 
 The effect on the children of the frequent 
 separation of their parents may be imagined ; 
 
78 
 
 EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 brothers and sisters early parted — a step-father 
 and step- mother while their own are still alive, — 
 the little ones sometimes residing with one parent 
 and sometimes the other, not unfrequently quar- 
 relled for; sometimes one desirous of sending 
 the girls to our school and the other hindering, 
 merely because, being divorced, they dislike each 
 other and wish contrary things. Such and many 
 other evils arise from this wretched state. A 
 young woman of the poorest class met me the 
 other day, and, saluting me, showed me her 
 infant daughter. I asked after her husband. 
 " I am divorced," she said. ' ' What had you 
 done that he should send you away?" (she had 
 only been married a year) . " He did not want a 
 girl and this child is a girl ; what can I do ? " 
 This poor thing is now living on a pittance al- 
 lowed her by her father, which barely keeps her 
 and the child (now able to walk) above starva- 
 tion ; as she had no dowry and no jewels, she 
 had no other resource unless to marry again, 
 which she declared herself unwilling to do, 
 having had enough experience in that line, but 
 probably if she had a good offer she would be 
 thankful to accept it. There is little employment 
 open to women in general, as long as they are 
 
EGYPTIAN MARRIAGES. 
 
 79 
 
 young especially; some sell vegetables, etc., in 
 the streets, but the market is overstocked with 
 these, and a solitary woman finds it hard to 
 support herself. Domestic service is performed 
 by slaves (mostly negresses) or by hired men ; 
 those who cannot afford either, do their own 
 work. But among the Copts slaves are so 
 universal that even a hired servant will usually 
 buy a black woman to wait on his wife who is 
 moped and sickly from want of occupation 
 and exercise ! The other evils of slavery are 
 numerous enough, I need hardly observe ; the 
 hindrance it makes to the most useful employ- 
 ment for women, is only one among many. 
 Among Moslems slaves are common with the 
 rich, of course, but the lower class do not as 
 often keep them as the Copts, and their wives 
 and daughters do the work (simple enough it 
 generally is) of the house. The bride in this 
 class has a brief time of honour and amusement, 
 not a month, but a few days only, before she 
 enters on her tasks of fetching water in her 
 great jar from the canal or river, kneading bread, 
 etc. If her mother-in-law and husband are 
 kind it is very well, but she has no freedom and 
 is really no better off than a slave until the old 
 
80 EGYPTIAN MAREIAGES. 
 
 woman has died or become too feeble to trouble 
 her ; but the husband beats her with a stick for 
 the least offence, and as people are apt to get 
 worse the worse they are treated, it is, I fear, 
 but seldom that the poor bride does not become 
 more degraded when she is a wife than she was 
 in the short days of her merry thoughtless girl- 
 hood. Oh ! what crying necessity is there in 
 Egypt for education and the blessed light of the 
 Gospel ! Much failure and very partial success 
 indeed may be expected under such peculiarly 
 difficult circumstances; but if some be rescued, 
 if some homes become brighter, some families 
 happier, and, above all, if some learn to know 
 and love the Word of God, no labour will have 
 been too great for such a result, and perhaps 
 some among the children so earnestly prayed for 
 and instructed may be found in the happy 
 number of those who wait for the heavenly 
 Bridegroom's call, and when the joyful cry re- 
 sounds, " Behold the Bridegroom cometh ! " may 
 be among those who will answer, " We are 
 ready." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 The following sketch was noted down about 
 three years ago. I was one day summoned to 
 meet two poor women, who requested to see me 
 in a great hurry ; and found in the hall two 
 dark-veiled and shrouded females, whom natu- 
 rally I could not recognize till they uncovered 
 their faces. Then appeared an old and a young 
 person — the latter a comely, vigorous woman of 
 the name of Hasna, who had been a next-door 
 neighbour when I lived in the small corner house 
 of Abou-bekr, a lane leading out of the long 
 street of Bab-el-Bahr, to which the school was 
 subsequently removed. This woman had been 
 ill with a low fever for some time, and thought 
 she owed her recovery to some remedies I had 
 given her. She had made a solemn promise, at 
 the time, that her eldest child, then an infant, 
 should be sent to my school as soon as able to 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 speak ; and accordingly she came before she was 
 quite three years old. The present visit, how- 
 ever, had no reference to little Zeynab, but to 
 her husband's younger brother, who was danger- 
 ously ill ; and she had persuaded her mother-in- 
 law to come with her and ask me to go down and 
 see the sufferer, and tell them if anything could 
 be done. From their description, it seemed a 
 case of dropsy of a rapid kind, and not a hopeful 
 one, especially for an unprofessional visitor, to 
 attempt; but I went with them immediately, 
 and was taken to an inner room (for though of 
 the poorer class, they were not of the lowest, by 
 any means, and occupied a tolerable house with 
 two or three rooms). Here I saw the invalid, a 
 lad of about seventeen, lying on an old mattrass, 
 and rolled up in a quantity of garments, in the 
 hope that heat might alleviate his pain ; but to 
 me it seemed only to aggravate the misery and 
 discomfort, as everything was dirty in the ex- 
 treme. 
 
 It was clear, after some questions and exami- 
 nation, that already mortification had begun to 
 set in, and that, when this reached vital places, 
 death must quickly follow; nor could anything 
 probably have arrested it. They resolutely 
 
KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 83 
 
 declined to call in a doctor, either European or 
 native ; but were willing to let me offer any 
 remedy or alleviation I chose. The pain in the 
 chest being acute, I gave them a soothing lini- 
 ment containing opium to rub in ; and a tem- 
 porary relief being obtained, I proposed to read 
 something from God's Word to the poor lad, if 
 his mother did not object. 
 
 "By all means read," said she. "It will 
 amuse him, and divert his mind a little." 
 
 I therefore took out my Arabic Testament, 
 and read several portions, selecting the simplest 
 and most likely to attract one totally ignorant of 
 'Gospel truth ; and paused to explain every now 
 and then, and to see if he appeared to take in 
 the meaning. After about an hour's visit, as he 
 seemed inclined to sleep, I took leave, promising 
 to call next day. It was impossible to give hope 
 of recovery ; but the mixture of fatalism and 
 hopefulness in the mind of a Moslem peasant is 
 curious to see. The mother repeated — 
 
 " God is great ! My son, perhaps, will be 
 much better soon; perhaps he may recover. 
 God and the Prophet can alone tell. Who 
 knows F" 
 
 I came early the following day, and found 
 
84 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 little change except that the livid spots on the 
 back had slightly increased, and the pain was 
 diminished. I asked Khaleel (so I found he was 
 named) if I should again read to him, and he 
 assented willingly. I now took the first chapter 
 of John's Gospel, and after reading it, returned 
 to the 29th verse, i( Behold the Lamb of God, 
 that taketh away the sins of the world," 
 and endeavoured to show the meaning. The 
 hindrance of a foreign language, and one so 
 exceedingly difficult to a European tongue as 
 the Ai-abic, would have been felt in some 
 degree by even a better scholar than I could 
 pretend to be ; still the habit of reading and 
 explaining to the children at school had given 
 a certain familiarity with Scripture phrases and 
 with the interpretations necessary to give in 
 dealing with the ignorant, especially the Moham- 
 medans. I had not a man of education to con- 
 tend with, the poor boy could not read even in 
 his own Koran, and only knew what all the lower 
 class know generally of the tenets of their reli- 
 gion, added to a number of foolish legends. But 
 the ignorant are usually more or less bigoted, 
 and this family being among the so-called des- 
 cendants of the Prophet, were likely to be par- 
 
KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 85 
 
 ticularly so. It was strange that they even 
 permitted a Christian to visit and read freely to 
 the invalid, but the memory of kindness is often 
 a key to unlock the door that would otherwise be 
 shut, and Hasna, the sister-in-law, had not for- 
 gotten her illness, though it was two years ago. 
 So no objection was made to my visits, which 
 were repeated every day for a week. I fre- 
 quently returned to the 29th verse of the first 
 chapter of John's Gospel, and tried to explain the 
 nature and intention of sacrifice, showing that 
 the Moslem festival in which they slay a lamb 
 with some ceremonies every year, is in fact a 
 remnant of the old Jewish sacrifice, and how 
 useless all such must be when the sacrifice of 
 Christ has taken place, of which those were 
 emblems and figures. Then I tried to show why 
 a Saviour was needed, and Khaleel fully avowed 
 his own sinfulness, which many (I may say most 
 of the uneducated) Moslems will not do — and I 
 know little of any others ; then I spoke of God's 
 holiness and hatred of sin, whether great or 
 small, and he allowed that he was not fit to face 
 a holy God in himself. 
 
 Then came the connection between the sinner 
 and the Saviour, and earnestly I prayed for and 
 
86 
 
 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 with him, that the merciful and loving Jesus 
 would give his Spirit to the dying one to see and 
 believe that He is the Lamb of God that taketh 
 away the sins of the world. When I stopped 
 reading, he more than once looked up, and said, 
 " Read, read!" He could speak little, and the 
 difficulty increased with increasing weakness, 
 but the eyes -followed me with intelligence and 
 interest not to be mistaken. One day I had been 
 reading the history of Lazarus, with many inter- 
 ruptions from the female relatives who were 
 present, and who were incessantly offering water 
 to the sick youth, or asking him how he felt, or 
 commenting aloud on his state, and the probable 
 duration of his ebbing life ! It was trying to 
 the poor sufferer, who really wished to listen, 
 and no less so to me, as I had to be constantly 
 taking up the broken thread. At last some of 
 them went away, and we were left in compara- 
 tive peace with the old mother, who sat quietly 
 crying in a corner, and the sister-in-law, who was 
 tenderly wiping his brow with her muslin veil, 
 and settling the cushion behind his head at 
 intervals. I asked if he would like me to pray 
 that God would have mercy on him, and as he 
 said yes, making at the same time a sign of 
 
KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 87 
 
 assent with his head, I came close to hiin and 
 pleaded earnestly with the Lord to save his soul, 
 and give him eternal life for Christ's sake. 
 When I ended I saw his eyes fixed on me with 
 an intently listening expression, and he said 
 quite distinctly, " Good !" " Have you much 
 pain now?-" I asked. " No, not any/" I 
 thought this a sign that his end was not very 
 far off, and there was a dark shadow already on 
 his young face, though he was as conscious as 
 ever. "My son," I said (using the familiar 
 Oriental appellative), " you are now passing 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, but 
 you know what David said (I had more than once 
 read the 23rd Psalm to him) you can say also, 'I 
 will fear no evil for Thou art with me/ only trust 
 in the Lord Jesus, and fear not ; the Lamb of 
 God that taketh away the sins of the world will 
 never forsake you ; if you believe in Him you 
 will soon leave pain and sorrow to enter the joy 
 of paradise." He looked at me with a calm, 
 happy expression, and gave a murmured assent ; 
 just then some neighbours began to crowd in, as 
 their custom is always to disturb the dying or sick 
 bed of friends as much as possible, with well- 
 meant, but most ill-timed visits and noisy lamen- 
 
83 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHEE. 
 
 tations. I thought it best to take leave as I 
 could do no more good. Khaleel did not look as if 
 he noticed the people or attended to them, but 
 lay quiet and seemingly calm when I bade him 
 farewell. 
 
 I learned afterwards, from a poor neighbour, 
 that she found him alone or with only his mother 
 shortly after my departure, and that he told her 
 " the lady " had been with him reading, and had 
 prayed, and said " such sweet words — such good 
 words. " He wished to say more, the woman 
 added, but a fit of pain and suffocation came on, 
 and he cried, " Oh, my heart — my heart, " and 
 began raising himself up and rocking himself 
 feebly to and fro. Of course, the friends 
 assembled quickly on this. Presently the pain 
 ceased, and he lay quietly for a few moments, 
 and then suddenly looked upwards, and exclaim- 
 ing, "Oh, Lord, take me!" expired without a 
 struggle. The expression seemed to have struck 
 his friends as peculiar, and it was repeated to me 
 as such. Literally, the word used would signify 
 " cause me to follow thee, or go with me." Not 
 till the last day can we know certainly whether 
 or not this poor soul received the gospel, for 
 bodily infirmity prevented his speaking except, 
 
KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 89 
 
 as I stated, in a few disjointed sentences, and he 
 was also frequently interrupted and almost 
 always watched by neighbours and relatives ; 
 but I felt a strong hope that he was enabled to 
 touch the hem of Christ's garment, as it were. 
 I once read that history to him, and pointed out 
 that as she who touched was made whole, so if 
 he believed simply in the atoning death, he too 
 would be cleansed from sin; and I trust he 
 did so. That he loved the gospel was evident 
 from what the poor mother told me afterwards. 
 Indeed, she gives no other title to the Testament 
 I frequently bring to read to her but " the book 
 my son loved." 
 
 I went to see her the day after his death, 
 thinking it would be taken as a mark of kind 
 feeling, and finding her not at home, asked a 
 neighbour where she was. " Do you not 
 know," she replied " that with us there are 
 always three days of mourning ? This is the 
 second day, and Safea (the mother) is in the 
 lane with all the women ; I am going also." 
 
 I followed her, and saw at least forty women 
 all seated upon the ground, or on pieces of mat 
 spread outside the doors of the houses in the 
 lane; no men were among them. I suppose the 
 
90 
 
 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 father, with male companions, was in some other 
 place. The women, all in their dark blue or 
 black veils and mantles, with a handkerchief 
 twisted in the hands of each, which they pulled 
 and shook before them, were sobbing, sometimes 
 screaming, wailing, and every now and then 
 chanting, but the chant was constantly broken 
 by shrieks and groans. They were not stand- 
 ing, as wailing women are often depicted in 
 prints and pictures — the Orientals rarely stand 
 for long together ; and I observed every fresh 
 comer, after standing a minute or two, saluting 
 every one and uttering certain phrases of condo- 
 lence, took her seat on the ground and com- 
 menced rocking herself to and fro. They looked 
 at first surprised to see a European visitor, and 
 some did not seem very well pleased \ others, 
 who were acquainted, saluted me ; and the poor 
 mother made me sit beside her, and taking both 
 my hands, pressed them affectionately, while 
 tears flowed down her wrinkled face abundantly, 
 as she said, between her sobs, " He loved you ; 
 my son loved you; he loved your book. Oh, 
 my son — my son ! " I spoke tenderly to the 
 poor creature, and when the violence of her 
 grief was a little abated, read her one or two 
 
KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 91 
 
 texts from the gospel, such as appeared at once 
 the most consolatory and easy to understand. 
 A bigoted woman, who observed this, turned 
 round and said in an angry, loud whisper, " Go 
 a way, who wants your books here ? We are 
 crying j we don't want books/' I tried gently 
 to explain that I wished to comfort KhaleeFs 
 mother by reading some words which he had 
 liked to listen to, but she persisted rudely, say- 
 ing, " Take away your Christian book ; we are 
 t rying ; we do not need any book, and yours 
 is not good." It would only have made a 
 disturbance to oppose her openly, as she was 
 evidently of a violent temper, so I withdrew 
 to the other side of the old mother, and shad- 
 ing the book with my shawl, finished the pas- 
 sage I was reading in a low voice to her, and 
 then closed it. At that moment the wailing 
 rather suddenly stopped, and a very ugly woman, 
 who sat in the middle of the group, called out in 
 her natural voice, "I shall not cry any more 
 unless you give me something."" She was the 
 paid mourner who led the chant j there were two 
 or three, indeed, who were pointed out to me, 
 but she was the head. She held out her hand as 
 she spoke very decidedly, and most of the people — 
 
92 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 all, I believe — gave her a trifle ; and there were so 
 many that she must have made a tolerable collec- 
 tion, even if each contributed little. I added a 
 piastre or two, though not particularly approving 
 her profession, as it seemed best not to oppose 
 their customs unless absolutely wroug. But I 
 whispered to Khaleel's mother, " If your son is, 
 as I trust, gone to be with the Lord, it is not 
 needful to cry and scream for him." " Do you 
 think he is ?" said she. I told her I hoped so, for 
 that he had heard of Jesus, the Saviour, and I 
 thought he believed in Him, and, if so, no doubt 
 he was safe. The screaming had now recom- 
 menced, and some fresh arrivals demanded the 
 attention of my poor old friend, who was obliged, 
 by custom, to turn to each and go through a 
 string of salutations ; so I took leave of her, 
 promising to see her again in a few days. 
 
 Not long afterwards (I had seen her two or 
 three times, and had always read to her at her 
 own request) I was passing the door of the stable 
 where she passed most of the day, as her hus- 
 band's mill was there, turned by a horse; and 
 she sat near the door to receive the women who 
 brought corn to grind. On seeing me she called 
 out, and begged me to enter, saying she had had 
 
KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 93 
 
 such a curious dream, and wished to relate it. 
 When I had taken my seat accordiugly, she told 
 me that yesterday she had visited a sheikh much 
 esteemed among her people, in order to ask him 
 if he could give her any certainty about her son, 
 " whether he was in heaven," or as they always 
 say, in paradise. 
 
 Now, Moslems hold that no true Moslem can 
 fail ultimately of being there, but that only very 
 holy ones, or only some, at all events, go there at 
 once after death ; some seem to be in a sort of 
 purgatory, but their ideas are vague enough as 
 to their intermediate condition, and the poor 
 mother longed to think of her child as happy. The 
 sheikh gave her vague and uncertain replies, and 
 she returned very sorrowful and went to bed. 
 She dreamed that she saw a place of amazing 
 beauty, which she tried to describe to me, full of 
 trees, fountains, and beautiful flowers ; it was all 
 bright and lovely, she could not find words to 
 describe it, nor could I even comprehend fully 
 those she used, but it was evident the vision had 
 been a most delightful one. " Well/' said she, 
 " in this garden I saw Khaleel walking, and you 
 were walking near him in it. Tell me, Sitt, do 
 you think it was paradise, and is he there V 
 
94 KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 
 
 She looked puzzled, and as if between pleasure 
 and pain in her doubt ; I told her that whether it 
 was a mere dream or a vision I could not know, 
 but one thing I felt no doubt of, and that was 
 that by the love and grace of Christ I should 
 one day be among the glorified, and that if 
 Khaleel had, as I hope, believed, he was there 
 already, and we should meet some time; " and now, 
 mother/' I added, " it is your part to think of 
 your soul. Why should not you be in paradise 
 also ? Why should your son not meet you 
 there V I then opened the book, and read her 
 the last chapter of Eevelation, and left her to 
 meditate on it. 
 
 For some time the impression seemed strong 
 — then the influence of bigoted neighbours in- 
 duced the poor old woman actually to undertake 
 the pilgrimage to Mecca, and I had the grief of 
 finding her gone when I returned from a tern 
 porary absence. But she was vigorous, and 
 survived the fatigues of that long and weary 
 journey, came back and took her accustomed 
 seat as if nothing had happened. My private 
 opinion always was that she undertook the pil- 
 grimage more from a craving to get away from 
 home, where everything daily reminded her of 
 
KHALEEL AND HIS MOTHER. 95 
 
 her lost child, than from any belief in its efficacy. 
 It distracted her from her grief by the novelty 
 and the fatigue, but I could not find that she had 
 the feeling of its purifying effects, which Moslems 
 in general imagine to exist. She was as willing 
 to listen to the Scripture as before, and though 
 giving no decided proof of change of heart, was 
 by degrees less full of old legends and more 
 indifferent to them, and always ready both to 
 converse with me and to speak favourably of 
 " the book/' as she called it, to her neighbours. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A VILLAGE COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 It was the middle of June, — burning June as it is 
 in Egypt, that a little party started at six o'clock 
 to visit a certain tract of land near a large village 
 some ten miles from Cairo, which was to be pur- 
 chased by one of the number. It was delight- 
 fully fresh for the first two hours, for the sun had 
 not yet gained much power, and the road lay 
 through an avenue of thick trees for some dis- 
 tance. Even when the carriage emerged on a 
 piece of open country, and was dragged with 
 some difficulty over the ruts of an unfrequented 
 country road, which an English coachman would 
 have at once declined attempting, it was still 
 pleasant ; the air heats much sooner in the city 
 than in the country, and moreover we were now on 
 higher grouud. The village was of course built of 
 mud brick, such being the usual material of Egyp- 
 tian villages, and the houses looked poor enough 
 
A VTLLAGE COUET-HOUSE. 
 
 97 
 
 for the most part ; but the large shady trees at its 
 entrance, and the groups of palms rising just 
 behind it, gave a picturesque effect, which was 
 added to not a little by the village market 
 which was going on under a large sycamore fig- 
 tree. The peasants, in their white or crimson 
 turbans, and rough garments of brown wool, or 
 in summer garb of white or blue cotton, were 
 busily chatting together about sheep, corn, and 
 vegetables ; heaps of black egg-plants, pump- 
 kins, and gourds lying piled up beside the women 
 who sold those lesser articles, and whose shrill 
 voices made the scene as noisy as it was pretty 
 to look at. 
 
 We left these busy groups behind us, and 
 walked across the fields, under the guidance of a 
 sturdy farmer, who was sheikh of the village, 
 and whose praise of the healthfulness of the spot 
 was certainly verified by his own appearance; 
 for such a large and stalwart frame I have seldom 
 seen. His clear, brown skin, and perfect white 
 teeth (though he must have been fifty, at least, 
 from the size of his grandchildren), all bore 
 favourable testimony to the good air of the loca- 
 lity. He was dressed in snow-white cotton robes, 
 his head defended from the sun by a huge turban, 
 
 7 
 
'98 
 
 A VILLAGE COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 composed of many yards of muslin wound round 
 a thick felt cap. With no small pride he pointed 
 out to us the treasure of his piece of land, " a 
 well of water/' One must live awhile in the 
 East to comprehend the full meaning of those 
 expressions in Genesis about the wells, the ser- 
 vants of Isaac and the Philistines disputing for 
 the possession, and the extreme value evidently 
 attached to them. Most of the wells in Egypt 
 are more or less brackish, and only fit for irriga- 
 tion. A well of sweet water which is suitable 
 both for that, and also for drinking, is therefore 
 greatly prized, especially if at a distance from the 
 river. There were two palm-trees, and half-a- 
 dozen other trees, making a little bit of shade in 
 the broad open plain; and the great wooden 
 wheels went round, as the oxen turned them, 
 with a creaking sound which is pleasant in this 
 dry land, because it means " water " to accus- 
 tomed ears ; the water poured from pitcher to 
 pitcher (a number of which are always fixed in 
 the second wheel), making a cool splashing as it 
 sparkled in the rays of the sun, and trickled down 
 into the stone troughs which supplied the little 
 channels for irrigation. 
 
 Here, after an examination of sundry acres of 
 
A VILLAGE COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 99 
 
 corn, and sugar-cane, etc., we sat to rest on a 
 carpet brought by some of the sheikh's servants 
 and children, who also served us with little cups 
 of black coffee. But our host assured us that 
 the shade was too imperfect to be protection 
 enough from the mid-day sun; and, after an 
 hour's repose, we were glad to accept his prof- 
 fered hospitality, and wend our way back to the 
 village. It was not yet noon, but already the 
 blaze of sun and the hot air felt like a furnace. 
 The ground seemed to burn under one's feet, 
 and the dust felt like hot ashes from an oven. 
 It was not very often that I had ventured out of 
 doors at that hour in summer ; and, though by no 
 means afraid of heat in moderation, I confess 
 that this walk of about twenty minutes or half- 
 an-hour seemed to me uncommonly long, and 
 that, when we at last reached a large mud-brick 
 tenement, and were ushered up a flight of rude 
 steps outside the house into a tolerably cool room 
 with latticed shutters, I felt almost too exhausted 
 to speak. 
 
 A few minutes' rest and a glass of water soon 
 refreshed us, however, and we then produced a 
 basket of bread and cold fowls, which we begged 
 the sheikh and his friends to share. They agreed, 
 
100 
 
 A VILLAGE COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 insisting that we must, at a later hour, eat what 
 they were preparing, with them ; and, after some 
 compliments on both sides, they joined the circle 
 round a little low table, every one sitting on the 
 carpet or mat. 
 
 The gentlemen then disposed themselves to 
 rest and chat over cigars, and the sheikh pro- 
 duced his long cherry-stick pipe, while I thought 
 it only polite to ask leave to visit the females of 
 the family, though an hour's repose would have 
 been more desirable, on selfish motives, certainly. 
 I was led to a door opening into the sitting-room, 
 and almost pushed in, and the door shut after 
 me at once, lest any of the other sex might have 
 a glimpse of the unveiled ladies within. 
 
 The hareem accommodation, I must own, was 
 very inferior to that kept for the lords of creation 
 — the rooms close, ill ventilated, with broken 
 wooden lattices (no glass), and apparently very 
 dirty in their usual condition, for a black slave- 
 woman of extraordinary ugliness was at work 
 sweeping away a large heap of rubbish and dast 
 as I entered, with marks of evident haste, as if 
 to make things tidy for a guest. There were no 
 carpets, only old mats and dirty cushions; and 
 on one of these sat the wife, a pretty, interesting- 
 
A VILLAGE COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 101 
 
 looking young woman, with her eldest step- 
 daughter, who was of the same age as herself. 
 They saluted me civilly, and seemed pleased at 
 the novelty of a European visitor. I asked the 
 wife if a little child, which was rolled up asleep 
 beside her, were her own, by way of saying some- 
 thing. She laughed at the question, and, taking- 
 it up, showed that it was black, saying it was the 
 slave's child, and sorrowfully added that she had 
 none of her own. However, she seemed not to 
 feel any annoyance at the slave being an under 
 wife, as is unhappily too general in hareems. Her 
 step-daughters, of whom there were three — one 
 married, and two nice girls of nine and ten — 
 seemed very fond of her, and all came and sat 
 beside us, together with a neighbour who entered 
 to peep at the stranger. The hostess, after sit- 
 ting a few minutes, suddenly rose, and began 
 changing her dress of cotton print for a handsome 
 vest and trousers of purple embroidered silk, 
 going through her toilette very coolly in the same 
 room with her guest. After adding a head-dress 
 of gold coins, and a richly-chased necklace of 
 antique-looking gold fish, she again seated her- 
 self by me on the cushions, with a very happy air 
 of satisfaction. 
 
102 
 
 A VILLAGE COUKT-HOUSE. 
 
 The heat had now become so intense (for it 
 was the hottest part of the day, and the room 
 close) that, after half-an-hour's chat, I was in- 
 duced to accept their hospitable offer to lie down 
 a little and rest; but the swarms of flies and fleas 
 made me soon glad to leave the couch. I then 
 penetrated into the kitchen, where I found all the 
 women assembled round a large pot that was 
 boiling over a fire of sticks. While the negress 
 stirred its contents, the others were grouped 
 about looking very picturesque and very idle ; so 
 I proposed reading to them a story from my book. 
 It was a very odd idea, evidently, to hear a 
 stranger read, but no objection was made, and I 
 read the simplest Gospel stories I could find, put- 
 ting in the easiest and most homely explanations 
 as I went along; and they appeared very much 
 interested, especially the young wife, who sat by 
 me, and listened with some intelligence. As 
 usual, the difficulty was to get an uninterrupted 
 hearing, as neighbours were always popping in 
 and talking in loud voices, and trying to take <off 
 the attention of the listeners. There is almost 
 always, in a large circle of Moslem women, some 
 bigot who hates the sight of a Christian book, or 
 any book that is not the Koran j and such point- 
 
A VILLAGE COUET-HOUSE. 
 
 103 
 
 edly try to interrupt or even drown the reading 
 by speaking loudly about some worldly business, 
 or laughing and tittering. However, the young 
 woman would not leave me till I had finished. 
 I was then invited to return to the gentlemen of 
 the party, and join them in a dinner or afternoon 
 lunch, which our host had prepared. It con- 
 sisted of boiled rice, with some curious-looking 
 ragged bits of meat boiled, and some tinned iron 
 saucers full of what appeared to a European eye 
 to be " green pond," but was really a certain 
 plant called melukeeyeh, stewed into a sort of 
 slimy soup. It is much enjoyed by Egyptians, 
 but I could not reconcile myself to its flavour, 
 and with some difficulty swallowed a little, which 
 1 contrived to hook up with pieces of the flaps of 
 bread, which supplied the place of fork or spoon. 
 The peasants in the villages live simply enough, 
 and even this humble fare seemed to be rather a 
 feast to the friends whom the sheikh asked to 
 partake of it with us. 
 
 t The business part of the transaction was not 
 finished when we took leave, a couple of hours 
 before sunset, though much time had been spent 
 in discussion. Things are never got through 
 quickly in the East, and the hours wasted on 
 
104 
 
 A VILLAGE COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 smoking, and paying compliments, and staring 
 at one another, seem to us rather provoking; 
 but it is an inevitable evil, until they learn more 
 of the value of time. I need not weary my 
 reader, however, with an account of the endless 
 visit paid in return by the sheikh and his friends 
 to the purchasers and their friends, or detail how 
 " scribes and lawyers " sat and quarrelled, and 
 wrote, and re-wrote, and dined, and smoked, and 
 quarrelled again, and made it up, and said, 
 " Good, good, very well," etc., etc. 
 
 Some time later, it was necessary for the 
 same party to go again to the village, and to 
 the court-house of the district, to get certain 
 papers signed; and a description of this may 
 be interesting, from the contrast it presents 
 to such places in Europe. It was a still hotter 
 day than on the former occasion — for now we 
 had entered July, and were lucky if the ther- 
 mometer was below a hundred in the shade — at 
 any rate during the middle of the day. As 
 the Government here requires many papers, 
 and still more fees, for the most trifling affairs, a 
 court-house is always crowded with persons on 
 various errands of business. This one was the 
 centre for a considerable number of villages and 
 
A VILLAGE COUKT-HOUSE. 
 
 105 
 
 small towns, yet its arrangements were far below 
 those of a tolerably-managed ragged school in 
 England. We were ushered up a narrow, dirty 
 staircase, into a room — not large enough for 
 its numerous occupants — the windows of which 
 were broken, every third pane at least being 
 gone, and a ragged curtain, tucked into the 
 vacant spaces to keep out some of the glare of 
 the scorching sun, instead of a blind. The wooden 
 desks looked as if just thrown out of a school as 
 too bad to use, and at these tumble-down things 
 sat several scribes writing; while on a ragged 
 divan, with soiled cushions, sat a dozen more, 
 each with paper and " inkhorn " of brass in his 
 girdle or in his hand; each head scribe chanting 
 out his bill, or whatever it might be, in a singular 
 but sonorous tone to his assistant, who copied it. 
 Most of them were busied with figures and cal- 
 culations of some sort, and the effect was very 
 strange of hearing the quavering chant on the 
 sum, as thus : — " Six hundred and fifty-nine and 
 eighty-fi — ve, and thirty and sev — en and a 
 ha — If!" And so on, all the various chants and 
 sums going on at once, each in his own key, but 
 none very loud. 
 
 Numbers of sturdy peasants, with handsome 
 
106 
 
 A VILLAGE COUKT-HOUSE. 
 
 bronzed faces and finely -knit limbs, were stand- 
 ing in the centre of the room, and crowding the 
 narrow passage ; and two half-naked lads, with 
 long sticks, acted as doorkeepers.. Here we had 
 to sit a considerable time on a hard bench, with 
 nothing to do except to stare at everything, or 
 passively be stared at by the occupants of the 
 room. 
 
 Presently the judge or head-clerk — for I could 
 not make out which it was — had a little diversion 
 to his labours in the arrival of his dinner, a tray 
 with vegetables, cheese, and water-melon being 
 brought in by a lad; and he, with two of the 
 scribes next to him, very calmly partook of the 
 refreshment in public, dipping their bits of bread 
 in the dishes one after the other till satisfied. 
 Then, wiping their hands, they resumed work ; 
 and a peasant and two soldiers, who had been 
 rather sullenly awaiting their leisure, were 
 brought up and their papers examined. 
 
 At last our turn came ; and, after a great deal 
 of needless questioning, as it seemed to us, as to 
 the motives of purchase, and the private reasons 
 for wanting such and such a piece of ground, etc., 
 they finally condescended to say, " You may go, 
 and come for the papers another day." Lawyers' 
 
A VILLAGE COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 107 
 
 work is not celebrated for rapidity anywhere, 
 but certainly Turkish law goes on wheels of 
 lead. 
 
 The ride back to the station — for this time 
 we had come by a cross road from the Alexandria 
 railway — was a scorching one, but, fortunately, 
 the neighbourhood is famed for its melons, which 
 at the hottest season are in the best condition, 
 and piles of this tempting fruit are arranged 
 near the railway line for the travellers who may 
 come to await the train. 
 
 Months passed since that day, and the last 
 melons had long ago yielded their seed, and the 
 ground on which they grew had been ploughed 
 up, sown, and another crop (either corn or cloves) 
 was already in rapid progress, ere the dilatory 
 judge had finished and signed the desired paper 
 to complete the land purchase ! 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 Oue scholars ! What a difference between the 
 circle of a few years ago and that now assembled ! 
 What a strange set of wild little creatures the 
 first troop of girls assembled with so much trouble 
 were, and how hard it was to retain any of them 
 long enough in attendance to gain any real 
 good ! It is very up-hill work yet, but still, when 
 looking back to a pile of old journals and notes, 
 I see the progress (in spite of disappointment 
 and failure from time to time) to be real and un- 
 mistakable. 
 
 One or two brief extracts from these notes, as 
 contrasted with later ones, may be interesting to 
 friends of education, and others can skip this 
 chapter. Here is one extract, Nov., 1863: "I 
 had a little examination yesterday with Mr. 
 Shakoor's assistance ; thirty girls in school, which 
 we think a tolerable attendance. Little Fatmeh 
 
OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 109 
 
 (that is, Fatmeh Alee) was as usual in her place, 
 gentle and good as ever, but seems just at the 
 same column of spelling she began six months 
 ago ! She is far from quick ; however, her Scrip- 
 ture answers are good ; indeed several children are 
 beginning to know something of the New Testa- 
 ment, and of the simplest events of the Old. 
 Our scholars are chiefly of the poorest class, and 
 the new-comers are so very dirty, so wild, and I 
 might almost say barbarous in their habits, that 
 it is difficult to get order and cleanliness enforced. 
 The only teacher I can get reads tolerably, but 
 she has no real interest in religion, and is mer- 
 cenary. I have not time to work up my Arabic 
 as I could wish, and have to spend faster than I 
 earn, as I might say, so great is the necessity for 
 teachingfrom one who has the whole matter at heart. 
 
 " I have been out hunting up old and new 
 pupils. What a work it is, to be sure ! Child 
 after child found and brought to her mother, 
 and mother after mother either refusing point- 
 blank to send her to school, or promising to do 
 so, and not doing it ! 
 
 " The other day, I brought two dear little 
 girls, who were playing at ' dust-puddings ' in 
 the lane, to their mother's dwelling, which they 
 
110 
 
 OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 readily showed me. This is not always the case, 
 for some are frightened at a foreign appear- 
 ance, and run away, and even cry, if one speaks 
 to them. These little creatures were so utterly 
 ragged and dirty, that one might have supposed 
 them in the lowest depth of poverty ; instead of 
 which their mother's dress and surroundings 
 showed her to be tolerably well off. After some 
 persuasion, she agreed, if they chose to come to 
 school, to permit them ; and they came at once. 
 The youngest, Saida, who seemed to have taken 
 a fancy to me, said, in a winning, childish voice, 
 ' I wish to take your hand/ How gladly I took 
 the little dusty hand, and -conducted her and her 
 sister to our schoolroom ! But next day they did 
 not return ; my teacher sent after them, and 
 learnt that a Moslem sewing- teacher had been 
 jealous of losing them, and had been to the 
 mother's house, cursed her, beat the children, 
 and took them to her house. How, if they were 
 of any value, she had allowed them to sit in the 
 lane cooking dust-puddings, as I saw them doing, 
 it is difficult to conceive ! I suppose it was the 
 feeling of the dog in the manger. I went to see 
 the mother, and tried to expostulate, but in vain. 
 She was so indifferent to their welfare, that a 
 
OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 quiet life was all she cared for ; and she only 
 said, ' She beat them for going to you/ 1 Why 
 did you allow it?' said I. A shrug was the 
 reply, accompanied by a peculiar sort of depre- 
 catory sound, which the Egyptian women are very 
 partial to. It is rather like a faint hiccough, 
 but is varied according to circumstances, and is 
 amazingly expressive sometimes, and very pro- 
 voking ! 
 
 " In another lane an old woman held a contro- 
 versy out of window with me on the advantages 
 or disadvantages of education — I pleading its 
 usefulness , and she its uselessness. The lane was 
 perfectly quiet — at that hour especially — all the 
 men and many women being absent at work, it- 
 seemed nearly deserted ; so the speaking from a 
 window did not look so extraordinary as might 
 appear. Had there been a stander-by with a 
 photographic machine, a droll picture might have 
 been made of the foreigner below endeavouring 
 patiently to advocate her school, and the old 
 dame nodding her perverse head from above, 
 out of a picturesque lattice of ancient carved 
 wood-work ; two or three ragged children, look- 
 ing up from the dust-heap on which they were 
 playing, being the audience ! " 
 
112 
 
 OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 " December, 1863. — Our attempts at anything 
 like a Sunday class (either for male or female) are 
 as yet rather like the flint -soup of the man and 
 his wife in the story, who, having nothing to 
 begin with except a couple of flints, set them in 
 a pot of water on the fire ! We have a room, a 
 table, and a book all ready — only no listeners. 
 However, as the woman, having boiled her flints 
 for a while, at length felt stimulated to hunt 
 everywhere for something else, and, by dint of 
 perseverance and patience, accumulated herbs, 
 bones, and crusts, till a real soup was the result ; 
 so we, by zeal and patience combined, may hope 
 for success by and by — but we are at the flints 
 still!" 
 
 So says the journal of 1863. At present, 
 though circumstances often cause the Sunday 
 classes and evening meetings to vary in numbers, 
 they are an established fact; and sometimes I 
 have quite a large circle of girls and women 
 (mostly teachers' and scholars' relatives and near 
 friends), while the men, who assemble on Sunday 
 for a service in our hall, are sometimes few, some- 
 times many, but always enough to form a meeting. 
 Nor do they only come on Sunday. A somewhat 
 different adult meeting, with more of study, is held 
 
OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 113 
 
 every evening except Saturdays. Occasionally an 
 interfering priest frightens away the scholars (who 
 are generally Copts), and reduces the number 
 considerably; but, after an interval, they fre- 
 quently return. Certainly this is an improvement 
 upon the table and the book — as much as the 
 well-filled schoolrooms are upon the little ragged 
 troops of former days. And poor Fatmeh ! — 
 the little girl alluded to as always in her place, 
 good and gentle, though not quick — how little 
 did I then think that she was destined to be 
 the first-fruits ! the first child led by the 
 Spirit to know Jesus as her Saviour ; my 
 trusted and valued assistant among the youngest 
 of the scholars; and finally called away from 
 earth and its trials and difficulties, as is recorded 
 in the brief sketch of her life ! 
 
 The little weekly class of ragged boys may be 
 considered as the seedling from which our boys'- 
 school was afterwards developed. This is now, 
 by God's grace, a good- sized tree, growing and 
 thriving. Already a hundred and sixty boys 
 are in daily attendance, and more constantly 
 coming, including pupils from various nations 
 and religions, but the mass being native Egyp- 
 tians, both Copts and Moslems. Some come 
 
 8 
 
114 
 
 OUK SCHOLARS. 
 
 from the neighbourhood, others from a distance, 
 and some even from villages very far off ; so that 
 they are lodged in town for the purpose of at- 
 tending school ; several of these last are Moslem 
 boys. 
 
 One day, a year ago, I was astonished at 
 receiving a present of an enormous quantity of 
 eggs, and, on inquiring whence they came, found 
 that a peasant living near Benesuef, up the Nile, 
 had a son attending the school ; and, wishing to 
 show his respect to the family, had taken the 
 opportunity of some friend coming down the river 
 to send this great basket-full of eggs from his 
 village ! 
 
 A few of the boys of a higher class arrive 
 daily on donkeys, their homes being at the other 
 end of town ; but the greater proportion of the 
 scholars are poor children who have no such 
 luxuries. The utmost equality prevails, no dif- 
 ference of treatment being allowed ; and the 
 cleanly appearance of all, however poor, has often 
 elicited remarks from visitors as no small feat to 
 have achieved in a country where children are 
 usually so exceedingly dirty, both in dress and 
 face, save on peculiar festive occasions. 
 
 The education given these boys is of a high 
 
OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 115 
 
 order. Mr. Shakoor was of opinion that it was 
 well worth the labour and expense, if by this 
 means we could bring a greater number of 
 boys under Gospel influence. Mere reading and 
 writing would never bring scholars, for they 
 have plenty of such elementary schools, where 
 their own books are taught; but languages, 
 accounts, geography, history, and even the ele- 
 ments of geometry, being taught here, many of 
 them are sent for these advantages, and thus 
 have the opportunity of learning also the Word 
 of God, which is made the foremost of all 
 studies,* 
 
 The girls'-school did not increase in numbers 
 quite so rapidly. Early marriages, and the fact — 
 equally true in all countries — that girls in the 
 middle and lower classes are more useful at home 
 than boys, added to the supreme indifference of 
 the greater number of Moslem Egyptians to 
 female education, are great hindrances. We 
 have more than a hundred on our list, but seldom 
 more than from seventy-five to eighty-five present 
 together. But when the new schools are built, 
 
 * There are advanced schools under the Government at 
 present, where good secular instruction is given ; but our 
 motives being higher, there is an earnestness and love in the 
 teaching which no merely paid teachers can emulate. 
 
116 
 
 OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 we expect more pupils ; and meantime many of 
 those now reading fluently in the Testament came 
 almost as babies, and are therefore not only im- 
 proved in knowledge and intelligence, but in 
 manners and habits. 
 
 As to spiritual advancement, that, as every 
 thoughtful Christian knows, must come from God 
 alone, but we endeavour to teach this fact as 
 early as possible, and also to let our scholars see 
 that we desire them to be the children of God 
 more than anything else. Nor is the teaching 
 of those things that concern salvation confined 
 strictly to the time spent in reading Scripture. 
 A few questions, or a remark in the course of a 
 secular lesson, often shows them what is the 
 most important of all matters in our minds. 
 Nothing positively controversial is taught ; that 
 is to say, no contemptuous expressions about the 
 religion of any of the children are allowed; and 
 the plainest truths of the gospel specially set 
 forward : but occasionally something comes into 
 the lesson which shows, to an intelligent learner, 
 the vanity and absurdity of the superstitions 
 around them. For example, one day while at 
 their geography, the head class of girls were 
 answering questions as to the names of chief 
 
OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 117 
 
 cities, etc., and something to fix the place in the 
 mind was told them about most of the towns 
 named. "What are the chief cities of Arabia V 
 " Mecca and Medina/' replied two of the scholars 
 promptly. "You remember that many people 
 go from here every year to Mecca V s I said. 
 " Yes ; to see the stone/' said a Mohammedan 
 girl. "Yes, that is true; they go to pay re- 
 spect to a great stone which they think holy/' 
 I replied. u It is all black/' observed a Christian 
 child, with a smile. " Can the stone do any good 
 to them V* " No, certainly/' she answered. " Can 
 a stone, whether at Mecca or anywhere else, save 
 our souls ?" " No, no," answered several voices. 
 "Who can save us ?" " Jesus Christ/' they all 
 answered. 
 
 Of course we have had many disappointments. 
 This is the case under the most favourable cir- 
 cumstances, even in England ; how much more 
 here ? Some (though but few) have been re- 
 moved because of the bigotry of the parents. 
 Among these were a pair of young cousins, whom 
 I had taken much interest in, and had succeeded 
 in bringing back three or four times, their 
 mothers yielding to their entreaty, for they 
 liked school ; but at last it came to a failure. 
 
118 
 
 OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 The older of the mothers said, "If you will let 
 her sew while the rest read, she may go, but as 
 to reading it is of no use to girls, and if they do 
 read it ought to be good books, and yours are 
 not good." 
 
 " How do you know, as you cannot read, and 
 have never even seen them," said I. " Oh, our 
 book is good, and no other," replied the woman, 
 nodding her head with a self-complacent air. 
 " It is as you like," said I, " we cannot change 
 our rules for your girl, but I am sorry for her 
 sake." (C Perhaps I will send her next week," 
 said the mother rather patronizingly. " All the 
 better for her if you do," and I took leave, but 
 the poor child followed me up the lane, and said, 
 with tears in her eyes, " It's no use ; she won't 
 let me come — she doesn't mean it;" and so it 
 seemed by the event, for Zeynab and her cousin 
 came not. Zeynab is one of the favourite names 
 here, and is, perhaps, the commonest of all — 
 derived from a female saint, whose mosque is 
 often visited and much revered by the common 
 people. Occasionally among the Zeynabs, 
 Hosas, and Ayushas, which are so frequent 
 among Moslems, we meet with curious and less 
 common appellations : one little girl answers to 
 
OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 ]19 
 
 the name of " Zimzim," and I found, on inquiry, 
 that this odd-sounding name belonged to a 
 fountain on the road to Mecca, and greatly- 
 venerated. Water of Zimzin is alluded to in the 
 Arabian Nights, as being brought from Arabia 
 to Cairo for great ladies, who used it as a sort 
 of charm, or as holy water is used among igno- 
 rant and superstitious Christians. 
 
 Another child, whose father was talking to 
 me about sending her as soon as she should be a 
 little older, answered to the name of " Fuzz/' 
 which was so absurdly suitable to the appearance 
 of her rough little head that I was greatly di- 
 verted. " Sitt ul Banat " (lady of the daugh- 
 ters, or girls), is a not very rare appellation, 
 given by some proud young mother, who fancies 
 her little one superior to every baby that ever 
 was seen ! I know one unlucky owner of this 
 name who is squint-eyed and partially idiotic, 
 but such failures will occur now and then every- 
 where. One who bears the curious title of 
 " Urn el Kheyr," or mother of goodness, may, 
 perhaps, be equally disappointing. The more 
 common names are prettier than these odd ones 
 to the ears — at least to most strangers' ears — 
 such as Zareefa, Zobeide, Aneeseh, Amena, and 
 
120 
 
 OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 others. Some, as Noor (light), and Wurdeh 
 (rose), and Zahra (flower), are common to both 
 Moslem and Christian Egyptians ; but the Copts 
 have some peculiar to themselves, chiefly those 
 belonging to saints either of the Greek or 
 Coptic Church. With the exception of Hannah 
 (a favourite among all Eastern Christians) and 
 Mariam or Mary — used by Mohammedans occa- 
 sionally, and by Copts, of course, frequently, as 
 by all Christians — they have very few Scripture 
 names in use among girls. Most of the Moham- 
 medan boys 3 names have something to do with 
 their religion — Moses, Abraham, Ishmael, etc., 
 are common naturally, as well as Mohammed, 
 but many are named from certain titles and 
 attributes of their Prophet. " Servant of the 
 Prophet 93 is not a very uncommon name ; and I 
 once knew a nice little boy who was called 
 " Servant of the Night." I do not know if it 
 had any reference to some holy night, such as their 
 Prophet's birthnight, or what other meaning 
 might be attached to it, but it had a sorrowful 
 signification to my mind. The poor little fellow 
 came to me to bring a young sister to school 
 in the very early days, when the work was just 
 begun, and, as it was an uncommon event to 
 
OUR SCHOLARS. 
 
 121 
 
 have a boy bring a girl to school, I recollected 
 the name, and how I vainly tried to trace them 
 both afterwards, the girl disappearing one day 
 after some months' steady attendance, and the 
 little donkey boy (for such was the Servant of 
 Night) never turning up. Surely these poor 
 children, led far away from the true light, 
 are all servants of the night in one sense ! 
 We must both work and pray that our God 
 may lead them to the knowledge of that Light 
 that came into the world, and that our scholars 
 may be able one day to say, (( we are not the 
 children of darkness but children of the day," 
 and that both Copt and Moslem may join us 
 in eternal gratitude to Him who knows His 
 own sheep, and calleth them all by their names 
 of whatever nation or country. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 
 
 It is now more than seven years ago since the 
 first attempt at a girls' school among the poor 
 children, chiefly of the Moslems, was begun in 
 Bab-el-Bahar. Instead of the troops of little 
 veiled maidens of various stations, from the 
 respectable tradesman's daughter to the child of 
 a poor rag- seller, who come daily up the stair of 
 the school-house to the upper rooms, where they 
 learn under a work -mistress and several pupil- 
 teachers (while treble the number of boys are 
 studying below), the whole school then consisted 
 of nine or ten little girls ; and when after a 
 month or so the flock was increased to fifteen, I 
 well recollect the hope and joy with which I was 
 inspired. My worthy helper, the Syrian matron 
 (who never would have left a post she loved, but 
 for her eyes, which unhappily could not stand the 
 Egyptian climate), heard the young scholars as 
 
THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 123 
 
 they stood at her knee, and usually took only one 
 or at most two at once, repeating letter by letter 
 and word by word ; while I, more experienced in 
 teaching, but with a very scanty acquaintance 
 with the language, was meantime endeavouring 
 to get order and obedience among the disorderly 
 wild crew, or instructing beginners in their 
 alphabets, or making them repeat their first text, 
 " In the beginning God created the heavens and 
 the earth." It seemed quite an achievement 
 when we at length had a dozen girls who could 
 say, and in some degree understand this and the 
 next which I taught them — " Jesus said, I am the 
 way, the truth, and the life," etc. 
 
 Among the first of our scholars in those early 
 days, was a rather delicate-looking little girl 
 about eight years of age, who showed a quiet 
 docile disposition, not very common among them, 
 and who, though neither pretty nor clever, always 
 interested me from her amiable temper and 
 steady attendance. It was a long time before 
 she learned to read ; many who came a year later 
 learned to master the difficult characters and 
 intricate spelling of that most difficult language 
 (for so it is even for natives) far sooner than 
 Fatmeh, but she liked to come. There was no 
 
12 4 THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 
 
 need of driving or coaxing with her, unless 
 detained by real sickness ; and every year this 
 was the case, for her health was never good. 
 Her white veil and scarlet tab (as they call 
 the loose frock worn by children and some- 
 times by women), were constantly to be seen 
 fluttering in the wind, as she went in or out of 
 the school-house. Her eyes were not strong, 
 and every summer had an attack of the country 
 malady ; but no sooner were they recovered than 
 she hastened back to her class. As soon as she 
 was old enough I placed her as monitress over a 
 set of small children, chiefly from her own 
 quarter, and all Mohammedans, with, I think, only 
 two exceptions. They were poor, and very wild 
 and dirty in habits, but by degrees were brought 
 into order, and Fatmeh's steadiness made her a 
 most valuable assistant. As the school in- 
 creased, she was given, like the other teachers, a 
 small monthly sum, which probably bought her 
 clothes. The father, a bigoted man, would not 
 have left her so long with us but for some such 
 worldly advantage, but as she was quiet and 
 timid, and never spoke in his presence except on 
 household affairs, he never interfered with her, 
 and the mother was proud of hearing the good 
 
THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 125 
 
 and modest conduct of her child spoken of by 
 the neighbours, and was also affectionately dis- 
 posed to me, as I had often visited her family in 
 sickness, and had been of use to them by a bless- 
 ing on the remedies in one or two rather severe 
 cases. Fatmeh was threatened with blindness more 
 than two years ago, the ophthalmia having fallen 
 on both eyes, and for weeks she was forced to be 
 absent from school. The physician she went to 
 afforded some relief by blisters, which he desired 
 to be put behind the ears, but he told me pri- 
 vately that one eye was hopeless, and he had but 
 little hope for the other. I visited the poor girl 
 to dress the blisters for her, and the mother told 
 me she was distracted with grief, and that in the 
 night she could hear her between her sobs saying 
 incessantly, f< 0 Lord, help me ! 0 Lord, spare 
 my eyes; anytJting but my eyes, 0 Lord!" I 
 had then a long talk with her, and tried to show 
 her that the Lord knew best what was for our 
 good, but that we might ask in full faith that, if 
 it were fit for us, God would grant our wish. I 
 promised to pray specially for her eyes, and did 
 so for several days, and at the same time gave 
 her a remedy lately recommended to me by an 
 English doctor who had kindly written me some 
 
126 THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 
 
 hints about eyes, and asked a blessing upon it. 
 By God's grace it answered, and the eyes both re- 
 covered ; one entirely, and the other partially, for 
 though with a small spot on the iris, it was yet 
 serviceable and did not pain her. She returned 
 after an absence of nearly three months, and 
 took her class again as before. We had now 
 commenced a Sunday-class for our female teachers 
 and some of their friends, and though Fatmeh 
 only came occasionally to this, as her family 
 frequently wanted her, and evidently grudged 
 her giving even one hour on a day for which no 
 pay was taken, she came when she could, and 
 her answers in Scripture showed that the Gospel 
 had taken real hold of her heart. So did her 
 teaching of the little children ; I often listened 
 to her with her class, and sometimes questioned 
 them separately, and always found that she 
 taught them simply that Jesus was the only 
 Saviour, and that by his death alone we can be 
 forgiven our sins. About a year ago Mr. Shakoor 
 began to give a daily Scripture lesson to the 
 pupil- teachers, together with two or three of the 
 most advanced scholars, and though at first he 
 complained a little of Fatmeh/s reading being 
 below the others, yet as her frequent suffering 
 
THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 127 
 
 with the eyes had caused her backwardness, he 
 knew it was not idleness, and she gradually im- 
 proved : of her own accord she bought a Bible 
 and took it home with her. One day when 
 visiting her family I had been asking the 
 father to let his son, a bright boy some years 
 younger than Fatmeh, attend the boys' schcol, 
 and he as usual replied, " By and by, when 
 Ahmed has learned the Koran well, but not 
 jet. 93 When the father was not present I re- 
 gretted this to the mother, saying, it was a pit}', 
 for that the Gospel was God's own word, and 
 every one was the better for knowing it; the boy 
 looked up smiling, and said, " Oh, but I read in 
 Fatmeh 's book now, and read many things from 
 it ! " It is the custom in Moslem families, and 
 indeed in Copts also, to marry the girls at a 
 ridiculously early age, as was observed in the 
 chapter on marriages. Fatmeh was now at least 
 fourteen or fifteen, yet no word of betrothal was 
 heard. I was thankful, of course, as every month 
 we can keep the girls is a gain for them ; but 
 the reason was evident, no one liked a girl of 
 feeble health for a wife, and though her eyes 
 were better than for years previous, only having 
 occasional slight attacks, which soon yielded to 
 
128 THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 
 
 remedies, her general health was worse, and, 
 without any definite or apparent malady, it was 
 clear that she was not likely to live to grow np, 
 and that a gradual waste or decline was stealing 
 on her. Paler and thinner, and more hollow- 
 cheeked, she grew week by week, but rarely was 
 absent from her place, and, though easily fatigued, 
 seemed not to suffer much pain. At last she had 
 been away for two or three days, and then I was 
 told she was very ill, and went to see her, leaving 
 some remedies which relieved for the time, but I 
 saw it was probable she would not rally for long, as 
 appetite and strength had utterly failed. I came 
 from that time every day to sit with and read to her, 
 and always found her glad to listen. She was too 
 feeble to speak much, but her replies were very 
 satisfactory. Once only I saw her lor a few minutes 
 alone. I profited by the rare chance to be more 
 decided in my questions than before ; as nearly as 
 possible this was our conversation (after I had asked 
 whether she knew herself to be near death, and 
 if she was ready) : " Yes, I am not afraid to die," 
 she said. " Why do you think God has forgiven 
 your sins V* " For Jesus' sake, who died on the 
 cross for us." " Then you know you are a sin- 
 ner yourself?" " Yes." " Where do you think 
 
THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 129 
 
 your soul will go if you die now V 3 " To Jesus. " 
 " Well, dear Fatmeh, it may be that God will take 
 you away from earth soon, because He perhaps 
 thinks you too weak to bear the trials and diffi- 
 culties of living among those who don't believe 
 in Jesus Christ — if so, are you willing to die ? " 
 " Better so," she said very emphatically. " You 
 will have round you those who have no faith 
 in Christ's death, and who will tell you many 
 things that are not true; but you know the Gospel, 
 you know better than those words." " They are 
 vain words ; all those are vain and worthless ! M 
 she said, with a smile of meaning on her face. 
 " Then you can trust in your Saviour alone, 
 Fatmeh ? " "Yes." "Do you know the mean- 
 ing of baptism ? n " John baptized to repent- 
 ance," she replied. 
 
 " Yes ; but after John's time, after Christ's 
 death, those who believe are baptized, as a sign 
 that they belong to Christ ; but He will accept 
 you without the sign because He knows your 
 case." We may surely trust that the Lord, who 
 knew all the difficulties, did not the less receive 
 the poor sheep whom He had sought in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 In many of my subsequent visits, I had some 
 
130 THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 
 
 little trouble with the friends, who came more 
 and more frequently to see her as the end 
 approached, sitting six or eight together round 
 her bed, which was only a quilt laid upon a mat 
 on the floor. These women, by their gossiping 
 talk, often interrupted my reading, and their 
 dirty babies crawled over the invalid's feet, or 
 cried till I could not make my voice heard ; but 
 I could not induce the mother, though I ventured 
 some whispered hints, to ask them to stay at a 
 little distance, or sit in the other room ; for 
 Fatmeh's parents were above the very poor, and 
 had two rooms upstairs, besides a sort of kitchen 
 below. No one here dares to give visitors to the 
 sick the least hint that they are too many or too 
 noisy for a sufferer, and in some cases I have 
 reason to think recovery has been prevented by 
 this cause alone. Poor Fatmeh, however, could 
 never have recovered; only it was trying that 
 she could get no quiet in her last hours; and 
 once or twice a bigoted neighbour told me not to 
 trouble her with reading. "She can't hear now, 
 and is too sick to listen to your book." " Leave it 
 alone ! " added another, rudely. I answered mildly, 
 and patting her on the shoulder, as one does here 
 when wishing to soothe any one, " Don't mind, 
 
THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 131 
 
 good friend; I know my little girl here very 
 well, and she likes to hear these good words." 
 I appealed to the poor child, though she really 
 had great difficulty in speaking. The woman 
 said, " She doesn't want it ; she says so." I 
 was sure she misinterpreted the feeble whisper 
 purposely, and repeated my question, when 
 Fatmeh; with an effort, and looking troubled, 
 replied, " I said it is good" Then I read 
 some verses, and coming quite close, prayed for 
 her, so that only she and the sister who supported 
 her could hear. She seemed to join, and said 
 again, " Yes." One day, when suffering much, 
 she said to me," When will He take me ? I want to 
 go ;" looking at me piteously, and as if she 
 thought I must know. I told her God's time 
 was best, but I believed it would be very soon, 
 and we would pray for Him to take the severe 
 pain away, which I did ; the sisters only being 
 present, I could speak more freely, and prayed 
 earnestly that her faith and peace might increase, 
 and that Jesus would soon call her to dwell with 
 Him in joy, where sorrow and pain could not 
 come. The prayer was granted, for she had no 
 sharp pain from that day, and shortly after indeed 
 the end came. I went on Sunday morning, and 
 
132 THE FIRST FRUITS GATHERED. 
 
 found her apparently insensible, and surrounded 
 by weeping relatives and neighbours. The sisters, 
 however, made me room, and I knelt by the dying 
 girl, and repeated in a low but distinct voice, 
 " ' The Lord is my shepherd ; I want nothing.'' 
 Jesus said, ' I am the good shepherd ; my sheep 
 hear my voice/ You are going to Him, my 
 daughter ; fear not ! 93 She opened her half- 
 closed eyes, and looked as if already beginning 
 to see the veil lifted — that rapt, far-off look, 
 which watching Christians have often seen in a 
 dying believer. I turned to the mother, and 
 said, " Your child is going to be happy; it is sad 
 for you to part from her, but she will be better off 
 with God." " Ah, she was always good ; never 
 cursed or used bad words like others; she was good 
 from a child," sobbed the poor woman. a She 
 knows that she is a sinner, as we all are," I 
 said; " but God has forgiven her sins for the 
 sake of Christ, who died to take our punish- 
 ment." I said this for the bystanders' sake ; 
 then, looking at the fast fading form, I said, 
 " Fatmeh can say as David did — ( Though I walk 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, I will 
 fear no evil/ " To their surprise, the girl opened 
 her_ eyes wide, and said to the sister who was 
 
THE FIRST-FRUITS GATHERED. 133 
 
 wetting her lips with a finger dipped in water, 
 "The hi lleh 99 meaning the water vessel. With 
 some difficulty they poured a few drops down her 
 throat, and some of the women said, " She may 
 now last some hours.-" There did seem a slight 
 rally indeed, and as the crowd of women in the 
 small room made it difficult to stay without faint- 
 ing (the weather being very hot), I thought 
 I would go, and return after church was 
 over. I again repeated the verse of the 23rd 
 Psalm, and added, as I stood up to go, " The 
 Lord is with you, my daughter, now, and for 
 ever and ever ! " She turned her eyes towards 
 me, and looked after me as I slowly retreated, 
 with a beautifully calm, grave expression. I had 
 scarcely reached home, when her little sister 
 came running upstairs after me, sobbing out, 
 " She is gone ; she is dead ! 99 It seemed I had 
 but just left the room when she suddenly ex- 
 pired : the words of peace were the last my poor 
 girl heard in this world. 
 
 I went in the afternoon to see the poor 
 mother, and found the place crammed to suffoca- 
 tion; professional wailers being joined by all 
 the female part of the neighbourhood, and all 
 were screaming, sobbing, and even howling — the 
 
134 THE FIRST-FRUITS GATHERED. 
 
 younger sister and mother nearly in convulsions 
 indeed. The corpse was covered with a red 
 shawl, and jewels, doubtless hired ones, laid on 
 the veiled face ; the chief wailer sat at her feet, 
 twisting a handkerchief, and shrieking in loud 
 tones. A similar scene that took place years 
 ago came forcibly into my mind, and I seemed to 
 hear the Redeemer's voice, whispering, "Why 
 make ye this ado and weep ? the damsel is not 
 dead, but sleepeth." 
 
 Is it not so, and is not this a blessed first- 
 fruits brought to the Lord of the harvest ? 
 
 SCHOOL-GIBLS EmBROIDKRIKG. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 I had ascended a broken stair, and entered by 
 a door without a handle. A sick woman lay in a 
 corner of a small room, as comfortless as dirt and 
 disorder could make it, and with marks, not of 
 actual want, indeed, but of poverty on the little 
 furniture it contained. She was the object of my 
 visit, being the mother of one of my scholars. 
 The family was poor; in England, indeed, the 
 small wages of the father, amounting to about 
 sixteen shillings a month, or little more, would 
 have been downright misery ; but the amount of 
 clothing and fuel required is, of course, very 
 much less in a warm climate, and the house, such 
 as it was, belonged to him. Situated in a narrow, 
 close street, with a ruined wall opposite, in whose 
 rubbish-heaps the city dogs found quarters, and 
 surrounded by wretched habitations all falling 
 to decay like itself, it was a miserable abode for 
 
136 
 
 THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 an invalid. Not a breath of air seemed to pene- 
 trate, and the heat was overpowering. The poor 
 sufferer was afflicted with a complication of mala- 
 dies, and, as she lay on her ragged quilt, rolled 
 up in dark blue ragged veils and mantles, her 
 grizzled hair escaping from under a black ker- 
 chief, she looked dismally uncomfortable ! But 
 there was light in the dwelling — light which is 
 sometimes wanting in homes of a far more pleas- 
 ing aspect — and this light came entirely from the 
 young daughter of the invalid woman, who had 
 been for some time a pupil at my school. 
 
 After the usual inquiries, and suggestions of 
 some alleviations of her state, I offered to read 
 to the woman from the Gospel. As she was a 
 Copt, I expected acquiescence; for they, being 
 nominal Christians, have at least an outward 
 respect for the Scriptures ; and though, when in 
 health, too often unwilling to listen, being as full 
 of worldly cares as others, yet when incapable of 
 work I did not expect a refusal to listen. But 
 not only did she gladly accept my offer, but 
 added — 
 
 "Martha/" pointing to her daughter, "reads 
 every day in the Gospel to me." 
 
 " I am very glad of that, my child/ ' I said. 
 
THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 137 
 
 " You shall read a chapter now. I should like to 
 hear you better than to read it myself/'' 
 
 I selected a chapter, and she read it accord- 
 ingly. She was one of the best readers at the 
 school, being remarkable for diligence ; and she 
 read in a clear, intelligible way, and not in the 
 mumbling voice and careless manner too common 
 with children. Every now and then she paused 
 to give to her poor ignorant mother the necessary 
 explanations (I purposely forbore in order to hear 
 how she would do it). There was no conceit or 
 assumption of superiority, but, "You know, 
 mother, that was what our Lord said " Jesus 
 meant so and so, mother sometimes turning to 
 me for a confirmation. It was a touching sight 
 — the untaught mother, long a Christian only in 
 name, learning of her child to know the Gospel, 
 and receiving it apparently with a child-like and 
 simple heart ! 
 
 I had for some time had hopes of this dear 
 girl, that she had really been born again, but was 
 fearful of building on expressions, etc., knowing 
 how easily young persons are led to say more 
 than they feel. Her general conduct, however, 
 was quite as hopeful as her language, and here 
 was a genuine proof that she loved the Word 
 
138 
 
 THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 of God, and was trying to bring her ignorant 
 mother to the truth ! 
 
 A little while after this visit, Martha was 
 made a pupil teacher. She had the care of a 
 younger class for a certain part of the day, con- 
 tinuing her own studies the rest of the time — 
 this being the plan I find answers best for pre- 
 paring teachers. On account of the early mar- 
 riages, it is necessary to instal the girls as 
 teachers as soon as they are in any degree 
 capable, so as to have a chance of at least a few 
 years of work after all our trouble with them; 
 but it is often disappointment, for the parents 
 have rarely sense to delay a marriage if a 
 tolerable one can be found, however young the 
 girl. 
 
 Martha's mother did not get better. They 
 sent her to some relations in the country, in the 
 hope that change of air (the Egyptian's favourite 
 and best remedy for long illness) might be of 
 use ; but after some months she returned wholly 
 blind, and more feeble than ever, and did not 
 survive her return more than two months ; and 
 trouble and sickness in the house prevented my 
 going to see her, as she lived a good way off, so 
 I never saw her again. Though a feeble and 
 
THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 139 
 
 stunted ear, she was yet an ear of corn to be 
 gathered into the heavenly storehouse. The 
 labours of her young daughter had been blessed, 
 as appeared from the account she gave me of her 
 mother's end. 
 
 "Her peace of heart never left her/' she 
 said. " I used to read the Gospel constantly to 
 her, and she loved to hear it." She added, in 
 reply to some questions, that she had placed all 
 ber trust in Jesus Christ, and not the least confi- 
 dence in priest, or saint, or Virgin. " It was all 
 Christ," she said. "We were all with her when 
 she died, and she was quite peaceful, and glad to 
 go to be with the Lord." 
 
 Any who have laboured to spread the blessed 
 knowledge of salvation through the Saviour, will 
 appreciate the joy and thankfulness with which I 
 heard this account. 
 
 The young teacher was still a regular atten- 
 dant at school, as before her mother's death, and 
 attended the Sunday class as often as possible ; but 
 a worldly sister-in-law, who had now the manage- 
 ment of the family, contrived to hinder her get- 
 ting out on Sundays when she could, because, as 
 no wages were gained by coming, she doubtless 
 thought it waste of time. Besides this, among 
 
140 
 
 THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 the Copts, Sunday is specially devoted to visiting, 
 and is thus (in their opinion) a valuable occasion 
 of showing the young girls off in their best 
 clothes among female relatives and friends, and 
 thus getting proposals of marriage from their 
 describing them and talking of them to their 
 sons, brothers, and nephews. Still, when she 
 could, Martha came, and seemed to grow in 
 grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. 
 
 On leaving home for a short visit to Europe, 
 I told her we hoped to promote her and raise 
 her wages on my return ; but, alas ! before that 
 time came, her father insisted on taking her 
 away to be married ! He was poor, and got a 
 good offer, and nothing would induce him to 
 delay, lest he might lose the fortunate chance, 
 though the girl begged hard to wait till the 
 ladies were at home, that they might be at her 
 bridal. She was fifteen, but far from having the 
 precocious appearance attributed to Eastern girls, 
 and found in some. She looked considerably 
 less than her age, being short, with a round and 
 rather child-like face. Her whole air, figure, and 
 manner were those of a girl of twelve or thirteen 
 only ; but in knowledge and good sense she was 
 anything but childish. The bridegroom, who 
 
THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 141 
 
 was of Abyssinian race, was at least twice her 
 age — apparently more ; however, he certainly 
 showed great discretion in his choice, and un- 
 worldliness also ; for his bride, though pleasing 
 and intelligent, was by no means handsome, and 
 her father could give not only no dowry, but 
 hardly any clothes as an outfit, being so poor. 
 There was reason to believe that her Christianity 
 was the attraction, for he had long attended the 
 evening meetings of the missionaries, and often 
 sat and conversed with them in the book- 
 depot near the school \ and Martha's love for the 
 Scripture, and proficiency in reading, were ad- 
 vantages in his eyes, and he wisely thought she 
 was more likely to make a good wife than many 
 pretty girls decked in jewels, of whom he might 
 have had his choice — for he was in a good 
 employment. 
 
 Of course, I inquired for my young scholar 
 on my return, but could not find her residence. 
 The husband came to pay his respects, and said 
 she was most eager to see " her lady," but he 
 would not let her come till her married woman's 
 dress was complete, as she had only the out-door 
 equipment that she had worn at school. 
 
 "It is true," he said, "that Martha declares 
 
142 
 
 THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 this does not signify. She says, ( The lady is as 
 a mother to me. What difference is it to her 
 how I am dressed V " 
 
 But, on account of the neighbours' tongues, 
 he was resolute. He feared they would look 
 down on the poor portionless little bride if she 
 came out in her maiden mantle of white cotton, 
 instead of the proper matron's silk. This is a 
 very expensive affair, as it consists of a tob, or 
 dress without sleeves, of some brilliant-coloured 
 silk, made very full, and fastened at the waist by 
 a sash; and over this an immense shroud of 
 black silk, with a covering for the face attached 
 to a fillet on the head. These latter are both laid 
 aside in the house, but the tob is worn while 
 visiting. The whole suit must cost a good deal ; 
 yet all Copts wear it, except the very poorest and 
 the young girls, though even they frequently 
 assume it, if they can persuade their fathers to 
 purchase the materials. However, it is expected 
 to last for many years. The husband of our 
 bride ought to have provided her at once, but 
 was in no hurry to do so, and actually purchased 
 jewels for her while letting her be kept prisoner 
 at the house for want of walking attire ! Perhaps 
 he was glad of this excuse, for the old Coptic 
 
THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 143 
 
 custom is to make a bride a prisoner, not even 
 allowing her to visit her own relatives for a year, 
 or six months at the least. Being of professedly 
 liberal views, he would not allow that he desired 
 to shut up his little wife from this reason ; but I 
 suspected that he was afraid of offending rela- 
 tions, or had not courage to break through the 
 silly habit. The poor young creature was of an 
 affectionate nature, and felt pained at not seeing 
 me ; so she at last persuaded her husband to ask 
 me as a great favour to go and see her, without 
 waiting for her to come and pay her respects 
 first. Of course I willingly agreed, especially as 
 he said she fretted and was quite unhappy at 
 the idea of not seeing me after an absence 
 of three months ! So I walked with the 
 husband to her abode, which was some little 
 distance from the school-house. During the 
 walk he apologized much for giving me this 
 trouble, and said he meant Martha by and by 
 to come every Sunday to join the Gospel class, 
 making the excuse before alluded to about the 
 dress ; but how far it was all true time alone can 
 show. Those who have been brought up to think 
 it no sin to say what they do not really mean, are 
 slow in learning "all sincerity," such as the 
 
144 
 
 THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 Gospel teaches, even when believers, and I did 
 not know enough of this person to be certain that 
 he belonged truly to Christ, though his interest 
 in religion was unmistakable. 
 
 It was hot enough to make the walk fatiguing, 
 and I was very glad when at last we stopped, 
 and I was ushered up a flight of well-swept stone 
 steps, while my guide called loudly — 
 
 " Martha, make haste and come down. Your 
 lady is come. Never mind changing your dress." 
 
 The poor little bride had no wish to delay, 
 indeed, and hurried down in her working attire, 
 and without waiting for any ceremony (which 
 seemed a little to astonish her husband), sprang 
 on my neck, and clung like a child to her old 
 friend, breathless with the vehemence of her 
 kisses and exclamations of welcome and pleasure. 
 
 " I did so want to see you ! I wanted not to 
 
 be married till you and Sitt F had come 
 
 home," she cried, "only they would not wait, 
 as I wished. I am so glad at last to see you 
 again ! M 
 
 As she spoke, the young matron conducted 
 her guest to her best room — a very different one 
 from her poor mother's wretched home — a large, 
 plainly -furnished, but comfortable apartment, in 
 
THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 145 
 
 Eastern style, and everything as clean and neat 
 as could be j and here, with her little bare feet 
 tucked up on the sofa, she poured out her stream 
 of inquiries after everybody at the Mission-house, 
 saying it had seemed so long to her not to have 
 seen her old friends. 
 
 The husband returned to us presently, carry- 
 ing the coffee himself ; and actually, after serving 
 me, served his little wife, of whom he seemed 
 fond and proud. The difference of age is felt 
 in such cases even more than in countries where 
 the two sexes are in the habit of meeting freely, 
 and the school-girl and the grave-looking clerk 
 could scarcely have at first very much in common, 
 and looked almost absurdly unlike in everything ; 
 but it is to be hoped that there will be a strong 
 and growing tie in the love of the Word of God 
 which both profess to feel, and, as I hope, 
 seriously. The man spoke of this very nicely, 
 and said he hoped Martha would always love to 
 read the Bible as she now did. " Indeed, she 
 reads every day," he said. 
 
 As the father was very poor, and I had no 
 reason to suppose he sought for anything but 
 worldly advantage in seeking a match for his 
 child, I felt this was most truly a blessing sent 
 
 10 
 
146 
 
 THE MARRIED PUPIL. 
 
 from the Lord, that the young and inexperienced 
 believer should be united to one who was likely 
 to help instead of hindering her. She has been 
 to visit the Mission-house since, and appears very 
 affectionate, and anxious (as far as the narrow- 
 minded customs of her people allow) to see all 
 she can of her teachers and friends. 
 
 She made the bridal call in a full matron's 
 dress. The black shroud-lilte " habarah," when 
 laid aside, permitted a rich green silk " tob " to 
 be visible within, and plenty of ornaments ; but, 
 though pleased with her finery in a girl-like, 
 natural way, the bride did not seem full of it, 
 as often is the case, to the exclusion of other 
 thoughts, and was delighted to tell how her 
 husband read the Bible with her on his return 
 from business every evening, and gladly joined 
 another young visitor in reading a chapter and 
 talking over it with me. 
 
 We shall watch anxiously over this dear 
 young pupil, and earnestly hope she may be kept 
 in the love of her Saviour and diligent serving 
 of Him ; and that the little candle lighted at the 
 torch of our school (as one may say) will become 
 a light in this dark place ! 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 The Moslem Egyptians are (as most know who 
 are conversant with the history of the country) 
 a mixed race, composed of the Arab conquerors 
 and settlers, mingled with the natives of the 
 soil, who had been compelled to conform to their 
 faith in the great Saracenic invasion ; and though 
 the conquered people lost their own language — the 
 Arabic being now the sole spoken tongue among 
 them — yet the Egyptian element must have been 
 considerable, as is shown by the similarity of 
 features and complexion between them and the 
 Copts. Now some persons have an idea that the 
 Coptic portion of the people — who are the un- 
 doubted remnant of the Egyptian church — are so 
 different in everything from their neighbours of 
 the Moslem faith, as to be distinct in outward ap- 
 pearance, and to speak their own old language 
 But in fact, the only important differences are such 
 
148 
 
 THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 as belong to their religion ; in habits, dress, and 
 looks they are (especially those of the lower 
 orders) very much alike. When the Saracenic 
 invasion took place, Christianity in Egypt was 
 already at a low ebb, and the want of literature 
 doubtless combined with the tyranny of their 
 conquerors, to sink them still lower, and to 
 cause the Coptic language to become a dead 
 one, used, indeed, in their churches, but 
 quite unintelligible except to a few learned 
 men. 
 
 For a long period they were an oppressed 
 remnant, and had many restrictions imposed ; 
 now they enjoy full liberty, and rank among 
 them some of the wealthiest citizens of the 
 country. But though no longer frightened into 
 turning Mohammedans by persecution, it is still 
 by no means rare for isolated persons among 
 them to join the predominant religion for the 
 sake of worldly advantages. In the villages which 
 are so thickly scattered along the banks of the 
 Nile, there are many (especially those within 
 thirty or forty miles of Cairo) inhabited by 
 Mohammedans ; but among these it is not un- 
 frequent to find one or two Copt families, and 
 it appears that, by constant intercourse of the 
 
THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 149 
 
 children, and forming early friendships, etc., 
 some are induced to change their faith. 
 
 There are, doubtless, cases enough which no 
 one hears of, but perversions from Copts are by no 
 means very uncommon, to say nothing of nominal 
 Christians of other countries, who get swallowed 
 up, as it were, in the tide. 
 
 I observed a peasant woman one day in a 
 village some forty miles from Cairo, whose 
 features were not at all of the Egyptian style. 
 " Ah," said one of the bystanders, whom I asked 
 to what nation she belonged, " she is an Arme- 
 nian ; her father had a place as agent, and died 
 when she was quite young. She had no mother, 
 and a Mohammedan adopted her ; she is one of 
 us, and her name is Fatmeh." 
 
 This was only one case out of many ; unhap- 
 pily there are even Englishwomen, who having 
 been foolish enough to marry Mohammedans, 
 suffer all their children to be brought up 
 in that faith, if they do not actually conform to 
 it themselves. For such there is not, of course, 
 the shadow of an excuse ; but the poorer Copts, 
 when isolated, as I observed, are sometimes 
 really under great temptations ; they have never 
 been taught the true and spiritual part of 
 
150 
 
 THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 Christianity ; a corrupted letter without the spirit 
 was in general all that they knew, and when 
 deprived, by distance from their own places of 
 worship, of the ceremonies of their church, and 
 dependent for society and neighbourly offices 
 only upon Moslems, it is hardly to be wondered 
 at that some give up the little they have — the 
 shell of Christianity. 
 
 When on the Nile in our winter trip, our 
 party has always visited Moslem villages more 
 than any others, because these lay more 
 within our reach (being nearer the city), and 
 for various other reasons also. We made 
 a point, however, of taking pains to find out 
 any stray family of Copts who might chance 
 to be dwelling among them, and in several 
 instances have had the comfort of leaving copies 
 of the Scriptures in such isolated homes, and 
 of arousing something of life and interest in 
 them. 
 
 One instance of peculiar interest I noted 
 down. We had been passing a few days in a 
 country village near Gezeh, and, according to 
 custom, had endeavoured to persuade some of 
 the inhabitants, who were Arabs of Bedouin race 
 (though partially settled), to listen to some 
 
THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 151 
 
 Scripture reading, and several came to hear, and 
 expressed considerable interest. It is a mis- 
 sionary's duty to sow beside all waters, and to 
 lose 110 opportunity, even if his chance of doing 
 good be but small, and Mr. Shakoor and his 
 brother, fully impressed with this feeling of 
 responsibility, were urgent in bringing forward 
 the truths of God's Word, and thankful for even 
 a liearing ; but long experience had taught them 
 the great difficulty of making a lasting im- 
 pression on Egyptians. Those few that have 
 a love of truth, or, rather, whose hearts are 
 touched by grace to see and know that " Thy 
 word is truth/' have much to contend with 
 and much to risk : the sower of the seed, 
 therefore, has need of much patience ; and 
 though he need not actually be expecting and 
 looking for disappointment, as that would para- 
 lyse his efforts for good, he must yet be prepared 
 for it, and not surprised. 
 
 The Bedouins of this place were willing 
 to listen, and even to discuss, and this was good 
 as far as it went. One of them was a sheikh, 
 distinguished from his ragged companions by a 
 handsome tarboush [i.e., a felt cap) of bright red 
 (for Bedouins do not often wear a turban, but 
 
152 
 
 THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 throw a silk or woollen shawl over the tarboush 
 when in sun or wind), and also by a long 
 white mantle wrapped round and flung over 
 his shoulder, and which was new and clean, 
 thereby marking the gentleman in his line of 
 life. This man came to see us on the after- 
 noon following the day of our arrival, and with 
 him were three men, evidently peasants of 
 the country, and not desert Arabs, from their 
 dress and appearance. These he introduced as 
 friends of his — Copts from the next village. " I 
 have brought them," said he, " to hear your 
 book." The men then explained that they were 
 the only Coptic families residing in that village, 
 and that yesterday the sheikh had mentioned 
 that he had been listening to some strangers, 
 who read from a book belonging to the Christians. 
 iC You," he said, " know nothing of it though you 
 call yourselves Christians." The curious part of 
 the history is that this very man had been trying 
 to persuade the poorest of these Coptic peasants 
 to turn Mohammedan, and had promised him a 
 suit of clothes (and other advantages in prospect, 
 I believe, but the clothes were to be given at 
 once if he would conform). There is, of course, 
 some honour always attached to the bringing 
 
THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 153 
 
 over a Christian to their faith among Moslems ; 
 yet this sheikh was the person to tell them of 
 the book ! AVhether he spoke in a moment of 
 partial conviction that the book was true, or 
 what motive he had in mentioning it, I cannot 
 tell, but the fact is that he came with the three 
 Copts on Saturday afternoon, and sat down with 
 them to listen while Mr. Shakoor opened the 
 Bible and read to them both from the New and 
 Old Testament. He read to all alike, and told 
 them God's word was for all men. One of the 
 Copts asked many questions, and the others, 
 though more silent, appeared much interested. 
 All the three professed themselves ashamed of 
 their utter ignorance of the book, which they 
 knew was God's word, but pleaded the want of 
 books, or schools, or any means of learning in 
 their isolated situation, as some excuse. More 
 than two hours were spent in reading and ex- 
 plaining, and when they separated, which was 
 only just before sunset, Mr. Shakoor asked if any 
 of them would come next day, which was Sun- 
 day, and join in our prayer and reading of Scrip- 
 ture. The whole party thanked him for the offer, 
 but the Mohammedans did not come ; they are 
 very loth to be seen at a Christian prayer, though 
 
154 
 
 THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 reading they are often willing to listen to. The 
 Copts, however, promised to come, and two of 
 them did so ; the third had been prevented, they 
 said, by business : for the members of the Copt 
 Church pay little regard to Sunday, when any 
 good is to be gained by business. The service 
 we held in our humble desert abode was, of 
 course, arranged so as to suit the two strangers, 
 and the discourse was a simple and clear preach- 
 ing of the Gospel, such as, doubtless, they had 
 never heard before. They appeared greatly 
 touched by the affectionate exhortation given 
 them in concluding — to seek the Saviour while 
 yet time was granted them. We were not very 
 well provided with books, and had only some 
 separate Gospels to dispose of, but Mr. Shakoor 
 gave one of these to each, which were thankfully 
 accepted ; and one, as he took it, said with real 
 feeling, " Sir, you have been sent here, I am 
 sure, by God, for the saving of our souls ; we did 
 not know these things before, and certainly God 
 has sent you ! " This poor man was very anxious 
 that his new friends should visit him the next 
 morning, but, though they would gladly have 
 done so, it proved impossible. In the middle of 
 the night a rushing sound alarmed every one; 
 
THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 155 
 
 and, on looking out, it was seen that the water, 
 let out for irrigation, had carried its flood to 
 within two feet of the little mud wall which was 
 our feeble protection ! The neighbouring vil- 
 lages were surrounded by water, and between us 
 and the hamlet in which our Coptic acquaintance 
 dwelt was a new-made lake instead of the plain 
 of sand on which we had walked the previous 
 day. It is not usual to have any sort of inunda- 
 tion in winter (and this was January), but the 
 Nile had risen too slightly that summer, and the 
 higher lands had been unwatered, and the 
 Government had, therefore, cut the embank- 
 ments of certain districts at this unusual time. 
 The view was exceedingly curious and beautiful, 
 for the verdure on the low lands was now met, as 
 it were, by pools and lakes of water, which re- 
 flected the clear blue of the sky ; and the groups 
 of palms standing out of the water, or fringing 
 the banks, prevented the monotony which might 
 have attached to the wide expanse of nearly flat 
 country between the Nile and the desert. We 
 enjoyed, in fact, the beauty of winter and autumn 
 Nile scenery at once ; the luxuriant green of 
 Egyptian winter, with the abundant water gene- 
 rally belonging to the September and October. 
 
156 
 
 THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 But the way to our new friends' village was cut off 
 entirely for the time — there were no boats, and 
 the huts, with their palm grove, had become an 
 island. Our return to Cairo was even delayed 
 for two days, the road being impassable. The 
 sojourn was so pleasant that this would have 
 scarcely been regretted, only that the stores 
 brought from town were exhausted. The cakes 
 made from flour purchased from the Bedouins 
 were rather bread of affliction, it must be owned, 
 owing to the bitter seeds of a plant called helby } 
 which they mix with their wheat while grinding, 
 in the idea that it improves the bread ! They 
 had also dates, so peppered over with fine sand, 
 as to be gritty under the teeth — (your true Arab 
 of the desert seems quite indifferent to sand in 
 his food, possibly he likes it from long habit). 
 Nothing except milk was to be had that was 
 palatable in fact. 
 
 Before long the water had subsided enough 
 to permit us to return safely to Cairo, but the 
 village of the chicken-raiser (for this was the 
 occupation of the Copt who had specially begged 
 the missionary to pay him a visit) was quite out 
 of reach still. Instead of a ride of about three 
 hours — which, before the new road, was the time 
 
THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 157 
 
 usually taken, if going at a quiet pace — we were 
 the whole day in journeying from the neighbour- 
 hood of the Great Pyramids to the city; for it 
 was necessary to make a very long circuit, be- 
 sides waiting for a boat a considerable time at 
 more than one of the canals. We had to imitate 
 the patience of native Egyptians, and sit on a 
 bank of dry mud for nearly two hours in one 
 place. It was late in the evening when we 
 reached the mission residence, though we had 
 set out at eight in the morning. The old Boab 
 (or doorkeeper) left in charge, had given up all 
 expectation of his family's return at such an hour, 
 and gone off to a little festival among his friends, 
 locking up the door and carrying away the key, so 
 that after a day of twelve hours (riding and wait- 
 ing included), we had the amusement of standing 
 for more than half an hour outside the door 
 before we could gain admittance, and seek the 
 needed repose. At last the messenger appeared 
 running with the key, the old man following 
 full of apologies, and the rather Bedouin-like 
 assemblage of donkeys, laden with rolls of bed- 
 ding and saddle-bags, from which pans and 
 household articles peeped out, were marched into 
 the court, and all disappeared from the eyes of the 
 
158 
 
 THE ISOLATED COPTS. 
 
 curious groups of children who had stood round 
 laughing at the travellers' perplexities. Such 
 excursions will soon become matters of history 
 alone, for a hotel is being erected at the Pyramids 
 they say — the waiters surely ought to be dressed 
 in the costume of the ancient Egyptians to make 
 it complete ! 
 
 But whatever be the outward changes, and 
 however incongruous they appear, those who 
 dwell among the people and labour among them, 
 know well that the heart and nature of man are 
 just the same now as they ever were, and that 
 the same perversity that was found in Pharaoh 
 and his servants exists in their descendants (as 
 in other people), for " as in water face answereth 
 to face, so the heart of man to man \" 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 About a year after our sojourn at the Pyramids 
 of Gezeh, I went on an excursion there with 
 some friends, and tried to find out our former 
 acquaintance, but in vain. No one seemed to 
 know them, and the time being short I had no 
 opportunity of making very careful search. 
 From time to time I thought sadly of their 
 isolated condition, and wondered whether temp- 
 tation had proved too strong, or whether the 
 light that had been sent to them by the instru- 
 mentality of God's messengers continued to 
 shine for their once darkened souls. At length 
 an occasion offered for again spending a short 
 time in the same hamlet on the sandy plain, 
 under those wondrous and mysterious monuments 
 of ancient times ; and some of our party with 
 a relative from England, to share the interest 
 and be introduced to these curious scenes, were 
 
160 THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 soon established among the Bedouin huts, and 
 I resolved that no effort should be spared to find 
 out the poor Copts before leaving the neigh- 
 bourhood; but meantime there was. something 
 to be done among those around us. It was 
 early morning, the day after .our arrival, that 
 three of the party wandered forth to enjoy the 
 exquisite view in the fresh and somewhat cold 
 air of January, tempered, however, by genial 
 sunshine. Between the pale yellow desert and 
 the rich green of the clover and corn-fields, the 
 water appeared (not now in overflow, but within 
 the usual banks) ; the pools which on close 
 inspection proved muddy enough, looked blue as 
 the heavens above them at a little distance, and 
 in the clear morning light. Girls with pitchers 
 gracefully poised on their heads were tripping 
 along in every direction ; flocks of white geese 
 disporting on the short green grass by the 
 canal or swimming in the pools ; camels and- 
 buffaloes, led by sturdy peasants, going forth to 
 their labour in the fields ; and the palms catch- 
 ing the soft light on their feathery branches, all 
 made a perfect picture : but when we reached the 
 opposite hamlet, and entered its precincts, the 
 charm was greatly diminished. Alongside of 
 
IW AN KGYPTIAN' VILLAGE. 
 
THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 161 
 
 every hovel — for few of the habitations were 
 worthy the name of anything better — lay heaps 
 of dirt, rubbish, refuse, vegetables, and dust, 
 which apparently formed the favourite resting- 
 places of the family circle ! 
 
 We made some inquiries respecting the poor 
 Copt, and after a good deal of trouble learned 
 that he did still live here, and were shown his 
 chicken oven, but he was absent at a distant 
 market. One of the younger missionaries who 
 was with us, now proposed to some of the men, 
 who were loitering about, to read to them ; they 
 agreed, and though of course this was only from 
 curiosity — who can say that some little ray of 
 light may not sometimes penetrate by the door 
 of curiosity ? 
 
 One asked if he were a Christian, and the 
 rest of us also, and if we drank spirits ; the two 
 unhappily being associated in the minds of poor 
 Moslem Egyptians, and no wonder, from the dis- 
 graceful examples they see in so-called Christians. 
 We explained the difference, and soon a group of 
 turbaned peasants were sittiug round and listen- 
 ing to the stranger's book. The women joined 
 the circle, for there is far less restraint in the 
 country than in towns, but their chattering only 
 
 11 
 
162 THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 interrupted the reader, so I persuaded them to 
 withdraw a little with me, and there seated on a 
 heap of dust and rubbish (for no other place was 
 to be found) we assembled ; and a rather bright- 
 looking middle-aged woman said, as she squatted 
 beside me, " Now the lady will read for us, and 
 the words I am sure will be good." 
 
 This woman occasionally asked questions 
 while I read, instead of giving the common blind 
 and ignorant acquiescence which is so difficult to 
 deal with : for when a listener says e ' yes — yes," 
 and you see she does not really mean yes, but 
 only says it to save trouble or to please you — you 
 scarcely know where to go next; whereas an 
 intelligent question shows attention, and is hope- 
 ful. I was reading the passage in the Gospel of 
 Matthew about laying up treasures in heaven, 
 etc., and gave them an illustration of the vanity 
 of earthly riches by telling them how yesterday 
 one of the gentlemen had found some old coins 
 near one of the pyramids, reminding them that 
 the former owner of this money, though he had 
 had it buried with him (for it was found in a 
 tomb), was forced after all to leave it, for his 
 body was dust, and the money remained indeed, 
 but not for him ! " That is true," said she, 
 
THE STRAY SHEEP IX THE WILDERNESS. 163 
 
 " we cannot take anything with us from our 
 earthly goods when we die j but now tell me 
 what is heavenly treasure ? " 
 
 " God's pardon, and favour, and love/' I 
 replied. "His promises to us all; these are 
 heavenly treasure." I then tried to explain 
 how the love and mercy of God to sinful man 
 was shown in Christ, and spoke of the necessity 
 of praying that God would teach and enlighten 
 her. "I do pray," said she, "but that woman 
 cannot, nor she, nor she, none of those know 
 how ! " pointing to the circle of poor women 
 clustered round us. Mohammedans usually 
 understand by prayer, the repeating of their 
 own formula, and the ignorant at all events 
 have no idea that any other sort of prayer 
 exists. Few of the women take the trouble 
 to learn this long and tiresome formula, though 
 it is taught to most boys as a matter of course. 
 "But," said I, "you do not really pray any 
 more than your neighbours, for true prayer is 
 asking for something we wish for. Now when 
 you pray you say ' God is great, God is wonder- 
 ful/ and so on." " Yes — yes," she replied, and 
 repeated several clauses of the ordinary form, 
 consisting of long epithets. " Well," I con- 
 
164 THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 tinued, " if your son," pointing to the half- 
 naked urchin who stood at her knee, "were want- 
 ing bread, and came and stood here by you, and 
 said, ' Oh, my mother, thou art good ! oh, thou 
 art handsome ! oh, thou art clever V would you 
 get him the bread ? w f ' No, for I should not 
 know what he wanted," she said, laughing. 
 " God certainly knows our wants because He 
 knows everything," I said ; " but He has com- 
 manded that we should ask for what we wish by 
 praying to Him, and if not we shall not receive. 
 If you go alone and say, c 0 God, have mercy on 
 me ; I am a sinner, forgive my sins ; enlighten 
 me, for I am ignorant V that would be prayer if 
 it came from your heart." The women were 
 astonished at this, and some laughed, but not 
 mockingly, only as Egyptians often do at any 
 idea that is new and strange, and I went on to 
 explain, as well as I could, our need of a Media- 
 tor and Saviour. After we had spent nearly an 
 hour among the people we were quite exhausted, 
 for the sun had become hot, and the odours 
 around us were dreadful, but we felt thankful 
 for the opportunity of speaking to these poor 
 ignorant creatures, and the pure fresh air soon 
 revived us, as leaving the village we walked over 
 
THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 165 
 
 the fields to see a gipsy encampment about half 
 a mile distant. 
 
 This was curious and picturesque in the 
 extreme ; the gipsies were very civil, and seemed 
 by no means poor ; they invited us to sit down 
 on a smart-looking carpet outside their largest 
 tent, and gathered round, chattering and asking 
 questions with the volubility of their race. They 
 had come to sell ornaments and other things to 
 the villagers on account of an approaching fes- 
 tival, but the peasants told us that they bore a 
 very indifferent character for honesty, and pil- 
 fered when they could. The young woman who 
 spread the carpet for us was a study for a painter. 
 She would have been quite a beauty but for the 
 breadth of her nose, which gave a rather coarse 
 look to the face, but her eyes were splendid, and 
 her dark skin had a shade of bright colour on 
 the cheeks, like a red apple seen through brown 
 gauze : her stray locks of curly black hair 
 were shaded by a thin veil, and her graceful 
 figure was well set off by a dark muslin dress, 
 worked with gold at the neck, around which she 
 wore several necklaces of bright green beads 
 mixed with scarlet coral and gold coins. Though 
 very amusing to see, we could do no good with 
 
166 THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 these people. When we spoke of reading, they 
 said no book was better worth reading than theirs, 
 and produced a manuscript Arabic book with 
 many figures and signs as well as writing, which 
 proved to be a book of magic or sorcery. They 
 would hear of no other, and were chiefly anxious 
 to persuade us to visit them in the evening again. 
 Whether this invitation was given with a view of 
 ridding us of our watches or purses I cannot say, 
 but it was not thought advisable to accept it. 
 
 At last the poor chicken-raiser was found, to 
 my great joy, after many unsuccessful attempts. 
 I went one morning alone to the village, where 
 the hatching-oven was, and this time the owner 
 was at home ; he instantly recollected me, and 
 ran to salute me with cordial and hearty plea- 
 sure in his looks and manner that could not be 
 mistaken. He told me he had called at the place 
 where we were staying the day before, and found 
 all the party gone out (his boy had mentioned 
 that we had come to look for him). " But I not 
 only heard of your coming from your message 
 to my son/' said he, " but I also heard in the 
 village of your having come down the other day 
 to buy the barley, and how one of you gave a 
 book to a man here. Now/' he added., " come 
 
THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 167 
 
 in — come in, you are very welcome/' and he 
 ushered me into his dwelling as politely as if it 
 had been a palace instead of a hovel. Poor man, 
 his abode was not inviting, I must own — it joined 
 the hatching oven (which always brings abundance 
 of vermin), and the rude entrance was common 
 to man and beast alike, for a great fat sheep was 
 pushed out to make room for me, and neither 
 window nor any sort of furniture was found in it, 
 only a heap of dirty bedding in a dark corner, 
 and two or three coarse earthen vessels ! The 
 wife came forward to greet me so warmly that it 
 was evident she had heard of her husband's ac- 
 quaintance though she had not seen us. She was 
 a pleasing, nice-looking woman, much younger 
 than the man, and surrounded by a whole bevy 
 of little children, ragged and ill kept, but pretty 
 in spite of all, from their bright intelligent eyes 
 and shining white teeth. I told them of the 
 illness of one of the Mr. Shakoors, which pre- 
 vented his coming to visit them, as he would 
 have liked to do, and also how we had .vainly 
 tried to find them, and asked after his brother 
 and friend, who I found were at Gezeh on busi- 
 ness. He had not forgotten the conversations and 
 preaching of two years ago, but the Gospel given 
 
168 THE STEAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 him had been, lie said, torn by some of his 
 younger children (for he had neither box nor 
 shelf, and the hut was filled with children, goats, 
 sheep, and chickens). He promised that if I 
 would give him the one in my hand — a Gospel of 
 John — he would take great care of it, and always 
 keep it in the inner pocket of his vest. He 
 declared he would read from it to his wife, and 
 she said she would gladly listen. "For/ 5 she 
 observed, " we know it is God's Word." 
 
 Both begged me to read to them now, and 
 listened earnestly while I read the fourth chapter, 
 and conversed about it. The woman showed an 
 interest unusual in Egyptian women. It was 
 difficult to leave the poor people, they were so 
 urgent for me to remain ; and when at last it 
 was necessary to go, they pressed me to. stay and 
 dine with them. I thanked them for their hos- 
 pitality, but declined it; and as a messenger 
 had come to summon me to join the cavalcade on 
 the journey homeward, I bade farewell to my 
 friends, commending them to the Lord. We 
 hoped next season to visit them, and see how the 
 work of grace prospered, but it was ordered other- 
 wise. A violent overflow of the river inundated 
 all the villages in that and many other regions in 
 
THE STRAY SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS. 169 
 
 the autumn, and the people were scattered, and 
 the house where we had stayed utterly destroyed. 
 But the great Shepherd of the flock who had 
 sent his servants to bring his Word there, will 
 not have forgotten the sheep that was lost in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 By the Nile. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 We are so occupied with a work, which for various 
 reasons is chiefly among the poorer classes of 
 people, that we know comparatively little about 
 the great families, who are not only few in num- 
 ber, of course, relatively to the less wealthy, but 
 who are much more difficult of access. 
 
 The sort of mystery and romance hanging 
 around " Hareem life 93 in European ideas, make 
 some persons wonder that I have not taken more 
 pains to penetrate their closed doors, but the fact 
 is, that a great deal of time and trouble would 
 be expended without doing good, and this being 
 my object, I prefer visiting among the humbler 
 people. The Pashas of rank and wealth in 
 Egypt are (or were till very recently) all Turks, 
 and their families, consisting of a number of slaves 
 purchased usually at Constantinople, though of 
 Circassian and Georgian race, speak scarcely 
 
OX VISITING. 
 
 171 
 
 anything but Turkish. Some, indeed, who have 
 been long resident can talk Arabic, but never 
 employ it if they can avoid it, and many do not 
 even know more than sufficient to call about to 
 their servants. I have not leisure to acquire 
 another lano-uaofe, and could not therefore talk 
 to them except in Arabic, unless to the few, and 
 these chiefly among the mere children who have 
 had European teachers and speak French. But, 
 as far as I can learn, Turkish is the only key 
 likely to reach their hearts at all. The great 
 difficulty, next to language, in reaching the 
 wealthiest class of women (I will not call them 
 the higher class, because I reckon a free-born 
 woman, however poor, much higher than a poor 
 thing whose parents sold her for money) — the 
 next great difficulty then is, that of getting their 
 permission to go and see them. They are sur- 
 rounded by every luxury that money can purchase, 
 and every pleasure except those of freedom and 
 of intellect, which they have no desire for, never 
 having known them ; and they receive visits from 
 European ladies now and then on occasions of 
 ceremony, etc., and see plenty when driving 
 about in the winter, when visitors are numerous 
 in Cairo, so that they have no particular curiosity 
 
172 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 about our ways, and dress, and appearance, and 
 no wish to become acquainted. In India, the 
 zenana, answering in some measure to the 
 hareem, appears to be a dreary abode, with 
 neither garden nor rich furniture, and where the 
 fair prisoners must remain within four walls, save 
 on rare occasions ; here, on the contrary, the 
 women of rich families are driving about, shop- 
 ping, and visiting friends half the day, and always 
 have fine gardens, full of fruit and flowers, for 
 their use ; besides that not a few go every sum- 
 mer to Constantinople, and others to Alexandria. 
 European civilization has so far penetrated the 
 hareems as to bring a few ladies from France and 
 England as instructresses to some of the greatest 
 families, but these as yet are exceptional cases, 
 and even these are restricted to purely secular 
 instruction, with the utmost rigour in general. 
 The average have received the mere outside of 
 cultivation, which does no real good, and some 
 things that do harm : by the outside I mean new 
 materials for dress, articles of virtu, and so forth ; 
 by those that do harm I mean the permission 
 given to many of those secluded ladies to attend 
 theatres, behind a screen it is true, and the plays 
 carried on in an unknown tongue ; but still the 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 173 
 
 whole concern is likely to injure rather than to 
 benefit them. And unhappily it is much easier 
 to do harm than good. One who wishes to 
 foster their passion for dress and jewellery — 
 already far too great — could easily gain admis- 
 sion, no doubt, but any one armed with the 
 Gospel of peace would not find the doors readily 
 opened. We must take comfort, however, in 
 recollecting that Divine love much oftener works 
 up from a humble origin than downwards. The 
 Gospel preached first to poor fishermen in Galilee 
 reached Cassar's household in time. 
 
 I have occasionally had a peep at one or two 
 of the great families formerly, and will describe 
 the first visit I ever paid to a hareem, just as a 
 contrast to the many visits subsequently made to 
 mud huts under the palms, or to the dwellings of 
 artisans and small tradespeople in the streets and 
 lanes of the city. There was a good deal of 
 ceremony and trouble about going, I recollect ; 
 the lady who was taking me had to send a mes- 
 senger to ask leave to call, and two or three 
 messages were exchanged before the day and 
 hour could be fixed. The family was that of a 
 wealthy Pasha — not one connected with the reign- 
 ing family at all, but a <c great man" — and one 
 
174 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 who had visited Paris, and Vienna also, I believe. 
 He was a Turk by race. Knowing something of 
 European customs^ he was polite enough to come 
 himself to the great saloon, into which the black 
 slave brought us, and conducted us to his ladies' 
 apartment. The French broadcloth dress which 
 is now universal among Turks of the higher 
 order, is unfortunately unsuited to their dark 
 complexion, and I regretted the graceful turban, 
 in which many an Egyptian peasant looks as dig- 
 nified as a prince. The change which late years 
 have brought in the furniture of many of the 
 grand houses is no less to be regretted as both 
 less suitable to the climate, and far less beauti- 
 ful than their own. The carpets of small size, 
 from the famous looms of Damascus and Persia, 
 are easily taken up in warm weather, and as rich 
 in hue and as durable as they are tasteful ; while 
 huge gaudy carpets from England and France 
 cannot be quickly removed, and will not bear the 
 searching sunshine of Egypt. The prints on the 
 walls (fur though Mohammedans, they had a num- 
 ber hanging up) were of a cheap, vulgar kind, 
 such as we see in third-rate French coffee-houses, 
 and the large gilt mirrors and French clocks, 
 though really handsome, looked terribly tin- 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 175 
 
 Eastern, and out of keeping with the antique 
 ceiling and Oriental style of building. We were 
 presently ushered into the ladies' set of apart- 
 ments, which were plainer and in better taste, and 
 furnished with a long, low divan, instead of the 
 gilt chairs of the saloon, covered with handsome 
 brocade. The head lady was a woman of middle- 
 age, but still very pretty, with soft Georgian 
 features, dark eyes, and fair skin. As it was cold 
 weather, she was muffled in a fur-lined coat, 
 rather like a man's, so that not much splendour 
 of dress could be seen except in the jewels (of 
 immense value, as I presume) that hung round 
 her neck and adorned the muslin kerchief on her 
 head, which was of a dusky green, on purpose to 
 set off the diamonds. She was pleasant and 
 kind in her manners, but her conversation was 
 confined to salutations and dumb show, for at 
 that time I knew only a few phrases and words 
 of Arabic ; and she, I was told, only spoke it a 
 little, as she was half the year in Constantinople, 
 and looked on Turkish as her own language, 
 having long forgotten the Georgian dialect. The 
 usual tiny cups of coffee, in zerfs, or holders of 
 silver, were handed round by negresses, of whom 
 a whole bevy were coming and going incessantly, 
 
176 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 gaily dressed in bright coloured print jackets 
 and trousers, and wearing bracelets of silver, 
 gold, and beads on their black arms. One or 
 two white women stood behind their lady, and 
 after a little, pipes were offered to them as well as 
 to the rest of the circle. Then the lord and 
 master again joined us, and interpreted a few 
 sentences of ours to his wife, for he spoke French 
 tolerably well. But, unluckily, she had nothing 
 to say, so his powers as interpreter were not 
 severely taxed. He presently said we should see 
 his last purchase — a young girl of a mountain 
 tribe in Caucasus, which he named, but I forgot 
 the name j he told us they were a very indepen- 
 dent, haughty set of people, and it was very rare 
 to obtain one as a slave ; unlike the Circassians, 
 who eagerly sell their girls, and bring them up 
 to long for the gilded cages of the Turks. 
 
 The lady wife did not look particularly de- 
 lighted, but signed to a black slave to summon 
 the young mountaineer, who came in slowly and 
 reluctantly, with a sullen expression, which it was 
 impossible to blame. She was very pretty. "I 
 wanted you to see her, because she is like your 
 countrywomen,^ the master had coolly observed ; 
 and- indeed the auburn hair, blue eyes, and fair 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 177 
 
 complexion, and the tall figure and determined ex- 
 pression, reminded one of many an English maiden 
 who would prefer death to captivity. I felt so 
 indignant and full of pity ; as to the others, pity 
 would have been quite thrown away, they were 
 so perfectly content. The lady's baby was then 
 brought for inspection, dressed in silk and orna- 
 mented with jewels, and then we took our leave, 
 for where one cannot talk, a visit is not interest- 
 ing enough to bear being prolonged beyond 
 three quarters of an hour. The same ceremonies 
 of salutations, and passing through long suites of 
 rooms, were observed as on our entrance ; slaves 
 abounded everywhere, especially black ones, 
 mostly loitering about and doing nothing. The 
 whole was full of wealth, but very unlike a home 
 I thought, and very stupid. 
 
 A few years later I was no longer a stranger 
 passing a winter in Egypt, but a resident, and 
 paying visits frequently enough, and a curious 
 contrast these were to the first which I have just 
 described. Now my visits were to the dwellings 
 of the poor chiefly, and to the natives of the soil, 
 the descendants of those who had probably 
 worked under the Pharaohs, and not to the 
 palaces of foreigners filled with slaves from 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 distant lands. To me they were more interest- 
 ing*, as being the people of the country, to say 
 nothing of the earnest desire and hope of doing 
 some little good among them ; so that the little 
 inconveniences and disagreeables connected with 
 such visits were comparatively trifling. Some- 
 times I went to the houses of neighbours whose 
 children I wished to try and win for scholars at 
 the school I was endeavouring to organize, and 
 these houses were generally old and half decayed 
 buildings, that had once been of a better kind 
 and fallen out of repair ; but some were of a still 
 humbler description, consisting of a sort of 
 stable and court below, and rude mud-brick 
 steps outside, leading to a couple of small rooms, 
 and a wretched terrace, all rubbish and dirt 
 above. In some places these were nothing but 
 mere hovels, built round a sort of court, common 
 to several families, in which the children grovelled 
 in heaps of dust, and flies swarmed around. Yet 
 not a few bright faces would be seen amidst even 
 these, and in the more respectable habitations 
 some very pleasing women were occasionally to 
 be found. When I first visited the poor in Cairo 
 I was accompanied by the matron I had at that 
 time as assistant in the new school (the opening 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 179 
 
 of which, has been described in " Ragged Life in 
 Egypt) With this good woman's help a little 
 way was made in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of the school-house, but my return for a season to 
 Europe interrupted our efforts, and on comiug 
 back to reside permanently, I had to begin again, 
 this time alone ; and the visits were rather diffi- 
 cult work for awhile. The teachers did not like 
 to visit among the Mohammedan mothers, nor 
 indeed among the poor at all, as they were afraid 
 of not being well received, and shrank from the 
 difficulties. Indeed, there icere a good many 
 hindrances, and their youth was against their 
 going to beat up new ground. At the risk of 
 appearing to repeat, I will give a few extracts 
 from notes made subsequent to the publication of 
 " Ragged Life." 
 
 I had taken a little pupil to show me the way 
 to some houses in our neighbourhood where I 
 thought we might find children whose parents 
 would send them to the school, if one could make 
 friends with them a little, perhaps. I desired the 
 girl to ask a child who was playing in the dust, 
 where she lived, and if her mother was at home. 
 The only reply elicited was a rather sulky " Don't 
 know \" " Would you like to go to school and 
 
180 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 learn to read and sew?" said the decoy duck 
 child. " Don't want ; " and still more sulky 
 looks. " There, never mind; she doesn't want/' 
 cried the pupil; "let her alone, pray." How- 
 ever, I was not so easily daunted, and talked kindly 
 to the child, telling her some things about the 
 school, and at length a smile appeared on the little 
 brown face, and a row of white teeth appeared. 
 She yielded, and guided us through the narrowest 
 lane I have yet been in, a real " needle's eye " 
 for narrowness, as a laden camel must have had 
 his burden removed before attempting to get 
 through it. 
 
 The house of the little girl's mother was not, 
 however, worse than others. We found a woman 
 with fine black eyes, engaged in sifting flour, as 
 she squatted on the mud floor, and two others 
 were sitting by ; one of these was a Copt, she 
 told us, the others Moslems. The gold coins 
 round their necks were sufficient to have built a 
 house, I should think, but their dress was the 
 ordinary dark blue cotton, which looks black at a 
 little distance, worn by almost all the peasant 
 class of women. They were very civil, and one 
 brought a little stool with very short feet, which 
 she placed for me. I told them about the school, 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 181 
 
 and my wish to benefit the girls of the place, 
 whether Copt or Moslem, alike. They agreed it 
 was better for girls to learn sewing and reading 
 than to play in the street all day, and two of 
 them promised to send their children next day. 
 The promise does not always mean anything but 
 a polite dislike to refuse a well-meant offer, and 
 say no, but sometimes it is kept, and one must 
 hope for the best. I took leave with a civil good- 
 bye on both sides. 
 
 Some of the visits, however, were not in any 
 way connected with the school. Being in the 
 country, here is a short description from a journal 
 written some few years ago, which is a fair speci- 
 men of country villages and their people. 
 
 " We had an interesting ride to the village of 
 
 M yesterday. The place lying rather low is 
 
 considered damp in autumn, after the inundation, 
 but now at the end of December is dry enough. 
 The green barseem (or Egyptian clover) is just 
 coming up, and looks delightfully fresh, and the 
 cliffs of Gibel el Hasheb are just discernible in 
 the distance, with gardens, fields, and villas 
 between the desert and the river, forming a 
 bright picture on a sunny winter's day in Egypt. 
 At an open spot just outside the village, a barber 
 
182 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 was shaving a peasant's head, and, as usual, a 
 group were assembled near him chatting and 
 smoking, for at this season there is less to be 
 done in the fields than at some others, and early 
 in the afternoon many of the men appeared at 
 leisure. Mr. Shakoor took advantage of this, 
 and resolved to join the party of men, and get into 
 conversation, while I went a little further in search 
 of some women. I soon found four or five with 
 some little girls, all sitting upon a dust heap ! 
 They looked very dirty, as well they might, but 
 I remembered who can "raise up the beggar from 
 the dunghill and make him to sit among princes " 
 (Samuel i.). I saluted the poor women in a 
 friendly way, and though looking astonished 
 they replied civilly. One was working on a 
 pair of red print trousers, the rest doing 
 nothing. After a little chat and a few questions 
 on both sides, I asked if they had ever heard 
 about our first parents Adam and Eve, and how 
 sin came into the world. They just knew the 
 names, but no more, and were pleased to listen 
 while I related the story. Before I had finished, 
 an old woman who had come up, interrupted me, 
 and began telling about certain birds which she 
 said flew about in paradise ; some legend or fable, 
 
OX VISITING. 
 
 183 
 
 of which they have plenty, that mix a little truth 
 with a great deal of invention. A young man 
 who was standing near and listening, desired her 
 was not to interrupt the lady, for he could see she 
 learned, and ' thou art ignorant/ he added with 
 more truth than politeness. I told him that in 
 my country, women as well as men learned to 
 read, and that it was good for many reasons, but 
 especially for this, that God's Word could be read 
 by all. I then produced my Testament and 
 showed it to him. ' Is it really Arabic ? 1 the 
 women asked eagerly of him, for the common 
 people have no respect for a book in any other 
 characters. The young man, though not able to 
 read fluently, knew his letters, and picked out a 
 word or two ; he assured them it was really 
 Arabic, and handed it to me, begging me to 
 read a little out of it. ' But you are not well 
 placed here/ he said, pointing to the heap on 
 which they were seated, and which was certainly 
 very unpleasant. 1 Come to the roof of my 
 house, my mother will show you the way, and 
 these women can come too, if they like/ I 
 acceded to this courteous, invitation, and fol- 
 lowed the mother and son up the mud-brick 
 steps leading to a rude terrace, on which the 
 
184 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 husks of maize were spread ; and though any- 
 thing but clean, it was a great improvement on 
 what we had left, and with genuine kindliness the 
 old woman brought out an old but well preserved 
 carpet, and spread it for me. The others had 
 followed, and sat round to hear what the stranger 
 could have to read to them. They really seemed 
 interested, though sometimes interrupting me 
 with remarks not at all to the purpose. I 
 managed to bring them back to the stories I 
 read, of course choosing the simplest possible, 
 and trying to explain a little as we went. The 
 young man observed it was no use teaching them 
 ' for they are cattle — the women here — and have 
 no sense/ said he. The poor mother meekly 
 assented, saying, ' It's true, I am a beast/ look- 
 ing half sadly and half smiling at her son. I 
 patted her on the shoulder encouragingly, as they 
 do here when they want to comfort any one, say- 
 ing, ' No, good mother, not so ; for beasts have 
 no souls, and you have. You do not understand 
 because you have not been taught early, and 
 besides I am a foreigner, and perhaps do not say 
 all the words right, but now listen and I will try 
 to make it plain to you. Listen to our dear 
 Lord's own words/ I then read some passages 
 
OX VISITING. 
 
 185 
 
 over again slowly and carefully, and they seemed 
 to be pleased ; even the poor mother said she 
 understood better this time. 
 
 " I heard Mr. Shakoor below, inquiring for 
 me in some anxiety, as I had disappeared and was 
 quite hidden by the heaps of straw on the roof. 
 A child at last had directed him to the house, and 
 I came down after promising to call another day. 
 The men had not been unwilling to listen, and 
 more than twenty had assembled to hear the 
 Scripture ; the difficulty, however, is not on the 
 first so much as on subsequent visits, for on a 
 first occasion curiosity leads many to come and 
 hear who do not really care. Still we must 
 rejoice when we have an opportunity like this, 
 and we returned very thankful for our visit." 
 
 On a subsequent occasion I came to see this 
 family with Mrs. Shakoor, and we were intro- 
 duced to the wife of the young man alluded to, 
 and were not a little surprised to find nearly an 
 idiot, or what would in Ireland be called a 
 natural. The mother told us she had arranged 
 this singular union (I think it was on account 
 of some property attached to the young person 
 of weak intellect), and she added that she had 
 sense enough to light a fire and fetch water, and, 
 
 ♦ 
 
186 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 though not able to speak beyond a few words, 
 she could say " Salamat ! " (answering to How 
 do you do ? ) . This accomplishment she dis- 
 played for our benefit with a sheepish smile, and 
 then trotted off with her pitcher, in obedience to 
 a nod from the mother-in-law. A wife being 
 chiefly wanted as drudge, intellect was of small 
 importance, and powers of conversation could be 
 dispensed with. 
 
 Occasionally I have to pay visits among a 
 different class from any hitherto described, into 
 the families of respectable and sometimes wealthy 
 native Christians, or those of Oriental Christians 
 of other countries settled in Egypt. Of course 
 there is nothing of hareem life in the strict 
 sense, as plurality of wives, is not permitted by 
 any of their churches, but it is strange how 
 the Moslem custom of secluding the women has 
 been adopted by those dwelling among them. 
 The veiling of the face has also been adopted, 
 and among the Copts as much shutting up as 
 among their neighbours, often more, prevails ; 
 some, however, are by degrees relaxing a little 
 in this respect, and some Coptic women are 
 allowed to go out from time to time, and even 
 to visit and shop pretty freely. Others, again, 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 187 
 
 are as closely secluded as if they were actual 
 denizens of a hareem; nearly all keep black 
 female slaves instead of hiring servants, and 
 the evils of such a system may be easily ima- 
 gined. One day Mrs. Shakoor and I went to 
 visit a lady in one of the wealthiest Coptic fami- 
 lies, and saw no less than ten negresses in her 
 kitchen as we passed the open door on our way 
 upstairs. Another showed us the way, and I 
 believe one or two more were about the house 
 with the children, yet with ail these nominal 
 assistants, the beautiful furniture was ill-cared for, 
 and in every available corner some sort of rubbish 
 peeped out— crusts of bread and bits of orange 
 peel under a splendid clock on a marble table • 
 worn-out old slippers under a gilt bed covered 
 with silk, etc. And it was evident that a single 
 servant, if active and clever, would be worth all 
 the twelve or thirteen women bought with money 
 and held in forced servitude. They do not 
 usually seem ill-treated, though I have heard 
 occasional instances of cruel mistresses, but 
 generally the black women are merry, fat, and 
 well dressed, and certainly not overworked, 
 but are often great thieves, and seldom moral. 
 The swqpt-looking, gentle lady of the house I 
 
188 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 allude to, would be, I fancy, a mistress rather 
 easily imposed on, if one could judge by faces, 
 and not at all tyrannical. She was very pleasing 
 and graceful, dressed in delicate printed muslin 
 (for it was summer time) made in a vest called a 
 yelek, with long skirts, the ends drawn through 
 the sash, and full trousers of the same, no frip- 
 pery of any sort, but a necklace of jewels. We 
 conversed with her for some time, and tried to 
 interest her in the " better part," and wished to 
 induce her to visit us in return. We had been 
 specially invited to call, but I suppose the gentle- 
 man was not in the habit of letting his wife go 
 out much, for she never came though living only 
 a few streets off. 
 
 The Syrian families long settled in Cairo have 
 in most cases assimilated themselves in many 
 points to the Copts — adopting the black silk 
 habarsah (like a great shroud) for going out, etc., 
 and now and then intermarrying with them — but 
 with those who are more recent settlers, much of 
 their own ways remain ; they are usually ener- 
 getic and lively, and anxious for the education of 
 their children; but those who are Maronites, or of 
 the Latin church, are a good deal influenced by the 
 priests, and often send their children to convents, 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 189 
 
 where their minds are narrowed up as it were, 
 and the Scripture is very little taught. Though 
 often quick in learning by rote, I usually find 
 children who have been in convent schools very 
 dull at answering any questions demanding the 
 least thought — their natural intelligence is blunted 
 by the system of learning without understanding, 
 and their eyes open wide with amazement on 
 hearing the scholars questioned as to the meaning 
 of what they read. 
 
 But to return to the visits. Of course there 
 is a great variety of habits and ways, but yet a 
 sufficient resemblance to enable one to know 
 how to conduct oneself with them. On knocking 
 at the door of a house occupied by persons of 
 respectability and even affluence, but living in a 
 quiet modest way, there is seldom a servant to 
 answer the summons, but a rope is pulled by the 
 slave upstairs, or by the mistress if she is not on 
 the spot, which draws up the latch, and admits the 
 guest ; this is seldom done, however, till the ques- 
 tion, " Who is it V s has been asked and satisfac- 
 torily replied to. Then one has to find one's way 
 up stairs which are often almost dark, and I must 
 allow very often dirty even in good houses. No 
 one of the better classes in Cairo thinks of occu- 
 
190 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 pying the ground floor, which is kept for stables, 
 etc. If the lady happens to be engaged in house- 
 hold occupations, superintending" the wash," or in 
 the kitchen, she has no false shame in letting it 
 be seen, but merely begs her visitors to wait a 
 moment in the sitting-room, and joins them after 
 having given orders to the negress about the 
 sherbet and coffee, which are shortly served at 
 intervals, the former always first ; frequently, but 
 not invariably, a glass dish of preserve is first 
 handed round, the coffee always being last. After 
 the salutations and inquiries after the members of 
 the respective families are over, a few questions 
 on any subject interesting, or supposed to be so, 
 follow, and when there is a pause, usually the 
 compliments are repeated, " You are welcome ; 
 we are glad to see you ; how is your health ? " 
 etc.* In Syria many women of education are now 
 to be found, but in Cairo such a one would be a 
 rare bird, and I have never met any ; conversa- 
 tion therefore is necessarily confined to domestic 
 matters, dress, or gossip. We do not encourage 
 these last, and endeavour to get in something 
 that will profit where it is possible. Their man- 
 
 * No cards are used if the person visited is absent, and the 
 visit seems to go for nothing in that ease. 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 191 
 
 ners are generally pleasing and graceful, and a 
 visitor is always welcomed in a way that makes 
 her feel at home. If there is any degree of inti- 
 macy, however slight, the mistress of the house 
 will almost forcibly take away the out-door dress 
 of her friends, and when they speak of leaving 
 will sometimes refuse to bring them their shawls, 
 etc., insisting on their delaying. A morning 
 visit usually occupies an hour, and often more, 
 and I have had lady visitors who stayed so long 
 that it was a great stretch of politeness not to 
 show one's weariness. But northern politeness 
 is far outdone by Eastern courtesy; however 
 long their visitors linger, no sign of fatigue or 
 of wanting to be gone to their business appears 
 outwardly, and if a meal-time is near, the chance 
 comer is cordially pressed to share. The gentle- 
 men of the family do not often show themselves 
 (unless it be dinner-time), but now and then they 
 are at home, and will join the wife and mother 
 or sister, and her friends for a few minutes ; but 
 as a general custom, the female guests are re- 
 ceived in a different apartment from the men's, 
 both among Copts and Oriental Christians of 
 other races settled among them. Of course this 
 refers to people who are more or less wealthy ; 
 
192 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 but even among the poor, visitors are separated 
 as much as their accommodation allows. In the 
 next chapter I will give a few more descriptions 
 of visits, as a somewhat lengthened acquaintance 
 with different families enables me to do. 
 
 Thi Vbil. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 VISITING, CONTINUED. 
 
 It is fortunate that among the many hindrances 
 to our work in Egypt we have not to deal with 
 the caste system, which is so great a trial to all 
 who desire to do good in India. There is, in 
 fact, much less difficulty than in England in 
 assembling together children of various classes. 
 If now and then a proud mother tosses up her 
 head and says her girl is not used to associate 
 with the children of Fellaheen or peasants, it 
 generally turns out that she is not a native Egyp- 
 tian. Among the children of the soil there is 
 rarely any trouble of this kind, and I must say 
 that there is very little difference of manners and 
 habits among them; those, indeed, who were 
 always playing in the streets till they came to 
 school, are more troublesome in many ways than 
 those more carefully looked after, but this is far 
 from being a test of the parents' position in life ; 
 
 13 
 
194 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 many rich people being more careless than some 
 of the more respectable poor ones in this respect. 
 We have, both among boys and girls, some 
 scholars whose families are comparatively 
 wealthy, many who are artisans and small 
 tradesmen, and not a few of the very humblest 
 position, including one family whose father is a 
 beggar. Yet all sit on the same benches and 
 receive the same advantages, and generally get 
 on very well together. From this it happens 
 that I have acquaintances in very different posi- 
 tions : some of the mothers do not care to re- 
 ceive strangers, but in general they are pleased 
 at being visited by the superintendent of their 
 children's school, and some openings for good 
 have been made in several families in this. One 
 day I went to a respectable though poor Moslem 
 family with whom I had been long acquainted. 
 The father I saw very rarely, of course, yet I had 
 sometimes met him, and knew that he was of a 
 rather bigoted turn, but personally civil and even 
 friendly ; the mother and daughters I knew more 
 or less for years, and the younger ones had been 
 scholars (one of whom was dead). The lane was 
 dirty and disagreeable, and with some neighbours 
 whose slovenly habits and frequent bad language 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 195 
 
 made the " quarter," as a certain district is 
 called, not a pleasant one ; but the interior, when 
 I had made my way up the steps (unannounced), 
 was tolerably clean and comfortable, according to 
 the style of the country. The ground floor, as 
 usual in the city, except among quite poor per- 
 sons, was given up to the stable, oven, and cook- 
 ing place. Upstairs dwelt two families, each 
 having two rooms of small size, but a wide pas- 
 sage between each of the two, called Sbfesshar or 
 fezzhar, almost formed an additional room, and 
 in summer was always used as such in preference, 
 as being more airy. 
 
 A voice called out, as I ascended, to ask who 
 was there, and on being answered, shouted a 
 welcome ; and presently a woman, somewhat past 
 middle-age, dressed in a long dark blue mantle, 
 which served as veil, gown, and cloak all, together, 
 and concealed the scanty inner garment of a' 
 still darker cotton, came to greet me on hearing 
 my voice, and gave me a very cordial welcome, 
 mixed with reproaches for not having come 
 sooner. u It is so long I have not seen your 
 face, and neighbour Hosna told me you were in 
 our quarter a week ago, and never came to this 
 house ! " I assured her this was a mistake, as I 
 
196 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 had called, but found she was gone to market. 
 " Well, what lies people tell ! they are jealous 
 and like to vex one, but never mind ; praise God 
 you are here now; and how is the young lady and 
 the little ones, and the gentleman, and how is 
 y our health ? 33 After all inquiries were satisfac- 
 torily replied to, she slipped away, leaving me 
 seated on the mat with a young woman who had 
 just joined us, and whom she introduced as a new 
 occupant of the other part of the house, and a 
 Copt. A very dirty, but pretty little child was 
 on the young Copt's lap, and I inquired its name, 
 etc., to make acquaintance with the mother. The 
 hostess presently returned with coffee, which she 
 insisted on making, though I had begged her not 
 to trouble herself ; and while we sipped the little 
 cups, I asked the Coptic woman if she had ever 
 heard any part of the Gospel. She thought they 
 read some in the church, but appeared doubtful ; 
 in fact, a portion of their service is in old Coptic, 
 which none of them understand, and of the part 
 read in Arabic, if read rapidly and without pause 
 or explanation, not much would probably reach 
 the understanding of a totally untaught and 
 ignorant person. I found that the Moslem 
 woman knew more of the Saviour than the 
 
OS VISITING. 
 
 197 
 
 Copt, for her children having been pupils for 
 several years at our school, some little rays of 
 light about Scripture had reached her through 
 them. I read a chapter from the Gospel of St. 
 Mark, which happened to be with me, and the 
 poor }xmng woman seemed pleased to listen, and 
 the older acquaintance (who is rather apt to 
 prefer talking to listening at all times) was also 
 interested, and we passed a not unprofitable half 
 hour. She begged to hear how the new building 
 for the school went on, and showed great interest 
 in the details of its progress. " My girl/* said 
 ?he, " was telling her father yesterday about it, 
 and how your house is not to be built first, but 
 the school, and how all the first rooms are nearly 
 done, and he felt this very much j he said they 
 really love the children, and wish for their good 
 the first thing. May God prosper the work and 
 bless it." I begged the young Copt not to for- 
 get her promise, that if spared she was to send 
 her child (a girl not yet two years old) as 
 soon as it was able to speak, to be in our 
 infant class, and then took a cordial leave of 
 both. 
 
 A few days afterwards I was at the house of 
 another scholar's mother, and so different a one 
 
198 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 that it was difficult to understand the similarity 
 of dress in the girls — both come in simple loose 
 frocks called " gellebeehs/' of common print, and 
 muslin or gauze veils, slippers in winter, and in 
 summer wooden clogs, into which the little bare 
 feet were thrust when walking, and which were 
 thrown aside while seated. On festivals both 
 would appear in a silk tob or outer frock — no 
 difference in rank or in wealth could be ob- 
 served — yet one was the daughter of an artisan, 
 the other of a tradesman so wealthy that he 
 possesses several houses, and resides in one 
 larger than ours. 
 
 I had never been there before, and was quite 
 surprised at the massive house door, with a 
 carved archway, at which the little girl knocked 
 on our arrival • she ushered me through a large 
 courtyard, whose walls were rather out of repair 
 (but showed the solidity belonging to the old 
 style of Egyptian houses), and then up a stone 
 staircase and through sundry curious passages 
 with little places something between an alcove 
 and a room joining them, till we came to a large 
 lofty room furnished with divans and nice carpets. 
 At one end was the raised stone ledge, common 
 in old Oriental dwellings of the better sort, and 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 199 
 
 all round this led^e was a frame-work of carved 
 wooden lattices in different patterns, very ancient 
 and beautiful. The mother of my little scholar 
 came from an inner room to salute me, and beg 
 me to be seated here in the place of honour — 
 which is always the upper part of the room 
 furthest from the door. She was a pleasing 
 woman, still young, and- with frank, cheerful 
 manners ; her dress was very plain, only a loose 
 print without any ornament, but she had been 
 engaged in superintending and probably assist- 
 ing the family baking, and was not prepared for 
 visitors. Domestic occupations are not avoided 
 in the East by many women who could easily pay 
 others to look after their household, but I should 
 be sorry to see them ever lose the reasonable 
 notion that the mistress's eye should be over all 
 her little domain. Many, especially of the Coptic 
 families, give up a great deal too much indeed 
 into the hands of slaves, but unless the head of 
 the household looks carefully after them, slaves 
 are very little to be depended on for comfort or 
 neatness (and no wonder!) The Moslems of a 
 humbler class do not so often keep them, and 
 their houses are, I think, less dirty in conse- 
 quence. I speak of persons of some respecta- 
 
200 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 bility, of course. My hostess conversed with me 
 about the school building, which seemed to 
 interest her very much, and the progress of the 
 child, etc., till her younger sister came in with 
 coffee, which was served from a silver coffee-pot 
 and with silver zerfs or holders for the cups ; it 
 was in real old Arab style, strong, and with no 
 sugar. The more modern Orientals have intro- 
 duced sugar, though they never add milk to 
 coffee. There were several relatives who occu- 
 pied an adjoining house, which was in fact part 
 of the same building, who were introduced to 
 me, but on account of the baking business did 
 not remain loug ; then a handsome boy of ten 
 or twelve, the only other child that survived of 
 her family, came and sat down by his mother 
 and teased her a little, as boys do. " Go and 
 wash your hands, child \" He wiped them on 
 her gown, laughing in reply. " There, you see 
 what a boy I have," cried the mother, looking 
 proud of him all the time ; " and now will you let 
 me show you the rest of the house, we have only 
 taken it a short time, and the whitewashing is 
 not yet finished, for it is old and needed a great 
 deal of cleaning, but yet is more pleasant than 
 the new houses." I agreed cordially with her as I 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 201 
 
 followed her from room to room, mostly arranged 
 so as to make the great heat endurable, and 
 with infinite taste. The chief " fesshar," or 
 corridor, was opened by means of two large arch- 
 ways to the courtyard, and had wooden pillars 
 and arches along one side whence curtains might 
 be hung in summer, and thus a cool sleeping 
 place secured in the heat of the day — divans 
 being arranged for the purpose. The house 
 must formerly have belonged to great people of 
 some kind, for the kitchen was on a scale I have 
 not yet seen in Cairo ; and the bath-room, oven, 
 stables, etc., were all much, more than the present 
 occupants — though wealthy in their way — re- 
 quired. Such houses are only found now in 
 the city — that is, not very near the outskirts 
 — and not in the neighbourhoods advantageous 
 for fresh air, etc. But in the great heat they 
 are probably cooler than any other, and the 
 builders were certainly cleverer in those days 
 than at present, for both in beauty and soli- 
 dity they have the advantage over modern 
 ones. 
 
 Yery unlike this dwelling, with, its spacious 
 rooms and carved niches, was the abode of 
 another little school-girl whom I used to visit 
 
202 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 very frequently in a severe illness she had a 
 good while ago. On one of these occasions I 
 found the young patient in a court into which 
 her parents' house and two others opened; she 
 was lying on the bare ground, and with her head 
 actually on, or rather in sl heap of dirty mud. 
 Her dress had not been changed since the com- 
 mencement of the illness (about three weeks), 
 and the appearance of utter discomfort and un- 
 cleanliness on the poor little face was distressing 
 to witness. After the usual salutations I asked 
 the mother why she had taken the sick child out 
 of bed and put her in the mud. " Oh, to keep 
 her head cool/' she replied ; " she has fever in 
 her head to-day, and besides, the world is hot ! " 
 This last expression is a very frequent one among 
 Egyptian women, and always diverts me, because 
 during our brief winter they are constantly using 
 its contrary, and exclaiming, " The world is 
 cold." The little portion of the world called 
 Cairo certainly ivas hot that day, and perhaps if 
 it had been clean mud, just out of a river, it 
 might not have been so bad, but this was most 
 objectionable, and I mildly remonstrated, sug- 
 gesting that the cold water bandage I had ar- 
 ranged yesterday was better and cleaner, and 
 
OX VISITING. 
 
 203 
 
 that the damp evaporating on her body as she 
 lay on the ground, would probably increase the 
 fever. I saw that my words produced but a very 
 faint impression on the obstinate woman — her 
 dogged look having come over her face — so I sat 
 down in a dry corner and began to peel an 
 orange, and feed the little sufferer with it. "You 
 could not put on some other dress of any kind V 9 
 I asked presently ; " this is so very dirty, I am 
 sure Sadeeka would feel more comfortable if she 
 had another on." " When she is well, please 
 God, I shall take her to the bath." And here I 
 ought to observe, in justice to my poor Egyptian 
 friends, that it is their custom after any severe 
 illness to let the person go to the public warm 
 bath and receive a complete ablution (a ceremony 
 by no means universal among the lower class of 
 people in England or Ireland). But then even 
 quite respectable persons will avoid water as 
 carefully as if it were somethiug marked "for 
 interior use only" by a physician — as long as 
 the illness lasts, whether it be little or great 
 — teething children, therefore, are often left 
 for many months without even a face washing. 
 Not a few die in consequence of this wretched 
 idea. 
 
204 
 
 ON VISITING. 
 
 However, in spite of all hindrances, I found 
 my poor young patient somewhat better, and the 
 mother consented to let me give her some more 
 of the remedy that seemed to have benefited 
 her. " And if you would try this wet bandage 
 instead of the mud, it is so nice," I continued in 
 a persuasive manner. The grandmother, strange 
 to say, came to my aid. The old women are 
 usually more bigoted and stupid by far than the 
 young ; in this instance she was wiser than her 
 daughter-in-law. " Indeed, what the lady says is 
 very true," she exclaimed; "the girl would be 
 better upstairs, and this place has no air and is 
 not nice ; and the medicine has done her good no 
 doubt." The mother looked sullen and made 
 no reply. I turned to other subjects, and 
 talked cheerfully to her, explaining the nature 
 of a little preparation I had brought in my 
 pocket for the sick child, and why something 
 light and delicate was better than the solid food 
 which she so disliked just now. Then I took 
 leave, when she seemed in a better temper ; and 
 next day found the mud heap abandoned, and 
 the patient progressing fairly, and was even al- 
 lowed (after some coaxing) to wash her face and 
 hands. I must not omit to say that in spite of 
 
ON VISITING. 
 
 205 
 
 all their prejudices and superstitions and dislike 
 of innovations, I have in general found theni 
 grateful for kindness shown in time of sickness, 
 and in not a few cases it has been remembered 
 for years. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A VISIT IN THE DESEET. 
 
 One day in the beginning of the hot season I 
 
 rode out at an early hour to visit some poor 
 
 people dwelling on the borders of the desert, 
 
 whom I had known for some years. They were 
 
 of Bedouin race, but not, in appearance, like the 
 
 pure Bedouin of the desert, who carries his 
 
 " moving home " from place to place, and, 
 
 though weather-beaten and sunburnt, is usually 
 
 a fine-looking handsome creature in his own 
 
 style, and often possessed of considerable means 
 
 in the way of flocks and herds, camels and 
 
 horses.* These poor Bedouins were, perhaps, 
 
 of mixed extraction; at any rate, they were of 
 
 mean appearance, and had no possessions, except 
 
 three or four goats and a lame camel. When I 
 
 first knew them, they lived in a circle of quaint 
 
 * The name of " Arab," as applied to poor wandering and 
 really homeless children in London, always seems to me very 
 inappropriate, for the wandering Arab's distinction is that he is 
 never homeless ! 
 
A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 207 
 
 little liuts on the desert : mere round hovels 
 built of loose stones and mud, and with no 
 windows, and a hole for entrance ; two or three 
 ragged goat's-hair tents completed the settle- 
 ment, which was occupied by three families, 
 including (poor as they were) two black slaves. 
 In " Ragged Life in Egypt " there is a mention 
 of this little desert colony, and the blind man, 
 named Suleyman, whom we had visited there. 
 The party was now greatly diminished ; they had 
 left their huts, which soon became ruins, and scat- 
 tered, two families going to a distance, where I 
 could no longer visit them, and the other re- 
 maining in the neighbourhood, having pitched 
 their tent and built another hut close to an old 
 and venerated mosque, near the desert town called 
 the Abbaseeh, about three miles from Cairo. 
 
 Some of our friends may be surprised and 
 disappointed that, after the lapse of several 
 years, these poor creatures are still so ignorant, 
 and give us so little cause to believe them converts 
 in heart. Yet, if they knew the circumstances, 
 they might not wonder : the distance, in a climate 
 where, for half the year, going far during the chief 
 part of the day is not practicable for any but 
 natives of the country (if one has any regard 
 
208 
 
 A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 to health) , is one great hindrance to frequent 
 visits, and the increasing numbers in our schools 
 is another, as making the duty of superintending 
 their religious teaching the most imperative. 
 An occasional reading, therefore, is all that these 
 poor Bedouins had to enlighten them ; while, on 
 the other hand, their present residence among 
 the inhabitants of a miserable little outskirt of 
 the town has brought them more among super- 
 stitious, bigoted, and degraded companions than 
 formerly. The unconscious teachers of evil are 
 all around them all day long, and the teachers of 
 good can only pay them visits from time to time, 
 and these but brief. Still, it is not lost trouble, 
 for they desire to hear " the book," as they 
 emphatically call the Gospel, which they know is 
 in the pony's saddle-bag. Suleyman well knows 
 that pony's tread from afar, and, rousing himself 
 from his doze on a sandhill, or, if cold weather, 
 under it (for he often buries himself alive in the 
 sand for the sake of warmth in a cold wind), he 
 then hastens towards the approaching steed with 
 words of welcome, and holds the rein, while I 
 descend to sit with him and his old mother (also 
 blind), his sister-in-law, and, if at home, his bro- 
 ther, and another older man belonging to them. 
 
A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 209 
 
 The party are by no means prepossessing to 
 the eye, it must be owned : they are exceedingly 
 dirty and miserable-looking, and one or more 
 has always bad eyes, and the grandmother cer- 
 tainly never can have become acquainted with 
 soap and water during the whole of her life ; nor 
 is the seat offered to their visitor inviting, as it 
 consists of an old goat's-hair cloak spread over 
 the rubbish outside the huts. However, the 
 welcome was, as always, hearty and cheerful; 
 many were the inquiries after all the mission 
 family, the school, etc., and, finally, a new baby 
 — a little brown atom, rolled up in a curious 
 medley of rags — was introduced to me, and I 
 was requested to take it in my arms. I, of 
 course, complied, not forgetting to utter a 
 blessing in the name of God aloud, so that the 
 mother might have no fear of the evil eye ! 
 
 "Have you brought the book?^ then asked 
 the old blind woman. " Oh, yes, here it is." 
 She felt the volume with her fingers, and reve- 
 rently kissed it ; then, commanding the children 
 to be quiet, we began the reading, which I 
 endeavoured, as usual, to make as easy as 
 possible to their ignorant minds, by selecting 
 the plainest portions of the gospel. We were 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 presently joined by two curious -looking women, 
 almost black, and, though not exactly negro in 
 features, very ugly in their own style, and wear- 
 ing a number of odd savage ornaments in their 
 ears and noses, and round their necks, such as 
 shells, animals' teeth, coral and glass beads, bits 
 of carved wood and bone, etc. The Bedouin 
 women told me they were the wife and mother of 
 two soldiers from the upper country, who were 
 employed in Government works here. The old 
 one came every year to visit her son, who had 
 been six years in this place, which, I thought, 
 showed great affection in the poor creature, as 
 the journey is a long one. The younger woman, 
 after staying for a while, went away, but the 
 older one remained, listening with wondering 
 attention while I read ; and I tried to make 
 some explanations especially for her (speaking* 
 as simply as if to a child of four or five years old, 
 of course, for she was utterly ignorant). When 
 I spoke about all men being sinful, the blind man 
 gave a grunt, which plainly showed he did not 
 approve the doctrine ; in fact, his self-righteous- 
 ness has long been, as I believe, the stumbling- 
 block that hinders his accepting the truth. 
 <c But, Suleyman/' I said, " if you don't disobey 
 
A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 211 
 
 one of God's commands, you disobey another; if 
 a man, for instance, doesn't steal but tell lies, or 
 if he doesn't tell lies but gets into a passion, is 
 he then not a sinner?" "Well, that is true/' 
 he allowed. " Does not the little child, as soon 
 as it can speak, begin to show sin by anger, by 
 selfishness, and other things V "Yes, yes, 
 indeed," the mother interposed, and the rest 
 nodded in agreement, while I went on to try (not 
 for the first or second time) to show them how 
 greatly we needed a Saviour, since we were sinful 
 and could not save ourselves. " Now, Suleyman, 
 do you know any friend who would die for your 
 sake ? " I said at last. He gave a short incredu- 
 lous laugh as he replied, " No, no, lady ; no one 
 in the world would do that." " I suppose no 
 one would care so much for poor blind Suleyman 
 as to give his blood for his sake ? " " No, truly ; 
 no one ! " he repeated. " Yet that is just what 
 our Lord Jesus did, 0 Suleyman ! He died, as 
 I often have told you, that all sinners who believe 
 in Him and trust Him may be saved and for- 
 given, and made happy for ever in heaven. You 
 heard this from me before, and from all of us, 
 but perhaps you forgot it, or else you did not 
 understand that it was for you, as well as others, 
 
212 
 
 A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 that our Lord came to die. It is His Spirit that 
 sends me to speak to you, and tell you these 
 things \ " " Wonderful indeed \" said the blind 
 man. " Ay, it is wonderful ! Truly God's love 
 is very wonderful; and yet you don't seem to 
 believe in it. Some will say, you can be saved 
 by your own good deeds ; others by fasting and 
 pilgrimage ; others by the prophet : none of 
 these really believe in God's love. It is only 
 He who can save us." (C Praise God!" ejaculated 
 Suleyman. " Ah, but it is not saying that which 
 will save you, brother; it is not speaking , but 
 believing God's word, and giving Him the 
 heart." 
 
 The woman (his sister-in-law) ■ now inter- 
 posed, and said, " Sitt M., I will show what I 
 mean by a parable " (or example ; the word is the 
 same in common Arabic). " Suppose," she 
 continued, " that I did not love you — it is only 
 a story, you know, for I love you truly — but 
 suppose you were a kind lady, and yet still I did 
 not love you, from something in my heart ; if 
 my heart was hard — how shall I say it; but you 
 know what I mean — what, then, could I do ?" 
 
 " I see," said I ; " you mean that you can't 
 love God because your heart is hard by nature, 
 
A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 213 
 
 like this" and I tapped on the great stone water 
 jar that lay beside me j " is that so V* 
 
 "Yes, yes!" she cried, striking the jar, 
 "that's it ; stony!" 
 
 " Then, dear sister, I have a word from God 
 exactly for you \" I said ; " only listen/' and 
 then I quoted, as well as I could from memory 
 (for I had not a whole Bible with me), the text 
 from Ezekiel, "I will take away the heart of 
 stone/' etc. 
 
 " Ah, that is good indeed," she said ; " it is 
 sweet ! " 
 
 Now, why I wrote down this conversation 
 (which is given exactly as it took place, only 
 somewhat abbreviated) was, that self- righteous- 
 ness being deeply ingrained in all Moslems, it 
 was exceedingly rare to hear any avowal like 
 this. Suleyman was far from sharing his sister- 
 in-law's feeling, evidently, though he did not 
 disagree with what she said outwardly. How- 
 ever, I profited by her little simple parable to 
 urge her to pray for a changed heart through the 
 Saviour. By this time I was obliged to hasten 
 away, as the sun was getting hot, and we had 
 been reading and talking a long while. 
 
 It was not very frequently that I was able to 
 
214 
 
 A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 visit this family, for when the hot season set in 
 it was too great a distance to go and return, 
 staying an hour or more, the road affording no 
 shade. Formerly, they were more within reach, 
 being scarcely more than half an hour's ride 
 from the city, and the colony had then consisted 
 of many more persons, so that we were sure to 
 find some at home; whereas now, after a long 
 and fatiguing ride, sometimes the whole party 
 would be absent, and their hovel deserted. Still, 
 I never lost sight of them ; in cool weather I came 
 every two or three weeks at least, and with vary- 
 ing success tried to keep alive the little fire of 
 interest in heavenly things which smouldered, 
 as it were, under the ashes of worldly thoughts 
 and degraded habits. It is not in tho beginning 
 that we find our greatest difficulty great though 
 that is) — the continuing to read and preach when 
 the mere novelty is gone, is the hardest part 
 of the work. One day I would find them will- 
 ing to listen, and, seemingly, quite alive to the 
 wondrous fact of God's love; the next visit they 
 would seem as if they had spiritually fallen back 
 into the dust and dirt amid which they so lite- 
 rally dwelt ! 
 
 On such occasions my old blind woman would 
 
A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 215 
 
 say "Good, good ! " and then pay not the slightest 
 attention, her mind being fall of her goats, which 
 once or twice actually galloped over me and my 
 book (but I did not let such a trine discompose 
 me more than it did her !), and she would say 
 very coolly, " Let Aeeda listen to-day/' meaning 
 her daughter-in-law. 
 
 The filthy habits and miserable abodes of the 
 poor creatures had, doubtless, an effect in stu- 
 pefying the mind, for, though they reside in the 
 iinest spot for air that could possibly be found, 
 their hovels are only entered by a sort of hole, 
 and have no windows, so that they resemble wild 
 beasts' dens. 
 
 Occasionally, however, neighbours would join 
 the company of hearers, and though their chil- 
 dren, of course, added to the hindrances, by the 
 noise they made, yet, more than oi:ce, very in- 
 teresting meetings took place. One of these I 
 will give, from a journal of last year. The blind 
 man, with the women of his family (the other 
 men being absent), was listening to a portion of 
 Scripture which I was reading to him one Satur- 
 day morning, when a soldier, in the maroon- 
 coloured uniform of the Viceroy's body-guard 
 (eight men who always ride after his carriage), 
 
216 
 
 A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 came and sat beside us on the sand, and said 
 he had seen the lady giving some eye-water 
 to one of the children, and wished to know if 
 she was a doctor. This honour was disclaimed, 
 but, in simple cases, I told him I could give 
 remedies, and had some experience ; did he 
 want eye-water ? No ; he was suffering with 
 rheumatic pain in his aim, and begged for 
 advice, which was willingly given. He then . 
 took up the book, and began to examine it 
 curiously. I asked him if he could read ; he 
 answered by reading in a distinct voice, though 
 with a slight hesitation (from the style being 
 quite new to him), part of the first chapter of 
 St. John's Gospel, and then asked some questions 
 about it, which I replied to as well as I could. 
 He then addressed the blind man, and expressed 
 his wonder at seeing a stranger in such a place, 
 and hinted pretty broadly that he would like to 
 know what brought a " Frank w among those huts. 
 Suleyman, upon this, burst forth with a really 
 touching account of his long acquaintance with 
 the mission family. " This lady, and those of 
 her household, have known me for years I" said 
 he, " and read to me and my family from that good 
 book, all about our Lord Jesus; many sweet words 
 
A VISIT IX THE DE?ERT. 
 
 217 
 
 from God are in it, and we like to hear ; besides, 
 they love the poor, they have covered my shoulders 
 from the cold, winter after winter, and given us 
 medicine when sick. But it is not for us only; " 
 and he then gave a minute acgount of the two 
 schools. How, being blind, and only having been 
 once or twice to our house, and that very long ago, 
 he had gained such a knowledge of all the studies 
 of the children, and their numbers, etc., I cannot 
 imagine, unless he had learned it from question- 
 ing the servant who came with the pony, but 
 certainly he accurately enumerated the Turkish, 
 English, and other lessons of the boys, and the 
 sewing and embroidery of the girls, adding, 
 " They are all taught to read this good book, 
 and all is not for money, 'but from love. They 
 love God — love the poor. There are among 
 their scholars Moslems and Christians, and all 
 received alike and treated alike." 
 
 The soldier listened attentively to this history ; 
 and when the poor blind man paused, quite out 
 of breath with his vehemence, his auditor ob- 
 t served thoughtfully, shaking his head, " A 
 Moslem would not love us thus ! " 
 
 He had come to this place, it seemed, to see 
 his wife, who lived in a hut in this wretched- 
 
218 
 
 A VISIT IN THE DESERT. 
 
 looking outskirt — though he looked so grand 
 that he was a great contrast to the poor Bedouins. 
 Before leaving, I offered him a sheet with some 
 gospel texts printed on it in Arabic, and he will- 
 ingly accepted it. A few days later, as I was 
 riding near the town, the viceregal train passed, 
 with its numerous outriders, carriages, and 
 guards mounted on beautiful grey chargers : one 
 of these made a graceful salaam as he passed me 
 — it was my acquaintance of the desert. 
 
 His wife, on another occasion, came to join 
 the Bedouin family in listening to the Scripture, 
 saying to me, " I am the wife of the man to 
 whom you gave the paper ; my husband has kept 
 it ever since : you must let me come and hear, 
 therefore.'" Of course I gladly consented, but 
 at my next visit she was not there ; all those 
 soldiers' families, indeed, were gone, and I saw 
 them no more. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PILGRIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 It was a bright morning early in March, and the 
 waves of the Red Sea were plashing gently on 
 their golden-coloured sands in hues of indescrib- 
 able green and blue, so delicate, and yet so 
 brilliant, that a painter's art is sorely tried in the 
 endeavour to represent them. 
 
 The little town of Suez, with its narrow 
 streets of mud-brick, and its two or three white 
 houses near the sea, where Europeans reside, 
 presented, as usual, a busy scene. People of 
 all races were mingling in the open market- 
 place, and clamouring in so many different 
 tongues, as to make the listener think of Babel 
 at the dispersion. Here passed a ragged Bedouin 
 from the desert, in striped abba of rough goat's 
 hair, leading a stately camel ; there a party of 
 boatmen, bronzed and sturdy-looking, and push- 
 ing through them came a negro from the interior, 
 
220 PILGEIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 seeming even blacker than others from the effect 
 of his white turban and tunic. Then you met a 
 group of chattering Greeks trying to cheat 
 a European traveller, their untidy dress and 
 dirty faces giving them an unprepossessing 
 appearance ; and you turned with pleasure to ob- 
 serve a couple of Arab chiefs from Jeddo, in 
 crimson and apple-green caftans and snowy 
 muslin turbans, whose dignified bearing and 
 quiet manners were a complete contrast. Then 
 the sound of the English tongue arrested your 
 attention, and, alas ! it was from British sailors 
 staggering out of a tavern more than half tipsy, 
 and thus setting a deplorable example to the 
 natives of the country. Indeed, the mixed popu- 
 lation of Italians, Maltese, Greeks, and others, 
 besides the incessant arrivals of foreign sailors, 
 bring great evils on Suez, and exhibit Europeans 
 in a particularly unfavourable light. The out- 
 skirts of the town are not safe to camp in, and 
 travellers are warned to beware of passing the 
 huts of the Greek labourers at the new canal after 
 the sun is set. 
 
 But the outward view is as bright and fair as 
 the hearts of men are dark ; and on the day I speak 
 of, the white sails glistened in the sunshine, and 
 
PILGRIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 221 
 
 the little boats danced on the clear green waves, 
 as if there were no darkness or gloom in 
 the world. The long range of cliffs (belonging 
 to the Sinai chain), which are visible on the 
 Asiatic side of the coast of the Eed Sea, still 
 wore their delicate rose hues, which subside as 
 the morning advances towards noon, and leave 
 them more or less hazy till an hour or two before 
 sunset, when more than the morning beauty 
 clothes them with celestial colouring, such as is 
 never seen in our northern latitudes, and which 
 almost atones for the want of northern verdure. 
 Not a tree, not a blade of grass, is to be seen on 
 the barren coast of Suez and its neighbourhood ; 
 only a plant or two, reared with difficulty in a 
 balcony here and there, shows that vegetation 
 can exist. Probably the " sweet water" canal 
 may in time alter this state of things, but so it 
 is at this present. vVould that the water of life, 
 the true " sweet water," might also flow into the 
 parched and arid soil of men's souls, and change 
 them into " watered gardens," bringing forth 
 fruit meet for the Lord ! 
 
 Among the many vessels gliding about in the 
 harbour of the Eed Sea on the day to which I 
 am alluding, was a large Arab vessel, old, ill- 
 
222 
 
 PILGEIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 built, as far as unprofessional eyes could judge, 
 and certainly overcrowded with passengers. It 
 was at anchor, and either intended to sail with 
 the next tide, or to wait for a day or two more 
 to get provisions, or to be yet further crammed 
 with living cargo. 
 
 For it was a pilgrim ship, and these are 
 usually filled to a most dangerous degree with 
 pilgrims of all classes, travelling to Mecca, the 
 holy city of the Mohammedans. Not unfre- 
 quently does one of these heavy-laden and ill- 
 built ships founder in a storm between Suez 
 and Jeddo — a port ten days lower down on 
 the Red Sea, — and then the whole troop of 
 misguided creatures are hurried into a watery 
 grave ; which, however, they are said not to 
 regard with terror, at least, beforehand, — be- 
 cause they are taught that dying on so holy a 
 journey will secure them a place in the paradise 
 of Mohammed. 
 
 If, however, the vessel meets with fair wea- 
 ther, and arrives safe at Jeddo, they proceed 
 on camels for ten or twelve days more, through 
 a burning desert, and finally encamp outside 
 Mecca. 
 
 And then commences a formula of religious 
 
PILGEIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 223 
 
 ceremonies, some of which are evident remnants 
 of paganism ; as, for instance, those connected 
 with the caba, or holy black stone, venerated 
 by the heathens of Arabia in old times. 
 
 After a long course of vain rites, etc., the 
 pilgrim bands turn their faces towards their 
 distant and various homes, and go through the 
 same fatigues and dangers on their way back ; 
 comforted by the idea that now they are cleansed 
 from sin, and, at least for a considerable time, 
 perfectly pure. I had once an old man pointed 
 out to me, who had performed the pilgrimage 
 many times, and was by this supposed to be so 
 completely secure of paradise, and immaculate, 
 that he might do what he liked and it would not 
 be accounted sin in him. 
 
 What a fearful blindness this reveals to us ! 
 and how such cases make one long for the 
 coming of the Lord to drive away the clouds 
 of error by the brightness of his appearing ! 
 
 I was admiring the view, and thinking of 
 these things, as I sat on a pier close to the sea, 
 and, meantime, held a small parcel of texts, 
 printed in Arabic, in my hand, so as to be 
 ready if any chance of offering one should occur. 
 There were several boatmen about, but not one 
 
224 
 
 PILGRIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 in a hundred knows how to read, even among the 
 Arabs, and half of these were negroes, who 
 scarcely ever have any education. 
 
 Presently, however, two men began walking 
 up and down the pier, who were evidently pil- 
 grims. Both from their features and dress I 
 could see that they were not natives of the 
 country ; they had complexions almost as fair as 
 an Englishman's, and more delicate-looking, 
 being quite pale. The older of the two had a 
 grey beard and a very pleasing countenance, 
 with blue eyes ; the other was of middle age and 
 rather darker; he had also a pleasant face, and 
 an air of great respectability. Both were clad in 
 white woollen robes ; such are always worn by 
 Mecca pilgrims, whatever their rank or wealth. 
 They looked rather curiously at the papers in 
 my hand, and after taking a few turns one 
 stopped and looked at it, on which I held it out 
 to him, and they came up, and, making a cour- 
 teous salutation, the younger man took the paper, 
 and I asked if he could read (this not being an 
 uncivil question in the East, where it is not rare 
 to find persons of considerable wealth who, having 
 risen from poverty when adults, have never 
 learned to read). 
 
PILGRIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 225 
 
 " I can read/ 5 he replied, and commenced 
 reading the first text on the paper : " Blessed are 
 the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of 
 heaven." -His accent showed him not to be a 
 native of Egypt, and as far as I could judge, 
 he was from Aleppo, but certainly a Syrian 
 Moslem. 
 
 "What is this?" he said, looking a little 
 puzzled, and repeating the words over again. 
 
 " You see," said I, " that it means the lowly 
 and humble, who are said to be blessed. If we 
 come in a proud spirit to God we cannot be ac- 
 cepted, can we ?" 
 
 " Xo, truly," said the older man, nodding. 
 
 " "Well, if a poor man came to beg of you, and 
 he said, ' I am rich and well off/ you would refuse 
 him : but if he told you of his poverty, and en- 
 treated alms on that account, you would pity and 
 help him." 
 
 " Doubtless," said both of them. " Yes ! yes ! 
 that is quite true." 
 
 " And so," continued I, " is it with God and 
 sinners. Do you not believe so ?" 
 
 We conversed for some little time on this 
 text. I took care to speak, not as one who was 
 teaching, but as though I wished merely to see 
 
 15 
 
226 
 
 PILGRIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 if they agreed with me ; because, being pilgrims, 
 they were likely to think they needed no sort of in- 
 struction, especially from a foreigner and a woman. 
 
 We came afterwards to the text on another 
 paper, — " This is a true saying, and worthy of 
 all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners." 
 
 He read it, and then looked at me inquir- 
 ingly, and I spoke a little of our sinfulness and 
 need of a Saviour. 
 
 " Ah, this was Seidna Eessa" (our Lord Jesus), 
 said one, using the ordinary Moslem title for 
 Christ, which is the same they apply to many 
 others, a3 they say, "Our Lord Moses/'' and 
 " Our Lord Mohammed," etc. 
 
 I said, " Yes ; 99 and that this was the great 
 reason of his coming into the world. "Being, 
 as you know," I added, <f and as is said in your 
 Koran, the Word of God, and not like others 
 who, though great prophets, were only men j 
 but our Lord Jesus being the Word and Spirit, 
 was able to save sinners by dying for them." 
 
 The elder man looked rather curious, but not 
 angry, as I said this ; and the other read over the 
 text again, and then one or two more. " From 
 whence are these words ?" he asked presently. 
 
PILGRIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 227 
 
 f ' From the gospel/' I said, " which is God's 
 word, as your Koran says." 
 
 M And why are they printed on these papers ?" 
 he continued. 
 
 " Partly to serve as copies for scholars who, 
 in writing, learn theru," I replied. 
 
 "And they are good indeed for the old as 
 well as young," added the old man ; in which 
 remark I cordially seconded him. 
 
 Several Arabs of the poorer class as well as 
 a negro boatman had joined us by this time, 
 and were listening and occasionally putting in 
 a remark. At last the pilgrims thought it time 
 to go, as the elder said, " Ibraheem ! we must 
 now go." And the other then offered to return 
 me the papers ; but I begged him to keep them. 
 
 "We have our own book for the voyage," 
 said he. 
 
 " Well, keep these also ; you may read them 
 sometimes, and they are good words surely." 
 
 " True," said the old man ; " keep them, 
 keep them." And his friend, thanking me very 
 courteously, put the texts into his bosom, and 
 they went away to prepare for their voyage, and 
 I saw them no more. - 
 
 Perhaps they may be persuaded by some 
 
228 
 
 PILGRIMS TO MECCA. 
 
 bigoted comrade to throw the precious words 
 into the water. Perhaps they may keep them 
 and read them again. Who can tell? Grod 
 alone knoweth the secrets of every heart, and 
 which seed shall fall by the wayside, and which 
 among thorns and stones, and which shall bring 
 forth fruit unto everlasting life. But many an 
 earnest prayer went with these white-robed pil- 
 grims, that the truth might enter their hearts, 
 and make them flee from the bondage of sin and 
 superstition; and that the Lord, the Spirit of 
 truth, would accompany them over the green 
 waters, and enlighten their dark souls. 
 
 If those little papers ever reach Mecca, they 
 will, in all probability, be the first that ever 
 were brought to that city. We know not, and, 
 most likely, never shall know their fate, but we 
 must hope and pray for the blessing. " Cast thy 
 bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it 
 after many days." 
 
VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 231 
 
 they wear ; but the eyes that peer above it also 
 tell of a different race from the Fellaha. They 
 are smaller, keen, and bright, but not so soft as 
 the liquid black eye, which, when untouched by 
 the blighting ophthalmia, is very lovely. Their 
 horn of plaited hair also marks them out as 
 Bedouins. They are bargaining for handker- 
 chiefs, or something of the kind. The seller 
 is calmly smoking, while they are chattering, 
 and occasionally giving a brief reply to the 
 torrent of words that issue from within the 
 crimson veil. They are so busy as to be trans- 
 ferred in effigy to paper before they know what 
 the foreigner, whom yet they have been eyeing 
 askance all the while, was about. 
 
 Then a Bedouin chief rides up on his strong- 
 wiry steed (not exactly an Arab steed of the 
 finest kind ; these are rarely, though occasionally, 
 to be seen in Egypt, but a very serviceable and 
 not ill-looking animal), his saddle furnished with 
 cases for pistols, and his master wearing the 
 long white robe and red leather peculiar to his 
 people. As he disappears among the crowd, a 
 girl, balancing two jars of sour milk with lumps 
 of butter floating in it upon the palms of her 
 upturned hands, next attracts one's attention, 
 
232 
 
 VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 it is so exactly the fose of some of the old 
 statues seen in the museums. 
 
 One village market that we visited was held 
 under a large grove of palms, which is just outside 
 its clusters of mud-built dwellings. The beauty of 
 the scene was indescribable ; the nickering shade 
 of that feathery foliage, and the bright sun of 
 Egyptian February, gave a charm to the groups 
 of villagers and shepherds accompanied by their 
 flocks, that must be seen to be understood. 
 
 The older peasants, in large turbans of white 
 or crimson, crouched in sunny spots, smoking 
 and chatting over their bargains; and veiled 
 women (their faces very rarely, however, hid- 
 den) flitted about, their dark-coloured dress 
 relieved by their flashing silver bracelets and 
 bright red coral necklaces, and golden coins or 
 antique jewels like little fishes, hung in profusion 
 round the necks of those who possessed some 
 little wealth. The poorer ones were content with 
 coloured glass or white shells. 
 
 The people are by nature very lively and 
 talkative, full of little jokes, and also easily ex- 
 cited to quarrels, so that the scene was extremely 
 animated. The cattle were not penned up, but, 
 gentle as most cattle in Egypt are, walked 
 
TILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 233 
 
 quietly about in the midst of the sellers of cotton, 
 cloth, wool, tobacco, butter, salt curds, and such 
 things ; while, on little mats spread before them 
 on the ground, other vendors disposed of cheap 
 ornaments (such as are chiefly bought for chil- 
 dren), besides handkerchiefs, sugar, coffee, and 
 silk and thread for sewing. Some of the women, 
 though roughened by exposure and field-work, 
 were very fine-looking, and but few hid their 
 faces in the shrouding "burko," or black face- 
 veil universal in the towns. 
 
 The splendid air of the Kile triumphs over 
 dirt and neglect so far, that those who survive 
 infancy are usually strong and healthy, with 
 graceful, well-knit figures, and robust, well-turned 
 arms and legs. The habit of carrying their bur- 
 dens on the head gives the women an upright 
 carriage which is preserved quite into old age, 
 and their walk is remarkably good. I never saw 
 any people get over the ground so quickly with 
 so little apparent exertion ;* their rapid, gliding 
 step carries them so briskly over ploughed fields 
 
 * The fashionable ladies who have adopted the French 
 modern high-heeled boot might well envy the free and graceful 
 step of the " Fellaha," so different from the unnatural and 
 awkward mode of walking given by an appendage which dis- 
 torts the foot from its proper shape, 
 
234 
 
 VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 or other rough land. The life in the open air 
 doubtless produces this, for the town women are 
 very inferior in height and strength generally to 
 those in the country (as in all places). The 
 difference is perhaps more striking in Egypt than 
 elsewhere, the air of the Nile being in its bracing 
 effects more like mountain air. I made a sketch 
 of the palm-tree market, having found a seat on 
 a fallen palm at a convenient distance. Here the 
 passers-by soon came round in quite a circle to 
 look and wonder. Several young lads who could 
 read were glad to accept some printed Arabic 
 texts, and a few women listened to some Gospel 
 stories which I read to them. Meantime, Mr. 
 Shakoor had as usual taken advantage of the 
 market to let it be known that we had books 
 with us, and many were taken by Copts, and a 
 few by Mohammedans also. Though, for the 
 sake of making them valued, we do not give 
 them free (except texts and small tracts), the 
 price is such as would be merely nominal — only 
 that, where money is scarce, as it is in the 
 country, a very trifling amount of coin is not 
 parted with readily ; and, unless the man really 
 wishes for the book, he will not even lay down a 
 farthing or a penny for it. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 Among the country villages of Egypt it is cus- 
 tomary to hold a sort of fair, or large market — 
 in some places weekly, in others at longer inter- 
 vals. These are frequented by peasants from all 
 the neighbouring hamlets, and even from a con- 
 siderable distance, as this is the only means by 
 which the poorer classes in the country can pro- 
 cure anything in the way of clothing or the 
 humblest luxuries, besides disposing of their own 
 produce. Of course they are both amusing and 
 characteristic, as fairs and markets usually are in 
 every country, and afford many groups tempting 
 to an artist's pencil — the difficulty being, how- 
 ever, that the people are so sharp in perceiving 
 the object of even the most unobtrusive little 
 pocket sketch-book, that the subjects are often 
 warned off by their neighbours, or hasten to 
 move away, the fear of the " evil eye " making 
 
230 
 
 VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 them usually unwilling to have any representa- 
 tion of themselves. Photographers in the city 
 overcome this scruple by paying their subjects 
 to lay it aside ; but in the country, especially in 
 a busy market, this would be almost an impossi- 
 bility, so the traveller has to practise a rapidity 
 almost equal to sleight-of-hand in order to secure 
 some few of the groups that keep passing before 
 his delighted eye. Here a woman, balancing at 
 the same moment a heavy pitcher on her head, 
 and a bundle of sugar-canes on her shoulder, 
 pauses for a moment, jingling the gold pendants 
 in her ears, while her teeth, white as milk, appear 
 in a broad smile at the sight of a stranger. 
 
 "But what is she doing ?" she exclaims. 
 " Writing in a book \ " 
 
 " Ah, writing you in the book, Fatmeh ! " 
 cries a meddlesome neighbour ; and the smile 
 vanishes, and the sugar-canes are immediately 
 lowered to the ground, their position changed 
 as if on purpose to annoy the poor sketcher ; 
 and then she finishes the matter by diving into 
 the thickest part of the crowd, and is lost to 
 view. 
 
 Here are two Bedouin women from the desert, 
 marked by the short face-veil of crimson which 
 
VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 235 
 
 In another village, much less picturesque 
 than that under the grove, rather a curious inci- 
 dent took place while we were distributing books. 
 The crowd was so thick that I had to seek refuge 
 against a wall, from whence I could see all that 
 went on. The Copts, who came from many dis- 
 tant villages where books were not to be had, 
 were very eager to procure copies of the Testa- 
 ment and single Gospels, etc. To the very poor 
 we gave some; but, as a rule, demanded (as 
 before observed) a trifling price. Several Mos- 
 lems came up and asked for books also ; but one 
 was angry on finding they were Gospels, and 
 said, " If you brought good books we would take 
 them, but we don't want such as those." 
 
 Mr. Shakoor told him it was a mistake to 
 think these were not good, and that the Gospel 
 was sent by God for every child of Adam, adding 
 that if he read it as his Koran recommended 
 (for the Gospel is recommended there as good 
 to be read), he would find that he was wrong in 
 saying these were not good books. The man, 
 however, would scarcely hear him in patience, 
 and snatched a small book of the Parables of 
 Christ out of the hands of a young man who was 
 reading in it very attentively, and who, I suppose, 
 
236 
 
 VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 was his relation, and angrily thrust it back into 
 the Missionary's hand, saying, " There ! take 
 away your books \" 
 
 We quietly turned away, and were soon sur- 
 rounded by a group of Coptic peasants from a 
 distant hamlet, who flew upon the books with 
 joyful eagerness. This is not to be wondered at, 
 as they were taught from childhood to revere the 
 very name of Gospel, though too often knowing 
 nothing of its contents or teaching; but their 
 neighbours were not aware that God's Word is 
 for all, nor were they themselves, indeed, for 
 some said, " Keep your books for us ; the others 
 have no right to them/' And they were quite 
 surprised on being assured that the good news of 
 salvation through Jesus was free for whoever 
 would receive it. 
 
 Some Copts came with us to the boat, and 
 sat on the deck engaged in reading and conver- 
 sation with Mr. Shakoor and his brothers for a 
 long while. It was very cheering and pleasant 
 to see these sturdy peasants, wrapped in their 
 dark flowing mantles, crouched up in the sun 
 (which in winter is courted even in Egypt), their 
 sunburnt faces and jet-black eyes expressing 
 their interest as they listened to the things which 
 
VILLAGE MARKETS. 
 
 237 
 
 concern the eternal welfare of man. But after a 
 little while, we were surprised and pleased to 
 see another man coming to join the circle, and 
 he was no other than the very person who had 
 been so angry, and taken the book away from the 
 youth ! Either second thoughts proved best in 
 his mind, or he had heard some of his friends 
 reading in our books, and the words of truth and 
 holiness had pleaded for themselves in his heart. 
 At all events, he changed his mind, came to the 
 boat, and began conversing in a friendly manner ; 
 and, after some general talk, asked to look again 
 at "that book." It is hardly necessary to say 
 he was gratified, and spent some time in asking 
 questions, and reading parts of the Gospel, and 
 discussing it freely with all the circle — and he 
 ended by taking away with him one of the very 
 books he had at first so scornfully rejected ! 
 Surely this was the Lord's doing ! 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 This name calls to mind with many persons, no 
 doubt, pictures and statues representing the ideal 
 Greek slave, the fair girl bending to the earth in 
 a despondent attitude — the subject having, from 
 the time of the old Greek war of liberty, been a 
 very favourite one with artists. It was indeed 
 no ideal then ; in sad reality hundreds of young 
 creatures were dragged from their parents' homes 
 — those homes stained with the blood of fathers 
 and brothers — and doomed to spend their lives 
 among strangers and foreigners, whose want of 
 sympathy was in general as complete as though 
 they had been merely sheep transported from 
 one fold to another, instead of wronged and in- 
 jured human beings. Now, however, the story 
 is old, and the interest has naturally died away, 
 and given place to more recent tragedies — of 
 which there will ever be abundance so long as the 
 
THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 239 
 
 earth is full of the " dark places of cruelty/' and 
 the subjects of the Prince of Peace so few in 
 comparison to the followers of wealth and power. 
 
 However j the individuals who suffered in the 
 old Greek war are not all dead. It was my lot 
 to fall in with a real living Greek slave; and 
 perhaps the brief and imperfect account of her 
 life which I gathered from a few words, and the 
 way in which I happened to meet with her and 
 tried to bring some comfort and truth before her 
 mind, may not be without interest for English 
 readers. 
 
 I must premise, however, that my Greek 
 slave was neither young nor beautiful. Indeed, 
 if the date of the War of Independence in Greece 
 be recollected, it will be seen that any one taken 
 captive somewhere about that period must be past 
 youth, and probably past even middle age. In 
 my mind, the idea of the long, long captivity 
 only makes the story more touching still. But, 
 without further preface, I will give the circum- 
 stances of our meeting, as noted down at the 
 time in my journal. 
 
 During our annual excursion on the Nile, in 
 the February of 1870, it chanced that my party 
 were induced to visit a certain island of a very 
 
240 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 unobtrusive description, upon which was a small 
 village, or rather hamlet, commanding a very 
 pretty view, though nothing in the way of anti- 
 quities or remarkable scenery was to be found in 
 the whole neighbourhood ; for which reason it was 
 seldom, if ever, touched at by travellers. The 
 inhabitants told us we were the only persons in a 
 Nile dahabeeyeh who had ever come to their 
 remote dwelling-place. We had been there the 
 previous winter, but only for an hour, and had 
 not entered any of the houses ; but had given 
 some printed texts to a few peasants and a Be- 
 douin from the desert who could read a little. 
 So on this occasion, having more leisure, we de- 
 termined to try and find these persons, or some 
 of them, again, if it should be possible. 
 
 On reaching the village, whose mud huts were 
 situated in a group of palms about a quarter of a 
 mile from the coast, we were accosted civilly by 
 two or three turbaned peasants returning from 
 their day's work in the tobacco-fields around; 
 for the hour of sunset was now approaching. 
 They spread a mat outside one of the huts, and 
 begged us to rest there ; and one, who recollected 
 our former visit, hospitably proposed to go and 
 make some coffee for us. We declined with many 
 
THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 241 
 
 acknowledgments, not wishing to trouble the 
 poor people, or diminish their small store of 
 coffee ; and, while the gentlemen of the party 
 were engaged in talking with the men, I said 
 that I and the other lady would repair to the 
 women's abode. These last were peeping at the 
 door, and two of them had come out to salute 
 us; but it would have been contrary to their 
 custom to sit down in a circle with men, though 
 the country people are so much less strict than 
 those in towns, that I have frequently known 
 them to do so, when the men present were neigh- 
 bours and mostly relatives. They do not have 
 a distinct apartment in these mud-huts, there- 
 fore going to the hareem was merely an expres- 
 sion denoting that we would sit with them in 
 some place not at the time occupied by their 
 lords ! 
 
 We adjourned accordingly to a small court, 
 first crossing a dark low-roofed passage between 
 mud walls, and then a doorway without a door 
 brought us into the feminine domain, full of 
 litter, rubbish, and dirt, where ragged and nearlv 
 naked childreu were rolling about with fowls, dogs, 
 and small black kids, and surrounded by four huts, 
 this court being apparently common to the in- 
 
 16 
 
242 
 
 THE GREEK SLATE. 
 
 habitants of all. These huts, like all of that class 
 in Egypt, were destitute of windows, and merely 
 roofed over with bundles of dry reeds or straw. 
 In the walls of unbaked mud-brick were sundry 
 curious-looking holes, or little dens, which seemed 
 to be used, some as ovens, others as hencoops. 
 All was as rude and primitive as possible, and as 
 dirty and comfortless as primitive things very 
 often are — not ahvays ; we speak with a reserva- 
 tion j but it is undoubtedly the exception when 
 primitive abodes and ways of life are neat and 
 comfortable. However, the poor women were 
 friendly and cordial. The manners of the Egyp- 
 tian peasants are not servile — unless in fear of 
 some official superior, etc. On the contrary, they 
 are sometimes very cool in their reception of 
 foreigners; but oftener Oriental politeness makes 
 them salute even a Frank kindly, and in this case 
 they were very civil, and spread a clean mat over 
 the dust in one corner for us to sit upon. A pretty 
 young woman, wearing a gold nose-ring of in- 
 convenient size — which did not much add to 
 her beauty in our eyes — came and sat beside 
 us, saying, "You are welcome!" in a cheerful, 
 pleasant voice ; and two or three others followed 
 her example. Her husband, a young man, who 
 
THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 243 
 
 looked scarcely twenty years old, sat down at a 
 little distance. He had followed us, and the 
 women made no objection to his remaining. 
 Probably all were his relatives. 
 
 He said that he recollected us, and our having 
 given a paper to a Bedouin who could read ; and 
 though he himself could not, he had heard the 
 words, and " they were good." This gave a good 
 opportunity for reading one or two Scripture 
 texts, and talking a little about them. 
 
 Among our audience I observed an elderly 
 woman, who at once struck me as very unlike the 
 rest in appearance and manners. She was clad, 
 like them, in the coarse dark-blue cotton robe and 
 black muslin veil of Egyptian country-women, 
 but was cleaner, and her humble dress was more 
 neatly and decently arranged than theirs. Her 
 manners were calm and dignified, and a settled 
 sadness was on her face, which was fair in com- 
 plexion. Though worn and wrinkled, her fea- 
 tures wore traces of former beauty, and that of a 
 different kind from the brown faces, with their 
 almond-shaped black eyes, and the jetty hair cut 
 short over their foreheads, which surrounded her, 
 and one or two of which were pretty in their 
 own way. 
 
244 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 There was also an undefined something in her 
 manner and voice that struck me as unusual — a 
 degree of refinement,, and a quiet, sad expression 
 of countenance. She spoke Arabic just like the 
 other people, but talked little, and listened with 
 more attention than any of them ; and when we 
 arose to go back to the boat, as the sun was 
 setting, she begged us earnestly to come again 
 next day, and her sorrowful-looking face seemed 
 to tell that its owner needed comfort for some 
 peculiar reason. This was the " Greek Slave. " 
 
 While retracing our steps across the field 
 towards the shore where our " sandal " — or little 
 boat belonging to the dahabeeyeh — awaited us, I 
 heard something of her history. It appeared 
 that, while our companions were conversing with 
 the men outside the huts, the young man had 
 come from within ; and one of his neighbours 
 asked him whether his grandmother had seen the 
 foreign ladies, and whether they could talk to her 
 in her own language ? 
 
 They wondered at this ; and, on inquiry, 
 learned that his grandmother had been brought 
 long ago as a captive from Greece by a Turk, or 
 an Arab in the Turkish service, a great man in 
 that place, who had been engaged in the old 
 
THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 245 
 
 war. She had subsequently been given in mar- 
 riage to a peasant on his property. It all took 
 place so long ago, that no one was very clear 
 about the details; but it was evident that the 
 unfortunate woman had formerly been in a far 
 higher position than that in which we found her, 
 from the observations of some of the people about 
 her "knowing how to behave to the strange 
 ladies, because she was not like the rest, but had 
 been used to good manners." And this agreed 
 with what I had noticed. 
 
 Here was an outline bare enough indeed, yet 
 one which imagination could but too well fill up. 
 The poor captive had indeed a home and children 
 — a daughter, at least, we were told of, whose 
 son was the young man we saw, so that she was 
 not utterly alone; but she had probably little 
 power or influence with them. She dwelt among 
 rude Egyptian peasants, whose faith was that 
 of her captor ; and what a contrast must that 
 wretched hovel have presented to the abode of 
 comfort, and perhaps luxury, in which her youth 
 had been spent, and those ignorant dirty women 
 to the mother and sisters from whom she had 
 been snatched away by cruel and blood-stained 
 hands ! 
 
246 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 I wondered if the little she must once have 
 known of Christianity had been forgotten, or if 
 she had been old enough to have retained some 
 recollections of it — a Christianity far from pure, 
 indeed, and mixed up with man's inventions, but 
 still retaining something of the eternal truths of 
 the Gospel ; and I resolved to try if any spark 
 could be aroused, and therefore visited the island 
 again the following morning, on purpose to see 
 the Greek slave. Only one of our party could 
 accompany me, but we were warmly welcomed. 
 The same young man was standing on the shore 
 waiting for us, having, no doubt, descried the 
 little boat putting off ; and he brought the only 
 man in the whole neighbourhood who could read. 
 He had summoned him as soon as he saw us, and 
 they proposed to Mr. Shakoor to go with them to 
 a spot at a little distance, where a party of 
 labourers were busy in the field. When they 
 were gone, I hastened to the women's abode, and 
 the old Greek came immediately forward, first 
 handing to its mother a young infant she had 
 been tenderly rocking, and, desiring her to wrap 
 it up warmly, as the morning was still cold ; she 
 then saluted us, with calm sadness in her manner, 
 yet with a smile that showed she was glad I had 
 
THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 247 
 
 come. Two others of the family, or neighbours, 
 joined us, and I sat down in their midst, and 
 produced the Testament; telling the young man, 
 who had returned, and was now standing at the 
 doorway, that this was the book whence those 
 words were taken that he had heard last year. 
 I then asked the old woman "if she had ever 
 heard of the Gospel ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, yes/' she answered, " formerly ; 
 but it is so long ago, I have forgotten it all." 
 
 "You are not of this country, I believe?" 
 said I. 
 
 " No, I am from Crete. I was taken in the 
 war, and brought here by a great man, who had 
 property out yonder," pointing with her finger. 
 
 I asked if she had ever had any news of her 
 family since ? and, with a deep sadness in her 
 tones, quite unlike the dull indifference with 
 which she had spoken before, she said — 
 
 " Never ! never ! My father and mother — 
 my brothers — I shall never see any of them any 
 more ! never ! never ! " 
 
 Of course, her parents must have been long 
 dead in any case, as she could not have been less 
 than sixty years old; but, for the moment, 
 memory flew over the long years since that ter- 
 
248 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 rible parting, and she really had the look and 
 voice of an orphan as she murmured sorrowfully, 
 " Never more ! never ! " 
 
 It appeared she had been old enough to recol- 
 lect her country, for, when I asked (pointing to a 
 little girl about seven years old, who stood near 
 us) if she had been as young as that when she 
 was taken from Crete, she replied — 
 
 " No, no ! I was not little ; I was big ! " And 
 she shook her head sadly, as much as to say, 
 " Old enough to feel everything ! " 
 
 "It must have been a terrible sorrow \ " said 
 I. " But do you not know there is One who is 
 even kinder than father and mother ? Do you 
 know that God is our Father? Did you ever 
 hear the prayer that begins, ' Our Father, who 
 art in heaven ' V 
 
 How I wished I could have said the words 
 in Greek ; for, though she spoke fluently in 
 Arabic, and had perhaps partially forgotten her 
 mother tongue, it would have struck home to 
 the heart more readily. 
 
 "I know!" she said, however. "I used to 
 hear it formerly, but I forget now — it is so long/' 
 she added, and sighed, and muttered something 
 to herself which I could not hear distinctly 
 
THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 249 
 
 enough to understand; but I caught just the 
 words, " Forgotten — all forgotten!" 
 
 They rang like a knell in the ears. I dared 
 not question her much about her own history, 
 having been warned that the people were sus- 
 picious, and would hinder rne from talking to her 
 if I showed too much curiosity. It was indeed 
 evident, from her manner, and the low voice in 
 which she answered, that, for some reason or 
 other, she was under constraint, and did not 
 venture to speak freely. However, it was more 
 important for the poor woman to hear the way of 
 salvation than to recount her own early sorrows. 
 After repeating the Lord's Prayer, I said — 
 
 " Do you remember ever hearing the name of 
 Jesus ? In your youth did not you hear of Him V 3 
 
 " Yes, yes, I did ; but I forget it all now." 
 
 One of the neighbours, who had just come in 
 and joined us, now said, in a spiteful way — 
 
 " Ah, she is become quite one of us, and says 
 as we do now ; she has forgotten her old ways — 
 she was so young when she came." 
 
 The other looked half stupid, half frightened, 
 but made no reply. 
 
 ' ' No one," said I, " can save either your 
 soul or hers but One, and that One is the Messiah, 
 
250 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 our Lord Jesus, who died for us ; and, dear 
 sister," I added, turning to the Greek, "if you 
 have forgotten Him, He has not forgotten you — 
 recollect that ; and He wants to save you." 
 
 She again sadly murmured, " Forgotten ! all 
 forgotten ! " But I opened the book, and 
 said — 
 
 " Listen to God's Word, you and all the rest," 
 and I read about the " Lamb of God, that taketh 
 away the sins of the world," and explained it 
 as well as I could. The young man came nearer, 
 and was an intelligent listener, remarking some- 
 times, " Ah, that's true ! that's good ! " 
 
 The old woman listened also attentively, and 
 at last broke silence, saying — 
 
 " If we do good, will not God forgive us ? " 
 
 " He will indeed forgive us, but not for the 
 things we do," I replied, " because they are im- 
 perfect. Only Jesus did good always, and with- 
 out sin." And I went on to show how free is 
 God's forgiveness ; not to be purchased by good 
 works, which of necessity must follow pardon, 
 but could not procure it; and earnestly begged 
 her to receive the gracious offer of Christ, 
 " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest." 
 
THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 251 
 
 " Ah, there's much sorrow in life ! much 
 sorrow ! 93 she said, sighing deeply. 
 
 " Then, only think what it will be to be for 
 ever away from sorrow ! Think of God's love 
 when He says such words as these. " And I read 
 her the words in Revelation about "no more 
 Sorrow there." But I warned her she could not 
 enter there unless she put her trust in Jesus and 
 his atoning death; and, turning to the Moslem 
 women, told them the same thing, " Who- 
 ever untt, let him take of the water of life 
 freely." 
 
 The ignorance of women in Egypt is such, 
 that, even in their own language, it is not easy 
 to make them fully understand, unless the words 
 are in the very commonest use ; and, though the 
 translation of the New Testament is in simple 
 Arabic, they sometimes need words to be put 
 into others commoner still, as we do in reading to 
 very little children ; and this is of course difficult 
 for a foreigner and one not by any means a perfect 
 scholar. Still, the very emergency seems some- 
 times to call up all one's powers, and I seemed to 
 be understood better than I could have expected, 
 for I stayed a long time reading and talking. 
 
 The poor Greek repeated more than once, 
 
252 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 " The love of God ! Yes, that is better than any- 
 thing ! " and again murmured to herself. 
 
 I took her hand — the large white hand, so 
 unlike the more taper-fingered though browner 
 hands of the Egyptians — and said, in a low voice, 
 " Will you not pray that God will give you his 
 Holy Spirit, and forgive you and bless you for 
 Jesus' sake V 3 
 
 " I do not know how to pray now ; I have 
 forgotten," she whispered. 
 
 " But, dear friend, God does not forget you, 
 as I told you before. He loves you ! He sent 
 me here on purpose to remind you of Him, and 
 to tell you, and all of you, the good news of his 
 love." I turned to the others, adding, " If a 
 rich man, with a bagful of gold and jewels, 
 were to come and offer each of you some, you 
 would gladly accept his offer. Yet you know in a 
 short time you must leave these treasures. You 
 could not take them with you when you die." 
 
 " Truly," said the Greek. " They all perish." 
 
 She, poor thing, had probably seen all her 
 earthly jewels fall into the hands of them " that 
 break through and steal." 
 
 ' ( Well, the news I bring you, that God loves 
 you, is better than gold." 
 
THE GEEEK SLAVE. 
 
 253 
 
 " God loves us ! " she echoed. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, indeed He does ! He calls you 
 to believe in Him." And I repeated again and 
 again the messages of love, and exhorted her to 
 pray, in the simplest words she liked, but only to 
 pray that He would save her for Christ's sake. 
 
 Her grandson seemed well-disposed, and ap- 
 plauded my advice about prayer. His young 
 wife also seemed interested, and listened atten- 
 tively. The old Greek evidently felt more than 
 she dared to show. She was gratified by sym- 
 pathy, but I think she felt more than that. There 
 appeared to be a sort of awakening out of a long 
 stupor. How far her mind and heart were fully 
 aroused, and how far she was kept silent by fear 
 of those around her, I could not tell, but the 
 Lord knew j and I prayed earnestly for her in a 
 few words before parting. There was an echo 
 which " that sweet name/ 5 so long unheard, had 
 awakened from the memories of the past, and it 
 may have enabled her to look up to Him who 
 never forgets. 
 
 If it be so — if the hour spent in reading and 
 telling of the Gospel message reached the depths 
 of her soul, what a change for the "captive 
 exile " ! More than thirty years of slavery, with 
 
254 
 
 THE GREEK SLAVE. 
 
 such circumstances of misery and degradation, 
 are a heavy burden indeed ; but " if the Son shall 
 make you free, ye shall be free indeed!" saith 
 the Saviour to those bound by sin; and if this 
 poor woman can cling to Him by simple faith, 
 she will be free from the worst slavery, and shall 
 soon be where the " fury of the oppressor can- 
 not reach. A few days or years more of earthly 
 captivity, and then the mud hut exchanged for 
 a brighter home than her beautiful Crete — even 
 the true port of the " Fair Havens/' not the old 
 harbour so called in St. Paul's days, whose 
 beauty was to pass away, but the Fair Haven of 
 the heavenly land, where sorrow and storm can- 
 not enter. Then the many tears that furrowed 
 her cheek and dimmed her eyes will be for- 
 gotten, for the former things will have passed 
 away 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 It was a calm on the river — a dead calm — so that 
 it was impossible to go up or down (the coast not 
 being suitable for " tracking/' or dragging the 
 boat by a long rope), and, therefore, we stopped 
 for a while in a place where no village was situ- 
 ated, and where, for that reason, they rarely make 
 a halt ; for the crew have friends in most villages, 
 and, if not, they like to purchase eatables, and to 
 be in the midst of their kind, and dislike solitary 
 moorings like this. But it was very lovely for 
 those who could appreciate the scene, with its 
 harmonious colouring — the purple distance with 
 palm groves dotted about here and there, the 
 glassy waters reflecting the gold and pink of the 
 skies, and the flocks of wild geese careering 
 through the air on their way to the sandbanks 
 where they love to feed at dusk : all made a de- 
 lightful prospect, and one especially soothing and 
 
256 
 
 SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 tranquil to gaze upon. Our immediate neigh- 
 bourhood was nothing but a wide flat, partly 
 cultivated in barseem (or Egyptian clover) , and 
 partly covered with stubble from last year's corn 
 crops; the only foliage was a clump or two of 
 gum arabic trees, in which the bees kept a joyous 
 hum among their fragrant yellow blossoms; in 
 the distance palm groves and villages appeared 
 in plenty, but all around was solitary, except for 
 a little cluster of reed huts or wigwams of the 
 rudest description, with a few ragged tents ap- 
 pertaining to them, — the habitations of some 
 Bedouin families, who led a partially nomade life, 
 and who seemed to be very poor. We went to 
 explore them, but at first none but little children 
 were visible — wretched-looking creatures, whose 
 few rags were undistinguishable from the dust in 
 which they were grovelling ; after a few minutes, 
 however, the women of the troop who had gone 
 to fetch water, began to return, with pitchers on 
 their heads. One of them dived into the httle 
 den from whence a piteous wailing was heard, 
 and quickly re-appeared with a tiny brown baby 
 wrapped up in rags, and, after quieting it, turned 
 round to see who her novel visitors could be, and 
 gave a wondering but civil greeting. Two others 
 
SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 257 
 
 joined her and were really polite in their way : 
 not one made the demand for backsheesh which 
 so often worries European travellers. They did 
 not live on a beaten track, and, probably, were 
 unsophisticated, at any rate in that respect. 
 After a little desultory conversation about their 
 mode of life, etc., we were obliged to leave them, 
 as there was only light enough to get back to the 
 boat, but promised to come and visit them again 
 next morning, as, being Sunday, we did not 
 mean to move from the spot. Accordingly, we 
 spent some time with them during the forenoon ; 
 only the ladies could come, as the men of the 
 Bedouin families were all absent at their em- 
 ployment of tending cattle. The women, about 
 five or six in number, sat or crouched round us on 
 the ground (a few were gone for water) ; a swarm 
 of children made up the circle. In spite of then' 
 extreme want of cleanliness, they seemed healthy, 
 the fine pure air in which they lived, and dabbling 
 in the Xile whenever the weather was warm, 
 making their condition very different from that 
 of dirty town children. The poor women listened 
 with more interest to the words of Scripture than 
 many who appear their superiors in every respect; 
 one only lamented that there seemed so faint a 
 
 17 
 
258 
 
 SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 probability of their ever hearing anything of the 
 kind again. One of the oldest, contrary to cus- 
 tom, was more interested than the rest ; in 
 general, the aged women are specially hard and 
 worldly, but this poor old creature really listened 
 with eagerness, and tried to learn the short text, 
 " God be merciful to me a sinner/' which we en- 
 deavoured to teach her. When it was necessary, 
 at length, to depart, her eyes were full of tears ; 
 taking her wrinkled hand, I said that we would 
 not forget her, but would pray the Lord to have 
 mercy on her, and, to make her understand 
 something of intercessory prayer, I told her how 
 we would ask " that God would look on that old 
 woman in the reed hut, and enlighten her mind, 
 and bless her, for the sake of the Messiah, our 
 Lord Jesus, about whom we had talked to her." 
 The poor woman seemed quite overcome, and 
 flung her arms round our necks — first one and 
 then the other — saying, in broken words, " I 
 love you ; you have told me good words. May 
 God bless you.'" 
 
 It seemed really like the blessing on them 
 that " bring good tidings, and that publish 
 peace." 
 
 We returned to our boat, earnestly praying 
 
SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 259 
 
 that the Spirit might bless our feeble efforts, and 
 keep alive the little flame kindled in this poor 
 heart. 
 
 Our next halt was at a more populous place, a 
 large village on the other side {i.e., the eastern 
 coast), which is for several reasons much less 
 often chosen by the boats that ply on the river. 
 It is less fertile, for one thing, and the crew find 
 it less easy to obtain- anything they want, and 
 many of the villages are inhabited by settled 
 Bedouins, who bear a bad character as respects 
 honesty, so that it is thought less safe to anchor 
 near them. This is, however, not always the 
 case; the village here, which was situated at a 
 short distance from the beach, was inhabited by 
 genuine Egyptian peasants, and many of them 
 seemed exceedingly well off, judging from the 
 abundance of cattle, and the handsome ornaments 
 worn by the women. 
 
 Though only built of mud, like other villages, 
 the place had a very picturesque look, from the 
 fine palm trees which grew between every three 
 or four houses, aud sometimes were built into 
 the very walls. There were, also, some large 
 gum-trees on a plot near the village, and u 
 few acacias (or lebichs, as that species is hero 
 
260 SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 called). Under the shade of these a carpet was 
 spread by the sheikh of the village, who was 
 friendly, and received Mr. Shakoor and his 
 brother with great politeness. The chief men 
 assembled with them, curious to know what these 
 strangers could have to say, and looking with 
 some interest, and perhaps a little suspicion also, 
 on the book which was in their hands. They 
 spent some time with these people, and found 
 several not unwilling to listen while they read 
 and conversed with them about the things that 
 concern man's happiness, present and future. I 
 did not stay among them, however, but went 
 where I might hope to be of a little use — among 
 the women, whom none but one of their own sex 
 can reach in this country. 
 
 The sheikh directed me to his house, which 
 was near, and of which he was very proud, for it 
 actually boasted an upper story, though as yet 
 unfinished. In one cf the rooms, still roofless, I 
 was received very courteously by his wife, and a 
 carpet laid for me to sit on : a very rich one it 
 was, of Persian or Damascus manufacture, and 
 presently all the relations of the family, and, 
 doubtless, many neighbours also, crowded round 
 to see the visitor, for they told me that no " Frank 
 
SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 261 
 
 woman" had ever before come to their village. 
 I was overwhelmed with questions, of course. 
 " What do you wear this for ? What stuff is your 
 dress made of? Why have you no earrings like 
 us ? I see you have none of this " (and the 
 speaker put her finger on the blue marks tatooed 
 on her chin, according to a practice very common 
 in the country parts of Egypt) ; " do not people 
 like this in your country?" But, though curious, 
 they were not rude, and the fingers which handled 
 my dress were withdrawn whenever they per- 
 ceived that I saw them. All these women were 
 alike clad in loose robes of dark blue cotton, so 
 dark as to be almost black, and some wore veils 
 of thin black muslin, through which the crimson 
 silk tassels that hung down their backs from the 
 headdress were visible, and had a very pretty 
 effect. The want of any other lively colours in 
 their garments was, in a great measure, atoned 
 for by the scarlet coral beads and massive silver 
 bracelets and chains worn by most. The sheikh's 
 wife — a woman still young, and with handsome 
 features and a very graceful figure, wore bracelets 
 of pure gold and earrings likewise. She showed 
 her children with more pride than an Egyptian 
 mother often dares to show, for usually they are 
 
262 
 
 SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 too much afraid of the " evil eye," or envious 
 wish (for that is really what it signifies), to ven- 
 ture to show their little ones to strangers with 
 any appearance of joy and pride, however strongly 
 they feel. This woman seemed not to fear any- 
 thing, but boldly pointed out her two very fine 
 little boys, and then sent a slave (for she possessed 
 a black slave woman) to fetch her baby girl, 
 which she evidently thought a great deal of. 
 The little creature was, indeed, so singularly 
 beautiful that a mother's openly delighting in 
 her would not excite surprise in our country. 
 No adornments in the way of dress set off the 
 infant charmer — no embroidered frock or blue 
 kid shoes — but nothing could have improved her ; 
 she stood in her sole garment, a little shirt of 
 white calico (which was clean, however), a perfect 
 picture, with her rounded limbs displayed to full 
 advantage, and a slight rosy colour showing 
 through her dark clear skin — for an Egyptian 
 she was uncommonly fair indeed, and as smooth 
 as ivory, and with eyes that might well be com- 
 pared to the gazelle's, so soft and bright, and 
 with such a tender expression. 
 
 I took care to admire the little Zeynab (so I 
 found she was called) in a discreet manner, and 
 
SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 263 
 
 though far from sympathizing in the ridiculous 
 superstition of the evil eye, I cannot help liking 
 the expressions which are commonly used in the 
 East, either by a friend or stranger, whenever 
 pareuts show their little ones. " May God keep 
 him for you!" " The Lord preserve him to 
 you!" " Praise God! may God let him grow 
 and bless him \" etc. 
 
 The constant acknowledgment of our depen- 
 dence on the Almighty, even if only outward, has 
 a good effect, and with some I think it is more, 
 and that they really have a sense of what they 
 say ; but, unhappily, redeeming love is unknown 
 to them, and submission to God's power is not 
 enough unless we can also look up to Him as our 
 Father, through Jesus Christ. Yet, in some 
 points, those who have so much more light might 
 take an example from them. 
 
 When the infant Zeynab had been admired and 
 commended to Heavenly protection, then I sought 
 for an opportunity of reading to them from some 
 simple texts I had brought with me, the gift of 
 an orange (rather a scarcity in this neighbour- 
 hood) having secured the child's tranquillity. 
 They were not ill-disposed to listen, but the 
 negress slave, who sat just behind me with her 
 
204 
 
 SCATTEEED SEEL. 
 
 black baby in her lap, was very officious and 
 conceited in giving, as she imagined, her aid ; and 
 while I was telling them the story of Adam and 
 Eve, she interposed, assuring me she knew it 
 perfectly, and began giving a distorted account 
 full of absurd legends. Without abruptly check- 
 ing her, which would have probably affronted 
 them all, as she was considered an authority, I 
 managed, with a little patience, to relate the 
 history in my own way, and tried to show from 
 it the need of a Saviour for all Adam's children. 
 " Ah \" exclaimed the negress, " the Lord Eesa 
 (Jesus) ; he in whom the Nasara believe/' look- 
 ing contemptuously towards the circle of women. 
 *' f Do you think the Lord Jesus only cares for the 
 Nasara ? " said I ; with them, it must be recol- 
 lected, Xasara meant Copt, as they knew nothing 
 of any other Christians. " Only ! ,; replied the 
 slave very decidedly. " Not at all," I said; "you 
 are quite mistaken. Our Lord said, ' Come unto Me 
 ail that labour and are heavy laden.' Are there none 
 heavy laden among you V } They were silent, but 
 one or two looked surprised and touched. It 
 was a new idea. I went on to show them the 
 largeness of Christ's love, and the fulness of Hi^. 
 sacrifice, as well as I could in so brief a time and 
 
SCATTERED SEED. 
 
 265 
 
 under the circumstances. They listened with in- 
 creasing interest, and when I was obliged to go 
 because it was almost dark, they held me, and 
 nearly forced me to remain. One said, " The 
 darkness will not matter, for there is now a moon." 
 u Stay with us," said another, " the cattle will be 
 home presently, and you shall sup with us; we 
 can give you new milk/' AYith real regret I was 
 obliged to refuse their kind invitations, for a boat- 
 man had been sent to bring me to the dahabeeyeh 
 — the lateness of the hour and my long delay had 
 made my party anxious — and I could not linger, 
 and bidding adieu to my friends, with many good 
 wishes on both sides, we parted. 
 
 Ruts n the Country. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS IN THE EAST. 
 
 An infant school in England or Germany is some- 
 thing between a school-room and a nursery, as 
 every one conversant with those most valuable 
 institutions is well aware. The little creatures 
 who would be otherwise playing in a dirty lane 
 and learning evil with their earliest impressions, 
 are under kind care, learning a little (a very little 
 it ought to be of regular book-learning, under 
 seven years old), and are well amused, and receiv- 
 ing healthful and cheerful impressions during the 
 remainder of the time spent in school. Pictures, 
 little songs, marching and trottiDg about the 
 room in order, and many other devices keep them 
 happy and occupied without fatigue. But in the 
 East (at all events in Egypt) we have great diffi- 
 culties to contend with in the management of 
 infant classes of children, and as yet I do not feel 
 that we have hit upon what is exactly suitable, 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 267 
 
 though to collect the little ones and keep them out 
 of mischief and learning some good is a great point. 
 When I first assembled a school of girls, I divided 
 the little from the older ones, and, not having then 
 a second room, I endeavoured to keep them at dif- 
 ferent ends, and as soon as an older girl was able to 
 read passably, made her a sort of monitress, to 
 teach the alphabet to the young children. So far 
 it did very well, but I attempted to introduce our 
 European system of infant-school teaching, and 
 then there arose a totally new set of difficulties. 
 The prime hindrance was about pictures; the 
 children liked them, and learned the simplest 
 Scripture stories as readily as their little sisters 
 with the flaxen hair and blue eyes could do, but 
 the parents of Mohammedan children objected : 
 some removed their girls, and many others, who 
 did not send them at first, sent them when the 
 pictures were taken away. We cannot wonder 
 at this : their neighbours the Oriental Christians, 
 whether Copts, Greeks, or Latins, all pay undue 
 reverence to pictures, and so constantly break 
 the second commandment by " bowing down " to 
 pictures of saints and angels, that we can scarcely 
 blame the Moslem creed for its severity in respect 
 of even making a (( likeness of anything that is 
 
268 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 in heaven above or the earth beneath." Then 
 the Coptic children were inclined to worship the 
 pictures, and, as they knew no difference, it was 
 quite ludicrous to see one devoutly kissing a 
 coloured print representing Cain after slaying 
 Abel ! Of course they were not permitted to do 
 so while in school, nor to show any external marks 
 of reverence to saint or angel auy more than to 
 Cain, but the habit already existing made the 
 Scripture pictures as unfit to be- used in teaching 
 on their account as on that of the other scholars. 
 So they were all banished ; but the teaching with- 
 out the aid of the eye, with very young children, 
 is far more difficult, especially when the teachers 
 are young and inexperienced, and have no idea of 
 making instruction entertaining when unassisted 
 by externals. Then as to the little exercises — in 
 summer it is hardly needful to say they would be 
 out of the question in a hot country, but in the 
 two or three cold months, and about two tempe- 
 rate ones, I thought they would be very useful, 
 as the thinly-clad, bare-footed children, who com- 
 posed the larger part of the scholars, seemed to 
 feel the cold a good deal. A little marching, 
 with counting, etc., was, therefore, tried, but in 
 a week it had to be abandoned : the mothers said, 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 269 
 
 u We send our children to learn, and you teach 
 them to play ! If that is what they are to go to 
 school for they may as well be at home." It was 
 in vain to try and explain to them that walking 
 about for a quarter of an hour did not interfere 
 with the use of the alphabet and needle the rest 
 of the time ; it was unsuited to the ways of the 
 country, and where so many prejudices were 
 absolutely necessary to be overcome or contended 
 against (such as the prejudice against clean faces 
 and sundry others), it was not worth while making 
 " a fuss w about a trifliDg matter. 
 
 Then for the amusing songs — where were they 
 to be found ? A foreigner could not write such 
 things with any chance of success, unless brought 
 up in the country from an early age, and dwell- 
 ing always among the people, so as to have all 
 their idioms at full command ; and no native poet 
 had yet condescended to write verses suitable to 
 very yoang children. Translations, indeed, exist 
 of many of our simple hymns, having been printed 
 at Beyrout, under the superintendence of the 
 American Mission, and some of the shortest and 
 easiest of these can be used in an infant school. 
 But as for amusing songs, they are as yet not to 
 be found, and those occupied in education are so 
 
270 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 busy with the most essential things that they 
 have not time (till teachers shall be more plen- 
 tiful) to turn their attention to comparatively 
 trifling points. 
 
 It must be confessed that an infant school 
 without either lively infantine songs, or pictures, 
 or exercises for the little feet and hands, is rather 
 a hard matter to conduct ; and I can hardly won- 
 der that sometimes a little ragged child, used to 
 the freedom of the streets or lanes, deserts the 
 ranks, and returns to the enjoyment of dust pies 
 and broken crockery. If the young assistants 
 who have the daily charge of these little ones 
 were fully " up to the mark " themselves, a good 
 deal more might be done in the way of keeping the 
 smaller classes both happy and occupied, but it is 
 very difficult to make them see that anything of 
 indirect instruction — anything, in fact, except 
 actual learning by rote, can be worth taking 
 trouble about. And yet they could — if they 
 understood the value of opening a child's facul- 
 ties gently and gradually, without wearying it — 
 do this far better than any foreigner ; for, the 
 younger a ohild is, the more idiomatic its lan- 
 guage. 
 
 The attempt to introduce object-lessons, also, 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 271 
 
 did not quite answer expectations. The teachers 
 complained that it took up time wanted for im- 
 provement in reading with older children, and 
 with infants it seemed impossible to get up their 
 interest sufficiently to extract any answers except 
 repetition. I had the Scripture lessons to give, 
 and was not able, therefore, regularly to teach 
 the tiny ones, and had to give them in charge to 
 a pupil-teacher ; and she, having no conception 
 of the utility of object-lessons, could not teach in 
 such a way as to do the least good. For example, 
 after a private training on the subject, she assem- 
 bled a young class in obedience to orders, but 
 half-laughing and half-ashamed all the while ; 
 and, holding up a piece of stone and another of 
 sugar, began asking questions as to their resem- 
 blances and differences ; but between every reply, 
 whether right or wrong, giving a half-contemp- 
 tuous smile, and, after eliciting four or five 
 adjectives, eagerly dismissed them, saying, 
 "That is enough. Now, go and study your 
 lessons. 33 Adding to me afterwards, in a pretty 
 loud whisper, "What is the good of teaching 
 them that stones are hard and sugar sweet ? 
 Every one knows that, and it only wastes their 
 time. If they do not sew in the afternoons, no 
 
272 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 mother will send her girls; and the mornings 
 are not too long now for the reading, alphabets, 
 and Scripture. " 
 
 There was such truth in the last two remarks, 
 that I thought it wisest to act on them, and not 
 discuss the first. Of course, a person of educa- 
 tion knows that the object-lessons are of use in 
 giving habits of observation on common things, 
 and accuracy of language. But a compromise 
 has been agreed upon finally; certain written 
 lessons in the simplest style being prepared, from 
 which the pupil-teacher can get the assistance 
 necessary with her limited knowledge ; and 
 though not equal to good extempore teaching, it 
 is better than none; and when we are able we 
 give the infants a lesson, and infuse more life 
 and spirit. 
 
 I do not find the pupil-teachers by any means 
 deficient in intelligence or docility, but they are 
 slower and more languid in the way of imparting 
 knowledge than Syrian girls, who have very fre- 
 quently all the energy of the Anglo-Saxon in 
 their manner, and in their active way of setting 
 about their business. The French expression, 
 " trainer" exactly expresses the style in which a 
 Coptic girl naturally gets through the order of 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT IXFAXT SCHOOLS. 273 
 
 the day — a little beliiiid-liand with everything,, a 
 constant need of being stirred up and kept alive. 
 Yet I do not mean by this that they are sleepy 
 or dull — far otherwise. They are full of spirit s, 
 and fond of fun. The demure look which visitors 
 often notice in looking into the school-room is 
 merely a piece of good manners towards stran- 
 gers, and not the characteristic demeanour of 
 Egyptian girls. But the dislike to trouble, which 
 all young people have more or less, is certainly 
 found more universally here, and the difficulty of 
 inducing either a servant, or a school-teacher, or 
 an artisan, to take even a very little trouble, un- 
 less fully convinced it is " worth while/' is one 
 of our hindrances in the way of improvement j 
 since there is not always time to explain one't; 
 reasons, nor, indeed, is it desirable as a point of 
 discipline that a superintendent, or master or 
 mistress, should give a reason to the subordinates 
 when the order ought to be sufficient. A servant 
 in Egypt will not unfrequently say to his lady — 
 
 " What do you want another plate for ? Why 
 must I fetch another spoon ? There are six on 
 the table, and you are only six persons." 
 
 " But I must have another, and my asking is 
 enough," you reply. 
 
 is 
 
274 DIFFICULTIES ABODT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 " Well, as your honour pleases " (with a 
 shrug of the shoulders) , and he goes downstairs, 
 leaving you with a feeling that you must have 
 been unreasonable somehow. If, however, it had 
 chanced that he spied an expected guest coming 
 in, he would have run cheerfully to fetch the 
 extra plate, etc. ; but to bring seven when the 
 party was only six — this was needless trouble in 
 his ideas ; and so with fifty little items of daily 
 life. And thus with the school-teacher; she will 
 not grudge trouble, if a good girl in the main, 
 where she can see the necessity strongly ; but 
 will " shirk " if she considers it a mere fancy. 
 
 For the older girls I find nothing better for 
 opening the mind, and mingling some amuse- 
 ment with instruction, than oral geography lessons, 
 combined with descriptions and occasional anec- 
 dotes ; but for those under seven years old, some- 
 thing easier and more childish is wanted. Com- 
 paring various well-known animals, or giving the 
 uses of certain domestic articles and their pre- 
 paration in a lively yet simple way, is the kind 
 of entertaining lesson which I have found to 
 answer best with such ; but they require to be 
 given by an educated person, and one who has 
 seen the sort of lesson, or else by one possessing 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 275 
 
 by nature considerable tact and powers of manag- 
 ing young children. 
 
 In the East the combination of instruction 
 with entertainment is so totally new an idea in 
 teaching children that it can only be introduced 
 by degrees and with discretion. 
 
 The parents are, as might be expected, even 
 more unreasonable in their demands than parents 
 in England, and (as a general rule) that is saying 
 a good deal. They often express wonder that a 
 little creature of four years old who has been 
 sent (irregularly perhaps) for a few months "is 
 not able to read yet!" This is only in the case 
 of a mother who cares a little about it ; some 
 only send them to learn to sew, and their com- 
 plaint is that a young child is not dexteroas 
 enough with her needle after a short attendance. 
 
 Of course we do not yield to these foolish de- 
 mands, and overwork the tender brains or fingers 
 of little children to please ignorant parents, who 
 unable either to read or work, have no notion of the 
 time it requires to learn ; but foreigners labour- 
 ing in countries like Egypt must be very careful 
 not to bring in more difficulties than already 
 exist in the path, and must avoid hurting the 
 prejudices of the people as much as is compatible 
 
276 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 with the real benefit of the pupils. It must be 
 indeed ' ' here a little and there a little, as they can 
 bear it." 
 
 To give an instance of some of the obstacles 
 which we meet with : a little girl who had been in 
 the school ever since she could speak plain, and who 
 though only about seven years apparently (for the 
 mothers keep no count of their children's age, so 
 it is only guess), could read fluently in the Gospel, 
 and was able to sew very prettily for a child, 
 was suddenly removed one day ; and on the teacher 
 sending another scholar to the house, a rude mes- 
 sage was returned that she was not coming any 
 more. The teacher thought it hopeless, for she 
 said the neighbours told her the girl was sent to 
 a native work-teacher. Now, these work-teachers, 
 poor things ! are great enemies of 'proper school- 
 teachers. They are generally women of the 
 poorest and most ignorant class, who earn their 
 living by sewing in coarse style the garments of 
 the common people, for many of the peasant 
 women are so ignorant that they cannot hold a 
 needle^ These work-women assemble about eight 
 or ten little girls, more or less, and at first the 
 parents pay them a trifle for teaching them ; then 
 when they can do the rough, coarse kind of work, 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 277 
 
 which is all attempted by that class usually, they are 
 of sufficient use to be not only not paid for, but very 
 welcome assistants. They do not learn to work 
 well, and of course learn plenty of gossip and bad 
 talk, besides that their health is injured by sitting 
 all day in a small, close, dirty room, damp in 
 winter from the clay floor, and suffocating in 
 summer. There is nothing one of these so-called 
 work-teachers likes better than to pounce upon 
 a scholar of mine who already knows how to work 
 as well or better than themselves, and to repre- 
 sent to the mother that she has been ill-taught, 
 and cannot work at all, and either coaxing or 
 frightening the child into full acquiescence; for 
 an Egyptian child is almost invariably timid by 
 nature, and easily cowed into silence. It hap- 
 pened thus, in the case I allude to, the little girl 
 was waylaid when returning from school ; a 
 needle was thrust into her hand, she was dragged 
 into her mother's presence, and of course was 
 stupid and terrified, and stood with the needle 
 and thread and a piece of work in her hand as if 
 incapable of performing a single stitch. " There ! 
 I told you they taught her nothing, and that the 
 school was good for nothing. Now you see V 
 exclaims the teacher, and the scholar was re- 
 
278 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 moved accordingly. I heard the story in detail 
 on the visit which I immediately paid in order to 
 learn the truth. The woman received me un- 
 civilly enough ; scarcely paid the customary com- 
 pliments, rarely omitted, unless from intentional 
 rudeness, in the East ; and did not ask me to sit 
 down. She was busy washing in a damp court, 
 common to her and three other families. I found 
 a broken leaf ass (or palm-wood cage, such as are 
 used for various purposes here), and took my seat 
 unasked, for this mother was a former acquaint- 
 ance, and I felt I had some right to stay ; in a 
 very severe fever, in which the child had been 
 near death, I had visited her many times, and 
 under God, had been permitted to be the means 
 of saving her life apparently. So I tried all that 
 gentle remonstrance could do, and showed the 
 mother that it was impossible to judge of a child's 
 progress in anything in such a way as she de- 
 scribed. " Your school is not good for anything!" 
 she sullenly replied ; "how long is my girl there, 
 and can't yet sew ! " 
 
 " Dear friend, you are hasty ; only come and 
 see her at the school or give her work quietly at 
 your own home, and you will find this woman told 
 you lies for her own purposes." 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 279 
 
 " I don't mean her ever to go to von any 
 more/' she answered in a dogged tone. I was 
 nearly beaten ; in most cases I would have gone 
 away in fact, but the little one had so nearly 
 died, and with such care and trouble been raised 
 up from her sick-bed the year before, and she 
 was just begiuning to know a little of the mean- 
 ing of what she read in school of the love of 
 God — could I yield her up to the charge of a deceit- 
 ful, bad woman, and all the ignorance and dirt 
 and degradation from which we had been trying 
 to raise her so long ? And she had been a 
 favourite pupil of my poor Fatmeh, who had 
 spared no pains with her. These thoughts pass- 
 ing quickly through my mind, made me resolve 
 on a last effort, and I was encouraged by seeing 
 the father's head at the window. He was rarely 
 at home in the day, and as he was superior in sense 
 to his wife, I felt it a providential occurrence. 
 So I began talking to him, reminding him that it 
 was not to get a few piastres that we taught the 
 children like that poor woman, but to do them 
 good, and that above all we wanted them to love 
 God and be His children, and taught them to read 
 with that view; that we spared no trouble in 
 teaching other things also, and brought materials 
 
280 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 from a distance on purpose, and "besides," I 
 added, "we love the children. When your little 
 one was sick, who came to her and brought medi- 
 cine ? " " It was you ! " he answered quite 
 touched, as the recollection came into his mind. 
 " Yes, yes ; you brought her medicine and fruit ; 
 everything ! truly she is yours more than ours ; 
 she was in the school from the time she could 
 speak, and belongs to you ! " Encouraged by 
 the father's approval, I again tried the woman, 
 and after a little she said, " The truth is with 
 you. I will take her from that woman, and she 
 shall be yours again." The child had slipped in 
 during the conversation, and glanced timidly yet 
 half-smiling at me. The father nodded out of 
 the window in a friendly manner, and assured me 
 she should come as before when her dress was 
 washed. I almost feared it was a pretext to get 
 rid of me civilly, but on the following day the 
 little girl was in her place again, and attended 
 just as before. Her father is a Moslem of the 
 artizan class, and not without intelligence; the 
 mother, as may be guessed, very stupid and of a 
 disagreeable temper. However, this time success 
 crowned the efforts, and the trouble is nothing in 
 such cases ; but often, alas ! the work-woman has 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 281 
 
 gained the victory, and then one feels disap- 
 pointed. However, there are hundreds of little 
 disappointments to every one engaged in working 
 among the poor and ignorant, and I only give an 
 instance to illustrate the kind of hindrances met 
 with, among younger children especially ; the 
 older girls are chiefly taken with a view to being 
 married, or from the fancy that they are too old j 
 it is little ones who are oftener caught by the 
 work-teachers. 
 
 The subject of punishment and reward has 
 also its own peculiar set of difficulties in Egypt, 
 particularly with the girls. "You must tell the 
 teachers never to beat my child/' said several 
 mothers to me formerly, when the work was in 
 its early days. I agreed, having a dislike to per- 
 sonal chastisement, when it could be avoided j so 
 the teacher was told to make the refractory young 
 ones stand facing the wall for a certain time as a 
 punishment for disobedience, tearing books, etc. 
 Presently a Moslem woman paid me a visit to 
 expostulate on this. She was very indignant, 
 but I was puzzled to make out her very fluent 
 talk, and called for the teacher to assist by speak- 
 ing more slowly. " What is it that displeases 
 her so much about her child ? " " Oh," she says, 
 
282 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 " you made her stand with her face to the wall, 
 and that she will see her own shadow and become 
 crazy, if she does so." The woman vehemently 
 exhorted us on no account to punish her in so 
 dangerous a manner, or she must remove her. I 
 found that several had this ridiculous supersti- 
 tion, and therefore, though only laughing at the 
 woman in a good-humoured way, the teacher 
 privately told me that it would be wiser to make 
 the delinquent kneel in the middle of the room, 
 or on occasion administer a pat with the ruler on 
 the hand. As to the rewards, they were harder 
 than the punishments, for a long time ; and even 
 now, the younger part of the children cannot be 
 induced to believe that a reward means anything 
 but a favour given to one because you like her 
 best, or out of mere caprice. I had once pro- 
 mised some pairs of scissors to each of the chil- 
 dren in a certain class who should by such a time 
 be able to read ; when the day came all claimed 
 them. " But only so-and-so is deserving j the 
 rest of you are still in the spelling-book." 
 " Yes," they answered; "but do give us the 
 scissors also. Why not give them to us V Again 
 and again it was explained ; they retired looking 
 rather sulky, and two did not appear next day, 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 283 
 
 and sent messages by companions full of indig- 
 nation from their mothers. I believe both 
 returned in time, but the feeling that unjust 
 partiality had been shown was not easily driven 
 out. By little and little this will be overcome, 
 however, and is already modified among all old 
 comers. But the actual infant school work is still 
 rather a problem. Fortunately, recess — a com- 
 plete rest from study between morning and after- 
 noon school — is fully understood and appreciated; 
 our Egyptian friends make no difficulty about 
 that; and when in their new school-house and with 
 a playground to enjoy it in, I expect their recess 
 will be a most healthful and pleasant hour for 
 them. It is a pity the little brothers and sisters 
 cannot be together in infancy as in our infant 
 schools, but the customs of the country make it 
 necessary to have two separate infant schools — 
 one for boys, one for girls — each are to have 
 a little plot of ground in which to play, and I 
 shall endeavour to have a few trees, and even some 
 creepers, and let them learn something about 
 plants, etc. Meantime, though working under 
 difficulties, we have reason to be thankful that so 
 many come to us at so early an age, and when 
 they have learned so little of the evil around them. 
 
284 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 
 
 Some friends wonder that as educated women 
 teachers are scarcely possible to find in Egypt, 
 and our young pupil-teachers are apt to marry 
 and leave us just when trained up sufficiently to 
 begin to be of real use, it has not seemed wise to 
 bring over English teachers; and some have gone 
 so far as to suppose than an Englishwoman, even 
 if only accustomed to give instruction in accom- 
 plishments, or even if she had never taught 
 anything to anybody, must, as an educated per- 
 son, be a far more valuable help than a young 
 Egyptian maiden. But though these last have 
 many disadvantages — such as ignorant and super- 
 stitious relations, want of energy of tempera- 
 ment, etc. — still the disadvantage of want of 
 language is a greater one still in a school assis- 
 tant ; and as Arabic is not a tongue easy of ac- 
 quirement, a person of even greater quickness 
 than the average would be a dead weight on the 
 Mission for a considerable time. Moreover, with 
 a foreigner, there is always the risk of her dis- 
 liking the country and employment, or finding 
 the climate disagree, and then she must be sent 
 back at a great expense ; whereas, the native 
 girl, if unhappy in her place, or unsuited to it, is 
 in the midst of her friends, and has only to walk 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT INFANT SCHOOLS. 285 
 
 into the next street to be at home. But hitherto 
 our pupil- teachers — those either partly or entirely 
 trained in the school — have never left except 
 from death or marriage, but have been happy and 
 improved year by year. They are not first-rate 
 as instructors it is true, but under careful super- 
 intendence answer far better than strangers would 
 do, as being accustomed to the ways of the 
 people, and also brought up in the school. Of 
 course I am only speaking of assistants : in the 
 present state of education in Egypt it would 
 be impossible to find a woman fit to undertake 
 the superintending and directing of a school with 
 any chance of success j but I never forget an 
 expression used by one who highly valued foreign 
 missions and schools, and whose blessing was 
 given to this in its commencement, shortly before 
 he was called to "go up higher" — "A foreign 
 missionary's aim should be to make himself use- 
 less ; " meaning by training up those of the 
 country to do what, when duly instructed (and 
 yet more taught by the Spirit), they could then, 
 as natives of the place, do far better than others. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE ORPHANS. 
 
 " Why do you not take orphan children to 
 educate V we are frequently asked, and parti- 
 cularly by friends from India, where benevolent 
 Europeans have established so many orphan 
 schools. " You would have the children/' they 
 say, " more entirely under your care, and not 
 undergo so much labour in vain as in the case of 
 day scholars, who are so often removed by parents 
 just as they are making progress." I reply to 
 this question that had we funds for such an 
 increased expenditure, which at present is not the 
 case, a difficulty still greater would present itself, 
 namely, that there are apparently no orphans in 
 Cairo or its neighbourhood ! We are told some- 
 times that such and such a scholar is an orphan, 
 but on inquiry it always turns out that she is 
 only fatherless, and the mother being a widow, is 
 poor, and wants a new frock for the child on the 
 
THE ORPHANS. 
 
 287 
 
 plea that she lias no father to work for her. But 
 what then becomes of those who have lost both 
 parents, while still so young as to be unable to get 
 employment ? The answer is simple enough, and 
 does credit to the kind feeling of the Egyptians — 
 they are adopted by childless persons ! 
 
 If a child is left desolate by the death of both 
 parents, or is left exposed by cruelty in infancy 
 (though this is not a very frequent case, I believe), 
 the little stray is at once adopted by some person 
 who has no children, or whose children are dead. 
 In the case of near relatives, of course, this is 
 quite natural everywhere, though it appears to be 
 done much more fully than is very often the way 
 in Europe. We never hear of a child treated as 
 a " poor relation/' or put in the secondary place 
 on all occasions when living with a wealthy rela- 
 tive ; on the contrary, the uncle or cousin, like 
 Mordecai, bring up the orphan of their family 
 exactly like their own, and with equal advantages 
 if they have children, and in their place if not. 
 But in many instances, when there is no near 
 relative, or when they are very poor, a total 
 stranger steps in and takes the orphan ; a child- 
 less widow, or one whose own have died, accepts 
 with gratitude the poor lamb without a fold, and 
 
288 
 
 THE ORPHANS. 
 
 clasps it to her motherly heart. When brought 
 to a new home, the little stranger is immediately 
 made a child of the house, and is reared in every 
 respect as if belonging to them ; he is not kept 
 at a distance, but is brought up to know the com- 
 fort of a mother's arms or a father's knees, and 
 in his turn cheers and consoles their old age. 
 
 It is a very different thing from what is some- 
 times spoken of in Europe as adoption, that is, 
 when a kind-hearted, wealthy person pays for the 
 education of a poor child, either in his own 
 country or abroad, and I have even heard of the 
 name of mother being given to such a friend — 
 very unsuitably, for though a most valuable friend 
 she is not in any sense in the position of a 
 parent. Whether from the caution of the 
 Anglo-Saxon race, or for other reasons, it is 
 certainly very rare to find even one among the 
 hundreds of poor orphans of various classes and 
 conditions in England who is really adopted by a 
 childless person, taken into the heart and home 
 as a son or daughter, and yet there are probably 
 far more lonely households in England than here. 
 One cause, no doubt, is, that the love of children 
 is so much more universal in the East — everybody 
 likes them, with scarcely an exception— whereas, 
 
THE OEPHAKS. 289 
 
 in England it is not uncommon to meet with 
 those who rather look on the young as a neces- 
 sary evil. Then there is a much greater dread of 
 responsibility ; this is a very reasonable objection, 
 and one which the uneducated could, of course, 
 feel much less. Still we are perhaps apt to for- 
 get that children are always a responsibility in 
 every case ; and the Egyptian would say, if asked 
 "Why do you venture to undertake a charge 
 that God did not lay on yon?" " Oh, but He 
 did lay it on me ; God sent me this boy (or girl) 
 by putting him in ray way and leaving him an 
 orphan, and me childless." And there is a good 
 deal to be said in favour of this simple way of 
 acting ; certainly it saves much sorrow and gives 
 much pleasure. The adopting parent always 
 brings up the orphan or foundling exactly as he 
 would have done his own son : so if the stray has 
 been taken by a poor man or a poor widow, he 
 runs about in a ragged blue shirt or little striped 
 bournous, and as soon as he has strength to drive 
 cattle or trot to the held, follows his father and 
 helps him in his work, or if in a town, handles the 
 tools of the artisan; and, if a girl, she carries water 
 in a little pitcher on her head almost as soon as she 
 can walk alone, and is content with a piece of thin 
 
 19 
 
290 
 
 THE ORPHANS. 
 
 calico as a veil, and a necklace of glass beads, and 
 a single garment (which might be called frock or 
 shirt with equal propriety), until she is thought 
 old enough to be married to a neighbour's son, 
 and promoted to a mud hut of her own. It may 
 have chanced that the parents of the orphan were 
 better off than those who adopted the child, but 
 there is no very marked distinction of classes in 
 the East (until we come to really wealthy people, 
 who are sure to have relatives to look after their 
 children), and there is no caste feeling to compli- 
 cate matters. If, on the other hand, the child is 
 quite poor and is taken by a rich person, he is 
 brought up not as a humble dependent, but, as I 
 said before, as his son, sent to the best school 
 that his father knows of, and dressed as well as 
 his means allow, and established in life according 
 to circumstances. It does not seem that adopted 
 children are looked on by the relations of the 
 parties who have taken them as interlopers ; it is 
 so common a practice with childless persons, that 
 no ill-will, as far as I can learn, is excited by it. 
 The cousins or brothers are no worse off than if 
 there had been a son or daughter born in the 
 house j and the clothes, and jewels, and money 
 spent on education, etc., does not therefore appear 
 
THE ORPHANS. 
 
 291 
 
 in general to be grudged because the young pos- 
 sessor is not actually of their blood. 
 
 The adopted father can provide as he will for the 
 child during his lifetime, or settle him iu business 
 as he likes ; the usual way seems to be to bring 
 him up to his own trade or occupation. A boy 
 was not long since brought to the school by a 
 respectable man, who in private told us that the 
 child was not really his own, but that being child- 
 less he and his wife had taken him as an infant. 
 He did not wish the little fellow to know it while 
 still young, as he called them parents, and had 
 no idea they were not such in blood. There are 
 probably others among the number that we are 
 not aware of. 
 
 Some time ago we had a child at the school 
 who was a foundling, partly of negro origin, who 
 had been deserted, and was taken by a poor 
 woman serving in the baths as what they call a 
 <( bellana," whose office is to wash and plait the 
 women's hair, etc. ; but for the marked difference 
 of feature I should never have guessed that she 
 was not the woman's own daughter, and on re- 
 marking this one day, she told me that she had 
 none of her own, they having died in infancy, 
 " and so I took this one who was deserted/' she 
 added, as if it was quite a matter of course. She 
 
292 
 
 THE ORPHANS. 
 
 acted as she would with her own, by removing" 
 the girl from school at an early age, in order to 
 let her acquire expertness in her profession ; but 
 it was from a mistaken idea that it was for her 
 good, and that reading was a very useless con- 
 cern, not from any want of kindness to her. 
 
 It is now many years since I was at one of the 
 most splendid wedding festivals that ever I saw ; 
 in fact, it made one think of the Arabian Nights, 
 such was the splendour and the lavish display of 
 wealth on the occasion. A lady of the Viceregal 
 house was making a marriage festival at the 
 union of her adopted daughter with a wealthy 
 Pasha, and had the young lady been her own 
 child it would have been impossible to do more 
 for her. All the Moslem ladies of the great 
 hareems were present with swarms of slaves, 
 both white and black, looking like beds of tulips 
 in their gorgeously tinted silks, and actually 
 sparkling with jewels. No expense was spared 
 to render the feast magnificent, and it was 
 thought a great favour to the few European 
 ladies who were admitted to be allowed to par- 
 take in the display. Music, dancers, lights, 
 silver, and gold, and incease seemed to abound 
 in every apartment, and the bride was literally 
 
THE ORPHANS. 
 
 293 
 
 weighed down with her ornaments. I do not 
 mean to say that I admire this style of showing 
 regard, but it was the custom of the country for 
 a lady in that high position, when her daughter 
 was married, and I mention it therefore to show 
 that in Egypt the idea of adoption is fully and 
 entirely carried out in making the child follow 
 the fortunes of the parents, whether high or 
 low, rich or poor, and they seem to receive as 
 much love and duty as from their own offspring 
 in return for their care. If spoilt and ill brought 
 up they give trouble, and turn out ill sometimes, 
 but so may their own : and it does not seem, as a 
 general rule, that the plan of the childless giving 
 a home and mother to the homeless and mother- 
 less, is other than a mutual blessing, and surely 
 in this point our Eastern brethren show a simple 
 faith worthy of imitation ; and if the orphans 
 were adopted by those who meant to bring them 
 up for the Lord, it would be a double blessing. 
 
 A widow lady (an Oriental Christian) who 
 lives near us, has brought up the child of a young 
 woman, who acts as housekeeper to her, and has 
 been in her family from childhood herself, but is 
 a Mohammedan. The little girl has been as a 
 grandchild to the widow ever since her birth. 
 
294 
 
 THE ORPHANS. 
 
 and has been sent to my school from the time she 
 was old enough to learn her letters. This child 
 reads every night in the Gospel to the lady, 
 seated beside her, and she told me a little while 
 ago that it was her greatest wish to have her dear 
 girl know God's Word well. Her own mind 
 appears to have been drawn to serious views more 
 and more since she has been watching over the 
 education of this young object of her care and 
 affection. 
 
 Another case, which was very touching, I met 
 with one day when visiting in a lane where some of 
 our scholars lived. They told me there was a 
 young person very ill of consumption (a most 
 rare disease here) who wanted to know if I could 
 do her any good, as she heard I had brought 
 medicines to one of their neighbours. I went up 
 the mud steps and found the invalid in a poor 
 and comfortless room enough, opening on a roof 
 covered with litter as usual, but her dress, etc., 
 showed she was not in actual poverty. She was 
 an interesting girl of about sixteen apparently, 
 and had been nearly two years married, as I was 
 informed. She seemed very ill, and when a 
 middle-aged woman who sat near her asked if 
 she would recover, I felt so doubtful, that I 
 
THE ORPHANS. 
 
 295 
 
 could not but hesitate before replying at all. 
 The girl (for she was really but a girl in appear- 
 ance still) saw my face and read in it what I felt, 
 and began to cry. Poor young thing ! what hope 
 had she to smooth the passage to an early grave ? 
 The woman then bent tenderly over her, patting 
 her as is their way, to comfort her, saying all 
 manner of tender expressions and trying to cheer 
 her, " No, no, my eyes — my beloved — my heart 
 you will get better ! God is great ; don't cry — 
 don't be sorry ! M The rough-looking, hard- 
 featured, dirty woman seemed quite pleasing 
 from her affection. She turned to me presently 
 and said, " I have brought her up, and I love her 
 very much ; tell me what to do for her or to get, 
 and I will bring it." I said she ought to have 
 very nourishing food, and offered to send her some- 
 thing if they had any difficulty in procuring what 
 she needed. (The fact was that dirt and discom- 
 fort gave an air of much greater poverty than 
 really existed, and I thought they could not 
 afford meat, etc.) The woman raised her head, 
 and replied energetically, for an Egyptian can 
 be energetic when her feelings are excited. " If 
 it was at the other end of Cairo I would go to 
 fetch meat for her, and we can get whatever she 
 
296 
 
 THE OEPHANS. 
 
 likes — milk, fruit, meat — if only it can do her 
 good, no expense signifies, and it is no trouble 
 if it is for her." She then explained to me that 
 she had brought this girl, when quite young, from 
 a place in the south of Egypt, on the river (she 
 did not tell me what circumstances induced her 
 to take her, or the parents — who were yet alive, 
 to give her into her charge, but certainly she had 
 been a mother to her in affection). "Having 
 brought her up from a little child, I love her like 
 my own/' she said j " indeed I have none of my 
 own. When she was old enough I married her 
 to a young brother of mine — much younger than 
 myself — and we all love her, she is so gentle and 
 good.'' After some time spent in hearing symp- 
 toms, I begged them not to give her any medi- 
 cines, but to send her to the warmer climate, 
 where she had been born, and to try life in the 
 open air with a milk diet. I hardly expected 
 the prescription would be followed, as the hus- 
 band might object, but a few days afterwards I 
 found they had taken her ; the young man went 
 with her on the boat to bring her to her relations 
 up the Nile. I did not leave without reading 
 from the Gospel, and talking for some time with 
 the young sufferer, and hope that a seed may 
 
THE ORPHANS. 
 
 297 
 
 have found its way by God's grace into her 
 heart, which may be blessed whether she lives or 
 dies. 
 
 This is not exactly the case of an orphan, 
 but though the poorest parents in the East are 
 extremely unwilling to part from their children 
 in general, there must be exceptional cases every- 
 where, and as I said before, I do not know the 
 details in this instance; it serves to show the 
 devotion that may be felt for one brought up as 
 a daughter, and which is by no means uncommon 
 here. 
 
 I remember in Ireland, where poverty was 
 rife enough, it was no rare case to meet with an 
 orphan brought up in the family of one who had 
 even several of his own. " Sure, it's a little 
 stray/' said a poor woman once when asked if 
 that was a sixth child. " How can you afford 
 such a charge ? " " Oh, they share and share 
 together," was the answer, " my husband says 
 he would sooner see the regulars go short 
 than starve the orphan!" This was quite a 
 trait of those poor warm-hearted creatures, 
 and surely the Lord would bless such unselfish 
 kindness. It is much the same feeling here, 
 only that it is generally the childless, as I 
 
298 
 
 THE OEPHANS. 
 
 observed before, that take up the orphans, and 
 certainly it is the most suitable plan. If the 
 adopted ones who come to our schools should be 
 as we hope, taught not only in the letter of 
 Scripture but by the Spirit of God, then how 
 comprehensible to them will be the blessed words 
 that speak of God's adoption of those who come 
 to Him through Jesus Christ, " that we might 
 receive the adoption of sons. 33 (Gal. iv.) 
 
 A Seller of Poppy-heads and Onions. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 
 
 Any one who is in the habit of observing what 
 passes around him in Egypt, and of connecting the 
 observations made by the eye with the stories 
 and allusions of the Scripture (both in Old and 
 New Testaments), must be constantly finding new 
 and interesting illustrations. Even in the smallest 
 and most trifling details something is always 
 coming in one's way to recall some parable or 
 some history ; and if sufficiently acquainted with 
 the language of the country to converse with the 
 people, and understand much of what they say, 
 the interest is greatly increased of course. Among 
 many others, an instance occurred last year which 
 I extract from a journal written at the time. We 
 were sailing on the Nile, having set out on our 
 yearly excursion a few days before, and after 
 being detained by contrary winds at first, were 
 now proceeding very rapidly. Every one ob- 
 served the unusual width of the river ; it looked 
 more like a large lake in the reach which we were 
 
300 THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 
 
 crossing. " That is because of the great over- 
 flow last autumn/' said the " reis " (or captain) 
 of our boat. " You heard of all the damage that 
 was done, no doubt ? " We had certainly heard of 
 several villages being washed partly or entirely 
 away, and many fields of maize utterly destroyed, 
 but it was a different thing hearing of all that in 
 a general way, and being told some of the details 
 while actually passing the very spot. " There/' 
 said the reis, pointing to a place where the cur- 
 rent flowed strong and full against a rather steep 
 bank of earth, which looked as if newly cut in 
 the dark- coloured sandy clay — ec that is where a 
 garden stood, with pomegranates and other trees, 
 not one is left — the whole plot was entirely swept 
 away." I recollected gathering some early blos- 
 soms of the scarlet pomegranate flowers in the 
 very spot, and sitting under the palms close to it 
 reading to a circle of young girls, when we came 
 here a year or two ago ; now not only the gar- 
 den but great part of the dwellings, in fact, half 
 the village, had been swept away. We were 
 going on rapidly with a brisk wind, and therefore 
 did not stop here ; besides, we were informed that 
 most of the villagers were dispersed for the pre- 
 sent, some having gone to other villages till their 
 
THE HOUSES OX THE SAXD. 
 
 301 
 
 houses could be repaired, and some having emi- 
 grated permanently to the opposite coast, so that 
 there was not much chance of finding our former 
 acquaintances. After a few hours more we 
 halted near a small village which had been al- 
 most worse off, for two-thirds of it had been 
 destroyed j only being much poorer, and the 
 houses mere huts, there was less to lose ! It 
 was a desolate sight, however, poor as had been 
 the habitations ; the heaps that marked where 
 once homes had stood — miserable to our eyes in- 
 deed, but still homes to them j and the poor wig- 
 wams in which most of them were now dwelling, 
 composed only of a few bundles of dry reeds tied 
 together at the top, were a descent in the scale, 
 and even more comfortless than the huts ! Se- 
 veral men were actively engaged in spreading 
 mud bricks to dry in the sun, for rebuilding; 
 here and there up-rooted palms lying about 
 showed what force the overflowing waters must 
 have had. I sauntered about among the palms 
 that yet remained, for enough had stood firm to 
 afford a pleasant flickering shade. Presently, 
 seeing a woman employed in repairing a very 
 rustic sort of handmill outside her w T igwam, I 
 made the excuse of coming to look, in order 
 
302 THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 
 
 to get an opportunity of conversing with 
 her. 
 
 The place into which the corn was put round 
 the grindstone was out of repair it seemed, and 
 she plastered it over with mud, her hands being 
 her only tools ! She was a sunburnt, hard- 
 worked peasant of middle-age, whose mind had 
 all her life been ignorant of everything except 
 the narrow concerns of a little village : palm- 
 trees and mud huts, the flow of the river in its 
 season, the buffaloes, and goats, and chickens, 
 were the sole objects which that poor mind had 
 to exercise itself upon ; besides, of course, the 
 nursing of her children while young, and the 
 deaths of probably about half the number 
 through dirt and neglect, and the occasional 
 beatings from her husband while he was alive 
 (for now she was a widow). These details were 
 matter of conjecture only, but I judged not from 
 her remarks alone, but from previous acquaintance 
 with a great many peasant women of the Nile. 
 This woman was an average specimen appa- 
 rently of her class. 
 
 At first her surprise at a " Frank " sitting 
 down to chat with her was evidently miugled with 
 a little suspicion lest the evil eye or some sinister 
 
THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 
 
 303 
 
 view or other might be lurking under a friendly 
 salutation ; but she gradually melted under the 
 simple, cheerful replies she received to her ques- 
 tions as to what I came for, and who was with 
 me, and why we were on the river, etc. By de- 
 grees she became quite friendly in her turn, and 
 told me several facts about the inundation, and 
 the mischief it had done. u I see you are living 
 in these things made of straw and reeds/' I 
 observed. " Yes, our houses were washed down, 
 and my buffaloes were drowned, and my fowls 
 also ; we had great loss." 
 
 I sympathized heartily with the poor people's 
 troubles, and then went on to say that I supposed 
 the houses were not very strong-, " Were they 
 not built on the earth merely ? " " Oh, yes, cer- 
 tainly ; and when the current was so violent thev 
 could not stand it." 
 
 " Why did you not make them on a rock ? M 
 I asked, looking round at a group of women who 
 were now standing and sitting around us, curious 
 to hear the conversation. The woman laughed, 
 as she answered, " We have no rocks here." 
 " If you had rocks as they have at Tura, on the 
 other side of the river lower down, and had built 
 on them, would the houses be able to stand 
 
304 THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 
 
 against the water." " Yes, no doubt ; but what 
 can we do ? We have no rocks here, and we are 
 too poor to bring stones from a distance, but 
 stones would be much better certainly ; then the 
 houses would be firm." This was just the point 
 to which I wanted to bring her, in order to make 
 her understand the parable of the house built by 
 the foolish man on the sand, etc. ; and drawing 
 out a small Testament, I said that there was a 
 story in this book which was about building, and 
 if they would listen I would read it to them. 
 A willing assent being given, I explained first a 
 little, and then read the parable, and tried to 
 show its application. It was difficult to imagine 
 a more suitable spot in which to read those words ; 
 — the debris of the ruined houses at our feet ; the 
 people still suffering from the loss of their few pos- 
 sessions that had been carried off in the flood ; and 
 on the opposite shore, just visible between the palm 
 branches, a pink line against the horizon showed 
 the long range of rocky cliffs which were safe from 
 the encroachments of the swift flowing river. 
 
 Poor women ! they could easily understand 
 the illustration on its earthly side, but to teach 
 them how to found their faith on the true Rock 
 was not so easy, in a limited time, and with such 
 
THE HOUSES ON THE SAXD. 305 
 
 depths of ignorance to contend with. I endea- 
 voured, as far as circumstances allowed, to show 
 them that the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, was the 
 rock, and that to believe in Him and his atoning 
 sacrifice was to have our foundation on that rock. 
 Some looked, wondering, and others turned away 
 when their curiosity was satisfied, but two or 
 three seemed interested and touched. While we 
 were still speaking, the circle was joined by a 
 man, who saluting me, said, "Are you from 
 those people that came last year to this neigh- 
 bourhood and stopped at K ? " On being 
 
 answered in the affirmative he went on to say that 
 a friend of his who lived there knew us, and had 
 got a book from us. " Does he read in it V I 
 asked (recollecting that it was a Gospel of St. 
 John). "Oh, yes ; he is fond of this book, and 
 I want one also." 
 
 The women of the party did not run away or 
 even veil themselves on a man's joining them, 
 but their attention was diverted (as they were 
 not in the habit of paying long and fixed atten- 
 tion to anything mental, the least diversion was 
 sufficient to distract them ; and besides women 
 will rarely ask questions on any subject when 
 a man is present), so I was glad to see Mr. 
 
306 THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 
 
 Shakoor approaching, and left the man to him. 
 It seemed he could not read, but wanted a 
 book for a brother of his who would read to 
 him, he said, and who wanted to improve in read- 
 ing. I am afraid there was no higher motive, 
 but who can tell that the little book of Gospel 
 extracts which was given him may not have 
 proved of still higher usefulness to one or the 
 other ? While he and one or two companions 
 listened to Mr. Shakoor, I talked a little longer 
 to my poor women; but the light was now waning, 
 and their neighbours, with pitchers on their heads, 
 were hurrying to the water, and passed us in 
 troops, and they were obliged to go on the same 
 errand ; so bidding them farewell I rose to go, but 
 was followed by a young woman carrying a baby, 
 who begged for some eye-water, as one of her 
 eyes was becoming dim. I told her to come with 
 me to the boat, which was nearly a mile off; the 
 walk afforded some time therefore for conversa- 
 tion. She was a young widow, I found, whose 
 husband had died in consequence of long exposure 
 and fatigue in trying (vainly as it proved) to save 
 his live stock in the inundation. She had absolutely 
 nothing in the world but the ragged veil and blue 
 shirt she wore — her child was half-naked and suf- 
 
THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 307 
 
 fered with cold. " But I have no one to work for 
 me ; " she said. " I sell the vegetables for my 
 mother from her land, carrying them to a distant 
 village for the weekly market, and in return she 
 gives me bread, but nothing besides. She is poor, 
 and has many children, but I am badly off for 
 something to cover my poor child. " I promised to 
 try and find some sort of covering if possible in 
 the boat, and meantime asked her if she knew 
 that God was a Father of the fatherless, and a 
 God of the widow, and that He said so in his 
 Holy AVord. As might be supposed, she knew 
 very little of those things that are not seen by the 
 eyes, and her idea of God was vague enough. 
 Still she had some little notion of prayer, for she 
 said, with touching simplicity, " Oh, lady, I do 
 say, ' Lord, take care of my child V every day I 
 say so. Do you think He will hear me ? 33 she 
 continued, pressing the pretty creature, which was 
 seemingly all she had to love, more closely to her 
 bosom, and trying to cover it from the chill wind 
 by her time-worn veil of black muslin. " He does 
 hear you, dear friend, no doubt of it ; He hears 
 the cry of the poor ; it is said so in his blessed 
 Word/' I said, and then endeavoured to explain 
 to her a little more about what we had been read- 
 
308 
 
 THE HOUSES ON THE SAND. 
 
 ing, and to urge her to pray for herself as well as 
 her little one, and to ask for teaching and light 
 from God. " No one ever told me of these 
 things before ! " said the poor young widow, 
 with a wistful expression that went quite to the 
 heart. "How shall they hear without a preacher?" 
 came into my mind as I went down the bank (for 
 we had now reached the boat). I fetched her 
 something to wrap round the baby, and prepared 
 the medicine she wanted, for both of which she 
 was very grateful, and promised to try and recol- 
 lect what I had told her. The seed, alas ! was 
 sown amid thorns and weeds in plenty ; for how 
 many, how very many, were the hindrances in 
 her daily life, and how faint seemed the probability 
 of that one conversation remaining in her mind ! 
 Yet if she prayed, the All-powerful and All-merci- 
 ful could keep that good seed from being choked, 
 and others too can pray for her. The following 
 year I came to the same village, and though only 
 stopping for a very short interval I found time to 
 inquire after my young widow. She was no 
 longer a widow, having found the usual (if not 
 the only) me.. us of comfortable support for one 
 in her country and circumstances, by marrying a 
 peasant who had taken her and her little girl to the 
 
THE HOUSES ON THE BAND. 309 
 
 opposite coast where she now lived. Her mother 
 and a little sister told me this, and said she had 
 not forgotten me, "and the little woollen thing 
 you gave the child/' added her sister. Whether it 
 reminded her of our talk or not I had no means of 
 knowing, it was just one of the many instances of 
 " bread cast on the waters. " But it may be that 
 when she sees the river rising and the inunda- 
 tions washing the shores, and threatening the 
 frail huts on their sandy foundations, she may 
 recollect the stranger who told about the house 
 founded upon a rod'. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE WIND. 
 
 High winds, though doubtless beneficial, are by 
 most people thought disagreeable anywhere, 
 and the hot winds of Egypt are well-known 
 by all who have ever passed April and May 
 there. But the cold winds of winter are very 
 much less trying to health, and in fact compared 
 to the easterly winds of Europe, are not really 
 very cold ; still to those who have been through 
 the summer heats, they are chilly enough, and 
 the houses usually are so built as to admit wind, 
 with its companion, fine dust, more than is at all 
 agreeable. A strong wind on the Nile is a great 
 annoyance to travellers, as the scenery is lost in 
 clouds of dust; the boat shakes and trembles, 
 and it is dangerous to proceed in many places on 
 account of the strong current. If it is contrary, 
 of course there is no question of proceeding, and 
 the traveller must quietly wait till a change 
 
THE WIND. 
 
 311 
 
 comes. It is seldom very long in the winter, 
 about two or three days is the ordinary limit for 
 his patience. But on our little Nile trips, in 
 which we were always limited to time, even a few 
 days' loss was felt, and the more so as the bluster- 
 ing wind is a particular enemy to all sorts of mis- 
 sionary work. The peasants do not loiter spinning 
 or smoking on the shores at sunset, as they do in 
 calm evenings j the women hurry to the river 
 with that quick gliding step which so rapidly gets 
 over the ground (their thin cotton garments 
 blown about uncomfortably by the blast), and 
 patiently, but as swiftly as possible, they wash 
 and fill their pitchers, hoist them on their heads 
 with wonderful sleight of hand, and return with- 
 out pausing to gossip together, or sit and stare 
 at the strangers as at other times. " Come, 
 Fatmeh ! come, Hosna ! 33 I hear them say ; 
 t{ make haste, child, the light is going, and there 
 is wind to-da} r , quick — quick ; 33 and away they 
 go in a troop — no chance of getting into conver- 
 sation as on a fine calm evening. The boatmen 
 are inaccessible ; rolled in cloaks and mantles 
 they sit immovable on deck in a half slumbering 
 state, or retire to the hold to keep themselves as 
 warm as they can among the packages and 
 
312 
 
 THE WIND. 
 
 lumber. If we try to brave the blast and walk a 
 little on shore, we are soon driven back ; the dust 
 fills mouth, eyes, and nose, and the few passers-by 
 hurry along as if their houses were on fire, and 
 they were escaping for their lives. The palms 
 toss their branches furiously, and seem to partake 
 the leaden hue of the river — for the palm is in 
 this respect like a chameleon, that its hues depend 
 on the atmosphere — in sunshine it takes a bright 
 colour, almost as if it were made of glass, and if 
 all is dull shares in the dulness. However, the 
 wind sometimes has turned to good in a way little 
 expected, by obliging us to stop at some places 
 which otherwise we might have passed; and 
 before it was sufficiently abated to allow of our 
 proceeding, opportunities have been found where 
 we did not look for them. 
 
 Here is an instance which is selected from a 
 Nile journal : — 
 
 "Feb. — , 1869. — We are weather-bound at 
 
 . In the time of inundation they say this 
 
 place is quite an island; it is nothing of the kind 
 in winter, however. We went out this morning 
 in spite of the dust storm, just to look about ; but 
 most of the party were soon driven back, and I 
 was going to follow, when a troop of village 
 
THE WIND. 
 
 313 
 
 children with, several women among them came 
 round to have a stare, and I lingered for a mo- 
 ment to try and see if any face I recognized were 
 among them, as we had once before been here ; 
 the dust blew into my eyes so that it would have 
 been difficult to recognize the oldest friend at a 
 hundred yards off, but one presently ran up and 
 seized my hand with heartiness, exclaiming, 
 f You were here last year ; come — come to my 
 house ; come out of this wind quickly/ I will- 
 ingly agreed, and followed her .to a shed-like 
 room, roofed with reeds, and open on one side, 
 but luckily not the wind side, so that if not very 
 comfortable it was at least a shelter from the blast 
 and from the dust. Several women in dark and 
 ofcen ragged garments of thin cotton, ill-suited 
 to the season, but all wearing bracelets of massive 
 silver, seated themselves around on the floor, and 
 my hostess kindly insisted on spreading her hus- 
 band's woollen mantle for me, though I would have 
 preferred the earth, because it was less dirty. 
 
 " One aged man was present, the rest were 
 all women, about forty in number, I thjnk. The 
 one who had brought me in now repeated her 
 salutations in the usual courteous Eastern style, 
 and desired one of her daughters (or daughters- 
 
314 
 
 THE WIND. 
 
 in-law) to bring a pan of milk with some bits ot 
 native bread soaked in it, and entreated me to 
 eat. I thanked her cordially, but wanted to de- 
 cline, as the bitter seeds generally ground up 
 with the corn in these villages, in the idea that 
 it improves the flavour of the bread, make it to 
 European taste extremely unpalatable. However, 
 to avoid displeasing my good-natured hostess, I 
 had to swallow a few morsels with as cheerful a 
 face as possible ; and then we began to chat in a 
 friendly way, and presently I proposed reading 
 to them, and no objection was made. I read the 
 parable of the e Prodigal Son/ to which they 
 listened with interest, and I endeavoured to make 
 them, see something of the meaning. Then the 
 miracle of Christ healing the man sick of the 
 palsy : when we came to the opening of the roof 
 to let down the man, two or three of the hearers 
 glanced up at the roof over our heads, formed of 
 bundles of reeds laid over long beams made of 
 palm-tree trunks, and observed what a good way 
 it was ; it seemed exactly the right place indeed 
 to illustrate the story. I do not suppose the 
 better kind of houses in Palestine had this sort of 
 roof in our Lord's time any more than at present, 
 but such might be often found among the poorer 
 
THE WIND. 
 
 315 
 
 dwellings, especially for part of a house as in the 
 one I was now visiting. There was an inner 
 room with a roof of more solid materials, but 
 this was a sort of antechamber used for a variety 
 of purposes, and capable of containing a good 
 many people, being tolerably spacious. Its side 
 posts were two palms in full vigour, which grew 
 in the court, which had a pretty effect, though 
 the dwelling had no other pretensions to either 
 beauty or convenience. But to return to my 
 poor audience : I tried to induce them to ask 
 questions and so to elicit some simple explana- 
 tions, and to bring before them the meaning of 
 our Lord's words to the sick of the palsy: 'Man, 
 thy sins are forgiven thee/ Several agreed that 
 sin was in the heart of all; we conversed for 
 more than an hour, and I was obliged then to 
 leave them from sheer fatigue, but at the request 
 of more than one of the group I promised to 
 come again in the afternoon. My hostess said, 
 as she accompanied me to the boat, ( Surely God 
 sent this wind on purpose that you might come 
 to us ! 3 In the afternoon a rather smaller party 
 assembled, but still more than twenty were pre- 
 sent. One whom I had wished much to see again 
 — a young woman who showed considerable 
 
316 
 
 THE WIND. 
 
 intelligence, and had seemed really touched — was 
 gone for some business, they told me, and some 
 were already fetching water, though it wanted 
 more than an hour to sunset. I was desired at 
 once to produce the book, and gladly consented, 
 and read several passages. Presently one of the 
 women belonging to the family observed, 'All 
 are not sinners; why do you say all have sinned? 
 It is not true/ ' My dear woman, did you ever 
 know any one entirely free from sin ? Did you, 
 or you ? ' turning to those around me. Several 
 voices replied, ' No — no ; 3 but this woman, who 
 sat at my left hand, said in a very emphatic tone, 
 and holding her hand at a short distance from the 
 earth, ' From the time I was so high I never did 
 a single wrong thing. My heart is white !' 'Do 
 you mean that you never did any sin at all by 
 word even ? ' ' Never ; I was always so kind to 
 every one, and never did or said wrong/ ' If it 
 be so you have still sin towards God, for we all 
 forget Him very often ; do you think you always 
 remember God and never forget to thank Him 
 for his blessings V ' Never V she coolly replied ; 
 ' forget God indeed ? Why, I am calling out " 0 
 God ! 0 God ! " all the time/ ' Ah ! that is just 
 one of our sins ! The great God has commanded 
 us never to take his name in vain, and this you 
 
THE WIND. 
 
 317 
 
 do/ ' Xo — no/ she persisted ; ' it is not vain in 
 me. I know many women sin by their tongues 
 as you said before, but I am different ; as I told 
 you, my heart is white/ While she was running 
 on thus in her own praise, the aged man who sat 
 behind me, twitched my sleeve with his hand, 
 and winking his eyes at me, said, ' Listen, lady, 
 and I will tell you something; what she does 
 sometimes.' He was her father-in-law, I believe, 
 and probably saw a good deal of the imperfections 
 of the boasted righteousness. He was proceed- 
 ing to say something which I could not under- 
 stand, as he had lost his front teeth from age, 
 and the indistinctness of utterance made it hard 
 for a foreigner to catch his meaning ; but before 
 he had ended his sentence the woman had turned 
 round upon him with a look in which anger and 
 shame were evidently contending, and putting 
 her hand on his mouth, told him in a tone of 
 extreme annoyance to be silent, and not talk 
 foolishly. A titter ran through the party at 
 which I could hardly wonder; but I stopped them 
 by asking leave to read another history to 
 them (that of the Pharisee and Publican), and 
 diverting their attention from her to the sub- 
 ject of repentance and pride, etc. After an hour 
 spent with them, in which very few left the circle, 
 
318 
 
 THE WIND. 
 
 the waning * light warned me to retire; and 
 escorted by half a dozen of the poor women 
 I returned to the beach. One of them kept hold 
 of my hand during the short walk and then 
 kissed it, saying, f I love you.'' She had neither 
 asked nor received any worldly advantage ; not 
 one of the whole party having asked for a back- 
 sheesh (this was not a place at all frequented by 
 Europeans, and it is only those, which are full of 
 claimants for backsheesh in general), it was 
 therefore only on account of the good words of 
 the book, and the interest shown in her soul's 
 condition. I could not find this woman on a 
 subsequent visit, but the Lord knows where she 
 is, and where is the seed thus sown. 
 
 " While I was engaged with the women, Mr. 
 Shakoor and his brother, with a parcel of books, 
 had gone to a more distant village ; indeed, to 
 more than one, and had found several hearers, 
 and some who were glad to obtain books. The 
 details would be at the least as interesting as the 
 conversations among the women, and probably 
 far more so, as there is in general more intelligence 
 among the men ; the small amount of education 
 possessed by some of them being better of course 
 than none at all, but as they did not keep a diary 
 
THE WIND. 
 
 319 
 
 I have no record of these visits. In the evening, 
 as the weather was improving, some men from a 
 neighbouring farm (agents, bailiffs, etc.) came to 
 the boat and spent some time in talking and listen- 
 ing to the Scripture — with what effect we have no 
 means of knowing, as the following year we were 
 not able to stop there, but the command and the 
 Messina also are to those that c sow beside all 
 waters/ This day's work, therefore, was in a 
 great degree the consequence of the wind — a 
 fitting emblem was that unseen yet powerful 
 agent of the wonderful Spirit of God — it made me 
 think of the words in the prophecy of Ezekiel, 
 ' Come from the four winds, 0 breath, and 
 breathe upon these slain, that they may live.' ,J 
 
 A Wixdy Evening. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 The most graceful object in an Egyptian land- 
 scape is the palm-grove by the river-side, or the 
 group of palms rising above the dense foliage of 
 fruit trees in the gardens, or growing in twos 
 and threes in front of a country-house or farm 
 like natural pillars. But the palms depend on 
 the atmosphere in a very great measure for their 
 beauty ; the branch plucked off has no brilliance 
 of colour to boast, it has not the rich green of 
 the oak or beech, nor does it change to gorgeous 
 hues in autumn like European forest trees. On 
 a dull day it looks dull — actually grey and sombre 
 like the clouds above — but then there are so very 
 few dull days in Egypt, and the peculiarity of the 
 palm is, that it varies with the colouring of the 
 atmosphere, which is almost always clear, but 
 quite different in the morning, evening, and at 
 noonday ; the effect is wonderfully beautiful and 
 
THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 321 
 
 changeful. Now a deep purple seems the hue of 
 those boughs that scarcely move in the calm even- 
 ing — now, again, they are of a golden green — a 
 little later of a bluish tint — and then rose, or 
 crimson, as the setting sun casts its glow over the 
 distant grove. It sometimes strikes me in watch- 
 ing these changeful, yet ever lovely hues, given 
 by the sun and air to the palms, that they make 
 a beautiful emblem in this respect of the true 
 Christian character, which glories in deriving its 
 beauty from above, and in reflecting in some 
 faint degree "that light that came into the 
 world." And as the brilliancy and the softness 
 united of those reflected hues are unequalled by 
 even the rich colours of natural leaves, so the 
 finest qualities in man, if only such as belong to 
 his unregenerate nature, can never equal the 
 depth and purity of the life in Christ. 
 
 The wild date-palms are often unfruitful, 
 though exceedingly picturesque from the un- 
 cropped luxuriance of their branches; but the 
 groves near the villages are always carefully 
 cultivated, and afford a quantity of fruit which 
 forms an important item in the diet of the people, 
 being highly nutritious and much relished whether 
 
 fresh or dry. Early in the spring the trees send 
 
 21 
 
322 
 
 THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 out a sort of pale green sheath (three or four on 
 each ; I have seen five, but I think seldom more 
 than four), this gradually opens, and an immense 
 bunch of beautiful cream-coloured blossoms ap- 
 pears, with a slight delicate fragrance ; as these 
 drop off, small green knobs are seen in their 
 places, which are the future dates. They remain 
 green and hard all summer, and though sometimes 
 eaten even in that state by natives of the country, 
 are very bitter and disagreeable to our taste. 
 When the water begins to inundate the country, 
 the dates ripen rapidly, and turn of a bright 
 yellow, red, or purplish black, according to the 
 variety. The red and yellow are the prettiest, 
 with their clusters of gold and coral ; they are 
 much esteemed in the fresh state, and the fruit 
 markets are quite ornamented by the heaps of 
 rich-coloured fruit which abound at the season, 
 but the dead sweetness of the fresh date is to 
 some tastes anything but agreeable, and to new 
 comers they are considered very unwholesome. 
 After a few weeks the splendour of the dates is 
 gone, and they are shrivelled and brown in 
 appearance ; the dried ones are, however, higher 
 flavoured than the fresh. The Bedouins prepare 
 small bags of skins in the neighbourhood of 
 
THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 323 
 
 Mount Sinai, and stuff them with dates, from 
 which the stones have been removed, and almonds 
 put instead of them : when well made, and not 
 gritty with sand (as is sometimes the case), they 
 form a nice sweetmeat, and are often sold to 
 strangers as curiosities. 
 
 The date-palm is said to produce more and 
 better fruit when of some years' standing than in 
 early youth, and I have seen some of a great age 
 which still bore fruit. " They shall bring forth 
 fruit in old age/' was the promise to the right- 
 eous — evidently comparing them to palms — as 
 also in another psalm, " The righteous shall 
 nourish as a palm-tree." We have no mention of 
 dates in Scripture, which seems strange, consider- 
 ing how frequently the tree is alluded to, and 
 how much more plentiful it seems to have been 
 in Palestine formerly than it is now. One would 
 suppose the fruit must have been used, and, if so, 
 perhaps it is spoken of under some other name, 
 or may be included in the words, "summer 
 fruits/' as it ripens in the end of summer. But 
 the palm is more the tree of Egypt than of Pales- 
 tine now, and the groves on the river shores are 
 countless in number. When the inundation 
 floods the lower lands, I have been told (for I 
 
324 
 
 THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 never was on the Nile in the hot season) that 
 small boats frequently sail under the trees aud 
 among them ; and the sheikh of a village with 
 whom we had some acquaintance, once urged us 
 to come and visit his place at that season, in 
 order to see the dates ripening overhead, and the 
 water beneath, which he declared had a beautiful 
 effect, as I have no doubt is the case ; but the 
 extreme heat and the languor all feel who are not 
 natives, just at that period of the year, makes one 
 scarcely feel equal to the fatigues of arranging 
 an expedition, even with the temptation of seeing 
 the golden clusters hanging from their feathery 
 crowns, and reflected in the shining waters at 
 their feet. 
 
 The gathering of the fruit is performed by a 
 man with a loop of strong cord fastened round 
 the stem of the palm, by means of which and the 
 projections formed by the successive rings of 
 bark, he ascends till he reaches the top, and cuts 
 off the bunches whole ; the height in some is so 
 great as to make the feat seem rather a dangerous 
 one, but those who are used to it, climb nimbly 
 and fearlessly, hitching their bare toes into the 
 clefts of the bark. The palm trunk is not pro- 
 perly wood, but a sort of hard pith, quite unfit to 
 
THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 325 
 
 be used as timber unless (as in many native 
 houses) it is made a beam of by being laid entire 
 across the walls, but I should think it would soon 
 rot from its want of solidity. The fibres of the 
 leaves and clusters of fruit are used for ropes 
 very extensively, and the larger ones as frames, 
 cages, coops, benches, and all sorts of things ; a 
 gafas or cafas (the sound is something between 
 hard g and k) is in fact quite a characteristic 
 article of Egypt, and from the highest to the 
 lowest, every one uses it in some form. Light, 
 strong (comparatively speaking), and cheap, it is 
 a valuable manufacture, and employs a number of 
 persons, whose stock in trade consists solely of a 
 billhook, a mallet, and a bundle of palm fibres, 
 or the middle stems of the leaves, varying in 
 length from ten or twelve feet to two or less. 
 The longer and stronger ones are used as a mimic 
 spear in the famous Arab games, and throwing 
 the jereed, as these are called, is a very old and 
 favourite amusement with Arab horsemen. The 
 Bedouins on occasions of festivity enjoy this 
 sport exceedingly, and it is very pretty to see the 
 curious evolutions performed by their splendid 
 horses, while they hurl the spear at one another, 
 their flowing mantles and bright silk Jcuffeehs 
 
326 
 
 THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 waving in the wind. But the ordinary purposes 
 of palm stems are, if less picturesque, far more use- 
 ful, it must be allowed. The leaves themselves are 
 woven into a variety of rude but convenient baskets, 
 and slit into fine strips make fly-flaps, which 
 far from being a luxury are an actual necessary of 
 life during a considerable part of the year, when 
 flies are in legions. Thus almost every part of 
 this tree is of use, and no wonder it is prized by 
 both Arabian and Egyptian, who depend on it for 
 so many things. The leaves are furnished with 
 very sharp points, so that it is needful to take 
 care in walking through a grove of palms, as 
 some always have tufts within reach of one's 
 hands, and they inflict a rather painful prick ; 
 when quite young of course they are soft, and the 
 tender yellow green of these young shoots is 
 beautiful. In this state they are used in the 
 Coptic festival of Palm Sunday, generally the 
 young leaves are partly plaited or interwoven, 
 the top being left in its natural state ; thus ar- 
 ranged, they are carried about, and certainly 
 have an extremely pretty effect. One only wishes 
 that those who bear them had more knowledge, 
 than is very often the case, of the Saviour whom 
 they profess thus to honour; too many who bear 
 
THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 327 
 
 palms on this occasion know in reality as little 
 of the great salvation He came to bring, as 
 the people of old in Jerusalem, who cried, 
 « Hosanna!" 
 
 In the great Mohammedan festival (some 
 time after their yearly fast) the palm is brought 
 into requisition ; every one goes to visit the 
 tombs of his family, and brings myrtle and other 
 boughs, but especially palms, to adorn them for 
 the occasion. It is far from being a grave or 
 melancholy day. All the people hasten to the 
 cemetery as early as possible in the morning, 
 dressed in the gayest clothes they can obtain j 
 the young girls looking like butterflies with their 
 rose-coloured or green veils floating in the air, 
 and their black eyes sparkling with excitement 
 and glee. It seems very incongruous to our 
 ideas — the swings and stalls of fruit and cakes 
 close to the tombs — and the family groups first 
 repairing to these "whited sepulchres/' and then 
 betaking themselves to merriment and fun for the 
 rest of the day. But as a scene nothing can be 
 more picturesque, particularly in the early morn- 
 ing, when the troops winding their way among 
 the tombstones of the great cemetery, on the 
 confines of the desert, are almost all bearing 
 
328 
 
 THE DATE-PALM. 
 
 palm branches on their shoulders. Thus one 
 may trace the palm-tree and its uses from the 
 humblest to the highest — from the villager's hen- 
 coop and the gardener's fruit-basket up to the 
 trophy waved in religious processions and laid on 
 the tombs of the departed. 
 
 It often fills me with sadness to look at these 
 trophies, though the sight makes the allusions to 
 palms in the Scripture far more vivid and lively ; 
 for when looking on the multitudes laying the 
 palm branches on the tombs of their ancestors, 
 and the children waving them joyfully as they 
 pass, how can a believer help mourning over 
 their ignorance ? For how few have even heard of 
 Him before whom the blessed multitude, wit- 
 nessed by St. John in his vision, stood, " clothed 
 in white robes and with palms in their hands "? 
 May the Lord grant that some at least of the 
 scattered seed of His word may so light upon 
 the " good ground " of hearts that desire to 
 know His ways, that there may be found in the 
 great day a band of Egyptians among the happy 
 ones who thus wave a palm in token of triumph 
 over sin and death through Him who giveth us 
 the victory, even Christ the Redeemer of the 
 world ! 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ON SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 
 
 The manners of Egyptians, of whatever class, 
 are generally courteous, and though the educated 
 of course are superior in this respect, it is re- 
 markable to observe the politeness and friendli- 
 ness of even the rough-looking peasants towards 
 each other. They usually address one another 
 as <c My brother," My sister M (or, if an old per- 
 son, as' uncle or aunt), and hardly ever omit the 
 courteous salutations in which their language is 
 so rich. Sometimes the common people, if unac- 
 customed to intercourse with Europeans, will be 
 rather sullen and bluff in manner, and always 
 the civility to their own people is greater than 
 that bestowed on strangers; this arises partly 
 from bigotry, and partly from the dislike of 
 foreigners natural to the ignorant. But among 
 Egyptians who have long been in daily com- 
 munication with " Franks," there is nothing of 
 
330 CHAEACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 
 
 the deferential manner we have heard of among 
 Hindoos, no humbly coming in with clasped 
 hands to ask " what master wish." On the 
 contrary , native servants are apt to be rather too 
 independent, and verge upon sauciness towards 
 their employers; though handy and clever in 
 many respects, they are idle, and try to shirk 
 trouble when it is possible, and think nothing of 
 replying, if reproved for a piece of neglect, " I 
 was not at leisure or, " Must one never rest, 
 then ? " in the coolest manner possible. At the 
 same time they are generally kind in sickness, 
 and, on occasions of a move, or a journey, etc., 
 can get through a great deal with cheerfulness 
 and activity. On all festive occasions, especially 
 the greater ones, the servants and poorer neigh- 
 bours wish joy to their superiors in some pretty 
 expressions, but all the best set of compli- 
 ments and salutations are kept for their own 
 people. 
 
 Whence arose the common idea that Orientals 
 are all of a melancholy and serious turn I do not 
 know, but I have actually heard a gentleman 
 remark on it as an acknowledged fact, in a 
 public meeting, and express a kind hope that 
 the English ladies might be able in time to 
 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 331 
 
 induce little Egyptians and Syrians (in schools 
 under their superintendence) to laugh and play. 
 I can speak from personal knowledge of both 
 that such lessons are quite unnecessary, and that 
 there is among Syrians and Egyptians, though 
 very different races of people, a point of simi- 
 larity in their appreciation of drollery and enjoy- 
 ment of mirth. I should say an English peasant 
 was a much graver being, and much less easily 
 made to smile, than an Egyptian fellah, although, 
 when excited, his mirth may be of a louder and 
 more boisterous nature. Lane observes that an 
 Egyptian rarely laughs very loud, and I suppose 
 this is what he means, for certainly a cheerful 
 laugh is constantly heard when a party of 
 workmen are resting and chatting over their 
 coffee. 
 
 Many of the Arabic proverbs show a great 
 sense of drollery j as, for example, when a person 
 rates himself highly for something in which he 
 is absurdly deficient, " The camel was asked, ( In 
 what are you skilful V he replied, ' Winding silk!' " 
 The contrast of the delicacy required in this 
 operation, and the great clumsy foot of a camel, 
 convey a capital idea of inappropriateness. 
 Again, their edition of our common proverb, 
 
332 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 
 
 " Every one thinks his own geese swans," is 
 much more funny, " The monkey' s mother thinks 
 him a gazelle ! " and so with many others, which 
 show considerable sense of humour. Among the 
 children practical jokes and fun of all kinds are 
 as much relished as among English children, and 
 it is often difficult to restrain their mirth in 
 school hours; but, when silent, their faces un- 
 doubted!} 7 have a grave expression, from the 
 strongry-marked black eyebrows, frequently 
 joined over the nose, and the long thick eye- 
 lashes which usually shade their eyes, and the 
 dark complexion and marked features. They 
 are of course more languid than inhabitants of 
 cooler regions, especially in the summer, but 
 less so than those who have no winter. The 
 short cold season is enough to have a certain 
 bracing effect, and though it is true that there 
 is a good deal of idleness, there is a good deal 
 of industry also : the domestic servant will rather 
 sleep or sit chatting with the opposite neigh- 
 bour's Hassan or Alee than run errands or polish 
 knives, because his gain does not seem affected 
 by the fact of his doing as little as he can ; but 
 the agricultural labourer is very far from shirk- 
 ing his harder toil, because he is well aware that 
 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 333 
 
 the land will not produce its crops unless the 
 irrigation is properly carried on. The country- 
 man is patient too, and complaints are rarely 
 heard from him. The townspeople are less favour- 
 able specimens of the race generally, and, in 
 too many cases, manage to pick up from Euro- 
 peans something or other they had better have 
 omitted learning, without getting any good. 
 Alas, that it should be so much harder to spread 
 good than evil ! but weeds grow of themselves, 
 while the seed wants culture and trouble in 
 every place. 
 
 The street cries are characteristic in almost 
 every country, and those of Egypt are therefore 
 worth noticing among our observations. In 
 England the crier frequently exaggerates the 
 qualities of his goods, by declaring his fish of 
 two days old to be fresh caught, bad fruit to be 
 good, etc., but in general his exaggeration is of 
 a very matter-of-fact kind — albeit, not really and 
 literally a fact ; but in Egypt those who simply 
 name their goods, and declare their value in 
 plain terms, are few. There are some, indeed — 
 the man who every two days passes my windows 
 proclaiming u India muslin, fine English muslin, 
 0 girls \" in a sonorous, chaunting tone, is very 
 
334 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 
 
 prosaic and simple ; at any rate, he waits till lie 
 has his customer at bay to commence his puffing. 
 So, also, a curious-looking, comical negro, whose 
 loud merry voice is daily heard in our quarter 
 enumerating his sweetmeats, " Mulabaseeyeh ! 
 Homaseeyeh ! etc. He carries his dainties on 
 a tray on his head, as is most usual, though there 
 are shops for sweets also. 
 
 There is also a woman, whose voice is so sweet, 
 and her chanting so pretty, as she goes along 
 in the neighbourhood, that one ignorant of the 
 language would certainly suppose she was crying 
 roses and pinks, or some delicious fruit or other, 
 instead of which it is rags / " Any old frock or 
 shirt, any handkerchief," etc., she chants, in a 
 rich, full voice, which would be a treasure to a 
 singer! Her face and appearance are as homely 
 as her occupation — the voice is the one charm ! 
 
 All these are of the simple order of criers, 
 but more numerous are those who vaunt their 
 articles under such epithets that it is very diffi- 
 cult to guess what they really are selling unless 
 one is looking out of the window, and can see 
 actually the burden on their heads or on their 
 
 * Meaning sugarplums, and sweetmeats made of parched 
 peas and sugar. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 335 
 
 asses' backs. It seems to be thought the right 
 and clever thing to name something (especially 
 in selling vegetables, fruit, etc.) of a better kind 
 or more prized than the thing sold. " Honey 
 and sugar ! oh, honey ! " repeats an old man 
 whose donkey is carrying bunches of carrots ! In 
 the season of the gemazy fruit (or sycamore fig), 
 a very pretty-looking pink fig- shaped fruit, but 
 only eaten by the poor, who are fond of it, and 
 having no flavour except a slight odour of tar, 
 women carrying immense baskets of this cheap 
 luxury (for it is very plentiful) on their heads 
 generally cry, as they go along, " White honey ! 
 — pure honey and grapes!" or "Grapes and 
 sugar \" One I heard lately was saying, u Come, 
 oh people, eat pears with white honey ! " Another 
 calls " Scents of Paradise ! " when he is selling 
 earthly blossoms. There are many others more 
 far-fetched still, but so idiomatic as not to be very 
 intelligible to a foreign ear, and hardly trans- 
 latable. 
 
 Like most southerns, the Egyptians are much 
 more easily contented than people of the north ; 
 in many respects this leads to an acquiescence in 
 dirt, and discomfort, and a variety of evils which 
 might easily be remedied — indeed, it is not a 
 
336 CHARACTERISTICS OP THE COMMON PEOPLE. 
 
 disposition favourable to improvement; but it 
 has a bright as well as a dark side, and it is 
 certainly pleasant to see people as easily made 
 happy by a mere trifle as children ; and the 
 absence of habitual murmuring might be a lesson 
 to many of us whose blessings are far more 
 numerous. If an evil is very pressing they will 
 sometimes make a demonstration for the moment, 
 but pretty soon cool down and make the best 
 of it. The recently increased tax upon all country 
 produce brought into the cities is a heavy burden 
 to the poor (and of course renders the supply both 
 smaller and dearer than formerly, many articles 
 being rarely attainable that were a few years ago 
 abundant) . The station where two country roads 
 meet being near our residence, we often see some 
 poor fellah dancing about in a frenzy of anger 
 and vexation at being forced, by threats and 
 even blows, to pay more than he expected, or at 
 being found out in an attempt to evade the law. 
 But after his dance, and a shower of abuse and 
 lamentations are over, he reloads his ass, and 
 proceeds calmly, if not cheerfully, on his way ; 
 and, if one expresses pity for their case, they 
 will usually reply, with a smile and a shake of 
 the head, " Certainly, it's hard — may our Lord 
 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 337 
 
 God help us ; 33 or, ff Yes, by the Prophet, they 
 indeed take plenty from us now; formerly it 
 was less, but what can we do V 
 
 Occasionally they do, however, find a way to 
 elude the sharp eyes of officials, and not unfre- 
 quently some clever peasant gets a parcel of 
 vegetables, eggs, or butter into town in some 
 quiet way, and thus makes a good profit. Not 
 long ago, a funeral procession was seen entering 
 by the chief road from the countiy, the chanting 
 mollahs walking behind, and four men carrying 
 the coffin with a red shawl over it, as is usual ; 
 but some traitor had given the official a hint, 
 and he insisted on stopping the solemn proces- 
 sion of mourners. They vainly tried to resist. 
 He declared they must uncover the coffin (in the 
 East this is open, and only covered with a pall, 
 generally red, as I observed) . Instead of a dead 
 man, the coffin was found to be full of cheese, 
 or what we should call salted curd, an article of 
 general consumption in Egypt, and which, as it 
 will only keep a few days, is incessantly brought 
 from the country, and by this ingenious plan the 
 sellers had hoped to get a large quantity into 
 town free of duty. 
 
 It is difficult to blame the poor people for 
 
 22 
 
338 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 
 
 tricks like this, because the taxation is always 
 changing and always heavy, so that to obtain the 
 necessaries of life in their fertile land is no easy 
 task for many of them. The Mamoors, and other 
 inferior officers placed over the taxation, oppress 
 the fellaheen, and take bribes, etc., so that the 
 temptations to elude the law are very great. 
 
 They will cheat other than government 
 officials, however, often enough; although we 
 cannot consider cheating in buying and selling 
 as peculiar to Egypt, when we remember the 
 abundance of sanded sugar, and dusted pepper, 
 and watered milk, etc., among our own people. 
 There is, however, a certain difference in the way 
 of doing it, a sort of naivete in the Egyptian 
 cheat, which provokes a smile, in spite of our 
 regret for the sin. For example, I observed once 
 a large heap of dry clay, in little balls about the 
 size of a small pea, on the banks of the river, 
 some way up the Nile, and asked a fellah who 
 stood near what it was for, as there were two or 
 three such heaps, evidently artificially arranged. 
 " Oh," he replied, very coolly, " these are for 
 mixing with corn — many boats laden with corn 
 stop here." A boatman added that this village 
 was famous for a particular kind of clay, suitable 
 for the purpose, and therefore they came to take 
 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 339 
 
 some constantly. Tlie corn weighed heavier in 
 consequence, of course, and the purchaser was 
 cheated ; but we were not corn purchasers, so 
 no secret was made of the trick. Here is another 
 instance : a woman who had a cow (of which the 
 supply in and near the city is very small) was 
 asked to sell a certain amount of milk daily, and 
 agreed to do so ; but it was thought best, as she 
 lived near, to insist on her bringing or sending 
 her cow, so that the milk might be obtained 
 fresh. " I cannot risk that my beautiful cow 
 should be seen, and some one cast an eye of envy 
 on her, and then all her milk would immediately 
 go," replied the woman. " I never let her be 
 seen on this account. " I inquired if this super- 
 stition was a common one, and was informed that 
 there was such an idea, but the real point was, 
 the people liked to have the power of adding 
 water to the milk, and kept up, or pretended to 
 believe in, the fear of having the cow looked at. 
 In the country villages, on the contrary, they 
 have a notion that if they mix water with milk 
 they will be punished by God, and the animal 
 will cease to give any. Certainly it shows more 
 conscience than the other. The country people 
 are indeed simpler and better in many ways than 
 those of the town, as before observed. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 These brief and desultory sketches are now 
 ended, though the subjects of which they treat 
 are far from being exhausted. Man is always 
 appearing in some new phase in every country, 
 and a careful observer can always find details 
 that are interesting to those who like to note 
 the resemblances and the differences between 
 the various branches of the great human family, 
 and also the advances made by civilization among 
 them — so slow in some, so rapid in others. 
 
 In Egypt old habits and customs were so 
 deeply rooted, and the national dislike to change 
 so strong, that probably no motive less urgent 
 than the terror of the sword would have brought 
 about so quickly the great changes consequent 
 on the Saracenic invasion and the adoption of 
 the Moslem faith. But, in all matters uncon- 
 nected with religion, the common people clung 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 341 
 
 tenaciously to old ways, and even now it is but 
 slowly that changes are introduced, when not 
 brought in (like railroads and steamers, etc.) by 
 the direct authority of Government. The Eng- 
 lish countryman dislikes reform, indeed, very 
 often, and is wont to say his father did so-and-so, 
 and why should not he ? but, if he knew history, 
 he would find that a very few generations back 
 his fathers did as differently as possible, whereas 
 the Egyptian sees himself painted to the life 
 almost upon the walls of the wondrous edifices 
 raised by his forefathers ; dress, domestic habits, 
 agriculture, etc., seeming the same, except in 
 the points appertaining to religious ceremonial. 
 I noticed a painting in one of the old tombs, in 
 which a peasant was carrying a pair of geese in 
 a peculiar fashion in a sort of basket on his head, 
 and every item was as if photographed from a 
 modern peasant ; the style of basket, the dress, 
 the way of packing the birds, etc. The primi- 
 tive plough, the pick for digging, and other 
 domestic utensils, seem quite unchanged (almost 
 the only things unconnected with Pagan sacri- 
 fices, etc., which are altered, as far as I can see, 
 are the women's head-dresses, no veiled faces 
 being seen in the old figures, and the hair is 
 
342 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 differently arranged). Of course these observa- 
 tions only refer to the fellah, or peasant class, 
 who comprise, however, the largest part of the 
 population. The merchant and tradesman have 
 long assimilated themselves more or less to the 
 Arab race, with whom they were mixed, and to 
 the Syrians as the more commercial race. If 
 cotton supplanted linen among the peasantry 
 (at least, in part, for many still wear coarse linen), 
 the form of garment remained the same, and the 
 undyed wool for the outer robe is spun by the 
 hands of the herdsman or shepherd, with his 
 primitive spindle, just as in the days of his fore- 
 fathers. That the Arabs should have driven out 
 the language, when so many less important 
 things remained untouched as it were, seems 
 strange at first sight; but it was vigorously 
 enforced by the invaders, the schools being 
 obliged to adopt it, and, in the days when print- 
 ing did not exist, a language had less chance 
 of being retained than where books were, as now, 
 cheap and abundant. The Coptic tongue, there- 
 fore, soon sank into a dead language, used, in- 
 deed, in the church, but understood by none of 
 the listeners, a few learned men alone being able 
 to read it. The terms of expression and idioms in 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 343 
 
 Oriental languages having a similarity, doubtless 
 made the change less difficult than if an Euro- 
 pean dialect had to be driven out. As a race, 
 the Egyptians are certainly very averse to change, 
 and herein lies one of the chief hindrances 
 in the way of any one who desires their real 
 good, because some changes are unavoidable 
 in the way of righteousness; as to those 
 lesser benefits which belong only to this life, 
 whatever is susceptible of improvement had 
 better be improved than totally changed, but 
 dirt cannot be improved, neither can sin, of 
 which physical un cleanness is such a type. But 
 no one who has not lived among them can 
 imagine how difficult it is to induce the people 
 to abandon any old custom, however bad or silly. 
 Faith and patience are much tried ; for those 
 who love the nation, and desire her real good, 
 want to see them " walk in newness of life," as 
 the apostle says, not clinging to the things which 
 cannot profit merely because they are old ! May 
 He who alone can work the great change in 
 each man's heart, without which none can see 
 the kingdom of God, call out of the midst of 
 them a people prepared for Himself, who may 
 serve Him in spirit and in truth in this life, and, 
 
344 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 after the time of trial here is past, join the great 
 multitude of all kindreds and nations who shall 
 stand by the throne of glory with palms in their 
 hands. If a few — nay, if but one or two — from 
 among the huts be found there through the 
 means of our labours, the years of toil will be 
 richly repaid. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 \ 
 
 8immons & Botten, Printers, Shoe Lane, Fleet Street. 
 
Bij the same Author. 
 
 RAGGED LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 AND 
 
 MORE ABOUT RAGGED LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 BY 
 
 M . L. WHATELY, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE 
 SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING FEMALE EDUCATION IN THE BAST. 
 
 NEW EDITION, 
 
 Complete in One Volume, Crown 8vo, with Eleven Illustrations. 
 Price 3*. 6d., cloth. 
 
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Date Due 
 
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 Among the huts in Egypt : scenes from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
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