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 HASSAN: 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE CHILD OF THE PYKAMID. 
 
 -A.N- EaY^TI^lSr T^ILE. 
 
 BY THE HON. C. A. MUEKAY, C.B. 
 
 AUTHOR OP 
 
 'THE PRAIRIE BIRD,' 'TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA,' 
 ETCo 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDOIS': 
 JOHN W. PAEKER AND SON, WEST STRAND. 
 
 1857. 
 
 [^Tke Author reserves the right of translation,']
 
 LOIfDON : 
 
 SAVILti AND EDWARDS, PEINTEBS, 
 
 CHAKDOS STEEET.
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 ^ CHAPTER ^^^^ 
 
 '^ I. A Bedomn Encampment — Hassan is introduced, 
 
 H^ and tliougli only a Boy, is in trouble ... i 
 
 CD 
 
 11. — ^Hassan learns how he came by the name of ' Child 
 of the Pyramid' — He leaves the Camp and 
 goes to Alexandria « , 14 
 
 TTT, ^Hassan is introduced to Hadji Ismael, the Mer- 
 chant — He gives the Alexandrians a specimen 
 of Bedouin horse-dealing and horsemansliip . 24 
 
 IY._Hassan's Residence in Alexandria— The Author, 
 by way of encom'aging the Reader to skip 
 ^ when he or she finds it convenient, makes a 
 ,t jump himself— Arrival of an English family; 
 f' they look out for a Dragoman, and find one 
 "S who is 'just the thing' 48 
 
 ^ V. — ^Hassan goes with Mohammed Aga to Damanhour 
 y^ —What befel him there 68 
 
 n 
 
 ;|^ VI. ^Hassan appears in the character of 'Orlando' in 
 
 g^ * As You Like It' — He receives a liberal outfit 
 ^ from his Patron, and prepares to leave for 
 ,^ Cairo with Mr. Thorpe's party 85 
 
 vnyil.— In going up the Mahmoudiah Canal an incident 
 ^ occurs which ends in Hassan's getting a wound, 
 
 and Emily Thorpe writing a letter loi
 
 IV CONTENTS OF VOL. le 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 VIII. — The Tliorpe Party continue their course up the 
 Nile — Arab Boat-song — They arrive at Mo- 
 hammed All's VUla on the banks of the River 117 
 
 IX. — The Thorpes' Interview with Mohammed All . 131 
 
 X. — Hassan is presented to the Yiceroy — The 
 Thorpe Party make the acquaintance of 
 Miiller the Missionary 146 
 
 XI. — The Thorpes re-embark on the Nile, and Emily 
 writes another long letter to her friend at 
 Malta, enclosing an Arab Legend . . . . 162 
 
 XII. — Emily writes another letter to her friend, in 
 which she gives her a sketch of Cairo — 
 Hassan pays his first Visit to Deli Pasha . 177 
 
 XIII. — The interior of Deli Pasha's Harem — Hassan 
 
 enters upon his new duties 196 
 
 XIV. — Hassan sees what he has long dreamt of — He 
 makes friends with 'Sheitan,' and has a 
 narrow escape from being shot 205 
 
 XV. — How Mansour, the eunuch, inadvertently 
 poked a fire which he ought to have extin- 
 guished — Hassan learns to talk with his 
 fingers, and gives a specimen of his skill at 
 the game of the Jereed which threatens 
 dangerous consequences to himself . . . 220 
 
 XVI. — ^Exhibiting the truth of the adage, ' The course 
 
 of true love never did run smooth' . . . 241 
 
 XVII. — Hassan visits the Pyramids, in company of the 
 
 Thorpe Party 265 
 
 XVIII. — Hassan and his friend the Georgian pursue the 
 
 Sammalous 284
 
 HASSAN; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE CHILD OF THE PYRAMID. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT — HASSAN IS INTEODUCED, AND 
 THOUGH ONLY A BOY, IS IN TEOUBLE. 
 
 11 /TORE than thirty years have elapsed since_, 
 ■^-^ on a fine summer evening, the tents of an 
 Arab encampment might have been seen dotting 
 the plain which forms the western boundary of 
 the Egyptian province of Bahyrah_, a district bor- 
 dering on the great Libyan desert, and extending 
 northward as far as the shore of the Medi- 
 terranean. 
 
 The western portion of this province has been 
 for many years, and probably still is, the camping- 
 ground of the powerful and warlike tribe of the 
 ' Sons of Ali :' a branch of which tribe, acknow- 
 ledging as its chief Sheik Saleh el-Ghazy, oc- 
 cupied the encampment above referred to.* 
 
 * The * Sons of All/ or, as they are called, the ' Oulad-AIi,' 
 have been settled for many years in Egypt, but then* legen- 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 HASSAN. 
 
 The evening was calm and still_, and lovely as 
 childhood^s sleep : no sound of rolling wheel, or 
 distant anvil, or busy mill, or of the thousand 
 other accessories of human labour, was there to 
 intrude harshly on the ear. Within the encamp- 
 ment there was indeed to be heard the ^ watch-dog^s 
 honest bark/ the voices of women and children, 
 mingled with the deeper tones of the evening 
 prayer uttered by many a robed figure worshipping 
 towards the east, but beyond it nought was to be 
 heard save the tinkling of the bells of the home- 
 coming flocks, and the soft western breeze whis- 
 pering among the branches of the graceful palms 
 its joy at having passed the regions of dreary 
 sand. It seemed as if Nature herself were about 
 to slumber, and were inviting man to share her 
 rest. 
 
 In front of his tent sat Sheik Saleh, on a 
 Turkish carpet, smoking his pipe in apparent for- 
 getfulness that his left arm was bandaged and 
 supported by a sling. 
 
 At a little distance from him were his two 
 favourite mares, each with a foal at her side, and 
 farther oflP, two or three score of goats, tethered 
 
 dary history is carried back to the period when they dwelt in 
 Upper Arabia, and they claim affinity with a tribe which still 
 pastures its flocks on the borders of the Nejd.
 
 A BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT. 3 
 
 in line to a kels,* surrendering their milky stock 
 to the expert fingers of two of the inmates of the 
 Sheikas harem ; beyond these, several hundred 
 sheep were taking their last nibble at the short 
 herbs now freshened by the evening dew ; while 
 in the distance might be seen a string of camels, 
 wending their slow and ungainly way homeward 
 from the edge of the desert : the foremost ridden 
 by an urchin not twelve years old, carolling at the 
 utmost stretch of his lungs an ancient Arab ditty, 
 addressed by some despairing lover to the gazelle- 
 eyes of his mistress. 
 
 The Sheik sat listlessly, allowing his eyes to 
 wander over these familiar objects, and to rest on 
 the golden clouds beyond, which crowned the 
 distant sand-hills of the Libyan desert. The neg- 
 lected pipe was thrown across his knee, and he 
 was insensibly yielding to the slumberous influence 
 of the hour, when his repose was suddenly dis- 
 turbed by the sound of voices in high altercation, 
 and a few minutes afterwards his son Hassan, a 
 lad nearly sixteen years of age, stood before him, 
 
 * A kels is a long rope extended in line, and fastened to 
 the ground by pegs ; throughout its whole length, at intervals 
 of eighteen inches, are fixed two short nooses or slip-knots, 
 into which the fore-feet of the goats are inserted at milking- 
 time. In Persia, it is usual on a march to fasten the horses 
 at night in a manner precisely similar. 
 B 2
 
 4 HASSAN. 
 
 his countenance bearing the traces of recent and 
 still unsubdued passion, while the blood trickled 
 unheeded down his cheek. 
 
 As this youth is destined to be the hero of our 
 talCj it may be well to give a slight sketch of his 
 personal appearance at the time of his first intro- 
 duction to the reader^s notice. 
 
 Although scarcely emerged from boyhood, his 
 height, the breadth of his chest, and the muscular 
 development of his limbs, gave the impression of 
 his being two or three years older than he really 
 was ; in dress he differed in nowise from the 
 other Arab lads in the encampment, nor did his 
 complexion vary much from theirs — bronzed as it 
 was by constant exposure to weather and sun ; his 
 eyes were not like those of the Arab race in gene- 
 ral — rather small, piercing, and deep-set — but re- 
 markably large, dark, and expressive, shaded by 
 lashes of unusual length; a high forehead, a nose ra- 
 ther Greek than Roman in its outline, and a mouth 
 expressive of frank mirth or settled determination, 
 according to the mood of the hour, completed 
 the features of a countenance which, though emi- 
 nently handsome, it was difficult to assign to any 
 particular country or race. Such was the youth 
 who now stood before his father, his breast still 
 heaving with indignation.
 
 HASSAN IN TROUBLE. 5 
 
 * What has happened^ my son?' said the Sheik; 
 ' whence this anger_, and this blood on your 
 cheek V 
 
 ^ Son !^ repeated the youth, in a tone in which 
 passion was mingled with irony. 
 
 ' Whence this blood V again demanded the 
 Sheik, surprised at an emotion such as he had 
 never before witnessed in the youth. 
 
 ' They say it is the blood of a bastard/ replied 
 Hassan, his dark eye gleaming with renewed in- 
 dignation. 
 
 ' What is that !' shrieked Khadijah, the wife of 
 the Sheik, suddenly appearing from an inner 
 compartment of the tent, where she had overheard 
 what had passed. 
 
 ' Peace, woman,' said the Sheik, authorita- 
 tively ; * and prepare a plaster for Hassan's 
 wound.' Then turning to the latter, he added, 
 in a milder tone : ^ My son, remember the pro- 
 verb, that Patience is the key to contentment^ 
 while anger opens the door to repentance. Calm 
 your spirit, and tell me plainly what has hap- 
 pened. Inshallah, we will find a remedy.' 
 
 Hassan, having by this time recovered his 
 composure, related how he had been engaged in 
 taking some horses to the water, when a dispute 
 arose between him and a young man named
 
 O HASSAN. 
 
 Youssuf Ebn-Solyman^ in the course of which 
 the latter said to him : 
 
 ' How dare you speak thus to me, you who 
 are nothing but an Ebn-Haram V To this insult 
 Hassan replied by a blow ; Youssuf retaliated by 
 striking him on the temple with a stone ; upon 
 which, after a violent struggle, Hassan suc- 
 ceeded in inflicting on his opponent a severe 
 beating. 
 
 ^ And now/ said the youth, in concluding 
 his narrative, ' I wish to know why I have been 
 called by this hateful name — a name that disgraces 
 both you and my mother ? I will not endure it, 
 and whoever calls me so, be he boy or man, I will 
 have his blood/ 
 
 ' Are you sure/ inquired the Sheik, ' that he 
 said ^Aaram and not Heram ?^* 
 
 * For the information of the English reader it is necessary 
 to mention that the word Heram, with a light aspirate of the 
 initial letter, is the conventional term in Eg3'pt applied to 
 the Pyramid (its plural is Ehram), whereas Hharam, with a 
 slight guttural pronunciation of the initial letter, signifies 
 'shame' or 'sin.' Although these two sounds are scarcely 
 distinguishable from each other in the mouth of an European, 
 they are perfectl}^ distinct in that of an Arab ; and thus the 
 expression 'Ebn-Haram,' according as the initial is pro- 
 nounced, means ' Child of the Pyramid,' or ' Child of Shame.' 
 In the latter form it is the word commonly used to designate 
 ^ bastard.
 
 A FAMILY SECRET. 7 
 
 ' I am sure/ replied Hassan, ' for he repeated 
 it twice witli a tone of contempt/ 
 
 ' Then/ said the Sheik, ' you were right to beat 
 him ; but the name, among mischievous people, 
 will occasion you many quarrels : henceforth in 
 the tribe you shall be called Hassan el-Gizewi/ 
 
 ' Why should I be called El-Gizewi ?' said the 
 youth. 'What have we, Oulad-Ali, to do with 
 Gizeh and the Pyramids?^* 
 
 After some hesitation, the Sheik replied — ' We 
 were passing through that district when you were 
 born ; hence the name properly belongs to you.' 
 
 ' Father,' said Hassan, fixing his dark eyes 
 earnestly on the Sheik's countenance, 'there is 
 some secret here ; I read it in your face. If I am 
 a child of shame, let me know the worst, that I 
 may go far away from the tents of the Oulad-Ali.' 
 
 Sheik Saleh was much more a man of deeds 
 than of words, and this direct appeal from Hassan 
 sorely perplexed him ; thinking it better at all 
 events to gain time for reflection, he replied — 
 
 ' To-morrow you shall be told why you were 
 called Ebn el-Heram, and why there was no 
 shame connected with the name. Now go into 
 
 * Hassan El-Gizewi, or Hassan of Ghizeh, the district in 
 which, about eij^ht or nine miles from Cairo, stand the Great 
 and several of the smaller Pyramids. j.»
 
 8 HASSAN. 
 
 the tent; tell Khadijah to dress your -wound, and 
 then to prepare my evenings meal/ 
 
 Accustomed from his childhood to pay implicit 
 obedience to parental orders, Hassan retired into 
 the inner tent, while the Sheik resumed his pipe 
 and his meditations. The result of them may be 
 seen from a conversation which he held with 
 Khadijah that same evening when the other mem- 
 bers of the family had retired to rest. 
 
 ' What is to be done in this matter V said the 
 Sheik to his spouse ; ^ you heard the questions 
 which Hassan asked ?^ 
 
 ^ I did/ she replied. ' By your blessed head it 
 is better now to tell him all the truth ; the down 
 is on his lip ; he is no longer a child ; his curio- 
 sity is excited; several of our tribe know the 
 secret, and, although far away now, they may 
 return, and he would learn it from them.' 
 
 ^ That is true,' replied the Sheik ; ^ yet if he 
 knows that he is not our child, he will not remain 
 here ; he will desire to find his real parents ; and I 
 would rather part with my two best mares than 
 with him. I love him as if he were my 
 son.' 
 
 Now Khadijah, who had borne to the Sheik 
 three children still living — two girls, of whom the 
 eJdest was fourteen, and a little boy aged eight
 
 KIIADIJAIl's ADVICE. 9 
 
 years — did not love Hassan qnite as she loved lier 
 own children; althongh she had nnrtnred and 
 brought him up^ a mother^s instincts prevailed^ and 
 she was somewhat jealous of the hold which he 
 had taken on the affections of the Sheik. Under 
 these impressions she replied — 
 
 ' The truth cannot be long kept concealed from 
 him ; is it not better to tell him at once ? every 
 man must follow his destiny ; that which is writ- 
 ten must come to pass/ 
 
 ^ I like not his going away/ said Sheik Saleh^ 
 moodily ; ' for that boy, if he remain with us, will 
 be an honour to our tent and to our tribe. There 
 is not one of his age who can run, or ride, or use 
 a lance like him. In the last expedition that I 
 made against the tribe of Sammalous did he not 
 prevail on me to take him, by assuring me that 
 he only wished to follow at a distance with a 
 spare horse in case of need ; and did lie not bring 
 me that spare horse in the thickest of the fight, 
 and strike down a Sammalous who was going to 
 pierce me with his lance after I had received this 
 wonnd?^ Here the Sheik cast his eyes down 
 upon his wounded arm, muttering — ^ A brave 
 boy ! a brave boy !^ 
 
 Khadijah felt the truth of his observation, but, 
 unaccustomed to have the worst of an argument,
 
 lO HASSAN. 
 
 or at least to o^TD. it^ she returned to the charge, 
 saying— 
 
 ' Truly you men are wise in all that concerns 
 horses, hunting, and fighting ; but in other 
 matters, Allah knows that you have little sense. 
 Do you not see that the youth already doubts 
 that he is our son_, and you have never adopted 
 him according to the religious law.* He will 
 shortly learn the truth; others will know it, too : 
 then what will the men and women of the^ 
 tribe say of us, who allow this stranger in blood 
 to dwell familiarly in our tent with Temimah our 
 daughter, whose days of marriage should be near 
 at hand V 
 
 Khadijah was not wrong in believing that this 
 last argument would touch her husband in a 
 tender point, for he was very proud of Temimah, 
 and looked forward to see her married into one of 
 the highest families in the tribe ; he therefore 
 gave up the contest with a sigh of dissatisfaction, 
 and consented that Khadijah should on the foUow- 
 
 * The Mohammedan law acknowledges in full the custom 
 of parental adoption, and a child so adopted has legal right 
 of inheritance, in common with heirs of the body; but 
 certain religious forms are prescribed for this adoption which 
 it seems that Slieik Saleh had not observed in respect to 
 Hassan, probably from a belief that some day he would be 
 claimed by his real parents.
 
 THE HOURS OF NIGHT. II 
 
 ing morning inform Hassan of all that she knew 
 of his early liistor}^ 
 
 Now that she had gained the victory, Khadi- 
 jah, like many other conquerors^ was at a loss 
 how to improve it. She was essentially a good- 
 hearted woman, and although while Hassan^s 
 interests came into collision with those of her own 
 offspring, Nature pleaded irresistibly for the latter, 
 still, now that the collision seemed about to be 
 removed, she called to mind how good and affec- 
 tionate Hassan had ahvays been to herself, how 
 he had protected and taken care of her little son, 
 and tears came into her eyes when she reflected 
 that the disclosure of the morrow must not only 
 give him pain, but probably cause a final separation. 
 
 The hours of night passed slowly away, but 
 anxiety and excitement kept unclosed the eyes of 
 Hassan and Khadijah : the one hoping, yet fearing 
 to penetrate the mystery of his birth, the other 
 unwilling to banish from her sight one whom now 
 that she was about to lose him, she felt that 
 she loved more than she had been aware of. 
 
 The hours of night ! Brief words, that should 
 indicate a short space of universal tranquillity and 
 repose, yet, oh ! what a countless multitude of 
 human joys, sorrows, and vicissitudes do they 
 embrace ! The hours of night ! — In the forest and
 
 1 2 HASSAN. 
 
 in the wilderness they look upon the prowling wolf 
 and the tiger stealing towards their unconscious 
 prey, upon the lurking assassin, the noiseless am- 
 bush, and the stealthy band about to fall with 
 war-shout and lance on the slumbering caravan. In 
 the densely-peopled city, they look not on the 
 sweet and refreshing rest which the God of nature 
 meant them to distil from their balmy wings, but 
 on gorgeous saloons, blazing with light, in which 
 love and hate, jealousy and envy, joy and sorrow, 
 all clothed with silk, with jewels, and with smiles, 
 are busy as the minstreFs hand and the dancer's 
 feet; on halls where the circling cup, and laugh, 
 and song, proclaim a more boisterous revelry ; on 
 the riotous chambers of drunkenness and de- 
 bauchery; on those yet lower dens of vice, into 
 which a ray of God's blessed sun is never per- 
 mitted to shine, where the frenzied gambler 
 stakes on the cast of a die the last hopes of his 
 neglected family ; on the squalid haunts of misery, 
 to whose wretched occupants the gnawdng pangs 
 of hunger deny even the temporary forgetfulness 
 of sleep. Yes, on these and a thousand varieties 
 of scenes like these, do the hours of night look 
 down from their starry height, wondering and 
 weeping to see how their peaceful influence is 
 marred by the folly and depravity of man.
 
 A COMPARISON. 1 3 
 
 The hours of niglit are tlic liours of dreams 
 and fantasies, and they have not unnaturally 
 beguiled me into a digTession_, for which the only 
 apology that I shall offer is a simile, perhaps 
 worse than the offence, but it will explain my 
 views to the reader, and show him what he or she 
 may expect in the following pages. 
 
 History is like a journey to some special desti- 
 nation, undertaken from motives of duty, and no 
 digression is permissible that does not directly 
 lead to the attainment of the ultimate object, 
 Truth ; whereas a Tale of Fiction is like a pleasure 
 trip in a yacht, in which Captain Author invites 
 his friend Mr. or j\Irs. Reader to accompany him, 
 and the monotony of the voyage is relieved by 
 visiting the bays, islands, and picturesque objects 
 which lie within reasonable distance of their 
 course. In this comparison the advantage is all 
 on the side of the tale, for the invited guest once 
 embarked, cannot always, even if bored to death, 
 separate from the owner of the yacht, whereas the 
 reader, when bored by the author, has always two 
 excellent remedies at hand — to skip the digression, 
 or close the book.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HASSIN LEARNS HOW HE CAME BY THE NAME OF ' CHILD 
 OF THE pyramid' — HE LEAVES THE CAMP AND GOES 
 TO ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 A GREEABLY to Arab custom_, Khadijali rose 
 ■^-^ with the early dawn, and having seen that 
 her daughters and her two slave-girls were busied 
 in their respective morning tasks, she called 
 Hassan into the inner tent, in order to give him 
 the information which he had been awaiting 
 through a sleepless night of anxiety ; but as the 
 good woman accompanied her tale with many 
 irrelevant exclamations and digressions, it will be 
 more brief and intelligible if we relate its sub- 
 stance in a narrative form. 
 
 A little more than fifteen years previous to the 
 opening of our tale, Khadijah, in company with 
 her husband and a score of his followers, had been 
 paying a visit to a friendly tribe camped in the 
 neighbourhood of Sakkarah.* 
 
 * Sakkarah is a district lying twelve or fourteen miles to 
 the south-west of Cah'o, and is familiar to all Egyptian 
 travellers and untravelled readers as being the site of several 
 Pyramids, near which excavations have been made with highly 
 interesting results.
 
 HASSAN LEAKNS HOW HE CAME BY HIS NAME. 1 5 
 
 On returning northward, through the district 
 of Ghizeh, near the Great Pyramid, she was 
 seized with premature labour in consequence of a 
 fall, and was delivered of a child, which only sur- 
 yived a few days. It was buried in the desert, 
 and, as her health had suffered from the two-fold 
 shock, Sheik Saleh remained a short time in the 
 neighbourhood, to allow her to recruit her 
 strength. 
 
 One evening she had strolled from his tent, 
 and, after wailing and weeping a while over the 
 grave of her little one, she went on and sat down 
 on the projecting base-stone of the Great Pyramid. 
 AYhile gazing on the domes and minarets of the 
 ' Mother of the world,^* then gilded by the rays 
 of a setting sun, her ears caught the sound of a 
 horseman approaching at full speed. So rapid 
 was his progress, that, ere she had time to move, 
 he was at her side. 
 
 ' Bedouin woman,' he said to her, in a hurried 
 and agitated voice, ^ are you a mother V 
 
 ' I am,' she replied. ^ At least, I have been.' 
 
 ' El-hamdu-lillah, praise be to God/ said the 
 horseman. Dismounting, he drew from under 
 his cloak a parcel wrapt in a shawl, and placed it 
 
 * One of the Arabic names of Cairo is * Omm-ed-doonia,' 
 * Mother of the world.'
 
 l5 HASSAN. 
 
 gently beside her at the base of the Pyramid, 
 then vaulting on his horse, dashed his spurs into 
 its flank, and disappeared with the same reckless 
 speed that had marked his approach. 
 
 The astonished Khadijah was still following 
 with her eye his retreating figure, when a faint 
 cry caught her ear. What mother^s ear was ever 
 deaf to that sound ? Hastily withdrawing the 
 shawl, she found beneath it an infant, whose 
 features and dress indicated a parentage of the 
 higher class. Around his neck was an amulet of 
 a strange and antique fashion; round his body was 
 a sash, in the folds of which was secured a purse 
 containing forty Venetian sequins, and attached 
 to the purse was a strip of parchment, on which was 
 written the following sentence from the traditions 
 of the Prophet, ' Blessed be he that gives pro- 
 tection to the foundling.' 
 
 Hassan, who had been listening with ' bated 
 breath' to Khadijah's narrative, and who had dis- 
 covered as easily as the reader that he was himself 
 the ' Child of the Pyramid,' suddenly asked her — 
 
 ' Was that horseman my father ?' 
 
 ' I know not,' she replied, * for we have never 
 seen or heard of him since that day. Neverthe- 
 less, I think it must have been your father, for I 
 could see that, just before springing on his horse
 
 HASSANS REFLECTIONS AND RESOLVES. 17 
 
 to depart, he turned and gave such a look on the 
 shawl-wrapper that — ^ 
 
 ' What kind of look Avas it V said Hassan, 
 hastily, interrupting her. 
 
 ' I cannot describe it/ said Khadija. ' It 
 might be love, it might be sorrow ; but my heart 
 told me it was the look of a father.^ 
 
 ' ^Vhat was the horseman like T said Hassan. 
 
 ' I had not time nor opportunity to examine 
 closely either his features or his dress/ replied 
 Khadijah ; ' and were he to come into the tent 
 now I should not know him again. But he 
 seemed a tall, large man, and I guessed him to be 
 a Mameluke.^ 
 
 It is not to be wondered at if KhadijaVs nar- 
 rative had deeply interested and agitated Hassan's 
 feelings. As he left the tent, and emerged into 
 the open air, he mentally exclaimed — ' Sheik Saleh 
 is not my father ; but Allah be praised that I am 
 not the son of a Fellah.* Unknown father, if Thou 
 art still on earth, I will find and embrace thee.' 
 
 During the whole of that day he continued 
 silent and thoughtful. At meals he cared not to 
 touch food, and towards evening he strolled beyond 
 the borders of the encampment, lost in conjecture 
 
 * The Fellahs, or agricultural population iu Egypt, are 
 much despised by the Bedouin Arabs. 
 \'0L. I. C
 
 l8 HASSAN. 
 
 on his mysterious birth and parentage. Ambition 
 began to stir in his breast, and visions of horse- 
 tails* and diamond-hilted swords floated before 
 his eyes. While engaged in these day-dreams of 
 fancy^ he had unconsciously seated himself on a 
 small mound near the spot where Temimah, the 
 eldest daughter of the Sheik^ was tending some 
 goats, which she was about to drive back to the 
 tents. With the noiseless step and playful move- 
 ment of a kitten, she stole gently behind him, and 
 covering his eyes with her hands, said — 'Whose 
 prisoner are you now V 
 
 ' Temimah's/ replied the youth; * what does she 
 desire of her captive ?' 
 
 ' Tell me,' said the girl, seating herself beside 
 him, ' why is my brother sad and silent to-day ; 
 has anything happened?' 
 
 'Much has happened/ replied Hassan, with a 
 grave and abstracted air. 
 
 ' Come now, my brother,' said Temimah, ' this 
 is unkind; what is this secret that you keep from 
 your sister ?' 
 
 ' One which will cause me to leave you,' answered 
 Hassan, still in the same musing tone. 
 
 * Alluding to the horsetails which formerly designated the 
 rank of a Pasha. When three in number they indicated the 
 rank of aVizier. The practice is now falling or fallen into disuse.
 
 temimah's sorrow. 
 
 'Leave its'/ she exclaimed. ' Where to go, and 
 when to return? Do not speak these unkind 
 words. You know how our father loves you; how 
 we all love you. Brother, why do you talk of 
 leaving us?' While thus speaking, Temimah 
 threw her arms round his neck and kissed his 
 eyes, while a tear stood in her own. 
 
 Touched by her affection and her sorrow, Has- 
 san replied in a gentler tone — 
 
 ' Temimah, I have no father, no mother, no 
 sister here.' He then proceeded to tell her the 
 story of his infancy, as related by her mother, 
 showing that he could claim no relationship in 
 blood to the Sheik Saleh and his family. As he 
 continued his narrative, poor Temimah's heart 
 swelled with contending emotions. She learned 
 that the playmate and companion of her child- 
 hood, the brother of whom she was so proud., and 
 to whom she looked for support in all her trials, 
 and whom she loved she knew not how much, he 
 was a stranger to her in blood. A new and pain- 
 ful consciousness awoke within her ; her arm must 
 be withdrawn from his neck, her lips from his, 
 perhaps for ever. Under the influence of this 
 new and undefined sensation, her arm dropped 
 from Hassan's neck, but her hand remained clasped 
 in his, and on it also fell her tears hot and fast, 
 C 2
 
 20 HASSAN. 
 
 while she sobbed so violently that he was alarmed 
 at an emotion which he could not soothe or ap- 
 preciate. 
 
 How strangely different are the instincts of the 
 sexes in early youth ! Temimah was more than 
 a year younger than Hassan, yet her heart whis- 
 pered to her secret things, arising from the late 
 disclosure, which were unknown to his. Although 
 the idea of parting from her gave him pain, he 
 could still caress her, call her sister, and bid her 
 not to grieve for a separation which might be 
 temporary, while she felt that henceforth she was 
 divided by an impassable gulf from the brother 
 of her childhood. 
 
 Slowly they returned to the encampment, and 
 Temimah took the earliest opportunity of retiring 
 into the privacy of her tent to talk with her own 
 sad heart in solitude. 
 
 Did she love him less since she learnt that he 
 was not her brother ? Did she love him more ? 
 These were the questions which the poor girl asked 
 herself with trembling and with tears ; her flutter- 
 ing heart gave her no distinct reply. 
 
 Let us not, then, rashly intrude upon her hour 
 of self-examination ; we like to chronicle as faith- 
 fully as we can the thoughts, and words, and 
 actions of our dramatis ^ersoncB, but there are
 
 Hassan's request granted. 21 
 
 secret thoughts in a young maiden's heart of hearts 
 which she would fain conceal, not only from others, 
 but from herself; into these it is surely neither 
 gallant nor discreet for us to endeavour to pry, 
 so we will leave Temimah, amid such repose as the 
 night may bring, to conclude her meditations. 
 
 After the events related in the preceding pages, 
 it is not to be wondered at if Hassan permitted 
 but a few days to elapse ere he presented himself 
 before Sheik Saleh, and expressed his wish to leave 
 the tents of the Oulad-Ali, in order to seek for 
 his unknown parents ; the Sheik being prepared 
 for this request, and having made up his mind to 
 acquiesce in it, offered but a faint opposition, not- 
 withstanding his unwillingness to part with one 
 whom he had so long considered and loved as 
 a son. 
 
 ' By Allah !' said he to the youth, ' if destiny 
 has written it, so it must be. My advice is, then, 
 that you go to Alexandria where I have a friend, 
 who, although a merchant and living in a town, 
 has a good heart, and will be kind to you for my 
 sake. I will write to him, and he will find you 
 some employment. While you are with him you 
 can make inquiry about the history and the 
 families of the residents. Beys, Mamelukes, &c., 
 and learn if any of them were at Cairo sixteen
 
 22 HASSAN. 
 
 years ago. If your searcli there is without suc- 
 cess, you will find means to go to Cairo and other 
 parts of Egypt, and, Inshallah, the wish of your 
 heart will be fulfilled/ 
 
 Hassan thanked his fosterfather, who forthwith 
 desired a scribe to be called to write from his 
 dictation the required letter, which bore the ad- 
 dress, ^ To my esteemed and honored friend, Hadji 
 Ismael, merchant in Alexandria/ 
 
 The simple preparations requisite for Hassan's 
 departure were soon made, and all the articles 
 found upon him when he had been left at the 
 foot of the Pyramid, and which had been carefully 
 preserved by Khadijah, were made over to him, 
 and secured within the folds of his girdle and his 
 turban ; a horse of the Sheik's was placed at his 
 disposal, and he was to be accompanied by two 
 of the tribe, charged with the purchase of coffee, 
 sugar, and sundry articles of dress. 
 
 When the day fixed for his departure arrived, 
 his fosterparents embraced him tenderly, and the 
 Sheik said to him — ' Remember, Hassan, if ever 
 you wish to return, my tent is your home, and 
 you will find in me a father.' 
 
 Temimah, foolish girl, did not appear; she said 
 she was not well ; but she sent him her farewell 
 and her prayers for his safety through her little
 
 HASSAN LEAVES THE CAMP. 23 
 
 sister, who kissed him, crying bitterly. Thus did 
 Hassan take leave of the tents of the Oulad-Ali, 
 and enter on the wide worhl in search of a father 
 who had apparently little claim on his affection ; 
 but youth is hopeful against hope, and sanguine 
 against improbability, so Hassan journeyed onward 
 cheerfully and without accident, until he reached 
 Alexandria, where his two companions went about 
 their respective commissions, and he proceeded to 
 deliver his letter to Hadji Ismael, the merchant.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HASSAN IS INTEODUCED TO HADJI ISMAEL, THE MEECHANT 
 — HE GIVES THE ALEXANDEIANS A SPECIMEN OF 
 BEDOUIN HOESE-DEALING AND HOESEMANSHIP. 
 
 TTASSAN had no difficulty in finding the 
 -*— ''- house of Hadji Isma€l_, the wealthy Arab 
 merchant^ situated in a quarter which was then 
 near the centre of the town, though only a few 
 hundred yards distant from the head of the har- 
 bour_, known as the Old Port 
 
 Alexandria being now as familiar to the world 
 of travellers and readers as Genoa or Marseilles, a 
 description of its site and appearance is evidently 
 superfluous ; only it must be remembered that at 
 the time of which we are now writing it wore 
 something of an Oriental aspect, which has since 
 been obliterated by the multitude of European 
 houses which have been constructed, and the 
 still greater multitude of European dresses which 
 crowd its bazaars. 
 
 The great square, which is now almost exclu- 
 sively occupied by the residences of European 
 consuls and merchants, was then an open area in 
 which soldiery and horses were exercised; and in
 
 ALEXANDKIA. 25 
 
 place of the scores of saucy doukey-boys who now 
 crowd around the doors of every inn and tavern, 
 dinning into the ear of steamboat and raih^oad 
 travellers their unvarying cry of ' Very good 
 donkey, sir/ and fighting among each other for 
 customers with energy equal to that of Liverpool 
 porters, there were then to be seen long strings 
 of way-worn camels wending their solemn way 
 through the narrow streets, whilst others of their 
 brethren were crouched before some merchant's 
 door, uttering, as their loads were removed, that 
 wonderful stomachic groan which no one who has 
 heard it can ever forget, and which is said to have 
 inspired and taught to the sons of Ishmael the pro- 
 nunciation of one of the letters of their alphabet 
 — a sound which I never heard perfectly imitated 
 by any European.* 
 
 * The Arabic letter ' ain.' The Turks and Persians, in 
 whose respective languages this letter frequently occurs, 
 never attempt to pronounce it otherwise than as a broad 
 Italian A. As the same letter is found in the Hebrew alphabet, 
 it may be an interesting speculation for the learned to con- 
 sider how it was pronounced by the ancient Jews ; the 
 modern Jews in Germany and Asia pronounce it like the 
 broad A. Its pronunciation seems to have puzzled the learned 
 Saveuty in the time of the Ptolemies ; at least in the Sep- 
 tuagint version we find it represented by various Greek 
 letters; for instance, in the words 'Amalek' and 'Eli' the 
 commencing letter in Hebrew is ' ain,' as is likewise the last 
 letter in the name of the prophet ' Hosea.'
 
 26 HASSAN. 
 
 Harsh and dissonant as may be the voice of 
 the camel to our Frankish ears, it was infinitely 
 less so to those of Hassan than were the mingled 
 cries of the Turks, Italians, and Greeks assembled 
 in the court-yard of Hadji IsmaePs house, busily 
 employed in opening, binding, and marking 
 bales and packages of every size and class. Push- 
 ing his way through them as best he might, he 
 addressed an elderly man whom he saw standing at 
 the door of an inner court, and whom he knew by 
 his dress to be a Moslem, and after giving him the 
 customary greeting, he asked if he could have 
 speech of Hadji Ismael. Upon being informed 
 that the youth had a letter which he was charged 
 to deliver to the merchant in person, the head 
 clerk (for such he proved to be) desired Hassan 
 to follow him to the counting-house. 
 
 On reaching that sanctum, Hassan found him- 
 self in a dimly-lighted room of moderate dimen- 
 sions, the sides of which were lined with a goodly 
 array of boxes ; at the further end of the room, 
 and in its right-hand corner, was seated a vene- 
 rable man with a snow-white beard, who was so 
 busily employed in dictating a letter to a scribe 
 that he did not at first notice the entrance of his 
 chief clerk, who remained silently standing near 
 the door with his young companion ; but when the
 
 HADJI ISMAEL THE MERCHANT. 27 
 
 letter was terminated tlie merchant looked up, 
 and motioned to them to advance. Mohammed, 
 so was the chief clerk named, told him that the 
 youth was bearer of a letter addressed to him by- 
 one of his friends among the Arabs. On a signal 
 from Hadji Ismael, Hassan, with that respect 
 for advanced age which is one of the best and 
 most universal characteristics of Bedouin educa- 
 tion, came forward, and having kissed the hem 
 of his robe, delivered the letter, and retiring from 
 the carpet on which the old man was sitting, 
 stood in silence with his arms folded on his 
 breast.* 
 
 The Hadji having read the letter slowly and 
 carefully through, placed it on his knee, fixed 
 his keen grey eyes upon Hassan, and continued 
 his scrutiny for some seconds, as if, before address- 
 ing him, he would scan every feature of his 
 character. The survey did not seem to give him 
 dissatisfaction, for assuredly he had never looked 
 upon a countenance on which ingenuous modesty, 
 intelligence, and fearlessness were more legibly 
 and harmoniously combined. 
 
 * For those who have not been in the East, it may be 
 necessary to mention that the folding the arms on the breast, 
 which in Europe is considered as a posture of meditation and 
 sometimes of defiance, is among Orientals the usual attitude 
 of humility and respect.
 
 28 HASSAN. 
 
 ^ You are welcome/ said the old man, breaking 
 silence ; ' you bring me news of the health and 
 welfare of an old friend, — may his days be pro- 
 longed/ 
 
 ' And those of the wisher/ replied the youth.* 
 
 ' Your name is Hassan, I see/ continued the 
 Hadji. ' How old are you?^ 
 
 ' Just sixteen years/ he replied. 
 
 ' Sixteen years V exclaimed the Hadji, running 
 his eye over the commanding figure and muscular 
 limbs of the Arab youth. ^ It is impossible ! 
 Why, Antar himself, at sixteen years, had not a 
 body and limbs like that. Young man/ he con- 
 tinuedj bending his shaggy grey brows till they 
 met, ^you are deceiving me.' 
 
 ^ I never deceived any one,^ said the youth, 
 haughtily ; bat his countenance instantly resumed 
 its habitual frank expression, and he added — ^ If 
 I wished to learn to deceive, it is not likely that 
 I should begin with the most sagacious and ex- 
 perienced of all the white-beards in Alexandria.' 
 
 ^ True,' said the old man, smiling ; ^ I did 
 you wrong. But, Mashallah, you have made haste 
 in your growth. If your brain has advanced as 
 
 * It is customary among the Arabs, when using either 
 complimentary phrases or good wishes, to retort them on the 
 speaker briefly, as in the text.
 
 A COLLOQUY. 29 
 
 rapidly as your stature, you might pass for 
 twenty summers. What can you do V 
 
 * Little/ replied Hassan. ' Almost nothing.' 
 
 ' Nay, tell me that little/ said the merchant, 
 good-humouredly ; ' with a willing heart 'twill 
 soon be more.' 
 
 ' I can ride on camel or on horse, I can run, 
 
 I can swim and dive, I can shoot and ' here 
 
 he paused, and the merchant added — 
 
 * And I doubt not, from what my friend the 
 Sheik writes, your hand is no stranger to the 
 sword or lance ; but, my son, all these acquire- 
 ments, though useful in the desert, will not avail 
 you much here, — nevertheless, we will see. In- 
 shallah, your lot shall be fortunate ; you have a 
 forehead of good omen. God is great — He makes 
 the prince and the beggar — we are all dust.' 
 
 To this long speech of the worthy merchant 
 Hassan only replied by repeating after him, ' God 
 is great.' 
 
 Hadji Ismael then turned to his chief clerk, 
 and told him that, as the youth was a stranger 
 in the town and entrusted to him by an old 
 friend, he was to be lodged in the house, and 
 arrangement to be made for his board. 
 
 It would seem that Hassan's forehead of good 
 omen had already exercised its influence over the
 
 30 HASSAN. 
 
 chief clerk_, for he offered without hesitation to 
 take the youth under his own special charge, 
 and to let him share his meals ; an arrangement 
 which was very agreeable to Hassan, w^ho had 
 begun to fear that he w^ould be like a fish out of 
 water, — he, a stranger in that confused mass of 
 bricks and bales, ships and levantines. 
 
 On a signal from the merchant, Mohammed Aga 
 retired with his young companion, and w^hile 
 showing him the store-rooms and courts of the 
 house, drew him insensibly to speak of his life in 
 the desert, and listened to his untutored yet 
 graphic description wdth. deepening interest. 
 
 Although born in Alexandria, the old clerk was 
 of Turkish parentage, and had followed his pro- 
 fessional duties with such assiduity and steadiness 
 that he had never visited the interior of Egypt. 
 He had frequent transactions with Arabs from the 
 neighbourhood on the part of his master, but he 
 usually found that, however wild and uncivilized 
 they might appear, they were sharp and clever 
 enough in obtaining a high price for the articles 
 which they brought on sale; but a wild young 
 Bedouin, full of natural poetry and enthusiasm, 
 was an animal so totally new to the worthy clerk, 
 that his curiosity, and ere long his interest, was 
 awakened to a degree at w^hich he w^as himself
 
 MOHAMMED AGA, THE CLERK. 31 
 
 surprised. It must be observed that Hassan, 
 notwithstanding his extreme youth, was gifted 
 with the intuitive sagacity of a race accustomed 
 to read, not books, but men ; his eye, bright and 
 keen as that of a hawk, was quick at detecting 
 anything approaching to roguery or falsehood in 
 a countenance on which he fixed it, and that of 
 ^Mohammed Aga inspired him with a sympathetic 
 confidence, which in this instance was not mis- 
 placed. 
 
 On the following morning, the merchant had 
 no sooner concluded his prayers and ablutions, 
 than he sent for INIohammed Aga, and asked his 
 opinion of the newly-arrived addition to their 
 household. 
 
 ^ By Allah V replied the clerk, ' he seems a 
 brave and honest youth, and were you Sheik of 
 the "\Yaled-Ali* instead of Hadji Ismael the 
 merchant, I doubt not he would have been a gain 
 to your tent ; but to what use you can put him 
 in Alexandria I know not.^ 
 
 ' You say truly ,^ replied his master ; ' he is not 
 a youth to sit on a mat in the corner of a count- 
 
 * WMed-Ali is synon^-mous with Oulad-Ali, the name of a 
 tribe already introduced to the reader ; the only difference is, 
 that Waled is singular and Oulad plural. The former name, 
 though less classical, is in more common use in Alexandria.
 
 32 HASSAN. 
 
 ing-house, or to go with messages from house to 
 house, where knowledge of the Frank languages 
 is required. But Allah has provided a livelihood 
 for all his creatures : destiny sent the youth hither, 
 and his fate is written/ 
 
 ' Praise be to God V said the clerk ; ^ my 
 master's words are words of wisdom and truth : 
 a visit to the holy cities (blessed be their names !) 
 has opened the eyes of his understanding : 
 doubtless he will discover the road which fate has 
 marked out for this youth to travel ; for it is 
 written by the hand of the Causer of Causes.* 
 
 ' True/ replied the merchant, ^ there is no power 
 or might but in Him ; nevertheless, a wise writer 
 has said — ' When the shades of doubt are on thy 
 mind, seek counsel of thy bed : morning will 
 bring thee light.' I did so the past night, and 
 see, I have found that Allah has sent me this Arab 
 youth in a happy hour. Inshallah ! his fortune 
 and mine will be good. Do you not remember 
 that I have an order to collect twenty of the finest 
 Arab horses, to be sent as a present from Ma- 
 hommed Ali to the Sultan. Neither jpu. nor I 
 have much skill in this matter, and those Avhom 
 I consult in the town give me opinions exactly 
 
 * The Causer of Causes is one of the highest of the 
 attributive names given by the Arabs to the Almighty.
 
 HASSAN S TALENTS BROUGHT INTO TLAY. ^^ 
 
 according to the amount of the bribe they may- 
 have received from the dealer. We will make 
 trial of Hassan at this trade, and, Inshallah ! our 
 faces will be white in the presence of our 
 Prince.'* 
 
 ' Inshallah !' said the clerk, joyfully, ' my mas- 
 ter's patience will not be put to a long trial, for 
 even now there are in the town three horses just 
 arrived from Bahirah, which have been sent on 
 purpose that you might purchase them on this 
 commission. Does it please you that after the 
 morning meal we should go to the Meidan and 
 see them V 
 
 ^ Be it so,' said the Hadji. And Mohammed 
 Aga, retiring to his own quarters, informed Hassan 
 of the service on which it was proposed to employ 
 him. The eyes of the youth brightened when he 
 learnt that his vague apprehensions of a life of 
 listless confinement were groundless, and that he 
 was about to be employed on a duty for the dis- 
 charge of which he was fitted by his early training 
 and habits. 
 
 Mohammed observed the change in his coun- 
 
 * Tt has been the custom of the Egyptians, ever since the 
 accession of Mohammed Ali to the Viceroyalty, to call the 
 reigning Viceroy by the name of ' Effendina,' ' our Lord,' or 
 * our Prince.' 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 HASSAN. 
 
 tenance, and thouglit it prudent to warn him 
 against all the wiles and tricks to which he would 
 be exposed among the Alexandrian dealers, kindly- 
 advising him to be cautious in giving an opinion^ 
 as his future prospects might depend much upon 
 his first success. Hassan smiled, and thanked 
 his new friend : he then added — 
 
 ' Mohammed, I have eaten the Hadji^s bread, 
 and he is a friend of my father's (the latter word 
 he pronounced with a faltering voice). I will 
 serve him in this matter faithfully. Until I am 
 asked I shall say nothing, and when asked I 
 shall say nothing beyond what I know to be 
 true.^ 
 
 The morning meal dispatched, Hadji Ismael 
 proceeded to the Meidan (then an open space, and 
 now the great square of Alexandria), accompanied 
 by Mohammed Aga, the sais or groom, and 
 Hassan. They found the horse-dealing party 
 awaiting their arrival. It consisted of a dellal or 
 dealer, and two or three of his servants or asso- 
 ciates, and an Arab from the neighbourhood of 
 Damanhouri. They had two grey horses to dispose 
 of, and apart from them, at a distance of some 
 fifty yards, were two saises holding by a strong 
 halter a bay horse, which was pawing the ground, 
 neighing, and apparently well disposed to wage
 
 SPECIMEN OF BEDOUIN HORSE-DEALING. ^S 
 
 Avar Avitli any biped or quadruped that might come 
 ■within reach of its heels. 
 
 ' Peace be upon you/ said the dellal, addressing 
 the merchant. ^ Inshallah ! I have brought you 
 here two grey horses that are worthy to bear the 
 Sultan of the two worlds — pure Arab blood — this 
 dark grey is of the Koheil race^ and the light grey 
 a true Saklaivi.'^ 
 
 ' Are they young V inquired the merchant. 
 
 ' One is four and the other five/ was the ready 
 reply. 
 
 The merchant then desired his sais to inspect 
 them and examine their mouths. They were both 
 gentle and fine-looking animals^ with splendid 
 manes and tails, and their appearance prepos- 
 sessed the merchant in their favour. They stood 
 close by the assembled group, and allowed their 
 teeth to be examined with the most patient 
 docility. 
 
 ' The marks are as the dellal has said/ reported 
 the sais, after having finished his inspection. 
 
 The animals were then mounted by one of the 
 dellaFs men, who walked and galloped them past 
 the merchant, who seemed as well pleased with 
 their paces as with their appearance. 
 
 * The Koheil and Saklawi are two of the highest breeds 
 of horses found in the Hejd or highlands of Arabia. 
 D Z
 
 3^ HASSAN. 
 
 'What is their price?' he inquired. 
 
 ' Their price/ replied the dellal^ ' should be 
 very high, for they are pearls not to be found in 
 every market, but to you, excellent Hadji, whom 
 I wish to oblige, and whom I always serve with 
 fidelity, they can be sold for sixty purses the pair 
 (about 300Z). 
 
 During all this time Hassan had never spoken 
 a word, neither had a single mark or movement 
 of the horses escaped him ; the merchant now 
 turned towards him, saying — 
 
 'My son, tell me your opinion of these horses; 
 are they not very fine V 
 
 '^They are not very bad,^ replied the youth, 
 drily ; ' but they have many faults, and are much 
 too dear.^ 
 
 'And pray what are their faults, master busy- 
 body ?^ said the horsedealer in a rage. 
 
 ' I am not a busybody,^ answered Hassan, 
 looking him steadfastly in the face ; ' I merely 
 replied to a question put to me by our master the 
 Hadji ; as for their faults, if you do not know them 
 better than I you are not fit to be a dellal, and 
 if you do know them, you must be a rogue to 
 bring them here and endeavour to pass them on 
 the Hadji at such a price V 
 
 Words cannot paint the fury of the dellal at
 
 MORALS OF AN ARABIAN HORSE- DEALER. 37 
 
 being thus addressed by a stripling whom he sup- 
 posed to be as ignorant of liis craft as the other 
 attendants on Hadji Ismael ; the heavy courbatch* 
 vibrated in his hand, and he was about to utter 
 some violent or abusive retort, when the merchant 
 interposing between them, said to the dellal — 
 
 ' Do not give way to anger, and remember if 
 the words of the youth are not true they can do 
 no harm either to you or to the sale of your 
 horses/ 
 
 The worthy merchant forgot at the moment 
 that it was probably the truth of the words which 
 gave them all their sting ; but fate seemed resolved 
 that the horsedealing transaction should not pro- 
 ceed amicably, for scarcely had the merchant con- 
 cluded his pacific address to the dellal when he 
 heard behind him a sharp cry of pain, mingled 
 with a sound resembling a blow, accompanied by 
 the rattling of metal. 
 
 It seems that the Damanhouri Arab entertained 
 a shrewd suspicion that Hassan was not a green- 
 horn in the matter of horseflesh, and while the 
 
 * Courbatch is the name of the whip made from the hide 
 of the hippopotamus, in common use all over Ef^j'pt and 
 Nubia. The name seems to have an affinity with the French 
 ' cravache,' and I have been informed (though perhaps incor- 
 rectly) that it is of Hungarian origin.
 
 38 HASSAN. 
 
 merchant was making his pacific speech to the 
 dellal_, he had crept to the side of the youth and 
 whispered to him — 
 
 ' Brother^ say nothing about the faults of the 
 horses ; say that they are very good ; here is your 
 bakshish^ (present)^ and so saying he slipped five 
 Spanish dollars into Hassau^s hand. 
 
 The reply of the latter was to throw them with 
 some force in the face of the speaker. Maddened 
 by the pain and the insult, the Damanhouri drew 
 a knife from his girdle and sprang upon the youth, 
 but Hassan, whose activity was equal to his strength, 
 caught the uplifted hand, wrenched the knife 
 from its grasp, and placing one of his legs behind his 
 assailant^s knee, threw him heavily to the ground. 
 His blood was up, and the anger that shot from 
 his eye and dilated his nostril produced such a 
 change in his countenance that he was scarcely 
 to be recognised ; but the change lasted only a 
 moment. Placing the knife in the hands of the 
 astonished merchant, he briefly related to him the 
 provocation which he had received, and the dollars 
 still lying on the ground confirmed the tale. At- 
 tracted by the broil, several idlers and soldiers 
 who were accidentally passing had now joined the 
 party, and one whispered to another — 
 
 ' Mashallahj the youth must have a greedy
 
 HASSAN GIVES AN OPINION. 39 
 
 stomach. A bakshish of five dollars is dirt to 
 "him/ for it never entered into the head of any 
 of these worthy Alexandrians to suppose that 
 Hassan^s indignation could arise from any other 
 cause than dissatisfaction at the amount of the 
 bribe offered to him. 
 
 Peace was at length restored, the Damanhouri 
 having picked up his dollars and slunk away, 
 muttering curses and threats against Hassan, to 
 which the youth did not deign to make any reply. 
 The merchant then asked him to state distinctly 
 the faults that he found in the two grey horses. 
 
 ' The dark one,' replied Hassan, ' is not of pure 
 race ; he is a half-breed, and is not worth more 
 than ten purses. The light one is better bred, 
 but he is old, and therefore not worth much 
 more.' 
 
 ^ Old !' ejaculated the dellal, his anger again 
 rising ; ^ by your head, Hadji, your own sais, who 
 examined his teeth, said that he was only five.' 
 
 The eyes of the merchant and the dealer were 
 now turned upon Hassan, whose only reply was 
 a smile, and passing the forefinger of his right 
 hand over that of his left, imitating the action of 
 one using a file. This was a hint beyond the 
 comprehension of the merchant, who asked him 
 to explain his meaning.
 
 40 HASSAN. 
 
 * I mean/ lie said, ' that his teeth have been 
 filed_, and the marks in them artificially made;* 
 but his eyes_, and head, and legs tell his age to 
 any one that knows a horse from a camel/ 
 
 The dellal was obliged to contain his rage, for 
 not only was he restrained by the presence of the 
 merchant and the bystanders, but the rough treat- 
 ment lately inflicted on the Damanhouri did not 
 encourage him to have recourse to personal 
 violence. He contented himself, therefore, with 
 saying in a sneering tone — 
 
 ' If the wise and enlightened merchant, Hadji 
 Ismael, is to be led by the advice of a boy whose 
 chin never felt a beard, Mashallah ! it were time 
 that the fishes swam about in the heaven/ 
 
 ^ Allah be praised '/ replied the merchant, 
 gravely, ' truth is truth, even if it be spoke q by a 
 child. Friend dellal, I will not dispute with you 
 on this matter, but I will make a bargain with 
 you, to which you will agree if you know that you 
 have spoken truth. I will write to old Abou- 
 Obeyed, whose tent is now among the Waled- Ali. 
 All men know that he is most skilled in Arab 
 horses, and he is himself bred in the Nejd. He 
 
 * The practice in question is indeed as prevalent among 
 the Arab dealers in Egypt, Syria, and Bagdad, as among those 
 of London and Paris.
 
 HASSAN PUTS THE DELLAL TO THE TEST. 41 
 
 shall come here, and his bakshish shall be five 
 purses. If he decides that all which you have 
 stated of the race and age of these two horses is 
 true_, I will give you the full price that you have 
 asked, and will pay him the bakshish. If his 
 words agree with those spoken by this youth, I do 
 not take the horses_, and you pay the Sheikas 
 bakshish.^ 
 
 As the dellal knew that the old Sheik Abou- 
 Obeyed valued his reputation too highly to allow 
 himself to be bribed to a deception so liable to 
 detection, he replied — 
 
 ' It is not worth the trouble. Allah be praised, 
 there are horses enough in Egypt and the desert ; 
 but if* our master purchases none without the con- 
 sent of that strange youth, methinks it will not be 
 this year that he will send twenty to Stamboul. 
 Doubtless he will now tell you that yonder bay is 
 a vicious, useless brute, not worth the halter that 
 holds him.^ 
 
 * If he is not a vicious brute,' said Hassan, 
 looking the dellal full in the face and smiling, 
 ' mount him, and let our master see his paces.' 
 
 The dellal bit his lip at finding himself 
 thwarted at every turn by the natural shrewdness 
 of a mere stripling, for nothing was farther from 
 his intention than to mount an animal whose
 
 42 HASSAN. 
 
 uncontrollable violence and temper were the sole 
 cause of its being sent for sale by its present 
 owner. It had not been backed for months, and 
 the two saises who held it by the head were 
 scarcely able to resist the furious bounds which it 
 made in its endeavour to free itself from thraldom. 
 While the dellal went towards them to assist 
 them in leading it up for the inspection of the 
 merchant, the latter turned to Hassan, saying — 
 
 *" My son, assuredly tha*t is a vicious and dan- 
 gerous beast. It can be no use my thinking of 
 purchasing that for the great lords at StambouL' 
 
 ' Let us see it nearer,^ replied the youth, 
 ^ perhaps we may learn whether it be play or vice. 
 Mashallah V he muttered to himself as it- drew 
 nearer, snorting, and bounding, and lashing out 
 its heels, ' that is a horse — what a pity that it is 
 cooped up in this town ! Would that I had it 
 on the desert, with my greyhound beside, and the 
 antelope before me !' His eyes glistened as he 
 spoke, and the merchant, tapping him on the 
 shoulder, said — 
 
 ' My son, you seem to like that horse better 
 than the others. Is it not a vicious, dangerous 
 brute V 
 
 ' It is violent now,' replied Hassan, ' probably 
 because it has been in hands that knew not how to
 
 "youth and "blood." 43 
 
 use it ; but I do not see any signs of vice on its 
 head. It is evidently quite young — three or four 
 at most — and it has blood : more I cannot pretend 
 to say.' 
 
 The noble colt had now cleared a respectable 
 circle with his heels, as none of the bystanders 
 chose to risk a near inspection, when the mer- 
 chant, turning to the dellfd, said — 
 
 * That seems a violent, intractable animal ; 
 what is its lowest price ?' 
 
 ' When it is taught and a year older,' replied 
 the dealer, ' it will be worth fifty purses. As it is, 
 I can sell it to you for thirty.' 
 
 ' Tell him,' whispered Hassan to the merchant, 
 ' to desire one of the saises to ride it past you, 
 that you may see its action.' 
 
 The Hadji did so, but the endeavour of the 
 dealer and his saises to comply with the request 
 proved utterly fruitless. No sooner did one of 
 them approach with the object of mounting, than 
 he reared, backed, struck out with his fore-legs, 
 and played such a variety of rough antics, that 
 they could not come near him. Perhaps if the 
 truth must be told, none of them were over- 
 anxious to mount an animal in such a state of 
 violent excitement, Avithout a saddle, and with no 
 bridle but the halter passed round the head, and
 
 44 HASSAN. 
 
 with one turn round the lower jaw. The mer- 
 chant stroked his heard^ and looked at the colt in 
 dismay. Hassan drew near and whispered 
 to him — 
 
 '^Tell the dellal that it is a violent, unruly 
 brute, and oflPer him twenty purses.^ 
 
 The Hadji had by this time acquired so much 
 confidence in the opinion of his young protege, 
 that he did so without hesitation. Then ensued 
 a long bargaining conference between the merchant 
 and the dellal, which ended in the latter saying 
 that he would take twenty- five purses and no less. 
 The merchant looked at his young adviser^ who 
 said — 
 
 ' Close with him at that price.' 
 
 The merchant having done so, the dellal said 
 to him — 
 
 ' Hadji, the horse is yours : may the bargain 
 be blessed.^ As he uttered the latter words there 
 was a sardonic grin on his countenance which, if 
 rightly interpreted, meant — ' Much good may it 
 do you.^ 
 
 The bargain being thus concluded, the dellal 
 thought it would be a good opportunity to vent 
 the spite which he entertained against Hassan on 
 the subject of the two grey horses ; so he said to 
 the merchant —
 
 Hassan's horsemanship. 45 
 
 ' Perhaps this youth who has been so ready to 
 offer his advice, and who wished that I or the stiises 
 should mount the bay horse to show his paces, 
 perhaps he will now do so himself/ 
 
 ' And why not T replied Hassan. ' It is true 
 that fools have made the horse foolish and unruly, 
 but Allah made him to carry a rider. If the Hadji 
 will give me leave, Inshallah ! I will ride him now.^ 
 
 ' You have my leave,' said the merchant, ^ but 
 run no risk of your life and limbs, my son.' 
 
 Hassan smiled, and going quietly forward, took 
 the end of the halter from the nearest sais, de- 
 siring the other at the same time to let go and 
 leave him alone. He then approached the colt, 
 looking steadfastly into its eye, and muttering 
 some of the low guttural sounds with which the 
 Bedouin Arabs coax and caress a refractory horse. 
 
 They seemed, however, to have no effect in 
 this instance, for the colt continued to back, occa- 
 sionally striking at Hassan with its fore-feet. 
 Never losing his temper, nor for an instant taking 
 his eye off that of the colt, he followed its retro- 
 grade movement, gradually shortening the halter, 
 and narrowly escaped, once or twice, the blows 
 aimed at him by its fore-feet. 
 
 At length the opportunity for which he had 
 long been watching occurred. As the horse tried
 
 4^ HASSAN. 
 
 to turn its flanks and lash at him with its hind 
 feetj in a second, and with a single bound, he was 
 on its back. It was in vain that the infuriated 
 animal reared, plunged, and threw itself into every 
 contortion to unhorse its rider. The more it 
 bounded and snorted under him, the more proudly 
 did his eye and his breast dilate. In the midst 
 of all these bricks and houses he was again at 
 home. 
 
 Shaking his right hand on high, as if he held 
 a lance, and shouting aloud to give utterance to 
 the boisterous joy within him, he dashed his heels 
 into the ribs of the horse, and having taken it at 
 full speed twice round the Meidan, brought it 
 back trembling in every joint from fear, surprise, 
 and excitement. ' Mashallah,^ ' Aferin,^ (Bravo, 
 bravo !) burst from every lip in the group. ' A 
 Rustum,^ cried old Mohammed Aga, delighted at 
 his young friend's triumph. 
 
 Hassan seemed, however, of opinion that the 
 lesson was not complete — the horse was mastered, 
 but not yet quieted. So he turned it round, and 
 once more took it at full speed to the farthest end 
 of the Meidan ; then leaning forward patted its 
 neck, played with its ears, and spoke to it kind 
 and gentle words, as if it could understand him. 
 The subdued animal appeared indeed to do so^ for
 
 THE DELLAL S OPINION OF HASSAN. 47 
 
 its violence had disappeared as if by magic_, and 
 when he took it back to the side of the merchant, 
 it stood there seemingly as pleased as any one of 
 the party. 
 
 ' I Avould give that imp of Satan twenty purses 
 a year to be my partner/ muttered the dellfil 
 inaudibly to himself, as he turned away, and with- 
 drew with the two rejected greys. 
 
 The merchant returned to his house in high 
 spirits, and willingly acceded to Hassan^s request 
 that, for some time at least, he should have sole 
 charge of the new purchase. Hassan led the 
 horse into the stable, fed and groomed it Avith his 
 own hands, and, in the course of a few days, they 
 were the best friends imaginable.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Hassan's residence in Alexandria — the author, by 
 wat of encouraging the reader to skip when he 
 or she finds it convenient, makes a jump him- 
 self — arrival of an english family ; they look 
 out for a dragoman, and find one who is ' just 
 the thing.' 
 
 rpHE events recorded in the last chapter had 
 -*- created no little sensation in Alexandria^ and 
 Hassan's skilly courage, and, above all, his remark- 
 able beauty of form and feature, were the general 
 subject of conversation among those who had wit- 
 nessed the merchant's purchase of the restive 
 horse. All manner of speculations were afloat as 
 to who or whence he was, for those who had most 
 nearly observed him declared that, although his 
 dress and language proclaimed the Bedouin Arab, 
 his features seemed to be those of a Georgian or 
 some northern race. 
 
 Many questions were addressed to Hadji 
 Ismael on the subject by his friends, but he 
 was either unable or unwilling to satisfy their 
 curiosity. All that they could learn was that the 
 youth had been sent to the merchant with a letter 
 of recommendation from his old acquaintance,
 
 HASSAN IN HIS NEW VOCATION. 49 
 
 Sheik Saleli, and tliat he ^yas to be employed in 
 the purchase of the collection of horses to be sent 
 to Constantinople. 
 
 Meanwhile^ Hassan passed his time much more 
 agreeably than he had expected^ for he had abun- 
 dance of libert}' and exercise in his new vocation, 
 and was treated with the greatest kindness and 
 confidence both by the merchant and by the chief 
 clerk. One remarkable feature they found in his 
 character — namely, that under no circumstances 
 whatever did he deviate in the slightest degree 
 from the truth. AVhether money was concerned, 
 or the relation of an event, they always found his 
 statements confirmed, even in the most minute 
 particular. He seemed, also_, to have no care or 
 thought of the acquisition of money, and these 
 two features of character were so rare in Alex- 
 andria, that some of the merchant's friends, when 
 speaking of his young protege, were in the habit 
 of shaking their heads and touching their fore- 
 heads significantly with the index-finger, thereby 
 indicating that probably he was somewhat de- 
 ranged. 
 
 These vague suggestions were confirmed by 
 other traits of his character very different from 
 other Alexandrian youths of his oavu age. He 
 was never seen to enter a drinking-shop, nor to 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 so HASSAN. 
 
 idle and lounge about the bazaars. When not 
 employed in exercising his horses, one of his 
 favourite amusements was to go down to the 
 beach for a swim in the sea. That boundless 
 expanse of salt water was new to him : the more 
 angry the surf, the more it seemed to please and 
 excite him. When others shrunk from facing the 
 yeasty seas that rolled upon the beach under the 
 influence of a brisk north-wester, he would plunge 
 in, alternately diving below or riding above them, 
 with a rash fearlessness Avhich often brought him 
 a reproof from the prudent Mohammed Aga. 
 
 His frequent companion on these bathing ex- 
 cursions was Ahmed, the chief clerk^s son, a lad 
 of some twenty years of age, to whom, notwith- 
 standing the difference in their characters, Hassan 
 became much attached. He was short and slight 
 in figure, with a pale but intelligent countenance, 
 and remarkable for his studious and industrious 
 habits. Having been for some time employed as 
 a junior clerk of an English mercantile house 
 (there were only two at that time in Alexandria), 
 he had not only become a veiy good English 
 scholar, but had acquired a fair knowledge of 
 Greek and Italian. He was a bold and practised 
 swimmer ; but on one or two occasions when he 
 had followed Hassan to enjoy his favourite pas-
 
 HASSAN FORMS A TRIENDSHir. 5 1 
 
 time in the surf, he had received contusions which 
 stunned him for the moment, and might have 
 cost him dear, had not the powerful arm of his 
 athletic comrade been always near and ready to 
 assist him. 
 
 This companionship, which soon ripened into 
 friendship, was not without its corresponding 
 advantage to Hassan. His eager imagination had 
 already drunk in with avidity the feats of Antar, 
 Sindebad, and other heroes of Arab story ; but 
 his new friend could tell him yet stranger tales of 
 the regions beyond the sea — regions where from 
 cold the waters grew as hard as stone, and bore 
 the passage of loaded wagons ; where ships, by 
 the aid of fire, sailed against the wind and stream, 
 and where the inhabitants of one small island 
 possessed and ruled at a distance of many thou- 
 sand miles possessions five times larger and more 
 populous than those of the great Sultan of Islam. 
 
 These narrations, and especially the last, ex- 
 cited so forcibly the ardent imagination of Hassan, 
 that he was never weary of listening, and he pre- 
 vailed upon his new friend one day to take him to 
 the counting-house where he was employed, that 
 he might see some of these wonderful islanders. 
 Whether he expected to find in them marvellous 
 beings, like the giants or jinns of Arab fiction, I 
 E 1 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF lUiNOlS
 
 52 HASSAN. 
 
 know not ; but certain it is, that after accompany- 
 ing liis friend to the house of Mr. , whom he 
 
 saw through an open door at the extremity of the 
 counting-house, seated at a table writing letters 
 and tying np papers_, he went out again, with dis- 
 appointment evidently written npon his counte- 
 nance. 
 
 ^ What tales are these which yon have been tell- 
 ing me, Ahmed V said he to his companion ; ' by 
 Allah, that is no man at all ! He is smaller than 
 I am ; he has not the beard of Hadji, and he has 
 not even a scribe to write his letters !' 
 
 ^ Hassan,^ replied his friend, smiling, ' the 
 habits of these islanders are different from those 
 of Turks and Arabs. The pen is their sword in 
 commerce, and they like to wield it themselves ; 
 our chief writes on matters of importance with 
 his own hand ; it is good ; for no scribe can betray 
 him ; but in the adjoining room he has two or 
 three clerks who write on his affairs from morning 
 till night.' 
 
 Hassan shook his head, thought of the swift 
 horse and the open desert, and said, 'Allah be 
 praised I am not a merchant of these islanders.' 
 Nevertheless there was something mysterious 
 about their history which continued to excite his 
 fancy, and as weeks and months passed on, they
 
 A HIATUS OF THREE YEAES. 53 
 
 found liini, during the leisure hours of evening, 
 employed in learning English from his friend, who, 
 like most persons similarly engaged, improved 
 himself while teaching another. 
 
 As Turkish was the language habitually spoken 
 in the family of Mohammed Aga and in other 
 places which Hassan^s avocations led him to fre- 
 quent, he soon acquired a sufficient knowledge of 
 it to enable him to understand and converse in it 
 with tolerable fluency. 
 
 It being an acknowledged privilege of readers to 
 skip any portion of a tale which they find, or expect 
 to find, dull and uninteresting, they cannot consis- 
 tently blame an author if he indulges in an occasional 
 jump, from which they derive an advantage at least 
 equal to his own. Availing myself of this privi- 
 lege, I Avill pass over cursorily the next three 
 years of our hero's life, during which he remained 
 in the employment of Hadji Ismael ; it is merely 
 necessary to say that his manly frame fulfilled 
 the promise of his youth; his intelligence had 
 been developed in equal proportion, without, how- 
 ever, effecting any unfavourable influence on the 
 simple straightforwardness of his character. 
 
 The Hadji never repented having trusted him 
 implicitly in every commission with which he 
 had been charged, and had procured for him a
 
 54 HASSAN. 
 
 teacher under wliose instructions he had learnt to 
 read Arabic^ and even to write a legible hand ; but 
 Hassan^ though ready and quick of apprehension, 
 did not evince any fondness for the study of books ; 
 his pleasures were a ride on the back of a fiery horse 
 or a crested Avave_, and listening after sunset to the 
 popular Arab romances of old^ recited by some 
 wandering raAvi.* 
 
 Of these last he was so fond^ that he knew 
 many of them almost by heart. Stories of princes 
 and princesses in disguise, mingled with the mys- 
 tery hanging over his own birth, floated in his 
 imaginative brain, but the mystery remained un- 
 ravelled. He had kept the secret confined to his 
 own breast, never even communicating it to his 
 friend Ahmed ; nevertheless from him, from his 
 father, and from all his acquaintance, he had 
 diligently inquired into the early history of all 
 the Turkish Pashas, Beys, and officers in Alexan- 
 dria, but no known episode of their lives threw 
 any light upon the object of his search. His pas- 
 sions were strong and turbulent, but he generally 
 kept them under the control of a determined will, 
 and the secret conviction that he was the son of 
 
 * A rawi is a professional reciter of romances, around vvliom 
 a circle of listeners may always be seen gathered about sunset 
 in Alexandria or Cairo.
 
 HASSAN INDULGES IN DAY-DREAMS. ^^ 
 
 ' somebody' imparted to his character a certain 
 pride and reserve which assorted better with his 
 form and features than witli his outward condition 
 of life. 
 
 Connected with the mystery of his birth and 
 with the events related in the wild tales with 
 which he had fed his youthful imagination^ was 
 the image of a lovely princess whom he had 
 clothed with all the attributes of beauty ascribed 
 by Arab poetry to such damsels ; waking or 
 dreaming she was constantly before his eyes; he 
 had given her a name, in pronouncing which he 
 used to sing himself to sleep, and he loved this 
 creature of his imagination with all the ardent 
 fondness of a young and passionate heart. 
 
 If it be true that such visionary dreams of 
 youth are necessarily followed by disappointment 
 on awaking to the rude realities of life, it is also 
 true that in some cases, as in his, they preserve 
 those who are under their influence from the 
 grosser temptations to which that age is exposed. 
 It is one of the evils of modern education in what 
 we are pleased to call highly-civilized countries, 
 to cultivate the understanding at the expense of 
 the heart. The simplicity, the trusting confidence, 
 the warm imagination, the love of all that is pure, 
 and high, and holy, which are the proper attributes
 
 ^6 HASSAN. 
 
 of Touth^ are sacrificed to what is termed a prac- 
 tical knowledge of the world, and the result is^ 
 that there is now many a young gentleman at 
 Eton and Oxford who would listen with a sneer of 
 contempt to a sentiment or a trait of character 
 which would have drawn a tear of sympathy and 
 admiration from the eye of a Burke or a Fox^ a 
 Pascal or a Newton. 
 
 To return from this digression. Hassan loved 
 his imaginary princess ; nevertheless, like a true 
 lover, he put her in the deepest corner of his 
 heart, and never spoke of her; so his friend Ahmed 
 remained in total ignorance of her existence even 
 in the world of imagination. 
 
 Having now, with our reader^s permission, 
 brought our hero by means of a very convenient 
 and permissible jump of three years, to man^s 
 estate, I would fain get on with my story, but 
 that unlucky phrase, ^ man's estate,' which has 
 just slipped from my pen_, entails another digres- 
 sion. 
 
 In common parlance it is applied to an indivi- 
 dual, whether gentle or plebeian, who has just 
 emerged from his teens, and the ' estate' at which 
 he is said to arrive consists (in ninety-nine cases 
 out of a hundred) in the discovery that he must 
 set to Avork in earnest to gain his bread. For-
 
 A NEW ARRIVAL AT ALEXANDRIA. ^"j 
 
 tunate indeed is he if the said estate he not incum- 
 bered with sundry unsettled bills incurred during 
 the above-mentioned careless and happy teens, 
 TAliich an incensed parent or guardian threatens 
 to deduct from any portion or inheritance here- 
 after due to him. 
 
 ' A plague on such an estate/ say I ; so I will 
 repudiate the phrase, and simply state that as 
 Hassan has now reached the age of manhood, and 
 is endowed with qualities sufficient to make him 
 a hero if the Fates will only permit him to become 
 one, it is time to introduce to the reader^s notice 
 certain other persons who arrived at this period 
 in Alexandria, and whose history is more or less 
 connected with the sequel of our tale. 
 
 Among these recent arrivals, the first place is 
 due to an English family named Thorpe, the pater- 
 familias of which was an elderly gentleman of 
 liberal fortune and education, whose passion for 
 antiquarian pursuits had led him to visit the land 
 of the Pyramids at a period when such an excur- 
 sion was not, as now, a recognised fashionable 
 winter tour, nor facilitated by steamboats and 
 railroads. 
 
 He was a simple-minded, kind-hearted old gen- 
 tleman, not endowed with any remarkable share 
 of learning or ability, but he had pursued his
 
 58 HASSAN. 
 
 search for antiquities with so much industry in 
 Italy and Greece, as well as in England, that the 
 library on the ground-floor of his house in Port- 
 man-square almost deserved the name of a museum, 
 although the specimens which it contained were 
 devoid of all arrangement and classification, and 
 were included by his faithful spouse (whenever she 
 was out of her husband^s hearing) under the 
 general^ but not complimentary, denomination of 
 ' rubbish/ 
 
 Mrs. Thorpe had been the daughter of a city 
 merchant, and was in almost every respect the 
 antipodes of her husband. He was tall and thin, 
 she was short and fat ; she despised the antiqui- 
 ties which he worshipped; and the London dinners, 
 and play-goings, and card-parties, and soirees 
 which were her delight, were to him gall and 
 wormwood. It is marvellous how such a couple 
 ever came together under the hymeneal yoke, but 
 notwithstanding the total discrepancy between 
 their tastes and characters, they -svere fortunately 
 both goodhearted people, and thus they found 
 that, by alternately yielding a point or a predilec- 
 tion to each other, they jogged along the vale of 
 matrimonial life without any serious disagreement 
 or disturbance. 
 
 One of tlieir earliest disputes had been concern-
 
 THE THORPE FAMILY, 59 
 
 ing the name to be given to their first-born son, 
 and notwithstanding all the entreaties and protes- 
 tations of his wife, Mr. Thorpe had carried his 
 point, and brought back his child from the chris- 
 tening adorned with the illustrious name of Sel- 
 den. He had, however, made a compromise, by- 
 promising that in case she should again add a 
 member to the Thorpe family, its name should 
 be left to her own selection. Fate ordained that 
 after eighteen months she should give birth to a 
 daughter, on whom, with her husband^s entire 
 approval, she bestowed her own name, ^ Emily/ 
 
 Selden Thorpe and his sister, who both accom- 
 panied their parents to Egypt, had respectively 
 attained the ages of twenty and eighteen and a 
 half The young man, after being educated at an 
 English public school, had spent the last two 
 years at a German University, where he had im- 
 bibed a considerable amount of desultory learning, 
 scepticism, and beer. He was not Avithout natural 
 talents, but they had been tortuously directed, 
 and he was habitually disposed to turn into ridi- 
 cule everything and everybody that came under 
 the obnoxious denomination of ^ respectable.^ His 
 father having noticed this tendency, had resolved 
 to keep him for another year under the tuition of 
 a professor, from whom he hoped that his son
 
 6q HASSAN. 
 
 would acquire habits of order and study; but with 
 the blindness belonging to parents who have a 
 besetting taste or predilection, instead of selecting 
 as a tutor a man of enlarged views and com- 
 manding character, he had chosen one reputed to 
 possess classical and antiquarian knowledge, and 
 a certain proficiency in the Oriental languages. 
 
 Dr. Hieronymus Moss — for so was the tutor 
 named — was indeed a gentleman of very high pre- 
 tensions in the above-mentioned branches of 
 literature, and having previously been for two 
 years tutor to a young lord on the grand 
 tour of Europe, he thought accompanying the 
 Thorpes on this expedition an act of great conde- 
 scension on his part. Notwithstanding these high 
 pretensions, he was in fact a shallow pedant, while 
 in respect to the classical and Oriental languages, 
 which formed the basis of his assumed attainments, 
 the reader will have an opportunity of passing his 
 own sentence on the Doctor before the conclusion 
 of this tale. 
 
 The best point in Selden Thorpe^s character 
 was his affection for his sister Emily — a warm- 
 hearted girl, who had just acquired the last graces 
 of a ladies' finishing school in Harley- street. 
 Notwithstanding certain weaknesses which the 
 Thorpe educational system had tended to foster
 
 THE ATTENDANTS ON THE THORPE FAMILY. 6 I 
 
 in her character, she ^vas altogether a very 
 attractive young lady : her beauty was undeniable — 
 beauty of a true English cast — regular features, 
 bright blue eyes, brown hair, and a fair transparent 
 complexion. ^lore than one young Guardsman had 
 whispered to her that she was ^ killing / and her 
 looking-glass suggested that they were not far wrong. 
 If the truth must be told, Emily was something of 
 a coquette, and Avas as passionately devoted to 
 novels as her father was to antiquities. 
 
 The attendants on the Thorpe family consisted 
 of Mr. Foyster, butler and valet de chambre, 
 whose character will be developed in the sequel, 
 and Mary Powell, the ladies' maid, a simple, good- 
 humoured girl from Sussex, with laughing black 
 eyes, who had quitted her native village only 
 a few weeks before the family left England, and 
 who looked up to Mr. Foyster with considerable 
 awe. That important personage condescended to 
 patronize her — whether in consideration of her 
 humility or of her black eyes it is not necessary 
 to state. 
 
 Hotels in Alexandria being, at the period 
 of which we write, few in number and scant in 
 accommodation, the Thorpes had taken up their 
 temporary abode in a house procured for them by 
 Mr. , the British merchant before referred
 
 62 HASSAN. 
 
 to^ who liad also undertaken the task of pro- 
 curing a dragoman to accompany them on their 
 excursion up the Nile. 
 
 That class of attendant^ Avhose name at present, 
 both in Alexandria and Cairo, is legion, was at 
 that time very limited in number, especially as 
 Mr. Foyster insisted ' that a confident knowledge 
 of English was a sinecure noun^ — by which ex- 
 pression he conveyed his opinion that a competent 
 knowledge of English was a sine qua non. Several 
 candidates who presented themselves at the 
 Thorpes' were rejected on account of deficiency 
 in this important particular. At length Mr. 
 Foyster, who had spent a whole morning in 
 making the round of the counting-houses and 
 taverns, returned accompanied by a Greek, whom 
 he described to his master as *" the very thing we 
 want.^ 
 
 He was a small, active -looking man, named 
 Demetri, a Smyrniote by birth, possessed of a fair 
 smattering of all the languages spoken in the 
 Levant. His dark hair escaping from under a 
 Greek cap jauntily set on one side of his head, 
 his restless and piercing eye, that seemed to divine 
 your meaning before you expressed it, his embroi- 
 dered jacket and silk sash, in which was stuck a 
 jewelled dagger, the ample trousers, and red
 
 DOCTOR HIERONYMUS MOSS. 6^ 
 
 morocco shoes, wliicli completed his costume, pre- 
 possessed the hidies at once in his favour; Mrs. 
 Thorpe remarking, in a low voice, that he looked 
 clean and active, and Emily observing in a similar 
 tone that his costume was charmingly picturesque. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe having addressed to him one or 
 two simple questions in English, Demetri replied 
 to them with considerable volubility and a most 
 unembarrassed air, but with so strange an accent 
 that they could only catch a few words of what 
 he said. Doctor Hieronymus Moss, who had 
 been brushing up his Arabic diligently for the 
 last few days with grammar and dictionarj^, ad- 
 dressed him in that language with an imposing 
 air, saying — 
 
 ' My friend, you must speak slower.^ 
 
 Demetri, whose cool ^ffrontery was equal to 
 any ordinary emergency, was quite taken aback 
 by this address in an unknown tongue. He knew 
 that it was not English, but for wdiat language it 
 was meant he could not tell. Thinking, however, 
 that a random guess was better than an awkward 
 silence, he replied in Turkish. 
 
 ' Sir, I know Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Italian, 
 and English ; but I do not speak German.^ 
 
 It was now the Professor^s turn to look mysti- 
 fied. He had caught the names of several
 
 64 II ASS AX. 
 
 countries^ but tlie closing sentence was a riddle to 
 him,* and thinking it better not to venture further 
 out of his depth, he said with becoming gravity to 
 Mr. Thorpe— 
 
 ' The young man seems well skilled in several 
 European and Oriental languages/ 
 
 This praise from so high an authority, backing 
 the selection of Mr. Foyster, and supported by 
 the approbation of the ladies, secured the engage- 
 ment of Demetri as dragoman to the Thorpe 
 Nile expedition, at a salary of twenty dollars a 
 month, t 
 
 This affair being settled, Mr. Foyster retired 
 with his new colleague. The faces of both wore 
 an expression of satisfaction ; that of the butler 
 being the satisfaction of possession, that of De- 
 metri the satisfaction of anticipation ; for be it 
 known that the butler had exacted a promise from 
 Demetri of a payment of five dollars a month 
 out of his salary if he succeeded in obtaining the 
 
 * The German lan^^uage and the Austrian people are 
 termed in Turkish and Arabic ' Nemseh/ a name which has 
 no affinity of sound with its European original. 
 
 t Twenty dollars a month was at that time considered an 
 extravagantly high salary for a dragoman ; of later years the 
 more pretentious of these harpies of the Nile have been 
 known to demand and obtain fifty, and even sixty, dollars a 
 month.
 
 DEMETRI AND MR. FOYSTER. 65 
 
 appointment. Demetri was of far too sanguine 
 a temperament and too fertile a genius to regret 
 the sacrifice of one-fourth of his salary^ when he 
 felt confident of tripling the amount by what he 
 would have termed the legitimate emoluments of 
 his employment.* 
 
 The first duty of these two worthies was to 
 secure and to fit up with ev^ery possible convenience 
 
 * In narrating Demetri's conversations with Mr. Foyster, I 
 shall not in general attempt to render his meaning in his own 
 broken and imperfect English ; such a practice is sometimes 
 permissible in a farce or comedy, but in a continuous narra- 
 tive it seems to me tedious in the extreme; for a similar 
 reason I may here add, once for all, that I avoid as far as I 
 can overloading my text with Oriental phrases and idioms. 
 They occur with great frequency, and certainly add a certain 
 charm to that delightful work ' Hadji Baba;' but indepen- 
 dently of the fact that the idiomatic expressions current in 
 Persia are in themselves more quaint and droll than those in 
 use among Egyptians and Arabs, the novelty once worn away, 
 the charm of such phraseology disappears with it. Mr. 
 Morier has reaped the first harvest of amusement offered to 
 an English reader by such phrases as * Is your palate fat ?' — 
 ' Whose dog is he ?' &c. &c. ; and none who follow in the 
 same field can expect to be more than a gleaner. Neverthe- 
 less, it is impossible for one who has long lived in the East to 
 describe Oriental scenes without occasionally falling into the 
 phrases and images commonly used in the country. If they 
 are not sought for as ornaments, but are put down as they 
 naturally occur, the}' give to the picture a certain colouring 
 which is not without its use, as exhibiting the habitual tone 
 of thought and expression in the country described. 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 HASSAN. 
 
 the dahabiah or Nile-boat requisite for the excur- 
 sion^ and as this was an occupation which afforded 
 to both an opportunity of exhibiting their zeal 
 and ingenuity in identifying their own interests 
 with the comfort of the Thorpes,, they set about 
 the task with a commendable energy. 
 
 Several boats were examined and contemptuously 
 rejected as too small ; another of large dimensions 
 was found, the owner of which agreed to give it 
 for the whole winter for one hundred and fifty 
 pounds, but as he would not make to Demetri a 
 present of more than ten pounds, his boat was 
 also rejected. After a search of some days, they 
 found a dahabiah which promised to be (what 
 Demetri had been so lately pronounced to be) 
 ^ the very thing.' It belonged to a pasha who 
 was absent on service, and had left with his 
 wakeel (agent) a discretionary power to let his 
 boat, which was large and handsomely decorated. 
 This wakeel, being a Greek, was also an acquaint- 
 ance of Demetrius, which rendered the bargaining 
 extremely easy and satisfactory to both parties. 
 It was accordingly proposed that Mr. Thorpe 
 should pay two hundred and fifty pounds for the 
 six winter months, the wakeel refunding from 
 that amount fifteen pounds to Demetri, and a 
 like sum to Mr. Foyster.
 
 LAYING IN STORES FOR A VOYAGE. 67 
 
 ^Ir. Thorpe was informed, on consulting the 
 English merchant, that the charge was unusually 
 high ; but, considering the difficulty of finding in 
 those days a boat capable of conveying so large a 
 party, the ])argain was concluded, and the ratifi- 
 cations duly exchanged, Mr. Foyster observing to 
 himself, as he carried the paper back from the 
 Consulate to his master^s lodgings — ^ Well, this 
 here Egypt is not such a bad country after all.' 
 
 Then followed the important process of clean- 
 ing and furnishing the boat with tables, sofas, 
 curtains, &c., and laying in the multifarious stores 
 requisite for the voyage, in all of which Demetri 
 took care that the lion's share of the profit fell to 
 his lot. 
 
 r 2
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 HASSAN GOES WITH MOHAMMED AGA TO DAMANHOUE — 
 WHAT BEFEL HIM THEEE. 
 
 TT7HTLE the preparations mentioned in tlie 
 ' ^ last chapter were going forward, Hassan was 
 absent from Alexandria,, the Hadji having sent 
 him, in company with Mohammed Aga, to collect 
 a debt of considerable amount due to him in 
 Damanhour, a large village distant a day^s journey 
 from the city. 
 
 This affair occupied some little time, and might 
 not, perhaps, have been settled at all, had not 
 INIohammed Aga been provided with a handsome 
 Cashmere shawl and a pretty Damascus handker- 
 chief, in one corner of which a few gold pieces 
 were secured by a silken cord. The former of 
 these presents found its way to the Governor, and 
 the latter to his chief scribe, after which the 
 justice of the claim became as clear as day, and 
 the debtor was ordered to pay up without delay. 
 
 While this affair was in progress, and Moham- 
 med Aga was busy in the Governor's divan, Hassan 
 was one day strolling near the village to pass the 
 time, when his ear was arrested by the sound of
 
 HASSAN MEETS WITH AN ADVENTURE. 69 
 
 female cries and lamentations. Turning his Lead 
 to the quarter whence the sounds proceeded, he 
 saw a man with his hands chained together, walk- 
 ing between two soldiers, who occasionally has- 
 tened his steps by blows from the butt ends of 
 their muskets. Behind them were two women 
 and two children, screaming at the top of their 
 voices — 
 
 ' Oh ! mercy, mercy ! Oh ! my brother 1 Oh ! 
 my husband ! Oh ! my father ! Mercy, mercy !^ 
 
 In front of this lamenting group, and by the 
 side of one of the soldiers, walked an individual 
 with a paper in his hand, who seemed to be the 
 man under whose authority the prisoner had been 
 seized, and who bore the appearance of being one 
 of the kawasses of the Governor.* 
 
 ' May your day be fortunate, O Aga,* said 
 Hassan, addressing him in the Turkish language. f 
 ^ AVhat is the fault of this man, and whither are 
 you taking him?' 
 
 * A kawass, or janissary, in Egypt, is an upper servant in 
 attendance on a Pacha, a Consul, or a person of rank ; he is 
 generally a Turk, wears a sword, and is frequently dignified 
 by the title of Aga. 
 
 t Hassan's experience seems to have taught him that in 
 addressing Turkish officials, the use of that language in place 
 of Arabic is the likeliest method of obtaining attention and 
 a courteous reply.
 
 70 HASSAN, 
 
 ' Happily met^ Aga/ said the kawass, impressed 
 by the commanding figure of the yomig stranger. 
 * This vagabond is now nearly two years in arrear 
 of his taxes due to the Government ; his tents are 
 near the edge of the desert, and we never could 
 find him. Praise be to Allah, I have got him 
 now, and to-morrow we shall see whether five 
 hundred good blows on the soles of his feet will 
 help him to find the two thousand piasters that he 
 owes.^* 
 
 The prisoner maintained a dogged silence, never 
 even raising his eyes to look at the kawass while 
 speaking ; but his wife now rushed forward, and^ 
 throwing herself at Hassan^s feet, cried out — 
 
 ^ Mercy, mercy, young Aga ! I and my 
 children, our sister, we are all ruined. We have 
 none to depend on but him. The sluices of the 
 canal were not opened ; our lands were dried up. 
 We had no crop ; we sold our animals ; every- 
 thing is gone. Speak to the Governor, yonng 
 Aga ; let him give us time and we will pay all.^ 
 
 Hassan turned aside his head to hide his emo- 
 tion, for to misery, and to woman^s misery above 
 all, his heart was soft as a chikVs. Recovering 
 himself, however, in a moment, he turned to the 
 kawass, saying — 
 
 * Two thousand piasters are about twenty pounds sterling.
 
 HASSAN PERFORMS AN ACT OF CHARITY. 71 
 
 ' Would the Governor not excuse or delay the 
 payment of this sum V 
 
 ' Surely not/ said the other, decidedly. ^ His 
 Excellency is very angry with him for the trouble 
 he has already given : the amount is entered in 
 the accounts, and it must be paid. You are young, 
 sir, and a stranger here; you do not know the 
 marvellous power of the sticks in bringing to light 
 hidden money ; they are more powerful than the 
 rods of the Cairo magicians/ 
 
 ' By Allah ! — by the life of your mother V 
 screamed the poor woman, still at Hassan's feet, 
 ' we have nothing ; they may kill us, but we have 
 no money to give. For weeks past we have seen 
 no bread, and eaten nothing but a few dates. We 
 are miserable, O Aga ! — look at us — mercy, 
 mercy !' The emaciated appearance of the whole 
 family bore witness to this part of the woman's 
 statement. 
 
 ' My friend,' said Hassan, turning to the kawass, 
 ' I know a merchant in Damanhour who will 
 perhaps advance this money, and take a bond for 
 repayment in one or two years. Promise me that 
 you will not report this man's seizure till to-morrow 
 at noon: the Governor will be better pleased with 
 your zeal if you are then able to present him with 
 the money required, than if you beat the man to
 
 "]% HASSAN. 
 
 death without perhaps obtaining a third of it. 
 Promise then that you will wait till to-morrow at 
 noon/ 
 
 ' I will wait as you desire/ replied the kawass; 
 ^ and if you come to the guard-house where this 
 fellow will be confined, ask for Ibrahim the 
 kawass/ 
 
 During all this time the eyes of the unhappy 
 wife were fixed upon Hassan^s countenance with an 
 expression of intense anxiety. She had not un- 
 derstood a sjdlable of the conversation that had 
 passed between him and the kawass, but instinct 
 taught her that in some way he was befriending her 
 husband's cause; and as the latter moved on with 
 his guards, she continued to overwhelm him with 
 blessings and prayers, mingled with tears. 
 
 ' Be of good cheer/ he said to her_, now speaking 
 in his own language. ' Inshallah ! all will yet 
 go well. Meanwhile take this, and buy some 
 bread this evening for your children and your- 
 selves ^ — and as he spoke he slipped a piece of 
 silver into her hand, and turned hastily away. 
 
 When the poor woman heard herself addressed 
 in the deep and not to be mistaken tones of a 
 Bedouin Arab_, and felt in her hand the money 
 that he had given to her, surprise and gratitude 
 deprived her for a moment of the powers of speech;
 
 AN EVENING CONFERENCE. 73 
 
 and Hassan was already at some distance when 
 she recovered them ; and throwing herself into her 
 sister^s arms, she exclaimed — 
 
 ' He will save ns ! — he will save us ! — he is not 
 a Turk ! — why did I call him Aga ? — he is of the 
 Sons of the Tent* — surely my husband and he 
 have met before in the desert and been friends — 
 he will save us — the blessing of Allah be on his 
 head V 
 
 That same evening, at sunset, Mohammed Aga 
 and Hassan were smoking their pipes and drinking 
 their coffee in front of their lodging, when the 
 former said to his companion — 
 
 ' Inshallah ! we will return in a day or two to 
 Alexandria. Our affair is proceeding well : I 
 have collected half the money, and the remainder 
 is to be paid to-morrow.' 
 
 * Arabs are divided into two classes, distinguished in their 
 own language by the names of 'People of the tent' and 
 * People of the domicile ;' the former, who are the Bedouins, 
 and nomadic in their habits, have a sovereign contempt for 
 the latter, who live in villages and cultivate the soil. In 
 Egypt there are found on the borders of the Desert and 
 arable land a few small tribes who partake of both cha- 
 racters ; that is, though Bedouins by birth, they have partially 
 settled down to an agricultural life, and pay a tax to the 
 Government for the land which they occupy. The prisoner 
 now under arrest would seem to have belonged to this latter 
 class.
 
 74 HASSAN. 
 
 Hassan made no direct reply to tliis address, 
 but after a pause of a few minutes he abruptly 
 asked the chief clerk — 
 
 ^ Do you remember how much of my salary is 
 still due to me, in your hands V 
 
 'Assuredly I do_, my son/ said the methodical 
 clerk ; ' at the beginning of the year the arrears of 
 salary, added to what the Hadji allowed of per- 
 centage on purchases, amounted to four thousand 
 piasters (40/.) ; then at the feast you sent a present 
 of a bale of tobacco and a Persian dagger to your 
 father the Sheik : two pieces of Syrian silk and 
 some embroidered napkins to your mother : two 
 pieces ' 
 
 ' Enough, enough !^ interrupted Hassan, dis- 
 tressed at this enumeration of the mementos which 
 he had sent to his fosterparents ; ' how much 
 remained after these presents were paid for V 
 
 ' They cost fifteen hundred piasters; so you 
 still have two thousand five hundred left. 
 
 ' That is well,^ said Hassan. ' I want that 
 money here. Will you give it me, Mohammed, 
 and repay yourself from the chest in Alex- 
 andria ?^ 
 
 ^ The boy is mad,' said the old clerk, opening 
 his eyes wide with astonishment. ' By the head 
 of your father, tell me for what purpose can you
 
 HASSAN S INVESTMENTS. 75 
 
 require all that money at once, here at Daman- 
 hour ? Are you going to buy beans and wheat 
 for the market?' 
 
 ' No/ replied Hassan, with some confusion, ' it 
 is not my trade to purchase grain, but indeed I 
 require that money, and hope you will let me 
 have it/ 
 
 ^ Allah- Allah '/ said the old clerk, as a sudden 
 suspicion shot across his mind, ' you have seen 
 some Damanhour girl who has set your heart on 
 fire ! The songs tell us that the girls are famed 
 for their beauty here : you have seen a moon- 
 faced one behind a curtain, and you are going to 
 be married ! Wallah-Billah ! brimstone and 
 tinder are like wet clay when compared to the 
 heart of a youth/ 
 
 ' Indeed,' said Hassan, laughing, ' I have seen 
 no moon-faced houri here, and 1 have no thoughts 
 of marriage/ He added more gravely — ^ I want 
 the money for a purpose which I cannot tell you, 
 though if I did, you could not disapprove it/ 
 
 Mohammed Aga, seeing that opposition was 
 useless, and feeling that he had in truth no right 
 to keep back from Hassan what was his own, 
 counted out the money to him the same evening, 
 and took his receipt, to be presented to Hadji 
 Ismael.
 
 7^ HASSAN. 
 
 The following morning, about tliree hours after 
 sunrise,, when Hassan had made sure that the 
 chief clerk was busily employed in the Governor's 
 divan, he bent his steps to the guard-house, and 
 on asking for Ibrahim the kawass, was at once ad- 
 mitted to the presence of that important official. 
 
 After the customary salutations, Hassan in- 
 formed him that the merchant to whom he had 
 yesterday alluded, had agreed to advance the 
 money, and that he was now prepared to pay the 
 two thousand piasters due by the Arab, on receiv- 
 ing a discharge in full for the debt, sealed by the 
 proper officer in the divan. 
 
 'That is easily done,' said the kawass; 'take a 
 pipe and a cup of coffee, and in five minutes the 
 paper will be here.' 
 
 Having given the requisite instructions to one 
 of his subordinates, he resumed the conversation 
 with Hassan upon general topics, it being appa- 
 rently indifferent to him to know what merchant 
 in Damanhour could be so foolish as to advance 
 money of which he Avould never be repaid a far- 
 thing. 
 
 In a few minutes the messenger returned, 
 bringing a paper bearing the seals of the treasurer 
 and chief scribe of the Governor's divan, and 
 setting forth that Abou-Hamedi, of the Gemeal
 
 HASSAN VISITS ABOU-IIAMEDI. 77 
 
 tribe^ having discharged all tlie taxes and charges 
 due by him up to date^ was free to return to his 
 place of abode. 
 
 Hassan having paid the money and placed the 
 document in his girdle^ inquired of the kawass 
 where the prisoner was confined_, and whether he 
 could see him alone. 
 
 ' He is in the room at the back of that small 
 yard/ replied the kawass, 'where you see the 
 sentry walking before the door. I will tell him 
 to open it and come away, as his service is no 
 longer required. You will not find the Arab 
 alone, because, as you had taken an interest in 
 him, I allowed his family to remain with him.' 
 
 ' May your honoiu- increase and your days be 
 long,' said Hassan, saluting him, and going 
 towards the door of the cell, which the sentry, by 
 desire of the kawass, opened, and then came away. 
 
 On entering the chamber, Hassan found that 
 it was more spacious than he had expected, and 
 was partially lighted by two apertures near the 
 roof, secured by cross-bars of iron. The place 
 being considered sufficiently secure, the manacles 
 had been removed from the hands of the Arab, 
 and he was seated on the floor, his sister and wife 
 beside him, and his children at his feet. 
 
 Ko sooner did Hassan enter the room than the
 
 78 HASSAN. 
 
 wife sprang from lier sitting posture, crying 
 aloud — 
 
 ^ It is he ! it is he ! we shall be saved yet/ 
 
 Abou-Hamedi also arose, and all the rest of 
 the family came crowding towards Hassan. The 
 Arab, who had been informed the preceding even- 
 ing by his wife of our hero's generous intentions, 
 as well as of his having provided them with the 
 bread on which they had supped, now expressed 
 to him briefly, but with much emotion, the grati- 
 tude which he felt for the sympathy he had 
 shown him. 
 
 ' You are of the Desert blood,' he said ; ' and 
 whether Allah give success to your endeavours or 
 not, you have our thanks.' 
 
 'Brother, you are free,' said Hassan; 'free as 
 the winds of the desert ; here is the Government 
 receipt for your debt; and as you have been 
 stripped of all, and must have something where- 
 with to recommence your toil for a livelihood, 
 here are five hundred piasters ; put them in your 
 girdle; fate is uncertain, Allah only is enduring; 
 I am now rich, some day I may be poor and you 
 rich, then you may repay me,' 
 
 Words cannot paint the tumultuous joy of 
 those poor women as they crowded to kiss the 
 hands and feet of Hassan, calling every blessing
 
 A RECOGNITION. 79 
 
 of heaven on his head. The wife^ however, on 
 looking at her husband's countenance as he almost 
 mechanically took the document and the money 
 which Hassan placed in his hand, was frightened 
 at its strange and wild expression ; no Avord of 
 satisfaction or gratitude escaped from his lips, as 
 seizing Hassan by the arm he drew him to a part 
 of the cell where a stray sunbeam forced its way 
 through the barred aperture ; when it fell on Has- 
 san's face, the Arab, scanning his features with 
 eyes almost starting from their sockets, said — 
 
 ' Yes, yes ; years have passed ; the youth has 
 become a man ; the eye, the voice, the form, are 
 only his ! Speak,^ he continued, almost savagely ; 
 '^do you remember one Avho strove to stab you in 
 the Meidan of Alexandria, and whom you threw to 
 the ground by a wrestling trick ? -'Twas I ! ^twas 
 I ! and had you known me yesterday, instead of 
 giving me money and freedom, you would have 
 gone to that cursed Turk's divan to feast your eyes 
 with a sight of my mangled feet.' So saying, he 
 dashed the paper and the money furiously on the 
 ground. 
 
 ' Brother,' replied Hassan, gravely, ^ I knew you 
 yesterday at the first glance as well as you know 
 me now. You were in misfortune and misery, 
 and all that had passed before was forgotten.^
 
 8o HASSAN. 
 
 For a moment the evil passions struggled for 
 tlie mastery in that wild breast; it was but for a 
 moment; the sight of his children and of the 
 paper which secured his freedom called up the 
 better feelings of his rude nature, and casting 
 himself into Hassan's arms, he w^ept like a child. 
 
 Without having read or heard of the Scriptures, 
 the generous impulse of Hassan's heart had taught 
 him how to ' heap coals of fire on the head of 
 an enemy ;' and the deadly hatred which Abou- 
 Hamedi had entertained against him since the 
 day of their first meeting was melted in a 
 moment. 
 
 It was difficult for Hassan to tear himself 
 away from the overflowing gratitude of the AraVs 
 family. One only, the unmarried sister, had pre- 
 served a continuous silence, as became her condi- 
 tion; but she looked upon her brother's preserver 
 with eyes swimming in tears, and when he bade 
 them farewell and left the room, she felt as if all 
 life and sunshine had departed with him. 
 
 Little did Abou-Hamedi know when he thrust 
 into his girdle the five hundred piasters, given 
 him by Hassan, that the latter had not even a 
 dollar left. He had said, ' I am rich,' and in 
 truth rich he was — rich in youth, and strength, 
 and hope — rich in the esteem and affection of his
 
 ABOU-HAMEDI RETURNS TO THE DESERT. 8 1 
 
 emploj^er — above all^ rich in the possession of a 
 heart which felt in giving his all to relieve dis- 
 tress a pleasure unknown to the miser who has 
 found a treasure. 
 
 Hassan remained outside the guard-house talk- 
 ing to the kawass on various subjects until he 
 had seen Abou-Hamedi and his fiimily clear of 
 its precincts, and retiring unmolested in the 
 direction of the desert. The Arab looking back 
 once at the retreating figure of his preserver, 
 muttered to himself — ' Allah preserve you, brave 
 youth. If ever you meet Abou-Hamedi again 
 when you are in need, you shall find that he re- 
 members good as w ell as evil ; but w^e will leave 
 this cursed district, where sorrow and tyranny 
 pursue us ; we will go to our cousins w^ho have 
 their tents near Fayoom.^* 
 
 When Mohammed Aga met his young friend 
 in the evening, he asked whether he had com- 
 menced that wonderful speculation which he kept 
 so secret. 
 
 ' It is all laid out already,^ replied Hassan, 
 smiling. 
 
 ' Hasty bargains lead to repentance^^ said the 
 
 * Fayoom is a fertile region in Upper Egypt, on the left 
 bank of the Nile. 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 8z HASSAN. 
 
 old clerk^ shaking liis head ; ' pray what ' makseV 
 (profit) do you expect to make V 
 
 * It has paid me a good interest already, and I 
 am quite satisfied. Do not ask me any more 
 about it/ said Hassan, looking rather confused, 
 for concealment was foreign to his nature. 
 
 Mohammed Aga refrained from asking him any 
 more questions, but, partly from curiosity and 
 partly from the interest which he felt in Hassan's 
 welfare, he was determined before leaving Daman- 
 hour to learn how he had disposed of his little 
 property. Nor was the task by any means diffi- 
 cult ; for in small towns in the east as well as in 
 the west everybody knows and talks about every- 
 thing that everybody says or does. The chief 
 clerk, therefore, had no difficulty on the following 
 day in tracing Hassan to the guard-house, where he 
 had been seen talking to Ibrahim the kawass. To 
 find that well-known individual was the work of a 
 few minutes, and a few more spent with him over 
 a cup of coffee and a pipe drew from him all that 
 he knew of the transaction, including the release 
 of the Arab family on Hassan's paying their debt 
 of two thousand piasters. ' You see, Aga,' added 
 the kawass, concluding his narrative, ^ it was my 
 duty to release them Avhen the money was paid, 
 and not to inquire whence it came ; but if you are
 
 HASSAN RETURNS TO ALEXANDRIA. S^ 
 
 the mercliaiit -wliom the young man mentioned as 
 ^nlling to advance it on any security offered by 
 the Arab^ Avhy I fear — ^ Here he looked very 
 significantly at ]Nrohammed_, and threw out a long 
 puff of smoke from his chibouque. 
 
 ' Then you think the Arab cannot pay back the 
 money ?' inquired Mohammed. 
 
 * Not a dollar of it/ answered the kawass. 
 
 ' The Governor would have ordered him the basti- 
 nado as an example to others_, but two bad seasons 
 have left the poor deviPs purse as empty as my 
 pipe.^ So saying he shook out its ashes, and left 
 Mohammed to his own meditations. 
 
 ' That boy will never have a farthing to bless 
 his grey hairs with ! Money in his hand is like 
 water in a sieve, and yet, and yet/ — here the old 
 clerk passed the back of his hand across his eyes, 
 — ' Allah bless him an hundredfold.^ He walked 
 slowly home, and without saying a word to Hassan 
 of his meeting with the kawass, he told him that, 
 as the affairs for which they had come to Damanhour 
 were now settled, they might return to Alexandria, 
 which they did on the following day Avithout meet- 
 ing with accident or adventure by the way. 
 
 The morning after their return Mohammed 
 Aga went to the private room of the merchant to 
 deliver the money which he had collected^ and 
 G 2
 
 84 HASSAN. 
 
 give a general account of his mission, in doing 
 which he placed in the Hadji's hands Hassan's 
 receipt for two thousand five hundred piasters. 
 
 ' By your head/ said the merchant to his clerk, 
 ' tell me what has the youth done with that 
 money at Damanhour?' 
 
 Mohammed then told him the whole story 
 from beginning to end_, as related by the kawass. 
 
 ^ And what has he left in your hands ?^ in- 
 quired the merchant_, walking up and down the 
 room in evident emotion. 
 
 ^ Nothing/ replied the clerk. ' Two thousand 
 five hundred piasters were due to him ; two thou- 
 sand he paid for the liberation of the Arab_, and I 
 doubt not that he gave him the remainder.^ 
 
 ' Mohammed/ said the merchant, after a silence 
 of some minutes, ' as he wished to keep this 
 secret, do not mention it to any one, nor let him 
 know that you have told it to me. If it were 
 spoken about, it would take from the youth the 
 pleasure he now derives from it, and what say the 
 traditions of the Prophet (on whose name be 
 glory and peace !) — ' The good deeds done by the 
 faithful in secret. He shall reward them openly on 
 the day of judgment.-' '
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HASSAN APPEABS IN THE CHARACTER OF * ORLANDO IN * AS 
 TOU LIKE it' — HE RECEIVES A LIBERAL OUTFIT FROM 
 HIS PATRON, AND PREPARES TO LEAVE FOR CAIRO WITH 
 
 MR. Thorpe's party. 
 
 A 
 
 FEW days after the events recorded in the 
 last chapter, it happened that Mr. Foyster 
 and Demetri were walking homeward from the 
 bazaar, where they had been making some pm^- 
 chases for the boat, when they fell in with 
 Hassan, who was also returning towards the house 
 of Hadji Ismael. 
 
 Hassan was well acquainted with Demetri, who 
 had frequently amused his leisure hours with 
 tales of the countries he had visited, and the 
 wonderful feats he had performed, in which latter 
 branch the Greek had drawn far more liberally on 
 his invention than on his memory. The youth 
 had also seen Mr, Foyster at the British mer- 
 chant's house, and knew him to be an attendant 
 on the rich English family, whose approaching 
 excursion up the Nile was already the theme of 
 general conversation. The place where they met 
 happening to be immediately in front of a coffee-
 
 S6 HASSAN. 
 
 shop^ Demetri proposed that they should rest for 
 a few ininutes_, and take a cup of coffee. While 
 they were thus occupied — Demetrius two com- 
 panions listening to his flowery description of 
 the wonders of Upper Egypt — a Moghrebi,* of 
 gigantic and herculean proportions^ who had pro- 
 bably been indulging in a forbidden drink more 
 stimulating than coffee^ came up, and his fanati- 
 cism being roused at the sight of Mr. Foyster^s 
 dress, he cried out to him, in an angry voice — 
 
 ' Get up, Christian dog, and give me your seat.^ 
 
 The valet, not understanding a word, looked at 
 Demetri for an explanation. The latter, much 
 alarmed, and evidently not desirous of exhibiting 
 any feat of valour similar to those of which he had 
 often boasted, said to the Moghrebi — 
 
 ^ He is a stranger, and does not understand 
 your speech.' 
 
 ' Does he not ?' replied the other ; ^ then per- 
 haps he will understand this,' and so saying he 
 kicked the seat from under Mr. Foyster with 
 such force that the latter fell backwards on the 
 ground. 
 
 * The Arabs of the north-western shores of Africa are 
 termed 'Moghrebin/ from the word 'Moghreb,' 'the place 
 of the setting sun.' Most of the pehlivans or wrestlers seen 
 in Egypt are Moghrebin.
 
 HASSAN APPEAllS IN A NEW CHARACTER. 87 
 
 While this was being enacted, Demetri whis- 
 pered to Hassan — 
 
 ' Let us make haste to sret awav from this 
 place. That is the noted Pehlivan.* He carries 
 four men on his shoulders ; he is an elephant.' 
 
 Mr. Foyster was not, in the common sense of 
 the word, a coward — that is, in a dispute with a 
 man of his own size he would have risked getting 
 a black eye rather than patiently take a drubbing; 
 but his courage was not of the heroic cast Avliich 
 sets aside all calculation of chances, and a glance 
 at the ^loghrebi showed him that he might as well 
 think of measuring his strength with the champion 
 of the English ring, 
 
 ' Why do you insult the stranger, and kick his 
 seat from him T said Hassan to the Moghrebi. 
 ^ He offered you no offence.' 
 
 ' Offence'/ replied the Moghrebi, scornfully, 'his 
 presence is an offence. Is he not a dog of an 
 infidel V 
 
 ^ There is no God but Allah, and Mahomet is 
 his prophet,' said Hassan. ' Those who are ig- 
 norant of the truth are to be pitied ; but our lord 
 (Mohammed Ali) has made friends with these 
 Franks. They buy and sell here in peace; and 
 
 * Pehlivan is the name common in Turkey, Arabia, and 
 Persia for a ' wrestler,' or ' athlete.'
 
 «« HASSAN. 
 
 it is not rig-lit to strike or insult tliem without 
 cause in our streets/ 
 
 * And who are you, youngster, who dare to 
 preach to me V said the athlete, contemptuously. 
 ' Are you perhaps a Sheik, or a Mollah, or a 
 KMi?^ 
 
 ' I am a man, and I fear not a wise one, for 
 wasting my words upon an ox without under- 
 standing,^ replied Hassan, his eyes kindling with 
 anger. 
 
 ^ You are a bastard (Ehn-Haram),' shouted 
 the athlete ; ^ and if you had half a beard I would 
 spit upon it/ 
 
 The reader may recollect, in the first chapter, 
 that it was this abusive epithet (accidentally re- 
 sembling the name given to him in his childhood), 
 which had been the original cause of his leaving 
 his desert home. Hearing it now applied to him 
 before a score of spectators, his fury was no longer 
 to be controlled. Springing upon the Moghrebi 
 with the bound of a tiger, he seized him by the 
 throat, and a fearful struggle ensued. 
 
 Although the athlete w^ar, the heavier and more 
 bulky man, it soon appeared that Hassan was his 
 equal in strength, and far his superior in activity. 
 After a contest of some minutes, in which each 
 displayed a complete mastery of all the sleights of
 
 A WRESTLING MATCH. 89 
 
 wrestling, Hassan succeeded in passing his hand 
 under the leg of his gigantic opponent, and lifting 
 him fairly in his arms, dashed him Avith terrific 
 force on the ground. Hassan stood for a moment 
 looking on his fallen opponent, from whose mouth 
 and nostrils flowed a stream of blood. The people 
 from the coffee-shop now crowded round him : 
 some threw water on his face, and in a short time 
 he recovered sufficiently to raise himself up ; but 
 he was in no condition to renew the struggle, 
 and Hassan walked away T\dth his two companions, 
 followed by the ejaculations of the bystanders — 
 * Mashallah ! wonderful '/ — the greater part of 
 them being rejoiced at the discomfiture of the 
 athlete, who was indeed a notorious brawler and 
 bully. 
 
 The same evening, when Mr. Foyster was in 
 attendance on the Thorpe family assembled at 
 supper, he was so full of the day^s adventure that 
 he could not help muttering to himself half- 
 audibly — ' Wonderful ! wonderful V — till Selden 
 Thorpe, overhearing him, inquired what had hap- 
 pened to occasion these exclamations. This was all 
 that ^Ir. Foyster required to let loose his tongue, 
 for he piqued himself not a little on his powers 
 of description. 
 
 ' Why you see, sir,' he said, ' Demetri and I
 
 90 HASSAN. 
 
 was coming home this afternoon, when we stopped 
 at a cofFee-shop to take a cup of coffee with a 
 young man a friend of his — he^s an Arab they 
 say, but a very civil spoken lad, and, I will say, 
 as \^nsome as a pictur/ (Dr. Moss gave a groan 
 and Emily smiled.) ' Well, as we was a sipping 
 our coffee, up comes a great burly fellow of her- 
 culaneum portions — ^ 
 
 ' Herculean proportions,' interrupted Dr. 
 Moss. 
 
 MVell, Doctor,' said Mr. Foyster, with some 
 indignation, ' when a person is relating an anti- 
 dote, a syllable more or less don't make so much 
 difference. As I was a-sayin', this great big fellow 
 comes up and says something to me — I don't know 
 what, but Demetri tells me it warn't noways civil — 
 and without waitin' for any answer, he kicks the 
 seat from under me, so in course I fell on the 
 ground. Demetri's young friend, whom he calls 
 Hassan, asked him very purlitely what he does 
 that for; and the big fellow gave him a saucy 
 answer. Hassan, still quiet and civil, expostilated 
 with him again ; and, to say the truth, I thought 
 as how he didn't much fancy quarrellin' with him, 
 no more than I did, for he was a terrible strong 
 fellow, and goes about the streets carrying six 
 men on his shoulders. Then he abused young
 
 MR. FOYSTERS NARRATIVE. 91 
 
 Hassan dreadful, as Demetri told me, callin' his 
 parents bad names, and telling liim if he had a 
 beard he would spit on it. Lord, sir, you should 
 have seen that young savage^s face when he heard 
 them words — you know that Arabs is but savages 
 after all — his two eyes shone like burning coals — 
 he sprung upon the big fellow, who tried to throw 
 him, but warn^t no use at all — young Hassan 
 raised him in his arms, and held him up just like 
 that statute in master^s library, of a man killing 
 the learned hyder ;' {' Hercules and the Lernsean 
 hydra,^ groaned Dr. ^loss.) ' and then, sir, he 
 dashed him on the ground, so that all his blood 
 spurted out of his nose and mouth. ^ 
 
 ^ Was the man killed ?^ inquired Emily. 
 
 * No, Miss, not quite ; but 1^11 be bound he^ll 
 show off no more of his strength nor bullying 
 here : he^s got his month's allowance, and that, 
 too, from a youth scarce come to his full 
 growth.' 
 
 ^ It must be the same lad,' said Selden, ^ whom 
 I saw talking to Demetri the last time that I went 
 
 to ^Ir. 's to cash a bill — tall, with a dark 
 
 complexion, and large black eyes.' 
 
 'That's him,' said Mr. Foyster; 'there's none 
 like him in size and looks hereabouts, and Deme- 
 tri says that everybody likes him as he's so good-
 
 gz HASSAN. 
 
 tempered^ and never quarrels witli nobody/ Here 
 the conversation dropped, and the Thorpe family- 
 betook themselves to their usual avocations, Dr. 
 ]Moss retiring to his own room to work at his 
 Arabic grammar and vocabulary with renewed 
 ardour. 
 
 The preparations of the Dahabiah were now 
 nearly completed. It had been found, however, 
 that after all she was too small to accommodate 
 all the party with comfort, so a second of a 
 smaller size had been hired, on board of which 
 slept the Doctor and Selden, and it was arranged 
 that the two boats were always to keep close 
 together, the cooking and meals being on board 
 of the larger. 
 
 It was about this time that, after receiving a 
 letter from Cairo, Hadji Ismael sent one morning 
 for Hassan, and told him that a new commission 
 had arrived, in the execution of which his assist- 
 ance would be requisite. 
 
 ' Upon my head and eyes be it,' said the youth. 
 
 ' I have received a letter from my friend Ali 
 Pasha, commonly called Deli Pasha;* he tells 
 me that our lord, Ibrahim Pasha, saw the horses 
 
 * Deli signifies 'mad' in the Turkish language, but it is 
 frequentl}^ applied to those who have distinguished themselves 
 in war by acts of daring courage.
 
 .AN ADVANTAGEOUS OFFER. 93 
 
 which I sent to Constantinople two or three years 
 ago, and was so much pleased with them that he 
 gave great praise to his servant (me), saying that 
 no horse commission had heen so well executed 
 as this. Our lord Ibrahim Pasha has now de- 
 sired Dell Pasha to write to me and find out 
 who purchased these horses for me, and if pos- 
 sible to send the person up to Cairo, where his 
 services are much required. Now, Hassan, as 
 you had the chief trouble and merit of that pur- 
 chase, I propose to send you to Deli Pasha on 
 this matter. It may open you a way to fortune.-* 
 
 ' You are my uncle/* replied Hassan ; ' and I 
 am ready to go where you wish, and my fortune 
 is in the hand of Allah.^ 
 
 ' Nay, my son,^ said the good merchant ; ^ it is 
 bitter to my heart to part with you, but you know 
 that it is not consistent with the circumstances of 
 your birth and early youth that you should re- 
 main always in this town ; do you not wish to go 
 to Cairo ? Perhaps, by the blessing of Allah, you 
 may learn things there which concern your hap- 
 piness V 
 
 Hassan saw at once that his fosterfather had 
 communicated to the Hadji some of the mysterious 
 
 * The word * Uncle ' is frequently used in Arabic as a 
 term of respectful affection.
 
 94 HASSAN. 
 
 circumstances attending his early childlioocl^ so be 
 replied — 
 
 ^ It is true that I have a weight on my heart, 
 and if I could remove it by a journey to Cairo, it 
 would be a blessed journey indeed/ 
 
 ' You would seek for a father ; is it not so V 
 said the Hadji. 
 
 * It is so/ replied Hassan. ^ I have made search 
 and inquiry in Alexandria without success ; but I 
 am sure I shall find him, for I have taken a ^faP 
 in the Khoran,* and the words that I found were, 
 ' The faithful who seek shall not be disappointed 
 in their hope/ ^ 
 
 ^Inshallah! your hope will be fulfilled!^ replied 
 the merchant. ' Have you anything with you, by 
 which a parent, if found, could recognise you ?^ 
 
 Hassan undid his long girdle, and from its 
 inmost folds produced the relics given him by his 
 
 * Taking a Fal, or an omen, is a very common practice 
 all over the East among persons who are in doubt as to 
 the advisableness of any scheme or project which they 
 wish to undertake ; it is done in various ways, sometimes 
 with beads, sometimes with books ; but in matters of a serious 
 nature the Koran is usually resorted to. The person wishing 
 to consult the oracle takes up the sacred book, and after 
 putting it reverently to his forehead, opens it at random, and 
 reads the first passage that meets his eyes; if the text is 
 favourable, or can be construed favourably to his project, he 
 follows it out with confidence of success.
 
 THE HADJI GIVES HASSAN AN OUTFIT. 95 
 
 fostermother. The mercliant examined them at- 
 tentively. 
 
 ' These wonld be sufficient/ he said^ ' to iden- 
 tify you ; but, Hassan, if you go to Cairo, remem- 
 ber that there are many accidents by ^yater and 
 by land ; you might be robbed, and could never 
 replace them. You had better leave some of them 
 with me ; I will keep them for you in my iron 
 chest ; whenever you require them, you can send 
 for them.' 
 
 Hassan cheerfully acquiesced in the proposal 
 of his kind patron, and reserving only the quaintly- 
 devised amulet, he gave up the remainder, receiv- 
 ing from the merchant a paper describing them 
 accurately, and bearing the merchant's seal. 
 
 The worthy Hadji v»^as indeed grieved to part 
 with his protege, for whom he entertained an 
 affection almost paternal ; but having resolved to 
 do so, for the youth's owti advantage, his chief 
 anxiety now was to secure that, and to furnish 
 him well for the journey. For this purpose he 
 desired ]Mohammed Aga to procure a pair of stout 
 saddlebags, into wliich he put two complete suits 
 of clothes, and also two small Cas^hmere shawls ; 
 with respect to these last theHadji whispered — ^You 
 need not wear these unless you find a father in 
 some great man, but they may be useful to you as
 
 95 HASSAN. 
 
 presents.' He also presented liim with a sword of 
 excellent temper^ a slight but beautifully w^orked 
 Persian dagger, and a pair of English pistols ; to 
 these he added a well-filled purse ; but observing 
 some hesitation in Hassan's countenance, the 
 kind-hearted Hadji added with a smile — ^Nay, it 
 is almost all due to you for past services ; but I 
 shall write to Deli Pasha and inform him that 
 your salary is prepaid for three months from this 
 date/ Hassan kissed the hand of his benefactor, 
 his heart was too full for speech, and he could 
 only utter — 
 
 ^ If I find a father, may he be like Hadji 
 Ismael/ 
 
 Of personal vanity Hassan was as free as from 
 the foibles which usually attend it ; but it cannot 
 be denied that when he walked out in the 
 full dress and equipment proper to a young 
 Bedouin Sheik, he walked with a prouder step, 
 and the day-dreams which he had nourished con- 
 cerning his future destiny took a firmer hold of his 
 imagination. 
 
 ' Whither bound, my brother T called out to 
 him Demetri, on meeting him near the door of 
 the merchant's house. ' Mashallah ! you have the 
 air and costume of a bridegroom! Who is the 
 moon-faced one whom you have chosen ? By our
 
 DEMETRI S PROPOSAL TO HASSAN. 97 
 
 head, Hassan, it is not well to keep these things 
 secret from your friends. When is the wedding 
 to taive place?' 
 
 ^ Nay, there is no wedding in the case/ said 
 Hassan, laughing. ' The Hadji is going to send 
 me on a commission to Cairo, and he has given 
 me this dress and these arms.' 
 
 ' ^lay Allah reward him,' said the merry 
 Greek. 'To Cairo, said you? Why, the Fates 
 are propitious. We are going there likewise. 
 Inshallah, we will go together.' 
 
 ' How may that be ?' demanded Hassan. ' You 
 are going with that rich Frank family, and I hear 
 that your boat will be so crowded with luggage 
 and people, that there will not be room for a 
 sparrow on board.' 
 
 ' Nonsense,' replied the Greek. ' There is 
 always room for a friend. The English servant 
 and I can do as we please, for the old Englishman 
 troubles himself about nothing, so long as he 
 has his books, and a few old bricks and tiles to 
 look at.' 
 
 ' Bricks and tiles !' said Hassan. ' Why, is he 
 going to build a house in Upper Egypt?' 
 
 * No ; but by my father's head, he is mad about 
 old bricks. The other day he made me go with 
 him all round the mounds near Pompey's Pillar, 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 HASSAM. 
 
 and lie brought back with him nearly an ass-load 
 of fragments of stone,, bricks^ and potteiy/ 
 
 ^ Wonderful V said Hassan. ' But why do you 
 think the English servant would be willing to give 
 me a passage in the boat V 
 
 ' Why/ replied Demetri ; ' because ever since 
 the day that you threw down the Moghrebi bully 
 who had kicked his seat from under him^ he does 
 nothing but talk of you. Never fear; he will be 
 delighted to have yonr company ; and we will tell 
 the old gentleman that if we have you on board, 
 all the thieves and robbers within twenty miles of 
 the bank will disappear as by magic. ^ 
 
 ^Nay/ said Hassan, laughing; ^ do not tell 
 him anything that might lead him to think me a 
 boasting fool. But you certainly may tell him 
 that, if he gives me gi passage, and any danger or 
 trouble occurs, I shall be ready to tender the best 
 service in my power.' 
 
 On this they parted, and Demetri, who never 
 permitted the grass to grow on any plan that he 
 had in his head, communicated it the same day to 
 Mr. Foyster, who relished it extremely, being well 
 satisfied to have by him in case of need a stouter 
 heart and arm than that with which Providence 
 had blessed the Greek interpreter. Accordingly, 
 they proceeded together to Mr. Thorpe, and ex-
 
 HASSAN STARTS FOR CAIRO. 99 
 
 plained to him the advantages to be derived from 
 the proposed addition to their party. 
 
 ' But/ said ^f r. Thorpe, ^ I fear we have no 
 cabin vacant.' 
 
 ^ Cabin !' echoed Pemetri. ^ Does yom' excel- 
 lency think that a son of the desert like him 
 would go into a cabin ? No, no. With his 
 bornoos (cloak) over him, and his khordj (saddle- 
 bags) under his head, he will sleep like a prince on 
 any part of the deck.' 
 
 Mr. Thorpe having no other objection to make, 
 and the ladies being curious to see the hero of 
 Mr. Foyster's narrative, no further persuasion was 
 requisite, and Hadji Ismael, on his part^ was 
 heartily glad that his young protege had found so 
 convenient and easy a conveyance to Cairo. 
 
 It was with sincere and mutual regret that 
 Hassan parted with Mohammed Aga and his son 
 Ahmed, who had shown him such invariable 
 kindness during the three or four years that he 
 had spent in Alexandria. But ^destiny had 
 written it,' and it is wonderful to see the compo- 
 sure with which good Mussulmen resign them- 
 selves even to the heaviest misfortunes with that 
 phrase on their tongue. 
 
 The chief clerk, in bidding adieu to Hassan, 
 put a letter into his hand. ^ Take this, my son,' 
 H 2
 
 lOO HASSAN. 
 
 he said. ^ It is addressed to Ahmed Aga, the 
 Mirakhor^* and favourite Mameluke of Deli Pasha. 
 I have known him long_, and I trust he will be a 
 good friend to you.^ 
 
 It may truly be said that Hassan in quitting 
 the merchant's house left universal regret behind 
 him. Even the old Berber bowab (porter) said, 
 ^ Allah preserve him. He was a good youth. 
 Every Bairam he gave me a dollar, and if I was 
 half asleep and kept him at the door, he never 
 cursed my father.' 
 
 * Mirakhor, a Persian word commonly used throughout 
 Turkey, meaning * master of the horse.'
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN GOING UP THE MAHMOUDIAH CANAL AN INCIDENT 
 OCCrES WHICH ENDS IM HASSAN's GETTING A WOUND, 
 AND EMILY THOEPE WEITING A LETTEE. 
 
 IT was a fine autumnal day, about the middle 
 of October, that the Thorpe party embarked 
 on the dahabiahs destined to convey them on their 
 Nile expedition. The boats were moored to the 
 banks of the Mahmoudiah canal, just opposite the 
 pleasant and shady garden then occupied by 
 Moharrem Bey, a relation of the Viceroy's by 
 marriage. 
 
 The commissariat department was, for the day, 
 divided in its charge — Mr. Foyster despatching 
 the packages from town, and Demetri superin- 
 tending their delivery and stowage on board. As 
 donkey followed donkey, and porter followed porter 
 to the place of embarkation, the active Greek 
 distributed the packages in their several places; 
 but the space and his patience were well nigh 
 exhausted by their variety and multitude. There 
 were Mr. Thorpe's clothes and books, and 
 measuring instruments ; and a box of tools for 
 excavation ; and heaven knows what beside. Then
 
 102 HASSAN. 
 
 there were young INTr. T/s guns and ammu- 
 nition; the Doctor's books; Mrs. T/s dresses 
 and bonnets; Miss T/s ditto, with drawing- 
 books and a guitar — these, and other sundries, the 
 greater part of which Demetri considered as use- 
 less, Avere all to be added to the well-filled boxes 
 and hampers of wine, spirits, tea, sugar, preserves, 
 pickles, and a thousand other things, with 
 which his assiduity and Mr. Thorpe's guineas had 
 filled every available bunker and corner of the 
 boats. 
 
 Hassan had gone down early to the place of 
 embarkation, not knowing exactly the hour at 
 which the start was to take place ; so Demetri 
 availed himself of this circumstance to make him 
 instanter his lieutenant, in urging the porters and 
 the sailors to hasten the stowage of the multi- 
 farious baggage. 
 
 ' By your head, Hassan, you are welcome V 
 cried the busy Greek ; ^ had you not come, we 
 should not have finished this work to-day, for 
 these fellows are asses and the sons and grandsons 
 of asses. Here — here, you blind dog V shouted 
 he to a sturdy fellow who was carrying a hamper 
 into the smaller dahabiah, * did I not tell you to 
 put that in the large boat V 
 
 Here he paused ; and mping the perspiration
 
 THE ElMBARKATION. lOj 
 
 from his foreliead, said in an undertone to Has- 
 san — 
 
 ' Mr. Foyster and I keep the wine-store in this 
 boat to have it under our own eye. The tutor 
 and the young gentleman are in the small boat, 
 and they cannot require wine.^ 
 
 ^ If they are to study/ replied Hassan, smiling, 
 ' I doubt not that Nile water would be better for 
 them ; but you should know better than I, who 
 am not a student or a drinker of wine.^ 
 
 ' That is the only fault you have, my lad,* said 
 Demetri ; ' there is nothing like wine to open the 
 heart and brighten the eye. Oh ! you pig,' 
 shouted he to another burly fellow going towards 
 the cabin door ; ' are you going to carry that 
 kafass full of fowls into the ladies' sleeping cabin V 
 So saying, he jumped upon the luckless porter, 
 and with a few smart blows of his courbatch sent 
 him forward with his chicken-load. 
 
 With the assistance of Hassan, Demetri con- 
 trived to get the multifarious boxes into something 
 like order and arrangement by the time that a 
 cloud of dust, and the braying of half-a-dozen 
 donkeys announced the approach of the Thorpe 
 party, led by paterfamilias and his lady — the rear 
 being brought up by Mr. Foyster and Mary Powell, 
 who carried in her lap ' Flora' — ]Miss Emily's pet
 
 104 HASSAN. 
 
 spaniel ; which last, if allowed to run, would have 
 been soon devoured by the packs of snarling and 
 yelping dogs that lined the road from the town 
 to the banks of the canal. 
 
 Once fairly embarked, the remainder of the 
 day was spent in what travellers call in homely 
 phrase — ' shaking down into their places / as 
 the boats, sometimes under easy sail, sometimes 
 tracked from the shore, wound their slow way 
 along the w aters of the Mahmoudiah. 
 
 The voyage from Alexandria to Atfeh, the point 
 at which the canal joins the Nile, is of itself so 
 dull, and is, moreover, so familiar, either by expe- 
 rience or description, to the world in general, that 
 it scarcely merits a separate notice. Nevertheless, 
 as it may not be uninteresting to see the impression 
 which it produced uj^on a mind to which the 
 scenery and the incidents of Egyptian travel are 
 altogether new, we wdll commit the indiscretion 
 of looking over Emily Thorpe^s shoulder, and 
 transcribing, for the benefit of our readers, a letter 
 which she wrote at Atfeh to her school-mate and 
 bosom friend, Henrietta Clayton, who was passing 
 the winter with her parents in Malta.
 
 A YOUNG LADY S LETTER. 105 
 
 ♦Atfeh, Oct. 182—. 
 ' My dearest Henrietta^ — Would that you 
 were now beside me, to share, and thus to 
 enhance, tlie enjoyments of this deHghtful 
 country, where the sky, the air, the vege- 
 tation, the people, seem all of another world ; 
 the only old acquaintances that meet your eye 
 being the sparrows and the crows — they indeed 
 twitter and caw as they do elsewhere; but even 
 the donkeys here differ as much from their bre- 
 thren in England as an Arab does from a Yorkshire 
 ploughman ; perhaps you have a better experience 
 of that animal in Malta, but my recollection of 
 the creature in England is always coupled wdth 
 the idea of two panniers of cabbages, or wretched, 
 lazy, wearied animals, such as abound on our 
 commons and at watering-places ; whereas the 
 Egyptian donkey seems to me a worthy comrade 
 of the Arab horse. It was my delight to ride on 
 one in Alexandria, which w^as brought to me by a 
 bare-footed urchin scarcely twelve years old. Sel- 
 den accompanied me — rather against his will, for 
 he considers donkey-riding a bore — and I scam- 
 pered all round the town, neither the donkey nor 
 the unshod driver showing the slightest symptom 
 of a desire to rest : indeed, if the former had done 
 so, it would have been of no avail, for the urchin
 
 lo5 HASSAN. 
 
 was close behind my saddle^ calling to him, and 
 panting and grinning as if he enjoyed the fun as 
 much as I did ! However, as I wrote to you from 
 Alexandria, I will now proceed to give you a 
 sketch of our voyage np the canal to this 
 place. 
 
 ^ Henrietta dear, did you ever see a drawing of 
 a Nile-boat called a dahabiah ? It is a marvellous 
 specimen of ship-building, and has, I believe, un- 
 dergone but little change since the days of Cleo- 
 patra. Our largest (for we have two) is about 
 ninety feet long, and sixteen or seventeen broad ; 
 one half of the whole length is occupied by our 
 cabins, which are six feet high, and very cosy. 
 Mamma has the one next to the stern; mine ad- 
 joins hers on one side and Mary PowelFs on the 
 other. Then papa has a little place where he 
 sleeps, and which he calls his den ; and a projDer 
 den it is, for when he is once in it with his books 
 and his boxes about him, he can scarcely turn 
 round : but his head is so full of the pyramids 
 that he thinks and dreams of nothing else. The 
 front or outer cabin is our dining and drawing 
 room : it is a magnificent apartment, fourteen feet 
 by eight, with cupboards in the corners, and under 
 all the sofas, where Foyster keeps his mysterious 
 treasures. (Do you know, Henrietta, I begin to
 
 A DAHABIAH DESCRIBED. 107 
 
 think he is a great rogue^ though perhaps not so 
 great as our dragoman Demetri ; they both ^ font 
 les yeux doux ' at Mary, but she does not appear 
 to be much smitten with either.) 
 
 ' Well, to contmue with our boat. In front of 
 the cabins is the deck_, all of which takes to pieces 
 in compartments, to allow the men to sit at the 
 oars, which are fourteen in number ; but these last 
 are only used in coming down the river. Very 
 near the prow of the boat is the mast, leaning for- 
 ward, as if about to tumble over, and attached to 
 it by a yard of enormous length is the huge tri- 
 angular sail, whose upper corner you can see over 
 miles and miles of this flat country, bearing in 
 the distance the appearance of a seagull's wing. 
 
 ' I forgot to mention that above our cabins is a 
 kind of upper deck, on which we have spread some 
 mattresses and cushions covered with chintz. This 
 is my favourite place for sitting to sketch and 
 read; but mamma rarely goes up there, as you 
 require to mount by a small flight of wooden 
 steps from the lower deck, an ascent which, in her 
 opinion, does not repay the trouble. Immediately 
 behind my sketching- place, and separated from it 
 by a low rail, is the little quarterdeck appropriated 
 to the pilot and the captain. The latter is a 
 venerable-looking man, with a white beard. Here
 
 Io8 HASSAN. 
 
 he is called the Rais. From this elevation he 
 shouts his orders to the crew, and I observe that 
 they all bawl and shout together,, and rarely do 
 anything they are told without a dispute. 
 
 ' Hassan seems to be on the most friendly terms 
 with the rais, and is usually either talking with 
 him or reading beside him. .But I forgot, Hen- 
 rietta, you do not know who Hassan is, and I must 
 duly introduce you, for indeed he is the hero of 
 the only adventure we have yet met with. He is 
 a young man of singularly prepossessing appear- 
 ance, over whose birth, our dragoman tells me, 
 there ^ hangs a tale of mystery.^ No one knows 
 his parentage; but he was brought up by a Bedouin 
 chief as his son, and was called the ' Child of the 
 Pyramid.' They say that as a horseman he is 
 unequalled, and although he is only twenty years 
 of age, his strength, and activity, and courage are 
 the subject of many tales, one of which you will 
 find in this letter, if I ever get to the end of it. 
 
 ' I will not inflict upon you any detailed account 
 of Hassan's personal appearance, but will ask you, 
 Henrietta, whether you remember when we were 
 girls our reading fairy tales of unfortunate damsels 
 carried off by ogres or giants, and wishing that 
 we might be in such a plight just for the pleasure 
 of seeing some gentle knight come up with the
 
 OXE OF nature's GENTLEMEN. IC9 
 
 speed of lightning, kill the ogre, and, kneeling, 
 ask us whither he might have the honour to con- 
 duct us. 
 
 ' I will own that I have now lost my imaginary- 
 taste for riding en croupe behind an ogre on a 
 dragon ; but if I were in such a predicament, I 
 scarcely know one to whom I would rather trust 
 my chance of deliverance than to this same 
 Hassan, who, although he may have the fierceness 
 of a savage when excited, has habitually the 
 modest and gentle demeanour of one of nature's 
 nobility. 
 
 ' But to return to our voyage in the dahabiah. 
 I was surprised to find that this Mahmoudiah 
 canal, although cut by the present Viceroy at 
 an enormous cost of money and of human life, 
 through a country perfectly flat, is as winding in 
 its course as a path through a labyrinth. On 
 asking Demetri, our dragoman, if he could explain 
 the cause of this, he answered me by a story — for 
 he has a story ready for almost every occasion. 
 The very same question, he says, was lately put to 
 Mohammed Ali by a French engineer travelling 
 through Egypt. The Pasha, after a moment's 
 reflection, said to the engineer — 
 
 ' ' Have you ever seen rivers in Europe V 
 
 * ' Yes, sir, many,' was the reply.
 
 no HASSAN. 
 
 ' ' Are they straight or crooked in their 
 course ?' 
 
 ' ' They are generally crooked, sir/ 
 
 ' ' Who made the rivers V inquired the Pasha. 
 
 ' ' They were made by Allah/ said the astonished 
 engineer. 
 
 ' ' Then, sir/ concluded the Pasha, triumphantly; 
 ' do you expect me to know and to do better than 
 AUah r 
 
 ' The poor engineer had no reply to make to 
 this strange argument, so he took his leave, and 
 went his way. 
 
 ^ I hope we shall soon see this extraordinary 
 man, who has raised himself from the position of 
 a subaltern to the Yiceroyalty of Egypt. They 
 say that he is now staying at a small country- 
 house that he has built on the banks of the Nile, 
 about fifty miles above this place. 
 
 ' On the first day we had mostly contrary winds, 
 and the tracking a boat of this size is slower than 
 a snaiFs gallop. Hassan having seen some wild 
 ducks flying over a marsh at no great distance, 
 borrowed Selden's gun, and went in search of them. 
 In the evening he brought back five or six, which 
 made an agreeable addition to our yesterday's 
 dinner. But yesterday, dear Henrietta, yesterday 
 was our first adventure, I hope our last of that
 
 AN ADVENTURE. Ill 
 
 kind, for I assure you I am scarcely yet recovered 
 from tlie shock. 
 
 * We were sailing up the canal, the breeze being 
 favourable, though very slight, when at a bend or 
 sharp turn, we came suddenly upon a large boat 
 like our own, coming from Atfeh to Alexandria. 
 I was sitting, as usual, on the upper deck; Mary 
 was working near me ; papa and mamma were 
 below, and Selden in the lighter boat had gone on 
 a mile or two a-head of us. Whether owing to 
 a sudden change of course, or to some mismanage- 
 ment on the part of one of the pilots, I know not, 
 but the two boats came together with a fearful 
 crash. The rigging of both was damaged, and for 
 some minutes the vessels were locked to each other 
 near tlie prow, the men being unable to extricate 
 them. It seemed that the crew of the other boat 
 was far more numerous than ours, and, amongst 
 others, I particularly noticed a man dressed in 
 a military blue frock, who Demetri told me after- 
 wards was a kawass of the Viceroy. 
 
 ' The noise, the yells that ensued, and the 
 volumes of (to me unintelligible) abuse that were 
 interchanged, baffle all description ; but as no one 
 seemed to think of disengaging the vessels, but all 
 were bent upon gesticulations w^hich became every 
 minute more hostile, I felt seriously alarmed,
 
 112 HASSAN. 
 
 and wished to retire below. Hassan, who 
 had been sitting in his usual place behind our 
 divan, seeing my alarm, came up to me and said 
 with a smile (for he speaks English tolerably 
 well)— 
 
 ' ' Do not be afraid, lady ; these fellahs make a 
 great deal of noise, but there is no danger.' 
 
 'Even as he was speaking, the man in the blue 
 coat, who seemed to be in a perfect fury, and to 
 be urging his men to board our boat and beat our 
 crew, caught up a stone or brick, which happened 
 to come within his reach. Whether he aimed it 
 at Hassan, or the rais, or me, I know not, but it 
 just grazed my head, tearing off the bonnet, and 
 drawing a little blood from the upper part of my 
 cheek. In the terror of the moment I called out, 
 ' Oh, Hassan \' I was sorry for it afterwards, 
 but indeed I was so frightened that I scarcely knew 
 what I did. 
 
 'As for Hassan, his countenance changed in a 
 moment; his eyes really shone like lightning; it 
 was terrible to see such concentrated fury in that 
 young face, so gentle in its habitual expression. 
 Calling the rais to hold up his large cloak before me 
 to shield me from further harm, he sprang to the 
 lower deck, and ran forward to the prow where 
 the boat had been entansrled. Before he reached
 
 HASSANS PROWESS. II3 
 
 the spot they had become disengaged^ I know not 
 how, and ours was beginning slowly to resume its 
 course ; when clearing the intervening space at a 
 bound, he leapt alone upon the deck of the other 
 boat. There he was met and attacked by a man with 
 what they call here a naboot, a thick heavy stick, 
 something like an English quarter-staff. Hassan 
 wrenched it from the man's grasp, and whirling 
 it round his head, and calling on the others to 
 stand back, he forced his way to the spot where 
 stood the kawass who had thrown the stone j 
 the latter drew his sword, but Hassan^s blow 
 fell A^ith such terrific force that the sword was 
 shivered, and the man fell senseless on the 
 deck. 
 
 ' "VYe could see that four or five of the boat^s 
 crew struck at Hassan and grappled with him, 
 endeavouring to throw him down and bind him, 
 but he shook them off by the exertion of his 
 tremendous strength, and plunging overboard into 
 the canal swam to the opposite bank; two of the 
 boat's crew jumped in and swam after him, but 
 he reached the shore before them. Indeed my 
 belief is that they were not very anxious to catch 
 him. He then ran along the bank till he over- 
 took our boat, which was now going steadily 
 through the water with a fair wind, and plunging 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 HASSAN. 
 
 into the canal again, caught a rope thrown to 
 him by onr rais, and in a minute was safely on 
 board. 
 
 ^ All this passed, dear Henrietta, in less time 
 than it has taken me to describe it, and I need 
 not tell you in what a state of anxiety and agita- 
 tion I was while looking at him struggling alone 
 with those wretches who were striking at him 
 with any weapon that came to hand. It ap- 
 pears, indeed, that he received several severe 
 bruises on the arms, and a stab in the shoulder 
 from a knife. When he was safe on board I 
 looked round at ^lary, and saw that her eyes 
 were filled with tears. Were my own dry, Hen- 
 rietta? perhaps not; for I felt vexed wdth myself 
 for having uttered the exclamation which had 
 involved him in such a risk of his life. As for 
 Hassan, all his anger seemed to have vanished 
 wdth the incident which occasioned it ; having 
 retired to some indescribable corner behind a heap 
 of boxes and hampers piled near the rudder, he 
 changed his clothes, and the old rais bandaged 
 the wound in his shoulder, which, he said, was 
 nothing. Mary had in the meantime washed the 
 scratch on my cheek, and put on it a slip of that 
 invaluable vade-mecum called court-plaster. Thus, 
 in half an hour, we had resumed our respective
 
 A TREUX CHEVALIER. 1 15 
 
 positions, and Hassan was employed in drying 
 and oiling liis sword and pistols. 
 
 ' I tried to thank liim for tlie zeal he had shown 
 in my cause, but I fear I made a sad bungle of 
 it, for I rather scolded him for going alone to 
 attack a man defended by so many on board his 
 own boat. 
 
 ' ' Were there so many, lady V he said, with the 
 utmost simplicity ; ' I did not see them ; I only 
 saw that cowardly fellow who threw the brick and 
 struck you on the head; the truth is, I only 
 wanted to punish him, and having done that, I 
 did not care about hurting the others.^ 
 
 ' ^ But they hurt you, and might have killed 
 you,^ I replied ; ^you see, as it is, they have given 
 you some bruises, and a stab with a knife.^ 
 
 ^ ' They did only their duty,' said Hassan, care- 
 lessly ; ' I suppose they were defending their mas- 
 ter. As for the stab, Inshallah, it will be well in 
 three days ; it is not worth speaking about.' So 
 saying, he resumed his pistol-cleaning with re- 
 newed assiduity, and I went below to tell papa 
 and mamma the events of which I had been a spec- 
 tator, and of which they, being shut up in the 
 cabin, and even locked in by Demetri's over-care- 
 fulness, had known nothing excepting from the 
 noise accompanying the incident. 
 I 3
 
 Il6 HASSAN. 
 
 'And now, my dearest Henrietta, as I have 
 nothing else of interest to relate previous to our 
 reaching this place, Atfeh, and as I hope to write 
 again from Cairo, I will close this voluminous 
 letter, assuring you that I am now and always 
 your affectionate 
 
 ' Emily Thorpe/
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE THOEPE PARTY CONTINUE THEIE COURSE UP THE 
 NILE — ARAB BOAT-SONG — THEY ARRIVE AT MOHAMMED 
 ALI'S VILLA ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER. 
 
 ^HE two daliabialis had passed tlirough the 
 -^ locks of Atfeh^ and were just about to com- 
 mence their course up the broad stream of the 
 Nile, when a kawass from the Governor of the 
 town came to the water^s edge, and desired the 
 rais of the larger boat to stay a few minutes, as 
 he had a message to deliver to the English tra- 
 veller. 
 
 On being presented to Mr. Thorpe, at whose 
 side stood Demetri as interpreter, the kawass said 
 he was instructed by the Governor to desire that 
 an Arab on board, charged with assaulting and 
 beating one of the servants of the Viceroy, might 
 be given up to him. 
 
 jMr. Thorpe, whose experience of Eastern travel 
 was small, but who was at the same time too 
 humane to think of giving up Hassan to the tender 
 mercies of the Atfeh authorities, consulted apart 
 with Demetri, and then replied — 
 
 ' Tell the Governor that I have a complaint to
 
 Il8 HASSAI^. 
 
 make against the captain and crew of tlie boat 
 which ran into and damaged mine ; and also 
 against that servant of the Viceroy who, without 
 any right or provocation, threw a brick at my 
 daughter, wlrtch struck her, and might have killed 
 her. I am now on my way to Cairo, where the 
 rights of the case will be examined by the English 
 Consul and the Egyptian Government : then if 
 any person in this boat shall be judged to be in 
 fault he can be punished/ 
 
 The kawass, not having any reply ready to meet 
 this reasonable proposal, permitted the boats to 
 proceed on their way, and retired to deliver the 
 message to his principal. 
 
 Behold them noAv fairly embarked on the broad 
 waters of that time-honoured river, which, from 
 the day when the infant Moses slept in a basket 
 on its banks until yesterday, has been a constant 
 theme of interest to the antiquarian, the geographer, 
 the historian, and the traveller ! Unlike the 
 Rhine, the Rhone, and other great rivers in 
 Europe, which are, as it were, merely beneficial 
 accidents in the countries through which they 
 flow, the Nile is the creator and perpetuator, as 
 well as the fertilizer, of the whole soil of Egypt. 
 Wherever its prolific waters annually irrigate and 
 subside, there spring up in exuberant abundance the
 
 THE NILE. 119 
 
 grains and herbs of the field, the flowers and fruits 
 of the garden, the almond and pomegranate, the 
 fruitful palm, the fragrant orange and lemon, the 
 cotton-plant and the sugar-cane, and more frequent 
 than all, the wide-spread shade of the sycamore.* 
 In Egypt, it is unnecessary to inquire where vege- 
 tation ceases and the desert begins : from the 
 cataracts to the Mediterranean the answer would 
 be always the same — whatever spot or line the 
 waters of the Nile can reach there is, or may be, 
 cultivation ; all beyond that line is desert. 
 
 The feelings of our party on attaining the first 
 view of this glorious river were various as their 
 habits and characters. Mr. Thorpe walked up 
 and down the deck of his boat, Avith Emily by his 
 side. They interchanged but few words, for the 
 thoughts of both were busy within them. He 
 revered the ancient associations of the scene ; he 
 remembered that on these same waters had floated 
 the barks which bore the countless warriors of 
 Sesostris, and that every mile was now bringing 
 him nearer to his beloved pyramids, and to hun- 
 dred-gated Thebes. 
 
 Emily^s reverie — in which Moses and the 
 daughter of Pharaoh, Saladin, and the Mameluke 
 
 * Not the tree commonly called sycamore in England, but 
 the * wild fi^'-tree.'
 
 I20 HASSAN. 
 
 cliivalry overthrown by Napoleon_, all bore their 
 part — was of a more vague^ yet not less pleasing 
 kind. Selden, wlio had just thrown overboard 
 the end of a half-smoked cigar_, was listening, with 
 ill -dissembled impatience, to a lecture delivered 
 by Dr. Ilieronymus Moss, who, with an open 
 Herodotus before him, said to his pupil — 
 
 ^ Now, Selden, that we are fairly embarked on 
 this classic stream, let us read together the de- 
 scripticn of Egypt given by the Father of History. 
 It will be impressed on your mind by the sur- 
 rounding scenery ; you will feel the genius loci, 
 on occasions like these, as Horace says — ^ Prse- 
 sentionem cons})icimus Deum/ ■* 
 
 ' I beg your pardon. Doctor,^ interrupted 
 Selden, with a mischievous curl of his lip ; 'I 
 thought I had seen that verse in my copy of Gray^s 
 Poems.' 
 
 ^ Ha ! indeed V stammered the Doctor, some- 
 what confused; ^ \i is possible; I have so many 
 classical quotations in my head, that I may 
 sometimes mistake the somxe whence they are 
 derived/ 
 
 ^ True, Doctor,' replied his pupil, ' such mis- 
 takes w ill happen, even to the most learned men, 
 — ' aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus/ ' 
 
 While this dialogue Avas going forward, Mrs.
 
 MR. FOYSTERS PHILOSOPIIf. 121 
 
 Thorpe was declaring tliat she thought the banks 
 very dull and the Nile water very dirty, while 
 !Mary Powell observed to Mr. Foyster — 
 
 '\Yhy, the Thames at Richmond is only a 
 puddle to this.^ To which Mr. Foyster, who was 
 always ready to enlighten her ignorance, replied — ■ 
 
 'Miss Mary, this ^ere river is big enough as 
 you say, but it aint noways judgmatical to mea- 
 sure things by their size, otherwise Miss Emily 
 might prefer an ox to that pretty little long-eared 
 Flora as is now on your knee. Them as knows 
 what's what, always looks into the natur of 
 things. Look at the boats and barges, and 
 wherries on the Thames, and the lovely villas 
 with populai^s and weepin' willows on its banks; 
 the rowing- matches and the pleasurin' -parties up 
 to Eel-pie Island; then below-bridge, the docks 
 full of ships, and the cellars full of sherry, and 
 the whitebait at Blackwall ; that is a river if you 
 like.^ 
 
 Poor !Mary still thought that there was some- 
 thing more worthy of admiration in the vast ex- 
 panse and majestic course of the Nile than in the 
 crowded and confused objects enumerated by Mr. 
 Foyster, but as she did not pretend to ' know 
 what's what,' and was not sure that she could 
 explain it if she did, she thought it more prudent
 
 122 HASSAN. 
 
 not to provoke further discussion with the eloquent 
 and authoritative butler. 
 
 The evening drew slowly on, and Emily had 
 persuaded her father to go up to her favourite divan 
 on the upper deck, where he sat beside her with 
 his open ChampoUion on his knee, while she made 
 a rough sketch of an Arab village on the bank, 
 with a tuft of palm-trees behind it, giving it a 
 picturesque beauty which a nearer inspection would, 
 alas ! have totally dispelled. 
 
 Hassan reclined in his usual place near the 
 rais, reading snatches of his Arabian Nights, and 
 occasionally casting his eyes over the desert sand- 
 hills to the w est, endeavouring to recognise among 
 them some spot which he had passed in his expe- 
 ditions with the Oulad-Ali. The boats glided 
 swiftly forward through the turbid stream under 
 the impulse of a fair and fresh breeze, their crews 
 seated lazily round the mast, passing their pipe 
 from mouth to mouth, when Demetri, to whom 
 everything like silence or quiet was naturally 
 repugnant, came aft and asked Mr. Thorpe whether 
 he would like to hear the crew sing an Arab boat- 
 song. 
 
 Emily^s reply, ^ Oh ! papa, let us hear it by all 
 means V anticipated and ensured the old gentle- 
 man's consent, which was no sooner obtained
 
 AN ARAB BOAT-SONG. 1 23 
 
 tlian the crew all came aft^ and sate down 
 in a circle on the deck just in front of the 
 cabin. 
 
 Deraetri acted as leader, and beat the time 
 with a cane in his hand, which he every now and 
 then allowed to descend pretty sharply on the 
 shoulders of any luckless wight who did not open 
 his jaAvs and his throat to the utmost extent at 
 the recurrence of the burden or chorus which 
 terminated every verse. 
 
 The orchestra consisted of a miserable apology 
 for a kettle-drum (called in Egypt a darabooka) 
 played by a fellow who swayed his head and shoul- 
 ders backwards and forwards to the time of the 
 song. 
 
 When the songster began his lay, Emily Thorpe 
 nearly jumped on her feet, she was so taken by 
 surprise at the sound that he screwed rather than 
 drew out of his labouring windpipe. The tone 
 was so strange and its vibrations so shrill as the 
 fellow half shut one eye and threAv up his head 
 sideways to strain his voice to the utmost pitch, 
 that Emily was fain to put up her handkerchief 
 to her face, partly to hide the laugh which she 
 could not resist, and partly to shield her ears 
 from the dissonant slu'illness of the sound. When, 
 however, he came down from these indescribable
 
 1 24 HASSAN. 
 
 counter-tenor heights* to a more natural tone, 
 and Emily was able to follow the cadence of the 
 song, especially of the wild and irregular chorus 
 which terminated every verse, she began to find 
 it more tolerable, and afterwards even pleasing in 
 its effect. 
 
 Hassan being called upon by Mr. Thorpe to 
 explain the words, and finding the same demand 
 repeated from Emily^s blue eyes, felt not a little 
 confused ; for independently of the fact that his 
 hnoAvledge of English was imperfect, it is certain 
 that these songs of the Nile boatmen are extremely 
 difficult to translate, sometimes from the elliptical 
 vagueness of their language, sometimes from its 
 plain and unveiled indecency ; he succeeded, how- 
 ever, in giving the general meaning of the song, 
 which cast roughly into English rhyme would run 
 as follows : — 
 
 * night ! night ! night ! you're better far than day ; 
 night ! O night ! O night ! the Eastern sky is grey ; 
 O niglit ! night ! night ! a little longer stay; 
 To the girls of Damanhour speed on our homeward way. 
 
 * The reader may perhaps not have heard, or may have 
 forgotten, a reply attributed to Dr. Johnson, who being once 
 present at a concert where an Italian singer was executing 
 some bravura ornaments at, if not beyond, the highest notes 
 of her voice, his neighbour observed to him, * How wonderful 
 are those trills ;' * Would to Heaven they were impossible/ 
 was the Doctor's surly answer.
 
 THE DAMANHOUR LADIES. 125 
 
 CHOEUS. 
 
 The girls of Damanhour, like joung gazelles at play, 
 The girls of Damauhour, none half so fair as they. 
 
 * night ! night ! night ! my love is far away , 
 night ! night ! night ! her form's a willow spray ;* 
 O night ! night ! night ! my heart is fallen a prey, 
 To Damanhour e^'es, like those of fawn at play. 
 
 CHOEUS. 
 
 Oh the girls of Damanhour, like young gazelles at play ; 
 The girls of Damanhour, none half so fair as they.' 
 
 'Are tlie ladies of Damanhour so fair as they 
 are described V inquired Emily. 
 
 ' I know not/ replied Hassan, smiling, ^ for I 
 was never there excepting once or twice, and then 
 only for a day or two ; but I doubt their beauty, 
 lady, for what are they but fellahs ? Doubtless 
 the song was written by some Damanhour rhymer, 
 and we have a proverb in Arabic — ' My children 
 are fairer than yours,^ said the crow to the 
 parrot.' 
 
 ' Do you despise the fellahs, Hassan V said 
 Mr. Thorpe. 
 
 * Despise them ! No,' replied the youth (his 
 countenance betraying the pride Avhich his tongue 
 
 * It is a very common image in the popular songs of 
 Egj^pt, and also in more classic Arabic poetry, to liken a 
 graceful youthful figure in either sex to a spray or wand of 
 the * Ban/ or Egyptian willow.
 
 126 HASSAN. 
 
 disavoAved) ; ' Allah made thcm_, and they are 
 good to cidtivate the ground — nothing more. The 
 ox and the donkey are useful animals_, but neither 
 is an Arab horse/ 
 
 ' Strange are the prejudices of these children 
 of the desert/ said Mr. Thorpe to his daughter as 
 they entered the cabin, previous to retiring to 
 rest. ' Their own life is one of rapine, wandering, 
 and plunder, and yet you see how they despise 
 those who follow the pursuits of agriculture and 
 enjoy the comforts of a settled home.^ 
 
 * Strange, indeed, papa,^ said Emily, wishing 
 him good night, and ' strange, indeed,' muttered 
 she again to herself, as she shut the door of her 
 own little cabin, and her conscience told her that 
 she, a woman, and brought up in civilized society, 
 would prefer the life of the roving Bedouin to that 
 of the settled and industrious fellah. 
 
 On the following day the dahabiahs continued 
 their course up the Nile without accident or ad- 
 venture, when, as they reached a bend in the river 
 called Zaurat-el-Bahr, the party assembled on 
 their decks saw before them at the distance of a 
 few miles a number of tents, horsemen, and other 
 indications of a large encampment. 
 
 On interrogating the rais, Mr. Thorpe learnt 
 that from these indications the presence of Mo-
 
 AN EMISSARY FROM THE VICEROY. 1 27 
 
 hammed Ali in person might certainly be inferred, 
 he having built near that spot a small country- 
 house, to Avhicli he occasionally resorted while 
 inspecting the canals and other improvements 
 which he had recently ordered to be made in the 
 province of ^lenoufiah. 
 
 As the dahabiahs drew near the encampment, 
 and Mr. Thorpe was doubting whether he could, 
 without a breach of decorum, gratify the curiosity 
 he had long felt to see the celebrated founder of 
 the new Egyptian dynasty, a six-oared boat, with 
 an officer in the stern-sheets, darted out from the 
 bank, and was alongside in a moment. Stepping 
 on deck with a polite salute, he said he believed 
 that he had the pleasure of seeing the English 
 lord who had lately come up from Alexandria on 
 his way to Cairo.* 
 
 Demetri having been desired to reply in the 
 affirmative^ the officer continued — 
 
 ' The Viceroy has heard of your coming, and 
 orders me to say that he hopes you will not find 
 it inconvenient to remain here to-night, and to 
 breakfast with his Highness to-morrow morning, 
 with all your party .^ 
 
 * In those days all Englishmen travelhng in Europe, as 
 well as in Egypt, who spent their money more freely than the 
 average of travellers, were termed ' Lords.'
 
 128 HASSAN. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe having desired Demetri to accept 
 the invitation on his part with due ackno\vledg- 
 ments of the Yiceroy^s courtesy, the Greek made 
 a most flowery speech upon the occasion_, the half 
 of which, at least, was of his own invention. It 
 conveyed, however, the required acceptance; and 
 the officer having withdrawn, the boats were made 
 fast to the shore, a few hundred yards from the 
 garden attached to the Viceroy's villa. Guards 
 were sent down to protect them from thieves 
 during the night, and half a dozen sheep, fifty 
 fowls, and several baskets of fruit w^ere sent on 
 board by his Highnesses order. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe and all his party were pleasantly 
 surprised at the agreeable opportunity thus offered 
 by the Viceroy's unexpected courtesy of seeing 
 one whom they justly considered as a celebrity of 
 his time. Emily Thorpe, though certainly not 
 the least curious of the party, expressed some 
 doubt w^hether the invitation extended to the 
 ladies, frankly stating to her papa that such a pro- 
 ceeding seemed contrary to what she had read of 
 Turkish etiquette. Mr. Thorpe, though believing 
 that the Viceroy's invitation had been specially 
 intended to include the ladies, sent Demetri on 
 shore, desiring him to ascertain the point from 
 one of the chamberlains. While they were dis-
 
 THE THORPES VISIT MOHAMMED ALL 1 29 
 
 cussing the probable inconveniences and difficulties 
 of the morrow^s breakfast, such as sitting on the 
 ground and tearing up tough, greasy fowls with 
 their fingers, Demetri returned with a message 
 that, as Mr. Thorpe was accompanied by his wife 
 and daughter, the Viceroy hoped to be honoured 
 by their presence at breakfast ; and the question 
 being thus definitively settled, they retired to 
 rest. 
 
 On the following morning, at the appointed 
 hour, an officer and several servants of the Vice- 
 roy's household came down to the boats to conduct 
 the party to his Highnesses presence, Demetri 
 accompanying them in his capacity of dragoman. 
 !Mrs. Thorpe and Emily had not omitted to follow 
 the advice given them by the British Consul in 
 Alexandria, and on landing from their boat they 
 each wore a thick green veil over their face. The 
 precaution was not unnecessary, for they had to 
 pass through a great crowd of soldiers, Mamelukes, 
 and attendants, all of whom stared with eager 
 curiosity at the Frank ladies, whose dress and 
 appearance presented a greater novelty to Egyptian 
 eyes than in these later days, when the Indian 
 transit, steamboats and railroad, have rendered 
 the European costume familiar to all and 
 sundry. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 HASSAN. 
 
 On reaching the villa, after passing through an 
 antechamber^ at the door of which were two 
 sentries with musket and bayonet, they came to a 
 silk curtain fringed with gold. The conductor 
 raised it, and they found themselves in the pre- 
 sence of Mohammed Ali. A man so remarkable 
 deserves a chapter to himself, and it shall not be 
 denied him.
 
 CHAPTEU IX. 
 
 THE THOEPES' INTERVIEW WITH MOHAMMED ALL 
 
 A T the period of our tale, Mohammed Ali was 
 -^ at the high tide of his personal and political 
 career. Though upwards of fifty-five years — the 
 latter half of them spent in constant warfare or 
 intrigue — had passed over his head, they had not 
 impaired either the energy of his mind or the 
 activity of his frame. 
 
 All opposition to his government had been sub- 
 dued : the scattered remnants of the Mameluke 
 Beys whom he had overthrown were fugitives in 
 remote parts of the Soudan. The Divan at Con- 
 stantinople had found itself compelled to treat 
 him rather like an independent ally than a power- 
 ful vassal. Nubia, and the countries fertilized by 
 the White and the Blue Nile, had submitted to his 
 arms. He had restored the Holy Cities, Mecca 
 and Medina, to the dominion of the Sultan, and 
 had brought under subjection the warlike and 
 independent tribes of Arabia — the sands of whose 
 desert fastnesses had never before been trodden 
 by the foot of a foreign invader. Even the dreaded 
 Wahabees, the terror of whose fanatic arms ex- 
 K %
 
 13 a HASSAN. 
 
 tended across the Arabian peninsula from the Red 
 Sea to the Persian Gulf, had been unable to 
 oppose any effectual resistance to his well-dis- 
 ciplined troops. Their great chief, Souhoud^ had 
 fallen. Deraiah_, his capital^ in the wild recesses 
 of the Nejd^ had been taken and plundered^ and 
 his son and successor^ Abdallah, with all his family, 
 had graced as captives the conqueror^s triumph in 
 Cairo. 
 
 After all these successes in foreign and do- 
 mestic warfare, he turned his attention to the 
 improvement and development of his acquired 
 dominions; and in these pursuits e^dnced the 
 same energy, if not always the same sagacity, that 
 had marked his military career. His first object 
 was to free the valley of the Nile from the depre- 
 dations of the Bedouins on the bordering deserts ; 
 and having learnt from experience the difficulty, 
 not to say the impossibility, of chastising the 
 incursions of their flying squadrons with his 
 regular troops, he adopted the plan of weakening 
 them by division among themselves. With this 
 view, he cultivated the friendship of the chiefs of 
 several of the more powerful tribes, whom he 
 gained over to his interest by timely donations 
 of money, dresses of honour, and land for the pas- 
 turao-e of their flocks ; in return for which favours
 
 MOHAMMED ALT. 133 
 
 they were ready at his call to pour forth their 
 numerous horsemen in pursuit of any predatory 
 bands of other Bedouin tribes who ventured to 
 make hostile incursions into his territory. By 
 this prudent adoption of the well-known principle 
 of '^ divide et impera/ he had succeeded in so 
 far weakening their general power, that the cul- 
 tivated provinces in Egypt already enjoyed a state 
 of comparative tranquillity. 
 
 This object once attained, he turned the energies 
 of his active mind to the increase of his revenue ; 
 and not satisfied with those resources of agri- 
 culture which nature has indicated to be the chief 
 if not the only wealth of Egypt, he already 
 thought of rivalling at Boulak the silks of Lyons, 
 the looms of Manchester, and the foundries of Bir- 
 mingham. It was while his head was full of these 
 projects, in the prosecution of which machinery 
 of every kind was daily pouring into the country, 
 that he received the visit of Mr. Thorpe and his 
 party. 
 
 At the time of their entrance he was seated 
 on a divan in the corner of the room farthest from 
 the door, and beside him stood a middle-aged man 
 whom they rightly conjectured to be his drago- 
 man. He rose from his seat, and received them 
 with the polite urbanity for which he was dis-
 
 134 HASSAN. 
 
 tinguished ; and motioned to the ladies to take 
 their seats on the divan. Chairs having been 
 prepared for the gentlemen, the one the nearest 
 to his person was of course appropriated to Mr. 
 Thorpe. While the first compliments were being 
 exchanged, and the coffee was handed round in 
 small cups of enamel, studded with diamonds, they 
 had full leisure to examine the features and ap- 
 pearance of the conqueror and regenerator of the 
 land of the Pharaohs. 
 
 Although below the average height, his active 
 and firmly-knit form was well calculated for the 
 endurance of the fatigues and exertions which 
 his restless mind imposed upon it. On his 
 head he wore a fez or cap, around which was 
 wound a fine Cashmere shawl in the shape of a 
 turban — for he had not yet adopted the tarboosh, 
 which forms at present the unsightly head-dress 
 of Turks and Egyptians. His forehead was high, 
 bold, and square in its outline, subtended by shaggy 
 eyebrows, from beneath which peered out a pair 
 of eyes, not large, but deep-set, bright, and sin- 
 gularly expressive : when in anger, they shot forth 
 fiery glances which few could withstand, and when 
 he was in mirthful mood, they twinkled like stars 
 reflected on the waters of the Nile. His nose 
 was straight, with nostrils rather wide ; his mouth
 
 BREAKFAST ANNOUNCED. 1 35 
 
 well- shaped, though somewhat broad, while be- 
 neath it a massive chin, covered by a beard 
 slightly grizzled by age, completed a countenance 
 on which the character of a firm, determined will 
 was indelibly stamped. He was dressed in a pelisse 
 lined with fur, in the front of which protruded 
 from his Cashmere belt the diamond-studded hilt 
 of a dagger. Large loose trousers, and a pair of 
 red slippers, according to the fashion of the day, 
 completed his costume. Miss Emily would not, 
 however, forgive me, if I omitted to mention that 
 on the little finger of a hand small and delicate 
 as that of a woman, shone a diamond of inesti- 
 mable value. 
 
 After the interchange of the usual compli- 
 mentary speeches and inquiries, such as — ^Whether 
 Mr. Thorpe liked what he had seen of Egypt ^ — 
 ' Whether they proposed ascending the Nile as far 
 as the first cataract,^ &c., which the Viceroy^s 
 interpreter translated into French, breakfast was 
 announced. On his Highness leading the way 
 into the adjoining apartment, they were agreeably 
 surprised at seeing a table laid out in the Euro- 
 pean fashion, with the unexpected luxuries, not 
 only of knives and forks, but likewise of chairs and 
 snow-white napkins. The dragoman stood behind 
 his master^s chair, and Emily was rather con-
 
 136 HASSAN. 
 
 fused at finding that the chief part of the conver- 
 sation fell to her share — on account of her speak- 
 ing French much more fluently than her parents 
 or her brother. The Pasha was much pleased 
 at this, for he was devoted to the fair sex_, and 
 a fairer specimen of it than Emily he had rarely 
 seen. 
 
 With the exception of a pilau, and one or two 
 Turkish dishes of pastry and sweetmeats, there 
 was nothing to distinguish the breakfast from one 
 served up in Paris. As soon as it was concluded, 
 and the fingers of the guests had been duly pu- 
 rified by rose-water, poured from a silver-gilt vase, 
 they returned to the reception-room, and resumed 
 their former places. Scarcely were they seated 
 than there entered a row of well-dressed young 
 Mamelukes, each bearing before him a long pipe, 
 with a mouthpiece of amber, ornamented with 
 diamonds, which they presented to all the guests, 
 as well as to the Pasha. Here was a novel em- 
 barrassment for most of the party. Of course, 
 neither of the ladies had ever held a pipe between 
 their lips; and Mr. Thorpe was as guiltless of 
 tobacco as they were. The Pasha smiled, and 
 told them, through his interpreter, that it was 
 intended as a compliment, but the acceptance of 
 it was optional.
 
 THE PIPE OF PEACE. I37 
 
 Mrs. Thorpe, who had always termed it a nasty 
 practice, absolutely declined. Emily, with a de- 
 precatory look at her mother, took the pipe, and 
 putting the pretty amber between her pretty lips, 
 and making believe to smoke, pouted so prettily 
 that the Viceroy heartily wished she were a Cir- 
 cassian, that he might buy her on the spot. Mr. 
 Thorpe, wishing to be particularly civil, took two 
 on three bona-fide puffs at the pipe, the result of 
 which was, that he was nearly choked, and his 
 eyes filled with tears. As he returned the pipe 
 to the Mameluke who had brought it, and was 
 still coughing in the greatest distress, he had the 
 additional vexation of hearing Mrs. Thorpe say to 
 him, in a low but audible voice — ' Serves you 
 quite right, my dear.^ Such are the consolations 
 which a wife — that ^ ministering angel ^ — offers to 
 a husband suffering under the ' pain and anguish ' 
 of a first infraction of her veto on tobacco ! 
 
 As for the Doctor and Selden, they were among 
 the initiated, and therefore smoked with a vigour 
 which astonished the Pasha^s attendants, and soon 
 enveloped themselves in a cloud of Latakian 
 vapour, which threatened to reduce Mrs. Thorpe 
 to a level with her husband. She did not hesitate 
 to give them a hint on the subject, and they also 
 reluctantly gave up the pipes to the bearers.
 
 138 HASSAN. 
 
 The attendants having retired, the conversation 
 on general topics was resumed ; and the Viceroy 
 explained to Mr. Thorpe some of the projects then 
 floating in his active brain, for introducing various 
 branches of manufacturing industry into Egypt ; 
 in reply to which Mr. Thorpe, who, although by 
 no means a political economist, was a man of 
 plain good sense, pointed out to his Highness 
 the difficulties that he would obviously have to 
 encounter from the want of hands (the agricul- 
 tural population of Egypt not being sufficient to 
 cultivate the arable soil), and also from the ab- 
 sence of the tw^o most important elements of 
 manufacturing industry — iron and coal. 
 
 ' Ah !^ said the Pasha, laughing ; ' I know all 
 that ; I shall have difficulties ; what can be done 
 without difficulty? All my life I have been con- 
 tending against them; I have always overcome 
 them, and, Inshallah, I will do so still ! Did 
 you see/ he added, wdth increased animation, ^ a 
 canal that joins the Nile a few miles northward 
 of this spot T Mr. Thorpe had noticed it, but had 
 not thought of inquiring whither it led. ^Well, 
 then,^ continued the Pasha, ^ that canal leads to 
 a large village in the middle of the Delta, from 
 which and from the neighbouring provinces it 
 brings the produce down to the Nile. How do
 
 A TRUE ANECDOTE. 1 39 
 
 you think I made that canal ? You shall hear. 
 Two years ago I stopped here on my way to Cairo 
 from Alexandria, and having determined to make 
 a canal from the Nile to that village,, I sent for 
 the chief engineer of the province, and having 
 given him the length, hreadth, and depth of the 
 canal required, I asked him in what space of time 
 he would undertake to make it. He took out 
 his pen and his paper, and having made his cal- 
 culations, he said that if I gave him an order on 
 the Governor of the province for the labour he 
 required, he would undertake to finish it in a year. 
 My reply was a signal to my servants to throw 
 him down and give him two hundred blows of the 
 stick on his feet. This ceremony being concluded, 
 I said to him, ' Here is the order for the number 
 of labourers you may require ; I am going to 
 Upper Egypt, and shall come back in four months ; 
 if the canal is not completed by the day of my 
 return, you shall have three hundred more.' ' 
 
 In relating this story the Pasha's eyes sparkled, 
 and he almost jumped from his sitting pos- 
 ture with excitement, as he added, rubbing his 
 hands — ' By Allah, the canal was completed when 
 I returned.'* 
 
 * A true story, and one that Mohammed Ali used to tell 
 with great glee.
 
 140 HASSAN. 
 
 This tale affected the Thorpe party with 
 various emotions. Mr. Thorpe balanced in his 
 mind the contending claims of justice^ and the 
 exigencies of a semi-barbarous land under a semi- 
 barbarous government. Mrs. Thorpe thought the 
 Pasha (as she afterwards said) *'a little monster.^ 
 Emily _, though conscious of the cruelty of the act, 
 could scarcely help smiling at its novelty, and 
 the self-satisfaction with w^hich it was related; 
 as for Dr. Moss, he began to feel very uncom- 
 fortable sensations about the soles of his feet, 
 under the impression that, if he unintentionally 
 offended so terrible a despot, nothing could save 
 him from the bastinado. 
 
 The Viceroy having enjoyed for a few moments 
 the recollection of his successful engineering, 
 turned to Mr. Thorpe and said, with a graver 
 air — 
 
 ' I am sorry to have to speak on a disagreeable 
 subject, but a letter has been brought to me by 
 a horseman from the Governor of Atfeh, in which 
 it is stated that a portion of the crew of your 
 boat attacked the crew of a Government boat on 
 the canal, and that they were set on and led by a 
 young Arab of gigantic size, who nearly killed 
 one of my kawksses.' 
 
 Here Demetri, whose office had hitherto been
 
 Emily's eecital. 141 
 
 a sinecure_, the translation having all passed 
 through the Viceroy^s interpreter, thinking it a 
 good opportunity for displaying his descriptive 
 powers, came forward, and addressing the Viceroy, 
 said — 
 
 ^ May it please your Highness, my friend Has- 
 san — ' 
 
 ' Silence, babbler,^ said the Pasha, in an angry 
 voice ; ' you may speak when you are spoken to/ 
 So saying, he darted upon the unfortunate Greek 
 a fiery glance that almost made his heart jump 
 into his mouth. 
 
 ' Excuse me,^ said the Pasha to Mr. Thorpe, 
 recovering himself immediately, as he observed 
 Demetri steal noiselessly out of the room ; ' these 
 servants, especially Smyrniotes, always tell lies, 
 and I desired to hear the truth of this story from 
 yourself.^ 
 
 ' I was in the cabin,' replied Mr. Thorpe ; ^ but 
 my daughter was on deck the whole time, and 
 saw all that passed; she can give your Highness 
 a correct report.' 
 
 ' If the young lady will so far favour me, I shall 
 be obliged,' said the Viceroy, with courteous gal- 
 lantry. 
 
 Emily blushed a little, she scarcely knew why, 
 at being called on to recount the adventure on
 
 142 HASSAN. 
 
 the canal ; but her momentary confusion did not 
 prevent her from relating what had passed with 
 the utmost accuracy. She noticed that at the 
 pauses of her narrative, the interpreter made sun- 
 dry marks on a letter which he held in his hand, 
 and also that alternate smiles and frowns followed 
 each other on the expressive countenance of 
 Mohammed Ali. When she had ceased speaking, 
 he thanked her, and after conversing a moment 
 with his interpreter, proceeded to ask her a few 
 questions connected with the letter which he held 
 in his hand. 
 
 Question. 'Do you know whether it was by 
 accident or design that the two boats ran against 
 each other, and if accident, whose fault was it ?* 
 
 Answer. ' I think it was certainly accident, as 
 there had been no quarrel or cause of quarrel 
 before; whose fault it was I am not able to 
 judge/ 
 
 Q. ' Are you sure that your crew did not at- 
 tack the crew of the other boat first, with sticks 
 or other weapons ?' 
 
 A. 'I am sure that nothing but words had 
 passed on either side until the kawass threw the 
 stone or brick/ 
 
 Q. ' Did you see him throw it ?' said the Pasha, 
 knitting his brows.
 
 A DIALOGUE. 143 
 
 A. ^1 saw him certainly, and he very nearly 
 hurt me seriously, as your Highness may see.' 
 While thus speaking, Emily, with the utmost 
 naivete, turned her cheek aside, and lifting up 
 one of the brown curls that escaped from below 
 her bonnet, she showed the slip of ^court-plaster' 
 that still covered the hurt. 
 
 ' Kahpe-oghlou pezevenk !' said the Pasha, in 
 an angry tone, looking towards his interpreter. 
 (The words are untranslatable to ears polite, 
 although they may fall from a Turk fifty times 
 in a day. They may be rendered in this case, 
 ' the infernal scoundrel !') * One more ques- 
 tion,' he added, ' I would beg to ask the young 
 lady — You say that the youth you call Hassan 
 jumped alone on the deck of the other boat ; how 
 many men might there be on the deck at the 
 time?' 
 
 A. ' I did not count them ; there might be 
 eight or ten ; some were pulling at a rope on 
 shore. 
 
 Q. ' And how is it they did not drive him 
 back, and prevent him from striking the 
 kawkss ?' 
 
 'A. '1 cannot tell ; I saw them strike at him 
 on all sides, but it seems they had not power to 
 stop him, for he reached the kaw^ss, broke his
 
 144 HASSAN. 
 
 sword J and beat him down before jumping into 
 tlie canal/ 
 
 ^Ajaib! — wonderful!' said the Viceroy, turning 
 to his dragoman. * What a tale is this ; and if 
 it be true, what dirt have these lying dogs been 
 eating?' as he spoke, he pointed again to the letter 
 he held in his hand. 
 
 * The Viceroy is astonished at your tale/ said 
 the interpreter, addressing Emily; 'it differs so 
 entirely from the report sent to him by the 
 kawass.' 
 
 ' I grant that it seems improbable,' said Emily, 
 slightly colouring ; ' but as I own that I was very 
 much frightened, if his Highness thinks that I 
 have stated anything incorrectly, it is easy to 
 know the truth. The rais of our boat was close 
 beside me all the time, and saw what passed ; let 
 the Pasha send for him and make him relate 
 what he saw.' 
 
 When this was translated to the Viceroy, his 
 eyes sparkled again, and he said, turning to Mr. 
 Thorpe — ' The young lady is fit to be a Cadi ; by 
 Allah ! with your leave, it shall be as she says.' 
 
 ' By all means,' replied Mr. Thorpe ; ' let the 
 rais be brought before his Highness immediately.' 
 
 Demetri having been sent down to the boat, 
 returned in a few minutes with the rais, whose
 
 HASSAN SENT FOR. I45 
 
 relation of the circumstances differed in no essen- 
 tial particular from that made by Emily. 
 
 ' Mashallah V said the Viceroy, ^ it is wonderful ; 
 with Mr. Thorpe^s permission I should like to see 
 and question this youth.' 
 
 Mr. Thorpe having signified his acquiescence, 
 Demetri was again sent to the boat, and soon 
 returned, accompanied by Hassan. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HASSAN IS PEESENTED TO THE VICEEOY — THE THOPPE 
 PAETY MAKE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF MULLEE THE 
 MISSIONAET. 
 
 DURING the brief absence of Demetri in 
 search of Hassan, the Yiceroy had made 
 some further inquiries concerning the latter, in 
 reply to which Mr. Thorpe informed him that the 
 young man had been in the employment of Hadji 
 Ismael, and was now on his way to Cairo with 
 letters for some pasha whose name Mr. Thorpe 
 did not remember. 
 
 ' What, Hadji Ismael^our good Arab merchant?' 
 said the Viceroy. 
 
 ^ The same/ replied Mr. Thorpe. 
 
 Here the Viceroy spoke apart to the interpreter, 
 by whose order an attendant brought a small box, 
 containing letters, which he placed on the divan 
 at his Highnesses side. The interpreter, by the 
 Viceroy ^s desire, ran his eye over two or three 
 letters from Alexandria, till he found the one of 
 which he was in search. He read a passage from 
 it, at which Mohammed Ali laughed and chuckled 
 immoderately, repeating over and over again,
 
 HASSAN PRESENTED TO THE VICEROY. 1 47 
 
 * Aferin ! aferin !^ (bravo,, bravo). He then 
 turned to Mr. Thorpe, saying — 
 
 ' I wonder whether this can be the same youth 
 as the one mentioned in this letter, who threw the 
 famous Moghrebi wrestler, Ebn-el-Ghaizi ? It is 
 here written that he was in the employment of 
 Hadji Ismael.' 
 
 ' There can be little doubt it is the same youth/ 
 replied ]\Ir. Thorpe. ' I have heard the whole 
 story from our English servant. Indeed, it was 
 in protecting him that Hassan got into a quarrel 
 with the wrestler.' 
 
 ' Mashallah !' said the Viceroy, ' the youth 
 deserv'es a reward, for that vagabond Moghrebi had 
 Jpeaten all the Egyptian wrestlers, and laughed at 
 our beards.' 
 
 At this moment Hassan reached the door of 
 the apartment, and the Viceroy, having given 
 orders that he should be admitted, he came for- 
 ward, and, having made the usual obeisance and 
 touched his forehead with the skirt of the Viceroy's 
 pelisse, retired a few steps, and drawing himself 
 up to his full height, awaited his prince's com- 
 mands in silence. 
 
 Mohammed Ali was one of those who had been 
 accustomed from his youth to study the characters 
 of men from their countenance and bearing, and 
 L -Z
 
 148 HASSAN. 
 
 he now fixed upon Hassan an eye whose piercing 
 gaze few cared to encounter ; but Hassan met it 
 with a calm and untroubled look. ' Mashallah ! a 
 noble-looking youth/ muttered he to himself, 
 after scanning the athletic yet graceful proportions 
 of the figure before him. He then turned to his 
 dragoraan_, saying — 
 
 ' That youth is surely not an Arab. Of what 
 race think you he may be T 
 
 Before the dragoman could reply, Hassan, ad- 
 dressing the Viceroy, said — 
 
 ' It is right that your Highness should know 
 that I understand Turkish, lest you should say 
 anything not intended for my ear.* 
 
 ' Ha, ha ! I forgot that he had been in Alex- 
 andria some years/ said the Viceroy in a low 
 tone. He then added, aloud, ' Hassan, — for so I 
 hear you are called, — whence do you come T 
 
 ' I was bred in the tents of your friends the 
 Oulad Ali,' replied the youth. 
 
 ' A proud and a stubborn set of rogues they 
 are,' muttered the Viceroy in an under tone. He 
 then continued aloud, knitting his shaggy brows 
 as he spoke, ^ You are accused of having struck 
 
 * Notwithstanding his long residence in Egypt, Moham- 
 med Ali understood but little Arabic, and could not speak it 
 at all.
 
 Hassan's moral courage. 149 
 
 and nearly killed one of my kawksses. What 
 have yon to say to the charge V 
 
 ' It is trne, and he deserved it V replied 
 Hassan. 
 
 ^ Deserved it !^ repeated Mohammed Ali, his 
 eye kindling with fire. ' Do you dare, youngster, 
 to laugh at my beard, and to correct my servants 
 at your pleasure ?' 
 
 ' Mohammed Ali/ said the youth, with manly 
 simplicity, ^ I have been taught to venerate and 
 not to laugh at a beard silvered by time. How, 
 then, should I not honour yours, for I have 
 longed to see you from my childhood, having 
 heard so much of your skill and courage in war 
 and your generosity in peace? But your High- 
 ness cannot know and cannot be answerable for 
 the insolence of all your servants. Had you been 
 where I was when that cowardly fellow threw a 
 stone at the head of the young lady beside you, 
 you would not have beaten him, you would have 
 cut his head off.' 
 
 ' By the head of my father V said the Viceroy, 
 pleased rather than offended at the unusual bold- 
 ness of Hassan's speech — ^By the head of my 
 father ! I believe the boy is right. I have heard 
 the whole story from these strangers and from the 
 rais, and though I was prepared to be angry with
 
 150 HASSAN. 
 
 you, I now acquit you from blame. Where are 
 you going to in Cairo, and what commission have 
 you from our good merchant the Hadji V 
 
 * I am going with a letter from him/ said 
 Hassan, ' to Deli Pasha/ 
 
 ' Deli (mad), indeed,^ said the Viceroy. ' Ha ! 
 I can guess ; it is about horses. Have you the 
 letter with you? Let me see it.' 
 
 Hassan with some hesitation withdrew the letter 
 from a small silk bag which he carried in the 
 folds of his girdle, and handed it to the Viceroy, 
 who, without the slightest ceremony, opened it, 
 and gave it to the interpreter to read to him, 
 which he did in a tone audible only to the 
 Viceroy himself. 
 
 ' It is all right,' he said. ^ Give it back to 
 Hassan, and let him take it on to Deli Pasha.' 
 
 'Pardon me,' said Hassan; 'I cannot receive 
 it so. Deli Pasha might suspect me of having 
 opened it. Let your Highness's secretary write 
 in the margin that it was opened by your order, 
 and reseal it with your seal.' 
 
 ' By Allah !' said Mohammed Ali, ' the youth 
 has brains, as well as goodly limbs. Call the 
 khaznadar.'* When that officer entered, the 
 
 * Khaznadar or * treasurer.' This officer often discharges 
 the duties of a private secretary.
 
 HASSAN RECEIVES MEDICAL CARE. 151 
 
 Viceroy, giving him the letter, whispered a few 
 instructions in his ear, and he left the room. 
 
 It had not escaped the Viceroy's quick eye 
 that Hassan had evinced some awkwardness or 
 constraint in opening the silk bag containing the 
 letter, and replacing it in his girdle, and he said 
 to him — 
 
 * These Frank travellers tell me that, while you 
 were attacking the kawass on that boat, you re- 
 ceived some blows and a stab from one of the 
 crew. Is this so V 
 
 ' It is true,' replied Hassan ; ' but the blows 
 were nothing, and the stab was of little conse- 
 quence ; the bleeding from it was soon stopped.' 
 
 * Does it hurt you now ?' demanded the Pasha. 
 ' A little,' he replied. ' But it is not worth 
 
 your Highness's notice.' 
 
 ' You are a madcap,' said the Viceroy ; ' and 
 young blood thinks nothing of wounds. Raise up 
 your left arm to your head.' 
 
 Hassan tried to obey, but the arm fell power- 
 less at his side. 
 
 ' Ha !' said the Pasha, ^ I knew it was so.' 
 Then turning to his interpreter, who was, in fact, 
 a medical man, he continued, ' Hakim Bashi, 
 take him into another room, and examine his 
 wound, and, while you are away, let that Greek
 
 152 HASSAN. 
 
 come in again to interpret. His tongue will not 
 run so fast now/ 
 
 The doctor accordingly conveyed Hassan to his 
 o\^Ti apartment^ and the conversation was resumed 
 through the medium of Demetri_, who had been so 
 thoroughly abashed by his first rebuff, that he 
 w^ould not risk a second, but performed his inter- 
 preting duties with an accuracy which surprised 
 himself — that is, he did not add more than one- 
 third from his own head, and as that was chiefly 
 in the way of reciprocal compliment, it was not of 
 much consequence. 
 
 A quarter of an hour, then half an hour, 
 passed away, and still neither the doctor nor his 
 patient returned. Several cups of coffee had been 
 presented, and nearly an hour had elapsed ere the 
 Hakim Bashi entered the room alone. 
 
 ' Come here,' cried out the impatient Viceroy. 
 ' By Allah ! your absence has been long. Where 
 is the youth?' 
 
 ' I left him lying on a divan in my room, your 
 Highness, and he must not be moved for at least 
 twenty-four hours.' 
 
 ^ Was his hurt, then, so bad V inquired the 
 Pasha. 
 
 ' It was such,' said the doctor, ^ that if your 
 Highness had not desired me to examine and
 
 THE hakim's report. 153 
 
 dress it^ in a few days the amputation of his arm 
 at the shoulder might have been necessary. When 
 I stripped him, I found on the top of the shoulder 
 a large blue circle, which convinced me that there 
 was something seriously wrong below. I was 
 obliged to cut it open, and to cut deep, too. Then 
 I took my probes and began to examine the bottom 
 of the wound. As the inflammation was great, 
 the pain must have been most acute ; but, my 
 lord, I never saw such a youth as that. He re- 
 mained as firm and unmoved as if he had been 
 made of wood or stone ; and in the middle of the 
 operation he said to me with a smile, ^ Hakim 
 Bashi, Mashallah ! what an eye our prince has 
 got.' At last my instrument met with some 
 hard substance, which, with some trouble, I suc- 
 ceeded in reaching with a forceps, and I drew it 
 out. It proved to be the point of the dagger with 
 which he had been stabbed, and which, encounter- 
 ing the bone, had broken off. Here it is.' So 
 saying, he produced to the Viceroy about half an 
 inch of the point of a steel dagger. 
 
 ^ Aferin ! aferin !' (bravo, bravo), said the 
 Viceroy. ' Well have you done, my good Hakim 
 Bashi. The young man will recover the use of his 
 arm now.' 
 
 ' Yes, if it be the will of Allah. But he must
 
 154 HASSAN. 
 
 remain at least twenty-four hours in tlie position 
 in which I have placed hira. In that time I shall 
 dress the wound once or twice, and at this hour 
 to-morrow I can tell your Highness whether he is 
 fit to pursue his journey/ 
 
 The ladies of the Thorpe party shuddered as 
 Demetri translated to them the Hakim Bashi^s 
 narrative; and as they looked at the steel point 
 taken out of Hassan's shoulder, which the Viceroy 
 still held between his finger and thumb, Emily felt 
 her heart beat when she thought that the gallant 
 youth had so nearly lost a limb, if not his life, in 
 avenging an insult ofiered to her. 
 
 ^What do you think,' said Mohammed Ali, 
 addressing Mr. Thorpe; *^if I had two or three 
 regiments composed of fellows like this Hassan, 
 
 might I not march to any part of the world V 
 
 Another termination was on his lips, but he 
 checked it, and substituted the vague phrase above 
 given. A slight smile might have been noticed 
 on the face of the medical interpreter, who well 
 knew the word that had nearly escaped his chief, 
 although the idea was not carried into execution 
 until many years had passed. 
 
 ^ I have travelled in many countries,' replied 
 Mr. Thorpe, ' and can assure your Highness that 
 men of the stature, strength, and symmetry of
 
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. 155 
 
 Hassan are rare everywhere ; but your Highness 
 knows better than I do, and has proved it to the 
 worlds that however advantageous to the indi- 
 vidual may be the possession of these qualities_, in 
 an army there is nothing but discipline among 
 the men, and skill in their commander, that can 
 insure success.' 
 
 ' May your life be long !' said the Viceroy, ac- 
 knowledging the compliment ; ' but now you must 
 tell me what you wish to do, for you see this 
 Hassan cannot go forward for a day or two. Will 
 you wait for him, or will you pursue your jour- 
 ney, and I will have him sent on in the first boat 
 that passes V 
 
 ' Nay,' said Mr. Thorpe, ' we are not so hurried 
 but that we can wait for a day ; and it would be 
 unkind to leave him behind, as he received his 
 wound in defending us.' 
 
 ' Be it so,' replied the Pasha ; and there is 
 another advantage in your staying. The Governor 
 of Daraietta has written me word that a Christian 
 kassis* is coming up the river on his way to the 
 South. They say he is a very learned man, and 
 has been some years in these countries : perhaps 
 you might like to join him to your party ?' 
 
 * The term kassis is applied in Egypt indiscriminately to 
 Christian clergymen of every sect and denomination.
 
 15^ HASSAN. 
 
 ^ Willingly/ replied Mr. Thorpe^ ' if he arrives 
 ill time. Meanwhile, I will take my leave, having 
 trespassed too much on your Highnesses time.^ So 
 saying, he arose, but the Viceroy would not let 
 him go until he had made him promise to come 
 again on the morrow to breakfast. 
 
 The Thorpe party returned to their boat, and 
 spent the remainder of the day in talking over 
 the occurrences of the morning, and in discussing 
 the character and qualities of the remarkable man 
 whom they had seen for the first time. Selden 
 quizzed his sister most maliciously, and declared 
 that the old gentleman was decidedly in love 
 with her, and, with assumed gravity, recommended 
 his parents to slip off unperceived at night-fall, 
 lest she should be forcibly carried off, and trans- 
 ferred to the viceregal harem. Emily entered 
 into the joke, and said — ' Oh ! how delightful to 
 be Sultana of Egypt, with hundreds of beautiful 
 slaves, and Cashmere shawls and jewels V 
 
 * Very pleasant indeed, Emmie,' said her bro- 
 ther, ' to take your place in the harem, surrounded 
 by the spiteful faces of half a dozen former wives 
 whom you had displaced, and then after a few 
 months to sit in a corner yourself, and scowl 
 spitefully upon some new face for which you had 
 been discarded/
 
 MR. MULLER. 157 
 
 At this moment Demetri came into the cabiu_, 
 and said that the Viceroy^s interpreter was without^ 
 accompanied by a stranger. Orders having been 
 given for his immediate admission, he came in and 
 said to Mr. Thorpe — 
 
 ' I have been charged by the Viceroy to present 
 to you Mr. Miiller, concerning whom his Highness 
 spoke to you ; and I do it with much pleasure, 
 as he is a friend of mine, and a most worthy 
 person.' 
 
 While the ceremony of introduction is going 
 forward, we will take the opportunity of de- 
 scribing to the reader the personal appearance of 
 the new comer. 
 
 He was apparently about forty-five years of 
 age, short in stature, but stoutly built. His coun- 
 tenance, though homely, w^as intelligent and 
 benevolent, and his complexion, from long ex- 
 posure to sun and weather, was tanned almost to 
 the hue of an Arab. On his head he wore what 
 had once been a German cap, but which, from 
 the folds of grey serge wrapped around it, might 
 almost pass for a turban ; and his beard, which 
 was bushy and slightly grizzled, fell nearly half 
 way to his waist. His outer dress was composed 
 of a long robe or gaberdine of dark grey cloth, 
 with loose sleeves, and confined at the waist by a
 
 158 HASSAN. 
 
 leathern girdle^ from whicli depended a bag^ made 
 
 from the skin of an antelope, and containing 
 
 but stay, I will not attempt to detail the contents 
 of that bag ; let it suffice to say, that it contained 
 all the sundries which the good missionary most 
 frequently required in his long excursions in the 
 forest and desert. His shoes, or rather his san- 
 dals, were not very becoming, for they were of 
 undressed hide, and he had made them himself; 
 and he carried in his hand a stout staff nearly as 
 high as himself, which he had brought from the 
 Abyssinian woods^ and which had been his constant 
 companion in many a remote peregrination. 
 
 The two visitors remained some time, and the 
 conversation turned on Egypt and the wilder re- 
 gions to the southward, with all of which Miiller 
 seemed so familiar and described them with so 
 much truthful simplicity, that the Thorpe party 
 were delighted with him — all excepting Dr. Moss, 
 who apprehended, not without reason, that the 
 knowledge and acquirements of the new comer 
 would throw his own pretensions into the shade. 
 The conversation passed in French, which obliged 
 Emily to bear the chief burden of it on her side. 
 Miiller spoke the language fluently, but with an 
 accent that left no doubt on her mind of his being 
 a German.
 
 IMPRESSION PRODUCED BY MR. MULLER. 159 
 
 The visitors having taken their leave, the 
 Thorpes were again alone, and interchanged their 
 opinions concerning Miiller ; these were generally 
 in his favour, only Dr. Moss maintained a digni- 
 fied silence, and Mrs. Thorpe said she thought his 
 beard and dress most uncivilized, and his shoes 
 quite frightful. 
 
 On the following day they returned to break- 
 fast with the Pasha, and were glad to learn from 
 the interpreter that Hassan had passed a quiet 
 night, and that the inflammation had so far 
 subsided that he might go on board without 
 risk. 
 
 ' I have no fear,' said the medical interpreter, 
 ' of any bad consequences now that you have 
 agreed on going in company with Miiller ; he has 
 had so much experience, that he is half a doctor 
 himself: indeed,' he added, smiling, 'I doubt 
 whether he has not more skill than many who 
 hold the diploma?' 
 
 The breakfast passed as agreeably as that of the 
 preceding day, and after it Hassan was summoned 
 into the Pasha's presence. He came in with his 
 left arm in a sling, a precaution which the inter- 
 preter insisted upon his observing for some days 
 at least. His Highness spoke kindly to him, and 
 after receiving the thanks of the youth for the at-
 
 j5o HASSAN. 
 
 tention shown to him by the interpreter, the latter 
 was desired by the chief to re-seal and restore to 
 the youth the letter from the merchant to Deli 
 Pasha, adding in the margin that it had been 
 opened by himself, and, in conclusion, he whis- 
 pered a few words in his ear, to which the inter- 
 preter only replied by the customary ' On my 
 head be it/ 
 
 A few minutes sufficed to execute this order, and 
 when the interpreter returned the letter to Hassan, 
 he at the same time presented another to Mr. Thorpe, 
 informing him that it contained an order to the 
 Kiahya Pasha* to furnish his party with an escort 
 to the Pyramids, and a guard while remaining 
 there. His Highness also said that on their re- 
 turn from Upper Egypt he should probably be at 
 Shoobra,t and he hoped they would come to see 
 him there. While giving this invitation, his 
 Highness cast his keen glance so full upon 
 Emily^s face that she blushed deeply, having just 
 caught her brother's eye, and feeling how that 
 
 * This term, kiahya, now common all over Turkey, is a cor- 
 ruption of the Persian word ket-khoda, and signifies ' master 
 of the house,' ' vicegerent,' &c. The kiahya in Egypt is next 
 in rank to the viceroy. 
 
 t Shoobra, a very pretty garden and palace, built and 
 occupied by Mohammed Ali; it is about three miles from 
 Cairo, on the bank of the river.
 
 FAREWELL GREETINGS. l6l 
 
 mischievous young gentleman would again tease 
 lier on the subject. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe having duly expressed his thanks 
 for his Highnesses hospitality and kindness^ now 
 rose to take his departure, and Hassan came for- 
 ward and touched his forehead with the skirt of 
 the Viceroy's pelisse ; Mohammed Ali looked at 
 him with a smile, and said — 
 
 ' Good fortune attend you, Hassan — a mad fol- 
 lower going to join a mad lord — but you are a 
 good lad, and I am pleased with you/ 
 
 The whole party now retired to their boat, 
 Hassan taking an opportunity before they went 
 to thank the medical interpreter for the service 
 he had rendered him in restoring him the use of 
 his arm. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE THORPES EE-EMBARK ON THE NILE, AND EMILY 
 WHITES ANOTHER LONG LETTER TO HER FRIEND AT 
 MALTA, ENCLOSING AN ARAB LEGEND. 
 
 OUR party now pursued their way merrily 
 towards Cairo^ Mr. Thorpe^s impatience to 
 see his beloved pyramids becoming every hour 
 more uncontrollable. 
 
 Mliller^s canjah* kept company with them, and 
 it had been agreed before they started that he 
 should pass the day on board the large boat, and 
 retire at night to sleep in his own; by this means 
 he was enabled every day to dress Hassan^s shoul- 
 der according to the advice given him by the 
 medical interpreter. 
 
 The voyage was slow, and unaccompanied by 
 incidents of interest to any excepting our friend 
 Demetri, who daily landed at some village to 
 purchase milk, fowls, and a lamb for the party ; 
 and as he only put them down in his account at 
 one hundred per cent, over the cost price, Mrs. 
 Thorpe, instead of complaining of the charges, 
 
 * A canjah is a Nile boat, much smaller and lighter than 
 a dahabiah.
 
 EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER. l6^ 
 
 only expressed her wonder at tlie cheapness of 
 provisions. We shall not be surprised at the 
 good lady's satisfaction when we remember that 
 at the period of which we write one hundred eggs 
 were bought for a piaster^* a couple of fowls for 
 the same amount^ and a sheep for five piasters. 
 
 Demetrius time was^ as we have said, thus plea- 
 santly and profitably spent. How it was passed 
 by the rest of the party we may best learn from 
 one of themselves, for which purpose we will take 
 the liberty of looking over Emily's shoulder again, 
 and transcribing that portion of her letter to her 
 friend in Malta which describes their trip to Cairo 
 after leaving the Viceroy : — 
 
 ' And now, my dearest Henrietta, having de- 
 scribed to you our visit to that extraordinary man, 
 and all his kindness to us, which that saucy Sel- 
 den declares is owing to his being smitten by your 
 humble servant, I sit down to give you a sketch 
 of the remainder of our journey to the Egyptian 
 capital. 
 
 ^ Incidents we have had very few, and my 
 sketch-book will, when we meet, afford you proof 
 that I have not been idle. We have found the 
 Missionary Miiller a great addition to our party ; 
 he is the best, and the queerest, and the cleverest 
 
 * A piaster is about twopence-halfpenny. 
 M 2,
 
 164 HASSAN. 
 
 creature I ever beheld ; he really seems to me to 
 know everything; for the first day we spoke in 
 French^ but he soon found that papa and mamma 
 were embarrassed to speak in that language, so 
 he suddenly said in English almost as good as our 
 own — 
 
 ' ' Why do you not speak to me in English V 
 
 ^You may believe that the challenge was joy- 
 fully accepted, and since then no foreign language 
 has polluted our cabin, excepting when that 
 odious Dr. Moss has attempted some of his ab- 
 surd quotations. 
 
 ^ I cannot help it, dear Hennie, but, entre 
 nous, I hate that tiresome man ! He always 
 speaks as if he were preaching a sermon, and 
 gives an opinion as if he were Sir Oracle, while 
 Miiller, in whose little finger there is more know- 
 ledge than in the other^s skull, is always cheer- 
 ful and unpretending. Moss, as you may ima- 
 gine, cannot bear him, for all his Oriental pre- 
 tensions are dwindled into a very small compass in 
 presence of a man who speaks Arabic to Has- 
 san apparently with as much fluency as if speak- 
 ing English. 
 
 'But as I was saying before, there is nothing 
 that ^liiller does not know, and nothing that he 
 cannot do. You would fancy him a missionary
 
 A MODEL MISSIONARY. 165 
 
 from the Jack-of-all-trades Society; and whatever 
 you may happen to want, at any hour of the day, 
 whether it be a pencil, scissors, string, needle-and- 
 thread, soap, pen, ink, and paper, anything else 
 you can dream of, you are sure to see it on 
 demand emerging from the bag attached to his 
 girdle. He has travelled a great deal in Nubia 
 and the adjoining regions, and speaks several of 
 those barbarous languages. 
 
 ' You would never guess who is his most con- 
 stant companion when on our boat. It is Hassan. 
 I could not resist asking him the other day, after 
 a conversation which they had held, and which 
 seemed to me to have lasted above an hour, what 
 he could find to interest him so much in Hassan^s 
 conversation, and whether it was about fighting 
 and hunting. 
 
 ^ ^ No,^ he replied, with a good-humom-ed smile, 
 ' is was about religion.' 
 
 ^ ' Religion !' I exclaimed, in astonishment ; ' I 
 can understand that he should listen to you on 
 such a subject, but I observed that he spoke more 
 and more vehemently than you did yourself.' 
 
 ' ' True, lady ; but I could not blame him, for 
 I attacked, and he defended his faith. I had 
 before observed in him so much unselfishness, 
 modesty, and such a love of truth, that I thought
 
 l65 HASSAN. 
 
 it my duty to try if I might not lead him to the 
 way of truth where we kuow it to be. Alas ! alas V 
 continued the good man^ 'with him as with all 
 true Mussulmans_, it is next to an impossibility. 
 They have got the one great undeniable truth — 
 the Unity of God — so indelibly stamped upon their 
 con^dction_, that any attempt to make them under- 
 standj or even consider the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 is attended with such difficulties as amount almost 
 to an impossibility ! The words with which 
 Hassan closed our conversation were these — 
 ' There is no God but Allah^ the days of fighting 
 the Mushrekin, and planting the true faith with 
 the sword are gone — now we can only pity them .' * 
 
 ' ' Who are the Mushrekin ?' I inquired. 
 
 ' ' The term signifies/ he replied,, ' those who 
 assign a partner ; and it is applied especially to 
 Christians, who, in the estimation of the Moslem, 
 assign in their doctrine of the Trinity two other 
 persons or spirits as partners with the Creator.^ 
 
 ' ' Whence could Hassan/ I asked, ' learn to 
 discuss such subjects; has he any learning?^ 
 
 ' ' He has no learning/ replied Miiller ; ' but he 
 knows his Koran well, and reads it constantly. 
 He knows not that all which is most valuable in 
 its moral precepts was taken from our Bible ; but 
 his heart is simple, his faith fixed, and his will
 
 THE VOYAGE. 167 
 
 strong and determined. There is hardly a tribe 
 in the deserts of Southern Africa, or in the islands 
 of the Southern Ocean where a missionary may 
 not hope for some reward for his labours, but to 
 convert an honest and believing Mussulman is a 
 task almost hopeless/ 
 
 ' The following day we continued our course up 
 the Nile, passing by a number of villages and 
 palm-groves, and towards evening I resumed my 
 favourite seat on the upper-deck, to see the beau- 
 tiful Egyptian sunset; the Missionary Miiller 
 was by me, and interested me much by de- 
 scriptions of the Soudan. Hassan was quite in 
 the stern of the boat, reciting or chaunting in a 
 low voice. I asked Miiller if he knew what the 
 young man was repeating, but he could not catch 
 the words, and said it is doubtless some old Arab 
 legend. I felt a great desire to hear a recitation of 
 this kind, and I inquired of the missionary whether 
 he could prevail upon Hassan to repeat it to us. 
 
 ' He got up, and approaching Hassan, made the 
 request. I could see that some hesitation and 
 difficulties arose; but they were soon overcome, 
 and Miiller returned, bringing with him Hassan, 
 who sat -down in his old place between me and 
 the rais. Then Miiller said to me — 
 
 ' ' Hassan desires the young lady to be informed
 
 l68 HASSAN. 
 
 that he is not a rawi (a teller of stories), but 
 that he knows some old Arab legends. If it 
 pleases her, he will tell the tale of Rabiah. It is/ 
 added Miiller, ' a legend of great antiquity, and 
 its scene is laid in Arabia/ 
 
 ' I told him it would give me great pleasure to 
 hear it, so Hassan commenced without delay. 
 
 * Oh, Henrietta ! I wish you could have been by 
 me to have heard that strange recital. Although I 
 could not understand a word, it moved me almost 
 to tears. After the first few lines, his faculties 
 seemed all wrapt up in the tale ; now the voice 
 was deep and guttural, then it grew soft and sad ; 
 then came some scene of anger or strife, and his 
 eyes flashed fire; then came a plaintive tone, 
 which dropping almost to a whisper, suddenly 
 stopped. I felt sure that the hero or the heroine 
 was dead, and the tears actually stood in Miiller's 
 eyes, and the old rais at the helm uttered several 
 sighs, or rather groans, in succession. Only 
 think how provoking that I could not understand 
 a word ! 
 
 ' On expressing my vexation, Miiller kindly 
 said that he would make me a translation of 
 the tale on the morrow, correcting it from 
 Hassan's own lips. He did so, and here I send 
 you a copy, dearest Henrietta, to conclude this 
 letter : —
 
 AN ARAB LEGEND. I 69 
 
 ' Rabiali was feeble, slowly recovering from 
 severe wounds. Who has not heard of Rabiah ? — 
 the Lion of the Nejd, whose eyes were like burning 
 coals, whose form was like the at'l (oak), whose 
 voice was as a tempest ; before his lance the brave 
 fell bathed in blood, and the timid fled like herds 
 of antelopes. 
 
 ' When Rabiah came forth to battle and shouted 
 his war-crj^, the maidens of the Otebah wrung 
 their hands, saying, ' Alas for my brother !' ^ Alas 
 for my beloved !^ and the mother, pressing her 
 babe to her breast, cried, ^Oh, my child, wilt thou 
 see thy father to-morrow ?' 
 
 ' Now Rabiah was feeble. 
 
 * Some months before he had borne away from 
 the tents of the Otebah, Selma, the pearl of the 
 tribe ; her form was like the Egyptian willow, her 
 face like the full moon in its brightness, her eyes 
 were those of the antelope, and her teeth pearls set 
 between two cushions of rose leaves, her neck was 
 a pillar of camphor,* and her breasts two pome- 
 granates rivalling each other in rounded beauty. 
 
 * Where in Europe it is customary to say as * white as 
 wool,' or * white as snow,' the Orientals say ' white as cam- 
 phor.' The 'camphor-neck' of a beauty is an image con- 
 stantly recurring in Arabic poetry.
 
 1 70 HASSAN. 
 
 ' But Selma^s eyes were averted, as if in scorn, 
 and while Rabiah was consumed by the fire of 
 love, lier heart was a locked casket whose con- 
 tents none might know. 
 
 ^ The season was spring, and the tribe, with 
 their warriors and tents, their flocks and herds, 
 had moved on to a higher region. Rabiah, re- 
 tarded by his wounds, had remained behind, 
 keeping with him only a few followers, his sister, 
 and Selma; but anxiety came upon his mind, and 
 he said, ' Let us go to join the tribe/ 
 
 ^ So they went, the two maidens riding in a 
 musattah,* and he also on a shibriah,t and thus 
 they journeyed, and Rabiah sung, in a feeble 
 voice, the following words : — 
 
 * Alas, my heart is bleeding ! the arrows of the Otebah have 
 tasted my blood ; 
 But their hurt is nothing : it is the glance of Selma's eye 
 that hath pierced my heart.' 
 
 ' The maidens heard the song, but Selma spoke 
 not, and his sister wept for his wounds, but more 
 for his unrequited love. 
 
 ' On the second day they passed a mountain, 
 and reaching a sandy plain they journeyed slowly 
 across it. 
 
 * Musattah, a camel-litter for carrying two persons, 
 f A shibriah, a camel-litter for a single person.
 
 RABIAH AND SELMA. 17 1 
 
 ' Suddenly a cloud of dust appeared in the dis- 
 tance, and one of the followers sped on a swift 
 horse to see whence it arose. The maidens 
 trembled like willow-leaves in the morning breeze, 
 but Rabiah slept. The man soon returned with 
 a loosened rein and bloody heel, shouting — • 
 
 ' ' It is a large body of the Otebah, and they 
 are coming this way ; there is no hope of escape ; 
 there is neither strength nor power save in Allah !' 
 
 ' ' Kabiah/ cried his sister, distracted with fear, 
 ' canst thou do nothing to save us ? Wilt thou 
 see Selma carried off before thine eyes ? The 
 Otebah are coming !^ 
 
 ' At these words Rabiah started up as if from 
 a dream ; his eyes shone like two suns. 
 
 ^ ' Bring me my led war-horse,^ he shouted to 
 his men, ^ and fasten on my armour ; let us see 
 what enemy dare come near Selma while Rabiah 
 lives.' 
 
 ' Still while they fastened on his armour his old 
 wounds opened afresh, and the blood trickled from 
 them, and he sung the following lines : — 
 
 * Truly, to be near lier and not have her love is worse than 
 twenty deaths ; 
 But to die for her is sweeter than to drink the waters of 
 Keswer.'* 
 
 * A perpetual fountain of the purest water in the Mahom- 
 medan Paradise.
 
 172 HASSAN. 
 
 'When Selma heard these words she turned 
 towards him_, and tears dropped from her eyes 
 upon her soft cheek, like dew-drops on a rose. 
 
 ^ ' Rabiah/ she cried, ' thy great love hath torn 
 away the veil of pride and deceit from my heart ; 
 truly my love is equal to thine ; come to my 
 arms_, my beloved, let us live or die together.' 
 
 ' Then the camels were made to kneel_, and 
 Rabiah came to the side of her litter, and she 
 cast her arms about his neck, and he kissed her 
 on the mouth, and their lips did not separate till 
 their souls passed into each other, and they forgot 
 the world. 
 
 * But tlie followers cried aloud, ' Rabiah, the 
 Otebah are coming !' and he tore himself from 
 her embrace; and his great war-horse stood be- 
 side him stamping on the ground, for his ear 
 caught the tramp of the steeds, and his wide 
 nostrils snuffed the coming fight. None but 
 Tarrad could bear that mighty warrior through 
 the ranks of the foe ; he was swift as an antelope, 
 and like an elephant in his strength. 
 
 ' ^ Now RabiaVs armour was fastened, and his 
 helmet on his head. He looked once more upon 
 Selma, and repeated the follomng lines : — 
 
 * Our souls have drunk together the water of life, 
 There is no separation now, not even in death.'
 
 FESAL, THE YOUNG CHIEF. 173 
 
 ' Then he mounted Tarrad, and took his great 
 spear in his hand^ though his limbs were stift'_, 
 and his wounds still bled beneath his armour. 
 
 ' ' Make all speed/ said he^ ' with the camels to 
 the Horseman^s Gap ;* beyond it is the plain 
 where our tribe is encamped, there you will be 
 safe.' 
 
 ' So they went ; and when he saw the Otebah 
 drawing near, his great heart rose within him ; he 
 forgot his wounds, and the fire shot from his 
 eyes. Then he rode towards them, and shouted 
 his battle-cry aloud. Their hearts trembled 
 within them, and none came forth to meet him. 
 
 ' But Fesal, the young chief of the band, who 
 was brother to Selma, reproached them, saying — 
 
 ' ' Are ye men, or are ye sheep, that one hun- 
 dred are afraid of one? Has he not slain our 
 brethren, and carried away the pearl of our tribe ? 
 Now is the hour of revenge.' 
 
 ' And he went forth at speed to strike Rabiah 
 to the earth with his lance, but Rabiah met him 
 in full career, and warded the blow. With the 
 shock of meeting, Fesal and his horse rolled to- 
 gether on the ground. 
 
 * The Horseman's Gap is a singular cleft in the high 
 rocks which met at the end of the plain, just leaving a pas- 
 sage wide enough for horsemen to pass in single file.
 
 174 HASSAN. 
 
 ' Then Rabiali wheeled round to slay him, but 
 the young man's helmet had fallen off, and 
 Rabiah knew his face, and spared him_, saying — 
 ' ' Thou art Selma's brother/ 
 ' ' Then he charged the band, and he raged 
 among them like a wolf in a sheepfold, and he 
 pierced a strong warrior through the body — the 
 man fell from his horse^ and the lance broke. 
 Then they set up a shout of rage and triumph ; 
 yet they would not come near him, for he had 
 drawn his limb -dividing sword, so they shot 
 arrows at him from a distance. 
 
 ' Casting his eyes behind him, he saw that his 
 camels were entering the gap, and he retreated 
 slowly, covering himself from the arrows with his 
 shield; thus he gained the mouth of the defile. 
 There he stood and faced them ; and though the 
 arrows showered upon him, and blood was flowing 
 fast down the flanks of Tarrad, he spoke and 
 moved not, but sat still, like a horseman carved 
 in stone in the gap. 
 
 ' But soon an arrow entering the eye of Tarrad 
 reached his brain, and he fell dead. Then Rabiah 
 lay down behind his horse's body, covering him- 
 self also with his shield, so that they saw him 
 not ; but they continued shooting their arrows, 
 until Fesal, who had mounted another horse, 
 came up, and stayed them, saying —
 
 RABIAH DIES. 175 
 
 ' * The horse is dead, and Eabiah must now be 
 our prisoner/ 
 
 ' Then he rode forward with a few followers, 
 and called aloud, ' Rabiah, yield thyself; escape 
 is now impossible/ but Rabiah gave no answer. 
 
 ' Fesal then advanced still nearer, and re- 
 peated the same words, adding — 
 
 ' ' It is useless to shed more blood/ 
 
 ' But Rabiah gave no reply. 
 
 ' Then he approached with the caution of a 
 hunter coming near a wounded lion, till he 
 reached the spot, and looked upon his face. 
 
 ' Rabiah was dead ! 
 
 'Then pity took possession of the heart of 
 Fesal, and having told his followers to place the 
 body of Rabiah and of his horse gently on one 
 side, he galloped alone after the party which had 
 retreated through the gap, and he knew that his 
 sister was one; and seeing that they prepared to 
 shoot their arrows, he called to them, 
 
 ' ' Put away your weapons ; this is the hour of 
 grief and not of war.' And he drew near to the 
 litter, and said — 
 
 ' ^ Sad is the news of my tongue — Rabiah is 
 dead — the Lion of the Nejd is no more.' 
 
 ' Then a piercing shriek came from the sister 
 of Rabiah, and she cried, 
 
 ' ' Let us go back to him/
 
 176 HASSAN. 
 
 * Selma spoke not a word ; a great stone was 
 upon her hearty and speecli and tears were denied 
 her. 
 
 ' So they turned hack ; and when they reached 
 the spot there was a dead silence, while the camel 
 was made to kneel down, and the two maidens 
 came forth. 
 
 ' Rabiah^s sister wept and sobbed, holding her 
 dead brother^s hand, but Selma threw herself on 
 the body of her beloved, and cast her arms about 
 his neck, and again she pressed her lips to his 
 cold lips. None dared to move her, and Allah 
 had mercy upon her, and her soul passed away in 
 that last kiss. 
 
 * For many months there was wailing and 
 lamentation among the tribes, and there was 
 peace among them, for war lay buried in the grave 
 where Kabiah and Selma slept side by side.^* 
 
 * The legend of Rabiah is one of the most ancient now- 
 known in the East. It was first communicated to me in the 
 shape of an old Arab MS. by that eminent and much- 
 regretted Arabic scholar, M. Fresnel, who obligingly assisted 
 me in deciphering some of the more obscure passages. I 
 believe he translated and sent it to one of the European 
 Oriental magazines ; but I have never seen it myself in print. 
 As it is ten years since I saw the MS., I cannot remem- 
 ber exactly how far the tale in our text deviates from the 
 original. The names which I have introduced are taken at 
 random among names common in the Nejd ; but I distinctly 
 remember that of Eabiah, and his heroic death in the gap, 
 as forming the catastrophe of the legend.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 EillLY WRITES A2J0THER LETTEE TO HEE FRIEND, IN 
 WHICH SHE GIVES HEE A SKETCH OF CAIEO — HASSAN 
 PAYS HIS FIEST VISIT TO DELI PASHA. 
 
 Emily to Henrietta Clayton, 
 
 Boulak, 1 82-. 
 'Il/TY DEAREST Henrietta^ 
 
 ■^■^ ' In my last I occupied so much space 
 with the tale of ^ Rabiah/ that I left myself little 
 or none to give you a sketch of our voyage up to 
 this place, which is the Port of Cairo, the modern 
 city being about two miles distant from the river. 
 When I use the word modern, you must under- 
 stand it comparatively in reference to the other 
 monuments in this extraordinary country ; for in 
 that very modern city there sat once the famous 
 Salah-ed-din whom we in Europe call Saladin. 
 
 ' Our voyage up the Nile, from the date of my 
 last letter, presented nothing remarkable; there 
 were the same flat, Dutch-looking banks, crowned 
 with mud villages and palms, while here and 
 there a few old sycamores gave variety to the 
 scene. The crew sung in the evenings ; papa and 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 HASSAN. 
 
 the missionary Miiller talked about antiquities, 
 and Dr. Moss bored poor Selden with his dull 
 pedantry ; but two days ago the rais told us 
 that we should soon see the Pyramids, and you 
 may imagine how we stood on tiptoe, and strained 
 our eyes. 
 
 'At last they broke on our view, not as we 
 expected, a-head of our boat, but far away on our 
 right. Poor papa was in ecstasies, and his im- 
 patience knew no bounds ; but our progress was 
 slow against the stream, and the course of the 
 river provokingly winding, so it was fully twenty- 
 four hours before we got a good view of those 
 objects of our pilgrimage. 
 
 ' I looked at them, Hennie, with awe, not for 
 their exceeding magnitude or beauty of architec- 
 ture, but for their venerable antiquity. ' Ye have 
 looked on Moses, and on the plague- stricken 
 Pharaohs,^ I said to myself, 'and to you Homer and 
 Achilles, and the monuments of ancient Greece 
 and of ancient Rome are things of yesterday !^ 
 
 ' While I was musing I heard our butler, Mr. 
 Foyster, explaining to Mary Powell, in his own 
 peculiar Cockney dialect, the history of these 
 Egyptian antiquities. I hope it was not wrong 
 to listen, Hennie, but I could not help it, and 
 I caught the following dialogue : —
 
 MR. rOYSTER AND MARY. 1 79 
 
 ' ^ Them, Mary, is tlie famous Pyramids, and 
 the books say that there they stood when Poti- 
 phar's wife found Joseph among the bulrushes.' 
 
 ' ' I believe it was Pharaoh's daughter/ said 
 Mary, who knew her bible rather better than Mr. 
 Foyster, ' who found Moses there.' 
 
 ' ' Well, you needn't catch a body up so sharp,' 
 said Mr. Foyster, testily. ' How do you know 
 as Potiphar's wife warn't the daughter of Pharaoh?' 
 
 ' To this inquiry poor Mary had no ready 
 reply, so she hung down her head in silence, and 
 Mr. Foyster, encouraging her humility, pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 ' * Well, Mary, they say as how that biggest 
 pyramid was built by one Cheops, and he was 
 butler to King Pharaoh.' 
 
 ' ^ That great building made by a butler,' said 
 Mary, raising up her eyes to his face with undis- 
 guised astonishment. 
 
 ''Yes, Miss Mary,' he replied, drawing him- 
 self up with dignity, ' butlers was suspected in 
 their sitivations in those days.' 
 
 ' I heard no more of their conversation, for 
 papa came up to speak to me, but you will judge 
 from those few words how accurate is likely to be 
 the antiquarian information communicated by 
 Mr. Foyster to Mary during our stay in Egypt. 
 N 2
 
 l8o HASSAN. 
 
 ^ There being no good inn in Cairo we remain 
 on board our boat, and it is anchored off a lovely- 
 island in the mid-channel of the Nile, called 
 Rhoda ; it belongs to Ibrahim Pasha, the eldest 
 son of the Viceroy. We have permission to walk 
 in it at all hours, of which mamma avails herself 
 freely in company with Mary, for she cannot 
 overcome her dislike to the donkey-riding, and I 
 delight in it, Hennie ; they go so fast, and have 
 such an easy pace, and then you have running 
 behind your saddle a grinning urchin, who looks 
 for all the world as if he had just come out in 
 life from that Murillo picture of papa^s in the 
 dining-room. 
 
 ' Papa and I generally go together, always 
 accompanied by Demetri, and sometimes by 
 Selden and the Doctor ; the latter sometimes tries 
 to make a purchase in the bazaars, and brings out 
 his Arabic for the occasion, but he says ' it is too 
 good and classical for these stupid people.^ At 
 all events, they usually stare in his face, and on 
 his repeating his demand they ask Demetri what 
 he means ! 
 
 ' The road from Boulak up to the city is very 
 dusty and disagreeable, and is relieved by no shade, 
 either from houses or trees, nor is the entrance 
 into Cairo from this side at all striking, leading
 
 TURKISH BAZAARS. l8l 
 
 as it does tliroiigli a marsliy space called the 
 Esbekialij* and it is not until you have passed 
 through the Frank quarter, and have reached 
 the bazaars, that you begin to be aware of the 
 picturesque beauty of Cairo. 
 
 'The bazaars themselves are covered streets, 
 to which the sun never penetrates ; on each side 
 are the shops, and at the door of each sits the 
 proprietor — sometimes almost buried in his wares 
 — the everlasting pipe is in his mouth, and many 
 of its fumes are necessary to the completion of 
 the simplest bargain. My favourite bazaar is one 
 called the Khan Khalil, because there are heavy 
 chains at its entrance to prevent the ingress of 
 donkeys and horses ; and there is another very 
 interesting one called the Ghouriah, where are the 
 vendors of silks, muslins, and cashmeres ; for you 
 must know, Hennie, that in Cairo, and, I believe, 
 in most large towns in the East, the different 
 trades reside in separate streets or bazaars, called 
 after their respective names; thus you have the 
 street of the braziers, the saddlers, the ar- 
 mourers, &c. &c. 
 
 ' Rogues and cheats abound here as everywhere, 
 
 * Tlie gardens of the Esbekiah, now the favourite prome- 
 nade of the French loungers, was, at the date of our tale, an 
 unreclaimed swamp.
 
 £82 HASSAN. 
 
 but I fear none greater than some whom we have 
 brought with us ; you shall hear. The other day 
 I stopped with papa and Demetri at the shop of a 
 silk mercer^ where we sat down as usual, while 
 the owner exposed his wares to our view ; I was 
 much struck by a pretty Damascus scarf with a 
 border of flowers, and edged with gold ; indeed I 
 was thinking how well it would look on the 
 shoulders of one Henrietta Clayton, so I asked 
 papa to buy it. 
 
 ^ Demetri's services being called into action, he 
 began to bargain with the owner of the shop ; 
 such noises you never heard, they screamed and 
 gesticulated, shaking their fingers in each other's 
 faces, and every moment I expected a blow to 
 follow. A crowd collected around the shop, and 
 looked on the bargaining with grave interest, every 
 now and then one of the turbaned and bearded 
 bystanders, evidently a friend of the shopman, 
 passing his hand over the scarf and exclaiming on 
 its beauties. 
 
 ^ Just as the bargain was about to be con- 
 cluded, I saw a figure towering above the crowd, 
 which I immediately knew to be that of Hassan, 
 but, as he was behind Demetri, the latter did not 
 see him. Hassan, giving me a slight salute of 
 recognition, stood at the side of the shop appa-
 
 DEMETRI NONPLUSSED. 1 83 
 
 rently absorbed in the contemplation of a red sash 
 which was hanging there. 
 
 ' After a short pause, Demetri, turning to papa, 
 said — 
 
 * ' I cannot make him take less than 600 pias- 
 ters (6/)/ 
 
 ' Papa was pulling out his purse to give it, 
 when Hassan strode forward, and placing his 
 hand on Demetrius shoulder, looked in his face 
 with a stern, inquiring glance. Demetri turned 
 pale as death, and trembled all over ; Hassan 
 appearing not to notice his confusion, said in a 
 clear, loud voice to papa — 
 
 ' ' Demetri has made a mistake, the merchant 
 said 400 piasters,' which sum was immediately 
 paid and received. 
 
 ' Hassan gave us another grave salute and 
 walked away, but I could see that Demetri fol- 
 lowed him as he went with a look very like a 
 dagger ; but he soon recovered his self-possession, 
 and said that he had been bargaining for that 
 scarf and a smaller one beside it, which he 
 thought I fancied, and that the two together 
 would have been 600 piasters ! 
 
 ' I feigned to believe him, but I shall watch 
 Mr. Demetrius bargains more closely in future. 
 
 ' Some of the most interesting specimens of
 
 384 HASSAN. 
 
 architecture in Cairo are arched gateways of the 
 old walls now in the interior of the town ; I hope 
 to transfer one or two of them to my sketch- 
 book before I leave. Still more interesting are 
 the mosques, which are, many of them, very 
 ancient, and of great architectural beauty; the 
 most ancient was built by Amrou, who conquered 
 Egypt in the time of Mohammed, and the most 
 modern is, as I am informed, three hundred years 
 old. The letter which the Viceroy had given to 
 papa for the Governor procured us admission to 
 several of the finest mosques, but we were obliged 
 to take with us four of the government kawasses. 
 
 ^ I noticed when we entered the mosques that 
 some of the more bigoted of the Moslem scowled 
 angrily, and muttered what, I doubt not, were im- 
 precations upon us. 
 
 ^ Papa seemed to admire above all the mosque 
 of Siiltan Hassan ; it is very spacious and lofty, 
 and was built, it is said, in 1350. I felt more 
 interested in one or two of the smaller and more 
 ancient ones, such as the Seid-ez-Zeinab, which 
 was built more than a hundred years before our 
 Norman conquest. 
 
 ' But I should weary you, dear Hennie, were 
 I to attempt to describe these buildings, as a 
 principal feature in their character is the extreme
 
 HASSAN IN SEARCH OF DELI PASHA. 185 
 
 beauty of tlie arabesques and devices with which 
 they are ornamented within and without. Although 
 these cannot be described by the pen^ at least not 
 by mine, I hope that my sketch-book will give 
 you some idea of them. We are now busy in 
 preparing for our excursion to the Pyramids, and 
 Hassan has promised to obtain leave to join us. 
 ^ So no more at present from 
 
 'Yours affectionately, 
 
 'E. T.' 
 
 We now resume the thread of our narrative, 
 at the time of the arrival of the dahabiahs at 
 Boulak, when Hassan, having taken leave of his 
 hospitable friends, and promised to pay them an 
 early visit, proceeded to discover the house of 
 Dell Pasha, in order to enter upon his new 
 duties. 
 
 On inquiry he learnt that the Pasha did not 
 live in the city, but in one of the large houses 
 recently built on the banks of the Nile, above the 
 Port of Boulak, and below the palaces lately 
 constructed by Mohammed Ali and Ibrahim 
 Pasha for the harems of the Viceregal family. 
 
 On reaching the door of the house indicated 
 to him, he was informed by the Berber porter, in 
 reply to his inquiry, that the Pasha was within,
 
 1 85 HASSAN. 
 
 so lie passed into the entrance-hall, at the end of 
 which he observed one or two slaves lounging 
 about, from whom he learnt that their master had 
 lately come down from the upper apartments, and 
 was now in the court-yard at the back of the 
 palace. Availing himself of the guidance of one 
 of the slaves, he soon reached the court-yard, a 
 large space covering two or three acres of ground, 
 and surrounded by a high wall. Here he found 
 a motley crowd assembled, consisting apparently 
 of Mamelukes, grooms, and servants of all de- 
 scriptions, and the shouts, and cries, and turmoil 
 proceeding from them baffled all description. 
 
 In the centre of the group he saw a horse, 
 held by two or three grooms by long ropes, 
 rearing, kicking, and plunging like a wild beast, 
 and near him a middle-aged, strong-built man, 
 with a turban on his head, and his sleeves tucked 
 up above his elbows, striking at the horse with a 
 long courbatch, and cursing the animal, together 
 with its sire, dam, and all its ancestry, in the 
 most approved terms of Turkish abuse. As Hassan 
 came forward, looking around in vain for any 
 figure which he could conceive likely to be the 
 Pasha, it happened that the person above- 
 mentioned stopped a moment from his flogging 
 and malediction to take breath ; so Hassan took
 
 DELI PASHA. 187 
 
 the opportunity of inquiring whether he coukl 
 inform him where Deli Pasha was to be found. 
 
 * And what may be your business with him, 
 young man V said he, turning towards Hassan a 
 face in which heat, anger, and good-humour were 
 strangely blended. 
 
 ' I have a letter for him from Hadji Tsmael, 
 the merchant/ replied Hassan. 
 
 ' "WTiere is the letter V said the speaker. 
 
 ' It is here/ said our hero, producing it from 
 his girdle ; ^ and I wish to deliver it to the Pasha 
 in person, if you will tell me where I can find 
 him.^ 
 
 ' Let me see the address/ said the strange man 
 with the bare arm. Hassan handed it to him, 
 and as he cast his eye on the outer seal he 
 
 ^ Why this is not the seal of Hadji Tsmael, it 
 is that of the Viceroy/ and he was proceeding 
 leisurely to open it when Hassan snatched it from 
 him, saying — 
 
 ' How dare you open it. I must deliver it 
 unopened into the Pasha^s own hands.' 
 
 ' Why, you young hot-blood,' said the other, 
 holding out his two large muscular hands, ^ whose 
 hands are these if they are not Deli Pasha's ?' 
 
 * Is it so, indeed V said Hassan, in some con-
 
 1 88 HASSAN. 
 
 fusion. ' I was not aware that I was speaking to 
 his Excellency.' 
 
 * There is no harm done, hoy/ said the Pasha, 
 smiling good-humouredly. ^You did not expect 
 to see his Excellency with his arms bare, and a 
 courbatch in his hand. Now that you know me, 
 give me the letter.' 
 
 Taking it from the youth's hand he read it care- 
 fully, stopping every now and then to give a 
 scrutinizing glance at the bearer, and when he 
 came to the postscript added by the Viceroy's 
 order, he laughed aloud till the tears stood in his 
 eyes. 
 
 ^ By my father's beard !' he said, ^ all will soon 
 be mad in this house. Mohammed Ali sends you 
 to me, saying that you are as mad as myself ; and 
 it is only yesterday that Ibrahim Pasha sent me 
 that cursed horse, telling me that it was as mad 
 as myself. If the father's statement prove as 
 true as the son's, you must be mad indeed, for 
 such a devil I never beheld.' 
 
 ' Devil,' said Hassan, looking at the furious 
 and struggling animal with unrepressed admira- 
 tion ; ' he seems to me beautiful as an angel.' 
 
 * You say true,' replied Deli Pasha, ' his form 
 is perfect ; and Ibrahim brought him away as a 
 colt from the Wahabees ; he is of pure Koheil
 
 A LESSON IN HORSE TAMING. 189 
 
 blood; but Sheitan* is his name, and Sheitan is 
 his nature, nothing can tame him ; he has nearly 
 killed two of Ibrahim Pasha's grooms, and now 
 he sends the animal to me as a present, telling 
 me that it is just like myself/ 
 
 ' If he be a Koheil,' said Hassan, ' he will 
 never be tamed by such means as I saw your 
 Excellency using when I came into the court- 
 yard/ 
 
 ' You speak boldly, youngster,' said the cho- 
 loric Pasha with a fro^vn. * Do you think that, 
 with my beard beginning to turn grey, I do not 
 know how to tame an unruly horse V 
 
 ' I speak boldly. Excellency, because I speak 
 truly, not from any w ish to offend. Does Ibrahim 
 Pasha know your Excellency w^ell ?' 
 
 ' Wallahi ! (by Allah) I believe you he does ; 
 we have marched together, bivouacked together, 
 fought together for many years/ 
 
 ' Then,' said Hassan, ' as his Highness has 
 likened your Excellency to that horse, permit 
 your servant to ask you, if you were in an 
 angry and fretful mood, and any one were to 
 attempt to haul at you with ropes, and strike you 
 with a courbatch, in order to tame you, how would 
 he succeed ?' 
 
 * Sheitan, Arabic form of ' Satan.*
 
 190 HASSAN. 
 
 ' Wallahi ! I would cut his head off/ exclaimed 
 the Pasha, feeling mechanically for the sword 
 which he had left behind him in the palace. ' Do 
 you think that you could mount him V 
 
 * It is better not now,' said Hassan, quietly. 
 
 ' Mount him !' said a voice from behind ; ^ he 
 is afraid to go near the horse.' 
 
 Hassan turned to look at the speaker, and saw 
 a large, powerful man of about thirty-five years of 
 age, to whose harsh features a deep scar on the 
 cheek gave a still more forbidding appearance. 
 
 ' Silence, Osman Bey/ said the Pasha; ^ because 
 the young man speaks his mind freely, you have 
 no right to insinuate that he is afraid. What 
 say you, Hassan? What do you propose about 
 the horse V 
 
 ^ If your Excellency desires it/ said Hassan, 
 drawing himself up, and casting a look of contempt 
 on Osman Bey, * I will mount the horse imme- 
 diately, and he shall kill me or I will kill him; 
 but if you ask me what I would advise, I would 
 say leave him alone now, his flank is panting, his 
 eye blood-shot, no good can come from gentle 
 usage now. Let him be taken back to the stable ; 
 give orders that no one may tend or feed him 
 but myself, and let me show him to your Excel- 
 lency after two days are past.'
 
 THE HORSE SHEITAN. 191 
 
 The Pasha was just about giving his consent, 
 ■when Sheitan thought fit to settle the matter 
 otherwise for himself. With an unexpected 
 bound be broke the halter held by one groom, 
 and rushing upon the other threw him to the 
 ground, and grasping the unfortunate man by the 
 middle, with his teeth shook him as a terrier does 
 a rat. 
 
 None seemed desirous of approaching the in- 
 furiated animal, but Hassan, snatching a nabout 
 (a long thick stafi) from the hand of one of the 
 bystanding servants, rushed to the spot, and 
 striking the horse a severe bloAV on the nose 
 obliged him to drop the sais, who was no sooner 
 released than he crawled away on all fours, and 
 placed himself behind his protector. 
 
 Sheitan seemed resolved that day to be worthy 
 of his name, for no sooner did he see Hassan 
 standing before him, than he ran furiously at him 
 ■vnth open mouth, vrith the intention of worrying 
 him, as he had done the sais, but Hassan had 
 watched him with too steady an eye to be taken 
 unawares, and no sooner did the animal in furious 
 career come within reach, than he dealt him a 
 blow on the top of the head between the ears, 
 with such force that the nabout was broken in 
 half, and the horse stood still a moment, com-
 
 I9iJ HASSAN. 
 
 pletely stunned and bewildered. That moment was 
 not unimproved by Hassan, wlio vaulted liglitly on 
 his back, and sat waiting until the animals senses 
 fully returned, during which time he gathered up 
 the halters hanging from the horse^s head, and 
 made therewith a sort of extempore bridle. 
 
 No sooner did Sheitan recover his senses, and 
 become aware of the audacious rider on his back, 
 than he began to rear, plunge, and perform the 
 wildest gambols, in order to dislodge him ; but he 
 might as well have tried by such means to dis- 
 lodge the hair from his mane. Hassan sat like 
 a centaur, and the savage animal, determined to 
 get rid of him, reared bolt upright, and fell 
 backwards ; but Hassan was prepared for this 
 manoeuvre, and sliding off on one side alighted on 
 his feet, while the horse fell alone. 
 
 Hassan^s blood was now up, and he determined 
 to subdue his enemy by force. Giving the horse 
 several severe blows with the broken nabout which 
 he stDl held in his hand, he forced the animal to 
 rise, and just as it was gaining his feet jumped 
 once more on its back. 
 
 'Aferin! aferin !^ (bravo! bravo!) shouted 
 the old Pasha, at the top of his voice, as the 
 infuriated horse once more commenced its wild 
 career, bearing its immovable and relentless
 
 A TRIAL OF STRENGTH. I93 
 
 rider. The large area in wliicli this scene took 
 place was shut in by the house in front, by- 
 high walls on the two sides, one of which 
 divided the outer house from the interior or 
 harem, and at the further end was a lower wall, 
 between five and six feet high, which divided it 
 from another large court beyond, in which were 
 the Pasha's stables. Sheitan, goaded to mad- 
 ness by his vain efforts to get rid of his 
 merciless rider, now rushed with full speed 
 towards the stable court. To stop him with that 
 halter bridle was impossible, so, instead of at- 
 tempting it, Hassan gave him his head, shouted 
 aloud his wild Arab-cry, and, to the surprise of 
 the bystanders, horse and man cleared the wall, 
 and alighted in safety on the other side. Whether 
 it were owing to the tremendous exertion that he 
 had made, or to the concussion on alighting on 
 hard ground after so unwonted a leap, Sheitan 
 was no sooner over the wall than he stopped, 
 trembling and panting. 
 
 Hassan allowed the affrighted animal a few 
 moments to recover its breath, and then began to 
 canter it round the stable-yard. ' Now, friend 
 Sheitan,^ he said, ' thou hast come over this wall 
 once to please thyself, thou must go over it again 
 to please mc' So saying, he again urged the 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 HASSAN. 
 
 horse to full speed with heel and stick, and 
 charging the wall with the same success as before, 
 galloped him to the spot where Deli Pasha and 
 his followers stood. There, without difficulty, he 
 pulled up, and the foaming, panting sides of the 
 exhausted steed sufficiently proved that he was 
 subdued. 
 
 ^ That will do for the first lesson,^ said Hassan, 
 good-humouredly, patting the neck of Sheitan. 
 * To-morrow we shall know each other better.' 
 
 Old Dell Pasha was so delighted with Hassan's 
 performance that he could scarcely find words to 
 express himself. 
 
 ' See your horse safe in the stable,^ he said ; 
 ' give your own orders about him, and then come 
 up to me in the salamlik ;* I have much to say 
 to you.' Turning to the Mirakhor, or head of the 
 stable, he added — ' Give him a good sais, and see 
 that his orders about Sheitan are punctually 
 obeyed.^ 
 
 On inquiry, Hassan found that the sais w^ho 
 had been seized by the horse had not been injured, 
 as the teeth had only caught his outer clothes and 
 
 * Salamlik is a reception-room, in houses of Turkish con- 
 struction, generally on the first floor, and in the centre of the 
 buildino;.
 
 SHEITAN SUBDUED. 195 
 
 liis broad girdle. This same sais was the one who 
 habitually fed Sheitan in the stable^ and Hassan 
 nOAV accompanied him thither, telling- him to walk 
 the horse about for an hour_, but to give it neither 
 water nor barley till his return ; to ensure his 
 fidelity Hassan slipped a few piasters into the 
 man^s hand, and returned towards the house to 
 present himself to his new patron.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE INTEEIOK OF DELI PASHA's HAEE31 — HASSAN ENTEES 
 UPON HIS NEW DUTIES. 
 
 TTTE must now change the scene to the interior 
 * * or harem of Deli Pasha^s palace^ which, as 
 we have before said, was separated by a high 
 wall from the exterior building. There was, 
 however, a private door pierced in the wall, by 
 means of which the Pasha could pass from his 
 salamlik to his harem, which door was^ as usual 
 in Turkish houses, guarded by several stout 
 eunuchs, who relieved each other on guard day 
 and night. One wing of the harem was assigned 
 to the Pasha^s two wives, and their attendants, 
 while the other was assigned to his only daughter, 
 Amina, whose mother had died in her infancy, 
 her place being now supplied by a middle-aged 
 Turkish lady, named Fatimeh Khanum, who 
 enjoyed the title and authority of Kiahia, or Chief 
 of the Harem. 
 
 All the Pasha's best affections were centred 
 in his daughter Amina, and indeed she was one 
 of whom any father might be proud ; she was 
 about sixteen years of age, and though her figure
 
 THE pasha's daughter. 
 
 197 
 
 was rather above the average height, it was so 
 beautifully formed, and rounded in such exquisite 
 proportions, that every movement, every change of 
 posture, was a varied though unstudied grace. 
 
 Her face was one of those which defy the poet's 
 description, or the portraiture of the artist, for 
 although every perfect and lovely feature might be 
 separately described, neither pen nor pencil could 
 depict their harmony of expression, nor the deep 
 lustre of those large liquid eyes, whose fringes, 
 when she cast them down, trembled on the border 
 of her downy cheek. 
 
 Her beauty was already so celebrated in Cairo, 
 that she was more generally known by the name 
 of Xejmet-es-Sabah* than by her own. Many 
 suitors among the highest of the Beys and Pashas 
 had demanded her in marriage, but she was so 
 happy with her father, and he loved her with such 
 intense affection, that he had never yet been able 
 to make up his mind to part with her. That he 
 spoilt her by indulging her in every whim and 
 caprice is certain, and yet she was not spoilt, 
 partly owing to the gentleness of her own dis- 
 position, and partly owang to the care which 
 Fatimeh Khanum, who was an unusually sensible 
 
 * Nejmet-es-Sabah — 'Morning Star.'
 
 198 HASSAN. 
 
 and well-informed woman^ had taken in lier 
 education. 
 
 From the latticed window in her boudoir Amina 
 had witnessed the whole of the scene described 
 in the last chapter^ and, clapping her hands together 
 with excitement^ she had called Fatimeh to her 
 side. 
 
 ' Fatimeh/ she cried, ' who is that strange 
 youth,, taller by the head than all the others V 
 
 ' I know not^ my child/ said Fatimeh. ' I 
 have never seen him before.^ 
 
 ' Oh, the wild horse will kill him/ said Amina, 
 with a half-suppressed shriek, as she saw the 
 horse rear and fall backwards. 'No, he is on it 
 again, and unhurt,^ she cried, again clapping her 
 hands together for joy. Another half scream burst 
 from her as she saw the wild horse and horseman 
 clear the wall, and again when he repeated the 
 same perilous leap. 
 
 Amina often sat behind the lattice of her 
 window and amused herself by looking at her 
 father's retainers when playing the jereed, and, 
 though herself invisible to them, she knew 
 many of them by name, and almost all by sight. 
 
 ^ Oh, Fatimeh/ she cried, ^ when you go down 
 gtairs do not forget to make one of the slaves 
 inquire who is that strange youth. We never
 
 A TETE-A-TETE. I99 
 
 saw sucli a liorseman, did we^ Fatimeh ? and then 
 
 he has such a ' Amina paused, and blushed 
 
 a little. 
 
 ' You were going to say such a handsome face 
 aHd figure/ said Fatimeh, smiling. ^ I dare say 
 he is a new Mameluke of your father's, but I will 
 find out and tell you who he is this evening,' 
 
 They then withdrew into the outer apartment, 
 where Amina was in the habit of receiving her 
 lady guests, and resumed the Avork which the 
 noise made by the wild horse had interrupted. 
 
 Amina was making a beautiful embroidered 
 purse for her father, and Fatimeh arranging some 
 ornament of her favourite pupil's dress, when a 
 slave entered, and said that the Pasha required 
 Fatimeh Khanum's presence in the salamlik. 
 Throwing her veil over her head, that lady 
 immediately obeyed the summons. 
 
 The Pasha was alone, having ordered his 
 attendants to withdraw. 
 
 ' How is my Amina, my Morning Star, to-day V 
 he exclaimed, as soon as she entered. 
 
 ^ Praise be to Allah, she is well, and her fingers 
 are even now employed on a purse for your 
 Excellency.' 
 
 ' The blessing of Allah be upon her,' said the 
 Pasha ; ' she is my heart's delight. Inshallah !
 
 2CO HASSAN. 
 
 when I have finished the business now in hand I 
 will come to her. Tell her that I will snp with 
 her this evening/ He then proceeded to inform 
 her that he had been appointed by the Viceroy 
 Governor of Siout, in Upper Egypt, and that in* a 
 few weeks he should take his departure^ with all 
 his family, to his new post. After giving her 
 this information, he proceeded to discuss with her 
 the arrangements which it might be advisable to 
 make for the conveyance of his daughter, and for 
 the other ladies of his harem. 
 
 While this discussion was going on, Hassan, 
 after seeing Sheitan secure in the stable, had 
 returned to the house, and inquired where he 
 might find the Pasha. 
 
 ' He is upstairs, in the salamlik,^ said the 
 young Mameluke whom he addressed. ^ You 
 will find him in the large room at the end of the 
 passage on your right ; he has dismissed us from 
 attendance, but he has asked twice for you ; better 
 that you make haste ; Deli Pasha does not like to 
 wait.^ 
 
 Hassan rapidly mounted the stairs, and, follow- 
 ing the direction he had received, ran rather than 
 walked along the dimly-lighted passage which led 
 to the Pasha's room. Just as he reached the end, 
 and was about to enter, he encountered a woman
 
 TATIMEII ENCOUNTEllS HASSAN. 201 
 
 coming out, and the concussion was such that 
 she must inevitably have fallen had he not caught 
 and supported her in his arms. As it was, the 
 shock was such that it displaced her veil, and for 
 a few seconds she was unable to speak. Plassan 
 saw that it was a middle-aged woman, Avho still 
 retained traces of early beauty ; it was indeed no 
 other than our friend Fatimeh Khanum retiring 
 from her interview with the Pasha. 
 
 ' I hope you are not much hurt, lady/ said 
 he, in a tone of respectful solicitude, and depositing 
 her gently on a stone seat at the side of the 
 passage. 
 
 ' Not hurt,^ she replied, with difficulty regain- 
 ing her breath, * but very much frightened.^ 
 
 ' I cannot forgive myself for being so careless,' 
 he continued ; * but I was in haste to obey the 
 Pasha's summons. I hope you forgive me; you 
 can be sure I meant no rudeness to you.' 
 
 ^ I believe it, young Aga,' she replied, with a 
 good-natured smile, fixing her eyes involuntarily 
 on the open and animated countenance before her. 
 ' I am recovered now,' she continued ; ' you 
 had better go in to the Pasha^ wdio is waiting for 
 you.' 
 
 Hassan, after again saluting her respectfully, 
 left her, and entered the Pasha's room.
 
 202 HASSAX. 
 
 ^ You have not been very quick in obeying our 
 summons/ said the latter^ with a slight frown on 
 his brow. 
 
 Hassan expL^ined the accident by which he had 
 been detained in the passage. 
 
 ^ What !' he cried^ bursting out into a fit of 
 laughter, ^ so you nearly knocked down our poor 
 Kiahia Khanum, did you? I am glad she was 
 not hurt. She is a good, kind-hearted soul. 
 Now come here, Hassan, and tell me if you know 
 anything of the postscript added by Mohammed 
 Ali^s order to the merchant's letter V 
 
 ' Nothing,^ replied Hassan. ^ His Highness 
 gave his orders in a whisper to the interpreter.' 
 
 ' Well, it is written in this letter that I am to 
 pay you ten purses (50/.), and I shall order the 
 money to be given to you this evening.' 
 
 The Pasha then made Hassan give him an 
 account of his interview Avith the Viceroy, and of 
 his affray with the Government kawass on the 
 canal, at which latter Deli Pasha laughed heartily; 
 he then continued — ^' Hadji Ismael speaks so 
 highly of you in his letter, that I propose at once 
 to offer you the vacant post of Khaznadar 
 (treasurer) in this house. My Khazneh (treasury) 
 is not very full, and will not occupy you much, 
 so I shall expect you to assist in the purchase
 
 AHMED AGA, MASTER OF THE HORSE. 203 
 
 of horses -wliicli I am making for Ibraliim 
 Pasha/ 
 
 Hassan stepped forward^ and having placed 
 the edge of the Paslia^s pelisse to his forehead^ 
 in token of acknowledgment_, retired from the 
 room. 
 
 ^ I like that young giant/ said Deli Pasha to 
 himself, as Hassan withdre^y. ^ His manners are 
 so quiet, and his face so prepossessing, but there 
 is the devil in his eye when his blood is roused, as 
 I saw this morning/ 
 
 Hassan was no sooner alone than he remem- 
 bered the letter given him by his old friend 
 Moliammed Aga, in Alexandria, to Ahmed Aga, 
 Dell Pasha^s master of the horse, and hearing 
 that he had gone to the stables, followed and 
 rejoined him. Ahmed Aga, who had been an 
 admiring spectator of Hassan's performance with 
 Sheitan, was already prepossessed in his favour, 
 and when he read the letter which his old 
 friend Mohammed Aga's partiality had dictated, 
 he welcomed Hassan with great cordiality; and 
 as Ahmed himself w^as a man of open, honest 
 countenance, and sterling good qualities, they 
 were disposed to like each other from the very 
 first. 
 
 Hassan having communicated to his ncAV friend
 
 204 HASSAN. 
 
 that he had just received the appointment of 
 Khaznadar, the latter exclaimed — 
 
 ' Mashallah ! that is a good beginning, but the 
 post is not so agreeable as you might think; for 
 it brings you into constant collision with Osman 
 Bey^ the \Yakeel_, who has charge of all Deli 
 Pasha^s lands and property. He is a spiteful^ 
 jealous_, and dangerous man. I fear he has taken 
 a dislike to you already.^ 
 
 ^ To me!' said Hassan, in surprise. 'What 
 can I have done to offend him V 
 
 ' You have offended him mortally by riding that 
 horse, Sheitan, which he was unable to mount ; 
 and as he is a good horseman, and very proud of 
 his horsemanship, he is very angry at your having 
 subdued that which he described this morning to 
 the Pasha as a wild beast, perfectly untameable.' 
 
 ' If he is spiteful against me on such grounds 
 as those,' said Hassan, smiling, ' I cannot help 
 myself. I shall do my duty, and not trouble 
 myself about his spite.' 
 
 Ahmed Aga shook his head, as if Osman Bey 
 were not a pleasant subject to speak upon. 
 
 ' Come,' he said, ' let us go into the house. 
 As Khaznadar you are entitled to a separate 
 room ; a privilege enjoyed by none of the Mame- 
 lukes.'
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HASSAN SEES WHAT HE HAS LONG DEEAMT OF — HE MAKES 
 FEIENDS WITH ' SHEITAN,' AND HAS A NAREOW ESCAPE 
 FEOil BEING SHOT. 
 
 TTTE left Fatimeh Khanum recovering from the 
 shock occasioned by running against Has- 
 san in the passage. After a few minutes she 
 pursued her way to the private door leading to 
 the harem, where she was at once admitted by 
 the eunuchs on guard. 
 
 No sooner had the good lady reached Amina^s 
 apartment than she threw herself down on a divan 
 in the corner, and the quick eyes of her pupil 
 soon discovered that she had been, and indeed 
 still was, labouring under some violent agitation. 
 
 ' What has happened, my dear Fatimeh V said 
 Amina, seating herself beside her governess. 
 ' What has agitated you tlius ?' 
 
 Fatimeh then related to her pupil her acci- 
 dental rencontre with Hassan in the passage, 
 and that he was the same youth whom they had 
 seen from the window riding the wild horse. 
 
 ^ He carried me so gently,' she continued, ' to a 
 seat, and he was so kind in inquiring whether I
 
 2C6 HASSAN. 
 
 \^'as hiu't_, and his manner was so respectful, so 
 unlike those young Mamelukes_, that I could not 
 take my eyes off him; I felt as if I were be- 
 witched/ 
 
 ' Oh '/ cried Amina, clapping her little hands 
 together ; ' Fatimeh Khanum^ my wise monitress, 
 has fallen in love with the young stranger/ 
 
 ' My dear child/ replied Fatimeh, ' the love 
 you speak of has been dead w ithin me for many 
 years, and can never be revived ; and that Avhich 
 frightens me so much is, that I cannot account 
 for the agitation into which I was thrown by his 
 looks and his voice, otherwise than by saying that 
 I must have been bewitched/ And here the good 
 lady began to recite some verses from the Koran, 
 as a charm against the Evil Eye, and to count the 
 beads of her rosary.* Having performed this 
 counter-charm against witchery, the good dame 
 then proceeded to inform her pupil of their 
 approaching change of residence, and departure 
 for Siout, and also of her father's intention to 
 sup with her. 
 
 ^ Oh V cried the light-hearted Amina, ' I will 
 
 * The rosary here alluded to (called in Arabic, Tashbih) is 
 a string of beads, generally one hundred in number, carried 
 by the greater part of Moslems of the upper and middling 
 classes : the}" are used as ' omens,' ' counter-charms,' &c.
 
 Hassan's new home. 207 
 
 prepare him a dish of kadaif* with my own 
 hands. He says that no one can make it so well 
 as I do.^ So saying, she bounded away to give 
 the requisite orders to her female slaves. 
 
 AVhile these preparations w^ere going foi'ward, 
 Hassan_, aided by his new friend^ Ahmed Aga_, liad 
 found a vacant room on the second floor, which 
 was forthwith appropriated to his use^ and his box 
 and saddle-bags were immediately transported 
 thither. As he might, in his new capacity of 
 Khaznadar, be called upon to take charge of 
 Slims of money belonging to Deli Pasha, he 
 desired that a strong lock might be put on the 
 door, of which he proposed to keep the key about 
 his person. There was not much fear of thieves 
 coming in at the wiudow, as the only aperture 
 for the admission of light or air w- as in the side- 
 wall of the house^ forty or fifty feet from the 
 ground, and eight or ten feet above the floor of 
 Hassan's room. The remainder of the day, with 
 the exception of a visit made to Sheitan, Hassan 
 spent with Ahmed Aga, who gave him many useful 
 hints as to the character of his new chief. It proved 
 to be very much what Hassan's observations would 
 
 * * Kadaif,' a favourite Turkish disli, made of flour, honc}', 
 and other inj'redients.
 
 208 HASSAN. 
 
 have led him to surmise — hasty, impetuous, and 
 choleric, hut warm-hearted, and soon appeased. 
 
 The moon was high in the heavens when Hassan 
 retired to his own room, where he busied himself 
 in arranging his fcAv moveables before throwing 
 himself on his mattress to sleep. While thus 
 engaged, a Turkish song, with the words of which 
 he was perfectly familiar, caught his ear. The 
 voice was e\idently that of a female, and it was 
 rich, low, and musical. 
 
 Hassan listened like one in a trance to that 
 sweet sound, wafted into his room, he knew not 
 whence, by the night-breeze. The song consisted 
 of three stanzas, two of which the songstress com- 
 pleted, and then her fingers wandered over the 
 strings of a lute, as if to recal the third to 
 memory. Moved by an impulse which he could 
 not restrain, Hassan took up the song, and in a 
 low voice sung the concluding stanza. After 
 this there was a profound silence, broken only by 
 the distant barking of dogs and braying of don- 
 keys, sounds which never cease day or night in. 
 Cairo, and Hassan fell asleep with the Turkish 
 song on his lips. 
 
 He was up before sunrise, and went straight 
 to the stables, where he hoped to find that Sheitan, 
 having been kept all night without barley or
 
 DISCIPLINE. 209 
 
 water, might be more disposed to cultivate 
 acquaintance. Such, however, was not the case, 
 for when he endeavoured to approach with sieve 
 or bucket, the horse lay back its ears, and strug- 
 gled with the heel ropes, endeavouring to kick at 
 him. 
 
 ^ Softly,' said Hassan ; ^ no more violence now, 
 we shall soon be better friends/ and, putting 
 away the corn and the water, he contrived, with 
 the assistance of his groom, to saddle and bridle 
 him. Armed with a good courbatch, he mounted, 
 and went out by a back gate, the horse fretting 
 and plunging, but still evidently recognising his 
 rider of yesterday. 
 
 Hassan gave him a good gallop of some ten 
 miles over the desert, and brought him back 
 much subdued to the stable. ' Not a drop of 
 water nor a grain of barky/ said he to the sais, 
 ' until he takes it out of my hand.' So saying, 
 he walked into the house, and went up to his own 
 room, his thoughts ever reverting to the unseen 
 songstress of yesterday evening. As he went 
 along the passage leading to his room, his eye 
 accidentally fell upon a small ladder, which ap- 
 peared to have been lately used for whitcAvashing 
 the upper wall and ceiling of the passage. A 
 sudden idea struck him, and catching up the 
 VOL. I. r
 
 2 1 HASSAN. 
 
 ladder, he carried it into his own room, and after 
 locking the door, by the help of the ladder he 
 climbed up to the aperture -which served as a 
 window^, and looked cautiously out. 
 
 Opposite him, at a distance of not more than 
 eight or ten yards, he saw a latticed window, 
 which he at once knew to belong to the harem por- 
 tion of the palace, and he guessed that from that 
 window must have come the strain which he had 
 heard the preceding night. Hiding the ladder, 
 or rather the steps under his bed, he went down 
 to attend upon Deli Pasha, who received him 
 with much kindness, and gave him several com- 
 missions connected with his new appointment. 
 Having executed these with punctuality, and 
 dined as on the preceding day with Ahmed, he 
 retired to his own room, but not to sleep, for his 
 imagination still fed upon the soft, musical voice 
 of the night before, and he hoped that he might 
 hear it again. Nor was he doomed to disappoint- 
 ment, for about two hours after sunset his ear 
 again caught the same voice, singing, perhaps, in 
 a lower tone, and a different air. 
 
 Gently placing his steps against the wall below 
 the aperture, he mounted, and found that the 
 sound proceeded, as he had expected, from the 
 latticed window opposite. The moon shone full
 
 Hassan's dream realized. 211 
 
 upon it^ tliougli he Avas in the shade. lie fancied 
 that through the little diamond-shaped apertures 
 in the lattice he could distinguish a female figure 
 behind it. Holding his breath with anxiety, he 
 remained for some time on the watch, when tlie 
 fair songstress, having finished her lay, threw open 
 the lattice, to look out for a few minutes at the 
 moonlit scene. 
 
 Hassan gazed at the lovely apparition as if 
 under a fascination. Her gorgeous black hair was 
 falling in clusters over her neck and shoulders, 
 veiling at the same time half of the arm on which 
 she reposed her rounded and velvet cheek. Some- 
 times her large lustrous eyes were raised to the 
 moon, as if asking some question of the skyey 
 influences, and at others they dropped under the 
 shadows of their long dark fringes. 
 
 ' Oh, my dream — my destiny,^ murmured 
 Hassan to himself, ' there she is — she of whom 
 I have dreamt — she whom I have adored from 
 my earliest youth — her picture has been long in 
 my heart, but my eyes never saw it till now!' 
 In the excitement and agitation of the moment, 
 he fell rather than descended to the ground, and 
 throwing himself on his bed, gave vent to all the 
 impetuous and long-suppressed impulses of his 
 romantic passion. He had not remained there 
 P 2,
 
 213 HASSAN. 
 
 many minutes ere the Turkish song of the pre- 
 ceding evening reached his ear, and the fair 
 songstress, as before, paused at the conclusion of 
 the second stanza. Moved by an impulse that 
 he could not resist, Hassan caught up the air, 
 and sang to it, ^Yith a voice trembling with agita- 
 tion, the following lines : — 
 
 * Thy name is unknown, yet thy image is in my heart ; 
 Thine eyes have pierced me, and if thou show not mercy I die.' 
 
 Again he crept softly up the steps, and looked 
 out ; but the lattice was closed, and the fair vision 
 had disappeared. 
 
 On the following morning Hassan was afoot 
 before sunrise, and in walking across the space 
 between the house and the stable, it occurred to 
 him to turn round and reconnoitre the windows, 
 in hopes of discovering the latticed window oppo- 
 site to his own room ; nor was the task difficult, 
 for on carrying his eye along the wall that sepa- 
 rated the outer palace from the harem, he easily 
 recognised the window that he sought, in the 
 upper story of the harem, which faced the quarter 
 of the house in which his own room was situated, 
 and which, being at the corner of the building, 
 commanded a view of the space over which he 
 was now walking, and this was the Meidan,
 
 A RECONCILIATION EFFECTED. 213 
 
 where tlie ^lamelukes and follo\yers of the Pasha 
 plaj^ed at the jereed,* and otlier equestrian sports 
 in vogue at the time. 
 
 His thoughts still bent upon the lovely vision 
 of the preceding night, he reached the stable, and 
 on his approaching and speaking to Sheitan^ the 
 horse turned round and looked at him, seemingly- 
 more desirous of receiving something from him 
 than of kickiug or biting him. ' So/ said 
 Hassan, smiling, ' we shall be friends after all !' 
 The half pail of water that he carried up to the 
 horse's head was swallowed with every appearance 
 of satisfaction, and Sheitan no longer disdained 
 to eat the bai-ley out of his hands. Allowing the 
 horse only a few handfuls, Hassan gave him 
 another canter over the desert, stopping every 
 now and then to coax and caress him, and it was 
 soon evident that all enmity was at an end. 
 After his return he gave Sheitan his full meal of 
 barley, and from that day they grew daily more 
 and more intimate, nntil, at the end of a week, 
 
 * The game of the jereed is almost too famiUar to the 
 reading world to require description. It is a mimic fight, 
 representing a combat with the spear or javelin. The jereed 
 itself is a cane, much shorter than an ordinary spear, and is 
 thrown like a javelin : sometimes they are strong and heavy, 
 and, when wielded by a powerful arm, inflict, though blunt, a 
 very serious injury
 
 214 HASSAN. 
 
 the formerly vicious horse was as gentle as a 
 lamb to him^ and followed him like a dog. 
 
 During the first few days of his stay he was 
 chiefly employed in examining the accounts of 
 his predecessor, in which he received great 
 assistance from his friend, Ahmed Aga, notwith- 
 standing which assistance,, the task was far from 
 being easy, as the Pasha was himself very thought- 
 less and extravagant in all that regarded money, 
 and the preceding Khaznadar had thought it his 
 duty to follow in that respect his chiefs 
 example. 
 
 Meantime Hassan had formed the acquaintance 
 of the chief eunuch of the harem — a venerable- 
 looking negro, with a beard as white as snow, 
 and the old man took pleasure in relating to so 
 enthusiastic and intelligent a listener some of the 
 stirring and tragical scenes that he had witnessed 
 in the days of the Mameluke Beys and the French 
 invasion, at which period he had himself been in 
 the service of the famous Ibrahim Elfi Bey. 
 Hassan had another motive in cultivating the 
 acquaintance of Mansour Aga; namely, that, as 
 the old man seemed to know something of the 
 history of every influential family in Egypt, he 
 hoped through him to find some clue to his 
 own parentage.
 
 MOONLIGHT REVELATIONS. 215 
 
 Every evening, before retiring to rest, Hassan 
 crept softly up to the aperture in the wall of his 
 room; but the lattice was shut, and was in the 
 shade, owing to the change in the position of the 
 moon. Nevertheless, though he could see nothing, 
 he remained there for a long time, with his cheek 
 resting on his hand, and his eyes fixed upon the 
 lattice, as if the insensible wood could feel or 
 return his gaze. 
 
 Lovers are never very good calculators, and 
 thus Hassan forgot that the same change in the 
 position of the moon which had thrown tlie lat- 
 ticed window into the shade, had also thrown her 
 beams full upon his own face, and that the tenant 
 of the opposite room could now, while perfectly 
 concealed herself, trace every emotion that passed 
 over his expressive countenance. 
 
 Alas for seclusion ! Alas for propriety ! — but 
 so it was. The lovely songstress, behind her 
 latticed shield, now gazed in silence, night after 
 night, on what was in her eyes the noblest face 
 they had ever beheld ; and when his longing and 
 ardent gaze seemed to him to be arrested by that 
 envious lattice, it fell in reality on the lustrous 
 orbs and blushing cheeks of the lovely girl within, 
 who, although concealed, trembled at her own 
 audacity, and at the new emotions that agitated
 
 2l6 HASSAN. 
 
 her breast. Having waited for some time in tlie 
 vain hope of seeing the tip of a finger^ or a symp- 
 tom of movement in tlie lattice,, he descended to 
 his room^ having sung hefore he left the following 
 verse, in a low voice : — 
 
 • Oh, sleep ! full like dew on that rosebud's e^^elids ; 
 Let her know in her dreams that Hassan's heart is burnt 
 with her love.' 
 
 On the following day Hassan had gone into tlie 
 city on some business entrusted to him by the 
 Pasha, and on his return had just entered that 
 part of the Frank quarter now called the Esbekiah, 
 when his attention was attracted to a tumuHuous 
 noise at no great distance, occasioned apparently 
 by some drunken Bashi-Bozouks.* He was about 
 to pass on, when he heard his own name called 
 aloud by a voice which he easily recognised as 
 that of Mansour, the eunuch, ' Help, Hassan, help 
 — they will murder me I' 
 
 * The Crimean campaign has now made the name of these 
 Eashi-Bozouks, or irregular cavahy, familiar to all Europe. 
 In Eg-ypt, at the date of our tale, they were mostl}' Albanians ; 
 and a more lawless set of ruffians than they were could not 
 be found on earth. On some occasions their savage violence 
 could not be controlled, even by the iron hand of Mohammed 
 Ali. They would neither obey, nor leave the country, and 
 he was compelled to bribe them to adopt the latter course, 
 and also to have them escorted by regular troops beyond the 
 frontier.
 
 HASSAN TAKES PATIT IN A FRAY. 21 7 
 
 Snatching a heavy naboot from the hands of 
 one of the fellahs standing by, Hassan rushed 
 into the fray, and arrived just as one of the 
 Bashi-Bozouks was dragging poor old Mansour off 
 his mule by his snowy beard. A blow from 
 Hassan^s naboot on the fellow's shoulder made 
 him let go his hold, and his arm dropped power- 
 less by his side. His two companions (for the 
 Bashi-Bozouks were three in number) now turned 
 upon Hassan, and one of them, drawing a pistol 
 from his belt, fired it as he advanced ; fortunately 
 for our hero, the ruffian's aim was unsteady, and 
 tlie ball, passing through his sleeve, lodged in 
 the shoulder of a boy v»4io was an accidental 
 spectator of the fray. The two then drew their 
 swords, and rushed upon him together ; but the 
 clumsy drunkards were no match for the steady 
 eye and powerful arm of Hassan. Parrying their 
 first ill-directed thrusts, he struck first one and 
 then the other over the head with the full weight 
 of his club, and the contest was over ; they both 
 lay helpless on the ground. 
 
 Hassan then assisted the terrified eunuch to 
 re-mount his mule, and the crowd was beginning 
 to disperse, when the wali (or police-magistrate), 
 who happened to be passing by, rode up, and in- 
 quired into the cause of the disturbance.
 
 21 8 HASSAN. 
 
 It was soon explained by Mansour, who was 
 known to the wali_, and as it was shown and con- 
 firmed by the bystanders that the Bashi-Bozouks 
 had been the aggressors, the wali ordered them to 
 be conveyed to their quarters_, and delivered to their 
 own officers. He then pursued his way, as did 
 Mansour, after cordially thanking Hassan for his 
 timely assistance. 
 
 Hassan was just returning to the spot where 
 he had left his horse under the care of the sais, 
 when his eye fell upon the unfortunate boy whose 
 shoulder had received the pistol-ball aimed at 
 himself. On approaching to see whether he were 
 seriously hurt, Hassan saw that he looked faint 
 from exhaustion, and that his vest was stained 
 with blood. Drawing near to examine the wound, 
 he inquired whether he felt much pain ; the poor 
 boy, whose countenance was extremely pre- 
 possessing and intelligent, answered only with 
 a faint murmur, pointing at the same time to 
 his mouth. 
 
 ^ The ball cannot have wounded you both in 
 the shoulder and the mouth,' said Hassan. The 
 sufferer shook his head, and again pointed to his 
 mouth. Then Hassan understood that he was 
 dumb. 
 
 ^ Poor child !' said Hassan, compassionately ;
 
 Hassan's protege. 219 
 
 'I have been the cause of thy wound. I cannot 
 leave thee here to suffer — perhaps to die. Where 
 is thy home V 
 
 A melancholy shake of the head was the only 
 answer. 
 
 ' Hast no parents V — Again the same reply. 
 
 Hassan^s mind Avas now made up. Tearing a 
 piece of linen off the edge of his shirty he 
 stanched with it the blood still flowing from 
 the boy^s shoulder, and binding a handkerchief 
 over the wound, he lifted the sufferer gently in 
 his arms ; then placing him on his horse, and 
 having desired the groom to go immediately for 
 the Italian surgeon who attended Deli Pasha's 
 family, he walked slowly home, supporting the 
 wounded boy on the saddle.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HOW MANSOUE, THE EUNUCH, INADVEETENTLY POKED A 
 
 FIBE WHICH HE OUGHT TO HAVE EXTINGUISHED 
 
 HASSAN LEAENS TO TALK WITH HIS EINGEES, AND 
 GIVES A SPECIMEN OF HIS SKILL AT THE GAME OF 
 THE JEEEED WHICH THEEATENS DANGEROUS CONSE- 
 QUENCES TO HIMSELF. 
 
 "1 /rANSOUR_, the eimucli^ after being so oppor- 
 -^^-^ tunely rescued by Hassan^ x^^^^'^^^^ ^^i^ "^^'^7 
 with all speed to Deli Pasha^s harem^ and went 
 lip to give to the Lady Amina an account of the 
 commission which he had been executing for her 
 in Cairo. 
 
 After he had produced the gold thread which 
 he had purchased for the completion of the purse 
 which Amina was working for her father, the 
 young lady remarked in his countenance the 
 traces of recent agitation, and inquired the cause 
 of it ; the old man then proceeded to relate to her 
 his adventure with the Bashi-Bozouks and his 
 timely rescue by Hassan. In speaking of the 
 latter he launched forth into the highest praises of 
 his courage and prowess, as well as the kindness 
 of his nature and disposition. 
 
 Had the room not been darkened by curtains,
 
 AMINA LEARNS SOMETHING. 221 
 
 and tlie old man's eyesiglit not been somewhat 
 dimmed by age, lie could not have failed to notice 
 the tell-tale blood rush to the cheeks and temples 
 of Amina as she heard these encomiums on one 
 whom she knew to be the same whom she had 
 seen from her lattice, and whose voice had taken 
 up her song ; nor could she doubt from the 
 expression which he had used, and from the deep 
 and earnest gaze which he had fixed upon her 
 lattice, that she Avas herself the object of his 
 romantic attachment. 
 
 Repressing her emotions with a slyness which 
 is one of the earliest lessons that Love teaches to his 
 votaries, she asked Mansour, in a tone of seeming 
 indifference, who this new follower of her father's 
 might be, and what his rank and parentage. 
 
 To these inquiries Mansour w as unable to give 
 her any satisfactory answer. He had heard that 
 some mystery hung over Hassan's birth, and all 
 that he knew was that his form was a model of 
 strength and activity, that as a horseman he was 
 unequalled, that from his good humour and obliging 
 disposition he was already a great favourite in the 
 house, and that Deli Pasha entertained so high an 
 opinion of him as to give him the appointment of 
 Khaznadar. 
 
 Little did the aged eunuch think that every
 
 2%2 HASSAN. 
 
 word wliicli he uttered ^vas adding fuel to the fire 
 already kindled in Amina^s sensitive breast^ and 
 that while she sat with downcast eyes and fingers 
 busily employed on her purse^ her ear was greedily 
 drinkmg in every word that he uttered in praise 
 of Hassan, and her little heart was beating against 
 her side with throbs so violent that she feared 
 Mansour must hear them. Her secret was_, how- 
 ever^ safe for the present^ and the old eunuch^ 
 changing the conversation^, said — 
 
 ' Have you heard that on the day after to-mor- 
 row there is to be a grand match at the jereed in 
 the court-yard ? The Kiahia Pasha is coming w ith 
 some of his golams, .and they will take a part in 
 the game/ 
 
 ' No/ replied Amina ; ' I had not yet heard of 
 it. Are you sure if it is to be the day after to- 
 morrow ?^ 
 
 ^ Yes ; I was told so even now as I came in by 
 Ahmed the mirakhor ; I hope that some of those 
 brought by the Kiahia will be strong and skilful^ 
 so as to make head against that tyrannical^ ill- 
 natured Osman Bey^ our Pasha's wakeel. Here we 
 have no one w^ho can contend with him ; I dislike 
 him/ added the old eunuch^ lowering his voice, 
 ^ but, to say the truth, I have not seen his match 
 at the jereed.'
 
 THE WOUNDED BOY. 223 
 
 ' Will not the yoimg stranger whom j^ou spoke 
 of ?^ said Amina^ hesitating to mention the name. 
 ' Hassan T said Mansour. 
 
 ' Yes, Hassan ; will not he play at the jereed, 
 and may he not be a match for Osman V 
 
 * I doubt it/ replied Mansour, shaking his 
 head; ^ notwithstanding his strength, activity, and 
 horsemanship, he is but a youth, and he can 
 scarcely have had opportunity for acquiring the 
 skill and experience requisite for complete pro- 
 ficiency in this game/ 
 
 A bright ray shone in Amina^s eye, and she 
 was about to utter some fervent wish or exclama- 
 tion, but she checked herself, and bent her head 
 again in silence over her work. 
 
 While this conversation was passing between 
 these two, Hassan had brought the wounded boy 
 to the house, where he had carried him gently up- 
 stairs, and deposited the sufferer on his own bed ; 
 shortly afterwards the surgeon arrived, and having 
 examined the wound, he pronounced, to Hassan^s 
 great satisfaction, that the ball had passed clean 
 through the fleshy part of the arm, just below the 
 shoulder, without injuring any bone or ligament, 
 and the patient was only suffering from loss of 
 blood. 
 
 Having dressed the wound, he said — ' Let him
 
 224 HASSAN. 
 
 have rest and light wholesome food ; in a few days 
 he will be well.' The doctor then took his leave, 
 and Hassan, by the assistance of his friend Ahmed 
 Aga, found a small empty room, not far from his 
 own, in which he placed a bed, and, having conveyed 
 thither his patient, went below in order to find 
 some refreshing draught, of which the boy seemed 
 much in need. In a few minutes he returned with 
 a cool lemonade, and having drunk it, the dumb 
 boy looked up in his face, tears of gratitude 
 standing in his eyes. 
 
 Hassan was very desirous to ascertain some- 
 thing of the condition and history of his helpless 
 companion, who began to converse wdth him by 
 rapid movements of his slight and delicate fingers. 
 This, how^ever, being a sealed alphabet to our hero, 
 he shook his head in token that he did not under- 
 stand a syllable ; the boy then began with his 
 right (fortunately it was his unwound ed hand) 
 to imitate writing with a pen on paper. 
 
 ' Oh, you can read and write, can you V said 
 Hassan. The boy nodded his head. Hassan then 
 went down to his office below, and soon returned, 
 bringing with him an inkstand, a reed, and some 
 paper. We will not weary the reader by record- 
 ing in detail the written conversation that followed. 
 The result was that Hassan learned that the boy^s
 
 MUEAD S HISTORY. 225 
 
 name was ]Murad_, that like himself he was an 
 orphan, ignorant of his parentage ; that as a child 
 he had been in the house of a Captain of Bashi- 
 Bozouks, who one day, in a fit of drunken fury, 
 had cut off more than half of the poor chikVs 
 tongue, owing to some hasty word that had 
 escaped him ; that having been kicked out of the 
 Captain's house, he had been kindly treated by 
 one of the Mollahs attached to the Mosque El- 
 Azhar,* where he had remained for several years, 
 learning to read and write, and fed from the 
 eleemosynary funds of that institution, and that 
 for the last two years he had picked up a pre- 
 carious subsistence by carrying letters and parcels 
 all over the town. He ended his artless tale by 
 saying that everybody in Cairo knew him, and he 
 knew everybody. 
 
 AVhile this conversation in writing was still 
 passing, Hassan received a summons from Deli 
 
 * The Mosque El-Azhar is one of the largest, wealthiest, 
 and most celebrated in Cairo. Although devoid of all pre- 
 tensions to architectural beauty, within its precincts is a 
 college for the instruction of youth; but little is taught 
 bej'ond reading the Koran, and the commentators thereon, 
 writing, and the first rudiments of arithmetic. To the chil- 
 dren of the poorer classes the instruction is gratuitous, and 
 even food and lodging are provided from the funds of the 
 endowment. Its revenues were much curtailed by Moham- 
 med Ali. 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 HASSAN. 
 
 Pasha, whom he found in his salamlik on the 
 first floor. 
 
 ' Hassan/ said the Pasha, ' there are thirty 
 horses just arrived, sent by . an agent in my 
 employ, for the service of a cavalry regiment 
 which the Viceroy has ordered to be raised for 
 Upper Egypt ; I wish you to examine and try 
 them, and cast any that you think unfit for the 
 work. When you have seen them, bring me 
 your report.^ 
 
 Hassan replied, ' Upon my head be it/ and was 
 leaving the room, when Deli Pasha called him 
 back, and asked him for an account of what had 
 happened between his chief eunuch and the Bashi- 
 Bozouks, a rumour of which had already reached 
 him. Hassan recounted briefly what he had seen, 
 passing over his own services as lightly as possible, 
 and concluded by mentioning the hurt of poor 
 little Murad, and of his being now under the 
 Pasha's roof. 
 
 ' Poor child !' said Deli Pasha, ^ I have heard 
 something of his history; after the massacre of 
 the Mameluke Beys he was found in a house that 
 belonged to one of them, and afterwards fell into 
 the hands of one of those Albanian savages, who 
 cut out his tongue. I have often seen the little 
 boy in the streets, and I pity him much ; you may
 
 THE BASIil-BOZOUKS. 227 
 
 keep liim, and take care of him as long as you 
 please, and while he remains I will give orders 
 that he has his regular allowance sent from the 
 kitchen/ 
 
 Hassan thanked the Pasha for his kindness, and 
 was ahout to leave the room, when he Avas again 
 called back by his chief, who said — 
 
 ' In describing your interference to rescue old 
 Mansour, you made little mention of yourself, but 
 it seems clear that you must have knocked down 
 three of these fellows with the naboot : did you 
 hit them very hard, — do you think any of them 
 are killed?^ 
 
 ^ I think not,^ said Hassan, quietly ; ^ as one 
 had fired a pistol, and the tw^o others used their 
 swords, I was obliged in self-defence to strike 
 rather quick and hard, but I did not use all my 
 strength, nor endeavour to do more than prevent 
 them from doing further mischief at the time ; 
 the rascals have thick skulls, which will stand 
 many a tap from a naboot before they break/ 
 
 ' Well, Inshallah ! may you not have killed any 
 of them,' said the Pasha, ' for they are a revenge- 
 ful race, and would never rest till they had your 
 blood by fair means or foul ; when you go out, 
 keep a sharp eye upon any stray parties of them 
 whom you may meet/ 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 HASSAN. 
 
 Hassan thanked the Pasha for his advice, and 
 spent the remainder of the day in trying and 
 examining the horses sent for approval, twenty- 
 five of which he retained, and cast the remainder. 
 On the following morning he went out before sun- 
 rise to the horse-market, and selected five, which 
 completed the number required for the present : 
 they wTre forthwith sent on to the appointed 
 depot, and Hassan was ordered to write to 
 Ibrahim Pasha^s agent to inquire whether any 
 more were to be provided. AVheu he brought this 
 letter to his chief to be sealed, the latter abruptly 
 asked him — 
 
 ^ Have you ever played the jereed?^ 
 
 ' Often,' replied Hassan ; ^ we had a game some- 
 what similar when I was a boy, among the 
 Bedouins, and afterwards I practised it now and 
 then among the Mamelukes of some of the Beys 
 and Pashas in Alexandria.' 
 
 ' I am glad of that,' said Deli Pasha ; ^ to-mor- 
 row, Inshallah, there is to be a match in our 
 court- yard, and Kiahia Pasha is coming with some 
 of his Mamelukes ; — I have given it up myself,' he 
 added, with a sigh, ^ but I love to look at it 
 still.' 
 
 Hassan spent the greater part of the afternoon 
 with his little patient, conversing by notes which
 
 AN ORIENTAL TOURNAMENT. 229 
 
 they handed one to the other. This, however, was 
 too slow a process to satisfy the quick and intelli- 
 gent boy, who proposed to teach his protector the 
 alphabet which he had either learnt or invented 
 with his fingers ; Hassan assented, and studied his 
 lesson with so much assiduity that, after a short 
 time, to the great delight of little Murad, they 
 were able to converse together without the aid of 
 pen and paper. 
 
 On the following morning all the house was 
 astir early, making preparations for the jereed- 
 playing, and for the reception of the Kiahia 
 Pasha, who Iiad written to ask whether he might 
 bring with him some English visitors, recom- 
 mended to him by the Viceroy, and who were 
 anxious to see the Oriental tournament. To this 
 Dell Pasha had replied by an hospitable affirmative, 
 and while refreshments, flowers, and sherbets were 
 heaped upon a table in the large saloon, carpets 
 and sofas were spread along the verandah which 
 ran along the whole back part of the house, over- 
 looking the large area before described, where 
 the games were to take place. 
 
 At the appointed hour the Kiahia arrived in 
 great state, tliat is, on horseback, with a gay and 
 numerous retinue — for in those days there was 
 only one carriage in Cairo, that belonging to the
 
 230 HASSAN. 
 
 Viceroy — immediately following them came the 
 whole party of the Thorpes_, who were^ as the 
 reader has doubtless perceived^ the strangers in 
 whose favour the Kiahia had asked for an invi- 
 tation. 
 
 Deli Pasha welcomed them with his accustomed 
 frank hospitality^ and Hassan, who was in atten- 
 dance on him, received and returned the friendly 
 salutations of all the party. Demetrius talents 
 were now called into exercise, and as he had not 
 the piercing eye of the Viceroy fixed upon him, 
 he gave a loose to his fancy in ornamenting the 
 phrases he w^as called upon to translate, with all 
 manner of Oriental tropes and figures. Hassan 
 detected his additions and embellishments, but he 
 only smiled, and made no comment on them. 
 
 After partaking of some refreshment, and the 
 usual ceremony of pipes and coffee had been duly 
 observed. Deli Pasha led his guests to the verandah, 
 placing the Kiahia in the centre, in the seat of 
 honour, and left the others to arrange their seats 
 according to their own fancy and convenience ; 
 he himself sat between Emily and her mother, 
 and as M. Miiller was next to the former, the 
 Pasha w^as thus able to communicate with her 
 w^ithout the assistance of Demetri. 
 
 ' Let the games begin,'' shouted Deli Pasha to
 
 THE GAMES BEGIN. 23 1 
 
 Ahmed Aga, his mirakhor, and in a moment all 
 was hurry and confusion in the space below ; the 
 INIamelukes of the Kiahia Pasha first entered the 
 arena, they were well mounted and superbly 
 dressed ; after them poured in those of Deli 
 Pasha, most of them wild youths, but admirable 
 horsemen, and well skilled in the games about to 
 be played. 
 
 Immediately in front of the verandah was a 
 thick post or column of wood, on the top of which 
 was placed a human head cut out of wood, not 
 unlike those on which European barbers model 
 wigs. The first exercise for the horsemen was to 
 ride past this head at full speed and carry it off 
 with the point of the lance. Just as the games 
 were about to commence. Deli Pasha noticed that 
 Hassan was standing in an attitude of abstraction 
 a few yards off, at the back of the verandah. 
 
 ^ Why, Hassan, are you not going to play V 
 said the Pasha, good-humouredly ; ^ I thought 
 you had said you were fond of the exercise.^ 
 
 ' If your Excellency has no need of my service 
 here,' replied Hassan, ^ I will join the game.' 
 
 * Go, my lad/ said the Pasha ; ^ but do not ride 
 that ungovernable Sheitan, or his mad freaks will 
 get you into trouble.' 
 
 ^ Sheitan is quiet and well-behaved now,' re-
 
 23^ HASSAN. 
 
 plied Hassan ; ^ your Excellency will see that he 
 is not bad at the jereed/ 
 
 The game began^ and the Mamelukes galloped 
 in succession at the wooden head with their long 
 spears_, some carrying it off, and the greater 
 number missing it ; and while they were thus 
 employed Hassan entered the arena from the 
 stable entrance, mounted on Sheitan. Whether it 
 was that the latter had been left unexercised the 
 preceding day, or that he was excited by the 
 crowd and the galloping and neighing of strange 
 horses, certain it is that his behaviour seemed 
 much more to justify Deli Pasha's caution than 
 Hassan's good report. He reared, he plunged, he 
 shook his long mane, and every now and then he 
 bounded into the air as if maddened by anger or 
 excitement. Hassan sat as easy and unconcerned 
 as if he had been in an arm-chair, and his usual 
 good-natured smile played over his lips, as he 
 patted the horse's neck, and said — 
 
 ' Sheitan, you are playful this morning.' 
 
 ' Mashallah ! what a noble horseman is that 
 Mameluke of yours !' exclaimed the Kiahia, ad- 
 dressing Dell Pasha ; ^ where is he from V 
 
 ' He is not a Mameluke,' replied Deli Pasha, 
 ' he is my khaznadar, lately arrived ; he was 
 brought up among the Bedouins ; in the room he
 
 HASSAN TAKES PART IN THE GAME. 233 
 
 is as quiet and still as a cat^ but on a horse he is 
 as mad as the animal he is now riding/ and as he 
 spoke he shouted aloud to Hassan to come under 
 the verandah. 
 
 In a second Hassan's stirrup touched the flank 
 of Sheitan, who bounded into the air^ and then 
 came at full speed to within a few yards of the 
 house, when he stopped dead short_, while Hassan 
 looked up to inquire the orders of his chief. 
 
 ' Hassan/ said Deli Pasha, ' I told you that 
 it would be impossible for you to play at these 
 games on the back of that wild, unruly beast ; had 
 you not better change it for one more manage- 
 able ? You may ride one of mine if you will/ 
 
 ' Bakkalum (we shall see), my lord,' was Has- 
 san's only reply, and wheeling his horse, he 
 charged in full career at the head on the post. 
 Lowering his lance as he approached, he struck 
 the head so full in the centre that the point of 
 the lance entered several inches into the wood, 
 and there it remained, while Hassan, galloping 
 round the arena, came again under the verandah, 
 and, holding up his lance, presented the head, still 
 fixed on it, to Deli Pasha. 
 
 ' Aferin — bravo, bravo, my son !' said the old 
 Pasha, and it was echoed by many a surrounding- 
 voice.
 
 234 HASSAN. 
 
 The post was now taken away, and the lists 
 were prepared for the jereed. The Mamelukes 
 divided themselves into parties preparatory to the 
 mimic fight, which was indeed nothing more than 
 a succession or variety of single combats. In the 
 centre of the arena were a score of active saises, 
 or grooms on foot, w^hose duty it was to pick up 
 the jereeds* as they fell, and hand them to the 
 mounted combatants. 
 
 It was at this moment that Osman Bey, Deli 
 Pasha's wakeel, who thought the preceding game 
 beneath his dignity, entered the arena, followed by 
 several of his Mamelukes. He was dressed in a 
 costume which, although not sliowy, was rich, and 
 well calculated to show off the proportions of his 
 strong and muscular figure ; he was mounted on* 
 a grey Arab, which, for the first two years of its 
 life, had been fed on camels' milk in the deserts of 
 the Nejd, and, though not remarkable for size^ was 
 
 * The jereed is sometimes made of reeds or canes, but 
 more frequently of palm-sticks cut in the form of a javelin, 
 with a blunted point. They vary much in weight; and a 
 heavj^ jereed tlirown by a vigorous arm is capable of giving a 
 very severe, sometimes a dangerous bruise ; for this reason, 
 aiming at the face or head is strictly prohibited in this game, 
 though it necessarily happens in so wild a sport, carried on 
 with reckless riders and horses at full speed, that the head 
 and face often receive a serious hurt.
 
 Hassan's tactics. 235 
 
 compactly and beautifully proportioned. Osman 
 Aga, though not a graceful rider, was a practised 
 horseman, firm in the saddle, strong in the arm, 
 and proud of the reputation that he had gained in 
 the mimic combats of the j creed. With a grave 
 salute to the Kiahia and Deli Pasha, he took his 
 place at the centre of one side of the area, and 
 the game began. 
 
 While Osman Bey and the elder Mamelukes 
 engaged each other in a succession of these trials 
 of skill and speed, Hassan hovered on the out- 
 skirts of the combatants, at some distance from 
 the house, apparently engaged in repelling the 
 attacks of half-a-dozen of the youngest of the 
 ISIamelukes of Deli Pasha^s household. He was a 
 general favourite with these lads, for whom he 
 had on all occasions a kind word and a good- 
 humoured smile, and the merry youngsters well 
 knew that however they might pursue and torment 
 him with their j creeds, they had no reason to 
 fear his putting out his strength to injure them 
 in repelling their attacks ; thus one would call 
 out to him, ' Hassan ! Hassan !^ and charge him 
 at full speed on the right, and scarcely had he 
 time to catch or avoid the jereed, ere another 
 attacked him with similar shouts on the left ; 
 some of them struck him more than one smart
 
 2^6 HASSAN. 
 
 blow on the shoulder witli a jereed^ and they 
 shouted and laughed^ while Hassan joined in their 
 merriment. 
 
 But it was not only to play with these merry 
 youths that Hassan had withdrawn to a part of 
 the ground at some distance from the place where 
 the older combatants were engaged. His quick 
 eye_, which ever and anon roved to a certain lattice 
 high up in the adjoining building, had detected 
 that it was partially opened^ and revealed to him 
 half of the lovely face ever in his thoughts, peep- 
 ing out upon the arena ; he believed that those 
 eyes followed his movements, and he availed him- 
 self of every opportunity, when he could do so 
 unnoticed, to cast an upward glance to meet 
 them ; but he was not destined to remain long 
 without more serious employment, for several of 
 the older and more experienced of the combatants 
 in turn challenged him, by shouting his name and 
 charging him at full speed. The first was his friend, 
 Ahmed Aga, whose jereed passed close over his 
 back without touching him. 
 
 Hassan pursued him in turn, and pretending 
 to use much force, struck him lightly on the 
 shoulder; next he was charged by the chief of 
 the Kiahia Pasha^s Mamelukes, a very handsome 
 Georgian, and the only one who had this day in-
 
 A BOUT WITH OSMAN BEY. 237 
 
 terchaiiged several bouts with Osmari Bey with 
 nearly equal success. 
 
 Hassan prepared for this encounter Avith more 
 caution. On the charge of his opponent he fled (as 
 is the custom of the game) at full speedy looking 
 back over his shoulder. The Georgian threw his 
 jereed with faultless aim, when Hassan, instead 
 of avoiding, caught it in the air, and, wheeling 
 suddenly, pursued the Georgian, and struck him on 
 the back with his own jereed. This feat, which is 
 one of the most difficult of those practised in the 
 game, elicited a loud aferin from Deli Pasha. 
 
 Osman Bey no sooner heard it, than, flred by 
 spite and jealousy, he shook his jereed in the air, 
 shouted the name of Hassan, and bore down upon 
 him at the full speed of his high-mettled Arab. 
 Hassan had barely time to avoid the charge by 
 wheeling Sheitan and striking the spurs into his 
 flanks. Still over his shoulder he watched every 
 movement of his pursuer. At length the Bey's 
 jereed sped through the air with unerring aim ; 
 every one thought that Hassan was fairly hit, but 
 he had thrown himself suddenly over the right 
 side of his horse, hanging only by the left leg on 
 the saddle, and the jereed passed harmlessly over 
 him. Recovering himself instantaneously, he now 
 pursued in turn, and his jereed struck Osman
 
 238 HASSAN. 
 
 Bey fairly on the shoulder. The bout being over, 
 Hassan was cantering leisurely away, when the 
 Bey, goaded to madness at having been defeated 
 by one whom he considered a boy, galloped again 
 after him, and hurled a jereed with all his force 
 at Hassan^s head. 
 
 Hassan, hearing a horse approaching at full 
 speed from behind, had just turned his head to 
 see what it might be, when the jereed flew past 
 him. The movement had saved him from a serious 
 blow, but the stick grazed the edge of his cheek, 
 and drew blood as it passed. A loud shout broke 
 from Deli Pasha — ^ Foul, foul ! shame, shame !^* 
 
 All the fire that slumbered in Hassan^s im- 
 petuous nature was kindled by this cowardly out- 
 rage. Forgetting the rank of his opponent, and 
 every other consideration but revenging the blow 
 he had received, he snatched a jereed from the 
 hand of a sais standing by ; it happened to be 
 an unusually heavy one, but in the hand of 
 Hassan it w^as as light as an arrow. Striking his 
 
 * It has before been mentioned that at this game it is 
 forbidden to aim at the head; but, moreover, in order to 
 explain the expressions of Deli Pasha, it must be mentioned 
 that, according to the rules of the game, every ' bout' consists 
 of two charges, in which each alternately advances and 
 retreats. It is then considered over, and cannot be continued 
 unless a regular challenge be given for another ' bout.'
 
 THE SPORTS BROKEN UP. 239 
 
 sharp spurs into the flanks of Sheitan, he pur- 
 sued his adversary with such terrific speed that 
 even the grey Arab could not carry its rider out 
 of his reach. Rising in his stirrups he threw the 
 j creed with all his force, and it struck the Bey full 
 in the back, just between the shoulder-blades. The 
 blow sounded over the whole arena, and having 
 taken effect just in that part of the back which is 
 nearest to the action of the lungs, the unfortunate 
 Bey^sbreath was for the time totally suspended. He 
 seemed as it were paralysed, and after swaying 
 backwards and forwards for a few seconds in the 
 saddle, fell heavily to the ground. Had not his 
 docile Arab stopped immediately beside him, his 
 hurts would probably have been much more serious. 
 
 After a few minutes, during w'hich water was 
 thrown in the Bey^s face by his Mamelukes, he 
 recovered the power of speech ; but he was still 
 faint and weak, and after casting on Hassan a 
 look of concentrated, inextinguishable hate, he 
 withdrew, supported by his servants, from the 
 ground. This accident occurring to a man of 
 such high rank, and universally feared, broke up 
 the sports for the day. 
 
 ' I am sorry for it,^ said Deli Pasha, addressing 
 !Mr. Thorpe ; ^ but Hassan w^as perfectly justified, 
 and Osman Bey only got what he deserved.^
 
 240 HASSAN. 
 
 The spectators and combatants were gathered 
 into little knots and groups, all uttering similar 
 sentiments, and some adding, ' This is an unlucky 
 thing for Hassan — Osman Bey never forgives — 
 ^tis a hrave youth, but the cup of coffee or the 
 dagger will be his fate.'* 
 
 * ' A cup of coffee ' is a very common phrase in Egypt for 
 expressing the word ' poison,' for which a cup of coffee is a 
 frequent medium.
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 EXHIBITING THE TRUTH OF THE ADAGE, 'THE COUESE OF 
 TEUE LOVE NEVEE DID EUN SMOOTH.' 
 
 i FTER tlie breaking up of the games, Hassan, 
 ^■^ having given over Sheitan to the groom to 
 be taken to tlie stable, before he re-entered the 
 house cast a furtive glance upward at the well- 
 known lattice in the harem. This time he could 
 not be mistaken — a white forehead and a dark 
 lustrous eye w^ere certainly visible at the curtained 
 aperture, but they were hastily and timidly with- 
 drawn when they encountered his eager glance. 
 
 ^ ^Tis she — His the star of my destiny — the life- 
 blood of my heart/ said Hassan to himself, 
 ^ whoever and whatever she may be. Well ! 
 she has this day seen that, humble and unknown 
 as I am, the proudest Bey in Egypt shall not 
 insult me with impunity.^ And he strode int,o 
 the house, so completely occupied with dreams of 
 the future that he nearly ran against Ahmed 
 Aga, who was coming to tell him that the Pasha 
 had sent for him. On reaching the upper room 
 where they Avere assembled, the Kiahia Pasha 
 paid him so many compliments on his uncontested 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 HASSAN. 
 
 superiority over all his competitors^ that Hassan 
 blushed and looked quite confused ; indeed^ he 
 had been so much taken up with other thoughts 
 that he had not been aware, until Deli Pasha called 
 his attention to the fact, that the blood was still 
 trickling from the wound he had received in his cheek. 
 
 * It is nothing/ said Hassan, smiling, and 
 applying his handkerchief carelessly to it. ^ I 
 hope Osman Bey^s back will suffer as little.' 
 
 ' Hassan/ said Deli Pasha, addressing our hero, 
 ' the Kiahia informs me that in the course of a 
 day or two our English guests are going to pay a 
 visit to the Pyramids, and that he sends with 
 them a guard of fifty horsemen. They have ex- 
 pressed a desire that you should join their party, 
 as yovL are already old acquaintances. If you wish 
 to do, so you have my full permission.' 
 
 Hassan accepted the invitation readily, for, 
 notwithstanding the latticed window, from which 
 it was difficult to tear himself away, still he had 
 an undefined longing to visit a spot connected 
 with his earliest years and the mystery of his birth. 
 
 After the departure of the Kiahia and the 
 Thorpe party. Deli Pasha detained Hassan alone^ 
 and said to him, 
 
 ' This is a bad business^ Hassan ; Osman Bey 
 is now your enemy^ and he is a dangerous man.
 
 OSMAN BEY S CAREER. 243 
 
 I will tell you sometliing of his life. Years ago, 
 when he Avas in charge of some money to pay the 
 troops, Mohammed All discovered that he had 
 appropriated a portion of it to his own use, and 
 forthwith caused him to be severely beaten and 
 thrown into prison ; after his release he accom- 
 panied Ibrahim Pasha to the war against the 
 Wahabees, where he gained a high reputation — 
 for to give him his due, he is a good soldier — and 
 regained his Highnesses favour. Since then, 
 Mohammed Ali, whose habit is to raise up those 
 whom he has disgraced,* has made him a Bey, 
 and treated him with much regard. Even now 
 he is named to be my Wakeel or Vice-Governor 
 at Siout, and as I. know him to be a cruel and 
 revengeful man, I fear he will find some opportunity 
 of doing you an injury. ^ 
 
 ' I fear him not,^ said Hassan, boldly. ' I 
 have nothing to do with him ; I serve your 
 Excellency, and if he seeks a quarrel with me, 
 let him do so; I am ready. ^ 
 
 ' He will not seek a quarrel vrith you,^ said 
 Dell Pasha, smiling at Hassan's simplicity. ' Have 
 
 * This peculiarity in Mohammed Ali's character is his- 
 torically true. He was hasty and severe, often unjust in his 
 punishments ; but there was a fund of generosity in his 
 heart, a reaction followed, and he frequently elevated to the 
 highest posts those whom he had previously degraded. 
 R 2
 
 244 HASSAN. 
 
 you heard of calumny and slander ? Have you 
 heard of poison in a cup of coffee ? Have you 
 heard of stablnug in the dark ? These are the 
 weapons that great men in Egypt use when they 
 wish to get rid of one whom they hate/ 
 
 ' I fear him not/ repeated Hassan^ with the 
 same frank boldness. ^ My life is in the hand of 
 Allah; and neither Osman Bey nor any other 
 man can take it until the predestined day arrives. 
 Let him try his treacherous schemes if he will, 
 he may perhaps learn the truth of our Arabic 
 proverb — ' He dug a pit for his neighbour^ and 
 he fell into it himself.^ ' 
 
 While this conversation is going on between 
 Deli Pasha and Hassan, let us take a peep into 
 the neighbouring building, where Amina was 
 sitting in her upper room, to which her slaves 
 had just brought up a tray covered with sweet- 
 meats and fruits. Mansour, the old eunuch, 
 followed, bearing a cool sherbet of pomegranate, 
 sent to her by the eldest wife* from the other 
 
 * As the two surviving wives of Deli Pasha have no con- 
 nexion with onr tale, and did not influence any of the events 
 recorded, I have not thought it necessary to make any special 
 mention of their names, occupations, characters, &c. Doubt- 
 less they were very worthy ladies, but it was easy to see 
 that Deli Pasha's best affections were centred on his only 
 daughter, Amina.
 
 A BAD INSTRUCTOR. 245 
 
 Aving of tlie liarem. The younger slaves being 
 ordered to retire, there remained only with 
 Amina, ^Nfansour and her governess, Fatimeh 
 Khanura, both of -whom had witnessed the jereed 
 play — the eunuch from the front building, and the 
 elder lady from another Avindow in the harem, 
 for it must not be supposed that Amina had made 
 the latter the confidante of her secret visits to the 
 lattice in the boudoir. No, no, those she treasured 
 in a little corner of her own breast, and she never 
 went to the lattice without first locking the door 
 of the boudoir. 
 
 Here we must pause to observe that, although 
 we profess the highest respect and admiration for 
 Cupid, and though we willingly admit that there 
 is nothing more purifying and ennobling than a 
 sincere and honourable love, nevertheless it can- 
 not be denied that there is an inherent wickedness 
 in the little god ; for behold here two young 
 people, Hassan and Amina, who ten days before 
 never cared to conceal an action, and scarcely a 
 thought, already become, without any instructor 
 but Love, perfect adepts in his wiles, his secrecy, 
 and, we fear we must add, his hypocrisy. The 
 latter word sounds harshly on the ear, but by 
 what other term could we justly characterize the 
 well-assumed indifference with which Amina asked
 
 24(5 HASSAN. 
 
 Fatimeli Khanum and Mansour to relate all the 
 particulars of the games wliich she had followed 
 with an eye a thousand times more eager than 
 theirs. 
 
 Hassan was a great favourite with them both, 
 and as they in turn expatiated on his noble figure, 
 his grace and skill in the use of the jereed, and 
 his unequalled horsemanship, how busily did 
 Amina^s trembling fingers peel the orange which 
 they held, whilst the blushes mantled on her 
 cheeks and overspread her neck. She cast her 
 eyes down upon her breast, but the two little 
 budding pomegranates* which they there en- 
 countered did not compose or re-assure her, for 
 they rose and fell under a sweet and newly-felt 
 emotion, as if they said, ' this admiration, all 
 these praises, bestowed on Hassan are mine — my 
 own ; for herein he dwells, though nobody knows 
 it.^ Tears gathered in the excited girPs eyes, 
 and, unable any longer to keep silence, she sud- 
 denly raised her head, threw back the clustering 
 locks from her face, and exclaimed — 
 
 ' Oh, Fatimeh, I have squirted some of the 
 sharp juice of this orange-peel into my eye, and 
 it hurts me so much.^ 
 
 * It is a frequent image in Arabic poetry to liken the 
 breasts of a young girl to budding pomegranates.
 
 amina's diplomatic skill. 247 
 
 Was she not a little hypocrite ? But not 
 satisfied with hearing the praises of Hassan from 
 the lips of her attendants, she wished to hear them 
 also from those of her father, and after Mansour 
 had retired to the other wing of the harem, she 
 said to Fatimeh Khanum — 
 
 ' Fatimeh, I have a great desire to see my 
 father this evening, and to hear from him all 
 about those Franks who were his visitors to-day. 
 Go to him, and ask him if he will take supper 
 with his little Amina. I will have prepared for 
 him all the dishes that he best likes.' 
 
 Fatimeh, who could never refuse anything 
 to her beloved and affectionate pupil, and who, 
 from her mature age and position in the harem, 
 was always permitted by the Pasha to come to 
 him in his outer apartments, through the private 
 door of communication, whenever she had any 
 message from his daughter, willingly undertook 
 this commission, and proceeded forthwith to 
 execute it. 
 
 After passing the eunuchs at the curtained 
 door, she proceeded along the narrow passage 
 which led towards the room usually occupied by 
 Deli Pasha, but before reaching it she had to pass 
 through an ante-room, in which to her surprise 
 she found Hassan walking up and down, alone.
 
 348 HASSAN. 
 
 She was about to withdraw, when he came for- 
 ward and said to her — 
 
 ' Lady, do not retire on ray account. You 
 were going to seek our Pasha; he will soon be 
 disengaged. A visitor, a Bey whose name I did 
 not hear, has just called, and has something for 
 the Pasha^s private ear. His Highness ordered 
 all the other attendants into the outer hall, and 
 told me to remain here.^ 
 
 Fatimeh Khanura knew that she ought to 
 retire, but there was something in Hassan's voice 
 and appearance which detained her in spite of 
 herself. ^ Am I mad ? Am I under sorcery ? 
 What is there that draws me to this youth by 
 unknown cords? Surely the vanities and the 
 imaginations of love have passed away from my 
 heart.' 
 
 Such were the thoughts which followed each 
 other, quicker than the pen can write them, 
 through Fatimeh's troubled brain, when her eye 
 happened to fall upon Hassan's w^ounded cheek, 
 on which a patch of blood, not yet dry, was 
 visible. A woman's instincts impelled her at 
 once to exclaim — 
 
 ^ Allah ! Allah ! you are w^ounded. Why has 
 no one stopped or washed away the blood ?' And^ 
 without waiting for his permission^, she caught up
 
 A TETE-A-TETE. 249 
 
 one of the porous jugs of water found in almost 
 every Egyptian room_, and drew near to Hassan. 
 
 ' It is nothing, my aunt/ said Hassan, calling 
 her by the name of affectionate respect given by 
 the Arabs to elderly ladies ; ' but I will submit to 
 your kind surgery/ ^ 
 
 AYhile she Avas gently washing off the bloody 
 and afterwards binding up the Avouud with a fine 
 Turkish handkerchief that she held in her hand, 
 a sudden idea seemed to strike Hassan, and 
 scarcely had she completed her simple dressing of 
 his woiind than he seized her hand, saying, "Thank 
 you ; may Allah prolong your life. I see you 
 have a heart. Have pity on me.^ 
 
 * AVhat is it, my son T said Fatimeh, in sur- 
 prise. ' Wherein can I serve you T 
 
 ' Oh, my aunt, my heart is on fire with love — 
 my liver is roasted* — and if you do not find 
 some remedy I shall die.' 
 
 ' My son,' said Fatimeh, compassionately, 
 though unable to repress a smile, ' the complaint 
 is not uncommon at your age; but how can I 
 assist you? "What is the name of your love, 
 and who is she?' 
 
 * I know not her name, nor who she is,' re- 
 
 * An Eavstem image proverbial among lovers.
 
 250 HASSAN. 
 
 plied Hassan, passionately; ' but you must know 
 her, for slie dwells in the harem -^vith you/ 
 
 ' In the harem '/ said Fatimeh^, surprised. 
 ' There are doubtless some fair maidens in our 
 Pasha^s harem^ but how can you have seen them ?' 
 
 ' Ask me not how/ said Hassan, who would 
 not disclose the secret of the lattice, and of the 
 aperture near the roof of his chamber ; ^ but I 
 have seen her, and she is lovely as a Houri of 
 Paradise.' 
 
 ^ It is strange,' said Fatimeh, musing ; ' but do 
 not despair. Our Pasha has already married 
 more than one of his favourite ^Mamelukes to fair 
 maidens from his harem ; and if you serve him 
 faithfully you may yet realize your hopes.' 
 
 ^ Inshallah ! Inshallah V replied Hassan ; ' yet, 
 Klianum, I would like to know her name, that I 
 might whisper it to my heart, and in my prayers.' 
 
 ^ Agaib !' (wonderful), said the Khanum, still in 
 a musing tone. ^ Can it be Zeinab, the Circas- 
 sian, who came last year from Stamboul? — she is 
 small, with dark-brown hair, and deep blue eyes.' 
 
 ^No, no, it is not she,' said Hassan, impa- 
 tiently. 
 
 The Khanum then proceeded to name one or 
 two others, giving a slight sketch of their features 
 and appearance. But the same ' No, no,' broke 
 from the impatient Hassan. At length she was
 
 CONFIDENCES. 25 T 
 
 sorely puzzled ; for, supposing that Hassan liad 
 by some accident caiiglit a glimpse of one of the 
 young female slaves ^vhile attending the Pasha^s 
 Avives to the bath, or to some visit, the idea of her 
 young mistress, who had not once left the harem 
 since Hassan^s arrival, never entered her head. 
 
 ' I fear, Hassan, that I cannot help you even 
 to a name. [Methinks you must have seen some 
 stranger coming to visit at our harem, for I have 
 named all those who are young and attractive 
 within our walls. Cannot you describe her in 
 such a way as to assist my conjecture?^ 
 
 ' Describe her '/ said Hassan, lowering his voice 
 to a tremulous whisper. ' Every feature, every 
 look, every hair of her head is written in my 
 heart !' He then proceeded to describe the fea- 
 tures, the eyes, the looks, the complexion, the 
 hair, with such accurate fidelity, that Fatimeh, 
 fairly thrown off her guard, exclaimed — 
 
 ' Allah ! Allah ! — it is Amina Khanum, our 
 Pasha^s daughter !^ 
 
 ^ Amina !' cried Hassan. ' Thrice blessed 
 name,* henceforth thou art the locked treasure 
 
 * To those readers who consider it necessary for an author 
 to observe all national proprieties in a tale, and who might 
 think that the name of Amina savours rather of Italian 
 pastoral than of the East, it may not be amiss to mention 
 that the said 'Amina' is not only a genuine Arabic female 
 name, signifying ' trusty,' ' faithful,' &c. &c., but is also in
 
 25it HASSAN. 
 
 of my breast. T thank thee^ Klianum^ for giving 
 me these beloved syllables to think of by day, 
 and to dream of by night. ^ 
 
 ' Are yon mad V said the Khanum, wringing 
 her hands in agitation and distress. ' Do you 
 remember yonr own position^ and who the Lady 
 Amina is ? Do yon know that the highest and 
 proudest in the land have sued for her hand in 
 
 vain 
 
 ?^ 
 
 ' I know/ said Hassan^ with deep feeling. ^ I 
 know who I am — that I am a poor^ unknoT^n 
 orphan, without name, without fortune. It is 
 the love that I bear to Amina — not the thought 
 that she is a Pasha^s daughter, which prompts me 
 to bow my head and kiss the dust on which she 
 treads. Were she a slave-girl in the harem my 
 worship of her would be still the same. It is 
 herself, her own pure image — not her station or 
 her jewels — that I treasure in my heart of hearts. 
 You say that her hand has been sought by the 
 
 high estimation, having been the name of no less a personage 
 than the mother of Mohammed. The root of the word 
 * amin {true) is one of the original primitives of the Arabic 
 and Hebrew languages : it was the ' verily, verily,' so often 
 employed by our Saviour in his threats and warnings, and is 
 still familiar to all in the 'amen' (so be it, or may it be true) 
 which terminates the greater portion of the prayers offered up 
 in Christendom.
 
 FATIMEH KHANUM IN DISTRESS. 253 
 
 great and the rich. What are they/ he added, 
 drawing himself proudly up, ' that I may not be- 
 come ? Pashas and Beys, forsooth — what were they 
 at my age ? — ^ Mamelukes,^ *" pipe-bearers,^ and 
 so forth. What was Mohammed Ali at twenty ? 
 Let the proudest and the best of them stand forth 
 before me with sword and lance, and prove who 
 best deserves her. Will they climb for her as I 
 would to the highest summits of the Kaf ?* Will 
 they dive for her as I would to the lowest depths 
 of ocean ? Will they live for her, toil for her, 
 bleed for her, die for her, as I would ? Oh, my 
 kind aunt,^ he added, in a low and pleading itone, 
 ^ have pity on me, speak to Amina for me ; tell her 
 that Hassan^s heart is in her hand, and that it is 
 only for her that he lives and breathes.^ 
 
 ' Alas ! alas !^ said the kind-hearted Khanum, 
 moved to tears by the young man's earnest pas- 
 sion. ' What misfortune has befallen ? There is 
 no refuge but in God, the compassionate. I pity 
 you, Hassan, with all my heart; but you know 
 that I dare not speak to Amina on such a subject. 
 I am the guardian and protector of her inexpe- 
 rienced youth, and I can name to her no suitor 
 
 * 'Kaf,' a lofty and inaccessible mountain, celebrated in 
 Eastern romance and mythology.
 
 254 HASSAN. 
 
 ■\^ho does not appear uitli her father's sanction. 
 Surely she can have no knowledge or thought of 
 this insane passion/ she added^ in a tone of 
 inquiry. 
 
 ' I know not/ replied Hassan^ confusedly. 
 * It seems to me that she has been in my heart 
 and in my dreams from my earliest youth; her 
 image is interwoven with my being, with my des- 
 tiny ; it floats in the very air I breathe, impreg- 
 nating it with sweetness and with life. I know 
 not whether the zephyrs and the spirit of dreams 
 have wafted the odour of my vows to the pillow 
 on which the roses of her cheek repose.^* 
 
 The Khanum was about to reply w^hen the 
 sound of approaching footsteps was heard, and a 
 servant entered to inform Hassan that the Pasha^s 
 visitor had departed, and that his attendance was 
 required. 
 
 ' Khanum,^ said Hassan, who had by a strong 
 effort recovered his composure, ' if you have busi- 
 ness with the Pasha, I pray you enter first ; I can 
 await his Excellency's pleasure.' 
 
 Poor Fatimeh, though scarcely able to control 
 the agitation into w^hich the events of the last few 
 
 * The last two lines are from a well-known Arabic love- 
 songr.
 
 SUDDEN NEWS. 255 
 
 minutes had tlirown her, adopted the suggestion 
 of Hassan, and entering the Pasha^s apartment 
 delivered to him the message with which she had 
 been charged by Amina. 
 
 * Tell my Morning Star/ said Deli Pasha, ' that 
 I will willingly come and sup with her ; indeed, I 
 was going to propose it myself, for I have much 
 to say to her. Draw nearer, Khanum,^ he added, 
 in a lower voice. ' I know you are a discreet 
 woman, and that you are much attached to Amina, 
 therefore I may tell you that Hashem Bey (Allah 
 knows what a rich old miser he is) has just been 
 here, and the object of his visit was to propose a 
 marriage between her and his son Selim.^ 
 
 This sudden announcement was too much for 
 the poor Khanum^s already over-excited nerves ; 
 she staggered and would have fallen, had not 
 the Pasha, with an activity beyond his years, 
 started up and supported her to the divan on 
 which he had been seated. 
 
 ' What is the matter, O Khanum V he said. 
 ' What is there in this news to cause you so much 
 agitation ? Is not Selim a youth well-born, well- 
 spoken of, rich, and high in the favour of our 
 lord the Viceroy V 
 
 ' Forgive me,' said the Khanum, in a broken 
 voice ; ' a sudden faintness, a giddiness came over
 
 2^6 HASSAN. 
 
 me — perhaps — perhaps it was the thought that 
 this marriage would separate me for ever from my 
 beloved child/ 
 
 ' Nay/ said the rough old Pasha^ moved by her 
 griefj and the cause to which she had attributed 
 it. ^ I know the love you bear to my Amina, 
 and you must also know that the separation of 
 which you speak would be yet more hard for me 
 than for you to bear, but some day it must be 
 endured. Amina is now of an age to marry_, and 
 it would be difficult to find a husband more 
 worthy of her choice than Selim. But no more 
 at present ; compose your spirits ; say nothing of 
 this to Amina, I will break it to her myself; 
 only tell her that I will come and sup with her 
 at sunset.^ 
 
 Fatimeh Khanum retired, and as she hurried 
 through the room in which she had left Hassan, 
 he marked her agitated step, and caught the 
 words — ^ Oh, grief! — oh, misfortune!' — ere she 
 disappeared behind the curtained door that led to 
 the harem. 
 
 After her departure Hassan remained for some 
 time with Deli Pasha, receiving orders, and writing 
 letters on subjects connected with his private 
 affairs; and when these were concluded he re- 
 tired, and passed the remainder of the afternoon
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER. 2^7 
 
 in finger-talk with his dumb protege, whose intel- 
 ligence and know^ledge of all that was passing at 
 Caii'o he found to be much beyond his years. 
 The boy seemed so happy and so grateful, that 
 Hassan found a real pleasure in perfecting himself 
 in the practice of finger-conversation with his 
 humble companion. 
 
 At sunset Deli Pasha proceeded, as had been 
 agreed_, to take his evening meal with Amina, 
 who, with the instinctive tact of an aff'ectionate 
 daughter, had noj. only taken care to provide the 
 dishes that he most fancied, but had arranged the 
 cushions of his divan so that they were perfectly 
 adapted to his habitual attitude — they were 
 neither too soft nor too hard, nor too high nor 
 too low, nor too broad nor too narrow ; and as 
 she knelt playfully before him, and placed in his 
 hand the gold-thread purse, which she had just 
 finished, he stooped to kiss her fair forehead, and 
 as he met the upturned glance of her eyes beam- 
 ing with affection, he said — ^ Allah bless thee, 
 my child,' with an earnest tenderness, of which 
 those who had known him in the days of his wild 
 and wayward youth would not have believed his 
 nature capable. 
 
 Fatimeh Khanum was not present. The supper 
 was brought up to the door by eunuchs, and 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 HASSAN. 
 
 served by the female attendants who usually waited 
 on Amina. Deli Pasha did not fail to praise 
 several dishes which had been prepared expressly 
 for him with unusual care; not that the old 
 soldier was a gourmand; far from it, but he 
 recognised and appreciated the affectionate zeal 
 evinced by Amina to please him. 
 
 During the meal he talked about the events of 
 the morning, and the English strangers ; and it 
 was arranged that he should cause an invitation 
 to be sent to Mrs. Thorpe and* her daughter to 
 visit his harem. On that occasion they would 
 be received by his eldest wife, but Amina might 
 be present, and be interested in seeing the 
 Erank ladies' manners, appearance, and dress. 
 The Pasha also alluded to the jereed game, and 
 to the actors therein ; and, while so doing, he 
 mentioned Hassan in terms which brought the 
 tell-tale blood into Amina's cheeks, and made her 
 little heart flutter, like a bii'd newly caught and 
 encaged. He spoke of him not only as being un- 
 equalled in horsemanship and skill in arms, but 
 as being remarkable for his truth, modesty, and 
 integrity. 
 
 ^ I like the lad,' said the old Pasha ; ' he is of 
 a kind rarely found now-a-days — a hot head, a 
 ready arm, and a warm heart, but no laf-guizaf
 
 ILLUSIONS. 259 
 
 (talk and boasting). If we had another war with 
 tbe Wahabees, or with any other nation, that lad 
 might soon be a Pasha; but in these dull times 
 there is no fortune to be won by the sword. So 
 Hassan must remain khaznadar of a very small 
 khazneh.* Such is destiny, Amina — all is destiny.' 
 
 Little did the unconscious father think that in 
 every word which he was then uttering he was 
 fanning a flame already kindled in his young 
 daughter's breast — little noted he that while he 
 spoke of Hassan^ her busy fingers were unwittingly 
 stripping a harmless flower of its petals ; and that, 
 as he concluded, two crystal drops, not of sorrow, 
 but called up by love from the hidden fountains 
 of tenderness, trembled awhile on the long lashes 
 that fringed her downcast eyes, then lost them- 
 selves among the roses of her glowing cheeks. 
 
 Poor Amina ! — enjoy while you may these 
 visions of a second — these illusions of a moment 
 — for the breath of the same fond father who has 
 just unconsciously aided in their formation is now 
 as unconsciously about to dispel them. 
 
 No sooner was the supper over, and the Pasha 
 had enjoyed his pipe and his coffee, than he called 
 Amina to his side, and pushing back the tresses 
 
 * i. e., ' Treasurer of a very small treasure.' 
 S 2,
 
 26o HASSAN. 
 
 from her face_, said to her — ' Morning Star^ you 
 are no longer a child — you are a little woman 
 now/ 
 
 Alas ! the fair girFs heart had lately explained 
 to her this truth in language more expressive and 
 convincing than her father's. 
 
 He then proceeded to relate to her the visit of 
 Hashem Bey, and its object^ together with the 
 reasons which made him take a favourable view 
 of Selim's proposal^ in words nearly similar to 
 those which he had used when speaking to 
 Fatimeh Khanum in the morning. 
 
 Had the lights not been at some distance 
 from the divan, and the room itself rather dark, 
 he would have been frightened at the paleness 
 which overspread his daughter's face, though one 
 little hand strove to cover it. She did not speak, 
 but he felt the death-like coldness of the other 
 little hand Avhich was clasped in his. 
 
 ' Speak, my child, what ails thee V he said. 
 ' Marriage is the destiny, the blessing of women. 
 What is there to terrify thee in these proposals 
 from a youth who is rich, amiable, worthy, and of 
 a condition equal to your o^vn?' She sank on 
 her knees before him, and in accents that might 
 have moved a heart of stone, sobbed rather than 
 said —
 
 AMINA IN TEARS. 26 1 
 
 ' Oh, spare me, father ! — spare me ! — save me 
 from this hated marriage/ And as she bowed 
 her head upon his hands, he felt her tears falling 
 hot and fast upon them. 
 
 Astonished at this excessive and unexpected 
 emotion, the fond father spoke gently to her, and 
 used all the arguments which he could think of to 
 reconcile her to the proposed match. For some 
 time tears and sobs w^ere her only reply. At 
 length she found strength to say — 
 
 ^ Father, I will obey you in everything. My 
 life is in your hands. But if you do not wish to 
 break my heart, and send me to an early grave, 
 save me from this marriage. I do not wish to 
 leave you, father. At least give me a yearns or 
 six months' delay.' And again she hid her face 
 in his hands, and the hot tears gushed forth 
 afresh. 
 
 Dell Pasha could not resist the pleading grief 
 of his beloved child. Secretly unwilling himself 
 to part from her, he consented to the delay for 
 which she so earnestly entreated. 
 
 ' Be comforted, light of my eyes,' he said ; ' it 
 is only your welfare and happiness that I wish. 
 Dry up your tears, and let me see you smile 
 again. I have not passed my word to Hashem 
 Bey. I will write to him that I wish you to go
 
 262, HASSAN. 
 
 with me to Siout^ and that the time for betrothal 
 is not now opportune. That if after six months 
 he desires to renew the subject^ it can be then 
 taken into consideration. Will that satisfy you, 
 Amina ?' 
 
 Amina did look up_, and though her eyes were 
 still bedewed with tears,, rays of hope, and joy, 
 and gratitude shone through them like sunbeams 
 through an April shower. Covering his hands 
 with her kisses, she exclaimed — ' Oh, father, you 
 have given me a second life — you are always too 
 good — too kind to your Amina.^ 
 
 What bright hopes, what sunny visions had 
 the young girPs sanguine imagination conceived, 
 and crowded into the space of six months ! Like 
 wild and playful meteors they had shot swiftly 
 through her brain. Selim w^ould be gone to 
 Turkey or the other world, Hassan would be a 
 Bey or Pasha ! 
 
 * My child, it is time for you to go to rest/ 
 said Deli Pasha, rising to take his departure. 
 ^ Allah bless you, may your night be happy, and 
 to-morrow let me see my Morning Star shine as 
 brightly as ever.^ With an affectionate kiss on 
 her forehead he took his leave, and went across 
 to his own apartments. 
 
 Dell Pasha was neither a suspicious nor a
 
 DKLl PASHA IN TERPLEXITY. 26^ 
 
 reflecting man, but he had a fair share of good 
 sense when he chose to exert it, and now the 
 more he mused on the events of the day the 
 more did he feel puzzled and unable to explain 
 them; the strange emotion and agitation of 
 Fatimeh Khanum, who was usually so staid and 
 tranquil in her bearing, the still more violent 
 emotion and agitation of his daughter, on re- 
 cei\'ing proposals of marriage from a suitor 
 altogether unexceptionable, and whose name he 
 imagined must be unknown to her. ^ Surely,^ 
 he said to himself, ' these women must have 
 heard some story against Selim, that he is hate- 
 ful, or cruel, or brutal. I must inquire of Fatimeh 
 Khanum, and find this out.' 
 
 While he was indulging in these meditations, 
 Amina had locked herself into her boudoir, and 
 having loosened the bands that confined her hair, 
 left it to fall in its glossy luxuriance all over her 
 lovely neck and shoulders, then, drawing forth 
 her small praying carpet, she went through her 
 accustomed prayers, bowing her fair forehead 
 upon it, and thanking Allah for having preserved 
 her from a danger, the recollection of which still 
 made her shudder. 
 
 She went to the lattice, and gently, very 
 gently, opened the side of it. She could see
 
 264 HASSAN. 
 
 nothing, for the moon was not up, neither conld 
 she be seen, though Hassan was watching like a 
 true sentinel of love; the creaking of the half- 
 opened lattice did not, however, escape his quick 
 ear, and ere she retired from it she heard in a 
 half- whispered tone, that seemed to hover in the 
 air, the following verses : — 
 
 * Extolled be the Lord who hath endued with all beauty she 
 
 who hath enslaved my heart. 
 I see her not, I hear her not, yet I feel the fragrance of 
 
 her presence like concealed spikenard. 
 My love is the moon, and I am a solitary cloud wandering 
 
 over the face of the sky — 
 A cloud obscure and unnoticed ; but let the moon shine upon 
 
 it, and straightway it is robed in silver.'* 
 
 * These and other verses occasionally scattered through 
 this tale are translations from Arabic scraps of poetry and 
 love-songs popular in Egypt. And here I may add, that the 
 reader must not suppose that the interview related in this 
 chapter between the father and daughter is intended to repre- 
 sent the ordinary relations of domestic life in Egypt ; on the 
 contrary, it is an exceptional picture, exhibiting the fondness 
 of an eccentric and warm-hearted father for an only child. It 
 is scarcely necessary to say, that in ninety-nine cases out of 
 a hundred, marriages in the East are arranged by the parents 
 and relatives without the slightest reference to the inclina- 
 tions of the bride.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HASSAN VISITS THE PYRAMIDS, IN COMPANY OF THE 
 THOEPE PAETY. 
 
 ^HE following morning Hassan was closeted 
 -^ for some time with Deli Pasha, explaining to 
 him the results of his examination of his pre- 
 decessor's accounts, and pointing out defalcations 
 and deficiencies in some quarters, and certain 
 sums due, but not collected^ in others. Deli 
 Pasha hated accounts and business, but he saw 
 so much earnest zeal in Hassan's desire to render 
 them clear, that he forced himself to give them 
 some attention, and even that little sufficed to 
 make it evident that his former khaznadar had 
 complicated them on purpose to cheat him, and 
 that his present one made them as simple as pos- 
 sible, and compensated for his want of experience 
 by his conscientious industry. Scarcely had he 
 got through the summary which Hassan had 
 drawn up, ere he clapped his young treasurer on 
 the shoulder, and broke out into a fit of laughter — 
 'Hassan,' he said, 'you are the cream of 
 khaznadars, and I am sensible of all the zeal 
 and industry you have shoAvn, but I cannot
 
 26(5 HASSAN. 
 
 help laughing Avhen I see my young Bedouin- 
 Antar doing the work of a Coptic clerk V 
 
 ' I grant/ said Hassan^ smiling, ^ that the pen 
 is not quite so familiar to my hand as the lance; 
 but if I know too little, I see plainly that my 
 predecessor knew too much, and I hope that the 
 khazneh will furnish you with more purses this 
 year than the last ; it is my wish and duty to do 
 you good service, and be it with lance or pen, 
 Tnshallah ! I will do it/ 
 
 ' Would you like a little exercise for your 
 lance ?' said Deli Pasha. ^ I do not mean a 
 jereed game, but a few sharp thrusts and hard 
 blows in earnest/ 
 
 ^ On my head be it — I am ready,^ said Hassan, 
 his eyes brightening. ^ Where is such occupation 
 to be found V 
 
 ' I have this morning received a note from the 
 Kiahia,' said Deli Pasha, drawing it out as he 
 spoke from under a cushion of his divan, ' and 
 he tells me that a band of the Sammalous tribe 
 have lately come up on a plundering expedition 
 from their own country, near the Bahirah, and 
 have ravaged several villages near Ghizeh, carrying 
 off money and horses. It is said that they are not 
 now very far from the Pyramids. The Kiahia pro- 
 poses to send eighty horsemen instead of fifty
 
 AN EXPEDITION TROrOSED. 267 
 
 to escort the English party going to-morrow to 
 the Ghizeh Pyramids ; forty can remain to guard 
 them_, and the remaining forty can make an ex- 
 cursion into the desert, and try to find and cap- 
 ture these Sammalous thieves. He adds in his 
 note, that he should be glad if you could accom- 
 pany that party, as you were trained in Bedouin 
 warfare, and he has formed a high opinion of your 
 skill and coiu^age. What say you to the pro- 
 posal ?' 
 
 ' ^lost willingly will I go,' replied Hassan, ^ to 
 have a bout with those rascally Sammalous, who 
 are the enemies of my old tribe, the Oulad-Ali. 
 The very last fight that I saw among the Arabs 
 was with them, and they wounded my adopted 
 father/ 
 
 ^ El-hamdu-lillaV (Allah be praised), said Deli 
 Pasha, ' that the expedition is to your taste. I 
 will write to the Kiahia that you accept, and will 
 advise him to put the horsemen sent after the 
 Sammalous under your command ; and now as a 
 chance hurt may befal from lance or bullet, and 
 you might be unwilling to expose a horse not 
 your own, to make your mind easy on that score 
 I make you a present of your friend Sheitan ; 
 you have well deserved him, and, to say the truth, 
 I do not believe he would obey any other master.'
 
 268 HASSAN. 
 
 Hassan carried the Pasha's hand to his lips, 
 and said^ ^ May your life and happiness be pro- 
 longed/* 
 
 ' Go, then, to-morrow morning/ continued 
 Dell Pasha, ' and Allah go with you; the Kiahia's 
 horsemen will meet you at Ghizeh, where you 
 will also find one or two of those who were plun- 
 dered by the Sammalous, and who will aid you in 
 tracking the party/ 
 
 Hassan took his leave, and as he went to his 
 own room he met his dumb protege. Greeting 
 him kindly, he informed him that he was going 
 on an excursion, which might detain him a few 
 days, and at the same time thinking that the boy 
 might be in want of some necessary during his 
 absence, he offered him a few small pieces of 
 silver, 
 
 Murad smiled, and declined the money, showing 
 his protector a few coins of similar value in his 
 
 * Few of my countrymen who have not resided in the 
 East are probably aware that it is contrary to custom, and 
 indeed to good breeding, to return thanks for a present. The 
 system of present giving is widespread over the whole East. 
 If a great man makes a present to an equal the bearer is 
 rewarded, and a present of equal value is returned. If a 
 present is sent by a great man to an inferior, the latter gives 
 as much as he can afford to the bearer ; but in no case is it 
 considered good manners on the part of either giver or 
 receiver to allude to a present in after conversation.
 
 THE LATTICED WINDOW. 269 
 
 own possession. In his rapid finger-language he 
 then explained to Hassan that he was now suffi- 
 ciently recovered to run with messages as before, 
 and that he was already employed in this way at 
 a coffee-house^ and one or two other houses in the 
 neighbourhood. With a few words of encourage- 
 ment, Hassan left him, and went on to his own 
 room, where he busied himself in examining and 
 cleaning his pistols, which he carefully loaded. 
 He took care to see that both his sword and dagger 
 were loose in the sheath, and that the point 
 of his lance was sharp. While busied in these 
 preparations, and in putting into his saddle-bags 
 the few articles of clothing which he meant to 
 take with him, he hummed rather than sung 
 snatches of old Arab songs. 
 
 All at once the thought struck him that Amina 
 might be at the lattice. He crept up the ladder, 
 and peeped through the aperture, that could not 
 be called a window. There, indeed, was Amina, 
 and the lattice was open, and, though the twilight 
 was darkening, Hassan could see that she was 
 weeping, for the snowy Damascus kerchief was 
 often applied to her eyes. 
 
 Hassan knew not what to do. He longed to 
 comfort her — to sympathise with her, but he 
 knew that if he showed himself, or made her
 
 270 HASSAN. 
 
 aware of liis presence by addressing a word to 
 her, she would immediately close the lattice and 
 withdraAV. So he looked on in silence, and 
 partook of her unknown grief^ till the tears stole 
 into his own eyes. 
 
 At length, unable any longer to keep silence, 
 he drew his head away from the aperture, so that 
 he could still see her, but she could not see him. 
 He began to sing a well-known Turkish love- 
 song in a very low tone. The sound of the air, 
 though not the words, reached her ear ; she cast 
 her eyes furtively at t|je aperture in the opposite 
 wall, but seeing nothing, she did not withdraw. 
 A little louder he sung, and the words reached 
 her ear, and she dried her tears and listened. It 
 was a popular song, about Youssuf and Zuleika, 
 which, even if others could have heard, would not 
 compromise her; but her beating heart told her 
 who was singing, and for whom the song was 
 meant. In the last verse the voice sunk nearly 
 to a whisper. Still she caught the words, and 
 the name of Amina was substituted for Zuleika. 
 "With a deep blush she disappeared from the 
 casement, and all was silence and darkness. 
 
 On the following morning early Hassan set 
 forth, mounted on Sheitan, and crossed the Nile 
 to Ghizeh by a ferry, which then, as now, existed
 
 HASSAN KEACHES GIIIZEII. 27 1 
 
 lat a short distance to the southward of Boulak. 
 He was accompanied by his sais, who drove be- 
 fore him a donkey, carrying our heroes saddle- 
 bags and the large cloak and Arab blanket which 
 served him on such occasions for a bed. 
 
 On reaching Ghizeh, he found the whole 
 Thorpe party^ with the horsemen who were to 
 accompany them, already arrived ; there were also 
 forty or fifty donkeys, laden with tents, bedding, 
 cooking utensils, and all the creature comforts 
 which Mr. Demetrius foresight had prepared for 
 a residence of several days in the desert. 
 
 Hassan saluted them all in turn, and De- 
 metri and Mr. Foyster insisted on shaking hands 
 with him in English fashion. After exchanging 
 a few words Avith them, he turned towards the 
 Kiahia^s horsemen, and was pleased to recognise 
 in their leader the same good-looking young 
 Georgian whom he had seen at the head of the 
 Kiahia^s Mamelukes at the jereed play. Calling 
 him on one side, Hassan inquired whether he had 
 any precise instructions as to the course to be 
 pursued for the discovery and seizure of the 
 Sammalous Arabs. 
 
 ' Yes/ he replied, ^ I have a letter to the go- 
 vernor of this district, ordering him to provide 
 one or two villagers well acquainted with the
 
 %-]% HASSAN. 
 
 road to guide the English party to the Pyramids,* 
 and also to place under our charge two Arahs 
 now waiting here_, who belong to the villages 
 robbed by the Sammalous, and who are supposed 
 to have some knowledge of the direction in which 
 they have retreated/ 
 
 Under these circumstances it was deemed ad- 
 \dsable that the whole party should proceed 
 towards the divan of the governor of Ghizeh, 
 which was at no great distance from the spot 
 where they were now assembled. They moved 
 onward accordingly; and as they approached the 
 governor's house, the Georgian and Hassan rode 
 forward to demand an interview with that per- 
 sonage, while the remainder of the party halted 
 at a short distance from the house. They had 
 not been there long before their ears were saluted 
 by sounds too familiar to all who have passed any 
 time in the neighbourhood of a government divan 
 in Egypt, — namely, the heavy and swiftly-descend- 
 ing blows of a stick, accompanied by shrieks and 
 
 * It must be remembered that thirty years ago the path 
 or paths leading from Ghizeh to the Pyramids were not 
 beaten and trodden as they now are; and even now, so 
 long as the waters of the Nile are high, the direct road is 
 intercepted by a number of deep sluices or creeks, which 
 oblige the traveller to make a considerable circuit under the 
 guidance of natives acquainted with the country.
 
 A CURIOUS STORY. 273 
 
 cries of tlie victim, ^ Amrui ! aman ! mercy ! mercy ! 
 I am dead. INIercy ! mercy ! You may kill me, 
 but I have not a fartliing/ 
 
 The Europeans stopped their ears to shut out 
 these painful sounds, while Demetri, more accus- 
 tomed to such sights, went forward to witness the 
 punishment, and ascertain what might be its 
 cause and issue. The cries died away into moans 
 and groans, which soon became altogether in- 
 audible, leaving the Europeans to imagine that 
 the sufferer was dead, or had fainted ; and Mr. 
 Thorpe was virtuously and indignantly inveighing 
 against the barbarous cruelty of the Turkish go- 
 vernors when Demetri arrived. 
 
 As he approached, they saw that he was con- 
 vulsed with laughter, which only redoubled Mr. 
 Thorpe's indignation ; and he asked the dragoman, 
 in an angry voice, how he could be so brutal as 
 to jest over the agony and torture of a fellow - 
 creature. 
 
 ' You shall hear — you shall hear, O my master,' 
 said Demetri, still unable to compose his features 
 to a serious expression. ' The man whom they 
 were beating is a Fellah, who occupies some land 
 in the neighbourhood, and though he sells his 
 beans and his wheat like others, he never has 
 any money to pay the taxes on the day that they 
 VOL. I. T
 
 2 74 HASSAN. 
 
 are collected ; either he has been robbed, or the 
 crop failed, or the rats devoured half of it, or he 
 lost his purse on the road as he was coming to 
 pay in the money due to the Government — 
 always some excuse ; and, though for two suc- 
 cessive seasons be has been severely beaten, they 
 never could find a piaster about his person, nor 
 extract one from him. This morning, just as 
 your Excellencies came, the same scene had been 
 repeated ; he had vowed his inability to pay, and 
 the Governor ordered him two hundred and fifty 
 blows on the feet. The fellow took them all, 
 bawling, and screaming, and groaning, as you 
 heard ; and a stranger might well suppose that 
 he was almost, if not quite murdered. Well, as 
 soon as he had received the number of blows 
 ordered, he was released, and began to stagger 
 out of the Governor's presence as if he could 
 scarcely stand on his feet. In doing so he nearly 
 ran up against one of the kawasses standing by, a 
 strong, rough fellow, wdio struck him a smart 
 blow on the cheek with his open hand. The 
 suddenness of the blow took him so by surprise, 
 that it opened his mouth unawares, and there 
 dropped from it to the ground something en- 
 veloped in a piece of rag. The kawass darted 
 forward, and seized it. On opening it they found
 
 THE ROGUE DETECTED. 275 
 
 ■vvithin four gold sequins, being the exact amount 
 of the sum which he owed to the Government. 
 The rascal had come with a full determination not 
 to pay if he could help it, and rather to take any 
 amount of punishment he could conveniently 
 bear ; if he found the beating carried to a length 
 that his patience could not endure, he could at 
 any time stop it by producing the money. It 
 seems that the two hundred and fifty which he 
 had received had produced little or no effect on 
 his leathern feet, and he was going off, chuckling 
 at having cheated the Government once more, 
 when that accidental blow on the cheek made 
 him spit out the money .^* 
 
 It may be believed that this version of the 
 story changed the compassion of the Thorpe 
 party into an inclination to laugh, which few of 
 them were able to resist, and shortly afterwards 
 the Fellah who had received the beating, and had 
 unintentionally paid his taxes, was pointed out to 
 
 * Although the Thorpes are imaghiary personages, and 
 therefore did not witness this scene, it actually occurred some 
 years later, exactly as narrated in the text. It may afford 
 food for reflection for those benevolent philanthropists who 
 would encourage the introduction of sudden reforms, and the 
 abolition of corporal punishment among a population habi- 
 tuated to the stick and to slavery for a period of five or six 
 thousand years ! 
 
 T 2
 
 276 HASSAN. 
 
 them by Demetri_, walking homeward to his village^ 
 apparently with as little suffering in his feet as 
 if he had been beaten by children with straws. 
 
 While Mr. Thorpe was discussing with Miiller 
 the peculiar features of character exhibited by the 
 Egyptian Fellah in the scene which had just 
 occurred^ and Dr. Moss w^as eloquently explaining 
 to Selden how the external cuticle of the human 
 foot became indurated by the habit of walking 
 unshod, Hassan and the Georgian returned, 
 accompanied by the guides required, so the whole 
 party set off merrily towards the Pyramids. The 
 path w^hich they followed not being very cir- 
 cuitous, they reached the desired spot soon after 
 noon, which afforded ample time for the servants 
 to pitch their tents, and arrange the beds and 
 the baggage. 
 
 Mr. Thorpe had now reached the goal of wishes 
 long entertained, for although Thebes, Memphis, 
 and other places of antiquarian interest had 
 mingled in his dreams, there was something in 
 the grand and antique simplicity of the Pyramids 
 which had assigned to them a pre-eminence in 
 his imagination. Immediately on arriving he 
 commenced his tour and survey of the great 
 Pyramid. 
 
 Mrs. Thorpe was too tired with her ride to
 
 THE GREAT PYRAMID. 277 
 
 think of aught but repose_, so she sat upon a 
 travellmg--chair_, while Demetri, Mr. Foyster, and 
 Mary Powell busied themselves in separating 
 and arranging the boxes and portmanteaus. Dr. 
 INToss also remained, so ^Ir. Thorpe proceeded on 
 his walks, accompanied by Miiller, Selden and 
 his sister following. 
 
 Hassan went with them, rightly judging that 
 his services might be necessary, not only to in- 
 terpret for them, but to protect them against the 
 importunity of the Arabs, who had flocked in 
 considerable numbers to see the strangers, and to 
 devise various projects for extracting money from 
 them. There were not then, as now, crowds of 
 Arabs, half Bedouins half villagers, who make a 
 living at the Pyramids by running up and down 
 them for prizes, and assisting the numerous 
 travellers to reach the top ; but there was even 
 then a remnant of some tribe located there in 
 tents, who enjoyed a kind of prescriptive right to 
 the custody of the place, and Hassan and the 
 Georgian had agreed to pay a score of these to 
 act as guards or watchmen while the party re- 
 mained, a precaution which probably saved many 
 of their chattels from being pilfered. 
 
 ]\fr. Thorpe and ^liiller were already engaged 
 in a discussion concerning the history of the
 
 278 HASSAN. 
 
 Pyramids,, to which Selden was listening with 
 interest; Emily had fallen a little behind, and 
 was turning to ask some question of Hassan, who 
 had spoken to her a moment before, when she 
 observed him standing on a large stone at the 
 base of the Pyramid, his eyes cast down to the 
 ground in a fit of profound abstraction ; there 
 was an air of melancholy in his countenance, so 
 different from its usual expression, that she could 
 not resist the impulse which led her to ask him 
 the subject of his meditations, which she ima- 
 gined to be something connected with the story 
 of the Pyramids. 
 
 ^ Lady,^ he replied, in a tone of deep feeling ; 
 ' the dream of my infancy passed across my mind. 
 This stone on which I stand was once my cradle.^ 
 ' Your cradle, Hassan ! — How mean you ?' 
 ' It is now about twenty years ago,^ said Hassan, 
 ' that my foster-mother was sitting here — perhaps 
 on this very stone, for she said it faced towards 
 Cairo — when a horseman, believed to be my 
 father, placed me — an infant wrapped in a shawl 
 — at her side, and fled at full speed. He has 
 never since been heard of. I know not who he 
 was, nor whether he yet lives. I know not who 
 was my mother — I am a stray leaf, blown about 
 by the wind of destiny.^
 
 SUNSET ON THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. 279 
 
 ' Be assured he was no mean or ignoble man — 
 it could not be/ said Emily ; then, blushing at 
 her own warmth, she added, ' I hope you may 
 yet find him, and be happy with him/ 
 
 ' ]\Iay Allah bless you, and grant this, and all 
 your other prayers,^ said Hassan ; ' but, lady, do 
 not speak of this matter to others — though known 
 to many, it pains my heart to hear it spoken of !^ 
 
 After making the tour of the great Pyramid, 
 and admiring with reverence and wonder the 
 architectural energy and skill which, in the infancy 
 of mankind, had piled upon each other those 
 enormous blocks, brought from a distance of 
 many hundred miles, Mr. Thorpe proposed to 
 ascend, and to see from the top the effect of a 
 sunset on the valley of the Nile. A score of 
 Arabs were already on the alert to assist the 
 worthy gentleman and his party in the ascent, 
 and so zealously obtrusive were they in their 
 manner of bestowing their assistance, that Hassan 
 was obliged to tell them angrily not to pull and 
 haul the strangers as if they were baskets of 
 dates. Apparently they paid little heed to his 
 admonition, for, just as they had reached the 
 third step, one of them put his two hands on 
 Emily's waist, by way of helping her up to the 
 fourth, when, with a face crimson with blushes,
 
 28o HASSAN. 
 
 she turned and said^ ^ Hassan^ let rae go down 
 again — I cannot go np with these rude men/ 
 
 Hassan had noticed the action of the Arab, 
 and in a moment was at her side. Seizing the 
 fellow by the collar^ he shook him violently, and 
 ordered him to be off, and not to touch the lady. 
 The Arab, afraid of losing his bakshish,* or 
 irritated at being roughly handled, gave some 
 angiy reply, and seized hold of Hassan, as if to 
 wrestle with him. As well might a cat have 
 struggled with a lion. Hassan shook him off, 
 and with one sweep of his arm sent the Arab 
 down the three steps to the gi'ound, when he fell, 
 severely bruised, and muttering sundry undis- 
 tinguishable menaces. Tliis proved a wholesome 
 warning to the others, and they kept at a re- 
 spectful distance from Hassan, who easily con- 
 ducted Emily to the top. The huge stones are 
 so laid that they form continuous steps — steps 
 higher, it is true, than ladies or gentlemen are 
 accustomed to mount — but Hassan, by preceding 
 
 * It may be scarcely requisite to explain that ' bakshish' 
 means a present, either in the shape of ' alms,' or a ' reward.' 
 In travelling in Egypt or Turkey it is the first word that 
 meets the traveller's ear on arriving, and the last that he 
 hears on departing. The word itself is neither Turkish nor 
 Arabic, but a corruption of Persian.
 
 A MAGNIFICENT SrECTACLE. 281 
 
 her one step^ took her two hands, and drew her 
 up as lightly and easily as if she had been a 
 child. 
 
 When they reached the top, what a magnifi- 
 cent spectacle awaited them. There lay the 
 broad and verdant valley of the Nile stretched 
 out beneath them. Far as the eye could reach 
 were gardens, villages, and palm-groves, among 
 which the Nile, studded with white sails, wound 
 its sinuous course, while beyond its eastern bank 
 rose the Mother of the World,* her multitudinous 
 domes and minarets all bathed in the golden 
 flood of the suu^s descending rays. All there 
 felt the softening influence of the hour — the im- 
 posing magnificence of the scene. None dared to 
 break the spell by an exclamation of admiration — 
 even Selden's thoughtless gaiety was hushed. 
 Emily glided to her father^s side, and passed her 
 arm round his w^aist; she looked up in his face, 
 and as he returned the silent pressure of her 
 hand, she saw that the heart of the kind and 
 enthusiastic antiquarian Avas filled with emotions 
 that could not find vent in Avords. 
 
 Selden was the first to break the spell, and 
 unslinging a portable telescope, which he carried 
 
 * Before mentioned as an AraLic name for Cairo.
 
 282 HASSAN. 
 
 in a leathern case over liis shoulder, he began to 
 direct it alternately at different objects that 
 attracted his attention in the variegated landscape. 
 ^ See/ he cried to Hassan, ' I can distinguish the 
 ferry where we crossed the Nile, and the houses 
 and the boats, as if they were close at hand.' So 
 saying he gave the glass to Hassan, who, not 
 having been accustomed to use such an instrument, 
 had some difficulty at first in arranging the right 
 focus to his eye; when, however, he had done so, his 
 surprise and pleasure knew no bounds. He began 
 counting the persons on board a boat, which, 
 with the naked eye, could scarcely be descried, 
 and he owned in his heart that this was one of 
 the inventions which proved the superiority of 
 European skill. 
 
 Selden noticed his extreme pleasure, and catch- 
 ing his sister's eye, he gave her a nod, as much 
 as to say we understand each other. When 
 Hassan shut up the telescope to return it, Selden 
 said to him, ' Nay, keep it, Hassan — it is yours ; 
 I have another in mj portmanteau, and can well 
 spare it.' So saying, he unslung the case from 
 his own neck and passed it over that of Hassan, 
 whose eyes eloquently expressed the pleasure he 
 felt, as he replied, ' I was blind before, but you 
 have given me new eyes ! — may Allah guard and
 
 A AVELCOME KEPAST. 283 
 
 prolong your life/ They descended as they had 
 come up, and found that, under the superintendence 
 of Mrs. Thorpe, the servants had prepared in their 
 tent a dinner, Avhich, after the fatigues of the day, 
 was far from unwelcome.
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 HASSAN AND HIS FEIEND THE GEOEGIAN PURSUE THE 
 SAMMALOUS. 
 
 N 
 
 O sooner was Hassan free from the charge 
 that he had undertaken^ of escorting Emily 
 and her relatives to the Pyramids, than he hastened 
 to the Georgian's tent to ascertain Avhether any 
 intelligence had reached him respecting the course 
 taken by the Sammalous. 
 
 ^ Much/ replied the Georgian ; ' an Arab has 
 arrived, a friend of those whom we brought with 
 us, who followed them stealthily at a distance, and 
 saw the spot where they encamped, about fifteen 
 miles to the north-west of this place ; they do not 
 travel fast, as they are encumbered with the 
 number of the horses which they have captured, 
 there being among them some mares with foal/ 
 
 ' Can I see and speak with this man V said 
 Hassan. 
 
 ^ Assuredly,' replied his friend, at the same 
 time ordering his servant to summon the Arab. 
 The latter entered, and displayed to Hassan's 
 scrutinizing gaze a light sinewy frame and a 
 shrewd intelligence. The answers which he gave
 
 THE ' arrow' of the DESERT. 285 
 
 to Hassan's minute inquiries were clear and satis- 
 factory, and from them he ascertained that the 
 marauding party were about fifty strong, mostly 
 armed with lances, some heavy guns, and pistols. 
 'To overtake them will not be difficult,' added 
 the Arab, ' nor to retake the horses, that is, if 
 your own be swift and strong; but you will 
 never capture their leader, for he is mounted on 
 Nebleh/ 
 
 ' And what is Nebleh ?' inquired Hassan. 
 
 ' Have you never heard of Nebleh V replied 
 the Arab, eyeing our hero with an expression 
 something between surprise and contempt ; ' I 
 thought every one had heard of Nebleh,* she is 
 the fleetest mare in the desert ; when or how the 
 Sammalous stole her I know not, but none can 
 catch her.^ 
 
 ' We will see that,' replied Hassan, smiling ; 
 then turning to the Georgian, he said to him, 
 ' My friend, it is true that I am younger than 
 you and have less experience, nevertheless I am 
 half a Bedouin, and have seen something of these 
 desert forays ; will you be guided by me in this 
 expedition ?' 
 
 ' "Willingly,' replied the Georgian, with cor- 
 
 * Nebleh, in Arabic, means ' arrow.'
 
 285 HASSAN. 
 
 responding frankness ; ' I and my men will follow 
 your counsel in everything/ 
 
 After a few minutes more of earnest conversa- 
 tion with the Arab^ during which Hassan learnt 
 from him further particulars respecting the nature 
 of the ground_, the existence or non-existence of 
 water^ &c., he turned to the Georgian and said — 
 ' My counsel then is that you select thirty-five 
 of the best mounted of your men_, leaving the 
 remainder here to guard the English party^ under 
 the charge of the Mameluke whom you consider 
 most trustworthy ; you and I will both go in 
 pursuit of the Sammalous. Let men and horses 
 take food now and rest till midnight, at which 
 hour the moon will rise ; let each man secure to 
 his saddle a bag containing eight or ten pounds 
 of bread and a few dates ; our guide can lead us 
 to water, not much nor good, but for two days it 
 will suffice, and in that time, Inshallah ! we will 
 capture the rogues, and, perhaps, Nebleh too. 
 Allah knows V 
 
 The Georgian cheerfully acquiesced in Hassan's 
 proposal, being inspired with confidence by the 
 prompt decision with which he formed and uttered 
 it. The two friends then supped together, and 
 separated to make the preparations agreed upon. 
 
 At midnight the party moved silently out of
 
 A PURSUIT. 287 
 
 the encampment^ and, guided by the Arab Avho 
 had brought the intelligence,, commenced their 
 march over the desert. For several hours there 
 ■vvas no need for any precaution, and Hassan and 
 the Georgian, riding side by side at the head of 
 their men, conversed together with the frankness 
 congenial to their age and spirits ; hoth were 
 eager for distinction, and both hoped for an ad- 
 venture that would do them honour ; they talked 
 much of Nebleh, and Hassan said, as he patted 
 the sleek neck of his now miscalled steed, 
 
 ' If Sheitan once comes within ten spear lengths 
 of her and she escapes, she must be swifter than 
 any horse I have seen.^ 
 
 ' Truly he is a noble horse,^ said the Georgian ; 
 ^ mine is not slow, and I remember that on the 
 day of the jereed I could neither escape your 
 horse nor your spear.^ 
 
 ' Nay/ replied Hassan, laughing, ' these are but 
 the chances of the game ; had your horse been 
 swift as Sheitan my shoulder would have felt 
 your jereed.^ 
 
 Thus discoiu-sing, they followed their silent 
 guide, who had not struck into the heart of the 
 desert, but had pursued a route parallel to that 
 taken by the Sammalous, and nearer to the culti- 
 vated ground. He halted in a small hollow, in
 
 288 HASSAN. 
 
 which was a pool left by the receding waters of 
 the Nile^ and around its edge a few patches of the 
 herbs and grasses which grow on the borders of 
 the desert. 
 
 * We are now nearly opposite their last night's 
 encampment/ he said to Hassan; ^the moon is 
 low, and we must remain here till dawn/ 
 
 The party dismounted accordingly to rest and 
 refresh the horses, and await the first grey ap- 
 proach of dawn ; no sooner did it appear than 
 they were again in motion, and from the summit 
 of a small mound the guide pointed to a curiously 
 shaped hill to the westward, saying — 
 
 ' Just below that hill they encamped last night/ 
 
 As soon as they reached its base, the party 
 was halted, and Hassan went up wdth the guide 
 to reconnoitre ; when near the top they crept on 
 their hands and knees, and looked over into the 
 plain below ; it was of considerable extent, and, 
 although they strained their eyes in every direc- 
 tion, no trace could they see of man or horse. 
 
 ^ They have travelled faster than I expected,' 
 said the Arab, in a tone of disappointment ; ' they 
 must already have passed over that ridge oppo- 
 site, for that is the way to the tents of their tribe.' 
 
 Hassan thought it now a good opportunity for 
 trying the virtue of the present that he had re-
 
 HASSAN S MANGEUVEES. 2,Sg 
 
 ceived ttie day before from Seldeu ; unslingiiig his 
 telescope, aud adjusting its focus to the mark he 
 had made on the brass, he directed it to the 
 range of hills pointed out by the guide ; for some 
 time he looked in vain, but suddenly an exclama- 
 tion of joy broke from him. 
 
 ^ Praise to Allah, I have them now ! one, two, 
 three horsemen just going over the ridge; the 
 rest must have passed before/ 
 
 ' Which way are they going ?' inquired the 
 guide. 
 
 Hassan pointed with his finger. ' Good, good V 
 exclaimed the guide. ' Wait till you are sure 
 that the last is past.^ 
 
 After some minutes of careful and minute 
 survey with the glass, during which he satisfied 
 himself that none remained on the near side of 
 the ridge, he made a sign to the party to advance, 
 and informed his Georgian friend of what he had 
 seen. ' El-hamdu-lillah '/ was the joyous reply, 
 and Hassan having vaulted into the saddle, the 
 party soon crossed the plain at an easy canter. 
 When they reached the ridge the same manoeuvre 
 was repeated, and Hassan and the guide, creeping 
 cautiously to the top, saw the whole party of 
 the Sammalous crossing the plain beyond, their 
 leisurely movement plainly indicating that as yet 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 HASSAN. 
 
 they had no idea of pursuers being on their 
 track. 
 
 Hassan now took a careful survey of the 
 country^ from which^ as well as from the opinion 
 of the guide_, he ascertained that at no great 
 distance on the right hand a valley or hollow ran 
 in a direction nearly parallel with that taken by 
 the Sammalous ; his decision was formed in a 
 moment, and he hastily descended to communicate 
 it to his companions. 
 
 ' There they are in that plain below/ he said. 
 ' I will take a dozen of the best mounted of your 
 men and gallop down that valley^ so as to get 
 a-head of them and cut off their retreat ; give 
 me two hours and then fall on their track; we 
 shall have them between us^ and_, Inshallah ! they 
 will not escape us.^ 
 
 No sooner was it said than put in execution ; 
 Hassan led the way down the valley at a hand- 
 gallop^ checkings however^ the speed of Sheitan, so 
 as not to exhaust the horses of the troopers be- 
 hind him. The ground favoured their manoeuvre, 
 and they had already passed half the space re- 
 quisite to enable them to head the enemy^ when 
 they suddenly came upon an Arab riding leisurely 
 up from a hollow at right angles to that which 
 our hero was following.
 
 A CHASE. 291 
 
 ' It is one of the Sammalous/ he said, ' who 
 knows the country; he has been down to a well in 
 that hollow j if he once gets to the crest of the 
 hill he will give the alarm to his party, and our 
 plan is spoiled; he shall not do so if Sheitan^s 
 breath holds good. Do you move gently forward, 
 and spare your horses; leave me to deal with 
 him.' So saying, he struck the stirrups into 
 Sheitan's flanks, who darted forth like a bolt from 
 a cross-bow. 
 
 The Sammalous no sooner saw a horseman ap- 
 proaching at full speed than he divined that his 
 followers were in pursuit of his party, he there- 
 fore urged his horse to his utmost speed, but 
 Hassan had been too quick for him, and had got 
 so far a-head on the hill-side that he had nothing 
 for it but to fight or be taken prisoner, and, being 
 a bold, stout fellow, he did not feel disposed to 
 yield to a single enemy. 
 
 Hassan having got between the Sammalous 
 and his party, reined up Sheitan, and called to 
 him to lower his lance and surrender. The Sam- 
 malous, seeing that our hero's followers were 
 already visible in the distance, and that no time 
 was to be lost, made no other reply than by 
 charging Hassan at full speed. Our hero observing 
 that his adversary's lance was three or four feet 
 
 U 2
 
 29 ^ HASSAN. 
 
 longer than liis own, and that he could not await 
 the charge, dexterously avoided it by wheeling 
 Sheitan suddenly to the right, and, as he passed 
 in full career, dealt him a blow on the head with 
 his dabboos,* which hurled him senseless from the 
 saddle. 
 
 ' Aferin, bravo ! Ahmed Aga, my friend,^ said 
 Hassan to himself, ^when you gave me this 
 weapon I did not think to employ it so soon and 
 so well V so saying, he dismounted, and com- 
 menced operations by securing the fallen man's 
 horse, after that he turned to examine the rider, 
 whom he found to be stunned and bruised, but 
 not mortally hurt ; Hassan kept guard over him 
 until the arrival of his friends. No sooner did 
 they appear than he said — 
 
 ' We have no time to lose ; the Sammalous 
 knew that this fellow came hither for water over 
 that ridge ; if he does not return they will begin 
 to suspect, and send a party to look for him, who 
 
 * A 'dabboos' is a kind of war-club or mace much in use 
 among the Mamelukes, in whose military equipment it hung 
 at the saddle-bow. It resembles a pin in shape, being a 
 smooth round handle, surmounted by a head or ball of iron ; 
 from the latter sometimes there protruded a sharp spike. I 
 have seen some of these weapons beautifully inlaid with gold 
 and silver, and the handles covered with velvet. They are 
 not now in use, and are only sold as relics or curiosities.
 
 HASSAN DISGUISES HIMSELF. 293 
 
 would discover us before our plan is ripe. I 
 must throw dust in their eyes \' So saying, he 
 coolly proceeded to take ojff the striped blanket 
 which the Saramalous wore, and taking also the 
 kufiyah or red kerchief which formed the head- 
 dress of the latter, he wrapped it round his own 
 head. 
 
 Having thus disguised himself, he mounted the 
 horse of his fallen adversary, who at that moment 
 came to his senses, and, sitting up, looked on at 
 what was going forward, and rubbed his eyes as if 
 he were waking out of a dream. Hassan desired 
 one of the troopers to bind his hands fast behind 
 him, and to tie his feet, after which the party 
 proceeded under his direction along the valley, 
 whilst he himself, trusting to his disguise, took 
 the way towards the top of the hill which divided 
 his party from those of whom he was in pursuit. 
 
 As soon as he reached the top he had the 
 satisfaction of seeing them in the plain imme- 
 diately below. They were going at a slow pace; 
 some of the slaves and boys stopping and diverg- 
 ing to the right and left to drive up the lagging 
 mares and foals, while the main body pursued their 
 route, evidently unsuspicious of the vicinity of dan- 
 ger. Hassan had not been a moment on the crest 
 of the hill ere they perceived him ; but as they
 
 294 HASSAN. 
 
 expected their comrade to re-appear from that 
 quarter^ and they recognized his horse, blanket, 
 and head-dress, it was impossible for them at that 
 distance to distinguish the features or figure of 
 the rider, and the motions of Hassan were such 
 as to disarm all suspicion, as he rode leisurely 
 and in a lazy attitude on a parallel line 
 with themselves, apparently allowing the horse 
 to pick his own way. Meanwhile he noted 
 accurately their numbers and rate of march, 
 so that he was able to calculate with con- 
 siderable exactness the most favourable point for 
 sweeping over the hill with his party to intercept 
 their retreat. This latter manoeuvre he was 
 obliged to defer until the appearance of the 
 Georgian and his followers in pursuit, his own 
 being too few in number to make a successful 
 attack alone. 
 
 He had not long to w ait ; for the time arranged 
 between himself and the Georgian had scarcely 
 elapsed ere the latter appeared on the hill in the 
 rear, and began to cross the plain with his men 
 at an easy gallop. That he was noticed hy the 
 Sammalous was ere long evident, from the sudden 
 stir and movement observable among their ranks, 
 as they held a hasty consultation whether they 
 should abandon their booty or make a stand in
 
 THE TLAN SUCCEEDS. 295 
 
 its defence. The party in pursuit being apparently 
 not more than half their own number, they resolved 
 on the latter course; and from the shouts and 
 signs which they made to Hassan to come down 
 and join them, he conjectured that the man whom 
 he had discomfited was of some rank or conse- 
 quence among them. Regardless of their signals, 
 he disappeared over the hill to join his own party, 
 while the Sammalous leader exclaimed to his 
 followers, ' Curses on Abd-el-Atah, on his father, 
 and on his mother ; he sees we are about to be 
 attacked, and he gallops off to save his own skin V 
 
 Having rejoined his party, Hassan vaulted on 
 Sheitan, threw off his disguise, and led them 
 swiftly forward for about a mile, when perceiving 
 a small gorge or cleft in the hill, which opened 
 upon the plain, he conducted his men through it, 
 and had the satisfaction of seeing that the body 
 of the Sammalous were between the Georgian 
 and himself. 
 
 'El-Hamdu-lillah, we have them !' he exclaimed, 
 and as he spoke he loosened his sword in its 
 sheath, looked to the priming of his pistols, and 
 there was a joyous, exulting expression in his 
 countenance, which gave confidence to all the 
 party. 
 
 The time for concealment was past, for the
 
 2^6 HASSAN. 
 
 Georgian was now within an arrow^s shot of the 
 Sammalous. The latter had gathered their 
 captured animals in the rear, and were preparing 
 to resist the onset of the enemy in front, when 
 shouts from the boys and servants in the rear 
 caused them to turn their heads. They saw Hassan 
 and his little band approaching in that direction. 
 Escape was now impossible^ and it only remained 
 for tbem to conquer or be captured with all their 
 booty. 
 
 The number of combatants was nearly equal ; 
 the Sammalous had, perhaps, eight or ten more 
 than their opponents, besides a score of servants 
 and boys on foot, who had each a sword or lance. 
 Twenty of the fighting men of the Sammalouswere 
 quickly wheeled to the rear to oppose Hassan and 
 his twelve horsemen, who now came on in a 
 gallop, and in better order than might have been 
 expected from their habitually irregular discipline. 
 
 ' Gently, gently, my men,' said Hassan, reining 
 in Sheitan to a moderate hand-gallop. ^ Keep 
 your horses in breath till you are at close quarters, 
 then let them out. A gold sequin for the first 
 empty saddle among the Sammalous.' His men 
 answered with a loTid and cheerful shout, and in 
 a few minutes the conflict began. 
 
 As Hassan had expected, the Sammalous did
 
 THE CONFLICT. 297 
 
 not a'wait his charge in a body^ but dispersed to 
 the right and left,, so as to reduce the fight rather 
 to a succession of single combats. They fought 
 well and bravely, nevertheless they were unable 
 to contend with the impetuous force with which 
 Hassan directed the attack of his small party ; in 
 fact his appearance and his deeds equally con- 
 tributed to strike a panic into them. His large 
 and powerful figure, the joyous and exulting 
 shouts that he raised, as man after man fell 
 under the sweep of his sword, together with the 
 wonderful dexterity with which he guided and 
 wheeled his strong and fiery horse amidst and 
 around them, contributed to throw them into 
 amazement and consternation. 
 
 The Georgian, on his side, was not idle, and it 
 was soon e^ddent to the leader of the Sammalous 
 that all hopes of saving their booty must be 
 abandoned ; many of his men were killed — many 
 wounded — when he reluctantly shouted aloud to 
 the remainder words that may best be rendered 
 by the French ' Sauve qui peut.^ He himself, 
 mounted on Nebleh, had shot about the field like 
 a meteor ; now here, now there, darting and 
 wheeling in every direction. Nebleh seemed to 
 be unapproachable in her matchless speed and 
 activity. Never had that gallant mare and her
 
 ZgS HASSAN. 
 
 no less gallant rider, better deserved tlie tigh 
 reputation tliey liad acquired than on this day so 
 fatal to his tribe. One of the Turkish horsemen 
 he had transfixed with his lance, and had 
 grievously wounded two more, but now destiny 
 had decided against him, and with a sigh he 
 turned to fly from the luckless field. 
 
 Hassan had been so much occupied in the 
 melee that he had not had time to seek out the 
 Sammalous leader, and accident had not brought 
 them together ; but when the latter shouted to his 
 men to fly, and turned NebleVs head to the 
 desert, Hassan struck his stirrups into Sheitan^s 
 flanks and darted forth in pursuit. And now 
 commenced a race for victory on one side, for life 
 on the other. 
 
 The Sammalous had a start of nearly fifty 
 yards, which Sheitan's first furious bound had 
 reduced to thirty. For nearly half a mile the 
 speed of the horses seemed equal, but even in the 
 heat of that exciting moment Hassan had the 
 presence of mind to reflect that Sheitan^s strength 
 and speed had been severely tried by a long 
 gallop on the other side of the hill, and also that 
 his own weight was one-third greater than that of 
 the light and sinewy form of the Sammalous 
 chief — hence he rightly judged that in a long
 
 HASSAN IN PURSUIT OF THE LEADER. 299 
 
 race he must be the loser. Both had hitherto 
 kept their horses somewhat within their speed, 
 preparatory to a trial of endurance. 
 
 Hassan now resolved to call upon Sheitan for 
 one great effort, and if that failed to give up the 
 pursuit. Once more he slackened the rein and 
 struck the sharp stirrup into tlie flanks of Sheitan. 
 The high-bred horse, responsive to the touch, 
 bounded forward with an impetuosity that brought 
 him within a few yards of Nebleh^s flank. At 
 this crisis the Sammalous chief drew a pistol from 
 his girdle, and turning round in his saddle, fired at 
 his pursuer with so true an aim that the ball 
 passed through Hassan^s clothes and grazed his 
 ribs, inflicting a slight flesh wound in its passage. 
 
 With a motion almost simultaneous Hassan 
 drew out one of his pistols and aimed it full at 
 the back of his enemy. The ball took effect 
 between the unfortunate man^s shoulders, and 
 passed through his lungs. After reeling for a 
 few minutes in the saddle, he fell heavily to the 
 ground, his hand still grasping Nebleh's bridle. 
 The intelligent and faithful animal stood by the 
 side of her dying master, putting her nose down 
 towards his face as if inquiring what ailed 
 him, and why he stopped. Hassan dismounted, 
 and leaving his panting steed at a little distance,
 
 300 HASSAN. 
 
 approached the spot. — The Sammalous was no 
 more. 
 
 Hassan remained for a few minutes silently con- 
 templating the body. A smile of satisfaction passed 
 over his countenance,, as he reflected how well he 
 had avenged the wrongs of his foster-father, but it 
 quickly passed away as he said gravely, ^ He was a 
 brave horseman, but his time was come — destiny 
 had written it — Allah have mercy on his soul.^ He 
 then commenced an examination of the dead man^s 
 clothes, and found, as he had expected, in the 
 shawl around his waist several small bags of 
 money, the same which the deceased had plundered 
 from the villages whence he had taken the horses. 
 Securing these in his own belt, he then proceeded 
 to lead away Nebleh, who was apparently 
 bewildered by the death of her master, and 
 accompanied him with the gentleness of a lamb. 
 
 Two or three of his men, who had followed the 
 headlong chase as fast as their wearied horses 
 could carry them, now drew near. Entrusting 
 Nebleh to them, with many cautions not to allow 
 her to escape, he slowly returned to the scene of 
 the affray. 
 
 Hassan and the Georgian, after congratulating 
 each other on the success of their expedition, 
 began to examine into its results. Of their own
 
 RESULTS OF THE VICTORY. 301 
 
 party four were killed, and ten wounded ; of the 
 Sammalous nine were killed and thirty made 
 prisoners, of whom seventeen or eighteen were 
 wounded. Several bags of money had been found 
 besides those in the possession of Hassan, and 
 forty mares and foals, carried away from the 
 villages, besides twenty-five horses belonging to 
 the Sammalous themselves. These items, added 
 to a goodly collection of swords, pistols, and other 
 accoutrements, made up a very respectable prize 
 to lav at the feet of the Kiahia. 
 
 END OF VOL. 1.
 
 LOXDOX : 
 
 SAVILL AND EDWAHDS, PEINTrRS, 
 
 CHANDOS STBEET.
 
 Octavo, price 7s. 6d. each. 
 
 Oxford Essays^ 1857. 
 
 The Place of Homer in Education and in History. 
 
 By the Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone, M.P., M.A. 
 Sicily. By M. E. Grant Duff, M.A. 
 Schemes of Christian Comprehension. By the Bev. 
 
 H. B. WiLsox, B.D. 
 Ancient Greece and Mediaeval Italy. By E. A. 
 
 Freeman, M.A. 
 The Burnett Prizes. By the Eev. Baden Powell, 
 
 M.A., F.R.S. 
 The Je^vs of Europe in the Middle Ages. By J. H. 
 
 Bridges, B.A, 
 Montaigne's Essays. By the Rev. K. W. Church, M.A. 
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