U^^^^J^^ ftr the fawuiaif tf a, CoHtgt in t/iif Colony" D Deposited by tlie Linonian and Brothers Library MY EARLY TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES IN AMERICA AND ASIA My Early Travels AND Adventures IN America and Asia BY S,V HENRY M°li^^\ANLEY, D.C.L, AUTHOR OF "m DARKEST AFRICA," ETC., ETC. With Two PJiotogravure Portraits VOLUME II. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1895 Copyi^ght, 1895, by Chablbs Scribkhr's Sons CHAPTER II. The Egyptian Napoleon — Mehemet AU and the Ship Canal — Linant Bey's Project — The Constructor of the Canal Ap pears — The Deed of Concession — The International Com mission and their Studies of the Route — Their Report and Conclusions — The Formation of the Suez Canal Company — British Opposition — The Auxiliary Canal — The Construction of the Maritime Canal — The Filling of Lake Timsah^Prep- arations for the Ceremony of Opening the Canal . . . 13 CHAPTER III. The Maritime Capital of the Suez Isthmus — Its Workshops and Concrete Block Manufactory — The Harbour, Quays and Piers — The Naval and Mercantile Fleets — Arrival of Roy alties — The Ceremony of Blessing the Canal — The Illu minations 40 CHAPTER IV. The Greatest Drama in Egyptian History — The Empifiss's Yacht Starts — List of Vessels in the Procession — The Canal, Scenes on the Banks — The Land and its Associations — Ar rival at Lake Timsah ....... 49 Contents CHAPTER V. JERUSALEM. CHAPTER IX. PAGE Ismailia — A Glimpse of Goshen and the Wilderness of Shur — The Viceroy's Hospitality — .\ Grumbling Briton — A British Shipowner and his Prejudices — The Bedawi Manr^uvres be fore the Empress — What the Arabs think of Eugfoie . . 62 UP THE NILE. CHAPTER VI. A Modem Guide for Travel on the great River, and grand fluvial Contrasts — From Cairo onward — The Halting Points, and Shore Scenery — The Guests of the Khedive — Sight-see ing — Whom they met and how they were amused . . -74 CHAPTER VII. Denderah, or Tentyra to Thebes — The Ruins of Thebes — The Splendours of Kamak 99 CHAPTER VIII. From Thebes to Philse — A Gem Among Temples — The Temple of Edfii — The Town and Quarries of Assflan — The Ruins ofPhilae — Retum to Cairo 117 The Palestine Exploration Fund — Old Jaffa — Fools and Fanat ics— Tlie Plain of Philistia— The Lepers of Ramleh — First \'iew of Jerusalem— The Modem City — Its Associa tions — 'I'lie Holy Sepulchre — Fanatics at the Tomb — The Grandeur of the Temple — The Sieges of Jerusalem . . 127 Contents CHAPTER X. PAGE Jealousies Excited by the Explorations below Jerusalem — The Discoveries Underground — Ophel — A Remarkable Under ground Passage — The Shaft near the Golden Gate — The Foundations of the Temple of Solomon — Beautiful Corner Stones — The Tyropean Valley — Going down to Explore — The Great Sea — Summary 15S TO THE CASPIAN SEA. CHAPTER XI. Constantinople to Sinope — Samsfln — Kerasunde — Trebizond, its History and Trade — Gifford Palgrave — The Necessity of studying Geography — Batiim — What an Error in Spelling cost the Russians — Poti — The River of the Ancient Argo nauts — A Seed-bed of Ague — Fifty Nationalities^The Cas- trati of the Caucasus — The Fate of a Spy — Mark Tapley's Eden — Kutais and its Governor — Easter-Day and its Fes tivities — Soldiers as Navvies — Arrival at Tiflis . . . 183 CHAPTER XII. Tiflis — Its Boulevards, Squares, Bazaars, Opera House, Oriental and Occidental Quarters — What the Russians have been doing in the Caucasus 214 CHAPTER XIII. Tiflis to Bak —Post Travel— Modem Troglodytes— The Steppe — How Brigands are Treated — Elizavethpol — Chemakha — Malaghan — ^A Lesson in Geology — The Caspian Sea , . 323 CHAPTER XIV. A Convict bound to Siberia— The English Club House — The Governor of Bakfl — General Stoletoff — His Views on India and the Enghsh 236 Contents CHAPTER XV. PAGE Baku — The Paris of the Caspian — The Naphtha Fires — A .Strange Sight — Departure from Bakij — Along the Russian, the Persian, and Turkestan Coasts, Central Asia — The An cient Oxus 243 THROUGH PERSIA. CHAPTER XVL In Persia — Scenes in Resht — A Tour through the Streets with a Guard of Honour — Gorgeous Persian Tablecloths — Manners and Customs — StraggUng through a Trench — In the Forest — A Question of Bakshish — We Start for Teheran — Through a Swamp Jungle — Chapparing in Persia — On Higher Ground — Scenes of Beauty — Causes of Vapours and heavy Dews — On the Tableland of Persia 265 CHAPTER .XVII. The Ancient Royal City of Kasvin — ^Vhat the Persian Table land is like — \'illages and Canaut — The Haunts of the " Old Man of the Mountains " — The Elburz Range — Terri ble Heat — A Strange Hotel Proprietor — .Arrival at Teheran — Anecdotes about the Shah — The Shah's Palaces — His Thrones and Jewels 279 CHAPTER XVIII. The Bazaar of Teheran — Persian Dogs — The Royal Falconers- Rivalry between the Russian and British Embassies The Negaristan Palace — The Royal Menagerie — Fath Ali Shah — Kasr-I-Kajar CHAPTER XIX. The Indo-European Telegraph— 1 lo^iiitality of the Othcials— The Stations between Teheran and Ufahan — Dav and Night Tiavel— The Salt 1 icsert— Kdm— '• Prussia and France "— Pasangfln— Sin-Sin — Tcrrihlc 1 Kat — Kashan — Shmbless Plains— The ,\ppru.ich to Isfahan 320 Contents ix CHAPTER XX. PAGE Isfahan — The City of Euphemisms — Its Gardens, Groves, and Golden River — The Sun darkened by Locusts — The Palaces, Royal Colleges, and Meidans— The Palace of the Forty Pillars — View of the City from the " Sublime Gate " — The Eighth Paradise — The Thovisand Valleys — Rustam's Throne — Hill of the Fire Worshippers — The Rocking Minarets — The Road to America — The Bazaars of Isfahan — Julfa 335 CHAPTER XXI. Farewell to Isfahan — The Bust of Hercules — The Grotesque Town of Yezdekhast — The Ruins of Pasargadse — The TombofCryus 361 CHAPTER XXII. The Ruins of Istakhr the Fortress — Persepolis and its Palaces — Exploration Underground — The Plain of Mervdasht . . 371 CHAPTER XXIII. Shiraz — Travellers' Stories — The Famous Ruk-nabad — The Gardens of the Southern Capital — The Pleasures of the Shirazi — Quotations from Saadi, Hafiz and Jami — The Sports of the Shirazi — Saadi's Tomb and Epitaph — The Grave of Hafiz — The Tomb of Bathsheba — Diary from Shiraz to Bushire — Arrival at Bushire — The Real Persia . 392 Index 415 THE SUEZ CANAL CHAPTER I. The Tongue of the Egyptian Sea — The Commerce of the Ancient Egyptians — The Ancient Canals— The Circumnavigators of Africa — Napoleon Bonaparte's Ideas of a Direct Ship Canal — The Estimates of Lepere — The Greatest Idea of the Nineteenth Cen tury. Ismailia, Isthmus of Suez, November i8ih, 1869. The sandy Isthmus of Suez was considered by the Kings of Ancient Egypt as a good defence against the Assyrians and Persians. The two seas which bound it north and south were almost connected by a chain of salt lakes which occupied every depression on the isthmus. There is evidence enough to prove that in pre historic times the Red Sea and the Mediterranean once commingled their waters, and that the sand which formed the isthmus had been gradually heaped up by action of strong wind and tides. For in the time of Isaiah this process was taking place. The Bitter Lakes, now so called, were then but the The Suez Canal extreme reach of the Red Sea, and when Isaiah fulminates against Egypt he threatens to cut off the tongue of the Egyptian sea. This reach of sea, according to the laws of nature, was even then being isolated. A bar was forming at the southern ex tremity of the Bitter Lakes, which we find this day to have expanded into the width of eighteen miles of finest sand, and the same process of bar-making was found in operation by the originators of the Canal at about a mile to the southward of Suez. A little eastward of the Bitter Lakes was the famous Bog, in which it was believed several hostile armies had been engulfed. Then came the Bitter Lakes, 23 miles long; Lake Timsah, 2 miles long; the Ballah Lakes, 3 miles; and the extensive lagoon of Menzaleh, 2S miles. Between these lakes ran a sinuous stream towards the Pelusiac marshes, where there were salt pits for the manufacture of salt. To any powerful commercial nation existing about the year 1000 b.c, the plan of a canal through the isthmus would no doubt have been deemed more feasible than in the beginning of the nineteenth century. It only required a trench bet^-een these lacustrine links, and the canal was done. But in the year 1000 b.c. the old Egj-^ptians regarded with horror those who navigated the deep and dwelt in ships. Nay, those unfortunate sailors, whose misfortune it was to be wrecked on the coast of Egypt, were imme diately offered up as sacrifices to the god Busiris. The Egyptians possessed no forests wherewith to TIic Commerce of the Ancient Egyptians 3 build seaworthy vessels. Their Nile galleys were built expressly for river trade between the Delta and the intermediate ports on the Nile. But they regarded the ocean with horror, notwithstanding that they saw the merchant-ships of Tyre, Sidon, Carthage, and Greece in their ports. The Phoenicians and Greeks swept the seas from the Palestine coast as far as the Pillars of Hercules, from Pelusium to Salamis and the Peloponnesus. Solomon despatched his ships down the Red Sea from Eziongeber to Ophir and Ind, for gold, balsam, and spices. But it was impossible that people naturally brave and great in arts as the Egyptians should long stand aloof from the benefits to be derived from commerce and ocean navigation, and accordingly we find them under Psammeticus rivalling- the Greeks and Phoe nicians in maritime pursuits. Their corn, linen, and drugs, their exquisite and rich manufactures in gold and silver, were exchanged by them for Cyprian copper, Lebanon cedars, Tyrian dyes, and ships from Sidon and Tarsus. This mutual reciprocity, which had long before made Sidon a mart of nations and Tyre a maker of kings, made Pelusium a great city, Sais prosperous, and Naucratis famous. The corn of the Nile and the harvests of Egypt were exchanged for the purple and rich vestments of Sidon and Tyre. Phoenicia waxed strong, and the cities of the Delta became prosperous under Psammeticus. On the fall of Thebes and Memphis the coast cities of Pelusium, Sais, Mendes, and Canopus were established. The Suez Canal The King of Egypt, Nccho II., son of Psammeticus, was a genius for his times. He understood the value of commerce, and his views became enlarged by the prosperity which followed his efforts. He heard of the gold of Ophir, of the precious stones that lay beyond the sea. Could the ships from the Nile but trade directly thither, what treasures might not flow into his coffers! What new lands might not be conquered ! Before such visions of boundless wealth, with the means of realising them at hand, Xecho determined upon constructing a canal that should connect the Nile with the Red Sea, which should start from Bubastis, the then capital of Egj'pt, by Pathumos, through a natural sandy ravine, past Necropolis and into the Bitter Lakes, which at that time were separated from the Red Sea by only a sand bar. The canal was to be wide enough for two ships to pass each other freely when abreast ; and to be sufficiently deep for the largest ship of the periled. Though a most roundabout canal for Phoenician and Tyrian ships to sail to India, yet it was practicable, as Bubastis was but sixty miles from the Bitter Lakes. One hundred and twenty thousand slaves were employed on the undertaking for three years, at the end of which time it began to be suspected that when the canal would be completed the Red Sea would overflow Goshen, inundate the Delta and ruin Egypt. Necho was therefore warned that by con structing this canal for navigation, even should de struction to the land by salt water not be the result Necho's Canal 5 barbarous invaders from unknown lands would by its means invade Egypt. The work, though so near its completion, was therefore reluctantly relin quished. Traces of this canal have been discovered not far from Suez, with banks in some places lined with brick and granite. Necho seems to have had a most enterprising character. Perceiving the danger of persisting in his first project, Necho commanded his pilots to search for some other channel by which the Nile might find an outlet to the Red Sea. From Eziongeber these daring sailors set sail, steering down the Red Sea, keeping close to the Egyptian coast, stopping at each port as they came to it for trade. After passing the Equator they could find no people with whom they could trade or from whom they could purchase provisions; so they had to lay up their ships, plough land, sow, reap, and with the seed of the harvest provision their vessels for the continuation of their voyage. In the third year they came to the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar and the opposite African moun tains) and saw their own friendly sea before them. Continuing their voyage along the shores of the Mediterranean, past Mauritania and Carthage, they arrived at King Necho's city after an absence of three years. Such a long voyage could not be repeated in the life of a king already far advanced in years. This was the first voyage round Africa. Hanno tried it subsequently, but failed; for before reaching the The Sticr: Canal Equator he had to return, owing to the scarcity of provisions. According to Herodotus, Necho abandoned his efforts to construct a canal that he might direct his mind to the defence of Egypt against the Assyrian king. A deep trench was ordered by him to be cut from the Bitter Lakes to the mouth of the Nile, near which Pelusium, the frontier post, stood. It was intended as a defence against the Assyrians, but through its influence the land through which the sweet waters flowed bloomed like a garden, and the arid desert, hitherto but a vast waste, teemed with spontaneous vegetation. The canal from Bubastis to the Bitter Lakes displaced the briny element which formerly filled them with Nile water, and the trench from the Bitter Lakes to Pelusium being filled with the river water, was not onl}- a defence to Egypt against predatory armies from Palestine and Arabia, but served to transform a large tract of land from sterility into fruitful plains. After the death of Necho II. the idea of connecting the Nile with the Red Sea was again mooted and carried forward with considerable vigour. The work was continued as far as the Crocodile Lakes, as the Bitter Lakes were afterwards named. These lakes. being filled with Nile water, became famous for the large number of crocodiles, water fowl, and fish, which had migrated hither with the flood flowing from Nubia and Abyssinia. Nectanebo I., in the year 380 b.c, when rebellino- The Canal of Philadelphus against the Persian power which had been established by Cambyses, had recourse to the same mode of defence originated by his great ancestor Necho II. in 6i8 B.C., viz., to dig trenches from Pelusium to the Bitter Lakes, and to strengthen his fortress in the Delta; and so well were these water defences planned, that in the fall, when the periodical overflow came, the Nile completed what Nectanebo had begun, and Egypt was thus delivered from the Persian yoke. In the year 284 b.c Ptolemy Philadelphus became King of Egypt. Among the great works of his reign are the erection of lighthouses on the Isle of Pharos and the construction of a royal burial-place at Alexandria. He also turned his attention to the navigation of the Red Sea, which presented a great difficulty to sailing vessels, inasmuch as the wind blew from the north during nine months of the year, and the Arab captains found it impossible to beat up the Red Sea as far as Eziongeber. The ship captains, in order to avoid this difficulty, were obliged to contract with merchants that they should meet them as far south as possible with caravans, by which mode com merce ran through other channels, and new cities constantly sprang up on the southern coast of Egypt, such as Suakin, Cosseir, and Massowah. To obviate the difficulty of navigating this sea, and at the same time to secure the commerce which sought an outlet in Egypt, Philadelphus built a city and called it Berenice, after his sister, 200 miles below Cosseir. From Berenice caravans of camels would convey The Suez Canal the merchandise to Bubastis, the capital of Lower Egypt. He also rebuilt Cosseir, the ancient Ennum, according to Strabo. Finally, Philadelphus built a city near where Suez now stands, and called it Arsinoe, after his youngest sister, and re-opened the canal upon which Necho II. and Darius Hystaspes had spent their energies. By means of this canal ships were to pass between Arsinoe and Bubastis. He re-opened the canal successfully as far as the Bitter Lakes, which, through the neglect of previous govemments, had been considerably filled up by the encroaching sands of the desert. The completion of the undertaking was prevented by engineers, who declared that the waters of the canal would be several feet lower than the Red Sea, and for that reason it would be a sea canal, which would neither benefit commerce, irrigate the fields, nor furnish cities with fresh water. The next time history records an incident con nected with this canal is when Cleopatra, "Egypt's foul disgrace, the firebrand of Rome," after the disaster at Actium seeking a means of escaping from dread Octavius, suggests to Mark Antony that they should convey their ships across the isthmus to the Red Sea and fly together to unknown lands. Had it not been for the despair which had seized Antony it is probable that the canal, which must have been open at the time, would have been used by the royal fugitives to transport their riches and their faithful Trajan's Canal few to another shore, where another empire might have been founded. Trajan, in the year no a.d., caused the canal first made by Necho, and reconstructed by Darius and Philadelphus, to be opened once more. Trajan's engineers commenced it from a place called Babylon, near Memphis, which was nearly fifty feet higher than from Bubastis, that it might pour into the Red Sea, obviating in this way the dreaded danger of an inundation of Egypt by the Egyptian sea. It passed by Heliopolis, Heropolis, and Serapeum, and joining the Bitter Lakes, emptied into the sea ten miles south of Arsinoe. The continual shifting of the sands had already, in the brief space of three centuries, com pletely separated Arsinoe from the sea which, it will be recollected, was built by Philadelphus as the port of his canal. Whether the canal was kept open by the Roman prefects during the occupation of Egypt by the Romans, history does not relate. We are left to surmise that so long as they continued to be masters of the world such a work, so conducive to maritime wealth and prosperity, could not have been neglected. The last time history speaks of this celebrated canal is in the year 638 a.d., in connection with the conquest of Egypt by Abu Amrou, General of Caliph Omar. Amrou, wishing to surprise his master with the vast riches he had acquired by the possession of Egypt, re-opened the canal along its whole length and sent so many shiploads of grain to Clysmon that The Suez Canal to use the exaggerated words of the Oriental historian it required a train of camels from the holy city of Mecca to Clysmon to convey the corn away. From the above it will be perceived that a canal across the isthmus has for ages been considered a necessity for Egypt ; and that after being constructed it became choked up whenever it was neglected; and that a century or so was sufficient to obliterate almost all traces of it. The utility of a canal across the isthmus, which would permit ocean ships to cross from sea to sea, was as apparent to the French Directory and Napoleon Bonaparte as it had been to Pharaoh Xecho and Philadelphus. At first Bonaparte thought it would be best to re open the work of Necho, but after much investigating and surveying which occupied several months, the question flashed through his mind, ' ' Why not connect the two seas by a direct canal, which shall float frigates and warships? " The vastness of the under taking, the important results which would inevitably accrue from the canal, dawned upon him ; and it was then in a moment of enthusiasm, we presume, that he uttered the celebrated dictum, " Whatever Power holds the Isthmus will be Master of India." While staying at Suez. Napoleon intently studied every aspect of the question. The isthmus was ex plored and reported upon for a direct canal between Pelusium and Suez. But again the engineers fell into the traditional error of believing that the waters Lepere' s Estimates of the Cost of a Canal 1 1 of the Red Sea were thirty-two feet higher than the Mediterranean, though the two seas were but ninety miles apart. An engineer named La Place and the mathematician Fourier protested against the opinion, asserting that such ideas were against accepted theories of the system of the globe and ocean equilibrium. Later hydrographical experiments demonstrated the falsity of the opinion which had been maintained with such obstinacy for two thousand five hundred years. Napoleon's engineers proposed the reconstruction of the old canal of the Pharaohs. The remains of it had been discovered at several places running from the modern Zagazig or ancient Bubastis in the direc- ing of the Bitter Lakes, and the work of recon struction would cost, according to Lepere, between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000 francs, or between ;^8oo,ooo and ;^i, 200, 000. For such a modest sum it is not likely that Lepere could have entertained the idea of building a ship canal of any depth. Lepere made his estimates even after the brilliant idea of a direct ship canal had been broached, because great difficulties would prevent its accomplishment. He believed Suez destined to the same fate as had overtaken Arsinoe two thousand years before, or as Clysmon two hundred years later. Suez, ih like manner, in another half century would be completely isolated by the desert; for even then the distance between the town and roadstead was three miles. The other "insurmountable" difficulty was the port of Pelusium. No human engineering could ever pre- The Suez Canal vent the creation of sand bars, which would always nullify efforts to establish a deep harbour. Since no engineer or mathematician was able to controvert these theories of Lepere, the idea of a direct ocean canal was given up ; and other circumstances finally prevented Napoleon re-opening Necho's canal. All Napoleon's aims and de.sires, hopes and am bitions, in the Orient were annihilated by Nelson and Sir Ralph Abercrombie at Aboukir. The neck of land which connected the continents of Asia and Africa was but ninety miles across and consisted mostly of pure sand. While looking at the map of the eastern world and tracing the route vid Suez between England and India, France and Cam bodia and Cochin China, Spain and the Philippine Islands, Portugal and Goa, Holland and Java, Asiatic Turkey and Arabia, Europe and Eastern Africa, it almost seems superfluous to dwell upon the advantages likely to be gained b)- the cutting of the isthmus. With the incalculable advantages and benefits depending upon the excavation of a canal, it was not possible that the nineteenth century, which had inaugurated its advent with the proclamation of the most startling ideas and the birth of mighty projects, could permit this one greatest idea to sleep, while the whole world cried " Progress! " — while the American continent w.is about to be banded with iron — while the oceans were ploughed by thousands of steamers, and the deep seas were about to be bridged with electric cables. Progress cried out against this Illchenict Ali and the Ship Canal 13 barrier of sand, and proclaimed that Africa must be severed from Asia, and that the Red Sea should be connected with the Mediterranean. I am about to relate how it was accomplished. CHAPTER II. The Egyptian Napoleon — Mehemet AU and the Ship Canal — Linant Bey's Project — The Constructor of the Canal Appears — The Deed of Concession — The International Commission and their Studies of the Route — Their Report and Conclusions — The Formation of the Suez Canal Company — British Opposition — The Auxiliary Canal — The Construction of the Maritime Canal — The Filling of Lake Timsah — Preparations for the Ceremony of Opening the Canal. Ismailia, November iZth, 1869. Mehemet Ali deserves to be called the Napoleon of Egypt. While he lived success attended him in almost every war he undertook, though England proved too strong for him, as she had proved to Napoleon. Among the many vast designs which he cherished was the construction of a ship canal from the Nile to the sea, and the re-opening of Bubastis and the Bitter Lake Canal. Had a really sensible plan been proposed to him there is not the least doubt that he would have exerted all his autocratic authority for its execution. But the numerous schemes proposed to him were all in connection with the Nile and the Red Sea Canal, which his practical i,^ The Suez Canal sense rejected. The experiences of twenty-five cen turies were not lost upon him. Egyptian history informed him how often the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, the Romans, and the Caliphs had devoted their energies to constructing and reconstructing that canal, and demonstrated to him the fruitlessness of continuing it. Soon after the peace of 1833, by which Mehemet Ali was confirmed in the hereditary possession of Egypt, a party of Englishmen explored the isthmus, among whom was Major-General Chesney who, after a casual inspection of the localities, asserted before a Commission that the ideaof a difference between the level of the two seas was completely erroneous. In 1840, another survey was made by the English, and Chesney's opinion was confirmed by scientific inquiries. In February, 1S41, Linant Bey, Chief Engineer to Mehemet Ali, in conjunction with Messrs. Anderson (of the Peninsular and Oriental Company), John and George Gliddon, formed a company to construct a ship canal from Pelusium to Suez. Inquiries and laborious surveys had demonstrated its complete feasibility, and no one now entertained a doubt respecting the project. But the capital required for its construction was too large for the period, and the company soon broke up without accomplishing anything. In 1846, Linant Bey's scheme of a canal was taken up by a new company, of which the great Stephenson, Negretti, Paulin, Talabut, and M. Enf;mtin were members. The organisation of this company was Tlie Survey of the Canal Route 15 mainly owing to the efforts of M. Enfantin. The Society d'^tudes du Canal de Suez had for its purpose the making of " a kind of a Bosjphorus through the desert of Suez." From the series of reports which were drawn up by European and Egyptian engineers relative to the respective seas, the features of the isthmus, the nature of the soil, and all that might be said for and against the feasibility of construction'and advantages of the canal, a member of the company drew up an elaborate review to be submitted to the association, and likewise sketched a plan of a canal which would run from Suez to Cairo, follow and cross the Nile and debouch into the port of Alexandria. But as this project was for a most indirect route it is needless to say that it was overruled and quashed. Though these later surveys had followed one upon the other quickly, and the truth of the general theories advanced, many still remained in doubt, because the Commission of 1799, under Bonaparte, had formed such widely different ideas. To satisfy the doubts of those whose interests would be promoted by the Suez Canal, another survey was made, likewise under Linant Bey, and the results verified the previous investiga tions. The level of the two seas was proved to be the same and when this fact was established it became the basis of all future projects. For seven years the Stephenson Company had done little except measuring, analysing, comparing and surmising. In 1853 we hear of a new man appearing on the i6 The Suez Canal scene, in the person of Monsieur Ferdinand de Lesseps. This gentleman was born at Versailles, November 1 9th, 1805, and is consequently sixty-four years old. In 1828 he was appointed Consul at Lisbon, and in 1842 was transferred to Barcelona. In 1853, when on a visit to Mohammed Said Pacha, he proposed to him the plan of constructing a maritime canal across the isthmus which should run from sea to sea. Said listened to him kindly and asked him to draw up a statement upon the features of his scheme and its advantages. In the early part of 1854 his cele brated memorial upon the Suez Canal was drawn up and delivered to the A'iceroy under the title " Perce- ment de I'lsthme de Suez: Expose et Documents Officiels." From the character of the Egyptian Pachas, which was once proverbial, the world would not have been in the least surprised had the Viceroy contented himself with simply pocketing the docu ment and returning for answer to Lesseps an in\-itation to smoke a pipe and take a cup of coffee. But Mohammed Said Pacha, who succeeded Abbas, his nephew, was an enlightened prince, and he loved to gather celebrated men around him. Koenig Bev, secretary of Said Pacha, was a German; Linant Bey, and iMougel Bey, Chief Engineers of PubUc Works, were Frenchmen; Galice Bey, who constructed the Alexandrian fortifications, and Monet Bey, Captain of l':n;4ineers, were also Frenchmen. Mohammed Said had been educated in Paris. He was well acquainted with Monsieur de Lesseps, and he confidently De Lesseps Appeals to Engineers 17 entrusted him with the task of creating an ocean way from sea to sea. The deed of concession for the construction of the ship canal was signed towards the end of November, 1854. A complete specification of the grant was drawn up and appeared at Cairo, March 2Sth, 1855. The two engineers, Linant and Mougel Bey, were the authors of the documents. The grand question to be solved definitely before commencing the gigantic task was, "Is it possible to make an artificial Bosphorus without locks between the two seas ? " M. de Lesseps appealed to the best engineers of Europe for their decision. This was another of de Lesseps' great ideas — this appeal to a scientific assembly of Europe, to which the ablest engineers of the world were invited to attend. On the part of England attended Messrs. McClean,. C. Manby, and Captain Hewitt, eminent engineers. Austria sent Chevalier de Negretti, Councillor of State and Inspector-General of Railroads. From Piedmont went M. Paleocapa, Minister of Public Works at Turin; from Holland, M. Conrad, Chief Engineer of the Water Staat; from Prussia, M. Leutze, Director of the works on the Vistula ; from Spain, Don Montesinos, Director of Public Works at Madrid ; while France was represented by Rear-Admiral de Genouilly, Captain Jaures, member of the Board of Bridges and High ways, and M. Lieusson, Hydrographer and Engineer of the Navy. Tlie Suez Canal This International Commission met for the first time at Paris, October 30th and 31st, 1855. It was decided that the Commission should depart from Marseilles the following week, Sth November. The Commission arrived at Alexandria on the i8th, and soon after commenced their duties. The nature of the rocks and sands along the coast was closely investigated, as well as the laws of the currents and the internal navigation of the country. They paid close attention to previous facts; they verified such inquiries as had been instituted bj' commission, or independently made by travellers and scientific gentlemen; they investigated everj-thing that concerned the isthmus, the sovmdings and borings in the desert, and the roadsteads of Suez and Pelusium. Native pilots were consulted at Suez, the quarries of Attaka close by were examined, and during their five days' stay at Suez they determined the precise location of the future harbour of Suez and the debouchure of the canal. During these proceedinp:? several impor tant facts came to light. It was proved that all charts of the Suez roadstead were totally incorrect. The Suez roadstead was found to afford ample anchorage for 500 ships at once. The depth varied from sixteen to forty feet, and was bottomed with soft mud. The anchorage was entered into by two deep channels sufficiently wide to allow vessels to tack. The north-north-west wind was found to blow almost uninterruptedly from March to November, which tallies exactly with the account of Herodotus and Discoveries of International Commission 19 explains why Philadelphus built the city of Berenice so far from the sea-line. During the remaining three months the wind blows alternately from south-south east and west-south-west. Finally it was ascertained that the roadstead of Suez had not perceptibly risen during centuries. It was concluded that the harbour of Suez was eminently suitable, and that to obtain the necessary depth for the shipping there would only be required two piers, the southernmost to extend 5200 feet and the northem 3900 feet from the shore. The journey of the Commission across the isthmus was also successful. Borings were occasionally made, and from the surface of the lowest depression the drill went down easily thirty feet. Near Shalouf and El Guisr there was some high ground to be pierced, and the highest would require to be excavated to the depth of thirty feet. The Bitter Lakes they found to be an empty basin, extending twelve miles in length, from two to three miles in breadth, and with a depth of thirty feet below the level of the Red Sea at high tide. Lake Timsah they found to be a salt marsh in the very centre of the isthmus, covering an area of about two square miles, eighteen feet below the level of the Red Sea at high tide. The Bay of Pelusium, though shallow, was found to be all that had been reported of it. It was about forty miles in length by about thirty in width. At the distance of 2500 yards from the beach the water was found to be twenty-six feet in depth ; at Tlie Suez Canal the distance of 4000 yards there were thirty-five feet. The beach was but a narrow strip of sand, which during calm weather separated the lagoon of ^ilenzaleh from the Mediterranean, but which in rough weather was swept by waves. The wind blew two-thirds of the year west-north-west. The littoral currents were unimportant, being irregular, running one time east, another west. There was also nothing to be apprehended from the Nile mud which, at every inundation, the river left in the neighbourhood ; for the soil was easily carried away by the waves, while the sand left as sediment was so small that even in a century there was no perceptible difference in the depth of the water in the Bay of Pelusium. The examination of the Mediterranean coast was carried from Pelusium to Damietta, a small port used by fishermen and Delta traders. Along the whole coast the peculiarities of the beach perceivable at Pelusium were found more or less marked. Near Tanis a depth of twenty-six feet of water was found at the distance of a mile and a half from the beach, and afterwards there was a quicker decline into deep water. The beach at this place was nearly a mile wide and five or six miles in length, and rose some thing like fifteen feet above the level of the Mediter ranean. It was composed of fine sand and Nile mud. Beyond it was the Lake of ]\Ienzaleh, an immense sheet of brackish water, which covered ancient corn fields of the Delta, once fertilised by the Tanitic Discoveries of Internationa! Commission 21 branch of the Nile debouching at Tanis. Embank ments must have been neglected, and the ridge of sand separating it from the sea must have been cut through by enemies to cause such a loss of rich land to Egypt. It was stated that if this vast area was reclaimed it would pay the entire Khedive's debt if sold at a reasonable sum per acre. The materials necessary for the construction of the port, which it was determined should be situated eighteen miles west of Pelusium, near Tanis, were easily procurable from the quarries on the Syrian coast, from the Isles of Cyprus and Rhodes. The channel to the port was to be 1300 feet wide, and running south-west and north-east. The port was to consist of the channel, 1300 feet wide, bounded by a north pier 9800 feet long, and a south pier 7000, and three harbours, each capable of mooring 190 ships. The north pier would stop at the depth of 32 feet, the south pier at 26 feet; one was to be 32 feet wide at the top, the other was to be 20 feet. Both were to be raised 6 feet above the water and sur mounted with a parapet. The report forwarded to his Highness the Viceroy of Egypt contained more in detail of what is above related. In the concluding article of their report, the International Commission decided that the ship canal across the Isthmus of Suez was a practicable under taking; that the two sea-ports Suez and the port of Said presented no more than ordinary difficulties; The Suez Canal and, lastly, that the cost of the entire canal, deep enough for ocean vessels, broad enough for a world's commerce, could be constructed for _;^8,ooo,ooo. Armed with this report, with the full sanction and powers of the Viceroy, nothing remained for M. Lesseps but to advertise the project, organize a company, and invite capitalists to take its stock. In 1858 the " Compagnie Universelle Maritime de Suez" was formed, with M. Ferdinand de Lesseps for president. The capital of the company was 200,000,000 francs, or ^8,000,000, in 400,000 shares of ;^2o each, of which four-fifths were to be paid up at once. Of these shares Mohammed Said took 177,642. In the grant of the company the right of importing any goods free of duty to the isthmus was given them by the Viceroy, also such workmen as were necessary for the construction of the canal were to be supplied from the fellahs of Egypt, with a stipulation onlv that they should be maintained by the Canal Company. The firman of the Sultan was easily obtained, for since Egypt was tributarj- to him this was to be procured before work could be commenced. In April, 1859, the first spadeful was turned up and the work on the canal may be said to have com menced from that month. In addition to the capital subscribed the company received money from different sources. In 1863 Said Paelm died, and Ismail, son of Ibrahim, son of Mehemet Ali, succeeded to the Vice- The Auxiliary Canal 23 royalty of Egypt. Ismail Pacha had been much in England, and, as is well known, England entertained great prejudices against the concession of the canal to her powerful neighbour, France. The Sultan was besieged at Constantinople to rescind the concession. Ismail Pacha was requested to withdraw the fellah supplies. The Sultan wavered, but Napoleon had his eye upon him, and he was immediately frightened out of his intended course; Ismail Pacha had, however, a fund of obstinacy in him — he broke the contract with the Canal Company, and would furnish no more fellahs. Napoleon came to the rescue of de Lesseps and suggested a commission to decide upon an equitable compensation for breach of contract. The committee, composed equally of Egyptians and Frenchmen, declared in favour of the company, and Napoleon, who was the umpire, awarded the com pany damages to the amount of ;!^3,6oo,ooo, which was to be payable in instalments within fifteen years. In order to aid their works on the great ship canal, the company constructed an auxiliary canal, running from Zagazig (ancient Bubastis) to Gasasin, a length of twenty-nine miles. Between Gasasin and Timsah there lay an immense depression in the desert, which, if irrigated, might easily be reclaimed. This depres sion was called Wady Toumilat, and like the rest of the desert, in the neighbourhood of Timsah, was but a f>ortion of Goshen, one of the most fertile districts of old Egypt. Wady Toumilat became the property 24 The Suez Canal of the company by purchase for the sum of ^80,000. The estate consisted of 28,000 acres, and after being fenced round and irrigated, and sown with cotton seed, returned, on the third year, a revenue of ^80,000. In 1864 the estate was sold to Ismail Pacha for ^400,000. The auxiliary canal was continued from Timsah, which is now known as Ismailia, along the western edge of the basin of the Bitter Lakes, and approached the foot of the Geneffe Mountains to the port of Suez, so as to permit the loaded barges and dredges to proceed to Suez roadstead. A balance-sheet furnished by ]M. Lesseps the 6th of August, 1 864, gives the following figures relative to the expenditure : — Cost of piers, quays and other works at Port Said $2,840,000 Excavations through El Guisr . . . 2,100 000 Excavations of Ship Canal ... 22 440 000 Casing of parts of the canal with stone . i 600 000 Cost of piers at Suez .... 440 000 Laying down a line of fresh-water pipes between Ismailia and Port Said . . 580 000 Unforeseen and general expenses . 2,000 000 Total expenditure 532,000,000 Of this total the sums for which contracts have been signed between the comp.'my and various French finns amount to 527,260 000 The remaining expenditure calculated upon """"'^i^ 4.740,000 §32,000,000 The Sweet Water Canal 25 To this sum must be added the interest paid monthly to the shareholders on their paid-up capital. This item amounted then to $1,600,000, which was increased to $2,000,000 when the remaining fifth of the subscription was paid up. The canal, however, has cost altogether, so far, ;^I2, 000,000. The excavations of the canal were undertaken by the eminent French firm of Messrs. Borel, Lavallet & Co. Under their contract with the Canal Company the works were to be completed by the 30th of June, 1868, under a penalty of $100,000 per month for every month's delay ; on the other hand, they were to receive a like sum from the company for every month gained. It is almost needless to state that the French engineers did not fulfil their contract. Many vexatious causes, principally political, so re tarded the work that the Canal Company graciously consented to extend their time to the ist November, 1869. Preliminary to any excavations on the isthmus efficient arrangements had to be made for a plentiful supply of fresh water in the desert; for the tract of land which , was to be the scene of continuous operations was but a treeless waste of saline marshes and sand. During the initial stage of the work, water had to be conveyed long distances, on the backs of camels, horses, and donkeys, in leather mushoks and goat skins, to keep a long line of iron tanks extending 26 The Suez Canal across the isthmus always supplied ; also all provisions for the labourers, tools and every description of articles required for the works, had to be conveyed in the same manner at enormous expense. To accelerate and secure the transportation of these necessities, the Sweet Water Canal, already men tioned, was rapidly pushed forward to its completion, which took place in 1861. This canal was 931^ miles in length; its width varied from 50 to 65 feet at the water-level, and the depth was about 6 feet. The company had calculated upon raising a very considerable revenue from this canal, as by the original concessions from Said Pacha they were to become proprietors of all waste lands which they might be able to bring into cultivation, and had the right to levy navigation dues. But with the with drawal of the supply of fellah labour they lost these valuable privileges, receiving as compensation the award in accordance with the French Emperor's arbitration. The Sweet Water Canal, during the time the Mari time Canal was still in progress of construction, was a valuable medium of communication between the two seaports of Suez and Ismailia, and changed the aspect of the countr)' in a wonderful manner. Wherever there lay any depression or hollow along the route the infiltration from its banks created quite a verdure, whieh was a striking proof of the facility with which much of the desert might be reclaimed. An instance of the wonderfully fertilising power of British Prejudice 27 the Nile water over the desert sands is furnished near Serapeum. At a place called Bir Abou Ballah — the "Well of the Father of Dates " — near the spot where the fresh-water canal turns its course to the south ward, the company put under cultivation a few acres of land, surrounding a house which was intended for the use of Abdel Kader, should that famous chieftain ever feel disposed to take up his residence in their domains. A few s6eds and shrubs, planted on the sands only three or four years ago, have, by the sole aid of Nile water periodically supplied from the canal, transformed this bit of desert into green fields, shaded by palms and other trees, and a most charming little oasis now exists where but a short time ago only barren sands met the eyes. Ismailia, also situated on Lake Timsah, furnishes numerous proofs, in its gardens and enclosures, of the marvellous fertilising power of Nile water. The most specious arguments have been urged against this canal by Englishmen, special engineers, officials of all classes, special correspondents and others, all of whom appear to have absorbed the prejudice of Palmerston, This is loyalty to their old premier, but it is not good sense. According to them the Suez Canal was a failure and would forever remain one unless English en gineers took hold of it and English gold carried it through. Lesseps was besides an adventurer! So said unbelieving Englishmen. Lesseps himself was a vagary as much as his 28 The Suez Canal project was one. But this living vagarist, this adventurer, this long calumniated individual, de Lesseps, persevered against great disadvantages in the undertaking, until finally, on this blessed day of our Lord, the 17th of November, 1869, we see him with worthy pride exhibiting his mighty achievement to the civilised globe, as represented by an empress, an emperor, potentates, crown princes, dignitaries of all countries, monarchical and republican, representa tives of despotic and democratic Govemments. With out this quality of perseverance de Lesseps had been long ago numbered with those who are forgotton, but to-day he lives, to be hereafter an important unit among the illustrious great of the world. The great undertaking will be described more in detail as the fleet moves down the canal. Let it suffice to state just here that the maritime canal is about 120 miles in length from sea to sea. Out of this length only thirty-eight miles were above sea-level. The remaining eighty-two miles were either below it or of the same level. The parts on the sea level were Lakes Menzaleh and Ballah, and those below it were Lake Timsah and the two basins of the Bitter Lakes. Lake Timsah, which occupies the centre of the isthmus, midway between the two seas, is about nine miles in circumference, and it is proposed to convert that basin into a central harbour, where vessels may at all times find a safe and convenient anchorage. Starting from the Mediterrancin the Estimating tlie Revenue of tlie Canal 29 canal passes successively through the Lakes Menzaleh and Ballah, the lofty mounds of El Guisr, Lake Timsah, the district of Serapeum, the greater and lesser basins of the Bitter Lakes, and finally reaches the Red Sea at Suez. From the Mediterranean to El Guisr the width of the canal is 240 feet, and from El Guisr to Ismailia it is 180 feet, after which it expands again into its proper width of 240 feet. Its depth in every part is to be twenty-six feet. The expense of keeping the ship canal in good working order has been estimated at about ;^7S,ooo- If this is true the canal will be a success without doubt. For proofs we have but to consider the fol lowing statistics : — The charges on shipping as agreed upon for transit are ten francs per ton. This sum, though unnecessarily large, we are compelled to take as a basis for our estimates of the revenue of the canal. The Peninsular and Oriental Company have two vessels arriving each week at Alexandria and Suez, and two departing. These must pass now through the canal. We will say that the Indian steamer, instead of stop ping at Suez, steams direct to Port Said, and perhaps continues her voyage to Southampton; the outward- bound steamer, instead of stopping at Alexandria, steams directly through the canal to Suez and Bombay — one outward bound and the other homeward bound each week. Two vessels a week will make 104 vessels a year; these, averaging 1000 tons per vessel, will 30 The Suez Canal aggregate 104,000 tons. At ten francs or two dollars per ton, this tonnage will produce the sum of ^41,600 a year. The vessels carry out and home about 10,000 passengers every year. This number of passengers must pay ^4000; so that from the Peninsular and Oriental Company alone the company of the canal will receive ;^45,6oo annually, exclusive of dues from the coal ships. The Messageries Imperi ales have ten steamships entering the ports of Suez and Alexandria and departing therefrom every month. Like figures put against these steamers will produce in a year the sum of _^48,ooo; passengers, including 30,000 French troops, the sum of ^12,000, which would make a total of ;^6o,ooo. The Bombay and Bengal line have 104 steamers entering and departing the port of Suez in connection with Messrs. Moss & Co.'s line of steamers from Liverpool, and Marc Fraissinet's " Maritimes Marseilles," which with their tonnage and passengers must pay ^^45,600 annually. The British Government has forty-eight troop-ships entering and departing the port of Suez each year. These troop-ships are from 4000 to 5000 tons burden, while 20,000 troops cross from England to India and vice versa. The British Govemment consequently will have to pay ^49.600 per annum. 100,000 tons of coal annually conveyed through the canal by the companies' vessels, at the price of fifteen francs per ton, will produce ^60,000. Even from this brief estimate the receipts amount to a total of ^185,000. As passengers pay now fifty Estimating the Revenue of the Canal 31 shillings each for crossing from Suez to Alexandria by rail, it is but natural to infer that they will prefer paying the small sum of eight shillings for a much easier and less fatiguing route. Those who have crossed the isthmus by rail dislike the fatigue and heat of the isthmus transit, and it is but natural to suppose that each line of steamers will avail itself of this quick and shortest route, avoiding all the ex pense of transhipment, and the unloading and reload ing at the respective ports of Alexandria and Suez. Any company who from prejudice will not hasten to avail themselves of the canal will find themselves beaten by competing companies. The Messageries Imperiales line will begin to use the canal immedi ately after the inauguration ceremony is concluded. I have not touched upon the Turkish pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, which must furnish handsome revenues to the Canal Company, or how Spain will maintain her connection with the Philippine Islands, or how the Netherlands will choose to keep up inter course with Java, or Portugal with Goa and East Africa, etc., etc. Every consideration of economy, of time and money, leads us into the conclusion that a saving of 5000 to 8000 miles on the voyage from Europe to India must surely tell very materially on the calculations of mercantile men. England, as possessing three-fourths of the com merce of the Indian seas and by far the largest mercantile marine of any of the nations of Europe, 32 TJie Suez Canal will necessarily be the first to profit by the canal; while all other nations, especially those bordering the Mediterranean, will each, in a certain degree, partici pate in the advantages offered by it. It must not be overlooked that steam is gradually but surely supplanting the use of sails, and experience every day shows that to steamers at least the naviga tion of the Red Sea offers no exceptional difficulties. The high cost of coal at Suez and Aden has, it is true, hitherto rendered steam navigation somewhat expensive in those parts, but the price of that valuable article will be much lower now that the sixty-nine francs, or $14.50, per ton which it cost to transport it across the isthmus by rail, has been reduced to three dollars per ton by water. Besides, for clippers carrying valuable freights of tea, silk, opium and cotton, a small auxiliary screw would be of immense advantage. Down the Red Sea no vessel would require more than her sails, for the wind blows strong and steady in that direction for nine months out of the vear. The advantages accruing to Eg}-pt from this Suez Canal are also incalculable, and great changes must naturally take place throughout the countrJ^ Brilliant results must follow here when civilisation's mighty and plenipotent current flows by portals so long closed by semi-barbarism. In November, 1862, Lake Timsah was filled with the waters of the Red Sea in presence of JI. de Lesseps, accompanied by the Ulemas of Cairo, the Catholic Bishop of Alexandria, employes of the De Lesseps Issues His Invitations 33 company, and a numerous party of friends. On the western bank stood M. de Lesseps, who, as the lock was raised, said : "In the name of his Highness, Said Pacha, I command that the waters of the Med iterranean be let into Lake Timsah by the grace of God." The dike being removed the waters rushed into the lake. The Ulemas then proceeded to bless the waters, and a Te Deum was chanted at the French Chapel of El Guisr. The canal was expected to be finished by October, 1868. but the circumstances which prevented it have been so fully explained that it is unnecesary to enter into any further details about them. In February of this year the Bitter Lakes were filled, and the same ceremonies which marked the filling of the Lake Timsah were rehearsed upon this occasion in the presence of the Viceroy of Egypt, the Prince of Wales and his suite. In the early part of this summer M. de Lesseps, after consultation with his engineers and contractors, published his notices to the effect that the Suez Canal would be open to the commerce of all nations on the ist day of October, 1869. This date was, however, altered, and the event postponed to the 17 th of November, 1869, because of the great heat of the Egyptian autumn and because the contractors desired further postponement. The whole civilised world was made acquainted with the great event, which was to be celebrated with all the pomp and circumstance due to such an 34 The Suez Canal occasion. The potentates of Europe, crown princes, and their suites, chambers of commerce, representa tives of the press of both Europe and America, consuls, engineers, scientific and literary commissions, representatives of whatever body corporate in all Europe, which would give grace and dignity to the important ceremony of inauguration, were invited to be present at the opening of the canal to universal commerce. To this invitation the Empress of the French, the Emperor of Austria, the Crown Prince of Prussia, the Crown Prince and Princess Henry of the Netherlands, a Belgian prince, the Crown Prince of Italy, ambassadors and heads of literary and scientific societies cordially responded. The potentates and dignitaries of the civilised world were willing to do honour to the great occasion. It is interesting to note the manner in which De Lesseps' communication was received by the nations. England seemed considerably humiliated that the canal had advanced to completion in spite of the predictions of her best engineers and her Palmer- stonian oracles. The representatives of London awoke and made preparations to accompany those of other great cities, to witness for themselves the suc cess which they had so long professed to doubt. Liverpool was no longer in different; Glasgow, Hull, and Southampton were suddenly impressed with the idea that the Suez Canal, being so long a forbidden subject, had, unknown to them, awakened the world, The Viceroy Preparing for His Guests 35 and these cities responded by promising to send their delegates to the ceremony. Enterprises were started by the dozen ; new lines of steamers were to run from Europe to India and the extreme Orient. Russia established in Port Said an agency for steam lines of navigation between Odessa and India. The powerful Austrian Lloyds also established an agency at Port Said in view of the extended commerce before them. The Italian Govemment recommended to Italian companies that they should utilize the Egyptian Bosphorus. Spain prepared for a steam navigation between Barcelona and her colonies in the Philippine Isles. The Marseilles Company of Maritime Trans ports commenced the construction of steamers of great capacity. These ships, propelled by engines that required but little consumption of coal, were adver tised to carry passengers at reduced prices between Marseilles and the great Asiatic cities. The Viceroy prepared to do honour to his guests in a most extraordinary manner. An opera house, a theatre and a circus were constructed in the Egyptian capital ; gas was introduced into Cairo, the city of the Mameluke caliphs ; Esbekiyeh plaza was renovated in a manner that ten years ago would not have been believed possible. Fountains were made to shoot up tall columns of water; kiosks gaily painted with Oriental taste sprang up close to the fountains ; rare plants and shrubs decked the hitherto waste and refuse heaps of Cairo. A magnificent railing enclosed this blooming garden, and the entrances to it were in 36 The Suez Canal a style that would not have disgraced the imperial gardens of Europe. The main streets of Cairo were laid out, flanked by granite and freestone curbstones, and sidewalks were laid with massive flagstones. The railway station was renovated, and the road leading from it to the heart of the city was improved Ln such a manner that on their first introduction into Cairo nothing might be seen to shock the delicacy of the Viceroy's guests. The Viceroy's palaces were repainted and re furnished with the best possible taste. The Viceroy had also made preparations to feed and house his guests in the best style. Every hotel in Cairo was engaged to board and lodge the guests, to furnish them with champagnes and other wines at forty-eight shillings per diem per capita. Neither were the guests to travel the streets of Cairo afoot ; all the cabs and carriages were hired for their use. This was liberality which may be called extravagant, and for mere curiosity, let us reckon up and see how much money this will cost the Viceroy, There are three thousand guests invited, who, we may rest assured, are mostly all here by this time. Allowing one month's stay to each guest, we shall find that three thousand guests at forty-eight shillings per diem, will cost the Viceroy the round sum of ;^2 16,000. The cost of entertaining the Royalties and the naval officers will also amount to a large sum. The preparations for their reception, the oil for illumi nations, the fireworks, the fetes and the numerous Sensational Rumours 37 expenses which such an occasion requires, will be expensive, so that we are moderate in affixing the cost of the entertainments at ;^4oo,ooo. One's next thought is naturally, ' ' Who is to pay for all this ? " Alas ! the answer is too evident for those who have been to Egypt. The poor over tasked fellahs, who from time immemorial have contributed to the extravagant luxuries of their rulers, must pay. Up to the night of the 14th inst. no doubt existed that large steam vessels would be able to traverse the canal from one end to the other. The narrowest and shallowest portion of the passage was near El Guisr, on the northern side of Ismailia. At that point, however, the depth was not less than seven metres, or about twenty-two feet, and the breadth sixty metres. The remainder of the canal was positively stated to be of uniform depth of at least twenty-six feet. Along the whole length, on both sides, stakes with small flags had been fixed to facilitate the navigation. Two light-houses had been erected on the Bitter Lakes, and an electric light of great power was in stalled at Port Said. Various rumours were current in Cairo concerning the canal and its prospects, especially among the Eng lish guests. The correspondent of the Morning Post of London declared to an admiring crowd of fellow journalists, that a landslip had occurred near El Guisr, which 38 The Suez Canal had almost filled the canal. Another press gentleman said that a rock had been found near Chalouf El Terraba, in the very centre of the canal, which had occasioned great anxiety to M. de Lesseps. Finally, the most sensational of all rumours was that de Lesseps had blown out his brains. Up to the 14th, a list of 120 vessels (some of them very large tonnage) which were to pass through the canal, to and from Ismailia, had been made out. Among these were two of the Messageries Imperiale's fine Indian steam packets, which were waiting at Suez, and were to retum to Marseilles to be relieved by others. So far as could be gathered, the programme of the inauguration was as follows : — On the 1 6th the benediction would be pronounced by the Predicate of the Tuileries, Rev. Father Bauer, Confessor to the Empress, the Bishop of Alexandria pronouncing it in Arabic. On the following moming, 17th, at 8 o'clock, the procession would begin moving, headed by the Aigle, the yacht of the Empress of the French, and the other vessels would follow at intervals of five minutes, so as to arrive the same aftemoon at Ismailia, where a grand dinner, ball, and illuminations would take place. On the foUomng morning, the I Sth, the procession of vessels would resume their course for Suez, where, on its arrival the same evening, there would be other festivities after a salute of loi guns. The order of return was not decided, as it was expected that some of the royal personages would The British Fleet at Port Said 39 proceed by rail to Cairo. It was also said that the Khedive would assemble thousands of workmen, who would line the shores of the canal and "hurrah" during the passing of the procession. On the 14th, the Europe, on which I had found an excellent berth, left Alexandria, in company with the Viceroy's steamer, the Fayoum, both bound for Port Said. The Europe was a strong new steamer of 3000 tons burden, the second of a line of steamers which Marc Fraissinet and Sons were constructing to run from Marseilles to Port Said and Suez. A heavy gale was blowing, and the bar at Alexandria was most dangerous, as there are only twenty-seven feet of water over the reefs. Everybody on board was in the greatest suspense while crossing, but luckily, excepting a few very heavy shakes, we experienced no harm. On board the Fayoum great preparations had been made for a banquet that evening, and while crossing, the huge waves almost turned her completely over, and, though the vessel was not damaged, the banquet was abandoned. Damietta was sighted at ten the following morning, and an hour afterwards the masts of an immense fleet which was gathered at Port Said were seen. At noon we passed the English fleet, consisting of the following vessels : Bellerophon, 42'jo tons; Caledonia, 4125 tons; Lord Warden, 4080 tons, carrying the flag of Vice -Admiral Milne, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean squadron ; Prince Consort, 4045 40 The Suez Canal tons; Royal Oak, 4056 tons; and the wooden ships Newport, surveying vessel; Psyche, despatch boat, carrying Mr. Elliott, the English Ambassador at Con stantinople; the Rapid, steam sloop, 672 tons. On account of their great draught the ironclads found it impossible to enter even the roadstead of Port Said, and were consequently obliged to lie at anchor three miles off the port. The Europe, closely followed by the Fayoum, steamed towards Port Said, entered the fine capacious roadstead, and anchored alongside of the outer quay amidst the assembled fleets, which were dressed in their bunting. CHAPTER III. The Maritime Capital of the Suez Isthmus — Its Workshops and Con crete Block Manufactory^The Harbour, Quays and Piers — The Naval and Mercantile Fleets — -•Vrrival of Ro)-alties — The Cere mony of Blessing the Canal — The Illuminations. Ismailia, A'o-jeml'er l8th, 1869. Port Said, the maritime capital of the isthmus, is entirely the creation of the Suez Canal Company ; for not a vestige of a dwelling existed within miles of the spot when M. de Lesseps and his few adventurous companions first pitched their tent upon the sandy beach. On the narrow strip of land dividing the lake of Menzaleh from the Mediterranean, in the centre of Port Said Concrete Block Manufactory 41 a region of lagoons, amid bare patches of moist sand, frequented by pelicans, sportive fish and fishermen, sprang up the thriving city of Port Said. It counts already 20,000 inhabitants; but who shall say what the population will be fifty years hence? There are people who say that Port Said will never become a great city, because there is no land to support it, or to invite strangers to live near it ; but if the land now covered by the lagoon of Menzaleh is ever reclaimed, there will be land enough. At Port Said the great workshops of the company are established. All the steam machinery, foundries, forges, etc., are stationed on the left of the harbour, while the city proper occupies the right of the harbour. Here also are seen the dredges, the barges and lighters, and other material required for the excavations along the isthmus. All the machinery and ironwork were brought in pieces from France and were here put together in the workshops. The workshops and wharves cover an area of twenty acres. The attention of visitors is always drawn to the concrete block manufactory on the company's side of the harbour. These large blocks were made out of lime, sand and water by Messrs. Dussaud, for the construction of the jetties necessary for the protection of the harbour. After they were dried in the sun — the heat of which is very powerful in the summer on the beach — the blocks, which measured ten feet long, six in width, and four in depth, were dropped into the 42 The Suez Canal sea, and have proved capable of resisting the action of the waves as well as the hardest stone. The company contracted with Messrs. Dussaud for 250,000 cubic metres of these blocks. The two jetties, 1300 feet apart, form an excellent roadstead. The entrance to it is only about 300 feet wide. A lighthouse is to be erected at the end of each jetty, and when the jetties are completed, it is expected that they will form admirable promenades in calm weather. It may be stated as a proof of the safety of the anchorage that since the fotmdation of Port Said in 1859, the total losses of vessels in the roadstead during the ten years have been only fifteen out of 5000 which have entered and departed from the port. There is an extensive quay, rendered firm by asphalte, with strong granite mooring columns, which lead from the embouchure of the canal away through the city, and along the southernmost jetty to about half its length. Close to this vessels maj- moor in perfect safety in thirty feet of water. The port itself is divided into three basins, each capable of containing nearly two hundred vessels of large size. From the end of the piers which separate the basins to the extremity of the port there is a length of xooo feet, along which may be moored about one hundred other vessels. The harbour of Port Said is 500 acres in extent, and it is reported that 500 vessels may easily find room witliin it. But when the northem and southern jetties are finished with a lighthouse at each end, and broad promenades mnning along the top, Port Said 43 there will be room to berth 1000 merchant ships. At present, however, the concrete blocks are merely piled loosely one upon another to the height of ten feet above the water, whose restless waves beat against them unceasingly. The town of Port Said, I have said, contains 20,000 inhabitants, who are mostly engaged in keeping small shops and hotels. The hotels are numerous, for I counted twenty during my tour through the sandy streets. They are principally named after the great Parisian hotels. The Hotel du Louvre stands on the site of the Hotel d'Angleterre, where I stopped last year, and charges twenty dollars per day for board and lodging. The Hotel Fontane charged twelve dollars per diem and the cheapest price was eight dollars a day. There is one square called Place de Lesseps, and another which is called Place Ismail Pacha. The city has two spacious sandy boulevards. Fronting the sea beach are a row of Gothic cottages temporarily fitted up for restaurants and hotels, all of which were occupied and doing what one may call an excellent business. At present there are twenty streets, but for any extension required the city must extend itself along the beach, for on one side of this strip of sand is Lake Menzaleh; on the other the Mediterranean Sea. There are also two casinos, with the amusements usually found in semi-Oriental towns. Such is Port Said and its harbour. 44 The Suez Canal It was this city and harbour that on the morning of the 15th of November I saw decked out in bunting, from the housetops to the ground, aloft and below, with vari-coloured streamers and the flags of all nations. The whole scene reminded one somewhat of a Chinese play enacted on the stage, for the Chinese lanterns were countless, and strung on lines of wire as far as the eye could see. There were three hundred vessels of all nations in port, mostly men-of-war and passenger steamers. England, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Russia, Austria, Prussia, Turkey, Egj'pt, Greece, were repre sented by fleets of ironclads, frigates, corvettes, sloops, steam-yachts, and great packet steamers. The Emperor of Austria was in port, on board an Austrian frigate ; the Prince and Princess Henry of the Netherlands were on board the royal Netherlands steam-yacht De I ''alh ; the Viceroy of Eg}-pt was on board his yacht the MaJiarousse ; the English Am bassador was on board the British sloop-of-war the Psyche ; General Ignatieff, the Russian Ambassador, was on board a Russian frigate; the Greek Am bassador was on board a Greek frigate; the Italian Ambassador was on board a war-vessel of Italy. Their presence in Port Said explained why the cannon thundered their salutes the whole day. for from sun rise to sunset the roar of cannon was incessant. One time it was a regular discharge, for the number of war-vessels was so great, and so many countries were represented, that if one ship fired, the ships of ten The Arrival of the Empress Eugenie 45 other countries would have to follow. On the evening of the 1 5th, the Viceroy sent round to all the steamers in the harbour to invite all first-class passengers on board his yacht, the MaJiarousse, to a ball and supper. Over one thousand ladies and gentlemen availed themselves of the invitation. The ball lasted until two o'clock in the morning. Early on the morning of the i6th, the visitors to the Suez Canal were awakened by thundering salutes, which commenced at sunrise. This time it was the Crown Prince of Prussia, who had just come in on the Prussian frigate Arcana, of thirty- two guns, with Prince Louis of Hesse and two or three other German princes. The salutes to His Highness the Crown Prince lasted until seven o'clock ; then it was signalled that the Empress Eugenie had entered the roadstead on the French yacht Aigle. The French frigate Themis announced her arrival with a salute which was fired with excellent time and order, each cannon being fired close on the other to the last. The Emperor of Austria's yacht took the salute up, after which it was continued by the Arcona, then the Netherlands frigate, and so on round the entire fleet. The Empress appeared most lovely as she stood in light morising costume on the hurricane deck of the yacht. Her dress, so far as I could make it out from the Europe, was of blue silk, with a white cape thrown over her shoulders, while on her head she wore a 46 The Suez Canal sailor's cap, jauntily set off with a blue veil. The shipping appeared crowded with passengers, who shouted out enthusiastically, "Vive I'Imperatrice!" to which she made graceful acknowledgments. Italian, French, English, Spanish, Turkish or Egyptian steamers kept coming in continually throughout the morning, and as there were many eminent personages on board, the din of cannon salutes was something tremendous. At two o'clock the invited guests left their steamers to go ashore to the ceremony of blessing the canal. Situated on the sandy beach at the distance of half a mile from the canal, but a few paces from the sounding surf of the Mediterranean, were three pavihons, erected and decorated to the utmost of Egyptian taste. One, surmounted with a cross, was for the performance of the benediction in Greek and French; the second, surmounted by the crescent, was for the Ulemas and :Mussulman priests; the third and the largest was for the Viceroy and his guests. A plank road led from the pavilions to the quay Ln the harbour, along which the invited guests came crowding between two and three o'clock. There were so many uninvited among these that the unfortunate Arab guards, never having seen so many well-dressed Europeans before, were (jompletely nonplussed as to what they should do, and in their efforts at discrimination blundered, as a matter of course, most ridiculously. The Ulemas took their TJie Ceremony of Consecrating the Canal 47 seats within the Mussulman pavilion, in company with the Imaum, at a quarter before three. About the same time, the Greek Bishop of Alexandria, followed by twenty-four Greek priests, occupied their pavilion. After a lapse of fifteen minutes, a general discharge from the fleet announced that their Majesties were en route from the quay, and in a few minutes a scream ing chorus from Egyptian bugles informed the thou sands of European and Egyptian spectators that the Royalties, for whom the ceremony waited, were present. Two dozen children, clothed in white, wear ing chaplets of flowers on their heads, and holding bouquets in their hands; flanked the stairs up which their Majesties ascended. Among the notables present were the Empress Eugenie, the Emperor of Austria, the Crown Prince of Prussia, the Viceroy of Egypt, the Prince and Princess Henry of the Netherlands, the British Am bassador at Constantinople, Right Hon. H. Elliott, and the Russian Ambassador at the same Court, General Ignatieff. These occupied the front row of chairs, looking towards the other pavilions. Behind them were Abd el Kader, the Algerian chieftain, with his whiskers dyed to a jet black, and dressed in flowing white garments and turban, looking as indomitable as ever; M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, active-looking as a young man of thirty, though his hair and moustache were of snowy whiteness; Madame Charles Lesseps; the young Duchess of Alba, Mademoiselle Marion, TJie Suez Canal Madame de Souci, who is an authority about Oriental matters; and behind these again were a number of ambassadors and diplomats, such as Baron Prokch, Count Andrassy, Count de Beust, generals and admirals, commodores and captains, lieutenants, young middies and grave-looking ^Messieurs, Herrs, Senores, and gentlemen. Whoever was great and grand, whoever had a title, whoever was of distinction, in any service, whether army, navy, diplomatic, or consular; whoever had acquired distinction in his profession, whether in the arts, sciences, or literature ; whoever was a member of a Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, society, or club ; whoever had ever had anything to do with the canal; whoever was a corre spondent of a newspaper of any notoriety — all these and many more were to be found here. The Viceroy motioned to the Imaum to proceed. The Imaum read in Arabic, from a written paper, a few minutes, and his part of the ceremony was over. The Greek priests raised the Te Deum ; Abbe Bauer, confessor to Her jMajesty, delivered an address in French, glowingly eulogistic of the Viceroy, the Empress, M. de Lesseps, and the Emperor of Austria. The words were eloquent, and the theme was grand — the blue sky, to which he appealed, the solemn murmur of the surf, the magnificent fleet beyond, the hive of industry in front of him, called forth the Abba's best powers, and his august audience re sponded sympathetically. With cheers for M. de Lesseps the ceremony concluded. The Suez Canal The Illuminations 49 had been consecrated to the commerce of the world. At night Port Said was illuminated from end to end. The men-of-war were brilliantly illuminated with thousands of Chinese lights and Egyptian lanterns. The splendid MaJiarousse, the Viceroy's yacht, was all aglow with lighted fantasies. Later in the evening 1000 rockets were fired simultaneously, and scores of fiery pictures swarmed in the quiet still air, to the intense admiration of both foreigners and natives; wherein crowns and crescents intermingled, myriads of bouquets sparkled, golden showers fell, pyramids of fire and lustrous obelisks sprang up high, but the thousand and one things with which our senses were delighted by the Viceroy it is im possible to enumerate. CHAPTER IV. The Greatest Drama in Egyptian History — The Empress's Yacht Starts — List of Vessels in the Procession — The Canal, Scenes on the Banks — The Land and its Associations — Arrival at Lake Timsah. Ismailia, November i^tk, 1869. The morning of the 17 th of November, the great day which was to see a new route to commerce opened, was ushered in with all the splendour of an Egyptian sun, amid deafening cannon salvos and cheers 50 TJie Suez Canal uttered by over 4000 sailors. A morning which ushered in the greatest drama ever witnessed or enacted in Egypt is not likely to be soon forgotten. It is the greatest and last, so far, of all the magnifi cent periods which Egypt has witnessed. One by one the mind glances rapidly by the outlines of its history, from the mythical time of Osiris, through the ages of the Pharaohs and Ptolemies, Caesars and Caliphs, to this year of our Lord, 1869, as the eye catches sight of the stately fleets of Europe, as sembled in the harbour of Port Said to inaugurate the canal which is a success won against nature and mankind, shifting quicksands and machinations of adverse governments, and in spite of omens and dark predictions. For some reason the first vessel did not depart at the hour fixed, but at eight o'clock the Imperial French yacht was seen to obtrude her bowsprit from the line of ships at anchor, and gracefully swing round with her head pointed up the canal. Within ten minutes volumes of white steam shot upward from her funnel, a salute was fired from the French frigate TJiemis, and the beautiful .-i/>A- was seen shooting boldly up the canal, displa>-ing below and aloft as much bunting as could be carried. Next the Emperor of Austria's steam yacht followed close to the Aigle's stern. A salute greeted the Emperor also as he passed by, the yards ofthe fleet were manned, and cheers were given by the entire crew. The List of Vessels in tJie Procession 51 The following is the order in which the steamers formed the splendid procession : — No. Name. ^ I. Aigle. 2. Steam Yacht. 4. Gargnano. 5. Steam Yacht 7. De Valk. 8. Psyche. 9. Orontes. 10. Rapid. II. Newport. 12. Dido. 13. Actif. 14. For bin. 15. Latif. 16. 'Vulcan. 17. Pluto. 18. Pelouse. 19. Thabor. 20. Hawk. 21. Europe. Tons. 800. 700. 700.700. 525. 670. 650. 725. 1000. 700.700. 650. 700.800. 2500. 1000. 1200. 2000. 1500. 900. 2500. Carrying the Empress Eugenie and suite .... Carrying Emperor of Austria and sviite ..... Carrying the Archduke of Aus tria .... Carrying a German Prince Carrying the Crown Prince of Prussia and suite . Royal Flag of Prussia at the Main, with Prince Louis of Hesse on board Prince and Princess Henry of the Netherlands . British Ambassador, Mr. Elliott, and Admiral Sir Alexander Milne on board Russian Ambassador, Gen. Igna tieff Her Britannic Majesty's Sloop Her Britannic Majesty's Sloop Her Britannic Majesty's Sloop French Corvette French Corvette Egyptian Frigate Austrian Lloyd's Company <( ll It Messageries Imperiales It ll Alexandria and Malta Telegraph Company .... Marc Fraissinet and fils, Mar seilles .... Deepest draught. ft. in. 14 13 1212 7 6 14 16 0 12 0 13 0 12 0 13 0 13 0 12 6 14 9 IS 0 IS 0 IS 0 13 15 6 52 TJie Suez Canal Deepest No. Name. Tons. draught. ft. ¦" 22. Lynx. 500. Despatch boat ' 12 6 23- America. 1500. Austrian Lloyd's Company IS 0 24. Russian Odessa and Alexandria Russian Steamer. Company . 14 6 25- Russian Odessa and Alexandria Russian Steamer. Company 13 0 26. Principe Oddone. 1200. Brindisi line of Steamers ¦ 14 0 27. Principe Tomaso. 1000. ll ll ll • 14 6 28. Sicilia. 900. ll ll ll . 14 0 29. Italia. 900. ll .1 (C . 14 0 30. Scylla. 1000. Trieste line of Steamers . 14 0 31- Godavery. 1800. Messageries Imperiales . 15 6 32. Delta. 2500. Peninsula and Oriental . 16 0 33- ElMasr. 2000. Egyptian Govemment . 14 6 34- Fayoum. 1500. ll .. 14 0 35- Turkish Steamer. 1500- Ottoman Empire • 14 6 36. Turkish Steamer. 1500. (1 ll • IS 0 37. Turkish Steamer. 1000. ll .« • 14 0 38. Steam Yacht. Private, British. 39- (( It. I. 40. i: " Swedish. 41. (( " Norwegian. 42. " " Austrian. Following these came the Cambria sailing yacht and another (Swedish) }-acht and several tugs of large burden belonging to the Suez Maritime Canal Company. Excepting a little confusion in the harbour, where steamers were lying thickest, three abreast in some places, there was not the slightest difficulty ex- TJie Great SJiip Canal 53 perienced. But so numerous were the vessels in the harbour, and yet so little noise and bluster com paratively were made, that very many people actually doubted whether we would start this day ; nay, there were heavy bets laid that we should not reach Ismailia that night, nor even the next day. Precisely at noon the steamer Europe, the twenty- first in the line, glides from the harbour between two tall obelisks of wood, which temporarily indicate the entrance of the canal. Once fairly in it the great ship canal of the Suez Isthmus is seen stretching away till lost in the horizon, separating Asia from Africa. On our left as we head towards Suez, is the desert bathed in vapour, to our right the lagoon of Menzaleh streaked with darkish lines of sand, and spreading as far as the eye can reach, dotted over with islands, and numerous dahabiehs, whose lateen sails, faintly quivering, seem to us like swallows preparing to wing their way afar. It is strange how quickly the influence of the shimmering mirage floating above the land, and the light desert and the blue lagoon, steals over the senses, and plunges us into day-dreaming. Ras-el-Ech stands at the fourteenth kilometre from Port Said. As far as this point all went well. The lengthy procession ke^t admirable order, never swerving an inch to the right or the left seemingly. It looked like a grand march of civilisation, with crowned heads leading the way through a desert shrouded by vapour. The canal, 246 feet wide, gives 54 TJie Suez Canal ample space to the largest ships, and depth sufficient to float with seventeen feet of water; and great steamers of 3000 tons burden plough through the canal as if this creation of de Lesseps and they were well acquainted with each other. The banks are solid enough, with slopes one foot in six, which promises security to the banks. The telegraph runs along the bank, and small stations and reservoirs for Nile water mark every tenth kilometre. Kantara is situated at the forty-second kilometre, which is reached at 5.30 p..m. Five hours and a half to steam forty-two kilometres is slow work, but our boat the Europe has been unfortunate, for on account of her extreme length and the slow rate of progress it has been difficult to steer her. She has been bumped from side to side several times, but she glided off easily enough owing to the slope of the banks. Bets rose to a high figure on board that we could not reach Ismailia this night, but confidence was restored as we continued to glide along with a straight broad avenue of water in front. Not one of the twenty vessels ahead of us had as 3'et come to grief. Kantara is a village now, called into more active existence and importance by the canal which fiows by it. It is situated about twent}^miles from Ismailia, and stands on the site of an ancient city. Kantara is on the highway of the caravans joumepng between Syria and Egypt, and before the canal was opened a day seldom passed without the arrival of numerous Scenes on tJie Canal Banks 55 herds of cattle and long strings of camels bearing Egyptian and Syrian travellers. The village is amply supplied with excellent water, led thither in pipes from Ismailia, and the caravans rejoiced at the opportunity of replenishing their mushoks before proceeding on their journey. These water pipes follow the maritime canal to its junction with the Mediterranean, forty-eight miles from Ismailia, and supply all the stations along its course. This is the only good water to be found on the isthmus, as the wells, although supplied by infiltrations from the Nile, are more or less brackish. As a pre caution against accidents, such as might happen by the bursting of a pipe, or from any cause, the company have very prudently formed large reservoirs of water at Port Said, sufficient for fifteen days' consumption; but in order to render the supplies along the canal more secure, there is a second line of pipes running parallel a few feet distant from the first. Fifteen miles to the west of Kantara, is Zoan, the place of departure, or the Tanis of the Greeks men tioned in Holy Writ for the deeds done in the "fields of Zoan." Lake Menzaleh covers the fields of Zoan; the city itself is in ruins. We may judge of its impor tance in ancient times by the manner in which the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah speak of it. ' ' The princes of Zoan are fools. " " The counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish. " Zoan was built seven years after Hebron. The ruins are most 56 TJie Suez Canal interesting. A temple, a gateway of granite, columns, broken obelisks and statues exist at Zau, as it is called to-day, and the names of the great Rameses, with his cartouche, is cut upon a great many of the statues; and these are all that is left of the joyous city whose antiquity is of ancient days. The great ship canal cuts across the "way of the land of the Philistines, that runs from Gaza to Zoan," the place of departure. It is needless to enumerate the celebrities that travelled the way from Zoan through the Kenite land to Philistia. All the kings of Egypt who had designs against Palestine marched this way, and the cruel lord, even Cambyses, invaded Egypt by the same road. '! Baldness is come upon Gaza, and Zoan lies in ruins." Between these two cities not a single habitation is seen to-day. The Arab pitches his tent by night, and in the moming he is gone, and soon the sands are whisked about by desert winds, and all traces of the camp fire and the sandalled footstep are swept away. Fifteen miles to the east of Kantara. almost buried, lies Pelusium, once potent in wealth and great in commerce, proud of its palaces and merchant princes, but "the mart of nations" is no more. Its strong holds are a heap of ruins, its palaces have become the nests of reptiles, the river that gave it a harvest has wandered away, and the harbour which floated great Pelusium's fleets is a mound of sand. Damascus was a trader at its gates ; Tyre and Sidon exported their purple and fine linen; the princely chiefs of Arabia The Fields of Zoan 57 and the sons of Kedar brought to its markets the best of their flocks, of their camels and dromedaries ; Meroe and the far countries of Ethiopia brought to it their gold dust and precious stones. The ships of Pelu sium were made out of the oaks of Bashan, the cedars of Lebanon furnished masts. Its inhabitants were skilful in war ; they built mounds and strong forts ; they fenced their cities round about with thick walls. Its fine linen manufactories supplied the Phoenicians with the work of their looms. The country round about Pelusium was famous for producing lentils and all kinds of grain. The pastures by the river teemed with fat cattle, and the trees on its banks grew so thickly that the rays of the sun could not penetrate the foliage. Anthylla, on the Canopus, maintained the queens of Egypt in shoes and fine girdles. Naucratis, a few miles west of here, received the tributes of the nations, and in its commerce it rivalled Pelusium. Archandros with its cunning workmen, excelled in broidered work, and sent to the fairs ear-rings of coral, necklaces of agate and tabrets of gold and silver; and the " Fair Fields of Zoan," instead of being an immense lagoon, once boasted of forests of strong, tall oaks, of groves of arbutus, wide-spreading acanthus, lime trees and poplars ; beech, for wooden utensils, and virgin laurel to crown the victors at the game. Hazel, ash, firs with dense, dark green tops, myrtle for stout spear shafts, yews for Egyptian bows, while the umbrageous plane tree, the acacia with its 58 TJie Suez Canal precious gum, evergreen box, and slender tamariska grew here in abundance. The watery lotus sprang from the rich Nile mud, palms upreared their heads, and dates hung in clusters from their tops; vines, the orange, pines which furnished tall masts for ships, and torches for the darkness, and made such glowing fires to the gods ; all these and much more with flax crops, vetches, bitter lupins, and beans did the fertile fields of Zoan produce. There is nothing now left of all this fertility. The lagoon of :Menzaleh shrouds all in its bosom. Nothing is to be seen of all the cities, or their labours, which the Delta of Egypt boasted. East of Kantara the lake swims in mirage; west and south the desert broods under clouds of vapour. At the fifty-sixth kilometre the sim is seen going down in a perfect blaze of glory; the westem fringe of the sky seems dyed in crimson. Perfect stillness reigns over the desert; not a man nor any li\4ng thing is abroad, save the stately ships moving tran quilly through the canal. The moonlight succeeds to daylight, and if ever desert looked weird, it looked this night all clothed in amber colour. The moon cast long shadows of the ships' masts and monstrous images of steamers against the banks. The evening stars looked forth, and soon the heavens were decked in such splendour as may only be seen in this clear atmosphere. The moon being full, there was nothing to prevent the passage of the ships by night, and we continued on our way. At the fifty-eighth kilometre, El Guisr 59 near the Ballah Lakes, we found the Egyptian frigate Latif, commanded by an English captain, ashore. At the sixty-seventh kilometre we came to the heights of El Guisr, where the canal was but i8o feet wide, but 19 feet deep. This place was reached precisely at 9 p.m. Here the canal looked perfect, for it was a magnificent piece of engineering. New machines had to be built adapted for this work. Rocks had to be cut through, and great mounds of sand had to be removed for two miles. In some places the cutting is 150 feet deep. At the commencement twenty thousand men were engaged on these works, but when the magnificent dredgers of Lavallet came into play it was not necessary to employ more than two or three hundred. The bluffs on both sides are high and steep, and being composed of sand, soil and gravel, they form admirable embankments. The village of El, Guisr, which has a population of about one thousand people of all nationalities, boasts a well-built church and an extremely pretty garden, where all sorts of Egyptian flowers appear to thrive well. The village is reached from the canal by a long flight of wooden steps, and the traveller on landing is agreeably surprised at its appearance. It looked gay even in the moonlight; for, like all the villages on the canal, it was covered with streamers and pennons. It being late when we arrived at this place, and as we were but a few miles from Ismailia, the Europe anchored in the middle of the canal, having arrived so 6o The Suez Canal far without any accident. Not one of the fleet had experienced any difficulty in its passage through the canal, except the Latif, which went aground. The I Sth November.- — The steamers ahead of the Europe reached the port of Ismailia late the previous evening. The Empress of the French and Emperor of Austria arrived at 5 p.m. and were enthusiastically received by the authorities. The steamer Europe got under way at exactly 6 a.m. and recommenced her joumey through the canal, followed by the thirty and more steamers behind. Again floating down the artificial river of blue water our senses gradually succumbed to the influence of the azure sky, the yellow cliffs, and vapourous mirage. When a single palm tree's tops is seen through the vista a ravine affords, an ejaculation forced by wonder greets it, and all eyes are tumed thither, when lo! the palm vanishes, and round a ridge to the south is seen a town in the veiy centre of the desert, fenced apparently with the same palms of which that shadow of a branch was a member. This town was Ismailia, the central port of the great canal. Ismailia was animated, and its inland harbour presented the appearance of an unusually busy port. Every place whereon a flag or streamer could be hung had been made use of for that purpose, and as may be imagined, since the offspring of the great canal was to be the scene of great festivities, those charged with decorating the town had done their utmost on this The Gem of tJie IstJimus 6i occasion. The surface of Lake Timsah was thronged with boats, dahabiehs, and steamers. Where in olden times " naked boys bridled tame water-snakes and charioteered ghastly crocodiles," naked people sported in the waters and performed their morning ablutions. Boats decked with gaudy pennants darted hither and thither, gondolas and caiques gaily painted and flagged gave a kaleidoscopic variety to the scene, sounds of martial music, brass drums and tambours, shepherds' pipes and castanets burst upon the ear as the steamer entered this gem of the isthmus. Ismailia appears from the lake as a well-built city of some ten thousand inhabitants. The Viceroy's villa shows prominently, nestling among shrubbery and gardens. M. de Lesseps' mansion, Voisin Bey's chalet, M. Lavallet's house and Hotel des Voyageurs give substance and ornament to the front of the city. Since I was here last year the Viceroy has built a palace, a large pretentious building, which looked well, even grand, from shipboard. The fleet of steamers were moored in the lake opposite the city, and lent magnificence to the scene. A quay bounds the water's edge on the Ismailia side, from which a well-built carriage and traffic road, half a mile in length, runs to the town, which stands on rising ground, a continuation of the El Guisr highlands. The average depth of the lake is 19 feet. The waters of the Mediterranean were let into it on the i8th November, 1862, amid great rejoicings. It required 84,000,000 cubic metres of water to fill it, 62 TJie Suez Canal and the process lasted over three months. It is the inland harbour of the isthmus, and looking on its broad blue waters one cannot help thinking that Ismailia ought to become an important city. The dredges lie anchored on the eastern side of the lake, and a glance at the dark mass, with their forest of spars and funnels, tells you of the great work they have accomplished and of the immense usefulness they have been to the canal company. CHAPTER V. Ismailia — A Ghmpse of Goshen and the Wilderness of Shur — The Viceroy's Hospitality — A Grumbling Briton — A British Ship owner and his Prejudices — The Bedawi Manoeuvres before the Empress — What the Arabs think of Eugenie. Strez, .W^vember 22nd, 1S69. Ismailia stands at the confluence of three canals — the Maritime, the Sweet Water, from Suez to Ismailia, and the canal from Zagazig to Ismailia, which runs through ancient Goshen, a land which recalls hosts of Scripture memories. Within its confines dwelt the children of Israel, four hundred years in bondage. It was one of the most fertile districts of Eg3-pt. At that time Egypt was powerful, and for many centuries afterwards it was the mistress of the world and the cradle of the arts Ismailia 63 and sciences. The desolate desert lying eastward of Ismailia is the first glimpse we have of this once celebrated country. We may hope that Egypt has remained long enough under the seal, and that now has arrived the time when, after lying so long in dust, she will awake and sing again, blossom and bud, and fill her deserts with fruit. The commerce of the Christian world is coming to her gates, to her centre. Great changes cannot be expected quickly. Civilising a nation is not the work of a moment. Troublous was the journey of civilisa tion westward; troublous must be its return. That the civilisation and Christianising of Egypt will be effected some day no sane man can doubt, for civilisa tion magnetises whatever it touches, and ih Egypt's case it comes upon the country with a rush. Egypt has indeed fallen upon strange times ! The whole order of things seemed reversed ! Pharaoh's land looks upon wonderful anomalies, and from the mastheads of an immense fleet of steamers European sailor boys look upon Goshen, the Wilderness of Shur, and the Amalekite region ! Above the placid ripplings of the Crocodile Lake tower sixty great hulls of steamers. Above the golden sands of the desert crossed by Moses and the children of Jacob rise a forest of spars and cordage. On the shore of Goshen stands a city of the nine teenth-century architecture, close to the ruins of Rameses and Pithom. Brick and limestone walls 64 TJie Suez Canal and wooden structures replace Egyptian pylons, and Swiss chalets and Gothic cottages stand where the idolaters of Egypt bent the knees to Pasht and Apis. Egyptian antiquity has lapsed from its sombre silence and loneliness to youthful mirth and vigour. These are the thoughts that flitted across my mind as our ship lay at anchor in the sea-green waters of Timsah. From such a mood I wake up to describe what further befell the fleets of Europe while anchored in Timsah Lake; how the French Empress and the Austrian Emperor were received, and how the mass of stately steamers proceeded on their way to Suez. As fast as the ships came in and anchored close to their buoys, the passengers, after sufficiently admiring Lake Timsah, scanning with wonder the brownish desert, and having had a fair view of the town of Ismailia from on board, hastened to go ashore for a stroll through the town that appeared so pretty and inviting. Landing at a well-built pier, which was decorated and adorned with painted poles, whence streamed vari-coloured flags and pennants, we came upon a triumphal arch built across the avenue leading from the landing-place into the town. Our first experience after landing told us too well of what to expect within Ismailia. The pier was crowded with well-dressed strangers and gaily- turbaned Arabs and Turks, as was also the avenue, and, in fact, every street in the town. Wherever A Medley of Humanity 6s available, tents had been put up by the hospitable Viceroy for the comfort of his guests, and to these were added those belonging to the Arab sheikhs and their retainers, from whence came unceasing strains of melancholy music, from native musicians, whose turbans were larger than usual, and whose kaftans were of fine silk. Blended with these plaintive sounds was the European military music and thousands of voices speaking in all sorts of lan guages. An extraordinary medley of humanity brushed and elbowed us unceremoniously to the right and to the left, and inconveniently crowded us, and on the great avenue the mass of people was very dense. There were probably twenty thousand people on shore, who were dressed in all sorts of costumes, and who either stood in groups or flocked wherever there was the least attraction. While the town appears bowered in shrubbery, just beyond it, extending over the horizon, is the desert of sand, yellow, barren, glistening with the heat of the Egyptian sun. Around, nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower, nor aught of vegetative power the weary eye may ken ; the sands lie everywhere, smothering all life. But wonderful is the power of Nile water. With a stream fed by the Sweet Water Canal, which runs from Zagazig to Suez, MM. Lesseps and Voisin have contrived to make a habitable dwelling-place for ten thousand inhabitants in the centre of the desert. The canal runs along a sandy ridge just a few feet above 66 TJie Suez Canal the level on which the town stands, and to every little fenced plot runs a ditch from .which the life-giving water flows through several furrows, over its whole extent. The effects of the nourishing element on the sands is almost spontaneous. Whatever plant indig enous to Egypt is put into the ground thus watered, thrives and becomes a healthy shrub or tree. Where- ever a depression is found in the plot a small lake has been made, where the lotus leaves float on the surface and its borders are fringed with evergreens, aloes, and brilliant-flowering plants. And surround ing these are groves of palms, heavy with clusters of dates, and varieties of trees too numerous to name, which however furnish a grateful shade. Especially is the power of the Nile water witnessed in the public garden of Ismailia, in the centre of which stands the waterworks. The garden is a perfect little Paradise of but twelve acres in extent, where the very poetry of gardening is illustrated. We see, as we lounge along the shaded walks, orange groves so laden with fruit that the boughs .hang to the grounds; strawberry patches, green slopes, grape vines in plenty, and glorious palms, while beneath are flowers in full bloom, which make the whole a most enchanting place. One forgets while embowered in them how these gardens were created. By the very exuberance around him, he can think only of their pleasantness; but once out of them, with the pitiless sun pouring overhead. The Governor's Palace and Garden 67 with the hot sands burning our shoes and scorching our feet, with the fervour from it rising in a volume to our faces, we then think of the skill and trouble which formed this alluring oasis in the desert. The pretty chalets and cottages of Ismailia are constructed with due respect to regularity of streets and avenues. Each stands in an enclosure by itself, separated from its neighbour by a whitewashed rail fence. Two of these enclosures form a block; then comes a broad street, on the other side of which commences another enclosure with a house in the centre, and so on to the boundaries of the town. The chalets fronting the lake are those of M. de Lesseps; Voisin Bey, the director-general of the works; M. Lavallet, the contractor; M. Borel, lately his partner; M. Dussaud, the Sub-Governor of Ismailia; then comes the palace of the Governor, built of stone, to which a flight of freestone steps leads from the front. This palace is roomy and spacious, with a front of 250 feet, and a depth of 125. It was begun on the 4th of last June, and is already per fectly completed and fit for habitation. Beyond the palace the main avenue extends half a mile further. The garden of the Govemor's palace must be a superb affair when finished, for it is being laid out with great care. A large fresh-water lake has been formed fifty yards to the rear, which is to be a reservoir for the use of the garden. It was in this palace that the ball and banquet were to be given by the Viceroy to his guests, and very 68 TJie Suez Canal extensive preparations had been made by those in charge to give a proper reception to them. On the way back from a tour which I made round Ismailia I met the Empress Eugenie on a dromedary, escorted by M. de Lesseps, going to the review of Arab troops and to witness the sham fight of the Bedouins of the Libyan Desert. She was dressed in a light habit, with a hat, and a blue veil over her face, and as she passed by I heard the general opinion: "She is most charming, most graceful." She rode her dromedary like a Bedouin, but the poor ladies of honour, it seemed to me, suffered torments. The Duchess of Alba and another lady rode in a basket carriage drawn by t6n fleet dromedaries, ridden by Bedawi. They both looked excessively annoyed and heated. The sham fight was quite a curiosity to those who had never seen one before. About a thousand mounted Bedawi, clad in kaftans and vari-coloured handkerchiefs, menaced each other with yataghan, spear, and matchlock. At a shrill cry from the sheikh of each party they all set up loud cries and galloped towards each other. They fired their match locks; drew yataghan or wielded spear, closed up, wheeled round, each one singling an eneni)', made furious passes as if he intended mischief, galloped away again, then circled round and repeated the same operation many times over, amid furious cries, shouts of defiance from the sham combatants, and applauding shouts from the Arab bystanders. The Viceroy was The EnglisJi Press Correspondents 69 there in person, explaining the movements to the Empress, who seemed much amused and delighted. The whole affair terminated with a review of some five thousand regular Egyptian troops, lancers, artil lery, and infantry, who deserved great credit for their manoeuvres. After this the invited guests proceeded to the Sub- Governor's house, in the rear of the portico of which was spread a magnificent lunch of ten courses. On going to the front portico after lunch I met two English correspondents whose ill humour was excessive. One said, "Here am I, you see, nearly starving, just come from the Fayoum, the Viceroy's yacht, which is aground twenty miles from here, and can't budge an inch, and never will, I expect. " I think, by George, that this is the greatest piece of nonsense ever perpetrated upon a gentleman. The idea of putting a person on board of a vessel drawing sixteen feet of water, which, according to their own accounts, could never pass through the canal; I say it's sheer nonsense, by Jove ! " "But the Europe, on which I am," I said quietly, " draws sixteen and a half feet at the stern, and is, next to the Pelouse, the largest vessel in the fleet, and we came along first-rate." " Well, the Fayoum can't come," said he, "and it is my opinion she never will. I declare, I have a good mind to go straight to Cairo, and leave this affair altogether, for this is killing work." 70 TJie Suez Canal " Why," said I, "if you go to Cairo, what will your journal say ? " " I don't care a button what anybody says, or thinks, I'm not going to kill or starve myself for any body. Tell me, my dear fellow, do you know where tents for the guests are, or if I can get a room at the hotel ? " It is needless to say, I suppose, that I showed this gentleman to the tents, where he might rest, and write a letter, which would catch the mail leaving for Europe the next day. But what kind of letters will these two gentlemen write ? It may amuse you to know that the two corre spondents actually returned to Cairo without going through the canal. While upon this, I might as well repeat another instance ofthe strong British prejudice that still exists. A great London shipowner came over to Alex andria to see for himself what the Suez Canal was likely to be. While stopping at a hotel there he got into conversation with a member of a celebrated house doing a large business at Alexandria in the shipping merchant line. The shipowner asked the Anglo-Ale.xandrian if he had seen the Suez Canal. "Oh, )'es," said the other. "And what do you think of it?" asked the ship owner. " I think it a grand work, and no doubt will, when completed, be a highway for commerce to Southern Asia." An Englisli SJiipowner 71 " Humph; how deep is it ? " " It is now only averaging 20 feet." "What is the width?" "Well, half way it is 300 feet from side to side, and the other half is a full 246." " Well, but what is the width of the deepest part ? " " Only 72 feet." " Humph," said the shipowner; " that is not much ; two ships can never pass each other on a width of 72 feet. I have two or three ships over 40 feet beam. Are there any places on the canal where I could stop a day or two ? " he asked again. "Certainly, you may stop at Ismailia, or at Port Said, or at Suez. Port Said is at the Mediterranean entrance, Suez is at the Red Sea entrance, and Ismailia is situated in the centre of the isthmus," answered the Alexandrian. " Are there any hotels at Ismailia ? " " Yes, there is one called the Hotel des Voyageurs." " What sort of a place is it ? " "A pretty fair place, indeed, for Ismailia." "Is there a good table there?" asked the ship owner. " So-so," answered the other. "Any fleas?" "Well, really, I suppose there are as many there as at this hotel." "Humph," grunted the shipowner; "I presume the ship canal is not much of a place, after all. Only y2 TJie Suez Canal 20 feet of water, and but 72 feet wide; poor hotels, tables ' so-so,' and fleas! I think I shan't go and see it, then." Neither did the shipowner go and see it, but journeyed back to London by next mail. The above dialogue was given to me by a member of the Alex andria house above alluded to, and it may be taken as fairly illustrative of the strange prejudice that exists among Englishmen respecting the canal. After our liberal lunch there remained nothing to do during the rest of the aftemoon but to wander about and see the sights, make acquaintances, and shake hands with old friends. The Viceroy had caused to be pitched nearly a thousand tents, with bedding, etc.. for guests, ilany of these were filled up with German and French savants and historiographers. ItaHan and Hungarian, Austrian and Spanish correspondents and artists, whom it would be a task to enumerate. Though it was curious to note the preparations they all made for the ball to take place that night, tickets for which had been given out to all who presented their cards, still it was more interesting to traverse the ground occupied by the Arab sheikhs and their retainers. These independent village chiefs, from the upper Nile and the Delta, would not have appeared at Ismailia were it not that the Viceroy had sent and commanded them to appear on pain of his displeasure. One of these sheikhs was asked, as he journeyed An Arab's Opinion of the Empress 73 towards the canal, as to where he was going with such a number of men. He replied that the Khe dive had told him to go to Ismailia to show the "Fransawi" ("the French girl") what an Arab fantasiya was. So the lovely Empress, who, with her grace and condescension, kindled all hearts into a high pitch of admiration for her, could receive no higher compliment from a Bedouin than to be called the "French girl." Indeed, from conversation with them through a clever interpreter, they could not be made to understand that the "French girl" was more powerful than their own Khedive, though they were ready to believe that she might be the favourite Sultana of the French Sultan; but why she was permitted to travel abroad, unveiled and without her lord and master, was perfectly unintelligible. UP THE NILE CHAPTER VL A Modem Guide for Travel on the great River, and grand fluvial Contrasts — From Cairo onward — The Halting Points, and Shore Scenery — The Guests of the Khedive — Sightseeing — Whom they met and how they were amused. Cairo, Egypt, DiCiinber 2f>th, 1869. A GREAT globe of golden light appeared in the East over the arid Mokattum Range, as the Fcrouz, an Egyptian Government steamer, left her pier at Bfllac and steamed up the Nile, bearing a number of invited guests of the Khedive. Above Rhoda, the Nile expands into a stately river. An island, green with waving com, divides the river into two streams five hundred yards apart. Passing this, the Nile makes a bold curve westward. The Pyramids are seen ahead, Sakhara lies to the left. Then another curve, and the expansive breadth of its waters, its banks abounding with date palms, and its bosom shadowed by many winged feluccas, remind The Banks of the Nile from SJtipboard 75 us that we are really ascending the famous Nile, the great river of Egypt. From the decks of the steamer we have as full a view as any one might desire of the peculiar Egyptian scenery. We see the great pyramids of Ghizeh, as well as the pyramids of Sakhara, and though the steamer goes too quick for fresh young eyes, groves of delicate palms, and numerous gardens, river scenes, the golden desert on one side, the frowning Mokattum range on the other, are extremely interesting. Presently getting accustomed to these sights, the mystic colours which tinge the sky, the profile of bluff and plain, the picturesque outlines of palm groves, the grouped figures of men and women on the banks, the solitary dromedary and his rider, the eyes become wearied of taking minute details of the rapidly succeeding sketches, and begin to gaze dreamily around, from horizon to horizon, and we lapse into a semi-drowsy state, out of which it is scarcely possible to waken. Having arrived at this stage already, I tum to the party in whose company I am to spend several days on the Nile. There are seventy of us altogether on board, and we have been invited by the Khedive to visit Upper Egypt. Among us are Dr. W. H. Russell, LL.D., whom London journalists call the king of newspaper correspondents, and Miss Russell; Lord and Lady Pratt ; and three or four British colonels and captains ; 76 Up the Nile Professor Richard Lepsius, the Egyptologist; Pro fessor Friederichs, archaeologist of the Berlin Museum ; Commendatore Negri, President of the Italian Geo graphical Society; Comte Francesco Menescalchi, Senator of the Kingdom of Italy, and Vice-President of the Italian Geographical Society, with his son Comte Francesco; General Chiosto, who planned the military harbour of Spezzia; Rear-Admiral Isola; the painters Uzzi, Benatti, and Marnielle; Commen datore Ubaldini Peruzzi, Deputy of the Italian Chamber, formerly Minister, and now Syndic of Florence; Professor Bonghi, director of the Per severanza, a Milanese journal; M. Eli Reclus, a French litterateur, a frequent contributor to maga zines ; Signor Charles Escalle, editor of the Journal ^ '//«/?>, Florence; P. Hansen, editor oi fhe Dagbladet, Copenhagen; Adolf o Rivadeneyia, Spanish Consul at Damascus; Wilhelm Lauser, representative of the Nezv Free Press, Vienna; the entire Swiss Legation; Senor B. Ortuzar, secretary of the Chilian Legation at London, Mons. Cam bon, a French official ; Captain Camperio, a geographer of Milan, and several other gentlemen of lesser note. This party has been distributed over two steamers and two dahabiehs which are in tow of the steamers. Within two hours of our departure from Cairo our party got acquainted with each other with a rapidity quite astonishing. At table I was confronted by Professor Friederichs, of the BerHn University and Museum. The distinguished Professor unfortunately Professor FricdericJis, of Berlin 77 had a lady friend residing in New York, who, it seems, had corresponded with him upon American topics, and had heedlessly led him all astray upon such things. The Professor argued with me very warmly upon the subject of liberty of conscience in America during the first morning. He maintained from the New York lady's standpoint that there was no liberty of conscience in America, that the preachers were mostly ill-educated, corrupt, and hypocritical. A few, according to him, such as Beecher, Tyng, Dix, etc. , might be exempted from that category. Though the American churches exhibited no art in their construction, they were yet so exclusive, that a poor man could find no sitting room in God's house ; that Mr. Bancroft, the historian, now minister at Berlin, who was one of the finest gentlemen he ever knew, preferred Germans to his own countrymen, because American students at Berlin did not address Mr. Bancroft as " His Excellency"; that Mr. Bancroft lived in better style than any German prince, which quite astonished him (the Professor ), as he had imagined that American ministers would have imitated the virtuous Franklin. As Professor Friederichs ex pressed great contempt for the opinions of young men, and for mine in particular, I resolved to avenge myself by giving his views to a wider audience. It was about noon of the first day that we began to realise what Egyptian heat is like. The mornings are chilly, and voyagers find shawls and overcoats comfortable at that time. But at noon the palms 78 Up TJie Nile swim in the mirage, and their tufted tops appear like dark islets in mid-air. The Arabian mountains appear dim in the haze. Far ahead tower chimneys of sugar manufactories, and the slanting lateen yards appeared like mystic shadows. The low banks on the western side represent the several phases of Egyptian scenery. Mud huts thatched with palm branches rise a few feet above the ground, overtopped by a minaret or the cupola of a sheikh's tomb. On the river we see what remind us of the Scripture saying, " The land shadowy with wings" — for at all times during the day one may see the graceful dahabieh or the still more graceful kanjeah, or perhaps the heavily laden felucca, bulwarked with dunjg plaster, with their huge lateen sails spread to catch each breeze, dreamily gliding on the Nile's broad bosom, heedless of ruins, sheikh's tombs resting solitary under the palms, and of the honey-combed mountain ranges which have seen many such vessels, through long, long eras, glide and float by. Southward we proceed, with the formidable eastern mountain range on our left, within a mile or so of the river, with neither peak nor ravine to break its grim front, and with the western bank on our right ex panding broadly, dark with vegetation, until sunset, when we find ourselves at Benisflef, about seventy miles south of Cairo. After hauling alongside of the mud bank, which on the Nile answers all the purposes of a pier, the passengers sprang ashore for a friendly invasion of A Fantasiya at Benisuef -jtj the burgh of Benisuef. Two Abyssinian boy slaves and a Government cawass led the way, holding ship lanterns above their heads, in order that the well- dressed visitors who brought up the rear might not fall headlong into the pitfalls and ditches with which the path was intersected. We were a curious set of people, delighted with everything we saw; and ex pressing our humour in noisy shouts and laughter, at which the " Mashallahs" of the inhabitants were frequent. We asked loudly for permission to see a fantasiya, or an Arab dance. The inhabitants in return begged for bakshish, to which our friends replied with shouting and laughter. Certainly, after the fantasiya. "Taib howajji taib " (good, sir, good). "Taib howaj ji ; come this way," and our glad ciceroni led the way through dark lanes and the bazaar of Benisflef. " Mashallah," cried the portly Turkish merchants, sitting in their dark recesses, surrounded by wares of silken kerchief, crimson cloth. Bedouin shawls and kaftans, pipes and narghilehs, and fruits and spices from tropic lands. "Mashallah" echoed the half -naked, hungry-eyed boys and girls of Benisflef. " Mashallah " chorussed the many blind beggars, as our party defiled past, one by one, in all the glory of Frankish costume. In a secluded part of the town of BenisCief lived the frail Ghawazi, for as they were held to be immoral by zealous Moslems, they lived apart. We saw none extravagantly beautiful among them, but they were 8o Up the Nile graceful and pretty enough as they appeared unveiled, before us, to bargain for the entertainment. Three Ghawazi named Fatmeh, Ismeh, and Zenuba, were engaged to dance at a sovereign each. We formed a circle, upwards of sixty of us, and sat on benches. Coffee was served to us in brass finjans. I thought it highly romantic as we all sat under the palms. An old man, who must have seen sixty summers, drew his double-fluted reed fife from under his kaftan and blew a melancholy note; a younger man gave one or two preliminary taps on his tarabuka, and the Ghawazi Fatmeh appeared before us at the call. The danseuse was dressed in a costume of crimson silk so loosely covering the body that through its flimsy texture every outline of her form was visible. The lower part was tucked up at the knees, while the folds hung flowing over. A vestment of blue silk spangled with gold half shadowed the luxuriant bosom, but so slight was the material that through it almost burned the deep brown skin. A gold-braided cap set jauntily on her head was the only head-dress she wore; and down her neck fell her hair in many threadlike plaits. Bracelets of gold encircled her wrists and the upper half of her arms ; a narrow gold band cinctured the waist, and from this hung several tiny silver bells, which jingled melodiousl}- as she moved. Her eyes glowed and sparkled like twin stars. She burst into loud merriment as the kindly and appreciative Franks applauded, and then she FatmcJi's Dance 81 gave her body a wonderful spin with an intoxicating movement which drew many a warm ' ' Brava " from the Italians. The orchestra, consisting of a double flute, an oblong drum, and a single-stringed guitar, commenced the weirdest of weird music. In sym pathy with the low but thrilling notes, a quiver ran over the Ghawazi's body, and as it waxed stronger, Fatmeh lightly resting on a cane caused a succession of quivers to pass over her body. The old man advanced — he was hideous in com parison with Fatmeh — and with notes high and wild as from a lost soul shrieking its fear, he invited the Ghawazi to follow him. Fatmeh, as though under the influence of the music, was as docile as a snake in the hands of the charmer, or a child under the mes merist. Her eyes were veiled by their eyelids, while the body rippled and quivered from head to foot as she dreamily revolved around the charmer. Once round the circle, the Ghawazi broke from the influence of the zumarra, and by two lithe movements reached the centre, where a carpet had been spread to receive her. Then followed a pantomime of the passion of love, exhibited so faithfully that the spectators were absorbed in the representation. Sufficient must be the suggestion. In an artistic sense the acting was perfect. The movement of the muscles in harmony with the thrilling music and the ticking clatter of her silver castanets ; the continuity of the movement of one muscle after another, from neck to ankle, and the successive undulations over the 82 up tJie Nile whole body, like tiny ripples chasing each other in a lakelet, were superb, and showed remarkable dramatic gifts and muscular power. This closed Fatmeh's performance. There now burst forth a wilder strain, and Zenuba sprang lightly to her station. Zenuba was a ripe girl of fourteen, a blonde, of Circassian parentage, with two full cherry lips, cheeks round and rosy as the pomegranate, eyes of such blueness that made us think of the azure sky. She stood for a moment still as a statue, lightly resting on one small plump foot, slippered in gold, before the reed-blower. Suddenly, sympathising with a chord, she started; and her wide and flowing silk trousers rustled like foliage in a breeze, and she again became motionless. Then a soft wail issued from the zumarra, and Zenuba in response commenced a dreamy revolution around the circle, her arms extended, her hands lan guidly beating time with two pairs of silver castanets. Her movements were so dreamily responsive that she appeared to be utterly under the charm of the zumarra. Having revolved thus around the circle, she swept with two quick whirls of her body to the centre, where she took position on the carpet in the full glare of the numerous lamps. We now saw the use of the light textile robes she wore, for the movements that followed would have been impossible had she worn a tight-fitting dress. Under the influence of a music which was slow and plaintive, Zenuba slowly bent backward, her wealth Zenuba's Dance 83 of brown hair streaming behind her like a veil. Having touched the carpet with her hair, she slightly raised herself and extended her right leg, while her body moved itself in an opposite direction. And in this posture she caused the muscles from her bosom to her feet to vibrate in unison with her clicking castanets, the deep throbbing sound of the tarabuka, and the zumarra's sweet melancholy tones. Whether it was sorrow or love she acted, it was intensely affecting. Gently she slid to her knees, and her body to the ground, keeping a convulsive time continually, and then slowly rising swayed from side to side without the least break in the dramatic action, while still her waist and bosom moved, and her head swayed to the measure. Slowly the lovely head descended to the breast, mournfully the castanets clicked, more drawn became the reed notes of the zumarra, sadder became the tarabuka, the breathing became quicker, the body heaving convulsively, the muscles rising and falling oftener, until the head descended to the ground. Then the hands were upraised, each muscle throbbed as if beneath there pulsed a heart, the body con tinually revolving rose and fell, with the knees curled beneath . Lower the music sounded, slower became the movements, and one long-drawn note of the zumarra, a continuous rumble of the tarabuka, one long con vulsive movement of the body, closed the performance, and the Ghawazi lay almost lifeless on the ground. 84 Up tJie Nile Our Frankish audience had been excited to the highest pitch by this last dramatic pantomime, and the silver showered on the girl testified too well of the admiration which her superb pantomime had excited. Being late, we did not stay to see Ismeh dance, and we returned to our several boats much pleased with our entertainment. When there was just enough of daylight to locate Benisflef we moved from our berth and headed up river. The Nile opened before us, smiling a welcome to the strangers. The freshness of the moming was upon the stream and its shores. Each sandbank was alive with pelicans, flamingoes, and white ibis. High above the river continued the lofty Arabian highlands, level topped, grey and utterly sterile. Westward a sea of foliage stretched, and the scene was as that of yesterday, with flat-roofed adobe huts squatting low under the palms, and sycamores, with fields of vast extent green with corn and lentils, sugar cane and bean stalks, and an endless variety of vegetable products. The Nile varies its width greatly at every short distance. In colour it resembles the Mississippi. Were it not for the palms, the mud huts and sky of Egypt, the scenery along the banks might be taken for that along the Mississippi between St. Louis and Cairo; but the feathery foliage of the palms, at all times delightful to look at, and the sapphire-coloured sky, and the sun which tints e^•erything with magic I^iezi's on tJie Nile S5 glow and richness, and such shores, bounded on one side by a range of mountains honey-combed with tombs, and on the other side by temple ruins, can be seen nowhere but in Egypt. Legends hang to every mile of the eastern range. About here the ghost of Sheikh Embarak for ever haunts them, and from him the bluffs have derived the name Gebel Sheikh Embarak. Hagar E'Selim, which is detached from the huge mass above, and now shoots above the surface of the Nile, is regarded by boatmen as auguring well for the happy termina tion of the voyage when once they have passed it. What was Sheikh el Fadhl, above Abu Girgeh ? Sheikh el Fadhl was an Arab hermit of great sanctity, who lived upon the mountain summit for many years. " Oh, such a long, long time ago." Sheikh Hassan, also a high, bold limestone mountain, split in two by a deep ravine — what legend is that which gives this name to it ? The numerous tombs chiselled in the rock, the hieroglyphics which mark the mountain's smooth, bold front ; mounds of brick and dtbris, the tombs of sheikhs, the ruins of convents, with perhaps a solitary palm grove near by — each and all have their history. The Arab traditions give but faintest echoes of the lives which once joyed or sorrowed upon these mountains. For the Friederichs of Mizraim there are no Carlyles; for Egyptian Johnsons there lived no Boswells; for the Brontes there were no Gaskells. How delightful would it have been to read their biographies on 86 Up tJie Nile the Nile voyage, to have their lives before us, such as a Carlyle or a Gaskell could write them ! We approach the Bird mountain (Gebel et-T6r) towards sunset. It is a mass of rock, rising perpen dicularly from the water's edge to the height, perhaps, of 300 feet. As the steamers drew abreast of this mountain some twenty human vultures, who had descried us from afar, leaped into the river and came swimming towards us, crying, " Bakshish, howajji; ya Christian, howajji." (Alms, gentlemen; I am a Christian, gentlemen.) A barbarian, after laying hold of the towing ropes, dragged himself on board, and soon after another and another, until we had a dozen naked men on board, holding out their hands, and in pitiful tones cr}-ing out their mendicant chant, "Bakshish, howajji; ya Christian, howajji." The tones adopted by these people are such as to command the attention. It is half imperious, half whining, like that of a famine-stricken wretch ; but when we look around to see the owners of the voices, we are startled to find them athletes, whose muscles stand out like tumours on their bodies. Bakshish was of course given to the daring mendicants, who, immedi ately after, clapping their hands above their heads and uttering glad cries, jumped overboard. We followed them with our eyes; we saw them bobbing towards the dahabiehs in tow of our steamer; we saw them climb the sides and uttering the same half whining, half imperious cry, " Bakshish, howajji; ya Christian, howajji." Sunset on tJie Nile 87 An hour afterwards the eastern banks underwent a change. Instead of one single mass of high rocks, the range showed several wide ravines, at the entrance of one of which the fellahs had squatted and had made the greatest use of every inch of the soil de posited by the Nile; they had built their huts like swallows' nests, and their narrow strips of green corn promised a good harvest. The sun at evening seems to remember the days of old, when at morn and evening the thousands of Egypt bent the knee to him; for he goes down in glory indescribable, never seen in northern climes. On this evening all was calm, no fringed leaf of palm waved, the face of the river was like a burnished steel mirror, smooth, shining, motionless. Great ava lanches of clouds gathered themselves together on the westem horizon, until they towered one upon another, Alps upon Alps, and through them the sun was seen slowly descending. In a moment, as it were, the sun had painted them a thousand colours. As viewed through the foliage of the palms the scene was inconceivably grand. There was a broad azure lake, bordered and overhung by drifting gauzy vapour; close to it was a mountain of gold, through which ran a stream of blue ; above and around were eyots of gold, surrounded by purple, by azure, by saffron and brownish streams, all of which rapidly changed their hues. The artists from Rome and Naples exclaimed '^Stupendo ! Bellissimo ! "Painters from Madrid uttered their magnificos. German scene- up tJie Nile painters and limners cried out, " Wunderbar ! Wunder bar," and we ordinary itinerants at this matchless setting of the sun could but swell the chorus of enthusiastic exclamations in our own insane way, until the magnificent twilight, which seemed like a glimpse of heaven, had become utter darkness. An hour later our steamers were secured to the banks at Minyeh, 130 miles from Cairo. Minyeh does not merit description. It is an Arab town of con siderable size and contains a bazaar. A railway connects it with Cairo. Ever the same mornings and the same unsurpassed days, the same eternal verdure, the same zigzag contour of Eastern bluffs, the same light-brown river, shadowed by fleet dahabiehs carrying Frankish howajji, with every bend and reach of the river bordered by palms. But after passing Jilinyeh the dark cavernous openings in the face of the cliffs are seen oftener, and the mounds which tell of ruined cities are more frequent. The eastern side engrosses the attention because the Arabian bluffs come with in a few feet of the water almost all the way to Manfalflt. There is a mound at the town of Sovadec, on the eastern side. There are many tombs in the bluffs above Neslit e Zoroyeh. After passing by these, half way up the face of a stupendous cliff, are seen the Benihassan tombs, which, next to the pyramids of Sakhara and Ghizeh, are said to be the oldest sepulchres in Egypt. They are numerous and BeniJiassan spacious, and in the form of a series of chambers cut out of the hard limestone rock and entered into by pillared portals of different dimensions. On each wall of the twenty-five tombs are representations of the lives of the principal personages once buried therein, with the cartouche of the king in whose reign each person lived. A cartouche, you must know, is an oval ring in which is sculptured the outlines of a beast, a bird, a goose, a pelican, or any animal, bird, or thing which, after the principle of our "child's alphabet," represents the name of a king, prince, or priest whom the cartouche is intended to per petuate. These hieroglyphic characters, which are almost as fresh to-day as when they were first made, discover to the learned the manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians. The arts of trade, commerce, manufac tures, and games of this ancient people are found sketched in the hard stone or stucco within their tombs. Souvenir gatherers have, however, made sad work of many of them, and Arabs, following their example, do not hesitate to detach portions of the finest paintings to sell to travellers. It is to be deeply regretted that the Egyptian Government have not adopted the precautions which the Greek Govern ment have been compelled to take for the preserva tion of the Parthenon and other temples; but I suppose a day will come when the tombs will have more care taken of them. But, thanks to Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, Mr. Lane, and Prof essor Lepsius, go Up tJie Nile we have most accurate drawings of the whole in books. Entering one very large, roomy, cave-like tomb, the architraves of which were supported by Doric fiuted pillars, we found on the walls a most curiously illustrated history of Egyptian life and manners. Men may be seen wrestling, from the advance to the attack, to the downfall of one or both of the parties. Two men play at singlestick with their left arms defended by shields of wood or leather; two dwarfs; soldiers bearing shields in compact bodies of foot and horse ; silver and goldsmiths at their trade, blowing the fire of the crucible, weighing the metal and adjusting the scales; taskmasters with sticks super intending slaves making bricks; strangers with Israelitish noses coming to Pharaoh (Phra, as written) with offerings of peace; spinners at their spindles, etc. Human bones, heads, legs and arms, swathed and impregnated with pitch, are strewn about the entrances to the tombs and on the side of the cliffs. Sir Gardiner reports the villagers of Benihassan great thieves, but we did not staj- long enough to test their honesty, though their pertinacious entreaties for bakshish entitle them to the first rank of beggars. A little east of Benihassan is what the Greeks called Speos Artem idos, and by the Arabs Stabl Antar, which was dedicated to Pasht the Diana of Egypt. The temple is excavated out of the rock. Near R6da the Nile expands into a grand Celebration of the Ramadan 91 breadth. Steamers keep close to the eastern bank where the strong, deep current makes fearful work with it, sweeping away many rods of rich soil. The tall chimneys of the sugar manufactories of Roda appear like obelisks. On the westem side behind the green expanse you can faintly discern the Lybian desert. At dark we hauled up at Manfalfit. Struggling through the dark in long array of Franks, after the curious and picturesque, we heard a great shouting, near the bazaar, and a medley of voices so inhar monious and deafening that all of us instinctively stopped our ears. This noise proceeded from a pro cession of men of all trades, and women and children, who were ushering in the Ramadan. First there came a chanting crowd of men and boys singing a melancholy song, then there followed a lot of agriculturists holding above their heads palm branches, acacia boughs in bloom, a sheaf of sugar cane, or of cornstalks, and a branch of acanthus leaves. Then followed a chorus of smiths, who at the same time plied their trade on portable forges, beating red- hot iron on anvils, which were borne by diminutive donkeys. Following these came butchers, who caused little boys to represent the animals they were sup posed to kill. To illustrate faithfully the operation of killing, the little boys were made to He down, while the butchers rapidly made motions with their knives over their bodies, the boys imitating as well as possible the cries of the animals supposed to be 92 up tJie Nile killed. After these came the brickmakers, some of whom carried hoppers full of mud, while others moulded the bricks, or bore them away to be dried. Masons also chiselled away at stones, which were borne by men who preceded them ; carpenters with their adzes and saws cut boards; shoemakers cobbled shoes and repaired sandals; tailors made kaftans and burnouses, and so on in a continuous procession. The way was lighted by torches carried by women and girls, who also welcomed with shrill chants the coming of the Ramadan. Manfalat contains ten thousand inhabitants. It is situated close to the river on the site of an ancient city, remains of which, however, cannot be found, except in baths and in the walls of large residences. Ossyoot, Assidt or SiOt, was reached the next day at I o A.M. It being the capital of modem Egypt, and situate close to the tombs of ancient Lycopolis — the "City of the Wolves" — it is one of the important stopping-places of European travellers up the Nile. Upon the banks waited the donke}'- boys for fares. "Here is 3-our donkey, sir," ex claimed a little urchin of eight years, pushing his proud little animal between my legs. " Berry good, sir; Yankee Doodle is his name, sir." " No, sir, " said another, pushing his donkey from rearward ; ' ' this is Billy Robinson, sir, best donkey in SiOt." We "donkeyed" our way through El Hamra, the port of Siftt, and over a causeway, part of which is very ancient, rode direct to the base of Stabl Antar. TJie Siui and Stabl Antar 93 The tombs are numerous, far more so than at Beni hassan, but, excepting one or two, they are not so well preserved as those at the latter place. The largest of them is called Stabl Antar by the Arabs. It is like a temple cut in the rock. It penetrates 80 feet into the hard limestone and is 60 feet in width, divided into pillared chambers. The sides are sculptured and some parts are covered with stucco, which yet retain their brilhant colouring. The other tombs rise above each other over the entire face of the mountain, and in their floors are sunk many square pits which contain much debris, mummy linen, bones, etc. Some of the pits are 30 feet deep, of the shape of ordinary graves. In the largest tombs are several chambers sur rounding one large central chamber, wherein the mummies of the wolves which were sacred in Lycopolis were placed. In one of the three upper tombs was found a pit, containing absolutely nothing else save bandages, skulls of mummies, arms and feet of mummies. Raking over a comer with my cane, I found three infant skulls, the bones of which were just as hard and fresh as if they had been buried but a few years ago. Another gentleman picked up a thin, short forearm and hand, probably belonging to a boy or girl of tender age, in contem plating which the bystanders naturally fell to moralising upon the littleness of humanity, upon the circumstances which led people to adopt such great care to preserve their dead, and upon 94 Up tJie Nile the skill and might of the Egyptians. But the arm was thrown carelessly down, and for the time we bade a truce to moralising, and ascended to the summit of the mountain to get a view of the Nile valley. All who see that view from the height of Stabl Antar will remember it as long as they live. We were immensely gratified by it, and thought it worth more than all the mummies. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans who lived in Lycopolis must have also thought it worth seeing, for the place of ascent is worn as smooth by footsteps as the Pn}-x at Athens, on which ambitious travellers love to pace, that they may swear that they have stood on the same place whence Demosthenes and Pericles addressed Grecian audiences. Though four thousand 3-ears have passed since first Lycopolis was a city, no change has taken place in the view from Stabl Antar; though djmasties after dynasties, Osiris, Setti, Rameses, Pharaohs, Ptolemies, and Cleopatras, Persians, Greeks, and Romans have all been laid with their fathers, that portion of the Nile valley is ever green, ever beautiful, unchange able, and unchanging. Fifteen miles to the eastward are the Arabian shores. Between us and those shores flows the " Jove-born Egyptus," in a score of vein-like streams. Though its waters are muddy, the Nile is a good genius. From a distance its waters are even beautiful, and they flow amid delicious green herbage and shrubbery. It is scarcely possible to imagine a TJie Ruins of A by dos 95 happier scene than that extending to the south and north. There are British, American, Spanish, and Prussian consular agencies at Sifit. The American Presby terian mission is, next to the one at Alexandria, the most important in Egypt. Girgeh, the port of Abydos, about 340 miles above Cairo, was reached about noon the next day. Abydos introduces the traveller to the first temple ruins in Egypt. Few tourists have stopped here, because the ride occupies four hours, and the ruins were so choked up with sand that very little of them were to be seen. But on the occasion of the Empress of the French's visit these ruins were cleared out to the floor by M. Mariette, keeper of the Cairo Museum, by order of the Khedive. Since Abydos required a whole day to visit its ruins, we did not start until morning of the next day, when, at five o'clock, after a cup of coffee, we started on camels, horses, and donkeys, provided by the Governor, at the Khedive's expense. Our road lay along the banks of Bahr Yflsef, or Joseph's River, past groves of date palms and acacia, mixed with tamarisk and sycamore, through vege table gardens and fields of young wheat and corn, until we came to the village of Bardees, which we reached at 6 a.m.; then crossing an old intersecting bridge, we headed direct for the desert, at the edge of which the ruins of Abydos stood. In Strabo's time a grove of acanthus grew close to 96 Up tJie Nile Abydos, but now the palms are more numerous. The first indications of the ruins are heaps of dried Nile sediment, fragments of pottery, and sun-dried bricks. Arab villages formerly occupied the summit. A crude brick enclosure, built in waving Hnes of great strength, indicates the site of an Egyptian fortress. Beyond this a path leads over a mound, through a miserable village and by a small lake bordered with palm shoots, which, having surmounted, you look down into the ruins of the temple. A profound sym pathy with the ancient Egyptians took possession of us, as, gazing below on the interesting ruins, we were introduced to the first temple which meets the European traveller as he ascends the Nile. And with this was a certain feeling of hatred towards the despoilers who levelled its pillars and destroyed the exquisite designs so brilliant with azure and gold, and " so grand in conception. As the temple stands to-day it appears as though just completed. The stones are clean and unstained, and the blocks lying outside the temple in profusion add to the idea of newness. But, descending to the dromos, now vacant of its couchant Sphinxes, its des olation is impressive. We made no pause before the ruined towers and the red granite columns of the pylon, nor before the numberless colossal figures of deities and kings which were sculptured upon the walls of the propylce. Our time was short, and to the uninitiated in antiquity, who cannot read the an cient hieroglyphs, one general look will suffice. TJie Temple of Osiris 97 Before leaving the front court, the rows of mutilated statues of Osiris revealed to us something of that awe which touched Egyptian hearts into reverent worship, and we tried to conceive the temple when complete, and the people crowded in at springtime and harvest to observe the anniversary of Isis' retum from the search after Osiris, and her victory over the wicked deity, Typhon. But imagination is vain for such a task, for the avenue of Sphinxes leading towards the towering propylse, enriched with the blue-winged Horbat, and streaming standards of Pharaoh, and a thousand other things, are wanting. Once within the temple our eyes were kept busy enough peering at the bull Apis, which represents Osiris; at a hawk-headed god, which is Mandu; at the serene majesty of Isis, the queen goddess; at youthful Horus, the child of Osiris and Isis; at a thousand cartouches and innumerable sculptures and paintings on the alabaster inner casing of the walls. The figures are all brilliant with paint. The bold, masterly hand of the sculptor seems never to have been at fault. If one but stays to admire the figure of a king, to whom has been given an air of magnifi cent superiority, he will see how the artist has attempted to be faithful in his colouring, even in the hem of the kingly robe, and of each link of a gold chain or bracelet; the helmet, girdle, sceptre, and spear has its appropriate colouring. There are over twenty rooms, great and small, in the temple, which are well worth examination. 98 Up tJie Nile About two hundred paces south of Osiris' temple is the palace of Memnon, said to have been completed by Rameses the Great. It is a most superb structure and almost entire. A mysterious gloom, suggestive of religious influences, pervades its halls. Every foot of the walls and columns is covered with fine sculpture ; but the very faintest trace only is left of the colouring which redeemed the halls from gloom. The ceilings, for instance, so brightly blue once, with thousands of glowing stars to represent an Egyptian sky, are now blackened with smoke, and the pillars and walls of the palace, formerly transplendent with paintings, are now sombre from their long burial. The Arabs have bestowed an apt name upon it — viz., " Arabat el Matfto," which means the " buried." We owe it to Pococke and the indefatigable Benzoni, and after these to Bankes, Brugsch, Lepsius, and Mariette, that the temple palace of ^Memnon is exhumed. There are four kinds of columns here. In the por tico are twenty-four columns, in two rows of twelve each, the capitals of which are of the papyrus bud pattern. These columns are from 50 to 60 feet high, and 15 feet in circumference. In the Hall of Assembly are thirty-six columns of the same massive size and height, and from this hall a great portal leads into the sanctuary, or adj^tum, at the back of which are several arched chambers. In the sides are lateral chambers, with polygonal and octagonal columns, capitaled after the full shape of the lotus A Lunch at Abydos 99 flower. Four perfect flights of stairs lead to the roof, which is flat and composed of immense blocks resting on their sides. We — invited guests — sat down d la Turque on the floor of the Assembly Hall to a most royal lunch, and in flowing glasses of Montrachet, Chablis, Haut Sauterne, and Champagne we drank to fki^ ^^ requiescat in pace" oi the great Rameses. We returned to Girgeh, where we arrived at sunset, well pleased with our ride across the valley of the Nile and the wonderful ruins of Abydos. Over an excellent dinner and to the sound of champagne corks popping we recited to each other, amid merry jests and laughter, our experiences, not forgetting Dr. W. H. Russell's admirable discourse on Egypt ology, which he had delivered in the many columned hall of the sun-god. CHAPTER VII. Denderah, or Tentyra, to Thebes. Cairo, December 21th, 1869. From Girgeh to Keneh is a good day's journey by steamer. Keneh is the Nile port of Cosseir, on the Red Sea, from which place it is distant forty-seven miles. It is a well-built and large town, and contains some substantial buildings, among which may be up the Nile named the Prussian Consul's house. The Consul is said to have an income of ^^30,000 a year. He is quite a young man, and probably has taken the consulate to protect his property from governmental rapacity. The night of our arrival he invited us to his house, whereat he performed the courtesies of a host according to Arab custom. Keneh being on the eastern bank of the river, we crossed over to the western side at sunrise the next morning, to visit the temples at Dendera or Tentyra. The ruins of Tentyra are very interesting. After a study of the entire temple at this place, the plan of an Egyptian temple becomes more intelligible to the traveller. Its sculptures are also in the most perfect state of preservation. Savants say that Tentyra's temple, which is dedicated to Hathor, the Egyptian Venus, is not old ; that its oldest portion was the work of Cleopatra. A colossal figure of this famous Egyptian queen is found sculptured on the back of one of the buildings. She is represented with a full heavy face, but the form is graceful and the features are not wanting in beauty. The effect is indeed imposing, as, standing before the portico, the grandeur of the columned space, and the view of the interior, of hall and corridor and sanctuary, bursts upon us. We long to hurry through to examine what is behind the portico — to see the adyta and sanctuary of so complete a temple — but the exquisite architecture of the porticft restrains us. Twenty-four columns support the portico. Beyond The Temple of Hathor this there is a small hall, where the sun streams through two apertures slanting through the roof. Beyond this again is the sanctuary of sanctuaries, sculptured to the full, and outside it are corridors, whence admission is gained into chambers ranged around the entire exterior. From a chamber to the left an inclined plane leads to the roof. Once on the roof, which is of the same strength and thickness as the walls, the architecture and uses of an Egyptian temple are appreciated. The walls are ten feet thick, the roof is about ten feet deep, and the former rises above the latter several feet, like the rampart of a castle. From the roof to the top of the walls an ascent is made by stairs as well as to the castle-like pylons, and from these again secret passages commu nicate with the roof and chambers below. The temple of Hathor is one of the most complete in Egypt. Every part of it is well worth seeing. It makes one long to linger there, to have a lasting re membrance of it. As we are not antiquarians, we do not examine each sculptured figure and cartouche, for to the unlearned in such matters, one and all appear the same. Offerings appear to be made by kings wearing the same kind of crowns to the deities, who are horn-headed, globe-headed, hawk-headed, or lion- headed; still, there remains a desire to stray about its cool halls, and let the mind pay its secret homage to the great builders and sculptors of old Egypt. Those ancient Egyptians were mighty men. They never laid hands to anything of public interest unless up tJte Nile they thought well of it, and then they made it endur ing. Though the Ptolemies built the portico, yet over 2000 years is a long time, and to-day it is nearly as perfect as when Ptolemy finished its construction. It will last 2000 years more, provided that no rough, destroying hand of man is laid upon it, for time appears to possess no power over an Egyptian temple, and the soft atmosphere and warm sun are considerate with the splendid buildings. If the lofty pyramids of Ghizeh appear injured, it must not be laid to the elements, but to Cambyses and Moslems; and Abydos owes its ruins to the cruel Persians. There are several other interesting ruins at Den derah. A chapel of Isis lies behind the temple of Hathor; another ruin lies a short distance north-east of it, while all around is buried in a mountainous accumulation of bricks, broken pottery and dust. Considerable excavations have been made here by Mr. Mariette, but no great results as yet have re warded him. He still continues his labour of love, and often the head of a statue or the capital of a pillar is discovered, together with scores of images in earthenware and bronze. From Denderah to Thebes occupied nearly five hours by steamer. Thebes is the great event of the Nile voyage. The ruins are so vast, and the glories of Thebes have so often been sung by poets and writers, that all hearts yearn for them. Thebes is described by Homer as " Pouring her heroes through a hundred gates." TJiebes ' 103 We were permitted to stay at Thebes two days, and I shall therefore give a description of the ruins as we saw them. On the first day we visited Luxor and Karnak, on the second we were occupied in seeing the tombs of the kings, Asasif, Abd el Kumah, the Ramesseum, the colossi of Memnon, Medinet Habu, and Der el Medineh. Luxor, which is a corruption of the Arabic name El Kasr, stands on the east or right bank within a few yards of the landing-place. Its temple was one of the greatest and most important in Thebes, yet in "guides" it is spoken of disparagingly, because probably the miserable mud huts and other modern buildings which are built upon a large portion have put the writers out of humour with Luxor. If the temple were cleared of the rubbish, perhaps the view of its seventy-two columned portico and its grand hall would well repay the trouble and cost of unearthing it. From the front pylon, which fronts Karnak or northward, to the rear portico, the entire length of the temple is 638 feet. Its entire breadth is not known, for the close mass of Arab huts within the courts effectually prevent measurement, but by going in on all fours into these Arab huts, we saw a profusion of capitals which capped the columns that support them. Only utter barbarians would have dared to desecrate a temple of such splendour with mud huts. One wonders whether Ismail, the Khedive, knows of such things being done by these vile 104 Up the Nile creatures. There was one — a greater than he — who did not disdain to use a scourge for lesser offences. This temple, placed on higher ground than any others, must have appeared a fit rival to Karnak. Before the front pylon stands a solitary obelisk of red granite, the mate of that which stands in the Place de la Concorde, Paris. To the right and left are four collossi, defaced, scarred, mutilated and buried to the rim of their crowns. Entering the pylon, we ought to have come to a larger area, with covered cloisters on each side ; but this is all filled up with adobe huts and rubbish to the depth of forty feet. Proceeding forward through a small lane, past a mosque, we enter the grand assembly hall, fourteen columns of which alone stand, but these are of the largest class, being eleven feet in diameter. It is impossible to go further from the front, so that steps must be retraced, an entrance being effected to the sanctuary and adyta from the rear. In a lateral hall near the sanctuary two Corinthian pillars of an old Greek church stand. Side by side with the gigantic columns of the Luxor temple these columns of the Greeks appear puny and insignificant, and it is to the credit of Egj-ptian art to be placed in such juxtaposition to its Greek rival. From Luxor we hastened to Karnak, situate a mile and a half north of the former, along what was once an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes. The matchless avenue of sphinxes, which lined the whole distance from Luxor to Karnak, 3500 years ago, TJie Splendours of Karnak 105 may be traced for about half the distance. One may say of the great blocks which lie crumbling on each side of us, they were sphinxes once, but too few of them retain that figure and form now. About halfway to Karnak we come to a square hollow in which there are about sixty statues of Ptah of black granite, many of which are still upright. This hollow was the terminus of a temple. Pro ceeding a short distance further, we see a solitary pylon, and beyond, a few score paces to the left, we arrive at the front of the great temple of Karnak. So many eminent writers have described it, that it is scarcely possible for a casual traveller at the tail end of a procession such as ours to say anything new. But we may express our admiration and wonder with the best of them. Take your Sir Gardiner in hand, or your Mr. Lane, or your ChampoUion and each of them will guide you over the ruins. But, in spite of the learned coterie, you will find nothing in all the books to equal your own thoughts. You feel you wish to linger before the temple pylon, look up at the stately height of the propylse, at the wide embrasures in its front, at the colossi sculptured thereon, at the ruinous masses of stone looking so freshly quarried, yet chiselled ages ago. You would fain stay before the vista of columns, and halls, and obelisks, sanctuaries and walls, as you stand like a tiny pigmy in the portal. Great is the Parthenon, enthroned upon the Athenian Acropolis; great is the Coliseum at Rome, io6 Up tJie Nile with its sad history ; but greater and statelier by far is Karnak temple. We pass under the pylon, and come to a spacious rarea measuring 329 feet by 275 feet; another pylon and a vestibulum, about 50 feet in depth, termi nates this, and we are in the famous hall of Karnak, with its hundred and forty gigantic pillars. This hall measures 170 by 329 feet. Beyond it is another hall, with an obelisk still standing, and beyond this yet another hall, which has an obelisk measuring 8 feet square. This latter hall is surrounded by Osiride pillars, all of which, however, are mutilated. Out of the Osiride hall we step into the sanctuary of sanctu aries, constructed of exquisitely polished red granite, with aisles and passages surrounding it, and back of the sanctuary are two other halls, until we have arrived at the circuit wall, and have traversed the length of 1 180 feet. A temple 1 180 feet long by 329 feet wide ! What is St. Peter's of Rome to this ? But we cannot be induced to rush so hurriedly through the temple in this manner. The great hall of Kamak holds us spell-bound. We wonder at its length, at its breadth, at its height, at the marvellous tracery of sculptor's chisel over it, at the stupendous columns, which rise sixty-two feet from the floor, and are eleven feet in diameter ; at the patches of brilliant and exquisite colouring visible here and there, and we wish to imagine all this when it was in its glory. Then the obelisks, with their tops spiring into the clear air, and pointing to the all-serene heaven of The Gate of the Kings 107 Thebes, demand the attention, and the massive Osirides, thirty feet in height, each composed of a single block ; the beautiful ornature of the sanctuary and its surroundings; the lintel stones, forty feet in length; each and all these are subjects of wonder. Yet these are but a tithe of what is to be found at Karnak. Mount the circuit walls, the lofty pylon facing the Nile, or the still loftier propylse. Look around, below, above, and admiration succeeds to admiration, wonder to wonder. As for the sculptures on the walls, they are too varied for detail. The day will come perhaps when in each temple there will be boards on each side containing the inscriptions and their interpretation for the benefit of the traveller, which must necessarily add to the interest of the hieroglyph library. On the second day we crossed the river to visit the colossi of Memnon and the tombs and temples of the westem bank. The modern name of the kings' tombs is Bab-el-Mulflk, signifying the " gates of the kings." The gate of the kings! What an appro priate title ! For none but kings entered therein, and it opened to them only when dead. The Libyan range is just two miles from the Nile. At this point a ravine opens in the range of hills to the width of about two hundred feet. When we enter it we find ourselves in the most desolate, dreary, for bidding, barren, stony region in the world. Not a blade of grass, no, not one, nor shrub, nor any green thing is visible ; it is brown limestone rising in strata io8 Up the Nile from the bottom of the ravine to the summit of the hill on either side, while the base is covered with debris, great rocks crumbling or crumbled, over which the sun pours his fiercest every day throughout the year. We follow its crooked course for a mile and a half, until we are halted by a cross hill, which bars all further progress. It is a cul de sac. Here are the tombs of the kings, of which so far only twenty-one have been opened ; each is a palace chiselled out of the solid rock, and stuccoed and painted all over. There are forty-seven of them in this valley, but twenty-six of them remain undiscovered, where it may be sup posed kings still lie, " every one in his own house." Keen-sighted, knowing travellers have been here, Belzoni among the keenest, yet there are twenty-six still undiscovered, which is, perhaps, all the better for the great dead who still lie there. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, for the better description of them, has numbered them in red paint, respectively from I to 2 1. No. 17 was discovered by Belzoni, and is the most superb of all, for the spaciousness of the halls within and the exquisite paintings which adorn its walls. These paintings generally treat of religious subjects, of the death of kings and the transmigration of souls through various stages. One particular king, Setti I., father of Rameses the Great, is recognised in all these sets of paintings. He is represented offering sacrifice to Osiris and Isis, and as being judged by Osiris, while the goddess of truth and justice stands The Tombs of the Kings 109 by. In another place he is seen accepted by Osiris, who holds out his sceptre towards him as Ahasuerus is said to have done to Esther his queen. One hall to the right at the furthest end is not quite completed. We can trace a pencilling of red, with another of black over it, as if a master artist had superintended the work. The outlines are bold and masterful, and they have not all that stiffness which the skeleton drawing of Sir Gardiner would lead one to believe, and the paintings present Egyptian dress most vividly. We could almost tell of what those rich raiments in which the figures are painted were made of. The tomb penetrates 320 feet into the rock, and over wall and ceiling of both passage and hall is placed the smooth adamantine stucco, which has retained the paintings for over three thousand years. Tomb No. 1 1 is called the Harper's tomb, from the figure of a harper which is seen at the extreme chamber to the right of the passage. This also is painted with interesting subjects. The monarch for whom this tomb was constructed is Rameses III. It is 405 feet in length, and arranged in halls like No. 17, but does not descend so abruptly into the ground. Tomb No. 6 is also highly interesting, though not so well preserved as the two above mentioned. The subjects of the paintings are of a widely different character, but though fresher, do not exhibit equal skill or taste to those of Nos. 17 and 11. On the right of the entrance passage is a section of the wall devoted to the illustration of generation and gestation. up ihe Nile which prove the ancient Egyptians to have been far behind the moderns in human anatomy. On the wall behind the sarcophagus a youthful Adonis is depicted seated on a globe, and according to Sir Gardiner, who is learned in Egyptology, it is thought to refer to the theory that dissolution is followed by reproduction into life. Tomb No. 2, generally reputed to be the most elegant of the tombs, was open during the time of the Greeks in Egypt, and numerous are the inscriptions on the walls of eminent Greek and Roman visitors. It descends on an incline of i foot in lo feet. Two horses abreast might travel to the furthest end of the tomb safely at a hand gallop. A most beautiful sarcophagus of red granite is found at the end of the tomb, a Httle frayed on one side by the rapacious hands of souvenir gatherers. This tomb is the great resort for those who wish to lunch after visiting the four best specimens of kings' sepulchres, which are all that the unlearned would care to visit. ' ' By the life of Pharaoh, " those ancient Egyptians were giants. Continual visits during a Nile voyage into their tombs and temples stamp a clearer idea of them on the mind than all the books that could be read, and one feels a growing respect and admiration for all things Egyptian, notwithstanding the terrible aspect of frowning colossi, or the dread look of Pharaoh as he remorselessly smites his captives. From the royal abodes of death— this Tophet of a valley— travellers generally hasten to visit the cata- TJie Ramesseum combs of Asasif. Sir Gardiner praises one of them most enthusiastically, because it is 862 feet long, and has many chambers and great halls; but since his time the Arab miners have destroyed the finest portions of it, so that it is actually not worth visiting, besides the strong currents of mephitic odour which issue out are sufficient to destroy all interest. Neither are the tombs of Abd el Ktirnah interesting. The paintings alone at No. 35 will repay a visit. Nor will the ordinary tourist be detained by the small temples of Der el Bahri and Der el Medineh, when other portions of Thebes more important deserve attention. The Ramesseum or Memnonium lies directly below the grottoes of Kumah. Though in a most ruinous state, with but the portico and propylae standing, the Ramesseum is a favourite with all visitors. All admire the bell-formed or lotus flower capitals, as well as the columns of the portico. The sculpture is fine and is in better proportion to the size of the portico. From a distance the Ramesseum looks as imposing as any building in Egypt. One reason for this is that its ruins, its portico, its propylae, is much higher than the reddish mounds of debris which always are found in the vicinity of Egyptian temples. The real grandeur and charm of the temple ruins of Egypt are obscured by these mounds, which in many instances, such as before Denderah and Abydos, rise higher than the ruins themselves. This temple palace was 600 feet in length from up the Nile portico to circuit wall, by 1 80 feet in breadth, but the larger part of it is in too ruinous a state to enter into details. Before the portico lie the ruins of the largest statue in Egypt, of 887 tons in weight ! It is a monster statue of syenite granite polished as smooth as a mirror. The destructive hands of the Arabs have been laid upon this also, for they have constructed millstones from the face, so that this heroic statue was not even respected when low. Iron-hearted Cambyses smote it at the legs and levelled it from its pedestal to the dust, but pagan Arabs with chisel and hammer defaced it. From the Ramesseum to the colossi of Memnon is a little over a mile. In the shadow of the famous statues we repeat to ourselves the sweet tradition which fable has woven about them. There are two great figures seated on thrones about fifteen paces apart, looking eastward, but there is only one vocal Memnon, which is the northernmost or the one nearest the Ramesseum. The story goes that every morning at sunrise a sound issued from it similar to the breaking of a harp string. Strabo, whose curiosity must have prompted him to rise early to satisfy it, says that he heard a sound, but whether it proceeded from the statue or from some one in the crowd — for there were curious people in Thebes itself— he was not certain. But there were not wanting those who affirmed stoutly that the sound emanated from Memnon each morning as the sun The Colossi of Memnon 113 touched its lips. ' ' Oh, sweet story ; oh, romantic fable." It prompts us to look kindly at Memnon, wishful that it were true. What a charm there is in a well-devised story.' The lips, eyes, and the points of Memnon's feet have been destroyed. Its entire body was also broken in pieces by the mad Persian who was the scourge of Egypt, but Severus restored it with huge blocks of sandstone chiselled in the form of the deity we see to-day. To climb to the lap of Memnon is a labour even to active young men; but what young student would not do it, so that he could say he had sat in great Memnon's lap? When a traveller visits Versailles or the Trianon he must sit in the chair of Napoleon or Josephine. When he visits the royal palace at Madrid he must needs throw himself into the chair of Philip IV., or test the luxury of Isabella's couch. How much greater is the honour of having sat in the lap of Memnon, the dutiful son of the morning! The temple of Medinet Habfl is undoubtedly one of the most graceful and artistic in Egypt. Battle scenes and victories are engraved three inches deep on the walls of this temple. Scribes reckon up the hands of the slain and deliver the number to the king, who is seated on the hinder part of a chariot ; a king of colossal stature has a host of men by the hair of the head, whom he is about to smite to death ; then he rides in a chariot of state, surrounded by his nobles, and offers sacrifices to the gods after his victory over foreign enemies. ,14 up tJie Nile An Egyptian king erected it some seven hundred years before Christ. An Egyptian Pharaoh usurped the throne, and had his own figure sculptured over the former. Nectanebo II. effaced Tirhakah's name and introduced his own instead; and succeeding Ptolemies and Cleopatras have inscribed theirs among their predecessors, and so on the work was continued, until Egypt ceased to have a king. Invading Arabs first commenced the work of ruin, Coptic Christians completed it. A pylon of granite, flanked by two pyramidal towers, two succeeding great courts and a noble hall of assembly, admit us into the holy of holies, the nayos and adyta. The second court is by far the grandest within the temple. It measures 123 feet by 133, and is surrounded by a peristyle of noble pillars of varied design. Corinthian pillars of a Christian church stand here before noble Osirides and circular bell-topped Egyptian columns. The Chris tians erected their church in this area and framed their pillars out of the solid architraves, which they removed from their place for that purpose. It is tempting, one is well aware, to have such abundant means at hand for the erection of a church to God; but the area had sufficed more than enough had they but left it in its place. One good thing, however, came of this spoliation of a flne temple — much of the original colouring and newness of the corridor behind the church is preserved for the unqualified admiration of all lovers of art. Mummies 115 The queens' tombs are really not worth visiting after those of the kings; for fire and smoke have so robbed them of their former beauty that disappoint ment is sure to follow a visit to them. However, those who have plenty of time will do well to see everything. Besides the temples above mentioned there are two others south of Medinet Habfl which fall under the same conditions. The area of the Stygian Lake may still be easily traced from the propylse of Medinet Habfl, but I am not certain that it would repay travelling around its vast extent. Thus I have done Thebes somewhat hurriedly, it is true, but still I have gone over it. Travellers, no doubt, may wish to purchase mummies and other souvenirs here. If they but express a wish to buy, mummies by the wholesale, whole mummies, heads of mummies, hands, feet, limbs and trunks of mummies ; Ituman, animal, and bird mummies will be offered to tnem, until they will imagine that the vendors of them are themselves resurrected mummies. "Want a mummy, sir?" " 'Tis a beautiful head, sir; look at the teeth, the eyes, ears and hair." ' ' 'Tis a capital mummy, sir. There's a nice foot, sir ; a child's foot, a boy's foot, a woman's foot, a girl's foot. Will you buy, sir? Buy mummies? " This is the song of mummy pedlars. The sellers of the mummies are round us everywhere wherever we go, crying aloud their ghastly wares, pestering us as long as we stay in Thebes. The following is an inventory of articles purchased ii6 Up tJie Nile by a gentleman in the portico of the Ramesseum and before the tombs of the kings: — " Three men's heads, one woman's head, one child's head, six hands, large and small, twelve feet, one plump infant's foot, one foot minus a toe, two ears, one part of a well-pre served face, two ibis mummies, one dog mummy." As for images and scarabs, they are countless. Oh, certainly Thebes is the place to buy souvenirs; such that will make timid women pale and innocent children cry; such that will make old people think of their graves and Atheists thoughtful. The genial sun just touched the lips of Memnon and his mate as we left Luxor next morning. Ah, those two colossi sitting complacently on the plain of Thebes will surely haunt the memory ! For ever, while we live, if we think of Egypt, our minds will revert to those two statues, which have sat Uke guardian watchers of the land for over forty centuries. The overflowing Nile, at which they seem to be always gazing, lays each year its tribute at their feet. 'Tis they who have seen the sun first of all in that plain, yet never have they seen it set. They have seen countless generations come and go ; still they sit, ever silent and ever in motionless majesty. Latopolis 117 CHAPTER VIIL From Thebes to Phila; — A Gem Among Temples — The Temple of Edf4 — The Town and Quarries of Assuan — The Ruins of Phite — Retum to Cairo. Cairo, March iSth, 1870. From Thebes to Erment takes two hours by steamer. The guide-book speaks of a temple at Hermonthis or Erment which was built by Cleopatra. We had a glimpse of it. But were it not for its associations with the serpent of old Nile, who would visit it, fresh from the precincts of Karnak, from the Ramesseum and Medinet Habfi with strong recollections of royal Luxor and the varied beauties of Thebes ? A fairer enjoyment than visiting a small ruined temple may be had in the cool gardens of the Khedive. To travel through orange groves and forests of lemon and citron trees, through avenues of tamarisk and syca more and acacias, fringed with rose bushes in bloom, to pluck a ripe mandarin and eat it in the cool shade, is exquisite enjoyment, particularly at Erment on the Nile. Erment will be remembered as one of nature's sweetest pictures, framed by ruins of glo rious temples. Esneh or Latopolis is fifteen kilometres south of Erment. It boasts the ruins of a quay and a most perfect portico, supported by 24 columns, no two of which have the same capitals. In these columns, the work of a late period, we see that the Egyptians made an effort to break from the conventional form ii8 Up the Nile of columnar architecture. The capitals are ex quisitely cut, and out of so many designs of capitals you could hardly say which was best. They are all graceful, but, perhaps, the palm-branched capital, or the delicate corn-sheaf, will be most admired for their elegance. The columns are circular, but their capitals represent the lotus flower, the papyrus flower, water reeds, sheaves of wheat, clover and date palm branches. Thirty years ago this portico was buried in rubbish, but Mohammed Ali, while visiting it in the year 1841, was so struck with the beauty of the capitals that he ordered it to be cleared to the floor, in which state it is now preserved and carefully protected from future depredations of Arabs. It is a pity that Ismail Pacha did not follow the example of his great predecessor oftener, and have other fine remnants of temples restored to the light of day. For one thing, however, travellers are indebted to the Egyptian Government, viz., for the protection which they derive by the presence of Turkish guards from the de vouring avarice of Arab beggars for "bakshish." Let the traveller be careful of his cash, think of others who are coming after him, and not render the Nile voyage a laborious task by an indiscriminate and senseless generosity. After staying two hours at Esneh the steamer started again up the Nile for EdfO, which place was reached the next morning at eight o'clock. The great temple of Edfa is a gem. As we stand TJie Gem Aniong Temples 119 before the front of the temple the pyramidal towers and pylon rise imposingly above us. With the ex ception of the fillet of the cornice, the propylae are as perfect as when the rites and ceremonies of the Egyptian worship were daily practised. The rounded, hawser-like torus which runs up the corners of the propylse and seem to bind the stones, the space in the walls for the lofty flagstaffs, the embrasures through which the fastenings were put, the loopholes in suc cessive lines through which the garrison shot their arrows and which admitted light into their quarters, or to the chambers of the priests, the pylon between the propylse with its immense portal surmounted by the winged globe which protectingly expands along the lintel of the door — all are perfect and entire. Truly the Edfii temple is like a phoenix risen from its ashes. When entering the gateway of the temple its ponderous lintel is fifty feet above our heads. The sunken part of the walls which we see on each side were to admit the half doors as they swung open. We may still see how the doors — or gates, rather — were supported. Passing through the portal, which is forty feet deep, a spacious arena, measuring 180 feet long by 140 feet wide, opens before us, having a covered corrider on each side supported by thirty-two columns. In each inner wall of the propylse a door permits entrance into their interior, and the ascent to the summit is easy by winding flights of low stone stairs. The stairs are lit up by the loopholes which were Up tJie Nile observed from the outside, but though they appeared small enough then, when inside we see that they would readily admit the body of a man for observation and for defensive purposes. The walls are of immense thickness, and every part of the tower is of the most solid construction. At the head of each flight of stairs are spacious rooms, either lighted by the loop holes from the outside or from the inside, for these towers were so built that if even the pylon was forced the propylae could be defended against those within the temple as well as those without. A splendid prospect over the Libyan and Arabian deserts and the Nile valley is to be obtained from the summit, while the entire bodj' of the temple is seen behind the propylse, like an immense bastion or buttress. Descending into the vestibulum again, and pro ceeding with the examination of the temple, we cross the noble corridor and enter the pronaos or portico, supported by eighteen elegant columns, in three rows, the front row of which is connected by low inter- columnar screens. Passing through this we are in a hall immediately before the sanctum sanctorum, in which is a safe of beautiful polished red granite, topped like a pyramid, twelve feet high, eight feet in breadth and six in depth, the whole of which is formed of one block. This safe, I call it, probably kept the sacred vessels or the image of Horus, who was the deity of the city of ApoUinopolis, which once stood about the temple. TJte Temple of Edfil On each side and rear of it runs a lofty passage which admits entrance into the several adyta. In the furthermost chambers to the right and the left are apertures in the walls which lead into labyrinthian crypts. In these crypts, we see niches sunk in the walls, and tomb-like cavities at either end. The sand stone lining of these crypts, having been always free from rubbish and dust, is in as perfect a state as though taken yesterday from the quarry. Stairs lead to the roof of the temple from chambers to the right and left of the portico, on one side by a flight of a hundred stone steps on an inclined plane, on the other side by successive short flights. The roof is remarkably solid, and communication is easy with all parts of it. Every part of the exterior and interior is covered with sculptural inscriptions — colossal, medium, and minute — which represent the usual number of winged snakes, phoenixes, emblematical images of souls in their transition to the several states after death. The Zodiac is found on the ceiling of the portico ; human and animal sacrifices are represented on the left circuit wall, and there are boats and mummies in endless procession. The temple is said to have been built by Ptolemy Philometer, in the year 384 b.c, to Horus, who is emblematised as a winged globe throughout all the temples of Egypt. From the inner wall of the propylse to the rear circuit wall it measures 143 paces, or about 430 feet, by about 130 feet in width. We up tJie Nile may traverse round the circuit wall and through every part of the temple without any difficulty, for M. Mariette has done his work well at this place. He even had the floor of every pavilion swept, and had a flight of steps built for the convenience of visitors to lead from the village to the pylon. Between EdfCl and Philae there is nothing very interesting. The sandstone quarries at Silsilis and the ruins of Ombos may delay the traveller a short while. We but stopped for the purpose of inspecting the quarries, whence the large blocks were obtained for the building of the Egyptian temples. The Nile at Silsilis is contracted to the width of about looo feet by the approach of the Arabian and Libyan range to the water's edge, but it soon widens again, and is bounded once more by fertile strips and expanses until Assftan is reached. Assflan, the ancient Syene, lies about five hours south of Ombos, and beyond Assflan, an hour's journey by camel, lies Philae, which is to be the terminus of our voyage. The town of Assflan is built of adobe bricks, andis said to have a population of about ten thousand souls, consisting of Turks, Arabs, Nubians, Berbers, and Abyssinians. The Arab element, however, predomi nates; but opposite the town, loo paces off, lies the Isle of Elephantia, whose entire population is Nubian. Herodotus journeyed no further than this when he ascended the Nile with the view of attempting to find its sources, for he had been told by the inhabitants of The Quarries at Assuan 123 Sais that the Nile issued from the two mountains called Crophi and Mophi, and divided itself into two rivers, one of which poured into Ethiopia, the other into Egypt. To Syene, now called Assflan, Juvenal was ban ished for his satires against the upper-tendom of Rome in the reign of Domitian. Syene supplied the blocks from which the columns of Rameses, the obelisks at the Place de la Concorde, at Rome, Kamak, and Heliopolis, were fashioned. An obelisk lies in the quarry yet, but, through a defect in it, it was not removed from its birthplace. It would have been 95 feet high and 10 feet square. As it lies, however, one can better appreciate the skill of the Egyptians, their patience and indomitable industry, and an examination of these extensive red granite quarries of Syene will give more information of how their gigantic works were done than of any number of books upon the subject. The quarries are not deep — at no place are they over 100 feet — but they extend over several miles, and the chips lie scattered on the ground, and the marks of the chisel and the figures in granite are as fresh as if the Egyptians had but quitted their work for a holiday. There are enough blocks, great and small, lying about loose, out of which a respectable- sized town might be built, but the quarries are exhaustless. Great hills of granite crop up in many directions, and blocks of granite lie heaped one upon another, assuming the most fantastic shapes. 124 up tJie Nile Three miles above the Isle of Elephantia is the first cataract, caused by the masses of granite which rise in an almost unbroken line clear across the river. Beyond the cataract, surrounded by many bizarre hills of granite, lies the lovely Isle of Philae, on which stand a lengthy row of ruined temples, and colon nades, intersected by thin lines and clumps of feathery palms. The situation of Philae is most romantic as it lies dreamily amidst smooth, placid lakelets, shadowed by palms and temples. The legends connected with it are also romantic. According to one, the " Holy One of Egypt " lies buried in the cataract, and it is his spirit which disturbs the waters. To Osiris the Isle of Philae was consecrated; to Isis, his wife and sister, and to their son Horus, the temples were dedicated. A long time ago this isle attracted all Egyptian eyes and hearts. They came in long processions of devotees, in gorgeous caiques, with music and vari coloured streamers; they made the Nile and Phdae's rocks melodious with their songs and music; the river saw happy human life gladden its waters, as the people sailed upwards to offer at the shrine of the Blessed Triad. With these legends brimming over with sweet romance in the mind, the traveller looks at Philae with kindly eye, never with that of a critic; for though the temples covering its surface are Egyptian in style, yet the}' are as inferior to the older and more stupendous temples as the work of an apprentice is to that of his master. Greek art was Philce 125 in its zenith when the foundation stone of Isis' temples was laid; Greek visitors from Athens and Corinth were frequent in Egypt ; a mutual trade was prospering between Egypt and Greece. It was but likely, then, that the Egyptians, upon seeing that the tendency of Greek art was to imitate nature, and perceiving the beautiful effect of the Corinthian capital, proceeded upon the same principle; but in this the Egyptians speedily exceeded the bounds of good taste. No tree nor plant flourished in Egypt but what became a model for the sculptor, and the effect of all this is noticeable in the incongruity and unsymmetrical appearance of the temples of Philse. The ruins of Philae consist of the temple of Isis, almost intact, with architrave, cornice, torus, pylon, and propylae, chambers, cells, crypts still uninjured, and two or three pylons and remnants of temples. There is a rectangular area in front of the temple of Isis, with a corridor on one side supported by sixteen columns, and another on the other side supported by thirty columns. To the east of this grand temple is a small peripteral temple, very elegant ; below that is a quay constructed of sandstone, which in ancient days ran round the island. On each side of the temple of Isis there are found several remnants of pylonse, walls, and chapels. Travellers by steamer ascend no higher than Assflan; so having seen all that was worthy to be seen in the time allotted to us, on the eighteenth day 126 up the Nile of our departure from Cairo our return voyage was commenced, where, on the evening of the 23d, we arrived, after having enjoyed twenty-three days of most exquisite pleasure, unmarred by a single adverse incident. I might dwell longer upon the calm divine days of Egypt, upon the beauties of the remarkable river, upon the dreamy panorama of its banks, and very many other things of interest; but I have already exceeded my page and dare not task the editor's patience ; but to those who wish to be wise, to be healthful, to borrow one month of real pleasure from a serious life, I would say, come and see the Nile. JERUSALEM CHAPTER IX. The Palestine Expioration Fund — Old Jaffa — Fools and Fanatics — The Plain of Philistia — The Lepers of Ramleh — First View of Jerusa lem — The Modem City — Its Associations — The Holy Sepulchre — Fanatics at the Tomb — The Grandeur of the Temple — ^The Sieges of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, /flKKari/ iSth, 1870. At a meeting held at Willis's Rooms, London, on the 22d of June of last year, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, Lord Strangford, Mr. Layard, of Nineveh, Dean Stanley, the Dean of Canterbury, Sir Roderick Murchison, Mr. Gifford Palgrave, the traveller. Professor Owen, the Rev. H. B. Tristram, and Mr. Gilbert Scott organised a society whose object was to be the investigation of the archaeology, topography, geology, natural history, the manners and customs of Palestine, and the locating of the Temple and other sacred places in and around ancient Jerusalem. The objects of the society were cordially supported by thousands of sympathetic Bible readers, and a Palestine Exploration Fund was formed. Towards the end of the year, an expedition con sisting of Captain Charles Wilson and Lieutenant 128 Jerusalem Anderson, of the Royal Engineers, was sent out with instructions to survey the land of Palestine from Gaza to Syria. These two gentlemen travelled over the whole country, and at the end of six months they drew up a series of maps on the scale of one mile to the inch of every portion of the country, from the wild deserts of Paran south to Syria and Lebanon on the north, and from Arabia and the Ammonite Land east to the Great Sea, inclusive of the Lakes Gennesareth and Asphaltites, and the waters of Merom. They carefully located every town and village in Palestine, and whenever possible gave the Biblical name, and we have now a fairly correct chart of Palestine. Among other duties they collected materials for making about fifty plans, with detailed drawings of churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, tombs, etc. ; they transcribed all kinds of characters, whether Phoenician, Cufic, Assyrian, Egyptian, Jewish, or Arabic they discovered during their explorations; and after patient examination of several ruins of the ancient synagogues, " ascertained, with a degree of probability never before arrived at," the sites of Capernaum and Chorazin. The system of irrigation formerly used on the Plain of Gennesareth had also been discovered, and while excavating the Tels of the Damascus Plain, at Kadesh Barnea, and the Holy Rock of Gerizim, were rewarded by many interesting disclosures respecting the ancient inhabi tants. Old Jaffa 1 29 But these labours, though invaluable to Bible students, are considered but as being preliminary to the special work which was designed by the society. In November, 1866, Lieutenant (now Captain) Charles Warren, of the Royal Engineers, accompanied by Sergeant Birtles and Corporal Phillips, of the same corps, left England for Jerusalem to explore that city, and to discover if possible, from beneath the debris around it, the plan of the ancient city of Jerusalem. My principal object in coming here was to under stand what success Captain Warren had obtained during his laborious excavations. I propose to preface my first impressions of Jerusalem by a brief account of my journey to the Holy City. Jaffa, or old Joppa, and its harbour do not differ much to-day from what they must have appeared in the days of Josephus. The learned Jewish historian describes the harbour " as not naturally a haven, for it ends in a rough shore, where all the rest of it is straight, but the two ends bend towards each other, where there are deep precipices, and great stones that jut out into the sea, and wherewith the chains by which Andromeda was bound have left their marks, which attest to the antiquity of that fable." The modei;n town of Jaffa stands on an eminence to whose slopes the houses appear to cling like a cluster of grey snail shells, on account of the colour of the stone wherewith they are built. There is no harbour for ships, but boats find refuge in a natural cleft in the reefs which rise a few feet above the 130 Jerusalem surface of the water. The line of shore on each side of the town is a straight low beach, which is green to the northward with vigorous vegetation, while to the south it is white with sands which extend in long lines from Gaza and Ascalon, while the hill upon which the town of Jaffa is built bulges out into the sea, and has its extreme point among the reefs, where a few boats and fishing luggers lie harboured in shallow water. Jaffa is the port where the rafts of timber from Tyre were received for the building of the Temple. It is the haven whence Jonah started on the voyage during which his luckless fate ordered that he should be cast into the sea. Every fortnight the steamer., ofthe "Messageries Imperiales, " the Austrian " Lloyd's," and the Russian Steam Navigation Company, arrive before the town to discharge their pilgrim passengers, and anchor at all seasons, except in very rough weather, a few cables off the outer reefs. The charges for landing are consider able, the boatmen, if the weather is very boisterous, charging no less than five dollars per head for rowing a pilgrim ashore. The landing is often extremely exciting, not to say perilous. But mishaps, though possible, occur but seldom. Once with a foot upon the Jaffa pavement the pilgrim might be forgiven for mistaking the intentions of the bawling rabble of the town. They have a habit of rushing towards the newcomer and screaming hoarsely their readiness to perform any Fools and Fanatics 131 duty he might require, such as carrying his luggage to the Custom House, which is exactly five yards from the place where he landed, or guiding him to a nice hotel, a donkey, or a dragoman. But there is a virtue in calmness. When the pilgrim quietly tells his boatman to carry his luggage, the mob become silent, and a trifling "bakshish" to the Custom House officer prevents the Turk from rumpling clean shirts and silk neckties. Then through the awkwardly laid out streets, and over the clumsy pavements which are frayed by the wear and tear of centuries, the way lies to the hotel " City of Jeru salem " in the northern suburb of Jaffa. To this part of the town, some three years ago, there came, under a man named Adams, about 150 pious folk from Maine and Chicago, to settle as harbingers of the Jews' return to Canaan. It seems that America is not alone in having fool ish people. England has been also represented by a colony of fanatics under one Gregory, which has also proved a failure; then came a German colony of similar character, which appears to be more enter prising than either of the preceding two, for the Germans have possessed themselves of all the American and English houses, and have erected a church and an hotel. It was in this hotel named "City of Jerusalem" wherein we found pleasant quarters before setting out for the Holy City. Pilgrims travel to Jerusalem according to their purses and luggage. If a pilgrim is compelled to be 132 Jerusalem economical, he will content himself with his staff and knapsack, and walk the distance of thirty-four miles which Hes between Jaffa and Jerusalem, stopping for a night's rest at Ramleh Convent, twelve miles from Jaffa. But if he has sufficient means he will hire horses, and a dragoman, to act as interpreter and general servant, and in a few hours he may reach the Holy City without experiencing the least discomfort or annoyance. After a brief stay of two hours at Jaffa — during which we paid a hasty visit to the house which tradition has assigned to Simon the tanner, and the locality where Napoleon murdered 2,500 unarmed prisoners, who surrended themselves upon the word of his officers that they should go free — I left for Jerusalem. The fertility of the soil around Jaffa is equal to that of Eg)'pt, and its orange groves rival those of Valencia. The ground between the fruit trees is covered with vegetables, and the lemon and citron groves hang out their fruit far over the stone fences and briar hedges, and form long lines of crimson as \-icwed from a distance. When the sunshine brightens up the gold of the luxuriant fruit and vi\-id green leaves of the groves which are on each side, and the sound of the streams of water falling from the fountains breaks on the ear, the traveller just issuing from the filthy lanes of Jaffa and the smell of its K.irhage heaps will be tempted to exclaim that if all Canaan presented such a blooming aspect then the The Plain of PJiilistia 133 promise of the Lord to the patriarchs that He would bring their children to a " land flowing with milk and honey" must have been true. But the eager traveller hurrying to reach Jerusalem soon leaves behind this luxuriant tract with its gardens of pomegranates and oranges, with its vineyards and olive groves, and its fair glimpses of sea, and enters a plain which but for the mean vegetation that grows upon it would be a desert, with its light soil atthe mercy of every breath of wind. The hardy grass and cactus which cover it retain moisture sufficient to bind it until it has the complexion of rich soil, and from a distance the eye roving over its extensive hollows and dunes and level tracts, could not distinguish between it and a piece of prairie land. This portion of the plain is the continuation of the Plain of Philistia, bordering upon Sharon. There is no natural boundary between Sharon and Philistia. Ephraim lay north of that line running due east from Jaffa to the mountainojis territories of Benjamin and of Judah, Dan occupied the plain from Ephraim down to Ascalon, and southward of Dan on the same plain to Beersheba was Simeon. But it was the unhappy fate of the Jews to have their broad plains ravaged frequently by the Philistines, and they became known in time as the Plain of Philistia. Still there was always a distinction and a boundary between Philistia and Sharon, for a river, now dry, divided them. It is through the Plain of Sharon extending from 1 34 Jerusalem the sea to the base of that span of mountains stretching from Bethshemesh to Carmel, called the mountains of Ephraim, that the pilgrim route to Jerusalem lies. Within this area stood many famous walled cities. From one of the eminences in the plain one might see the towns of Joppa, Ludd, Ajalon, Arimathea, Timnath, perhaps the towers of Bethshemesh, while the mountains of Ephraim rose like a blue wall to the east. Sharon was excellent for its pastures and running waters, while Philistia to the south was famed for its comfields and its plenty. We are reminded of the Shunamite woman who went with her family to reside there during the year of famine, and how the cunning Samson destro5'ed the corn of the Philistines by his ingenious stratagem with the foxes. " I am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valle5-s," sings Solomon, for along the banks of the stream during those days bloomed the lily and the rose. The aspect of Sharon is greatly changed since the reign of Solomon. The black tents of Kedar, which looked so "comely" then, may be yet seen from almost every hill-top squatting low in the green vales, as we joumey towards Jerusalem, and the Bedouin flocks feed on their sweet grasses. Solitary trees dot the levels .and the hill-slopes, but there are no towers of Israel or of Philistia to be seen ; there are no mighty cities strong in their warriors, nor fortresses of Dan guarding the plain. Ramleh —" sandy tract "— stands midway on The Lepers of RanileJt 135 Sharon plain, about three hours' ride from Jaffa. It is a small village with barely anything of note, but is interesting from the fact that at this place the traveller first sees the peculiar Palestinian houses. These are of a uniform colour, like so many tiny four square castlets, so closely packed, that between them there seem to be no openings for streets. As wood is dear and very scarce, no rafters are used, so the roofs rise in a multitude of little domes, and the appearance of a village of this character crowning a hill is very curious, and suggests an unusually big mosque of the Cordovan type. The material for the structures is the grey limestone rock of the country which crops up bare and grey upon every elevation above the soil, and which the weather has coloured in harmony with the rocks around, and streaked with the dark-brown moss with which every outcropping stone is marked. After passing a tall tower of Saracenic architecture with numerous white tombs in its vicinity, we emerged from a forest of olive-trees, and in a few minutes stood before the walls of Ramleh. But we were not allowed to enter in peace, for the lepers were outside in groups of hideous, disgusting blotches upon the face of the land. A smart ride of three hours had gived me an appetite, but the sight of the wretched people with their brilliant eyes peeping out of swollen, bleached, and dead flesh, lips curving in all directions but the natural way, and long untidy locks of hair, suddenly coming upon me and holding out 136 Jerusalem flngerless hands for "bakshish," took away all de sire for food. There is no hotel or inn at Ramleh, but rooms and clean beds as well as forage may be found at the Franciscan convent, for which the monks who live there expect a gratuity according to the means of the pilgrim, and equivalent to that which the landlord of an Eastern inn would charge for the same accommo dation and services. The fare is rough, but plentiful ; equal to any that one might expect in a second-rate hotel "out West," and consists invariably of bread and wine, beans, scones, mutton or beef and potatoes, roast chickens, pudding, fruit, and nuts. For such fare, and a room for self and dragoman, besides stabling and forage for our horses, my gratuity amounted to one dollar and a quarter. From Ramleh the road to Jerusalem continues for three hours more across the grassy plain of Sharon. It was constructed through the influence of one of the American colony at Jaffa. It has a breadth of twenty feet, is walled up on each side wherever rain might injure it, and whenever it crosses a small gully or torrent, a good bridge spans the bed. It is patrolled night and day by Turkish soldiers. An hour's ride from Ramleh brought us to Beit Nubah, where traces of the Crasaders are found in the remains of the castle and the ruined Gothic church. From the hill a view is obtained of the vaUey of Ajalon, above which the moon was halted in its course through the heavens at Joshua's command KirjatJi-jearim 137 during his battle with the Amorites. It appears to be a grassy meadow land well stocked with cattle ; olive-trees cover the hill-sides, young corn sprouts from the arable ground, while many a yoke of oxen is seen drawing the plough over the fields. The road leads thence over a succession of rising hills, towards the hills of Ephraim, which after an hour's march become plain and distinct, and disclose a long range of numberless rounded mountain tops, whereon the children of Dan in olden times built their fortresses. We stopped to breathe our horses upon the summit of the Ephraim range at a town called Abu Ghansh, or Kuryet-el-Anab. The name Abu Ghansh is after a famous robber who dwelt among the lonely defiles in this vicinity about fifty years ago, and this little mountain village of Kuryet-el-Anab occupies the site of Kirjath-jearim, a city of the Gibeonites which stood on the border of Benjamin and Judah. Some times it was called Baal of Judah or Kirjath- Baal; to this little mountain village the ark was brought after the calamity at Bethshemesh, and the Prophet Urijah, put to death by Jehoiakim, was a resident of it. It is almost incredible that a small village of this kind should be of such remote antiquity. The half ruined Latin church of the Crusaders and the small square stone houses give no indications of it. The approach from Beit Nubah, which follows a long, winding ravine, possesses nothing of interest. The 138 Jerusalem wall-like slopes of the hills, so thinly covered with earth, tufted herbage, dwarf shrubs, and scrubby olive- trees, tell one nothing. There is no tree of any great age except half-a-dozen tamarinds and tama risks, and these certainly are anything but venerable in appearance. Here and there as we joumey along we may note ancient-looking caves ; but those which are not half closed by loose fallen earth are blackened from late fires of pilgrims. Having reached the mountains, the road to Jeru salem is observed to wind itself over their tops, dipping down into rocky valleys, and ascending again to the heights of Judah. An old ruin to the left, whence a view may be obtained of the Dead Sea and of the Mediterranean, is pointed out as the tomb of Samuel, and a village snugly folded round about by terraced hills, clothed with groves of green olives, is confidently pointed out to us as the birthplace of John the Baptist. Another half hour's smart riding brought us within sight of a far-distant blue range to the east, which was said to be the mountains of ^loab. The ground now becomes more rocky, and the outcroppings of rock with their naked and fissured crowns darkened and streaked with mossy lines and patches, seem to me to present the very first specimens of real antiquity hitherto visible. While we ride on, wondering at the ravages of numberless rainy seasons on the face of the land, the eye presently catches a \'iew of large Wildings and isolated cottages, then glimpses of The First View of Jerusalem 139 battlemented walls, with a mass of houses beyond, and finally we see a walled town. " There is Jerusalem ! " exclaims the guide. " Jerusalem? " we echo. " Yes, Jerusalem," responds the guide. And this is Jerusalem which we see at a distance of a mile from us ! This mass of masonry on the brow of a hill, half hidden by those barrack-like buildings and groups of dead walls and modern cottages, with bits of wretched battlemented wall appearing at intervals, and enclosing those un interesting houses beyond ! Oh ! But what could anyone expect of a city battered and beaten down so frequently within the course of twenty centuries, of a city razed and burnt down oftener than any other known city in the world, of a city which from its beginning was fated to destruc tion? Yet who, cradled to the sound of Christian prayers, educated by Christian parents, preached to all his life by Christian pastors, would not have ex pected the impossible in regard to Jerusalem? Rocks and walls, mountains and valleys, should have been speaking witnesses of its sublime interest, the dis appointed Christian pilgrim says. But instead of these he arrives at the Jaffa Gate of the town, and he hears the words, " Tower of David overlooking Jaffa Gate," " Vale of Gihon to the right," and "there is the Upper Pool of Gihon ," mingled in strange contrast with a request in Turkish that he would open his baggage for the inspection of the Custom House authorities. 140 JerusateiH On passing through the gate, the pilgrim finds himself at the base of the Tower of David, with Zion Hill to his right; he goes down a steep street which is called the Via Dolorosa, bustled by whimsical- looking Jews in the oddest kind of clothes and hats, and elbowed by eccentric Russians, and while he is considering the garb and nationality of the divers other ill-dressed and bizarre passers-by who come toiling up by him, he is twitched at the sleeve by his guide, who wants to point out to him the place where our Saviour indented a wall with His elbow as He struggled under His heavy cross ; and if he peeps in at the shop windows, amid a host of cheap Jack wares he will see a cross of mother-of-pearl with the figure of a nude Jesus stretched upon it, surmounted by the letters I.N.R.I., or of a Holy Bible bound in an olive wood cover ; or while looking at a church which he sees to his left, his guide will perhaps tell him it is the Holy Sepulchre ! But though rather bewildered with the multidude of sacred names which he hears, and surprised at the number of holy places around him, before he arrives at his hotel he will begin to realise that this is indeed the Jerusalem which he came to see, that this is indeed to the Christian the most sacred of sacred places in the world. The confusion in his mind may be imagined but not described. Biblical associations will begin to assert their charm. What a variety of thoughts ranging between Abraham and Christ now crowd to recollection ! What facts and incidents are remem- Modern Jerusalem 141 bered! But upon the pilgrim's feelings that first night within the walls of the city of the great King, housed close to the Hill of Zion, and but a stone's throw of Calvary, let us drop the veil. Modern Jerusalem is said to have a population of about 20,000. On entering it from the north by the Jaffa Gate, the "city" is sure to disappoint the stranger, but from the east and the south it presents a rather fine appearance. As regarded from the east, say from Olivet, the city is seen to rest grandly upon the summit of three hills — Aera, Zion, and Moriah. As it sweeps from the last named hill towards Zion it overlooks the valley of Jehosaphat. On the southern side is a deep cleft separating Zion from the hills which undulate towards Bethlehem. This cleft is Himmon Valley. Beyond Zion, Himmon Valley runs north ward, when it becomes the Vale of Gihon, which, though deep and far below the brow of Zion, rises gradually upward and ends at the northernmost point of Jerusalem. To the north of the city lies the hill of Bezetha, overgrown with thick clusters of olive-trees on its eastern face, and between it and Scopus lies the valley of Jehosaphat, and this valley also separates Moriah from Olivet, and at the foot of Olivet, we are told, is the Garden of Gethsemane, the tomb of the Virgin Mary, the splendid tombs of Absalom and Zachariah, and around these lie the countless graves of Jews who came from afar to die in Jerusalem. To the south-east, just below these 142 Jerusalem tombs, is the village of Siloam, and below the village the pools of Siloam and the Spring of Enrogel. Above, eastward, on the opposite side of Jehosaphat's Valley, sweeping with rugged face towards your feet as you stand between Bethany and Jerusalem, is the Mount of Olives. To the right of Olivet is Scopus, to the left is a line of rounded hill-tops formed by the Mount of Offence and the Hill of Evil Counsel — the "mountains which are round about Jerusalem." From Olivet you can see the hills well, and how they encompass the city like a chain of defensive heights. Southward is Mount St. Elias, descending smoothly towards Zion for the distance of a mile. Northward is Bezetha and Bireh ridge. Westward is Elias and Bezetha joined by a hilly spine of gre}' rock, and eastward stands Olivet and its sister mounts. Looking from Olivet towards Jerusalem en compassed by its hills, one realises the aptness of the verse, " As the mountains are round about Jerusalem so is the Lord round about His people." History, however, makes note of twenty sieges during which the Lord absented Himself from His people, when those bleak "mountains" were scaled by the feet of numberless enemies, and who, noon and eve, from the deep valleys and the heights around the city, mocked the cries of wounded com batants on the days of slaughter, and there was none to save. One marvels that an insignificant city and a few bare hills can become so consecrated by fables and TJie Associations of tJie City 143 tradition that at the sight hearts become softened and pride subdued, and yet it is impossible for a Christian to look upon the grey old walls and their surroundings without becoming sincerely affected. For this is that city, and these those hills, of which our Bible speaks. Small and comparatively unin teresting is the aspect of the city, bleak and dreary are the hills, but the associations which cling to it and to them, impart to them an interest superior to all others. When the student of history permits his eyes to rove over the classic fanes of the Attic plain, or the majestic ruins of Rome, or the silent temples of Egypt, he is not affected in the same manner as the Christian who, from the summit of Olivet, looks down upon Jerusalem and its bordering hills. The Moslem mosque, rising above its grand plat form so conspicuously, the venerable ruins and grey battlemented blocks, the minarets, domes and towers of mosques and churches, interspersed with noble cypress and other green foliaged trees, need not excite more than a languid interest ; but when we are told that yonder hill to the south-west is Zion ; that the tower hard by is known as the Tower of David ; that the gilt dome surmounted by the cross covers the tomb of Christ, and that Calvary is not far off ; that the Mosque of Omar occupies the site of the temple ; that that Garden enclosed by a whitewashed wall at the base of the city is Gethsemane, of the night of Agony; that this hill called Olivet is that so often trodden by the feet of Christ — what other scene in all 144 Jerusalem the world is so favoured with such grand associa tions ? If we enter the city by the Damascus Gate from the Hill of Bezetha, we see deep moats on either side of us. In many places they have been cut fathoms deep through the solid rock, which the weather has worn smooth, and which the debris oi ages has half filled up. When Titus commenced operations from Scopus he caused this moat to be filled with the trunks of trees, and with the rocks picked up from the face of Bezetha. Some fifty paces north from the Damascus Gate there is a huge cave-like indentation in the rock, a low house and an enclosure which is called the prison of Jeremiah the prophet. For a beshlik the hungry-looking porter allowed me to visit it, but I saw nothing save an artificial enlargement of a natural cave. Another fifty paces east we see a small dark opening in the lower face of the wall. That small hole took me down below the modem city some hundreds of feet, and I groped my way by dim candle light far into the interior through passages carved out of the solid limestone rock. As from the Damascus Gate we look along the long wall westward, the sight of many projecting towers reminds us of the verse : " Go, count the towers thereof." Of all gates leading into the city, this is the best preserved. Its turrets and battlements of sad grey stone and its numerous projections and Within the City 145 machicolations are not unlike the front of an old castle of the feudal times. The best features of modern Jerusalem appear to be grouped near the neighbourhood of the Damascus Gate. As we walk through the town, we find that almost every street is on an incline, and is paved with great round smooth stones, irregularly set, and which are a great discomfort to a tender-footed pedestrian. Presently we come to a small square, from which leads a street more animated than any we had yet seen, lined on each side by miniature shops, in the front of which are the vendors. This is the central mart of the city, or bazaar, wherein are bought and sold the usual wares of Orientals — gums and spices, Indian shawls and Manchester prints, the gay cottons and other manufactures of the British Isles, besides broadcloth and Lyons silk. In the next shop are hung cheap Jack wares of Birmingham and Sheffield — steel traps for rats and mice; pocket clasp-knives, metal whistles, and what not, cords for whips, harness and shoes, ropes, sack cloth, linen,, kerchiefs of Damascus, and Syrian Kefyiehs. In the bazaar we obtain also a good idea of the mixture of races at Jerusalem. For all countries between the Pacific and the Indian Sea have here a few representatives. The bazaars and streets of Jerusalem are distinctive and are probably peculiar to Palestine, for they certainly differ from those in Damascus, Cairo, or i.j6 Jerusalem Stamboul. For these are covered with houses resting on arches. In many parts Jerusalem resembles an underground city. For a furlong at a time one may travel through a street entirely roofed over, while on each side by the dim light penetrating through openings in the roof, the people pursue their various trades and businesses. Near the bazaar, we came to a venerable-looking Christian church of Byzantine architecture. In its flagged court, before the entrance door opening from Palmer Street, there were several dirty Russian pilgrims going from one stone column to another, and kissing them with fervour. On entering into the church we found several pilgrims of the same nation ality continuing the kissing process, and crossing themselves devoutl}-. I observed the Turkish soldiers looking contemptuously at them. These soldiers have been found necessar}- to prevent the rival sects, Armenians, Roman Catholics and Copts, breaking out into open war among themselves. In front of the door by which we enter, and just within the entrance hall, is a marble slab in the pave ment surrounded by a brass railing. On it, we are informed, was laid the body of Jesus to be anointed after its descent from the cross. As soon as it was pointed out the pilgrims rushed towards it and kissed it rapturously.From the entrance hall we passed into the Rotunda, roofed by a dome, and directly under it stood the gor geous marble sepulchre like a miniature chapel, which The Holy Sepulchre 147 was said to be that wherein once lay the body of Christ. The air was thick with the smoke of incense, silver censers were swung to and fro incessantly by stout priests, whose long bushy hair streamed behind them as they moved. At all points of the Rotunda these priests swung their censers, from which rose thick pearly smoke, and everywhere lamps of all kinds bumed sweet olive oil. From every quarter came the chant of Anthems, the sound of instrumental and vocal melody, the sound of organ and choir, rising harmoniously above the whispering discord of eager pilgrims. What with the music of anthem vibrating through the Rotunda and halls, pealing through every aisle and nave, and filling the entire church, and the countless lamps reflecting their many-coloured lights upon the bur nished metals which depended from every projection, and the sombre forms flitting by, vanishing, and emerging from behind the fires, and the bright silver censers swung to and fro with clouds of incense, and the ragged pilgrims moving around kissing every stone, bowing towards every point, one could hardly imagine oneself in such close proximity to the tomb of Christ. My cicerone asked if we should proceed. The question recalled me to myself, and with other bending pilgrims, though scoffing at what I deemed a mimicry, I entered a chapel a few feet square, before the Holy Tomb, This is tbe Chapel of the 148 Jerusalem Angel, because it is said the angel of the Lord sat on the stone which he had moved from the tomb. Precious lamps depended in profusion from the ceiling, tawdry richness Hned the walls, plates of gold and silver traced over with Christ crowned in thoms, Christ crucified, and other scenes were set against the walls before a small altar, and the smoke of incense and burning spices filled the chapel. A piece of the stone which covered the tomb was shown to me. Waiting until the pilgrims preceding me had backed out of the chapel and had finished their kissing, I bent my back and almost crawled in on all fours, and at last I stood upright before the tomb! Though I confess to being sceptical about almost everything which was told to me conceming the Holy Sepulchre, and the things which are within the church, I felt thrilled when I found myself stand ing over what is credited to have been the tomb of the Saviour. I could not imitate the fervour of the fanatical pilgrims in their passionate embraces of the cold mairble slab which covers the tomb, but I went so far as to yield to the desire to lay my hand upon it. A Greek priest who was the guardian of the tomb stood at my side while I made my notes. Pilgrims came one after another in endless succession, mostly Rus sians. It was curious to see their conduct; some spread themselves over the slab, and kissed it every where with the unctuous and expressive satisfaction of lovers' kisses — kissed the cold stone while groaning Fanatics at the Tomb 149 their content, kissed edges, and surface of it, some as if they would devour it. But such is fanaticism ! It is not likely that I shall forget that gorgeous chapel, its many burning lamps, the marble tomb, the bending pilgrims, the priestly guardian ever praying, the incense curling in wreaths around each picture. Lest I should offend the worthy priest I also backed out of the chapel with my face towards the tomb. Once out of it, we mingled among the pilgrims and started for a tour through the extensive building. The bare enumeration of what was seen by us must suffice. We were shown — "The identical crown of thoms with which Jesus was crowned." " A piece of the column to which Christ was bound to be scourged by Pilate." "A piece ofthe trae cross wheron Christ was crucified." " A low dark chamber wherein Christ was imprisoned previous to cmcifixion." " A stone with two holes in it called the stocks of Christ." " A short marble column which marks the centre of the earth." " A piece of a stone whereon Christ sat while the Jews crowned Him, and blindfolded Him, and slapped Him on the face, saying, ' Prophesy who it is that smote thee.' " " The identical hole in the rock wherein the cross was planted for the crucifixion upon Calvary." " The rent in the rock caused by the earthquake which occurred when Christ died." " The place where Adam's skull was found, and, finally, the tomb of Melchizedek, King of Salem." " Several spots whereon the Virgin Mary sat or stood during the trial and crucifixion of Christ." 150 Jerusalem But these are not all; the Angel of God comes down every Easter Eve, and lights up every lamp and candle within the chapel of the tomb! When the traveller has viewed all these things and has heard the strange medley of nonsense poured into his ear by the conventional cicerone, my mind inclines to the thought that he will think himself not a whit wiser than he was before he entered the church. The church of the Holy Sepulchre contains as many spurious objects as Barnum's museum used to boast of. And, mind you, these things are to be seen in a church dedicated to the service of God, in hearing of chanted prayers and notes of praise ; they are sanc tioned by people consecrated to the service of God, dressed in the robes of ministration, whose lips are constantly framed to avow the Creed. Fancy a crown of thorns preserved for over 1800 years! The fictions told every day within that church are too numerous to mention. It would be impossible to state which particular sect at Jerusalem is most guilty of deception. Sometimes I think it is the Greek Church, and again I feel inclined to award the palm to the Moslems, while the Latins must also have a share in the award. The Mohammedans boast of their Mosque, because it undoubtedly stands on the site of the temple of Solomon, but then the Christian church covers numberless holy things. The Mohammedans show the footprints and finger-marks of IMohammed, their prophet, and of an angel, but the Greeks and Latins TJie Origin of Jerusalem 151 have their Golgotha, and the fissure in the rock. The Moslems pride themselves upon the possession of the Holy of Holies, of the ancient Temple site and the hand marks made by the Angel Gabriel as he held the huge rock down to prevent it rising with Mohammed as he ascended to Heaven on Alborak ; while the Greeks exult in having the tomb which held the body of Christ, the Latins in having the place where the exaltation of the cross took place, the Syrians in the possession of the tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus, while the Armenians are joyful over the angel's stone which they stole from the ante-chapel of the sacred tomb ; and thus the tale goes on. But besides the possession of the whole of Moriah, the Moslems have the tomb of David upon Zion ! Could moderns but get at the ruins of the ancient city, all vexed questions concerning the topographical identification of sacred places would be laid at rest. Until these places are settled we are utterly in doubt what to believe. Against the fanatical belief of the Christians at Jerusalem there is anayed the judgment of the learned respecting the topography of Jerusalem. Let us briefly glance over the history of the Holy City. In the days of David, Jerusalem was called Jebus. It was a small mountain fortress crowning the Hill of Zion. When David challenged the people of Jebus, they said to him: " Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither," meaning 152 Jerusalem that the walls of Jebus were so strong that even the blind and lame of the city would suffice for their defence. So David turned to his army and, address ing them, said: "Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first, he shall be chief and captain." With the devotion of a hero Joab led the assault, smote the Jebusites first, was made chief and captian, and David afterwards lived in Zion and called it the city of David. From this date commences the history of Jerusalem as the civil capital, not only of Judah and Benjamin, but of all Israel. After David's death and burial Solomon his son realised the designs of his father, and erected a temple upon Mount Moriah, a hill opposite Zion, between it and Olivet. " The temple was beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth." Sheba's Queen came from beyond Ophir to see it, she had heard so much of its grandeur. The area of the temple is supposed to be 600 feet square. Any portion of the hill of Moriah agrees with the site, still it has not been proved, because the site is in the hands of exacting and jealous Moslems. But from the biblical description of the Temple its beauty must have been matchless, as it rose crowning Moriah like a vast fortress, lording it above the valleys, lovingly sheltered and enfolded by the hills round about Jerusalem. Every stone was white, and glistening from the distance it must have appeared like a mighty avalanche resting upon a mountain. Much of the roof was covered with gold; vines of The Grandeur of the Temple 153 gold depended from the roof; gold covered the chapiters of the pillars. What a spectacle it must have been when the full radiance of a setting sun or its morning splendour fell upon the precious metal ! As the foundations of the Temple rested upon a rock, and as the summit of the rock of Moriah was over 200 feet, almost perpendicular above the bed of the Kedron, and as Solomon built three tiers of walls from the Kedron up to the level of the summit, and as the splendid Temple rose 210 feet above Moriah, what an incomparable building it must have been ! And each stone had been prepared for adjustment at the quarries with bevelled edges chiselled smooth for two inches along each border. The richness of the interior, with cunning designs traced in the cedar, stone, marble, and in the precious metals, was admirable. The stone work was covered with ornamented cedar boards, the ceilings were also of cedar artistically decorated by the best Syrian artificers, and the floors were of carved fir. The sanctuaries, ceiling, wall and floor were covered with thick plates of gold ; the cherubim — massive images of broad- winged angels — were of gold ; the hinges of the doors and the nails, the bowls, basins, and ewers were of gold ; but innumerable were the costly things within the Temple, either of pure gold, or lavishly adorned with gold. Besides these, the conveniences for such a noble building, the " Great Sea," the altar, the pipes, the aqueducts, the fountains, the deep wells and spacious cisterns, all for the priests and their offices, 154 Jerusalem what must they have not been — how intricate, how skilfully designed with regard to sanitary laws ! A hundred and twenty thousand head of cattle sacrificed at the inauguration of the Temple for the service of God ! What was the sum expended on this gorgeous structure ? Whence was the money derived ? In Kitto's Pictorial Bible, David's treasures which he had gathered are computed at a vast sum. They have been variously estimated from $100,000,000 to $5,000,000,000. Conjecture cannot aid modems here. The subsequent history of the Temple is the history of the city of Jerusalem. The Temple of Solomon into which the glory of the Lord had descended, wherein the sacrifices at the inauguration were kindled by fire from Heaven, existed in all its glory for the period of 423 years, when it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. One hundred and eleven years afterwards the second Temple was commenced and was dedicated nineteen years later. But this building was peculiarly unfortunate, and suffered much from the repeated wars in which the Jews were plunged while fighting for independence. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Herod, the child mirrderer, the third Temple was commenced. Within eighteen months the priests and the Levites had reconstructed the Temple itself, and eight years later the colonnades and adjourning buildings, the cloisters, the bridges, the spacious courts were finished ; but as there were continual improvements and embellishments prosecuted, the Jews could say The Sieges of Jerusalem 155 with truth that the Temple of Herod took forty- six years to rebuild. When our Lord commenced his ministry the Temple was complete in every detail. Many times was His voice heard within it, while praying, blessing, or persuading. The knowledge of its fate drew tears from Him. At the time of the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, the city was about five English miles in circumference; its walls included the promontory of Ophel, entire Zion, Aera, Bezetha and Moriah. The Jews had gathered from all parts to celebrate the Passover, and there were within the city or encamped close to the walls over 2,500,000 pilgrims during the siege, of whom it is stated that i, 100,000 perished by pestilence, famine or the sword, 40,000 were permitted to go free, and 97,000 were made prisoners and sold into slavery. Excepting the towers of Hippicus, Pasphimus, and Marianne, and a portion of the western wall, the fortifications were levelled, and if we may believe Josephus ' ' none would have imagined the site of the city had ever been inhabited." The following is a recapitulation of the sieges and wars Jerusalem has undergone, of which history makes mention : — I. Jebus, sacked by the tribe of Judah under Joshua. — Judges i. 8. 2. Jebus, assaulted and taken by storm by David and Joab. — 2 Samuel v. 8-10. 3. Jerusalem entered by Shishak, King of Egypt, 156 Jerusalem and plundered in Rehoboam's reign. — 2 Chron. xii. 9-11. 4. Jerusalem plundered by Arabians and Philis tines in the reign of Jehoram. — 2 Chron. xxi. 5. Jerusalem plundered by King of Israel in the time of Amaziah.— 2 Chron. xxv. 21-24. 6. Jerusalem plundered by King of Babylon in the reign of Jehoiakim. — 2 Chron. xxvi. 7. Jerusalem plundered by Nebuchadnezzar in the reign of Zedekiah. — Jer. xxxvii. The waUs were demolished and Jerusalem was desolated. 8. Jerusalem taken by Ptolemy, 320 b.c 9. Jerusalem entered by Ptolemy Philopator, 289 B.C. 10. Jerusalem taken by Antiochus theGreat, 203 b.c. II. Jerusalem retaken by Scopus, the Alexandrian General, 99 b.c 12. .Jerusalem reoccupied by Antiochus the Great, 198 B.C. 13. Jerusalem plundered by HeUodorus and Mac cabeus. 14. Jerusalem plundered and desecrated by Anti ochus Epiphanes, 169 b.c 15. Jerusalem taken by Pompey, 63 b.c 16. Jerusalem plundered by Crassus, 54 b.c 17. Jerusalem occupied by the Parthians, 40 b.c 18. Jerusalem stormed and captured by Herod, the child-murderer, 37 b.c 19. Jerusalem plundered and utterly desolated by Titus, 70 a.d. WJiat tJie Various Sieges Suggest 157 20. Jerusalem taken by the Persian Chosroes II. , 614 a.d. 21. Jerusalem retaken by the Roman Heraclius, 628 a.d. 22. Jerusalem surrendered to the Caliph Omar, 637 a.d. 23. Jerusalem stormed and captured by Godfrey of Bouillon, 1099 a.d. 24. Jerusalem recaptured by Saladin, 1187 a.d. 25. Jenisalem taken by the Ottoman monarch Selim I., 1517 A.D. 26. Jerusalem surrendered to Mehemet Ali of Egypt, 1832 A.D. 27. Jerusalem restored to Turkey, 1840 a.d. What a concourse of terrible associations, of in satiable cruelty, murder, revenge, lust and all manner of abominable acts do not these repeated sieges suggest ! Lo ! every stone is a witness of something or other great in history, every corner of Jerusalem is replete with transcendent memories, and every hill which flings its shadow towards Jerusalem recalls unutterable things! Contemplate what you will; look from any point of the horizon, and before you stands a monument of God's wrath. Zion is a ploughed field ; the actual sight of the Temple that was forty-six years in building is a matter of controversy; the city whose towers were numberless, whose bul warks were a wonder to the nations by which the Al mighty swore, lies buried under mountains of debris, of garbage, of crushed mortar, and carved stone ! 158 Jerusalem CHAPTER X. Jealousies Excited by the Explorations below Jerusalem — The Dis coveries Underground — Ophel — A Remarkable Underground Pas sage — The Shaft near the Golden Gate — The Foundations of the Temple of Solomon— Beautiful Corner-stones — The Tyropean Valley — Going Down to Explore — The Great Sea — Summary. Hotel Meditekran^, Jerusalem, ya«a