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THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT;
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THE OLD HOUSE OF BONDAGE UNDEB
NE-W MASTERS.

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THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT;
OR,
THE OLD HOUSE OF BONDAGE UNDER
NEW MASTERS.

By bdwin de LEON,

EX-AGKNT AND CONSUL-GENERAL IN EGYPT.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, MAESTON, SEAELE & EIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
1877.
(ji/l rights reserved.)

PEEFACE.
THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY.

What can anybody have to teU us about the Nile-land
that has not already been said or sung ad nauseam ?
Painfully conscious of the fact, that the coUected bulk
of all the writings on Egypt, if laid one above the other,
would rival the height and magnitude of one of the
smaller Pyramids, the present writer pleads as an
apology, for contributing another stone to the tumulus,
his exceptional advantages of many years' residence in
Egypt in an official capacity, his intimate public and
private relations with the last three Rulers — including
the present Khedive — and his recent return from that
country, which he left in April last. He therefore be
lieves he has much to say about the Khedive's Egypt
that is new, and, as he trusts, interesting — ^not only to
the general reader, but to the thoughtful student of
man and history as weU. Written in no partisan or
partial spirit, this book professes to give a photographic
picture of the changes wrought in the old "House of
Bondage" by Mehemet Ali and his successors; and its
true condition, social, pohtical, and economical, to-day.

IV PREFACE.
when the second dawn of a new civilisation seems break
ing over that portion of the East which haUed the first,
long ere Greece or Rome had emerged from the " double
darkness of Night, and of Night's daughter. Ignorance."
In this belief he entrusts his book to the tender mercies
of the public, and the tougher charities of the critics —
admitting in advance, most cheerfuUy, that it is not " one
of those books no gentleman's library should be without,"
against which Charles Lamb so solemnly cautioned his
young friend. All the facts and figures this book con
tains have been coUected on the spot, and verified, as far
as possible ; and the writer is quite sure that, as he " has
nothing extenuated," neither has he '' set down aught in
malice," concerning a country and a people, for both of
which he entertains a sincere affection.
London, Jul-y, 1877.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
EASTWARD HO ! FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO POET SAID. FAGK
Leave Southampton on P. and 0. steamer — The three chief routes
to Egypt — " Biscay's sleepless hay " — Sudden step from winter
to spring — The Rock and " Rock scorpions '' — Remnants of
Spanish and Moorish occupation — Fruit and flower markets in
mid-winter — Malta and the Maltese — Marine theatricals — Port
Said — First glimpses — The peculiarities of place and people —
Off hy canal hy moonlight for Ismailia  1
CHAPTER II.
ISMAILIA — THE DESERT — CAIRO.
Reach Ismailia at sunrise — First view • — The Custom-house
nuisance again — The faith in things unseen — The Hotel Paris
— A truly Parisian cuisine — Stroll over the town — Its puhlic
and private gardens — Peculiar charms of this oasis in the desert
^The railway route, vid Zagazig, to Cairo — Along the Fresh-
Water Canal — Should the Chinese coolie he imported? — The
Suez Canal and Euphrates Railway route — Some facts and
figures about the Sues; Canal — Mention of one of its founders . 23
CHAPTER III.
OT.D AND NEW CAIRO.
Approach to Cairo — Sights and scenes en route — Wayside views
and voices—" Backsheesh, Howadji ! " the same old tune —
Nature and man unchanged — Startling changes in the environs
of Cairo — Disappearance of walls and appearance of new boule
vards, a la Eaussmann — Surprises in store for the returning
pilgrim after ten years' absence — What' cannot now he seen
from Shepheard's balcony — Cairo as it was and as it is — The
old quarter and the new  47

VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FOUNDERS OF THE DYNASTY. PAGE
Mehemet Ali — Soldier of fortune — Satrap and Viceroy — Parallel
between the Napoleons of the East and of the West — His
strange career — Dreams of an Arab empire, like that of the
Caliphs — ^Why he failed in establishing it — England's interpo
sition — Rage of the trapped lion — Cloudy close of a bright day
—Personal traits and anecdotes of Mehemet Ali — His son
Ibrahim, regent and successor — His short lease of power — Can
his dream be now fulfilled? — Reasons for the establishment of
an Arab empire at the present moment . . 63
CHAPTER V.
ABBAS PACHA.
Accession of Abbas Pacha — Personal description of him — His
peculiar character and habits — A Turk of the Turks — Con
trasted with Said Pacha — His treatment of his people — The
new " House of Bondage " under him — His closing tragedy — A
dead man's drive — His son Bl-Hami — A fated family line . 80
CHAPTER VI.
THE REIGN OP SAID PACHA.
Said Pacha's accession — The new era introduced by him — Reversal
of his predecessor's policy, and private conduct — Attempt to
bind together the family faggot— His social habits— His great
fetes — His princess, Ingee Khanum — His personal appearance
and character — Resemblance physically and morally to " Bluff
King Hal " — His military mania— Life under tents, and black
knights in chain armour — His work in Egypt — A bright dawn
and stormy sunset ........ gj
CHAPTER VII.
THE FOREIGN COLONY IN EGYPT IN OLDEN TIME.
The foreign colony in Egypt, under the earher Viceroys— Classifi
cation of them' — The merchant princes — The European army
ofiScers — Suleyman Pacha, or Colonel Seves, commander-in-
chief — Some anecdotes of him — Other conforming and non-con
forming officials — ^Some curious specimens — Talking only
Arahio'.—Peouliarprivilegesof foreign consuls-general and their
proteges — The new mixed tribunals superseding consular
authority— A few words about them, and the old doctrine of
" Exterritoriality "  j^aq

CONTENTS. Vll
CHAPTER VIIL
THE Khedive's egtpt. PAGE
Divisions of Modern Egypt : Lower Egypt, Middle Egypt, and
Upper Egypt — The Soudan— Chief Exports — Facts and figures
— Population and Mortality — DifBculties and drawbacks native
rulers must contend against — Smelfungus at Cairo — His sources
of information — An appeal for justice on behalf of the new
masters of the " House of Bondage " — Said Pacha's sad experi
ence with his model villages — The new foreign employes — The
Government more generous than just in some respects . . 117
CHAPTER IX.
helouan.
An Aix les Bains in the desert — What and where is Helouan?
— On the road to it — The grand boulevard to the citadel —
Glimpses of interiors en route — Tl^e Mokattam Hills — their
quarries — Through the desert, in view of the Pyramids — Ap
pearance of Helouan — Its sights and smells — The sulphur baths
— The hotel — the view from its roof — An enthusiastic collector
of antiques .... .... 134
CHAPTER X.
the KHEDIVE ISMAIL AS A PUBLIC AND A PRIVATE MAN.
His lucky star — The accident that made him Khe'dive — Achmet
Pacha's closing scene — His character — A fatal fete and lucky
iUness — Halim Pacha's peril and escape — What might have
been but for an open drawbridge — My early impressions of
Prince Ismail — His love for "Naboth's vineyard" — The man
and the monarch, briefly epitomized — Things he has done and
things he has left undone — His building mania . . . 153
CHAPTER XI.
FOUK NATIVE MINISTERS AND HEKKEKYAN BEY.
Some of the Khedive's native ministers — Nuhar Pacha — His life
and work — Personal traits — A family of diplomatists — Cherif
Pacha — Description of him — Riaz Pacha — The strange story of
Ismail Sadyk Pacha, the Moufifetich — An Egyptian Wolsey — A
visit to his three palaces, and what we saw there — The moral of
his rise and fall — Hekkekyan Bey — His theory of the Pyramids 176

Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
THE LAND OF EGYPT AND ITS PRODUCTIONS. PAGE
Egypt nothing, if not agricultural — Contrasted with India and
China— Feeds her own population — " The life of Egypt " — Five
million acres under cultivation — How cultivated — Cotton culture
— Flax culture — Sugar culture — Extracts from recent report on
Khedive's sugar estates — Curious facts and figures relating to
it — The grain crops — The date and fruit culture — Land taxa
tion — A painful picture of a year's work in the fields . . 200
CHAPTER XIII.
THE FELLAHEEN.
Who is the fellah, and what is he ? — His earlier history as written
on the tombs and temples, in the Scriptures, on stone and
papyrus — A letter three thousand years old concerning him, in
the British Museum — How Joseph treated him under Pharaoh
— Origin of land tenure in Egypt — Under the Mamelukes and
the house of Mehemet AU, the new masters of his " House of
Bondage" — His treatment under successive viceroys — His present
condition  . . 222
CHAPTER XIV.
SCIONS OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF MEHEMET ALI.
The sons of Ismail, and other scions of the royal hou?e, yet sur
viving — The sons of Abbas and of Said Pachas blasted in the
bud — The sons of the Khedive — Mohammed Tewfik, heir pre
sumptive — His brothers Hussein and Hassan — Characteristics
of each — The younger sons — How the Khedive is educating his
children — Their uncle Halim Pacha, formerly heir apparent
under the old rule — His character — Description of how he
hunted the gazelle with hawk and hound — Revival in Egypt
of a mediaeval sport — Halim's prospects . ' . . . . 244
CHAPTER XV.
IRRIGATION AND THE BARRAGE.
" The life of Egypt " — The barrage — Proposition to pull down the
Pyramids to construct it — A French engineer's perilous predica
ment — How he extricated himself — Said Pacha's new city on a
medal! — Egyptian irrigation — How it is managed — Proposed
substitute for the irrigation of the Delta — Something about the
barrage  262

CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER XVI.
EDUCATION IN EGYPT.
What the Khedive has done in educating his people — The
public schools — Their chief inspector, Dor Bey — Information
derived from him — Slight sketch of the character and purposes
of new schools, civil and military — The Polytechnic School at
Ahbassieh — The Missionary schools — Miss Whately's school,
and the German— Education for women — A queen worthy of
her place — The coming race of Egyptian women. . . . 271
CHAPTER XVII.
SKETCHES OF TWO FAMOUS ANGLO-APRIOAN EXPLORERS.
Captain Richard Burton and Gordon Pacha at Cairo — Description
of the men — Their latest work in Africa — The land of Midian
— The Soudan — Burton's first appearance in Egypt — Some
curious recollections — -His last visit — What he was then and
now — Burton's discovery — Gordon Pacha's personal character
istics — His proposed work in Central Africa .... 282
CHAPTER XVIII.
MIXED JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS IN EGYPT.
Efforts of Sublime Porte, for twenty-five years, to break down
the doctrine of Exterritoriality in the Turkish dominions —
What Exterritoriality means — Mixed tribunals attempted to be
introduced, under " Hatti Houmaion " of Sultan in 1856, and
again tried by Egyptian Government in 1860 — Why prevented
by Consuls-general on those occasions — Nuhar Pasha's persistent
efforts and final partial success — His plan as opposed to the
plan recently adopted — My own action in the matter — Tho
present tribunals entitled to a fair trial  297
CHAPTER XIX.
EGYPTIAN FINANCE AND RESOURCES.
Absorbing interest felt therein— The doctors disagreeing — State of
the patient in the eyes of a non-professional — A plain state
ment as to the amounts actually received from foreign loans by
Khedive — What did he do with it ? — Testimony of the Times
partly exculpatory of the Khedive — Curious and instructive
letter from a native Egyptian official, translated from the
French — His statements of resources, and suggestions for their
increase — A few facts and figures  315

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XX.
EGYPTIAN nights' ENTERTAINMENTS.

PAGE

The social life of Egypt — Native society unchanged — The ladies
of the hareem, and their adoption of French millinery — The
root of the evil — -A royal wedding party in a Khedivial hareem
described — The Khedive's entertainments — His breakfasts,
dinners, and soirees dansantes at Ab-din ..... 328
CHAPTER XXL
THE SOUDAN.
What and where is the Soudan ? — Its first annexation to Egypt
— Conquest and occupation by Mehemet Ali — His visit there —
Establishes Khartoum as its capital — Abbas Pacha's treatment
of it — Said Pacha's visit — His proclamations — Attempts to
connect it with Cairo, by rail and river — Reasons of failure —
Mr. Fowler's plan, adopted by the Khedive — Some interesting
extracts from his reports — Pi-esent position and prospects of
Gordon Pacha  342
CHAPTER XXII.
IMPROVEMENTS AND PUBLIC WORKS IN EGYPT.
Public improvements^Where some of the money has gone —
General statement of public works and improvements during
the present reign — Thirty or forty milhons of.pormds' worth
accounted for — What and where are these -improvements ? —
Harbour and lighthouse improvements — Gas and water works
— Merchant marine — Thirteen hundred miles of railway com
pleted in last twelve years ....... 362
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ARMY OF EGYPT.
An indeterminate quantity — Curious exemption of Cairenes and
Alexandrians from conscription — How the conscription is made
— What successive, viceroys have done for the army — The army
and the military chest — Excellent drill and organization of the
forces — The American and other foreign officers — The Khedive's
true, and Egypt's wisest policy . .... 369
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SHADOW OF THB STRANGER.
Egypt's experience — Her three periods : Pagan, Christian, and
Mussulman — International jealousies — Shall the Mediterranean
be a French or Enghsh "lake"? — Curious history of this

CONTENTS. XI
PAGE
rivalry in regard to the overland transit — Cost of conciliating
the rival nationalities to Egypt — Mariette Bey's characteriza
tion of the Egyptians — The irony of their destiny — The shadow
of the stranger eclipsing native government — Laissez nous f aire! 381
CHAPTER XXV.
BY CAIRO TO EUROPE, vid ALEXANDRIA.
By rail from Cairo to Alexandria — Disturbing a hareem — The last
of backsheesh — The country en route — Two rival capitals —
How an Alexandrian feels at Cairo, and how a Cairene regards
him — Something about the Egyptian Brighton — Old and New
Alexandria — The place and people — The different routes back
to Europe — The Brindisi route — Pictm'esque old places on the
Itahan coast — The Moorish pirates — Through Italy — Bologna
and its museum — La Belle France and adieu to Egypt . . 394
Egypt's Future  409

APPENDIX A.
Concession and alleged Cost of Suez Canal to Egypt . . . 415
APPENDIX B.
The Suez Canal and the English Government .... 418
APPENDIX C.
The Mixed Tribunals  422
APPENDIX D.
Population of the Fpreign Colony  426
APPENDIX E.
Firman changing Succession  428
APPENDIX F.
Egyptian Exploration of Central Africa  429
APPENDIX G.
Mr. Goschen's tabular Statement  432
APPENDIX H.
Exports and Prices of Egyptian Crops . . ... 433

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.

Panorama of Suez Canal  Frontispiece.
View near Lake Tims ah  To face page 23
Port of Suez  „ 42

The Grain Market at Suez
Land Traffic 
Water Traffic 
Square of Mudirieh at Khartoum .

103
200 222286

ERRATUM.
Page 46, foot-note, for " Appendix B " read "Appemlix A."

THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
CHAPTEE I.
EASTWARD HO! FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO PORT SAID.
Leave Southampton on P. and 0. steamer — The three chief routes
to Egypt — "Biscay's sleepless bay" — Sudden step from winter to
spring — The Rock and " Rock scorpions " — Remnants of Spanish and
Moorish occupation — Fruit and flower markets in mid-winter —
Malta and the Maltese — Marine theatricals — Port Said — First
glimpses — The peculiarities of place and people — Off hy canal by
moonlight, for Ismailia.
Leaving Southampton, under the cold and
cloudy skies of a November morning in 1876,
on the Peninsular and Oriental steamship
Khedive, bound for Port Said, Suez, and India,
we sailed for the Suez Canal — that eighth
wonder of the world — with a view of examin
ing it and the young cities which have sprung
up, Hke Jonah's gourd, upon its banks within
the last ten years.
Our steamer was one of the largest of those
which pass through the canal, a magnificent
specimen of naval construction in all respects,

2 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
combining power, speed, space, safety, and com
fort in an eminent degree ; and our long run
was more like a pleasure trip than a sea voyage,
owing to the admirable arrangements of the
company. Even the cuisine, which is not
generaUy the strong feature on English boats,
left nothing to desire ; and the bath arrange
ments were most ample and satisfactory. "We
carried one hundred and thirty first-class pas
sengers, and could have comfortably accommo
dated a score or two more.
We chose the long route to Egypt for the
benefit of the sea voyage of fourteen days'
duration, in preference to the faster lines, vid
Brindisi or Marseilles, by which Egypt may be
reached in haK the time. Last year I dined one
Thursday evening at London, and lunched at
Alexandria on the ensuing Thursday, taking the
P. and 0. Brindisi steamer. The route vid Mar
seilles and Naples, in the French onessageries
steamers, takes about two days more from Lon
don, and you are six days at sea instead of three.
The fare by all these lines is very nearly the
same ; the cheapest route is by Liverpool screw
steamers to Alexandria, and the Cunard, Moss,
and Leyland lines, from the former place, are
said to be weU-appointed and comfortable :
making the run in from twelve to fourteen days,
at little more than haK the price of the other
lines already mentioned.

"BISCAY'S SLEEPLESS BAY." 3
From Southampton to " Biscay's sleepless
bay," where the " winds were rough," as in
Childe Harold's day, our voyage was monoto
nous ; but, on reaching that weU-known point,
we were " rocked in the cradle of the deep " in
a most satisfactory or unsatisfactory manner ;
and the yawning gaps at the hitherto well-filled
table testified that tribute was being as faith-
faUy paid to Neptune, as though the worship of
the heathen gods still prevailed. From Ups
brimming over with song and jest but the day
before, now proceeded only sounds of woe, not
" most musical," though " melancholy ;" and the
possessor of " sea-legs " was happier than he of
more symmetrical but more unsteady supporters.
This game of pitch and toss continued until we
ran under lee of the land approaching the
Spanish coast, where Cape - St. Vincent boldly
looms up from afar : with its watch-tower
perched on its highest cUff Uke an eagle's eyry,
and barracks in which some Spanish troops are
stationed for the protection of the customs
duties. We had left Southampton on Thursday, and
on the ensuing Tuesday the grim frowning Eock
of Gibraltar {Qehel el Tarilc, or Boch of Tarih)
looked down upon us, as we rapidly steamed
along the .shores of Spain, and finaUy cast
anchor beneath the shadow of the mountain

4 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
at early morning, while sunshine and warmth,
like those of early spring, bathed his bald old
brow. For we felt we had gained another land
and another cUmate than those we had parted
from but four brief days before, and had made
a sudden plunge into sunUght, and an earth
covered with verdure and flowers. The little
boats that rowed off to meet us were fiUed with
ripe luscious fruit and fresh flowers ; whUe the
vendors of such souvenirs of Gibraltar as the
place could boast of boarded the steamer im
mediately, with clamorous proffers of their
wares in broken bits of several languages —
EngUsh, French, Italian, and Spanish.
Of course I shaU not attempt to describe the
famous " Eock," whose history and prominent
features are so famUiar to everybody. Yet even
here the intruding Saxon has made his mark,
untU the grim old Moorish pirate, Tarik — who
has left it his name — would not recognize his
eyry, were he permitted, like Hamlet's father,
to " revisit the glimpses of the moon," and look
upon it again.
The fortifications constitute the chief feature,
yet a drive through the town, that nestles down
by the seaside under their protection, wiU
richly repay the traveUer by the curious con
trasts of character, costume, and race which will
everywhere meet his eye. Like Malta, the

THE " ROCK SCORPIONS." 5
place has a most hybrid aspect, and so have the
population — haU Oriental, half European, with
a strong infusion of the Spanish, which is
sui generis and most characteristic.
The English here, as at Malta, have only
encamped, not colonized. They have not fused
and mixed in with the native population, as has
been usually the case with Anglo-Saxon settle
ment in other lands. " The Eock scorpion " of
Gibraltar, Uke the Maltese, does not hold social
intercourse with the EngUsh residents, who
constitute a society within themselves apart
from the foreign element ; and as it was in the
beginning, so it is to-day, and wUl be to-morrow,
on both the rocks referred to ; held by force and
by fear, not by affection or by choice, as appa
nages of England.
Among the "Eock scorpions" (as the ofiicers
term the native population) the Spanish type is
strongly marked ia men and women, with an
occasional infusion of Moorish blood, which, in
fact, is perceptible throughout the whole of
Spain. The men are lithe, swarthy, and sinewy, with
black hair and flashing eyes ; the women, espe
ciaUy the younger ones, decidedly pretty and
gipsy-looking. It was ?ifete day, sacred to some
saint, when we landed, and many of the children
were dressed in white for their first communion,

6 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
and presented a most pleasing picture. The
women, stiU wearing the Spanish mantUla, fiUed
the narrow pathways going to or returning from
chapel, and added to the picturesqueness of the
scene to eyes, which for days past had rested
only on the tumbling waves of the dreary sea.
The streets are steep and narrow, with taU
stone houses of quaint architecture hemming
them in. — ^with gUmpses of green gardens, in
which gleam the golden oranges among the
foUage, through open gateways. The pubhc
buildings are by no means remarkable, except for
their mean appearance, contrasting thus most
unfavourably with the other rock, Malta, where
the grand palaces of the old knights have been
appropriated for the purpose. At Gibraltar the
British Government has pushed simpUcity to
meanness, in the Governor's palace and other
pubUc buUdings, not having had any old knights'
palaces ready at hand.
But the market-place struck us most, with its
rich supplies of ripe frmt displayed in tempting
profusion — orange, lemon, banana, blended with
the fruits of less tropical regions ; while the
baskets of roses and other fresh flowers per
suaded us that we must have been suddenly
transported from November into June.
At mid-day we saUed away from this garden-
spot in the waste of waters, whose grim fortifica-

fi( ryrxmr anriTt-mri-KXCf "

VAIN HOPES OF THE "ROCK SCORPIONS.
tions contrast so strongly with its green' gardens
that cover the slopes below, as though War and
Peace were disputing the ownership of the spot :
and whose summer-Uke sun, even at this wintry
season, gUded and warmed impartially the two.
One cannot wonder that Spanish pride chafes
at the English occupation of a spot so favoured,
the key to 'two seas; and that even the "Eock
scorpions," whose blood is Spanish, although
profitiag by the garrison and the expenditure it
involves for their benefit, should equaUy resist
denationalization, and look longingly forward (as
I am told they do) to the day when the flag of
Spain shaU replace the banner of St. George
on that lofty height. The British Government,
however, shows no disposition to relinquish its
grasp on this stronghold, which it stiU keeps
strengthening, and it would be idle to dream of
wresting it away by force ; whUe seven years'
provisions for the garrison, stowed safely away,
forbid the possibiUty of starving out the place
by investment.
We had six hours' detention at Gibraltar,
which we passed most pleasantly, repairing to
the beautiful and shady gardens, which do so
much credit to the pubUc spirit of the people ;
and, with a basket of fruit at our feet purchased
for two or three shiUings, sitting in open air,
surveying the beauties of earth and sky. Gazing

8 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
up to the frowning rock, at its summit we could
discern the sentries pacing to and fro, reduced
to the size of small chUdren, on that airy height ;
from which, in very windy weather, one would
imagine they might be blown off bodily into the
sea; and turning our eyes stUl further upward,
could rejoice in a vision of that blue unclouded
canopy of sky, which we had lost sight of for
many weary weeks before in dear old dingy,
grimy, cloud-covered London.
For the rest of our trip we saUed over smooth
seas, under sunny skies — the blue expanse of
water unruffled by a blast, resembUng more a
placid lake than the ever-restless and unquiet
sea ; reaching Malta on the fourth day, and
passing six hours there, which, of course, we
spent on shore.
This haU-way house between Europe and
Africa has been so often and so weU portrayed,
that it would be an impertinence to reiterate a
thrice-told tale in describing its frowning forts
bristUng with guns on the sea side, and the wide
stretch of rocky plain, unrelieved by trees or
verdure, which lies behind the town or towns,
and the fortifications, which look strong
enough to repel any foe, however numerous or
however bold ; nature and art having combined
to render Malta, or rather Yaletta, as impreg
nable almost as Gibraltar.

THE KEYS TO THE MEDITERRANEAN. 9
V/ith these two keys to the Mediterranean,
and the additional latch-key to Port Said, that
sea may indeed now be regarded as an English
lake, and John BuU's India house perfectly pro
tected against either burglars or sneak- thieves.
"What the energy and foresight of Lieutenant
Waghorn first provided in the " overland
route " through Egypt, in shortening the road
to India, the supplementary work of M. de
Lesseps has made even easier and safer, under
all contingencies. But without the possession
of the ' keys already mentioned, with the addi
tional pass-key of the Eed Sea, the Great Bear
might contend with the Lion for the future
possession of Asia — a conflict now seemingly
indefinitely postponed.
Of the steep rocky streets, which you have to
scale by actual steps cut in the stone (by some
approaches apparently as high as the dome of
St. Peter's), with taU stone houses shutting in
the narrow streets, showing a strip of blue sky
above and a gUmpse of the sea at each end ; of
the ever-increasing escort of ragged native beg
gars, which precedes and follows the stranger's
steps, whining piteously for alms in all the
languages of the Levant, which are those of
Babel ; of the preponderance of the miUtary
element in the streets when you reach the
Strada Eeale of Yaletta, on which stand the

10 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Governor's palace, the Guard House, the Library,
the clubs, and the hotels and cafes; — are not
aU these famiUar to the Indian traveUer, the
Egyptian voyager, and even the more enter
prising of the tourists chaperoned by Messrs.
Cook and Gaze ?
But Malta presents more curious contrasts
and more interesting studies, than those which
first strike the stranger's eye, after landing and
sauntering slowly through its unsavoury streets,
where a congress of smells, as well as of lan
guages, seems ever in permanent session.
The conflict of races, and their refusal, not
only to amalgamate, but to meet and co-operate
with each other — the evident stamp of subju
gation on the one, and of imperious domination
on the other part — is even more perceptible
at Malta than at Gibraltar; and the mutual
repugnance of the two races more strongly
evinced in speech, in act, and in print. You
cannot pick up a local newspaper without get
ting proof of this; and the language employed
by these local editors is not even loyal,
much less flattering to their local governors, or
the government they represent. From the
Governor down to the lowest official, the
language of denunciation and dispraise is freely
used ; and assertions that would be regarded as
Ubellous or actionable elsewhere freely indulged

HALF-WAY HOUSE BETWEEN EUROPE AND AFRICA. 11
in, and greedUy devoured by the Maltese portion
of the population. A winter spent at Malta
enables me to speak understandingly of place
and people; and the result of my observation
was, that if England depended solely or chiefly
on the loyalty of her Maltese subjects to retain
the island, her tenure would be insecure indeed!
The native Maltese are a curious ' race —
ItaUan, with a strong infusion of Arab or
Moorish blood in them : and with a most mis-
ceUaneous mixture of the blood of the different
orders of foreign knights, who formerly lived and
loved on the island, some of whose vows were
notoriously regarded more " in the breach than
the observance." Like their rocky home, the
people are a kind of half-way house between the
West and the East; but in them the Eastern
element predominates. They have even in
vented a language on the same principle — haK
" Lingua Franca," haK Arabic — unwritten, yet
currently spoken and understood among them
selves. They seem almost amphibious — the
boys diving down into the sea and bringing up
the pennies thrown into the water from the
ship's side ; and the boatmen looking half fisher
man, half pirate, as they paddle across from
Yaletta to Sleima for a twopenny fare ; the
same boatmen, by the way, having this pecu
liarity, that they are so strongly satm-ated by the

12 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
garUc they eat, that it penetrates not only their
skin, but even their clothing, so that when the
wind blows from them to the passenger in their
boat, he scents not " the sweet south wind
breathing o'er beds of violet," but the breath of
Boreas blustering over the garUc fields, and
redolent of that most potent perfume. Yet they
are a good-tempered, hard-working, quick-witted
race, even when uneducated ; and the higher
classes, who are chiefly descended from SiciUan
nobles, and stiU bear their titles, possess the
pride of race in a high degree ; and among them
may be found ladies and gentlemen of the
highest refinement and culture, fitted to shine
in any society. But they are jealously exclusive,
and reciprocate the disrespect shown them by
the English officers, by not mingling with them
and their famUies more than they can possibly
avoid. At a ball given by one of these, descended from
the old noblesse, out of several hundred guests,
there were not more than a dozen EngUsh
present or invited.
On this occasion the national dance of Malta,
which is performed in the old peasant costume,
to an old national air, was danced by some very
handsome young girls and their partners; and
the music, which was wild and strange, seemed
to fit in to every movement. It resembled more

AMATEUR THEATRICALS. i3
an English country dance than a Scotch reel,
and was danced with great spirit.
But to resume our voyage.
Over these smooth seas we glided, the throb
cf the great heart of the engine pulsing audibly
our progress, during the silent watches of the
day and night, until on the fourth morning after
leaving Malta, at sunrise we sighted the Ught-
house of Port Said, on the low flat shore which
there meets the Mediterranean. The night
before we had an amateur theatrical perform
ance, in which two weU-known professional
artistes, Minnie Walton (an exceedingly pretty
and joUy woman and charming actress) and
young Sothern, who inherits much of his father's
talent, kindly participated — quite a brUUant
success ; coUecting a considerable sum for the
benefit of a charity fund, to which the proceeds
were appropriated.
We parted with the ship and passengers, after
our two weeks' experience of both, with reluc
tance; for it has seldom been my lot, in the
course of wanderings more varied and wide,
though not so much confined to one sea as
those of the much bedevUled Ulysses, to have
passed on board ship a more agreeable fort
night. But as we were not bound to China or
India, and the captain decUned the responsi
bility of dumping us down at IsmaiUa as his

14 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
boat passed by, we saw no use in going through
to Suez ; so we gathered our luggage together,
descended the ship's side, and embarked our
selves and what the Eomans properly termed
impedimenta, on the smaU boat which was to take
us to the shore, where an expectant crowd, in
baggy breeches, and no clothing worth mention
ing, with very brown and exceedingly dirty faces
and persons, seemed waiting to welcome — -and,
alas ! to plunder us.
But a haK-score of years ago, when the Suez
Canal was as yet an uncertainty — in posse not in
esse — where now stands a. thriving and growing
town were but a few scattered buUdings for the
use of the workmen and machinery of the Canal
Company. But five years earUer, the site now
occupied by piles of pubUc and private buUdings,
surrounded by blooming gardens fiUed, even at
this wintry season of the year, with green trees
and tropical flowers in fuU bloom, was but a
barren sandy waste, whose rugged coast offered
no avaUable harbour. But with the opening of
the canal, "as though by stroke of an enchanter's
wand," the desert was made to blossom as the
rose, the groaning sea recoiled, a safe harbour was
created, in which great ships might safely ride,
and the twin towns of Port Said and IsmaiUa
(the one at the Mediterranean mouth, the other
at the central point of the new water-way)

PORT SAID — ITS BIRTH AND BAPTISM. 15
sprang into sudden and lusty Ufe, and have
been growing into manhood, with a rapidity
truly marveUous to contemplate in so old and
slow a country as that in which they were
incubated out of the desert sands.
Although M. de Lesseps obtained the concession
for the canal in the year 1854, shortly after the
accession of Said Pacha, supported only by
the Dutch and American consuls-generals in his
appUcation — even the French consul-general,
like the EngUsh, then ridicuUng and opposing
the project in consequence of the opposition to
it from England and Constantinople — it was
fuUy five years before he got a fair start, and
the birth of Port Said may really be dated from
1859. It was a very rickety chUd long after, and
it was only in 1869, with the opening of the
canal, that its real growth began. Since that
time its march has been onward.
We landed at the wharf of Port Said among
a motley crowd of native porters, aU shriek
ing, yeUing, and jostUng each other in true
Egyptian fashion, in desperate efforts to get
possession of our luggage. Everybody got per
sistently in everybody else's way, and each
separate piece of luggage created a harmless
battle for its possession, simUar to that so vividly
described by Homer, as having raged over the
body of Patroclus, it being fortunate, in both

16 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
cases, that the objects contended for were in
animate. We were protected in our persons by
the inevitable Dragoman, who promptly took
possession of us, and resolutely refused to
abandon us, in spite of our protests, until we
left the place at midnight ; standing sentry out
side of our door when we "sported our oak"
against him, when inside the hotel, and squab
bling for more "backsheesh" when we last saw
him gesticulating wildly on the canal shore by
moonlight. Civilization immediately stared us
in the face on landing, in the shape of a Custom
house ; and OrientaUsm in the backsheesh bribes
we had to pay the employes, for not examining
our various parcels and packages.
This ceremony over, escorted by a rabble rout
of porters and the friends of porters, each
striving to touch some part of the luggage
carried by the others, to estabUsh a claim for
payment, we proceeded to the Grand Hotel du
Louvre — -a French hotel of rather a barracky
appearance, but whose table was reaUy Parisian
and comforting to stomachs kept on the plain
British cuisine of the P. and 0. steamer for
the two preceding weeks. Here we remained
from 8 a.m. until midnight, and found the hotel
— with two exceptions — comfortable enough.
These exceptions were the villainous smells
that permeated and pervaded it throughout from

MEN AND MUSQITOES AT PORT SAID. 17
imperfect drainage, and the hungry hosts of
musquitoes which banqueted upon us without
a moment's cessation. These winged leeches
were smaU, black, and voiceless ; giving no
" dreadful note of preparation," as is usual with
their bolder brethren elsewhere, but settling
down in sUence on face or hands, and giving the
first indication of their visit by the presentation
of their "little biUs," untU we were driven out
into the open air to escape them. We also
found human musquitoes, in the proprietors of
the hotel, who proved almost as bad bloodsuckers
as the winged ones, on presenting their "Uttle
biUs " also at parting. But keeping an hotel at
Port Said must reaUy be no joke, and the few
outsiders who can be caught in transit ought
not to grumble at high charges under such ex
ceptional circumstances ; and therefore let us
dismiss both men and musquitoes with a bene
diction, and the expression of a hope that we
may never be subjected to the tender mercies of
either again, during our Eastward pUgrimage.
As there are but two daUy departures, vid the
canal, for Ismailia, forty mUes distant, by smaU
steamers — one early in the morning, the other
at midnight — and we had missed the first, we
spent the day in strolUng over the town, which is
decidedly French in aspect, and weU and com
pactly built. The foreign population also seems
16^

18 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
chiefly French — ^people in some way connected
with the Isthmus works ; and the language also
in the shops was French, instead of ItaUan, as
is generaUy the case at Alexandria or Cairo.
Port Said is rather a pretty, though not over
clean place, with a large pubUc garden in the
centre of the town, filled with rare Eastern
trees, shrubs, and flowers, aU looking as fresh
and blooming as though the season were July,
not November. The heat of the sun also was
so oppressive that we had to resort to umbreUas
for protection. The town is remarkable as the
growth of so short a time, not only in its soUd
blocks of buUdings and blooming gardens, but
also for the magnitude and beauty of many of
the private residences, with their large verandahs
extending aU around them, as in Havana — the
ceaseless clouds of tobacco smoke rising from
the mouths of the residents, completing the
resemblance to the " ever-faithful island."
Many of these planter-Uke residences are
occupied by the agents of the numerous steam
ship Unes, of aU nationalities, trading with India
and China through the canal ; one of the effects
of that great artery's being opened having been
the destruction of the previous British monopoly
of the trade of the East. Now an eager and
active competition is carried on by other nation
aUties and by private companies, to the great

MIDNIGHT VOYAGE TO ISMAILIA. 19
diminution of value of the P. and 0. stock,
which used to command very high premiums
when that pioneer Une enjoyed the monopoly of
the overland transit through Egypt.
Viewing these snug residences, and reflecting
that, for at least a portion of the year, the Uves
of the foreign residents must pass in almost as
unbroken apathy and repose as those of Tenny
son's "lotos-eaters," it occurred to us that the
noiseless though persistent musquito of Port
Said may have been provided by Providence, to
prevent the blood from stagnating in so torpid a
place ; acting as a substitute for the immemorial
"barber-leech" of Italy and Spain. We were
surprised to find such numerous and exceUent
shops at Port Said, and the extreme youth of
the place insured the freshness of the suppUes.
The streets are broad and well laid out; and
although walking on the pavements, or the ledge
representing them, is not unaccompanied by
the drawbacks of sleeping dogs and much un-
removed rubbish, common to aU Eastern towns,
yet, on the whole, a lady wearing short skirts
can contrive to pass over them in comparative
safety. At midnight we left the hotel for the smaU
Egyptian mail steamer, which was to take us
through the canal to IsmaiUa. We were not
kept waiting much over an hour beyond the

20 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
aippointed time at the office, and again were
confronted with civiUzation, in the shape of
weighing luggage, and heavy charges for aUeged
extra weight in addition to our regular fare,
ahnost doubling the tariff price. OrientaUsm
also took leave of us in a chorus of lamentations,
sounding strangely Uke curses, from Dragoman
and porters, already heavily overpaid for real or
imaginary services forced upon us : as the small
steamer splashed away towards the canal, under
a moonUght almost as bright as dayUght.
The steamer looked Uke a toy boat, reminding
us, both from its size, and its wheel at the stern
instead of the sides of the vessel, of the smaU
boats that ply up and down the bayous in Loui
siana. A very diminutive cabin forward, with
no berths, but simply divans, sufficient to accom
modate six persons stretched out at full length,
constituted the first-class accommodation. For
tunately there were in aU but four first-class
passengers, so we were comfortable enough. As
we were favoured by bright moonUght — so bright
that one could easily read by it — I spent the
larger portion of my time on the smaU outside
deck, looking out upon the strange scene, and
the narrow canal through which we were almost
noiselessly paddling at the rate of about eight
mUes per hour. The great sea walls outside,
buUt out into the sea several miles, to resist the

PASSAGE THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL. 21
encroachments of the Mediterranean, as weU as
the opening or mouth of the canal itseK, are
weU worth seeing and examining more closely
than our time aUowed us ; for they are proofs of
the wonderful ingenuity and skUl of engineering
science in resisting the wars of winds and waves
against its artificial bulwarks..
But the greater part of the transit to Ismailia
from Port Said, when the first novelty is over,
is monotonous in the extreme — almost a run
through a large ditch, which, however, is far
wider than one would have imagined from
merely reading a description of it ; since it looks
wide enough to permit several steamers of largo
size to pass at the same time. Part of the canal
is simply a trench cut through the d-esert, which
is gritty, not sandy, and the deepening of the
channel through salt lakes already existing, but
too shaUow for navigation. The rest consists of
heavy cuttings through hiUs, whose rugged out
lines on either side break the dead level and
umform monotony of the banks. Approaching
and leaving Kantara— a station where a short
stoppage is made — the latter is the case.
Yet the scene is unique and utterly unlike any
other; the southern bayous, whose water-way
resembles the canal, being fringed with great
trees draped in moss, waving from them like
banners in some old cathedral, and Uned besides

22 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
by dense underbrush. Here the dead sUence
and soUtude, the grey wastes around unreUeved
by tree, bush, or shrub, looking stiU more ghostly
under moonUght, with only the plashing of the
little steamer to recall the sounds of Ufe, made
it a solemn and weird spectacle, though a
monotonous one, during the six hours of our
transit.

Iii

n

II
[Ml

'^ ^^

iff "ii" >*'-iJfer •

A'ViV, '«

I \

If /' '4^ '>- ,V

( 23 )

CHAPTEE II.
ISMAILIA— THE DESERT— CAIRO.
Reach Ismailia at sunrise — First view. — The Custom-house nuisance
again — The faith in things unseen — The Hotel: Paris — A truly
Parisian cuisine — Stroll over the town — Its pubhc and private
gardens — Peculiar charms of this oasis in the desert — The railway
route, via Zagazig, to Cairo — Along the Fresh- Water Canal —
Should the Chinese coolie he imported?: — The Suez Canal and
Euphrates Railway route — Some facts and figures about the Suez
Canal — Mention of one of its founders.
We reached Ismailia about sunrise, and passing
ashore with our luggage, found ourselves under
a leafy bower of shade trees, forming an avenue
of acacias and wUd figs which, although yet
youthful, had attained already sufficient , pro
portions to do honour to the Champs Elysees ;
although they, as weU as the Uttle city which
we saw at the end of the leafy vista, haK a mile
distant, occupied the space which was sandy
desert a few years before. For nature here is
indeed a bounteous mother, wherever water is
brought to the soU ; no^ other fertilizer seeming
to be needed in this country of contradictions.

24 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Here, again, we were most unexpectedly
arrested by the Custom-house nuisance, to
which we had aUeady been subjected at Port
Said but twenty-four hours before. Why or
wherefore the superior powers alone can teU;
but the wayfaring man, though not a fool,
may not. Argument and expostulation were in
vain, and more francs had to be offered up on
the shrine of Backsheesh the Insatiable, whose
worship has succeeded that of Isis and Osiris in
the land of the Pharaohs, before we were per
mitted to pass the imaginary barrier, where
there is a gate barring the road, and an exces
sively dirty and stoUd Egyptian acting as toU-
gatherer. On we marched, with unopened
trunks borne on the shoulders of several Arabs,
towards IsmaiUa and breakfast; and wearied
with our night journey, hailed the sight of the
Hotel Paris, which had been highly recom
mended to us, and richly merited the recommen
dation. IsmaiUa (so named in compUment to the
Khedive) is a far prettier, though much smaUer,
town than Port Said, which the completion and
successful working of the Fresh- Water Canal,
that connects it directly with Cairo, and
promises to act as a great feeder of produce to
the Suez Canal by diverting the transportation
thither, bids fair to expand into much larger

A GARDEN-CITY. 25
proportions, and make the centre of a brisk
trade in native produce. Even now it is an
attractive and pretty place — a wonderfuUy pre
cocious child of eight years of age — with its
pubUc garden in the centre of the city, blooming
even in mid-winter with rare exotics and ever
greens, and with a large fountain of fresh water
furnishing the inhabitants with a fuU supply
of that luxury. Its Khedivial palace, and the
pretty chalets of M. de Lesseps and others, em
bowered in gardens filled with flowers and fruits,
and its snug Uttle shops fiUed with Parisian
knicknacks, give it the air of one of the smaU
towns in the environs of Paris bodily trans
ported into the desert — an impression which the
prevalence of the French tongue, even on Arab
Ups, tends also to enhance. Here the " Father
of the Isthmus," as he loves to be called —
M. de Lesseps, that well known " Veillard qui
ne se veillit pas " (as his French friends say) —
holds his court for three months every year, ahd
dispenses hospitaUty on the most lavish scale ;
and at the patriarchal age of seventy-three,
exceeding the Scriptural term, with his young
wife and houseful of young chUdren, seems to
bloom like a century plant.
IsmaiUa, as already stated, enjoys the excep
tional privUege of an excellent hotel, the Hotel
Paris, kept by an old French resident, who

26 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
boasts the same name as the gay capital of
France, and who proves himseK entitled to that
highest eulogium of " knowing how to keep an
hotel." So weU is this appreciated in Egypt,
that many of the visitors to, and residents at,
Cau-o are in the habit of running up to IsmaiUa
to enjoy the cuisine and the cUmate, both of
which, except at midsummer, are exceptionaUy
good. Our experience of the place was Umited
but to a few hours, but a better breakfast, on
short notice, could not have been served at
Paris — deUcious fish fresh from the lake being
one of the most attractive features, served up
with a sauce justifying the French gourmet's
eulogy: "Monsieur, with this sauce one might
eat his father ! "
Ismailia is famous for its fish, with which the
Cairene market is supplied ; and its fruits and
flowers also are almost unrivalled.
The town itseK is European in appearance,
reminding one of AuteuU or Passy, with a dash
of the East thrown in by the semi-tropical
vegetation. The shops are chiefly kept by
French men or women, who constitute the bulk
of the population, although of course the
evidences of Egyptian residence are not wanting.
The climate in winter is said to be very equable
and agreeable, though I should suppose that
the vicinity of large bodies of water would

DESCRIPTION OF ZAGAZIG. 27
render it somewhat damp. This, however, the
residents wiU not admit, and my own experience
was too Umited to contradict their positive and
patriotic vindication of their cUmate. Certain
it is that IsmaiUa is a very pretty place, and for
those who love peace and quiet, and can dis
pense with society, might prove an attractive
residence during the winter months; although
few Oriental features present themselves there
beyond the gardens and the cUmate. Its proxi
mity to Cairo also tends to render it accessible
to civUization and society.
We spent only a few hours at Ismailia, and
then took the railway, vid Zagazig, to Cairo — a
most dusty and fatiguing journey of about seven
hours, rendered apparently longer by the fre
quent and almost interminable stoppages at the
smaU railway stations, or rather sheds, every
haK-hour. Zagazig, at which we stopped en
route, is reaUy a pretty place, and apparently a
prosperous one, with its weU-buUt houses, and
storehouses for produce, and its mosques and
minarets of much pretension, to meet the
spiritual wants of its population, which is chiefly
Egyptian. Out of 40,000 inhabitants of which it
boasts, not more than 300 can even put in a claim
to foreign European origin. It is the chief city
of the province of Charkye, which numbers
nearly haK a million of inhabitants. Among

28 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
other large cities in the Delta are — Daman-
hour, with 25,000 inhabitants ; Mansourah, with
16,000 ; Tanta (where the great fairs are held),
with 60,000 ; Eosetta at the NUe-mouth 15,000,
and Damietta 29,000 ; so that there are cities to
be seen outside of Cairo and Alexandria, though
seldom visited by tourists.
For more than haK the way after leaving Is
maiUa, the transit is through the desert — the most
bare, bleak, and dreary scene the eye of man can
rest upon; the very "abomination of desolation"
spoken of in Scripture ; unreUeved for mUes by
the sUghtest trace of man's presence or occupa
tion, deserted even by birds and beasts, — an arid,
shrubless waste of ever-shKting sand. Yet ex
perience has proved that even this desert waste
can be made " to blossom as the rose," simply
by the use of water, without other fertUizers;
and one of the great uses of the Fresh- Water
Canal wiU arise from the irrigation it wUl supply,
and the belt of fertiUty it wUl create, along the
whole Une of its course. The blooming gardens
of Port Said and IsmaiUa, so lately redeemed
from the desert by similar agency, would seem
to afford ample confirmation to this claim ; espe
ciaUy since the canal has passed into the hands
of the Suez Canal Company, at least for a time,
that corporation having obtained the control of
it from the Khedive. The opening of this new

THE FRESH-WATER CANAL, 29
water-way has already been celebrated with
much pomp at Ismailia in AprU, 1877 ; and the
Khedive has promised formaUy to inaugurate it
in the autumn.
Statements have been made, in English and
foreign journals, that the Fresh- Water Canal
from Ismailia had been purchased from the
Egyptian Government by the Suez Canal Com
pany ; but this is a mistake. Like most of the
great pubUc works of Egypt at this moment, it
has only been hypothecated to creditors, as are
the raUways and the harbours and docks.
A debt of 2,500,000 francs being due to M.
Paponot, the contractor, and to the Suez Canal
Company, for advances made to the Khedive, it
has been agreed that a commissioner shaU be
appointed by the Canal Company to take over
a portion of the toUs collected from the New
Fresh- Water Canal, untU the Uquidation of this
debt ; though the Suez Company wiU have no
power to control the management, but merely to
coUect a portion of the money accruing there
from, as it is paid into the treasury.
The receipts of the new canal are estimated
at about 1,000,000 francs per annum, which
would clear off the company's loan in three
years and a haK. But, of course, this calcu
lation is based on the popularity of the new
canal as a means of transit for the produce of

30 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
the interior, hitherto conveyed by other routes.
As to its profits from irrigation, they probably
wUl not be immediate nor great, for reasons
already stated ; and, in reaUty, with the diminish
ing force of labourers, which the war wiU neces-
sarUy cause, both by the drafts from Con
stantinople, and the necessity of keeping up an
army in Egypt to guard the canal and meet
other possible contingencies, some time must
elapse before more land wiU be needed for culti
vation in Egypt.
What is needed to effect the redemption of
thousands of acres more of the waste lands of
Egypt, in addition to canals for irrigation, is
labour, and the judicious employment of it ;
instead of the slovenly and wasteful system that
now prevaUs.
Egypt is sparsely populated, even for its area
of already cultivable land; and of its five and
a haK miUions of inhabitants, probably one-
third of its adult male population reside in
the larger cities and towns, and are not
agricultural labourers or cultivators. Cairo
swaUows up haK a miUion, Alexandria a quar
ter of a miUion, living by petty trades or indus
trial pursuits other than agricultural. The
large towns of the Delta, which have increased
enormously in size and population under the
present reign, swaUow up many thousands

EGYPT'S GREATEST WANT. 31
more. A rigorous system of conscription also
drafts largely from the rural population its
young and able-bodied portion, the very bone
and sinew of the country, to perish by disease or
battle in Turkey or Abyssinia, or become un
productive consumers at home. The standing
strength of the Egyptian army has been esti
mated at from 60,000 to 70,000 men, although
recently the Khedive has reduced the cadres
largely, and wisely sent back his warriors into
that field where pruning-hooks take the place of
swords. The new acquisitions in Soudan and
Central Africa have called for, and must stiU de
mand, large expeditionary corps, many — perhaps
most — of whom are destined never to return ;
falling victims either to the pestilential cUmate
(almost as fatal to the Egyptian as to the
European), or to the ferocity of the savage
warriors of interior Africa, a race seemingly as
imtamable as the Comanche Indians. How to
supply this pressing want, underlying the pro
gress and prosperity of Egypt, is one of the
many problems now vexing the active and
restless brain of the Khedive, who has inherited
much of the energy, as well as the throne of
his grandfather, Mehemet AU — the Napoleon of
the East — founder of a line which bids fair to
outUve that of the Sultan's.
By his equatorial annexations (now welded

32 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
together under the rule of the adventurous
and indefatigable Gordon Pacha (to whom ab
solute governorship for Ufe has recently been
given), the Khedive has thus far gained a large
increase of territory and of population nomi
naUy, but no material advantage, nor addition
to his labouring population. For it is more
than doubtful, if the barbarians of Central Africa
even were colonized in Egypt, that they could
be made to work in the fields as regular labourers.
Their native indolence, as weU as their savage
training, would render the result of such an
experiment (even K attempted on a large scale)
more than problematical. The tiger cannot be
made to plough in the same furrow as the ox ;
and the savage Central African nomad, com
pared with the peaceful, drudging Egyptian
feUah — a serf and born thraU for centuries — is as
the tiger to the ox. In this strait the attention
of the Khedive has been directed, by thoughtful
Europeans in Egypt, towards the teeming and
industrious millions of China ; and a scheme for
the introduction of coolies into Egypt has been
proposed to and considered by the Khedive
himself, who has incUned a serious ear to the
proposition, but has interposed doubts as to the
feasibUity or propriety of the scheme proposed,
suggesting a plan of his own for the purpose.
Pie has responded that the idea was not a bad

INTRODUCTION OF "THE HEATHEN CHINEE." 33
one, but the experiment of introducing the
cooUes at his own risk and expense might prove
a costly one to him, should it result in failure ;
and that it might prove highly difficult to enforce
contracts with them, after they were in the
country. " But," he added, "K they will come
of their own accord, and at their own expense,
entaUing no charge, present or prospective, upon
my government, they shall be warmly welcomed ;
be given employment, or, should they prefer it,
be aUowed to occupy and reclaim vacant or wild
lands, which shaU be free from taxation for a
term of years."
The initiatory steps have thus been taken, the
seeds have been sown, and it is more than pro
bable that a short time only wiU elapse before
the " heathen Chinee " wiU show his yeUow face
in Egypt, and add one more to the many types
of race already there. For there are many
reasons why the Chinaman should feel himseK
more at home in Egypt than in California, or in
other Western lands into which his cupidity has
led him. In the first place, soU, climate, and
productions, as weU as modes of cultivation in
Egypt, assimUate ipore closely to those of the
land of his birth, than those in the Western
Hemisphere. In the second place, the prejudice
of colour, caste, and race, as well as of religion,
wiU not weigh so heavily upon him among

34 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
the Moslems, as among the " pale-faces " and
Christians, whose "charity" does not cover his
"multitude of sins" (real or supposed), in the
West. Put him down among the rice fields of
Eosetta or Damietta, or on the sugar plantations
at Minieh, among the copper-coloured labourers
there assembled, and but for the difference of
language and dress he might fancy himseK at
home. There is really no such sharp dividing
line of character, custom and race between the
CooUe and the Fellah — no such insuperable bar
riers as those existing between the former and
the European ; and in the former case amalga
mation, as well as association, would not seem
impossible, or even improbable. In short, view
ing the matter in ereij aspect, the proposal to
introduce the Coolie into Egypt, to fiU the labour
void, seems to offer the speediest as weU as most
satisfactory solution of the problem.
This train of reflection was irresistibly induced
by what the new canal is expected to accompUsh.
For what use wUl land be, however capable of
culture, without the hands to utUize it ? And
should the Mongol ants swarm into Egypt for this
purpose, how great a revolution in American as
weU as Egyptian interests may they not effect ?
Since the Suez Canal ceased to be an^ en
gineering question, by its successful completion
and working, it has passed into the other phase

WILL THE SUEZ CANAL PAY? 35
of a financial question. " Can it be made to
pay ? " is now the problem which thus far, owing
to the enormous subsidies extorted from succes
sive viceroys (now for ever ended), has never
been fairly tested until recently.
We are very much in the dark as to many
points of the administration, and as to the actual
expenses of the concern ; it having been very
much of a close corporation, under French con
trol, untU intermeddling "perfide .4 Z&zora" insisted
on putting her finger into the pie, and assuming
a share in the direction of the enterprise, to
which she contributes about nine-tenths of the
support. My own brief examination of the canal
showed me how incessant must be the wash
upon the sides, and the filling up of the narrow
channel, through ordinary wear and tear. But
there are other and extraordinary influences
also at work on the canal, owing to its pecuUar
situation and surroundings, as the foUowing
statement cUpped from the London papers of
May 1st wiU conclusively show: — "The Penin
sular and Oriental Company's steamship Poonah,
with the India and China maUs, which arrived
at Southampton yesterday, experienced, while
in the Suez Canal, a severe sand-storm, which
commenced at sunrise, and continued, more or
less furious, until five in the afternoon. During
the storm she laid right across the canal power-

36 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
less. Tons of sand were thrown on the decTc,
and the masts and gear were covered with a
thick coating."
The effects of a series of such storms on the
canal must be obvious to every one, the pecuUar
position and character of that work being taken
into consideration.
From a general statement of the affairs of the
canal, made to the shareholders at their general
meeting at Paris, towards the close of the year
1876, by M. Charles de Lesseps, son of "the
founder," and vice-president of the company, we
derive some information as to its actual working.
He assumes only to give " an interesting forecast
of the probable financial results of the year's
working" (to quote the language of the journal
from which this statement is extracted), " as
foUows " : —
" In 1875, he said a net profit of 1,061,000
francs (£42,440) had been earned, which was
sufficient for the payment of a dividend of
If. 88c. per share. It is expected, however,
that the free revenue of 1876 wiU amount to
1,500,000 or 1,600,000 francs (£60,000 to
£64,000), and this increase of about 50 per cent.
in the profits wUl admit of the payment of a
dividend of about 2f. 80c. per share, which,
added to the 25 francs of interest, gives a
revenue of about 28 francs per share. But the

CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE COMPANY. 37
company may be said to have made even greater
progress than is shown by these figures. The
increase in the traffic receipts for 1876, as com
pared with those for the previous year, amounted
to 1,100,000 francs (£44,000), whUe the working
expenses had actuaUy diminished. On the
working of the canal, therefore, there had been
an increased profit not of 60, but of fully 100
per cent. ; but, owing, to the commercial de
pression in Egypt, the company had not been
able to dispose of its lands so readUy as in
former years, nor to invest its. money on such
advantageous terms. M. G de Lesseps, how
ever, hopes that as the commercial situation
improves these two last sources of income wUl
become more prolific, and that, K peace be
secured, an immediate and important increase of
traffic may be expected. That increase, too, he
beUeves, wiU not necessitate any augmentation
in the working charges."
This statement, it must be borne in mind
does not come from M. Ferdinand de Lesseps,
the head of the company, but from his son,
lately promoted to the post of vice-president,
and therefore cannot be regarded as a formal
official expose, of the actual condition and pros
pects of the company, which has recently been
strengthened, or weakened, by £4,000,000 of
British gold, and the appointment of two EngUsh

38 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
members of the Board. To practical people, this
" interesting forecast " wUl not be as satisfactory
as it seems to have proved to the able editor
who reports it; the facts and figures not being
so roseate of hue, as the hopes and beUefs of,
Lesseps the younger, based partly on political
and partly on speculative assumptions, which
may, or may not, prove faUacious. The jarrings
and jealousies which have recently manKested
themselves between the old French and new
English stockholders have not tended to con
stitute " a happy famUy " out of the directory;
nor has Mr. DisraeU's grand coup increased its
harmony. The Lion, not the Eagle, now guards
the entrance to, and protects the passage
through the canal, which, but for Napoleon III.
(who wrung the miUions of indemnity out of the
recalcitrating viceroy), would never have been
completed. Never was the irony of fate more
curiously exhibited than in the history of this
enterprise which, planned and perfected by
French pertinacity and French francs, eked out
by Egyptian indemnities and contributions, has
finaUy resulted in the almost exclusive use and
benefit of England, so long its contemptuous
critic and opponent.
That which one of the greatest EngUsh
ministers, with the greatest EngUsh engineer at
his back, contemptuously pooh-poohed in Par-

THE COST OF THE CANAL. 39
liament, with aU England applauding him, an
equaUy audacious successor in the premiership,
encouraged by equaUy loud popular acclamation,
has recently disbursed miUions upon ; and a
young prince of the blood royal has been sent in
his ship, to keep watch and ward over its Medi
terranean mouth, against aU comers. For the
canal now is more EngUsh than French; and
probably the most bitter reflection that passes
through the mind of the representative French
man who, in conjunction with tWo other French
men (the engineers Linaiit and Mougel Beys,
who suppUed the engineering skiU in which the
ancient diplomat was deficient), planned and
perfected the canal, must be the knowledge of
this fact ; as weU as the painful conviction that
although, during the term of his natural life, he
wiU stUl be the figure-head of the company,
his destined successor must inevitably be an
FjngUshman — from the preponderating interest of
that nationaUty in the work, whether in peace or
in war.
The cost of the canal from first to last
seems to have amounted to £19,000,000, about
£6,000,000 of which had to be paid to the
company for concessions made by the Khedive,
which he had to withdraw and pay for in this
very Uberal manner. These concessions con
sisted of large bodies of desert lands ; but the

40 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
company stUl retains large tracts around its
chief centres of traffic. Port Said and IsmaiUa.
It has been proved that this landed property
may be made cultivable by the use of water, and
must therefore materiaUy advance in value.*
In one respect aU the visions of its projector
have not been fulfiUed. He was so sanguine of
the substitution of steamers for sailing vessels hi
the trade with the East, that he laughingly said
one day that he beUeved, after a short time, a
saUing ship would become as great a rarity for
general traffic by water as a stage-coach for
land travel ; nor has his other idea that sailing
vessels would be towed through the canal been
more correct. Steam has merely superseded
sails in the Eed Sea traffic, and there are stiU
saUing vessels.
Hereafter, when the gratitude or the means of
the company shaU prompt them to raise some
memorial to the founders of the canal, alongside
of that which wiU commemorate the name and
fame of Ferdinand de Lesseps — aUeady so world
wide in this connection — should be placed
another of equal magnitude, to commemorate the
services of S. S. Euyssennaers, consul-general of
HoUand, and first vice-president of the company,
whose shrinking modesty has hitherto veUed
from the public eye his claims to an almost
* See Appendix A foj- other particulars as tc cost of canal.

A TRIBUTE TO ONE OP THE FOUNDERS. 41
equal paternity of the great enterprise, which
without him might, and probably would, never
have proved a success.
I speak of what I know, and of what many
others in Egypt also know, when I assert that
from the earliest inception of this enterprise,
before and after the concession was obtained (in
which he took a leading part), as weU as in his
constant mediation and management in aU its
stages, wherein his tact, temper, and influence
with two successive viceroys had to be often and
strongly exerted to save the scheme from utter
ruin, the final success of the enterprise is as
much due to him, as to the indomitable pluck
and energy of his better known and more for
tunate co-labourer, to whom the pubUc has
accorded aU the glory.
I mention this fact with no wish to tear
one leaf from the well-earned chaplet of M. de
Lesseps, one of whose earUest friends and sup
porters (when his friends were few) I claim to
have been, in act as weU as profession. But
surely there is glory enough in so great a success
to bear division ? and in what I have aUeged the
testimony of many old Egyptians wiU bear me
out — as well as the records of the company
itself. So sensible was the Khedive himseK of
this obUgation, that in the photograph he caused
to be prepared for presentation to the crowned

42 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
heads of Europe, in commemoration of the inau
guration of the canal, unsoUcited by any one, he
assigned one of the most conspicuous places,
next himseK in that picture, to the photographic
likeness of M. Euyssennaers, in recognition of
his great services in regard to the work; and
Christendom and the company surely cannot
afford to be less grateful than the Khedive, when
the hour comes for their pubUc recognition also.
Suez has also profited by the canal, although
not so much as her younger sisters on the
Isthmus. Before the Suez Canal was a success,
Suez had a certain impulse given to it by the
transit, and its connection with the P. and 0.
Une of steamers, then and for a long time the
monopolists for the Indian voyage ; after the
enterprise and energy of Waghorn had demon
strated the superiority of the overland transit to
the tedious passage round the Cape.
In those early days Suez was a crumbUng old
Arab town, with a sparse population of natives,
and not a dozen European residents ; possessing,
it is true, a large rambling hotel, buUt by the
P. and 0. Company, which gave the returning
Indian traveller a foretaste of European enter
tainment again. But there was a general air of
desolation and decay about the place, which was
rather disheartening.
With the new influx however, through the

SUEZ AND THE EUPHRATES VALLEY RAILROAD. 43
canal, a revival has taken place, although it is sad
to record the fact that two-thirds of the resident
foreigners are men ; the gentler sex apparently
shunning Suez, or being dispensed with by the
ungaUant males who have congregated there,
and made it a kind of Eastern bachelors' hall.
The population now comprises about 2500
foreigners, and about 11,000 Arabs, in aU 13,500;
the floating population is impossible to esti
mate. The vicinity to the Eed Sea, and the
connection of several sites in the vicinity with
Scriptural story — notably the supposed point
where Pharaoh and his host attempted, and the
IsraeUtes successfully accomplished, the passage
of the Eed Sea, the well of Moses (Ain el
Moussa), and other traditional places — give Suez
the only interest it can boast of to the tourist.
The Euphrates Valley Eailway road to India,
which once shared public interest with the Suez
Canal, for which it was proposed as a sub
stitute, seems to have lost the favour it once
enjoyed. Five years since, the British House of
Commons appointed an able committee to inves
tigate the subject, and obtain the opinions of the
most eminent public men, whose experience had
quaUfied them to form a correct judgment as to
the necessity and practicabUity of that route.
Among these were Lord Sandhurst and Lord
Strathnairn, both formerly commanders-in-chief

44 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
in India, and Sir Henry EawUnson, than whom
there could be no better authority. The com
mittee also examined many other distinguished
persons, whose experience or researches gave
weight to their utterances.
The result of this inquiry was, that the com
mittee came to the conclusion that the first cost
of construction would be £10,000,000. PoUti-
caUy and strategically, there was an agreement of
opinion that such an alternative Une, in case
of war, would be useful. The mUitary witnesses
differed widely in opinion as to the value of such
a Une as a means of sending troops to India.
Lord Sandhurst expressed his preference for sea
transportation. Several others doubted the ex
pediency of sending troops over a Une passing
over 900 mUes, from Scanderoon to the Persian
GuK, through a foreign country, Uable to be
disturbed by European compUcations and local
disturbances. " The Indian Government, in a
despatch to which are subscribed the names of
Lord Mayo, Lord Napier of Magdala, Sir John
Strachey, and Sir Eichard Temple, 'earnestly
desired that it might be found practicable to
carry out the project, which would be of con
siderable, but not paramount importance to
India,' and were ' decidedly averse to any
promise of pecuniary assistance being made.'
It was added : ' We cannot consider the project

THE CANAL CONCESSIONS. 45
of such vital and paramount importance to the
interests of India as would justKy us in placing a
charge upon the resources of the Empire for its
construction or maintenance.' "
Since the report of this committee, the mono
poly of the Suez Canal route, as the best short
route, seems to have been firmly estabUshed ;
and British diplomacy has therefore been
seriously occupied with it, to the exclusion of all
others. The war has raised some important questions
relative to the Suez Canal, and there has been
much talk of " neutralization," in its broadest
sense ; but the expression of British opinion on
this matter, through Lord Derby's utterances in
ParUament, has shown, that the nation which
has made the canal its highway to India, and
supplies three-fourths of the tonnage passing
through it, wiU never consent to this ; because it
would bar the passage of its own war vessels and
troops, in certain contingencies.
The transit through the canal is governed by
the concession of January, 1856, which regulates
the relations of the Canal Company with Egypt
and Turkey, the proprietors of the domain, of
which the following is the text : —
" Art. xiv. — We (Khedive) declare solemnly,
for ourselves and our successors, the Great
Maritime Canal from Suez to Pelusium, and its

46 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
dependent posts, open for ever as neutral ways,
to every commercial vessel, proceeding from one
sea to the other, without distinction, preference,
or exclusion, either of persons or nationaUties,
subject to payment of dues," etc. etc.
But this privUege, it wiU be seen, covers only
commercial vessels, not those of war; and the
Porte and Khedive have so construed it, by
giving notice that Eussian war vessels shall
not be aUowed to pass. The war vessels of
friendly Powers, on making requisition, have
never been denied the privUege, although there
is nothing in the concession to give them a
right to do so. In the Abyssinian war England
made effective use of the canal. The canal is
stUl included in Egyptian territory — the right of
" eminent domain" never having been conceded
to the company — and has been leased to that
company for ninety-nine years, at the expiration
of which term the Egyptian Government may
enter into fuU possession, on paying to the
company the value of the plant and material.*
Unless the financial condition of Egypt should
greatly improve in the interval, the property is
not very apt to change hands and revert to
Egypt, at the expiration of that term.
* See Appendix B.

( 47 )

CHAPTEE III.
OLD AND NEW CAIRO.
Approach to Cairo — Sights and scenes en route — Wayside views and
voices — " Backsheesh, Howadji ! " the same old tune — Nature and
man unchanged — Startling changes in the environs of Cairo — Dis
appearance of walls and appearance of new boulevards, a la
Haussmann — Surprises in store for the returning pilgrim after ten
years' absence — What cannot now he seen from Shepheard's balcony
— Cairo as it was and as it is — The old quarter and the new.
We approached Cairo about sunset, hot, tired,
and dusty after our ride through the desert, the
fine sand of which, blown by a strong steady
wind, drifted in through the crevices of the
closed windows, and powdered our persons and
dresses with a perfect coating of impalpable
dust. After reaching the cultivated region
we were freed from this annoyance, and the
latter haK of our journey was very agreeable.
The general appearance of this cultivated
country, and the sights and sounds that greet
you at each successive raUway station, are much
the same as of yore, and famUiar to aU old

48 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Egyptian tourists. These seem stereotyped, and
you stUl see the same flat garden-like country,
with its eternal carpet of verdure of different
shades in patches, presenting the appearance
of a vast farm from the absence of trees. You
pass numerous Arab viUages, with their clusters
of mud-huts, swarming with chickens and
chUdren, crowned by the domes and minarets
of the smaU rdosques, which give a pictorial
aspect to their squalor. You see long Unes of
laden camels swinging, and hideous water-oxen
plodding by, and the inevitable old Arab in the
single blue shirt jogging by on the donkey, so
smaU that the man's legs with difficulty avoid
touching the ground. At each station, looking
out of the window of your carriage, you en
counter the usual salutations from the smaU and
exceedingly dirty orange and water vendors, all
chUdren; and dirty hands of professional or
amateur beggars are thrust in the window, with
hoarse, guttural prayers for " backsheesh ! " the
owners of aU of which voices seem clad in the
same old blue rags they wore years before. An
adjunct to this scene is usually a group of
soldiers, either just enUsted or just discharged,
who are squatting on their hams, chewing sugar
cane or smoking — always waiting for something
or somebody, and distinguishable from the sur
rounding crowd only by being cleaner and better

SIGHTS AND SCENES BY THE WAYSIDE. 49
dressed. They are the mUdest mannered
soldiers in the world.
It is unlucky for the traveller, and for the
population, that during his transit by raU he
comes in contact with the idlest and least
attractive portion of the natives, who hang
around the stations to pick up a few paras or
piastres. Taking these as fair specimens, his
estimate of the population would be low indeed.
But it is on approaching the Cairo station
that the great improvement of that city and its
suburbs, becomes perceptible to the visitor who
has been absent for several years. He rubs his
eyes, and almost distrusts his vision ; for, looking
up the Sboubra road which leads into Cairo, as
weU as outside the former limits of the city,
where formerly stretched for miles fields under
cultivation, he now sees, far as his eyes can
reach, in every direction weU-built and even
palatial residences, surrounded by gardens,
adding on new cities, for several mUes. The old
Cairo was formerly surrounded by high and mas
sive waUs, and entered by a wide gate, both of
which have disappeared, while broad boulevards
open an easy way into the city and out to the
desert. Passing over where waU and gate used
to stand, new surprises await the returning
visitor. The old has given place to the new ;
and blocks of high buildings have replaced the

60 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
picturesque old tumble-down erections of mud
and wood, four stories high, with jealously
latticed windows jutting out into the street.
But when you descend at Shepheard's Hotel,
your astonishment reaches its climax, and you
rub your eyes as hard as Eip Van Winkle ; for
the great characteristic feature of the Cairo of
old, the Ezbekieh — the pride, the glory of the
city and people — has utterly vanished I Where
once waved the branches of the stately syca
mores planted by Mehemet AU, are now to be
seen only soUd blocks of stone houses, with
arcades in imitation of those of the Eue de EivoU
at Paris. Over three-fourths of the space
formerly occupied by that primitive garden-
wUderness, so dear to the memory of its old
habitues, who used to sit every evening and
night under its grand trees, sipping coffee and
smoking nargilehs, on those Cairene nights
brighter than western days, whUe an endless
procession of natives and Levantines passed
under its leafy arcades, are imitation European
houses and shops. The garden has vanished Uke
a dream. The same change has swept over the
aspect of aU four sides of the square which sur
rounded that great park, or garden, whose dis
appearance I have lamented. The quaint old
Eastern buUdings, with their latticed windows,
and entrances beneath by a small door pierced

THE OLD AND THE NEW GARDENS. 51
in a thick waU, through which you passed into
an inner open court in which was tethered a
donkey, passing up a flight of break-neck, narrow
winding stone steps to enter the house — aU
these, too, have foUowed the Ezbekieh, and their
fronts at least are now on European models :
square, formal, uniform, hideous-looking imita
tions of the ugUest architecture in the world,
replacing the most picturesque, if not the most
comfortable or convenient. A smaU portion of
the old Ezbekieh has been saved from the
buUding mania, but so "translated" that its
oldest friend scarce recognizes it as an acquaint
ance ; for, originaUy the least wooded and most
unattractive portion of the old open space, it
has been converted into a French or German
tea-garden, under the auspices of a French orna
mental gardener, partly on the trim VersaiUes
model, partly in imitation of the Bois de
Boulogne, with even its Uttle artificial lake with
swans in it, and small mock-steamers for sailing
over three feet of water.
The garden, however, which boasts of about
forty acres, enclosed in a high raiUng, is a very
pretty one, and in hot weather affords a most
pleasant retreat from the dust and glare of the
outside world. It has rock grottoes, and restau
rants, and also an open-air theatre; and every
afternoon one of the military bands " discourses

52 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
most exceUent music " for public benefit. But
the foreign population is too lazy or too busy to
come every evening ; and the band, punctUiously
performing daily, wastes its sweetness generaUy
on the heedless ears of a few nurses and chUdren,
reinforced' by an occasional traveUer. On Sun
days and religious festivals, however, there is a
crowd ; and a very motley crowd it is, composed
of aU the numerous races that go to make up
the nationaUty we designate the Levantine.
The natives — especiaUy the lower class — have
abandoned the spot, squatting, smoking, and
story-telUng elsewhere, in more shady and less
formal precincts. To find them at home, you
must now either go into the country, or burrow
down into those portions of the city, which the
march of improvement and the Khedive have
not yet reached.
Passing through this garden, and under the
long colonnades of the new buildings that hem
it in, you emerge on the old Mooskie — as the
quarter of European shops is caUed — and here
you recognize an old acquaintance, but Uttle
smarter or more European than formerly. The
fine new shops (many of them worthy of Paris
or London) are in the Ezbekieh quarter, newly
built ; whUe here the smaU Levantine traders
and shopkeepers still vend their misceUaneous
wares in unchanged dirt and squalor, in the

THE OLD EZBEKIEH AS IT USED TO BB. 63
midst of crowds of natives, waddling along on
foot, or mounted on donkeys, circling around the
unclean street Uke flies, with apparently as Uttle
industrial effort — a good-tempered, dirty, un
improvable tribe, whom water and improvement
never touch.
But the banished old Ezbekieh of twelve
years ago is not the only lost vision for which
the returning pUgrim vainly strains his wonder
ing eyes. Other equaUy familiar friends, once
daUy visible in his walks and rides about tho
city, have equaUy disappeared.
As he was wont to sit under the stately syca
mores of the Ezbekieh, there used, at eventide,
to prance gaUy by a cavalcade of gay and gal
lant-looking Eastern cavaUers, splendidly habited
in Oriental costume, mounted on Arab steeds of
great beauty and price, whose crimson velvet
Turkish saddles were stiff with cloth of gold,
and whose sUken bridle-reins were studded with
precious stones. Preceded by the running
Berber syce, in his picturesque costume of white
shirt, crimson sash or belt, and bare legs of
ebony, and attended at the stirrup by pipe-
bearer, nargUeh in hand, whose long flexible tube
was often in the hand of the rider, these proud-
looking beys and pachas used to file slowly by,
looking neither to the right nor the left, to
the admiration of the motley crowd ever cUcu-

64 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
lating about or squatting under the trees of the
Ezbekieh. Then also, ambling past on their sleek donkeys
^huge bundles of black silk Uke unto balloons,
and with impervious veUs, through which only
two bright eyes were perceptible, escorted by
the zealous eunuchs — could be seen in part the
ladies of the hareem : disdainful of side-saddles,
and riding astride like men, as a yeUow shoe
perceptible on each side of the donkey conclu
sively proved.
To these sights on the Ezbekieh there were
added many others of a purely Oriental cha
racter ; such as the long string of laden camels,
with their serpent-Uke neck and crests, grunt
ing hoarsely as though in complaint or wrath,
as they swung along their ungainly bulk and
burdens, moving the two legs on the same side
simultaneously. Occasionally, but very rarely,
the carriage of some European or Europeanized
pacha passed; but that was the most unusual
kind of locomotion. The small coffee-houses on
the Ezbekieh — mere booths or sheds as they
were — constituted an attractive feature on sum
mer evenings, when aU the Levantine, and
much of the Egyptian world — that strange
amalgam of aU races — came to sip coffee or
fiery "raki," smoke and talk scandal, in front
of these booths where chairs were placed ; whUe

IMPROVEMENTS OP THE PICTURESQUE. 55
a band of ItaUan exUes made music at intervals,
passing round the hat for contributions.
At the opposite side of the Ezbekieh, nearest
the Mooskie, or street of Frank shops, the Arab
population were accustomed nightly to assemble,
squatting on their haunches in primitive Arab
fashion, in a circle around some favourite story-
teUer giving them a re-hash of the " Thousand
and One Nights' Stories," stUl current coin
throughout the East ; only with added coarse
ness, adapting them to coarser audiences. Here,
too, came the dancing and singing girls, to
win piastres or paras by the display of their
respective crafts, in the open air, to delighted
audiences. But, like the mirage of the desert,
with the old Ezbekieh these sights and sounds,
so truly Oriental, have passed away from the
vision of the traveller, as he sits on the verandah
of his hotel. AU is now decorous, duU and
European in the prim gardens, which usurp a
portion of that vanished pleasure-ground, which,
picturesque as it was, must be confessed to have
been a pubUc nuisance in many respects, how
ever "sentimental traveUers" may bewail the
substitution of cleanUness and order for dirt and
disorder, savoury for unsavoury smells. Much
sentimental rubbish has been written about this
improvement of Cairo ; but, in a sanitary and
progressive point of view, no sensible man or

56 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT
woman, however sentimental, can deny the im
provement and growth of Cairo, under the
demoUshing tendencies of the Khedive. The
change in the modes of conveyance, however,
may merit regret; for now, instead of "mount
ing barbed steeds," the pachas and beys, and
other native gentlemen, who used to be seen
prancing by in aU their bravery, loU lazily back
in open victorias or barouches, drawn by sorry
jades, and driven by very dirty Arab charioteers,
smoking strong cigars of German origin, and
habited in Frank dress, with only the red fez
cap to mark their nationaUty.
The carriages of the Khedive, of his sons, and
of some of the ministers, are weU appointed,
with fine horses, and stiU preceded by running
syces, and accompanied by guards in unKorm ;
but the great majority of these turn-outs would
not pass muster on London cab-stands. It
must be confessed, that to see Egyptian officials
and private gentlemen lolling back in carriages,
and smoking cigarettes or cigars in place of
pipes, does bewilder old Eastern traveUers ; and
that such will also mourn the disappearance of
the pipe and nargileh, formerly the symbol and
pledge of Eastern hospitality, since the chi
bouque was always tendered to every guest by
public and private persons, until another regime
aboUshed them. They have been "improved"

VEILED FEMALE APPARITIONS. 57
away ; and, save in the pubUc coffee-houses and
among the common people, the cigar and cigar
ette have superseded them.
In the outdoor life, the only touch of the
Orient left is afforded by the constant apparition,
or rather flitting by of the hareems, whose fair
representatives very freely take the air, and pass
and repass constantly in front of the great
hotels, wherein the traveUers do congregate, in
their weU-guarded carriages — one of the last
relics of the old system visible to the eye. Yet
their habits, too, have undergone a great
change. No longer are they ambulating or
equestrian balloons of black sUk perched on
donkeys, or concealed in closed carriages ;
although the inevitable and irremovable black
guards still " guide their steps and guard their
rest," as in the days when Byron sung of them.
Standing in the front of your hotel, you see the
veUed fair ones of the hareem slowly borne past,
at morning and eventide, in the neatest Parisian
or English coupes, drawn by the finest EngUsh
horses, and dressed in the latest Parisian modes
— aU except the face, which, half-hidden, haK
revealed, is covered with a gossamer veU, which
also drapes the bosom. This veU, of the most
cobweb lace, does not prevent their seeing and
even saluting occasionally the passing stranger,
to the great disgust of their sable guards ; and

58 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
the intensity with which they regard the outer
world from the windows of their carriages,
augurs weU for their thirst for information. All
the foUies of European fashion have been, I am
told, transferred to the East ; for European
costume is now the rage in the hareems, and
Lyons sUks of brightest colours, and French
boots with impracticable heels, have succeeded
the flowing draperies and shuffling sUppers and
baggy breeches of the Eastern fair ones. Frank
women who have visited freely in the hareems
for the last two winters, deprecate this change,
fuUy as much as any of our sterner sex can do :
and declare that it not only robs the hareem of
aU its romance, but most decidedly diminishes
the pecuUar beauty of its inmates.
The IsmaiUeh quarter of Cairo is entirely a
new creation within the last six or seven
years, and is one of the prettiest portions of
the city. In order to encourage the erection
of good houses for the European and Euro
peanized residents, and to attract new ones from
abroad, the Khedive offered to give building
lots, of the value of £2000 and upwards, to
every person who would buUd thereon a house
of a fixed value ; rising in proportion to the
estimated worth of the gift. The bait took, and
the lots mapped out in the rear of the great
hotels, where there were no buildings, on the

THE ISMAILIEH QUARTER OF CAIRO. 59
outskirts of the city, in the direction of Boulak —
the old port of Cairo — were soon snatched up ;
and a new town of several thousands of houses
soon occupied the site. Most of these are good
substantial houses, in imitation of Swiss chalets
or EngUsh houses, and some are very fine,
costing as much as £20,000. Almost aU have
gardens surrounding them, some very spacious
ones ; for reserved lots were purchased by enter
prising natives in the vicinity. These latter are
chiefly the native or Levantine bankers, who
are the richest class in the community ; and
some of the pachas have also buUt large houses
on the Eastern plan, hareem accommodation
included. One of the largest and finest of the
Frank houses is that of Mr. Eemington, the weU-
known arms-manufacturer, who has armed the
Khedive's troops. The Duke of Sutherland is
another foreign real estate proprietor at Cairo ;
the English Club occupying one-haK of the large
house he caused to be built.
I do not know the exact population of the
IsmalUeh quarter; but it includes a greater
portion of the foreign population of Cairo, with
a large sprinkUng of richer Levantines. Some
of the dwelUngs are quite palatial in their pro
portions, and there is very Uttle of the Eastern
element perceptible about them generaUy in this
neighbourhood; even the inevitable black Boab

60 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
(or door-keeper) of former times, in loose shirt,
naked legs, red morocco shoes, and ample
turban, with shaven head and snowy beard,
having disappeared. His sole duty used to be
his real or supposed guardianship of the gate or
door leading into his employer's house ; where,
night and day, he was to be seen squatting or
stretched at length on his cafass, or palm-twig
seat and bed, the Cerberus of the estabUshment.
But he was a solemn old fraud as to his poUce
functions, I am sorry to say, although a most
pictorial one — a Cerberus not even requiring a
sop to silence him : habituaUy asleep aU day,
and generally requiring to be awakened by
visitors of good intentions ; and either revelUng,
or prowUng about Uke a dissipated old mouser,
at night, when he was supposed to be the
guardian of the gate, in reaUty as weU as in
name. StiU he was a necessary adjunct to
Eastern life, and especially to the picturesque
presentation of it.
He was evidently the parent and progenitor of
the French concierge, and Uke him or her a
domestic spy, paid by the occupant of the house
he does not protect ; and in aU disagreeable
features the European imitation is a greater
nuisance than the Eastern — the latter, at least,
being civil to his master and to strangers; the
former, Uke the ancient Eoman, regarding every

CHANGES OF CLIMATE AT CAIRO. 61
-stranger as an enemy. Yet I confess I miss, at
Cairo, the grisly old vagabond " dweUer of the
threshold." The last Government census of Cairo dates
from 1868; and in the interval of nine years,
as the natural increase, especially among the
native jpopulation, is rapid, the figures in that
return mostly faU far short of the actual numbers
to-day. In that table the number of strangers resident
at Cairo is given as 19,120, but the Ust includes
some strangers of Eastern origin. The total
population of the capital at that date is esti-
rnated at 350,399, males and females, although
of course the female population must be taken
on trust by the census takers ; owing to the
domestic arrangements of the native Cairenes.
It struck me — returning after an absence of
several years, three seasons since — that the
cUmate had perceptibly changed, being colder in
winter and hotter in summer than formerly. It
certainly is more damp ; and rainy and cloudy
days, which used to be very rare apparitions, are
now not unfrequent in winter, and fires, morning
and evening, quite necessary for comfort during
such changes of the weather. This is accounted
for by the larger space of water open lo evapo
ration aU over the Delta and through the desert,
by the canals of various kinds, which have been

62 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
SO greatly increased in number and size during
the last ten years.
FinaUy, with aU due respect to the " spirit
of the age," as exempUfied at Cairo, and the
Khedive's improvement of my favourite city, I
must express the opinion, that for that climate
the old system of narrow streets, and exclusion
of too much sunshine, together with the old
plan of Eastern buUding, were best suited to the
cUmate, place, and people.

( 63 )

CHAPTEE IV.
THE FOUNDERS OP THE DYNASTY.
Mehemet Ali — Soldier of fortune — Satrap and viceroy — Parallel
between the Napoleons of the East and. of the West — His strange
career — ^Dreams of an Arab empire, like that of the caliphs — Why
he failed in establishing it — England's interposition — Rage of the
trapped lion — Cloudy close of a bright day — Personal traits and
anecdotes of Mehemet Ali — His son Ibrahim, regent and successor —
His short lease of power — Can his dream be now fulfilled? — Reasons
for the establishment of an Arab empire at the present moment.
Augustus boasted that he found Eome of brick,
and left it of marble.
Mehemet Ali, founder of Egypt and of the
present Egyptian dynasty, within the memory of
men yet aUve, found Alexandria a mass of ruins
and rubbish, a nest of needy fishermen and
pirates, and left it a city. He found aU Egypt
a chaos, he left it a country.
The Egypt of the Pharaohs, famiUar to all
readers of the Old Testament, and the Egypt of
the early Christians, so vividly depicted in
Kingsley 's " Hypatia," where Goth, Greek, and
Eoman struggled for the mastery, differed not

64 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
more widely from each other in all respects, than
from the country we know by that name to-day ;
which, in its turn, varies as widely from the
Egypt of the Mamelukes, known to the previous
generation. For the impress of the first Napoleon was
not more strongly stamped on the empire he
founded, than that of Mehemet AU upon the
country and the dynasty of his creation : wrung
from his trembUng suzerain, the Sultan, at the
sword's point, and welded together by one man's
genius and courage.
As the bronze equestrian statue of "the Napo
leon of Egypt " looks proudly down to-day from
the Grand Plaza of Alexandria, seeming to keep
watch and ward over the city of his love : so the
mighty shadow of its founder stiU seems to rule
Egypt from its urn, and protect it from the
shortcomings and sins of some, if not aU, of his
successors. There are curious coincidences in the cha
racters and careers of the two " men of destiny "
in the East and in the West. Both were aliens
in blood and birth to the countries and people
over which they established their rule, and
founded their dynasties. Both were soldiers by
profession, and statesmen and lawgivers by intui
tion. Both were crafty, cruel and unscrupulous,
never sacrificing the end for the means, nor

AN HISTORIC PARALLEL. 65
shrinking from acts of ruthless cruelty, when policy
or seK-preservation prompted their commission.
The ambition of each was to found an empire,
and to obtain the succession for his son and his
son's sons for ever ; and this too both seemingly
accompUshed. What is stranger stiU, is that
the heritage left by the rude Eastern soldier of
fortune, has lasted longer than the far greater
one bequeathed by the mighty genius of modern
Christendom, whose puppets and playthings were
kings and crowns. As though to complete the
paraUel, the two were almost as kindred in fate
as in renown ; the end of each being equaUy
tragic. The Corsican ate out his own heart in
exile on the barren rock of St. Helena ; the
soldier from Cavalla died a prisoner in his own
palace, the ghastly wreck of his former self, his
fine mind and iron wUl shattered by madness,
alternating between moody despondency and
frenzy, until his practical . deposition became a
State necessity, and his warrior son, Ibrahim
Pacha, was compelled to seat himself in the
chair of his yet Uving father. As though to
make this sad story sadder stUl, it is said the
madness came from a potion administered
through superstition or mistaken kindness by
one of his daughters, who was told she could
thus restore the old man's waning powers, but
whose fatal draught consigned him to a living

66 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
death. True or false, the story is stUl repeated
and beUeved in Egypt.
His dream of empire he soon converted into
a reaUty. From insubordination to the Porte,
he soon broke out into open rebeUion ; and not
only seized on the Egyptian provinces, but
invaded both Arabia and Syria, through his
warUke son Ibrahim, and even menaced Con
stantinople. His troops actuaUy occupied Syria,
and his purpose was to found an empire Uke that
of the" caliphs, over aU the Arabic-speaking
people ; leaving the Porte those only who spoke
the Turkish tongue. But then a greater power
intervened between the rebelUous vassal and the
powerless lord ; the Great Powers of Europe
(with the exception of France) interposed, and
by menace and force of arms wrested the prey
from the old Uon, and compelled him to renew
his allegiance, and renounce his projects of ex
tended empire.
It required the presence of an EngUsh fleet at
Alexandria, to compel him to sign a treaty of
peace with his sovereign, and resign his con
quests ; tearing out handfuls of his white beard
in his wrath, under the compulsion, whUe he did
so. But he insisted on the retention of the
viceroyalty in his Une for ever, and for quasi-
independence of the Porte in the same treaty
guaranteed by the Powers which compelled the
act of abdication.

MEHEMET ALl'S CHARACTER. 67
What Mehemet AU did, in and for Egypt, has
passed into history. He created not only an
empire, but a people, out of the dozen different
nationaUties which then, as now, constitute the
strange amalgam we vaguely term Egyptians.
Everywhere throughout Egypt and its depend
encies, the hand of the mighty master is stiU
to be seen in the traces it has left — from the
Mahmoudieh Canal, connecting the waters of the
NUe with the Mediterranean, to the fairy-like
pleasure gardens of Shoubra, near Cairo ; from
the gigantic, but stiU uncompleted barrage, or
breakwater of the NUe, to the grand old syca
more trees, which give their beautiful shade to
the gardens and the roads around Cairo and
Alexandria. The career of Mehemet AU is as
famUiar to every one as that of Napoleon, whose
footsteps he followed in the conquest of Egypt ;
and whose fiercest foes (the Mamelukes) he
crushed at one feU blow, combining craft,
cruelty, and treachery in the act which seK-
preservation dictated. The man's character
should not be judged by this episode alone, nor
weighed in our balance ; for he was capable of
being swayed by high and generous impulses^
with more of the Uon than the woK in. his
nature — and the necessity was very pressing and
very sore. So it is but fair to judge him by the
canons of his own time, place, and people, which

68 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
condoned his crime, and the terrible retribution
dealt on the savage oppressors and spoUers of
Egypt, who menaced his Ufe, and meditated
against him the treachery in which he antici
pated them.
Eid of this impediment, by alternate force
and fraud he worked his way doggedly on to
place and power: subduing first one province,
then another, in the name of his suzerain, the
Sultan, and welding together into one mass, and
under one rule, the scattered and warring tribes
and factions composing Egypt. Nor did he
confine himseK to those Umits, but carried fire
and sword and the terror of his name into the
desert, among the tameless Bedouins, then, far
more than now, the scourge and terror of the
peaceful peasant who had aught to piUage.
Having done aU this in another's name, he began
to be weary of vassalage to his inferior in mind
and manhood, and commenced to plot and plan
for shaking off his fetters, and founding an
independent empire.
He brought order out of chaos ; he invited
and encouraged European immigration, and
especiaUy European merchants, to develop the
rich resources of the country, neglected and
despised by the warUke chieftains, who had been
ruling it with a rod of iron, and making it the
theatre of perpetual little local wars. Yet his

AN EASTERN CANUTE. 69
mistakes, Uke his successes, were on a great
scale ; and inherited by his successors too.
Entertaining the notion, so common to unedu-
oated minds, that a country to be independent
and prosperous should produce within its own
borders everything requisite for the use of its.
population, he sought to put this idea into-
practice in Egypt. Nature had made Egypt
agricultural, Mehemet AU determined she should
be manufacturing too ! Eegardless of expense,
he imported large quantities of costly machinery,
with skiUed operatives at high wages, erecting-
vast miUs aU over the Delta, that manufactures
on a large scale might be produced. The
skeleton ruins of those miUs, many of them stUl
filled with the rusty remains of the machinery
left there when the failure was manifest, attest
the cost of the lesson given this Eastern Canute,
whose wUl was to override aU natural laws. His
successors have not profited, as they should have
done, by this useful lesson ; for simUar wreck and
waste may be witnessed to-day aU over the
country, both of mUls and machinery, of later
date than the days of the great founder of the
line of viceroys in name, but kings in reaUty,
one of whom stiU sits upon the throne of the
Pharaohs. He also strained the finances of the country
by his lavish expenditure, and it is curious to

70 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
read in the annals of his contemporaries of the
straits to which he was often reduced, and his
sudden and inexpUcable command of money
from no visible source. History in Egypt re
peats itseK more curiously than elsewhere, as
well as the personal traits of its rulers, and the
mystery which envelops the proceedings, not
only of its officials, but of its finances, which
have ever appeared and disappeared in a truly
wonderful and inexplicable manner.
The early period was the golden age for the
foreign merchants, invited by Mehemet AU to
develop the commerce ofthe country, to whom he
gave very large commissions for the purchase of
what he required, and great facUities for enriching
themselves. EngUshmen, Greeks, and Italians
came at his caU, and estabUshed great houses,
and were merchant princes indeed, their scale of
living being proportionate to their vast opera
tions and immense gains. They Uved in houses
as large as palaces, kept large retinues of ser
vants and retainers, entertained magnificently
and with the greatest profusion, and were lavish
in expenditure. One of these, a Tuscan, kept
twenty carriages, that he might always be able
to send them to convey his guests to and from
their residences ; his palace, surrounded by mag
nificent gardens, being four miles out of town.
Another reserved every Friday evening, during

THE GOLDEN AGE OF EGYPT. 71
the winter season, for a grand ball at his man
sion, in addition to grand dinners three times a
week. The latter reUc of those good old days
survived to the patriarchal age of 90 years,
in fuU possession of his faculties ; and continued
his hospitaUties down to the third generation of
his guests.
Grand as were the prizes offered,, and great
the fortunes accumulated in the days of the^
earUer viceroys, strange to say the number of
Europeans attracted there was comparatively
smaU always. As late as 1852 there were not
more than 20,000 foreigners at Alexandria, and
2000 at Cairo. Yet the absolute rule of Mehemet
AU may be said to; have commenced fuU forty^
years before.
If the viceroy was lavish of the earnings of
his subjects, he was not sparing of their flesh and
blood ; and the condition of the feUah,, or agri
cultural labourer, then was very much worse
than his lot to-day, for he was then treated
as a slave and serf (adscriptus glebes), whose
labour was compulsory, paid by enough coarse
food to keep body and soul together, and enough
rough covering to conceal partiaUy his or her
nakedness. He could not leave his native
viUage to settle elsewhere without special per
mission from the governor of his province. If
he ventured he was caught, bastinadoed, and

72 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
taken back to his usual toU in the usual place,
K not sent to the army or the gaUeys. By forced
corvSes he was compeUed to labour on the pubUc
works without pay, and often without food,
unless he brought it with him, through the
rascaUty of the subordinate officials, who robbed
him of that which the Government was supposed
to supply, but never stinted him of the basti
nado. In fact, he was treated like a brute, and
compeUed to live Uke a beast. His lot is cer
tainly somewhat ameUorated how, yet there is
stiU great room for improvement in the condi
tion and treatment of the Egyptian peasantry —
the most amiable, patient drudges in the world,
constituting as they do the bone and muscl.e
of the country, and the source of aU its wealth
and productiveness.
When Mehemet AU caused the Mahmoudieh
Canal to be dug by feUah labour, cutting a broad
ditch to connect the waters of the NUe with the
sea at Alexandria — a work of vast utUity before
the raUway communication existed — he is said
to have sacrificed to it the Uves of many thou
sands of these poor wretches ; set to dig with no
proper tools, under the burning sun of Egypt,
labourmg day and night under cruel task
masters, without food or shelter. The pyramid
of skuUs erected by the savage Eastern warrior,
was not a sterner memento mori, nor a more

THE FELLAH OF FICTION AND REALITY. 73
tragic record, than the Mahmoudieh Canal. The
terrible burden of the old song —
" A pickaxe, and a spade, a spade !
Ayl and a winding sheet,"
might have been chanted by these poor
wretches of the NUe, who thus dug their own
graves whUe digging this canal. But on this
subject I shaU have more to say when treating
of the feUah as he was and as he is ; not the
" feUah " of M. About's charming fiction, but
the grimy and oppressed reaUty, owing aU the
blessings he enjoys chiefly to God's good grace,
and his hardships to " man's inhumanity to
man," which does literaUy " make countless
thousands mourn " in the old house of bondage,
where the nominal slave has not reaUy the
heaviest fetters to wear.
To return to the maker of Egypt. Although
totaUy uneducated, and therefore destitute of
much general information, the natural genius of
the man and his quick mother-wit suppUed to a
great extent his want of culture. His readiness
of retort was worthy of a French wit. One
iUustration may suffice to show its quaUty. A
French engineer being asked what he thought of
the plan of the Mahmoudieh Canal, whUe it was
in course of completion, ventured this criticism :
" Your Highness must pardon my suggesting
that your canal will be very crooked."

74 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
" Do your rivers in France run in a straight
line ? " abruptly responded the Pacha.
" Certamly not," answered the astonished
Frenchman. "Who made them? Was it not AUah ? "
again questioned the Pacha.
" Assuredly, your Highness," repUed the
Frenchman, who thought his questioner's wits
were wandering, and could not comprehend what
he was aiming at.
" WeU, then," answered Mehemet AU, trium
phantly, "do you think that either you or I
know better than AUah how water ought to run?
I imitated him in my canal ; otherwise it would
soon have been a dry ditch, not a canal."
The Frenchman was sUenced, K not con
vinced ; and the canal is certainly very crooked
stUl. Like aU Eastern rulers, the grim old warrior,
nursed from boyhood in the lap of war, was to a
certain extent a voluptuary, although he never
aUowed his pleasures to interfere with his duties
or his ambitious schemes. The gleaming white
waUs of the palace of Eas el Tin, which first
strike the traveller's eye on entering the harbour
of Alexandria, mark one of his favourite re
sorts. Another was the garden of Shoubra, near
Cairo, in which he built a spacious kiosque of
white marble, embowered in tropical foliage.

THE PACHA'S PLEASURE PALACE. 75
where the golden orange glows in the midst of
the dark green foUage, and the senses ache with
the perfume of roses and other fragrant flowers.
It was a lofty building in the form of a hoUow
square ; and in the central open space, over
which there was no roof, Uke the old impluvium,
was an artificial lake, about four feet deep,
paved with marble, with an elevated marble
resting-place in the centre.
Here, when his beard was like snow, and his
blood circulated more slowly, the old man was
wont to repair, to relax mind and body from
the fatigues and cares of State. Perched on
this central seat, he would amuse himseK for
hours, watching the gambols or the fright of his
hareem women, who he would cause to be rowed
or paddled about in smaU boats around this
mimic lake, at a secret signal from himself to
the boatmen causing them to be upset into
the water, and witnessing with deUght their
struggles afterwards. Strange contrariety of
human nature I that this grim old soldier,
whose savage nature and fierce eye (as we see
in his latest portraits) even years coiUd not
tame or subdue ; stained with the blood of the
slaughtered Mamelukes, and surrounded by
tragic memories, should have found pleasure in
such chUdish sport as this, even when trembling
on the verge of the grave !

76 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
But in every Eastern nature — ^which essen
tiaUy differs from the Western — ^we find the
extremes of ferocity and levity blended incon
gruously together ; and the Pacha who inspires
you with fear or with admUation one moment,
by some chUdish act converts both into con
tempt or pity. But Mehemet Ali was an ex
ceptional man, both in the evU and the good he
wrought in and upon Egypt, of which the latter
predominated. Let us bury the former and for
get it ; in memory of the latter, which Uves
after him, and embalms his memory in the
annals of modern Egypt.
Of his successor for a short term, his warrior
son Ibrahim, who swept Uke a flame through
Syria and Arabia, and was the sword-hand of. his
father, his miUtary genius was his chief cha
racteristic, and the record of his battles the
record of his Ufe. The pious care of his son,
the present Khedive, has erected a fitting monu
ment to his melnory, in the spirited equestrian
bronze statue, which he has caused to be placed
at Cairo, overlooking an open square near
the Mooskie, or quarter of European shops.
Mounted on his war-horse, which seems to snuff
the battle afar off, with outstretched arm point
ing out farther conquests to his fierce followers,
he looks every inch a soldier, and born leader of
men on the battle-field. "What his abUities as a

CAN MEHEMET ALl'S DREAM BE REALIZED? 77
civUian or viceroy may have been he did not
reign long enough to develop ; and he has there
fore left no mark upon Egyptian administration
or Egyptian affairs ; though, during his adminis
tration as his father's representative in Syria, he
is said to have displayed considerable adminis
trative abUity. PersonaUy he seems to have
been a bold, frank man, a warm friend, and
equally good hater, though not vindictive or
cruel ; but, as before remarked, it is as a soldier
chiefly that he wiU be remembered. He once
visited London, and was known to the ragged
boys of the metropolis, to whom a Turk was
then a rarity, as Abraham Par Jeer ! into which
they translated his patronymic, on the phonetic
principle.* In view of recent events, and of the impend
ing disintegration of that huge colossus, by
courtesy styled the Turkish Empire, over whose
broken fragments there must be a European
scramble ere long, the question now suggests
itseK, whether the Power which thwarted the
project of Mehemet AU, might not now wisely
resuscitate and perfect it ?
An Arab empire, with Egypt at its head, em
bracing Syria and Palestine on the one side, and
Arabia on the other, under a protectorate of two
or more of the Great Powers, would oppose a
* His reign lasted but seventy days after his inauguration.

78 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
breakwater to Eussian aggression on the one
hand, and relieve that aUen race from the exac
tions and misgovernment of the Porte, which
has amply proved its unfitness to govern, and
which in fact does not govern them ; the Umits
of its authority being those of its garrisoned
towns, outside of which protection from native
sheiks is essential for the traveUer's safety, and
of whose nominal rule the tax-gatherer is the
only representative. Such a rule as has made
Tunis a responsible government, and is redeem
ing Egypt from its " Slough of Despond," by the
introduction of real, not sham, improvements in
its internal administration, could as readUy be
estabUshed over the countries I have named,
combined into a federation, whose centre would
be Egypt, as the Arab-speaking country, already
so far advanced on the march towards civUiza
tion. It seems equaUy impossible now, to allow the
rich countries named to languish much longer
xmder the sickly beams of the waning Crescent,
to be annexed to the Eussian Empire even in
part, or to be aUowed to relapse into stiU greater
anarchy than that which reigns therein to-day,
in view of their importance strategicaUy and
commerciaUy, lying as they do in part on the
route to India. Among the various propositions
made as to the partition of the Turkish Empire,.

AN ARAB EMPIRE. 79
it strikes me as surprising, that British statesmen
have not, as in the case of the Suez Canal,
reconsidered and reversed the policy of their
predecessors, and made the dream of old
Mehemet AU, which they so rudely dissipated,
a reality in the hands of his successors ; under
good and sufficient guarantees and proper
securities that the powers thus conferred
should not be abused, but exercised for the
benefit and improvement of the most intelligent,
docile, and laborious of all the races of the East,
whose only ties to the Turk are now, as they
ever have been, those of faith, subjugation, and
taxation. My own experience of these countries and
people convinces me, that the accomplishment of
this scheme would be comparatively easy now —
far easier, in fact, than that which the gaUant
Gordon is now attempting, in the interests of
civiUzation and humanity, among the savage
negro races of Central Africa.

80 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE V.
ABBAS PACHA.
Accession of Abbas Pacha — Personal description of him — His peculiar
character and habits — A Turk of the Turks — Contrasted with Said
Pacha — 'His treatment of his people — 'The new " house of bondage "
under him— His closing tragedy — A dead man's drive — His son
El-Hami — A fated family line.
Mehemet Ali and Ibrahim Pacha were before
my time in Egypt, and of them I speak merely
from history and from hearsay, having associated
subsequently with those who had been inti
mately acquainted with both these rulers of men.
AU of their successors I have known weU, and
have been brought into intimate official and
private connection with for many years. Of
them therefore I can speak from personal know
ledge, including the Khedive Ismail, who in
herits many of the traits of his great progenitors
as an administrator and manager of men, but
whose ambition; though equal to his ancestor's,
does not work through the sword or through
force, but through diplomacy and persuasion.

DESCRIPTION OF ABBAS PACHA. 81
Between the reigns of Ibrahim Pacha and the
Khedive's two others intervened, those of Abbas
Pacha and of Said Pacha, who though partaking
of the same blood, and members of the same
famUy, differed from each other in every par
ticular and in every quaUty, physical and moral.
Far as the poles asunder were these two men,
and as opposite the impression made and left
by each of them upon their common heritage.
Abbas was a suUen, suspicious, timid tyrant,
hating and fearing the European element his
grandfather had introduced, and striving to put
back the shadow on the dial-plate of progress
moving in the direction of European civUiza
tion. Though born and bred in Egypt, he was a
Turk of the Turks.
His complexion was much darker than that
of the majority of his family, most of whom are
fair, with reddish beards. Abbas was swarthy,
with a scanty beard, short and stout of figure,
with a bloated, sensual face, and duU, cruel eyes.
Yet there was both energy and inteUigence
manifested in this repulsive countenance, when
warmed into interest or animation on any
matter that touched him nearly. His manners,
Uke jthose of aU high Turks, were bland and
poUshed ; for in aU that constitutes perfect good
breeding the Eastern surpasses the average
Western man. Of his morals the less' said the

82 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
better, if Alexandrian and CaUene gossip can be
reUed on. But on this point I cannot testify
from personal knowledge, not having ever been
on the same intimate terms with him, sociaUy,
as with his two successors.
He understood and spoke no European
language — an exception in his family, aU the rest
of whom have a thorough knowledge at least of
French — and therefore always conversed with
foreign agents, whom he saw as seldom as
possible, through the medium of an interpreter,
which of course prevented much interchange
of ideas or feelings ; for decanted champagne
frappe, is not flatter or colder, than conversa
tion thus carried on. If in his relations with
foreigners he was unsympathetic, in his conduct
towards his own people he was arbitrary, rapa
cious, and cruel to the last degree. The
possession of wealth was often only a passport to
FazougU (the Egyptian Cayenne) for its pro
prietor, and the confiscation of the property,
"for treason," to the State (that is, the vice
roy's) coffers.
With foreigners he could not meddle — they
were safe under their consular protection — nor
could he expel them for the same reason; but
trade was crippled under his reign, since even
his avarice, which was great, could not conquer
his prejudices, and induce him to encourage and

A TRICK OF THB TURKS. ' 83
foster the commerce of the country. With his
own people his wUl was law : for he paid heavy
backsheesh to Constantinople, partly to be let
alone, and partly in the hope of changing the
succession in favour of his son, El-Hami — a
dream which every viceroy has indulged in, and
which the IQiedive has finaUy made a reality.
El-Hami was afterwards married to one of the
Sultan's daughters, and kept in splendid slavery
at Constantinople — as the sons-in4aw ever are —
and was finally drowned whUe on a pleasure
party ; being of a gay and festive turn of mind,
and much addicted to the wines as weU as the
customs of France.
During the reign of Abbas the Crimean war
broke out, and the Sultan caUed on his vassals
for men and money, to which Abbas promptly
responded ; and Egyptian blood and treasure
were as freely poured out as water on the sands,
then as now, to protract the death agony of
the effete and imbecUe dynasty of the SubUme
Porte. At the same time came an order from the
Porte to expel from Egypt the entire Greek
colony there, not enrolled as rayahs, or Chris
tian subjects of the Porte ; a measure the cruelty
of which may be appreciated, when it is stated
that the execution of this harsh measure would
have entailed swKt and sure ruin on that whole

84 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
community, numbering many thousands ; among-
whom were many of the oldest and most respect
able of the foreign residents and merchants.
Then protests were not Ustened to, and they
were given but forty-eight hours to leave the
country. The consular corps, as a body, having
decUned to interfere in their behaK, on account
of the poUtical complications of their respective
countries, it was my good fortune to have been
enabled to take the responsibiUty of retaining
and protecting these luckless people during the
continuance of the war, by placing them under
the protection of my flag — a privUege accorded
all Christian Powers under the old capitulations — ¦
after much trouble, and diplomatic and personal
pressure on the viceroy.
I must do Abbas Pacha the justice to say that
in this matter he showed either good feeling or
indifference, and did not press the execution of
the stern edict with zeal. On the contrary, when
representations came from the agents of other
foreign Powers, as to his non-execution of this
order, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said :
" "What can I do ? These people have obtained
another protection, and I cannot interfere with
them, without insulting a great nation." So, after
much diplomatic correspondence, the Greeks
remained in Egypt, and the order was practically
never enforced, except in a few instances where

A FATED FAMILY. 85
the parties were noisily partisan in their demon
strations or conversation. After the war was
over, the King of Greece proffered me the Grand
Cross of Sauveur, as a testimonial of his, and his
people's gratitude.
The character of Said was precisely the reverse
of that of his nephew. A bold, frank, fearless,
and reckless man, fond of foreign society, speak
ing French like a Parisian, and enjoying, of aU
things, the witty turns of which that language
is capable ; himself a wit of no mean eaUbre,
and equally irreproachable in his cook and his
ceUar. It was Uke emerging from darkness into
sunshine when he succeeded Abbas, who, though
his nephew, preceded him under the provision
of the firman decreeing that the succession
should pass to the " eldest male of the blood of
Mehemet AU." Abbas was a little older than
Said, and so inherited, owing his own succession
to the terrible tragedy which removed his father
from the Une. That father having been sent by
Mehemet AU to demand tribute of a semi-savage
chief in the Soudan, surnamed the " Tiger of
Shendy," having insulted and struck him, was
deUberately roasted alive in his tent the same
night, together with his whole troop, by his
treacherous and. vindictive host, who surrounded
the tents in which they were sleeping with
dried corn-stalks and drove them back with

86 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
their lances into the flames when they sought
to escape. The fate of Abbas was as tragic
as that of his father, he too perishing by perfldy
and violence ; and the shadow of his coming
doom seems to have been stamped both on
his countenance and his soul. He forboded
that fate, and took extraordinary precautions to
avoid it ; and those very precautions rendered
its execution aU the more easy, although he sur
rounded himseK with guards, banished men on
mere suspicion, and ate no food that was not
prepared by his old mother's hands, or under her
immediate supervision.
Nothing is more indicative of character and
disposition than the choice and surroundings of
a man's residence. Mehemet Ali, Ibrahim, and
Said, all dwelt much in the pubUc eye, chiefly
at the palace of Eas el Tin looking on the sea,
accessible to aU comers. Their leisure hours
they solaced either in the lovely gardens of
Shonbra, where the plash of fountains, the scent
of roses, and the songs of birds created an
earthly paradise, which earthly houris were not
lacking to complete ; or they rehearsed the game
of war under tents, with from 10,000 to 20,000
troops around them.
But Abbas Uved as he died, alone. Seldom
seen by his people, never by foreigners, except
from necessity, his favourite haunts were secluded

THE CLOSING TRAGEDY. 8T
palaces, remote from cities and men, which he
built in the desert. There, surrounded only by
a few cringing slaves, and by the savage beasts he
coUected into menageries, he shrouded himseK
Uke Tiberius at Capri, and was as soUtary in his
death as in his Ufe. He was strangled whUe he
slept by two of his own slaves — boys sent him
from Constantinople by a kinswoman — but tha
exact manner, as well as the inciting cause to
his murder was, and is stUl, a mystery. The
fact only is certain, as well as that of the ghastly
farce which was played by the Governor of Cairo
with the corpse of the dead man.
Summoned secretly and suddenly from Cairo,
at the dead of night, to the Benha palace,
twenty mUes from Cairo, where the deed was
done, ELfy Bey, the Governor of Cairo, gave
strict orders that no one should divulge the
death of Abbas. Ordering the state carriage
to be brought to the private entrance, assisted
by the head eunuch, he placed the body in a
sitting posture within it, and taking his own
seat opposite as usual, drove the twenty mUes
to Cairo, surrounded by guards and the usual
state, in this ghastly companionship. He
reached the citadel at Cairo with his mute
companion, without exciting suspicion, aided by
the habitual shrinking from observation which
characterized his master ; and once there, caused

88 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
the guns of the citadel to be pointed on the city,
strongly reinforced the garrison, and declared
the truth, together with his intention of pro
claiming El-Hami viceroy in defiance of the
rights of Said. This purpose he was induced to
abandon on representations of Sir Frederick
Bruce, the EngUsh consul-general, and myseK
¦ — both of us then at CaUo — and our friendly, as
well as formal warning that such action on his
part would be treasonable, induced him to
abandon the design, and to invite and welcome
the new viceroy to Cairo ; whither he came and
was installed, without delay. The days of that
governor were not long in the land, as he died
very soon and very suddenly thereafter : removed
doubtless by some super-serviceable courtier —
for the character of Said forbade even the sus
picion of his complicity in any act of treachery
or cruelty.
But throughout the East, from the rivalry
produced among brethren, through the system
of polygamy producing separate famiUes under
the same roof, with separate interests, and in
princely famiUes more especiaUy, a man's worst
enemies are often literally "those of his own
household ; " and hence there has been Uttle
love lost among the descendants of Mehemet
Ali. Said collected the scattered sticks of the
faggot which Abbas had divided; but on his

A DIVIDED HOUSEHOLD. 89
death they were scattered again — the two
nearest in succession, Mustapha and Halim,
settUng down at Constantinople, where the
Porte promoted them to high offices, and kept
them in terrorem over the head of Ismail. Of
these, Mustafa, who was a great intriguer and
able man, much distrusted by the Khedive, died
but a year ago, and his famUy have been sent
for and taken charge of by Ismail, who has also
gained possession of his great landed estates,
which Mustafa sold before his death. Halim
is stUl aUve ; but his lands, too, including the
Shoubra gardens, have also passed into the
Khedive's hands. It is he whose succession was
set aside by the SubUme Porte, in favour of
Tewfik, the son of Ismail, but four years since.
He holds, or did hold, one of the portfoUos
at Constantinople, and of him more anon ; as,
on the irhpending break-up of the Ottoman
Empire, he and his claims may come to the
surface again some day.
The young prince El-Hami was generously
treated by Said, who aUowed him to retain the
bulk of his father's fortune, and showed friendly
dispositions to him ; but he died early, and with
him ended the line of Abbas, whose wealth, too,
passed away like an exhalation, in the hands of
his improvident and reckless son.
But Abbas, as a ruler, was to a certain extent

90 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
a success. He so managed the finances of
Egypt as to keep clear of debt. Under his reign
the raUroad system was inaugurated — chiefly, it
is true, under English pressure — to meet the
wants of the Indian transit ; agricultm'e was
encouraged and developed, and many of the
wild projects of his predecessor discontinued.
Little as he loved the foreigner, he was cunning
enough to see the uses to which he might be
put ; and though he did not encourage immigra
tion, he did not interfere directly or openly
with the trade and commerce carried on by the
foreigners. The foreign agents, with whom he
could only converse by proxy, were his bad
dreams, and he avoided them as much as pos
sible — far less dreamed of entertaining them, as
did his successor, on a scale of truly princely
hospitaUty. Under him, Egypt increased and
prospered materiaUy, but not sociaUy or morally;
and the condition of the fellah during his term
was that of a dumb drudge, a patient ox, for
whose mental or bodUy improvement his task
master had no care. Such was the condition of
" the house of bondage " when Said succeeded
Abbas in August, 1854.

( 91 )

CHAPTEE VL
THE REIGN OF SAID PACHA.
Said Pacha's accession— The new era introduced by him — Reversal
of his predecessor's pohcy, and private conduct — Attempt to bind
together the family faggot — His social habits — His great fetes —
His princess, Ingee Khanum — His personal appearance and character
' — Resemblance physically and morally to " Bluff King Hal " — His
military mania — Life under tents, and black knights in chain armour
— His work in Egypt — A bright dawn and stormy sunset.
With the accession of Said Pacha a new era
may be said to have commenced in Egyptian
administration. He was one of the younger sons
of Mehemet Ali, by a different mother from
Ibrahim's, or the father of Abbas, and bore the
traits of his fair Georgian mother in complexion
and figure. CarefuUy educated by an accom-
Ushed French tutor (Koenig Bey), who took
good charge of the morals as weU as of the mind
and manners of his pupil. Said Pacha was
a gentleman in our acceptation of that term, a
good French scholar, with some knowledge of
EngUsh, a man of large and Uberal views, and
extremely fond of association with Europeans,

92 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
whose manners and habits he had adopted in
his private Ufe: with the exception of course
of his hareem arrangements.
In poUcy, as weU as in his habits and modes
of thought. Said was the direct opposite of his
predecessor ; and it was he who gave the first
strong impiUse to the improvements and pro
gress which have, within the last twenty-two
years, placed Egypt in the van of the great
march of Western civUization eastwards, and
given the performance as well as the promise of
reform in administration and national Ufe. For,
in reversal of his predecessor's poUcy of isolation,
he at once inaugurated a large and Uberal
poUcy of expansion. He invited and encouraged
European immigration, and under his reign the
foreign colony more than doubled its numbers.
As late as 1854 the European residents at Alex
andria did not exceed, if they amounted to,
20,000, and there were not more than 2000 at
Cairo, with a few scattered over the viUages in
the Delta, representing Alexandrian houses. By
encouraging foreign immigration, surrounding
himseK with European employes in the different
administrations, inviting eminent engineers, and
removing many of the restrictions on trade and
commerce imposed by Abbas, the new viceroy
gave a powerful impulse both to the agricultural
and commercial development of the country.

SAID pacha's CHARACTERISTICS. 93
As his great father made the first step in the
creation of the country, so Said may be credited
with the second in its expansion, as the Khedive
is entitled to the credit of having done much more
to perfect what his predecessors planned. He
recaUed all the members of his own family from
Constantinople and elsewhere, as well as many
state prisoners languishing at FazougU, and
sought to make himseK the father of his family
connection, as weU as of his people. In regard
to the latter, he was fond of repeating the wish
of Henri Quatre, when he said the height of
his ambition was " that every peasant in his
dominions should have a fowl in his pot every
Sunday for his dinner." As far as he could.
Said carried out this sentiment ; as I shaU
show when treating the subject of the Egyptian
labourer later on.
The stranger who attended one of his recep
tions, or the entertainments which he gave on a
scale of great magnificence, blending the Euro
pean and the Eastern styles, and who fancied an
Egyptian prince must be an OtheUo, with " a
sooty visage," was ever surprised to find a coun
terpart of the portraits of Henry VIII. of Eng
land, in complexion, beard, face, and figure, in
Said Pacha. The simUarity in temper, manner,
and character was equaUy striking, though the
bluff manner was redeemed and softened, on

94 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
pubUc occasions, in the viceroy by that exqui
site poUsh of manner, in which the Turkish
gentleman excels. Even as regards the multipli
city of wives, the EngUshman was more Eastern
than Said : whose princess, Ingee Khanum, stiU
surviving and living in state as his widow,
one of the most charming and accomplished of
Eastern women, by the concurring testimony
of aU who know her, shared his throne and his
affections exclusively to the end of his Ufe.
Said Pacha was fair, with a ruddy complexion,
and reddish beard and hair ; his features were
regular, the expression of his face frank and
open. His figure was large and muscular, indi
cating the immense personal strength which
increasing corpulence and iUness marred in his
later years. His eyes though small were bright,
and he did not, like most Turks, keep them
habituaUy haK closed ; but they had none of the
sleepy langour of his race, but flashed with fun
or blazed with anger, as his excitable temper and
changing mood moved him. Neither did he
avoid a direct glance at his interlocutor, in
Eastern fashion, but looked straight in the face
of the person with whom he was conversing.
His readiness of wit, and the charm of his con
versation (conducted in French, which he spoke
as his mother tongue), rendered him a deUghtful
companion ; and he was convivial at the table.

SAJfD'S HOSPITABLE HABITS. 95
without going into excess — drinking wine in
moderation, ever of the most superior quality.
His " French cook," who was an Arab, used
to prepare for the breakfast dishes worthy of
the most famous Parisian restaurants ; Said
appearing in the loose Turkish summer dress
he wore in private, which made him look Uke a
huge bale of cotton, being aU of fine white Unen.
Generous to a fault, and liberal to prodigaUty, he
pushed those virtues to excess, and was deceived
and preyed upon by many whom he rewarded
and trusted, until, Uke most princes, he became
soured and distrustful in his later days. After
a long and most intimate acquaintance with
Said Pacha, without being blind to his faults
and shortcomings, I can truly say that, in my
widely varied experience of men and countries, I
have met no nobler and manUer nature than his,
either Christian, Turk, or infidel ; and in his
early prime, before disgust and disease had
warped, though they never obliterated, his higher
traits of character, he was every inch a king and
a gentleman by God's own patent. In imitation
of Mehemet AU, and in direct contradiction to
Eastern etiquette. Said Pacha courted pub
licity, and was more easy of access than Euro
pean monarchs, hedging himself in with as few
formalities as he possibly could, in consonance
with the prejudices of his people, who are strong

96 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
believers in "the divinity that doth hedge a
king." He gave grand fHes continually, to
which aU European men were free to come,
whether invited or not, at which he entertained
the foreign consuls-general and distinguished
visitors to Egypt right royaUy. His open-air
fetes, in which thousands participated, renewed
the recollections of the " Thousand and One
Nights," with the variegated lamps suspended
from the trees of his palace parks, and the
Oriental costumes of his courtiers and people.
To these the European ladies passing through
CaUo frequently came, but uninvited ; the march
of Frank customs not having yet beten accele
rated to the pace now foUowed by the Khedive,
whose balls at Ab-din every winter are exact
copies of European royal entertainments.
Said Pacha's natural instincts were those of a
soldier, and as happUy he had no opportunity of
indulging them in actual warfare, he amused
himseK with its mimicry — paid great attention to
the recruiting, equipment, driU, and manoeuvring
of his army, which he raised to the number of
50,000 men, and spent much time under tents,
taking a large force with him into the desert to
drUl and manceuvre. He changed the StambouU
or " Frank " unKorm, adopted by Abbas, back
into the more appropriate Eastern costume ; and
in addition to his 30,000 or 40,000 infantry in

BLACK KNIGHTS IN CHAIN ARMOUR. 97
baggy breeches, and jackets of white with metal
buttons, equipped several squadrons of horse in
fancy style.
One of the most striking of these was a troop
of gigantic Nubians, clad from head to heel in
the chain armour of the early Crusaders, with
their black barbs in Uke panoply; and a grim
troop they looked, with their jet black faces,
black barbs, roUing white eyes, and rattling
chain armour. Another troop seemed sheathed
in gold, with bright brass breastplates on horse
and man, and gUttering brass helmets on the
riders — ^pre^rved from sunstroke, under that
burning sun, by special grace of Allah alone.
His dinners were frequent, and the effect
produced by alternate layers of European and
native down the whole length of the long
festive board, presenting such striking contrasts
in costume and nationaUty, was curious in the
extreme. The viceroy and the foreign agents
dined at the head of the table on a raised plat
form, and the entire service at each remove was
of gold, the epergnes, candelabra, etc., being all
of the same precious metal. The ladies of the
hareem, of course, were never visible ; but, in
visible to us, bright eyes looked down and
watched the repast from peeping-places above,
the hareem wing giving a view of the banquet
ing hall, so that the princess and her visitors

98 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
could amuse themselves with the spectacle, with
out the trouble of entertaining the guests.
His restless nature kept him as busy in work
as play. He was ambitious of leaving a high
record behind him, and lent an ear to aU schemes
of public improvement and utUity. He sum
moned Eobert Stephenson, and a smaU army of
engineers, to make several Unes of raUway, in
addition to the one commenced under Abbas,
which at his death was completed only to CaUo ;
and during his whole reign that work went bravely
on. He employed the famous French engineer,
Mougel Bey, to carry out the great breakwater,
the Barrage of the Nile (to this day unfinished).
He caused new canals to be cut and opened
for irrigation ; improved the condition of the
feUahs, and tried to make large landed proprie
tors out of the more intelUgent among them ;
removed onerous taxes and restrictions ; buUt
model viUages for the feUahs ; and finaUy, when
M. de Lesseps returned to Egypt — after leavUig
the French diplomatic service, in which he had
served before in Egypt, whUe Said was a youth —
took him under his patronage and protection,
gave him the concession for the Suez Canal,
which has made the fame and fortune of that
energetic and adroit projector, and gave such
practical aid, pecuniary and moral, subsequently
to De Lesseps and his work, as insured the

SAID pacha's life-work. 99
success of both ; in commemoration of which
the Mediterranean mouth of the canal bears his
name. He also adopted the telegraph, extending
the wires, not only from city to city, but high up
the NUe — a startling innovation in Egypt, where
the old semaphore signals had hitherto been
regarded as the perfection of telegraphic com
munication. He introduced steam pumps and
steam machinery of aU kinds, for agricultural
purposes, into Egypt, and kept Father NUe within
his bed, out of which, as now, he annuaUy at
a given time roused him, to take a run over
the country, instead of aUowing him to tumble
out himseK in primitive fashion. The annual
revenues of Egypt rose, under his judicious
management, from its imports and exports, to
£6,000,000 per annum — an increase to which the
American civil war conduced, by creating a great
demand and higher prices for Egyptian cotton.
Eemarking to me, on the breaking out of that
war, " WeU, K your people stop growing cotton,
I shaU be glad to supply their place," he did
strain every nerve to do so, greatly enriching
Egypt by the increased production of that
staple. Before that war he had sent large orders to
America, and obtained large suppUes of American
locomotives and open raUway carriages, which he
considered best adapted for the hot climate of

100 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Egypt : ordering a very grand one for his private
use, including house and kitchen as weU.
He had connecting lines of raU run up to the
back doors of his palaces, and when bored by
visitors or consuls-general, would slip away in
this house-carriage and stay somewhere on the
road for several days, as a practical joke. I saw
him last shortly before his death, in the summer
of 1862, at Paris, whither he had gone to consult
a famous surgeon as to the internal disease
which was then destro3ring him. His increasing
feebleness was rendered more perceptible from
the huge bulk of his body, swoUen and flaccid
by disease. But his mind seemed stiU vigorous,
though his eye was duU ; and his manner had lost
little of its old charm, and his powers of retort
were as keen and caustic as ever. He saw and
submitted to his rapidly approaching doom, with
the blended stoicism of the fatalistic Turk, and
the resignation of the French philosophe, both
of which characters were blended in his.
He died not long after, and was interred, not
among the others of his line, who have stately
mausoleums near Cairo, but in the burying
ground of a smaU mosque in the centre of Alex
andria, where his mother's remains also rest.
If the early morn of Said Pacha's reign was
bright and smiUng with promise, its close was
dark and dreary enough to add another to the

a bright morning and cloudy sunset. 101
many examples, from " Macedonia's madman "
to the Swede, to prove the vanity of human
hopes, and the nothingness of human grandeur.
He mounted the throne of Egypt in 1854, a gay,
hopeful, ardent man, with vigorous health,
boundless power, and almost inexhaustible
wealth. He left it but nine years later for a
premature grave ; his strength wasted to chUdish
weakness by disease and trouble ; hope, fortune,
friends, all lost ; and, with a soul as sick as his
body, welcomed death as a release from suf
fering. At my last interview with him, he expressed
deep regret that he had saddled his country with
a pubUc loan and a pubUc debt ; and that he
repented of it. "When he died, I believe the
pubUc debt of Egypt did not exceed £5,000,000..
What it now is, under the fatal faciUty of credit,
and the new system of "financing" introduced
into Egypt, and flourishing Uke a poisonous
fungus for twelve years past, the world has been
informed through the reports of the financial
surgeons sent from Europe to probe and cure,
if possible, the gaping wound.
' In justice to the Khedive of whom, once the
spoUed and petted favourite of Europe, few now
have a good word to say, it must be stated that
he treated Said's royal lady, and his only son,
Toussoun Pacha (who died the other day), like

102 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
a king and a kinsman ; and stiU continues so to
do to the surviving widow, who keeps up a state
and commands a respect second to none in the
reigning house, and is treated with equal con
sideration and courtesy by the Khedive himseK.
Toussoun he married to one of his daughters,
and made Minister of Education. He was much
respected and beloved, possessing his father's
traits of temper without his force of character.
Of Said Pacha, in conclusion, it may be said
that, as he was human, he sinned and suffered,
both as a pubUc and a private man. His faith
was that of Islam ; many of his ways were not
as our ways ; his civiUzation was blended with
barbarism; but he was a brave, true-hearted
man, a staunch friend, a forgiving enemy, a
just, humane, and judicious ruler over the
country which Providence had confided to his
care. Bequiescat in pace I

( 103 )

CHAPTEE VII.
THE FOREIGN COLONY IN EGYPT IN OLDEN TIME.
The foreign colony in Egypt, under the earlier viceroys — Classification
of them — The merchant princes — The European army ofBoers —
Suleyman Pacha, or Colonel S(5ves, commander-in-chief — Some anec
dotes of him — Other conforming and non-conforming officials — Some
curious specimens — Talking only Arabic ! — ^Peouliar privileges of
foreign consuls-general and their proteges — The new mixed tribunals
superseding consular authority — A few words about them, and the
old doctrine of " Exterritoriality."
I HAVE already stated that the foreign element
in Egypt, composed of Europeans and of Greeks
educated in Europe, played a conspicuous part
in the early history of Egypt, and that their
numbers were largely recruited during the reign
of Said Pacha, in consequence of his encourage
ment to and patronage of them. I have also
sUghtly sketched the first pioneers of this tide
of Western civiUzation, the merchant princes, in
the preceding chapter. Of these, who came in
with Mehemet AU, and graduaUy lost both their
monopoly of the trade, as weU as of the heavy
commissions attendant on royal orders for

104 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
machinery, cotton goods, and other Western
productions, in consequence of the competition
of the later arrivals, it is unnecessary to say
more. Let us cast a hasty glance over the other
classes composing this advanced guard of civiU
zation, presenting as they do many curious
subjects of contemplation and observation.
Among these there were not many who found
it necessary to become renegades, or profess or
practise the creed and habits of Islamism.
In the army was the Count Galeazzo Vis-
conti, of MUan, a scion of the old Italian
Viscontis, who held a captain's commission for
years, but who never owned a unKorm, put
on a sword, or saw a review of troops, during
his long stay in Egypt. Lord Pahnerston's
recommendation had obtained him his nominal
rank and duty ; and there were a legion of
such. PoUsh, Hungarian, ItaUan, Austrian,
and Venetian refugees 'came and settled down
in swarms ; some to useful" pursuits, others
to nominal ones, or sinecures under the
Government. Among this latter class was one
man of rare abUity and acquirements, the
ChevaUer Geronimo Lattis, who, with Manin,
had been one of the triumvUate of the short
lived Venetian repubUc. His scientific abUities
found a useful field in Egypt, and he was much

THE FOREIGN COLONY IN EGYPT. 105
consulted in agricultural matters by Said Pacha.
I beUeve he stiU lives, and resides in Egypt.
Another set of Christian employes was taken
from the class of rayahs, or native Christians,
composed chiefly of Armenians, Syrians, Greeks,
and Coptic subjects of the Porte. These, though
Uttle favoured by Abbas, were brought promi
nently forward by Said Pacha, who made Arakel
Bey — the brother of the now famous Nubar
Pacha, and like him an Armenian Christian —
Governor of the Soudan ; and Nubar himseK his
Minister of Foreign Affairs, though then quite
a young man. The Copts, who seem to have
a natural aptitude for figures and accounts,
fiUed, as they stUl fiU, the pubUc offices ; and the
introduction of the railway and steam engine
involved the employment of English engineers.
So that the foreign colony waxed fat, and
became a most important element in the de
velopment of the new Egypt of the successors
of Mehemet Ali : as it continues to-day, when
the control of the finances, of the raUway, of
the docks and harbours, in fact of everything
but the army, as weU as the great products
of the soil, has passed into foreign hands. The
Khedive has aUowed himseK to be treated as
GulUver was in the land of LilUput — tied down
by' thousands of smaU threads, untU he can
neither move hand nor foot of his own volition.

106 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
WUl he long continue to submit to this
abdication of the highest functions of govern
ment, and entrust them to foreign hands ? Time
alone can teU.
An idea of the Babel of tongues prevaUing
in Egypt, where all nationalities. Western and
Eastern, are represented, and where a man
should be a polyglot to prosper in trade or pro
fession, may be formed from the statement that
the transactions of legal proceedings there in
volves a knowledge of French, ItaUan, Greek,
and Arabic, aU four of which, together with
other languages incidentaUy, must enter into the
pleadings. Mehemet AU, as an Albanian, was reaUy more
Greek than Turk, though professing and reared
in the latter faith, in which he brought up his
family also. But he was no fanatic — even more
liberal in matters of faith than most Turks, who
are models in the matter of toleration, unless
their fanatical fervour is violently roused — and so
men served him faithfully, he cared little for the
creeds they professed. The same liberality of
feeling has ever been evinced by his descendants,
with the exception of Abbas, who was supposed
to be fanatical; although he never gave much
practical demonstration of it, except by sanction
ing by his presence the annual ceremony of
the Doseh, when the returning head of the

SULEYMAN PACHA'S STRANGE HISTORY. 107
pUgrimage from Mecca rides over the bodies of
a pavement of living men — a kind of Egyptian
" Car of Juggernaut " ceremonial, which Said
discontinued, and the present Khedive dis
courages ; though I beUeve neither have been
able entirely to suppress this cruel reUc of
barbarism. In consequence of this toleration, but few of
the foreigners who sought the Egyptian service
conformed, and became Mussulmen in faith
and in mode of Ufe.
One notable exception to this was Suleyman
Pacha, formerly Colonel Seves — a Frenchman
who served on the staff of Napoleon in his
Egyptian campaign, but remained after the
French had left the coimtry ; and being a skiUed
soldier, and a man of talent and energy, rose to
the rank of pacha and commander-in-chief of the
Egyptian forces ; dying at an advanced age, only
a few years since, in that position. Suleyman
Pacha did not do things by halves, but in all
respects conformed rigidly to the tenets and
practices of his new faith to the day of his
death, diminishing his Ucense in the way of
wine, and increasing it in the way of wives ;
Uving in every way in true Mussulman fashion,
and keeping up the old hareem usages. I knew
the old man, and met him on several occasions ;
and a more thorough Turk outwardly, in appear-

108 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
ance, manners, and habits, I never saw. Yet,
when excited or Uritated, the nature of the
Frenchman would break through the conven
tional mannerism of the Oriental, and the old
soldier of the EmpUe appear in fuU force. I
. never heard him speak of his old souvenUs, or
make any reference to his past career. He
avoided European society ; and when forced into
it by his official position, his reserve and
reticence were truly Oriental. A stranger,
watching the dignified old man in his Oriental
costume, with his snowy beard faUing on his
breast, on which gUttered the Order of the
Medjidie : his grave and composed manner,
and thoroughly Eastern aspect, would have
regarded him as the true type of the high Turk.
But one who knew his history, and marked the
occasional twitching of the mouth under the
heavy moustache, and the flash of the steel
grey eye, sharp as a scimitar, could detect the
French irritabiUty and frivoUty which were
masked under the Turkish phlegm.
He did his duty, however, thoroughly and
weU, and enjoyed the confidence of several suc
cessive viceroys, different in aU respects; dying
in harness at last, a very old man, in the fuU
odour of Egyptian Pacha-dom.
He was a good soldier and a stern martinet,
and greatly improved the efficiency and discipline

TALKING ONLY ARABIC. 109
of the Egyptian army. The present head of the
army is the Khedive's son Hassan, who is also
Minister of War, promoted recently in place of
Eatib Pacha, a Circassian, who .made so bad
a mess of the late Abyssinian campaign, through
incompetence or "want of stomach for the
fight," or probably from a combination of the
two quaUties. Suleyman Pacha evidently took
a leaf out of his old commander's book ; for
the first Napoleon was philosophe under the
Directory, His most CathoUc Majesty as emperor,
and a most exceUent Mussulman at CaUo.
There were other foreigners in the service
who, without going so far as Suleyman Pacha,
in dress appearance, and even in speech, com
monly passed for Turks with strangers. One
most ludicrous exemplification of this I have
frequently witnessed with great amusement, in
the time of Said Pacha, when an EngUshman,
got up in thoroughly Oriental style, and speak
ing Arabic Uke a native, used to sit solemnly
on his divan at the raUway-station, over which
he presided, and gravely Usten, through his
interpreter, to the complaints made by British
officers and travellers from India, en route for
Alexandria to embark for Europe. "Ask that
lazy old Turk to stop making a chimney of
himself, and mind his business, or we wUl ask
our consul-general to ask his master to kick

110 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
him out of his place ! " and other such flattering,
remarks would faU apparently unheeded on the
ear of the functionary, who sat cross-legged
smoking, while angry British officers used such
and stronger language, through their dragomen,
who in turn would translate into Arabic the
supposed substance of the observation. But
not even the movement of a muscle or the
twinkle of an eye would betray the farce he
was playing ; for, had his interlocutors known
he could understand their complaints, he would
have been overwhelmed with them. Hence, he
prudently kept his own counsel, and warned the
dragomen not to betray him; and thus was
enabled to smoke his pipe in comparative com
fort, whUe the traveller fumed and fretted away
his wrath, without venting it on the wearied
ears of the unmoved official.
There were numerous other foreign employes,
recruited from every land and language on which
the Western sun has shone, and poUtical refugees
from all the countries of Europe, whom the year
of revolutions (1848) had driven abroad, and who,
under some foreign consular protection, sought
refuge and bread in the remote land of Egypt.
The confusion of tongues, from the mixture
of so many nationalities, stiU is made rubric on
the waUs of Alexandria and Cairo, where flaming
posters are pasted up, either for advertising busi-

CONFUSION OF TONGUES AND NATIONALITIES. Ill
ness or amusement, in at least three or four
languages, French, ItaUan, EngUsh, and Arabic
— these being the most universaUy current, and
most generaUy understood.
Thirty years ago there were not more than
6000 foreigners in Egypt. At present, by the
consular registers, there are near 80,000 re
corded as residents in the country ; and adding
to these a number in the cities and viUages
who are not down on those registers, or resident
only during the winter months, the business
season in Egypt, the Khedive's own com
putation of 100,000 foreign residents, made to
me, must rather be below than above the mark."'^
The population of Cairo is about haK a miUion,
of which probably 20,000 may be Europeans ;
that of Alexandria, about 250,000, of whom
probably 50,000 are resident Europeans ; though
there are many Europeanized Greeks and
natives, who cannot be strictly enroUed as
foreigners, doing business there also ; with a
very large floating population annually visiting
Egypt for business, health, or pleasure. The
latter class spend much money in the country
in various ways.
The new mixed tribunals present the most
curious Ulustration of the confusion of tongues
* In Appendix marked D will be found the tabular statement,
taken from the consular registers.

112 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
above referred to. They are as mixed in
language as in law, and in the nationalities
of the judges and cUents, and requUe a small
army of interpreters to act as intermediaries
between theU component parts. The native
judges, who imderstand no language but their
own, and no law save that laid down in the
Koran, of course must find the sessions rather
tiresome : but preserve a most decorous judicial
gravity under the mask of their habitual Oriental
seriousness. The foreign judges, several of
whom, on arrival, were innocent of knowledge
of any but their native tongues, when plunged
into this seething cauldron of the French civU
law code, expounded by ItaUan, Greek, and
EngUsh advocates in such French and ItaUan
as they could master, and set to try cases in
which Greek and Arabic witnesses and papers
contained the evidence, must have felt, and
must stiU feel, that " ignorance is not bUss " in
theU case. They must frequently imitate that
energetic American judge, who, not being able
to find the law requisite for making a just
decision in a particular case, when asked by his
brethren on the bench where he got his law from
covering the case, responded : " Well, I made
that decision by main strength."
So must it often be in these mixed tribunals.
The existence of these tribunals, now the

THB NEW MIXED TRIBUNALS. 113
overshadowing power in Egypt, superseding
the consular authority which used to be omni
potent, as weU as that of the Khedive, who
was once the only High Court of Appeal in
the country, but who now is (at least nominaUy)
amenable to their jurisdiction, is due to Nubar
Pacha. More than twenty years ago, in the
reign of Said, he sought to persuade the consuls-
general to divest themselves of their judicial
powers, by consenting to the establishment of
some such scheme. But neither the country
nor the time was ripe for it ; and year after year,
with dogged patience and inexhaustible resource,
under different administrations, he persevered
until his efforts were crowned with success.
But by a strange fataUty he was " hoist by his
own petard." His unforgiven sin with his
monarch is, that in tying the hands of the
European diplomatic agents, and submitting
all judicial decisions to what is practically an
Egyptian tribunal, whose judges are paid out
of the Egyptian treasury, he at the same
time threw meshes around the Khedive, and
imperiUed K he did not destroy his sovereign
prerogative. For the tribunal has affirmed its
right to sit in judgment on the Egyptian Master
of Legions, and decree against him, although
decUning to go through the form of insisting
on enforcing judgments, for which it has not

114 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
been put in possession of adequate means.
Hence the anomalous and awkward position the
two reciprocally occupy, vis-d-vis to each other.
Under the old system — based on the doctrine
of " ExterritoriaUty," which gave authority
over the foreigner exclusively to the repre
sentative of his own Government, under the
ancient capitulations — the consular courts exer
cised the power of pronouncing judgment, in
contests between their own subjects and those
of other nationaUties, including the natives.
Through the powerful pressure of their own per
sonal influence on the Egyptian ministers and
the head of the State, they enforced justice for
their people. That power and right foreign
governments have abdicated (at least for a term
of five years, two of which have expired), and
it remains to be proven by experience whether
the substitute is a good and sufficient one.
It has certainly succeeded in clearing off much
rubbish, in the shape of old reclamations against
the Government, sitting as a court of claims,
for which the Khedive should be grateful. It
has also given the " happy despatch " to the
multitudinous bankrupts, by a speedy and simple
system of reUef, in place of the complicated
ones previously existing in consular courts,
no two of which agreed ; and for this the foreign
colony, which has had very bad affairs ever

OLD DOCTRINE OP EXTERRITORIALITY. 115
since the close of the American war, which
induced over-speculation and ruin, should be
duly thankful. These two kinds of work, I
beUeve, constitute thus far the bulk of business
done, except the settlement of smaU claims.
The intervention of the tribunal in matters
directly connected with the Khedive and his
creditors, has not been either as successful or
as satisfactory as in the two other matters, either
to the Khedive : the judge (Haakmann) who
pronounced judgment and tried to enforce it,
and was compeUed to resign in consequence :
or finally to the creditors of the Khedive who,
beUeving they had been presented with the
oyster, have had to content themselves with
the empty sheUs, thus far.
But the test of time alone can show whether
the tribunals, like Marshal McMahon, can or
wiU be permitted to serve out their " quin-
quennate," and renew it for another term.
With the exception noted, thus far the machine,
though over-cumbrous, and enormously expen
sive, seems to have run pretty smoothly.*
The old system also of each foreign consulate
attaching to it, as proteges, a number of native
Christian rayahs, chiefly Copts, Greeks, and
Syrians, and affording them countenance and
* In Appendix C will be found some particulars relating to these
tribunals.

116 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
protection, which used to add so much to the
power, influence, and prestige of the representa
tives of the Great Powers, and afford so much
protection to the native Christians (though
sometimes abused), has been almost K not
entirely done away with under the new regime,
to the great regret and loss of the class who
used to be thus protected. The aUeged evUs
of the old system I beUeve to have been
greatly exaggerated, though there were some
notorious cases of abuse of the privUege : as
there must ever be when discretionary power is
confided to incompetent or venal hands, and
consuls-general must be supposed to vary as
much in character and capacity, as aU other
pubUc functionaries.

( 117 )

CHAPTEE VIII.
THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Divisions of Modern Egypt : Lower Egypt, Middle Egypt, and Upper
Egypt — The Soudan — Chief exports — Facts and figures — Popula
tion and mortality — Difficulties and drawbacks native rulers
must contend against — Smelfungus at Cairo — His sources of
information — An appeal for justice on behalf of the new masters
of the " House of bondage "—Said Pacha's sad experience with his
model villages — The new foreign employes — The Government
more generous than just in some respects.
AccoBDiNG to Caesar's " Commentaries," aU Gaul
"was divided into three parts." So is Egypt,
viz., into Lower Egypt, or the Delta, contain
ing 2,650,563 feddans (acres) of land under
cultivation, ninety-two towns and cities, and
2253 vUlages or communes; Middle Egypt,
containing 827,616 feddans of land, six towns
and cities, and 114 viUages; Upper Egypt
containing 1,146,041 feddans of land, fifteen
towns and cities, and 668 viUages ; making a
total of 4,624,221 feddans of land under cultiva
tion, 113 towns and cities, and 658 villages or
townships.

118 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Besides Egypt proper are the provinces of
Massawa, Souakim, and Taka, on the coast of
the Eed Sea, and that vast province termed the
Soudan. It is claimed that in the last fifteen years
not less than 500,000 acres have been reclaimed
for cultivation from the desert, being an average
of over 70,000 acres per year added to the
cultivated area of Egypt : and that 300,000 more
are in process of preparation under the canal
improvements instituted by the Khedive ; for,
in Egypt, the desert may be made "to blossom
as the rose " by the appUcation of water only.
The Central African annexations, under Gordon
and his subordinates, bid fair to double Egypt's
area and population.
The chief exports of Egypt are cotton, sugar,
and grain. Cotton, the culture of which was
only introduced in 1820 by a Frenchman named
Jumel, is now produced to the annual amount
of about 600,000 bales, and furnishes Europe
with one-eighth of its entUe supply — four-fifths
going to England. Sugar comes next ; the largest
portion of which is exported to France, the
next to England. Then come the cereals, the
greatest portion of which goes to England also,
in the proportion of ten to one to any other
country. Egyptian statesmen remark, with just pride.

A FEW PACTS AND FIGURES. 119
that their country, more populous in proportion
than any country in Europe, is yet able to supply
the inhabitants by her products, leaving an
immense surplus for exportation ; and they also
refer to the fact that her exports are double her
imports— £14,000,000 in value to £7,000,000.
Certainly a most satisfactory state of things,
and indicative of prosperity. Much of this is
due to the indefatigable efforts of the Khedive,
who was a most successful and enterprising planter
before he became Khedive, and whose expendi
ture in improving machinery and agricultural
appliances has been on a scale as gigantic as his
planting interest.
Not to pUe up here too many statistics, which
are very dry reading, I shall add only a few
figures which are curious and instructive, and
then pass on to other topics. The number of
domestic animals in Egypt (not including the
mummied specimens in the buU, crocodile, and
other pits, at Memphis and elsewhere), are esti
mated at about 300,000 horned cattle, 20,000
horses, 94,000 asses, 36,000 camels, and 2500
mules; of sheep there are 175,000, goats
24,000. During the year 1872 (the year of the
rinderpest)* 14,000 head of cattle and 200,000
* The horse disease broke out again at Cairo and the upper country
in the autumn of 1876-77, supposed to have been imported from
Abj'ssinia.

120 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
sheep were imported into Alexandria for food.
The average price of cattle at the great annual
fans at Tantah and elsewhere is double that of
horses, and the same as that of camels. The
land-tax of Egypt anuaUy rises to upwards of
£4,500,000, that tax being about £1 per feddan
(acre). The date palm is one of the great
sources of the food of the country-folk, and
about £200,000 per annum is derived from taxes
upon its fruit. It is estimated that there are
over 6,000,000 of date trees in Egypt of different
varieties, producing about 20,000,000 cantars
(cwt.) of fruit each season. The cactus is also
cultivated on a large scale, and its pears eaten.
With regard to Egypt's new acquisitions in
Central Africa, when the geographical position,
fertUe soil, and products of the NUe basin are
considered, their value to Egypt and to European
commerce may be understood ; but the exact
amount of that value depends on the uses to
which its fertile soil and teeming population
may be put. Its first effect has been to divert
to Egypt the produce of the NUe basin through
her great artery the NUe, reviving the trade of
Cairo and Alexandria. When the raUway com
munication is completed, penetrating far into
the Soudan, that trade must be diverted from
Zanzibar and the Eed Sea ports to its natural
outlets. With so vast an area of fertile soU,

POPULATION AND MORTALITY. 121
and such a teeming population, rich in flocks,
herds, and grain, and the natural products of
Africa, hitherto the spoU of native traders and
slave-dealers (synonymous terms), the experi
ment can and wiU be tried on the largest scale ;
and Gordon Pacha is in earnest in his efforts
to suppress the traffic of man in man, which
makes Equatorial Africa a waste and a Pan
demonium. Egypt proper (not including its recent acqui
sitions in Central Africa, which have doubled
its area and population) was, in 1872, about
as large as Belgium, whUe its population was
greater than that of that country, so prosperous
and comparatively populous ; as weU as of that of
Sweden, HoUand, Portugal, Denmark, and Nor
way — the density of the Egyptian population
exceeding any of these.
The population of Cairo is near 500,000, that
of Alexandria about 216,000 ; and, in despite of
the popular* idea as to the health of Egypt (as
the tables of mortality of its great cities, care
fully collected and published by the present
Government, show), the mortaUty, except during
the prevalence of epidemics — now becoming
more rare and almost disappearing— wiU com
pare favourably with that of European cities.
The vast improvements made and making in
Cairo, in Haussmannizing the old town, must

122 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
also increase its healthiness, though the cUmate
is too enervating to suit European chUdren.
You see many people in the streets presenting
the appearance of great age : but whether they
are as old as they look I cannot say : for every
thing seems so precocious in this country, where
girls of ten and boys of fifteen are marriageable
and married.
As to the mortality among the rural popula
tion (or feUahs) it is exceptionally small, proving
that neither their condition nor their labour can
be quite so bad or so heavy as sentimental
traveUers would persuade us : whUe their natural
increase is very great, another proof of at least
comparative physical weU-being. Under the
two last rulers the condition of the peasantry
has been improved ; they have been not only
permitted, but encouraged to become land
owners ; and the subdivision of property has
commenced, which must increase with each
year. The stories of forced labour and forcible
recruiting, and cruelty to the feUahs by the
Government employes (who, by the way, are not
Turks, but men of their own race, often their
own feUow- villagers), I am told by old residents,
and myseK beUeve, to be partly exaggerated :
although I do not doubt that the system is radi
cally bad, and that there is immense room for
improvement, both in the condition and treat-

SMELFUNGUS AT CAIRO. 123
ment of the fellahs; nor that acts of hardship
and cruelty are frequently perpetrated by the
ignorant and often brutal agents of the Khedive
or his Government, on the persons and property
of his subjects. TraveUers' stories, however,
must be taken with many grains of allowance,
owing not only to their lack of knowledge as to
the character and customs of this most pecuUar
people, but also to their ignorance of the lan
guage, and the darkened medium of the drago
men through which both reach them ; the crass
ignorance of most of these blind guides being
only surpassed by their mendacity and desire to
astonish or shock the "Howadji" under their
charge. I have often Ustened to conversations at
Shepheard's table d'hote, from the returned NUe
pUgrim, who had supped on the dragomanic
stories, and it has reminded me more of the
wonderful discoveries of French tourists in
London as to the manners and customs of the
English, which we find still circulated and swal
lowed across the Channel, than any other narra
tives of travel within my knowledge. Then, too,
there is Smelfungus, who was met by Sterne
during his sentimental journey, " who traveUed
from Dan to Beersheba, and found everything
barren." I am quite sure I have met him in
Egypt, not once but repeatedly. Only last

124 THE Khedive's egypt.
winter, at Cairo, he sat near me at table d'hote,
and I am satisfied he must be the same man.
Loud of voice, arrogant in manner, big, burly,
consequential, and surly, he seemed to occupy
two places at table, and the growling thunder of
his voice drowned the more subdued sound of
conversation for some distance in his vicinity.
Sitting very near him at table were two of the
native employes, easUy distinguishable by their
swarthy faces, straight-coUared StambouU coats,
and red fez tarbouches of the Government regu
lation colour. Their presence seemed only to
stimulate Smelfungus, who loudly abused the
country and the Government, and described in
harrowing terms the treatment of the feUah men
and women by the pampered officials, and by
order of the Khedive — relating instances of
cruelty and oppression, as the rule and not the
exception, which, if universal, would make Satan
himseK the only possible counseUor to the Khe
dive. What impression as to Frank courtesy
and credulity Smelfungus produced on his un
moved Egyptian auditors, whose appetite his
diatribes did not disturb, and who apparently
took no notice of speeches they could not faU to
hear, the reader can judge as well as I.
It is indeed a great pity that Smelfungus and
his class could not be kept at home by parUa-
mentary enactment ; for they are petty instru-

EGYPTIAN "HORRORS." 125
ments of mighty mischief, in exciting national
disUkes and magnifying misrepresentations.
But free countries cannot take the precautions
which despotisms may ; and which Eussia did for
many years, according to general beUef.
Hence, when any " Egyptian horrors " are
put in current cUculation, it is weU to see K
SmeKungus, inspUed by his dragoman, be not
their author.
No government or population ever yet was
improved by angry vituperation, or by " clothing
them in curses as with a garment ; " and
righteous indignation subjects itseK to suspicion
when it deals in vague generaUties of accusation,
and does not discriminate between cases that
are universal, and those which are exceptional.
I am no apologist either for the shortcomings
or the sins of Egyptian administration in the
interior : nor for the treatment to which the
feUah population has been — and is, I fear, stUl —
subjected by an arbitrary, arrogant, and irrespon
sible set of taskmasters and tax-gatherers, armed
with almost absolute authority. Even to the
heads of State themselves I have not hesitated
to point out, nor (I must do justice to them)
have those rulers, in response, frequently faUed
to admit and deplore, while declaring their
inabUity to remove, the grievous burdens born
by the feUahs in many ways, and the necessity

126 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
of improving their mental, physical, and social
condition. Both Said and Ismail have grappled
with this evU, and have been met with the
irresistible opposition of the terrible vis inertice
of Oriental apathy and fatalism — that dumb
stupidity, against which SchUler says " even the
Gods are powerless" — as well as by the corruption
and cruelty of subordinate officials.
Attempting to ameliorate the lot of the
peasant. Said Pacha caused model viUages to be
constructed, with clean and comfortable dweU-
ings, and, pulling down the feUah mud huts,
transported the famiUes to their new homes.
Eighteen months after, I inquired how his model
viUage was thriving.
" You wiU obUge me, the next time you pass
on your way to Cairo, to stop and see ! " was his
reply. I did so, and found that the model houses had
been deserted, and were rapidly falUng to ruin,
whUe, like sugar-loaf ant-hUls, on the outer circle
were again grouped the mud huts, in aU their
primitive dUt and discomfort, with theU fowls
and filth and prowling dogs : into which the
villagers, with then swarming famiUes, had
squatted down. Against ignorance and pre
judices well-nigh invincible, the fight is a hard
one ; and when you reflect that simUar igno
rance and barbarism prevails throughout the

MORE GENEROUS THAN JUST. 127
whole country, and embraces aU classes — except
a very small cUcle in the cities and surrounding
the Court — the difficulties of the administration
may be comprehended, and aUowances made for
shortcomings. The substitution of the foreign in place of
the native official, as the means of improve
ment and better government in the interior,
thus far has not proved a success: as the long
roU of that "noble army of martyrs," the
African explorers, from Livingstone to Muzinger
Pacha proves. The path of exploration and
of civiUzation into Central Africa, Uke that
across the desert, may be traced by the bones
of the pioneers who have perished along the
route. In the great Government centres, however,
of Alexandria and Cairo it has worked well,
although the selection of these foreign officials
has not always been made with great judgment,
nor has the state of the Egyptian exchequer
been consulted as to their salaries and emolu
ments. WhUe men of such eminent adminis
trative and executive capacity as McKillop
Pacha, of the British navy (long in the Egyptian
service, and of incalculable value to the Khedive
in many ways), receive the most inadequate
salaries, many of the recent importations, who
possess neither a tithe of his abihties nor ex-

128 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
perience of the country, receive four times the
pay for not one-fourth of the work which he
does so thoroughly and indefatigably. I have
never heard him utter a syUable of complaint — he
is too proud a man for that — but the facts have
faUen within my own knowledge, and I cite his
case simply as an iUustration of a general truth ;
appUcable also to many of the ablest and oldest
of foreign officials in Egypt : but without mean
ing to cast any reflection on the new-comers,
several of whom are undoubtedly most efficient
and useful pubUc officers.
It is certainly but just that the salaries of
officials, transplanted there from England or
France, should be greatly increased, perhaps
doubled, in view of the probable increase of
expense in living (enormously high in Egypt), as
weU as of the interruption of theU former
business relations. But it reaUy does not seem
just, either to the old officials and employes, or to
the "gentleman in difficulties" to whose reUef
they are caUed, that many of the higher officials
should receive the salary of British ministers
of State ! and that clerks should be paid in
pounds what they got in crowns in England — •
from whence almost aU these new employes are
drawn, with only enough of Frenchmen to serve
as a seasoning.
If charity begins at home, so should economy ;

THE NEW FOREIGN EMPLOYES. 129
and however great the savings effected by the
new administrators may be — and in some in
stances, as in the post-office and the customs
administrations, they have been considerable — ¦
they wiU proflt the Khedive or his creditors but
Uttle, K they are swaUowed up in the expenses of
the machinery employed in their production.
Sitting at Shepheard's table d'Mte one day, I
saw six of these new employes side by side, whose
coUective salaries amounted to more than £20,000
per annum, and but four out of the six held high
positions : the other two being merely clerks in
departments. Many of these gentlemen, doubt
less very capable at home, verify the truth of
Lord Bacon's axiom, that " he that goeth abroad
without understanding the language goeth to
school, and not to travel." For how people, to
whom the old records and papers relating to new
transactions, are UteraUy " sealed books," being
in Arabic, can possibly either comprehend, audit,
or check accounts, I confess puzzles me ; for the
interpreter — -again to cite Lord Bacon — "having
his hand fuU, truth may choose but to open his
little finger." This fact accounts for much of
the confusion in Egyptian accounts.
These comments are made in no invidious or
hostUe spirit towards the new employes, most
of whom I do not know, and several who are
known personaUy to me inspiring me with most

130 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT,
friendly feeUngs. But the truth should be told ;
and when outcries against the Khedive's expen
sive administration of pubUc affaUs are so loudly
made, it is but just that some of the leaks should
be shown to proceed from other causes than
his own personal extravagancies. The ordinary
Egyptian official, whether foreign or native, has
hitherto been so insufficiently and irregularly
paid, that this contrast seems aU the more
striking ; and hence I have placed my finger
as gently as I could upon this very tender
spot.* Several of the gentlemen personaUy interested,
with a candour that did them honour, frankly
admitted to me the justice of the complaint in
this regard made by the old employes; but
naturaUy were not quixotic enough to propose
a reduction in the emoluments, with which
they had been so UberaUy endowed by the
Egyptian Government, out of its almost empty
chests. One of the greatest difficulties in the trans
action of bureau or official business of any kind
is the immense number of hoUdays claimed, and
granted to employes in all the Government
bureaux, which exasperate and annoy all foreign
officials, and retard the progress of business : but
which, owing to the number of fasts and feasts
* See Ai^pendix C.

EGYPTIAN FASTS AND FEASTS. 131
in the Mohammedan calendar, it seems im
possible to diminish.
The fasts and feasts and hoUdays of the
Greek, Latin, and Coptic rayahs (or native
Christians) are fuUy as numerous and as
punctiUously observed as those of the Mussul-
m«n4 ; and the accountants and subordinate
employes in the different divans are taken
largely from this class — there being really no
Turks in Egypt, and the native Egyptians not
being over fond of clerical or office duties.
The latter however act as the heads of divans,
with the intention of doing everything by proxy,
and as Uttle as possible personaUy. Thus, with
both head and hands equally willing to be idle,
this irritating interposition of newly arrived and
zealous strangers can effect but Uttle.
During these hoUday times the Government
officers and officials do no manner of work that
is not absolutely essential, and the recurrence of
these vacations is vexatious to the European
heads of bureaux, who see at least two months
in every year lost through them ; not including
the thirty days' fast of Eamazan, when all
Mussulman Eg3rpt is awake aU night, and asleep,
or haK asleep, aU day — making three. This is
one of the ingrained old customs, which even
Khedive Ismail, absolute as he is supposed to be,
has contended against in vain ; striving to Umit

132 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
and reduce these very Uberal vacations so con
stantly recurring. But custom, which in the
East is stronger, not only than law, but even
than kings, wUl not be changed ; and Egyptian
employes, who benefit by these leisure days,
from high to low, stickle for their perpetuation,
and evade — ^when they do not dare openly to
disobey — higher orders to the contrary.
Against any active opposition the Khedive's
fiat is omnipotent ; but against old customs,
prejudices, and habits, stronger than any written
law and more reUgiously foUowed, even his
energy and efforts strike as vainly as a cannon
baU directed against a floating sUk banner, whose
non-resistance is the secret of its remaining
unimpressed by the force directed against it.
Time, education, and improvement may flnaUy
counteract the causes enumerated; but it wUl
requUe the united efforts of the three to make
Egypt like unto Europe.
Let us then give both the IQiedive, and his
new assistants from abroad, the benefit of good
intentions and weU-directed efforts ; even though
the progress actuaUy made, in the way of
practical and perceptible reform in the different
administrations, does not seem very perceptible
as yet, and though the performance faUs very far
short of the sweUing programme : put forth in
the hope of regaining the lost confidence of

PROGRAMME AND PERFORMANCE. 133
Europe, both as to the Khedive's promises of
reform, and his promise to pay. The first steps
in the right direction have been taken, and, with
patience, the goal may be reached at last.

134 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE IX.
HELOUAN.
An Aix les Bains in the desert — What and where is Helouan? — On
the road to it — The grand boulevard to the citadel — Glimpses
of interiors en route — The Mokattam Hills — Their quarries —
Through the desert, in view ofthe Pyramids — Appearance of Helouan
— Its sights and smells — The sulphur baths — The hotel — The view
from its roof — An enthusiastic collector of antiques.
Sitting on Shepheard's balcony at CaUo, one
soft spring morning this year, the idea struck
us to visit the sulphur springs and baths of
Helouan : one of the modern im]Drovements
undertaken and carried out by the Khedive, at
his own expense, for the benefit of aU native and
foreign sufferers from rheumatic or kindred
maladies. The existence of hot sulphur springs
at Helouan, about fourteen mUes from Cairo, had
been known a long time ; but the merit of
utiUzing them, and creating a species of Aix les
Bains in the desert, is due to Ismail Pacha :
who not only established baths there of a most

ALS LBS BAINS LN. THE DESERT. 135
substantia! description, but caused a fine spacious
hotel to be constructed as weU, placed a German
manager and doctor in charge of it, and en
couraged the creation of a Uttle viUage in the
vicinity, presenting buUding lots to- aU persons
who would erect upon them dwelUng-houses
of an inexpensive description. He also- caused
to be buUt a palace for his mother, by way of
example, and the Uttle bathing-place has become
quite the fashion aUeady. So much so that
visitors from CaUo have often to wait a week or
two, to secure accommodation at the hotel
during the winter season. When the great heats
come on, I beUeve the hotel is closed, though
the owners of the houses at Helouan pass the
entire summer there ; the dry aU of the desert
suiting some constitutions, and the nights being
always endurable, from the winds which ever
sweep across the empty waste of desert sand
which surrounds the springs, which form an oasis
in the soUtude.
Since the opening of a railway line to
Helouan, access to it is easy, several times daily;
but until very recently the only way of reaching
it was by donkey or by carriage, both of which
modes of conveyance were slow and tedious, in
consequence of the heavy sand over which the
route lay. Now it is only a matter of an hour
from the station, which is immediately below the

136 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
citadel — that sleepless watchman over the city
which Ues nestUng at its feet ; and wherein
grim old Mehemet AU enacted that stern
tragedy, which removed at once and for ever
from his path the only stumbling-block to his
dUect march to the throne of Egypt, by the
massacre of the Mamelukes. The spot where
the last survivor of that savage soldiery, dying
like wolves caught in a trap, leaped his horse
over the waU, and rose Uving from the dead
body of his steed, to be pardoned subsequently
by Mehemet AU, is stUl shown the stranger ;
and very near that historic site you see the
smaU raUway station, which speaks eloquently
of the change that has passed over Egypt during
that interval — the reign of slaughter and
treachery having been succeeded by the more
peaceful progress of civiUzing agencies, the
cannon by the railway.
But let us start from the hotel, either on one
of the knock-kneed little donkeys, which stUl
swarm around Shepheard's steps as of old, and
make both day and night vocal with the "long
dry seesaw of their horrible bray ; " or in one
of the street carriages, since aU the European
capitals seem recently to have spawned their
most rickety and disabled vehicles on the " city
of victory," drawn by animals modelled on Don
Quixotte's Eosinante, whose blood may be

THE CITADEL BOULEVARD. 137
dubious, but whose bones are irrepressible and
stare you in the face.
Often, looking on these, the real "lean kine "
of modern Egypt, is the traveUer reminded of
that remarkable animal described by Mr. Weller,
which when put in stiff shafts and driven down-
hiU went admirably, because too weak to stop.
Mounting one of these dUapidated vehicles, our
party of four (of whom two were ladies) drove
along the Ezbekieh Gardens — ^which French
taste has now enclosed, cUpped, pruned, and
trimmed into the likeness of a miniature Bois
de Boulogne — down through the Mooskie (both
of which have aUeady been described), untU we
reached the road to the citadel.
Formerly the route to the citadel was one
of the most winding and tortuous in aU CaUo,
corkscrewing through the bazaars and the
narrow streets leading out of the Mooskie, or
quarter of European shops, and compelUng a
detour as picturesque as it was provokUtg to
people pressed for time. But the spUit of
Haussmann has seemingly descended on the
Khedive, who, possessing the power as weU
as the inclination, has on a smaUer scale
foUowed in the footsteps of the French leveUer.
For not only here, but in other quarters of the
old city, broad open boulevards, as wide as the
French, have been cut straight through the old

138 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
houses, with a most ruthless disregard for the
prejudices or the prayers of the old house
holders, who loathe Ught, aU, and sunshine, as
weU as pubUcity, as mucU as tUey do "plague,
pestUence, and famine;" even although in
demnity is given or promised them for aU
demoUtion or damage to theU premises. Nor
are they entUely without reasonable excuse for
grumbUng at this arbitrary and compulsory
change in their " ancient ways," narrow, damp,
duty, and gloomy as they seemed to the
stranger. For here, where the sun gives more
than enough of heat and glare from his rise to
his setting, shade and coolness, alone attainable
in narrow streets with but a smaU slit of sky
visible between the projecting housetops above,
are the chief wants of the residents, and it is
questionable whether what is a real improve
ment at Paris, may ultimately prove so at Grand
CaUo. AUeady, waiving the practical features of the
matter, the sentimental traveUer has broken
into objurgations on the modern Pharaoh, who
has hardened his heart against the picturesque,
and ruthlessly torn down the crumbUng old mud
houses, with their latticed wooden windows,
through which peered the bright eyes of
Egyptian Fatimas and Zuleikas — " making a
hideous modern boulevard out of these once

VIEWS OF INTERIORS EN ROUTE. 139
Oriental streets, where one might admUe the
few remaining specimens of Saracenic architec
ture ! " as one of the latest pUgrims patheticaUy
remarks. But unluckUy the " specimens " referred to
never were " Saracenic," nor at aU resembUng
it, but purely Arabic, and barbarous Arabic at
best ; and so much more of the same style stUl
is left in CaUo, that a Uttle more of it might
stiU be spared to the ruthless hammer of im
provement. The broad open road, leading in a straight
Une to the massive pile of citadel buUdings
wUich crown the hUl, back of which towers
the frowning and rugged chain of the Mokattam
HUls, on the desert edge, is finished and in
tolerably good condition. But with the usual
careless way of doing things in the East, the
demoUtions on each side of the roadway have
been but partiaUy completed, or never repaUed,
in most cases, by the erection of new outer
waUs, So you pass through what looks Uke a
city that has recently been sheUed — houses in
aU stages of dilapidation, though stUl inhabited,
giving most odd views of domestic interiors,
frowning down upon you ; whUe not even a
screen, much less a wall, has been placed
between the dUapidation and the street.
As the plan of most of these old houses seems

140 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
to have been modelled on that of a rabbit
warren, from the multiplicity and perplexity of
burrowing-places in them, this unveiUng of the
interiors, originaUy designed to be so private,
gives odd glimpses into the inner Ufe of the
CaUenes; whose ideas of comfort puzzle us as
badly as those of the disinterred Pompeians,
judging from theU homes.
We left the raUway station at mid-day, and
almost immediately foimd ourselves on the
desert, though not a desert of bUlowy sand (as
fancy ever pictures a desert to be), but one of
hard gritty soU, on which however neither
grass, shrub, nor tree was growing. On our right
hand as we proceeded was a distant view of the
Nile, and of the Pyramids ; on the left towered
up, apparently not haK a mUe distant, the rugged
masses of the Mokattam HUls — huge quarries
of stone, from whose emboweUed entraUs had
already been drawn much of the buUding material
of CaUo, and from which new drains were now
being made afr'esh, to gratify the Khedive's con
structive propensities. For, as he frankly said to
the writer of these sketches but two years ago,
" All men have theU manias ; mine is in stone "
¦ — " J'ai une manie en pierre,''' to use his own
words; for he converses in French, not in
English, not understanding the latter language.
We could see the square openings in the hill-

THB MOKATTAM HILLS AND THE DESERT. 141
sides made for the excavations, presenting the
appearance of caverns for the habitations of
hermits, such as you see scooped out of the hUl-
sides in Palestine, near the rock convent of
Marssaba, not far from the Jordan and the Dead
Sea ; and this impression is heightened by the
desolation of the surrounding landscape, where
you see neither bUd, nor beast, nor form of man,
his habitations or his works, for mUe after mile.
Sometimes the sharp silhouettes of a long Une
of laden camels are defined against the hUls or
the horizon ; the gaunt weird outlines of these
ungainly animals, led by the Arab driver en
veloped in his grey abba, or cloak, with striped
silken bornous on his head, giving a pictorial
look to the desolate and dreary scene. For even
the vulture seems unable to pick up a Uving on
these wastes, and does not hover over them.
The camels and the ungainly oxen enjoy the
monopoly ; and they are employed in the labour
of hauUng the stone from the quarries.
Over this waste of wUderness beats down the
fierce flaming sun of Egypt, flooding earth, aU,
and sky with a golden glare, almost intolerable
to the eye, unrelieved by glimpse of verdure or
of water, except at very rare intervals, where
a Uttle strip of green may be seen bordering a
weU or fountain on the route; and sometimes
you catch gUmpses of the sUvery and flashing

142 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
current of the NUe, with the fringe of verdure
on its banks ; while, pointing heavenwards with
theU sharp cones, the eternal Pyramids loom up
ever in the distance, with nothing to obstruct
the view of theU towering proportions.
But the glare, the heat, and the dust became
so overpowering, after haK an hour of this mid
day ride through the desert, that we were com
peUed perforce to shut out the view, which was
becoming monotonous, by closing the curtains
of our railway carriage ; and creating smoke-
clouds by puffing cigarettes of genuine StambouU
or TurkisU tobacco, the soothing effect of which
we soon experienced.
The transit from the station at CaUo to the
station at Helouan occupies about an hour.
Shortly before reaching the latter, we opened
the windows and curtains of our carriage, to let
out the smoke, and take another view of the
sm-rounding scenery. On our left hand now it
was aU desert, unreUeved by the hiUs which we
had left far behind. On the right stUl loomed
up the Pyramids, but Father NUe had become
invisible. In front we saw a long, low, irregular
pile of buUdings of considerable extent, enclosed
in high waUs which might conceal gardens.
This, we were told, was the palace of the
Khedive's mother, to which she occasionaUy
came ; and at long intervals the great man

ARRIVAL AT HELOUAN. 143
himseK honom-ed Helouan with his presence;
when his courtiers thronged there after him,
and gave Ufe and animation to that ordinarily
quiet place, whose hotel and scattered houses we
could now discern and were rapidly approaching.
The station is not more than 100 yards from the
hotel, yet so averse are people here, both native
and foreign, to pedestrian feats that an omnibus
was in readiness to convey us that short distance.
Eesenting the imputation conveyed on our
energy and activity by such a proffer, we declined
the accommodation ; and stroUed leisurely along
over the desert sand towards the town and hotel,
the latter of which presented quite an imposing
appearance, contrasted with the smaU houses
scattered around it, most of which , appeared
to have been rapidly run up on the Aladdin
plan, in a single night, to present a proper
appearance of a town to the visitor. An over
powering atmosphere of newness pervaded
everything, which in this country of ruins and
recoUections seemed strangely incongruous.
SaraU's unexpected and unhoped-for chUd
hardly appeared more exceptional, than a brand-
new and growing village, on the modern plan,
seems to the traveUer in old Egypt. Yet here
was one the youthful appearance of which
might have done honour to an American
backwoods settlement, six months after the

144 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
first tree had been cut down by the earUest
pioneers from "the coast," except that there
never having been any trees here, there could
be of necessity no "stumps," the characteristic
feature of the new settlement in America. For
whereas the American pioneer regards the
tree as his natural enemy, to be removed as
a nuisance ; here the first care is to set out a
young plantation for shade and as a screen from
dust ; and around each house at Helouan the
occupant had carefully set out such trees as
could be procured in this treeless country, whose
greatest want is the want of wood. Dickens, in
his "American Notes," records the astonishment
with which he beheld a baby in one of the
Western cities, which seemed too newly built
to have afforded time for a baby to be born;
and we were reminded of his astonishment here,
on seeing a woman with a baby in her arms,
which reaUy looked older tUan the town — K by
courtesy we may designate by that title the
fifteen or twenty buUdings which constitute
" Helouan les Bains," as the large placards
posted up aU over CaUo somewhat pompously
denominate it.
So rapid, however, is the growth of vegetation
under the Egyptian sun — even on the desert
sands wherever water can be suppUed — that
aUeady several of the houses were gracefully

AT HELOUAN LES BAINS. 145
decorated with cUmbing creepers even to the
roof, and the gardens were aUeady blooming
with tropical flowers and grass, giving the place
the aspect of an oasis in the desert ; for all
around it, far as the eye can reach, is flat sandy
plain, unreUeved even by a hiUock — the horizon
bounding it on aU sides as in a sea view, and
the setting sun dipping as suddenly as he does
over the waste of waters when seen from ship
board. We proceeded to the hotel, which the
Khedive caused to be erected about a year ago,
when he decreed the creation of Helouan les
Bains, then alone possessing the bubbling hot
sulphur springs, which long had trickled un
noticed over the sands, whose curative vUtues
the Khedive appreciated as soon as they were
explained to him, and thus sought to utiUze,
as an additional attraction to the foreign
visitors, who annually contribute so much to
the Ufe of Cairo and the pockets of its landlords
and shopkeepers, foreign and native.
The hotel is a large square buUding, with an
open court in the centre filled with flowers and
shrubs, two stories high, with verandahs running
aU around the inner square, where one can
take aU and exercise during the mid-day, when
outdoor exercise would be impossible or danger
ous. By a winding staUway you ascend to the
roof, which, as usual in the East, is flat, with

146 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
a parapet four feet high running aU around it,
so as to make it a most pleasant lounging-place
when the sun has set, and untU midnight under
these clear, bright, and starry skies.
The rooms are aU so large and airy that the
hotel cannot accommodate comfortably nearly
so many persons as its apparent size would
indicate : I beUeve not more than fifty at a time.
Its present manager is really " a host in him
self," being a Greek formerly engaged in mer
cantile pursuits, which he has renounced for an
enthusiastic love of antiquities, to the collection
of which he devotes aU his spare time, and
Egyptian coins of modern stamp. His coUection
is already a large and exceUent one, and every
day adds to its extent and value ; for the central
position of Helouan between the two famUies
of Pyramids, those of Gizeh and Sakkhara, and
the long summer vacation, when there are no
traveUing Howadji or foreign collectors to snap
up the " imconsidered trifles " which the feUah
or Bedouin picks up in the ruins or turns up
with his ploughshare, give the coUector on the
spot immense advantages, both as to the choice
and price of antiques.
The amiable enthusiast who manages the hotel
and baths of Helouan makes the most of these
advantages, and is never wearied with exhibiting
his treasures to his guests, and explaining then

AN AMIABLE ENTHUSIAST. 147
former uses or meaning ; thus rendering a resi
dence under his roof as instructive as it is
agreeable. Add to this pleasant host, whose good temper
is inexhaustible, the attractions of an exceUent
cuisine, and a select society of all nationaUties
and aU tongues, as weU as the facUities for
making numerous excursions on donkeys to
the two sets of Pyramids and different interest
ing locaUties in the desert, with the sulphur
baths in addition, and it is easy to understand
wUy many persons, who are not invalids, desert
tUe comparative city Ufe of CaUo, for the repose
and fresh aU of the desert.
After resting an hour in the cool shady
reading-room, weU supplied with newspapers and
magazines in EngUsh, French, and German,
and divans and easy-chaUs of all descriptions,
we saUied forth to see the baths, under the
guidance of one of the many medical men found
at Helouan. For really the place seems to
have attracted the medical faculty as much as
the invalids : several of the profession, German,
French, and American, having at least tempo
rary residences here ; although the hotel and
baths have their regular medical man, attached
to the estabUshment and salaried by the
Khedive, to whom the whole thing as yet is
a charge, or has been until this, the second
season.

148 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
The bathing estabUshment is replete with
every comfort — large rooms with white marble
baths for ordinary bathers, furnished with divans
covered with chintz, on which to repose after
being steamed and sulphurized ; with the inevit
able Eastern accompaniment of coffee and
chibouques. A separate set of bathing rooms,
with a private entrance, has been prepared and
reserved for the sole and separate use of the
Khedive and his famUy ; and tUese are fitted
up and furnished with satin damask hangings,
and divans covered with the same rich material.
The bathing-places also are more richly and
expensively arranged than those for the use of
the pubUc, and exclusively devoted to royal use ;
strangers being only sUown through them as
one of the sights of the place. From the
moment you enter the door untU you leave
the building, which is a very soUd and sub
stantial one, the penetrating odour of sulphur
assaUs your nostrUs with a pungency that is
almost overpowering ; and you carry that most
uncelestial odour away with you, and about your
person, for a considerable time after leaving the
baths. We did not bathe, but the doctor
turned one of the spouts, and the water which
poured into the bath-tub was hot and sulphurous
enough to have bubbled up direct from Plutonian
fountains close at hand, for a special bath for
Queen Proserpina.

THE HOT SULPHUR BATHS. 149
Several of our friends who essayed the experi
ment of the virtues of these baths for rheumatic,
and other similar ailments, experienced great
benefit from the treatment ; whUe the purity of
the aU, blowing freshly over the desert, is most
imquestionable. The chief drawbacks to thorough enjoyment
arise from the heat and glare, which confine
most persons to the house from 10 a.m. to
6 p.m. ; but the early morning, the evening, and
the night are truly delicious, and make amends
for the temporary imprisonment during the
heated term.
If one could be pardoned the use of a "bull,"
however, in aU Eastern travel or residence, save
in mid-winter, the night is always the best part
of the day, whether in a dahabeah on the NUe, in
the city, or on the desert ; for an Eastern night,
with its large and lustrous stars dispensing
almost the ligUt of day, though softer and more
subdued than the garish daylight, with its soft,
soothing, and balmy breezes, surpasses far the
most deligUtful spring day in less favoured
cUmes : and is the best time for exercise, enjoy
ment, and musing. Lord Lytton's German
mystic, who Uved in an imaginary Ufe of his own
creation in dreamland, whUe his actual daUy
life was to him as a dream, should have come to
Helouan to enjoy uninterruptedly that existence ;

150 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
since no spot in the world offers finer faciUties
for it.
A short distance from the buUding there is
quite a large pond — used for bathing also —
of fresh water, suppUed from the NUe, about a
mUe distant but not perceptible from the spot
on which we stood below. This pond is much
resorted to by the smaU population in and
around Helouan, in the evenings and nights of
Slimmer or spring ; so that sulphur or fresh- water
baths are equaUy accessible to the sojourners
here. But it is worth coming to Helouan to get the
view from the housetop at sunset, as we did, for
it is unique of its kind, and unUke any otUer in
the wide wide world. Ascending to the flat
roof by a spUal staUway of iron, you stand upon
the housetop, surrounded by a stone parapet
about four feet in height, and look around you.
On every side there meets the eye the grim
grey desert, stretching away into the distance —
a shrubless sea of sand, bounded only by the
horizon. In the distance the sUght undulations,
which alone break the dead level of its surface
over which flows a thin vapoury mist of exhala
tions from the heat, resemble the bUlows of
the sea ; but the restless movement of the waves
is wanting here, and the illusion is soon dis-
peUed as the spectator stUl gazes over this sad

VIEW FROM THE H0USE-t6pS. 151
scene, enlivened by the presence of no Uving
thing. Earth and air seem as tenantless as
though creation's dawn had not broken, and the
Creator's fiat had not yet peopled the world.
You turn and look in the opposite direction —
and piercing the clear atmosphere with sharp
distinctness of outUne, you heboid at once the
sister Pyramids of Gizeh and of Sakkhara, both
visible from this point, and seemingly very near;
but K you mount your donkey, or plough through
the sand to reach either of them, you soon
find they are further off than they seem to be
through the medium of this clear atmosphere,
which is most deceptive. This is, in my judg
ment, by far the finest view of the Pyramids
from a distance, taking in as you do at one coup
d'ceil these rival monuments of man's foUy ; for
wUether they are to be considered as royal mau
soleums or, as later theorizers have pronounced
them, astrological erections, equally must they
be regarded as huge monuments of human foUy,
in sucU a waste of labour, life, and wealth as
theU erection must have entaUed.
Straining the eye, you see a sUver thread with
what seems a fringe of vegetation around it, and
after a time you catch a glimpse of the NUe ;
which is visible from where you stand, distant, I
was told, two mUes. But there must be some
undulation on that side, for it was not very
plainly perceptible.

152 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
This was all that was to be seen, and
such a view might appear, from this most in
adequate description, not to repay the trouble
of seeking it. But what gives it so bizarre and
peculiar a character is in fact indescribable ; for
it consists chiefly in the absence of what meets
the eye in aU other landscapes ; for here, with
the fiery globe of the sun Pushing redly down to
his rest, a globe of fire dipping down as though
into the sea, the old Scriptural malediction on
Palestine comes back vividly to the mind: " Thy
sky shaU be as brass, and thy land shaU be as
iron ' '¦ — for of brass and iron seem both to be
composed at this place and hour.
When we reached Shepheard's Hotel on our
return from Helouan, it seemed to us that we
could fully appreciate the feelings of the wan
derers in the wUderness on reaching Canaan.

( 153 )

CHAPTEE X.
THE KHEDIVE ISMAIL AS A PUBLIC AND A PRIVATE
MAN.
His lucky star — The accident that made him Khedive — Achmet
Pacha's closing scene — His character — A fatal fUe and lucky illness
— Halim Pacha's peril and escape — What might have been but for
an open drawbridge — My early impressions of Prince Ismail — His
love for " Naboth's vineyard " — The man and the monarch, briefiy
epitomized — Things he has done and things he has left undone —
His building mania.
The Egyptians, Uke aU other Orientals, are very
superstitious, beUeving strongly in luck — that
there are people born lucky and unlucky : apart
from theU kismet or destiny, which they think
binds every mortal man in its Uon chain fr-om
bfrth to death, beyond his power of wiU or of
resistance. Thus the last king of the Moors in
Spain, BoabdU, during whose reign they were
expeUed from that faU and beloved land, was
commonly caUed El Zogoybi, "the Unlucky,"
and verified the appellation.
So, untU his late troubles and faUures, Ismail
Pacha was regarded by his subjects as the most

154 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
lucky of human beings : and the earUer stages
of his career seemed to justify the common
beUef. Even his occupation of the throne
was due to an accident, fatal to another, but
fortunate for him. Between him and the suc
cession, after the death of Said should have
made a vacancy, there was another Ufe — that of
his brother Achmet, a man but little older than
himseK, of powerful constitution and regular
habits. Achmet was the eldest son of Ibrahim
Pacha, and the succession was his of right, under
the rule that then existed, but has since been
changed to the direct Une from father to son.
Early in the year 1858, Said Pacha, then
viceroy, gave a great fete at Alexandria, to
which he sent invitations for aU the members of
his family, including tUe sons of Ibrahim and
others residing at Cairo. Such an invitation
was equal to a command; so all accepted and
came, except Ismail, who making illness his
excuse, did not accompany them. They attended
the fete ; and the princely party, at the head of
which were Achmet and HaUm, a younger and
favourite brother of Said, were assigned a special
train to convey them back to CaUo, when the
festivities were over. Their retinue was com
posed of twenty or thirty friends and attendants.
Midway between the two cities the line of raU
passes over the Nile, at Kaffir Azzayat, where

HALIM pacha's PERIL AND ESCAPE. 155
there is a famous bridge, buUt by Eobert
Stephenson, with a drawbridge that opens and
shuts to permit the passage of steamers or
other craft. As the train bearing its royal
freight came thundering down the slope that
leads on to this bridge, the EngUsU engineer
who drove it saw to his horror that the draw
bridge was open, leaving a yawning space over
the deep and raging flood, full fifty feet below
— but saw the danger too late to avoid it.
The carriages, with the princes and theU
train, were precipitated into the river. Prince
HaUm alone escaping through his superior ac
tivity and presence of mind ; for whUe the
carriages hung suspended for an instant over the
flood, he forced the door open, caUed to his
nephew Achmet and the others to imitate him,
and plunged headlong into the river, as the sole
chance of escape from a dreadful death. SkUled
in aU athletic sports and manly exercises,
Halim thus saved his Ufe, swimming ashore as
soon as he rose to the surface ; but Achmet, an
awkward heavy man, did not follow his lead,
but was drowned with his companions, leaving
the succession clear for his brother Ismail, who
doubtless recognized "his star" in the whole
affair, as well as in Uis preservation from a
simUar fate to tUat of his elder brother. There
was not wanting slanderous tongues at the tUne

156 THE Khedive's egypt.
to hint at the viceroy's complicity in this
dreadful casualty ; and he himself bitterly com
plained to me that he doubted not such would be
the case, at the same time exclaiming, in the
spirit and ahnost in the words of Scripture, " Is
thy servant a dog to have done this thing ? " and
adding that his hope was that the presence of
his favourite brother there might screen him
from so unworthy a suspicion. From my know
ledge of his character, as weU as from inquUies
made on the spot subsequently, I am convinced
that he was innocent of aU complicity in the
transaction ; which was the result of carelessness
— some might say of fataUty. It is curious to
contemplate the very different state of things
that might be existing in Egypt to-day, had the
succession not been changed by this casualty,
and Achmet succeeded instead of Ismail. For
Achmet was by nature and habit one of the
most prudent and conservative of human beings
— the exact reverse of a prodigal ; in fact, accused
of avarice and inordinate love of money; ad
dicted not to spending but to hoarding, and in
character and temper exactly the reverse of his
brother, known to us as the Khedive, who how
ever rapidly he has contrived to fiU his hands,
has managed ever to empty them quicker stUl.
So far did Prince Achmet carry his economies,
that he often received his foreign friends, who

CHARACTER OP PRINCE ACHMET. 157
caUed at his palace in the evening after dark,
by the Ught of no chandeUer or lustres at
tached to the walls, but in a cUamber iUumi-
nated by tUe ordinary "fanous," or glass lantern
with two candles, borne by respectable citizens
in traversing the streets by night, before patrols
were instituted at Cairo. He would have
economized the public funds, as he did his
private fortune, which was very large ; but
Egypt would have stood stUl, not advanced,
under his reign.
Yet, in justice to hiih, it should be added that
he also possessed some truly princely traits to
neutraUze this weakness. He was a man of
honour and of courage, most truthftU and reUable
in aU he said and did, devoted to agriculture,
and incapable of cruelty or dishonesty. But he
was better fitted for a private station than a
throne : and had he lived and reigned, most
probably the Suez Canal, and the other great
public works which will hereafter record the
enterprise of the Khedive Ismail, long after his
loans and the Egyptian debt have been for
gotten, would never have been Egypt's dowry
in her bridal with Europe.
Heir presumptive through this casualty,
Ismail now bided his time, devoting himself to
agricultural pursuits, shunning publicity through
fear of inspirUig Said's jealousy, and acquiring

158 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
real estate — one of his passions — ^until he became
perhaps the largest landed proprietor in Egypt.
In addition to his own large hereditary proper
ties, he has absorbed those of his brothers and
cousins ; and several of the loans which now
figure in Mr. Cave's report, were contracted for
such purchases before or since his accession to
the throne.
During that period I used to visit the prince
at Uis palace at CaUo, and found him a most
polished and courteous gentleman, fond of con
versing on his European experiences of travel, in
French, which he spoke with perfect ease and
fluency, and producing the impression that he
was an amiable but not very able man. He
certainly played Brutus weU while his Csesar
Uved ; for even his intimates had no conception
of the hidden energy and grasping ambition
which that smooth manner and guarded speech
concealed. Said himseK certainly had not formed
a faU or a just estimate of his probable successor,
whom he could not concUiate, but who kept aloof
from the Court which that merry monarch
assembled around him after the accident which
opened the way for him, and wUich probably he
regarded as a premeditated trap set for himself
and kinsmen — a suspicion which his knowledge
of Said's character should have dispeUed.
So anxious was Ismail to learn, and the cour-

AN EGYPTIAN TRICK ON AN ENGLISH SUPERIOR. 159
tiers to communicate, the tidings of the last
breath drawn by the dying man whose waning
shadow stiU filled the almost vacant throne, that
a high official, the head of the telegraph line
(an EngUshman), sat all night by the side of the
telegraph operator, to send the news by Ughtning
to the coming ruler, the moment IKe had left the
body of the old one.
But Said, with his powerful organization, died
slowly, and taxed tUe patience of tUe watchers.
So the high official, tired out at last after several
sleepless nights, summoned a trusted native
clerk in the office, whom he beUeved to be faithful
and devoted to him personally, and cUarged him
to come immediately to his house and awaken
him, should the news come during his absence,
promising him a handsome backsheesh for
his services. He then went home to snatch a
little sleep. But the astute clerk, knowing as
weU as Uis master the custom of the country,
which conferred rank and gold to the first bearer
of such tidings to a new viceroy, when the
news did come, during his employer's slumbers,
hastened to take it himseK to Ismail, and
received at once the anticipated promotion and
reward. Then, with the maUcious cunning and
avarice of his class, further to outwit the con
fiding Frank, he hurried away to awaken him
and impart the news, without saying a word

160 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
as to the use he had aUeady made of it. FuU of
hope and joy, tUe official hastened to the palace
of Ismail with the glad tidings ; but, to his infinite
astonishment and disgust, was contemptuously
dismissed without reward as the bearer of stale
tidings, and left to reflect on the perfidy of native
clerks, and the necessity of keeping very wide
awake in ^Egypt. The perfidious clerk is now a
pacha ; his betrayed employer yet a bey.
The accession of IsmaU Pacha took place
early in January, 1863, and the educational pro
gress during that period has been truly remark
able, and would be so considered in any country
of the globe. At the time of Mehemet AU there
were but 6000 chUdren receiving pubUc instruc
tion. During tUe first six years of the reign of
the Khedive the number had increased to 60,000,
a portion of the credit for which is due to Said
Pacha, his predecessor. In 1873 the figure
attained was almost 90,000, and at this time it
doubtless exceeds 100,000.
One of the greatest difficulties in educating
this people has arisen from the pecuUar social
and domestic system prevaUing in the country,
which renders access to the female chUdren
(except those of the very poor, or feUahs) almost
impossible. Thus, of the 90,000 pupils in the
primary schools, but 3000 are girls — chiefly, K
not entUely, the children of Christian parents,

PIRST EASTERN SCHOOL POR WOMEN. 161
foreign and native. But the indefatigable Khe
dive has grappled with the difficulty. He has
instituted at CaUo, on a liberal scale (in the
name of one of his wives), the first school for
women ever known in the Ottoman Empire : and
various others also have since been estabUshed
elsewhere in Egypt for female education. He
has gone deeper, and established schools for the
female chUdren of the fellahs, or agricultural
labourers, in the hope of elevating the social,
moral, and inteUectual condition of this large
class of the labouring population, whose past
and present lot has been far less pleasant and
comfortable than that of the former Southern
slave in the United States. Should these com
prehensive educational plans of the Khedive be
. carried out successfuUy, the next generation of
Egyptians, male and female, wiU be an immense
improvement on their predecessors, and be able
to contrast favourably with the labouring classes
of any country. But even under the most
favourable auspices it wUl require a generation
to effect this result, even in part ; for the Khe
dive has to buUd up the mass of his people from
a very low level indeed : as aU who know aught
of the IKe and labours of the actual Egyptian
feUah must acknowledge. Whether also educa
tion alone wiU suffice to correct imperfect
moral and social home-training, and the absence.

162 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
not only of the comforts, but even of the neces
saries and decencies of IKe, on the part of
chUdren born and living in sucU envUonments
as those which surround the Egyptian feUah
from infancy and accompany him through Ufe,
constitutes another problem, to be solved only
by actual experience. The idea and the effort,
however, are both noble ; and, whatever the
result may be, posterity must do justice to the
initiative of the absolute ruler capable of con
ceiving, and striving to execute so comprehensive
a plan. In the year 1862, under Said Pacha's adminis
tration, the Government appropriation for pubUo
instruction amounted to less than £6000. In
1872 the Khedive's Government appropriated
£80,000 for the same object ; added to which,
several private subventions, derived from the
Khedive and his sons, were given to private,
foreign, and native schools.
It is estimated that the number of native boys
old enough to attend school is about 360,000,
and that the proportion actuaUy receiving in
struction is about twenty-three per cent. ; whUe
in Turkey it is about ten per cent., and in
Eussia but three ; and even in Italy it is
but thUty-one. The comparative civiUzation in
Turkey and Egypt, tried by this test, may be
judged of from these figures, and the distance

A MERCHANT PRINCE. 163
between them must widen with each successive
year. Besides the schools akeady mentioned,
the Khedive has established special ones for his
army, now about 30,000 men, and every soldier
now is educated, and well educated, too — pri
vates as weU as officers. The American officers
declare that the aptitude of the Arab in acquir
ing knowledge, especiaUy in mathematical and
miUtary science, is exceptional. It must be
an hereditary transmission, since we owe our
algebra to Arabia in the first instance. UnUke
the negro race, the Arab seems susceptible of
the highest culture ; and opportunity has de
veloped remarkable abiUty in many Egyptians
during the present reign.
The Khedive is entitled to the denomination
of merchant prince more than any one who ever
bore that title, combining the two characters
profitably for a long time ; but attempting to
add to it also that of a financier, he wrecked
himseK, and has come very near wrecking the
country too. At once the great producer and
exporter from Egypt of its most valuable agri
cultural products, with a virtual monopoly in
the transit, by forestaUing the market and fixing
prices he was able to regulate production, price,
and transportation, and reduce a monopoly into
a mathematical certainty, without the possibiUty
of rivaUy. He enjoyed also the privUege of

164 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
commanding labour at his own or no price, by
corvee — practised habituaUy in Egypt, and but
recently restrained with fixed limits, but existing
stiU for aU public works, and the Khedive's pri
vate property, too, unless he is greatly slandered,
and common report prove a common Uar. But
this is a subject which wiU be more fuUy entered
into in connection with the land tenure, and the
actual condition of the fellah. For the present,
let us consider the personal characteristics of
the man who, almost idoUzed in Europe but
three years ago, is now proving the fickleness of
pubUc opinion in his own person, by seeing the
reverse of the medal.
Ismail Khedive is a man of about forty-eight
years of age, under the middle height, but
heavily and squarely built, with broad shoulders
which during the last year seem to have become
bowed down by the heavy bm-dens imposed upon
him, under which he has so manfuUy struggled.
His face is round, covered by a dark brown
beard, closely cUpped, and short moustache of
the same colour, shading a firm but sensual
mouth. His complexion is dark ; his features
regular, heavy rather than mobUe in expression.
His eyes, which he keeps habituaUy UaK closed,
in Turkish fashion, sometimes closing one
entUely, are dark and usuaUy duU, but very
penetrating and bright at times, when he shoots

THE KHEDIVE'S CHARACTERISTICS. 166
a sudden sharp glance, like a flasU, at his interlo
cutor. His face is usually as expressionless as
that of the Sphinx, or the late Napoleon IIL, of
whom, in my intercourse witU the IQiedive, I
have been frequently reminded; for they are men
much of the same stamp in character and intel
lect, with the same strong and the same weak
characteristics doing constant battle witU each
other. The Khedive's voice is very character
istic — low, somewhat thick yet emphatic, weU-
modulated, giving meaning to tUe most common
place utterances; his words accompanied by a
smUe of mucU attractiveness when he seeks to
please, and his mind is at ease. But under the
mask of apparent apathy or serenity,, the close
observer will remark, that the Unes across the
broad brow and about the strong mouth indicate
strong passions as strongly suppressed, and the
cares of empire intruding ever on Ughter
thoughts : and judge the Khedive to be far from
a happy man.
Of his personal amiabUity of temper his atten
dants and old employes speak highly — ^another
Napoleon trait ; and this natural humanity is
indicated by the cessation of severe punishments,
such as banishment, confiscation, and capital
punishment, during his reign, — with one remark
able exception, which has produced abroad the
opposite impression, and made one blot on what

166 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
would otherwise have been a stainless record.
During his visit abroad, in the year of the Great
Exposition at Paris, IsmaU was quite a Uon, and
excited the jealousy of his suzerain, the Sultan,
by the warmth of his reception, in partibus infi
delium, both by the members of the European
cabinets and crowned heads.
One of the most curious episodes of this visit
— in which he was accompanied by his adroit and
able Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nubar Pacha,
whose reputation has long since been fuUy as
European as Egyptian — was his reception of,
and reply to, the deputation of the Anti-Slavery
Societies of England and France ; in which the
tables were adroitly turned on his philanthropic
petitioners, by the skUful and perhaps truthful
character ol the response, which covers the
question both of the slave-trade and of domestic
slavery in Egypt.
This deputation presented an address to him,
calUng his attention to the White NUe slave-trade,
of which Said Pacha had decreed the aboUtion.
TUe address was signed by Joseph Cooper and
A. Chamerovezow on behaK of the EngUsh com
mittee, and by E. Laboulaye and Augustin Cochin
for the French. The deputation was introduced
and presented to the viceroy by Nubar Pacha,
his Minister of Foreign Affairs, who acted as
interpreter, and translated His Highness' reply,

A CUTTING ANSWER. 167
according to Oriental etiquette, though the
prince spoke French as weU and fluently as any
man present. The reply of the viceroy was as
foUows — and it would be difficult to find, even
among the happiest responses of Talleyrand or
his school, a more cutting, cool,, and contempt
uous rejoinder, couched in language of apparent
courtesy. Nubar Pacha, acting as the mouth
piece of the viceroy, said —
" The Viceroy felt gratified to receive the
deputation, and was much pleased this step had
been taken, for he was most anxious to put
down the slave-trade. He had adopted the
strongest measures for that purpose. But
although he could act against his own people,
he was powerless to do so agmnst Europeans,
who tvere the chief delinquents. They carried
on a trade in ivory ; but this was a mere pre
text, their real article of merchandise being
slaves, who were conveyed down the river in
boats. If these boats had no flag, or sailed
under Egyptian colours, they were liable to be
overhauled, and if slaves were found on board,
boat and cargo were confiscated and the traders
punished. "Within the last six months he had
caused to be shot a commandant and a colonel,
who had disobeyed his orders and favoured the
slave-traders. But the slave-trading boats gene
raUy hoist European colours of some sort,
because their owners are Europeans, and K any
question respecting the cargo arises, the answer
is, that the men are part of the crew, the women
their wives or concubines, and the young persons

168 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
theU children. The Egyptian authorities could
not do anything under these cUcumstances, as
they were debarred from the right of -search.
Within the last thirty years European influence
had transformed Egypt, and K he were fi'ee to
act against European slave-traders the slave-
trade would soon disappear. The European
Powers should give him the necessary authority
to exercise the right of search as regards boats
sailing under European colours.
" The extinction of slavery was another and
distinct question. Slavery had existed in the
country for 1283 years, and was mixed up with
its religion. It was a horrible institution, and
he desired to see it extinguished. But it was
not to be done in a day. He considered that the
civUization and progress of Egypt depended on
its abolition : and were the slave-trade stopped,
slavery would disappear in fifteen or twenty
years, or very few traces of it would remain,
because it would not be recruited from without.
Of the actual slave population many would die
in that time, many would be manumitted, and
others adopted into famiUes.
" He held the opinion — contrary to the views
of his visitors — that the slave-trade was the root
of slavery in his country, and must be stopped
before slavery could cease. The abolition of the
British consulate at Khartoum had certainly
enabled him to act more efficiently against the
slave-traders, but the only effective mode of deal
ing with the traffic was to arm him with power
to prevent Europeans from prosecuting it."
His introduction of Western civilization into
Egypt ; his Europeanising Cairo, the stronghold

THE MAN AND THE MONARCH. 169
of the vanishing Oriental type of city ; his great
pubhc works ; his greater educational plans ; his
fiUing his administrations with Europeans, and
placing them at the head of aU the principal
bureaux ; his remodeUing Uis army under the
auspices of skiUed and trained army officers,
invited from his Ultima Thule, America ; the
broad reUgious toleration which has made Chris
tian churches more numerous than Moslem ones,
in proportion tb the relative populations of the
two sects, including the Eastern Christians
under his rule, to whom also he has given the
right and imposed the duty of bearing arms in
defence of tUe State (enrolling them in the army
in defiance of theU universal exclusion elsewhere
throughout the Ottoman dominions) — all these
things are notorious, and constitute his claim
to the admiration of Christendom as a wise
reformer, a Ught newly arisen in the East.
But the financial embarrassments of Egypt
have come up like a cloud to ecUpse these
glories, and he is now denounced in more un
measured terms than he was lauded before,
and even his good deeds and good works
doubted and denied. My task is neither "to
bury Csesar" nor "to praise him." I propose
simply to depict the man and the monarch as
I have seen and known him, and to do justice
at the same time to the ruler, and to his people,

170 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
not sparing the recital of his sins of omission
and commission, while giving a catalogue of the
benefits he has conferred on his country and his
people, heavy as may be the price which both
he and they may have to pay for them. This
Eastern prince is by no means " that faultless
monster the world ne'er saw," but a mere man
Uke the rest of us, and as such made up out of
a mingled yarn of vfrtues and vices. That he
possesses that sin by which feU the angels —
ambition^ — to which a moralist might add vain
glory and rapacity, cannot be denied ; that, in his
zeal for rapidly reforming his cities and his
people on the European model, he has gone
too far and too fast for his own comfort and
that of his subjects ; that in annexing, and
seeking to annex, Equatorial Africa to Egypt
he has embarked on a dubious enterprise ; that,
in looking solely at tUe ends in view, he has
often forgotten the means : and in the treatment
of the feUahs left much to be desired; and,
finally, that his expenditure has been greater
than his means; — aU these charges cannot be
disputed. As the father of a family, with four wive
and, I beUeve, twelve chUdren, he has left
nothing to be desired which the most steady
bourgeois could demand; being a model head
of the family, on the Oriental plan of course !

AS A FAMILY MAN. 171
Both his sons and daughters have been weU
educated by European instructors, and speak
and write French, and perhaps other foreign
languages, with ease and fluency. Both for
sons and daughters he has insisted on the one-
wKe principle : his sons and sons-in-law being
each but "the husband of one wKe," according
to the Scriptural recommendation. This is
certainly a step in the right direction. But the
young princes only appear in public, or at the
Khedivial entertainments ; the daughters still
live on the hareem plan, for which theU educa
tion has unfitted them.
The Khedive is an immense worker, and as
it is one of the taxes on absolute power that
its head must know and supervise everything,
even to the minutest details, is compeUed to
get up early and sit up late at the labour he
loves, of dUecting the whole State machinery;
and these labours and cares are beginning to
teU upon his health, as his personal appearance
last winter attested, as well as his own admis
sions. Yet the rest and vacation which private
men may fr-eely take, are impossible to crowned
heads, especially in such critical cUcumstances
as those which environ the Khedive. The
labours which used to constitute his pleasure
have become an imperious necessity now.
When he goes abroad, but Uttle of the pomp

172 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
and cUcumstance of royalty surround the hand
some but simple equipage which conveys the
absolute master of five and a haK milUons of
Egyptians, and five milUons more of Central
Africans, through the streets of his capital. Clad
in the StambouU dress, only his fez cap indi
cates the Oriental; and haK a dozen mounted
guards, in his Uvery of chocolate, precede and
foUow the carriage, in which he rapidly passes
by, making salutations as he passes on, by a
slight gesture of the hand to the Europeans,
who raise their hats to him — the natives gene
rally not courting his recognition, according to
Eastern etiquette.
He lives in a fasUion partly European, partly
Eastern — European as to cuisine and mode of
taking his meals, the latter of which he does in
company with the chief members of his house
hold, his chamberlains, private secretaries,
physicians, and others immediately attached to
his person, with invited guests very frequently.
His dejeuners a la fourchette at mid-day, and
dinners at 7 p.m., are in every respect worthy the
admiration of the most experienced gastronome,
both as to the dishes and the service, the wines
included. In a subsequent chapter some idea wiU be given
of the character of these entertainments of the
Khedive inside and outside of the hareem, of

RECEPTIONS, FORMAL AND INFORMAL. 173
the latter of which, of course, I speak from hear
say, and from the report of a lady present at one
of them, given on the occasion of a Khedivial
wedding celebration.
The receptions of the present ruler of Egypt
are far less formal than those of his immediate
predecessors, who strictly adhered to aU the old
Eastern usages, and kept up many of the absurd
and obsolete forms stiU in, vogue at Con
stantinople. TUe unchangeable Abbas was only
to be seen on compulsion by some foreign repre
sentative ; Said, only when the whim seized
him ; and both carried the visitor through
fatiguing formaUties, pipes, coffee, commonplaces
dUuted through interpreters, and other annoy
ances. Now the Khedive's receptions are less formal
and more agreeable than those of any European
Court ; though the visitor must be properly
introduced through his own representative at the
Court, and be accompanied by him, if previously
nnknown to the Khedive. Access to the Khedive
is wonderfully easy, through his head chamber
lain, Zecchy Pacha, or one of the other cham
berlains, aU of wUom are agreeable, poUte, and
accompUshed men, speaking French fluently.
Two of them, Zecchy Pacha and Tonnino Bey,
have been employed in the same functions under
."the three last viceroys, which speaks volumes

174 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
for theU integrity and capacity, since no duties
could be more delicate and difficult than thefrs.
Any subject, however humble, may present his
petition or grievance in writing to " Effendina,"
as they style the Khedive.
The winter receptions are usuaUy given at the
Khedive's favourite palace of Abdin, distant
only two or three hundred yards from the large
hotels on the Ezbekieh, on the outskirts of the
city. There is a large open space before the
palace, somewhat simUar to the French Champ
de Mars, where the troops are constantly drilling
and exercising, their white tents pitched at the
other extremity of the square ; and as you drive
up to the long low range of buUdings which
compose the palace, you are apt to witness
miUtary manoeuvres going on ; and finer looking
and better discipUned troops, of a UgUt bronze
colour, would be hard to find anywhere.
En route to the palace you pass through
streets tenanted by smaU shopkeepers, Levantine
and native — a most unattractive population of aU
nationalities, who, with theU customers, neither
attract the eye, nor woo the sense of smeU with
the " odours of Araby the Blest."
But violent contrasts of this kind, between
the pomps and show of royalty and the ragged
wretchedness of the lower class, are common
everywhere throughout the East, where extremes

HIS THREE RULING PASSIONS. 175
meet more closely than in other countries. At
Abdin, during the winter season when Cairo is
fuU of strangers, the Khedive chiefly holds his
Court, has his formal and informal receptions,
gives his breakfasts and dinners to distinguished
foreigners, and two or three soirees musicales or
dansantes, to which ladies as weU as gentlemen
are invited.
His larger and grander palace of GUezireh on
the NUe, witU its beautiful gardens. Eastern
kiosque, and menagerie of wild beasts, is more
a show place than a place of regular habitation
for him ; though occasionally grand entertain
ments are given there also. Here the Empress
Eugenie had her apartments, as weU as the
Prince of Wales, when they visited Egypt.
The three chief passions of Ismail Khedive are
his passion for real estate, his vaulting ambition
which sometimes overleaps itseK, and his mania
for buUding, the latter of which he frankly
admitted to me in conversation a year ago.
"Every man," said the Khedive reflectively,
speaking in French, as he always does, "is mad
on some one subject. My mania is for buUding"
— to use his own words, "J'ai une manie en
pierre." It wUl be weU for him and for his
people should he discover, ere it be too late, his
two other manias, and set to work to curb and
to correct them.

176 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XI.
POUR NATIVE MINISTERS AND HEKKEKYAN BEY.
Some of the Khedive's native ministers — Nubar Pacha — His life and
work — Personal traits — A family of diplomatists — Cherif Pacha —
Description of him — Riaz Pacha — The strange story of Ismail
Sadyk Pacha, the Mouffetich — An Egyptian Wolsey — A visit to his
three palaces, and what we saw there — The moral of his rise and
fall — Hekkekyan Bey — His theory of the Pyramids.
In his reforms the Khedive has been greatly
aided by his native ministers, most of whom are
men imbued with European culture, or educated
abroad, speaking fluently several languages — ^that
of diplomacy, or intercourse with foreign agents,
being the French.
The most active and distinguished of these
ministers Uave been Nubar, CherK, Eiaz, and
Ismail Sadyk Pachas, respectively Ministers
of Commerce, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and
Finance. The War Minister has also been
taken from his own people, though that depart
ment has in fact been controUed by the
American staff officers, about twenty of whom, on

NUBAR PACHA. 177
the Khedive's invitation, entered the Egyptian
service about six or seven years ago.
As the jealousy of the Porte has forbidden the
Khedive to have a navy, his fleet consists only
of commercial vessels, with a couple of armed
steamers to protect the commerce of the Eed
Sea, and suppress the slavers.
Nubar Pacha, though a man of only middle
age, has been weU and favourably known in
Europe as an able statesman for twenty years
past, entering tUe pubUc service, in which
he immediately took high rank, at a very early
age. Educated to diplomacy by his famous kinsman,
Boghos Bey, himself one of the ablest counsel
lors of Mehemet AU, Uis Ufe has been spent in
this pursuit. Speaking and writing almost aU
the languages of Europe with equal faciUty,
and conversant with European affairs and their
dfrectors, he has steered Egypt free from the
breakers that surrounded her, under two suc
cessive reigns : untU faUing about a year since
under the cold shade of royal displeasure, he
has since been virtually outside of pubUc Ufe,
and travelUng abroad as a private person.
Nubar Pacha's personal appearance is at once
striking and prepossessing. Of medium height,
with swarthy complexion, dark eyes and haU,
regular features, and a most winning smUe;

178 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
gifted with rare conversational powers, and cour
teous, almost caressing in manner and speech,
there is a persuasive charm in his manner with
which few men are endowed.
His firmness, however, is one of his chief
characteristics, and his frankness almost amounts
to rudeness at times ; and it is most probably
this latter quaUty that has lost him favour at
Court, where words displeasing to the royal ear
are most unwonted and unwelcome sounds.
Nubar is an Armenian Christian, and that three
viceroys should have retained a man professing
and practising that creed for a series of years,
speaks volumes both for their liberality and his
own capacity ; for he is the worst courtier I ever
saw, and always has been ; his pride, which is
great, ever keeping him erect in mind and body
before his exacting and haughty princes, who
consider their wish as well as wiU should be
law : and that it is a kind of Use majeste for a
subject to differ from either, even in thought.
His family have not only served but suffered for
the State, in the person of his brother Arakel
Bey — one of the most promising of the rising
statesmen of Egypt — wUo in tUe time of Said
Pacha was made Governor of the Soudan, and feU
a victim to the cUmate in his early prime ; and
the son and namesake of that brother, the Arakel
Bey who, as Governor of Massowa, but the other

HIS CROWNING WORK. 173
day accompanied Arendrup in the fatal expedi
tion into Abyssinia, and perished gallantly
figUting by the side of that Ul-starred commander,
to avenge wUose deatU the second Egyptian
expedition was despatched, which has but
recently returned. Seldom has a single famUy,
aUen in race and creed to the ruUng race, con
trived to fill for three generations the highest
places in the State, especiaUy under the arbitrary
monarchs of the East ; yet to this rare distinction
the famUy of Nubar has attained by sheer force
of character and talent, without ever stooping
to unworthy concessions, either religious or
personal. TUe free institutions of England can
boast of but one DisraeU at tUe helm of State,
whUe absolute Egypt can point to Boghos Bey,
to Nubar, and his brother and nephew, as Ulus-
trations of an enlightened UberaUty of sentiment,
not usuaUy credited to tUe Turk,
Perhaps, however, the great and crowning
work of Nubar's career, which finally caused his
exclusion from pubUc affairs, was the establish
ment of the mixed tribunals : which at the same
time placed a check on the absolute power of
the Khedive, and crippled the influence and
authority of the agents of foreign governments
in Egypt, by depriving them of thefr former
prerogatives under the old capitulations. At
this work Nubar toiled with undiminished

180 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
labour and patience more than twenty years,
modUying his plan from time to time, but ever
steadUy pursuing the main purpose : and con
tending against the double current setting in
against him, from the throne on one side, and the
consuls on the other. "Whatever success these
tribunals may obtain, much of the honour wUl
be due to theU originator and fostering parent.
Whatever defects or shortcomings may be visible
in the practical working of this invention, Nubar
cannot be justly made responsible for them,
since his hand has been taken from the plough,
at the very moment when most needed there, by
the caprice of the Khedive ; and he can neither
supervise his invention, nor give his invaluable
counsel to those who are trying thefr " 'prentice
ban's " upon it.
His relief from the cares of State has however
reinstated health, that the unremitting labours
of many years had begun to impaU : for, meeting
him recently at Paris, I was struck with the
improvement in his face and bearing which his
year's vacation had wrought. The name of
Nubar Pacha was prominently brought forward
at the time of the Conference, in connection with
the appointment of a Christian governor for
Bulgaria: but aU of his affections and aspira
tions turn to Egypt, the land of his birth, in
which his race — almost as much a standing

CHERIF PACHA. 181
marvel as the Jewish people in their dispersion
and continued separate existence — ^has found a
resting-place ; and where he is a large landed
proprietor and cultivator.
CherK Pacha, the contemporary and rival of
Nubar — the two having gone up and down, Uke
two buckets in a weU, in the Foreign Office for
a series of years- — has also spent his Ufe in public
service, in which he has grown prematurely
grey. WhUe Nubar in character and manner re
sembles an EngUshman, CherK is thoroughly
French in looks and address ; probably under
standing but not speaking EngUsh. He is a
Mussulman by bfrth and faith, and conforms,
though not rigorously, to Eastern forms of
Ufe and faith. His French affinities were
strengthened by his marriage with a daughter
of Suleyman Pacha (the French Colonel Seves),
who for many years was commander-in-chief
of the Egyptian army. In appearance, as in
mind and character, CherK is the dUect opposite
of Nubar — fair, florid, with light haU and
eyes, the former of which is turning grey. His
manner and address- are frank and cordial, more
those of a soldier than of a diplomat. He is
a man to whom deception would be impossible ;
his easy careless manner and open face would
betray him, if he ever attempted it, which

182 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
he does not. He is clever and quick-witted,
and a most agreeable companion sociaUy : en
tertaining mucU and UberaUy. His strongest
passion is for the chase ; and like Nimrod he
is "a mighty hunter before the Lord." His
personal quaUties make Uim universaUy popular.
I do not beUeve he has any enemies, for I never
heard any one speak iU of Uim, wUile the sterner
character of Nubar repels as many as it attracts.
Cherif Pacha seem to have become an indis
pensable man in the Egyptian administration,
sometimes fiUing one post, sometimes another :
but chiefly the ministry of foreign affafrs or of
commerce, alternating witU Nubar.
This fixity of tenure on the part of these two
statesmen, under so arbitrary a government as
that of Egypt, contrasts curiously with the
perpetual change of men, as weU as measures,
under freer and more constitutional regimes.
TUe Eastern DisraeU and Gladstone have only
replaced each other in particular bureaux, from
time to time, but both have continued consecu
tively in pubhc service in some other depart
ment ; and have not been aUowed the leisure
requisite for the weaving of romances, or cutting
down of trees, in their interregnums : as Western
statesmen have been permitted, both by people
and monarch.
Eiaz Pacha is a younger man, one of the new

RIAZ PACHA. 183
generation. He is an eleve of Nubar, who care-
ftiUy trained Uim to the work, and enjoys a
reputation for integrity and capacity. He has
fiUed, and stUl fills, important posts, in aU of
which he has given satisfaction, and may be
considered a rising man.
But the most curious and disastrous career,
for the Khedive, the country, and finaUy for
himself, was that of Ismail Sadyk Pacha (the
Mouffetich), late Minister of Finance — a bright
but baleful meteor shooting across the Egyptian
sky, to be quenched in sudden darkness, and
leaving gloom and terror behind.
Yet his story sheds so much Ught on Egyptian
pecuUarities, and on the strange blending of
elements there, that I shall devote some space
to a narration of the Ufe and death, rise and
fall of this Eastern Wolsey, who ruled not only
the country, but seemingly his master also with
a rod of fron for ten years, through some strange
influence which no man in or out of Egypt can
comprehend. IsmaU Sadyk was what Mr. Pitt was said to
be, "a heaven-born financier;" for he was
born and bred an Egyptian feUah, without
training or culture, and to the day of his death
spoke or understood no language but his own.
He was a dark-coloured Arab, slight and
stooping in frame, with sharp features, a face

184 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
devoid of expression, and a shifty cunning eye.
His manner was alternately fawning or brutal,
as he spoke to an equal or an inferior ; and at
first sight he inspired an instinctive repugnance,
which he was plausible enough to remove when
it suited his interest, although conferring
always with Europeans through his interpreter
(an old Frenchman), it was difficult to judge
of his conversational powers. It may have
been owing to this fact that he produced upon
me, in several interviews I had with him, the
impression of a crafty but iU-informed and short
sighted man, unable to rise to the height of
a great argument, or even comprehend any
thing but an appeal to the most selfish motives
and interests, taking a narrow and contracted
view of everything not bounded by his own
immediate horizon. That he should, however,
have obtained and held so long a powerful and
controUing influence over the mind of the
Khedive (whose intellectual abiUty no one
doubts or denies), affords proof positive that
Ismail Sadyk was no common man, although
"his thoughts were low — to vice industrious,
but to nobler deeds timorous and slothful."
But he has proved the evil genius, the very
Mephistopheles of his master, who finaUy turned
upon and destroyed him, in mingled wrath,
agony, and fear, offering him up as a scapegoat

THE MOUFFETICH. 185
for the sins which he possibly may have devised,
but in which he had many and very high accom-
pUces, thus far escaping with impunity.
He commenced his career as a common feUaU,
but proving UimseK faitUful over smaU things
was rapidly promoted to the care of larger ones
— the Khedive himseK, as prince, employing him
as the manager of one of his smaller estates.
From tUence, after the accession of his patron
to the throne, he rose gradually to the post of
Mouffetich, or Finance Minister : and under his
evil auspices was commenced that system of
loans and shKty expedients to raise money at
any price from foreign or native money-lenders,
which has plunged the Khedive and the country
into that worse than Serbonian bog, from which
both are now so desperately struggling for
extrication. He was reputed, from his early
training and experience, to understand better
than any man in Egypt, how "to squeeze the
fellah ! " which meant to wring the last para out
of the poor wretches by the threat or use of the
terrible kourbash, or hippopotamus-hide whip, in
the hands of agents as unscrupulous and merci
less as himseK — untU a cry went up to earth and
heaven against his oppressions, perpetrated in
the name, K not by the authority, of his master,
who has ever borne the character of a humane
man, constitutionally averse to cruelty. It is but

186 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
an act of simple justice to the Khedive here to
say, that my own personal knowledge of his
character fr'om his earlier days had confirmed
the popular estimate, and that it is difficult for
me to believe that he sanctioned all tUe exactions
and cruelties perpetrated in his name, through
the agency of the bold bad man who had won
his confidence, and acted for several years
the Wolsey to his master — to meet a heavier
retribution than his unknown exemplar in the
end. The atmosphere of an Eastern throne is
favourable neither to the sight nor the hearing
of its occupant ; and much that is common talk
abroad never reaches royal ears ; so that
although the Khedive could not have been
entirely ignorant of the cruelties and exactions
perpetrated in his name, and for a long time
condoned them, we yet may give him the bene
fit of the doubt as to his privity in all the
offences committed against the unhappy feUahs,
nominaUy by his orders, under the direct super
vision of the low-born oppressor of his own race
and brethren.
The sole apology that can be set up for this
wretched creature, whose fate has inspUed an
ill-deserved pity for him, is that his sudden and
giddy elevation had driven him mad ; and that he
was but partiaUy responsible for his acts; and

A STRANGE STORY. 187
the reckless way in which he rushed upon his
fate, which his own sane judgment should have
foreseen knowing the country as he did, would
seem to sustain this hypothesis. For the sake
of human nature let us give him the benefit of
this doubt as to his sanity ; though his nature
was ever what Carlyle terms the "vulpine " — one
fuU of crafty suspicion, and tortuous ways to
tortuous ends.
In the very height of his power, profligacy,
and wealth, he was stricken down as though by
a thunderbolt from heaven.
Seeing in the adoption of the flnancial schemes
proposed by Messrs. Cave, Goschen, and Joubert,
the end of his power and his ilUcit gains, he
fought desperately against them, and rendered
his own removal necessary to the Khedive,
through the revelations he made, and threatened
to make : whether true or false equaUy embarrass-^
ing and damaging to his master's credit.
But he mistook his man, and miscalculated
his influence. Going a step too far on the path of
resistance and intimidation, he toppled over into
an abyss, from which Uving or dead he never
emerged; for where his bones are no man knows
to-day. In the telegrams of the London journals there
appeared one morning, what seemed to many a
mere sensational statement — that the Khedive

188 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
had personally taken the Mouffetich to drive,
placed him securely in custody, and was to have
him tried for high treason immediately. Those
who did not know Egypt discredited the state
ment in toto; those who knew it immediately
beUeved the statement (whose dramatic features
made it more probable) and foresaw the end:
although not the sudden and tragic denouement
of what, commencing in comedy, ended swiftly
in sternest tragedy.
The next day, 15th November, 1876, the
Egyptian pubhc, which had been feasting on a
thousand rumours of the most wUd and im
probable character concerning this event, read
in the Moniteur Egyptien, the Government
official journal, the foUowing authorized com
munication in French : — ¦
" The ex-Minister of Finance, Ismail Saddyk
Pacha, has sought to organize a plot against his
Highness the Khedive, by exciting the rehgious
sentiments of the native population against the
scheme proposed by Messrs. Goschen and
Joubert. He has also accused the Khedive of
seUing Egypt to the Christians, and taken the
attitude of defender of the religion of the country.
These facts, revealed by the inspectors-general
of the provinces, and by the reports of the poUce,
have been confirmed by passages in a letter
addressed to the Khedive himself, by Sadyk
Pacha, in giving his own dismissal. In presence
of acts of such gravity his Highness the Khedive

ITS TRAGIC CONCLUSION. 189
caused the matter to be judged by his Privy
CouncU, which condemned Ismail Sadyk Pacha
to exUe, and close confinement at Dongola."
The Phare, a semi-official journal in French,
in repubUshing this communication next day,
adds : —
" The ex-minister, who had been kept on
board a steamer on the river, to await the
decision of the Privy Council, was immediately
placed on board another steamer, which left
forthwith for Upper Egypt."
From that hour to this the Mouffetich has
been lost to the sight of man, and a thousand
and one stories of the precise manner and time
of his " taking off," many of the wildest and
mostly improbable character, have been circu
lated and credited in foreign and native circles
in Egypt.
Some time after his disappearance, a circular
was sent to the foreign consuls-general, an
nouncing the death of the ex-minister at
Dongola, accompanied by a proces verbal from
the governor of that province, testUying to the
fact of his arrival and death, enclosing also an
autopsy made by three physicians, who, after
¦post-mortem examination, declared that he died
a natural death from fatigue, grief, and excess.
But most of the Cairenes and Alexandrians
shook thefr heads sagely over this statement, and

190 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
persist in believing tbat the Mouffetich did not
survive his arrest twenty -four hours : and that
the steamer which passed up the Nile, with
windows carefully nailed up looking Uke a float
ing coffin, encountered by NUe traveUers, and
said to be transporting the Mouffetich to his
place of exUe in Upper Egypt, was only sent up
for effect ; and contained neitUer the Uving nor
the dead ex-favourite and ex-minister.
So this must take its place among the other
many mysteries of this most mysterious land :
whose officials must shake in thefr shoes some
times, in remote provinces, when thinking of
thefr old superior and employer, the Mouffetich,
and the thick darkness that enshrouds his real
offence and fate.
But however this may be, his removal from
public station and private intercourse with the
Khedive marks the vanishing point of the old
system of extortion, fraud, and cruelty, of which
he was the master, and the substitution of a
more humane and wiser policy, which alone
can save the Khedive and his country from the
ruin that menaced both — whose ominous shadow
has not yet disappeared.
Having reached Cairo shortly after the events
above narrated, I availed myseK of the oppor
tunity of visiting the palace or palaces of the
ex-minister, which were open on certain dayS;
for inspection.

VISIT TO HIS PALACES. 191
The confiscation and sale of the effects and
property of the Mouffetich, for the satisfaction
of his creditors, had been advertized, and was
going on in tUat leisurely way everytUing is
done in this land of hade buhdra, or day after
to-morrow, wherein the poet Thompson should
have placed his " Castle of Indolence." So we
concluded to attend it, to see whether the
rumours as to the boundless wealth and pro
digality of tUe MouffeticU were founded on truth.
It took a short drive of fifteen minutes to reach
there. Crowds of people were attending the
sale, and walking over the acres of carpeting
that covered the three vast palaces, which
seemed insufficient to lodge this born-feUah,
for another incompleted wing was in the course
of construction at the time of his sudden and
mysterious disappearance.
Wolsey, with his Hampton Court, that bluff
King Hal considered " too great for a subject I "
dwindles into insignificance when compared with
this more than regal robber, who sprang from
a mud hut on the NUe, in less than ten years,
into the possession of more palaces, jewels,
women, and slaves, than Solomon in aU Uis
glory could boast of.
The three palaces are in the new quarter of
IsmaiUeh — so named after the Khedive — are
separate piles of buildings, though surrounded

192 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
by a high waU, and probably cover with thefr
gardens an area as large as that of the Pyramids.
They are aU buUt and profusely decorated in
French style, without any regard to expense,
and to walk entUely tUrougU tUem — for they are
aU vacant now — would take an entfre morning.
The carpeting, the curtains, the furniture, the
decorations, must have cost untold money, as
carte blanche must have been given the uphol
sterers, and aU the thousand rooms these palaces
are said to contain are furnished in the same
splendid style — over-furnished in fact, with
enough gUt and gUtter to dazzle one's eyes. AU
the window curtains were of the heaviest and
richest satin, and the different tints of the same
colour were perceptible, from chocolate even to
pale grey, each room being furnished en suite
with chairs and sofas in French style. There
were but few divans, and these in rooms
evidently intended for reception of Uis native
fi-iends. The pecuUarity was that each room
shaded off in colour into the next, from dark to
Ught, embracing every colour to be found in the
rainbow. Great taste was displayed in these
combinations, the portieres on the doors and
heavy curtains at the windows, of which I
counted sixteen in one apartment, being of the
same description. Here this peasant-born, un
educated creature, who understood only theft

AN EGYPTIAN SARDANAPALUS. 193
and oppression squatted down, surrounded by
his wives and women. Of wives, regular and
irregular, he is said to have had thirty-six : each
one of whom had six white slaves and a retinue
of black ones. In fact tUe population of a
smaU viUage was crowded into these pUes of
buUding, for the gratification of the pride or
brutal passions of this low-born feUah. Stories
of his corruption and cruelty were freely circu
lated after his faU, and whispered long before ;
but the "conspiracy," which was made the
pretext of his death and the confiscation of his
property, finds few beUevers in Egypt. They
say he had earned and richly merited the
dreadful doom which feU upon him, by a long
course of crimes ; but that neither the real
reason, nor the real fate which befel him, has
been given to the pubhc ; and that he was
finaUy the victim of a State necessity, as in
exorable as the grave.
The sale was going on briskly, in the midst of
a Babel of confusion, at the first palace we
entered, in the grand reception-room, crowded
with people of aU nationaUties and colom*. In
the midst of this parti-coloured crowd a number
of black and white slaves were moving about,
with trays fuU of jewefry, and large cases con
taining every description of female ornaments,
from ceintures set in diamonds to the value of

194 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
£7000, to cheap jewefry of the most common
description. These were freely offered for public
inspection, and were passed from hand to hand
most carelessly, while the bearers were shouting
out, at the top of their lungs, the bids afready
made for the objects exhibited. If you wished
to increase the bid, your name and offer were
taken down by a scribe at hand, and at the close
of the day's sale these bids were jotted down
and the article assigned to the purchaser, if
the amount bid was considered sufficient by the
person in charge of the Uquidation. I was told
the articles were bringing high prices : partly on
the Eastern principle of investing in such port
able values, and partly because the creditors of
the Mouffetich were aUowed to discount haK on
account ; and probably thought haK a loaf better
than no bread.
The old Eastern principle of the inviolabihty
of the hareem must have been broken in this
instance, as this jeweUy evidently was part of
tUe spoUs of the multitudinous wives and
slaves of this Egyptian Sardanapalus. What
had become of the fair or dusky owners of
these jewels no one could tell me. TUe suppo
sition was, they had been absorbed into other
establishments of a simUar description ; but
wUether by sale or free gUt, "nobody knows and
nobody cares." If the taste of the Mouffetich

HIS TASTE FOR HOURIS. 195
was as comprehensive in houris as in jewelry, he
must have had a most miscellaneous coUection
of ministering angels. Personally he was a
mean and dirty-looking Arab of low type, and
to all who had ever seen him, the contrast
between the man and his surroundings was
startling indeed.
Such mushroom growths are possible only in
the soU, where Jonah's gourd attained its
wonderful growth in the shortest possible space
of time ; but his rise and faU, and the reUcs of
his luxury, must recaU more tUe romances of the
"Thousand and One Nights," than the sober
experiences of modern Egypt in the nineteenth
century. The soU, in which such poisonous fungi can
suddenly spring up and flourish in rank luxu
riance, certainly needs draining and cleansing.
Passing from the sale-room for jeweUy into
an inner apartment, or series of apartments, we
saw tables covered with gold and sUver plate
— Eastern and European work — no less than
precious metals serving the turn of this luxurious
fellah. Even the ewers and basins, in which he
and his guests washed their hands, or rather
had running water poured over them, were
of sUver. The value of many thousands of
pounds was deposited on the tables of one of
these rooms alone. Another proof of the change

196 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
of habits among the rich here, even with those
who are not Europanized in mind or customs,
was the substitution of bedsteads for divans, on
which to sleep. The first palace was fuU of
tUese, intended probably for tUe use of wives
or guests ; for the Mouffetich always presented
the appearance of a man, who wore by day
the clothes, in which he had slept on a divan the
previous night. The gardens in front of the
three palaces were very spacious and handsome,
and the value of the real estate must be large ;
but what can possibly be done with these huge
barracks of buildings, crammed fuU of costly
furniture and curtains, almost valueless outside
of them ? There is some talk of converting one
of them into pubUc offices. TUey would serve
the purpose of hospitals admfrably ; only there
is too much of them, and the decorations are
too fine.
But as Mehemet All's old citadel palace, and
even his hareem apartments, are now appropri
ated to the army staff, it is more than probable
that the costly pUes of the Mouffetich may come
to some such use at last. For the moment they
constitute the sole monument of the man, who
ruled Egypt with a rod of fron for eight years,
and died a dog's death at last.
One of the most curious objects in the palace,
or palaces, was a very large picture in a heavy

AN EASTERN PHILOSOPHER. 197
gUt frame, containing Ufe-sized portraits of the
son of the Mouffetich and his wKe, an adopted
daughter of one of the Khedive's wives. It was
just such a picture as you would expect to find
in a royal palace ; and as neither wore the
Eastern dress, the resemblance was still stronger.
The man was sitting, the woman standing — he
in ordinary Frank dress, without even the
tarbouch ; she represented in the fashionable
European dress of the day, of rich blue velvet
and lace, with a tiara of diamonds on her head
resembUng a crown. She was a very pretty and
graceful-looking woman, and one would have
mistaken her for a European— a mistake no
one would have made as to her husband, whom
we saw sitting placidly in one of the rooms,
apparently watching the sale, and entertaining
his friends with coffee; as though he were stiU
master of the house, and had not been one of
the chief victims of the heavy retribution, which
had faUen on his father, and aU connected with
him by blood or interest.
Not only his fortune and prospects had been
blasted, but even his wKe had been taken from
him : as she was promptly divorced after his
father's faU. Yet there he sat, seemingly as
cheerful and as unconcerned as though the
famUy tragedy had been only a Christmas panto
mime, and himself a spectator, not an actor in it.

198 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Practical phUosophy like this Europeans might
preach, but could never practise.
In order, however, not to present a bad speci
men of the native-born Egyptian (and indeed a
Mouffetich is always an exceptional type in
every land), I shaU conclude tUese sketches of
Egyptians, with a brief notice of a man of whom
any nation might be justly proud.
Hekkekyan Bey was one of that strange race
which, Uke the Hebrew, has preserved its
nationality without a country, and is as dis
tinctive to-day as it was thousands of years ago.
He was an Armenian Christian, a kinsman of
Artin Bey, a former minister. Educated by
order of Mehemet AU in England early in the
present century, he spoke EngUsU with the cor
rectness of a native, and without the sUghtest
accent ; he was a member and correspondent of
several philosophical societies, as thorough an
Enghshman to talk to, as you might meet any
day in PaU MaU or PiccadUly. Employed in the
Foreign Office at home under that now remote
reign, he feU into disfavour, being no courtier,
and for thfrty-five years spent his time in learned
leisure, keeping up constant intercom-se with
foreign savants and societies, and occupying
himseK with abstruse philosophical investiga
tions. Among other things, he promulgated a
theory that the Pyramids — of which he asserted

HEKKEKYAN BEY, 199
there had been a long chain — were intended as
barriers to the encroachment of the desert sands :
and not, as usuaUy supposed, monuments to
human pride, or the tombs of kings. To see
him abroad in his Oriental dress, mounted on
his favourite dromedary, scouring along the
Shoubra road or over the desert, you would have
considered him a veritable type of the old
Oriental. But visit him in his house at Cafro,
also thoroughly Oriental, embowered in gardens,
and on his table you would see the latest sci
entific pubUcations from England, together
with the last EngUsh journals, evidently his
favourite reading. Converse with him, and you
would marvel at the extent and accuracy of
his general information, and at the originaUty
and boldness of his phUosophic speculations ;
and leaving him, you would regret that powers
so rare had been of so Uttle use to him
self or to mankind. He died at the age of
sixty-eight, prematurely old, and like Swift "at
top first." TUe men who knew Egypt and the
Egyptians twenty years since, and more recent
visitors, wUl remember him as a very exceptional
type of the Europeanized Oriental.

200 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XII.
THE LAND OF EGYPT AND ITS PRODUCTIONS.
Egypt nothing, if not agricultural — Contrasted with India and China —
Feeds her own population — " The life of Egypt " — Five milhon
acres under cultivation — How cultivated — Flax culture — Cotton
culture — Sugar culture — Extracts from recent report on Khedive's
sugar estates — Curious facts and figures relating to it — The grain
crops — The date and fruit culture — Land taxation — A painful picture
of a year's work in the fields.
Egypt is nothing, K not agricultural. There is
her strength, her substance, her existence ; and
so has it been with her since the days when
Joseph was Pharaoh's chief counseUor, and she
was the unexhaustible granary of the world.
Eeference has already been made to the wUd
and fruitless efforts of Mehemet AU to change
her natural bent and bias, and introduce manu
facturing and mining industries by main strength ;
resulting only in a great waste of time,
money, machinery, and labour. SimUar lessons
have been given to those of his successors
who sought to imitate his example : and the
conclusion has been forced upon unwUUng

202 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
minds that in the soU alone Ues the strength
and the wealth of Egypt. The whole extent
of land under cultivation at present is nearly
five miUions of acres, of which about 719,000
are devoted to the culture of cotton ; the rest
is devoted to rice, sugar, beans, barley, maize,
and clover (bersi7n). From two to three suc
cessive crops can be made off this land each
year, owing to the peculiar features of cUmate,
soU, and cultivation.
It has often and justly been said that " the
NUe is the Ufe of Egypt ! " for it is owing to
the aid of its fertUizing waters that Egypt is,
and has ever been, such an exhaustless granary
and storehouse of food for man ; while farther
east we hear, year after year, the despafring cry
of famishing milUons echoing across the wide
waters, "Give us bread or we perish!" Yet
hands are far more numerous in India and in
China — labour far more plentiful and cheaper
than in Egypt. But the great artery of Egypt's
life is lacking to them; they have no NUe,
bearing down from Abyssinia, and regions yet
unexplored, the rich deposits with which it
annuaUy fertiUzes the favoured land of Egypt,
and renews the exhaustion consequent on the
cultivation of untold centuries. In more
primitive times the great river was aUowed to
follow its own sweet vnll, and anmialfy overflow

THE LIFE OF EGYPT, 203
its banks, to place this deposit upon the surface
inundated ; but of late years engineering skiU
has been caUed in to restrain and direct that
overflow by means of canals ; so that the yearly
cutting (tUe "Haleeg") at Cairo, to let in the
water from the NUe, has become one of the most
imposing State ceremonials, over which the
IQiedive presides in person, in the midst of great
and general public rejoicings.
There are certainly many advantages in the
new over the old plan, one of which is that the
natural inundation would keep a large body of
the lands three months out of cultivation, K left
to its own wanderings ; but many old Egyptians
contend that much of the fertUizing deposit is
lost, by allowing it to settle in the bed of the
river, when first brought down from Upper and
Central Egypt.
Whether this be true or false, it sounds
plausible ; and the introduction of fertiUzers of
late years into Egypt, would seem to give colour
to the theory. Man frequently mars Nature's
plans by meddUng witU and trying to improve
them ; and the NUe is an exceptional stream, in
more respects than in its reversal of the
ordinary rule in running from soutU to north :
in which caprice it has very few companions.
The whole extent of land under cultivation
in Egypt Proper, may be roughly estimated as

204 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
a Uttle less than five miUions of acres, out of
which, according to Government statements,
719,000 are devoted to cotton; about 260,000
to sugar, a Khedivial monopoly; and the rest,
as previously stated, to different species of grain.
The two last viceroys have done their utmost
to introduce steam-plougUs, pumping-machines,
and improved agricultural implements : and have
introduced them on their own lands, as well
as on those of thefr more enlightened subjects
(unfortunately yet very few in number) ; but
the native agriculturists, the feUahs, on thefr
smaU holdings, prefer and adhere to the ways
of their primitive forefathers, with a mUd
obstinacy that is impossible to overcome.
They insist on holding fast to the groaning
water-wheel (or saJcJcia), turned on its creaking
wooden beams by the plodding water-ox ; they
prefer scratching the ground with the rude
wooden contrivance that they term a plough ;
and the " ox that treadeth out the corn," in the
Old Testament, has bequeathed his duties to
his descendants, on the threshing-floor of the
bare earth, where now as then the Egyptian
rustic cleanses his grain. Yet such is the
climate, and such the soU, that even with these
primitive contrivances, and no fertUizer beyond
the Nile water, the most bounteous harvests
repay the toil of the feUah : and he has not one

THE FLAX CULTURE. 205
only, but two or three successive ones, in the
course of one revolving year.
In the earUer days of the new Egypt, the
cultivation of flax was carried on very largely
and profltably; but has since been supplanted
by that of cotton. Ibrahim Pacha was in the
habit of selUng his crop of flax, in three different
parcels to three different purchasers, at different
prices and at different times. He used then
carefuUy to compare the three sales, so as to
decide where and from whom he could get the
best price.
When he paid his short visit to England, he
suddenly announced to his suite his intention
of visiting BeKast; and did so, that he might
examine the machinery, and some new methods
of preparing the flax adopted there.
Said Pacha did not in person either super
intend the cultivation or the sale of the products
of his properties, which were never very large.
He was too much absorbed in other matters,
for which he had more taste. During his time
the feUah was left pretty much alone to culti
vate his lands, but Said took from the peasant
proprietors much of the land caUed AbadieUs; i.e.,
land which could not be sufficiently or efficiently
Worked, in consequence of the insufficiency of
hands in the neighbourhood, oAving either to the
want of dense population, or removal of the men

206 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
from the fields for enhstment in the army, or
working by corvee on the canals ; both of which
were very heavy drains on the population. He
also laid heavier taxes on the fellahs, but being
at heart a generous and a just man, discouraged
and punished all oppression or peculation on
the part of the tax-collectors or governors of
provinces, when proven to his satisfaction.
The cotton plant is indigenous to Egypt, and
has been cultivated time out of mind on the
narrow strip of fertUe land which fringes the
Upper NUe, beginning at TUebes. But this native
cotton is of inferior quahty, short in staple, coarse
in fibre, and fit only for the manufacture of the
coarse stuff worn by the feUah men and. women.
Its cultivation was very hmited, and until the
year 1819 it was the only kind grown tn
Egypt, and was exclusively used for home con
sumption. In this year, when the energetic rule
of Mehemet AU was reviving old Egypt from
its ashes, a Frenchman named Jumel, walking
in the gardens of Mako Bey, at Cafro, observed
a curious plant, the leaf and flower of which
were unfamUiar to Uim. He questioned the
gardener, and leamed it was the cotton plant, a
few specimens of which had been brought from
India, to give variety to the shrubbery of the
garden. Seeing the great superiority of this
plant to the common kind cultivated in the

THE COTTON CULTURE. 207
upper country, M. Jumel brought the matter
to the attention of the viceroy; who by his
aid and co-operation, succeeded in making its
culture general in the fertUe lands of the Delta
of Lower Egypt : whence the great bulk of the
crop is now obtained.
It was not untU 1840 that the experiment of
introducing the American sea island cotton
seed was attempted. Since that time it has
been largely introduced, and the yield has been
fuUy equal to that of the best sea island. From
some pecuUar quaUty of the soil however, or
possibly from the system of irrigation adopted,
it has been found necessary to procure new sea
island seed every two years ; and the Jumel or
Mako cotton has therefore been preferred by
the Egyptian cultivators.
There are therefore three species of cotton
grown in Egypt : —
1st. The native cotton, short staple, coarse.
2nd. Mako or Jumel, long staple, fine.
3rd. American sea island, ditto.
These varieties are all perennial, but are sown
annuaUy, except the Mako, which wiU last two
years. The Mako is greatly preferred, although
the cotton it produces is not quite equal to the
best sea island, but rather better than the best
American upland cotton.
The two latter species alone are exported ;

208 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
the first, or native cotton, cultivated on the
Upper Nile, being used cUiefly for stuffing
divans — the Egjrptian substitute for our chaUs
and beds, and which serve the double purpose
of seats by day and couches by night, even
among the richer classes. It is also used to
make the " Nizam " or soldiers' unKorm, as weU
as the single blue shUt which constitutes the
entire toilette of botU male and female fellah.
The culture of this species is not extensive, nor
are these fabrics now manufactured as largely
as formerly. Mehemet AU, who entertained
the idea of manufacturing on a large scale,
establisUed twenty-four large factories, employ
ing 24,000 operatives, but it was soon found
to be unprofitable; so tUat in 1862 aU that
remained of his great enterprise were one large
mUl worked by steam, and three smaU ones
worked by ox power, manufacturing chiefly
army uniforms, and consuming on an aver
age not more than 10,000 bales of cotton per
annum. The rapidity with which the cotton culture
developed itseK, after M. Jumel' s walk in the
garden at CaUo, may be inferred from the foUow
ing statement of exports : —
In 1821, Exports were 60 bags, of 100 lbs. each.
1822 „ „ 500 „
1823 „ „ 1200 „
1824 „ „ 1500 „ „ ^

A NEW DESCRIPTION OP COTTON. 209
TlUs too while MeUemet AU's experiment of
manufacturing was going on, consuming an
amount of which we have no means of judging,
as statistics are a modern innovation in Egypt.
In 1852 the annual exportations of cotton had
risen to about 44,000,000 pounds; in 1856, to
57,000,000; and in 1865, to the maximum of
560,000 bales.
Quite recently a new kind of cotton has been
discovered and successfuUy cultivated in Egypt,
wUich is said to yield much more than any
previously known. Indeed, it is claimed that
the yield is four times as great as that of the
ordinary kinds, I was told that this cotton has
this pecuUarity, that the boUs instead of being
attached to the branches of the plant, adhere
closely to the stem. I was not fortunate enough
to be able to obtain any specimens of the plant
itseK : but the seeds were in great demand, and
some have aUeady been sent abroad. The lucky
discoverer is a native planter, and the new cotton
is causing some excitement and very " great
expectations " in the breasts of the excitable
Alexandrians, to whom cotton stUl is king ! in
despite of the heavy -losses thefr over-confi
dence in that plant aip.d its products has caused
them. From one of these gentlemen, who pro
bably understands the business, and the cotton
culture in Egypt, better than any man there, I

210 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
obtained the statement, which will be found in
the appendix : and which, coming from a private
and rehable source, may be more thoroughly
depended upon than the statements made by or
through the agents of the Government, who
often have theU own private reasons for increas
ing or diminishing the annual yield, or exporta
tion, from private or pubhc considerations.*
WUile cotton brought high prices — it rose to
half a crown per pound during the American
war — it paid weU; but at Id., as it now is, it
is hard to see how it can bring a profit on its
production. Sugar. — The culture of the cane, and the pro
duction of sugar, have been the great hobby of
the present ruler of Egypt : who has devoted to
them an immense sum of money, and a very
great quantity of the labour of the country,
diverted for that purpose from far more profitable
pursuits. This labour, if it cost him personally
little, Uas cost the country and the fellahs
prodigiously dear, and has excited great discon
tent among these patient people throughout
Upper Egypt, whence the corvees for it have
been drawn, (if I am correctly informed) ; for
of this I do not speak from my own personal
knowledge. How much this experiment has cost, it is
* See Appendix H.

THE SUGAR CULTURE. 211
impossible even to form an idea of: but the
enormous amount of useless machinery pur
chased and never used, or used unprofitably;
the vast sums expended on the preparation of
the lands, and the creation of a canal, on which
it is estimated a fourth of the labour devoted to
that of Suez had to be employed, constitute the
dUect expenses. TUe indirect outlay may be
computed at a very large sum, and is represented
by tUe labour of the fellahs for three months
every year upon these lands ; which labour, if
bestowed on thefr own fields, in the production
and rotation of thefr grain crops, would produce
far more profitable results, — not to speak of the
improvement in thefr condition. Even were they
paid for their labour on the Khedive's lands —
which I am credibly informed they seldom K
ever are, and in food K at all — the pubhc loss
must be equaUy great in the diminution of the
crops ; theirs being the only available labour.
I am not aware that any of the reports on the
Khedivial debts and property touch on this
point, which is certainly a very deUcate one.
A very fuU and apparently fafr report on these
sugar properties has recently been made by two
foreign experts, who have lately visited them,
from which I shaU make a few extracts, never
having personaUy visited the place.
They report an abundant supply of water, a

212 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
good railway system for conveyance of the canes,
etc., and a quantity of machinery vastly exceed
ing the wants of the mills, of which also there
are many more, both in and out of working order,
than there is any necessity for. " The scarcity
of labom' alone prevents the extension of the
plantations "- in thefr judgment.
The Khedive's sugar estates, on the Une of
railway from CaUo to Assiout, extend over a
tract 100 miles in length, and from twelve to
sixteen mUes in breadth, chiefly on the west
side of the Nile.
Canes are grown on the same land two years
in succession without replanting, after which
the roots are ploughed up, and the land either
left faUow for a year, or a grain crop put in.
The visitors consider the canes to be planted too
close together, viz. but three feet apart : whereas
in the West Indies six feet are allowed. The
mode of cutting down — hacking with a blunt
hatchet — is also objected to. Steam ploughs are
in use there. "Complete machinery for twenty-
two factories seem to have been imported, some
of which are partly erected, others becoming
graduaUy buried in the sands on the river's
banks. There is a skeleton factory near the
Feshu station, of which the machinery has been
three parts erected, but the waUs were never
commenced, and the machines left to ruin.

THE KHEDIVE'S SUGAR FACTORIES. 213
Original cost in Europe for machinery for
larger factories is said to have been about
£130,000 each."
A large amount of unused extra machinery
is lying scattered about over the whole country,
arising from French and EngUsU rivalry in the
erection of factories. The total cost of the
factories is roughly estimated at £5,000,000; add
£2,000,000 more for cost of roUing stock of the
estate raUway, pumping engines, etc., and the
total cost rises to £7,000,000. There is a
system of raUway aU over the estate, connecting
the different factories. This is the only way in
which the cane can be brought in fast enough ;
18,000 cantars, or over 800 tons, per day being
requUed to keep the large factories going,
working day and night for sixty or seventy days,,
commencing at the beginning of the year, as the
canes must be crushed up immediately on ripen
ing. The factories are under the management.
of the engineer, the only European now employed
on these works ; the management of the estate
being entirely in Arab hands, each separate
manager looking exclusively to tUe private
interests of his section, regardless of the general
welfare. Theix feddan is elastic, and thefr habit
is to return a larger quantity of land than is
reaUy under cultivation, to make thefr profits
out of imaginary disbursements for labour, etc.

214 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Speaking of the improvements that might be
made under European administration, the report
says — " Certainly a higher rate of wages would
have to be paid than that now paid by the
Daira; and there would be probably an in
sufficiency of labour, owing to the thin popula
tion of this part of the country, and the aversion
of the people to the tvorJc. At piresent all the
labour is compulsory.
" At Assiout we saw some smaU corvees
working on the above-mentioned canal banks.
SniaU chUdren, and boys and girls as young as
seven or eight years, were walking aU day up
and down the banks, with their baskets of earth.
Their pay was a daUy supply of bread, which has
certainly improved in quaUty on that suppUed
them last year. We visited the bakery, and saw
that it was made simply of coarsely ground
wheaten flour, but the NUe mud and chopped
straw had not been too carefuUy extracted. It
was UgUtened, more or less, by sour dough.
Still it was comparatively good and wholesome.
The man in charge confessed the quaUty to be
superior to that of last year, but attributed the
reason solely to the improvement in the wheat ;
a doubtful reason, seeing that they are stUl using
last season's wheat, which they were then using
in its new condition. The children looked very
thin and miserable, and their extreme poverty

FORCED LABOUR. 215
was evinced by the unbounded deUght exhibited
by a smaU boy, on receiving a coin equal in
value to one-sixteenth of a penny."
This is certainly not a flattered or a pleasing
picture, nor can it be regarded as an exceptional
one. " There are a dozen sets of large fixed
pumping engines, with fine brick buUding and
taU chimney each, on the NUe banks ; but their
use has been destroyed by the new canal, caUed
the Ibrahimieh, which is cut from the river at
Assiont by feUah labour : twenty-five to thirty
yards in average breadth, with rows of fine
bridges, locks, and sluices dividing the canal
into three large branches and two smaU canals.
The cost of these disused pumps was probably
not less than £600,000. This new canal is one
of the largest, finest, and most costly in the
country. Its chief use is to supply water to the
Khedive's estates," No statement or estimate
as to its cost is given.
The labour question is thus touched on in this
report, from which it appears that some pay is
given or promised to the labourers, which is
" paid in kind — grain or molasses — on which the
Daira makes a profit; " thus reducing the pay,
wretched as it is. In fact, the skiUed labourers
are the only ones who reaUy get, or are promised,
anything beyond a Uttle coarse food — " grain
or molasses" — which can keep a man or boy in

216 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
that cUmate in bad working order. The report
says —
" The wages received by the ordinary hands in
the factories are Id. to l^d. per day for men and
4.d. for boys, and by the hands working in the
fields Ad. per day for men and 2 JcZ. for boys. They
are always paid in hind — grain or molasses — on
which the Daira as a rule makes a profit. As
mentioned above, they are compelled to tvorJc.
Their condition is exceedingly miserable, and
theU appearance much more savage than the
feUahs of the Delta. SkiUed Arab labom-ers,
sucU as men that attend to the engines and such
like work, receive 20s. to 25s. per month. Men
driving the locomotive engines receive from
£3 to £5 per month, and stokers about 30s. per
month. The pay of all is aUowed to get much
in arrear."
The grain culture in Egypt — which is so large
as to suffice not only to feed its own population,
but to export largely to other countries — together
with the cotton culture, occupies the exclusive
attention of the fellahs, when they are not drawn
from it by requisitions to work on the canals or
drafted into the army, the conscription being
practised in a most irregular and sweeping
manner. In peaceful times, however, a large
proportion of the soldiers are sent back on leave
to their villages to aid in tUling the ground ; and

THE GRAIN CULTURE. 217
even while in actual service their labour is often
utilized by their being set to work in squads
in the fields, under command of non-commis
sioned officers. It is said their labour is far
superior to and more reUable than that of the
ordinary feUah, who is a steady but not a fast
worker in tUe old style. TUis conversion of tUe
bayonet into the plough, is one of the most
sensible things which is done by the Egyptian
Government ; and a permanent change in the
occupation of thousands of the stalwart young
feUows, who constitute the army of Egypt, by
their return to peaceful pursuits, would prove a
blessing to them and to their country ; since war
is a game at which only powerful monarchs can
afford to play. The land now pays an annual
tax of almost, if not quite, £4,000,000, including
the Moukabaleh — of which explanation wiU be
given in the chapter on finance — a taxation
which, on 6,000,000 acres (one-fifth of which,
being royal property, only nominaUy pays the
tax), must be admitted to be very onerous
indeed. But, unhappUy, this is only one of the Govern
ment impositions on the landholders, as the
annexed statement from a most reUable source
wiU show. The value of the crops on average
lands on the two years' system of rotation is as
follows : —

218 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT. Expenses.
P.T. Water. P.T.
" Cotton, 3J cantars, at ... 260 equal to 910 less 260 equal to 650
Wheat, 6 ardebs, at ... 50 „ 240 „ 70 „ 170
Maize, 3 ardebs at ... 60 „ 180 „ 100 „ 80
Bersim (clover), per crop — „ 600 „ 140 „ 460

P.T. 1860
£13 19s. Od.
"In the three years' rotation these figures
would, of com'se, be altered, but as I am only
considering the feUaheen cultivation it is unne
cessary to give the three years' figures in detaU.
Thus the gross annual receipts of the two feddans,
at the present price of cotton, only come to about
£7. The expenses which must be deducted, in
addition to the watering, in order to arrive at
the net result, such as the price of seed, labour,
and carriage, are difficult to arrive at, and vary
according to cUcumstances. Thus the cattle
plague of this year has swept away two-thUds of
the horses in the country, and has enormously
increased the expense of carriage to raUway,
canal, or warehouse. But the ordinary calcula
tion is that the wheat, maize, and clover crops
pay aU working and hving expenses, and the
value of the cotton — £6 13s. 6d. — goes to pay
the two years' taxes. The Uving expenses are
marveUously smaU. Bread and vegetables are
the food, Nile water the drink, an annual cotton
gown the clothing, a mud hut the shelter.
There could not be a creature of fewer wants

EGYPTIAN TAXATION. 219
than the Egyptian fellah. It wiU be a sign of
progress when he is less of an animal and his
wants are more complex.
" Now, as regards the amount of taxation, I am
informed on very good authority that the taxes
levied on land during the last two years in the
Delta, including the Moukabaleh, the National
Loan, and a smaU war tax, Uave exceeded
P.T.400* per annum. The taxation has therefore
been in actual excess of receipts, and although
the feUaU and Uis famUy have slaved in the fields
from sunrise to sundown, he has failed to make
the two ends meet. In many cases loans from
Europeans at usurious rates have furnished the
means of payment. Pay-day has now come.
The capitaUsts are encashing what they can, and
the tribunals are full of sucU cases. In fact, it
is going hard with the feUaheen — beasts, pro
duce, goods, hareem jewellery where it existed,
and even the land itseK are being sold to meet
thefr debts. One does not like to beUeve that
even this enormous fiscal charge has been in
creased by frregular exactions, but aU informants
concur in saying that this has been so."
This is not a pleasing picture, but my own
observation and inquUies induce me to believe
that it is unhappUy, a true one.
* We may roughly reckon 100 piastres to the pound sterling, which
would bring the taxation up to £4 per annum.

220 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
The Khedive ought not justly to be saddled
with the whole responsibiUty of this, for he is
the hefr to a vicious system, and the clamour of
his creditors, pubhc and private, has driven him
almost to desperation, and desperate diseases
often demand desperate remedies.
The creditors of Egypt, however, who are the
instigating cause of these exactions and oppres
sions, should have sense enough to see that no
goose, however golden, can long survive such
treatment — no people, however patient and long-
suffering, Uve and work under it. TUe speedy
end of persistence in a poUcy at once so cruel
and so fatal should at once be insisted upon,
even at the cost of a reduction of the interest
now paid them out of the sweat and blood of
the feUaheen, and by impositions, ordinary and
extraordinary, which no country or people on
earth could long endure.
Gladly indeed, K he could safely do so, would
the Khedive diminish these burdens ; and his
offer to assign over his sugar estates to his
creditors, and wash his hands of aU responsibUity,
proves at once his humanity and his sagacity.
ShaU Christian creditors be less humane and
less sagacious than this Mohammedan ruler?
WiU they make themselves responsible before
heaven and earth of complicity in cruelties and
exactions, which sicken even the caUous hearts

WHO IS MOST RESPONSIBLE ? 221
of the Moslem, who are, under thefr constraint,
inflicting tUem ?
These are questions that the outside world,
who are not creditors to the Khedive, wUl ask,
and wUich they must be prepared to answer.
For, I repeat, the solution of this stern problem
rests more with them than with Ismail Khedive,
" who is as clay in the hands of the potter," in
the hands of his foreign creditors.

222 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XIII.
THE FELLAHEEN.
Who is the fellah, and what is he ? — His earlier history as written on
the tombs and temples, in the Scriptures, on stone and papyrus — A
letter three thousand years old concerning him, in the British
Museum — How Joseph treated him under Pharaoh — Origin of land
tenure in Egypt — Under the Mamelukes and the house of Mehemet
AU, the new masters of his "house of bondage" — His treatment
under successive viceroys — His present condition.
One fundamental mistake underUes almost every
thing that has been said or written of the
Egyptian fellah, either by his sentimental or
indignant advocates, by kind-Uearted women,
or sympathetic tourists, who, regarding him as
the dumb drudge — the serf, adscriptus glebce,
attached to the land and not owning it — have
been entUely in error as to his true position and
stake in the country, which owes its wealth to
him. Strange as it may sound to those who know
and have seen the feUah only by the wayside, or
working in gangs upon the corvees (compulsory
labour for pubhc works), or whining out for

224 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
"backsheesh" at the raUway stations, every
man among them is or has been a land-owner
or a land-holder by lease ; and the bitterest taunt
that one feUah woman can launch at another
is this, in the Arabic vulgate : " Go ! Poor
woman ! Your man does not own even a 'karat '
(twenty-fourth part of an acre) of land!" So
identical are property and " respectabiUty," even
among these ragged landed aristocrats !
The researches of Egyptologists have proved
that the common behef, that the feUah is not
the dfrect descendant of the Egyptian labourer,
is equally erroneous. They have proved him
not to be a spawn of the Arab conquerors under
Amrou, but the original denizen of the soU : who,
submitting to this last invasion, as he had to aU
preceding ones, ended by adopting the language
and rehgion of the latest of his masters.
Not only do the recently deciphered papyri
attest this, but an observant traveUer to-day,
turning from the sculptured faces in the pro
cessions in the temples and tombs, to the faces
of the feUaheen who bear the torches by whose
Ught he sees them, cannot faU to be struck by
the similarity in type and outline between the
two ; still distinctly recognizable after the lapse
of four thousand years.
The Copt is manifestly of the same ancient
race, perhaps of a higher caste or class; or

ANCIENT AND MODERN EGYPTIANS. 225
perhaps the differences of reUgion, culture, and
occupation in cities for centuries, and sedentary
and studious lives, may have occasioned the
difference in the complexion and contour between
the "two : which in the upper country are not
so perceptible as in the Delta, or in the cities.
It is also probable that the Copt is of purer
blood : for in many of the feUahs the intermix
ture of negro blood is plainly perceptible, both
in complexion and conformation.
Discarding then these fundamental errors in
the outset, and recognizing the fellah as the
aboriginal Egyptian by blood and descent, as
weU as the landed proprietor, let us examine
his past and present lot in the home to which
he has adhered for ages, apparently as immove
able from it as the Pyramids, reared by the toU,
sweat, and blood of his forefathers.
The condition of the man who aspires to no
higher lot than a Uving earned by daily manual
labour — of the daUy drudge, tUUng the fields from
sunrise to sunset, demanding only " a fair day's
wage for a fair day's work" — has in aU ages and
countries been a hard and a pitiable one, and is
so stUl. It is so even to-day, in countries boast
ing the brighter Ughts of Christianity and civUi
zation, separated as "tUe labouring class" are
even there by a wall higher than the Chinese,
from their more fortunate and richer brethren, Q

226 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
whose own good fortune and merit, or that of
their progenitors, has placed them higher in the
scale, and relieved them from the debasing
drudgery of incessant toU. Without preaching
either Chartism or Communism, or declaring
with the French phUosopher that " all property
is robbery," every candid and thoughtful in-
qufrer into the problem of our modern social
system must admit, that the unequal distribu
tion of this world's goods, and the disparities
in the lot assigned to the different classes that
constitute the population of different countries
from birth to death, prove that we are stUl far
from securing "the greatest good ofthe greatest
nurnber," even by our model institutions, in this
nineteenth century.
WhUe Christendom can show, in its ripest
fruit, such cankers as large bodies of daUy
labourers not only Uving " without God in the
world" — Uke dumb driven cattle — but even
ignorant of His existence, and dwelling under
ground in a darkness that is moral as weU as
physical — while large masses of peasantry aU
over Europe are as stolid and ignorant, and
far more brutal, in their tempers and propen
sities, than the oxen they drive ; it cannot too
loudly condemn Eastern rulers when a maddened
labouring class, in the great centre of our civiU
zation, can perpetrate the horrors of the Com-

THE OLD " HOUSE OF BONDAGE." 227
mune, and hundreds feast and revel in high
places, whUe miUions drudge and pine and starve
in tUe midst of plenty. We, in our more favoured
countries, may not hold up our hands Uke tUe
PUarisee, and " thank God we are not as other
men ! " when the feUah's lot is compared with
that of the labourer elsewhere, dreary and forlorn
as the feUaU's lot may be.
But it is exceptional in this — that as his
forerunners were in the time of the buUding of
the Pyramids, when Moses led his people out of
the " house of bondage," when Joseph was the
favourite at Pharaoh's Court, and when suc
cessive waves of races swept over Egypt, each
leaving its mark; even so is he to-day, the
humble tUler of the soU, content with the
scantiest supply of food and raiment and shelter,
and the smaUest wages for his daily work, tUat
ever kept together body and soul, in any cUme
or age.
Coming down as late as the Norman invasion
of England, the Saxon churl's existence was
Uttle if any better than the feUaU's; for Ue
was not even a free man, he wore round his
neck the visible badge and coUar tUat announced
his slavery, which the feUah never did, being
always nominaUy free : and was lodged and fed
scarcely better than the swine Ue tended. But
Gurth the swineherd has passed into tradition

228 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
now, and the Saxon blent with the Norman
blood makes the backbone of the country, the
vigorous EngUsh yeoman. The continental
peasant too has improved with the progress
of his country into something more than a
mere dumb drudge ; but the Egyptian labourer
has not risen much above the level of that IKe
we see sculptured on stone, on the waUs of the
old tombs and temples, thousands of years ago.
He is stUl the sole tiller of the soU, a tool in
the hands of mercUess taskmasters, " a strong
ass crouching under burdens : " yet, strange to
say, as contented and merry a creature, as
apparently bUnd, deaf, and careless to his own
wrongs and hardships and iU usage, as the
patient ox and ass, who are his daily and con
genial associates. To him the old " house of
bondage " seems to have been a pecuhar heri
tage, and to have lost many of its terrors ; for,
from generation to generation, he abides peace-
fiUly and uncomplainingly under the shadow of
its palms, and performs his aUotted task, if not
unmurmuringly, at least patiently.
Modern research and patience, which have
disentombed and deciphered the old papyrus
records of the elder Egypt, have recently given
us a curious proof of the unchanged and appa
rently unchangeable condition of the Egyptian
labourer. A papyrus now preserved in the

THE "ESTATE OF THE RUSTIC." 229
British Museum contains part of the correspon
dence between Ameneman, the chief Ubrarian of
Eamses tUe Great, and the poet of the period,
Pentatour, whose poem recording the achieve
ments of the Egyptian monarch is engraved on
the waUs of the temple of Karnak at Luxor. In
a letter written to this Tennyson of three
thousand years since, Ameneman thus describes
the condition of the Egyptian peasant of his
day. As the translator justly remarks, " one
seems to hear Fenelon or La Bruyere speaking
of the poverty, the ignorance, the sordid exist
ence of the French peasant under Louis XIV.,"
only the Egyptian's lot was far the harder of
the two !
" Have you ever represented to yourself in
imagination," says Ameneman, "the estate of
the rustic who tUls the ground ? Before he has
put the sickle to his crop the locusts have
blasted part thereof; then come the rats and
birds. If he is slack in housing his crop, the
thieves are on him. His horse dies of weariness
as it drags the wain. The tax- coUector arrives ;
his agents are armed with clubs, he has negroes
with him who carry whips of palm branches.
They aU cry, ' Give us your grain ! ' and Ue has
no way of avoiding thefr extortionate demands.
Next, the wretch is caught, bound, and sent off
to work, without wage, at the canals ; his wKe is

230 THE Khedive's egypt.
taken and chained, his children are stripped and
plundered." Without asserting or believing tbat the Egyp
tian feUah's lot to-day is truly shadowed forth
in this terrible picture of the ancient Egyptian
labourer, sketched by a contemporary observer
more than three thousand years ago, I may stiU
suggest that, in some respects and in some
cases, it is applicable still, away from the great
cities and thoroughfares, which rest under the
eye of the Khedive and of the European popu
lation ; giving the Khedive the credit of not
being responsible for a tithe of the wrongs and
outrages perpetrated under cover of his name.
But the system that allows sucU outrages and
oppression, in despite of the efforts of a reform
ing prince to rectify them, certainly demands a
complete and radical revision, in his own in
terests, as weU as in those of our common
humanity. Without crediting all the stories that are
current, as to the treatment and condition of
the feUah population in the upper country and
remoter provinces, it must be evident to the eye
of the most careless observer, who passes any
time in the country — even in making the or
dinary Nile voyage — that the feUahs are miser
ably lodged in huts of mud, with no pretensions
either to cleanliness or comfort ; that they are

ASKING FOR BREAD AND RECEIVING STONES. 231
insufficiently clothed in dirty blue cotton shfrts
(men and women), and underfed; whUe, at the
same time, they are overworked and overtaxed :
and the proportion of those who are either
comfortable in circumstances or condition is so
smaU as almost to count as nothing in the calcu
lation ! This state of things certainly should
not be allowed to continue as a reproacU, not
only to Egypt, but to our century ; and some-
tUing should be done to raise these poor
creatures to the level of, the labouring class else
where ; low as that level unfortunately is in too
many countries, caUing themselves civihzed and
Christian. This should be the Khedive's first care, and
should take the precedence in his mind of grand
schemes for the extension of his empire, or for
pubUc improvements, or for the erection of
costly palaces or pUes of stone and marble in
his great cities ; lest the old cry again arise from
the suffering people, to curb his pride — " We ask
for bread, and you give us stones ! "
The " true beUever," both Turkish and Arab,
lays great store by the teachings and acts of
the early Hebrew patriarchs, whose lives and
envUonment assimUated so mucU to his own,
and has deduced from both the rules which
govern his society to-day. His version, how
ever, of the utterances and doings of the early

232 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Israelites varies considerably, in many instances,
from our accepted version of them ; and one of
these discrepancies relates to the proceedings
of Joseph during the seven years of famine that
succeeded the seven years of plenty in Egypt,
after his reading of Pharaoh's bad dream about
the seven fat and the seven lean kine.
The Moslem version of Joseph's proceeding
on this memorable occasion is, that he availed
himseK of the distress and famine among the
people, and of his own superior foresight in
lajdng up large suppUes of grain during the years
of plenty, by buying up from the starving people
one-fifth of the land of Egypt, in consideration
of corn supphed them at famine prices^ — an act
more creditable to Uis head than to his heart,
however it may redound to his business capa
city. Hence the Arab conquerors of Egypt
established in Egypt a " vahf," or ownership
on the part of the Church of one-fifth of the
lands, together with a dime, or tax in the
shape of a tithe, upon the rest, which tax,
varying in sum and substance — always heavy,
and recently most oppressive — paid in kind
or produce instead of money, and thus made
as elastic as the conscience of the tax-gatherer,
has continued to be levied untU this day. The
Eastern tax-gatherer, from immemorial time, has
been a leech of the worst description ; for even

UNJUST COLLECTORS OP TAXES. 233
Matthew, who afterwards was numbered among
the saints subsequently to his change of heart
on encountering Christ, is noted in the New
Testament as having been " an unjust coUector
of taxes ; " and his Uneal descendants in nature,
if not in blood, stiU abound throughout the
Eastern world.
When, foUowing in the footsteps of the
Greek, the Eoman, and the Goth, Amrou led
his victorious army, under the flag of the
Crescent, to take possession of Egypt, and the
Holy Land became also the spoU of the infidel,
the old land titles were left undisturbed, though
tribute and taxation were imposed on the
proprietors. Through all the anarchy that
succeeded the Arab occupation (including the
brUUant but oppressive sway of the Mamelukes,
and brief episode of Napoleon's memorable occu
pation of Egypt), the possession of the soU stiU
remained in tUe hands of the fellahs, with the
exception of a small portion held by the ruling
race, more for their occupation and pleasure
than for their profit. But when, early in the
present century, Mehemet AU was named by
the SubUme Porte as Pacha of Egypt, and
after he had secured his absolute control of
the country and people, though stiU professing
allegiance to tUe Porte, by the slaughter of
the Mamelukes, he turned his attention to the

234 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
land question in most Napoleonic fashion.
There were two kinds of land — one held in
fee and cultivated by the peasant proprietors ; the
other the Abadiehs, or waste lands, Mehemet
AU finding or pretending that many of ihe
lands of both quahties were insufficiently culti
vated, or not at aU, in consequence of the
insufficiency of the population, and that conse
quently the taxes due his Government therefor
were or could not be paid in sufficient sums to
meet his wants — which were ever increasing —
for the great schemes of pubUc improvement he
meditated, disturbed the existing arrangements
by making large grants of land to his favourites
to cultivate, taken partly from one class, partly
from another, sometimes dispossessing the
original proprietors,
WUen, after his long and briUiant rule of
more than forty years, his grandson Abbas suc
ceeded to the throne (the mere episode of the
seventy days' reign of Ibrahim counting for
nothing in this regard), there was an immediate
and radical change of poUcy in this respect.
For Abbas, with aU his other faults, was the
staunch friend and supporter of the feUah
in aU his ancient rights and privileges, which
he revived and secured to him both by edicts
and by practical action. While depriving tUe
rich of the lands given them by Mehemet Ali,

THE POLICY OF THE VICEROY. 235
that they might revert to their original owners :
despoiUng tUe wealthy, to whom he was both
unjust and cruel : and making himseK an object
of suspicion and terror to the members of his
own family: he was the constant friend and
patron of the lower class ; which history proves
to have been no exceptional case with despots.
Be this as it may, however, the fact remains,
whatever the prompting reason may have been ;
and the Egyptian feUah reaUy has more cause
to-day to bless the memory of the gloomy and
cruel Abbas, than that of the generous-tempered,
open-hearted Said, in so far as this land question
is concerned.
For Said reversed, and to a considerable extent
undid the restitution made by Abbas in respect
to the land tenure ; reverting more to the policy
of his grandfather — imposing additional burdens
of taxation upon it, and parceUing out again
mucU of what he declared to be public lands,
because tUefr proprietors could not cultivate or
properly utiUze them.
The poUcy of Ismail Khedive has differed
from that of aU his predecessors ; for, whUe he
has imposed more and heavier taxes upon land,
its products, and its occupants, so as to wi'ing
treble the revenues out of it ever obtained by
Said, his immediate predecessor : he has secured
for himself, in his own name and those of his

236 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
sons and daughters, fully one-fifth of the best
and most valuable of the lands of Egypt under
actual cultivation; but one- haK of which, the
title being in his own name, he offers to his
personal creditors, in extinction of his DaUa
debt. When he mounted the throne in 1863 — ^just
fourteen years ago — ^his personal real estate was
comparatively smaU in quantity. Since that
time he has bought out the property of his half-
brother Mustafa and his uncle Halim, for many
mUUons respectively, for which two of the
Egyptian loans were issued; thus creating the
confusion between the pubUc and private in
debtedness, which has rendered the task of suc
cessive financiers, sent from abroad to clear up
these accounts, so difficult and perplexing.*
The present condition of the feUaU, and of
the real estate of Egypt is as foUows : — There
are 5,000,000 of feddans under cultivation. Of
these, 1,000,000 are Khedivial or famUy property;
the rest, outside of a few large landed proprietors,
such as Nubar and CherK Pachas, and other
high dignitaries of the Court or distant members
of the blood royal, amounting to say 3,500,000
feddans, is stUl the property of the feUaheen, or
native peasantry. Thefr lands are subject, how-
* See Mr. Sandar's statement of the Khedive's Daira property
and the supposed income therefrom in Appendix.

OLD AND NEW TAXES. 237
ever, to a most grinding taxation, varying from
£1 10s. to £3 10s. per feddan per annum — some
say even more — by frregular impositions ; in
most instances giving tUe cultivator, or peasant
proprietor, only enougU out of his earnings to
eke out a bare subsistence, and afford such scanty
and insufficient shelter, food, and clothing as
keeps life together in himself, his famUy, and
tUe camel, ox, or ass he employs in his daUy
labour. The taxes, too, are taken in kind, not in cash ;
so that the tax-coUector can levy an additional
amount by his valuation of the crop.
Then too comes the new tax borrowed from
France — the octroi, which is estimated at eight
per cent, ad valorem; and is also Uable to in
crease the same way.
There is also a tax upon date-trees bearing
fruit, a tax upon trades and professions, a tax
even upon donkey-boys, who have to pay for
theU badges. In fact, taxation seems modeUed
upon the old Eoman model, as mentioned in the
Scripture, where the edict went out from Caesar
that " all the world should be taxed ; " and that
relic of tUe old Eoman rule has certainly sur
vived in full force and vigour in Egypt, supple
mented by more modern inventions, such as the
octroi. But the heaviest imposition of all is that of

238 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
the corvee, which, nominally abolished, except
in case of necessary labour on the canals for
irrigation, is stiU enforced on a large scale in
the upper country, for the benefit of the Khe
dive's sugar estates, and those of his famUy and
particular favourites : wUere for three months
in the year large bodies of men are taken in
gangs to work, receiving neither wages nor food
for themselves and thefr camels — their wives
having to bake and bring bread for their hus
bands, and the men to supply and feed their own
cattle. Domestic slavery in Egypt, and the internal
slave-trade which has long suppUed its demands
and those of Turkey in Europe — against which
European phUanthropy raises its voice so loudly,
and against which aU its shafts are leveUed —
great as thefr abuses may be, are far more diffi
cult to reach and remedy, than this other cancer
in the breast of Egyptian society, to extfrpate
which might be a slow, but would certainly be a
comparatively easy task, as weU as a profitable
one, to the Khedive and his country. Now that
he has offered to surrender up the manage
ment and proceeds of his vast sugar estates to
his creditors, that they may be placed under
European control and direction, the main
cause for the continuance of the corvee, or of
compulsory labour, either in the fields or on the

THE NATIVE TAX-PAYER. 239
private canals which irrigate them, will cease to
exist ; and the Khedive himseK no longer be
tempted to resort to it, under pretexts however
specious. Let us therefore hope that, under these new
circumstances, the feUah's lot may be amelio
rated, and his opportunity of getting "a fair day's
wage for a fair day's work " out of his own fields
be no longer prevented ; as weU as that, in pro
viding for the payment of the foreign creditors,
and presenting a good showing in the monthly
receipts in the Caisse presided over by the
European controllers, equal consideration may
be shown for the native tax-payer, as for those
he is made to pay out of the sweat of his brow,
for money which never profited him.
I find some statements so d propos to this in
the Alexandria correspondence of the Times, of
a recent date, that I cannot forbear to quote it
in confirmation of my own comments on this
head. The correspondent says —
" The war-tax which was voted by the
Egyptian notables is being rapidly encashed, and
the usual mode of collection is being foUowed,
as regards that portion which faUs on the land.
The sheikhs of the vUlages are summoned to
the chief towns. The moudUs, or governors,
teU them how much is needed and when. A
rough assessment is nominally foUowed, and the

240 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
authorities are supposed to be guided by certain
fiscal regulations. But these paper restrictions
are not too strictly observed ; all the moudfr
reaUy insists upon is that the money be forth
coming; and it goes hard with the sheik who
fails to squeeze tUe right amount out of his
people. The tax is levied as an increased
charge of ten per cent, on all previous imposts,
after the manner of the centimes additionels
which provide for provincial administration in
France. It will realize about UaK a mUUon
sterling. But that amount is increased by a
voluntary subscription, a patriotic fund, raised
from the native moneyed class, which wiU- pro
vide an additional £100,000."
The simphcity of this contrivance for squeezing
the feUah, is only equaUed by its completeness.
Appeals to " patriotism," made in sucU a shape,
cannot fail to meet a satisfactory response ; but
can the fellah bear these additional impositions,
broad as his back may be ?
The correspondent goes on to confirm yet
more strongly my previous assertions as to the
present condition of the laboming class, and his
testimony coming from a witness on the spot
carries conviction with it. He says —
"A contract was concluded yesterday by the
Government with a Manchester house, which
much improves the prospect of the July coupon ;

THE FELLAHEEN. 241
£500,000 is to be advanced, one-UaK now, one-
haK in London, on the 10th of July. The
Government on its side undertakes to deUver by
that date, in successive deliveries of 50,000
ardebs, 600,000 ardebs of wheat and beans,
which are to be paid for at the market price of
the day in Alexandria. This produce consists
wholly of taxes paid hy the peasants in hind ; and
wUen one thinks of the poverty-stricken, over
driven, underfed feUaUeen in thefr miserable
hovels, working late and early to fill the pockets
of the creditors, the punctual payment of the
coupon ceases to be ivholly a subject of gratifica
tion. The fellah would open his eyes if he were
told that taxes are only payment for benefits
received ; a contribution to a fund which is
whoUy expended for the public good ? "
With this confirmatory testimony as to the
fellah's actual condition and prospects, under
the existing state of things, I close this chapter,
which could readily be made a volume, and even
then the haK would not have been told.
To see the Egyptian feUaU as the traveller sees
him, he is a most amusing, picturesque, and
Oriental object, in perfect keeping with the
scenery which surrounds him — whether jogging
along on his small donkey, his feet almost touch
ing the ground, in his peculiar costume, which
scanty as it is suffices for his comfort in that

242 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
climate ; or labouring in tUe fields, accompanied
by his strange-looking water-ox, half cow, half
hippopotamus in appearance ; or, when his day's
work is over, squatting upon his hams in that
position which only he can comfortably assume,
and which would certainly entaU a cramp in the
leg or a back somersault on any less-experienced
practitioner. In spite of his dirt, his rags, his
haK-starved appearance, he looks happy, or K
not happy content with his lot, hard as it seems
to the stranger. If "happiness be indeed om*
being's end and aim," then must the poor feUah,
who so many have compassionated and so many
more despised, truly have more nearly attained
that end and aim, than the wise and great ones
of the earth, to whom increase of knowledge and
of worldly goods and honour have only brought
increase of care. But should curiosity, or some
higher motive, prompt the stranger to follow him
home and carefuUy picking his way through the
filthy narrow paths that cannot be called streets,
peer into the interior of the mud hut — into the
single apartment where his family and aU his
visible worldly goods are crowded, half hidden by
the smoke which fills the windowless den, without
chimney or other aperture to admit Ught or air,
save the open doorway — all his senses of sight, of
smell, of hearing, of touch, of taste, will be equally
revolted. Yet in huts like these do the great

THE NEW HOUSE OF BONDAGE. 243
mass of the feUah population live, and propagate
blear-eyed and unhealthy children, from genera
tion to generation ; secreting and hoarding what
money they may earn, without any attempt or
desire to improve a condition and style of life
wUich would prove utterly unbearable and im
measurably wretched to any other agricultural
class in the world. Yet the almost untold
miUions squandered by Egyptian rulers on works
of vanity, and on useless expeditions for centu
ries past, have been extracted out of this appa
rently impoverished and haK-starving population,
and each year renews the ever-recurring miracle,
to the astonishment of the rest of mankind.
Is it not time this tragi-comedy, which has in
it far less of laughter than of tears, should be
brought to a conclusion ; and the curtain be
aUowed to fall on a redeemed and regenerated
race — even though residing still in the old
" house of bondage " ?

244 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XIV.
SCIONS OP THE ROYAL HOUSE OF MEHEMET ALI.
The sons of Ismail, and other scions of the royal house, yet surviving
— The sons of Abbas and of Said Pachas blasted in the hud — The
sons of the Khedive — Mohamed Tewfik, heir presumptive — His
brothers Hussein and Hassan — Characteristics of each — The younger
sons — How the Khedive is educating his children — Their uncle
Halim Pacha, formerly heir apparent under the old rule — His
character — Description of how he hunted the gazelle with hawk
and hound — Revival in Egypt of a mediseval sport — Halim's
prospects.
The sons of the Khedive have been most care
fully trained and educated, and K they do not
prove clever and useful men the fault is thefrs,
not his ; for neither expense nor care has been
spared on thefr inteUectual and physical develop
ment. European tutors have been furnished
them from a very early age, who have indoc
trinated them in the usual branches of a hberal
education, including the languages of Europe, or
at least a portion of them ; and the younger
ones have also been sent to schools and univer
sities in France, England, and Germany, to

THE HEIR APPARENT. 245
learn as much as it is possible to prevaU on
princes to acqufre — moral suasion only being
possible in such cases ; the more stringent
methods adopted with " common people," of
course, never being dreamed of where " blood
royal " is concerned.
I believe the hefr apparent. Prince Mohamed
Tewfik, has never enjoyed the advantages of
foreign travel, nor a foreign curriculum, but has
been brought up and educated at home. Yet he
does credit to his teachers, both as to mind and
manners, being one of the most modest and at
the same time one of the best-informed young
men to be met with anywhere ; universaUy re
spected as weU as liked by foreigners as well as
natives : though he shrinks from rather than
courts observation or society. Whether this
proceeds from native modesty or from policy, the
position he occupies being a more delicate and
difficult one in the East than elsewhere, I am
not sufficiently intimate with him to say ; but
my impression, formed from my own oppor
tunities of observation, was that the former
cause had as much to do with it as the latter.
Yet his modesty and retiring manner by no
means indicate a lack either of will or of firm
ness ; on the contrary, I should judge he was
naturally obstinate, and very hard to move from
the path he had selected, either by persuasion or

246 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
threats. Less pohtic and plausible than his
father. Prince Tewfik impresses you with belief
in his sincerity, and that he means what he says
- — qualities which very clever men often are de
ficient in. He does not affect so much of the
Western air and habits as do his father and two
brothers, although he wears the Stambouli
costume ; and is reputed to be a conscientious
though liberal Mussulman in creed and practice.
His private character is above reproach. In the
great whispering gaUery of tUat Court, and of
the Frank community at CaUo, I have never
heard a whisper breathed against his domestic
virtues or private character. In short, if I were
asked to point out the model gentleman among
the younger native generation at Cairo (in the
higher sense of that much-abused word), I
should select Prince Tewfik as one of its most
superior types ; although in the graces, and in
the social circle, one of his brothers may
surpass him.
Prnice Tewfik is decidedly Oriental, both in
face and figure ; of the Circassian type, with
square head, heavy frame, dark eyes and hair,
and with something soUd and substantial
stamped bodUy and mentally upon him. Devoid
apparently of some of the more shining qualities,
slow and even hesitating in speech, and not
affecting brilliancy or even smartness, his face.

PRINCE HUSSEIN. 247
eye; and smile inspire confidence. You feel
that here is a man whom you can trust.
He is the husband of but one wKe, and re
ported to be very dpmestic in his habits and
tastes. He is Minister of the Interior, and said
to be an energetic and indefatigable pubUc
officer. Should it be his fate to mount the
throne of Egypt, I predict that he will prove a
prudent, humane, and sensible ruler, and do
credit to himself and good to his people ;
although I have seen such strange and sudden
transformations take place in Egyptian princes
after becoming viceroys, that my prediction is
made with some hesitation.
The next eldest son is the Prince Hussein, at
present Minister of Finance, vice the late Mouf
fetich, departed. He, in appearance, manners,
and character, is the reverse of his elder brother.
Slight and wiry of frame, with an active and
springy step and ¦ quick movements, with sharp,
shrewd features and restless eye. Prince Hus
sein is a man who impresses you as well fitted
for intrigue ; with boldness enough to carry out
what he had planned without regard to the con
sequences. He seems to have inherited much
of his father's restless spirit, without the caution
which has ever accompanied it in his progenitor ;
and is certainly a quick, clever young man,
though he does not impress you, with aU his

248 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
boldness, as being as open-hearted and sincere
as his brother Tewfik. Although, I beUeve, he
has never visited Europe, he is quite French in
his dress and address, and figures in the quad-
riUes and even the waltz at the royal balls,
with the grace of a practised man about town.
In fact, he is quite French in appearance, and
can rattle off calembours as fast as any petit
creve of the boulevards. He is also said to be an
extremely good business man, in so far as he is
allowed to exert tUat ability — the Khedive being
king and all the ministers echoes, since the death
of the Mouffetich, the only one among them to
whom he gave more than the shadow of power,
after Nubar Pacha (who refused to be a shadow)
got his conge. The young prince has no pleasant
position, being compelled to act as a financial
"buffer" between tbe frate creditors of the
Government or the Khedive, and his father.
The latter (who is by no means so visible nowa
days as he used to be) is ingenious enough to
put much of the burden of "to-morrow and to
morrow," sung to the creditors, on his son,
whose nominal duties as Finance Minister are
really performed by the foreign commissioners,
Messrs. Eomaine and De Malaret, one of whom
receives, and the other of whom disburses, aU
of the hard cash to be coUected in Egypt.
If Prince Hussein resembles a Frenchman,

PRINCE HASSAN. 249
his brother Hassan, late Minister of War, and
now in command of the Egyptian contingent in
Turkey, is more Uke a German in appearance
and address ; his manner of pronouncing Eng
lish, which he understands, having been some
time at Oxford University, being decidedly
German. The same may be said of his manner,
which is short and abrupt, though he has enjoyed
greater advantages than his brothers. Of his
capacity, either civU or miUtary, he has as yet
given no proofs. He may show the stuff he is
made of, in his present position.
The mystery which stiU enshrouds the Abys
sinian campaign, in which he participated, veils
also the part he played therein, the accounts of
which are very conflicting, and by no means
confirmatory of the florid accounts given in the
despatches of the Egyptian generaUssimo, Eatib
Pacha, who is generally believed to have imi
tated Falstaff more than Hotspur in his conduct
of that most unfortunate and fruitless campaign.
The prince has now an opportunity of winning
his spurs if he pleases, for if he goes to the
front he wiU have to show the mettle he is
made of, against the hereditary enemy of his
race. His duties as War Minister were chiefly
nominal; the real management of that depart
ment, for the last six or seven years, having

260 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
been in the hands of the American staff officers,
at the head of whom is General Stone (now
Stone Pacha Ferik), and General Loring (Loring
Pacha Ferik), who has had a separate command
at Alexandria, covering the protection of that
place, and the line of sea-coast from Alexandria
to Port Said.
These old and experienced soldiers, military
men by early training and participation in
bloody wars on the other side of the Atlantic,
aided by a picked corps of younger officers, chiefly
Americans, have brought the Egyptian army
into a fine state of organization and discipline,
and made the coast fortifications very strong
and effective against any fleet or force seeking
to invade Egypt — a contingency happUy not
Ukely to occur during the present war, K the
solemn assurances of Eussian diplomacy are to
be rehed upon ; but against which, nevertheless,
the Khedive is and has long been preparing his
troops and defences.
Three or four other younger sons of the
Khedive are being as carefully trained and edu
cated as their elder brothers. I believe most of
the brethren are by different mothers, but the
Khedive is certainly a good father, however
miscellaneous his taste in the matter of mothers.
His daughters he has married chiefly to their
cousins, richly endowing them all, and insisting

HALIM PACHA. 251
that their husbands shaU have no other legal
wives — the Mussulman law allowing four at a
time to aU "true beUevers;" a privUege of
which the Khedive has fuUy avaUed himself,
and probably deprecates for his sons and sons-in-
law, from the fruits of his own experience.
One of his daughters married Toussoun Pacha,
the only son of his predecessor Said, to whom
Ismail behaved well and generously, making
Uim Minister of Public Instruction, and furnish
ing him UberaUy witb lands and money. He
died about a year ago, mucU regretted for his
amiabiUty and generosity of cUaracter, in wUich
he resembled his father, without possessing his
stronger qualities. The son of Abbas also
died young at Constantinople. Mustafa, the
Khedive's brother, who was set aside from the
succession by the new firman from the Porte, is
also dead, and his family were sent for to
Constantinople, and treated in a most princely
manner by the Khedive. But Halim Pacha,
the younger son of Mehemet Ali and uncle to
Ismail, stiU lives, and casts a shadow over the
succession of Tewfik, to secure which his claims
under the original firman granted Mehemet
Ali were set aside by the late Sultan Abdul-
Aziz. Hahm, Uke Mustafa, Uas been kept at
Constantinople, where both were in high favour,
and given high positions in the Government, as

262 THE KHEDIVE'S EGPYT.
a rod in terrorem for the Khedive and his sons,
should they prove refractory, or stint the supphes
of backsheesh, which every " Commander of the
Faithful " has an undymg tUfrst for, unquenched
and unquenchable by any mUUons however
often repeated. How much of the gold ex
tracted from the sweat and blood of Egypt, or
from the pockets of the foreign creditor or
bondholder, has passed into the capacious maw
of the ogre at Constantinople, during the last
twelve years, whUe these two princes of the
blood were held as hostages and rods at Stam-
boul, no one knows save one man, and he doubt
less wUl never divulge it. But certain it is that
many milUons of pounds annually have been
sent there, as sops to the Cerberus, for favours
granted in return, or preservation of the
statu quo.
Mustafa Pacha was a great political in
triguer, and probably played his part in these
proceedings ; but the bold frank character of
Hahm Pacha fr-ees him from simUar imputa
tions. PersonaUy Ue is one of the most remark
able men of his Une, proUfic as it ever has been
of strong men and original ones.
Born of a Bedouin mother, the wKe of
Mehemet All's vigorous old age. Prince HaUm
partakes of the pecuUarities of his mother's race,
being originally spare and wiry in frame and

HIS HOilE AT SHOUBRA. , 253
muscle, litUe as a leopard, a hunter like Nimrod,
a horseman unequalled even among his mother's
centaur-Uke race, with quick flashing eyes and
sharp features, dark eyes and hair, and Arab
complexion. He has grown stouter and heavier
sinoe residing at Constantinople, but his original
type was such as I have described. He was an
exceUent French scholar, and a man of consider
able culture, as well as vivacity ; extremely
hospitable, and fond of entertaining his Frank
friends at his palace at the Shoubra Gardens, left
him by his father as an inheritance, but which
has now become the property of the Khedive,
who has suffered the palace to fall into ruins,
and the gardens to go to decay. Here HaUm
PacUa used to Uve and enjoy Ufe, until quarrels
between himseK and the Khedive drove him out
of Egypt, and caused him to seU out his
property there to the Khedive, for which one of
the outstanding loans was issued. I am not
aware that HaUm has, in any manner, formaUy re
nounced his pretensions to the Egyptian throne
under the original firman ; neither do I know
whether he still cherishes hopes in that regard,
for I have not seen him for many years past.
He was in London recently for a short time, and
it was then whispered that he might possibly
have been sent or have come on a political
mission, relative to the Egyptian succession.

2^54 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
I imagine however that the general acquies
cence of the Great Powers to the change of the
succession, informal as it may have been, wUl
prove a bar to the claims of Prince Hahm, even
should he strive to press them : and that the
accession of Prince Tewfik is as safe as any
political possibUity can be.
Of the narrow escape of Prince HaUm fr-om
death, through his own quickness and presence
of mind, when his nephew Achmet was drowned
in the NUe, I have aUeady spoken ; and shaU
conclude tUis sketch of him with a detaU of the
manner in which he used to practise his favourite
sport, in chasing the gazelle with hawk and
hound over the desert.
Although the fleetness of the Arab horse and
Syrian greyhound are proverbial, and seem capa
ble of outstripping anjHihing but the wind, yet,
fleet as are its pursuers, the gazeUe is fleeter stUl;
and Uence the revival on these Eastern plains of
the mediaeval pastime and "joyous science" of
hawking ; bringing the children of the aU in aid
of hunter, horse, and hound, and assaUing the
helpless quarry from earth and sky at once.
It was a gay sight to see this Eastern knight
on his fleet Arab courser, attended by a princely
retinue of friends and foUowers (but "no lady
fair," which Eastern etiquette forbade), saUy forth
at early dawn from his residence in the famed

HUNTING THE GAZELLE. 255
gardens of Shoubra, with hawk on fist, and the
Syrian greyhounds in leash, led after him, only to
be unleashed when the quarry was raised on the
desert, a few miles distant.
The Prince himseK, usually attired in French
costume — ^for he is an educated man, and very
French in his tastes — on these occasions wore
the native dress ; and his suite, with their gay
and picturesque costumes, and costly trappings
bedecked with gems and cloth of gold, presented
a most gaUant and striking appearance ; for
among tUese semi-civilized nomads of Egypt
and Syria, the passion for the chase is only second
to that for war, the children of Nimrod and of
Ishmael retaining stUl the tastes of theU remote
progenitors. TUe Syrian greyhound is a very beautiful
specimen of the race. Smaller and witU less
lengtU of limb tUan the English greyhound,
and consequently with a shorter stride, the
rapidity of his movements, and the toughness
and tenacity of his muscles, render him no un
worthy scion of the stock to which his British
cousin belongs. Moreover his long feathery-
tufted taU seems to act as a rudder to him, when
in full flight across those breezy plains— for a
strong wind is ever blowing over the desert —
an advantage which marks the difference be
tween the Syrian and other greyhounds, to

256 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
whom, in other respects, he bears the closest
affinity. In the eyes and faces of the choicest
specimens of these dogs, there shines an expres
sion of winning and almost human inteUigence;
yet, once launched in pursuit of game, they are as
blood-thUsty as the sleuth-hound. The dog in
Egypt, as throughout the East, with this excep
tion is a homeless and houseless vagabond and
semi-savage, prowUng in packs, acting as scaven
ger only, and never domesticated, because con-'
sidered " unclean " by Mussulman law and
custom. The Prince Halim had the courage to
brave this prejudice, and kept his greyhounds
for the chase. But he also kept another and
more curious class of creatures for the hunting
of the gazeUe, probably the fastest in its move
ments of any wingless animal, viz., his hunting
hawks, which seemed the genuine descendants
of tUe " falcon gentle," wUicU was wont to afford
such rare sport to our ancestors in the Middle
Ages. As the cavalcade pranced forth from the
gates of the city, and especiaUy from the old
Bab el Nasr, or " Gate of Victory," which
leads to the desert — past those beautKul but
crumbling castellated memorials, the tombs and
palaces of the Memlook sultans, now falUng into
ruins — the hooded hawks, perched on the right
hands of the prince and his friends, constituted
a curious feature of the knightly retinue.

THE "FALCON GENTLE" OF EGYPT. 267
The hawk used for this purpose is not the
ordinary large Egyptian one, which hovers over
the city of Cafro, poised in afr on its wide
wings, or cfrcUng around in search of its quarry ;
but a smaUer and fiercer bfrd, desert born and
bred, with keen eyes and sharp talons, of which
the larger brother stands in wholesome awe.
These bfrds, trained much as were the mediaeval
falcons, seem to love the chase as much as their
master, although their quarry be not the heron,
but the gazeUe. TUefr services were only
brought into requisition after the chase had
continued some time, and as an adjunct to the
pursuit of men, dogs, and horses, aU concen
trating their energies against the hfe and liberty
of the most lovely, graceful, and inoffensive of
wUd creatures, almost tUe sole tenants of these
arid wastes.
After advancing a few mUes into the desert,
which presents one flat, dead, unbroken level of
hard gritty soU (not sand), unreUeved by any
shrub, grass, flower, or tree, bounded only by the
horizon, and producing almost the iUusion of a
sea view, suddenly haK a dozen slender shapely
forms spring up, and stand in bold relief against
the sky, with heads erect Uke statuary, some haK
mUe distant.
The sight seems at once to infuse new fire
and vigour into the horses, dogs, and men, all

258 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
of whom are immediately launched Uke thunder
bolts in the dfrection of the quarry, which
pausing inotionless for a moment, break into
fuU flight the next, bounding marvellous dis
tances each spring, and soon leaving even the
fleet greyhounds toUing hopelessly in the rear :
the distance between them visibly increasing,
as the tireless gazeUes almost fly forwards, in
spUed by fear. The scene now becomes a most
animated, exciting, and picturesque one, with
the floating burnouses of the Bedouin or Egyp
tian riders, and the gay attire of horse and man,
and the gaUant Arab coursers stretching out
to fuU speed, with expanded nostrils and pro
truding eyes, and the feathery taUs of the
SjTian greyhounds waving Uke banners, as they
bound after the flying gazeUes.
But vain are the efforts of aU thefr enemies
to gain upon, or even to keep pace with, the
graceful chUdren of the desert. Horses, men,
and dogs are falUng rapidly behind : and even the
forms of the gazeUes are becoming indistinct
and with difficulty discernible, except to the
eagle eyes of the prince and his Bedouins, when
a new ally is surnmoned to the assistance of the
hunters, and a new foe launched at the heads
of the triumphant fugitives.
Eising in his shovel-stirrups, in fuU career,
witU the grace and dexterity of an Eastern rider,

HAWK AND QUARRY. 259
Prince HaUm, sUpping off tUe hood from the
head of the hawk he carries on his right hand,
with a pecuUar shriU cry launcUes tUe bfrd into
the afr in the dfrection of the fast-disappearing
quarry. Thus released, the hawk cfrcles rapidly
upward untU aUnost lost to sight, a mere speck
suspended in blue ether, and seemingly motion
less in the cloudless sky, blazing under the fierce
Eastern sun in a flood of hght. A moment
later, the hawk can be seen shooting downwards
like a Ughtning flasU on the gazeUe, buffeting
its head and blinding its eyes, with the rapid
blows of its strong wings. Almost frantic with
fear and fury, the gazeUe soon frees itseK from
its feathered assaUant by striking its head upon
the ground, and then resumes its flight ; but the
rehef is only momentary, for the pertinacious
assailant as soon as sUaken off renews the
assault; coming down on tUe antelope's head
again and again, releasing it only long enough
to avoid being crushed or impaled upon its sharp
brow horns. Blinded at last and wearied by these
attacks, confused by the cries of the approach
ing huntsmen, the terrified and exhausted gazeUe
falls an easy prey to the greyhounds and pur
suing horsemen.
Sometimes a young or badly trained bird
woiUd faU a victim to his interference : for the
efforts of the gazeUe to destroy as weU as shake

260 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
off his tormentors, inspfred by the instinct of
seK-preservation, are often as energetic as piteous
to witness.
The hunt of Prince Halim over, the grey
hounds re-leashed, the hawks hooded once more,
the heads of the panting Arab steeds are again
turned homewards ; though the desert-born
horses, snuffing eagerly thefr fresh native air,
seem reluctant to return citywards, fretting and
chafing under the powerful bit and shovel-spur
which compel obedience. This bit is strong
enough to break a horse's jaw, with a cruel,
sharp fron spike pressing on the tongue, so that
a rider who sharply reins in his steed in fuU
career draws blood, and lacerates the horse's
tongue. The shovel-shaped stirrup, too, with
its sharp edges gores the side of the animal,
when spurred, like a knife ; so that obedience to
the rider's wUl is easily enforced by a reckless
or cruel rider.
Eeturning at mid-day through the desert under
the blazing sun, whose insufferable glare bUnds
and dazzles European vision, and against which
even Bedouin or Egyptian protects himself by
the projecting cofia or sUk shawl drawn over
the head and face Uke a projecting hood, the
stranger, if fortunate, may witness the strange
and startling optical delusion of the mirage, so
often described, yet of which the reality is so

PRINCE HALIM'S CLAIMS. 261
immeasurably superior to the description. For
suddenly, out of what was a moment before but
void space bounded by a distant horizon, seems
to rise as K by enchantment the semblance
of stately cities, with domes, mosques, and
minarets, and long moving processions of men
and camels ; or, more mocking stUl to dizzy
brain and parched palate, the counterfeit pre
sentment of clear pools of water, embowered in
shady palm groves. The Turkish bath, the mid
day siesta preceded by chibouque or nargileh
of LatUda or Persian tumbac, constitute the fit
pendant to the day's chase.
Such used to be the favourite sport of Prince
HaUm's youth. He is now a middle-aged man,
but a year younger than the Khedive, and they
teU me has grown stout and indolent in the
enervating afr of Constantinople.
But as the last surviving son of the great
founder of the house that has ruled Egypt for
the last haK century, a certain interest attaches
to him ; to which the friture of Egypt, dark with
clouds, must add a keener edge. For the pre
sent it is the poUcy of the Great Powers to
preserve the statu quo in Egypt, and to sanction
the change of succession.

262 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XV.
IRRIGATION AND THE BARRAGE.
"The life of Egypt" — The barrage — Proposition to pull down tbe
Pyramids to construct it — A French engineer's perilous predicament
— How he extricated himself — Said Pacha's new city on a medal ! —
Egyptian irrigation — How it is managed — Proposed substitute for
the irrigation of the Delta — Something about the barrage.
In former days, before there was railway com
munication with Cairo, Uttle more than twenty
years ago, the traveUer who ascended the NUe
in a dababieh or smaU steamer used to be
struck by the sight of what seemed at once a
turreted castle, a bridge, and a breakwater across
the stream. This was the barrage, commenced
by Mehemet Ah, continued by Abbas fitfully,
and ¦ abandoned by Said ; although at one time
he conceived the idea of completing this great
work, on which both Mougel and Linant Beys,
the Franco-Egyptian engineers, spent much
time and labour, and to which, I was told, about
three miUions of pounds sterUng had been con
tributed. Said was so full of the idea that he

THE BARRAGE AND THE PYRAMIDS. 263
actuaUy founded a city there, gave a three days'
fete on the spot, and struck off a silver medal to
commemorate it ; but tUe city stopped there,
and so did the works. '^
A curious story was told me by one of the
French engineers, in connection with the barrage
and Abbas Pacha. Summoned by the viceroy
to one of his desert palaces hurriedly, the
engineer repafred with aU speed to see him.
He was at once greeted with this suggestion : —
"You are always troubling me about your
barrage," said Abbas, " and an idea has struck
me. Those great masses of stone, the Pyramids,
are standing there useless. Why not take the
stone from them to do the work ? Is it not a
good idea ? "
" Pull down the Pyramids ! " stammered the
amazed engineer, aghast at the idea that his
name would go down to posterity in such a
connection. "Yes," impatiently repeated Abbas. "Why
not ? Are you siUy enough to attach any rever
ence to those ugly, useless piles of stone ! See
if you cannot make use of them for the barrage.
They have helped to buUd Cairo already."
TUe FrencUman made his salaam and retired
in despafr. What was he to do ? The obstinacy
of Abbas was ever proof against argument, and
he brooked no contradiction to his wiU, however

264 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
extravagant the whim that prompted it. To
refuse to carry out his orders would be equiva
lent to losing his place ; to obey would, to his
excited imagination, stamp his .name with an
immortahty of infamy, as the destroyer of the
Pyramids. Tossing restlessly on his sleepless bed all
nigUt, a bright idea flashed upon him. He
would appeal to Abbas's avarice, to escape the
desecration of the great historic monuments of
Egypt. Taking a large sheet of paper, he
covered it over with long rows of figures and
calculations, and armed with this, returned to
the viceroy the next day.
" What is all this ? " growled Abbas, glancing
suspiciously at the sheet covered with what to
him were cabalistic figm-es, and frowning darkly
on the engineer. " What rubbish is this you
bring me ? "
" Highness 1 " was the reply, " after re
ceiving your orders to remove the stones from
the Pyramids for the barrage, I deemed it my
duty to make a rough calculation of the cost ;
and here it is."
"Well, weU," said Abbas impatiently, "what
do I know about your hieroglyphics ? TeU me,
what wUl it cost? "
The engineer immediately named an enormous
sum for the cost of taking down and transporting

A NARROW ESCAPE. 265
the stones ; and after some severe cross-question
ing from the viceroy, who seemed suspicious of
his good faith, finally persuaded him to abandon
the design of pulling down the Pyramids —
sooner than aid in doing which, he swore to me,
he would have resigned and left the service.
" Figurez vous, monsieur !" he said, with
flushed face, and eyes almost starting from their
sockets, as he recaUed the recoUection. " Fancy
your own feelings, at the thought that your
own children would be pointed out everywhere
as those of the man who destroyed the Pyramids ! "
and his hafr bristled on his head with horror, at
the thought of the perU Ue, and his children (he
had none, by-the-by), had so narrowly escaped.
The NUe Uas often and truly been called
" the life of Egypt," for the fortuity of the soil
is derived from its deposits and frrigation. The
barrage was intended to irrigate the whole
Delta, and the design certainly was a grand one.
I am too ignorant of engineering, to express any
opinion as to the possibiUty of achieving the
purpose aimed at by such a breakwater : or
the reasons of the faUure and abandonment of
the uncompleted work, in relation to which I
know the Khedive has lately consulted several
eminent English engineers.
The following particulars as to the great and
vital topic of irrigation in Egypt, and incident-

266 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
aUy as to the barrage, I have procured from
persons competent to give it, from long and
careful study of both subjects. The whole
matter is more simple than it seems ; the chief
question to be considered is the question of cost.
I believe it is estimated that £1,600,000 would
put the barrage in successful operation.
As already stated, the whole cultivated area
of Egypt owes its fertiUty to the Nile inunda
tion. At high Nile the water is heavUy charged
with sedimentary matters, and these matters are
deposited as the velocity of the flood-stream
slackens ; and so the bed of the river and the
submerged lands on either side of it have been
gradually raised. If the river were not carefuUy
embanked, the lands immediately contiguous to
the stream would be flooded to a depth of about
three feet at ordinary high Nile, whilst those
more remote from the river would be submerged
to as much as three times that depth. These
conditions are obviously all that could be desired
for the effective Urigation of this country during
high NUe, since it would only be necessary to
lead canals from the river to the land to be
frrigated, controlling the flow of water in the
canals by sluices or barrages, formed at their
intakes. But at low NUe the level of water in
the river is some twenty feet below the surface
of the land, so other means have to be adopted

METHODS OF IRRIGATION. 267
to frrigate during summer. Three courses are
open for adoption : —
1st. To raise the water to the required level
by pumping or other mechanical means.
2nd. To tap the river at some point upstream,
and lead off a canal at a flatter faU than that of
the river, so that at the requfred place the water
will Uave attained the surface.
3rd. To dam up the waters of the Nile itself
by a great weir, or barrage.
The first course is that chiefly adopted in
Egypt : and the well-known shadoofs, sakiehs, and
natalahs are the mechanical means most in vogue,
though Cornish pumping-engines and centrKugal
pumps are also common enough. The second plan
of high-level canals is Ul-adapted to the condi
tions in Egypt, because of the small faU of the
land. Thus, the Nile valley falls at the rate of
five inches per mile; hence, since the incUnation
of the canal could hardly be less than one inch
and a half per mUe, it would require a length of
nearly seventy miles of canal before the water
would have attained a sufficient height, relative
to the adjoining land, to frrigate without pump
ing. Canals of this length and of the required
capacity would cost many mUlions, and even
then would do the work far less effectuaUy than
a barrage. It is no matter of surprise, therefore,
that the advisabUity of constructing a barrage

268 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
across the Nile at the head of the Delta was
seen at a very early period ; and that the work
itseK was undertaken by Mehemet AU in the
year 1847.
The barrage of the Nile is, perhaps, the
most imposing engineering work to be found
in Egypt ; but unfortunately, from a variety of
causes, it has not satisfied the anticipations of
its projectors. From instabihty of foundations
it has not succeeded in damming up the waters
more than some five feet, whereas at least fifteen
feet is required to do the work of Urigation
effectuaUy. The barrage across the Eosetta
branch is 1626 feet in length, and includes sixty-
one arches of 16' 4" span, and two locks of the
respective widths of forty and fifty feet ; the
whole work presenting much the appearance of a
railway viaduct of brickwork, with stone dress
ings. The Damietta barrage is 1787 feet long,
with arches and locks of the same dimensions
as in the other barrage. A large Uon sluice
gate was to have been fitted in each archway,
which when lowered would dam the waters
back to a height of fifteen feet above low Nile
level, and when raised would have aUowed the
floods to pass down unimpeded. Owing to the
defect in the foundations, these sluices have not
yet been furnished to the whole of the barrage ;
but temporary means are adopted for closing

MR. fowler's plan. 269
some of the arches during low NUe, and so
slightly raising the level of the river above the
barrage. The loss from the non-completion of
the barrage works, and the consequent defective
and costly frrigation of the Delta, is measured
by many hundreds of thousands of pounds. Irri
gation, which in India costs only a few shillings,
in Egypt costs as many pounds ; and the difference
is almost whoUy owing to the incompleteness of
the frrigation works, amongst which the barrage
is of pre-eminent importance. It is satisfactory
to learn, therefore, that the completion of the
barrage is seriously entertained by the Khedive,
and that the whole question has been elaborately
studied by Mr. John Fowler, his consulting
engineer. Mr. Fowler, avaiUng himseK of the
progress in engineering science since the period
when the present barrage was commenced, pro
poses to put the foundations of his new works at a
depth below the surface of the water which would
have been impracticable thfrty years ago ; and so
he will attain sufficient stabiUty to dam the
waters back to a height of fifteen feet, as origin
aUy intended, and as is necessary for the satis
factory frrigation of the Delta, without pumping.
So stands this matter of irrigation at present.
Doubtless engineering skiU, which has worked
so many marvels, can dam up even the flood of
Father Nile, and control its distribution; and

270 the KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
former faUure is no argument against final suc
cess, under the cUcumstances attending the
experiment thus far. So that K the thing be
really feasible and necessary, and wUl repay the
cost — aU of which are questions for engineers to
solve — the completion of the barrage is now as
certain as the perpetuity of the Pyramids.

( 271 )

CHAPTEE XVI.
EDUCATION IN EGYPT.
What the Khedive has done in educating his people — The public
schools — Their chief inspector. Dor Bey — Information derived from
him — Slight sketch of the character and purposes of the new schools ,
civil and military — The Polytechnic School at Ahbassieh — The
Missionary schools — Miss Whately's school, and the German —
Education for women — A queen worthy of her place — The coming
race of Egyptian women.
Fully to relate aU that the Khedive has done for
education would requUe a volume instead of a
chapter ; for his efforts in this dfrection are
worthy of aU praise : so much has he already
accomphshed within the last six or eight years.
A volume has been written on the subject, and
pubhshed by the Government, prepared by Dor
Bey, the able controUer and chief inspector
of the public schools, giving fuU and accurate
information and detaUs on this most interesting
topic. This gentleman was summoned by the
Khedive from Switzerland, where he was per
forming simUar functions, and is assisted in his

272 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
duties by Mr. Eogers, formerly British consul
at CaUo, but now in tUe Egyptian service.
From Mr. Dor's statements I shaU merely
extract a few of the most sahent features of the
new plan of regenerating Egypt, by educating
and enhghtening the rising generation — an Her
culean task indeed, when the peculiarities of
place and people are taken into consideration.
TUe system is not to make education compulsory
(which seems to me a mistake), and the advan
tages it offers have been confined thus far to the
cities, and have not yet been generally extended
into the country, where the rural population, who
need it most, might avaU themselves of the
benefits of instruction, in something more than
the Koran, free of cost. For the Arab child is
remarkably bright and inteUigent, and loves
learning, when there is any possible chance of
his acqufring it. Mehemet AU made some
attempt at such schools, as did also Abbas Pacha
and Said ; but the merit of greatly enlarging and
perfecting them undoubtedly belongs to Khedive
Ismail, who has summoned able men from
abroad to assist him in the good work.
At some of the schools I visited I was struck
by the quickness of the boys, and their memories
seemed surprising, as well as their genius for
mathematics and arithmetic. Standing before a
black board, with a piece of chalk, the pupUs

THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL AT ABBASSIEH. 273
would write down rapidly and correctly, sentences
dictated to them in different languages. Men of
all ages are admitted to prepare for teacUers :
some very mature ones I saw hard at work,
grappling with school-boy tasks, with an iron
gravity nothing could disturb. The colour of
the pupUs is as widely various as thefr types of
face ; but I saw very few negroes among them.
Ophthalmia, the terrible scourge of Egypt, had
left its mark on many of the boys ; but I was
happy to hear that the vUulence of this disease
was abating under the new regime.
At the military training scUool at Ahbassieh,
where the number of pupUs between the ages of
sixteen and twenty was considerable, every
possible appliance for instruction, both mental
and bodily, was to be seen; and some of the
fencing I saw, both with foU and broad-sword,
would have done credit to the professors of the
art anywhere in Europe. Major Sohman Bey,
an Egyptian educated at Paris and Metz, was
at the head of the Polytechnic School of the
Ahbassieh, formerly the site of one of Abbas'
desert palaces, near Cairo. Mr. Bourke, a
gentleman of high culture and inteUigence, was
the EngUsh professor ; witU two able professors
of French and German as his colleagues.
One of the largest and most famous schools in
the East, under Mahommedan auspices, has long

274 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
been in operation at Cafro, at the mosque of El
Akhsar ; but the course is chiefly if not entirely
theological, comprising lessons from and instruc
tion in the Koran. AU the mosques also have
schools attached to them, where squat the
youthful Arabs, shrieking out in Arabic at the
top of their voices, all at the same time : and
swinging to and fro as they shout, in chorus
with their Arab instructor. These schools are
not supported by Government endowment, but
by the payment of a trifling sum from parents
who can afford it. The Government, however, is
helping these to better teachers, trained at its
own normal schools and the course of instruction
is being enlarged.
The public schools are composed of primary
and Government schools. The primary schools
have a course which extends over four years, and
all who like to come, of whatever race or reUgion,
are freely admitted, either as boarders or day
scholars. The boarders who are able pay £26
per year ; those who can pay a part only do so ;
the poor pay nothing. The same is the case with
the day scholars.
The non-paying pupils however are subject to
the caU of tUe Government, which passes them
on through the other schools, and prepares them
for public service ; and many are made teachers
in the primary schools, besides being trained as

THE MISSIONARY SCHOOLS. 275
doctors, engineers, surveyors, etc. There are
also preparatory schools midway between the
two classes above referred to.
The Government schools (so called) are of
a special character, such as for medicine, the
higher mechanics, and a polytechnic school for
training officers of the army. Although so
recently estabUshed, tUey have already laid the
foundations for an admirable local education,
and for the improved standard of the next
generation of Egyptian youth.
As an indication of educational progress, the
recent rapid advance of the American missionary
schools may be cited. For nine years under
previous reigns, a small but untUing body of
these men, domiciled in Egypt, strove to get
pupUs, and only succeeded on a most Umited
scale ; but theU recent advance in this regard,
within the last five years, has been wonderful.
They are now erecting, opposite the old Shep
heard's Hotel, an extensive edifice in stone,
which wUl comprise a cUurch in the centre and
two wings, one for a male, and the other for a
female coUege, capable each of containing several
hundreds of students. The buUding, it is esti
mated, wiU cost £15,000 when completed, and
will contain residences for the missionaries also.
From a statement made by these missionaries,
they claim within the last twenty years to have

276 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
" gathered a community of 3000 souls ; to have
established fifteen churches, with an aggregate
membership of 600 ; and to have sold and distri
buted over 10,000 volumes of religious books and
tracts in 1874." Thefr centres of operation are
at Alexandria, CaUo, Mansoura, taking three
angles of the Delta; the Fayoum in Middle
Egypt, and Assiout in Upper Egypt. They
number seventeen missionaries (ten male and
seven female), twelve native evangeUsts, sixty-
three native trained teachers, male and female,
and a corps of native colporteurs. They have
in active operation eighteen boys' schools and
nine for girls, some of them boarding-schools ;
attended by Moslem as well as native Christian
chUdren, whose parents now permit them to
attend to receive the benefits of education, K
not of religious training. The Khedive has
liberally assisted this work. He has not only
exchanged for their old mission site on the
Mooskie a most valuable lot near Shepheard's
Hotel, but added £7000 in cash, with which
the buUding has been commenced, and dona
tions from other sources have raised that sum
to nearly £9000 ; so that he may, in fact, be
considered one of the founders of these schools,
which are intended to instruct the children of
Moslems as weU as Christians.
The , Enghsh chapel is also approaching com-

MISS WHATELY'S SCHOOL. 277
pletion, but on a much smaUer scale : and not
combined with educational purposes. The
Khedive also gave the lot for the erection of
that building, and a large and valuable one it
is. In reUgious toleration this Moslem prince
sets an example to some weU-known Christian
rulers and statesmen, who make reUgious opinions
a test of good citizensUip, and who
" Fight like devils for conciliation.
And hate each other for the love of God."
The indefatigable Miss Whately, daughter of
the late Archbishop of DubUn, is devoting her Ufe
and energies to the work of educating the female
feUahs, with a disinterestedness as rare as it is
noble. Her school wiU be her monument, when
her Ufe and labours are over ; for England can
boast of few such women. She has given more
than money to this work of charity — the treasures
of her youth, the comforts of a home, the society
of friends and kindred. She may be termed the
Florence Nightingale of peace. Others have
sentimentaUzed over the feUahs, she has come
down to thefr level, in order to bring their
chUdren up to hers. Luckier than most of the
seK-sacrificing sisterhood, she and her work are
rightly appreciated both by Christian and Mos
lem : and by none more so than by the Khedive
himself.

278 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
The German church — the ground for which
was also a gift from the Khedive — has been
completed, and has a large school attached to
it ; but, I think, confines its instruction to the
children of European parents.
I believe that very Uttle is attempted or
accompUshed as to the conversion or reUgious
instruction of Mussulman children; the so-
called "converts" being chiefly seceders from
the Coptic Church, which bitterly resents the
interference of what it considers " latter-day "
Christians, as compared to themselves.
During my experience in Egypt, most K not
aU the troubles and difficulties experienced by
the missionaries in the upper country came
from this quarter, and not from the Mussul
man Government or people.
My friend Mr. Lansing, the able and zealous
head of the American missionaries in Egjrpt for
the last twenty years, I am sure wUl confirm
this statement, having often frankly admitted
the fact to me.
But the greatest innovation is the attempt to
educate the native women which, under the
auspices of one of the Khedive's wives, has
been attempted on a considerable scale : and
with very remarkable success thus far. Miss
Whately and the American missionaries had
been making a similar attempt previously, but

THE FIRST NATIVE WOMAN'S SCHOOL. 279
the natural dread of the ignorant and fanatical
natives, that the rehgious faith of thefr chUdren
would be tampered with by Christian teachers,
restricted the benefit of their efforts chiefly to
the chUdren, male and female, of tUe native
Christians ; and many of these, through jealousy
of the foreign teachers, would not patronize these
schools. But when the wKe of the Khedive
took the matter in hand, it was a very different
thing ; for royal patronage goes as far in Egypt,
as in more enUghtened countries. But two
years have elapsed since the Khedive aUowed
his third wKe (I think) to make use of one of
his numerous palaces for the purpose, of which
he approved ; and after preparations for the re
ception and comfort of pupUs, and engagement
of, a staff of teachers, the mothers in Egypt of
every class were invited to send theU daughters
to be lodged, fed, clothed, and educated, free of
charge. There was a Uttle hesitation at first, so
startling was the suggestion, so utterly opposed
to aU precedents and Oriental ideas concerning
womankind and her duties here below. But
though for three weeks after the opening day
the benches were empty, within three or four
months the 300 for whom there was accom
modation had fiUed aU the vacant space ; and
more than double that number were pressing
their claims for admission. This work is indeed

280 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
twice blessed — to her who gives and to those
who receive— and I regret that I do not know
and cannot commemorate the name of the prin
cess, who is godmother to the first native female
school in Egypt, instituted under native auspices,
and endowed by native bounty.
Two years ago the Khedive, in talking to me
of his plans for the improvement of his people,
spoke of his educational ideas in reference to
the female children of his feUahs, who he pro
posed to substitute, in domestic duties of the
household, as servants in place of the slaves;
who, he declared, were more a necessity on
account of the want of a class fitted, by training
and intelligence, to take their places. " For,"
he said, " you know very well we have no such
class here ; but let the fellaU girls be educated,
and taught the duties of cleanliness and house
hold virtues, and we can do away with the
slaves, who are a great expense and a great
nuisance." The instruction in this school is based partly
on this idea, and partly on preparations for play
ing the higher part of mistress of the household ;
for five days in the week are devoted to instruc
tion in household duties and needlework, and
but two to intellectual culture. The entire
course covers a term of five years. The girls
are of aU castes, colours, religions, and races.

THE COMING RACE. 281
even including negro slaves. French is the
foreign language taught, and of course thefr
own. The intelUgence and quickness of the
girls is even greater than that of the male por
tion of the population. With education they
wiU make good wives and mothers, as well as
good household servants ; and the name of the
Egyptian queen who has instituted this great
reform (which must and wiU prove as the first
grain of mustard-seed with so imitative a people
as the Arab), bids fair to go down to posterity
burdened with the blessings of the male as weU
as the female portion of her people, who will
enjoy the benefits and blessings of the reform
she has so well and wisely begun.

282 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XVII.
SKETCHES OF TWO FAMOUS ANGLO-AFRICAN
EXPLORERS.
Captain Richard Burton and Gordon Pacha at Cairo-^Description of the
men — Their latest work in Africa — The land of Midian — The
Soudan — Burton's first appearance in Egypt — Some curious recollec
tions — His last visit — What he was then and now — Burton's dis
covery — Gordon Pacha's personal characteristics — His proposed
work in Central Africa.
It was my good fortune last winter, at Cairo, to
encounter and enjoy much intimate communion
with two of the most celebrated of the Anglo-
African explorers, stUl in the full vigour of
mature manhood, and with ardour unquenched
by the sufferings and perUs, through which one
of them at least has not passed unscathed.
Captain Eichard Burton and Gordon Pacha
were both at Shepheard's Hotel during the
winter; although unfortunately they did not
meet there. Burton arriving only a few days
too late to meet his younger coUeague in
adventure and fame. It would have been both

burton's first APPEARANCE IN EGYPT. 283
instructive and amusing to have listened to a
coUoquy between these two men, who with the
sole tie of love of adventure, are in aU other
respects as different as any two men possibly
can be. Burton is a very old friend of mine ;
with Gordon Pacha my acquaintance is of recent
date. Many years ago, in the days of Abbas Pacha,
a young officer in the Indian service came
mysteriously to Alexandria, secluded himseK
in the gardens of some Enghsh friends, and
diUgently studied the language and customs of
the lower classes of the Arab population. Then
he as suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.
Months afterwards there spread a rumour
throughout Egypt, that an adventurous Frank,
at the hourly peril of Ufe and Umb, had actuaUy
accompanied the pilgrimage into Mecca, dis
guised as a Mussulman, and penetrated even to
the "holy of holies " in the city of the faithful,
which no European ever had done before. But
the story was discredited, and was ranked among
the "thousand and one" fabulous stories which
are the modern "Arabian Nights' Entertain
ments " in modern Egypt.
Passing my summer at Cairo in 1864, in
common with several of the Frank residents
(very few at that time, and composed chiefly
of foreign officials, civil engineers, and foreign

284 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
officers in the viceroy's service), it was my
custom to dine frequently at Shepheard's Hotel,
for the sake of society. One evening at dinner
we remarked a rather dfrty-looking native, in
Arab dress, sitting alone at tUe opposite end of
the table, yet eating in Frank fashion ; appar
ently paying no attention to what was going on
around him, though we were struck by the
exceeding briUiancy and inteUigence of his eye,
whenever he looked up. As it was not Shep
heard's habit to aUow natives, especiaUy those
of a lower class, to sit at his table d'hote, I
carelessly questioned him concerning this person ;
but received only a vague answer, and dropped
the subject. But when we saw the man several
days in succession, in the same place, our
curiosity begun to be excited ; fanned as it was
by Shepheard's hints, that we would "know
very soon who that Arab was, and might be
rather surprised ! " At last, after playing this
farce for several days, doubtless tfred of want
of companionship and enforced silence. Burton
(for he it was) dropped the veU, announced his
real name and character, and astonished us aU
not a little by tUe announcement, that the
rumour we had heard and disbeUeved was
founded on truth; as he had just returned with
the pilgrims from the (Haj) pilgrimage fi'om
Mecca. He proved himseK a most deUghtful

SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF HIM. 285
and welcome accession to our Uttle cfrcle in
the social wilderness of the Cairo of that day,
and was my guest at my Cairene house for
some time after : recounting in his own inimi
table style, of which his written works convey
but a faint impression, ids strange and startUng
adventures. Night after night would we sit together on
the flat roof of my house, or under the palm
trees in tUe garden, smoking our nargUehs
under the starUt heavens : while he revived his
daily experiences during that terrible trial, at
any moment of which detection would have
been death; and when he left us to prepare
his story for the pubhc through the press, we
sorely missed his ready wit and exciting con
versation. For he is a most admirable raconteur ;
and although not averse to the sound of his own
voice by any means, is an attentive Ustener,
and ready to take as well as give in conversation
— a very rare merit among clever men, whose
talk is seldom "relieved by occasional flasUes of
silence," as Sidney SnUtU remarked on one
occasion of Lord Macaulay's.
Hence, when the famiUar face of Eichard
Burton, sadder and sterner, and bearing its
souvenir of past perUs in the shape of a deep
cicatrice on the cheek, again greeted me at the
old place, and his strong hand grasped mine

286 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
again, it was Uke a resurrection of the olden
time ; and we took up the thread of our long-
interrupted intercourse, where we had dropped
it more than twenty years before. In that
interval what countries had this, our greatest
modern traveUer, not seen and described, from
Iceland to Sind, from Central Africa to Salt
Lake ? and with what strange and diversified
memories must not that busy brain be fiUed,
never given to tUe world even in the hbrary of
volumes, in which he has recorded his experi
ences in longer and more varied wanderings
than those of Ulysses, over lands undreamed of
by that ancient mariner ?
I found Burton more changed in his outward
than in his inner man. Perhaps he was more
addicted to the utterance of very starthng para
doxes in his random talk, than formerly : and
even more fond of shocking people's stereotyped
prejudices than he used to be ; but his manner
was less abrupt, and his tolerance of opinions
opposite his own mrmh greater than in his
earher days, when he was apt to be somewhat
dictatorial. The old charm of his conversation ,
was stiU there, increased by the stores of varied
information carefuUy gathered up and retained
by a most retentive memory. I have encountered
many clever talkers, in different languages, but
I really have never met Burton's superior any-

HIS LAST VISIT. 287
where, in this- respect. Physically Ue still
retains tUe vigour and strengtU which he
formerly enjoyed. His arm is like a bar of fron ;
and he keeps his biceps and other muscles in
constant training, by UabituaUy carrying in his
hand an iron cane, which most men would find
fatiguing in an Uour. He does this to keep in
training for carrying a heavy gun on his explor
ations. For a long time he was mysterious with his
intimates, as to the real object of his visit to
Egypt : not knowing how the Khedive might
receive or assist in his search for the long-for
gotten gold mines of the land of Midian. Three
days after I left Cafro for Europe, he started for
the land of Midian, furnished by the Khedive
with the means of conveyance and necessary
escort ; and has again startled the world by new
revelations of new discoveries, more fully to be
explored and utiUzed, it is to be hoped, during
the ensuing winter.
Where Burton went, and what he saw, has
been briefly described in a letter from Alexandria
to a London daUy journal, the substance of
which briefly is, that he went on a friendly
errand for the Khedive to survey the " land of
Midian," having informed the monarch of his
beUef that valuable gold mines were to be found
there. On the eastern coast of the Gulf of

288 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Akaba, on the Eed Sea, lies tUe ancient and
almost forgotten land of Midian, famed of old
for its mineral wealth. Thither went Captain
Burton, a Government frigate and sufficient mUi
tary escort having been furnished him ; an able
French mining engineer in tUe Egyptian service,
M. Marie, accompanying the expedition.
The party left Suez on the 21st March last,
and on the 2nd April arrived at MoUaU, a port
of the Gulf of Akaba, where an Egyptian
garrison is stationed. The account goes on to
state : —
" Thence they took boat to Eynounah Bay,
at the entrance of the Wady, or Valley of
Eynounah, a Uttle to the north of Moilah, on
the eastern side of the guK. These wadys are
curious. They are barren rocky places, with no
possibihty of much culture, and yet they aU
bear signs of abundant population in times gone
by. Large towns, built not of mud, as Arab
towns so often are, but of soUd masonry such as
the Eomans always used, roads cut in the rock,
aqueducts five miles long, remains of massive
fortresses, artificial lakes — aU these signs of
wealth and numbers are reported by Captain
Bmion. According to him the reason of it aU
is not far to seek. The rock is full of mineral
wealth. Gold and sUver they found, and the
former seems to exist in quantity sufficient to
repay the labour of acquisition. Quartz and
chlorites occur with gold in them just as they
are found in the gold districts of South America.'
The party tested both the rock by crushing and

THE LAND OF MIDIAN, 289
the sands of the streams by sifting, and in each
case with good result. Tin and antimony they
also discovered, and they had evidence of the
existence of turquoise mines. Each ruined
town had its mining works ; dams for the wash
ing of sand and crushed rock were frequently
seen ; scoriae Ues about near ancient furnaces ;
in short, the traces are numerous of a busy
mining population in a country which seems to
be fuU of mineral wealth. From Makna (Mugna
of the maps), the capital of the land of Midian,
up to Akaba at the head of the guK, Captain
Burton reports the country as auriferous, and he
behoves the district southwards as far as Gebel
Hassani — a mountain well known to geographers
— to possess the same character. He even goes
so far as to say he has brought back to life an
ancient CaUfornia.
" M. Marie, a skiKul mining engineer, also
speaks with confidence. Of course Captain
Burton has kept elaborate notes, and he main-i«
tains that they will bear out his golden views of
the land of Midian, In any case they wUl be
interesting, as the country is utterly unknown.
No modern traveUer has set foot there ; even
the map has yet to be made. It wUl be remem
bered that Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh
and dwelt in the land of Midian, and Jethro,
the priest of Midian, gave him for wKe his
daughter Zipporah. The, Khedive, of course, is
much interested in the complete success of this
expedition, and is now very desUous to give
practical effect to it. He has asked the Foreign
Office to aUow Captain Bmion to retum next
winter to assist him in the development of his
new gold fields, and no man could be better

290 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
chosen for the task. At the same time the
Egyptian ruler is fully convinced that all
schemes of development in his dominions must
now be subjected to commercial tests. The
success of the new mines wUl therefore depend
on the opinion of European capitaUsts, and
whether they find that the reports — which will
be made in detaU^ — of tUe results of the expedi
tion offer a new field for the investment of
capital. The Khedive himseK will be satisfied
with the payment of a royalty."
Physically and mentally, in appearance and
manner, as weU as in character and speech,
Gordon Pacha is the direct opposite to Captain
Burton, As habituaUy sparing of speech as
Burton is the reverse, and of a shy reserved
manner, and seeming absence of mind in
common intercourse out of doors, when in
terested or excited, or in the vein with congenial
companions, he can talk fast and fluently, and
with great feUcity of expression. He appears
to most advantage when, breaking through his
usual reticence, he frankly pours out his thoughts
and feelings to the few whom he honours with his
confidence. The real mettle of the man is then
discernible, and the strong undercurrent of a
singularly suppressed nature sweeps both speaker
and listener along, on a tide of most animated
and earnest talk : in which he seems to unburden
his whole mind.
When this breaking down of the barriers of

GORDON PACHA. 291
reserve takes place, he seems to be swept away
by the rushing flood of feelings and thoughts
long pent up in his own breast : and you are
impressed with the thorough earnestness of the
man, in aU he says or undertakes. For this,
I take it, is the key-note to his character. He
is a man terribly in earnest, and accepts Ufe and
its duties more in the spirit of an old Covenanter,
than in the less serious one of our own days.
The reUgious sentiment with him is very strong,
the Bible being his constant companion in his
tent, in the desert, or the wilderness, as I have
been told by the companions of his explorations ;
though he can be short and severe enough at
times, as his Chinese record proves. In many
of his pecuUar ways and traits of character, he
resembles much the famous Confederate chief
tain, StonewaU Jackson.
Gordon Pacha is a man of middle height,
sparely but strongly built, and giving Uttle
indication of the strength, both of sinews and
constitution, which has borne him so far un
scathed through so many hardships, and the
African swamps, where the "pestUence walketh
at noonday," and wherein so many of his
pioneers have laid thefr bones. Neither in face
nor in figure does he carry any traces of his
conflicts with the treacherous cUmate, and more
treacherous human wild beasts, among whom

292 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
he had passed the two preceding years. Even his
complexion, still comparatively fresh and fair,
gave no hint of the kisses of the sun of Central
Africa ; and his eye was as clear and bright, as
though he had just come from promenading on
the shady side of Pall Mall. He is quite youth
ful in appearance, with regular features and
dark brown hafr. His bearing is not that of
a miUtary man, he affects no martial stride or
measured step, but walks very rapidly, looking
neither to right or left, in seeming abstraction,
with head a little advanced, and with a slight
stoop of the shoulders, his eyes cast on the
ground. One who had never seen him before,
would mistake him rather for an author, intent
on embodying an idea or fugitive thought, than
the cool and intrepid explorer of African wUds,
the seK-possessed ruler of African savages.
Yet this modest unassuming man has in him
the stuff out of which great explorers and suc
cessful rulers of men are made — has proved it
already ; and if he lives, and is not thwarted in
his settled purpose by treachery or death, wiU
be very apt to achieve it. He has gone to the
Soudan, clothed with absolute power as relates
to the governing of that province, which extends
from the first cataract to the Equator.
AU the world knows the incidents of his
earlier career, and how and why he received the

HIS WORK IN CENTRAL AFRICA. 293
sobriquet of "Chinese Gordon," when in con
junction with two American officers he rescued
the "flowery empire" from its rebels, and
gave the army they commanded the title of the
" Invincible Army." Surviving his comrades,
Burgwin and Ward, Gordon reaped a rich harvest
of renown, and was invited by the Khedive to
aid him in his Central African designs ; with
what results is' also weU known.
I Uad the pleasure of meeting him at Cairo, as
he passed home on his brief conge at the close of
1876, and on his return early in 1877, when he
presented his ultimatum to the Khedive, and
was given aU and even m-ore authority than he
demanded, within a few days after his arrival;
leaving shortly after to assume his new func
tions, as governor-general for Ufe of aU the
Khedive's actual or potential equatorial posses
sions. His work in Central Africa, thus far, has
been simply preparatory to that which he now
has set out to terminate, viz., to weld together
under one government the scattered outlying
provinces, and more recent acquisitions loosely
termed The Soudan : a territory larger and more
populous than Egypt proper, to which it acknow
ledges the most indefinite kind of obedience —
offering, both in its climate and its savage inhabi
tants, immense difficulties in the way of regular
government or improvement. But the main

294 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
object of Gordan Pacha's ambition, and the
chief incentive to his taking his Ufe into his
hand, and returning to his province, is the sup
pression of the internal slave-trade ; which feat
he has pledged himself to accomphsh, should life
and health be spared him, and the inscrutable
fiat of Omnipotence not forbid it. But neither
he, nor those who know him best, believe that he
willfaU ; although he has indeed a thorny path to
tread, and a most difficult task to accomphsh.
AU doubts as to the Khedive's sincerity in this
matter, would seem to be put at rest, by the
absolute authority he has given Colonel Gordon,
and given for Ufe, with no reserved right of
recalUng it ; for it was on that condition only
that he consented to gp.
I do not know which, of the two tasks he has
set himseK, is the more difficult to accompUsh.
The Central or Equatorial Africans are terribly
barbarous and savage, and as faithless as fero
cious, with a wUd sense of independence, and
hatred of aU the restraints of civiUzation. As to
slavery and the slave-trade, they have long been
the cherished institutions of the country, the
very foundation of thefr social system ; and to
eradicate either, or both, will be a task of greater
difficulty and danger, than those unacquainted
with the country and people can possibly ima
gine. Even without entirely accomplishing his

GORDON PACHA. AIDES. 295
self-appointed task, Gordon Pacha may do a
great and good work, by reducing the existing
chaos into some semblance of settled govern
ment : and paving the way, for at least the
partial civiUzation of a people, at present given
over to barbarism.
The first effect of the late stoppage of the
slave-trade, has been to diminish the receipts of
ivory, and other products of Central Africa ;, but
once diverted by the river and raUway communi
cation to Cairo, tUat trade may become one of
the most important resources of Egypt.
His seat of government wiU be Khartoum, on
the White Nile, already a large and growing
place of about 30,000 inhabitants, which the
rapidly increasing trade of Central Africa, K
diverted thither, should expand into a large city.
He has no European or white man with him,,
save a Maltese dragoman, TomasoFerrante. His.
only heutenants at present are Major Prout, a
very clever American civU engineer,, who has
already been two years in Central Africa, and
who wiU act as his deputy governor-general ;,
and Colonel Mason, an equaUy experienced and
clever officer, one of the ex-Confederates in the
Khedive's service. Both of these last-named
officers are good Unguists, wUich is of great im
portance in thefr position. Colonel ChaUle Long,
who was with Gordon in his first expedition

296 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
(whose clever narrative of his adventures and
discoveries excited much attention last year), is
now at Cafro under medical treatment; his health
having suffered severely from his trying visit to
King M'Tesa. That potentate is said to be
badly disposed towards the new governor-
general, and may give much trouble ; and dis
turbances are said to have broken out at Darfour,
whither Colonel Mason was sent. The latest
tidings of Gordon Pacha were, that he also was
hastening to Darfour, to queU those disturbances.
The extent of the new province, which is larger
than Egypt proper, wiU render it a task of no
small difficulty to keep it in subjection to the
authority of one man ; especiaUy K the savage
chiefs, like M'Tesa and the so-caUed King of Dar
four, should rebel against or resist Egyptian rule.
Whether or not success crowns Gordon Pacha's
intrepid efforts to unite the scattered tribes
under a stable government, and stop the slave-
trade, his merit will be none the less ; for, Uke
the knight who set out in quest of the "Holy
GraU," the purpose in itseK would glorify even
faUure,

( 297 )

CHAPTEE XVIII.
MIXED JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS IN EGYPT.
Efforts of Sublime Porte, for twenty-five years, to break down the
doctrine of exterritoriality in the Turkish dominions — ^What ex-
territoriahty means — Mixed tribunals attempted to be introduced,
under " Hatti Houmaion " of Sultan in 1856, and again tried by
Egyptian Government in 1860 — Why prevented by consuls-general
on those occasions — Nubar Pasha's persistent efforts and final
partial success — His plan as opposed to the plan recently adopted — •
My own action in the matter — The present tribunals entitled to a
fair trial.
The idea of mixed judicial tribunals is a very
old one, originating a quarter of a century ago
in Turkey ; the Ottoman Porte thus seeking to
shake off the anomalous, and, as it regarded it,
degrading claim of the Christian Powers to
deny the jurisdiction of its courts, and what it
termed justice, on behaK of their subjects ;
resting thefr right on the old capitulations,
which ceded that privUege, on the ground of the
incompatibUity of their law, based on the Koran,
to people of other nations and different faiths.
Hence arose the doctrine of exterritoriaUty,

298 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT,
which simply signified the absence of local
jurisdiction over the foreigner throughout the
Ottoman dominions, and legal authority of their
own diplomatic or consular agents over them, in
all civU or criminal cases in which they might
be defendants. For aU cases in wUich they were
plaintiffs, thefr representatives in the country,
or on the spot, were bound to press upon the
local Government their claims or rights : and the
practice grew up of submitting such mixed cases
to the local tribunals, in the presence of the
chancelier of the consulate, or submitting them
to arbitration.
The SubUme Porte, in its windy proclamations
issued from time to time, attempted to shake off
this imperium in imperio of the foreign agents,
which doubtless was sometimes pushed too far,
sometimes abused ; as will ever be the case when
such great power is intrusted to men not
always capable, or endowed with discretion or
principle. But, upon the whole, as far as my experience
went, the system worked weU, and insured
speedy and substantial justice to foreign residents,
in the absence of a better tribunal. As early as
1856, in the "Hatti Houmaion" of the then,
Sultan, the substitution of mixed tribunals for
the settlement of all difficulties between
strangers and natives throughout the empire was

ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH TRIBUNAL IN 1856. 299
decreed ; and a copy of the firman sent to Egypt
to be pubhcly read, that its provisions might be
appUed tUere, as elsewhere throughout the
empfre. On receiving it. Said Pasha shrugged
his shoulders, and submitted it to the consuls-
general, whose duties were diplomatic, the mere
consular duties being attended to by the
consuls and vice-consuls.
In a despatch to my Government, dated
May 1st, 1866, the reasons that induced my
coUeagues and myseK to refuse accepting this
innovation were fully set forth. A few extracts
fr-om that document wiU suffice to show the
justice of our refusal to countenance the change.
" With reference to the practical operation of
the mixed tribunals proposed, an almost insuper
able difficulty arises from the absence of a
common language and a common sympathy
between its constituent parts. Nine-tenths of
the rayahs speak or understand no language but
thefr own, the Arabic, Each foreign nationaUty
is ignorant of the language spoken or understood
by the other, as a general rule ; whUe for com
munication with the natives a jargon composed
partly of Ungua Franca, partly of Arabic, is most
current. The Maltese subjects of Great Britain,
of whom there are a great many here, and con
stantly in Utigation, have actually invented a
new language, understood only by themselves,

300 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
composed of French, Italian, Spanish, and
Arabic. " Men who not only live apart, but are careful
even to be buried apart, regarding close contact
in Ufe or death as contamination, could scarcely
be coupled together or confer very harmoniously.
Imagine a tribunal composed of several Moslems,
two Christian Armenians, two Latin and two
Greek Christians (every native Christian sect here
bitterly hating the other), and add two Jewish
Eabbis, and you would have a most striking
illustration of " tUe happy famUy" in the
museums, composed of the most uncongenial
animals possibly to be found. It would certainly
require a Uberal use of the most common
instrument in the administration of Eastern
justice, the kourbash (whip), to prevent them
from throttUng each other."
The indifference of Said Pacha, and the active
opposition of the consuls-general to any change,
quashed the project for a time. But, fom* years
later, the idea was revived, and a determined
effort made, with the support of a portion of the
consular corps, to compel the introduction of
mixed tribunals, on the Constantinople plan,
into Egypt. This attempt was also frustrated,
by the refusal of several of my coUeagues and
myself to consent to such a change on, as we
beUeved, good and sufficient grounds.

CONSULS-GENERAL OPPOSING. 301
In order that our action then may not be
regarded as merely personal or factious, I shall
make a few brief extracts from my communi
cations on the subject to my own and to the
Egyptian Governments, giving the reasons for
our action. On July 7th, 1860, Cherif Pacha,
then Minister of Foreign Affairs, transmitted to
aU the consuls-general a despatch, covering a
printed programme of "A Mixed International
Tribunal," which he declared had been "adopted
by the representatives of the five European
Powers signing the treaty of 1841 in accord
with the Egyptian Government ; " to which, in
the name of the viceroy, he demanded our ad
hesion. The salient points of my reply to CherK
Pacha, in which aU of my other colleagues, save
the five above mentioned, concurred, were as
follows : —
" Whatever may be the real or supposed obU
gations conferred on the Egyptian Government
by any of the Powers in 1841, or at any otUer
period, at this date every representative of a
foreign Government here, great or small, enjoys
the right of exclusive protection of his own
subjects or citizens, under treaty stipulations, in
which the rights and privileges conceded ' to the
most favoured nations ' place aU foreign agents
here on the same footing. Under such cUcum
stances, as the representative of my Government

302 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
here, I never will surrender tUose rights, nor
resign into frresponsible hands, my high pre
rogative of demanding and enforcing justice for
my people, from prince or peasant, in Egypt and
its dependencies.
"A general convocation of all the consuls-
general has hitherto been the universal, as weU
as the only just and proper mode of considering
proposed reforms, or changes affecting aU nation
alities; but, on two separate occasions, within
my own official term, projects very simUar to
this, but of wider scope, have been discussed,
and finally rejected by the whole body thus
assembled. " Why, upon this occasion, a studied exclusion
of more than two-thUds of the consular corps
has been made, the Egyptian Government may
possibly be able to explain, K not to justify ; but
it certainly reUeves those thus excluded, from
the thankless task of volunteering opinions, after
the ' adoption ' of a system, or of giving in thefr
adhesion to a tribunal, wherein they are to have
an occasional soUtary representative, as an act
of grace only, when thefr own business is to be
settled by the numerous deputies of the Egyptian
Government and of the five Powers, with power
of appeal to another, a remote, and an ahen
jurisdiction. The law too of such tribunals is
to follow the Code Napoleon, dUuted by the

THEIR REASONS GIVEN. 303
customs and usages of the country — a code in
dfr'ect opposition to the common law, which re
gulates the affairs of sixty miUions of American
and EngUsh men. Apart from the radical objec
tion as to the mode of its inception, the project
itseK does not obtain the sanction of my judg
ment, for many and grave objections as to its
plan and provisions ; which, at a proper time
and place, and to a competent authority, I shaU
stand prepared to justKy,"
To the Secretary of State I gave those objec
tions in detaU, of which only the saUent ones
shaU now be reproduced,
" Istly, The High Court of Appeal from the
judgments of proposed tribunal is to be Con
stantinople, where the laws, usages, customs,
currency, and language are as widely dissimUar
from those of Egypt, as those of England would
be from those of Austria, and where neither
judge, jury, nor witnesses would be accessible,
" 2ndly. Such tribunal is to adopt the Code
Napoleon in its proceedings, where the usages
and customs of the country prove insufficient,
and is framed exclusively on French models and
based on French law. When the Mediterranean
shaU reaUy have become a 'French lake,' either
by conquest or treaty, it wUl be time to adopt
the French code as the supreme law of the
Levant; but untU then we prefer the common

304 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
law, and an equitable settlement on the basis of
justice, irrespective of forms, for our people.
" 3rdly. The representatives or judges ap
pointed by the ' five treaty Powers ' only would
sit in judgment on the rights and interests of aU
other nationahties in Egypt ; giving those ' five '
effectively a protectorate over Egypt, and aU
foreigners therein. In sucU case the continued
residence of agents of other Powers would be a
mere farce.
" 5thly. Under the printed programme a bribe
is offered to the judges to protract, instead of
hasten judgment : each receiving £6 for every
sitting, and no limit being put upon thefr
number ! Such litigation would be an ex
pensive luxury,
"6thly, The large sum requfred to be de
posited in advance by the claimant, for payment
of expenses, costs, etc, would make this court
the resort of rich speculators, not poor and
honest creditors. To the same practical effect
would be the extraordinary clause, that ' no
claimant after commencing his process shaU be
aUowed to settle his cause ! '
" 7thly and lastly. The creation of such tri
bunal is utterly uncaUed for. The Egyptian
Government exercises authority over the princes,
who are Egyptian subjects, as well as over the
rest of the natives ; and arbitration, the simplest

NUBAR PACHA'S NOTE. 305
and most honest mode of settling controversies,
is always open to them, should this Government
feel any deUcacy in their behaK ; whUe as relates
to the Egyptian Government itseK, I must bear
testimony, after seven years' experience, to its
good faith in the fulfilment of all bond fide
contracts or obUgations."
One of my coUeagues concurring with me was
the Sardinian, the Ust of whose consulate num
bered 10,000 persons. The scheme was dropped.
The initiation of the existing judicial tribunals
is due to Nubar Pacha, who for seven years
laboured indefatigably with the foreign Powers
and the Khedive to remove difficulties. In
1868 he laid down the basis of his project, in
many respects widely differing from that which
has been finaUy adopted, in a formal " Note
to his Highness the Viceroy of Egypt on the
Future Eegulation of the Legal and Judicial
Eelations between the Foreign and Native
Population of Egypt " — covering a report from
M. Manoury, of the bar of Paris, on the same
subject — ^from which I take the foUowing ex
tracts : —
" SiRB, — The legal system to which Europeans
in Egypt are subject, and which determines
their relations both with the Egyptian Govern
ment and the inhabitants of the country, are no
longer based upon the capitulations. Of those
capitulations nothing exists but the name.

306 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
They have been replaced by a system customary
and arbitrary, resulting from the character of
each chief of the consular agencies ; a system
founded on precedents more or less improper,
and one which the force of cfrcumstances, pres
sure on the one side and anxiety to faciUtate the
estabUshment of foreigners on the other, have
introduced into Egjrpt ; a system which really
leaves the administration without power, and
the people without any regular justice in their
intercourse with Europeans.
" The necessity of a reform is keenly felt as
the European colony increases ; the consular
agencies themselves recognize the necessity of
it, and even demand it. The Egyptian Govern
ment and the consulates are at one as regards
the principle of this necessity; disagreement
commences at the means of putting the prin
ciple in practice.
" The Government sees itself attacked by law
suits which frequently the consuls themselves
are compeUed to stigmatize as scandalous. The
naiive population distrusts the European ; the
Government, which nevertheless sees progress in
this same European, is obUged, for fear of being
victimized, to keep aloof from him.
" For more than forty years the European has
enjoyed the right to hold property in Egypt.
His possession is said to be subject to the
tribunals and laws of the country. The consuls
in theory are agreed on this principle, but in
practice, under pretext of the capitulations,
which they say cover the European, the latter,
being either owner of a house or carrying on a
trade, pays no duties ; and K being owner of an
estate he does not pay land-tax, then the consul

EXPLANATION OF HIS VIEWS. 307
interferes, and his interference almost always
ends in non-payment.
" This state of things, contrary to the spfrit
and even the letter of the capitulations, not only
hinders the country from developing its re
sources, from furnishing to European industry
and capital all that it is ready to furnish, but
puts an obstacle in the way of its organization,
and ruins it alike moraUy and materiaUy.
" Your highness has thought that the only
remedy to apply to this state of things is the
organization of a good system of justice, which
would present to Europe all the guarantees
which it has a right to demand.
" Your highness has thought that the foreign
element ought to enter into the organization of
our tribunals. In fact, this element, which is
not numerous at Cairo, is equal at Alexandria to
the native element. A number of Europeans are
permanent residents in the provinces. AU are
engaged in commerce or manufactures. They
are therefore in daily, and so to speak hourly
communication with the population. Account
must therefore be taken of this element in the
organization of the tribunals, and upon principle
even superabundant guarantees must be given,
in order to inspUe in that element confidence
aUke in the judges and in the administration.
" The main principle is the complete divorce
of justice from the administration. Justice
ought to emanate from the Government, but ought
to be independent of the Government. It ought
to he alike independent of Government and of
consulates. In order to attain the end which
your highness has in view, the Powers of Europe
must be satisfied of the fact : ' Justice emanates

308 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
from the Government, but is independent of it.'
The means of inspiring this conviction are to be
found in the possession of a body of trained
judges. Knowledge of the law is indispensable
to the judge. It is matter of habitual study,
it is altogether an education. Our present
magistrates have a perfect knowledge of the law,
civil and religious, which sufficed when they had
but to render a unKorm justice to a population
unKorm in manners and requirements.
" But to m,eet new contingencies we must have
new laws, and the Europeans, in estabhshing
themselves in the country, have introduced new
usages and novel relations. A mixed system
has begun to find its way into our laws and our
codes, consequently we must have new men to
apply this new system. Egypt, to secure the
administration of justice, must do what she has
already done in so efficient a manner for the sake
of her army, her raUroads, her bridges and high
ways, and her sanitary improvements. The
element which is competent to the task, I mean
the foreign element, has been introduced. That
element has served to educate the native element.
That which has been done in the material must
be done in the moral world, that is to say, in the
organization of justice.
" I have the honour to propose to your high
ness the preservation of the two mixed tribunals
of commerce estabUshed at Cairo and at Alex
andria ; but in place of their being composed of
three members chosen by the consuls from
among the merchants of the European colony,
and of the three native members whom the
Government summons to it in turn, I would pro
pose to your highness to compose the court of

THB TRIBUNALS TO BE EGYPTIAN. 309
only four members, of whom two should be
chosen by the consuls from the most consider
able of merchants,' presenting the highest guaran
tees, and two others by the Government from
the natives, whose course of business brings
them into the closest relations with Europeans.
These members, in accordance with the existing
plan, woiUd sit in turn. I would propose to
your highness to leave the presidency of the court
to an Egyptian, but to concede the vice-presi
dency to a judge chosen in Europe ; and in
order to have guarantees of his character, it
would be weU to apply to the minister of justice
of the country from which he is taken. The
latter judge would be appointed for life.
"Besides these two tribunals, it would be
necessary to have a court of appeal sitting at Alex
andria. That court would be composed of three
Egyptian members, whom your highness could
select among our young men who have studied
law in Europe ; and three other members, com
petent judges obtained from Europe by appli
cation to thefr respective Governments. This
court would discharge its functions under the
presidency of an Egyptian. By the side of the
two tribunals of commerce, there would be two
tribunals to decide in civil suits. Those might
be composed of two competent members selected
from abroad, and two Egyptian members, also
under the presidency of an Egyptian subject.
" The court of appeal sitting at Alexandria
would also enjoy as one of its prerogatives, the
revision of judgments given by the civU courts.
In causes arising out of questions of real pro
perty, Europeans have always been subject to
our courts. These courts work weU. Their

310 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
component members thoroughly understand the
subject-matter. Here the foreign element would
not be of superior competence. I therefore pro
pose to your highness to leave these courts as
they are.
"About 1848 the consuls, under the pressure
of theU countrjmien, having usurped the office of
the law, found themselves powerless, erected
thefr own impotence into a principle, and by
degrees, by the force of circumstances, were
driven to the presumption of ousting the Govern
ment and holding trials themselves — at most
calling in a functionary of the native poUoe ;
their pretext being that, as the penalty had to
be inflicted in thefr own country, the trial could
not be vahd, except it were held in conformity
with their own laws.
" Such is reaUy the state of things not only as
regards crimes, but even as regards offences and
simple infractions of the law. Justice is seen to
be altogether given up not to institutions, but to
the arbitrary wiU of individuals. The position
of the Government is no longer tenable, when
one considers that the police is powerless to
repress the smaUest infraction of the law, to such
an extent as to be unable to enforce the high
way regulations, or those which concern the
stations of the public vehicles. For, K some one
consul is disposed, upon the appUcation of the
police, to caU to order a refractory driver,
another consul regards the matter as a trifling
affafr, sometimes for the very reason that the
other deems it worth attention.
" In short, what your highness demands,
whether in respect of the civU or the criminal
law, is a return to the capitulations; and not

nubar's plan not adopted. 311
merely a return pur et simple, but, on the con
trary, a return which would grant to foreigners
guarantees superior to those which these capitu
lations presented to them.
" In effect, according to these capitulations
the foreigner has a native tribunal, which hears
and decides in the presence of the dragoman, a
mere witness without a consultative voice.
" According to the projected reform your
highness, in place of this silent witness, con
cedes to foreigners the guarantee of a tribunal,
in the composition of which a European
element enters ; and of a code reduced into
conformity with the penal and civil laws of
Europe." From this statement of the ideas and purposes
of Nubar Pacha, it is evident, on comparing
what he planned and what he achieved, that the
Khedive and the Great Powers treated him as
Homer's Jupiter treated the prayers of mortals —
" one-half they granted, the rest dismissed into
empty afr." His plan was to curb at once the
absolute power of the Khedive, and restrict the
authority of the consuls-general, by estabUsUing
tribunals which should overrule the arbitrary
decisions of both. At the same time his purpose
was to give the controlling voice to the
Egyptian element, and to extend thefr juris
diction over the native as well as over the
European population throughout the whole
country.

312 THB KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
As the tribunals are now constituted they are
international tribunals only, with jurisdiction
exclusively civU (extending only to criminal
offences committed against their members), and
not having jurisdiction over the five and a haK
mUUons of natives, who are stUl subject to the
old Egyptian judges and the old system which
has the Koran as its basis.
His avowed object was to make the system
of general appUcation ; and whUe giving the
European element a voice, to keep the control
in Egyptian hands, but in educated and legal
ones. The consular authority died hard; it
reserved its criminal jurisdiction, and even its
consular courts in certain cases, and claimed
a controUing voice for its substitutes in the
courts. The Khedive, ceding the mixed juris
diction, has taken no steps to divest himself and
his courts of absolute control over the native
population, either in civU or criminal cases, in
wUioh no European interest is involved. Whether
the consummation sought by Nubar wUl ever be
reached, depends greatly on the success of the
experiment, now being made on a Umited scale,
which might induce an expansion of its attributes
and authority, in the creation of native courts
founded upon a somewhat similar basis.
There are good lawyers and clever men on the
existing courts, and they are honestly striving to

THE EXISTING TRIBUNALS. 313
remove the great impediments, which obstruct
their usefulness, and thefr most strenuous efforts.
The pay of the judges I do not regard as
exorbitant, under the cfrcumstances; but I do
think the costs and expenses of Utigation are too
great. Yet, even with the very heavy costs, the
sum thus far gathered in, as I tmderstand, has
proved inadequate to reUeve the Government
from one-half of the expense of the very
cumbrous machinery employed in working the
new estabUshment. As the courts are organized
on the French plan, there is a smaU' army of
subordinate officers attached to them ; and K the
whole affafr could be simplified — reduced in
numbers and in expense — I beUeve it would
prove more manageable, and more in consonance
with the wants and wishes of the parties chiefly
concerned, namely, the tax-payers, the Utigants,
and the Khedive.
No machine so compUcated and so entfrely
novel, both in construction and purpose, can be
expected to approach perfection at the outset;
and I venture, with hesitation, to make these
suggestions, without impugning either the utUity
of the tribunals, within a certain scope, or the
propriety and fitness of the selections made for
their higher posts ; the judges having been
appointed upon the recommendation of thefr
respective Governments, who, and not the

314 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Khedive, must be held responsible for thefr
selection. Doubtless, as the members of the
tribunal warm to theU work, and learn more of
the exceptional country to which they have been
caUed, as weU as gain a mastery over the Babel
of tongues prevailing there, the machine may
act more smoothly and efficiently than it has
hitherto done.

( 315 )

CHAPTEE XIX.
EGYPTIAN FINANCE AND RESOURCES.
Absorbing interest felt therein — The doctors disagreeing — State of the
patient in the eyes of a non-professional — A plain statement as to
amounts actually received from foreign loans by the Khedive — What
did he do with it? — Testimony of the Times partly exculpatory
of the Khedive — Curious and instructive letter from a native
Egyptian ofBcial, translated from the French — His statements ! of
resources, and suggestions for their increase — A few facts and figures.
It would seem strange that a book devoted to
Egypt shoiUd make no mention of Egyptian
finance, a matter which has probably attracted
more attention, and created more painful in
terest in the minds of foreigners, towards the
country and its rulers, than aU M. Mariette's
truly remarkable discoveries among the debris of
its ancient and forgotten ruins ; or the equaUy
wonderful spectacle of an Eastern prince playing
the role of reformer and regenerator of his
pubUc farm, for such Egypt had been to his
famUy; the only previous efforts having been
dfrected to the increase of its agricultural pro-

316 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
ducts, and, the ways and means of increased
taxation. Where the most eminent financiers of aU
countries have been caUed into consultation,
and have proffered thefr panaceas, it would be
presumptuous indeed in one whose mind has
been engrossed, and whose hfe has been spent, in
other duties, dogmatically to pronounce either
on the symptoms or the condition of the patient,
over which these most learned doctors have only
" agreed to disagree."
I shaU, tUerefore, on this topic briefly cite the
opinions of those who are best qualified to pass
judgment, both as to the disease, the remedy,
and the actual state and prospects of the patient ;
who I have never beUeved to be haK " the sick
man" his cousin at Constantinople long has
been, and who, under proper treatment, and the
exercise of forbearance on the part of his dry-
nurses, can and ought to be restored to even
more than his pristine vigour, if time only be
given for the cure, and undue pressure be not
put upon him in his present shaky condition.
And firstly, as to the amounts received and
squandered, or invested in pubUc works as yet
unproductive — have they reaUy amounted to the
very large figure, rising to almost £100,000,000,
for which the Khedive and his country are
debited by the foreign accountants, and his own

THE TIMES ON EGYPTIAN DEBT. 317
admissions. It is safe to say that not one-haK
of this amount has the Khedive ever netted
out of his various loans, and that the outside
dead loss to the foreign investor — chiefly
English and French — supposing the Egyptian
Government absolutely bankrupt, excluding the
funding loans and floating debt, would not
exceed from £16,000,000 to £20,000,000.
But recent experiments, under Mr. Goschen's
scheme, have proved that the country is by no
means bankrupt, and is astonishing everybody,
even those who thought they best understood
the Umits of her resources, by meeting the
enormous payments due in January and July,
under the most stringent and onerous conditions
ever imposed by creditor on debtor ; and, crucial
fact of aU, that the Khedive has acted in perfect
good faith towards his foreign commissioners of
the Caisses for receipt and disbursement of the
pubhc funds ; doing more instead of less than
he was .caUed upon to do.
For the statement I have made as to the
actual receipts and expenditures, for pubhc
benefit, from the loans originally made by the
Khedive, I quote from the money article of the
London Times of 19th May, 1876, the foUowing
pregnant admissions ; the more weighty because
that journal is not disposed to take a rose-
coloured view, either of the Khedive, or of

318 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Egyptian finance for some time past ; Turkish
default having thrown its shadow over the
tributary, as weU as the chief sinner, in the
Times' appreciation. The Times says : —
"According to the statement of Mr. Cave's
report, the Khedive has only netted some
£46,000,000 on all the existing loans. State
and private, which have been floated for him,
and out of that he has paid back, including
the last April coupon, over £31,000,000. Of
the remainder, some £10,000,000 went to defray
costs connected with the Suez Canal and the
unjust awards of Napoleon III. connected with
it ; so that but a minute sum remains which
the Khedive could by any possibility have spent
on improving his country. He can hardly have
thus spent even that minute sum, because it
would be needed for commissions, discounts,
and market operations and for the ' service ' of
the debt. Therefore, we have the huge floating
debt as the sort of lumber-room into which the
costs of all his extravagances have been flung.
The floating debts cannot reasonably be viewed
as an investor's loss at aU, and, excluding these,
as well as part of the Turkish fives, and of later
funding loans of both Turkey and Egypt, we
believe a sum of £20,000,000 to £25,000,000
may safely be taken as the outside dead loss
of the investing public, not more than half of

STAl'EMBNTS OF AN EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL. 319
which would fall on this country, supposing the
Turkish and Egyptian Governments to fail
absolutely." In a very remarkable letter, addressed to the
Times from Paris, and pubUshed in French in
that journal under date of 19th May, a clear
and rapid risume of the actual financial con
dition of Egypt, is given by an " ex-Egyptian
official then in that capital," who it was sup
posed could be none other than Nubar Pacha,
the former Minister of Commerce and Foreign
Affafrs, whose knowledge and honesty no one
could doubt. I translate the closing portion
of his letter, which gives, in a nutsheU, the
resources from which Egypt proposes to meet
her obligations, as I never saw them so briefly,
clearly, and inteUigibly stated elsewhere : —
" . . . . Having shown the efficacy of
the control established by the appointment of
the foreign commissioners, it remains only
to examine the financial side of this decree.
Can Egypt pay the interest she promises,
and, at the same time, meet the actual wants
of her internal administration ? My answer is
in the affirmative. I entertain no doubts on the
subject. I adopt even the figures of Mr. Cave.
According to Mr. Cave's report the annual
revenues of Egypt are £10,500,000. He is
right in these figures, but he comprises in this

320 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
estimate the proceeds of the Moukabaleh, which
amount to £1,600,000 annuaUy; but as this
is only a temporary tax, without it the regular
revenues of Egypt would amount to £9,000,000.
Yet were the Moukabaleh suspended, it foUows
that those who have paid but half the tax must
also then pay the other haK, which equalizes
it, and restores the permanent revenue to
£10,600,000. " But you know that in Egypt there are two
kinds of taxable lands, viz., the ' Eharadgis'
(under lease), and the ' Euchuris ' (tithe lands).
The latter of these enjoy special privileges, and
are not taxed to one-haK the extent of the
other. This certainly is not just, and the
Government may well raise the rate of taxation
in the latter case, so as to equaUze the two.
" Now, as these privUeged lands represent
1,300,000 feddans (acres), an additional tax of
haK a guinea on each acre, which would only
raise the tax to the standard of the other lands,
would give an immediate augmentation of yearly
revenue to the amount of £650,000. You also
are aware that the Europeans resident in the
country pay no taxes. This enormity naturaUy
must disappear, since the new tribunals have
given them all necessary guarantees for thefr
security. A tax of £1 10s. on each European
(of whom there are 160,000 in Egypt) would

ADDITIONAL TAXATION SUGGESTED, 321
augment the revenues £225,000, which, with
that previously mentioned, would add £875,000
to the £10,500,000 estimated by Mr, Cave,
making a total of 11,300,000,
" Granting that Mr, Cave has over-calcxUated
by more than a miUion of pOunds, even a milUon
and a haK, and we should have at least
£9,700,000 and the interest of the debt defrayed,
there would remain for the service of the State
£400,000, But our actual administration never
fafrly costs this sum.
These are our true expenses, viz. :
For all the public administrations, except the army ... £1,300,000
The tribute for Constantinople  700,000
Civil list of the Khedive  600,000
Leaving for the army  ... ... 1,400,000
£4,000,000
" But, in fact, the army only figures in the
Budget for £700,000 ; hence the surplus of
£700,000 must pass somewhere outside of the
Budget. " Should, however, the taxation and the
receipts not reach the sum necessary for the pay
ment of the interest on the pubhc debt, have not
the bondholders the right to say to the Khedive
that he must sooner diminish his army expenses
than their payments ? Have they not the right
to say this enormous army is the ruin of the
country? Have they not the right to say to
him that his civU hst is six times as large as

322 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
that of the Emperor Napoleon (the relative size
of the two countries considered), and that, as
proprietor of a fifth of the soU of Egypt, it would
be but just for him to diminish by £200,000 or
£300,000 his civil Ust, that his creditors might
be paid ? "
Owing to the anomalous attitude occupied by
the Khedive towards his own Government and
to the foreign creditor, arising from his double
character as ruler of the country and private
planter and trader, it has been found most
difficult to separate his pubhc and private
indebtedness from each other, or to define
the hmits which bound one from the other.
Hence aU the European financiers, in thefr suc
cessive reports, have drawn a Une between the
two, in as far as tUey were able ; although the
affafrs and obligations of the private Daira and
the pubUc debt seemed to be twined as closely
together as the ivy to the oak. The clearest
statement as to the personal UabiUties of the
Khedive, and his resources for meeting them,
has been given by Mr. Sandars, the able lawyer
who was sent out last winter by Mr. Goschen,
in conjunction with M. Joson, a French lawyer,
representing the French creditors, to perfect
a plan aUeady discussed with, and consented to
by, the Khedive in his capacity of private land
holder and agriculturist.

MR. SANDARS' REPORT.

323

A very fuU report of ihe various estates
belonging to the Khedive and his famUy, pre
pared by Mr. Sandars, was read by that gentle
man, on his return to London in May last, to
a meeting of the creditors, from which it appears
that the landed property of the Khedive and
his famUy embraced 435,000 acres, or "feddans,"
of which 258,000 were devoted to the sugar
culture. The balance-sheet of this vast property is
given by Mr. Sandars as foUows : —

Income.

EXPENDITUKB

Lands let 

. £130,000

Taxes 

. £150,000

Cotton 

. 85,000

Agriculture expenses ..

. 400,000

Sundries 

. 85,000

Factory expenses

. 250,000

Winter crops 

. 200,000

Sugar 
. 700,000
£800,000
Balance 
.. 400,000
£1,200,000
£1,200,000
The value of the sugar crop here given is
admUtedly taken at a higher rate than recent
years have seen, but Mr. Sandars says that
improved administration migUt so increase the
yield of sugar as to compensate for a faU in
prices. For the present year he places the
probable yield at £800,000.
According to Mr. Cave's carefuUy prepared
report, the Egyptian Budget for 1876 showed
the receipts to be £10,772,611, and the expendi-
324 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
ture £8,981,852, leaving a surplus of £1,790,759.
As to the UabUities on the Dafra or Khedive's
private estate, the loan of 1870 showed that
the unpaid capital is £6,032,620, and the float
ing debt £3,000,000. The present revenue of
Egypt is arrived at under three heads — land-
tax, £4,305,131; Moukabaleh, £1,531,118; other
sources of revenue, £4,852,821 ; making a total
of £10,689,070. As to the growth of the trade
of Egypt under the rule of the Khedive, it is,
to say the least of it, in the highest degree
encouraging. In the thirteen years which
elapsed from 1849-60 to 1861-2 inclusive, the
exports rose from £2,043,579 to £4,454,425.
The year 1862-3, the first year of the Khedive,
began with a sudden bound to £9,014,277, and
increased in the foUowing year to £14,416,661.
In 1865 the exports feU, but only to £9,723,564 ;
they have never since been less than £8,000,000.
Mr. Cave's report demonstrates as plainly as
possible the fact of Egypt's solvency, should her
finances be properly coUected and administered,
altUough in the judgment of those who ought to
know the country best, she cannot afford to pay
her creditors or tax her people at the rate of the
existing arrangement, devised by Messrs. Goschen
and Joubert, and thus far carried out with
unexpected good faith and more than ordinary
zeal by the Khedive himself, who^ — in justice

WHAT EGYPT CANNOT PAY. 325
it must be said — has from the first protested
against the abUity of the country long to sustain
such heavy impositions, or so terrible a drain
on its resources and productions, as 'this scheme
involves. Without professing any superior knowledge of
finance, or even equal skill in that science (if
such it may be caUed), to the many distinguished
gentlemen who have ciphered up the Egyptian
sum, I cannot forbear expressing my crude
opinion that Mr. Cave was wise, when he urged
that five per cent, was the maximum of interest
Egypt could then afford to pay her creditors at
that time : since which her UabUities have so
greatly increased, and her resources been so
greatly diminished, that even that might now
be difficult to meet, without more and greater
sacrifices than that impoverished people are now
making, and which it is impossible they can
continue to make much longer; for flesh and
blood cannot stand them.
My judgment is based partly on the exhaustive
reports of Mr. Cave, partly on my own intimate
knowledge of tUe country and its resources for
the last twenty years, which confirms in all
important particulars the correctness of Mr.
Cave's facts and figures, and the deductions
drawn therefrom.
Since the world began, was there ever a

326 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
population of the number of the Egyptian, from
which taxation to such an enormous amount was
annuaUy wrung (even for a single year, much less
for a series of years), increasing instead of
diminishing, as the resources of the country be
came less and less, through the diminishing prices
of theU produce ; grain alone, owing to mere
temporary causes, having kept up in price, whUe
cotton has ceased almost to pay the cost of pro
duction (K it does even that), and the number of
hands employed in cultivation has been greatly
diminished by causes already stated ?
Eoughly stated, five millions and a half of
Egyptian fellahs pay, in direct and indirect taxes,
(besides extraordinary caUs, such as war-tax and
private pickings) a total of near seven millions
OP POUNDS STEELING per annum. To which must
be added near a mUUon more for what are
termed " local revenues, taxes, and dues," em
bracing municipal taxes, canal, bridge, port, and
other dues ; and for the Moukabaleh (or antici
pated land-tax) one and a haK mUUons more ;
swelUng up tUe total of taxation £2 per head aU
over Egypt, These figures I have adopted from
Mr. Goschen's statement, the items of which I
append ; but in two items, the actual tax levied
on land and that on date trees, the amount is
understated very considerably.
When Sydney Smith drew his famous picture

GRIM REALITIES OF TAXATION. 327
of British taxation at the commencement of the
present century, and showed how his countrymen,
from the cradle to the grave, were the prey of
the tax-gatherers, causing the great mass of
those impositions to be removed, in the wUdest
flights of his fertile fancy he never soared to the
naked reaUties of Egjrptian taxation, as it is
imposed and forcibly coUected to-day, under
European sanction.

328 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XX.
EGYPTIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS.
The social life of Egypt — Native society unchanged — The ladies of
the hareem, and their adoption of French millinery — The root of
the evil — A royal wedding party in a Khedivial hareem described —
The Khedive's entertainments — His breakfasts, dinners, and soirees
dansantes at Ab-din.
The social Ufe of Egypt has undergone no
apparent change, in so far as the great bulk of
the native population is concerned. High and
low, rich and poor, they stiU shrink from social
contact with the foreigner, outside of the narrow
cfrcle of the court and its immediate members
or employes. It is evident that just so long as
the present system continues to be the law of
the Uves of this people, this must continue to
be the case. The isolation of woman from
general society involves the isolation also of
man, whose hearth and home are in the hareem,
where none but he may come. The cold civUity
of the selamlik (or man's apartment), where
alone he may receive his guests or friends.

SOCIAL LIFE OF EGYPT. 329
prevents famiUarity or friendship, either with
the foreigner or native ; since into the charmed
circle of the real home-Ufe he is not allowed to
enter. It is true that the women of the hareem,
especiaUy of the higher class (which is very
smaU in Egypt), have adopted for themselves
and slaves the fashions and fabrics of France,
discarding thefr own more picturesque ones;
that instead of shuffling over the floor in sUppers
without heels, they now totter insecurely on the
stUts of those hideous French boots, which
make our modern belles as helpless and as
tortured as the Chinese ; and that some
favoured ladies of the hareem have imbibed a
sufficient smattering of French language and
tastes to Usten, haK asleep, to the indecencies
of Offenbach's opera bouffe ; or stare with wide
awake eyes at the posturings and pirouettes of
the imported baUet troupe, wUich outstrips and
outrivals thefr own native almehs in agiUty and
indecency. Yet even this chosen few stiU listen
• to, or view these things from a carefuUy
curtained stage-box, where they can see and
hear without being visible to the rest of the
audience. A sudden flash of UgUt fr-om jewels,
or bright eyes, through a rent in the envious
curtain conceahng these fair ones, gives the only
indication of thefr presence at the opera or

330 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
theatre, where alone they are allowed even this
partial privUege of semi-pubUcity.
Ninety-nine hundredths of the Egyptian
women, however, stUl adhere to their old habits
and customs, and no woman of good character
in Egypt has yet dared to appear abroad without
her concealing veU or yashmak, or recognize or
speak to any man in pubUc or in private, except
her husband or father.
The wave of progress and of civiUzation,
which has swept away from the Khedive's court
almost aU the old forms and usages, until it
approximates to those of Europe, has dashed in
vain up to the hareem doors ; whence it has been
driven back in shattered spray, but could gain
no admission. The Eastern lady or woman may
put on Worth's finery, and clothe her attendants
in " Frank " dress ; but there aU simUarity to
her Western sister ends.
She is unchanged in her thoughts and habits,
morals, and daUy Ufe. UntU the slavery of the
hareem is abohshed, there can be no hope of
the aboUtion of the domestic slavery it nourishes
and perpetuates, as a necessary essential to its
own continued existence. The Khedive enun
ciated a great truth in his reply to the deputation
at Paris, aUeady cited, when he boldly probed
this tender point ; and those who have known
the East longest and best, look almost with

THE LADIES OP THB HAREEM. 331
despafr on the prospect of any real change in
the position of woman there, so long as Islam,
and polygamy (which is its offspring), are the
laws of Ufe to the female population.
But the external changes in hareem IKe, since
the time when Lady Mary Wortley Montague
wrote her inimitable letters from behind the
hareem veU in Turkey, have been considerable ;
as foreign women, who have visited them twelve
years ago, and recently, loudly declare. The
complaint now made is that much of the glory
has departed from the higher hareems, in conse
quence of these fair inmates having discarded
thefr Oriental dress and usages, in the efforts to
substitute "Frank" apparel and furniture for
them ; with the result ever accompanying haK-
way imitation.
Hence it may not be amiss, before the vanish
ing point has been reached, to give here a
description of an old-fashioned bridal reception
in one of the royal hareems, but three or four
years since, on the occasion of a series of royal
nuptials, in wUich the Khedive's sons and one of
his daughters figured as the principal performers.
As a matter of course, I cannot pretend to
describe this festival as an eye-witness; but I
have to thank a fair friend, who, as the wKe of a
high foreign officer in the Khedive's service,
attended it, for the particulars. I cannot but

332 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
regret, however, that I cannot reproduce her
vivid account of the fafry-like scene, which has
been marred in this attempt at repetition.
The fete specially described was given in
special honour of the Princess Fatmeh Ahnem,
the Khedive's eldest daughter, on the occasion
of her marriage to Prince Toussoun Pacha (since
deceased), at the queen-mother's palace at Cairo.
On leaving their carriages, the ladies who had
been invited to the festival passed, first through
an extensive garden, which was Ughted a giorno
by countless lamps of many colours, and foUow
ing a marble paved walk, boarded on either side
with trees and rare plants, they reached the
entrance of the palace, where eunuchs were
waiting to lead them into a large and richly
furnished saloon. There they found the white
female slaves of the hareem, haK of whom were
clad as men, and all in the most magnificent
Eastern costumes. These slaves acted as
ushers. Some were plainly dressed, carrying
drawn swords in thefr hands, and having red
tarbouches on thefr heads ; whilst others were
attired in splendid mihtary uniforms ; and my
fair informant adds, that they presented a very
martial-looking appearance^ — not a bad imitation
of the genuine article. Having taken charge of
the guests, they conducted them to a second
saloon, where, for the amusement (and possible

A ROYAL WEDDING FEAST. 333
edification) of the visitors, dances were executed
by the native almehs (dancing girls), to the
music of their own castanets, and an orchestra
composed of female performers. In other apart
ments other slaves performed a sort of baUet,
with long wands, swords, and bucklers ; but in
this room only native dances were executed.
The guests passed thence through a series of
apartments or long haUs, in which all manner of
refreshments were served. There, according to
nationality or taste, each was served either in
Eastern or Western style, with things substan
tial or sweet ; and with those wonderful coloured
drinks or sherbets, which are made of fruit, that
Oriental hands alone know how to compose.
The princesses of the royal famUy presided
over one table, which was reserved for the
Pacha's wives and those of the foreign consuls
and other distinguished foreigners ; and in these
apartments, as in the others, the sound of music
and song was unceasing.
Eefreshments partaken of, the guests were
next presented to the queen-mother, who re
ceived them in a vast saloon, magnificently
furnished, capable of accommodating thousands
of persons. The visitors were preceded by the
armed female slaves, and each formally pre
sented by name and title by the European lady-
in-waiting. The presentations concluded, the

334 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
guests were shown to thefr seats — divans ranged
along the walls and covered witU rich silks —
whence they looked on at the dancing and
singing of professionals engaged for that pm-pose.
The performance concluded, the dancers re-,
ceived rich gKts of jeweUery and cashmere
shawls, as a reward for thefr exertions ; the wKe
of each bey or other dignitary invited to the fete
having brought her present. At a sign fr-om the
queen-mother, the distribution of these gifts
commenced, and as each was bestowed the
name of the donor was announced, and a chorus
of thanks returned by the recipients.
This ceremony at an end, the bride made her
appearance in the following manner. The
eunuchs of the households of the Egyptian ladies
formed; from the foot of the stafrcase up the
steps and to the door of the saloon, where the
queen-mother sat, a long line, each man holding
a candelabra, in which were many long wax
candles of different colours. Through this
avenue of bronze the bride passed, treading aU
the whUe on cloth of gold — no less costly carpet
being considered worthy to receive her royal
footprint. Dancing-girls, dressed in the bride's
Uvery, preceded her ; thefr costumes composed
of silver gauze ornaments, witU orange-flowers
and splendid diamonds. TUen came the bride,
surrounded by her own women, foUowed by her

THB bride's dress. 335
mother and princesses of the blood, and another
troop of dancing-gUls. Next came the princess
herseK, moving slowly, with eyes cast down, and
stopping a Uttle at each step, as though to afford
time for examination and admUation.
TUe guests stood up as the princess advanced ;
and as she passed along, girls, who were
stationed on raised chairs behind the visitors,
showered on them from baskets a quantity of
small gold coins, struck off expressly for the
purpose ; many of which, falUng on the head or
garments of the guests, lodged in thefr hafr or
dress. My informant, on disrobing at night,
found £3 or £4 worth in value of those
pretty keepsakes. The native ladies, who
were aware of this Eastern custom, had doubt
less had thefr hair and garments prepared, so as
to catch as much of the golden shower as
possible. The magnificent saloon, draped in
white satin and gold, ornamented with orange
blossoms and roses, and blazing with innumer
able Ughts — the dazzUng briUiancy of the dresses
and ornaments of the bride and her attendants —
formed a spectacle of splendour worthy of the
" Arabian Nights' Entertainments," and such as
cannot ever be witnessed in our Western and
more prosaic cUmes.
TUree large chafrs, covered with white satin,
were placed on a raised dais, and on these sat

336 the Khedive's egypt.
the queen-mother, the bride, and the mother of
the bride. Worth, the famous man-milUner,
was probably the maker of the bridal dress, which
for execution was a marvel, and, apart from
certain exaggerations, thoroughly Parisian in
taste. It consisted of skfrt, bodice, and train
of the very richest white satin, and a tunic of
the finest point lace. The train, five metres in
length, was carried by white slaves, who were
richly attired. The bodice was entfrely covered,
and the tunic looped, with splendid diamond
ornaments ; and on her head the bride wore a
magnificent diadem, also of diamonds. So
arrayed, she might indeed be a fortune in her
seK, the value of her costume being something
fabulous. Having received the fehcitations of
the royal and distinguished guests, she after a
short time withdrew; returning to her own
apartments with the same state and ceremonies
as when she entered. The pageant over, the
visitors descended to the first saloon, where
refreshments again awaited them; and the
ceremony concluded, they left the palace.
But I fear I am treading on deUcate ground,
in thus peeping (even by proxy) behind the
hareem curtains; and, mindful of the fate of
"Peeping Tom of Coventry," retum to the
more orthodox treatment of Khedivial hospital
ities, which are fast and frequent during " the
season " at Cairo.

khedivial entertainments. 337
The Khedive's entertainments comprise break
fasts, dejeuners a la fourchette at 12 a.m.
(dinners in aU but name) ; a formal dinner at
7 p.m. ; soirees musicales et dansantes, to which
ladies are invited ; and open-air entertainments,
with pigeon-shooting, etc., to which ladies also
are invited, given in the gardens of the Ghezireh
Palace. His breakfasts and dinners are altogether d la
Francaise, with an enormous display of plate ;
the letter " I " in gold, surmounted by a crown,
being the only chiffre on the glasses, which have
only a sUght gilt rim, otUerwise plain. Both the
porcelain and crystal, and in fact the whole ser
vice, are in exceUent taste. The native officials
present at these entertainments are dressed
and eat in European fashion. The wines are
abundant, and of superior quaUty. The Khe
dive's "particular vanity," as Mr. Stiggins would
say, seems to be Chateau Y'quem, though he is
not disdainfrU of champagne on festive occasions.
His baUs and soirees (of which he usually gives
several during the season), to which formal in
vitations are ordered by the chamberlains, may
merit a short description, the place and persons
figuring at them being considered. A sketch of
one wUl convey an idea of aU.
At nine o'clock the company assembled in the
new wing of the palace, where the Khedive 7,

338 the Khedive's egypt.
received the guests with his usual urbanity, con
versing with ladies and gentlemen, previously
known to him, with much affability. About 160
invitations outside of his immediate court circle
had been issued, and all the nations of Europe
were represented by richly dressed women, and
men in the sombre suit which the nineteenth
century renders de regie for fuU dress.
About an hour was occupied in ,this reception
business, and then the Khedive, with a lady on
his arm, followed by the young princes, each
escorting a lady, led the way into a long saloon
prepared as a concert-room; where a concert was
given by the best singers from the opera troupe,
male and female. When this was over, the
company moved back into the other apartments,
of which there was a long suite. The chafrs
were removed fr'om the concert-room, which was
converted into a baU-room. The band struck
up, and dancing began, which was kept up untU
long after midnight, when the doors of the
supper-room were thrown open, and the cuisine
vied with Terpsichore for a time. It was a very
cmious and picturesque sight, to see the strange
blending of nationalities and costumes. Western
and Eastern. The Khedive's officials and court
were in gorgeous uniforms, their breasts spark
ling with decorations. Save the three young
princes of the blood, the natives did not dance ;

A BALL AT AB-DIN. 339
but these footed it right merrUy with the fafr
foreign dames ; doubtless to the discontent of the
grim grey pachas of the old school, who were
there in considerable force ; since dancing,
under the old regime, was considered not only
effeminate, but disreputable throughout Islam,
for either men or women of good character to
indulge in.
What the ladies of the hareem, invisible to all
om' eyes, though probably peeping through some
chink at these performances, thought of them it
is impossible to say ; but I should think that a
mauvais quart d'heure may have awaited the
young princes, on their return home to their
hareems and thefr homis. The Khedive himseK
does not possess or flourish the fantastic toe ;
his weight, both of person and character, pre
venting. The baU was kept up with great-
animation until the "wee sma' hours," the
Khedive manfuUy holding his ground untU the
latest reveUers had departed; being apparently
as untiring in the pursuit of pleasure as of
business. The Khedive can play the pleasing host
admfrably when his mind is at ease, and really
seems to enjoy society generally, as a distraction
from his graver cares, and the daUy drudgery of
his duties, which are unintermitting. But I
remarked last winter that his gaiety was fre-

340 THE Khedive's egypt.
quently forced, his changes of mood too sudden
to be natural; and that, in fact, on several of
these occasions he seemed intensely "bored;"
especially when pertinacious foreign representa
tives would button-hole him, and, leading the
royal victim to a window, recaU the recollection
of his manifold perplexities, within earshot of
the music and dancing.
What his private opinion of, or reflections
upon, foreign women or society may be, he keeps
to himself; but I have httle doubt that he
breathes a sigh of reUef when "the season" is
over, and he can retire within himself at Ghe
zireh, and enjoy such share of Eastern keff
(repose) as his suzerain, the Sublime Porte, and
the less sublime but closer consuls-general, and
the unconfiding creditors, wUl permit Egjrptian
royalty to indulge in.
The Khedive certainly beUeves in, and prac
tises the phUosophy inculcated by a famous
statesman, viz. : that the art of diplomacy
centres chiefiy in giving good dinners : and that
the royal road to the heart is ever through the
Stomach ; and if lavish hospitaUties to the
foreigner could cover his shortcomings, poUtical
and financial, would stop thefr mouths in more
ways than one. There is this to be said of his,
as of other royal entertainments — they promote
trade, and please the shopkeeping portion of the

THE ROYAL ROAD TO THE HEART. 341
community, as well as the invited guests. All
annual visitors to Cairo hope these hospitalities
may continue, however much the Khedive's
creditors may growl at them.

342 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XXI.
THE SOUDAN.
What and where is the Soudan ? — Its first annexation to Egypt —
Conquest and occupation by Mehemet Ali — His visit there —
Establishes Khartoum as its capital — Abbas Pacha's treatment of it
— Said Pacha's visit — His proclamations — Attempts to connect it
with Cairo, by rail and river — Reasons of failure — Mr. Fowler's plan,
adopted by the Khedive — Some interesting extracts from his reports
— Present position and prospects of Gordon Pacha.
The Khedive has been loudly denounced in
Europe, for an insane ambition, in extending
his explorations and annexations into Central
Africa, and most loudly by those who know
least about the matter ; who counting only the
cost in cash expended, and the net results thus
far obtained, consider his projects in that direc
tion as no better than idle dreams. Yet the
Khedive did not create, but inherited these
outlying provinces, to which indeed he has an
nexed others, and sought to annex more; but
his main purpose has been to make these depen
dencies of Egypt pay.
Whether he has adopted the least expensive

WHAT IS THE SOUDAN? 343
or most judicious means of effecting this, is a
question on which opinions must and wUl differ.
Everybody has heard of SU Samuel Baker's
mission, of which he has himself, in his most
interesting book, given such a graphic and
exciting account. But the subsequent explora
tions of Gordon Pacha, through his " great
talent for silence," which is habitual with him,
as weU as those of the American staff officers in
the Khedive's service, are as yet sealed books,
outside of the select circle of the Geographical
Societies ; and are not even guessed at by the
loudest denouncers of the Khedive's "waste
of men and means " in Central Africa. I regret
that it is not in my power to give definite
detaUs of these explorations, of which I have
heard much oraUy, but have no other know
ledge of. It is said that Gordon Pacha's jommals
are in course of preparation by a competent
hand; and the report of Stone Pacha to the
Khedive, which wUl be found in the Appendix
(marked F), wiU prove that the staff officers have
not been idle, nor returned with empty hands
from thefr difficult and dangerous explorations.
Hence it may not be out of place, in this book,
briefly to sketch the origin and the pecuUarities
of these Egyptian acquisitions, from the time of
Mehemet AU, thefr first acquirer; as weU as what
has been done, or sought to be done, by sue-

344 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
cessive viceroys in the Soudan ; which still, to
most people, is nothing more than a mere
"geographical expression."
The annexation of the provinces, constituting
what is termed the Soudan, dates back more
than half a century. After the destruction of
the scattered relics of the Mamelukes in
Dongola, and the defeat of the Arab sheiks,
Mehemet AU, thus master of Nubia, ordered an
exploratory survey of the provinces of Sen-
naar and Kordofan, and the countries remote
from the two NUes, the White and Blue. This
task he confided to Ibrahim and Ismail Pachas,
giving each a large force. One expeditionary
corps subjugated the country to the east as far
as FazougU, on the Blue Nile; the other
pushed on to the subjugation of the people
bordering on the White Nile. They had hoped
to acqufre mucU gold, which was reported there
in large quantities, but found but little ; and the
washing of the river sands produced even less.
Nevertheless, they brought back many slaves,
and reduced Sennaar, and the tribes residing
near the river, to Egyptian sway.
In 1839 Mehemet Ali in person visited his
new acquisition, going as far as Fazougli — after
wards made an African Cayenne ; banishment
to which, in the days of Abbas, was considered
equivalent to a death-warrant.

SAID pacha's visit. 345
Mehemet Ali established the capital of the
Soudan at Khartoum, declared the navigation
of the White NUe free, establisUed military
posts on both rivers, encouraged adventurous
men of science to explore the country, and
sought to introduce commercial ideas, and
civiUzation, into the minds of the negroes of
Central Africa.
But his good intentions were fr-ustrated by the
perfidy and cupidity of those intrusted with
thefr execution. The unfortunate negroes were
made the objects of chase and of commerce by
the slave-traders, and Khartoum became a slave-
market. The consequence was that the natives
rebelled, and were only held in check by
mUitary force ; and the taxes required a small
army to coUect tUem,
" Such," says Dr, Abbate, who visited the
country in 1857, in the suite of Said Pacha,
" was the condition of the Soudan, when Said
Pacha mounted the throne of Egypt. Agricul
ture almost abandoned, taxes out of all propor
tion to production or means, extortioners every
where; the receipts of the Government barely
sufficient to meet the expenses of supporting its
authority, by reason of the mihtary establisU-
ment which was essential; general disorder in
the administration ; an open slave-trade, almost
as openly protected by those in authority on the
spot.'*

346 THE Khedive's egypt.
Shocked at this state of the provinces, of
which some rumours had reached him. Said
Pacha, seized with one of his generous impulses,
determined to go in person to right matters
in the Soudan ; and as with him to resolve
was to act, carried the design promptly into
execution. Abbas Pacha had held on firmly to his
authority in the Soudan, where he kept up
always an imposing force, and exacted taxes
from that unfortunate population, through terror
and the unscrupulous agents he employed. It
is more than probable however, that the
expenses of keeping up an army in those
provinces, which at the same time abstracted so
much from the labour of Egypt (then as now
insufficient, and rendered even more so by the
necessity of sending troops to the Crimean war),
amounted to as much, or more than the sums
extorted from them in taxation, or by the com
merce in slaves.
So the Soudan, for many years after its acqui
sition, was more an ornamental than a useful
appanage to Egypt ; and although it has figured
in recent Egyptian Budgets to the figure of
£100,000 per annum, grave doubts may weU be
entertained as to whether, as an investment, it
ever has yet paid ; taking into account the sums
annually expended on its administration, and

the route he TOOK. 347
the cost of the expeditions of annexation or
exploration, within or beyond its limits.
Said Pacha had been two and a haK years on
the throne, when he conceived the idea of foUow
ing in the footsteps of his father, by making a
tour of inspection in these provinces, then only
five in number ; and carrying out the purposes
which Mehemet AU had mapped out, but faUed
to have executed.
It is honourable to the memory of Mehemet
Ali to have conceived, still more worthy of
praise to his son to have executed, the reforms
which partiaUy rescued these provinces fr-om
the reign of terror and of barbarism, which
seems to have been their normal condition,
and from which they have not yet entfr-ely
emerged. Early in the year 1857, Said Pacha carried
out his design, and made a rapid tour through
the Soudan ; leaving Cairo 27th November,
and arriving at Khartoum 10th February of
the next year, making the trip in about two
months and a haK. An army of 5000 men, fuUy
armed and equipped, with baggage waggons,
accompanied him half the way: so that it was
supposed he meditated more annexations in that
direction; but he changed his plan, and fear
lessly went on without them. Arriving at
Berber, he summoned the chief men, and ordered

348 THE Khedive's egypt.
them to meet him at Khartoum ; he then ver
bally announced the abolition of slavery, ivithdreio
his garrison from the toion, and left the province
under the guardianship of the governor. He
then proceeded over the desert by Korosko to
Khartoum, where he also summoned the notables
of that neighbourhood ; and in four remarkable
" orders," addressed to the new governors, ap
pointed by him over the five provinces of the
Soudan — Sennaar, Kordofan, Taka, Berber, and
Dongola — dated Khartoum, 26th January, 1857,
laid down a charter of rights, and definition of
their duties towards the Egyptian Government,
characterized equaUy by UberaUty, justice, and
wisdom, — by which, to use his own words, he
sought "to insure the prosperity of the people,
to improve their condition, reheve them from
unjust burdens and abuses of those in authority,
and at the same time point out their duties to
them." "When," says this generous viceroy, "visit
ing my provinces of the Soudan, I have seen
the wretchedness into which the population
has been plunged, by excessive impositions on
their lands and sakkias (water-wheels), and
especiaUy their sufferings under the corvees
(compulsory laboiu-) and unjust taxes, I at once
decided that justice demanded the abandonment
of such a system, and that henceforward tax*

his proclamations. 349
ation should be apportioned to the means of the
tax-payers ; so that aU apprehensions might be
calmed, the country prosper, and no reason
longer exist either for complaint, or expatriation
on the part of its inhabitants."
Opening with these truly generous and princely
promises, he then laid down the details of ad
ministration and taxation which, in his judg
ment, would secure them ; and named new
officials to carry them into effect ; adding, " It is
also a matter of urgent necessity, as weU as my
earnest wish, that regular and speedy communi
cation should exist between the Soudan and my
capital. You must therefore at once organize a
postal service by dromedaries across the desert "
— going on to give specific directions as to how
it should be done. These admirable "orders"
conclude with a promise, that if succour be
needed fr-om Cairo, from invading enemies,
they might rely upon it when they called;
and that K the inhabitants had good reason
to complain of the governors, or the sheiks
subordinate to them, " no guUty man should
escape punishment."
Having performed these acts of justice and
good administration with his usual impetuosity,
Said Pacha returned to Cairo; and this, pro
bably the most disinterested and patriotic act
of Uis sUort life, and shorter reign, has left not

350 the KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
even an echo behind it, either in Egypt or in
Europe.* Said Pacha also conceived the project of
uniting his provinces to the central seat of his
power, by railway or canal ; and detached the
French engineer, Mougel Bey, famous for his
connection with the barrage and Suez Canal,
to examine the best means of doing so ; and also
sent sm-vejdng parties to examine the possibiUty
of removing the obstructions in the Higher NUe,
but was deterred by the expense of these under
takings. The idea was then abandoned, but in 1866-66
the present Khedive revived it ; and a general
study of the country, with a view to a railway,
was made between Assouan and Khartoum by
Mr. Walker and Mr. Bray; but Uttle came of it.
In 1865 Mr. Hawkshaw, the eminent engineer,
was consulted by the Khedive as to the canaUza-
tion of the first cataract, and recommended the
prosecution of that work. Mr. Fowler, whose
opinion must carry greater weight from his per
sonal sm-vey of the spot, suggests that had Mr.
Hawkshaw visited Assouan, he would have
* For the particulars of Said Pacha's visit to the Soudan, I am
indebted to the instructive and able account of it by Dr. Abbate,
of Cairo, an eminent physician and man of science, who was
attached to the viceroy's suite during the expedition. His " Notes "
of the tour (published by Plon, of Paris, in 1858) will richly repay
perusal.

THE SOUDAN RAILWAY, 351
" shrunk," as he does, from the unknown cost
and consequences of excavating the large
quantity of excessively hard rock, which must be
encountered in the excavation of a canal, " of
which no trustworthy estimates can possibly be
made." Mr. Fowler's substitute is " simply to
use the mechanical powers of the descending
waters of the cataract, to draw the boats along
a ship-incline overland, between the top and
bottom of the cataract." Between the recom
mendations of two such high authorities in such
matters, the Khedive has found Mr. Fowler's
recommendation the best.
Some years later, early in the year 1871, the
Khedive caUed on the weU-known EngUsh engi
neer, Mr, John Fowler, who had become Con
sulting Engineer-in- Chief in the Egyptian ser
vice, to make detailed surveys and estimates,
and report on the question of communication
with the Soudan, In accordance with those
orders Mr, Fowler sent out, with fuU instruc
tions, a staff of experienced surveyors, who spent
five months between the first cataract and
Khartoum, bringing back full surveys and sec
tions, and mucU useful information bearing on
the point. Under these surveys the present
projected Soudan Eailway has been commenced,
and is already partiaUy completed on the plan
proposed by Mr, Fowler, which embraced —

352 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
1st. A raUway from Wady "" Haifa to Shendy.
2nd. A ship-incUne at the first cataract.
This plan Mr. Fowler has since modified, in
1877, by diverting the route and terminus from
Shendy to Khartoum, laying down a single hne
of rails from Wady HaKa, near the second
cataract, to Khartoum — the total cost of which
has been estimated at £3,430,000, rolling stock,
stations, and accessories necessary for working
the traffic included. This Une is among the
possibiUties of the future, dependent chiefly on
the financial condition of the country.
In an extremely elaborate and interesting
report made to the Khedive by Mr. Fowler in
1873, the route to be taken by the raUway as
then projected, together with the local and
general objects of the work, and the traffic to
be expected, are set forth with great fulness of
detaU. In Mr. Fowler's opinion, "the expor
tation of ivory and other Central African pro
ducts will be increased and faciUtated by such a
railway; but they wiU sink into insignificance
when compared with the grain, sugar, and
cotton, which wiU be produced and exported
from the vast aUuvial plains of the Soudan."
Mr. Fowler then proceeds to show how such a
* The wadys are ravines cut out by water running down from the
desert plateau to the river, when sudden floods pour down during
tropical storms. They are of great depth and extent, .and very
numerou-i.

TRAFFIC FROM KHARTOUM. 363
railway, with the addition of a ship-incline over
the first cataract, with a service of hght steamers
connecting Wady Haifa with the present ter
minus of the Egyptian railways near Ehoda (the
Soudan EaUway being extended to MassowaU in
the Eed Sea), might shorten by three days
the route to India, China, and Australia, and
avoid tUe dangers and inconveniences of a part
of tUe Eed Sea passage. The chief traffic to be
expected, after estabUshment of the railway, wUl
be grain, sugar, cotton, gums, senna, dates,
ebony, skins, gold, ivory, ostrich feathers. The
return traffic southward would be cotton goods,
machinery, cutlery, tobacco, coffee, rice, earthen
ware, beads, etc.
The present mode of conducting the traffic
from Khartoum, its great centre, involves five
changes in transit from Khartoum to Cafro — the
cargoes being taken in native boats down the
NUe, at Aboo Hammed; whence it is taken
across the Nubian desert on camels to Korosko ;
again transferred to boats and carried down to
the first cataract ; thence on camels to Shelal,
to Assouan ; thence again in boats down the
NUe to Boulak, the port of Cafro. From the
Kordofan and Darfour districts a similar system,
involving as many changes, has to be adopted.
The improvement of the river having been
found impracticable, the raUway scheme, in con-
2 a

364 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
nection with some plan for the passage of the
first cataract, has engaged the attention of the
Khedive and his engineer-in-chief; resulting
in Mr. Fowler's recommendation of a railway
of 3ft. 6in. grade, avoiding tunnels altogether,
with very small quantity of rock-cutting,
and, with the exception of a bridge across
the NUe, no considerable work of difficulty
on the whole Une. Mr. Fowler concludes by
saying, " I see no reason why every part of
the railway, except the permanent way, roUing
stock, and Nile bridge, should not be performed
by Egyptians, under proper organization ; the
work to be completed within three years from its
commencement." The cost of the ship-inchne
and its adjuncts Mr. Fowler estimates at
£200,000, and the time for its completion one
and a haK years. The latter should, if possible,
precede the construction of the Soudan EaUway,
so as to give increased faciUties for general
intercommunication, and transport of men and
materials. Mr. Fowler also states as " one of
the national benefits to be conferred by this
great work, the facUity of transporting, under
proper regulations, the surplus labour from Equa
torial Africa to the cultivated districts of Egypt."
I give these as the views of this experienced
and eminent engineer, without endorsing or dis
cussing them, for the purpose of showing the

THE hunter's PARADISE. 365
inducements and the purposes for which this
Soudan Eailway has been projected.
The wadys, the rains, the floods the drKt
sands, the desert, and the white ants, are the
chief obstacles tbe engineer will have to en
counter, not to mention the wandering Bedouins,
the Eob Eoys of Africa.
The plague of ants, those apparently insig
nificant but reaUy terrible enemies to man and
his work in Central Africa, is thus described by
Mr. Fowler's engineer : " Along the whole route
(from Om-Badhr to El Fascher) white ants are
very numerous. All kinds of wood are eaten;
even the largest trees totally destroyed. Ordi
nary wood sleepers for raUways would not last
more than a few weeks. Ant-hiUs abounded,
some of which were four feet high and three feet
in diameter ; but eighteen inches in height
¦would be the general average."
This country is the paradise of the hunter,
aU species of game, from the Uon and leopard to
the hare and antelope, being abundant. The
locusts abound here, and are eaten by the natives;
whUe bfrds, from tUe ostrich and guinea-fowl to
wild duck and snipe, equaUy abound. Cotton
is grown in smaU quantities, but it is smaU and
coarse. The staple food of the whole people is
duhu, a somewhat similar plant to tUe dhoura of
Egypt. It is smaller and not so sweet as the

366 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
dhoura, but an excellent food. TUe country is
weU wooded, but tUe timber is smaU and only fit
for fuel, four inches in diameter being the
average size of the main stems. In the wadys
near Khartoum, sheep, goats, and cattle abound ;
there is good land, but cultivation is small for
want of settled labour.
Mr. Fowler thus concludes his report : — " I
should have been better satisfied if, before con
cluding this report, I could have added a calcu
lation as to the precise amount of traffic and
revenue to be expected from the railway. The
largest portion of the traffic, however, as pre
viously explained, wiU only exist after the ac
commodation for it has been provided, and
therefore any calculation must depend on the
assumption of figures for which there are not,
nor can be, any existing data. ....
" In the particular case of the Soudan EaU
way and its probable traffic, it is a fact which
cannot be disputed that the extent of land near
its southern terminus, or witUin reach of it by
navigable waters, or land carriage, which is
capable of producing the finest crops of cotton,
grain, and sugar, is practicaUy unUhUted ; and
that during the time requisite for the construc
tion of the railway, such area may be brought
into cultivation as wiU furnish immediate and
considerable traffic.

EXPLORATION AND ANNEXATION. 357
" The vast quantities of timber of various
kinds which wUl become cheaply accessible to
the proposed raUway wUl supply fuel to the
locomotives for a long period of time, and one of
the most important items in the working ex
penses of the raUway wiU thereby be largely
reduced. "Assuming the working expenses of the
Soudan Eailway to be sixty per cent, of the
gross receipts (which is seven per cent, higher
than the average working expenses of all the
Indian raUways), it can scarcely be doubted that
the traffic from the local and through sources
enumerated wiU yield a satisfactory return upon
the smaU cost of the proposed raUway. Under
any circumstances, a large increase to the
national wealth of Egypt must necessarUy
foUow such an opening up of its undeveloped
resources." From the statements of this experienced
engineer, it wiU be seen tUat the trade which is
to pay for the construction and maintenance of
this road wiU have chiefly to be created by it.
During the reign of the Khedive immense
strides in Central African exploration have been
made, with his assistance, and by his employes,
both European, American, and native. Within
the last four years Darfour has become a part
of Egypt ; the White Nile has been thoroughly

368 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
explored and made navigable ; the great equa
torial lakes and the surrounding country have
been traversed by the feet, and reported on by
the ready pens, of the Khedive's adventurous
emissaries, and efforts made to fix and define
the very disputed boundary between Egyptian
and Abyssinian soU. Colonels Colston, Purdy,
Mason, and Prout, American staff officers, Avith
MitcheU, the geologist — recently a captive in
Abyssinian hands, but now Uberated — have made
very thorough explorations on different lines in
the interior; the latter having discovered two
ancient gold mines, the shafts stiU open, be
tween the NUe and the Eed Sea, near Kennar.
Several steamers are now plying on the NUe,
between Khartoum and Eagaff, above which the
rapids render the river unnavigable.
The Khedive has possession now not only of
several ports on the Eed Sea, including Mas-
sowah, but about two years since obtained a very
important one in addition, by purchase, from the
then impecunious Sultan — the port of Zeila,
situated at the extremity of a peninsula on
the Somala coast, which opens rich districts,
producing coffee, gums, ivory, wool, etc., to
Egyptian trade.
The Abyssinian king, Johannes, has recently
been keeping Massowah in a state of siege, and
covets mucU the possession of that port, which

EGYPT AND ABYSSINIA. 359
would give him an outlet to the sea, which
Abyssinia much needs. The latest tidings from
tUat point indicate that negotiations were going
on, vfrtuaUy giving joint possession of that port
to Egypt and Abyssinia, for aU practical pur
poses ; but as yet no treaty has been concluded.
The Soudan has proved a graveyard for many
governors and explorers, both foreign and native..
Here perished the two Arakel B-eys — father and
son — ^the one faUing a victim to the climate in
early manhood, whUe governor at Khartoum,,
many years since ; tUe latter, as Governor of
Massowah, accompanying the Ul-starred expedi
tion of Arendrup, and slain with him. Here
also was foully slaughtered Minzinger Pacha,
whose name and reputation rank with those of
Baker and Gordon Pachas, as pioneer and ex
plorer. Here, too, were left the mortal remains.
of the two gaUant and promising sons of Linant
Pacha, like the famous grenadier of France,
their countrymen, dead on "the field of honour,"
in these fatal precincts. To give the long Ust of
victims the cUmate and the barbarous natives
have claimed, would make a long and mournful
bead-roU. Let us hope that the new governor-
general niay enjoy better fortune than the great
majority of his pioneers.
Gordon Pacha, when last heard from, had
reached Khartoum, his seat of government, but

360 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
was reported as having been threatened with
annoyance from King Johannes, on the one
hand, and King M'Tesa, on the other ; whUe
Darfour was also said to be in revolt. To bind
togetUer the scattered sheaves of his province
wUl require no smaU amount of patience, skiU,
and courage ; his friends claim aU those quaUties
for him, and he has fuU power now to pm-sue his
own pohcy.
Could the railway communication be once
completed and opened between Khartoum and
civUization, his task would be rendered far
easier, and the province be made profitable to
Egypt, as weU as more manageable ; untU then
the difficulties and dangers of his position can
not be overrated.
The Budget report of 1873 puts down the
receipts from the Soudan at £100,000.
"History teaches us," says Mariette Bey,
"that Egypt is bounded on the north by the
Mediterranean, on the south by the Cataract of
Assouan. But history, in imposing tUese limits,
has not taken into account the indications fur
nished by geographical or race peculiarities.
Over the north-west portion of the African con
tinent stretches an immense zone of earth
formed by the NUe, and fertiUzed by it alone.
Scattered over its banks you find two different
races, the one uncultivated, savage, incapable of

EGYPT'S BOUNDARIES. 361
self-government ; the other a nation worthy the
world's admUation for its glory, its industry, and
aU tUe elements of civilization that it nourishes
in its bosom. History should say that wherever
flows the Nile, there her rights and her dominion
should extend."
The language of the eloquent Frenchman, who
has done so much to bring Egypt's buried
history and treasures to Ught, seems to convey
the dominant idea of three generations of the
Une of MeUemet Ali, and to account for the
trouble, labour, treasure, and Ufe they have
squandered on the exploration and annexation
of the Soudan. If it be a dream, it surely is a
great and noble one, to reclaim to law, culture,
and civiUzation the rich tracts now rank and
pestKerous with jungle, and the plains over which
stiU roams, as in the days of Abraham, the
wandering nomad, with his flocks and herds ; or,
descending lower stiU, where man becomes a
man-hunter, and preys on his own kind. The
task to which Livingstone and so many other
Christian men devoted thefr Uves, surely cannot
be unwortUy of praise in a Mussulman ruler to
attempt ; even tUougU ambition and love of gain
may mingle witU his higher aspfration.

362 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XXII.
IMPROVEMENTS AND PUBLIC WORKS IN EGYPT.
Public improvements — Where some of the money has gone — General
statement of public works and improvements during the present
reign — Thirty or forty millions of pounds' worth accounted for —
What and where are these improvements ? — Harbour and hgfithouse
improvements — Gas and water works — Merchant marine-^Thirteen
hundred miles of railway completed in last twelve years.
The statement has been broadly made, and as
recklessly repeated, in print and in speech, that
the EUiedive " has borrowed and raised ninety
milUons of money, and has nothing to show for
it but a few lath and plaster palaces."
Now, without attempting to act as the advo
cate of a prince, who certainly has been very
wasteful of his own and other people's means,
and has aUowed Uis buUding mania to cumber
the ground with a great many useless palaces
for himself and famUy, justice compels me to say
that the charge is as unjust and rash as it is
false. This I shall proceed to prove by facts and
figures accessible to every one wUo wUl take the

PUBLIC WORKS. 363
trouble to look them up. The truth is that
the improvements and public works begun and
completed in Egypt during the past twelve
years have been marveUous, and unequaUed by
any other country of quadruple the area and
population of Egypt ; and they have been of
such a character as hereafter to enhance im
mensely the resources and prosperity of the
country. But twenty-five years ago Eobert
Stephenson commenced the single line from
Alexandria to Suez, little more than 230 miles
in lengtU. Now there are more than 1300 mUes
corhpleted, and the Khedive is pushing his Unes
of raUways and telegraphs into the very heart of
Central Africa. The Soudan Une alone wUl be
1100 mUes long, if the engineer's plans be carried
out ; but of course it wiU requfre several years
to complete so great a work : even should this
Une be carried out on the grand proportions
suggested by the engineer, which I doubt.
1st. The completion of the Suez Canal, also
was the work of the Khedive, although the heavy
cost to Egypt was due to Said Pacha's impru
dent concessions, and the indemnity adjudged
by the Emperor Napoleon while acting as arbi
trator. For these Ismail Pacha cannot justly
be made responsible, the pressure put upon
him being greater than he could resist. StUl,
that great work may hereafter indemnify the

364 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
country when it becomes the property of
Egypt; as in justice it should, K Egjrpt should
continue independent, and be sufficiently sol
vent, at the expfration of the term agreed on,
to meet her obligations to the company and
enter into possession. The aUeged cost of
this enterprise to Egypt is estimated in the
Statistique — a Government pubUcation — to have
reached £10,000,000, and other estimates, in
cluding incidental expenses, interest, etc., run
it up as high as £17,000,000.
In other pubhc works of more immediate
utUity to Egypt — such as the UgUting the cities
with gas, supplying water by means of exten
sive water-works, as weU as pure afr through
street improvements — the reign of the Khedive
has been a busy one, as weU as in the extension
of raUway and telegraph lines, internal canals,
docks, and Ughthouses.
All these expenditures, it wiU be seen, were
made for a great pubUc purpose, and constitute
part of the capital of the country, and may be
considered as good investments. WhUe Turkey
has squandered the milUons borrowed from
Europe, and wrung from her own subjects, in
extravagance and foUy, in building palaces and
buying fronclads exclusively, attending neither
to the moral nor material advancement of her
population or territory, Egypt can point to her

COST OF RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. 365
great pubhc works and improving people with
just pride. Why Europe insists that Sinbad
(Egypt) should carry on his back this " Old Man
of the Sea " (Turkey), to the tune of £636,000
tribute per annum, is a pohtical mystery which
may soon be solved, or dissolved. In the name
of Justice and Progress we may rejoice that
these Siamese twins can be cut asunder without
danger to the Uving one : and witUout caUing
Eussia in to act as surgeon. Besides the great
pubhc works enumerated, more than a himdred
new canals have been dug for frrigation purposes,
two-thfrds of which are in Lower Egypt ; more
than 600 new bridges built to faciUtate trans
portation of tUe crops, one of which — that con
necting CaUo witU the island of GhezUeh — is
a magnificent engineering work. Both at CaUo
and Alexandria are gas and water works, sup
plying those cities, and large gasometers.
2nd. The cost of the railway constructions
and repairs during tUe last twelve years may be
estimated at about £10,000,000, and the fact
that that portion of the pubhc debt guaranteed
by these raUways is regarded and termed "a
preference stock," proves that the investment
has been a good one.
3rd. The harbour works at Alexandria and
Suez, which are of great utiUty, and promise to
improve greatly the commerce of the country,

366 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
have absorbed several miUions more, possibly
£3,000,000 or £4,000,000. It is calculated that
the revenues of the port of Alexandria may be
raised to £200,000 annuaUy, which would pay
a handsome interest on the outlay, when added
to those of Suez.
4th. The frrigating canals, several hundreds
of mUes of wUich the Khedive has made or
improved during his reign, for the cost of which
no statistics exist, must have absorbed much
money ; though I fear a great deal of feUah flesh
and blood went into them, too, for very inade
quate wages (if any), under the corvee system.
5th. The Ughthouses erected on the Eed Sea
and Mediterranean coasts have supphed a great
want to foreign and native commerce. Their
cost has certainly been £200,000. The intro
duction of gas and water, improvements in
sewerage, paving, and embelUshment of Cafro,
Alexandria, and Suez, are said to have cost
£3,000,000 more.
Oth. A fleet of merchant steamers to ply
between Egypt, Greece, and Turkey, which is
said to have cost £1,500,000 ; and
7th. The expeditions to Central Africa, and
the Abyssinian campaign — works of dubious
necessity and of no immediate utiUty — doubt
less swallowed up £2,000,000 more.
So tUat, even from this rapid and imperfect

OTHER PUBLIC WORKS. 367
summary of pubUc improvements, accompUshed
within the last decade, it wUl be seen that the
Khedive reaUy has something to show, more
than his palaces, for the milUons expended ;
although even his best friend or most obsequious
flatterer cannot venture to say he has shown
much judgment, or a proper sense of his own
means and those of the country, in many of the
works he has undertaken, or completed.
He can show public works to the value of
£20,000,000 or £30,000,000 for his twelve years'
administration of the country, as a visible proof
that, although he may have squandered some
of the public money, Ue certainly Uas not
thrown haK of it away in ostentatious personal
extravagances. Immense improvements also
have been made in the public roads leading
out of Cairo and Alexandria, as well as in the
streets of those cities. The roads around Cairo,
for example, and the bridges in that neighbour
hood are worthy of all praise, and must have
cost much hard cash, as well as indirectly
through the labour employed upon them, even
granting the labourers were not paid in money.
That Egypt is able to-day to astonish the rest
of the world by the immense revenues she is
able to dig out of her small area of soU — for aU
the money must come out of the land — is due in
great part to the improvements made in frriga-

368 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
tion and railway extension, which at once greatly
increase the produce of the soil, and render
transportation of produce much quicker, easier,
and less costly than it used to be. This much,
I think, is due to the Khedive to admit, what
ever his sins or his shortcomings may have been
as a ruler and a financier, and however much of
public money he may have wasted in needless
extravagances for his own or his chUdren's
luxury or state.

( 369 )

CHAPTEE XXIII.
THE ARMY OF EGYPT.
An indeterminate quantity — Curious exemption of Cairenes and Alex
andrians from conscription — How the conscription is made — What
successive viceroys have done for the army — The army and the
mihtary chest — Excellent drill and organization of the forces — Tlie
American and other foreign ofBoers — The Khedive's true, and
Egypt's wisest policy.
The Egyptian army has always been a kind of
indeterminate quantity, concerning wUicU but
little was aUowed to be known to the world at
large, or outside the immediate cUcle of the
chief mUitary men who controlled it.
Until 1873 its number was jealously Umited
by the Sublime Porte ; but the persuasive powers
of the Khedive, backed by the potential argu
ment of "backsheesh," which insured his own
elevation in rank and title, the dfrect Une of
succession, and his independence of Constan
tinople in so far as the internal administration
of Egypt was involved, obtained also the con
cession of raising his army to any number that
pleased him.

370 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Of this permission the Khedive has made no
great use thus far; having rather diminished
than increased his effective force, as far as the
facts can be known ; and having returned to the
cultivation of the fields, " on leave," large
bodies of his soldiers, substituting for them in
part the black recruits from the Soudan.
One peculiar feature of the Egyptian army is
the incorporation of the native Christian element
in its ranks ; the levies from Upper Egypt being
drawn cUiefly from the Copt Christians, who con
stitute a considerable portion of the population
in some of the provinces of Upper Egypt — many
of the vUlages, especially on or near the NUe,
being peopled by them. These men do not
regard this exceptional mark of their equaUty
with their Mussulman countrymen as a great
favour : being a peaceful race, and preferring
tranquil to warlike pursuits. Nevertheless the
fact is not without its significance, as it shows
the desUe of the Khedive not to keep up
invidious discriminations, prevaUing everywhere
else throughout the Ottoman dominions.
Another noteworthy peculiarity — although
one of exclusion — is the exemption from mUitary
duty extended to the inhabitants of the two great
cities of Alexandria and Cairo, in vfrtue of an
ancient privilege exempting them from bearing
arms. The reason for which this exemption was

CURIOUS EXEMPTION. 371
granted, I have not been able to discover ; but
in a country, and among a people, where custom
has the binding force of law, the antiquity of the
usage suffices to insure its perpetuation, even
under a rule as absolute as that of the Khedive.
Thus at least one-tenth of the population are
exempted by this curious privUege from the con
scription which, outside of the foreign element,
is theoreticaUy universal in its appUcation to all
classes and creeds of the community.
The exemption is unjust to the native popu
lation on many accounts ; and because it throws
the burden of this injurious system of recruiting
on the rural population exclusively. The cities
contain the great bulk of the element ahen in
blood and bfrth to Egypt — the trading, shop-
keeping, and servant class, who drift into the
cities from neighbouring countries.
Thus in Cairo you find a large population
composed of an almost infinite variety of races,
who should bear the burdens, as they enjoy the
benefits, of the Egyptian Government ; Euro
peans, who are protected by the capitulations,
alone excepted.
Thus, at Cairo and Alexandria you see num
bers of Syrians, of Copts, of Armenians, of
Israelites, of Berbers, of Nubians, of Abys
sinians, rayah Greeks, and Turks, aU of whom
numbering probably 150,000, are exempted

372 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
from conscription in these two cities alone.
This is one among the many unaccountable
anomalies of the Egyptian administration. If
you inquUe of a high functionary why this
custom is aUowed to continue, he shrugs his
shoulders and answers, " Who knows ? It was
always so."
Apart from these exceptional cases however,
the conscription is sternly enforced elsewhere,
and theoreticaUy witU impartiaUty ; but King
Backsheesh can always interpose successfuUy
here, through the venahty of the agents em
ployed, who always "make a good thing of it;"
and hence the draft ever faUs on that portion of
the able-bodied population most wanted for the
cultivation of the fields, especiaUy in the upper
country, where the population is sparse. Yet it
is on this section that the twin abuses of Egyp
tian administration — the conscription and the
corvee — weigh most heavily on the industrious
poor, who cannot buy exemption through in
fluence or money. In addition to the bUnding
effects of backsheesh on the recruiting officer,
the recruit is aUowed to return fr-om service
after one year's duty, on payment of a fixed
sum. As there are no territorial commands, or peace
organizations into brigades and divisions, as in
European armies; the system, or want of system

CRUELTIES OP CONSCRIPTION. 373
in the military organization, can be easily com
prehended by mUitary men.
There may be some pretence at rotation, and
as to an annual contingent; but in reaUty the
conscription is enforced "by superior orders,'"
whenever the whim or the necessity for more
soldiers is felt by the Khedive; and then the
conscription is carried out much on the old
system, so often described by indignant tourists,
who have seen gangs of apparent convicts,
chained together, and driven by soldiers to the
place of embarkation, escorted by howUng and
shrieking women, who see with them their
daUy bread and tUat of their chUdren taken
away. Those unpleasant sights and scenes have
not yet vanished from the Egyptian soil, either
for conscription or corvee ; but it is high time
that they should; K reform is to be more than
a hoUow show nd a naockery.
The acquisition of the Soudan has brought
some alleviation to the lot of the feUaU, inas
much as the savage blacks of Central Africa
have been found to make good soldiers ; and you
now see whole regiments of these, who have
replaced the agricultural labourer, wisely sent
home to tiU his fields and take care of his
famUy. This is the first actual benefit accruing
to Egypt from these acquisitions ; and it may
be greatly extended, by drawing on that savage

374 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
swarm of humanity — warriors by instinct — and
releasing the gentle feUaU from a duty, for
which neither his nature, nor any amount of
training can fit him. The secret of the domi
nation exercised over the Arab race by a mere
handful of Turks, in garrison towns through
out Egypt and Syria, estabUshes this truth in
contestably. The successors of the warrior kings, Mehemet
AU and Ibrahim, have made efforts to keep up
an army of respectable proportions, in so far as
the jealousy of the Sultan would permit. Abbas
kept up more than the regulation number, in
cluding a large force to overawe the Soudan, and
the contingent sent to the Crimea ; at one time
said to have risen to 100,000 men.
Said Pacha, in the early part of his reign,
" played soldier " a good deal ; but faiUng health
and other causes induced him to neglect and
greatly diminish his soldiery, in the latter part
of it, until it is said to have dwindled down,
in peace times, to about 5000 men (the war
strength to 16,000) actuaUy under arms, or im
mediately avaUable. The KUedive has been
busy in this, as in all other matters of internal
administration; tUough what the actual strength
of his army has been, or may now be, is known
only to the Chief of Staff, Stone Pacha, who can
keep a secret as well as any man alive.

THE ARMY OF EGYPT. 375
TheoreticaUy the miUtary force of Egj^t con
sists of —
1. The regular army, with its reserve.
2. Irregular or local troops.
3. The gendarmerie, uniformed and mounted.
There are stated to be eighteen infantry regi
ments, of three battahons each ; four battaUons
of rifles; four regiments of cavafry; and 144
guns — among tUem some large Krupps and
Armstrongs. The number of men in the regiments and
batteries varies so much, in consequence of con
stant practicstl disbandments (in the shape of
leave, when the miUtary chest is empty, as it
often is), that it is impossible even to guess, at
any time, as to the actual effective force of the
Egyptian army.
Of thefr admfrable training, driU, and disci
pUne, under the supervision of the exceedingly
able staff of American, and other foreign officers,
in the Khedive's service, as weU as of the
instruction given officers in the polytechnic
schools, foreign miUtary observers speak most
higUly; and the fact is obvious to the most
careless observer, as these troops march past the
hotels. A finer looking soldiery can be seen
nowUere ; and that some of the native officers
at least are clever, an inspection of thefr drUl,
and a visit to the monthly seances of the Geo-

376 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
graphical Society, where one of them occasion
ally reads a report of his explorations, wiU prove
to the most prejudiced stickler for caste and
colour. I am told that at present thefr weak point is
in thefr officers ; but my own private opinion is
that they are not the stuff good soldiers are
made of, except the Soudanese, and had better
be devoted to the arts and pursuits of peace,
than to the right royal trade of murder by
wholesale. The infantry are chiefly armed with the
Eemington rifle ; and of arms and ammunition
the IQiedive has laid in so abundant a store,
as to have sent miUions of fixed ammunition to
Constantinople as a present, in addition to his
contingent of troops and their suppUes.
Each cavafry regiment is armed partly with
the lance, partly with the carbine.
The frregular cavafry is supplied by the
Bedouins, who furnish their ovsm arms and
horses, and are commanded by thefr own chiefs.
They resemble the Cossacks in appearance, and
in more particulars than one.
We learn from foreign sources that
"Nothing more than a rough estimate ofthe
Egyptian army is possible, but it has been
calculated that with regiments fiUed up from
the reserves, the fighting strength of the regular

THE KHEDIVE'S LITTLE WARS. 377
army would be about 60,000, with 144 guns.
There would remain a reserve of about 30,000,
an4 an irregular force of possibly 60,000 more ;
but the probabihty is, that the strength of the
army would entirely depend at any given
moment on the amount of money in the posses
sion of the Khedive at the time and the con
scription three years previously."
As far as I have been able to pick up any
information on this jealously guarded secret, the
above estimate is in the main correct.
The chief use 'of the Egyptian army, outside
of the " gendarmerie," or local police force
(which is weU armed, urdformed, and discipUned,
and preserves peace and order admirably), is for
the protection of the frontier against the
desert Bedouins on the one side, and from the
Abyssinians on the other ; both of whose raiding
propensities are very great, and requfre to be
constantly kept in check.
I do not propose here to enter into a discus
sion on the Khedive's Uttle wars vnth his
neighbours, which I sincerely believe were forced
upon him, as he is more a man of peace than a
man of blood ; but those who are curious con
cerning the last and most costly of them, wiU
find a truthful account of it, taken from the
notes of a staff-officer, in the July number of
Blachvood's Magazine, in which the whole story

378 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
is inteUigibly and impartiaUy told. It is pro
bable, however, that this disastrous experiment
wUl not soon be wUUngly repeated by the Khedive.
The duties of the foreign staff-officers are not
confined to the drUling and instruction of officers
and privates, and organization of the army.
They have been busUy and usefully employed
in tUe work of exploration in the Soudan, and
elsewhere ; and have done immense service in
ascertaining and reporting on those portions of
the Khedive's Egypt, of which Uttle or nothing
was previously known. The report of the Chief
of Staff, Stone Pacha (as yet, I believe, un-
pubUshed), to be found in the Appendix, wUl
show where they have gone, and what they
have done.*
In a letter from one of those officers to me, he
says : — " Egypt is abused for spending money
on the Soudan Eailway; but tUe reconnoitring
officers find hundreds of thousands of cattle, fat
and sleek. Now, when the raUway shaU be
finished to Dongola, in three or four years, that
station wUl be witUin easy driving reach of those
vast herds, and instead of importing many
thousands of thousands of cattle every year from
Greece to Turkey, Egypt can bring down her
own cattle from her own provinces, and that so
cheaply that she might even export cattle to
Europe." Sec Appendix F.

THE KHEDIVE'S TRUE POLICY. 379
The Khedive is shrewd enough to see and
know that the safety of his patrimony, and
integrity of Egypt, do not depend on and could
never be protected by arms alone ; but rest on
the determination of the Great Powers of Europe,
who gave and can take away his heritage, should
they ever deem it necessary to change the
Egyptian status for selfish or for State motives.
He further understands, better than most
princes, the wisdom of the saying of Lysander,
that " when the Uon's skin is too short, it may
be eked out by the fox's ! " and both his precept
and his practice have accorded with this ancient
maxim : which possibly he never heard of, though
he has acted upon it.
In European jealousies Ues Egyptian safety —
not in arms or armaments, nor in the wish or
wiU of the dying dotard at Constantinople,
whose ominous shadow has so long veUed the
Ught and Ufe of Egypt, the blood of whose
peaceful people is even now being poured out on
foreign battle fields, that the waning Crescent
may not utterly disappear from the Western
sky. If Ismail Khedive is wise, he wUl turn his
attention henceforth more to the arts of peace
than to those of war ; although he does weU in
keeping up a sufficient force for the internal
protection of his territory and people, against his

380 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
lawless border neighbours ; and in securing the
best mihtary talent from abroad, to make a
smaU but efficient army do the duty of a larger
one.

( 381 )

CHAPTEE XXIV.
THE SHADOW OF THE STRANGER.
Egypt's experience — Her three periods : Pagan, Christian, and Mus
sulman — International jealousies — Shall the Mediterranean he a
French or Enghsh "lake"? — Curious history of this rivalry in
regard to the overland transit — Cost to Egypt of conciliating
the rival nationalities — Mariette Bey's characterization of the
Egyptians — The irony of their destiny — The shadow of the stranger
eclipsing native government — Laissez nous faire !
Egypt, during her long Ufe of many thousands
of years, has passed through three periods :
Pagan, Christian, and Mussulman. The first is
supposed to have endured for upwards of 5000
years, terminating a.d. 381 ; the second lasted
269 years, ending a.d. 640 ; and tUe thfrd com
menced at the latter period, and endures to the
present time — Egypt continuing subject ever to
Constantinople, until her quasi-independence
was obtained by Mehemet Ali, and imder many
different phases, resolutely maintained by his
successors. Her futm-e lot, at this moment, he would
indeed be a bold man who would ventm-e to

382 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
predict; for clouds and darkness now veil her
horizon. During the reigns of successive viceroys,
England and France have alternately exerted
the greatest influence at the viceroyal court ;
and untU the fatal day of Sedan, the latter,
assimilating more in character and language to
the successors of Mehemet Ali, had certainly
enjoyed the greatest favour, and shaped more
visibly the poUtical action of the viceroys. But
since that disastrous time the star of France has
waned, that of England risen on the Egyptian
firmament ; until the wish or wUl of the British
Cabinet has become a law unto Egypt, almost as
binding as the ancient "laws of the Medes and
Persians " were said to have been.
How France and Frenchmen chafe at this,
may be seen in theU jealous insistance on more
than equal representation on the new tribunals,
for thefr nationality; as weU as in the late
financial arrangements, where if Enghsh agents
have the coUection, French agents have the
control over the disbursement, of the public
funds; and wUereas England sends to Egypt
gentlemen skUled in pubUc accounts, France
sends her most practised diplomats, to be near
the Khedive.
This international jealousy is not confined to
the two nations named, for it exists in other

INTERNATIONAL JEALOUSIES. 383
nationahties, who have, or suppose they have, a
poUtical or commercial interest in Egypt ; yet
its greatest manifestation Uas hitherto come
from the two great Powers, whose struggle for
the last half century has been, whether the
Mediterranean was to become a French or an
EngUsh "lake."
A curious exhibition of this feeUng has just
been made in France — rendered more keenly
sensitive by the sense of lost prestige and power,
since she dashed herseK against the German
Colossus. Eeports having been generally circulated, of
the initiation of negotiations between England
and the Porte, for the purchase of the eminent
domain in the land occupied by the Suez Canal,
the Moniteur (always regarded as the mouth
piece of the existing Government of France)
published conspicuously the following remark
able comment tUereupon, towards the end of
June in the present year : —
"A rumour reaches us from London which,
no doubt, is without foundation, but to which it
appears to us important to caU attention. It is
said tUat the Ottoman Government has offered
to make over to England for twenty-five millions
of francs the Sultan's ' territorial rights ' over
the Suez Canal. In the first place, we wish to
remark that the Sultan has had no ' territorial

384 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
rigUts ' in Egypt since 1840, when the Sublime
Porte, with the assent and sanction of the
Powers, made the viceroyalty of Egypt the
exclusive and hereditary apanage of the family
of Mehemet AU. We will also add that the
Khedive, as master of Egypt, and consequently
of the territory which the canal goes through,
has undertaken to ' exploiter,', in common with
the Suez Canal Company, the land on both
banks of the canal for a period of ninety-nine
years. It would be requisite, to realize this
news from London, to assume that, in the
first place, the present Sultan should revoke the
hereditary rights held by the Khedive since 1840
with the sanction of the Powers ; and next, that
a new code should permit a sovereign to seU, for
his own benefit, the private estates existing in
his empfre." *
The significance of this note consists in its
pubUcation by the semi-official organ of the
French Foreign Office. Its anim,us is evident ;
and it truly represents French feeling in and out
of Egypt.
So long as the two Powers were in equipoise,
successive viceroys were adroit enough to play
* The key to this semi-ofScial note is, most probably, the publica
tion, in the Nineteenth Century magazine, of Mr. Bdward Dicey's
very powerful article, advocating England's immediate appropriation
of Lower Egypt and the Suez Canal, by purchase or otherwise, as a
measure of national safety.

AN EGYPTIAN STUMBLING-BLOCK. 385
the one against the other, for their own protec
tion ; appealing to the outside Powers as make
weights. But recently, as before remarked, the
one has preponderating influence ; and hence
the Ul-concealed jealousy of the other ; which
hereafter may find anew its battlefield in Egypt,
when France recovers from her present political
ecUpse in tUe Orient.
One of the greatest stumbling-blocks in the
path of Egyptian progress has been the necessity
of conciliating, at very heavy cost, all the rival
nationalities in Egypt, representing in all about
100,000, out of her population of 5,500,000 ! For
this small quantity of leaven is made to leaven
the whole loaf, and sweU enormously the annual
Egyptian Budget, by the heavy additional
expenditure imposed on Egypt, by the presence
of the stranger on her soU.
A shrewd observer, recently writing from the
spot, has remarked that the great cost of the
new reform measures has arisen fr-om this cause,
which "compels the Khedive to employ half a
dozen persons to do the luork of one! " citing the
fact of twelve nationalities being represented on
tUe judicial tribunals ; to which he might have
added, that some of the most favoured of these
have three or four to their share; besides a
crowd of minor officers of court. The same is
the case as to the public debt commission, the
2c

386 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
railway, and other administrations. Very curious
manifestations of this rivalry are constantly
being made, adding greatly to the perplexities
of the Khedive, and to the cost of his adminis
trations. It is difficult to see how this evU is to
be done away with, so long as the causes for it
exist, and Egyptians and Foreign Governments
occupy the same relative positions. Yet, pro
bably, the permanence of the dynasty of Mehemet
Ali has been due as much to the eternal inter
meddling and undying jealousies of the foreign
Powers, in regard to Egypt, as to the abUity of
his successors, who certainly have played that
card very skiKuUy, Uowever much they may
have erred as to other points of the game. To
day the necessity of continued interposition in
Egyptian affafrs, both poUtical and financial,
seems to be inevitable ; in consequence of the
existing complications, famiUar to aU the world.
Whether the present anomalous condition of
things can continue ; whether an imperium in
imperio — through which a practically absolute
ruler is divested of his authority and control
over all his administrations, and his treasm-y, by
a foreign commission, and a foreign judicial
tribunal, appointed and paid by himseK to sit
in judgment on his acts — can be preserved in
Egypt : and the grandson of Mehemet Ali be
long content to rest in this attitude before his

THE SHADOW OF THB STRANGER. 387
own people and the world, is a question that
time alone can solve.
The shadow of the stranger, projected over
Egypt, now hides both the throne and the native
administration. Whether it will ever again be
removed, and throne and country pass under
the protectorate of one, instead of many foreign
Powers, or its present ruler resume the powers
he has temporarily abdicated, with renewed
prestige and replenished treasury, is an Egyptian
riddle, more puzzUng than any ever propounded
by its ancient Sphinx.
When the tardUy appreciated, and unrewarded
enterprise of Lieutenant Waghorn, had demon
strated the feasibility of the overland transit
through Egypt, and England sought to utilize
it by a line of railway from Alexandria to Cairo,
French jealousy immediately strove to bar the
way; and for some time did so successfully.
From a curious pampUlet, pubUshed by an old
resident of Egypt, in 1851, the following par
ticulars of this struggle are taken— rendered
doubly interesting at this moment, in conse
quence of the Unpending struggle over tUe Suez
Canal property, foreshadowed by several recent
indications. The writer says : —
" The first care of France, after the settle
ment of 1841, was to remove from the mind of
Mehemet AU the bad feeling he naturaUy

388 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
entertained towards her, for the non-performance
of those promises, on the reliance of which he
had risked his very existence. It was a difficult
task ; but by working alternately on his amour-
propre, and on his fears, she ultimately suc
ceeded. The most marked and deUcate atten
tions were resorted to by Louis Philippe, and the
members of his family ; wUile at the same time,
the French employes in Egypt, and the French
party in the native ranks, constantly held out
that Great Britain had aggressive views upon
Egypt, and that being the half-way house to
India, she would never rest until she had made
it her own. Her progress in India was con
stantly referred to, and her gradual steps from
commercial relations to exclusive sovereignty
and miUtary possession, were daUy urged upon
the Pacha's notice. At the same time he was
taught to beUeve, that France alone could save
him fr-om simUar consequences, at the grasping
hand of England. A host of Frenchmen were
taken into his service, some of whom were to
be met with in every administration ; many of
them holding important posts, vidth the rank of
pacha and bey ; and these, aided by such Tm-ks
and Egyptians as had received their education
at Paris, estabUshed an all-powerful influence on
the action of Government — an influence whose
force was strained to the uttermost to thwart

THE OVERLAND TRANSIT. 389
any measure which seemed, in the most remote
manner, to forward British interests.
"To Great Britain the immense importance of
raUway communication between the two seas,
was one of those occasions which seemed to call
for the most energetic exertion of this influence ;
nor did French jealousy faU to appreciate it.
Accordingly, tUe opposition of France to this
raifroad, has ever been of the most determined
nature. Its existence, or its non-existence,
seemed the point on which her policy turned ;
and eventuaUy it became a question involving
her support or her hostUity.
" Twice tUe French party succeeded in in
ducing Mehemet Ali to abandon the project :
although at one time more than thirty miles of
raU were actually bougUt, and for fifteen years
were lying unused in the Government stores.
"It was the same party, and the same influence,
which planned, and caused to be executed, the
fortifications of Alexandria, and the whole sea-
coast of Egypt. . . .
"An EngUsh company had been formed for the
transit of passengers and goods through Egypt,
in connection with the steam communications
to Alexandria and Suez. Great privileges had
been granted it by the local Government ; a
large capital was embarked in building station-
houses in the desert, in providing steamboats.

390 THE Khedive's egypt.
carriages, horses, and other means of convey
ance. ... Its growing importance attracted the
jealousy of the French party, and its removal
from English hands was decided upon.
"They persuaded the Pacha, that the existence
of so powerful a foreign company was detrimental
to his interests ; and that some day it might
become a stepping-stone for the aggressive views
of Great Britain upon Egypt. The station-
houses, they said, would form the nucleus of
forts, and the steamers on the Nile might,
with Uttle difficulty and upon some trivial pre
tence, be easily converted into vessels of war.
WitU such arguments they persuaded Mehemet
Ali to take the transit into his own hands, and
partly by force, and partly by promises of large
compensation, he became the proprietor.
" These facts suffice to show to what extent the
mind of Mehemet Ali was held in subjection by
his French allies. In return for this compUant
submission to their authority, he received, it is
true, more solid proofs of ' fr-iendship than those
conveyed in the shape of presents, flattery, and
courteous attentions. They lent him their firm
support at Constantinople ; and to the day of his
death aided him in resisting every semblance
of encroachment on that freedom of action,
guaranteed to hini, and his successors, by the
firman of investiture. . . .

FRENCH V. ENGLISH INFLUENCE. 391
"During the lifetime of his grandfather. Abbas
had invariably protested against the undue in-
. fluence of France ; and from the day he came
into power, he resolved on relieving his country
from so grievous an incubus. His first act was
in that sense ; and after hurrying through the
form and ceremony of investitm-e at Constan
tinople, he no sooner returned to Cairo than he
set to work in earnest. He commenced by dis
missing from his service, and pensioning off", a
number of Frenchmen, and other Europeans,
who for years had enjoyed the rank and drawn
the emoluments of beys ; but the exact nature of
whose duties it was difficult to define. Amongst
his own officers there were many, holding high
rank and important posts, who had been gained
over, heart and soul to the views of France.
These he recommended ' to retire to Constanti
nople ' " {i.e., banished).
English influence at length prevailed, and the
road was constructed ; and under the Empire,
France patronized the Suez Canal, as a political
equipoise. History repeats itself oftener in Egypt than
elsewhere, and the old rivalry is neither dead nor
sleeping to-day, as living men may see. In
addition to the former rivalry, new ones have
been created. Until the Eusso-Turkish war
removed her representative from Cafro, Eussia

392 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
was busily agitating in Egypt, witU the assistance
of Panslavist envoys, whose correspondence has
been intercepted and publisUed. The new king
dom of united Italy, whose subjects almost equal
those of France, and double those of England
in Egypt, claims a consultative voice in the
councUs of the Khedive in aU matters of foreign
concern. Nor is there any foreign agent there
who does not aspire to have his finger in the
pie, and exert some influence at the Court to
which he is accredited — the functions of consuls-
general being purely political, except in cases of
appeal fr-om the action of their subordinates.
Egypt seems to have been set apart by destiny
as the battle-ground of races, and so continues
still ; her native population having far less voice
in her councils, and far less of the profits
derived from their labour, than the " stranger
within thefr- gates," of any ahen race whatso
ever. And yet, there never was a race, as
Mariette Bey has justly observed, more naturaUy
conservative, and less disposed to strife, than
the native Egyptian is and ever has been from
his earliest recorded history ; which however
has been a history of change and of struggle
always, the tide of events sweeping Egypt, in
spite of herseK, into the turbid torrent of per
petual revolutions.
"Egypt," says the close and experienced

"LAISSEZ NOUS PAIRE." 393
observer of her monuments and history I have
afready cited, " through her admirable cUmate,
which makes the mere act of living a luxury —
through the fertiUty of her soil — through the
gentle and docile cUaracter of her people, render
ing the introduction of the arts of civiUzation
so easy — is par excellence the most conservative
of countries. Aggression, and the impulse of ex
pansion and propagandism, so common to other
races, are unknown to her ; and did not others
come to disturb the tranquil repose which is the
essence of her life, it is very certain she, of her
own accord, would never stfr to create agita
tions elsewhere. When she has been violently
pushed into such movements, against her natural
bent, they have proved but temporary; and it
is always sm-e, whenever the final catastrophe
comes, poor Egypt must prove the loser."
" Laissez nous faire !" {" Let us alone ") should
be the motto, as it long has been the despafring
cry of Egypt and her rulers; and until this
perpetual meddUng and muddUng in her affairs
ceases, and she is left to stand or fall alone,
without so many super-serviceable fr-iends
pulUng or pushing her in different dU"ections, the
shadow of the stranger wUl continue to shut out
her sunshine from the natives of her soU.

394 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.

CHAPTEE XXV.
BY CAIRO TO EUROPE, VIA ALEXANDRIA.
By rail from Cairo to Alexandria — Disturbing a hareem — The last of
backsheesh — The country en route — Two rival capitals — How an
Alexandrian feels at Cairo, and how a Cairene regards him- — Some
thing about the Egyptian Brighton — Old and New Alexandria — The
place and people — The different routes back to Europe — The Brindisi
route — Picturesque old places on the Italian coast — The Moorish
pirates — Through Italy — Bologna and its museum — La Belle France ;
and adieu to Egypt.
The communication between Cafro and Alex
andria is very intimate and constant, although
the residents at, or near the latter city, affect
to look down rather contemptuously on the
former, as of mushroom growth, compared to
their comparatively ancient colony, the nucleus
and nest of the foreign settlement in Egypt.
On the other hand, the Cairenes assume towards
the Alexandrians, the patronizing and pitying
demeanour, assumed by "fast" young gentle
men, on encountering the old friends of their
parents, whom they regard as decidedly " slow,"
and ever treat with a mixture of deference and

THE RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION. 395
forbearance, which is very exasperating. This
rivalry is curious to contemplate ; and Shep
heard's Hotel, where the English," and English-
speaking element, most do congregate, affords
daily exempUfications and illustrations of the bad
blood engendered between the commercial and
Court centres, during the present reign. Before
that time this rivafry and jealous feeling did not
exist. Mehemet AU, his son, and grandson,
preferred Alexandria to Cairo ; and made it the
capital. Abbas shunned both cities as much as
he coiUd, avoiding men and thefr haunts, that
he might enjoy his own moody humom- in the
silence and soUtude of his desert palaces.
The railway carriages struck me as very shabby
and dirty last year, and the general adminis
tration of the raUway, which had passed into
new and foreign hands, was thoroughly slovenly
and exasperating, involving a great waste of
comfort, time, and temper on a transit of about
five and a half hours' duration, which ought
to be four — the whole distance being but little
over 130 miles. It really seemed to me, tUat
this Une was far worse managed, tUan it had
been fifteen years before; and although the
heads may now be European, the hands (and
very dirty ones) continuaUy thrust into our
railway carriage en roztte, were certainly those of
Esau, not of Jacob— Egyptian, not European.

396 THE Khedive's egypt.
The journey may be described as a short one,
elongated by perpetual stoppages, each of which
is of considerable duration, time counting for
nothing in raUway calculations on this line.
The Suez Canal has hurt the railway lines, by
diverting the great bulk of the passenger and
goods traffic, Avhich used to be transported from
Alexandria to Cairo and Suez, under the old
overland transit route ; and the extension of the
interior irrigating canals, also takes off another
slice. The new Fresh- Water Canal to IsmaiUa
will cut another large " cantle " off; and this
may partially account for the general afr of
decay and dilapidation, which pervaded the
entire service.
The route to Alexandria has been so often
described in the books of the Nile tourists, who
write as they run, that it would only fatigue the
reader to recapitulate the oft-told tale ; though
there are views, constantly being framed in the
carriage windows, that would make the fortune
of the painter, cunning enough to catch and put
them down on canvas. But IsmaU Khedive
has spent time, money, and influence in build
ing up, and (as he thinks) beautifying Cafro, and
has constituted it his capital and chief place of
residence — rarely visiting Alexandria, where he
also has palaces, or Eamleh, on the sea-shore
near Alexandria, whose refreshing sea breezes

the rival CAPITALS. 397
might woo him to pass the sultry Egyptian mid
summer there.
The gossip of Alexandria whispers that a
superstitious dread keeps him away from the old
city, because it has been predicted he is to die
there ; and a beUef in sucU predictions is rooted
in the mind of every Oriental, whatever may
have been his instruction or training ; and can
never be eradicated.
Be this as it may, it is certain that he has
ever smUed on Cafro, and given the cold shoulder
to Alexandria, which resents the sUght, and
professes small affection for the Khedive ; and
where, in fact, the foreign element is openly and
bitterly hostile to the existing administration ;
partly through the conviction that he has
afready almost ruined the country, and them
selves with it, and partly because of his treat
ment of them and their beloved city.
For, unlike the CaUene resident, who is only
a transient person, as attached to the Court or
some Government bureau, the Alexandrian has a
strong feeling of nationality apart from that of
his birth, owing to long residence and long
association, stretching back to the commence
ment of the present century. To him, there
fore, the Cairene is but a parvenu; and
although he visits Cairo through policy, or by
business compulsion occasionally, he growls

398 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
at the city, and the Khedive, aU the time he is
there. At the grand new hotel, which is owned by the
Khedivial family, and therefore patronized by
"loyal" Levantines, you respire the odoiu- of
loyalty towards the Khedive, " and all that is
his;" while at the Hotel d'Orient you may
fancy yourself in France, and at the Hotel du
NU in the heart of the Ehineland — except that
the tropical plants of its pretty garden could not
bloom on the banks of that renowned river.
Leaving either of these hotels, by the express
train at 8 a.m., you are conveyed in an
omnibus to the station in a cloud of dust, and in
a few minutes are deposited on the platform of
the station, in the midst of a howling but good-
tempered mob of Ai-abs and Levantines, of all
conceivable nationaUties.
The officious conductor of the omnibus regis
ters your luggage, (on which you are always
heavUy taxed for overweight, however small
your valise may be), procures yom- ticket, and
enters into a violent altercation vdtU one of the
raUway officials about your seat in a carriage :
insisting that as aU others are crowded, one
with the cm-tains drawn must be unlocked for
your accommodation. High above the clamour of
contending voices, you hear the word " hareem,"
and apprehending that you may share the fate

AN EGYPTIAN BRIGHTON. 399
of Orpheus, if you intrude on the hidden houris,
implore your officious champion to get you some
other place. Upon this he closes one eye, and
whispers mysteriously, "Backsheesh!" You
deposit a coin in his hand ; he transfers it to the
hand ofthe raUway official; who, utterly oblivious
of his previous statements, unlocks the door,
ushers you into the empty carriage, , and allows
you the quiet enjoyment of all the seats, until
another and similar performance is gone through
on behalf of some other voyager, with similar
results. In despite of the dust, the heat, the glare,
the flies, and the ceaseless shrieking for back
sheesh of the dirty httle imps that haunt every
station, with their goolahs of water, oranges,
and dried dates, on which the flies are ever
feasting, at every station, you feel you are
really passing through the Lotos-land, with its
wonderful varieties of verdure spread over the
map-Uke stretch of tableland, over which the
camel and water-ox are patiently plodding, and
the haK-naked Egyptians, on donkey-back in the
foreground, make pictorial.
The first surprise awaiting the returning
traveller is at Eamleh, which, from a small
straggUng sea-coast viUage of a hundred houses
or cabins, has now grown into a large and
densely inhabited town of many thousands of

400 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
permanent residents. There are no less than
Jiwo railway lines passing through and to it;
and a large proportion of the foreign colony
doing business at Alexandria now live there
winter and summer, going daily into the city,
about four miles distant. Every possible
variety of architectural caprice may be seen at
Eamleh, which squatting down on the sandy
sea-shore without trees, is all open to the
view — from Khedivial palaces, built in utter
scorn of all the orders of architecture, to Swiss
chalets, square boxes, and houses of as confused
plans, as the dreams engendered of undigested
suppers. With the shght drawbacks of the absence
of all verdure, and a bUnding glare fr-om the
white sand all day, accompanied by a corre
sponding degree of heat (only rendered endm-able
by the stiff sea breeze), the absence of a casino
or other place of pubUc amusement, and the
impossibUity of doing mucU visiting untU after
sunset — I should suppose Eamleh might be a
pleasant summer's resort for a person with a fine
faculty for sleep. Seriously speaking, however,
the place is a real godsend to the Alexandrians,
from the healthy character of its position, and its
refr-eshing sea breezes ; and I am told that the
hotel of Beau Sejour there, is in every respect a
most admirable one ; while the hospitality of its

IMPROVEMENTS AT ALEXANDRIA. 401
residents would reUeve any defects there, did
they exist. The views from its high bluffs, of
Alexandria and far out to sea, are very fine ; and
those who know the place and people best Uke
them most, which certainly is a good sign.
.On entering the railway station you see the
first indications of Alexandria's improvement ;
for it would be considered a remarkably fine and
spacious one in any capital in Europe; and
everything is admirably systematized there for
the safe and speedy transportation of passengers
and their luggage to thefr hotels after arrival.
As we drove through the principal streets to
the Grand Plaza, on or near which are all the
principal hotels, we remarked the great improve
ment and growth of the city in the last twelve
years, in despite of the Khedive's small patronage
of it ; for high and soUd blocks of stone buUd
ings now occupy the spaces formerly void, or
boasting only of smaU and shaky-looking houses,
from the Eossetta gate down to the streets
leading into the plaza. Around this plaza also
improvement had manifested itseK, in the shape
of stUl larger and handsomer blocks of stone
buildings, many of which are worthy of London
or Paris. There was now a general afr of fresh
ness and bustle about the place, contrasting
strongly with the drowsy aspect borne by place
and people in the days when Said Pacha was
2d

402 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
viceroy, and laid out and planted the open space
in the centre : now filled with trees and foun
tains, and whence old Mehemet AU in bronze,
seated on horseback, looks down paternaUy, yet
grimly, on his favourite city.
For more than thUty years past Alexandria
has been substantially an European, not an
Eastern city ; the only Oriental features it pos
sesses being its bazaars, which are by no means
fair average specimens of the article, and a popu
lation about half Arab, comprising chiefly the
labouring and smaU shopkeeping class. So that
Alexandria, like Smyrna and many other cities
of the Levant, disappoints the traveUer freshly
arriving in the East, from looking so European
— resembling rather an Italian than an Eastern
town. Yet there is a great deal to be seen, and
more to be learned about the land and people of
Egypt from old residents there, than the mere
casual visitor would suppose. The evidences
of capital in the buUdings — chiefly owned by
Europeans — and of wealth displayed in the
houses and shops, are very striking ; and
although for a succession of years, since the
overtrading and high prices consequent on the
American war, business pressure and bad times
have prevailed there, and the merchants are
gloomy as to their future, the place looks
thriving and prosperous.

THE TRADE OF ALEXANDRIA. 403
I do not doubt that, as Said Pacha predicted,
the Suez Canal has injured Alexandria, by
depriving it of the old transit profits, as much of
Egyptian produce now passes out vid Port Said.
Yet the statistics show that Alexandria is stUl
a busy port, and the costly improvements now
making in her harbour may cause her to regain
more than her lost ground, when completed.
Alexandria, representing as it does most of the
foreign trade of Egypt, yet does not embrace
more than three-fifths of the entfre movement
from the Egyptian ports.
This arises from the navigation from the other
ports, chiefly from Port Said and Suez for dfrect
transit, and from Damietta, Eosetta, and the Eed
Sea ports, which Uave the local traffic. Accord
ing to the Statistique de I'Egypte, during the ten
years intervening between 1863 and 1872 the
number of vessels of aU kinds entering the port
of Alexandria amounted to 32,433, giving an
annual mean of 3-243, each of 390 tons. This
number was an increase of more than a thousand
vessels over the preceding decade, and chiefly in
respect to steamers ; a tendency, which the Suez
Canal, and the improvement of the port of
Alexandria, will cause to manifest itseK more
strikingly still. The most remarkable feature
with regard to the commercial movement to and
from Alexandria, is found in the fact that the

404 THE KHEDPVE'S EGYPT.
exports double the imports : which under sound
principles of political economy, under a proper
administration, ought to render Egypt the most
prosperous country on the face of the earth. .
There are two short routes, and several longer
ones, vid Malta and Gibraltar to Liverpool ; but
the two favourite ones are vid Brindisi, and by
French Messageries to MarseUles. The screw
steamers taking from twelve to fourteen days to
Liverpool, are said to be very fair, and " werry
fiUin' at the price " — as Sam Weller says. From
personal experience, I can speak of the other
two Unes, and can recommend both to those
who wish to travel fast, and avoid long sea
passages. From Alexandria to Brindisi by P. and 0.
steamer takes but three days ; from Egypt to
MarseiUes by Messageries takes six days — giving
two days' advantage on the trip to Paris by the
former line, though a longer land travel by raU.
Leaving Brindisi, K lucky enough to travel by
daylight, the traveller sees some curious scenery
and very odd-looking old places, as he is whirled
rapidly past the coast line, often in fuU view
of the sea. Sitting in your railway carriage,
there passes before you a series of panoramic
pictures of crumbling mediaeval old towns, each
of which has its little history of the days when
the Moorish cruisers used to descend on these

PICTURESQUE ITALIAN TOWNS. 406
coasts, harry the towns, and take away the men
and women into captivity. Most of these places
have a tower set upon a high hiU, to which the
people used to run for safety when the pfrates
came ; and many have attempts at fortifications.
They look more picturesque than pleasant as
places of residence, and have a most decayed
and mouldy look, even when viewed from a
distance. They must appear terribly tumble
down old places on a near approach, for even
distance could not lend enchantment to the
view of them. The people looked haK fisher
men, haK pfrate, with a strong dash of the
beggar; and both places and people bore the
stamp of poverty and neglect.
At Ancona and Bologna the traveUer may
sometimes stop for a few hours, and both wUl
well repay a longer visit ; the places being very
quaint and curious, and the , art treasures and
antiquities of the museum at Bologna being
exceptionaUy good and numerous. It was here
the famous Cardinal Mezzofanti, so celebrated
for his gUt of tongues, presided, Uved, and died ;
mastering more languages than any one man (or
even woman) could possibly ever have use for.
The old city is so very attractive to strangers
that, hke a mousetrap, once in it is very hard to
get out of.
By the Brindisi route you also pass through

406 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
Turin, and that wonderful triumph of man over
mountains, the Mont Cenis Tunnel; emerging
from which again into bright sunshine and open
air, after being half choked and stone blind in
its gloomy passages, is Uke being born over
again : adding a new and fresU charm to the
beauties of nature unappreciated before.
At Modane, on the frontier Une of France and
Italy, the Custom-house nuisance again awaits
the voyager — a troublesome and useless farce in
most instances, and one which the civiUzation of
the nineteenth century should mitigate,, K it
cannot (as it ought) entfrely do away with it.
Here you often see the mountain tops and sides,
a rugged range, covered with snow ; and then,
after a tedious ride through wUd but uninterest
ing country, with the worst food at the raUway
stations that ever tried the teeth, the digestion,
and the temper of hungry traveUers, you de
scend into the smiUng plains and vine-covered
fields oi La Belle France — more lovely stUl by
contrast with rugged, impoverished-looking Italy;
whose most uninviting side you see diu-ing this
twenty-four hours' railway travel.
Before descending, however, you feel thac;
your Oriental dream-lKe is finished, and that
you are returning to matter-of-fact places and
people, and less sunny skies again. Before
reaching the dividing Une between Italy and

<(

LA BELLE PRANCE." 407

France, the broken character of the country,
whose chief product seems to consist of rugged
stones of various sizes, piled up in some places
into high peaks whose crests never seem to doff
thefr white nightcaps, and keen breezes that cut
you Uke a knife, as you stand in a bare im-
furnished room, where Custom-house officials
search your luggage for tobacco or brandy, cause
you to sigh at the memory of the sunny skies
and soft breezes of old Egypt. As you rush
more comfortably through France, the souvenir
of Egypt is more pleasantly revived by the
softer cUmate and serener skies ; tUough the
monotonous sameness of the scenery wearies both
eye and mind. The same long flat stretches of
field and wood, bordered with the prim rows of
straight poplar; the same quaint old-fashioned
towns and villages, looking precisely alike ; the
same ever-recurring types of population, plainly
distinguishable each by its pecuUar dress, as
soldier or priest, bourgeois or countryman — offer
Uttle to excite or amuse the traveUer, whirled
by express through La Belle France, until he
reaches Paris, the only city in the world where
every human being feels UimseK at home.
As far behind us now in thought and feeUng
(though but a week has elapsed since we left her
hospitable shores), as K centuries and the whole
globe divided us, must Egypt now be to the

408 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
returned pUgrim of our widely different civUiza
tion ; but the memory of the land and of the
people, like the subtle perfume which stUl scents
the mummy-cloth after thousands of years, Ungers
and must ever abide with those, who have visited
and dwelt in the " Old House of Bondage,"

( 409 )

EGYPT'S FUTUEE.
From the foregoing pages the reader wiU have
been able to form an idea of what the new
masters of the "Old House of Bondage" have
done, as weU as what they have left undone, for
the country and people under thefr charge for
three-quarters of a century.
As to the Khedive himself, who certainly has
not come out " like refined gold " from the
furnace into which his own short-sightedness
and improvidence have cast him, his trials have
brought to Ught the weakest, as weU as the
worst points of his character, viz., his egotism,
his want of good faith, his vindictiveness, and
his necessity of always leaning on some stronger
wUl tUan his own for support.
He struck away his prop when he sent away
Nubar Pacha, and since this removal has shown
pitiable vacUlation in his pohcy — ^K we may
dignify by such a name the series of shifting
expedients by which, before and since the re-

410 THE Khedive's egypt.
moval and death of the Mouffetich, he has sought
to regain some of his lost prestige in foreign eyes.
As he has vfrtuaUy abdicated the absolute
power, wielded so fataUy for Uis people, in despite
of the progress the country has made, we may
now consider the Egyptian problem, frrespective
of the personality , that so long overshadowed aU
else, and which has induced me to give the title
to this book ; for under the present reign it has
been " The Khedive's Egypt,"
and nothing else !
Proprietor, in his own name and that of his
family, of one-fifth of the best land in Egypt,
the sweat and blood of the fellahs has fertiUzed
it ; and even great pubUc works have been made
and used, solely to increase the wealth and
pamper the luxury of the Khedive and his
household ; until even the much-enduring feUah
now murmurs in revolt, and curses his task
master. What Egypt needs, in my humble judgment,
to redeem and regenerate her, may be briefly
summed up in a few sentences, as foUows : —
1st. Separation from Turkey, assigning the
tribute to the creditors to whom it has been
pledged, until that UabiUty is Uquidated; the
privUege of regulating her own internal affairs,
and pursuing the march of progress, under the

EGYPT'S FUTURE. 411
dfrection of her own most enUghtened sons,
aided by foreign counsel. The Khedive might
stiU act as titular Uead of the State, but as a
constitutional ruler, shorn of absolute power.
2nd. The substitution of legaUty, and of the
judgment of tribunals, for the arbitrary wiU of
one man ; foUowing up the precedent which
the Khedive has unwUlingly established in his
judicial and financial reforms ; making those
general and of universal application, which are
now Umited and restricted. So that the reign
of Law may reaUy be estabUshed in fact, as weU
as in name, throughout Egypt.
3rd. Publicity and responsibiUty in all matters
appertaining to the different administrations : as
well as in the discussions and recommendations
of the body of Notables from the provinces
(termed a ParUament), now sitting in secret
session only, vnth an increase of thefr powers
and responsibilities.
4th. Eeduction and restriction of royal or
public expenditures, and of the civU Ust, within
reasonable limits : as well as of the buUding and
improvement manias : and adjustment of the
pubUc machinery, in fit proportion to the work
it has to do.*
5th. A more just and equitable system of
* No fitter and better heads for this duty could be found than the
present commissioners, Mr. Romaine and Baron de Malaret.

412 THE KHEDIVE'S EGYPT.
taxation, administered or supervised by Uonest,
educated, and responsible officials, and the abo
lition of aU extraordinary impositions or forced
loans, under any name or pretext whatsoever.
Such new system of taxation to be devised and
apportioned by the Assembly of Notables, who
understand the country and the whole subject.
6th. The elevation of the fellaheen, by edu
cation and governmental aid, to a standard of
equaUty, both in physical condition and poUtical
rights, with the labouring class of civiUzed
countries ; and the aboUtion of the corvee, and
all forced labour, except in cases of absolute
pubUc necessity, in which latter case its objec
tionable features also should be amended.
7th. The gradual, if not immediate, abohtion
of slavery in Egypt ; all the easier because only
domestic slavery exists there, and is haK abo
lished already. With its removal many of the
social evUs existing there would be ameUo
rated, the condition of woman changed, and her
gUded slavery also approach its end.
Of course, in the present condition of the
country, the initiatory steps in such reforms
would have to be taken under foreign tutelage ;
but there is aUeady a smaU educated class of
natives, and so quick-witted a race as the
Egyptian, can soon be taught sufficient to take
at least a part in self-government.

EGYPT'S FUTURE. 413
These are not the dreams of a visionary^, nor
would the difficulties of putting sucU reforms
into execution be half so great, as most people
might imagine ; owing to the gentle and docUe
character of the race, whom centuries of cruelty
and oppression have faUed to lower or deprave.
Let us not, then, whUe giving the Khedive
his due for such good as he may have accom
pUshed, do injustice to the instruments through
which he has achieved it. Let us not, to use
the language of a famous writer on another
occasion, " while admiring the plumage, forget
the dying bird."
The same external pressure which has already
compeUed the Khedive to relax his death-grip
on the finances of the country, and partiaUy to
submit himseK to the rule of law, as embodied
in the mixed tribunals, might, in the great
interests of humanity, compel the concessions
shadowed forth above, and the liberation of an
entUe people fr-om oppression. Then, but not
untU then, wiU the " Old House of Bondage "
no longer deserve the name, which has clung
to it from times older than tradition : and has
unhappUy continued to be a just appeUation,
whether its taskmasters caUed themselves
Pharaohs, or Khedives.

( 415 )

APPENDIX A.
CONCESSION AND ALLEGED COST OF SUE2
CAJSTAL TO EGYPT.
No. 1.
The concession for the Suez Canal Company was obtained
by M. de Lesseps in 1854, and in December and January,
185-4-65, the preliminary surveys were made on the present
line, about ninety-eight miles in length.
In November, 1855, an International Commission visited
the isthmus, and their report was published in June, 1856.
But the scheme dragged heavily for two years more ; and it
was not until 1858 that the Suez Ship Canal Company, under
the name of La Gompagnie Universelle du Oanal Maritime de
Suez, was organized, and not until March, 1859, that what
were termed "preparatory explorations" were commenced,
against which the viceroy issued his circular, prohibiting the
commencement of the work before the consent of the Sub
lime Porte, which was a condition precedent, had been
obtained. From that period to 1869, when it waa completed and in
augurated with great pomp and ceremony, the work went on,
bnt with frequent interruptions arising from political and
financial considerations, all of which, with the potent aid
of Napoleon IIL, were finally overcome ; the viceroy who
granted, and his successor who confirmed the concession,
ha-ving paid from first to last not less than £9,000,000 in
cash, swollen by interest and other incidentals to £15,000,000
or £16,000,000.
The entire length of the canal is little short of 100 miles ;
300 feet wide on top from one bank to the other, about 150

416 APPENDIX.
feet at the bottom, with an average depth of 24 feet. It con
nects four natural lakes — Mengaleh, Ballah, Timsah, and the
Bitter Lakes — which had to be deepened to the requisite
depth. Two enormous jetties, one of 2700, the other of 2000 yards,
with the distance of 1300 feet between their respective ends,
constitute the protection of the canal against the choking
up by the Mediterranean, and for protection of the shipping
seeking transit through the canal, by the formation of a basin
of 500 acres in extent, completely sheltered from storms.
The cuttings at El Guise, south of Kantara, are very
heavy, extending five miles to Lake Ballah. Twenty-five vast
steam dredges, and a large force of labourers, were employed
on this work, and at some places the perpendicular depth
excavated is upwards of 100 feet. The plateau on which El
Guise stands is the most elevated point on the canal, and the
labour of 20,000 fellahs for two years was required to cut
a channel deep enough to float the steam dredges from the
Mediterranean, and in filling the shallow basin of Timsah.
The Fresh-Water Canal from the Damietta branch of the
Nile, originally extending to Zazazig, 50 miles west of Ismailia,
has been extended eastwards to a point two or three miles
west of Ismailia — then a part of the desert — and was of essen
tial advantage in the construction of the canal, by furnishing
the fresh water (which previously tasked several thousands of
camels and donkeys to convey from Cairo) for the labourers
engaged on the work. It is 26 feet wide, and about four feet
deep. The Sweet- Water Canal now connects Ismailia and
Cairo. The northern end of the Bitter Lakes is ten miles from
Port Said. The lakes themselves are about 24 miles long.
The cuttings at Toussoum and Serepeum, hetween Lake
Timsah and the Bitter Lakes, next to those at Bl Guise, are
the deepest and heaviest on the canal.
In October, 1867, the first steamer navigated as far as Is
mailia from Port Said, as the pioneer of the fleet that within
two years' time was to pass entirely through to Suez.
The Egyptian Government has gone to great expense in

APPENDIX. 417
constmcting piers, docks, and basins at Suez, which must be
added to the cost of its concession above stated.
Here is the Government estimate of the actual cost to
Egypt of the Suez Canal, including interest and incidental
expenses connected with the enterprise : —
COST TO EGYPT OF SUEZ CANAL.
Shares taken in the company by H. H. Said Pasha ... £3,544,120
Award of Emperor Napoleon to compromise concessiou of
forced labour ... ... ... ,,, ... 2,960,000
Paid to Canal Company for land and buildings near Cairo,
called Cheflik-el- Wady ... ... ... ... 400,000
Paid to Canal Company to cancel concession of land on two
sides of canal, as per contract, 23rd April, 1869 ... 1,200,000
Paid to Canal Company for works executed on Sweet-Water
Canal, and as compensation for relinquishing company's
claim to that oanal ... ... ... ... 400,000
Cost of works executed by Government in cutting Sweet-
Water oanal ... ... ... ... ... 428,927
Paid to French contractors for completion of Sweet-Water
Canal by contract ... ... ... ... 815,833
Expenses of various missions to Europe and Constantinople
in connection with canal, and expenses in opening the
canal ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,011,193

£10,760,073
Interest paid on above sums from respective dates to Sep
tember, 1873 ... ... ... ... ... 6,663,105

£17,423,178
No 2.
The receipts of the Canal of Suez for the first quarter, for
four successive years, have been as follows : —
Fi'ancs.
1874, receipts for flrst quarter 6,744,000
1875 „ „ 8,212,000
1876 „ „ 8,344,000
1877 „ „ 9,071,000
The following figures, derived from authentic sources, will
show the traffic : —

Number of vessels passing through.

Tons measurement.

In 1875

 1411 

1,908,970

In 1876

 1895 

1,986,698 2 E

418 APPENDIX. Tons.
Of these, the English vessels amounted to 1,510,198
French „ „ 135,345
Holland „ „ 101,031
Italy „ „ 60,998
Austria „ „ 27,281
Russia „ „ 16,627
Thus, out of about 2,000,000 tonnage per annum, the pro
portions are —
English, a little more than . . 1,500,000 tons.
All otlier nations, a little less than 500,000 tons.
England thus contributing three-fourths of the entire tonnage.

APPENDIX B.
THE SUEZ CANAL AND THE ENGLISH
GOVERNMENT.
The following correspondence with regard to the Suez
Canal has been printed : — No. 1.
" The Earl of Derby to Lord Lyons.
"Foreign Office, May 16.
" My Lord,— M. de Lesseps called upon me at the Foreign
Office on the 10th inst., having, as he stated, come expressly
from Paris to lay before Her Majesty's Government a project
for regulating the passage of ships of war tlirough the Suez
Canal. " I received him in company with the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and he handed to me the draft project of wliich
f enclose a copy.
"After some conversation, I told him that the question of
the position of the Suez Canal under present circumstances
was a difficult and delicate one, and that I could not then

APPENDLS. 419
say more than that the project which he had been good
enough to submit to me should have full consideration.
" Her Majesty's Government have since carefully considered
the project, and have come to the conclusion that the scheme
proposed in it for the neutralization of the Canal by an
International Convention is open to so many objections of a
political and practical character that they could not under
take to recommend it for the acceptance of the Porte and the
Powers. " Her Majesty's Government are, at the same time, deeply
sensible of the importance to Great Britain and other neutral
Powers of preventing the Canal being injured or blocked up
by either of the belligerents in the present war, and your
Excellency is at liberty to inform M. de Lesseps that Her
Majesty's Government has intimated to the Russian Ambas
sador that an attempt to blockade or otherwise to interfere
with the Canal or its approaches would be regarded by Her
Majesty's Government as a menace to India, and as a grave
injury to tKe commerce of the world. I added that on both
those grounds any such step — which Her Majesty's Govern
ment hope and fully believe there is no intention on the part
of either belligerent to take — would be incompatible with the
maintenance by H^r Majesty's Government of an attitude of
passive neutrality.
" Her Majesty's Government will cause the Porte and the
Khedive to be made acquainted with the intimation thus
conveyed to the Russian Government, and Her Majesty's
Ambassador at Constantinople and Agent in Egypt will be
instructed to state that Her Majesty's Government will expect
that the Porte and the Khedive will on their side abstain
from impeding the navigation of the Canal, or adopting any
measures likely to injure the Canal or its approaches, and
that Her Majesty's Government are firmly determined not to
permit the Canal to be made the scene of any combat or other
warlike operations.
"In stating this to M. de Lesseps, your Excellency will
explain that Her Majesty's Government have thus taken the
initiative in regard to the protection of the Canal on account

420 APPENDIX.
of the pressing necessity, as regards British interests, of
maintaining the security of the Canal, and they do not doubt
that if the Canal were to be seriously menaced, the French
and other Governments would adopt a similar course.
" I am, etc.,
(Signed) " Derby."

Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
" Memorandum by M. de Lesseps.
" The very clear declaration made by the English Govern
ment to the two Houses of Parliament of its resolution to
maintain the freedom of the passage of the Suez Canal for
its men-of-war has led me to believe that there might now
be an opportunity of concluding an agreement with other
Governments on this subject.
" As president of the financial company with which England
is connected, I submit to Lord Derby a project simply ex
pressing my personal views, which I have reason to believe
the Due Decazes would be disposed to adhere to after a
private conversation which I had with him yesterday morning.
" Should the British Minister not think it well to initiate
negotiations with the other Cabinets, I wohld make, at Paris,
to the representatives of the several Powers interested, the
overtures which I have made to Lord Derby and the Due
Decazes. (Signed) "Feed, de Lesseps.
"London, Maij 10, 1877."

Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
"International Agreement as to passage of Ships of War
through the Suez Canal."
" Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 the complete
liberty of passage through the Maritime Canal and the ports
connected with it has been respected for State vessels as well

AP PEND IX. 421
as for merchant ships, even on the part of belligerent Powers
at the time of the Franco-German War.
" The Governments of  now agree to maintain the
same liberty to all national or commercial vessels, whatever
may be their flag and without any exception, it being under
stood that national ships will be subject to the measures which
the territorial authority may take to prevent ships in transit
from disembarking on Egyptian territory any troops or muni
tions of war."

No. 2.
" The Earl of Derby to Mr. Layard.*
" Foreign Office, May 15.
" Sir, — I transmit to your Excellency herewith a copy of a
despatch which I have addressed to Her Majesty's Ambassa
dor at Paris, respecting a project, of which a copy is also
inclosed, communicated to me by M. de Lesseps, for the
neutralization of Suez Canal.
" Tour Excellency will see that Her Majesty's Government
have declined to adopt that project, but have informed M. de
Lesseps of the intimation made by Her Majesty's Government
to the Russian Ambassador that an attempt to blockade or
otherwise to interfere with the Canal or its approaches would
be regarded by Her Government as a menace to India, and
as a grave injury to the commerce of the world, and that on
both these grounds any such step — which Her Majesty's
Government hope and fully believe there is no intention on
the part of either belligerent to take — would be incompatible
with the maintenance by Her Majesty's Government of an
attitude of passive neutrality.
" I have to request your Excellency to acquaint the Porte
with the intimation thus conveyed to the Russian Govern
ment, and to state that Her Majesty's Government will expect
that the Porte and the Khedive "\\ill on their side abstain
* A siniilar despatch was addressed to Mr. Vivian.

422 APPENDIX.
from impeding the navigation of the Canal, or adopting any
measures likely to injure the Canal or its approaches, and
that Her Majesty's Government are firmly determined not to
permit the Canal to be made the scene of any combat or other
warlike operations.
"I have addressed a similar despatch to Her Majesty's
Agent and Consul-General in Egypt.
" I am, etc.,
(Signed) " Derbt."

APPENDIX C.
THE MIXED TRIBUNALS.
No. 1.
ROCKS AHEAD — SALARIES AND CONFLICTS OF JURISDICTION.
Lest I may be suspected or accused of captiousness or
injustice iu the remarks which I have felt bound to make
in several places on two points of great public interest,
viz., the extravagance of salaries paid some of the Euro
pean einployes, and the difficulties of the new tribunals in
steering between Scylla (the foreign element) on the one
side, and Charybdis (in the person of the Khedive) on the
other, I cite the testimony of two witnesses upon the spot :
one of whom is understood to be a gentleman holding a high
official position on the new tribunals, and the other the
English correspondent of a leading London journal. Such
testimony must be regarded as unimpeachable, and it fully
confirms my own on both points. From the letter of the
Times' correspondent, under date of January 1st, 1877, I
quote but a small portion of his comments on this topic.
Speaking of the Khedive's economies, he says : —
" There is a further impediment, and a serious one, to the
introduction of real economy in the matter of the salaries of
the Egyptian Civil Service. Many of the higher posts are

APPENDIX. 423
now filled by Europeans. In order to invite men of capacity
and position in their own country, large sums have been
offered as an inducement to come to Egypt, and contracts
have been made, which insure the payment of such sums for
a certain number of years. The new Controllers-General of
Taxation, for instance, are paid as highly as the President of
the United States or a Baro-n of the Exchequer. Even their
deputies are to receive £2500 a year, while £3000 a year
is not an uncommon salary to Europeans in other branches
of the service. There is yet another obstacle to economy.
International jealousy is strong in Egypt, and consequently
two or three men m.ust he named to lohat is only the lom-Je of one,
in order that each nationality should have its proper influence
in the country. Thus an Englishman and a Frenchman must
attend to the taxation ; two Englishmen and one Frenchman
control the railways ; an Englishman, a Frenchman, an Italian,
and an Austrian attend to the public debt ; and as many as
twelve nationalities are represented on the judicial bench,
which, however, is not paid on the scale of more recent
appointments. Of course all this European talent is very
highly paid, and the rate of these salaries to foreigners makes
economy in the payment of the native functionaries a most
invidious task."
The special correspondent of the Daily News, writing from
Alexandria, February 19th, 1877, thus shows the " rocks
ahead " of the judicial tribunals : —
" The position of the new tribunals has from the outset
been one requiring great tact and delicacy, in order to avoid
the extremes of manifesting too little independence, and so
losing the confidence of the treaty Powers, on the one hand,
and displaying too much, and thus bringing themselves into
collision with the Khedive, on the other. How far these
dangers have been avoided hitherto may be a matter of
opinion, but anyhow the courts have passed through the
first year of their existence, which is something to boast
of. At -the present moment, however, there are complica
tions impending which can hardly fail to land them either
on one horn or the other of a dilemma from which apparently
there is no escape. The immediate source of trouble is a
M. Brocard, formerly contractor for the Fresh- Water Canal
at Ismailia, who, within the past week, succeeded in inducing
the Cairo tribunal to award him £50,000 from the Govern
ment. Of course he failed to obtain payment, and in default

424 APPENDIX.
he proceeded to levy execution upon the Mallieh, or Treasury,
where, as might from past experience have been anticipated,
the officer of the court was resisted, and had to withdraw.
. . . It is morally certain that the Government, having regard
to the hundreds of similar cases pending, can never alloiv
the sentence to he enforced, atid the only dignified course then
open to the judges will he fo perform the process Icnown as the
" happy despatch," and so close their own careers and that
of the Reforme Judiciare at the same time. Even supposing
them to he willing to remain in office, and continue to act the
part of mere lay figures -in. a judicial farce, the end would
prohahly he none the less near or certain, for it must be re
membered that M. Brocard, the plaintifE in question, is a
French subject, and that France is one of the two 'Powers
which refused to hind theinselves to the B,eformo Judiciare for
any definite time. She can, therefore, and doubtless will, at
any period, withdraw from the convention upon finding that
the interests of her citizens are not protected under it ; and
were France to abandon the new system, Russia, which is
similarly situated ivith regard to her ohligations, loould prohahly
follow. With the secession of these two important Powers,
the integrity of the Reforme Judicaire would be for ever
destroyed — it would become practically unworkable, and its
entire collapse must inevitably follow."
No. 2.
INTERNATIONAL HIVALRIEiS.
From a letter addressed to the Times from Alexandria, under
date of May 27th of the present year, and supposed to emanate
from a source worthy of credence, the following frank expo
sition of the internal dissensions and jealousies of the different
constituent members of the new International Tribunal is
taken. It gives a lively picture of the difficulties attendant
on the creation and preservation of harmony or the merging
of private piques and rivalries into the common interest, as
well as the existing anomalies in the constitution of the
tribunals. "Mention has often been made of the international rivalry
which goes on in Egypt. The French always strive to have
more influence than the English with the Government, and
the Italians and the Greeks enter into the same competition,
though- with less success ; a struggle for predominance which

APPENDIX. 425
has produced needless expense of administration, as the ap
pointment of an Englishman or Frenchman has more than
once led to the successful application from another nationality
to have a similar nominee. In the new judicial body this
international rivalry was appeased by a promise from Egypt
that each of the seven Great Powers should have a nominee
in the Court of Appeal, a second in the Court of First
Instance, and a third in the Parquet, or Department of Jus
tice. France, however, just recently has managed to obtain
a small triumph by an ingenious evasion of this principle of
equality of representation. The members of the Parquet were
found of little use on account of the absence of criminal
jurisdiction. Their only practical utility was as public prose
cutors, and for that duty there is at present no demand. It
was, therefore, proposed to the Powers to transfer these
gentlemen to the Bench, where there is a want of power to
meet the heavy aud increasing demands for credit justice.
All the Powers assented save France, who preferred, she said,
to retain her nominee in the Parquet. Only six new judges
were, therefore, secured. Then the French member of the
Parquet complained of the inequality of his position vis a vis
his recent colleagues. To satisfy him the post of Avocat-
General was created, and he now fills that office with an
increase of pay. But this by no means contented the French
party. They next protested against the infringement of the
principle of equality of representation in the International
Tribunal produced by the fact that all the Great Powers save
France (and America, who never sent a member to the Par'
quet) had nominated two Judges of First Instance. The
argument was found irresistible by Egypt, and a second
French Judge of First Instance has been appointed. M.
Bellet, Avocat- General of the Court of Appeal of Toulouse,
a man of high reputation and long experience, arrived here
last week, and takes his seat at once on the Alexandria Bench,
where there is an appalling list of arrears. The system and
languages are at present purely continental, and this increase
of the French element introduces the best working power.
But there is a point which should not be lost sight of by

426 APPENDIX.
England. At the end of the first five years the whole system
of the International Tribunals is to be subjected to revision,
and the representatives of the large British interests in Egypt
hope that certain changes may be made in favour of the
English method of dealing with questions of fact. The Anglo-
Egyptians complain with reason that English law and English
procedure should not have heen wholly set aside in presence of the
fact that two-thirds of the whole commerce of the country are
English. But if a reform of the codes were seriously con
templated, the English and American element in the courts
would be of increased utility, and a predominant French party
would only lead to difficulty."

APPENDIX D.
POPULATION OF THE FOREIGN COLONY.
No. 1.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to give an accurate state
ment as to the exact number and nationality of the foreign
colony in Egypt. The consular registers are necessarily
imperfect, in consequence not only of the neglect of persons
to register their names and those of their families, but, in
addition to the large floating class, agents of foreign houses
scattered throughout the villages render the task more per
plexing. I subjoin a statement taken from the consular registers,
showing only approximately the nuinbers and nationality of
strangers resident in Egypt, which the Khedive himself esti
mates at about 100,000.
Gi'eeks (not rayahs, or subjects of the Porte) ... 34,000
Itahans ... ... ... ... 15,000
Frenchmen and French subjects ... ... 17,000
Englishmen and Maltese ... ... ... 6,000
Austrians and Hungarians ... ... ... 6,500
Germans ... ... ... ... 1,100
All other nationalities ... ... ... ... 1,390

APPENDIX.

427

Of Americans there are very few; a dozen missionaries,
about 20 army officers, three judges of the mixed tribunals,
and a small number of citizens. The number of American
visitors annually is very great : larger than that of any other
nationality except England.

No. 2.
Translated from the Statistique de I'Egypte, published by
order of Government at Cairo, 1873 : —
No. 10.— FOREIGN SUBJECTS OF VARIOUS NATIONALITIES,
RESIDING IN .EGYPT.

Residences.

1(3

1
1

4 1-

i

.1 f
1

o

£

a

oi
1

R

s"
t

..1 S Si?

Total.

ALEXAKDBIA

21,000

7,539

10,000

4,500

3,000

600

100

160

127

220

40

40

47,316

CAIRO (suburbs

inclusive)
7,000
3,367
5,000
1,000
1,800
450
400
103
OTHEIHOCAT.ITIES
19,120
(Principally Isth
mus of Suez
and Delta)
Total . . .
6,000
3,000
2,000
600
1,600
60
210
13,260
34,000
13,906
17,000
6,000 !6,300
1,100
,390
79,696
Note. — These figures have been taken by the respective consulates in
1870-72 from the registrations of each nationality, which at Alexan
dria represent about half the real number, or number supposed to bo
correct. For the Italian colony alone, the results of a recent and rather
complete census, taken in 1871-72, has been used, but from this, no donbt,
a certain number of residents have been omitted. The general total,
79,696, includes about 800 Swiss under the protection of various foreign
Powers ! it does not apply to the floating or travelling population, but
only to residents.
428 APPENDIX.
APPENDIX E.
FIRMAN CHANGING SUCCESSION.
The firman of the Sultan changing the Egyptian succes
sion was issued on 13 Rabi-ul Akhir 1290 of the Hegira —
equivalent to Oth June, 1873. In this firman it is declared
that " The Khedivate of Egypt passes to the eldest son of the
person who shall find himself clothed with the dignity of
the Khedive, or from him to his eldest son, and so on ; that
is to say, that the succession is established exclusively by
order of primogeniture, as we are persuaded will be conform
able to the interests and good administration of the KJiedivate
and the welfare of its people. In case the Khedive shall die
without male issue, the Khedivate will pass to his younger
brother, or, if need be, to the elder son of his younger brother."
Provision is made in detail for a regency in case of the
minority of the heir presumptive, eighteen years being con
sidered full age. This firman further recognizes the unUmited
authority of the Khedive to make internal laws and regula
tions for the government of Egypt, and his right to bestow
mihtary grades as high as colonel, and civil grades as high
as bey. Higher grades must be issued from Constantinople
at his request. This firman, enlarging previous powers granted
to Egyptian viceroys, authorizes the Khedive contract to
loans without permission asked of the Sultan ; to enter into
commercial or other treaties with foreign Powers, provided
such arrangements are not inconsistent with the political
treaties of the Sublime Porte ; and also empowers him to
increase his army and navy, as he sees fit, with the exception
of ironclads, which are forbidden.
The annual tribute to Constantinople is fixed at 150,000
purses in gold, equivalent to about £680,000, concerning
which the Sublime Porte thus feelingly and forcibly speaks :
" Thou shalt also pay the greatest attention to remit each year
without delay, and in its entirety, to my Imperial Treasury
the 150,000 purses of tribute established, as fixed by the
firman of 1866 " — the firman elevating the viceroy to the
dignity of Khedive.

APPENDIK. 429
AFPENDIX F.
EGYPTIAN EXPLORATION OP CENTRAL AFRICA.
I am indebted to General Stone, Chief of Staff, for the
following report, submitted by him to the Khedive last
autumn, giving the results of staff and other Egyptian ex
plorations in Central Africa : —
'War Office, Bureau of the General Staff,
(Gahinei ofthe Chief.) Cairo, 16th Octoher, 1876.
Summary of geographical and scientific results accomplished
by expeditions made by the Government of the Khedive
of Egypt during the three years 1874-5-6 : —
1. Accurate reconnaissance of the "White Nile, from Gondo
koro to Lake Albert. — Gordon, assisted by Watson, Chippen-
dall, and Gessi.
2. Reconnaissance of the White Nile between Khartoum
and Gondokoro, with greater exactitude than had ever before
been accomplished, with the determination of five positions
by means of astronomical observations. — Watson and Chip-
pendall, under the orders of Colonel Gordon.
3. Observations of the transit of Venus, Dec, 1874. By
Watson and Chippendall, under the orders of Colonel Gordon,
at Rageef, near Gondokoro.
4. Reconnaissance of Lake Albert, 1876. By Gessi, under
the orders of General Gordon.
5. Establishment of steam navigation upon Lake Albert.
By General Gordon.
6. Verification of the course of the Nile between Lake
Victoria and M'rooli, and the discovery of Lake Ibrahim. By
Lieut.-Colonel Long, under the orders of Colonel Gordon.
7. Verification of the course of the Nile between the falls
of Kamma and Lake Albert. By Linant, Gessi, and Piaggia,
under the orders of General Gordon.
8. Discovery of the branch flowing from the Nile near
Lake Albert towards the north-west. By Gessi, under the
orders of General Gordon.

430 APPENDIX.
9. Discovery of the branch flowing from Lake Ibrahim in
a northerly direction. By Piaggia, under the orders of General
Gordon. 10. The accurate reconnaissance of the Nile between
Foweira and M'rooli. By General Gordon.
11. Reconnaissance of the country between the White Nile,
near Gondokoro, and the Makiaka-Niam-Niam country. By
Colonel Long, assisted by Maine, under the orders of General
Gordon. 12. Reconnaissance and completion of the map of the route
between Debbe and Matoul, and between Debbe and Obeiyail.
By Colonel Colston, assisted by five officers of the Egyptian
staff. Report upon the northern portion of the province of Kor>
dofan. — Colonel Colston.
13. General reconnaissance of the province of Kordofan,
and completion of the map to the 12th degree of north lati
tude. By Major Prout, assisted by five officers of the Egyptian
staff. Lines of reconnaissance traversed, about 6000 kilo
metres ; seventeen positions determined astronomically.
General report upon the said province. By Major Prout.
14. Botanical reconnaissance (with large collections of
plants) of the province of Kordofan. By Doctor Pf und, under
the orders of Colonel Colston and Major Prout.
15. Botanical reconnaissance (with collections of plants)
of the central portion of the province of Darfour. By Doctor
Pfund, under the orders of Colonel Purdy.
16. Eeconnaissance of the route between Dongola upon the
Nile and El Facher, the capital of Darfour. By Colonel Purdy
assisted by Lieut.-Colonel Mason and five other officers of the
Egyptian staff.
17. General reconnaissance of the entire country of Darfour,
and a portion of the Dar Fertit, as far as Hofrat el Nahass
and Shekka to the south, as far as Gebel Medob to the north,
and as far as the frontier of Wadai to the west, with the
completion of the map and general report upon the country.
By Colonel Purdy, assisted by Lieut.-Colonel Mason, Major
Prout, aud nine other officers of the Egyptian staff. Distance

APPENDIX, 431
traversed, over 6500 kilometres ; twenty-two positions deter
mined astronomically.
18. Geological and mineralogical reconnaissance of the
country between Rudesieh and Kinneh upon the Nile, and the
Red Sea near Cosire, with a geological map and profile, and
report. By Mr. Mitchell, assisted by an officer of the staff
and Emiliano, with large collections of specimens.
19. Topographical and geological reconnaissance of the
country tothe south-west of Zeylah and near Tajurra. By Mr.
Mitchell, assisted by an officer of the staff and Emiliano.
Preparation of the map ; collection of geological specimens.
20. Reconnaissance and completion of the map between
Zeylah and Hanar; map of the city of Hanar and of the
country neighbouring. By the Major of Staff Mocktar, assisted
by Adjutant-Major of the Staff Fouzy, attached to the expe
dition of Ranif Pacha.
21. Topographical reconnaissance of the country between
the coast of the Red Sea, near Massowah, and the plateau
of Abyssinia, with the completion of the map. By Colonels
Lockett and Field; Lieut.-Colonels Derrick and Balig; Majors
Duliu, Dennison, and Diuholy ; Captain Irgens, and several
other officers of the Egyptian staff.
22. Geological reconnaissance of the country between Mas
sowah and the Abyssinian plateau, with collections of speci
mens. By Mr. Mitchell, assisted by Emiliano.
23. Reconnaissance and survey of the country between
Berberah and Gebel Dobar, with completion of the map. By
Capitaine Abd-el-Rasach Nasmy, and other officers of the
Egyptian staff.
24. Reconnaissance and sounding, with completion of maps
of the ports of Kismaya and Dumford upon the coast of the
Indian Ocean. By Colonel Ward, assisted by Capitaine
Sidky, and other staff officers.
25. Reconnaissance of the route and completion of the map
between Siout (by the desert) and Ain el Aghieh. By Major
Diuholy, assisted by an officer of the Egyptian staff.
26. Reconnaissance between Tajurra and Aoussa. By the

432 APPENDIX.
Staff-Lieutenant Mohammed Igyat, under the orders of Mun-
zinger Pacha.
27. Barometrical and thermometrical register taken by
officers in the provinces of the Equator, of Kordofan, of Dar
four, and in all the expeditions. Respectfully submitted, Stone,
General of Division, Chief qf ihe Gerwal Staff.

APPENDIX G.

MR. GOSCHEN'S TABULAR STATEMENT.
DIRECT TAXES.
On lands ... ... ... ... ... £4,302,400
Ou date trees ... ... ... ... 189,300
Licences ou professions, etc. (contributions d'arts
et metiers) ... ... ... ... 422,000

4,913,700

INDIRECT TAXES.
Customs ... ... ... ... ... 639,000
Tobacco monopoly ... ... ... ... 263,9(K)

REVENUES OF GOVERNMENT.
From salt-works (salines) ... ... ... 306,000
Farming of fisheries (fermage du poisson frais, et
Matarieh — ^poissou sale) ... ... ... 131,000

Sundry taxes and revenues in the provinces
(Moudiriehs) ... ... ... ... 504,900
Revenues of the province of Soudan ... ... 143,500
Sundries ... ... ... ... ... 34,000

902,900

437,800

- 682,400
£6,936,800

APPENDIX. 433
TOTAL GENERAL TAXATION.
Local revenues, taxes, and dues; municipalities,
Cairo and Alexandria ... ... ... £517,800
Gonvernorats (governorships of small towns) and
police receipts ... ... ... 202,400
Canal, bridge, port, and other dues and tolls ... 165,600

885,800
Railways ... ... ... ... ... 990,200

Amount received in anticipation of future land-
tax (Moukabala) ... ... ... 1,613,000
Repayments of advances made by Government
and arrears ... ... ... ... 377,700

1,876,000

— 1,991,300
£10,804,100

APPENDIX H.
EXPORTS AND PRICES OF EGYPTIAN CROPS.
Exports of cotton, grain, cotton-seed, and sugar for the
years 1866, 1870, 1872, 1873, 1875 and 1876, from Custom
house retums : —
The exports of cotton were : — Cantars.
In 1866 ... ... ... ... 1,785,000
„ 1870 ... ... ... ... 1,845,452
„ 1872 ... ... ... 2,168,181
„ 1873 ... ... ... ... 2,187,035
COTTON SHIPMENTS TO DIFFERENT PORTS. Cantars.
Total shipments to all ports in 1874-75 ... 345,794
„ „ Liverpool,' same year ... 292,243
„ „ France aud Spain, do. ... 38,014
„ „ Austria, Italy, and Russia, do. 35,447
2f

434

APPENDIX.

The exports of grain were :-

In 1866
„ 1870
„ 1872
„ 1873

Ardebs. 295,942
1,414,3001,580,256 1,525,314

The exports of cotton-seed were : —

In 1866
„ 1870
„ 1872
„ 1873

Ardebs.
750,877
1,264,507 1,334,223l,:i82,4.69

EGYPTIAN COTTON-SEED. Ardebs.
Total exportable crop (1875) estimated to be 1,450,000
Actual export ... ... ... 1,361,000
About half the crop went to Hull. About 90,000 ardebs estimated to
have been retained for sowing.

The exports of sugar were :-

In 1866
„ 1870
„ 1872
„ 1873

Cantars. 450
356,468456,351738,002

CROPS FOB 1876.

Ardebs.

Wheat, Saidi (100 ardebs equal to 63 imperial quarters) 817,219

Ditto, Behira „

150,664

Barley 100 „ 62i

125,697

Beans, Sa'idi

934,737

Ditto, Behira 100 „ 65

83,183

Indian corn 100 ,, 64 ,,

37,793

Cotton-seed 1000 „ 100 tons „

1,902,272

Cantars.

Cake of cotton-seed (1 cantar equal to 93 lbs.)

108,374-49

Sugar „

743,440-30

APPENDIX. 435
Cantars.
Cotton, from 1st of .Tanuary to 31st of August ... 1,875,486-81
„ 1st of September to 31st of December ... 1,755,862-68

*3,631,349-49

AVERAGE PRICES DURING 1876.

Wheat  85 piastres Tarif, or 17s. the ardeb.
Beans  80 „ „ 16s.
Barley  60 „ „ 12s. „
Maize  60 „ „ 12s. „
Cotton-seed  75 „ „ 15b. „
Cotton-seed oake 20 „ „ £4 the ton.
Sugar  100 „ „ £25 „
Cotton  12 dollars the cantar, or 6d. per lb.
* This large export of cotton arises from the large quantity held over
from 1875 for a cotton market, and from the hurried shipments in the
autumn of 1876 to provide money. The crop of 1875-76 was 3,000,000
cantars, the largest ever known. The crop of 1876-7 was a smaller one
—2,500,000 cantars.

LONDON : PRINTED BT WILHAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET
AND CHARING CROSS.

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