228

EGYPTIAN COQUETTES.

is generally of white thick muslin, attached to the head immediately below the eyes, and hangs down to the very feet, which are clad in large yellow leather boots. A more inelegant costume (figure they have none) I have never witnessed than a Mooslim female of the upper class, waddling along, wrapped in the voluminous folds of her immense cloak. Nothing whatever of a Cairo lady's person can be seen but the eyes; and these dames offer a striking contrast to the rather too accurately defined persons of the lower orders. I never saw females walk so badly as they do. This probably arises from their feet being so tender, owing to their walking so little, and remaining barefooted in the hareem. The hands are never seen, as it is a point of etiquette to keep them concealed in the folds of the cloak.

Although these ladies appear in the most public places, and mix in the most crowded assemblies, no acquaintance or relative, be he ever so near, brother, father, or husband, ventures to recognize them abroad, as it would be considered a very great affront so to do; implying that the lady exposed herself so much, that her friends were able to recognize her in the public streets. Such are the manners of Egyptians towards each other; but the Frank who mixes in a crowd of Mooslim ladies, will soon perceive that eyes and elbows too speak most eloquently, and the gay titter that he hears on all sides, with the occasional drawing aside, as if by accident, of the face veil, done with an art that shows considerable progress in the science of coquetry, all tell him that the immured life the ladies here spend, is by no means congenial to their inclinations. The state of morality in the higher circles consequent on this condition of society, is just what might be expected.*

You frequently meet whole hareems proceeding rank and file to the baths, the tombs, or other places of public resort open to

* I have reduced many of my notes, obtained either by inquiry or observation, during my stay here, since I read Mr. Lane's admirable work on the manners and costumes of the modern Egyptians; his long residence in the country, acquaintance with its language, adoption of its habits, and accuracy of description, have given him facilities not usually to be met with; and all who have walked the streets of the Egyptian metropolis, will recognize the accuracy of his life-sketched illustrations.

respectable females, mounted cross-legged on their donkeys, and attended by their sable, beardless guardians. At other times you encounter some wealthy Turk, mounted on his richly caparisoned horse, attended by his groom and pipe-bearer, and followed by his wives and children, who bring up the rear on donkeys, with a servant at the head of each.

A dog at the hotel attracted our notice; it had a peculiar description of palsy; an interrupted and sudden seizure of the body, as if it had received an electric shock, the limbs bending under it, and the whole body trembling violently for a second, when it again appeared in perfect health. About six months previously a Frank had the plague, and none would go near him; this dog, however, never left him, and carried to him whatever was left for his use; and was also in the constant practice of licking the plague sores. The man recovered, but the dog fell ill; boils, analogous to those of the plague, broke out on it; it remained in the apartment of the man it had so lately nursed, and finally, it, too, escaped; but it recovered with the affection I here describe. It has since taken up its quarters at the Hotel de Jardin, and has become, by its history, a general favourite. In other respects, it is in good health.*

26th. We visited the Básha's palace at Shoubrah, about three miles from the city; the road, one of the most beautiful about Cairo, lies parallel to, and at a short distance from the Nile, affording transient glimpses of the river, enlivened by the passing kanghia, whose slender waving yards and white sails peep through the vistas of green foliage which here skirt the water, as it glides

* In connection with this, I may remark, that while at Alexandria, I was informed of an act of a British medical man, that redounds not less to the credit of the individual, than to the country that gave him birth. A man was dying of a plague; one of the ulcers being over a large artery, it be came, in medical language, phagedenic, or eating, and eventually opened the femoral artery in the groin; haemorrhage commenced, and the blood gushed in such torrents, that life must in a few moments have become extinct. The surgeon, who was standing by, instantly thrust his fingers into the wound, laid hold of the bleeding vessel, and on the spot performed an operation which, under the most favourable circumstances, is looked upon as most intricate, and requiring considerable skill-that of taking up the iliac artery. The patient recovered, and the surgeon escaped the infection!!

gracefully on the glistening stream. The road, which is raised some feet above the surrounding level, to permit access to the city during the inundation, is bordered by a continuous line of sycamores and lotus trees; and such is the rapidity of vegetation here, that although but fifteen years planted, the latter are of such size that in a short time their branches will meet at top, forming a magnificent shaded approach, worthy of the "queen of cities," and no where else to be equalled. The ground on either side was green with corn and vetches; and clumps of white mulberry and olive trees start up here and there. The path itself is not the least interesting portion of the scene; the couriers passing and repassing upon their dromedaries, at a rapid pace, to the royal residence, and the number of persons who throng this avenue, gave a spirit and animation that added to the charms of our ride.

As the viceroy had taken up his residence for the present at Shoubrah we could not well expect admittance to the palace, so we were contented to visit the grounds and gardens, which are worth seeing, from being laid out in the true Arab style, and though partaking of the stiffness and formality of straight walks and clipt hedges which were in fashion among ourselves some years ago, are not without their beauty and their admirers. These gardens are most extensive, and kept in beautiful order, the walks being bordered with hedges of rosemary and lavender, enclosing plats filled with orange trees. They are divided into different compartments, and the alleys radiate from a centre, in which is placed a lovely spacious fountain, shaded by the widespreading branches of some noble tamarisks and acacias, and overtopped by the feathery plumes of tall and waving palms. The water is managed with great taste, and plays in basins of the clearest snow-white marble; the floor is paved in mosaic, and a low seat surrounds the whole, raised at one end for the Básha. I know of nothing I have seen in this clime that realized to my mind the ideas I had formed of oriental luxury, like those fountains. It is here, beneath the shade of evergreens, which constitute the sides and roof of these embowered halls-beside the sweet murmur of the sparkling waters, whose spray cooled the air, already loaded with the delicious perfumes of the tropic flower with the stillness left by parting day, broken only by the music of the evening songster, or the touching notes of woman's

GARDENS OF THE HAREEM.

231

voice-that an eastern prince, surrounded by all that youth and beauty, the fascination of external charms, and the witcheries of allurement can bestow, may feel, that such is paradise, such the garden where black-eyed houries, with

"Every charm

To win the wisest, and the coldest warm,"

minister to the pleasures of the brave and pious descendant of the prophet of Mekka.

In his younger days these fountains were the evening refuge of Egypt's present lord, when, attended by his hareem, he wooed the quiet of a daylight's close, and sought, in the solace of these calm retreats, a moment's release from the torturing cares of public life.

At one end of this garden is an extensive aviary, and at the other a most sumptuous bath: here the water, which fills a large space, issues from the mouths of enormous marble crocodiles, placed around a central basin, where a pure and sparkling jet plays to a great height; while at each of the outer corners is placed a huge lion, emitting from distended jaws the crystal fluid in continuous streams. The bath is surrounded by a sumptuous colonnade, with white marble pillars, whose bases and Corinthian capitals are of burnished brass. Two of the sides of this colonnade are formed into chambers and refectories, in the usual style, the whole being well lighted with gas. The side of this garden verges off into a park, where some magnificent white deer and several ostriches are kept. The whole of these grounds were once the daily walk of the viceregal hareem, and death awaited the man whom accident or design might cause to linger in its precincts after the ladies entered; but beautiful and extensive as it is, those females must have felt it was still a bondage, and could each plant or fountain find utterance for its secret, it would perhaps echo the sigh of many a fair Circassian maid, who longed to wander amidst the colder climes and sterner beauties of her native land.

On our return we stopped at a kiosk in order to rest and obtain some refreshment. Immediately on our entrance, pipes and coffee were presented to us, although we had not yet ordered any, and on some of our party stating their unwillingness to partake of it, they were informed that it had been ordered for us by a

232

MOHAMMAD ALEE BASHA.

Turkish merchant who sat near us playing chess; he saw that we were strangers, and directed it to be prepared on our approach-this is hospitality worthy of imitation. After pipes, coffee, and sweatmeats had been served, a tray, with glasses of rum, and bumpers too, was handed to each. Although meant in kindness, I confess I felt ashamed of the compliment, for to a Mohammadan it would have been a gross insult; but the Turk had been led to think, from experience, that it was a stimulant congenial to the taste of a Christian and an Englishman.

While remounting, Mohammad Alee Básha passed, on his way to visit his daughter, who is married in Cairo; a father, brother, or uncle, being the only male allowed to visit a Turkish lady, except her husband. Seeing a company of Franks, his pace slackened to salute us; thus affording us a view of this extraordinary character. He is a fine-looking old man, now upwards of seventy,* with a very long silver beard; he was dressed in scarlet, and wore the simple turboosh or red cap, which he is anxious to introduce, and sets the example in his own person. The turban would have been, to him at least, a much more becoming head-dress. Slight as was our view of him, it did not pass without making us feel the power of an eye of more brilliancy and penetration than I ever beheld. His equipage was very plain—he sat in an old lumbering machine, which in England would be styled a superannuated family coach-drawn, however, by four most magnificent white horses, which were managed with considerable skill by an Arab coachman. About a dozen cavalry officers of his staff rode beside his carriage, and six or eight dromedaries followed, each carrying some different article of the dinner furniture, such as the small table and tray used at meals, pipes, &c. This plain and unostentatious retinue is quite an anomaly in a Básha of Egypt; and such as would have been considered quite too plain for one of the very least of the Memlook lords.

Our short stay in the capital, and his Highness being particularly engaged on our arrival, prevented our presentation; nor do I, for my own part, at all regret it, as I am the less likely, when

* 1769, was, I believe, the birth year of Napoleon, Wellington, and Mohammad Alee.