תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

248

THE FERRY OF OLD CAIRO.

ourselves. The foolish custom that prevails among Englishmen abroad, of paying double or treble for every thing, has in a great measure led to the various onslaughts made upon the modern traveller, unless habited in oriental costume. A Frank is invariably considered a prize, worth a dozen Turks, or five times as many natives.

The width of the river here is about five hundred yards, and a few minutes transported us bag and baggage to the village of Geza, on the opposite bank, the site of a portion of the famous city of Memphis, and of all that remains of that once flourishing metropolis. It is a great thoroughfare, and at this early hour of the day, a scene of considerable interest. The grain and greenfeeding for the cattle of the capital, the latter of which consists, for the most part, of a small vetch, grown in the fertile country beyond the Nile, is every morning ferried across this part of the river. It is carried on camels to the bank, and the animal with its burden is then shipped on board a boat, just large enough to contain it and the boatman. I remained some time watching this novel scene; and the instinct and dexterity of this noble animal, in placing itself in the frail vessel, were beyond conception. Arrived at the water's edge, the boat is brought as close as possible, and a plank laid from it to the shore; on this the camel steps, and cautiously, and without any conductor, feeling its way, plants itself. in the centre, and going down upon its knees, adjusts its body and the load, so as to preserve the balance of the whole; here it sits with the greatest patience, and without a stir, till it is ferried across. In this crouching attitude, with the load of corn or vetches completely filling the boat, or projecting over the sides, and often dipping in the stream, and with their heads turned to the prow, they form curious pictures floating to the opposite side.

Leaving the village, we entered upon one of the most picturesque and luxuriant plains I beheld in Egypt-perhaps, I might add, to be seen in the world. The soil is a rich brown mould, without the admixture of a single stone or pebble, and every inch of it is productive; no sort of fence or inclosure is to be seen for miles around, but one vast undulating line of green, which in our immediate vicinity sparkled with the diamond drops of morningdew that fringed the threads of the gossamer, gently undulating in the momentarily increasing sunbeams. I have so frequently

[blocks in formation]

remarked this action of the spider's web, at times when there was not a breath of wind stirring, that we must suppose it to arise either from the action of the sun's rays, the vapour rising from the earth, or the vibrating motion caused by the falling of the drops of water. Occasional mounds formed the sites of villages, over-canopied by the tallest and most splendid date trees. Some of these superb groves, especially along the river side, are acknowledged to be the finest in the country; each of them bears a heavy tax, and once the view of the plantation is made, and the price fixed, the people are compelled to pay it, even though several of the trees should die; but at the same time, care is taken to place every new plant on the tax-gatherer's book, even before it commences to bear. This duty is one loudly complained of by the people, and requires some better regulation.

There is much outcry made at present about the taxation of Egypt. It is, no doubt, over-taxed, and it is quite time that something should be done to inquire into, and remedy this defect. Great quantities of the crops are mortgaged long before they are cut; but although no excuse for such conduct here, it would be well for those who exclaim against it, to inquire into the oppressive duties imposed upon the natives of the interior of British India, and they may probably find not only a parallel for Egypt, but a solution of the question respecting the frequent famines that have of late years attracted so much attention in the former country. Whatever may be the rate, the payer now knows how much he has to pay, while heretofore, it was regulated by the daily wants of rapacious lords, and levied whenever luxury or ambition required it. But to return to our text. The crops were mostly beans and barley; the former, which were partly in blossom, were a small kind, but now form one of the principal articles of food for the people, though Herodotus informs us that the ancient Egyptians never ate beans. Great numbers of both men and women were in the fields, engaged with this crop; it is sown in drills, and the old stalks are made use of to support and protect the young, till they have acquired sufficient strength. There is a continual succession of bean-crops going forward, and in many places people were planting them in one part of a field, where the remaining part was in full bloom.

The great pyramids of Geza now came into the landscape, appearing on the extreme boundary of the cultivated plain, and

250

THE PLAINS OF MEMPHIS.

though still several miles distant, seemed as if within a mile or less. They raised their huge giant forms, and stood forth in solitary monumental grandeur-mountains, the effect of human toil, the magnitude of which thought may faintly conceive, but words cannot express. Our track lay obliquely across the country, towards the pyramids of Aboosier, which now became distinctly visible, leaving those of Geza on our right, to be visited on our return. A raised narrow road traversed the noble plain of Memphis, which is intersected by numerous canals for admitting the inundations of the Nile, not unlike the dykes of Holland, and having several small lakes and ponds of stagnant water, left by the last overflow, and filled with fish of different kinds. Numbers of men were engaged in raising the water from these, either by the pole and bucket, or in what are termed sachs. The water, once brought to the proper level, is distributed to the different parts of the crop, as each may require it, in little furrows made by the foot of the labourer, as described in Deuteronomy, xi. 10, 11where Moses, in depicting the beauties and fertility of Canaan, says, "It is not as the land of Egypt, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs." Two crops are the ordinary return from the natural irrigation; three, however, can be procured by artificial means; but the quantity of land so worked, must, in places distant from the river, be necessarily very limited. What wonders would not a few steamengines effect in this department; with their aid, and a proper rotation of crops, no doubt four could be obtained yearly.

The sugar-cane is now grown in considerable quantity, and the manufacture is in a most flourishing condition. The colocynth, or bitter apple, has also become an article of considerable trade, and the opium I examined was fully as good in appearance, and as clean as any Turkish or East Indian; but as it, too, has become a royal monopoly, it cannot be expected to be so productive as it would otherwise be.

Thousands of teal that sported in every pond and pool afforded us ample sport, and curlews were in such abundance as to shadow the earth over which they flew; they were, however, just as wary as their fraternity at home. The white egrets having become objects of interest from their exceeding familiarity, we gave up shooting at them. Larks were in great abundance, and buzzards of enormous size sailed over our heads.

[blocks in formation]

About midway between the pyramids of Geza and Aboosier we arrived at the desert, and here it was that the full force of the Egyptian fable regarding the perpetual contest of Typhon and Osiris became apparent, for the desert is yearly encroaching on the cultivated land wherever the inundation has not extended. The line of demarcation is most accurately defined; and as the crop which ought naturally to extend to the very verge of the sand, and which acts like a wall to keep out the desert, is now in many parts of Egypt neglected from want of labourers, it is slowly but undoubtedly conducing to the narrowing of the land, an event which all writers agree has taken place since the days of the ancient Egyptians.

We are now upon the vast Lybian desert, the fertile plains of Egypt to our left, the pyramids of Geza behind us, and those of Dashoor and Sackara in front, raised a considerable height from the valley of the Nile by a ledge of rock that runs parallel with the fertile land. This wall of rock is partly covered with the sand, which, rising in a crest above it, and in some places presenting an undulating surface, as it bounds over the barrier, gives it the remarkable appearance of one vast rolling swell suddenly arrested in its onward course to swallow up the land, which smiles beneath it in all the luxuriance of nature's richest clothing. Were I to offer an opinion of my own, I should say, that this rock once formed the enclosure of a vast city, that extended all along the plain, between the pyramids and the river; and should any wealthy or enterprising traveller attempt to clear away some of the sand that now covers its face, at one or two points, I am strongly inclined to think, judging from what I saw at Sackara, that many tombs and excavations would be discovered, as it is more than conjecture that the catacombs extend the whole length of all the pyramids. It may be in some secret or traditionary knowledge of this kind that the story told by the Arabs has originated, of there being a subterranean passage all along from the chambers of Sackara to the pyramid of Cheops.

Numbers of birds fluttered over the desert, and several noble eagles soared high above our heads in the liquid ether of an atmosphere peculiarly Egyptian. It was a most lovely day, though one of the warmest since our arrival, and as we passed forward I had ample opportunity of observing the various animals around me. The swallow tribe were in great plenty; the red-breasted

252

INSECTIVEROUS HAWKS.

swallow, and the small grey martin, particularly attracted our notice. I find that these little birds do not migrate like the swifts, (which, however, do not approach this part of the country,) but remain all the year round in the vicinity of the pyramids. I was not a little surprised at the good feeling and familiarity that seemed to exist between them and numbers of kestrils that flew round with the most graceful motion, now skimming in rapid flight along the sands, and anon balanced on extended wing for minutes together ere they pounced upon their quarry. Their prey was not birds, but a large species of grass or sand-hopper, with remarkably brilliant crimson legs. The wings and back of this insect were the exact colour of the sand, so that when the animal lay quiet on the ground, not even the eye of a hawk could distinguish it. The bird, however, marked with unerring accuracy the spot whereon it alighted, and remained hovering over it, as described, till the insect again took flight, when its red legs and the underpart of the body rendering it very conspicuous, he pounced upon it while on the wing. But neither did this hawk appear to mind the smaller birds, nor did they, as if aware of their security, seem to pay the least attention to him. Although at constant war in other countries, here the swallow and hawk were on the best terms. I examined several of these kestrils, and found that instead of the usual membranous stomach, peculiar to rapacious birds, theirs had been altered to meet the exigency of the case, and had become a perfect gizzard, having a detached cuticle, stained of a bright red by the colouring matter of the grasshopper, pieces of the hard shells of which, and small pebbles, I invariably found in the digestive apparatus of this insectivorous hawk.

The pratingole is also found in the vicinity of Cairo, and I have one in my possession now, brought from the neighbourhood of Old Cairo, but they are rare in Egypt.

Another little animal that particularly called my attention, and excited my admiration, was the scarabæus, or sacred beetle. Numbers of these were running about in all directions in the warm sunshine, engaged in rolling their balls over the desert with such industry, and in so curious a manner, that I cannot refrain, although on the path to the pyramids, from stopping to notice the insect so famed in Egyptian story, and that formed so conspicuous a part in the symbolic language and the mythology of

« הקודםהמשך »