PREPARATIONS FOR A VOYAGE UP THE NILE. 121

an enterprise, and fully promised his countenance and protection. He said, however, that he was unable to make a grant of land to such a colony, as the soil of Palestine belonged to private proprietors, and his government was wont to treat individual rights with sacred respect! Mohammed Ali has since been deprived of his authority in Syria, yet the enterprise in question, if seriously pursued, may perhaps find equal favour with the sultan, who owes so much to the aid of his Christian allies.

CHAPTER IX.

Preparations for a Voyage up the Nile.-Scarcity of Boats.-Delays.-Description of a Nile Boat.-Villany.-Appeal to the Police.-Embargo.— Rumour of War.-Annoyances.-Embarcation at Old Cairo.-Change of Servants.-Outfit.-Prospects.-Fine Weather.-Pyramids of Aboukir.— Sakkara and Dashour.-A wild Goose.-Our Rais and Crew.-Head Winds.-Walk on the Shore.-Climate.-A Night Scene.-Professional Dancers. The false Pyramid.-Rain.-Wild Fowl.- Sporting.- Un pleasant Incident.-Beni Souef.-Bucksheesh.-Formalities in Dining. -Egyptian Indolence.- Luxuriant Vegetation.-Arab Navigation.Primitive mode of Irrigation.-Jebbel Tayr.-Coptic Monastery.-Feats in the Water.-Begging.-Fields of Mustard.-Onions.-Petty Thefts. -Minyeh.-Arab Villages.-Mounds of Rubbish.-Palm-trees.-Upward Navigation.-Ingratitude.-Sugar Manufactories.-Mountains.-Offering at the Tomb of a Saint.-Difficulties with the Rais.-Acacia-trees.Siout. Fertile Plain.-A vigilant Sentinel.-Mild Winter.-Vandalism of the Pacha.-Village.-Mosque.-School. -Mussulman Charity.A Crocodile.-Gigeh.-Beautiful Mountains.-Trouble.-Nubian Sail

ors.

FROM the first of January, the day of our arrival in Cairo we were detained until the 15th, waiting for a boat to carry us to Upper Egypt. The interval was employed in visiting such objects of interest as are in the neighbourhood, and in VOL. I.-L

122

SCARCITY OF BOATS.

obtaining, so far as time and circumstances allowed, an intimate acquaintance with this great capital. There was an unusual scarcity of boats, occasioned partly by the increased demand, the security and facility of travelling in Egypt adding yearly to the crowd of visiters; partly to the temporary employment of a considerable number of boats by the government; and, finally, to the absence of the best vessels in the service of the Persian ambassador, who, with a numerous suite, had proceeded up the Nile on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The negotiations and vexations, the delays and disappointments which were connected with this preliminary arrangement, would form a long chapter of disagreeables, 'dull enough to those not interested, but not uninstructive, as showing the great variety of forms which the trial of our patience may assume, and developing the matchless impudence and versatility of the Egyptians in falsehood and fraud.

Mr. C. took the trouble of managing this business; but, as I occasionally accompanied him, and had a common interest in his success, I shared in the annoyances connected with it. After riding to Boulak, the lower harbour of Cairo, twice or thrice a day for a week or more, we at length engaged a boat, which, though too small, we thought might answer our purpose. It was new, and measured on the deck about forty feet in length by ten wide. It was to be navigated by a rais or captain, and eight men, and duly provided with sails, oars, and setting-poles to suit the expected vicissitudes of winds and calms, rapid currents, and sandbanks. There was one good cabin on the hinder part of the deck to be occupied by Mr. and Mrs. C. Another was made for Mr. J. and me by forming a tent of sailcloth immediately in front of the first. For the boat and crew we were to pay 1400 piasters per month. To prevent all misunderstanding, a contract was duly executed in Arabic, and, contrary to common custom, which exacts only half of the

BAD FAITH OF THE BOATMEN.

123

pay in advance, we delivered the whole amount into the hands of the owner of the boat, who bound himself to have all things in readiness for our departure by a given hour on Monday, the 13th of January. Should he fail in this engagement, he was to forfeit the pay of three days for every day's delay. He came to our lodgings early on Monday to announce that everything was in complete readiness. Upon going to Boulak towards evening, we found the boat filled with carpenters, painters, caulkers, &c., and without sail or rudder. The proprietor, who had represented himself as rais, was not present; but his brother, who, we found, was the true rais, impudently assured us that the boat was perfectly ready to receive us on board, and that he only waited for our orders to set sail. We left word for the owner to call on us in Cairo without delay. This he did soon after, and declared to us that his boat was in perfect order for service, urging us to lose no time in embarking. We told him that, having just seen the boat in its unfinished state, we knew his statement could not possibly be true. He repeated his asseverations, and finally swore by his mouth, his eyes, and his beard, that he had left the boat in complete readiOn Tuesday morning, however, we found the sail unfinished upon the bank of the river. The carpenters were in another place, working upon the helm, and the caulkers were still on board filling up the seams. The rais, and all hands, again declared that they were waiting in a state of perfect preparation to receive us on board, and begged of us to send our baggage without farther delay. Upon going to the port again on Tuesday evening, we found appearances more favourable, but were surprised to learn from the proprietor that, instead of two sails, for which the boat was intended, and which he had expressly promised Mr. C., he had resolved to send us upon our voyage with only one. We remonstrated strongly against this shameful imposition, but he persisted in his purpose, affirming that he had prom

ness.

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A CONSUMMATE KNAVE.

ised but a single sail; that the boat was made for one only, and, finally, that he neither could nor would furnish another. Resolving to see if any remedy could be found in the prompt administration for which the pacha's government is so famous, Mr. C. applied to the captain of the port for redress. He professed the greatest readiness to do us justice. He said the man was a rogue, and that he would very gladly have him bastinadoed without more ceremony. The owner of the boat was sent for, and soon made his appearance before this off-hand Rhadamanthus. He made some bungling attempts to justify his conduct, but soon lowered his tone, and offered to do all in his power to meet our wishes. We found that he could not rig the boat with another sail in less than four or five days. The captain of the port assured us that we ran no risk in embarking with one, though two would be preferable. He offered to compel the man to refund the 1400 piasters if we could find another vessel, and declared that he thought it would be very right and useful to have him punished, that he might learn to be honest for the future. He repeated that it would give him pleasure to have a certain number of blows inflicted upon the culprit's feet. We concluded to decline this particular indulgence, and resolved to embark on Wednesday, January 15th, preferring the inconveniences of a long navigation to the unspeakable annoyances of negotiating for another boat. It was a fortunate determination, for an order arrived from the pacha, before our embarcation, forbidding any boat to leave Boulak without an express order from himself, as he wished the services of all in carrying a large quantity of wheat to Alexandria. This order was accompanied by a rumour that England was about to attempt to rescue the Turkish fleet by force of arms, the pacha having refused to restore it. We were to commence our voyage not free from apprehensions that our departure from Egypt, and our subsequent movements in Syria, might be embarrassed by war.

The boat

AVERSION TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

125

men manifest great aversion to the pacha's service. They are very anxious to engage their boats to Franks, and seem perfectly content when under the temporary protection of a foreign flag. This is the only effectual security against the exactions of the government. Several unfinished boats, whose progress towards completion we had carefully observed with reference to engaging them for our voyage, were in effect abandoned by the workmen, one or two only remaining to preserve appearances, till the demands of government should be satisfied and opportunity afforded for engaging in some less odious employment. This universal aversion to the service of Mohammed Ali arises from the rigid discipline, and, as far as practicable in dealing with such a people, the strict accountability which he sternly exacts from his employés. Such an interference with their indolent and thievish habits is more unpalatable to the Arabs than the inadequate and tardy compensation of their labour, of which they have so much reason to complain. Many boats were sunk in the river, or rendered unfit for service, in order to escape from the government officers.

When our boat had finally been put in a state of partial fitness for the voyage, we ordered it to await our embarcation at Old Cairo, about three miles higher up the river than Boulak, and nearly as accessible to us. Our friends advised us to adopt this course in order to avoid the delay of at least one day in the former place, which the boatmen would not fail to make under pretence of completing their supplies, and of passing the multitude of boats moored in the river, of which they always contrive to make a very tedious business, should we embark at the lower port. The penalty for delay would cease to be effective after we should once go on board, an act amounting to an acknowledgment, on our part, that the boat was ready.

Our journey of three or four miles to Old Cairo was to exhibit other evidences of the degradation and knavery of