H.M.S. 'Caradoc'—May 2nd.—I have just returned to my ship after spending a few hours on shore and visiting Lord Lyons in his magnificent Prince Albert…. How beautiful Malta is with its narrow streets, gorgeous churches, and impregnable fortifications. I landed at about six, and walked up to the Palace, and wrote my name in the Governor's book, who resides out of town. I then took a turn through the town, and went to the inn to breakfast….
[Sidenote: Chance meetings.]
By way of conversation with the waiter, I asked who were in the house: 'Only two families, one of them Lord Balgonie[1] and his sisters.' I saw the ladies first, and, at a later hour, their brother, in his bed. Poor fellow! the hand of death is only too visibly upon him. There he lay; his arm, absolutely fleshless, stretched out: his large eyes gleaming from his pale face. I could not dare to offer to his broken- hearted sisters a word of comfort. These poor girls! how I felt for them; alone! with their brother in such a state. They go to Marseilles by the next opportunity, probably by the packet which will convey to you this letter, and they hope that their mother will meet them there. What a tragedy! … I had been incog. at the hotel till Sir W. Reid[2] found me there. When the innkeeper learned who I was, he was in despair at my having been put into so small a room, and informed me that he was the son of an old servant at Broomhall, Hood by name, and that he had often played with me at cricket! How curious are these strange rencontres in life! They put me in mind of Heber's image, who says that we are like travellers journeying through a dense wood intersected by innumerable paths: we are constantly meeting in unexpected places, and plunging into the forest again!
[Sidenote: Alexandria.]
_Alexandria.—May 6th.—_I made up my letter last night, not knowing how short the time of my sojourn at Alexandria might be. But at about one in the morning I received a letter from Frederick,[3] telling me that the steamer due at Suez had not yet arrived, that an official reception was to be given me, and that I had better not land too early…. Notwithstanding which, washing decks, the morning gun, and a bright sun, broke my slumbers at an early hour, and I got up and dressed soon after daybreak. At about 6.30 A.M. a boat of the Pacha's, with a dignitary (who turned out to be a very gentleman-like Frenchman), arrived, and from him I learnt that the Governor of Alexandria, with a cortege of dignitaries and a carriage and four, was already at the shore awaiting my arrival; but Frederick did not come till about half-past nine, and it was nearly ten before I landed. I was then conducted by the authorities to the palace in which I am now writing, consisting of suites of very handsome rooms, and commanding a magnificent view of the sea. About a dozen attendants are loitering about and watching every movement, not curiously, but in order to supply any possible want. At this very moment a mild-looking Turk is peeping into my bed-room where I am writing this letter, and supposing that I may wish to be undisturbed, has drawn a red cloth portière across the open doorway. This palace, which is set apart for the reception of distinguished strangers, is situated in the Turkish quarter of the town, and all the houses around are inhabited by Mussulmans. The windows are all covered with latticed wooden shutters, through which the wretched women may, I suppose, peer as they do through the grating at the House of Commons, but which are at least as impermeable to the mortal eye from without. The streets are very empty, as it is the Ramadan, during which devout Turks fast and sleep throughout the day, and indemnify themselves by eating, drinking, and amusing themselves all night.
Cairo.—May 7th.—Most of yesterday afternoon was spent in drinking coffee and smoking long pipes, two ladies partaking of the latter enjoyment after dinner at Mr. Green's. One of them told me that she had dined with the Princess (the Pacha's wife) a few days ago. She went at seven and left at half-past twelve, and with the exception of a half hour of dinner, all the rest of the time was spent in smoking and drinking coffee. After dinner, the mother of the Pacha's only child came in and joined the party. She was treated with a certain consideration as being the mother of this child, although she was not given a pipe. The Princess seemed on very good terms with her. This child (a boy three years old) has an English nurse, and this nurse has persuaded the Pacha to allow her to take the child to England on a visit. The mother, who has picked up a little English from the nurse, said to Mrs. Green, 'I am very unhappy; young Pacha' (her boy) 'is going away.' The mother is no more thought of in this arrangement than I am. What a strange system it is!… We passed through the wonderful Delta to-day, and certainly the people looked more comfortable than those of Alexandria. The beasts too, camels, oxen, donkeys, showed signs of the fertility of the soil in their sleekness. What might not be made of this country if it were wisely guided!
[Sidenote: Crossing the Desert.]
Steamer 'Bentinck.'—Sunday, May 10th.—I write to you from the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai, which we passed at an early hour this morning, gliding through a sea of most transparent glass, with so little motion that there is hardly an excuse for bad writing…. I must, however, take you back to Cairo. We began to move at a very early hour, about three, on Saturday (yesterday) morning. We were actually in the railway carriages at half-past four. I was placed in a coupé before the engine, in order that I might see the road; and in this somewhat formidable position ran over about forty miles of the Desert in about an hour and a half. It is a wonderful sight this strange barren expanse of stone and gravel, with here and there a small encampment of railway labourers, after passing through the luxuriant Valley of the Nile, teeming with production and life, animal and vegetable. In the morning air there was a healthy freshness, which was very delightful. At the end of our hour and a half we reached the termination of the part of the railway which is already completed, and embarked in two-wheeled four-horse vans (such as you see in the Illustrated News), to pass over about five miles of trackless desert, lying between the said terminus and a station on the regular road across the Desert, at which we were to breakfast. This part of our journey was rough work, and took us some time to execute. Our station was really a very nice building; and while we were there a caravan of pilgrims to Mecca, some women in front and the men following, all mounted on their patient camels, passed by. After we were refreshed we started for Suez; and you will hardly believe me when I tell you, that we travelled forty-seven miles over the Desert in a carriage as capacious and commodious as a London town coach, in four hours and a half, including seven changes of horses and a stoppage of half an hour. In short, we got over the ground in about three hours and three-fourths. We had six horses to our carriage, and a swarthy Nubian, with a capital seat on horseback, rode by us all the way, occasionally reminding our horses that it was intended they should go at a gallop.
[Sidenote: Retrospect of Egypt.]
[Sidenote: Egyptian ladies.]
May 11th.—I am glad to have had two days in Egypt. It gave one an idea at least of that country; in some degree a painful one. I suppose that France and England, by their mutual jealousies, will be the means of perpetuating the abominations of the system under which that magnificent country is ruled. They say that the Pacha's revenue is about 4,000,000_l_., and his expenses about 2,000,000_l_.; so that he has about 2,000,000_l_. of pocket-money. Yet I suppose that the Fellahs, owing to their own industry, and the incomparable fertility of the country, are not badly off as compared with the peasantry elsewhere. We passed, at one of our stopping-places between Cairo and Suez, part of a Turkish regiment on their way to Jeddah. These men were dressed in a somewhat European costume, some of them with the Queen's medal on their breasts. There was a hareem, in a sort of omnibus, with them, containing the establishment of one of the officers. One of the ladies dropped her veil for a moment, and I saw rather a pretty face; almost the only Mahommedan female face I have seen since I have reached this continent. They are much more rigorous, it appears, with the ladies in Egypt than at Constantinople. There they wear a veil which is quite transparent and go about shopping: but in Egypt they seem to go very little out, and their veil completely hides everything but the eyes. In the palace which I visited near Cairo (and which the Pacha offered, if we had chosen to take it), I looked through some of the grated windows allowed in the hareems, and I suppose that it must require a good deal of practice to see comfortably out of them. It appears that the persons who ascend to the top of the minarets to call to prayer at the appointed hours are blind men, and that the blind are selected for this office, lest they should be able to look down into the hareems. That is certainly carrying caution very far.