Black, but such as in esteem
Prince Memnon’s sister might beseem.—Milton.
Whilst at Assouan we received an intimation from the Governor that, if agreeable, he would, at a certain hour in the afternoon, present himself to our party. It was impossible that anything in the world could give us greater pleasure. And so at the appointed time he arrived, attended by a kavass and a pipe-bearer. The former he left on the bank, the latter came on board with him. The Governor turned out to be quite as black as a Guinea negro, but there the resemblance ended. His face was a good, rather long oval, and his features as fine as those of a Greek Apollo. Off a straight forehead he had a straight nose with a thin nostril. There was no trace of coarseness about his mouth. His skin was as smooth, and soft, and thin as that of an Arab girl. He was above six feet in height, and clean-limbed. His build conveyed the idea of strength combined with lithesome, panther-like agility; though, as he sat leisurely smoking his pipe, and sipping his coffee, he did not at all look like a man who was ever in a hurry. His manners were easy and dignified, full of grace and smiles. He was very intelligent, and readily answered any questions that were put to him through the dragoman about the condition of the people, and of the country. He had been born at Assouan, and had never been out of the neighbourhood. I regret now that I did not ask him some questions about his parentage. I suppose his mother, at least, must have been a Nubian, or Abyssinian. The colour of his complexion indicated rather the former, his features perhaps the latter. Possibly there had been much mixture of blood in his family for some generations, perhaps through odalisque channels; for the children of odalisques and of regular wives are treated as equals. An European might have made a companion, or friend, of this man, a footing upon which he never could place himself with a negro.
I have given the above account of our visitor for an historical purpose. We find that some of the queens of Egypt were black. So must have been the wife of Moses. Their physical and mental characteristics, then, I suppose, must have resembled those of the Governor of Assouan.
CHAPTER XXII.
EGYPTIAN DONKEY-BOYS.
Alas! regardless of their doom,
The little victims play:
No sense have they of ills to come,
No care beyond to-day.—Gray.