Twenty years around the world

by John Guy Vassar

The Nile here is about a mile wide, and the current tolerably strong. After a stay of one day, the wind having changed, we started up the river. Our boat was about fifty feet in length, manned with ten stout Arabs, who were stretched upon the deck, or gathered around a pail of rice, proving conclusively that fingers were made before forks; whilst the two immense lateen sails, in the form of a triangle, were spread to the breeze, and we went with great velocity. As the wind slackened at night, where the banks permitted, the Arabs would twist the huge ropes around them, wade ashore, and commence pulling the vessel against the stream.

On the third day of our voyage to Cairo, the wind being strong against us, my two companions having taken their guns in hand, to go in pursuit of pigeons and other kinds of game, that are found in abundance, I strolled along the banks of this mighty and most extraordinary and interesting river, which rolls its waters more than a thousand miles through a sandy desert, fertilizing a narrow strip by its inundations, and could not be surprised that the Arabs loved, and the Egyptians worshipped, that which produced fertility in a soil where every species of fruit and grain grows almost spontaneously. I soon discovered an Arab village, to which I directed my steps, through beautiful fields of grain and groves of palm trees, which present a splendid view in the distance; but on entering them the illusion vanishes. On gazing at the men and women—many of whom were almost in a primitive state, with scarcely clothing enough to cover their nakedness—I could only wonder whether the effects of climate, or bad government, reduced them to their abject state, in such a fruitful country.

On the morning of the fourth day, we arrived at Boulac, a populous town by the river’s side, and in another half hour found ourselves within the walls of Cairo; and here, several novel scenes presented themselves. Many loaded dromedaries and camels; the dashing Arab steed, with the Turk and glittering sabre; the Jews and Armenians, in costume; the haughty Janizary, dashing through the crowd; the harem of some rich Turk, the women robed in black, riding on donkeys, with two or three black eunuchs for a guard; the swarthy Bedouin of the desert; in fact, all characters forming a perfect masquerade, or miniature representation of the oriental world.

Cairo has a population of two hundred thousand; its appearance from a distance is pleasant, with its minarets, domes, and cupolas, and it has a much cleaner and more comfortable interior than other Mahomedan cities. The streets are narrow and dark, producing a shade which is necessary in this climate; although they appear warmer than they are, because of the projection of the first floors, or second stories, which advance so far that in some of the narrowest streets they are only a few inches distant from the houses opposite.

Among our many excursions was one to the “Valley of the Wanderings,” or forest of Agate in the Desert, on the route to the Red Sea. After quitting Cairo, and passing through the great Mameluke Cemetery, we entered into the desert for about five miles, where we found immense quantities of petrifactions of trees, in which are seen the grain of the wood; in some places trunks from twenty to fifty feet in length lie prostrate. Reeds and roots are also found, and quantities of shells. It appears as if a forest had been petrified, and then thrown down by a hurricane, or some other convulsion, and shattered to fragments in the fall. All is conjecture as to the origin and cause of these forests.

On visiting the citadel of Cairo we were shown the place where the unfortunate Mamelukes were slaughtered by the present Pasha, while smoking their pipes of peace, having been invited on a visit of friendship, and were pent up and murdered, only one escaping by leaping his horse over the citadel walls and down an immense precipice. Here was also the Mint, and Joseph’s Well, or the well of Saladin, forty-five feet wide, and cut two hundred and seventy-four feet through solid rock, to a level with the Nile.

On visiting the slave market I found perhaps five or six hundred slaves for sale, most of them naked, except a slight covering across the loins, and some covered with blankets. A large proportion were from Dongola and Sennaar, and exceedingly black and ugly. The Abyssinians have yellow complexions and good teeth; and some quite pretty are kept separate from the mass, among whom were some well dressed, wearing ornaments of gold and chains; two particularly good-looking caught hold of my hand as I passed, smiling and coquetting, and seemed to express by their gestures a desire that I would buy them, and pouted when I left. Prices vary from one hundred dollars to two hundred and fifty dollars; but some who were sick were offered at almost nothing, as so much perishable goods, which the seller wanted to dispose of before it was entirely lost.

Yesterday we went to the Pyramids, passing through a succession of beautiful gardens of Ibrahim Pacha. We reached Old Cairo, occupying the site of the Egyptian Babylon, on the Nile, and celebrated in sacred history as the spot where Pharaoh’s daughter found the infant Moses in his cradle of bulrushes. Further on we stopped to examine the ovens for hatching chickens, in general use in Egypt. It was a large establishment, and capable of hatching by the wholesale. The entrances were so narrow and low as to be difficult, leading into small vaulted chambers, connected with each other, on one side of which are ovens. The eggs remain seventeen days, and on the eighteenth the chickens quit the shell. Out of two thousand eggs the manager counts on one thousand chickens. The general heat is one hundred degrees Fahrenheit during the process.

On crossing the Nile I discovered the Pyramids in the distance, near the margin of the desert, but they did not appear what I had imagined, and it was only until I approached and beheld the four that I could realize them, and not until I approached and commenced ascending, that I could appreciate this mammoth work. The Great Pyramid, the largest of the four, is a gigantic work, being a square of seven hundred and forty-six feet, and its perpendicular height four hundred and sixty-one feet, being higher than St. Peter’s at Rome, or the Cathedral at Strasburg, and one hundred and seventeen feet higher than St. Paul’s of London, all of which I have ascended. The quantity of stone used in this single pyramid is estimated at six million tons, and a hundred thousand men are said to have been employed ninety years in raising it. The top is about thirty feet square. There are two hundred and six layers of stone, the average height from two to four feet. They are so arranged as to form a series of steps, so that any person may mount with the assistance of two Arabs on the outside to aid in stepping up. We were aided by two Arabs each, and others carrying the supplies of provisions and water, of which we made a repast on the top. The prospect from the summit, the rich valley of the Nile covered with verdure, with herds of buffalo quietly feeding, caravans of camels winding their way along the margin of the river, is very beautiful. On the other side it is dreary and gloomy indeed, the surface only broken by the tracks of the caravans, and no signs of vegetation. It is estimated that this great pyramid covers eleven acres of ground. The next largest pyramid is six hundred and eighty-four feet square, and four hundred and fifty-six feet high. Besides the four great pyramids there are smaller ones that appear in the distance, and also ruins of mausoleums about the grand pyramid, which, seen from the top, look like tombstones round a church. On entering the pyramid, knowing that it was difficult of access and almost insufferable on account of dust, we sent in three Arabs with candles, forbidding the others who swarmed around to enter, but they were determined to go in, thereby hoping to get a few paras more for services. It was not until our dragoman placed himself at the narrow passage, three and a half feet square, with his musket in hand, and threatened to shoot the first man who attempted to enter, that we could pass alone. We descended about ninety feet from the opening, which is the one hundred and sixty-third step of the pyramid, at an angle of twenty-seven degrees, then turned and mounted several steps into a passage one hundred feet long and five feet high. At the end is found the queen’s chamber, seventeen feet long, fourteen wide, and twelve high, of polished granite. Above this, ascending an inclined plane one hundred and twenty feet long, of granite, highly wrought, is the king’s chamber, thirty-seven feet long, seventeen wide, and twenty feet high. The slabs of stone which form the ceiling, consisting of nine, extend from side to side. The walls are highly polished, of red granite, and here is a sarcophagus seven feet six inches long, three and a half feet deep, and three and a half broad, supposed to have been the tomb of one of the greatest rulers of the south. It was very hot and suffocating, with the glare of the light and the abundance of dust, and I was rejoiced when I came out.

On our arrival at Cairo we discharged our boat, having suffered considerably from fleas and other vermin, while our baggage was injured by rats. We, however, procured another boat, with a comfortable little cabin astern on deck, just large enough for three persons. The first move was to sink her in the Nile, thereby destroying all the vermin. After she was hauled out her owner, according to contract, painted our little cabin, furnished us with glass windows, which were a novelty, thereby making our habitation for six weeks as comfortable as possible. She is furnished with new sails, and a crew consisting of the reis and twelve stout Arabs. She is almost seventy feet long, with a sharp bow, and two enormous sails, triangular in form, and attached to two tall spars eighty or ninety feet long, heavy at the end, and tapering to a point. These rest upon two short masts, changing their position with the wind, playing upon pivots. Having again furnished ourselves with supplies of provisions, this being the last place for purchasing many articles in use by Europeans, we shall start for the upper country to-morrow or next day, and you may not hear from me again in some time, there being no communication by mail.