While at Thebes we had a mutiny among our crew. We were unfortunate in having Arabs and half Barbary negroes, who could not agree. Our only recourse was to present ourselves before the governor or sheik of the little village of Luxor, with the all-powerful firman of the Sultan and Mehemet Ali in hand, and make known our grievances. The usual form of justice was administered with the calash, or piece of rhinoceros’ hide, to one of the worst by way of example, and the sheik finding the barbarians still obstinate, imprisoned them until we were ready to start, while he and his associate, the governor of the Nile, came down to our boat, sipped our coffee, smoked our long pipes with the dignity of a grand seignor, received the “backsheesh” of eight piastres each, equal to three-fourths of a dollar, and went off perfectly happy.
Our next place of debarkation was at Belianach, where we mounted donkeys, without saddle or bridle, and rode to the ruins of Abydos, the capital of the great Osymandias or Osmendes, who is supposed to have lived 2276 years B.C. There are some remarkable ruins there. Among the number the Memnonium and small temple of Osiris, remarkable for having had a sanctuary made of alabaster, and for containing the famous tablet of the kings, which, next to the Rosetta stone, has been of the greatest assistance to the students of hieroglyphics. The valley of the Nile at this point, I should think, is six miles broad, and abounding in vegetation. The wheat is in blossom, beans and peas are ripened, and it was a rich sight to see the herds of goats and sheep, camels and buffalo, grazing upon the plain.
We were obliged to stop here for want of wind, and to replenish our crew, the barbarians having taken the liberty of making off, sans ceremonie. I have therefore been obliged to have another interview with the two governors at this place, who have promised to furnish us with men. The past two days my two companions have had plenty of amusement in shooting at crocodiles, as we had no wind, and the weather was warm. They are prepared for the heat of the climate, being dressed in Turkish costume, with heads shaved. It being a sin to shave the beard in this country, we have all a great profusion of hair upon the visage.
XXXII.
African Desert, March 8, 1842.
The governor sent us four men, called sailors, to supply the place of six who had absconded; but such a crew I never saw. One was blind of an eye, another lame, the third too old for service. The instructions of the governor, who had forced them on board, were, to continue with us to Siout, the capital of Upper Egypt, where plenty of men could be found. To cap the climax, the next day, while detained by a strong head wind, the lame, blind, and halt took leg bail, unperceived. We made a further application at another village, and succeeded in getting men to go as far as Siout, at which place we wished to stop, to visit Caves, about four miles distant from the river, in the mountains.
Having mounted donkeys, we started for the city, which is situated about a mile and a half from the river; and the road being studded with rows of trees on each side, it was an agreeable excursion.
On arriving within the walls, we presented ourselves before the Effendi, who occupied a handsome house, with a grove of palm trees in the rear. We found him squatted with his officers upon carpets, on a low divan, each enjoying the luxury of a long pipe, with an amber mouth-piece. He desired us to be seated, when coffee and pipes were presented; and, after the usual etiquette had been passed through, our credentials were presented, and our wants made known to the dragoman. He immediately sent his janizary to the governor of the Nile, with instructions to procure us a complement of good sailors, which was effected; and on paying them all they demanded, we succeeded remarkably well.
The streets of Siout are unpaved, narrow, and irregular; the houses are built of unburnt brick, and differ in no respect from the generality of those usually met with on the Nile. During the inundations the whole country is overflowed, and boats of the largest size anchor under the wall of the city, at which time it communicates with the river by an artificial causeway of immense size. The country about is rich and fertile in the extreme, owing to the annual inundations of the Nile. The palace and gardens of Ibrahim Pacha were well worthy of a visit. The tombs and immense chambers which are found in the mountain in the vicinity, are very interesting, but bear no comparison with those of the tombs of the kings at Thebes. On entering some of those gloomy chambers, with our torches, we were beset by bats of enormous size, that literally swarmed there, and afforded much amusement in the chase. On firing a gun in one of the dark recesses, we killed two, and found them to be the most extraordinary animals of the kind I had ever seen, being the size of a full-grown rat, and with much the same appearance, with the exception of the mouth, which was like that of a wolf, and the extended wings. On coming out of the tombs, covered with dust, and fatigued, we proceeded to the city to enjoy the luxury of a Turkish bath. The Orientals enjoy the vapor and hot baths to such an extent, that in almost all their towns and villages they are to be found; but I had no idea of finding such perfection here, and must, for the novelty of the thing, describe it. After passing two chambers, one hotter than the other, we arrived at the third, where the heat and vapor were almost suffocating, and there found half-a-dozen naked Arabs waiting for their three customers; when such a scene of confusion commenced as I cannot describe, to decide who should have the “white skins.” After they had fought it out, and our servants had settled it by agreeing to divide the backsheesh, or gift, they commenced with burning musk and perfume. While the perspiration rolled out from every pore, I was rubbed from head to foot with a camel’s hair glove, and then laid on the hot marble floor, while my arms were crossed upon my back and breast, and almost the weight of the Arab’s body thrown upon me. All my joints were drawn and cracked, while showers of hot water were thrown upon me; and, almost in an exhausted state, myself and my two companions were led into an adjoining room, with white turbans on our heads, wrapped in sheets, where we reposed upon divans for an hour, partaking of coffee, lemonade, and pipes. After this fatiguing, but refreshing, bath, one feels like a new man, particularly when the heat of the day is intense.
On descending the Nile, we stopped at several towns and villages to see the bazaars, and study further the manners and customs of the people, but I cannot attempt a description for want of space. I will, however, mention that we visited the pyramids of Sakkara, and the site of ancient Memphis; but as nothing of interest now exists at the latter, and having described in a former letter the immense pyramids of Ghizeh, I shall not speak of Sakkara, which is smaller, and of less consequence. Near the same site is Abousir, a small, miserable village, situated upon the edge of the desert, where are three pyramids of large size, and many tumuli. Near this place, after an excursion of four or five miles from the verdant banks of the Nile, we found the mountain which contains the famous Catacomb of Birds. With torches, we entered the narrow hole, on our hands and knees, to see places formerly occupied by the mummies. We found passages leading in every direction through the mountain, many fragments of mummies, and many a sarcophagus entire. The entrance to the Catacomb of Birds is by a pit, twenty-two feet deep, at the bottom of which is a horizontal passage, sixty feet long, nearly choked up with sand, dirt, and broken jars, along which one has to creep; but after some distance, the passage is high enough to stand erect, and there are large rooms in which are deposited the jars containing the sacred birds.