This place I think quite hideous, and if all Egypt is like it I shall wish to quit it as soon as possible. When I have seen the pasha, I trust my letter will contain a little amusing if not interesting matter: it would be affected in me to retail (even had I time) the news of Alexandria, as you must receive it all from higher authority. I have little more to add, at present, than my constant best wishes, and to trouble you to forward the enclosed letters; the packet to Lady Bute have the goodness to send by the first opportunity. I wish you could see the letter I received from her not long ago. She is a woman of ten thousand; so amiable herself, yet so indulgent to others, and so sincere a friend.
Adieu, my dear ——,
And believe me ever sincerely yours,
H. L. S.
Captain Hope (Chivalry Hope he is to be called, for the old knights of Malta and Rhodes could not have deserved more praise from Burke)—Chivalry Hope then has taken under his protection a box of conserves for you. Alas, they are by no means so good as those I lost, or of the various sorts chance then put me in possession of; but accept them, dear ——, as they are. Colonel Misset has allowed me to take one of his iron beds; if it could be replaced from Malta I should be very glad, as I fear he will feel the loss of it. B—— desires to be most kindly remembered to you.
Some time was necessary to replace the servants who had been dismissed at Rhodes; and our stay was also prolonged at Alexandria in order to purchase such articles as we had been unable to obtain at Smyrna: but, at the end of a fortnight, preparations were made for our departure to Cairo.
I cannot take leave of Alexandria without adverting to the common belief of the little rain and great heat that is to be met with there. I was lodged in a house which overlooked the East harbour; and it was rarely that I had to complain of the heat. There were some houses, built with lofty saloons on the same side, which did not require even the windows to be opened to keep them cool. It is true that, to any one caught in some spot where the rays of the sun have full play, and where the wind has not, the heat is intolerable: but not so to those, however, who will so far exert themselves by riding or walking as to excite a copious perspiration.
The common beasts of burden in Egypt are asses, whose easy and quick pace renders them agreeable as well as serviceable. As the Turkish soldiers pay or do not pay for riding, according to their fancy, the ass-drivers teach their animals to distinguish those unwelcome guests from better paymasters; and no sooner does a soldier, whose exterior denotes the bad state of his purse, lay hold of one of them, and mount him, than the ass feigns himself ill, and neither kicks nor blows can make him move a step. Some of these asses were hired to carry the luggage down to the edge of Lake Edko, which it is necessary to cross in going to Rosetta.
Mr. Pearce and myself, accompanied by an old janissary, whom Lady Hester had brought with her from Rhodes, set off early in the morning of the 28th of February. We passed through the ruins of the old city, where a few granite columns, the brick subterraneous cisterns, and that mass of stone and bricks which covers the surface for so many feet in depth, could not fail, though so often seen, of arresting our attention. Nor does the mind want objects to dwell upon out of the walls, where the remains of foundations, fragments of marble, and a soil composed of the remnants of art, forcibly strike the beholder, and give rise to the melancholy reflection, how vast a city has fallen to decay! At the end of two leagues, we came to lake Madiah. Here a number of small barges, or flat-bottomed boats, ply for passengers; and, before embarking, much time is to be spent in bargaining for the passage, or much imposition must be submitted to. Woe to him who manifests too great an anxiety to depart! he is sure to pay for it. Nay, the mere exclamation of “How hot it is!”—“I wish we could get to a place where we could find something to eat”—or any like marks of impatience, cost some piasters more: and, as the boats are all subject to one master, there is no flying from the extortion of one to another. We at last settled the price; and, about twelve or one o’clock, got the luggage and ourselves on board.
Our crew consisted of an old man and a boy. There was no wind, and we were pushed along, as the lakes are seldom so deep that a pole cannot reach the bottom. We had proceeded about two miles on our way towards the mouth of the lake, where it enters into the bay of Abukír, when we heard a halloo; but, not supposing it to be intended for us, we paid no attention. Soon afterwards it was repeated, and we saw some persons running along the shore and hailing us. Our old helmsman then said there was something the matter, and that we must turn back. We strongly objected to this, and as fast as he pushed the boat round we altered the rudder to bring her back again. However, as he persisted, we suffered him to do as he pleased. Presently, when we were within half a mile of the shore, a boat was observed coming off to us, and a musket-shot whistled over our heads. We could distinguish that the people were armed soldiers, as well those on shore as in the boat. Mr. Pearce and myself could do nothing but wait patiently to know what was meant. The boat came alongside, the steersman directed our boatman to quicken his speed, and kept close to us as we neared the strand. When within a stone’s throw, I cried out in Turkish—“What do you want?”—upon which we saw an Albanian, who appeared to command the rest, kneel down to take aim at us. Our old janissary no sooner beheld the muzzle of the gun than he dropped down in the boat: he expected the Albanian officer (for such he proved to be) would have fired; but the people with him were evidently urging him not to do so. We reached the shore, and were immediately seized, disarmed, and a volley of oaths and imprecations was vented upon us. In vain our trembling old janissary said that we were Englishmen, belonging to a great English person, and that those who did us harm would rue it: he was not heeded.