[88]. The sketch given of this Egyptian Messalina is not imaginary, neither will it be difficult of recognition to any of the older residents in Cairo. The author, while passing in a boat before that window which has been made the scene of Hassan’s leap, has often been told by the Nile boatmen, “That is the window from which the bodies of her hapless lovers were thrown when she was tired of them.” The tale may be exaggerated, or perhaps invented; but at all events it shows the reputation enjoyed by the lady in question. Her crimes were not unknown to Mohammed Ali, for the author was once informed by a near relative of the old Viceroy that, on the occasion of some flagrant outrage similar to that described in the text, he was himself ordered by the indignant Prince to put her to death; and it was only by dint of urgent entreaties that he succeeded in procuring a commutation of the bloody sentence to a stern threat of summary punishment in case the offence should be repeated.
[89]. It must not be inferred from this that Mohammed Ali could not read: though not a good scholar, he could decipher a plainly written letter; but he rarely did so, and disuse made it daily a more troublesome and difficult task.
[90]. The walks in the Shoobra garden were then fancifully paved with parti-coloured pebbles. These walks have all been destroyed, and carriage-roads made through the garden.
[91]. It has before been noted that the Egyptians, when speaking of the Viceroy, always use the word Effendina or Effendiniz—the former being the Arabic form, the latter the Turkish, for “Our lord.” The English word Viceroy has been generally used in this tale as being shorter and better known.
[92]. It would be unwarrantable to introduce, even in a work of fiction, such a charge against the memory of a man who, with all his faults, was certainly a great and sagacious Prince, had it not some foundation in truth. But it was stated to the author by Abbas Pasha himself that he fully believed that his father had been poisoned by Mohammed Ali’s order. The author asked him whether there was any circumstantial evidence to corroborate this suspicion. “Yes,” he replied. “The news of his death was conveyed from Lower Egypt to Mohammed Ali’s confidential household officer by a swift courier. The officer, ignorant of his master’s views, and afraid of the effect which might be produced on him by the sudden announcement of his son’s death, proceeded to break the intelligence to him with caution, saying, ‘My lord, news is arrived of Toussoun Pasha.’ ‘When—how did he die?’ was the answer. How,” continued Abbas Pasha, “could he have known or guessed that a man in the prime of life had suddenly died unless he had himself decreed it?” There was certainly force in the argument; but as all substantial evidence is wanting, we must be satisfied with the universal Arabic conclusion on such matters—“Allah knows.” Another reflection naturally arises from this tragedy—namely, that when we remember the energy and severity of Mohammed Ali’s character, it seems incredible that if a favourite son, and one of the bravest commanders in his army, had been suddenly carried off by poison in the prime of life without any order or connivance of his own, no open and diligent examination of the officers of the Prince’s household should have been made, and no medical inquiry as to the causes of death have been instituted. Such domestic tragedies are so common in the East that they create but little sensation on the spot. The fate of the son resembled that of the father. There is little doubt but that Abbas Pasha, the late Viceroy, was strangled in his bed by two Mamelukes who had lately entered his service, highly recommended by certain persons in Constantinople. They had stolen money from his harem, and he had threatened them with punishment. They were the only two on duty close to his bedroom on the night of his sudden death. They disappeared immediately after it, yet no real search was made for them; no public or satisfactory medical examination of the body was allowed; it was buried in unseemly haste, and with nothing of viceregal pomp. Crowds of sycophants flocked to the divan of the successor, and a very short time afterwards the author was informed that one of the supposed murderers had become an officer in the Egyptian army!
[93]. One of the ninety-nine names of God among the Arabs.
[94]. On account of the strong currents and numerous shoals and mudbanks that occur in the Nile, it is usual to fasten the boats to the banks at sunset and pursue the navigation at daybreak. During the night a certain number of guards or watchmen are hired from the nearest village, and while they watch (or sleep, as it may be) on the banks near the dahabiah, its owners and their property are usually secure from robbery.
[95]. This phrase is rather Persian than Turkish, and arises not only from the fine sense of hearing supposed to be conferred by the long ears of the hare, but also from a popular belief that even when asleep pussy has one eye open.
[96]. In the Nile, as in most alluvial rivers, the strongest currents are always under the high and precipitous bank; and it often happens that for several miles successively the strongest swimmer could not land on that side.
[97]. Hassan’s object being to frighten away any crocodiles which might be near.