At six o'clock in the morning, attended by the civil engineer, a colonel in the Egyptian Army, and their own party, they set out in three carriages for the railway, and proceeded on the line to Tuck, through the desert for forty miles. The railway was well finished thus far, and works in construction for carrying the line three hours further. It is expected to be finished by the end of June. "The scene in the desert," Sir Moses says, "was most interesting; hundreds of camels, thousands of men as busy as ants; at present there are ten thousand men at work!"
Magnificent as the palace was which they occupied, the millions of mosquitoes and their innumerable associates, stinging their faces and hands, did not permit them to remain an hour at rest in their apartments, and they had to leave them for the adjoining gallery; there they passed the night on chairs. They were glad, when the morning came, to ride to the Synagogue, where they felt the soothing effect of a cool and refreshing breeze (the building excluding the rays of the sun, and conveniently permitting the currents of air to pass), which the palace in the previous night could not offer them.
They left Cairo in the Pasha's carriages, accompanied by several officers, for the railway, where every arrangement had been made for their journey to Alexandria, which place they reached at 5 A.M. Ahmed Bey, one of the officers of the Pasha, was waiting there to receive them. They proceeded immediately to the palace, with three carriages, two outriders, and runners.
June 18th.—Sir Moses attended divine service at five in the morning, and met in the house of prayer the newly appointed spiritual head of the community, who happened to have entered into office on that day for the first time. The Rev. M. Hazan, a native of Jerusalem, who had recently filled a similar office at Corfu, had been appointed Rabbino Maggiore in Alexandria. His name is well known in England, as he took an active part in the deliberations on subjects connected with reform movements in the Synagogue.
June 19th.—We find Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore on board the America, Captain Florio, in the harbour of Alexandria; and on Sunday, June 21st, they were on their voyage to Trieste, where they arrived on the 27th, and proceeded, viâ Adelsberg, Laibach, Vienna, and Hanover, to England.
On Sunday, July 19th, they arrived at Ramsgate, after an absence of five months.
CHAPTER IX.
1857.
TOUSSOUN PASHA STAYS ON A VISIT TO SIR MOSES—SIR MOSES RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DEPUTIES—THE INDIAN MUTINY—MONETARY PANIC—THE JEWISH DISABILITIES AT LAST REMOVED—SIR MOSES PRESENTS TOUSSOUN PASHA TO THE QUEEN.