When the operation was completed, I was enveloped in a dry piece of drapery, similar to the bathing-dress, and conducted to the reposing-room, where I was rubbed and dressed, and left to take rest and refreshment, and to reflect upon the strange scene which I had witnessed. I wish I could say that there are no drawbacks to the enjoyment of the luxury I have described; but the eyes and ears of an Englishwoman must be closed in the public bath in Egypt before she can fairly enjoy the satisfaction it affords; for besides the very foreign scenes which cannot fail to shock her feelings of propriety, the cries of the children are deafening and incessant. The perfection of Eastern bathing is therefore rather to be enjoyed in a private bath, with the attendance of a practised velláneh.
LETTER XXVIII.
April, 1844.
My dear Friend,
I remember writing, in my simplicity, that I believed Mohammad ’Alee Pasha to have but two wives; but having been introduced to another of his wives, the mother of Haleem Bey, in his hareem in the citadel, I conjecture that there is yet another, making the full Muslim allowance, namely, four wives.
The ride to the citadel is not an agreeable one; and at this time the ascent is attended with some danger, as the Pasha has directed the repair of the road leading from the Báb el Weezer; in consequence of which heaps of stones and rubbish almost obstruct the way. I had chosen this route because it is unpaved, and my experience had made me dread the slippery paved entrance by the Great Gate, mounted, as I was, on a “high ass.” Although expecting a tumble in riding over the rubbish, I could not help remarking the enormous size of some stones which had been thrown down from an old wall, so much resembling stones which lie scattered around the pyramids, that I do not doubt they are some of those which were transported by Karakoosh when he was employed in building the citadel.
The Kasr appropriated to the hareem of the Pasha in the citadel is a noble mansion, the finest domestic structure I have seen in Egypt. The interior is on the usual Turkish plan. On the ground-floor is a spacious saloon, paved with marble of a bluish white, nearly surrounded by suites of apartments which open into it; and on the first-floor are rooms on the same plan. Accompanied by my friend Mrs. Sieder, I passed from the principal entrance to a large square court, and having crossed this, we found ourselves in the lower of the two saloons. We then ascended by an ample marble staircase to the saloon on the first-floor. Here a most magnificent prospect burst upon our view: three windows which are opposite the head of the stairs, command the whole of Cairo, and the plain beyond; and every object of interest to the north and west of Cairo within the reach of our sight lay in picturesque variety before our admiring gaze; the green carpet of the Delta, and the plain of Goshen, terminating the view towards the north. I would willingly have lingered here, but our attendants were impatient to conduct us into the presence of the chief lady.
We found her sitting in a room which was carpeted and surrounded by a divan, attended by three ladies. She received us with much respect and cordiality, and as I had been informed that she had the reputation of being an exceedingly haughty person, I was agreeably surprised by finding in her conversation and deportment the utmost affability and politeness. She conversed with me freely of my children, told me that her son was under twenty years of age, and introduced to my notice two nice little girls, children of the hareem, one of whom presented me with a bouquet. The subject of the number, health, and age of each lady’s children is always the darling theme of conversation in the hareems, and truly to a mother ever agreeable. One lady asked me with perfect gravity, whether one of my boys, being thirteen years of age, was married. I conclude she meant betrothed, for the same word is used to express marriage and betrothal. I explained to her that, in England, a boy must become a man before he thinks of marriage, or even betrothal; and that if he entered into the marriage state at twenty years of age, and a girl at fifteen, they would be considered too young. The lady whom I addressed, and her companion, listened with much attention, and one of them earnestly maintained that the English were quite right in objecting to such young marriages as take place constantly in the East.
With respect to the beauties in this hareem, I can only say that one was very remarkable; and among the ornaments that I saw there, there was nothing deserving of particular notice excepting the pearl necklaces of the chief lady and two others: these were composed of the largest pearls that I have ever seen, but nearly tight round the throat.