"The Citadel was built by the great conqueror Saladin, and stone for its construction was brought from the pyramids and from the ruins of Memphis, a few miles farther up the river. The spot was not wisely chosen, as the hill is commanded by a higher one just back of it. On this latter hill Mohammed Ali placed his cannons, and compelled the surrender of the Citadel, and consequently of Cairo. There are two roads leading up to the Citadel, one a broad carriage-way, and the other a narrow lane. We went by one and came by the other. In the latter—the narrow lane—the guide showed us a spot which has an historic interest, and perhaps you would like to hear about it:
"There was a body of soldiers in Egypt called the Mamelukes, and they ruled the country for several centuries. They chose the governors of the provinces, and could place one of their number on the throne at any time they wished; in fact, they controlled the country, and the nominal ruler was obliged to do as they wished. When Napoleon came here in 1798 they fought him in the famous Battle of the Pyramids, and were defeated; many of them were killed, and others fled to Upper Egypt, but enough remained to give trouble. When Mohammed Ali came to Egypt, after the French had been driven out by the English, the Mamelukes made him understand that he could do nothing without them. He soon determined to do something with them, and get rid of their interference.
"He sent invitations for the chiefs—four hundred and seventy in all—to come to the Citadel on the first day of March, 1811, to a grand banquet, where they would discuss the plans for a campaign into Nubia. They came at the appointed hour, and assembled in the narrow lane I told you of, waiting for the upper gate to open. When they were all in the lane the lower gate was shut, and there they were in a trap! Then the Albanian soldiers of Mohammed Ali began to fire on the Mamelukes from the loop-holes and the top of the walls. All were killed except one man, Enim Bey, who made his horse leap through a gap in the wall. The horse was killed by the fall, but his rider's life was saved. This was the end of the power of the Mamelukes in Egypt.
"Fred says Mohammed Ali reminds him of the Spanish warrior who said, on his death-bed,
"'I leave no enemies behind me; I've shot them all!'
"The mosque, which was begun by Mohammed Ali and finished by his successors, is on the site of the palace erected by Saladin. It is built of alabaster, from the quarries up the Nile, and though faulty in many points of its architecture, is an interesting structure. It is sometimes called the 'Alabaster Mosque,' and as we went through it our admiration was excited by the richness of the materials of which it is composed. The tomb of Mohammed Ali is in one corner of the building, and is surrounded with a handsome railing, but there is nothing remarkable about the tomb itself. Close by the mosque is the palace; but it is in a half-ruined condition, and contains only a few rooms worth visiting.
"We went to Joseph's Well, which is a shaft nearly three hundred feet deep in the limestone rock; the tradition is that it is the well into which Joseph was cast by his brethren, but it probably gets its name from 'Yoosef,' which was the other name of Saladin the Conqueror. There was a well here when Saladin built the Citadel, but it was choked with sand, and the great ruler ordered it to be cleared out and made useful. It is probable that the well was originally made by the ancient Egyptians, and, if so, it may be the one into which Joseph was cast by his brethren. There is a sakkieh for raising water in this well, but it is of little importance at present, as the Citadel is now supplied by means of a steam-pump."
