The ascent of the great Pyramid is very exciting and amusing, and by no means difficult. I think it was our ladies who were first on the top. The view from its summit is very fine, especially southward, up the course of that hitherto mysterious Nile as far as the eye can reach—and that a very small part certainly of its fifteen hundred miles of sparkling water. The Nile river is unique; instead of increasing in volume like other rivers as it flows downward, it gradually decreases, because it receives no additional streams, while—besides its annual inundation—it constantly enriches with its water all its thirsty banks, and the hot atmosphere refreshes itself all along that vast length with its evaporation. On the east the Nile valley is bounded by the white range of hills bordering the Red Sea, and on the west is a similar range bordering upon the great African desert of Sahara. In the foreground of the vast panorama is Cairo, and northward the Delta. How refreshing the green verdure was to the eye beside the rich warm tints of all else within its range! The Sphinx, which stands below on the south distant about 300 feet, is a colossal and very wonderful piece of art, apparently rising out of the sand, and standing sixty feet high. It should if possible be seen at sundown when the stars begin to peep out. The face, with an absorbed mystic expression, gazes afar off up the Nile, and notwithstanding that it is barbarously defaced by violence, and effaced by forty centuries of time, the expression of this prince of statues is altogether most memorable—a singular personification of oracular Wisdom, Majesty, and Repose.[2]
The numerous mosques of Cairo are interesting, but in general have an air of dilapidation and decay I did not expect in this great centre. They have a peculiar picturesque appearance, from their exterior walls being red and white in horizontal stripes, about ten inches wide. Inside there is shade, with quietude and repose well befitting the tombs of royalty—richly gilded—which some of them contain. Our guide Josef, reverentially approaching a small pedestal, gently moved aside a little faded silk curtain which covered its sacred surface, and, kneeling down, devoutly kissed it. This was a piece of rock on which the great prophet had stood, and he showed me the black mark of his foot, which of course remains in proof of the fact.
When we got outside I only remarked that Mahomet must have had a very large and very hot foot! Josef, when I accused him of having neglected both his noon and sunset prayers on the previous day, explained that the priest told him that when on duty in our service he might postpone his devotions till next occasion, if he then performed them in duplicate or triplicate, which he seriously assured me he had since done! Although a man approaching to forty, and married, he had, along with the peculiar cunning of his tribe, the apparent simplicity and openness of a schoolboy.
The Egyptians are an abstemious people: a pennyworth of rice, and a “joint” of sugar-cane costing a halfpenny, with perhaps an orange, and Nile water to drink, may suffice for the day. There is a very superior orange, somewhat costly, always supplied at the hotel table, called “Loose Jacket.” It is similar to, but not quite so small as, the “Mandarin” of Eastern Asia. The bazaar people appear to subsist by slowly sipping coffee, almost black, out of toy-sized cups, and smoking with placid enjoyment the never-absent Nargile pipe.
Driving through Cairo in an open carriage and pair is a favourite enjoyment with English and American travellers. The speed is high for a city, and before the carriage there runs a tall Arab in his white calico dress—somewhat scant—flourishing his long arms and a still longer white rod, and crying aloud to all natives to make way for the man the Pasha delights to honour; or if not that, something not very dissimilar I suppose. This is more ludicrous than pleasant, but costs nothing extra; and in vain you assure your driver that you are in no hurry, and prefer dispensing with so noisy an “avant coureur.” Even in the bazaars—which are narrow streets, and always very crowded—every one stands aside, and a way opens up for your carriage in a marvellously sudden and systematic way. The same honour does not seem given to riders on horseback, no matter how well mounted. If you drive out beyond the city, your Arab footman falls off at the city walls; and when you return—it may be many hours after—there again he will reappear and probably resume his race and cry as energetically as before.
Having, by virtue of an order from the Consul (given only for certain hours one day a week), procured admission into the private gardens of the Khedive, we obtained a view of the Palace of the Harem. It is a plain building, of moderate size, with closely latticed windows, and having a fairy-like erection at some distance behind, into which we entered through a lofty open arch. In the centre of its quadrangle is a small lake with a gondola, and at the four corners are luxuriously furnished rooms or divans, evidently for the use of his Highness and ladies of his harem. All was built and paved with pure white marble, and in the bright sunlight presented a scene more like a dream than an everyday reality. Surrounding the whole was a large garden of beautiful flowers and plants, gently flowing fountains for irrigation, singing birds in hundreds, and everything to delight the eye and the ear.
I thought here of Sardanapalus, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra, as well as of Haroun-al-Raschid. Had I not at last realized the wonders of the “Arabian Nights’ Entertainments!” But yet the scene was unsatisfactory. Everything was artificial and confined, and I doubt if the poor ladies within were as happy amidst this luxurious ease as their sisters in our own land. After all, the only true type of civilization is the Christian, and its best evidence the perfect freedom of the gentler sex. As to the beauty of Eastern females, I believe it is almost all fable. These Cairo beauties have recently obtained some freedom; they drive through the city in carriages with glass fronts or curtains—under guard, no doubt—but we got frequent glimpses of portions of their faces. They seemed insipid—without character or individuality—and distinguishable mainly by height and age. They sometimes showed an interest in looking after the English ladies in our party, and I imagined would willingly have exchanged places. These Eastern ladies seem to paint their eyebrows and tint their eyelids with a very faint black shade, evidently with a view of giving the white eyes more brilliancy by contrast. But we see at home more brilliant eyes without paint, and certainly more homely, honest, and comely faces. A Moslem holiday, somewhat akin to Christmas, is celebrated annually in February. The Khedive or Viceroy drove through the streets in a grand open carriage; his harem ladies accompanied in another, but were protected from observation by curtains. There was more than the usual expenditure of gunpowder on the occasion.
We also gained admission to the Khedive’s Zoological Gardens. The animals were rare, but not numerous. The ostriches, of which there were about a dozen, were to us the most interesting. The size of these birds surprised me, and I can now believe some of the wonderful stories of their extraordinary swiftness, and even the possibility of their carrying a rider, if a skilful jockey of sufficient lightness could be found. They had a very nude appearance, with skin of a much fairer colour than that of the bipeds of Egypt. Perhaps they had lately lost their feathers, which are now of great mercantile value.
The city itself is very large, and its bazaars extremely novel and interesting to a European. They are always crowded, and seem to serve as a daily social as well as business Exchange, frequented by both males and matrons. There are several interesting manufactures in silk and mixed textile fabrics at moderate prices, but I think less so than those at Damascus, which are somewhat similar but more Eastern. A number of buildings, with a few fine shops in the Paris style, indicate the prevalence of French fashions. The Cairo Museum contains many very curious objects of fabulous antiquity, including a statue of Adam in wood!