Court Life in Egypt ... With illustrations

Front matter

COURT LIFE IN EGYPT. AN EGYPTIAN VILLAGE IN FLOOD-TIME. COURT LIFE IN EGYPT. I IV ALFRED J. BUTLER, FELLOW OF BRASENOSE COLLEGE, OXFORD, AUTHOR OF *' THE ANCIENT COPTIC CHURCHES OF EGYPT." WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: CHAPMAN and HALL Limited 1887 [AU Rights rest-wed] WESTMINSTER : PRINTED BY NICHOLS AND SONS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. PAGE 1 CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. A volcano by night — The Under-Governor of Alexandria — Reception by the Khedive — Departure for Upper Egypt — Travelling companions — A Beduin sham-fight — Scenes at Siut — Dancing-girls at Girgah — The Cataract and Philae — Advantages of consular protection — Ducal enterprise .

Chapter II

Dining with the Khedive — Horrors of the Dosah — Visit to Maidum — Adventure with Beduins — Mirage — Ball at Abdin Palace — Story of the murdered Mufettish — Naib's extravagance — Palace quarters 34 CHAPTER HI. Journey in Lower Egypt — Suliman — Dinner with 'Abdu '1 Al — Ruins at Tbmuis — Damietta — Zagazig — Miseries of Tantah The sirocco — Encounter with a lunatic — Rosetta — Smelling the zephyr VI CONTENTS. PAGE

Chapter IV

Mr. Gladstone and Turkey — An unjust steward — The devil's muezzin — Colonel Gordon and the Khedive — First signs of the Rebellion — Stories of fortunes — -The pyramids in summer — Great procession of dervishes ...... 93

Chapter V

Alexandria — Palace by the sea — Oriental luxury — The valet-dechambre — A sail — Narrow escape of the Khedive — Fete in the palace gardens — Morice Bey — The sea-shove — Picnic in the desert .......... 121

Chapter VI

Conversations with the Khedive — Slave trade — Egyptian mora Is — The Dosah — The month of fasting — Ceremony at the palace — Superstitious customs — Ramleh sportsmen — Story of the Sultan — "Our own correspondent" — Story of Fakri Pasha — An unpleasant journey ...... 149

Chapter VII

Summer and Winter— Riaz Pasha — The Dosah again — Slavery and England — The splendour of the Mufettish — Colonel Gordon— Bribing The Times— The Khedive and his father — Ismail and Russia ....... CONTENTS. VII PAGE

Chapter VIII

The pyramids in flood-time — Beset by Beduins — Ancient coins — Pistols forgotten — Stories of Arab " saints" — The Mahmal — Festival of Great Bairam — The Chief Eunuch — Visit to Sheikh Mohammed es Sadat — The King's chamber . . 210

Chapter IX

Black arts — Khedive and magician — A Coptic dealer in charms — Remarkable Persian ceremony — Sanguinary rites — Litany and lections — More talk about the Dosah — Arab myths .......... 238

Chapter X

Wild flowers at Ramleh — The Dosah to be abolished — The Khedive's intentions about the slave-trade — Difficulties and opposition— Daud Pasha and the brigands — Treasure-trove The golden lions — Turkish comedy — A princess's wedding . 261

Chapter XI

Mutiny of the three colonels— Decision of the cabinet council —Conversation with the Khedive— Making an earthquake- Visit of a Persian grandee — His reflections on Egypt— The Prophet's birthday— The Dosah actually abolished— Conclusion .■•■•••• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Bas-relief of Seti I. at Abydos .... To face p. 21 Painted Statues of Rahotep and Nefert (Bulak Museum) ,, 46 Mushrabiah Window in Cairo . . . . „ 61 Ancient House at Rosetta . . . . . . ,, 89 An Egyptian Village in Flood-time . . . . ,, 171 Group of Beduins .......,, 211 Persian Brass-worker ......,, 254 Native Mimes and Minstrels „

Chapter I

A volcano by night — The Under-Governor of Alexandria — Reception by the Khedive — Departure for Upper Egypt — Travelling companions — A Beduin sham-fight — Scenes at Siut — Dancing-girls at Girgah — The Cataract and Philae — Advantages of consular protection — Ducal enterprise. It was in January, 1880, that I received a telegram summoning me out to Egypt as tutor to the sons of the Khedive ; and, though a friend long familiar with the East pledged his knowledge of orientals that the order meant no hurry for a month or two, I judged it better to obey more literally. As yet I had not learned the Egyptian proverb, "Haste is of the devil." So I was soon on board a French packet sailing away from the Bay of Naples, not sorry to have so bright a scene for the last clear view in Europe. As we stood out to sea, we beheld the red palace on B the shore where the ex-Khedive Ismail was living in discontented splendour.

Just then, too, he was in a state of livid indignation, for one of his slave-girls had dared to escape and fly with a handsome Neapolitan officer. In Egypt the slave would have been recaptured and killed : in Italy, where Ismail's arm was shortened, she married, and doubtless lived and lives in happy security. To be set at defiance by a civilised elopement must have bitten like acid into Ismail's spirit ; no wonder that he forthwith sent his son, Prince Hassan, to Constantinople, begging the Sultan's leave to reside at Stambul, where the swift and sharp methods of oriental revenge still flourish. I shall have a good deal to say hereafter about Ismail Pasha, that curious figure, half Harun er Rashid and half Pharaoh, on the stage of the nineteenth century. At night we sailed calmly on through phosphor escent seas, and before dawn I was called to see the island cone of Stromboli which shot forth fountains of flame at intervals, like the fitful light of some giant's forge.

Sometimes only a faint glow broke through the gloom : sometimes a column of spreading fire towered above the crater ; strange starlike gleams flashed out upon the dark sides of the mountain ; or RECEPTION AT ALEXANDRIA. 3 floods of lava thundered down in burning cataracts. Then all again was still, and the volcano was shrouded in silence and darkness. As we passed Messina, a rising storm obscured the distant lights of the town : the coast vanished : and for three days we tossed in rain and gloom. Then almost on a sudden we came into a new world of sunshine, and found the ship gliding through golden air and still waters into the harbour of Alexandria. Soon after we had cast anchor a fleet of little boats beset our vessel. I waited on board ship till an Egyptian officer in naval uniform stepped up to me, and with a salute inquired my name in English.

On ascertaining it, he introduced to me his comvjanion as the Under-Governor of Alexandria. With great ceremony they conducted me to a splendid ten-oared galley, where I reclined on cushions of crimson velvet and gold, and was rowed ashore to the Arsenal. There the officer took his leave, the crew saluted, and the Under-Governor led me to a carriage which was waiting. We passed through the streets of Alex andria under countless salutes and salams. My companion pointed out this and that building and asked my opinion of the town, but after every remark pointed to his own heart, and added, laughing softly. b2 " Et moi, je suis le Sous-Gouverneur d'Alexandrie." I displayed as much enthusiasm for the second-rate edifices as my conscience would carry, inly con trasting them with the famous temples and palaces of Alexander's city, and I congratulated my friend on his exalted dignity.

Our progress ended at the Court tailor's, where I was measured for my destined uniform. Thence to the Hotel d'Europe in the Place Mehemet 'Ali, beneath the windows of which some two and a half years later the worst scenes of 'Arabi's massacre were enacted. With one more assurance of his rank the Under-Governor left me till the morning. At seven o'clock next day the faithful magnate was in waiting. His merry eye twinkled and his voice gurgled with a prolonged chuckle over his own good fortune and mine, as he took me again to the tailor and thence to the station. He gave me a letter to Zeki Pasha, Grand Master of the Ceremonies to the Khedive, and I thanked him for all his kind ness. " Mais non, monsieur : vous n'avez que Son Altesse a remercier, dont je suis le tres humble servi teur. Ah ! mon Dieu, monsieur, quelle chance que la votre : vous serez a la Cour, aupres des petits princes, pres de Son Altesse.

Et moi je suis le Sous- PROSPECT OF TRAVEL. 5 Governeur d'Alexandrie ! " It was a hard struggle to keep grave, but I saw his drift and told him I would report the kind treatment I had received to the Khedive. Upon this his face beamed again : again he shook hands, and there blent with the screech of the engine -whistle, as the train moved off, soft murmurs of " d'Alexandrie." At Cairo a Court official was waiting to receive me, and conducted me to the New Hotel, a showy building erected by Ismail Pasha to accommodate his guests at the opening of the Suez Canal. Shortly after my arrival Turabi Bey, English Secretary to the Khedive, called on behalf of His Highness to bid me welcome and to say that I should be received at Court in a day or two. He spoke very highly of the Khedive's kindness.

Next day he called again with a message of inquiry from His Highness, and brought the good news that the Khedive would start in a week's time for a tour in Upper Egypt. He also introduced me to a very beautiful young Jewess of Alexandria, who, though only sixteen years old, talked English almost perfectly, besides German, French, Italian, and a little Arabic. But polyglot children are common enough in Egypt. When Turabi left I called on Rogers Bey, then the greatest living Arabic scholar among Englishmen* not excepting even Professor Palmer. The natives always said that he was the only foreigner who could talk not merely as one of themselves but better than the best of them. He told me that the Arabs all believed that the Khedive was going into Upper Egypt for the purpose of unearthing and bringing home a vast treasure of jewels and gold of which tidings had reached him.

How else, they argued, would a man in his position undertake such a trouble some journey? Clearly impossible. On the day appointed for my reception by the Khedive I drove to 'Abdin Palace, where he always spends the daytime. I was shown into an ante-room, where aides-de-camp, officers of the ceremonies, and other officials were lounging about and smoking. When summoned to the presence, I passed througli other ante-rooms gorgeously furnished, up a fine marble staircase, and into a large saloon, where the Khedive was sitting alone. He rose as I entered, shook hands, and motioned me to a seat beside him. I of course was dressed in my new uniform, and wore the red tarbush or fez, which may never be removed. To uncover in presence of the sovereign * Rogers Bey died in 1884. COURT UNIFORM. 7 would be gross impertinence.

It is hard to say a good word for the fez, which is simply the turban stripped of its outer bandage, i e., of all that made it beautiful to the eye, and effectual as a protection from the sun. The uniform otherwise is really European, a sort of frock-coat with stiff collar : in fact, when the pashas decided to abandon their flowing robes, they sought Europe through for a model of respectability in costume, and fixed on the dress of the British parson. Artistically, it makes a sad show beside the bright and graceful raiment of the East : physically, it is the most uncomfortable and unsuitable garment possible in a hot climate : but these drawbacks are meant to be forgotten in its moral significance. Perhaps rather the Turk has refined on the proverb with true oriental subtilty ; and the wolf is dressed in shepherd's clothing.

On entering the presence one has to button up the frock-coat, or stambouline as it is called, just as the natives cover up their hands in their long sleeves. But nothing could be less formal or more pleasant than the Khedive's manner. A frank smiling face, a winning voice, and a dignified quiet demeanour, invest his person with a charm which he has inherited from his father, and has bequeathed to his children. He talked affably while I smoked the proffered cigarette : for singularly enough the Khedive is the only oriental I ever met who never smokes. I took the opportunity of telling the native story about the buried treasure. The Viceroy laughed, but answered with evident sincerity that the only treasure he desired was the prosperity and contentment of his people. Before the interview was over, he gave me to understand that he was very pleased with me, that he felt sure the young princes would be pleased like wise, and that he hoped to improve his English by conversing with me often.

To which I replied that I should deem it an honour to be of service to His Highness, and withdrew, making the customary salam. The three or four days which remained before our departure for Upper Egypt, I naturally spent in seeing the streets and mosques of Cairo, — sights which every traveller is familiar with, and most have written books upon. It is not my purpose to describe here scenes of the kind : though no one could delight more in the brightness and picturesqueness of the Victorious City,* in the romance of its life, and the wealth of its art. * Cairo, i.e. Masr el Kahirah, means, of course, Masr the Victorious. MARSHAL OF THE PALACE. 9 On the eve of our departure I drove with Turabi Bey to our steamer to examine our quarters. Turabi, though a Turk by birth, had lived many years in England attached to the Turkish Embassy, and was a loyal Englishman at heart.

I was pleased to share his cabin. But when we went below we were hor rified to find nothing but a bare mattrass in each berth, with no sign of blankets or linen. With the natives these are superfluous luxuries ; and the steamer for the suite was unluckily at the mercy of a native. Next morning, therefore, besides our regular luggage, we had to take linen, towels, and even soap. I soon began to find that even among eastern princes all is not magnificence. The fact was that the Khedive had given orders for the comfort of the few Europeans with him : but his native servants inter preted these orders in native fashion. Indeed, the Marshal of the Palace was an enfranchised slave, who joined utter ignorance of European ways to a fanatic hatred of all Franks ; a hatred veiled at times under cold and steely smiles, but more often scowling in every line of his most repulsive countenance.

I learnt in time how to deal with him, and, when need arose, crossed swords with him unflinchingly. It was on the 22nd of January, 1880, that we started on our voyage. Nearly the whole Court went, and the party required three large steamers besides a provision-boat. By request of the Khedive, I kept a journal, but shall record here a good deal of personal matter there omitted, and omit most of the descriptions and events there recorded. Every one knows the glow of Egyptian sunlights and sunsets, the majestic sameness of the Nile, the sublimities of Karnak and Philae ; not every one has traversed the land and visited the monuments of the Pharaohs in the company of the living "king of Egypt." Our meals on this expedition were at first very trying. For breakfast one had nothing but a piece of bread with two kinds of condiment, rose-leaf jam and olives, in two little saucers.

Olives in oil are specially difficult to relish at seven o'clock in the morning. We lunched at noon, and dined at seven, i.e. whenever the provision-boat happened to be within reach : but she was a slow craft, and generally overtook us, as an Arab would say, at the time appointed by destiny. Luncheon and dinner were much alike, and I may quote a specimen. The five Europeans and Turabi sat together at a round table formed by a large trav : each had a plate and a knife and a fork. The first NATIVE MANNERS. 11 course consisted of turkey or chicken cut into lumps ; next bamias, or Egyptian beans, swimming in oil ; thirdly a whole sheep ; then dolmas, or rice wrapped in cabbage-leaves; then mutton bones; then pilaf, a preparation of rice ; then a sugared pasty ; and lastly oranges and bananas. For side-dishes we had lettuce drenched with oil, raw turnips sliced and soaked in oil, and a creamy-looking compound of garlic, said to be very delicious by people who have cultivated the taste.

I, for one, could never make the premier pas qui coilte. After every meal servants were in attendance with napkins, ewers, and basins. One servant holds the basin, while another pours a stream of fresh water over the hands. Some of the natives, while per forming their ablutions, made a thick lather of soap, which they thrust into their mouths, using a finger as a toothbrush. Another trick they have even less delectable, that of making eructations to denote and to ease repletion. To do this is regarded as a proof of politeness : it is like saying to your host, " What a splendid dinner we have eaten." Men remarkable for polish and breeding make the noise in their host's face on taking leave, and I have heard the good man in answer murmur his gratified " God reward you." There is a " candy deal of courtesy " in eastern manners.

The soldiers of our escort squatted in circles of five or six round a single dish, into which they plunged their fingers emulously and ravenously. I may here introduce some of my companions. Turabi Bey I have already mentioned, a jovial sturdy little Turk of sixty years, with a kindly pleasant face and a loyal heart, with the tottering gait of a child and the appetite of a giant, never happy without a cigarette, yet the model of misery when forced for politeness' sake to smoke a cigar ; a first-rate English scholar, yet incapable of uttering one sentence in the native Arabic after fifteen years residence in Egypt, always grumbling yet never ill tempered, to me the cheeriest of companions and best of friends, to the Khedive most devoted of servants and often wisest of counsellors. Poor Turabi !

Just four years after the time of which I am writing I witnessed the pomp of his funeral, and stood beside his grave outside the walls of Cairo, as his body was lowered in its Muslim shroud and the 'Ulema chanted their prayers above his last resting-place. I never recall that day without sorrow, nor his memory without affection. TRAVELLING COMPANIONS. 13 The Europeans in the suite of the Khedive were four besides myself. Goudard Bey, for many years Chef du Cabinet to Ismail and occupying the same position with Tewfik, the reigning Khedive. He was a Frenchman of some fifty years, astute, scholarly, parsimonious, speaking no language but his owTn ; an oval face with pointed beard, a high voice, occasional dry laughless humour, and a reserve of manner which aimed at silence afloat and at invisi bility ashore.

Tonino Bey, Master of Ceremonies, an Italian born in Egypt, spoke French and Arabic, told and still tells most moving and romantic stories, in which he figures as hero, and princesses of various countries serve as heroines ; cracks jokes, knows everybody, is quite adapted to the most native of native ways, vultu mutabilis, albus et ater. Martino Bey, who has now succeeded Goudard, is a fine handsome Italian, well-dressed and well-mannered, fluent in French, fair at Arabic, a good raconteur, cynical and contemptuous of his surroundings, but wise as a weasel among them. Lastly came a pleasant and rollicking young Austrian soldier, quick tempered and known to have killed an adversary in duel with a sword-thrust a few months ago, otherwise perfect in manner, master of six languages, a soldier of fortune who had seen service from Abyssinia to Mexico.

We were therefore a motley company to be travelling together, to say nothing of the fact that the entourage of the Khedive included Turks, Circassians, Sudanese, and an Armenian, as well as Egyptians. But we got on very well : and in the Babel of tongues one had never far to seek for an interpreter. Cards and chess beguiled the evening hours, and I soon learned that "check" is merely the Arabic "sheikh," that " checkmate " is " esh sheikh mat," or "the chief is dead," and that "rook" means "rukn" or corner-piece. Among the more general lessons which I got by heart, the golden rule was nil admirari : so if I saw a bey devour five feet of sugar cane in as many seconds, or a pasha cleaning his boots with his handkerchief, I never betrayed astonishment or even curiosity. Another great secret in dealing with orientals is to put a good face on every thing.

A third maxim is, be ready to give all the information you possess : what may seem childish to you, will be novel to them. The man after their own heart is "renowned for the shining calm of manners, the morning light of knowledge, and the smiling of the mouth." A TURKISH TOILETTE. 15 Some of their manners and customs are very curious. For instance, I could not help occasionally witnessing the toilette of a certain bey. His first operation, before proceeding to wash, was to swathe his body round and round in bands of flannel up to the very throat. Having thus guarded himself against the contact of the water, he gently dabbed his cheeks and hands, dried himself, and was clean. For his hair he had a pair of brushes, which he used as follows : filling his mouth as full as it would hold with water, he spirted it all out suddenly on the brushes, and then whisked and whirled them about his head.

The hair, of course, is worn so short that no further arrange ment is necessary. This was bad enough; but it is only among the lower orders that one sees how very dirty the natives are in their very cleanliness. The mosque tanks are filled with water, which is re plenished but never changed ; in the slime of these green and fetid pools I have seen men wash first their feet, then face and hands, and lastly rinse out their mouths. All along our route on cither side of the river the fellahin thronged out of their villages with banners flying and tom-toms beating. At Wasta, our first station, some Beduins formed a course beside our vessels and entertained us with a display of their horsemanship, manœuvring in mock battle, pointing and firing their flint-locks in the midst of wild charges. Scimetars, pistols, and spears gleamed through a storm of dust ; wild war-cries rose above the thunder of hoofs.

When the combat was over, and the weary warriors had gone to cut sugar-cane for their dinner, their place was taken by crowds of poor people, who sat in long lines before the Khedive's steamer, thinking hours of patient watching well rewarded by a glimpse of their sovereign. At Beni Suis the Khedive drove in state to the mosque, like a good Musulman. Thence we passed to Miniah, and anchored at sundown before the palace. Its walls, which align the shore for half a mile, were flashing from end to end with lights ; and in front long rows of lamps and portfires shone, making a scene of real splendour. The Khedive at once drove through the town. All the streets were adorned on either side with continuous arches of painted woodwork, and every arch was hung with flags and lanterns. Here and there, perched in boxes over the roadway in mid-air, groups of musicians or storytellers recited or sang, to the great amusement of the crowd below.

Sometimes, beneath one of these BAZAARS BY NIGHT. 17 boxes, we had to fight our way, shoulder to shoulder, through a dense mob ; but they took it all with great good humour. The scene was entirely oriental ; the narrow streets decked with costly hangings and lanterns ; the bazaars or frontless shops with floors raised two feet above the ground, and grave, bearded merchants sitting cross-legged on Persian carpets ; robes, turbans, and faces of every hue and type, an ever-changing kaleidoscope of bright colours. Whenever we reached the house of a notable or rich merchant, a band of music struck up a salute, slaves salamed, and carpets were spread for us to walk upon across the courtyard. Within the house we entered first a marble hall, then a saloon called the guest-room, where our host greeted us, and where coffee, syrup, and cigarettes were served ; while native minstrels performed on strange instruments or sang Arabian ditties.

At Manfalut I saw for the first time the religious ceremony called the " zikr," a sort of dramatic prayer, in this case for the welfare of the Khedive. Two rows of turbaned dervishes stood facing each other ; while the)' sang their feet never moved, but, as the music rose or fell, their bodies swayed from side to side or bowed lowly forward, till the turbans c EG YPT. of the two ranks nearly touched. Arab music generally strikes one as a dull hubbub, but in this chant there was something pathetic and pleasing. The " zikr " is much used at all great religious festivals. We reached Siut, or Assiiit, the capital of Upper Egypt, on January 28th. There thousands of people stood on the banks, and cannon thundered in salute as the Khedive touched land in the early afternoon. The hottest part of the day once past, towards four o'clock His Highness started in a state carriage for the town.

The procession was headed by some native horsemen ; then came a standard-bearer with green turban denoting his descent from the Prophet ; bare-legged runners or saises in white tunics and vests splendidly broidered in colours and gold ; next part of the mounted guard ; then the Khedive drawn by a pair of black horses. Ten more guardsmen followed, and after them the suite, mounted as best they could, i. e. on donkeys. Close behind and on either side thronged Beduins on their prancing Arabs, and then the population. The road of course was only a raised causeway of ordinary Nile mud, and lay three inches deep in dust. The effect may be imagined when a vast mob, horse A ROYAL PROCESSION. 19 and foot, were rushing on together all with the one idea of keeping as close to the Khedive as possible.

Fortunately I had secured a very good donko}T, and a donkey -boy, who fought tooth and nail and managed by some means to keep me in my place just behind the guardsmen all the afternoon. For a mile, through air literally darkened with dust, we pushed on to the city. The narrow gateway barely allowed room for His Highness's carriage to pass ; and when the guardsmen were through, and the crowd came all storming the one point, the usual result followed. For a moment we were all wedged immoveably together ; then, being well in the centre of the arch way, I saw the foremost on either side fall heavily and disappear under a heap of fresh bodies flung over them by pressure from behind. I thought bones must have been broken, if not lives lost, but in the East such accidents are not reported. As the sides yielded, the centre was relieved; and my donkey, after a desperate struggle to avoid being swept off his feet, brought me through the press in triumph.

In the town the Khedive was greeted with music and shouts from the soldiers. The men as a rule make a great deal of obeisance, but are silent : they do not know how to cheer: but the women on the housetops c2 EGYPT. 20 raise their shrill " ul-ul-ul" (doubtless the Latin ululatus) which is used to express either joy or mourning. As we wound through the narrow streets, the scene was indescribably vivid and amusing. In front of the procession all was calm and quiet, behind a confused battle for place was incessantly raging. A staff of beaters came to the rescue of the suite, and with long sticks belaboured the crowd till they reversed the pressure. Even the donkey-boy would lay his cudgel smartly across the shoulders of a man twice his size. A hundred blows were falling on every side ; none were resented or returned.

Of course there was also a ceaseless by-play made up of little incidents. Now a luckless Arab lost his shoe in the melee and followed plunging, diving, and swearing, as it was kicked about by all comers ; another was seen wildly smiting the head of his neighbours with an ivory fiddlestick, without damage on either side ; there again a scimetar or battle-axe swings round and makes a momentary way for its owner ; there a huge burly officer rolls ignominiously off his donkey amid shouts of laughter ; later on a man rushes to the Khedive's carriage with a censer of burning incense, and the odour is sweet in one's BAS-RELIEF OF SETI I AT ABYDOS OUT OF THE PRESS. 21 dust-laden nostrils. So we move on into the bazaar, where heat and dust are redoubled in spite of the carpets strewn beneath our feet.