A Journey across the Desert, from Ceylon to Marseilles: comprising sketches of Aden, the Red Sea, Lower Egypt, Malta, Sicily and Italy. By Major and Mrs. G. D. Griffith

Preface

. In making the Overland Passage from India, I repeatedly and inconveniently felt the want of some work that might serve at once as a guide and companion in pointing out and examining the many features of novelty and attraction connected with that highly interesting route. This feeling has heen my chief inducement for venturing on the publication of a journal made under circumstances which were not in themselves favourable to such an intention. Nor do I for a moment suppose that so desultory and unpremeditated a record of the scenes and inci dents in question will answer all the purposes which should be aimed at in a work of the nature to which I have alluded. Still, in the absence of any such VI

PREFACE.

. work, it may be not without utility, and will, I trust, be received with reasonable indulgence by the reader. On the other hand, I venture to bope that these volumes will be found to contain many details which the circumstances of an ordinary overland passage would not have called forth. The account of our recently acquired military Colony of Aden, for in stance, could scarcely have been given in the ab sence of those facilities afforded to us by our kind hosts, Dr. and Mrs. Malcolmson. In like manner, the unusual stay that we made in Egypt, and also in Malta, and our letters of introduction to influen tial persons in both those countries, enabled us to visit scenes not usually open to the mere passing traveller, the descriptions of which I have not hitherto seen in print : while the outline I have given of the coasts of Sicily and Italy, described at a time of year when they are inexpressibly lovely, and when, owing to the great heat of summer, comparatively few English visit them, will, I trust, prove interesting to the reader. With regard to the orthography of those Arabic

PREFACE.

. VII words it has been necessary to employ, I have adopted that pursued by Mr. Lane in his work upon "Modern Egypt." I may further observe that the whole of the illustrations to these volumes are taken from drawings made by my husband at the actual moment, and on the spot to which they relate. Among them will be found representations of some objects which form new features in the Desert route. I cannot conclude these prefatory remarks without offering our best thanks to our sincere friend the Rev. I. Wenham, the highly esteemed Government chaplain of Pointe de Galle, and to his most amiable family, for those acts of kindness so much in accord ance with the Christian charity they habitually exer cised, and which smoothed the otherwise almost insurmountable difficulties of our sudden departure from Ceylon. LUCINDA DARBY GRIFFITH. London, October 1844. Page CONTENTS of- THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I

Pointe de Galle — Arrival of India Steamer — Leave-taking — Sorrowful Thoughts — Landing again — View from Harbour — Dirty Ship — At Sea — Cockroaches — Rats — Captain's Table — Maldive Islands — Stormy Weather — Dinner Scenes — Bulkhead — Porpoises, Dolphins — Storm — Coast of Africa — Cape Guardafui — Curious Appearance of the Sea — At Anchor — Back Bay of Aden — The Point — The opposite Coast of Arabia — Arabia Felix — Isthmus — Fort — Evening Row — The Charger — Zanzibar Coolies — Oyster Island — Species of Caper — Hotel — Singular Stone — Arabs — Dyeing Hair red — Row in Gig — Numbers of Fish — Landing — Scene of Desolation — Turkish Wall — Stroll — Plants — Insects — Butterflies — Bouquet — X CONTENTS. Page 1 Beautiful Flowers — Scramble up the Rocks — Curious Bees — Rencontre of Arabs — Fright — Sailor Friend — Camels — Water Donkeys — French Friends — Benighted — Evening Scene — Escape — Tonjon — Invitation — Moonlight Row — Horrors of Coaling

Chapter II

Mutiny of Coolies — Good Swimmers — Men selling Fish — Sharks and Fish — Sickness on Board — Death — Desert Grave — -Visit — Leave the Ship — Coal Depot — Dance of Coolies while at Work — Palanquin — Wild Scenery — The Pass — Wall of Sand Bags — Sepoy Soldiers — First View of Camp — Island of Sera— Streets — Bungalows — Dinner — Moonlight View — Evening Gun — Singular Room — Night Air — Early Rising — Historical Sketch — Modern Aspect — Tonjon — Soldiers' Quarters — Bazar — Jews — Parsees — Arabs — Jewish Girl — Provision, Camels, &c. — Supplies — Caravan — Fruit, Vegetables, &c. — Camels feeding — Aden — Wells — Groups — Honey from Arabia — Pet Crow — Hot Wind — Atmosphere — Minerals — Expedition — Camp of Tents — Turkish Wall — The Siege — Panoramic View — Pelicans — Mountains — Alarm — Hotel — Departure CONTENTS. XI Page 65

Chapter III

Coast of Arabia — Hadramant — Arabia Felix — Straits of Babel Mandeb — Isle of Perim — Arab Dows — Arab Pilot — Arabian Shore — Mocha — Date Grove — Gebel Tar — Lohei — Tame Bird — Coral Reefs — Remarks on the Red Sea — Coral Islands — Jidda — Mecca — Emerald Mountains — Berenice — The Brothers — Cosseir — Ras Mohammed — Peninsula of Sinai — Gulf of Suez — Mount Sinai — Table of the Ten Commandments — Rock of Meribah — Imaginative Travellers — Convents of St. Catherine — Tor — El Bourg — Bell Mountain — Baths of Pharaoh — Passage ofthe Israelites — Valley of Baideah — Howarah, or Marah — Ayoun Mousa — Suez — India Steamer — Arab Boat — Approach to Suez — Landing — Hotel — Jealousy of Mohammed Ali — Hotel Yard

Chapter IV

Difficulties of Transit — Night- Horrors — The Plague of Flies — Passage-Money — Exchange — Luggage — Camels — Camel Pack-Saddles — Square at Suez — Desert Carriage — First Day in the Desert — Dead Camels — Bedouin Arabs — Desert Flowers — Wild Melon — Partridges — Larks — Eagles — Station- Houses — Agate, &c. — Bucksheish — Syce — Pilgrims' Graves — CONTENTS. Page Butterflies — Moths — Breakfast — Flowers and Insects — Anecdote of a Wolf — Dinner in the Desert — Lizards — Colour of Desert Animals Petrified Shells — Rat-Holes — Vulture — Arab Coachman — Desert Night-Wind — Vultures — Great Speed — Young Camels — Luggage Horses — Mule — A Bey's Hharee'm — Mirage — Young Fox — Sketch of Dining-Room — Sheep — Petri fied Wood — The Nile — First View of Cairo — Tombs of the Caliphs — Arab Camp 93

Chapter V

Turkish Bath, or Hhammam — Resolutions — Pasha's Stud — Water Melon — Signet Ring of King Cheops — Donkey Chair — Cairo Donkeys — Dragoman — Grand Cairo — Streets of Cairo — Shops — Men's Dress — Women — Equestrians — Citadel — Massacre of the Memlooks — Memlook Leap — Pasha's Palace — View of Cairo — Heliopolis — View of the Pyramids — Memphis — Pyramids of Sakara — Sunset — Palace — Terrace and Ramparts — Joseph's Well — New Mosque of Alabaster — Riotous Crowd — Mosque of Sultan Hassan 143

Chapter VI

Streets of Cairo — Dogs — Shoobra Palace — Mohammed Ali— The Pasha's Hharee'm —Avenue of Acacia-Trees — Coffee-House — Horsemen — Page 215 CONTENTS. Cairo Lake — Egyptian and Turkish Ladies — Ladies riding — Women ofthe Middle Class — Women of the Lower Class — Tattoo — Children — Fella'hhs — Conscription — One-eyed Regiment — Taxes — Island of Rhoda — Moses 173

Chapter VII

Cairo — Burial-Ground — Tombstones — City of Tombs — Road to Rhoda — Old Cairo — Great Canal — Annual Opening of it — Nilometer — Nile — Thoughts on the Past — Rhoda Gardens — Beautiful Bouquet — Gigantic Laburnum — Grotto — Kiosk — Splendid Landscape — The Cka'dee, or Chief Judge of Cairo — New Fruit — Prayers — Well-bred Turks — Ferry-Boat — Singular Nuts — Rare Flowers 191

Chapter VIII

Library ofthe Egyptian Society — Wedding Procession or Zef'feh — Turkish Bazar — Shoe Bazar — Slave-Market and Slaves — Abyssinian Slaves — Scenes in the Streets of Cairo — Mosques — Wells, or Fountains — Sack'ckas, or Water-Carriers — Sherbet — Itinerant Vendors — Turkish Cakes — Prickly Pear — Fruit and Vegetable Market — Cairo Dogs — Watering the Streets — Hair-Oil Bazar — Turkish Tables — Extraordinary Heat — Porous Vases — Petrified Forest — Soil ofthe Delta — Lunatic Asylum... CONTENTS. Page

Chapter IX

Narrow Streets— Bright Eyes— Gardens— Doves — Giraffes — Gazelles — Pelicans — French Artist — Paper Impressions of Hieroglyphics — French Discovery — The Artist " a la Turque" Coffee — Slave-Boy — Pipes — Inlaid Blades Drawings of M. Prieste — French Gardens — Sherbet 243

Chapter X

Torch-Bearers— The Streets at Night — Old Cairo — Ferry-Boat — The Nile — Bucksheish — Arab Huts — Adventure — Door'ah — Immense Number of Rats — First Impression of the Pyramids — Importunate Arabs — Ascent — View from the Summit — Inscribing Names on these Monuments — Site of Memphis — Pyramids of Sakhara — Sphynx — Descent — Antiquities — Large Hawk — Interior of the Pyramids — Gallery — King's Chamber — Sarcophagus— Second Chamber — Davidson's Chamber — Paintings — Petrifactions — The Sphynx — Return to Cairo — Breeding Stud at Shoobra — Arabians — Anecdote CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XI

Page Invitation to a Hharee'm — French Lady Interpretess — Tame Gazelles — Hharee'm of Mochtah Bey — Description of the Apartments — Beautiful Slaves — Principal Lady of the Hharee'm — Conversation — Adopted Child — Pet Dog — Female Curiosity — Nubian Nurse — Turkish Love of Ornament — Coffee — Pipes — Slaves... ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME. Page The Interior of the Hharee'm of Mochtah Bey Frontispiece An Arab Fisherman upon a Raft in the Bay of Aden 43 Messrs. Hill & Co.'s Passenger- Van, crossing the Desert of Suez 106 The Tree on the Desert, in the distance, with a Group of Camels underneath 125 No. 4, or the Centre Station-House upon the Desert 126 The Interior of the Saloon in No. 2 Station- House, Desert 133 Our Cavalcade at Cairo 151 Egyptian Costumes of the Middle and Lower Classes, Cairo 157 A Woman ofthe Middle Class, Cairo 186 The Grave of an Arab on the edge of the Desert 195 The Interior ofa Cell in the Slave-Market, Grand Cairo ERRATA TO VOL. I. Page 4, line 20, for dearest, read old. — 8, — 6, for leaves, read houses. — 16, — 2, for exquisite sentimental, read exceed ingly effective. — 23, — 7, for laborious, read labourers. — 56, — 19, for furious, read ferocious. — 58, — 15, for brooks, read banks. — 58, — 16, for any, read every. — 63, — 12, for or, read and. — 76, — 9, for violets, read violet. — 15-1, — 19, for us, read we. — 206, — 5 & 6, for with great, read with the great. — 286, — 19, for door, read doorway. VOL. II. — 56, — 22, for pedestal, read capital. — 70, — 4, for forming, read facing. — 78, — 24, for Syria, read Syra.