The English Governess in Egypt. Harem Life in Egypt and Constantinople

Front matter

z* THE ENGLISH GOVERNESS IN EGYPT. HAREM LIFE IN* EGYPT AND CONSTANTINOPLE. P.Y EMMELINE LOTT, formerly governess to his highness the grand pacha, ibrahim, son of his highness ismael pacha, viceeot of egypt. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1866. [The Bight of Translation is Reserved.} PRINTED BT WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, AND CHARING CROÆ. DEDICATED ro HIS HIGHNESS ISMAEL PACHA, 4rc so., VICEROY OF EGYPT, B*; HIS HIGHNESS'S MOST HUMBLE AND DEVOTED SERVANT, THE AUTHORESS. October, 1865. " What precious tilings I found in Oriental lunds, Returning home, I brought them in my votive hands." Algef.

Preface

. Upwards of a century has rolled away since that graceful, unaffected epistolary writer, the accomplished and " charming Lady Mary Montague," accompanied her caro sposo, Mr. Edward Wortley Montague, to Constantinople, when he was appointed Ambassador to the Sublime Porte. In the eighteenth century, that " Princess of Female Writers " published in her Letters an account of her visits to some of the Harems of the elite of the Turks of that period. She had no need to propitiate that all powerful Sovereign Prince of the Ottoman Empire, " Baksheesh," — who, whatever may be

PREFACE.

. VI his demerits as a statesman, stands forth, in the present age, most prominently as the pre cursor of civilisation in the Turkish dominions, and for whom a most brilliant future is in prospect — to obtain ingress. Her rank and position were the Telecem, " talisman," which threw open to her the heavy ponderous portals, drew back the massive double-bolted doors, and gave her access to those forbidden " Abodes of Bliss " of the stolid, sensual, and indolent Blue Beards of the East. Nevertheless, her handsome train, Lady Am bassadress as she was, swept but across the splendid carpeted floors of those noble Saloons of Audience, all of which had been, as is in variably the custom, well " swept and gar nished " for her reception. The interior of those Harems were to her Ladyship a terra incognita, and even although she passed through those gaudy halls like a beautiful meteor, all was couleur de rose, and not the slightest oppor-

PREFACE.

. VII tunity was permitted her to study the daily life of the Odalisques. True, she had witnessed the " Strange fascination of Eastern gorgeousness, reverie, and passion ; " but yet, as she had not been allowed to pene trate beyond the reception halls, nor to pollute the floors of the chambers of those " Castles of Indolence " with her defiling footsteps, the social manners, habits, and customs of the Crime de la Creme of both Turkish aud Egyptian noblesse, and the Star Chamber of Ottoman intrigue, were to her all unexplored regions. It was reserved to a humble individual like myself, in my official capacity as Governess to His Highness the Grand Pacha Ibrahim, the infant son of H. H. Ismael Pacha, the Viceroy of Egypt, the grandson of Mehemet Ali, and the son of that gallant warrior, the renowned Ibrahim Pacha, to become the unheard-of PREPACK. instance in the annals of the Turkish Empire, of residing within those foci of intrigue, the Imperial and Viceregal Harems of Turkey and Egypt ; and thus an opportunity has been afforded me of, Asmodeus-like, uplifting that impenetrable veil, to accomplish which had hitherto baffled all the exertions of Eastern travellers.

The object of the following Work is to disclose to European society " Life in the Harems of Egypt and Constantinople." It has been my aim to give a concise yet impartial and sympathetic account of the daily life of the far-famed Odalisques of the nineteenth century — those mysterious impersonifica tions of Eastern loveliness. With what success I have achieved this difficult task is left to the judgment of the public to determine. London, December, 1865.

Chapter I

After a quick but tempestuous voyage from the busy port of Marseilles, on board the Peleuse, one of the fleetest steamers in the service of the Messageries Imperiales, I arrived in the land of the Pharaohs, at thc harbour of Alexandria, in the month of April, 186 — . I proceeded to the Peninsular and Oriental Hotel, where I took up my quarters for a few days. As a host of travellers have minutely but yet not, according to my impressions, very accurately described that Liverpool of Egypt, Alexandria — for Egypt as it was and Egypt as it is are vastly different — nevertheless, I shall not attempt to give any topographical account VOL. I. B of that wonderfully improving country and its ancient capital, the whole length and breadth of which I was enabled to traverse during my residence with the viceregal family.

The Viceroy's agent in London had consigned me, " bag and baggage," to the care of an eminent banking firm at Alexandria, who are also reported to be associated with H. H. Ismael Pacha in his private capacity as the billioniare Eastern merchant prince. Upon forwarding my bill of lading — letter of introduction — I received instructions to proceed to Cairo by the express train, and there to report myself, on arrival, to Mr. B., who, independently of being associated with the Viceroy in mercan tile pursuits, also holds the lucrative, yet by no means sinecure, appointments of Keeper of the Privy Purse and Purveyor General of H. H.'s Households ; for it must be observed that the Viceroy maintains numerous establishments, both at several palaces and harems. After having visited every nook and corner of " El Iskendereeyeh," I proceeded to the railway-station, entered a first-class carriage, and was whirled away by the iron king en EGYPTIAN RAILWAY. ■ j ti route for the capital.

That journey has been so often described by abler pens than mine, that I shall merely give an account of my fellow-passengers and their conversation, which furnished me with an insight into the characters of many individuals with whom it was my fate afterwards to be mixed up. Scarcely had I made myself comfortable in the carriage, when in stepped two gentlemen. Both were of middle age, most agreeable in manners, and rather chatty. The younger one was a Greek merchant, of the name of Xenos, who resided in Alexandria, and who was pro ceeding to Cairo, and thence up the Nile, to purchase cotton, which at that period was realizing most fabulous prices both in England and France. The other was much his senior : he was of the Jewish persuasion ; and a native of the good city of Frankfort. On our arrival at Tantah, where the annual fair was being held — and at which my two fellow-travellers assured me that slaves were sold in 1 86 — , notwithstanding that there existed a treaty abolishing the slave-trade — the train was shunted off the line, to admit ofthe Viceroy's B private dispatch train passing on its route.

Here we were detained twenty minutes; and as I watched that despatch train approach the terminus, thinking that I might be gratified with a glimpse of some of the Cabinet ministers, who I naturally concluded were seated in it, I was surprised at beholding the heads of several young ladies thrust out of the first-class carriage which was attached to the tender. My curiosity was considerably excited when I saw that their cast of countenance was either Levantine or German. They wore no bonnets ; long black veils were thrown carelessly over their heads ; and they were attired in black latarahs. Turning round to my fellow-passenger, Mr. Xenos — who sat, ruminating, perhaps, on the state of the cotton market, in the corner of the carriage nearest the main line — I inquired of him why that train was designated " the Viceroy's private despatches."

He smiled, and said, "Well, I cannot exactly tell you; but, in all probability, it is because it is always appropriated for the purpose of conveying all fair aamsels avIio may chance to come on flying visits to H. H. Ismael Pacha ; and as foreign Viceroy's private despatches. 5 ladies are generally the very essence of intrigue, may it not be possible that they are the bearers of secret despatches? But as it is not my pro vince to unfold the mysteries of the Viceroy's private despatches, all I can say upon the sub ject is, that I hope that that courteous prince will enjoy the pleasure of their society. The private despatch train rushed on at full speed, and we followed, about ten minutes afterwards, in its trail, at a snail's pace. The ice having been broken between myself and my fellow - travellers, the conversation naturally led to the purport of my visit to the " Land of Dates " and its merchant ruler.

In reply to a few trivial questions I had put to the Greek merchant, Mr. Xenos very kindly explained to me that his twenty years' ex perience of life in Egypt led him to regard my position as one fraught with considerable perplexity ; and, as I afterwards found that his observations were perfectly correct, I shall give them in detail, as their purport bears directly on Harem Life and the intrigues of the Egyptian Star-Chamber, " But," added that amiable gentleman, "much depends upon the conduct of the Viceroy towards yourself, and that of his con fidential advisers. Perhaps I err in using that expression, for His Excellency Ismael Reschid Pacha, who is his confidential adviser, and a near relative, is, I am prone to believe, an upright Turk, who always has his hands full in counteracting the plots and machinations of the favourites and reputed partners of the billionaire merchant prince ; for as Ismael Pacha receives you, so will His Excellency Reschid Pacha, his tried and faithful friend and relative, behave towards you.

" If you can manage to keep on good terms with that minister, all will go well with you ; for no man in Egypt understands the difficulties of your position better than His Excellency, who has to combat in the day against all the arts and influences that are generally brought to bear upon the mind of the Viceroy at the reputed orgies which take place at the Palace at night, when His Excellency is safely housed within the precincts of his own ' Abode of Bliss,' or very early in the morning, when Ismael Pacha — for he is up at the dawn of day a greek's description. 7 — is steaming up the Nile at three or four o'clock, sitting on the sofa in the poop of one of his fairy-like yachts, smoking cigarettes, and sipping, not real Mocha, but full-bodied and refreshing Burgundy, though he be a true believer.

" It is the demeanour of the clique about his Highness and the reputed co-partners towards you, that I would have you watch and scrutinize most carefully. Life in the Harems of the Egyptian rulers has never been faithfully de scribed by any authors, for the simple reason that no unbeliever has as yet been domiciled therein ; to them it has been an unknown land, and one of myths ; their pen-drawings, however, are far from encouraging, and the late lamented Dr. Abbott, who collected the most unique, most valuable, and perfect museum of Egyptian curiosities which the Americans possess, has left a very clever work, in which he describes them as being in his day ' the very focus of low intrigue, the scenes of profligacy of the most abhorrent nature, ah ! and of crimes of the deepest dye ; ' but, thanks to the enlighten ment of the age in which we live, a most wonderful and beneficial improvement has, I have been assured, taken place, even in those sacred places.

" The signification of the word Harem is a perfect misnomer in our European acceptation of the expression, unless indeed we interpret it by its other and far more appropriate meaning, ' interdicted,' since it is considered by all Moslems as implying 'The Abode of Bliss,' and the type or model of that celestial paradise of houris, which the prophet Mahomet has inculcated into the minds of his followers will be their Kishmet, ' fate,3 when they shall enter the seventh heaven in the world to come. Hence the reason why those monsters of men, those spectres of their sex, the chief eunuchs, are styled Kislar Agaci, ' the captain of the girls ; ' and also Dar-us-seadet Agaci, ' the guardian of the Abode of Bliss.' "Besides, many of the recent Viceroys of Egypt finished their education in France, so that I am inclined to believe that a great ame lioration has taken place of late years in their internal menage ; and Solyman Pacha the Magnificent introduced great innovations into MUSTAPHA PACHA. the domestic habits and customs of the in mates of his Harem, as also among the manners and customs of the Princes themselves ; and, if I am correctly informed, many of the late Pachas had not only their palaces furnished in the European style, but surrounded them selves with foreign attendants, and even had English nurses for their children.

This is the case with Mustapha Pacha, the heir pre sumptive to the Viceroyship, who not only treats that person with respect, but contri butes most liberally to all her wants and requirements a la Europeenne ; but then the manners, language, and habits of those domestics could not have tended, in any bene ficial degree, to ameliorate the characters of the children committed to their care, and none of them have been intelligent enough to give us an insight into Harem life. So I would fain trust that you will not find your position so unbearable as you may have led yourself to suppose. " At all events you must keep yourself clear of the petty intrigues of the court cabals. Watch with a careful eye the manner in which the three Princesses, his Highness's wives, behave towards you. Endeavour to gain, not only their respect and good opinion, but, what is of primary importance, their confidence, especially that of the mother of the young Prince ; but, as she is only the second wife, she is not the Lady Paramount, for the first epouse claims that prerogative.

"Sad tales of the jealousy of Princesses in the Egyptian Harems have been circulated, and accurately too, as I can vouch for the veracity of my informant ; so that it may be possible that, should you find it necessary to battle with his Highness's reputed associates to obtain Eu ropean comforts about you, and to maintain your status as an English lady, the mere granting of those absolute necessaries for your individual comfort, might arouse that green eyed monster, jealousy, within their viceregal bosoms, as their entire ignorance of your habits will make them regard such trivial attentions on the part of their liege lord and master as signs of his too pointed wish to become on terms of familiar intimacy with you." " Well done !" interrupted Mr. . " You BAKSHEESH. are giving Madam a most truthful account of her position ; but, my dear Xenos, you appear to forget that our fellow-traveller ought to learn to school her too-confiding mind to look upon the actions of all around her with the greatest distrust."

Then addressing himself to me, he continued, ** I would have you, Madam, alive to the well-established fact, that the whole coterie into which you will be introduced is the very hot-bed of intrigue, jealousy, and corruption ; but yet, let me trust, not of profligacy. The chief eunuch is generally supposed to possess absolute powers within the Harem, even over the Princesses ; but as that all-powerful Egyptian, Prince Baksheesh, is the actual ruler of Egypt, you may take my word for it that most important personage is himself the abject slave of H. H.'s reputed associates, for as long as they can command the favours of that omni potent prince, and bask in the sunshine of viceregal smiles, to them is reported the sayings and doings of those ' caged birds ' within the walls of the ' Abodes of Bliss.' " I admit that your position as an English lady entitles you to receive every attention, yet at the same time you will be called upon to conform to many strange whims, fancies, and customs, which may appear most singular and outlandish to your European notions ; nay, many may even seem quite repugnant to your naturally sensitive feelings ; but you will, I hope, by the influence of your example, be able to graft a few civilized customs on their Arab and Turkish manners.

Your apparent amia bility of manner will, in all probability, cause you to be respected by the Viceroy, beloved by Grand Pacha Ibrahim, and esteemed by their Highnesses the three wives, and the Princesses their daughters. And no doubt your position will cause you to be feared by the slaves, among whom, I must caution you, commence those petty intrigues which have ruined favourites, gathered ruling concubines to their last accounts, led to the sudden disappearance, aud in many instances most unac countably strange deaths, of numerous viceroys, who have falsely been reported to have died suddenly of apoplexy ; to the unfastening of the bolts of the viceregal railway-trains; the DIFFICULTIES. poisoning of the dates that infant nephews have handed to their viceregal uncles : all these, and many more equally atrocious deeds, have been concocted within the magic circle of a band of Harem slaves."

" I deeply regret," continued Mr. Xenos, "that any English lady should have accepted the appointment you have ; and knowing, as I do, the strong antipathy that all Germans and Arabs entertain towards the English, I would strongly urge upon you, even at this the eleventh hour, the propriety of abandoning the idea of entering his Highness's service. " In support of this suggestion I shall merely explain to you that I have resided many years both in Egypt and Constantinople, and from my dearly-bought experience of Egyptian and Turkish life, I lament that any European lady should contemplate domiciling herself within the influence of the viceregal Harem ; for be assured that you will lack all the conveniences, much more the agreements, of a European residence. Ismael Pacha, Viceroy though he be, is a true merchant at heart, and squanders not away his paras -in costly furniture for his "wives.

And yet you will find his palaces and yachts decorated in the most sumptuous style a la Europeenne. " That is not the only drawback that awaits you. The peculiar diet of the ' caged birds ' of the Viceroy's Elysium is literally cuisine a V Arabe, which will be most unpalatable to your taste, even if it does not (of which I entertain great fears) prove most injurious to your health. The nature of the climate renders it obligatory on Europeans to imbibe much greater quantities of stimulants — such as pale ale and wine — than they have been accustomed to partake of in their own colder climate ; and I do not imagine that those forbidden liquors, although quaffed so copiously by the Viceroy, will be provided for you. It is a well-known fact, that their High nesses the wives drink quantities of Schiedam.

Then again the entire atmosphere of the Harem and its grounds must necessarily be impreg nated with the fumes of tobacco, into which powerful narcotics are introduced, so that the air which you will breathe will prove injurious to your constitution ; besides, the loose and uncleanly habits of the attendants, more parti- DIFFICULTIES. 15 cularly those of the Arab nurses, will disgust you ; and the sad monotony of the daily life you will be called upon to lead will be of such a melaucholy, convent-like nature, that in my opinion it were better far that you had immured yourself within the cell of a nunnery, than entered the precincts of a Harem." I listened most attentively to Mr. Xenos's account of the difficulties of my position, and almost repented of having accepted the appoint ment; still I could not help observing that I hoped he had overcoloured the picture.

" Believe me," interrupted Mr. , " my friend has only given you a faint outline of Harem life in Egypt, and if anything, that delineation, dark as it appears to you, is really not overdrawn ; in fact, it falls short of the reality, even so far as we forbidden intruders into those castles of pleasure have hitherto been able to learn. You, who are about so soon to enter those ' sacred ' recesses of viceregal life, will have an opportunity of judging of the cor rectness of my views on this head. "I would however, above all things, impress upon your mind the actual value which all Turks, Egyptians, Levantines, and (it is with feelings akin to shame that I affirm it), even Europeans, who have been domiciled some time in the Ottoman dominions, entertain of the fair sex. They regard women, my dear madam, of every nation and of all grades in society, as the mere slaves to their sensual gratification.

Hence the reason that they keep their wives, daughters, and concubines, caged up in lattice-windowed houses; protect them by eunuchs, those atoms of mankind, whom they deprive of all social intercourse with the male sex and the outer world, and treat as abject slaves. Many erudite writers on Oriental life have gone so far as to question whether they are properly so termed, for it is certain that many of these guardians of the beauties of the East have married the wives of their lords and masters, whom they had previously sent to that ' bourne whence no traveller returns ' — and report adds, have even had large families by them. "These remarks are not, however, so appli cable to Harem life in Constantinople, as in Egypt ; for, in the lovely-situated capital on the OPINION OF FAIR SEX. Bosphorus, the ladies of the Harems enjoy both carriage and caique airing daily, and revel in a degree of freedom altogether unknown in Egypt.

In the East the male sex think, as Butler has so naively expressed it in his bur lesque poem of Hudibras— " ' Women first were made for men, Not men for them. It follows, then, That men have right to every one, And they no freedom of their own.' " In Pharaoh's land, that sex, formed by the Creator of the Universe to become the solace and companion of the fallen sons of Adam, is prized by the stronger sex, whose duty it most unquestionably ought to be to protect them, only for the price in gold that they give or can obtain for them ; they are viewed as marketable commodities, just as a chapman calculates the value of his bales of merchandize. Hence the reason why Turks and Egyptians will always remain semi-barbarians, until a radical change can be effected in their families by means of education, that slow but sure precursor of civi lization.

VOL. I, c " But most unhappily for the speedy ameliora tion of such a deplorable state of things, even Europeans, who have lived long in any part of the Ottoman dominions, imbibe the same laxity of morals, and disreputable ideas." [Of the veracity of this assertion I had ample proof during my residence at Mr. B.'s, at Cairo, as there an acquaintance of that gentleman hesi tated not to introduce into his apartment a person of most questionable character, at which I remonstrated, and threatened to return to Zech's Hotel, if such conduct was repeated.] "So that they hesitate not to tread in the footsteps of the votaries of the Koran, keep Harems, entrap European women into their clutches, and as calmly and coolly dispose of them, as if they had been born slaves. " Would time permit, I could also disclose to you many instances of blank cheques, bonds, heavy mortgages on estates, most of which have been foreclosed, nay, most lucrative offices, under the Ottoman and Egyptian Governments, having been bartered away by licentious Egyp tian and Turkish princes and millionaires, to unprincipled Europeans, for gems of female LAXITY OF MORALS. dots of humanity, many of whom, to their everlasting shame and degradation be it stated, even now rank as the crime de la crime of European society in the Ottoman dominions.

Many are the instances I could enumerate of men, the scum of the earth, rising to enormous wealth, and holding high positions, both in Egypt and Turkey, by means of such infamy. " The Crimean war produced a most bane ful influence on the morals of the different Levantine populations of all grades. The requirements of the vast armaments that were concentrated there, brought untold sums of gold into the coffers of traders of all denomina tions. Prussian Jews, the very refuse of the good city of Frankfort, the Israelitish popula tion of which is so celebrated for its craft, together with the scum of Italy, Spain, France, Malta, Greece, and the Levant, became suddenly enriched by that disastrous struggle. Many who at the commencement of that war were literally homeless, shoeless, and penniless, are now millionaires in Egypt — where they now roll about in their carriages, keep large establishc ments, live in cuisine a I Arabe, and drink the choicest wines.

Their tables, when laid out, would challenge the chef-de-cuisine of Gunter to make a handsomer appearance : the mouth of a gourmand would absolutely water at the sight of those inviting-looking viands. But be fully assured, kind reader, that the moment he tasted them, unless, indeed, he had been previously accustomed to Arab diet, he would become perfectly disgusted with those filthy messes. They keep large establishments, speculate in cotton, hold hundreds of bank, railway, and joint-company shares, receive large deposits from Europeans, for which they give from twenty five to thirty 'per cent, interest ; and in short are the Hudsons of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. ■"' Their banking operations are immense ; the loans which they advance to the Arabs, who bury their gains in their Harems, instead of putting them out to interest, or using them to meet their current expenses, are most numerous and profitable.

In short, these are the class of men who are all-powerful in Egypt ; these are the PARVENU-MILLIONAIRES. reputed individuals who possess the contracts for every public work, from the opening of new railways down to the almost insignificant im provement of paving the roads of its ancient capital."

Chapter II

" I heard you, my dear madam, complain of the manner in which you were jostled about on landing at Alexandria ; how roughly the Custom-house officers examined your baggage, notwithstanding that they knew the position you came to hold ? " " Yes, indeed, I did, and can endorse the veracity of the statement made by a contributor to Once a Week, who most naively and truthfully asserts that 'The land of Egypt is ruled over by twenty Princes • one of whom is the Viceroy, eighteen of the others are known as Consuls- General of European nations, but the twentieth is the most powerful of all, and his name is Baksheesh (" Gift, Present, Bribery"). " ' Very little, indeed, can be done without the aid or countenance of Baksheesh : he is the ruling power. Not a single package of a PRINCE BAKSHEESH. traveller's luggage (no, not even that belonging to the Governess of H. H. the Grand Pacha Ibrahim, the infant son of the Viceroy), not a bale of goods can enter or be shipped out of the country without his leave ; not a handful of cotton can leave it without paying him tribute.

" ' Do you want to set up a steam-engine, to build a house, hire a lighter, to send goods off by train, to do something which you have no right to do, to get something which you have no right to get ? Why, then, invoke Baksheesh ; offer up a proper quantity of piastres on his shrine, and the thing is done. Imagine that you can get on without his aid, and you will soon find out your mistake. Put your faith in the most potent of his brother princes, and see how you will fare. Baksheesh will stop you in the corridor, as you approach the viceregal presence, and if he frown, small profit will spring from your interview. Dodge past him, get your order, your permit, your judg ment, concession, or what not, and the day of submission is but postponed. You can call spirits from the vasty deep, but will they come ?

Can you put what you have gained into execu tion, without the aid of Baksheesh ? Not a bit of it. Let your own special " Prince " back up your petition, let the Viceroy grant it, let the Minister of State draw up the order, let the highest personage in the department be charged to carry it out on your behalf, and what have you got ? Nothing — absolutely nothing. Get a firman from H.M. the Sultan himself, and you are not any better off. *■*■ 'Baksheesh has creatures, nominally filling some fifth-rate government post, any of whom can put a spoke in your wheel. Baksheesh is the very essence of bribery and corruption, and without his aid nothing can be done. As the Nile water is to the land, so is bribery and corruption to the rulers and people of Egypt. Nothing is produced without it.' " Exactly so, madam," interrupted the Greek merchant, laughing most heartily.

" That writer has hit the nail upon the right head, and I strongly suspect that he must have had consider able experience in Her Britannic Majesty's court at Alexandria, so admirably and faithfully does he describe the state of things in Egypt in this CRIMEAN SUTLERS. the nineteenth century. But come, , as I am quite certain that sooner or later our fair traveller will be brought in contact with the firm of at Cleopatra's ancient capital when next she returns thereto, if not with some of their partners at Cairo, pray give us a brief sketch of the autobiography of those reputed Egyptian Rothschilds, as they have been, and most assuredly will be again, mixed up with many an intrigue of Harem Life." " Well, as I trust that you will pardon the prolixity of my sketches of Egypt as it is, I will use my best endeavours to give you as graphic a sketch as possible of Messrs. , the emi nent financiers of Egypt.