Part 18

I presented the letter from the Bashaw; but if I had brought him a present, it would have had a better effect. As he saw the address previous to his taking the letter into his hands, he dexterously turned the discourse on other business; and half an hour passed before I could bring the subject on again, which he still contrived to divert. I was at a loss what to think of his behaviour, and began to inquire, if there were any reasons why our works were stopped at Carnak, and orders given at Gournou, that the English should not purchase any thing, and on what account they were to be distinguished from the opposite party. He looked at the letter a second time; and, with a smile, told the Cacheffs what the Bashaw had written, but the letter was expressed in a manner as if the old Bashaw were in his dotage and quite childish; so that the Bey might do as he pleased in the affair. He then put the letter aside, and began to talk of other matters. I saw that he wanted an excuse for his conduct towards us; for he said he had been informed that the Fellahs had complained of being so exceedingly ill-treated by us, that we drew our swords every moment to cut off their heads, and that we beat them continually. At this I rose from my seat, and said I was surprised that a man of his good understanding could believe such reports, and condemn us without proof; that, if he would inquire into the matter, he would find it to be all false; and that it was his duty to do me justice. He answered, that we had bought nearly every article of antiquity that could be obtained in Gournou, while the other party could purchase nothing, and therefore it was time to stop our proceedings. I replied, what we had bought had been voluntarily sold to us by the Arabs, and begged him not to believe what he heard from our opponents, who played such tricks, that we could not be aware of them. He continued to talk of other things, till at last I asked him what he intended to do with respect to the order for Carnak: to which he made no reply, but inquired whether Gournou were far off. On being shown the place out of the window, six miles distant, he ordered horses, and in a few minutes we set off for that place. We arrived in two hours, and he went straight on to Memnonium; where he inquired about these great “mosquees,” as he named them, and put several questions concerning the buildings and the colossi that are there. He then proceeded to the two colossi, and from them to Medinet, whither I followed him, as I was determined to have the order he gave to the Sheiks recalled. I sought an opportunity to speak to him tête-à-tête, and indeed I had many, but all to no purpose; for the moment I began to mention the business, he put some other question, so that my words were of no effect. Still I was determined not to lose my patience, as I saw this was what he wanted, and resolved not to leave him a moment; for it is the character of the Turks, that they must be importuned into compliance with whatever is against their inclination. After a general survey of the ruins, he seated himself before the famous battle painted on the wall, and gave his opinion respecting it; observing, it was impossible that the colouring could have been done at the time the figures were made, as it was so fresh, and the stones were so much broken. I told him, it was owing to the climate of the country that these things were preserved; but he persisted in his opinion, that it was impossible it could be so. Then, quitting his station, he seated himself under the archway of the first entrance, and called the Sheik of Gournou, whom he knew to be our friend, and who had received the order the night before. The poor Sheik, trembling all over at this call, was asked how many men there were in Gournou who dug the ground in search of mummies. The Sheik answered six or seven. I saw the Bey did not know what to do to gratify his spleen; and, as he could not avoid retracting the order, the poor Sheik was to suffer, and our party to be mortified. A diabolical thought came into his head; and he asked the Sheik if he could find in Gournou a mummy that had not been opened. The Sheik answered, that one might be found, if he gave him time to search; but the people who find them always open them instantly. On this the Bey flew into a great rage, and insisted that one should be found immediately; and, if he did not find it, he would give him the bastinado. The poor Sheik was ordered to dig directly under his feet, and take out a mummy; but he answered, that the mummies were in Gournou, and none were ever found in the place where he stood: and it was well for him that one of the attendants and a Cacheff confirmed what he said. The Bey then sent him to Gournou, and told him to see that he found a mummy, in its case and unopened; and he allowed him an hour for doing it. The poor Sheik attempted to speak, but was turned out by three or four soldiers. A little after, the Bey began to ask some other questions respecting the temple, particularly if we had taken any drawings; adding, that he could draw himself, if he had paper and pencils. I told him I had no doubt he might make some good sketches from what was before him; on which he asked me for a pencil and some paper, which I gave him from my pocket-book, and he made a sketch of the capital of one of the columns that are before the gate. When finished, it was shown to all around with great parade. He praised it himself highly, and every one agreed, that it was very fine indeed. He then gave it to me, with an air of self-conceit, saying, “There, see what I can do!” I took it, put it into my pocket, and have preserved it, as it may give an idea of the person by whom it was executed. We left Medinet Abou and came to Gournou, and under a doum-tree saw the Sheik and some of the Janizaries, with the mummy ready for his highness. Before he drew near to ascertain the fact, the Bey began to cry out that he was sure it had been opened by one of the fellows who search for mummies; and it was in vain he was told otherwise. I did not imagine things would be carried to such an extreme. That the case had been opened no one could suspect; but the Bey wanted a pretence to beat the poor Sheik for being our friend. Accordingly, he ordered him to be immediately stretched on the ground; and such a scene ensued, that I heard from the Turks themselves expressions both of displeasure and disgust. I perceived that all this was owing to the intrigues of our opponents, who had told the Bey, that the Sheik was our friend; and as they brought him some trifling presents to back their assertion, of course he listened to what they said. I did not fail to intercede for the unfortunate wretch, who all this time was under the stick, but it was useless; and I was persuaded, the more I entreated, the more beating he would receive. The interpreter, not reflecting on what he did, ventured to intercede in the name of Mr. Salt, the British consul; at which the Bey laughed. He then begged in the name of his father-in-law, the Bashaw; and the Bey made answer, that he was the sole commander in all business there; adding, to the man who was punishing the Sheik, “Go on, go on, and hard.”

By this time the poor fellow was like the mummy that lay by his side, deprived of sense and feeling; and with a little more beating I have no doubt would have remained there for ever, and been buried where he lay. I leave to the imagination of any friend of humanity to what a height my blood rose, and what my feelings must have been at that moment. I can assure the reader I did not think I could have stood so long without openly declaring them; but I reflected, that losing my patience would answer no good purpose, and only expose me to insults from the Bey, for all he wanted was an opportunity to justify him in acting as he liked towards us. Reason, however, subdued not my rage, but it restrained the mere action of my body, and I stood for a long time motionless. The Bey was smiling, and I was afraid might discover the state of my feelings, which would have increased his pleasure. At last he told the man to stop, and the miserable Sheik was carried to his cave as into his tomb; and was, indeed, more fit for the tomb than for a house. The Bey then caused the mummy to be opened, and finding nothing, he exclaimed, if they did not bring him one that was entire, he would throw the Sheik into the river. Observing that I avoided speaking to him, for I was too much disgusted even to continue near such a being, he called another Sheik, and ordered, that henceforth whatever antiquities were found in Gournou should be sold to our opponents. On my representing to him, that I now felt myself under the necessity of writing to Cairo that very night, he mounted his horse, called my interpreter, and bade him despatch a man to Gamola, and he would send an order by him, to have the men at work the next day. I told him, that I should send to Cairo notwithstanding this apparent change in his sentiments; as it was incumbent on me to let the Bashaw know how his commands were obeyed. I then went to see the Sheik, whom I found unable to speak; I did all I could for him; but there was such fear amongst the Arabs, that they dreaded having any thing to do with us.

In the morning I was about to send the interpreter to Gamola, when we saw the cangiar of the Bey passing before Luxor, and the Cacheff of Gheneh just landing a man from Gamola, who brought an order, that we might have twenty men to work for eight days. When I perceived that the Bey did not stop, I spoke to the Cacheff, to use his influence, that the order might be enforced; but he seemed desirous of evading it, as he was aware it was merely a pretext on the part of the Bey. He told us plainly, that our opponents had calumniated us to the Bey; and protested, that if it had been in his power, he would have befriended us. Accordingly I gave him to understand, that it would be to his advantage to be friendly to our party, as well as to the other, and that the Bey’s enmity would not last much longer, as it was simply owing to some business which had prevented the Consul from coming, who intended to bring with him presents both to the Bey and to himself, when all would be set to rights again. At length my persuasions prevailed; he ordered the men to work; and in a few days I collected all the pieces of antiquity together on the quay of Luxor; and caused a mud wall to be made round them.

At this time the Fellahs of Gournou were all in great consternation, in consequence of another order they had received from the Bey not to sell any thing either to us, or to the French; and to get three unopened mummies ready for him on his return, which would be in a few days. This was a pretext they had no doubt for a general bastinadoing, as it was expressly said, that the mummies were to be procured by the men who worked for the English. The poor Sheik, who still could scarcely move, began to fear that he should receive another beating; and we had just finished some works at Carnak and Luxor, when, on the 3d of May, in the morning, our gentleman made his appearance at Luxor on his return from Derou. On landing, he came to see our collection of antiques, which certainly formed no inconsiderable group. He made a remark or two, that the head was a very fine piece, &c. and then, like a being bewildered, ran here and there among the ruins, to seek for antiquities, without knowing where he went. As he appeared to be a little more disposed to hearken to what we had to say to him, we complained of our situation; stating to him, that in consequence of what he had done to the Sheik on the other side of the water, the Fellahs would not work, and that, although we had brought strong letters of recommendation from the Bashaw himself, we were without protection, exposed to the insolence of our opponents, and every one else, who thought they might act as they pleased towards us with impunity. He inquired if any one had done us any injury; and we informed him, that our interpreter had been beaten by the Fellahs of Carnak, and that the Caimakan, after it had been proved, said he could do nothing to the assailants, as he was afraid of incurring the displeasure of the Bey. He next asked, if I were displeased because he had beaten the Sheik of Gournou. I said, it was not pleasant to see any one beaten without cause, for the Sheik had had no dealings with us, had not sold us a single article of antiquity; but he might treat his own people as he liked, for we had no business to interfere either with his orders, or with them, so long as they were not injurious to us. He then wished to know what we wanted. We said, that we wanted to be respected, and to be allowed to proceed in our researches. We did not wish to be treated with more favour than our opponents; but we were desirous of an order to the people of Gournou, that we might purchase antiquities as well as others; and a farther order for the Cacheffs of Assouan and Ibrim, as we intended to ascend the Nile; with which he complied, and set off.

On our return to Luxor I found two of the fathers of the Propaganda whom I had met with on my first journey from Redamont to Luxor, and who were come to see the antiquities. As they had treated me with civility on my journey, I felt it my duty to return the obligation. Accordingly I went with them to all the places I knew, and in particular to the tombs of the kings, the Memnonium, Medinet Aboo, Carnak, Luxor, &c. To me it was in general a source of pleasure to show these things to strangers, to hear their remarks, and to observe their astonishment and satisfaction, after coming so far to view what cannot be seen any where else; at the same time no vexation can be greater to a lover of antiquity, than when he witnesses indifference even to what is most striking, which is often the case. These two holy fathers had been in the country for about ten years, and their place of residence was only at the distance of three days’ journey from Thebes; yet they had never thought of taking the trouble of such a journey during all that time, and probably never would have done it, had it not been for my persuasion when I first saw them. Such neglect of antiquities would be not a little provoking to the travellers who come from London, Paris, Vienna, and Petersburg, to see these magnificent ruins. On arriving at the first tombs through the entrance, which is truly magnificent, the holy fathers, who had as much taste for antiquity as the animals that brought them, complained of being very much fatigued, though they had been carried by two very good asses. My attention was on the alert for the first bursts of their astonishment; but how I was disappointed! They dismounted without taking any more notice of these magnificent places, than of a common building, or of the cloister of a convent. They sent immediately for the boy who had the bottle of aquavitæ, and drank a glass each. I thought they meant to take it easily, and to examine every thing minutely, but I was soon undeceived, for the only observation they made was on the name of a friend they happened to know, which was scrawled on one of these sacred walls in charcoal. They expressed their wonder how he had come thither, when he had been there, and so on; and although they were surrounded by Egyptian antiquities, hieroglyphics, figures, fine paintings, &c. all their occupation was to inspect the numerous other scrawls on the stones, to see whether any more of their friends had been there. On our arrival at the great hall, they could not help observing the immense sarcophagus that lies there, and immediately inquired whether the body were still in it. On advancing a little farther, and perceiving it had been emptied, they concluded there was nothing worth seeing, as there were none of the kings’ bodies to be found. At my request they cast their eyes on the painting, otherwise they would have walked out without knowing whether it were a tomb or a cellar: in the mean time a friend of theirs, who not being quite so anxious as the fathers to see these antiquities, had seated himself near the entrance, as he cared not about coming any farther, was calling to the holy friars to make haste, and wondered why they would waste so much time in examining such things. It may easily be imagined, that I was not only disappointed in the taste of my companions, but also provoked at their indifference; and as I saw there was no remedy, I hurried them out of the tomb as fast as I could, to show them another more magnificent, in hopes to have better success. Accordingly I took them to see the most remarkable of the tombs, and that which is reckoned the best. This tomb is truly grand; it is distinguished from the others not only by its excellent state of preservation, but because it contains eight small cells cut in the rock, in the first passage on each side of it, in which are painted a multitude of articles used by the ancient Egyptians, such as implements of war, domestic and ceremonial dresses, decorations, musical instruments, and in short all that was conducive to utility, ornament, or convenience, in their time, so as to give perfect ideas of their mode of living, &c. The ground is white, and the colours are so lively and striking, that we cannot fail to wonder at them. Farther on you pass through a long gallery, painted with the most beautiful hieroglyphics, in as good perfection as the former; and in the great hall lies an enormous sarcophagus, of one single piece of granite, measuring ten feet long, five wide, six high, and six inches thick, covered with hieroglyphics inside and out. This is one of the largest sarcophagi remaining in perfection at this day. There are other apartments communicating with the great hall, all of which deserve the attention of the traveller, for in them he sees various groups of figures and hieroglyphics indicating the manner of living, agriculture, &c.

On our entering I informed the fathers that this was the finest tomb, and that it contained paintings of the implements and other things of the ancients, which are very interesting. They passed the first corridor with the same apathy as the first tomb, holding a candle into each of the cells as they passed, and peeping in with their heads, but without entering. The only thing that struck their attention were the hasps on a little box, somewhat like those which contain large flasks for liquors. On coming out I took the road over the mountain, which is a little troublesome, but in a few minutes it brings you to the summit, and then descends to Medinet Abou. Having no better success here, I returned with them to Luxor.

A strong wind that arose this day leads me to mention some particulars of the phenomena that often happen in Egypt. The first I shall notice is the _whirlwinds_, which occur all the year round, but especially at the time of the camseen wind, which begins in April, and lasts fifty days. Hence the name of camseen, which in Arabic signifies fifty. It generally blows from the south-west, and lasts four, five, or six days without varying, so very strong, that it raises the sands to a great height, forming a general cloud, so thick that it is impossible to keep the eyes open, if not under cover. It is troublesome even to the Arabs; it forces the sand into the houses through every cranny, and fills every thing with it. The caravans cannot proceed in the deserts; the boats cannot continue their voyages; and travellers are obliged to eat sand in spite of their teeth. The whole is like a chaos. Often a quantity of sand and small stones gradually ascends to a great height and forms a column sixty or seventy feet in diameter, and so thick, that were it steady on one spot, it would appear a solid mass. This not only revolves within its own circumference, but runs in a circular direction over a great space of ground, sometimes maintaining itself in motion for half an hour, and where it falls it accumulates a small hill of sand. God help the poor traveller who is caught under it!

The next phenomenon is the _mirage_, often described by travellers, who assert having been deceived by it, as at a distance it appears to them like water. This is certainly the fact, and I must confess, that I have been deceived myself, even after I was aware of it. The perfect resemblance to water, and the strong desire for this element, made me conclude, in spite of all my caution not to be deceived, that it was really water I saw. It generally appears like a still lake, so unmoved by the wind, that every thing above is to be seen most distinctly reflected by it, which is the principal cause of the deception. If the wind agitate any of the plants that rise above the horizon of the mirage, the motion is seen perfectly at a great distance. If the traveller stand elevated much above the mirage, the apparent water seems less united and less deep, for, as the eyes look down upon it, there is not thickness enough in the vapour on the surface of the ground to conceal the earth from the sight. But, if the traveller be on a level with the horizon of the mirage, he cannot see through it, so that it appears to him clear water. By putting my head first to the ground, and then mounting a camel, the height of which from the ground might have been about ten feet at the most, I found a great difference in the appearance of the mirage. On approaching it, it becomes thinner, and appears as if agitated by the wind, like a field of ripe corn. It gradually vanishes as the traveller approaches, and at last entirely disappears when he is on the spot.

The third phenomenon is the _locusts_. These animals I have seen in such clouds, that twice the number in the same space would form an opaque mass, which would wholly intercept the rays of the sun, and cause complete darkness. They alight on fields of corn, or other vegetables, and in a few minutes devour their whole produce. The natives make a great noise to frighten them away, but in vain; and, by way of retaliation, they catch and eat them when fried, considering them a dainty repast. They are something like the grasshopper in form, about two inches in length. They are generally of a yellow or gold colour, but there are some red and some green.

To return to our proceedings at Luxor. By this time our opponents were preparing to depart for Cairo, at which we rejoiced, as we thought we should remain quite alone. We had written to Cairo, informing Mr. Salt, the consul, of all that passed with the Bey; but indeed, unless a person is present at such occurrences, he can feel no interest in them, nor understand the disgust they excite. I had written also to Mr. Burckhardt on the subject, and from his answer I perceived, that the Bey’s conduct excited in him no surprise.