Part 49

The Arab cultivation here is meagre and primitive; the plough is drawn by a camel and donkey yoked together--rather a ludicrous sight. If the Arab has a surplus of grain, or the price does not suit him, having no barns, he buries it in pits prepared for the purpose. His tent can be transported easily with his small household effects, consisting of a few earthen or copper cooking utensils, or he can throw up a mud hovel and thatch it with the leaves of the date or other trees.

He mounts his horses or camels, with his wives and children upon their backs, and emigrates to another place where the land suits him better. The women, whose faces we occasionally get a peep at, wear a profusion of bracelets, anklets, and huge rings from the top and bottom of the ears. One would suppose them too weighty for this tender part to sustain. In the city the wives of the wealthy Moors are beautifully clad with ornaments; they are fond of monotonous music and the lascivious dancing of the professed dancing girls, not unlike that of the dancing girls of Egypt. The fair daughters of Judea, whose faces are always uncovered, have preserved their type of beauty here. I have seen the howling and whirling Dervishes of Constantinople, the adoration of brazen bulls in India, the prostration of the Chinese before their heathen gods, the Parsee worship of the rising sun, the dancing of Shakers, as well as most varieties of worship, but I have never yet witnessed such a horrible exhibition of fanaticism as in a little temple here. The building was a plain one, not unlike a whitewashed Mohammedan mosque, with arches and columns, ostrich eggs strung upon cords, and suspended lamps. Upon the matting and rugs squatted a centre group, of musicians, with tambourines and tamtams, a sort of kettle-drum. Around the walls were seated rows of men and boys. My companion and myself crossed our legs, tailor-like, in line with the devotees, and awaited the working of the spirit.

Then commenced monotonous, plaintive singing, accompanied by the musicians moving their heads backwards and forwards until the sounds became wild and discordant, when a huge, dark, Bedouin-faced figure unrolled his turban, threw down his red fez, while a heavy tuft of long hair floated over his shoulders like the mane of a lion, then his eyes rolling furiously, and his head swaying as if it was on a pivot, he threw himself among the crowd, raving and snarling like a dog, and attempting to bite all who came in his way. At length he was appeased, with horse nails, scorpions, &c.; he licked red hot iron, much to the enjoyment of the audience, who indulged in the wildest strains of music and songs of delight. After which performance, dancing, the most extravagant and arduous, was continued until several fell frothing at the mouth, and were carried out of the circle. This curious spectacle continued about two hours on the Musselman sabbath, which is Friday. It was curious to see the boys imitate the shaking of the head and body of the leaders of the sect. The turmoil ceases at intervals, prayers are muttered, incense burned, and the parties take breath only to renew the frenzy and excitement. On the public square you see snake charmers and jugglers, who rival those of Madras.

CXXXI.

TUNIS, AFRICA, _March 13, 1858_.

From Constantine, the capital of the eastern province of Algeria, seventy miles in the interior, I proceeded to the sea-coast at Philippeville and Stora, to embark for Bona and Tunis.

Philippeville is a modern French town on the site of the ancient Russicada, with an open roadstead; Stora, a league distant, serves as a seaport, and is protected from almost all the winds. Philippeville has a future, being the commercial and military centre for Constantine and eastern Algeria. The environs are picturesque and productive of tropical fruits. The remains of a Roman amphitheatre are found there, also statues, Corinthian columns, and the cisterns or reservoirs which formerly supplied the ancient city. Nine of them have been repaired, and now furnish the town with water.

From Stora I came by steamer to Bona, the seat of the second military division. This city was constructed in the year 497 by the Arabs with the remains of the ancient and beautiful city of Hippona, about two miles distant. It was founded by the Carthaginians and called Ubbo. It lay at the foot of two hills, with the river Seybouse passing by, and vessels came up at that time to the city. In the year 709 of Rome, Scipio, a fugitive, beaten by the tempest, took refuge here with his little fleet, which was destroyed by Sittius, the lieutenant of Cæsar.

In the year 429 A.D. the Vandals besieged Hippona and destroyed it in part. It was retaken by Belisare, but the Arabs took it again in 697, and transported to Arabia the present French town of Bona. The kings of Tunis built the Casbah or citadel in the year 1304. It has changed hands many times, and has been burnt and destroyed; in 1832 the French took complete possession. Many improvements have taken place; the country is tolerably cultivated in the environs, and some fine works have been established.

We had cleverly got to sea from Bona when a sudden norther came down upon us and obliged our steamer to take refuge under the lee of a fort and projecting cape; after it subsided we pushed on the next day to the Bay of Tunis, and landed at the village and port of Goletta, some twelve miles from the city; it can be reached by land or water, the latter way by a salt lake.

Here, in this city of one hundred thousand inhabitants, the largest proportion of whom are Arabs, one finds himself out of the pale of French civilization. In Algeria life may be considered tolerably safe, but here, such is the fanaticism of the Musselman, and so little the respect paid to Christians, that one is naturally cautious in his movements. The mosques cannot be entered as in Constantinople, Algiers, and other places; the cemeteries cannot be defiled by infidels. The five gates of the city are closed at six in the afternoon. All persons found out by the armed sentinels after seven in the afternoon, without lanterns, are taken to the guard-house and released upon the consul’s application in the morning. An instance of intolerance occurred last June, which created a sensation far and wide. I passed the gate recently where the Jew (you will recollect the circumstance), meeting with some obstacle, anathematized Mahomet; he was maltreated, thrown into prison and condemned to be executed, and notwithstanding the protestations of various consuls, was decapitated and literally cut into pieces by the exasperated populace. The French sent down a squadron, and at last obtained redress from the Bey, in promises for the future privileges of Jews and Christians. Here one finds African life in its natural condition, beyond the reach of French officers and soldiery.

The miserable, sallow-looking troops are dressed in round jackets and pantaloons, with the fez, or cap of red cloth, ill adapted to a hot climate. The streets are narrow and wretchedly filthy; all the offal is thrown into them, and where hogs do not exist as scavengers, the dogs, who are always numerous, supply in some measure the defect. When it rains, the black mud is difficult to wade through, as there is no pavement, and pattens are brought in requisition. The stench from filth is abominable.

The bazaars are interesting to visit, on account of their display of rich silks, costumes, smoking pipes with amber mouth-pieces, otto of roses, embroideries of all kinds, and rich trappings for saddles and bridles.

The Arab cafés, with their thirty to forty inmates, sitting cross-legged, sipping coffee in little cups, and listening to guitars and national airs, are curious to look into. The little barber shops are found everywhere, and busy enough are their masters, shaving the skulls of the faithful. A pile of shoes is always at the door, as the Arabs step upon the mats and rugs, and then draw their shoes off, and draw their feet up under them. You are elbowed in the streets by negroes and Arabs of the different races, dark-eyed boys, camels and mules laden with olives, olive oil, fruits, and vegetables, and surrounded by the cries of vendors, and the confusion of tongues. The exterior Moorish architecture of some of the mosques, and the light and airy minarets, are attractive to the eye as you look up and espy the Muezzin crying out the hour of prayer. The supreme power is vested in the Bey, who has several palaces in the city and country. He is now residing some nine miles hence, along the shore, whither I have been to witness an Arab fantasie, or display of horsemanship.

An artillery regiment lay encamped directly opposite the immense palace, with its latticed windows, domes, terraces, and four hundred and fifty inmates, including the harem, eunuchs, servants, officials, and relatives of the Bey’s wives. Two huge, uncouth, painted lions were seen over the inner porch; sentinels, stacks of muskets, and officers, civil and military, were in the front of the doors, together with the sons of the sovereign, and when the Bey presented himself at the window, the equestrian exercise commenced. There were forty horsemen, accompanied by two Kadis and three Scheiks of tribes in the interior, who were dressed in the most luxurious costumes of silks and embroidered cloth flowing robes, their arms, saddles, and bridles glittering with gold and silver filigree work. Starting at some distance, they came down singly, and in groups of three or five, upon full gallop, drawing and discharging their carabines as they passed by, and suddenly reining up and whirling their guns in the air--a most exciting and wild scene, beautifully executed. Others were dancing their horses to the sounds of drums and flutes, and making all sorts of evolutions around the sentinels, describing a figure eight, and embracing the sentinels without treading on their toes. The homage paid was recompensed by rich and costly presents sent out to the victors.

While the authorities are revelling in luxuries, the poor suffer the penalty. Three thousand troops have just been sent out, to be absent some months, for the purpose of collecting taxes and imposts, which are enforced by the bayonet.

The country is beautifully fertile and productive. We rode through miles of olive groves. The Bey has a famous oil mill, driven by steam power, under the direction of Europeans. The olives, when fully ripened, are sent in panniers upon camels’ backs, and crushed by machinery; the oil is then pressed out. Our Consul and some others made up a party for Gomart, twelve miles distant, where we found some catacombs; but to one who had seen those of Thebes they afforded but little interest.

The friends we visited occupied a palace which had been built by Christian slave labor during the piratical days of this people. The amount of labor performed in the construction, with its fountains, basins, orange, lemon, and date groves, must have exhausted the patience of these poor prisoners.

The ancient city of Carthage lies along the sea shore, some twelve miles from Tunis, and is quite accessible by carriage drive. We visited Mr. Davis, the gentleman employed by the British government in excavating the antiquities, and accompanied him in these explorations. The site of the great temple of Esculapius is plainly visible, and a portion of the foundation walls and staircases. He has forty men employed, and we discovered the basements of several houses where the mosaic floors were quite perfect and very beautiful. Many large boxes have been sent to the British Museum. The ancient port of the city is still distinguishable.

The traces of the aqueducts are well defined, and large masses of stone still stand. The reservoirs for water, seventeen in number, are in the best state of preservation; they are evidently of Roman construction.

The circuit of twenty miles, where stood the great city, is now under cultivation, scarcely leaving any vestige of existence above the surface.

CXXXII.

TRIPOLI, COAST OF BARBARY, AFRICA, _April 1, 1858_.

The land route from Tunis is attended with so much fatigue and risk, that I took the steamer for Malta, and embarked for this port, where we arrived in the midst of a violent norther, the waves dashing violently among the breakers, and landed, much to the satisfaction of all concerned; particularly, two Turkish Beys, with their harems, from Constantinople, who were my fellow passengers. The women were under lock and key, but notwithstanding the sea-sickness of their liege lords, as well as the eunuchs, I noticed the jealous glances cast outside of their berths from time to time.

There are two small hotels at Tunis, but here, none; and as I had letters for our Consul, Mr. Gaines, I accepted his Virginian hospitality. This territory, which extends to the Egyptian frontier, is under Turkish rule, and the now presiding Pacha is Osmand Bey, a worthy old gentleman, to whom I was presented, and with whom I had a long chat through his interpreter. Coffee, sherbet, and confectionery were served, and long pipes, or chibouks, of jessamine wood, with amber mouth-pieces encircled in diamonds, gave the Latakia tobacco a good relish. As strangers are seldom seen here, the communication being rare, it is rather gratifying to resident consuls and others, to extend facilities. I am the first native American visitor, the consul tells me, since his residence here of nine years. An English government steamer brought down a gentleman whose friends reside here, and who has done service in the Crimea, and is now appointed consul in Russia. His friends, being mine, have given me an opportunity of joining in the festivities and recreations offered to the officers. Horses have been put at our disposition for social and shooting parties in the country. Dinners and evening parties have been constant, and the time passed pleasantly. Consuls here, as well as at Tunis, wear the uniform and cap with gold band, which is much respected by the natives.

As our dragoman goes round the city with his silver-headed massive stick, it is quite amusing to hear the sergeant present arms in Turkish as the sentinels are passed. There are some four thousand Turkish troops here from Constantinople. The population is chiefly Arab, with a sprinkling of Jews and Maltese. The city contains fifteen thousand inhabitants; it is much cleaner than Tunis, and is in a healthier position, and warmer, being further south and nearer the desert. The country between the sea and the sandy waste is very picturesque; it is mostly cultivated by means of irrigation, as the Persian wheels, driven by cattle, are seen in all directions, attached to the wells.

The date groves in all quarters, interspersed with olive, fig, and almond, give it an oriental appearance. The scenery, as well as the costume and habits of the people, is African. Every variety of color may be seen, the ground being contiguous to the races of the Sahara and the starting point for Timbuctoo. The weekly fairs upon the beach are most primitive. Sheep, goats, and camels are driven in and butchered upon the sand. You see the Arabs squatted, bare-footed, or in red and yellow sandals, around piles of skins, fruits, vegetables, or grain; tinkers, in little date-leaved tents, repairing copper cooking utensils; itinerant barbers plying their avocations; donkeys loaded with wood and charcoal; squalid figures, black, brown, and yellow, cooking a scanty meal of pumpkin, red pepper, and oil; others indulging in the national and savoury repast of kouskous;--and a thousand other sights and eccentricities that we, as civilized beings, can scarcely dream of.

The previous war steamer that was down here brought the English Vice Consul, and among the guests two English ladies. The Pasha gave a review of the troops and a picnic in the country. He drove one of the ladies in his own carriage, followed by a cavalcade--so unusual a thing for a Musselman, that the Arab women thought he had taken a new wife, and commenced chanting a merry song, much to the lady’s annoyance.

A splendid dinner was given to the officers, with abundance of wine, contrary to the usage of Musselmans, but in accordance with the Pasha’s notions of propriety; and when the lady left he presented her a beautiful pony. He is more European in his conduct than Turkish, and has set an example for others in having only one wife.

Visiting a country-seat a few days since, I noticed upon an observatory overlooking the seat the wooden figure of a hand nailed up, a custom, I presume, in accordance with that of more civilized countries, where horseshoes are fastened over the doors, to keep off the witches. I asked if it was to keep off the evil eye, and the reply was that the carpenter would not continue his work until it was fastened there. We frequently see the impressions of hands, in red and black marks, upon the buildings; such is the superstition of the natives.

The birthday of Mahomet will soon take place, when it will be unsafe for Jew or Gentile to appear in the streets. For several days before the festival the Marabouts or holy men commence eating Indian hemp seed, which produces delirium; they then rush out, shaking their heads and bodies violently, followed by men and women chanting and shrieking. They then perform miracles by swallowing knives, nails, glass, and putting red hot shovels to their tongues, and sometimes their fanaticism induces them to maltreat or tear to pieces Jews and Gentiles; and the Pacha warns Consuls to keep their protégés or servants at home, as he cannot be responsible for them.

We have had some excellent gun practice from the English gun boat Vigilant, now in port, in honor of the Pacha. The distance fired was nearly half a mile, with two sixty-eight pounders; she carries also two thirty-two pounders. The target was a rock in the roadstead, painted white. Rounds of shot, shell, and grape, were fired with much precision. After the conclusion, and the partaking of a collation, the captain carried us in his gig to examine the effect, and we found chain shot and broken shell.

I am invited by the commander of this beautiful screw steamer, of six hundred and forty tons, to occupy a part of his cabin. Although I had paid my passage on board the steamer which has already departed, my friends induced me to stay a few days longer and accept the invitation. The old Pasha was to have been on board, but a plea of indisposition excused him. Several consuls and vice-consuls were among our number. On another occasion we had a trial of firing at a floating target, which in this case was a barrel sent adrift, with a couple of sixty-eight pound shot suspended to keep it steady, and an old flag staff stuck in the bung. We then described a circle of a half mile, and fired while in motion; the shot told remarkably as line shots, and the surface of the water sometimes looked like the spouting of whales. The English have now one hundred and thirty, large and small, of this class of steamers or gunboats. The Vigilant carries ninety men, and has an engine of two hundred horse power, with a screw twelve feet diameter; the boilers and machinery are below water mark; she draws twelve feet of water, and is admirably calculated for destruction.

Within the harbor of Malta, and encircled by the strong walls of these immense and world-wide renowned fortifications, lay the flag ship and part of the squadron of Admiral Lyons. Having once made a quarantine of twenty-one days there, coming from Egypt, which quarantine is fortunately abandoned now, besides spending ten days in sight seeing, nothing stuck me as new.

CXXXIII.

GRAND CAIRO, EGYPT, _April 10, 1858_.

I reached Malta on board of an English war steamer, in time to connect with the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s packet, with the India overland passengers. An agreeable passage of three and a half days brought us to Alexandria, and instead of taking canal and river boats as in former times, occupying four days, I proceeded by rail to this city in eight hours. The distance is about one hundred and thirty miles, and the road is to continue to Suez, across the little desert, some ninety miles more. There only remain some twenty miles to complete it, when Alexandria and its port will be in communication with the Red Sea. The Pasha has constructed this great work at his own expense, and must ultimately derive a large revenue from it, as the tax upon each passenger crossing is ten pounds or fifty dollars.

This being my third visit to Egypt, I am able to judge of the changes that have taken place, particularly since the introduction of the railway. In 1842, when I first made the ascent of the Nile to Upper Egypt, we met only four passenger boats; the past winter the number has been forty, which is much less than usual, owing to disturbed monetary relations throughout the world. Then, Alexandria was a village, surrounded with the ruins of the former city. Now, it is a place of large commerce, with a population of seventy or eighty thousand, and instead of camels to carry one’s luggage, and donkeys to ride up a miserable hotel, one finds carriages and four-horse omnibuses around the railway station. The whistle of the locomotive, and the cry of “clear the track,” is calculated to wake up the most lethargic races. When I passed through Egypt in 1855, _en route_ from the East Indies, I was struck with the changes. We descended the Nile in a steamer from Cairo, which was a great improvement.

Pompey’s Pillar and Cleopatra’s Needle still stand, towering high, as solitary spectators of the progress of the age.

I find here some familiar faces; the Dragoman who accompanied me to Upper Egypt and crossed the desert to Palestine, meets me with a smile; Paul, who is spoken of in Stephens’s work on Egypt, I find again. I have just visited the Mausoleum of the great man Mohammed Ali, the regenerator of Egypt, with whom I once passed an evening with accompaniment of the chilbouk or pipe, sherbet and coffee, talking over the affairs of this country. He was of humble origin, but through his military prowess and energy of character rose to the throne, conquered the Bedouins of the desert, massacred the Mamelukes, dug canals, regulated the embankments of the Nile for irrigation, forced the natives into the army and into useful employments, introduced the growth of cotton, built a fleet, which was destroyed by the allied forces, erected manufactories and palaces; in a word, he was a tyrant, but a benefactor in advancing civilization.

He succeeded in creating a Dynasty for his family, and his remains now are inclosed within the walls of the new and gigantic alabaster mosque, with its pointed minarets, standing upon the citadel inclosure, within the walls of which the unfortunate Mamelukes were shot, one of whom only escaped by jumping his horse over a steep precipice.

I find here some of my countrymen, and a few English, who are returning from the Nile trip, as the season is about over and the water low. In June the rise commences. Some are making excursions to Heliopolis and to the Pyramids, others visiting the bazaars and Schrubra, the garden of the Pasha, which, with its brooks, fountains, fruit, and flowers, is well worth a visit.