This Ship Was In
Quarantine, And It Was Consequently Necessary To Take Some Precautions
In Going On Board.
We proceeded, in the first instance, to a police
station, where we took a second boat in tow, and a guadiano, an
official appointed to see that no persons transgress the rules and
regulations of the port instituted for the preservation of health.
Upon getting alongside of the Volcano, our baggage was placed in
this boat; Miss E. and myself were then handed in, and cast adrift, to
my great astonishment; for not having had any previous intimation of
the method to be pursued, I was not at all prepared to hold on, as I
believe it is called, without assistance. Miss E., however, who was
more observant, hooked her parasol into one of the ropes, which
she subsequently caught. We were now to be taught a new lesson - the
extreme nonchalance with which the officers of a Government steamer
treat the passengers who have the misfortune to choose these boats
instead of making the voyage on board merchant vessels. Some minutes
elapsed before any notice was taken of us, or any assistance afforded
in getting up our baggage; our own people being obliged to look on
and do nothing, since, had they touched the ship, they would have been
obliged to perform eighteen days of quarantine.
Upon reaching the deck, we requested that our baggage might be taken
down into the ladies' cabin, in order that we might get our small
dormitories put to rights before the rest of the passengers came on
board; but, though it could have made no earthly difference to the
people employed, we met with a refusal, and the whole was deposited in
the grand saloon, already encumbered with luggage, every quarter of an
hour adding to the heap and the confusion, and the difficulty of each
person recognizing the identical carpet-bag or portmanteau that he
might claim as his property.[A]
Among our new fellow-passengers there was a young English gentleman,
who intended to travel into Syria, and who, though looking scarcely
twenty, had already spent some years in foreign countries. He was very
modest and unassuming, and both agreeable and intelligent; and, having
had a good deal of conversation together, I was sorry to lose sight of
him at Alexandria.
We had also one of Mehemet Ali's proteges on board, a young
Egyptian, who had been educated at the Pasha's expense in England,
where he had resided for the last ten years, latterly in the
neighbourhood of a dock-yard, in order to study the art of
ship-building. This young man was a favourite with those persons on
board who could make allowances for the circumstances in which he had
been placed, and who did not expect acquirements which it was almost
impossible for him to attain. His natural abilities were very good,
and he had cultivated them to the utmost of his power. Strongly
attached to European customs, manners, and institutions, he will lose
no opportunity of improving the condition of his countrymen, or of
inducing them to discard those prejudices which retard the progress
of civilization. He was naturally very anxious concerning his future
destiny, for the Pasha's favour is not always to be depended upon,
while the salary of many of the appointments which he does bestow is
by no means adequate to the support of men whom his liberality has
enabled to live in great respectability and comfort in England. Our
new acquaintance also felt that, in returning to his friends and
relatives, he should shock all their prejudices by his entire
abandonment of those customs and opinions by which they were still
guided; he grieved especially at the distress which he should cause
his mother, and determined not to enter into her presence until he had
assumed the national dress, and could appear, outwardly at least, like
an Egyptian.
The weather, during our short voyage, was remarkably favourable,
although it got rather too warm, especially at night, for comfort.
There are, however, great alleviations to heat in the Mediterranean
steamers. The ladies can have a wind-sail in their cabin, which,
together with the air from the stern windows, renders the temperature
at all times very delightful. They enjoy another advantage in having
a light burning all night, a comfort which cannot be too highly
appreciated, since darkness on board ship increases every other
annoyance.
We left Malta on the evening of the 25th, and arrived at Alexandria
early in the morning of the 30th. Every eye was strained to catch the
first view of the Egyptian coast, and especially of the Pharos, which
in ancient time directed the mariners to its shores; but the great
object of attraction at this period consisted of the united fleets,
Turkish and Egyptian, which rode at anchor in the port. Our steamer
threaded its way amid these fine-looking vessels, some of which we
passed so closely, as to be able to look into the cabin-windows. To
my unprofessional eye, these ships looked quite as efficient as any
warlike armament of the same nature that I had yet seen. They all
appeared to be well kept, and in good order, while the sailors were
clean, neatly dressed, and actively engaged, some in boats, and others
performing various duties. Though steamers are now very common sights,
we in turn attracted attention, all eyes being directed to our deck.
Our Egyptian fellow-passenger was especially interested and agitated
at his approach to his native shore, and the evidences which he saw
before him of the power and political influence of the Pasha. From a
gentleman who came on board, we learned that an apprehension had
been entertained at Alexandria of the arrival of a hostile fleet from
Europe, in which event a collision would in all probability have
taken place. Mehemet Ali, it was said, was so foolishly elated by
his successes, and by the attitude he had assumed, as to be perfectly
unaware of his true position, and of the lesson which he would
receive, should he persist in defying the remonstrances of his
European allies.
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