(On This Point He Had
Received False Intelligence.) His Only Fear Seemed To Be That The
English Army, Which Had Been Employed In The South Of France, And In
Spain, Would Now Be At Liberty To Invade Egypt.
"The great fish swallow
the small," he said; "and Egypt is necessary to England, in supplying
corn to Malta
And Gibraltar." I reasoned with him in vain on this
subject, and perceived that the dragoman did not always interpret my
answers correctly, from the fear of contradicting the well-known
opinions of his master. These opinions, indeed, were deeply rooted, and
had been fostered by the French mission in Egypt. "I am the friend of
the English," he continued. (This addressed by a Turk to a Christian,
means only that he fears him, or wants his money.) "But to tell you the
truth, among great men we see many compliments, and very little
sincerity. My hope is, that they will not fall upon Egypt during my stay
in the Hedjaz; if I am there myself, I shall at least have the
satisfaction of fighting personally for my dominions. Of the Sultan I am
not afraid, (this he repeatedly asserted, but I much doubt his
sincerity,) and I shall know how to outwit him in all his measures. An
army from Syria can never attack Egypt by land in very large bodies,
from the want of camels; and separate corps are easily destroyed as soon
as they have passed the desert."
I took the liberty of telling him that he was like a young man in
possession of a beautiful girl; although sure of her affection, he would
always be jealous of every stranger. "You say well," he replied. "I
certainly love Egypt with all the ardour of a lover; and if I had ten
thousand souls, I would willingly sacrifice them for its possession."
He asked me in what state I had found Upper Egypt; and whether his son
Ibrahim Pasha (the governor) was liked there. I replied, in the language
of truth, that all the chiefs of villages hated him (for he had
compelled them to abandon their despotic treatment of their fellow-
peasants); but that the peasants themselves
[p.80] were much attached to him. (The fact is, that instead of being
oppressed, as formerly, by the Mamelouk Beys and Kashefs, as well as by
their own Sheikhs, they have at present only one tyrant, the Pasha
himself, who keeps his governors of districts in perfect order.)
Mohammed Aly wished to know my opinion respecting the number of troops
necessary for defending Egypt against a foreign army. I answered, that I
knew nothing of war, but from what I had read in books. "No, no;" he
exclaimed, "you travellers always have your eyes open, and you inquire
after every thing." He persisted in his question; and being thus forced
to reply, I said that twenty-five thousand chosen troops would probably
be able to resist any attack. "I have now thirty-three thousand," said
he - a false assertion, for I am quite certain that he had at that time
not more than sixteen thousand men, dispersed over Egypt and the Hedjaz.
He would next explain to me the Nizam Djedyd, or new system of
discipline and military regulations He said it was only the avidity of
the chiefs, and not the dislike of the common sol-diers, that obstructed
the institution of a well-organised army in Turkey, and opposed the
mustering necessary to prevent the officers from imposing on the public
treasury. "But I shall make a regular corps of negro soldiers," he
added. This his predecessor Khurshid Pasha had attempted, but with
little success. The subject of the Nizam Djedyd was resumed as soon as
Mohammed Aly returned to Egypt from this expedition; but the revolt of
his soldiers, who plundered his own capital, obliged him to abandon the
undertaking, which had been badly planned. In the defence of Egypt, he
said, he should principally use his cavalry and horse-artillery; the
former should destroy all the provisions in advance of the enemy, as the
Russians had lately done; and the latter would harass them on all sides,
without ever attempting to make a stand.
[p.81] During my stay at Tayf, letters arrived from Constantinople,
across the Desert, by way of Damascus, bringing to the Pasha a Turkish
translation of the treaty of peace concluded at Paris. After having read
it several times, he ordered his Turkish writer to explain it to me in
Arabic, word for word. This occupied us in a private apartment several
hours. I then returned to the audience, and was desired by the Pasha to
tell him my opinion of the treaty. Referring to a Turkish atlas, copied
from European maps, and printed at Constantinople, he made me point out
to him the new limits of Belgium, the islands Mauritius and Tobago, the
position of Genoa, &c. &c. With respect to the latter place, a curious
mistake occurred. It had been stated to me that Genoa was ceded to the
Swedes, which I could not credit. Upon inquiry, I found that Geneva and
Switzerland were meant; a town and country which, I am sorry to say,
were not comprised in the geographical knowledge of a Turkish viceroy.
The mistake, how-ever, was easily made; for in Turkish, Geneva is
written like Genoua, and Sweden is pronounced Shwit.
The Pasha observed that much yet remained to be done, before all
differences between the parties could be settled; and I clearly saw how
impatiently he looked forward to a war among the European powers, which
would relieve him from any apprehensions for his own safety, and at the
same time occasion a great demand for corn at Alexandria.
With respect to Bonaparte, he seemed quite certain that the English
would one day seize him in Elba. "Have the English, then," he exclaimed,
"fought for nothing these twenty years? They have only got Malta, and a
few other islands!" He was impressed with the fear that there were
secret articles in the peace, which assigned to them the possession of
Egypt.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 31 of 179
Words from 30634 to 31659
of 182297
