In
About Five Minutes He Renewed The Business With The Bedouins, Which I
Had Interrupted.
When this was terminated, and Hassan Pasha had left the
room, every body was ordered to withdraw, except the Kadhy, Bosari, and
myself.
I expected now to be put to the proof, and I was fully prepared
for it; but not a word was mentioned of my personal affairs, nor did
Mohammed Aly, in any of our subsequent conversations, ever enter further
into them than to hint that he was persuaded I was on my way to the East
Indies. As soon as we were alone, the Pasha introduced the subject of
politics. He had just received information of the entrance of the allies
into Paris, and the departure of Bonaparte for Elba; and several Malta
gazettes, giving the details of these occurrences, had been sent to him
from Cairo. He seemed deeply interested in these important events,
chiefly because he laboured under the impression that, after Bonaparte's
downfall, England would probably seek for an augmentation of power in
the Mediterranean, and consequently invade Egypt.
After remaining for two or three hours with the Pasha in private
conversation, either speaking Arabic to him, through the medium of the
Kadhy, who, though a native of Constantinople, knew that language
perfectly, or Italian, through Bosari, who was an Armenian, but had
acquired a smattering of that tongue at Cairo, I took my leave, and the
Pasha said that he expected me again on the morrow at the same hour.
August 29th. - I paid a visit to the Kadhy before sun-set, and found him
with his companion and secretary, a learned man of Constantinople. The
Kadhy Sadik Effendi was a true eastern
[p.73] courtier, of very engaging manners and address, possessing all
that suavity of expression for which the well-bred natives of Stamboul
are so distinguished. After we had interchanged a few complimentary
phrases, I mentioned my astonishment on finding that the Pasha had
expressed any doubts of my being a true Moslem, after I had now been a
proselyte to that faith for so many years. He replied that Mohammed Aly
had allowed that he (the Kadhy) was the best judge in such matters; and
added, that he hoped we should become better acquainted with each other.
He then began to question me about my Nubian travels. In the course of
conversation literary subjects were introduced: he asked me what Arabic
hooks I had read, and what commentaries on the Koran and on the law; and
he probably found me better acquainted, with the titles, at least, of
such works than he had expected, for we did not enter deeply into the
subject. While we were thus conversing, the call to evening prayers
announced the termination of this day's fast. I supped with the Kadhy,
and afterwards performed the evening prayers in his company, when I took
great care to chaunt as long a chapter of the Koran as my memory
furnished at the moment; after which we both went to the Pasha, who
again sat up a part of the night in private conversation with me,
chiefly on political affairs, without ever introducing the subject of my
private business.
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