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.
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