Here I Remained All Night. A Great Number Of Bedouins Were At This
Time Collected Near Cairo, To Accompany The Troops Which Were To Be Sent
Into Arabia After The Ramadhan.
CAIRO
[p.456] September 4th.—I entered Cairo before sunrise; and thus
concluded my journey, by the blessing of God, without either loss of
health, or exposure to any imminent danger.
[P.457]
JOURNAL OF A TOUR
IN THE
PENINSULA OF MOUNT SINAI,
IN THE SPRING OF 1816.
ABOUT the beginning of April 1816 Cairo was again visited by the plague.
The Franks and most of the Christians shut themselves up; but as I
neither wished to follow their example nor to expose myself
unnecessarily in the town, I determined to pass my time, during the
prevalence of the disease, among the Bedouins of Mount Sinai, to visit
the gulf of Akaba, and, if possible, the castle of Akaba, to which, as
far as I know, no traveller has ever penetrated. Intending to pass some
days at the convent of Mount Sinai, I procured a letter of introduction
to the monks from their brethren at Cairo; for without this passport no
stranger is ever permitted to enter the convent; I was also desirous of
having a letter from the Pasha of Egypt to the principal Sheikh of the
tribes of Tor, over whom, as I knew by former experience, he exercises
more than a nominal authority. With the assistance of this paper, I
hoped to be able to see a good deal of the Bedouins of the peninsula in
safety, and to travel in their company to Akaba.
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