"He
Shall Be Called An Egyptian," Is A Denunciation Which Has Been
Strikingly Fulfilled, Though The Country Be No Longer The "Basest Of
Kingdoms."
[FN#22] In Those Days Merchants Depended Solely Upon The Native Trade
And The Passage Of Pilgrims.
The pecuniary advantage attending what is
called the Overland transit benefits chiefly the lowest orders,
camel-men, sailors, porters, and others of the same class.
Sixteen
years ago the hire of a boat from the harbour to the roadstead was a
piastre and a half: now it is at least five.
[FN#23] This word, says Mansfield Parkyns (Life in Abyssinia), is
applied to the wandering pilgrim from Darfur, Dar Borghu, Bayarimah,
Fellatah, and Western Africa. He mentions, however, a tribe called
"Tokrouri," settled in Abyssinia near Nimr's country, but he does not
appear to know that the ancient Arab settlement in Western Africa,
"Al-Takrur," (Sakatu?) which has handed down its name to a large
posterity of small kingdoms, will be found in Al-Idrisi (1. climate, 1.
section,); but I do not agree with the learned translator in writing
the word "Tokrour." Burckhardt often alludes in his benevolent way to
the "respectable and industrious Tekrourys." I shall have occasion to
mention them at a future time.
[FN#24] The Sudan (Blackland) in Arabia is applied to Upper Nubia,
Senaar, Kordofan, and the parts adjacent.
[FN#25] Not only in Ghiz, but also in Arabic, the mother of Ghiz, the
word "Habash," whence our "Abyssinians," means a rabble, a mixture of
people. Abyssinian Moslems are called by the Arabs "Jabarti."
[FN#26] There is no such thing as a tree, except the date, the
tamarisk, and the mimosa on the western shores of the Red Sea.
[FN#27] This word, which in Arabic is the feminine form of "Baghl," a
mule, is in Egypt, as in India, pronounced and written by foreigners
"buggalow." Some worthy Anglo-Indians have further corrupted it to
"bungalow."
[FN#28] "The ardeb, like most measures in this country of commercial
confusion, varies greatly according to the grain for which it is used.
As a general rule, it may be assumed at 300 lbs."
[FN#29] Return Arab boats, at any but the pilgrim season, with little
difficulty obtain permission to carry passengers, but not cargo. Two
gentlemen, in whose pleasant society I once travelled from Cairo to
Suez,-M. Charles Didier and the Abbe Hamilton,-paid the small sum of
1000 piastres, (say L10) for the whole of a moderate sized "Sambuk"
returning to Jeddah.
[FN#30] Mother-of-pearl is taken to Jerusalem, and there made into
chaplets, saints' figures, and crucifixes for Christian pilgrims. At
Meccah it is worked into rosaries for the Hajis. In Europe, cabinet and
ornamental work cause a considerable demand for it. Some good pearls
are procurable in the Red Sea. I have seen a drop of fair size and
colour sold for seven dollars.
[FN#31] I was told at Meccah that the pilgrimage is attended by about
2000 natives of Java and the adjoining islands.
[FN#32] The following popular puerilities will serve to show how fond
barbarians are of explaining the natural by the supernatural. The
Moslems of Egypt thus account for the absence of St. Swithin from their
drought-stricken lands. When Jacob lost his Benjamin, he cursed the
land of Misraim, declaring that it should know no rain; Joseph on the
other hand blessed it, asserting that it should never want water. So
the Sind Hindus believe that Hiranyakasipu, the demon-tyrant of Multan,
finding Magha-Raja (the Cloud King) troublesome in his dominions, bound
him with chains, and only released him upon his oath not to trouble the
Unhappy Valley with his presence. I would suggest to those Egyptian
travellers who believe that the fall of rain has been materially
increased at Cairo of late, by plantations of trees, to turn over the
volumes of their predecesors; they will find almost every one
complaining of the discomforts of rain. In Sind it appears certain that
during the last few years there has been at times almost a monsoon;
this novel phenomenon the natives attribute to the presence of their
conquerors, concerning whom it cannot be said that they have wooded the
country to any extent.
[FN#33] This may appear a large mortality; but at Alexandria it is said
the population is renewed every fourteen years.
[FN#34] During these North winds the sandy bar is exposed, and allows
men to cross, which may explain the passage of the Israelites, for
those who do not believe the Legend to be a Myth. Similarly at Jeddah,
the bars are covered during the South and bare during the North winds.
[FN#35] This mixture, called in India Kichhri, has become common in
Al-Hijaz as well as at Suez. "Al-Kajari" is the corruption, which
denotes its foreign origin, and renders its name pronounceable to Arabs.
[FN#36] Beans, an abomination to the ancient Egyptians, who were
forbidden even to sow them, may now be called the common "kitchen" of
the country. The Badawin, ho believe in nothing but flesh, milk, and
dates, deride the bean-eaters, but they do not consider the food so
disgusting as onions.
[FN#37] Here concludes Mr. Levick's letter. For the following
observations, I alone am answerable.
[FN#38] The government takes care to prevent bloodshed in the towns by
disarming the country people, and by positively forbidding the carrying
of weapons. Moreover, with a wise severity, it punishes all parties
concerned in a quarrel, where blood is drawn, with a heavy fine and the
bastinado de rigueur. Hence it is never safe, except as a European, to
strike a man, and the Egyptians generally confine themselves to
collaring and pushing each other against the walls. Even in the case of
receiving gross abuse, you cannot notice it as you would elsewhere. You
must take two witnesses,-respectable men,-and prove the offence before
the Zabit, who alone can punish the offender.
[FN#39] NOTE TO THIRD (1873) EDITION.-I revisited Suez in September,
1869, and found it altered for the better.
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