MEETING WITH FRIENDS. 49 some parties, who had already returned from a voyage up the Nile. Amongst the latter I was more than delighted to find my friend John Smith, Esq. of Bombay, who had preceded me to Egypt by a couple of months, but with whom I had arranged that he should be my fellow-traveller through the desert and Syria. He spoke with great rapture of the exhilarating effects of the climate of Egypt, during the winter months, upon our debilitated countrymen from India, and of the wonders which he had been privileged to see during his late excursion. I was surprised to observe how much his health had improved during the short time we had been separated, and I could scarcely recognize him, from the rapidity with which his facial vegetation had advanced under the indulgence which he had extended to it during his peregrinations. One of his first counsels to some of us was, Give your razors rest while you sojourn in these parts." We made a trial of his advice, and resorted not again to barbaric operations till we arrived in London, the centre of civilization, upwards of eight months after we had become the humble imitators of our then venerable friend. Some may think an allusion to the liberties which we thus took unworthy of a notice in this narrative; but those who have to travel through the burning desert, and encounter its “meridian fervours," have but little inclination to waste their precious time in unfashionable ceremonies, and no disposition to complain of the shelter of their beards, even should they grow to a size—to use an Arabic figure—-capable of allowing them to hide themselves behind them. Had we come to Egypt in the days of the Pharaohs, we might have acted otherwise, and in deference to the tyrant custom of the land-certified both by the testimony of historians and the ancient sculptures and pictures remaining to this day-cropped or shaved ourselves, as Joseph did when he went from the dungeon to the presence of the king 2 1 Herodot. ii. 35. 2 Gen. xli. 14. VOL. I. D Though we were much fatigued by our journey across the desert, and the excitement of meeting our friends at Cairo, we slept but little during the first night of our residence in that crowded city. This, I believe, was owing, to a great extent, to the closeness of our apartments in the hotel, so unlike what we had been accustomed to for years in India, where our open windows, or free venetians, permit us to imbibe during the hours of slumber, the fresh, if not cool, air of heaven. When we got astir on the morning of the 22d January, all was bustle and noise around us. Crowds of natives, with Egyptian antiques and curiosities, were watching for us at the doors, or intruding into our apartments, and most importunately pleading for purchases. Donkey-boys with their asinine chargers in hand, were mustered in the court, to tempt us to try the skill and mettle of their really intelligent and nimble little favourites, by a scamper through the endless mazes of the city. Busy hands were engaged in assorting BUSTLE AT THE HOTEL. 51 the baggage which had just arrived from Suez on the back of camels; and each person had to look after his own traps, lest they should go astray, never more to be recovered. Guides and Tarjamáns, alias Dragomans, were adding to the confusion of the tongues which they professed to interpret. The Sabbath was wellnigh entirely lost sight of, by some of those who were wont to consider its strict observance both a duty and a privilege. Our fellow-passengers who had to proceed direct to England, left us about mid-day. They went in the transit-vans or on donkey-back to Bulák, the port of Cairo on the Nile, whence they were to set sail for Atfeh, in a small steamer from which they were to be transferred to a packet-boat, to proceed through the Mahmudíyah canal to Alexandria.1 As soon as they took their departure, my young Pársí friend and I set out upon the search for the premises of the Church Missionary Society, which we easily found in the Coptic quarter. We were too late, as we feared, for public worship; but we met with a very cordial welcome and kind reception from Mr. and Mrs. Leider, from whom we were glad to hear of the Lord's goodness to them as a family and a mission; and who eagerly inquired after the progress of the cause of the Saviour in the great land from which we had come. Their colleague, Mr. Krusé, was absent in England. At their house we had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Durbin, an American Methodist clergyman, who was about to enter on the pilgrimage of Mount Sinai and the Holy Land. On the morning of Monday the 23d of January, the rearguard of our desert-party arrived in Cairo, having come from Suez, not like ourselves in chariots drawn by horses, but on camels and asses, the more primitive conveyances of the 1 The passage from Cairo to Atfeh, is usually made in from ten to twelve hours. As the canal boats have now the assistance of a steam tug, they reach Alexandria in a few hours more. great desert. In this body, were our artist, the Jew Mordecai, his sprightly little boy Abraham, and Major John Fawcett, who not having engaged his passage in the vans before leaving Bombay, and failing to procure one at Suez, had been obliged to separate himself from his lady, who was accommodated with a seat through the courtesy of a brother-officer, who surrendered his own right of preference in her behalf. The delay which had occurred in the desert in the case of our esteemed friend, was the cause of his losing his passage by the first English steamer from Alexandria ; but the opportunity afforded him of devoting a few days to the inspection of the “lions” of Cairo was felt to be an ample compensation. Such an opportunity some others of our fellow-passengers from India voluntarily embraced, by choosing the French steamer which was to sail from Alexandria some ten days later than the English one. My own residence in the capital of Egypt extended to fifteen days, which allowed me, accustomed though I was to the East, to observe many new and curious scenes, and to inspect some of the most wonderful memorials of the times of antiquity, which, in defiance of the ruthless hand of man, and of time, the great destroyer, are still to be seen on the banks of the mysterious Nile. As it would serve no good purpose for me to narrate in detail my varied occupations during this fortnight, I shall content myself with a few general notices and descriptions. I had come on to Cairo, I may state by way of preface, with some specific objects in view. I had wished to complete my preparations for my future journey through the desert and Syria ; to learn something of the present condition of the Jews and Christians of Egypt, and the prospects of evangelical missionary effort directed to their instruction ; to mark, in connexion with my observation and inquiries, as far as my limited opportunities could permit, the precise nature of the various influences which have lately been brought to bear on the civil and religious destiny of the country in general; and to indulge, when possible, that natural curiosity, which, in the case of the traveller visiting the land of the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, and their remarkable, though less noble successors, assumes the strength of an almost uncontrollable passion. I could have much wished that my sojourn in Egypt, and my visits to its important localities, had been greatly more extended than they actually were. That I might have as much of my time as possible at my own disposal, my enterprizing friend, and afterwards most agreeable fellowtraveller, Mr. Smith, kindly agreed to procure all needful provisions for our future journey, merely referring occasionally to me for consultation, and arranging matters with the Rev. Henry Sherlock, A.M., and Messrs. Allen and Parke from England, who were to join our party, and afterwards to add much to its interest, during several hundred miles of the desert portion of our route, where agreeable and profitable companionship is particularly to be desiderated. The letters of introduction which I had brought from the Jews of Bombay, gave me ready access to their brethren in Cairo, and secured from them all the attention and hospitality which I could wish. That I might see as much as possible of the Copts and other Christians of Egypt, and be near the Rev. Mr. Leider, who has so long and faithfully laboured in the cause of their enlightenment, and has a better acquaintance with their habits than any other European in the place, I took lodgings in their own quarter, in a house occupied by Hasan Effendi, a teacher of Geology in the Bulák seminary, a most intelligent young man, who was converted from Muhammadanism to Christianity during his visit to Britain, whither he had been sent for his education, and who is married to a respectable English female. At the “Great Eastern Hotel,” where I occasionally dined, I met my fellowpilgrims, and became acquainted with their plans and pro |