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tomer and while on the water in the midst of their work they would ejaculate again “Bono Johnny.”
One day when I was picking my way through a sea of mud which composed the roadway of an important thoroughfare running parrallel to the water at Pera, but at some little distance from it and having houses on each side, a French general followed by two orderlies passed along.
The three were mounted and their “get up” was complete in every aspect, worthy in fact of a review on the Champ du Mars. As they moved through the surrounding quagmire I could not help being struck with the contrast between their military bearing and complete equipment and the slipshod way in which everything pertaining to the native soldier was regulated. The sentries of the Turkish garrison at certain posts in Pera were always two together, and they had a slouchy look as though they never had been subjected to a proper course of instruction, and were together to keep each other awake. Another incident which also made an impression upon me occurred in the narrow street leading from the water at Pera up to the hotel. I was walking a little in rear of a tall English artillery private — one of a picked body of men who usually remain in the coast defenses of England, but who probably were serving in certain batteries of field artillery at the time. Two French officers were approaching from the opposite direction and as they were passing the Englishman he gave them the military salute. Only one of these returned it — the other not seeming to have noticed it — and he did it as though he was bowing to a civilian friend with a slight inclination of the body and a raising of the “képí” with the right hand. It was gracefully done by the Frenchman while the Englishman appeared to be a simple honest fellow who had very vague impressions of there having once been a great battle on the plain of Waterloo, the bitterness felt by the defeated party having been so intense that no one ever considered it possible that they would ever be allies in the next great war.
There being nothing more to detain me I took passage from Con stantinople in one of the little Austrian Lloyd’s steamers for Alexandria, Egypt, via Smyrna, which started at 5 in the afternoon. There were only a few passengers in the cabin, but amidships there were a great many natives, whom, for want of a better name, I will call Turks, while on the deck of the first class cabin the entire half was occupied by the women of an old turbaned Turk, who were protected from the weather by an awning. There was complete separation between Christian and Mahometan, and the latter under no circumstances, as far as I noticed, sat at the same table with one of the other faith. At supper I entered into conversation with a passenger who I easily saw was a compatriot. His name was Hayes as I afterwards found out, and he was a jeweller from Philadelphia. The next morning we were near the Dardanelles and it amused me to observe the deck passengers washing themselves, after their night’s sleep. The Koran forbids the use of basins and enjoins that all ablutions be done with running water. On ship board and in dwellings this is accomplished by pouring water into the hand from a metal pitcher having a long spout, and it is remarkable
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how cleverly it is then conveyed to any part of the head, neck, or arms. The turban is taken off and laid aside while this washing is being done, and the underclothing around the neck is opened. No buttons are used in the Eastern dress, only strings, and when the washing is finished it is funny to see all of the various strings that keep the different parts in position drawn tight and fastened.
After passing through the Dardanelles we reached a little before sunset the town of Mitylene on the island of the same name. There was an important passenger who was to leave the steamer then — no less a personage than the local judge who had lately been appointed by the Sultan. He was a dried up and wrinkled old man, dressed in flowing robes, — the head of the household who were under the awning on the cabin deck. My attention was not attracted to him until I saw him getting into a barge which had come from the shore to receive his belongings, and which was already well filled with all his baggage tied up in cloth bundles. He looked worried as he might well feel by the necessity of collecting all his impedimenta without leaving anything behind; but his women were still on the steamer waiting until it was time for them to descend also. These consisted of two or three white ladies and two tall black wenches who may have been servants, although they did nothing to indicate that they were such. While these females were standing near the deck railing, away from the jealous care of their lord in the barge below, one of the passengers, a Frenchman, crept up softly to one of the negresses and gave her a good pinch on some part of her back. She immediately turned and uttered a shriek of anger, showing at the same time a perfect row of white teeth. But the Frenchman, in no [wise?] abashed, and enjoying the fun as well as the bystanders, gave her another pinch, and the shriek and exhibition of the teeth was repeated. There was no chance to give a third pinch as all the luggage was then on board and sign was made that the females could descend; but for the time the incident was most ludicrous, and the poor old judge below was entirely un= aware of the indignity to which his women were being exposed.
An entire day was spent at Smyrna and Hayes and myself went on shore for about an hour. We wandered about in the narrow filthy alleys and attempted to get towards some hills in the rear, but lost our way, and then were fortunate in meeting a European who spoke French and who gave us the direction of the harbor where our steamer was at anchor. The remainder of our journey to Alexandria was uneventful with the exception of our having passed in sight of the island of Patmos where St John wrote the Revelations. The weather was charming and the numerous points of land and islands, looking green and pretty in the distance, with the blue water in which they were reflected, made this short portion of my eastern trip one to be pleasantly remembered.
Upon nearing the African coast a low sandy shore gradually became visible. The only trees that were in sight were a few date palms — generally in a group of from six to twelve. As we approached the entrance to the harbor the masts of many ships could be seen and upon reaching our anchoring ground we were in the midst of a large commercial fleet; mainly English steamers, concerned in the overland route to
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India. As our passengers were making their preparations to land, an official came alongside in a small boat and conversed for a few moments with the captain. The latter then turned to us and announced that we would be detained on board until the next morning as then was cholera at some of the points from which we had come. We were somewhat disappointed at this delay, but there was no remedy for it; and Hayes and I amused ourselves for the rest of the day observing the movements of vessels around us, and in the evening we talked together to quite a late hour in the cabin.
After breakfast the next day the same official appeared in his boat and mounted to the deck of our steamer. He then shook hands with those passengers who were near by, including myself, - which meant that our good condition of health was beyond all doubt, in consequence of our precautionary detention, and that we were then admitted to pralique. In other words - that we could go on shore as soon as we chose to. We were not long in getting our things into one of the many boats ready to take passengers, and at the landing found an omnibus waiting for us, by which we soon arrived at the Hotel d‘Europe, situated on a large European looking square having European looking houses on its four sides and an illproportioned alabaster obelisk in the center.
Hayes and I considered ourselves as travelling companions by this time and we were together throughout the Egyptian trip. He was a coarse vulgarian, utterly destitute of polish and refinement, and many a time I was entirely disgusted with his dirty and unseemly habits; but being alone I felt the necessity of making use of him, and as time passed I began to discover certain good traits in him. We spent our first day in Alexandria seeing the few remains of the past that the city could boast of including Pompey’o pillar and Cleopatra’s needles. The animals which are used for moving about are principally donkeys. Each one is in care of a little Arab boy, who accompanies him while the rider is on his back and urges him forward by punching him behind the saddle. They are well proportioned little creatures, their rough hairs being carefully clipped, but they are not strong on their front feet, and many a rider who uses one for the first time, before understanding the necessity of always being on the “qui vive” for a stumble, has measured his length on the ground infront. It was my fate to have this happen twice this first day, but after that I was more on the alert and managed to hold the rein so as to prevent similar accidents.
In the course of the day we went to the office of the American Consul General, Mr Edwin De Leon, who knew I was from South Carolina, and I introduced myself to him. He said he had been in the College at Columbia with my cousin Heyward Manigault. In front of his dwelling were a group of American naval officers all of them attached to a store ship of the Meditterranean squadron then in the harbor. They were purchasing dromedaries for the government which were afterwards sent to Topas when they were used for various purchases for many years, but the experiment seems to have pro-
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duced no positive results. The captain of the ship was the officer who is now Admiral Porter, but I did not speak to him nor to any of the others. The Egyptian camel is the single humped animal and there are two varieties, the one that carries heavy weights and is a beast of burden, and a lighter, fleeter animal, that is used to carry dispatches for the government and for rapid travelling. This one is called the dromedary. While looking on at the selection which was being made from several that were offered for sale, we heard one of the officers say to the consul who recommended a certain animal as very fleet. "Is that one a 2.40 nag.” That time for the mile by the trotter had not been reduced yet.”
The European quarter of the city was fairly well built up with comfortable looking houses, although they were not substantially constructed and seldom of three floors including the basement. The streets there were mostly at right angles. The native population who are considered as being of the Arab race, live in the most wretched mud hovels, lying close to each other, and having for roofs a few leaves of the date palm. These people are called “fellahs” and are the agriculturalists of the country, although in this case they were picking up a living by work in the city. They are a docile race, and entirely different from the untameable and warlike nomads who roam over the desert. Mahemet Ali the founder of the present reigning family made use of these natives, very much against their inclinations, in carrying out his ambitious designs. The armies which he equipped for his warlike expeditions were a severe drain upon them, and their numbers were diminished in consequence. It was a new thing for so many young men to be forcibly drafted into the ranks with the prospects of never again returning to their native villages, and it was said that the mothers of young boys destroyed frequently the sight of their right eyes to render them unserviceable as soldiers. Another expedient too was the cutting off of the right forefinger which rendered that hand useless in pulling the trigger of the musket. There was nothing pleasing in the appearances of the native Egyptian. They have a cowed look, and a glance at their history for the last fifty or more years would reveal many a tale of misery and oppression.
After spending a day in Alexandria we started for the railway station on our way to Cairo in time the next morning, but were too late for the train. This was due to a difference between hotel and railroad time. - but we were safely on time the day after and found ourselves in the midst of the English travel going to India. The railroad bridges over the Nile were not yet finished and there was a change of baggage and of passengers at two points on the river, which caused delay. The country was very flat and bare of trees except at intervals where a few date palms growing together came in sight. Upon approaching Cairo the pyramids could be discerned from a distance, and it was difficult for me to realize that I was at last looking upon
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those immense masses of stone which had for so many centuries been one of the wonders of the world. Upon arriving at the station in Cairo in the midst of so many passengers, there was doubt whether we would find accommodation at Shepard’s hotel where we wished to stay, so that I hurried out and engaged a donkey without delay and left Hayes to come on more leisurely with our luggage. To my annoyance and disgust the vile little brute could scarcely be beaten into a gallop, and while laboring at him with my heels and the donkey boy touching him upon his traditional tender spot on the back, several carriages passed me bound in the same direction, the inmates of which secured rooms for themselves and their friends before I was even in sight of the caravanserai. We were taken in though, after many had registered, and given temporary quarters for one night. The next day when the crowd had thinned out by numerous departures in small one horse cabs holding two persons for Suez where another steamer was in waiting, we were given an excellent room containing two single beds separated by a screen.
Cairo in Egypt and Damascus in Syria were considered then two typical Mohammedan or Eastern cities. Our first day in the former was spent by loitering for about an hour around the large square in front of the hotel called the “Esbekiah,” and observing certain groups of natives who were looking on at snake charmers and other characters who seemed ot be engaged in some art of negromancy, no part of which was intelligible to me. We afterwards started on a long walk and did not return until the afternoon.
The mosques of Cairo which are of Saracen or Arabic architecture are by no means striking in their exteriors — the minarets especially are without any of the beauty and height of those of Constantinople. On the elevation in rear of the city, where the citadel and the viceroy’s palace are, a new mosque in the style of those of the banks of the Bosphorus had lately been completed. It had but two minarets, but being on an elevation and in view at all times it was always conspicuous. During one of our wanderings through the city we passed near this mosque and the Viceroy being away at the time, we took a peep into the so called little palace where Mehemet Ali in his old age was in the habit of dwelling almost exclusively. It was there in December 1847 that my father and three brothers with a number of other Americans, under escort of the American consul, were presented to him. He was a wrinkled and shriveled up old man then, dressed in dark robes with a red fez on, and seated à la Turque on one end of a large carpet. His eye was a keen one even then, and he evinced by his remarks the interest which he took in events transpiring in other countries. He inquired about the progress of the war between the United States and Mexico then going on, and seemed to be well informed as to the importance of the cotton crop. His successful suppression of the Mamelukes by the well known massacre was alluded to indirectly when, after inquiring whether the party had yet visited the pyramids, he stated that when he was first in power in Egypt he had been obliged to furnish an event of several hundred