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CHAPTER II.

ARRIVAL AT ALEXANDRIA. -CAIRO.

EBRUARY 3. At 7 A.M., Colonel Stanton, Brit

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ish Consul-General in Egypt, and Sir Samuel Baker-the latter having come out on purpose to accompany the Prince up the Nile-came off to us where we were lying to outside the harbor, which we entered soon after they came on board.

The first sight of Alexandria was really very striking. The weather, though cold, was very bright, and nothing could be more gay and interesting than the whole scene as we came into the harbor. The vessels in the port had all "dressed ship," as I had learned to call it on board the Ariadne, that is, they were covered with flags from the top of each mast to the water's edge, and all saluted and manned yards; while hundreds of boats of the most picturesque shapes, and very gayly painted, filled with black and bronze-faced half savage-looking people, dressed in the brightest Egyptian costumes, came out to see us, and pulled round the ship. I was immensely amused and interested by the sight. The band of the Ari

Landing at Alexandria.

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adne, meanwhile, played on board; and music, such as it was, in many of the boats, added to the effect.

At eleven o'clock we disembarked under salutes from the Ariadne and other ships, and from the shore, and were met on landing by the Viceroy's eldest son, Mehemet Taafik Pasha, as well as by numbers of officers and official persons of all sorts, in full uniform. The officers appointed to attend upon the Prince during his stay in Egypt-Mourad Pasha and Abdel Kader Bey-came on board the Ariadne before we landed. State carriages were provided for us in the railway, to which we walked up; a regiment of Zouaves of the Guard lining the way up to the station, where there was a guard of honor. The number of people out to see us was enormous, forming, indeed, a regular wall of natives on both sides all the way up. The effect of their beautifully bright dresses was very striking; even those who were scantily clothed, or not clothed at all, having always some bright cap or handkerchief on their head, which gave them a bright appearance; and I must say I was immensely struck by it all. At 3 P.M. we arrived at Kafr Zayat, and got out at the station to have luncheon, which was a grand affair; and after it large pipes were brought into the carriage, and every body smoked and had coffee.

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At five we arrived at Cairo, where we were received by the Viceroy; the special train running through the public station to the Viceroy's private one, opposite the garden of Kazr-el-Nil. Their Royal Highnesses were also met here by Mrs. Stanton and General McLean, with his wife and daughter.

The Viceroy and his eldest son took the Prince and Princess to an immense hall in the Palace, where I and all the suite followed, and were all presented to the Viceroy. We then went straight to carriages which were waiting for us in the large court-yardEnglish carriages and horses, with postilions and liveries in the English fashion-and then, with regiments of Zouaves drawn up all round, and an escort of Lancers following each of the first carriages, we drove to the Palace Esbekieh, which has been appropriated to the Prince of Wales during our stay in Egypt. The Prince and Princess and the Viceroy were in the first carriage; the young Prince and I, with Mourad Pasha, in the next, and so on.

The Palace of Esbekieh is beautiful; full of French luxury, but without the real comfort of an English house. The Prince and Princess have an immense bedroom, full of rich French furniture. The beds are very beautiful, made of massive silver, and cost, I believe, £3000 each! My room is so large

Arrival at Cairo.

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that even when the candles are lit, there might be somebody sitting at the other end of it without your knowing it. You could not even hear people speaking from one end to the other! It is as high as it is long, with nine large windows. There is a beautiful

silver bed; a large divan (rather high and hard for comfort) round half of the room; a common writingtable and washhand-stand (put in all the rooms at the request of Sir S. Baker); a large sofa, and quantities of very smart chairs round the walls. The curtains and covers of the furniture are all made of the richest silk. Add to all this one immense looking-glass, and you have the whole furniture of my room, which is more like a state drawing-room at Windsor than a bedroom. All the other rooms are furnished in the same way.

We dined at seven o'clock, after which we went into a pretty drawing-room, where we had coffee, and then beautiful long Eastern pipes were handed round, all the mouthpieces being of the lightest-colored amber, and set with large rings of diamonds and precious stones! The money spent on pipes in this country must be fabulous, and they say that in the Viceroy's treasury there are pipes the value of some of which amounts to no less than £6000 apiece! I could not resist the temptation of following the ex

ample of the rest, as I thought smoking out of those lovely pipes must be quite different from any other smoking; but I am sorry to say I soon found the taste very like what it is elsewhere, and gave it up at once. In fact, I only tried it out of curiosity; though I must confess I constantly had to accept a pipe when offered afterward in the course of our tour.

At nine o'clock we went to the French play, and saw Le Serment de Horace, Contributions indiscrètes, etc. It is a rather nice little theatre, open for the first time this year. Opposite our box we saw two "loges grillées," in which we were told that the Viceroy's wives and daughters were sitting.

The Duke of Sutherland, with his party, consisting of Lord Stafford, Colonel Marshall, Dr. Russell, Mr. Sumner, Professor Owen, Mr. Fowler, and Major Alison, are also at Cairo, and are going to follow us in a steamer as far as the First Cataract.

The cold here in the house is really intense; it is all built for hot weather, and that at present being any thing but hot, we are all shivering. The thermometer shows only 12° in my great room, or rather hall.

February 4. A very fine day, but very cold in the shade, and I was so cold in the night that I slept very little. The noise, too, in the streets of Cairo is really

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