 CHAPTER 15 OF A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT AND ITALY PART I, by Ida L. Pfeiffer. AUGUST 22. The aspect of this great Egyptian metropolis is not nearly so imposing as I had fancied it to be. Its situation is too flat, and from on board we can only discern scattered portions of its extended area. The gardens skirting the shore are luxuriant and lovely. At my debarcation, and on the road to the consulate, I met with several adventurers, which I relate circumstantially, trifling as they may appear, in order to give a hint as to the best method of dealing with the people here. At the very commencement I became involved in a dispute with the captain of the vessel. I still had to pay him three dollars and a half, and gave him four dollars in the consideration that he would return me my change. This, however, he refused to do, and persisted in keeping the half-dollar. He said it should be divided as Bakshis among the crew, but I am sure they would have seen nothing of it. Luckily, however, he was stupid enough not to put the money in his pocket, but kept it open in his palm. I quickly snatched a coin from him and put it into my pocket, explaining to him at the same time that he should not have it back until he had given me my change, adding that I would give the men a gratuity myself. He shouted and stormed, and kept on asking me for the money. I took no heat of him, but continued quietly packing up my things. Seeing at length that nothing was to be done with me, he gave me back my half-dollar, whereupon we parted good friends. This affair concluded I had to look about for a couple of asses, one for myself and another for my baggage. If I had stepped ashore I should have been almost torn in pieces by contending donkey-drivers, each of whom would have lugged me in a different direction. I therefore remained quietly for a time in my cabin until the driver ceased to suspect that anyone was there. In the meantime I had been looking upon the shore from the cabin window and speculating upon which animal I should take. Then I quickly rushed out, and before the proprietors of the long-eared steeds were aware of my intention, I had seized one by the bridle and pointed to another. This concluded the matter at once, for the proprietors of the chosen animals defended me from the rest, and returned with me to the boat to carry my baggage. A fellow came up and arranged my little trunk on the back of the ass. For this trifling surface I gave him a piastra, but observing that I was alone he probably thought he could soon intimidate me into giving whatever he demanded. So he returned me my piastra and demanded four. I took the money and told him, for fortunately he understood a little Italian, that if he felt dissatisfied with this reward he might accompany me to the consulate, where his four piastras would be paid so soon as it appeared that he had earned some. He shouted unblustered, just as the captain had done, but I remained deaf and rode forward towards the Custom House. Then he came down to three piastras, then to two, and finally said he would be content with one, which I threw to him. When I reached the Custom House hands were stretched out towards me from all sides. I gave something to the chief person and let the remaining ones clamor on. When, after experiencing these various annoyances, I rode on towards the town a new obstacle arose. My Arab guide inquired whether he should conduct me. I endeavored in vain to explain to him where I wanted to go. He could not be made to understand me. Nothing now remained for me but to a cost every well-dressed oriental whom I met, until I should find one who could understand either French or Italian. The third person I addressed fortunately knew something of the latter language, and I begged him to tell my guide to take me to the Austrian Consulate. This was done, and my troubles concluded. A ride of three-quarters of an hour in a very broad, handsome street, planted with a double row of a kind of acacia altogether strange to me, among a crowd of men, camels, asses, etc., brought me to the town, the streets of which are in general narrow. There is so much noise and crowding everywhere that one would suppose a tumult had broken out. But as I approached the immense mass always opened as if by magic, and I pursued my way without hindrance to the Consulate, which lies hidden in a little narrow blind alley. I went immediately to the office and presented myself to the Consul, with the request that he would recommend me a respectable in of the second class. Mr. Chameon, the Consul, interested himself for me with a heartfelt kindness. He immediately dispatched a cavasse to an innkeeper whom he knew, paid my guide, and recommended the host strongly to take good care of me. In short, he behaved towards me with a true Christian kindliness. His house was ever open to me, and I could go to him with any petition I wished to make. It is a real pleasure to me to be able publicly once more to thank this worthy man. I had been furnished with a letter of recommendation to a certain hair-palm. The Consul kindly sent it once for this gentleman, who soon appeared and accompanied me to the inn. I requested hair-pee to recommend me a servant who could either speak Italian or French, and afterwards to tell me the best method to set about seeing the lions of the town. Hair-pee very willingly undertook to do so, and after the collapse of an hour the Drago-man had already been found, and two asses stood before the door to carry me and my servant through the whole town. The animated bustle and hum of business in the streets of Cairo is very great. I can even say that in the most populous cities of Italy I never saw anything I could compare to it, and certainly this is a bold assertion. Many of the streets are so narrow that when loaded camels meet one party must always be led into a by-street until the other has passed. In these narrow lanes I continually encountered crowds of passengers, so that I really felt quite anxious and wondered how I should find my way through. People mounted on horses and donkeys tower above the moving mass, but the asses themselves appear like pygmies beside the high, lofty-looking camels, which do not lose their proud demeanor even under their heavy burdens. Men often slip by under the heads of the camels. The riders keep as close as possible to the houses, and the mass of pedestrians winds dexterously between. There are water-carriers, vendors of goods, numerous blind men groping their way with sticks, and bearing baskets with fruit, bread, and other provisions for sale, numerous children, some of them running about the streets and others playing before the house-doors, and, lastly, the Egyptian ladies, who ride on asses to pay their visits, and come in long processions with their children and negro servants. Let the reader further imagine the cries of the vendors, the shouting of the drivers and passengers, the terrified screams of flying women and children, the quarrels which frequently arise, and the peculiar noisiness and talkativeness of these people, and he can fancy what an effect this must have on the nerves of a stranger. I was in mortal fear at every step, and on reaching home in the evening felt quite unwell, but as I never once saw an accident occur, at length I accustomed myself to the hub-up, and could follow my guide where the crowd was thickest without feeling uneasy. The streets, or, as they made me properly called, the lands of Cairo, are sprinkled with water several times in the day. Fountains and large vessels of water are also placed everywhere for the convenience of the passers-by. In the broad streets straw mats are hung up to keep off the sun's rays. The richer class of people wear the oriental garb, with the exception that the women merely have their heads and faces wrapped in a light muslin veil. They wear also a kind of mantilla of black silk, which gives them a peculiar appearance. When they came riding along, and the wind caught this garment and spread out, they looked exactly like bats without stretched wings. Many of the Franks also dress in the oriental style. The fellas go almost naked, and their women only wear a single blue garment. Here, as throughout all the East, the rich people are always seen on horseback. I was not so much pleased with the Egyptians as the Syrian horses, for their former appeared to me less slim and gracefully built. The population of Cairo is estimated at two hundred thousand, and is a mixed one, consisting of Arabs, Mamluks, Turks, Berbers, Negroes, Bedouins, Christians, Greeks, Jews, etc. Thanks to the powerful arm of Mohammed Ali, they all live peacefully together. Cairo contains twenty-five thousand houses which are as unsightly and irregular as the streets. They are built of clay, unburnt bricks and stones, and have little narrow entrances. The unsymmetrical windows are furnished with wooden shutters impenetrable to the eye. The interiors are decorated like the houses in Damascus, but in a less costly style. Neither is there such an abundance of fresh water at Cairo. The Jews' quarter is the most hideous of all. The houses are dirty, and the streets so narrow that two persons can only just push by each other. The entire town is surrounded by walls and towers, guarded by a castle, and divided into several quarters, separated from each other by gates which are closed after sunset. On the heights around Cairo are to be seen some castles from the time of the Saracens. As I rode to and fro in the town, my guide suddenly stopped, bought a quantity of bread, and motioned me to follow him. I thought he was going to take me to a menagerie and that this bread was intended for the wild animals. We entered a courtyard with windows all round reaching to the ground, and strengthened with iron bars. Stopping before the first window, my servant threw in a piece of bread what was my horror when I saw, instead of a lion or tiger, a naked, emaciated old man rush forth, seize the bread and devour it ravenously. I was in the mad house. In the midst of each dark and filthy dungeon is fixed a stone with two iron chains to which one or two of these wretched creatures are attached by an iron ring fastened around the neck. They sit there, staring with fearfully contorted faces, their hair and beard unkept, their bodies emaciated, and the marrow of life drying up within them. In these foul and loathsome dens they must pine until the Almighty, in his mercy, loosens the change which bind them to their miserable existence by a welcome death. There is not one instance of a cure, and truly the treatment to which they are subjected is calculated to drive a half-witted person quite mad. And yet the Europeans can praise Mohammed Ali. Ye wretched madmen, ye poor fellows, are ye too ready to join in this praise? Quitting the sabote of misery, my dregoman led me to Joseph's well, which is deeply hewn out of the rock. I descended more than two hundred and seventy steps, and had got halfway to the bottom of this gigantic structure. Unlooking downward into its depths a feeling of giddiness overcame me. The new palace of Mohammed Ali is rather a handsome building, arranged chiefly in the European style. The rooms, or rather the halls, are very lofty, and are either tastefully painted or hung with silk, tapestry, etc. Large peer glasses multiply the objects around, rich to vans are attached to the walls, and costly tables, some of marble, others of inlaid work, enriched with beautiful paintings, stand in the rooms, in one of which I even noticed a billiard table. The dining hall is quite European in its character. In the center stands a large table, two sideboards are placed against one side of the wall, and handsome chairs stand opposite. In one of the rooms hangs an oil painting representing Ibrahim Pasha, Mohammed Ali's son. This palace stands in the midst of a little garden, neither remarkable for the rarity of the plants it contains nor for the beauty of their arrangement. The views from some of the apartments, as well as from that garden, are very lovely. Opposite the palace, a great mosque is being built as a mausoleum for Mohammed Ali. The despot probably reckons on having some years yet to live, for much remains to be done before the beautiful structure is completed. The pillars and the walls of the mosque are covered with the most splendid marble of a yellowish white color. The before mentioned buildings, namely Joseph's well, the palace and gardens and the mosque, are all situate on a high rock, to which a single, broad road leads from Cairo. Here we behold a threefold sea, namely of houses, of the Nile, and a sea of sand, on which the lofty pyramids rise in the distance like isolated rocks. The mountains of Makatum close the background, and a number of lovely gardens and plantations of date palms surround the town. With one glance we can behold the most striking contrasts. A wreath of the most luxuriant vegetation runs round the town, and beyond lies the dreary monotony of the desert. The color of the Nile is so exactly similar to that of the sand forming its shores that at a distance the line of demarcation cannot be traced. On my way homewards I met several fellows carrying large baskets full of dates, and stopped one of them in order to purchase some of the celebrated fruit. Unfortunately for me the dates were still unripe, hard of a brick red color, and so unpalatable that I could not eat one of them. A week or ten days afterwards I was able to procure some ripe ones. They were of a brown color like the dried fruit. The tender skin could easily be peeled off, and I liked them better than the dried dates, because they were more pulpy and not so sweet. A much more precious fruit, the finest production of Egypt and Syria, almost superior to the pineapple in taste, is the banana, which is so delicate that it almost melts in the mouth. This fruit cannot be dried and is therefore never exported. Sugarmelons and peaches are to be had in abundance, but their flavor is not very good. I also preferred the Alexandrian grape to that of Cairo. The bazaars through which we rode in all directions displayed nothing very remarkable in manufacturers or in productions of nature and art. From first to last I spent a week at Cairo, and occupied the whole of my time from morning till night in viewing the curiosities of the town. I saw only two mosques, that of Sultan Hassan and Sultan Amru. Before I was permitted to enter the first of these edifices, they compelled me to take off my shoes and walk in my stockings over a courtyard paved with great stones. The stones had become so heated by the solar rays that I was obliged to run fast to avoid scorching the soles of my feet. I cannot give an opinion touching the architectural beauty of this building, which is built in such a simple style that none but a connoisseur would discover its merits. I was better pleased with the mosque of Sultan Amru, which contains several halls and is supported on numerous columns. The mosques in Cairo struck me as having a more ancient and venerable appearance than those of Constantinople, while the latter, on the other hand, were larger and more elegant. I also visited the island of Rota, which is worthy of the name of a beautiful garden. It lies opposite to old Cairo on the Nile, and is said to be a favorite walk of the townspeople, though I was there twice without meeting anyone. The garden is spacious and contains all kinds of tropical productions. Here I saw the sugar cane, which greatly resembles the stem of the Indian Maze, the cotton tree growing to a height of five or six feet, the banana tree, the short stemmed date palm, the coffee tree, and many others. Flowers were also there in quantities which must be cultivated with great care in the hot houses of my native country. The whole of this collection of plants is very tastefully arranged and shines forth in the height of luxuriant beauty. It is customary to lay the entire island under water every evening by means of artificial canals. This system is universally carried out throughout the Egyptian plantations, and is in fact the only method by which vegetation can be preserved in its freshest green in spite of the burning heat. The care of this fairy grove is entrusted to a German ornamental gardener. Unfortunately I was informed of this fact too late. Otherwise I should have visited my countrymen and requested an explanation of many things which appeared strange to me. In the midst of a garden is a beautiful grotto, ornamented within and without by a great variety of shells from the Red Sea, which give it a most striking appearance. At this spot towards which many paths lead, all strewed with minute shells instead of gravel, Moses is said to have been found in his cradle of bulrushes. Immediately adjoining the garden we find a summer residence belonging to Mohammed Ali. The wall shown as that into which Joseph was thrust by his brethren lies about two miles distant from the town, in a village on the road to Suez. Half a mile off a very large and very venerable sycamore tree was pointed out to me as the one in the shade of which the holy family rested on their way to Egypt, and a walk of another quarter of a mile brings us to the garden of Bogus Bay, in the midst of which stands one of the finest and largest obelisks of Upper Egypt. It is still in good condition and completely covered with hieroglyphics. The garden, however, offers nothing remarkable. The ancient city of Heliopolis is said to have been built not far off, but at the present day not a vestige of it remains. The road to this garden already lies partly in the desert. At first the way winds through avenues of trees and past gardens, but soon the vast desert extends to the right, while beautiful orange and citron grove still skirt the left side of the path. Here we continually meet herds of camels, but a dromedary is a rare sight. THE HOLY LAND EGYPT AND ITALY PART II by Ida L. Pfeiffer Excursion to the Pyramids of Giza August 25th, 1842 At four in the afternoon I quitted Cairo, crossed two arms of the Nile, and a couple of hours afterwards arrived safely at Giza. As the Nile had overflowed several parts of the country, we were compelled frequently to turn out of our way, and sometimes to cross canals and ride through water. Now and then, where it was too deep for our asses, we were obliged to be carried across. As there is no in at Giza I betook myself to Herr Klinger, to whom I brought a letter of recommendation from Cairo. Herr K is a Bohemian by birth, and stands in the service of the viceroy of Egypt, as musical instructor to the young military band. I was made very welcome here, and Herr Klinger seemed quite rejoiced at seeing a visitor with whom he could talk in German. Our conversation was of Beethoven and Mozart of Strauss and Lana. The fame of the Bravera composers of the present day, Lischt and Talberg, had not yet penetrated to these regions. I requested my kind host to show me the establishment for hatching eggs that exist at Giza. He immediately sent for the superintendent, who happened, however, to be absent, and to have locked up the keys. In this place about eight thousand eggs are hatched by artificial warmth during the months of March and April. The eggs are laid on large flat plates, which are continually kept at an equal temperature by heat applied below the surface. They are turned several times during the day. As the thousands of little chicks burst their shells, they are sold not by number or weight, but by the measure. This egg-hatching house has the effect of rendering poultry plentiful and cheap. After chatting away the evening very pleasantly I sought my couch, tired with my ride and with the heat, and rejoicing at the side of the soft van, which seemed to smile upon me and promised rest and strength for the following day. But as I was about to take possession of my couch, I noticed on the wall a great number of black spots. I took the candle to examine what it could be, and nearly dropped the light with horror on discovering that the wall was covered with bugs. I had never seen such a disgusting sight. All hopes of rest on the divan were now effectively put to flight. I sat down on a chair and waited until everything was perfectly still. Then I slipped into the entrance-hall and lay down on the stones wrapped in my cloak. Though I had escaped from one description of vermin, I became a prey to innumerable gnats. I had passed many uncomfortable nights during my journey, but this was worse than anything I had yet endured. However, this was only an additional inducement for rising early, and long before sunrise I was ready to continue my journey. Before daybreak I took leave of my kind host, and rode with my servant towards the gigantic structures. Today we were again obliged frequently to go out of our route on account of the rising of the Nile. Owing to this delay, two hours elapsed before we reached the broad arm of the Nile, dividing us from the Libyan desert, on which the pyramids stand, and over which two Arabs carried me. This was one of the most disagreeable things that can be imagined. Two powerful men stood side by side. I mounted on their shoulders and held fast by their heads, while they supported my feet in a horizontal position above the waters, which at some places reached almost to their armpits, so that I feared every moment that I should sit in the water. Besides this my supporters continually swayed to and fro because they could only withstand the force of the current by a great exertion of strength, and I was apprehensive of falling off. This disagreeable passage lasted above a quarter of an hour. After waiting for another fifteen minutes through deep sand we arrived at the goal of our little journey. The two colossal pyramids are, of course, visible directly we quit the town, and we keep them almost continually in sight. But here the expectations I had cherished were once again disappointed, for the aspect of these giant structures did not astonish me greatly. Their height appears less remarkable than it otherwise would, from the circumstance that their base is buried in sand, and thus hidden from view. There is also neither a tree nor a hut nor any other object which could serve to display their huge proportions by the force of contrast. As it was still early in the day, and not very hot, I preferred ascending the pyramid before venturing into its interior. My servant took off my rings and concealed them carefully, telling me that this was a very necessary precaution, as the fellows who take the travelers by the hands to assist them in mounting the pyramids have such a dexterous snack of drawing the rings from their fingers that they seldom perceive their loss until too late. I took two Arabs with me who gave me their hands and pulled me up the very large stones. Anyone who was at all subject to dizziness would do very wrong in attempting this feat, for he might be lost without remedy. Let the reader picture to himself a height of five hundred feet without railing or a regular staircase by which to make the ascent. At one angle only of the immense blocks of stone have been hewn in such a manner that they form a flight of steps, but a very inconvenient one, as many of these stone blocks are above four feet in height, and offer no projection on which you can place your foot in mounting. The two Arabs ascended first and then stretched out their hands to pull me from one block to another. I preferred climbing over the smaller blocks without assistance. In three quarters of an hour's time I had gained the summit of the pyramid. For a long time I stood lost in thought and could hardly realize the fact that I was really one of the favored few who are happy enough to be able to contemplate the most stupendous and imperishable monument ever erected by human hands. At the first moment I was scarcely able to gaze down from the dizzy height into the deep distance. I could only examine the pyramid itself and seek to familiarize myself with the idea that I was not dreaming. Gradually, however, I came to myself and contemplated the landscape which lay extended beneath me. From my elevated position I could form a better estimate of the gigantic structure, for here the fact that the base was buried in sand did not prejudice the general effect. I saw the Nile flowing far beneath me, and a few Bedouins, whom curiosity had attracted to the spot, looked like very pygmies. In ascending I had seen the immense blocks of stone singly and ceased to marvel that these monuments are reckoned among the seven wonders of the world. On the castle the view had been fine, but here where the prospect was bounded only by the horizon and by the Makatan mountains it is grander by far. I could follow the windings of the river with its innumerable arms and canals until it melted into the far horizon which closed the picture on this side. Many blooming gardens and the large extensive town with its environs, the immense desert with its plains and hills of sand and the lengthened mountain range of Makatan, all lay spread before me, and for a long time I sat gazing around me and wishing that the dear ones at home had been with me to share in my wonder and delight. But now the time came not only to look down but to descend. Most people find this even more difficult than the ascent, but with me the contrary was the case. I never grow giddy, and so I advanced in the following manner without the aid of the Arabs. On the smaller blocks I sprang from one to the other when a stone of three or four feet in height was to be encountered I let myself glide gently down, and I accomplished my descent with so much grace and agility that I reached the base of the pyramid long before my servant. Even the Arabs expressed their pleasure at my fearlessness on this dangerous passage. After eating my breakfast and resting for a short time I proceeded to explore the interior. At first I was obliged to cross a heap of sand and rubbish, for we have to go downwards towards the entrance, which is so low and narrow that we cannot always stand upright. I could not have passed along the passage leading into the interior if the Arabs had not helped me, for it is so steep and so smoothly paved that, in spite of my conduster's assistance, I slid rather than walked. The apartment of the king is more spacious and resembles a small hall. On one side stands a little empty sarcophagus without a lid. The walls of the chambers and of the passages are covered with large and beautifully polished slabs of granite and marble. The remaining passages, or rather dens, which are shown here I did not see. It may be very interesting for learned men and antiquarians thus to search every corner, but for a woman like myself, brought hither only by an insatiable desire to travel, and capable of judging of the beauties of nature and art only by her own simple feelings, it was enough to have ascended the pyramid of chaos and to have seen something of its interior. This pyramid is said to be the loftiest of all. It stands on a rock one hundred and fifty feet in height, which is invisible, being altogether buried in sand. The height of the vast structure is above five hundred feet. It was erected by chaos more than three thousand years ago, and one hundred thousand men are said to have been employed in its construction for twenty-six years. It is a most interesting structure, built of immense masses of rock, fixed together with a great deal of art, and seemingly calculated to last an eternity. They look so strong and so well-preserved that many travelers will no doubt repair hither in coming generations and continue their researches commenced long ago. The Sphinx, a statue of most colossal dimensions, situated at no great distance from the great pyramid, is so covered with sand that only the head and a small portion of the bust remain visible. The head alone is twenty- two feet in height. After walking about and inspecting everything, I commenced my journey back. On the way I once more visited Herr Klinger strengthened myself with a hearty meal and arrived safely at Cairo late in the evening. Here I wished to take my little purse out of my pocket and found that it was gone. Luckily I had taken only one colonnato Spanish dollar with me. No one can imagine what dexterity the Bedouins and Arabs possess in the art of stealing. I always kept a sharp eye upon my effects, and notwithstanding my vigilance several articles were pilfered from me, and my purse must also have been stolen during this excursion. The loss was very disagreeable to me because it involved that of my box-key. I was, however, fortunate in finding an expert Arabian Lotsmith, who opened my chest and made me a new key, on which occasion I had another opportunity of seeing how careful it is necessary to be, in all our dealings with these people, to avoid being cheated. The key locked and unlocked my box well, and I paid for it, but immediately afterwards observed that it was very slightly joined in the middle, and would presently break. The Arabs' tools still lay on the ground. I immediately seized one of them and told the man I would not give it up until he made me a new key. It was in vain that he assured me he could not work without his tools, he would not give my money back, and I kept the implement. By this means I obtained from him a new and a good key. CHAPTER XVI I visited many Christian churches, the finest among which was the Greek one. On my way thither I saw many streets where they can hardly have been room for a horseman to pass. The road to the Armenian church leads through such narrow lanes and gates that we were compelled to leave our asses behind. There was hardly room for two people to pass each other. On the other hand I had nowhere seen a more spacious square than the Uzbekhi place in Cairo. The square in Padua is perhaps the only one that can compare with it in point of size, but this place looks like a complete chaos. Miserable houses and ruined huts surround it, and here and there we sometimes come upon a part of an alley or an unfinished canal. The center is very uneven and is filled with building materials, such as stones, wood, bricks, and beams. The largest and handsomest house in this square is remarkable as having been inhabited by Napoleon during his residence at Cairo. It is now converted into a splendid hotel. Herr Chamion, the council, was kind enough to send me a card of invitation for the theater. The building looks like a private house and contains a galley capable of accommodating three or four hundred people. This gallery is devoted to the use of the ladies. The performance were all amateurs. They acted in Italian comedy in a very creditable manner. The orchestra comprised only four musicians. At the conclusion of the second act the council's son, a boy of twelve years, played some variations on the violin very prettily. The women, all natives of the Levant, were very elegantly dressed. They wore the European garb, white muslin dresses with hair beautifully braided and ornamented with flowers. Nearly all the women and girls were handsome, with complexions of a dazzling whiteness, which we rarely see equaled in Europe. The reason of this is, perhaps, that they always stay in their houses and avoid exposing themselves to the sun and wind. The following day I visited the abode of the howling derbishes, in whom I took a lively interest since I had seen their brethren at Constantinople. The hall, or rather mosque, in which they performed their devotions, is splendid. I was not allowed here to stand among the men as I had done at Constantinople, but was conducted to a raised gallery, from which I could look down through a graded window. The style of devotion and excitement of these derbishes is like that I had wished at Constantinople, without being quite so wild in its character. Not one of them sank exhausted, and the screeching and howling were not so loud. Towards the end of their performance many of the derbishes seized a small tambourine, on which they beat and produced a most diabolical music. In the slave market there was but a meager selection, all the wares had been bought, and a new cargo of these unfortunates was staley expected. I pretended that I wished to purchase a boy and a girl in order to gain admittance into the private department. Here I saw a couple of negro girls of most uncommon beauty. I had not deemed it possible to find anything so perfect. Their skin was of a velvety black, and shown with a peculiar luster. Their teeth were beautifully formed and of dazzling whiteness, their eyes large and lustrous, their lips thinner than will usually find them among these people. They wore their hair neatly parted, and arranged in pretty curls round the head. Poor creatures, who knows into what hands they may fall. They bowed their heads in anguish without uttering a syllable. The sight of the slave market here inspired me with a feeling of deep melancholy. The poor creatures did not seem so careless and merry as those whom I had seen on the marketplace at Constantinople. In Cairo the slaves seemed badly kept. They lay in little tents and were driven out when a purchaser appeared, very much in the manner of cattle. They only partially clothed in some old rags, and looked exhausted and unhappy. During my short stay at Cairo one of the chief feasts of the Mohammedans, namely Ma'shtalinsher, or Birthday of the Prophet, occurred. This feast is celebrated on a great open space outside the town. A number of large tents are erected, they are open in front, and beneath their shelter all kinds of things are carried on. In one tent Mohammedans are praying. In another a party of dervishes throw themselves with their faces to the ground and call upon Allah, while in the third a juggler or storyteller may be driving his trade. In the midst of all stood a large tent, the entrance to which was concealed by curtains. Here the by-deers were dancing, any one can obtain admission by paying a trifling sum. Of course I went in to see these celebrated dancers. There were, however, only two pairs. Two boys were elegantly clothed in a female garb, richly decorated with gold coins. They looked very pretty and delicate, so that I really thought they were girls. The dance itself is very monotonous, slow, and weary-some. It consists only of some steps to and fro accompanied by some rather indecorous movements of the upper body. These gestures are said to be very difficult, as the dancer must stand perfectly still and only move the upper part of his person. The music consisted of a tambourine, a flageolet, and a bagpipe. Much has been written concerning the indecency of these dances, but I am of the opinion that many of our ballets afford much greater cause of complaint. It may, however, be that other dances are performed of which the general public are not allowed to be spectators, but I only speak of what is done openly. I would also, by far, prefer a popular festival in the East to a fair in our highly civilized states. The oriental feasts were, to me, a source of much enjoyment, for the people always behaved most decorously. They certainly shouted and pushed and elbowed each other like a European mob, but no drunken men were to be seen, and it was very seldom that a serious quarrel occurred. The commonest man, too, would never think of offering an insult to one of the opposite sex. I should feel no compunction in sending a young girl to this festival, though I should never think of letting her go to the fair held at Vienna on St. Bridget State. The people were assembled in vast numbers, and the crowd was very great, yet we could pass everywhere on our donkeys. At about three o'clock my servant sought out an elevated place for me, for the great spectacle was soon to come, and the crushing and bustle had already reached their highest point. At length a portly priest could be described riding along on a splendid horse, before him marched eight or ten dervishes with flags flying, and behind him a number of men, among whom were also many dervishes. In the midst of the square the procession halted a few soldiers pushed their way among the people whom they forced to stand back and leave a road. Whenever the spectators did not obey quickly a stick was brought into action, which soon established order in a most satisfactory manner. The procession now moved on once more, the standard bears and dervishes making all kinds of frantic gestures, as though they had just escaped from a madhouse. On reaching the place where the spectators formed a lane the dervishes and several other men threw themselves down with their faces to the ground in a long row, with their heads side by side. And then, oh horror, the priest rode over the backs of these miserable men as upon a speech. They then sprang up again as though nothing had happened, and rejoined the advancing train with their former antics and grimaces. One man stayed behind, writhing to and fro as if his back had been broken, but in a few moments time he went away as unconcernedly as his comrades. Each of the actors in this scene considers himself extremely fortunate in having attained to such a distinction, and this feeling even extends to his relations and friends. SHUBRA One afternoon I paid a visit to the beautiful garden and country house of the viceroy of Egypt. A broad, handsome street leads between alleys of sycamores, and the journey occupies about an hour and a half. Immediately upon my arrival I was conducted to an outbuilding in the yard belonging to which a fine large elephant was to be shown. I had already seen several of these creatures, but never such a fine specimen as this. Its bulk was truly marvelous, its body clean and smooth, and of a dark brown color. The park is most lovely, and the rarest plants are here seen flourishing in the open air, in the fullness of bloom and beauty, besides those we are accustomed to see every day. On the whole, however, I was better pleased with the garden at Rhoda. The palace, too, is very fine. The ceilings of the rooms are lofty and richly ornamented with gilding, paintings, and marble. The rooms appropriated to the viceroy's consort are no less magnificent. The ascent to them is by a broad staircase on each side. On the ground floor is situate the favorite apartment of the autocrat of Cairo, furnished in the style of the reception halls at Damascus. A fountain of excellent water diffuses a delicious coolness around. In the palace itself we find several large cages for parrots and other beautiful birds. What pleased me most of all was, however, the incomparable kiosk, lying in the garden at some distance from the palace. It is one hundred and thirty paces long and one hundred broad, surrounded by arcades of glorious pillars. This kiosk contains, in its interior, a large and beautiful fountain, and at the four corners of the buildings are terraces from which the water falls in the form of little cataracts, afterwards uniting with the fountain and shooting upwards in the shape of a mighty pillar. All things around us, the pavilion and the pillars, the walls and the fountain, are light covered with beautiful marble of a white or light brown color. The pavilion is even arranged so that it can be lighted with gas. From this paradise of the living I rode to the abode of the dead, the celebrated world of graves which is to be seen in the desert. Here are to be found a number of ancient sepulchres, but most of them resemble ruins, and to find out their boasted beauty is a thing left to the imagination of every traveler. I only admired the sepulchre of Muhammad Ali's two sons, in which the bones of his wife also rest. This is a beautiful building of stone. Five cupolas rise above the magnificent chambers where the sarcophagi are deposited. The petrified date-wood lies about eight miles distant from Cairo. I rode out there but did not find much to see, accepting here and there some fragments of stems and a few petrifications lying about. It is said that the finest part of this petrified wood begins some miles away, but I did not penetrate so far. During my residence in Cairo the heat once reached thirty-six degrees reamer, and yet I found it much more endurable than I had expected. I was not annoyed at all by insects or vermin, but I was obliged to be careful not to leave any provisions in my room throughout the night. An immense swarm of minute ants would seize upon every kind of eatable, particularly bread. One evening I left a roll upon the table, and the next morning found it half eaten away, and covered with ants within and without. It is here and universal custom to place the feet of the tables in little dishes filled with water to keep off these insects. Excursion to Suez It had originally been my intention to stay at Cairo a week at the furthest and afterwards to return to Alexandria. But the more I saw the more my curiosity became excited, and I felt irresistibly impelled to proceed. I had now traveled in almost every way, but I had not yet tried an excursion on a camel. I therefore made inquiry as to the distance, danger, and expense of a journey to Suez on the Red Sea. The distance was a thirty-six hours journey, the danger was said to be nil, and the expense they estimated at about two hundred and fifty piestras. I therefore hired two strong camels, one for me, the other for my servant and the camel driver, and took nothing with me in the way of provisions but bread, dates, a piece of roast meat, and hard-boiled eggs. Skins of water were hung at each side of the camels, for we had to take a supply which would last us the journey and during our return. If we rode every day for twelve hours this journey occupies six days, there and back. But as I was unable to depart until the afternoon of the twenty-sixth, and was obliged to be in Alexandria at latest by the thirtieth in order not to miss the steamer, I had only four days and a half to accomplish it. Thus this excursion was the most fatiguing I had ever undertaken. At four in the afternoon I rode through the town gate, where the camels were waiting for us, we mounted them and commenced our journey. The desert begins at the town gates, but for the first few miles we have a side of some very fruitful country on the left, until at last we leave town and trees behind us, and with them all the verger and find ourselves surrounded on all sides by a sea of sand. For the first four or five hours I was not ill-pleased with this mode of traveling. I had plenty of room on my camel and could sit farther back or forward as I chose, and had provisions and a bottle of water at my side. Besides this the heat was not oppressive, I felt very comfortable and could look down from my high throne almost with a feeling of pride upon the passing caravans. Even the swaying motion of the camel, which causes in some travelers a feeling of sickness and nausea like that produced by a sea voyage, did not affect me. But after a few hours I began to feel the fatigues and discomforts of a journey of this kind. The swinging motion pained and fatigued me, as I had no support against which I could lean. The desire to sleep also rose within me, and it can be imagined how uncomfortable I felt. But I was resolved to go to Suez, and if all my hardships had been far worse I would not have turned back. I summoned all my fortitude and rode without holding for fifteen hours, from four in the afternoon until seven the next morning. During the night we passed several trains of camels, some in motion, some at rest, often consisting of more than a hundred. We were not exposed to the least annoyance, although we had attached ourselves to no caravan, but were pursuing our way alone. From Cairo to Suez, posts are established at every five or six hours journey, and at each of these posts there stands a little house of two rooms for the convenience of travelers. These huts were built by an English innkeeper established at Cairo, but they can only be used by very rich people, as the prices charged are most exorbitant. Thus, for instance, a bed for one night costs a hundred piastras, a little chicken twenty, and a bottle of water two piastras. The generality of travelers encamp before the house, and I follow the same plan, lying down for an hour in the sand while the camels ate their scanty meal. My health and body-lease stretch are, I am happy to say so excellent, that I am ready, after a very short rest, to encounter new fatigues. After this hour of repose, I once more mounted my camel to continue my journey. CHAPTER XVI. OF A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND OF A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT AND ITALY PART II by Ida L. Pfeiffer, August 27. It may easily be imagined that the whole scene, by which we are here surrounded, has over it an air of profound and deathlike stillness. The sea, where we behold nothing but water around us, presents more of life to divert the mind. The very rushing and splash of the wheels, the bounding waves, the bustle of bending or rafing sails, and the crowding of people on the steamer, brings varied pictures to temper the monotony around. Even the ride through stony deserts, which I traveled in Syria, has not so much sameness. For there, at least, we hear the tramp of the horse and the sound of many a rolling stone. The traveler's attention is, besides, kept continually on the stretch in guiding each step that his horse takes, to avoid the risk of a fall. But all this is wanting in a journey through a sandy desert. No bird hovers in the air. Not a butterfly is here to gladden the eye. Not even an insect or a worm crawls on the ground. Not a living creature is, in fact, to be seen. But the little vultures preying on the carcasses of fallen camels. Even the tread of the heavy-footed camel is muffled by the deep sand, and nothing is ever heard but the moaning of these poor animals when their driver forces them to lie down and to take off their burden. Most probably the exertion of stooping hurts them. The driver beats the camel on the knee with a stick and pulls its head toward him by a rope fastened to it like a halter. During this operation the rider must hold very fast in order not to fall off, for suddenly the creature drops on its four knees, then on its hind legs, and at length sits completely down on the ground. When you mount the animal again, it becomes necessary to keep a vigilant eye upon him, for as soon as he feels your foot on his neck he wishes to rise. As I have already said we see nothing on this journey but many and large companies of camels, which march one behind the other while their drivers shorten the way with dreary, inharmonious songs. Half devoured carcasses of these ships of the desert lie everywhere, with jackals and vultures gnawing at them. Even living camels are sometimes seen staggering about, which have been left to starve by their masters as unfit for further service. I shall never forget the piteous look of one of these poor creatures, which I saw dragging itself to and fro in the desert, anxiously seeking for food and drink. What a cruel being is man! Why could he not put an end to the poor camel's pain by a blow with a knife? One would imagine that the air in the vicinity of these fallen animals was poisoned, but here this is less the case than it would be in a more temperate region, for the pure air and the great heat of the desert rather dry up than decompose corpses. From the same cause our piece of roast beef was still good on the fifth day. The hard-boiled eggs, which my servant packed so clumsily that they got smashed in the very first hour, did not become foul. Both meat and eggs were shrunk and dried up. On the third day the white bread had become as hard as shit biscuit, so that we had to break it up and soak it in water. Our drinking water became worse day by day and smelt abominably of the leather and receptacles in which we were compelled to keep it. Until we reached Suez our poor camels got not a drop to drink, and their food consisted of a scanty meal of bad provender once a day. At eight in the morning we set off once more and rode until about five in the afternoon. At about four I suddenly described the red sea and its shores. This circumstance delighted me for I felt assured that we should reach the coast in the course of another hour, and then our laborious journey to Suez would be accomplished. I called to my servant, pointed out the sea to him, and expressed my surprise that we had sighted it so soon. He maintained, however, that what I beheld was not the sea, but a Fata Morgana. At first I refused to believe him because the things seemed so real. But after an hour had elapsed and we were as far from the sea as ever, and at length the mirage vanished, and I did not behold the real sea until six o'clock on the following morning, when it appeared in exactly the same way as the phantom of the previous evening. At five in the afternoon we at length halted. I lay down on the earth completely exhausted and enjoyed a refreshing sleep for more than three hours, when I was awakened by my servant, who informed me that a caravan was just before us, which we should do well to join, as the remainder of our road was far less safe than the portion we had already traversed. I wasn't once ready to mount my camel, and at eight o'clock we were again in motion. In a short time we had overtaken the caravan, and our camels were placed in the procession, each beast being tethered to the preceding one by a rope. It was already quite dark, and I could barely distinguish that the people sitting on the camels before me were an Arab family. They traveled in boxes resembling hencoops, about a foot and a half in height, four feet in length, and as many broad. In a box of this kind two or three men sat cross-legged. Many had even spread a light tent over their heads. Suddenly I heard my name called by a female voice. I started, and thought I must be mistaken. For whom in the world could I meet here who knew my Christian name? But once more a voice cried very distinctly, Ida, Ida, and a servant came up and told me that some Arab women who had made the voyage from Atefe to Cairo in company with me were seated on the first camel. They sent to tell me that they were on their way to Mecca, and rejoiced to meet me once more. I was indeed surprised that I should have made such an impression on these good people that they had not forgotten my name. Tonight I saw a glorious and natural phenomenon, which so surprised me that I could not refrain from uttering a slight scream. It may have been about eleven o'clock, when suddenly the sky on my left was lighted up, as though everything were in flames, a great fiery ball shot through the air with lightning speed and disappeared on the horizon, while at the same moment the gleam in the atmosphere vanished, and darkness descended once more on all around. We traveled on through the whole of this night, August twenty-eighth. At six o'clock this morning we came inside of the Red Sea. The mountain chain of Meccatum can be discerned some time previously. Some way from Suez we came upon a wall of bad, brackish water. Not with standing all drawbacks, the supply was eagerly hailed. Our people shouted, scolded, and pushed each other to get the best places. Camels, horses, asses, and men rushed pel-mell towards the well, and happy was he who could seize upon a little water. There are barracks near this well, and soldiers are posted here to promote peace, by means of the stick. The little town of Suez lies spread out on the seashore, and can be very distinctly seen from here. The unhappy inhabitants are compelled to draw their supplies either from this well, or from one of the seacoast four miles below Suez. In the first case the water is brought on camels, horses, or asses. In the second it is transported by sea in boats or small ships. The Red Sea is here rather narrow, and surrounded by sand of a yellowish-brown hue. Immediately beyond the Isthmiths is the continuation of the Great Libyan Desert. The mountain ranges of Meccatum skirt the plain on the right, from Cairo to the Red Sea. We quite lose sight of this range until within the last ten or twelve hours before reaching Suez. The mountains are of moderate elevation and perfectly bare, but still the eye rests with pleasure on the varied forms of the rocks. After an hour's rest beside the well we were still unable to procure water for our poor beasts, and hastened therefore to reach the town. At nine in the morning we were already within its walls. Of the town and its environs I can say nothing, excepting that they both present a very melancholy appearance, as there is nowhere a garden or a cluster of trees to be seen. I paid my respects to the consul and introduced myself to him as an Austrian subject. He was kind enough to assign me a room in his own house, and would on no account permit me to take up my quarters at an inn. It was a pity that I could only converse with this gentleman by means of a dregelman. He was a Greek by birth, and only knew the Arabic language and his own. He is the richest merchant in Suez. His wealth is estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand colonati, and only discharges the functions of French and Austrian consul as an honorary duty. In the little town itself there is nothing remarkable to be seen. On the sea coast they showed me the place where Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea. The sinking of the tide at its ebb is here so remarkable that whole islands are left bare, and large caravans are able to march through the sea, as the water only reaches to the girths of the camels, and the Arabs and Bedouins even walk through. As it happened to be ebb tide when I arrived, I rode through also for the glory of the thing. On these shores I found several pretty shells, but the real treasures of this kind are fished out of the deep at Taun, a few days' journey higher up. I saw whole cargos of mother of pearl shells carried away. I remained at Suez until four in the afternoon, and recruited my energies perfectly with an excellent dinner, at which tolerably good water was not wanting. The consul kindly gave me a bottle as provision for my journey. He has it fetched from a distance of twelve miles, as all the water that can be procured in the neighborhood tastes brackish and salt. In the inn a bottle of water costs two piosters. The first night of my homeward journey was passed partly in a Bedouin encampment and partly on the road, in the company of different caravans. I found the Bedouins to be very good, obliging people, among whom I might wander as I pleased, without being exposed to injury. On the contrary, while I was in their encampment they brought me a straw mat and a chest, in order that I might have a comfortable seat. The homeward journey was just as monotonous and weary some as that to Suez, with the additional fact that I had a quarrel with my people the day before its termination. Feeling exceedingly fatigued by lengthened ride, I ordered my servant to stop the camels as I wished to sleep for a few hours. The rascals refused to obey, alleging that the road was not safe, and that we should endeavor to overtake a caravan. This was, however, nothing but an excuse to get home as quickly as possible. But I was not to be frightened and insisted that my desire should be complied with, telling them moreover that I had inquired of the consul at Suez concerning the safety of the roads and had once more heard that there was nothing to fear. Notwithstanding all this they would not obey but continue to advance. I now became angry and desired the servant once more to stop my camel as I was fully determined not to proceed another step. I told him I had hired both camels and men and had therefore a right to be mistress. If he did not choose to obey me he might go his way with the camel driver and I would join the first caravan I met and bring him to justice, let it cost me what I would. The fellow now stopped my camel and went away with the other in the camel driver. He probably expected to frighten me by this demonstration and to compel me to follow, but he was vastly mistaken. I remained standing where I was and as often as he turned to look at me made signs that he might go his way, but that I should stay. When he saw how fearless and determined I was, he turned back, came to me, made my camel kneel down, and after helping me to alight prepared me a resting place on a heap of sand, where I slept delightfully for five hours. Then I ordered my things to be packed up, mounted my camel, and continued my journey. My conduct astonished my followers to such a degree that they afterwards asked me every few hours if I wished to rest. On our arrival at Cairo the camel driver had not even the heart to make the customary demand for Bakshish, and my servant begged pardon for his conduct and hoped that I would not mention the difference we had to the consul. The maximum temperature during this journey was forty-three degrees rimmer, and when it was perfectly calm I really felt as if I should be stifled. This journey from Cairo to Suez can, however, be accomplished in a carriage in the space of twenty hours. The English innkeeper established at Cairo has had a very light carriage with seats for four built expressly for this purpose, but a place in this vehicle costs five pounds for the journey there, and the same sum for the return. On the following day I once more embarked on board an Arabian vessel for Alexandria. Before my departure I had a terrible quarrel with the donkey driver whom I usually employed. These men, as in fact all fellows, are accustomed to cheat strangers in every possible way, but particularly with coins. They usually carry bad money about with them, which they can substitute for the good at the moment when they are paid, with the dexterity of jugglers. My donkey driver endeavored to play me this trick when I rode to the ship. He saw that I should not require his services any more, and therefore wished to cheat me as a parting mark of attention. This attempt disgusted me so much that I could not refrain from brandishing my whip at him in a very threatening manner, although I was alone among a number of his class. My gesture had the desired effect, the driver instantly retreated, and I remained victor. My reader would do me a great wrong by the supposition that I mentioned these circumstances to make a vaunt of my courage. I am sure that the fact of my having undertaken this journey alone will be sufficient to clear me of the imputation of cowardice. I wished merely to give future travelers a hint as to the best method of dealing with these people. Their respect can only be secured by the display of a firm will, and I am sure that in my case they were the more intimidated as they had never expected to find so much determination in a woman. CHAPTER 17 OF A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT AND ITALY PART 1 by Ida L. Pfeiffer September 5. At five o'clock in the evening of the second of September, I commenced my journey back to Alexandria. During the fortnight I remained at Cairo, the Nile had continued to rise considerably, and the interest of the region had increased in proportion. In three days' time I arrived safely at Alexandria, and again put up at Columbia's. Two days had still to elapse before the departure of the French steam vessel, and I made use of this time to take a closer survey of the town and its environs. On my arrival at Alexandria I met two Egyptian funerals. The first was that of a poor man and not a soul followed the coffin. The corpse lay in a wooden box without a lid, a coarse blanket had been spread over it, and four men carried the coffin. The second funeral had a more respectable air. The coffin, indeed, was not less rude, but the dead man was covered with a handsome shawl, and four mourning women followed the body, raising a most delurious howl from time to time. A motley crowd of people closed the procession. The corpse was laid in the grave without the coffin. The catacombs of Alexandria are very extensive and well worth a visit. A couple of miles from them we see the celebrated plain on which the army of Julius Caesar was once posted. The cistern and bath of Cleopatra were both underwater. I could therefore only see the place where they stood. The viceroy's palace, a spacious building inclining to the European style, has a pleasing effect. Its interior arrangement is almost wholly European. The bizarre contains nothing worthy of remark. The arsenal looks very magnificent when viewed from without. It is very difficult to obtain admission into this building, and you run the risk of being insulted by the workmen. The hospital has the appearance of a private house. I was astonished at the high commission which is here demanded on changing small sums of money. In changing a colonato, a coin very much used in this country, and worth about two guilders, the applicant must lose from half a piastra to two piastras according to the description of coin he requires. If beschlicks are taken, the commission charged is half a piastra, but if piastras are wanted, two must be paid. The government value of a colonato is 20 piastras. In general exchange, it is reckoned at 22, and at the consulates at 21 piastras. Departure from Alexandria, September 7. At eight o'clock in the morning, I betook myself on board the French steam packet Uratus, a beautiful large vessel of 160 horsepower. At nine o'clock we weighed anchor. The weather was very unfavorable, though it did not rain, we continually had contrary winds, and the sea generally ran high. In consequence, we did not cite the island of Candia until the evening of the third day, four and twenty hours later than we should have done under ordinary circumstances. Two women who came on board as passengers to Cyra were so violently attacked by sea sickness that they left the deck a few hours after we got under way, and did not reappear until they landed at Cyra. A very useful arrangement on board the French vessel is the engagement of a female attendant, whose assistance sometimes becomes very necessary. Heaven be praised, I had not much to fear from the attacks of sea sickness. The weather must be very bad, as for instance during our passage through the Black Sea, before my health is affected, and even then I recover rapidly. During our whole voyage, even when the weather was wretched, I remained continually on deck, so that during the day time I could not miss seeing even the smallest islet. On September 10th, late in the evening, we discovered the island of Candia, or Crete, and the next morning we were pretty close to it. We could, however, distinguish nothing but bare, unfruitful mountains, the tallest among which, my namesake, Mount Ida, does not look more fertile than the rest. On the right loomed the island of Scarpanto. We soon left it in our wake, and also passed the brothers' islands, and many others, some of them small and uninhabited, besides separate colossal rocks, towering majestically into the sea. Soon afterwards we passed the island Santorini and Annaf. The latter of these islands is peculiarly beautiful. In the foreground a village lies at the foot of a high mountain, with its peaks surmounted by a little church. On the side towards the sea this rock shoots downwards so perpendicularly that we might fancy it had been cut off with a saw. Since we had come inside of Candia, we had not been sailing on the high seas. Scarcely did one island vanish from our view before it was replaced by another. On September 11th, between three and four in the morning, we reached Saira. The terrible, contrary winds, with which we had been obliged to contend during almost the whole of our passage, had caused us to arrive a day behind our time. To make up for which delay we only stayed half a day here instead of a day and a half. This was a matter of indifference to those of us who were traveling further, for as we came from Egypt we should not have been allowed in any case to disembark. Those who landed here proceeded at once to the quarantine house. Saira possesses a fine harbor. From our vessel we had a view over the whole town and its environs. An isolated mountain, crowned by a convent and a church, the seat of the bishop, rises boldly from the very verge of the shore. The town winds round this mountain in the form of several wreaths, until it almost reaches the Episcopal buildings. The background closes with the melancholy picture of a barren mountain chain. A lighthouse stands on a little neighboring island. The quarantine establishment looks cheerful enough and is situate at a little distance from the town on the seashore. It was Sunday when we arrived here, and as Saira belongs to Greece I hear heard the sound of bells like those of Mount Lebanon, and once more their strain filled me with deep and indescribable emotion. Never do we think so warmly of our home as when we are solitary and alone among strange people in a far distant land. I would have gladly turned aside from my route to visit Athens, which I might have reached in a few hours, but then I should once more have been compelled to keep quarantine, and perhaps on leaving Greece the affliction would have to be born a third time, a risk which I did not want to run. I therefore preferred keeping quarantine at Malta and having done with it at once. On the same day at two o'clock we once more set sail. This day and the following I remained on deck as much as possible, bidding defiance to wind and rain and gazing at the islands as we glided past one after another. As one island disappeared another rose in its place. Groups of isolated rocks also rose at intervals, like giants from the main, to form a feature in the changing panorama. On the right in the far distance we could distinguish pharaohs and antifaraohs. On the left the larger Chermian islands, and at length we passed close to Servo, Staggs Island, which is particularly distinguished by the beauty of its mountain range. Here, as at Cyra, we found an isolated mountain, round which a town winds almost to its summit. As I came on deck today with the sun, the mainland of the Moria was in sight on our right, a great plain with many villages scattered over its surface and a background of bare hills. After losing sight of the Moria we sailed once more on the high seas. This day might have had a tragical termination for us. I was sitting as usual on deck when I noticed an unusual stir among the sailors and officers, and even the commander ran hastily towards me. Nevertheless I did not dare to ask what had happened, for in proportion as the French are generally polite, they are proud and overbearing on board their steamers. I therefore remained quietly seated and contented myself with watching every movement of the officers and men. Several descended to the coal magazine, returning heated, blackened by the coals and dripping with water. At length a cabin boy came hurrying by me, and upon my asking him what was the matter, he replied in a whisper that fire had broken out in the coal room. Now I knew the whole extent of our danger, and yet could do nothing but keep my seat and await whatever fate should bring us. It was most fortunate for us that the fire occurred during the daytime and had been immediately discovered by the engine man. Double chain pumps were rigged and the whole magazine was laid under water, a proceeding which had the effect of extinguishing the flames. The other passengers knew nothing of our danger, they were all asleep or sitting quietly in the cabins, the sailors were forbidden to tell them what had happened, and even my informant, the cabin boy, begged me not to betray him. We had three hundred weight of gunpowder on board. September 14th. We did not come inside of land until this evening when the goal of our journey appeared, Malta. We cast anchor in the harbor of Lavalette at seven o'clock. During the whole of our journey from Alexandria the wind had been very unfavorable, the sea was frequently so agitated that we could not walk across the deck without the assistance of a sailor. The distance from Alexandria via Syra to Malta is nine hundred and fifty sea miles. We took eight days to accomplish this distance, landing only at Syra. The heat was moderate enough seldom reaching twenty-eight degrees or twenty-nine degrees rimmer. The appearance of Malta is picturesque, it contains no mountains, and consists entirely of hills and rocks. The town of Lavalette is surrounded by three lines of fortifications, winding like steps up the hill on which the town lies. The ladder contains large fine houses all built of stone. September 15th. This morning at eight o'clock we disembarked and were marched off to keep quarantine in the magnificent castle of the Knights of St. John. This building stands on a hill, affording a view over the whole island in the direction of Civita Veccia. We found here a number of clean rooms and were immediately supplied with furniture, bedding, etc., by the establishment at a very reasonable charge. Our host at once dispatched to every guest a bill of fair for a breakfast and dinner so that each one can choose what he wishes without being cheated as to the prices. The keepers here are very obliging and attentive. They almost all know something of Italian and execute any commission with which they are entrusted punctually and well. The building for the incarcerated ones is situate on an elevated plateau. It has two large wings, one on each side, one story high, containing apartments, each with a separate entrance. Adjoining the courtyard is the inn and not far from it the church. Neither, however, may be visited by the newcomers. The requisite provisions are procured for them by a keeper who takes them to the purchasers. The church is always kept locked. A broad, handsome terrace with a prospect over the sea, the town of Lavalette and the whole island forms the foreground of the picture. The terrace and the ramparts behind the houses form very agreeable walks. The courtyard of our prison is very spacious, and we are allowed to walk about in it as far as the statue which stands in the middle. Until ten o'clock at night we enjoy our liberty, but when the sour arrives we are sent to our respective rooms and locked up. The apartments of the keepers are quite separate from ours. The arrangements of the whole establishment are so good and comfortable that we almost forget that we are prisoners. What a contrast to the quarantine house at Alexandria. If a traveler receives a visitor, he is not separated from his guest by ditches and bars, but stands only two steps from him in the courtyard. The windows here are not grated, and though our clothes were hung on horses to air, neither we nor our effects were smoked out. If it had not been for the delay it caused, I should really have spent the eighteen days of my detention here very pleasantly. But I wished to ascend Mount Etna and was a fixture here until the second of October. CHAPTER 17 OF A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT AND ITALY, PART II BY IDA-EL FIFER OCTOBER FIRST The quarantine doctor examined us in a very superficial manner and pronounced that we should be free tomorrow. Upon this a boisterous hilarity prevailed. The prisoners rejoiced at the prospect of speedy release, and shouted, sang, and danced in the courtyard. The keepers caught the infection and all was mirth and good humor until late in the night. OCTOBER SECOND At seven o'clock this morning we were released from Thraldum. A scene similar to that at Alexandria then took place, everyone rushed to seize upon the strangers. It is here necessary that the traveller should be as much upon his guard as in Egypt among the Arabs, in the matters of boat fairs, porterage, etc. If a bargain is not struck beforehand, the people are most exorbitant in their demands. A few days before our release I had made an arrangement with an innkeeper for board, lodging, and transport. Today he came to fetch me and my luggage, and we crossed the arm of the sea which divides Fort Manuel from the town of Lavalette. A flight of steps leads from the shore into the town, past the three rows of fortifications rising in tiers above each other. In each of these divisions we find streets and houses. The town, properly speaking, lies quite at the top. It is therefore necessary to mount and descend frequently, though not nearly so often as at Constantinople. The streets are broad and well paved, the houses spacious and finely built. The place of roofs is supplied by terraces, frequently parceled out into little flower beds, which present a very agreeable appearance. My host gave me a tiny room and meals on the same principle, coffee with milk morning and evening, and three dishes at dinner time, but for all this I did not pay more than forty-five critzers or about one shilling in sixpence. The first thing I did after taking up my quarters here was to hasten to a church to return thanks to the Almighty for the protection he had so manifestly extended to me upon my long and dangerous journey. The first church which I entered at Lavalette was dedicated to St. Augustine. I was particularly pleased with it, for since my departure from Vienna I had not seen one so neatly or well built. Afterwards I visited the Church of St. John and was much struck with its splendor. This building is very spacious and the floor is completely covered with monumental slabs of marble, covering the graves of the knights. The ceiling is ornamented with beautiful frescoes and the walls are sculptured from ceiling to floor with arabesques, leaves, and flowers in sandstone. All these ornaments are richly guilt and present a peculiarly imposing appearance. The side chapels contain numerous monuments, mostly of white marble, and one single one of black in memory of a celebrated Maltese knight. At the right hand corner of the church is the so-called rose-colored chapel. It is hung round with a heavy silk-stuff of a red color which diffuses a rosyet halo over all the objects around. The altar is surrounded by a high, massive railing. Two only of the paintings are well executed, namely that over the high altar and a piece representing Christ on the cross. The pillars round the altar are of marble and at each side of the grand altar rose lofty canopies of red velvet fringed with gold reaching almost to the vaulted cupola. The uncomfortable custom of carrying chairs to and fro during church time, which is so universal throughout Italy, begins already at Malta. The predilection for the clerical profession seems to prevail here as it does throughout Italy. I could almost say that every fifteenth person we meet either is a clergyman or intends to become one. Children of ten or twelve years already run about in the black gown and three-cornered hat. The streets are handsome and cleanly kept, particularly the one which intersects the town. Some of them are even watered. The counters of the dealer's shops contain the most exquisite wares. In fact, everywhere we find indications that we are once more on European ground. When we see the Ficcini here, with their dark-worked caps or round straw hats, their short jackets and comfortable trousers, with jaunty red sashes round their waists, and their bold, free glance, when we contrast them with the wretched fellas of Egypt and consider that these men both belong to the same class in society and that the fellas even inhabit the more fruitful country, we begin to have our doubts of Mohammed Ali's manignant rule. The Governor's Palace, a great square building, stands on a magnificent open space. Next to it is the library, and opposite the chief guard house rears its splendid front, graced with pillars. The coffee houses here are very large. They are kept comfortably and clean, particularly that on the great square, which is brilliantly illuminated every evening. Women and girls appear dressed in black. They are usually accustomed to throw a wide cloak over their other garments, and wear a mantilla which conceals arms, chest, and head. The face is left uncovered, and I saw some very lovely ones smiling forth from the black drapery. Rich people wear these upper garments of silk. The cloaks of the poorer classes are made of merino or cheap woolen stuffs. It was Sunday when I entered Lavalette for the first time. Every street and church was thronged with people, all of whom were neatly and decently dressed. I saw but few beggars, and those whom I met were less ragged than the generality of their class. The military, the finest I had ever seen, consisted entirely of tall, handsome men, mostly Scotchmen. Their uniforms were very tasteful. One regiment wore scarlet jackets and white linen trousers. Another black jackets and shoulder knots. In fact, the whole uniform is black, with the exception of the trousers, which are of white linen. It seemed much more the fashion to drive than to ride here. The coaches are of a very peculiar kind, which I hardly think can be found elsewhere. They consist of a venerable old rattling double-seated box, swinging upon two immense wheels and drawn by a single horse in shafts. The coachman generally runs beside his vehicle. October 3. Today I drove in a carriage for the first time since my departure from Vienna, a period of six months and a half, to Savitevecchia, to view this ancient town of Malta, and particularly the celebrated church of St. Peter and St. Paul. On this occasion I traversed the whole length of the island and had an opportunity of viewing the interior. Malta consists of a number of little elevations and is intersected in all directions by excellent roads. I also continually passed handsome villages, some of them so large that they looked like thriving little towns. The heights are frequently crowned by churches of considerable extent and beauty, although the whole island consists of rock and sandstone, vegetation is sufficiently luxurious. Fig, lemon and orange trees grow everywhere and plantations of the cotton shrub are as common as potato fields in my own country. The stems of these shrubs are not higher than potato plants and are here cultivated in exactly the same way. I was told that they had been stunted this year by the excessive drought, but that in general they grew a foot higher. The peasants were everywhere neatly dressed and live in commodious, well-built houses, universally constructed of stone and furnished with terraces in lieu of roofs. Cevita Veccia is a town of splendid houses and very elegant country seats. Many inhabitants of Lavalette spend the summer here in the highest portion of the island. The church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is a spacious building with a simple interior. The floor is covered merely with stone slabs. The walls are whitewashed to the ceiling, but the upper portion is richly ornamented with arabesques. A beautiful picture hanging behind the high altar represents a storm at sea. The view from the hall of the convent is magnificent. We can overlook almost the entire island and beyond our gaze loses itself in the boundless expanse of the ocean. Near the church stands a chapel beneath which is Saint Paul's grotto divided into two parts. In the first of these divisions we find a splendid statue of Saint Paul in white marble. The second was the dungeon of the apostle. Not far from this chapel at the extremity of the town there are the catacombs which resemble those at Rome, Naples, and other towns. During our drive back we made a little detour to see the gorgeous summer palace and garden of the governor. The whole excursion occupied about seven hours. During my residence in Malta the heat varied from twenty degrees to twenty-five degrees rimmer in the sun. CHAPTER 18 OF A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT AND ITALY PART 1 by Ida L. Pfeiffer October 4th. At eight o'clock in the evening I embarked on board the Sicilian steamer Hercules of two hundred and sixty horsepower, the largest and finest vessel I had yet seen. The officers here were not nearly so haughty and disobliging as those on board the Eurotus. Even now I cannot think without a smile of the heirs of the captain of the latter vessel gave himself. He appeared to consider that he had as good a right to be an admiral as Bruce. At ten o'clock we steamed out of the harbour of Lavalette. As it was already dark night I went below and retired to rest. October 5th. When I hurried on deck this morning I found we were already inside of the Sicilian coast, and oh happiness I could distinguish green hills, wooded mountains, glorious dels and smiling meadows, a spectacle I had enjoyed neither in Syria, in Egypt, nor even at Malta. Now I thought at length to behold Europe, for Malta resembles the Syrian regions too closely to favour the idea that we are really in Europe. Towards eleven o'clock we reached Syracuse. Unfortunately we could get only four hours leave of absence. As several gentlemen among the passengers wished to devote these few hours to seeing all the lions of this once rich and famous town, I joined their party and went to shore with them. Scarcely had we landed before we were surrounded by a number of servants and a mob of curious people, so that we were almost obliged to make our way forcibly through the crowd. The gentleman hired a guide and desired to be at once conducted to a restaurateur, who promised to prepare them a modest luncheon within half an hour. The prospect of a good meal seemed of more importance in the eyes of my fellow passengers than anything else. They resolved to have lunch in first and afterward to take a little walk through the city. On hearing this I immediately made a bargain with a Ciceroan to show me what he could in four hours, and went with him, leaving the company seated at a table. Though I had got nothing to eat today but a piece of bread and a few figs, which I dispatched on the road, I saw some sights which I would not have missed for the most sumptuous entertainment. Of the once spacious town nothing remains but a very small portion, inhabited by ten thousand persons at most. The dirty streets were everywhere crowded with people, as though they dwelt out of doors while the houses stood empty. Accompanied by my guide I passed hastily through the new town and over three or four wooden bridges to Neopolis, the part of ancient Syracuse in which monuments of the past are seen in the best state of preservation. First we came to the theater. This building is tolerably well preserved, and several of the stone seats are still seen rising in terrace form, one above the other. From this place we betook ourselves into the amphitheater, which is finer by far, and where we find passages leading to the wild beast's stens, and above them rows of seats for spectators. All is in such good condition that it might, at a trifling expense, be so far repaired as to be made again available for its original purpose. Now we proceeded to the ear of Dionysus, with which I was particularly struck. It consists of a number of chambers, partly hewn out of the rock by art, partly formed by nature, and all opening into an immensely lofty hall, which becomes narrower and narrower towards the top, until it at length terminates in an aperture so minute as to be invisible from below. To this aperture Dionysus is said to have applied his ear in order to overhear what the captives spoke. This place is stated to have been used as a prison for slaves and malefactors. It is usual to fire a pistol here that the stranger may hear the reverberating echoes. A lofty opening resembling a great gate forms the entrance to these rocky passages. Overgrown with ivy it has rather the appearance of a bower than that of a place of terror and anguish. Several of these side halls are now used as workshops by rope makers, while in others the manufacture of salt-peter is carried on. The region around is rocky, but without displaying any high mountains. I saw numerous grottoes, some of them with magnificent entrances, which looked as though they had been cut in the rocks by art. In one of these grottoes water fell from above, forming a very pretty cataract. During this excursion the time had passed so rapidly that I was soon compelled to think, not of a visit to the catacombs, but of my return on board. I proceeded to the seashore, where the Syracusans have built a very pretty promenade, and of road back to the steamer. Of all the passengers I was the only one who had seen anything of Syracuse, all the rest had spent the greater part of the time allowed them in the inn, and at most had been for a short walk in the town. But they had obtained an exceedingly good dinner, and thus we had each enjoyed ourselves in our own way. At three o'clock we quitted the beautiful harbor of Syracuse, and three hours brought us to Catania. This voyage was one of the most beautiful and interesting that can be imagined. The traveler continually seized the most charming landscapes of Blooming, Sicily, and at Syracuse we can already describe on a clear day the giant etna rearing its head ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. At six in the evening we disembarked, but those going farther had to be on board again by midnight. I had intended to remain at Catania and ascend Mount Etna, but on making inquiries I was assured that the season was too far advanced for such an undertaking, and therefore resolved to set sail again at midnight. I went on shore in company with the Neapolitan and his wife, for the purpose of visiting some of the churches, a few public buildings and the town itself. The buildings, however, were already closed, though the exteriors promised much. We could only deplore that we had arrived an hour too late and take a walk around the town. I could scarcely wonder enough at the bustle in the crowded squares and chief streets, and at the shouting and screaming of the people. The number of inhabitants is about fifty thousand. The two chief streets, leading in different directions from the great square, are long, broad, and particularly well paved with large stone slabs. They contain many magnificent houses. The only circumstance which displeased me was that everywhere, even in the chief streets, the people dry clothes on large poles at balconies and windows. This makes the town look as though it were inhabited by a race of washer-women. I should not even mind so much if they were clean clothes, but frequently I saw the most disgusting rags fluttering in front of splendid houses. Unfortunately this barbarous custom prevails throughout the whole of Sicily, and even in Naples, the hanging out of clothes is only forbidden in the principal street, the Toledo. All the other streets are full of linen. Among the equipiges, which were rolling to and fro in great numbers, I noticed some very handsome ones. Some were standing still in the great square while their occupants amused themselves by looking at the bustle around them, and chatted with friends and acquaintances who crowded around the carriages. I found a greater appearance of life here than either at Naples or Palermo. The convent of St. Nicholas was unfortunately closed so that we could only view its exterior. It is a spacious, magnificent building, the largest, in fact, in the whole town. We also looked at the walks on the seashore, which at our first arrival we had traversed in haste in order to reach the town quickly. Beautiful avenues extend along each side of the harbor. They are, however, less frequented than the streets and squares. We had a beautiful moonlight night. The promontory of Etna, with its luxurious vegetation, as well as the giant mountain itself, were distinctly visible in all their glory. The summit rose cloudless and free. No smoke came from the crater, nor could we discover a trace of snow as we returned to our ship. We noticed several heaps of lava piled on the seashore of a perfectly black color. Late in the evening we adjourned to an inn to refresh ourselves with some good dishes, and afterwards returned to the steamer, which weighed anchor at midnight. October 6. We awoke in the harbor of Messina. The situation of this town is lovely beyond description. I was so charmed with it that I stood for a long time on deck without thinking of landing. A chain of beautiful hills and large masses of rock in the background surround the harbor in town. Everywhere the greatest fertility rains and all things are in the most thriving and flourishing condition. In the direction of Palermo the boundless ocean is visible. I now bade farewell to the splendid steamer Hercules, because I did not intend to proceed directly to Naples, but to make a detour by way of Palermo. As soon as I had landed I proceeded to the office of the merchant M, to whom I had a letter of recommendation. I requested Herr M to procure me a Ciceroan as soon as possible, as I wished to see the sights of Messina, and afterwards to continue my journey to Palermo. Herr M was kind enough to send one of his clerks with me. I rested for half an hour, then commenced my peregrination. From the steamer Messina had appeared to me a very narrow place, but on entering the town I found that I had made quite a false estimate of its dimensions. Messina is certainly built in a very straggling oblong form, but still its breadth is not inconsiderable. I saw many beautiful squares, for instance the chief square, with its splendid fountain ornamented with figures, and a bar relief of carved work in bronze. Every square contains a fountain, but we seldom find anything particularly tasteful. The churches are not remarkable for the beauty of their facades, nor do they present anything in the way of marble statues or finely executed pictures. The houses are generally well built, with flat roofs, the streets with few exceptions are narrow, small, and very dirty. An uncommonly broad street runs parallel with the harbor, and contains, on one side at least, some very handsome houses. This is a favorite place for a walk. Four, we can here see all the bustle and activity of the port. Several of the palaces also are pretty, that appropriated to the senate is the only one which can be called fine, the staircase being constructed entirely of white marble, in a splendid style of architecture. The halls and apartments are lofty and generally arched. The regal palace is also a handsome pile. In the midst of the town I found an agreeable public garden. The Italians appear, however, to choose the streets as places of rendezvous, in preference to enclosures of this kind, for everywhere I noticed that the garden walks were empty and the streets full. But on the whole there is not nearly so much life here as at Catania. In order to obtain a view of the whole of Messina and its environs I ascended a hill near the town, surmounted by a capuchin convent. Here I enjoyed a prospect which I have seldom seen equalled. As I gazed upon it I could easily imagine that an inhabitant of Messina can find no place in the world so beautiful as his native town. The promontory against which the town leans is clothed with a carpet of the brightest green, planted with fruit trees of all kinds, and enlivened with scattered towns, villages, and country seats. Beautiful roads appearing like white bands intersect the mountains on every side in the direction of the town. The background is closed by high mountains, sometimes wooded, sometimes bare, now rising in the form of alps, now in the shape of rocky masses. At the foot of the hills we see the long-drawn town, the harbor with its numerous ships, and beyond it groups of alps and rocks. The boundless sea flows on the spectator's right and left towards Pajermo and Naples, while in the direction of Catania the eye is caught by mountains, with etna towering among them. The same evening I embarked on board the Duke of Calabria for the short trip of twelve or fourteen hours to Palermo. This steamer has only engines of eighty horse power, and everything connected with it is small and confined. The first class accommodation is indeed pretty good, but the second class places are only calculated to contain very few passengers. Though completely exhausted by my long and fatiguing walk through Messina, I remained on deck, for I could not be happy without seeing Stromboli. Unfortunately I could distinguish very little of it. We had started from Messina at about six o'clock in the evening, and did not come inside of the mountain until two hours later, when the shades of night were already descending. We were, besides at such a distance from it that I could describe nothing but a colossal mass rising from the sea and towering toward heaven. I stayed on deck until past ten o'clock in the hope of obtaining a nearer view of Stromboli, but we had soon left it behind us in the far distance, with other islands which lay on the surface like misty clouds. October 7. Today I hastened on deck before sunrise to see as much as possible of the Sicilian coast, and to obtain an early view of Palermo. At ten o'clock we ran into the harbor of this town. I had been so charmed with the situation of Messina that I did not expect ever to behold anything more lovely, and yet the remembrance of this town faded from my mind when Palermo rose before me, surrounded by magnificent mountains, among which the colossal rock of St. Rosalia, a huge slab of porphyry and granite, towered high in the blue air. The combination of various colors unites with its immense height and its peculiar construction to render this mountain one of the most remarkable in existence. Its summit is crowned by a temple, and a good road, partly cut out of the rock, partly supported on lofty pillars of masonry, which we can see from on board our vessel, leads to the convent of St. Rosalia, and to a chapel hidden among the hills and dedicated to the same saint. At the foot of this mountain lies a gorgeous castle, inhabited, as my captain told me, by an English family who pay a yearly rent of thirty thousand florins for the use of it. To the left of Palermo the mountains open and show the entrance to a broad and transcendently beautiful valley, in which the town of Montréal lies with magical effect. Several of these gaps occur along the coast, affording glimpses of the most lovely veils, with gathered villages and pretty country seats. The harbor of Palermo is picturesque and eminently safe. The town number is about one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants. Here, too, our deck was crowded with fecini, innkeepers, and guides before the anchor was fairly lowered. I inquired of the captain respecting the price of board and lodging, and afterwards made a bargain with a host before leaving the ship. By following this plan I generally escaped overcharge and inconvenience. Arriving at the inn I sent to Herr Schmidt, to whom I had been recommended, with the request that he would dispatch a trustworthy Ciceroan to me, and make me a kind of daily scheme of what I was to see. This was soon done, and after hurrying over my dinner I commenced my wanderings. I entered almost every church I passed on my way, and found them all neat and pretty. Everywhere I came upon picturesque villas and handsome houses, glass doors instead of windows, their lower portion guarded by iron railings and forming little balconies. Here the women and girls sit of an evening, working and talking to their hearts content. The streets of Palermo are far handsomer and cleaner than those of Messina. The principal among them, Toledo and Casero, divide the town into four parts, and join in the chief square. The streets, as we pass from one into another, present a peculiar appearance, filled with bustling crowds of people moving noisily to and fro. In the Toledo Street all the tailors seem congregated together, for the shops on each side of the way are uniformly occupied by the votaries of this trade, who sit at work half in their houses and half in the street. In the coffee houses and shops are all open, so that the passers-by can obtain a full view of the wares and of the buyers and sellers. The Regal Palace is the handsomest in the town. It contains a Gothic chapel, richly decorated. The walls are entirely covered with paintings in mosaic, of which the drawings do not display remarkable taste, and the ceiling is overcrowded with decorations and air-bests. An ancient chandelier, in the form of a pillar, made of beautiful marble and also covered with air-bests, stands beside the pulpit. On holy days an immense candle is put in this candlestick and lighted. I wished to enter this chapel, but was refused admittance until I had taken off my hat, like the men, and carried it in my hand. This custom prevails in several churches of Palermo. The space in front of the palace resembles a garden, from the number of avenues and beds of flowers with which it is ornamented. Second in beauty is the palace of the Senate, but it cannot be compared with that at Messina. End of section 35.