First impressions—East and West—Poverty and riches—The
Stock Exchange—Every man a speculator—Rolling in money
—Wild extravagance—Women's hearts and men's purses—
Place Mohamed Ali—The statue of a great man—How he
founded his dynasty—English soldiers—Here since 1882—The
bombardment of Alexandria—The rôle of France—Did
Admiral Seymour exceed his orders?—Kitchener's presence
—An admiral's fears—The decline of French influence.

THE HARBOUR AT ALEXANDRIA

Al Vista

“WHAT! you miserable person, sailing for Egypt under the
German flag?”

Such was the greeting of one of my friends at Marseilles,
whilst he added ruefully:

“Heavens! What are we coming to? After having
abandoned Egypt to the English, we allow the Germans to
make themselves masters of the Mediterranean, the famous
French lake, and these Teutonic devils have actually the
audacity to start a line of fast steamships between Marseilles
and Alexandria.”

This loyal son of Marseilles was deeply in earnest, and not
without cause. In fact, whilst ever renewed strikes are
threatening the large French ports with certain ruin, paralysing
all their efforts, all their energies, and all their
schemes, the English, the Germans and the Italians are working

continuously to gain a footing where the French were yesterday
supreme.

In establishing this new service between Marseilles and
Alexandria, with a stay of twelve hours at Naples, and in
setting aside for it two of their finest boats, the Schleswig
and the Hohenzollern, of 8000 tons, the Norddeutscher Lloyd of
Bremen have made a master-move.

It was because I had heard so much said of the pleasure
and comfort of this new line that I determined to try it myself
and find out how far it was true. I can now say that, from
every point of view, all the praise was thoroughly deserved,
and it must be admitted that, for the present, it is undoubtedly
the service de luxe of the Mediterranean.

Before even arriving at Marseilles, I had proof of the energy
and enterprise of the German shipping companies. I travelled
down by the new P.L.M. express train, the “Côte d'Azur,”
the finest and most rapid train, I believe, not only in France,
but in the world. As usual, the restaurant car attached was
divided into two compartments, for smokers and non-smokers,
between which was a door with a large glass panel. Here,
on the glass, a magnificent picture of a huge steamship had been
engraved, with, surrounding it in letters of gold, the name of
a German Company, the “Hamburg-American Line.”

So, whilst from Marseilles to Cairo the best service to-day
is that of Lloyd of Bremen, the other powerful Company will
not allow itself to be forgotten; and to the thousands of
strangers making their way South for the winter, they draw
attention to their magnificent steamers, and their motto,
“Remember.”

After five days of wind, rolling and pitching seas, came
absolute calm. We had just entered the outer port of Alexandria,
the famous town founded by Alexander the Great,
the town which, in the time of Cleopatra, reigned queen of the
Mediterranean.

The calm was of short duration. A noise, atrocious,
infernal, indescribable, rose on every side. The Schleswig
had hardly cast her anchor before she was surrounded by
hundreds of small boats crammed with Egyptians, Turks and
Arabs, who howled and gesticulated frantically. In a few

seconds the boat was invaded by this extraordinary crowd,
dragomans, interpreters, porters from different hotels, boatmen,
touts from different agencies, &c. &c. It was pandemonium,
a Tower of Babel gone mad; whilst the poor tourist, at his wit's
end, saw fifty devils, black or brown, throw themselves on to
his luggage. But at this moment a stentorian voice was heard:
“All right, gentlemen, all right! Here are Cook's men, they
will look after everything.” And on the deck, a huge Arab,
in a superb costume, suddenly appeared, surrounded by a crowd
of sturdy porters. Tight red jerseys covered the chests of these
men, on which in white letters was sewn “Thos. Cook and
Sons.” As if by magic quiet was restored: like a general on
the field of battle, Cook's agent took command, answering
politely the numerous questions put to him by the travellers;
and to those anxious about the formalities to be gone through at
the Custom House, he explained that, severe as these were, they
need not trouble: “There is no Custom examination for you,”
he said, smiling quietly; “we have obtained special permission
to pass the luggage of all our passengers without being opened.
You have only to give us your luggage tickets and let us know
where you wish it sent, either to your hotel or to the station,
and you will find it there awaiting you.”

Nothing could have explained better the justice and
appropriateness of the title given to the directors of Messrs.
Cook, “the uncrowned kings of Egypt and the East!” Was
not the Emperor William himself, when he wished to visit the
Holy Land, obliged to confide himself and all his belongings to
Messrs. Cook, like the most ordinary of tourists? The white
boats of the Agency lay alongside the Schleswig, and we soon
found ourselves installed in one of them with all our baggage.

A few minutes later, a victoria with a couple of excellent
little horses, took us swiftly along the streets of Alexandria.

First of all came the Arab quarter: its streets muddy
and filthy, its shops open to all the winds of heaven, its houses
dark and mysterious, its swarming crowd, the negro, the
brown-skinned, and the white; its beggars, its cripples, its
children almost naked, crying, running, shouting; its veiled
women; and above all, its smells, acrid and indescribable, the
odour of the East, which at first sickens and disgusts.

But our little horses going hard, all that was soon passed,
and the quarter inhabited by the Europeans and the rich
Egyptians came into view, with its large and beautiful
streets, its huge houses, superb palaces, its gay cafés, and its
shops, worthy of the
Parisian Boulevards.

More than anything
else, this is the
land of contrasts.
Here a palace where
reigns unbridled
luxury, there a hovel
swarming with beings
scarcely human.

We slacken our
pace as we enter the
famous “Place Mohamed
Ali,” in the
middle of which rises
the equestrian statue
of the founder of the
reigning dynasty, a
fine piece of work by
Jaquemart. This is
the centre of the
European life, the
Hyde Park Corner of
Alexandria, where at
certain hours of the
day all the rank and
fashion of the town
may be seen.

THE RUE CHERIF PASHA, ALEXANDRIA

Lekegian

Here and there, in passing, I get a shake of the hand from
some old friend, business man, banker or broker. As for
speculators, every one, more or less, is that.

For several years the mania for speculation seems to have
attacked the whole population, and the Stock Exchange at
Alexandria is, as it were, the heart of the body politic, full of
life, of hopes and fears, where every one large and small,

rich or poor, strong or weak, meets on common ground. Cotton,
its rise or fall, that is the predominant thought in the minds
of all those men amongst whom are so many familiar faces.

Indeed, after nine months' scraping and hoarding, these
good Alexandrians troop across to Paris and the best known
watering-places on the Continent, to disgorge in the remaining
three their accumulated gains.

All have the look of men well pleased with the world, and
all explain themselves thus: “My dear fellow, business is
A 1. Egypt has entered on an era of prosperity hardly credible.
We are making money hand over fist, every one is in the swim.
You will see for yourself, from one end of Egypt to the other
you will hear the same story. The Government has been able
to reduce taxation and increase the salaries of its employees,
big and little. The golden age has arrived!”

Can this be possible? Can it be that, whilst in Europe and
America every one cries poverty, there is only prosperity here,
in this land of Egypt, which scarcely twenty years ago was in
a state of bankruptcy?

And, strange as it may seem, not one of these men will
speak to you of Egypt, of its history, of its artistic treasures,
not one of them will advise you to visit a museum, a monument,
or a park.

The Stock Exchange and Cotton, these are the be-all and
end-all of existence. If by chance they do advise you to go
to the theatre, it will not be because there is something particularly
good to be seen, but simply because “X receives
£4000 for three performances, and that the stones and jewels
in the hair or round the necks of the élégantes represent a sum
of £10,000,000 sterling!”

When he talks cotton or diamonds, your Alexandrian is a
bit of a braggart. In a word, his head is a money-box, and his
heart a purse, and they are both crammed to repletion with
bank notes. All the same he is a good fellow, pleasant, hospitable,
and generous. If he has the faults of the confirmed
gambler he has also his good qualities.

As to his better-half, it is difficult to judge. Admiration
has perhaps blinded me, for the “Alexandrine” is so pretty,
so elegant, and so chic, that criticism is quite disarmed. One

would have to travel far to find a town where there are so
many young women whose good looks and perfect elegance

A “SAÏS” (RUNNER)

David Gardiner

continually charm the eye. It may be said, of course, that
they are somewhat shallow, that their dresses, their jewels,

and especially their flirtations are of more interest to them
than the graver questions of life; but what does that matter
when they are so charming, and so deliciously feminine?

Certainly we are far from the time when in Alexandria
there was a famine of femininity either “d'un monde ou de
l'autre.”

In a town in which the upper classes are composed of so
many different nationalities, Egyptians, Greeks, Levantines,
Italians, French, English and Germans, there are as a
matter of course many cliques, more or less jealous of one
another; but there is one common ground where all unite and
all help—Charity, which, here as elsewhere, seems to bring out
all that is best in our common humanity.

The Greek colony, rich, numerous and powerful, is at the
head of all those good works whose end is the alleviation of
human suffering; and amongst those whose efforts in welldoing
are continuous I would mention the Salvagos, the
Zervudachis, the Em. Benackis and the Sinadinos.

The first-named family has just given to the town the sum
of £20,000, in order to found a School of Art, a step in the
right direction, and one which, I trust, will help considerably
to raise Alexandria from its present state of rather sordid
money-making.

Immense as the progress of the town has been in the last
quarter of a century, and brilliant as its present position is,
I have not a doubt that, in the near future, it will be called
upon to occupy a position much more important.

To do so, however, it must, above all, render its port safer
and more accessible, make its quays and docks considerably
larger, its facilities to international trade greater, and reduce
its port dues, to-day standing at much too high a figure.

Great efforts have been made, I know, and the Egyptian
Government have already expended a sum of over £200,000
on important works, whilst an equal amount has just been set
aside for new works. Only last winter, the situation was such
that ships, after having tried in vain to unload their cargoes,
were obliged to leave without discharging. There was no room
on the quays. This state of things, deplorable as it seems, is
not due, as one might think, to any slackness on the part of

the Government, but simply to the fact that the trade of the
port has grown so enormously and so rapidly that it has been
impossible for the Minister of Public Works to keep pace with
it with the means at his disposal.

If Alexandria cannot assert the possession of the remains
of her founder (Alexander the Great), she can at least boast of
having a statue of the greatest man which modern Egypt has
seen. I refer to Mohamed Ali, the founder of the Khedivial
dynasty, and a hero of whom his descendants and Egypt
have every reason to be proud.

The story of his life reads like a most captivating romance.
This man, of humble origin, thanks to his extraordinary talents
and iron will, became Pasha of Egypt at a time (1805) when
the country, a Turkish province, was governed and sucked
dry by the Mamelukes. With a small sum of money, lent
to him, it is said, by an Armenian, uncle of the future great
Egyptian Nubar, and accompanied by a handful of adventurers
as hardy as himself, he landed in Egypt, and commenced
that epic which lasted forty years, and in which he
made himself, in a way, the arbiter of the destinies of the
Mussulman world.

Thanks to him and to his genius, Egypt played the part of
a great Power and made Turkey tremble.

Great diseases sometimes require drastic treatment, and,
without hesitation, he caused the Mamelukes to be massacred,
and commenced the pacification of Upper Egypt. Whilst
he thus waged war in a far country the English landed at
Alexandria (1807), and advanced on Rosetta. But Mohamed
Ali was cast in a different mould from Arabi and the insurgents
of 1882. Returning rapidly he fell like a thunderbolt on the
English, driving them back on Alexandria, where, thanks to
the protection afforded them by their fleet, they were enabled
to re-embark.

A faithful vassal of the Sultan, he helped him in his wars
against Greece, and also against England. For Turkey he
conquered Crete (1823), and recovered Morea (1824). His
army, at one time only 20,000 strong, had now been raised
to 100,000.

His son Ismaïl, ascending the Nile, had planted the Egyptian

flag at Sennar, at the junction of the White and Blue Niles,
and conquered the rich Sudanese province of Kordofan, whilst
for the first time Egypt possessed two powerful fleets, one on
the Mediterranean and another on the Red Sea.

In the interior the country was quiet and prosperous, whilst
this great man, unable himself to read or write, founded schools
and universities.

Round him he gathered a number of talented Frenchmen,
of whom one, Colonel
Sèves, known in Egypt
under the name of Soliman
Pasha, worked
hard to improve the
army; whilst another,
the engineer Bessan,
directed his energies to
increasing the fleet, of
which he was the
founder.

STATUE OF MOHAMED ALI

Lekegian

Placed at the disposal
of his Sovereign,
Sultan Makmoud, this
fleet was entirely destroyed
at Navarin
(1827) by the united
navies of France and
England, to the great
surprise of Mohamed
Ali, who could not understand that the former should ally
themselves to the latter in order to sink the very ships which
they had just sold to him. With each year the power of the
Pasha increased, and with it the jealousy of the Sultan. At
last the Sovereign thought that the “removal” of the vassal
would be decidedly for the best, and war broke out between
Egypt and Turkey.

It was then that these Egyptian soldiers, so despised by
Turks and Europeans, astonished the world.

Commanded by a man endowed with true military genius,
Ibrahim, son of Mohamed Ali, they invaded Syria, captured

St. Jean d Acre, routed the Turks at Damascus and Aleppo,
invaded Asia Minor, and finally crushed the enemy at Konieh
(1832).

The road to Constantinople was open and the Turkish
Empire at its last gasp … but the Powers, the famous Powers,
were there, full of their pitiful ambitions, and ready to sacrifice
Egypt, as well as Armenia, Crete and Greece, in order to maintain
the Ottoman Empire and all the crimes committed in its
name.

Thus then the Powers stopped the victorious Egyptian
army at the very doors of Constantinople, as in 1897 they
stopped the Greek troops at the frontier of Turkey, at the
moment when they were about to enter Ottoman territory,
a move which would undoubtedly have led to a general rising
in the Balkans against the Sultan. Thanks to the Powers,
the latter had time to concentrate a formidable army and
crush Greece.

Even so in 1832 the Egyptians were held back at the time
the Empire of the Sultan was about to succumb; but the Powers,
as usual, could not agree amongst themselves, and for seven
years the negotiations continued. Taking advantage of the
delay, the Sultan massed his troops, and at last, believing in
certain victory, he threw them suddenly against the army of
Ibrahim (1839). The result was disastrous. The Turks were
once more overwhelmed, whilst 15,000 prisoners and all
their artillery fell into the hands of the Egyptians. At the
same time the Turkish fleet surrendered to the victorious
Pasha.

The Sultan Makmoud died of rage; but once more Egypt
was cheated of the just fruits of victory, and, after negotiations
and conferences without end, Mohamed Ali was obliged to
renounce Syria and Asia Minor, to restore the fleet, and content
himself and his descendants with the Vice-Royalty of Egypt
under the generous, enlightened, and civilised Sultans of Turkey!

Superb on his horse of bronze, Mohamed Ali dominates
the grand Square, where all the busy life of the town concentrates.
Some few steps further on another statue, this time
a living one, caught my eye. On a beautiful well-groomed
half-bred, an Egyptian cavalryman, erect and unmoving,

stiff in his sombre uniform, mounted guard. A finer soldier
one could not wish to see. His bronzed skin, black
moustache, dark eyes, slender body, straight and supple,
made up the ideal of a cavalry soldier. It was with men
such as these that the
great Pasha made of
Egypt a Power.

My thoughts are
quickly disturbed.
Across the Square,
with the dull tread of
marching feet, comes
a company of English
soldiers. They are
boys, beardless boys,
almost delicate looking,
clad in unbecoming
khaki, and their
childish faces almost
swallowed up in immense
helmets. Can
it be that these
youths are the conquerors
of this dark
and warlike figure
seated unmoved on
his lovely steed?

SHOEMAKERS

D. Gardiner

Whilst the khakiclad
company file
smartly past him, I
take a keen look to
see if any trace of
feeling is shown on his dusky face. In vain, not a muscle
moves; and if the sight of these foreign soldiers, trampling
with their heavy boots the soil of his country, awakens in
him any sense of bitterness, it is carefully hidden in a heart
where for long the spark of patriotism has been if not extinct
at least deeply hidden.

As I glanced once more towards the statue of Mohamed

Ali the thought struck me: if only your spirit could return
and endow the bronze with life, what spasm of fury would seize
you at the sight of these alien soldiers wending their way at
your feet! But against whom should your wrath be hurled?
Against the English, who have established order in Egypt,
who have snatched the country from certain ruin, and who,
by means of an extraordinary
administration,
wise, prudent
and energetic, have
assured her present,
and, I dare hope, her
future also; or against
those fools, imbeciles,
criminals, all that line
of Pashas, greedy for
gain and feeble of
character, who, having
sucked the land
dry, threw her madly
into the adventures of
1882?

A COFFEE-SELLER

David Gardiner

There can be no
doubt that the interior
situation of
Egypt at that time
was such that some
kind of intervention
on the part of the
European Powers was
absolutely necessary
to re-establish order and protect foreign interests. But if
this Concert des Impuissances had discussed and shuffled less,
and had acted with a little more energy and decision, it is
certain that the famous massacres of Alexandria and other
events would have been avoided.

As to the massacres, they have been considerably exaggerated.
A scuffle between an Arab and a Maltese, followed by a general
row leading to a riot, in the course of which a band of Arabs

pillaged several houses and killed forty or so Europeans.
Worse has happened in many a civilised town in Europe. It
was in no sense a general rising against the foreigners, and the
Egyptians themselves restored order. But whilst for weeks
and months the Powers were discussing the best method of
interfering in Egyptian affairs, and whilst France urged an
Anglo-French military expedition, it is natural enough to find
that the Egyptians wished to leave nothing to chance, and
began therefore to take precautions.

The defences of Alexandria were put in order and the building
of new forts commenced.

It was then that the French and English admirals summoned
the Egyptian authorities to cease constructing all
works, under pain of bombardment.

And now, as to subsequent events, we find two versions:
the Egyptians declare that work was stopped; the English
admiral, on the other hand, declares that, from reports received
by him, he learnt that the Egyptians had mounted new
guns in other positions. From whom did these reports
come which decided Admiral Seymour to open fire? From
a Scotchman, Mr. John Ross, who lived in Alexandria, and
who supplied the two fleets with coal. Intimate with the
admiral and the English officers, he kept them informed of all
that took place on shore, and it was he who, in describing
the new defences, more or less imaginary, was the cause of
the bombardment. It was he also who, called in regard to
coaling arrangements on board the French vessels, assured
Admiral Seymour, up to the last moment, that the French
were ready to back him up, and it was with the greatest
astonishment that the latter saw the French squadron up
anchor and go.

It is whispered in certain usually well-informed circles that,
several hours after the bombardment, Admiral Seymour
received orders from his Government not to open fire unless
he considered his ships in danger from the new works made
by the Egyptians, and that he passed a very bad quarter of an
hour, wondering anxiously whether or not his action would be
approved.

Few people are aware that Lord Kitchener, who, seventeen

years later, was to vanquish the Dervishes and reconquer the
Sudan, was on board the flagship as a simple spectator.
Immediately after the bombardment which opened Egypt
to the English, he landed with Mr. John Ross, and going to his
house indulged in a brandy and soda, just as he drank another
with Captain Marchand at Fashoda on the morrow of the
events which definitely assured the supremacy of England in
the Valley of the Nile.

The bombardment was the first act, as Fashoda was the
last, marking the decline of French influence, the decline which
began on that memorable day when the French fleet disappeared
on the horizon, and, abandoning Alexandria to the English
cannon, carried with it the last hope of those who dreamt of
an Egypt, great, strong and prosperous, under the guiding
hand of France.

Country villages and inhabitants—Story of the ghamousah—
Curious sights, fortifications built to check the English army
—Arabi's Revolution—Was he the cat's-paw of England?—
Condemned to death, reprieved, exiled to Ceylon, pardoned,
and now living at Cairo on a pension of £1000 a year!—In
the train—Anecdotes—Japanese and Egyptians—Why the
latter, like the Turks, are pro-Japanese.

ON THE ROAD TO CAIRO

Al Vista

AT midday the assault on the express for Cairo takes place.
The train is thoroughly up-to-date: corridor carriages of the
most comfortable type, and a restaurant car of the International
Sleeping Car Company. One might imagine oneself
in Europe if it were not for the numerous passengers wearing
the fez, the Arab passing us the hors d'œuvres, and above all
the extraordinary racket made by the servants. Through the
small opening by which the dishes are passed, the cooks and
waiters apostrophise one another, dispute and discuss in an
outlandish gibberish. This noise seems all the stranger as the
Arab as a rule goes about his work almost as silently as a
Chinese or Japanese. Their chief failing, however, is the
insatiable curiosity which the presence of a white woman in
the house arouses. To enjoy a glimpse of beauty unadorned
in the form of a fair European, be she young and beautiful,
or old and ugly, they have recourse to every ruse and every
stratagem. The key-hole is the point of observation most
in vogue, but when that has been carefully plugged by the

wily person au courant with their little ways, a hole drilled
with a large gimlet in a quiet corner does equally well. The
door of the bath-room is naturally most frequently threatened.

At my table, three gentlemen, each wearing the fez, and
evidently well educated men, were discussing the Russo-Japanese
War. I took part in the conversation, and had not
done so long before I became aware that all three Orientals
were strongly pro-Japanese. Questioned as to the reason
for their feelings, one of them said to me:

“We are pro-Japanese because the Japanese are an extraordinary
people, young, brave, and full of energy, who have
already done marvels, and who are struggling now for their
existence.” Undoubtedly these are good reasons, but there
were others which he was careful to keep to himself, which I
shall take the trouble to put into words for him: “We are
pro-Japanese, we Mussulmans, Turks, Egyptians, because the
Japanese are an Eastern people, whose religion is not that of
Christ; because they are struggling against a nation which
represents the two things in the name of which we have undergone
most humiliation and most suffering, Western civilisation
and the Christian faith.”

That, in a word, is the thought of every Asiatic, every
African; and the Japanese victories are awakening in Asia
and Africa feelings which have long lain dormant,—the hope,
lively but carefully hidden in their heart of hearts, that the day
will yet dawn which shall see their final victory, and our final
fall.

Moderate in speed, the train crosses the vast highly cultivated
plains where the maize crop predominates. One might
almost imagine oneself on the Western plains of America, if
from time to time high palm-trees, like huge feathers, did not
raise their tufted heads. Then there are the little villages of
yellow mud-built huts, of which the flat roofs, covered over
with thatch, serve as stable and poultry-yard; goats, sheep,
chickens, dogs and pigs, all seem to prefer this exalted position,
from which indeed the view is much finer than from below.
Over the wretched roads come the camels, loaded in fearsome
fashion, with step slow and measured, the head high and
small, and the neck so long, so very long! The gravity of their

TOMB OF A SHEIK

David Gardiner

movements is in striking contrast to the paces of the asses,
of which hundreds are to be seen. Ah! these Egyptian
donkeys! How elegant they are, how smart, how full of life
and grace, and how different from their European brothers!
They have a chic indescribable, and to see them is to love
them.

“What horrible cows!” cried a young American girl,
pointing from the window of the carriage to some huge animals

GHAMOUSAHS

Lekegian

with black and glossy skins, whose looks were, in fact, rather
repulsive.

“These are not exactly cows,” explained an Egyptian.
“That is the ghamousah, the female buffalo, whose milk is
quite excellent. There is in our country a tradition that, after
God had made the cow, the Devil, coming to have a look, burst
out laughing, and declared that he could do better himself
with his eyes shut. God took him at his word. The Devil
set to work and produced—the ghamousah!”

The old Egyptian who related this little tale was a man of
charming manners, and one who, some twenty years ago, played
an important part in Egypt. Seated by my side, he drew my
attention to many objects of interest.

“Do you see,” he said to me, “these hillocks of sand?
These are all that remain of the defence works erected by
Arabi to stop the English in 1882. After landing at Alexandria
it was thought that they would march directly on Cairo.
But, as you know, they did no such thing. General Wolseley
preferred to disembark at Ismailia, to the great surprise of the
Egyptians, who believed firmly, after the words pronounced
by M. de Lesseps, that France
would not permit the English
to enter the canal. At any
rate, Wolseley's army, some
13,000 strong, with forty guns,
landed at Ismailia on August
22, 1882, crossed without a
hitch the thirty-six miles of
desert, and on September 13
attacked the Egyptians entrenched
at Tel-el-Kebir. We
had 26,000 men and seventy
guns, commanded by Arabi
himself. Wolseley lost fifty
men! Arabi was the first to
decamp, followed by his
broken army. He continued
to run until he reached Cairo,
where, as soon as the advance
guard of the English cavalry
appeared, he promptly surrendered.”

ARABI

“To what do you attribute this ridiculous defeat?” I
asked. “To the cowardice of the Egyptian troops?”

“Not a bit,” he replied. “The best troops in the world
will turn tail when their officers and their commander-in-chief
decamp as if the devil were at their heels.”

“Arabi had no military genius, he was simply a colonel,
ambitious and vain, with a very ordinary intelligence, the man
of straw. …”

“Of the English?”

“Ah! who knows? Personally I do not think so. He

played their game unconsciously, whilst doing the work of
those equally ambitious but more intelligent than himself.
Remember that the revolution of 1882 was a very serious affair,
and a very excusable one. It was not at first against the
foreigners, but against the Government, against the Turkish
Pashas, who occupied almost all the high military and civil
posts, and who were crushing the country under their despotism.
With a leader more intelligent, and employing other means,
the movement might have succeeded, and had the sympathy
of the whole world. Arabi missed being a hero, he became
simply a rebel.”

“What has happened to him?”

At this question a smile came to his lips, and, with a roguish
twinkle in his eyes, he replied:

“What has happened to him? Why, he lives in Cairo,
happy and peaceful, on a pension of £1000 a year, generously
granted him by the Government. Certainly it has not been
granted to him for having raised a revolution, for having been,
if not the leading spirit, at least the cause of the massacres
at Alexandria, nor for having fled ignominiously at Tel-el-Kebir.
But you must admit that, from the English point of
view, the man who supplied a reason for the bombardment of
Alexandria, who opened the doors of Egypt for England, and
who, having at his disposal 26,000 men and seventy guns,
only managed to kill fifty English, and allowed Cairo and its
citadel to fall without a blow, is well worth a pension of £1000
a year. Think of the trouble England might have had, had
he been made of other and sterner stuff.”

“And from the Egyptian point of view?”

“Ah! from our point of view it would seem natural that
we should hate and despise the man whose cowardice and
incapacity have resulted in our country being now under the
yoke of England … but, as a matter of fact, it is not so;
for if apparently we have lost an independence which we really
did not have, we much prefer to be governed by the English,
thanks to whom Egypt has attained to a degree of prosperity
hitherto unknown, rather than to be misgoverned by Turkey.
That is quite worth the £1000 a year which we pay him on
the advice of England.”

“On the advice of England?” I asked.

“Of course! Ever since that day on which he surrendered
at Cairo, Arabi, chief revolutionist, rebel against his Sovereign,
has been taken by England under her wing. His trial was a
farce, conducted not by the Egyptian judges, but by the
‘counsel for the defence,’ two English lawyers sent from
London by means of a private subscription, and a third Englishman,
Sir Chas. Wilson, representative in the Court, of England.

FRUIT-SELLER AT A RAILWAY STATION

Lekegian

Lord Dufferin, who had just arrived in Egypt as Special Commissioner
charged with the task of Adviser to the Khedive,
began by applying all his energies to better the condition of
Arabi in prison. ‘Sir,’ he said one day to the Khedivial
Councillor Borélli, ‘I cannot allow Arabi to be treated with such
cruelty. I have just been informed that there are holes in his
mosquito-curtain!’ Several days after, the ex-rebel having
complained of the noise made by the sentries, which prevented
him from sleeping, the night guard was immediately supplied
with felt shoes! But, in spite of all the English efforts, Arabi
and four of his companions were condemned to death. England,
however, would not permit the sentence to be carried out,

and the five prisoners were exiled to Ceylon, where for eighteen
years they lived surrounded by every comfort … at the cost
of the Government which they had tried to overthrow. ‘But
there was a revolution, they were rebels. We absolutely
must hang some one, or what will become of the authority of
the Government?’ shouted Borélli. So they hanged three unfortunate
devils, amongst whom was Commandant Soliman Sami,
who acknowledged having with his troops set fire to certain
buildings in the Square of Mohamed Ali, under the orders of
Arabi, whilst he, pardoned and repatriated, lives at Cairo on
a Government pension,
and may be seen
any day driving round
at the fashionable
hour.”

A BIT OF COUNTRY

D. Gardiner

The old Egyptian
ceased. Through the
windows of the carriage
the sunshine
streamed as I reflected
on my friends, the
English, and their tenderness
for rebels.
Even the famous
Colonel Lynch, who fought against them in South Africa, is
to-day as free as Arabi, though, so far, I have not heard that
the English Government has granted him a pension of £1000
a year.

Far off, in the plain, green and bathed in sunshine, a blare
of trumpets sounded, and I perceived in the distance a
company of infantry at exercise. Pointing to these splendid
troops, I asked: “Are they worth more now than in the
time of Arabi?”

“We have,” he replied, “an admirable little army, of which
England has as much right to be proud as we; for it is owing
to the brilliant English officers who, in the last twenty years,
have given themselves heart and soul to its regeneration,
that Egypt to-day has an army worthy of it.

“I know that in recent years much criticism has been

directed in England against their army, against the Society
life led by their officers, and their apparent ignorance.

H.E. ABANI PASHA, WAR MINISTER

Reiser

“It is not for me to
offer any opinion. The
young English officers
are so active and so
energetic that they
must have continual
occupation. They are
splendid when the conquering
of some savage
country is in hand; but
in London, what outlet
have they for their
energy but laying siege
to the hearts of fair
ladies? In Egypt,
and now in the Soudan,
a vast field has been
opened for their activities.
With untiring
zeal, with unflagging
patience, with admirable
intelligence and
extraordinary tenacity
they have succeeded
in giving to Egypt a
new army, worthy of
the warmest praise,
and at a relatively
small cost. In 1882,
when Arabi was Minister
of War, his Department
cost Egypt
almost £864,000. The
English wisely considered
that, for a
country weighed down with debts, the first thing to be done
was to reduce the expenses, and the War Budget was consequently

lowered each year, until in 1886 it amounted to
£336,000. After that, as the prosperity of the country
increased, the grants for the army were again raised, the
Sudan re-conquered, the Dervishes annihilated, and yet, at
the present day, our excellent army costs us less than the
bands of Arabi. Amongst Europeans the belief seems general
that the Egyptians, like the Chinese, will only fight well when
commanded by European officers. … We Egyptians, however,
like to think that to-day our soldiers would do their duty
equally well when commanded by Egyptians.”

This is undoubtedly the opinion of men in a position to
know, and amongst these his Excellency Abani Pasha, the
amiable and charming Minister for War.

Three o'clock! The hundred and ten miles separating
us from Cairo have been left behind, and now the Capital of
Egypt rises up before us, a mass of white under a sky radiantly
blue, sparkling with gold under the rays of a sun which, on
this the first day of December, recalls the lovely days of May
in France.

Arrival—Impressions—Population and types—The building
mania—Extraordinary prosperity—Unheard-of riches—Life—
The hotels—Napoleonic hotel-keepers—Stories and anecdotes
—Tourists—Society, high and otherwise—Scandals—True
history of certain great fortunes—Effect of climate on
femininity and femininity on Arabs.

PLACE DE L'OPERA, CAIRO

Al Vista

WHAT changes in the space of a few years! One hears of the
mushroom growth of American towns, but where before has
one seen an ancient Eastern capital suddenly take a fresh lease
of life, born again, as it were, to a new existence, as if touched
by a magic wand? At first sight the traveller who revisits
Cairo after a few years' interval will not notice any great
difference. At the huge station there is the same hurly-burly,
the same cries, the same native porters seizing your luggage.
On leaving, the same smell of the East, of the towns innocent
of drains, the same terrible dust. But all this is soon forgotten
and one comes once more under the indefinable charm which
enters into every traveller who finds himself in the midst of
these new and strange scenes.

The principal street, Shariah-Kamel, and the Place de
l'Opéra, have not greatly changed. This is still the liveliest
corner of the town, where from morn to eve a huge and
strange crowd presses and pushes its way along the pavements.
It would be impossible, even in dreams, to picture anything

GATE OF BAB EZ ZUWÊLEH, CAIRO

David Gardiner

more animated than this living panorama, where East meets
West, and meeting seems to mix one in the other.

The eye is first struck by the thousands of little red spots
on which hang tassels of black silk. It is the tarbouche, headcovering
of so many different types that it seems as if all
Africa had given rendezvous here. The majority are of the
sterner sex, with nothing Oriental in their dress but the tarbouche;
otherwise they are clothed as the ordinary European,
whilst many of them attain to the last thing in elegance.

In this extraordinary crowd are negroes, Arabs in their
flowing robes, Jews with shifty eyes, eunuchs, Egyptian
soldiers, well set up; and, making their way amongst all
these Orientals, tourists of every country and speaking every
tongue, young foreign girls with a knowing look about them,
mondaines and demi-mondaines, the latter with a smile indifferently
for black or white. Here and there a native woman,
hidden beneath her veil, passes rapidly, silently, mysteriously.

The terraces of the cafés are crowded, and here one drinks
the eternal Turkish coffee whilst smoking the eternal Egyptian
cigarette. But to talk is difficult, for the street-hawkers make
an unholy din. They sell everything. Nothing comes amiss:
lottery tickets, post-cards, wax vestas, dates, fruits, newspapers,
honey, even fish and meat. Some exhibit trained monkeys;
others, Italians, scrape an outrageous fiddle; an army of bootblacks
swarms round; and also, as in front of the Grand Hotel
in Paris, a crowd of guides, ready, for a few piastres, to show
the stranger all the curiosities of Cairo. In the roadway also
all is movement. Victorias with smart pairs, the little carts
serving as omnibuses to the natives, some crowded with
men, others with women and children, bicyclists, occasional
motors, a countless multitude of donkeys ridden by every
kind of two-legged being, camels loaded to within the last
proverbial straw,—all these cross and re-cross without end.
With an ear-splitting clang of bells, the electric trams
remind us that Cairo is now a modern town. These tramways
belong to a Belgian Company, who, whilst making a
very good thing out of them, simply ignore the comfort of the
public. The cars are dirty and the conductors uncivil. There
is a compartment reserved for “ladies of the harem,” but

foreign ladies are not permitted to use them. To sit next a
flea-bitten negro is anything but pleasant, and in Alexandria,
where first- and second-class compartments are provided,
things are much better.

In the Shariah-Kamel, the Place de l'Opéra, and the neighbouring
streets there are magnificent shops. The shop windows
of the jewellers are particularly fine; perfumery and chemists'
shops abound, but more numerous still are the cake-shops.

A NATIVE “OMNIBUS”

Dittrich

There you will find delicious nougat and “Turkish delight,”
but to get them you will have to search far; the whole of the
fronts of the shops are invaded by Swiss chocolates. Gala
Peter and milk chocolates have conquered Egypt with her
sweet tooth.

Amongst the shopkeepers, the palm undoubtedly must
go to the chemist. Their name is legion, and they grow
fat in robbing a patient public with a most charming grace.*
Their cynicism surpasses belief, and their business in life may
be summed up as stealing always and poisoning often. Last
winter, when a native child happened to be run over by a

carriage, the bystanders wished to carry the poor little creature
into a chemist's shop; but the chemist, hard as it is to believe
it possible, shut his door in their faces. The child died; if
immediate help had been available he might have been saved,
but—a native! What is that? And this chemist now continues
happy and content to pocket his ill-gotten gains.

But if this corner of Cairo, so picturesque and lively, has
not changed, it is not so with the rest of the town. The whole
population seems to have been bitten with a mania for building.
The streets are crowded with builders' carts, full of material,
and on all sides, surrounded by scaffolding, are houses under
construction. Huge flats, immense palaces, superb hotels,
have arisen where, a year or two ago, nothing but gardens
were to be seen.

Egypt, at this moment, is passing through a period of great
prosperity. Every one is coining money, and as the value of
land and property is increasing daily, all those who have
capital, and they are many, hasten to build.

A short time ago Egyptians of the middle-class were either
ignorant of or indifferent to comfort. Families of twenty or
twenty-five lived together in a miserable dwelling of a few
rooms, in insanitary quarters. To-day all that is changed:
families divide; the married children now wish a home of
their own, choosing when they can the new parts of the
town, healthy and airy. Thousands of persons who formerly
slept on the floor of their rooms in the Turkish fashion,
prefer now to have European beds, whilst knives and forks
have replaced the more primitive instruments of thumb and
forefinger.

The extraordinary growth of the town shows no sign of
teasing, and it still advances even into the surrounding desert,
to the conquest of which energetic capitalists have set their
minds. Boghos Nubar Pacha, son of the celebrated statesman,
is at the head of a syndicate which has recently acquired
huge tracts of land in the desert, at the gates of Cairo, where
they intend to build a new quarter, which will, in time, be a
small town in itself.

Two things above all Cairo formerly lacked, water and drains.
I do not know if the latter will ever exist, but the question of

the former, thanks to Messrs. Suarès, the wealthy bankers,
has already been solved.

In 1898, having obtained a concession for supplying water
to the town of Tantah, they brought over from Switzerland
an engineer, M. Abel, of Zurich. This gentleman one day
announced that, following on the observations he had made,
he was convinced that under the Nile, at a great depth, and
following the same course, there was another river, a second
Nile, not a Nile thick and muddy, but a Nile made clear and
pure by the beds of sand and other formations through which
it had passed. Capital was wanted to make sure of the correctness
of these theories, and to ascertain the quantity of water
available, in good and bad years, from this underground river.
Messrs. Suarès did not hesitate to supply the necessary
funds, and the works then undertaken by M. Abel soon proved
that he had not been mistaken. The subterranean Nile was
proved to exist, its water to be excellent, and its volume
sufficient to furnish drinking water, if necessary, to the whole
of Egypt.

After Tantah and Mansourah, Cairo is to-day supplied
almost entirely by the new Water Company, and now, in
nearly every house, the turning of a tap is sufficient to obtain
a supply of pure water ad libitum. Messrs. Suarès had the
satisfaction, besides the very pleasant one of making money,
of learning from the statistics of the Sanitary Department
that in each of the quarters where the new water supply had
been introduced the death rate had decreased enormously.
One shudders at the thought that only yesterday the inhabitants
of Cairo, rich and poor alike, were dependent on the
muddy water of the Nile, brought to their doors in goat-skins
by the Sakkas.

Strange as it may seem, this underground Nile, which comes
from the depths of the Sudan to lose itself in the Mediterranean,
is not the only river of its kind in Africa. Marquis di
Rudini, the brilliant statesman who for so long and so often
has directed the destinies of Italy, told me one day in Cairo
that, in the course of his travels in Erythrea, he had been
struck by the existence of several subterranean rivers. At
the bottom of deep wells he had heard the sound of their

SHARIAH EL TABBDUEH

David Gardiner

rushing waters. At that time neither the marquis nor I had
heard of the underground Nile.

In the course of the following pages I shall have much to
say of the charm of a winter sojourn in Egypt, and I can recommend
that sojourn so warmly to all those who wish to pass the
winter under the most
comfortable conditions,
in a country
covered with historic
relics and rich in
artistic treasures, that
I think I can be permitted,
without fear
of being accused of
doing Egypt a wrong,
to express the hope
that a serious and
sustained effort will
be made to remove
from Cairo the worst
plague of the Land of
the Pharaohs—the
dust.*

“SAKKAS” (WATER-SELLER)

David Gardiner

And if for this the
water supply of the
town prove insufficient,
then I trust
other means will be
tried to put an end to
these whirlwinds of
dust and filth, which are not only exceedingly disagreeable
but positively dangerous.

When Cairo has less dust and some drains, when the trams
are clean, the chemists more human, the drivers less brutal to
their poor horses, and living a little cheaper, it will be a Paradise
for the winter months.

During the few months which constitute the season, the
hotels are the centre of the fashionable world, and for the time
Cairo approaches nearer to a ville d'eau than a capital. One
must also recognise that these hotels have an irresistible
attraction. Large and beautifully furnished, they combine
the comforts of the West with the luxury of the East. It is
only a few years since Cairo possessed only one really good
hotel, Shepheard's, built in the centre of the town, in the
middle of gardens which at one time formed part of the Palace
of Princess Kiamil, daughter of Mohamed Ali. The place is
historic, for the Princess, so it is said, was a modern Marguerite
of Navarre, amorous, and lover of strong young men.

M. CHARLES BAEHLER

For many years Shepheard's was the meeting-place of all
the best known people who passed through Cairo, and its name
is a household word throughout the
world. Its destinies are to-day in the
hands of a man who knows his business
well—M. Charles Baehler, who is
the head and leading spirit of the Egyptian

Hotel Company, Limited, which also
own the Ghezireh Palace. This Palace!
what memories cling around it! In a
few weeks, at the command of Khedive
Ismail, and as if by magic, it rose from
the ground, in the centre of the magnificent Ghezireh Park on
the banks of the Nile, a fitting dwelling for its guest, the
Empress Eugénie, who had arrived in order to be present
at the opening of the Suez Canal. It was there that those fêtes,
the finest the world has ever seen, had their being. What a
setting for a hotel! Shepheard's and the Ghezireh, these two
alone might have sufficed for the glory of hotel life in Cairo,
or even in a town of ten times the size. But one day there
arrived on the scene a man with brains, and the courage to
back them, who said to himself: “That is very fine, that is
very beautiful, but there is room in Cairo for more great
hotels.” And he built the Savoy Hotel. This man was
George Nungovich Bey, the Napoleon of the Egyptian hotel
industry, and to-day one of the most influential and richest
men in Cairo.

Besides the Savoy, M. Nungovich has in Cairo two other
hotels, the Continental, in the Place de l'Opéra, and the
Hôtel d'Angleterre, in a quieter situation, but quite up-to-date.
M. Nungovich is a well-known figure in Cairo. Like many a
millionaire he began life at the bottom of the ladder, in the hall
of an hotel. Far from seeking to hide this, he is proud of it.
Some years after, several English officers, who had noticed
his smartness and honesty, placed the management of their

GHEZIREH PALACE HOTEL

Dittrich

mess in his hands. Later he became director of the Hôtel
d'Angleterre, and it was at this time that he rendered to the
English army a service which the officers have never forgotten,
and which created him, as it were, hotel-keeper by appointment
to the officers of Her Britannic Majesty.

For some reason or another, an English regiment arrived
unexpectedly at Cairo. No arrangements had been made to
receive them, and no quarters prepared for the officers, who
found themselves turned adrift. At the station they were
surprised to find M. Nungovich, who informed the Colonel that
he had prepared at the Hôtel d'Angleterre rooms for all the
officers. During the few days of their stay they were royally
entertained, and when, on leaving, they called for their bills,
the reply was given, “There are none! M. Nungovich is only
too happy to have had the honour of entertaining Her Majesty's
officers.”

Nearly all the crowned heads who have passed through
Cairo in later years have honoured M. Nungovich. The
Queen of Portugal, at a picnic organised for her and her
suite, invited him to her table. The story goes that when
the Crown Prince of Germany arrived in Egypt, he noticed at
the landing a small thin man, who, coming and going, seemed
to direct everything. “That,” he said, “must be the Prefect
of Police, he ought to have a uniform!” It was M. Nungovich;
and if he does not possess a uniform, he has at least
a title and many decorations, of which he has reason to be
proud.

G. NUNGOVICH BEY

Naturally there is keen rivalry between the Hotels Baehler
and the Hotels Nungovich; but this
rivalry is healthy and all to the advantage
of strangers, for in all of them
everything possible is done to please
and to earn their praise. Besides, this
rivalry, more imaginary than real, is
without cause nowadays, when these
hotels have made their reputation and
assured their future, and when other
huge caravanserais are being built in
all the quarters of the town to compete with the old-established
houses.

As a matter of fact the hotels hardly suffice to lodge the
enormous crowd of Europeans and Americans who flock to
Cairo for the winter. Last season they were hard pressed
to find lodgings for all, and I have been told that at one time
the old sleeping-cars were requisitioned and played the rôle
of improvised hotels. The people who thus invade Egypt
represent what the hotelkeepers call “une clientèle de grand
luxe.” One must, in fact, have money and plenty of it to
pass the winter in Egypt, and those who come from all the
corners of the earth to enjoy the delicious climate have a long
purse and spend with a free hand. Luxury and display, an
uninterrupted succession of balls and fêtes, such is the life
of Cairo in winter.

There is something in the air of Egypt, a something
which seems to excite every one, more or less, which almost

maddens certain natures, especially of the weaker sex, and
which seems to drive them to a continuous pursuit of all the
pleasures of the senses. The result is that all the world flirts,
and the most extraordinary stories run the round of the hotels.
Young girls seem to
have a very pronounced
weakness for
the Egyptian, a weakness
which sometimes
seems to lead to an
entire absence of any
idea of les convenances.
A young Egyptian,
glib of tongue and an
excellent dancer, once
said to me:

DOME OF THE SAVOY HOTEL

“I assure you I
could write a volume
of adventures which
come the way of us
young Egyptians in
winter, and the way
in which these young
girls throw themselves
at our heads would
astonish the world.
Several of us, for sport,
formed a society which
we called the ‘terrassiers,’
because we
‘did’ the terraces of
the various hotels; but it was no use, we had to give it up;
no constitution could stand the success which crowned our
efforts.”

But the adventures of these young blades pale before those
of the Dragomans, these splendid men, built like Hercules,
strong as horses, and so picturesque in their native costume.
Their duty is to serve as guide and interpreter, to organise
everything for their masters, excursions and parties of all

sorts. Like the Arabs, the Egyptians, and all the Orientals
from the lowest to the highest, the Dragomans are mad where
a European or an American woman is concerned. For them
they represent the acme of sexual attraction, and, at least for
the lowest class, age and looks
are quite unimportant. One can
then perhaps understand, if not
forgive, the woman whose looks
have suffered from the passing of
the years, or who, born with a lack
of the fatal gift, has lingered long
in the cold shades of neglect, seizing
eagerly the opportunity of becoming
an object of adoration, in
engaging an Egyptian Dragoman.

Whilst writing these lines I
have in my mind a charming blonde
who for several years has wintered
in Egypt with her rich but invalid
husband. They possessed one
of the finest Dragomans in the
country; and such was the conduct
of Madame with this Hercules, that
an English chaplain did not hesitate
to preach a violent sermon in
his church on the subject, which
was “understanded of the
people.”

A DRAGOMAN

Every day, on the road to the
Pyramids, there is to be seen a
smart victoria and pair with a
magnificent coachman on the box, his fez cocked rakishly on
one ear, a flower in his button-hole, and his face shining with
satisfied vanity. Why not? The noble lady, seated majestically
in the carriage, and whose beauty is passing ripe, is his
mistress in more senses than one.

Speaking of Dragomans reminds me of a story of the director
of one of the hotels, a good Alsatian but “a little slow in
the uptake,” as they say in Scotland. One evening, a young

foreign girl, whose reputation was not of the best, rushed
into his office and said: “Monsieur, I absolutely must have a
mousquetaire in my room to-night!” The director raised
his hands in astonishment and cried: “But, Mademoiselle, where
the devil do you imagine I can get one? … Dragomans,
yes, as many as you wish, but a mousquetaire—at Cairo!”
Collapse of the lady, who desired nothing more than a moustiquaire.

The way in which foreigners seize on all occasions an opportunity
of cultivating their French is most amusing, but, fortunately
for them, they are as a rule blissfully unconscious of
the extraordinary things which they occasionally say.

At one of the most brilliant of last season's balls, on a very
warm night, after a mad waltz, a young diplomatist led
his charming partner on to the balcony. When they had
reached the open air, wiping his brow with his handkerchief,
he cried, “Quelle chaleur! With the most innocent air
in the world, and fanning herself vigorously, the charming
creature replied, “Oui, vraiment, et moi aussi je suis en
chaleur!

It was this same young lady who, that winter, introduced
tobogganing into the Ghezireh Palace. One evening, in the
grand hall at the foot of the immense staircase, a young Englishman,
newly arrived from Switzerland, was boasting to a group
of charming girls of the joys of winter sport, and especially
the delights of tobogganing, and told them how, in a few
minutes, one could do the run from the Palace Hotel at Caux
down to the Grand Hotel at Territet.

“Oh, that is nothing!” cried Miss B. “We have tobogganing
here, and without any risk of getting our noses frost-bitten.”
Calling an Arab, she demanded a tray. A few moments
after, seated on this improvised toboggan, she shot down the
marble stairs like an arrow. The sport caught on at once,
and, for many evenings after, ladies in evening dress might
have been seen tobogganing gaily down the staircase, whilst,
at the foot, a regiment of black-coats with wide-opened eyes
enjoyed the unusual and piquant sight. Ah! these hotels!
I can guarantee you need not be bored.

Besides the rich clique of the hotels, Cairo society has others,

of which the most important are the “Official,” the “English,”
and the “Native.” It is difficult to give to the last a suitable
name. It is composed of all the foreign families, rich and hospitable,
for the most part Greeks and Levantines, settled in
Egypt for many years, and in whose hands are most of the
large commercial and industrial concerns, as also, in a special
degree, the financial. They possess magnificent houses, almost
palaces, and live in the greatest luxury. There are in this
group many charming women, very interesting and decidedly
elegant, whilst the men are remarkable for their intelligence.
The origin of many of these fortunes, though not unknown
or even forgotten, is wisely hidden by a thick veil, which old
residents occasionally amuse themselves by lifting for the
entertainment of curious persons like myself. Then it is that
they tickle your ears with stories of which the heroes, bearers
of names well known and respected, proud of their titles
and decorations, strong in their relationships and friends,
appear in the early stages of their careers as nothing more nor
less than robbers, smugglers and coiners.

Charming, indeed, is the tale of the bad Egyptian coins
of which millions, stamped in Europe, entered Egypt in
the hollow legs of iron bedsteads. When the Government,
unable longer to recognise its own money, decided to issue a
new coinage, and when the coiners, in too great a hurry, put
into circulation their imitations of the new money before the
real coins had been issued by the Government, the Minister
of Finance was obliged to declare that the new money issued
was not his, and that he was quite unaware of where it had
come from.

Then there is the story of the foreign Consul, poor as a church
mouse, who one fine day locked up a whole family of his own
compatriots, a family immensely wealthy, whose little crimes he
had found out, but whom he released at dawn, one does not
of course know quite why—but the poverty-stricken Consul
sent in his resignation, and is to-day the proprietor of several
of the finest villas in one of the most charming spots on the
Adriatic. Nice little tale, is it not? But after all, what
does it matter? The elders, those who have struggled and
succeeded at a time when every one robbed more or less, are

LADY CROMER

Beresford

to-day very old. To-morrow they will have gone, and another
generation, well brought up, highly educated, elegant, fashionable
to the tips of their fingers, will not be responsible for the
kind of money which their fathers used. Do not let us dig
too deep. Out of a dunghill a rose may grow—and many
another beautiful thing. And besides, as every one knows,
money has no smell, and less even in Egypt than elsewhere.

The English set (I do not refer here to the official world),
numerous and important, look down with contempt on the
native families. In their eyes, Egyptians, Greeks, Turks,
Armenians, all are niggers. I am not joking, and, extraordinary
as it may seem, Englishmen, intelligent, educated and
charming, will speak of a Greek as “that black man,” or “that
nigger.” And there is no way of changing them.

Looked down upon in its turn by the official set, the English
colony suffices unto itself and lives, as it were, cut off, enjoying
all the sports on which it dotes. It drives, rides, sails, it
has football, Tennis , polo, and remains happy, contented
and healthy.

The official world is pretty much what it is in all the capitals
where foreign Powers are represented, and where the head of
the country has ministers and officers of all kinds, and in his
family princes and princesses. Lord Cromer and his charming
young wife are not, perhaps, quite worldly enough to please
every one; but every work, be it artistic, literary or charitable,
every effort to better the condition of the people, finds in them
a ready help.

At the French Legation, a palace in the purest Arabic style,
M. de la Boulinière, a diplomatist of sterling worth, looks
strenuously after the interests of his country, whilst Madame
and Mesdemoiselles de la Boulinière give all the time which
social duties allow to these numerous and worthy works of
charity with which the name of France has always been
associated.

The doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, M. von der Does de
Willebois, son of the celebrated Dutch statesman, is almost as
popular as his wife, a perfect hostess and bridge-player, or his
daughters, keen sportswomen, and that is saying much.

The Marquis Salvaggo Raggi, representing Italy, was at

Pekin at the time of the Boxer troubles and the siege of the
Legations, whence he returned with an unlimited admiration
for the administrative qualities of the English and Japanese,
whom he had observed working side by side with the other
nationalities. The marquise,
a beautiful woman,
is one of the most sought
after and admired in
Cairo.

In another gem of
Arabic art, the Danish
Legation, under Count
de Zogheb, is a fashionable
centre, presided over
by the countess and her
charming daughter.

Then there are the
bachelors, Count T. B. de
Koziebrodzki, the Austrian
Hungarian Minister,
just arrived, but who has
already succeeded, so
they say, in capturing
all the feminine hearts
and not a few of the
masculine. Baron Oppenheim,
a writer and a
savant, whose old Arab
palace contains many a
treasure, artistic and
literary—not to mention
some delicious liqueurs and enormous cigars!

MADAME DE MARTINO

Dittrich

But there is a limit to the pages which I could devote to
Cairo and its society. I should like to describe many a salon,
to talk of many a mondaine, but time and space forbid. I
cannot, however, finish without a mention of the salon of
Madame de Martino, lady of honour to her Highness the
Khedivah, a lady of perfect charm, and one of the best of
hostesses.

And in this continual round of fêtes and pleasures, of dinners,
balls, and suppers, all the world of Cairo and his wife amuse
themselves and flirt. As to this flirtation, I am convinced that
in no other city in the world does it play so large a part; and
yet, it seems, I was not there at the proper time. I left too
soon. Winter, it seems, is nothing compared with spring, when,
as we know, a young man's fancy lightly turns …

“I am leaving Cairo,” a friend of mine wrote me in April,
a lady whom one could not describe as a prude, “I am leaving
Cairo, for I cannot stand any longer the sight of these eternal
couples, who, now that the hot weather has come, seem to have
lost all notion of les convenances.”

Well, chère amie, we must not be too hard on poor Cairo.
Spring is the great sinner in all lands; and if he seems somewhat
more alive there than elsewhere, is it his fault, is it not rather
the fault of the climate and the sun?

The resurrection of a country—Prosperity of Egypt explained
—Lord Cromer's work—What Egypt owes to England—What
England obtains from Egypt—Comparison between 1882 and
1905—The opinion of the Prime Minister, his Excellency
Moustapha Fehmy Pasha—Sir William Garstin—The work of a
great engineer—Egyptian finance—The banks—Speculations
—Messrs. Suarès, Cassel, &c.—The dance of the millions—
History of the Daira, the Assouan Dam and the National Bank

“England has rendered an undoubted service to the cause of
civilisation.”—DE FREYCINET, La question d'Egypte.

NILE AT CAIRO

Al Vitas

ONE cannot judge and dismiss in a few lines the admirable
work of England in Egypt during the last twenty-three years.
To those who wish to know it in all its details I should advise
the reading of Lord Cromer's annual reports, which can be
procured in London for a few pence. These are not simply
pages full of figures and statistics, tending to prove that what
has been done has been done well. The reader will find, on
the contrary, in these reports, written in simple, clear and
vigorous language, a story, alive, interesting and fascinating,
of Egyptian progress in the last quarter of a century, of errors
committed and quickly rectified, and of successes obtained.
I have read several volumes of these reports, some thousand
large quarto pages, and my interest was as great at the end as

at the beginning. These reports, in themselves, are a work
of the greatest value, of which Lord Cromer, were he less modest
than he is, would have every reason to boast. Thanks to them
I obtained a clear idea of the situation of Egypt, past and
present, the efforts accomplished, and the future schemes, the
rôle of England, the moral, mental and physical state of the
population, and a thousand and one things of interest as regards
the life of the country and its inhabitants. Events are treated
with impartiality, and Lord Cromer does not hesitate under
certain circumstances to repeat the criticisms delivered with
regard to certain acts of the Government, whilst explaining
clearly his reasons for them. The reports are read with the
greatest interest by the Egyptians themselves, and the local
papers quote them in extenso.

In the course of several conversations which I had with
him, and before I had read his reports, Lord Cromer did me the
honour of explaining the situation. His Excellency has the
reputation of being brusque and of having a cold manner. On
the contrary I found him on every occasion most courteous,
pleasant and agreeable. His voice is soft, his manner simple,
and his personality charming. He is not a man after the heart
of an interviewer. If he allows one question, it is useless to
ask two. Either he simply refuses an answer, or in a few words
he will tell you everything which concerns the question in which
you are interested. From the first, he grasps exactly what you
desire to learn, and if he vouchsafes a reply it is given clearly
and without any superfluous words. It is best to go straight
to the point, and he will do the same. I shall not seek to expound
on the political and financial situation of Egypt since
1882. I shall content myself with showing the results obtained.

At the time of the events of Alexandria and the defeat of
Arabi, Egypt was, so to speak, bankrupt. Her debts
amounted to over one hundred millions sterling, and her
income was not sufficient to pay the interest and supply the
necessary funds for Government. The fellaheen, or peasants,
representing the great majority of the people, were crushed
by the taxes, ill-treated by the Pashas, and reduced to a
state of abject misery. All the offices were in the hands of
men who sought by every means in their power to enrich

themselves, whilst the administration in all its branches was
corrupt, incapable and rotten.

To-day we find Egypt well-governed and prosperous, in
a condition financially
which might
be envied by many
a great Power. The
Government, honest,
firm, enterprising,
enjoys the confidence
of high and low,
foreigner and native.
The fellaheen, released
from excessive
taxation, work hard,
are happy and prosperous.

The revenue of the
Government, which
in 1882 amounted to
£9,000,000, last year
(1905)reached almost
£15,000,000, whilst,
notwithstanding
numerous most important
works which
have been undertaken,
thelast Budget
showed a surplus of
£2,668,000. At the
same time the sinking
funds of the Government
showed a total
of £13,400,000. And these millions have been saved
whilst taxation has been reduced, and enormous works and
costly enterprises undertaken by different branches of the
Government.

ARAB WOMAN AND DONKEY-BOY

David Gardiner

The opinion in Egypt is unanimous in declaring that this
excellent state of things is due to England. I believe that it

is due, above all, to Lord Cromer. Having placed the lot of
Egypt in the hands of a man capable beyond others of saving
the country and in whom they had absolute confidence, the
English Government had the good sense to give him a free
hand, and to leave him alone, simply letting the world know,
from time to time, that behind him and his acts stood the British
Empire. Even in the darkest days when Gordon was
murdered at Khartoum, when the Sudan passed entirely into
the hands of the Dervishes, even then England would not
disavow by a single word a single act of her representative.
Instead of attempting to direct or thwart his schemes, the
English Cabinet based its entire Egyptian policy on the foundation
which Cromer had laid, and on which, little by little, arose
the edifice the solidarity and permanence of which London
has never doubted. What a lesson for those countries whose
representatives are at the mercy of the whim of a Minister,
the interpellation of a deputy, or a campaign of the Press!

Certainly Lord Cromer has not entirely and with his own
hands created the present situation. Egypt owes much to the
international institutions which the Powers have created, the
Caisse de la Dette, which for many years acted as a brake
on the finances, and the Mixed Tribunals, which, dispensing
for the first time equal justice, and in making the law respected,
established order and confidence. Egypt owes much to France,
from whose breast she has imbibed the best of her civilisation
and the ideas of her best institutions.

But to Lord Cromer is the glory of having brought order out
of chaos, of having re-organised the services, of having purged
the administration of its vices, of having established a Government
at once homogeneous and honest, of having had accomplished
or commenced all these immense works which are
to-day, and will be even more in the future, the fortune of the
country. In a single word, he and he alone has known how
to unite, concentrate and apply all the resources of the land
to the regeneration of its inhabitants.

In the simplest of language Lord Cromer explains to
what point the first effort has advanced: “The resources of
Egypt lie almost entirely in her agriculture, and that again
depends on two things, the labour of the peasant and the rising

of the Nile, whose fertilising waters overflow each year the
cultivated fields, supplying them at the same time with
moisture and manure. For years the peasant hardly worked,
as all the fruit of his labours was snatched from him by the taxcollectors,
who left him little or nothing, making him disgorge
his last penny by blows or, if necessary, by torture. One
can hardly conceive the sufferings and privations which the
unfortunate people underwent. The water of the Nile itself
was monopolised by the rich Pashas, the powerful landowners,
and against them it was impossible for the poor peasant to
obtain justice. The first effort was made to reduce taxation,
to distribute it in a fashion at once just and equitable,
to protect the fellaheen from robbery, official or otherwise,
and ultimately to assure to him his share in the water of the
Nile, at all times and in all places. Time and patience, a
great quantity of both, were necessary to convince the unfortunate
peasant that a new era of justice had at last arrived; but
little by little he began to understand, until at last, though still
suspicious, he set himself to work. When, in the course of
time, he found that after many years he could now enjoy in
comfort and in peace the fruits of his toil, then and only then
did the deep-born love of the soil reassert itself, and he became,
though, alas, how little! more human, found once more his
long-lost energy, and Egypt began to revive.”

The encouragement and protection afforded to the fellaheen
was extended, in one way or another, to the other classes of
society. I shall content myself with giving a few examples.
The Nile, being the great artery of the country, passing from
end to end, and having on either side the cultivated land, the
greatest asset and the greatest wealth of Egypt, serves naturally
as the means of transport for most of the agricultural produce.
Innumerable sailing boats serve for this traffic, and thousands
of families thereby earn a living. Taxes without number crushed
these unfortunate boatmen, but the most iniquitous of all was
that which obliged them to pay a certain sum each time they
passed one of the bridges. Pedestrians, carriages, flocks,
cattle, for whose benefit these bridges had been mostly built,
paid nothing; whilst the unfortunate boatmen, stopped for
hours by the bridges, too low to permit of their passing beneath,

THE EARL OF CROMER

Dittrich

sometimes lost entire days, and when at last a passage was
opened for them they had to pay for the privilege. It was
stupid and shameful, but this tax brought in a considerable
sum. Lord Cromer did not hesitate to abolish it completely.
There were other taxes, almost as iniquitous, amongst which
were those affecting the fishermen, by whose labour part of the
population was fed; but these have all been abolished.

All these acts of justice resulted in confidence being restored,
and from this confidence sprang the new era of work and prosperity
which Egypt to-day enjoys. Lord Cromer has had the
gift to choose, and the good fortune to find, assistants of first-rate
quality. Certainly Egypt is governed by his Highness
the Khedive and a Council of Ministers. At the head of each
of the Ministries is a distinguished Egyptian statesman, to
whom is attached an Under-Secretary. The latter is an Englishman,
who is in fact inspired and directed by Lord Cromer, the
moving spirit.

It would be a great mistake to suppose that the Egyptian
Ministers are simple figure-heads, pocketing their large salaries
and doing nothing. They are, as it were, the connecting links,
necessary and indispensable, between Egypt and England,
between the Egyptian people and their English advisers. It
is through them that England governs, or, to use a less diplomatic
phrase but perhaps more just, they govern in the name
of their Sovereign, following the advice of Lord Cromer, transmitted
through their English advisers. Almost all of these
advisers have been men of remarkable character and intelligence.
The names of many of them will be written in letters
of gold on the pages of the history of modern Egypt, along with
that of Lord Cromer. The Financial Adviser is considered
generally to be the most important Ministerial personage.
This post has been occupied successively by Sir Edward Vincent,
Sir Auckland Colvin, Sir Eldon Gorst, Sir Edwin Palmer,
and finally by the present occupant, Sir Vincent Corbett, a
valuable authority on finance.

At the Ministry of Public Works Egypt and England were
fortunate when, at the side of the talented Minister, His
Excellency Fakry Pasha, they placed one of the greatest
engineers of our time, and one of the most gifted men, Sir

William Garstin. His study and his work on the huge river
which, rising in the centre of the Dark Continent, supplies the
life-blood of Egypt, have placed him far above all the men
of science who before him or with him have occupied themselves
with these questions. I shall refer later on, in another chapter,
to the works already accomplished and to those contemplated
by Sir William Garstin; but I should like to explain briefly
here that the present-day
prosperity of Egypt would not
exist, notwithstanding the reformed
and honest administration
given by Lord Cromer,
without these works, thanks
to which the one and only
source of wealth, the Nile, wayward
and uncertain, has been
conquered, its volume considerably
increased, and its
delivery so admirably controlled
that its fertilising
waters moisten the soil each
summer at a time when formerly
there was not a drop to
be obtained.

SIR VINCENT CORBETT

Elliott and Fry

For the Nile has always
been the best friend and the
greatest enemy of the fellaheen.
Without it Egypt, deprived
of water (the rainfall is almost nil), would be a barren
and uninhabitable desert. Even yesterday, if, at the time
of the annual flood, the river was too low, large tracts of
land remained unwatered, and their owners were reduced
to misery; whereas, if it were too high, its waters, rushing
furiously over the irrigation canals, ruined almost the whole
of the country. At the time of the floods, the entire riverside
population passed its nights watching the defence
works, ready to strengthen the walls where most threatened;
but in this struggle for existence victory rested many
times with the river, and the man, vanquished, could

only await the returning season, gnawing the crusts that were
left him.

To-day all that is altered, and the Nile, followed, studied,
from its source in Darkest Africa to its outfall in the Mediterranean,
is firmly held in hand. The works already executed
are such that the lands under cultivation are never without
water even in the leanest years, whilst any possible mischief
is quickly mastered when an extra high flood threatens to break

THE NILE

David Gardiner

down the defences. When one considers that not an acre of
land would be productive did the Nile not supply it with its
precious waters, and that Egypt is, in consequence, a long
and narrow valley of irrigated land, bordered by unproductive
desert, which, however, could also be brought under cultivation
as far as the water could reach, one can understand that the
more water the Nile has to dispense, the more extensive will
be the area cultivated, the greater the agricultural wealth of
the people, and consequently the more productive the revenue
of the Government. I believe, therefore, that I am justified
in saying that the efforts of the Ministry of Public Works have
been directed and continue to be directed towards the following
ends:

(i) To give to each farmer in the cultivated zone or in
the zone which it is possible to cultivate the water to which
he has a right, be he rich or poor, humble or powerful.* (2) To
control the volume of water by means of immense dams.
(3) To extend the network of irrigation canals to the regions
still uncultivated. (4) To increase the volume of water, either
by preventing all possible loss from the source onwards, or by
diverting from their beds other rivers, in the region of the
equatorial lakes, which at present flow in a different direction.
(5) By the creation of huge reservoirs, containing millions
of cubic metres of water, to store water at the time of the
flood, which, during the dry season, can be released, and
which will enable crops to be raised at a time when formerly
the land lay in enforced idleness, useless and unproductive.

This brief account gives but a faint idea of the immensity
of the task which, covering each square yard of arable land in
Egypt, stretches back into the depths of the Sudan, a length
of over 4000 miles, to the sources of the White Nile in Central
Africa, and of over 400 miles more to the sources of the Blue Nile
on the elevated plateaux of Abyssinia.

All these works are well in sight, whilst the huge reservoir
of Assouan, the work of Sir William Garstin, completed some
five years ago, has already proved for the whole of Egypt a
source of incalculable wealth. I repeat for Egypt, and not for
England, for it is the welfare of the first and not of the second
which Lord Cromer has always in view. His Excellency has
many times said: “I have considered always, and before
everything else, the interests of Egypt, and the welfare of her
people. In every case where it was necessary to decide on a
question in which English and Egyptian interests clashed, I
have never hesitated to decide in favour of the latter. England
has never attempted to profit by her presence here to obtain
personal advantages, or to favour her subjects at the expense

of those of other nationalities. The same protection is
extended to all. All honest endeavour, whatever it may be,
or wherever it may come from, is treated with the greatest
consideration. The English Advisers are the servants of the
Khedive; they do his work for his country and not for their
own.”

To be sure, in the long run England benefits also, since in
an Egypt rich and prosperous she has a large market for her
goods, a magnificent training ground for her officers, her
savants, and her young officials, whilst, more important still,
she has the certainty that nothing menaces the Suez Canal,
the great artery of the world's commerce. To gain the confidence
of the country in proving that she governs for its
interests and not for her own, that in a sentence is the keynote
of British policy in Egypt.

An immense majority of Egyptians appreciate thoroughly
England's work, and the number of the grumblers is so insignificant
that their existence would be unnoticed were it not
that they number amongst them certain journalists, native
and foreign, good debaters and glib talkers, who excel in the
art of making a mountain out of a molehill.

Then, amongst the younger generation, there are those
who, more or less brilliantly, have finished their studies, and
who, forgetful of the early days of struggle, seeing only the
present-day prosperity, say to themselves: “This machine
is simplicity itself, why may we not work it?” Alas! to
how few of these to-day could the reins of government be
safely trusted! The Egyptians are still like plants which
without support cannot be expected to grow straight.

One of the men who knows them best said to me: “Twenty
years ago, I thought it would have been sufficient to educate
them. I was wrong, it is their entire character which must be
altered.”

The clear-seeing amongst the Egyptians themselves understand
that this is the case, and none better than his Excellency
Moustapha Fehmy Pasha, President of the Council and Minister
of the Interior, a man who, under a manner of extreme simplicity,
hides remarkable talents, and whose counsels have been
of inestimable value to England, as Lord Cromer has been

quick to acknowledge. “The work of England here,” his
Excellency said to me, “is a monument to her glory. Look
at what Egypt was in 1882, and what it is now! Then,
anarchy, misery, ruin; now, order, justice and prosperity.
I have seen both, and I am able to make comparisons. The
change has been so rapid, so thorough, that sometimes I could
shut my eyes and ask myself—Is
it not all a dream?
The greatest wonder, however,
is the way in which
England, in such a short time,
has made herself respected,
appreciated, and not only
supported, but recognised as
indispensable. It does not
do to forget that she entered
Egypt by force, breaking
down the doors by cannon
balls, in fact as an enemy.
Think of the tact she must
have employed to have
settled herself down amongst
us with hardly a hitch, hardly
an unpleasantness. I do not
believe there is another
Government in existence
whose machinery works more
smoothly than ours. You
ask me if Egypt will one day be able to do without England?
That is a delicate question, and one which time alone will
answer. But this much I can say, that at the present moment
we cannot do without her. The work is far from being finished;
the foundations have been solidly laid, the building is rising
full of promise. … But the point has not yet been reached
when it can be left to its own resources. Of what can we
complain in regard to England? To her we owe our wealth
and our prosperity, she has treated us with a consideration
and a justice to which none of the great Powers had
accustomed us.”

H.E. MOUSTAPHA FEHMY PASHA, PRIME MINISTER

Dittrich

It is in talking with men like his Excellency that one arrives
at a comprehension of all the difference between the past and
the present.

“Look,” he said to me one day, “at that land covered
with hotels and palaces, sprung from the ground as if by magic.
Twenty years ago one might have offered it for nothing, and
no one would have accepted,
for it was not worth the
amount of the taxes which
one would have had to pay.
To-day it is worth millions
sterling, but what would it be
worth to-morrow if England
quitted Egypt?”

And to my question as
regards the capacity of the
younger generation, he
replied:

SIR ERNEST CASSEL

Lafayette

“Great progress has been
made. Morally and physically
our youth is much superior
to that of the last two generations.
But we are still in a
state of transition. Not to
day, not even in the near
future, shall we be able to
find amongst ourselves all the
elements necessary for the administration, the guiding and
directing, of a great and rich nation.”

Since confidence was restored, foreign capital has flowed
into Egypt, where opportunities of placing it favourably are
numerous. Naturally the English were the first to have a
finger in the pie, but the importance of their capital invested
was considerably less than that of France, until the time when
one of the most famous English capitalists, Sir Ernest
Cassel, suddenly appeared on the banks of the Nile. With
M. R. Suarés, the Egyptian banker, he is responsible
for three enormous enterprises, “The Daira Saniah,”
“The Assouan Dam,” and “The National Bank,” the lastnamed

giving birth shortly afterwards to “The Agricultural
Bank.”

The establishment of a National Bank had been a crying
necessity for some time, and its success was assured. Its
influence to-day in all which vitally concerns Egypt is enormous.

The affair of the “Assouan Dam” was another masterstroke.
Sir William Garstin having completed all the plans for the
huge reservoir, there arose the question of finding the £3,000,000
necessary for its construction. The Caisse de la Dette,
composed of members representing France, England, Germany,
Austria, Russia and Italy, who controlled at that time all the
capital of Egypt, threw difficulties in the way, and demanded
that the contract should be put up for tender. The Government
objected for the following reasons: “To firms tendering
at least two years' study of the question would be necessary:
on receipt of their offers another six months would be required
by us to study the plans; in that way three precious years will
be lost, whilst we have in hand the offer of a firm whose reputation
for honesty is world-wide, Messrs. Aird and Co., who are
ready to carry out the plans of Sir William Garstin. They do
not ask for a penny of the cost, but are willing to accept an
annuity of £100,000. Why hesitate?” The question was
decided. The contract was placed with Messrs. Aird, but as
they required the money to carry out the work, they applied
to Sir Ernest Cassel, who thereupon furnished the money
required. And as the announcement that the scheme was to be
carried out was noised abroad the value of land in the whole
of Egypt rose by leaps and bounds. Messrs. Suarès and
Cassel brought out at the same time a third affair, that of
the “Daira,” a land company, out of which they made over
£3,000,000.

The “Daira Saniah” was one of the properties belonging
to the Khedive Ismail, which this Sovereign was made to hand
over to Egypt and his creditors. The working of the estate
was difficult and costly, and was far from bringing in what
had been hoped. One day it was announced that the Government
had sold it for £6,250,000 to Messrs. Suarès and Cassel,
with whom were associated a group of French capitalists, headed

VIEW OF THE CITADEL

Sanderson

by M. Cronier, a group who had just taken over the Sugar
Works and Refineries.

These three huge affairs, brought out suddenly by the same
men, created a considerable stir, especially when it was learned
that the Government had in their possession a report of Crookshank
Pasha, representing the
English bondholders, which
declared that the “Daira”
was worth at the lowest
computation, £10,000,000.

No one was in a position
to know the value of the
estate better than Crookshank
Pasha, and it must be
acknowledged that he had
not deceived himself, since
the “Daira,” resold by
Messrs. Suarès and Cassel,
fetched over £13,000,000.
The deferred shares issued at
£I are now quoted £108, ex
£78 which were paid to the
holders last October. As to
the profit of over £6,000,000
made on the sale of the land,
half of it was paid to the
Government, the remaining half going to the Cassel group,
who had agreed by the terms of their contract to remit
to Egypt one-half of any profit accruing at the final liquidation.

M. RAPHAEL SUARÈS

In this way millions were made; but they are as nothing
compared to the millions gained by those, rich or poor, who
bought, some large, others small, tracts of land from the Cassel
group. These sales being made, if desired, at so much down,
and the balance in bills at a certain date, people bought and
sold, rebought and resold, without ever having entered into possession
of the land, which, as a matter of fact, was only handed over
this year.

Boghos Nubar Pasha informed me that he had purchased

lands in the “Daira” for £60,000, and for which he has to-day
been offered £300,000.

Scarcely had these three huge affairs which I have briefly
described been granted to Messrs. Cassel and Suarès than the
Financial Adviser, Sir E. Palmer, on whose advice the Egyptian
Government had acted, retired, and was nominated manager
of the National Bank. There
was some ill-natured comment
on this appointment, but
I have been unable to find any
confirmation of the suggestion
that it was connected in some
way with the Daira's transactions,
though I took the
pains to inquire about it even
at the offices of the Caisse de
la Dette, where “Financial
Advisers” are not in great
favour.

THE LATE SIR E. PALMER

Dittrich

Human nature would not
be what it is if this nomination
had been allowed to pass unnoticed,
and being misunderstood
no hesitation was shown
in certain quarters in launching
all kinds of accusations
against the Financial Advisers
in general and Sir E. Palmer in particular. The reputation of
the latter is so great that I should not have troubled to
mention these insinuations had I not heard them repeated
within the precincts of the Caisse de la Dette itself, that
institution which has done such yeoman service for Egypt but
whose rôle is now over. One morning I betook myself to their
offices. On entering I felt as if I had suddenly penetrated into
the abode of the dead. The long cold corridors, the empty
rooms, the unoccupied offices, all gave an impression of
sadness and gloom. The representatives of the six Great
Powers who, under the title of Commissioners of the Debt, have
for twenty years controlled and directed the finances of

Egypt, are men of remarkable intelligence and ability. Now
even amongst those who have consistently voted against France
and in favour of England the greatest discontent is manifest.

“Look how one thing leads to another,” they said to me
at the Caisse; “they have withdrawn from us the millions
which we administered wisely and well for Egypt, under the
pretext that they are required for the carrying out of certain
great works, amongst others the raising of the Assouan Dam.
Now that the money has been handed over, these projects
have been abandoned or postponed till the Greek kalends.
Where are those millions now? At the National Bank, which
will allow Egypt 21/2 per cent, interest on money which it can
employ profitably at 8 per cent, to 10 per cent.! Is it any
wonder that tongues will wag and insinuations be made?”

There are, of course, in this, as in most disputes, two sides;
and the other side I had the opportunity of hearing when a few
days later I received a visit from Harari Pasha, one of the
greatest authorities on Egyptian finance, who ought to be well
up in the question, seeing that at the Finance Ministry he was in
charge of the department whose business it was to look after
the “Daira Saniah,” and who, resigning his post after many
years of excellent service, now directs the Daira Estate in
the interests of the Cassel group.

Having told him of all I had heard, I will give word for
word his reply: “There is in what you have said a grain of truth,
but much that is false; and it is this grain of truth which has
given rise to so much talk. The Financial Advisers have never
made use of their position for their personal profit, never! And
Sir E. Palmer is the last man in the world to do so. Only he
left the Government service to take up a brilliant position;
hence the trouble. Palmer was poor, why should he refuse
such a good berth? As to making him responsible for the
sale of the ‘Daira,’ the thing is ridiculous, for, powerful
as the Financial Adviser may be, he can do nothing without,
on the one hand, the approval of the Council of Ministers, and,
on the other, that of Lord Cromer. The idea that Lord
Cromer would allow any suspicious deal whatever is so absolutely
impossible that one does not stop even to consider
it. The truth of the matter is, that the thing was done with the

complete approval of all the members of the Government,
Egyptian and English. No one could foresee that the estate
would increase in value to such an extent, and in so short a
space of time. £6,250,000 was considered a very good price
for the ‘Daira,’ and, besides, the buyer said, ‘I relieve you of
all the trouble, all the
anxiety, all the expense
which the estate
has brought you. On
my part I shall do the
best I can for myself,
and if at the finish of
the business there is a
profit, we shall share
equally in it.’ It must
be admitted that the
offer seemed a good
one, and one cannot
blame the Adviser who
recommended it and
had it approved by
the Ministers.”

DOOR TO SEBÎL MONTAHAR

David Gardiner

Some time after, I
had occasion to discuss
these matters with M.
R. Suarès, the well-known
banker and
financier. “The thing
won't hold water,” he
said, “and I can prove it. It was I, and not Cassel, whom
I had only seen once in my life and with whom I had had no
business relations—it was I, I repeat, who obtained first the
concession for the founding of the National Bank and the
option of purchasing the ‘Daira’ for £6,000,000. Our house,
Suarès Brothers, not wishing to supply all the capital necessary,
I left for London with the intention of offering a share in the
business to one of my friends On the boat, Mr. D., well known
in Egypt, advised me to immediately see Cassel, who, he
believed, was anxious to enter into business relations with

Egypt. I took his advice. When I offered 50 per cent.of the
‘Daira’ to Cassel he said: ‘I know nothing about this class of
business, what do you think it ought to yield?’ I told him
I looked for a profit of something over £1,000,000, when he said
he would trust to me; and the affair was concluded. The
concession for the Bank seemed to please him more, and he
asked who we should place at the head. It was then that I
proposed Palmer, whose name, so well known as Financial
Adviser, was bound to carry weight. You will see, therefore,
that there was absolutely no arrangement between Sir E.
Cassel and Sir E. Palmer.”

One thing is certain, and that is that the financiers
and speculators are to-day in Egypt a formidable force to
reckon with. Lord Cromer, who has a horror of everything
in the nature of a gamble, and who sees clearly the danger
which threatens his work, has, unfortunately rather late in
the day, clipped their wings.

As long as he holds the reins he will apply the brake which
will keep Egypt safely and surely from the mad rush which
would lead to a crash such as the world has never yet seen—
whilst he is there—yes, but when he is gone?

That is the question which many thoughtful men are asking
to-day, and they naturally fear that through political and
other influences a man of less experience may be given the
place so brilliantly filled by Lord Cromer, when the day comes
for him to exchange for a well-earned rest the field of battle
and of progress on which he has covered himself with glory.

Serious faults and great errors—Story of the sale of the Suez
Canal shares—The Anglo-French Treaty—French interests—
Small faults and small errors—The schools—The sugar
works—Commerce—The Caisse de la Dette—Antiquities—
M. Maspéro—Work commenced by the French: Irrigation—
Canals—Dams—English engineers invented nothing—They
carried out the plans of French engineers—Cromer and France.

“It is from our officers, our engineers, our sailors, our agronomists,
our jurists, that Egypt for many years has borrowed her instructors,
her masters, her methods, and her laws. Moreover, our colonists,
industrial and commercial, have settled in great numbers in the valley
of the Nile. They consider themselves almost on French soil, and for
them life in Egypt is no exile. Thus is explained this flow of capital
which we have directed into the coffers of the Pashas, and this marvellous
Suez Canal which seemed destined to be the work of French
hands. Our position during three-quarters of a century has been
superior to that of any other nation: an unheard of combination of
circumstances has been necessary to lead to its decline, which, I dare
to believe, is but a temporary one.”—DE FREYCINET, La question
d'Egypte.

PYRAMIDS AT SUNSET

Al Vista

ALAS, M. de Freycinet, this “unheard of combination of
circumstances” was brought about by the errors and weakness
of the statesmen who, at different times, controlled the destinies
of France, and above all by those who, after having extolled
the idea of armed intervention by France and England in
Egypt, drew back, leaving the latter Power a free hand in
cette terre à moitié française. I am quite ready to recognise

that on this occasion the responsibility rests less on the Government,
which proposed loyally to act with England, than with
the parliamentary majority who forbade it.

France, you say, still weakened by the awful struggle of
1870, alone in Europe, feared lest events in Egypt might lead
to a general conflagration, and wished therefore to preserve
intact the defences of the country. That, evidently, was
M. Clemenceau's idea when he carried with him the parliamentary
majority, holding up before them the terrible spectre
of war, crying:

“Truly, it seems as if, somewhere, there were a hand
preparing an awful cataclysm in Europe. Who will dare to
take the responsibility of what is coming? Who will say,
when the day comes for diplomacy to settle the Egyptian
question, that it is better for France to take her place by the
side of England against Europe, than to join with Europe,
claiming her just share of influence over Egyptian affairs?”

The misfortune was, that once France had refused to follow
England, Europe, in her turn, refused to follow France, and
not a voice in the European Concert was joined to hers in
protesting against the English occupation, unless from time to
time, but feebly and without conviction, that of Russia.

Where, then, lies the good in recrimination? Besides, as
M. de Freycinet recognised himself, the most violent reproaches
levelled at England had no foundation; she had no desire to
enter, manu militari, into Egypt, she did everything which lay
in her power to avoid doing so, but, forced to do so, she sought
to have France with her. I will add that the same “combination
of unheard of circumstances which led to the
decline of French influence” forced England to remain in
Egypt.

Neither this French decline nor this English ascendancy
is “temporary.” The time of dreams is passed. It must
now be recognised that English influence in Egypt is so deeply
rooted that she has nothing to fear, and that, politically
speaking, French influence has ceased to exist. I say politically,
for the Egyptian, who formerly had two countries,
“his own and Paris,” will always have for France feelings of
friendship and affection, such as he will never have for any

other people. In his character, his tastes, his ideas, and his
inclinations, he approaches much nearer to the French than
to the English. He can become a sincere and devoted friend
to the former, who treats him as an equal, but never to the latter,
who, on every occasion, asserts his superiority and treats him
as an inferior. The Egyptian appreciates what England has
done for his country, he is grateful, but coldly, and without
enthusiasm. Lord Cromer is feared, respected, admired, but

GHEZIREH BRIDGE

Dittrich

not loved: he is the saviour and the judge in whom he has
absolute confidence, but he is also the man who, whilst saving
him, has left on his skin the marks of a strong hand.

The Egyptian owns to a gratitude without bounds, an
immense admiration, a blind belief—but not to that affection
which he will willingly extend to the first Frenchman he meets,
who shakes him by the hand and treats him as a brother. If
he studies French, it is from choice; if he studies English, it is
from necessity; for, from top to bottom of the social scale, the
latter is the language which he will find most useful. In the
Ministries, where the Advisers are English, in the Posts, Telegraphs,
Telephones, Railways, English is imperative; in the

hotels and business houses it is the same, for it is the English
and Americans who form the great majority of the tourists,
the source of considerable wealth to Egypt. When acquainted
with the two languages, he will be found making use, of English
in his office, French in his home, the first for business, the
second for friendly and affectionate intercourse. He prefers
the goods and the
products of France,
he loves French literature
and art, for
these he understands,
these he can assimilate
and appreciate,
whilst even the masterpieces
of English
genius are for him
too heavy and too
cold.

But, in spite of all
that, the Egyptian
has no desire to see
England replaced by
France, and if, to-morrow,
his feelings
on this point were put
to the vote, I have
no doubt whatever
that the status quo
would be demanded
by an immense majority.

FLOWER-SELLER

David Gardiner

The feelings of the better-class Egyptians with regard to
France were very clearly explained to me one day by one of
the most intelligent and up-to-date men in Egypt at the
present moment. I refer to the Minister of Finance, Mazloum
Pasha.

“Well,” he said to me, “whom can France blame but
herself? It is by her own faults that she has lost Egypt—
and such faults! She accomplished the construction of the

Suez Canal after a homeric struggle with England, who would
have none of it, but who by the mouth of her Prime Minister
declared it to be a Utopian idea, a will o' the wisp. The work
was done with the aid, moral and material, of the Khedive
Ismail, a magnificent work which should have remained for
ever her inheritance and ours, but at the time of the downfall
of Tsmail, she could not, in time, make up her mind to prevent
England acquiring the shares which enabled her to have a voice
in the affairs of the Canal and Egypt. Besides, it was to
France that these shares were offered by the Khedive.* Why
did they not take them? Who was to blame? Why in 1882
did she refuse to follow England after having agreed to an armed
intervention?

“You see the great errors committed in the past the French
continue to make to-day on a smaller scale in those affairs in
Egypt where their interests are affected. Take, for example, the
sugar works and refineries, an enormous business and an excellent
one, which had a marvellous future before it. They constituted
part of the ‘Daira.’ When that was sold and a French group
had acquired the works, they were offered, at a very low price,
the lands necessary for the growing of the sugar cane, without

which the works were useless. With a lack of foresight almost
incredible, the Board refused the offer. What is the result?
Up to now the supply of cane has been sufficient because, in
the contract, the Government undertook to have under cultivation*
on the lands leased by it enough cane to supply
the works. But the Government has now sold these lands,
and the peasant, finding it
more profitable to cultivate
cotton and onions, does not
wish any longer to plant cane.
What will the refineries do
when they can obtain no
more?”

H.E. MAZLOUM PASHA

Dittrich

Mazloum Pasha was now
started, and in the most perfect
French he proceeded to
discuss all the French affairs
in which he was interested,
for it is well-known that, at
the bottom of his heart, he
entertains a feeling of the
warmest affection for France.

“Naturally,” he continued,
“when we see the admirable
way in which England conducts
her business, and compare
it with the way in which
France here conducts hers, we
cannot but congratulate ourselves, in spite of our sympathies for
her, that she does not direct and control ours. I will give you an
example of the lack of tact of which we complain. You know
that the French schools in Egypt under the direction of the
Jesuits have rendered an immense service to our country.
Up to the present they are the only really good schools which
we have possessed. To them has been entrusted the education
of the children of almost all the best Egyptian families. We
owe them much, but they also owe us much, for without us they

would not exist. Our tolerance has enabled them to establish
themselves here. Would you believe it then that the Jesuits
have, for us and our feelings, absolutely no consideration?
We Mussulmans have two feast-days in the year on which we are
accustomed to have a family gathering. Naturally, we like
to have our children with us; but it is impossible, we have
never been able to have it, because these feast-days do not exist
in the Christian Calendar. Now, look at the Christian feast-days

NILE BARRAGE

Lekegian

they cram down our throats! How many times in the
year are our children at home because it happens to be the
Feast of the Virgin, or Easter, or Christmas, or St. Joseph, or
St. Nicholas, or Ascension, or the birthday of the Rector, or
a visit from Monsieur the Bishop of some place or other? We
do not complain. We keep our children on those days of lost
study, for which, all the same, we have to pay, but surely
we might be allowed to have them on the two occasions we
wish!

“Then there is something still more ridiculous. It is well
understood that our children, when they attend the French

schools, belong, and will continue to belong, to the Faith of
Islam, and that no effort will be made to turn them from their
religion. No effort is, in fact, made, but they are obliged to
take part in religious services, and to learn the Catechism.
Can you imagine anything more ludicrous than a Jesuit asking,
‘Are you a Christian?’ of a child which he knows perfectly
to be a Mussulman, and who must reply, if he wishes to earn a
good mark, ‘Yes, I am a Christian, by the grace of God.’

“Frankly, what do you think of it? You may ask me,
‘Why send your children there?’ Simply because, in spite
of this, they are the best schools we have, and at no others can
our children obtain such a good education. It was so yesterday,
but it is hardly so to-day, and it will no longer be to-morrow.
In fact, the English, the Germans, above all the Americans,
and even the Jews, have set to work, and the schools which they
are opening, and of which many are excellent, are beginning
to tell on the Jesuit colleges, for in these schools they have the
good sense not to make little Mussulmans repeat by heart, ‘Yes,
I am a Christian, by the grace of God.’ And that is how,”
concluded his Excellency, “the French, whom we love so much,
muddle up their affairs great and small.”

Faithful to my resolution to hear always both sides of a
question, I betook myself one morning to the Jesuit College
of the Holy Family, at Cairo, where I was cordially received
by the Rector, the Rev. Father Cottet. The two hours' conversation
which I had with this man, so well read, so frank,
so liberal minded in his ideas, so absolutely sympathetic, will
remain amongst the most pleasant recollections of my stay
in Egypt. I recounted to him the criticisms which I had heard,
without, however, giving the name of my informant. He
listened with the greatest attention, then smiling frankly, he
said:

“Your discretion availeth not. I know very well from
whence that criticism comes. Mazloum Pasha is a man whom
I love and admire. He is a Mussulman, up-to-date and liberal.
To come to the point which interests you, I can tell you that
the children of whom his Excellency spoke to you are not here.
They are in a college situated in another town, and it is not
for me to criticise what they do there. What I can say is this,

that here religious instruction is in no sense obligatory, nor
is it general.

“Our consciences, as men and as priests, will not allow
us to force children belonging to a different faith to assist at
our religious services. On the
contrary, it would be against
the commands of the Church of
Rome. You must observe that,
leaving aside the question of
religion, there would be an excellent
reason for insisting in the
French schools that the pupils
attending them should be taught
the salient points of the Christian
religion, without which it would
be impossible to understand the
great French classics, such as
Racine, Bossuet, Fénélon and La
Fontaine. We Christians learn
heathen mythology in order to
understand the ancient literature.
Put on these grounds the question
ought not to trouble any Mussulman,
and the proof that it does
not do so lies in the fact that
many of them attend voluntarily
the religious classes. Our Church
in Egypt is much more liberal
than people believe.

FATHER COTTET

Ritsert

“We should like to see the
ignorant and backward population
of Upper Egypt, of which a large part possesses neither
religion nor schools, raised from the state of brutishness in
which it exists. Hundreds of villages are begging for teachers,
not having the necessary £15 a year to pay for one. It is
nothing to them to what religion he belongs, they ask only a
little light in their darkness. This population, morally speaking,
belongs to those who take to them the first elements of
civilised instruction. We are so convinced of the necessity of

immediate effort being made that we are searching everywhere
for Christian help, even outside the Church of Rome. We are
attempting to raise the Coptic Church, and we have actually
founded a small Coptic seminary, whence have gone forth the
Bishop and his priests.”

I then questioned Father Cottet as to what he thought of
the decline of French influence in Egypt. “It is Fashoda,”
he said, “which has done us most harm. Twenty years of
British occupation has not shaken French influence as much
as this unfortunate event. Marchand abandoning his position
at Fashoda, that was the symbol of France abandoning the
position in Egypt which she had held for a century. After
Fashoda, in the Government schools, the children gave up
the study of our language and chose that of England; it was
then understood that England was, once and for all, mistress
of Egypt. But the popularity of the French schools has not
diminished; on the contrary the number of pupils is increasing
yearly.

“Far from having encountered any opposition on the part
of the English, we recognise that Lord Cromer has invariably
treated us with the greatest justice and consideration. We
have nothing but praise for him. Times have indeed changed.
Only a few years ago, a priest dared not show his face in the
crowded quarters without being grossly insulted, whereas,
to-day, wherever he may go, he is treated with respect. Order
has taken the place of anarchy.”

All those representing French interests in Egypt have
spoken thus of Lord Cromer. At the offices of the Sugar
Works and Refineries, the Administrator, M. de la Bouglise,
said: “The policy of Cromer has always been just and liberal.
He defends his position, but, at the same time, he is always
ready to recognise the rights of others. The representative
of England, all powerful here, has always been most considerate
to us; we cannot say the same of every one. We have certain
powerful enemies who spend their time in waging against us a
violent campaign of slander and lies. Last year when the
chiefs had left for their holidays they did not hesitate to spread
the report that they had left for good, taking the cash of the
Company with them.”

It is certainly true that war is being made against the Sugar
Company, and a person well up in the question enlightened
me as to the reasons. They are:

(1) Not having bought, whilst they were still to be had
at a low figure, the lands necessary for the growing of the cane.

(2) Having spent money lavishly and needlessly on the
building of offices, stores, and houses for the employees, &c.

SUGAR-CANE MARKET

D. Gardiner

(3) Having alienated the peasants by treating them
harshly. These, for example, complain bitterly that the
order for cutting the cane is given too soon, so that, instead of
having it weighed immediately, it is allowed to dry for several
days, thus diminishing the weight and the amount due to the
grower. As it is, cane bringing him in very little, he prefers
to raise other crops.

(4) That the system in vogue of allowing the agents of the
Company to make a personal profit upon purchases, is detestable,
as there will always be found some ready to rob the
peasant or the Company, or both, for his own benefit.

(5) Above all, the Society is accused of speculating in its
products, and with its shareholders' moneys, in the European
markets, and of running the risk of a formidable smash.

The above was written by me in the month of May last.
Before leaving Cairo, I had mentioned the five indictments
against the Company, which I have here enumerated, to M.
de la Bouglise, who promised me a detailed and categorical
answer. In spite of continual requests on my part for this
reply, I was still without it when the suicide of M. Cronier,
the death of M. de la Bouglise, and the crash of the Sugar
Company came to confirm all that had been prophesied.

I should like, however, to warn my readers against two
things to which these events seem to have given rise in certan
quarters, the first a tendency to believe that the Sugar Works
and Refineries of Egypt is a rotten concern, and the second,
a belief that Egyptian investments in general are risky.

Nothing is more unjust. The Sugar Works were led. on
by a man of undoubted talent, but rash to the verge of madness,
towards that abyss at the bottom of which he himself found his
death. But that does not prove that the business itself is a
bad one. Two of the best-known men in Egyptian financial
circles spoke to me last spring as follows: “The situation is
far from being a desperate one … it may become brilliant
… to do so one thing only is required which up to now has
been wanting: a good Manager.”

With that, undoubtedly, the Sugar Works can still recover.
At the time of writing this (November 1) I understand that
Sir E. Cassel, M. Raphael Suarès, and other capitalists have
promised assistance on condition that the shareholders and
creditors remain calm, and do not force a liquidation.

To judge Egyptian investments by this unfortunate affair
would be folly. There are in Egypt hundreds of concerns
absolutely safe, and which are returning excellent profits;
but of course, these are bound to suffer from the fact that for
some time a number of companies have been floated whose
shares, flooding the markets, are not worth the paper they are
printed on. Nevertheless, I state that there is not another
country where better investments can be made, or safer, but
naturally one has to know how to choose.

There is no doubt that Lord Cromer's policy has always
been to conciliate French interests, as far as is compatible with
the future of those he represents. Desiring strongly an
entente with France in Egypt, and understanding that to obtain

FRENCH DIPLOMATIC AGENCY

Dittrich

his compensation must be granted elsewhere, he has worked,
perhaps harder than any other, towards a general understanding
between the two peoples. The Anglo-French agreement
was the first step towards the entente cordiale. In certain
quarters it has been alleged that this agreement has been
entirely to the advantage of England, and that France has
sacrificed interests in Egypt which were real, to interests in
Morocco which are imaginary, or, at least, almost impossible
of realisation; that England, whilst keeping to herself Egypt,

a country rich and peaceful, has handed to France Morocco,
a country poor and restless. But, when the agreement was
signed, no one supposed that the Emperor William would
appear on the scene in the way he did. It is only natural that
England should have retained the fruits of her twenty years'
labour in Egypt; and, besides, it must be pointed out that,
when England first entered Egypt, her position there was quite
as difficult as that of France in Morocco. If France, once an
understanding is reached with Germany, will follow in Morocco
the policy which has so well succeeded with Lord Cromer in
Egypt, it is quite probable that her success will be equally
great. As to the real interests which France has sacrificed,
I confess I cannot see them. Her commerce, the capital
invested by her merchants and financiers, her schools and her
subjects established in Egypt, enjoy all the liberties, all the
protection, all the facilities possible, and continue to give every
sign of abundant prosperity. The one thing which France has
renounced is the right which she formerly possessed of having
a voice in the conduct of Egyptian affairs, and to control, first
with England alone, later with the co-operation of the other
great Powers, the finances of the country. Since England had
shown that it was impossible for her to leave Egypt, France
had recourse to what has been called “the policy of pin-pricks,”
which consisted in opposing and thwarting all her
schemes.

With their minds made up beforehand, the French and
Russian representatives voted against most requests for money
made by the Egyptian Government for the carrying out of the
great projects of Cromer and his Advisers.

The Caisse de la Dette had certainly every reason for
insisting on the greatest economy when the country trembled
on the verge of ruin; but it is impossible to approve of its
extreme niggardliness when its coffers were running over with
gold, or the hoarding of millions when the entire future of
Egypt depended on the intelligent use of the money. If the
Caisse de la Dette had at the time given up the funds necessary
for the construction of the Assouan Dam, Egypt would not
have been to-day so firmly in the hands of English financiers.
The event which, undoubtedly, decided England and Egypt

to withdraw the finances definitely from the control of the
Caisse, took place at the time of the Sudan campaign.

To reconquer her possessions, given over to fire and bloodshed
by the Dervishes, Egypt, who had been silently preparing
for several years, required the sum of £500,000. This she
demanded from the Caisse, and, after a violent discussion, the
representatives of England, Germany, Italy and Austria
decided to grant the money. The French and Russian representatives,
on the other hand, voted against, appealing to the
Tribunals, pleading that the unanimous consent of the Commissioners
was required, and that a majority of four voices out
of six was insufficient. They won their case, and Egypt had to
surrender the money, her money, with interest! What happened
then? Without hesitation, the English Parliament voted
the amount required by Egypt and placed it at her disposal,
thus consolidating her position, and giving her an excellent
reason for placing herself side by side with Egypt in the Sudan,
reconquering that province with Anglo-Egyptian troops and
English money.

It is pertinent to ask whether, in refusing this money, and
in attempting, in consequence, to delay the campaign in the
Sudan, France and Russia had not in view the possibility
that it might fall into the hands of Colonel Marchand and the
strong Abyssinian force which should have joined hands with
his, and enabled him to overcome the Dervish hosts? It
must be admitted that the policy of thwarting England in
refusing to Egypt the use of her own money was one unworthy
of a great nation, and was, besides, much more prejudicial to
Egypt than to England. No one understands better the
foolishness of this policy than the present representative of
France in Egypt, M. de la Boulinière, a man of sterling qualities
and intelligence, and a keen and energetic diplomatist.

I have been able to divine in M. de la Boulinière two feelings,
at once natural and just. The first, a great regret at the recollection
of the privileged position, a position quite unique, which
France occupied on the banks of the Nile twenty-five years
ago, but lost now through many errors and the consequences
following on them; the second, the danger of the policy of
pin-pricks, from which no good could possibly come.

A SWORD-MAKER

David Gardiner

The real opinion of the representative of France was,
I believe, from the start that “France would either have to
eject England forcibly from Egypt, or come to an understanding
with her.” It is certain that one or the other had to
be done, and as France did not wish, even for Egypt, to let
loose the awful dogs of war, it was necessary to come to an
agreement,

“In view of the position obtained by England in the latter
years,” said M. de la Boulinière to me, “the agreement cannot
be considered a bad one. England first of all asked considerably
more. She desired, for example, the complete abolition
of the Caisse de la Dette. We obtained its retention, not,
certainly, to control the entire Egyptian finances, but to watch
over the interests of the bondholders, and over the reserves
which guarantee the payment of the interest. That was a
great point gained, for, with the new policy of spending up
to the last penny, and the possibility that England might,
more and more, make use of Egyptian funds for the needs of
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the danger was always present
of money running short, when the temptation would arise to
dip into these reserves, at present locked up in the coffers of
the Caisse. The new treaty places on the same footing the
employees of both nationalities, and, as the Frenchmen to-day
occupying posts in the Government have given the
greatest satisfaction, nothing would seem to threaten their
position.

“The ‘antiquities,’ that is to say all which concerns art
in Egypt, the museums, the monuments, the temples, are also
left to France. M. Maspéro, Director of this important Department,
continues the work of Mariette and other French
Egyptologists, who have earned renown in bringing to light
the ancient Egyptian civilisation.

“In spite of the advantages which a knowledge of English
procures for an Egyptian, to whom it is necessary in all the
Government posts, and although in the purely Egyptian
schools English is much in demand, in spite of this, I say, the
French tongue continues to gain in popularity, thanks to the
Congregational Schools, who struggle manfully and successfully.
The Jesuit Colleges and the schools of the Brethren are overflowing,

their success is enormous and continually increasing,
at Alexandria as at Cairo.

“At Assiout, where the Austrian mission have important
schools, they have been obliged to open a French department,
so great and so pressing is the desire of their pupils to learn
our language. Besides, the French School of Law has a great

M. DE LA BOULINIÈRE

Nadar

and well-earned success. It would be much easier, simpler, and
cheaper for the Egyptians to study at the Khedivial School,
for then they could pass their examinations at Cairo, whereas
those who study in the French school must present their
thesis in French, at their own cost. Notwithstanding this, our
school is the more popular, and the Egyptian students, each
year, pay in entrance fees £2400. To sum up, the study of

the French language in Egypt is far from being on the
decline.”

M. de la Boulinière also recognises the high qualities of
Lord Cromer, his powers of concentration, his oneness of aim,
his iron will, and the courtesy which he has always shown
towards French interests even when opposing them.

MADAME DE LA BOULINIÈRE

Nadar

The representative of France also drew my attention to
the fact that the most important works lately executed in Egypt
had been suggested, often even begun, by Frenchmen. It must
not be forgotten that the first dam across the Nile was made
by French engineers near Cairo. This huge work, built of
granite, has considerably increased the wealth of Lower Egypt,
and will resist the ravages of time as the Pyramids have done.

I cannot better close this chapter than by quoting a passage
in a letter which I have lately received from an eminent Frenchman,
and one well acquainted with Egyptian affairs:

“… Your book on Egypt, where, in spite of everything,
France has left her mark. Cromer, in a statement, very
cleverly but very incompletely presented, of contemporary
history in Egypt, wishes to show that, for anarchy and waste,
England has substituted order and wealth. He would not
have detracted a whit from the glory of England if he had
stated that the work already accomplished by the French
had served as a point of departure for all the important improvements
which they have been able to accomplish.”

Amusements of Cairo—The clubs—Sports—Mena House and
the Pyramids—Helouan and the Desert—The Fish-market—
Dances—Immorality—The lowest depths—Roulette—The
Greeks—Guilty officials—The capitulations—The tribunals—
Justice—Nubar's work—Situation difficult and often ridiculous.

RACECOURSE, CAIRO

THE amusements of Cairo, numerous and varied, cater for
every taste. I have already spoken of the balls and fétes given
by the hotels, each one endeavouring to outdo the other in
lavishness and ingenuity.

The climate on the one hand, with its warm and sunny
days, and, on the other, the Anglo-American element keen on
all manner of sports and very numerous, naturally lead to
many out-of door meetings. At tea-time, the terraces of the
Ghezireh Palace are invaded by a fashionable and cosmopolitan
crowd, who amuse themselves listening to the music
and still more to scandal. The Palace is situated on the
Island of Ghezireh, a park in itself, of which one part only
belongs to it. A huge space is set aside for the Khedivial
Sporting Club, to which any visitor to Cairo may belong. There,
there are excellent Tennis -courts and croquet lawns, a golf
course, polo ground, and lastly a racecourse. Matches of all
sorts, besides races, are continually taking place, and attract
a large crowd of players and pretty women. This is one of the
most charming and popular spots in Cairo. At the entrance to

Ghezireh there is a curious roofless building of white stone,
made up of a stage and boxes, which is used, I believe, in
summer as a café-concert. An enterprising gentleman
attempted a year or two ago to establish there a miniature
Monte Carlo. He arrived one day with his luggage,
composed exclusively of roulette boards and pretty women,
the latter more charming than virtuous, and was convinced
that, armed with such irresistible weapons, he would experience
little difficulty in plucking the rich visitors and spoiling
the Egyptians. It was an old game; but this time he had
reckoned without his host, Lord Cromer. Little did it matter
to him that the tourists should be done if they chose to be;
but what he did care about was, that such a place of perdition
should be established in Cairo, where all the Egyptian employees
in the Government, and others besides, should gamble away
their all too insufficient salaries.

The conflict was a short one; the roulette boards left for
home, whilst the pretty sinners, stranded without a sou,
endeavoured in vain to establish themselves in the fashionable
hotels.

A Japanese passing through Cairo asked, I presume for
curiosity, if there was such a thing as a “yoshiwara” in the
town. “My dear sir,” said the English officer to whom the
question had been put, “it would be quite unnecessary. We
have here so many ladies quite comme il en faut.”

In place of the official “yoshiwara,” there is, however,
a whole quarter where vice reigns and flourishes—the
Fish-market. It is here that in the cafés and other houses
one can see the famous danse du ventre, whilst in the very lowest
places, for a few francs, one can assist at scenes of the most
revolting immorality.

The danse is far from being as interesting as people imagine.
I do not know whether these extraordinary contortions were
ever artistic, but if they were so they must have sadly fallen
off. To-day, the majority of the women who twist and turn
their bodies in public are ugly, old, repulsive, and rolling in
fat. I have said the majority, for there are without doubt
a few exceptions, at least there were some dozen years ago.

Finding myself in Cairo in January 1893, I made an arrangement,

NATIVE MINSTRELS

Lekegian

rather a risky one I believe, with a donkey boy to take
me to one of the houses in the Fish-market. On arriving, I
seated myself on a stool in a small chamber lighted by two
smoky lamps. In the opposite corner, three ugly and dirty
women played infamous music on impossible
instruments. Disgusted and
rather scared, I thought of beating a
retreat when the dancers made their
appearance, and I remained, astonished
and charmed. I was young in those
days, and perhaps apt to look at things
through rose-coloured spectacles,
especially where the fair sex was concerned.
The three women were young
and exquisitely made. One was black
as ebony, a Nubian, I suppose; a
second had a skin of marvellous whiteness,
her I took to be a Circassian;
whilst the third, like bronze, was an
Egyptian. It was extraordinary. The
three, who formed such a striking
contrast, advanced, retired, returned,
with heads and breasts now thrown
back, now thrown forward to within
a hand's-breadth of my face, their flesh
quivering, the scent of their bodies in the
air, their harsh cries joined to the wild
music. I was completely overcome,
and, for once, I believed that I had
really assisted at a scene worth seeing.

“DANSE DU VENTRE”

As to the houses where one can witness indescribable orgies,
I pass them by in silence, simply remarking that they would
not exist a day were it not for the tourists who support them.

At Cairo there are two excellent clubs: the Turf and the
Khedivial. The first, although numbering amongst its
members several Europeans and Americans, is essentially
English; and, considering the contempt which they profess for
the Oriental races, it goes without saying that its doors are
closed to all Egyptians. The Khedivial, on the other hand,

counts amongst its members, not only well-known foreigners,
but numbers of Princes, Pashas, Egyptians and Turks. Play
is high. When Lord Cromer consented to be a patron of the
Turf Club it was, I am told, on one condition, and that was that
there should be no gambling. The promise then made has no
doubt been forgotten, for card-playing is now very much in
vogue.

STREET IN Old Cairo

Gardiner

The Khedivial Theatre, much criticised but much frequented,
has generally each winter a
remarkably good programme.
The season is divided into two
parts, the one given up to
Opera, the other to Comedy
and Drama. The theatre,
built in a few weeks when the
Khedive Ismail wished to give
a representation of “Aïda,”
has served its purpose, and
now a loud cry is heard for a
more modern house, the
building of which, I believe,
has been decided on. The
interior, of white and gold,
very pretty, is surrounded
with two tiers of boxes, let
by subscription to the élite of
Cairo society; and it must
be admitted that when the
feminine rank and fashion of
the town are gathered within
its walls, dressed in the latest mode, and flashing with superb
jewels, real or otherwise, the sight is a magnificent one.

The Arab quarter and the bazaars are always interesting
for strangers, but ladies ought never to go there alone, under
pain of being handled by fingers more expert than clean. The
mere fact of being in the bazaars is for a foreigner a curious
sensation. The narrow streets, bordered with shops open to
the air, filled with gaudy goods; the indescribable smells,
mixture of attar of roses, fried fish, scented tobacco and filth;

the strange swarming crowd of Orientals and Africans with
skins tawny or black who invade the narrow pavements and
the roadway, the drivers crying, shouting, cracking their
whips to make a way through the midst of the indifferent mass,
and with difficulty avoiding running them down, presents a
striking and unforgettable picture of life, movement, colours
and smells. The bazaars themselves are long alleys, passages
where one has to watch one's feet, and on each side of which
are the shops, where all the products of the East are exposed
for sale, not to mention the German imitations, very cheap
and very nasty. Here are carpets, curtains, carved wood
inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory, old weapons; there
again perfumes, jewels, precious stones; whilst a little further
on the eye is attracted by sandals of brilliant red leather
and graceful form, cloths, Arab robes, fez; and lastly the vendors
of objects in exquisitely carved bronze and copper. Here also
are vases, lamps, huge trays, coffee services, flower-pots of
varied and charming designs. At certain places the carvers,
seated at the doors of their shops, are seen busy at their work.

The scene is intensely interesting, though the bazaars
at Cairo are much inferior to those of Constantinople. It is
also necessary to remark that it is not in the bazaars that the
finest work of the East is to be found, but only the cheapest,
and not even that if the buyer has not all his wits about him,
for in no place in the world is there to be found a bigger thief
and cleverer rascal than the bazaar merchant. Those who wish
to purchase anything first-class will find it outside the bazaars.
Opposite the Savoy Hotel, for instance, there is the shop of
Spartali and Co., where the most exquisite rugs and carpets
can be had. These, of course, are not manufactured in Egypt,
but in Smyrna from where they are sent all over the world.
It is safe to say, however, that some of the finest specimen
of the modern, as well as of the ancient, art of carpet weaving
are to be seen in Cairo.

To all those who are interested in Arabic art, so dainty
and so exquisite, I should advise a visit to the “Musée Arabe,”
and the Mosques, where they will find many treasures in the way
of sculptures in stone, wood, and metal, paintings, and wonderful
gilt work. There is, for me, an immense charm in entering

these houses of prayer and of hope, these temples where reigns,
calm and dignified, a religion which has inspired so many
beautiful things, and which continues down the ages to be the
moving influence with so many millions, whose souls, like our
own, live in the hope of an everlasting bliss.

The domes and minarets of these Mosques, piercing with
their graceful forms the intense blue of the sky, produce an
exquisite effect when seen from the Citadel, on the hill which
overlooks Cairo and its surroundings. This can be reached
by carriage, and at the same time will give the visitor an
opportunity of seeing the tomb of Mohamed Ali in the Alabaster
Mosque, a building begun by the founder of the Khedivial
dynasty himself. This Mosque is not remarkable for anything
but its size and the marvellous way in which it is lit. It is a
wondrous tomb, and worthy of the greatest sovereign of Egypt.

From this coign of vantage, the view of Cairo, white and

grey, surrounded with gardens through which flows the Nile
in all its majesty, is one never to be forgotten. It lies, an
oasis of verdure and habitation, in the midst of the surrounding
Desert, which stretches far away into the distance, until
lost to view in the infinite. And if, dreaming, you have let
your eyes wander towards where the sun is setting in a purple
glow, of which the reflections light up the white walls of the
city, and if you feel oppressed by the thought of all the centuries
which are gone and their profound mystery, of the future
which lies before, all unknown, then lower your gaze, and at
your feet, on the huge place where religious processions setting
out for Mecca are wont to start, you will see the youth of
Egypt vigorously enjoying a game of football, and, waking
from your dream, you will once more return to an Egypt
à l'anglaise.

It goes without saying that in the country par excellence
of excavations and discoveries archæological and historical,
the Museum is intensely interesting. That of Cairo is a French
work in every way, and one of which to be proud. It was
founded some forty years ago by the famous French Egyptologist,
M. Mariette, on whose death, in 1881, it was taken over
by M. Maspéro, who after five years gave up the post to M.
Grebaut, he in turn being succeeded by M. de Morgan. Once

THE SPHINX AND PYRAMIDS

David Gardiner

more M. Maspéro has taken up the work, and never has there
been a head of a department more esteemed and better loved.

The Museum occupies to-day an immense building, admirably
situated, and only recently finished. There are to be
found the treasures without number which the picks of the
savants have unearthed from their hiding-places, where for
centuries they have rested in peace. Here can be seen in the
crowded halls all the history of Egyptian civilisation stretching
back for thousands of years B.C. Her kings and queens,
her princes and princesses, her soldiers and priests, warriors
and conquests, her funerals and her feasts, all are there in the
shape of mummies with golden masks, statues of stone, granite
and bronze, of bas-reliefs wonderfully worked, of commemorative
tablets, of animals, flowers, furnishing, and tools of every
manner and kind.

I know nothing more affecting than these temples of the
past, where, brought together, lies all which has constituted the
life and, alas! the death of nations once great and powerful;
all that has constituted the glory, the happiness, and the
sorrow of those who, it may be thirty, it may be forty, or it
may be fifty centuries ago, drank of the brimming cup of life
under the same sunshine which warms our blood to-day, and
who have now passed to the great unknown.

The statues, the vases, the altars, the sacrificial stones,
the sarcophagi, the bas-reliefs, all these, I confess, left me cold;
but I was drawn by an invincible power towards the cases
where lay these little things which, thousands of years ago,
had been daily touched by hands then supple and alive, to-day
cold and withered, the hands of these silent forms whose deathly
sleep in their narrow mummy cases has been to-day rudely
disturbed, brutally interrupted by a curious folk, searching,
seeking everywhere, unmindful of the dead. Here lie the
little objects which have graced the toilette of some great
dame, their exquisite jewels which prove how cunning was the
worker in those far-off days. Rings and earrings, charms and
crowns, diadems and pendants, lovely pieces of gold finely
chiselled and incrusted with gems, ornaments, once upon a
time, of princesses and lovely women, powerful and beloved.
Speak of the art nouveau, and the horrors perpetrated to-day

in its name, and I will say to you, “Come hither and see what
these old Egyptians could do, and with what a sure and exquisite
taste they did their work.”

And my emotion increased still more when my eyes, astonished,
rested on those flowers dried and wonderfully preserved,
those flowers which
perchance, one sunny morning, centuries
ago, springing from
the rich earth, were
plucked by a hand
eager and quick with the joy of life, flowers,
may be, to whom
lovers' lips had whispered
words of tenderness and hope.

God! Can it be
that all that, the
essence of the life of
a people, has come to
recall to us across the
centuries the vanity
of earthly hopes?
Amen! you will cry.
So be it, we shall say
no more. Let us
leave the dead to
M. Maspéro and his
fellow savants and let us go forth into the sun, the air, and the
fulness of life.

THE PYRAMID ROAD

Dittrich

There is, to my mind, no more delicious road in the world
than the large and lovely avenue which leads from Cairo
to the Pyramids of Ghizeh, constructed at the entrance to the
Desert. Along its length of seven miles are superb and lofty
trees. At all hours of the day it is full of life: in the morning,
ladies and gentlemen out for a canter; mules, donkeys
and strings of camels, going and coming from the market.
In the afternoon, fashionable Cairo, walking, driving or

motoring, and on the left the electric tramway with its note of
modernity. This magnificent road was made in a few weeks
at the time of the opening of the Suez Canal by the Khedive
Ismail, in order that the Empress Eugénie might drive comfortably
to the Pyramids. The Pyramids! what varied
spectacles they have seen in the forty odd centuries before the
exploits of Napoleon and since! Egyptians, Greeks, Romans,
Turks, French, English, all have come, one by one, to pitch
their tents and unfurl their flags; whilst to-day, tourists of
these and many other nations congregate in their thousands,
fraternising and happy, joining in a pilgrimage of curiosity
and pleasure.

Many are the reasons for which they come. First of all
because they are the Pyramids, and it is necessary to “do”
them; secondly, because it is an object for a very pleasant
outing, and the Desert air, so pure and invigorating, acts as
a tonic on all. Then again there are others who come to be
photographed with the Pyramids, in order to prove to any doubting
person at home that they have really been there, but, alas!
how many of these have been deceived by the pseudo-photographer,
whose outfit has consisted of an empty cigar-box,
a black cloth, and a specious manner. After having posed
with the neck stiff and the body uncomfortable, and having
given his address and a sovereign, he is surprised to hear a
few days later that he has quite spoilt the picture by having
moved.

The precincts of the Pyramids are infested with an army
of Bedouins, these devils of the Desert who, I believe, fear neither
God nor man, and who live for two things only, and which they
often obtain—plunder and women. Clothed in their long
robes, wearing a turban, and armed with a stout stick, they
surround the unfortunate tourists, making them the most tempting
offers to show the Sphinx and the Pyramids, or to ascend
the latter.*

The greatest prudence should be exercised, especially by
ladies, at least by those who are not on the look-out, as it seems

sometimes happens, for a disgusting experience. The ascent
of the Great Pyramid is difficult and tiring. The rapidity
with which the Bedouins accomplish it is truly extraordinary.
Many tourists of both sexes resign themselves to the more
sober joys of watching the performance from below. Two
Bedouins are as a rule sufficient to hoist up a man, but three
at least are required where a lady is concerned. Whilst one of
these miscreants takes her by the hands, the other two push
from behind, and it is then that they find an opportunity for
playing their tricks.

At the foot of the Pyramids, on the borders of the Desert,
is one of the finest hotels in Egypt, Mena House. At the
tea-hour its terraces are crowded with a gay and brilliant
throng. The large and comfortable salons, the delicious
Moorish dining-room, the excellent food, the open-air swimming
bath, the golf course, the Tennis -courts, the croquet lawns,
all go to make a stay at Mena House one of the most pleasant
incidents of a trip to Egypt. The stables are excellent, and
the charges reasonable. Carriages, hacks, donkeys, camels,
and sand-carts, the last small vehicles, with wide flattened
wheels, enabling them to pass over the sand without sinking,
and by their means many a pleasant excursion can be made
into the Desert. There are often at Mena House sporting
meetings, which are very, popular. The camel races are
particularly amusing. These animals seem to understand
perfectly what is going on, and are as keen on winning as
their riders. Last winter, a camel, furious at being passed,
seized in his teeth the leg of the jockey of his more speedy rival,
and bit it with fury.

It is by moonlight that a stroll in the Desert is so charming
when the Sphinx and the Pyramids rise mysteriously from out
the Desert. It is the lovers' hour, and after a good dinner at
Mena House, couples arm-in-arm seek the solitude and the
shadow of the huge monsters of stone who, for thousands of
years, have served as a shelter for their kind. What a thousand
pities that they cannot speak! or perhaps, it is just as well.

There is another charming and popular spot, within half
an hour's rail from Cairo, also in the Desert, but in an opposite
direction. This is Helouan, celebrated for its sulphur waters.

The baths, as well as the Grand Hotel and the Hôtel des Bains,
belong to the “Société des Hôtels Nungovich,” and are perfect
in every way. Here there is no dust, no noise, no dirt; the
air is dry, bracing, and pure, and the calm ideal. There is
another excellent hotel, the Tewfik Palace, besides numerous
pensions.

Helouan lies at the foot of the mountains, on one of which
a sanatorium, El Ayat, has recently been opened. In this
wonderful situation, invalids and convalescents can find every
comfort and convenience. There are, of course, the ubiquitous
golf links, also a racecourse, which, now and then, attracts
the fashionable crowd from Cairo.

So, briefly, I have described the principal amusements of
Cairo. It only remains to say a word or two on those infamous
gambling-hells which are one of the most abominable plagues
of the town.

Places of debauchery, ruin, and perdition, all the efforts
of the Government have not yet succeeded in stamping them
out, simply because the Egyptian Government in the year of
grace 1905 is not master in its own house. Ridiculous as it
may seem, Egypt still remains a Turkish province, whilst the
Ottoman Empire and its dependencies are still bound to the
Foreign Powers by the Capitulations.

In a word, and for those who are ignorant of them, the
Capitulations are clauses in certain treaties, entered into
between Turkey and the Christian Powers, defining their
rights and privileges in Ottoman territory. According to these
Capitulations, foreigners living in Egypt do not come under
Egyptian jurisdiction; they cannot be arrested without the
consent of their Consul, whilst the police may not enter any
house or building belonging to a foreigner unless a representative
of the Consul be present. Egyptian police, standing at
the door of such a house, and hearing the owner being murdered
inside, would have no right to enter to his assistance.

One can easily understand to what abuses such a state of
affairs can lead. I have, in a former chapter, had a good word
to say of the Greek colony in Alexandria. Then I was speaking
of the upper classes. There is another class, that of the
merchants, of whom good also can be said. Admirable men of

business, pioneers of civilisation, they have helped very considerably
in the development both of Egypt and the Sudan.
There is, unfortunately, a third class of Greeks, thieves, smugglers,
fancy men, of the worst description, who are masters
of the lowest depths
of Cairo. For reasons
best known to themselves,
the representatives
of Greece
have given only a
very lukewarm help
to the Government to
put an end to this
shameful state of
affairs. Besides, this
Greek Brotherhood
of vice and crime
seem to have spies
even within the walls
of their Consulates;
for, in a mysterious
and inexplicable
fashion, they continually get wind of
a police raid, officially
accompanied, long
before it takes place.
It is really to be
desired, for the good
of Egypt herself, and
of the respectable
foreign element residing
there, that the Powers should renounce their rights in
this matter of the Capitulations, and leave to the English
and the Egyptians the framing of a system of justice less
complicated.

DANCING GIRL

D. Gardiner

One can easily imagine the state of things which existed
before that great statesman, Nubar Pasha, established the
Mixed Tribunals in 1875. Until that date there were in Egypt

seventeeen different Consular jurisdictions, before whom it was
impossible to obtain justice, when, as often happened, a native
or two Europeans of different nationalities were opposed. The
native had, in some instances, to appear before two or three
different Courts, according to the nationalities of the various
defendants. The claims of foreigners against the Government
increased; and, in the absence of any Court where such
could be adjusted, they were taken in hand by the Consuls,
and, thanks to the feebleness of the Government, led to the
disbursement of many and heavy indemnities.

From the judicial point of view absolute confusion reigned—
a state of things which, at last, could no longer be tolerated,
and which had arisen less from the Capitulations themselves
than from the errors which had gradually been allowed to enter
into the interpretation of the texts, and which had altered their
spirit. To put an end to this Nubar saw but one remedy,
—the establishment of Courts in which European and native
judges should sit together, and to induce the Powers to accept
on behalf of their subjects Courts thus composed, giving every
possible guarantee of impartiality. He did not try to disguise
the difficulty of obtaining the consent of the Powers to a reform
which would tend to lessen the importance of their Consulates,
and from the first he warned the Khedive that, in order to
bring it about that all Europeans should submit to these Courts,
it would be necessary to inspire confidence and give every
guarantee, to do which it would be necessary that the Khedive
should set the example, and that his Government and he himself
should submit themselves to the same Tribunals. This was,
it is true, a lessening of his absolute power, but no one could
object that the rights of the European population were not
protected by these tribunals as against the Government.

The Khedive was the first to suffer from the existing state
of affairs, both as the reigning power and as a private individual
and owner of about one-fifth of all the cultivated land
in Egypt; it was therefore to his own interests to see these
Courts established, and he did not hesitate to give his approval.
The negotiations with the Powers commenced in 1867. In
London, the scheme was warmly welcomed, as also in Berlin.
In Paris, the Emperor was personally all in its favour: “The

idea is great in its simplicity,” he said to Nubar, who had come
to him to explain matters; then he added textually: “But it is a
moral revolution which you are introducing into Egypt, and one
which will exercise a great influence on affairs in the East.”
The audience closed with the promise of the Emperor to recommend
the scheme to his Government. Unfortunately, his
Ministers were not of the same opinion, and the reform encountered
in M. de Moustier, Minister for Foreign Affairs, a
strenuous opposition. This opposition on the part of France
was continued for eight long years, in the course of which the
negotiations suffered many interruptions, but were taken up
afresh on each occasion, thanks to the energetic perseverance
of Nubar. But France was not alone in her opposition to the
reform: the Khedive himself, who had welcomed the scheme
enthusiastically, a scheme by which he had seen a means of
getting rid of the continual interference of the Consuls, and of
establishing an independent Government in Egypt, was not
slow, influenced by interested parties, to see a danger for himself
in the weakening of his absolute power, of which Nubar had
from the beginning advised him.

So, profiting by the difficulties with which the project was
being met in Europe, he stopped more than once the course of
the negotiations. Thence sprang these divergences of opinion
with Nubar, who could not reconcile himself to the abandonment
of a scheme which in his eyes was inextricably bound up
with Egypt and her future welfare. These differences in time
assumed a character so bitter that Nubar, who from the beginning
of the negotiations lived almost constantly in Europe,
was several times completely ignored, in disgrace with the
Khedive. Without allowing himself to be discouraged, he
did not cease to persevere in order to win over Ismail to his
ideas and to obtain his consent to the renewal of the negotiations
with the Powers. At last his efforts were crowned with
success, and the reform took place in 1875.

But Nubar had made many bitter enemies amongst those
who had everything to lose by the establishment of justice,
and who did not hesitate to accuse him of ingratitude, accusations
as unmerited as they were unjust. These enemies relied
above all on the influence exercised by Nubar on the abandonment

PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH

David Gardiner

of the properties of Ismail to the State. But this abandonment
was claimed in. 1878 by the Commission of Inquest,
and it was because Nubar saw no other means of escaping from
a catastrophe that he placed it in his programme as one of
the conditions of his agreeing to form a Ministry, when, on the
eve of bankruptcy, the Khedive, as a last hope, appealing to
his patriotism, recalled him from Paris, where he was living in disgrace.
Egypt was at the end
of her resources, the Government
was being worried by
its creditors, whilst the Commission
of Inquest insisted
on the giving up of the
Khedivial lands, in order to
conclude the loan necessary
for the payment of the most
pressing demands, and thus
avoid bankruptcy. This abandonment
alone could save the
country and the Khedive himself,
and Nubar had the
courage, which no other
Egyptian then possessed, of
telling Ismail so, and advising
his acceptance, adding that
he himself could not otherwise
undertake the responsibility
of forming a Ministry. The
Khedive understood, and after some days' hesitation, natural
enough in the circumstances, he handed over his properties to the
State. And it is certain that if after this statesmanlike and
patriotic act, thanks to which Egypt escaped the threatened
catastrophe, Ismail had kept his promises and had governed
loyally with the Ministry in which, under the presidency of Nubar,
Sir Rivers Wilson and M. de Blignières took part, he would have
remained on the throne to the day of his death, and neither the
revolt of Arabi nor the subsequent events would have taken
place. After the cession of the land and the raising of the loan,
a wise administration, inspiring confidence, would have been

NUBAR

sufficient to re-establish the finances in a few years, and to save
the country from the crisis through which it was passing.
Events have amply proved the soundness of these precautions,
and the excellence of the remedy in which Nubar had insisted
as the price of his co-operation. It was on account of ignoring
these and refusing to submit himself to the carrying out of
this programme that Ismail was obliged to abandon his power.
After having been absolute Lord and Master of Egypt, he could
not bring himself to accept the much more modest rôle of an
almost constitutional Sovereign created by the new régime.

Therein lay his error and the cause of his fall.

Can one in good faith base an accusation of ingratitude
on a measure which Nubar advised the Khedive to accept in
such critical circumstances as being the only one by which he
and the country could be saved? If Ismail had reflected,
he would not have been long in realising the truth, and I can
quote this phrase, uttered by him to several Egyptians whom
he had invited to meet him at Naples, whence he had retired
after his deposition: “My error has lain in not having listened
to Nubar, if I had followed his advice I should still be Khedive
of Egypt and the Sudan.”

The enemies of Nubar, undoubtedly the greatest statesman
Egypt has had, have spread many of the most ridiculous
rumours with regard to him. They have even pretended,
and it is still repeated in Cairo, that he had become a naturalised
Frenchman, but that after the war of 1870 he had
become a German! Needless to say that this stupid accusation
was absolutely unfounded, and that Nubar lived and died
an Ottoman subject. He has also been bitterly reproached
for having favoured England in Egypt, and opposed France.
I do not believe that Nubar ever favoured the policy of
either one country or the other, unless, indeed, by so doing,
he could obtain an immediate benefit for Egypt. Egyptian
first, and loving his country passionately, having dedicated all
his powers to her service, it was natural that he should incline
to those whose assistance he found useful to Egypt. By
training, education, and tastes, he was certainly more French
than English; he had been brought up at the College of Sorreze
in France, where he had contracted many firm friendships:

and it was in France, at Paris, that he sought rest on each
occasion when politics had left to him some leisure moments.

Why not frankly recognise that the policy of different
Governments which have succeeded one another in France
have been unlucky for Egypt?

To conclude this subject, it has, I think, been clearly proved
that Nubar has rendered to Egypt very great and very real
services, and that the most important of these has been the
establishment of the Mixed Tribunals.

Ismail and his reign—Dreams of empire—Follies of a
Sovereign—Fêtes at the opening of the Suez Canal—Rivers of
gold—The Empress Eugénie—Anecdotes—Unpublished history
of the Abyssinian War—Ruin—Mysterious death of the
Finance Minister—European intervention—Exile—Sad death
of a man who, in spite of his faults, was a great Sovereign,
and to whom Egypt owes much—Khedive Tewfik—His life
and death as told by his doctor—The famous accusation of
poisoning.

“My country is no longer in Africa, we now form part of Europe.”

TOMBS OF THE KALIFS

Al Vista

THUS did the Khedive Ismail, grandfather of the present
ruler, one day express himself. He might have added: “By
my folly I have thrown my country into the arms of Europe;
she holds it, and will never release her hold.”

After the formidable effort which Mohamed Ali had made
on behalf of Egypt to cast off the yoke of Turkey, and to play
the part of a great Power, the latter, under the reign of the
Sultans Abbas, and Said, had fallen into a profound lethargy.
She would thus, no doubt, have continued, not to live but rather
to vegetate, had not that madman of great ideas, that illbalanced
genius, that Sovereign, magnificent and unfortunate,
Ismail Pasha, roused her from her torpor, and drawn on her
and on himself the attention of the world. At the same time

for his happiness and for his misfortune, destiny decreed that
the Suez Canal, the concession for which had been granted by
his predecessor, Said, to M. de Lesseps, should be carried out
during his reign.

This magnificent achievement, the glory of France and of
M. de Lesseps, who, with undaunted energy, had brought it
to completion in spite of the
furious opposition of England,
this work, I say, marked the
crowning point of Khedive
Ismail's reign. He wished
that the entire universe should
be a witness to the glory which
the genius of France had shed
on his country, and he brought
together, from every clime,
thousands of important personages,
to witness the opening
of the Canal, and to take
part in the fantastic fêtes
which he had organised.

KHEDIVE ISMAIL

One had never before seen,
nor, probably, will one ever
see again, anything to equal
these. The four thousand
guests of the Khedive,
amongst whom were the
Empress Eugénie, the
Emperor of Austria, and the Crown Prince of Prussia, took
part at Cairo and Ismailiah, in uninterrupted fétes, banquets,
balls, operas, fireworks, gala performances, on the most
lavish and reckless scale. The guests had to spend nothing;
railways, steamers, hotels, carriages, even washing was paid
for them with incredible prodigality. No control was exercised
on the expenditure, and, for weeks, champagne flowed in
palaces and hotels. The latter were paid when they wished,
and as they thought proper, at the Ministry of Finance, where
no one questioned their bills.

The three outstanding figures at these fêtes, of which the

echoes reached to every corner of the earth, were Ismail, the
Empress Eugénie, and de Lesseps. Clothed in a cloud of glory,
the triumph was theirs, and who shall say how many mortals
there were who looked with envy on them? Sic transit gloria!
How short a space of time was necessary to overwhelm and
destroy all their lofty hopes and gorgeous dreams! Who
would have foretold that Ismail, deposed and exiled, would
have died heart-broken, far from his native land; that de
Lesseps, broken down by years, and even more by mental
suffering, would have expired, stricken with grief at the sight
of his name linked to a work which had failed and sown ruin
broadcast; or that that proud and superb Empress, having lost
throne, husband, and child, alone surviving would still be
wandering across the world in mourning and sorrow?

At this time the influence of France in Egypt preponderated.
The sad events of 1870 had not changed the situation,
and two years later we find Ismail still surrounded with
men whose sympathies were altogether French, and who exercised
on him much more influence than his Ministers. Amongst
these intimate advisers of the Khedive must be mentioned:
Barot Bey, his secretary, whose lovely wife had great influence
in Cairo; Dr. Burguiéres Bey, his doctor; Gaston de St.
Maurice, Master of the Horse, come to Cairo on the recommendation
of General Fleury, and who had fitted up magnificent
stables, copied from those of Napoleon III.; Count della Sala,
his equerry, who had served as a captain under Maximilian
in the Mexican War, a man exceedingly popular, especially
with ladies. The Count was the first European to have a
liaison with a Turkish lady of very high rank.

To these three men, forming the immediate entourage
of the Khedive, must be added the name of Count Koszielski,
a Polish gentleman, who, after having served in the Prussian
army, had installed himself in Paris. A man of the world,
of charming manners, living the life of a grand seigneur, and
with great influence, he obtained the post of chef d'escadron
of the Imperial Horse Guards. At the same time it was
reported that he had conquered the heart of an Imperial
Princess and became her lover.

Following on events too numerous to be detailed here,

he gave up his commission in the Imperial Guards and arrived
in Constantinople, at a time when the Poles, like the Hungarians,
all enemies of Russia, were received with open arms.
At the time of the Crimean War he was a Colonel in the Turkish
army, when, on his becoming a General, he took the name of
Seffer Pasha.

Prince Napoleon having been given command of an army
corps, Turkey appointed General Seffer Pasha as his aide-decamp,
and thereafter Prince and General lived together in
perfect harmony, as far as possible from cannon balls and
bullets. At the conclusion of the war, Seffer Pasha, invalided,
was obliged to relinquish his command, and, the doctors advising
a warm climate for the winter, the Sultan recommended Cairo,
asking him at the same time to keep an eye on the Khedive,
whose fancies towards independence were causing him some
anxiety. But Ismail had his own spies at Constantinople,
and, knowing the object of Seffer Pasha's visit, found means
to gain him over by the present of a house, grounds, and
money.

Seffer, French by taste and inclination, joined the clique
of St. Maurice, Burguières and Barot, forming round Ismail
a barrier of French influence which seemed likely to resist
every assault. The first breach occurred when Ismail, driven
by the immediate necessity for money, sold his shares in the
Suez Canal. The £4,000,000 paid him by England opened the
door to English influence.

The Khedive's histoires amoureuses would fill a big volume;
but with all his love for fêtes, pleasures, and recherché suppers
(it was at one of these that he had brought to him on a huge
silver tray a young and celebrated horsewoman) he seldom
sought the company of foreign ladies. From Constantinople
he brought slaves of every type of beauty, and, accustomed
to do everything on a big scale, his harem was composed of
four legitimate wives, with the title of Princess, and 250 concubines.

The fourth wife of Ismail was, they say, a common slave,
quite unknown, who one evening when Ismail had supped not
wisely but too well, having brought his bed to lay on the floor
in Turkish fashion, found favour in his sight. Whether or

not the Khedive ever regretted his action is not known, but
the law of Islam is strict in these matters, and the slave, about
to become a mother, was elevated to the rank of Princess.

The fashion with regard to these things was a curious one.
When one of the wives of the Khedive became enceinte, she was
sent to the Palace of Kasr-el-Nil, known to the wits as the
“Nursery.” After the birth of the child took place, Ismail
gave to the mother a well-furnished Palace supplied with
eunuchs and all the attendants due to her rank. From time
to time he came to pay a visit, bringing with him a sack of
gold, which was placed in a press, and out of which, without
any control, hands full of money were taken for the needs
of the house. And the number of these houses was many.

But the dream of Ismail was the creation of an African
Empire, great and powerful, which, freed from the yoke of
Turkey, would stretch from the Mediterranean to the Equator.
One knows how the Egyptian soldiers conquered the Sudan
and the equatorial provinces. The power of Ismail, at this
time, stretched as far as the Great Lakes, and his dream would
perhaps have taken a definite form had it not been for an
unfortunate event, which marked in a way the commencement
of the setting of his star. I refer to the war against Abyssinia,
of which the particulars are, to this day, wrapped in
mystery.

One knows that a strong Egyptian army sent into Abyssinia
never returned. A few officers only, for the most part
foreigners, having carved a way at the point of their swords
through the masses of the enemy, regained Egypt. One of
these was General Thurneyssen Pasha, a distinguished officer,
a well-known horseman, and celebrated duellist. Thurneyssen,
who is to-day equerry to his Highness the Khedive, first saw
fighting in Mexico under his leader and compatriot, Maximilian
of Austria. After that heroic but unfortunate war he entered
the service of the Khedive Ismail, whom he served with the
greatest devotion, a devotion which he has continued to display
under Tewfik and Abbas Hilmi.

It was from his lips that I heard the details of the Abyssinan
campaign, which I can only briefly recount: Towards the end
of 1874, Munzinger Pasha, a Swiss in the service of Ismail,

was Governor-General of the Egyptian Provinces of the Red
Sea. One day he took by surprise, with only two battalions,
the Abyssinian province of Boghas, situated to the north-west
of Massowah. Munzinger pretended that Egypt had rights
over this province, from whence the Abyssinians were in the
habit of making raids into Egyptian territory. The truth of the
matter is, that, having married
an Abyssinian from this part,
a Christian like most of her
compatriots, and desiring to
please her, he wished to place
the province of Boghas under
Egyptian rule, in order that
he might live there with his
wife during the hot season,
this province lying high above
sea-level and possessing a cool
and bracing climate.

GENERAL THURNEYSSEN PASHA

Dittrich

On news of this attack
reaching the ears of King
John, he was seized with
fury, and sent out several
armed bands, who, entering
Egyptian territory, massacred
a number of the inhabitants.
Irritated by these doings, and
egged on by Munzinger Pasha,
supported by Nubar, the
Khedive Ismail determined to despatch a military expedition
to Abyssinia. The object, presumably, was the punishment
of the Abyssinians; but, in reality, Ismail then at the height
of his power, thought to conquer the country, which, joined
to the equatorial provinces, already occupied in his name
by Sir Samuel Baker, would have formed with Egypt and
the Sudan the vast Empire of his dreams.

The courtiers and flatterers surrounding him, assuring him
that one Egyptian regiment was worth 30,000 Abyssinians,
and Munzinger boasting of his ability to conquer Abyssinia
with two battalions, the Khedive sent a force ridiculously

feeble. It was composed of 4000 men, commanded by a Dane,
Colonel Armdrupp, a distinguished artilleryman, but one
whose knowledge was theoretical rather than practical, as he
had never before seen active service. He was accompanied
by Arakel Bey, a nephew of Nubar, who had just been appointed
Governor of Massowah. This small force, entering Abyssinia,
leaving, here and there, small posts, and reduced by the end of
October to 3000 men, was suddenly attacked by King John
in person, at the head of 30,000 men. The Egyptians were
wiped out to a man, Armdrupp and Arakel Bey perishing
whilst bravely defending themselves. The Abyssinians gave
no quarter, whilst the wounded were finished by thrusts of
a lance. Almost all the corpses were mutilated.

When the news of this disaster arrived in Cairo, Ismail
announced his intention of taking a terrible revenge, and
decided to immediately despatch a powerful force. Organised
with extraordinary rapidity, this consisted of over 15,000 men,
under the command of Ratib Pasha, a Circassian, Sirdar of the
Egyptian army. Thurneyssen, then a Major, was his aide-de
camp, and there were in addition eleven American officers, one
Swiss, one Austrian, one Italian and one Belgian. The Chief
of Staff, and second in command, was General Loring, an American,
and under him was Colonel Dye, also from the States.
The artillery comprised thirty-four cannon and twelve fusées.
On January 24, 1876, the Egyptian army left Massowah,
accompanied by an enormous baggage train, and entered into
the unknown and mysterious country, of which nought was
to be seen but a mass of mountains, seeming in the clear air
to be surrounded with bluish clouds. On March 7 they
encountered the enemy, under King John, and victory seemed
assured when unfortunately one of the Egyptian battalions was
seized with panic. Sword in hand Thurneyssen and the other
officers stopped the fugitives, and were about to re-form when the
cavalry, taken in turn by a mad panic, fled pell-mell through
the infantry. The rout was complete, and seven entire battalions
were, massacred by the enemy. Thanks to the precaution
which had been taken to construct a fort some distance
in the rear, several battalions and most of the foreign officers
managed to save themselves. There they made a stubborn

defence against the 100,000 of the troops of King John, who,
in the end, gave up his prisoners and allowed the Egyptian
force to retire. So ended this unfortunate campaign, which
cost Egypt 10,000 men, and an immense sum in money.

Ismail's financial condition became at this time more and
more critical. Egypt, sucked dry by the Khedive and his
agents, had given up all her resources and all her savings,
everything indeed which the unfortunate people could sacrifice.
Unable to meet his creditors, almost entirely Europeans, to
whom he now owed some £80,000,000, and who were noisily
insisting on the protection of their various Governments,
Ismail was obliged to open the door to European intervention
as represented by England and France.

I have no intention of repeating here the long story of his
difficulties or the efforts of the two Great Powers to restore
order out of chaos. I will rest content with recalling an
event which at the time created a great sensation, and which
is, to this day, much discussed and misrepresented, and in
which a Minister, still living, is made to play a part which
was never his.

I refer to the disappearance and mysterious death of the
Minister of Finance, the Moufetish Ismail Pasha Sadik. This
man, the creature, par excellence, of Ismail, had been the instrument,
clever but cruel, by which Egypt had been bled white.
He alone knew by what awful tortures the millions had been
amassed, and how they had been squandered, not only the
millions of which Ismail had had the use, but those also which
he and his friends had divided amongst themselves.

When England and France had appointed their Commissioners
to inquire into the state of the finances of Egypt,
Ismail understood that his Minister would be amongst the first
to undergo examination, and that there was every probability
that he, to use a vulgar term, would give the show away. The
only possible solution was to have him removed. There are
not lacking those who affirm that he was killed in a mysterious
fashion by order of Ismail. After conversations which I have
had with persons closely connected with this tragedy, I am
convinced that the intention of the Khedive was not to have
his Minister killed, but only kept out of the way. Ismail has

committed faults enough without accusing him of being an
assassin, and at the same time blackening the reputations
of those who were mixed up in the affair.

The following was told me by a person who was present
when the Moufetish was arrested: Under some pretext or
other, Ismail called his Minister, and after having chatted
with him for a short time, he invited him to accompany him
to the Ghezireh Palace, occupied by Prince Hassan. In the
best of humours the Khedive laughingly said: “I must go
and see my daughter-in-law,” whilst, in the carriage, he cracked
jokes and seemed to be particularly happy.

Arrived at the Palace, he entered the apartments of the
Princess, telling the Moufetish to await him, for coffee, on board
a boat, moored in the river opposite the garden. It is at this
point that the versions of the story differ. It is asserted that
the officer on guard was Moustapha Fehmy, to-day Prime
Minister, and that he had received orders to arrest the Moufetish
and, if necessary by force, to take from him his seal of office.
A terrible scene, so says this story, was enacted between the
two men, in the course of which, coming to blows, Moustapha
Fehmy was bitten severely on the hand. Certain persons in
high places in Cairo have assured me that the mark of the
wound is still visible.

According to my informant, who was actually present,
this did not occur. In the first place, Moustapha Fehmy was
no longer then an officer. He had quitted the army on his
appointment as Grand Master of Ceremonies, becoming later
Director of the Daira Cassa. He could not, therefore, have
commanded the guard which arrested the Moufetish. The
truth is that when the latter arrived on board the boat, of
which the officers, devoted to the service of the Khedive, had
received orders not to let him escape, Moustapha Fehmy, by
order of the Khedive, came to him to announce that he was a
prisoner, and to demand his seal of office. The latter refused,
and, mad with rage against the Khedive, the world in general,
and the messenger in particular, he shouted, “You serve an
assassin! May he be damned! Your turn will come … today
it is I, to-morrow it will be you. Curse you, and if harm
comes to me, may my blood be on your head!”

THE MOSQUE OF MOHAMED ALI

Dittrich

To all those who know the Prime Minister, and who know
him not only incapable of any unlawful violence, but to be of
a character of which the chief traits are kindness, gentleness
and sensitiveness, the effect produced on him by these words
will easily be understood, when his rôle had consisted in
simply announcing to Moufetish that, by order of his Sovereign,
he was to consider himself under arrest. Reaching his house,
he was seized by a violent attack of nerves, and for several
days his reason, even his life, hung in the balance. The
greatest care had to be taken to ensure his ultimate recovery.

During this time the boat had weighed anchor and, ascending
the Nile, had arrived at Dongola in the Sudan. There was
on board a guard under a Colonel named Ishak Bey, whose
orders were to treat the Moufetish well, but to prevent him
from escaping, and, above all, to obtain possession of his seal.
The Colonel could find nothing better to do than induce the
unfortunate Minister to drink, knowing that in his state of
health, and under the rays of the Sudanese sun, alcohol was
fatal. Some days after their arrival in this town, Ishak Bey
received imperative orders to recover the seal, and when he
endeavoured to do so a terrible struggle took place betwixt
him and the Moufetish. It was in the course of this struggle
that the officer was severely bitten on the hand, and being
unable to shake off his adversary, he was obliged to kill him.
The wound which he received was of such a nature that, after
his return to Cairo, and for many years after, he was obliged to
wear a glove.

Whilst this tragedy was being enacted at Dongola, official
bulletins, published in Cairo, announced to the public that the
Moufetish, on account of his delicate condition, had ascended
the Nile for the benefit of his health!

Such is the story as it was told to me by a person who is in
a position to know the truth. My impression is that neither
Ismail nor his entourage had thought of an assassination, but
simply of an enforced exile, which the Sovereign considered
indispensable for his interests.

On the fatal road which was leading him to ruin Ismail
was unable to stop, and the hour came when, on the demand
of France and England, who represented the principal creditors,

the Sultan, his Sovereign, deposed him, and, with tears in his
eyes, he entered into exile. First he took refuge at Naples,
in the Palace of La Favorita, which the King of Italy had
placed at his disposal, whilst later he retired definitely to
Constantinople.

His son, Tewfik Pasha, who succeeded him, died before
him, when the present ruler mounted the throne, almost a
stranger to his grandfather. It was a touching scene when,
one day, the young Sovereign and the ancient exile met.

When the Khedivial yacht which carried Abbas Hilmi cast
anchor before Constantinople, a superb boat, urged forward by
many stout oarsmen, advanced rapidly, whilst in the stern,
trembling with emotion, the ancient Khedive sat. He had
come to embrace his grandson, the living representative of his
country; for if there was one thing which Ismail loved even
more than himself, it was the land where he had been born—
Egypt, which, in his dreams, he had seen grow great and powerful.
So, when he felt the end drawing near, he had but one
desire, one thought, to die on the banks of the wondrous Nile,
where he had known joy and sorrow, triumph and humiliation.

He wrote to his grandson, asking humbly for a corner in his
native land, a corner, distant and solitary, where he could
render up his soul to God. Abbas Hilmi would willingly have
consented; but, from high political reasons, the request was
refused by England. The days drew on. The old Khedive
wrote once more. He was dying, the most celebrated physicians
had placed it on record, and to their written word was
attached a photograph, showing, alas, that he was at the gates
of death. He begged that he might be allowed to be carried
to his beloved land. But policy, which knows no sentiment,
gives way not even to death: the refusal was curt and brief,
and Ismail died in exile—far, as they said, from the country
which he had ruined.

Ruined? I often ask myself if Ismail has done to Egypt
all the wrong which is alleged. Certainly he led his country
to bankruptcy and ceased to meet his bills. But, if we examine
his balance-sheet carefully, we are forced to recognise that his
credit was not far off his debit. His huge properties, the Sugar
Works, the State Railways, the Telegraphs, his Palaces, the

Ghezireh Park, the State lands, all represented a colossal
sum, the value of which could not have been far short of the
£100,000,000 which he owed. As the private accounts of
Ismail and those of the State were really one, it must be recognised
that, foolishly as he squandered money on fêtes and amusements,
he also devoted enormous sums to public works, whilst
almost all the greatest and
most important works which
to-day constitute the wealth
of Egypt were begun during
his reign.

The best proof of what I
have just said is that, after
all, no one has lost anything,
and many of the creditors
have been paid sums well over
the amounts actually due to
them.

KHEDIVE TEWFIK

How many millions has
England herself gained owing
to the temporary embarrassment
of Ismail? I shall
give one example only: The
Suez Canal shares, for which
she paid £4,000,000, are to-day
worth £32,000,000. What a
pity for Egypt that England,
who insisted that all the personal property of the Khedive should
pass to the country, and that the Princes, his heirs, should give
up what would have come to them, what a pity, I say, for
Egypt, that England has not considered that these shares
belonged also to the country and that she would give them
up on payment of the £4,000,000! That, indeed, would have
been un beau geste!

Apropos of this, when the affairs of the Daira, once the private
property of Ismail, were wound up, this year with a surplus of
£6,400,000, the heirs of the Khedive, who had abandoned their
rights in favour of the creditors, expressed the opinion that
it would be only right that they should share in this brilliant

operation. But Lord Cromer, with his usual frankness, sent them
about their business.

I had an opportunity of discussing this question with the
Financial Adviser, Sir Vincent Corbett, at the time when
many foreigners were expressing their sympathy with the Princes,
and I now give his reply.

“This is no question of sentiment but one of law, and
which the law alone can decide.
Let us take a simple
example. X. owes £1000 and
cannot pay; he says to Z.,
‘I have a property worth
£1000, will you purchase it
and pay off my debts?’ Z.
does so, arranges with the
creditors, but, instead of reselling
the property at once,
he keeps it, works it up, and
at the end of a certain number
of years, sells it at a big
profit. Has X. any right to
demand a share in that profit?
Evidently not.”

DR. COMANOS PASHA

V. Gaintini

The reasoning is apparently
just, but to it the reply can
be made that the engagements
entered into with the Princes
when they renounced their
rights have not always been
kept. I am assured, for example, that his Highness Prince
Hussen Kamel Pasha ought to have received for land which
he gave up to the State £24,000 per annum in lieu of
£40,000 which the estate would have brought him in. A
short time afterwards this sum was declared to be too high,
and was reduced to £18,000, whilst scarcely a year later it
was further reduced to £12,000, on the plea of the poverty of
Egypt.

If the folly and prodigality of Ismail led to the intervention
of France and England in the affairs of Egypt, so the weakness

of his successor Tewfik Pasha, who was unable to repress the
revolution led by Arabi Pasha, led to the armed intervention of
the English. Tewfik was gentleness and kindness personified.
At the time of his death, which was rather sudden, the rumour
spread abroad that he was on bad terms with the English, who
would willingly have seen him out of the way. From that to
the assertion that he had been poisoned was a short step, and
belief in it spread rapidly.

I had occasion to speak with Dr. Comanos Pasha, physician
to the Khedive, to whom was entrusted the official inquest
on behalf of the Government, when he made the following
statement:

“It is quite wrong to suppose that the Khedive was on
bad terms with the English. They had, on the contrary,
complete confidence in him; and the understanding was so
good between them that, had Tewfik Pasha lived a little longer,
it is almost certain that England would have evacuated Egypt.
His Highness has often said to me in speaking of them, ‘Certainly,
I do not love them; but I am deeply grateful, for it is
to them I owe the fact that, to-day, I am Khedive of Egypt.
Without them, where should I or my children have been?’
Therefore, far from wishing his removal, the English, who knew
that they could count on him, desired that his reign should
continue.”

According to Dr. Comanos Pasha's official report, Khedive
Tewfik died of influenza, complicated by double pneumonia
and acute nephritis. Had Tewfik Pasha the presentiment of
coming death? One would almost believe so when one remembers
that, a few months before his death took place, taking
advantage of the holidays which the heir apparent Abbas
was then enjoying in Egypt, he decreed him to be of age,
although he had not reached the customary number of years.
It was this decree which avoided a Regency, and permitted
the present Khedive to ascend the throne on the death of his
father, although, legally, he had not attained his majority.

His Highness Khedive Abbas Hilmi—The man and the
Sovereign—His accession—His feelings as regards France
and England—First interview at the Abdine Palace—Story
of his Highness' railway—An afternoon at the Palace of
Koubbeh and visit to the estates—Excursion with his Highness
on the Ismailia Canal—Visit to the Palace of Montazah
and lunch with his Highness—Excursion with the Khedive on
his Mariout Railway—The opinion of his Highness on the
present state of affairs and on England's policy in Egypt.

THE KHEDIVE'S STUD-FARM

Al Vista

CALLED suddenly in 1891 to ascend the throne, his Highness
the Khedive Abbas Hilmi left Vienna, where he was finishing
his studies, and arrived in Egypt, with, in spite of his youth,
very clear and decided views in regard to his rights and duties
as a Sovereign. Not having been able to appreciate personally
the rôle which England played in his country, it was only
natural that he should resent the presence of a foreign army
on the soil of his native land, and it was with a heart full of
misgiving that he returned.

A certain number of his entourage, along with several
foreigners, more or less connected with friendly Governments,
all fishers in troubled waters, took advantage of this state of
affairs to urge the young Sovereign, then without experience,
to a complete rupture with England, assuring him that, on the

day of the struggle, French bayonets and Russian Cossacks
would be there to back him up.

Very brave, very sure of himself, the Khedive one day took
the great step and showed England the door; then, looking
round for his backers he found … space. Those even
who had most strongly persuaded him had quietly disappeared.
In 1878, at the gates of Constantinople, England had cried
to Russia, “So far, and no farther!” And the Colossus of the
North had stopped.

Twenty years later, at Fashoda, England cried once more,
this time to France, “Halt!” And the Republic, rich and
powerful, recoiled before the Mistress of the Seas.

So, in reply to the move of the Khedive, the English replied,
“We are the strongest, here we shall remain.” And Egypt,
very weak at this time, had to submit.

It is true that England had the good taste to add: “We
desire nothing more than your welfare, we recognise your
title of Sovereign, and we seek simply to help you with all the
means at our disposal to regenerate your country.”

The blow was a hard one, but it was worth more than ten
years' experience to his Highness. The young Prince knew
then the value of friendships, he understood the weakness of
his country and his own power. He accepted the advice of
England in regard to the administration of his affairs, whilst
jealously guarding all his prerogatives as a Sovereign, and
making them respected.

At first he refused the hand of friendship which had been
held out to him, for he desired before giving his confidence to
the English to see them at work, so that relations at that time
were cold, official, and distant. With extraordinary determination
and energy he set himself to study the needs of his
country; and, little by little, the knowledge dawned on him
that England was keeping her word, and was working sincerely
and honestly for the good of Egypt.

Then, and only then, was peace made, and the year which
saw the rapprochement between England and France also saw
his Highness paying a friendly visit to King Edward, fêted
and petted by London.

In the course of many conversations I have had with the

Khedive, he has himself assured me that his relations with
England, with his English Advisers and other Councillors
and employees, are excellent, and that there is no desire on his
part or on that of his Ministers to thwart in any way the work
of civilisation and regeneration, with which he associates himself
with his whole heart. I am also able to declare that his
Highness is satisfied with the existing condition of affairs,
and that, until Egypt shall have attained to a degree of civilisation
and power which will permit her to stand by herself, she
infinitely prefers to lean on England and to profit by the advice
of the greatest colonising nation on the face of the earth, than
seek help from any other of the great Powers. This does not
prevent Abbas Hilmi from having for certain of these Powers
a real affection and a profound admiration. His Highness has
a special liking for France, where each year, at Divonne, he
spends a summer holiday, living quietly there the life of an
ordinary French gentleman.

The popular imagination which would like to represent the
Khedive in a luxurious Palace, passing his days lolling on a sofa
in the midst of a mass of cushions, eating sweetmeats or smoking
a hubble-bubble, inhaling the perfume of flowers—the popular
imagination I say would receive a severe shock in learning
that the Khedive is in fact the busiest man in Egypt. It
would be difficult for any man to lead a fuller, more active
and more energetic life. Official duties, laws to study,
decrees to sign, Ministerial Councils to preside over, audiences,
receptions, reviews, all the occupations, in fact, of a Sovereign
would be considered by most to be work enough. Nevertheless,
besides these, his Highness finds time for breeding live-stock
and for farming on a large scale, for improving his properties,
for constructing entire new quarters in both town and village,
for bringing under cultivation huge tracts of land up till now
arid and abandoned, for travelling over by rail, yacht, dahabeah,
carriage and motor, on horseback or camelback, his vast
estates, and above all, for constructing, with his own money,
a line of railway, destined to unite Tripoli with Egypt. Neither
must it be thought that the Khedive only occupies himself
with the outlines of these schemes, leaving to others the filling
in of details. That would be a great error.

His Highness certainly possesses advisers and employees
of undoubted value, such as the Head of his Daira Kassa
(Household), his Excellency de Martino Pasha, who renders
him great services; but it is none the less true that the Khedive
studies deeply all questions which
touch on his interests, and makes
himself master of every detail.

The principal residences of the
Khedive are: the Palace d'Abdine,
at Cairo, where all official receptions
take place; the Palace of Koubbeh,
in the country, six miles from town,
where his Highness spends the greater
part of the year with his august
spouse, the Khedivah, and their
children; the Palace of Alexandria;
and finally, the Palace of Montazah,
situated on the sea-shore some few
miles from that port.

H.E. DE MARTINO PASHA

Dittrich

It was at the Palace d'Abdine
that I had first the honour of being
received by his Highness in company
with the Hon. W. Riddle, the
United States Minister. The time
is long since past when any unimportant
Consul could present himself
at the Palace in short jacket and soft
hat, asking audience, whether it
suited the Khedive or not. What
the weakness of Tewfik had allowed
had short shrift when he was gone,
and Abbas Hilmi knew from the first
day how to play the part of Sovereign, and as such to demand
the respect due to him. It is hardly needful to add, therefore,
that, as in all the Foreign Courts, the representatives of other
countries must address their demand for an audience to the
Grand Master of Ceremonies, who transmits it to his Highness,
and that one cannot be received except in full uniform or
frock-coat and tall hat. Below, in the Hall, the soldiers of

the guard are lined up, whilst at the head of the staircase we
find the Masters of the Ceremonies and Chamberlains, who
introduce us into a huge ante-room. After a few minutes have
passed we are conducted into the reception-room, where his
Highness awaits us. He comes towards us smiling, his hand
outstretched, and after a vigorous shake, we seat ourselves,
and, cigarettes lighted, begin
our conversation, first of all in
English, then in French. The
Khedive speaks both languages
perfectly, besides German and,
naturally, Turkish and Arabic.

Even his bitterest political
enemies acknowledge willingly
the personal charm of this
Prince. One of them had said
to me: “Certainly, you will
find him charming, that is just
the word one would apply, he
is a charmer and he will charm
you, but—look out!” I did
not “look out,” nor do I find
myself any the worse.

H.E. BOUTROS PASHA, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Reiser

The conversation turned
to the voyage which I contemplated
taking into the
Sudan and on the African
railways. I took the liberty
of asking information from his Highness in regard to the line
of railway which he is constructing at his own expense between
Alexandria and Tripoli.

He replied as follows: “The country which extends to the
west of Alexandria towards Tripoli is quite unknown to
travellers. It is generally thought to be an immense desert,
with a few oases, distant twenty or thirty days' camel march.
Nevertheless, a huge number of caravans cross this desert, either
from these oases or from Tripoli, bringing all manner of goods
to the Alexandria markets.

“I decided one day to make a long trip on horseback

through this unknown land. To my great surprise, instead of
finding a sandy desert as I had expected, I found a rich soil
excellently suited to cultivation. The soil is not as dark in
colour as that watered by the Nile, but it is evident that it
has, under the Romans, supported a large population. Everywhere
we saw the remains of towns, villages, and farms,
occupied at one time by the Romans. There are in this
supposed desert enough stones to build a hundred villages.

“One evening I pitched my camp by the side of the great
track. I had not a wink of sleep. The whole night through
an uninterrupted procession of caravans passed. So, whilst
listening through the long hours to the heavy, slow tread of the
camels, and the shrill whistle of their drivers, I thought of the
hours, days, weeks, even months which these Bedouins
spent on the journey, and I said to myself: ‘Since there are
so many of them why not make a railway? It will be a
good thing for them, and, very likely, a good thing for the
makers.’

“When later on, far away towards Tripoli, I saw the rich
oases whose products were tied up, the cattle which could not
be sold, the animals fed on figs and dates for which there was
no market, my mind was soon made up, I set to work immediately
and began the construction of the line.”

“And the results have been satisfactory?” I asked.

“Satisfactory? I am delighted. So far I have only laid
down about sixty miles, but already, in goods alone and for the
first year, we have carried 1000 tons, this year we shall reach
6000 and more. At the beginning I put down a narrow-gauge
track, but that I soon found out was a mistake, and now
we have the standard gauge. As we proceed towards the oases,
traffic will become more and more important. Lately I was
present at a large market held at the terminus of the line.
Caravans had come in from Tripoli itself, and to give you an
idea of the importance of the meeting, I can tell you that there
were no less than 22,000 sheep there. The market itself was
most picturesque, for there the Bedouins in the most primitive
state had come together. Much of the business done was
simple barter, very little money being current. A horse could
be had for forty francs. My intention is to encourage the

population to open in the villages served by the railway
markets and fairs on fixed dates.”

“And finally,” I said, “to where does your Highness
intend to extend the line?”

Quite excited, his face lit up with mingled energy and hope,
the Khedive replied:

“To where? Why certainly in time to the frontiers of
Tripoli, when I hope that there will then be men intelligent
and enterprising enough to construct a line from there
which will join with mine. Think how one could then come
to Egypt, with a sea passage from Messina to Tripoli of only
fifteen hours, instead of the three days necessary from
Brindisi to Alexandria, or the five days from Marseilles to the
same port.

“A train de luxe leaving Paris and Berlin would carry
passengers to Messina, whilst another would conduct them from
Tripoli to Cairo. This service could run twice or three times
a week or even daily in the high season.”

Talking of railways led the Khedive to tell us the following
story of his sister, the Princess Hadidja Hanum, who with her
husband, Prince Abbas Alim, had visited the St. Louis
Exhibition:

“I have always had a great desire,” he said, “to visit the
States, and never dreamed that my sister would go there before
me. When she returned she brought me a magnificent collection
of photographs, several of which were taken under anything
but ordinary circumstances. Once, for instance, the
Princess had the bad luck to meet with a railway accident,
but, instead of losing her presence of mind like most of the
people round her, she calmly photographed the unusual scene.
Then again when she found herself on board a petrol boat
which had taken fire, she did the same.”

So this Egyptian Princess, in the land of the strong-minded
and independent woman, showed her calmness and presence
of mind.

It is not only towards the frontier of Tripoli that his
Highness has directed his energies. In the heart of Cairo itself
he has shown an example to his subjects of how to build. I
have already mentioned in a previous chapter how the entire

population of this city has been bitten by the mania for building.
On all sides new erections are springing up; but, as the builders
are anxious only to make money and make it quickly, the houses
are badly constructed, and as cheaply as possible, so that
as rents are very high, 12 to 15 per cent. is easily returned on

THE CHILDREN OF H.H. THE KHEDIVE

Dittrich

the capital expended. But how long will these miserable
barraks last?

His Highness decided to build and create an entirely new
quarter, but not on the lines of the jerry-builder. The flats
which he is erecting on his property will be the first thoroughly
up-to-date houses in Cairo, containing every modern comfort,
lift, telephone, bath-room, &c. But they will only return
7 or 8 per cent. However, there is every chance that they will
continue to yield this long after the 15 per cent. tenements
will have collapsed.

A short time after my return from the Soudan, I had an
audience of the Khedive at Abdine, where his Highness very
kindly invited me to spend an afternoon with him at his Palace
of Koubbeh. A pleasant drive of about an hour brought me
to my destination. I had scarcely mounted the marble steps
before I saw his Highness approaching, without any ceremony,
one hand outstretched in welcome, the other in the pocket of
his flannel jacket.

“Charmed to see you in my real home,” he said, leading
me into a salon, where, seated on a large sofa, he added, “for,
you see, this is where I really live, never at Cairo. The Palace
d'Abdine only serves for official receptions, and I have never
once slept there. Even after the annual ball which I give,
in the middle of the night I return here.

“I love this country, where, though within easy reach of
town and my Ministers, I can find quiet, and where, laying
aside etiquette and form, I can live the life of a gentleman
farmer.”

On a table at his side his Highness unrolled a large coloured
plan of his property, on which he showed me the tour which
we were to take together. Within a huge circle all the land
belonged to him, whilst a mile or two further on, on the banks
of the Ismailiah Canal, his Highness possesses another magnificent
estate. His dream had been to join this up with that of
Koubbeh, but the value of the ground had increased to such
an extent and with such rapidity that he has found it
impossible.

“These lands,” explained his Highness, “are the best in
Egypt. I purchased mine a few years ago for £30 a feddan
(about 4400 square metres), to-day I cannot buy a feddan
more for £200.

“You will no doubt have noticed,” he continued, “that
my family has no old castles, no old palaces, with the
exception of the official one at Cairo, and it is impossible for
me to speak of the homes of my ancestors. Custom decrees
that the Palaces inhabited by them during their lives
always in the country, shall at their deaths be destroyed.
This property is the only one which has been more or less
inhabited since the time of Ibrahim Pasha, but it was then only

A TURNER

David Gardiner

a small building. I have myself had this huge Palace erected,
and all the outbuildings which I am about to show you.”

From the top of the steps I noticed that the garden was
in a state of confusion, huge ditches, heaps of stones and a
hundred or so of men busy with pick and shovel.

“I am entirely remaking my garden,” explained the Khedive
,”and for the work I have brought from France the
greatest master of modern gardening, M. Andre.”

At the foot of the marble staircase a small basket phaeton,

PUPILS OF THE KHEDIVE'S PRIVATE SCHOOL

Sanderson

shaded by a huge umbrella and drawn by a couple of smart
little ponies, awaited us. His Highness took the reins, I seated
myself by his side, and, accompanied by a single groom perched
behind, we drove off at a rattling pace, under the practised
guidance of the Khedive. Following a long shady avenue,
consisting of old trees, and passing a little mosque whose
minaret shone clear against the deep blue of the sky, we entered
a charming garden, in the centre of which rose a building of
bright and pleasant appearance.

“I am taking you,” explained his Highness, “to the
private school which I have founded, and where I have some
two hundred children educated at my expense. Their course
of study continues for five years, at the end of which I find
them billets on one or other of my properties. In a word, I
manufacture here all the servants and employees I require.”

I had never before seen a school-house so airy, so sunny,

and so gay, and I could hardly hide my surprise. The lightcoloured
walls were covered with pictures and designs, whilst
air and sunshine streamed in at the immense windows. The
children of the first and second classes wear the fez and white
Egyptian robes, whilst in the other three classes, the scholars,
now almost grown up, wear a uniform of white linen with
gilt buttons. Everything was so clean, so dainty, that I
quite envied these little urchins with their clever and happy
faces.

The curriculum is a special one, having for its object the
making of good stewards and bailiffs. Reading, writing and
arithmetic are taught, also care of man and beast, surveying,
&c. It is an exceedingly interesting work, and does honour to
his Highness and to the teachers, who evidently have at heart
the maintenance of a very high degree of efficiency.

Re-entering the carriage we visited successively the huge
buildings in which are stored the cotton crops, the record
offices, the fire-brigade station, and at last, after the ponies had
given us a taste of their galloping powers, the huge stud-farm,
where his Highness rears innumerable horses, amongst
which I caught a glimpse of some beautiful young Arab
thoroughbreds. Further on, in the green pastures, were the
lovely Swiss and Jersey cows, and, huge and wonderful, the
ghamousahs. Those who have only seen the thin miserable
ghamousahs of the poor peasant would hardly recognise
as the same animal the beautiful specimens of his Highness.

Leaving the Koubbeh property and preceded by a mounted
gendarme, we rapidly covered the country separating us from
the second estate. In the villages which we passed through,
the inhabitants ran forward to greet their Sovereign with a
graceful salute, bowing low and laying their right hands on
their hearts. We arrived shortly at a large stretch of land
lying considerably higher than the surrounding country, at
the end of which was a large brickfield.

“This land,” explained the Khedive, “lay so high that it
was always impossible to irrigate it, and it was therefore considered
good for nothing. However, I found out that the
earth was excellent for brick-making, so I purchased it, and now,
whilst making bricks, I am gradually bringing it down to the

level of the surrounding country. These bricks bring me in
more than the cost of the land and the work.”

Passing through the highly cultivated fields and plantations
of cotton, the growing of which the Khedive, himself an expert,
clearly explained, we arrived at the Ismailia Canal, where his
Highness has placed a steam-engine which, after pumping
water during the day, supplies the power for the electric light
at night.

At last, after a visit to the little villages constructed for
his labourers, we stopped on our return in the garden, where an
immense tree, broken down with age, spreads its branches,
many of which are dead. It is the tree of the Virgin, the tree
under which tradition says the Holy Family rested.

“What do you think?” said the Khedive. “In his guide-book
on Egypt, M. Joanne relates that the tree of the Virgin
is situated in the garden of an old Copt! I had the pleasure
of meeting M. Joanne one summer at Divonne, when I said
to him, ‘My dear Sir, I am willing to pass the “old,” but a
“Copt,” no, thank you!’”

Entering the Palace once more, ices were brought us, and
whilst for an hour I sat there, under the charm of his conversation,
of the historical recollections which he brought to
life, I admired his keen wit, his power of sound criticism,
and his large and broad-minded outlook on affairs. He has a
truly wonderful memory, and a circle of acquaintances as varied
as it is numerous.

Some time after this visit, the Khedive invited me to make
another and very interesting excursion with him. Leaving the
Palace of Koubbeh at nine in the morning, we drove as far as
the Ismailia Canal, where one of his Highness's yachts awaited
us. Standing on the bridge, he took the wheel and we began
our voyage.

“This canal,” remarked the Khedive, “runs from Cairo
to Ismailia, whence it carries the fresh water of the Nile. Like
so many other important works it is due to the initiative of
French engineers. They even thought of widening and
deepening it in order to make Cairo a seaport. Ah!” added
his Highness, “how many things in this country are due to the
enterprise and labour of France! I was calculating the other

day that her material interests in Egypt must amount to over
£200,000,000, and she has abandoned all that for Morocco,
in which she has none.”

Whilst he was speaking I took the opportunity of watching
this Sovereign, so simple, so wholly un-oriental, clad in a suit
of tweeds, yellow boots, not a jewel, not a decoration, with
every look of the perfect gentleman, to which was added,
for the time being, that of the skilled yachtsman.

Soon we passed the prison of Abou Zabaâd, the largest in
Egypt, where several hundreds of convicts, strictly watched

A CANAL

Al Vista

over by armed guards, are employed in breaking stones. Under
the sand of the Desert, at a depth of a few yards, are beds of
stone, much in demand at Cairo and elsewhere. The convicts,
at the approach of the Khedivial yacht, were drawn up alongside
the canal, with backs turned, for those poor wretches
have not even the right of looking on their Sovereign. The
guards alone fronted and saluted. The prison passed, the
Khedive handed over the wheel to the captain, and making me
sit at his side, he said:

“I am going to tell you now the history of the estate
which we are about to visit. Some years ago, travelling on this
canal, I noticed, as you may now, that on the left bank
the lands, properly irrigated by the Nile water which the
canal has brought for many years, are highly cultivated and
very rich. Look at them. Have you ever seen a richer or more
fruitful soil? The villages are numerous and the people

EXTERIOR OF A MOSQUE, CAIRO

David Gardiner

prosperous. On the contrary, to the right there lay nothing
but pestilential swamps, holes and hillocks, quagmires stretching
back for one or two miles, and after that, the Desert, rising
to a certain height, for, as you know, the Desert is far from
being always flat and low.

“Suddenly an idea struck me. You know how it is only
necessary to bring the Nile water on to the sand of the Desert
to make it fertile. I thought then, that in filling up these
marshes, in levelling them and covering them with sand brought
from the Desert, and finally in making the necessary irrigation
works, I could obtain excellent land.

“Etiquette alone prevented those to whom I spoke of my
scheme from laughing in my face and calling me a fool, but they
could not prevent my seeing that they considered it impossible
. In spite of all these adverse opinions I set to work,
buying the land, and appealing to the population on the other
bank. Hundreds of bullocks and mules were employed in
doing the work.

“At last, to make a long story short, the experiment,
begun on a small scale, has succeeded far beyond my hopes.
To-day I have an estate of 2500 feddans. Everything included,
the land had cost me £15 per feddan. What happened then?
The villagers on the other side of the canal are fighting for who
shall have the use of the land, and I now lease it at about £5
per feddan, an operation which brings me in a clear 30 per
cent.

“Content? Of course I am; but my satisfaction comes
less, I can assure you, from my success as a financier than from
the pleasure I have gained in seeing these dead lands brought
back to life, and to see the crops green or golden stretch out
to-day where yesterday was arid sand or hideous swamps.
Look around you. Formerly there was nothing here but
marshes and quagmires.”

And, in fact, as far as the eye could see, to the beginning
of the Great Desert, the canal was bordered on our right by
fields admirably tilled, and giving all the signs of a great
fertility.

“And think,” said his Highness, “that from the first year
we took crops off this land, which yesterday was sand, and that

without a trace of manure! The waters of the Nile and the
sunshine of Egypt were all that were required to perform this
miracle.”

Towards mid-day we arrived at the outskirts of the estate,
where the Khedive is at present building huge stables and
cattle-sheds, also a large dwelling-house for his steward and his
employees, a house in which he is reserving for himself a very
comfortable pied-aà-terre. As the building is not yet ready,
his Highness, who pays a visit every week, keeps a superb

KHEDIVE'S DAHABEAH

Sanderson

dahabeah, one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, on board
of which he has a large bedroom, bath-room, drawing-room,
dining-room, &c.

It was on the dahabeah that we lunched en teâte-aà-teáte,
a deàjeuner simple but good, to which his Highness, a famous
trencherman, did due honour; whilst I, with an appetite whetted
by our long journey, played an excellent second. The Khedive
touches no alcohol, does not smoke, and will not gamble.

“Believe me,” he said, whilst leaving me to enjoy a liqueur
alone and to smoke a rare cigar, “I do not pose as a saint.
Wine does not agree with me, nor does tobacco, and gambling
is a thing I simply fail to understand. I have passed hours at
Ostend watching the players lose and gain thousands, but
nothing on earth would have persuaded me to do the same.
With me dislike of gambling is instinctive, I take no credit
for it.”

Conversation having thus turned to the subject of vice
we spoke of Cairo, when his Highness informed me that in this
town prostitution is hereditary, descending from mother to
daughter! This awful condition of affairs is due to atavism,
these women resembling beasts rather than human beings.
They are in all things absolutely ignorant, except, unfortunately,
in what concerns vice. At that, alas, they are expert, before
the age of puberty.

“And what is most terrible,” he said, “is that at the age
of twelve or fourteen years these girls are affected by the most
terrible diseases, which they spread amongst our soldiers. We
are obliged to examine all those whom we send into the Sudan,
in order that the germs of these diseases should not be spread.”

His Highness went on to talk of his last visit to England
and of the many amusing incidents which had occurred. He
often closed his eyes … to see clearer. What a thousand
pities it is that he cannot publish his impressions! Ce serait
deálicieux.

“But of all these pleasant recollections,” he said, “the
pleasantest is that left on my mind by King Edward, for
whom both as a Sovereign and a man I have a deep and
sincere admiration.”

During the lunch, heavy black clouds, such as I had never
before seen in Egypt, had swung overhead, the wind whistled,
and soon there came down a perfect deluge. But the Khedive
fears neither wind nor rain, and, without overcoats, we mounted
our horses and proceeded to visit the different parts of the
estate. In the course of our ride I saw land already two years
under cultivation, with young crops of wheat, barley, or onions,
others newly sown, others again, on which the levelling had
just been completed and finished, which were now being irrigated
, and, lastly, those which were still in the course of being
levelled.

Animals are no longer being used for Bringing the sand
from the desert, a small railway of the Decauville type having
been laid down. Two trains, each composed of twenty waggons,
come and go continually. The thirty-five journeys a day made
by these trains are calculated to do the work of 400 mules.
But to me the most interesting sight was the way in which the

sand, once deposited at the required spot, was levelled by a
process certainly unknown elsewhere. Thirty bullocks, harnessed

LEVELLING LAND WITH BULLOCKS

Al Vista

to what appeared to be huge boxes, each with an arm
allowing them to be raised or lowered, turn in a circle, their

H.H. THE KHEDIVE WATCHING THE LEVELLING

Al Vista

boxes being filled where the earth is raised, and emptied where
it is hollow. The contrast between the railway, so modern
and so noisy, and the silent bullocks with their ancient but

effective leveller, was most striking. The Khedive loves thus
to visit his estates, far from the noise of the town, and to take
a run over them, accompanied by his steward.

After having returned for a snack on board the dahabeah
we proceeded on horseback through a drenching rain to the
station of Euchas, where the special train of his Highness
awaited to take us back to Cairo.

At the beginning of this chapter I had something to say
in regard to the railway at present being laid down, at Abbas
Hilmi's private expense, between Alexandria and Tripoli.
Knowing my interest in these questions, his Highness expressed
the desire that, before my departure from Egypt, I should pass
the day with him in making a short tour of inspection of the
new line. On this occasion it was at the Palace of Montazah
that I was received by the Khedive, shortly before 9 A.M.
Of all the Khedivial Palaces Montazah is the least known.
In fact, with the exception of his intimate friends, a few
advisers and others invited there for special purposes, no one
knows Montazah: it is considered as a sanctuary, where the
public is not admitted, and where official functions are generally
taboo. What is vaguely known of it is that, only a few years
ago, the ground covered by this property was a wilderness
of sand dunes, which Abbas Hilmi, with his customary energy,
has transformed into a garden of delight. My train took me
to the private station at Montazah, where I found a carriage
waiting.

The entrance to the estate is guarded by immense gates of
stone, in the semblance of a citadel; behind lie beautiful
avenues of trees, lined with flower-beds and nurseries, at the
end of which, and in the midst of clumps of trees. two white
Palaces overlook the sea, whose blue stretches far into the
distance to mix with the deeper azure of the sky, whilst between
the two gleam the white and graceful sails of many native
craft. On the immense terrace of the Palace his Highness
awaited me and led me into his study, a large room, bright and
sunny. Here everything speaks of the works which interest
the Sovereign. The walls are covered with maps and plans
of his estates, the tables loaded with reports and estimates.
Behind his desk I noticed a large photograph of a powerful

locomotive, “belonging,” his Highness explained, “to the
Northern Railway Company of France, and on which, between
Paris and Calais, I once did seventy-eight miles an hour.”
A few minutes later we were seated in a small trap drawn by
two very old ponies.

“These are the first I ever had,” said the Khedive, “given
to me as a child to teach me to drive. Would you believe it
that they are twenty-five years old? They live here happy and

PALACE OF MONTAZAH

Al Vista

peaceful in quiet retirement. I only use them now for short
drives, but you will see what pluck they still have and how
they rush their hills.”

Following a beautiful road, planted with trees, we reached
a quay of dressed stone, which runs round the entire bay of
Montazah, and forms an excellent harbour.

“Here,” said the Khedive, “I have wished to have a home
for spring and autumn. I began modestly, buying a few acres
of sand dunes. To them I brought the water of the Nile, and
immediately, the sand, transformed into soil, became fruitful
trees and flowers sprang up. Then, little by little, I added and
added, until now I have created quite an estate, consisting
to-day of 4000 feddans.

“First of all I built a small Palace for my own use; later
I had a second Palace built for my family in a veritable oasis.

The children are so happy here and enjoy their perfect liberty
so much that it is a pleasure to bring them.”

Round about the Palace, scattered in the grounds, are
summer-houses, grottos, masses of flowers, wild and cultivated,
and in a little creek, shallow and sheltered, the salt-water bath
for the young Princes. Further on are large hen-houses and
rabbit hutches, the latter on a rocky piece of soil where the
rabbits cannot burrow and escape; a monster dovecot, containing
thousands of birds, from the top of which can be had a
superb view of the estate and the Mediterranean coast line as
far as Alexandria. Across the fields, ablaze with poppies,
the road leads past fir plantations to a small park where
fifteen thousand mulberry bushes have been planted, the leaves
of which serve for food for innumerable silkworms. Thence
we passed to the farms, the stables, and, lastly, to the engine-house,
where two enormous dynamos furnish the electric light
necessary.

“I will show you,” said his Highness, “the use to which
we put this power in the daytime. Come in here and have a
look at the joiners' shop and the saw -mill. Here we make the
doors, windows, all the woodwork required by all the houses
on all my estates, as well as the finer class of work, such as the
Arabic carving for my Palaces.”

It was a pleasant sight, this up-to-date carpenters' shop,
with its workmen smiling and happy, stopping their work to
greet us. His Highness had a word for all, examining their
work, praising, criticising. Many of the workmen had been
in his service for more than ten years. With his workmen
as with his servants, if they do their work well, the Khedive
is an excellent master. He does for them all that he can, but
he is exacting and expects everything in return. The workmen
were well-dressed, and I noticed with astonishment that
one of them was indulging in beautiful socks and patent leather
pumps. “Don't be surprised,” said the Khedive; “he comes
from Alexandria, and the Alexandrians are the most coquettish
people in the world. They would rather starve than be illdressed.”
And I, astonished at the elegance of the fair ladies
I had seen there!

We stopped for a moment before a small building containing

the private telegraph and telephone of his Highness. The
Khedive has found means to be independent of the English
in this matter, and is able to wire to any place in Europe without
making use of the English cables. This has been accomplished
by the simple expedient of uniting Montazah by a private
wire with the Ottoman telegraphs, which run from the frontier
to Constantinople by way of Asia Minor. Montazah being
connected by telephone with the other Khedivial Palaces,
his Highness is thus quite independent.

Through an avenue bordered with orange-trees in flower,
and lined with nurseries of young apricot and peach-trees,
we returned to the Palace for lunch. In the large dining-room,
the enormous table was bare, but at a small table in a bow
window two places were laid. The lunch was excellent, and
during its course I had occasion to admire the exquisite service
of gold, which I was glad to hear had come from Paris, from
Leroy in fact. It was during this lunch that I had the opportunity
of discussing the question of religion with his Highness.
I was aware that the Khedive was very religious, and that
on this question his intransigeance was extreme. Whilst
respecting the other religions which are established in Egypt,
he absolutely forbids any foreign interference in the affairs
of the religion of which in Egypt he is head. The English are
well aware of this fact, and have clearly declared that they
have no desire to interfere.

“It is a question,” he said to me, “on which I consult
my conscience alone, and nothing can influence it. They could
cut my head off before I should renounce one of these rights
or duties which I consider sacred. In this question I have
my whole people with me, and they, no more than I, would
permit the smallest attack on our beliefs.”

“I have heard it asserted, Sir, in certain quarters, that
you had a dream of replacing, with the help of England, the
Sultan as the head of the Mussulman world, of seizing Mecca,
and being proclaimed Chief of Islam.”

“That is nonsense,” replied his Highness, shrugging his
shoulders, “a slander put into circulation by men to whose
interest it is to harm me in the eyes of the Sultan.”

“Then, Sir, to put it in a different way, do you not believe

THE COURT OF A MOSQUE, CAIRO

David Gardiner

that England may have thought of making use of your High-ness
and of the Mussulmans of Egypt and India to counteract
German influence at Constantinople?”

“Thoughts come and thoughts go. Englishmen may have
had such ideas, but I doubt it. They should know by this time
that I would not lend myself to any combination which would
have the effect of allowing a Christian nation to influence the
destinies of Islam. And besides,” he added, “I fail to see in
what way England would benefit.”

My own opinion is that it would be no advantage to England
to increase the power of the Khedive and to put into his hands,
with the hope of controlling it, the immense power of Islam,
which would enable him one day to rise, if he wished, against
his protectors with a very real chance of success—for we know
what Mussulman fanaticism can do once it is roused.

Immediately after lunch we left the Palace for the station,
where we found the train of which his Highness makes use
on his excursions along the Mariout line. It was composed of
a locomotive, almost entirely covered with brass, brilliantly
polished, whilst the latter part was formed by a glass-panelled
salon, from whence the Sovereign himself could drive the
train. To this unique engine was attached a large saloon car
and an ordinary carriage for the servants, who had brought
with them our five o'clock tea, or rather ices.

Rapidly covering the distance between Montazah and
Alexandria with its suburbs, we arrived at the terminus of the
State Railways, the station and sheds of which serve equally
for his Highness's line. On all sides lay enormous heaps of
rails, bolts, and nuts, for use on the new line. At a short
distance from the station, the railway crosses, by an embankment
some three miles in extent, the Lake of Mariout, composed,
as one could tell from the enormous blocks of salt alongside
the embankment, of salt water. The new line has now a
length of sixty miles, not, as many suppose, across barren
desert, but through highly cultivated land, a large quantity
of which his Highness has bought.

We were now in the land of the Bedouins, those terrible
freebooters, armed with their long guns, who, far from being
opposed to the railway, are intensely interested in it. Many

of them work on the line as well as on the construction of the
telephone, of which over one hundred miles were then complete.
Business is brisk, and the trains which we pass, carrying
men, animals and goods, are crowded.

Charming little villages, constructed by his Highness,
replace here and there the wretched tents in which the Bedouins
lived; and there is no doubt that the inhabitants of this lost

H.H. THE KHEDIVE AND—

and forgotten land are only too pleased that the Khedive has
come to call them to another and a better existence. If at
first they were somewhat shy, to-day they have become quite
friendly, and they await with impatience the time when the
line shall be completed, and a regular and paying trade established
between the rich country of Tripoli and the markets
of Alexandria and Cairo.

We had our refreshment at the actual terminus, in the door-way
of a small house, simple as the tent of a soldier, in which
the Khedive resides occasionally when inspecting the works,
and from which we could hear the Bedouins, under the direction
of his Highness's officers, singing at their task of completing
the two hundred miles which still separates them from the
frontier of Tripoli.

Whilst seated in the saloon car on our return journey the
Khedive explained that this line, entirely a business one and

a private one in every meaning of the word, had not, and could
not have, any political purpose; only certain people, who have
now awakened to the commercial importance of the scheme,
would like to create trouble by hinting that the Khedive has
political ends in view. But the two most interested Powers,
Turkey and Italy, know perfectly that the Mariout Railway
is not and will not become a menace, but will constitute a

A TRAIN ON HIS NEW RAILWAY

Al Vista

rapid outlet for the products of which this lovely country is
full.

It is with regret that I must close this chapter on a Sovereign
whom, I trust, it will enable my readers to understand and
appreciate. At an age when many a Prince has thought only
of enjoyment and the squandering of a fortune, Abbas Hilmi
works without ceasing to increase his, hand in hand with the
development of his country. He gives to his people an excellent
example of hard and intelligent work, and shows to them,
whilst following it bravely himself, the road to power, wealth,
and regeneration. The Khedive, by his character, his life,
his conduct, has redeemed the follies of his grandfather Ismail,
and the weaknesses of his father Tewfik. Egypt to-day
possesses a Sovereign of which she has every reason to be
proud.