was covered with water and mud long after the inundation
had ceased. The Egyptians extract a perfume,
an aphrodisiac, which they call “Fitnah,”
from this kind of Acacia. [FN#16] All “Agapemones”
are at this time suppressed, by order of His Highness
(Abbas Pasha), whose august mother occasionally insisted
upon banishing whole colleges of Ambubaiae to Upper
Egypt. As might be expected, this proceeding
had a most injurious effect upon the morals of society.
I was once at Cairo during the ruler’s absence
on a tour up to the Nile; his departure was the signal
for the general celebration of Cotyttia. [FN#17]
For La’an abuk, curse thy father. So in
Europe pious men have sworn per diem, instead of per
Deum, and “drat” acts for something stronger.
[FN#18] A daughter, a girl. In Egypt, every woman
expects to be addressed as “O lady!” “O
female-pilgrim!” “O bride!” or, “O
daughter!” even though she be on the wrong side
of fifty. In Syria and in Arabia, you may say
“y’al mara!” (O woman); but if you
attempt it near the Nile, the answer of the offended
fair one will be “may Allah cut out thy heart!”
or, “the woman, please Allah, in thine eye!”
And if you want a violent quarrel, “y’al
aguz!” (O old woman!) pronounced drawlingly,-y’al
ago-o-ooz,-is sure to satisfy you. On the plains
of Sorrento, in my day, it was always customary, when
speaking to a peasant girl, to call her “bella
fe,” (beautiful woman), whilst the worst of
insults was “vecchiarella.” So the
Spanish Calesero, under the most trying circumstances,
calls his mule “Vieja, rivieja.” (old,
very old). Age, it appears, is as unpopular in
Southern Europe as in Egypt. [FN#19] “Fire”
is called the “sweet” by euphuism, as to
name it directly would be ill-omened. So in the
Moslem law, flame and water being the instruments
of Allah’s wrath, are forbidden to be used by
temporal rulers. The “full” means
an empty coffee cup, as we say in India Mez barhao
("increase the table,”) when ordering a servant
to remove the dishes. [FN#20] Or “pleasurably
and health”: Hanien is a word taken from
the Koran. The proper answer to this is “May
Allah cause thee to have pleasure!” Hanna-kumu’llah,
not “Allah yahannik!” which I have heard
abominably perverted by Arnaut and other ruffians.
[FN#21] This in these days must be said comparatively:
Ibrahim Pasha’s order, that every housekeeper
should keep the space before his house properly swept
and cleaned, has made Cairo the least filthy city in
the East. [FN#22] Here lies the Swiss Burckhardt,
who enjoyed a wonderful immunity from censure, until
a certain pseudo-orientalist of the present day seized
the opportunity of using the “unscrupulous traveller’s”
information, and of abusing his memory. Some years
ago, the sum of L20 (I am informed) was collected,
in order to raise a fitting monument over the discoverer
of Petra’s humble grave. Some objection,
however, was started, because Moslems are supposed
to claim Burckhardt as one of their own saints.
Only hear the Egyptian account of his death!