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DIVISION OF LABOUR.

nomical habits, of which his great wealth was the fruit, Dives suspended a napkin under his chin, to catch the falling crumbs. Fortune smiled at this device for diminishing the current of her favours, and, instead of half way meeting his wishes, by abating the flood, or turning it into some other channel, opened still wider the sluices of opulence, and overwhelmed him beneath the magnitude of his treasures. The neighbour was again consulted: "Have you eaten toasted bread?" inquired he his friend replied in the affirmative: "And have you," continued the counseller, "suffered the crumbs to fall to the ground?"—"No," answered the rich man, “I caught them in a napkin, and ate them."-" That," observed his friend, "totally alters the case; had you allowed them to be lost, your good fortune would have forsaken you for ever!"

DXXIX. In Egypt, as in India, the division of labour, in the establishment of an opulent man, is exceedingly minute; it being, for example, the business of one domestic to take care of the tobacco, of another to fill the pipe, of a third to make coffee, &c., while no one interferes with the duties of another. This is a principal cause of the great number of slaves employed in families, and may also be one reason why those slaves, in general, are little to be pitied; in comparison, at least, with the peasant, whose hard labour maintains both master and slave. One chief means, however, of civilising Egypt, would be the abolishing of slavery; for then the natives

FIRST STEP TO CIVILISATION.

181

would necessarily be employed in domestic offices about the rich, and coming into immediate contact with them, would gradually receive a tincture of whatever knowledge or politeness they might possess. No eunuchs, moreover, could be made; and the practice of supporting numerous harems, a practice inimical to refinement and morality, depending on the existence of eunuchs, must consequently fall into disuse; and this circumstance alone would relieve Egypt from an oppressive burden, since it is chiefly to supply the luxuries of the harem that pashas and governors pillage and devastate the country. Denied the privilege of importing foreign women like cattle, the rich would be constrained to marry the daughters of their neighbours: the social body would thus be more closely united; and that free intercourse between the citizens, without which civilisation is impossible, would in time form a part of their manners. For, with the downfall of polygamy, which could not long survive the destruction of domestic slavery, the seclusion of women must cease; and if women are to be admitted into society, they must be previously instructed; I mean, where the men themselves are so ; for that the sexes may mingle under the canopy of ignorance, age after age, without deriving from this freedom of intercourse either refinement or knowledge, is abundantly evident from the history of mankind. Every step made by Mohammed Ali towards this end, will consolidate his power, and render him so much the nearer to absolute independence; while an

182

ASPECT OF THE NILOTIC ISLES.

adherence to the contrary system, which has maintained despotism and ignorance throughout the East for so many thousand years, may indeed cause him to be more admired by Turks, and persons equally depraved and degraded, but must inevitably expose him to the contempt of statesmen and politicians, who know that nations are powerful and flourishing in proportion as they are civilised.

DXXX. The wind still continuing to blow strongly from the south, causing the atmosphere to assume a thick and hazy appearance, we descended the river with extraordinary rapidity. But these violent sciroccos, so favourable to those descending the stream, are often fatal to kandjias proceeding in a contrary direction, or making from one bank to another; an example of which I observed this morning, on the eastern shore, where a beautiful barge, belonging to Ahmed Pasha, governor of the Hejaz, lay stranded, and partly sunk. During the prevalence of high winds, from whatever point they may blow, the appearance of the low sedgy islands and shores of the Nile is most remarkable; the fine sand, raised aloft, and driven along their level surface in continuous clouds, being drifted down over the steep banks into the water like snow; while thousands of wild ducks, herons, pelicans, and milk-white ibises, standing in long lines on the sharp points of promontories, or rising in vast flights into the air, seem to be reconnoitring the solitary boat, which shoots down the current like an arrow. Arriving early in the

HANDSOME almé.

183

afternoon at Benisooëf, where it was our intention to quit the boats, and proceed along the banks of the Bahr Youssouff into the Fayoom, I immediately landed, to make inquiries respecting dromedaries or horses for the journey; and to stroll, according to custom, about the bazăr, which I found crowded with Turkish soldiers, just returned from Mekka, and Arabs from different parts of the Hejaz, distinguished from the Fellahs by their gay costume and Wahabi head-dress, consisting of the red felt cap and blue tassel, with a bright plaid silk handkerchief twisted about it like a turban. Coming from Nubia and Upper Egypt, I almost thought the natives of Benisooëf fair; and many of the Almé, who sought to tempt the eye by their naked faces and bosoms, appeared, by contrast with the women I had seen, absolutely beautiful. Independently, indeed, of this consideration, the personal charms of these dissolute courtesans were sometimes of a very high order ; forms modelled by the Graces, delicate features, and eyes of surpassing brightness and beauty. Of the Hejazis, the majority were of complexion most swarthy; but in all I observed a fire in the eye, indicative of an ardent temperament and impassioned character, wholly different from that of the Fellahs. Our negociations with the horse owners and camel drivers terminated unfavourably; even the donkeymen, who, in general, are ready to undertake any journey, refused to enter into an engagement to proceed beyond Medineh, or to furnish us with bridles or saddles; abstaining, however, from stating their

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APPROACH TO CAIRO.

reasons, which we afterwards discovered when it was nearly too late. Such being the case, we had no alternative but to continue our voyage.

Thursday, Feb. 28. CAIRO.

DXXXI. On waking this morning, I found that, although the force of the wind had greatly abated, we had nevertheless made considerable way during the night, and might hope, with some little exertion, to reach Cairo in the evening. Towards this point of my travels I now looked forward with extreme anxiety; not that my enthusiasm had evaporated, or that the Nile, with the beautiful country which it waters, had begun to weary me; but from motives by which most men, I hope, would, under similar circumstances, be actuated the desire of receiving

what I trusted would have awaited me there— news from home. This idea, which had, for some time, been uppermost in my mind, rendered me, I confess, much less sensible than I should otherwise have been to the charms of the landscape; nevertheless, the approach to Cairo from the south is far too striking and magnificent to be beheld, at any time, with indifference. For several miles before we reach the city, the white battlements of the citadel, and the lofty minarets of the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, are visible, towering above every thing around them. Numerous boats of picturesque and elegant construction, with large triangular sails, crowd the surface of the river. On the one hand are the modern buildings of Toura; on the other, that prodigious line of