DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0168
132
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
Upon our arrival the Sheik conducted me to his
divan, a dirty upper room with mud walls, that had pro-
bably once been whitewashed; and some loose bricks
having been removed from a small aperture, which served
for a window, sufficient light was admitted to shew that
no rest was to be expected either on the dirty cushions
laid against the walls, or upon the stained carpets spread
over the mats on the earthen floor, which, to judge by
the state of several small recesses, or cupboards in the
walls, had never been cleaned since it was built, and
must therefore swarm with vermin of all descriptions.
In due time dinner was brought in, at which the Sheik's
brother, and eight or ten persons assisted, and amongst
them one of the Bedouin Sheiks, a stout, handsome man,
dressed in a clean Arab blanket, and red tarboose, and
much superior in appearance to the Arabs of the villages.
He seemed to be an intelligent person, made many in-
quiries respecting my journey, and readily answered any
in case of necessity, they may find a secure retreat amongst them. They
themselves oppress, and plunder the people to the last degree, not only to
meet the demands of the Pacha, and to preserve an interest by bribing his
officers, but also to amass treasure for their own purposes, which they keep
in a portable and available shape, and ready for immediate flight whenever
caprice, or other circumstances may make it expedient. The dilapidated
state of the villages may, therefore, be easily imagined, but the habits
of rapacity thus produced can be scarcely conceived. I saw an astonish-
ing instance of this in crossing the Lake Moeris on the following morning.
The boatmen, who rented the fishery from the Sheik, brought two large
fish for sale, and also ajar of fresh water for our accommodation. The
Sheik immediately seized upon the fish, and the jar, and, unless my
janissary had interfered, a scuffle would have ensued, as the poor people,
to whom these objects were of value, although not intrinsically worth a
piastre, were determined to defend their property.
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
Upon our arrival the Sheik conducted me to his
divan, a dirty upper room with mud walls, that had pro-
bably once been whitewashed; and some loose bricks
having been removed from a small aperture, which served
for a window, sufficient light was admitted to shew that
no rest was to be expected either on the dirty cushions
laid against the walls, or upon the stained carpets spread
over the mats on the earthen floor, which, to judge by
the state of several small recesses, or cupboards in the
walls, had never been cleaned since it was built, and
must therefore swarm with vermin of all descriptions.
In due time dinner was brought in, at which the Sheik's
brother, and eight or ten persons assisted, and amongst
them one of the Bedouin Sheiks, a stout, handsome man,
dressed in a clean Arab blanket, and red tarboose, and
much superior in appearance to the Arabs of the villages.
He seemed to be an intelligent person, made many in-
quiries respecting my journey, and readily answered any
in case of necessity, they may find a secure retreat amongst them. They
themselves oppress, and plunder the people to the last degree, not only to
meet the demands of the Pacha, and to preserve an interest by bribing his
officers, but also to amass treasure for their own purposes, which they keep
in a portable and available shape, and ready for immediate flight whenever
caprice, or other circumstances may make it expedient. The dilapidated
state of the villages may, therefore, be easily imagined, but the habits
of rapacity thus produced can be scarcely conceived. I saw an astonish-
ing instance of this in crossing the Lake Moeris on the following morning.
The boatmen, who rented the fishery from the Sheik, brought two large
fish for sale, and also ajar of fresh water for our accommodation. The
Sheik immediately seized upon the fish, and the jar, and, unless my
janissary had interfered, a scuffle would have ensued, as the poor people,
to whom these objects were of value, although not intrinsically worth a
piastre, were determined to defend their property.