DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0149
116 TRAVELS IN EGYPT, NUBIA,
off all communication between his house and the exterior;
that in Cairo the inhabitants had died at the rate of two
hundred a day; and that it continued raging for two months,
when the increasing heat of the weather had stopped its
progress. The effect of heat on this disorder is evident from
its rarely spreading into Upper Egypt as far as Siout. The
Pasha's son Ibrahim had taken more than ordinary pre-
caution to prevent the chance of its progress at his govern-
ment, by ordering his physician to inspect the sick, and even
dead bodies before their funeral, in order to be on his guard
against it if it should find its way there.
At Cairo there had been some scruples on the part of the
sheiks of the religion with regard to encouraging common
precautions, which the Kaya Bey had recommended. The
Koran was, however, consulted, and the necessary construc-
tion put to a part of it which related to disease. The way
in which the plague was prevented from making its way into
the harem of the Pasha, corresponds with the idea generally
held of Turkish government, where the interests of the chief
and the people are opposed. It was as follows.
As soon as the plague had begun to rage at Cairo, the
harem of the Pasha was removed to a village in the neigh-
bourhood of Gizeh, where he has a palace ; but as the
inhabitants of the village had communication with Cairo,
they were driven away, obliged to seek habitations where
off all communication between his house and the exterior;
that in Cairo the inhabitants had died at the rate of two
hundred a day; and that it continued raging for two months,
when the increasing heat of the weather had stopped its
progress. The effect of heat on this disorder is evident from
its rarely spreading into Upper Egypt as far as Siout. The
Pasha's son Ibrahim had taken more than ordinary pre-
caution to prevent the chance of its progress at his govern-
ment, by ordering his physician to inspect the sick, and even
dead bodies before their funeral, in order to be on his guard
against it if it should find its way there.
At Cairo there had been some scruples on the part of the
sheiks of the religion with regard to encouraging common
precautions, which the Kaya Bey had recommended. The
Koran was, however, consulted, and the necessary construc-
tion put to a part of it which related to disease. The way
in which the plague was prevented from making its way into
the harem of the Pasha, corresponds with the idea generally
held of Turkish government, where the interests of the chief
and the people are opposed. It was as follows.
As soon as the plague had begun to rage at Cairo, the
harem of the Pasha was removed to a village in the neigh-
bourhood of Gizeh, where he has a palace ; but as the
inhabitants of the village had communication with Cairo,
they were driven away, obliged to seek habitations where