DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11636#0217
AND LOWER EGYPT. 189
the gate was open; he perceived no one within
sight, and had the curiosity to step in. Some chil-
dren who had observed him, flocked together and
surrounded him with loud outcries. Had they
been heard, it would have proved fatal to the Por-
tuguese prince ; he pulled out his purse, and si-
lenced the children by throwing some pieces of
money among them, which purchased him a free
and peaceable exit. Since then, M. Montague,
whom I have formerly had occasion to mention,
offered in vain a very considerable sum for per-
mission to visit the interior of the mosque. But
some time afterward, being committed to the
charge of a scheick, whose thirst of gold triumph-
ed over the laws of fanaticism, it was opened for
the admission of every stranger who was disposed
to pay a chequin for it. The same year that I ar-
rived at Alexandria, several Englishmen went in
without ceremony ; some of the populace per-
ceived them, and murmured aloud. The com-
mandant of Alexandria hastened to reprimand the
scheick, and laid him under an injunction to ad-
mit no Christian whatever. The noise occasioned
by this incident, in a country where Europeans
live in a state of continual alarm, was too recent
not to leave some solicitude behind. But our visit
to the mosque was so prudently conducted, that
no injury ensued, and no one ever received in-
formation on the subject.
I was
the gate was open; he perceived no one within
sight, and had the curiosity to step in. Some chil-
dren who had observed him, flocked together and
surrounded him with loud outcries. Had they
been heard, it would have proved fatal to the Por-
tuguese prince ; he pulled out his purse, and si-
lenced the children by throwing some pieces of
money among them, which purchased him a free
and peaceable exit. Since then, M. Montague,
whom I have formerly had occasion to mention,
offered in vain a very considerable sum for per-
mission to visit the interior of the mosque. But
some time afterward, being committed to the
charge of a scheick, whose thirst of gold triumph-
ed over the laws of fanaticism, it was opened for
the admission of every stranger who was disposed
to pay a chequin for it. The same year that I ar-
rived at Alexandria, several Englishmen went in
without ceremony ; some of the populace per-
ceived them, and murmured aloud. The com-
mandant of Alexandria hastened to reprimand the
scheick, and laid him under an injunction to ad-
mit no Christian whatever. The noise occasioned
by this incident, in a country where Europeans
live in a state of continual alarm, was too recent
not to leave some solicitude behind. But our visit
to the mosque was so prudently conducted, that
no injury ensued, and no one ever received in-
formation on the subject.
I was