DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11637#0194
i;8 TRAVELS IN UPPER
he had invoked upon our heads but a few minutes
before, to send us a prosperous journey.
This old man, whose name was Michael, is
probably no more. He was then advanced in age
and emaciated, and his vile countenance was
perfectly in unison with the deformity of his mind.
But if it can no longer be of use to point him out,
it is of great consequence to our fellow-citizens
now in Egypt, to give them a knowledge of the
treacherous dispositions of these hypocritical
monks, for they all resemble each other, except a
few trifling shades of difference. Whatever out-
ward appearances they may put on, we may be
assured, that their hatred against Europeans is
more atrocious and profound than that of the
Mahometans, and their houses in the desert will
be the grand support of the excursions of the
Bedouins, their magazines of provision, and the
places in which they will assemble to deliberate
on the measures necessary to ensure the success
of their expeditions.
These bad qualities appear to be hereditary in
the superiors of the convents of Saint Macarius;
for Wansleb, who travelled this desert in 1672,
complains bitterly of him whom he found here,
and whom he calls a bad man. He had great
reason to be dissatisfied with the Cophtic jaonks
he had invoked upon our heads but a few minutes
before, to send us a prosperous journey.
This old man, whose name was Michael, is
probably no more. He was then advanced in age
and emaciated, and his vile countenance was
perfectly in unison with the deformity of his mind.
But if it can no longer be of use to point him out,
it is of great consequence to our fellow-citizens
now in Egypt, to give them a knowledge of the
treacherous dispositions of these hypocritical
monks, for they all resemble each other, except a
few trifling shades of difference. Whatever out-
ward appearances they may put on, we may be
assured, that their hatred against Europeans is
more atrocious and profound than that of the
Mahometans, and their houses in the desert will
be the grand support of the excursions of the
Bedouins, their magazines of provision, and the
places in which they will assemble to deliberate
on the measures necessary to ensure the success
of their expeditions.
These bad qualities appear to be hereditary in
the superiors of the convents of Saint Macarius;
for Wansleb, who travelled this desert in 1672,
complains bitterly of him whom he found here,
and whom he calls a bad man. He had great
reason to be dissatisfied with the Cophtic jaonks