Without congratulating one another on their escape and safe arrival, as they had the night before at Abou Seielat, my companions with one accord ran to the Nile to drink; though they had already seen, in the course of the journey, two or three tragical instances, the consequences of intemperance in drinking water. I sat myself down under the shade of the palm-trees, to recollect myself. It was very hot, and I fell into a profound sleep. But Hagi Ismael, who was neither sleepy nor thirsty, but exceedingly hungry, had gone into the town in search of somebody that would give him food. He was not gone far before his green turban and ragged appearance struck some brethren janizaries, who met him; one of whom asked him the reason of his being there, and whence he came? Ismael, in a violent passion, and broken Arabic, said, that he was a janizary of Cairo, was last come from hell, where there was not one devil, but thousands, from a country of Kafrs that called themselves Mussulmen; that he had walked through a desert where the earth was on fire and the wind was flame, and in fear of dying every day with thirst and hunger.
The soldier who heard him talk in this disjointed, raving manner, desired him to go with him to the Aga. This was the very thing that Ismael wanted. He only desired time to acquaint his companions. "Have you companions, says the soldier, from such a country?"—"Companions! says Ismael; what the devil! do you imagine I came this journey alone?"—"If the journey, says the man, is such as you describe it, I do not think many would go with you; well, go along with my companions, and I will seek yours, but how shall I find them?"—"Go, says Ismael, to the palm-trees, and when you find the tallest man you ever saw in your life, more ragged and dirty than I am, call him Yagoube, and desire him to come along with you to the Aga."
The soldier accordingly found me still sitting at the root of the palm-tree. The servants, who had now satisfied their thirst, and were uncertain what was next to be done, were sitting together at some distance from me. They began to feel their own weariness, and were inclined to leave me to a little repose, which they hoped might enable me to overcome mine. For my own part, a dullness and insensibility, an universal relaxation of spirits which I cannot describe, a kind of stupor, or palsy of the mind, had overtaken me, almost to a deprivation of understanding. I found in myself a kind of stupidity, and want of power to reflect upon what had passed. I seemed to be, as if awakened from a dream when the senses are yet half asleep, and we only begin to doubt whether what has before passed in thoughts is real or not. The dangers that I was just now delivered from made no impression upon my mind, and what more and more convinces me I was for a time not in my perfect senses, is, that I found in myself a hard-heartedness, without the least inclination to be thankful for that signal deliverance which I had just now experienced.
From this stupor I was awakened by the arrival of the soldier, who cried out to us at some distance, "You must come to the Aga to the castle, all of you, as fast as you can, the Turk is gone before you." "It will not be very fast, if we even should do that, said I; the Turk has ridden two days on a camel, and I have walked on foot, and do not know at present if I can walk at all." I endeavoured, at the same time, to rise and stand upright, which I did not succeed in, after several attempts, without great pain and difficulty. I observed the soldier was in a prodigious astonishment at my appearance, habit, and above all, at my distress. "We shall get people in town, says he, to assist you, and if you cannot walk, the Aga will send you a mule."
The Turk and the Greeks were cloathed much in the same manner; Ismael and Michael had in their hands two monstrous blunderbusses. The whole town crowded after us while we walked to the castle, and could not satiate themselves with admiring a company of such an extraordinary appearance. The Aga was struck dumb upon our entering the room, and told me afterwards, that he thought me a full foot taller than any man he had ever seen in his life. I saw he was embarrassed whether he should desire me to sit down or not, so that I saved him the deliberation, by saying, immediately after saluting him, "Sir, you will excuse me, I must sit." He bowed, and made a sign, complacently asking me, "Are you a Turk? Are you a Mussulman?" "I am not a Turk, said I, nor am I a Mussulman; I am an Englishman, and bearer of the grand signior's firman to all his subjects, and of letters from the regency of Cairo, and from the Porte of Janizaries, to you." "Caz Dangli, says Ismael, they are the same as Turks, they came first from Anatolia, I have been at the place." Upon my mentioning the grand signior, the Aga got upon his feet, and, without heeding Ismael's speech, said, very politely, "Do you choose to have your servants sit?" "In such a disastrous journey as I have made, Sir, said I, our servants must be our companions; besides, they have a strong excuse for sitting, neither they nor I have a foot to stand upon."
Aga. "Where are those letters and firman?" Ya. "Where they may be now I know not, we left them at Saffieha with all the rest of our baggage; our camels died, our provisions and water were exhausted, we therefore left every thing behind us, and made this one effort to save our lives. It is the first favour I am to ask of you, when I shall have rested myself two days, to allow me to get fresh camels, to go in search of my letters and baggage." Aga. "God forbid I should ever suffer you to do so mad an action. You are come hither by a thousand miracles, and after this, will you tempt God and go back? we shall take it for granted what those papers contain. You will have no need of a firman between this and Cairo." Ya. "We shall leave it upon that footing for the present, allow me only to say, I am a servant of the king of England, travelling, by his order, and for my own and my countrymen's information; that I had rather risk my life twenty times, than lose the papers I have left in the desert." Aga. "Go in peace, and eat and sleep. Carry them, says he, speaking to his attendants, to the house of the Schourbatchie." Thus ended our first interview with the Aga, who put us in possession of a very good house, and it happened to be the very man to whom I was recommended by my correspondents at Cairo when I was first here, who had absolutely forgotten, but soon remembered me, as did many others, but my old friend the Aga had been changed, and was then at Cairo.
We were not long arrived before we received from the Aga about fifty loaves of fine wheat bread, and several large dishes of drest meat. But the smell of these last no sooner reached me than I fainted upon the floor. I made several trials afterwards, with no better success, for the first two days, nor could I reconcile myself to any sort of food but toasted bread and coffee. My servants had none of these qualms, for they partook largely and greedily of the Aga's bounty.
I had kept the house five or six days after my arrival, during which I corresponded with the Aga only by messages, and from my servant who had passed between us he had learned the whole of our adventures. I then went to the castle for an audience, and intreated the Aga that he would procure six or eight camels to mount my men upon, and bring my baggage from Saffieha. He gave a start at the first request, and would not by any means hear of that proposal; he called it tempting God, and assured me I should be cut off by the very men that had murdered Mahomet Aga; that, having seen the cases and things which I had thrown away at Umarack, they would follow my tract on to Saffieha, would have taken every thing that I had left, and would be now pursuing me up to the gates of Assouan. All this was extremely probable, but it was not to such reasoning that I could be a convert. I had insinuated that the well-fare of mankind was concerned in the recovery of those papers; that there was among them recipes, which, if they did not totally prevent the plague, and the small-pox, would at least greatly lessen their violence and duration. This, and perhaps a more forcible insinuation, that he should not be without a recompence for any trouble that he gave himself on my account, brought him at last to consent to my request, and we arranged our expedition accordingly.
Our first step was to send for Idris and the Arab from Daroo, for neither of them would enter the town with us, for fear some story should be trumped up against them regarding Mahomet Towash's murder, which would not have failed to have been the case had not we been with them; but upon the Aga sending a man of confidence for them, they both came without delay, and were lodged in my house, under my protection.
The night following, everything being ready, we set out after it was dark from the castle, all upon dromedaries. The gates of the town were open for us, and were immediately shut upon our passing through them; the Aga fearing his own people as much as the Bishareen; and saying always, by way of proverb, "Every body is an enemy in the desert." The Aga had sent four servants belonging to his stables to accompany us; active, lively, and good-humoured fellows. Our people too, were all recruited. Ismael, and blind Georgis, were left to take care of the house in my absence. About twelve o'clock we got into a valley, and hid ourselves in the lowest part of it, under a bank, for the night was exceeding cold; but we had spirits with us, which we drank with moderation. We there refreshed our beasts about half an hour, and again stopt in a valley among trees. I was afraid that we had passed our baggage in the dark, as none of us were perfectly sure of the place; but as soon as light came, we recovered our tract as fresh and entire as when we made it. After having gone about half an hour in our former footsteps, we had the unspeakable satisfaction to find our quadrant and whole baggage; and by them the bodies of our slaughtered camels, a small part of one of them having been torn by the haddaya, or kite.
It was agreed we should not stay here, but load and depart immediately; this was done in an instant; five camels easily carried the loads, with a man upon them besides; and there were three more camels, upon which we rode by turns. We made a brisk retreat from Saffieha to Syene, which is about forty miles. At a little past four in the afternoon we entered the town again, without any accident whatever, or without having seen one man in our journey.
Here then we were to close our travels through the desert, by discharging the debts contracted in it. We had now got our credit and letters, which furnished us with money. I began by recompensing Idris Welled Hamran, the Hybeer, for his faithful services. The next thing was to keep our faith with our prisoner. I had made Idris chuse him a good camel, cloathed him anew, and gave him dresses for his two wives, with a load of dora. I then dispatched him with the Aga's protection, wondering what men we were, who, without compulsion or subterfuge, kept our words so exactly. Though rich beyond his hopes, and so very lately our enemy, the poor fellow, with tears in his eyes, declared, if I would permit him, he would only go back and deliver up what I had given him to his family, and return to me at Syene, and follow me as my servant wherever I should go.
Although we had wherewithal to have bought proper dresses, I thought it better to do this when we should come to Cairo. We got each of us a coarse barracan, for cleanliness only, and a pair of trowsers. I furnished Ismael with a green turban, to give us some weight with the vulgar during our voyage down the Nile. I then went to my friend the Aga, to concert the measures that remained necessary for leaving Assouan and beginning our journey. He testified the greatest joy at seeing us again. He had been informed of our whole expedition by his servants the night before, and praised us, in the presence of his attendants, for our alacrity, steadiness, and courage under the great fatigues of travelling. Ismael had told him of the trees and plants which I painted, and he expressed great curiosity to see them when I should find it convenient. From the known disposition of those people, that what they desire must be granted instantly, I asked him whether he was at leisure or not to see them? He said, "By all means; it was a good time." I then sent Michael my servant for a book of trees, and one of fishes.
In the interim arrived one of their priests, or an Imam, who are esteemed the most learned of their clergy. Ill-humour and ill-breeding is the characteristic of violent people of all religions; a Christian fanatic is not one bit more charitable towards those that differ from him than a Turkish saint; the greatest difference between them is the turban. Though I was the only reason of his coming there at that time, he passed me with the most contemptible indifference, his eyes half shut and lifted up to heaven, full of that exalted pride by which his great master fell from happiness. "I wish to know, (says he to the Aga, regardless of me) if that Kafr saw any thing of Mahomet Towash in the desert." The Aga asked me, I saw, with some degree of shame, and I answered him:—"I saw Mahomet Towash alive at Chendi, richly cloathed as if he had been at Mecca. He had twelve or fourteen men armed with firelocks, and about fourscore Tucorory, each with a lance in his hand, to whom he was to give food and water in crossing the desert. There were three Hybeers, all Bishareen, who had come from Suakem with the caravan, and were carrying back senna to the neighbourhood of Syene. I offered to join company with them; and though one Hybeer was enough for him, yet, to distress me as being a Christian, he took the whole three along with him. In vain Sittina, Wed Ageeb's sister, and Wed el Faal's mother, desired him to leave one of the Bishareen Hybeers for me, or rather to join our companies together, for the Bishareen were not to be trusted. Contrary to the desire of the chief of the Arabs, he took away the three Hybeers, to disappoint me; he found them three murderers, and left me the only honest man whom he did not know. God punished the presumption and pride of which he was full, just as this Moullah, who last came in, and sits before you, appears to be."
The Aga then asked me, if I saw him afterwards? "You know, I suppose, the story. One of the three Hybeers went to Abou Bertran, a principal Shekh of the Bishareen, and prepared a party to meet them on the road at the next station, while the other two Hybeers, their guides, took care to deceive him by lies, and carried him directly upon the road where the plot was laid. About twenty men on camels, armed with lances, and as many young men on foot, with swords, came to meet him, and those upon camels made their beasts kneel down at some distance from him, as out of respect coming to kiss his hands, as of a holy person belonging to the Caaba, their sanctuary at Mecca.
"The vain, imprudent man dismounted from his camel to give them a more easy opportunity of paying him their respects, and when one of them held him by the hand in token of friendship, another cut him across the hams with a broad-sword, and a third run him through the back with a lance. He endeavoured to put his hands to his pistols, but it was too late. They afterwards persuaded his servants, who had fire-arms in their hands, and, like fools, did not use them, to capitulate; and, after they had disarmed them, they carried them aside and murdered them also, then took away all the water and camels, and left the Tucorory to die with thirst. You asked me when I saw him after his leaving Chendi? I tell you it was at a station of the Bishareen, two hours before you come to Umarack; his body lay upon the sand withered and dried, but not corrupted; his hough of the right leg, and back-sinew of the left, just above the heel, were cut asunder by a sword. The wounds through his body were apparent. The lance, I apprehend, had some crooks below the head of it, as is their custom, because a considerable quantity of his bowels were drawn out at the back. He had two wounds upon his head, which I suppose were given him after he was dead, for they had cut through the skull entirely, and any one of them would have been mortal in a moment. Ismael and the Barbarin threw sand over him. For my part, I paid no sort of respect to the carcase of a man, who, when living, had shewed so little for my preservation. We went to the right, and followed some footsteps; we saw three men dead, all big and corpulent; they were all thrust through with three lances; each of them had his throat cut, and one his jaw broken.
"All the next day the road was strewed with the bodies of the Tucorory, and the day after, at nine o'clock in the morning, we found his horse dead; the day following we found dead bodies of people, who had perished with thirst, scattered here and there like the tract of a pursuit after a battle; their dry bottles, made of gourds, were grasped in their hands, and some held them to their mouths as if sucking them. God, as I say, punished this man, by allowing his pride and presumption to blind him; for, had we joined our companies, there could not have been a better place imagined to have fought the Bishareen than that spot, had they dared to attack, which is not probable. It was a narrow, deep, sandy strait, and rugged on each side of it. We could have put our camels, with our water, in perfect security behind us, while our fire-arms, safely from the rock, would, with the first discharge, have destroyed the best men among them, and scattered the herd of them into the desert. The Tucorory would have seized their camels and water, of which they had but a small quantity, or we should have shot the skins through, or the Aga's horse would have overtaken them. In either case, as they were two days journey from Abou Bertran, the greatest part of them would have died with thirst; and if they had chosen to follow us, which after this rude treatment they would not have done, they could never have reached us till we had got out of their territory into those of the Ababdé, where they were as much strangers, and in as great danger as we, and the wells not capable of filling their girbas, so that they would have brought themselves both into distress and dispute. This is all that I know of Mahomet Towash."
The Aga said to himself, "Ullah Akbar;" and several of the company made their private ejaculations. The Imam had not yet spoke, but addressing himself to the Aga, "True it is, says he, God is great, and does what seems to him best; or who would have thought that a servant of the Caaba should be forsaken, while Kafrs like them, a thousand of them not of the account of one hair of that man's head, were protected by him, and arrived safe and unhurt!"
I was exceedingly angry, but weak in health and spirits; besides, I despised the Imam heartily, and was determined to be silent. But directly addressing himself to me, which he hitherto had not done, "I wonder, says he, how a Kafr like you, a man of no more worth than the dust under a mussulman's feet, should dare to wear a white turban, which none are permitted to do but true believers, and men of consideration in learning, or in the law!" I could hold no longer. "Kafr! said I, do you call me? You are a Kafr yourself. I worship God as you do, and Jesus Christ, whom Mahomet calls Rouch Ullah, the Spirit of God. Kafrs worship stones and trees, are ill-bred, and rude in manners, such as you are. Sir, said I to the Aga, I demand of you if the grand signior, whose firman you have in your hand, when writing of me, calls me Kafr? Does Ali Bey, and the Porte of Janizaries, use such opprobrious expressions? If they do not, you suffer me to be affronted in contempt of their orders, in a fortress which you command in the grand signior's name, which is not to your credit either as a mussulman or a soldier."—"He is right," says an old man, who seemed to be a secretary. "Moullah, says the Aga, I did not expect this from you; I did not think you could be so absurd as to ask any man, returning from so dangerous a journey as his, the reason of the colour of his turban."—"I do not refer that to his discretion, said I, there is my firman; I insist upon its being read at the divan, and I will afterwards dress my head and my body in any colour that is permitted me therein, and that I know is every sort of colour[51], and I insist that my firman may be read in the Divan."
"Moullah, says Hagi Ismael, addressing himself to the Imam, who had twice attempted to speak but could not get permission, you put me in mind of these liars and thieves at Teawa; all their turbans were white or green; they call themselves mussulmen, and sheraffe, and men of learning like you; but I swear, greater Kafrs than they were never in hell. I wish you may not be something of that kind." Hagi Ismael was standing behind. He had a barracan like us, a red cap and no turban, and the Moullah, I believe, did not know he was a Turk, and still less that he was a sherriffe; I fancy he rather took him for a Greek, from the bad manner in which he pronounced the Arabic. "Friend, said the priest, take this piece of advice from me, and speak more reverently of your betters, or you may have a chance to get your tongue scraped." Hagi Ismael was never blessed with much temper. He was very honest, but, though seventy years old, was as passionate as a child, and the more so, as he did not understand the language. He was an officer in the Porte of Janizaries, besides being a sherriffe; had been sent, as I have already said, by the Bey to escort the Abuna to Abyssinia. Unluckily at this time he understood what was said distinctly, and came up close to the Moullah, saying, in a violent passion, "Kafr Meloun Ibn kelb, i. e. Pagan accursed, and race of a dog! Do you threaten me, a sherriffe, with a grey beard? Who are my betters? The Aga is not my superior, were he a sherriffe, which he is not. He is an officer of the janizaries as I am; he commands me to-day, and I command him to-morrow; but, if it was not for his presence, I would not leave that beard of yours till I had shaken your head from your shoulders."
All now was confusion. I cried, "Hagi Ismael, for God's sake forbear." Every body spoke, no body heard. The Moullah had crossed the room and sat down beside the Aga, who said to him very sternly, "What Yagoube may do, and what he may not do, in Syene, has never been confided to you, though it has been to me, and I have not thought it necessary to take your advice upon it. This man is the servant of a king. Were you to insult him in Constantinople, his complaint would cost a much greater man than you his life, even this day before sun-set. Who taught you to call him Kafr whom you had never before seen, and then abuse the janizary, who, besides, is a sherriffe, and an aged man, whose hand better men than you kiss when they meet him in the street? Go home and learn wisdom, since you cannot teach it; at least, don't make the grand signior's castle the scene of your abuse and folly." The Moullah upon this rebuke departed, very much humbled.
As Michael had brought the drawings, I turned to the trees and flowers. The Aga was greatly pleased with them, and laughed, putting them up to his nose as if smelling them. They did not offend him, as they were not the likeness of any thing that had life. I then shewed him a fish, and reached the book to an old man with a long beard, but who had a very chearful countenance. He looked at it with great surprise. The Aga had several times called him his father. "Do not be angry, says he to me, if I ask you a question. I am not such a man as the Moullah that is gone." "I will answer all your questions with pleasure, said I, and, in your turn, you must not take the answer ill." "No, no, said two or three of them, Hagi Soliman knows better." Soliman. "Do you not believe, says he, that that fish will rise against you at the day of judgment?" Ya. "I do not know, but I shall be very much surprised if it does." "I assure you he will, says Hagi Soliman." Ya. "Be it so, it is a matter of indifference to me." Sol. "Do you know what God will say to you about that fish? Shall I tell you?" Ya. "I have not the least idea, and you will oblige me." Sol. "God will say to you, Did you make that fish? What will you answer?" Ya. "I will answer, I did." Sol. "He will say to you again, Make a soul to it." Ya. "I will answer, I cannot." Sol. "He will say, Why did you make that fish's body, when you was not capable to give it a soul? What can you answer then?" Ya. "I made that body, because thou gavest me talents and capacity to do it. I do not make the soul, because thou hast denied me power and ability, and reserved that to thyself only." Sol. "Do you think he will be contented with that answer?" Ya. "I do most certainly think so. It is truth, and I do not think a more direct one can be given." Sol. "Aha! the Moullah would tell you that will not do; painting things that have life is idolatry, and the punishment is hell-fire." Ya. "Patience, then, my case is desperate, for it is not a sin I intend to repent of." Thus ended this curious discussion, and we went away in perfect good humour one with the other. A number of the better sort drank coffee with me in the evening. The Aga sent me two sheep, and, observing my feet much inflamed and wounded, made me likewise a present of a pair of slippers of soft Turkey leather to defend them from the inclemency of the weather.
It was the 11th of December when we left Syene; we cannot say sailed, for our mast being down, we went with the current and the oars, when the wind was against us. In our voyage down the Nile we had but very indifferent weather, clear throughout the day, exceedingly cold in the night and morning; but, being better cloathed, better fed than in the desert, and under cover, we were not so sensible of it, though the thermometer shewed the same degrees. Above all, we had a good decent provision of brandy on board, part of which I had procured from the Aga, part from the Schourbatchie my landlord, neither of whom knew the other had given me any, and both of them pretended to each other, and to the world, that they never tasted fermented liquors of any kind, nor kept them in their custody.
I had given to each of my servants, to Soliman and to the Greeks likewise, a common blanket called a barracan, of the warmest and coarsest kind, with a waistcoat and trowsers of the same, and all of us, I believe, had consigned to the Nile the clothes in which we passed the desert. The meanness of our appearance did not at all shock us, since nothing contributes more to safety in a country like this. I passed Shekh Nimmer not without regret, but it was night, and I was very ill.
On the 19th we arrived at How, where the intermitting fever, which I had at Syene, again returned, with unusual violence, and, what was most unlucky, my stock of bark was almost exhausted, and the Rais had business that obliged him to lie by for a day. As we were within a small distance of Furshout, I dispatched one of the Barbarins, with a camel, to the fathers at the monastery of Furshout informing them of my arrival and very bad state of health, and requesting them to send me some wheat bread, as mine was all consumed, and likewise some rice, if they had any. Upon the Arab's first delivering his message the fathers treated him as an impostor, declaring that they knew from good authority that I was drowned in the Red Sea, which another of them contradicted, being equally positive, from the same good authority, that my death had happened from robbers in Abyssinia. The Barbarin (a shrewd fellow) desired the fathers to observe, that, if I had been drowned in the Red Sea, it was not possible I could be slain by robbers on land two years afterwards; therefore, as one report was certainly false, both might be so, and he assured them this was the case, and that I was at How; but they laughed him to scorn, and threatened to carry him to Shekh Hamam to punish him. The poor fellow answered very pertinently, "If I had come in Yagoube's name for gold or silver, then you might have distrusted me; but sure it is not worth my while to hire a camel to come here from How, and go back again to cheat you out of two loaves of bread and a pound of rice, which I never tasted myself till I was with Yagoube, who made us partake of every thing that he ate as long as it lasted, and fasted with us when our meat was exhausted." They continued to ask him, where he had found me? The fellow said, At Ras el Feel; and not being able to describe where that was, a fresh altercation began, in which it was concluded betwixt the two reverend disputants, that I had been drowned three years before in the Red Sea, and therefore all the story of Ras el Feel must be a lie.
It happened, as indeed was often the case in these matters, that my Greek servant Michael had been more provident than I. He had thought something of this kind might be possible, and therefore had desired the Barbarin, if so it happened, to call at Shekh Ismael's at Badjoura, and inquire of him in my name for a loaf or two of wheat bread and some rice. This the Barbarin did with some diffidence, after the refusal received from the fathers, and was very much surprised at the chearful reception Shekh Ismael gave him. The bread and rice were sent; he too had heard of my death, but was much easier convinced that I was still alive than the reverend fathers had been, because more desirous that it should be so.
Next day, the 20th, we arrived at Furshout, though Hagi Ismael's invitation, and the unkindness of the fathers, had strongly tempted me to take up my quarters at Badjoura to guard him against the pleurisy, and the mistaking again the month of Ramadan. Some aukward apologies passed at meeting; and if these fathers, the sole object of whose mission was the conversion of Ethiopia and Nubia, were averse before to the undertaking their mission, they did not seem to increase in keenness from the circumstances which they learned from me.
On the 27th we sailed for Cairo. At a small village before we came to Achmim we were hailed by a person, who, though meanly dressed, spoke with the tone of authority, and asked for a passage to Cairo, which I would have denied him if I could have had my own will; but the Rais readily promised it him upon his first application. He afterwards told me he was a Copht and a Christian, employed to gather the Bey's taxes in such villages as were only inhabited by Christians, to which the Bey did not permit his Turks to go. "I heard, says he, you was coming down the Nile, and I way-laid you for a passage; the Rais knows who I am, and that I shall not be troublesome to you; but I have a large sum of money, and do not chuse to have it known, I hope, however, you will give me your protection for the sake of my master."—"Indeed, friend, said I, I have but seven shillings in the whole world, and my cloaths, I believe, are not worth much above that sum, and it is but a few days ago I was rejoicing at this as one of my greatest securities. But since Providence has, I hope for your good, thrown you and your money in my way, I will do the best for you that is in my power, the same as if it was my own."
On the 10th of January 1773 we arrived at the convent of St George, all of us, as I thought, worse in health and spirits than the day we came out of the desert. Nobody knew us at the convent, either by our face or our language, and it was by a kind of force that we entered. Ismael, and the Copht went straight to the Bey, and I, with great difficulty, had interest enough to send to the patriarch and my merchants at Cairo, by employing the two only piastres I had in my pocket. If the capuchins at Furshout received us coldly, these Caloyeros of St George kept us still at a greater distance. It was half by violence that we got admittance into the convent. But this difficulty was to be but of short duration; the morning was to end it, and give us a sight of our friends, and in the meantime we were to sleep soundly. We had nothing else to do, having no victuals, and the Caloyeros nothing to give us, even if they had been inclined, of which we had not seen yet the smallest token.
This we thought, and this, in the common view of things, we were intitled to think; but we forgot that we were at Cairo, no longer to depend upon the ordinary or rational course of events, but upon the arbitrary, oppressive will of irrational tyrants. Accordingly I had, for about an hour, lost myself in the very uncommon enjoyment of a most profound sleep, when I was awakened by the noise of a a number of strange tongues; and, before I could recollect myself sufficiently to account what this strange tumult might be, eleven or twelve soldiers, very like the worst of banditti, surrounded the carpet whereon I was asleep. I had presence of mind sufficient to recollect this was not a place where people were robbed and murdered without cause; and, convinced in my own mind that I had given none, from that alone I inferred I was not to be robbed or murdered at that instant. Without this, the appearance of the strangers, their dress, language, and behaviour, all joined to persuade me of the contrary. I asked them, with some surprise, "What is the matter, Sirs? What is the meaning of this freedom?" The answer was in Turkish, "Aya! Aya! Get up! the Bey calls you."—"The Bey, says I, certainly calls at a very unseasonable hour." The answer was, "Get up, or we will carry you by force."—"I fancy friends, said I, you have mistaken me for some other person, I have not been here above two hours, and since that time have never been out of the convent. It is impossible the Bey should know that I am here."—"What signifies it to us, says one in lingua Franca, whether he knows you are here or not? he has sent us for you, and we are come, Aya! Aya! get up!" He put his hand forward to take me by the arm. "Keep your distance, you insolent blackguard, said I, remember I am an Englishman; do not lay your hands upon me. If the Bey calls me, he is master in his own country, and I will wait upon him; But hands off: though I have not seen Mahomet Bey these three years, he knows what is owing to his own character better than to suffer a slave like you to lay his filthy hands on a stranger like me."—"No! No! Mallem, says the man that spoke Italian, we will do you no harm. Ismael, that you brought from Habesh, has been with the Bey, and he wants to see you; and that is all."—"Then stay without, said I, till I am ready, and I will come to you presently."
Out they went: I heard them crying to the Caloyeros for drink, but they never in their lives were in a place where they could address themselves worse for either meat or liquors; on the other hand, I did not keep them long in dressing. I had no shirt on, nor had I been master of one for fourteen months past. I had a waistcoat of coarse, brown, woollen blanket, trowsers of the same, and an upper blanket of the same wrapt about me, and in these I was lying. I had cut off my long beard at Furshout, but still wore prodigious mustachoes. I had a thin, white, muslin cloth round a red Turkish cap, which served me for a night-cap, a girdle of coarse woollen cloth that wrapt round my waist eight or ten times, and swaddled me up from the middle to the pit of my stomach, but without either shoes or stockings. In the left of my girdle I had two English pistols mounted with silver, and on the right hand a common crooked Abyssinian knife, with a handle of a rhinoceros horn. Thus equipt, I was ushered by the banditti, in a dark and very windy night, to the door of the convent.
The Sarach, or commander of the party, rode upon a mule, and, as a mark of extreme consideration, he had brought an ass for me, with sods, or a carsaddle upon his back, the only animal that, to the shame of our Christian rulers, any of our faith is suffered to ride on in Cairo. The beast had not a light load, but was strong enough. The difficulty was, his having no saddle, and there were no stirrups, so that my feet would have touched the ground had I not held them up, which I did with the utmost pain and difficulty, as they were all inflamed and sore, and full of holes from the inflammation in the desert. Nobody can ever know, from a more particular description, the hundredth part of the pain I suffered that night. I was happy that it was all external. I had hardened my heart; it was strong, vigorous, and whole, from the near prospect I had of leaving this most accursed country, and being again restored to the conversation of men.
The mule on which the Sarach rode went at a very brisk pace; my animal did her best, but she could not keep up with the mule. Each man of the soldiers, besides the rest of his arms, had a quarter-staff like a watchman's pole, about nine feet long, with which every one in his turn laid heartily on the ass to make her keep up with the Sarach's mule. I had every reason to sympathize with the beast for the severity of the blows, of which I was a perfect judge, as whether through malice or heedlessness, every fourth stroke landed upon my back or haunches, so that my flesh was discoloured for more than two months afterwards. Speaking was in vain; you might as well have cried to the wind not to blow. Few people walk in the streets of Cairo at night; some we did meet who made us way, only observing to each other, when we passed, that I was some thief the Janizary Aga had apprehended. In this most disagreeable manner, I had rode near three miles, when I arrived at the Bey's palace. There all was light and all was bustle, as if it had been noon-day. I alighted with great difficulty from my disconsolate ass, but with much greater pleasure than ever I mounted the finest horse in the world. None of the people there knew what I came for, but thought I was some Arab from the country. At last I saw a Copht who had been a servant of Ali Bey. I told him who I was, and he immediately knew me, but had not heard that I was arrived, and still less that I was sent for; but he went in to the Bey's secretary, who ordered my immediate admission.
In the mean time, my Sarach and company, who had used me so tenderly, came round me, desiring the Bacsish, or money to drink. "Look you, friend, said I, your master knows me well, and you shall see what is the Bacsish he will give you." A number of Turks standing by asked, "What did he do to you? Did he use you ill? Tell the Bey, and he will do for him." My friend seemed to be sensible he was in a scrape, and, though the order of the Bey came for my being admitted, he would not allow me to pass, but put his back against the door till I promised to say nothing to the Bey.
I was introduced to Mahomet Bey Abou Dahab. He was son-in-law to Ali Bey my friend, whom he had betrayed, and forced to fly into Syria, where he still was at the head of a small army. He had been present with him the day I had my last audience, when he was plainly dressed as a soldier. A large sofa, or rather two large sofas furnished with cushions, took up a great part of a spacious saloon. They were of the richest crimson and gold, excepting a small yellow and gold one like a pillow, upon which he was leaning, supporting his head with his left hand, and sitting just in the corner of the two sofas. Though it was late, he was in full dress, his girdle, turban, and handle of his dagger, all shining with the finest brilliants, and a finer sprig of diamonds upon his turban than what I had seen his father-in-law wear once when I was with him.
The room was light as day, with a number of wax-torches or candles. I found myself humbled at the sight of so much greatness and affluence. My bare feet were so dirty, I had a scruple to set them upon the rich Persian carpets with which the whole floor was covered, and the pain that walking at all occasioned gave me altogether so crouching and cringing a look, that the Bey, upon seeing me come in, cried out, "What's that? Who is that? From whence is he come?" His secretary told him, and immediately upon that I said to him in Arabic, with a low bow, "Mahomet Bey, I am Yagoube, an Englishman, better known to your father-in-law than to you, very unfit to appear before you in the condition I am, having been forced out of my bed by your soldiers in the middle of the only sound sleep I have had for many years." He seemed to be exceedingly shocked at this, and said to his attendants in Turkish, "My people! who dares do this? it is impossible." Those that were privy to the message reminded him of his sending for me, and the cause, which he had forgot. They told him what Ismael had said, and what the Copht, the tax-gatherer, had mentioned, all very much in my favour. He turned himself with great violence on the sofa, and said, "I remember the man well, but it was not a man like this, this is bad payment indeed. I was going to ask you, Yagoube, says he, who those were that had brought you out in such distress, and I find that I have done it myself; but take my word, as I am a mussulman, I did not intend it, I did not know you was ill."
My feet at that time gave me such violent pain that I was like to faint, and could not answer, but as there were two flowered velvet cushions upon one of the steps above the floor, I was obliged to kneel down upon one of them, as I did not know how sitting might be taken. The Bey immediately saw this, and cried out, "What now? what is the matter?" I saw he thought I had some complaint to make, or something to ask. I shewed him my feet in a terrible situation, the effects, I told him, of my passing through the desert. He desired me immediately to sit down on the cushion. "It is the coldness of the night, and hanging upon the ass, said I, occasions this; the pain will be over presently." "You are an unfortunate man, says the Bey, whatever I mean to do for your good, turns to your misfortune." "I hope not, Sir, said I; the pain is now over, and I am able to hear what may be your commands." "I have many questions to ask you, says the Bey. You have been very kind to poor old Ismael, who is a sherriffe, and to my Christian servant likewise; and I wanted to see what I could do for you; but this is not the time, go home and sleep, and I will send for you. Eat and drink, and fear nothing. My father-in-law is gone, but, by the grace of God, I am here in his place; that is enough." I bowed, and took my leave.
The Bey had spoken several times to his servant in Turkish; but these interruptions are too common at such audiences to be taken notice of. I went out to the anti-chamber attended by five or six people, and then into another room, the door of which opened to the lobby where his soldiers or servants were. There was a slave very richly dressed, who had a small basket with oranges in his hand, who came out at another door, as if from the Bey, and said to me, "Here, Yagoube, here is some fruit for you."
In that country it is not the value of the present, but the character and power of the person that sends it, that creates the value; 20,000 men that slept in Cairo that night would have thought the day the Bey gave them at an audience the worst orange in that basket the happiest one in their life. It is a mark of friendship and protection, and the best of all assurances. Well accustomed to ceremonies of this kind, I took a single orange, bowing low to the man that gave it me, who whispered me, "Put your hand to the bottom, the best fruit is there, the whole is for you, it is from the Bey." A purse was exceedingly visible. It was a large crimson one wrought with gold, not netted or transparent as ours are, but liker a stocking. I lifted it out; there were a considerable number of sequins in it; I put it to my mouth and kissed it, in respect from whence it came, and said to the young man that held the basket, "This is, indeed, the best fruit, at least commonly thought so, but it is forbidden fruit for me. The Bey's protection and favour is more agreeable to me than a thousand such purses would be."
The servant shewed a prodigious surprise. In short, nothing can be more incredible to a Turk, whatever his quality may be, than to think that any man can refuse money offered him. Although I expressed myself with the utmost gratitude and humility, finding it impossible to prevail upon me, the thing appeared so extraordinary, that a beggar in a barracan, dressed like those slaves who carry water, and wash the stairs, should refuse a purse of gold, he could no longer consent to my going away, but carried me back to where the Bey was still sitting. He was looking at a large piece of yellow sattin. He asked the usual question, "How, now? What is the matter?" To which his slave gave him a long answer in Turkish. He laid down the sattin, turned to me, and said, "Why, what is this? You must surely want money; that is not your usual dress? What! does this proceed from your pride?"
"Sir, answered I, may I beg leave to say two words to you? There is not a man to whom you ever gave money more grateful, or more sensible of your generosity in offering it me, than I am at this present. The reason of my waiting upon you in this dress was, because it is only a few hours ago since I left the boat. I am not however a needy man, or one that is distressed for money; that being the case, and as you have already my prayers for your charity, I would not deprive you of those of the widow and the orphan, whom that money may very materially relieve. Julian and Rosa, the first house in Cairo, will furnish me with what money I require; besides, I am in the service of the greatest king in Europe, who would not fail to supply me abundantly if my necessities required it, as I am travelling for his service."—"This being so, says the Bey, with great looks of complacency, what is in my power to do for you? You are a stranger now where I command; you are my father's stranger likewise, and that is a double obligation upon me: What shall I do?"—"There are, said I, things that you could do, and you only, if it were not too great presumption for me to name them."—"By no means, if I can I will do it; if not, I will tell you so."
I saw by the Bey's manner of speaking that I had risen considerably in character in his opinion since my refusal of the money. "I have, Sir, said I, a number of countrymen, brave, rich, and honest, that trade in India, where my king has great dominions." He said, as half to himself, "True, we know that." "Now there are many of these that come to Jidda. I left there eleven large ships belonging to them, who, according to treaty, pay high duties to the custom-house, and, from the dictates of their own generosity and magnificence, give large presents to the prince and to his servants for protection; but the sherriffe of Mecca has of late laid duty upon duty, and extortion upon extortion, till the English are at the point of giving up the trade altogether." "Ibn Cahaba, says he, (which is, son of a wh—re,) he paid for that when I was at Mecca." "The Bey took Mecca," says a man at my shoulder. "Why, says the Bey, when they say you are such a brave nation, why don't you beat down Jidda about his ears? Have you no guns in your ships?" "Our ships, Sir, said I, are all armed for war; stout vessels, full of brave officers and skilful seamen: Jidda, and much stronger places than Jidda, could not resist one of them an hour. But Jidda is no part of our dominions; and, in countries belonging to stranger princes we carry ourselves lowly, and trade in peace, and never use force till obliged to it in our own defence." "And what would you have me to do?" says he. "Our people, replied I, have taken a thing into their head which I am satisfied they are well founded in: They say, that if you would permit them to bring their ships and merchandize to Suez, and not to Jidda, they might then depend upon your word, that, if they were punctual in fulfilling their engagements, they should never find you failing in yours." "That they shall never have to say of me, says the Bey; all this is to my advantage. But you do not tell me what I am to do for you?" "Be steady, Sir, said I, in your promise; it is now late, but I will come again to settle the duties with you; and be assured, that when it is known at home what, at my private desire, you have done for my country in general, it will be the greatest honour that ever a prince conferred on me in my life." "Why, let it be so, says he, bring coffee; see you admit him whenever he calls; bring a caftan[52]." Coffee was accordingly brought, and I was cloathed in my caftan. I went down stairs with my barracan hid under it, and was received with greater respect by the bye-standers than when I came up; the man was the same, but it was the caftan that made the difference. My friend the Sarach and his banditti were ready at the door with a mule, which had gilt stirrups, and was finely caparisoned.
I went back with full as much speed as I came, but free from those salutations of the quarter-staff, which I still felt upon my haunches. The scale of politeness was now turned in my favour; and to shew their respect for me, the soldiers knocked down every person they overtook in the streets, giving him first a blow with the quarter-staff upon the head, then asking him, why he did not get out of the way? All my people at St George had given me over for lost, or thought I had gone home to the French merchants, and taken my bed there.
I was twice after this with Mahomet Bey, in which time I concluded the agreement in favour of the English merchants. Instead of 14 per cent, and an enormous present, the Bey agreed for 8, and no present at all, and at his own expence sent the firman to Mocha, together with my letter, a copy of which, and instructions given in India in consequence, I have here subjoined.
Mr Greig, capt, Thornhill's lieutenant, whom I have mentioned as having seen at Jidda, was the first who came down the Gulf to Suez in the Minerva, and in the whole voyage, both by sea and after at Cairo, behaved in a manner that did honour to his country.
In the two subsequent visits which I paid to Mahomet Bey, I received the firman, and had a conversation before the Bey with the man that was to go express to Mocha; not that I thought my recommendation was of any consequence after his receiving orders from the Bey, but I knew very well, as diligence was recommended to him, that it might be secured by a small gratuity given unknown to the Bey. Two other similar presents, of no great value, were likewise given to the two servants who had assisted me in procuring the firman, the original of which I left with the Venetian consul. I thought it was unbecoming of me to starve a cause that promised to be both a private emolument and public benefit; and, as I never expected, so I never received the smallest return or acknowledgement either public or private.
It may be said, that the trade carried on there by Suez and the Isthmus would not be of any advantage to the India Company, but rather a detriment to it. Such was the answer I got from Lord North upon my first interview with his Lordship after my return, and upon which I shall not pretend to decide. But this I shall submit to the public, whether, when a great object, such as that was, is unexpectedly in the power of an individual, he is not obliged, as a good citizen, to avail himself of the occasion that offers, and leave it to that part of the public concerned, to determine whether they can make it of service to them or not.
I have read, either in Abbé Prevot or M. de Maillet, (the reader will assist me, as neither of these books are in my hands at present) that the French, in the beginning of this century, offered a very large sum of money to the government of Cairo, to be allowed to send only an advice-boat to Suez, to carry and bring back their dispatches from their settlements in India, but they were constantly refused; both the India Company and British Government are, by my means, now in possession of that privilege, and I am informed it has already been of use, both in public and private dispatches.
I must further be permitted to say, that, independent of these particulars, it seemed very strange that, considering the immense empire which belonged to Britain in the East Indies, the Company and their servants should be, to a man, so perfectly ignorant of the Red Sea and ports in it, and so indifferent as to the means of being better informed; a sea which washed the shores of their conquests, and came, at the same time, within two days journey of the Mediterranean. To my endeavours it is owing that so many ingenious gentlemen have had an opportunity of lending their hands to perfect the chart of that sea, which I hope is now in great forwardness. It would perhaps, too, have been more generous and liberal-minded in them, had they honoured the author of the liberty and safety they enjoyed, with at least a word of their approbation. Prisons and chains, ransoms, torments, and perhaps death itself, were the calamities they escaped by my preparing their way, and to this would have been added the miscarriage of their design and their undertaking likewise[53].
Copy of Mr Bruce's Letter to the Gentlemen trading to the Red Sea from the British Settlements Bombay and Bengal.
Cairo, 1st February, 1773.
Gentlemen,
At the desire of several of the gentlemen trading to Jidda in the year 1769, I have spoken to the Bey of Cairo (Mahomet Bey,) that he would give permission for bringing the India ships directly to Suez, without stopping at Jidda, where they were constantly ill-treated by the sherriffe, and neither payments punctual nor their effects in safety. Mahomet Bey expressed all the desire possible to have this speedily executed. He dispatched this express, in which I inclose you the terms of agreement, with a translation from the Arabic original. You will see he renounces all presents, which, however, it will be always prudent to give. Moderate ones will serve, provided he behaves faithfully and generously, as I believe firmly he will. He seeks 8 per cent. customs, and leaves it in your option to pay this in goods or money, and 50 patackas anchorage for each vessel; this is for the captain of the port of Suez.
"Arrived at Suez, you will do well to give notice to any of the houses you chuse to address yourselves to. There are three French houses of note here; Mess. Napollon and Co. Mess. Rosa and Co. and Mess. l'Anglade and Co.; and these three are rich houses, in great credit, and with whom you are very safe. There is also an Italian house of credit equal to these, but not so rich; it is Pini and Co. It will always be your interest, if more than one ship comes, to address yourselves to separate houses, for by this means you will be sooner dispatched, have more friends, less risk, and more intelligence.
"As I have no view in this but your advantage, so I will not take upon myself to answer for any consequences. You know what Turks are. I never saw one of them to be trusted in money affairs. You must keep your eyes open, and deal for ready money. You will, however, be much safer, be better used, have better markets, and be sooner dispatched; and if any of your cargo remains unsold, you may leave it here in great security, with a certainty of its selling in winter; and the money will be either remitted to England, or ready for you here at your return, as you direct.
"Cairo is in lat. 30° 2´ 45´´; two days and a half easy journey from it is Suez, in lat. 29° 57´ 15´´. Ras Mahomet, the Cape that forms the eastern shore of the entrance into the Gulf of Suez, is in lat. 27° 54´ 10´´. You should make this Cape while it bears N. E. or N. E. by E. at farthest, for farther east is the entrance of a gulf which has often been mistaken for that of Suez. Lastly, Tor, the first inhabited place after passing the Cape, is in lat. 28° 12´ 4´´; here you may have provisions, water, and a pilot.
"There are no English merchants at Cairo; but there comes, from time to time, a wandering sort of sharpers under that name, either from Mahon, the Greek islands, or Leghorn; and after an establishment of one year, break and disappear. Be careful of having any thing to do with these, for they will either rob you themselves, or betray you to the government, or both. There is no safety but with the three French and one Italian house, before mentioned. If you address yourself to the government, in your affairs of tariffs and firmans, you may do it through means of the Venetian consul, immediately upon your arrival, putting yourselves under his protection. He is a man of honour and credit, and is a colonel in the service of his state. Let him send you the tariff of the Bey before you come to Cairo, or land an ounce of cargo, and you will satisfy him for his trouble. He does not trade, but is very well-affected to our nation, and there is no consul here but the French and Venetian.
"In a word, Gentlemen, I have seen your trade to Jidda, and it is a ruinous one, and the sherriffe, now poor and hungry, will every day rob you more and more. After the sealing up the house, and exacting part of the effects of the captains who died at Jidda, there is no safety for you but either at Mocha or Suez.
I am always,
Gentlemen,
Your most obedient and most humble servt.
JAMES BRUCE."
"To Captain Thornhill of the Bengal Mercht, Captain Thomas Price of the Lion, or any other of the English vessels trading to Jidda."
P. S. "I send you a copy of the firman; also letters for the governors of Bombay and Bengal, inclosing the same; you will see the translator be a person of trust, and have no interest in deceiving you. If I did not think you very safe at Suez I would not write you. You are to bring no coffee, or any produce of Arabia, at least the first voyage, till you make your terms here. I inclose you a letter from the chief of the customhouse.
J. B."
Copy of Instructions from the Managers of the Suez Adventure, to Mr John Shaw, and Captain William Greig.
"Gentlemen,
The proprietors of the Suez Adventure having made choice of you to conduct the undertaking, it is our duty as managers to give you the necessary instructions. Inclosed you will receive invoice and bills of loading of the cargo, and likewise of the freight loading on the Bengal Merchant, on account and risk of the concerned, which you are to dispose of in the gulf of Mocha, Jidda, or Suez, on the most advantageous terms, observing at the same time, as nearly as possible, the following instructions:
"As many unforeseen accidents may happen that we cannot guard against, and as the proprietors have placed in us an implicit confidence, we now delegate to you, Gentlemen, full power and authority to conduct and manage this new undertaking, for which your credit, as well as ours, is engaged; and though we hope it is unnecessary to recommend to you as an object of the greatest importance, and on which the success of all undertakings depends, a good understanding and harmony between those who are to execute, we are satisfied that your attention to the interest of the proprietors, and your own reputation, will outweigh every other consideration, and that nothing will interrupt that union which is so absolutely necessary to insure success in new undertakings like the present.
"You are to draw a commission of 5 per cent. on the sales. Mr Shaw, as chief supercargo, will draw 3, and Capt. Greig 2 per cent. and on all freight in the same proportion as the cargo. Passengers, or other emoluments that are customary, are to be equally divided between you, and no separate interest to be allowed. As it is usual in all voyages from this port, where there is a supercargo, to allow one-sixth of the cargo as privilege, in lieu of which 12,000 rupees will be divided between you and the officers on return of the vessel.
"Mr Shaw, as chief supercargo, is to have the sole management and disposal of the cargo, and Captain Greig to have the entire management of the navigation of the vessels employed. At the same time, we recommend and desire, that, in all points which require advice in either of the departments, you consult with each other, and that no material step be taken without such advice and consultation; and, should there be a difference in opinion, we expect a minute be made, and the reason for such difference fully set forth, in order to be laid before the proprietors at your return. To prevent any misunderstanding of the general instructions, we shall separate, in the latter part, the two branches of the naval and mercantile, and be more clear and explicit in each particular department.
"The vessels to be employed in the voyage are the Bengal Merchant, on board of which the cargo is shipped. The Cuddalore schooner, Captain Wedderburn, is granted by the governor[54] to the proprietors as a tender, to assist in the discovery of the passage to Suez, and the proprietors are to pay half the sailing charges. On her Mr Cunningham, a surveyor, is appointed, and both he and the vessel are entirely under your direction, and they are to receive, from time to time, such instructions as you may judge necessary. The Suez pacquet is a small schooner equipped for the purpose of attending the Bengal Merchant in the most difficult parts of the navigation; and as she cannot be further useful after your return from Suez to Mocha, we desire she may be sold there, where frequently small vessels sell to advantage.
"On your leaving the pilot you will make the best of your way, with the other two vessels under your charge, to the Malabar coast, and touch at Anjango and Cochin, taking in there coir, hawsers, and water, or any thing you may stand in need of, and without loss of time proceed direct to Mocha. On your arrival there you must make inquiry if any pilots are come down from Suez; should none be arrived, lose as little time as possible, and proceed up above Jidda to Yambo, provided you hear no unfavourable accounts from Suez, such as war, or any commotions at Cairo, which you might think may endanger the success of the voyage.
"If such accounts are rumoured at Mocha, trace them so as to be fully satisfied there is foundation for them, and if you have good authority to credit the reports propagated, and are certain they are not spread with a view to discourage your proceeding, in that case we advise your proceeding to Jidda as most for the interest of the concerned. At Jidda you will deliver the customary letters to the basha and sherriffe, and, without taking notice of any further project, dispose of your cargo, as the articles are all of the proper assortment for that market, and we desire, in that case, you collect your returns as expeditiously as possible; and if you find any considerable freight for Bombay, and the season will admit your going there from Mocha, so as to arrive in Bengal by the middle of October, in that case you will purchase a cargo of cotton, and proceed here directly. Whatever silver you may have after the purchase of the cotton, you will pay into the Company's treasury for bills on this presidency. If you cannot procure a good freight at Jidda for Bombay, we desire you will proceed from Mocha to the coast of Coromandel, and touch at Negapatnam, where letters will be lodged for you.
"On your arrival at Mocha, should you hear no unfavourable accounts of war, or any disturbances at Cairo, you will proceed to Yambo, where you will again inquire if there are any pilots acquainted with the passage to Suez. If you meet with any who, upon examination, appear capable of conducing the vessel, we recommend your taking them on board, but still be very cautious how you trust them; order them to conduct you up the common tract, and keep the two vessels with you till you are satisfied of their abilities, then we advise your dispatching the Cuddalore the outward passage, in order to survey it up to Suez, and give them orders to join you there. But should you be so unlucky as not to meet with pilots, there will be no alternative but to proceed with the greatest care and caution the outward passage, with your two tenders a-head both day and night, till you reach Tor, where you will meet with pilots and water; and as we have reason to believe the danger of the passage is then over, if you find it to be the case, you will dispatch back the Cuddalore to make a correct survey as far down as Jidda, in the lat. of 21° 30´. As it cannot be supposed you will be able to make an exact survey in going up in mid-channel, you will instruct Captain Wedderburn to follow the surveyor's order, but at the same time to make all necessary remarks himself, as also his officers, and to finish the survey as expeditiously as possible, and to return to the ship at Suez; but should more time be taken up, and he finds it impracticable, he must endeavour to go to Yambo, and there wait for the dispatches, if he can do it with safety; if not, to return to Mocha, and remain there to supply himself with such necessaries as he may stand in need of, to be ready to make the best of his way to Bengal, as soon as he receives your dispatches, and the monsoon will allow him to proceed.
"On your arrival at Suez you will inquire of the master of the port, or governor, whether or not he has any letters, &c. from his master the Bey, respecting you? Should he have none, you will desire him to forward the short letter from the governor, informing him of the arrival of the ship at his port. You must not land a piece of goods, or enter into any agreement or contract, &c. till you hear from the Bey, and, from the answer you receive, consult how to act; but let it be with great caution, till you are perfectly satisfied of the friendly disposition of the Bey towards you, as we have reason to expect the Bey's answer will be polite and favourable, and an invitation to visit Cairo. Mr Shaw will then proceed with the purser, and any other of the officers you may think proper, with a few lascars and servants, properly equipped, to make the embassy brilliant and respectable. The letters, presents, and musters of the cargo should go at the same time; and we recommend that, on Mr Shaw's arrival at Cairo, after he retires from the Bey, he makes a visit to the Venetian Consul, whom Mr Bruce has mentioned very particularly in his letter. If he finds him the same person he has described, he will receive from him such necessary information as may be useful in his future transactions, and will put himself under his protection in preference to the French houses; but he will act with extreme caution, till he discovers such connection is not disagreeable to the Bey, with whom he must appear to be, on all occasions, perfectly satisfied. We furnish you with a copy of Mr Bruce's letter, to whom we consider ourselves much obliged for the information he has given us. His letters you will find of great service in conducting your business there, and to which we advise your paying strict attention.
"We desire that Captain Greig may remain on board the ship till all the cargo is dispatched and landed, in order to give every necessary advice in transporting the same, and when that is finished, Captain Greig is to proceed to Cairo, and afford Mr Shaw any assistance he may require; and we desire, and particularly recommend, that, as soon as the cargo is sold, and Mr Shaw has made the necessary observations and remarks on the reception he has met with, the goods that have sold to most advantage, and of the sorts that will best answer in future, and other occurrences, that you dispatch such accounts, by the first conveyance you may have to Jidda, to Captain Anderson of the Success galley, and duplicate, by the Suez pacquet to Mocha, to Captain Wedderburn of the Cuddalore schooner, with orders for him to proceed to Bengal without delay; and we desire that these dispatches may be directed in a large pacquet to the governor for his perusal, with draughts and remarks on the passage.
"As we think it of great consequence that you use all possible dispatch in finishing your business at Grand Cairo, so as to leave Suez as early as the season will permit, if the Cuddalore[55] has been able to join you after the survey, you will then proceed down the channel she has discovered; but if, on the contrary, she has not joined you, and that the Suez pacquet is likewise gone with the dispatches, you must then procure good pilots, and, if possible, a small vessel for fear of accidents, and go down the usual tract of the Suez vessels; making particular remarks on that passage, proceed on to Mocha, and you will attend to the former part of your instructions respecting the destination of the vessel.
"Having now finished our general instructions, we think it necessary to be more particular in each branch of your departments.
(Signed) big left bracket Cudbert Thornhill.
Robert Holford.
David Killican.
To Captain Greig.
"SIR,
"We rely on your knowledge, experience, and good conduct for the navigating part of the voyage, which is entirely intrusted to you; and though we have desired that you advise with Mr Shaw on all difficult points, yet we give you a latitude to follow your own opinion, though contrary to Mr Shaw's, but we expect you both enter a minute, and set forth your reasons for being of different opinions. Should it be a point of consequence, we advise that you consult with all the officers, and their opinions are to be recorded.
"We desire that a fair log-book be kept, signed by the officer who leaves the deck at noon, in which book every remark and transaction during the voyage is to be inserted, and no erasures must be made, or leaves torn out. Inclosed is a letter from us to Captain Wedderburn of the Cuddalore, directing him to follow such orders as he may from time to time receive from you.
"At Ingerlee you will give him written orders to keep you company, with such proper signals for day and night as may be necessary; and should he, by stress of weather or any other accident, part company, you will inform him of your first place of rendezvous, Anjango and Cochin; should he arrive first, he must remain till you come: Should you arrive and finish your business before the arrival of the Cuddalore, you will wait two or three days, and then proceed to Mocha, leaving orders for his joining you there. If by any accident he should not join you there, and you have got pilots for Suez, you must not lose time, but proceed without him, leaving him instructions to proceed on the survey: but should it so happen that you meet with no pilots at Mocha, and the Cuddalore should not arrive, we still recommend your waiting at Mocha as long as you think it prudent; and if you have the Suez pacquet with you, you will proceed to Suez if possible, and endeavour to make the island to the S. W. of Cape Ras Mahomet, that you may not make any mistake and get into the false gulf: but should you find it impracticable after making every prudent attempt, you will then have a consultation with Mr Shaw and your officers, and bear away for Jidda, following the directions in your general instructions.
"The concerned has been at an immense expence to equip the vessels with additional stores, which in any other voyage than the present would be superfluous, we therefore desire (should your voyage terminate at Jidda) that you endeavour to dispose of such articles of stores as you are not in want of; but should you arrive at Suez, let them remain till your return to Mocha, and there, if you have an opportunity to dispose of them for the advantage of the concerned, we desire it may be done.
"Should any of the officers be good draughts-men, we desire you will encourage them to make draughts of every thing remarkable in the Red Sea, and we will make them an acknowledgement for their trouble; but we recommend that every remark, draught, or drawing of the passage, may be collected together for the governor's[56] perusal; and we hope you will take proper care that, on your return, nothing transpire till the governor's sentiments are known. Should Mr Shaw be obliged to stay with the goods at Cairo, you are to let him keep an officer, and any number of lascars he may require, and that you can spare them.
(Signed) big left bracket Cudbert Thornhill.
Robert Holford.
David Killican.