Leading the Blind (27 page)

After expatiating on the difficulties of hiring a carriage comes the remark that: ‘It is not only the natives who are rapacious and exacting; the Europeans in Egypt may vie with any of them, and their example is seldom beneficial to the Egyptians.'

Bradshaw, of 1903, mentions the ‘boys (most arrant knaves) driving donkeys at a railway pace', and tells us that on landing ‘either proceed per omnibus waiting at the pier or jump on a donkey; take your things with you (the boys are very clever, but not to be trusted), and proceed to the hotel'. He adds that we must not let ourselves be ‘tormented to death' by claims for bakshish.

Baedeker says that the Customs examination is fairly strict, the articles chiefly sought for being tobacco, weapons and diamonds. ‘No fee need be given to the officials.'

For the rail trip to Cairo Murray advised that you ‘take a few sandwiches, or a fowl, and wine, for the journey, rather than pay a high price for them at the railway-station on the road'. Regarding the canal between the two cities, which it took 250,000 men a whole year to dig, Murray says: ‘Another proof of bad management in its execution was the great loss of life among the workmen; no less than 20,000 being said to have perished by accidents, hunger, and plague.'

The best hotel at Cairo was, of course, Shepheard's, under the proprietor Mr Zech, a hotel still ‘most frequented by travellers', in Bradshaw's guide. If you took a house at Cairo, it was as well, said Murray, ‘not to trust too much to the honesty of servants'. He recommends several, however, who are reliable, including Mahmood, ‘formerly in the service of the Duke of Northumberland and Colonel Felix'.

Should you care for a bath, none of the establishments ‘are remarkable for size or splendour. They are all vapour-baths; and their heat, the system of shampooing, and the operations of rubbing with horse-hair gloves, contribute not a little to cleanliness and comfort, though it is by no means agreeable to have to undergo the operation of being shampooed by the bathing-men.'

There were said to be five thousand Jews in Cairo, out of a population of 200,000, and in the Jewish quarter ‘many of the houses of the two opposite sides actually touch each other at the upper stories. The principal reason for their being made so narrow is to afford protection in case of the quarter being attacked, and to facilitate escape when the houses have been forced.'

The population of Cairo had decreased in recent years, and Murray expressed the wish that this had been the case with the dogs as well, because ‘a small number would suffice for all the purposes for which they are useful, and the annoyance of these barking plagues might be diminished to great advantage. Their habits are strange; they consist of a number of small republics, each having its own district, determined by a frontier line, respected equally by itself and its neighbours; and woe to the dog who dares to venture across it at night, either for plunder, curiosity, or a love of adventure. He is chased with all the fury of the offended party, whose territory he had invaded; but if lucky enough to escape to his own frontier unhurt, he immediately turns round with the confidence of right, defies his pursuers to continue the chase, and, supported by his assembled friends, joins with them in barking defiance at any further hostility. Egypt is therefore not the country for a European dog, unaccustomed to such a state of canine society: and I remember hearing of a native servant who had been sent by his Frank master to walk out a favourite pointer, running home in tears with the hind leg of the mangled dog, being the only part he could rescue from the fierce attacks of a whole tribe of town mongrels.'

The attraction for which no number of asterisks would have been sufficient was a visit to the Pyramids, beginning with that of Cheops. ‘The ascent is by no means difficult, though fatiguing to some unaccustomed to climbing, from the height of the stones, while others ascend with the greatest ease; and I have known one, an officer of the Cyclops, reach the top in 8 min. Ladies, who are often dragged up, rather than assisted, by the Arabs, will find a great advantage in having a couple of steps, or a footstool, to be carried by the Arabs, and put down where the stones are high; and this would be not less useful in descending than in going up the pyramid.'

Baedeker is a little more explicit. ‘The traveller selects two of the importunate Beduins by whom he is assailed, and proceeds to where the ascent begins. These strong and active attendants assist the traveller to mount by pushing, pulling, and supporting him, and will scarcely allow him a moment's rest until the top is reached. As, however, the unwonted exertion is fatiguing, the traveller should insist on resting several times on the way up, if so disposed. Ladies should have a suitable dress for the purpose … At the summit of the Pyramid the patience is again sorely tried by the onslaught of vendors of
spurious
antiquities and dishonest money-changers, all parley with whom should be avoided.'

Bradshaw tells us, unnecessarily, that ‘the tourist, especially if alone, will be pestered by the Arabs and Arab boys who live near Gizeh, proffering their services as guides, attendants, etc., and punctuating every sentence with a call for “bakshish”.' One should, however, take no notice of them, but ‘if too pressing or annoying, application should be made to the Sheik, who when appealed to will exert his authority and free the individual, or the party, from further trouble on this point whilst within his neighbourhood. It is advisable to give something to each person whom one allows to render a service, but there should be no indiscriminate scattering of largesse.'

The population of Egypt was said to be about two million, while the Thomas Cook handbook of fifty years later gave it as nearly ten million. Settled conditions after 1882, when the country was administered by the British, perhaps accounted for the steep rise. The Baedeker of 1885 puts the population in ancient times at seven million. ‘This number is quite reasonable in itself, as it is estimated that the country could support 8–9 million inhabitants.' The latest census gives a population of 55 million.

The local people are seen, in the mid-Victorian Murray, from the point of view of those who hold the purse-strings: ‘The traveller, apart from his ignorance of the language, will find it exceedingly difficult to deal with the class of people with whom he chiefly comes in contact. The extravagance of their demands is boundless, and they appear to think that Europeans are absolutely ignorant of the value of money. Every attempt at extortion should be firmly resisted, as compliance only makes the applicants for bakshish doubly clamorous. Payment should never be made until the service stipulated for has been rendered, after which an absolutely deaf ear should be turned to the protestations and entreaties which almost invariably follow. Thanks, it need hardly be said, must never be expected from such recipients. Even when an express bargain has been made, and more than the stipulated sum paid, they are almost sure to pester the traveller in the way indicated. The Egyptians, it must be remembered, occupy a much lower grade in the scale of civilisation than most of the western nations, and cupidity is one of their chief failings; but if the traveller makes due allowance for their shortcomings, and treats the natives with consistent firmness, he will find that they are by no means destitute of fidelity, honesty, and kindliness.'

An authority on the country, Wallis Budge, wrote a short guide to the monuments of the Nile for the benefit of Thomas Cook & Son's tourists in 1886. In twenty years, this work had become a thousand-page
Hand-book for Egypt and the Sudan
, fully the equal of Murray or Baedeker. In the preface Budge states, of course, that travellers in Egypt ‘owe the ease and comfort which they now enjoy in journeying through the country entirely to the efforts of Messrs. Thos. Cook & Son, who were the first to organise the tourists system, and to make Egypt and its wonderful antiquities accessible to all classes. They have spared neither pains nor money in perfecting their arrangements for tourists, and their officers are ever watchful to place promptly at the disposal of those who travel under their care the advantages of rapid and comfortable transit which are becoming more and more numerous owing to the steady development of the country under British influence.'

The last word on begging is a notice, printed verbatim in the handbook, issued by Lord Cromer, and the United States and German Consul General: ‘The attention of the Egyptian authorities has been frequently drawn (in 1906) both by visitors and by residents of the country, to the evils resulting from the indiscriminate bestowal of “bakshish” to the inhabitants of the Nile villages, and other places visited by tourists during the winter season. The intention of the donors is no doubt kindly, but the practice – more especially in view of the yearly increase of visitors to Egypt – cannot fail to be detrimental to the moral sense and the social well-being of the poorer classes of the community. At the present time many of the poorer inhabitants of those towns on the Nile which are most visited by tourists live almost entirely on what they can obtain by “bakshish” during the winter months; the easy means thus afforded of obtaining a small livelihood prevents their adopting any form of labour; and children are brought up to regard the tourist season as the period during which they may, by clamorous begging, enable their parents and themselves to lead a life of idleness for the remainder of the year. The unhealthy tendency of such a system is obvious.'

After more of such advice the section concludes with a plea: ‘Tourists should especially abstain from throwing money from the decks of steamers on to the landing stages or on to the banks of the Nile for the purpose of witnessing the scramble for the coins; such exhibitions are mischievous as well as degrading.'

The writer of the handbook naturally wants tourists to look favourably on Egypt, and to appreciate the benefits the country has to offer, and with this end in view we are told that whoever visits the country for the first time ‘will certainly be delighted … but it is probable that he will not admire the natives with whom he will come in contact until he knows them fairly well'. He strains to give a balanced view by saying that the Egyptians in general ‘have never been accustomed to travel, and they look upon those who wander from country to country as beings who are possessed of restless though harmless devils'. The Egyptian whose character has not been tainted by cupidity ‘is a very estimable individual. He is proud of his religion, but is tolerant to a remarkable degree', but ‘it must never be forgotten that the strictest Muhammadans despise the Christian faith in their hearts, although Christians are treated with civility'.

Now comes a paragraph, again from Cook's handbook, which will no doubt find agreement with many people today.

The abolition of corporal punishment, by Lord Dufferin, early in 1883, has had effects which were not contemplated by him.
As soon as the whip was abolished the people refused to work
, and Lord Cromer says that the period which followed its abolition ‘caused him greater anxiety than any other' during his lengthened Egyptian experience. Another result was that
life and property became insecure
, and Nubar Pasha was obliged to appoint ‘Commissions of Brigandage,' that is, to introduce martial law. The Egyptian had also learned that no one can be punished for a crime unless he is proved guilty, and that proof of guilt which will satisfy the law courts is hard to get. The result has been that large numbers of guilty people have escaped punishment, and through the country the people have little respect for the Law. The inability of the governors to use the whip is the cause of the present state of unrest among a certain class of Egyptians, and it is clear that only corporal punishment will reduce this class to order and obedience.

In 1858 our traveller arranged his trip up the Nile, says Murray, by first hiring a dahabeyeh, which boat was provided with ‘at least two or three cabins and a bath; and the largest have a front cabin sufficiently spacious to accommodate a party of 8 or more persons at dinner. The price depends of course on the size of the boat and the number of men; but a large one, capable of accommodating 3 or 4 persons, generally lets for about 50 to 70 pounds a month. All furnished boats are supplied with divans and other furniture, a canteen, kitchen, fireplace, and all requisites for the journey except provisions.'

The boats are said to be very clean, ‘so that it is no longer necessary to have them sunk before going on board'. Then follows advice on destroying flies, still one of the plagues of Egypt, but much attention is paid to strict discipline in the boat, and obedience to orders, as long as they are reasonable and just. ‘But I am far from advising that constant use of the stick which is sometimes resorted to most unnecessarily: firmness and the determination of being obeyed seldom fail to command respect and obedience; for, when they know you
will
be obeyed, they will seldom disregard an order.'

It is just as well that ‘however much they may try to impose on one over whom they think to get the upper hand, they never harbour any feelings of revenge. In short, my advice is, to be strict and just, without unnecessary violence, in order to have the satisfaction of being indulgent.'

A system of rewards was suggested, in the event of the crew behaving well. On going up the river, ‘give them a sheep at some of the large towns, or a certain quantity of meat at least, as a
reward for past exertions
; but some travellers have spoilt them through a want of discrimination, and they now begin to look on it as a right, whether they deserve it or no. This should be resisted; and they should be made to understand that they are to have no reward till they have earned it. They are allowed a sheep no longer; but instead of it a small sum may be given to a crew if they have had
much towing
and have
worked well;
though certainly not if the wind has done all the work for them.'