Page images
PDF
EPUB

tell me any part of the Koran that I will not believe?""Go to the Holy City, go, Ibrahim," said the pasha, laughing heartily; "I was not aware you were so holy a man. Do you think I'll vex myself with questions from the Koran? Go and see the Prophet's tomb, and may it enlighten your eyes and comfort your heart!"*

We are rather surprised to find both Mr Browne and Dr Hume maintaining that the Coptic language is entirely extinct, and no longer used in any part of Egypt. The former relates that in the Christian monasteries the prayers are read in Arabic, and the epistle and gospel in Coptic; observing, however, in regard to this last, that the priest is a mere parrot repeating a dead letter. Manuscripts in that language are nevertheless still found in some of the convents, leave to copy which might easily be obtained from the patriarch; and by these means a valuable addition would be made to the collections of M. Quatremère, to whom the scholars of Europe have been so much indebted.t

We have already stated that the Coptic creed is heretical in regard to the point on which Eutychius was accused of an erring faith. The moderns, notwithstanding, have adopted transubstantiation, thereby approximating more closely to the Roman belief than their orthodox neighbours of the Greek communion. They have at the same time adopted from the Mohammedans the custom of frequent prostrations during divine service; of individual prayer in pub

Carne's Recollections of Travels in the East, p. 248. + Maillet remarked, "Aujourd'hui la langue Copte n'y est plus entendue par les Coptes mêmes : le dernier qui l'entendait est mort en ce siècle.” P. 24.

lic; and various other ceremonies suggested by the peculiarity of their climate.

The festival of opening the Calige, or cutting the bank of the Nile, is still annually observed at Cairo, and is one of the few ancient customs which continue to identify the inhabitants of the modern capital with their remotest ancestors. The year in which Mr Carne visited Egypt, the 16th of August was the day appointed for this solemnity, the inundation having reached nearly its greatest height. Accompanied by some friends he repaired about eight in the evening to the place, which was a few miles distant from the city, amidst the roaring of cannon, illuminations, and fireworks. The shores of the Nile, a long way down from Boulak, were covered with groups of people,-some seated beneath the large spreading sycamores smoking, others gathered around parties of Arabs, who were dancing with infinite gaiety and pleasure, and uttering loud excla− mations of joy, affording an amusing contrast to the passionless demeanour and tranquil features of their Moslem oppressors. Perpetually moving over the scene, which was illumined by the most brilliant moonlight, were seen Albanian soldiers in their national costume, Nubians from the burning clime of farther Egypt, with Mamlouks, Arabs, and Turks.

At last day broke, and soon after the report of a cannon announced that the event so ardently wished for was at hand. In a short time the kiaya bey, the chief minister of the pasha, arrived with his guard, and took his seat on the summit of the opposite bank. A number of Arabs now began to dig down the dike which confined the Nile, the bosom

of which was covered with a number of pleasureboats full of people, waiting to sail along the canal through the city. Before the mound was completely demolished, the increasing dampness and shaking of the earth induced the workmen to leave off. Several of them then plunged into the stream, and exerting all their strength to push down the remaining part, small openings were soon made, and the river broke through with irresistible violence; for some time it was like the rushing of a cataract.

According to custom, the kiaya bey distributed a good sum of money,-throwing it into the bed of the canal below, where a great many men and boys scrambled for it. It was an amusing scene, as the water gathered fast round them, to see them struggling and groping amidst the waves for the coin; but the violence of the torrent soon bore them away. There were some indeed who had lingered to the last, and now sought to save themselves by swimming, still buffeting the waves, and grasping at the money showered down, and diving after it as it disappeared. Unfortunately this sport costs a few lives every year, and, the author informs us, there was one young man drowned on the present occasion.

The different vessels, long ere the fall had subsided, rushed into the canal, and entered the city, their decks crowded with all ranks, uttering loud exclamations of joy. The overflowing of the Nile is the richest blessing of Heaven to the Egyptians; and, as it finds its way gradually into various parts of Cairo, the inhabitants flock to drink of it, to wash in it, and to rejoice in its progress. The vast square called the Birket, which a few hours before

presented the appearance of a dusty neglected field, was now turned into a beautiful scene, being covered with an expanse of water out of the bosom of which arose the finest sycamore trees. The sounds of joy and festivity, of music and songs, were now heard all over the city, with cries of "Allah, Allah!" and thanks to the Divine bounty for so inestimable a benefaction.*

It is admitted on all hands that, long before its arrival, Cairo stands greatly in need of this annual ablution. Dr Clarke, at whose presence all the plagues of Egypt were revived in more than their original horrors, consents to acknowledge, that when the canal was filled with its muddy water the prodigious number of gardens gave to the capital so pleasing an appearance, and the trees growing in those gardens were so new to the eye of a European, that for a moment he forgot the innumerable abominations of the dirtiest city in the whole earth. But he adds, that the boasted lakes, or rather mudpools, into which the waters of the river are received, particularly the famous Esbequier Birket, would certainly be considered nuisances in any part of the civilized world.+

A tradition prevails, that in ancient times a virgin was annually sacrificed to the Nile, in order to propitiate the deity who presided over its waters, and who, it was imagined with the view of obtaining the wonted victim, occasionally postponed or diminished the periodical flood. The only memorial now existing of this obsolete practice appears in the form of a pile or statue of mud, called Anis or the Bride, which

* Carne's Letters, vol. i. p. 99. + Travels, vol. v. p. 108.

is raised every year between the dike of the canal and the river, and is afterwards carried away by the current when the embankment is broken down. Moreri, Murtadi, and other writers, allude to the same custom, and assign the motive already suggested for its introduction among the Egyptian idolaters. 66 They imagined," says the former, "that their god Serapis was the author of the marvellous inundation of the Nile, and accordingly, when it was delayed, they sacrificed to him a young girl. This barbarous devotion was abolished, if we may believe the Arabian historians, by the Caliph Omar."*

It has become usual to resolve this statement into a mythological legend or astronomical emblem; but the prevalence of a similar custom in other parts of the world, and more especially in India, compels us to adhere to the literal import of the narrative, however abhorrent it may be to all the sentiments of modern times. For example, Bishop Heber relates that the images of a man and a woman, used in a Hindoo festival, were thrown into the Ganges; and he describes it " as the relic of a hideous custom which still prevails in Assam, and was anciently practised in Egypt, of flinging a youth and maiden, richly dressed, annually into their sacred river. That such a custom formerly existed in India is, I believe, a matter of pretty uniform tradition."+

Some indistinct recollection of a similar fact appears to have reached the time of Ovid, who relates that, after nine years' drought, it was suggested that this grievous calamity might be averted by the sacrifice of a human being, a stranger in the land,

* Diction., vol. vii. p. 1041. + Journal, vol. ii. p. 391.

« PreviousContinue »