TRE MAMELUKE'S LEAP. rro TUII Kurroo. OF Till "SP ICCT
ATOM') Sin,—Whether the story of the Mameluke's leap be true -or false—and any one who has seen the wall from which this
hero is said to have jumped would certainly incline t,(Y the latter belief—there. is no doubt about the main facts of-the story of the-massacre. • I am glad to see that General Tyrrell
has combated (Spectator, November 16th) Mr. Knight-Adltin's assumption that the massacre took place as they ascended. the steep slope of the citadel roadway. The most dastardly, and. therefore most probable, part of the whole incident ware the actual feasting by Mohammed Ali of his guests,!who left -the banquet-hall with the fullest confidence in their acknowledged -
chief, only to be cut down by the Pasha's troops lining- the sides of the steep path leading to the gateway. In connexion with this incident., the following may be of interest to your readers. Until two years ago there was living an old Sheikh who on state occasions sat at the chief entrance to the citadel, in a chair especially made for him, over which are written the words, in Arabic and English "Only he, who by the favour' of God, has reached the age of a hundred years, may sit in this chair." At his death in 1905 he was said to have. beim a hundred and fourteen, and on the only occasion, just -four years ago, when I had the pleasure of speaking With him,
he gave me a graphic description of .the massacre of the Mamelukes, saying how "the blood poured down. the steep
pathway to the gate like a river of water." Even if be-was ten years younger at his death than the age ascribed to -him (and in Egypt what native knows his age ?), lie might very easily have been old enough to remember' the details. • His father was, according to his story, " Bowab " or gatekeeper of- the eitadel, and he himself was-playing near the gate .juat as • the Pasha , was wreaking his vengeance on the unfortunate Mamelukes.. It is of course possible that frequent repetition had embroidered- the original tale; but in any case it is . interesting to think that until such a short time ago there was one still living who was actually a spectator of this historic
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