29 AUGUST 1846, Page 16

SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

TAVELII,

A Pilgrimage to the Temples and Tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine, in 184-5-6. By Mrs. Romer, Author of " The Rhone, the Darro, and the Guadalquiver," &c.

In two volumes Bentley.

The Water Cure in Chronic Disease: an Exposition of the causes, progress, and ter- minations of various Chronic Diseases of the Digestive Organs, Lungs, Nerves, Limbs, and Skin ; and of their Treatment by Water, and other hygienic means. By James Manby Gully, M.D. aitirchill; Lamb, Nakern • The Tudor Sisters ; a Story of National Sacrilege. In three volumes Newby.

EIBTO/ICAL limuner,

An Essay on Primeval History. By John Kenrick, M.A. Fellows.

MRS. ROMER'S TOUR IN EGYPT, NUBIA, AND PALESTINE.

WITHOUT wishing to say anything harsh, we must observe that these two volumes are not only a needless publication, but an example of book- manufacture that should be plainly discouraged, though the only effectual discouragement must rest with the purchasing public. Two ample and handsomely-printed volumes, extending to nearly eight hundred pages, " got up " with plates and in the best style of printer and bookbinder, are rather too much for a steam-voyage to Malta, another to Alexandria, an ascent of the Nile, the wonders of Cairo and its vicinity, with a subse- quent voyage to Beyrout, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and a passing call at Damascus and Baalbec. Nor beyond a mere literary skill, which is sometimes mischievous by inducing the writer to dress up trifles, has Mrs. Romer any peculiar qualifications to add to our information, or to excite our interest in such a tour. Without a deep knowledge of history or antiquity, or any critical acquirements in art, she can only record her impressions of the remains which she sees, or smartly condense the guide- book or popular history. Her sex, and seemingly her tastes, disqualify her for those political, economical, or social investigations, which may always be carried on by a competent mind, and elicit something worth knowing, especially touching countries in a transition state, if the eyes and judgment be used instead of the ears and the "spectacles of books." Nor, although a clever littgrateur, has Mrs. Romer the graphic power and forcible composition which in their several ways distinguish Titmarsh, Warbur- ton, and the author of Eothen. On the contrary, her lively but some- what flimsy style, and her facility of narration as a tale-writer, mar the better matter by the introductions they occasion. At Malta, the reader is treated to the curiosities of the place, and to a disquisition on the apostle Paul's shipwreck, not originated by Mrs. Romer's own interest in the question, but picked up from a passenger in the steamer : at Alexandria, we have the old story of the burning of its library, with other references to its history : on the Nile, Mrs. Romer apostrophizes its waters, beginning with the Pharaohs ; and her own feelings or sensations are ever forced upon the reader in lieu of a well-defined description,—though it would not be easy in so worn-out a field to find much that had not been de- eoribed before.

Mrs. Romer, however, might properly enough have published a narrative of her tour, had she confined herself to an account of incidents occurring to her party, to the sketches of society which her sex and possibly her reputation as a writer gave her an opportunity of seeing, and to the de- scription of anything that made a very strong impression upon her, if it were not the mere decies repetita of the guide-book. Her account of the different harems she visited, from that of a petty village chief to those of the rank and fashion of Cairo, though not essentially new perhaps, are interest- ing as sketches of manners, and as indications of the moral tone of woman in the East—which in general seems low enough. The descriptions of so- Ciety in some of the half Europeanized Oriental cities have freshness, be- cause the society itself is a new creation ; and during a journey in countries like Egypt and Palestine, incidents occur or characters are met with that have an intrinsic interest. Reading of this kind is frequently found in the book; and to such matter Mrs. Romer should have limited her pen : but in that case we should have had one small volume instead of two large ones.

The following is an example of the power of Mohammed Ali, and of a love of mischief somewhat akin to that which is said to have distinguished Talleyrand. Entertainments were held to celebrate the marriage of the Pasha's youngest daughter ; of which a very full account is given in the book.

"The week's entertainments commenced by a grand dinner, given by the Vice- roy to the Sheik-ul-Islam, the themes, and all the heads of the Mohammedan re- ' 'on in Cairo. With the exception of no wine being placed upon the table, (but there was plenty on the buffet,) t.his repast was served completely in the European style; and the reverend guests who, for the first time in their lives, found them- Wves perched upon chairs at dinner, with their legs dangling under a high table, and their hands furnished with knives and forks, and dishes handed round to them by maitre, d'hôtel, out of which they were expected to help themselves with spoons instead of their fingers, looked sorely mystified, and acquitted themselves very awkwardly with these unwonted adjuncts to the science of the table, putting their own tongues and their neighbours' eyes into manifest jeopardy in their attempts to handle them properly. However, this was not the only trial that their philoso- phy had to encounter. No sooner was dinner over than the Viceroy arose, and, desiring his guests to follow him, led the way into a large and brilliantly illumi- nated ball of the palace, which had been fitted np as a theatre, with stage deco- rations, orchestra, boxes, &c. There all the European society invited by his High- ness had already assembled; the boxes were filled with Frank ladies full-dressed; and the orchestra only awaited the coming of Mohammed All to commence the overture. The Viceroy took possession of his box, and desired the holy men to seat themselves behind him; and they, not daring to disobey him, yet finding that they had fallen into a snare, (for theatrical exhibitions are looked upon as an abo- nunation by Mahometan churchmen,) silently sunk into their places. But what became of them when the curtain rose, and a broad Italian farce commenced, sea- soned with the practical jokes of Arlechino, Pantalone, and tutti quanii! lf, scandalized by the feats of Columbine and her lover, they averted their eyes from the stage to the boxes, their glances fell upon Infidel women decked in jewels, with naked arms and bosoms, and, worse still, unveiled faces! This was illustrating 'from Scylla to Charybdis' with a vengeance! At last they Bought refuge from such neseemly sights by downcast looks, and sat like martyrs, stroking their beards, ejaculating Idas.hallah and wondering when such shaitanlik (devilry)

would cease; while Mohnen:ilea Ali; with a cunning smile lurking in his keen eyes, evidently enjoyed the discomfiture evinced by the reverend heath of the Moslem religion at this desperate stride made by him towards European customs. This method of entrapping or surprising people into that which, were their tastes and feelings consulted, they would be sure to refuse, is a distinctive trait in his High- ness's character."

The following is a picture of a harem belonging to a man in a respect- able position in society.

" A number of female visiters arrived one after another, invited, no doubt, to look at the lion that had fallen among them in the shape of a Frank stranger; and coffee, sherbet, oranges, and dried raisins soaked in aniseed, were served to us; and when the room could furnish no more cushions for the guests, I heard a tink- ling of metal castanets in the antechamber, and a young Abyssinian eunuch ushered in the Ghawazees of Kenneh for my amusement.

"I would gladly have dispensed with this part of the entertainment; for my curiosity bad been so thoroughly satisfied by what I had seen of Sofia's perform- ance at Esneh, that I never wished to witness a similar exhibition. But there was no escape for me; and as on this occasion no restriction was laid upon the Ghawazee's performance, but, on the contrary, the more cynical it became the greater was the applause bestowed upon it, I was not only wearied but disgusted by what I saw. It would be impossible to describe the strange vagaries indulged in by these women; and there was something not only undignified but indelicate in the freedoms taken with them by the ladies of the hareem; and although it is notorious that the Ghawazees are women of abandoned character, they were made to sit down familiarly among us between each dance, and allowed to bandy their practical jokes with their superiors with an effrontery that was quite revolting to me. Imagine four mortal hours passed by me in this manner; and not only obliged to endure, but to appear to enjoy what was going on! Just when I fan- cied that I could bear it no longer, I received the welcome summons that liberated me from the hareem, and conveyed me to the apartment of Seid Husseyn, where I and my party were to dine with him and his sons I la Turqne."

This incident furnishes a sad picture of the Egyptian slave-trade, and of the wretched degradation of the people whence the slaves are carried off.

" Shortly after our arrival at Mahatta, a large boat came alongside of us laden with slaves, on their way from Kordafar and Sennaar to Cairo. They had been taken as sot-disant prisoners of war, and are the property of Mohammed Ali, to whom they are now being conveyed under the escort of three or four Egyptian soldiers. There were about seventy of them. But to call them prisoners of war is preposterous; the greater part being women with infants at their breasts, pro- bably the result of some rani, or razzia, which has swept away into slavery the whole population of a wretched village. The appearance of these poor creatures was truly miserable; besides their natural ugliness, (being the blackest and most hideous race of Negroes,) they bore the traces of wretchedness and privation legibly stamped upon their projecting bones and attenuated forms. Huddled to- gether at the bottom of the boat, were they were packed as closely together as sheep in a pen, they did not exchange a word even with each other: they ap- peared quite brutified—insensible even of the treatment to which they are victims. When they were marched out of the boat, (for, to avoid the trouble of taking them down the cataract, they are to proceed by land to Es- souan, there to be re- shipped for Cairo,) we sent Mohammed to buy them a good meal of dates; and for ten piastres (about two shillings) he brought back as much as two men could carry. We distributed them in equal portions among the poor creatures: but, although they ate them like people who had been hungering for a length of time they evinced no semblance of satisfaction, or even thankfulness, for what they had received: they are evidently as insensible to kindness as to ill-treatment, and ap- pear to be as inferior in their moral as in their physical organization to the Can- caStan races."

This account of the Pasha's garden contains another indication of the* character of woman in the East.

" There is another fine garden in the vicinity of Cairo, which belongs to Ibrahim Pasha, and occupies the whole of the little island of ihoda; the locality pointed out to travellers as being the spot where Pharoah's daughter went down to the river to bathe, and found the infant Moses among the bulrushes. This garden is under the superintendence of Mr. Trail, a Scotch horticulturist; and is rich in every variety of Tropical vegetation and Indian trees, besides whatever European productions can be made to succeed in this dry and burning climate. It is laid out in the English style; and the beautiful flower-beds, and the graceful willows drooping their flexible branches over marble balustrades into the calm Nile, re- minded me of the fair gardens of the West, and seine of those lovely creations of my owe country which have no equal in any other part of the world. No pains or expense have been spared in rendering the gardens of Rhoda as complete as possible: but when I inquired of Mr. Trail whether Ibrahim Pasha understands enough of botany or horticulture to appretiate the rare collection of plants and trees he has assembled together there, he assured me that all his Highness's know- ledge of that science is comprised in enjoying a fine peach when it is served at his table. The ladies of his hareem are occasionally permitted to visit the gardens; but Mr. Trail declares that he would rather see a flight of locusts alight upon the premises than these fair recluses. They gather halt the flowers, tread down the remainder, devour all the fruit within their reach, and six months are scarcely sufficient to repair the ravages effected in less than six hours by them when they are let loose in the bowers of Rhoda."