THE LAND OF "THE ARABIAN NIGHTS."
THERE is probably no man, however blasé or care-worn, who does not, if he would confess it, remember with a feeling of affection the story-books of his early days. Has any one ever forgotten .Robinson Crusoe, and the delicious excitement caused by the perusal of every stage in his wonderful history ? and does not "the scent of the roses" still hang round the Arabian Nights, and make the mere mention of them stir up whole hosts of delightful recollections, so that even in these days of dispelled illusions a kind of glamour still hangs over Baghdad and other Eastern cities, causing the traveller to wander forth to visit them, and the untravelled to read with renewed curiosity every book about them which issues from the Press. Mr. Fogg has taken advantage of this feeling in his choice of a title, and this, with the additional attraction of an introduction by Bayard Taylor, may very probably cause the book to sell. Whether, however, the buyer will be fully satisfied with his bargain is another question. For ourselves, we consider that we have been unfairly dealt with, and that expectations have been raised which are far from being gratified. Half of Mr. Fogg's book is taken up with the oft-told tale of a journey through Egypt and the Holy Land, and as he confesses to being aware that more than two hundred books have already been written upon the subject, he need not, it in clear, have added to the number. Moreover, the list of travellers who have given us their experiences of travel in the more remote parts of the East, and given them much better than Mr. Fogg has done, is neither short nor insignificant, although we are informed by Mr. Bayard Taylor that the writer is with but one exception the first American to make report of what he has seen, even in his less ex- tended range of observation. For be it known that Mr. Fogg did not reach Nineveh, and caught but the barest glimpse of Babylon, having with difficulty made good a very hasty retreat to Baghdad after the plague bad broken out at Kerbeht, and all legitimate communication had been cut off between the two cities. In fact, he tells us that his return had been despaired of by his friends in the city of the Khalifs, who welcomed him accordingly with quite
rapturous demonstrations. When Mr. Bayard Taylor talks there- fore of his friend's description of the ruins of Babylon, he should, at the same time, have told us that it was given at second-hand, and that his account of Nineveh is extracted from the works of Layard and of Rawlinson. Of Baghdad, however, Mr. Fogg speaks from actual observation, and as he spent some time there, and at Marghil, and saw something of the life of the people and much of that of the English residents, this part of his book is pleasant reading, being a record of actual experience. His de- scription of a first sight of Baghdad is very attractive. He says :—
" To receive a favourable impression of Baghdad, one should approach it as it was my good-fortune to do, in an early morning in spring. For miles below we had been passing through groves of date-palms and orange-trees, and the fragrance of their blossoms was almost oppressive. The Tigris is here nearly half-a-mile wide, and flows in a broad, full stream, washing the buildings and gardens on either side. The city seems half buried in palm-trees, which rise above the buildings in every direction, but far above the palms tower the cupolas and minarets, ornamented with coloured glazed tiles, arranged in arabesque designs. The houses facing the river are not imposing in height and style of architecture. They are evidently dwellings, and not places of business. The numerous lattices, projecting windows, and verandahs looking out upon the stream give them a picturesque and agreeable appearance. Many houses have small gardens facing the river, where one can see the bright spring flowers and latticed awnings of wood or canvas, under which are seats and divans, suggestive of the coolness and com- fort of an out-door lounge."
Mr. Fogg was on board of one of Lynch and Co.'s river-steamers, which, to his surprise, was soon surrounded by goophas, that most ancient form of boat—the coracle of our forefathers—circular in form, made of wicker-work, thickly covered with bitumen, and sometimes with hide, and adorned in many instances with cowrie- shells. The goopha is very rapidly propelled by two men with short paddles, and owing to its lightness is able to convey as many men as can stand upright in it, or it will contain twenty sheep. Horses, too, are ferried across the river in this way. A lofty tower, the minaret of some mosque which has fallen to utter decay, afforded to Mr. Fogg a bird's-eye view of the city and its environs, giving him also a peep into the open-air bedrooms upon the roofs of the houses which lay beneath him clearly exposed to view. North and south, following the course of the river, are dense groves of palm and orange-trees, while on every other aide the sandy desert stretches up to the very walls. The gilded domes of the tombs of the Imaums, and the white, cone-shaped resting-place of the beautiful Zobeide, wife of Haroun-al-Raschid, are seen at some distance, and yet farther off stands the solitary Akar-kuf (or, as he calls it, Akker-goof), that singular and most ancient building composed of bricks cemented by clay, a layer of reeds alternating with every seven courses of bricks. Mr. Fogg, however, does not appear to have visited this remarkable monu- ment, merely mentioning it as one of the salient points of the panorama. We need not be surprised at the writer's rendering of some Eastern names, since, after the fashion of his country, he prefers to use to a certain extent phonetic spelling, leaving out letters in some words where we are accustomed to use double consonants, and adding them in others in a very singular way. He tells one or two amusing stories of Eastern manners. On one occasion, he and a friend, meeting a Moslem in a very muddy street, where both parties were picking their way close against the wall, the Englishman who was foremost halted, and motioned to the man to get out of the way ; but the follower of the Prophet, objecting to such a proceeding, merely salaamed profoundly, and pointing to the mud, ingenuously called out, "In the name of the most merciful God, take the mud yourself!" On another occasion, being at dinner in Baghdad, Mr. Fogg was startled by a terrific din, which increased every moment, until it culminated in such an uproar, that it seemed as if the whole population had assembled on the house-tops armed with pots
and pans, which they beat with a fearful clatter, shouting at the same time a qui mieux. The cause of this excitement proved to be an eclipse of the moon, and the noise was intended to frighten away the jin who, according to popular superstition, had caught hold of the planet. The remedy was effectual in due course of
time, but not till many a cooking utensil had had its bottom knocked out by the energetic pounding it received during the process. As Baghdad now, however, possesses a printing-office, as well as an orphan asylum and a hospital, it may be supposed that increasing civilisation will soon put an end to such amusing barbarisms. Mr. Fogg visited the arsenal, where about sixty men were engaged under an English engineer in putting together two flat-bottomed river steamers, manufactured on the Clyde and intended for the navigation of the upper Euphrates. He describes Redif Pasha as a man of great energy and considerable enlighten- ment, taking great interest in every scheme for the improvement of
the country under his government, and in particular in the Euphrates Valley Railway, which the author speaks of as actually commenced, probably considering the Aleppo line as part of a great whole to be hereafter completed, an event not very probable in the present state of Turkish finance, unless it should be the work of some other power. England, indeed. appears blind to her interest in the- matter, but far-seeing Russia caused surveys of the whole route to be made more than two years ago, and it is quite possible that should we ever awake to its advantages, we may find effectually barred againt us the great highway to India which we neglected to secure. Even supposing that the purchase of the Khedive's shares in the Suez Canal should secure the neutrality of Egypt,, a second and shorter line of communication with our Indian Empire would always be of value, irrespectively of the gain which would accrue to commerce, and in time of war the posses- sion of such a rapid means for the transit of troops might alter the very destinies of a nation.
To return to Mr. Fogg, his hasty retreat from Kerbela, includ- ing the way in which, by means of judicious administrations of brandy and Bass's ale, and the singing of negro melodies, he overcame the scruples of the Governor, so as to obtain his per- mission to break the quarantine, and make a moonlight flitting, is amusingly described, as are also his Baghdad experiences. The dogs, the donkeys, and black slaves appear to have made an impression on him. With the first and last we are all familiar,
but large, white donkeys, with their tails and ears dyed bright red, and their bodies spotted with the same colour, and splen- didly caparisoned, must certainly be a remarkable sight, and it seems that Baghdad is famous throughout the East for its breed of white asses. The English residents seem to lead a very, sociable and pleasant life, and to be exceedingly hospitable to strangers. As Mr. Fogg was travelling, however, with Mr. Finnis, one of the firm of Lynch and Co., he may have been indebted to that circumstance for a specially friendly reception ; at all events, he seems to have found his stay thoroughly enjoyable, and to have left the place with regret. The climate he considers healthy, the- great heat of one portion of the year being provided against by living in the serd4bs or underground-apartments, and keeping the punkahs constantly going ; milk, butter, and wine being cooled, in the absence of ice, by evaporation in porous vessels, and reduced to as low a temperature as is considered wholesome. The evening meal is taken, during the summer months, upon the roof or terrace, and- there also you sleep. The cup of coffee and chibouk are followed by an early ride, after which a bath and a meal, answering to the little breakfast of India, precede the day's work, which, however, does not seem to be overwhelming, since the regular breakfast comes off at noon, and after it a siesta. Another hour or two may then be given to business, if, as the author remarks, you have anything to do, and then another ride or a game of croquet, or quoits in a date-garden, or a stroll through the "green lanes," fills up the time until dinner, after which there is always whist, which lasts till midnight. Altogether, according to Mr. Fogg, English life at Baghdad seems to be largely made up of the dolce far niente, but though he seems to have appreciated a lounge on the grass under citron and orange-trees, he was equally ready for the good sport to be enjoyed from the deck of the steamer when ascending the Tigris. The game consisted of wild boar, antelopes, jackals, and water-fowl: but on one occasion Captain Cowley is said to have shot four lions on the Euphrates ; these animals were, however, taken at a disadvantage, having been on a small
island when a sudden rise in the river had cut off their retreat to the bank. The Mesopotamian lion is usually without a mane, I although upon the Karun river some have been found with a long, black one. Such a lion, the author tells us, is called a Kaffir, or infidel, the maneless lions being Mussulmans. These latter, if properly adjured, may be induced to spare life, on the suppliant's making an orthodox confession of faith, while the un- believing lion has no mercy! We suppose Mr. Fogg would hardly like to put the truth of this story to the test, although he is gullible enough to believe and to expect his readers to accept the statement that " Yankeedonia" is a proper Arabic word, and the
icorrect designation for the New World.
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