The
Faithful Steel (Methley's Yorkshire Servant) Stood Aghast For A
Moment At The Sight Of His Master's Luggage Upon The
Shoulders of
these warlike porters, and when at last we began to move up he
could scarcely avoid turning round
To cast one affectionate look
towards Christendom, but quickly again he marched on with steps of
a man, not frightened exactly, but sternly prepared for death, or
the Koran, or even for plural wives.
The Moslem quarter of a city is lonely and desolate. You go up and
down, and on over shelving and hillocky paths through the narrow
lanes walled in by blank, windowless dwellings; you come out upon
an open space strewed with the black ruins that some late fire has
left; you pass by a mountain of castaway things, the rubbish of
centuries, and on it you see numbers of big, wolf-like dogs lying
torpid under the sun, with limbs outstretched to the full, as if
they were dead; storks, or cranes, sitting fearless upon the low
roofs, look gravely down upon you; the still air that you breathe
is loaded with the scent of citron, and pomegranate rinds scorched
by the sun, or (as you approach the bazaar) with the dry, dead
perfume of strange spices. You long for some signs of life, and
tread the ground more heavily, as though you would wake the
sleepers with the heel of your boot; but the foot falls noiseless
upon the crumbling soil of an Eastern city, and silence follows you
still. Again and again you meet turbans, and faces of men, but
they have nothing for you - no welcome - no wonder - no wrath - no
scorn - they look upon you as we do upon a December's fall of snow -
as a "seasonable," unaccountable, uncomfortable work of God, that
may have been sent for some good purpose, to be revealed hereafter.
Some people had come down to meet us with an invitation from the
Pasha, and we wound our way up to the castle. At the gates there
were groups of soldiers, some smoking, and some lying flat like
corpses upon the cool stones. We went through courts, ascended
steps, passed along a corridor, and walked into an airy,
whitewashed room, with an European clock at one end of it, and
Moostapha Pasha at the other; the fine, old, bearded potentate
looked very like Jove - like Jove, too, in the midst of his clouds,
for the silvery fumes of the narghile {2} hung lightly circling
round him.
The Pasha received us with the smooth, kind, gentle manner that
belongs to well-bred Osmanlees; then he lightly clapped his hands,
and instantly the sound filled all the lower end of the room with
slaves; a syllable dropped from his lips which bowed all heads, and
conjured away the attendants like ghosts (their coming and their
going was thus swift and quiet, because their feet were bare, and
they passed through no door, but only by the yielding folds of a
purder). Soon the coffee-bearers appeared, every man carrying
separately his tiny cup in a small metal stand; and presently to
each of us there came a pipe-bearer, who first rested the bowl of
the tchibouque at a measured distance on the floor, and then, on
this axis, wheeled round the long cheery stick, and gracefully
presented it on half-bended knee; already the well-kindled fire was
glowing secure in the bowl, and so, when I pressed the amber up to
mine, there was no coyness to conquer; the willing fume came up,
and answered my slightest sigh, and followed softly every breath
inspired, till it touched me with some faint sense and
understanding of Asiatic contentment.
Asiatic contentment! Yet scarcely, perhaps, one hour before I had
been wanting my bill, and ringing for waiters, in a shrill and busy
hotel.
In the Ottoman dominions there is scarcely any hereditary influence
except that which belongs to the family of the Sultan, and wealth,
too, is a highly volatile blessing, not easily transmitted to the
descendant of the owner. From these causes it results that the
people standing in the place of nobles and gentry are official
personages, and though many (indeed the greater number) of these
potentates are humbly born and bred, you will seldom, I think, find
them wanting in that polished smoothness of manner, and those well-
undulating tones which belong to the best Osmanlees. The truth is,
that most of the men in authority have risen from their humble
station by the arts of the courtier, and they preserve in their
high estate those gentle powers of fascination to which they owe
their success. Yet unless you can contrive to learn a little of
the language, you will be rather bored by your visits of ceremony;
the intervention of the interpreter, or dragoman as he is called,
is fatal to the spirit of conversation. I think I should mislead
you if I were to attempt to give the substance of any particular
conversation with Orientals. A traveller may write and say that
"the Pasha of So-and-so was particularly interested in the vast
progress which has been made in the application of steam, and
appeared to understand the structure of our machinery - that he
remarked upon the gigantic results of our manufacturing industry -
showed that he possessed considerable knowledge of our Indian
affairs, and of the constitution of the Company, and expressed a
lively admiration of the many sterling qualities for which the
people of England are distinguished." But the heap of commonplaces
thus quietly attributed to the Pasha will have been founded perhaps
on some such talking as this:-
Pasha. - The Englishman is welcome; most blessed among hours is
this, the hour of his coming.
Dragoman (to the traveller). - The Pasha pays you his compliments.
Traveller. - Give him my best compliments in return, and say I'm
delighted to have the honour of seeing him.
Dragoman (to the Pasha). - His lordship, this Englishman, Lord of
London, Scorner of Ireland, Suppressor of France, has quitted his
governments, and left his enemies to breathe for a moment, and has
crossed the broad waters in strict disguise, with a small but
eternally faithful retinue of followers, in order that he might
look upon the bright countenance of the Pasha among Pashas - the
Pasha of the everlasting Pashalik of Karagholookoldour.
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