£f#» ""if, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Purchased by the Hammill Missionary Fund. 
 
 «... DT70 
 
 Division 
 
 MfSS 
 
 Section 
 
 Number 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/childlifeinegyptOOwhat' 
 
CHILD-LIFE 
 
 IN 
 
 EGYPT. 
 
 Marx, Louisa \vUa+ely 1 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
 No. 1122 Chestnut Street. 
 
 NEW YORK: 599 BROADWAY. 
 
o 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by the 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 in the Clerk's OfTice of the District Court of the United States 
 for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
I 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The present work is compiled from two vo- 
 lumes, one entitled " Ragged Life in Egypt," and 
 the other "More about Ragged Life in Egypt," 
 — both by Miss M. L. Whately. It embraces the 
 account of the author's labours in establishing 
 schools for children in and near Cairo, and such 
 incidental notices of the domestic habits and cus- 
 toms of this singular people as are necessary to 
 an understanding of the obstacles which attended 
 her benevolent effort. 
 
 It adds greatly to the interest of Miss Whately 's 
 narrative that it is confined to what came under 
 her personal notice. 
 
 Sunday-school (and .especially mission-school) 
 teachers will find this volume full of suggestions 
 and encouragements, to which they will do well 
 to take heed. 
 
 1* 5 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Chap. I. — First Glance at an Eastern City 9 
 
 II. — House-Hunting eh Cairo 41 
 
 III. — The Cairo Bazaars 23 
 
 IV. — The House-Tops 27 
 
 V. — First Attempt at School 38 
 
 VI.— The Boab's Family 49 
 
 VII. — Shoh and Fatmeh 60 
 
 VIII. — Scenes in the Desert 75 
 
 IX. — Visits to Eastern Women whc do not 
 
 live in Hareems 85 
 
 X. — The Blind and the Sick 99 
 
 XL— The City Arabs 112 
 
 XII. — Three Days at Suez 124 
 
 XIII. — Recruiting 138 
 
 XIV. — A School-Treat in Cairo 153 
 
 XV.— The Tamarisk-Grove 167 
 
 7 
 
S CONTENTS. 
 
 VXQS 
 
 Chap. XVI. — Motheks' Meeting in Caieo 181 
 
 XVII. — Ragged School Reopened 169 
 
 XVIII. — Visits to the Lanes and Fields.... 206 
 
 XIX. — How the School Progressed 221 
 
 XX.— Zeynab 245 
 
 XXI. — Zeynab Again 261 
 
 XXII.— The Boys' Sunday-School 272 
 
 XXIII— Conclusion 287 
 
CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 FIRST GLANCE AT AN EASTERN CITY. 
 
 HE first sight of Egypt! — that warm, 
 transparent colouring, — those feathery- 
 palms and graceful minarets standing out 
 against the clear blue sky, and relieving the 
 monotony of the flat, sandy coast, — that golden 
 sunshine, making the shadows so deep by 
 contrast with the intense light, — and those 
 moving crowds, so different from the figures 
 with which our eyes have been familar from 
 childhood ! One must pity the mind that 
 cannot relish the novelty of such a scene ; yet 
 if witnessed a second time, after a long inter- 
 val, the charm is almost greater, perhaps : a 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 pleasant mixture of novelty and familiarity 
 seems to enhance the delight with which the 
 eye wanders round the half-remembered pic- 
 tures of Eastern life, and enables one to appre- 
 ciate them even more fully than at first sight. 
 
 The tall Bedouins, in their white, flowing 
 drapery, stalking through the motley crowd; 
 the troops of ragged, vociferating donkey- 
 boys, with their white teeth displayed in per- 
 petual grins ; the women, in their scanty robes 
 of blue cotton and black face-veils tied under 
 their eyes, and little brown babies, with tiny 
 red caps or dirty kerchiefs on their heads, 
 clinging to the shoulders of their mothers; 
 Levantines, in half-European, half-Oriental 
 costume, loitering about, cigar in mouth; 
 ladies in black silken shroud-like dress, hur- 
 rying along to the bath ; Negroes and Nu- 
 bians in gay-coloured turbans, and scarfs of 
 every rainbow hue; Jews and Algerines, 
 Greeks and Turks and Maltese, — these are 
 some of the figures that swarm in the streets 
 of the only sea-port of Northern . Egypt. It 
 
FIRST GLANlE AT AN EASTERN CITY. 11 
 
 is true that Alexandria is, compared to the 
 towns of the interior, only half Eastern in 
 its inhabitants, and even its buildings : num- 
 bers of houses are built in the European style, 
 and fair-haired Franks are plentiful in its 
 streets; but still it is wonderfully different 
 from any city which a native of our " isles of 
 the sea" has ever seen in his own land, or in 
 the whole continent of the North. 
 
 There passes the first string of camels he 
 has ever gazed upon ! Who that has studied 
 Scripture does not feel a thrill of delight as 
 he watches them walking past him, associated 
 as are camels with so many precious narra- 
 tives and allusions, — with Abraham, Isaac and 
 Jacob ? Singular creatures they are, — gaunt, 
 and yet stately, — awkward, yet graceful, con- 
 tradictory as it seems ; for they have a grace 
 of their own: as each great, spongy foot is 
 lifted up, the animal sways his long neck and 
 looks down with solemn cautiousness, as if he 
 were going to tread on eggs, while his large, 
 beautiful dark eye turns occasionally to one 
 
12 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 side or another with an expression of dignified 
 contempt, which is almost human in its intelli- 
 gence. The heavy skins of water, slung with 
 hair ropes to his steep sides, make a sound 
 with the jolting motion which is quite re- 
 freshing on a hot, dusty day, and the progress 
 of the long file is marked by the drops which 
 escape from the older and more leaky vessels. 
 One man, and often one little boy, will guide 
 a whole string of camels, and the docile crea- 
 tures patiently follow a master who does not 
 reach so high as their knees. 
 
 Bewildered with sights and sounds so new 
 and strange, the traveller at last is weary 
 with gazing, and rests under his musquito- 
 curtains till next day dawns, and he begins 
 the new life in those old regions where every 
 thing has stood still for so many ages ! The 
 land of mummies and pyramids, — the land 
 of the Pharaohs and their treasure-cities, — 
 and, what is more interesting still to the 
 mind of any one who labours in God's vine- 
 
FIRST GLANCE AT AN EASTERN CITY. 13 
 
 yard, the land where so many thousands of 
 human beings live at this present day who 
 know nothing of the " city of refuge," but 
 wander in various paths, all leading thera 
 astray. 
 
14 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOUSE-HUNTING IN CAIRO. 
 
 i^YT^HEBE is not much of Oriental life to 
 i^JM. Deseen while residing in a hotel kept 
 by a European, and where, except a few native 
 servants, scarcely any thing appears to mark 
 that you are in Africa. To know much of the 
 ways of the people, one must reside in a native 
 house and in a native quarter. For this last 
 advantage, however, we must pay pretty dear 
 at first, by taking a great deal of trouble; for 
 if house-hunting is a troublesome work every- 
 where, it is particularly so in Cairo, and the 
 poor hunter is led occasionally to envy the wan- 
 dering Bedouin, who has but to pitch his tent, 
 instead of groping into dark passages and 
 
HOUSE-HUNTING IN CAIRO. 15 
 
 stumbling over heaps of rubbish in search of 
 an abode. 
 
 The old houses are likely to be very old 
 indeed, very dirty, and the wood-work hope- 
 lessly full of vermin ; the new, on the other 
 hand, are not finished, for it is usual in 
 Egypt to leave a house uncompleted until 
 the builder has secured a tenant, — a plan very 
 convenient to him, because he can thus leave 
 many little details to be added at the expense 
 of the said tenant, unless he is more than 
 commonly sharp in making the bargain. The 
 old houses, after visiting a few of them, we 
 decided against entirely, and turned our 
 thoughts to the new, as offering the least 
 evils. 
 
 Some of the streets to which we had been 
 directed were so narrow that the projecting 
 wooden lattices touched from opposite sides, 
 and only a small strip of sky appeared at the 
 top of the houses. As the inhabitants keep 
 the ground perpetually sluiced with water, 
 these very narrow streets are damp even in 
 
16 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 this dry climate, and, except on the roofs, no 
 free air can be obtained in them. One house, 
 however, though in the close Coptic quarter, 
 where the streets are particularly damp and 
 narrow for the most part, was well spoken of, 
 as it stood at a corner, and was consequently 
 not crowded on all sides by its neighbours. 
 It was, moreover, quite new, — so new, indeed, 
 that the staircase was not half finished, and 
 a series of feats of scrambling, worthy of 
 goats upon a cliff, had to be performed before 
 we could reach the top room, whence a very 
 fine view was to be seen, and pure air to be 
 breathed. But the walls were not even plas- 
 tered, nor the windows glazed, nor the doors 
 made; and, to crown all, the workmen were 
 lying upon the floor in one of the rooms, fast 
 asleep, among heaps of shavings, though it 
 was only ten o'clock in the morning. It ap- 
 peared that they had been locked into the 
 house to prevent them from leaving their 
 work, and thus a fine example was produced 
 of the effects of forced labour: they could not 
 
HOUSE-HUNTING IN CAIRO. 17 
 
 get out, indeed ; but they slept instead of 
 working! The master promised to have it 
 ready in fifteen days; but he must have been 
 very credulous who should believe him, with 
 the sleeping labourers before his eyes. 
 
 After many failures and much fatigue, a 
 house was at last found, which possessed many 
 advantages : it was in a healthy, airy quarter, 
 and, though a Moslem quarter, many Syrian 
 families resided in it : it was also very near the 
 country, and yet quite in the town, — which 
 for a school-house is a very important combi- 
 nation. This house was, moreover, so nearly 
 completed that two days of active work would 
 have sufficed to make it habitable, as no 'paint 
 was used. The native to whom it belonged 
 was a sly-looking fellow, but he promised to 
 have all done in seven days. His future 
 tenants visited their intended abode nearly 
 every day during this period, to urge the 
 workmen to work. But when the eighth day 
 came, and they presented themselves, humbly 
 following on foot the ox-cart which conveyed 
 
 B 2* 
 
18 
 
 CHILD-L.FE IN EG\ PT. 
 
 their effects, the landlord appeared a good 
 deal disconcerted at being taken at his word. 
 
 Yet it was the only chance for the tenants 
 to get all things finished, to be actually on the 
 spot, inhabiting such rooms as were fit for 
 use; otherwise the house might have remained 
 unfinished to this very day! The outside was 
 clean and white, and looked pretty and in- 
 viting; but it certainly did require some courage 
 to enter the scene of dirt, litter and confusion 
 that appeared within. We had to spring over 
 pools of whitewash, and climb over loose 
 stones and bricks, in order to get to the 
 stairs, where we were met by a troop of dirty, 
 half-clad boys and girls, with hods of mortar 
 on their shoulders and pails of water on their 
 heads. Threading our way with some trouble 
 among this ragged regiment, we attained the 
 first story, and there found at least doors and 
 windows, though the former, having neither 
 locks nor latches of any kind, obstinately refused 
 to remain shut unless by means of a violent 
 slam; and 1hen we had no means of escape, 
 
HOUSE-HUNTING IN CAIRO. 
 
 19 
 
 and were prisoners till our servant came and 
 forced the door open by the application of his 
 shoulder. 
 
 In half an hour's time, however, a change 
 took place. The sly owner sat at the head of 
 the stairs, watching the active proceedings of 
 his new tenants with great surprise ; for, in- 
 stead of reclining on their carpets in a corner 
 of the dirty apartments and smoking a pipe 
 in peace and quiet, as he doubtless had ex- 
 pected them to do in such circumstances, they 
 were assisting their servants in clearing away 
 rubbish and arranging and unpacking furni- 
 ture. When he saw one lady handling a 
 broom, while the other was helping the maid 
 to uncord a box, and at the same directing the 
 servant who was arranging bedsteads, he could 
 not repress a broad grin ; but as to lending a 
 hand, that never occurred to him. By sunset 
 he took his welcome departure, and the work- 
 men also left. By this time the rooms, if bare 
 and desolate, were at least clean and habita- 
 ble. The new cook, a respectable Syrian, 
 
20 
 
 CHILI- LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 was calmly boiling rice and milk for supper in 
 the kitchen, which had only been finished an 
 hour ago ; and the tenants, sitting down in the 
 palm- wood frames, covered with mattresses, 
 which were the chief part of their furniture as 
 yet, could at least say they were monarchs of 
 all they surveyed ! The rooms were white- 
 washed exactly like the outside, and from the 
 absence of paint on any of the wood-work, and 
 a certain deficiency in straight lines and in 
 general finish which is to be observed in most 
 Egyptian handyworks, the whole concern had 
 a bare appearance : the only seats were the 
 palm-wood frames already mentioned, like the 
 bedsteads, only smaller, and called kavasses; 
 these are used for a hundred different purposes 
 in Cairo ; but, bare as it looked, it was a home. 
 
 It is indeed a work of time to get the 
 simplest furniture, where every thing has to 
 be separately hunted for and bargained for, 
 and brought home by yourself, — that is, by 
 your servant, or a porter or donkey-boy; for 
 shopmen do not send articles home for you, as 
 
HOUSE-HUNTING IN CAIRO. 
 
 21 
 
 with us. For a matt, ess it was needful to go 
 to the cotton bazaar, get the raw cotton 
 weighed, bargain for it, with the help of a more 
 experienced friend, then send for a man whose 
 work it is to pluck it and stuff the mattresses 
 and cushions, and to watch him pretty closely 
 lest he put it in half picked, to save trouble. 
 Then for shelves, so necessary in houses with- 
 out any closets, a carpenter is sent for; and 
 when he comes he says, "I have no wood.' 
 "Well, get some directly." "I must go to 
 Bouiac for it," (two miles off.) With great 
 persuasion he is induced to try if the city of 
 Cairo cannot produce a little wood, and brings 
 some, of a bad quality enough, certainly. Two 
 hours before sunset he is requested to make 
 another shelf, having actually finished three, 
 and replies, "To-morrow I will make it." 
 " Why not now ? it still wants an hour and 
 more to sunset." "Iam tired," (holding his 
 head on his hand:) "I have worked all day," 
 — which was not strictly true : " early, early," 
 to-morrow, to-morrow. 
 
22 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 It would be well for the poor Egyptians if 
 we could teach them that to-day is better 
 than to-morrow ; but we must take them young 
 for such lessons : our friend the carpenter was 
 too old, I fear, ever to learn to do any thing 
 to-day which he can possibly put off till to- 
 morrow. 
 
TEE CAIRO BAZAARS. 
 
 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CAIRO BAZAARS. 
 
 HE great bazaars, where the necessaries 
 of life are sold, are the thoroughfares, and 
 in the middle of the day so noisy and crowded 
 that it requires much skill on the part of the boy 
 who guides one's donkey, as well as consider- 
 able vigilance in oneself, to avoid being knocked 
 down or squeezed to a mummy. A sea of 
 white and red turbans is in front, here and 
 there interrupted by a huge camel, towering 
 above everybody and apparently going to 
 trample down some half-dozen in his progress, 
 or by a long line of donkeys laden with drip- 
 ping skins of water, or great stones for build- 
 ing, loosely fastened with cord-netting, and 
 threatening to fall on the feet of the passen- 
 
24 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 gers ; though, indeed, from the density of the 
 crowd, they do not seem to have any feet, — 
 only heads ! 
 
 In some quarters the most lively traffic is 
 carried on, and carriages are constantly to 
 be seen, as the space is wide enough to admit 
 of driving, — though not always with safety: 
 the Arab drivers, however, are rash and head- 
 strong, and dash furiously along, a running 
 footman, armed with a long wand, going be- 
 fore to clear the way. "And some shall run 
 before his chariots." (1 Sam. viii. 11.) By 
 night the carriages are lighted by torches, 
 borne by the says, which cast a beautiful red 
 glare as they hurry past, and strongly bring 
 to mind the passage of Scripture where it is 
 said, "The chariots shall be with flaming 
 torches, . . . the chariots shall rage in the 
 streets, they shall justle one against another in 
 the broad ways : they shall seem like torches, 
 they shall run like the lightnings." Nah. ii. 3, 4. 
 
 But it is in the daytime that the chief 
 crowds are to be seen in the East : they do 
 
THE CAIRO BAZAARS. 
 
 25 
 
 not, like Europea ns, turn night into day ; and, 
 instead of requiring gas to light up their 
 shops, when the sun has set they shut them 
 up and go home. In this respect, surely, civili- 
 zation would not improve them. 
 
 Women carrying bread, fruit or vegetables 
 on their heads add in no small degree to the 
 noise as well as to the crowd in the bazaars, 
 their shrill cries sounding above every other 
 din. They are not, apparently, thought worthy 
 of keeping shops, but whatever can be borne 
 on the head they may sell ; and it makes a 
 greater difference than one who has not seen 
 it would fancy, to see all burdens on the head 
 instead of on the arm or in the hand. At 
 home, a troop of market-women have both 
 hands full, and are usually bent to one side 
 with the weight of a basket on the arm ; here 
 they are always erect, and seem incessantly 
 gesticulating with their gracefully-rounded 
 brown arms (I speak of those who are not 
 arrived at age and decrepitude), and tinkling 
 their silver bracelets, while huge trays o< 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 heavy water-pitchers are skilfully poised on 
 their heads. The greater number have their 
 faces hidden all but the eyes; still, a good 
 many of the lowest class are unveiled, or at 
 most have only a corner of their head-veil 
 drawn across the mouth and held in their 
 teeth while passing along a public place. 
 
 The most picturesque and remarkable of all 
 the moving figures of the Eastern crowd is, 
 undoubtedly, the Bedouin Arab. Strong but 
 wiry and slender in frame, graceful in his 
 movements, as he follows his stately camels, 
 or stops to purchase cotton or provisions in 
 the bazaars, his striped abba, or white bur- 
 nouse, hangs easily in heavy folds over his 
 shoulder, and his dark skin and prominent 
 features and keen black eye all mark the un- 
 changed son of the desert, who belongs not to 
 the city, but passes through it, indifferent to 
 its conveniences and luxuries and despising 
 its customs like his ancestors. 
 
THE HOUSE-TOPS. 
 
 27 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HOUSE-TOPS. 
 
 N the winter-weather of Egypt, which 
 is for the most part delightfully tem- 
 perate, the house-top is a very pleasant perch, 
 from whence a view of great extent may be 
 enjoyed, as well as much " native life" seen, 
 which could hardly be gained from any other 
 place so well. Our roof became almost a 
 parlour during the cool weather, and afforded 
 the best substitute for a garden that circum- 
 stances allowed. Standing at a corner, and, 
 therefore, only joined behind and on one side 
 to other houses, and being much higher than 
 those nearest to it, our dwelling commanded a 
 clear view of the city and of the country for 
 miles round. We looked upon the gardens 
 
'Z6 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 which surround the city like a dark-green mass, 
 varied by the tall palms shooting up their 
 feathery branches amid the orange and acacia 
 trees, and by the white villas and palaces of 
 rich pashas or Franks. A streak of pale yel- 
 low or pink in the far distance, just on the 
 horizon, marked the desert beyond the narrow 
 limit of fertility. All around us were the 
 crowded, flat-roofed dwellings of the city, of 
 every variety of height and shape, with hun- 
 dreds of beautiful towers and mosques, some 
 dating back to the times of Saracen magnifi- 
 cence, others more modern and less exquisitely 
 finished. 
 
 Down in the street below us, we looked on 
 the humble sellers of onions, bread, or sugar- 
 canes, who, seated all day upon, their mats, 
 soon became familiar both by face and voice, — 
 the sugarcane-seller especially, who lived at 
 the corner opposite my window, furnishing 
 many an animated group for the sketch-book, 
 in the crowds of boys and girls who came to 
 buy her very popular articles. Her existence 
 
CTjUfc Eifc in Cflgpt 
 
THE HOUSE-TCFS. 
 
 29 
 
 was less monotonous than might appear ; for 
 she talked incessantly to any one who came 
 within ear-shot, whether customer or not. 
 
 Late in the day, when sellers were making 
 up their accounts, and a few sharp bargainers 
 trying to get oranges, beans, &c. at a lower 
 rate than before, the clatter of tongues was 
 quite astonishing ; the ringing sound of slaps 
 upon some one's shoulders was added to the 
 cries of " You dog !" " You buffalo !" " You 
 ass!" "You Jew!" the last beins^ considered 
 the worst insult. They are a merry as well 
 as a quarrelsome set, however, and at least as 
 much laughter as scolding went on ; nor are 
 the men graver or more silent on their side. 
 The Egyptians remind one constantly of the 
 Irish, in their love for conversation, mirthful- 
 ness, and propensity to dispute and general 
 excitability of character. A southern climate 
 will give a certain degree of languor and idle- 
 ness; but their tongues are not idle, as any 
 one who lived in our street could well testify. 
 
 Some of the houses in Bab-el-Bahar were, 
 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 CHILD-LIFE EGYPT. 
 
 like our own, tall and white and respectable- 
 looking. 
 
 It is upon the house-tops of the inferior 
 dwellings that native life is most displayed. 
 They are built of mud bricks, and stand so 
 much lower than our house that even from 
 the windows we can plainly see the goat 
 sauntering on the roof of one of them, and 
 the turkeys pecking among the rubbish, or 
 the matron, in her trailing garments of dark- 
 blue cotton, spreading fuel to dry in the sun, 
 picking maize from the husk, sifting wheat, 
 winding thread on reels, or squatted before a 
 small extempore fire, cooking some of the 
 queer native messes that suit Egyptian palates. 
 On another, perhaps, lies an idle boy, fast 
 asleep in the bright sunshine, while his little 
 brothers are playing with the kids, and his 
 elder sister busy with the " wash" of family 
 clothes, or hanging pink trousers and blue 
 shirts to dry. She seems to get up and down 
 by a sort of rude mud steps, through a hole 
 
THE HOUSE-TOPS. 
 
 31 
 
 in the roof which gives light and air to the 
 dens below. 
 
 The roofs are usually in a great state of 
 litter; and were it not that the seller of fuel 
 gets a palm-branch and makes a clearance 
 once in a while, the roof would assuredly give 
 way under the accumulation of rubbish. One 
 thing never seemed cleared away, however; 
 and that was the heap of old broken pitchers, 
 sherds and pots, that in these and similar 
 houses are piled up in some corner; and 
 there is a curious observation to be made in 
 connection with this. A little before sunset, 
 numbers of pigeons suddenly emerge from 
 behind the pitchers and other rubbish, where 
 they had been sleeping in the heat of the day, 
 or pecking about to find food. They dart up- 
 wards and career through the air in large 
 circles, their outspread wings catching the 
 bright glow of the sun's slanting rays, so that 
 they really resemble shining "yellow gold;" 
 then, as they wheel round and are seen against 
 the light, they appear as if turned into molten 
 
32 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 silver, most of them being pure white, or else 
 very light-coloured. This may seem fanciful ; 
 but the effect of light in these regions is diffi- 
 cult to describe to those who have not seen it ; 
 and evening after evening we watched the 
 circling flight of the doves, and always ob- 
 served the same appearance. "Though ye 
 have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as 
 the wings of a dove covered with silver, and 
 her feathers with yellow gold." Ps. lxviii. 
 
 It was beautiful to see these birds rising 
 clean and unsoiled, as doves always do, from 
 the dust and dirt in which they had been 
 hidden, and soaring aloft in the sky till 
 nearly out of sight among the bright sunset 
 clouds. 
 
 It is from the house-tops that the street- 
 criers, so characteristic of every nation, as 
 showing the wants and tastes of the masses, 
 are best seen and heard. Many of these vary 
 with the season, as with us; but the one that 
 begins the day never changes; and, though 
 so much that is painful to a Christian is mixed 
 
THE HOUSE-TOPS. 
 
 33 
 
 up in it, still the early call to prayer must 
 always strike one as a most suitable com- 
 mencement for the work of every day. Just 
 as the first ray of sunshine breaks forth, the 
 muezzin's cry is heard, " To prayer, to prayer, 
 0 ye believers!" It is but a form, alas ! with 
 most of the hearers : yet the very form reminds 
 a servant of God of the privilege and duty of 
 beginning each day with prayer. Then, when 
 the echoing voices from minaret to minaret 
 have died away, the "working-day" begins, 
 and the wants and pleasures of man make 
 themselves known one after another. 
 
 First is heard the milk-woman's call, an- 
 swering to "Milk below!" "Haleeb wa la- 
 ban !" that is, new* milk, and that which has 
 been purposely turned slightly sour and thick, 
 and is a favourite article for breakfast, and 
 also used in cookery, all over the East. 
 
 Sometimes a woman passes bearing a tray 
 on her head, with small earthen-ware bowls 
 filled with the cream of buffalo's milk 
 scalded ; this dainty is called kishtar, and 
 
34 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 is much liked by Europeans as well as 
 natives. 
 
 In the autumn, as soon as the harvest is 
 commenced, the seller of parched corn is heard 
 at intervals all day, and her store of young 
 ears of corn roasted in their own husks is 
 much in request. The sweet meat seller is 
 usually a man, who goes calling out in the 
 name of the Prophet — comfits ! I do not re- 
 collect seeing a woman selling sweetmeats: 
 probably it is considered a dignified business, 
 as consisting of manufactured articles. 
 
 The most musical, perhaps, of all our street- 
 cries was that of the seller of parched peas, 
 and a certain little nut or seed which is much 
 eaten by children, and, I suspect, by grown 
 people also. "0 parched peas! 0 nuts of 
 love!" &c, was given in a really pretty, 
 chant-like manner, and with a good voice. 
 
 The orange-crier was generally a woman; 
 so was the seller of radishes. A little later 
 in the day the sherbet-crier was heard : he 
 had more custom in summer than winter, and 
 
THE HOUSE-TOPS. 
 
 35 
 
 the tinkle of his brass cups was sometimes 
 the only sound in the hot and dusty street 
 during the sultry afternoon hours. The sher- 
 bet most commonly sold among the poor is 
 merely raisins boiled in water which is cooled, 
 or else treacle and water, or some such cheap 
 preparation, — all harmless enough. The itine- 
 rant seller of cotton handkerchiefs and mus- 
 lin for the ladies passes oftenest in the after- 
 noons, crying his English cotton and Indian 
 muslins, with long phrases puffing his goods, 
 just as itinerant vendors do with us. 
 
 When the seasons arrive, the various fruits 
 and vegetables have each their crier. " Sugar- 
 canes ! white sugarcanes ! in the name of the 
 Prophet!" shouts a fellah, or peasant, fresh 
 from the country, and bearing a load of thick, 
 pale-green canes on his shoulder. The purple 
 canes are prettier, but I oftener heard the 
 others cried : so I supposed they were con- 
 sidered sweeter. Then, when the real hot 
 weather set in, about the middle of April, the 
 cucumbers were in abundance, and eagerly 
 
36 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 devoured by all classes; and the cucumber- 
 seller had a very musical and lively cry. 
 
 Perhaps no cry is more striking, after all, 
 than the short and simple cry of the water- 
 carrier. "The gift of God!" he says, as he 
 goes along with his water-skin on his shoul- 
 der. It is impossible to hear this cry without 
 thinking of the Lord's words to the woman 
 of Samaria : — " If thou knewest the gift of 
 God, and who it is that saith unto thee, 
 Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked 
 of him, and he would have given thee living 
 water." It is very likely that water, so in- 
 valuable, and so often scarce, in hot countries, 
 was in those days spoken of, as now, as the 
 "gift of God," to denote its preciousness: if so, 
 the expression would be exceedingly forcible 
 to the woman, and full of meaning. 
 
 The water-carrier's cry in Egypt must 
 always rouse a thoughtful mind to a recollec- 
 tion of the deep necessities of the people, of 
 the thirst which they as yet know not of, and 
 of the living water which few if any have yet 
 
CbUb gift in (Pgspt. 
 
 Girls offering water at a railway station. 
 
 p. 36. 
 
THE HOUSE-TOPS. 
 
 37 
 
 offered to the poor Moslims in that great 
 city, and makes him wish and pray for the 
 time when his sonorous cry shall be but a 
 type of the cry of one bringing the living 
 water of the gospel, and saying, " Behold the 
 gift of God | M 
 
38 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FIRST ATTEMPT A.T SCHOOL. 
 
 [JOSLIM girls will not come to school : 
 
 the intended effort was spoken of. " Among 
 Copts," it was said, "some chance of good 
 might possibly be expected; but Mohamme- 
 dan girls, and of the lower class, too, — it was 
 certain to fail !" Even a native gentleman, 
 educated in England, echoed nearly the same 
 thing that had been said both at home and 
 here, by Europeans, though he cordially wished 
 success to every project that had for its end the 
 good of his country. " They do not wish for 
 education in the lowest class," said he, "espe- 
 cially for girls, who are, as you know, looked 
 on as inferior beings altogether by Moslims. 
 
FIRST ATTEMPT AT SCHOOL. 39 
 
 Besides, if you collected a few, who would 
 come from curiosity, some bigot would soon 
 frighten away the children, and tell the 
 parents you wanted to make Christians of 
 them." 
 
 " We shall tell them, then, that we cannot 
 make Christians; no human being can. In 
 Ireland the priests have cleared our schools 
 again and again by threats and persecution ; 
 but the children soon return, and when they 
 find it useless they give up the point. The 
 word of God has a marvellous power in itself; 
 and one point in our favour is, that the Mos- 
 lim religion does not forbid the reading of our 
 Scriptures." 
 
 " True," he replied; " they even speak of 
 them with respect, though maintaining that 
 Christians omit a part of the gospel which 
 alludes, as they pretend, to Mohammed. But 
 as to a school, 11 — and here followed an enume- 
 ration of a whole host of difficulties and hin- 
 drances to such an undertaking. ~We could 
 only reply, " Time will show." 
 
40 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Perplexed, but not in despair, the little 
 room was made ready in spite of all. The 
 poor Syrian family who occupied the lower 
 part of the house, and whose eldest girl, 
 though but thirteen, was to be my sole teacher 
 and assistant, took a lively interest in the 
 affair, and their children helped to nail up a 
 few prints, and texts in Arabic, the latter 
 written out fair by the father for the purpose. 
 A work-basket was stocked and alphabet-cards 
 provided : nothing more was needed to begin 
 with, benches and tables being unnecessary 
 for an Egyptian school. All was ready except 
 the pupils : how to procure them was the 
 problem. 
 
 Our servant had been sent to ask some of 
 his wife's friends to send their daughters ; and, 
 though a devout Moslim, he seemed to take 
 an interest in the novel effort, and promised to 
 spare no eloquence; that is to say, he told us 
 he would talk "plenty." Meantime, I, my 
 little teacher, and her mother, looked as 
 anxiously out at the windows as if listening 
 
FIRST ATTEMPT AT SCHOOL. 
 
 11 
 
 for some one's chariot-wheels. The good 
 woman hailed an old seedsman who lived oppo- 
 site, and who was just eating his breakfast with 
 his three young daughters, and in most con- 
 ciliatory tones asked him to send Cadiga and 
 her sisters to learn to read and work. " But 
 we are Moslims, and don't want to learn," was 
 the reply, given in a most sullen voice. 
 
 It was necessary to go out into the high- 
 ways and urge them to come in. The matron, 
 therefore, assumed her white veil, and we set 
 out together, and went first into the street, 
 and then into the lane near the house, where 
 girls of all sizes appeared to be very plentiful 
 articles. Every woman w T e met we stopped 
 and accosted in a friendly way, and then be- 
 gan to speak of the intended school and urged 
 her to send her children. Some laughed and 
 passed on; others said, "Very good;" and at 
 last we returned with the promise of several 
 girls, feeling quite triumphant and thankful. 
 
 As we re-entered the house, a woman, 
 wearing a quantity of coral and silver orna- 
 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 ments, though otherwise poorly dressed, came 
 in with us : she was accompanied by a nice- 
 looking child of nine or ten years old. She 
 was invited in with the customary salutation, 
 " Be welcome !" and, after throwing back her 
 black crape face-veil, she began to pour forth 
 a volley of words, of which all I could make 
 out was that her child was timid and afraid 
 to stay, but she would send her to-morrow. 
 Here was disappointment ! The first fish seemed 
 just hooked, and now it was escaping the 
 fisher s hands ! However, I reassured the child 
 by caresses and kind words, and they went 
 away, promising again to return, which they 
 did the next day; and I heard it reported 
 afterwards that the woman had said, approv- 
 ingly, "She kissed my child!" And she did 
 send her next day ; but at the time I could 
 not be sure the promise would be kept. Pre- 
 sently, however, two little girls, about eight 
 years old, trotted in, followed by their re- 
 spective mothers and, I think, their grand- 
 mothers also ; for several women of different 
 
FIRST ATTEMPT AT SCHOOL. 43 
 
 ages and degrees of rags came in, and there 
 was a great deal of unveiling and saluting and 
 chattering. At last the grown-up children 
 departed, and the two little scholars, with the 
 two Syrian children, sisters to the young 
 teacher, were established on the mat, and were 
 soon joined by several more, till at length, by 
 about ten o'clock, we had nine pupils seated 
 in a semcircle, all Moslims. No recruiting- 
 sergeant was ever half so well pleased with a 
 handful of future soldiers ; for it was beating 
 up for recruits for the Lord. Each was now 
 asked her name in turn, and then who had 
 made her, to which the older ones replied, 
 " Allah." Several little ones said, " Moham- 
 med." 
 
 The first verse of the Bible, "In the begin- 
 ning," &c, was then repeated to them, and 
 they were taught to say it, first each one by 
 herself, and then all together. This was the 
 beginning of instruction for them, — poor chil- 
 dren! The young teacher was too inex- 
 perienced to be able to explain it, so I did 
 
44 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 what I could in that way ; and then we both 
 set to teaching the five first letters of their 
 difficult alphabet, till they seemed to be get- 
 ting tired : they were then allowed a rest, and 
 afterwards a singing-lesson was commenced. 
 
 The neighbours might have supposed a set 
 of cats to be the pupils, if they listened to the 
 discordant sounds which the first attempt at 
 a gamut produced ; but, as the proverb says, 
 u Children and fools should not see things half 
 done." Three months later, a stranger visit- 
 ing the school was delighted at the sweet 
 singing of the hymns. The mewing and 
 squeaking were nearly forgotten by that time. 
 
 The children were delighted when the work- 
 hour arrived, the real inducement to most of 
 them and their mothers having been the 
 needlework. Perhaps the teachers were not 
 sorry when every little brown middle finger 
 was supplied with a new thimble, and they 
 could sit down for a few minutes. No one 
 who has not tried it can conceive the difficulty 
 of teaching those who have not only no wish 
 
FIEST ATTEMPT AT SCHOOL. 
 
 45 
 
 to learn, lut have no idea of what learning is, 
 or what possible good is to be gained by all 
 this trouble; and of course the strain upon 
 the mind is greatly increased when one's 
 knowledge of the language is very limited 
 indeed. 
 
 The children all took willingly to sewing ; 
 indeed, they had many times in the course of 
 the forenoon thrown down the cards, and 
 cried out, " The work ! give us the work !" 
 The English needles and scissors gave much 
 pleasure, and were eagerly examined by some 
 mothers and elder sisters who paid visits to 
 the school-room, in the course of the day, to 
 6ee what the foreigner was doing with their 
 little ones ; for, if ignorant, they are usually 
 very fond parents. Some brought bread, 
 bunches of raw carrots, or some such dainty, 
 and, after giving it to the children, would 
 squat down on the mat to watch the proceed- 
 ings. Of course, it did rather interfere with 
 business; but it will not do to strain a new 
 rope too tight ; and, bes'des, Eastern manners 
 
46 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 are unlike our's, and I thought it wisest never 
 to meddle with them unless some real evil 
 was in question. 
 
 Though ragged and dirty, the children had 
 not in general the starved looks of too many 
 scholars in our own country; nor do ragged 
 clothes and dirty faces imply such a degree 
 of poverty as with us. In the higher classes, 
 a child is often intentionally kept dirty, to 
 avoid the evil eye ; and perhaps this feeling 
 may have given the idea that ragged clothes 
 were no disgrace. In the country villages a 
 blue cotton shirt is the unvarying costume of 
 boys and girls, — the latter having the addition 
 of a veil, the former of a cotton cap. But in 
 the city dress is more varied, and most of the 
 scholars wore coloured print trousers and little 
 jackets or some other article: they looked 
 much as if the contents of an old-clothesman's 
 bag had been scattered over them at random, 
 as there was not one of the nine in whole or 
 well-fitting garments. Still, when, between 
 coaxing and a little manual aid, the young 
 
FIRST ATTEMPT AT SCHOOL. 
 
 47 
 
 faces were all washed clean, they were not a 
 bad-looking circle : several had very pretty 
 features. The soft, black eye of Egypt has 
 great beauty; and they all have white and 
 even teeth. 
 
 On the second day we had fourteen scholars. 
 As they entered, each kicked off her slippers, if 
 she possessed any, at the door (I think more 
 than half had some kind of shoe), and then went 
 up to kiss the hand of the superintendent 
 and lay it on her head, — both which processes 
 became pleasanter when cleanly habits had 
 come a little into fashion. One little thing 
 was led in by an elder sister, a fine tall girl, 
 about fourteen or fifteen, wearing the common 
 blue cotton garment, with its limp drapery, 
 and a pink net one within it, and what re- 
 sembled some one's old table-cloth upon her 
 head. This was Shoh ! — a name almost im- 
 possible to render correctly by writing, except 
 perhaps by a note of admiration to impl y the 
 sudden stop of the sound: it signifie.* 'Ar- 
 dently loved." 
 
48 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 We did not know at this time that Shoh 
 was married, and only supposed she thought 
 herself too old to come to school, though 
 manifestly wishing to do so. She came in and 
 out, listening and smiling, and at last, about 
 noonday, again returned, bringing an infant 
 brother, in a very dirty condition, riding on 
 her shoulder, and a quantity of oranges in the 
 end of her veil. These last she poured into 
 my lap, being a present to show her good will, 
 and at almost the same instant the baby was 
 adroitly lowered from the shoulder and popped 
 upon the floor, with a bit of sugarcane stuffed 
 into his little hand ; while Shoh planted her- 
 self triumphantly on the mat at my feet, and, 
 seizing an alphabet-card, began repeating it 
 in an under-tone. 
 
 The love of learning, or curiosity to see 
 and hear something new, had conquered ma- 
 tronly dignity; and from that time she paid 
 frequent visits to the school. 
 
THE EOAB'S FAMILY. 
 
 49 
 
 CHATTER VI. 
 
 THE BOAB'S FAMILY. 
 
 UR Boab and his family may be taken, 
 ;^\J& probably, as a fair specimen of " Ragged 
 Life in Egypt," or, at least, in Cairo; for, as 
 far as we could see, it appeared that most of 
 the same grade lived nearly in the same way, 
 except that such small habitations as the one 
 they occupied were not common inside the 
 city, though often seen in the suburbs and 
 villages. We had opportunities of watching 
 the life of these our nearest neighbours, which 
 made us well acquainted with their habits: 
 indeed, it was impossible, unless we shut our 
 eyes, to avoid observing them, from the pecu- 
 liar proximity of our respective dwellings. 
 When we first arrived in Bab-el-Bahar, the 
 
 D 5 
 
50 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 half-finished lower room was already occupied 
 by the person alluded to, the Boab, — i.e. the 
 gatekeeper of the street, or rather of the whole 
 quarter. It seemed that he had intended 
 quartering himself and his large family upon 
 the new-comers, doubtless hoping that, as 
 foreigners, they might be persuaded into 
 thinking it a customary proceeding : so we 
 found them sleeping in our lower room, as 
 aforesaid, by night, and hovering about the 
 door all day. But, for various reasons, it 
 would have been very unwise to submit to 
 this; and, after two or three "warnings to 
 quit," they left the shelter of our roof, and 
 about the same time the masons and their 
 ragged assistants departed, and quiet reigned 
 in the new household. 
 
 Our friend the Boab was not, however, 
 going far off, as was soon evident from the 
 operations set on foot immediately on his dis- 
 missal : in a few days' time a sort of lean-to, 
 made of mud and plaster, and strongly re- 
 sembling a pig-sty, arose just outside the 
 
THE BOAB'S FAMILY. 
 
 51 
 
 future school-house, whose wall served as a 
 back for it. Windows it had none, nor could 
 the owners stand upright in it ; but there was 
 a doorway, which, if not quite regular in out- 
 lines, yet served for them to creep in and out ; 
 and when the warm weather came, and the 
 little den grew close (for the family was nu- 
 merous), one or more could sleep on the roof, 
 nestled down among the heaps of straw or 
 other rubbish which generally lay there. 
 
 In our country, such a ragged troop, in 
 such a close neighbourhood, would have been 
 a great nuisance ; but the evil was a good deal 
 diminished in Egypt, because the climate al- 
 lowed them to live all day out-of-doors ; nor 
 did they incommode us by showing any desire 
 to pry into our concerns or meddle with any 
 of our property. The children neither begged 
 nor stole, nor, except sitting on the door-step 
 and keeping it littered with the stones and bits 
 of crockery which served as toys, did they at 
 all interfere with their neighbours' residence, 
 — which was lucky, as, had they been ever so 
 
52 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGi'PT. 
 
 annoying, I do not know that we could have 
 sent them away. 
 
 The family were, I believe, more " respect- 
 able" than one might have imagined from their 
 squalid exterior. Our sketch represents the 
 father, as he often stood, leaning against his 
 hovel, which was considerably lower than his 
 head, enjoying his evening pipe : he was by 
 far the most decent-looking of the party, 
 having always a turban of comparative clean- 
 liness, and a pair of red slippers. His wife, 
 if not quarrelling with her neighbours in the 
 lane, or hunting down her children, or fetch- 
 ing water from the river (which were the 
 chief varieties of her life), might be seen 
 indistinctly from the door, grovelling in the 
 dark recesses of her little abode, wrapped in 
 faded and dirty blue-cotton garments, which 
 hung limp and ragged about her thin shoul- 
 ders, while her brown and wrinkled throat 
 was decorated by a row of silver coins dimmed 
 by age and dust, three or four of which would 
 have procured her new trousers and a clean 
 
THE JOAB'S FAMILY. 
 
 53 
 
 veil. In the dust, just before our door, a little 
 dusky creature, between one and two years 
 old, is rolling about: that is the Boab's 
 youngest hope, — and one of the right kind, 
 too ; for it is a boy ! The family were con- 
 sidered unfortunate in having a much larger 
 proportion of girls among their tribe of chil- 
 dren; and though three of them, I think, 
 had been disposed of in marriage, there still 
 remained more girls than Mrs. Boab at all 
 approved of. One of these was particularly 
 fond of sitting on the roof of the family sty, 
 enjoying a piece of sugarcane quite as much 
 as her father did his pipe, or fighting for it 
 with the neighbours' little boys who were 
 playing in the rubbish with her. One little 
 fellow, a neighbour's son, who had a solemn 
 expression of countenance which contrasted 
 oddly with his ragged blue shirt and cotton 
 cap, rejoiced in the appellation of " Abdul- 
 Nebby," or, the Servant of the Prophet ! 
 
 He and a troop of such small fry were con- 
 stantly rolling about with the Boab's children, 
 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 and were objects of interest and concern which 
 they little guessed, — poor things! — as they 
 laughed and quarrelled over the dates given 
 them from our window. 
 
 A little degree of influence began, after a 
 time, to be gained : they would sometimes 
 stop in a dispute at the voice of gentle expos- 
 tulation, and a little girl would sometimes run 
 for refuge under the wall, when tyrannized 
 over by a boy, and call out for redress with 
 upturned face and imploring eyes directed to 
 the windows. 
 
 In due time Salhah, the little maiden who sat 
 on the roof, became a scholar, — though never 
 a very regular one ; for she was idle and saucy, 
 and sometimes ran off to play with the boys 
 again just as lessons were commenced. 
 
 One day she took a "huff," as children say, 
 and stayed from school for a week, because 
 another girl had torn the arms off a doll which 
 she had with some ingenuity manufactured 
 out of a piece of rag! Just after this we 
 heard th#t Salhah was going to be married ! 
 
THE BOAB'S FAMILY. 
 
 55 
 
 It seemed a horrid mockery of the name of 
 marriage, when this little creature's utter child- 
 ishness was so plainly shown by her conduct : 
 she was eleven years old, but neither in looks 
 nor manners was at all older than girls of that 
 age among city children of the poor with us. 
 It was found that the mother selfishly wished 
 to get rid of the burden of her support, and 
 that the mother of a lad about fifteen, who 
 lived near, wished, with equal selfishness, to 
 get a drudge who should carry water and per- 
 form menial offices for her household. Neither 
 Salhah nor the boy were consulted, apparently, 
 but the two mothers arranged every thing, and 
 made a feast to celebrate the betrothal. This 
 was at the house of the bridegroom's family, 
 the sty being certainly incapable of affording 
 a guest-chamber even of the humblest descrip- 
 tion. The feast did not consist of a lamb 
 roasted whole, or any such dainties; but " they 
 cooked some meat" we were told, with an air 
 that implied this was no ordinary treat. 
 Some sweetmeats were given to the bride- 
 
56 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 elect, which were all she obtained of the ban- 
 quet. However, her bridegroom made her a 
 present, with which he had been provided for 
 the occasion, as was customary. As they were 
 poor, this only consisted of two piastres, — about 
 eight cents. " What did Salhah buy with the 
 money?" I asked. " She bought more sweet- 
 meats, and then her mother beat her when she 
 found she had done so," was the reply. Poor 
 child ! how we longed, on hearing this fresh 
 proof of her youthfulness, to have her again 
 at her alphabet and needle ! Happily, she did 
 return to us very shortly, for the match was 
 ultimately broken off by her own perse- 
 verance: she had more spirit than a Moslim 
 girl often dares to show, and persisted in re- 
 fusing, till the parents gave way, — perhaps 
 aided by the indifference of the boy-bride- 
 groom, and the facility with which her place 
 could be supplied, as little ragged girls were 
 not scarce in that quarter. 
 
 A younger sister of Salhah 's, called Haanem, 
 was a more pleasing object to look at, being a 
 
THE BOAB's FAMILY. 
 
 57 
 
 dear little thing of four years old, -v T ith a round, 
 plump face, and large, bright, b'ack eyes, and 
 a sweet plaintive voice. She itsed to trot in 
 among the earliest scholars in her scanty 
 blue cotton garment (I never saw her in the 
 possession of a second), and an old faded ker- 
 chief tightly tied round her little head, with 
 two ends hanging down behind. In spite of 
 this unbecoming costume, Haanem was a pretty 
 child, and graceful in her ways. It was 
 amusing to see the earnest look with which 
 she would bring her morsel of sewing to ex- 
 hibit, and to hear her lisp out, " Look ! is this 
 nice?" 
 
 A married daughter of the Boab came, now 
 and then, to spend a few days with her 
 parents; but where or how she was accom- 
 modated remained a mystery to the last : pos- 
 sibly some of the young folks " camped out" 
 to make room. 
 
 To do her justice, the mother was ready to 
 dispose of her children, as was seen in Salhah's 
 case ; but the expense and trouble of support 
 
58 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 was more of a burden than want of house- 
 room to their feelings. The Boab received 
 four piastres a month from us, and probably 
 the same, or rather less, from thirty or forty 
 other houses. The very poor would pay no- 
 thing, of course. This would make a suffi- 
 cient income to live decently in that climate : 
 so that I conceive it was more ignorance 
 than actual poverty that kept them in so low 
 a condition. 
 
 What the business of the Boab was I never 
 could clearly ascertain. He always seemed 
 to be loitering about our door, solemnly 
 smoking a long pipe, or doing nothing, by 
 day, and at night disturbing our rest by 
 calling out, in a loud voice, " Yadai !" at 
 certain hours in the night. We were in- 
 formed, however, that he was guardian of the 
 street; and perhaps some terrible evil might 
 have occurred had he not been there. And 
 evary morning he went round to all the true 
 Muslims' doors, rousing the people and ex- 
 
 * 
 
CfiilD life in Cgnpt. 
 
 " lie always seemed to be loitering about our door, solemnly smoking a 
 long pipe." P- 58, 
 
THE BOAB'S FAMILY. 
 
 59 
 
 norting them to get up and go to prayers. 
 These were all the offices which we could dis- 
 cover ; and if they were all his business, he 
 certainly did not work very hard for his 
 daily bread and onion ! 
 
60 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IM EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SHOH AND FATMEH. 
 
 HOUGH a matron, even of fifteen, could 
 .not be expected to be a regular attend- 
 ant at school, my young friend Sholi did her 
 best to come when she could. At first her 
 husband beat her for coming; but when he 
 was in a better humour, or absent with his 
 donkey, she would run across the lane and 
 enter the school with a triumphant expression 
 in her odd, bright face, and seat herself, with 
 a card in her hand, upon the mat. But she 
 was too full of questions to give steady atten- 
 tion to the alphabet, and, as there was little 
 .probability of her staying long enough to 
 learn to read, I was glad to let her get what 
 knowledge she could in her own way. After 
 
SHOH AND FATMEH. 
 
 61 
 
 a time tlie husband gave her permission to 
 come, when not engaged in household work ; 
 and often she would rush into school, her 
 hands all white with flour from bread-making, 
 or with a piece of needlework on her arm, 
 for she could sew in the coarse style used by 
 native women, and soon improved very much 
 in this branch. 
 
 The worthy Syrian matron, Um Usuf (i.e. 
 Joseph's mother, as she was always called), 
 had now taken charge of the school, as her 
 daughter Menni was found too young to be 
 my sole teacher; and this good woman, whom 
 I had reason to believe a sincere Christian, 
 took much pains to talk to Shoh ; and while 
 the younger children were eating their bread 
 at noon, I used to make Menni read aload 
 part of the gospel, or of a simple Arabic 
 tract, to Shoh and some of the older scholars. 
 
 The matron was fully imbued with the 
 gospel doctrines, and pretty well acquainted 
 with Scripture, at least with the New Testa- 
 ment, but was quite inexperienced in teaching. 
 
62 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 We rather resembled the men in " Sandford 
 and Merton," one of whom was lame but could 
 see, the other blind but with good legs, who 
 got along the road by assisting each other. 
 So, with a superintendent deficient in lan- 
 guage and a teacher inexperienced in teach- 
 ing, we were one blind and the other lame. 
 However, pains were not wanting, and made 
 up for some deficiencies. 
 
 One day I allowed Shoh to pay me a pri- 
 vate visit, which she thought a great privilege. 
 Eobinson Crusoe's man Friday could hardly 
 have been more astonished and delighted at 
 the very simple and even scanty furniture of 
 the apartment. The curtains of white cotton, 
 bound with red, seemed splendid in her eyes; 
 the home-made pictures, fastened with pins 
 to the white-washed walls, the toilet, covered 
 with chintz, and the general air of cleanliness 
 and order, made it appear a luxurious room to 
 poor Shoh, accustomed to a mud-walled and 
 dirty abode in the neighbouring densely- 
 peopled lane. A small work-box, with its 
 
SHOH AND FATMEH. 
 
 63 
 
 contents, delighted her as much as if she had 
 been a child of two years old ; and when she 
 drew from it a yard-measure made of a pol- 
 ished shell, and found out the mystery of 
 pulling out and winding up the ribbon in it, 
 her ecstasy knew no bounds, and she clapped 
 herself violently on the chest, as if to knock 
 the breath out of her body, rolling up her 
 eyes, and exclaiming, " Wonderful! wonder- 
 ful!" 
 
 It was pleasant to see, with all her childish- 
 ness, how new ideas gradually began to take 
 root ; and though her versatility would often 
 cause her to interrupt her teachers, just as 
 her attention seemed fixed, by observing, "Let 
 me try your ring on my finger : I want to see 
 your thimble," &c, still she would return 
 after a time to the subject, and she soon 
 learned to associate the book of God with the 
 school and with us ; and it is surely something 
 gained when the Bible is known as our flag and 
 insignia, as it were, among an ignorant neigh- 
 bourhood such as this ! On a subsequent visit, 
 
04 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Skoh took up the English Bible which lay on 
 the? table and asked what it was ; and I took 
 the opportunity to explain that, though in an- 
 other language, it was the same as the book 
 Um Usuf read to her in school, and tried to 
 impress her with a sense of its value. She 
 asked more questions than I was able to an- 
 swer, and seemed interested and pleased by 
 the conversation. 
 
 It was very amusing to see the young ma- 
 tron's delight when, after an absence of several 
 days, she obtained time or permission to make 
 her appearance among us again. She bounced 
 in with such a look of joyous triumph, seized 
 my hand to kiss as usual, and then skipped 
 round the room, nodding to the scholars, till 
 at length she flung herself down in a corner, 
 pulled the yellow kerchief off her head, in 
 order to show that her plaited locks were 
 clean and neat, then sprang up again and ran 
 to the window-seat, where soap and water 
 stood, to wash her hands, holding them up 
 significantly, as if to say, " I know you are 
 
SHOH AND FATMEH. 65 
 
 fanciful about cleanliness," and finally snatched 
 up a card from the shelf and commenced re- 
 peating her alphabet aloud. I made her a pre- 
 sent of a small pair of scissors, having lately- 
 received a parcel of them from home ; and cer- 
 tainly the superstition about edge-tools cutting 
 love did not prove right in this case, for poor 
 Shoh's regard had not diminished when I 
 parted from her, and her joy at the gift was 
 unbounded. She held them aloft, gazing with 
 comic admiration at their brightness, pressed 
 them to her heart at the risk of wounding 
 herself, and finally relieved her excited feel- 
 ings by catching Menni round the neck and 
 half suffocating her in a warm embrace, while 
 she repeated, " The scissors ! The scissors!" 
 
 Poor Shoh was not fortunate in a mother, 
 as I soon discovered. We were engaged in 
 singing, one day, the children beginning to get 
 some notion of a tune, and Shoh's hearty 
 though somewhit unmusical voice joining us, 
 when an ugly, blear-eyed old woman walked 
 in with an extremely dirty child, of two years 
 
 E 6* 
 
06 
 
 CHILI>-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 old, on her shoulder. Having deposited hira 
 on the floor, she squatted down and began to 
 make her observations. These visitors were 
 Shoh's mother and her youngest brother, — for 
 they were a very numerous family. When we 
 ceased singing the old woman began to talk; 
 and I gathered from her voluble speech that 
 more children would attend school if the 
 mothers did not fear that we shou)d carry 
 them out of the country. 
 
 I exclaimed indignantly against the idea of 
 being engaged in a kidnapping transaction, 
 " Listen, 0 woman ! We have girls plenty in 
 our country, — more girls than we want. Why 
 should we take yours?" 
 
 Shoh presently interposed, assuring her 
 mother that she had 'seen pictures of the 
 lady's own sister's daughters, so little and 
 pretty and nice! "She want yours, indeed!" 
 pointing, rather scornfully, to her young coun- 
 try-folk, who really, if clean and neatly clad, 
 would have looked quite as well, in their way, 
 
SHOH AND FATMEH. 
 
 67 
 
 as any set of English children ; though we had 
 no desire to carry them away ! 
 
 Um Usuf and I did our best to explain that' 
 we had not only children but schools in our 
 land, and that our poor girls were taught to 
 read and to know God in them. 
 
 " Here your girls are not taught : so we have 
 come to teach them." 
 
 a 0h, there was a Frank school kept by 
 French nuns," the old woman said, " where 
 several Copt girls went." 
 
 " That is not like ours," I replied : u those 
 ladies teach the children to bow before pic- 
 tures and images; they are 1 servants of idols'* 
 (the common Arab term for Eoman Catholics), 
 and God's book is not read in their schools. 
 But here we have no images, and only pray to 
 God." 
 
 We endeavoured to show that it was not for 
 our own benefit, but for the children's, that we 
 acted ; but it is difficult to make people who 
 
 * Abdul Soona. 
 
68 
 
 CHILD-LIFE _N EGYPT. 
 
 are unaccustomed to receive any gratuitous 
 benefit, beyond a mere trifling alms, under- 
 stand such a course of action; and Shoh's 
 mother looked as though she had both lite- 
 rally and figuratively grovelled in the dust too 
 long to believe in any unselfish or generous 
 affections. 
 
 But Shoh herself listened eagerly, and after 
 a while whispered to Menni, looking across at 
 me with a meaning expression, — 
 
 " Does she love me ?" 
 
 " Oh, my dear, certainly I do, and all of 
 you : I want you to go to heaven with me, 
 
 shoh r 
 
 The girl's eyes, as she listened to this reply, 
 had that touching look which we observe some- 
 times in a very little child when its dawning 
 intellect begins faintly to perceive regions of 
 thought which it cannot fathom. It is curious 
 to note this strange, questioning, wistful look 
 in a grown person, if poor Shoh could be so 
 called indeed. We may have long to wait, for 
 the difficulties that surround her are many; but 
 
SHOH AND FATMEH. 
 
 69 
 
 eurely God has purposes of mercy for her, 
 sooner or later. 
 
 Shoh had an older sister, called Fatmeh, who 
 lived at Old Cairo, which is more than two 
 miles from Cairo itself, but who came to spend 
 a few days with her family some little time 
 after the school had been started. She had 
 lately lost all her three children by croup, the 
 last only a fortnight ago; and this severe 
 affliction had so broken her heart that she was 
 indifferent to all her usual occupations, and 
 M went mourning" all the day. But her mind 
 was naturally inclined to the subject of death, 
 so dreaded by Moslims in general ; and some- 
 thing she heard from her young sister about 
 the new school and what she had learned 
 there made her go and pay Um Usuf a visit, 
 in order to ask her some questions. 
 
 The excellent matron was only too glad of 
 the opportunity, and told her every thing, as 
 she expressed it, — meaning all of the great 
 and blessed tidings of salvation which so igno- 
 rant a mind could receive at cue sitting. 
 
70 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Poor Fatmeh's heart was softened by the 
 tears of sorrow, like furrows by the rain- 
 drops from heaven, and she begged to stay 
 and help the good woman in her washing, in 
 order to hear more and to tell her griefs. " I 
 will be your servant : I will do any thing, if 
 I may stay all the day," she said. 
 
 Next day she came to visit me. A greater 
 contrast to the active, vigorous, intelligent, but 
 hot-tempered Shoh could not be found. The 
 sister was at least a head shorter, thin, slight, 
 and with more insignificant features, but with a 
 sweet, sorrowful expression in her gentle black 
 eyes, which looked heavy with long weeping. 
 As she sat on the floor, her hands resting on 
 her lap in an attitude of meek despondency, it 
 seemed as if sorrow had resumed its sway, 
 and the interest which a new subject had ex- 
 cited in her was for the time forgotten. 
 
 Presently she noticed the portrait of a little 
 child on the wall near her : her lost darlings 
 could hardly have been very like that blue- 
 eyed, fair-haired creature ; but still it was a 
 
SHOH AND FATMEH. 
 
 71 
 
 child, and poor Fatmeh gazed for a moment, 
 saying, in a soft voice, "Very pretty! very 
 pretty!" then bent forward and kissed it, and 
 burst into tears, hiding her face in her blue 
 veil. Oh, the sorrow of a mother without 
 hope ! No one who has not seen it can con- 
 ceive how grievous it is to witness. I put my 
 hand on her shoulder, and tried to comfort 
 her by the sympathy which is a master-key 
 for sorrowful hearts in all lands, and gradually 
 won her to listen and to speak to me. She 
 said they had told her her boys would have 
 thousands of Houris to wait on them by-and- 
 by in Mohammed's Paradise ; but she did not 
 seem to believe it, nor to care for these mon- 
 strous fables : it was her own baby-boys her 
 heart yearned for, and no falsehoods could fill 
 that aching, weary heart. 
 
 " Dear Fatmeh, God is good." 
 
 "Yes, he is good," she said, despondingly, 
 - — as if she would fain add, u that is nothing to 
 me." 
 
 " They tell you that he does not love women," 
 
72 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 I continued; "but, Fatmeh, that is not time, 
 he loves us all, all, better than we love each 
 other." I endeavoured to tell her of the 
 love of God in Christ, of which I knew Um 
 Usuf had spoken the day before. The Mos- 
 lims, having no belief in a Mediator, a " Days- 
 man," who can lay his hand on suffering hu- 
 manity, cannot, of course, understand the love 
 of God, though they often speak of his wis- 
 dom, greatness, &c. The women are told that 
 God cannot love them ; and they are not even 
 encouraged to pray. This has led to the be- 
 lief that all Moslims hold women to be with- 
 out souls, — which is not strictly true: indi- 
 viduals may hold it, but it is not one of their 
 dogmas, though they look on the souls of 
 women as of very little consequence: so that 
 virtually it comes to the same thing. 
 
 Whether Fatmeh's husband believed her to 
 possess a soul worth caring for or not, I can- 
 not tell ; but certainly he was very kind to her 
 and fond of her ; and, as she was not handsome, 
 it must have been for her amiable, gentle dis- 
 
SHOH AND FATMEH. 
 
 73 
 
 position that he loved her ; — which did both 
 parties credit in a Mohammedan country. 
 He left Old Cairo, at least for a time, and 
 came to live near her family, who lived close 
 to us, on purpose to please her, and allowed 
 her to visit us as often as she liked. I gave 
 her washing and other things to do, as a pre- 
 text for bringing her under Christian influ- 
 ence as much as possible. Often she would 
 come in when we were at morning worship 
 among ourselves, and sit reverently watching, 
 though she could not understand; and she 
 was always ready to listen to Um Usuf when 
 she talked or read to her after school-hours. 
 By degrees her extreme sorrow diminished, 
 and, though far inferior to Shoh in mind, her 
 more docile disposition gave her an advantage, 
 as did also her husband. Poor Shoh often got 
 into trouble, — first with her mother, then her 
 husband, then her mother again, and so on. 
 The latter especially had a really savage tem- 
 per when roused, and sometimes beat her most 
 cruelly. But I had hopes of both the sisters 
 
 7 
 
74 
 
 CHILD- LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 long before leaving them : no one could help 
 feeling hopeful who had seen them listening 
 to the history of the crucifixion, which I made 
 Um Usuf read to them one day, when they came 
 into school during work-hours, and seen how 
 Shoh's bright face worked with emotion, and 
 the tears stood in her eyes, and how the sewing 
 dropped from Fatmeh's hand, and how they 
 looked at one another, and sometimes touched 
 each other, as if to say, ** Do you hear that?" 
 In spite of many hindrances and difficulties, 
 we have cause for thankfulness and hope about 
 these two. The seed is cast on the water in 
 faith, and after many days we mav find it with 
 joy. 
 
SCENES IN THE DESERT. 
 
 75 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SCENES IN THE DESERT. 
 
 the winter season nothing in the neigh- 
 
 open desert. It was about the middle of 
 February that we pitched our tent in a fa- 
 vourite haunt, — a ravine in the Wady Asfer, 
 or Yellow Valley. One day a troop of little 
 girls suddenly emerged from behind a project- 
 ing cliff : it seemed as if they must have issued 
 from the clefts of the recks; for where they 
 started from no one could guess. They said 
 they lived in a Bedouin village among these 
 hills. A bright-eyea 1 , joyous group they were, 
 from seven to twelve or thirteen years old, 
 apparently, clad in rags, but as healthy and 
 vigorous as possible, their active movements 
 full of wild grace, and their black eyes and 
 
 bourhood of Cairo is so pleasant as the 
 
76 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 shining teeth looking like gems in their darK, 
 bronzed faces, as they sprang about the rocks 
 like kids, laughing and asking loudly for back- 
 sheesh ! 
 
 I could not give money, but produced some 
 cakes from the lunch-basket, — which gave great 
 satisfaction. Several of the girls danced about 
 holding the novel dainty aloft in their hands 
 with a variety of gesticulations : it might be 
 called the " Cake dance." 
 
 The faithful Daoud, always thinking of the 
 interests of his lady, began to talk to them 
 about the school, and said they ought to come. 
 
 The distance, I feared, would make this im- 
 possible; but the idea of a girls school, and 
 of any one attempting to teach girls to read, 
 diverted them extremely, and, amid shouts 
 of laughter, they cried, " Oh, teacher ! oh, 
 teacher!" 
 
 By-and-by the group was increased by two 
 or three lads, brothers to these girls, and by 
 a man and woman, who seemed to own several 
 of the young folk. The woman's face waa 
 
 i 
 
SCENES IN THE DESERT. 
 
 77 
 
 mostly concealed by her face- veil of dirty lilac 
 crape ; but her eyes peeped above it with a 
 bright look, and the man, who had but one 
 eye, was rather an intelligent fellow. They 
 all squatted round us in a circle, and began, in 
 true Eastern* style, asking us about our rela- 
 tives, reminding one strongly of Scriptural 
 expressions : — " Is your father yet alive ?" 
 " Have you a mother?" " How many brothers 
 and sisters have you ?" 
 
 Nothing can be more genuine than the 
 sympathy of Arabs for the loss of relatives, 
 but most especially for that of a mother, 
 which they justly consider so irreparable. 
 
 The woman's eyes glistened with tears as 
 she heard us tell of a broken family circle, 
 and she turned to her husband, repeating the 
 information with a voice that expressed much 
 feeling. I endeavoured to tell them some- 
 thing about that better land where those who 
 loved God and believed in his word went after 
 death. We were not yet scholars enough to 
 read to them out of the Arabic Testament, 
 
78 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 though we had one, and showed it to them, 
 and it served as a subject for conversation. 
 They all looked at it with curiosity, and the 
 boys and man each took it in their hands 
 and seemed to wish to know the contents. 
 
 " You have heard of Moses?" I said, — know- 
 ing that Moses is a sort of hero in these 
 regions, nearly all the wells of the desert 
 being called after him. 
 
 " Oh, yes, — Nebby Moussa: we know about 
 him." 
 
 " God spoke to Moses : you have heard 
 that?" 
 
 "Yes, yes; we know." 
 
 "Well," I continued, "God does not speak 
 now to men. But listen : if you had a father 
 far away, he could send you a letter, could he 
 not ? You might thus know what he wished 
 you to do ?" 
 
 "Yes, lady, certainly," said the man. 
 
 " God's book is his letter to man. We 
 read in this book all God wishes us to do and 
 believe." 
 
SCENES IN THE DESERT. 
 
 79 
 
 u Good ! good ! A letter ! I understand !" 
 he exclaimed, a light of intelligence shining in 
 every feature of his rugged countenance, while 
 the old man gave a grunt of acquiescence. 
 
 I endeavoured, as well as very imperfect 
 Arabic would allow, to explain how "holy 
 men of old" had written this book, taught by 
 his Spirit, and how, though put into various 
 languages, it was all one, God's letter to sinful 
 man. 
 
 "You ought to come here every day," said 
 the man. " Look, you will soon know Arabic 
 well : then come often here and see us. Come, 
 and read and talk to us. Come, and stay all 
 day, till the sun sets, and then, when you want 
 to sleep, I will give you a bed in my house." 
 And he made signs of spreading something 
 on the ground as he spoke, to make his mean- 
 ing clearer. 
 
 It was certainly a queer idea for European 
 ladies to sleep in one of those hovels, swarm- 
 ing with vermin and full of goats and ragged 
 children, but his good intention was unmis- 
 
80 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 takable : he was cordially seconded by the 
 woman, and all the party seemed full of friendly 
 feeling. 
 
 There was no thought of gain ; for none of 
 them, except the little girls, when we first saw 
 them, had made any demands. 
 
 This meeting seems to give grounds for think- 
 ing that there are among the long-neglected 
 Arabs of the desert some who would welcome 
 a man bringing the tidings of salvation among 
 the black tents of Kedar, and who would soon 
 be ready to cry, "How beautiful on the moun- 
 tains are the feet of them that publish peace!" 
 
 No one, however, who has had much ex- 
 perience in such matters, will be surprised 
 that our next rencontre was less successful: 
 at home and abroad there is always this 
 variation. 
 
 Several attempts to find the village spoken 
 of by one of our new acquaintances as his re- 
 sidence had failed. The sand-hills and rising 
 ground in the desert make it hard for any 
 who are not desert-bred to find their way; 
 
SCENES IN THE DESERT. 
 
 81 
 
 and these little groups of huts resemble in 
 colour the surrounding cliffs so exactly that 
 one must be close to them before they are 
 visible. At length, guided by a column of 
 blue smoke from one of the huts, we came 
 upon a little colony of this kind, where some 
 half-settled Bedouins of the poorest descrip- 
 tion dwelt, in the midst of dirt, dust and rags. 
 An ill-fed camel was eating a scanty heap of 
 fodder beside one of the huts, and goats, fowls 
 and children were lying in the hot sand, look- 
 ing as if in point of intelligence there was no 
 great difference between them. 
 
 Two or three women, clad in rags which 
 had once been blue but now scarcely re- 
 tained any colour, came out to stare at the 
 strangers. Their faces were tanned to a hue 
 almost as dark as a Nubian's, and their fea- 
 tures prematurely worn by a hard life, but 
 they looked very good-humoured ; and when I 
 asked for a little water, one went immediately 
 to a vessel half imbedded in the sand and 
 carefully covered up, and brought me some in 
 
82 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 a coarse earthen jar, which she afterwards 
 offered to the servant, drawing the end of her 
 tattered veil over her mouth as she did so ; 
 to supply the want of a face-veil. Bedouin 
 women, in general, wear a short piece of pink 
 or lilac crape, or else one of a cream colour, 
 being the natural hue of the undyed rough 
 silk of which it is made. This is often hung 
 round with heavy silver coins ; and the effect 
 is then as ugly as we should find it uncomfort- 
 able; but use is every thing, and the Arab 
 maiden would doubtless pity us for wearing a 
 bonnet. 
 
 An old Syrian colporteur, who was with us 
 on this occasion, endeavoured, at my sugges- 
 tion, to talk a little to the people; but, his 
 private opinion being that Bedouins were quite 
 hopeless subjects, it was difficult, if not impos- 
 sible, for him to speak in the way likely to 
 attract them. When they heard that there 
 was a school for poor Moslim girls commenced 
 in Cairo, they all laughed heartily; and I 
 really believe the idea of teaching women to 
 
SCENES IN THE DESERT. 
 
 83 
 
 read was quite as amusing and absurd to them 
 as it would be to English villagers if some one 
 gravely proposed to instruct their cats in the 
 alphabet ! 
 
 The old man wanted the tact necessary in 
 dealing with these people, and, being rudely 
 interrupted, he shut his book with such a de- 
 spairing look that I feared they would all 
 think it a bad cause, unless I tried to come to 
 the rescue, even with broken Arabic. 
 
 ""Well, is not that good that he has read to 
 you ?" I asked one of the men, a ragged, lazy- 
 looking young fellow, who stood near me. 
 
 "Yes," he answered, indifferently; "but we 
 are Arabs, and do not understand all that." 
 
 " You do not think ; and that is why you do 
 not understand any thing." 
 
 " Exactly so: I do not think," said he, with 
 an air of great complacency. 
 
 " But you are not a camel or an ass : you 
 have a soul within you." 
 
 " Oh, certainly ! A soul, — yes." 
 
 "Well, then, you ought to think." 
 
84 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 "Yes, yes! that is true!" (nodding his head 
 with somewhat more interest.) 
 
 I then endeavoured to show him that we 
 had need to think about our souls in life, be- 
 cause death is not far from any, and we know 
 not how near it may be. He looked uneasy 
 at this, and said, — 
 
 "True: all must die; but God is good." 
 This was said much in the way one has heard 
 many far less ignorant persons say it. 
 
VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN. 
 
 85 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN WHO DO NOT 
 LIVE IN HAREEMS. 
 
 VISIT to an Eastern hareem has often 
 been described, — that curious scene, 
 bringing to mind the tales of the "Arabian 
 Nights," — gayly-clad slaves, with jewelled 
 pipes, fair Circassians reclining on splendid di- 
 vans, graceful salaams, and fine compliments 
 translated by a female interpreter for the 
 European ladies : all this has been graphically 
 told by many who have enjoyed the novelty of 
 a peep at the "caged birds." 
 
 But the humbler classes in every place con- 
 stitute the great majority; and it is among 
 them that we can learn something of the ways 
 and interests of the feminine population which 
 
 8 
 
86 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 is scarcely possible in the artificial existence 
 of the wealthy minority. The lower class of 
 women in Egypt do not .live in hareems, nor 
 go out attended by a troop of black slaves, 
 and, except in the custom of concealing the 
 face, which is only dispensed with in some 
 of the very poorest in the city, though little 
 attended to in the country, they enjoy a good 
 deal of freedom ; and if their life be hard in 
 many cases, it is more interesting, at least, 
 than the gilded imprisonment of a higher 
 class. 
 
 Every one who attends to a school knows 
 how important it is occasionally to visit the 
 mothers of the scholars; and this is more 
 particularly the case in a country where edu- 
 cation is at so low an ebb that much persua- 
 sion is necessary to induce the women to send 
 their children at all. 
 
 But the visiting in a school-district in Cairo 
 could not be* conducted as such matters are in 
 cities at home : the distinction of ranks is very 
 slight ; and though an humble visitor will sit 
 
VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN. 
 
 87 
 
 respectfully on the mat, instead of expecting 
 a place on the divan, yet if the lady visits 
 her in turn she must come almost on terms 
 of equality; and the graceful courtesy of 
 Egyptian manners in general renders this 
 easy, provided the visitor is not too nice to 
 sit upon dirty cushions or mats, and does not 
 manifest any disgust at the bedaubed face of 
 the little one who is dragged up to kiss her 
 hand. 
 
 Some of the scholars of Bab-el-Bahar were 
 the daughters of very poor artisans, a few of a 
 still lower grade, while some came from fami- 
 lies really well off, and, though they were not 
 above sending their girls sometimes in as 
 ragged garments as the poorest, the mothers 
 would sport such a quantity of gold coins and 
 silver and coral bracelets as would have pur- 
 chased several suits of clothing. 
 
 Three sisters, who were among our earliest 
 pupils, belonged to a Coptic family of this de- 
 scription. The mother had a good business, 
 apparently, as an embroidcress of women's 
 
88 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 jackets. We called on her one day, after some 
 trouble in finding the right house, for she 
 lived in one of the narrow, dark and densely- 
 peopled streets of the Coptic quarter, quite 
 out of our district, though at no great dis- 
 tance. It felt close and suffocating, for sun 
 and air can hardly penetrate this gloomy 
 region; and one could not wonder at the 
 sickly looks of the women, many of whom 
 never leave their native quarter from week to 
 week. The eldest of our scholars, Hynehna, 
 a lovely girl about thirteen, espied us from the 
 door of a neighbour's house, and ran up to 
 greet us, her face beaming with smiles. She 
 eagerly brought us to her mother's residence, 
 which was close by, and explained that it was 
 bread-making day, and she had been kept at 
 home to assist. 
 
 We were led through a dark, damp passage, 
 up a narrow and dirty stone staircase, till we 
 emerged on a terrace, lighter and cleaner than 
 I should have supposed possible in such a 
 place. On this terrace the good woman's 
 
VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN. 
 
 89 
 
 room opened : she seemed only to have one, but 
 it was larger than any three rooms in an Eng- 
 lish cottage, and very clean. She apparently 
 aimed at European innovations, as several of 
 the Copts do, having rush-bottomed chairs 
 instead of a divan. 
 
 We sat down after the usual salutations, and 
 the hostess began talking, first to us and then 
 to the matron, so rapidly and in so shrill 
 a tone that very little was intelligible to 
 me. She had the remains of great beauty, 
 the velvety blackness of her eyes and the 
 whiteness of her teeth being unimpaired; 
 but her face was worn and sallow, and the 
 expression any thing but agreeable : it had a 
 sharp, hard look, very unlike the mild sweet- 
 ness of her gentle daughter. The youngest 
 of the family, a boy of three years old, who, 
 on account of his youth, was admitted with his 
 sisters to school, was quite pleased to see the 
 familiar teachers' faces, and rubbed our hands 
 against his rough little head, quite to his own 
 satisfaction, while we submitted with diplo- 
 
 8* 
 
90 
 
 CHILD- LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 matic coolness. Cups of sugar and water (the 
 humblest form of sherbet) were brought to us 
 by Hynehna; and just as she came in with 
 them, another visitor appeared, a stout Coptic 
 dame, in flame-coloured trousers and English 
 jack-boots, handsome native bracelets, and 
 coarse English gloves, which looked so droll 
 that it was difficult to preserve becoming 
 gravity, while she pointed to us, and said, in 
 a loud voice, "Who are those?" 
 
 This was no breach of manners in her coun- 
 try, however; and, after all, it is more honest, 
 perhaps, than the too common European plan 
 of waiting till the stranger's back is turned, 
 and then pouring out a volley of criticism. 
 
 Though a narrow-minded woman, and a 
 very bigoted one, it was something gained to 
 be on friendly terms with Hynehna's mother, 
 and the evident regard of the children im- 
 pressed her favourably. But the Moslim 
 mothers interested me more, on the whole. 
 
 One whom I frequently visited was a Turk- 
 ish woman, by birth a Circassian, but reared 
 
VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN. 
 
 Oi 
 
 in Constantinople, married to an Egyptian in 
 the service of the Pasha. She herself em- 
 broidered for the royal hareems, and made 
 dresses also : in fact, she was a highly respect- 
 able milliner. 
 
 The first time I went up the narrow lane 
 where she lived, occupied chiefly by Moslims 
 of the lower classes, I was only accompanied 
 by one of the matron's younger girls, and a 
 number of ragged children hooted us, and 
 called names, and some even threw dust, but 
 no stones, nor was any grown person rude; 
 and after one or two visits they became ac- 
 customed to the sight of a stranger ; the 
 women even took to salaaming civilly, after 
 they had heard that I visited a sick girl in the 
 neighbourhood; for, bigoted and ignorant as 
 they are, no people sooner see or appreciate 
 love and kindness. 
 
 The only entrance to " Sitt Haanem's" abode 
 was through a dark, ill-kept stable, where her 
 husband's donkey stood. After stumbling along 
 the dirty, broken stone steps which led out of 
 
92 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IK EGYPT. 
 
 this, we came to a really airy, nice terrace, on 
 which three rooms opened, which with a little 
 care might have been made pleasant apart- 
 ments. 
 
 An old, richly-carved wooden lattice com- 
 manded a fine view of minarets and palms, 
 with the beautiful Mokattam cliffs in the dis- 
 tance; a divan occupied this corner, covered 
 with white cotton and with a pretty carpet ; 
 but the walls were rough brick, not even 
 plastered, and full of cracks in which scor- 
 pions might hide. A string of beads for 
 prayer, a copy of the Koran, and a native 
 mirror in a gaudy frame, were the only 
 adornments of the room, and, indeed, its only 
 furniture, except a very old cupboard of some 
 sort, and the huge water-vessel near the 
 door. 
 
 The mistress sat on the floor cross-legged, 
 with some fine muslins for the royal hareem 
 in her hand, and at the same time superin- 
 tending the work of a slave-girl, in coarse 
 blue cotton garments, who assisted her in the 
 
VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN. 93 
 
 simpler part of her employment. She was 
 herself in Turkish style, i.e. her hair cut 
 almost as short as a boy's in front, and parted 
 on one side, a silk fillet going round the head, 
 a short jacket and full print trousers com- 
 pleting an attire far less graceful than that 
 worn by native Egyptians of her rank in life. 
 Sitt Haanem was also less graceful in figure 
 and movements than the natives, having all 
 the Turkish abruptness of motion; but her 
 face, which was rather pretty, had a very 
 honest and pleasant expression. She offered 
 me a paper cigar, and, on my saying it did 
 not agree with me to smoke, laughed, and put 
 it in her own mouth : she was an inveterate 
 smoker. 
 
 On subsequent visits we had a good deal of 
 conversation, and by degrees her bigotry 
 softened. At first she used to condemn all 
 Christians without exception ; but latterly she 
 would say, u There are good Moslims and good 
 Christians, as well as bad." She was disap- 
 pointed that her little daughter's progress in 
 
94 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 reading was not more rapid; but the child's 
 defective sight made it impossible she should 
 ever learn to read : it seemed inevitable that 
 she must one day be quite blind. We did all 
 we could by teaching her texts and hymns; 
 but, though an affectionate little creature, she 
 was not bright. The mother was very fond of 
 her, but not partial, as some parents are, to 
 the degree of overrating her looks, and used 
 to remark, coolly enough, sometimes, "Hada- 
 weeyeh is not at all a pretty child ; she is not 
 like me!" 
 
 One day we found the father at home, and 
 made the child repeat her hymn for him to 
 hear. He seemed pleased; and the mother 
 echoed the words, and said, " I know all that 
 now : she is singing it all day." 
 
 One day, on another visit, we were speak- 
 ing on the subject of prayer, and she said she 
 would show us how Moslim women prayed. 
 Many do not pray at all, for it is not obli- 
 gatory with the inferior sex, and is rather 
 thought a work of supererogation; but if they 
 
VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN. 95 
 
 wish to be "holy women," this is the form 
 prescribed, as she assured us. 
 
 First she tied a muslin kerchief over her 
 head, concealing all the hair, then spread a 
 shawl on the floor, by way of a praying-carpet, 
 and stood on it, making a variety of genu- 
 flexions and gestures, rather like gymnastic 
 exercises : the oddest of them all consisted 
 in turning the head from side to side, as if 
 about to whisper to some one behind her; 
 but not a word was spoken. 
 
 This silence is a needful part of the cere- 
 mony, she declared. I do not pretend to say 
 Moslim women never repeat forms of prayer. 
 I merely tell what this person, herself a Turk- 
 ish Moslim, told me : it may be that this 
 ludicrous pantomime was merely the most 
 approved style of prayer, and not the only 
 one. Sitt Haanem herself laughed at its ab- 
 surdity ; and when I said, " That is not prayer : 
 it is good for nothing," she repeated, emphatic- 
 ally, "Yes, good for nothing." 
 
 We tried to show her that the vain repeti- 
 
9G 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 tions of the men were, however, not better in 
 reality than silent antics like this, and to 
 make her see that prayer must consist in 
 asking for something and wishing for what 
 we ask ; but with an imperfect command of 
 language it is difficult to keep up an argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Two days before our departure she visited 
 us, and, finding the scholars at needle-work, 
 came up-stairs to the sitting-room, where she 
 found me resting after a regular levee of 
 humble visitors, mothers and aunts of the chil- 
 dren, who wished to pay farewell visits. No 
 one expressed more regret than Sitt Haanem, 
 though, like most Eastern women, she showed 
 her childish disposition by the versatility with 
 which she turned from serious subjects or 
 matters of real feeling to the veriest trifle. 
 With the bluntness customary among these 
 half-civilized people, she said, in presence of 
 the new teacher, "I do not know her. I 
 know you. My child loves you. Why do 
 you go away T* Then, casting her eye on the 
 
VISITS TO EASTERN WOMEN. 
 
 97 
 
 table, she spied an English Bible. " What ia 
 that book? — is it an angel?"* Moslims do not 
 seem, in general, to know that we have any 
 sacred writings except the Gospels. I ex- 
 plained that we had both the gospel and a 
 great deal more in this book, and told her 
 how in the first part we read of Moses and 
 David and the other prophets, and, in the 
 last part, of Jesus Christ. 
 
 " After David was long dead, the Christ [el 
 Messiah], whom he had written of, came into 
 the world, and died for our sins." 
 
 " I know he was a prophet; but there is only 
 one God," said she. 
 
 " God is one Spirit. We who believe God's 
 word do not worship any but God. We are 
 not servants of idols." 
 
 "I believe you love God," she said; "for 
 you love the children," (pointing to the door, 
 to indicate the scholars below.) 
 
 We had a good deal of conversation, con- 
 
 G 
 
 * i.e. a Gospel. 
 9 
 
98 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 sidering the imperfect language, and she left 
 with many expressions of good will and regret. 
 This woman has lost her husband since our 
 departure, and probably changed her residence : 
 if possible, I shall trace her, however ; and, at 
 all events, it is a comfort to know that she 
 has heard something of the truth, for our 
 friend Mrs. E called on her and con- 
 versed much with her on one or two occasions 
 subsequent to the visits I have described. 
 
THE BLIND AND THE SICK. 
 
 99 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BLIND AND THE SICK. 
 
 (^f^.HE great scourge of Egypt is the oph- 
 S thalmia, concerning the cause of which 
 so many different opinions prevail, but which 
 all residents know to be most severe after the 
 inundations of the Nile, and at all times in 
 the closer and more unhealthy quarters of the 
 city. The people of the country appear to 
 suffer less with it than those in the town; but 
 of all places the most afflicted seems the 
 Jewish quarter in Cairo, where every second 
 person you meet is either suffering under 
 some stage of the complaint, or else is blind, 
 or one-eyed, or squinting. Some say the un- 
 wholesome diet of the Caireen Jews makes 
 them more liable than others to this disease ; 
 but the extreme narrowness of their streets, 
 
100 
 
 CH-LD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 and the way in which they are crowded to- 
 gether, added to their uncleanly habits, are 
 quite sufficient to account for their having a 
 larger share than even the natives of the land 
 of the " diseases of Egypt." 
 
 Though the climate of Egypt is so trying to 
 the children of Europeans, there seems no 
 reason to suppose it is unhealthy for native 
 children. If they are exposed to ophthalmia, 
 they are, on the other hand, exempt from 
 many of the maladies common to the young 
 in colder regions. The great mortality which 
 prevails among the native infants seems, as 
 far as I could learn, and also judging from 
 observation, which, living surrounded by the 
 poor, I was enabled to make, to be caused by 
 bad management, neglect, dirt and foolish 
 customs and superstitions. To any one who 
 watches their way of bringing up children, 
 the wonder is not that many die, but that any 
 survive. The girls marry so early that they 
 are totally unfit for the responsibility of a 
 family, and, as they grow old, contradict the 
 
THE BLIND AND THE SICK. lUl 
 
 prcrerb that experience makes fools wise; for 
 the old women are as ignorant as the young, 
 and more obstinate. The precocity of Easterns 
 is, perhaps, somewhat overrated : certainly an 
 Egyptian girl of twelve or fourteen, though 
 forward enough in making bargains, and up 
 to all the gossip of her quarter, no doubt, is 
 more unfit to take care of little children than 
 an ordinary specimen of an English village girl 
 at eight years old. There are, as we know, 
 ragged homes in England, and yet more in 
 Ireland, where order and cleanliness and care 
 are just as much wanting as in an Egyptian 
 one ; but an industrious, respectable artisan's 
 or cottager's wife has some notion of rearing 
 her children decently and keeping her house 
 tidy; whereas in a country where there is no 
 female education and no moral standard the 
 difference is very trifling between the children 
 of a beggar and those of an honest workman, 
 except that the latter are better fed. 
 
 The fear of the evil eye, as is well known, 
 induces even women of the higher classes fre- 
 
 9* 
 
102 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 quently to keep their children ill dressed snd 
 unwashed ; and sometimes they go so far as to 
 daub the forehead of a pretty or highly -valued 
 child with soot, in the idea that this diverts 
 the power of the envious glance which they 
 dread ! The bad management and unsuitable 
 diet appears to be equally great among rich 
 and poor, if I was correctly informed; but, as 
 my personal observations extended only to the 
 latter, I will merely describe their system, if 
 so it may be called. 
 
 The first thing is to bind the head of a 
 young infant tightly round with a dark- 
 coloured handkerchief. Exceedingly unbecom- 
 ing to the little face is this dismal head-dress. 
 Nor is the dark-blue cotton shirt, begrimed 
 with dust, much less so. A little jacket of 
 coloured print is added in winter, by those 
 who can afford it ; but, with the very poor, all 
 garments are not unfrequently dispensed with 
 for young children, except a covering for the 
 head. When it is cold weather, a mother 
 whose means render it possible puts a little 
 
THE BLIND AND THE SICK. 
 
 103 
 
 p minted hood of coarse cloth on her child's 
 head, which has a very comical effect. When 
 not rolling in the dust, the child is always on 
 its mother's shoulder, clinging to her head 
 with its tiny hands ; and it is surprising how, 
 at a few months old, they learn to hold on as 
 dexterously as monkeys ; but often the little 
 head is seen bobbing feebly from side to side, 
 while swarms of flies are crawling over its 
 unwashed face and into its eyes, which are 
 usually more or less affected with the ophthal- 
 mia during teething. The mother cannot see 
 to drive the flies away, from the child's posi- 
 tion ; nor, indeed, would she take the trouble 
 to brush them away if she could. This way 
 of carrying a child is all very well after a cer- 
 tain age, but must be injurious while the back 
 is still weak. Even before the child has cut 
 its teeth, the mother crams its mouth with a 
 portion of any thing she is herself eating, 
 whether it be a raw onion, or a ball of fried 
 meat, or salted curd, or any other street-de- 
 licacy ; and, as it gets older, she gives it any 
 
104 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 thing it cries for, if it be in her power to 
 get it. The shrunk limbs and unnaturally 
 large bodies of the young children show how 
 ill they thrive on this style of treatment. If, 
 however, the little one survives all this, and 
 does not die in convulsions, as hundreds do, 
 or become blind from neglected ophthalmia, it 
 may, after three years old, become a healthy 
 child ; but I do not suppose any mother rears 
 more than one in three. In our Country, with 
 the best care she can take of her children, a 
 poor mother may be compelled to see a delicate 
 child pine away for want of sufficient firing 
 and warm clothes ; but this is not the case in 
 Egypt : yet the infant mortality is greater than 
 with us. 
 
 One advantage we have, however, in dealing 
 with ragged life in Egypt, and it is a great 
 compensation, I must own, for the filthy habits 
 of the people, the ignorance, the superstition 
 and the degradation : this compensation is, we 
 have no drunkenness to contend with, — no 
 fear of a drunken husband stumbling in while 
 
THE BLIND AND THE SICK. 
 
 105 
 
 speaking to a poor mother ; no fear of finding 
 the mother herself gone to the gin-shop ! It 
 is the one blessing amid many and great evils. 
 
 I may give an instance to show the native 
 ideas respecting the treatment of the sick, and 
 the way in which these might, by degrees, be 
 first modified and then changed : it is the case 
 of a scholar of mine, one of the most steady 
 and well-disposed among the older girls. She 
 was the only survivor of many brothers and 
 sisters, and lived in a lane near the school, — ■ 
 her parents, who were poor, though respect- 
 able, being the only Copts in that lane. One 
 day this girl complained of headache and 
 burning heat in her forehead, which was alle- 
 viated by the application of a clean, cold, wet 
 bandage, which I put on for her in place of 
 the head-gear which she wore, and which 
 must have aggravated the pain, though put 
 on expressly because she had a headache ; it 
 consisted of a man's thick red woollen cap, 
 which must have belor. ged to her grandfather, 
 judging from its aged appearance; over this 
 
106 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 two cotton handkerchiefs, and over them a 
 coarse blue cotton veil, each article dirtier 
 than the last, and within all the matted, un- 
 combed hair. 
 
 The girl was better for the exchange to the 
 wet bandage, but was made to resume them 
 all on her return home, and brought word 
 next day that her mother begged she might 
 on no account put off the wraps, lest she 
 should suffer from cold. Of course I did not 
 again interfere, as prejudices of old standing 
 must at first be cautiously dealt with. I think 
 yet another handkerchief had been added, her 
 head now seeming of the size of a great pump- 
 kin ! She could not attend to her lessons, and 
 had to be sent home early, and the following 
 day I heard that she was very ill, that the 
 mother was in despair, and expected she would 
 die. However, she would not call in a doctor, 
 as our matron advised, but said, " If it were 
 God's will her child should die, she would die ; 
 and if it were his will she should live, she 
 would live." This fatalism, which the poor 
 
THE BLIND AND THE SICK. 107 
 
 wo ian mistook for faith, is said to be nearly 
 as common among Copts as among their Mos- 
 lim neighbours, from whom they probably 
 have learned it. I went to see the invalid, 
 and found her crouched up on the floor, with 
 a great cotton veil of her mother's rolled over 
 all her former attire, so that she looked a 
 mere heap of dark-blue rags, except for the 
 melancholy, sallow visage which peeped out 
 from among them. An old Coptic priest was 
 burning incense and muttering prayers for her 
 benefit, in one corner of the room, while in 
 another sat the mother and aunt of the girl, 
 looking the pictures of helpless grief, and with 
 tears running down their care-worn faces. 
 Both rose, however, and cordially welcomed 
 me, and the mother put a cushion on the 
 ground for me to sit on. As soon as the priest 
 had finished his business, I asked a few ques- 
 tions of the child, and felt pretty sure that 
 6he was not in so bad a way as the mother 
 imagined, and with proper care might soon be 
 well again. However, to get rid of the wrap- 
 
108 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 pings was out of the question, so was a clean 
 bed, and sundry other comforts which sickness 
 seems to demand : all that could be accom- 
 plished was a promise that her face and hands 
 should be washed, and that she should take 
 some medicine, which her aunt was to call for 
 that evening. This was something gained ; and 
 next day I prepared some nice broth, which 
 proved acceptable; and, when I came again, 
 poor Ghemiana, for that was the patient's 
 name, was better and able to answer ques- 
 tions more cheerfully. It was touching to 
 hear her assuring the matron that she had 
 prayed during her illness, and that she "did 
 indeed say 'Our Father' very often." It was 
 the only prayer she knew, and was doubtless 
 but imperfectly understood : still, she had 
 some comprehension of the meaning, Um 
 Usuf having often tried to explain the clauses 
 to the children, after making them repeat the 
 words; and it certainly was an attempt to 
 look up in faith to God, and surely was ac- 
 cepted, weak as the attempt might be. She 
 
THE BLIND AND THE SICK. 109 
 
 was a most patient, good-tempered girl, whe- 
 ther sick or well ; and when she recovered, 
 which she soon did, her plain face, with its 
 heavy features and sallow tint, looked quite 
 bright and pleasant, lit up with grateful 
 smiles, as she came to return thanks and 
 bring me an offering of Easter-cakes, made 
 by her mother, as a token of her good feel- 
 ings. This was just at Easter-time. 
 
 I went to visit the mother, among many 
 others, just before leaving Cairo, and was re- 
 ceived with affectionate respect, though shown 
 in rather a singular way according to Euro- 
 pean notions. The good woman had been 
 washing, and was reposing a little after her 
 fatigues, it being now between eight and nine 
 in the morning, while her daughter and sister 
 took her place at the tub in a kind of den 
 which seemed common to the neighbourhood. 
 She squatted at the entrance, enjoying a pipe 
 and the luxury of a cup of coffee, which I 
 imagine was not a daily one with her, but 
 taken on holidays or at times of extra labour, 
 
 10 
 
110 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Buch as " washing-mornings." On leeing me 
 coming up the lane, accompanied by Menni, 
 she rose and cordially saluted me, at the same 
 moment offering me the little cup of coffee 
 she was in the act of drinking. An Egyptian 
 always shows politeness by offering a share of 
 any thing he may be eating or drinking to a 
 friend or superior who may happen to come 
 up at the time. I just tasted her coffee, not 
 to affront her, and, after hastily swallowing 
 the remainder, she insisted on accompanying 
 us up-stairs to her room, where we sat for a 
 short time. I exhorted her to let Ghemiana 
 attend school regularly after our departure, 
 which the mother promised, though bemoan- 
 ing the necessity of the parting very much, 
 and frequently repeating, " My child loves 
 you ; so do we all : you must return to us!" 
 
 I did not observe much difference between 
 this woman and others of her class in life, 
 and Moslim women of the same rank : per- 
 haps they were less averse to education than 
 Moslims, as I never heard them say, as sorie 
 
THE BLIND AND THE SICK. Ill 
 
 others did, "We do not want our girls to 
 learn." But, practically, it was near" 1 / the 
 same ; for they had such supreme indifference 
 about it that they did not care to send the 
 children if they wished to stay away. Ghe- 
 miana's mother was not more sensible, as may 
 be supposed from what I have related, than 
 any of her neighbours ; but, like most, whether 
 Moslim or Copt, she could be reached through 
 her affections, and never seemed to forget the 
 attention shown to her child in sickness. 
 
 I learned afterwards, with no small regret, 
 that the poor girl had been taken from school 
 to be married, before she could read fluently, 
 and when a short time longer would have 
 enabled her to master her difficult language 
 sufficiently to do so. She cried, and begged 
 to be left a little longer; but the parents, 
 knowing she was both poor and plain, would 
 not risk the loss of the match, and poor Ghe- 
 miana became an unwilling bride. 
 
112 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE CITY ARABS. 
 
 S^^MONG the tribes of ragged, vagrant 
 I^ji boys who swarm in the streets of Cairo, 
 none are more conspicuous than the well- 
 known donkey-boys; for they are quite a fea- 
 ture of the city. People are dependent on 
 donkeys in a country where few who can 
 avoid it walk, and where driving is not only 
 very expensive, but impracticable in a great 
 many of the streets. Every traveller, even 
 the Indian-bound who has but twenty-four 
 hours in which to " do Cairo," knows these 
 boys; and we hear them spoken of as " Un- 
 mitigated rascals !" and "The pests of Cairo!" 
 or " Smart lads!" and " Bright little fellows !" 
 according to the disposition of the English 
 
Cfjiiu lift in 8ggoL 
 
 Donkey boys waiting for a job. 
 
 p. 112. 
 
THE CITY ARABS. 
 
 113 
 
 traveller, or the luck he has happened meet 
 with among the species. 
 
 But few Europeans have time or interest for 
 them beyond a passing remark, and their life 
 seems to shut them out from the chance good 
 influences of the very few who do feel inte- 
 rested in their lot; for, if a kind word is 
 spoken by a philanthropic stranger who knows 
 a little Arabic, or if the boy addressed has 
 picked up English enough, as is often the case, 
 to understand what is said to him in that lan- 
 guage, the next traveller perhaps teaches him 
 to swear, and, as evil finds a readier entrance 
 into the natural heart than good, the con- 
 sequence, of course, is that Egyptian donkey- 
 boys can often say many bad words in Eng- 
 lish, and rarely any good ones. I remember 
 a lad of thirteen or fourteen, who was one day 
 guiding a donkey for me, not long after our 
 arrival in Cairo, and who used some very 
 profane English words. I reproved him, and 
 
 a respectable Syrian servant who was with us 
 H 10* 
 
114 
 
 CniLD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 spoke to him also, saying that such words dis- 
 pleased God. 
 
 11 That Engeliz!" replied the boy, grinning 
 as he said it, and evidently thinking himself 
 quite a promising English scholar. 
 
 How grievous it was to hear this, every 
 Christian can imagine, and how I endeavoured, 
 with the Syrian's assistance, to explain to him 
 that no Englishman who feared God used such 
 language. The boy seemed surprised, not 
 having any idea, probably, that there were 
 any Englishmen who cared for the name of 
 God ; but the impression was doubtless soon 
 effaced, for to produce any permanent effect 
 on such boys, long-continued efforts would be 
 as necessary as with our vagrant children at 
 home, if not even more so. 
 
 While quite young, and before they have 
 learned all the evil ways of the elder ones, 
 many of these Egyptian boys are nice, bright 
 children, and would, I am certain, be glad to 
 learn if they had the opportunity. There are 
 native schools, indeed, such as they are, where 
 
THE CITY ARABS. 
 
 115 
 
 the Koran is the only book, and where that 
 and the formal Mohammedan prayers are im- 
 pressed on the boys' memories by constant ap- 
 plications of a heavy stick; but the class I 
 allude to seldom go to these schools, their 
 parents being too poor to afford the expense, 
 and their days being occupied either with 
 following donkeys or carrying parcels from 
 the bazaars for strangers, or else in begging, 
 fighting, and scrambling for a morsel of food, 
 much as vagabond boys do in every great city, 
 whether Eastern or European. 
 
 There was a bright, pleasant-looking little 
 boy, named Seid, who often attended us on 
 desert-rides, being rather a favourite in con- 
 sequence of his docility and good humour. 
 Some of the older lads are troublesome and 
 impertinent on a long country ride, and will 
 run away and leave their donkeys for a long 
 time to save themselves fatigue/making the 
 youngest boy present take all the care of the 
 rest, if they can manage it. Seid seemed too 
 young to have learned the bad. ways of the 
 
116 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 others yet, and his lively chat, whether in 
 Arabic or in his droll broken English, was 
 always harmless and amusing : he used to be 
 both grateful for and diverted by our efforts 
 to relieve him from the burdens laid on him 
 by the older boys, according to the invariable 
 custom of trampling on the weak, which is so 
 painful a mark of want of civilization. Unless 
 we kept a very sharp look-out, the large boys 
 were sure to circumvent us, and we would see 
 poor little Seid staggering under the weight 
 of all the bags and baskets hung on his slen- 
 der shoulders or piled on his head, while a 
 strapping fellow of sixteen walked merrily by 
 his side, munching sugarcane or smoking 
 paper cigars. 
 
 Another boy, about the same age as Seid, 
 brought two sisters to the ragged school after 
 hearing it spoken of; but, unluckily, they 
 were frightened by some one, and would not 
 stay, but escaped and fled, just as their young 
 brother Lad succeeded in coaxing them up to 
 the door. Probably they were panic-struck 
 
THE CITY ARABS. 
 
 117 
 
 by some of the silly fictions spread by our old 
 enemies the seedsman and his girls, who were 
 ever on the watch to deter scholars from 
 coming, by reports of the beatings they would 
 receive. 
 
 But there was one donkey-boy who was more 
 successful ; this was little Abdul Leyl : he was 
 a fine, interesting boy, of perhaps nine or ten 
 years old. When questioned about his sisters, 
 he said that he had one sister, and she was "a 
 very nice sister!" Their father was a servant, 
 and they lodged with an aunt not far from the 
 school-house, their mother being dead. The 
 aunt made no objection to the boy's bringing 
 his sister to school ; and accordingly he came 
 one morning, bringing a little girl in a ragged 
 loose dress of red cotton and a white veil, and 
 a most gentle pair of large black eyes, which 
 were her only beauty. The boy introduced 
 her to the matron, saying, "This is Fatmeh!" 
 There are hundreds of Moslim girls who bear 
 this favourite name ; but to poor Abdul Leyl 
 there was but one Fatmeh in the world, — at 
 
118 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 that time, at least, — and very proud he was 
 of having been the one to bring her into 
 the way of receiving education, which he had 
 sense enough to think a valuable thing. Fat- 
 meh proved a sweet, docile child, — less quick 
 than her brother appeared to be, but steady 
 in her attendance and remarkably amiable in 
 disposition. Abdul Leyl often called at the 
 school, slipping up-stairs and just peeping in, 
 and then retreating, saying he came "to see 
 Fatmeh." Fain would he have been admitted 
 to join her in study on days when he chanced 
 not to be wanted with his donkey; in the hot 
 weather much fewer are in use; but it was 
 not possible to mix boys and girls in the 
 school, for many reasons. When some little 
 rewards were to be given to the best girls, 
 Fatmeh, of course, told her brother about it; 
 and, happening to employ him the previous 
 day to that on which the pieces of cotton were 
 to be given, he took the opportunity of beg- 
 ging me to give something pretty to his 
 Bister, for was not she good ? " Had not 
 
THE CITY ARABS. 
 
 119 
 
 the 'Sitt' said herself that Fatmeh was 
 good ?" 
 
 The affection of this boy was so pleasing, 
 and gave so favourable an idea of his dispo- 
 sition, that we felt much interested for him, 
 and, before leaving, I told him that the boys 
 should not be forgotten. 
 
 Now that a school is already preparing* for 
 the Moslim boys of Cairo, we may hope his 
 turn is really coming, if he have not been 
 already drawn away by the whirlpool of bad 
 example and have lost his desire for instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 The name of Abdul Leyl (Servant of the 
 Night) is not a common one in Egypt, as far 
 as I know ; and probably some family sorrow 
 caused it to be given in this instance. The 
 singularity of the appellation attracted our 
 notice; and often we observed, if Abdul Leyl 
 were to be educated and brought to the know- 
 
 * Under the Malta College Committee, who selected 
 Cairo as the place where the first of their Oriental schools 
 hhould be established. 
 
120 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 ledge of the true light, his name might be 
 changed to " Servant of the Day;" but, as yet, 
 he and his comrades are walking in darkness 
 and know not the light. 
 
 All who have had any experience among 
 Easterns know the importance of getting 
 them as young as possible under instruction: 
 even at home, we all know the advantage 
 which a child enjoys who has had some moral 
 discipline and mental culture under ten years 
 old. But it is still more important in the 
 East, because of the greater precocity of the 
 children. I did not observe much difference 
 while they were quite young, but between 
 those under ten and over twelve — judging from 
 looks, for none ever knew their age — there 
 appeared a more marked difference than we 
 see in our home-schools. It seemed as if be- 
 tween these ages they became suddenly pre- 
 cocious, and the pretty, graceful, pleasant boy 
 was changed into a disagreeable, rude, vulgar 
 lad, acting as if he thought himself quite a 
 man in every respect. 
 
THE CITY ARABS. 
 
 121 
 
 The life of a city Arab proper is one of less 
 actual hardship than that of his namesake in 
 London : the food of the lowest classes of 
 Egypt is very much cheaper than food in Eng- 
 land, and, if coarse, is not adulterated. Na- 
 tive bread and onions are to be had at a low 
 rate all the year round ; and sugarcane and 
 cucumbers, in their season, are no expensive 
 luxury. I have, indeed, seen boys in the street 
 who appeared ill fed and wretched, but very 
 few compared with those I had been used to 
 see in Ireland. 
 
 Their clothing is certainly apt to be of the 
 
 scantiest possible kind ; but a warm climate 
 
 makes this a trifling evil during a great part 
 
 of the year. One sees them shivering and even 
 
 suffering from bad colds during the brief 
 
 winter season, the contrast to the extreme heat 
 
 of the summer making it seem cold to them, 
 
 though most likely we should consider it very 
 
 temperate weather. Still, there is no question 
 
 that, spite of rags, dirt and ophthalmia, and 
 
 frequent beatings from their masters or older 
 n 
 
122 
 
 CHILD-L1?E IN EGYPT. 
 
 comrades, the city Arab of Cairo has, physically, 
 a less miserable existence than that of the Eng- 
 lish vagabond boy, exposed to snow and frost, 
 sleet and rain, for half the year, and to whom 
 shelter and strong thick clothing and firing 
 are not luxuries, properly speaking, but neces- 
 saries. Morally, however, the Moslim boy is 
 worse off, because his chance of falling in with 
 one to "show him any good" is so much 
 smaller : as yet we can hardly say it amounts 
 to a chance at all. No open-air preacher for 
 him ; no city missionary to collect a listening 
 crowd and attract their attention and draw 
 them gradually from things of earth to things 
 of heaven ; no kind gentleman to stop him in 
 his career of vice and idleness, by asking 
 where he goes to school, and telling him of 
 the ragged-school in such a street, and the 
 shoe-blacks' refuge in such another, or the re- 
 formatory in a third ; no pious neighbour to 
 drop a good word and invite him to turn from 
 evil. When not running after his donkey, or 
 scrambling for a living in some other way, he 
 
THE CITY ARABS. 
 
 123 
 
 is lounging 2 bout with his comrades in the 
 streets, or roJing in the warm dust by the 
 road-side, clad in a ragged blue shirt, or the 
 fragments of an old rough garment of hair, 
 striped brown and white, which is so familiar 
 to an Eastern traveller's eye, and a dirty cotton 
 cap or a striped cotton towel by way of turban, 
 as his head-covering : there he lies, — soul and 
 body in the dust, if one may say so ; and for 
 long years no man cared for his soul; but 
 we cannot say so now, and we believe that no 
 home ragged-school will suffer because the 
 attention of Christian philanthropists has been 
 now turned to Moslim children also. 
 
 Perhaps the best motto for all who labour 
 in the vineyard, whether at home or abroad, 
 is, " Whosoever will, let him come and drinK 
 of the water of life freely." Of whatever 
 creed, of whatever tribe, if he has not drunk 
 of that water, he is perishing; and that is 
 enough for God's servants. 
 
124 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IK EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THREE DAYS AT SUEZ. 
 
 (^TfyO those who have resided for any time 
 a ^ Cairo, Suez has become a very fa- 
 miliar name, being not merely the chief, but 
 the only, southern seaport, and the key to 
 India; and thus it is associated with many 
 important things, though in itself a very un- 
 important-looking place. A collection of flat- 
 roofed, insignificant, mud-brick houses, with 
 one or two a little superior, belonging to 
 foreign consuls, and one large white building, 
 which is the English hotel, — this is Suez; and 
 many people assured us it was not worth a 
 visit ; but they forgot the Red Sea. Were it 
 not at all beautiful, it would surely be worth 
 a visit for the sake of associat: Dn. But th^ 
 
THREE DAYS AT SUEZ. 
 
 125 
 
 beauty is great : the colouring given by that 
 southern atmosphere must be seen in order to 
 be conceived. It is very far superior even to 
 that of Cairo. The intense green and bJue of 
 the shining waters, the transparent glow on 
 the cliffs near the city, and the yet more fairy- 
 like brilliancy of the distant Arabian hills on 
 the opposite side, are beyond any pen or brush 
 adequately to represent. True, there is no 
 foliage, and one might weary of living in such 
 a place, therefore, and wish for trees and 
 streams again ; but that any one with eyes in 
 his head should see no beauty in Suez, nothing 
 to make it worth a visit, is astonishing to me. 
 The air is very pure and delightful, and more 
 strengthening than that of Cairo, which, when 
 the hot weather sets in, becomes relaxing. 
 Three days spent at Suez enabled me to work 
 with renewed vigour on returning to the school. 
 Though exceedingly hot, it was not the least 
 oppressive, and a breeze tempered the heat of 
 the sun. 
 
 Within the doors of the hotel everv thing, 
 11* 
 
126 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EG xPT. 
 
 except the Hindoo servants, was English; 
 Egyptian life seemed to have disappeared alto- 
 gether ; but as soon as one left it the illusion 
 was over, and the Arabic tongue again greeted 
 one's ears. 
 
 I found several studies for the pencil in 
 Arabs from the opposite coast, and in children 
 of the town who came to play about near the 
 hotel. 
 
 It must be an inveterate late riser who is 
 not up early in an April morning at Suez. 
 The delicious coolness of the air at five o'clock, 
 and the effect of the sun's first rays stealing 
 softly down the cliffs and gilding the waves 
 of the Bed Sea, are a treat worth a little 
 trouble to enjoy. 
 
 At six o'clock I came down with a drawing- 
 book to sit near the door, sheltered by stone 
 pillars. A Hindoo servant brought me a 
 chair, and presently two little girls, natives of 
 the place, came up, and furnished pretty sub- 
 jects for a drawing. They were dressed in 
 their best, it being a festival-day, and were 
 
THREE DAYS AT SUEZ. 127 
 
 very proud of their gay print trousers and 
 spangled head-kerchiefs. I promised a cake to 
 each if they would stand still, which they con- 
 sented to do ; and then, after admiring their 
 own likenesses and vainly trying to obtain 
 possession of them by entreat /es, they begged 
 to look at the contents of my travelling-bag, 
 and presently pulled out an Arabic tract. 
 One of them begged to have it as soon as she 
 saw the characters. 
 
 " Can you read ?" I asked. 
 
 " A little," she replied. Twas doubtful, and 
 proved, by showing her the letters in the tract, 
 that she could not ; she just knew an alef, but 
 no other letter : probably some brother had 
 tried to show her the letters when fresh from 
 the native school. 
 
 However, the child was so anxious for the 
 little book that I at length gave it to her, 
 hoping that, as Arabs will seldom destroy any 
 printed paper, it might some day fall into 
 hands which could make use of it. A man 
 who was loitering about, listening to my con- 
 
128 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 versation with the girls, now came up and 
 asked if I had another book : fortunately I 
 had, and with much pleasure saw him retire 
 to a shady spot and sit reading it for some 
 time, — in fact, till I went in to breakfast. 
 
 The talk I had with these children made me 
 wish we could have some day a branch school 
 at Suez. They seemed very lively, intelligent 
 little creatures, about nine and ten years old, 
 darker in complexion than the Cairo children ; 
 but one was very pretty, and had a winning 
 expression in her merry black eyes. They 
 would willingly have stayed longer with me, 
 had not the rest of the party coming out 
 frightened them away. 
 
 The town was all alive with the native fes- 
 tival, and we were urged to see the sports that 
 were going on by an Arab servant of the 
 hotel, who assured us there were very amusing 
 things to see, especially some man's perform- 
 ance, which he vainly endeavoured to de- 
 scribe in his broken English; for he was too 
 proud of speaking it to comply with my re- 
 
THREE DAYS AT SUEZ. 
 
 129 
 
 quest that lie would "speak Arabic." "It is 
 a man, — lie from Jeddo — they make shoe — 
 but not shoe exactly — it very funny, very good, 
 — you go see it — like this," (touching an um- 
 brella.) What could be the connection between 
 a shoe and an umbrella seemed mysterious; 
 but it was explained when we had, under his 
 guidance, threaded our way through several 
 narrow, dusty streets to an open space where 
 a couple of tents were pitched in the midst of 
 a gay and noisy crowd. Inside one of these — 
 which was what he meant by " like an urn- 
 brella' — were a set of men who wore a pe- 
 culiar kind of sandal, between a sandal and a 
 shoe, fastened by green leather straps round 
 the ankle. Some of these performed a rude 
 kind of music, with tambourines, daraboukahs 
 and native guitars, while a black man danced 
 in the middle, his actions much resembling 
 those of a Donnybrook jig. But his jet-black 
 face and rolling eyes, and the bare arms and 
 legs with which he made all sorts of queer ges- 
 tures and antics, gave a more savage air to 
 I 
 
130 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 the performance. The tent was crowded and 
 suffocatingly hot : so we could not remain many 
 minutes, and soon retreated into the fresh air 
 again. Two or three coffee-houses round the 
 open space on which stood the tents were filled 
 with customers, though it was but ten o'clock 
 in the morning, and the swings and merry-go- 
 rounds were equally popular ; and it was divert- 
 ing to see the numbers of great men who were 
 enjoying this amusement with as much relish 
 as the little children. The crowd looked like 
 a tulip-bed, with the gay colours which almost 
 every one, even of the poorer classes, sported 
 on this occasion. Among the children bright 
 yellow was a favourite dress; with the men, 
 crimson, blue or violet caftans ; while the ne- 
 groes and Nubians wore every colour of the 
 rainbow. 
 
 We stayed here till the sun became too hot 
 for Europeans to stand in ; but the people did 
 not seem to find the violent exercise they were 
 taking in the swings, &c. at all exhausting. 
 It was a comfort to recollect that coffee and 
 
THREE DaYS AT SUEZ. 
 
 131 
 
 sweetmeats were the only refreshments par- 
 taken of by these crowds of people : so that, if 
 childish, their amusements were more harmless 
 than those of fairs and merry-makings in our' 
 more enlightened country, where drunken- 
 ness is the common finish to the day's enter- 
 tainments, 
 
 While at Suez, we made an excursion to the 
 opposite coast, which might well have been 
 prolonged, so full of interest is that desert, had 
 circumstances permitted it : it was, indeed, 
 rather a disappointment not to get as far as 
 the palm-trees of Elim. But travellers are 
 usually dependent on one another, and every- 
 body is not equally fond of sandy deserts and 
 camel-riding, nor, indeed, are all equally fitted 
 to endure the heat and fatigue. So we only 
 went one day's journey to Ain Moussa, a well 
 with an oasis around it, situated a few miles 
 from the Red Sea, in the Arabian desert. We 
 sailed across to the shore opposite Suez in one 
 of the picturesque boats peculiar to the Red 
 Sea, and then mounted the steeds which 
 
132 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 awaited us there, consisting of some very in- 
 different and ill-fed camels, and some donkeys 
 to match. No better could be had : so it was 
 necessary to make the best of them, and to 
 stick on as well as one could without proper 
 saddles of any kind. It was unlucky for those 
 of the party who had never before mounted 
 a camel ; and they kept their seats with diffi- 
 culty for the first hour. Being accustomed 
 to the motion, I was more independent of cir- 
 cumstances, and could fully enjoy the exquisite 
 beauty of the scenery. Though all was bare 
 desert around us, the distant cliffs on the 
 African shore, with the strip of golden sand 
 dividing them from the blue and sparkling 
 waters of the sea, changed so constantly with 
 the shifting shadows made by the light, fleecy 
 clouds of the morning, that there was no mo- 
 notony in the view until midday had arrived, 
 when the heat became intense and produced 
 a slight haze dimming the distant objects a 
 little. But the purity and lightness of the 
 air were such that I did not feel the least op- 
 
THREE DAYS AT SUEZ. 
 
 133 
 
 pressed with the heat, — though I am sure it 
 was considerable. 
 
 More than once we had the pleasure of 
 seeing a beautiful mirage with the reflection 
 of the sand-hills reversed, just as they would 
 be in a real pool, in the seemingly clear blue 
 waters ; as we drew near, a faint mist ap- 
 peared to rise, quivering above the water, and 
 then all vanished into thin air, and the burn- 
 ing yellow sand and pebbles alone remained. 
 
 After the mirage came the oasis, like the 
 reality of happiness after disappointments and 
 deceptions. First a green spot came in view 
 in the far distance, and we said, " Perhaps it 
 is only a mirage, like the last;" but it grew 
 larger and larger; then the feathery palms 
 became distinct against the noontide sky of 
 pale, cloudless blue. Then the groves of pome- 
 granates and acacias, with their scarlet and 
 yellow blossoms, burst on our sight, with beds 
 of fresh green at their feet, and tiny channels 
 of water running in every direction through 
 
 the garden. A few small stone huts stood 
 12 
 
134 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 near, occupied by the Arabs, only two or three 
 families, I believe, who cultivate this small fer- 
 tile spot in the wide waste of " salt-land not 
 inhabited," and who defend it from the shift- 
 ing sands by palings of reeds. The beauty 
 was doubtless increased by contrast; but I 
 thought, at the time, nothing had ever seemed 
 lovelier than this little oasis, with its date- 
 palms mixing their long clusters of creamy 
 flowers with the roses that grew underneath 
 them, and the trickling sound of the water 
 greeting the ear so refreshingly, as we sat 
 in the shade. 
 
 I sketched two old Bedouins, while the rest 
 of the party were reposing or wandering 
 about the garden, and found, by questioning 
 them, that there was one man in the settle- 
 ment who could read, though he was absent 
 just then. I gave them a tract, therefore, say- 
 ing, "He can read, and you can listen." They 
 appeared pleased, and put it up carefully. An- 
 other of the party, sketching at a short distance 
 from the oasis, had an interesting little talk 
 
THREE DAYS AT SUEZ. 
 
 135 
 
 with a boy belonging to the place : possibly 
 he and the man who could read are father 
 and son: at any rate, they were sure to be 
 intimately acquainted, as in a colony so small 
 all know each other well, and would talk about 
 the strangers' visit; and perhaps the tract 
 may not be altogether lost even among those 
 wild, ignorant creatures. 
 
 A poor Bedouin woman brought me a rose 
 from the garden, just before we remounted 
 our camels. It seemed more beautiful in the 
 midst of that sandy waste than if gathered in 
 the gardens of the Pasha at Cairo; and I 
 thought, what an opportunity one with full 
 command of the language would have had for 
 discoursing to these poor ragged Arabs of the 
 oasis : he could have shown them how the 
 barren, sandy desert becomes fertile, and 
 brings forth flowers and fruit, when the water 
 reaches it, and that Moses' well and the oasis 
 are just an emblem of the Holy Spirit acting 
 on the barren and sinful heart of man and 
 making it fruitful to the Lord. 
 
136 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 During our homeward ride the Arabs who 
 conducted us became rude and cross-tempered, 
 and wished to make us hurry beyond our 
 powers of endurance, because they were irri- 
 tated by hunger and thirst, poor fellows ! and 
 anxious to get home as early as possible. I 
 told one, who tried to insist on my camel's 
 trotting, though repeatedly begged to desist, 
 that he was not obeying God, as he supposed, 
 by refraining from water, — that God gave us 
 water, and has never forbidden us to drink 
 when we need it. " It is not God who says, 
 ' Do not drink,' " I said. The man shook his 
 head dismally, and looked at the sky anxiously, 
 to see when sunset would come, and then 
 vented his discomfort in quarrelling with one 
 of his comrades. 
 
 How much easier it is to bear self-imposed 
 trials than to restrain the evil emotions of the 
 heart ! These very men, who would not accept 
 a drop of water when parched with thirst, had 
 no scruple in stealing the travelling-bag of one 
 of the party, which had excited their cupidity, 
 
THREE DAYS AT SUEZ. 
 
 137 
 
 and which proved to be missing when we 
 arrived at the boats. 
 
 It was pleasant, on returning to Cairo the 
 following day, to be greeted with a storm of 
 affectionate welcomes from our Syrian family, 
 and also from many of the mothers, who came 
 early next morning to kiss our hands and say, 
 with beaming faces, " The Lord be praised t 
 you are come back ! "Welcome ! welcome I" 
 
 IS* 
 
138 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 RECRUITING. 
 
 (JCT^-HE school had gone on swimmingly 
 J^jjg enough for some little time, when sud- 
 denly the scholars began to fall off, and the 
 numbers became thinner and thinner each day. 
 To ascertain the exact cause was not easy, as 
 the children who continued to come assigned 
 various reasons for the absence of their com- 
 panions, many of which were probably mere 
 gossip, or fictions of their own. The same 
 thing had happened before, first from the old 
 seedsman's exertions, or rather from those of 
 his more active daughters, his ill will being 
 confined to telling lies as he reposed among 
 his heaps of beans and lentils; then the tale 
 spread by Shoh's mother, about kidnapping 
 
RECRUITING. 
 
 139 
 
 children, had for a time thinned aur ranks; 
 and even little Saida, the miller's pretty and 
 most troublesome daughter, had, when in a 
 spiteful mood, kept many new-comers from 
 returning, by her persuasions. 
 
 When the school had been thus robbed of 
 its inmates in its earlier days, I had tried all 
 sorts of plans to get back the scholars, and to 
 stop the false reporters who did the mischief. 
 The old people were remonstrated with, the 
 little torment was threatened, and even locked 
 up by her father, at the request of our servant ; 
 but the effect of these and similar efforts was 
 not very encouraging, and, taught by expe- 
 rience, I learned that the only way to fill the 
 school, or to keep it well attended, was to go 
 round and beat up for recruits from time to 
 time, as well as to visit the parents of the old 
 scholars occasionally. Leaving the matron in 
 charge of the sadly-reduced reading-class, I 
 therefore set out one broiling hot morning, at 
 a pretty early hour, — morning visits, in a literal 
 sense, being the only ones practicable at that 
 
140 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 time of year, — and took Menni with me, into 
 some of the dirty lanes round our dwelling. 
 
 After calling on one or two old acquaint- 
 ances, we turned up the lane called "Abou- 
 bakr," in which several of the scholars lived, 
 and which always seemed actually to swarm 
 with ragged children of every age. It is very 
 unlike the open, airy street on the other side 
 of the school, and, but for the extreme dryness 
 of the air, it would be as bad as the worst 
 alleys of Dublin or London. As it is, no 
 dampness exists in the atmosphere to retain 
 bad smells, and therefore it is not quite so 
 dreadful as the heaps of dirt and rubbish would 
 lead one to expect, though very close, certainly, 
 the beams of some of the houses actually 
 meeting overhead, while all are in a state of 
 decay and disorder beyond description. 
 
 Shoh lived in some part of this rabbit- 
 warren, and, knowing that she could direct us 
 to the abode of others, Menni endeavoured to 
 find her out; but, while questioning some of 
 the little boys who were rolling about in the 
 
RECRUITING. 
 
 141 
 
 rubbish upon this point, a woman's voice called 
 out to us, and, looking up, I perceived a tall, 
 stout person, clad in the ordinary dark-blue 
 drapery, standing at a short distance, and 
 beckoning to us in Eastern fashion, — that is, 
 waving the hand exactly as we do when we 
 wish any one to go away. The face I thought 
 I could recognize as that of one who had peeped 
 into the school some time ago and introduced 
 herself as aunt to some one of the scholars; 
 but I could not be sure. She saluted us 
 civilly, and requested that we would come and 
 pay her a visit. Menni, who was a great 
 coward, hung back and begged me not to go, 
 in a whisper. But this would never do : no evil 
 was, apparently, intended, and we were within 
 a hundred yards or so of our own residence, 
 and not unprotected, therefore. 
 
 "They are Moslims!" whispered Menni, as 
 we followed the woman. 
 
 "That does not signify: come along, and 
 fear nothing." 
 
 Some other women were looking on, rather 
 
142 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 curious to see if the invitation would be ac- 
 cepted or not, and smiled on seeing us ascend 
 the broken steps which led to the inviter's 
 room, which opened on a sort of mud terrace 
 which seemed falling to pieces. Her room 
 was large, and only lighted by one window 
 furnished with a rude wooden lattice instead 
 of glass. Several persons were sitting on the 
 floor, — an old man, smoking a long pipe, in 
 one corner, and three or four women beside 
 him, probably his married daughters or sons' 
 wives, as they had not their faces concealed. 
 Several other women, with infants in their arms 
 or on their shoulders, presently came in, par- 
 tially veiling themselves, though only as a sort 
 of form, for they soon threw back the covering, 
 laughing as they did so. 
 
 A young lad of sixteen or seventeen, who 
 was, I think, the elder woman's son, was the 
 only man, except the old father in the corner; 
 but at least thirteen or fourteen persons alto- 
 gether were assembled by this time, and 
 Menni's fears returned at finding herself in 
 
RECRUITING. 
 
 143 
 
 such a crowd of Moslims ; and when one of the 
 women patted her on the back, and said, 
 "Little teacher!" she whispered, "Let us go 
 away: they will only laugh at us!" But she 
 was overruled, and the mistress of the apart- 
 ment now begged us to be seated on an old 
 bedstead of some kind, which did duty as 
 divan, and was the only visible article of fur- 
 niture in the place, — though it was so dark that 
 some things may have been stowed away in 
 the corners, out of sight. 
 
 After a moment's silence, in which we all 
 stared at one another, the stout woman 
 squatted down in front of us and desired Menni 
 to tell her my name : then, patting me encoura- 
 gingly, and with a most patronizing smile, she 
 told me to "speak." Even with full command 
 of language, it is dampening to the powers to 
 be thus suddenly called on; but the difficulty 
 is tenfold when the request has to be complied 
 with in a tongue very imperfectly understood. 
 In such cases, one can only recollect that, as a 
 "broken sherd" may be used to carry a little 
 
144 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 fire or water upon an emergency, so God may 
 see fit to make use of very feeble instruments ; 
 and, when no better means are at hand, we 
 can but take what we have. 
 
 Some reports about the school had reached 
 this woman, and she and her friends evidently 
 wished to hear about it: so I endeavoured to 
 describe the objects we had in view, telling 
 them that I came out this morning to ask 
 mothers to send their children, and to show 
 them that it was good to do so, and that 
 Menni's mother taught them to read and to 
 sew. 
 
 When we had got thus far, the woman inter- 
 rupted me by asking if the gown I wore were 
 all sewed by myself, what it was made of, and 
 a good many other questions, feeling each 
 article and giving her opinion on it before she 
 would let us return to the subject of the 
 school. At length the dress was exhausted, 
 and she good-humouredly desired me "to go 
 on speaking." 
 
RECRUITING. 
 
 145 
 
 " Well, in our school we have one book from 
 which we teach/' I said. 
 
 " Listen ! listen !" exclaimed the stout woman, 
 turning round to her neighbours and echoing 
 the words: "she says there is one book." 
 
 "Yes; and it is the book of God." 
 
 "Listen: she says it is the book of God!" 
 
 "All in it is good " 
 
 "Certainly it must be good," repeated the 
 woman. 
 
 "It tells us many things: it speaks of Moses, 
 of Joseph, of the prophet David." 
 
 " Listen !" cried the echo, more eagerly than 
 before : " this book tells of the prophets David 
 and Moses, and also of Joseph." These names 
 are much venerated by even the poorest and 
 most ignorant Moslims, who know scarcely any 
 thing of them beyond the names : the woman 
 was, therefore, quite interested, and pulled her 
 son's arm to make him attend. 
 
 "But, mere than this, the book I speak of 
 contains the Gospel also, which tells of Seidna 
 Issa (the common Moslim name for Jesus), the 
 
 K 13 
 
146 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Messiah. — how he came from heaven and died 
 for us, and how good he was." I added that 
 I could tell them but little of all this, because 
 I knew but little of their language. The woman 
 applauded me, however, and nodded in a very- 
 encouraging way, desiring me to proceed, and 
 the others said, "Good! good!" 
 
 I endeavoured, as well as I could, to explain 
 that the Bible taught us to know and love 
 God; that it was the same book, whether in 
 English or Arabic, and taught all who read it 
 the same things; and that if their children 
 did not love God they could never be good, so 
 we desired to teach them to love and obey 
 him as far as we could. 
 
 "Do you pray?" 
 
 I told her we did, and that the girls were 
 taught to pray to God; the matron prayed 
 with them daily. 
 
 "But have you no pictures?" (messing pic- 
 tures to pray to, like the Copts.) 
 
 I told her that I allowed nothing of that 
 kind, and thought it wrong to pray or bow 
 
RECRUITING. 
 
 147 
 
 the head to any picture or image : the pic- 
 tures in the school were only to teach the 
 children, and to make the place look pretty. 
 
 " Do you not beat the girls ?" 
 
 " Iso, no ! certainly not. We have no 
 sticks : we have books, needles, thimbles, pic- 
 tures to teach them, but no sticks." 
 
 All the party laughed at this ; for a school 
 without a stick to beat the pupils was quite a 
 novel idea, but it pleased them very well. 
 Shortly after I took leave, amid many friendly 
 "salaams," and the women dispersed. 
 
 Several of our old pupils whom we met stand- 
 ing at their doors or playing about were ac- 
 costed; and some promised to come back to 
 school, having stayed away only from idleness. 
 One had been kept by her mother to help make 
 bread, and showed a face and arms all white 
 with flour, but grinned with satisfaction at 
 being visited, and promised not to fail to come 
 when the bread was done. This poor child, 
 whose name was Mellaky (princess), was par- 
 ticularly wretched-looking, and did not seem 
 
148 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 to have always bread enough to eat, judging 
 from her appearance : her name was a mockery, 
 in contrast to her dirty blue rags. Shoh was 
 out, but we picked up recruits enough without 
 her aid ; and when we returned home, pretty 
 well heated and tired, though it was scarcely 
 yet ten o'clock, an incursion of bright-eyed, 
 wild, untamed little creatures soon followed 
 us, and rushed into the school-room, in a body, 
 to prove the success of the effort. 
 
 Some were old scholars returned, but more 
 were new ones; and though they did not all 
 prove steady pupils and come regularly, still, if 
 a few were thus caught, it was something ; and 
 similar visiting and recruiting excursions from 
 time to time would, with God's blessing, prove 
 the best way of keeping up the numbers : at 
 least, so it appears to me. We must be pre- 
 pared for a very fluctuating attendance at all 
 times in a school for the poorest class of chil- 
 dren, and in a country where the girls are 
 taken away to be married so early; and from 
 time to time opposition, and perhaps persecu- 
 
RECRUITING. 
 
 149 
 
 tion, may arise; but I see no reason to be 
 discouraged, on the whole : there is much to 
 hope as well as much to fear, and by degrees 
 some of these wild colts will be tamed down 
 and brought under Christian influence. More 
 we cannot do : no human power can make con- 
 verts; and therefore it is in perfect honesty 
 and good faith that we can reply to those who 
 say, "Do you mean to make Christians of your 
 pupils ?" " We are not able to do so: we shall 
 teach them God's word and tell them the 
 truth; but it is not our province to make 
 Christians." 
 
 The new recruits were dreadfully dirty, of 
 course, and it was quite diverting to see one 
 or two of the earlier ones leading them to the 
 water-jar and assisting them to wash face and 
 hands, saying, "0 girl, thou art dirty!" just 
 as if they had not been exactly the same a 
 little while ago. They were all promised a 
 treat, that is to say, a visit to a garden, — their 
 highest idea of enjoyment, — if they were good 
 and came steadily to school ; and the hcpe was 
 
 13* 
 
150 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 doubtless an assistance to some weak me- 
 mories. 
 
 It was on this day, and while the children 
 were just going to commence needlework (that 
 is, about the hottest part of the twenty-four 
 hours), that we had a specimen of domestic 
 life of a very painful kind. Screams and loud 
 talking in the lane attracted our attention, 
 and, looking out of a window, a street-row was 
 perceived to be going on. A young woman 
 was struggling in the midst of a crowd, and 
 two older women were beating her furiously 
 and tearing her clothes, while she shrieked and 
 scolded in return; and the crowd, who were 
 chiefly women and children, did not seem to be 
 making the slightest effort to rescue her. We 
 soon saw that poor Shoh was the victim : one 
 of the women dragged her along the ground 
 by her long hair, her veil having been torn off, 
 and struck her when she attempted to rise. 
 
 I sent Um Usuf down to try and separate 
 them, but, ere she could reach them, Shoh had 
 been still further aggravated : a boy, insti - 
 
RECRUITING. 
 
 151 
 
 gated by one of the women, rushed on her and 
 bit her arm and shoulder cruelly. She then 
 rolled on the ground, like a wild animal, re- 
 fusing to rise even when the matron came up 
 and tried to help her : presently she started up 
 by a sudden effort, and began raving and, I 
 fear, swearing at her tormentors, who seemed 
 meditating afresh attack. 
 
 Um Usuf looked up to the window, and said, 
 " What shall I do ? she will not come with me." 
 I ran down myself, hoping she might yield to 
 me. The crowd, which had been augmented 
 by several men, did not attempt to make way 
 for me ; but when I gently pushed one or two 
 of the women they looked round and then 
 drew back a little, so that I could force a 
 passage through to the sobbing Shoh. I 
 caught her arm, and said, " Come, my poor 
 child; come with me!" She followed with- 
 out a word, nor did the women oppose her 
 departure : they were no others than her own 
 mother and aunt, who had been provoked with 
 
152 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 her for declining to lend the aunt a new jacket 
 she had just made for herself. 
 
 I led the poor victim up-stairs into the ma- 
 tron's room: she was a deplorable figure, with 
 her dishevelled hair and torn and dusty dress, 
 and face flushed crimsmi through its dark 
 skin, and all stained with tears and dirt. She 
 stripped up her sleeve, and I saw the arm 
 actually bleeding and bearing the marks of 
 the boy's teeth, — her own cousin, he probably 
 was ; for the aunt was the one who had set him 
 on to this cowardly and savage action to re- 
 venge her supposed wrong. I bound up the 
 wound with a bandage steeped in arnica and 
 water, which healed it entirely in a couple of 
 days, by being renewed occasionally. But the 
 bitter feelings excited by such a scene were not 
 likely to be so soon cured. She was left to lie 
 down, after a composing draught, on the ma- 
 tron's bed for an hour's rest, after which she • 
 went quietly home. Does not such a scene 
 show the crying necessity for female education 
 in the East ? 
 
A SCHOOL-TREAT IN CAIRO. 153 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A SCHOOL-TREAT IN CAIRO. 
 
 FEAR our English friends would have 
 said we were a disorderly set could 
 they have seen the preparations for a little 
 excursion given to the children in the month 
 of May. 
 
 To be sure, it was a strange contrast to the 
 " school- treats" now so familiar to all who take 
 an interest in the rising generation; but 
 " with wolves one must howl," says the Ger- 
 man proverb, and, without carrying out this 
 very liberal-minded axiom to the uttermost, 
 one must accommodate things to national 
 tastes in a certain degree; and, moreover, 
 even the order and discipline we hope in 
 time to attain cannot be expected all at once. 
 
154 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Instead of a tidy and somewhat stiff-look- 
 ing mistress, in a spotless bonnet and shawl 
 and well-ironed collar, ushering an array of 
 little damsels in brown-stuff frocks and white 
 tippets, or, if not in uniform, at least "got up" 
 with new ribbons on their straw bonnets and 
 as much starch as possible in their clean pin- 
 afores, all waiting the word of command, in 
 rows of military precision, — instead of this, 
 what a scene of confusion we were, in spite of 
 the matron's frequent " Be quiet, 0 girls ! wait 
 a little." 
 
 By six o'clock in the morning a number of 
 the scholars were rushing up- and down-stairs, 
 and I believe at a still earlier hour some had 
 been sitting on the door-sill, clamouring to set 
 out for the garden, and assuring us that it 
 was quite time, "for it was daylight!" 
 
 However, could our friends have seen the 
 same set when freshly caught a few months 
 before, they would have thought that, under 
 the circumstances, the progress was very fair. 
 If they were obstreperous, poor little things ! 
 
A SCHOOL-TREAT IN CAIRO. 
 
 155 
 
 they would come when called, and do what 
 they were told, and were eagerly expecting 
 an excursion with their Christian teachers, — 
 though so timid and unused to stir from 
 home are Eastern girls that a little while ago 
 they would not have ventured the length of 
 the street with us, nor would the mothers 
 have allowed them to go: so that the very 
 tumult of joy implied a change for the better, 
 as showing the confidence gained. 
 
 While we hastily drank our coffee, the sound 
 of joyous young voices was heard on the stairs, 
 and, when we descended, some were squat- 
 ting on the steps at the door, and others 
 dancing in the matron's room, while she per- 
 formed her toilet. That excellent woman, not 
 being given to fuss about trifles, bore it all 
 with good-humoured placidity, only now and 
 then remarking that she should lose her head, 
 or something to that effect, to which her 
 scholars replied by coaxing down her dress 
 with their hands, or patting her affectionately 
 on the back ; which, be it remembered, is not 
 
156 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 a disrespectful action to a superior in Egypt, 
 nor does it imply the familiarity it would 
 among us. A curious assembly the young 
 folks made, certainly : some had only a plain 
 blue cotton robe, scanty and ragged, others 
 had gay print trousers, and one or two sported 
 an old silk jacket with tarnished gold em- 
 broidery ; all had their heads bound with ker- 
 chiefs of various kinds, and a veil of some 
 sort was indispensable even to the rioorest. 
 Altogether, they looked as if their attire had 
 been taken out of an old-clothesman's bag, 
 or as if they had all obtained access to a 
 lady's chest of drawers and pulled out old 
 ragged scarfs and worn-out shawls to their 
 heart's content. But, in spite of the odd mix- 
 ture of new and old clothes, rags and finery, 
 there was a certain grace which seemed in- 
 herent in them all. Every Egyptian girl 
 knows how to put on a veil : if you lend her 
 an old table-cloth, she will, with one turn of 
 her hand, throw it round her in the most 
 graceful folds possible, and wear it as no 
 
A SCHOOL-TREAT IN CAIRO. 157 
 
 European child can manage to do ; — even little 
 Haanem, who was but five years old, would 
 make a large pocket-handkerchief into a veil 
 if she got the opportunity. In accordance 
 with the known sentiments of the teachers, 
 all had clean faces and hands ; and these, with 
 a merry and happy expression of countenance, 
 are certainly the most essential adornments 
 for any kind of festival. There was but one 
 drawback to the general gayety, and, selfish 
 as children naturally are, I think some of 
 them felt it; and this was the group of little 
 boys who stood round the happy party at the 
 door, wishing they could accompany their 
 sisters, and looking wistfully at the prepara- 
 tions for a treat they could not share. 
 
 It was impossible, with deference to Moslim 
 prejudices and habits, to mix boys and girls in 
 school, and to include them in the " picnic" 
 equally so; but it was trying to the little fel- 
 lows, and we felt extremely for them. Several, 
 who had sisters at school, had begged fre- 
 quently to be admitted; and not very long 
 
 14 
 
158 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 before this, a little mob of little toys, "who 
 lived in the lane," had assailed our door with 
 shouts of " 0 teacher! My teacher ! we wish 
 to come to school!" so it was not merely the 
 intended festival that made them feel envious 
 of their sisters, though it naturally put the 
 climax on such feelings. At the last moment, 
 the matron, having forgotten something, — her 
 pipe, perhaps, — went back for it, and happened 
 to notice a boy of ten years old standing sadly 
 at the door, his great bla^ck eyes looking ear- 
 nestly at the departing group, and she heard 
 him exclaim, in a piteous voice, " I wish I 
 were a girl !" " No one can fully estimate 
 this speech," said a friend of our's who had 
 spent his earliest years in the East, " who has 
 not been intimately acquainted with the feel- 
 ings and habits of those countries." It was 
 indeed a triumph to the little school that it 
 caused an Egyptian boy, even for a moment, 
 to wish himself a girl ! But it was a sad tri- 
 umph just then; for what could be done ? All 
 that was possible was to assure the poor boy— 
 
A SCHOOL-TREAT IN CAIRO. 159 
 
 which I did on our return, finding him a till 
 loitering about- — that the boys case should be 
 made known to our countrymen, and that 
 perhaps some of them, who loved poor boys 
 and made schools for them in England, would 
 spare something for poor boys in Egypt. 
 
 Metawaly (for that was his name) was son 
 to the man who kept a fruit and cucumber 
 shop underneath the school, and, being so 
 near a neighbour, he would often steal up- 
 stairs to see what the girls were about, and 
 beg to be taken in, that he might learn also ; 
 and it was grievous to have to refuse so will- 
 ing a pupil. 
 
 But to return to our festival: at seven 
 o'clock the children, with the matron, were 
 sent on in an advance guard, and we followed 
 shortly after, a donkey being laden with car- 
 pets, and the servant carrying a basket with 
 the eatables. These consisted of cakes fla- 
 voured with saffron, and a large parcel of na- 
 tive sweetmeats. The most favourite sort was 
 a cake made of native treacle and beaten egg, 
 
ICQ CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 with grains of sesame strewn over it. Coffee, 
 in the Eastern style, was to be added to these 
 dainties. It was extremely hot, even at this 
 hour; but the Khamseen was not blowing: the 
 heat was not, therefore, oppressive. 
 
 The owner of a garden to which we had on 
 a previous occasion taken the children would 
 not let us in now, as his crops were in a state 
 to be easily injured, and he did not know, 
 poor man! that the girls were now trained 
 sufficiently to be trusted not to do mischief, 
 — which really was the case. 
 
 We were, therefore, obliged to choose a 
 quite retired spot in a great public garden, 
 which might be made beautiful if properly 
 cultivated; but even in its rude condition it 
 was quite a paradise to these children. At so 
 early an hour there was little fear of inter- 
 ruption for us, and the spot selected, under 
 an immense sycamore fig-tree and surrounded 
 by hedges of myrtle and pomegranates, was 
 quite removed from the road. It is a custom, 
 though whether a legal one or not I do not 
 
A SCHOOL-TREAT IN CAIRO. 
 
 161 
 
 know, for every one to pick what flowers he 
 can find in this garden. The boys, however, 
 are beforehand with them, in general, and pick 
 every rose-bud for the coffee-houses: still, a 
 few were discovered among the hedges, and 
 plenty of - yellow acacia-blossoms, and a few 
 scarlet pomegranate-flowers. Each little girl 
 had soon the happiness of having a flower 
 stuck upon her head. 
 
 The clapping of hands and chattering were 
 considerable as the simple preparations were 
 made. A red Arab blanket had been spread 
 on the ground for them to sit on, and cakes 
 and coffee were served; while the matron sat, 
 calmly smoking her pipe, on her own carpet, 
 close by. 
 
 One or two peasants passed, but took no 
 other notice of us than giving a good-hu- 
 moured smile. It was too early in the day, as 
 before remarked, to be at all public. A soli- 
 tary Italian, however, chanced to be taking 
 a morning walk, and was much surprised at 
 coming suddenly upon our party. He seemed 
 
 L 14* 
 
162 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 to be a respectable tradesman, and was as 
 much interested as astonished at the novel 
 sight. He politely inquired who these children 
 were, and what had brought them here. 
 When he heard that it was a school, and that 
 most of the pupils were Moslims, he expressed 
 much surprise, and said he knew the French 
 nuns had a school, but he believed the pupils 
 were all Copts. 
 
 " We have both," I replied; "but this school 
 is very different from the one you speak of. 
 Those ladies do not teach God's word. Here, 
 it is the only book the children read. We do 
 not consider that education is worth any thing 
 unless it is founded on the word of God." He 
 quite agreed to this, and assured me that he 
 had a little girl of his own, whom he would 
 not send to school, because he did not choose to 
 place her under the care of the nuns. We had 
 a little more conversation, and he accepted an 
 Italian hand-bill with pleasure, wishing us all 
 success: he then touched his hat respectfully, 
 and bade us good-morning. 
 
A SCHOOL- THEAT IN CAIRO. 163 
 
 The older children had appeared frightened 
 during the interview: so little used are they 
 to intercourse with the English, or, indeed, 
 with any strangers, that they appeared to 
 think this harmless person a sort of ogre. 
 One of them, clasping me round the waist as 
 soon as he was gone, exclaimed, "Oh, teacher! 
 were you not frightened?" — just as she might 
 have done had any one come safe out of an 
 encounter with a wild bull. 
 
 " What should I have been frightened at?" 
 said L "The gentleman was very good- 
 natured : he told me he had a little girl of your 
 age, and wished peace to you all." 
 
 "Oh, but he was a Frank! I was so fright- 
 ened for you, — very much frightened !" 
 
 When the feast was over, the younger ones 
 danced in a circle, waving little boughs in a 
 perfect ecstasy of merriment; and very pic- 
 turesque they looked at a distance, with their 
 floating veils of blue, white, or red: the rags 
 did not make any show at a hundred yards off, 
 and the group was so joyous and graceful) 
 
164 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 But the older girls seemed to find no pleasure 
 so great as following us about, pointing to the 
 flowers, and frequently throwing their arms 
 round us, exclaiming, "I love thee! I love 
 thee much !" with eyes really overflowing with 
 affection. How often had it been said, " You 
 can make nothing of Moslim girls!" but the 
 key of love is wonderfully powerful, and 
 equally so in every land, in opening the doors 
 of young hearts. 
 
 When it was too hot for us to walk any 
 more, they all insisted on sitting down in a 
 circle round us, and, while we made garlands 
 to amuse them, they sang a sort of extempore 
 song, with clapping of hands, something in 
 the style of the Nile boatmen, the chorus 
 being, " The teacher has brought us to the 
 garden ! Oh, the garden ! the garden !" and 
 so forth. 
 
 This kind of chanting, with words suited to 
 the occasion, appears to afford great delight 
 to all the natives here, and is common to 
 both Arabs, Nubians and Egyptians. If the 
 
A SCHOOL-TREAT IN CAIRO. 
 
 165 
 
 tune is not very melodious, the time is always 
 strictly kept, and the hand-clapping is as re- 
 gular as a practised drummer's notes. When 
 they had enjoyed this to their hearts' content, 
 we told them to sing their hymn, " There is a 
 happy land." 
 
 One exclaimed, just as they had ceased sing- 
 ing, "How pleasant it is here in the garden! 
 is it not?" 
 
 "Yes," I answered; "but, 0 Saida, I know 
 of a better place, where I shall go one day, — 
 where the roses have no thorns," I added, look- 
 ing at some who had scratched their hands in 
 the attempt to get a few roses from the thorny 
 bushes. 
 
 " Oh, my teacher, will you not take me 
 with you there?" said the child; and several 
 little voices echoed, " Take me!" 
 
 It made an opening for a little conversation 
 about the land 
 
 " "Where fairer bowers than Eden's bloom, 
 And never-withering flowers." 
 
 The young hearts were softened by innocent 
 
166 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 happiness, and they listened willingly, and 
 asked many questions. 
 
 " Oh, my teacher, you said we should have 
 white robes there," exclaimed one bright little 
 girl. "Will they not be always clean?" 
 
 I endeavoured to show her that the outward 
 whiteness and purity, so often mentioned in 
 " God's book" as belonging to the robes of the 
 redeemed, were emblems of the purity of heart 
 of those who can no more sin. This image is 
 peculiarly pleasant and intelligible, we find, to 
 the youngest and most ignorant. After a little 
 more talk, it was thought time to retreat, lest 
 our shady spot should be invaded ; and, though 
 but ten o'clock, it was already becoming very 
 hot : so the veils were assumed and the carpets 
 packed up, and the joyous party returned 
 home. 
 
THE TAMARISK-GROVE. 167 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1MB 1AMARISK-GROVE. 
 
 ^.Y^rHEN the weather became too hot to 
 . : -f^'*jV' spend afternoons in the desert, or, in- 
 deed, to go out at all, except in the early 
 morning, unless from absolute necessity, we 
 used to make occasional excursions before 
 breakfast, on donkeys, or else in a carriage on 
 the road to a village near the site of old Helio- 
 polis, with its famed obelisk, and a certain 
 old tree venerated by all the Papists and na- 
 tive Christians as that under which the Virgin 
 reposed in the " flight into Egypt." 
 
 Sometimes we took our coffee among the 
 delicious orange-groves, — not exactly under 
 the "Virgin's tree," but at a spot nearer the 
 village, and more agreeable, though less fa- 
 
168 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 mous. Here, at eight o'clock in the morning, 
 a freshness was yet to be found in the air, 
 enhanced by the little rills of water trickling 
 among the orange-groves around us, as the 
 water-works plied from a well close by; and 
 the snowy blossoms perfumed the soft morn- 
 ing breeze with their fragrance, and were so 
 abundant that we gathered handfuls without 
 the owners expressing the least annoyance. 
 But, pleasant as were these luxuriant gardens, 
 it was not possible to get so far very often, on 
 account of school, as it was desirable to be at 
 home before ten o'clock. So we sometimes 
 were content with a more humble place, 
 which, if not so rich in verdure and shade as 
 the favoured "City of the Sun," was yet a 
 very agreeable spot for an early breakfast in 
 hot weather. This was a grove of tamarisks, 
 — not the stunted bushes we see by the coast 
 in our northern climate, but tall, graceful trees, 
 whose feathery foliage made a light shade on 
 the yellow sand. On one side were barley- 
 fields, and on the other the wide desert, 
 
THE TAMARISK-GROVE. 
 
 169 
 
 stretching away towards the red mountain : so 
 that it was just on the boundary between cul- 
 tivation and the wilderness. 
 
 The first time we came here it was about 
 the second week in April, and the harvest was 
 in full operation and made a very picturesque 
 sight : it was between seven and eight in the 
 morning, and already the reapers had almost 
 finished their work ; the camels were tied to 
 the neighbouring trees in readiness to carry 
 off the load; and while we sat drinking our 
 coffee, in a shady spot, we had the amusement 
 of seeing the whole process, — the patient ani- 
 mals laden with immense piles of grain (no 
 need here to leave it to dry in shocks), the 
 women carrying smaller bundles on their 
 heads, and the gleaners then hastening to 
 gather up the stray ears that remained. 
 
 About a week later, on coming to the same 
 place with a friend, we found the scene quite 
 changed : the reapers and gleaners had been 
 succeeded by a large flock of sheep and goats, 
 which were browsing on the leaves of the 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 thorny acacia, and picking up a few scattered 
 ears which had even escaped the gleaner's eye : 
 a little scanty grass grew here and there 
 among the stubble, and was eagerly sought, 
 for by the great shaggy sheep. The older 
 ones really resembled animated door-mats, 
 and were very ugly ; but the lambs, with jet- 
 black head and throat and snow-white fleece, 
 were pretty creatures. The goats were of two 
 descriptions; one with long hair and hanging 
 ears, which is graceful enough; the other, 
 which is the commonest in the neighbourhood 
 of Cairo, with short, smooth hair, of a fawn- 
 colour, spotted with white, and a hooked nose 
 and no horns. This last is not at all pretty; 
 but the general effect of the mixed flock dis- 
 persed over the stubble-fields was pleasing, 
 and our friend's children were, of course, in 
 raptures with the lambs and kids, as chil- 
 dren always are ; but the sulky-looking shep- 
 herd who had charge of them was by no 
 means pleased at our admiration. It seems 
 that he feared the evil eye when he saw us 
 
THE TAMARISK-GROVE. 171 
 
 gazing with pleasure at his flock, admiration 
 being supposed to imply coveting, and coveting 
 to give the evil eye. What a base corner of 
 the human heart such a superstition reveals ! 
 So the shepherd actually called his sheep and 
 goats away to a more distant field, where we 
 could see but " the uttermost part of them, and 
 could not see them all." 
 
 Presently, a young girl who was strolling 
 about, apparently without any thing to do, her 
 morning labours being over, as it was now 
 eight o'clock or more, came up to our party 
 and saluted us good-humouredly, looking cu- 
 rious enough to see such unaccustomed visitors 
 
 in her quiet grove. Our friend Mrs. E 
 
 invited her to sit down beside us, and entered 
 into conversation with her. She was an inte- 
 resting-looking creature, though her features 
 were not particularly handsome, — except her 
 eyes, which were full of intelligence, and of a 
 sort of olive-colour, which I never before saw 
 in an Egyptian girl, black being the universal 
 hue. Her complexion was darkened by ex- 
 
172 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 posure to the sun to a much deeper brown 
 than that of the inhabitants of the city, and 
 made her white teeth look more brilliantly 
 white by contrast. She might have been eigh- 
 teen or more, to judge by her looks, but was, 
 no doubt, at least three years younger. In 
 the country the girls do not appear to be so 
 early married as in the towns; for Zeynab (so 
 she told us she was named) was unmarried 
 
 still. Mrs. E read her a few passages out 
 
 of her Arabic Testament; but so utterly 
 fallow was the girl's mind, not only ignorant 
 of every thing beyond the narrow round of 
 material concerns in which she had been 
 reared, but unused to think at all, that she 
 found it better to talk than to read. The girl 
 became interested: she had intelligence, and 
 she listened and asked questions, and had, evi- 
 dently, no desire to go away. When the chil- 
 dren could no longer be kept from demanding 
 their mother's attention, and she was obliged 
 to leave her new pupil, instead of taking her 
 departure, Zeynab came to sit beside me and 
 
0 
 
 THE TAMARISK-GROVE. 173 
 
 ask what I was doing. I was drawing. A 
 picture of any kind was, of course, a complete 
 novelty to her; but on being shown the trees, 
 &c, and then told that these marks and colours 
 were to represent them, she understood the 
 object very readily, and watched the process 
 with great satisfaction. I then called her 
 attention to the beauty of the trees, and talked 
 about gardens (every Egyptian delights in a 
 garden beyond any thing else), and then re- 
 lated to her the story of the garden of Eden, 
 and of Adam and Eve. When we came to the 
 sentence of death, I asked where she thought 
 she would go after she died. She opened her 
 bright eyes very wide, and then, drooping the 
 long black eyelashes over them and raising 
 her hands with a gesture between uneasiness 
 and indifference, replied, " Marafsheh !" (the 
 common Egyptian contraction of the words 
 meaning, " I do not know," or, "I know no- 
 thing of it.") 
 
 "You have a soul, Zeynab: it is not only 
 
 15* 
 
174 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 men who have souls; every child, every girl, 
 has a soul." 
 
 "Yes, lady; I know it." 
 
 " Have you not heard that every soul must 
 go either to heaven or to hell? Have you not 
 heard of heaven and hell?" 
 
 "Yes: I know," she said, again. 
 
 "Well, when this is all become dust," (touch- 
 ing her arm,) "where do you think your soul 
 will go?" 
 
 " Marafsheh," she repeated, very sadly, hang- 
 ing down her head. 
 
 I then endeavoured to repeat what Mrs. 
 
 R had been telling her of the plan of 
 
 salvation ; for, to a mind which has never been 
 exercised on any unseen object and has always 
 lived only for what is positively tangible, fre- 
 quent repetition must be necessary before a 
 totally new set of ideas can make any perma- 
 nent impression. 
 
 Poor Zeynab had no want of intelligence by 
 nature, and there was a curious, wistful expres- 
 sion in her face as she said, "Yes, the lady 
 
THE TAMARISK-GROVE. 
 
 175 
 
 told me; the lady said that. Oh, she is very- 
 good, that lady, — very nice! She told me 
 much!" 
 
 "You Mohammedans are always afraid of 
 death : is it not so?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, greatly afraid!" she echoed, shud- 
 dering, and contracting her features with 
 terror at the very word. "And you are not 
 afraid, nor that lady?" 
 
 " Those who trust in the Messiah, whom she 
 told you of, need not fear death, because they 
 will be very happy in heaven: it is good up 
 there, — much better than here." 
 
 Zeynab remained silent for some minutes, 
 with a puzzled, half-dreamy look in her eyes. 
 Heaven was such a vague, unmeaning word 
 to her ! — how was it good ? — what was it, to 
 be so desirable? She could not take it in. 
 Presently she noticed a ring I wore, and, with 
 childish versatility, began expressing her de- 
 light and admiration. " I wish I had a ring 
 like that ! but I have none," she exclaimed. 
 
 " Well, Zeynab, in the place we were speak- 
 
176 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 ing of they will wear golden crowns on their 
 heads." 
 
 "What!" she cried, eagerly, as if she now 
 caught a notion that she could comprehend, 
 "what! gold like that?" 
 
 " Far more beautiful : and they wear robes 
 of white." 
 
 11 All white ?" she asked, taking hold of her 
 dirty blue cotton veil with rather a con- 
 temptuous air. 
 
 " Yes, white and clean and bright and beau- 
 tiful, because their hearts are clean." 
 
 Her interest was now again fixed : instead 
 of a vague, unreal, incomprehensible thing, 
 she had a notion of some place which she 
 could in a faint degree conceive ; the outward 
 glory, which was all the childish mind could 
 yet seize hold of, was brought before her, and 
 she was willing to converse about the love of 
 God in providing a place of happiness for his 
 children and to hear more of " Him the lady 
 had talked about." 
 
 , Mrs. R now rejoined us, and taught 
 
THE TAMARISK-GROVE. 
 
 177 
 
 the girl a short prayer, which she made her 
 repeat several times, and which she promised 
 to say every day. She parted from us with 
 regret, and begged we would come again. 
 Circumstances unfortunately prevented this for 
 a long time; the hot winds had set in, and 
 were so exhausting that it was impossible to 
 do more than drag through the daily business 
 of each day. One hindrance after another came, 
 and when we did drive in that direction no 
 Zeynab appeared, though we looked anxiously 
 for her. At length, a very short time before 
 our departure, we again made an expedition 
 to the tamarisk-grove. It was too hot now 
 to stay as late as we had done three weeks or 
 a month before, and I feared that the poor 
 girl was quite lost to us, not a creature being 
 visible but an old woman with a very for- 
 bidding countenance, who was washing clothes 
 at one of the trenches. But, while engaged 
 in putting away the drawing-materials, in 
 order to return home, I suddenly heard a 
 voice speaking in joyful tones of greeting, 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 and, on looking round, Zeynab appeared, her 
 bright eyes sparkling like two precious stones 
 in her sunburnt face, as they peered out from 
 the folds of her ragged veil. After a good 
 deal of hand-kissing, and many expressions 
 of welcome, she explained that she had been 
 wishing much to see us again, and ex- 
 pressed great sorrow that " that lady" was 
 not of the party to-day, and to hear that 
 she had been ill. She said, " Every time I 
 heard a carriage drive on that road, I ran 
 to see ; but no, always no ; you were not 
 there !" I asked if she remembered the little 
 prayer. She said she had repeated it at 
 first, but now had forgotten the words. I 
 told them, and made her repeat them several 
 times, shortening even that short sentence to 
 suit her memory unused to learn. We had a 
 little talk, and she seemed much interested 
 and pleased. 
 
 In honour to an Egyptian girl, it should be 
 told that neither on this nor on our first inter- 
 view did Zeynab seem to have any idea of 
 
THE TAMARISK-GROVE. 
 
 179 
 
 getting money from the strangers, although 
 evidently poor, and, in general, the village 
 children and girls are all clamorous for money 
 as soon as they see a European. I gave her, 
 however, a piece of money at parting, saying I 
 was going away, and wished, as I might never 
 see her again, to give her a present. She drew 
 back at first, and when she accepted it she 
 said, in a deprecating manner, " I did not ask." 
 This looked as if there was a good natural 
 disposition in the poor girl. 
 
 She was recommended to our good matron, 
 who we hoped might find her out and talk to 
 her again ; but illness, the increasing business 
 of the school, and a variety of other circum- 
 stances combined, with the absence of both 
 our friend and ourselves from Cairo, to pre- 
 vent the tracing of poor Zeynab ; and we know 
 nothing more of her. 
 
 But there is One who does know, and whose 
 eyes are in every place. The eye that never 
 slumbers has been watching the young Egyp- 
 tian on the borders of the desert, as surely as 
 
180 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 if she were known to hundreds of her fellow- 
 creatures. We cannot but hope that in some 
 way she may yet be taught by his Holy Spirit, 
 and learn to tremble no more when the name 
 of death is mentioned. 
 
MOTHERS MEETING IN CAIRO. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MOTHERS' MEETING IN CAIRO. 
 
 0 unite a few poor women in a Chris- 
 tian's house in the great Moslim city is 
 a more important thing than might at first be 
 supposed, and a far more difficult one than 
 any one can imagine who has not closely 
 studied Eastern customs or resided among 
 Eastern women. 
 
 A few months before, it had seemed as far 
 off as a castle in the air; but " straw upon 
 straw the nest is built;" and, little by little, 
 love and patience, aided by the grace of God, 
 can soften prejudice, and make a little open- 
 ing for the light where all was " confusion of 
 darkness." 
 
 The means of reaching the poor women in 
 
182 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN J1GYPT. 
 
 this place were, indeed, few and weak, compared 
 to the machinery attainable in our cities at 
 home, where we have a common language in 
 which to converse, and where even the lowest 
 have usually some idea, however imperfect, of 
 what is meant by education and religion, 
 though possessing never so little themselves. 
 Here, among the Moslim women, it is like 
 working on ground so long hardened by the 
 sun as to resemble actual stone, and only after 
 repeated efforts, the pickaxe having produced 
 some little effect, it is shown to be clay, after all. 
 
 The habits and customs, so opposed to im- 
 provement, and the utter neglect from gene- 
 ration to generation, have produced a hardened 
 insensibility towards any thing like change, 
 and an aversion to mental effort of any kind, 
 that makes it hard work at first; but, in 
 time, repeated efforts and a judicious use 
 of opportunities begin to tell ; and then, 
 when the outer surface is penetrated, the 
 nature is found to be much the same in all 
 essentials, whether the skin be white or brown. 
 
mothers' MEETING IN CAIRO. 183 
 
 And if there are greater difficulties in dealing 
 with Moslim women than men, on account of 
 their childishness and frivolity, there is one 
 advantage, on the other hand, and that no 
 small one : it is that an amount of Arabic 
 which would be of little use among those 
 capable of argument and reasoning will really 
 go a good way with those whose ideas are so 
 circumscribed that they must be dealt with as 
 mere children. When we consider that they 
 generally maiTy at twelve years old, we cannot 
 wonder that they are always children. 
 
 It is impossible to dwell among these poor 
 creatures, to watch their daily monotonous 
 round of toil, their slovenly dress, the filth 
 and discomfort of their homes, their frequent 
 quarrels and vacant mirth, to see the wretched 
 mismanagement of their little ones, and the 
 degraded position they occupy with regard to 
 the other sex, without wishing to raise them 
 from a condition so little better than that of the 
 beasts of burden. But it is when they are in 
 affliction, when sorrow and bereavement call 
 
184 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 forth feelings of a deeper nature, then it is 
 that a Christian's heart is stirred within him. 
 
 It happened on the first night of our set- 
 tling in Bab-el-Bahar that " about midnight" 
 there was a " great cry;" for in a neighbouring 
 house one was j ust dead. No one who has heard 
 that sudden cry breaking the deep stillness of 
 night can ever forget its thrilling effect. Then 
 came the piteous wailing that seemed to speak 
 of sorrow without hope : the mother of the 
 family was taken, and the children's shrieks 
 and sobs mingled with the plaintive cry of, 
 " Oh, Aneeseh ! Aneeseh !" from the sisters 
 or friends who vainly called on her who could 
 no longer answer them, — who had no longer a 
 name on earth. " Where is she?" was the 
 terrible thought — too terrible to dwell on, yet 
 impossible to chase away — that forced itself 
 into the mind of the Christian stranger who 
 lay sadly listening to those sounds of woe and 
 remembering the deep joy that mingles with 
 the anguish of those who know that their be- 
 loved ones are forever with Lord. All that 
 
mothers' meeting nr caieo. 165 
 
 could be answered to that awful question was, 
 in the words of inspiration, he that knew not his 
 Lord's will, and did things worthy of stripes, 
 shall be beaten with few stripes. Next morn- 
 ing the mournful procession was seen leaving 
 the door of a nearly opposite house; for in 
 Egypt, as in all warm countries, funerals take 
 place the day after decease at latest. There 
 was the bier covered with a shawl, and the 
 head-dress of the poor woman fixed upon it. 
 As is usual, the hired mourning-women mixed 
 with the friends and family; nor was it pos- 
 sible to distinguish them in this class of life, 
 all being clad in the same dark-blue veils, and 
 all wringing their hands with the same shrill, 
 wailing cry; but of this we were unhappily 
 but too sure, that in all the sad group not one 
 had any real comfort, not one could call on 
 the Almighty in the name of Him who wept 
 at the grave of Lazarus, and ask for help and 
 consolation for His sake who is the resurrec- 
 tion and the life, not one could say of the 
 departed, "She is gone to Jesus!" Alas! she 
 
186 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 never knew him! It is not useless pain to 
 think of such a scene as this, if it stimulates 
 us to fresh zeal in the cause of Christ. 
 Through His mercy who does not disdain to 
 use the feeblest instrumentality, there were 
 (when the day of our leaving Cairo came, 
 nearly seven months after this) a few, at least, 
 who had heard the name of the Redeemer, 
 and who knew that there was a holy book 
 which told God's will to man, — a few who had 
 some ideas beyond the dust in which they had 
 grovelled 60 long, — and many who had learned 
 to love instead of hating Christians, and had 
 eaten their bread and salt, and wept bitterly 
 at their departure. 
 
 It was, indeed, but a faint dawn-streak in 
 that dark neighbourhood, and difficulties have 
 multiplied and hindrances thickened since that 
 day, so that it ' remains " the day of small 
 things" still; but surely in due time we shall 
 see the light brightening and spreading. 
 
 On a burning day in May did the first 
 mothers' meeting in Cairo take place : to be 
 
mothers' meeting in caieo. 187 
 
 sure, the worst part of the heat was over, as 
 we did not assemble till just before sunset; but 
 an oppressive hot wind was still blowing when 
 the guests began to arrive. The school-room 
 had been swept neatly, and decorated with 
 tamarisk-boughs and a few flowers, and a cloth 
 was spread in the centre upon the mat, on 
 which stood two large bowls of water and a 
 quantity of native bread. The native Egyp- 
 tian bread is a sort of flap, pliant and moist, 
 like a cold pancake : it is always round and 
 of a dusky colour, and, in fact, resembles the 
 flat stones often found in the bed of rivers or 
 in the desert. At a distance, a pile of bread 
 might be taken for a pile of stones, and makes 
 one think of the beautiful expression of Scrip- 
 ture, " If a son shall ask bread of one of you 
 that is a father, will he give him a stone ?" 
 Will he give the mockery of a good thing, in- 
 stead of its reality ? How much more will our 
 heavenly Father give us, truly and literally, 
 all that he has promised to them that ask 
 him ? 
 
188 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Our poor little scholars would glacLy have 
 come to join this festival, but the room would 
 not admit it, nor would their noisy presence 
 have been at all desirable; but many stood 
 peeping to see their mothers enter. About 
 fourteen mothers and aunts and grandmothers 
 came to the meeting. It could not be con- 
 ducted as a " tea" for mothers at home is; for 
 the guests would not have touched the feast 
 unless the hostess sat down and ate with them. 
 Several were of the poorest class ; a few were 
 of a higher grade, as their dress showed : all 
 met on equal and friendly terms, — though the 
 contrast was rather strange, certainly. One or 
 two were clad in silk jackets and covered with 
 silver and coral, others in print trousers ; but 
 the majority wore the ordinary dark-blue 
 cotton, trailing yet scanty garments. A Copt, 
 the mother of the pretty Hynehna, came in 
 a dazzling jonquil-coloured vest with long, 
 narrow skirts, a head-kerchief of the same, 
 and a quantity of gold coins round her thin, 
 brown throat. Her bigoted, narrow mind 
 
mothers' MEETING IN CAIRO. 189 
 
 peeped out in the critical way in which she 
 scanned her poor neighbours in their coarse 
 veils, though she saluted them civilly enough. 
 
 Hasna, the maker of fuel ; who lived next 
 door to us, was of the party, though not a 
 " mother of any scholar." Shoh and Fatmeh 
 were at once guests and waiters, the company 
 not liking the attendance of our man-servant, 
 of course, as they had all laid their face-veils 
 
 aside. Our friend Mrs. R came to join 
 
 the circle ; and, when all had taken their places 
 on the mat round the cloth, the dishes were 
 brought from the kitchen. They consisted of 
 native messes, as palatable to the good women 
 there as tea, cake and bread-and-butter are 
 to us: gourds stuffed with rice and a little 
 meat; stewed tomatoes and egg-plants; cab- 
 bage-leaves filled with rice and onions and 
 meat and rolled up in balls; and piles of rice 
 boiled with semn, or clarified butter, of a 
 rather strong flavour. This sounds more ela- 
 borate than our feasts do; but the expense 
 was really very trifling, and the trouble and 
 
190 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 time of preparation only gave pleasure; for 
 two of the younger women had volunteered 
 to assist the cook, and had, apparently, spent a 
 happy day in chopping and peeling and scoop- 
 ing, in spite of the great heat ! Grace was 
 said by our matron, — probably a novel idea to 
 the guests; but Eastern good-breeding always 
 prevented any surprise from being shown at 
 what they did not expect. The fingers were 
 soon at work; but truth compels me to say 
 that, on the whole, the manners at table (if 
 such a term may be used when no table is 
 present) were better than one has seen where 
 knives and forks were used. Only one hand 
 was dipped into the dish, and the stuffed 
 gourds, &c. were easily taken without much 
 soiling of the fingers. Each went to the door 
 where the apparatus used for pouring water 
 on the hands stood, and washed after eating. 
 With people of higher condition, a servant 
 hands this round, and pours water for the 
 guests. 
 
 The feast occupied altogether a much shorter 
 
mothers' MEETING EN CAIRO. 191 
 
 time than feasts of the kind with us. The 
 women then gathered in little knots round 
 their Christian friends, and listened and talkec 
 while coffee was served as a finish to the 
 entertainment, and one which Eastern guests 
 highly enjoy. 
 
 The party was diminished by degrees, a3 
 some who had babies with them, or who lived 
 a couple of streets off, which to their notions 
 was " a distance," were anxious to return 
 early; the others sat by our friend Mrs. 
 R , who read aloud a portion of Scrip- 
 ture, explaining and commenting in a manner 
 suited to her audience. Some of the school- 
 children had slipped in, profiting by the dusk, 
 and now were permitted to remain when ren- 
 dered visible by the lighting of candles. One 
 crept round to my side, and, sitting at my feet, 
 put her arms on my knees with an entreating, 
 loving look, that was quite irresistible. 
 
 The Turkish embroideress, Sitt Haanem, 
 who was possessed of more education than 
 any of the other mothers, as she knew 
 
192 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 how to read in her own language, — though, per- 
 haps, only imperfectly, — engaged in an inte- 
 resting discussion when the reading was fin- 
 ished, and asked many questions of Mrs. 
 
 E , especially respecting the divinity of 
 
 Christ. The Coptic dame in the yellow dress 
 did not quite like that Moslims should get any 
 instruction, and would, I fear, have regretted 
 their conversion to Christianity, instead of re- 
 joicing in it. She frequently interrupted the 
 conversation by turning round and saying, 
 in aloud whisper, "She is a Moslim; the lady 
 need not talk to her. Moslims know nothing 
 of all that; they do not believe in Christ." 
 
 Sitt Haanem looked annoyed, but did not 
 make any remark, except to beg her friend to 
 continue what she was saying. At last the 
 Copt, showing her arm, on which a cross, 
 olive-wreath and other symbols were tattooed 
 in blue, said, with an air of intense pride and 
 self-righteousness, "I am a pilgrim; I have 
 been to Jerusalem ; see there I" and her look 
 added, unmistakably, "That woman is not 
 
mothers' MEETING IN CAIRO. 193 
 
 worthy to be talked to at the same time with 
 a holy creature like me!" 
 
 " My dear woman, God looks at the heart, 
 and not at the arm," I replied, in a whisper, 
 — which answer, if it did not satisfy her, 
 silenced her for the time. 
 
 Our little meeting concluded with a prayer, 
 in which our good matron fervently asked for 
 the divine blessing on those who had already 
 left, and those who were present, as well as 
 on the children. They listened reverently; 
 and some murmured assents were heard during 
 the prayer, as if the hearers joined as far as 
 they could. 
 
 The last batch of guests departed, as the 
 others had done, with many expressions of 
 affection and regret at our departure, kissing 
 our hands and cheeks again and again, and 
 several shedding tears as they repeated, "The 
 Lord preserve thee! The Lord bless thee!" 
 And these were the women who half a year be- 
 fore looked on all Christians with dislike and 
 suspicion, if not with actual aversion ! 
 
 N 17 
 
194 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Perhaps some will say, "Is this all?" It ia 
 little, indeed ; but we must remember that sow- 
 ing and reaping do not follow immediately 
 upon one another, except in very rare cases. 
 Patient waiting for the early and latter rain 
 of the Spirit is usually part of every mission- 
 ary attempt, whether at home or abroad. How 
 many years of waiting have many Christian 
 parents endured before they could see in their 
 own children any fruits of a long and careful 
 training in the truth of God ! And these poor 
 Moslim women are steeped in ignorance and 
 superstition from early childhood, and sur- 
 rounded by bad influences on every side. 
 
 Surely we must have great patience with 
 them, and thank God for even the smallest 
 step towards better things. Even a wish for 
 something beyond the daily objects of life is a 
 matter of thankfulness ; and this we have per- 
 ceived in more cases than one. 
 
 In a conversation with Fatmeh, the young 
 mother who had lost three little boys, she 
 observed (after listening to what I said about 
 
mothers' MEETING IN CAIRO. 195 
 
 heaven), " Yes ; it is better there than here; for 
 here there is plenty of sorrow." 
 
 Oh, may God grant that, ere long, there " 
 may be many poor Moslims who have learned 
 that there is a better land, where sorrow can- 
 not enter ! They soon learn, as we all do, that 
 there is plenty of sorrow on earth; but let us, 
 who have be2n blessed with the knowledge of 
 the gospel of Christ, try to show them that it 
 wiL indeed be better there than here. 
 
19G 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 RAGGED SCHOOL REOPENED. 
 
 HOUGH it was but for a few months 
 that the little ragged school in Bab- 
 el-Bahar was closed, the desolate appearance 
 of the room upon my return made it look as 
 if it had been deserted for a much longer 
 period. It had been no one's business to 
 look after it particularly, and the poor little 
 school-room was bare and dirty when I came 
 to take possession again, in the month of No- 
 vember, 1862. No texts or pictures, as of old, 
 hung against the walls ; nothing but dust and 
 a few torn books remained. However, it is 
 better to look forward than to look back; and, 
 having caught a little well-known child at the 
 door, and despatched her to look for the 
 
RAGGED SCHOOL REOPENED. 197 
 
 former scholars, and tell them " School was 
 open," I went up-stairs to get some books and 
 pictures which were stored away there, and 
 then began to sweep the dusty room while 
 awaiting the return of the maid, who was 
 gone to fetch work-materials ; and the arrival 
 of the new matron, who, like all Egyptians, 
 was behind time. She was merely engaged 
 to help in keeping order, cleaning the school- 
 room, &c, and instructing the scholars in plain 
 sewing, and was by no means to be a school- 
 mistress, being quite uneducated. No native 
 teacher or assistant could be obtained, though 
 I was in treaty for one : so that I was quite 
 alone. The prospect did not look very bril- 
 liant; but help comes usually in one way or 
 another in time of need. The first helper 
 was a poor washerwoman, who, finding her 
 former employer alone in the house, expressed 
 much surprise and pleasure at the meeting, 
 and, taking the broom almost by force from her 
 hands, exclaimed, " Sit down, lady, and I will 
 sweep the room for you." She had scarcely 
 
198 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EG"!: PT. 
 
 finished when little voices were heard on the 
 stairs, and there was a rush of scholars, chiefly 
 old ones, but accompanied by a few others 
 (their younger sisters), all tumultuous in their 
 greetings ; twenty pairs of little henna-dyed 
 hands were eagerly held out, with deafening 
 shouts of "Welcome! Welcome, teacher! Our 
 teacher is come back! God be praised !" After 
 some time had been occupied in salutations 
 and inquiries and recognitions, the affection- 
 ate but somewhat unruly little creatures were 
 at length arranged in a row on the mat, while 
 I said a few words to them, explaining that as 
 yet there was no teacher except myself (for 
 the only matron I could procure did not know 
 her letters), and that I could only read Arabic 
 very slowly and imperfectly, but that I would 
 do my best, and would study every evening, so 
 as to know more ; and on their part they must 
 be good and obedient and learn very nicely : 
 which, of course, was promised readily enough, 
 — for children are always ready to promise. 
 After a shcrt prayer, and a portion of the 
 
RAGGED SCHOOL REOPENED. 109 
 
 gospel read and explained, they were set down 
 to their alphabet and spelling-cards ; for though 
 some had been formerly for several months at 
 school, they had forgotten in the interval, or 
 else had made little progress, so that none 
 could read except two, — and they with great 
 difficulty, and only spelling each word as they 
 went. While the children were thus engaged, 
 in burst our old acquaintance, Shoh, with her 
 baby in her arms, and her old mother behind 
 her to witness the introduction. The little 
 creature had been washed and "got up" for 
 the occasion, as this was a formal introduction 
 (the day before I had seen her with it, while 
 passing in the street, and had been most affec- 
 tionately greeted, but regret to say I could 
 not then pass judgment on the infant's charms, 
 because they were obscured by dirt) : now it 
 really looked a very pretty baby-girl, about 
 five months old, and I could answer satisfac- 
 torily to the young mother's questions of " Is 
 she not sweet — sweet ? Is she not very nice ?" 
 [ confess poor Shoh reminded one strongly of 
 
200 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 a little English girl with a new doll, — though 
 she must have been fifteen or sixteen at least 
 by this time: she kept repeating, exactly a* 
 children do over their new waxen treasure 
 which grandmamma or auntie has just brought 
 from the toy-shop, " Only see its eyes ! — 
 look ! here are its feet 1 — and just touch its 
 hair, — is not that like silk? — so soft I" Then 
 the old grandmother, who seemed on plea- 
 santer terms than formerly with her daughter, 
 seized the baby, and hoisted it up on high, as 
 if in triumph, apostrophizing it in a very droll 
 manner, and saying, " Now, Hosna" (which 
 was its name, and signifies "handsome," or 
 "what is approved"), "that is thy lady, thy 
 own lady: thou must love her, Hosna, very 
 much: look, sweet one I" and then, turning 
 to me, she called for a confirmation of her 
 assertions that Hosna was "lovely and pre- 
 cious." I was pleased that so much pride as 
 well as affection should be poured out on a girl, 
 because the contrary is sometimes the case in 
 the East, — though perhaps more in theorj thau 
 
RAGGED SCHOOL REOPENED. 201 
 
 practice, a» I constantly observe the men of 
 the lower class caressing their little girls with 
 the utmost tenderness. Many other poor visit- 
 ors came in the course of this and the follow- 
 ing day, all giving me the most cordial wel- 
 come, and some, whose names I could not 
 recollect, appearing to remember me quite 
 well. 
 
 Keeping a ragged school is not a sinecure 
 in any country, as everybody knows who has 
 tried it; and of course it is more difficult 
 where the language is imperfect, and where 
 there is no aid, such as in a long-established 
 school can always be obtained, from a moni- 
 tress or pupil-teacher of some sort. The first 
 day or two it seemed impossible to keep the 
 little voices quiet for a moment : there were 
 no habits of order or obedience, and each 
 wished to do what was good in her own eyes. 
 "Teacher! Zanuba is beating me." "Teacher! 
 Sittaty is pinching my arm." " Oh, teacher ! 
 Fatmeh pushed me down; pray beat her." 
 "I cannot get ?.u alphabet; they have taken 
 
202 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 mine awa}\ " Hear my spelling, teacher ; I 
 can say it very nicely." " No, don't hear her, 
 teacher; hear mc first." "Look at Adeela, 
 teacher ; she is striking my sister : I will not 
 have my sister struck." " She tore the book, 
 and ought to be beaten*." " Oh, teacher, do 
 something to my finger; it is so bad!" Then, 
 when one after another all had been attended 
 to, a fit of joy succeeded the fit of quarrelling, 
 and two or three would fling down the cards 
 and exclaim, " I am so glad you are come 
 again! I love you much!" "Then show me 
 your love by being good and quiet," was the 
 reply. "I must have order." "Yes, yes; or- 
 der ! order !" echoes a lively, officious little lass 
 of ten or eleven, snatching up a ruler and lay- 
 ing about her vigorously, crying, "Order, 
 order, you children ! Stand in order!" When 
 the stick is taken from her, and the little ones, 
 whom she has tapped so violently as to make 
 them cry, are pacified, another trouble begins : 
 — the idle ones fancy they are hungry, and 
 out of some pocket in their ragged garment? 
 
RAGGED SCHOOL REOPENED. 203 
 
 come a green onion, a piece of sticky date- 
 paste, a pickled turnip, or a bit of sugarcane, 
 which have to be confiscated till " recess," and 
 with some difficulty the disorderly crew are 
 induced to wait till the hour of noon is struck 
 from the neighbouring mosque. 
 
 In the afternoon (after about an hour's 
 rest) the little flock reassembled : some who 
 lived close by had gone home to dinner, others 
 brought bread with some little relish, and 
 others claimed the five-para pieces they had 
 given me to keep (about the value of half a 
 cent), with which they bought a morsel of 
 native cheese or a few dates from a shop near 
 the school-house, and ate them while seated 
 in a circle on a mat in the school-room. Some 
 of the poorest had at times only bread ; but I 
 think this was exceptional, as vegetables and 
 other native articles are so very cheap that it 
 is rare for any family not to be able to afford 
 a scrap of pickle, or a handful of raw carrots, 
 radishes, &c, to accompany the bread. Meat 
 was, I believe, hardly ever tasted by them, 
 
204 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 except on extraordinary occasions, and they 
 never seemed to get any warm food. Possibly 
 at sunset a poor family would sometimes have 
 lentil soup, as the boatmen so generally do; 
 but during the short period of cold the chil- 
 dren often came shivering to school in the 
 morning, and were very thankful for a few 
 spoonfuls of hot milk-and-water, or the re- 
 mains of their teacher's coffee diluted and 
 sweetened with coarse sugar. A degree of cold 
 which is not in itself intense is much felt by 
 those accustomed to such heat most of the 
 year, and usually very scantily clothed. 
 
 In the course of about six weeks I was 
 obliged to change the matron for another, who, 
 though equally uneducated, was not so much 
 addicted to forsaking her daily duty in the 
 work-room, and who did not waste so much 
 time over her long cherry-stick pipe. I can- 
 not say she never smoked when she should 
 have been cutting out needlework, &c, or 
 never made a pretext of going to church 
 when a visit to her sister's, to gossip and eat 
 
RAGGED SCHOOL REOPENED. 205 
 
 nuts and almonds, was the second and longest 
 part of the ceremony; but still she did much 
 better than her predecessor in many re- 
 spects. I arranged afterwards with a native 
 embroideress to come daily and instruct part 
 of the scholars in this popular, because lucra- 
 tive, employment. They made a pretty pic- 
 ture, in spite of the rags of so many, when 
 seated in little groups over the embroidery- 
 frames, — the Coptic girl who taught them 
 leaning over each set in turn, her net veil 
 twisted gracefully across her shoulders, and a 
 heap of bright-coloured skeins of silk beside 
 her, and all the circle looking so cheerful and 
 contented ; nor was the sight less pleasing 
 from the contrast of what had been the daily 
 life of these poor children before they were 
 gathered within the walls of their school. 
 
 18 
 
206 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 VISITS TO THE LANES AND FIELDS. 
 
 N a kind of court, partly open to the sky 
 and partly roofed over, lived the mothers 
 of two or three of my scholars; and into this 
 court I penetrated one day, guided by one of 
 the girls, in order to inquire for the truants 
 and at the same time to try and make ac- 
 quaintance with their families. Several women 
 were assembled near the door of one of the 
 dirty, ruined-looking abodes opening into the 
 court, one crouching over a pot of charcoal 
 and sticks burning before her, apparently des- 
 tined for some sort of cookery, and two others 
 employed in making bread, the dough being 
 in a half-liquid state in a huge pan, while one 
 woman kept adding water every few minutes 
 
efjflto lift in eggpt. 
 
VISITS TO TEE LANES AKD FIELDS. 207 
 
 from a bowl near her ; two more stood at the 
 doorway with their babies, looking on and 
 talking. The first, J found, was the mother 
 of a very poor and ill-fed-looking girl who 
 attended school but was very irregular. "Are 
 you Melaky's mother?" I asked, after the 
 usual salutations. "Yes." "I wish, my dear 
 woman," I continued, "you would send her 
 every day ; she would learn better : she knows 
 nothing as yet, because she never comes two 
 days together." "I am sick, lady," replied 
 the poor creature, sorrowfully: "I must keep 
 Melaky often to do things for me." The other 
 woman now began to relate that she had a bad 
 leg, — indeed, two bad legs, only one was the 
 worst, — and, as is usual in all such cases, to 
 insist on showing it to me. The sufferer ap- 
 peared gratified by my expressions of pity; 
 and though the alleviation I suggested, of 
 clean bandages dipped into clean cold water 
 and wrung, seemed to her a very singular one, 
 she actually promised to give it a trial. After 
 she had talked as much as she wished about 
 
208 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 her leg, I tried to draw the conversation to 
 something cheering, saying, " You have indeed 
 much to suffer here on earth : every one has, 
 one time or another, to suffer ; — is it not so ? — 
 if not in the leg, it is in the arm or in the 
 head; or else we have sorrow in the heart." 
 " Ah!" observed another, who had just joined 
 the group, "in our thoughts we have trouble," 
 nodding significantly as she spoke. "True: 
 therefore we should wish much to be in the 
 beautiful land above, where no pain or sorrow 
 can come," I continued. "That is with the 
 Lord," said the sick woman, with a half- wistful, 
 half-despairing look, that seemed to say, "If 
 it were not so vague a hope, it might be good 
 for something." I told her how in God's 
 book, called the Bible, we learned about that 
 blessed country, and how to reach it by be- 
 lieving in God, and how his commands were 
 all written in this book for us. I added that 
 to teach the children to read of these things 
 was the chief reason I had for wishing them 
 to come to school, and that, though sewing 
 
VISITS TO THE LANES AND FIELDS. 209 
 
 was also good, it was far better to know God's 
 commands. These, to us self-evident truths, 
 were to them new ideas. It is necessary to 
 bear in mind, in dealing with those poor igno- 
 rant women, that their minds are as unde- 
 veloped as if they were children of five years 
 old; and, indeed, most children younger than 
 live years, who have had any pains taken with 
 them, are in a more advanced state of intellect. 
 They received the seeming truism as something 
 new but good, and all agreed that it was true ; 
 and one said, " The children love you : they 
 are glad you are come back." 
 
 Another asked, " From what country do you 
 come ? Are you from Constantinople, or from 
 Spain?" An old acquaintance rather tartly 
 corrected her, saying, "Do you not know the 
 lady is English?" The little girl now came 
 down a ladder, with a basket of rubbish and 
 straw on her head, and seemed pleased to find 
 her teacher paying her poor sick mother a 
 visit, and she promised to come when she 
 could : with much partial attendance from the 
 
 O 18* 
 
210 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 older children we must be content, as they are 
 loo useful to be daily spared, unless the parents 
 re lly desire their improvement. 
 
 I jound that, by degrees, I could extend my 
 visits to some of the other lanes besides Abon- 
 bakr (which is close to the school-house). 
 Provided I kept to our own quarter, I was now 
 well enough known to be safe even among 
 nothing but Moslims and with no protector 
 beyond a young scholar. Except from littk 
 children (and these only on going into a lane 
 not previously visitec?), I never was assailed 
 with bad language or angry looks. On the 
 contrary, the artisans would often look up, 
 smiling good-naturedly, and say, " There goes 
 the teacher;" and one day, when I was picking 
 my steps over the stones and rubbish which 
 nearly blocked up a narrow lane, followed by 
 some four or five little, ragged, merry girls, a 
 carpenter who was at work there called out to 
 his child, saying, "Saida, go directly with thy 
 teacher! lazy thing!" (for she was i oiling in 
 A ^e dust no* far off.) I told him I w*»s trying 
 
VISITS TO THE LAKES AND FIELDS. 211 
 
 to collect my stray lambs. " Yes, yes," said 
 the man; "you are the shepherd, and these 
 are the lambs." How this observation made 
 one think of the great Shepherd of the sheep, 
 to whom all true Christian teachers are striv- 
 ing to lead their little flocks ! 
 
 One day, going to see a sick woman, I came 
 to a lane a little way to the north of Abon- 
 bakr : the invalid was gone out, having been 
 less ill than had been represented, or having 
 amended rapidly. Some women were sifting 
 flour in the yard, their scanty blue robes 
 tucked round them and their arms bared ; they 
 were vigorously shaking the flour in sieves, 
 which retained the coarsest part of the bran, 
 while an old woman sat behind, watching the 
 process, and some others were engaged in 
 sewing and nursing their babies. I saluted 
 them, and said I had called to visit Fatmeh, 
 but heard she was out; upon which they 
 begged me to sit down with them ; but these 
 courts are frequently wet in the winter (in hot 
 weather they dry up quickly), and the ground 
 
212 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 was so muddy that the only way I could 
 comply with the invitation was by stooping 
 down as they do themselves, — which was no 
 hardship, as I was used to it. But, with the 
 politeness which seems inherent in the poorest 
 and lowest among Orientals, one of them rose 
 at once and fetched an old box-lid, on which 
 she spread a blue cotton veil and made a seat 
 of it for her visitor; while Shoh, who had 
 accompanied me, observed, rather triumph- 
 antly, "She is not proud, and likes the earth!" 
 Shoh was always anxious that her friend 
 should be well received, and seemed really glad 
 that others should be spoken to on the sub- 
 jects which had so frequently been brought 
 before herself. These poor women asked many 
 questions about the school; and in the course 
 of conversation, as we were speaking of prayer, 
 I began to repeat the Lord's prayer, and was 
 pleased to find that Shoh knew it. She had 
 never been regularly taught to say it, but had 
 often come into school at prayer-time, and, 
 being quick, had learned to repeat it. She 
 
VISITS TO THE LANES AND FIELDS. 213 
 
 sal, or rather squatted, beside me, with her 
 pretty, black-eyed baby on her knee, looking 
 quite pleased while I repeated, and endea- 
 voured to explain, a short Scripture story. 
 The others seemed also interested, and twice 
 when I rose to depart I was compelled to 
 remain. 
 
 Now, it is a point of good manners in the 
 East always to beg a visitor to stay and not 
 be in a hurry to go, though she may have 
 stayed till her weary hostess is secretly thank- 
 ful for her departure. But among the poor, 
 who do not conceal their feelings, — at least, as 
 far as their expression of face goes, — it is not 
 difficult to see when they are really anxious 
 for a visitor to stay or are merely repeating 
 formal sentences. 
 
 The old dame who sat in the door-way was 
 very anxious to know why any one should live, 
 aa it seemed to her, so lonely a life, away from 
 one's country and kindred, and put some 
 searching questions which were not easy to 
 answer; but Shoh did not leave me time to 
 
214 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 frame replies ; for she assured the old woman 
 that "her lady" loved the poor in Cairo, and 
 also the children; "and my Hosna is her 
 child," she added, pulling my dress and ap- 
 pealing to me for a confirmation of her asser- 
 tion. " If you love the poor, you will go to 
 paradise," observed one of the others ; "for 
 your heart is white." " I hope indeed to go 
 there, my sister," I replied, "but not for that 
 reason; all our hearts are sinful, — they are 
 not white, but, on the contrary, black, until 
 God sends his Holy Spirit to make them 
 clean." I endeavoured to show her the neces- 
 sity of praying for the Spirit, and showed how 
 the school-children were taught to pray, &c. 
 One woman promised to send her little daugh- 
 ter (who has since become a regular attend- 
 ant, — at least, she was one when I left Cairo) ; 
 and another said her child was too young, 
 but it should come when it could walk and 
 speak. 
 
 When time permitted, I occasionally made 
 visits to the country villages outside the city; 
 
VISITS TO THE LANES AND FIELDS. 215 
 
 and, had circumstances enabled them to be 
 more frequent, I could have found plenty of 
 employment, as the country-women are even 
 more ready than those of the town to receive 
 a visitor; for in their monotonous life it is 
 quite an event. In winter, the short days 
 prevent any distant rides from being feasible 
 by those whose forenoons are occupied; but 
 when spring had fairly set in, and the days 
 were long enough to give plenty of time, the 
 country became truly delightful. The low 
 lands, which in autumn and even in the early 
 part of the winter had been wet and unwhole- 
 some, were then dry and healthy, and the 
 brilliant verdure redeemed the flat meadows 
 in a great degree from the charge of tame- 
 ness. The clumps of palm-trees almost sup- 
 plied the place of elevations in the ground, 
 and the exquisite green of the clover and 
 young corn, the luxuriance of the gardens, 
 whose orange-trees were laden with bloom 
 and scented the air, made a country ride, at 
 this season, very agreeable. The barV.y was 
 
216 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 in full ear, and a shade of yellow was spread- 
 ing over some of the fields, though the wheat 
 was still green, when I rode out with a friend 
 to visit a little hamlet about half a mile from 
 the railway to Alexandria. Like all Egyptian 
 villages, it was dirty and comfortless in the 
 extreme, and would have looked very dreary 
 if seen under the leaden skies so common 
 in our cloudy islands; but the golden sun- 
 shine and transparent atmosphere of Egypt 
 have the effect of making things look their 
 best, — like a cheerful, happy temper in unto- 
 ward circumstances. 
 
 Outside the foremost group of mud huts a 
 party of women were sitting and standing, 
 having, as is their custom, finished their 
 daily labour early in the morning, so as to 
 have the heat of the day for rest. A number 
 of children, as dirty as possible and very 
 ragged, though not looking by any means ill 
 fed, were rolling in the dust, — the poor little 
 babies covered with flies in swarms, which 
 their mothers did not attempt to drive away. 
 
VISITS TO THE LANES AND FIELDS. 217 
 
 I was civilly invited to sit down and rest, and 
 asked if I came from the city. On being an- 
 swered in the affirmative, they said it must 
 be hot there, and that it was good to come out 
 to breathe the air. (The common expression 
 in the East for going out, either to walk or 
 drive, is, "I wish to breathe the air.") After 
 a little chat, I produced a small book, which 
 was looked at with curiosity, and some asked 
 if it was really Arabic, for they are very sus- 
 picious of evil in European books: as none of 
 the party could read, they had to take my 
 word that it was in their own language; and, 
 to prove it the better, I offered to read some 
 of it to them. Two pretty, bright-looking, 
 but saucy young girls, who were squatted 
 close beside me, interrupted me often by 
 laughing and making irreverent observations, 
 which made it very hard to keep the thread 
 of the narrative. (I was reading one of the 
 miracles of Christ.) One old woman refused 
 to hear to the end, and, saying, " I don't un- 
 derstand that kind of thing," shrugged up 
 
 19 
 
218 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 her shoulders and walked off; bu * the rest 
 stayed, and some appeared really interested. 
 The mocking girls at last became quieter, 
 and, when the story was finished, allowed me to 
 ask questions and converse a little with the 
 others. Meantime, one went into a neighbour- 
 ing hut and fetched a very large, shallow 
 earthen pan, which she proceeded to rinse and 
 wash with more care than was common among 
 her class. She then dived into the low en- 
 trance and disappeared, but returned presently, 
 carrying the pan filled with milk, and, setting 
 it down before me, said, "Drink, lady: it is 
 sweet milk" (which is considered more of a 
 luxury than the sour milk in ordinary use) ; 
 " drink it all : it is for you." Of course I 
 thanked her heartily for her kind hospitality; 
 but how to accept it was a puzzling matter. 
 The quantity seemed nearly enough to drown 
 one, and the vessel was so enormously broad 
 and shallow, in comparison to its size, that 
 I could not help thinking of the old fable of 
 the stork and the fox : indeed, I was in the 
 
"VISITS TO THE LANES AND FIELDS. 219 
 
 condition of the bird; for how to reach the 
 milk I could not conceive. However, the good 
 woman kept urging me to drink ; and, as I 
 knew that she had probably no cup (the 
 people in the country often not possessing any 
 crockery except the porous water-jars, thick 
 sour milk being easily taken up with their 
 bread out of the large vessels), I did not wish 
 to hurt her feelings by refusing. With great 
 difficulty, and at the imminent risk of spilling 
 the whole over my dress, I contrived to lift 
 the great pan, and (at least a dozen pairs of 
 eyes watching with amusement to see how I 
 should manage) a mouthful or two were swal- 
 lowed, and I felt like a successful juggler who 
 has performed a feat satisfactorily ; but scarcely 
 was the vessel safely replaced on the ground than 
 my kind entertainer exclaimed, " Oh, you must 
 take it all ! — it is sweet milk, and you must 
 drink all, — all !" I apologized, and made many 
 excuses, but was compelled to repeat the ope- 
 ration a second time, and, I fear, was thought 
 scarcely polite for leaving the half-gallon un- 
 
220 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 consumed This was simply from hospitable 
 feelings and a wish to do honour to a guest, — ■ 
 not that Egyptians are accustomed to eat and 
 drink very largely themselves : on the con- 
 trary, they are generally very moderate, and 
 the peasants especially live with great sim- 
 plicity. After a little more talk, I took leave 
 of my new acquaintance, who begged me to 
 come and see them again. 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 221 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 
 
 (VY^HE cold weather had come, and was be- 
 f^KI g mmn g to depart (for January was well 
 advanced), without bringing me the expected 
 teacher from Syria. Friends at home, little 
 cognizant of the difficulty of getting any kind 
 of suitable assistants, supposed, in every letter, 
 that by this time a teacher had been found ; 
 but, in fact, the snow of Lebanon itself would 
 have been more easily procured! The diffi- 
 culty of inducing the few Protestant Syrians 
 to leave their country for one less healthy to 
 most of them, and more expensive to all, is 
 naturally very great ; and the American mis- 
 sionaries, who have laboured so long among 
 them, can scarcely, perhaps, be expected rea- 
 
 19* 
 
222 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 dily to part with the pupils they have taken 
 such pains to train, especially as they have 
 still more demand than supply for their own 
 schools, and, moreover, are not, generally, at 
 all sanguine about any work among Moslims. 
 I remained, therefore, sole teacher, as well as 
 superintendent, from the opening of school in 
 the end of November till the last week in 
 January, except an occasional relief of a couple 
 of hours from an elderly Syrian lady, who, 
 though unused to keeping a school, and only 
 possessed of a very limited education, yet 
 kindly did her best to teach a little reading 
 and Scripture when I was laid by with a cold 
 and needed a little rest very much. But 
 casual help of so irregular a kind, and which 
 could never be reckoned on, made no great 
 difference in the responsibility of the work; 
 and the constant attention required prevented 
 the possibility of visiting among the mothers 
 as frequently as I could have wished, or trying 
 to assemble them for a meeting. 
 
 The Arabian proverb, " Patience is the key 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 223 
 
 to glory," often comes into one's mind in the 
 midst of the incessant little disappointments 
 about promising children, and all the small 
 hindrances and troubles, which are common to 
 all school-teachers, but which, of course, are 
 increased in a foreign country, where the lan- 
 guage is not fully understood and the habits and 
 ways of the people are different from our own, 
 Still better, indeed, is the warning of Scrip- 
 ture, " In patience possess ye your souls." I 
 select a few notes, made at the time, which 
 may interest Sunday-school teachers and 
 others who like to watch the training of the 
 young : — 
 
 " Dec. 1862. — My children were very trou- 
 blesome this morning. Scandara was in one 
 of her fickle moods, and alternately teased 
 and diverted the others. She had got, by 
 way of a veil, a piece of coarse English mus- 
 lin, not nearly so pretty as her usual one ; but 
 she was very vain of it, as a novelty, and 
 kept simpering and tittering and pretending 
 to be a bride, till the rest of the girls were 
 
224 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 unable to attend to a word of their lessons. 
 When she was quieted, — with much ado, — I 
 got them in order while I read the portion of 
 Scripture ; but so limited is the vocabulary of 
 the lowest class in Cairo that it is necessary 
 for me to translate at least two words in every 
 twenty lines into equivalents, as far as my 
 limited knowledge permits. These children 
 do not seem to know of any word but ' stone' 
 for rock, — though their rich language has a 
 great many, I believe. They appear, in fact, 
 to make a few words do the part of a maid-of- 
 all-work, as the uneducated in all countries are 
 very apt to do, — as, for example, the vulgar Ita- 
 lians' using one word for a boat, a carriage and 
 a box. I hope soon, however, to use the new 
 edition of the Gospels, which is said to be 
 much easier for the people than the old. 
 
 " Another difficulty is the changing attend- 
 ance : with the exception of a few, and those 
 chiefly younger ones, most of the children 
 come on alternate days, or come two and then 
 stay away one : so that to pick up the threads 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 225 
 
 of each, and remember where she is and what 
 she has been learning, is not always easy. 
 
 "They all agree in being affectionate, 
 whether good or bad in other respects. Se- 
 keeneh is, perhaps, an exception, being such a 
 covetous, selfish child; but I do not think 
 there is another. Seeing my head tied up 
 on account of a cold, this morning, they were 
 full of sympathy ; and several said, coaxingly, 
 1 May not I kiss thee to-day, because thou hast 
 pain?' while others greeted me with little 
 pats on the back and shoulders, repeating, 
 ' Dear teacher ! Never mind, never mind !' 
 Which expression, as well as the patting, is 
 used to denote sympathy and consolation to 
 any one in pain, either of mind or body." 
 
 " Werdeh has come again to school, after a 
 few days' absence ; and I hardly know whether 
 to be glad or sorry. She is a great ' lump of 
 a girl,' as people would say in Ireland ; look- 
 ing about fourteen, but probably two years 
 less, — as se'.f-willed and proud as any grown 
 
 woman, and yet as childish as a baby. She 
 P 
 
226 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 cries and whimpers in the most ridiculous way 
 if thwarted ; begged hard one day for a small 
 doll which I had given to a young child, say- 
 ing, 'Give me the bride; I want the bride'; (a 
 doll is generally so called in this country ;) and 
 yet she domineers over the others, if my eye 
 is off for a couple of minutes, and assumes the 
 airs of a superior. The matron hates her, and 
 begged me to forbid her the school, as she will 
 never learn to read, seeing she cannot be kept 
 quiet five minutes with the card in her hand, 
 but must ever be jumping up to beat or pinch 
 some one, or to give me advice as to the man- 
 agement of the school. I do not choose to 
 turn any one away, however, and the poor 
 girl, with all her faults, seems affectionate, — 
 at least to her teacher. Her habit of using 
 bad language is the worst trouble, because I 
 cannot always detect it, of course, and I am 
 sometimes grieved, in the midst of a lesson, to 
 hear one call out, ' Teacher, Werdeh is cursing 
 my mother ! and she curses so-and-so's father!' 
 It is not easy to punish such a big pupil. The 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 227 
 
 little ones I make stand behind the door with 
 face turned to the wall, for trifling misde- 
 meanours, and find it always a very efficacious 
 punishment. 
 
 " The other day we had a curious request 
 from a poor man, — I suppose a neighbour, — 
 who came shouting under the window for the 
 teacher, and when I looked out to see what he 
 wanted, found that his little girl had been 
 naughty : how, he did not explain to my com- 
 prehension exactly; but his desire was that I 
 should bring her in and beat her. It was out 
 of school-hours. I told him that in school we 
 did not use a stick for the girls, but that they 
 must stand with their face to the wall if they 
 were naughty, — which he seemed to think very 
 droll : however, he went away when he found 
 I would not inflict the beating. 
 
 " Several of the young ones are like kittens 
 for mirth and spirit, and can hard'v be kept 
 out of mischief for a minute; but I would 
 rather have them mischievous and merry than 
 dull and stupid. They are dear little things, 
 
228 
 
 CHILD-LIFE m EGYPT. 
 
 and their pretty black eyes dance with glee 
 when they are "full of fun, so that I love to 
 Bee them. But I sadly want a monitress or 
 pupil-teacher: my former assistant, Mennee, 
 though so young, and not very bright, would 
 be a great comfort. As to making one of 
 these untaught young Moslims, or even one 
 of the few Coptic girls, into a monitress, I 
 find that will not answer as yet. After they 
 have been a few months at school, I may try 
 it again; but at present the attempt usually 
 fails, because the monitress will persist in 
 beating the scholars under her, and they, on 
 their part, decline obeying an equal unless 
 she does beat them. This morning they all 
 with one consent began repeating their text 
 so profanely, in imitation of two little Copts 
 (who are much worse in this, respect than 
 Moslims), that a general laughing ensued, and 
 I was obliged, as soon as I could gain a hear- 
 ing, to speak very seriously about it. 'Listen, 
 children. You know I do not beat. My cane 
 is only a reed to point with, and cannot beat: 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 229 
 
 but therefore you must obey my voice : do 
 you understand ?' 1 Yes, teacher.' 'Very well. 
 Now, God's words — the words of his book — 
 are holy, and must be said slowly and softly, 
 thus . . . ., and not screamed, as you did this 
 morning. God hears you, remember. He is 
 great, and we are small ; he is holy, and we are 
 sinners : so we must speak softly when we say 
 the words of his book.' They now all re- 
 peated, in soft, gentle tones, ' There is One 
 God and One Mediator,' &c. ; and all looked 
 pleased when I praised them. Praise is, in- 
 deed, as much valued by these little children 
 as by other little ones, if not more." * * * 
 
 " I had to take the school into a sort of 
 passage or corridor to-day, because some one 
 had broken the windows of the school-room, 
 and the glazier had selected that hour to mend 
 them, instead of coming in the afternoon of 
 the previous day, according to my request. It 
 was hard work to teach in so confined a place ; 
 for no child liked to give way, and one nudged 
 
 and another knocked, and the incessant cry 
 20 
 
230 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 was, 'She pinched me!' followed by a howl 
 from the injured one and peals of laughtei 
 from the rest. Heneyna played every ima- 
 ginable monkey-trick, and when sent to the 
 corner pretended to hide her face and cry, while 
 grinning through the chinks of her ragged 
 blue veil : so that it was impossible to keep 
 one's countenance. When the glazier's work 
 was done, instead of going away, he stood 
 looking at the pictures, and took a card in his 
 hand, and really seemed as if he would gladly 
 have been a scholar himself. I asked if he 
 had any little girls, and he said, sorrowfully, 
 1 1 had one once, but she is dead.' 
 
 " Fatmeh, Shoh's sister, had not been to see 
 me for a long time, and her last two visits 
 were, I grieve to say, evidently made on mer- 
 cenary motives. She is an amiable, quiet- 
 tempered creature, but weak and changeable, 
 and very inferior in intelligence to Shoh, who, 
 though not good-tempered, is capable, I think, 
 of stronger affection. 
 
 "The desire for approbation is "ery amusing 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 231 
 
 sometimes, in my little flock, by the manner 
 with which they ask for it: as, for instance, 
 'Am I not good to-day, teacher? Am I not 
 quite nice? 1 or, 'Teacher, you love me because 
 I am good — don't you? Say I am good!' 
 'Is my work very pretty?' lisps a little crea- 
 ture of five years old, with a bit of rag pulled 
 over her forefinger, its original hue disguised 
 by dirt and what workwomen call 'mauling,' 
 and with stitches half an inch long. This self- 
 praise, as well as the constant demand for ap- 
 probation, needed frequent checking, of course; 
 and one day, when explaining the parable of 
 the Pharisee and Publican, of which I had a 
 picture on the wall, I tried to show them the 
 sin of pride and boasting, saying that God did 
 not like people who praised themselves, but 
 that the Publican was right because he was 
 humble, &c. Next morning, two or three 
 children began, as usual, vaunting themselves 
 for their supposed merits, — when a little Copt 
 girl, in many respects a very good child, but 
 particularly addictel to this habit, called out 
 
232 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 from the corner where she was sitting with he/ 
 spelling-card, 'Sitti, I am very bad!' (in a tone 
 of triumph and exultation difficult to describe) ; 
 1 1 am good for nothing ! I am a pig ! /' At 
 which climax, I confess, the dignity of the 
 teacher gave way, and she fairly burst out 
 laughing. The 'pride that apes humility' was 
 certainly exhibited to perfection, as she re- 
 peated, 'I am not a Pharisee; I am good for 
 nothing ! I am a pig \V " 
 
 "January, 1863. — Reopened school this 
 month. After the Christmas holidays, which 
 had lasted a fortnight, I had had a severe cold, 
 and, having no one to take my place in school, 
 I was obliged to dismiss school for that period 
 and go for change of air to the country. I 
 found the fatigue of so many hours' incessant 
 teaching too much to continue, especially as a 
 matron who has never been accustomed to any 
 kind of school can afford but very partial aid, 
 even in keeping order, and not unfrequently 
 leaves the sewing upon my hands in addition 
 to the rest. The missionary to the Moslima 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 233 
 
 kindly gave me a little temporary help in 
 reading and catechizing in Scripture, two or 
 three times, justly considering that, as they 
 were chiefly Moslim children, an hour thus 
 spent was not lost to his peculiar business. 
 But I wanted daily and more mechanical as- 
 sistance; and at length, at the very end of the 
 month, a young person was recommended to 
 me, who could teach the routine of spelling 
 and reading, and who, though unused to a 
 school, seemed so intelligent and docile that 
 there was every hope she would improve 
 rapidly ; and her first week proved very satis- 
 factory, on the whole. Teresa is of mixed 
 Italian and Syrian extraction, though born in 
 Cairo, and a member of one of the Oriental 
 Churches, and not, therefore, to be trusted 
 with any religious instruction ; but she is per- 
 fectly aware that she is not to interfere in 
 this, and is so far from being bigoted that she 
 is ready to read and listen to the gospe] 
 for herself. Her assistance spares my voice 
 
 greatly, — though, being only mechanical aid, 
 20* 
 
234 
 
 CHILD-LIFE EN EGYPT. 
 
 her own education being so limited, the same 
 constant superintendence is necessary as before, 
 at least as yet ; but she is far beyond the poor 
 old matron in sense, &c. ; and if she were a 
 Protestant, I would by degrees train her into 
 a nice teacher." 
 
 The fast of Eamadan, which began the third 
 week in February, had the effect of thinning 
 our numbers for a time, considerably, as all 
 but quite the young ones fast, and therefore 
 are unfit for any exertion in the daytime, — 
 the Moslim fast implying abstinence from 
 water, as well as food, from sunrise to sunset. 
 But when that weary month was over the 
 children soon flocked back to school, and their 
 numbers varied between twenty and thirty, 
 and latterly there was a decided increase. 
 Something of order and manners had, ere that 
 time been established: some steady scholars 
 could spell, and were beginning to read; and the 
 greater part, who were not steady in attend- 
 ance and consequently could not read, yet 
 could repeat several texts of Scripture, and 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 235 
 
 also the first answers in a brief catechism which 
 had been prepared for theii use; and all, except 
 new-comers, could tell the meaning of several 
 Scripture pictures. It is true that a stranger 
 might easily overrate the order and tranquillity 
 of the children, for the presence of a foreign 
 visitor naturally awed them into unusual still- 
 ness and propriety of demeanour; and an 
 English gentleman, who honoured the school 
 with a visit one day, remarked that they 
 seemed "a very quiet, orderly set," which, had 
 he seen them ten minutes before, he certainly 
 could not have said. But considering the 
 circumstances, and that these were chiefly 
 Moslim girls of the lowest class, and that 
 more than half had never been to any sort of 
 school till a few months before, we had no 
 reason to be discouraged, but rather much 
 cause for thankfulness. 
 
 Shoh frequently came in to listen while I 
 taught Scripture in school ; and one day, when 
 the missionary had called and was assisting 
 me by reading to the elder children the his- 
 
236 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 tory of the Crucifixion, Shoh, with her baby 
 on her lap, seated herself on the ground to 
 listen. When we stopped, I asked her if she 
 knew why Jesus Christ suffered this death on 
 the cross. " It was for our sakes," replied 
 Shoh, without hesitation, — "for our sins, — to 
 save us." Now, I do not say this poor child- 
 woman is a Christian : God only knows how 
 far the knowledge, small as it is, which she 
 has received, has sunk into her heart, — whether 
 the intellect is stirred without the soul having 
 taken the impression, or if there is light in 
 the soul, so faint that his all-seeing eye can 
 alone be sure of its presence; but she does 
 know that Christ died for sinners : she may 
 never throw off the outward yoke of Islam, 
 and yet by degrees may come nearer and 
 nearer to Him whom she now sees afar off. 
 We must pray and wait, in her case, as in so 
 many others. 
 
 It is a comfort to see habits of cleanliness 
 beginning to make a little way, — though I fear 
 it will be some time yet before they will pene* 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 237 
 
 trate into the homes, and that clean hands and 
 faces are only looked on as a "school-dress:" 
 still, even that is a point gained. I observe 
 the older girls seldom now come with dirty 
 faces, and those who have been some time in 
 school are vigorous assistants in purifying 
 new-comers, some of whom really look as if a 
 hoe would be required before soap and water 
 could produce any effect. It is rather amusing 
 to see the pride shown by old scholars in intro- 
 ducing a new child, who generally comes up 
 the steps with a half-frightened look, as if 
 fearing to be beaten, and yet half laughing at 
 the encouragements of the others who surround 
 her, patting her on the back, saying, " Don't 
 be afraid : the teacher is good." Then one 
 calls out her name : — u Sitti, here is a new 
 girl : she is called Fatmeh, or Hosna, or So- 
 and-so." Another exhorts her officiously to 
 kiss the teacher's hand; and then, while she 
 stands undecided whether to laugh or cry \t 
 the door, scarcely able to listen to the kind 
 words which her teacher addresses to her, be- 
 
238 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 cause so many voices are speakirg round her, 
 the state of her face and hands is perceived, 
 and, with some coaxing, she is induced to un- 
 dergo the ablutions, of which she cannot see 
 the advantage, — poor little thing ! To go to the 
 bath once in a very long time is a treat to any 
 Egyptian child (and we may venture to re- 
 mark that in this they are better off than 
 some in our great cities, who never do get 
 even a yearly scouring) ; but the idea of daily 
 cleanliness is, of course, a complete novelty, 
 and, at first, distasteful. The victim is seized 
 by two school-fellows, and made to stoop down 
 while they scrub her cheeks and hands, and 
 sometimes get the soap into her eyes, till she 
 cries for mercy ; but when the operation is 
 over, and her brown skin shines with rubbing, 
 she is again patted on the back and neck, and 
 comforted whh the cheering assurance that 
 she is now "quite pretty, — quite nice, — very 
 clean," and takes her place tolerably content. 
 
 Hair is a much more difficult matter *fcan 
 hands and faces, as the foolish custom of j -*it- 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 239 
 
 ing it in long and numerous tails, which are 
 only undone at rare intervals, renders cleanli- 
 ness scarcely possible : the more respectable 
 persons undo the plaits once a week, and we 
 endeavour to get the children to keep to this 
 plan, which is the best attainable at present ; 
 the poorest, if left to themselves, would think 
 two or three times a year often enough. The 
 very little girls, however, cut their hair short, 
 which I always applaud, and advise the mothers 
 to keep it so till they get big. One wonders 
 they should not all cut it off, as scarcely any, 
 except the long ends, or a few stray hairs, is 
 allowed to be seen, the covering being always 
 tied over the whole head among the poor chil- 
 dren. Probably they would get sunstrokes if 
 they did not thus protect the head in a coun- 
 try where the power of the sun is so great 
 during most of the year. 
 
 It seems as if every depth had a lower depth, 
 and the boys are even worse than the girls, as 
 to uncleanness : at least, it is more difficult to 
 make them care. Vanity comes in to assist a 
 
240 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 girl in thinking of her appearance when once 
 she begins to see that a clean face is better 
 than one smeared with mud and dust ; but the 
 boy only wishes to enjoy his play unfettered. 
 The two or three small boys who were allowed 
 on sufferance with their sisters (all under four 
 years old) came each day as begrimed as be- 
 fore, of course ; but they soon learned to sub- 
 mit patiently to the daily ceremony at school. 
 One, a little Copt boy, named Mansoor, was 
 really a lovely little fellow when clean, in spite 
 of the most wretched and unbecoming gar- 
 ment — he had but one; such sweet black 
 eyes, with a little wistful expression ! I used 
 to think how nice that child would look in a 
 white frock and scarlet sash; however, he 
 was just as happy making dust-heaps and nib- 
 bling sugarcane ; and he may wear white one 
 day of another kind, poor child, if he learns 
 to know the truth, and to become a con- 
 queror over sin through the power of the 
 Spirit. The name Mansoor signifies, properly, 
 one who has obtained a victory, or, rather, one 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGRESSED. 241 
 
 who has been enabled by God to gain the vic- 
 tory, — a beautiful meaning. 
 
 It may interest those who are occupied 
 about schools, or who love the subject of 
 teaching for its own sake, to glance over a 
 translation of the brief catechism which the 
 children in Bab-el-Bahar are taught ; it must 
 be borne in mind that it was arranged for 
 the use of Moslims especially, and with a 
 view to quite young children ; the correspond- 
 ing Arabic is as simple in its wording as the 
 English given here, which is as nearly literal 
 as the difference of the language permits. 
 
 Question. Who made you ? 
 
 Answer. God. 
 
 Q. Where is the difference between you 
 and the brutes ? 
 
 A. I have a soul, and they have not. 
 
 Q. What will happen to your body ? 
 
 A. It will die and be laid in the ground. 
 
 Q. What will then happen to your soul ? 
 
 A. My soul will either go to heaven or to 
 hell. 
 
 Q 21 
 
242 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Q. What is heaven ? 
 
 A. A beautiful place, where there is ld sin 
 and no sorrow, and where God dwells. 
 Q. What is hell? 
 
 A. A dreadful place of misery, far from 
 God. 
 
 Q. How can you go to heaven ? 
 A. I must love God and obey him all my 
 life. 
 
 Q. Are you able to do this ? 
 A. Not of myself, because my heart is evil; 
 I often do wrong. 
 
 Q. Are all people sinners ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Do they deserve heaven ? 
 
 A. No, they deserve hell ; but God is will- 
 ing to forgive their sins. 
 
 Q. For whose sake will God forgive sin ? 
 
 A. For the sake of Jesus Christ his Son, 
 who bore the punishment of sin in his own 
 person. 
 
 Q. Why do you call Jesus Christ the Son 
 of God? 
 
HOW THE SCHOOL PROGEESSED. 243 
 
 A. Because he is the Spirit of God in a 
 human body. 
 
 Q. What did he suffer for us ? 
 
 A. He died upon the cross, a cruel death, 
 that we might receive pardon instead of pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 Q. Did his body remain in the ground ? 
 
 A. No; he rose the third day, and his body 
 is now in heaven. 
 
 Q. Will he enable you to obey and love 
 God? 
 
 i 
 
 A. Yes ; he will enable me to do so by his 
 Holy Spirit, if I trust in him. 
 
 Q. Where do you learn this ? 
 
 A. In God's book, called the Bible. 
 
 Q. What will happen to you if you do not 
 obey God and die without forgiveness ? 
 
 A. I shall go to that dreadful place. 
 
 Q. Why is Jesus called the Saviour ? 
 
 A. Because he came to save people from 
 their sins. 
 
 Q. Is he willing to save you 9 
 
244 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 A. Yes ; for he said, " Suffer the little chil- 
 dren to come unto me." 
 
 Q. What must you, then, do? 
 
 A. I must pray God to change my heart 
 and give me his Holy Spirit, and to forgive 
 me for Jesus Christ's sake, and to take me 
 when I die to heaven. 
 
 The foregoing questions and answers are all 
 that had been taught when I left Cairo; but a 
 few further ones have since that been added, 
 to teach the doctrines of the Christian faith 
 more fully, especially the resurrection of the 
 body, and day of judgment, &c; and it will 
 gradually be enlarged as the scholars' minds 
 are more developed and their powers of learn- 
 ing by heart improved. In the beginning of 
 a school like this, the time occupied in teach- 
 ing half a dozen questions and answers, and 
 the difficulty (where the attendance is not re- 
 gular), are not to be understood save by ex- 
 perience. 
 
Cfcilb fife in <£ m i. 
 
 Zeynab. 
 
 p. 245. 
 
ZEYNAB. 
 
 245 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ZEYNAB. 
 
 UE. readers will not fail to recollect a 
 notice taken of the girl in the tama- 
 risk-grove, near the little desert, in whom 
 I took a strong interest. In the course of the 
 winter, after my return to Cairo, I made 
 several ineffectual attempts to find her, and 
 began almost to despair, and to think (what 
 was indeed highly probable) that she must 
 have married and removed to some other vil- 
 lage, if she were not dead. I had made in- 
 quiries about her of the poor women or chil- 
 dren who were often to be met with near the 
 grove, and in the barley- and dourra-fields 
 around it; and two or three wrong Zeynabs 
 
 had been produced. One came at last, who, 
 21* 
 
246 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN ZGYPT. 
 
 hoping, perhaps, for some present if I believed 
 her to be an old acquaintance, persisted, in a 
 confused and hesitating way, that she remem- 
 bered me, and was the girl I meant ; but I 
 was sure I should recognize the face; and, 
 moreover, this individual was decidedly younger 
 than Zeynab was when I had seen her, and 
 nearly two years could not have had the effect 
 of making her grow backwards : so the false 
 maiden was civilly rejected. It was on one 
 Saturday, when I had come out to spend my 
 weekly holiday in the pure air of the coun- 
 try, and was sitting under the light-falling 
 tamarisk shade, talking to a group of women 
 and girls. One of them was an intelligent 
 woman, who appeared really anxious to listen 
 to a short portion of Scripture which I read 
 to them, and was quite vexed with another 
 who interrupted us every minute by begging 
 to know "what this dress was made of," or 
 some such remark. 
 
 After some time had passed, and I thought 
 they ha 1 had as much as they could attend to 
 
ZEYNAB. 
 
 247 
 
 for one day, I broke up the circle, and went to 
 stroll among the fields. On my return, all 
 were gone but the woman alluded to. She sat 
 beside my maid (who was engaged in sewing 
 under one of the trees), and seemed as if she 
 did not wish to go away. I sat down with 
 a sketch-book, and was beginning to renew 
 the conversation with her, when an elderly 
 peasant-woman — very dark, but not bad-look- 
 ing, and less ragged and dirty than the others 
 had been — came quickly towards us from the 
 dourra-field, and, seizing my hand, exclaimed, 
 " I am Zeynab's mother." She kissed my hand, 
 and then stooped down for a moment, gazing 
 with interest and curiosity, then, springing up, 
 caught me round the neck and bestowed on me 
 several hearty kisses, saying, " I know you ; my 
 daughter knows you — she is Zeynab !" Though 
 I never had seen the woman before, I did not 
 feel the smallest doubt that she really was 
 what she professed to be, and that the lost 
 sheep was found : it seemed to be an instinct 
 of belief. She proceeded to tell me that 
 
248 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Zeynab was making bread in the house, and 
 could not come out directly (that being a busi- 
 ness which cannot be interrupted when one© 
 commenced), but that she had heard from one 
 of the girls of the village that the lady she 
 knew was there and was asking for her; and 
 she had said, " Oh, mother, go quickly to her 
 and tell her I will soon come." So she had 
 set off at once in search of her daughter's 
 friend. She asked if I could stay till even- 
 ing. I said I could stay two hours more, but, 
 if she liked, instead of waiting there, I would 
 go to her house and see her daughter. She 
 was delighted, and said I should be " welcome, 
 ■ — and very welcome !" and pointed the way 
 across the fields. 
 
 The village was only a quarter of a mile off, 
 and consisted, like most Egyptian villages, of 
 a number of mud huts, all built close together 
 (flat-roofed, of course), and many of them with 
 rounded walls, something like a cheese with a 
 hole in one side. None appeared to have any 
 windows, but most had some sort of door 
 
ZEYXAB. 
 
 249 
 
 the whole concern swarming, as usual, with 
 children aid animals, and rubbish of every 
 sort, — the use of a broom being apparently 
 unknown there. 
 
 As we approached, the mother gave a signal, 
 and called out, "There she is! — that is Zey- 
 nab !" as a girl with a little child on her shoul- 
 der (her nephew) came out of one of the huts. 
 She hastily set down her burden on the ground 
 and ran up to us. I knew my old acquaintance 
 instantly; and she, on her part, recollected 
 me equally well : with a cry of joy, she caught 
 and pressed my hands in both her's, and then 
 flung her arms round my neck, as her mother 
 had done, her bright eyes sparkling with 
 pleasure. Then they brought us into the 
 house, the servant staying at the roadside 
 with the asses, and looking, to say truth, as 
 if he thought risiting in mud cabins was a 
 very vulgar taste in his employer. This was 
 not the abode of actual poverty, for in their 
 rank of life the family of Zeynab were evi- 
 dently tolerably well off, their wants being 
 
250 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYP1. 
 
 so few and simple. The hut was large, and 
 not so dirty as many I have seen, — though the 
 floor was encumbered with straw and corn- 
 cobs and three or four goats were feeding on 
 dourra-leaves at one end. There were two 
 little divisions (I cannot call them rooms, as 
 only a low ridge of dried mud separated them 
 from the main apartments), one of which con- 
 tained the oven, where Zeynab's sister and 
 sister-in-law were busy with the bread, the 
 latter having apparently come in to take her 
 place, and thus leaving her free to attend to 
 her guest. The thin flaps of bread were 
 clapped against the side of the oven, to which 
 they stick somehow till they are baked : a very 
 short time suffices; but, as a large batch is 
 usually prepared at once, and a great many 
 loaves are needed, being so small, a consider- 
 able time is occupied by the process. Zeynab's 
 mother brought a basket of the fresh dourra 
 bread, and then, from a hole in the wall, took 
 a pickled turnip, which she offered in the 
 palm of her hand, — plates and dishes not being 
 
ZEY1n t AB. 
 
 251 
 
 part of the furniture of her house. A piece 
 of jibn, or salt curd (which, when clean, is a 
 good and wholesome article), followed; and to 
 refuse these dainties would have affronted her: 
 so I had to eat a little, as in the Bedouins' 
 houses, and conceal the rest in a pocket- 
 handkerchief or in the straw behind me. 
 The good creature was giving the best she 
 had, and it never occurred to her that things 
 being dirty was any objection to them. Mean- 
 time, Zeynab was pounding coffee in a metal 
 mortar with a heavy wooden pestle of rude 
 manufacture. She then took a handful of the 
 dry corn-cobs and put them in a mangal, or 
 earthen vessel for fire, and set them alight, 
 placing a coffee-pot on the flame. In a short 
 time her coffee was ready, and presented by 
 the mother in Arab style, — i.e. in small cups, 
 without sugar or milk. Zeynab sat by me as 
 soon as her task was over, holding my hand 
 in her's, and expressing her pleasure at our 
 meeting, even more by her face than by her 
 words. I tried to recall to her mind some- 
 
252 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT 
 
 thing of the conversation I had formerly had 
 with her the last morning I saw her, and she 
 seemed to recollect it perfectly, and mentioned 
 one or two things which I could scarcely have 
 expected to remain in her memory. 
 
 "And the prayer, Zeynab?" I asked: "do 
 you remember it?" 
 
 "I remember part, — not all," she replied. 
 
 I said the first clause, "0 Lord, give me 
 thy Holy Spirit," and she immediately finished 
 it, adding, — 
 
 '"And lead me to the truth.' I often say 
 that part, — very often," she continued; "but 
 the first part, about the Spirit, I forgot." 
 
 "Thank God you have not forgotten all!" 
 
 "No, indeed; I have not forgotten; and I 
 never forget you," said the girl. 
 
 After talking some little time, I took leave, 
 engaging them to come and see me and the 
 school, — which they promised to do very soon, 
 as Kamadan was near at hand, and no Moslims 
 willingly undertake long walks or pay visits 
 m that month, as they dare not take any re- 
 
ZEYN1B. 
 
 253 
 
 freshmen t. Early the following week my ex- 
 pected visitors made their appearance, between 
 nine and ten o'clock. Zeynab and her mother 
 walked into the class-room where I was teach- 
 ing, one bearing a jar of new milk on her head, 
 and the other a cloth in her hand, containing 
 a number of fresh eggs. They had walked 
 at least three miles with these things, as a 
 present for me ! 
 
 Zeynab's eyes shone like opals in her brown, 
 sunburnt face, as she affectionately greeted 
 me; and the old dame was as cordial in her 
 own way. I brought them up-stairs ; and they 
 were as delighted and amazed at the sight of 
 the simple apartment as if it had been a room 
 in a palace. The dimity curtain, and clean, 
 whitewashed walls, the plain but commodious 
 divan, and a deal table covered with a crimson 
 cotton cloth, appeared wonderful luxuries to 
 eyes only accustomed to dirty and unfurnished 
 mud cabins. The mother was the most curi- 
 ous, and begged permission to look behind the 
 
 curtain, which formed one end of the long 
 22 
 
254 
 
 CHILD-LIFE EN EGYPT. 
 
 room into a bed-chamber. Here her surprise 
 and admiration were increased by the spectacle 
 of a little toilet-stand of the humblest style 
 possible, but above which hung a mirror longer 
 than her hand, and in which she could, for the 
 first time, see her whole face reflected. " Zey- 
 nab, girl, come here! — Come and look!" she 
 exclaimed. The brushes and pin-cushion were 
 scarcely less of curiosities; and many were 
 her exclamations of "wonderful!" I asked if 
 she had found any difficulty in discovering the 
 house. " No," she said. " I did just as you 
 told me, — came first to the Bab-el-Hadeed, then 
 walked up the broad road, and then asked for 
 Bab-el-Bahar, and they showed me; then I 
 came, as you said, to the blacksmith's shop, 
 and he knew you, and said this was the house." 
 
 Among the various articles in the room, 
 none more amazed my guests than the book- 
 shelf, with about two dozen of volumes. " Have 
 you really read all those books?" the mother 
 said, and was evidently amazed at the amount 
 of learning it implied; she even rose again 
 
ZEYNAB. 
 
 255 
 
 from her seat, and went to the shelf to look closer 
 at the books and count them over. "This is 
 your gospel, is it not ?" said Zeynab, pointing 
 to the Arabic Testament on the table. This 
 seemed a favourable moment for introducing 
 the book ; and I took it up and offered to read 
 a story from it. Zeynab wished to listen; but 
 her mother, although acquiescing, was too full 
 of what she saw to give her attention, and 
 interrupted me incessantly. She was one who 
 evidently preferred her own voice to any thing 
 else. Just as I had found the place, and was 
 commencing to read, she exclaimed, " I de- 
 clare, your ears are not bored ! Tell me why. 
 Have you no ear-rings? And I do not see 
 jewels ! Have you not many jewels?" "Very 
 few," I told her; "for I cared more about 
 other things." After a little talk about jewels, 
 I asked Zeynab if she knew the best orna- 
 ment any woman could have, — and then told 
 her how God liked a meek and quiet spirit in 
 us, better than gold or diamonds. Yet many 
 women thought more of these pretty things 
 
256 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 to hang on their necks than of pleasing God. 
 " Certainly," said the mother, who would not 
 let the girl get in a single word, " we should 
 above all think of our souls, and praise God 
 and the prophet, our Lord Mohammed." I 
 feared to close the door against myself if I got 
 into an argument with the old lady about her 
 prophet, especially as my limited language 
 might hinder my making myself clearly under- 
 stood on the subject: so I turned from it by 
 finishing the history I had begun, with which 
 she expressed herself pleased, — though she in- 
 terrupted so often that I fear she could not 
 have carried much away with her. Mean- 
 time, the cook had, at my desire, been pre- 
 paring such a meal as my guests were likely to 
 relish, and, as it was noon, I took them to the 
 class-room, now empty, where it was spread, 
 on a clean white napkin, on the floor ; for, as 
 they had never sat at a table, it would only 
 have made them feel awkward to induce them 
 to attempt it. The clean cloth, however, 
 Btruck the old woman as a delicate attention, 
 
ZEYNAB. 
 
 257 
 
 for she thanked me as if for a great sompli- 
 ment; and possibly the hint may be ad van-' 
 tageous, for she might attain to a piece of 
 clean cotton, if not to a damask napkin, in 
 her own cabin. No plates were laid, but 
 plenty of native bread, and a dish of rice 
 cooked with butter, and a fowl stewed with 
 onions and tomatoes, — which is a favourite na- 
 tive dish, and by no means a contemptible one. 
 My guests rarely indulged in such dainties, 
 and probably never tasted meat but on occa- 
 sion of some great festivals. They would not, 
 however, have enjoyed the repast unless their 
 hostess had sat down and " dipped in the dish" 
 with them : it would have been supposed, if 
 she declined, that she felt too proud to share 
 with them. 
 
 Though knives, forks and spoons are cer- 
 tainly a very good invention, I am bound to 
 allow that Orientals do not eat as unpleasantly 
 without their aid as some awkward or ill- 
 mannered persons contrive to do with them : 
 
 even Zeynab and her mother, simple peasants 
 R 22* 
 
258 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 as they were, managed very deftly and nicely : 
 •a bit of the tough native bread was easily 
 folded into a sort of spoon, with which they 
 took up rice, &c. Some native sweets con- 
 cluded the entertainment; after which they 
 came into the school-room to see the scholars 
 at work, and stayed another hour watching 
 the process and chatting, till I confess to 
 having got quite tired, and my stock of Arabic 
 seemed exhausted. But it is the custom to 
 pay visits of great length in the East, and the 
 poor things had put on their best clothes for 
 the occasion, and were so well pleased that I 
 would not on any account have hurried them 
 away. The gala costume consisted of a 
 coloured-print jacket and trowsers, with a 
 tob (or loose outer robe) of very thin, dark- 
 blue cotton, almost like coarse, unstarched 
 muslin, and a veil of the same, with necklaces 
 of brass beads : the mother had solid silver 
 bracelets ; but the daughter had nothing but 
 glass beads for her share. They departed at 
 last, well satisfied with their day; and though 
 
ZEYNAB. 
 
 259 
 
 I had not been able to do them any gcod on 
 this occasion, owing to the old lady's excessive 
 fondness for talking, which made it useless to 
 read, yet the keeping up the acquaintance 
 was very important, as giving one hopes of 
 making way by degrees. 
 
 It seemed that this girl's remaining unmar- 
 ried later than is customary (for she could not 
 be less than seventeen, even allowing for 
 Egyptians looking older for their age than we 
 do) was a special mercy; as, had she been 
 removed to any distance and occupied with 
 the cares of a young family, it is scarcely likely 
 that I could have found her out, or that her 
 interest in the renewal of the acquaintance 
 would have been so strong. Remembering 
 the vain attempts made to discover her for 
 some time, and the trifling circumstance which 
 was the means of her being found (the 
 mother told me while at dinner that it was 
 from my having described the colour of her 
 eyes, which are not black like most Egyptians'), 
 I feel deeply thankful for the opportunity 
 
200 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 thus granted, and cannot doubt that it was 
 given in answer to prayer. He whose eye is 
 over all things in heaven and earth saw that 
 there were many peasant maidens in this little 
 hamlet, but to one was His messenger sent : 
 perhaps among all the Zeynabs there, this was 
 the one most ready to receive something of 
 the truth : at all events, her heart is open to 
 feel affection for a stranger and foreigner, and, 
 by His blessing, that affection may prove the 
 door of entrance for better things than earthly 
 friendship. 
 
ZEYNAB AGAIN. 
 
 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ZEYNAB AGAIN. 
 
 OTfj^/HE next occasion on which I visited my 
 lUJ^I young friend on the borders of the de- 
 sert was about the middle of Eamadan. The 
 air in that neighbourhood is delightfully pure 
 and healthful ; so that the distance did not de- 
 ter me from going there more frequently than 
 to nearer spots. The green clover and young 
 corn seemed actually to run up into the bare 
 sand of the desert, — so close are vegetation 
 and barrenness in this region. Doubtless, if 
 irrigation were carried further, the wilderness 
 would be changed into a fruitful field. The 
 water, running in its small clear rills, and the 
 luxuriant vegetation following it wherever it 
 went, was a sight I never wearied of, and 
 
262 
 
 CHILD-LIFL IN EGYPT. 
 
 which naturally suggested the comparison of 
 the fruits of Christian life following wherever 
 the water of life flows. In such a moral wil- 
 derness as Egypt, how often one longs to see 
 more labourers at work, making channels, as 
 it were, for the water, which Christ alone can 
 bestow, to fertilize the barren ground ! 
 
 The first afternoon I could spare, I set out 
 to pay a visit to Zeynab. Though this month 
 of fasting is not very favourable for talking to 
 people, yet I did not wish to let so long a 
 period pass by. I found her keeping house, 
 alone with her little nephew. The school- 
 matron was with me, having begged so much 
 to come that I did not like to refuse her, 
 although far more of a hindrance than a help 
 on visits to the poor, as she was very fond of 
 religious discussions, and talked so fast, using 
 many words I did not understand, that I was 
 in constant fear of hex teaching something 
 wrong. 
 
 There is no dislike to the reading of the 
 Scriptures among those of her church, as far 
 
ZEYNAB AGAIN. 
 
 263 
 
 as I could judge : they seem, on the contrary, 
 willing to receive it, if able to read. But this 
 poor woman was quite at the mercy of her 
 priest, being so ignorant, and believed, as of 
 equal authority with Scripture, a store of the 
 most absurd monkish legends : I very rarely, 
 therefore, took her with me into the poor 
 people's houses. When I could get in a word, 
 by a pause in the old lady's chattering, I asked 
 Zeynab about prayer, and found that she and 
 her mother actually went through the five 
 prescribed forms of prayer, like the men, — a 
 practice not observed by Moslim women in 
 general. I remarked this; and she replied 
 that very few did so, — that most women never 
 prayed. " But we do," she added, with a little 
 air of pride, — which was not strange, for it is 
 looked on quite as an act of merit in women. 
 I tried to show her the nature of real prayer ; 
 and she seemed much interested in religious 
 subjects, and quite ready to speak and listen, 
 only that the poor matron's not very judicious 
 remarks sometimes interrupted us. The ne- 
 
264 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 phew, little Salem, a fine boy .ibout two yeum 
 old ; was, meantime, kept from disturbing by 
 my maid, who good-naturedly amused him. 
 His young aunt seemed very proud of his 
 broken phrases and infantine ways, just as 
 aunts are wont to be in our country ; and it 
 was entertaining to note the resemblances and 
 differences of his little remarks to those of 
 children at home. "Where is father, Salem?" 
 says the aunt. " With the camels," stammers 
 the boy, pointing with his little hand towards 
 the door. "Ah! where are the camels? Can 
 Salem see camels?" At this Salem jumps up, 
 and begins making the clicking sound used by 
 the camel-drivers, brandishing a twig, and try- 
 ing to lisp out something about "go to father 
 and camels." 
 
 I asked Zeynab to come out and sit under 
 the trees at the sacchia, as it was close in the 
 cabin, and she willingly brought her young 
 charge thither : a young friend of her a 
 joined us, and both girls listened attentively 
 while I read to them a story from the gospel. 
 
ZEYNAB AGAIN.- 
 
 265 
 
 I was sorry not to be able to offer them even 
 an orange, by way of refreshment, but did not 
 like to tempt them to break the fast, as it 
 would expose them to persecution, and is, after 
 all, a matter of indifference in itself, unless so 
 far as regarded in the light of an act merito- 
 rious in God's sight. I always told the poor 
 women that God did not command people to 
 go without food all day for a month, and that 
 he was really angry when wicked words came 
 from our mouths, not when we put bread into 
 them ; but I never urged them to break Ra- 
 madan. 
 
 On one of my visits to Zeynab's village I 
 took an English lady with me, who, though 
 she could not understand the language, was 
 anxious to see the interior of a native dwell- 
 ing. It was warm weather, and we had ridden 
 out to breakfast; for the earlier people can 
 get out the better, when the winter is over 
 and the sun is beginning to assert his power. 
 We took our coffee under the tamarisks, and 
 then went to the neighbouring cluster of mud 
 
 23 
 
266 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 huts, where I wa,s now scaicely looked on as a 
 stranger. Zeynab and her mother were both 
 at home, and cordially welcomed me and my 
 friend. After some chat, and a profusion of 
 compliments from the good mother, who is 
 great in that line, I at length produced my 
 book, and offered to read. Zeynab was willing, 
 as indeed she always seemed to be, having an 
 evident interest in the subject of religion ; her 
 younger sister, and a girl, who was, she told 
 me, a very dear friend, joined us, and they all 
 listened very attentively. 
 
 About a month before I left Cairo, Zeynab 
 came to pay me a visit by herself; she wanted 
 a bandage I had promised her for a swelled 
 knee of some kind, and obtained her mother's 
 leave to come to my house alone. The mother 
 came to town with her, but was obliged to go 
 and sell something or other elsewhere, and 
 actually trusted the girl to stay all the morning 
 at the house of a Christian and foreigner, and 
 to return by herself, when I liked to send her 
 home. A greater proof of confidence could 
 
ZEYNAB AGAIN. 
 
 267 
 
 hardly be. A Moslim woman to trust her 
 girl in a strange house, without her watchful 
 eye, at such a distance from her residence, 
 was no light thing; for to leave their own 
 village, if in the country, or their own " quar- 
 ter," if inhabitants of the town, unless accom- 
 panied by the mother, is what an Egyptian 
 girl is seldom allowed to do ; indeed, many in 
 the town, old as well as young, never quit their 
 own quarter, as I believe. In the country 
 there is more freedom, probably ; but still a 
 Christian's house three miles off would have 
 been an awful idea to Zeynab's mother a year 
 ago, I dare say; now it did not seem at all 
 extraordinary that her girl should visit "Sitti 
 M." As usual, she brought a present of new 
 milk, and delivered many kindly messages 
 and salutations from her mother; and then, 
 finding me engaged in domestic occupations, 
 she adjusted her dark veil so as to display her 
 pretty print jacket within, and seated herself 
 to converse with me, while at the same time 
 watching my employment with no small inte- 
 
268 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 rest. I believe these poor Egyptians '^ould 
 learn more from seeing what we do in house- 
 hold matters, about the importance of clean- 
 liness and neatness, &c., than by any precepts 
 we could possibly give them on the subject. 
 "What is that for? Why do you do that?" 
 they will ask, as they look on with good- 
 humoured surprise. Nothing seems more to 
 strike the women as a happy and novel idea 
 than the putting on an apron when engaged 
 in any occupation likely to soil the dress ; 
 they perform every thing, whether cookery, 
 or sweeping a room, or washing vessels, &c, 
 all without any protection, and, therefore, 
 generally look slatternly enough after them. 
 
 When we returned to the sitting-room, I 
 took advantage of having her without her 
 garrulous parent to endeavour to give her a 
 little instruction in higher matters, — saying, 
 "Look, Zeynab, my child; I shall be obliged 
 to leave you before long, and I wish to read 
 you something before I go away. I fear you 
 are forgetting all I have told you: try to re- 
 
ZEYKA3. 
 
 2G9 
 
 collect it when I am far from you." Zeynab 
 promised, and assured me she would not forget, 
 again and again. I then proposed to read from 
 the angeel (Gospel), saying that I had before 
 read to her some of the wonders and miracles 
 of Jesus Christ, and that I wished her now to 
 hear some of his conversation, — his teaching, — 
 and that I would read to her how he taught 
 a man who came to him by night to ask ques- 
 tions. She appeared pleased, and seated her- 
 self at my feet, looking up with a face full of 
 intelligent interest, and listened attentively 
 while I read the third chapter of St. John's 
 Gospel down to the end of our Lord's conver- 
 sation with Nicodemus, — explaining, as well as 
 I was able, as we went, and endeavouring to 
 show her the need of a change of heart, and 
 to give her some notion of the work of the 
 Holy Spirit here spoken of. She paid earnest 
 heed, as any one must have seen who had 
 looked at her expressive, wondering face ; and 
 though I could not understand all the many 
 questions and remarks she made, it was evi- 
 
 23* 
 
270 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 dent, from her asking so many, that her mind 
 had in some degree taken hold of the subject. 
 She understood all I said to her, I believe, as 
 far as the words went; for several months of 
 study and practice had, of course, given me 
 much more fluency than when our acquaint- 
 ance had begun. Still, it was but a few grains 
 that could be sown in this uncultivated soil, 
 with such limited opportunities, — any thing 
 like constant or regular instruction being 
 impossible. On this occasion I had Zeynab 
 all to myself, and she stayed three hours at the 
 house, and would even have stayed longer, 
 but that I was then obliged to go out; and, 
 after being refreshed with a simple repast of 
 bread and dried fruit in the schoolroom, she 
 took leave, entreating me to come and see her 
 at the village before going away; which I 
 promised to do, but illness prevented me. 
 
 I was so fearful of inducing any one to ac- 
 quiesce from a wish to please, or from a partial 
 conviction — a sort of half-belief — when the 
 truth has not really been received into the 
 
ZEYANB. 
 
 271 
 
 mind, that I have never pressed Zeynab to 
 tell me how far she believed what I told her; 
 only trying to make sure that she understood 
 what I said. Very often she voluntarily said, 
 "That is good;" or, if I said, "Is that true?" 
 would reply, "It is true; it certainly is true!" 
 
 But whether the intellect alone is yet 
 touched, or whether the seed has taken root 
 in the heart, I cannot venture to pronounce: 
 God knows. I can only say with certainty 
 that she is not exactly where she was a year 
 ago; and most earnestly would I recommend 
 her to the prayers of any Christian reader 
 who may feel an interest in her, after hearing 
 how the lost one was found at length. I was 
 anxious to find her, to do her good if possible ; 
 and after "many days" the search was suc- 
 cessful. Surely we may hope that the Good 
 Shepherd is also looking for her, and that he 
 will find and bring home this lost sheep of the 
 wilderness ; for how cold and feeble is our love 
 for souls, compared to His who gave His life 
 for the sheep ! 
 
272 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE BOYS' SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 
 
 IAT can be done for the boys? was 
 a question frequently before my 
 thoughts; for in my immediate neighbour- 
 hood they appeared a most neglected set of 
 beings. Nor did schools of a superior class 
 meet the difficulty. Nothing can supply the 
 place of a ragged school in large cities, — by 
 which we understand a school where the lowest 
 and poorest children, whose parents will not 
 01 cannot pay for their teaching, and in a ma- 
 jority of cases do not care whether they have 
 it or not, may be collected and taught the bare 
 essentials of education, such as Scripture and 
 reading, with the rudiments of some other 
 things, as far as circumstances permit. Where 
 
THE boys' sundai -school. 273 
 
 a day-school of this kind is not practicable, 
 an evening class is often attained; and, at all 
 events, a Sunday-school of some sort or other 
 may be managed in most places, because Chris- 
 tian persons occupied all the week are often 
 ready to give an hour or two of their Sunday 
 for the gratuitous instruction of the ignorant. 
 The weekdays were occupied with the girls' 
 school, and I had no funds at my disposal to 
 start a similar one for boys; but to collect a 
 few of these after service on Sunday, and thus 
 make a beginning which might hereafter be 
 increased into a daily school, seemed by no 
 mean3 an impossible thing to attempt, and the 
 rest of Saturday made one fresher for such work 
 on Sunday. The poor boy who had wished tc 
 be a girl, in order to be admitted to the school- 
 festival, was, unluckily for him, no longer 
 within reach : perhaps his father thought 
 change of air might benefit his mother's 
 tongue (she had been the chief scold of the 
 q aarter) : certain it is, they were all gone, and 
 
 I never again saw the boy in the lanes near Bab- 
 s 
 
274 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN E GrYFT. 
 
 el-Bahar. But there were plenty of others who3e 
 names and faces were familiar to me, most of 
 them brothers to my girls, besides a more 
 changing, ragged crew, the friends and ac- 
 quaintance of my neighbours, who came from 
 time to time to fight with them for sugarcanes, 
 to assist in the composition of dust-heaps 
 (which, from the dryness of th© climate, are 
 more in fashion than " mud pies," though 
 these are manufactured also quite success- 
 fully), and last, but not least, to join in tor- 
 menting a certain huge brown ram, which 
 looked exactly like a door-mat with a head 
 and legs to it, and which was driven up and 
 down the lane by a troop of little boys, till I 
 expected to see it knock them down and kill 
 them ; but the poor brute was very gentle, and 
 bore a great deal, and they did sometimes feed 
 it with part of their sugarcanes (especially the 
 tops, which they could not eat) : so perhaps it 
 had not so miserable a life as one might have 
 supposed. Some of these boys, I found, went 
 to the Mohammedan school, which thev dislike 
 
THE BOYS' SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 
 
 275 
 
 cordially, being often severely beaten, and not 
 furnished with pictmes or amusing books, or 
 any thing that could lighten the labour of 
 spelling and reading. The greater number, 
 however, did not go anywhere, and did not 
 know their letters. 
 
 I spoke to some, whom I met playing at the 
 door, one day, and asked if they would like to 
 come to my house and see some pictures, and 
 hear histories of Moses and David, and learn 
 something out of God's book. Two or three 
 said they would ; others laughed ; and the 
 smallest stared wonderingly, without saying a 
 word. There was one little fellow whose 
 roguish face was quite familial' ; I often saw 
 him making mimic shops with bits of broken 
 crockery upon the door-step, in company with 
 one or two little girls, and, as he moved hia 
 toys to let the owner of the house go in or 
 come out, he always used to laugh merrily 
 and beg leave to kiss my hand and ask if 
 he might not come to school. I occasionally 
 dropped nuts or dates out of the window to 
 
276 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 him and some 'young companions in the even- 
 ing, which made them exceedingly happy; and 
 that, perhaps, was one reason for the friendly 
 feeling evinced by this boy, whose demonstra- 
 tions were quite diverting. He had a slight 
 squint of one eye, but it seemed only to en- 
 hance the humorous expression of his face, 
 as he would stand by the donkey when I was 
 preparing to mount it for a ride, saying, 
 " Now, teacher, when may I come to school ?" 
 
 I told him, one day, that I was going to have 
 Sunday-school for the boys ; all the week wa,s 
 for the girls, but they should have school on one 
 day if they would come. I also told the girls 
 who had brothers to let them know. "While 
 trying to get pupils, on one hand, it was neces- 
 sary to get teachers, on the other, as a man 
 would be necessary, if any big boys came, to 
 keep order, &c; and, besides, the year was 
 already far advanced ; April had begun, and 1 
 had not quite two months more to stay, and must 
 leave successors. There was, however, no diffi- 
 culty in finding assistants. A gentleman con- 
 
TF.E BOYS' SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 277 
 
 nected Wxth the Malta College Cairo school pro- 
 mised to ask his head-teacher, a Protestant 
 Copt, to come now and then ; and with the 
 Moslim missionary, and one or two other Pro- 
 testant Syrian friends, there was no fear of my 
 not having some one or other each Sunday to 
 assist in teaching. 
 
 When Sunday arrived, finding no boys made 
 their appearance, I went down into the lane to 
 look for them ; but, though it usually swarmed, 
 on this morning, as if on purpose to try our 
 faith and patience, not a boy was in sight ; 
 only a girl was visible ; she was playing in a 
 little heap of rubbish, all by herself. 
 
 "SaidaF'I cried. She came immediately 
 at my call, being one of the scholars. I asked 
 her if she would find her own brother, if she 
 had one, and, if not, call some of her school- 
 fellows and send them to find their's. She 
 looked rather bewildered, not having, appa- 
 rently, heard of the scheme, though it had 
 been mentioned more than once in school. 
 However, she trotted off at last ; and, mean- 
 
 24 
 
278 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 time, I turned into the main street, which was 
 very quiet at this the hottest time of day. I 
 would gladly have fixed a later hour, for I 
 feared many boys would be sleeping about this 
 time in the hot months ; but I did not like to 
 choose an hour which would interfere with 
 either the English or American services, on 
 the teachers' account. 
 
 In the street were a group of boys assem- 
 bled at a doorway, quarrelling: they were 
 mostly quite little boys, from three or four 
 up to ten years of age, by their appearance. 
 Two women sat by, without interfering in the 
 least. I went up and gently remonstrated 
 with them for disputing, and asked them, in- 
 stead of beating one another, to come with me 
 and learn something good at the school yonder. 
 They were astonished, and stopped quarrelling 
 1 to listen. 
 
 One of the mothers said, " You are the 
 teacher, are you not?" 
 
 " Yes, for the girls ; but I wish to let the 
 
THE BOYS' SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 279 
 
 boys have a little teaching also, for I love them 
 as well as girls." 
 
 I explained to them that for an hour or two 
 on this day there was to be a school for the 
 boys, and that some kind gentlemen had pro- 
 mised to teach them out of God's book, if they 
 would come to my house. The women said it 
 was very good, though without expressing any 
 lively desire that their sons should learn; 
 which I could not expect, — that they did not 
 oppose it was all I could hope; for, after all, it 
 did require some confidence to send their chil- 
 dren with a stranger, of a different nation and 
 religion, on her bare word. But they told the 
 boys to go if they wished; and one patted her 
 little son on the shoulder, and encouraged him 
 to go, saying, " She will not beat you." Two 
 went away, looking rather sulky ; but the rest 
 came with me; and I brought them in tri- 
 umphantly. 
 
 At the door we met a girl dragging a young 
 brother in great pride, and she was followed 
 by two or three more with their brothers,— 
 
280 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 coaxing and pulling them along, and trying to 
 reassure them by patting them, and telling 
 of the pleasures and advantages of school, 
 while the poor boys hung back, and tried to free 
 their arms, half laughing, as if a little ashamed 
 of their fears. It was a curious sight thus to 
 see the despised part of the population using 
 the powers which a little smattering of supe- 
 rior knowledge had given them, trying to 
 bring their brothers to get a share, and in the 
 most affectionate manner persuading them not 
 to be afraid. 
 
 Accustomed to the harsh treatment in vogue 
 at Moslim schools, the boys were much more 
 timid than the girls had been at first. Two 
 or three who had been coaxed inside the door 
 suddenly lost heart, and, crying out, " They 
 will beat us !" turned and fled precipitately. 
 The others came up and stayed ; but one little 
 fellow, having only one eye, and a thick shag 
 of hair hanging from his head (which gave 
 him a strange appearance here, where the boys' 
 hair is usually shaved), only consented to ^tay 
 
THE BOYS' SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 281 
 
 on the condition of being allowed to keep the 
 door wide open by sitting on the ground with 
 his back against it ; so that at any sign of foul 
 play he might get off, as I suppose. He gave 
 no motive for this singular choice of a seat, 
 but said if we did not let him sit there he 
 would not remain. 
 
 They were a ragged and dirty crew, as 
 may be imagined. I can scarcely say how 
 many we had that first day, as two or three 
 went and others came ; but I think nine 
 stayed. These were clad in blue or white 
 shirts, or rather garments which had formerly 
 been so but were now nearly undistinguish- 
 able ; and cotton caps on their little cropped 
 heads. Certainly, dress had not done much 
 for them ; but they had bright, intelligent 
 eyes, which lit up as they glanced curiously at 
 the pictures on the wail. The younger ones 
 all clamoured to stay with the lady; and I 
 divided them from the older boys, giving these 
 over to the young Copt, who was my assistant 
 that day. The little fellows sat in a row be- 
 
 24* 
 
282 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 fore me : all were Mo-slims but one, named 
 George (Jerjas, or, in Cairo, Gergas). He was 
 a friend of the others, however, and placed 
 little Mohammed (a fat, round-faced little 
 Moslim, of four years old) on his lap, that he 
 might better see the picture I was showing 
 them, of the finding of Moses. I talked to 
 them, and asked questions, and amused rather 
 than taught, this first day; the great poin 
 being to induce them to get the habit of 
 coming here on Sundays. We only kept 
 them an hour, fearing to tire them. 
 
 The second Sunday we had* thirteen scholars. 
 Before my assistant arrived, seven boys had 
 come; and I was so afraid of their running 
 away, if left to wait outside, that I hurried 
 down and admitted them, though it was before 
 the right time. People who have no clocks 
 cannot be very exact. Before long, the girls 
 brought another batch of scholars ; and at the 
 same time a Syrian friend, belonging to an 
 English mercantile house, came to my aid, 
 and, being accustomed to Sunday-school work 
 
CrfjtltJ 2Ufc in egnnt. 
 
 Before long, the girls brought another batch of scholars. 
 
 p. 282. 
 
THE BOYS' SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 283 
 
 in Alexandria, proved a good teacher. He 
 took the older boys and taught them a text of 
 Scripture, besides reading and explaining a 
 short portion and showing them pictures. 
 I did the same, only omitting the reading to 
 the little fellows, and, instead of it, teaching 
 them a few letters of the alphabet. 
 
 By degrees a more regular system may be 
 introduced; but till a set of children are got 
 into the habit of attending every week, we 
 cannot make it more than a class: a real 
 school may follow this little beginning. 
 
 From this time we had a few lads every 
 Sunday, — sometimes ten or twelve, sometimes 
 only three or four; but no Sunday passed 
 without at least a few coming. 
 
 As Sunday is, of course, in no way different 
 from other days to Mosiim boys, they often 
 forgot it at first, and some came on Monday, 
 instead ; others got an idle fit, and went off to 
 play in some neighbouring lane, md let the 
 hour pass by. Still, a beginning was made : the 
 small end of the wedge was inserted into the log. 
 
284 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 One day, three quite big boys, of sixteen 
 or seventeen years of age, came in, curious to 
 know what was going on, and consented to 
 stay and listen to a chapter of the gospel read 
 and explained by the missionary. Another 
 time we had several little creatures of four 
 or five; but Shoh's younger brother, Abdul 
 Nebby (the servant of the prophet), was gene- 
 rally an attendant on the class; and also 
 another called Achmet, — both lively, handsome 
 boys, about ten or eleven, full of spirit and 
 fun, and not averse to instruction. Being the 
 children of near neighbours, and the brothers 
 of my own girls, they had some personal ac- 
 quaintance with me, and were always ready 
 with a friendly salutation if I passed them in 
 the street. My little squint-eyed friend, whose 
 name I forget, used often to call out, "I re- 
 member Sunday," with a significant smile, if 
 I was looking out of window, or pull at my 
 hand or skirt, if we met at the door. And 
 though I was obliged gently to withdraw the 
 dress, sometimes, observing, "You must wash 
 
THE BOYS' SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 285 
 
 your hands, my boy, before you touch my 
 clothes; see how dirty they are!" he did not 
 seem painfully daunted by the rebuke, but 
 laughed and skipped round me in great glee, 
 saying, "You are my mother!" 
 
 It may be that we shall not see very distinct 
 results for a long time from this and similar 
 attempts; but how few among Sunday-scholars 
 in our own more favoured country give their 
 teachers evidence of their being really Chris- 
 tians in heart as well as name! We know 
 how often the seed sown is found after many 
 years ; and so it may be here, where the diffi- 
 culty attending the sowing is so much greater. 
 "We would not be satisfied with a little, but we 
 must thankfully feel that even this little is 
 better than none, — that if our boys have but 
 a dim and shadowy idea of Jesus Christ the 
 Saviour, it is better than nothing, and that 
 God may one day send help to develop further 
 the little knowledge they have gained, in some 
 way we cannot possibly foresee. One has often 
 observed a tiny green shoot coming out of a 
 
286 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 crack in a rock or great stone, and wondered 
 how the feeble germ of life could be supported 
 in so hard a soil; but gradually the chinks 
 enlarge as the roots spread, and they make a 
 way for themselves, little by little drinking in 
 the dew from heaven, till at last a vigorous 
 shrub is seen growing out of the barren rock. 
 Thus, when working in a hard and dry soil, we 
 must take advantage of every opening, however 
 small, and, as it were, drop a seed into every 
 crevice in the rock. 
 
 When prevented by an attack of illness from 
 taking an active part in the Sunday-class, it 
 was carried on by my friends; and since my 
 quitting Cairo I have had a letter, telling me 
 that they had assembled fifteen boys every 
 Sunday since I left. Of course, their numbers 
 will vary; but, by God's grace, I trust, the class 
 will be kept on, and gradually increased, until 
 we get a regular " ragged school" for the boys. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 287 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ^^jpAY had set in ; spring had long van- 
 Ct*fJ» ished, and burning summer reigned in 
 the land ; for May in Egypt is not like that 
 capricious month in our country, — sometimes 
 fair, smiling and flowery, sometimes cold and 
 rainy, — as if winter were more than half 
 inclined to return and send back the swallows 
 in disgrace, kill the apple-blossoms, and shut 
 up the invalids again in their chambers. In 
 Cairo we do at least know pretty certainly 
 what to expect, and can be prepared for it 
 without any fear that thin dresses will be use- 
 less : dust and heat are regular enough in 
 their arrival, and May has even much more 
 of the hot wind than June, which is said by 
 
288 
 
 CH1LD-LTFF. JN EGYPT. 
 
 vitie experienced to be less trying, on that ac- 
 count. When I left, it was the end of May, 
 and the hot blasts were still raging, with 
 shorter intervals than usual. The thermo- 
 meter was 96° in the shade of one of the 
 coolest houses in the town, but the hot wind 
 made it virtually much hotter, from its parch- 
 ing effects. Except for a short distance, or in 
 shaded streets, it was hardly safe to go out in 
 the middle of the day, — at least, for any not 
 natives of the country ; and every one said so 
 long a duration of heat was very uncommon 
 and very trying (we had nine or ten days with- 
 out any respite, three or four being the usual 
 time, followed by at least two cool, pleasant 
 days). However, so it was; and from this 
 cause, as well as an attack of illness, it became 
 necessary for me to give up several little plans 
 which were to have been carried out this 
 month. One of these had been to get a sort 
 of meeting of the poor women, chiefly the 
 scholars' mothers ; but on this account it was 
 out of my power to assemble them, as I had 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 289 
 
 hoped to do. Any thing like a regular period- 
 ical meeting, I found, was not likely to suc- 
 ceed just yet, being so contrary to all their 
 habits and ways : so that visiting them at 
 home, and getting half a dozen at a time to- 
 gether, as opportunity might allow, seemed all 
 that could be managed during the winter and 
 spring. But a meeting before any one's de- 
 parture, or to welcome a friend back after an 
 absence, is quite intelligible, and excites no 
 suspicions; and several had promised to come, 
 — when illness hindered this plan as well as 
 others. But, in spite of these and some other 
 hindrances, there was great cause for thank- 
 fulness in the retrospection which one naturally 
 indulges in when winding up any sort of busi- 
 ness at the end of a " season" and preparing 
 to quit the scene of labour for a time. 
 
 That the little school held on its way was no 
 small cause of gratitude ; for how easily might 
 such an attempt have been nipped in the bud ! 
 Nor had our winter been uneventful : public 
 affairs had seen great changes, which might 
 
 T 2i> 
 
290 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 have seriously affected resident Christians, and 
 did cause them considerable anxiety at one 
 time. The Viceroy's death, and the succession 
 of a new Pasha to the dignity, made every 
 European, and even every Copt, feel uneasy, 
 until they could see that their rights were not 
 likely to be injured. Then came the Sultan's 
 visit (not very long after the first opening of 
 the Sunday-school). It made a great bustle, 
 and called forth, not loyalty (which people 
 seldom feel for a foreign and non-resident 
 monarch), but a good deal of parade and 
 show; and it excited some fear and some 
 curiosity. "Why the brief visit was paid was 
 not known; and the conjectures about it were 
 numerous. However, we Christians were left 
 in peace, and our schools undisturbed : there- 
 fore we were most thankful, for our part ; and 
 as to the natives, their interest and curiosity 
 quickly died away, and the royal progress was, 
 apparently, forgotten as soon as the lamps for 
 the illumination had been taken away. 
 
 The splendid pageantry came and went like 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 291 
 
 a scene in a play : the officers riding through 
 the streets, their swords glittering with the 
 jewels on the hilts, — the rich housings of 
 purple and crimson, heavy with gold and 
 silver fringe, hanging from the horses' sides, — 
 the gayly-dressed slaves, — the silks hung from 
 the windows, — the torches carried before the 
 carriages by night, — all passed in a few short 
 days, and left no trace, reminding one of the 
 words of Scripture. 
 
 It is interesting, to those who are either 
 directly or indirectly occupied with sowing the 
 seed of heavenly truth, to think of the con- 
 trast of now and then, the present and the 
 future, while looking at the pageantry of some 
 such scene as that of the Sultan's visit, and 
 comparing it with the mean and wretched ap- 
 pearance of the group of poor men assembling 
 round a Scripture reader, for instance ; or with 
 the class of ragged children clustering about 
 their teacher, knowing, as they do, that if the 
 good seed take root in the heart of the least 
 and lowest among those little ones, he will 
 
292 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 stand iu the midst of the unchangeable bright- 
 ness and glory, when the tinsel splendour that 
 dazzled his childish eyes in bygone days has 
 passed away forever ! 
 
 But the reaping-time is not yet; and the 
 sowing-time is often one of tears, — always one 
 of anxious labour, — and demands much patient 
 waiting, and much faith in Him who alone can 
 give the increase. 
 
 It was a blessing, in looking back to the 
 small beginning of the school here, and of the 
 many difficulties attending its reopening in 
 November last, to think that it was not now 
 obliged to suspend operations, even during the 
 illness of the superintendent or temporary 
 absence for a longer period, as must shortly be 
 the case. The Evangelist, Mr. Joseph Shakoor, 
 came every morning during this last fortnight 
 to give a Bible-lesson in my place ; and Teresa 
 carried on the spelling and reading afterwards. 
 Both she and the embroideress, Dimiana, were 
 punctual in attendance, quiet and steady, and 
 constantly came to ask directions or report 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 293 
 
 progress to me ; ind the young voices sounded 
 cheerfully through the house from an early 
 hour till four o'clock in the afternoon. The 
 scholars were better arranged than formerly, — 
 the two small class-rooms having been made 
 almost into one large room, by the opening of 
 a wide doorway in the partition-wall; and 
 thick reed-mats were hung at all the windows 
 where the afternoon sun came in. 
 
 Though they seem thirsty during the pre- 
 valence of hot winds, and are always running 
 to the water-jars, the native children do not 
 suffer in health, and are, I think, more lively 
 in the month of May than during the short 
 period of cold in winter. But as summer ad- 
 vances, they feel the many hours of intense 
 heat ; and I agreed to let them be assembled as 
 early as possible, and dismissed an hour sooner, 
 after this month, — the afternoon, especially 
 from two o'clock to five, being the very hottest 
 time of the day. After that hour the beams 
 begin to slant and the shadows to grow longer; 
 ai:d it is beautiful, when the sun draws in his 
 
294 
 
 CHILD- LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 fiery shafts, to watch the stilling of the air, 
 and the life and activity of the beings on 
 earth, as the orange glow spreads over the 
 sky, and the bright disk disappears behind the 
 palms opposite the windows. Presently the 
 glory is dimmed for a minute or two, and then 
 returns, brighter and purer in hues than before, 
 — like the sun's parting message to the land. 
 It is not a long one : soon the apricot colour 
 fades into soft greenish white, and then the 
 blue haze of evening rapidly darkens every 
 object. Meantime the old men sit and sip 
 their coffee opposite the coffee-house; the 
 women crowd the street with heavy water- 
 pitchers on their heads; friendly greetings 
 are exchanged between the workmen on their 
 way home ; the flocks of goats are heard 
 bleating, as they come from their daily ex- 
 cursions into the country; while, above all 
 other sounds, the voices of "girls and boys 
 playing in the streets" can be heard, full of 
 glee at the welcome coolness of the evening 
 hour. The mosquitos, to be sure, come out in 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 295 
 
 armie© when the sun is low ; but we have a 
 good to counterbalance this evil: the flies, — 
 which cause really more annoyance, I think, 
 as being so much more numerous, and so impu- 
 dent and pertinacious in their attacks, — these 
 all retire to sleep upon the ceiling, as regu- 
 larly as chickens go to roost ; and it becomes 
 possible to write in peace, and to read, with- 
 out incessantly waving a fly-flap. 
 
 And what of the neighbours formerly alluded 
 to? Little change had taken place in the 
 quarter, compared to what might be found in 
 most streets of a European city, in the course 
 of two years. 
 
 The Boab's mud lean-to against the school- 
 house had not existed on my return, and he 
 had received a polite request that it might not 
 be rebuilt: indeed, he and his numerous troop 
 of children had obtained a somewhat better 
 dwelling in the lane. The fruit-seller, Seid, 
 had gone; and his scolding wife's voice was 
 no more heard in Bab-el-Bahar, but enlivened 
 8ome other quarter. The Boab's eldest soc, 
 
296 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYIT. 
 
 Ibraheem, kept a sweetmeat-shop in the fruit- 
 stall's place: he appeared a steady, respectable 
 young man ; and his father made me a very 
 fine speech, when taking leave of me (a day or 
 two before starting), for having patronized 
 him, by purchasing a quantity of sweets from 
 him for my school-feast a little while ago, as 
 well as some which I brought away as curiosi- 
 ties to young relatives in Europe. These juve- 
 niles will doubtless recollect Ibraheem's dain- 
 ties, which they approved highly; and the 
 pride of the old Boab will be great if he one 
 day hears that his son's handiwork has actu- 
 ally been all the way over the sea and been 
 eaten and praised by English children. 
 
 My old acquaintance Sitt Haanem, the dress- 
 maker, had once visited me in the course of 
 the winter, and begged me to come and see 
 her. No one had visited her, she said (i.e. no 
 Christian lady), since her change of residence: 
 previously to that, an English lady, who was 
 then taking charge of Bab-el-Bahar school, 
 had once called on her; but her husband's 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 297 
 
 death, and her subsequent removal t6 the 
 other end of the town, had taken her out of 
 all Christian influence. I had, with a great 
 deal of trouble, discovered her house at last, 
 but found her absent; and it was too far to 
 come again on a mere chance. Now, how- 
 ever, just a fortnight before my departure, she 
 came in great joy to say that she was to be a 
 neighbour again, having returned to her old 
 quarters. She came frequently to see me, 
 when she found me confined to a sofa, — the 
 Eastern custom of visiting the sick being car- 
 ried out more fully than is always beneficial 
 to the patient, though they are most kindly in 
 feeling and intention : their sympathy for sick- 
 ness, and the attentions shown to those suffer- 
 ing in health, are a very amiable trait. I 
 could not find that Sitt Haanem had made any 
 advances in respect of religion ; but she was 
 very willing to discuss matters, had I been 
 well enough for long conversations; and her 
 friendly feelings were evident enough. She 
 had grown very fat, and increased the heat 
 
298 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 which the weather caused, by wearing a thick 
 cloth jacket, because it was her best. She 
 begged me to return to Cairo as soon as pos- 
 sible, and never to go away any more, and 
 then we could talk and read a great deal. 
 
 And what of Shoh and Fatmeh, our old 
 friends? Of the latter I have little to say: 
 her gentle but passive nature leads one at 
 first acquaintance to think her more deeply 
 impressed than she really is : she feels all that 
 is said at the time, but one impression soon 
 effaces another; and, though affectionate when- 
 ever I met her, she rarely now came to the 
 house, as her sister did, with no motive except 
 a desire for instruction or sympathy. 
 
 Shoh's voice caught my ear one day during 
 the last week at Cairo, sounding very angry, 
 and complaining, in the street below, — first 
 with other women's voices, and then alone, as 
 if she had driven the rest from the field. I 
 raised the window -blind, and, covering my 
 head (for the heat of the sun was intense), 
 looked out into the street, and saw her stand- 
 
CONCLI BIO*. 
 
 299 
 
 ing with her brother at the sweetmeat-shop, 
 talking, and evidently very indignant about 
 something, and seeming unmindful of poor 
 little Hosna, whose wee head hung over her 
 shoulder, quite uncovered, and exposed to a 
 broiling sun. I called to her; and, angry as 
 she was, she immediately obeyed the summons, 
 and hastened up-stairs, though with rather a 
 sullen expression of countenance. Before speak- 
 ing a word, I put my hand on the baby's head ; 
 and it felt exactly like a hot loaf out of a 
 baker's oven. " Shoh, my dear, the child will 
 be sick, and die, if you do not take more care 
 of her." Shoh was all attention to the child 
 directly, and quite sorry. " Indeed," she said, 
 "it was not well." I told her that was no 
 wonder, as Hosna was just cutting her teeth 
 and required great care, and remonstrated 
 with her about the exposure to the sun. "Oh, 
 her mendeel was lost in that high wind the 
 other day: — it flew away!" said Shoh. "You 
 could have covered her head with your veil. 
 But, tell me, now, what was all that noise 
 
300 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 about in the street?" Shoh seated Lrrself on 
 the ground before replying, as a long story 
 had to be told, and then " began at the begin- 
 ning," as children say. She had been telling 
 her brother, Ibraheem, of her husband's mis- 
 deeds, — how he went to Suez to work on the 
 railway, and left her none of his wages to buy 
 food, and how she had been obliged to go 
 and eat at her mother's, or she would have 
 had no food ! — and it was not good — it was very 
 bad — to act so; — and how she showed him 
 the child, and said (holding it up, to enact the 
 scene as she spoke), " See! this is your child!" 
 and yet he gave her no money to get it clothes, 
 ■ — adding, energetically, as she turned to me, 
 "Who gave Hosna this frock ? You did. And 
 that little jacket ? You ! But for you, it would 
 have no clothes ; and yet its father gets money, 
 but he gives me none !" I pitied her very 
 much, for it did seem a hard case ; and the 
 more I inquired, the worse it seemed. The 
 husband had been employed for some time on 
 the railway ; and some persons (more likely to 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 301 
 
 be Europeans than Arabs, I fear) had taught 
 him to drink "araky," and thus his money- 
 went, instead of buying bread for his wife and 
 clothes for the baby. 
 
 How much easier is vice learned than any 
 thing good! and how few are the Lord's 
 servants in this country ! A " feeble folk," in- 
 deed, compared with the multitudes of Satan's 
 army; and though, like the conies, they may 
 say that they "have their dwelling in a rock," 
 it is yet discouraging at the moment to see 
 how often the poor and ignorant are led into 
 deeper sins than they had before by those 
 whose superior civilization endows them with 
 outward superiority. All poor Shoh's natural 
 violence of temper was excited by the bad con- 
 duct of her husband, — which was, as far as 
 I could learn, a recent thing. Formerly, he 
 used to beat her when angry; but that was 
 too ordinary a matter for her to complain 
 much about it : being left without food, and 
 reduced, even for a time, to be dependent on 
 
 26 
 
302 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 her parents, was a disgrace which she felt far 
 more keenly than blows. 
 
 After giving the poor thing plenty of sym- 
 pathy, and many pats on the shoulder, till she 
 was a little calmer, I exhorted her to try and 
 win her husband to better conduct by gentle- 
 ness, and not again to shout out all his faults, 
 so as to let all the street hear, but to pray often 
 to God to change his heart. She looked rather 
 incredulous at the idea of any change in that 
 quarter, but said, " I will pray." I reminded 
 her that she now knew a great deal more than 
 many others did ; that she had heard of God's 
 love to the world, and of how Christ died for 
 our sins, and of the Holy Spirit which our 
 Father in heaven will give to those who pray 
 to Him, and that she should try to be gentle 
 and good, and to show others by her life 
 that she knew something about the love of 
 God. 
 
 After a little conversation, she became com- 
 posed and cheered, and went off tolerably 
 happy, with a piece of clean muslin tied on 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 303 
 
 the poor baby's bead, and a bit of sugar in its 
 hand. I saw her for the last time the morn- 
 Jig I started: she was standing, weeping, at 
 the door of my house, as the donkeys con- 
 veyed the luggage to the railway-station. Of 
 the affectionateness of her heart there is no 
 doubt, — poor thing ! but her position is one of 
 great difficulty, and her temper very impetu- 
 ous ; and I could not leave her without feeling 
 very anxious. 
 
 These details of her, and of others with 
 whom I came into contact, are, indeed, but 
 "the short and simple annals of the poor," 
 and contain much that is in itself both homely 
 and trivial. It is, however, with the view of 
 bringing the habits and situation, not of these 
 individuals only, but of the class of which they 
 are specimens, before the minds of those 
 readers who take a lively interest in the con- 
 dition of the poor in every land, that these 
 additional sketches are published. They are 
 unfinished stories, one and all, and we may 
 never find their conclusion in this world; but 
 
304 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 all the persons here alluded to were real living 
 beings when the writer met with them ; they 
 are not fictitious or dressed-up characters, but 
 actual Egyptian peasant women, feeling and 
 acting much as do hundreds and thousands of 
 others. If it were fiction, and not truth, it 
 would be easy to make more entertaining 
 stories, to speak of greater success, of more 
 positive results, instead of stopping short at 
 "We hope;" but in details which profess to 
 be the bare and simple truth, we may not say 
 a word more than the facts warrant, as they 
 come under personal observation. 
 
 To say (as has sometimes been rashly de- 
 clared) that the Moslims are ready to receive 
 Christianity, and that the faith of the false 
 Prophet is crumbling away, is what I would 
 not venture for a moment to assert; and, I 
 presume, judging from those whose wide ex- 
 perience gives them authority, that it is very 
 far from being the case. But I can state, as a 
 fact, that in the neighbourhood of Cairo the 
 peasant population, both men and women, are 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 306 
 
 willing, and many of them eager, to listen to 
 the word of God, when it is brought to them 
 judiciously and discreetly as well as with 
 kindness and zeal. The missionary can only 
 sow the seed ; the increase must come from 
 above ; but when he gains a fair hearing he 
 is sowing ; and truly the harvest is plenteous 
 here, and the labourers few. While we earnestly 
 pray for more labourers in these whitening 
 fields, we must anxiously desire that they may 
 be wise and cautious as well as zealous 
 workers ; for one rash and inexperienced 
 labourer, acting with a want of prudence in 
 a Moslim country, would easily shut doors 
 which his predecessors had opened, and thus 
 do more harm than good. But for the scribe 
 instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, — the 
 householder who can bring out of his treasury 
 things new and old, as occasion may point, and 
 who prays to be given the wisdom of the ser- 
 pent with the harmlessness of the dove, — a 
 better field for exertion in the Lord's cause 
 can scarcely be found than Egypt. If India 
 
 U 26* 
 
306 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 Las, in one way, more claims, as being part 
 of our own empire, still Egypt has great 
 demands upon us also, as being part of the 
 Bible land, — those regions which are every 
 man's country who has studied the Scrip- 
 ture : the land where God so often spoke 
 to his servants, the land where Joseph died 
 and Moses was born, and where the Saviour s 
 infant feet trod, must have a sacred inte- 
 rest for every Christian, and its people, — 
 " mixed multitudes" though they be — a pe- 
 culiar claim. 
 
 It is a subject of great thankfulness to 
 the writer of these little sketches to hear 
 that the first part of " Ragged Life in 
 Egypt" has been read with interest and 
 pleasure at several " mothers' meetings," and 
 that some have been led to feel an inte- 
 rest in those who have fewer privileges 
 and advantages than themselves. Nor is 
 the good thus obtained merely the opening 
 of their minds to think of others: the poor 
 women of Egypt may be benefited, through 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 307 
 
 God's grace, by the prayers of the poor in a 
 distant land, — how, we may never exactly 
 know in this world ; but that prayer is a 
 means of grace to the missionary, we have 
 the highest authority s — " Ye also helping to- 
 gether by prayer for us" (2 Cor. i. 11) ; and 
 many other passages of Scripture show that 
 thus the weakest believers may help in the 
 good work of spreading the gospel. The hard- 
 worked washerwoman who has carried home 
 the recollection of what she heard of the fol- 
 lowers of the false Prophet, and thinks over it 
 at her daily labour, and offers up humble and 
 sincere prayers for the missionaries and Bible- 
 women of Cairo, is a helper in the good cause. 
 The electric telegraph, with all its wonders, is 
 less wonderful than the chain of Christian love 
 and sympathy, defying not only distance but 
 language, and forming a mysterious link be- 
 tween those who are never to meet in life. 
 But a day will come when some of them will 
 meet in the great multitude of all kindreds 
 and nations : surely there will be an Egyptian 
 
308 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN EGYPT. 
 
 band among the rest ! May God in his mercy 
 grant that some whose names are mentioned 
 in these pages may be found at that day with 
 their names written in the Book of Life, and 
 their home among the many mansions pre- 
 pared by the Lord for all who have trusted in 
 him ! 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 GAYLORD #3523PI Printed in USA