The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 12, 1857. rare a successful one is few people know better than ourselves, considering the multitude of volumes which make their appearance on our table, and which we never see or hear of any where else. Among the vast number of volumes belonging to this species which have been published within the last two years the " general reader " knows probably the names of about four or five. Lieutenant Burton, Canon Stanley, and Mr. Porter—we do not at this moment recall any others—have achieved a popularity extending beyond the narrow limit of reviews. and would probably be placed in the same shelf with " Eothen " and the Crescent and the Cross." The author of Sinai and Palestine," indeed, merits even a higher place, for he has refrained from the temptation to which most travellers succumb, of making himself the prominent object in his narrative, and has produced a thoroughly digested and methodical work, which does not lose its freshness with the close of the season, but will be read with as much plea sure twenty years hence as at the present day. We should be inclined to indulge the somewhat hopeless wish that there were more writers like him, did we not remember that the qualities which make a man an active and enterprising traveller are too often acquired at the cost of the educational training which alone could enable him to place his discoveries before the public in a judicious literary form. We must not complain, then, if in the case of barbarous or difficult regions we get no more than the raw material, so to speak, of a book of travels ; the diary, with its monotonous recur rence of traversed miles, its bewildering suc cession of uncouth names, with no connecting link but that of contiguity, and forgotten as soon as we have turned the page ; its petty details of personal hardships, its fragments of landscapes, and its heterogeneous scraps of botany, geology, or ethnography—all of which some future explorer or topographer may perhaps weave into a consistent and intelli gible whole, but which now pass before the eye of the reader in a fatiguing though not uninteresting diorama, requiring nothing but order and coherence to render it of permanent value. Of the two volumes placed at the head of this notice that of Mr. Hamilton is by far the mast important, since his " wanderings " were , almost entirely out of the beaten track of I tourists, while those of Mr. Prime were over ground which numbers of Englishmen traverse every year. Mr. Hamilton, having crossed the Desert from Cairo to Suez and made the tour of Mount Sinai, proceeded to Jidda, on the east coast of the Red Sea. From Jidda ho made an excursion through the " Hedjaz " to Tayf, a city in the direction 'of, but further inland than, Mecca ; and on his return to the coast crossed the Red Sea to Sawakin, a small port on its west side. From this point his route lay through Soudan to Khartoum, at the junction of the Blue and White Niles, and thence by the river to Lower Egypt. Mr. Hamilton's narrative is simple and clear, and his style perfectly unaffected and very readable. He seems to have been as diligent an observer as the difficulties of his journey allowed him to be, and, though not professedly scientific, to have noted down a great variety of facts in botany and natural history. He gives a better idea of the parti cular than of the general topographical features of a country ; he is good at a cabinet picture, bat not at a bird's-eye view. The importance of his book lies more in the novelty of part of his route than in the extent of his researches into special points. In the chapter on Sinai, for instance, we could not have understood his description at all without the knowledge gained from previous writers ; and he does not attempt to assign to their localities any of the events mentioned in the Bible, nor even to be aware of the opinions of previous travellers on the subject. If he is to be judged by the slightness of his remarks on this part of his journey, he will undoubtedly have left much for those who may follow in his track. Few if any tourists penetrate so far as Khartoum (in Mr. Hamilton's spelling Char !am), which is the great emporium of the ivory trade of Eastern Africa, and a place of continually increasing importance. In a map of the U. K. Society' we find the population stated to be 20,000 ; it is now double that number, although the climate is unhealthy, and the morality even more lax than is usual in remote commercial cities ; its sole virtue is hospitality. It is at Khartoum that the mystery of the Nile commences—not the Nile which Bruce explored, but the Bahr-el-Abiad, which is really the principal stream, and to pursue which so many fruitless expeditions have been organised. On the chances of discovery Mr. Hamilton has the following ob servations : I add here, for the sake of bringing together all I have to say on the White Nile, the information derived from M. Lafargue, one of the oldest traders in Soudan, who accom panied Dr. Knoblecher in passing the cataract which stopped the progress of Mehemet Ali's mission. They found the passage easy of navigation, and the river beyond it, a magnificent stream 201) yards wide. At a slum dis tance beyond this point a yearly market is held, frequented by Abyssinian and Mussulman merchants from the coast— a proof, as M. Lafargue very justly remarked, that the river most be navigable southwards for a great distance, and that there must be another great watercourse running to the sea; such heavy articles as form the staple trade of this country could not be conveyed at remunerating prices by any mode of carriage but water. He suggests that a small steamer, with shifting paddles, to escape risk of injury in passing the cataracts, might be sent up with the fair prospect of reaching a point far beyond any discoveries hitherto made. Fuel is to be procured in abundance along the shores, and nothing need be feared from the people of a country which has not yet been visited by white men. It is only in the hostilities occasioned by former visitors that any danger can originate. I have seen an old Portuguese map in which the Nile is represented as issuing from a great lake in the centre of Africa about the 10 deg. of south latitude. Many per sons at the present day hold this opinion, and recent discoveries have done much to confirm our belief in the correctness of these old charts. Should the opinion be true, there is probably nothing to prevent a light steamer from reaching the sources of the Nile. The lucky man who has it in his power to undertake the enterprise will be rewarded, not only with the lasting fame which must attend him who first unveils the mysterious river, but a more solid prize awaits him, for it is well known, in Egypt at least, that the Nile flows from Paradise. This was the objection made by the ulemah of Cairo to Mehemet Ali, when he sent out his expedition ; it perhaps had a con siderable effect in preventing its success, though it did not deter the old Pasha from the adventure. He answered them, that if the sources were found, we should then know that the River of Egypt is not the Nile. I believe that the whole expense of fitting ont such an expedition, and bringing it to a successful termination, would not ex ceed 6,000/. sterling Vast regions, supposed to be fertile with unknown treasures, might then he opened to Euro pean enterprise. The steamer mast not draw more than two and a half feet of water ; it must be well armed, and part of the deck, at least, protected with a permanent awn ing of light sheet iron covered with felt. The work of Mr. Prime is one of far greater pretension, but in our opinion of less perform ance. The author is an American, and his aim has apparently been to make what ladies call a pretty book. There is a great air of " finish " about it ; the chapters are all deco rated with titles:—" The Dead of Alexandria" —" Prayers and Coffee"—" Arrakee and An tiques "—" Memnon and his Daughter," &c. &c., which have an affected, pseudo-Bul werian look, like an imitation of the " Last Days of Pompeii," or Longfellow's " Hype rion." The contents, though not otherwise than amusing in themselves, will not have much novelty to those who have read the work of Eliot Warburton ; and there is an uneasy straining after effect throughout, which is not always as successful in a published volume as it would be in a letter intended merely for home consumption. Mr. Prime went up tho Nile as far as Den dera ; saw all the orthodox sights, and heard the sounds, even to the " church bells" which Eothen describes, and which we find corrobo rated as follows : And in the night I heard the sounds of a distant land come to me distinctly on the gale. You may laugh at me ; you may say I write it because others have said and written the same ; you may tell me I dreamed it. I care not what you say, but I know that on that stormy Saturday night 1 heard the church bells of my old home sounding over the tossing waves of the Nile. Yes, i heard them. 1, too, laughed when I read in the books of travels of others that they heard such sounds on the desert, but I did nut laugh now, for I have learned the truth of those sounds right well. I was sitting just here where I now sit, writing a letter home, to be mailed when we should reach Luxor. Pro found silence for a moment rested on everything. There was a lull in the wind. The flow of the river was swift and noiseless. • • • • Soft, soft and sweet they came over the swift river ; clear, rich, and full. There could be no mistaking them. I might have doubted, but the tones were all the same. 899 There was the Presbyterian bell, deep, stern, and solemn in every stroke; the Episcopal church bell, more musical and silvery ; the old Scotch church bell, that was for ever chanting the Psalm, "They that go down to the sea in ships "—all clear and loud ; and then the wind arose, and they went away over the desert, and I heard them far off, and then no longer. We will introduce our next extract from Mr Prime by an anecdote of which he has re minded us. About thirty years ago there was a man well known in London society by the name of " Everywhere M—." Though any thing but agreeable, he had vast impudence, and, enjoying the reputation of a Government spy, he had the entreo to numerous houses in the fashionable world. One evening, at a party, a small group of persons were admiring a magnificent necklace worn by a lady, one of the guests. M— came up, and was im pertinent enough to take hold of the necklace to examine it as it lay on the bosom of its wearer ; with a touch of her finger she un clasped it, and allowed it to drop into his hand. For once, he was abashed ; returned it, looking rather crestfallen ; and speedily made himself scarce. Now for a parallel instance : On the bank of the river, near this village [near Eane], I sat down and watched the women coming for water. One and another came, each helping the one before her to lift the enormous jar to the top of her head. At length there appeared one of the noblest specimens of feminine beauty that I remember. A tall and splen- didly formed girl came down close by me, the wind blow ing hack her single thin cotton garment so as to reveal the outlines of a perfect form, one that Prasiteles might have dreamed, one such as it is seldom permitted human eyes to see. Her tunic was open from neck to waist, and her bust, contrary to the common appearance of the Egyptian women, was full and of delicate outline. Her face was Greek, her lips classical in their severe beauty. Imagine my astonishment as this vision swept by me, not three feet distant, and paused within a rod to dip water in a heavy jar. I gazed admiringly at her, as who would not? She returned my gaze with cold curiosity, and eyes devoid of interest, but dark, lustrous eyes withal, that had fire in them which might be made to flame. She had on her neck a string of antiques, chiefly scaraluei. I had seen them thus before, and had purchased some curious antiques from the necks and wrists of the women. I walked up to her and took hold of them. She sto3d like a statue, motionless, with her black eyes fixed on mine, but was silent, and allowed my examination without fear or objection. " How much shall I pay you for your necklace? " She looked, but made no reply, and, stooping down, lifted her jar; a friend helped her swing it to her head, and then, dropping her hands, she walked up the bank in stately style, nor looked back, nor seemed to have the slightest interest in the fate of Bralteem Effendi. To be cut thus by an Egyptian ! On reflection, I have thought that she was perhaps deaf and dumb—possibly idiotic, but I think not that, for she was too splendidly beau tiful. There is, doubtless, a difference between a London drawing-room and an Egyptian village, but lessons of good manners may be give n in both places: and "Braheem Effendi" (Oriental for " Prime, Esq.") seems to have received one on this occasion which we trust he will lay to heart next time he meets one of nature's gen tlewomen, whether she be fortified with im pregnable crinoline or reveal her " perfect form " through a " single thin cotton gar ment." ------- However, in spite of a good deal of false sentiment and claptrap, it, is evident that Braheem Effendi is a very good fellow, and it is probable that he would be an agreeable travelling companion, though he likes to make the most of every little incident that occurs to him. His enthusiasm and sincere enjoy ment of his tour might have enabled him, with a little more correctness of taste, to have pro duced a striking book, and we shall not be sorry to meet with him again in some region less hackneyed than the Lower Nile. We must perforce part friends from a gentleman who treats us so handsomely as in the follow ing paragraph There is a comfort, when travelling eastward, in meet ing Englishmen. You are very certain, in coming in contact with the English pleasnre•traveller, to meet a gentleman. Exceptions are very rare. It is also worthy of remark that the English gentleman, so soon as he learns that you are American, regards you as a fit companion which is a degree of confidence that he is very far from reposing in one of his own nationality. Englishmen meeting Englishmen look on one another as so many pickpockets might, each of whom was certain that each of his neighbours meant to rob him on the first available opportnnity. This perhaps arises from the danger that for.sign acquaintances may entail unpleasant and impracticable recognitions at home. There is no apprehension of this in meeting Americans, and this may serve to explain a