Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-08-22
LIFE IN EGYPT.
What a Southern Boy Thinks Of It-.-How
he Writes Privately About IT,
Letter From Cairo, Egypt.

CAIRO, July IS, 1870.
Dear Loaeis-I travelled so fast to get
here that / cannot give you a description
of my Journey Il seems like q long
dream that ] M lived in America and
was a Christian. Here / am in "Grand
Cairo" a Turk; / wear q Fee and dress
in the Egyptian costume. l don't think
you would know me. 1 am a captain OF
artillery and chief of stat to Gen. Lo-
ring, of the late so-called @. S. A; so you
see / nave fallen on my feet in one sense.
l live in Gen. LOring's quarters, which
are furnished in the Turkish fashion.
Divans are scattered all over the house,
and you can lie down anywhere. This IL
all very gorgeous, but money Is scarce
and the pay small when you can get II
(which / cannot do I v had the &C.
iestial honor of being presented at Court
and of dining with His Majesty. The Fec
Is never removed from the head, ever
in the presence of the Sovereign. i
am not good at description, so l will no
attempt to tell you abou the dinner,
which was gorgeous. You could see your
face reflected in the floors of the palace
We were waited on by mutes. The Vice
row drank wine, and of everything that
he drank he poured a little into a wine
glass, 80 that his physician could tell
whether he had been poisoned or not by
analysis. The Vieeroy presented me
with a beautiful grey Arab charger, who
threw me down yesterday in the princi-
pal street, called the "MOuske," while !
was carrying an order for General LOring.
1 managed to get up again, and astounded
the multitude by my old trick Of vaulting
into the saddle as he passed me, the crowd
having headed him and turned him back.
This performance ELECTED cheers from the
Arabs in the street. / have not spoken to
a woman since I left home. The women
are closely yelled, and 1 see carriages pass
with the harems of Pachas and Beys, but
never get a peep at the women's faces.
Euvious Eunuchs accompany them, and
have authority to beat you with a stick if
you look too hard. They are like the dog
in the manager.
NV native tongue sounds; strange to me
already, as I hear nothing spoken but
French or Arabic. Without my French
/ could not get or at all. l saw the other
day the veritable Askaws Karsis. Nearly
the whole OF that book is true as you can
imagine, that Mrs. Askaras, who was a
French girl, and not IN American, does
not thank Mr.. De Leon tor his work. The
Ezbekia is a beautiful square, and the
mosques are perfectly gorgeous. The one
of Mehemet Ali in the citadel especially
so. The citadel stands upon a hill in the
center of the city, commanding the whole
of it., In 1t is a well called Joseph's well,
but the people here say it WIS built long
before the gentleman OF irreproachable
virtue was ever thought of. From the
citadel you have a splendid view of the
surrounding country, taking in the pyra-
mids, the sphynx, the desert, the palaces
of the Khedfve, and the thousand and
one minarets of Cairo. Leading to
the schubra palace. is the most mag
pificent avenue of trees 1 ever saw.
This is used as the fashion
able promenade as there is no park.
Here and there you see a European,
bat more frequently the geudily dressed
Greek. 1t is almost impossible to de-
scribe the thousand wonderful sights
here, whose dates are all perfectly legi-
BILE and are written upon them, going
back thousands of years before the Bible
dates the creation. All the hauling is
done by camels and the streets are so
narrow that a carriage or wagon cannot
pass through them. AT every public
place hundreds of donkey boys with their
little animals, cry out to you in every
tongue, to hire a donkey. Every
black niger in this country is called
Morgan. I am going to change my
name despite my being a titled man.
1t is the will of his Majesty that each of
the American officers be called Effendi;
tbusly, Morgan Ehendi." We have
some Egyptian officers on the staff, very
dull and very stupid; I horse them
about in a grand manner. They are a
very humble people, dark in skin and
Intellect. Hakakem Bey, and old Sheik,
who is the most learned man in Egypt,
tells me that the same mode of civiliza-
ton, the same fan ming implements and
The same race OF animals are
used now that were used before the day
Of the Pbaraohs and you would believe
It if you were here. 1t never rains.
is lifted by buckets. The power
used is of course the everlasting donkey,
or water buffalo, a singular look
ing creature, somewhat like an OK, but
.wice es large.
stopped here to have a talk with my
'sciese," an Arab who runs before my
horse and cries 30 wa, wadi; chumaillu
Effendi;" which means, snake
way for the great Morgan !" and he may
''for the great scOundrel, I" for all L
know, but L don't believe it. Employing
, ''sciese" is the sign of a gentleman, and
,osts about -four dollars per month. For
his valuable consideration, these 'fel-
ahs'' run before you; and / have seen
his one run three miles before General
Loring's carriage without stopping, and
IS fast as a pair of good horses can trot.
They are trained to it from early child
lood, and never tire. J. M. Nd.
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