DEAR SIR, LETTER XL. TO JOHN ELMSLIE, ESQ. Alexandria, Nov. 1, 1827. DURING my last residence in Damietta, I attended, almost nightly, the Arab conversazioni of the principal people of the place, as the late events in the Mediterranean created considerable interest in every town in Egypt. At one of these entertainments the discourse appeared to me of more than common interest, so that, on returning to my lodging, I set down the particulars of the conversation, as the opinions of men of rank and fortune, and such as prevail amongst the higher classes in these countries. For obvious reasons I deem it advisable to omit the names of these Moslem politicians; for Mohammed Ali is as a very Christian prince in his animosity to that licentiousness which has its origin in freedom of discussion. 374 ARAB CONVERSAZIONE. Figure to yourself a quadrangular apartment, with a raised platform occupying the upper half, furnished with a divan on either side for the guests, and one at the extremity, beneath the window, with an additional mattress, for the host and the most important personages present. Below the platform is seen a crowd of slaves and servants, standing in respectful order, each one watching every motion of his master to fetch the coffee or the pipe. Fancy an Arab improvvisatore in the centre, recounting anecdotes of Haroun el Raschid, or the adventures of Ebn Oaz;-a pious Imam laying down the law, or explaining the important distinction between an ablution commenced at the tip of the elbow and one begun at the top of the little finger. A barber-surgeon astonished his hearers with the wonderful effects of the moon on the circulation of the blood;-how Sheik Daoud, the great author of the History of Physic, first discovered the ebb and flow of the blood, like that of the ocean, to be governed by the nocturnal planet. A Hadji, with a venerable beard, narrated the wonders of the Wilderness; how he had been stripped and plundered by the Wahabees, whose chief was said to deal with the Shitan, ARAB CONVERSAZIONE. 375 and to sicken the camels of the pilgrim in the Desert. A Turkish officer calculated how many Christians he could cut down with a single blow of his sabre; or, enumerated all the infidel princes of Europe who pay tribute to the Sultan, and send their slaves to his Porte to hold his foot stirrup. A Levantine Christian, with all the importance of a "Konsul," or, at least, a drogueman, talked of astronomy to the gaping Arabs, like a learned Theban, and defended himself from the charge of blasphemy for asserting that the earth turned round the sun; the prophet never having asserted any thing of the kind. A Cadi, as a judge of the land, gave his grave decision on every disputed point; as to the culpability of entering a mosque with the left foot foremost, or the criminality of giving the salaam of peace to a Christian. A young Arab, with his clumsy lute, draws tears from the moaning listeners, while he sings of some gazelle-eyed charmer whose face was like the moon, and her figure like a javelin, who pined away till she lost her shadow, because her lover, a young Sheik, abandoned her for another. Imagine all this, and you will have a tolerable idea of the regular even 376 ARAB CONVERSAZIONE. ing conversazione of an Arab man of quality. The topics are those of grown up children, the amusements are of the same character; they carry this puerility even to their palates, and vie with any youngster in fondness for sweetmeats and sugar-plums. The Navarino business now gave a political turn to their discussions, and many of their opinions of European policy and power were so singular, that I could with difficulty bring myself to believe they were seriously delivered. A fierce looking little man with a green turban, high in office, broached the subject of the late battle: "The Giaours have burned our ships," said he, "but God will burn them, hell is a hot couch, and a grievous couch it shall be to them we are told by the Prophet." "Please the Lord," responded a fat merchant, and his Inshallah was doled out with great devotion. "Were all the ships in the world joined against the Sultan in the battle?" asked an Arab Sheik in the simplicity of his heart; " Ay, all,” answered a Ulema of great eminence, "all the Caffres of Franguestan were leagued against the true believers, how else could they prevail, what ten of ARAB CONVERSAZIONE. 377 them could face one true Moslem? but ten thousand to one are too great odds; and were there not forty thousand of their ships against us?" "Allah Wakbar," said an Effendi, a man of learning, "there is but one God, and if the English were not in Navarino, the Francowa, the Nempsowa, and the Muscowa, would now be food for the kelp el bahr!" the sea dogs. "Allah Karim!" ejaculated an old priest, "God is most merciful, it is only the infidels who say that the ships of the Sultan were burned; it is impossible, because the Giaours could not burn them." "Callam thaib!" cried a dozen of the party, "it is well spoken, it is the ships of the unbelievers that are burned, not the Sultan's." "Did not the Algerines" said a grave old man " destroy the entire fleet of the English a few years ago, and where were they to find another all at once? is a ship like a pastek, a water melon? does it grow in the land? is it like a rain drop? does it fall from the sky?" "Wallah callam thaib!" God was called to witness by several, that it was a good saying. "The English are a great people," said a young Malim, a secretary of the Governor's, "they are a very great people, what razors can be compared |