THE MODERN HISTORY AND CONDITION OF EGYPT, ITS CLIMATE, DISEASES, AND CAPABILITIES; EXHIBITED IN A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS IN THAT COUNTRY: WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF MOHAMMED ALI PASCHA, FROM 1801 To 1843; INTERSPERSED WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY, THE FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY, AND THE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION IN THE EAST. BY WILLIAM HOLT YATES, M.D. MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS IN LONDON, GRADUATE OF THE OF EDINBURGH, ETC. "L'univers est un gros livre dont celui qui n'a jamais voyagé, ressemble IN TWO VOLUMES, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. PREFACE. It is not a little extraordinary, that although so many works have appeared on Egypt, we have no history of the country since 1807, when General Fraser's unfortunate expedition was undertaken, after the expulsion of the French by Nelson, Abercrombie, Smith, and Hutchinson. No countries have excited greater interest in the public mind than Egypt and Syria; and none are likely to engage a larger share of attention in time to come. During more than forty years, a struggle between the two leading Powers of Europe has been maintained for political ascendancy in the East, and many have been the schemes for preserving the balance of power in the Mediterranean, and the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. The appearance of the French in Egypt was a signal for the advancement of bold and enterprizing characters; and it became the stepping-stone to the fortunes of Mohammed Ali, through whose prowess, extraordinary shrewdness, and desperate measures, innovation upon Mussulmaun prejudices, and the consequent breaking down of the most formidable barrier to the advancement of Christianity and civilization, in fulfilment of the mysterious and wonderful designs of Providence, has (unconsciously on his part) been effected. I have given a sketch of the life of this extraordinary man, and traced the means by which he rose from obscurity to rank and power. No sooner did he effect that object, than he began to take measures for the assertion of his independence, which led to a chain of important events, which, as we have seen, were likely to have involved the whole of Europe in a war. Of these events we have no connected record, although the great doings of the Pascha of Egypt have been the universal topic of conversation. For a long period, very erroneous notions were entertained concerning them, in consequence of the garbled statements of interested parties, more especially the French, who (having so engaged His Highness' good graces that he would listen to nobody else) made a point of flattering his vanity, and of crying him up to all Europe, and, I may add,—through the silence also of many respectable and experienced travellers, who were thoroughly acquainted with the real condition of the country, and might have disabused the public mind. But this, I apprehend, is no longer the case: the Pascha's policy is seen through and understood; and though it may suit the purpose of merchants and the East India Company's agents to compliment him from time to time, these gentlemen are too intelligent and too humane to shut their eyes and their hearts to the eloquent appeals which are continually made to them by the patient but wretched population of Egypt. They may not be aware of the full extent of the Pascha's avarice and monopoly, but they cannot be altogether ignorant of the misery which his reckless ambition has entailed upon his subjects. The objects then of this work are, first, for want of a more complete history, to furnish a record of passing events since the battle of the Nile in 1801, but more especially during |