Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/58

54 ceremony was paid to Ibrahim Pasha, a tall, Jewish-looking man, very different in appearance from his father. There were marble courts with fountains of different designs, some constructed on the model of the Alhambra, with lions spouting out water. When Sir Henry remarked that these courts reminded him of the Alhambra, Ibrahim asked in what part of the world such a palace was situated. 'He had never heard of the Caliphs in Spain, and seemed astonished at my admiration; but when he was told that we owed the invention of the watch to the Moors, his look of incredulity was quite a study.' Ibrahim had distinguished himself in the Syrian campaign, and was now devoted to planting trees and irrigating the land by hydraulic power. He and his father were Albanians by birth, it being the tradition of the country that Turks should not be employed in the highest offices of the state.

Cairo is now well known to the European traveller. Boulevards, with gas lamps, have superseded many of its beautiful old buildings. In 1844 there was only one small hotel in the city, the Overland Route being then in its infancy. We traversed the city on horseback, with an Egyptian escort in front to clear the way. The citadel was next visited, and we were shown the spot where a single Mameluke alone escaped from the general massacre ordered by Mehemet Ali. At nine that evening we turned into bed, half-dressed, having made arrangements to ride across the desert to view the Pyramids by moonlight. I cannot do better