The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy LandKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy Land
Knox, Thomas Wallace
Egypt -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature; Palestine -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
"Doctor Bronson says every traveller should make his plans so as to come
often to the Citadel, and there can be no better time for the view than
at sunset. In the morning there is liable to be a haze on the landscape,
and at noon there is too much glare of light, especially when the eye is
turned toward the desert. At sunset the colors of the Egyptian sky are
at their best. You may have wondered sometimes, when looking at pictures
of Egypt, whether there is really as much color as the artists give us.
We can assure you that no painting we have yet seen is at all
exaggerated, and if you could have a sunset view from the Citadel of
Cairo you would fully agree with us.
"The Citadel was built by the great conqueror Saladin, and stone for its
construction was brought from the pyramids and from the ruins of
Memphis, a few miles farther up the river. The spot was not wisely
chosen, as the hill is commanded by a higher one just back of it. On
this latter hill Mohammed Ali placed his cannons, and compelled the
surrender of the Citadel, and consequently of Cairo. There are two roads
leading up to the Citadel, one a broad carriage-way, and the other a
narrow lane. We went by one and came by the other. In the latter--the
narrow lane--the guide showed us a spot which has an historic interest,
and perhaps you would like to hear about it:
"There was a body of soldiers in Egypt called the Mamelukes, and they
ruled the country for several centuries. They chose the governors of the
provinces, and could place one of their number on the throne at any time
they wished; in fact, they controlled the country, and the nominal ruler
was obliged to do as they wished. When Napoleon came here in 1798 they
fought him in the famous Battle of the Pyramids, and were defeated; many
of them were killed, and others fled to Upper Egypt, but enough
remained to give trouble. When Mohammed Ali came to Egypt, after the
French had been driven out by the English, the Mamelukes made him
understand that he could do nothing without them. He soon determined to
do something with them, and get rid of their interference.
"He sent invitations for the chiefs--four hundred and seventy in all--to
come to the Citadel on the first day of March, 1811, to a grand banquet,
where they would discuss the plans for a campaign into Nubia. They came
at the appointed hour, and assembled in the narrow lane I told you of,
waiting for the upper gate to open. When they were all in the lane the
lower gate was shut, and there they were in a trap! Then the Albanian
soldiers of Mohammed Ali began to fire on the Mamelukes from the
loop-holes and the top of the walls. All were killed except one man,
Enim Bey, who made his horse leap through a gap in the wall. The horse
was killed by the fall, but his rider's life was saved. This was the end
of the power of the Mamelukes in Egypt.
"Fred says Mohammed Ali reminds him of the Spanish warrior who said, on
his death-bed,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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