t drink wine at
dinner. I made a little difficulty on the score of difference of
religion, but Sheykh Yussuf, who came up, said that he presumed I
worshipped God, and not stones, and that sincere prayers were good
anywhere. Clearly the bigotry would have been on my side if I had
refused any longer. So in the evening I went with Mustapha. It was a
very curious sight, the little dome illuminated with as much oil as the
mosque could afford, and the tombs of Abu-l-Hajjaj and his three sons. A
magnificent old man, like Father Abraham himself, dressed in white, sat
on a carpet at the foot of the tomb; he was the head of the family of
Abu-l-Hajjaj. He made me sit by, and was extremely polite. Then came
the Nazir, the Kadee, a Turk travelling on Government business, and a few
other gentlemen, who all sat down round us after kissing the hand of the
old Sheykh. Everyone talked; in fact it was a _soiree_ for the
entertainment of the dead Sheykh. A party of men sat at the further end
of the place, with their faces to the Kibleh, and played on a
_taraboukeh_ (sort of small drum stretched on earthenware which gives a
peculiar sound), a tambourine without bells, and little tinkling cymbals
fitting on thumb and fingers (crotales), and chanted songs in honour of
Mohammed and verses from the Psalms of David. Every now and then one of
our party left off talking, and prayed a little or counted his beads.
The old Sheykh sent for coffee, and gave me the first cup--a wonderful
concession. At last the Nazir proposed a _Fathah_ for me, which the
whole group round me repeated aloud, and then each said to me, 'Our Lord
God bless and give thee health and peace, to thee and thy family, and
take thee back safe to thy master and thy children,' one adding _Ameen_
and giving the salaam with the hand. I returned it, and said, 'Our Lord
reward thee and all the people of kindness to strangers,' which was
considered a very proper answer. After that we went away, and the worthy
Nazir walked home with me to take a pipe and a glass of sherbet, and
enjoy a talk about his wife and eight children, who are all in
Foum-el-Bachr', except two boys at school in Cairo. Government
appointments are so precarious that it is not worth while to move them up
here, as the expense would be too heavy on a salary of 15 pounds a month,
with the chance of recall any day. In Cairo or Lower Egypt it would be
quite impossible for a Christian to enter a Sheykh's tomb at