Joining the Expedition

So soon as Mr. Bankes had sailed, I took my departure for Aleppo with his horses, which he had left in my charge, with a commission there to dispose of them; and I had a strong written recommendation to Mr. Barker, in case I should choose to establish myself in Syria, and another for the consul-general in Egypt, should I prefer returning to that country.

I remained some days under Mr. Barker’s friendly roof; but, notwithstanding his kindness, and the almost unequalled variety and abundance of game in that immediate neighbourhood, which furnished a constant resource to so keen a sportsman, I soon saw enough of the city and its inhabitants, to feel confident that I should never like it so well as Cairo.

Yet I was tempted to attach myself, for a very short time, to the military service of the new Pasha, who was making war already upon the Koords, to repress and punish their insolencies, (with which they had harassed the province in his predecessor’s time,) and this with so much the advantage on his side, and with so much severity, that it was almost a war of extermination, numbers being, almost daily, brought in, dead or alive or mutilated, who were impaled before the city gates, and there left, a horrid spectacle.

But there was neither that union and harmony among the soldiers themselves, nor between them and their officers, that I had been used to¹; and, therefore, soon becoming disgusted, I withdrew; and joining a caravan for Latikieh, there took a passage on board a vessel laden with timber, to Damietta; and from thence, again, by boat, to Cairo.

Here I immediately sought out the consul-general, and, presenting my paper of introduction to him, was sorry to find that, though he was but very lately arrived, his posts for Janissaries were already filled up, and his suite completed in all respects; He received me, however, most graciously; and, when he had read the favourable report in Mr. Bankes’s letter, expressed even some share in my disappointment, and promised that he would not fail to recommend me as interpreter to any English travellers who should stand in need of one.

I was induced, therefore, to hold myself disengaged for some time, in the hope of such a chance, not having yet expended all my gains, but none such appearing, and my purse gradually growing lighter, I became weary of remaining idle, and returned again to the army, attaching myself to an Albanian Bey, who commanded a troop of horse, which obliged me also to provide myself with one.

I grew into great favour with my new officer, so that he trusted me much more than any other in his company, and very soon selected me to have the superintendence of some works that were carrying on for him in the Isle of Rhoda, where he was making a very delightful garden. My office was that of overlooking the labourers and workmen and keeping them steadily to their several employments, which, as their number was considerable, occupied my time very fully, and very agreeably, also; for there cannot be a more fruitful and pleasant spot than that island, which lies very near Boulak (the port of Cairo), in the Nile, and has in it, amongst other beauties, the noblest row of large spreading sycamore trees that is anywhere to be seen; said, by tradition, to have been planted there by a negro slave²; the Mikkias³, also, where is the pillar on which the measurements are marked for the inundation, is there, though much ruined during the late Mameluke wars.

I had held this station at Rhoda about six months, when, one day, the British Consul-general, on his way to the pyramids, (where some extensive researches were begun, and especially towards uncovering the body of the Great Sphinx⁴,) passed that way, and recognising me immediately, spoke with great civility, and desired that I would call at his house the next day; which I did not fail to do; and Mr. Salt, (for that was this gentleman’s name,) sending for me up into his drawing-room, told me that he could now find a post for me in his service, for that he was upon the point of going down to Alexandria, where he should need, as well as at the places to be touched at by the way, some person of more activity, as well as of more experience in the habits of the country, and requisites for a journey, than any of his present attendants.

To this I was far from raising any objection; and as I considered the permission of my superior, the Bey, to be very necessary, I went, without loss of time, to request it: but, notwithstanding all that I could say, met with a refusal; and Mr. Salt’s own application afterwards, sent through his dragoman, had no better success.

It was quite plain that an official person would not involve himself in a dispute upon my account; and, indeed, had it been otherwise, there would have been something like ingratitude in attempting to withdraw myself from the Bey, without his consent; therefore, though a little mortified at his denial, I was content to remain under his orders.

But, about four months after, he happening to die, I felt that I had now a full right to be master of my own movements; I therefore set off immediately, and joined Mr. Salt, who fortunately had not found in the interval any one to fill the situation which he destined for me, and to which he assigned a handsome salary as long as I should hold it.

A commission was very soon given me from the consulate to set out for Upper Egypt, where I was to find the secretary, Mr. Beechey, who had been established at Thebes some time; some supplies that he stood in need of were consigned to me, and I was to remain with him, and act as his Janissary.

I sailed thither with all expedition, but heard at Thebes that he was gone forward to the Cataract, which induced me to hurry onwards as fast as I could; and falling in with Yanni, his Greek servant and interpreter, at Esne, joined him, and went on in his company till, upon the island of Philae we found not only Mr. Beechey, but with him Mr. and Mrs. Belzoni, and the two English captains, Irby and Mangles, of the Royal Navy, all (excepting the lady, who was to remain at Philae) on the point of proceeding upwards into Nubia, with the design of opening, if possible, the great temple at Abousombal, about which Mr. Salt’s curiosity was so much excited by the accounts sent down to him, that he was willing to bear all the expense of the undertaking, and had sent up suitable presents to conciliate the authorities of the country.

A boat⁵ had been hired for the whole party, with a crew of four Nubian sailors, and three boys; and as we ascended the river, we touched, in passing, at most of the principal ruins. At Derr an obliging and respectful message was sent to Daoud, and Haleel, Kashiefs (princes of the country), with reference to the proposed operations at the temple, intimation of which had been given to them, and their consent and co-operation obtained upon conditions, by Belzoni in a former journey⁶, not long after that in which I had myself accompanied Mr. Bankes. They were, it seems, to share the half of all treasure in gold or silver that should be found there, and had engaged to furnish for hire as many hands as should be wanting to the work.

We passed Abousombal, however, and went on to the second Cataract; but on our return from thence, about a week or ten days after, our labours and difficulties and contentions began, for we were involved in a perpetual succession of them from the very outset.

The first jealousies that we had to encounter were between the two Kashief brothers, Daoud and Haleel, who perceiving that two guns presented to them were of unequal value, had, or pretended to have, great disputes, and Haleel the younger was very little content at receiving the inferior gift, which was naturally that which had fallen to his share.

However, the promise of an abundant supply of labourers, at a stipulated rate of daily wages, was renewed, and some pains even seemed to be taken to collect them; insomuch that, during the first days, we had as many as about fifty and upwards, and once or twice almost a hundred working together; but they were irregular and idle, and often, whether from their own disposition, or a hint from their superiors, dissatisfied and refractory to the highest degree, till very soon, with few exceptions, we lost their assistance altogether when the season of Ramadan commenced.

Another early obstacle was the unexpected appearance of two rival (though inferior) Kashiefs, residing above Derr, near Ibrîm, who were at war with the others, and claimed an equal right to be propitiated by a present. Their application was as much disregarded as their prohibition and menaces afterwards; yet it is possible that much both of the defalcation in numbers, and ill humour of the people towards us, may have been owing to their influence.

Whatever inconvenience or impediments, however, were experienced from the heart-burnings and greediness of the chiefs, or from the chicanery and extortion and insolence of those sent to assist us, (who much oftener impeded us by disputes, and sometimes even openly threatened to deter us from proceeding,) yet no drawback or hinderance was equal to that which we found in the conduct of our own crew, who were always in league with the worst of them, and became their ringleaders and advisers; and although, when left to ourselves, they sometimes sullenly aided us for pay, they were much oftener engaged even then in thwarting and annoying us.

If, however, I may presume to do so, I cannot help imputing also some little blame to the temper in which the work was conducted, since an over-punctiliousness upon little matters, which were not worth disputing about, and a determination to bind those strictly to the letter of their bargains, whom a very trifling present beyond it might have satisfied, led to almost all the difficulties and ill blood that occurred; as I took the liberty to represent more than once at the time, and which was fully justified afterwards on the very same spot, when Mr. Bankes and Mr. Salt, in clearing one of the great colossal statues quite down to the feet, had larger numbers in regular employ, and removed sand to a much greater depth, without encountering obstacles of that nature.

It must, nevertheless, be confessed, that the Nubians are, like the Arabs, a very greedy race, and disposed to take every advantage of a stranger.

If our travellers neglected the means of attracting and conciliating the natives to their operations, they proved at least that they knew admirably well how to make shift without them; for, no sooner was all external assistance withdrawn, than with a zeal and spirit, and a perseverance not to be exceeded, they undertook, at that hot season, and with a very scanty provision of necessaries, themselves to complete the labour; and, accordingly, the whole party, without exception, consisting of Mr. Belzoni, Mr. Beechey, Captains Irby and Mangles, Yanni, the Greek, an Arab cook belonging to them, and myself, continued working, day after day, in the sand with our hands, from sunrise till after dark, relieving each other in turn every four hours, and stripping to the skin for the exertion.

Some of the number, I am convinced, and especially the two captains, did each the work of ten Nubians in their own persons.

I incidentally alluded to the scantiness of our sustenance during all this toil, and such in truth it was: for one of the expedients resorted to for driving us to desist, or forcing us to terms, was to starve us out of the place, and in consequence little or nothing was brought thither for sale; it was very rare that we had any meat during all our stay, and no milk or butter latterly, so that we were frequently reduced to a meal or two of dourra corn boiled in water, with occasionally a glass of date-brandy after it, procured in the country previous to our misunderstandings, or presented by the Kashiefs of Derr, who still kept up a show of friendship.

In my former journey I spoke of the condition in which the great temple of Abousombal then appeared; it is, in fact, the whole face of a vast rock cut down, and shaped into architecture, of which no more than the cornice and upper members of the front, and the bust only of one out of four colossal figures attached to it, emerged from the sand, which, in the course of ages, had flowed down from the higher level of the desert, and had buried all the remainder, sloping from thence in an inclined plane quite down to the water’s edge, very white and loose, and, during the daytime, heated to an intense degree by the sun.

The position of the door, if there were any, (for even that was uncertain,) might be guessed at from observing the centre, which was very sufficiently marked; but the total depth of the drift that had poured down could hardly be calculated, from the proportions, at less than from fifty to sixty feet, and so much of it at the least must be removed as should enable us to clear the upper part of the opening.

We availed ourselves of such implements and contrivances as seethed adapted to facilitate the labour, and so soon as some appearances of the great architrave of a portal came to light, trunks of the palm-tree were driven down as piles, at the distance of two or three yards from it, which bore the loose mass from behind, and enabled us to scoop out a sort of well in front of them, which we consolidated, from time to time, by the pouring in of water.

After a continuance of these exertions and expedients during upwards of three weeks, a corner of the doorway itself at list became visible.

At that very moment, while fresh clamours and new disputes were going on with our crew, and the attention of all distracted, I, being one of the slenderest of the party, without a word said, crept through into the interior, and was thus the first that entered it, perhaps, for a thousand years⁷.

Unlike all the other grottoes in Egypt and Nubia, its atmosphere, instead of presenting a refreshing coolness, was a hot and moist vapour, not unlike that of a Turkish bath, and so penetrating, that paper, carried within, soon became as much saturated with wet as if it had been dropped into the river. It was, however, a consoling, and almost an unexpected circumstance, that the run of sand extended but a very little way within the aperture, and the remainder of the chambers were all unencumbered.

With this favourable intelligence I came out again, still creeping flat upon my face, and assisted the rest in extending the orifice.

My first stay within had been very short, both for the want of a light, and from the fear of fainting, or being stifled in that strange atmosphere. But it was not long before we had all gained a somewhat easier admittance, and each being provided with a candle, were enabled to form a definite conception of the internal structure and details.

The great hail, on entering, is, perhaps, about thirty feet high, and has eight colossal statues, standing four on a side, in lieu of columns, that seem to bear the ceiling upon their heads. We found in it two detached figures of lions with faces of birds, which were dragged out for the purpose of transmitting them to Mr. Salt, with a few other loose pieces of statuary, met with here and there in this and the other chambers, some of which, to the right and left, were less finely painted than the principal one, and seemed to have been sepulchral.

Within the first there is a second hail, and then a sort of narrow vestibule, all opening in a right line to the holy of holies, in which an altar is still standing in front of four sitting deities, that are quite entire in every limb and feature, and with every colour remaining unimpaired upon them, but all worked, as well as the whole temple itself, out of the solid rock.

The floor of all the apartments was covered over with a very black and fine dust, which, observing it resemblance to the remains of decayed lintels in most of the doorways, was conjectured to be pulverized wood.

The joint labours of taking plans and measurements, and some views, as well as sketches from historical subjects upon the walls within side, drawn by Mr. Beechey, occupied several days, after which we proceeded upon our return, and touched at most of those antiquities that have been mentioned in a former chapter, on this portion of the Nile.

At Kalapshé, however, a quarrel with the natives prevented all researches, for they stood armed in great numbers in front of the temple⁸, and demanded each a present as the price of admittance; and, when we began to open a sort of treaty with them, and to attempt to bring them to reason, they grew so insolent and provoking, that I could no longer command my temper; and from menaces and high words some of them were actually proceeding to a degree of violence, that would have obliged me to use my fire-arms in my defence, had not the timely interference of Belzoni and the captains rescued me, and brought me back to the boat; and even after we had gained it, we were pursued by shouting and stones from the shore, to which we replied by a shot fired over their heads.

On another day, Captain Irby was very badly cut in the hand, by seizing the knife, which one of our own crew was aiming at him during a warm dispute; in consequence of which we set the man on shore, and suffered him no more to come amongst us, till he arrived for his pay at Philae.

The Nubian boat, however, was not dismissed until, in pursuance of a separate bargain made for that special enterprise, it had conveyed our party down the Cataract to Assouan, after a stay of about four days among the ruins on the island.

There was nothing at all dangerous in that passage, though the scenery is rocky and savage most part of the way, and the rushing of the water in some places considerable⁹.

Another embarkation, in a different boat, brought us all down to Thebes, with the addition to our company of Mrs. Belzoni, and an Irish lad, James Curtin¹⁰, who acted as her servant, where we settled ourselves, first in the temple of Luxor, afterwards at Gournou, and still later in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings.

Excavations and researches were almost immediately resumed upon Mr. Salt’s account, under the direction of his secretary, Mr. Beechey, and of Mr. Belzoni; and I found that some curious discoveries had been already made by them previous to their departure for the upper country, and especially in what seem to have been the principal private sepulchres of the city. But the rivalry of the French consul, Drovetti, in the same pursuit and speculation, had become very inconvenient, and soon led to violent and continued altercations between the adherents of the two factions; so that all the site of ancient Thebes was subsequently, either by the direction or the tacit consent of the government, (administered at that time in Upper Egypt by the Defterdar Bey,) portioned out and allotted into two great divisions, as French and English ground, each party being only entitled to dig within his own limits, and only authorized to appropriate what should be found there, an expedient which, however, very imperfectly allayed their jealousies and contentions.

After a stay of but a few days, the two naval captains took their leave, and went back to Cairo, all the rest continuing established at Thebes in these operations.

And it was not long afterwards that Mr. Belzoni, who had certainly much acuteness as well as perseverance, and had acquired a sort of intuitive knowledge of the probable site of ancient remains, brought to light that remarkable tomb in the Valley of the Kings, where was found the alabaster sarcophagus, since sent to England, and which I have seen in Mr. Soane’s collection in London.

I inspected that tomb very shortly after it was first opened; it was as clean throughout, and the colours as fresh, as if it had not been finished a week; and as it was highly desirable to maintain it so, a door was put up, of which the key was committed to a trusty person, near the spot, who admitted none without an order.

As for the representations contained in it, they were much less entertaining to me than those which are to be seen in some of the others near it that were well known, where there are scenes of manufacture and cookery, and music, and corn-non life; whereas in this the pictures seem all, or mostly, to be mystical, and relating to matters which I cannot understand. Some of those other tombs also are more extensive, so that the pre-eminence of this was confined solely (putting the sarcophagus out of the account) to its admirable state of preservation; but this did indeed give it so a great a superiority in point of effect, that nothing could appear more beautiful than the first descent into it, and especially when brilliantly illuminated, as it was subsequently, during the visit of Lord Belmore and his family.

In that same season there arrived from Cairo three English gentlemen, who brought with them a letter from Mr. Salt, in which I was directed to accompany them into Nubia. Their names were Colonel Stratton, Captain Bennett, and Mr. Fuller.

It was of course my duty to comply; and when we reached the Cataract, I was ordered to get another boat in readiness for them beyond it. But this occupying a longer time than they had anticipated, Captain Bennett laid the blame upon me, and proceeded to find so much fault, and to treat me with so much harshness of language, that I refused to go forward, and had quite determined not to have done so, had it not been for the urgent instances of the other two gentlemen, and their kind and obliging behaviour.

The boat that was at last engaged for them was the property of Daoud Kaschief, and in it I acted as their guide, for directing their attention to such points as had become familiar to me in my former journies.

At Derr, the travellers were, in the first moment, received with very friendly appearances by Daoud Kashief, and regaled with a repast prepared for them of fried eggs; but he did not long defer his inquiries as to what presents had been brought for him, and persisted in a demand of both money and fire-arms. It was in vain that they denied having any in their possession; and the sight of the firman, and threats of complaining to the Pasha of Egypt, were quite as little attended to.

He was the owner of our boat, and peremptorily insisted that we should quit it on the spot, which would have left us in the utmost embarrassment, and whatever we had, at his mercy; we were obliged, therefore, to content ourselves with letting him make himself master, almost by force, of our sugar, coffee, and drinking cups, with which he was satisfied, in the absence of better commodities¹¹.

From thence we set sail for Abousombal, which we examined unmolested; and again the day following for Wadi Halfa, but did not quite reach it; partly on account of the wind, which became adverse, and partly because we knew that the father of our extorting prince was residing there, who might possibly have revived some discussion about the boat, and have behaved no better towards us than his son.

We turned, therefore, and landing wherever it was desirable, retraced our course to Thebes, where Lord Belmore’s family arrived just about the same time, and also Mr. Salt, who gave me immediate notice of a fresh destination. For he had very lately received a letter, in which Mr. Bankes announced to him his return into Asia, and requested that I should be put on my way, without loss of time, to join him at Acre.

Mr. Belzoni, who was still at Thebes, hearing this, expressed a strong wish that his lady should take the opportunity of accompanying me to Syria, (she being desirous of visiting Jerusalem,) and promised that she should be ready accordingly to join me at Cairo; whither I was now bound directly with the Colonel and his two companions, and where I parted from them but a few days after, they pursuing their way to Alexandria, having testified their satisfaction in my services, both in a written paper which they left with me, and by a liberal reward.

Preparatory to my Syrian journey, an instrument bearing the Pasha’s signature was consigned to me by the dragoman of the consulate, the purport of which was to authorize Mr. Bankes in removing that curious Egyptian stone which I mentioned as existing at El Arish, and there serving as a water-trough.

Mrs. Belzoni and the Irish servant-lad Curtin now joined me, both wearing the dress of Mameluke youths, which they had recently assumed, and we proceeded in company to Damietta, where Soroor, a native who acted as British vice-consul there, received and lodged us with great hospitality. But, although a passage to Jaffa was engaged immediately, the wind remained so steadily fixed in an adverse quarter, that we were detained in his house a whole month, and afterwards many days on board, before we could sail¹².

I never could quit Egypt without feelings of some regret, so much do I find in it that makes me prefer it to most other countries; but still I felt great impatience at this delay, and an earnest desire to be once more attached to the master, who, both while I was with him, and since his departure, had always proved himself a kind friend to me.

After the unlooked for delay which I have mentioned, the weather became all at once fair for our departure, and continued tolerably so during the voyage, so that we anchored, within a very few days in the port of Jaffa¹³.

from Narrative of the Life and Adventure of Giovanni Finati native of Ferrara
by Giovanni Finati, 1830

Notes

¹ The Janissaries, for ages past, formed a very strong and unruly party in Aleppo; and it is a place that has been subject, from time to time, to great military ferments and disorders.

² When Mengin ascribes this walk of sycamore-frees to the French, he can only be understood as meaning the walk itself, for the trees cannot he less than a century old.

³ The building inclosing the Mikkias had been used as a fort – Mengin, vol. I. p. 89: and Al Bey says of it, in 1806, “This monument, which is of such high importance, is now abandoned to a horde of soldiers, or rather barbarians, who conspire to destroy it.” – vol. II. p. 23.

⁴ It is much to be regretted, that the full account which Mr. Salt had drawn up of the results both of his excavations about the Great Sphinx, and in the great necropolis that surrounds the pyramids, though prepared for the press, have never been given to the public. Both the mitre, that had been placed upon the head, (for which the socket was always visible,) and the beard that was fitted on below the chin, were found when the sand and rubbish were removed. And here I may add, by the way, that instances of a female sphinx are so uncommon in Egypt, that I myself never saw one there (though they may possibly exist, as one represented in low relief certainly does at Turin); it may be doubted, therefore, whether the term androsphinx be to be translated human sphinx, in opposition to Kriosphinx, and other animal combinations, or whether it may not really refer rather to the sex represented.

⁵ They sailed on the 16th of June, 1817, Belzoni – who makes the crew consist of five men; but Captains Irby and Mangles, in their letters to their friends, agree with the author.

⁶ September 15, 1816.

⁷ August 1, 1817. – Belzoni.

⁸ An account of this fray will be found in Belzoni, p. 217; and it is mentioned also by Captains Irby and Mangles in their letters.

⁹ Belzoni, p. 218.

¹⁰ This young man died afterwards in London.

¹¹ It will be seen by reference to “Norden’s Travels,” that he met with very similar usage at Derr.

¹² Mrs. Beizoni says, in what she calls her “trifling account,” that her detention on board was no lees than a whole month.

¹³ March 9, 1818.