Visit to the Palace of Schoubra

The use of carriages is not known in Egypt; all journeys are performed either by water or caravans; in the latter case camels are chiefly used; however, the horses of the Bedouins are very well calculated for the immense deserts, their temperance being nearly equal to that of the camel. A carriage in Egypt is therefore a real phenomenon; it would even be of no use so long as there are no beaten roads. The only one at Cairo belongs to the Pacha, who had it brought from Marseilles, out of curiosity. He cannot use it, except to go from Cairo to his country palace at Schoubra, to which he has made an excellent road, on which he sometimes gives his women the amusement of a drive in the carriage. As this does not occur very often, it is always a sight at Cairo, which attracts numerous spectators.

Mr. Rosetti, thinking to gratify me, took the liberty of requesting the Pacha to lend him the carriage, and now behold me, accompanied by his lady and her mother-in-law, both natives of the Levant, in a pretty berline, drawn by six horses, driven furiously by an Arab coachman, on the road to Schoubra. To get out of the gates of the city was by no means an easy matter; the narrow streets, a crowd of people whom the sight had attracted round us, the cries of the populace, the swearing of the coachman, and the fear of running over somebody, which, however, did not hinder us from going at full gallop, inspired me with an alarm which it is difficult to describe; while my companions, to whom this pleasure was quite new, laughed aloud, and seemed to have no notion of the danger of their situation. We, however, arrived at Schoubra without any accident. It is a pretty palace in the Constantinopolitan style, and appeared to me to be very slightly built. The rooms are very high, and loaded with a profusion of gilding and mirrors. The carvings in wood, of the ceilings, are really very fine, gilt, and painted in lively colours. The floors of the saloons were covered with magnificent carpets; and, if the whole does not display much taste, the splendour and diversity of the ornaments of these apartments has an agreeable effect to the eye.

The Orientals have no taste for the fine arts: we should look in vain for the masterpieces in painting and sculpture which embellish ours. They expend immense sums in gilding and mirrors, but would not give a piastre for a Madonna of Raphael, or an Hebe of Canova. The Mahometan religion is not favourable to the fine arts; it even prohibits, as a crime, the imitation of the human figure, either in painting or in sculpture. We need not, therefore, be surprised, that Greece, the cradle of the arts, has not produced any masterpiece since it has become the conquest of these barbarians.

The gardens of Schoubra are pretty extensive, and planted with taste; but much crowded with summer-houses. Most of the walks are paved with small coloured stones, which form a kind of mosaic that has a pleasing effect. Attempts have been made to naturalize many plants and fruit-trees from Europe, in order to encourage this branch of industry which might in time be productive of great advantages After having visited every part of the gardens, and looked at the immense plantations of mulberry-trees, which border both sides of the road, we thought of returning, and letting the ladies get into the carriage. I preferred going back to Cairo, in a less splendid but safer manner, galloping by the side of their triumphal car.

from Recollections of Egypt
by Baroness von Minutoli, 1827