290 
lute master of the soil, and of all that 
it produces; ‘no one has any real pro- 
_perty, no one is rich, except some of 
his officers, so long as he thinks fit to 
. allow them to be so. He monopolizes 
the trade with the productions of 
Egypt, and even the East India goods 
that come by way of Egypt; allows no 
competitors, except the few commer- 
cial houses appointed by himself; and 
‘no one has hitherto been able to check 
this disposition, so contrary to the 
usages and feelings of modern nations. 
‘He fixes the prices, treats all the mer- 
chants and captains of ships according 
to his own pleasure, sells only to his 
favourites ; and many vessels have 
left Alexandria without cargoes, and 
many merchants have been living 
there without business for years. 
If there were not so many conflict-. 
ing interests, the consuls would long 
Since have called on their respective 
ministers at Constantinople, who might 
then have urged the Divan to enforce 
the existing commercial conventions. 
But insulated complaints make no 
impression; and the Divan seems, in 
fact, not to be strong enough to pro- 
test with effect against the proceed- 
ings of the powerful Pacha. Hence 
the unfortunate merchants of 1817 and 
1818, who previously to 1815 and 
1816 were at the summit of prosperity, 
will long remain in distress, with dif_i- 
culty prolonging their existence from 
day to day; and will never be able to 
pay to the Pacha the millions which 
they owe. 
I was assured that twenty-seven 
have failed within a very short time, 
seven are on the eve of bankruptcy, 
and five will be obliged to give up the 
business in a few years. In the year 
1820, the Pacha ordered those who 
could not pay the third part of their 
debts to him to leave Egypt. 
His mighty word reaches from the 
Mediterranean to Dongola; from 
Arisch, the Deserts of Arabia, and the 
Red Sea, to Agaba, Siwah, the Natron 
country, the Great and the Little 
Oasis; and even the Princes of Sennar 
and Darfour are now threatened by 
his powerful arm. 
The Bedouins of Mareotis, the Na- 
tron country, and Egypt, are born his 
soldiers. Mercenaries from all parts 
of the Turkish empire crowd io the 
corps of the Mamelukes; and what his 
soldiers want in skill is compensated 
by their courage, by the valour of their 
On the Commercial Situation of Egypt in 1821. 
happy result. 
{Nov.1, 
leaders, and by the enemy’s want of 
cannon and ammunition. Nearly three 
millions of people are either his sub- 
jects or tributaries, and all the Maho- 
metans are responsible for the security 
of the caravans going on pilgrimage to 
Mecca. 
The form of government is well 
known, as well as the great influence 
of some Franks, who are men of ability, 
in- the improvements that are under- 
taken; and it is hoped that the state 
of Egypt will really be ameliorated. 
Yet the most intelligent persons doubt 
it, if the tyranny of the Pacha, with 
respect to agriculture and commerce, 
and the life of his subjects, continues. 
Egypt is besides deficient in popula- 
tion, and this alone can prevent a part 
of what was once the most fruitful 
country in the world,—the Delta,— 
from being changed into a desert. The 
mouth of the Nile at Rosetta is so 
choaked up with sands, that small ves- 
sels frequently run aground. They 
cannot pass without a fayourable and 
strong wind, for which they often have 
to wait for weeks together. Without 
the overflowing of the Nile, what 
would become of the Paradise of 
Egypt, what of Rosetta, with its hand- 
some pleasure-houses, its fine gardens, 
its palm-groves, and luxuriant corn- 
fields? It is to be feared that the 
masses of sand, continually advancing 
from west to east, which, in the desert 
between Raschid and Damiat, cover 
and swallow up lofty columns, houses, 
and even palm-trees, will soon change 
into a sandy desert this fine country, 
which is fertilized by the western arm 
of the Nile, and the canals supplied 
from it; and will leave only one re- 
maining of the seven branches of the 
Nile which formerly watered the beau- 
tiful Delta. Woe to the governors 
who have been labouring, for above a 
thousand years, to produce this un- 
This evil cannot be 
remedied but by judiciously conduct- 
ing the water on the principles of hy- 
draulics; but a great number of hands 
would be required for this purpose. ~ 
“Mehmet Ali, it is true, recéives 
fugitives kindly from all parts of the 
world, and gives them lands to eulti- 
vate: he was a great gainer, in parti- 
cular, by the last persecutions of the 
Catholic Greeks in Damascus, and of | 
the Catholic Armenians in Aleppo 
and Constantinople. But whatis thus 
gained is destroyed again by the 
plague, 
