THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 191 



ing of his arrival, and had been very well received. 

 He knew that I had helped to effect the reconciliation, 

 and he was grateful accordingly. 



" I have already alluded to Ibrahim Pasha's third 

 son, Moustafa, and as to the second, Ismael, I like 

 him very much, and am delighted at his reception of 

 me. He has handsome and distinguished features, 

 and shows all the blood of Mehemet AH. "When he 

 comes to think less of his pleasures, he will, I think, 

 made his mark in the world. Although only five-and- 

 twenty, he is already the father of twelve children. 

 He inherited from his father the finest palace in Cairo, 

 upon the banks of the Nile, and he has spent there 

 more than 40,000 upon furniture which he has had 

 sent from France. He showed me through his vast 

 and splendid apartments on the ground floor, and part 

 of those on the first floor, the rest being reserved for 

 the harem. Passing through a large saloon, I could 

 see the hangings heaving to and fro behind which the 

 eunuchs were moving about. The banisters of the 

 staircase are of carved rosewood, encrusted with silver, 

 the balustrades being of Baccarat crystal. 



" From thence I went to the house of Halim Pasha, 

 who inhabits one of Mehemet Ali's residences. There 

 is an avenue leading up to it, a league in length, of 

 large sycamores, which I remember as very fine trees 

 when I first saw them, but which now form a dense 

 roof of greenery. This avenue was planted by the 

 French army in 1800. Halim received me very 



