The Overland Guide-book

CAIRO TO SUEZ. 8

The distance (ordinarily accomplished in about twenty hours, including stoppages) from Cairo to Suez is eighty four miles, and along the route through the desert there are seven station-houses. These station-houses are numbered from 1 to 7, and contain the following accommodation: —

No. 1. Nine miles from Cairo, stabling and a resting-room.

No. 2. Twenty miles from Cairo, contains two public rooms (one for ladies, and the other for gentlemen), two private rooms, and a servants' room.

No. 3. Thirty miles from Cairo, stabling for relays of horses, with one resting-room.

No. 4. Forty-one miles from Cairo, the centre station, contains a large saloon, a ladies' room, servants' room, kitchen, a number of commodious bed-chambers, large water-tank, stabling, &c. Here, also, will be found, liberally provided, those "creature comforts," which so essentially cheer and sustain the traveller on his way. Ladies, however, would do well to take in their basket, on leaving the steamer, a bottle of good water.

No. 5. Thirty miles from Suez, stabling and a resting room.

No. 6. Twenty miles from Suez, two public rooms, private rooms, and servants' rooms. The same as No. 2.

No. 7. Nine miles from Suez, stabling and resting-room.

The whole distance is traversed without inconvenience, in carriages, on horseback, on chairs, or on donkeys; the latter a very superior animal to those in this country. The Egyptian ass is easy in his pace, capable of great fatigue, and, it is said, will perform the whole distance with but little provender.

Travellers now embark on board the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer, and, as soon as the luggage has been shipped, and every other arrangement made, the anchor is weighed, and the steamer starts for Aden. Beyond certain historical associations, the Red Sea presents little that can interest the traveller in his brief and expeditious trip. The shores are dreary and barren, and are only agreeable to the eye of the landsman, because they present a somewhat less monotonous scene than the expanse of "blue above and blue below," which distinguishes the ocean in parts remote from land.

Aden, which was formerly called "Portus Romanicus," is a town of the Yemen, which, from its position, and now, on account of its recent occupation by the English, promises to become a commercial and military station of great importance. The town is built on the crater of an exhausted volcano, and is situate at the extremity of a small peninsula, formed of volcanic matter, and attached to the continent solely by a low neck of land from 500 to 600 yards wide, and which might be easily isolated by a canal. The harbour is a magnificent basin, capable of containing an immense fleet; and is entered by a narrow passage between two other craters. It would be easy to establish defensive works on the rocks, which would place the fort in safety against any attack. One redoubt has been already raised, as a security against the Arabs, ever ready to attack the English. From this point to the gate of the town has been traced a road of about a league in length, by which the defile is reached that forms the entrance to Aden. This defile is being fortified with a gate, evidently constructed to resist other attacks than those of the Arabs, and is about 100 yards long, and four or five wide; it is cut out of a rock which stands 150 yards above the level of the sea. A formidable battery, commanding the entrance, is in process of being erected above the rock on the left of the defile. A covered way, with an arch thrown from one rock to another, unites the system of defence which the batteries on the summit of the rocks on the left will complete.

In despite of sickness and desolation, the population of Aden has greatly augmented in a short space of time. When first occupied, the population did not exceed 4,000; it is now upwards of 30,000; and every morning at daybreak 50 to 200 camels may be seen coming into the town, laden with the produce of the interior, provisions, vegetables, &c., to console and comfort the otherwise benighted occupants of this extinguished crater. The fact is, the security to property afforded by a residence within the limits of British possession and influence, has contributed, in no inconsiderable degree, to this outward sign of prosperity.

An hotel on the sea-shore, kept by some enterprising Parsees from Bombay, and a great number of donkeys, attended by their drivers or proprietors (little woollyheaded urchins), offer to the passenger who may go ashore, the contrast of a dinner of fish and a ride to the town and cantonment of Aden. Beyond these, the attractions of the place may be represented by a cipher.

At Aden the steamer takes in a supply of coal, and then starts for Ceylon; which island she reaches in ten days, and where she remains but for a few hours. Here will be found a branch steamer ready to start for China; and, to the traveller thenceward, we can promise that this portion of the journey, touching at Penang and Singapore, en route, will surpass in picturesque and romantic scenery all that his eye has hitherto beheld – we do not mean to say that, in many parts of Europe or America, there are not isolated spots equally beautiful and sublime; but, whether, for a continuous sea-journey of so many miles, for the most part, in water as smooth as a "milk pan," it can be equalled? certainly, it cannot be surpassed. The voyage from Ceylon to Penang is commonly made in six days, – the steamer stopping there six hours; that to Singapore in three days, with a stay of twenty-four hours; and, finally, to Hong Kong, in another six days. Four days under steam from Ceylon carry us to Madras, where, after another supply of fuel, we proceed to Calcutta, occupying four days in the trip; and there terminates our interesting journey. We have given a brief description of the three last-named places in the section appropriated to the details of the homeward trip, and therefore consider it unnecessary to offer any remarks here.

TO BOMBAY

The responsibility of this journey is divided, being firstly in the hands of the Peninsular and Oriental Company; secondly, of the Egyptian Oriental Transit Company; and, lastly, of the East India Company. Forethought and precaution are therefore recommended in making the arrangements necessary to secure the passage to Bombay throughout, with as little inconvenience and as much comfort as can be experienced under the circumstances above stated.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company allow a limited number of passengers to book for Aden, on the 20th of each month, and, when this can be effected, it is decidedly the most comfortable and least expensive mode of reaching Bombay. The East India Company's frigates, that convey the mid-monthly mail from Aden to Bombay, afford good accommodation for a few persons; and the run is only one of ten days' endurance.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company, under no circumstances, book the whole way to Bombay. Passengers wishing to adopt that course, and having fixed the date of their departure, should make immediate application to James Barber and Co., whose circular will be found at the end of this book, and whose advice and assistance will always be found useful to the Overland traveller.

Passengers who cannot adopt the first part of this route, so far as Aden, in the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamers, will find the following directions serve them in the time of need.

The Company's steamers for Malta and Constantinople start from Southampton on the 29th of every month, at 1·30 P.M. (when the 29th falls on a Sunday, the steamer leaves at nine o'clock on the morning of the 30th), arriving at Malta about the 10th of the month.

Passengers for Alexandria and Bombay are conveyed from Malta to Alexandria by one of Her Majesty's steamers, leaving Malta, on the arrival there, from Marseilles, of the London mail of the 7th of the month.

On their arrival at Alexandria, the same means of travelling are provided for passengers, as described in a previous part of this work; but the passenger, in this case, having only hitherto paid for his sea-journey to Malta £27 10s. – a further sum of £12 10s. has to be paid for passage from Malta to Alexandria, and then he has to make his arrangement with the Egyptian Transit Company, in order that he may reach Suez in time to embark in the East India Company's steamer at that port, which conveys the mail to Bombay.

The Transit Company have established the following rates: —

Two cwt. of baggage is allowed at the £12 rate, and one cwt. for all below it, and 16s. per cwt. is charged for any excess on that weight.

Provisions are liberally supplied on the journey; but hotel expenses at Alexandria, Cairo and Suez, as well as wines, beer and spirits, are not included in the sum charged by the Transit Company. The following may be considered a fair estimate of the cost of the trip: —

This amount will vary, of course, according to the mode of living and views of the passenger, but 15s. per day may be taken as a fair average for living, and 5s. additional, well managed, will pay the expense of seeing the sights of interest in or about Cairo, if a prolonged stay be contemplated or practicable.

Arrived at Suez, the passenger will have to secure his accommodation to Bombay, according to the regulations in the following pages.

East India Company's rules for the engagement of passages and accommodation of passengers in the Government steam-packets between Bombay and Suez.

Application for passage is to be made at the office of the master-attendant in Bombay, and at other ports to the commander.

Passengers are to be divided into two classes, viz.: —

First class, who sit at the commander's table and are entitled to all the privileges of the quarter-deck.

Second-class, who are not entitled to walk aft of the paddle-boxes, who berth forward, and either arrange for their own provision, or mess with the warrant-officers or engineers.

Every passenger of the first class shall pay the following sum, as table-money, for the voyage from Bombay to Suez, or from Suez to Bombay, viz.: —

It is to be understood that, for the above sums, the passengers are to be provided with a plain, substantial table; but no person is entitled to more than one pint of wine and one bottle of beer per diem. Cabin passengers have the first choice of seats at the table, and, after them, the saloon passengers, in preference to those on the deck, whose priority will be arranged according to their standing on the passage-list. The seats will be arranged by the commander, and, once taken, they cannot be changed without his permission during the voyage.

In addition to the table-money, the following sums will be charged for the accommodation engaged by first-class passengers, viz.: —

Every second class passenger shall pay Rs. 150.

For each European servant 50 Rs. must be paid as subsistence-money, and 50 Rs. as passage-money; for native servants the charge will be one-half the rate for a European; but none are to be considered and taken as servants unless they actually accompany their masters or mistresses.

A passenger who has engaged a cabin may make what arrangement he likes for its occupation; he may either keep it entirely to himself, or admit to share it with any one that he pleases, provided only that the name of the person so admitted (if an adult) have been previously on one of the lists, and subject to the following restrictions, viz.: —

A treble cabin cannot be appropriated to the accommodation of more than —

Four ladies.

Three gentlemen.

Six children.

One lady and four children.

Two ladies and three children.

Three ladies and two children.

One gentlemen and three children.

Two gentlemen and two children.

A lady and her husband, with two children.

A double cabin cannot be appropriated to more than —

Three ladies.

Two gentlemen.

Four children.

A lady and three children.

Two ladies and two children.

A gentleman with two children.

A lady and her husband, with one child.

A single cabin cannot be appropriated to more than —

Two ladies.

One gentleman.

Three children.

One lady and two children.

Passengers in a steamer that may from accident or other cause be obliged to return to port, will be entitled to the refund of the amount that has been paid, deducting therefrom a sum for the table allowance of the commander, according to the number of days that the vessel may have been at sea, calculating the average time occupied in a voyage to or from Suez to be eighteen days, and Aden ten days.

For the convenience of passengers from the Red Sea to India, the commanders of the Honourable Company's packets are authorised to receive payment of passage-money at Suez, or any port between Suez and Bombay, in sovereigns, Spanish dollars or German crowns, at the following rates of exchange, viz.: —

Each cabin-passenger may, if he pleases, put all his baggage into his cabin. The saloon and deck-passengers will be allowed to keep one box or bag above. The rest of the baggage is to be in the baggage-room, and passengers will be allowed access to it twice a week, on a day and hour fixed by the commander, who will appoint a person to have charge of the baggage.

Any applicant may be refused a passage without any cause being assigned, either by the authorities at Bombay or by the commander of the vessel when away from Bombay; but a report of the rejection is to be communicated to Government.

All persons who take passage, either themselves or through their agents, will be considered as thereby binding themselves to comply with these rules, which will be shown by the master-attendant or by the commander of the vessel to parties who engage a passage.

ROUTE VIÂ FRANCE, GERMANY OR ITALY

An impression is abroad that parties leaving England for India may travel through France, Germany or Italy, embarking for Alexandria at either Marseilles, Trieste, or Naples, at as reasonable a cost, and with as little trouble as if they had taken their passage in the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamers from Southampton.9That such routes have their advantages, in the information and experience which travelling on the continent imparts to the intelligent, no one can deny; but that they are, in other respects, less troublesome or more economical than the sea-trip cannot by experience be maintained. In truth, no person can even compute with accuracy the actual expense of a land-journey; for, though the charges for posting by diligence, eil-wagon, vetturino, or rail, may be easily ascertained, it is impossible to estimate probable hotel charges, the extortions of gendarmerie, custom-house officers, passport employés, &c., or to foretell what detentions may take place en route; detentions which, if for only one hour beyond the time for the departure of the steamer, involve a prolonged stay of another month. We, therefore, feel justified in discarding all minute particulars respecting the routes we have indicated, simply mentioning that parties who do not seek the accommodation of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's boats until they reach Malta or Alexandria, will have to pay (rateably) a higher sum for their passage to Ceylon, Madras or Calcutta, than would be charged them, were they to embark, in the first instance, at Southampton. We may add, however, that should any parties, in the face of the difficulties and objections, still prefer proceeding by the continental route, they will do well to limit their luggage to the least possible supply, and always refer, before deciding on the trip, to parties in London, who can give them the latest and fullest information on the subject.

THE HOMEWARD PASSAGE

To the "homeward bound" who engages his passage in the Peninsular Company's steamer right through to England, we may address the following information: —

We will suppose him to be at Calcutta, or the provinces under the Bengal Presidency. Having made up his mind to proceed to England, and settled the period of his departure, he addresses the Agent of the Company in Calcutta, requesting him to secure a passage in the steamer appointed to proceed to Suez in the month he may have selected. The advertisements published in the Calcutta papers will indicate the arrangements made for the departure of the steamers, and the plans which the Company's agents can supply will assist the intending passenger to select a cabin. The prices of accommodation which we have given in pounds sterling do not vary in India. The conversion of pounds sterling into rupees at the current exchange of the day will at once give the amount.

If the party be bent upon making a prolonged stay in Egypt, it will only be necessary to engage a passage to Suez, taking a certificate from the captain that the voyage has been made in one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's vessels, in order to ensure a passage from Alexandria to Southampton, at some future period, in one of the vessels of the same establishment, by paying the amount (exclusive of desert transit) that would have been exacted in Calcutta for the entire passage. If, however, the traveller, after remaining in Egypt, purpose visiting the Continent of Europe prior to his return to England, he need not trouble himself about the certificate.

Having engaged his passage, the homeward-bound will next think of his equipment for the trip. What we have said on this subject, in the instructions to outward-bound passengers, will equally apply to him. No cabin furniture whatever is required, nor will anything be needed in addition to the ample wardrobe which a resident in India generally possesses, beyond a couple of blouses, or light jean shooting-coats, and a sola hat.

Should the traveller be resident at Madras, or under the Fort St. George government, he should address his application to the Oriental Company's agent at the Presidency, who will give him all necessary information as to the time when the steamer may be expected at Madras. He will be required to be perfectly ready to start, as the stay of the vessel in the Madras roads seldom exceeds the few hours requisite in coaling.

Officers on the Bombay establishment will, it is presumed, for the most part, leave their own Presidency in the East-India Company's steamers, the regulations regarding which will be found in a preceding page.

The accommodation of the government boats terminating at Suez, the Bombay officer will be thrown upon his own resources for the remainder of his trip. He will accordingly do wisely, if he wish to get rapidly to England, to address himself a month before-hand to the agent of the Peninsular and Oriental Company in Egypt, to book him a passage thence to Southampton, and to arrange for his transit across the desert.10

Officers on sick-leave or furlough very frequently arrive without certain necessary documents, and are consequently subject to great inconvenience and expense. They should be provided with —

Certificate of length of service.

Certificate of being allowed a furlough.

Certificate of date to which pay has been issued.

If from Bengal, a certificate from the pilot in duplicate of the date of the ships leaving the Sandheads; and, if it be intended to claim income-allowance from the military fund, a certificate from the secretary to the fund of being entitled to such an allowance.

The voyage from India to Suez, as far as the attractions of the intermediate ports are concerned, presents very few charms for the traveller; and, even if they were numerous, the stay at each place is so brief, that there is scarcely any opportunity of enjoying them; but every change is acceptable to the landsman confined for several days on shipboard, more particularly if the scenes he beholds have a dash of novelty in them. Arrived at Madras, therefore (we speak now to the Bengal officer), he will pull ashore in one of the Mussoolah boats, whose peculiar construction and safe navi gation through the surf that perpetually rolls upon the shore at that port has always been a subject of surprise to the novice. If he have a friend at the Presidency, he will probably get the use of a carriage for the day, if not, he will be able to hire a "shigram" (palanquin carriage), or a "a bandy" (gig), and drive to all the most striking parts in the town. The Mount-road, with its numerous European shops, and monument to Sir Thomas Munro, the fort and the arsenal, the college, the public stables, the government house, the Athenæum library, the Black town, &c., will furnish subjects of inspection enough to occupy a few hours very pleasantly.

Ceylon. – The next point on the route has its attractions for the Madras, as well as the Bengal, officer. An idea of these may be gathered from the following lively and intelligent description of a visit to Point de Galle, the coaling port, derived from "The Monthly Times," and written by a gentleman who had touched there in the "Hindostan," on his way to England: —

"On the seventh day, including our twenty-four hours' detention at Madras, after leaving the Sandheads, we found ourselves, in the morning, approaching the beautiful Island of Ceylon, and anchored about noon in Point de Galle harbour. The entrance to the harbour was pretty enough – low rocks, over which the waves were beating and bounding, extended to the left, and a point of land seemed to jut out prominently to them, on which is built the Dutch fort of olden days, and which still retains its characteristic look of Dutch solidity and unavailing massiveness. There is no appearance of town from the ship; and very few habitations visible, or indications of much cultivation. The old Dutch church forms the principal object in the fort. You know I had letters from a family long resident at Galle. I proposed to see them on the following morning, but they would not hear of my remaining on board; so I landed in the afternoon, and soon found all was kindness and hospitality on the part of my new Cingalese acquaintances. The residence was formerly the old Government House, in the days of the Dutch. It was a large, roomy, substantial building; the doors were lofty, and the walls panelled in stucco, and painted with white and ochre; the fittings-up and furniture were plain, but substantially made, of carved ebony and satin-wood.

"On the following day, after a most gloriously comfortable night's rest in a very clean bed and cool, capacious room, we started, after breakfast, in a small palkee-garree and pony, always easily obtainable on hire, to visit a country-house on a hill about three miles from the fort. The drive was through a beautiful and open, well-shaded road, with frequent interspersings of small cleared patches of rice and other cultivation. The road itself was narrow, with ditches on either side, but well metalled with broken granite. The comfortable houses of the burghers rose occasionally by the road side, on little shady eminences, here and there, and seemed neat and peculiarly cozy. They were chiefly oblong, tiled buildings, with a verandah to the front. These burghers are descendants either from the former Dutch or Portuguese possessors of this coast; and many that I saw were not a little darkened in their descent. On reaching the hill, which we had to walk up, I found the sun sadly oppressive; but we were amply repaid for the ascent, for the view from it was superb. The sea was visible, and almost everywhere open to us along the horizon, through the different hills; and every here and there, in our vicinity and below us, were beautiful valleys and richly cleared spots, with well-defined roads running through them, and occasionally cottages and huts dotted in every direction; the grand distant mountains forming afar a tall and varied background.