THE CONSCRIPTION.

309

en gy so terrible that he can rescue from the craving appetite of the labourer every crumb not indispensably necessary to prolong his existence and his toil.

The mode employed in recruiting the army adds greatly to the burden of the system and to the invincible repugnance of the Egyptians to the military service. It seems probable, however, that such a system could not be carried out but by the most grievous oppressions. When a new levy of troops has been resolved upon, the moudyr or mamoor is notified of the will of the viceroy, and of the number of troops to be supplied by his district. Some estimate is made by him of the quota of the respective cantons, and recruiting officers are despatched with bands of soldiers to enforce the levy. They proceed as secretly as possible in the discharge of their duty, and endeavour to make a dash upon the villages before any notice is had of their approach or of the designs of the government. All the males fit for military service are usually seized and conducted to the nearest rendezvous, where a surgeon selects the prescribed number of the most healthy and robust young men, without reference to anything but their fitness for the duties of the camp. The old, the infirm, and the halt, few others being left, are sent back to the toils of the field, and the chosen youth are marched on board the boat that is to bear them to headquarters, amid the lamentations of parents, wives, and children. They are usually handcuffed or otherwise confined till they have proceeded so far as to lose all hope of making their escape.

When intelligence of the intended visit of the recruiting officer reaches the village before his arrival, all the ablebodied men usually flee to the Desert, where they conceal themselves till they are seized and brought in by the Bedouins, who receive a reward from the government, or until the hated pressgang has accomplished its work, and retired from the district. This may not occur in several weeks;

1

310

EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS.

and it often happens that the peasant is thus banished

om

his fields in seed-time or harvest, when the loss of a few days involves the loss of a crop. When the demand for soldiers is very urgent, the older and more infirm men are taken in the absence of the young and vigorous; but more commonly they are only bastinadoed for the delinquency of their runaway sons.

It is no unusual occurrence for men thus forced into the ranks of the army, under the influence of despair or rage, to cut off some fingers, or a hand, with a hatchet, so as to disable themselves for the service, and in the hope of procuring a discharge. This mutilation, however, has more usually been made in childhood by the provident parent, and few young men are seen in the villages who have not lost an eye, some teeth, or several fingers from the right hand through this parental forecast and affection.

This strong repugnance of the fellahs to the army gradually subsides, it is said, as they become accustomed to their new duties; and, after a season of moping and despondency, they generally become satisfied, and even fond of the service. The idleness of a soldier's life proves agreeable to their indolent dispositions. They find themselves better provided with food and clothing, and more secure from oppression, than they were in the distant rural village. A great many of them marry, which the pacha encourages, with the view of reconciling them to the army, as well as to prevent the fatal influence upon the population which must otherwise result from withdrawing one half of the able-bodied men of the country from domestic life. A village of mud-built hovels, or rather burrows, rising a few feet above the ground, and entered by a hole in the side, is always seen close to the barracks. These are occupied by the wives of the soldiers, and such assemblages of filthy, degraded, wretched-looking females are surely to be seen nowhere else in the world. The children receive rations and half pay from the govern- .

HEIR COSTUME AND COURAGE.

311

ment. The soldiers' pay amounts to about nine dollars per annum, which, however, he never receives at the proper time, and in many instances not at all. Still he is clothed

and fed, which is more than his early habits have taught him to regard as indispensable.

The Egyptian uniform consists of the red cap, a close jacket, and large Turkish trousers, which descend loose to the knee, below which they are fitted close to the leg like gaiters. The common slippers of the country are worn instead of shoes, and a broad girdle is tied around the waist. This dress, without being European, is commodious, and well adapted to the occupations of the soldier. His weapons are European.

The fellahs, after a season of training, are transformed into obedient, hardy, and brave soldiers. They have proved an overmatch for the Turks in every encounter, and would be equal to the best European troops but for the moral infirmity entailed upon them by servile habits, and from having been kept in a state of degrading subjection to the Franks who reside in or visit Egypt. I have never seen more formidable corps than some of the veteran regiments who have made campaigns in Arabia and Syria.

The various schools established and supported by Mohammed Ali ought to be considered along with his military establishments, of which, indeed, they form an integral and essential part, neither having nor being intended to have any more connexion with the education of the people and the general diffusion of knowledge, than have the armories and founderies for cannon which form parts of the same system. This remark is the more necessary, as the pacha is often represented as the restorer of learning in Egypt-a second Alfred, who gladly turns aside from the toils of war and the cares of state, to found universities and court philosophy.

The higher schools, of which a considerable number are now in operation, are devoted to preparing young Egyptians

for the public service either in the army and navy, or in the manufacturing establishments of the viceroy. There are schools of engineering, of cavalry, of infantry, of medicine and surgery, of veterinary medicine, of agriculture, and of arts and trades. They are conducted by Europeans, commonly by Frenchmen, and the entire expense is defrayed by the government. History, mathematics, geography, drawing, the Turkish and French languages, and, in some instances, the Persian language, are embraced in the course of study.

A number of the most promising pupils have been sent to Europe for the completion of their education, and appointed on their return to responsible posts in the army and navy, as under-teachers in the schools, directors in the factories, arsenals, &c. The other élèves are also appointed to such functions in the public service as their attainments and abilities may fit them to discharge.

These higher institutions receive their pupils from primary schools, established in most of the towns for the purpose of preparing a given number of boys for the more liberal course of instruction which I have just described. The Egyptians manifest the same repugnance to giving up their sons to be educated in the pacha's schools as they do for the army, and they resort to the same atrocious means of disqualifying them for this purpose. The proper officer is, at stated seasons, sent forth into the towns and villages to select the candidates for literary and subsequent military and political distinction. The boys of from eight to ten years of age are inspected, and the most approved for physical or intellectual development are torn away from their unwilling parents, to be subjected to the proper training. They are said to possess considerable aptness to learn, but seldom overcome their reluctance and distaste for a career into which they are dragged by the strong hand of power, though their prospects and condition in life are always greatly improved.

EGYPTIAN SCHOLARS.

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The best products of these schools are said not to make good officers. They retain the bearing and sentiments that belong to their race, though ready enough to lose all sympathy with it, and seem incapable of commanding. With a very few exceptions, all but the lower grades of office are filled with Turks and other foreigners, though the pupils of the schools are compelled to remain in the public service. An intelligent Frenchman, who is at the head of one of the military schools, said to an acquaintance of mine, "These youths are brought here by force, and they retain the spirit of detenus and slaves. They learn only by compulsion, and yet I am expected to achieve the impossible task of making good officers of them."

There are about ten thousand boys under instruction, who are all taught, lodged, sustained, and paid at the expense of the viceroy. He is said frequently to manifest symptoms of impatience at the heavy charge imposed upon the treasury, and especially at the prolonged necessity of employing European teachers upon high salaries. He seems incapable of comprehending why his young fellahs, after a proper course of instruction, should be unable to conduct the schools and his other establishments; and in several instances he has removed Europeans from responsible stations in order to fill them with the more distinguished élèves of his schools. This experiment has not succeeded, and it seems probable either that the Egyptian race will prove incapable of rising to high destinies, or that a much longer period must be allowed for their gradual improve

ment.

This incapacity threatens to defeat one part of his favourite plan-that of rendering himself independent of foreign aid, and of reducing the pay of his higher officers. At present he pays at a high rate, considering the value of money in Egypt, and must do so to attach competent men to his service. The pay of a soldier is nine dollars per anVOL. I.-D D