[[1]] *1
4 days sail from Aden
Christmas Eve 1847 -- Jan[uary] 8 1848
My dear Father
I closed my last letter very abruptly at Aden. I left it to be forwarded to England by
the next steamer. Since then we have been making a tolerable passage towards
Ceylon, but the wind, a N.E. Monsoon, is too strong to be pleasant & the motion of
the engine interferes altogether with my writing. Cairo I found a most interesting
place for everything but its botany the Town City is situated on the slope of a spur
of a long range of hills, which there dips down to the Nile. To the E. there is little
space for cultivation, the desert coming close up to the river, leaving but a narrow
strip, of which every advantage is taken; on the opposite side however the belt is
more miles across extending from the Nile to the W. desert & kept fertile by canals
cut between the river & a long line of paddocks which run parallel to the river Nile
but close to the desert See Hall's Atlas. There are no trees except close to the
banks on either side of them almost exclusively date Palms, in clumps or groves;
Acacia lebekk [lebbek] in long avenues, & Sycamore figs. All the Date trees were
spoiled as to looks, from the dead and dying leaves being cut away, whence the
Palm shoots up a long naked bough, looking V hungry. trees[sic] 40--60 ft crowned
with a formal tress of fronds: at this season the fruits are all gathered & of these
their [sic] are eight or 10 varieties large and small, yellow, red, purple & almost
black: A little grass grows under their shade, so sometimes wheat is planted. The
fields are all laid out in squares of various sizes, carefully irrigated from the Nile,
the water when required being raised by wheels, whose tines are wound with large
posts, & the whole wound by a bullock. These are but few
[[2]] and these chiefly of prickly pears or Parkinsonia aculeata, the latter very
beautiful, from its bright green & feathery foliage. Close to the river the crops
appeared to consist of Sugarcane, Hemp Tobacco, Sesamum Cotton, Coffea, Rice &
Indigo with oranges, Lemons, Bananas, Mulberries, Ceratonia siliqua & a few other
trees, but the fruits are chiefly confined to the watered gardens of the richer
Egyptians. The sugar cane appeared a very small kind, much smaller than the
commonly cultivated one which is the Bourbon I believe, such as you have at Kew.
Farther from the Town & river the great alluvial deposit which alone is fertile of all
Egypt except the oases is much more readily cultivated with various Leguminosae, just
sprouting. Holcus Sorghum, Lettuce, Flax, Poppy, Cumin & Coriander, producing
at this season a rich carpet of the liveliest green. Cairo stood half in the desert &
half in the alluvial deposit, so that you enter it amongst gardens, avenues & nicely
alluvial fields & step from the gates on the other side into utter sterility On the
E[ast]. frontier you see no one but a solitary Arab on his Dromedary or in long
caravans of laden camels breaking the of rock & sand, whilst the river ward are
crowded with laden asses camels, men women & children all busy carrying on
planting & sowing, ploughing or irrigating, so densely posted, dirty and disorderly
that it is impossible to conceive by what governing power they are rendered
profitable servants & subjects.
The Rhoda Gardens are placed on a long island which divides the Nile at Cairo &
upon the end of which the celebrated Nilometer is placed. The first thing which
strikes you in walking there is the want of Exotics. All Eastern gardens as you
know are collections of the most common ornamental native plants arranged in
straight lines to suit an Eastern taste and wooded by others to provide shade &
images of green to
[[3]] rest the eye upon: Here the Rhoda Gardens are disappointing at first sight; for
they present neither the extreme variety of an English Botanic, or pleasure garden,
nor the perfectly artificial and formal luxuriance of the Shoobra. Rhoda is however
really and truly the Sropmore of Egypt & it is quite marvellous what has been done
in the way of introducing Exotic trees, under difficulties such as no other Botanic
Garden has had to surmount, St Petersburg may shut out the frosts & Calcutta
moderate the heats, but no human ingenuity can counteract the inundation of the
Nile at one season, or fend off the hot blast from the Desert at the succeeding one.
Even the cold at Cairo is sometimes very trying to vegetation, especially at nights
in that the plants have every disadvantage to labour under.
I had but a very few minutes to spend at Rhoda during which Mr Traill kindly took
me round part of the garden & pointed out what was of most interest. With the
bags of cuttings from Kew he was much pleased, though alas few of them have
ever a chance of succeeding; all appeared in excellent condition. I did not perceive
any definite plan or arrangement in the gardens. The first object here as
everywhere in the East is shade & this is obtained by a profusion of the trees
common about Cairo & mentioned above. The walks were bordered by hedges of
Lawsonia generally or Parkinsonia & sometimes Myrtle, whilst Rosemary takes the
place of Box. sixty acres are laid out in walks, this bordered by hedges or trees,
enclosing square or variously formed areas through which many very interesting
trees of all countries have been planted with various success. The Passion---flower trailed luxuriantly & flowers abundantly. A fine little Banian [Banyan] tree
also throve at the expense of much labour & ingenuity on Mr Traills part, who
[[4]] brings pots of water to the branches, so arranged that the roots dipped into
them. All the Ficus do well as does Mahogany Logwood, Casuarina, Sapindus
sapanoria many Acaciae Pittos nova, Eugenia, & other Myrtaceae of shrubby
things which did well I observed Turnera, Oleanders, Guilandina, Bonducella
Tamarix, Hibiscus, Gleditzia, various Dalbergiae, one, the Sissoo attaining the size
of a tree & yielding excellent timber in Egypt. Of the English European or N. American
timber trees, few do well: Araucaria imbricata exists & that is all; the Oak looks
poorly, Taxodium distichum is yellow as a guinea. Platanus orientalis far from
umbrageous. Cyprusses are killed by the inundations of the Nile. The Asiatic teak
even will not succeed owing to the wet at this period. The Palms are very
capricious some have succeeded admirably as Oreodoxa Regia sent out by
Loddiges. Latania Bourbonica & some Caryotas, these however are individuals,
forming no great features in the garden of 60 acres, though very handsome in
themselves upon the whole the Rhoda Gardens are a noble project & though more
interesting to a Botanist than ornamental or I fear useful: every where you turn you
are greeted by some English or well known exotic, struggling to accommodate
itself to Egyptian bondage, or rebelliously resenting all poor Traills kind attentions,
& doing the worst a slave can do, ---- dying on the spot & breaking his master's
heart. Some accounts of the garden are published: The Gardener's Chronicle by
Traill himself, which I should have liked to have perused previous to my visit, but
had no opportunity; they are however worth you referring to & Bessy would hunt
them out.
On the following day I determined on a trip into the desert to the "Fossil Forest", as
a large tract of country covered with fossil wood is called, several of the officers of
the Sidon joined me, of which I was very glad, as I left to them all the provisioning
for the day. We started very early, upon Jack----asses I also took a servant to carry
[[5]] my traps together with 2 mules & attendants to bring back specimens of the
wood. Though few plants were to be had I was anxious to make a few
observations on the temperature of the soil & dryness of the desert, so that I might
know how near the starving and burning point vegetation would exist, as
supplementary to our many observations in the of how much cold they will can
bear. Our course was to the South of Cairo; along the ridge of hills at whose
Nileward termination the city is planted. These hills are of Limestone, as was the
first few miles of desert we traversed. As we surveyed from the Town at the Citadel
some 200 ft above the river Nile the rest of the town & great desert itself. The sun
was rising as we got to the Palace & a most grand sight it was, it rose from the
E[ast]. desert hot orange red & scorching to behold it, a few stripes of cloud on the
horizon crosses its upward part & through these were darted a flood of great
beams, starting along the parched soil, dancing on the polished alabaster mosque
dome by us and shooting across the Nile to the Pyramids on the far West horizon,
some 10 miles off. To the East & South & S[outh]. E[ast]. was all a fiery desert;
below, the town of Cairo bristling with minarets, & the long shining Nile winding its
way N[orth] & S[outh] through irrigated green pastures, gardens, date groves,
weathered white building, its surface spotted with Lateen sailed boats. This green
belt reached across to the very base of the Pyramids & was there by another
desert covered with a light sage & backed by low hills of sterile sand. After a little
another desert horizon rose with the light far to the South, with the Nile again like a
twisted silver wire, its course marked by the Pyramid, so distant as to appear no
more than dusky triangular spots. Beyond this the site of Thebes, Memphis, Luxor,
Edfou [Edfu], far away Cataracts & Meroe are seen only in the imagination. Of the
appearance of the Pyramids themselves I can give you no idea. They are no
beauties, so much of their interest is derived from associations but these are so strong
& are interwoven with the earliest history of our species, & of our
[[6]] school & devotion, that it is impossible to keep ones eyes or thoughts from
them.
For the first few miles out of Cairo there was scarce a trace of vegetation to be
distinguished; or merely a few exposed stems here & there above the naked soil,
wholly destitute of leaves. This you know is the sterile season & past even seed
time in the Desert, which is of course not affected by the inundations of the Nile.
About 5 or 6 miles S. from Cairo the scenery changes a little, the country being
more broken up into broad valleys with steep cliffy hills of Limestone & Sandstone
on each side & every here and there a little vegetation of Capparideae Zygophylleae
Rutaceae, a spring cruciferous plant scarce tufts of grass & the Hyoscyamus. The
latter is full of leaf all the year round, brilliantly green & very succulent it more
resembles a Chenopodium & spreads straggling along the ground. Some
Zygophylla are all green, but the few species I saw were small leaved withered
things. Of trees & bushes there are none whatever. All the soil is limestone rock
with a profusion of sand & pebbles & occasionally bits of fossil wood. As we
proceeded the bits of fossil wood became more & more frequent & larger till about
8 or 10 miles S[outh]. E[ast]. Cairo the whole pebbly rocky soil of the plain part of
the desert was fossil wood, chiefly rolled pebbles & fragments but here & there
huge trunks occurred, prostrate & half buried in the sand always broken up into
most of there were heaped together in the greatest confusion; more rarely
individual trees were isolated from the rest frequently 70ft long & some of 120 & it
is said 140 have been measured. Their colour is generally dark reddish brown, they
are all Chalcedony & Agate of a coarse description with the rings of wood well
preserved. The sandy limestone (full of fossil shells) & soil of the desert are white
[[7]] so that this fossil vegetation contrasts curiously with the general appearance
of the country. At this place the Pasha had sunk a pit for coal, rationally concluding
that so much fossil wood above ground indicated no less below, he however did
not get through the limestone rock which is subjacent to the formation to which I
presume the fossil wood to belong. As contrasted with the surrounding sterility this
record of a once luxuriant vegetation is a very impressive object, for it is not
confined to a few miles only of Desert but I am given to understand ectends 40 or
50 in one direction. I do not at all suppose that this forest ever characterized the
Desert [three words struck through, illeg.] or the land now replaced by desert, in its
present relation to the general features of Egypt on the contrary; I expect that the
fossil trees were imbedded in layers of conglomerate & sand stone, which have
been gradually destroyed by the ocean, leaving the silicified trees, which resisted for
the greater part the action of the that surf which made triturated the softer rock forming the
sand & pebbles of the Desert. About 100 miles above Cairo the Sandstone rocks
commence & the Limestone ceases & as on the hills at the back of Cairo,
detached masses of the same Sandstone rock as the statue of Memphis cut from,
occur; it appears probable that this pebbly bed with fossil trees belonged to that
series of rocks, all of which S[outh]. of Lat 29 is washed away, leaving only the
agatized trees which are all grievously water worn, many being ground up with the
sand into pebbles. A white snail was very abundant everywhere, feeding on the
Zygophylla & cruciferous plant, this does not occur S[outh]. of 29 S[outh].E[ast]. of
the limit of the limestone. After loading my sorry mules with as many specimens
as they would carry, we turned back. I arrived late in the evening at Cairo,
thoroughly tired, drenched with perspiration & very sore from the long Donkey ride.
My plants amounted to 61 pieces in all none different from what I afterward saw in
crossing from Cairo to Suez. Besides the pleasure I derived from seeing the
wonderful fossil forest, the first peep of any thing so novel is the desert & its
concomitant features, was highly gratifying; everything was new
[[8]] the sky & the atmosphere were unlike that of any other part of the world, & did
not appear to resemble those on which either animal or vegetable life could exist.
Of this & the Limestone Desert I had no wish to see more, but I should still enjoy a
visit to the Sandstone wastes of middle & Upper Egypt, which are probably only
more sterile & with moving sands of which we here see nothing. On entering Cairo
we passed the tombs of the Caliphs once wonderful for their Eastern beauty &
ornament & still immense & beautifully decorated Mausolea, but all falling to ruin. In the
moon--light they are impressive objects from their peculiar character &
lonelyness[sic] of their situation. The sunset over the pyramids was as glorious as
the sunrise, & as fiery hot, this time however we had the green groves & the cool
looking palaces of the Pasha at Shoobra in the foreground. We waited outside the
city gates to see the full effect of the moon on the City Citadel, minarets & distant
pyramids but the devotional feeling of my Donkey (who seemed most impressed
by the tombs of the Caliphs) prevented my enjoying the few view to the full. The
entrance to the town was through a once magnificent gate; mural ornamented &
very grand looking in the twilight, but surrounded by so much squalor & filth that it
was impossible to devote ones admiration to it. On arriving at our Hotel
("Sheppeard's" a very bad one) I received a message from the G[overnor].
G[eneral]. informing me that he would meet us at the Pyramids next day; & as
these are full 12 miles off we had to make preparations overnight for the trip (of
which I shall send a little account through another channel to Aunt Palgrave.
*2 On
the following day 9th Dec[embe]r I had to be back from the Pyramids in time to
dine at the Consul General's, a brother of Capt Murray RN white headed our friend
of Richmond Park (both of whom by the way has bored Ld & Lady D[alhosie] to
death) I returned only in time to dress when I found another message that Ld
D[alhousie]. had determined to start out at 8 that night. The fact was that through
some mistake of the Telegraph, the Transit Passengers were supposed not to
have arrived as on the previous night at Alexandria. The error was corrected in the
morning to Lr D[alhousie]. but after I
[[9]] had started for the Pyramids & this hurried him off, as to have left Cairo
together would have been very inconvenient to both parties. All the baggage had
gone on & I was in consternation having only 2 hours to pack, get my fossils sent
home & go to the Consuls from where we were to start: We were prohibited taking
anything but a tiny carpet bag, I hired a fleet Dromedary for my baggage (my very
heavy things had gone to the Palace on arriving & went on with Ld D[alhousie].)
On arriving at the Consuls just in time I found Lady D[alhousie]. had also hired a
Dromedary for her extras which would take some of my things & the kindness of the
rest of the suite especially Dr Bell bullied the transit officer to give us an extra van
so that I got my luggage taken on with us. Ld & Lady D[alhousie]. both dined in
their travelling dress, so that I did not object to show myself for a minute at the
Consuls where our numerous party was assembled hoping to spend an evening
with the G[overnor]. G[eneral]. All the nobs [nobility] were there in splendid jewels
& uniforms, besides many European Ladies & gentlemen in their own Native or
Egyptian costume. I never was so glad in my life as when I got my things all
stowed away, though at the expense of relinquishing my scanty collection & all but
a few sheets of small sized paper for the Desert & Aden. A few minutes later
(excepting that the G[overnor]. G[eneral]. would have wired or left a van for me, & I
should have had to go across on a Dromedary & been shaken to small pieces).
Our departure by cresset & torch light was very pretty surrounded as we were by
orientals in all costumes curious looking Egyptian officers of all ranks from the
Pasha's agents (The P[asha]. works the transit communication himself as a
Gov[ernmen]t. speculation) down to the camel and Van Drivers. Ld & Lady
D[alhousie]. mounted a beautiful Barouche as good as even The Park knows, with
6 arab horses & 2 outriders. I dashed off at full speed the cressets & torches on
before, through the narrow streets, whipping every body & every thing in the way.
the vans in which we all followed held 4 a piece they resemble exactly short or
long omnibusses[sic] or long omnibusses[sic], outside & inside but have only 2 wheels
with broad tires & 4 horses each; a lad stood on the step behind, an Egyptian
drives at a furious gallop with a red Fez cap & long whip. In the first van were Dr
Bell & myself with
[[10]] my baggage which we arranged so that we could lie along I had a place for
the night & my two Barometers hung round my neck. Bell an old Indian who is
always cold was bundled up in all imaginable clothes European & Oriental. We had
nothing else but Claret which was all my share at the Consul's dinner & procured
from his Butler. In the 2nd Van were Fane, Courtenay, Capt[ain] Henderson & one
Dragoman who belonged to the Transit office. In the third the Butler, Coachman,
Lady D[alhousies]'s maid & a native (Hindu) woman, an Ayah or kind of Servant.
This was all our force. For the first part of the road we were terribly jolted I began
to fear it was too true that no one could transport Barometers safe (mine are
sound) by the overland route. We stopped every 3 or 5 miles, to bait or change
horses. The night was bright starlight & clear, & we were all very happy & in
excellent spirits. the stations are large rambling buildings, lone houses in the
Desert, with n'er a tree or other house near them, they are whitewashed, one or 2
storied, generaly[sic] one, & amply supplied with Beer, Limes & all sorts of
eatables, just at this time when the mails are passing, but at others nothing is to be
had. Our whole Transit from Alexandria to Suez was at the Pasha's expence[sic]
(except my own living at Cairo) & we were certainly handsomely feasted, housed &
also transported considering the country we passed through. Ld D[alhousie].
reluctantly gave £300 on "Backsheesh" to the various servants for the time from
leaving the Sidon on Sunday midday till landing at Suez on the following Friday
afternoon. At 5 in the morning we arrived at a half way house and halted for 2
hours. I walked out as soon as day dawned, at 6 1/4, the desert was a large bed of
gravel, all pebbles as far as the eye could reach, except when the long low steep
hills of Limestone resumed & these were all far off. The pebbles were sometimes
arranged in lines of heaps, leaving samey intervals on which were scattered plants
of Hyoscyamus, some grapes, Rutacea Capparideae, Heliotropium? Zygophylla.
Altogether there were not 5 individuals of any kind to an acre of surface. The soil
was
[[11]] chilled by Natural radiation & the pebbles covered with dew of only 44° Temp
the air in shade being 47. In digging down the temperature gradually rose a degree
for every inch down to 10 inches beyond which I could not dig. Even in the winter
time I found the sun's rays to give a heat of 100 to the soil, so that the poor plants
have to undergo in winter a change of 56° every day. Here the only water they get
is by the dew forming on them during the night; unhappy plants; if their feelings are
like ours, who like to drink most when most heated. At 7 we had breakfast & were
off again. The sun soon became powerful & the clouds of dust entered our van,
almost suffocating we poor inmates. I got out for a few minutes at every stage &
saw the poor horses covered with sweat, the moment they were unharnessed
throw themselves on the ground & roll in the sand in ecstasy, I could not help
thinking of the Prophet's injunction in the Koran [Quran] that the faithful should
wash in the Desert sand when no water was to be had. We passed some little
oases a few yards long, sparkling with the Hyoscyamus & here & there a solitary
stag--headed inclined Acacia tree, but we never stopped near here these more
fertile less sterile spots. We had been gradually ascending from Cairo & at forenoon of
Friday were on the highest ground on our road (8--900 ft perhaps) (between the
Red Sea & Nile). Here high ridges of red ragged mountains, with long precipitous
sides, all cut up into shallow ravines, dreadfully ragged lonely & barren. From the
height I saw the Red Sea lifted up by refraction long before we sighted it really, the
mountains of the Peninsula of Sinai. Far on the opposite side of the Gulf of Suez.
All deeply interesting objects & more so to me who had been accustomed to so
much novelty of a different character. Except a few Insects (Gylle &c) occasionally
a herd of Antelopes, there is no animal life in these parts of the Deserts.
Occasionally however solitary Arabs or small encampments are seen surrounded
by Dromedaries & packages of merchandize. These Arabs are an unruly set & not
remarkable for their attachment to the Pasha whose road
[[12]] from Cairo to Suez they are heavily bribed to keep in some sort of order. In
many places the latter is really good as where the flats of pebbles are broad and
long, from which the Arabs remove the long stones as long as they are paid for
doing so only, for as soon as the money is stopped they will replace all the big
pieces & these render the track impassable. From the highest level to the Red Sea
at Suez is one long uninterrupted slope of 9 miles long, apparently so uniform &
smooth that you might fancy rolling a cannon ball from the top into the sea: all is
uniformly covered with pebbles & rounded humps of rock as big as the head. The
Colocynth [Citrullus colocynthis] was the only plant I saw here & that very
sparingly, it struggles & is of the same hue almost as the soil, the great yellow
apples alone betraying its position. The valley or rather flat slope is many miles
broad & bounded to the S[outh]. by high rugged hills hot red & hazy, it is indeed a
howling wilderness & the Desert of Sinai opposite looked no better. There was
scarcely a boat (but the steamers) on the Sea & Suez itself on the shore wore a
most desolate appearance, there being no green thing near it. At 4 we entered the
town, a miserable collection of mud huts, with a crazy mosque & large white Hotel
on the Sea--brink at which we disembarked. As the position of the transit of the
Children of Israel one could not but help looking about & trying to grasp one natural
feature that should afterward vividly recall the spot, but there was none, looking
N[orth]. an arm of the Sea wound up to where a Canal in the more glorious days of
Egypt connected the Nile & Red Sea. A few low hills then bounded the horizon
West was the unbroken sweep of Desert we had bounded along at full gallop a few
minutes before. S[outh].W[est]. the ragged hills which characterize a great part of
the W[est]. shore of the Red Sea. To the E[ast]. the water was about 2 miles
across or so bounded by a long flat, from which the Mts of the Penis[ula] of Sinai
rose. Due S[outh]. the unbroken & unruffled waters of the Red Sea stretched away
as far as the eye could see, with 3 steamers lying some 3 miles off the shallows
which surrounded Suez
[[13]] These steamers were the "Precursor" (P&O Co) waiting the passengers
from England; the "Semiramis" H.E.I.C. Navy, which had brought Sir C. Napier
from Bombay & would have taken us to Calcutta *3 had we arrived before "the
Moozuffer", a fine vessel despatched for us. I could find no vegetation of any kind
about Suez, either on land or at sea, it is (at this season) utterly sterile. Our van,
though large, was a poor affair & offered miserable accommodation for poor Lady
Dalhousie who was quite worked up. At 10am the Transit passengers began to
arrive, 130 in all, in detachments of or vans every 4 hours. First came no friend of
mine. At 2 or 3 am the land detachment brought Col Heaney & son (a darkey darkly)
half colored lad the Col. was importunate to see Ld. D[alhousie]. & rendered
himself obnoxious I am sorry to say through his importunity.] at 8 AM Matilda Rigby
& her husband arrived, who I was delighted to meet again. Lady D[alhousie]. was
recovered enough to go on board at 4 PM & after the usual expenditure of
Gunpowder we got under way at 6 & sailed rapidly down the Red Sea. This is a
noble ship, as large as the Sidon but we are shamefully ill accommodated; the
Ind[ian]. Gov[ernmen]t. having made no sort of arrangement whatever for us,
Capt[ain] Ethersley gives up every--thing for Ld & Lady D[alhousie]., & his
accommodations though confined are splendidly fitted & ornamented. he has also
provided a magnificent table sumptuous in every way. The officers are very
agreeable & we are in every--thing but accommodation very happy [the latter is
infamous & Ld D[alhousie]. is furious at the Director of the Indian navy or "Bombay -- Marine"]
This is in every respect a man of war, the Ind[ian]. Navy being a very small force
similarly constructed & officered as our Navy.
The N[orth]. part of the Red Sea as far as the range Jibbel Teer is totally devoid of
interest, except Mt Sinai. The winds were N[orth]. as far as Lat 20 then light &
variable & the weather oppressively hot & sultry till about Lat 16 or 17, when cooler
S[outh]. breezes prevail blowing stronger as you approach The Strait, with a nasty
sea running. At about Lat 20 a god deal of Sargassum is always seen; I expect
retained there by currents or winds as in the Sargasso Sea.
[[14]] The islands we passed were masses of cinders & scorice, red & black, quite
barren & perfectly inhospitable, their slopes are steep to the waters edge & all are
volcanic cones. We saw more of them near the shore where the coral reefs occur
which renders the S[outh]. part of the sea so dangerous. During the last 2 or 3
days of the Red Sea it blew very strong & we lost the Boatswain overboard who
was struck by the paddle wheel & killed on the spot. The only feature of interest I
saw was some broad patches of sea scum, probably of animal matter, tinged by
the conferovid plant described by Montagne in the Annales (Trichodesmina
erythaeum I think he called it) it was far too bad weather to get any, but it is
frequent here & said to be equally so in the Persian Gulf, it is also said to be
phosphorescent at night. On the afternoon of the 17th we passed Mocha, a big
town of white houses & minarets close to the Sea & backed by rugged barren
mountains. On the same night we passed through the famous Strait of Babel
Mandeb by a narrow passage (1/4 mile) between the E[ast]. main land (of Arabia) & a flat
island & entered the Indian Ocean & steamed on to Aden, where we arrived on the
forenoon of Saturday the 18th. All the Indian surveying officers (of whom there are
several on board are agreed that the name Red Sea is derived from the name of
the Nubian shore being Raaid or Red & not from the occasionally discolored
waters.
I find Ld. Dalhousie an extremely agreeable & intelligent man in every--thing but
Nat[ural]. Hist[ory]: & science, of which he has a lamentably poor opinion I fear He
is a perfect specimen of the miserable system of education pursued at Oxford & as
ignorant of the origin & writing of our most common manufacturing products & arts
as he is well informed on all matters of finance, policy &c &c. I very carefully drop a
little knowledge into him now & then but I cannot awaken an interest or any
sympathy in my pursuits. He is much pleased at my being very busy & especially
at with my carrying on my Meterological[sic] register 3 times a day. Lady
D[alhousie]. shares her husband's apathy but is however a kind hearted creature.
In the Desert I brought them the Gum Arabic Acacia which I thought must interest
the late president of the Board of Trade but he chucked it out of the Carriage
window & the
[[15]] Rose of Jericho, with an interest about it of a totally different character met
no better fate.] I have been very much interested as to some of the phenomena of
the Red Sea. The wind always blows up & down it which is not wonderful though
the S. end is in the N[orth].E[east]. & S[outh].W[est]. monsoon & the N[orth]. end
within the westerly wind limits, the curious thing is that the N[orth]. winds blow all
the year round from Sixty to about 20 & the S[outh]. winds nearly all the year from
the Straits to Jibbel--Teer Island, between which is a broad belt of calms &
variables with hot weather & much more vapour than at either extremity. Again
though the N[orth]. winds always prevail from South to Lat 20 all that part of the
Sea is higher than the middle or lower part & 24ft higher than the Mediterranean! It
is also much saltier than any other part or than any other sea in the East whatever,
the saltiness decreasing from Suez to Lat 20 where & from whence to the Straits
the Sea is no saltier than the Indian Ocean (which does not differ from the Atlantic
or Pacific).
Aden is one of the most remarkable places I ever saw & I only wonder that one has
heard so little of it, it is a great black barren volcano, long extinct & of great age,
springing abruptly from the ocean opposite the flat shore of Arabia to which it is
connected by a long low flat spit of sand. To the west of it is a smaller but
somewhat similar peninsula of rugged rocks. These are similar to the Rock Island
of the S[outh]. part of the Red Sea & some parts of the Coast of Africa but altogether
foreign to that of this end of Arabia. The long low shore is simply wooded with
Acacias Dates & Mangroves. I am informed that it is forbid impossible to land there
without being taken prisoner by the Arabs whom we deprived of Aden. Ships do
not lye[sic] off the Town but at the N[orth].W[est]. end of the Ruins there sheltered
from the N[orth].E[east. Monsoon now blowing strong & there are the Coal depots,
a solitary Hotel & one or two homes of officials. The Peninsula is as I say one
mass of volcanic
[[16]] Rock 1700 ft high a very old Volcano in short whose crater is broken down to
the E[ast]. where the town is. In this respect it resembles St Helena, but is as
sterile to look at as Ascension, more so for the top of Green Mt is (in Ascension)
green but here except a few flat places near the waist no green thing is to be seen
from the Sea. Good three fourths of the rock is inaccessible, the uppermost part
consisting of a wall extraordinarily jagged & serrated, several miles long, many
parts of which are *4 no broader than a horses back. This wall sends of spurs, so
that take the where you will you have on full front & cut it down where you may
there is always such a so section as this The wall is the rim of the crater & all but
inaccessible, [two small sketches of a rock formations appears here]. the slopes &
land at the base is all volcanic cinders, strata of Lava, Dykes of basalt & such like.
Upon the whole it is the ugliest, blackest most desolate & most dislocated piece of
land of its size that ever I set eyes upon & I have seen a good many ugly places -I shall continue this to my mother shortly The G[overnor].G[eneral]. writes to me
that he would like Reports on the Tea districts of India so that I shall hope to be
made useful by him & I have an opportunity of returning all his kindness. I need not
say that I shall lay myself out to attend to his wishes in India. Assam however did
not enter into my calculations. J.D.H. (Best love to all your ever most affect[ionate].
Son Jos D Hooker. [signature] )
ENDNOTES
1. The top of page 1 contains a portion of text written by JDH under the date
Jan[uar]y 8. 1848, Gov[ernmen]t. House Madras. This text has been struck through
but reads as follows: "Dear Father, I have got Giddy Thomson's plant collector who
is in the country & to follow me to Calcutta. I shall have to give him I fear 24
Rupees £2.8.0 a month but he is an excellent man & better than two ordinary ones.
We sail to--day."
2. A line of text has been inserted her and then crossed out, it is partly illegible but
begins: "Here perhaps is the letter of the pyramids..."
3. The city formerly known as Calcutta is now called Kolkata.
4. The address of the recipient appears here as the letter would originally have
been folded in such a way that it formed its own 'envelope'. The address is as
follows: "Via Southampton, Sir W. Hooker, Royal Gardens Kew, London."
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