Sunday 27th December
Major Hughes and party again went out shooting.
They were the guests of an Englishman who is the manager of a large estate
here. They came back with one duck and about a dozen waterfowl, the latter no
good for eating. At 4 o’clock we left to visit an old gentleman in Cairo who is
a most loyal subject and an influential Egyptian. Major Hughes & Martin,
Capt McLennan and Lieut Jopp accompanied me. This man’s wife is a sister to the
present Sultan’s wife, and he himself is the son of the late Governor General
of the Soudan. Our chief interpreter here (Mr Bayley) has known him for many
years and it was he who arranged the visit. On arrival we were shown into a
fine hall, filled with most beautiful Oriental furniture and Turkish and
Persian Carpets. He and his sons did all in their power to entertain us.
They gave each of us presents, drawing lots to
ensure equal division. He gave me several interesting souvenirs and in addition
has promised to frame my family photos in wood carved frames. My table will then look quite Oriental. We sat down to a sumptuous
dinner of about 15 courses, all exquisitely cooked. The table was set out in
faultless British style, but the foods were prepared in Egyptian style. We left
at 9PM and were escorted on foot through old Cairo.
He showed us many old historic buildings. The streets are very narrow. I am
hoping to get one of my Head Quarters men who is good at water colour work to
do me a few sketches. Altogether it was an exceedingly interesting evening.
The house is fairly pretentious, of three floors.
The basement is used for the servants, the ground floor for guests, and the
upper floor as the family’s private quarters. The women folk do not appear. All
servants on first floor are Soudanese Eunuchs. I was placed in the post of
honour at the head of the table while the father sat on my left. The sons
waited at table, this being an especial way of honouring a guest. They afterwards
dined by themselves. The father made a very interesting picture smoking his
"hubble bubble’. In fact I had a try but was not very successful. Reached
camp at 11PM.
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