I took the liberty of telling him that he was like a young man in
possession of a beautiful girl; although sure of her affection, he would
always be jealous of every stranger. You say well, he replied. I
certainly love Egypt with all the ardour of a lover; and if I had ten
thousand souls, I would willingly sacrifice them for its possession.
He asked me in what state I had found Upper Egypt; and whether his son
Ibrahim Pasha (the governor) was liked there. I replied, in the language
of truth, that all the chiefs of villages hated him (for he had
compelled them to abandon their despotic treatment of their fellow-
peasants); but that the peasants themselves
[p.80] were much attached to him. (The fact is, that instead of being
oppressed, as formerly, by the Mamelouk Beys and Kashefs, as well as by
their own Sheikhs, they have at present only one tyrant, the Pasha
himself, who keeps his governors of districts in perfect order.)
Mohammed Aly wished to know my opinion respecting the number of troops
necessary for defending Egypt against a foreign army. I answered, that I
knew nothing of war, but from what I had read in books. No, no; he
exclaimed, you travellers always have your eyes open, and you inquire
after every thing. He persisted in his question; and being thus forced
to reply, I said that twenty-five thousand chosen troops would probably
be able to resist any attack. I have now thirty-three thousand, said
he--a false assertion, for I am quite certain that he had at that time
not more than sixteen thousand men, dispersed over Egypt and the Hedjaz.