Wednesday 6th April 1853

"Suez" c.1850s
Image copyright of P&O Heritage

Here I went to bed and got a nap till it was time to rise to breakfast after which there was abundant time to see the place as we were not to be taken on board the Bentinck till the afternoon. The hotel was a large quadrangular building inclosing an open space, a verandah extending round it inside above the ground floor into which the doors of the rooms upstairs opened. The rooms were large but bare and poorly furnished and not remarkably clean... Looking southward was the Gulf of Suez. The steamer Bentinck lying at rest at a considerable distance; turning round a little at our feet was the wharf in the immediate vicinity of the hotel, near which a number of boats and other small vessels were lying, one of these  being a small steamer which was to convey us to our vessel. On another small sailing vessel some natives seemed to be amusing themselves with rude music and perhaps dancing, the beat and jingle of the tambourine being a prominent feature of the performance. Still further round was the town of Suez itself somewhat in the style of the buildings at Cairo but a great deal more wretched looking, the houses being built apparently of small stones without any mortar, on closer inspection of which one wondered how they stuck together. The hotel, with some offices and warehouses( I presume belonging to the Transit Administration) being the only other building in the place the latter being close to the wharf. Behind the town rose a ridge of hills of brown and barren rock without a visible vestige of vegetation. The sky was clear the sun strong and the glare from the whitewashed roof so trying for the eyes as to induce one to remain there as short time as possible.
With a friend I visited the town and its Bazaar. Miserable enough it was: the description I have already given of the shops of Cairo applies also to this, only that the shops were smaller, poorer, dirtier. In a butchers shop we observed some carcases of a variety of sheep occurring here having broad fleshy tails. In another I observed a workman in metal blowing his fire with a pair of bellows of very simple construction, consisting of a bag of skin having a fixed pipe for blowing the air through, the mouth of the bag being supplied with two flat pieces of wood one on each side and fitting to each other; these were held in the operator’s hands, opened a little when raising the bag to fill it with air  and pressed close together when the bag was pressed down to expel the air for the blast. In one place we observed two people, one or both women, turning round a circular flat stone working on another by an axle and grinding in that way between the two stones some seeds or beans: the upper stone was hollowed out in the centre into a funnel and hole, I presume for the purpose of introducing the seeds which were to be ground between the two. We passed baker’s shops, provision shops, dealers in fruit, in trinkets in cotton & muslin, besides others which it would be difficult to designate correctly...

...The heat was great in Suez, the temperature being higher than any we have previously experienced. On this account it was necessary to avoid exposure to the sun and to take precautions against sun-stroke. Here many of the passengers procured pieces of muslin to wrap round their hats, turban fashion. Those who have had experience of tropical countries say that the sun’s action takes effect not on the top of the head but round the forehead and temples; and surround the head  in that place with a thick body of muslin which prevents the sun’s rays from penetrating and affecting the brain. But the best of all coverings for the head is said to be what is called the Sola topee...

...The population of Suez was less mixed with Europeans, or even less mixed in general than that of Cairo.There was a considerable proportion of negroes, and many of the waiters at the Hotel  were of that class. Many of these I believe come up the Red Sea from the east coast of Africa in their own vessels, as traders. Amongst all the differences of dress and manners, amidst all the poverty & dirt, ignorance and degradation and amongst people of so many varieties of colour and feature, black ,olive or yellow, with the prominent features of the Circassian race, or the flat nose and thick lips of the negro;whether Musselman or pagan, or it may be Jew or Christian; it was pleasant sometimes to see characteristics of a common humanity, things that speak at once to the heart of all, without the aid of language and independent of any bond of union, either of race or country or creed; the laugh ever ready to answer the joke, the tenderness towards infancy, the simple caress of childhood, the ambition to emulate the eagerness for gain: things like these stood out in relief from amongst all the rest, and reminded me, that, in spite of all differences, I stood and walked, and talked amongst beings with whom I  could not help acknowledging because feeling the sympathy of a common brotherhood.

But we were now about to leave Egypt so famous in history, holding a rank so exalted in ancient and so degraded in modern times, some of us perhaps with recollections only of its mud and dirt, its ignorance and degradation, others it may be hoped, with a mixture of some more agreeable feelings. The small steamer appointed to convey us aboard the Bentinck at 4 o’clock was not ready for the purpose till about 6 o’clock in the evening. Our luggage had been brought forward by the camels and deposited on the wharf, as well as other goods by the Ripon... and now the luggage and passengers were placed or placed themselves on board the small steamer and proceeded to the Bentinck, on our arrival at which daylight had departed. With a little trouble and inconvenience however we managed to get safely on board and secure our berths. Before the arrangements were all settled we hung about the saloon, which was in some respects different from that of the Ripon, the most striking feature of novelty being the punkah suspended over the long table.  This consisted of a long wooden rod or spar suspended by strings from the ceiling of the saloon at a distance of about 18 inches, running longitudinally over the middle of the table, from which hung some rather stiff material, apparently several folds of canvas covered with cotton cloth: this apparatus was suspended over the whole length of the table in the saloon, but divided into three parts. Cords were attached to the wooden rods and proceeded from each pair of punkahs, that is the punkah over the two tables in the same part of the saloon, to one side, where they passed over a pulley, and were drawn by a person placed there when wanted, so as to cause the punkahs to wave over the table constituting in fact a large fan. Subsequently I found this very pleasant: it was generally used at meals.

The ship was kept in a state of great turmoil and confusion, but after securing a berth, having had little sleep for several days, I went to bed and soon fell asleep.

The full journal will soon be published by Annet House Museum, Linlithgow. Waldie's journey to India forms key feature of the museum's Waldie exhibition.

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