And now the new ruler approaches in his
splendor. The Nile, broad as it is at Boulak, is nevertheless
covered with boats, in which the viceroy is approaching with his
numerous and glittering suite. He stands on the deck of a large
boat, surrounded by a group of distinguished Turks and Englishmen;
all the consuls of the friendly powers are with him, and this seems
to the shouting populace a guarantee of returning peace.
The boat is brought alongside the bridge of boats that connects
Boulak with the opposite shore. As Cousrouf Pacha now steps out upon
the bridge covered with costly carpets and strewed with flowers,
thousands of voices from both shores hail the viceroy as their
deliverer with shouts of joy. The pacha bows a kindly greeting in
every direction, and then casts a glance toward the horizon, where,
in the purple distance, the pyramids stand out, sharply defined
against the sky. He bows his head still more profoundly, and
remembers that he is now the successor of the great Pharaohs who
erected these monuments to themselves.
"I, too, will erect such a monument. After thousands of years the
world shall still speak of me--of the Viceroy, perhaps of the King,
of Egypt."
Such are his thoughts as be walks across the bridge to the carriage
of state in which he is to make his entrance. The ulemas receive
him. "Long live the ambassador of the prophet! Long live the blessed
of Allah!" resound from the lips of the thousands assembled upon the
shore and in the streets of the city.
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