Plain talk

By Mursi Saad El-Din

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Sometimes one misses the obvious, while other times one takes the most important things for granted. The Nile is one such a case. Although Egypt has always been described as the gift of the Nile, we tend to forget its existence. So long as the great river runs its course and its valley is irrigated we do not give it a thought.

This is probably why the best books written about the Nile are by foreigners. The classical example and a classic in itself is the well-known book The Nile by Emil Ludwig. Another book, in two volumes, is by the British author Alan Moorehead, The Blue Nile and The White Nile.

In these two volumes, Alan Moorehead traces both the history and the course of the Nile from its sources to its mouth. Like most Europeans, Moorehead is interested in the search for the source or sources of the Nile. It has been established that the Ancient Egyptians did reach a source of the Nile. But it was due to the initiative of Muhammad Ali that the White Nile was exposed. Then followed explorers like Speke, Stanley and Livingstone and the discovery of the sources of the Nile was completed.

Alan Moorehead's The Blue Nile is a journey into geography and history. Section one is given the title of "The Reconnaissance" and is some kind of a drop curtain for the historical events that follow; it gives the geographical facts and prepares the way, as it were to what comes after.

Section two, called "The French in Egypt" deals with Napoleon's Expedition to Egypt, and in it Morehead shows a real British colonialist attitude, especially when he describes relations between England and France. Morehead quotes Bonaparte's friend Volney as saying that Bonaparte believed that once conquered, Egypt would not be difficult to govern. Bonaparte himself later wrote: "There is no country in the world where the government controls more closely, by means of the Nile, the life of the people. Under a good administration the Nile gains on the desert, under a bad one the desert gains on the river."

In his book, Morehead discusses the importance of Egypt as a gateway to the Indian Ocean and to British possessions. Napoleon wanted to injure England, who had seized the Cape of Good Hope to open up a new safe route to the east.

"Well then," says Morehead "the French would have Egypt, and from that base they would be able to menace the British in India, perhaps even land in India itself. A canal cut through the Isthmus of Suez would give the French immediate access to the Red Sea, and not all the British ships labouring round the Cape could hold her back."

From Egypt, Napoleon thought he could strike north into the Ottoman empire, and if the Ottoman Sultan could not be coerced or cowed he might very well be conquered. Morehead says those were the ideas running through Napoleon's mind. He went to Egypt filled with hope and excitement. Everything went according to plan, the embarkation was complete. Morehead goes through the events and gives an account of the expedition with incredible accuracy and minute details. He describes the difficulties that Bonaparte faced, as Egypt was difficult to defend with the great desert to the west of the Nile.

I do not want to go into the military details which Morehead gives about the defence of the Delta and the nature of the battles, but I shall concentrate on the human side. The author mentions some interesting facts; for instance that at the time when Bonaparte landed the population of Egypt was about two and half millions, which was a third of what it was estimated to have been in the days of the Mamlukes.

Morehead seems to use the river as an excuse to write about Egypt and its people. He describes Cairo, a flourishing city, as he calls it, and the Nile, the all-provider of the country's existence. It grew every ounce of food, it supplied water to the wells which were dug in each quarter of the city and it was the main highway to the outside world. What is more, Cairo was, at that time, the great terminal of the caravan routes that spread out over northern Africa and the Near East. No wonder travellers thought about it not simply as Cairo but Great Cairo.

In many ways Moorehead's description of Cairo and its inhabitants is reminiscent of E W Lane. In fact in may cases he quotes from Lane's Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, describing dancing girls, commenting on the Mamlukes who thought of themselves as supermen. In his description of the battles fought by Napoleon and his opponents, the Mamlukes -- battles that continued for some time -- Morehead shows great knowledge of the art of war. At the same time his analysis of Napoleon's policies that waver from belligerency to appeasement reflects a deep sense of history which is apparent all through the book.

Finally Morehead explores the phrase of the "Battle of the Nile" which is used to refer to the defeat of Napoleon's fleet by the British led by Nelson. About this Morehead says: "The term 'the Battle of the Nile' is another romantic misnomer, since it was not fought on the Nile, but at Abu-Keir."

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