It was built in London, in 1865, to the same design as the British royal yacht, the Victoria and Albert II. Therefore, this picture of the Victoria and Albert II gives a good idea of what the Mahroussa looked like when Ellen sailed on it, with paddle-wheels, tall masts, and two chimneys.
Victoria and Albert II
The Mahroussa remained as the Egyptian royal yacht until 1951, and it was to take the last King, Farouk, into exile. On board it on that occasion was the last of the Royal family’s English governesses, Miss Anne Chermside, who was therefore following her predecessor of 80 years before, in the same ship.
Anne Chermside
By then, the Mahroussa had changed in appearance. Its paddle-wheels had been replaced by a propellor, and one of its chimneys had been removed. It is now used as a naval training-ship, and has been re-named El-Horria.
This picture shows the Mahroussa as it later appeared:
It was – is – an impressive ship, and Ellen was fascinated by it, taking, as ever, the first opportunity to explore. It was divided into three parts; the stern for the Viceroy (or in this case the Harem), the middle for the captain and officers, and the front for the crew and soldiers. It was certainly very elegant inside. “The chief saloon was a magnificent apartment, with seven large windows at the stern, and five on each side, all of course of plate-glass.
Below this saloon was a large state cabin, which was made the sleeping apartment of the Second Princess.” Ellen’s cabin was on the floor below this. It was “excellent in point of size and accommodation, but deficient in only one thing only – air; the windows were high up and not made to open, a most necessary precaution… as they were only a few feet above the water.” As Ellen was soon to find, the cabin had another deficiency – the door did not lock.
It was to be a hurried voyage. Ellen described the Mahroussa as “said to be one of the fastest boats built”, and that “speed was to be our object, and to that all was sacrificed.” The ship travelled at 14 knots per hour (that is, slightly over 16 m.p.h.) “though I believe that is not her greatest speed.” Indeed, it had no less than “four engines, each of 800 horsepower.” On the other hand, such a powerful and fast ship was not always comfortable. “A great drawback to us, however, was that two tremendous chimneys were near the centre of the vessel, so that the deck on which we passed our time lay between them. The heat was intense…”
Zeynab and Kopsès during the voyage “preferred walking about and asking questions concerning everything they saw”, even though a small kiosk had been erected for Zeynab on the deck, which at least allowed Ellen to make frantic notes about what she saw during the voyage. No doubt now she would have been taking dozens of photos instead, for her descriptions are often photographic in detail. She had the ability to sketch with words; we so often see a scene just as she saw it. Obviously she was a skilled writer, with a knowledge of narrative, and how to hold a reader’s attention; so much so, indeed, that it is tempting to wonder if any other of the journal entries she made over the years appeared in print, perhaps in a magazine.
At 9.30 pm., Ellen went to her cabin for the night. But not, unfortunately, to rest for very long. “I looked in vain for a fastening to my door… so I dragged my carpet-bag and a small box before the door to make entry more difficult… I was soon awoke, however, by a light, and by hearing voices close to me, and upon opening my eyes found three or four persons in my cabin.” She shouted at them angrily, and they ran off, laughing. The next morning she found out what had happened. The Second Princess had sent some of her attendants round to see that the lights in each cabin were extinguished (no doubt for risk of fire; they were not, of course, electric lights) and that everything was safe. However, instead of merely looking at the ventilator over the door, to see if any light shone through “curiosity prevailed, and they busied themselves in examining the contents of my cabin, and my toilet arrangements, my own presence asleep adding piquancy to the investigation.” Ellen was not amused.
It was not to be the last upset. The most longed-for part of the voyage was along the Bosporus, past the city of Constantinople, and indeed, anyone who has been lucky to have
Constantinople as Ellen saw it, in the 1870s
seen the view from the water will understand just why Ellen looked forward to it. She went up onto the bridge of the ship to get the best view. But here Zohrab, the doctor “told me (apparently with great concern) that the orders were very strict that no-one could remain on the bridge as we passed Constantinople.” Ellen would not even be allowed to remain in one of the little kiosks erected on the deck. Ellen then went downstairs, into the chief saloon, but even here was to be frustrated. “I was enjoying the beautiful views on both sides, when, just as we were passing St. Sophia, the outer shutters slowly descended, and we were left in darkness! … I must pass the next hour, while going through the loveliest scenery in the world, to which I had looked forward so much, as one who had lost the blessing of sight!” Happily, she was to see it many times in the future.
Ismail’s palace at Emirghian was on the banks of the Bosphorus, and its grounds are now a beautiful park. Three pavilions, which were originally palace buildings can be seen, including the Sarı (Yellow) Pavilion, built by Ismail in the 1870s. Ellen and the rest of the educational staff stayed in a house further up the hillside that had previously been a harem. It was not ideal. It merely “consisted of two storeys, and in this Mr. and Mrs. Freeland, their children, nurses, and myself were to be lodged; an in addition, two schoolrooms must be provided for the Pasha and Princess. It required a great deal of management to arrange…” Not least, because there “We found nothing ready for us – the barest furniture, no table or bed linen, no water laid on or to be got.” Still, the resourceful Ellen, the seasoned traveller, coped, even though she “had hard work to arrange matters for the first two or three days.”
On top of it all, Ellen had lost her luggage. “The eunuchs had been into every cabin [of the ship] and had cleared away their contents… But where were they taken? No one could tell. … The fact is, that on these royal progresses a vast number of people travel together without anyone having the management. … I don’t know how I should ever have got my luggage but for Dick, the Pasha’s English coachman, though of course it was not his business.”
There were, of course, many compensations. Ellen was, at long last, in Constantinople! She had plainly all too obviously longed to go there; on the voyage the Second Princess had joked to her that “she had heard that I did not believe we should ever go to Constantinople, and asked me if I believed it now.” Not surprisingly, when Zeynab did to come for lessons for a few days after arrival, Ellen took the first opportunity to go into the city.
The sixty or so pages of Recollections of an Egyptian Princess that are about the visit to Constantinople are perhaps the most descriptively intense of the whole book. Certainly nothing about the city and its surroundings were wasted on Ellen, who plainly spent some of her happiest days there.
To be continued...
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