The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton Volume II Part 15

In 1867 Leighton wrote to his father:--

LLOYD STEAMER "ADRIATIC,"

_November 28, 1867_.

MY DEAR PAPA,--As I am likely to be busy during my very short stay in Venice, where I hope to find a letter from you, I take advantage of the leisure which I find in excess on board this steamer to begin an epistle which, however, I shall not close till I have seen yours, in case anything in the latter should require an answer. Of course my getting to the end of even this first page depends upon the state of my feelings--physical, not moral, for I am a poor sailor at best. I told you, I believe, in my last how much I had enjoyed and, as I hope, profited by my stay in Rhodes and Lindos. I am uncertain whether I added that I had received great kindness and attention from our consul and his brothers, and also from one or two other gentlemen with whom I became acquainted. Through the a.s.sistance of Mr. Biliotti (our consul) I had an opportunity, which could never present itself again, of buying a number of beautiful specimens of old Persian _faience_ (Lindos ware), chiefly plates, which will make a delightful addition to my collection of Eastern china and pottery. I know that you, personally, care little for such things, and have small sympathy with purchases of that nature; you will, therefore, be glad to hear that though I spent a considerable sum, knowing that such a chance would never again be given me, I could, _any day_, part with the whole lot for at least double--probably treble--what I gave.

The weather, which was very beautiful at the beginning--indeed during the greater part of my stay in the Island--was not faithful to me to the end; it broke up a few days before my departure, and, to my very great regret, prevented my painting certain studies which I was very anxious to take home: on the other hand, I had opportunities of studying effects of a different nature, so that I can hardly call myself much the loser as far as my work in Rhodes was concerned. In Athens, however, the effect of the absolute instability of the weather (an instability of which I have never seen the like anywhere) was that I left that place almost empty-handed, although I stayed there a week longer than I had originally intended. If, however, I got through little or no work, I had infinite enjoyment in the frequent and unvaried study and contemplation of the ruins on the Acropolis. Familiar as I was, from casts and photographs, with the sculptures and some part of the architecture which I found there, my expectations were very highly wrought, but it is impossible to antic.i.p.ate, nor shall I attempt to describe, the impression which these magnificent works produce when seen together and under their own sky.

Indeed, it is quite strange how one seems to read with new eyes things which one conceived oneself to have understood thoroughly before. The scenery about Athens, depending a good deal on effects of light, only rarely displayed its full beauty during my stay; sufficiently often, however, for me to see that it is of exquisite beauty, and that that part of it described by Byron in certain favourite lines of yours does not receive full justice at his hands. I had letters, as you probably knew, to Mr. Erskine, our Minister, and to Mr. Finlay, the historian; both of them received me with the greatest cordiality and kindness, as did also two or three other persons with whom I became acquainted, so that my stay was socially agreeable as well as artistically delightful; but herewith ends my journey, for heavy weather, rain, sleet, fog and the rest prevented my seeing any of the scenery of the Gulf of Lepanto, which I might as well not have visited, and although I pa.s.sed Zante, Cephalonia, and Corfu under rather more favourable skies, I did not see them to advantage--_ce sera pour une autrefois_. Your letter, which I have found on my arrival, and for which thanks, does not call for any particular reply beyond that I have painted _no_ figures, though I might have been tempted by several fine heads I saw, but time only sufficed for my landscape studies, which in this journey were my chief care. The extract from the _Sat.u.r.day Review_, which is highly flattering, was shown me by Mr. Finlay in Athens.

Of Venice I have nothing to say, except that my first impression of the Gallery, coming as I did straight from the Parthenon, was that everything but the very _finest_ pictures was wanting in dignity and beauty, and was _artificial_. I was much surprised myself, as the Venetian school always exercises a great fascination over me. You may infer from that what an impression of beauty Athenian Art has left on me. I was incessantly reminded, in looking both at the sculpture and architecture of the Acropolis, of the admirable words which Thucydides puts into the mouth of Pericles: those are the beginning and the end of the Greek artistic nature.

I shall be in London by the 10th, and right glad to get home again--meanwhile, with best love to Taily.--I remain, your affectionate son,

FRED.

VENICE, HOTEL DE L'EUROPE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SKETCH WITH DONKEY. EGYPT. 1868]

Respecting the knowledge Leighton possessed of the Greek language, he wrote in a letter to a friend, "In Greek I never got beyond Homer and Anacreon. I have just retained this, that, having read a pa.s.sage in a translation (I generally read Homer in _German_ or _Latin_), I am able to feel, on referring to the original, its superiority to the foreign rendering."

In 1868 the great desire which Leighton for many years had felt to see Egypt was gratified. In October of that year he wrote to his father from Cairo:--

_Beginning of letter missing._]

I find that the Prince (the Prince of Wales) asked him in the said letter to introduce me as a personal friend of his to the Viceroy, adding that he would be obliged by anything he (Col.

Stanton) could do for me. This was more than I had expected from what Col. Tait also had written me. Well, to make a long story short, I communicated to Col. S. the ambitious desires that Smart had stirred up in me, a.s.suring him, however, that I should never have dreamt of entertaining them of my own accord.

He took my case in hand at once, by asking for an audience, which the Viceroy granted as soon as he should have returned to Cairo; he was too busy to see me at Alexandria. Meanwhile Col.

Stanton hinted to the secretary of H.H. what my wish was, but nothing was said to the Viceroy himself. Wednesday being fixed for my reception, I went to his palace of Abba.s.sia with Col. S., and was there received in a pavilion in the open air, which overlooked a tract of country covered with tents in which some 5000 men were quartered. Round His Highness' pavilion were the tents of his chief ministers in attendance. It was rather a picturesque sight. The Viceroy was alone, and, having received us very courteously, and asked after the health of the P. and Pcess. of Wales, made us sit down. He then clapped his hands, and on a word from him long _tchibouques_ were brought, of which the amber mouthpieces were enriched with enormous diamonds and emeralds. A little conversation on general matters then followed between him and Col. S., after which he questioned me about my projects; and after asking whether he could a.s.sist me, and Col.

S. throwing out a little hint about a steam tug to get me on quicker, he said, "Would you not rather have a steamer to go in?

it is the same to me, and you will be more comfortable." Here Col. Stanton, very judiciously and promptly, said he was sure the P. of Wales would be much gratified by this mark of favour to me; so that I have only to name the day, and the vessel will be at my orders, and I shall do all I wish in _half the time_, or less, it would otherwise have taken me. I bowed myself out with my best thanks, and went home much pleased at my good fortune and at everybody's kindness. I should not forget to say also that Mr. Ross (Lady Duff Gordon's son-in-law, you know) was full of _empress.e.m.e.nt_ and kindness to me, and Lady D.G. lent me a gun for the Nile. I start in ten days or thereabouts, and hope before that to hear from you, for no letters will follow me and I shall lose sight of everybody for nearly two months. I will write again before I start; meanwhile, when you write which it will be no use your doing till _November_, address, please New Hotel, Cairo, Egypt.

And believe me, meanwhile, with best love to Taily, your affte.

son,

FRED.

Happily, while Leighton lost sight "of everybody for nearly two months," he kept the following diary:--

_Wednesday, October 14, 1868._--Went on board, dined and slept.

_Thursday, 15th._--Started at about 7 A.M. There had been a storm in the night, and the east was still heavy with clouds; but the western sky was pure and soft.

At about ten caught up the Sterlings, becalmed in their dahabyeh; their crew was making a futile attempt to tow them against the current. I let out a rope and tugged them as far as Benisoef, which, owing to the additional weight, I did not reach till Friday morning (16th).

The first day's journey up the Nile is enchanting, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The sky was bright, but tempered by a glimmering haze which produced the loveliest effects; those of the early morning were the most striking. The course of the river being nearly due north, the western bank was glowing in varied sunny lights; the other seemed made up of shadowy veils of gauze fainting gradually towards the horizon. The boats that pa.s.sed on the left, dark in the blaze of light, looked, with their outspread wings, like large moths of dusky brown; those on the right shone against the violet sky like gilded ivory. The keynote of this landscape is a soft, variant, fawn-coloured brown, than which nothing could take more gratefully the warm glow of sunlight or the cool purple mystery of shadow; the latter perhaps especially, deep and powerful near the eye (the local brown slightly overruling the violet), but fading as it receded into tints exquisitely vague, and so faint that they seem rather to belong to the sky than to the earth. At this time of year the broad coffee-coloured sweep of the river is bordered on either side by a fillet of green of the most extraordinary vivacity, but redeemed from any hint of crudity by the golden light which inundates it. The brightest green is that of the Indian corn--the softest and most luminous that of an exquisite gra.s.s, tall as pampas (perhaps it _is_ a kind of pampas, I have not seen it close yet), and like it crowned with a beautiful plume-like blossom of the most delicate hue; seen against a dark shady bank, and with the sun shining through it, it shimmers with the sheen of gossamer.

Frequent villages animate the river's edge; they are built of unbaked bricks coated with mud, and have a most striking effect.

The simplicity and variety of the shapes of the houses, with their slightly sloping sides and flat roofs, give them a certain dignity in their picturesqueness which delights me; the colour, too, is particularly agreeable, and is the most beautiful foil to the bronze-brown of the naked, or nearly naked, fellaheen and the indigo of the robes of their wives; to the sparkling white of the doves that swarm in the gardens, and to the cinder-colour of the buffaloes that wink and snooze along the bank. Every village nestles in a dense grove of date-palms, and one cannot conceive a lovelier harmony than that which is made by the combination of the browns below with the sea-green of the sweeping branches and the flame-like orange of the fruit. The acacia (here a large, ma.s.sive tree, with a vigorous dark green foliage) is frequent in the villages.

The shape of the hills and mountains is very peculiar and striking. It gives the idea of a choppy sea of sand thrown up into abrupt peaks and then uniformly truncated by a sweep of a vast scythe, sweeping everything from horizon to horizon. Here and there a little peak, too low to be embraced in the general decapitation, raises its head amongst innumerable table-lands and gives great value and relief to the general outline.

Meanwhile an occasional train and not infrequent lines of telegraph poles don't add to the poetry of the scene.

Nor the flies to one's comfort! What a curse they are! they _infest_ one's face. I wonder what the epiderm of Egyptian children is made of; you see babies with a dozen flies settled, no, stuck, embedded in and round each of their eyes, and as many in and about their noses and mouths; and they make no attempt to remove them--seem absolutely unconscious of them.

Scenery this afternoon less interesting--river wider--banks more monotonous.

Opposite a place called Magaga, some fine mountains on the east bank, scored with innumerable horizontal lines marking the monotonous parallel strata of which they are composed; a characteristic peculiarity in all the Egyptian hills I have seen as yet. (The finest in outline are the Quarries opposite Sakkara, on the right bank, and like those behind the Citadel at Cairo.)

Spent the night at a village called Kolosana, not having made Minyeh owing to delay at Benisoef, where we coaled, and took leave of the Sterlings, with whom I breakfasted. The sunset before reaching Kolosana was magnificent, like a sunset at sea; almost as grand in its simplicity. Between the broad flaming sky and the broad flaming river there was only a long narrow strip of dark bronze-green bank, that seemed to burst into flame where the almost white hot sun sank scowling behind it. The after-glow was also very fine, though less grand than I should have expected. The sky was of a deep violet, and the distant rolling sand-tracks wore the most mysterious tints, faint, glimmering, uncanny, vague fawn colours, pale dun browns, and ghostly pinks.

_Sat.u.r.day, 17th._--Started at dawn, and arrived at Minyeh about eight o'clock.

Stayed two hours and coaled.

Obeying the custom of the country, I have presented the crew with a sheep--great satisfaction.

Took a stroll in the Bazaars, which are rather picturesque.

Minyeh is a largish place (chef lieu), and, like every second village on the Nile, disfigured by the tall chimneys of sugar factories.

There is a striking line of hills opposite Minyeh, quaintly jagged in outline and curiously regular in the marking of its strata.

Pa.s.sed Beni Ha.s.san, where I shall stop on my return.

It is curious to see the incessant toiling of the natives at irrigation. The poor people literally _make_ their country every year, and it is marvellous to see how a narrow fillet of water will, as by enchantment, conjure up in a few weeks an oasis out of an arid desert. The land of Egypt is born afresh out of the Nile every returning year.

I observe, with pleasure, in this part of the country those little white-domed tombs of Sheykhs which make such a pretty feature in the landscape of Algeria.

At Minyeh there is one, close to the riverside, in which rests the "Sheykh of the Crocodiles" whose holy dust prevents those man-eating ornaments of the Upper Nile from going any further towards Cairo--below this tomb they never venture.

Not having reached Manfalut by sunset, we have drawn up for the night by the bank of the river, nowhere in particular. This entire freedom in our movements (I should say _mine_, for the steamer stops exactly where, when, and as often as I choose) is very agreeable. Less pleasant is the storm of flies and insects of every kind, that rush in literally by myriads as soon as candles are lighted within reach of sh.o.r.e; my tablecloth is darkened with thousands of little flies no larger, wings and all, than a moderate flea; the nuisance is intolerable.

A wonderful sunset again this evening. The western bank like yesterday was low and brown and green, but, unlike yesterday, it was alive with the sweet clamour of many birds. On the eastern side the long wall of rock which seems to enclose the whole length of the valley of the Nile came flush, or almost flush, to the water's edge; and with what an intense glory it glowed! The great hills seemed clad in burnished armour of gold fringed and girt below with green and dark purple; but the smooth face of the water was like copper, burnished and inlaid with sapphire.

I sat in the long gloaming enjoying the soft, warm, supple air, and watching the tints gradually change and die round the sweep of the horizon, and across the immense mirror of the Nile as broad as a lake. It was enchanting to watch the subtle gradations by which the tawny orange trees that glowed like embers in the west, pa.s.sed through strange golden browns to uncertain gloomy violet, and finally to the hot indigo of the eastern sky where some lingering after-glow still flushed the dusky hills; and still more enchanting to watch the same tones on the unruffled expanse of the water, slightly tempered by its colour and subdued to greater mystery. A solemn peace was over everything. Occasionally a boat drifted slowly past with outspread wings, in colour like an opal or lapis lazuli, and then vanished. It was a thing to remember.

I hear an altercation between Ottilio (my Italian waiter) and a stoker who has put down his grease can on one of the Pasha's smartest plates. "O--(adjective)--Madonna! se si pu vedere una carogua simile! e se me la rompi pas? costa piu di te--sa!"

My young dragoman having fastened a hook to a bit of string, and the bit of string to the stern of the steamer, has been waiting some hours for a fish. After the first hour he reasoned with himself, and said: "Brabs (perhaps?) he know!"--then, dolefully, "He come touch the 'ook, and then he go run away!"--_cela c'est vu._ To-morrow to Asyoot. 10-1/2 P.M. Just been on deck again.

Dragoman still fishing! He says, "I tink he _won't_." I incline to agree with him.

_Sunday, 18th._--Started about six. Reached Syoot, or rather El Hamza for Syoot, which is a mile inland, at eleven. Between Manfalut and Syoot the Nile takes an immense sweep west, and a.s.sumes altogether a tortuous course; the plain opens out, the eastern mountains recede, and for the first time an important chain closes in on the west. Game is already beginning to be abundant. I saw a sandbank full of pelicans and geese just below this place. I wish I could get at the names of the small birds I see here, which are mostly new to me; an Arab invariably answers your questions on this subject by the word "asfoor," _i.e._ a bird--thankee! The peasants here all wear a loose dark brown robe like that of a Franciscan monk; and as they squat fishing on the brown bank of the river with their skull-caps and black beards, I fancy I see the monks of the Thebad coming, as in old days, to get their daily meat out of the Nile.

Irrigation seems to go on more actively even than lower down; I saw to-day no less than twenty-four shadoofs all in a row, and in full play. The men that worked them, mostly naked, were of every colour between a new halfpenny and an old shoe, and the effect of them all toiling away and surrounded by groups of squatting onlookers was very striking.

Hosseyn, my servant, the angler, is having his head shaved on deck; when he has done I shall visit the town.

Meanwhile I have had a visit from the government doctor, a rather intelligent man who made his studies in Pisa.