THE REIGNS OF ABBAS AND SAID. 21 but with most of the rnnntries fy^ t^>e rnnfri'npnt nf ) Europe^ and that this the first of Oriental railways should have been made by British hands.

The real, it might be said the sole, occupation of Abbas' life was the indulgence in gross debauchery, which outraged even the low standard of Egyptian morality at the period of which I speak. Happily for himself and the country over which he ruled, his reign, after lasting five years, was brought to an abrupt end by his sudden death when on a visit to the town of Benha. The common version of his death was that he was strangled by two of his eunuchs while sleeping on a divan in the harem. All sorts of rumours were current as to the cause of his assassination. Some said that it was due to the jealousy of a deposed favourite ; others alleged that it was brought about by the action of relatives, desirous, either through greed or fear, to effect his removal from the Vice-regal throne ; others again declared that his death had been dictated by motives of State policy. All that was ever known was that his death was kept secret for some days, and that his corpse was removed from Benha to his palace at the Abassieh near Cairo, the troops, who composed the Vice-regal body-guard, being under the impression that they were escorting a living Sovereign to his home. No inquests are held in the East, and the entrance of the police into any Moslem house, more especially that of a Prince or Pasha, is attended with the gravest difficulties. Whether the real authors of the crime were ever