22 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

discovered, or whether, if discovered, they were tried and punished, was never clearly known. The palace was never occupied again, and has since been pulled down. If I am not mistaken, its site is now covered by the cavalry barracks of the British army X"of occupation. Said, having become by Abbas' death ^^ ' ^ ( the eldest of Mahomet All's living descendants, suc-J ceeded to the throne. He was, so those who knew \ him declare, a man of kindly disposition and good L intentions, but he had neither the health nor the energy to leave any lasting impress on the condition of Egypt during his brief and uneventful reign.

Indeed, the incidents of Said's vice-royalty which have survived in public memory are singularly few. There are only three to which allusion is necessary. The first is the railway catastrophe which befell the Vice-regal family shortly after the commencement of the new reign. In accordance with Oriental usage, a grand entertainment was to be given at Cairo in honour of Said's accession, and to this entertainment all the members of the Khedivial family were invited by Vice-regal command. The railroad from Alexandria to Cairo had not long been completed, and, as most of the Viceroy's relatives resided in, or near, Alexandria, a special train had been provided for their transport to the capital. It is a common story that Ismail Pasha, who was Said's heir-apparent, received a message from his mother at Cairo, advising him most urgently to find some pretext for not accepting the invitation. Be this as it may, Ismail, owing to a