456 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

is always assumed that his death was accelerated by artificial causes. But in the case of Tewfik, I could never learn that there was the slightest foundation for such an assumption. It is stated that, owing to his dislike, so common with all Mahometans, to admit Giaours into their private apartments, he refused at first to consult any European doctor. It is said further, especially by European medical men residing in Cairo, that his life might have been saved, if their services had been employed. How this may be, I have no means of ascertaining. No outsider ever knows what goes on within the walls of an Oriental harem. All one can state is, that few Eastern rulers seemed less likely to have incurred the public or private enmities which have shortened the careers of so many Oriental sovereigns. In Tewfik, both Egypt and England lost a Prince, who had done them good service in the past, and might have done them better service yet in the future. After the custom of his dynasty, the palace wherein he died, which was left to his widow, remained unoccupied for many years, and was finally sold to a private purchaser. It is now converted into an hotel.