Alexandria Overview

Overview

Alexandria received the party on 9 September 1814, four days after leaving Trieste — brown and pale and ancient above a harbour thick with refuse and noise, a smell of dust and animal and cooking fat that was nothing like Europe. The ancient stone needles (Cleopatra’s Needles) rise pale against a brown sky over a harbour crowded with bumboats offering everything a ship’s company might want at twice what it is worth. It is the party’s first landfall outside Europe, the gateway between the Adriatic crossing and the overland/river route to Cairo and, eventually, Calcutta.

Notable Features

• The harbour — see Alexandria Harbor. Departure point for the coastal voyage toward the Nile mouth at Rashid.
• The souk — see Alexandria Souk. A covered market district; merchants will not engage directly with unveiled women.
• Banker’s Lane — see Bankers Lane and Bank of England Alexandria. Where the party conducted banking errands (Session 4).
• The Amphora — see The Amphora. A wine shop off Banker’s Lane where Freddy and Thomas took refuge during the banking errands.
• Hammam al-Yasmin — see Hammam al Yasmin. A bathhouse where Georgiana’s transformation mark was read by the bath-women as baraka, a blessing.
• Locanda del Leone — see Locanda del Leone. The party’s lodging in Alexandria; common room where Rosa first noticed Georgiana’s mark.
• Pasha’s Bureau — see Pashas Bureau. Site of official/administrative business.
• Victualing Market — see Victualing Market. Where river provisions were gathered before departure.
• Maison Roux — see Maison Roux. A French trading house.

Connections

• La Speranza — the brig that carried the party from Trieste; its arrival at Alexandria on 9 September 1814 closes out the becalming and the funeral-rite sequence.
• Madame Rosa Vukovich — Triestine widow and information broker, encountered at the Locanda del Leone; guided the party through the souk.
• Nile Mouth at Rashid and onward to Rashid and Cairo — the overland/river route the party takes out of Alexandria toward the rest of Chapter 4.
• Ottoman customs — the party’s concealed weapons crossed the dock unremarked, a bribe negotiated in coin rather than argument.

Appearances

Relationships

• Borders La Speranza — The party's landfall after the Adriatic crossing and the becalming
• Knows Madame Rosa Vukovich — Fellow guest at the Locanda del Leone; a local fixture who serves as an informal guide
• Part of Egypt — The Mediterranean port; the party's landfall on 9 September 1814 and first city outside Europe