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.
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
Places Within
Alexandria Harbor
A busy port in Alexandria, crowded with lateen yards and porters.
Alexandria Souk
A bustling marketplace in Alexandria, its lanes barely wide enough for three donkeys abreast and roofed with canopies strung between the buildings that swallow the sun entirely.
Bank of England Alexandria
A stately British building, official and orderly, where commissions and accounts are managed by clerks with ledgers.
Bankers Lane
A busy thoroughfare in Alexandria where local money changers operate behind low tables heaped with coins and brass scales.
Hammam al Yasmin
A women's bathhouse a few streets from the Locanda del Leone, down a lane that smells of woodsmoke and jasmine.
Locanda del Leone
A three-storey merchant's house in Alexandria's Frank quarter, a few streets back from the Western Harbour, converted to an inn.
Maison Roux
A French trading house and counting house near the Alexandria harbour, screened with lattice work and shutters drawn against the heat.
Nile Mouth at Rashid
The turbulent meeting of the Nile River and the Mediterranean Sea, where the brown river shoves out against the sea over a dangerous underwater bar.
Pashas Bureau
A courtyard of waiting men in Alexandria, with clerks seated cross-legged on a raised platform working reed pens and brass inkwells.
The Amphora
A Greek wine shop two doors off Banker's Lane, set below street level in a cool, pitch-smelling cellar.
Victualing Market
A loud, chaotic market by the old harbour of Alexandria, filled with livestock and argument.
Connections
People
Location of
- Capitaine Thibault NPC neutralCurrent location
- Lucas Pyke NPC neutralCurrent location
- Madame Rosa Vukovich NPC warmFellow guest at the Locanda del Leone; a local fixture who serves as an informal guide
- Mansour NPC neutralCurrent location
- Sitt Zaynab NPC neutralCurrent location
- Stelios the Taverner NPC neutralCurrent location
Places
Part of
- Egypt Location neutralThe Mediterranean port; the party's landfall on 9 September 1814 and first city outside Europe
Borders
- La Speranza Location neutralThe party's landfall after the Adriatic crossing and the becalming
- Nile Mouth at Rashid Location neutralReached by coastal voyage east from Alexandria, on the approach to Rashid.
Has part
- Alexandria Harbor Location neutralThe old harbour of the city of Alexandria.
- Alexandria Souk Location neutralA covered market lane within the city of Alexandria.
- Bank of England Alexandria Location neutralA British institutional branch located within the city of Alexandria.
- Bankers Lane Location neutralA commercial thoroughfare within the city of Alexandria.
- Hammam al Yasmin Location
- Locanda del Leone Location
- Maison Roux Location neutralA French trading house near the Alexandria harbour.
- Nile Mouth at Rashid Location
- Pashas Bureau Location neutralAn Ottoman administrative office within the city of Alexandria.
- The Amphora Location neutralA wine shop located within the commercial district of Alexandria.
- Victualing Market Location neutralA provisioning market by the old harbour of Alexandria.