48 Egypt
All turn as a last resort to the native Egyptian. The
poorer villagers, or those offensive to the Omdeh, were
marched into barracks in chain-gangs. Many died of the
experience, but the stouter hearted made excellent
infantry. When finally six smart regiments of Egyptian
regulars with French officers marched one day into Cairo,
the Albanian chiefs saw their day was ended, and aban-
doned Egypt for pastures new.
By 1823 Mehemet AH had twenty thousand regulars,
and by 1826 ninety thousand. The artillery train and
staff were brought by the French up to European
standard. With French help Egypt got a fleet, first on
the Red Sea and then on the Mediterranean, and the
vessels, in looks at least, formed a navy worthy of a
second-class Power. The first fleet, that which was
destroyed at Navarino, was purchased, but the second
was built in Egypt, In 1832 it comprised eight battle-
ships, fifteen frigates, and twelve thousand sailors. The
Red Sea squadron, of which the timbers were carried
across the isthmus on camels eight abreast, cleared those
waters for the first time of corsairs.
Thus did Egypt undergo a revolution that raised it
from a despised province of a decadent empire into a
military Power and a progressive State. Europe, indeed,
became quite excited over the Socialist experiments of
this Oriental despot. We have a pleasant picture of the
ferocious Pasha, with his shaggy eyebrows and pointed
white beard, turbaned fez, and baggy trousers, a
jewelled armoury in his sash, listening to long letters of
political philosophy written for his edification by Jeremy
Bentham. Nevertheless, he did not allow Western philo-
sophers to cramp his style. When a village baker com-
plained to him of oppression by the Omdeh he had the
bully baked in the baker's oven. On the other hand, he