D’Hulst to Naville, September 22, 1888, page 1
[1] 22 Septembre 1888
[2] Cher Monsieur Naville
[3] J’ai été bien charmé de recevoir
[4] votre honorée du 7 Sbre.
[5] Je vous ai envoyé aujourd’hui
[6] par la poste, inclus dans un journal, une
[7] petite étampe que j’ai fait à Zagazig
[8] chez un bakal. C’est un petit morceau
[9] d’une pierre verdâtre comme ce petit
[10] morceau avec la cartouche de Hophra qui
[11] va à Boulac, c’est peut-être de la
[12] même pierre.
[13] J’ai vu ici un article dans l’Egyptian
[14] qui dit que Mr. Portal (provisionellement à la
[15] place de Sir E. Baring avait soumis à Riaz
[16] Pasha le l projet de Mr. Whitehouse.
[13] Vous m’attribuez une grande persévérance
[14] mais je dois avouer que je n’ai pas bien
[15] droit à cet attribut car je dois avouer que
[16] plus d’une fois j’ai été prêt à laisser
[17] mon devoir incomplet, tel il a été
[18] difficile & semé de désagréments de toute
[19] sorte. Nous ferons maintenant la
[de livraison à Boulac …]
Translation
[1] 22 September 1888
[2] Dear Mr. Naville
[3] I was very pleased to receive
[4] your honor of the 7th of Sept.
[5] I sent you today
[6] by post, included in a newspaper,
[7] a small impression that I made in Zagazig
[8] at a bakal. It is a small piece
[9] of a greenish stone like this little
[10] piece with the cartouche of Hophra
[11] that goes to Boulac, it may be from the
[12] same stone.
[13] I saw an article here in the Egyptian
[14] that says Mr. Portal (provisionally
[15] in Sir E. Baring’s place) had submitted to Riaz
[16] Pasha Mr. Whitehouse’s project.
[17] You attribute great perseverance to me
[18] but I must admit that I am not entitled
[19] to this attribute because I must admit
[20] that more than once I have been ready to leave
[21] my duty incomplete, as it has been
[22] difficult & strewn with annoyances of all
[23] kinds. We will now make the
[delivery to Boulac …]
Translation notes
[4] Honor: probably referring to a letter received
[8] bakal: a grocery store or a general dealer (Greek)
Historical notes
[10] Hophra (Apriēs in the Greek sources); King of Egypt, 26th dynasty, 589–570 B.C.E.
[14] Sir Gerald Portal, Lord Cromer’s secretary, appointed chargé d’affaires in Cairo in the autumn of 1888.
[15] Riaz Pasha (alt. spelling Riyad Pasha) (1835-1911) Prime Minister of Egypt. His second term was between 1888 and 1891.
[16] Frederick Cope Whitehouse (1842-1911), American lawyer and Egyptologist. Whitehouse studied the Wadi Raiyan and devised a plan to construct a reservoir in the valley which would improve the irrigation of Lower Egypt by reserving the surplus of the annual Nile flood.
MS source:
Bibliothèque de Genève, Ms. fr. 2542, f. 233
Dispatches from Egypt 