A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

SELIM PASHA. 845
do not vouch for the truth of what has been tokl
me), the hero of an incident as romantic as the
most ravenous concocter of what the French call
" la literature ecJievelee,^' could desire for the
groundwork of two volumes of sentiment, pas-
sion, and despair.
Selira Pasha is a Circassian by birth, having
been brought into Egypt in his childhood, when
the ]\Iemlooks were in power, and when they
were in the habit of recruiting their forces by
importing young slaves from Circassia, bringing
them up in their own houses, and reserving them
to fill up the vacancies which death made in their
numbers. Soon after Mohammed Ali was raised
to the Pashalik of Egypt, the young Selim fell
under his observation; his appearance and address
pleased the new dignitary, and from that moment
dated his good fortune, for he became the espe-
cial favourite and protege of the ruler of Egypt.
It w^ould appear that the young Circassian
served his new protector faithfully ; for amidst the
struggles and dissensions w^hich marked the early
period of Mohammed All's accession to power,
when treason and treachery were every-day occur-
rences, and the friend of to-day became the enemy
of to-morrow, Selim remained steadily attach-
ed to the Pasha's party, and reaped the 1)enefit