ABSTRACT
M. Jean is a glorious relict of our army of Egypt. He was one of the thirty-three Frenchmen who took service among the Mamelukes after the retreat of the expedition. For several years he had, like the others, a palace, wives, horses and slaves. When that mighty 59army was destroyed, he, being a Frenchman, was spared, but back in civil life, his wealth disappeared in a very short time. He took it into his head to sell wine publicly, something then quite a novelty in Egypt, where the Christians and Jews got drunk only on brandy, arrack, and a kind of beer called bouza. Thenceforward, wines from Malta, Syria and the Archipelago entered into competition with these spirits, and the Mussulmans of Cairo did not seem to object to this innovation.
