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Front: Manuscript Cancel "Malte" for Malta. Addressed to the
Roux Brothers, Merchants in Marseille. Heavy stained by disinfectant as
well as "chiseled" which indicates the slices through the letter from
front to back to enable the disinfectant to affect and disease within.
Reverse: Heavy stained by disinfectant as well as
"chiseled".
Notes: An interesting and scarce Boat Charge Account. In
addition to their 2% Commission, the Malta Merchants list an
entertaining series of expenses incurred by them. A nice historical
document from Malta in 1768, the year of the founding of the University
of Malta and the expulsion of the Jesuits. As this is a disinfected
cover, there was clearly the concern of disease and plague. Malta was
know as a major trans-shipment point in the western Mediterranean and
had significant sanitary, quarantines and lazaretto facilities,
especially for ships coming from the Levant such as Hydra and Smyrna.
Scarce disinfected Malta Cover from 1768. ex Gaston.
Condition: While the outside is a dark stained color, this
is due to its having been treated with disinfectant and thus makes it
quite more scarce than conventional mail of the period. The inside is in
very fine condition and clearly legible French, albeit an older form of
Modern French. Examples are "Fraix" for "Frais" (expenses) or "J'ay" for
"J'ai" (I have), "Batteaux" for "Bateaux" (boat).
Contents: A lovely boat charge account from Malta for
The Hydra (or possibly the Galliotte iBrahim Bey from the Greek
Island of Hydra) under the command of Captain Dessey? of Roux Brothers,
which lists, in addition to the commission, miscellaneous
charges/expenses such as: a ladder, nails, boards, wooden pins? from
Smyrna, a present made to the officer of the Galliotte (small ship) from
iBrahim Bey (leader of Egypt and the Mamelukes see details below),
Liquers & Syrops, expenses of the drogoman (intermediary interpreter
with the Bey), Captain of the Hydra's fees. He finishes with a statement
that confirms that he has received from Messrs. Garanaque & Casson the
sum of 4500 units of currency (not sure which) and that these accounts
are true and correct. Dated 14th of September 1768 in Malta. |
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Ibrahim
Bey
(1735 – 1817)
Georgian descent, real name:
Sinjikashvili) was an Mameluke chieftain, military commander and joint
ruler of Egypt. He was born in the little village Martkopi, near Tbilisi
and was captured by Ottoman slave raiders. He was renamed Ibrahim by his
masters (in accordance with Turkish custom at the time, this was his
only name; "bey" was an honorific bestowed upon him later). Ibrahim was
owned by the ruler of Egypt at the time, and through loyal service, was
freed and given authority over the city of Cairo. When his former master
died, he became joint ruler of the country with Murad Bey.
At the Battles of the Pyramids and the Heliopolis, Ibrahim fought
against Napoleon's armies, but was defeated on both occasions. These
defeats effectively ended his reign over the country, and he died in
obscurity in 1817, having survived Mohammad Ali Pasha's 1811 massacre of
Mameluke leaders.
The first captain who was a native of
Hydra (Greek Island) appears in the registers of the Malta quarantine in
the year 1762 and the second one in 1780.
For an interesting discussion
of Malta and Sea commerce of this period please see:
http://home.um.edu.mt/medinst/mmhn/katerina_papakonstantinou.pdf
Ship Hydra
Christopher Champlin of Newport, Rhode Island
sailed the ship Hydra from London in December 1784 for Bengal, India, and
Canton, where he hoped "to open an advantageous trade." Following close behind
the Empress of China, the Hydra might have been the second American ship to
reach Canton had not Champlin's nephew and supercargo, William Green, decided to
return to Newport from India with a cargo of saltpeter. It is unknown if this
ship is connected with this document.
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