Apart from male European travellers, there emerged four female travellers could, through their feminine sensibility, discover things that were indiscernible Of all other European women writers, she held still the most fair perspective of the people of Egypt.

At the age of forty, she was infected with tuberclosis, and was therefore advised by her physician to move to a dry-weather environment. Where she left her husband and children behind and headed for Egypt, trotting up and down the Nile Valley she could find the company she has missed at home. Her friends in Egypt were poor and modest people, water-carriers, women of the harem, children and boys, as well as Moslem clerics and mosque Imams. Her deep involvement and close mixing with the rank and file, even through sharing food with them and taking up their customs and traditions were instrumental in giving her a deep understanding and insight into their way of life, traditions and customs.

 

According to Dr. Tharwat Okasha, the prominent Egyptian thinker and art historian and critic, it is to be regretted that lady Gordon's delicate sentiments towards the Egyptian rank-and-file people have been echoed by only a few Englishmen who lived, worked or travelled into Egypt. Indifference to Egyptians, characteristic of those non-Arabic-speaking Englishmen, has conduced, over time, to lack of mutual respect in their relationship with Egyptians.

Probably had many, like lady Gordon, been considerate of Egyptians' feelings, there would have been less tendency to commit tragic follies in the magnitude of Dinshiwye event (where attempt by some Egyptian peasants to help a number of British soldiers who were recklessly shooting pigeons in that quiet village led to haphazard shooting by the soldiers and consequent reaction by villagers. The event resulted in numerous executions of involved villagers and later the Suez war.

Lady Gordon was particularly dissatisfied with the inclination by her compatriots to view the ?tick?as the best way to control the Arabs.
Although Lucy lived in Egypt at a time when the call for just treatment of the poor and the deprived was not quite popular, yet she waged an unrelenting war against despotism and autocratic rule.

Lady Gordon's interest was not only confined to the external appearance of buildings or houses she saw, but she delved deep into the interior environment, describing people, understanding and sympathizing with their innermost feeling and pains.

For example she says describing what she saw in upper Egypt, ?ere, houses have no wall plastering, white gypsum coating or windows. At first glance, they do not give the impression of being human dwellings, however, one quickly gets used to this righ. But soon one gets accustomed to the lack of luxuries available in the European houses, and the impression of misery fades away. Then one begins to appreciate the beauty of those houses with surrounding palm trees and dovecotes on roof tops and domes spread out here and there over mausoleums of pious sheiks.

Lady Lucy Dove Gordon collected her letters from Egypt to her husband into a book entitled ?essages from Egypt?The book contains detailed and lively description of the Egyptian people. Annoyed with assaults by her compatriots of her English fellow citizens against toiling Egyptians, she meant by her writings about the Egyptians to alert the English public opinion to such injustice with a view to alleviating humuliation of the Egyptians. In order to come closer to the inner feelings of Egyptians, she learnt Arabic and taught Egyptian children. She left a good reputation, earlier denied to other European woman who came to Egypt.

She was particularly fascinated by the beauty of Egyptian country women whom she deemed more beautiful than British women. She found inhabitants of upper Egypt more tender than those of Delta. She also found out that Egyptian peasant wedding ceremonies were similar to German week-end celebrations as on both occasions bullets are shot in the air and bridal furniture are publicly displayed on camelback.

The sight of Sheikh abul Hagag's birthday celebrations, to her, were reminiscent of ancient history. Describing the scene, she said, îIt occured to me that the procession was commuting, as was in the past, between al-Karnak temple and Luxor. These celebrations were very similar to those described by Herodus, where the one sleeping in his temple whose name no one dared to mention was honoured, meaning probably god Chonom. The only difference was that the name had changed and the mummy was no longer there.
To her surprise, she found out that all earlier travel books she had read about Arab nations were more lenient to them than those of her time. She wondered if Englishmen after 100 year grew so civilized as to see the backward peoples as puppets in the hands of others.

In the same sympathetic approach, Lady Gordon laments lack of understanding and interest on the part of Harriere Martinaux in her book Oriental Life Furthermore, she points out that an air of tolerance and perfect harmony prevailed between Muslims and Copts everywhere. She noticed that both participated in celebrations of the Christian saints such as Saint Mar Guergis and those of Muslim pious men such as as-Sayed al-Badawi as other forms of celebrations for ancient Egyptian deities. She noted also that some of the Islamic and Coptic rituals in many areas were influenced by pharaonic traditions.
She noticed that the Egyptian country women presented offerings to the Nile on its flood day in the same way as in pharaonic eras. Women used also to circambulate around ancient statues invoking pregnancy. Besides, she noticed that birth parties and burial rituals were essentially derived from ancient pharaonic traditions.

Through her close involvement with Egyptians, lady Gordon realized that Islam had imbued Muslims with sensitive and tender manners. She believed that Islam was a simple and logical religion, that worships were meant to stimulate human activity and prevent langour and laziness. She expressed her appreciation for Prophet Mohammud-peace be upon him-who was inspired in his deeds by God. She viewed him as a perfect man in the full sense of the word; a man who worshiped God, strove throughout his life, sharing men all lawful pleasures of life living as ordinary men and getting married as they did.
As lady Gordon was fond of the Egyptians she was equally so of their pharoanic, Coptic and Islamic monuments.

To her, Philae temple, was far beyond imagination. No wonder then that the Arabs' legends of Anasul-Wogood…s palace were so romantic. She was extremely angry at Europeans who tended to inscribe their names side by side with the wonderful ancient engravings. The worst she had ever seen was the engraving by prince Buckler Mascau of his name coupled with the iron cross medal on the bare chest of the statue of the saddened colossus rising in front of Abu-Sombul temple. She took that as a sort of desecration and wished the perpetrator be punished.