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SECTION II.

of egypt in general.

Chap. I.

Of the City of Alexandria.

Alexandria, or Scandria, as the Turks and Arabs call it, is situate upon a narrow isthmus, between a peninsula and the walls of the ancient city, and dividing the two harbours. The ground on which the modern city stands, seems to have arisen out of the waters. Although long since divested of its ancient splendour, yet the remains of the magnificent buildings which it once posessed,—palaces, temples, and mosques, with a plentiful intermixture of palm-trees,—give this city an aspect of beauty and dignity, when viewed from the harbour.

Its antiquities, and the remains of its ancient splendour, have been described by so many travellers, that I shall barely insert a few remarks which seem to have escaped the notice of others.

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According to the descriptions which Greek and Latin writers have left of old Alexandria, that city must have been of vast extent. But its ruins, in their present state, do not mark its original circumference. The Mahometans in general, and especially the inhabitants of Alexandria, break down the finest monuments of antiquity, to employ the fragments in the most wretched structures imaginable. Whenever they are at any loss for materials for building, they scruple not to dig up the foundation-stones of the ancient walls and palaces. If one happens to find a beautiful column in his garden, he will rather make mill-stones of it, than preserve it.

There still exists one noble remain in the city, which could neither be broken nor carried away:—The Obelisk of Cleopatra, a single piece of red granite. Although a part of its base be sunk into the earth, it still rises above ground to the height of sixty two feet; the circumference of the base is seven feet and a half. It is inscribed with some ancient characters, engraven an inch deep; but the modern Egyptians cannot read them.

Another monument, the famous pillar of Pompey, owes also its preservation to its bulk. It was erected in ancient Alexandria, but stands at present, at the distance of a quarter of a league from the New Town. As travellers

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differ in their accounts of its height, I thought proper to make a careful measurement of it. The column measured eighty nine feet, exclusive of the base, which is five feet high. It consists of three blocks of red granite. Norden saw its base in a shattered condition; but it has been since repaired, by a person of the name of Mohammed Pschurbatschi. There are some among the Turks, less hostile than the generality to the remains of antiquity (E).

Many catacombs, or subterranean apartments, cut in the rocks, are to be seen in the neighbourhood of this city. I examined those excavations; there can be no doubt of their having been used chiefly as tombs. There are some, however, which I should rather suppose to have been granaries. What are called Pompey’s baths are likewise grottoes cut in the same rock: which is a soft calcareous stone, like that at Malta, and may be very easily wrought.

New Alexandria owes its present state to the Arabs, who inclosed it with a very thick wall, near fifty feet high. This wall, which is becoming ruinous, and a small fort upon the peninsula, with a garrison of fifty soldiers, are all the means that the city possesses for its defence. But its Governor depends on the Pacha of Kahira; and, of consequence, not on the aristocracy of the Beys but on the Grand Signior.

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The finest building in the city is a mosque, which, in the time of the Greek empire, was a church dedicated to St Athanasius. It is very large, and ornamented with noble columns. A great number of Greek manuscripts are still said to be preserved within it. But, as no Christian dare examine any thing within a mosque, I saw only its outside (F).

The Copts have a Church dedicated to St Mark, in which they show the tomb of that Evangelist; but it has never been opened, since some priests of the Roman Communion made an attempt to carry away the head of the Saint. I know not how this tradition is to be reconciled with that of the Venetians, who pretend to be in possession of this precious relick. The Catholic priests, indeed, boast of having outwitted the Copts and Mahometans, by decollating the Saint, packing up his head properly, and making it pass for salted pork, that it might not be inspected by the Officers of the Customs. The Turks have absolutely forbidden the exportation of dead bodies or mummies; so that it is no easy matter, in these days, to convey the bodies of the ancient inhabitants out of Egypt. However, as the customhouse of Alexandria is at present under the direction of Jews, we found means to procure one mummy, and carry it on board an Italian vessel. But we were obliged

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to return it; for all the Italian sailors threatened to leave the ship, if the Captain did not send away that Pagan carcase, which could not fail to bring some mischief upon them.

Alexandria has fallen by degrees from its grandeur, population, and wealth. The filling up of the branch of the Nile, upon which this city stands, and which is now no longer navigable, is what has chiefly contributed to its decline. It is however cleansed from time to time, as it supplies the city with soft water, which could be no where else obtained. The magnificent reservoirs of old Alexandria still remain; they were intended to contain water for the use of the city, through the whole year; which was received into them at the time of the overflowing of the Nile.

This city might be in a more flourishing condition; did not disadvantages of all sorts concur to depress it. Its inhabitants appear to have a natural genius for commerce; were it not checked by the malignant influence of the Government. I have no where met with so many people who could speak the European languages, and even those of the North of Europe, correctly. The inhabitants of Alexandria are in use to enter as sailors on board Christian ships; and when they have seen the world, and learned some languages, they return home, and become

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couriers, or interpreters to the nations they have served. The Mahometans have commonly a great aversion at living among Christians, because they cannot join in the ceremonies of their religion. The modern Egyptians, being less attached than the other Musulmans to the peculiarities of their religion and manners, are fitter for commercial intercourse with the Europeans.

The trade of Alexandria is, notwithstanding, very trifling; although almost all the nations of Egypt have consuls here. But, as most part of those articles of traffic which are imported into Egypt, pass by Alexandria, the customs afford a considerable sum to the Sultan annually.

The Arabic is the ordinary language of the native inhabitants, both here and through all Egypt. Europeans, unskilled in Arabic, speak Italian, which is still not a little used in these countries (G).

Several tribes of wandering Arabs are continually roaming about through Lower Egypt; and often approach near to Alexandria. The inhabitants pay some contributions. But those troops pillage the country, so that Government is obliged to send soldiers to reduce them, or drive them into the more remote provinces. During our stay at Alexandria, some hundreds of those robbers encamped within a quarter of a league

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of the city. They distressed the husbandmen, and plundered the travellers.

Those Arabs, one day, exhibited a scene which we could see from the terrace on the roof of our house. According to their custom, a great number had slipped into the city, one by one, to avoid frightening the inhabitants. One of their Schiechs, to try some powder and ball, which he had just bought in a shop, discharged his piece against an opposite house: The proprietor complaining, the Schiech treated him as he would one of his own subjects in the desert. The people of the city gathered round them, and were preparing to revenge the insult offered to their fellow-citizen. Some Arabs ran in to defend their chief; and the inhabitants gathered in greater numbers on their side. The quarrel produced a combat, which began with a volley of stones, and ended with the discharge of guns. The Arabs, at last, retired out of the city, leaving several of their number dead, and several prisoners. Next day, their camp besieged the city, and carried away the cattle of the inhabitants from the pastures: But, within two days, peace was restored, and the booty and prisoners delivered up on both sides.

The excursions and rudeness of these Arabians were not the only circumstances that obliged me to repress my curiosity. The stupidity and ignorance

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of the native inhabitants, who viewed my measuring apparatus with distrust and fear, were not less unfavourable to the success of my enquiries and observations. A Turkish merchant, observing me direct my instrument towards the city, had the curiosity to look into the glass, and was surprised to see a tower turned upside down. He immediately spread a report, that I was come to overturn the city: It was mentioned to the Governor; and my janissary would no longer walk out with me, when I proposed carrying my instruments with me. Near a village of the Delta, an honest peasant paid great attention to my operations, as I was taking different angles. To shew him something curious, I made him look through the same glass. He was greatly alarmed to see the village, to which he belonged, standing upside down. My servant told him, that Government were offended with that village, and had sent me to destroy it. He instantly intreated me to wait but a few moments, that he might have time to save his wife and his cow. He then ran in great haste towards his house; and I went again on board my boat.

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Chap. II.

Voyage from Alexandria to Rosetta.

The European travellers who have visited Egypt, having generally passed from Alexandria to Kahira by Raschid, and upon the Nile; we were tempted to prefer the way by land. But, the country being infested by the wandering Arabs, as I have already mentioned, we found our design to be impracticable. Mr Forskal, when travelling the country upon another occasion, found that our fears had not been groundless. He was entirely stripped by those Arabs, who, with a generosity very uncommon with them, left him his drawers.

In winter, the passage between Alexandria and Raschid is so dangerous, that many vessels are lost in the Boghas, or mouth of the Nile. Although that river was not yet greatly fallen, our flat boat was several times a-ground. The skipper excused these accidents, by saying, that the bed of the river changed frequently in these parts. The number of shallows upon the coast makes the Egyptians very easy with respect to the approach of hostile fleets; and they are suffering the old forts on the banks of the Nile to fall into ruins.

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After struggling with contrary winds, we arrived, on the 2d of November, at Rosetta, as it is called in Europe, or Raschid, in the language of the country. This city is of a considerable size, and stands upon an eminence, whence opens a charming prospect of the course of the Nile, and a part of the Delta. It serves as a staple for the trade between Alexandria and Cairo*. The boats of the latter city proceed no farther than to Rosetta, where they lade with goods brought by the vessels of Alexandria, which never advance up the river. For this reason, the French and Venetian consuls reside at Rosetta, as well as several European merchants, who manage the conveyance of goods belonging to their friends.

Near this city are shewn what are thought to be the ruins of the ancient Canopus. Last year, twenty beautiful marble columns were dug up there, which have been conveyed to Cairo. What is more certain, is, that in ancient times, and probably even so late as the sixth century, there was another branch of the Nile, passing by those ruins, and discharging itself into the sea, at Abukir. But it is now filled up with sand, which the wind carries about in great quantities in these sandy countries.

The Europeans speak much of the politeness of the inhabitants of Rosetta. Our stay in that city

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city might, therefore, have been more agreeable than in any of the other cities of Egypt. But we had no time to lose, and were in haste to reach Cairo.

Chap. III.

Voyage from Rosetta to Cairo.

We left Rosetta on the 6th of November, and two days after passed Fue, once a considerable city, and the staple of the trade between Alexandria and Cairo. The canal between Alexandria and Fue is no longer navigable; and Fue entirely deserted. The Nile carries so much of the soil from the lands, that it gradually fills up the canals; although they are cleansed from time to time; but in a superficial enough manner. The earth taken out of the canals forms those mounts which are observed in the Delta, and which appear strange in so flat a country as Egypt.

In this season, when the country is all verdant, it is very pleasant to sail up the Nile. A number of villages are scattered along each side of the river. The houses are indeed low, and built of unburnt bricks; but, intermixed as they are with palm trees, and pigeon-houses of a singular

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form, they present to the eye of the stranger, an uncommon and pleasing prospect. Near several of these villages are seen large heaps of the ruins of ancient cities.

The navigation of the Nile would be still more agreeable, were it not infested by pirates. But, when a great number of people are on board of a vessel, they keep on their guard; they discharge a few shots from time to time, to shew, that they are provided with fire arms; this keeps the robbers in awe, and renders the passage less dangerous. There is much more danger in trusting to a Reis, or master of a vessel, with whom you are unacquainted, who may favour the robbers, and share their plunder. Whole villages are said to follow this trade; and for this reason the boats never stop in their neighbourhood. The inhabitants on the banks of the Nile are very dexterous in the art of swimming, which they frequently exercise in stealing from the boats, if not with open force, yet with a degree of address and audacity worthy of the most noted pick-pockets.

Some Turks related to me a recent instance of the address and audacity of those robbers, or rather thieves. The servants of a Pacha, newly arrived, caught one of them in the act, seized him, and brought him before the Pacha. He threatened him with instant death; but the rogue

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asked leave to exhibit one of his tricks; saying, that he hoped, his dexterity might procure his pardon. He obtained leave. Then collecting several effects in the tent, he wrapped them up, coolly, in the mode in which the Egyptians wrap up their clothes when they are to pass a river. After playing some time with this parcel, he put it on his head, threw himself into the Nile, and, before the Turks were so far recovered from their surprise, as to level their musquets at him, was safe on the opposite bank.

Through all Lower Egypt, I saw no crocodiles in the two great branches of the Nile up which I sailed. The Egyptians fancy, that in the Mikkias near Cairo, there is a talisman, the virtue of which hinders those amphibious animals from descending lower in the river (H).

On the 10th of November, we reached Bulak; which may be considered as the Port of Cairo, as all boats that come by the Nile discharge their passengers and cargoes at this place.

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Chap. IV.

From Cairo to Damietta.

Having, in advancing to Cairo, examined one of the great branches of the Nile, I was desirous of seeing the other between Cairo and Damietta. The maps of this part of Egypt, called, both by the ancients, and by the modern Europeans, the Delta, are extremely defective. I was desirous of supplying their defects, and correcting their errors. My map of the course of the Nile, exhibits my geographical observations upon this part of the country, and may at the same time serve to direct the reader, who chuses to trace my route with his eye.

I was prevented by the rains and other circumstances, from accomplishing my intention, till the month of May, next year. But the delay turned out to my advantage. I gained some knowledge of the language of the country, and became more familiar with the manners of the East. Mr Baurenfeind, too, who,

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since his arrival at Cairo, had scarce ever gone abroad, now determined to accompany me.

We set out from Bulak, on the 1st of May 1762, sailing at first very gently down the Nile. From Cairo to the Delta, the river is very large, with small isles scattered through it; which, when the river overflows, are often transported, by the impetuosity of the stream, from one situation to another. This occasions frequent disputes among the villagers on the banks of the river. But, at this time, the Nile was so low, that our boat was several times a-ground. We might have proceeded with the stream, in the calm, during night, had we not been afraid of pirates. A north wind blows usually through the day, and opposes the progress of boats down the river. Violent blasts sometimes arise, and bear sand and dust before them, darkening the air, and endangering the safety of the boats, which are commonly very indifferent sailers.

All the villages have, indeed, guards to watch the approach of pirates, and warn passengers. But, those very guards often join with the inhabitants of the villages, and fit out barks themselves, to plunder those whom they should protect.

Sifta, at which we arrived on the 3d of May, is a pretty considerable village, between Cairo and Damietta. It is the property of an old

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Kislar-Aga, from Constantinople, living at present in retirement at Cairo; who keeps here a Kaimacan, or bailiff. It has three mosques, and a church belonging to the Copts, the congregation of which consists of three hundred families. Those good people asked me to see their church: it is ill-built, dirty, and hung with cobwebs. During the public worship, they stand, leaning on their staves. Their churches are adorned with bad paintings. I saw one in which Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Virgin, with several of the Saints, appeared mounted proudly on horseback.

We saw, in the course of our voyage, several boats which we suspected to belong to pirates: but none of them ventured to attack us. We saw, likewise, several rafts laden with pots and other earthen ware from Upper Egypt. Those cargoes of earthen ware are fixed upon very light planks of the timber of the palm tree, joined into a raft, the progress of which is directed by six or eight men with poles in their hands. After selling their cargoes at Damietta, they walk home. They defend themselves very dexterously, with stings, against robbers.

We passed near by Mansura, where St Lewis was made prisoner. It seemed of the same size as Damietta, A wall has been built upon the branch of the river near the city, to hinder the

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water from entering the canal that communicates with the lake of Baheira, in a larger quantity than is requisite for watering the fields of rice, of which a great deal is raised in this part of the country.

Below Mansura we met twenty boats laden with bee-hives, which they were bringing up to make honey on the banks of the river.

In each boat were two hundred hives, four thousand in all. The Sandyak of Mansura lay in the neighbourhood, with a party of forty slaves and domestics, to levy the tax due upon the bees.

On the 5th of May, we arrived at Damietta. This city is at least as advantageously situated, as Rosetta. The imports from Syria enter at this port; and it has also a great trade in rice, of which there is much raised in the neighbourhood. Yet, no Christian merchant, or European monk, resides here; although there be in Damietta, a considerable number of Maronites and Armenians, who communicate with the Church of Rome.

A Consul, and French merchants, once resided in Damietta. But, the inhabitants observing that those strangers made too free with their women, rose up in a fury, and massacred them all. Since that period the King of France has

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forbidden his subjects not only to settle in this city, but even to frequent it. The inhabitants of Damietta are generally reckoned more unfriendly to the Christians, than any of the other inhabitants of Egypt. The memory of the Crusades, perhaps, keeps up this inveterate aversion. But, as we wore the Turkish dress, and spoke the language of the country tolerably, we had nothing to fear.

In the neighbourhood of this city are many rice fields. But towards the shore, the ground is covered with sand, and consequently barren. To travel by land from Damietta to Rosetta, it is only a journey of a day and a half. But the road is infested by robbers, and very dangerous.

As I was so near the sea, I went to see the Boghas, two German leagues below Damietta. This mouth of the Nile is not less dangerous to vessels than that at Rosetta. It was formerly defended by a fort; but the garrison have been frightened away by apparitions. I visited it in company with some Mahometans, who said their prayers very devoutly in that abode of spirits. This was the only time, I remarked this species of superstition among the Musulmans; apparitions are unknown in Arabia.

The lake of Baheira extends from Damietta to Ghassa. I should have wished to see a lake so famous among the ancients, and in the country

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around whose banks there still are such magnificent remains of a number of great cities. I might have examined, at the same time, several modern cities, well worthy of the notice of the curious; such as Demischli, where is a manufacture of beautiful stuffs; Bilbays and Tasnal, in which are some noble monuments. But the inhabitants of Baheira being poor, and from their insulated situation almost independent, are to be dreaded equally by land and water. They rob all travellers, without distinction. I found it therefore prudent to decline gratifying my curiosity.

A number of the villages on the banks of the Nile belong to Beys who reside at Cairo. The Copts, who are secretaries to those noblemen, might have given me information concerning the nature of the tenure, if I had been carried to consult them. In my map of the course of the Nile, I have inserted the names of all the places I saw, far and near. But, I have had no small difficulty in writing down these names; both from the diversity of dialects in the country, and from the indistinct pronunciation of those from whom I was obliged to ask them.

We left Damietta on the 12th of May; and the wind blew so fair, that we reached Bulak, on the 15th.

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Chap. V.

Of the Ancient Cities of Lower Egypt.

Ancient historians and geographers, enumerate such a multitude of cities in Egypt, that it seems to be at present quite a desart in comparison with what it was in the days of antiquity. New cities have indeed arisen, but these are mere trifles, compared with the number, the extent, and the magnificence of the ancient. All the remains of monuments referable to the most remote antiquity, bespeak the hand of a numerous and opulent people, who have entirely disappeared.

When, however, we reflect on the revolutions which this country has undergone, and upon the length of time during which it has been under the dominion of strangers; we can no longer be surprized at the decline of its wealth and population. It has been successively subdued by the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabians, and the Turks:—has enjoyed no interval of tranquillity and freedom; but has been constantly oppressed and pillaged by the lieutenants of a distant lord. Those usurpers and their servants having no other views, but to draw

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as large a revenue as possible from an opulent province, scarce left the people bare means of subsistence. Agriculture was ruined by the miseries of the husbandmen; and the cities decayed with its decline. Even at present, the population is decreasing; and the peasant, although in a fertile country, miserably poor; for the exactions of Government, and its officers, leave him nothing to lay out in the improvement and culture of his lands; while the cities are falling into ruins, because the same unhappy restraints render it impossible for the citizens to engage in any lucrative undertaking.

It would be difficult to ascertain the situation of the ancient cities. The places in which they stood are commonly marked by dykes, which had been raised to shelter them from inundations. Elevations appear here and there over the plains; and those always contain ruins, which have been gradually covered over by accumulations from the river, and by sand deposited by the winds. The spots, that either conceal in this manner, or openly display remains of ruined cities, are astonishingly numerous.

The quantity of these ruins would be greater still, if the inhabitants did not carry them away piecemeal, and employ them in the construction of new buildings. In search of materials for building, they are constantly turning over

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over the ruins; and they not only dig up the ground, but even riddle the earth taken out, in hopes of finding in it gold or gems. A friend of mine, the lord of a village, near the remains of an ancient city, made me a present of the figure of a scarabœus, of old Egyptian workmanship, which had been found by some of his peasants, in digging up the earth in this manner. It is of burnt clay, covered with a thick coating of varnish. It is a proof, that those people had moulds with which they impressed particular figures on the clay, before putting it into the fire.

The eastern part of the Delta, which has been, as yet, but little frequented by the European travellers, is not less rich in antiquities than that which is better known. The frequency of robbers, and the looseness of the police, in that remote district, deters the curious. Yet one might visit those parts without danger, by accompanying the Copts, of whom great numbers go every year, in pilgrimage to an ancient church, near Gemiana.

Some Arabs mentioned to Mr Forskal the names of several of those places in which the Jews anciently dwelt, and of which the ruins still subsist. Those names do, indeed, all indicate something relative to the sojourning of the Jews in this country. But as the account rests upon vague tradition, and regards a despised people,

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people, whose history is little known, we were not at the trouble of making farther enquiries.

The Egyptians are not well pleased to see Europeans digging among ruins. They imagine, that we are searching for treasures. While I was measuring a fine obelisk, which is still standing entire, near Matarè the inhabitants gathered round, and watched my operations at a small distance. They imagined that I had some secret to overturn the pillar, and intended to have their share of the riches which they supposed I was to find under its base. When they saw that I did not succeed according to their ideas, they suffered me to walk off, without insulting me. One might, however, avoid giving umbrage to the people, by obtaining leave from the Lord of the village to have those spots examined, that contain ruins, and employing the peasants in the work.

Different travellers have been at pains to describe the antiquities of the cities of ancient Egypt; and various men of letters have written dissertations upon those descriptions, and compared them with what is related by the Latin and Greek authors, in order to discover to what ancient city each particular pile of ruins pertained. Such investigations may be curious; but, considering their uncertainty, I would neither

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descend to any such details myself, nor quote what has been advanced in this way by others.

Chap. VI.

Of the City of Cairo.

In the course of the eleven last centuries, since the conquest of Egypt by the Arabians, many changes have taken place in the neighbourhood of Cairo, or, as it is called in the language of the country, Kahira. Those conquerors demolished or neglected the cities which they found subsisting, and built others.

At their entrance into this country, they found a city on the banks of the Nile, which their writers call Masr, and which no doubt was the Egyptian Babylon of the Greek authors. They became masters of it by the treason of Mokaukas. In their Mussulman zeal, abhorring to dwell in the same city with Christians, they settled, by degrees, in the place where their general had pitched his camp, and formed a city which they called Fostat.

This city, when it became the capital of Egypt, was also called Masr; a name which it has retained even since Cairo, originally only a

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suburb, has supplanted it in the character of capital. Fostat declined, as Cairo, which was founded in the 358 year of the Hegira, by the general of a Fatimite Caliph I., advanced. The remains of Fostat are known at present by the name of Masr-el-atik, old Masr. The famous Salab ed din embellished the rising city of Cairo, and inclosed it with walls.

Cairo, in its turn, came to receive the name of Masr. The Europeans call it Cairo, or Grand Cairo. Although so modern, it is truly very large. It extends, for an hour’s walk, to the foot of the mountain Mokattam, at the distance of half a league from the banks of the Nile. From the top of that hill, on which stands the castle, the whole city is seen. On the other sides it is surrounded with hillocks formed by the accumulation of the dirt, conveyed out of the city. They are already so high, that the tops of the buildings in the city can scarce be seen over them, from the banks of the Nile.

Cairo, although a very great city, is not so populous as the cities in Europe, of the same extent. The capital of Egypt contains large ponds, which, when full, have the appearance even of lakes. The mosques occupy large areas. In a quarter which I had occasion to examine particularly, I found the large streets divided by a large space of ground, laid out in gardens

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gardens, and otherwise. I am induced to think, that, in the other quarters, are large unoccupied spaces of the same sort. The houses in Cairo are not so high as in the cities of Europe. In some parts, they consist only of one story, and are built of bricks that have been dried in the sun (J).

I have observed, that travellers always err in estimating the population of the cities of the East: and I may add, that the arrangement of the streets of Cairo must make that city appear larger than it really is. In several quarters there are pretty long wynds, which terminate not any principal street; so that those who live at the bottom of them, can converse from the back parts of their houses, yet must walk a quarter of a league before they can meet. Such wynds or lanes are, for the most part, inhabited by artisans, who go out to work in more frequented streets, and leave their wives and children at home. From this circumstance, these are so surprised to see a passenger, that they naturally suppose, that you have lost your way, and tell you, that you cannot pass there. All the intercourse is therefore through the principal streets; and these are very narrow; so that, being continually crowded, they will naturally occasion a stranger to think the city much more populous than it really is.

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The castle standing upon a steep, insulated rock, between the city and mount Mokattam, was probably erected in the days of the Greeks, and might form a part of the Egyptian Babylon. It is at present parted into three divisions, which are occupied by the Pacha, the Janissaries, and the Assabs. The palace of the Pacha is falling into ruins, and is unworthy of being the dwelling of the Governor of a great province. But the Turkish Pachas are in general ill lodged. They know all, that they are not to be long in power; and none cares for making reparations to accommodate his successor.

The quarter of the janissaries is surrounded with strong walls which are flanked with towers, and has more the appearance of a fortress. Those soldiers accordingly avail themselves of their situation in the revolutions which happen so frequently in Egypt. That body, although paid by the Sultan, are not much attached to their sovereign. Their principal officers have been slaves to the more respectable inhabitants of Cairo, and are still more attached to their old masters than to the Sovereign of the Turkish empire. When the Egyptians depose a Pacha, the janissaries are commonly ready to drive him out of the palace, if he fails to set off at the day fixed to him, by the Beys. But the Arabs are in

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in little fear of the janissaries, and rob with confidence, close by their quarters.

Within this castle are two monuments, which some, both Mahometans and Christians, fancifully ascribe to a patriarch; the fountain, and palace of Joseph. The fountain is indeed deep, and cut in the rock; but nothing extraordinary, when it is considered, that the rock is a very soft calcareous stone. It is not at all comparable to the labours of the ancient Indians, who have cut whole pagodas in the very hardest rocks.

The pretended palace of Joseph, is a large building, which still retains some precious remains of its ancient magnificence. In the apartment in which a manufacture of cloth is at present carried on, the walls are adorned with figures of beautiful Mosaic work, composed of mother of pearl, precious stones, and coloured glass. The ceiling of another chamber contains fine paintings; in some places, the names of most of the ancient monarchs of Egypt are engraven. The caliphs of Egypt appear to have inhabited this palace; and it is surprising, that the Pacha does not choose to lodge in it. From a balcony in this building, a person has a delightful view of Cairo, Bulak, Geesh, and a vast tract of country extending all the way to the pyramids.

That valuable stuff of which the Sultan makes an annual present to the sanctuary of Mecca, is

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fabricated in this palace. I asked the director of the manufacture, from what Joseph he supposed the fountain and palace to have taken their denomination? he answered from Salah ed din, whose proper name was Joseph. This account seems the more probable, as Cairo owes its other embellishments to that Caliph. Near this palace are thirty large and beautiful columns of red granite still standing, but unroofed, and degraded by having a parcel of wretched huts built against them. In a path cut in the rock, and leading from one part of the castle to another, I was surprised to observe an eagle with a double head, engraven upon a large stone, and still perfectly discernible.

The suburb El Karafe, at present but thinly inhabited, contains a number of superb mosques, which are partly fallen into ruins, with several tombs of the ancient sovereigns of this country. The Mahometan women repair in crowds to this place, on pretence of performing their devotions, but, in reality, for the pleasure of walking abroad. On the other side of the castle there is also a great number of ruinous mosques, and houses of prayer, built over the tombs of rich Mahometans, and forming a street three quarters of a German league in length. From the astonishing number of these mosques and houses, it should seem that the ancient sovereigns

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of Egypt were not less disposed than the Sultans of Constantinople, to expend money upon pious foundations.

Among this multitude of mosques are some distinguished by beauty and solidity of structure. One of those, although the seat of an academy, was so strongly and so advantageously situated, that, in particular insurrections, batteries used to be raised in it, and directed against the castle; for which reason the gates have been built up. Those mosques have little ornament within: The pavement is covered with mats, seldom with carpets. Nothing appears on the walls, but a few passages of the Koran, written in golden letters, and a profusion of bad lamps, suspended horizontally, and intermixed with ostrich eggs, and some other trifling curiosities.

The Mouritan is a large hospital for the sick and mad. Those of the former class are not numerous, considering the extent of the city. The sick were formerly provided with every thing that could tend to soothe their distress, not excepting even music. From the insufficiency of the funds to supply so great an expence, the music had been retrenched, but has been since restored by the charity of a private person. The descriptions of Cairo say much of the large revenues belonging to the hospital, and to many of the mosques. But the same thing happens here as in other

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places: The administrators of the revenues enrich themselves at the expence of the foundations; so that new bequests from the pious are from time to time necessary, to prevent them from falling into utter decay.

In this city are a great many kans or oquals, as they are called in Egypt. These are large and strong buildings, consisting of ware-rooms and small chambers for the use of foreign merchants. Here, as well as at Constantinople, are several elegant houses, where fresh water is distributed gratis to passengers.

The public baths are very numerous. Although externally very plain buildings, they have handsome apartments within, paved with marble, and ornamented in the fashion of the country. Several servants attend, each of whom has his particular task, in waiting upon and assisting those who come to bathe. Strangers are surprised when those bathers begin to handle them, and afraid of having their limbs dislocated. But after being a little accustomed to the ceremony, they find it sufficiently agreeable.

The birkets, or ponds, formed by the waters of the Nile, which, when it rises, fills the hollows, are very common about and in Cairo. Those ponds, or rather marshes, become meadows, every year after the water is evaporated.

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This vicissitude renders them very agreeable: And the most considerable persons in the country live upon their banks. The palaces of the great are no ornaments to the city; for nothing about them can be seen but the high walls that surround them.

Chap. VII.

Of the Country immediately around Cairo

In the neighbourhood of Cairo are several remarkable places: Among others, the three villages of Bulak, Fostat, Geesh; which are all so near, that they may be reckoned suburbs to it.

Bulak, which was undoubtedly the Latopolis of the ancient Greeks, is at present a very considerable town, and the port of Cairo. All goods from Damietta and Rosetta, and all exports from Egypt by the Mediterranean, pass this way. For this reason, a large custom-house is established here; and a vast bazar, or covered market-place, called Kissarie. Here are also magazines of rice, salt, nitre, and of various productions of Upper Egypt. Here is also a house belonging to the Sultan, in which is kept the corn that he sends annually to Mecca and Medina.

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Fostat, of Masr-el-atik, although greatly decayed, may still be considered as a town of the middle Size. It has a custom-house, where the duties on goods from Upper Egypt are paid. In a large square, inclosed with a wall, Government store up, in the open air, a considerable quantity of grain, every year. Some authors speak of this as a granary built by the patriarch Joseph. But the wall is plainly of a later date than even the conquest of Egypt by the Arabians.

The old citadel of Masr is inhabited, at present, by none but Christians. In it are to be seen several churches of the Greeks and Copts, with a convent of Monks, of the latter nation. A grotto, under one of the Coptic churches, is regarded with high veneration, because it is supposed to have been the retreat of the Holy Family, when they fled into Egypt. The Greeks have a church, famous for a miracle of a singular nature: Fools recover their wits, upon being bound to a certain pillar of it.

Between this city and Cairo is an aqueduct, which was constructed in the beginning of the sixth century, by Sultan Gari, and conveys water into the neighbourhood of the castle. Near the canal is a convent of Dervises, celebrated for the elegance of the building, and the opulence of the foundation; and near this convent are large squares, in which the principal inhabitants of

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of Cairo, amuse themselves with military exercises.

The small village of Geesh stands on the southern bank of the Nile, opposite to Masr-el-atik. Its origin is unknown. The heights around it, which have no doubt been raised by the accumulation of the dirt from the city, seem to bespeak its antiquity. I found nothing remarkable about it, except some country-houses belonging to rich inhabitants of Cairo, and some manufactories (K).

Matarè, a town, or rather village, about two leagues from the capital, is seated nearly on the ruins of the ancient Heliopolis. It is, however, more famous among the Christians for a sycomore, whose trunk is said to have afforded a shelter to the Holy Family, in their flight. This sycomore should seem to have the power of renewing itself: for, of the crowds of superstitious persons who visit it, each usually cuts off, and carries away a piece. This village was formerly famous for the cultivation of those trees which afford Egyptian balsam. But none of them is now to be seen here; the last died in the beginning of the seventeenth century. The Turks are not a people to restore so valuable a plant.

Four leagues eastward from Cairo is Birket el-Hadgi, or the pilgrim’s pool, a pretty considerable lake, which receives its water from the

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Nile. Upon its banks are several villages, and a good many ruinous country-houses. There is nothing to render this place remarkable, except at the time of the setting out of the caravan for Mecca, when the pilgrims encamp near it, for a few days; as they do also upon their return. On the 20th of May 1762, two days before the departure of the caravan, I had the curiosity to visit this camp, but found little about it worth viewing, I saw indeed a very few elegant tents; but every thing else shockingly natty, disorderly, and paltry.

Chap. VIII.

Of the Mikkias or Nilometer, and of the rising of the Nile

Between Masr-el-atik and Geesh, in the middle of the Nile is the isle of Rodda, which formerly communicated with those two cities by two bridges of boats, that no longer subsist. In the flourishing days of Fostat, the island was covered with gardens and villas. But since Cairo has become the capital of Egypt, Masr-el-atik, Bulak, and even Birket-el-Hadgi, are preferred as situations for gardens and villas.

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This island shews, at present, nothing remarkable, except, that on its southern extremity, stands a wall, which has been built to break the force of the current. Upon this extremity stands also a mosque, in which is the famous Mikkias or Nilometer. This is well known to be a bason having a communication with the Nile, on the middle of which stands a column that serves to indicate the height of the waters of the river. Norden has given a draught of it, finer than the original, which is mouldering fast away; for the Turks will not lay out the smallest expence, even upon the most necessary repairs.

I know not whether any person has yet measured the breadth of the Nile. By a geometrical operation, I found it to be 2946 feet. Without knowing this measure, one can form no idea of the astonishing mass of water which this river carries down, when in its full height.

The Nile, it is well known, begins every year to rise about the middle of June, and continues rising 40 or 50 days; it then falls, by degrees, till, in the end of May, next year, it is at the lowest. The causes of its rise are now well known. During the hot months of the year, rain falls every day in Habbesch or Abyssinia, and all that rain-water is collected into the Nile,

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which, from its entrance into Egypt, till it reaches the sea, runs through a wide vale.

It does not rise alike high through all Egypt. I durst not measure it near the Mikkias, but, from observations made at Geesh, I saw, that at Cairo the full height is at least 24 feet above its ordinary level. At Rosetta and Damietta it is only four feet. But this vast difference is not surprising; for, at Cairo, the Nile being confined to one channel, between high banks, must necessarily rise to a much greater height than nearer the sea, where it is divided into two streams, after running over so much barren ground, and forming so many lakes. The branch upon which Rosetta stands, is only 650 feet broad; and that by Damietta, not more than 100.

Assoon as the Nile begins to rise, all the canals intended to convey the waters through the country, are shut and cleansed. They are kept shut, however, till the river rise to a certain height which is indicated by the Nilometer in the isle of Rodda. A Shech attends for this purpose, by the Mikkias, and gives notice, from time to time, of the rising of the river, to a number of poor persons who wait at Fostat for the information, and run instantly to publish it in the streets of Cairo. They return every day to Fostat, at a certain hour, to learn

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from the Schech, how many inches the river has risen: And its rise is every day proclaimed in public, till it reaches the fixed height, at which the canals are permitted to be unlocked; the usual tax is then paid for the waters, to the Sultan, and a good year expected.

The canal at Cairo is first opened, and then, successively, all the other great canals down to the sea. The inhabitants of no particular district dare draw off any part of the water of the Nile, although it have risen to the height that best suits the inlands; for this would injure the higher grounds; and therefore every body must wait till the public order be given out. There are laws in Egypt, which are strictly observed, and which determine the distribution of the waters, and the time when the large and small canals are to be opened.

Between the dyke of the canal of Cairo, and the Nile, a pillar of earth is raised, nearly of the height to which the waters of the rivers are expected to rise. This pillar is called Anes, or the bride, and serves as a sort of Nilometer for the use of the common people. When the waters enter the canal, this bride is carried away by the current. A like custom, which prevailed among the ancient Egyptians, has subjected them to the imputation of sacrificing every year a virgin to the Nile.

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The canal is usually opened with great festivity, and a concourse of people. But when we were in Cairo, it was opened without any parade; for it had been imperfectly cleansed, and the water did not enter it readily. As this ceremony has been described by so many authors, I shall not trouble the reader with any account of it.

A piece of superstition now prevails in Egypt, of which history makes no mention before the conquest of the country by the Arabs. Certain women, both Christian and Mahometan, pretend to foretell what height the Nile will rise to, by means of certain rites which they practise. These depend upon the popular notion, that, on the night of the 17th or 18th of June, there falls, in Habbesch, a drop, in Arabic nokta, into the Nile, which causes its waters to ferment and swell. To discover the quantity of this drop, and the force with which it falls, and, of consequence, the height of the river, and the fertility of the lands for the year; those women put a bit of paste on the roof of the house, on the night on which the drop is imagined to fall; and they draw their prediction from the greater or smaller increase of weight, which it receives. It is easy to explain this experiment: for, in the season in which it is performed, there fall regularly heavy dews throughout Egypt. A sensible and learned

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learned Mahometan, who looked upon the predictions as fooleries, told me, that this vulgar error arose, like many others, from an ambiguous expression; Nokta signifying in Arabic, both a drop and the time of the sun’s entering the sign of Cancer; at which season, the great rains fall in Abyssinia, which occasion the swelling of the Nile.

I have remarked, that the canal of Cairo is cleansed every year; and it then serves as a street. But it can never be long used as a street; for it is never cleansed, till the dyke be ready to be cut down. While the water is running in this canal, the houses about it are very agreeable; but, through the rest of the year, it is a very uncomfortable neighbourhood. It is always exceedingly filthy. The insufferable smell, and noxious putridity, which it diffuses all around, infect the air, and produce epidemic distempers.

No water fit for drinking is to be had at Cairo, unless out of the Nile; from which it is brought every day into the city, in skins, upon asses and camels. Under several mosques, are large reservoirs, in which water is preserved for the use of the public, during the swell of the Nile; for the river is then muddy, and its water thought unwholesome. Indeed the water of the Nile is always somewhat muddy; but, by

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rubbing with bitter almonds, prepared in a particular manner, the earthen jars in which it is kept, this water is rendered clear, light, and salutary. The use of this water is generally thought to be the occasion of a cutaneous eruption to which the inhabitants of Cairo are subject, at a certain season in the year. It is troublesome, but does not injure the health.