LETTERS o n EGYPT, WITH Parallel between the Manners of its ancient and modern Inhabitants, the pre-fent State, the Commerce, the Agriculture, and Government of that Country; AND AN Account of the Defcent of St. Lewis at Damietta : EXTRACTED FROM JOINFILLE, AND ARABIAN AUTHORS. illustrated with maps. By Mr. S A V A R Y, Author of the Life of Mahomet, and Iranjlaiot of the Cor an. in two volumes./]( '^-J^' K vol. i. ILTCML ! EIBLIOTHEIv/ london: S^ffi^*/ printed for g. g. j. and j. robinson, pate r-n o s t e r-r ow. MDCCLXXXVI. t o MONSIEUR, Brother to the King of FRANCE. MoN seigneur, ' I ^HE favourable reception with which you have honoured my former works, encourages me to publish the ob-fervations I had an opportunity of making in the courfe of my travels. If your High-nefs will deign to permit me to prefix your name, my wifties will be complete. I fliall efteem that favour as an aifurance a 2 of iv DEDICATION, of the public approbation, and (hall the Jefs regret thofe obftacles, which fufpended my zeal at the moment that I was about to undertake more important inquiries. I am, With the moff profound refpecl, Your Highnefs's moil: obedient, and mofl humble fervant, Savary. PRE- PREFACE. AJpRAVELS are the mod initrudlive fchool of man. It is by travelling that he acquires a knowledge of his fellow creatures; it is by living amongft different people, by ftudying their manners, their religion, and government, that he finds a point of comparifon which enables him to judge of the manners, the religion, and government of his own country. Surrounded by the prejudices of education, enflaved by cuftom, until he quits his native country, he views other nations only through an opake medium, which, varying their forms and colours to his fight, muft neceffarily induce a falie judgment of the objects. He will be afto-nifhed at their errors, although he him-felf pays a tribute to others, to the full as as finking; he will laugh at the abfur-dity of their cuffoms, himfelf a Have to as great extravagancies. But after examining with deliberate attention, the manners and the genius of different people, after calculating the precife influence of education, laws, and climate, on their natural and moral qualities, he will extend the iphere of his ideas, reflexion will throw off the yoke of prejudice, and break the bonds with which cuftom has enchained his reafon. It is then that, looking towards his own country, the bandage will drop from his eyes, the erroneous opinions he has there formed will vanifh, and every thing will bear a different afpect. Before he fets out on his travels, it is neceffary that he mould be thoroughly acquainted with geography and hiftory. The former will point out the local theatre of great events, the latter will recall them to his memory. Enlightened by this two-fold luminary, in travelling through the eaftern world, the fcene of the mofl aftonifhing" revolutions, which have more than once changed the furface of the , globe, PRE F A C Ei vii globe, every object will be animated under his footfteps. The marbles, the ruins, the very mountains will fpeak to his undemanding and his heart. Here, under a rude bed of brambles, he will read the following words, with which his country honoured the manes of a hero: Sta, Viator, Heroem c ale as. That rock, whofe precipice projects over the profound abyffes of the fea, will recall to his memory the unhappy fate of that defpairing lover, whofe fublime and animated verfes de-fervedly procured her the title of the tenth mufe. Thofe ruins, the fad remains of two celebrated republics, will revive the recollection of man, ennobled by the love of liberty, his enlarged foul, and all the faculties of mind and body in the highelt flate of perfection. What multiplied com-parifons between the paff and prefent fitua-tion of human affairs will recur to his imagination ! How immenfe the chain of events he has to purfue! But he will content himfelf with marking the great leading features, and with laying before his reader thofe finking circumftances, wherein wherein the pair, and the prefent are illustrated, and brought into contact, without being confounded together. At the light of thofe fuperb monuments that Egypt ftill poffeffes, his reflections will turn on the character of a people, whofe works alone, of all the ancient nations, have braved the ravages of time. What mull: have been that people, who feemed to have laboured only for immortality, and from whom Orpheus, Homer, Herodotus, and Plato, went in fearch of thofe different branches of knowledge, with which they enriched their country ? He will regret, that all the efforts of the learned have proved ineffectual to lift up the veil of the numerous hieroglyphics difperfed through that rich region. The knowledge of thefe characters would iiluflrate ancient hiftory, and furnifh a ray of light perhaps to penetrate that darknefs which covers the firft ages of the world. Become a citizen of the uni\»erfe, he will rife fuperior to partiality and opinion, and, in defcribing cities and countries, his pen will adopt no other guide than truth. But But above all, let him not, like too many travellers, make himfelf the principal figure in his paintings, nor throw a glare of light around himfelf, whilft he leaves in the made the other perfonages' on the can^ vas. Let him appear without affectation, whether with refpect to knowledge of his fubject, or for the purpofe of giving weight to his narrative. Such are the requifites for the man who would profit by his tra-vels. Such are the principles he mould deem effential. To the neceffary information, and to the genius of obfervation, he mull unite alfo that lively, profound, and penetrating fen-libility, which alone can make his remarks or writings interefting. If he is not affected on beholding the fpot where the great Pompey was affaflinated on his land-, ing near Peluiium j if the wonders of Egypt have not (truck him with aftonifh-ment and admiration ; if he has not lamented over the auguft ruins of Alexandria, and over the irreparable lofs of 400,000 volumes, devoured by the flames if he has not felt his breaft inflamed by Voi,. I, A As the noble fire of enthufiafm, at the fight of the ruins of Troy, of Sparta, and of Athens, let him not think of writing. Nature never formed him to tranfmit to his fellow-creatures thofe great impreflions, which are infpired only by fuch great objects. I prefume to think, that I have experienced fuch feelings as to render travels interefting; but the public mull: judge, of the execution. Should the reader of thele letters accompany me with pleafure ; fhould he be flruck with the accuracy of the defcriptions, and derive inftruction from the geographical and hiftorical details; mould the memorable events I recall to his remembrance appear to him to be judicioully difpofed; fhould the parallel of ancient and modern manners feem to be traced with judgment and reflection, my willies will be fulfilled, and I mail effeem the fatigues, the dangers, the labours, I have undergone, only as a fubject of confolation. THE THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME* LETTER I; A general defcription of Egypt, and of the changes which it has undergone from the mojl remote antiquity to the prefent time. The reader will here find an account of the topography of the country, and d detail of the labours of the ancient kings in confining the channel of the Nik, with the original formation of the Delta, and its gradual enlargement* page I LETTER IL A defcription of Alexandria, ancient and modern, and of its antiquities, and three ports-, with an account of the various revolutions it has experienced in falling fuccejfively under the dominion of the Ptolemies, the Romans, the Greeks, the Arabs, and the Ot-A 2 tomans. tomans. The defcription is accompanied-with a topographical chart of the city and its environs, delineating both its former and prefentfate, 23 LETTER III. The route from Alexandria to Rofetta, acrofs the Defart, with a defcription of Abou-kir, anciently Canopus ; of the famous Temple of Serapis ; of the feflivals which were celebrated at this place; of the dangers which occur in travelling over the fands and of the beautiful environs of Rofetta, 47 LETTER IV. An account of Rofetta, its origin, commerce, inhabitants, and gardens and of the pro-cefjion of the Pfilli, or the eaters of ferpents, 62 L E T T E R V. "Journey from Rofetta to Boulac. Obferva-tions on the manner of navigating the Nile the canals which are detached from it; the towns, villages, and hamlets on their banks ; banks; the cultivation of the lands, their productions, and the cufioms of the inhabitants, 74 LETTER VI. Defcription of Grand Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Refearches concerning its origin, according to the authority of the mqft emi-. nent Arabian writers, 88 LETTER VII. The foundation of Fofiat by Amrou Ebn, Elaas. Defcription of the town, its inhabitants, antiquities, and the ancient canal which extended to the Red-Sea; w it a refutation of thofe authors who fuppofe this place to be the ancient Babylon, found-by -Semiramis, 101 LETTER VIII. Extent of Grand Cairo. Defcription of the ftreets, fquares, and mofques, and of the palace, of Salah Eddin, built upon an eminence which commands the town and where are to be Jeen fuperb columns A 3 169 LETTER XIV. An account of the Alme, otherwife theEgyptian Improvifatrices; their education, dances, ?nuftcand the extreme defire which prevails through the country, of procuring this kind of performers, 17 6 A 4 LET- LETTER XV. An account of the private life of the Egyptian women; their tafle, manners, employment, diverjionstheir method of bringing up their children \ with the cuftom of lamenting at- the tombs of their parents, after • covering them with fowers, and the branches of odoriferous plants, 185 LETTER XVI. An intrigue which happened at Rofetta, between an European and a young girl, a native of G eorgia, 203 LETTER XVII. 'Journey from Grand Cairo to Gize, where the French, merchants have a country houfe , the route from Gize to the pyramids, with an exaSi account of their height, as defcribed both by ancient and modern travellers. It is fhewn that the great pyramid is at prefent 600 feet high; but that in the time of Herodotus, when the find was not accumulated round its baje, it meafured almofl 800 feet perpendicular> 214 LET- LETTER XVIII. Remarks on the interior fracture of the great pyramid, its apartments, the means employed by the architects to font it, and render it inaccefjible, with the method now ufed of procuring admittance. This article is extracted, from the learned Mail-let. Subjoined is a chart, with notes, and refections, 231 LETTER XIX. Defcription of the other pyramids; the adjacent country; the grotto of Santo; the great Sphinx, with an account of its mythology, and the return to Giza, 280 LETTER XX. Defcription of Giza, the ancient fuburb of Fofat. Refutation of the authors who fuppofe it to be the fame with Memphis. A charming view of the Nile ; the if and ofRaouda, Old Cairo, and the boats which are confantly pafftng along the river with an account of the manufacture offal ammoniac, 292 LET- LETTER XXI. An inquiry into the true fituation of ancient Memphis, confirmed by the teftimony of Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, and Arabian writers-, with a refutation of the modern travellers who affirm this capital to have been at Giza. Defcription of the city as it was in the time of Herodotus, and Diodorus Siculus, its temples, palaces, and lakes. A paffage in Abulfeda, proving that it was demolijhed by Amrou. The ruins which are now to be feen in the neighbourhood of the village of Menph, the fmall remains of the ancient Memphis, 298 LETTER XXII. Journey from Boulac to Damietta. Defcription of the great branch of the Nile which fir-etches thither 3 the canals which go off from it-, the towns and villages Jituated on their banks, and the ancient monuments which remain. A particular account of the fair of Tanta; the manners of the inhabitants in this part of Egypt; the woods in the neighbourhood of Same- nout; nout; the chicken-ovens of Manfoure, where the French army was defeated and the navigation of the river, 316 LETTER XXIII. Hifory of ancient and modern Damietta. Epoch of their foundation. A geographical account of the pofithn of thofe two cities. 'Refutation of travellers, who have untver-fally confounded or ?nifplaced them in their charts and narratives. Defcription of modern Damietta, its extent, commerce, baths, and inhabitants. Defcription of the beautiful environs of this town, the woods, and groves of orange-trees; with an account of the lotus, denominated by Herodotus the lilly of the Nile; the papyrus, the exigence of which has been denied by feveral modern writers, the excellent rice cultivated by the people of Damietta, and which they export to Syria, the ifands in the Archipelago, and the city of Marfeilles, 358 LETTER XXIV. An inquiry concerning ancient Felufum; unknown to modern travellers; its ftuation, and and the epoch of its decline. An account of Farama, a place at a little diflance, I and where the Arabians place a monument, which ferns to be that of Pompey the Great. Defcription of the great lake of Tarn's, now called Menzale; with the . iflands and towns which were anciently built at this place. Obfervations on the fifhing of this lake, its mouths in the Mediterranean, and the innumerable birds which affemble there, efpecially in the winter, 385 LETTER XXV. Expedition cf Saint Lewis in Egypt, extracted from Joinville and the Arabian writers, with his route delineated in a chart- A narrative of his defcent near the Gife of Damietta, his victory over the troops of the Sidtan of Egypt; the taking of Damietta; the march of his army along the great branch of the Nile, to the ca?ial of Manfoure ; the attempts which they made to pafs it; the dangerous paffage 'of this canal. The victory and the defeat which followed. The death of Count d'Artois. The capture of St. Louis and his whole army ^ the the majfacre of Tour an Check, fovereign of Egypt, the ranjom of the French monarch, and his departure for S. Jean d Acre, with the character of that prince, as delineated by the Infidels, LETTER XXVI. 463 LETTER XXVII. Route from Old Cairo to Tamieh, in the Province of Faioum. Departure from Foftat, in the month of November. Defcription of the Mofque called Athar Ennabi. Refections on the pilgrimage made to this place. State of the plain of Egypt at this feafon of the year. Reflections on the pyramids compared with the tomb of Maufoleus, and the Morrai in Otaheite. Account of the plain of the-Mummies, of the Jlint-fones of Egypt, and of Dachhour, anciently Achantus. Arrival at Tamieh in Faioum, 465 LETTER XXVIII. Description of the antiquities in the province of arsinoe, NOwFaIOUM. (Comparative topography of this province. Inquiry concerning the monuments, the filiation ation of which has been fixed by the ancient% with the prefent fate of their ruins. Situation qf the labyrinth confirmed by the teftimony of Herodotus, Pliny, Diodorus Si-cuius, and Ptolemy >, and by the ruirts of Balad Caroun, and fl/'Cafr Caroun. Defcription of this wonderful edifice. Refections on the fame fubject. Account of the Lake Maris. Its extent hitherto dif-putcd, afcertained from the evidence of ancient writers. Mechanifm of the £d-nals and flukes clearly difplaycd. Actual circumference of this great Lake, 487 LETTER XXIX. Account of the Cultivation, and1 the Inhabitants of Faioum. Remarks on the productions of this province, its manufactures, arts, and inhabitants. Defcription of the fields fhaded with groves of orange-trees, and with rofe-bufhes of great height, the flower of which, by diflillation, yields an excellent rofe-wateri Great fijhery of the lake and canals. The numerous birds which cover the waters. Account of the chief town, a?id its government, 512 L E T- LETTER XXX. Travels in the Desart, adjoining to the Red Sea. Defcription of the Country, the mountains, and the fands which it is necejfary to pafs ever in going to the monaflery of St. Anthony. Obfervations on the plants which grow in thofe defarts, on the animals which inhabit it, and on the quarries of marble and fint-fones. Manner of living of the religious belonging to the monajlery of St. Anthony and St. Paul. Defcription of the exrenfive profpect from the top of mount Colfoum. Reflect io?is on the great events which have happened in that quarter, 524 LETTER XXXI. Route from Baiad to Achmounain. Defcription of the towns and villages on both banks of the river. Delineation of their various ajpects. Account of their government. Situation of the two branches which form the great canal of Bahr Ioufeph. Defcription of the facrifce made to the Sun, engraved, on a rock near Babain. Reflections on thisfubject. Remarks marks on the principality of Melaoui, dependent on Mecca, and on the magnificent portico of Achmounain, with the adventure of Father Sicard, 536 LETTER XXXII. Description of the country from Achmounain to Achmim. Defcription of Enfine, heretofore Antinoe, built by Adrian, in honour of his favourite Antinous. Extent of that city. Columns and gates remaining there of a beautiful architecture. Thefe monuments not comparable with the portico of Achmounain. Details on the principal towns fituated on the batiks of the Nile, with the comparative geography of their ancient and modern pfition. Defcription of Achmim, formerly Chemmis or Panopolis. Remarks on the remains of the ancient temple fill fubfijling in the time of Abulfeda, and on the for pent Harridi, with which the Mahometan priefls deceive the people, 551 *** All the Meafures here given are French. The French foot is to the Epglifh foot as 135 to 144. A French toife is fix French feet, or fix feet and three-eighths Englifh. LET- LETTERS o n EGYPT LETTER I. A general defcription of Egypt, and of the changes which it has undergone from the mofl remote antiquity to the prefent time. The reader will here find an account of the topography of the country, and a detail of the labours of the ancient kings in confining the channel of the Nile, with the original formation of the Delta, and its gradual enlargement. To Mr. L. M. Alexandria, the 24th July, 1777. "You complain, Sir, ofmyfilencej you call upon me to make good my promife. ** Where/' fay you, " are thofe portraits of the Oriental manners that I expected from your tafte for obfervation ? What! for Vol. I. B three three years have you been travelling in Egypt, without writing me one word of that molt celebrated of all the countries in the world ?" Such are your reproaches. Recollect the advice you gave me on quitting Paris; you will there find my junification. " Young Man, you are going into a fo-" reign country, where you will fee new " men. Obferve the influence of climate, " the power of religion, the imperious " law of ancient cuftoms, and the opera-" tions of defpotifm on weak mortals; M from them you will difcover the hiftory " of their vices and their virtues ; to-faci-*' litate this ftudy learn the Oriental lan-" guages, converfe with the Greeks, the " Turks, and the Arabs live amongft them, " and, to fee them as they really are, leave " your prejudices behind you in France. " Try to paint the people you fee after Na-" ture. Let the Turk ftrictly refemble "himfelf, and do not give us a repre-v fentation of Paris at Grand Cairo." Such were the precepts diclated by your wifdom; your reafon made me adopt them; your your friendfhip rendered them dear to me, and they have remained engraven on my memory. Three years travels, attended with many difficulties and much labour, have been confecrated to my defire of reducing them to practice. By writing to you fooner, I mould have been lefs obedient to thofe precepts. It appears to me proper nrft to give you an account of the limits of Egypt, and of fuch revolutions as time and the labours of man have produced in that country. The map that accompanies this letter, will ferve you as a guide, and I have added my own obfervations to the authority of the ancients, and to the difcoveries of Father Sicard, of Pocock, of Nieburh, and of Danville. This laft geographer, whofe learned criticifm could diflinguifh the truth amidft the numerous contradictions of travellers, has often been of great fervice to me. I never quit him but in places where it is impomble not to go aftray without having been a perfonal fpectator. Egypt is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean, on the fouth by a chain B 2 of of mountains which feparates it from Nubia ; the Red Sea, and the Iflhmus of Suez form its eaftern limits; and it is terminated to the weft ward by the deferts of Lybia, in the midrf of which flood the temple of Jupiter Ammon. Its greateft length is from Sienna, fituated under the tropic of Cancer, to cape Burks, which, forming the moft advanced point of the Delta, almoft terminates. the 3 2d degree of latitude. This distance is about two hundred and twenty nve leagues. Its greater! breadth is lixty-eight leagues, drawing a right line from the ruins of Pe-lufa, to the tower of the Arabs, formerly called Tapofiris. This meafure agrees with that of the ancients (a), which made the breadth (a) Diodorus Siculus and Strabo allow the bafe of the Delta, which extended from Pelufium to Canopus, iiow called Alboukir, 1300 furlongs, which may be eftimated at 54 leagues j add to this 14 leagues from Canopa to the tower of the Arabs, you will have 68 leagues. Herodotus reckons 60 fchenes, or 80 leagues from Mount Cafius to the gulph of Plintina, where Tapof.rh wis iittiatcd. Mount Cafius is 12 leagues to the breadth of the Delta fifty-four leagues from Pelufium to Canopus, and fourteen from Canopa to Tapofiris. Egypt is divided into Upper and Lower ; the firfl is only a long valley, which begins at Sienna, and ends at Grand Cairo. Two chains of mountains, which take their rife from the laft cataract, form the vaft contours of that country. Their direction is from fouth to north, until they reach the latitude of Cairo, where feparating to the right and left, one of them takes the direction of mount Colzouniy the other terminates in banks of fand near to Alexandria. The former is compofed of high and fleep rocks, the latter of fandy hillocks, over a bed of calcareous ftone. Beyond thefe theeaftwardof Pelufa-, by fubtracling this number from the former, there will equally remain 68 leagues from Pelufa to Tapofiris. It is evident that the two geographers have meafured the fame extent of country in a right line, and not in following, like Herodotus, the bafe of the Delta ; for, from the time of Herodotus to their days, that part of Egypt had already incrcafed by the lmmenfe quantity of fand accumulated by the Nile; and if they had followed the fea coafr, they would have found a confiderable augmentation. B 3 mountains, LETTERS mountains, are deferts bounded by the Red Sea on the eaft, and on the weft by Africa; in themidft of them is that long plain which is no more than nine leagues broad, where it is the wideft. It is there that the Nile flows between two infurmountable barriers. Now, fmooth and tranquil, he ilowly purfues the courfe traced out by nature and by art; now, an impetuous torrent, reddened with the fands; of Ethiopia, he fwells, and breaks over his boundaries, and overflows the country, which he covers with his waters for the fpace of two hundred leagues. It is in this celebrated valley, that mankind firft lighted the torch of the fciences, whofe radiance dirfufing it-felf over Greece (b), has fucceftively illuminated the reft of the world. This valley is ftill as fertile as in the beft days of (b) Herodotus, Strabo, and Diodorus SicuJus, fay precifejy that the Greeks derived the greateft part of their knowledge from Egypt. It was from thence that Orpheus brought mythology, the daughters of Danaus, and the myfleries of Ceres. It, was there that their philofophtrs ftudied aftronomy, and their legislators the principles of government. Thebes; Thebes; but it is lefs cultivated, and its famous cities are laid level with the duft. Defpotifm and ignorance feated on the throne of laws, and arts, keep them buried and in ruins. Lower Egypt comprehends all that country between Cairo, the Mediterranean, the Ifthmus of Suez, and Lybia. This im-menfe plain prefents on the borders of its parching fands, a {trip of lands cultivated along the canals of the river, and in the middle the triangular ifland, to which the Greeks gave the name of the Delta. It is formed by the two branches of the Nile, which- feparating at Batn el Bakara, the Cows Belly, fall into the fea below Damietta and Rofetta. This ifland, the mod fertile in the world, has loft much of its extent, fince it was formerly bounded by Ca-nopa and Pelufium fcj. The ravages of its conquerors having overthrown the eaftern bulwark of Egypt, the cultivators of the lands, too much expofed to the inroads of the Arabs, have withdrawn into the inte- (c) Strabo, lib. 17. rior S LETTERS v rior parts of the country. The canals which ufed to convey fertility with their waters, are now filled. The earth, no longer watered, and continually expofed to the burning ardour of the fun, is converted into a barren fand. In thofe places where formerly were feen rich fields, and flouriihing towns fdj, on the Pelufiac, the Tanitic, and the Mendefian branches, which all flrike out from the canal of Damietta, nothing is to be found at this day but a few miferable hamlets, furrounded by date trees, and by deferts. Thefe once navigable canals (e) are now no more than a vain refemblance of what they were; they have no communication with lake Menzall, but what is merely temporary, on the fwel-ling of the Nile; they are dry the remainder of the year. By deepening them, by removing the mud depofited by the river fince the Turks have made themfelves mafters of Egypt, the country they pafs (d) Bubafta, Pelufium, Phacufa, and all the towns which were in the eaflern part of the Delta, are totally deftroyed. (*) The Pelufiatic, the Tanitic, and Mendefian branches were formerly navigable. through through would again be fertilized, and the Delta recover a third of its greatnefs. Now that you have a general idea of Egypt, Sir, fix your attention on that rich country, and purfue the revolutions it has undergone. Beyond thofe times, of which hiftory has preferved us any epoch, a people defcended from the mountains near the cataracts, into the valley which is overflowed by the Nile (f) : it was then an impenetrable morafs, covered with canes' and reeds. After multiplied, and often fatal attempts, they at length difcovered fome fa-lutary plants, amongft which they particularly diftinguifhed the lotus fgj, which Herodotus (f) Herodotus, p. 40. Euterpe; Diodorus Sicu-lus, lib. i. and Strabo, lib. 17. afcertain the fame fadf. (g) The lotus is an aquatic peculiar to Egypt* which grows in tjie rivulets, and on the fides of the lakes; there are two fpecies of it, the one with a white, the other with a blueifh flower; the calix of the lotus blows like a large tulip, and diffufes a fweet fmell, refembling that of the lily; the firft fpecies produces a round root like that of a potatoe ; the inhabitants of the banks of lake Menzall feed upon it. The ri-yulets in the environs of Damietta are covered with this dotus calls the lily of the Nile, the reed we call the fugar-cane, and which has preferved in that country its primitive name ofthecajab reed fbj, the colocaiius the onion, and this majeflic flower, which rifes upwards of two feet above the water. Mr. Paw afferts that it has difap-peared in Egypt, and gives a defcription of that plant which bears no refemblance to it, in his Recherche* fur les Egyptiens & les Cbinois, page J50 ; but it is. not wonderful that this learned author fhould be mif-taken, flnce the greateft part of the travellers who have vifited Egypt, have never feen the lotus, which is not to be found on the great canals of the Nile, but in the rivulets that pafs through the interior part of the country. (h) Some authors have faid that the fugar-cane was brought out of India into Egypt. Perhaps the manner of cultivating it only has been brought from thence. It appears to me to be a native of a country which produces feveral different fpecies of reeds, and where it grows without any cultivation. Its very name induces this belief. (i) The colocaffus is a plant well known in botany. The inhabitants of Damietta pay particular attention to its cultivation; one fees in the neighbourhood of that town immenfe fields covered with its large leaves; its root is of a conical form, and thicker than that of the lotus. It is not fo infipid as a po« tatoe. the the bean. Many years elapfed before they thought of cultivating thefe native plants. Neceffity awakened their indultry. He who by dint of hazard- or reflection, made fome ufeful difcovery, became a king, or a God (k). Ofiris taught men, who were at that time cannibals, to feed on the fruits of the earth, inftead of human fleili, Ifis, the fame with Ceres, taught them to cultivate corn, and were elevated to the rank of deities. Hercules the Egyptian, the mod ancient of the heroes who have borne that name, delivered Thebais from the monflers which ravaged that country, and had altars erected to him. Whilit the people of Upper Egypt were contending for their vail moraffes with favage beads (I), the fea, according to ancient accounts, bathed the feet of thefe mountains where the pyramids are built, and advanced on the fide of the tower of the Arabs very far into Lybia. It covered a part of the Ifthmus of Suez ; (k) Diodorus Siculus, p. 24. (0 Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, who gives the opinion of the Ethiopians on this fubjecT:. and every part of what we now call the Delta, formed a great gulph. I pafs over ages, and come to that period when the Egyptians, under the domination of a religious worfhip, and of laws, formed canals to carry off the ftagnant waters of the Nile, op-pofed flrong dykes to its ravages, and, tired of dwelling in the caverns of the rocks, built towns on fpots elevated by art or nature. Already the river was kept within its bounds; the habitations of men were out of the reach of inundations (m); experience had taught them to forefee and to announce them. Geometry, meafuring the lands newly rifen out of the river, or dimi-nifhed by its impetuofity, fecured the pof-feflions of the inhabitants. A large city had fprung up in the middle of Thebais, and ieveral kings had made it their glory-to em-bellifh it. Such was the magnificence of its public monuments, that its remaining ruins at the end of upwards of four thoufand years leave us impreffed with admiration and respect. Thebes flourifhed for many ages, (m) Herodotus, p. 40. Euterpe. and and Rome was not in exiftence. Separated from the reft of the world by deferts, by mountains, and the fea, the Egyptians peaceably cultivated the arts and fciences ; the conftancy of their labours every day extended the limits of their empire, either by protecting with banks the new lands they had acquired, or by cutting deep drains to dry up the marfhy grounds (n). One of the kings of Egypt, forefeeing pofTibly what muft happen, undertook to change the courfe of the river. After running one hundred and fifty leagues between the barriers I have mentioned, meeting with an (n) The priefts faid that Menes, the firft king of Egypt, threw a bridge over the Nile, near Memphis. Before this prince's time, the river, overfpreading its banks at Mount Pfammius, ran to the fouthward of that town, and diffufed itfelf through the deferts of Lybia, At a hundred furlongs from Memphis he formed a dyke to Hop its courfe, and forced it to return between the mountains ; by this means the original bed was left dry. Since the Perfians have become matters of Egypt in our time, they keep in repair, at great expence, the dyke that ftiuts the ancient channel. Every year they add new works to it, and have placed troops to look after its preferva-tion. Herodotus, Euterpe, p. 55. in fur- infurmountable obftacle to the right, it turned precipitately to the left, and taking its courfe to the fouthward of Memphis, it fpread its waters through the fands of Ly-bia. The prince had dug a new bed for it to theeaft of Memphis, and by means of a large dyke, obliged it to return between the mountains, and difcharge itfelf into the gulph that bathes the rock on which is built the cattle of Cairo. The ancient bed of the river was frill to be feen in the time of Herodotus, and the dyke which barred its entrance. The Perfians prefer ved it with the greatefl care. At the moment I am writing, this channel is not unknown ; it may be traced acrofs the defart, and paries to the wefhvard of the lakes of Natrum. Petrified wood, mails, lateen yards, the wreck of vefTels which have formerly navigated there, Hill mark its ancient traces. The Arabs ffill beftow the name of Bahr Bela ma (o)y fea without water, on this channel, which is almoif choaked up. (o) The Arabs call the great rivers Bahr, or fea. It It is to the labours of the monarch who finiihed this great work, that Egypt is indebted for the Delta. The enormous weight of the waters of the Nile, which throw themfelves into the bottom of the gulph. occasions a reflux of the fea. The fands and mud that are carried along with them collected together in heaps, fo that the ifle of the Delta, very inconfiderable at fir ft, arofe out of the fea, of which it has repelled the limits. It was a gift of the river. Improvement has fince come in aid to defend it again ft the attacks of the water, by railing dykes around it. In the time of Mceris, who lived five hundred years before the Trojan war, the Delta then appeared in its infancy (p). Eight cubits was then fufhcient to overflow it in all its extent. Boats palled over it from one extremity to the other, and its towns, built on artificial elevations, refembled the iflands of the iEgean fea fqj. When Herodotus vifited Egypt, fifteen cubits were neceflary (P) Herodotus, p. 41. Euterp. (?) Strabo, lib. 17, p. 1136. to cover all the Lower Egypt, but the Nile then overflowed the country for the fpace of two days journey, to the right and left of the Delta. Under the Roman Empire, fix-teen cubits produced the fame effect. In the time of the domination of the Arabs, their writers fpeak of feventeen cubits as the mofl favourable height. Eighteen cubits at this day is the meafure of abundance ; but the inundation no longer extends over the Lower Egypt, but its progrefs is flopped at Grand Cairo, and in the neighbouring country. The Nile however fometimes rifes to two-and-twenty cubits. The mud accumulated for fo many years on the ifland, which arofe from out of its bofom, is the caufe of this phasno-menon. Art has alfo contributed greatly towards it, either by the banks raifed to protect the lands the mofl expofed to the action of the river, or by multiplying its outlets, and' by cutting a great number of canals, which give a free paflage to the waters frj. During my flay in Egypt, I have (r) Strabo, lib. 17. fays that the Bolbitinc and Se-bennitic branches have been formed by the hand of twice twice made the tour of the Delta, in the time of the inundation. I have even croffed it by the canal of Menouf. The river flowed in full ftreams in the great branches of Rofetta, and Damietta, and in thofe which pafs through the interior part of the country ; but it did not overflow the lands, except in the lower parts, where the dykes were pierced, for the purpofe of watering the plantations of rice. Here then, in the fpace of 3284 years, we fee the Delta elevated fourteen cubits (s). We muff not imagine however, as feveral travellers pretend, that this ifland will continue to rife, and that it will become unfruitful. As it owes its en-creafe to the annual fettling of the mud, conveyed thither by the Nile, when it ceafes to be overflowed, it will no longer increafe (s) To render this calculation minutely exa&, we mull know whether the Grecian, the Roman, and the Arabic cubit be the fame meafure, and even be acquainted with the variations it may have undergone amongft thefe different people, &c. which would be extremely difficult to prove. This degree of preci-fion not being eflential to the fubject I treat of, I ftaJI content rriyfelf with quoting the teihmonies of the authors, and the facts. Vol. I. C in in height, for it is demonftrated that culture is not fuflicient to raife land. The Delta is at prefent in the moft favourable fituation for agriculture. Warned on the eaft and weft by two rivers formed by the divifion of the Nile," and each of which is as large and more deep than the Loire, interfered by innumerable rivulets, it pre-fents to the eye an immenfe garden, all the different compartments of which may earily be watered. During the three months that the Thebais is under water, the Delta poffeffes fields covered with rice, barley,-vegetables, and winter fruits. It is no longer, as in former times, the JEgean fea with the Cyclades; rich harvefts now cover that plain whofe extent is only bounded by the horifon ; it is now covered witji groves of date-trees,oforanges,andfycamores; here are perpetually running ftreams, and a verdure that is conftantly varied and renewed ; it is, in fhort, a picture of abundance, that delights the eye, and aftonifhes the imagination. By lofing the inundation, this ifle has gained every year the, three months during which the Thebais is under t.. j .water. water. It is alfo the only part of Egypt where the fame field produces two crops of grain within the year, one of rice, the other of barley. You will naturally imagine, Sir, that it has increafed in length as well as height. Amongfl feveral facts we derive from history, I mall felecl: only one ft). Under the* reign of Pfammeticus, the Milefians, with thirty veffels, landed at the mouth of the Bolbitine branch, now called that of Rofetta, where they fortified themfelves. They there built a town which they called Mete-lis, the fame as Faoiie, which, in the Coptic vocabularies, has prefer ved the name of Mef-fil. This town, formerly a fea-port, is at prefent nine leagues diftant from it; and this is.the fpace the.Delta has lengthened, from the time of Pfammeticus to out jday. ' . Homer, that fublime painter of people, and of countries, Homer, fu), whofe geographical details are the moil precious mo-• nument of that kind, tranfmitted to us by 0) Strabo, lib. 17. («) Odyftey, book 4th. C 2 antiquity, antiquity, puts thefe words into the mduth Of Menelaus, landed in Egypt. " In the " ftormy fea which wafhcs Egypt, there is " an ifland called Pharos. Its diftance €* frorn the fhofe is fuch, as that a vefTel " with a fair wind, may make the paffage in a day." fxj Proteus, inftructing Menelaus, fays to him 5 " Deftiny forbids thee '* to fee again thy friends, thy palace, and " thy native land, until thou returneft to " the banks of the river Egyptus, fyj " which derives its fource from Jupiter, " and until thou haft offered up hecatombs ** to the immortal gods ... . He faid, a and this order, which obliged me to tra-*' verfe a fecond time the vaft and ftormy " fea that feparates the Pharos from the " Egyptian continent, rent my heart with *' grief." Homer, who had travelled fzj in Egypt, (x) Odyfley, book 4th. (y) The Nile was called Egyptus until the timfc of Nileus, one of the fucceflbrs of Mendes,who, making great works to contain it, and prevent its ravages, gave it his name, Diod. Sic. lib. i. (x) Diodorus Siculus. where whera he had learnt from the priefts that mythology which he makes fuch brilliant ufe of in his poems, represents to us the ifland of Pharos, which forms the prefent port of Alexandria, as at the diftance of at leaft twenty leagues from the coaft of Egypt, and in this fentiment concurs with that of the moft remote antiquity. What prodigious changes great rivers occafron on the furface of the globe ! how inceffantly they repel the fea, by accumulating fand on fand ! how they elevate at their mouths iflands which become at length large portions of the continent. It is thus that the Nile has formed almoft all the Lower Egypt, and created out of the waters the Delta, which is ninety leagues in circumference. It is thus that the Meander, conftantly repelling the waves of the Mediterranean, and gradually filling up the gulph into which it falls, has placed in the middle of the land, the town of Miletis, formerly a celebrated harbour. It is thus that the Tigris and the Euphrates, let loofe from the Armenian hills, and fweeping with them in their courfe the fands of Mefopo-C 3 tamia, tamia, are imperceptibly filling up the Per-fian gulph. You have now before you a general picture of Egypt, and of the principal phyfical revolutions that have happened in that country: I fhall next enter into particular details, which you will probably find more intereftin .1 . (c) - Quintus Curtius, vit. Alex. lib. 4. chap. 8. (d) Qumtus Curtius makes them 80 furlongs, or 3 leagues and a half. Pliny, 15000 Romains, or .5 leagues. Strabo 76 furlongs, or 3 leagues and an t^jghth. Diodorus Siculus, 96 furlongs, or 4 leagues. which O clN;: R Q Y £ if which were deitined at fome -future*.day to embelliffi Rome (e) and ConitahtinopTe.": This ffreet, the handfomeft in the univerfe,' was interfered by another of the fame breadth ffj, which formed a fquare at their junction of half a league in circumference. From the middle of this great place,, the1 two gates were to be feen at once, and" veiTels arriving under full fail, from the north and from the fouth. A mole of a mile in length (g) ftretchedJ from the continent to the ifle of Pharos, and' divided the great harbour into two. That which is to the northward preferved his name. A dyke drawn from the ifland to the rock whereon wa9 built the -Pharos/ fecured it from the weilerly winds. The other was called Eunoftos, or the Safe Return. The former is .called at prefent the new, the latter the old harbour : a bridge (e) Every body knows that the obelifks at Rome have been brought from Alexandria. (f) Diodorus Siculus. Strabo, lib. 17. (s) This mole was called Hepta Stadium, becaufe it •was 7 furlongs, or a mile long. that joins the mole to the city, ferved for a communication between them. It was railed on lofty pillars funk into the fea, and left a free pafTage for mips. The palace, which advanced beyond the promontory of Lochias, extended as far as the dyke, and occupied more than a quarter of the city (hJ. Each of the Ptolemies added to its magnificence. It contained within its enclofure, the mufeum, an afylum for learned men, groves, and buildings worthy of royal majefty, and a temple where the body of Alexander was depofited in a golden coffin (i). The infamous Seleucus Ciby-ofadles violated this monument, carried off the golden coffin, and put a glais one in its place. In the great harbour was the little ifland of Anti-Rhodes, where flood t theatre, and a royal place of refidence. Within theharbourofEunoflos,wasafmaller fhl Strabo, lib. iy. fays it occupied one-third of it. (i) Perdiccas undertook to convey the hody of Alexander to the Temple of Jupiter Amrnon, agreeable to the will of that prince. Ptolemy, fon of La-gus, carried it off, and placed it in the palace of Alexandria* one. one, called Kibotos (k)> dug by the hand of man, which communicated with Lake Mareotis by a canal. Between this canal and the palace was the admirable temple of Serapis fIJ, and that of Neptune near the great place where the market was held. Alexandria extended likewife along the fouthern banks of the lake. Its eaftem part prefented to view the gymnalmm, with its porticoes of more than fix hundred feet long, fupported by feveral rows of marble pillars. Without the gate of Canopus was a fpacious circus, for the chariot races. Beyond that, the fuburb of Nicopolis ran along the fea iliore, and feemed a fecond Alexandria. A fuperb amphitheatre was built there with a race-ground, for the celebration of the quinquennalia (m). Such is the defcription left us of Alexandria by the ancients, and above all by Strabo. This city, whofe foundation it 333 years prior to our sera, was fuccefiive-ly held in fubje&ion by the Ptolemies, the (k) Kibotos, the harbour of the Arch. (I) Strabo, lib. 17. (m) Feafts celebrated every five years. Romans, Romans, and the Greek emperors fnjs Towards the middle of the fixth century, Amrou Ebn el Aas, Omar's general, took it by ftorm, after a liege of fourteen months, and with the lofs of twenty-three thoufand men. Heraclius, then emperor of Conftan-tinople, did not fend a finglc fliip to its af-fiftance. This prince affords an example very rare in hiftory he had difplayed fome vigour in the firft year of his reign, and then fuffered himfelf to be lulled into idlenefs and effeminacy. Awakened fudden-ly from his lethargy by the noife of the conquefts of Cofroes, that fcourge of the eaft, he put himfelf at the head of his armies, diftinguiflied himfelf as a great captain from his very firft: campaign, laid wafte Perfia for feven years, and returned .to his capital covered with laurels : he then became a theologian on the throne, loft all his energy, and amufed himfelf the reft of his life with difputing upon Monotheifm, (n) The tenth year of the 'Htgyra, the year 651 of our era, according to Abulfeda, 094 years after its foundation. The word era:, as I haveobferved in the Life of Mahomet, comes from Arhha, which in Arabic ftgnifies an Eptcb;. ' ..... - V O N E G Y P^T. 31 whilft the Arabs were robbing him of the fineft provinces of his empire. Deaf to the cries of the unfortunate inhabitants of Alexandria (o), as he had been to-thofe of the people of Jerufalem, who defended themfelves for two years, he left them a facrifice to the fortunate afcendant cf the indefatigable Amrou. All their intrepid youth perifhed with their arms in their hands. The victor, aftonimed at his conqueft, wrote to the Caliph, (p) " I have taken the city of the weft,; It is of an immenfe " extent. I cannot defcribe to you how '** many wonders it contains. There are " 4000 baths, 12000 dealers in frefh oil, " 4000 Jews, who pay tribute, 400 co-". medians, Sec." (0) Omar led all the forces of Arabia againft Jerufalem. The inhabitants-defended themfelves with admirable conftancy. They fcnt feveral times to conjure Heraclius to furnifh them with fome afliftance. Their prayers were of np avail, and they faw thcro-fel ves compelled to furrender after a fiege of two years, without havintr been able to obtain a finale foldier from an Emperor, who facrificed his time and his treafures to procure the triumph of a new feci. (p) Elmacin, life of Omar, p. 30. 32 l'etters The library, wherein more than 400,000 manufcripts had been colle&ed by the zeal of the Ptolemies, excited the attention of the conqueror. He demanded the Caliph's orders. " Burn thefe books, replied the fu-*' rious Omar: if they contain only what « is in the Coran they are ufelefs, and dan-" gerous if they contain any thing elfe." A barbarous fentence, which reduced to afhes a great part of the labours of learned antiquity. What a quantity of knowledge, how many arts, what a number of capital works have difappeared from the earth by this fatal conflagration 1 It is perhaps from this melancholy epocha that we muff date that ignorance which has covered with a veil thofe countries, formerly the cradle of the fciences. If three-fourths of the works that Europe is pofTeffed of, were annihilated in an inltant j if the art of printing did not exift, and an unlettered people were to take poffeflion of that beautiful part of the globe, it would return to that barbarifm from whence it has fcarcely been refcued by the labour of fo many ages. Such has been the hard fortune of the eaflern world. Alexandria O N E G Y P T. 33 Alexandria under the domination of the Arabs gradually loft its fplendor. The diftance of the caliphs of Bagdad did not allow them to give any effectual encouragement to the arts and commerce. Population diminifhed every day. In the year (q) 875 of our aera, the old walls were pulled down, its enclofure contracted to the half of its ancient fize, and thofe walls were built which exift at the prefent day. Their folidity, their thicknefs, the hundred towers with which they were flanked, have preferved them againft the efforts of man, and the ravages of time. This fecond Alexandria, which may be called that of the Arabs, was ftili a flourishing city in the thirteenth century (r). The dilpofx-tion of its ftreets prefented the form of a chequer. It had preferved a part of its public places, and of its monuments. Its (q) This event happened under the empire of Elmetcuak kel, the tenth Caliph Abafiid, and the one-and-thirtieth from Mahomet. Elmain Ebn Tculon, then governor.of Egypt, and who had the project of becoming independent, built them. (r) Abulfeda, Gcograph. Dcicrip. of Egypt. Vol. I. D commerce commerce extended itfelf from Spain to India; its canals were ftill fupported ; its merchandize mounted into Upper Egypt by Lake Mareotis, and was conveyed into the Delta by the Canal of Faoud ff). The Pharos, built by Soft rates of Cnidos, If ill exifted. This miraculous tower, as it is called by Caefar, had feveral ftories, and was furrounded by galleries fupported on pillars of marble. Its elevation was near four hundred feet ft J. On its fummit was placed a large mirror of polimed ftcel, fo difpofed as to enable the beholder to perceive the image of diftant veffels before they became vilible to the eye. This admirable edifice ferved them as a fignal. Fires were lighted on it during the night, to warn the mariner that he was near the coaft of Egypt, which is fo low, that there is great danger of running alhore before it can (f) It was built under Ptolemy Philadelphus. (t) Abulfcda in his defcription of Egypt fpcaks of this mirror, which feveral Arabian authors alfo mention. He f-iys that it was deftroyed by the artifices of the Christians, under the reign of Oitalid, ion of Abd el Melee. be diitinguimed. Alexandria in its decline {fill preferved an air of grandeur and magnificence that excited admiration. In the fifteenth century the Turks became matters of Egypt (u), and this was the term of its glory. Aftronomy, geometry, poetry, and grammar were yet cultivated there. The rod of the Pachas expelled thefe remains of the fine arts. The prohibition of exporting the com of the Thebais, gave the mortal flab to agriculture. The canals filled up ; commerce languifhed ; the Alexandria of the Arabs was fo depopulated, that not a fingle inhabitant was to be found in all its vaft enclofure. They had abandoned large buildings that fell into ruins, which nobody dared to repair under a government where it is a crime to appear rich, and built wretched habitations on the fea-coaft. Already was the Pharos de-itroyed, one of the feven wonders of the (u) In 1517, Sultan Selim made the conqueft of Egypt* and the firft care of this barbarous conqueror was to hang under the gate Bab Zouile, Thomambie, the laft king of the Mameluks, whofe government had fubfifted f0JC near 300 yearSt D z world, world, in the room of which they built a fquare cattle, without tatte or ornament, and unable to withftand the fire of a finirle vellel of the line. At prefent, in the fpace of two leagues, enclofed by walls, one fees nothing but marble columns, fome of them overturned in the duff, and fawed into flumps, (for the Turks make millftones of them) and others erect, and ttill firm upon their bafes, from the enormity of their weight. Nothing is to be feen but the remains of pilatters, of capitals, of obelifks, and whole mountains of ruins heaped one upon another. The fight of thefe ruins, the memory of thofe famous monuments they reprefent,excite regret in the mind,and draw tears from the eyes of the beholder. The modern Alexandria is a fmall town of little extent, fcarcely containing 6000 inhabitants (x), but very commercial, an advantage it owes entirely to its fituation. It is built on the fpot which was former- (x) The ancient Alexandria contained 300,000 free perfons under Augultus. Add to this at Jeaft double the number of flaves, you will have 900,000 fouls. What a prodigious difference ! ly the old harbour, left uncovered by the retreating of the fea. The mole which joined the continent to the ifle of Pharos, is enlarged, and is now become a part of the main land. The ifland of Anti-Rhodes is in the middle of the prefent town. It is difcoverable by an eminence covered with ruins. The harbour Kibotos is choked up. The canal which conveyed the waters of Lake Mareotis has difappear-ed. This lake itfelf, whofe banks were covered with papyrus and date-trees, is no longer in exiftence, becaufe the Turks have neglected to preferve the canals which conveyed the waters of the Nile fy). Be-iont an accurate obferver, who travelled in Egypt fome years after the conqueft of the Ottomans, allures us, that in his time Lake Mareotis was only at half a league's diftance from the walls of Alexandria, and that it was furrounded by forefts of palm trees. At the moment I am writing, it is entirely (y) Belon, defcription of Alexandria. He travelled in Egypt fifteen years after the conqueft of Selim, now 250 years ago. D 3 occupied occupied by the fands of Lybia. Thefe deplorable changes mult be attributed to the deffrudtive government of the Turks. The canal of Faoiie, the only one which at prefent communicates with Alexandria, and without which that town could not fubfift, fince it has not a drop of frelh water, is half filled with mud and fand. Under the Roman empire, under the domination even of the Arabs, it was navigable all the year, and ferved for the conveyance of merchandize. It dirfufed its fecundity in the plains through which it palfed. Its banks were fhaded with date-trees, covered with vineyards, and adorned with country houies (zj. In our days, there is no (z) The following paflage of Abulfeda will confirm what I have advanced : " Nothing can be feen " more beautiful than the canal of Alexandria. The " two banks lined with gardens, and fhacty groves, " are covered with perpetual verdure, which Dafard " cl Hadadhzs exprefTed in thefe beautiful verfes. " What ;>mity reigns on the banks of the canal of ** Alexandria. The profpect they offer difFafes joy " over the foul. The groves with which they are " fhaded, prefent to the navigator a canopy of vef-" du;e. The hand of Aquilon (the north wind), fpreads O N E G Y P T. 39 no water in it till towards the end of August, and it hardly remains long enough to fill the cifterns of the town. The fields through which it fpreads abundance, are de-ferted. The groves, the gardens that fur-rounded Alexandria have difappeared with the water to which they owed their fertility. Without the walls, one perceives only a few fcattered trees, fome fycamores, and fig-trees whofe fruit is delicious, fome date and caper-trees, and kali, that hide the burning fands which would otherwife be infupportable to the fight.