VIEWS IN EGYPT, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 0ngum( ©ratotims 
 
 IN THE POSSESSION OF 
 
 SIR ROBERT AIJVSLIE, 
 
 TAKEN DURING HIS 
 
 EMBASSY TO CONSTANTINOPLE 
 
 BY 
 
 LUIGI MAYER: 
 
 Engraved by and under the Direction of Thomas Milton 
 
 WITH 
 
 HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 AND 
 
 IICIDEITA1 IliLUSTlATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 planners anU Customs of tlje JEattoes of that Country 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by THOMAS BENSLEY, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, 
 For R. BOWYER, Historic Gallery, Pall-mall. 
 
 1801. 
 
TO 
 
 SIR ROBERT A I N S L I E, 
 
 LATE AMBASSADOUR TO THE SUBLIME PORTE, 
 
 AS A GRATEFUL TESTIMONIAL OF THE LIBERALITY, WITH WHICH 
 HE HAS PERMITTED THE FOLLOWING DRAWINGS, 
 
 TAKEN UNDER HIS AUSPICES, 
 
 TO BE PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC, 
 
 THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 
 BY HIS MOST HUMBLE 
 
 AND VERY OBLIGED SERVANTS, 
 
 ROBERT BOJVYER , 
 
 HISTORIC 
 
 THOMAS MILTON. 
 
EGYPT. 
 
 From the remotest times, with which we are acquainted, to the 
 present period, no country has excited so much attention as Egypt; 
 for it has had peculiar claims to our notice. Long before Rome 
 existed, and when the inhabitants of Greece were mere savages, 
 the egyptians were a numerous and civilized people, to whom 
 science was no stranger. From them the greeks derived the first 
 rudiments of instruction, and to them all the knowledge of the 
 ancients may be traced back as to it’s cradle. Of late, indeed, 
 great analogy has been discovered between the learning of the 
 hindoos and the egyptians; and hence it has been inferred, that 
 the egyptians were the scholars of the hindoos. Which were the 
 masters, however, and which the pupils, is a problem, the solution 
 of which we have neither data nor inclination to attempt; but 
 which may be hoped from the researches of our able countrymen, 
 in a field yet little explored: though there are certainly probabili¬ 
 ties, which incline us in favour of Asia. Still, if the egyptians 
 were the scholars of an asiatic people; or, which appears more 
 probable, brought the rudiments of knowledge with them from 
 Asia, when they migrated into the Thebaid, before they were able 
 to occupy the fertile vale beneath; that they were the immediate 
 
 B 
 

 2 
 
 cause of enlightening the greeks, and through them the whole 
 western world, is not to be disputed. But our design is only to 
 consider Egypt itself, and give a slight sketch of the country, be¬ 
 fore we proceed to examine the particular objects, which the draw- 
 
 ings were intended to illustrate. 
 
 The space it occupies is of no great extent; for, though it s length 
 from north to south may be about five hundred and fifty miles, 
 the greater part of it is extremely narrow, being confined by two 
 ridges of mountains, between which is the bed of the Nile; and 
 the base of the Delta, or that part which borders on the Mediter¬ 
 ranean, where it is broadest, does not exceed a hundred and thii ty 
 miles. The great fertility of the land, however, of that part of it 
 at least which has been generally deemed the gift of the Nile both 
 by the ancients and moderns, cherished an astonishing population. 
 Indeed the accounts that are transmitted to us of the number of 
 it’s cities are incredible; for Herodotus says, that in the reign of 
 Amasis it contained twenty thousand. It is probable, however, 
 that Herodotus did not employ the proper term on the occasion; 
 and the idea of extent we associate with our word city tends but 
 to increase our misconception: while at the same time it is un¬ 
 questionable, from the stupendous masses of architecture, and gi¬ 
 gantic works of art, which at this day lie scattered on it’s plains, 
 or from their solidity still brave the efforts of Time, that there was 
 a period, when it’s population must have been immense. Assisted 
 by the hand of Industry, the fertilizing stream of the Nile diffused 
 plenty over every spot of ground, to which Art could convey it; 
 while the same Art prevented it’s inordinate flow from sweeping all 
 
3 
 
 before it, and diverted the too impetuous torrent into channels, 
 where it might spend it’s fury without harm, and become a blessing 
 instead of a curse. 
 
 When these great and useful labours were accomplished, when 
 all Egypt was converted into a garden, which afforded the neces¬ 
 saries of life in abundance with little toil, the policy of the pha¬ 
 raohs led them to employ the industry of the people in erecting 
 works of less utility, though calculated to excite admiration. Hence 
 the vast palaces of the once famous Thebes; hence the sphinxes, 
 the obelisks, the pyramids, that have existed the wonder of ages 
 past, and will exist the wonder of ages to come. But mutability 
 is the character impressed upon human nature by the hand of 
 Omnipotence. These works were finished, and these days passed 
 away. From a concatenation of moral and physical causes, which 
 we shall not attempt to trace, the face of Egypt has been changed 
 like the features of it’s inhabitants. To the egyptian toiling in the 
 excavation of canals to cover his fields with luxuriant harvests 
 labour no doubt was pleasant; to the egyptian thus habituated to 
 industry the erection of a palace for his king, or a temple for his 
 god, was a mean to save him from the oppressive demon of Idle¬ 
 ness: but when other generations arose, who had never reaped the 
 fruits of their industry; impelled to labours, in which they could 
 see no utility, at the will of an imperious taskmaster; working from 
 day to day, from year to year, to raise a vast pile for the sole pur¬ 
 pose of enclosing a single corpse; labour became disgusting to 
 them, and they naturally sunk into lifeless indolence. Thus pre¬ 
 pared for subjugation, conqueror after conqueror invaded their 
 
4 
 
 land, one robber preying upon another, till the lethargy of turkish 
 
 despotism overspread the whole. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, 
 by whom such works were performed, and fiorn whom Greec 
 received instruction, bore the same crisped and curled hair, which 
 now distinguishes the negro, whom they likewise resembled in 
 feature and complexion. These were the men, whose learning, 
 laws, and government, had so much to excite our admiration, be¬ 
 fore any records that have reached us existed, or at least any in¬ 
 telligible to us; for their writings have long ago perished, their 
 hieroglyphics we do not understand, and the oldest historians of 
 Greece were then unborn. How is it then, that the present race 
 of negroes, dwelling on the same continent, are deemed by too 
 many europeans as little superiour to the brutes, when we have 
 such proofs of the ability and cultivation of their elder brethren? 
 Unfortunately the present inhabitants, a mixed breed descended 
 from the various ravagers of the country, in whom little or none 
 of the original blood remains, have been vulgarly considered as 
 the legitimate descendants of the egyptians of old; and thus, from 
 a want of proper discrimination, the negro has been robbed of the 
 fame so justly his due. 
 
 It is to moral causes, no doubt, we are to ascribe the difference 
 perceived in the state both of the inhabitants and of the country. 
 There is no adequate reason to presume a physical defect of capa¬ 
 city even in the present mixed people of Egypt, and the natural 
 circumstances of the country itself have undergone no alteration, 
 that can tend to diminish it’s ancient advantages. The soil, an- 
 
5 
 
 nually renovated by the same Nile, has evidently lost nothing of 
 it’s former richness; as the crops it now produces with little care 
 sufficiently prove: and the same means of fertility remain in full 
 vigour, for enterprising Genius to employ, whenever it may be 
 roused to exertion. 
 
 The climate, too, is still the same, is still as favourable to man, 
 as when the land swarmed with inhabitants. During the greater 
 part of the year it is extremely hot, for the soil, heated by a fervid 
 sun, is not refreshed by the alternation of grateful showers, and 
 cooling dews: though after the rains in Ethiopia have begun to 
 swell the Nile, more aqueous vapour arises from it during the day, 
 than the air can hold in solution during the absence of the sun, 
 and this falls in dew by night. As natural causes act with more 
 uniformity here, than in our variable climates, the first appearance 
 of this dew is commonly observed on the night of the festival of 
 St. Michael, which in the Coptic calendar is the lfth of june, and 
 at the same period the plague ceases to extend it’s ravages; so that 
 these two circumstances have been associated together in the minds 
 of the people, and ascribed to the miraculous interposition of the 
 archangel. 
 
 It was formerly imagined, that the terrible scourge of the 
 east, to which so many fall annually a sacrifice, arose spontane¬ 
 ously in Egypt: but many modern writers are of opinion, that this 
 is by no means the case; and Sonnini asserts, that the country had 
 been completely free from the plague for twelve years, when he 
 was there, though a free communication had been kept up with 
 
 other places where it prevailed. This circumstance, indeed, may 
 
 c 
 
6 
 
 be deemed an argument rather against Sonnmi’s hypothec, than 
 in favour of it; while it has a greater tendency to prove, perhaps, 
 that the climate is not unfavourable to health; and this the con- 
 slant disappearance of the contagion at midsummer, after which, 
 it is said, no one has ever been known to die of the disorder, 
 strongly confirms. 
 
 The once ready admission of conjectures, if they had the ap¬ 
 pearance of being founded on fact, to account for natural pheno¬ 
 mena, the causes of which were not investigated, may explain the 
 reason of this serious charge brought against a country, that by no 
 means deserved the imputation. With the true cause of the plague 
 we are unacquainted: but it was found to occur in Egypt; it was 
 a fact, that the land was covered with water, which became stag¬ 
 nant, evaporated, and left it’s heterogeneous sediment on the moist 
 surface, to be dried up by the heat of the Sun; it was supposed, 
 that noisome miasmata, of sufficient virulence to engender the 
 plague, must be exhaled by this putrefying sediment; and accord- 
 ingly to this the disease was attributed, so that Egypt was sup¬ 
 posed to be the place of it’s birth. But in this there is far too 
 much of gratuitous supposition. The evaporation is carried on too 
 quickly, to leave much matter for putrefaction; and the pure dry 
 air of the climate, and the salubrious northern gales, which blow 
 with considerable steadiness and force for the greater part of the 
 year, permit no noxious vapour, that has once arisen, to descend 
 again, or hover over the land, and infect the atmosphere. From 
 the numbers of fishes left by the retiring waters, and the multi¬ 
 tudes of frogs, that are annually produced, the generation of a vast 
 
7 
 
 load of putrid animal matter might be apprehended: but happily 
 this is prevented by the numerous flocks of birds, which assemble 
 round the contracting waters, and greedily devour the frogs and 
 fishes, so that few are left behind. Who sees not here the wisdom 
 of Providence, which, acting through the means of second causes, 
 has averted an impending evil, and given multitudes of living 
 creatures to find the support of their existence in what would 
 otherwise probably have been fatal to man? From this view, which 
 agrees with the fact of the salubrity of the climate, the sediment 
 of the Nile seems capable of little injury to health; though, even 
 were it such a putrid mass, as men at a distance in their closets 
 have supposed, there is no reason to imagine, that it would be 
 capable of generating the plague. 
 
 It is not to be expected, that in this country man should be 
 exempt from diseases, to which he is more or less a prey in every 
 part of the globe; but it would certainly be unjust, to brand it 
 with the epithet of unhealthy; and Sonnini appeals confidently to 
 experience, to attest the purity and salubrity of it’s air, which is 
 equally asserted by Mr. Antes, who resided in the country twelve 
 years. Possibly the dryness of it’s atmosphere, of which striking 
 instances occur in the sandy parts, and the regularity of it s sea¬ 
 sons, counteract the sickening effects of sloth, and of the stagnant 
 waters of the Nile. The diseases, that prevail here to a degree 
 unknown perhaps in any other country, are the elephantiasis, or 
 leprosy of the arabs, as it has been called, and inflammations of 
 the eyes. These affections of the eyes are particularly frequent 
 and severe, often occasioning the loss of one or both of these or- 
 
8 
 
 gans, and it is probable are to be ascribed chiefly, if not solely, to 
 the acrimonious particles, wafted by the winds from the sandy 
 deserts, and from a soil strongly impregnated with alcalme salts. 
 
 We cannot consider the soil of Egypt, and it’s extraordinary 
 fruitfulness, without our attention being turned immediately to 
 
 THE NILE, 
 
 the inexhaustible source of it’s fertility. This celebrated river rises 
 in the village of Geesh, in the country of Gojam, in the south of 
 Abyssinia, in the latitude of 10° 59 ' 25 " north, and longitude 
 36° 55' 30" east of the meridian of Greenwich. At the fountain 
 head it is upwards of two miles above the level of the sea; and 
 hence it flows through Abyssinia, Sennaar, and Nubia, it s mag¬ 
 nitude increased by various tributary streams, and it’s descent ac¬ 
 celerated at different places by cataracts, from one of which the 
 water rushes down at once about two hundred and eighty feet, till 
 it reaches the Thebaid, and it’s course is confined to a narrow val¬ 
 ley, between two mountainous ridges, the sides of which once af¬ 
 forded habitations to the troglodytes, that first peopled the country. 
 In the neighbourhood of the ancient Syene, now Assouan, at the 
 southern extremity of upper Egypt, is the last cataract; if that 
 may be so called, which in North America would receive the ap¬ 
 propriate name of rapids; from which to the Mediterranean the 
 Nile is navigable by vessels of considerable size. The canjas, or 
 boats employed in the commerce of the river, are well adapted to 
 the peculiar circumstances of it, combining in them speed, safety, 
 and convenience. 
 
9 
 
 The celebrated Mcrarad bey has procured some ships to be 
 built and equipped in the european fashion, and purchased a few 
 others, in which he has incurred considerable expense to little 
 purpose. The largest of them mounts twenty-four guns; and they 
 are well manned, chiefly with greeks from the Archipelago. He 
 has about six of these vessels, lying at anchor before Geeza the 
 greater part of the year, as they can be navigated only while the 
 river is at a considerable height. Should either of the european 
 powers maintain a footing in this country, perhaps the usual shal¬ 
 lowness of the Nile will prove no greater obstacle to the establish¬ 
 ment of any marine force that may be of utility on it, than that 
 of the American lakes did in the last war. 
 
 For the transport of commodities, or the purposes of war, how¬ 
 ever, the Nile is of little importance, compared with it’s influence 
 on the cultivation of the country. What but for it would be a 
 barren desert, is rendered by it’s waters one of the most productive 
 spots on the Earth. This is effected by it’s annual inundation, to 
 which the people anxiously look, as the dispenser of plenty or of 
 famine. At the heliacal rising of the dog-star, when the rainy 
 season commences within the tropics, all the rivers are swelled by 
 the torrents of water, that fall from the clouds, and seek their pas¬ 
 sage to the sea through the channel of the Nile, into which they 
 flow. Hence it’s stream, which from the continuance of drought 
 had sunk low, begins to rise in consequence of this addition. It’s 
 increase, however, is not so considerable, as to be an object oi 
 public notice, till about the end of june, when it’s degree is pro¬ 
 claimed through the streets of Cairo by a person appointed for the 
 
 D 
 
10 
 
 purpose. As soon as it has risen to the height of sixteen cubits, this 
 is announced by the cry of wafaa ullah, ‘ God has given us abun¬ 
 dance:’ if it rise to twenty, which is sufficient to render the whole 
 of the land fit for cultivation, the cry is men jibbel alia jibbel, 
 ‘ from mountain to mountain;’ implying, that the water suffices to 
 inundate the country up to the foot of the mountains on either 
 side. 
 
 To some of our readers, perhaps, this may require explanation. 
 The vale of lower Egypt is nearly flat, but the banks of the Nile 
 are it’s highest parts, from which it slopes gently toward the 
 mountains. The whole of this land, parched with almost per¬ 
 petual drought at other seasons, requires to be deluged by the 
 annual inundation of the river, the turbid waters of which furnish 
 it at the same time with manure, in the sediment it deposits, and 
 the recrements of the preceding crop, which it renders subservient 
 to the purpose of promoting vegetation by the putrefactive process 
 it induces in them. The height of the banks of the Nile is such, 
 as to prevent the water from having access to the land behind 
 them, unless on extraordinary occasions; such indeed as would 
 threaten a general famine. Accordingly canals were formed by 
 the care of the ancient inhabitants, to convey the water over the 
 whole face of the country, when it had risen to a proper height; 
 and others to carry it off, when too abundant, into the lakes in 
 the deserts of Libya. The mouths of these canals were closed by 
 mounds, which were broken down, when the water had attained 
 the requisite degree of increase. If the inundation were too co¬ 
 pious, the superfluous water was diverted to the lakes, and thus 
 
11 
 
 prevented from doing injury; if it were precisely sufficient, to 
 cover the whole of the land, the banks of the river excepted, an 
 abundant harvest was produced, with very little labour; and if the 
 lower grounds alone were covered by the natural influx of the 
 water, the aid of mechanics was called in, when the inundation 
 was at it’s height, to extend the influence of the stream by means 
 of engines, and thus dispense fertility to fields, that indolence and 
 ignorance would have left unproductive. Now, that it was ex¬ 
 tremely desirable, to know the proper times for opening the canals, 
 and the extent to which the water would overflow the plains, that 
 the business might be conducted most to the advantage of the 
 community, was presently obvious. For this the Nilometer vtis 
 invented. It required much less science, than the ancient eg j p- 
 tians possessed, to know, that a gradi. «,ed column, fixed in the 
 bed of the Nile, would indicate with certainty the limits, to which 
 the inundation extended; and probably they employed one differ¬ 
 ing very little from that which is at present used by the govern¬ 
 ment at Cairo, for an accurate delineation of which, with an inter¬ 
 nal and an external view of the building that contains it, we refer 
 our readers to the plates annexed, and which we shall proceed to 
 describe, in the words of Mr. Bruce, who appears to have exa¬ 
 mined it with care, and given an account of it with accuracy. 
 Though this is not to be considered as the sole instrument through¬ 
 out the course of the Nile for measuring it’s rise, since we are 
 informed by Mr. Langles, that there are no less than fifteen ni- 
 lometers between the island of Elephantina and the mouth of the 
 
 river. 
 
12 
 
 THE NILOMETER. 
 
 ■ On the point of the island Rhoda, between Geeza and Cairo, 
 near the middle of the river, but nearer to Geeza, is a round 
 tower, and in that an apartment, in the middle of which is a very 
 neat well, or cistern, lined with marble, to which the Nile has free 
 access, through a large opening like an embrasure, the bottom of 
 the well being on the same level with the bottom of the river. 
 In the middle of this well rises a thin column, as far as I can re¬ 
 member, of eight faces of blue and white marble, to the foot of 
 which if you are permitted to descend, you are then on the same 
 plane with the foot of the column and bottom of the river. This 
 pillar is divided into twenty peeks, called draa el belledy, of 
 twenty-two inches each. The two lowermost peeks are not di¬ 
 vided at all, but are left absolutely without mark, to stand for the 
 quantity of sludge the water deposits there, and which occupies 
 the place of water. Two peeks are then divided on the right 
 hand into twenty-four digits each; then, on the left, four peeks 
 are divided each into twenty-four digits; then, on the right, four; 
 and, on the left, another four: again, four on the right, which 
 complete the number of eighteen peeks from the first division 
 marked on the pillar, each of twenty-two inches. The whole, 
 marked and unmarked, amounts to thirty-six feet eight inches 
 english.’ 
 
 When this country was conquered by the turks, a tribute was 
 imposed upon it. All it’s wealth, however, consisting in its pro- 
 
7^7 
 
13 
 
 duce, it would be vain to require this tribute, when the deficiency 
 of the inundation keeps the land in a state of barrenness. Ac¬ 
 cordingly the Mikead, or Nilometer, is of the highest importance, 
 not to the people only, but to the grand signior, as it indicates the 
 extent of the impost, which the circumstances of the country will 
 allow him to exact. If the land rendered fit for cultivation by the 
 overflowing of the Nile will be too little, or barely sufficient, to keep 
 the people from starving, the sovereign must of necessity forego 
 his tribute. When the inundation reaches to a certain extent, the 
 produce will allow the grand signior to receive a certain portion: 
 and this, which is indicated by the rise of the water to the height 
 of sixteen peeks at the Mikeas, is announced to the people by the 
 cry of wafaa ullalv, by which they are given to understand, that 
 the meery, or tribute, will be demanded. In this case, however, 
 it is necessary, to measure the land, in order to ascertain how 
 much the water has overflowed, for which the tenant is to pay the 
 whole of the tax; how much has been watered by means of ma¬ 
 chines, for which he pays only half, the other half being allowed 
 as a compensation for the expense of the additional labour re¬ 
 quired; and how much has been incapable of receiving benefit, 
 left uncultivated, and therefore remains exempt from taxation. If 
 the water should rise to the height of twenty peeks, the cry of 
 men jibbel allajibbel proclaims, that the whole of the land will be 
 fertilized, and become liable to the tribute. 
 
 In the midst of this expanse of water, covering the whole of 
 the low lands, the banks of the Nile appear, beautifully studded 
 with villages, to which the palm-trees around them are no incon- 
 
 E 
 
14 
 
 siderable ornament. As soon as the river retires from the fields, 
 they are sown with all sorts of grain; and as the heat and mois¬ 
 ture speedily occasion the seed to germinate, the face of the coun¬ 
 try quickly assumes the appearance of a delightful green meadow, 
 which in a short time is variegated with the hues of flowering 
 r^lnnts and rroeninff corn. 
 
 CANALS. 
 
 The canals for conveying the water of the Nile have already 
 been mentioned; that at Cairo is said by arabian writers to be 
 paved with marble, though at present nothing is discoverable at 
 the bottom but mud. During part of the year indeed it is a mere 
 dunghill, a receptacle of filth in general; but against the rise of 
 the Nile it is cleaned, and converted into a street, which is as 
 much crowded as any in the city, and where the jugglers, tum¬ 
 blers, and dancing girls, exhibit their feats in public. When the 
 Nile flows into it, boats and barges richly decorated float on it, 
 and it still wears the face of festivity, though on a different ele¬ 
 ment. 
 
 As soon as the water has risen to the proper height, the mound 
 of this grand canal, or calisch, is opened with great ceremony; as 
 might be expected in the metropolis on an occasion of such real 
 importance to the country. The bashaw and his beys, for whom 
 a tent is pitched by the side of the canal, repair to the place with 
 a grand retinue on horseback. Riding up to the mound, which 
 is thrown up at the mouth of the canal when the water of the 
 
FIRST ANID SECOND FTRAM1D OF GI^AIHI.ANCIENT MEMF1HI5.. 
 
15 
 
 river begins to rise, the bashaw strikes it with his lance, and then 
 retires to the tent. The people immediately fall to work on the 
 mound, and break it down; the bashaw throws a few small pieces 
 of coin into the water; nuts, melons, and other fruits, are thrown 
 in by people in a boat ready for the occasion; rockets are let off; 
 and the day is concluded amid the most licentious expressions of 
 revelry. 
 
 Having thus entered on the antiquities of Egypt, for of these 
 the canals must be considered as the first in time, as well as in 
 utility, we are naturally attracted to those, that most eminently 
 obtrude themselves on our imagination, 
 
 THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 These structures appear in considerable number, varying in size, 
 in materials, and in architecture, between Cairo and Meduun: but 
 those nearest Cairo, called the pyramids of Geeza, are the most 
 worthy of notice; four of which, though different in magnitude 
 from each other, are particularly distinguished from the rest by 
 their bulk. The faces of each of these are placed fronting the 
 four cardinal points; and they are constructed so that a line, 
 drawn from north-east to south-west, would pass through the 
 base of each. The least of the four is to the south-west, and the 
 others increase in size; each of the persons, by whom they were 
 built, resolving no doubt to eclipse his predecessor, till the bulk 
 and expense of the last precluded any attempt to outvie.it; if the 
 circumstances of the times did not become less favourable to the 
 
1 6 
 
 waste of so much toil, for a purpose of so little advantage even to 
 the single mortal, for whom it was intended. 
 
 It has been conjectured, indeed, that the pyramids were tem- 
 pies, or altars, dedicated to the Sun. But that an edifice nearly 
 solid, and to the narrow chamber of which all access was carefully 
 excluded, should have been intended for a temple, is palpably ab¬ 
 surd: and what sacrifices could be offered on a structure of such 
 height, terminating in a point, and the sides of which were ren¬ 
 dered smooth, as if to frustrate all attempts to ascend it? The 
 writer of the article on this subject in the Encyclopaedia Britan- 
 nica, however, considers this supposition as well founded, and as 
 supported by the accounts we have from the Asiatic Society, that 
 the hindoos erected large statues of their gods Seeva and Mehedeo, 
 all of a conical or pyramidal figure. But were the pyramids the 
 statues of an egyptian god, it is scarcely probable, that they should 
 be confined to the extent of country between Meduun and Cairo, be 
 found there in such numbers, and be repeated in such a manner 
 as the four we have mentioned, the disposition of which will ap¬ 
 pear from Mr. Reveley’s sketch annexed. 
 
 □ 
 
 □ 
 
 The etymology of the appellation pyramid, which Mr. Sil¬ 
 vester de Sacy has lately given in the Magazin encyclopedique, 
 
1 7 
 
 may perhaps be adduced as countenancing the above conjecture: 
 for he derives it with much plausibility from an egyptian root, 
 signifying something sacred, or set apart from men’s use. But, 
 not to mention the little stress that can be laid on etymologies, 
 often fanciful, and at best dubious, this derivation is as suitable to 
 a tomb as to a temple, for nothing was more sacred to the ancient 
 egyptians than the repositories of the dead. 
 
 An ingenious gentleman of Germany, Mr. Witte, who never 
 saw them by the by, has endeavoured to maintain the hypothesis 
 of their being the work of nature, not of art: and he goes so far 
 as to ascribe the same origin to the ruins of Persepolis, Balbec, 
 and Palmyra, the palaces of the incas in Peru, the temple of Ju¬ 
 piter at Girgenti, in Sicily, and even to Stonehenge on Salisbury 
 plain. Mr. Bryant, too, imagines, that the three largest at least 
 are not artificial structures of stone and mortar, but solid rocks, 
 cut into a pyramidal shape, and afterward cased with stone. The 
 opinion of Mr. Bruce approaches this; and it appears highly pro¬ 
 bable, that as much of the stratum of rock, on which they are 
 raised, as could be made subservient to the purpose, was employed 
 in the lower part of the structure. Yet it seems unquestionable, 
 that all above the great gallery and sepulchral chamber at least 
 must have been the work of art; for, as Mr. Reveley observes, and 
 this is conformable to the testimony of others, the great gallery, 
 chamber, and sarcophagus, are of granite; which could not have 
 been brought in through the passage leading to them from the side 
 of the pyramid; and cannot be in it’s natural situation, in the centre 
 of such a mass of soft freestone. 
 
 ¥ 
 
18 
 
 On approaching the pyramids from Geeza, the first that offers 
 itself is the largest, standing on a hill of rock, about a hundred 
 feet higher than the plain below. It’s base is buried in the sand, 
 that now rises in a slope on the north side within two courses 
 of the entrance, which was formerly midway between the base and 
 the summit. This, as well as the others, is built of a stone very 
 little harder than chalk, whitish when scraped, but become by 
 exposure to the air of a yellowish brown hue, being the same with 
 the rock on which they stand. It was originally cased with a 
 different stone, as appears from the concurrent testimony of an¬ 
 cient authors, and from this circumstance, that the courses of stone, 
 which give the appearance of steps externally, are neither uniform 
 in size, as they vary from the height of near five feet to little more 
 than two, nor diminishing with regularity, one or other of which 
 no doubt would have been the case, -had it not been intended, that 
 they should be concealed. A considerable portion of the casing 
 of the second pyramid still remains at the top, and by the holes 
 that are visible in many places where it is removed, it has evi¬ 
 dently been destroyed by the hand of man. Many authors say, 
 this casing is of granite: but it is of a whitish tint very unlike 
 granite either red or gray; and the summit, which is decayed by 
 time, for no man can climb up the ashlar facing, is not rounding 
 off, as granite would decay, but stands up in points. All the other 
 pyramids are stripped of their facing entirely. 
 
 The great pyramid wants about eight feet of it’s height at the 
 top, many stones having been taken away, or thrown down by 
 people out of wantonness. Dr. Pococke says, that the upper 
 

19 
 
 course consisted of nine stones when he saw it, and that two more 
 were wanting, to complete the course. Mr. Mayer found only 
 seven; so that two had been thrown down since Dr. Pococke's 
 time. For a view of the top, as it appeared when Mr. Mayer was 
 there, see the plate, in which every stone is faithfully represented. 
 
 By whom, or at what period, this pyramid was opened, is not 
 certainly known. An arabian author, Ibn Abd Alhokm, discours¬ 
 ing of the wonders of Egypt, relates, that A1 Marnoun, the khalif 
 of Bagdad, caused it to be opened about ten centuries ago: and 
 that there was found in it, toward the top, a chamber, with a hol¬ 
 low stone, in which was a statue like a man, and within it a man, 
 upon whom was a breastplate of gold, set with jewels; on his 
 breastplate lay a sword of inestimable price, at his head was a 
 carbuncle of the bigness of an egg, shining like the light of the 
 day, and upon him were characters written with a pen, which no 
 man understood. But by whomever it was opened, or whatever 
 was then found in it, nothing now remains, except an empty se¬ 
 pulchre. To arrive at this you first descend a sloping passage, or 
 gallery, seventy-nine feet long, four feet high, and three feet four 
 inches and a half wide. At the end of this is an irregular space, 
 eight feet and a half wide, and about ten feet and a half high, 
 formed by breaking a way through to the second passage, which 
 runs sloping upward a hundred and two feet. This is three feet 
 two inches wide, and four feet three inches high. From it is an 
 opening to a well, fifteen inches wide, and three feet four inches 
 in height. The third or great gallery, which terminates in a kind of 
 very sharp arch, formed by each course of stone projecting a little 
 
20 
 
 beyond that which is beneath it, continues the ascent a hundred 
 and twenty-eight feet farther. This is six feet nine inches wide, and 
 thirty-eight feet six inches high, measured at right angles. On each 
 side is a bench, near thirteen inches high, and the same in width. 
 From the end of this gallery a horizontal passage leads to the 
 principal chamber, the door-way of which is three feet nine inches 
 high, and three feet two inches wide. The chamber itself is thirty- 
 five feet long, twenty-two feet five inches wide, and twenty-five 
 feet and a half high. It contains the sarcophagus, which is seven 
 feet six inches in length externally, three feet six inches wide, 
 three feet nine inches high, and six inches thick. Fiom the 
 landing-place at the end of the second passage a horizontal gallery 
 leads to another chamber below the former. This chamber, the 
 roof of which is not flat, but angular, is eighteen feet two inches 
 long, twelve feet nine inches wide, and the same in height. The 
 passage to it is a hundred and twenty-one feet seven inches long, 
 three feet four inches and a half wide, and three feet nine inches 
 high. These measures were taken by Mr. Jean Baptiste Record, 
 of Cairo, in September, 1784, in french feet, which are here re¬ 
 duced to english. 
 
 The dimensions of the pyramid itself have been variously re¬ 
 corded by different authors. The late captain Riou gave to Mr. 
 Reveley the following measures, taken by his father, Stephen Riou, 
 an engineer of undoubted abilities, in the year 1754 or 1 / 55 . 
 Length of the base seven hundred and fifty-nine feet, perpendi¬ 
 cular height four hundred and forty-one. Mr. Dalton assigns 
 twelve feet more to the base, and two feet more to the perpendi- 
 
21 
 
 cular. If, however, there be two hundred and seven or eight 
 steps, which is pretty clearly ascertained, and these steps vary, 
 as Dr. Pococke asserts, from two feet and a half to four feet in 
 height, it seems scarcely possible, that the pyramid should have 
 no greater altitude than these gentlemen assign it. Mr. Record 
 makes the measure of the base on the north side six hundred 
 and seventy-eight feet six inches: the hill beneath the entrance 
 fifty-five feet six inches, and from the top of the hill to the sum¬ 
 mit of the pyramid five hundred and ninety-three feet six inches, 
 so that the total height is six hundred and forty-nine feet. If 
 Mr. Record intended this for the perpendicular height, the angle 
 at the summit of the pyramid must be very acute, which is by no 
 means the case: it maybe presumed, therefore, that his measure¬ 
 ment was that of the slant height, taken mechanically, in which 
 case it would probably come near the truth. 
 
 On this subject we should have been less full, had we not 
 deemed it of some importance to settle a point, in which travellers 
 of very great reputation have differed considerably, and on which 
 an accurate idea of the figure of the pyramid depends. We can¬ 
 not avoid placing much confidence in the measurements of Mr. 
 Riou, and Mr. Dalton; which are corroborated by Mr. Giobert, a 
 french engineer, who makes the height of the pyramid four hun¬ 
 dred and forty-eight feet: and these come pretty near to Mr. 
 Mayer’s, on whose precision we can rely. From the minutes of 
 this gentleman it appears, that the face of the pyramid is an 
 isosceles triangle, the base of which measures seven hundred and 
 twenty-eight feet, and each of the sides six hundred and eighty- 
 
 G 
 
22 
 
 three; that the angle at the summit is of sixty-six degrees, and the 
 perpendicular altitude of the pyramid four hundred and forty-five 
 feet; and that it consists of two hundred and seven courses of hewn 
 stone, the largest of which is near five feet in height, and the 
 smallest upward of two. 
 
 Though the pyramids most forcibly strike the eye, and com¬ 
 mand the attention, yet they are not the sole objects here, that 
 deserve the notice of the inquisitive and enlightened traveller. In 
 their neighbourhood w-ere spacious temples, the rums of one of 
 which are still easy to be traced before the eastern front of the 
 second pyramid, and of another before that of the third. Various 
 sepulchral chambers, too, have been cut in different parts of the 
 rock, and highly ornamented in basso relievo, an idea of which 
 may be formed from the views we have given. Beside these, 
 about six hundred paces to the east of the second pyramid, is a 
 monument remarkable for it’s singularity, 
 
 THE COLOSSAL SPHINX. 
 
 This huge statue was sculptured out of the solid rock: it’s body, 
 about a hundred feet in length, is now buried in the sand, above 
 which the head rises at present twenty-seven feet. Though the 
 nose and upper lip have been destroyed by the arabs, the head is 
 strongly marked with the characteristics of the negro form. The 
 ears are remarkably large, the upper edge of them being on a line 
 with the middle of the forehead. The head is covered with a 
 hood, bound on above the eyebrows, spreading out very wide on 
 
23 
 
 each side of the face, and ribbed all over. There are several ho¬ 
 rizontal veins of softer strata in the rock, which have mouldered 
 away, and give it a singular appearance behind. The neck is so 
 decayed, that it’s original form is entirely lost. 
 
 That this chimerical figure, having the head of a woman, the 
 paws of a lion, and the body of a dog, should have been designed 
 as a type of some important occurrence, is highly probable: and 
 that it was emblematical of the rising of the Nile, which took 
 place in the months of july and august, when the Sun passes 
 through the signs of Leo and Virgo, is by no means a far-fetched 
 conjecture. If this be the true import of a representation common 
 in Egypt, though of much smaller dimensions than that we are 
 now considering; and it be also a fact, that the sphinx is met 
 with as a sacred or mystical figure in Hindostan, which has been 
 reported; this would be a strong argument to prove, that in an¬ 
 cient times a migration from Egypt to Hindostan took place, 
 instead of the hindoos having peopled Egypt. 
 
 But whatever the sphinx may have been intended to typify, 
 the situation of this colossal statue with respect to the second py¬ 
 ramid and it’s temple pretty clearly indicates it’s connexion with 
 them. Pliny informs us, that in his time there was a subterrane¬ 
 ous communication between the body of the sphinx and one of 
 the pyramids. At present there is a hole on the summit of the 
 head about five feet deep; and how much farther it may extend 
 is unknown, as from that depth it is choked up with sand. We 
 have little reason to question therefore, that this sphinx was once 
 connected with the temple, before which it stood, by a secret pas- 
 
24 
 
 sage, through which the priest ascended to it’s head, whence he 
 issued oracular responses to the multitude below. 
 
 The date of these astonishing monuments appears to baffle all 
 conjecture. They are mentioned as works of antiquity by the 
 most ancient of the heathen historians: from the figure of the 
 vaulted roof of the gallery in the great pyramid, we may presume 
 they were built before the art of constructing a circular arch was 
 known; and as they are totally destitute of hieroglyphics, which 
 abound on other remains of this country, it is most probable 
 they were erected before these sacred characters were invented, 
 the use of which was forgotten at a very remote period. 
 
 THE CATACOMBS. 
 
 We have already mentioned the subterraneous repositories of the 
 dead, which are numerous in the neighbourhood of the two larger 
 pyramids, and of great antiquity no doubt, though from the 
 sculptures they exhibit we must naturally infer the work of times 
 much less rude. Some of them are executed in a style of excel¬ 
 lence superiour to the performances of a similar kind in the sepul¬ 
 chral grottoes of Upper Egypt. It is not improbable, therefore, 
 that these were made at the time when Memphis, which stood 
 but a few miles south of the pyramids, was the capital of this 
 kingdom. 
 
 No part of Egypt appears to have been explored with any 
 degree of diligence, in which catacombs have not been found, 
 though differing much in their form and workmanship. Some 
 

 
 
 
 
 HHH 
 
25 
 
 of them are simply square cavities hewn out of the rock; others 
 are chambers, with one or more rows of niches in their sides to 
 receive the bodies of the dead; and frequently there are several 
 of these chambers, communicating with each other. The roofs of 
 some are flat, of others vaulted, and some rise in domes over cir¬ 
 cular areas. The walls of some are perfectly plain; those of others 
 are covered with insculptured hieroglyphics, adorned with bass 
 reliefs, or embellished with a profusion of painting and gilding. 
 Occasionally we meet with statues in them, as large as life, in 
 sitting postures, with hieroglyphics upon scrolls resting in their 
 laps, or upon the adjacent walls; probably the epitaphs of the 
 persons represented by the statues, and containing a brief chronicle 
 of their lives. 
 
 Neither were these places of sepulture confined to the recep¬ 
 tion of human bodies. The ibis was embalmed with religious 
 care, enclosed in an earthen urn, and then deposited in a subter¬ 
 ranean vault. There are galleries of this kind forty or fifty feet 
 beneath the surface of the ground, in the sides of which are 
 several chambers filled with earthen vessels, each containing an 
 embalmed ibis enveloped with linen. Other animals held in ve¬ 
 neration by the egyptians were embalmed and inhumed in a 
 similar manner. 
 
 In some of these subterranean grottoes, as well as in the pyra¬ 
 mids, sarcophagi are found; and there is a very curious one at 
 Cairo made of basaltes, a delineation of which is here given, from 
 the hieroglyphics on it evidently of ancient egyptian workman¬ 
 ship, yet ornamented with volutes, which have been considered 
 
 H 
 
2 6 
 
 as of greek invention. This now serves as the basin ot a foun¬ 
 tain, called the Lover’s, it being a popular persuasion firmly cre¬ 
 dited, that it’s water possesses the virtue of extinguishing love. 
 Neither must we omit to mention the stone coffins, m which 
 mummies have been enclosed; sometimes with a human figure 
 sculptured on the lid, inclining to one side, in the posture in which 
 a person usually sleeps. 
 
 The catacombs of Alexandria, of which we have given a re¬ 
 presentation, are on the south of the old port, their present en¬ 
 trance being a small irregular hole, a few paces from the edge of 
 a basin, that communicates with it. This hole is so narrow, that 
 you are obliged to creep in feet foremost. Having passed it, you 
 find yourself in a chamber of a moderate size, but so filled with 
 earth, that a man can barely stand upright in it. Three sides of 
 this chamber have each another cut out of it only eight feet square, 
 and in three of the sides of each of these are square recesses, the 
 fronts of which are ornamented with a kind of tuscan pilasters, 
 supporting a segment of an arch. From the first chamber you 
 pass into various others. One is a parallelogram, about fifteen 
 feet wide, the cieling of which is a very flat segment of an arch; 
 and at the farther end of it are two tuscan pilasters, supporting an 
 architrave, cornice, and pediment, forming a large door, on each 
 side of which is a small door ornamented in the same manner, 
 only without the pediment. These three doors lead into a cir¬ 
 cular chamber of the same width, it’s roof a very fiat dome rest¬ 
 ing on an architrave; and from this chamber you enter three 
 smaller square chambers, with three recesses in each, exactly as 
 
IFTERXOIR. TOSW OF THE CATACOMBS AT ALEIAOTDIIA, 
 

 in the first chamber. All these chambers are cut out of the solid 
 rock, very neatly worked, and stuccoed over. Some of them had 
 square openings in the roof, to admit light, but these are now 
 stopped up. They are all extremely dry, and similar in style; 
 but how far they extend it is impossible to say, they are now so 
 filled, and the original entrance to them is equally unknown. 
 
 If we may judge of the antiquity of these from their archi¬ 
 tectural ornaments, at least such of them as we have been able to 
 explore may be referred to the period when the arts had passed 
 their meridian. Over the great door entering into the circular 
 chamber above mentioned for instance, the horizontal cornice is 
 adorned with dentils only, without modillions, while the inclined 
 cornice of the pediment has modillions without dentils. Now of 
 this no instance occurs in the works of the ancients, while the 
 arts were in perfection; but we cannot be surprised at finding it 
 as they began to decline, when all sorts of absurdities took place, 
 and the neglect of the ancient simplicity brought on that confu¬ 
 sion, which terminated in their ruin. 
 
 Thus we find the grave of the grecian art in the same coun¬ 
 try, in which we find it’s cradle. For, notwithstanding the inge¬ 
 nious fancies, to which some have had recourse for ascribing the 
 invention of the different orders to the greeks, it is scarce to be 
 doubted, that Greece borrowed it’s architecture from the country 
 whence it was in a great measure peopled. In purity of taste, it 
 is true, the greekwent far beyond his african predecessor; but the 
 models of his temples, the principal parts of his edifices, the rudi¬ 
 ments of all his orders, and the ornaments with which he deco- 
 
28 
 
 rated them, are to be found in Egypt: he only carried them to a 
 degree of perfection, which they could never have reached m 
 their native clime. 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 Among the antiquities of Egypt coeval with the use of hierogly¬ 
 phics the obelisk is remarkable. These fingers of the Sun, as 
 they were called by the egyptian priests, were designed both for 
 ornament and utility. They were gnomons of colossal sundials, 
 cut on the pavement on which they stood, whence they derived 
 their appellation. Placed before their temples as ornamental, their 
 faces were covered with hieroglyphics, recording probably astro¬ 
 nomical observations and historical events, and inculcating moral 
 doctrines. Mr. Bruce indeed sees in these, as well as in other 
 hieroglyphics, nothing but almanacs; differing from the wooden 
 calendars, or clogs, which our rustics copied from their northern 
 ancestors, only in being more copious; as they contained much 
 of true astronomical science, with much of those astrological ab¬ 
 surdities, from which some of our own almanacs, even in the pre¬ 
 sent day, are not free. That such may have been the subject of 
 many hieroglyphical inscriptions, among a people by whom astro¬ 
 nomy was much studied, and to whom it was of importance to 
 ascertain particular periods of the year, is probably true: but we 
 can scarcely suppose them to have been confined to this, when 
 we consider their multiplicity on the walls of temples, on obelisks, 
 on the pedestals and supports of statues, and in the repositories 
 
THE OBELISKS AT ALKXMDMA, CALLKB CLEOPAmi'S MEEBXJES 
 

As AHCIEKT OBELISK AT MATAKEA, FOBLSIEK1LY HDEQOPOMS. 
 
29 
 
 of the dead. Surely it could never be intended, that the silence 
 of these should be disturbed, to know when the moon would be 
 at full, or even when the Dog-star would emerge from the rays 
 of the Sun. One supposition made by Mr. Bruce himself is suffi¬ 
 cient, to controvert this hypothesis. Moses, he observes, was 
 directed to write the law in alphabetical characters, and not in 
 hieroglyphics: but if these were appropriate to astronomical ob¬ 
 servations alone, and used for no other purpose, it was absurd to 
 prohibit his employing them to record the law. 
 
 However general or particular their purport, it is obvious, that 
 many of them were intended to endure to remotest posterity. 
 They were deeply cut on the hardest stone, as if to brave the 
 hand of Time. But though they still remain conspicuous, and 
 many perhaps will not be effaced as long as the world shall last, 
 their meaning has already been forgotten ages ago; while the 
 classical writings of Greece and Rome, consigned to the frailest ma¬ 
 terials, bid fair for an immortality, to which they in vain aspired. 
 
 The obelisk near Alexandria, called Cleopatra’s needle, is a 
 block of granite, not quite six feet in diameter at it’s base, and 
 near seventy feet high originally, but it’s pedestal, and part of 
 it’s base, are buried in the sand. See the plate. The sides facing 
 the north-west and south-west are best preserved, the hierogly¬ 
 phics on the other two sides being greatly defaced, especially to¬ 
 ward the lower part, large scales falling from the stone, notwith¬ 
 standing it’s hardness. 
 
 There is another beautiful obelisk standing amid the ruins 
 of what was once the city of Heliopolis. This, of which like- 
 
30 
 
 wise a delineation is here given, is formed of a single piece of 
 red granite, and covered with hieroglyphics, not injured as those 
 of the obelisk before mentioned, from which it differs very little 
 in size. 
 
 POMPEY’S PILLAR, 
 
 As it is commonly called, is another monument of antiquity, 
 which has much engaged the attention of travellers, though far 
 less ancient than the obelisks. It has lately been measured with 
 great care, while the French were in possession of Egypt, and the 
 following are it’s dimensions, as given by Mr. Norry in his report 
 to the institute. 
 
 metres, cent. feet, inches, lines. 
 
 Height of the pedestal 3, 24 equal to 10, 6, g-132, english measure, 
 base 1, ?8 5, 9, /-241 
 
 shaft 20,48 6/, 2, 2-1/6 
 
 capital 3, 21 10, 5, 7'383 
 
 making in the whole 28, 71 94 , O, 5 -93 2 
 
 Mr. Norry likewise reports, that the diameter of the column is 
 
 metres, cent. feet, inches, lines. 
 
 in the lower part 2 , /O equal to 8 , 9 , f-6l3 
 near the astragal 2,49 8 , 1 , 5-363 
 
 The shaft and upper member of the base of this pillar are 
 formed of one block of red granite. The capital, which is of a 
 different stone, is of the Corinthian order, with palm leaves, not 
 indented. These Mr. Bruce supposes were designed merely to 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31 
 
 support leaves of metal of better workmanship, which would be 
 much less liable to injury, and of which many examples occur at 
 Baalbec and Palmyra. 
 
 The foundation of this column consists of two tier of stones. 
 An arab endeavoured to blow up the column, in order to make 
 himself master of the treasures, which he supposed to be buried 
 underneath. His plan miscarried, however; for the explosion of 
 his mine only displaced a few of the stones on one side, thus ex¬ 
 posing to view a block of white marble, covered with hierogly¬ 
 phics in an inverted position, which show it to have been a frag¬ 
 ment of some egyptian antiquity. On this block the centre of the 
 pillar rests, as on a pivot. There are among the stones of the 
 foundation another piece of marble of a yellowish colour spotted 
 with red, which has likewise it's hieroglyphics, but much damaged, 
 a piece of a small column, and some other fragments of marble 
 that have nothing remarkable. 
 
 Some english seamen, who took it into their heads to drink a 
 bowl of punch on the top of it for a frolic, found there a hole, 
 which first gave reason to suppose, that a statue had been erected 
 upon it. Mr. Norry informs us, that it is a circular cavity, six 
 feet and half in diameter, and about two inches and half deep, 
 which he imagines contained the base of a statue. 
 
 Much labour has been spent by the learned in fruitless en¬ 
 deavours to ascertain the time when it was erected, and the pur¬ 
 pose for which it was designed. Many have been inclined to 
 suppose it erected in honour of Severus, who visited the city of 
 Alexandria, and conferred on it various benefits; and Abulfeda 
 
32 
 
 has been quoted, as giving it the name of his pillar. But the 
 erudite professor White has lately shown, that the passage in 
 Abulfeda was mistranslated; and with great probability ascribes 
 it’s erection to Ptolemy Philadelphus, whose reign was chiefly em¬ 
 ployed in embellishing Alexandria, imagines the statue upon it to 
 have been that of Ptolemy Soter, and supposes it to have been 
 placed in front of the temple of Serapis. 
 
 From the circular cavity discovered by the englisli seamen 
 there can be little doubt, that a statue was intended to be placed 
 on the top of the column; but it may be questioned, whether any 
 statue were ever erected upon it. If there had, it could not very 
 easily have been removed; and we do not find the least mention 
 of a statue actually standing on the summit in any arabian or 
 other writer. From Mr. Bruce’s observation respecting the foli¬ 
 age of the capital it is perhaps more probable, that the pillar was 
 unfinished at the death of Ptolemy Philadelphus; that his son 
 Euergetes, whose life was a succession of wars and conquests from 
 his ascending the throne, neglected to complete the design; and 
 that the rest of the race of the Ptolemies, for the most part ty¬ 
 rants, cared little for the memory of their progenitor; so that nei¬ 
 ther the metallic foliage, nor the statue of Ptolemy Soter, ever 
 graced the column. 
 
 There are some other remains of antiquity in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of Alexandria, of which we have given a represen¬ 
 
 tation. 
 
BATHS OF CJLFOJPATJRA, AT ALEIANDILIA. 
 
33 
 
 THE BATH OF CLEOPATRA, 
 
 As it is vulgarly called, is a large basin, a little to the west of the 
 old port, on one side of which are three small square rooms, hol¬ 
 lowed out of the solid rock. Across these are stone benches, and 
 a canal, made of a zigzag form for the purpose of stopping the 
 sand, conveys into them the water of the sea, as pure and trans¬ 
 parent as crystal. The water rises a little higher than the waist 
 of a person sitting on the bench, while his feet rest on a fine sand. 
 He hears the waves roaring against the rock, and foaming in the 
 canal: the swell enters, raises him up, and then subsides; and 
 thus alternately entering and retiring, brings a continual fresh 
 supply of water, with a coolness truly delicious in so hot a cli¬ 
 mate. Some ruins announce, that once this bath was not desti¬ 
 tute of ornament. 
 
 The columns of granite, of which a view is given in another 
 plate, are supposed to have formed part of one of the spacious por¬ 
 ticoes of the gymnasium near the Canopic gate. 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 Having just mentioned the principal remains of it’s antiquities, 
 we shall now proceed to give some account of Alexandria itself, 
 a city on various accounts memorable. 
 
 It was founded by Alexander, who saw how well this situation 
 was adapted to an extensive commerce; the comprehensive mind 
 
 K 
 
of that illustrious monarch not confining it’s views to the land, 
 being fully aware how conducive a maritime intercourse between 
 the remotest parts would be to his grand object of uniting all na¬ 
 tions under one head, and confirming their union by assimilating 
 their manners. The celebrated Dinocrates, who had acquired the 
 highest reputation by rebuilding the temple of Diana at Ephesus, 
 was employed by Alexander for constructing this city. One street 
 of great width intersected it in a straight line from north to south, 
 and was crossed by another equally spacious from east to west. 
 These were decorated by magnificent houses, temples, and public 
 buildings, displaying a profusion of marble and porphyry, des¬ 
 tined at a future period to embellish the two capitals of the roman 
 empire. Parallel to these ran other streets of inferiour though 
 not confined dimensions, leaving a free passage to the wind, par¬ 
 ticularly from the north, which alone conveys coolness and salu¬ 
 brity into Egypt. A mole, near a mile in length, stretched from 
 the continent to the island of Pharos opposite the city, and divided 
 the harbour into two. On this island was erected the famous 
 lighthouse, begun by Ptolemy Soter, and finished in the reign 
 of his son Ptolemy Philadelphus. It was a square tower of several 
 stories, with a lantern at the top, the light of which might be seen 
 for many leagues; and cost eight hundred talents, being adorned 
 with columns, balustrades, and galleries of the finest marble, and 
 exquisitely wrought. Sostrates of Cnidos was the architect. In 
 the great harbour was the island of Antirhodes, on which stood a 
 theatre and a place of royal residence. In the eastern part of the 
 city was a gymnasium, with porticoes of more than six hundred 
 
35 
 
 feet long, supported by several rows of marble pillars: without 
 the Canopic gate was a spacious circus for the chariot races: 
 and beyond this the suburb of Nicopolis stretched along the 
 shore, forming almost a second city, where was a superb amphi¬ 
 theatre, with a raceground, for the celebration of the quinquen- 
 nalia. 
 
 A considerable portion of the city was occupied by the palace, 
 within the precincts of which were the museum; accommodations 
 for men of learning, in which fourteen thousand scholars at a 
 time were lodged and maintained at the public expense; and a 
 temple, where the body of Alexander was deposited in a golden 
 coffin. This was violated by the infamous Seleucus Cibyofactes, 
 whose avarice tempted him to remove the coffin of gold, and sub¬ 
 stitute in it’s stead one of glass. 
 
 In the suburb of Rhacotis was a temple called the Serapeum, 
 built in honour of Serapis, whose image was brought from Pontus 
 to Alexandria in the reign of Ptolemy Soter. This structure, 
 according to Anrmianus Marcellinus, surpassed in beauty and 
 magnificence all others in the world, except the Capitol at Rome. 
 When the museum in the palace was filled with books, to the 
 amount of four hundred thousand volumes, an additional library 
 was built within the verge of this temple, which came at length 
 to contain three hundred thousand more. The library in the 
 palace was burnt in the war that Julius Caesar waged against the 
 egyptians: but Cleopatra having added two hundred thousand 
 volumes from the pergamean library, given her by Mark Antony, 
 to that in the Serapeum, and others from time to time increasing 
 
3 6 
 
 it’s stores, this alone became at length as rich in books as both 
 had formerly been. During the troubles of the roman empire it 
 was frequently plundered, and as often supplied with new books, 
 till at length the klialif Omar’s famous syllogism consigned them 
 all to the flames. * If,’ said he to his general Amrou, who took 
 Alexandria, * the books contain nothing but what is in the Koran, 
 they are useless: if they contain any thing contrary to it, they 
 ought not to be suffered: let them, therefore, be destroyed. In 
 consequence of this order they were distributed among the keepers 
 of the public baths, of which there were upward of a thousand, 
 and supplied a sufficient quantity of fuel to heat them during the 
 space of six months. 
 
 As Alexandria was destitute of fresh water, ample reservoirs 
 were formed underneath the city, to contain the water brought 
 from the Nile by a spacious canal. These reservoirs were arched 
 over with brick, and coated with a cement impenetrable by water, 
 of the same kind as is seen in the ancient baths and reservoirs at 
 Rome and other places. The greater part of these reservoirs are 
 now stopped up; a few only being left, sufficient to supply the 
 wants of the inhabitants of the present town. 
 
 Beside thus furnishing the city with water, this canal formed 
 a safe and speedy communication with the Canopic branch of the 
 Nile, by means of which the more circuitous and frequently dan¬ 
 gerous passage by the mouth of the river was avoided. It had 
 ceased to be navigable however for ages; but Bonaparte, when in 
 Egypt, cleansed it in some degree, so that during the inundation 
 he was enabled to send provision by it from Cairo to Alexandria, 
 

AMOSQUE WITH’ AN ANTIQUE FRAGMENT JN ©]L?D> ALEXANDRIA NEAR THE GATE OF ROSETTA. 
 
37 
 
 and transport a considerable quantity of artillery from Alexandria 
 to Geeza. 
 
 For near three hundred years, during the reigns of the Ptole¬ 
 mies, Alexandria continued to flourish. It’s founder having de¬ 
 stroyed Tyre, the commerce of the whole world was in it’s hands: 
 and while it possessed this inexhaustible source of wealth, it could 
 boast such establishments for the promotion of science, as never 
 existed in any other place, even Athens itself not excepted. At 
 length the race of the Ptolemies, eight of whom reigned two 
 hundred and seventy years, began to decline, and Rome laid it’s 
 grasping hand upon Egypt. Alexandria, which about this time 
 had three hundred thousand freemen on it’s rolls, soon after fell 
 into decay, and experienced various vicissitudes. It’s commercial 
 advantages, however, enabled it in great measure to recover from 
 every fresh calamity it endured, till about the middle of the sixth 
 century it was taken by storm, by Amrou Ebn al Aas, the general 
 of Omar. Of it’s population at this period we may form an idea 
 from what is said by Amrou, according to whom, it then contained 
 four thousand palaces, four thousand baths, twelve thousand dealers 
 in fresh oil, twelve thousand gardeners, forty thousand jews pay¬ 
 ing tribute, and four hundred comedians. Arabs, fatimites, curdes, 
 mamalukes, and turks, now annoying Egypt in succession, Alex¬ 
 andria never again recovered it’s ancient splendour: though it was 
 preserved from destruction, even in the hands of the most barbarous 
 nations, in consequence of the advantages accruing from the East 
 India trade to the masters of Egypt, whoever they might be, till 
 the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope sealed 
 
 it’s ruin. 
 
38 
 
 From this period it has dwindled almost to nothing under the 
 benumbing sceptre of turkish despotism. It s mixed inhabitants 
 of various nations have been lately reckoned not to exceed four¬ 
 teen or fifteen thousand; though it is said to have furnished the 
 Porte with four thousand men, soldiers and sailors, in the last rus- 
 sian war: and instead of that superb and spacious city, of which 
 there are not now even ruins enough remaining to trace it with 
 accuracy, we have only wretched houses and paltry mosques, oc- 
 cupying a little neck of land between the two ports. 
 
 The progressive decline of this city is marked by it’s walls. 
 These were raised by one of the successors of Saladin, who had 
 just taken Egypt out of the hands of the khaliffs of the race of 
 Fatima, in the beginning of the thirteenth century. They are 
 composed of fragments of marble and broken columns, the wreck 
 of the ancient city, confounded with common stones; are of great 
 thickness; and are flanked by a hundred towers. A circuit of 
 five miles only is enclosed by them, which shows how much the 
 extent of the city must have been contracted at that period; and 
 even of this space a great portion is now waste ground, occupied 
 by piles of rubbish, and scattered fragments of edifices destroyed. 
 
 Such is now Alexandria, founded by the great pupil of Aris - 
 totle, rising into extraordinary splendour under the earliest of the 
 Ptolemies, the seat of learning, the emporium of the world, where 
 Caesar, enthralled by the charms and wiles of Cleopatra, had nearly 
 sunk in that flood of luxury, by which Antony was afterward 
 overwhelmed, leaving the temperate Augustus to enjoy unrivalled 
 the empire of Rome. 
 

39 
 
 But Alexandria deserves our notice on another account. ' If, 
 says Herder, ‘ Jerusalem were the cradle of Christianity, Alexan¬ 
 dria was it’s school. Into this ocean of science and of philosophy, 
 where the notions of all ages and all people were collected toge¬ 
 ther, the drop of Christianity was thrown, and attracted to it¬ 
 self whatever it supposed itself capable of assimilating. Hence 
 various corruptions were generated, and the simplicity of the 
 Christian doctrines destroyed. It is certain, however, the earlier 
 fathers of the church, who were formed in Alexandria, were none 
 of the worst. Origen alone did more for Christianity than ten 
 thousand bishops and patriarchs; since, but for the learned cri¬ 
 tical industry, which he employed on the records of Christianity, 
 these would have gone near to sink among unclassic fables. His 
 spirit was transmitted to some of his scholars also; and many fa¬ 
 thers of the alexandrian school thought and argued at least with 
 more address and refinement, than many other ignorant and fana¬ 
 tic heads. Probably it would not have been to be regretted, had 
 the system of Christianity remained, what, according to the repre¬ 
 sentations of a Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and some 
 others, it was intended to be; a liberal philosophy, reprobating 
 virtue and the love of truth at no time, and among no people, and 
 yet unacquainted with exclusive verbal formularies, which after¬ 
 ward obtained the force of laws.’ 
 
 The soil in the neighbourhood of Alexandria was anciently 
 famed for it’s fertility, and still retains the same reputation. It’s 
 harvests have been said to yield a centuple product, which might 
 possibly be true when dourra was sown, of which the bread of the 
 
40 
 
 lower class of people in the east is commonly made. Of wheat 
 it usually produces from seven to fifteen fold, though in extraor¬ 
 dinary years it has yielded twenty-four, or even upward. Mi. 
 Forskaol informs us, that the fields near the canal are sown in 
 October, and reaped in february; but those nearer the town, which 
 cannot be watered by the Nile, are not sown till november. The 
 wheat in these is ripe in february, and the barley in march. 
 
 The canal of Alexandria having long been obstructed, boats 
 cannot reach the Nile from this city but by sailing along the coast 
 to Rosetta, situate at the mouth of the Bolbitine branch of that 
 river, which now forms the western limit of the Delta. In this 
 voyage, about five leagues from Alexandria, they pass 
 
 ABOUKEER, the ancient CANOPUS. 
 
 The city of Canopus is said to have been built on an island, 
 standing at the mouth of a branch of the Nile, which took it’s 
 name from the city, and bounded the Delta on this side: but the 
 island is now a part of the main land, and the Canopic branch of 
 the Nile is choked up. A temple of Serapis stood here, that was 
 particularly famed; and great numbers of strangers were conti¬ 
 nually resorting to the city, to pay their devotions to the deity: 
 or rather, perhaps, to enjoy the pleasures of the place. This con¬ 
 course of visitors, who had nothing to do but to attend the rites 
 of an idol, and wealth enough to undertake a voyage for the 
 purpose, would naturally seek pleasure, and amusement for their 
 vacant hours. A city abounding with riches, in a country fertile 
 
FORT fc HARBOUR OF ABQUKIR, ANOENT CANOBUS. 
 
‘ 
 
 
41 
 
 to profusion, and in a genial clime, would offer no check to their 
 wishes. Thus the people of Canopus became notorious for the 
 luxury and dissoluteness of their manners, which were carried to 
 an unbounded pitch. The sources, however, that gave wealth to 
 the people, and fertility to their fields, have long been dried up; 
 and nothing remains of the city but ruins, which still display suf¬ 
 ficient vestiges of it’s ancient grandeur. 
 
 Aboukeer, which now occupies it’s site, is a small village, 
 inhabited by a few fishermen, and sailors who navigate the little 
 vessels of the country, too poor to furnish a traveller with bread, 
 or any other necessary, except a little fish. In front of the village 
 is a very good road, where the french fleet, that conveyed Bona¬ 
 parte and his army to Egypt, lay at anchor under the command 
 of admiral Brueys, when it was attacked by admiral Nelson, and 
 almost every ship that composed it taken or destroyed, only two 
 ships of the line and two frigates escaping. On the point of a 
 cape running out into the sea stood a paltry castle, in the centre 
 of which was a round tower, serving for a lighthouse. 
 
 The view we have given of this place represents it as it ap¬ 
 peared before the late expedition to Egypt. M^hen the french 
 attacked the turks here under Mustapha bashaw, many of the 
 houses, as well as the castle, were beaten into ruins by their can¬ 
 nons; and others were demolished to make room for the fortifica¬ 
 tions, which they erected in order to defend the place, when it 
 was in their possession. 
 
 M 
 
42 
 
 RASHID, or R.OSETTA. 
 
 .Near where Bolbkine formerly stood, is a populous modern 
 city, about two miles long, built in a tolerably handsome though 
 simple style, and not disfigured by ruins like Alexandria. It’s 
 arabic name of Rashid is commonly softened by europeans into 
 Rosetta, or Rossetta. It is the commercial depository between 
 Alexandria and Cairo, and of all places in Egypt the most agree¬ 
 able residence for a foreigner. Pleasantly situate on the border 
 of the Nile; commanding a prospect of two beautiful islands a 
 little below the town, and a fertile country on the opposite bank; 
 skirted on the north by fields covered with odoriferous flowers, 
 grateful fruits, and useful vegetables; the stranger may walk un¬ 
 molested through the streets abounding with well filled shops, or 
 into the delicious gardens that adjoin the city. It is perfectly 
 open, having no wall; and the houses are built more in the euro- 
 pean manner than those of the rest of Egypt, having a regular 
 succession of stories one above another. Many of the houses are 
 raised on a row of columns, a few feet in height, consisting of 
 fragments of ancient pillars of all sorts and kinds. Some of them 
 have no base, some no capital. Sometimes you will see the upper 
 parts of two pillars of different orders joined together, the inverted 
 capital of one of them serving as a base to the new made column; 
 and if either of them happen to have been fractured obliquely, the 
 modern architect, unequal to the task of reducing the surface to a le¬ 
 vel, has filled up the vacuity with pieces of stone or brick embedded 
 
43 
 
 in mortar. A little way within these columns a wall is carried up 
 to support the floor. This mode of building is not peculiar to 
 Rosetta, though more common there, than it is in most other 
 parts of Egypt. 
 
 The europeans settled here consist only of a few factors, and 
 a viceconsul or two, subordinate to the consuls at Cairo. Goods 
 are brought from Cairo to this place, and conveyed hence to 
 Cairo, in the vessels of the country: and the commercial inter¬ 
 course between this place and Alexandria is carried on in the same 
 manner, for no foreign ships are allowed to come hither. Indeed 
 the passage of the Bogaz, or mouth of the Nile, is obstructed by 
 a dangerous bar; on which the sea breaks heavily, if the wind 
 blow at all fresh, particularly to the northward; and which is 
 continually shifting, so that the pilots are obliged to be almost 
 always sounding, to find the channel. It is also too shallow to 
 admit any vessel that draws much water, though this is the deep¬ 
 est of the branches of the Nile, that communicate with the Me¬ 
 diterranean. 
 
 Beside the commodities it receives from Cairo, it transmits to 
 Alexandria others of it’s own. Striped and coarse linens are ma¬ 
 nufactured here in considerable quantity; and abundance of rice 
 of excellent quality is produced in the neighbourhood, much of 
 which is exported. 
 
 The castle of Rosetto, about two miles north of the town, is 
 scarcely worth mentioning as a fortress. It was a square build¬ 
 ing of brick cased with stone, with round towers at the corners of 
 it, and portholes near the bottom; but is now nearly demolished. 
 
44 
 
 
 Lewis IX of France, commonly called St. Lewis, is said by some 
 to have built it in the time of the croisades: others ascribe it to 
 Keyck bey, about four centuries ago. Most probably it was 
 erected in the time of the holy wars, and repaired, with the addi¬ 
 tion of portholes, by Keyck. Opposite to it was another castle, 
 intended in conjunction with it to defend the entrance of the 
 Nile. The city itself is without fortifications. 
 
 In this part of Egypt we have striking evidence of the im¬ 
 portance of an industrious population to the fertility of the land. 
 All the tract between the bolbitine branch of the Nile and what 
 was once the canopic formerly belonged to the Delta, abounded 
 with people, and was by no means inferiour in fruitfulness to any 
 other part of this most fertile portion of the country. War 
 and massacre, despotism and tyranny, fanaticism and ignorance, 
 thinned the numbers of the inhabitants, and palsied the industry 
 of those who were left. By degrees the fertile mould disappeared, 
 and gave way to barren sand; even the western arm of the river 
 itself was choked up, and converted in part into a stagnant salt¬ 
 water marsh; and the whole tract, with the land, once fruitful 
 likewise, that skirted it on the side of Lybia, is now almost an un¬ 
 inhabited desert, two spots excepted, Rosetta and Alexandria. 
 Here we still see the effects of industry amid the surrounding 
 waste. Such of the land near Alexandria as continues to be wa¬ 
 tered by it’s canal retains much of it’s ancient character: and the 
 immediate vicinity of Rosetta, the inhabitants of which are the 
 least fanatic, and the least exposed to the scourge of tyranny, of 
 any in Egypt, is a delicious garden. 
 
45 
 
 FOUA. 
 
 Farther up this branch of the Nile is Foua, near which is 
 supposed to have stood in ancient times the city of Metelis, cele- 
 biated for the female singers and dancers educated there, who 
 made it their profession to travel about, and exhibit their skill at 
 public festivals. Even in the present day most of the itinerants 
 of this description in Egypt come from Foua. 
 
 Here, as in other places, hieroglyphics have long ceased to 
 give any value to the stone on which they are cut, many fine 
 pieces of red granite insculptured with them appearing confounded 
 with others in the steps leading down to the river. See the plate. 
 
 CAIRO. 
 
 This city, the present metropolis of Egypt, is seated on the 
 eastern side of the Nile, a few miles before it begins to branch off 
 and form the Delta. It has been erroneously considered as of 
 vast extent, and containing an infinite number of inhabitants. In 
 it are commonly included three towns, Old Cairo, Cairo properly 
 so called, and Bulac, which are about a mile distant from each 
 other. 
 
 The ancient city, which seems to have succeeded to the 
 egyptian Babylon, and was built near it, was called Misr, the 
 old name of Egypt. It is now reduced to a small compass, not 
 being above two miles round; is the port for the boats, that come 
 
 N 
 
46 
 
 from upper Egypt to the capital; and some of the beys and other 
 principal inhabitants of Cairo have a sort of country houses in it, 
 to which they retire, when the Nile is at it’s height. There is 
 nothing in it worthy notice, except perhaps Joseph's granary, as it 
 is called, for the people here are inclined to ascribe every thing 
 extraordinary to Joseph. This is a large square, surrounded by 
 a wall, with several partitions, in which the corn brought from 
 different parts of Egypt, and paid as a tax to the grand sigmor, is 
 deposited. As this granary is entirely open at the top, the corn 
 is not only exposed to the weather, but to the depredations of the 
 pigeons and other birds, that feed on it unmolested, and leave 
 their dung in return for the grain they carry away. The doors 
 have only wooden fastenings; but the officers who have the charge 
 of the granary, after they shut a door, affix to it their seal on a 
 handful of clay, which they use instead of wax. This building, 
 notwithstanding it’s name, has no claim to antiquity. The walls 
 are modern, partly of freestone, but chiefly of bricks and clay, 
 such as are every day used at New Cairo. 
 
 Between Old and New Cairo another city was built, called 
 Kebaseh, which has been since destroyed, but it’s ruins are still 
 to be seen. 
 
 New Cairo stands about a mile from the river, and stretches 
 near two miles eastward to the mountains. It’s circumference is 
 about seven miles; though it is said to have been larger, when it 
 was the centre of trade from the East Indies. A wall of stone 
 surrounds it, on which are handsome battlements, and at the dis¬ 
 tance of every hundred paces very fine towers, capable of holding 
 
FKIHCIITPAL SQUARE IH G-RATTO CAIRO .WITH MUMP BEY'S FAX, ACE. 
 
•47 
 
 a great many people. This wall was never very high, and had 
 gone to ruin in many places, but the french repaired it as well as 
 they were able, while they were in possession of the place. In 
 it are three or four very grand gates, that were built by the ma- 
 malukes. The workmanship of them is very good, and, amid all 
 the simplicity of the architecture, every one must be struck with 
 the magnificence that appears in them. Of one of these we have 
 given a view, which will enable the reader to form a just idea of 
 their style. 
 
 The streets of Cairo are narrow, irregular, unpaved, and al¬ 
 most destitute of beauty. The houses are generally built round a 
 court, toward which they make the best appearance, in the out¬ 
 side facing the street nothing but use being considered, and all 
 their ornament being reserved for the saloons within. Unlike the 
 european, who is desirous of rendering the appearance of his man¬ 
 sion pleasing to others, the jealous and selfish mussulman would 
 keep all his pleasures to himself, and gratify no eyes but his own. 
 His outer wall, built below of stone, and above with a sort of 
 framework, sometimes filled up with unburned bricks, and having 
 no windows, or a few placed without order, can afford no agree¬ 
 able object to the passenger, of whom he is perfectly regardless. 
 
 Though the streets of Cairo are narrow, it is not without some 
 squares, which are large irregular places, partaking of the general 
 character of the city, except that they are spacious. The view of 
 the great square exhibits no unfavourable picture of them, when 
 the waters of the Nile, with which the ground was covered dur¬ 
 ing the inundation, have retired, and given place to a cheerful 
 
48 
 
 verdure, not yet parched up by the sun. On the left may be 
 distinguished the house of Murad bey, of whom we shall have 
 occasion to speak hereafter. 
 
 There are in Cairo several magnificent mosques, which, though 
 they do not possess the elegance of grecian architecture, are no 
 unimportant ornaments to a city so little embellished. Sultan 
 Hassen’s, built at the foot of the castle hill, is very lofty, of an 
 oblong square figure, crowned with a cornice all round, that pro¬ 
 jects a great way, and is adorned with a particular sort of grotesque 
 carvings after the turkish manner. The entrance into it is very 
 finely inlaid with several sorts of marble, and carved in a similar 
 manner at top. Several steps formed the ascent to it; but these 
 have been broken down, and the door walled up, because the 
 rebels often took shelter there in times of insurrection. What has 
 given particular celebrity to the mosque of Four Hundred Pillars 
 is sufficiently marked by it's name. But the views given of dif¬ 
 ferent mosques in this work will convey a more adequate idea of 
 their style, than any description. 
 
 The castle of Cairo stands on a rocky hill, which seems to have 
 been separated by art from the neighbouring mountain, Jibbel 
 Duue ; and which is called Jibbel Mocattem, or the Cut Moun¬ 
 tain, more probably on this account, than because there is a way 
 up to the castle cut in the rock. It resembles a small town 
 walled all round, but is so commanded by the hill to the east, 
 that it would be little capable of defence since the invention of 
 cannon, were it kept in much better repair than it is. At the 
 west of the castle are remains of very grand apartments; some of 
 
Josephs Haul, nr the Castile of Caiko. 
 
49 
 
 them covered with domes, and decorated with paintings, gildings, 
 arabic inscriptions, and representations of trees and houses in 
 mosaic; once belonging no doubt to the ancient sultans. This 
 part of the castle is now used only for weaving, embroidering, and 
 preparing the hangings, or coverings, sent every year to the tem¬ 
 ple of Mecca. 
 
 Above this is a higher ground to the east, near the grand 
 saloon commonly called Joseph’s hall, whence there is a fine 
 prospect of Cairo, the pyramids, and all the country round. This 
 ground was probably a terrace to that magnificent room, which is 
 now all open, except on the south side, and is adorned with very 
 large and beautiful pillars of red granite, little inferiour in magni¬ 
 tude to those of the Rotunda at Rome. 
 
 To procure a supply of water must always have been essen¬ 
 tial to the defence of the castle, and for this a well, which has not 
 perhaps it’s equal, has been cut through the rock. The mouth 
 of this well is a parallelogram four and twenty feet long, and 
 eighteen feet wide. Round it is cut a staircase six feet wide, and 
 nine feet high, separated from the well by a partition left of the 
 native rock only six inches in thickness, with apertures at certain 
 distances to admit light. At the depth of a hundred and forty 
 six feet is a reservoir; and from this the water is drawn up by two 
 oxen, turning a wheel, round which passes a rope carrying a 
 number of earthen pitchers. At this depth is a platform, with a 
 second wheel, to which two oxen descend by the staircase already 
 mentioned, the steps being covered with earth for the purpose: and 
 
 these oxen draw the water up to the reservoir in a similar manner 
 
 o 
 
50 
 
 from the spring, which is at the bottom of a second well, a hun¬ 
 dred and thirty feet deep, and containing about nine or ten feet of 
 water. This second well is less than the former, it’s opening being 
 only fifteen feet long, by nine broad. There is a descent to the bot¬ 
 tom of this likewise by steps cut round it; but these are only three 
 feet and half broad, and have no partition between them and the 
 well, and the roof is only six feet high. The water of this well, 
 being drawn up from the subterranean reservoir to another at the 
 surface, is distributed all over the castle by a multitude of pipes; 
 but as it is brackish, it is employed only tor ordinary purposes, a 
 sufficient supply of the water of the Nile being brought by an aque¬ 
 duct from Old Cairo: though if this were cut off by an enemy, 
 the well would be a valuable resource to a besieged garrison. 
 
 In the city of Cairo are several baths, some of them very 
 handsome within; and these are much frequented, not only on 
 account of the religion of the mohammedans, which enjoins fre¬ 
 quent ablutions, but as they are extremely agreeable in such a 
 climate. There are some baths devoted entirely to the use of the 
 women; and in such as are common to both sexes it is usual to 
 set apart certain times for their admission, during which men are 
 strictly excluded. The women are particularly fond of them, and 
 commonly spend the greater part of the day at the bath once or 
 twice a week, being glad of a pretence to escape from their con¬ 
 finement, and exhibit their finery, or gossip with one another. 
 This is an enjoyment, however, of which the wives of the great 
 are deprived, for their husbands take care to have baths fitted up 
 for them in their own houses. 
 

EGJTTMW AMIBQ>TOTIKS IIS' THE VjESTIBTIIiME OIF ACOUISTKYJHOPajB AT BlTJLAC. 
 
51 
 
 Here are likewise many spacious and handsome coffee-houses, 
 the tops of which have several apertures, which keep them very 
 cool. They will very conveniently hold some hundreds of per¬ 
 sons, but they are frequented by few but the common people, 
 many of whom spend the greater part of the night in them. 
 
 Bulac is the port of Cairo. Built for the accommodation of 
 the vessels that come np the Nile, it stretches along it’s bank to 
 some distance, and exhibits all the hurry and bustle of trade. As 
 it is a more healthy and pleasant residence than Cairo itself, it 
 seems natural that it should have been preferred by europeans, 
 who settle here for the sake of commerce. But whether they 
 chose to fix themselves at Cairo, in order to be more immediately 
 under the protection of the government; or whether the bashaw 
 thought proper to keep them more under his eye, and in his 
 power; they live at Cairo, and have their warehouses in that city; 
 where a street is appropriated to their use, closed at one end by 
 gates, and at the other terminating in a handsome garden, in 
 which they can enjoy a little air and exercise, when they wish to 
 avoid the haughty mamaluke or surly turk, or when the plague 
 induces them to seclude themselves from all intercourse with the 
 rest of the city. 
 
 The trade carried on at Cairo is certainly very considerable. 
 We are informed, that the amount of the goods entered at the 
 custom-house in 1783 was between six and seven millions sterling. 
 The rice, corn, flax, and coffee exported, were valued at nearly 
 two millions; beside the drugs, spices, cotton, leather, and other 
 commodities. 
 
52 
 
 The population of Cairo has been estimated at two millions, 
 but this may be considered as greatly beyond the truth; though 
 it is positively affirmed, that seven thousand have died in one 
 day of the plague; and of this they say they can make an exact 
 computation, from the number of biers that are hired to carry out 
 the dead. We may justly reckon it, however, to be a very popu¬ 
 lous place; for in general several families live in one house, and 
 a number of persons in each chamber of it; and during the busy 
 time of the day all the streets are so crowded with people, that it 
 is difficult enough to pass through them. 
 
 In the middle of the river, between Old Cairo and Geeza, is 
 the island of Rhoda, in which stands the Nilometer, already de¬ 
 scribed in this work. Almost all the island is divided into gai- 
 dens, the cultivators of which are it s only inhabitants. 
 
 The views which JMr. Mayer has drawn of different parts of 
 the metropolis, of Alexandria, of Rosetta, and of Aboukeer, give 
 a lively representation of the general style of building in the towns 
 of Egypt; but the series would be imperfect, were the village ex¬ 
 cluded. Those of Kafr Radoin, and Ned Sili, situate on the banks of 
 the Nile between Cairo and Rosetta, with some others, will suffici¬ 
 ently display it’s rural architecture, while the appearance of the 
 country itself is faithfully exhibited in a great many of the plates. 
 In general the rustic habitations of the egyptians are slight, so that 
 the loss of them is easily repaired, when they are carried away by 
 the Nile, which sometimes happens. For though the current of 
 this river is not in general very rapid, it occasionally undermines 
 it’s banks, till at length they sink into the stream, with the houses, 
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
53 
 
 tiees, and every thing on them. The mould and sand, being 
 washed away, are deposited in some place where the current 
 slackens, extending the limits of the shore, or giving rise to new 
 islands, destined perhaps on some future occasion to be removed 
 in a similar manner, and transferred to a different situation. Such 
 occurrences happening before our eyes in the present day cer¬ 
 tainly tend to confirm the opinion, that the Delta itself is an an¬ 
 cient gift of the Nile. 
 
 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &c. 
 
 The ancient government of Egypt, at least in the time of the 
 pharaohs, which is as far back as we are able to trace it, bore a 
 striking resemblance to our own. To use the words of Dr. Ru¬ 
 therford, whose able investigation of it is eloquently delivered in 
 the true spirit of history, ‘ it was not despotic; it was indeed truly 
 monarchical, from the principle and form of it's constitution; and 
 it is the single government of all antiquity, which corresponds to 
 our idea of monarchy. Limits were set to the royal power by the 
 laws; the order of succession was regulated; the king had not the 
 right of judging or pronouncing sentence in any civil cause; the 
 administration of justice was confined to a particular body, whose 
 credit could counterbalance all the authority of the pharaohs. 
 Thus, to use the language of Montesquieu, the powers were di¬ 
 vided. The judicial power was separated from royalty. Thirty 
 judges formed the august tribunal, which decided concerning the 
 lives and fortunes of the people. They had fixed revenues, and 
 
 P 
 
54 
 
 held their offices for life, which rendered them independent of the 
 prince. These judges took a solemn oath at their installation, 
 that they would disobey the king, in case he should order them 
 to pronounce an unjust sentence. Beside this college of thirty, 
 which resided at Thebes, particular magistrates in the towns de¬ 
 cided in certain causes. The monarch did not even tax his sub¬ 
 jects without their consent. The provinces sent, from time to 
 time, deputies, who met in the labyrinths, to determine all affairs 
 of state. Their manner of administering justice had something in 
 it august and sacred, and gives us the idea of a grave but a just 
 people. No advocate appeared at the tribunal. Eloquence was 
 not permitted to dazzle and deceive. The whole process was com¬ 
 mitted to writing. The president wore about his neck a figure 
 without eyes, representing truth: he touched with this emblem 
 the head of the party in whose favour the determination was 
 made. 
 
 ‘ In consequence of the limited monarchy that was established 
 in Egypt, we find a greater regard paid to the rights of the sub¬ 
 ject, than was known or imagined in the oriental empires. The 
 two great objects of government, security to the property and the 
 lives of the citizens, were maintained by the laws. We have 
 already described the administration of justice. The person of the 
 subject also was protected. A reverence was shown to the natural 
 rights of man. Human blood was respected. Pecuniary com¬ 
 pensations for murder, which mark a certain stage of society be¬ 
 tween barbarity and refinement, were unknown in Egypt. The 
 lives of all the subjects were equally secured. Murder was pu- 
 
55 
 
 nished with death, without respect to person or dignity; but a 
 fair trial always preceded the sentence. The summary decisions 
 of despotic government were unknown. The pannel was ac¬ 
 quitted or condemned according to the laws. 
 
 ‘ The sacred records, which, in every particular that regards 
 Egypt, correspond with the best information from classical anti¬ 
 quity, confirm these accounts. Joseph, a hebrew slave, is ac¬ 
 cused of having offered the most outrageous and provoking affront 
 to his master, one of the greatest lords in the court of the pharaoh. 
 His lord did not doom him to instant death, as an eastern despot 
 would have done; he sent him to the common prison, that he 
 might be tried according to the laws.’ 
 
 Such was the government of Egypt during it’s most flourish¬ 
 ing state. It has since varied with the different revolutions the 
 country has undergone, though always more or less despotic, till 
 at length it has sunk into a condition, than which a worse is not 
 easy to be conceived; and the country, as well as it’s inhabitants, 
 has participated it’s decline. 
 
 When' Selim I conquered Egypt in 1517, he sent a bashaw 
 to govern it as his lieutenant. At the same time fearing this vice¬ 
 roy would soon assume independauce, if he left him in possession 
 of uncontrolled authority, he appointed twenty-four beys from 
 among such of the mamalukes as he had not exterminated. These 
 were to govern the provinces independently of the bashaw, to 
 command the troops, and to form a divan or council of state. One 
 of their number was to conduct the caravan to Mecca, one to con¬ 
 vey the tribute to Constantinople, and one was to be elected sheik 
 
56 
 
 el belled, but subject to the confirmation of the bashaw. This 
 sheik el belled was to be considered as the chief of the republic, 
 as Selim styled it; and to represent it’s grievances to the Porte, if 
 any act of oppression were committed by the bashaw, whose au¬ 
 thority the beys were commissioned to suspend on such occasions. 
 Thus holding the bashaw in check at their first establishment, en- 
 joying despotic power themselves, and employing the greater part 
 of the wealth they acquired or extorted in maintaining a retinue of 
 slaves, trained to the exercise of arms, and well mounted and ac¬ 
 coutred, it was no wonder the sultan’s viceroy sunk into a mere 
 phantom of a governor, while the ambitious beys contended among 
 themselves for the real sovereignty. 
 
 Accordingly these beys, of whom however there was seldom 
 the full complement, were perpetually involved in broils with 
 each other; parties were formed, battles fought, and it was happy 
 for the people, when one possessed sufficient strength to acquire 
 the supreme power, and hold it without a rival. Still each of the 
 beys, whether residing in the metropolis as a joint or subordinate 
 ruler, or wandering about the country expelled from it by a suc¬ 
 cessful antagonist, exercised the most unlimited authority over the 
 people; and a train of inferiour officers acted with equal despotism 
 in their respective departments. There are perhaps four hundred 
 inhabitants in Cairo, says Mr. Bruce, who have absolute power, 
 and administer what they call justice, in their own way, and ac¬ 
 cording to their own views: but a more brutal, unjust, tyrannical, 
 oppressive, avaricious set of infernal miscreants there is not on 
 Earth, than are the members of the government of Cairo. 
 
57 
 
 Of the religion of the ancient egyptians our knowledge is ob¬ 
 scure and imperfect. The traditional notions handed down from 
 our first progenitors, occasionally misconceived from the natural 
 imperfections of language, and blended with discoveries in arts 
 and sciences as they arose, probably formed its basis, as of pagan¬ 
 ism in general, d he hieroglyphical writing of the egyptians must 
 have been a prolific source of corruption. Whether the philoso¬ 
 pher, aware that sounds are in themselves no adequate represen¬ 
 tatives of visible objects, invented this symbolical language, to 
 depict things with more precision, and thus, as he imagined, secure 
 them from being misconceived: or the priest, the depositary of 
 all knowledge, framed it to conceal what he knew from the vul¬ 
 gar; though the abundance of hieroglyphical writings, every where 
 exposed to public view, seems to favour the former opinion: they 
 were probably soon misunderstood, the mind resting on the sym¬ 
 bol, or, not contented with the obvious signification, rushing be¬ 
 yond it, and losing itself in the unfathomable sea of mystery. 
 Hence in process of time arose a multifarious mass of mythology, 
 in which the celestial bodies, the powers of nature, the pheno¬ 
 mena peculiar to the country, and the traditions of the creation 
 of the world, were jumbled together, and blended with the wor¬ 
 ship of animals, which the philosopher having first taught men to 
 spare, for the benefits they did, the mystagogue at length exalted 
 to the rank of gods. Nay even some of the tribe of vegetables 
 were considered as a sort of divinities; and the satirist of other 
 heathen nations, in which deities were sufficiently abundant, could 
 ridicule the egyptians for the multitude they adored. Many of 
 
 Q 
 
58 
 
 these, however, were local deities merely: this city was famous 
 for the worship of one animal, that for the worship of another; 
 and the people of one village treated with contempt, what those 
 of a neighbouring village held sacred. 
 
 We have already observed, that Christianity soon took root in 
 grecian Egypt, where it quickly flourished, but soon corrupted as 
 it spread. The verbal disputes that arose, and ultimately produced 
 scenes disgraceful to humanity from a source calculated to exalt 
 human nature to it’s highest pitch of perfection, were not all it 
 had to lament. Among the egyptians, previously addicted to a 
 life of contemplation, seclusion, and pious indolence, monachism 
 soon spread wide, with it’s unnatural and unholy vows of celibacy, 
 idleness, and poverty; certainly far from beneficial to the general 
 morals of those sects by which it has been cherished, and even in 
 the present day not extinguished in some of the enlightened na¬ 
 tions, as they are called, of Europe. The city of Oxyrinchus so 
 abounded with monasteries, that the greater number of it’s inha¬ 
 bitants we are told consisted of monks, and the deserts of the 
 Thebaid were peopled with anchorites. 
 
 The copts, or present natives of Egypt, still profess Christi¬ 
 anity; of which, descended to them through this polluted channel, 
 they know little but the name; their monkish priests themselves 
 being almost as ignorant as the vulgar. But this is not to be 
 considered as the established religion of the country, though the 
 copts are indulged in it’s exercise by their mohammedan con¬ 
 querors, who introduced islamism; which is the faith of those 
 who have the law in their hands, as well as of the arabs that 
 
59 
 
 wander about the deserts, or cultivate the fields on which they are 
 settled as farmers. 
 
 The population of Egypt is estimated at four millions of peo¬ 
 ple. Consisting of a mixture of turks, mamalukes, arabs, and copts, 
 each of these races has it’s peculiarities, though the general man¬ 
 ners of the east are more or less common to them all. The turks, 
 who at least claim the title of masters of Egypt, are chiefly to be 
 met with at Cairo, Alexandria, Rosetta, and Damietta, either as sol¬ 
 diers, or in religious employments. They have little authority, how¬ 
 ever, and the janizaries themselves, without discipline and without 
 spirit, are as much afraid of the mamalukes as any others of the 
 people. This may be one reason, perhaps, why they are much 
 more insolent than the arabs to europeans, against whom they are 
 early taught to conceive an antipathy, for their mothers employ 
 the term european as a bugbear to frighten them when infants. 
 By the arabs they are looked on with no friendly eye; and such of 
 them as make the pilgrimage to Mecca with the caravans are 
 exposed to be plundered and ill treated by them, after they have 
 left Cairo. 
 
 The mamalukes, who are the real governors of Egypt, are a 
 body of slaves. Torn from their native country; strangers to the 
 ties of parental affection, for they have been most of them sold by 
 their own parents, and have seldom any offspring of their own; 
 bred up in the most infamous practices, and surrounded by the 
 vilest examples; no wonder that they deserve in general the cha¬ 
 racter Mr. Bruce has given them. Not but that some among 
 them possess good qualities, and even virtues of a certain class: 
 
6o 
 
 and perhaps it affords one of the strongest proofs of the radical 
 excellence of human nature, that these should occasionally appear 
 among a set of men, whose education, as well as all the circum¬ 
 stances amid which they are placed, tends in almost every way 
 to corrupt the mind, and deprave the heart. Many of these were 
 born of Christian parents, and a few among them are negroes: 
 but all have been brought hither from a foreign country as slaves, 
 and purchased in the market by some bey, who was once himself 
 a mamaluke. Whatever the boy may have been, as soon as he 
 is brought into the house of the bey, he is initiated into the faith 
 of his master by circumcision, taught to manage a horse, and in¬ 
 structed in the use of arms, chiefly the javelin and the scymetar. 
 To excel in these, and to pay implicit obedience to his master, 
 who has early made him acquainted with a vice, from the very 
 mention of which every one who deserves the name of man turns 
 with abhorrence, are the only objects of his regard; and by their 
 means he may hope to reach the height of power. When of a 
 proper age, and sufficiently expert in his exercises, the young 
 mamaluke considers himself as a soldier, a title he does not allow 
 to the turk who fights on foot; and never appears abroad but on 
 horseback, a privilege confined almost to himself, for on the horse 
 the Christian is forbidden to ride, and even the wealthy mussul- 
 man merchant or priest contents himself with the ass or mule. 
 
 The mamaluke who is so fortunate as to please his master 
 may expect, to be soon provided with some post, whence he is 
 promoted in proportion to the power and interest his patron pos¬ 
 sesses, till at length he is created a bey himself. As all power 
 

 
 
 
 
 
6t 
 
 here depends upon the strength a man has at command, each of 
 the beys is eager to purchase as many of these slaves as he can 
 maintain, and put them into posts where they may acquire the 
 means of procuring similar followers for themselves, that he may 
 enlarge the number of his partisans, and thus obtain the sove¬ 
 reignty over his fellow beys, or at least preserve an equal share 
 of authority, without being overborn by a superiour. In this con¬ 
 test for power battles are often fought; and he who can bring the 
 most followers into the field, or whose adherents are the bravest 
 and most expert in the use of their weapons, generally expels his 
 rival from the metropolis, if he do not deprive him of his life. 
 
 This martial retinue is happily very expensive, a circumstance 
 which tends to diminish the number of tyrants. The dress of the 
 mamalukes consists of a wide shirt of yellowish cotton, over which 
 is a gown of india linen, or some of the light stuffs of Damascus 
 or Aleppo. This gown is covered by the caftan, usually made of 
 some finer stuff, or silk, and having sleeves that reach down to the 
 ends of the fingers. These garments are fastened by a sash, that 
 divides them into two bundles. Over all these is worn the jouba, a 
 sort of coat nearly similar in shape to the former, only the sleeves 
 are cut at the elbow. This is made of cloth, sometimes without 
 lining, at other times lined throughout with fur, even in summer. 
 The benish, or robe of ceremony, is put over this, and so completely 
 covers the wearer, that even the ends of his fingers are not to be 
 seen. Out of this sack are thrust a bare neck, and a bald head 
 covered with a yellow turban, which has a roll of muslin artfully 
 folded up round it’s lower border. To complete this cumbersome 
 
 R 
 
6 2 
 
 attire, they wear a kind of trowsers long enough to reach Up to 
 the chin, and so large that each of the legs is hig enough to con¬ 
 tain a man’s body. That they may not be totally incapacitated 
 for walking, all the loose parts of their dress are bound up by a 
 , sash. 
 
 The accoutrements of their horses are little less clumsy. On 
 the back part of the saddle is a trussequin about eight inches in 
 height, and in front the pommel rises four or five inches. Instead 
 of a stuffed frame three thick woollen cloths are placed under the 
 saddle, the whole being tied with a surcingle, which is not fastened 
 by a buckle, but by leathern thongs tied in very complicated knots ( 
 and liable to slip. The stirrups are made of copper, frequently 
 gilt, longer and wider than the foot, having circular borders, an 
 inch high in the middle, and the edge terminating posteriourly in 
 a sharp point, which is used instead of a spur. These stirrups 
 never weigh less than nine or ten pounds, and often thirteen or 
 more, while the saddle and it’s other accessories are not less than 
 five and twenty. Their principal weapon is the scymetar, the 
 blade of which is at least thirty inches long, though it is so much 
 curved, that it measures but two feet in a straight line from hilt to 
 point. This is slung in a shoulder-belt, richly adorned with gold 
 and silver. They have likewise an english blunderbuss, about 
 thirty inches long, and capable of discharging ten or a dozen balls 
 at a time; and sometimes they carry a heavy mace at their saddle 
 bow, beside a brace of large pistols stuck in their sash. 
 
 Every return of the fast of Ramadan their masters must give 
 them a new suit of clothes; and they frequently require fresh 
 
03 
 
 horses* or furniture for them. Thus there is not one of them who 
 does not cost above a hundred pounds a year, and many of them 
 above two hundred. 
 
 It is a singular circumstance, that for a series of ages a set of 
 men in power should never have attempted to leave their wealth 
 and dignity to their own offspring, in preference to a stranger, to 
 a slave they have bought. It is true the beys rarely have chil¬ 
 dren, and if they have any they seldom live; both which circum¬ 
 stances are probably owing to their prostitution from early youth: 
 but whatever number of children a bey may leave behind him 
 when he dies, his hasnadar, or treasurer, who is the chief of his 
 domestic officers, chosen by the bey from among his mamalukes, 
 and governs his whole household, marries his wife, and inherits 
 his dignity and fortune. 
 
 Of the arabs, who are reckoned to constitute two thirds of the 
 population of Egypt, there are different tribes, but they are com¬ 
 monly distinguished by their mode of life into two classes; the 
 fellahs, who are inhabitants of the villages; and the bedoweens, or 
 wandering arabs, who dwell in tents. The fellahs having fixed 
 habitations, and a more settled intercourse with the other people 
 of the country, have in some measure adopted the manners of 
 those about them; but the bedoweens remain the same as they were 
 in remote ages. Roaming the deserts in quest of pasture for their 
 sheep and camels, they have an invincible aversion to constraint, 
 and consider the inhabitants of cities as buried alive. They hold 
 themselves the sovereigns of the barren districts over which they 
 wander, and think they have consequently a right to exact an 
 
64 
 
 arbitrary toll from those who pass through it, if they do not esteem 
 the property of all who enter upon their territory as confiscated. 
 This the traveller styles robbery; and to avoid it he arms himself, 
 associates with others, and a numerous caravan is formed. The 
 bedoween chief, conceiving himself thus defrauded of his dues, 
 assembles his tribe; and, if he be strong enough, attacks the cara¬ 
 van openly; if too weak, endeavours to surprise it, cut off some 
 of the stragglers, or carry off a part of it’s camels by night. To 
 pursue a regular commerce in such a mode, however, exposes the 
 merchant to hazards he would willingly avoid, and to free him¬ 
 self from which he agrees to pay a certain tribute. But perhaps 
 the love of gain prompts him to endeavour to evade what he 
 deems an imposition, the arab finds the compact infringed, fresh 
 feuds arise, and a state of warfare commences, terminating in a 
 new accommodation. 
 
 In this manner the principal part of the trade of Egypt is car¬ 
 ried on. Every year two caravans arrive at Cairo from the south 
 and western parts of Africa, bringing slaves, gum, ivory, gold- 
 dust, ostrich feathers, ebony, civet, musk, the leathern thongs used 
 for giving the bastinado, leathern water-bags, parrots, and mon¬ 
 keys. That from the south consists of nubians, the other of jalofs. 
 A third caravan comes from Morocco with pilgrims for Mecca, 
 who pass through Cairo. 
 
 That the bedoweens are addicted to plunder, whenever a fa¬ 
 vourable opportunity offers, is not to be denied; but they are 
 certainly capable of executing with fidelity any engagement into 
 which they enter, they hold the laws of hospitality sacred, and 
 
65 
 
 they have been known to succour and convey to the place of their 
 destination those whom they have robbed. There is an oriental 
 proverb, which says, the people of Aleppo are splendid, those of 
 Syria are sordid, the egyptians are thieves, and the hindoos are 
 the favourites of God. To which of the different races that inhabit 
 this particularly applies, we know not, or whether it be 
 common to them all. It should seem the latter, according to a 
 celebrated traveller of Florence, abate Sestini, who observes; ‘ the 
 climate of this country, though esteemed the best in the world, 
 has both a moral and physical influence on the inhabitants; so 
 that, without disparagement to the probity of any particular per¬ 
 son, Egypt may be styled a den of thieves.’ Possibly, however, 
 the oriental proverb is of no very ancient date, and this characte¬ 
 ristic may be less ascribable to the climate, than to the government, 
 of which we have already spoken, and of which the same italian 
 writer says: ‘ when a government once good arrives at a certain 
 pitch of depravity, it’s annihilation must ensue, and probably the 
 period is not far distant, in which this country will experience a 
 great revolution.’ It may not be amiss to observe, that this pre¬ 
 diction was published above thirteen years ago. 
 
 The hospitality of the arabs has always been a subject of praise, 
 and is a virtue still practised among them, in common with all peo¬ 
 ple whose life approaches to the state of nature. The civilities they 
 show the passenger, and the invitations he receives to whatever 
 they may have to bestow, are no unwelcome circumstances of his 
 journey; though in a country where villages are thinly scattered, 
 
 and the peasant has seldom much beyond a bare sufficiency of 
 
 s 
 
66 
 
 coarse food, the traveller can place little reliance on this for his 
 accommodation or subsistence. 
 
 It has been remarked, that the people of Egypt are never 
 truly gay, yet tlicy ar'e by no means without their festivities. The 
 view of a ball at Ned Sili will give a just idea of their mode of 
 dancing, and instruments of music; and the fair at Kafr Raduan 
 is curious, as a delineation of their manners on such occasions. 
 These fairs are commonly held once a year, and continue a month. 
 As the Savoyard in Europe, so here the native of Yemen travels 
 about with the docile ape of his countiy, taught to exhibit a thou¬ 
 sand antics for the amusement of the populace, and to gain a live¬ 
 lihood for his master. 
 
 The coffee-houses of the city, where the mussulman, squatting 
 in silence on the floor on his mat, slowly inhales the fume of to¬ 
 bacco through his long pipe, or sups a simple decoction of pounded 
 coffee without milk or sugar, would be dull indeed, were they not 
 occasionally enlivened by different amusements. Among these 
 the itinerant orator holds a distinguished place. Some poor scho¬ 
 lar usually visits them at stated hours, reciting sometimes the il¬ 
 lustrious deeds of Antar, an arabian hero, who lived before Mo¬ 
 hammed, of Rustam Zaul, the persian, or of Bibars, king of Egypt: 
 and sometimes the comical adventures of Bahluldahn, the buffoon 
 of the celebrated khalif Haroun al Rashid, in which excellent mo¬ 
 rals are often pointedly inculcated. The skilful orator walks 
 about as he recites, suiting his action in a lively manner to his 
 discourse; and occasionally delivers tales or fables of his own com¬ 
 position. When he has finished, he collects his remuneration 
 

6j 
 
 fiom the company; and as this will commonly be proportionate 
 to the skill of his performance, he has another incentive to excel, 
 in addition to the desire of fame. They have likewise vocal and 
 instrumental music, puppetshows, the magic lantern, and other 
 diversions. 
 
 While the men have their coffee-houses, the women in Egypt, 
 as we have already observed, have their baths, where they enjoy 
 some degree of emancipation from the secluded state, in which 
 they are kept by their domestic tyrants. In some respects indeed 
 they enjoy advantages over the men. They are not exposed like 
 the men to be plundered and ill treated by the great. All their 
 clothes and jewels are their own property, over which the husband 
 has no power. They may inherit land, as well as the men, and 
 receive possession of it on paying a fine to the government, from 
 which none are exempt: and as the public opinion is favourable 
 to them, their property is in general more respected, and they 
 are treated with more equity. Their complaints likewise are heard 
 with far more patience, though sometimes, when they imagine 
 any injustice is done them, carried to intemperance. 
 
 That the dissipation of the higher classes, in countries arrived 
 at a certain pitch of luxury, should stifle the sentiments of nature, 
 need not excite our wonder; but it is remarkable, that, even among 
 the arabs of the desert, some of the wives of the more opulent do 
 not suckle their own children, but employ wet-nurses. 
 
 The manner in which the egyptian women carry their chil¬ 
 dren, is calculated to excite astonishment in a european spectator. 
 An infant not more than a year or two old, perfectly naked, as 
 
68 
 
 they are all, both boys and girls, till they are twelve or fourteen 
 years of age, sits on one of the mother s shoulders, and preserves 
 it’s seat by grasping it’s parent’s head. Thus the woman takes it 
 constantly about with her, on whatever she may be employed. 
 Even when washing her clothes at the river’s side, as, kneeling on 
 a stone, she bends over the water in which both her hands are 
 busily rubbing them, the child clings to her head like a little ape; 
 having nothing to secure it from falling into the stream, if it 
 should let go it’s hold. 
 
 Where the best means of accomplishing our purposes are 
 wanting, frequently simple yet ingenious methods suggest them¬ 
 selves to the uncultivated mind. By night the arab, like Shak- 
 speare’s waggoner, reads the hours in the position of the stars; but 
 in the day he measures the length of his shadow, making proper 
 allowances for the season of the year. Thus, at the summer sol¬ 
 stice, when his shadow extends the length of one of his feet from 
 the vertical point, it is noon; and when eight feet, it is midway 
 between noon and sunset or sunrise: but in the winter the sha¬ 
 dow at noon extends nine feet, and so in proportion. 
 
 For navigating or crossing the Nile boats of various sizes are 
 used, but these are not always at command. Different expedients 
 are then employed. Two men will place themselves on a truss 
 of straw: the foremost holds in one hand the tail of a cow swim¬ 
 ming before it, and guides the animal by a rope fastened to her 
 horns, while the other steers this temporary boat with an oar. But 
 perhaps neither cow nor straw is at hand: a large log of wood then 
 answers the purpose, on which they get astride, after tying their 
 
11 
 
6g 
 
 clothes in a bundle on their heads, and paddle it along with their 
 hands. Even this is not necessary. The gardener going to mar¬ 
 ket will frequently fasten his load of melons and other vegetables 
 together with wisps of straw, and thus let it float behind him, 
 while he swims over the river, and draws it along by means of 
 a rope fastened to a coarse cloth, that goes round his breast; his 
 clothes being bound upon his head, as in the former instance. 
 When loaded camels are to pass the river, they are tied in a string, 
 one to the tail of another; a man swimming before holds in his 
 mouth the bridle of the first camel; and another man, sitting on 
 a truss of straw, brings up the rear, and sees that the rest follow 
 in order. 
 
 The dealers in earthen jars likewise dispense with the use of 
 boats. To convey these down the Nile, from the places where 
 they are fabricated, to Cairo and the Delta, they bind a number 
 of them together in a triangular form, and fasten on the top of this 
 float a deck of palm branches. Here the owner sits, and rows 
 with a pair of oars, or drives with the current, till he arrives at 
 the place of his destination; then he unties his raft, disposes of his 
 jars, and makes the best of his way home with the money, or with 
 the necessaries he purchases, which he carries on his back. Some¬ 
 times these rafts are made larger, two or three joining their wares 
 together; and not unfrequently the men are provided with nets, 
 resembling our casting nets, with which they catch fish on their 
 passage. In the use of these they are very adroit, one man, stand¬ 
 ing at the point or head of the triangular raft, throws in his net; 
 as he draws it out, two others, at the opposite corners, throw in 
 
 T 
 
7 o 
 
 theirs; and this they repeat in perfect time with surprising regu¬ 
 larity. In carrying the materials, making the pots, and convey¬ 
 ing them to market, two thousand men are said to find employ¬ 
 ment. 
 
 There are several kinds of fish in this river, among which a 
 large variety of the sprat is very plentiful, and there are a few that 
 are not known elsewhere. Of these some are very good eating, 
 and others are used as food only by the common people, who 
 scarcely ever taste any other sort of animal diet. The arabs, in¬ 
 deed, are very fond of locusts, which they broil; and sometimes 
 considerable flights of these are brought even to Cairo by the winds 
 blowing from the desert. When they have large quantities, they 
 boil them slightly, and dry many of them on the tops of their 
 houses, to keep; the rest they eat fresh with a little salt. The 
 chief food of the common people, however, is a kind of heavy 
 bread, made of coarse flower of the dourra, a plant of the grass 
 tribe, which yields an abundant increase, but the seeds are small, 
 nearly as those of millet. The peasant sows wheat, it is true, but 
 it is a luxury he does not taste; and the barley, that grows in his 
 fields, is appropriated to the use of the horse, of which it is the 
 common food. The date palm, the most common tree in Egypt, 
 affords another article of diet, which is particularly useful in long 
 journeys. It’s fruit, pounded and kneaded together, is formed 
 into large solid cakes, and dried. Pieces of these, which are so 
 hard they must be cut with a hatchet, make, when diluted with 
 water, a refreshing and nutritious beverage. The sugar-cane grows 
 in Egypt, and sugar is made from it, some of which is of a pretty 
 
7 1 
 
 good quality; but the greater part of it is eaten green, chiefly by 
 the common people and women, who are very fond of it; and in 
 this state it is sold, tied up in little bundles, in all the cities. 
 
 A common culinary vegetable in Egypt is the lablab, a legu¬ 
 minous plant, of which arbours are frequently formed, as it may 
 be trained in any manner like our scarlet bean. The common 
 mallow, too, is cultivated for the use of the kitchen, being more 
 usually boiled with meat in lower Egypt than any other vegetable; 
 and two other plants of a more mucilaginous nature, resembling 
 the marsh mallow, are equally employed as food. 
 
 The gardens of Egypt abound with pleasant fruits. The 
 banana, custard-apple, pomegranate, orange, lemon, tamarind, 
 grape, fig, melon, apricot, and olive, are found in them; beside 
 some fruits peculiar to the country, as the nabeca, which grows 
 on a species of rhamnus, and resembles a small round apple, plea¬ 
 sant enough to the taste, when neither green nor too ripe; and the 
 doum, which is a species of date. They likewise produce a spe¬ 
 cies of cyperus, the fleshy tubercles among the roots of which, 
 called abelasis, resemble the chesnut in flavour, and are much 
 esteemed in some places. Nurses frequently eat them, imagining 
 they increase the quantity of their milk. 
 
 As a substitute for intoxicating liquors, a species of hemp is 
 cultivated in Egypt, called hashish, or the herb, by way of emi¬ 
 nence. The fruit of this, with it’s capsule, is pounded to a paste, 
 mixed with honey, pepper, and nutmeg, and swallowed in pieces 
 about the size of a nut. The poor merely pound the capsules in 
 water, and swallow the paste, or eat the capsules without any 
 
preparation. Sometimes they powder the capsules, mix the pow¬ 
 der with an equal quantity of tobacco, and smoke the mixture. 
 Not that they are without strong liquors, though forbidden to the 
 rich mussulman by his religion, but still more efficaciously to the 
 poor by his inability to purchase them; for the egyptian makes a 
 syrup from his dates, and frequently distils from this a spirit. 
 
 All the arts that are requisite to furnish the people of Egypt 
 with whatever is necessary for their use, and with some of the 
 superfluities of life, are practised among them; though the artisan 
 has seldom the skill of the mechanic of Europe, or rather perhaps 
 is rarely furnished with implements so well adapted to his pur¬ 
 poses. The object however is answered, and frequently by means 
 that would foil the european: where two hands are insufficient, 
 the egyptian readily employs one of his feet as a third. One cir¬ 
 cumstance in the art of shipbuilding is particularly worthy notice. 
 The canja, well adapted to cut the sometimes rapid current of the 
 Nile with speed and safety, would be in imminent danger in a 
 river where shallows continually shifting their situation abound, 
 and where there is no flow of tide; if, when impelled by a brisk 
 wind acting on it’s ample sail, it struck upon a sand; were it not 
 for a very sagacious contrivance. The keel, instead of being 
 straight, as in european vessels, is a section of a parabola; so that 
 it is deepest in the water where it meets the stem, which is straight, 
 and not rounding upwards. This part, therefore, necessarily touches 
 the shoal first, and is soon stopped, while the bulk of the vessel 
 continues afloat, so that it can be gotten olf again without much 
 difficulty. Possibly this invention is to be ascribed to the ancient 
 
73 
 
 egyptians, so eminent for their skill in the arts and sciences, and 
 preserved by custom, or from a sense of it’s utility, to the present 
 day. This is the more probable, as the figures of some of the 
 vessels in the ancient grottoes are close resemblances of the mo¬ 
 dem canjas; except that the cabin appears a little loftier; that they 
 have a square sail, for which the latin sail, adopted we may pre¬ 
 sume from the romans, has been substituted; and that they steered 
 with a wheel: not indeed as we do, for the wheel appears to have 
 been fixed to the end of the tiller as to an axis, and to have re¬ 
 volved on the deck. But whoever were the inventors; might it 
 not be employed by us with advantage for ships exploring un¬ 
 known seas, or where perpetually exposed to the danger of those 
 coral rocks, lurking beneath the surface of the water, that render 
 navigation so perilous? 
 
 Having thus briefly touched on the peculiarities in the man¬ 
 ners and customs of Egypt, we shall conclude this head with an 
 account of the dresses of it’s inhabitants. 
 
 The egyptian bey is distinguished by a very high kaouk, of 
 turban, the upper part of which is enlarged with orange-coloured 
 cloth wound spirally round it, and the long band of muslin is 
 crossed obliquely by a cord of gold twist. His gown is of silk and 
 cotton, flowered with gold and silver: his caftan of the same ma¬ 
 terials, but of a different colour and pattern: over this is a pelisse 
 of ermine or sable: an india shawl forms his sash: his benish is 
 of scarlet, ornamented with six gold clasps: and his trowsers, of 
 the finest scarlet cloth, reach down to his shoes. Of these he wears 
 
 two pair; the outer ones, which he leaves at the door, when he 
 
 v 
 
74 
 
 goes into a house, of yellow leather; the inner ones, generally of 
 similar leather, but sometimes of cloth, or silk. The mamalukes, 
 whom we have noticed already, have no gold twist round their 
 turban. 
 
 Dress is an object of considerable attention among the ladies, 
 whose husbands are in the least degree of affluence. The follow¬ 
 ing is the description of that of a merchant’s wife at Cairo. On 
 her head a round diadem, like a plate, covered with an india 
 shawl, which conceals all the hair in front, only a few locks ap¬ 
 pear, at the temples; and the hair behind is interlaced with gold 
 twist, reaching down to the small of the back, and having various 
 ornaments of gold fastened to it. Round the arms, bracelets of 
 gold. A fine shirt of silk and cotton, with striped sleeves. A gown 
 of silk, flowered with gold and silver, and reaching to the feet, 
 with large sleeves. An india shawl as a sash. A pelisse of co¬ 
 loured silk lined with fur, which reaches to the calf of the leg. A 
 pair of silk trowsers of some light showy colour. Inside shoes of 
 silk embroidered with gold, and outside shoes of the same. Her 
 slave commonly wears a shirt of silk and cotton; a very short 
 gown, with a sash of common muslin either worked or printed; 
 and a pair of striped trowsers. 
 
 Among the amusements of Egypt, as well as of the more po¬ 
 lished countries of Europe, the exhibition of public dances makes 
 a part. The female performers on these occasions wear a band of 
 black silk, covering half the forehead, and concealing all the hair 
 in front: a handkerchief of yellow cotton, with flowers and stripes 
 of various colours, bound round the head above the ears: the hair 
 
hanging down behind, interlaced with long red strings, to which 
 are appended various jewels of silver: a very long cotton shirt, 
 striped with thin silk: a short gown of similar materials, with 
 sleeves reaching only to the middle of the arms, and lined at the 
 corners with coloured silk: a broad sash of coloured silk, fringed, 
 and the fringe adorned with small pieces of silver coin: and a pair 
 of trowsers of striped cotton, nearly reaching to the ground. They 
 wear likewise rings on the fingers, bracelets round the wrists, and 
 a necklace; and to complete their ornaments, the face, bosom, and 
 backs of the hands, are marked with black spots, stars, and other 
 figures in black. 
 
 The dress of a female peasant consists of a white handkerchief, 
 passing round the head, and tied behind; a band of black silk 
 reaching to the forehead; a triangular mask of black silk, fastened 
 behind by two of it’s corners, and prevented from slipping down 
 by a ribband passing to the forehead; and a very wide shirt of 
 blue cotton, reaching to the feet, with large sleeves. The man 
 wears a cap of red cloth, with a band of white cotton rolled round 
 it to form the turban; a shirt of yellowish cotton, not reaching to 
 the knees, and a sash of red cloth. 
 
 The bedoween wears a shirt of coarse woollen cloth, tied round 
 the waist commonly with a girdle of red or blue woollen; and a 
 sort of cloak, wound about the head, and descending to the calf of 
 the leg: this dress is common to both sexes, but the cloak of the 
 woman is somewhat longer, and folded up to the girdle; and she 
 has usually a piece of cloth passing over the forehead, and tied 
 under the chin. In a basket resting on the back, or supported 
 
76 
 
 by the arm, and secured by a string passing round the head, the 
 man carries provision, and the woman ordinarily a child. The 
 sheik of his tribe has a cap of red cloth; a large turban of coarse 
 white muslin; an under gown of silk and cotton, white with co¬ 
 loured stripes; a caftan, or second garment, somewhat longer, of 
 the same materials, but of a different colour, and drawn up at the 
 two corners to a sash, which is generally a coloured or flowered 
 shawl of indian manufacture; a pair of trowsers of coarse white 
 cotton; slippers of yellow leather, turning up at the toes; a large 
 white or coloured shawl thrown over the shoulders; and abenish, 
 or upper garment, of common cloth, with long sleeves, which is 
 worn only when he goes out. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 The ancient history of Egypt, like that of other countries, be¬ 
 gins with fable, which gradually gives way to accounts on which 
 greater dependance can be placed, as we approach more recent 
 times. Some particulars of the most striking parts of it have been 
 briefly noticed in the description of Alexandria; and we do not 
 think it necessary here to enter into what has been given at large 
 by all, who have written on the subject; as the events that have 
 recently occurred, and of which no connected view has yet been 
 published, will probably be more interesting to the majority of 
 our readers. 
 
 We have already observed, that the authority of the grand 
 seignior in Egypt was little more than a shadow; some powerful 
 
71 
 
 bey, or beys, being in fact it’s precarious sovereigns, obeying or 
 despising the mandates of their nominal liege, as it suited their 
 own purposes, and tyrannising over an oppressed and abject peo¬ 
 ple without fear, and without control. 
 
 Such was the state of Egypt, when that revolution burst out 
 in France, which spread the flames of war far and wide. The 
 events of this war, however, are foreign to our purpose, till the 
 conquest of Egypt was meditated by a man, who has shown him¬ 
 self equal to the most daring enterprises; and proved by his suc¬ 
 cesses how much resolute impetuosity may achieve, when guided 
 by keen and comprehensive intellect. 
 
 After an empty parade of a threatened invasion of the British 
 isles, one of the wings of the army of England, as it had been 
 ostentatiously called, embarked at Toulon. On the lQth of may, 
 1798, a hundred and ninety-four vessels sailed from that port, 
 carrying nineteen thousand soldiers, beside two thousand arti¬ 
 ficers, artists, and men of letters. These steered their course 
 up the Mediterranean, and captured Malta in their way. On the 
 1 st of july they entered the road of Alexandria, and the same 
 evening disembarked, being at this time thirty thousand strong. 
 In the night they reached the city; and at daybreak commenced 
 the attack, without waiting for the landing of artillery. General 
 Kleber was to scale the wall on the side of Pompey’s pillar; general 
 Bon, to force the Rosetta gate; and general Menou, to blockade 
 the triangular castle with a part of his division, while with the 
 rest he went against another part of the enclosure, and forced it. 
 He was the first that entered the town. General Kleber was at 
 
78 
 
 the foot of the wall, pointing to the place by which he wished the 
 grenadiers to ascend, when he was struck on the forehead by a 
 ball, which brought him to the ground; but he was not fated to 
 meet death in the field of battle. All the three divisions having 
 entered the place, the defendants fled for refuge into the triangular 
 fort, the pharos, and the new town. Even the houses were de¬ 
 fended; but before the close of the day the city was quiet, the 
 two castles had surrendered, and the french were in complete 
 possession of Alexandria. 
 
 The arabs, collecting in the desert in troops of cavalry, harassed 
 the skirts of the army, and fell upon the stragglers; but it was not 
 long before Bonaparte concluded with them a treaty of friendship. 
 Desirous if possible to prevent his scheme from being opposed by 
 the forces of the Porte, the french general erected the ottoman 
 standard in conjunction with the tricolor flag on the walls of Alex¬ 
 andria; and professed that his only objects were to chastise the 
 mamalukes, by whom the french merchants had been oppressed; 
 and to restore to the grand seignior the sovereignty of Egypt, 
 which the beys had long in reality usurped. A letter to this pur¬ 
 pose he transmitted to the bashaw at Cairo; and he entered into 
 a convention with the mufti and principal sheiks at Alexandria, 
 by which he engaged not to interfere with the laws, religion, or 
 institutions of the country. Before he quitted Alexandria, he or¬ 
 dered the bodies of the french soldiers, about a hundred and fifty, 
 who had fallen there, to be interred at the foot of Pompey’s pil¬ 
 lar, and their names to be inscribed on it’s base. 
 
 After giving directions for putting the port and town of Alex- 
 
7 9 
 
 andria into a proper state of defence, and arranging a provisional 
 government, Bonaparte set out for Cairo, which he deemed it ne¬ 
 cessary to reach without loss of time. He began his march by 
 way of Damanhour with the main body of the army on the evening 
 of the 7th of july; general Desaix having preceded him with his 
 division on the 4th; and the division of general Kleber, who was 
 left to command at Alexandria till his wound was healed, being 
 ordered on the 5 th to take possession of Rosetta, leave a garrison 
 there, and proceed up the left bank of the Nile. Annoyed by 
 extreme heat in their forced march across a sandy desert, and 
 perpetually harassed in their rear by the arabs, they reached Ha- 
 manhour on the 8th. After a day s rest, they proceeded toward 
 Rhamanie; midway to which place the division of general Desaix 
 was attacked by a body of six thousand mamalukes: but the artil¬ 
 lery of the french, and the advantages of discipline, soon com¬ 
 pelled them to retire. 
 
 Meanwhile Mourad bey, at the head of his numerous army of 
 cavalry, and having seven gunboats, with 2 9 or 36 pounders, on 
 the Nile, waited for the french at the village of Sharbrass. On the 
 13th at daybreak the hostile armies were in sight of each other. 
 Bonaparte had commanded the french flotilla to follow the move¬ 
 ments of the army, and to harass the right of the enemy by a 
 brisk cannonade. Forming his troops in parallelograms, with 
 their baggage, and such as were lamed by their march, in the 
 centre; and drawing them up in divisions, disposed in the order 
 of steps, so that one flanked another, with their fieldpieces point- 
 ing on every side; the mamalukes found no weak point, on which 
 
80 
 
 they could make any impression, and several times endeavoured 
 to charge, but without effect. Having thus spent great part of 
 the day within about half cannon shot of the french, they retreated 
 with the loss of near three hundred men. The squadron of Mourad 
 likewise retired, leaving behind three french vessels, which it had 
 taken in the beginning of the action, plundered, and run aground. 
 
 The french pursued their march, in want of almost every thing, 
 and scorched by excessive heat, till the 20th of july. On the 
 morning of this day they perceived the pyramids, and in the even¬ 
 ing were within fifteen miles of Cairo. Here they learned, that 
 twenty-three beys, with all their troops, were intrenched at Em- 
 babe, a village opposite Bulac, and had fortified their intrench- 
 ments with fifty pieces of cannon. On the 21st at daybreak they 
 fell in with the advanced guard of the mamalukes, and drove them 
 from village to village, till two in the afternoon, when they had 
 nearly reached their intrenchments. Advancing in the same order 
 of battle as the 13 th, the divisions of generals Desaix and Regnier 
 took a position on the right, between Giralo and Embabe, so as to 
 cut off from the mamalukes all communication with Upper Egypt, 
 to which they would naturally endeavour to retire, if defeated; 
 the division of general Kleber formed the centre of the army; and 
 that of general Bon the left wing, which was covered on it’s flank 
 by the Nile. 
 
 As soon as Mourad bey was apprised of the movement of 
 general Desaix, he determined to attack him, and dispatched for 
 this purpose one of his most resolute beys, with a chosen body of 
 cavalry, which rushed with the rapidity of lightning on the two 
 
81 
 
 divisions. They were suffered to approach unmolested within a 
 hundred yards, when a shower of great and small shot was poured 
 on them, which made considerable havock; and as they threw 
 themselves into the opening between the two divisions, they were 
 received by a cross fire, which completed their defeat. While 
 this was passing on the right, the divisions of Menou and Bon 
 attacked the intrenchments of Embabe. General Rampon, at 
 the head of the assaulting columns, advanced with impetuosity, 
 in spite of the cannonade. The mamalukes too made a vigorous 
 charge from the intrenchments, darting from them at full gallop: 
 but the french columns had time to halt, to present a front on 
 every side, and to receive them at the point of the bayonet, after 
 a general discharge of their muskets. Their dead fell thick on the 
 field of battle, and the french soon carried the intrenchments. 
 The discomfited mamalukes urged their flight in a crowd toward 
 their left, where many fell by the fire of a battalion of carabineers, 
 under which they were obliged to pass at the distance of five hun¬ 
 dred paces, and many were driven into the Nile and drowned. 
 In this battle the mamalukes lost seven or eight hundred killed 
 and wounded, among whom were several beys; their commander, 
 Mourad, was wounded in the cheek; and more than four hundred 
 camels laden with baggage, and fifty pieces of artillery, fell into 
 the hands of the french, who had about two hundred men killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 The mamalukes, having experienced this defeat of their army, 
 evacuated Cairo in the night, after burning the greater part of 
 their ships of war; and on the 22d of July the french took pos- 
 
 Y 
 
82 
 
 session of the capital of Egypt. At the same time, to hold in 
 check the troops of Mourad, Bonaparte directed an intrenched 
 camp to be formed higher up the Nile, at the distance of ten 
 miles from Cairo. 
 
 While such was the progress of the french by land, the fleet, 
 which had conveyed them to Egypt, lay at anchor in the bay of 
 Aboukeer, under the command of admiral Brueys. Expecting 
 an attack from the english, the french admiral had anchored his 
 ships in a line, as near the shore as he thought he could venture 
 with safety, and, as he hoped, to preclude the english from get¬ 
 ting between them and the land. In this however he was mis¬ 
 taken. On the 1 st of august lord Nelson arrived in the bay, and 
 by one of those bold and scientific manmuvres, which distinguish 
 british seamen, he ran between the french line and the shore with 
 half his squadron, so as to place it’s van between two fires. Ihe 
 french, thus hemmed in, defended themselves with great gallan¬ 
 try. At half past five in the afternoon the attack commenced: 
 about a quarter after nine the admiral’s ship, l’Orient, of 120 guns, 
 took fire; and at ten o’clock it blew up: the brave Brueys having 
 before been cut in two by a chainshot on the quarterdeck, on 
 which he maintained his post though he had previously received 
 three severe wounds. As the english silenced the fire of the head¬ 
 most ships, they proceeded to those in the rear, and thus the ac¬ 
 tion continued till the afternoon of the next day, when two french 
 ships of the line, and two frigates, which had yet suffered little, 
 cut their cables, and stood out to sea. These alone escaped, only 
 one of the english ships being in a condition to pursue them: six 
 
83 
 
 sail ot the line were taken: one was run on shore, and burnt by 
 it’s captain: three others were burnt by the english, two of them 
 having previously run aground during the action: one frigate was 
 burnt, and another sunk. In this action the french fleet consisted 
 of thirteen sail ot the line, and four frigates, mounting 11 go guns, 
 and was supported by a battery of guns and mortars on shore, with 
 several gunboats on the flanks: the english fleet had likewise 
 thirteen sail of the line, one of which however ran aground, and 
 could have no concern in the action, one fifty gun ship, and a 
 brig, carrying in all 1026 guns. 
 
 This destruction of their fleet cut olf all hope of retreat from 
 the french, as well as every expectation of reinforcement or sup¬ 
 plies; so that no safety remained for them but in victory, no de- 
 pendance but on their own resources. When Bonaparte had 
 remained a sufficient time at Cairo, to form such regulations, and 
 adopt such precautions, as he deemed necessary to secure this 
 acquisition, he set out on his march to finish the conquest of 
 Egypt, and drive entirely out of the country Ibrahim bey, who 
 had fled with his army toward Syria. On the fth of august he 
 departed with an army draughted from three different divisions of 
 his troops; and after a forced march of four hours, the advanced 
 guard arrived at Salahieh, just as Ibrahim was hastening off at the 
 news of their approach. His rear guard was attacked by a small 
 body of french hussars and chasseurs; but these were too few, to 
 make any impression on it. Ibrahim was pursued into the desert, 
 where he abandoned two pieces of cannon scarcely serviceable, 
 and a few tired horses laden with tents: and near Belbeis the french 
 
84 
 
 rescued a part of the caravan of Mecca, which the arabs had car¬ 
 ried off into the desert. 
 
 While Bonaparte was arranging the government of Egypt, 
 and establishing a society of arts and sciences in it's capital, as in 
 the midst of a country enjoying the profoundest peace, brigadier 
 general Fuguieres was sent with a battalion to Mehallet Kabira, 
 the capital of Garbich, where he was obliged to sustain a conflict 
 for an hour, before he was able to gain admittance into the vil¬ 
 lage. At Gomila, too, a battalion commanded by general Damas 
 was attacked by a party of arabs, but they were soon dispersed. 
 At the same time the arabs of Bonde, believing their village im¬ 
 pregnable, as it was surrounded by the inundation, infested the 
 Nile by their piratical depredations. Generals Murat and Lasne 
 marching thither, where they arrived on the 28th of September, 
 dispersed the arabs after a few vollies, and pursued them for twelve 
 miles up to the middle in water. Their horses, camels, and ef¬ 
 fects, fell into the hands of the french, and about two hundred 
 were killed or wounded. 
 
 Meanwhile general Desaix had left Cairo, and proceeded up 
 the Nile with two half-galleys and six advice-boats. At Fehuesa, 
 on the canal of Joseph, fourteen boats, laden with baggage, tents, 
 and four pieces of cannon, belonging to Mourad bey, fell into his 
 hands. He continued his course two hundred and fifty miles 
 from Cairo, following the bey’s little fleet; which at length took 
 refuge in the neighbourhood of the cataracts, and then he gave 
 up the pursuit. On his return he had several skirmishes at Fel- 
 mese, which were the prelude to the affair of Sediman. On the 
 
85 
 
 / th of October, when the day broke, he had arrived in sight of 
 Mourad bey’s army, consisting of six or seven thousand horse, 
 and a body of foot, which defended the intrenchments at Sediman 
 with four pieces of cannon. The mamalukes did not long hesitate 
 to commence the attack, and were received by the french with 
 great coolness. The chasseurs of the twenty-first demibrigade 
 did not fire, till their adversaries were within twenty yards, and 
 then they rushed on with fixed bayonets. Many of the brave 
 mamalukes fell dead in the ranks of the french, after having thrown 
 maces, battleaxes, muskets, and pistols, at the heads of their ene¬ 
 mies. They even alighted from their horses, to avoid the bayo¬ 
 nets, and cut the legs of the french soldiers. Their intrepidity, 
 however, was of no avail; they were at length obliged to flee; and 
 the french made themselves masters of the intrenchments by as¬ 
 sault. Two of the beys with Mourad were wounded; and three 
 left on the field of battle, with four hundred of his bravest troops; 
 while the loss of the french was but trifling. 
 
 While such was the state of the country, Cairo itself had not 
 settled into a calm submission. Informed that the inhabitants 
 were plotting in secret, to throw oft the yoke of their new con¬ 
 querors, Bonaparte deemed it a necessary measure of security, to 
 arm every european in the metropolis. This was done in the be¬ 
 ginning of October, but it did not stay the rising ferment. On the 
 morning of the 21st, general Dupuis, to whom the command of 
 the town had been intrusted, heard that a crowd was collecting 
 at the grand mosque. The cause assigned for this tumultuous 
 
 meeting was the oppressiveness of the taxes imposed. Attended 
 
 z 
 
8 6 
 
 by twelve dragoons, general Dupuis repaired thither, and at¬ 
 tempted to disperse the mob by force. Some of his men were 
 killed in the conflict; the rest bore him off, mortally wounded in 
 two places, to his own house, where he died two hours after. 
 This was the signal for a general insurrection. The turks imme¬ 
 diately flocked in crowds to the grand mosque, where they in¬ 
 trenched themselves, armed with lances, stakes, and a few fire¬ 
 arms. But they did not assemble here alone: every mosque was 
 a fortress, to which parties repaired for defence, or from which 
 they issued to the attack, as occasion required. The drums of the 
 french beat to arms, and every soldier hastened to join the corps 
 that first fell in his way. A battalion was ordered by Bonaparte 
 to march toward the great mosque; and a few bombs thrown into 
 it created great terrour and confusion. Other battalions proceeded 
 to different parts of the city, where crowds had collected, and 
 soon drove them all into the mosques for refuge. But here they 
 found no security. With all the veneration they had professed 
 for the religion of Mohammed, the french hesitated not to burst 
 open the gates of the mosques, now converted into castles, and 
 deluge their pavements with blood. Though thus defeated, still 
 the insurgents were not subdued; expecting no mercy, fresh mul¬ 
 titudes succeeded those that were slain, to fall like them in rash 
 and unsuccessful enterprise. 
 
 This was a bloody day, but the scenes of the following were 
 still more sanguinary. Every person seen armed with a stake or 
 a bludgeon was immediately put to death; and the turks on then- 
 part had already assassinated several frenchmen found alone in the 
 
8 7 
 
 streets. On the 23d symptoms of the same resentful feelings still 
 prevailed; but in the evening tranquillity began to return. On 
 this occasion five or six thousand turks were computed to have 
 been slain; and of the french at least a hundred fell, beside num¬ 
 bers being wounded, chiefly by large stones thrown from the tops 
 of the houses. 
 
 Though the danger that threatened the french in the capital 
 of Egypt had thus been crushed, Bonaparte was well aware, that 
 he had others of serious aspect to encounter. Ibrahim bey had 
 fled toward Gaza, with a body of mamalukes; and had been wel¬ 
 comed by Djezzar, the bashaw of Acre, who was making hostile 
 dispositions on the eastern frontier of Egypt. With this it was to 
 be expected an attack on Egypt by sea would be made by the 
 porte, with some assistance from the english. To frustrate these 
 designs, therefore, Bonaparte resolved to march without delay 
 into Syria, and attack Djezzar before he had time to collect all 
 his forces. By this he would spread the terrour of his arms, already 
 victorious in Egypt, throughout the ottoman dominions in Asia; 
 success would probably add to his strength by the addition of al¬ 
 lies; and perhaps he might be enabled to dictate his own terms to 
 the grand seignior under the walls of Constantinople, and make 
 even Vienna tremble. 
 
 Previous to this, however, he deemed it necessary to take pos¬ 
 session of Suez; where he learned, that Djezzar had been created 
 bashaw of Egypt and Damascus, that he was collecting his troops, 
 and that a body of them was already in the neighbourhood of el 
 Arish, situate only a day’s journey from the border of the desert. 
 
88 
 
 Having returned to Cairo, appointed commanders for that 
 city, Alexandria, and Damietta, and issued such directions as he 
 deemed necessary, Bonaparte commenced his march for Syria. 
 On the C)th of february, 1799; general Regnier, with his division, 
 arrived before el Arish, which he found occupied by two thousand 
 of Djezzar’s troops. The village was carried by assault; and the 
 fort, to which a great number had retired, was blockaded. Dif¬ 
 ferent reinforcements of mussulman cavalry and infantry, with a 
 convoy of provision, arrived near the place; and on the 14th 
 they boldly advanced, and encamped before the fort, under a 
 platform, defended by a very deep ditch, where they thought 
 themselves secure. General Kleber having arrived with some 
 more troops, general Regnier communicated to him a project he 
 had of surprising the mamalukes in the night, which Kleber ap¬ 
 proved. Accordingly, in the night of the 14th, part of Regnier’s 
 division turned the ditch that protected their camp, fell upon them 
 unawares, killed great numbers, put the rest to flight, and took 
 several horses, with all their provision, ammunition, and baggage. 
 On the 17 th Bonaparte arrived; one of the towers was cannon¬ 
 aded; a breach was made; and the garrison was summoned to 
 surrender. O11 the 20 th a capitulation was signed, when sixteen 
 hundred men marched out with arms and baggage, on condition 
 of going to Bagdat by the way of the desert. 
 
 To enter into the particulars of the campaign in Syria would 
 be. foreign to our purpose; suffice it to say, that the french met 
 with no check till they reached Acre, before which place they 
 opened their trenches, at the distance of three hundred yards, on 
 
the 20th of march. Here Bonaparte was fated to find, that his 
 arms were not irresistible. Sixty days the trenches were open 
 before the town; during which extraordinary efforts of unavailing 
 bravery were made by the besiegers; the obstinacy and persever¬ 
 ance of whose repeated attacks sufficiently show the importance, 
 which the commander in chief attached to the success of this ex¬ 
 pedition. Fortunately for the turks they were assisted in their 
 defence by a detachment from the gallant crews of a small english 
 squadron, under the command of sir William Sidney Smith, to 
 whose courage and abilities the preservation of the place may be 
 ascribed. 
 
 His purpose baffled, and all his exertions foiled, on the night 
 of the 20th of may Bonaparte raised the siege, and quietly de¬ 
 camped, to return to Egypt. On the 14th of june he arrived 
 again at Cairo; where, as well as at Alexandria, several disturb¬ 
 ances had taken place during his absence; but they had been 
 quelled by the commanders of those cities. It was not long be¬ 
 fore Bonaparte was informed by general Desaix, that the mama- 
 lukes in different divisions were preparing to cover a landing, 
 either at the tower of the Arabs, or at Aboukeer. On the 14th 
 of j u ly general Lagrange left Cairo with a flying column, surprised 
 an encampment of the mamalukes at Sababiar, drove them into 
 the desert, and took all their baggage, with seven hundred camels. 
 General Murat, with another column, dispersed the arabs at the 
 Natron lakes. On the same day Bonaparte set out from Cairo 
 with the horse and foot guards, two companies of grenadiers, the 
 pioneers, and two pieces of cannon. At Geeza he halted, and 
 
90 
 
 ordered general Murat to join him. Near the pyramids the ad¬ 
 vanced guard came in sight of some arabs, belonging to the rear 
 of Mourad bey’s army, pursued them, killed a few men, and took 
 some camels. 
 
 But Bonaparte was prevented from following Mourad by a let¬ 
 ter from Alexandria, which informed him, that a turkish fleet of a 
 hundred sail had anchored at Aboukeer on the 10th, and appeared 
 to have some hostile intentions against that place. Immediately 
 he returned to Geeza; and, after making the necessary arrange¬ 
 ments, and issuing his orders, set off for the seacoast. On the 
 ] Qth he arrived at Rahmanie, where he was joined by different 
 divisions of the army on the two following days. Here he learned, 
 that the turkish fleet had landed about three thousand men, with 
 some artillery; and on the 15th attacked the redoubt of Abou¬ 
 keer, which they carried by assault. The fort of Aboukeer, the 
 commanding officer of which was killed, surrendered the same 
 day. On this the turks landed the rest of their cannon; began 
 to fortify themselves in the peninsula of Aboukeer; supplied the 
 castle with provision and ammunition; and embodied the arabs; 
 in expectation of the arrival of Mourad bey with his troops. This 
 however was prevented by Bonaparte, who had continued his 
 march from Rahmanie, and taken a position that cut off their 
 communication with the country. On the 25th he marched to 
 attack them, and victory was long disputed with the utmost ob¬ 
 stinacy on both sides. After performing prodigies of valour, the 
 whole ottoman army was put to the rout, killed, or drowned. The 
 carnage on this occasion was dreadful, and the plains to a consi- 
 
91 
 
 derable extent are still white with the bones of those who fell. 
 Mustapha bashaw, the commander in chief of the turks, was taken 
 prisoner, with about two hundred of his men only: near two 
 thousand were left dead on the field of battle: and all their tents, 
 baggage, and twenty pieces of cannon, fell into the hands of the 
 french. The next day the castle was summoned to surrender; 
 and on it’s refusal was bombarded. Battered by the artillery of 
 the besiegers, it was soon reduced to a heap of stones; yet it held 
 out till the 4th of august; when the garrison, having no longer 
 any communication with the fleet, and dying of hunger and thirst, 
 rushed out in crowds, and fell at the feet of the conquerors, im¬ 
 ploring their mercy. 
 
 At this period Bonaparte was informed, through the commu¬ 
 nication of some english flags of truce, of the defeats the repub¬ 
 lican armies had experienced in Italy, and on the banks of the 
 Rhine; and of the struggles that were taking place in France. 
 Accordingly, as this recent defeat of the turkish expedition tended 
 to confirm the security of his conquest, he resolved to repair to a 
 more important field of action. Having ordered admiral Gan- 
 theaume to get ready for sea two frigates, an advice boat, and a 
 tartane, without any intimation of his design; sealed notes were 
 delivered to generals Lan nes, Marmont, Murat, and Andreossi, 
 and likewise to Monge and Berthollet, which they were to open 
 at a certain hour, on the 22d of august, at a particular point on the 
 seashore. These notes enjoined them to embark immediately, 
 which they did without the least communication with any person. 
 Berthier alone, who likewise accompanied Bonaparte to Europe, 
 
9 2 
 
 was in the secret. They were detained by contrary winds till the 
 24th, when they quitted the road of Aboukeer. A sealed packet, 
 to be opened twenty-four hours after the departure of the vessels, 
 was delivered to general Kleber likewise. In this he was ap¬ 
 pointed to the chief command, and general Desaix to the com¬ 
 mand of Upper Egypt. 
 
 Previous to his departure Bonaparte had attempted to open a 
 negotiation with the grand vizier, by which he expected at least 
 to retard the proceedings of an enemy. by no means alert, and 
 this negotiation Kleber was directed to pursue. Harassed in¬ 
 deed as the french had been by repeated actions with a desperate 
 though unskilful foe, forced marches in such a climate, and wants 
 of every kind; while even their victories were continually dimi¬ 
 nishing their numbers, which they had no hope of reinforcing now 
 their fleet was destroyed; it required no small degree of bravery 
 in the troops, and no ordinary qualifications in the commander, 
 to maintain their footing in the country. Mourad bey had again 
 descended the Nile; been driven back by general Morand; over¬ 
 taken, surprised in his camp, and defeated by him at Samanhout: 
 when general Desaix, in order if possible to get rid of him en¬ 
 tirely, went in pursuit of him with two flying columns, composed 
 of infantry mounted on dromedaries, cavalry, and artillery; one 
 commanded by himself, the other by adjutant general Boyer. On 
 the 1 Qth of October Boyer came up with him in the desert of Se - 
 diman. The mamalukes began the attack with great fury, but 
 were defeated as usual; and the french pursued them on their 
 dromedaries, but the deserts again secured their retreat. 
 
93 
 
 Iii the mean time a second maritime expedition was preparing 
 to attack Egypt, A body of troops from Constantinople, under 
 the command of Seid Ali bey, on board a squadron conducted by 
 sir W. Sidney Smith, appeared at the mouth of the Datnietta 
 branch of the Nile; while the army of the grand vizier was ap¬ 
 proaching by the way of the desert. On the eastern side of the 
 entrance of the Nile was a ruined castle, insulated by the inunda¬ 
 tion of the river, though the passage was fordable. Of this the 
 boats of the Tigre took possession, and displayed the ottoman 
 flag, which was the signal for the turkish gunboats to advance, 
 and the french to open their fire. A carronade mounted in a 
 breach of the castle, and field pieces in the boats, continued to 
 annoy the french, and prevent their working at an entrenchment 
 they were throwing up to prevent the disembarkation, which was 
 not effected till the 1st of noveinber, though an interchange of 
 shot had continued with little intermission the three preceding 
 days. As soon as the first division of the turks had landed, the 
 french advanced to charge them with the bayonet; but the turks, 
 instead of waiting for the attack, rushed on, and in an instant 
 completely routed the first line. Pursuing the fugitives with 
 too much ardour, however, they were met by the reserve, of the 
 french in perfect order, and at the same time taken in flank by 
 their cavalry. Thus they were put to the rout in their turn, 
 rushed into the sea, and as many as could not be taken off by 
 the boats were killed or made prisoners. The ships continued on 
 the coast a few days longer, when they were obliged to quit it 
 bv the weather. 
 
 J 2 B 
 
 
94 
 
 Still the impending storm grew blacker round Kleber’s di¬ 
 minished forces. A detachment from the grand vizier’s army, 
 which was encamped at Gaza, had besieged and taken el Arisch; 
 and in the grand vizier’s camp before this place a convention was 
 signed on the 24th of january, 1800, by which Kleber agreed to 
 evacuate Egypt. Sir W. Sidney Smith had acceded to this con¬ 
 vention, the terms of which indeed we may presume to have 
 been- framed under his direction; and certainly they were ho¬ 
 nourable to all parties, the french, yet unsubdued, being allowed 
 to depart with their arms and baggage, while, as far as the inte¬ 
 rests of Great Britain were concerned, they rendered her secure 
 from any danger, that the possession of Egypt by the french might 
 threaten; a security doomed not to be purchased without the ef¬ 
 fusion of much blood. 
 
 Unfortunately lord Keith, who commanded in the Mediterra¬ 
 nean, found it inconsistent with his orders, to suffer the french to 
 depart, unless as prisoners of war. Indignant at this unexpected 
 breach of the convention, Kleber notified to the grand vizier, to 
 whom several places had already been delivered up, and who was 
 now encamped at Matarea, his determination to recommence hos¬ 
 tilities. On the 20th of march, at daybreak, he began to can¬ 
 nonade the advanced posts of the ottoman army, and at length 
 the engagement became general. It ended in the total defeat of 
 the turks, who lost about 8000 men killed and wounded, nine¬ 
 teen pieces of cannon, and part of their camp equipage. 
 
 While the french were pursuing the grand vizier, Nasouf 
 bashaw and Mourad bey entered Cairo, where they massacred 
 
95 
 
 whatever frenchmen they found, as well as numbers of the greeks 
 and copts. As soon as Kleber returned, he invested the city, 
 which was obstinately defended for some time; but at length he 
 obtained possession of it, and punished in an exemplary manner 
 the cruelties, that had been committed on the french and their 
 partisans. 
 
 Thus a total change in the face of affairs was produced; and 
 the french, instead of relinquishing Egypt, appeared to be con¬ 
 firmed in the possession of the country. Kleber, indeed, was 
 assassinated at Cairo, on the 14th of june, by a fanatic, at the 
 instigation of the aga of the janissaries, and with the privity of a 
 few sheicks; but this event was attended with no farther conse¬ 
 quence; and his successor, Menou, for several months experienced 
 no molestation from without, no revolt or disturbance within. 
 
 This calm, however, was the precursor of their final ruin. On 
 the 2d of march, 1801, the fleet under the command of lord 
 Keith, having on board general Abercrombie with an army of 
 16000 men, arrived in the bay of Aboukeer; but the wind blew 
 too hard to allow any attempt to land. On the 7th the gale had 
 subsided, and at two o’clock in the morning of the 8th about a 
 hundred and fifty boats were filled with near six thousand men. 
 By break of day they had all arrived at the place of rendezvous, 
 and having made all the necessary preparations and arrangements, 
 at eight they pushed on toward the land. On the sand hills 
 rising in gradation from the shore four thousand french were 
 posted, their left flanked by the castle of Aboukeer, and their 
 centre strengthened by a hill much higher than any of the rest. 
 
06 
 
 As soon as the boats were within a certain distance, a brisk fire 
 of shot and shells was opened upon them from fifteen pieces of 
 artillery, which the french had placed between the hillocks, beside 
 2500 musketry. Under this the english advanced, landed, formed 
 on the strand, and marched up the hill in the centre, with general 
 Moore at their head. The french could not withstand their at¬ 
 tack, but were driven from the summit, and down the back of 
 the hill. In the mean time the right of the french army, rushing 
 down to the beach, and even into the sea so as to kill some men 
 in the boats, endeavoured in vain to oppose the disembarkation of 
 the troops. The soldiers formed with steadiness as they jumped 
 ashore, repelled the charge of a body of cavalry, and obliged the 
 french to give ground; who now perceiving the defeat of their 
 centre, and that they were consequently exposed to be taken in 
 the rear, deferred no longer their retreat. 
 
 The french having retired toward Alexandria, with the loss of 
 near 300 men, and eight pieces of cannon, the english took up 
 their ground, and the whole army was on shore before night. On 
 the 12 th the british army moved forward, and came within sight 
 of the french, who were formed on an advantageous ridge, ex¬ 
 tending from the sea to the canal of Alexandria. The next morn¬ 
 ing an attack was ordered, the army marching in two lines to 
 turn the flank of the french, who soon came down from the 
 heights to charge the leading brigades commanded by major ge¬ 
 nerals Cradock and the earl of Cavan. They were soon repulsed 
 however, and compelled to retreat to a hill close to the walls of 
 Alexandria. In this position major general Moore with the re- 
 
97 
 
 serve, and major general Hutchinson, were preparing to attack 
 them on the right flank, while the rest of the troops assailed them 
 on their left; but it was found on reconnoitering it, that, being 
 commanded by a fortified hill within the walls, it could not be 
 tenable, and accordingly the french were left in quiet possession 
 of it: the british army encamping at a small distance between the 
 lake Mareotis and the sea. 
 
 On the 20th general Menou arrived at Alexandria with the 
 main body of his army, and the next morning, about an hour 
 before daybreak, he commenced a false attack on the left of the 
 british encampment, commanded by general Cradock, by whom 
 the french were repulsed. In the mean time Menou directed his 
 grand effort against the right, which Bonaparte’s invincible legion, 
 consisting of nine hundred men, volunteered to turn. They suc¬ 
 ceeded so far as to pass between the battery that defended this 
 flank, and a large ruin near it. Three times they stormed the 
 battery, and three times every one that entered it was stretched 
 breathless on the ground. The reserve, consisting of the forty- 
 second and twenty-eighth regiments, finding the enemy in their 
 rear, had faced about, charged the french with the bayonet in 
 their turn, and drove them backward step by step into the rum. 
 There two hundred and fifty called for quarter, and were made 
 prisoners. The rest were no more. Their standard, on which 
 were inscribed the many victories they had gained, was destined 
 to grace the triumph of their conquerors, remaining no longer to 
 those, by whom it had been so hardly earned in the plains of 
 Europe. While this was doing, the main body of the french 
 
 army in a heavy column broke through the british line into the 
 3 2 C 
 
valley, and pressed along the valley toward the rear of the en¬ 
 campment. A body of cavalry accompanying them wheeled 
 to the left, as soon as they had passed the rear of the line, and 
 directed their charge to the rear of the reserve. A circumstance 
 unexpected by them, and not prepared for the purpose, broke 
 this charge completely. The british soldiers, before their tents 
 were landed, had dug holes about three feet deep to sleep in, at 
 the same time throwing up the sand round their borders. The 
 ground over which the french cavalry charged being full of these 
 holes, they were at once completely routed with considerable loss. 
 As the french soldiers were intermingled with the british, sir Ralph 
 Abercrombie had got among them, but was extricated by some 
 of his own troops. A french dragoon at this moment rode up, 
 and made a stroke at him, but not being quite near enough, only 
 cut through his coat, waistcoat, and shirt, and just grazed the 
 skin with the point of his sword. His horse wheeling about, he 
 brought him to the charge again, and made a second attempt by 
 a thrust. The sword however passed between the general’s side 
 and his right arm, which he immediately closed upon it; and the 
 dragoon being at that instant shot dead, the sword remained in 
 the general’s possession. The conflict was maintained for some 
 time after this with considerable obstinacy, but at length the 
 french retreated. In this battle the english lost 230 killed, and 
 1200 wounded. Among the latter was sir Ralph Abercrombie, 
 who would not quit the field till the action was over, though very 
 early in the engagement he received such a severe wound in his 
 thigh, that he survived only till the 28th. Major general Moore 
 and brigadier general Oakes were wounded likewise, but not dan- 
 
■ 
 
99 
 
 gerously. On the side of the french, general Roize, who com¬ 
 manded the cavalry, was killed in the field, and generals Lanusse 
 and Bodet were mortally wounded. They lost about 3000, killed, 
 wounded, or taken prisoners, with one stand of colours, and two 
 field pieces. 
 
 In the middle of the succeeding month general Hutchinson, 
 on whom the command had now devolved, sent a detachment of 
 british and turkish troops, under the command of colonel Spencer, 
 against Rosetta. The french were soon driven from the town, and 
 took refuge on the other side of the Nile: but the castle held out 
 from the l 6 th of april to the 19 th, when the garrison capitulated. 
 
 On the 23d general Hutchinson removed his head quarters to 
 Rosetta, whither he had detached about 4000 men; with whom, 
 and an equal number of turks, he marched to Rahmanie, where 
 he attacked the french on the gth of may, and drove them into their 
 intrenchments. In the night they retired toward Cairo, leaving 
 a small garrison in the fort, which surrendered the next day. The 
 combined forces then pursued their march for Cairo, having con¬ 
 certed their movements with the grand vizier, who was now en¬ 
 camped about ten miles north-east of that city. On their march 
 they captured a convoy of 550 camels for Alexandria, escorted by 
 600 men, whom they made prisoners; and were joined by Osman 
 bey, the successor of Mourad bey, with 1500 mamalukes. 
 
 In the mean time the french general, apprised of the approach 
 of the british troops by those who had retreated from Rahmanie, 
 marched to attack the grand vizier, in hopes of defeating him, 
 and dispersing his forces, before the junction took place. Fortu¬ 
 nately for the ottoman army, it’s movements were directed by 
 
100 
 
 the military skill of colonel Murray and several other british of¬ 
 ficers, so that the french received a complete check, and were 
 obliged to retreat, leaving their enemies masters of the field of 
 battle. 
 
 General Hutchinson having reached Geeza, where the french 
 had fortified themselves to defend a bridge of communication over 
 the Nile, proceeded to invest it, while the grand vizier moved 
 forward, and posted himself nearly within cannon shot of Cairo. 
 The french thus surrounded by a much superiour force; having to 
 defend a place of great extent, weakly fortified, and the numerous 
 inhabitants of which were by no means friendly to them; having 
 recently experienced too, as well as on former occasions, that all 
 their military science could not render them irresistible even to the 
 ottomans, when under the direction of british officers; prudently 
 offered to surrender Cairo, and evacuate the country, on the condi¬ 
 tions formerly accepted by Kleber. No doubt the french might 
 have held out for some time; no doubt they might have obliged 
 the combined forces to purchase the possession of Cairo at a great 
 expense of blood. But to what end this lavishing of human life? 
 What would have availed the calamities, that must have been suf¬ 
 fered during a protracted siege; and the misery that must have 
 been entailed on thousands, in ruined health, and mutilated limbs? 
 As a soldier, to whom all these are but the common course of 
 things, perhaps general Belliard may be blamed for capitulating, 
 before his men were reduced to a state, in which capitulation 
 would be no longer a benefit, as a man he deserves praise. 
 
 The metropolis being thus surrendered by the french, general 
 Hutchinson returned to Alexandria, before which the main body 
 
101 
 
 of his army was encamped. On the 17 th of august he com¬ 
 menced his operations for reducing this city, which Menou pro¬ 
 fessed himself resolved to defend to the last. Major general Coote 
 embarked with a strong corps on the inundation, landed to the 
 westward of Alexandria with little opposition, and invested the 
 strong castle of Marabout, at the entrance of the western harbour. 
 On the east of the town two attacks were made, to get possession 
 of some heights in front of the french intrenchments. That on 
 the right was led by major general Craddock, that on the left by 
 major general Moore. A part of the 30th regiment, under the 
 command of colonel Spencer, took possession of a hill in front of 
 the enemy’s right. General Menon, who was in person in that 
 part of the intrenched camp, ordered about 600 men to drive it 
 from this post. These advanced in columns, with fixed bayonets, 
 and without firing a shot; but colonel Spencer did not wait for 
 their attack. When they were almost close to his little corps, 
 which was not a third of their number, he gave orders to charge; 
 and was obeyed with such spirit and alacrity, that the french were 
 driven back to their intrenchments in the greatest confusion, with 
 the loss of several killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. 
 
 On the night of the 18th major general Coote opened his bat¬ 
 teries against the castle of Marabout, which was likewise attacked 
 by some turkish sloops, and the boats of the fleet, under the di¬ 
 rection of the hon. captain Cochrane. On the night of the 21st 
 the fort capitulated; and the next morning major general Coote 
 marched to attack a strong corps posted in his front, in order to 
 cover the approach to Alexandria. His able and judicious con¬ 
 duct was attended with complete success; he drove the enemy 
 
 2 D 
 
102 
 
 before him every where, though strongly posted, and in a coun¬ 
 try which opposed uncommon obstacles to the progress of troops. 
 The french suffered extremely in the action, and retreated in much 
 confusion, leaving their wounded and seven pieces of cannon 
 behind them. 
 
 On the 24th batteries were opened against the redoubt de 
 Bain; and in the night of the 25th major general Coote surprised 
 the enemy’s advanced posts, when seven officers and fifty men 
 were taken prisoners. This service was gallantly performed by 
 lieut. col. Smith, with the first battalion of the 20th regiment, and 
 a small detachment of dragoons under the orders of lieut. Kelly. 
 The french endeavoured to recover the ground from which they 
 had been driven, but were repulsed with loss: and in the morn¬ 
 ing four batteries were opened on each side of the town against 
 their intrenched camp, which soon silenced their fire, and in¬ 
 duced them to withdraw many of their guns. 
 
 In the evening of the 2/th general Menou, who had vaunted 
 of the almost impregnable strength of his positions, and his deter¬ 
 mination to defend them, sent an aide-de-camp to the british com¬ 
 mander, to request a truce for three days, in order to give time 
 for preparing a capitulation; which, after some difficulties and 
 delays, was signed on the 2d of September. 
 
 Thus the french were completely expelled from Egypt, and 
 obliged to relinquish the fruits of a conquest, from which they had 
 promised themselves the greatest advantages; being obliged in a 
 six months campaign to abandon a country, of which they had 
 maintained possession for three years, and in which they had hi¬ 
 therto seemed invincible. 
 
CATALOGUE OF TIIE PLATES, 
 
 WITH DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER FOR PLACING THEM. 
 
 Mate To face Page 
 
 1. View of the Kilometer - - - - 12 
 
 2. The first and second Pyramid of Geeza, 
 
 anciently Memphis.15 
 
 3. The top of the first or great Pyramid 
 
 of Geeza; with a distant View of 
 the City of Cairo ----- IS 
 
 4. The Passage from the second to the 
 
 third Gallery in the great Pyramid 19 
 
 5. The Chamber that contains the Sar¬ 
 
 cophagus in the great Pyramid - 20 
 
 6. The Head of the colossal Sphinx - 22 
 
 7. Entrance to one of the sepulchral 
 
 Chambers about two hundred paces 
 south of the Sphinx - - - - 24 
 
 8. A subterranean Chamber, not quite 
 
 a mile east of the great Pyramid 
 of Geeza, theWalls sculptured with 
 Basso Relievoes, and communicat¬ 
 ing with other Chambers - - - 25 
 
 9. An ancient Sarcophagus of Basaltes, 
 
 called the Lover’s Fountain, placed 
 in a Niche under the Steps of a 
 Mosque at Cairo.2b 
 
 10. Interiour View of the Catacombs at 
 
 Alexandria, exhibiting the circular 
 Chamber, and the Entrance to it 27 
 
 11. The Obelisks at Alexandria, com¬ 
 
 monly called Cleopatra’s Needles 28 
 
 12. An ancient Obelisk at Matarea, foi- 
 
 merly Heliopolis, about six miles 
 from Cairo; with a View of the Vil¬ 
 lage, and an Encampment of a Ca¬ 
 ravan on it’s Journey across the 
 
 Desert. 
 
 13. Pompey’s Pillar. 
 
 14. The Baths of Cleopatra - - - - 
 
 15. Ruins of the Gymnasium, near the Ca¬ 
 
 nopic Gate of Alexandria - - - 
 
 16. Granite Pillars of the Portico of Ca¬ 
 
 nopus in ancient Alexandria. 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 33 
 
 34 
 
 35 
 
 Plate To face Page 
 
 17. Ruins supposed to be those of the 
 
 Ptolemean Library, about two miles 
 from theWalls of Old Alexandria, 
 toward Aboukeer - - - - - 36 
 
 18. A Mosque with an antique Fragment 
 
 in Old Alexandria, near the Rosetta 
 Gate.37 
 
 19. Exterior View of the ancient Wall of 
 
 Alexandria, with Cleopatra’s Needle 39 
 
 20. Fort and Harbour of Aboukeer, the 
 
 ancient Canopus, as it appeared be¬ 
 fore the French invaded Egypt - 40 
 
 21. The City of Rashid, or Rosetta - - 42 
 
 22. Sepulchres of Arabian Saints, among 
 
 the Gardens on the West of Rosetta 43 
 
 23. The Mosque of Abou Mandour, on 
 
 the Bank of the Nile, about three 
 
 miles above Rosetta.44 
 
 24. The Town of Foua, on the eastern 
 
 Bank of the Nile, about fifteen miles 
 above Rosetta - -- -- --45 
 
 25. One of the Gates of Grand Cairo, on 
 
 the western side of the City - - 46 
 
 26. The principal Square in Grand Cairo, 
 
 with Mourad Bey’s Palace - - - 47 
 
 27. The Mosque of Four Hundred Pil¬ 
 
 lars, between Old Cairo and Keba- 
 seh, on the south of New Cairo - 48 
 
 28. The Lover’s Fountain, with the adja¬ 
 
 cent Mosque, in a small Square at 
 Cairo.& 
 
 29. Ruins in the Castle of Cairo, near Jo¬ 
 
 seph’s Hall, with Part of an Obelisk 
 of Porphyry serving as a Threshold 
 to a Mosque.. - - 49 
 
 30. Joseph’s Hall, in the Castle of Cairo ib. 
 
 31. Egyptian Antiquities in the Vestibule 
 
 of the Country House of Mr. Carlo 
 Rosetti, an Italian Merchant, at 
 Bulac. Among these is a Mummy 
 
CATALOGUE OF PLATES. 
 
 Plate To face Page 
 
 in a stone Coffin, on the Lid of 
 which a human Figure is sculptur¬ 
 ed, turned partly toward one side, 
 as in a sleeping Posture - - - 51 
 32. An Arabian Summerhouse, raised 
 on antique Fragments, and situate 
 near the End of the Canal of Me- 
 
 nouf, toward Cairo ----- 52 
 
 33. The City of Menouf, on the Canal 
 
 of the same name, between Cairo 
 and Rosetta ------- ib. 
 
 34. Mamalukes exercising in the Square 
 
 of Mourad Bey’s Palace - - - 60 
 
 35. Mamalukes in their proper Dress, ex¬ 
 
 ercising on Horseback - - - - 6 2 
 
 36. An Arab Sheik in his proper Dress - 63 
 
 37. An Egyptian Ball, atNedSili, a Vil¬ 
 
 lage on the western Bank of the 
 Nile, midway between Cairo and . 
 Rosetta . .. 66 
 
 38. An Egyptian Fair at Kafr Raduan, a 
 
 Village on the eastern Bank of the 
 Nile, between Ned Sili and Me¬ 
 nouf -------- - ib. 
 
 39. A Ferryboat on the Nile near Ned Sili 68 
 
 40. An Egyptian Bey in his proper Dress 73 
 
 Plate 
 
 41. 
 
 42. 
 
 43. 
 
 44. 
 
 45. 
 
 46. 
 
 47. 
 
 48. 
 
 To face Page 
 
 Costume of a Lady of Cairo, and her 
 attendant Slaves ------ 74 
 
 Dancing Girls in their proper Dresses ib. 
 
 An Egyptian Peasant and Family. 
 Though the Children in general go 
 naked, both Boys and Girls, till the 
 Age of Twelve or Fourteen, yet 
 sometimes a favourite Child is dress¬ 
 ed from it’s Infancy, as here; and 
 it is not uncommon, in Cases of 
 
 Sickness, to vow a Child to God for 
 a limited Period, during which it is 
 clothed - -- -- -- --75 
 
 A Bedoween Man and Woman - - ib. 
 An Egyptian Herdsman, and Cattle, 
 among which the Goats of the Coun¬ 
 try are particularly remarkable - 7 6 
 
 The Rosetta Gate at Alexandria, 
 where Toll is taken ----- 77 
 Part of the New City of Alexandria, 
 with the New Harbour, and the 
 Pharos - -- -- -- --78 
 
 Bridge over the Canal of Alexan¬ 
 dria, about three miles south of the 
 Town. 98 
 
 THE END. 
 
 T Bensley, Printer, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, Txndou. 
 

 .sr^L I 4"S 2-5 
 
 THE GETTY CERTEF 
 LIBRARY 
 
 .