STACK 
 ANNEX 
 
 DS 
 47 
 R66 
 1783 
 
 \ 
 
 iliforniaj 
 
 ional 
 
 ility
 
 TRAVELS 
 
 TO THE COAST OF 
 
 ARABIA FELIX 
 
 AND FROM THENCE BY THE 
 
 RED-SEA AND EGYPT, 
 
 T O 
 
 EUROPE. 
 
 UNDERTAKEN AGAINST THE 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 IN A SERIES OF LETTERS 
 
 BY HENRY ROOKE, ES 
 
 LATE MAJOR OF THE lOOth REGIMENT OF FOOT. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR R. B L A M I R E, IN THE STRAND^ 
 
 SOLD BY B. LAW, AVE-MARY LANE; AND 
 
 R. FAULDER, NEW BOND STREET. 
 
 M DCC LXXXIII.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 P. II. 1. 3. for " complement" read " complements." 
 
 P. . '.. 1. 24. for " feeming" read " feemingly." 
 
 P. 28. 1. 20. for " fearlesly" read " fearlefsly." 
 
 P. 28. 1 30. for " group" read " groupe." 
 
 P. 65. 1. 14. The ftop after the word " deck;" to be placed 
 
 after the word " contrivance." 
 
 P. 87. I. i6t for " farcophagos" read " farcophagus."
 
 Stack 
 
 AJVMK 
 
 D. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 \ 
 
 ^S Departure from Spithead Ifland of Madeira - 
 Trade Winds Cape de Verd IQands An- 
 chor in Porto Praya Defcription of St. Jago 
 and the Town of Praya. 
 
 ^ L E T T E R II. 
 
 Attack made by Monfieur Suffrein Difadvan- 
 tages under which the Britifh Fleet laboured 
 Enemy beat off Englifh Fleet gives chafe. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Departure from St. Jago Crofs the line 
 Trinidada Object of the Expedition pub- 
 lickly notified Capture of Dutch Ships in 
 Saldanha Bay Attack of the Cape judged 
 inexpedient Commodore returns to Eng- 
 land Arrival at Joanna. 
 
 LETTER 
 
 1333108
 
 I 
 
 vi C O N T E N f S. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Defcription of the Ifland of Joanna Vifits paid 
 by the Princes to the different Ships Good 
 accommodations procured for us by the Dukes 
 Singular worlhip addreffed to Birds Fly- 
 ing Fox or African Bat Prepare to fail. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Sicknefs in the Fleet How accounted for 
 Fair Breeze for fome time Long Calm 
 Contrary Monfoon fets in Put into More- 
 bat Bay Defcription thereof and of the 
 Country An Arabian Drawing-Room 
 Hookah Fleets of Coafting Veflels. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Paflage to Mocha Defcription of that City 
 Kingdom of Sunnaa Military Genius of the 
 Arabians Exercife of the Cavalry Gen- 
 toos Champooing Opprefiive Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 p: LETTER VII. "! 
 
 Paftage to Hodeida IQe of Camaran Battle 
 with the Budoos Cruelty of the Lafcars 
 
 Touch
 
 CONTENTS. vii 
 
 Touch at Confidah Arrive at Juddah 
 Defcription of that place. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Turkifh Coffee Fleet Their curious mode 
 of Navigation Journal kept on board the 
 . Mahaboube Arrival at Suez. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Journey over the Defert to Grand -Cairo with a 
 Caravan - Wretched fate of fome Engliih 
 Merchants Cruelty of the Government of 
 Cairo towards them Firman of the Grand 
 Signor Unpleafant manner in which the 
 Chriftiahs are treated at Cairo. 
 
 L E STT E R X. 
 
 Excurfion to the Pyramids Their Size 
 Apartments in the largeft ~ 'Sphynx Situa- 
 tion of the antient City of Memphis Ifland 
 of Rhoida Mikeaz Ceremony of the 
 opening of theChalitz Defcription of Cairo 
 and the form of Government there. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 / 
 
 Uni l j afant Adventure with Muftapha Bey 
 
 Good Offices of Mr, R.~ Intcrpofi- 
 
 tion
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 tion of Ibrahim Bey The Paflage by Suez 
 mod favorable for fending Intelligence to In- 
 dia Arabian Concert Nightly Police of 
 the City. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Paflage down the Nile to Rofetta Annual 
 overflow of that River Fertility of Lower 
 Egypt Rofetta Caflle of Bekier Ni- 
 copolis Alexandria Ruinous, ftate of the 
 antient City Pompey's Pillar Cleopatra's 
 Obeli Ik Baths Pharos Alexander's 
 Body preferved there to the time of Auguftus. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Sail from Alexandria Tou^h at Rhodes 
 Defcription thereof Arcnipelago IHand 
 of Candia Tunis Antient City of Car- 
 thage Cifterns Aquseduct Embark 
 for Leghorn Arrival there.
 
 TRAVELS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 COAST of ARABIA FELIX, Sec. 
 
 Porto Praya, April 13, 1781. 
 DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 T 
 
 IHE guefs proved right which 
 you formed when I parted with 
 you on the Beach at Portfmouth and the next 
 morning's light brought with it a favorable 
 wind. What a glorious fight was the confe- 
 quence ! near forty fhips of the line with above 
 an hundred others getting under way, the breeze 
 frefh, the morning clear and pleafant j did you 
 ever behold fo noble a fpectacle ? perhaps it 
 might ftrike me more forcibly, who was in the 
 
 B midft
 
 a TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 rru'dft of that bufy fcene than you who was, I 
 fuppofe, a fpeftator of it from the Ramparts : 
 I beheld it with a degree of enthufiafmj thofe 
 llupendous bulwarks managed with Ib much art, 
 fuch regularity in the midll of fo much apparent 
 confufion, the alacrity of my brave companions 
 who' were going forth to afTert their own and 
 their country's honor, the glorious events which 
 fo fine a force might produce j thefe and a thou- 
 fand other reflections of the like nature were 
 occafioned by this fublime fight. 
 
 The grand fleet deftined for the relief of Gi- 
 braltar" kept on it's courfe, while our little fqua- 
 dron brought up at St. Helen's for a few hours; the 
 Commodore then made known his command by 
 hoifting a broad pendant, which could not fly when 
 an Admiral's flag was in fight : we weighed again 
 in the afternoon and proceeded down Channel : 
 The wind continued fair and palling the Lizard 
 Lights on the third evening after our departure 
 from Spithead we entered the Bay of Bifcay 
 famous for its ftorms, but found it of a more 
 mild nature than we expedled and had very 
 little interruption to our good weather 'till we 
 arrived off the Ifland of Madeira, when it be- 
 came fqually and tempefluous, and we then 
 pafied two or three very uncomfortable days: 
 all our little amufements, fo neceflary to cheat 
 the tedious hours on board of fliip, were at a 
 
 flops
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 3 
 
 flop ; our card-table could not ftand, the chefs- 
 men were fwept off the board, we could neither 
 read nor walk j our dinners exhibited fcenes 
 diftrefling and ludicrous ; in fhort you can 
 conceive nothing fo unpleafant as the in- 
 voluntary motions one mud fubmit to in a 
 gale of wind : I found my cot the beft refource 
 and fpent moll of my time in it till the fair 
 weather returned ; which, after three days fuffer- 
 ings, we regained, and foon afterwards on com- 
 ing within the tropick met with the trade 
 winds, that blow always regularly and in the 
 fame direction, This phenomenon of the 
 winds, which produces effects fo ufeful to navi- 
 gation and" fo plealing to the mariner, is ac- 
 couottT for by philofophers on the principle of 
 the fun and earth's compound motion, as Dr. 
 Halley and Sir Ifaac Newton can beft explain to 
 you. Having now a conftant fair breeze and 
 fmooth water, our voyage became extremely 
 pleafant : we quickly arrived at the Cape-de-Verd 
 IQands, and brought up in this Bay after a paf- 
 fage of four weeks from England. Water and 
 refrefhments are the objects that have brought the 
 fleet hither, of which we find a more plentiful 
 fupply than was expected : fince the Commodore 
 doubting whether there would be fufficiency for 
 the whole, has fent a part to the Ifle of May, 
 fituated ten leagues to windward of this. 
 
 B 2 St.
 
 4 TRAVELS TO T HE 
 
 St. Jago,the ifland offwhich we are now anchored, 
 is the principal of the Cape de Verds : they were 
 difcovered in 1449 by Antonio Nolli, a Genoefe, 
 in thefervice of Portugal, and are ten in number, 
 laying between 15 and 17 N. L. 18 and 20 W. 
 L. from London j they abound in moft tropical 
 productibns, but from the indolence of the na- 
 tives and bad management yield very little: 
 the exclufive trade to them and likewife to the 
 coaft of Guinea is veiled in a company at Lif- 
 bon, who pay an annual fum to the government, 
 but not fufficient for the expence of maintaining 
 the forts and garrifons, as the wretched condition 
 of them feems to indicate. The chief town of 
 the ifland is fituated clofe to the fea, and is ten 
 miles diftant from this place ; the road that leads 
 to it is very narrow andftony, up and down craggy 
 hills, along which a jack-afs or poney conveys 
 one with tolerable fafety. The face of the coun- 
 try prefents an appearance of brown parched and 
 barren hills, feeming to have been formed by 
 lava and volcanic fire ; moft of them terminate 
 in a point like the apex of a volcano ; the val- 
 lies are fertile and if cultivated would amply 
 repay the pains of the hufbandman : at prefent 
 they produce trees and fhrubs of various kinds, 
 \vhichgrowfpontaneoufly, fuch as the cocoa-nut, 
 tamarind, orange, guava, lime, plantane, &c. 
 but the plant of moft confequence is madder, 
 growing in great abundance among the cliffs. 
 
 You
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 5 
 
 You defcend to the town of St. Jago down the 
 declivity of a mountain, almoft perpendicular, 
 by a rugged and zig-zag path, with a precipice 
 on each fide -, the town ftands encompafs'd by 
 hills towards the land ; it feems to have been 
 formerly a place of confequence, but is now in a 
 ruinous and defolate condition, with few other 
 inhabitants but negroes and no trade; the blacks 
 came originally from the coaft of Guinea, and are 
 very tall and robuft : they adorn themfelves with, 
 a profufion of beads, which they wear in form of 
 necklaces and bracelets, and in their ears large 
 gold and filver rings. The cathedral has a refpec- 
 table appearance, ftanding very boldly on a cliff 
 that overhangs the fea ; there is likewife a convent 
 of Capucins, a pretty good building and plea- 
 fantly fituated; the holy fathers place before 
 ilrangers who vifit them the beft cheer their houfe 
 affords. 
 
 Allow me to bring you back from the capital 
 to the town of Praya, compofed of a few mud 
 hovels, ftanding on a cliff above the landing 
 place j a battery of rufty guns and a flag-ftaff 
 conftitute it a fort ; the officer who commands 
 here is what the Portugueze call a Captano Mor; 
 he is a kind of commandant and directs the 
 police, militia, and revenue. In the valley be- 
 low the town of Praya are two wells, from 
 whence our fleet is watered ; they yield a pretty 
 
 copious
 
 6 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 copious fupply thereof, though it is rather of an 
 jndim CI.L quality; the furtheil well from the 
 fea produces the beft ; other refreshments are 
 likcwife plentiful here, fuch as bullocks, goats, 
 hogs, poultry, eggs, oranges, plantanes, cocoa 
 nuts and other fruits; thefe the natives bring 
 to market; and exchange for old clothes, fhirts, 
 blankets, &c. commodities they value more 
 than fpecie ; from this traffic, which they carry 
 on with all ftrangers that touch here, you fee the 
 fafhions of almoft every nation in Europe dif- 
 play'd in the coats, hats and other parts of the 
 dreffes of thefe negroes, who make rather a fan- 
 taftical appearance from the variety and fhabbi- 
 nefs of their European habiliments. This valley 
 is thickly planted with cocoa nut, tamarind, 
 and other trees, forming a pleafant grove ; and 
 interfperfed amongft them are feveral officers 
 tents i great numbers of foldiers and failors are 
 on fhore to fill the water-cafks and buy provi- 
 fions; our fair countrywomen make it their 
 Promenade and enliven the fcene. An houfe 
 belonging to the Lifbon Company is on the 
 verge of the grove and extremely convenient 
 for our Fetes ; amidft the conviviality of which 
 we forget the favage afpeft of the land we are 
 on and bear more patiently the raging heat of a 
 vertical fun. As our fhips, which were fent to 
 the Ifle of May are expected to join us here to- 
 morrow, we lhall moft probably fail from hence 
 
 on
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 7 
 
 on the following day You may fuppofe we are 
 not a little anxious to know our deftination : 
 wherever it is, I am perfuaded we have your 
 bed wifhes for fuccefs andT a profperous cam- 
 paign. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Porto Pray a, May i, 1781. 
 
 I 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 OUR 
 wh 
 
 campaign has opened fome- 
 what fooner than we expected. 
 While at anchor under the fanction of the Portu- 
 gueze flag we thought ourfelves equally fecure 
 from infult as if at St. Helen's, we were fuddenly 
 attack'd by a French fquadron in a manner we 
 little dreamed of and for which we were by no 
 means prepared. 
 
 The point of this Bay to windward being 
 high land and ftretching pretty far out con- 
 ceals from us every thing approaching on that 
 fide 'till it comes very near : under cover of 
 this blind the enemy advanced, nor did we 
 fufpect the mifchief that thus threatened us till 
 on drawing near the point they opened to the 
 Ifis, which lay the furtheft out in the Bay, and 
 
 fhe
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FkLIX, &c. 5 
 
 fhe immediately made the fignal for difcovering 
 ftrange fhips. They proved to be a French fleet 
 under convoy of five fail of the line and a corvette, 
 commanded by Monf. de Suffrein, Chef d'EJcadre, 
 and were compofed of the Heros and Hannibal 
 of feventy-four guns each, the Sphynx, Artefien, 
 and Vengeur all of fixty-four ; they advanced 
 very faft on our fquadron with a great deal of 
 fail fet, and being gallantly lead by their Com- 
 modore into the center of our fleet began to en- 
 gage us. Monf. Suffrein in the Heros came to an 
 anchor, as did the Hannibal his matelot j a fpi- 
 rited proceeding this, you'll fay, to bring up in 
 the midft of an enemy's fleet j but I fancy he 
 made his calculations on furprizing us, and the 
 event juftified them. The conduct which the 
 other three fhips obferved I cannot account for, 
 unlefs finding our Indiamen on the outfide they 
 miftook them at firft for men of war, though in 
 that they muft foon have been undeceived: I 
 fhould think they would have co-operated more 
 effectually with their Commodore, had they, 
 like him, come to an anchor and directed all 
 their efforts againft our men of war ; a plan moie 
 worthy of them than that of failing about in the 
 out-lkirts of the fleet and making attacks on the 
 Indiamen, in one of which only they fucceeded, 
 boarding- and carrying out with them the Hinch- 
 ingbrooke; but in an attempt of the like nature 
 on the Fortitude were gallantly beat off, and 
 
 C met
 
 to TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 met with a vigorious refiftance from moft of the 
 others : had they, owing to the aukward fituation 
 and unprepared ftate of our men of war, been 
 able.to make any imprefiion on them, the convoy 
 muft have fallen of courfe. You will fuppofe 
 that the two French Ihips in the midft of our 
 fleet had a pretty warm birth, they were the ob- 
 jects for almoit every one to fire at, and not a 
 fingle victualler that mounted fix four-pounders 
 but directed them that way : from fo general a 
 fire they fuffered confiderably, and after {landing 
 the brunt of it for near two hours retired from 
 the fight much fhattered ; the Hannibal was par- 
 ticularly ill-treated, and in its retreat had fcarce 
 clear'd our fleet before her three mafts and bow- 
 fprit went overboard ; fhe was indeed a compleat 
 wreck j her companions bore down to her afiift- 
 ance, and one of them took her in tow : we 
 agreed that it would have been a more pleafing 
 fight to have beheld an Englifh man of war per- 
 form that charitable office : the French then went 
 off to leeward after their convoy. 
 
 We have to lament fome of our friends who- fell 
 in the action, and about two hundred men killed 
 and wounded i a lofs, I fancy, far inferior to that 
 of the enemy, who made their attack with great 
 Ipirit, it muft be confefs'd, but at the fame time 
 with little judgment, the want of which on their 
 parts, with firmnefs and exertion on ours, united 
 
 to
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 1 1 
 
 to fave us in a pofition fo extremely difadvanta- 
 geous. Many of our fhips had not above half their 
 complement on board : the fleet was anchor'd with- 
 out any order or regularity, merchantmen on the 
 outfide, men of war within ; not above one or two 
 had time to get fprings on their cables, and lay 
 likewife fo much in each other's way that fome 
 could not bring their guns to bear upon the enemy 
 and others in the confufion fired upon their friends. 
 
 How different this from what might have 
 been the cafe if we had paid attention to the 
 intelligence received on Ihore and made proper 
 arrangements. We found by the Port book at 
 Praya, (containing the names, countries, and 
 defcriptions of all fhips arriving here) that a 
 French frigate came into the Bay to water but a 
 few weeks before and apprized the inhabitants of 
 this fleet which (he faid would touch at Praya to 
 refrefh in the courfe of the month of April, de- 
 firing them to have cattle and every thing ready; 
 and the people of the ifland fo fully expected the 
 French fleet, that when ours appeared they con- 
 cluded it to be that of which the frigate had given 
 them notice. All this we learned on our arrival, 
 and had we in confequence thereof kept a look 
 out to windward, had our men of war been moor'd 
 head and ftern with fprings on their cables and 
 formed in a line on the outfide the convoy being 
 within j had all our people been on board and the 
 ^>\ C 2 fhips
 
 12 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 fhips properly clear'd for action for which they 
 would in that cafe have received timely notice, 
 it is to be prefumed that we fhould have been 
 able to have given a better account of our own 
 fuccefs and the enemy's lofs: but who could fup- 
 pofe that the French, famous for their faith and 
 their ettquette y would violate the neutrality of a 
 Port and attack us laying fupinely at anchor 
 under protection of the Portngueze flag ? I mar- 
 vel much whether thefe violators of the law of 
 nations would have fcrupled to have taken our 
 ihips, had they found them in the disjointed ftate 
 they were in but a day or two before, when half 
 were watering at the Ifle of May, the other 
 half in Porto Praya j and when thus feparately 
 attacked they could have made but a feeble de- 
 fence and the greater part muft inevitably have 
 fallen. A manifefto from the Court of Lifbon 
 might have been the confequence, but I hardly 
 think it would have procured reftitution. 
 
 I fliould be glad to give you the fequel of this 
 hiftory, "but having told you that in about two 
 hours after the enemy had retreated in a confufed 
 and ihattered condition, our men of war went out 
 of the Bay feeming in good order and were filuted 
 on all fides by the cheers and acclamations of a brave 
 and fpirited fleet, in which I dare fay there was 
 not a man who did not envy them that victory he 
 trufted they were about to gain : I fay after telling 
 
 you
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 13 
 
 you this, allow me to draw a veil over what fol- 
 lowed, and confign to oblivion St. Jago and our 
 atchievements off that ifland ; the gazette will pro- 
 bably explain the remaining tranfaftions of the 
 day and I leave you to your own comments on 
 the occafion. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 14 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Joanna, one of the Comora I/lands. 
 Sept. 3, 1781. 
 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 WHITHER have you now 
 conducted me ! Methinks 
 I hear you exclaim on reading the date of this. 
 Where is this fame Joanna, and thefe Comora 
 Iflands from whence you now announce your- 
 felf ? In what quarter of the globe are they ? 
 or, in what corner of my map can I diicover 
 them ? Thus will you queftion me, if you arc 
 not better acquainted with their fituation than I 
 was till of late. Know then, that they are 
 iflands in the Indian Ocean, whofe longitude is 
 45* eaft from London, latitude i2> fouth j are five 
 in number, Joanna, Mayotta, Mohilla, Angazeia 
 and Comora ; that we have now touched here to 
 take in water and refrefhments in our way to 
 India, where we are bound. By what means, 
 
 and
 
 and through what adventures we have pafled on 
 to this length, the event of our fecret expedi- 
 tion, &c. you Jhall briefly learn. 
 
 After leaving St. Jago our fancies and wifhes 
 were continually employed in deviling what could 
 be the obje<5b of our expedition and flattering our- 
 felves with a fpeedy accomplifhment of it. The 
 two places between which our thoughts vibrated 
 were Buenos Ayres, and the Cape of Good Hope ; 
 it proved to be the latter ; of that we were fully 
 certified on making the ifland of Trinadada fitu- 
 ated in latitude 29 fouth, longitude 29 weft 
 from London. We arrived off that ifland after a 
 month's pafiage from St. Jago i when near the 
 line we had much calm, and the weather was ex- 
 ceffively hot, the thermometer being generally 
 88. our people of courfe were beginning to grow 
 iickjy -, however, in about 4 north we met with 
 the fouth-eaft trade wind, which prevails in 
 the fouthern tropick, and frefhening by degrees 
 it revived us from the languor occafioned by the 
 calm and fultry weather fending us acrofs the 
 equinoctial line May 2Oth. This event produced 
 the ufual ceremony of ducking fuch as had never 
 before pafled it which is performed by a tackle 
 fixed to the main yard arm, by nyans whereof 
 the perfon ducked is lowered into the fea and 
 there plunged three times j but the forfeit of a 
 bottle of brandy exempts thofe who do not 
 
 chufe
 
 16 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 chufe to undergo the difcipline j the crew amufe 
 themfelves with various fports on this occafion, 
 to which the grog arifing from forfeits much 
 contributes. Trinidada had been appointed a 
 place of rendezvous in cafe of feparation, but 
 all our fhips had kept together, and on our ar- 
 rival there the object of the expedition was 
 publickly notified. The Cape of Good Hope 
 now engrofled the whole of our thoughts and 
 converfation, we looked forwards to it with 
 pleafure as the period of our voyage, formed 
 our different plans of attack and flattered our- 
 felves that a few weeks would put us into 
 pofiefiion of that delightful fettlement ; but 
 vain were all our hopes, and the evil genius 
 that vifited us at St. Jago came again acrofs us 
 and forbad our entrance into Falfe Bay, as the 
 fequel fhall explain. 
 
 On the twelfth of June the Commodore fent 
 forwards two frigates and two cutters to recon- 
 noitre the Cape, examine the pofture of defence 
 of the enemy and difcover whether the French 
 fquadron was arrived there j thefe, on their paf- 
 fage took an outward-bound Dutch Indiaman 
 which had juft left Saldanha Bay and was bound 
 to Ceylon ; ^rom the accounts received thereby 
 and letters found on board, it was difcovered, 
 that the French fleet arrived in Falfe Bay on the 
 21 ft of Junes that they had even brought the 
 
 fhattered
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 17 
 
 (battered Hannibal with them by great exertions, 
 having towed her moil part of the way ; that all 
 neceflary preparations were made for our recep- 
 tion and they were in daily expectation of thevifit. 
 
 The refolution formed in confequence of 
 this intelligence was, not to attempt the Cape ; 
 and our famous expedition, from which fo much 
 was expected, tamely terminated in the capture 
 of fome Dutch Indiamen that we furprized in 
 Saldanha Bay on the twenty-firft of July : they 
 attempted to fee fire to their fhips, but fucceeded 
 only in burning one j mod of the people made 
 their efcape on fhore, a few only coming over to 
 us among whom were two diftinguilhed perfona- 
 ges, no lefs than a King and the Prince his fon, 
 who threw themfelves on our protection, rejoiced 
 at having gained their liberty after a captivity 
 of fixteen years on Robin liland laying near 
 that coaft. Their crime againft the Dutch was, 
 the having oppofed them at Ternate one of 
 the Moluccas) of which the old man was king. 
 As we had been expected at the Cape for fome 
 time before, thefe royal captives were fent on 
 board the Indiamen we took to be conveyed to 
 Holland ; thofe very fhips had alfo been fent 
 round from the Cape into Saldanha Bay as a 
 place of fecurity during the expected attack; 
 it was from the prize taken at fea that we gained 
 intelligence of them. 
 
 D Saldanha
 
 i8 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 
 
 
 Saldanhais perhaps one of the fined Bays in the 
 world j it branches into three or four, the inner 
 one where the prizes were laying is called Hotties 
 Bay; it is compleatly land-lock'd, fecure, and 
 large enough to contain two or three hundred 
 fail : the furrounding country is formed by wild 
 uncultivated hills and plains covered thick with 
 fhrubs, the only inhabitants thereabouts are 
 tygers, antelopes, deer, and quantities of game : 
 did it but yield good water, it would be a more 
 eligible place than the Cape for fhipping and re- 
 frefhments, but the want thereof is the reafon 
 that no fettlement has been formed there. 
 
 The whole country being one continued fhrub- 
 bery prefents an extenfive field for the refearches of 
 a botanift; there are a vaft number of plants grow- 
 ing wild which are foftered with much care in 
 Englifh green-houfes ; the air was perfumed with 
 their fragrance j the climate is as foft and mild 
 as that of Montpellier or Naples, for though it 
 was the depth of winter, the air was quite clear, 
 and fun extremely warm, the thermometer being 
 at 60. but we were allowed only a fhort time to 
 enjoy the pleafures of this fliore and climate, 
 quitting it after a three days flay and regretting 
 much that our vifit to the fouthern promontory 
 of Africa was of fo tranlitory a nature, where 
 tiur imaginations had painted to us the acqui- 
 fition of fome honour and much pleafure. By all
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 19 
 
 accounts it is a delightful fettlement. The Cape 
 Town is repfefented to be neatly and regularlybuilt: 
 the adjacent country mountainous towards the fea, 
 but in land beautifully diverfified with villas, vine- 
 yards, and plantations, the climate remarkably 
 fine, and favorable to fruits and vegetables of all 
 kinds, which, as well as every other fort of pro- 
 vifions, are extremely plentiful. The inhabitants 
 are hofpitable, of plain and eafy manners, and 
 much attached to the Englifh, with whom they 
 are greatly connected in time of peace, as our In- 
 diamen generally touch there for refrefhment, and 
 in that point of view only it would have been a moft 
 defirable acquifition to us, and I fear we fhall 
 have great reafon to regret the failure of this ex- 
 pedition during our war with the Dutch. 
 
 
 The Commodore continued with us for two 
 or three days only after we left Saldanha Bay and 
 then returned to England, taking with him two 
 fifties and two frigates, the reft of the force is 
 proceeding to India ; and in cur way thither 
 we have touched here for water and refrefli- 
 ments, having been four months on our paflage 
 from St. Jago. This iiland appears very plea- 
 fant and inviting, in fact it is land, and that is 
 
 no fmall recommendation. I mean to vi'fit it to- 
 
 
 
 morrow and (hall defer a more particular account 
 till my next. Adieu. 
 
 D 2 LETTER
 
 20 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Joanna Town, September 23, 1781. 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 THOUGH this is not the largeft 
 yet it may be reckon'd the 
 principal of the Comora Iflands; it claims fove- 
 reignty over and exacts tribute from all the 
 others : thefe pretenfions it is however fometimes 
 obliged to aflert by the fword and at prefent 
 meditates an expedition againft Mayotta which 
 is in a ftate of rebellion ; the natives on being 
 afked the caufe of their war with that people, 
 reply "Mayotta like America:" they get their 
 fupplies of arms and ammunition from (hips that 
 touch here, and the arrival of fo large a fleet as 
 the prefent will prove very feafonable to them, 
 as it is cuftomary for all to make prefents of 
 arms and powder to the Prince when he pays a 
 vifit on board which he does to every one ; a fa- 
 lute is the compliment due on that occafion, 
 
 but
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 21 
 
 but as our guns are fhotted an apology is made 
 for the omiflion of that ceremony, and the Prince 
 readily admits of it provided he receives a num- 
 ber of cartridges equal to the guns that would 
 have been fired. 
 
 The King lives at a Town about twelve miles 
 off on the eaft fide of the iftand, two Princes of 
 the blood refide here; on going their round 
 of vifits they fail not to afk for every thing 
 they fee which ftrikes their fancy, and of courfe 
 the honor of making a prefent to a Prince, in- 
 duces one at firft readily to grant what they re- 
 queft; but no fooner is that done than they 
 make frefh applications till we are reduced to 
 the rude neceffity of putting the negative on moft 
 of them. Thefe great perfonages are very richljs 
 drefied and attended by a numerous fuite of 
 (laves, who like their princely matters are much 
 ftruck with the objects they fee but ufe lefs cerc-f 
 mony in their manner of obtaining them : Thefc 
 black Princes (for that is the complexion iof 
 them and all the inhabitants) have by fome 
 means or other obtained the titles cf Prince of 
 Wales and Prince Will, the former has, I fup- 
 pofe, been jocofely called fo by Tome Englifh*- 
 men as being the heir apparent and the natives 
 have adopted the term, not the only one tliey 
 borrow from us ; they have an officer ftiled Puri 
 fer Jack who feeras to be at the head of the 
 finances-department - s of dukes they have a pro- 
 digious
 
 22 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 digious number, who entertain us at their hotels 
 for a dollar per day and give us for dinner very 
 good rice and curry j thefe noblemen, together 
 with a numerous tribe of others of all ranks, 
 make the earliefl application to every one to fol- 
 licit the honor of his company and cuftom, even 
 before the fhip has let go its anchor they come 
 along fide in their canoes and produce written 
 certificates of their honcfty and abilities from 
 thofe.who have been here before,, the purport of 
 which is to inform you that the bearer has given 
 them good cheer, wafiied their linen well and 
 fupplied their Ihip punctually with all forts of 
 refreihments. The effect is ftriking and fmgular 
 on entering the road to fee a vaft number of ca- 
 noes which are made of trunks of trees hollowed 
 out with three or four black fellows in each, 
 their faces turned towards the front of the canoe, 
 with paddles formed like a fpade, digging away 
 in the water and moving with no fmall velocity: 
 to keep thefe cockle-fhells fteady and prevent 
 them from over-fetting, they have what is 
 termed an out- rigger, it is compofed of two 
 poles laid acrofs the upper part of the canoe and 
 extending feveral feet beyond the edges thereof 
 on each fide, joined at the extremities by two 
 flat pieces of wood, fo that it appears like afquare 
 frame laid acrofs the canoe : they are very long 
 but fo narrow that one perfon only can fit 
 breadthways. The price of every article here is 
 
 regulated 

 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 23 
 
 regulated and each Ihip has it's contractor who 
 
 O * 
 
 engages to fupply it with neceflaries at the efta- 
 blilhed rate, but I believe it is in many cafes ex- 
 ceeded by the great demand and the eagernefs of 
 half-ftarved people to obtain frefh flock. 
 
 We find no other animals for our fea provi- 
 fions but bullocks, goats and fowls, the feafon 
 for oranges is paft, but we get moil other tropical 
 fruits and whatever we want, have only to give 
 in a lift to a duke and he provides us therewith : 
 This, you will fay, is a new character for a duke 
 to appear in and fuch it feems to be, but it is in 
 fadl only owing to the mode, they are their own 
 ftewards and difpofe of the produce of their 
 Deflates themfelves, which noblemen of other 
 countries do by the intermediate aid of an agent : 
 they at lead a6l confident with their characters 
 by an urbanity of manners which one is fur- 
 prized to meet with in a people inhabiting a fmall 
 fpot fecluded from the reft of the civilized world. 
 They have a regular form of government and ex- 
 ercife the Mahometan religion i both were intro- 
 duced by Arabians whopafled over from the con- 
 tinent and fubdued the country; the original Joan- 
 na natives are by no means thoroughly reconcil'd to 
 this ufurpation and ftill look upon their conque- 
 rors with an evil eye. Like their fentiments fo 
 are the colours of thefe two races of men very 
 ^ different, the Arabs have not fo deep a tinge as 
 
 the
 
 *4. TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 the others, being of a yellowifli copper com- 
 plexion with better features and a more animated 
 countenance, they confider a black ftreak under 
 the eyes and black teeth as ornamental, the for- 
 mer they make every day at their toilettes with 
 a painting brufh dipt in a kind of ointment, the 
 latter is principally caufed by the chewing of 
 the betel nut : this cuftom which prevails in all 
 Eaftern countries anfwers to the fafhion of fmo- 
 king tobacco or taking fnuff with us, except that 
 with them it is more general, no one is without 
 a purfe or bag of betel and it is looked on as a 
 piece of civility to offer it to your friend when 
 you meet him or take leave ; it is a fmall nut of 
 the fize of a filberd that grows on a creeping 
 plant like a vine ; together with the betel nut 
 are chewed the leaves of the areca (a kind of palm 
 tree) and a fmall quantity of chinam or lime, 
 made of calcined (hells, is added. 
 
 Their religion licenfes a plurality of wives 
 and likewife concubines; they are extremely 
 jealous of them and never allow any man to 
 fee the women, but female ftrangers are admit- 
 ted into the Harem, and fome Englilh ladies, 
 whofe curiofity has lead them there make fa- 
 vourable reports of their beauty and richnefs of 
 apparel difplayed in a profufion of ornaments of 
 gold, filver, and beads, in form of necklaces brace- 
 lets
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 25 
 
 lets and ear-rings, they wear half a dozen or more 
 in each through holes bored all along the outer 
 rim of the ear. 
 
 The men feem not to look with an eye of in- 
 difference on our fair countrywomen notwith- 
 ftanding they are of fo different a complexion i 
 one of the firft rank among them being much fmit- 
 ten with an Englifh young lady wifhed to make a 
 purchafe of her at the price of five thoufand dol- 
 lars, but on being informed that the lady would 
 fetch at leaft twenty times that fum in India, 
 he lamented that her value was fo far fuperior 
 to what he could afford to give. 
 
 Thefe people arc very temperate and abftcmious, 
 wine being forbidden them by thelaw of Mahomet, 
 but that prophet feems to have had lefs compaffion 
 on his followers when he enjoined them the faft of 
 Ramazan, lafting for a month, during which 
 they never tafte of any thing from fun-rife to fun- 
 let j it is now about half over and with furprize 
 we fee them every day toiling in the heat of the 
 fun, nor will the greateft thirft they can fuffer 
 juftify the bare wetting the lips. They are fre- 
 quent in prayer, attending their mofques three or 
 four times a day ; we are allowed to enter them on 
 condition of taking off our (hoes. Thefe buildings 
 are regular but quite plain ; in prayer they prof- 
 trate themfelves on the ground frequently kiffing 
 it and exprefiing very fervent devotion : the com- 
 putation of time (which >s dated from their pro- 
 
 E phet
 
 26 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 phct Mahomet) is termed the Higera, of which 
 the prefent year is the u 95th; their new year 
 begins September 14th: but I need not trouble 
 you with a recital of all the laws of the Alcoran 
 which you have moft likely read. 
 
 The town from whence I date this is clofe to 
 the fea, fituated at the foot of a very high hill, 
 and about a mile and a half in circuit ; the houfes 
 are inclofed either with high ftone walls or palings 
 made with a kind of reed, and the flreets are little 
 narrow alleys extremely intricate and forming a 
 perfect labyrinth ; the better kind of houfes are 
 built of ftone within a court-yard, have a portico 
 to fhield them from the fun, and one long and 
 lofty room where they receive guefts, the other 
 apartments are facred to the women ; the fides of 
 their rooms are covered with a number of fm all 
 mirrors, bits of china ware and other little orna- 
 ments that they procure from fhif* which come 
 here to refrefh : the mofl fuperb of them are 
 furnifhed with cane fophas covered with chintz 
 and fattin mattrefles : mofl of the people fpeak a 
 little Englifh, they profefs a particular regard for 
 our nation and are very fond of repeating to you 
 that "Joanna-man and Englifh-man all brothers," 
 and never fail to afk " how King George do ?" In 
 general they appear to be a courteous and well 
 clifpofed people and very fair and honeft in their 
 .dealings, though there are amongfl them as in 
 all other nations fome vicioufly inclined and theft 
 
 is
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 27 
 
 is much praclifed by the lower clafs, notwith- 
 flanding the puniihment of it is very exemplary, 
 being amputation of both hands of the delin- 
 quent. 
 
 The inhabitants of this ifland, like thofe of 
 moft hot and tropical countries, are indolent and 
 do not improve by their labour the richnefs of 
 that foil with which nature has bleft them : cli- 
 mate here favours vegetation to fuch a degree as 
 requires little toil in the hufbandman but that 
 little is denied, fo that beyond oranges, bananas, 
 pine-apples, cocoa nuts, yams and purflain, (all 
 growing fpontaneoufly,) few vegetables are met 
 withj nor are the natural beauties of the ifland 
 inferior to its other advantages of plenty and fer- 
 tility, the face of the country is very pifturefque 
 and pleafmg, its fcenes are drawn by the bold 
 ftrokes of nature's maflerly pencil : lofty moun- 
 tains cloathed to their very fummits; deep and 
 rugged vallies adorned by frequent cataracts and 
 cafcades ; woods, rocks and rivulets intermixed 
 in "gay theatric pride" form thelandfcape: groves 
 are feen extending over the plains, to the very 
 edge of the fea, formed principally by cocoa-nut 
 trees, whofe long and naked flems leave a clear 
 uninterrupted paflage beneath, while their tufted 
 and overfpreading tops form a thick fhade above, 
 and keep off the fcorching rays of the fun; in 
 
 E 2 thefe
 
 28 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 thefe we pitch our tents and enjoy a fhort relief 
 from the ennui of a tedious voyage. 
 
 In the interior part of the ifland furrounded by 
 mountains of a prodigious height and about fif- 
 teen miles from this town is fituated a facred lake 
 half a mile in circumference, the adjacent hills 
 covered with lofty trees and the unfrequented 
 folitude of the place feem more calculated to 
 infpire religious awe in thofe who vifit this fe- 
 queftered fpot, than any fandity that is to be 
 difcovered in a parcel of wild ducks inhabiting it 
 which are deified and worfhipped by the original 
 natives, whoconfult them as their oracles on all 
 important affairs and facrifice to them : being 
 extremely averfe to conducT: ftrangers there, they 
 ftipulate that all guns fhall be left at a place five 
 miles from the lake; the worfhip paid to thefe 
 birds enfures their fafety and tranquillity, and 
 rendering them of courfe perfectly tame they 
 fearlefly approach any one who goes there : the 
 Arabian part of the iflanders hold this barbarous 
 fuperftition in the utmoft deteftation, but dare 
 not forbid the practice of it, fo bigotted to it are 
 the others. 
 
 This ifland produces no great variety of birds 
 or beafts ; amongft the former the Madagafcar 
 Bat is the moft curious on account of its fize and 
 form, its dimenfions between the extremities of 
 
 each
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 29 
 
 each wing when extended are near a yard and of 
 its body from the tip of the nofe to the tail about 
 nine inches, the wings are of the fame texture as 
 thofe of the common bat, but the body is covered 
 with a furr exactly of the colour and quality of 
 that of a fox to which animal it bears likewife 
 a perfect refemblance in its head, and for that 
 reafon fome call it the flying fox j they abound 
 on the coaft of Africa and in the ifland of Ma- 
 dagafcar, where they are much larger than here ; 
 they are faid to be of a very voracious nature and 
 to deftroy fowls and other domeftic animals. 
 
 The heat is very great at prefent and the ther- 
 mometer near 90 j our fcorbutic men have found 
 the benefit of fhore and are tolerably recovered ; 
 all are embarked to-day and preparations made 
 for our departure to morrow, when, if the wind 
 permits, we fhall be again launched into the 
 dreary ocean and with good luck may expect, to 
 fee the Indian fliores in fix weeks, a mere nothing 
 of time to us who have pafTed fix months at fea, 
 but I dare fay is more than you ever wilh to fpend 
 on that joylefs element. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 30 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Mor el at Bay, Dec. i, 1781. 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 w 
 
 E are, I believe, doomed to 
 wander over the whole face of 
 the ocean and never to arrive at our deftin'd port ; 
 to moulder away in inactivity and lofe by ficknefs 
 thofe lives, which it is true we owe to our coun- 
 try, but we fhould wilh for her fake and our own 
 to pay rather in the field than tamely on the fea. 
 
 Ourlofs has been very great fmce we left Joanna, 
 an epidemical fever having raged in the fleet which 
 has carried off a great number of officers and men ; 
 people will tell you that this has proceeded from 
 a particular malignity in the air of Joanna ; but 
 I fancy it is no more than that particular malig- 
 nity prevailing in all hot countries where there 
 is much wood and where of courfe the night dews 
 are very plentiful, thefe are always pernicious to 
 men whofe occupations and duty oblige them to 
 
 be
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c.. 31 
 
 be expofed to their effect. One valley in parti- 
 cular proved very fatal to them that fixed their 
 refidence in it j thofe natural beauties of which it 
 boafted, formed by a thick grove of cocoa-nut 
 trees through which a limpid flream murmured 
 and glided to the fea in gentle masanders, ferved 
 but as a decoy deftrucYive to fuch as were thereby 
 enticed into its bofom ; and that it was a more 
 unhealthy fpot than any other mud be owing to 
 its beinoj more covered with trees, and by that 
 means more fubject to the putrid and ftagnant 
 vapour found fo baleful. 
 
 Phyficians who write on the difeafes of Euro- 
 peans in hot climates recommend it to people 
 who touch at places in thefe latitudes, for the 
 purpofe of refrefhment, to fleep always on board 
 of ihip, and it would have been more prudent in 
 us to have conformed to their directions in that 
 inftance, fince the ficknefs which has carried off 
 fo many affected thofe principally who (lept on 
 fhore, amongft whom I happened unluckily to 
 be, for tired with my long captivity on the fea, 
 I could not refift the temptation of land, and 
 lived entirely on the ifland, but have paid feverely 
 for it by the lofs of my health which ever fince 
 has been on the decline. 
 
 During the firft month after our leaving Joan- 
 na we received almoft every day the melancholy 
 
 tidings
 
 32 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 tidings of fome friend's death, and in our vifits 
 from fhip to (hip hardly recognized others from 
 their pale and emaciated appearance, beholding 
 with forrow 
 
 " To infant weaknefs funk the warrior's arm, 
 *' The lip pale-quivering and the beamlefs eye. 
 " Heard nightly plung'd amid the fullen waves 
 * The frequent corfe : while on each other fix'd 
 * In fad prefage the blank affiftants feem'd 
 " Silent to aflt, whom Fate would next demand." 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 At the fame time that I lament this mortality 
 which raged in our little army, allow me to anim- 
 advert on what in my opinion has been more than 
 the noxious air of Joanna, a caufe of the misfor- 
 tune, namely the crowded and confined fituation 
 of our people on board of fhip. The tranfports 
 commonly made ufe of for the accommodation of 
 troops are more calculated to deftroy than pre- 
 fervt health, which can certainly be attributed 
 to no other caufe than the difficulty of procuring 
 (hips, for no pains or expence ought to be fpared 
 to promote fo efiential a point as the prefervation 
 of the men. Did not humanity-dictate fuch a 
 confideration, ceconomy ought to point out the 
 neceflity of faving thofe lives which are repla- 
 ced at fo great an expence, greater than that 
 would be of giving the troops better and more 
 
 roomy
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 33 
 
 roomy tranfports; and by this means, faving 
 half that perifh at fea : but this Ihould only be a 
 fecondary thought; the value of a Britifh Soldier 
 ought to be the firft. In voyages of a moderate 
 length, the health of the men may be better pre- 
 ferved on fhipboard than on fhore, provided they 
 have room, good air, and wholefome provilions ; 
 care of officers may give every thing elfe; but 
 their utmofr, efforts can never keep the men in. 
 health where thofe requifites are wanting. It has 
 been our misfortune, though going on fo long a 
 voyage, to have only the fame allowance of ton- 
 nage that thofe have, which are bound to America 
 or the Weft Indies, viz. two ton per man, abun- 
 dantly too fmall for them, what then muft it be 
 for us going to India ? This mifchief has been 
 plainly pointed out by feveral (hips that have 
 been extremely fickly till near half their comple- 
 ments were buried, and after that, became as 
 healthy : we might learn from this fatal experi- 
 ence, what quantity of tonnage would be proper 
 for fuch a number of men. If therefore, we va- 
 lue the lives of our foldiers, and wifh them to be 
 landed compleat and fit for fervice in thofe coun- 
 tries to which they are fent, we ought to give 
 them a better conveyance than at prefent, and 
 take into the fervice, fhips more proper for that 
 purpofe : the deck on which the men lay, ought 
 to be pierced fore and aft; and by that means a 
 conitant current of sir would keep it fweet and 
 
 F clean,
 
 34 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 clean, an advantage not to be obtained in our 
 prefent dyle of tranfports, whofe lower decks are 
 peftilential dungeons, and even on whofe upper 
 ones, from the number of men condantly there 
 during the day-time, the air is putrid and un- 
 wholfome. Large (hips are the fitted for troop- 
 tranfports, for many reafons; but chiefly, becaufe 
 difcipline and their duty, can there bed be taught 
 to the men, which, by amufing the mind and ex- 
 ercifing the body, preferve both in health and vi- 
 gor. If for the purpole of expedition, coppered 
 fhips fhould be made ufe of, great care mud be 
 taken that a quantity of water be let into them 
 every day, and pumped out again, otherwife, as 
 thofe (hips are extremely tight, the bilge water 
 will corrupt, and render the air putrid : nor 
 fhould the men ever be fuffered to tow their 
 meat over-board, fince by rubbing againft the fides 
 of the fhip, it contracts fome of the bad quality of 
 the copper, and is very injurious. 
 
 But to return to our voyage : the firft three weeks 
 from Joanna, gave us the earned of afpeedy arrival 
 at Bombay, a favourable breeze continually be- 
 friending us ; but at the expiration of that time, 
 refigned us to calms, currents, and contrary winds, 
 which have been our portion ever fince : during a 
 whole month while the heat was excefiive in about 
 10. north latitude, we experienced one conti- 
 nued calm; nor was that the word that befell us, 
 
 for
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 35 
 
 for the currents drove us confiderably out of our 
 courfe j and, when at length a breeze fprung 
 up, it was directly contrary, and certified us of the 
 ihifting of the monfoon, which in thefe feas takes 
 
 o * 
 
 place about the latter end of October : this is the 
 name given to thofe periodical winds that blow in 
 the Indian ocean fix months from N. E. or there- 
 abouts, and the other fix months from the oppo- 
 fite points : we contended for a long time with 
 this contrary wind; but as we rather loft than 
 gained way, and began to Hand in need of water 
 and refrelhments, we bore away for this bay, and 
 came in here November sythj and it is much 
 doubted whether the fleet, in which are many 
 heavy and bad failing fliips, will be able to make 
 good its paflage to India till March or April, 
 when the foutherly moonfoon fets in. 
 
 Chance could hardly have directed us to a more 
 unpleafant or miferable place than Morebat j the 
 country here, does not refrefh the eye with a 
 fingle vegetable production, but barren hills and 
 fandy plains are the only objects to be feen ; of 
 fruits it yields none, and of cattle, only a few 
 half-flarved goats and bullocks, not larger than 
 maft iff- dogs ; the water we procure is little bet- 
 ter than a diftillation of the fea water, which by 
 oozing through the fand, loofes fome of its fait 
 particles j and to get it, we are obliged to fink 
 F 2 wells.
 
 3 6 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 wells. Yet thcfe bleffings of life, fuch as I de- 
 fcribe them, draw down upon the natives, the Bu- 
 doos or wild Arabs, who inhabit the mountains : 
 what then muft their fituation be, when they envy 
 the people of Morebat, the little they pofifefs ? 
 or where can the attachment to the na tale Jolum, 
 be more ftrongly fhown than by thefe people who 
 will fight to defend a country, one thinks it 
 would be a happinefs to be deprived of? From 
 the frequent incurfions which the Budoos make 
 into this diftrift, the inhabitants are kept on a 
 perpetual gut vive-, and from their conftant ftnte 
 of warfare, have acquired a ferocity of look and 
 manner, which makes them at leaft appear terri- 
 blej they have long ragged black hair, which 
 they collect in a knot at the top of their heads ; 
 are naked, except a rug about their middle, and 
 carry either a lance or match-lock gun ; in march- 
 ing to and from battle, they go in a rank, and be- 
 fore them dance fome warriors, finging at the 
 fame time difcordant airs, and clafhing their 
 fliields and arms. 
 
 Abdallah Ben Homed the Noqueeb or Chief 
 of Morebat, is now languilhing with fome 
 wounds he received in battle, and lays ftretch- 
 cd on a pallet in the corner of a gloomy cel- 
 lar, which is his Jalle d'audience, where we are 
 introduced to him, and feat ourfelves on the 
 
 ground
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 37 
 
 ground to take coffee with him and his generals, 
 while the Hookah pafTes round; this is a pipe of 
 a fingular and complicated conftruction, through 
 which tobacco is fmoked : out of a fmall veffel of 
 a globular form, and nearly full of water, ifTue 
 two tubes, one perpendicularly, on which is 
 placed the tobacco; the other, obliquely from 
 the fide of the vtflcl, and to that the perfon who 
 fmokes, applies his mouth; the fmoke by this 
 means being drawn through water, is cooled in its 
 pafiage, and rendered more grateful : one takes a 
 whiff, draws up a large quantity of fmoke, puffs it 
 out of his nofe and mouth in an immenfe cloud, 
 and paffes the hookah to his neighbour; and thus 
 it goes round the whole circle. The hookah is 
 known and ufed throughout the Eaft; but in 
 thofe parts of it where the refinements of life pre- 
 vail more than at Morebat, every one has his 
 hookah facred to himfelf ; and it is frequently an 
 implement of a very coftly nature, being of filver, 
 and fet with precious ftones : in the better kind, 
 that tube which is applied to the mouth is very 
 long and pliant ; and for that reafon is termed the 
 fnake : people who ufe it in a luxurious manner, 
 fill the veffel through which the fmoke is drawn 
 with rofe water, and it thereby receives fome of 
 the fragrant quality of that fluid. 
 
 The interior part of the country is occupied by 
 Budoos, jackalls and wild dogsj all which de- 
 
 fcend
 
 38 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 fcend to prey on the fandy plains of Morcbat. 
 Would you think, that of all countries, this un- 
 happy place fhould be fituated on the coaft of 
 happy Arabia? If one may judge of it from the 
 Specimen here exhibited, no term was ever more 
 mifapplied, where the country is deftitute of 
 every vegetable production, the natives of every 
 rational enjoyment. 
 
 Large fleets of Arabian veflels are daily patting 
 full of pilgrims going to Mecca, and merchan- 
 dife brought from Mufcat, Buflbra, and other 
 places on the coaft, being bound for Mocha and 
 Juddah in the Red Sea ; the pafiage to the for- 
 mer place from hence, is but about ten days; and 
 the eafy tranfhion to Europe by that route, will 
 I believe, induce me to feek cooler climes for the 
 recovery of my health, to which thefe torrid ones 
 are fo unfriendly : if I meet with an Arabian vef- 
 fel that can accommodate me tolerably well for 
 the fliort diftance to Mocha, the India Company's 
 agent will put me in the proper channel to get 
 up the Red Sea, or I may pofiibly find an Euro- 
 pean fhip to convey me to Suezj from thence a- 
 crofs the Ifthmus of that name to Alexandria, is 
 not above a fix day's journey, and I (hall then 
 be on the borders of the Mediterranean fea, with 
 daily opportunities of palling into Italy, or fome 
 part of Europe. 
 
 The
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 39 
 
 The hopes of regaining fo valuable a poflefiion 
 as health, can alone make me form this wilh, as 
 I (hall give up my Indian expedition with the 
 greatefl reluctance ; but as I retire from the fun, 
 I flatter myfelf, I Ihall receive daily benefit; 
 and that by the time I arrive in England, I fhall 
 be fit for a campaign in the temperate zone. 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 40 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Mocha, Dec. 30, 1781. 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 O U will perceive by the date of 
 this, that I have put into execu- 
 tion the defign, of which I gave fome hints in my 
 laft, and am thus far in my way to Europe. 
 
 I embarked about three weeks ago in an Arabian 
 veflel that came into Morebat Bay for water, and 
 was bound hither : my accommodations on 
 board it, were not magnificent, but I had every 
 thing that common wants required, and had an 
 opportunity of learning of what difadvantage it 
 is on many occafions to have too many of them, 
 it is true, 
 
 They prove a fource of pleafure when fupply'J. 
 
 GOLDSMITH. 
 
 but vice versa of pain when unprovided for. I 
 found myfclf rathtr uncomfortable at firft on that 
 
 account,
 
 'COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 4* 
 
 account, not being able to drink my tea, or make 
 my meals quite fo much at my eafe as I was ufed 
 to do ; but feeing my copper-coloured fellow tra- 
 vellers happy with a little rice and water, and non 
 diftrefied for want of tables, chairs and napkins, I 
 adopted their cuftoms more confonant to nature 
 than my own> and foon reafoned myfelf into good 
 humour, both with my fituation and fare, and 
 having a tolerable cabbin, was not in danger of 
 luffering from the fun by day, or the dews by 
 night. TheNoquedah or mailer of the veffel, by 
 nam.e Hamet Ali, was a venerable old man, with 
 a long white beard, and had a benignity of 
 countenance that prepoffefled me in his favour; 
 his people likewife feemed to be good honeft 
 -fellows, and I readily embarked on board his 
 veflel, notwithstanding, fome of my friends' 
 thought it rather an hazardous ftep, but I took 
 care not to throw the temptation of booty in their 
 way, taking with me, fcarce any thing but my 
 bedding and provifions, and giving them credit 
 for fo much liberality of fentiment as not to 
 fufpect any harm, becaufe I was not of their co- 1 - 
 lour, or did not, like them, believe Mahomet to 
 be the true prophet. However, I endeavoured 
 to cultivate their good will as much as pofTible; 
 and on firfb going on board, fat down with the 
 Noquedah and his officers to fupper, the floor be- 
 ing both our table and chairs, on which we feated 
 ourfelves in a circle, with a large bowl of rice in 
 
 G the
 
 41 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 the middle, and fome fifH and dates before each 
 perfon: here I likewife found that knives and 
 forks were ufelefs inftruments in eating, and that 
 nature had accommodated us with what anfwered 
 the fame purpofe: we plunged our hands into the 
 bowl, rolled up an handful of rice into a ball, and 
 conveyed it to our mouths in that form : our re- 
 paft was fhort, and to that fueceeded coffee and 
 wafhing, and on their parts prayer, in which they 
 were very frequent and fervent, always going 
 through the motions -of it together by fignal from 
 a man advanced before them, and every evening 
 they chaunted forth Alia Alia, and the praifes of 
 Mahomet for an hour or two after fun-fet. 
 
 Our veffel was one of the largeft of this kind, and 
 had thirty hands on board ; all thofe craft are built 
 very fharp at the head, and fail extremely fail, al- 
 though they carry but one fail ; they are built of thin 
 planks, fown or rather laced together with cord; 
 their ropes are made of Kiar the filament which 
 covers the cocoa-nut fhell, and their fails of cot- 
 ton : in our paffage we fleered from headland to 
 headland, and were never far from land, which a- 
 long the whole extent of the coafl, appeared bar- 
 ren and rugged j as they take only three or four 
 days water on board at a time, we were frequently- 
 obliged to put in at different places for a fupply> 
 which made our paffage rather tedious, and what 
 might have been done in eight days was, owing t6 
 
 that
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 43 
 
 that circumftance, protra&ed to a fortnight, when 
 we arrived here. 
 
 This city appears extremely beautiful as you 
 approach it, being well built, and {landing 
 clofe to the water's edge ; the houfes are very 
 lofty, and are, as well as the walls, forts, &c. 
 covered with a chinam or ftucco, that gives a 
 dazzling whitenefs to them: the harbour isfemi- 
 circular, and formed by two arms which run out 
 into the fea to equal lengths, having a fort at 
 each extremity. The circuit of the wall is two 
 miles: there are feveral handfome mofques in the 
 city; but that with the tower built in honour of 
 Shadeli, who founded the town, and brought the 
 coffee plant into the neighbourhood, is the prin- 
 cipal one. The English, French and Dutch have 
 factories here ; the houfe of the former is a very 
 large and handfome building, in which I am com- 
 fortably lodged, and have already received bene- 
 fit from the falubrity of the air, and other refrelh- 
 ments which I meet with. The climate is now 
 temperate and pleafant, compared with what I 
 have lately experienced, though the thermometer 
 is generally up at 80. in the middle of the day, 
 and at 77. in the mornings and evenings -, there 
 are no fprings of frefli water in the town, but 
 fome of a very good quality within a quarter of a 
 mile amongft the groves of date trees : provifions, 
 fruits and vegetables are in great abundance. 
 
 G 2 Trade
 
 44 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 Trade has much declined here of late years 
 Europe has been fupplied with coffee from the 
 Weft-Indies, which article is the ftaple commo- 
 dity of this country ; it grows at a place called 
 Betelfaqui, fixty miles from hence, and is brou 
 here on camels: that patient and docile animal, 
 in thefe eaftern countries, (hares with man in his 
 toil, and tranfports his merchandife from place to 
 place j he kneels down at the command of his. 
 mafter to receive his load, and carries it with a flow 
 and fteady pace acrofs dry and barren deferts > 
 fupporting thirft for feveral days together ; nor is 
 this animal uleful only for the purpofes of carry- 
 ing a rider or his burden, but likewife fupplies 
 man both with food and raiment. 
 
 The fineft breed of Arabian horfes is in this 
 country, and has furnifhed us with thofe we 
 make ufe of for the turf; they are here chiefly 
 articles of luxury, ufed only in war, or for 
 parade : the governor has a* large ftud oppo- 
 iite to the houfe where I live, which affords 
 me much pleafure as I pay them frequent vi- 
 fits; they are fmall, but finely fhaped, and ex- 
 tremely active j of this I had an opportunity of 
 judging yefterday when the cavalry had a field- 
 day in the great fquare, which, from the mode of 
 exercife, called to my mind the idea of our anti.cn t 
 tilts nd tournaments : the lifts were furrounded 
 by a great number of fpeclators, and within were 
 
 drawn
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FFLIX, &c. 45 
 
 drawn up fifty horfemen ; they firft moved in a 
 body, and performed feveral charges with great 
 rapidity, then difperfed, fome took antagonifts, 
 and praftifed with them a mock fight with lances 
 of ten or twelve yards in length, which they all 
 carried; others went fingly through their exercife 
 with that weapon, and the motions of attack and 
 defence ; their horfes were fumptuoufly capari- 
 foned, being adorned with gold and filver trap- 
 pings, bells hung round their necks, and rich 
 houfmgs ; the riders were in handfome Turkifh 
 drefies, with white turbans, and the whole formed 
 to me a new and pleafing fpeftacle. There is a 
 very martial fpirit amongft the Arabians in gene- 
 ral ; and the conftant ftate of warfare they are in 
 with the Rudoos., tends much to keep it up : thefe 
 roving banditti, who are fpread over the whole 
 country, occafionally form themfelves into nu- 
 merous bodies for the purpofe of plunder j and 
 often by their depredations, bring down upon 
 themfelves the Sovereign of the country at the 
 head of his army, who frequently finds great dif- 
 ficulty in driving them away. 
 
 The kingdom of Sunnaa, in which ftands this 
 city, is fituated in the fineft part of Arabia, and 
 that which, from its fertility, belt deferves the epi- 
 thet we annex to it; the Arabians term this dif- 
 tricl: Yemen : the Imaum or king of Sunnaa, re- 
 fides at the metropolis of that name in the inte- 
 : i 
 
 nor
 
 46 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 rior part of the country, ten days journey from 
 hence, (a day's journey being twenty-five miles;) 
 the two firft days you pafs through the fame flat and 
 fandy plain as that which furrounds this place j 
 but beyond that, the country is fertile, and well 
 cultivated, being diverfified with hill and dale: the 
 town of Sunnaa (lands amongft mountains, and 
 always enjoys a temperate climate. The circuit 
 of the kingdom, they fay, is fix hundred miles: 
 the Imaum has a large army in pay: he lives in 
 great ftate at his capital, has a numerous flud of 
 very fine horfes, and his feraglio is compofed of 
 one hundred and fifty women : in this blefling of 
 life, people may here indulge themfelves to what 
 extent they pleafe, there being no limitation to 
 the number of concubines, though only four 
 wives are allowed ; the feraglios are therefore 
 commonly in proportion to the wealth of the 
 matter, their concubines being flaves whom they 
 purchafe : their idea of beauty, as may eafily be 
 fuppofed, differs as much from our's as their co- 
 lour ; the more jetty black the complexion of the 
 female, the more is fhe admired i flat nofes and 
 thick lips, are confidered handfome; and there- 
 fore, the women of Abyfllna, which country is op- 
 pofite to this coaft, having thofe perfections in 
 the higheft degree, fetch the greateft price in the 
 market j numbers of them are brought here, and 
 fent to the other parts of Arabia every year for 
 fale. Where a man has only a few women, they 
 
 all
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 47 
 
 all live together in the fame houfe, withi i which, 
 they are kept clofe prifoners, the jealoufy of the 
 matter hardly ever allowing them to ftir abroad, 
 but never on any account to be feen by or fpeak 
 to another man. 
 
 The Gentoos are very numerous in this city; 
 thefe are a particular feel: of men that are 
 fcatter'd throughout the Eaft, and are no lefs 
 fimple in their life and manners than fingular in 
 their doctrine : the founder of them was Brama 
 who gave them their creed , they are diflributed 
 into what we term caftes or communities of 
 men who practife the fame occupation and keep 
 themfelves diftinct from each other, they hold k 
 the greateft of crimes to drink out of the fame 
 verlel with one of another cafte or religion, ne- 
 ver eat of any animal, or kill even a fly, this le- 
 nity is founded on their belief in the metem- 
 pfychofis which alfo induces them to feed all 
 kinds of animals, not knowing but that the fouls 
 of fome of their friends may have taken up their 
 abode in the bodies of them, fo that the dogs, 
 -cats, cows, pigeons, fowls, &c. fubfift moilly 
 by the charity of the Gentoos, the owners of 
 them thinking it unneceffary to be at the expence 
 of feeding them when thefe good gentlemen are 
 taught by their religion to take fo much care of 
 them. 
 
 Chefcron
 
 4S TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 Chefcron Hadjec the Englifh Agent is of that 
 tribe, he has large cwoerfazionis every afternoon, 
 compofed of his brother Banians, (the denomina- 
 tion given to fuCh as are of the mercantile cajle) 
 who fit: round the room on culhions and take coffee 
 with him, they are of a lighter colour than anyo- 
 ther people here, and fome of them might in looks 
 pafs for fallow Europeans, they drefs in a long 
 clofe-bodied muflin crown and a red turban made 
 
 O 
 
 up into a form fomething like a woman's bonnet; 
 they cheriili one fins-le lock on the crown of the 
 
 * - O 
 
 head, (having all the reft, and generally have a 
 red wafer (luck in the middle of their forehead, 
 which is a religious badge placed there by the 
 priefts. 
 
 I was witnefs yefterday to a curious cere*- 
 mony, called in the Eaft champooing; com- 
 ing accidentally into the apartment where my 
 friend Chefcron, who is a little deformed drop- 
 fical old man, generally lays reclined on cu(hi- 
 ons, I beheld him ftretched out quite naked on the 
 floor, and proftrate on his face, while his atten- 
 dants were rubbing him; I was atfirft apprehen- 
 five, that the old fellow had fallen down in a fin, 
 and thought they were trying to bring him to life 
 again ; they laid hold of his flefh in different parts, 
 pinching and clawing him with great violence ; 
 I approached him with fome fear; when hearing 
 me Ipeak, he turned up his brown face with a 
 
 fmile
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 49 
 
 fmile, by which I found that all was riojht with 
 him, and to my furprize heard, that this operation 
 was looked on as falutary, and extremely pleafant ; 
 it muft without doubt promote a circulation of 
 the blood, and fupplenefs of the joints, every one 
 'of which they pull and pinch, but I hardly think 
 we fhall ever borrow this luxury from the Eaft. 
 
 There are many rich merchants here, but as their 
 wealth increases, the fovereign makes a demand 
 for his fhare, which is as much as he chufes toafk 
 for: when his wants are prefiing, he fends orders 
 to the governor to demand a free gift of fo many 
 dollars from the merchants, which they freely 
 give, becaufe they dare not refufe : the governor 
 afleffes them according to his own pleafure, di- 
 viding the fum to be raifed between Banians and 
 MuiTulmen. 
 
 In travelling through different countries, the 
 firft idea that fuggefls itfelf is, whether the laws 
 and cuftoms which prevail, are fuch as tend to 
 make the people happy ; and informing this efti- 
 mation, we are but too apt to meafure their feel- 
 ings by our own, which is in fac~b to confider 
 whether we fhould ourfelves be happy in them> 
 arguing on this principle, we muft of courfe draw 
 our comparifon much to the difadvantage of that 
 country, where the violation of property is fo cuf- 
 tomary as it is here; and the intercourfe with the 
 faanfcxe is founded on tyranny and compulfion, 
 H initead
 
 50 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 inftead of that delicacy and fympathy of fentiment 
 which forms thofe attachments with us. But to 
 weigh the matter fairly, we fhould pronounce, 
 that if an Englifhman would be miferable in Ara- 
 bia Felix, an Arabian would be no lefs fo in Eng- 
 land ; the force of cuftom, climate and com- 
 plexion, which makes men equally happy in dif- 
 ferent quarters of the globe, will not allow them 
 to be tranfplanted more than the fruits of the 
 country, which can only flourifh in their proper 
 foils. I believe the fonds of happinefs are pretty 
 nearly the fame throughout the world, and that 
 nature has in all places adapted the country and 
 the natives of it to each other. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Juddah, March 6, 1782. 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 i 
 
 Know not whether the fatisfacYion 
 I had, on arriving at this place or 
 that which I fhall receive on quitting it, will be 
 the greateft : the former proceeded from its be- 
 ing the period of a tedious pafTage from Mocha, 
 the latter will arife from the pleafure one muft 
 naturally feel at leaving a place that has not the 
 means of affording any. 
 
 I embarked at Mocha in a trankey of the 
 fame kind as that which conveyed me from 
 Morebat; and failing in the evening with a 
 freih breeze and rough fea, which I thought 
 would fwallow up my little veffel, reached Ho- 
 deida the next afternoon : that place is in the 
 kingdom of Sunnaa; and being nearer to 1 Be- 
 telfaqui than Mocha, fhips off much more cof- 
 fee forjuddah: the matter of the vefiel detain- 
 ed me here two days greatly againft my own will 
 H 2 and
 
 5* 
 
 and his profefllons before we fet off; he took at 
 this place a pilot, as all the coafting veflels do;, 
 and being again embarked, we failed at mid- 
 night, and had a much higher fea than we experi- 
 enced between Mocha and 1 Hodeida;- the fwell 
 was fo great, that I doubted much whether our 
 cockle Ihell would be able to live in it j we were 
 tofled about in a very alarming manner for twelve 
 hours, and then arrived and anchored off the 
 fmall ifland of Camaran, famous only for its good 
 water. 
 
 . We failed early the next morning; the breeze 
 was at firft fair, but did not long continue fo, and 
 almoft ever after, during our pafiage, was con- 
 trary, and by that means it was protracted to 
 eight and twenty days, though frequently per- 
 formed in eight or ten. Our courfe lay along 
 Jhore betwixt the main land and a chain of little 
 iflands, with which, as likewife with rocks and 
 Ihoals the fea abounds in this part; and for that 
 reafon it is the practice with all thefe veflels to 
 anchor every evening : we generally brought up 
 clofe to the fhore, and the land breeze fpringing 
 up about midnight, wafted to us the perfumes of 
 Arabia, with which it was flrongly impregnated 
 and very fragrant ; the latter part of it, carried us 
 off in the morning, and continued till eight, 
 when it generally fell calm for two or three, 
 hours, and -after that the northerly wind fet in, 
 
 often
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 53 
 
 often obliging us to anchor under the lee of the 
 land by noon : it happened that one morning 
 when we had been driven by ftrefs of weather into 
 a fmall bay called Birk Bay, the country around 
 it being inhabited by the Budoos, the Noquedah 
 fent his people on fhore to get water, for which it 
 is always cuftomary to pay : The Budoos were as 
 the people thought, rather too exorbitant in their 
 demands,' and not chufmg to comply with them, 
 returned to make their report to their matter j on 
 hearing it, rage immediately feized him, and de- 
 termined to have the water on his own terms, or 
 perifh in the attempt, he buckled on his armour, 
 and attended by his myrmidons, carrying their 
 match-lock guns and lances, being twenty in. 
 number, they rowed to the land : my Arabian 
 fervant, who went on fhore with the firfl party, 
 and faw tha.t the Budoos were difpofed for fight- 
 ing, told me that I Ihould certainly fee a battle; 
 I accordingly looked on very anxioufly, hoping 
 that the fortune of the day would be on the fide 
 of my friends, but heaven ordained it otherwife; 
 for after a parley of about a quarter of an hour, 
 with which the Budoos amufed them till near an 
 hundred were aflembled, they proceeded to the 
 attack and routed the failors, who made a preci- 
 pitate retreat, the Noquedah and two having fal- 
 len in the aftion, and feveral being wounded; 
 they contrived however to bring off their dead; 
 and the group around the body of the Noquedah 
 
 was
 
 54 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 was truly moving; the grief exprefled by all, 
 teftified the regard they bore him, but in none 
 was fo ftrongly marked as in the furrowed face of 
 an old flave, who looked on with filent anguifh 
 while a tear trickled down his cheek. The wea- 
 ther obliged us to pafs that and the following day 
 in the difagreeable neighbourhood of our ene- 
 mies j and my Arabian fervant Mahommed, in 
 whofe compofition fear was a principal ingredient, 
 took great pains to reprefent to me how practica- 
 ble a thing it would be for the Budoos to cut us 
 off in the night, fince they would not have above 
 a ftone's throw to fwim j and being fo numerous, 
 might eafily board the trankey when every body 
 was afleep; I aflented very readily to what he 
 faid, and ftrongly recommending to him to keep 
 a good look-out, doubted not but that his vigi- 
 lance would render my repofe fecure. 
 
 Throughout this affair I could not but admire the 
 fpirit of my fellow travellers, altho' overpowered 
 by numbers, they had unfortunately loft the day ; 
 and the generous forrow expreffed by them on the 
 death of their leader, gave me a good opinion of 
 their humanity and feelings: but an act of favage 
 cruelty they committed three days after, entirely 
 removed it. 
 
 One of the failors died of his wounds, and at 
 two o'clock they anchored near the land, and 
 went on fhore to bury him; three Budoos of a 
 
 different
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 55 
 
 different tribe from thofe they had fought with, 
 came down to the beach out of curiofity, and 
 flood by as fpeclators of the ceremony, which be- 
 ing ended, the failors, who were twelve in number, 
 turned to thefe poor innocent fellows,' told them 
 that the man whom they had buried, was killed 
 by fome Budoos, and in revenge facrificed thefe 
 people to his manes, ftabbingand mangling them 
 in an horrid manner; they re turned to the veflel ex- 
 ulting, and thinking they had performed a gallant 
 aftion, feemed as they told their tale to demand 
 from every one a fmile of approbation, but not 
 being able to give them one, I aiked Mahom- 
 med, who joined in the general joy, how fuch an 
 action could pleafe him; he replied, that they had 
 done very right, for their book ordered them al- 
 ways to kill an equal number of the fame kind of 
 people as had killed any of theirs: as a punifh- 
 ment to him for thefe tenets, I was not forry that 
 he had again a night of fear and watching; for 
 towards dufk we difcovered a large body of Bu- 
 doos on the fhore; this put him on thorns, and 
 the idea of being cut off, did not (I believe) fuffer 
 him to get a wink of fleep all night. We left 
 this bloody coaft on the morning following, and 
 flopping at a place called Confidah to get water, 
 meeting with flrong gales from north, which 
 obliged us to remain at anchor for days together, 
 but without any more adventures or blood-fried, 
 -we arrived here. 
 
 The
 
 56 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 Tired with being cooped up fo long in a fmall 
 vefTel, and anxious to purfue my route, I landed 
 at this place with the hopes of leaving it in a 
 day or two, and have been detained near fix 
 weeks, waiting for the failing of the annual Suez 
 fleet, recommended to me as the moft eligible* 
 or indeed the only fafe mode of going thither. 
 
 When I fay of Juddah, that it is terra Jenza frutti& 
 fopolojenza Fede, I believe I give you a pretty juft 
 defcription of it ; but to enter into a more minute 
 one, I muft inform you that it is an old and ill- 
 built town, furrownded by a broken and ruinous 
 wall, having no fore, nor any guns mounted - t it is 
 fituated nearly mid-way betwixt Mocha and Suez, 
 on the eaftern coaft of the Red Sea, and is a place 
 of the greateft trade on it: the commerce be- 
 tween Arabia and Europe here meets, and is in- 
 terchanged ; the former fending her gums, 
 drugs, coffee, &c. which are brought in fmaU 
 vefTels from the whole extent of the coaft, as far 
 as BufTora in the Perfian Gulf, and from Europe 
 come cloths, iron, furs and other articles, by way 
 of Cairo : the revenue arifing from the duties on 
 thefe is fhared by the Grand Signer andXerif of 
 Mecca, to whom this place jointly belongs : it 
 was formerly tributary to the Grand Signor onlyj 
 but the latter, whofe dominions furround it, feized 
 on it -, the affair however being compromifed 
 between them, they now fhare the profits of the 
 
 port:
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 57 
 
 port; the former fends annually a Pacha to fup- 
 port his pretenfions, and colled: the revenue ; the 
 latter deputes a governor who is termed the Vi- 
 zir Xerif, and has the chief power and authority 
 here: the man who at prefent in that capacity 
 difpenfes law and juftice, is an Abyffinian eunuch, 
 and was a Have in the late Xerifs family. 
 
 The people here are not quite fo black as at 
 Mocha, having a yellowifh. tinge in their com- 
 plexions : their way of living is much the fame 
 as there; they fit crofs-legged on the ground at 
 their meals, wafh, pray, drink coffee, and fmoke 
 hookah five times in the day. There are feveral 
 coffee-houfes which are always full ; the common 
 people there drink their difh of coffee together as 
 our's would their pot of beer at an alehoufe. 
 The women feem to have rather more liberty 
 than at Mocha, as I fee many of them walking 
 about the ftreets ; but the appearance they make 
 is fo extraordinary, that at firft I was doubtful in 
 what genus to clafs them ; they wear loofe cloth 
 trowfers and yellow HuiTar boots, have veils of 
 white linen over their faces, reaching almofl to 
 the ground, with only two fmall flits for the 
 eyes, and wrap themfelves in a large loofe plaid 
 of coarfe cloth ; they have a variety of gold and 
 filver trinkets round their arms and legs, and 
 wear necklaces of fmall pieces of money ftrung; 
 all thefe make a jingle like bells as they walk; 
 
 I through
 
 58 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 through one of their noftrils they wear a ring with 
 a flat plate on it like a coat button and dye 
 their hands red with an herb that grows in the 
 country j they are as fond of fmoaking hookah as 
 the men ; and when they vifit, always take it a- 
 long with them. 
 
 Being near the fountain-head of their faith, the 
 people here are great bigots to their religion, 
 and of courfe inveterate enemies to the chriftians; 
 any flranger of that clafs is fure of being infulted 
 in the ftreets, unlefs he has a guard with him; 
 they are not allowed to go out of the gate leading 
 to Mecca i and in their drefs, muft be careful to 
 avoid green or white, two colours facred to Muf- 
 fulmen j and even of thcfe, fuch only as are de- 
 fcended from Mahomet, may wear the green tur- 
 ban; nor are we thought by them to be worthy 
 the honor of mounting an horfe; for they fay 
 as our prophet contented himfdf with riding an 
 afs, his followers have no right to be better 
 mounted; but as the jack-afs is an animal whofe 
 paces I don't much admire, I take my exercife on 
 foot, and can only walk for a fhort way by the 
 fea fide ; though as the country around is all a de- 
 fert, I do not regret that I cannot penetrate into 
 it; the only circumftance from which I have re- 
 ceived any fatisfaclion during my ftay here is, the 
 temperature of the air, which with fea bathing, 
 has agreed very well with my northern conititu- 
 
 tion i
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 59 
 
 tion : rhe thermometer having generally been be- 
 low 70. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile north of the town is 
 a white building called Eve's fepulchre ; and they 
 tell you that (lie was certainly buried there, and 
 that her grave is twenty feet in length, which 
 they determine to have been the ftandard height 
 of mankind at that early period of the world; 
 the two Arabick words oumana boua, fignify- 
 ing Eve the mother of all are infcribed on the 
 building; they go every Sabbath to pray there, 
 but will not fuffer a chriftian to vifit it. The 
 two mod valuable productions of this country 
 are balm of Gilead and Senna, the former is ex- 
 tracted from a tree which grows amongft the 
 mountains, the latter is a Ihrub found near 
 Mecca. 
 
 Our merchants in India ufed to fend annually 
 Ihips from Bengal and other parts to Juddah, 
 but the arbitrary impofitions laid on the goods 
 and the frauds they experienced from the people, 
 has made them entirely difcontinue this com- 
 merce: a m.ofb glaring inftance of villany in 
 the Prince of the country, and his Lord Lieute- 
 nant of Juddah Hands foremoft on the latter liftj 
 they jointly bought the cargo of an Englifh. 
 fhip worth near .50,000, took the goods, and 
 engaged to pay the money in a few days; but 
 
 I 2 the
 
 60 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 the Supercargo after repeated applications, was 
 obliged to return to India, having only the Xe- 
 rif's bill, payable the following fummer; accord- 
 ingly he returned, was very prefimg for the 
 money, but met with no better iliccefs than be- 
 fore, and only received afrefh bill, with pofitive 
 afiurances that he fhould be paid the following 
 year j it happened that before his return, both 
 the Xerif and 'his Vizir were dead, and when he 
 applied for payment of the bill to the reigning 
 Xerif, who was fon to the former, he flatly refufed 
 to pay a farthing, faying, that as the debt was in- 
 curred by his father, his father only was anfwer- 
 able for it, that it was true he was dead, but the 
 body was at his fervice, and if it would be any 
 fatisfac~r.ion to the creditors, he was very welcome 
 to carry it to Bengal with him. 
 
 A place, where the natural advantages are fo 
 few and the moral defects fo great, cannot you 
 may fuppofe, be a pleafing one to fpend much 
 time at; I promife you I am impatient to quit 
 it, and turn my face northward. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 61 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Suez, April 25, 1782. 
 t>EAR FRIEND. 
 
 SHOULD I tell you that I 
 arrived here yefterday after a 
 pafiage of fix weeks fromjuddah, without enter- 
 ing into a detail of the manner in which I per- 
 formed that voyage, I fhould do injuftice to the 
 Turkilh mode of navigation on the Red Sea, 
 and pay but a bad compliment to the Suez fleet 
 whofe performances ought not to be pafled over 
 in filence. 
 
 The conflruftion and management of the 
 veffels are equally lingular and I fear any defcrip- 
 tion will fall infinitely fhort of the originals ; 
 they were I believe, defigned by thofe who built 
 them to bear fome refemblance to fhips, but 
 having very few of the properties of thofe ma- 
 chines proceed on a principle totally different 
 
 from
 
 6i TRAVELSTO T II F 
 
 from any I before beheld ; that primum mobile to 
 which ihips of other countries are indebted for 
 their voyages is here of little ufe and calms are 
 more favorable than wind to forward their pro- 
 grefs, for unlefs the latter conies in a very 
 fmall quantity they rarely chufe to expofe their 
 fails to it and herein feem equally averfe to a fair 
 as to a contrary wind, remaining at anchor till 
 it fubfides into a calm, their bufy fcene then 
 commences, the anchor is weighed and the 
 veflel put in motion by means of the boat with 
 about twenty oars in it, towing till a breeze 
 fprings tip, when this begins to be more than 
 what our feamen call a light air they hurry to 
 the Ihore and let go their anchor, and for this 
 purpofe always chufe a birth the moft environed 
 by rocks and fhoals, never thinking themfelves 
 fecure but when in the midft of danger ; their 
 common time of anchoring, was about two 
 o'clock in the afternoon for about that time the 
 breeze generally frefhened, and in proportion as 
 that encreafes they put out anchors till they 
 have fix in the water and two or three hawfers 
 befides to tie them to the furrounding rocks : 
 in this fituation did we frequently remain for 
 days together ; but in what they called good 
 weather we had not above two anchors out and 
 if it fell calm after fun fet they ventured to get 
 one of them up that they might be ready for 
 the land breeze in the morning, which generally 
 
 fprung
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 63 
 
 fprnng up at two o'clock and blew till nine or 
 ten, and as it hardly made a curl on the water 
 fuited our mariners exaftly, they ahvays got un- 
 der way with it as foon as it was light and fome- 
 times before; I believe without thefe land- 
 breezes, we Ihould never have arrived at Suez, a 
 circumftance that very frequently happens to many 
 veflels of this annual fleet, for if they do not 
 make good their pafTage before the latter end of 
 May, the northerly winds blow fo constantly as 
 to render it impoflible, for veflels that cannot 
 work to windward, to get up the narrow chan- 
 nel from Tor to Suez. 
 
 As we remained then every afternoon at an- 
 chor near the fhore, nor ever ventured far from 
 it when under way ; you may fuppofe that, in 
 the courfe of my voyage, I had fufficient oppor- 
 tunity to make my obfervations both on the Red 
 Sea famous in the facred hi (lory, and likewife on 
 the coaft of Arabia which was perpetually be- 
 fore my eyes ; the latter being Arabia Deferta, 
 is literally what its name implies; the former 
 prefented no appearance that juftifies the term 
 given to it proceeding as fome authors fay from 
 a reddifh tinge on the waters, but no fuch did I 
 ever take notice of: our climate was always 
 clear and ferene and became much more tem- 
 perate as we moved northward, indeed the wind 
 
 chiefly
 
 6 4 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 chiefly blowing from that quarter made the air 
 cool : during the latter part of our paffage, it has 
 blown very frefh at times, and obliged us once to 
 remain at anchor eight days together in the fame 
 place : our fleet has fuffered very much thereby; 
 and we are laying here at prefent in company 
 virh four other vtrfiels, and are the only ones that 
 have as yet got up : intelligence over land in- 
 forms us of the lofs of four, driven from 
 their anchors in the blowing weather, and 
 wrecked; and that two others anchored near the 
 fhore, were in the night boarded and plundered 
 by the Budoosj one was wrecked a day or two 
 after we left Juddah, fo that five of them being 
 loft, and two plundered, near one third of the 
 fleet is difpofed of that way; five are at Suez, and 
 the reft have not been heard of: you may be 
 fure that I think myfelf fortunate in having ar- 
 rived here amongft the firft, and efcaped all the 
 perils of this curious voyage of about two hun- 
 dred leagues; nor am I fo much furprifed that 
 we have been near fifty days in performing it, as 
 that, confidering their mode of manoeuvring, we 
 Ihould be able to perform it at all. But to give 
 you a more exact idea thereof, I will tranfcribe for 
 your perufal the journal I kept on board the Ma- 
 haboube, bound from Juddah to the port of Suez. 
 The daily height of the thermometer 1 have notfet 
 down for any particular hour, but have taken it 
 
 always
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 6$ 
 
 always at the higheft point it was at in the courfe 
 of the day. 
 
 March 10. Embarked this afternoon on board 
 the Mahaboube, a veflel of about five hundred 
 tons burthen, laden with coffee and pilgrims re- 
 turning from the Hadge, (the annual feftival of 
 the MufTulmen held at Mecca;) thefe lay inter- 
 mingled on the deck ; each perfon has a fmall 
 fpace allotted to him where he fleeps, cooks his 
 victuals, Sec. The great cabbin and round-houfe 
 are divided into fmall births for paffengers- 
 This veflel is built very high at the poop, and 
 fquare at the bows; it is fleered by a fingular 
 contrivance acrofs the deck ; between the mizen 
 and the main mail is placed a large beam, which 
 projects near twenty feet from the fhip's fides ; to 
 each end of this beam is fixed a fmall one twelve 
 feet long, the centre thereof being tied to the end 
 of the great beam, but fo as to allow it to move 
 backwards and forwards : from one end of this 
 fmall beam pafles a rope to the rudder, and from 
 the other end a rope to the helmfman, who fits at 
 the aftermofl part of the poop and fleers. 
 
 'n. Dropped down to the mouth of the chan- 
 nel, which is very narrow and difficult -, anchored 
 there at noon. In making fail, they hoifl up the 
 yards with the fails loofe; the lower yards being 
 laid acrofs the decks while at anchor, the upper 
 
 K ones
 
 56" TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 ones refting on the tops. The pilot is ftationed 
 on the bowfprit from whence he gives directions 
 to the helmfman. The fails are of ftriped and fi- 
 gured cotton. The fhips are painted dark brown, 
 with figures and ornaments in white and red. 
 
 12. The fleet compofed of twenty-five fail of 
 different forms and fizes, weighed at fix A. M. 
 and proceeded in company: they mean to keep 
 together till they have pafied Yambo, which has 
 lately been taken from the Xerif of Mecca by the 
 Budoos, who have large boats, and it is thought, 
 mean to attack the fleet, or at lead any draggling 
 fhips they meet with. Light air from fouth. 
 Anchored at four P. M. Thermometer 82. Dif- 
 tance gone about twenty miles. 
 
 13. Weighed at five A. M. Light air from weft 
 fouth weft. Anchored at four P. M. Diftance 
 twenty miles. Thermometer 83. 
 
 14. Weighed at four A. M. with the land 
 breeze. Calm at ten A. M. Towed till 12. 
 Sea-breeze then fet in, and we anchored at two 
 P. M. Diftance fixteen miles. Thermometer 85. 
 
 15. Weighed at four A. M. with the land 
 breeze. Calm at nine. Towed moft part of the 
 day, and anchored at four P. M. Diftance fix- 
 teen miles. Thermometer 88. 
 
 16. At
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 67 
 
 1 6. At anchor, wind north-weft. Thermo- 
 meter 80. 
 
 17. Sailed at feven A. M. with aland breeze. 
 Calm at eleven. Light air from north weft at 
 noon. Anchored at four P. M. Diftance fifteen 
 miles. 
 
 18. Sailed at fix A. M. with alight air. Calm 
 at nine. Towed till noon, when breeze from 
 north weft fprung up, and we anchored at two 
 P. M. Diftance 15 miles. Thermometer 80. 
 
 19. Sailed at four A. M. with the land breeze. 
 Calm at eleven. Towed till noon, when a light air 
 from north weft fprung up. Anchored at five 
 P. M. Diftance twenty miles. Thermometer 82. 
 
 20. Sailed at fix. A. M. Anchored at two 
 P. M. Wind weft. Diftance twenty miles. 
 Thermometer 83. 
 
 21. Sailed at four A. M. anchored at two P. 
 M. offYambo, in company with the fleet, dif- 
 tant about a mile from the town : it is a good 
 looking place, has feveral mofques and a caftle. 
 
 22. At anchor. Wind blowing frefh from north 
 weft. Thermometer 79. Our boats pafs unmo- 
 
 K 2 lefted
 
 S* TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 lefted backwards and forwards, between the Ihips 
 and the town for water and provifions. 
 
 23. At anchor. Wind north weft. Ther- 
 mometer 79. 
 
 24. At anchor. Wind north weft. Thermo- 
 meter 80. 
 
 25. Sailed at fun-rife. Anchored at three 
 P.M. Wind weft fouth weft. Thermometer 851. 
 
 26. Sailed early with the land-breeze. Calm 
 at nine A. M. Towed till noon. Sea breeze fee 
 in, anchored at three P. M. Thermometer 86. 
 
 27. Sailed at five A. M. Anchored at three 
 P. M. off Gebel Hafiani, a fmall ifland, being a- 
 breaft of Haura on the main land. Thermo- 
 meter 845. 
 
 28. Sailed with the land breeze at five A. M. 
 Calm at ten. North wind fet in at noon. An- 
 chored at four P. M. Thermometer 84. A 
 thunder ftorm at night. 
 
 29. Sailed at fix A. M. Anchored at four 
 P. M. Thermometer 79. 
 
 30. Sailed
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, Sec. 69 
 
 30. Sailed at fix A. M. Anchored at five 
 P.M. Light air weft. Thermometer 83. 
 
 31. Sailed at feven A. M. Pafled through a 
 narrow channel of about a mile in length, and not 
 more than twice the breadth of the fhip, with 
 rocks and fands on each fide : after the fhips had 
 pafled through it, they fired guns for joy, it be- 
 ing confidered the moft dangerous part of the 
 voyage. 
 
 April i. Sailed at feven A. M. Anchored at 
 noon. Wind north weft. Thermometer 76. 
 
 2. Sailed at fix A. M. Anchored at four 
 P. M. having pafied Shek Bermak, a fmall ifland 
 at the extremity of a chain of fands and iflands 
 that extend from Gebel Haflani thither. Ther- 
 
 ' mometer 77. 
 
 3. Sailed at four A. M. and it being calm in 
 the evening, we flood on towing moft part of the 
 night. Thermometer 85. 
 
 4. Calm till ten A. M. Wind fet in from 
 north, anchored at eleven A. M. Thermo- 
 meter 8 1. 
 
 5. Sailed at three A. M. Anchored at three 
 P. M. Light air from weft. Thermometer 83. 
 
 6. Sailed
 
 70 TRAVELS TO TttE 
 
 6. Sailed with the land breeze at one A. M. 
 Anchored at three P. M. Thermometer 80. 
 
 7. Sailed at fix A. M. Anchored at five P. 
 M. near Ifiam. Several Arabs and camels came 
 down to the beach, and fome people went from 
 hence by land to Cairo, a journey of fourteen 
 days. 
 
 *A 8. Sailed with the land breeze at one A. M. 
 Pafled x.loilah at five P. M. and the wind being 
 fair and moderate, continued our courfe during 
 the night, (landing over for Raz Mahommed; 
 the wind fhifted at midnight to north, and drove 
 us up into the Eaftern Fork of the fea almoft as 
 far as Acaba. Thermometer 85. 
 
 c . 
 
 9. Wind contrary, made little way and an- 
 chored at three P. M. Thermometer 80. 
 
 10. Sailed at feven A. M. Light air at north 
 weft. Anchored at fix P. M. Thermometer 84. 
 
 ii. Sailed at fix A. M. Pafled the iflands 
 Tyran and Senaffre. Anchored at two P. M. in 
 a fmall bay called Sharm. Two or three hundred 
 Arabs came down to the beach on camels. The 
 captain of our fhip fent his boat for the Scheik, 
 and gave him prefents of coffee, &c. Our people 
 feemed to have fome apprehenfions from thefe 
 
 Arabs,
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 71 
 
 Arabs, loading their arms, and keeping watch all 
 night. Thermometer 85. 
 
 12. Sailed at two A, M. with a fair wind, 
 pafled Raz Mahommed at five A. M. which event 
 they celebrated by firing guns. Faffed the iQe 
 of Sheduan at feven A. M. and Tor, at one P. M. 
 foon after came in fight of Mount Sinai and 
 Horeb -, the former is here called Taurofina : on 
 it is a convent of Greek catholicks, to which ; 
 many chriftians make pilgrimages; to enter it, 
 you muft be hoifted in a bafket up a very high 
 precipice on which it Hands. Thermometer 84. 
 we flood on during the night. 
 
 13. At one A. M. a breeze from north fet in, 
 at day light we made for the fhore, and anchored 
 clofe to it. Thermometer 83. 
 
 14. At anchor. Wind blowing Trefh from 
 north. Thermometer at fun-rife 66. 
 
 15. At anchor, it blowing frelh. Thermome- 
 ter at fun-rife 62!. Two veffels which were an- 
 chored near us, drove afhore in the night, and 
 went to pieces j the people were with difficulty 
 faved, fome of which we took on board. 
 
 1 6. At anchor, it blowing frefh. Thermome- 
 ter at fun-rife 67. 
 
 17. Ac
 
 72 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 17. At anchor. Wind north. Thermome- 
 ter 75, at two P. M. 
 
 18. At anchor. Wind north. Thermome- 
 ter at fun-rife 65, at two P. M. 80. Arabs and 
 camels are daily pafllng along the fhore. Some 
 people from a fhip (anchored near us) fet off to- 
 day by land to Suez, a journey of five days on ca- 
 mels. 
 
 19. At anchor. Wind north. Thermometer 
 at fun-rife 66 i at two P. M. 74. 
 
 20. At anchor. Wind north. Thermometer 
 at fun-rife 66 j at two P. M. 74. 
 
 21. Sailed at fix A. M. with a fair wind, and 
 at two P. M. paffed Burkit Pharoon, fignifying 
 Pharaoh's whirlpool. This they determine to be 
 that part of the Red Sea which Mofes and the 
 children of Ifrael crofled, as related in the bible, 
 when purfued by Pharaoh, who they fay was 
 drowned in that very fpot where this eddy is. 
 Our people here killed a flieep, cut off it's head, 
 which they fmoked with incenfe, and threw it into 
 the fea, praying at the fame time. The high 
 land on the Arabian Ihore is called theHummum, 
 from a fpring of boiling water on it. This place 
 is half way between Tor and Suez. The wind 
 continuing fair and moderate, we flood on till 
 
 eleven
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 73 
 
 eleven P. M. when it Ihifted to weft, and we an* 
 chored. 
 
 22. At anchor. Wind north. Thermome- 
 ter at fun-rife 64. at two P. M. 76. 
 
 23. Sailed at feven A. M. Anchored at eight 
 P. M. Thermometer at two P. M. 75. Suez in 
 fight from the maft-head at fun-fet. 
 
 24. Sailed at fun-rife. Anchored off Suez at 
 four P. M. Thermometer 70. 
 
 Suez, which was the Arfinoe of the antients, is 
 fituated at the top of the Red Sea j it ftands fur- 
 rounded by the Defert, and is a fhabby ill-built 
 place : the ifhips anchor a league from the town, 
 to which the channel that leads is very narrow, 
 and has only nine or ten feet depth of water; for 
 which reafon, the large {hips that are built here, 
 muft be towed down to the road without mafts, 
 guns, or any thing in them; there are eight of 
 them laying here which have not been to Juddah. 
 this year ; one of them is at leaft twelve hundred 
 tons burthen, being as lofty as an hundred-gun- 
 fhip, though not longer than a frigate ; fo that 
 you may judge of the good proportions they ob- 
 ferve in the conflruction of their (hips : the tim- 
 ber of which they are all built, is brought from 
 Syria by water to Cairo, and from thence on ca- 
 
 L mels,
 
 74 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 mels. This fleet fails for Juddah every year be- 
 fore the Hadge, flays there two or three months, 
 and returns loaded with coffee : this is fo material 
 an article in the diet of a Muflulman, that the 
 prayers and wifhes of them all are offered up for 
 its fafety; and I believe next to the lofs of their 
 country, the lofs of their coffee would be mod 
 feverely felt by them : the greateft part of it is 
 fent to Conftantinople, and other parts of Turkey, 
 but a fmall quantity going to France and Italy. 
 
 Suez is fo wretched a place, that though, a* 
 you may fuppofe, I am heartily tired of my Tur- 
 kifh Ihip, yet fooner than flay on fhore, I prefer 
 waiting on board it till the Caravan fets out for 
 Cairo, which will be in two or three days. I fhall 
 not be a little pleafed when this pafiage of the 
 Defert is over, to which I look forward with a kind 
 of dread from the heat and fatigue likely to at- 
 tend it, the feafon being advanced far beyond my 
 expectations when I firft turned my face towards 
 Europe ; but my health is much mended of late, 
 and I flatter myfelf will be equal to the fatigue of 
 the journey; befides when I confider that jit will 
 be only of three days continuance, and all the re- 
 mainder of my way will be fmooth and eafy, I 
 ftiall bear the inconvenience more patiently. 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 
 
 Cairo, May i, 1782. 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 i 
 
 ARRIVED at this place early yef- 
 terday morning after a moft difa- 
 greeable journey acrofs the Defert, but fortunate- 
 ly a fhorter one than ufual, having performed it 
 in a day and an half. 
 
 When I tell you that I came with a Caravan 
 from Suez, I Ihould likewife tell you, that a 
 Caravan in thefe countries, fignifies an afiem- 
 blage of camels, horfes, mules, men and other 
 animals, who are formed into large bodies for 
 the fake of mutual protection $ and as they 
 travel in fome parts for two or three months 
 together over wafte and barren deferts, which 
 yield nothing for the fupport either of man or 
 beaft, are obliged to take all necefiaries with 
 them, and particularly water: it is on thefe oc- 
 cafions that they find the fuperior excellence of 
 L 2 the
 
 ;6 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 the camel to all other animals j not only from- 
 its great ftrength and unwearied perfeverance, 
 .but from that property it has of fuftaining thirft 
 for feveral days. Thofe annual caravans which 
 go from Aleppo and Cairo to Mecca, are often 
 compofed of thirty or forty thoufand people, and 
 are under military government, an officer being 
 appointed by the Grand jSignor, called the Emir 
 Hadge, who conduces and commands them ; the 
 order of march is regular, and by ranks ;. the 
 difcipline is very exact, and a guard of Janiffaries 
 with field-pieces form the efcort : they have re- 
 gular times of marching and halting, which is 
 done by fignal. When they take up their ground 
 for the night, tents are pitched, kitchens, cook- 
 Ibops and coffee- houfes are immediately creeled, 
 and a large camp is formed ; every thing is as 
 quickly packed, and the camels are loaded in the 
 morning to be ready for gun-firing, which puts 
 the whole body in motion. The caravan from 
 Cairo performs its journey to Mecca in forty days, 
 where having ftaid about a month to celebrate 
 the Hadge, a feftival in which both the interefts 
 of trade and religion are equally confulted ; it 
 returns in the fame order, flopping at Medina in 
 the way back, to pay -a vifit to and make offer-- 
 ings at the fhrine of Mahommed, that having 
 been the place of his interment, as Mecca was of 
 his nativity. 
 
 The
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 77 
 
 The-zeal ihewn by Muflulmen, and the toils and 
 fufferings undergone by them for the fake of 
 paying this compliment to their prophet, are 
 wonderful ; they flock to Mecca from all parts of 
 the Mahometan countries, and perform the moft 
 laborious journi.es : the poorer part of thefe pil- 
 grimr , depend on charity for their fupport, which 
 rarely yields them any thing better than a fcanty 
 allowance of bread and water. Vanity, religion, 
 fuperftition and commerce, are the four principal 
 caufes of thefe annual pilgrimages. A MufTul- 
 man that has been at Mecca, gains thereby a de- 
 gree of credit and honor amongft his country- 
 men, with the term of Hadge added to his name 
 whenever he is fpoke to j his attendance there 
 once at leaft in his life is required by his creed: 
 many vifit it in compliance with vows made at 
 fome time of impending danger, or conditionally 
 on the attainment of a defirable object; others 
 who have lead diffolute lives go there for abfo- 
 lution, and with an intention to reform ; and 
 others for the purpofes of trafRck : all fancy them- 
 felves the better for having been there ; and from 
 that conviction, perhaps many really become fo. 
 
 But to return from Mahommed to my Suez ca- 
 ravan. This being under no regulations, was an 
 irregular and ftraggling body, confifting of about 
 one thoufand camels, and half as many men, and 
 fet out about noon 28th of April, travelling on till 
 
 eight
 
 78 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 eight at night : we then took up our ground j the 
 camels cafed of their burthens, placed themfelves 
 in circles round their food couchant with their legs 
 under them, and the men in the fame order formed 
 t! r mcfles : the caravan was in motion by three 
 the r, xt morning, and travelled on without mak- 
 ing one fingle halt, even to give the camels wa- 
 ter or food, till nine* at night : you may from 
 hence be able to form fome conjecture of the 
 power of that animal ; the pace we went at> 
 feemed to be nearly four miles an hour, and this 
 was continued for eighteen hours together. My 
 travelling carriage was termed a Kufhobj to* 
 compare fmall things with great, I may fay that 
 it refembles the body of a coach, with an open- 
 ing between the two feats for the back of the ca- 
 mel on which it is placed longitudinally, fo that 
 one feat hangs on one fide, the other on the 
 other, and on each fits a perfon : I had a canopy 
 over the top, in which I found fmgular ufe, as 
 the heat of the fun was intolerable ; and though 
 I could not be conveyed in a manner more fa- 
 vorable to my feelings, laying along on mattraf- 
 fes and pillows placed over the feat; yet the un- 
 eafy motion of the camel, the heat of the weather, 
 and the excefiive drought I experienced, render- 
 ed it the mod unpleafant journey I ever made ; I 
 took out my thermometer about two o'clock, 
 and found it 92. but it foon rofe to 96. and fearful 
 that if I kept it longer expofed to this air of fire, 
 
 it
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 79 
 
 it would rife ftill higher, a fight to which my 
 fpirits were not equal, I put it by. Half dead 
 with heat and fatigue, I v/as confidering whether 
 it would be poffible for me to fupport another 
 day, which I expected we were to pafs in the fame 
 way before we arrived at Cairo, when a Turk 
 who came up from Juddah in the fame Ihip with 
 me, rode up to my carriage, aiking me Cbooft 
 Bahar Nile? Do you fee the Nile? pointing at 
 the fame time to a fpot not very far diftant, tell- 
 ing me immediately after, that we fhould get to 
 the walls of Mezr (the Turkifh name for Cairo,) 
 that night, and go in next morning at fun-rife. I 
 hardly knew how to credit fo joyful a piece of 
 news; but he continuing to affert it ferioufly, I 
 at length believed him, and to me it was like a 
 fentence of reprieve to a condemned man ; we 
 accordingly travelled on till near nine, and then 
 came to a fmall village, where we put up for the 
 night, and to my no fmall joy arrived here early 
 the next morning. The diftance from Suez hi- 
 ther is eighty miles, and is always a three days 
 journey for loaded camels, but our's all belong- 
 ing to Cairo, and being light, as the coffee they 
 came for was not ready, they m^de their journey 
 in this fhort time that I have mentioned. 
 
 Having explained to you the mode of our tra- 
 velling, it will not require many words to defcribe 
 a country uniformly barren and fandy -, fome part 
 
 of
 
 So TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 of the way lay through a narrow valley, which 
 appeared to be the bed of the canal that was 
 made to join the Mediterranean with the Red 
 Sea, and came into the latter at Suezj a great' 
 number of petrified branches of trees, and pieces 
 of wood are met with on the road, with here and 
 there a carcafe on which the vultures prey, and in 
 fome parts a few ftunted fhrubs : every one in 
 thefe journies goes armed, as the caravans are 
 frequently attacked and plundered by the wild 
 Arabs, who (trip the people, and leave them to 
 perifli on the Defert, a circumftance that I am 
 forry to fay, happened to feveral of our country- 
 men about three years ago in the following me- 
 lancholy manner. 
 
 A contraband trade had for fome years been 
 carried on by Englifh people from India to Cairo, 
 much to their advantage, and as much to the 
 prejudice of our commerce from thence to Eu- 
 rope : feveral Ihips came annually to Suez with 
 cargoes fram India $ and though there was a Fir- 
 man of the Grand Signer's, to whom that port 
 belongs, flriflly forbidding all foreign Ihips or 
 chriftians to approach Suez j yet as the Pacha o/ 
 Cairo and Chief Bey, found their intereft in this 
 illicit trade, they fuffered the Firman to fleep, 
 which it did, till a new Pacha was fentfromCon- 
 ftantinople with ftrict orders to enforce it, where- 
 on the following tragical adventure befell the 
 
 Englifh-
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 81 
 
 F.nglifhmeri when they came next to Suez with 
 their accuflomed merchandife: not aware of this 
 change of men and meafures at Cairo they land- 
 ed the cargoes of their fhips at Suez, paid the 
 duties, loaded the camels, and fet off: they tra- 
 velled on the firft day with fecurity, pleafing 
 themfelves probably with the vifionary wealth, 
 which thefe goods were to produce to them, and 
 little thinking how fad a reverfe the next morn- 
 ing's light would occafion : fcarce had they 
 moved off the ground where they palled the night, 
 when they were furrounded by a large body of 
 men, plundered, wounded, ftripped, and lefc 
 naked on the Defert, the camels with all their 
 effects, water and provifions being taken off by 
 the robbers: in this piteous plight they confulted 
 what was to be done, the only alternative being 
 whether they ihould return to Suez, or proceed 
 to Cairo : they imprudently refolved on the lat- 
 ter, whither the diftance was double of that to 
 Suez, to which place two only of the company, 
 wifer than the reft, made good their retreat j the 
 others went towards Cairo, at the inflanceofa 
 Commander of one of the fhips, who told them 
 that he knew the way acrofs the Defert, and that 
 by going flraight to Cairo, and laying their cafe 
 before the government, they would ftand a better 
 chance of recovering their goods ; he gave the 
 firft proof how bad his counfel was, for being 
 foon fpent with heat and fatigue, he dropped 
 
 M and
 
 82 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 and died. Being without their pilot, the reft had 
 but little chance of finding their way acrofs the 
 Defert, where there is hardly a track j indeed had 
 they known it perfectly, it would have availed 
 them little, naked and expofed to the fcorching 
 beams of an African fun in the month of Auguft, 
 without a drop of water to allay the raging third 
 they muft have experience^ : all perifhed except 
 one, who arrived fpent and fpeechlefs at fome 
 Arab huts about a league from Cairo ; the people 
 there took a great deal of care of him, recovered 
 him a little, and brought him hither j he could 
 fcarcely articulate the name of the perfon to whofe 
 houfe he wifhed to go, who hardly knew him, fa 
 disfigured as he was with his fufferings, which he 
 did not get the better of in a twelvemonth. 
 
 You will join with me, no doubt, in condemn- 
 ing the cruelty and weaknefs of a government that 
 executes its laws under the ma(k of robbery, and 
 inflicts punifhment in the miferable manner I 
 have above related; and fuch was the mode a- 
 dopted by the Pacha and Bey to put in force the 
 Firman of the Grand Signer j they themfelves in 
 faft plundered the Caravan, by means of their 
 foldiers whom they fent on this errand, and ap- 
 propriated the fpoil to their own ufe : they con- 
 trived likewife to get poffefllon of the Engliih 
 Ihips by an artifice of the fame dark nature, and 
 imprifoned the crews. The gove rnment of Cairo, 
 
 which
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 83 
 
 which by openly feizing the effefh of the people 
 who came there contrary to the order of the 
 Grand Signor, and contrary to the laws of their 
 own country, would have afled properly, may 
 juftly ftand taxed with the greateft inhumanity 
 for the condufb they obfervedj and fearful that 
 it might draw on them the refentment of the 
 Englifh, who with a fingle frigate could deftroy 
 their whole trade in the Red Sea: they obliged 
 all the Englifhmen who were then at Cairo to 
 bind themfelves, under the penalty of a confider- 
 able fum, that no fteps fhould be taken to re- 
 venge what had happened, making them find a 
 merchant who refided at Cairo to be furety for 
 them. 
 
 i 
 
 No chriflian fhips have come to Suez fince 
 
 this affair : a frigate with difpatches from India 
 came to Cofire about eighteen months agoj but 
 the perfon charged with them being contraband, 
 was imprifoned here by the Pacha, and fent to 
 Conftantinoplei for the Firman not only forbids 
 foreign fhips, and particularly Englifli, from ap- 
 proaching the port of Suez, but all chriftians, de- 
 claring, " That the fea of Suez was defigned for 
 <f the noble pilgrimage of Mecca j and that the 
 <f port thereof is a port of two illuflrious cities, 
 ce which are thofe that make the light of the 
 * c truth to fhine, and the law of the prophet; and 
 c are eflabliihed to promote religion and juftice, 
 M 2 Mecca 
 
 .
 
 84 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 " Mecca the enlightened, and Medina the hon- 
 " cured j wherefore, it fays, let fuch chriftians as 
 " come there, be imprifoned, and their effects 
 <f confifcated j and let no one endeavour to fet 
 them free." I have been thus, you fee, ignorant- 
 ly running into a danger that I was not aware of, 
 and am here on fufpicious ground ; but I am told 
 that having come to Suez in a fhip of the country, 
 and travelling in a private way, I fhall efcape un- 
 noticed, however, Ipromife you, my flay will not 
 be long un\t& per force - 9 at all rifques I muft fee 
 the pyramids, and then I hope to quit Cairo, and 
 
 Ihortly after, the land of Egypt. 
 
 
 
 The inferior ftation which the Franks, as we 
 are termed, hold in this country, has already dif- 
 gufted me againft it : among other proofs thereof, 
 is one of which I daily experience the humiliat- 
 ing effect, being obliged to ride about the city on 
 a jack-afs, while the MuiTulmen are mounted on 
 moft beautiful Arab horfes : it is not only from 
 hreirig debarred the privilege of riding an horfe, 
 though that is mortifying, but from the general 
 oppreflion prevailing here, and 'the particular 
 contempt in which the chriftians are held by thefe 
 people, that I am furprized a fmgle one fhould 
 be found amongfl them. But avarice knows no 
 prejudices; and man not contented with a fuffi- 
 ciency braves every thing to enrich himfclf, 
 cfteeming little the facrifice of each generous 
 feel ing provided wealth does but follow. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 85 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Cairo f May 7, 1782, 
 
 ^ 
 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 i 
 
 SET out from hence the day be- 
 fore yefterday, accompanied by a 
 party of friends to view the pyramids. 
 
 We leftCairo in the afternoon mounted on jack- 
 afies, which convey'd us toBulac, the port belong- 
 ing to this place, and there embarked on the 
 Nile for Giza, a voyage of about a, league; it 
 {lands higher up on the other fide of the river, 
 and is oppofite to Old Cairo ; fome travellers 
 have aflerted that it is on the fcite of the an- 
 tient Memphis but without juft grounds. 
 
 Being arrived there we found a houfe by the 
 water-fide prepared for our reception and ftored 
 with a plenteous fupply of viands and liquors, 
 for which accommodations we were indebted to 
 
 fome
 
 86 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 fome Italian gentlemen fettled at Cairo. Our 
 firil bulinefs was to find the Scheik of the tribe 
 of Arabs inhabiting the environs of Giza and 
 the pyramids, to let him know our intentions of 
 going thither in the morning and fecure his 
 company as a protection to us ; accordingly we 
 difpatchtd an embafiador who returned accom- 
 panied by the Scheik : fome of our party were 
 well acquainted with him as he had attended 
 them before on the like occafion and welcomed 
 him into our prefence with a bumper of brandy, 
 to which though a MufTulman he fhowed no re- 
 pugnance, but drank near a bottle and after 
 we had adjufted all preliminaries refpefting our 
 next day's motions, he retired. 
 
 It having been agreed that we fhould fet off at 
 three o'clock in the morning, the Scheik at- 
 tended by an aid de camp, waited on us at that 
 hour, and being provided with a number of wztx 
 candles, necefiary for examining the infide of 
 the pyramid, and with all other requifites, we 
 mounted our jack-afles. We arrived at the foot 
 of the pyramids at day-break, by which means 
 they opened to us all at once appearing flill 
 more vail in that ambiguous light, and I knov? 
 not whether my aftonifliment and fatisfac- 
 tion were greater, on thus fuddenly viewing 
 thofe ftupendous fabricks, or afterwards in mi- 
 nutely
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 87 
 
 nutely. examining their feveral parts and con- 
 flruction. 
 
 After having gazed at them* with wonder for 
 fome time we prepared to pry into the inmoft 
 recefles of the larger pyramid into which only of 
 the three there is an entrance ; having lighted our 
 candles we crept in at a fmall aperture in one of 
 the fides about one fourth of the way up from 
 the bafe of the pyramid : crawling along on our 
 hands and knees for fome way down a Hoping and 
 rugged path we came to the lower apartment, 
 where difcovering nothing that engaged our cu- 
 riofity we foon left it, and afcended by a more 
 regular paflage up to the great chamber : being 
 arrived there we found it a fpacious well-propor- 
 tioned room, at one end is a tomb or farcophagos 
 of Granite thought to have contained the body 
 of the prince who built this pyramid as his fe- 
 pulchral monument : the chamber is lined with 
 granite throughout, the cieling being formed of 
 nine long (tones : this room is thirty-fix feet 
 long, eighteen feet wide, and twenty feet high ; 
 the farcophagus is feven feet long, four feet wide, 
 and four feet deep. There is a room above this 
 but no way to go up to it. There is likewife 
 fuppofed to be one below that which we firft 
 went into; the way to it is by a deep kind of 
 hole or well which probably leads down to the 
 ifland, formed by the water of the Nile at the 
 
 time
 
 88 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 time of the annual inundation, according to He- 
 rodotus's account, who fays that there was a tomb 
 on the ifland. 
 
 Having attentively viewed thefe inner regions 
 we crept out again half choaked with dull and 
 almoft fuffocated with the clofenefs of the air: 
 after a fhort repofe we fcaled the fides of the py- 
 ramid, which have the appearance of a flight of 
 Heps or rows of benches decreafmg to a point, 
 for the original fmooth and polifhed furface hav- 
 ing mouldered away; the (tones placed in regu- 
 lar rows, bear the form I defcribe, ferving by 
 that means as fteps to the very fummit from 
 whence the view is extenfive and noble, taking 
 in the Nile and fertile country on each fide of 
 it's banks for a confiderable tract, numberlefs 
 villages, Old Cairo, Giza, the pyramids of Sa- 
 cara, where are the catacombs, &c. &c. Al- 
 though there are pyramids without number fcat- 
 tered all over the country, yet thefe are the three 
 that we call emphatically the pyramids, and are 
 here termed El Haram di Giza from their vici- 
 nity to that place; they (land about nine miles 
 from the banks of the Nile and on the verge of 
 the fertile country, being placed on elevated 
 ground up to the foot of which the water 
 flows on the annual inundation; they are of 
 different fizes : The large one according to 
 Greaves's meafurement is 700 feet fquare, cover- 
 ing
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c, 89 
 
 ing about eleven acres of ground \ the inclined 
 plane is equal to the bafe, fo that the angles and 
 bafe make an equi- lateral triangle; the perpen- 
 dicular height is 500 feet. The apex is thirteen 
 feet fquare. 
 
 The fe'cond pyramid ftands on as much ground 
 as the firft, but is forty feet lower. 
 
 The bafe of the fmalleft is 300 feet fquare, 
 and it's perpendicular altitude is eighty feet. 
 
 The ruins of their original furfaces lay round 
 the bafes of the pyramids and diminifh in a flighc 
 degree the effect of their grandeur, as in fome 
 parts they form a mound covering a quarter of 
 the pyramid which would appear much more 
 noble if cleared of that rubbifh ; the original 
 furfaces of the two larger appear to have 
 been formed of common ftones, but that of the 
 fmaller one was compofed of beautiful red gra- 
 nite, as may be feen by the broken heaps 
 thereof laying fcattered around the bafe, and by 
 fome fmall portions of the outer cruft remaining 
 on the furface. Though an entrance has been 
 difcovered only into the larger of the three, yet 
 moft probably there is away into both the others, 
 and likewife apartments in them, fince Strabo 
 tells us, that in the middle of the pyramids, there 
 is a ftone which may be taken out to open a paf- 
 
 N fage
 
 90 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 fage to the tombs: attempts have been made, 
 but without effeft, to difcover an entrance into 
 the fecond, a great breach appearing in one of 
 the fides of it. 
 
 No certain accounts are given either of the 
 times when, or the kings by whom theTe extra- 
 ordinary fabricks were built : Herodotus indeed 
 Ipeaks pofitively as to the founders of them, but 
 other authors give different accounts, and the 
 whole is uncertain: they are without doubt mod 
 wonderful objecls confidered both with regard to 
 their antiquity, fize, and conflruftion; the labour 
 in raifing them muft have been immenfe, as they 
 are a folid mafs of ftones, with only a few fmall 
 fpaces left to form thofe apartments where the 
 bodies of the kings were laid: the materials were 
 mod probably brought from Upper Egypt on 
 floats to the very foot of them. Pliny tells us, 
 that three hundred and fixteen thoufand men were 
 employed twenty years in raifing the largeft, and 
 that the three were compleated in fixty-eight 
 years. Near to thefe arefeveral fmaller pyramids; 
 and round the area, on which the larger ones 
 Hand, are a number of recefles and cells in the 
 rock, with hieroglyphick infcriptions over their 
 entrances. 
 
 In front of the pyramids towards the Nile, 
 and where the grand approach to them appears 
 
 formerly
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 91 
 
 formerly to have been, is placed the famous 
 figure of the Sphynx, cut out of one folid rock; 
 the increafe of the foil and fand has entirely bu- 
 ried the body, the head and neck now only ap- 
 pearing above the ground. The dimenlions of 
 this figure according to Pliny, were as follows : 
 the circumference of the head one hundred and two 
 feet, the length of the legs one hundred and thir- 
 teen feet, the height from the bottom of the belly 
 to the fummit of the head fixty- three feet, and the 
 head and neck twenty-feven feet. It is faid to have 
 been the tomb of Amafis ; but is more famous on 
 account of the enigmatical oracles delivered from 
 it to all who went thither to confult it, and from 
 the ambiguous terms in which they were couched, 
 have given rife to the proverbial expreflion, 
 Spbynx's riddles, applied to any thing difficult to be 
 folved. At the top of the head, there was origi- 
 nally an hole, as likewife on the back, from whence 
 iflued the anfwers, dictated by their priefts, who 
 were placed within. 
 
 The fituation of the antient city of Memphis, 
 is determined to have been between the pyramids 
 and the catacombs of Sacara, which are ten miles 
 diftant from each other. Although this city was 
 of fo great an extent, having been eighteen miles 
 in circuit, yet not the leaft veftige of it now re- 
 mains. 
 
 N 2 We
 
 92 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 We pafled the morning in furveying the py- 
 ramids, &c. and then rode back through a 
 rich and fertile plain to Giza, from whence 
 we ferried over to the ifland of Rhoida: it was 
 here that fome authors afiert Mofes to have 
 been found among the rufhes by Pharaoh's 
 daughter; whether that was the cafe or not, I 
 cannot pretend to determine j at prefcnt it is fa- 
 mous for a building called the Mikeaz, in which 
 is the Kilometer or pillar placed in the centre of 
 a pool of water of the fame level with the river, 
 having different gradations marked on it to de- 
 termine the daily rife and fall of the Nile : as 
 foon as it begins to rife, the officer fuperintend- 
 ing the meafure'ment of its altitude, reports the 
 fame to the Pacha, and receives handfome pre- 
 fents from him on that event, which is celebrated 
 by publick rejoicings throughout the city; its 
 daily height is likewife conftantly proclaimed by 
 publick criers, till it arrives at the wifhed-for 
 point, when the mound of the canal, defigned to 
 diflribute its waters throughout the city, is cut 
 with great folemnity and rejoicings, a virgin at 
 the fame time being thrown into the river as a 
 prefent to Father Nile for his annual vifit, but it 
 is a virgin of clay placed on the top of the 
 mound, and on cutting it, the figure falls into 
 the river, and is, I fuppofe, as acceptable to his 
 cold embrace as if it was flelh and blood. 
 
 The
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 93 
 
 The city of Cairo then becomes a fcene of joy 
 and feafting, they receive the river into their 
 ftreets and fquares with the utmoft gladnefs, and 
 boats and barges gaily adorned are feen rowing 
 on lakes and canals, which the day before were dry 
 landj it is then that this city muft appear in its 
 greateft glory, at prefent I can fay little for its 
 magnificence, though its fize and population are 
 very confiderable ; the circuit thereof is feven 
 miles, the houfes exceffively high and ftreets very 
 narrow, not being wider than our alleys in Lon- 
 don, and are always full of people, mod of them 
 being mounted, the Turks of fafhion on horfe- 
 back, Chriftians and Plebeians on jack-affes : to 
 the extreme height of the houfes they add every 
 other contrivance poffible to exclude the fun, 
 placing over from the tops of the houfes on one 
 fide of the ftreet to thofe of the other, canvas 
 drained on frames, whereby the ftreets are very 
 much darkened and the fun totally excluded, 
 one advantage in this hot country, but then on 
 the other hand, by that means the air is rendered 
 clofe and fuffocating. 
 
 In a country where the Iky is ever ferene 
 and plenty dwells, diffufed throughout by the 
 Nile, whofe periodical inundations produce 
 rich harvefts, of all kinds of grain, and fruits, 
 wafting up from the Mediterranean, the pro- 
 duce of other nations j one is prepared for a 
 
 prof-
 
 94 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 profpec~b of univerfal chearfulnefs and content, 
 but two curfes, the fevereft that can poflibly 
 befall a nation, turn this flattering outfide into 
 real mifery ; the moft oppreflive fyftem of tyran- 
 ny-in the world, and the deftruc"live ravages made 
 by the plague, are two fources from whence flow the 
 evils of this unfortunate country, the latter is a 
 temporary one , the former invariably fubfifts, and 
 from it the people know no refpitej while the 
 latter rages they lock themfelves up in their 
 houfes and have no communication with each 
 other, but houfes are no refuge againft the firft, 
 and a defpotic Bey feizes on property, and deals 
 out death according to his own pleafure and ca- 
 price. I hardly know how to explain to you the 
 form of government here, it is of fo ftrange and 
 complicated a nature : on one hand the Pacha or 
 Vice-Roy fent by the Grand Signer, to whom 
 the country is tributary, claims the fovereignty ; 
 on the other, the twenty-four Beys maintain 
 their authority, each of whom exercifes an inde- 
 pendant power, and by that means there are 
 twenty-five eftablifhed tyrants, every one of them 
 difpenfing juftice or injuftice according to his 
 pleafure, being under no controul. This go- 
 vernment of the Beys is called likewife the Ma- 
 maluke government, or government of the (laves, 
 being formed of Georgian flaves, who are fold 
 when young into the families of the Beys and by 
 them trained up to arms, amongft whom, fuch as 
 
 have
 
 95 
 
 have mofb fpirit and addrefs rife in their turns to 
 be Beys; little attention being paid to the culti- 
 vation of the mind they are extremely ignorant, 
 few of them being able to write or read. The elec- 
 tion of a Bey is generally attended with biood- 
 Ihed, for as there are many who have preteniions, 
 thefword commonly determines the right; Ibra- 
 him Bey has placed himfelf at the head of the 
 government, and by dint of a large army keeps 
 the others in fome awe, enriching himfelf by 
 rapine and plunder. In ftiort, the fcene of op- 
 preflion that exifts here is a difgrace to human 
 nature, both in thofe who praftife and thofe 
 who fuffer itj but the languid and effeminate 
 fpirit of the native Egyptians, having always 
 made them a prey to foreign matters, invites 
 that tyranny which it wants the courage to refift. 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 9 6 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 i 
 
 LITTLE imagined, when I made 
 thofe obfervations in my laft, re- 
 fpefting the oppreffion and tyranny of this go- 
 vernment, that I fhould in my own perfon fo foon 
 give proof of what I there advanced; but thus it 
 happened, and the following adventure which I 
 met with, may ferve to give you a tolerable idea 
 of Egyptian equity. 
 
 In one of my rides about the city, I was met by 
 a party of Turkilh foldiers, who accofting tne y and 
 fome European friends who were of my party, 
 faid, that by order of their mailer Muftapha Bey, 
 they were come in fearch of us, and that they muft 
 immediately conduct us to him. We did not at 
 all relifli this falutation, and would gladly have 
 been excufed the honor of paying a vifit to a Bey, 
 
 but
 
 COAST OF ARABIA' FELIX, &c. 97 
 
 but having no alternative, we proceeded quietly 
 under their efcort. We were not, you may be 
 fure, extremely comfortable in this fituation j and 
 in our way endeavoured to devine the caufe of 
 it, but in vain : we found we had nothing elfe to 
 do but fubmit patiently, and wait the event. 
 Being arrived at the Bey's palace, my companions 
 were fet at libeity, and /only was detained ; one 
 of my friends however flayed with me to a6l as in- 
 terpreter, and plead my caufe. \Ve were now 
 ufhered into the prefence chamber, and found 
 this Potentate fitting crofs-legged on a carpet, 
 imoking a pipe feven or eight feet longj he was 
 a middle-aged man, rather corpulent, had a black 
 and bufhy beard that reached below his breaft, 
 aRd his countenance was handfome, although 
 ftern and fevere j his myrmidons who were beard- 
 ed like himfelf, flood in a circle round him, into 
 the midft of which we were introduced. 
 
 The Bey, being informed that I was the perfon 
 whom he had fummoned, furveyed me attentive- 
 ly, and with an imperious tone of voice, pro- 
 nounced my crime and my fentence in the fame 
 breath, telling me, an Armenian merchant having 
 reprefented to him, that an Englifhman, who had 
 pafled through Cairo two years before, owed him 
 a fum of money, his orders were that I fhould im- 
 mediately difcharge the debt incurred by my 
 countrvman. I heard with aflonifhment this ex- 
 O 2 traor-
 
 9 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 traordinary charge and verdift, and in reply en- 
 deavoured to explain the hardfhip and injuftice 
 of fuch a proceeding, telling him, that In the firft 
 place, I doubted much whether the debt claimed 
 by the Armenian was juft, and in the fecond, fup- 
 pofing that it was, did not confider myfelf by any 
 means bound to difcharge it; but all endeavours 
 to exculpate myfelf on the principles of reafon of 
 jufticewere totally ufelefs, iince he foon removed 
 all my arguments by a fhort decifion, which was, 
 thar without further ceremony, I mud either con- 
 fent to pay the money or remain prifoner in his 
 caltle. I began then to enquire what the fum 
 was, which the Armenian pretended to be due to 
 him, and found it to be near five hundred pounds, 
 at which price, high as it was, I believe I fhould 
 have been induced to have purchafed my liberty, 
 had not my friend advifed me to the contrary, 
 and given me hopes that it might be obtained 
 without it, recommending to me rather to fuffer 
 a temporary confinement than fubmit to fo fla- 
 grant an extortion. Accordingly I protefled 
 againft paying the money, and was conducted un- 
 der a guard into a room where I remained in 
 arreft. 
 
 It was about noon, the ufual time of dining in 
 this country, and a very good pilau with mutton 
 was ferved up to me ; in fhort I was very civilly 
 treated in my confinement, but ftill it was a con- 
 finement,
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, & c . 99 
 
 finement, and as fuch, could not fail of being ex- 
 tremely tinpleafant : my only hopes were founded 
 
 in the good offices of Mr. R an Italian 
 
 merchant, whofe fervices to me and many of my 
 countrymen, who have been embroiled in affairs 
 of the like nature here, deferve our warmeft gra- 
 titude. 
 
 My apartment was pleafantly fhuated, with a 
 fine view of the Nile and a rich country j but I 
 fhould have enjoyed the profpect much more up- 
 on another occafion. On a kind of lawn, (haded 
 with trees, in front of the caftle, two or three hun- 
 dred horfes flood at picquet, richly caparifoned, 
 belonging to the Bey and his guards. His prin- 
 cipal officers and flaves came to vifit me, and in 
 talking over my cafe, they agreed that it was 
 very hard, but to comfort me faid, that their 
 mafter was a very good Prince, and would not 
 keep me long confined. I found feveral of them 
 pleafant liberal-minded men, and we converfed 
 together very fociably through my Arabian fer- 
 vant, who remained with me. 
 
 The people in this country always fleep after 
 dinner till near four o'clock, they then rife, wafh 
 and pray ; that time of prayer is called by them 
 After, and is the common hour of vifiting; the 
 Beys then give audience, and tranfact bufinefs : 
 Muftapha Bey now fent for me again, and feem- 
 
 ing
 
 ioo TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 ing to be in good humour, endeavoured to coax 
 me into payment of the demand he made ; but I 
 continued firm in my refufal, on which he changed 
 the fubject, and fmiling, afked me if I fhould not 
 like to be a MufTulman, telling me it was much 
 better than being a Chriftian, and hinted that I 
 fhould be very well off if I would become one of 
 them, and flay at Cairo, ufing likewife other ar- 
 guments to effe<5t my converfion, and all this in 
 a jocular laughing manner: while he was pro- 
 ceeding in his endeavours to bring me over to 
 his faith, two officers came from Ibrahim Bey to 
 procure my releafe. I have before told you that 
 
 he is the chief Bey, and luckily Mr. R 
 
 having very good intereft with him, had made 
 application in my behalf, and in confequencc 
 thereof thefe two ambafladors were fent to rcqueft 
 that Muftapha Bey would deliver me up to them; 
 but he feemed by no means inclinable fo to do> 
 and refuming his former fternnefs of look re- 
 mained for fome time inexorable j till at length 
 wrought on by their entreaties, he confented to 
 let me go, obfrrving at the fame time that when- 
 ever he had an opportunity of making a little 
 money, Ibrahim Bey always interfered and pre- 
 vented him j a pretty obfervation ! From which 
 you may infer, that they look upon us as fair 
 plunder, and do not give themfelves much trouble 
 to find out a pretence on which to found their 
 claims, 
 
 The
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 101 
 
 The Englifh feem particularly to have been 
 victims to this fpecies of rapine, owing, I believe, 
 to the facility, with which they always fubmit to 
 it : and many of our wealthy countrymen having 
 returned by thyis road laden with thefpoils of In- 
 dia, thefe Beys have frequently fleeced them, al- 
 lured by the temptation of that wealth, which: 
 thefc Nabobs are fo fond of difplaying: various 
 are the inftances of extortions pra<5tifed on them. 
 You may form an idea of all, when I mention one 
 of a gentleman who patting by Suez in his way 
 to England, that he might not be detained there 
 by the fearching of his baggage, prevailed on the 
 Cuftom-houfe officers to difpenfe therewith, and 
 only put their feals on his trunks to exempt them 
 from being vifited till his arrival at Cairo, where 
 being come, fatigued with his journey, and impa- 
 tient to fhift himfelf, he would not wait for the 
 infpeftion of the officers, but broke the feals to 
 get his clothes, and paid a thoufand pounds for 
 the luxury of a clean fhirt an hour before he 
 otherwife would have had it. 
 
 When I hear of the heavy fines that have been 
 levied on my countrymen in their paflage through 
 Egypt, I confider myfelf very fortunate in being 
 quit for a confinement of only a few hours and 
 fifty pounds given in fees to different people em- 
 ployed in the talk of procuring my releafe. 
 
 From
 
 102 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 From tvfuftapha Bey's palace I was conduced 
 to tii.it or Ibrahim Bey, being attended by an of- 
 ficer of the former who was fent with me. Ibra- 
 him was fitting in a fmall apartment richly fur- 
 niihed, fmoking his pipe, and was accompanied 
 by two other Turks j he appeared to be between 
 forty and fifty years of age, middle-fized and 
 handfome j he is reckoned a man of ability, in- 
 deed he has fhown himfelf to be fuch, by having 
 managed with dexterity the complicated machine 
 which he directs. He addrefied himfelf to Muf- 
 tapha Bey's officer, inveighing feverely againft 
 the conduct of his mailer,, then turning to me, 
 faid that I might depend on. his protection dur- 
 ing the remainder of my ftay in that country ; 
 and rinding that my purpofe was to go down the 
 Nile and to Alexandria, he gave me a paflport to 
 exempt me from any trouble or moleftation I 
 might receive on my paflage from his General 
 Morad Bey, who was flationed on the banks of 
 the Nile with the army, for the purpofe of raifing 
 contributions on the country. Having made my 
 proper acknowledgments to this Prince for his 
 civilities I retired not a little rejoiced to have re- 
 gained my liberty. 
 
 Owing to this kind of rapine and extortion 
 practifed by thefe potentates, and likewife to a 
 Firman of the Grand Signer, which forbids Eu- 
 ropean Ihips to approach the port of Suez, this 
 
 channel
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 103 
 
 channel of communication betwixt Europe and 
 India has been fhut for fome years paft; a cir- 
 cumftance extremely detrimental to us, fince it is 
 by far the mod expeditious way of conveying in- 
 telligence, and by proper management might ft ill 
 be made ufe of for that purpofe : fome prefents 
 annually fent by the India Company to my deli- 
 verer Ibrahim Bey, who is in fa<5t the king of that 
 country, would enfure fafety to their fervants, who 
 might pafs charged with difpatches; and when you 
 hear that the paffage has been made from London 
 to Madrafs in fixty-three days by way of Suez, you 
 will be furprized that fuch an advantage fhould 
 be overlooked, if poffible to be obtained j not 
 that I think it would be advifeable to make it a 
 common road for paiTengers, or permit any other 
 fhips to go to Suez, but fmall packet boat:, for 
 the purpofe of conveying difpatches ; for other- 
 wife a door would be opened to a contraband 
 trade, which would prove extremely prejudicial 
 to the commerce of the India Company, and the 
 revenue of our government. 
 
 Mr. R received me on my return to his 
 
 houfe with the ftrongeft exprefllons of joy and 
 friendfhip, and I endeavoured to teftify to him 
 with equal warmth how fenfible I was of the fer- 
 vice he had rendered me. This gentleman who 
 pofleffes a mind far too liberal for the country in 
 which he refides, has been fettled here for many 
 
 P years,
 
 104 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 years, and acquired an handfome fortune, though 
 he has frequently been fqueezed by the Beys; 
 at prefent he finds the advantage of paying one, 
 to be protected againfl the extortions of the 
 .others: he is extremely attached to the Enplifh, 
 and has often been of great fervice to them in 
 this city, 
 
 Hadge Cofiim, who is a Turk, and one of the 
 richeft merchants in Cairo had interceded in my 
 behalf with Ibrahim Bey, at the inftance of his 
 Ion, who had been on a pilgrimage to Mecca, 
 and came from Juddah in the fame fhip with me. 
 The Father in celebration of the fon's return, gave 
 a moft magnificent fene on the evening of the 
 day of my captivity, and as foon as I was releafed, 
 fent to invite me to partake of it, and I accord- 
 ingly went. His company was very numerous, 
 confiding of three or four hundred Turks, who 
 were all fitting on fophas and benches, fmoking 
 their long pipes j the room in which they were 
 afiembled, was a fpacious and lofty hall, in the 
 centre of which was a band of mufick compofed 
 of five Turkifh inftruments, and fome vocal per- 
 formers j as there were no ladies in the afiem- 
 bly, you may fuppofe, it was not the moft lively 
 party in the world, but being new to me, was 
 for that reaibn entertaining. 
 
 Both
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 105 
 
 Both on account of my nation, and my recent 
 adventure with the Bey, I was a kind of fight to 
 them, and they afked me numberlefs queftions, 
 at the fame time being extremely civil, and feve- 
 ral of them, as a great compliment, taking their 
 pipes out of their mouths, and offering them to 
 me to fmoke ; although the indelicacy of this cuf- 
 tom was fomewhat difgufting, yet in conformity to 
 their manners, I took their pipes, fmoked two or 
 three whiffs, and returned them ; they look upon 
 it as the civilleft thing they can do to a ftranger 
 or vifitor, to offer him the difti of coffee they 
 themfelves are fipping, or the pipe they are fmok- 
 ing, which it would be the height of ill manners 
 in any one to refufe. Our fupper was ferved at 
 twelve o'clock, and confifted of fweet-meats, 
 paftry anU fherbets, ferved on filver waiters 
 placed on the carpet, around which we formed 
 ourfelves in different parties of five or fix in each: 
 we did not continue long at table, and immedi- 
 ately as our repafl was finifhed, the company 
 broke up. 
 
 In walking home through the flreets, I could 
 not but obferve the good police which feems to 
 prevail here, each diftrict or ward of the city is 
 (hut up feparately within gates, and no one is 
 ever fuffe red to ftir out after dark without a Ian- 
 thorn, on pain of being taken up and imprifoned; 
 
 Pa a patrole
 
 io6 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 a patrole of Janiffaries goes the rounds frequent- 
 ly in the night j fo that I fhould think with thefe 
 precautions few enormities are ever commmitied. 
 
 My late adventure has made me particularly 
 impatient to quit this country, where perfonal 
 property and perfonal liberty are held fo light ; 
 and I (hall accordingly fet off to-morrow morn- 
 ing, having engaged a boat, and made all other 
 neceflary preparations for my paflage down the 
 Nile to Rofetta i and I hear that I am not like 
 ly to meet with Morad Bey's army, as he has 
 left that branch of the river along which I fhall 
 pafs, fo that I flatter myfelf I fhall meet with no 
 further hindrance or interruption in my journey. 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 107 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Alexandria, 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 THE paffage down the Nile from 
 Cairo to Rofetta is charming: 
 the verdure, fertility, and abundance of the 
 Delta of Egypt highly pleafmg. 
 
 By that name the Romans diftinguifhed the 
 country laying between the outward forks of 
 the river, into which it divides a few miles 
 below Cairo, and makes with the fea a 
 figure refembling the Greek letter fa. From 
 thefe two principal branches go feveral others, 
 interfering the country that lays between ; 
 and this bounteous river, after fcattering plen- 
 ty over the land, during a courfe of many 
 hundred miles, empties itfelf into the fea by 
 feven mouths : the two mod confiderable are 
 thofe of Damiatta and Rofetta ; the former 
 
 was
 
 io8 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 was the Oftium Pathmeticum of the antients j 
 the latter, the Oftium Bolbitinum. 
 
 As the pyramids may juftly be efteemed the 
 moft wonderful of all the works of art, fo the 
 Nile may be considered as the greateft natural 
 curiofity in this country. Nature to fupply her 
 parfimonious diftribution of water from the hea- 
 vens upon this land, has ordained an annual over- 
 flow of the river, to water and enrich it, fo that 
 perpetual plenty and verdure here flourifh with- 
 out the afiiftance of the clouds. Tibullus with 
 regard to Egypt fays, 
 
 Te propter nullos tellus tua poftulat imbres 
 
 Arida nee pluvio fupplicat herba Jovi. 
 It's flocks to fatten and to fwell it's grain, 
 This land from heav'n aflcs not refrefhing rain. 
 
 The Nile is faidtorife in the twelfth degree of 
 North Latitude, at the foot of a great mountain, 
 in the kingdom of Goyana, in Abyflinia, but this 
 is rather matter of conjecture than certainty, no 
 exact accounts having hitherto been given of its 
 fource, but fuppofing it to be fomewhere near 
 the part I mentioned, its courfe being north and 
 fouth, and emptying itfelf into the fea in the 
 thirty-firft degree of North Latitude, the whole 
 extent thereof muft be about one thouland two 
 hundred miles. 
 
 The
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 109 
 
 The annual rife which it experiences is ow- 
 ing to periodical rains that fall in Abyfii- 
 nia; the river begins to fwell at Cairo and in 
 lower Egypt towards the latter end of June, 
 and rifing gradually till the middle of Septem- 
 ber, decreafes afterwards during the months of 
 October and November: the height which it 
 attains varies in different years, and the plenty 
 or fcarcity of the crops is determined thereby, 
 when it rifes to fixteen peeks (about thirty-two 
 feet) the chalitz, which diftributes the water 
 through the city of Cairo, is opened, then, and 
 not till then, the Grand Signer is entitled to his 
 tribute, nor do they wifh to fee it much higher 
 than that point, fince one extreme is a$ fatal 
 to this country as the other, if there is a de- 
 ficiency of water, many lands are deprived of 
 the benefit thereof, if there is a fuper-abun- 
 dance, it retires not foon enough for them to 
 fow their corn. The river at this time fpread- 
 i-ng itfelf over the country, on each fide of its 
 bed for feveral leagues, appears like a fea; what- 
 ever parts lay fo remote as to be out of reach of 
 the inundation, are watered by canals and partly 
 from its own beneficence, partly from what is 
 borrowed of it by thefe canals, fo much is ex- 
 pended in its courfe that it has been conjectured, 
 that not a tenth part of its water reaches the 
 fca. 
 
 The
 
 no TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 The appearance which Egypt prefents at that 
 feafon of the year, muft be very fmgular and cu- 
 rious to one who afcends an high building, and 
 difcovers a vaft expanfe of water all around with 
 towns and villages rifing out of the flood, here 
 and there a caufey, and numberlefs groves and 
 fruit trees whole tops only are vifible. When 
 the waters retire they leave a vaft quantity of fifh 
 on the land, and at the fame time, what is much 
 more valuable, a (lime which acts as manure and 
 fertilizes the fields. By this annual addition of 
 foil Egypt has been very much raifed and en- 
 larged in the courfe of years, and many places 
 are now inland which were formerly clofe to the 
 fea, fuch particularly is Damiattaj and as the 
 mud of the Nile extends for fome leagues into 
 the fea, and accumulates every year, this country 
 by little and little annually increafes. 
 
 The Arts, Mythology, and Natural Hiftory of 
 Antient Egypt, form a fubjed fo worthy the at- 
 tention and ftudy of the curious, that they can- 
 not have efcaped your'sj I need not therefore 
 dwell on the fnperftition or fmgular worfhip 
 formerly practifed here, addreffed to bulls, fer- 
 pents, crocodiles, birds, fifh of different kinds, 
 and even the pulfe and roots of the garden, all 
 which they deified. I need not tell you that 
 amongft other ufeful inventions for which 
 
 plant
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FEUX, &c. ut 
 
 we are indebted to this country, is psper, 
 made of a plant called Papyrus, or Byblos, 
 that grew near Memphis. You well know the 
 miraculous effects afcribed by the poets to the 
 plant Lotus, this was an Egyptian root, and ufed 
 by way of bread. 
 
 V 
 
 I will not recapitulate to you fubjecls you 
 are well a-cquainted with, but return to Ro- 
 fetta, a very pleafant city (landing clofe to 
 the Nile, in the midfl of gardens and orange 
 groves. I took mules from thence, and riding 
 clofe by the fea for about fifteen miles, came 
 to the mod wefterly branch of the Nile, 
 eroding it a little above the Oftium Canopi- 
 cum, after which appeared the caftle of Be- 
 kier, (landing clofe to the fea on the fcite of 
 the antient Canopus, a city notorious for the de- 
 bauchery and diffolutenefs that prevailed there ; 
 travelling on a few miles further, through a fandy 
 country thickly planted with date-trees, I came 
 to the ruins of the antient Nicopolis, fituated on 
 an hill; this city was built by Auguftus, and 
 received its name in commemoration of a victory 
 gained by him over Anthony; a league more 
 brought me hither. 
 
 The city of Alexandria founded by Alex- 
 ander the Great, and afterwards fo much ad- 
 mired nnd adorned by the Romans, the re- 
 Q fidence
 
 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 iidence of Cleopatra, and refuge of Anthony, 
 once famous for its magnificence, luxury, and 
 learning, is now become an undiilinguifhablr 
 heap of ruins; baths, palaces, porticos, i 
 amphitheatres lay promifcuoufly jumbled toge- 
 ther. The favage rage of the Saracens when 
 they took it, has reduced it to this miferabJe ftate ; 
 but a circumflance more to be lamented than 
 any other, was the deftrudion of the famous Ptole- 
 me-m Library, containing one hundred tiionfand 
 volumes. On taking the city, the general fe.nt to 
 the Caliph, to know his orders refpefting thofe 
 books, who returned for anfwer, by all means to 
 burn them, for if they were agreeable to the Al- 
 coran they were fuperfluous, and if contrary to it, 
 impious ; accordingly thl MulTulmen applied 
 them to the purpofe of heating their baths, and it 
 was fix months before they were confumed. 
 
 Pompey's pillar is an object, the moft ftriking of 
 any now extant; it is fituated on an eminence a 
 quarter of a mile to the fouthward of the walls, 
 and is of red granite : the height of the fhaft is 
 ninety feet, and diameter thereof nine feet, the 
 whole height of the column is one hundred and 
 fourteen feet, the capital is of the Corinthian or- 
 der; I muft not omit mentioning to you the 
 mannar by which fome Englifl) mailers of fhips 
 contrived to get to the top of it; they flew a 
 kite over the pillar in fuch a direction, that when 
 
 the
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, Sec. 113 
 
 the firing was loofcd to let it fall and the kite 
 came to the ground, the firing lay acrofs the top 
 of the pillar, by means of which they pafled ropes 
 over, and making fhrouds the fame as to the mafl 
 of a Ihip, they went up triumphantly, drinking a 
 bowl of punch on the fummit, and difcovering 
 that there had formerly been a pedeflrian flatue 
 on it, apiece of the foot remaining. 
 
 There are two obelifks called Cleopatra's, hav- 
 ing perhaps been part of the ornaments of her pa- 
 lace, which flood near the fea fide, one of them is 
 overthrown and lays half buried in the fand, the 
 other is flill flanding, and is fixty-three feet high, 
 on each fide are hieroglyphicks. They fhew fome 
 fubterranean apartments, and call them Cata- 
 combs, but I think it more probable from their 
 form, that they were baths, and the increafe of 
 the ground occafioned by the ruins, has buried 
 them ; fo great has been the havock that there 
 is not another pile remaining, fufficiently entire, 
 to mark its original form or purpofe, even the 
 Pharos, reckoned one of the wonders of the 
 world, has nothing now to reprefent it but a Tur- 
 kifh fort built on the fame fpot, and probably 
 out of its ruins. ; 
 
 Many curious antiques, fuch as medals, rings, 
 and fmall flatues, have occafionally been picked 
 
 Qjz up
 
 ii 4 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 up amongft the ruins, and numberlefs others of 
 valiu might be found could permifiion be ob- 
 tained to dig, but fo jealous are thefe people of 
 the rnriftiaus, who they fuppofe have no other 
 virw in vifiting thefe places but to find hidden 
 treafures, that it is often dangerous to look at 
 them. 
 
 The prefent city does not ftand on the fcite of 
 the antient Alexandria, but on a portion of 
 ground that was called the Hepta-Stadium, and 
 lay without the walls; it is a kind of Peninfula 
 fituated between the two ports, that to the weft- 
 ward was called by the antients the Portus Eu- 
 noftus, now the Old Port, and is by far the beft, 
 Turkifh veffels only are allowed to anchor there: 
 the other called the New Port is for the Chrifti- 
 ans j at the extremity of one of the arms of which 
 ilood the famous Pharos. 
 
 Hiftorians tell us that Alexander's body was 
 embalmed, and buried in this city in a coffin of 
 gold, which (as one can eafily fuppofe) was ta- 
 ken away and it was put into one of glafs, being 
 preferved therein fo late as to the time of Au- 
 guftus, who took a view of it in that ftate, adorn- 
 ed it with a golden crown, and wept over it. 
 
 I have
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 1 1 $ 
 
 I have now been here near a month, a daily 
 \vlrnefs of the fad revolution that has taken place 
 in men, manners, arts, and learning at Alexan- 
 dria; too long a time to dwell on an unplealing- 
 picture. I embark to-morrow on board a fhip 
 bound to Tunis, which will pafs by Malta, and 
 and fet me on fhore at that ifland j the quaran- 
 tine being fhorter than at any of the ports of Italy. 
 I fhall be happy to communicate to you, the ac- 
 count of my arrivil there. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER
 
 n6 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Lazaret of Leghorn, Auguft 15, 1782. 
 DEAR FRIEND. 
 
 B 
 
 EING at length landed in Eu- 
 rope I delay not a moment to 
 impart an event fo pleafing, and at the fame time 
 give you the fequel of my wanderings. 
 
 I embarked on board a neutral veflel at Alexan- 
 dria, the matter of which inftead of fhaping a di 
 reft courfe for the port he was bound to, run up 
 amongft the iflands of the Archipelago, accord- 
 ing to the practice of thofe Mediterranean fai- 
 lors, who always keep the land clofe aboard, 
 and on the appearance of a black cloud make 
 for the firft harbour that prefents itfelf j had he 
 carried me the tour of the Grecian iflands and 
 fet me on fhore at thofe we parted, I could have 
 borne more patiently the tedioufnefs of our voy- 
 age, but I confefs that a diftant view did not fuf- 
 
 ficiently
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 117 
 
 ficient'7 compcniate for that unpieafing circum- 
 itance ; the only one which I had an opportunity 
 of vifiting was Rhodes, where we put in for a 
 day or two. 
 
 The famous Coloffus now no longer beftrides 
 the entrance of the harbour, no beautiful villas 
 adorn its fhores, no palaces grace the city, no Ro- 
 mans now refide here; its natural beauties how- 
 ever ftill remain, but in the hands of Turks who 
 are not much given to improvement, and praclife 
 no arts but thofe of oppreffion, as the Chriftian in- 
 habitants feverely feel. The town {till bears the 
 marks of that memorable fiege it once fuftained, 
 when the knights of St. John of Jerufalem, headed 
 by Villers de Lifle Adam, Grand Mafter, made 
 a gallant (land againfl the arms of Solyman the 
 Magnificent, who befieged the place with two 
 hundred thoufand men, and four hundred fhipsj 
 the brave garrifon confiding only of five thou- 
 fand foldiers, and fix hundred knights, was, after 
 a fix months fiege, during which they had made 
 'frequent fallies, and given incredible proofs of 
 valour, obliged to capitulate from a total want 
 of provifions and every kind of (tore ; the 
 knights afterwards fettled at Malta, given to 
 them by the Emperor Charles V. as fome kind of 
 recompence for having with- held his afiiftance in 
 fo critical a conjuncture. 
 
 The
 
 ii8 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 The furroiinding country appeared extremely 
 pleafant and fruitful, but the fhortnefs of our 
 ftay did not allow me to penetrate into it, 
 or even vifit the fpot where that city flood 
 which the Romans fo much admired, and where 
 they ufed to pafs their time in elegant retire- 
 ment ; it was fituated about a league to the 
 northward of the prefcnt city, on a bank flop- 
 ing down to the fea, but few veftiges of it now 
 remain. There is a convent of Catholick Monks 
 at Rhodes, to whofe hofpitality all Chriflians 
 who touch there are much indebted. 
 
 After leaving this ifland we fleered for the coaft 
 of Candia, the antient Crete, and on approaching 
 it difcovered a very lofy mountain, that I conjec- 
 tured to be mount Ida ; we failed from one ex- 
 tremity of this ifland to the other, and were often 
 very near the fliore. From Candia we ftretched 
 on to the Capes of the Morea and the ifle of Se- 
 rigo, formerly Cythera, and then quitting the 
 Archipelago, flood over towards Malta; but as 
 we, had loft fight of land for a few days, and did 
 not keep the beft of reckonings, we miffed that 
 ifland, and contrary to my wifhes and expecta- 
 tions, I was carried on to Tunis, on the coafl of 
 Barbary. 
 
 In approaching that city we failed up a deep 
 bay, anfwering exactly the defcription given of it 
 by Virgil, in his jJEneid. 
 
 Eft
 
 COAST OF, ARABIA FELIX, &c. 119 
 
 Eft in fecefTu longo locus ; infula portum 
 Efficit objedlu laterum : quibus omnis ab alto 
 Frangitur inq. finus fcindit fefe unda redu&os. 
 
 Within a long recefs there lies a bay, 
 An ifland fhades it from the rolling fea, 
 And forms a poft fecure for mips to ride, 
 Broke by the jutting land on cither lide. 
 
 DRYDEK. 
 
 We came to an anchor at the upper end thereof, 
 -near the caftle of the Goletta, and paired in the 
 boat through a narrow canal into an extenfive 
 bafon, on which flands Tunis; the water in it is 
 fo fhallow, that we were frequently aground in 
 our paflage up to the city, which is twelve miles 
 diftant from the road where the fnips lay. 
 
 Though I can fay nothing in favour of the 
 town, yet the country is pleafant and abounds 
 in a great variety of productions, mod of which 
 are fhipped off for Europe. Trade and piracy 
 here enrich the people, the latter they carry on 
 very fuccefsfully againfl all the petty ftates of 
 the Mediterranean, whofe naval force is not fuf- 
 ficiently powerful to crufh them ; they go in 
 fmall gallies mounting a few fwivels, to the 
 number of fifty or fixty men in each, armed 
 with firelocks and cutlaffes, and as thefe veffels 
 fail extremely faft, and alfo row twenty or thirty 
 oars, they are equally prepared to efcape or 
 overtake as occafion may require. Among other 
 
 R valuable
 
 170 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 valuable articles brought in by the Corfairs, are 
 their prifonersi who are fold in the public mar- 
 ketj and fetch very high prices ; thefe poor 
 wretches then groan under a miferable flavery 
 during the remainder of their lives, except fuch 
 as not being fcrupulous in matters of faith, pre- 
 fer Mahometan liberty to Chriltian bondage and 
 become Mufiulmen. But 1 am told that tfye 
 (laves are treated much better at Tunis than any 
 where elfe, indeed the people themfelvcs are far 
 more civilized than thofe of the other Barbary 
 flates, mod likely owing to the great commerce 
 and intercourfe they have with Europeans. 
 
 I own I was much ftruck with the liberty there 
 enjoyed, and the fecurity with which one might 
 travel about the country, circumftances very dif- 
 ferent from what I had met with in Arabia and 
 Egypt, where, if you ftir but out of a town you 
 are fure to be ftripped, and are lucky to efcape 
 unwounded and alive, but at Tunis you may take 
 your horfe, and flroll from one end of the king- 
 dom to the other, which I fhould certainly have 
 done, if my conftitution had been equal to com- 
 bat with the heat of the climate; conceive what 
 it muft have been when we fhut up windows and 
 doors to exclude the air that in other countries 
 we court, and when the thermometer expofcd 
 thereto rofe higher than iso. 
 
 The
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, Sec. 121 
 
 The Bagrada, Utica and Zowan are deferving 
 notice, but my attention was confined to the fcite 
 and ruins of the famous city of Carthage, which, 
 from the luflre it once maintained, the generals 
 it produced, and the three long and bloody wars 
 it fuflained againft its more fuccefsful rival Rome; 
 add to all thefe circumftances, that it is the fcene 
 of the moft interefting part of the JEneid, I could 
 not but venerate as claffick ground. 
 
 The Englifh. ' conful, to whofe politenefs and 
 hofpitality I was much indebted, carried me to 
 his country houfe at Merfa, about ten miles from 
 Tunis, {landing on the fcite of part of the antient 
 city of Carthage ; I fpent a few days there with 
 him very agreeably, and in the cool of the morn- 
 ings and evenings amufed myfelf with ftrolling 
 about and tracing as well as I could the ruins and 
 extent of that famous city : but the dreadful fen- 
 tence pronounced againft it in the Roman fenate, 
 has been fo fully accomplifhed, that nothing now 
 remains to give one an idea of it's antient gran- 
 deur: piles of ruins may be feen all along the fhore 
 from the caftle of the Goletta to Cape Carthage, 
 and fo on to Cape Gomert ; and feveral appear 
 under water, having the form of walls or wharfs, 
 which the fea, by encroaching on the land has 
 overwhelmed. Antient authors tell us, that this 
 city was eighteen leagues in circuit > but that 
 fpace is now covered with corn- fields, vineyards, 
 R 2 and
 
 122 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 and gardens, with here and there a mafs of ruins 
 appearing. 
 
 The Byrfa retains flill the appearance of its 
 former ilrength, the ground falling every way 
 with great declivity from the fummit, on which 
 there is a ruin fcmething in the lhape of a 
 tower: fubterranean vaults are to be feen in every 
 part of the country thereabouts; the mod perfect 
 and curious remains of antiquity, are the citterns 
 placed on an eminence to the northward of the 
 Byrfa j thefe are large canals, that were defigned 
 as refervoirs to fupply the city with water : there 
 are feventeen , of them, each being one hundred 
 feet in length, twenty in breadth, and ten deep; 
 at one corner is a ruin, appearing to have been a 
 dome, and mod probably there was the like at 
 each of the* other three corners i the aquaeduft 
 which brought the water to them was ninety miles 
 in extent, and begun at the foot of a lofty moun- 
 tain called Zowan $ it may be traced all the way 
 by its ruins, and in fome places the arches ftill re- 
 main entire. 
 
 Several villages are fcattered about on the 
 antient fcite of this city, viz. El Merfa clofe by 
 the fea, Melcha under ground, thofe fubterra- 
 nean apartments in which the people live, having 
 formerly been vaults to the Carthaginian houfes 
 that flood there : Daril/hut near tht Goletta, and 
 
 Seedv
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 123 
 
 Seedy Mofaid {landing on the promontory called 
 Cape Carthage, it is a pleafant hill covered with 
 vineyards and plantations of olive trees, &c. but 
 being facred on account of a Mahometan faint 
 buried there, mutt not be profaned by chriftian 
 feet; apropos of thofe faints I ought to inform 
 you, that the MiifTulmen canonize thofe to whom 
 nature has denied reafon, paying them' the greateft 
 refped when alive, and venerating them when 
 dead j they walk about ftark naked, and whatever 
 extravagancies they commit, are overlooked. 
 
 You will not be furprized that fo little now re- 
 mains of what was once fo vaft a city, when you 
 confider that the Romans after plundering, razed 
 it, and that the fire which confumed it, lafted 
 feventeen days. Two other cities were after- 
 wards built near the fame fpot, notwithstanding 
 the edict of the Roman fenate, forbidding any re- 
 vival of the name of Carthage, once fo odious to 
 them j but both have fhared the fate of the firft, 
 and few traces remain of either. 
 
 The river Eagrada famous in hiilory for that 
 ferpent of aftonifhing fize (lain on its banks by 
 the army of Regulus, falls into the fea near Por- 
 ta Farina, twenty miles to the northward of Cape 
 Carthage ; Utica is alfo fituated on it, whither 
 Cato retired and killed himfelf. 
 
 J cannot
 
 I2 4 TRAVELS, &c. 
 
 I cannot defcend from this great and interefl- 
 ing fubjeft to defer i be the modern ft ate of that 
 country iormerly fo eminent, or quit even the 
 ruins of antient Carthage, to dwell on the prdent 
 royal palaces of Bardo and Manubia^ looked on 
 in Barbary to be chef d'&uvres of art and magni- 
 ficence; all comparifon between the prefent and 
 pad would be painful either to relate or hear, let 
 me embark therefore at that port from whence 
 Hannp, Hannibal and Hamilcar once led their 
 victorious fleets and armies, and going on board 
 a Ragufan fnow, purfue my voyage along the 
 coafts of Sardinia and Corfica to this port, where, 
 although a temporary prifoner, I fubmit patiently 
 to my captivity, fince it is a condition annexed to 
 my arrival in Europe, happy to have exchanged 
 the barbarous climes of Afia and Africa, for re- 
 gions of tafte, pleafure and refinement. Adieu.
 
 TRANSLATION 
 
 O F A 
 
 FIRMAN of the Ottoman Porte. 
 
 IT is the Grand Signer's pleafure that no Chrif- 
 tian veflel come to Suez, or trade from Jud- 
 dah to Suez openly or fecretly. The fea of Suez 
 was defigned for the noble pilgrimage of Mecca; 
 fuch as afllfl in giving a pafTage to Chriftian vef- 
 fels, or connive at it, or ufe not their utmoft en- 
 deavours to prevent it, are traitors to their reli- 
 gion, and to the r Sovereign, and to all MufTul- 
 men ; and fuch as have the prefumption to tranf- 
 grefs, will find their punifhment both in this and 
 the otner v. orld; and this exprefs command is on 
 account of the important affairs of flate, and of 
 religion. Do as we command you, with fervor 
 
 and
 
 126 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 and zeal, let our royal mandate be thus pronoun- 
 ced of which this is the tenor. 
 
 (Here follow the names of the Facbas, Beys, and 
 Governors, to whom the Firman is addreffed.) 
 
 Be it known that the port of Suez, where the 
 Ihips anchor, is a port of two honoured cities, 
 which are thofe that make the light of the truth 
 to fhine and the law of the prophet, and are efta- 
 blifhed to promote religion' and juftice, Mecca 
 the enlightened, and Medina the honoured; and 
 may God enoble them to the end of the world. 
 
 It hath never been cuftomary for any fhips of 
 foreign nations, or for the children of darknefs to 
 come into the fea of Suez, nor for Englifh or 
 other Ihips, to bring their cargoes beyond Jud- 
 dah, till lately, when in the time of Ali Bey, a 
 fmall Englifn vefiel or two came to Suez, with 
 prefents from a perfon unknown, for the faid 
 Bey, and informed him, that they were come to 
 feek a freight j and having once come there, the 
 Englifh have therefore thought, that they could 
 at all times do the fame, and they have come to 
 Suez with their fhips laden with piece goods of 
 India and other effects, in the time of the de- 
 ceafed Mahommed Bey, Father of Gold, who 
 was likewife deceived by avarice, fome people 
 pointing out to him certain advantages arifing 
 
 there-
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 127 
 
 therefrom ; fo that, Englilh and other fhips have 
 repeatedly come to the port of Suez. 
 
 Thefe matters have come to our royal ears> 
 which wejiold to be contrary to the policy o 
 our kingdom> and to religion ; and we do com- 
 mand that from henceforwards, none of the Chrif- 
 tians come to of approach Suez, hereby abfolute- 
 ly forbidding them. We have time after time, 
 commanded them to return to their country, and 
 have informed their ambaffador thereof, enjoining 
 him to write to his fovereign to forbid thefe fhips 
 to come to Suez, it being contrary to cuftom, and 
 to our royal pleafure; and the ambaflador has 
 fhown to us the anfwers he has received from his 
 Court, and from the India Company, wherein is 
 declared, that all travellers and merchants are 
 ftrictly forbidden to approach or pafs by Suez 5 
 therefore if any (hould difobey this order, let them 
 b<?4pi:ifoned,, and their effects confifcated, and 
 let an account thereof be fent to our illuftrious 
 Force. 
 
 We have informed ourfelves from the wife 
 men, and thofe who ftudy hiftory, and have heard 
 what has pafled in former times from the dark po- 
 licy of the Chfiftians, who will undergo aii fa- 
 tigues travelling by fea and land, and they take 
 drawings of the countries through which they 
 pafs, and keep them, tfcat by help thereof, they 
 
 S may
 
 1-8 TRAVELS TO THE 
 
 may make themfelves matters, of the kingdoms as 
 they have done in India and other places. Me- 
 morials have likewife come to us on the part of 
 the Xerif of Mecca, the much honoured, repre- 
 fenting, that thefe Chriftians above-named, not 
 contented with their trafiick to India, have taken 
 coffee and other merchandize from Yemen, and 
 carried it to Suez, to the great detriment of our 
 port of Juddah. 
 
 Seeing therefore what has happened, and our 
 royal indignation being excited ; particularly 
 when we confider how things are in India, by 
 means of the Chriftians, who for many years have 
 undergone long voyages, and at firft declaring 
 themfelves to be merchants, meaning no harm or 
 treachery, deceived the Indians, who were fools, 
 and did not underhand their fubtlety and craft, 
 and thus have taken their cities, and reduced 
 them to flavery. And in the time of Talmon, 
 with like craft, they entered the city of Damaf- 
 cus, under the malk of merchants, who do no 
 harm, and paying the full duties or even more. 
 At that time it happened, that there were diffe- 
 rences between Talmon and Labbafon, and the 
 Chriftians turned them to their advantage, and 
 made themielves mafters-of Damafcus and Jeru- 
 fulem, and kept poffeffion of them for an hun- 
 dred years, when Saladin appeared, to whom God 
 give glory, and freed Damafcus and Jerufalem, 
 
 killing
 
 COAST OF ARABIA FELIX, &c. 129 
 
 killing the Chriftians without number. Befides, 
 it is well known, how great an hatred they bear to 
 Muffulmen on account of their religion, and fee- 
 ing with an evil eye Jerufalem in our hands. 
 Thofe therefore, who connive at the Chriftians 
 coming to Suez, will be punifhed by God both 
 in this and the other world. Permit by no means, 
 Chriftians or other fhips to pafs and repafs by 
 Suez, but take fuch as afllft them fecretly, and 
 chaftife them as they deferve. 
 
 Our royal fovereignty is powerful, and this is 
 our Royal Mandate, when any Chriftian fliips, 
 and particularly the Englifh fhall come to the 
 port of Suez, imprifon the captains, and all the 
 people, fmce they are rebels and offenders both 
 againft their own government and our's, accord- 
 ing to the declaration of their ambafiador, and 
 according to the anfwer fent from his Court; 
 and they deferve imprifonment and confiscation 
 of their effects, which let them find, and let no 
 one endeavour to fet them free. 
 
 FINIS,
 
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