Adventures during a journey overland to India, etc

Chapter I

Port of Marseilles. — French Colony at Algiers. — Universal In terpreters. — M. Guienne Luis. — A " Bon Enfant." — "Le Jeune Menandre." — Involuntary Intruder. — Dinner al fresco. — A Bo napartist. — A Gale. — Negro Boy. — Egyptian Coast. — Host of Pi lots. — Harbour of Alexandria. — Quarantine. — The "Bon En fant." ... - Page 1

Chapter II

Arrival in Alexandria. — Donkey Drivers. — A Ride. — Eastern Scene. — The Governor's Carriage. — The Frank Quarter. — A Man of Distinction. — Soldiers of the Guard. — National Sign-boards. — Frank Ladies. — Striking Contrasts. — Unfortunate Piedmontese. — Gamblers. — A Dinner Party. — " Regalo." — A mock Fight. — Mot ley Scene. — Boxing-match. — Unwise Change. - 19

Chapter III

Victory of Koniah. — Eastern and Western Manners. — Proces sion of Nurses. — Egyptian Troops. — Embarkation of Soldiers. — A CONTENTS. VI A Greek Schooner. — Her Recommendations. — My Esquire.— A Mutiny.— A Rebel Leader.— Mehemet Ali. — Embark in the As pasia.—The Binbashi. — Soldiers on board. — Coast of Palestine. Laughable Scene.— A Panic— Gulf of Caifa. - Page 41

Chapter IV

Entrance into Caifa. — Companions in ill luck. — A Quidnunc. Inundation.— The Consul's Family.— Father Simon's Family.— Misfortunes of Caifa.— Night of Torment. — Forlorn Pilgrims. — Convent of Mount Carmel. — Elijah's Cave. — Music-master and Page. — " Carne di Porco." — Disconsolate Negress. — Dinner. — Asylum for Travellers. — Padre Camillo. — A Dilemma. — Supple mentary Blessing. - - - 60 60

Chapter V

A Discovery. — Padre Julio. — Padre Emanuel. — Fra Battista. — Santa Theresa. — Apparition of Elijah. — Miracles. — Valley of Martyrs. — City of Cæsarea. — Vespers. — Supper. — Delicate Dis cussion. — Ruined Convent. — An Excursion. — Fountain of Eli jah. — Petrified Fruit. — Camillo's Enthusiasm. — Preparation to depart. ----- 88

Chapter VI

Leave the Convent. — My Equipage. — A Braggadocio. — The Tantoora. — A Druse Village. — Interesting Comparison. — Village ofHasafie. — Hospitality. — Curiosity. — Morning Scene. — Arab Camp. — Crossing a River. — Mountain Range. — Hospitable Villagers. - _ - . 105

Chapter VII

Approach to Nazareth. — Its melancholy aspect. — Mount of Precipitation. — The Nazarenes. — Vespers. — The Church. — Strik ing Scene. — Conversation with a Monk. — Supper in the Convent. — The Superior. — Sacred Localities. — Joseph's Shop. — The Syna gogue. — Christ's Table. — Sacred Fountain. — Nazarene Pleasantry. CONTENTS. VII — Mount Tabor. — Village of Deborah. — Magnificent View. — An niversary of the Transfiguration. — Eve of the Purification. — A Monkish Visitor. — Grotto of the Virgin. — Solemn Scene. — The Priest's Petition. ... Page 120

Chapter VIII

Festival of the Purification. — Consecrated Candles. — The Pro cession. — Leave Nazareth. — Hassan's contempt for Catholic Cere monies. — Seppouri. — Turkish Funeral. — Valley of Zabulon. — View from the Hills. — The River Naamah. — St. Jean d'Acre. — Italian Medical Officers. — Their destitute condition. — Chief of the Medical Department. — Ibrahim Pasha. — Destructive Siege. — Caifa. — Convent of Mount Carmel. — Gratitude of the Monks. — Journey resumed. — Fording the River. — Castel Pellegrino. — Wretched Khan. — A Widow's Hospitality. — My Convent Fare. — Night-scene. — Departure. - - 136

Chapter IX

Ruins of Cæsarea. — Armed Arabs. — Turtles. — Attempt to cross a River. — Our Bivouac. — Hassan cross-examined by an Arab.' — Our bargain with him. — His good faith. — Encampment of black Tents. — Arab Welcome. — Dinner. — Strange Bedfellows. — Milk ing of the Ewes. — Churning. — Arab Girls. — Unsuccessful Chase. — A Tartar Messenger. — His unlucky Attempt. — Recovery of his Despatches. — Passage of the Zucka. — A second night with the Arabs. — My Patients. — My Host's devotion. - 155 155

Chapter X

Departure from the Camp. — Range of Hills. — Arab Shepherd esses. — Singular Notions of Beauty. — Jaffa. — Termination of the past. — Signor Damiani. — His perplexity. — View from a Terrace. — Indolence of an Egyptian Sentry. — Wall of the City. — Signor Damiani's Grievances. — Streets of Jaffa. — Gardens of the East. CONTENTS. VIII — My sorry Equipage. — Fa niente. — Valley of Sharon.— Road from Jaffa to Jerusalem.— City of Rama.— Ruined Mosque.— The Latin Convent.— Dinner at the Convent. - Page 173

Chapter XI

Promise of an Adventure.— A Negro Chief of Banditti.—Ma hometan Procession. — My travelling Cavalcade. — Village of El Kobab.— Rugged Defile. — Desolation of the Hill-country of Ju dæa. — A Voice in the Desert Crowd of Arabs. — Beludab el Housh. — A Mendicant Nazarene. — Valley of Jeremiah. — Castle of the Maccabees. — First view of Jerusalem. — Its mournful Appear ance. — Gate of Bethlehem. — Entrance into the Holy City. — Convent of St. Salvador.— My monastic cell. — Solitary supper. ----- 191

Chapter XII

Greek Pilgrims. — Via Dolorosa. — My Cicerone. — Our Saviour's path to Calvary. — House of Simon the Pharisee. — Emotion of the Pilgrims. — Prison of St. Peter. — Houses of Lazarus and the " Rich man." — Eastern mendicants. — Ruins of the Empress Helena's church. — Mosque of Omar. — Pool of Bethesda. — Scene of St. Stephen's martyrdom. — Tomb of the Virgin. — Mount of Olives. — Garden of Gethsemane. — Scene of our Lord's Ascension. — View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. — The Muezzin's call on the Mahometan Sabbath. — Procession of Dervishes Peak whence Moses surveyed the Promised Land Party of Arabs. — Sepulchre of Lazarus. — Feelings inspired by Jerusalem. — Fountain of Siloa. — Turkish indolence. — Aqua-vitæ. — Italian Doctor. - 203

Chapter XIII

Preparations for a comfortable evening. — An Accident. — A blundering Leech. — Chief of Ibrahim Pasha's Engineers.. — Ser pents in Charcoal. — Procession to the Church of the Sepulchre. — Bargaining for Relics.— Spot where Abraham offered his Sacri- CONTENTS. IX sice. — Crowd of Pilgrims. — Stone of Unction. — The Holy Se pulchre. — Calvary. — St. Helena's Seat. — Pillar of Flagellation. — Eastern notions of Modesty. — Unhallowed Tumult. — Tombs of Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin. — Relics. — Country between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. — Church of the Nativity. — The Grotto of the Manger. — Altar of the Magi. — Extraordinary Scene. — Sup per in the Convent. — A bigoted Catholic. - Page 221

Chapter XIV

Wailing in the Cemetery. — Grotto where the Virgin concealed her Child during the Massacre of the Innocents. — Ibrahim Pasha's exaction. — Pools of Solomon. — Kind Reception by a Mamlouc Bey. — Dinner at his house. — Egyptian Captain. — Tombs of Abra ham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah. — A frantic Mussulman Priest. — Invitation from a Jewish Rabbi. — His House and Family. — An interesting Patient. — Petition to the Bey of Damascus. — Pilgrims' Certificates. — Mountebank Priest. — Arrival of Captain Fitzmau rice. — Gratuitous Accommodation of Pilgrims. — Motley group of Armenians. — Mount Zion. — Mosque of David. — Sacred spots. — Stone of the Sepulchre. — Miracles. — Hassan's purchase of a Ta lisman. - 237

Chapter XV

Leave Jerusalem. — My Fellow Travellers. — Village El Bur. — Micmash. — Ruined Khan. — Our miserable Lodging. — Inge nious Robbery.— Recovery of our Baggage.— A Surprise.— Our Fellow-Lodgers. — A Quarrel.— Magical effect of Ibrahim Pasha's name.— Indian Pilgrims.— A miserable Night.— Journey resumed. —Heights of Ephraim.— Desolate Region.— Magnificent Vale.— Scene of Jacob's Dream.— Valley of Shechem.— Well where our Saviour conversed with the Woman of Samaria.— Mountains of the Samaritans.— Wretched Khan.— Agood Samaritan.— The Engineer Colonel's Inspection. — Ibrahim Pasha's scheme.— Capacious Vale. —Deplorable Resting-place.— Tempestuous Night. - 254 CONTENTS. X

Chapter XVI

Leave Nablous. — Ancient city of Sebasti. — Destructive Torrent. Town of Arabie. — A silent Visit. — Position of Cities in Pales tine. — Unchanged Manners and Habits. — Beautiful Defile. — Plain of Esdraelon. — Town of Jennin. — Women of the place. — Ancient Fountains and Wells. — Hamlet of Endor. — Solitary and beautiful Scene. — Valley of Jordan. — Excavations. — Mount of Precipitation. — Mount of the Earthquake. — Scene of the over throw of Sisera. — View from the summit of Mount Tabor. — Cana of Galilee. — House where the Miracle was performed. — Fields where the Apostles plucked the Grain. — Mount of Beati tudes, where our Saviour delivered his Sermon. — Scene of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. — Town of Tiberias. — Chureh of St. Peter. — Turkish Conversion of Jewesses. — Jewish quarter of the town. — Facility in becoming accustomed to the manners of a country. - Page 270

Chapter XVII

Mass in the church of St. Peter. — Bald Heads. — Shrouded Women. — Parting with Captain Fitzmaurice. — Extensive Soli tudes. — Site of Capernaum. — Ramble among the Hills. — City of Saphet. — My desolate situation. — -An English Jew. — Apathy and ignorance of the people of Palestine. — -Lodging in the house of a Christian. — Lenten fare. — Horror of Freemasonry. — Chief city of the Fleas. — Judith and Holofernes. — Leave Saphet. — Pleasure of solitary travelling. — Banks of the Jordan. — String of Arabs. — Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob. — Preparations for passing the night. — Chorus of Frogs. - - - 288

Chapter XVIII

Journey resumed. — View of the Sea of Galilee. — Miserable Road. — My self-congratulation unpleasantly disturbed. — Village of Goneytri. — Mount Hermon. — Squalid women. — Numerous CONTENTS. offers of Lodgings. — Pestilential spots. — Post-house. — String of Women. — Ancient Road. — Herd of Pilgrims. — Beautiful Arme nian. — Town of Sasa. — Its abominable condition. — Merriment caused by my Frank Dress. — Arab Reception. — Khan-el-Sheach. — Plain of Damascus. — Approach to the City. — Scene of the Conversion of St. Paul. — Silk-weavers. — Reception by the Guard of the Egyptian Army. — Hassan deprived of his Weapons. — My quarters in the Franciscan Convent. — Ibrahim Pasha's Friendliness to the Franks. ... - ADVENTURES DURING A JOURNEY OVERLAND TO INDIA.

Chapter I

Port of Marseilles. — French Colony at Algiers. — Universal Interpreters. — M. Guienne Luis. — A " Bon Enfant." — "Le Jeune Menandre." — Involuntary Intruder. — Dinner al fresco. — A Bonapartist. — A Gale. — Negro Boy. — Egyptian Coast. — Host of Pilots. — Harbour of Alexandria. — Quarantine. — The " Bon Enfant." The port of Marseilles is a good preparation for a visit to the Levant. Its sandy neighbour hood, and the numerous olive-trees that are sprinkled about it, with the variety of costume in the streets, and an open manner of dealing in the shops, give it very much the air of an VOL. i. b FRENCH AT ALGIERS. Eastern city. I arrived here on the 8th Decem ber 1832, uncertain of my future movements ; Algiers, Tunis, Cyprus, Smyrna, by turns oc cupying my imagination. The quays of this port are not calculated to relieve the embar rassment of a doubtful mind ; the agents for the different vessels, who inhabit little rooms upon them, round which are exhibited boxes labelled with the names of every harbour in the Medi terranean, from the most renowned to the most insignificant, are in such number that, which ever way the eyes may wander, they will be greeted by an invitation to sail immediately for some celebrated shore.

The cholera had occurred in Marseilles ; at Algiers, therefore, there was a quarantine from this, and to all vessels from that port, nineteen days at every other. I accordingly gave up the hope I had formed of visiting the French colony, in the praise of which all people here are very loud : at every public thoroughfare in the city, I hear the deeds of the army against the Arabs proclaimed in the manner of a last dying speech in the streets of London. The commen dations of the colony are all in one tone : it has UNIVERSAL INTERPRETERS. a good restaurant, and several excellent coffee houses, with a theatre and opera, — the per fection of colonization, I conceive, from the air of pride with which I hear them spoken of. In so busy a mart it is natural that many languages should be spoken ; I hear on every side Turkish, Arabic, Greek, French, English, and Italian, and sometimes from the same pair of lips.

These universal interpreters display great skill in addressing a stranger at once in his mother tongue. My country, perhaps, is very strongly written on my brow, for the moment I show my face in a bureau, some attache of the es tablishment receives me with a " How d'ye do, sir ?" and I stand convicted of being an Eng lishman before I open my lips. I have shown some want of tact in this matter myself; I mistook a very honest English countenance for that of a Frenchman the other morning, when seeking my fortune in one of the ballot-boxes I have mentioned. A well-dressed man was standing alone, as if waiting to be questioned, by the door of a bureau ; I made him a very polite speech in French, when to my surprise he growled out, " Don't talk your parlez-vous B M. GUIENNE LUIS. stuff to me — I 've been bothered enough with it ;" and, pushing me somewhat unceremoni ously by, walked sulkily away.

He was the captain of an English brig, and had, I dare say, as he said, been plagued enough by such addresses. ' After visiting several vessels destined for the Levant, all of them French, and excessively dirty, — pestilence and famine seemed to me to possess every quarter of them, — I was about to quit the harbour in despair when I met a most obliging banker, to whom I had brought a letter of credit, and whose kindness was so great that I must take the liberty of mention ing his name, — M. Guienne Luis : he was on his way to the exchange, held in the lower apartment of the town-hall. On learning from me my disappointment, he begged me to follow him, and he would introduce me to a captain of a vessel bound to Alexandria, — " un bon enfant," he called him, — who would treat me most splendidly.

It was approaching sunset, for the hour of meeting on business was late ; the crowd was so great that we were long before we discovered A "BON ENFANT." 5 my future captain, and I was so distracted by the confusion of tongues within the place, that I could hardly attend to the movements of my guide. At length we threaded our way to a spot where stood a fine, good-humoured man, more than six feet high, and so stout that I agreed readily with the banker when he whispered to me, "Go with him, you are sure to fare well. He does not live on air, eh !" His was indeed an enticing figure ; and after a little conversation I accepted of M. Moniers terms, and became a promised guest at the table of " Le Jeune Menandre," for that was the classical name the vessel bore. We were to sail in three days ; and, as there were no other passengers, I was to choose throughout the ship, and live in fact "en prince " for a mere nothing.

" Three hundred francs," said the captain ; " what is that ?" and indeed it was not much. The group of merchants among whom he stood when I approached were Greeks of Smyrna, and seemed de lighted at the bargain we had concluded ; they followed me a little from him to congratulate me on the advantage of sailing in the racing " LE JEUNE MENANDRE." 6 Menander. "Ah, c'est un bon enfant M. Monier!" said the principal, as he wished me good evening ; " Ah ! bon enfant !" echoed his companions. I had not long got into the street, when I met an agent to whom I had in the morning spoken about a passage. He accosted me with, "Well, have you found a ship?" I told him my success, when in rapture he ex claimed, " Ah ! vraiment c'est un bon enfant !" Fore gad ! thought I, they are all in a tale : I shall soon see what manner of man a " bon en fant " is.

The mistrale blew for many days, and pre vented the vessels leaving the harbour; at length, about two in the morning, — for the wind in its changes seldom studies the conve nience of those dependent upon it, — I was aroused to embark upon " Le Jeune Menandre," and, reaching her before daylight, found all in the most perfect confusion : she was working her way out of port among a crowd of vessels ; and, great as the noise was on every side, there was one who in voice, as he exceeded in stature, surpassed the Babel of the whole, — this was the " bon enfant." Knowing what it is to interrupt INVOLUNTARY INTRUDER. the mildest seamen in their vocation, I quietly retired to a small cabin on the deck which I was to occupy : it had four berths ; but as the master and his mate were to sleep below, I was generally to possess this to myself.

I had scarcely turned in, when in rushed a little negro, or rather flew, for he had been propelled by some peculiar process that I did not at first perceive ; and, had not a shoe followed him, I might still have been left in ignorance : a naked foot, in pursuit of the fly-away shoe, and in the act of giving further aid to the bounding boy, explained the matter perfectly. This might have been a playful sally of the " bon enfant " merely, for he it was from whom the poor youth had sought refuge in my cabin : he followed him in, and seizing him by the throat, thrust him into one of the berths, where he sat, the very image of an imp of darkness, screaming with all the force he could collect. I bore the serenade with great patience until daylight and a pleasant breeze induced me to escape from it.

The shores of the Gulf of Lyons are too well known, (the approach to Marseilles particularly,) to give me any ex- DINNER AL FRESCO. cuse for saying a word about them. On the 22nd of December 1832, however, at about ten in the morning, I lost sight of them, and before dusk was sufficiently established on board to enable me to take interest in the composition of those about me. I found that neither cap tain, mate, nor any one in the ship, could speak French with greater facility than myself; we were likely, therefore, to have a stammering conversation. The crew were all of Marseilles and its neighbourhood, and knew only the dialect of the country. The first day at sea, a landsman seldom dines ; and the captain excused himself for having the meal rather in the rough, by the necessary occupation of every member of a small crew, not excepting the cook, on the first day of sailing.

I was willing to accept it ; but this day the manner of serving dinner has conti nued the same. " Let us dine al fresco ?" said the " bon enfant." " Much better," said the mate, who kept the dinner watch, and I was glad to escape from the close cabin. Without table, cloth, or chair, we sat down upon a hen-coop, each with a plate on his knee and a knife and DINNER AL FRESCO. 9 fork in his hand. The first dish, a bowl of beans, made its appearance ; it was very soon consumed, and with an earnestness on the part of my host that alarmed me not a little, for surely, thought I, he cannot be keeping a corner for anything else, and should this be the dinner ! " Eh bien, monsieur," said he, when the bowl was finished ; " you make no dinner : come, drink." The mate, who foresaw the pro bable difficulty upon such a summons, handed me his tumbler, wiping it with the corner of a napkin by no means in a state to remove impurity ; and supplied himself with a broken coffee-cup, from which he threw the remains of particularly ill-coloured salt, the appearance of which had deterred me from flavouring my dish of beans with it.

"Mais, mon Dieu !" exclaimed the captain, whose heart had been opened by the draught of wine, " you '11 starve : eat something ; be quite at home. An omelette, what say you ?" The sound was delightful, and I agreed at once to the omelette, which came floating in oil, and was brought by the cook himself, the dirtiest man I ever beheld. He anticipated a scene, b A BONAPARTIST. and delivering the dish into the master's hands stood ready ; I received my portion, but, hun, gry as I was, the odour was enough. Up rose the captain, seized the plate, and putting his nose to it threw it overboard, and threatened to send the cook in pursuit of it. " Vilain ! coquin !" shouted he, while the culprit in vain endeavoured to explain matters. " You said they would last, but I told you they would not," was all I could hear, which was so satis factory to me that I perceived but little chance of a dinner.

" Voila le bon enfant " with a vengeance, was my reflection ; and the second day's meal ended worse than the first. M. Monier was a most devoted Bona partist; the hero and his deeds alone were the subject of his conversation ; and many times had I to hear how severely, on certain occasions, the poor English had got beaten, when in England they had always imagined that they had been the conquerors. He was a gross blasphemer too, yet superstitious to a degree : although he reviled his religion, and abused the priesthood in most unmeasured terms, he would not suffer eggs even to be eaten on a Friday, A GALE and crossed himself most devoutly if he heard a profane speech from another. To scoff at religion is so common among the middling class of Frenchmen, that I should not have noticed this fault in my captain, did he not out-Herod Herod.

He was beyond all I could have believed possible. On the fifth day from Marseilles we made Malta, and on the 1st of January at daylight were opposite to the north point of the island of Candy. We had hitherto had a fine run ; but the wind now changing blew a gale, and my " bon enfant " soon showed that he was no rough-weather sailor. In the evening we had still the same bearings, when in he rolled to the cabin, where I was sitting as meek as the fasting I had undergone could make me : " You are mad," cried he, "vous etes enrage, monsieur Anglais ; you are mad, I tell you." I felt some misgivings about the poor man himself as I looked quietly at his agitated countenance. He was certainly the madder of the two. " Are you not mad, I ask you ?" he continued ; and, before I could reply, rushed out and belaboured the little negro, who was screaming with all his NEGRO BOY. might at the capstan, about his head with the speaking-trumpet : then rolling up to me once more, repeated the question, "Are you not mad?"— "Not quite," I answered; "but I soon may be."

" And you will be well served," said he, " to come to sea for pleasure ! Sacre, to the devil with all madmen! You've no business here, sir ; you must be mad, and you sit as if you had been all your life in a storm. Mad as a thousand devils ! mad ! mad ! mad !" he continued, muttering as he left me for some moments. " Encore le bon enfant !" thought I. The negro boy, whose crying I have already mentioned, was just beginning to grow good humoured, when this unfortunate storm brought all his ill passions out again : for the first three days and nights he had never ceased to scream ; coaxing, threatening, and beating, were alike of no effect : his berth was immediately at my head. He was worse than the night-mare, — I could not shake him off : and if his own strength had not failed, I should have given better cause to the captain for questioning my sanity ; he would have driven me mad.

I learnt as much of his history at last as he NEGRO BOY. knew himself. He seemed about nine years old, and was by birth a Nubian. He had been six months in Marseilles, where he had learnt a little French. When three or four, his mother had carried him and his sister from their village on a journey ; there were besides many women and children ; suddenly a party of men fell in with them, and he saw no more of his mother : the children were taken to Cairo and sold. A Greek merchant had bought him, and sent him after a while as a present to his brother in Marseilles, the owner of the ship we were in. He had behaved ill, and his French mas ter was returning him : he liked France so much that he did all he could to escape ; but, finding it impossible, resolved to harass the captain to the utmost, by screaming constantly ; " for," said he, " he is very fond of sleep, and I thought I would not let him enjoy it ; but I did not imagine the voyage would be so long."

This is a favourable season for going to the Levant ; and on the sixteenth day, 6th January 1833, at daylight, we made the Egyptian coast. Some vessels, that had kept nearer to the shores of Africa than we had done, reached Alex- EGYPTIAN COAST. andria in eleven and twelve days. The wind was blowing strong upon the land, which, rising a-head of us like a long ridge of sand, seemed but a continued swell of the ocean : it was some time before I could believe that the apparent wave was really sand. We stood to wards it until we perceived a tower, and a square heap of ruins like a fort on a little mound beyond it. This the captain, who had been navigating the Mediterranean for twenty eight years, took for Aboukir, and shaped his course accordingly. When we had gone some distance to leeward, we saw a Turkish merchant-ship standing in the opposite direction.

This sight dismayed the captain, whose uncertainty of the land marks was rather a proof of the great difficulty there is in making the Egyptian coast, from its unvarying appearance, than of his own want of observation. The place we had made turned out to be the Arabs' Tower, as much to the west as Aboukir is to the east of Alexandria. We bore up for the port, keeping close in, and following the line so faintly drawn in the hori zon, that, near as we were, we might have HOST OF PILOTS. doubted its being Egypt : with the exception of two date-trees standing together, there was not an object on the shore, from the Arabs' Tower to Pompey's Pillar, which became visible before the masts of the vessels in the harbour. So anxious a man as the poor " bon enfant " I never met ; it was blowing hard, and he, having made one mistake, had lost all confi dence in himself.

When I put my glass to my eye, it threw him into an agony beyond expres sion. " Mon Dieu ! que voyez-vous ?" he cried with the most frantic gestures, trembling from head to foot : I put my glass away, for I was afraid the apprehension that I saw something which he could not, would have induced him to stand out to seaward. At length we neared the shipping, and were delighted to see a boat making for us ; in a few minutes we were boarded by a host of pilots. They gave directions in all the languages of the Mediterranean, with now and then an English word. It seemed to me miraculous that, in the midst of such confusion, the vessel at last got into harbour. At the helm of the pilot-boat was HARBOUR OF ALEXANDRIA. seated an old man with a venerable beard ; he steered with one hand, and in the other held a rosary : the shouting of the crew had no effect upon his gravity ; he was the most immoveable person possible, and might have been a figure head to one of Mehemet Ali's fleet.

Five or six men, armed with long pipes, boarded the racing Menander, and in half an hour afterwards by their joint counsel we came to anchor near a three-decker undergoing repair : scaffolds were suspended beneath each tier ; and the people, who seemed to be innumerable on board, ran in and out like ants, or hung in clusters at each port like a swarm of bees. She was fitting for sea ; the crew looked squalid, and in dirt nearly equalled the vessel. Several other ships of war, that had just come in from the coast of Syria, were lying in the harbour ; their boats skimming about, manned by Arabs in scarlet dresses. The harbour was full of vessels of every nation ; and, being Sun day, all their flags were flying. There is little in the outward appearance of the town of Alex andria either to please or to surprise.