Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy Land

Front matter

i£y libris H. H. Bonar, OB. DEC. 1892. INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN EGYPT, ARABIA PETRÆA ano THE HOLY LAND. GEORGE STEPHENS, AUraOR OP INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN GREECE, TURKEY, RUSSIA, AND POLAND. EDINBURGH: PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS; AND SOLD BY ALL B00KSELLER.S. 1839. Edinburgh : Printed by W. and R. Chambers, 19, "Waterloo Pi. acs. PREFATORY NOTICE. The present work, which appeared originsilly in the United States of America, where it soon passed through six editions, has been already made favourably known in Britain, and now occupies a place among the most x*espectable publications of the day. To the sixth American edition, of which this is a faithful reprint, the following preface is prefixed by the author :— " The preface of a book is seldom read, or the author would express his acknowledgments to the public for having so soon demanded a sixth edition of his work.

If the sale of a book be any evidence of its merit, he has reason to believe that his subject matter has been interesting, and his manner of treating it not unacceptable. He has, too, a deeper source of satisfaction ; for he cannot help flattering himself that he has been, in some degree, instrumentid in turning the attention of his countrymen to subjects comparatively little known ; and, in addition, he can only say, as before, that in the present state of the world it is almost presumptuous to put forth a book of travels. Universal peace and extended commercial relations, the introduction of steam-boats, and increased facilities of travelling generally, have brought comparatively close together the most distant parts of the world ; and except within the walls of China, there are few countries which have not been visited and written upon by European travellers.

The author's route, however, is comparatively new to the most of his countrymen ; part of it — through the land of Edom — is, even at this day, entirely new. The author has compiled these pages from brief notes and recollections, and has probably fallen into errors in facts and impressions, which his occupations since his return have prevented his inquiring into and correcting. He has presented things as they struck his mind, without perplexing himself with any deep speculations upon the rise and fall of empires ; nor has he gone much into detail in regard to ruins. His object has been, principally, as the title of the book imports, to give a narrative of the every-day incidents that occur to a traveller in the East, and to present to his countrymen, in the midst of the hurry, and bustle, and life, and energy, and daily-developing strength and resources of the New, a picture of the widely different scenes that are now passing in the faded and worn-out kingdoms of the Old World." CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Chapter VIII

Page Page Alexandria. Pompey's Pillar. The Catacombs. The Warwick Vase. The Pacha's Canal. Boats of the Nile, - 5 The Rock of the Chain. Ravages of the Plague. Deserted Quarries. A youthful Navigator. A recollection of Sam Patch. Ancient Inscriptions. A perplexed Major-Domo. A Dinner without parallel. An awkward Discovery, 24

Chapter II

From Alexandria to Cairo. Experience versus Travellers' Tales. An unintended Bath. Iron Rule of the Pacha. Entrance into Cairo. A Chat with a Pacha,

CHAPTER IX.

Ascent of the Cataracts. A Nautical Patriarch. Political Improvement. A Nubian Damsel's Wardrobe. A test of Friendship. East and West. Moonlight on the Nile. Uses of a Temple, - - - - - - 27 7

Chapter III

The Slave-market at Cairo. Tomb of the Pacha. The Pyramid of Cheops. Oppressive Attentions of tho Arabs. The Sphinx, .... .11

CHAPTER X.

Thebes, its Temples and great Ruins. The Obelisk of.Luxor, now of Paris. An Avenue of Sphinxes. Carnac. The Mummy-pits. The Tombs of the Kings. The Memnonium, 31

Chapter IV

Journey up the Nile. An Arab Burial. Pilgrims to Mecca. Trials of Patience. A Hurricane on the Nile. A Turkish Bath, ....... 14

CHAPTER XI.

The Arabs and the Pacha. March into the Desert. Arab Christians. A cold Reception. Arab Punctuality. A Night in a Convent. An Arab Christian Priest. Speculative Theology. A Journey ended before commenced, 33

Chapter V

Sporting on the Nile. A Recluse. An Egyptian Hebe. Siout. A Wolf Race among the Tombs. Adventure with a Governor, ...... 16

CHAPTER XII.

A Travelling Artist and Antiquary. An Egyptian Sugar-house. Grecian Architecture. A Melancholy Greeting. Tyranny of the Pacha. Amateurs of Physic. Memphis. Adventure with a Wild Boar. Perils of a Pyramid. The Catacombs of Birds. Amor Patriæ. Voyaging on the Nile, 30

Chapter VI

Small Favours thankfully received. Slavery in Egypt. How to catch a Crocodile. An elaborate Joke. Imaginary Perils. Arabs not so bad as they might be, 18

CHAPTER XIII. CHAPTER VII.

A good Word for the Arabs. A Prophecy fulfilled. Ruins of a Lost City. A Sheik of the Bedouins. Interviews and Negotiations. A Hadj, or Pilgrimage to Mecca. Mahommedan Heaven for Wives. A French Sheik. The Bastinado. Departure for the Desert- 39 The Temple of Dendera. Practice against Theory. Regulating the Sun. The French at Thebes. The Curse of Pharaoh. An Egyptian Tournament. Preparations for. Dinner. An English travelling Lady, CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

Page The Caravan. Arab Political Economy. A projected Railroad. The Sirocco. Suez. A travelled Englishman. The Red Sea. Embarkation of Pilgrims. A Misadventure. Scriptural Localities. The Bitter Fountain, - -42

CHAPTER XV.

The Aspect of the Mountains. Arab Graves. The Pacha and the Bedouins. The Value of Water. Perplexing Inscriptions. Habits of the Arabs. Ethics of the Desert. Breach of the Marriage Vow. Arrival at the Convent. An Excess of Welcome. Greece and America. Amor Patriæ, - - 4*;

CHAPTER XVI.

Ascent of Sinai. A Miracle. The Grotto of Elias. A Monkish Legend. The Pinnacle of Sinai. Anchorites. Mahommed and his Camel. An Argument. Legend of St Catharine. The Rock of the Tables. The Stone struck by Moses. Description of the Convent. Habits and Character of its Inmates, - - - - - 50

CHAPTER XVII.

Diet of the Monks. Advantages of Abstinence. Scruples overcome. A mysterious Brother. The Convent Burial-place. Strange Charnel-houses. Death in a Mask. Familiarity breeds Contempt. A Man of two Centuries. Doubts and Fears. Parting Gifts. The Farewell, - 54

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Caravan.— A sudden Change of Purpose.— Perils of a Storm. Comfortless Repentance. Solitude. A Woman and a Chase. A Patriarchal Feast. Condition of the Arab Women. Hospitality. No refusing a good Offer. A Dilemma, - - - - - - -57

CHAPTER XIX.

Evening Amusements. A Trial of the Feelings. A Disappointment. A Santon of the Desert. An Arab Fisherman. Turkish Costume. A potent Official. A Comfortless Siek-room. A Visit from the Sheik. Interested Friendship. Akaba. The El Alouins. Questionable Piety, £9

CHAPTER XX.

Prophecy and Fulfilment. Unpleasant Suggestions. Tho Denounced Land. Management. A Rencounter. An Arab's Cunning. The Camel's Hump. Adventure with a Lamb. Mount Hor. Delicate Negotiations. Approach to Petra, - 63

CHAPTER XXI.

Petra. Arrival. Entrance to the City. The Temple of Petra. A Record. The Theatre. Tombs of Petra. Arab Simplicity. Departure from Petra. A Night in a Tomb. Dangers of the Route, - - - - - GG

CHAPTER XXII.

A bold Endeavour. Unexpected Obstacles. Disadvantage of a Dress. The Dead Sea. A New Project. The Tomb of Aaron. An Alarm. Descent of the Mountain. An awkward Meeting. Poetic Licence. All's well that endswelL Unexpected Dignities. Arab Notions of Travel, 7m

CHAPTER XXIII.

Valley of El Ghor. Prophecies against Edom. The Sheik's Treachery. An Explosion. Personnel of the Arabs. Amusing Retrospect. Money Troubles. Aspect of the Valley. Death of a Camel. The Desert Horses. Native Salt, 74

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Road to Gaza. Unknown Ruins. A Misadventure. Pastoral Bedouins. A Flower of the Wilderness. The Ravages of War. Testimony of an Eyewitness, - 70

CHAPTER XXV.

Page Approach to Hebron. A Sick Governor. A Prescription at Random. Hospitality of the Jews. Finale with the Bedouins. A Storm. A Cidm after the Storm. Venality of the Arabs. Hebron. A Coptic Christian. Story of the Rabbi. Professional Employment, 80

CHAPTER XXVI.

An Arnaout. The Pools of Solomon. Bethlehem. The Empress Helena. A Clerical Exquisite. Miraculous Localities. A Boon Companion. The Soldier's Sleep. The Birthplace of Christ. Worship in the Grotto. Moslem Fidelity, ------- 85

CHAPTER XXVII.

The Tomb of Rachel. First View of Jerusalem. Falling among Thieves. Potent Sway of the Pacha. A Turkish Dignitary. A Missionary. Easter in Jerusalem. A little Congregation, ------ 89

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre. An unexpected Discovery. Mount Calvary. The Sepulchre. The Valley of Jehoshaphat. The Garden of Gethsemane. Place of the Temple. The four Great Tombs. Siloa's Brook, - - - 91

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Field of Blood. A Traveller's Compliment. Singular Ceremony. A Ragged Rascal. Ostentatious Humility. Pride must have a Fall. An Ancient Relic. Summary Legislation, .____- 94

CHAPTER XXX.

The Synagogue. Ideal Speculations. A Ride in the Rain. An Ex-Official. Joppa. A Moral Phenomenon. Reverence fur the Grave, - - - - 97

CHAPTER XXXI.

Desert of St Jnhn. A Midnight Procession. Road to Jericho. A Community of Women. A Navigator of the Dead Sea. A Dance by Moonlight. A rude Lodging, 100

CHAPTER XXXII.

The River Jordan. The Dead Sea. Force of Example. Buoyancy of tho Dead Sea. A Perilous Ascent. A Navigator of the Dead Sea. Story of the Voyage. The Convent of Santa Saba, ----- 102

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Convent of Saint Saba. A strange Picture. Celebration of Good Friday. Palm Sunday. A Struggle for Life. The Grave of a Friend. A Convert. Burial of a Missionary, 105

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Pilgrimage to the Jordan. Pilgrim's Certificate. The Tomb of Samuel. Departure from Jerusalem. Last View of the Dead Sea. Village of Einbroot. Departure from Judea. Mounts Gerizim and Ebal. An Antique Manuscript. Paas in Samaria, - - - - - 107

CHAPTER XXXV.

Sebaste. Ruins of the Palace of ITerod. Mount Tabor. Nazareth. Scriptural Localities. Tiberias. An English Sportsman. Bethsaida, and Chorazin. Capernaum. Zaffad . Arrival at Acre, - - - - - HI

CHAPTER XXXVI.

A ride on Donkeyback. Caipha. Adventure with a Consul. Mount Carmel. The Plain of Jezreel. Convent of Mount Carmel. Kindness of the Monks. Curiosity gratified, 11G

CHAPTER XXXVII.

St Jean d'Acre. Extortions of the Pacha. Tyre. Questionable Company. Lady Esther Stanhope. Departure from the Holy Land. Conclusion, - - - 110 Note, ------- INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN EGYPT, ARABIA PETRÆA, &c.

Chapter I

Alexandria.— Pompey's Pillar.— The Catacombs. — The Warwick Vase— The Pacha's Canal.— Boats of the Nile. On the afternoon of the December, 1835, after a passage of five days from Malta, I was perched up in the rigging of an English schooner, spyglass in hand, aud earnestly looking for the " land of Egypt." The captain had never been there before ; but we had been running several hours along the low coast of Barbary, and the chart and compass told us that we could not be far from the fallen city of Alexander. Night came on, however, without our seeing it. The ancient Pharos, the Lantern of Ptolemy, the eighth wonder of the world, no longer throws its light far over the bosom of the sea to guide the weary mariner. Morning came, and we found ourselves directly opposite the city, the shipping in the outward harbour, and the fleet of the pacha riding at anchor under the walls of the seraglio, carrying me back in imagination to the days of the Macedonian conqueror, of Cleopatra and the Ptolemies.

Slowly we worked our way up the difficult and dangerous channel, unaided by a pilot, for none appeared to take us in charge. It is a fact worthy of note, that one of the monuments of Egypt's proudest days, the celebrated Pompey's Pillar, is even now, after a lapse of more than 2000 years, one ofthe landmarks which guide the sailor to her fallen capital. Just as we had passed the last reef, pilots came out to meet us, their swarthy faces, their turbans, their large dresses streaming in the wind, and their little boat with its huge latteen sail, giving a strange wildness to their appearance, the effect of which was not a little heightened by their noise and confusion in attempting to come alongside. Failing in their first endeavour, our captain gave them no assist ance ; and when they came upon us again, he refused to admit them on board.

The last arrival at Malta had brought unfavourable accounts of the plague, and he was unwilling to ruu any risk until he should have an opportunity of advising with his consignee. My servant was the only person on board who could speak Arabic ; and telling the wild, fly-away looking Arabs to fasten on astern, we towed our pilots in, and at about eight o'clock came to anchor in the harbour. In half an hour I was ashore ; and the moment I touched it, just as I had found at Constantinople, all the illusion of the dis tant view was gone. Indeed, it would be difficult for any man who lives at all among the things of this world to dream of the de parted glory of Egypt when first entering the fallen city of Alexander ; the present, and the things of the present, are uppermost ; and between ambling donkeys, loaded camels, dirty, half-naked, sore-eyed Arabs, swarms of flies, yelping dogs, and apprehensions of the plague, one thinks more of his own movements than of the pyramids.

I groped my way through a long range of bazaars to the Frank quarter, and here, totally for getting what I had come for, and that there were such things as obelisks, pyramids, and ruined temples, the genius of my native land broke out, and with an eye that had had some expez-ience in such matters at home, I contemplated the " improvements :" a whole street of shops, kept by Europeans and filled with European goods, ranges of fine buildings, fine country houses, and gardens growing upon barren sands, showed that strangers from a once barbarous land were repaying the debt which the world owes to the mother of arts, and raising her from the ruin into which she had been plunged by years of misrule and anarchy. My first visit was to Mr Gliddon, the American con sul, whose reception of me was such, that I felt already as one not alone in a strange land.

While with him, an English gentleman came in — a merchant in Alex andria — who was going that night to Cairo. Mr Glid don introduced us ; and telling him that I, too, was bound for Cairo, Mr T. immediately proposed that I should accompany him, saying he had a boat and every thing ready, and that I might save myself the trouble of making any preparations, and would have nothing to do but come on board with my luggage at sundown. Though rather a short notice, I did not hesitate to accept his offer. Besides the relief from trouble in fitting out, the plague was in every one's mouth, and I was not sorry to have so early an opportunity of escaping from a city, where, above all others, " pesti lence walketh in darkness, aud destruction wasteth at noonday." Having but a short time before me, I immediately mounted a donkey — an Egyptian donkey — being an animal entirely unknown to us, or even in Europe, and, accompanied by my servant, with a sore-eyed Arab boy to drive us, I started off' upon a full gallop to make a hasty survey of the ruins of Alexandria.

The Frank quarter is the extreme part of the city, and a very short ride brought us into another world. It was not until now, riding in the suburbs upon burning sands, and under a burning sun, that I felt myself really in the land of Egypt. It was not, in fact, till standing at the base of Pompey's Pillar, that I felt myself among the ruins of one of the greatest cities of the world. Reach ing it through long rows of Arab huts, where poverty, and misery, and famine, and nakedness, stared me in the face, one glance at its majestic height told me that this was indeed the work of other men and other times. Standing on a gentle elevation, it rises a single shaft of ninety feet, and ten feet in diameter, surmounted by a Corinthian capital, ten feet high, and, independent of its own monumental beauty, it is an interesting object as marking the centre of the ancient city.

It stands far outside the present walls, and from its base you may look over a barren waste of sand, running from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Lake Mareotis, the boundaries of Alexandria as it was of old. All this intermediate space of sandy hills, alternat ing with hollows, was ouce covered with houses, palaces, and perhaps with monuments equal in beauty to that at whose base I stood. Riding over that TRAVELS IN EGYPT. waste, the stranger sees broken columns, crumbling walls, and fragments of granite and marble, thrusting themselves above their sandy graves, as if struggling for resurrection ; on one side he beholds a yawning chasm, in which forty or fifty naked Arabs are toiling to disentomb a column long buried in the sand ; on another an excavated house, with all its walls and apartments almost as entire as when the ancient Egyp tian left it.

He is riding over a mighty sepulchre, the sepulchre of a ruined city, and at every step some tell-tale monument is staring at him from the grave. Riding slowly among the ruins, I passed the celebrated wells built in the time of Alexander, at the very foundation of the city, at which generation after generation have continued to slake their thirst, and ended my ride at Cleopatra's Needle, a beautiful obelisk sixty feet high, full of mysterious hieroglyphics that mock the learning of the wise of our day. Time has dealt lightly with it ; on one side the characters stand bold and clear as when it came from the hands of the sculptor, although, on the other, the dread sirocco, blowing upon it from the desert more than 2000 years, has effaced the sculptor's marks, and worn away the almost impenetrable granite.

By its side, half buried in the sand, lies a fallen brother, of the same size, and about the same age, said to have been taken down by the English many years ago, for the purpose of being carried to England ; but the pacha prevented it, and since that time it has lain in fallen majesty, stretching across a deep chasm formed by excavations around it. At six o'clock I was riding with my new friend, spurring my donkey to its utmost to get out of the city before the gate should close ; and my reader will acquit me of all intention of writing a book, when I tell him that a little after dark of the same day on w*hich I arrived at Alexandria, I was on my way to Cairo. Accident, however, very unexpectedly brought me again to Alexandria ; and on my second visit, while waiting for an opportunity to return to Europe, I several times went over the same ground more at my leisure, and visited the other objects of interest which my haste had before prevented me from seeing.

Among these were the Catacombs, situated about two miles from the city, on the edge of the Libyan Desert, and near the shore of the sea. These great repositories of the dead arc so little known that we had some difficulty in finding them, although we in quired of every body whom we met. Seeing an Arab brushing some horses near an opening in the side of the rock, we went to him to inquire, and found we were at the door of the Catacombs. The real entrance is now unknown, but was probably from above. The present is a rude forced breach, and the first chamber into which we entered, a chamber built with pious regard to the repose of the dead, we found occupied as a stable for the horses of one of the pacha's regi ments. My donkey-boy had taken the precaution to bring with him candles, and a line to tie at the en trance, after the manner of Fair Rosamond's clue, to save us from being lost in the labyrinth of passages ; but the latter was unnecessary, as the Arabs employed about the horses had explored them so thoroughly for purposes of plunder, that they were sufficiently sure guides.

Taking two of them into pay, we followed with our lighted torches through two chambers, which, to me, who had then seen the tombs in Thebes, Petra, and .Jerusalem, contained nothing remarkable, and came to what has been called the state chamber, a circular room about thirty feet in diameter, with three recesses, one at each side of the door and one opposite, a vaulted roof, and altogether admirably fine in its proportions. In each of the recesses were niches for the bodies of the dead, and in one of them skulls and mouldering bones were still lying on the ground. Fol lowing my guides, I passed through several chambers half tilled with sand ; but having by this time lost much of my ardour for wandering among tombs, and finding the pursuit unprofitable and unsatisfactory, I returned to the state chamber and left the Catacombs.

They are supposed to extend many miles under the surface, but how far will probably never be known. The excavations that have as yet been made are very trifling ; and unless the enlightened pacha should need the state chamber for his horses, the sands of the desert may .again creep upon them, and shut them for ever from our eyes. Near the door of the entrance, directly on the edge of the shore, are chambers cut in the rocks, which open to the sea, called by the imposing name of Cleo patra's Baths. It is rather an exposed situation, and, besides the view from the sea, there are several places where "peeping Tom" might have hidden himself. It is a rude place, too ; and when I was there, the luxu rious queen could hardly have got to her chambers without at least wetting her royal feet ; in fact, not to be imposed upon by names, a lady of the present day can have a more desirable bath for a quarter of a dollar than ever the Queen of the East had in her life.

The present city of Alexandria, even after the dread ful ravages made by the plague in 1 837, is still supposed to contain more than 50,000 inhabitants, and is decidedly growing. It stands outside the delta in the Libyan Desert, and as Volney remarks, " It is only by the canal which conducts the waters of the Nile into the reservoirs in the time of inundation that Alexandria can be considered as connected with Egypt." Founded by Alexander, to secure his conquests in the East, being the only safe harbour along the coasts of Syria or Africa, and possessing peculiar commercial advantages, it soon grew into a giant city. Fifteen miles in circumference, containing a population of 300,000 citizens and as many slaves, one magnificent street 2000 feet broad ran the whole length of the city, from the Gate of the Sea to the Canopie Gate, commanding a view, at each end, of the shipping, either in the Mediterranean or in the Mareotic Lake, and another of equal length intersected it at right angles ; a spacious circus with out the Canopie Gate for chariot-races, and on the east a splendid gymnasium, more than 600 feet in length, with theatres, baths, and all that could make it a desirable residence for a luxurious people.

When it fell 'into the hands of the Saracens, according to the report of the Saracen general to the Calif Omar, " it was impossible to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty ; and it is said to " have contained 4000 palaces, 4000 baths, 400 theatres or public edifices, 12,000 shops, and 40,000 tributary Jews." From that time, like every thing else which falls into the hands of the Mussulman, it has been going to ruin, and the discovery of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope gave the death-blow to its commercial-greatness. At present it stands a phenomenon in the history of a Turkish dominion. It appears once more to be raising its head from the dust. It remains to be seen whether this rise is the legitimate and permanent effect of a wise and politic government, combined with natural advantages, or whether the pacha is not forcing it to an unnatural elevation, at the expense, if not upon the ruins, of the rest of Egypt.

It is almost presumptuous, on the threshold of my entrance into Egypt, to specu late upon the future condition of this interesting country ; but it is clear that the pacha is determined to build up the city of Alexandria if he can : his fleet is here, his army, his arsenal, and his forts are here, and he has forced and centered here a commerce that was before divided between several places. Rosetta has lost more than two-thirds of its. population, Damietta has become a mere nothing, and even Cairo the Grand has become tributary to what is called the regenerated city. Alexandria has also been the scene of interesting events in modern days. Here the long-cherished ani mosity of France and England sought a new battle field, as if conscious that the soil of Europe had too often been moistened with human blood.

Twice I visited the spot where the gallant Abercrombie fell, about two miles outside the Rosetta Gate ; the country was covered with a beautiful verdure, and the Arab POMPEY'S PILLAR— THE NILE. 7 was turning up the ground with his plough ; herds of buffalo were quietly grazing near, and a caravan of camels was slowly winding its way along the borders of a nameless lake, which empties into the Lake Ma reotis. Farther on and near the sea is a large square enclosure, by some called the ruins of the palace of Cleopatra, by others the camp of Cæsar. This was the French position, and around it the battle was fought. All is quiet there now, though still the curious traveller may pick up from time to time balls, fragments of shells, or other instruments of death, which tell him that war, murderous and destructive war, has been there.

My last ride was to Pompey's Pillar. Chateaubriand requested a friend to write his name upon the great pyramid, not being able to go to it himself, and consi dering this one of the duties of a pious pilgrim ; but I imagine that sentimental traveller did not mean it in the sense in which " Hero" and " Beatrice," and the less romantic name of " Susannah Wilson," are printed in great black letters, six inches long, about half way up the shaft. There can be no doubt that immense treasures are still buried under the ruins of Alexandria ; but whether they will ever be discovered will depend upon the pacha's necessities, as he may need the ruins of ancient temples for building forts or bridges. New discoveries are constantly made ; and between my first and second visit a beautiful vase had been discovered, pronounced to be the original of the celebrated Warwick vase found at Adrian's villa, near Tivoli.

It was then in the hands of the French consul, who told me he would not take its weight in gold for it. I have since seen the vase at Warwick Castle ; and if the one found at Alexandria is not the original, it is certainly remarkable that two sculptors, one in Egypt and the other in Italy, conceived and fashioned two separate works of art so exactly resembling each other. But to return to the moment of my first leaving Alexandria. At dark I was on board a boat at the mouth of the Mahmoudie, the canal wliich connects Alexandria with the Nile ; my companion had made all necessary provision for the voyage, and I had nothing to do but select a place and spread my mattrass and coverlet. In a few minutes we had commenced our journey on the canal, our boat towed by our Arab boatmen, each with a rope across his breast.

I have heard this canal spoken of as one of the greatest works of modern days, and I have seen it referred to as such in the books of modern travellers ; and some even, as if determined to keep themselves under a delusion in regard to every thing in Egypt, speak of it as they do of the pyramids, and obelisks, and mighty temples of the Upper Nile. The truth is, it is sixty miles in length, ninety feet in breadth, and eighteen in depth, through a perfectly level country, not requiring a single lock. In regard to the time in which it was made, it certainly is an extraordinary work ; and it could only have been done in that time, in such a country as Egypt, where the government is an absolute despotism, and the will of one man is the supreme law. Every village was ordered to furnish a certain quota ; 150,000 workmen were employed at once, and in a year from its com mencement the whole excavation was made.

As a great step in the march of public improvement, it cer tainly does honour to the pacha, though, in passing along its banks, our admiration of a barbarian struggling into civilisation is checked by remembering his wanton disregard of human life, and the melancholy fact that it proved the grave of more than 30,000 of his sub jects. We started in company with a Mr Waghorn, for merly in the East India Company's service, now en gaged in forwarding the mails from England to India by the Red Sea. He was one of the first projectors of that route, is a man of indefatigable activity and energy, and was the first courier sent from England with dispatches over land. He travelled post to Trieste, took a Spanish vessel to. Alexandria, and thence by dromedary to Cairo and Suez, where, not finding the vessel which had been ordered to meet him, and having with him a compass, his constant travelling companion, he hired an open Arab boat, and, to the astonishment of his Arab crew, struck out into the middle of the Red Sea.