PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY-PROVISIONS-LEAVING CAIRO-DELAYS - TOMBS OF THE CALIPHS SUPPLY OF WATER - CANAL OF THE NILE-INDOLENT CHARACTER OF THE TURKS-THE BEDOUIN ARABS-LAST SIGHT OF CAIRO SANDHILLS - NATURE OF THE SOIL-ARRIVAL AT KALAT AJEROUD-FIRST VIEW OF SUEZ-ARRIVAL AT THE WELL.

THE facility of travelling in Europe is daily increasing; every imaginable convenience is adopted to render a journey less fatiguing to the traveller, and cause his motion or rest to be attended with luxury and ease. Only anxious to arrive at a destined place, rapidity also suits his inclination, as it enables him to relate, with an air of satisfaction, the distance he has traversed in the short space of time his circumstances permitted him to enjoy. It is not so in the East; he will there find a very different manner of travelling, a mode of journeying unaltered since the days of the Patriarch

B

Isaac * the same simplicity of manners and costume may be still observed amongst the Arabs of the Desert. The traveller, therefore, would do well to conform entirely to the manners and usages of a people and country, the unvarying nature of whose habits, during so many centuries, will alone be sufficient proof of the necessity. It is by these means alone that he can expect to derive either pleasure or benefit from his journeys; and difficult as he may find it to preserve his temper amongst the many vexations which he must expect to encounter, it is only by so doing that he can gain the friendship of those under whose protection he places himself; this once effected, he will have nothing to fear, as the friendship and the enmity of the Arabs are equally fervent. The servants also, whom it may be necessary to engage in the country, should be men whose characters are well known and ascertained: for this reason, if the traveller has any intention of ascending the Nile, or crossing the Desert, their good or bad qualities will have a perpetual influence upon his comfort, safety, and convenience.

The previous residence of my companions and myself in Egypt caused us to be very fortunate in this respect, in the services of persons much attached to us. For some days previous to our departure, all was activity, all were employed in procuring every necessary for the journey. Our arrangement with the Sheikh of the camel-drivers proved a more tedious operation than that of securing a conveyance at a coach-office in our own country; but this satisfactorily settled, the number of camels and men determined, and our money deposited, the day was fixed for our departure. The provisions principally necessary were rice, sea-biscuit, in place of bread, easily procured at Cairo; coffee is also indispensable, as without it the Arabs would not be able to proceed; it is a present always most acceptable, and the signal to halt for the refreshment of a pipe and a cup of coffee is hailed with satisfaction by all. Coffee is the wine of the East; dissipating alike the effects of heat and fatigue, and alleviating thirst, it

* Gen. 24th.

"maketh glad the heart" of all who journey over the Desert: it is usual to take the berry unroasted, as the roasting and grinding every time that it is wanted constitute much of the excellence of its flavour. Tobacco of course must be procured, and in sufficient quantity to allow occasional presents: every traveller in the East soon becomes acquainted with the high estimation in which this article of commerce is held; it is not necessary to procure the best care should be taken that the skins which contain the water are in proper order; a small quantity of spirituous liquor may also be of service; salt, cheese; dates, and other dried fruit, must not be forgotten. Gunpowder and small glass beads, much prized by the Arabs, will be serviceable as presents. A tent and carpets are also indispensable for repose and shelter from the heat of the sun; a canteen proved also very convenient for many smaller things. We purchased these necessaries ourselves from the bazaar at Cairo; and the day of departure being fixed for the 29th of August, 1833, in the morning all was activity-some little requisite was constantly to be attended to. Our small caravan consisted only of nine camels, yet the assembling the animals, with their drivers and Sheikh, and their lading, was an affair that took some time, and formed a scene of great confusion: the shouting of the Arabs and the plaintive cries of the camels, the disputes in equalizing the baggage, caused an obstruction in the narrow street, augmented by the curiosity of the idle.

It was near the time of evening prayer among the Mahomedans, before we fairly started. Slowly proceeding through the bazaars, preceded by the Sheikh, and accompanied by my two companions, Mr. Bonomi and Mr. Catherwood, (the former well versed in Oriental manners) I arrived at the Baab-el-Nasr, one of the gates of the city, its inscription in Arabic recording no historical data, but simply announcing the profession of faith "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of God, and Ali the friend of God may the divine grace rest upon both!"

It was at this moment that the same cry resounded from the different mi

narets; the last rays of the sun had just disappeared from the gilded crescent surmounting the cupola; the line of horizon was without a cloud, the beautiful tints of sunset glowing on the level plain, uninterrupted save by a few date trees, and the splendid remains of the ancient Hieropolis-now half buried in the sand - accorded well with the tranquillity we were now enjoying, and afforded a striking contrast to the noise and bustle of the bazaars. The twilight was gradually encroaching on us; some fresh arrangement of the baggage was deemed expedient: descending from the camels, we halted for the night, having travelled only a short distance from the walls of Cairo.

The following morning we were all in readiness by sunrise, taking the direct route to Suez, which is also that of the great caravan to Mecca; the first object of interest that we arrived at was the “Birket-el-Hadj the Pilgrims' Lake. Here we remained about three hours, in order to take in a fresh supply of water, which was to serve till we arrived at Suez. Leaving the well about mid-day, we soon entered an extensive, sandy plain, where every thing presented a very different appearance from the fertile banks of the Nile, whose silver line we could now but faintly trace. To the left of our route was an extensive mound of sand, beyond which was the ancient canal, uniting the Nile and the Red Sea. This caual Strabo (Book XVII.) mentions as having been originally made in the time of Sesostris, of one hundred cubits in width, and of sufficient depth for the largest vessels. After the invasion of the Greeks, it was repaired by the Ptolemies, as likewise under the Romans by the Emperor Trajan; from that time it has been gradually choked with sand, and now hardly a vestige of this stupendous work remains. Napoleon would doubtless have re-united the two seas, had the French army remained in Egypt, and thus have achieved a work of greater importance than the road across the Simplon, which must ever be looked upon as the most beneficial monument that Emperor has left to posterity.