CHAP. number at the mouth of the river; also that

1.

Julian.

kind of porpoise which is called dolphin in the Levant; this may be seen sporting in the Nile, as high up as the town of Rosetta. The first

object, after entering the Rosetta branch, is the Fort St. Castle, or Fort St. Julian. In digging for the fortifications of this place, the French discovered the famous Triple Inscription now in the British Museum': this will be ever valuable, even if the only information obtained from it were confined to a solitary fact; namely, that the hieroglyphic characters do exhibit THE WRITING OF THE PRIESTS of Egypt'. This truth will now no longer be disputed; therefore the proper appellations for inscriptions in these characters, ought rather to be Hierograms, than Hieroglyphs. A surprising number of Turkish gun-boats were stationed opposite to Fort St. Julian at the time we passed; and when the beautiful prospect of Rosetta opened to our view, the whole surface of the river, in front of the town, appeared also covered with gun-boats and with djerms.

Upon our arrival, at five o'clock P. M. we

(1) See pp. 6, 7. Chap. I. of Volume IV. 8vo. edit.

(2) See the words of the Greek inscription upon that stone, TOIC ΤΕ ΙΕΡΟΙΣ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΣΙΝ.

Affairs

found an amusing proof of the effect of war an- CHAP. nihilating all civil distinctions. The house we I. had formerly occupied was full of sailors, sol- State of diers, and other tenants; our apartments had in Rosetta. been converted into Charems, and were filled with Georgian, Circassian, and Egyptian girls; these we found sitting unveiled upon the floor; some working embroidery, others chattering and laughing. One of them, a beautiful female, taken from a tribe of Bedouin Arabs, exhibited a fine countenance disfigured with those blue scars which were described in the account of Bethlehem. They were marks, as she pretended, which entitled her to a very high consideration among the Arabs of the Desert. These women had been presented by the French prisoners to the officers and men of our army and navy. They appeared to be as much at home, and as tranquil, in the protection of their new masters, as if they had been thus settled for life. The most lamentable part of the story is, that when our people were compelled to abandon them they were put to death by the Moslems. A woman who has admitted the embraces of a Christian is never afterwards pardoned. It is lawful, and deemed laudable, for the first Turk or Arab who meets with her, to deprive her instantly of life. In this scene of confusion we

CHAP. were constrained to take up our abode; there I. being no alternative; until we could complete

our preparations for a voyage up the Nile to Grand Cairo. Indeed, we had reason to be thankful for such accommodations; considering the disordered state of affairs at this time in Rosetta. We hired a djerm in the evening of our arrival; and made application the next day, August 9th, to the Commissary of the army, for his permission to purchase provisions, in the market. This we had great difficulty in obtaining. The Commissary seemed to consider, and perhaps with reason, at this critical juncture, every application which did not relate to the business of the army, as an unwarrantable intrusion. Some degree of rudeness, however, in the manner of his refusal, struck us the more forcibly; as we had experienced the greatest civilities from his worthy predecessor, who had recently fallen a victim to the effects of the climate. Having urgent letters of recommendation from the Commanders-in-chief, both of the army and of the navy, we made our situation known to Mr. Wills, purser of Captain Russel's ship the Ceres, then acting as Commissary for the fleet, who interested himself warmly in our behalf. To his kindness we were indebted for being able to prosecute our intended voyage

I.

with expedition as well as with comfort; and, CHAP. indeed, without his aid we should not have been allowed the use even of the djerm which we had engaged for the undertaking.

Provisions.

We employed the remainder of this day in fitting up a kind of tent, or cabin, by means of mats and the branches of palm-trees, upon the stern of our vessel; lining it with our mosquitoenets, to protect us from the swarm of those insects upon the river. The inundation had begun, and the rapidity of the current was thereby exceedingly increased. The price of Price of every article of provision had become very high, since our last visit to Rosetta. For half a pound of tea we were obliged to pay near two pounds sterling. The difference between the markets of this place and Damiata was astonishing, considering the short distance that separated the two towns. This will appear in stating the value of a dollar; which in Rosetta, was equivalent, either to half a sheep, or to three geese, or four fowls, or eight hundred eggs. In Damiata, for the same sum, might be purchased, either two sheep, six geese, twelve fowls, or eight hundred eggs. The coffee of Mocha, when Rosetta was first captured, might be obtained almost for nothing; but it had been all sold, and a great deal of it

CHAP.

was sent in presents to England. One of the I. most curious sights in Rosetta was the manufacManufacture of this article. After roasting the coffee, it ture of is pounded in immense iron mortars; three

Coffee.

Arabs working at a time, with enormous pestles. each as large as a man can raise. The capacity of the bottom of the mortar being only equal to the reception of one of these at a time, the pestles are raised according to the measure of an air sung by an attendant Arab, who sits near to the mortar. The main purport of this curious accompaniment of their labour is, to prevent the hand and arm of a boy, kneeling by the mortar, from being crushed to atoms. The boy's arm is always within the mortar, which allows room for each pestle to pass in turn without bruising him, if he place it in time against the side of the vessel; but, as after every stroke he must stir up the powder at the bottom with his fingers, if the precise period of each blow were not marked by the measure of the song, his arm would be struck off. Intoxication, happily, is a vice with which Arabs are unacquainted; or else, the constant attention of a whole party, thus employed, being necessary for the safety of the poor child, it may be conceived what the consequences of drunkenness would be, in a manufactory where many of