these mortars are used. A sight of this process CHAP. is sufficient to explain the cause of the very I. impalpable nature of the coffee powder used in Turkey; where the infusion more resembles the appearance of chocolate, than of coffee, as we prepare them for beverage in England.

remains of

Arches.

After visiting this manufactory, we went to Curious see a building of very great, although of un- Pointed known antiquity, used as a warehouse for keeping stores. It has a vaulted stone roof, with the remarkable appearance of pointed arches, caused by imitating the intersection of palm-branches: the sculptured trunks of the trees, whence these ramifications proceed, are represented as being stationed in the four corners, and by the sides, of the vaulted chamber. This curious architectural relique has never been noticed described by any author; therefore it is impossible to learn either the age of the building, or its original use. Quaresmius is altogether silent upon the subject. He says only of antient Rosetta, that it was called SCHEIDA'. This place may soon become of more importance than it is at present; in consequence of the total cessation of pilgrimages

nor

(1) "Ab antiques, ut in mundi theatro legitur, Scheida fuit appellata. Quaresmii E ucid. Terr. Sanct. tom. II. p. 1008. Antv. 1659."

I.

Probable
Conse-

the Inter

Mecca Pil

CHAP. to Mecca. The Wahabee Arabs have destroyed all the wells which formerly supplied the caravans with water; and nothing less than an quence of army is necessary for their restoration'. Quaruption of resmius, in mentioning the estimation in which grimage. Rosetta, as the birth-place of Mohammed, is held by the Moslems, long ago predicted, that whenever the journeys to Mecca were interrupted, it would become the resort of Moslem pilgrims'. For the reception of such a multitude, Rosetta is much better provided then Mecca; for it is attested by all travellers3, and among these by our countryman Sandys, that "no place

(1) "It is now five years since the Wahabees have prevented the pilgrims from performing their journey to Mecca. They have destroyed the cisterns in the Desert; and it is impossible to have these repaired, without sending an army to protect the workmen. This condition will hardly ever be fulfilled, as there are not more than 10,000 soldiers in all Syria; and the Wahabee Chief has, at any time, more than 100,000 men, mounted on camels, at his disposal. The interruption of this pilgrimage is considered by the Turks as a sign of the approaching desolation of the Turkish Empire." MS. Letter from Burckhardt, the African Traveller, dated Aleppo, May 3, 1811.

(2) "Fertur in partibus illis, ex ea civitate originem traxisse Mahometem, pseudo-prophetam Turcarum et aliorum Infidelium caput; ac ideò illam magni æstimant. Quare, si Mecha, ubi sepulchrum dicitur esse Mahometis, à Christianis caperetur, et ad illud interdicta esset ipsorum peregrinatio, Rosetum peregrinarentur." Quaresm. Eluc. T. S. tom. II. p. 1008. Antv. 1639.

(3) "In optima uberique regione sita, omni bonorum genere ad opulente vivendum affluente, carnibus, piscibus, fructibus, &c." Ibid. (4) Sandys' Travels, p. 166. Lond. 1637.

I.

under heaven is better furnished with graine, CHAP. flesh, fish, sugar, fruits, roots," together with all other necessaries and luxuries of life.

Exhibition

of the Psylli or

year SerpentSer- Eaters.

During our former visit to Rosetta, we neglected to notice the particular day of the on which a most singular exhibition of the pent-eaters, or Psylli, as mentioned by Herodotus and many antient authors', took place. A tumultuous throng, passing beneath the windows of our house, attracted our attention towards the quay: here we saw a concourse of people following men apparently frantic, who, with every appearance of convulsive agony, were brandishing live serpents, and then tearing them with their teeth; snatching them from each other's mouths, with loud cries and distorted features, and afterwards falling into the arms of the spectators, as if swooning; the women all the while rending the air with their

(5) Denon says, this exhibition takes place during the annual procession of the Feast of Ibrahim, at Rosetta. He regretted not having been there at the time. See Denon's Travels, Eng. Edit. Vol. 1. p. 123. Lond. 1803.

(6) Herodot. lib. iv. cap. 173.

(7) Strabon. Geog. lib. xvii. Lucan. ix. vv. 894, 937. Pausan, lib. iz. c. 14. Dio Cass. lib. LI. c. 14. Aul. Gell. lib. xvi. c. 11, &c. &c.

CHAP. lamentations. Pliny often mentions these jugI. glers; and as their tricks have been noticed by

other travellers, it is only now necessary to attest the existence of this extraordinary remnant of a very antient custom.

(1) Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vii. c. 2. lib. viii. c. 25. lib. xxv. c. 19. lib. xxviii. c. 3.

CHAP. II.

Example afforded by a Naval Officer-Inaccuracy in the Maps of Egypt--Triple Harvest of the Delta-Mode of raising Water from the Nile --Summer Habits of the Egyptian ArabsFICUS SYCAMORUS--Etesian Winds-MOTUBIS -Dancing Women-DEBE-SINDION and DERRÛL-Turkish Cavalry-Arab Customs-FOUA --RACHMANIE-Description of the CountryDiseases--Facility of visiting Upper EgyptKOUM SCHERIFF-AMRUS- Birds-Singular Animal Appearance-Plants-EL BUREDGIAT -Remarkable Phænomenon-Tumblers-A bundance of Corn-Southern Point of the Delta-Arrival at BULAC-View of the Pyramids-Visit