on Egypt, and appointed a Pacha, who, with four-and-twenty Beys, prey on this fine coun try, Cous has undergone the fame fate as her rivals; her trade is ruined by the oppreffions of government, her glory eclipfed, and her buildings reduced to a few huts inhabited by a fmall number of Copts and Arabs, Giena, which has replaced these two cities, retains nothing of their magnificence, Neither the advantage of fituation, nor the fertility of the neighbouring country, can preponderate against the defpotifm of Egyptian government, and the hoftile pillages of the Bedouins.

Having fpoken of thefe ancient cities, Sir, it will be neceffary to defcribe this part of Egypt, which is fo little known, yet fo interefting. Please to examine the map, and you will fee the Nile, a fugitive from the latter cataract, bending its course towards Lybia, in the fame direction with the mountains. Soon repelled by infurmountable obftacles, it turns eastward, and approaches the Red Sea. The interval which feparates them being only three-and-thirty leagues, which was the reafon why Strabo called it an ifthmus. At the two extremes of this

ifthmus

ifthmus ftand Giena and Coffeir, between which is a deep valley, where traces of the fea may be found at every step, but which, though barren and deftitute of verdure, is very paffable. In this valley, water, and a fpecies of the Acacia, named Naboul, which produces gum arabic, are found. The Arabs chew this shrub, no doubt, to quench their thirst. The mines of emeralds and precious metals, which the ancient writers mention (p), and which formerly were one principal source of the wealth of Egypt, still subfift among the mountains, befide the road but the ignorance of the modern Egyptians, and the fear of expofing themselves to the oppreffions of the Beys, prevent thefe mines from being worked.

;

The port of Coffeir is fmall, and can only be entered by large boats; the shipping are obliged to remain in the road, where they find good anchorage, which occafioned the Greeks and Romans to keep their navy there. The town, or rather the village, only contains at prefent about two hundred mud-walled cottages, and is commanded t

(p) Pliny, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus,`

a castle, flanked with four towers, the fire of which would be fufficient to defend itself and the shipping of the port; but it is fuffered to fall in ruins, and its whole garrifon is a porter, whose employment it is to open and shut an old iron gate. The inhabitants are a mixture of Turks and Arabs, governed by a Cachef, who is dependant on the governor of Giena, The enormous duties of ten per cent, which are paid in kind, by all merchandize landed at Coffeir, is no encouragement to trade. Yet the tyranny of the Beys, the oppreffions of the governor, and the dread of the Bedouins, are shackles much more terrible. Notwithstanding which, the fituation of this port is fo favourable for the interchange and vent of the productions of Egypt, Arabia, and India, that, though this commerce is much diminished, it ftill fubfifts. Any powerful maritime nation might remove thefe obftacles at a fmall expence, and afcertain prodigious profits from this important trade; but thefe muft depend on the means employed.

M. Chevalier, Commandant General of the French establishments in Bengal, has lately arrived at Grand Cairo, by the way

of

of Coffeir; and I imagine, Sir, you will not be difpleafed to learn by what means a Frenchman could protect himself from Turks and Arabs, equally defirous to fhare his fpoils. He has fhewn me his journal, which will teach us the proper mode of traverfing thefe deferts. His veffel having been ftruck by lightning on the coaft of Malabar, and afterwards difmafted off Gedda, he was obliged to land at this port, and this accident caused him to lose the proper season of gaining Suez; he muft either wait for the next monfoon, or venture, with fmall veffels, on a tempeftuous fea; and this, dangerous as it was, his zeal to ferve his country made him determine to undertake. After combating three months against contrary winds, and being repeatedly in danger of perishing, he reached Coffeir, which place he left in a few days, in company with fix Europeans, mounted on camels. They traverfed the long valley which croffes the ifthmus, the bottom of which is level, covered with fand, and petrified fhells. This valley is by turns narrow and fpacious; here bordered by mountains, from the fides of which the winter torrents tear rocky fragments of granite,

granite, jafper, alabafter, and porphyry; and there by fandy hills, on which not a fhrub can be seen. The fun is eternally darting his burning rays on these sands and naked rocks, which reflect a light injurious to the eyes, and a heat almoft too exceffive for man or beaft to endure. M. Chevalier. and his companions performed this journey in the month of July, during which not even night could afford them any ease; for, the wind ceafing to blow, the fucceeding calm left them expofed to the fuffocating exhalations of the fcorching fands, which were the only bed they had to repofe upon, A. mid these sufferings, a little dough, half baked in the ashes, was their fole food, and their drink water, which having been carried feveral hours in fkins, rubbed over with an infectious oil, had contracted a fmell and tafte wholly infupportable,. To these evils add a continual dread of being plundered by the Arabs, and the neceffity of watching all night, and you will have fome idea of what a man of fortitude is capable of enduring, M. Chevalier had foreseen all that might happen. His camels were tied to each other, that they might not feparate in cafe of

an