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dary of the tide to a great distance into the water. A similar phenomenon occurs in Ceylon, where the lime held in solution at the mouths of the rivers combines with the siliceous and argillaceous ingredients of the beach, and gives rise to a continued extension of the coast as well as to those coral reefs which prove so dangerous to the mariner. "All the shore," says the traveller,

66

as far as we could see,

was composed of a mass of petrifactions of various kinds." In some places there are beds of sand, but there is not a spot for a boat to approach the beach without the risk of being staved against the rock.

At the distance of twenty-five miles, in a straight line from the Red Sea, are the famous Emerald Mountains, the highest of which, from a reference to its subterranean treasure, is called Zubara. These mines were formerly visited by Bruce, whose account of them is amply confirmed by the latest travellers, who, in verifying his statements, do no more than justice to his memory, so long and so ungenerously reviled. The present Pasha of Egypt made an attempt, in the year 1818, to renew the process, which had been long relinquished, for finding those precious stones so much prized by the former conquerors of the land. About fifty men were employed when Mr Belzoni passed the establishment; but, although they had toiled six months, nothing was found to satisfy the avarice of their powerful employer, whom they execrated in their hearts. The mines or excavations made by the ancients were all choked up with the rubbish of the roof that had fallen in, and the labour to remove it was great; for the holes were very small,-scarcely capable of containing the body of a man crawling

like a chameleon. These unfortunate wretches received their supply of provisions from the Nile; but occasionally it did not arrive in due time, and great famine of course prevailed among them. The nearest well was distant about half-a-day's journey; whence it is not surprising that, deprived of the necessaries of life, and feeling that they were doomed to be sacrificed in the desert, they should have repeatedly risen against their leaders and put them to death.*

The great wilderness of Eastern Egypt is occupied by various tribes of Arabs, who consider its different sections as their patrimonial inheritance. The Ababdeh rule over that portion of it which stretches from the latitude of Cosseir to a distant part of Nubia; the Beni Wassel join them on the north; and these again are succeeded by the Mahazeh, who claim an authority as far as the parallel of Beni Souef. The desert, which comprehends the Isthmus of Suez, is in the possession of a fourth family, who are known by the designation of Hooat-al, and sometimes by that of Atoonis or Antonis, derived, it is probable, from the name of the saint whose convent gives celebrity to the neighbourhood.

It has been observed that this sterile region exhibits the form of a triangle, the apex of which is placed at Suez, while the two sides rest upon the Red Sea and the Nile. In the parallel of Cairo the river is scarcely three days' journey distant from the sea; at Keft the distance is considerably increased; farther south it becomes nine days' journey; while at Syené it is computed to be about

* Belzoni, vol. ii. p. 40.

seventeen.

This district, which from its eastern situation is denominated Sharkin,—a word latinized into Saracene,-is by the ancients frequently termed Arabia, from the similarity both of the country and the inhabitants. It has also been termed Asiatic Egypt. The chain of mountainous ridges which confine the eastern bank of the Nile is so steep and precipitous that it frequently exhibits the aspect of an artificial fortification, interrupted at intervals by deep and rugged ravines. But, as if this natural defence had not been sufficient, the remains of a real wall, about twenty-four feet thick, formed of huge stones, and running from north to south, is asserted to have been discovered in this desert. This the Arabs suppose to have been constructed by an ancient Egyptian king, and hence the name which it continues to bear,-The Wall of the Old Man. The greater part of this arid desert affords no traces of animal or vegetable life: "The birds," says Dr Leyden, "shun its torrid atmosphere, the serpent and the lizard abandon the sands, and the red ant, which resembles in colour the soil on which it lives, is almost the only creature that seems to exist among the ruins of nature. But the monasteries of St Anthony and St Paul are still inhabited by Coptic monks, who, while they claim an absolute power over demons and wild beasts, are unable to protect themselves from the wandering Arabs,-more formidable than either to an unarmed ascetic."*

Towards Suez the shore is skirted by some small

*

Murray's Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Africa, vol. ii. p. 182.

islands, which are as barren as the mainland. The principal of these are the Jaffatines, four in number, and arranged in the form of a semicircle. After passing Djibel-el-Zeil the harbour of Myos Hormus presents itself, anciently selected by Ptolemy Philadelphus in preference to Suez. For a considerable period this was the emporium of the Arabian trade, until, as we have already stated, in the time of the Romans it was supplanted by Berenice. Cosseir, the Leucos Portus of the geographer Ptolemy, has long given place to a more modern town of the same name, which stands in lat. 26° 7′ N., and long. 34° 4′ E., and is said to be built among hillocks of moving sand. The houses are formed of clay, and the inhabitants, in their manners and features, have a greater resemblance to the Arabians of the opposite shore than to the native Egyptians. It now derives its chief importance from being one of the stations at which the pilgrims assemble on their route to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.*

Murray's Historical Account, vol. ii. p. 186.

CHAPTER X.

Manners and Customs of the Egyptians.

Great Variety of Manners in Egypt-Funeral Ceremonies described by Diodorus-Judgment pronounced on the Dead-Civil Suits in ancient Times—Account of Coptic Baptism-Levantines--Moslem Marriages; Description by Mr Browne-Interior of a Harem-Circassians -Ethiopian Women-Mode of Living among Turks; Among Europeans--Mosques--Mohammed Ali and Burckhardt-Language of Copts--Religion--Festival of Calige-Virgin offered to the Nile; A similar Custom in India-Female Mourners in Egypt-Dress of Ladies-Amusements of Cairo-Reptiles, Insects, Nuisances-Anecdote of Sir Sidney Smith-Opinion of Denon-Character of Egyptian Arabs-Houses-Mode of Life-Barbers-Doctors-Piety-Arabic Manuscripts— Serpent-eaters and Charmers-Mamlouk Notions of Respectability.

In a country, the inhabitants of which acknowledge so many different descents, the manners and customs must partake of an equal variety. The habits of the Moslem, for example, can have little resemblance to those of the Copt, the Mamlouk, the Bedouin, or the Jew; for in points where hereditary attachments do not interfere the authority of religion continues to perpetuate a distinction. Our best guides as to modern Egypt are Mr Browne and Dr Hume, both of whom were a considerable

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