This

sort of people; but the common people scarcely eat any thing else, and account this the best time of the year, as they are obliged to put up with worse fare at other seasons. fruit likewise serves them for drink, the juice so refreshing these poor creatures that they have much less occasion for water than if they were to live on more substantial food in this burning climate.

Garlic.-Discorides says that garlics anciently grew in Egypt, and that they were both eaten and worshipped; a circumstance to which Juvenal has alluded in one of his satires.

"How Egypt, mad with superstition grown,
Makes gods of monsters but too well is known,
"Tis mortal sin an onion to devour;

Each clove of garlic is a sacred power.

Religious nation sure, and blest abodes,

Where every garden is o'errun with gods.-Dryden,

Herodotus, moreover, asserts, that on the great pyramid in Egypt there was an inscription which recorded the expense of onions, radishes, leeks, and garlic, which the workmen had consumed during its erection, namely, 1,600 talents of silver. A variety of the species of garlic alluded to is at the present day cultivated in France, where it is called the "onion of Egypt." It is held in high estimation for the small bulbs that grow among the flowers, which are eaten like onions, and are very agreeable to the palate. It has been observed of this vegetable, that of all plants it has the greatest strength, affords the most nourishment, and supplies most spirits, to those who eat little animal food; a fact to which the poet Homer alludes:

"Honey new pressed, the sacred flour of wheat, '
And wholesome garlic crowned with sav'ry meat.

Hasselquist says that garlic does not now grow in Egypt, from whence he questions whether it grew there anciently. But such an argument is by no means sound: for in the physical history of our country, plants might be adduced which were formerly cultivated here, but which are now extinct.

Leeks. Hasselquist, speaking of this plant, says that the karrat or leek, which is the allium porum of Linnæus, is surely one of those plants after which the Israelites repined for it has been cultivated in Egypt from time immemorial. The inhabitants are extremely fond of it, and the poor people eat it raw with their bread, especially for breakfast, and would scarcely exchange their leeks and bit of bread for a royal dinner.

Onions. The same author, speaking of onions with reference to Egypt, remarks, "Whoever has tasted onions in Egypt, must allow that none can be had better in any part of the world; here they are sweet, in other countries they are nauseous and strong; here they are soft, whereas in the north and other parts they are hard, and the coats so compact, that they are hard of digestion. Hence they cannot, in any place, be eaten with less prejudice and more satisfaction than in Egypt. They eat them roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of roasted meat, which the Turks in Egypt call Kebah; and with this dish they are so delighted, that I have heard them wish they might enjoy it in paradise. They likewise make a soup of them, cutting the onions in small pieces; this is one of the best dishes I ever ate." Onions appear to have been a staple article of diet in Egypt in ancient times, as they are at the present day in warm countries. Most of the people of Western Asia are remarkably fond of onions, and the Arabs have a childish passion for them. Travellers also mention,

that in Greece and Africa raw onions are excellent.

Lentils. The lentil is the lens esculenta of some writers, and the Ervum lens of Linnæus; and it belongs to the leguminous or podded family, all of which are a sort of pulse; The stem of the plant is branched, and the leaves consist of about eight pair of smaller leaflets. The flowers are small, and prettily veined; the pod contains about two seeds; and it flourishes most in a dry, warm, sandy soil. Lentils are much used as food in Egypt, Barbary, and Syria. Dr. Shaw states, that the manner of dressing them in Barbary, is by boiling and stewing them with oil and garlic, which makes a pottage of a chocolate colour; similar, it is supposed, to the "red pottage" for which Esau sold his birth-right, Gen. xxv. 30-34. In Syria, they are eaten after having been simply parched in a pan over the fire. Three varieties are cultivated in France, "small brown," ," "yellowish," and the "lentil of Provence."

Beans. In ancient times, according to Herodotus, the bean was held in abhorrence by the Egyptian priesthood. It is, however, at the present day, no inconsiderable part of the diet of the poor of that country; and Dr. Shaw states, that in Barbary, beans, after they are boiled and stewed with garlic, are the principal food of persons of all distinctions.

The Nigella. This plant forms a singular exception to the family to which it belongs. While they are poisonous in the highest degree, it produces seeds which are not only aromatic, but possess medicinal qualities of the most useful kind. Auso

nius asserts of it, that it is pungent as pepper: and Pliny, that its seed is good for seasoning food, especially bread. It is cultivated in Egypt, as well as in Persia and India, for the sake of its seeds, which have been used in all ages as a condiment, in the same manner as we use coriander and carraway seeds.

Al-henna.-The henna is a tall shrub, endlessly multiplied in Egypt. The leaves are of a lengthened oval form, opposed to each other, and of a faint green colour. The flowers grow at the extremity of the branches, in long and tufted boquets; the smaller ramifications which support them are red, and likewise opposite; from the arm-pit cavity springs a small leaf, almost round, but terminating in a point; the corolla is formed of four petals, curling up, and of a light yellow. Between each petal are two white stamina with a yellow summit: there is only one pistil. The pedicle, reddish at its issuing from the bough, dies away into a faint green. The calix is cut into four pieces of a tender green, up toward their extremity, which is reddish. The fruit, or berry, is a green capsule previous to its maturity; it assumes a red tint as it ripens, and becomes brown when it is dried; it is divided into four compartments, in which are inclosed the seeds, triangular and browncoloured. The bark of the stem and of the branches is of a deep grey, and the wood has, internally, a light cast of yellow. In truth, this is one of the most grateful plants to both the sight and smell. The pleasing colour of its bark, the light green of its foliage, the softened mixture of white and yellow with which the flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, are coloured, and the red tint of the ramifications which support them, form a combination of the most agreeable effect. These flowers, whose shades are very delicate, diffuse around the sweetest odours, throughout the gardens and the apartments which they embellish. They accordingly form a favourite nosegay: the women take pleasure to deck themselves with these beautiful clusters of fragrance, to adorn their apartments with them, to carry them to their bath, to hold them in their hand; in a word, to perfume their persons with them. They attach to their possession, which the mildness of the climate, and the facility of culture seldom refuse them, a value so high, that they would willingly appropriate it exclusively to themselves; and they suffer with impatience Christian women and Jewesses to partake of it with them. The same importance seems to have been attached to this species of plant in ancient times. See Sol. Song, iv. 14.

Aloe Soccotrina-This tree grows in the island of Soccotora, in Egypt, of which it is a native. It bears the reputation of producing the best aloes. When old, it has a round stem, three or four feet high; leaves of a sword form, a foot and a half to two feet long, sharp-edged, sawed, hard, and pungent at the apex, often collected in clusters at the top of the stem; and red flowers tipped with green, borne in clusters on tall stalks, which rise erect from among the leaves.

Cummin. This is an umbelliferous plant of annual duration, found wild in Egypt, Syria, and Asia, and cultivated from time immemorial for the sake of its agreeable aromatic fruit, which, like that of caraway, dill, anise, etc., possesses stimulating and carminative properties. The plant grows about a foot high, and is very little branched. As the seeds are suspended by delicate threads, like the nigella, when ripe they may be readily removed.

Calamus Aromaticus.-This is a species of cane which is sweet scented, and which grows in Egypt, Judea, Syria, Arabia, and India. The plant emits a powerful fragrance even while growing: and when dried, and reduced into powder, it forms a precious perfume.

The Flag-This plant is mentioned as affording a hidingplace for Moses, Exod. ii. 3-5. It is not certain what plant is intended; probably the original was a general term for sea or river weed, of which we may suppose there was a great variety on the margin of the waters of the Nile.

Lily. That the lily anciently grew in Egypt is testified by the hieroglyphics, among which it appears. What species of the lily grew there, is, however, unknown: probably it was the amaryllis lutea, with which the fields of the Levant are overrun. Be it what species it may, it was doubtless full of meaning among that people, as it was among the ancients generally. The fact, indeed, of its being an hieroglyphical representation is sufficient to prove this; for these representations are all fraught with meaning, though many of them are hard to be understood. An heraldic work, published in France, gives the following singular and interesting account of the lily as an emblem; It is the symbol of divinity, of purity, and abundance, and of love; most complete in perfection, charity and benediction; as that mirror of chastity, Susanna, is defined Susa, which signifies the "lily flower;" the chief city of the Persians bearing that name for excellency. Hence the lily's three leaves, in the arms of France, meaneth, piety justice, and charity.

The Sycamore tree.This tree, the ficus sycamorus of botanists, is celebrated in Palestine, Egypt, and Abyssinia, to the present day. It is a wide spreading tree, attains a considerable height, and exhibits a trunk of large dimensions, striking its bulky diverging roots deep into the soil. Its fruit seems to have been an important article in the diet of the ancient Egyptians; for the psalmist, recording in holy song the plagues wherewith God had visited that people, says, " He destroyed their sycamore trees with frost," Psa. lxxviii. 47. Travellers inform us, indeed, that it constitutes the greater part of the diet of the people of Egypt at the present day. Give them a piece of bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a jug of water from the Nile, and they think themselves well regaled. The wood of the sycamore has obtained a high reputation for durability, notwithstanding its porous and spongy appearance. This has arisen from the circumstance that the coffins of the Egyptians, which were made of that wood, remained for many ages in a state of preservation. Dr. Shaw states, that he saw some mummy chests three thousand years old, and he contends from this fact for its extreme durability. Bruce, however, affirms, that some of the wood which he buried in his garden, perished in four years, which has given rise to a probable conjecture on the subject; namely, that the preservation of the sycamore mummy-chests arises partly from a particular preparation, or coating of the coffins: and partly from the dryness of the climate and the sandy soil of Egypt. The wood of the sycamore was also used for boxes, tables, doors, and other objects which required large and thick planks, as well as for making idols and wooden statues.

The Vine. We learn from Scripture that Egypt was anciently celebrated for its vine trees. It does not appear, however, that the grapes of Egypt were so fine as those of Palestine; for those which the spies brought from Eschol, as a proof of the fertility of the promised land, astonished the Hebrews, and had they seen such in Egypt, it could have been no matter of surprise. Bochart informs us that, in the east, the vine produces three crops in the course of one year. Thus in March, after the tree has produced the first crop of blossoms, the dressers cut away from it that wood which is barren, and in the succeeding month a new shoot, bearing fruit, springs from the branches, which being lopped also, shoots forth again in May, laden with the latter grapes. Those clusters, which blossomed successively in March, April, and May,