was preparing, we witnessed what, in popular phraseology, may be termed a row, between a woman and two or three men. The woman, who appeared to be the proprietor's wife, had, upon promise of a small reward, permitted us to enter the garden; which the husband, on arriving, thought proper to take amiss, and began to pour forth a torrent of abuse upon his helpmate. She returned his vituperation with interest; and, in the end, though he was backed by two of his workmen, whose tongues were to the full as loud as his own, the woman, who from time to time pointed at us with her finger, clearly gained the victory, and sent them all away grumbling to their work. Another young woman, with a child in her arms, who seemed to have entered the garden in order to gaze at us, was tattooed in an extraordinary manner, having several lines of small figures running across the chin, a row of blue stars and flowers on the inside of the arm, and round the wrists a very curious imitation of bracelets. This practice prevails more or less among all the Arab women, whose chins are generally thus disfigured; in addition to which, some imprint the figure of a small flower on the left breast; others on other parts; but I have nowhere observed a person so ingeniously ornamented as this young woman. The punctures, as among the South Sea Islanders, are made with the point of a needle, and rubbed over, while fresh and bleeding, with a sort of paste formed of powdered charcoal and oil. But the process

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is highly dangerous: fevers almost invariably ensue, which sometimes terminate fatally.

LIII. A little to the north of Shibin el Kom, the canal of Tanta joins that of Harinen; and, for some time after leaving the above village, we proceeded along the stream formed by their union; which, though denominated a canal, possesses all the beauty of a natural river, its winding banks being richly adorned with plantations of orange and lemon trees, whose golden fruit, now ripe, and clustering thick among the deep green foliage, literally glowed in the sun. The earth, in many places, was beautifully carpeted with tender green corn; and groves of sant, tamarisks, acacias, and sycamores, exhibiting every various shade of verdure, formed a remarkable contrast with the fields of ripe yellow grain, which clothed every broad glade and opening vista with an air of opulence and abundance. Indeed, the land had here all the characteristics of the finest park scenery, and, at one particular bend of the river, greatly resembled the landscape on the banks of the Thames below Richmond. Our track lay almost constantly along the banks of the great canals, so that we probably saw the most fertile part of the country; but, as small arms or branches from the main streams ramificate, like veins, in every direction through the land, there can nowhere, I imagine, be any lack of rich corn-fields or noble pasturage. Yet, in the midst of this magnificent plain, lying between the canal of Menouf and the Damiatta branch of

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EFFECTS OF MISGOVERNMENT.

the Nile, fertile even to rankness, the poorest villages, perhaps, in Egypt are found. The Nile overflows, and the sun ripens in vain. Misgovernment more than counterbalances the bounty of nature, and leaves the wretched peasant pining with want in the midst of luxuriant harvests and over-filled granaries. On arriving at Bershaum, we found that the Sheïkh el Beled, who had several villages under his government, was absent, and not expected to return that night in consequence of which, we for some time. inquired in vain for a lodging, and began to think of passing the night in the street; but, at length, some good-natured Arab consented to accommodate us with a cow-house and another small chamber capable of containing two beds. The floor of the cow-house, where we dined, was thickly strewed with dhourra straw and our lantern, shaken to pieces by the jolting of the road, placed upon the earthen basin which contained our butter, was often upset among the straw, to the no small danger of the whole tenement. However, our Arab cook, accustomed to scanty conveniences, prepared us an excellent supper, consisting of doves, snipes, quails, &c. stewed in onions; and our long day's journey had provided us with an appetite.

Wednesday, Nov. 28. Cairo.

LIV. Next morning, being desirous of reaching Cairo before sunset, we set out soon after dawn, through a thick white fog, like those which, during the preceding winter, I had seen covering the great plains of Burgundy. Though our course, on quit

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ting Bershaum, lay close along the Damiatta branch of the Nile, we could at first discover nothing beyond the mere edge of the stream; but, when the fog began to clear up a little, and suffered us to discern the opposite bank, this arm of the river appeared to exceed the other in width. By degrees, as the sun gained force, a light breeze sprang up, and began to dissipate the fog, which was driven along like sleet, leaving the whole earth drenched as after a heavy shower. Every object beheld through this mist appeared greatly magnified: a man riding an ass seemed to be mounted on a camel, and a little boy looked like a man. As soon as the atmosphere had cleared up, the heat of the sun began to be very powerful ; every person felt oppressed, and our animals moved along faintly and languidly, the effect of humidity for in Upper Egypt and Nubia, where the heat is far greater, no such languor is experienced.

LV. At Shubr-es-Shawieh we crossed the Nile, and entered the land of Goshen, the residence of the Beni Israël, once fertile and flourishing, but now more than half deserted, and rapidly assimilating in character and features to the desert. At Kelioub, the capital of this district, we halted to breakfast. Here, beneath a spreading sycamore, we found a kind of hedge coffee-house, the landlord having kindled a fire between two piles of loose bricks, and spread his mat under the shelter of a mud wall. We took up our position on the other side of the tree; and, while some of our party proceeded to the village

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CONSERVE OF DATES.

in search of dates, eggs, milk, and butter, the remainder undertook to boil rice and prepare coffee. The Pasha's monopoly having rendered the real Mokha berry exceedingly scarce and dear, the poor Arabs have long been fain to content themselves with a very inferior American coffee, which, in order to render it more palatable, they flavour with cloves. Such was the beverage which this man of Goshen distributed to the wayfarers in Kelioub. We took each a finjan*; and, though unsugared, it did not to me taste amiss; but my companions thought it execrable. When our meal was ready, we sat down and ate it under the tree; and a poor old beggar, who had previously established himself there, and to whom we gave a portion of our fare, called down the blessings of Allah on our unbelieving heads. Charity covereth a multitude of sins. Here, for the first time, I tasted the conserve of dates, so well known in the East, which is made in the latter end of autumn, when the fruit is perfectly ripe, by taking out the stones from the dates, and then pressing them in thick masses together. This conserve will keep all the year, and is extremely well tasted; but, in some cases, when no care has been taken to free the fruit from dust, a number of sandy particles are found grating under the teeth. Near the sycamore tree was a large pond of water, left by the inundation,

* The small coffee cup of the Turks and Arabs is so called. The little brass or silver filigree stand, in which this cup is presented to you, and which is sometimes of very elegant form, they call zerf. Mr. Barker, late his Majesty's Consul-General in Egypt, possesses the most tasteful zerfs and finjans I have any where seen.