leads to Rosetta.

A more brilliant horizon now un

folds itself, and in place of an interminable flat, the view is bounded on the south by a chain of swelling hills, stretched out in a circular sweep from east to west. We arrived off Boulac soon after six, but as the sun had set a few minutes previously, we were not allowed to go on shore till the following morning.

The approach to the capital of Egypt is distinguished by many features of unparalleled grandeur. The eye of the spectator rests on the expansive waters of the Nile, increased to the breadth of half a league: from the western shore, the pyramids are seen to rise majestically in the distance, clothed with the venerable sanctity of four thousand years: the eastern aspect presents an ample plain, covered with the treasures of a most luxuriant vegetation: and the southern view is adorned by the turrets of the city, extended in the graceful figure of a crescent, and varied by all the fantastic forms of architecture observable among oriental nations.

DEAR E

LETTER III.

TO SIR G. E-T, BART.

Cairo.

THIS city is of comparatively recent date, its foundation extending no further back than the tenth century of our æra. I will trace, in as few words as I can find to express myself, the history of its origin.

During the flourishing periods of the Greek empire, Constantinople was the central mart for the commerce of Europe and Asia, and the riches of the world were poured into its harbour. The consequence of such an influx of wealth produced an indifference to its great source and support, a naval superiority; and the carrying trade was gradually transferred to the maritime states of Italy. It was this fatal supineness, with regard to what constitutes the strength of nations, that eventually completed the ruin of the Greek em

pire, and was more immediately the cause, which wrested the remoter provinces from its sovereignty.

After the conquest of Persia, the leader of the Saracens, the second of that race from Mahomet, found himself sufficiently powerful to demand an annual tribute from Egypt. The sum required was two hundred thousand crowns of gold :—on the refusal of Heraclius to acquiesce in so large an amount being withdrawn from a state which he had been accustomed to consider tributary only to himself, an appeal was made to the sword, and the contest terminated fatally to the imperial arms. The victory was completed by the Caliph Omar, who in the short reign of ten years, reduced under his subjection the whole of Syria, Chaldæa, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, and that part of the African territory which extended as far as Tripoli, in Barbary. But the impetuosity of character that enabled these adventurers to acquire with such rapidity so extensive a dominion, was ill calculated to consolidate it on those principles, which contain the elements of duration.

A chieftain, who had obtained considerable influence in the adjoining provinces of Africa, revolted from the new authority, and assumed the title of Di

rector. He established his power so firmly as to be enabled to transmit his possessions peaceably to his son, who removed the seat of government from Cairoan to Mahadi, a city founded by the late ruler, and so called to commemorate the dignity by which he had been designated.1 The son of this prince, who was named Moez Ledmillah, entered on the exercise of his authority in the year of the Hegira 341, and prosecuted with increased energy the ambitious views of his ancestor.

The whole of Egypt ultimately fell into his power; and the general of his forces, Jawhar, laid the foundation of a new city, in the year of the Hegira 358. It was called Al Calerah, or El-Qâhera; a term expressive of victory, and an epithet applied by the Arabian astronomers to the planet Mars, under whose horoscope the limits of the new capital were described. Moez, a few years afterwards, made it his chief residence, and assumed the title of Khâlif: his successors were styled Caliphs of Egypt, in contradistinction to those of Bagdat, the genuine descendants of Mahomet. They were nine in number; the last,

1 Mahadi significs literally Director.

named Adhad, was deposed by Saladin, who, as has been stated in a former letter, subdued all Palestine and Syria. The fourth in succession from this potentate, added considerably to the extent of Cairo, augmented and strengthened the fortifications, and surrounded it with a wall. He repelled the incursions of the French monarch, Louis IX. but was afterwards slain in an insurrection of the Mamelukes, who had been retained by him as a corps of mercenaries. The sovereign power was in consequence transferred to them, who chose their general for their Sultan. He was the first of those distinguished by the name of Baharites, or mariners, a troop of slaves originally procured from the distant settlements of Tartary, and educated by the reigning prince, in Egypt, so as to qualify them especially for defending the maritime posts of his kingdom.

But not to weary you with a detail, which it would be impossible to make intelligible if compressed within the compass of a letter, I will only add that Grand Cairo, under the administration of successive Caliphs, rose rapidly to power and influence; and so late as the fifteenth century, was generally esteemed one of the most flourishing capitals in the world. It