Mountains.-The only mountains of Egypt are those which range along the eastern side of the Nile, in some places approaching close to the river, in others receding to different distances. They are not of a great elevation, but most of them rugged and precipitous, and many of them are porphyrous and granite. On the road across the desert from the Nile to Cossir, the lofty and rugged rocks of granite and porphyry have a magnificent and terrific appearance. The red granite appears in abundance, and huge rocks of porphyry, both red and green, are seen on every side. Alabaster is also met with in some places. Here is also found the beautiful green marble with white and dark spots, known by the name of Verde Antico. In fine, this part of the desert of Thebais displays a treasure of marbles that astonishes the spectator.‡ That judicious and observing traveller, Mr. Browne, supposes this road to Cossir to have been cut and levelled by human labour, and that the immense excavations have furnished the marble for all the obelisks, columns, and other monuments of that material, in every part of Egypt. These opinions, however, are contradicted by another not less accurate observer, who does not believe that any part of the road has been cut through the rocks by human industry. "If," says he, "the opinion, that of the road from the Nile to Cossir is wholly, or in part, a work of art, had any need of refutation, it would be sufficient for to mention the multiplicity of those roads, all equally commodious, in order to prove its inconsistency." The same author also, does not imagine that any considerable part of the ancient monuments, particularly the ponderous obelisks, &c. had been brought from that quarter, as he asserts, that the materials of which they are composed, may be found much nearer the Nile. The mountains on the western side of the plain of Egypt, are chiefly of a calcareous kind of sand stone, or what is commonly called freestone. Of this sort of stone

• Norden's Trav. in Egypt. passim. Ibid. p. 157.

|| M. de Roziere, Mem. tom. 3. p. 265.

† Browne's Trav. p. 156.

§ Ibid. and append. No. 3.

¶ Pliny says these immense blocks were furnished by the mountains of Syene, and conveyed down the Nile. Pliny, lib. 36. cap. 8 and 9.

the pyramids are generally constructed, and the level rock on which they stand is of the substance.

Rivers.-The Nile is the only river of Egypt, and pervades the whole length of the country from south to north. As it receives no other streams in passing through Egypt, nor even through the deserts of Nubia, it does gradually increase in magnitude like the most of other large rivers. Its greatest breadth is about one third of a mile, and its general depth about two fathoms.* It abounds with fish, particularly salmon and eels, and it has from the remotest antiquity been famous for its crocodiles. That tremendous monster, however, is only found in the upper Egypt, and even there seems to be less frequent than formerly. The annual swelling and inundation of the Nile, to which Egypt owes its fertility, and which was once regarded as an inexplicable phænomenon, is now well known to proceed from the periodical rains of the tropical regions, where that river takes its rise. The water is generally muddy, and when the flood is at the height it becomes of a dirty red colour.† The Abyssinian rains commence in April. About the 17th of June the river begins to rise, and in August it overflows its banks. The month of August, or in that of September, it attains to its greatest height. The Nile water is asserted to be the best in the world for drinking, being exceedingly light and wholesome, and far preferable to that of any spring or fountain. It never becomes putrid, nor shews any signs of fermentation. It may be kept in a vessel for any length of time without deterioration, and in the numerous cisterns of Cairo and Alexandria it is kept during the whole year. This wonderful river, which shews in what va. rious modes the Creator of all can provide for the inhabitants of different parts of the globe, is the great support of existence in Egypt. Without that advantage the whole country would be an uninhabitable desert.

* Browne's Trav. in Egypt, &c. p. 144, 300 yards wide at Thebes, but he says its greatest breadth is one third of a mile. Trav. p. 70.

† Browne's Travels, p. 70. Antes says, that he could never perceive any thing of this red colour, and that the water is rather of a blackish brown. p. 75. Compare Antes, p. 67, with Maillet, Description de Egypt, Leth. p. 11, and Pocock Descrip. of the East, vol. 4.

Antes Observat. on Egypt, p. 76, ibid.

Canals. The canals of Egypt have in all ages been numerous. Formerly several of them were navigable, especially the famous canal of Alexandria, once the means of a vast commercial intercourse between that city and the Nile. At present the canals of Egypt serve for little other purpose than that of irrigation.

Lakes.]-The northern parts of Egypt present several Jakes of considerable extent. The lake Mareotis to the south of Alexandria is now almost, if not wholly dry. The Birketel-Kurun was generally supposed to be the Maris of Strabo and Ptolemy; but late travellers rather imagine the canal of Bathen to be the artificial Moris of Herodotus and Diodorus.† In neither case, however, will it be found possible to reconcile the extravagant tales of the ancients with modern experience.‡ The Natron lakes supply the substance of that name, which is used as a substitute for barilla.§

Mineralogy.The mineralogy of Egypt is a barren subject. This ancient country does not appear to have ever produced any kind of metals. Its porphyry, granite, and various marbles, are its most celebrated fossils. It was once famed for its excellent emeralds,|| but the mines have not for a long time been worked, and their situation is now unknown. No mineral waters have been heard of in Egypt, a natural consequence of the want of mineral substances.

Soil.]-The soil of Egypt has been so famed in all ages for its amazing fertility, that any thing said on the subject must. now be considered as a useless repetition. It may, however, be observed, that it appears to have originally been formed by the mud of the Nile, when the surface of the country was lower than at present, as no doubt can be entertained that it has been gradually raised by successive inundations. It is in general a pure black mould of a tenacious and unctious nature, free from stones, and so rich as to require no manure.¶

Baldwin's Recollections, p. 203.

† Browne's Trav. p. 181.

For

Denon's Trav. vol. 3. p. 353.

For a description of the Natron lakes, see Browne's Travels, p.

39, &c.

Pliny, lib. 37. cap. 5.

Flora Egyptiaca ap. Browne's Travels, appendix No. 4.

the cultivation of cucumbers alone pigeons' dung is applied. The lower grounds receive the inundation without artificial means, and the trees are the only edifices seen above water. In other parts the water is conducted through innumerable canals, formed by the ancient Egyptians, to pervade the whole country. Many tracts now sterile and deserted, were evidently once covered with grain and other productions. It is universally allowed that the sands brought from the desert by the winds, are continually making encroachments on the fertile part of the country. From the times, therefore, of the first Pharaohs, not only the surface of Egypt has been constantly rising, and the exuberant fertility of its soil in all probability gradually declining, but the extent of the fertile tract has also been diminished.

Climate. The climate of Egypt is excessively hot from March to November; during the rest of the year it is temperate. It has been erroneously asserted, that rain never falls in the upper Egypt. Mr. Browne met with a shower on the 29th of October, between Thebes and Syene.§ Denon in speaking of Tentyra, says, "it never rains in this climate." At Cophtus, however, he met with a storm of wind and sand, mixed with thunder, lightning, and rain, and says, that a vast quantity of rain had fallen in the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea. Rain, however, is so seldom seen in upper Egypt, that it may be considered as a rare phænomenon. All authors and travellers agree, that rain falls but seldom at Cairo, and that further to the southward it is very uncommon. But although this be the case in the vale of Egypt, it appears that the mountains of the Thebaid, between the Nile and the Red Sea, are sometimes exposed to heavy rains.** A writer who resided twelve years in Egypt, and consequently must have been

* Flora Egyptiaca ap. Browne's Travels, appendix No. 4.

↑ Denon's Trav. vol. 1. p. 344, 345. 370. vol. 2. p. 4. The same observation is made by Savary, by Irvine, and almost all other travellers. Browne's Trav. p. 150.

Denon's Trav. vol. 1. p. 66.

|| Denon's Trav, vol. 1. p. 329, 330.

Antes Observations on Egypt.

** Denon's Trav. ubi supra.

better acquainted with the climate than any cursory traveller, informs us, that on an average, the whole quantity of rain that falls in a year at Cairo, could not be reckoned equivalent to a rain of an hour's duration; but that in the month of November, 1771, there were heavy showers, accompanied with some thunder and lightning during five successive nights. In the winter months heavy rains often fall in the Delta, within about. half a degree of the coast; but even in that part there is scarcely ever any rain in the summer. Sometimes there are storms on the coast, but they are neither so frequent, nor so violent as in more northerly latitudes. During the summer the north wind generally predominates quite through the whole length of the vale of Egypt. The south wind sometimes blows in the winter, and has always a disagreeable effect on the human frame, producing a sort of heaviness and languor. In winter the wind is colder and more penetrating than that from the north; but after the middle of February it grows hot; and when it happens to blow in the summer, it seems, from its heat, to issue from a furnace. It would be tedious to collect all that has been said by travellers and writers on the climate of Egypt; but from a diligent comparison of their remarks, as well as from its geographical position and topographical situation, it may easily be collected that next to its dryness, heat is the most predominant characteristic, especially in the Thebais.§

In this place it is necessary to make some remarks on the different opinions of authors relative to the salubrity of the Egyptian climate. The plague has, till of late, been considered as indigenous in this country. Our countryman, Mr. Gibbon, misled by the errors of the ancients, has adopted this

* Antes Observat. on Egypt, p. 95. See the most accurate remarks on the climate of Egypt in Antes, p. 89 to 105.

† Antes Observat. on Egypt. p. 91.

Denon gives a terrific description of the hurricanes from the desert. Trav. p. 326 to 330.

§ Denon says, that in the month of March the heat was so intense at Thebes, that his feet were scorched through his shoes, and that stones could scarcely be handled, being like burning coals. Trav. vol. 2. p. 291.