ASPECT OF MINSHIEH. 281 prickly stem, in the shape of a fan, like those of the jugara, so plentiful on the uncultivated hills in the neighbourhood of Agrigentum.* CCI. There being no wind, we proceeded all day by tracking, and, consequently, advanced but a few miles. A little to the north of Minshieh (the ancient Ptolemais Hermii), we landed in search of the remains of a quay, said to exist there; but could discover nothing, save a small ruined brick arch, part, perhaps, of the substruction of some ancient edifice. In approaching the town, from the north, you traverse "a smooth, close-shaven green," not common in Egypt, and pass through a walled garden thickly planted with orange and other evergreen trees. Lofty square pigeon-houses, resembling the towers in prints of ancient fortifications, common both here and at Ekhmim, give the place, when viewed from afar, an air of grandeur which vanishes as we approach it. The only mosque in the town possesses a fine lofty minaret. The bazăr was crowded with Turks and Bedouins. The former so strongly resembling Europeans in features and complexion, that I frequently mistake them for such in fact, they are fairer and *The jugara, when I saw it, was growing in the midst of aloes of gigantic size, which recalled to my mind Mrs. Howit's beautiful allusion to the vegetation of the Spice Islands, in her "Little Mariner:" "He knew the Spice Isles every one, With its clustering bells of snow!” 282 THE TURK AND THE BEDOUIN. far handsomer than the Italians; evidently betraying the mixture of Greek blood, which, in many cases, has nearly obliterated the marks of their barbaric origin. But about the Bedouins there is no mistake possible: their high broad foreheads, bushy eyebrows, thin lips, -with no cross of the Negro in them, and small dark fiery eye, bespeak at once the free inhabitant of the desert, before whom the tax-eaten fellah and the effeminate Caireen tremble and are abashed. These regarded us with peculiar earnestness as we brushed by them in the bazār; revolving, probably, in their minds, how much they should have liked to try conclusions with us in the desert perhaps their gaze was that of mere curiosity. The Turk, when encountered on the road, endeavours to enter into conversation, and is annoyed at his own failure; the Bedouin bids you good morning or evening; or says, "Peace be with you!" and passes on. Inquiring, at the Coptic convent, how many Christians there might be in the town, I was told between fifty and sixty. A repetition of the same answer again, will cause me to suspect that "between fifty and sixty," like the sexcenties of the Romans, is merely used to signify an indefinite number, about which the speaker knows nothing precisely. Both Ekhmim and Minshich are fortified towns; but the walls will scarcely keep out the jackals. Wednesday, Jan. 2. Bellianeh. CCII. Departing with the dawn, we beheld, soon after sunrise, one of those magical scenes which the tropics and their vicinity, I imagine, can alone fur LARGE-TAILED SHEEP. 283 nish. The mountains, cleft into numerous chains, and ascending in pinnacles of various heights, were enveloped by the haze of the morning; thick, heavy, and white in the valleys; more silvery about the summits, which, thus veiled, appeared almost transparent; while tints of indescribable brilliancy were diffused over the sky, and reflected from the river. A little to the north of Es-Serat, we landed, and walked on towards the village, where the eastern plain is wide, and highly cultivated. The Nile, flowing serenely, with many creeks, sharp inlets, and small woody islands in its channel, has the appearance of a beautiful lake, diffusing its placid shining waters among groves of date and doum palms, mimosas, acacias, and tamarisks, fringing its banks, and concealing its extent from the eye. CCIII. It was market-day at Es-Serat. The farmers had brought thither their grain, the bakers their bread, the fishermen their fish, and the butchers their cattle, ready to be killed as wanted. The sheep, which were feeding on fine rich clover, brought to the market for the purpose, had the large heavy tails mentioned by Herodotus*; which, however, resembled not the tails of the Cape sheep in It must, however, be acknowledged that in length they fall far short of the historian's description : — “ δύο δὲ γένεα όΐων σφί ἐστι, θαύ ματος ἄξια, τὰ οὐδαμόθι ἑτέρωθι ἐστι τὸ μὲν αὐτέων ἕτερον ἔχει τὰς οὐρὰς μακρὰς, τριῶν πηχέων οὐκ ἐλάσσονας, τὰς εἴ τις ἐπείη σφι ἐπέλκειν, ἕλκεα ἂν ἔχοιεν, ἀνατριβομενέων πρὸς τῇ γῇ τῶν οὐρέων· νῦν δ ̓ ἅπας τις τῶν ποιμένων ἐπίσταται ξυλουργέειν ες τοσουτὸ, ἁμαξίδας γὰρ ποιεῦντες, ὑποδέουσι αὐτὰς τῇσι οὐρῇσι, ἑνὸς ἑκάστου κτήνεος τὴν οὐρὴν ἐπὶ ἁμαξίδα ¿KáσTηy KaTadioVTEC." — Herodotus, lib. iii. c. 113. 284 VILLAGE MARKET. prints of natural history, small at the root and increasing towards the point; but the contrary, being about eight inches in breadth at the root, and diminishing gradually to the end. These sheep were nearly all of a brown colour. Several of the cattle seemed to be of the Indian breed, small, and with a hunch upon the back, like the Brahmini bulls. The market was held on the outside of the village, among the date trees, at the foot of which the butchers slaughtered their cattle, permitting the blood to flow about for the dogs, many of which are seen lapping it up warm, close to the throat of the animal before it was dead. The head of the beast about to be killed was turned towards Mekka, and its throat cut with prayers, and in the name of God:-" Bism' illah, ya allah akbar!" One of the butchers we observed belabouring the body of a headless ox with a long stick to make the skin come off the more easily. On the whole, I never beheld a more disgusting sight; for the people assembled, of both sexes and of all ages, seemed to have monopolised ugliness, squalidness, and filth; and several of the men had a most truculent atrocious aspect, like that of certain galley-slaves whom I once saw at the Mount St. Michael. Among the crowd were a few little negro slaves, looking plump and contented; and a great number of one-eyed people, young and old,— proofs of the existence and ravages of ophthalmia. I am surprised that the buffalo, which yields so large a quantity of excellent milk, should not hitherto have been introduced into England. In Egypt it forms the riches of the peasant. OLD CAPITAL OF UPPER EGYPT. 285 CCIV. On returning to the kandjias, we saw a large crocodile on the eastern bank, standing on the sands, in the midst of a number of white ibises. Though quite out of the reach of a fowling piece, he was terrified at our appearance, and immediately plunged into the river. The wheat in this neighbourhood was at least eighteen inches high. The doum tree is still rare; as is also the Egyptian sycamore, or Pharaoh's Fig-tree, so plentiful in the Delta; but I observed a noble specimen to-day, near the Nile. Late in the afternoon we passed Girgeh, formerly the capital of Upper Egypt. This city stands close to the river, and is adorned with numerous mosques, whose elegant minarets and spacious domes, appearing at intervals between the luxuriant date trees, which confer upon the place the aspect of a grove, have an aspect of grandeur which I had nowhere remarked south of Cairo. Girgeh seems to be a very considerable town, having the appearance of carrying on a great inland trade; and numerous boats were now building on the shore. The view towards the eastern mountains is extensive and varied, though less so than from near Minshieh; but the plain country around is rich and fertile, and the river of an unusual breadth. It was, when we passed, the hour when an oriental landscape is beheld to most advantage; when the rays of the sun, nearly approaching its setting, seem to embrace the objects round which they stream like a flood, creating interminable shadows, with all those amazing contrasts resulting from the richest intermingling of light and shade. The wind |