undergone, considered it so bad an omen, that he would not allow it to be taken any further; though others affirm that it was in consequence of a man having been crushed while moving it with levers." At Saïs was also a colossus dedicated by Amasis, 75 ft. long, similar in size and proportion to one he placed before the temple of Pthah at Memphis, which was lying on its back; and the grand palace of the kings in the same city, which Apries left to attack Amasis, and to which he afterwards returned a prisoner, is another of the interesting monuments mentioned at Saïs.

Recent excavations by M. Mariette at the site of Saïs have served only to reveal its utter state of ruin, and it is impossible to fix the position, or ascertain the plan, of any of the splendid monuments mentioned by the historian.

The Egyptian name of this city was written Ssa, which is retained in the modern Sa; and the Saïs of ancient authors was the same, with a Greek termination. It is about a mile from the Nile, on the rt. bank, and in order to save time, if the Nile is low, the traveller may land when in a line with the mounds, and send his boat to wait for him at the bend of the river near Kodabeh, about 1 mile higher up. During the inundation the plain is partly flooded and intersected with canals, which are not forded without inconvenience before November.

and immediately on the E. bank are the village and station of Kafr-ez-Zyat. (See Rte. 6.)

Traces of an old canal, running to the N.N.W., by some supposed to be the Canopic branch of the Nile, may be seen above Nigéeleh, which is traditionally called the Bahr Yoosef. Not far from this should be the site of Gynæcopolis and Andropolis, by some supposed to be the same city.

About two or three miles to the westward of Kom-Sheréek are the mounds of an ancient town, on the canal. The mounds are called Tel el Odámeh ("of the bones"), from the bodies found buried amidst them. A little higher up is Taréeh, near which are other mounds and the branch of a canal, which follows the course of the ancient Lycus canalis, that ran towards the lake Mareotis. Some supposed Momemphis to have stood here; but as it was near the road to the Natron Lakes, it is more likely to have been at El Booragát, or Kafr Daoot, near the former of which are the mounds of an old town of considerable size. At Aboo-l-kháwee and Shabóor are the shallowest parts of the Rosetta branch, which in summer are barely passable for large boats. About Nader, on the E. bank, are many wild boars, which are found in many other parts of the Delta, particularly in the low marshlands to the N., and about the lake Menzaleh. They are also found in the Fyoóm.

At a point where the river takes a considerable bend to the E.,it is crossed by the Alexandria and Cairo Railway,

siderable extent, which probably mark its ancient site: and it is from this place that the road leads from the Nile to the Natron Lakes. The inhabitants of Teráneh are principally employed in bringing the natron from the desert, which often is farmed by some richi merchant; and to this is attributable the prosperous condition of the village. The lakes are distant from Teráneh about 12 hours' journey. (See Rte. 11, Sect. II.)

Near Lekhmas are other mounds, perhaps of the city of Menelaus, so called, not from the Greek hero, but

from the brother of the first Ptolemy; and between Aboo-Nishábee and BeniSalameh is the entrance of the canal, cut by Mohammed Ali in 1820, which, as before stated, carries the water to that of Alexandria.

In going up the river the Pyramids are perceived for the first time from the shore a little above Werdán, when about due W. of Ashmoon; and hereabouts the desert has invaded the soil on the W. bank, and even poured its drifted sand into the Nile. At Ashmoon or Oshmoun are lofty mounds, but no sculptured remains. A little beyond Aboo-Ghaleb the pyramids are seen from the river, and continue in sight the remainder of the voyage to Cairo. About 2 m. below, or N.W. of Om-ed deenár, is what is called the Barrage of the Nile; and about the same distance above that village is the southern point or apex of the Delta. Here the Nile divides itself into the two branches of Rosetta and Damietta, though the actual commencement of of the Delta may be placed about two m. further S., a little above the village of Menásheh, at the upper end of the Isle of Skelekán.

The object of the Barrage was to retain the water of the Nile, in order that it might be used for irrigating the lands when the inundation had retired; one dam crossing the Rosetta, another the Damietta branch. After the sacrifice of an enormous sum of money, the project has been definitively abandoned, and the Barrage remains a striking but useless monument of engineering enterprise.

In former times the point of the Delta was much more to the south than at present. Cercasora, in the Lêtopolite nome, which was just above it on the west bank, stood, according to Strabo, nearly opposite, or west of, Heliopolis, close to the observatory of Eudoxus. In Herodotus's time the river had one channel as far as Cercasora; but below that town it divided itself into three branches, which took different directions, one, the Pelusiac, going to the east; another, the Canopic, turning off to the west; and the third going straight for

ward, in the direction of its previous course through Egypt to the point of the Delta, which it divided in twain as it ran to the sea. It was not less considerable in the volume of its water, nor less celebrated, than the other two, and was called the Sebennytic branch and from it two others, the Saïtic and Mendesian, were derived, emptying themselves into the sea by two distinct mouths.

This old Sebennytic branch has been renewed in a fine wide canal, which starts from the point of the Delta midway between the two modern branches corresponding to the old Pelusiac and Canopic, and continues as far as Tantah.

After passing the palace of Shoobra, the numerous minarets of Cairo may be seen from the river; and a shady avenue of trees leads from Shoobra to the N.W. entrance of the city.

Embábeh (Rte. 4) is on the right, and on the left are some palaces and country houses in the plain between Shoobra and Boolák.

Boolák may be called the port of Cairo. It formerly stood on an island, where Macrisi says sugar-cane was cultivated; and the old channel which passed between it and Cairo may still be traced in parts, particularly to the northward, about half-way from the Shoobra road. The filling up of this channel removed Cairo farther from the Nile, and gave to Boolák the rank and advantages of a port.

Owing to the improvements that have taken place in the land lying between Boolák and Cairo, and the rapid extension of the city in the direction of the river, the open space formerly existing between the two will soon be covered with houses. The northern extremity of Boolák, at which the traveller's dahabeeah will probably anchor, is called Ramleh. A great collection of these boats for hire will be seen moored to the bank; and the process of building and repairing them is carried on with great vigour and activity.

ROUTE 6.

ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO BY RAILWAY.

131 MILES.

Three trains daily: one express in 4 hours, and two ordinary in 6 hrs.

The railway between Alexandria and Cairo was the first ever made in the East. It was constructed in 1855, and, with the continuation from Cairo to Suez now done away with, was the alternative proposed by Stephenson for the Maritime Canal across the Isthmus of Suez. Owing to the extreme flatness of the country the cost was comparatively small, there being no engineering difficulties in the shape of tunnels, viaducts, &c. The bridges over the two branches of the Nile (and these were not built till a later date) are, in fact, the only structures of importance. Except at these bridges, there is a double line of rails the whole way. They are laid on cast-iron chairs, which look like huge saucers, these chairs being connected by transverse round iron bars to keep them parallel. This same method of construction has been employed throughout all the railways in Egypt. The chairs lie on an embankment of earth thrown up to the height of a few feet above the level of the soil. English engineers were employed in the making of this line, and for a long time the engine-drivers, &c., were mostly Englishmen; but now the employés are nearly all natives. The guards and stationmasters can generally speak English and French. The daily express runs

at a very fair rate of speed, and keeps time with a regularity that might put to shame many an English company. So much cannot always be said for the local stopping trains. The firstclass carriages are good, and the permanent way being well kept, they run smoothly and easily.

The station is at the extreme west of the town beyond the canal. On leaving the station the line skirts on the right the Lake Mareotis, stretching far away out of sight. In winter, after the rising of the Nile, the water reaches in many places to the embankment, but in the late spring and summer there is a wide expanse of swampy marsh, as treacherous to the foot as it is disagreeable to the eye and unpleasant to the nose. Numbers of aquatic birds may often be seen feeding close to the railway, but should the traveller, encouraged by their apparent tameness as he looks at them from the carriage window, attempt on some other occasion to try his chances with the gun, he will find them very wary and unapproachable. On the left is the Mahmoodeeah Canal, with its pretty villas and gardens backed by high ground, on which stands Pompey's Pillar. A little further on is seen the Viceroy's palace at Ramleh. The line now quits for a time the canal and the cultivated land, and runs across the open lake, rejoining the canal just before reaching

17. Kafr Douar Stat., a favourite rendezvous of Alexandrian sportsmen. Wild boar are often found in the neighbourhood. Bordered by cottonfields on one side and marshes on the other, the line reaches

111. Aboo Hommoos Stat. The Mahmoodeeah Canal here turns eastward till it joins the Rosetta branch of the Nile at Atfeh.

10. Damanhoor Stat. (line projected to Dessook, 12 miles). First station at which express stops, 45 min. from Alexandria. A large town, capital of the richly cultivated province of Beheyrah. It has several cotton manufactories, and a few respectable-looking houses, but otherwise presents the usual appearance of an Arab village; shape

less huts and houses of crude mudbricks, relieved sometimes in their bare monotony by the graceful outline of a few minarets, and the dome-like cupolas of a Mussulman cemetery; but only really picturesque when nestled in a grove of palms, like the hamlet on the right immediately after leaving the station. It was close to Damanhoor that Napoleon was nearly taken prisoner by the Memlooks in 1798. On being expostulated with for exposing himself to such a risk, he replied, "Il n'est point écrit là haut que je doive jamais étre prisonnier des Mamelouks-prisonnier des Anglais, à la bonne heure." From Damanhoor the railway passes through a richly cultivated plain, unbroken by the slightest elevation, to

16 m. Tel-el-Baroot Stat. A line is in course of construction along the left bank of the Nile from this point to Embabeh opposite Cairo, the present terminus of the Upper Egypt line. When it is finished there will be unbroken railway communication between Alexandria and the farthest point south to which a railway may eventually be carried. A few miles beyond Tel-el-Baroot we reach the Rosetta branch of the Nile, 65 m. from Alexandria. The river is crossed by a fine iron bridge of 12 spans, resting on hollow iron piles. It opens for the passage of large vessels in a very ingenious manner. A part of the roadway, two spans in length, turns on a pivot on the piers supporting it until it is brought at right angles to the bridge, thus leaving two passages: the single pillars above and below the bridge serve to support the two ends of the part thus moved, and protect it from being injured by vessels driven against it. The cost of this bridge, which has only a single line of rails, with a footpath alongside, was 400,000l. Before its construction, trains were ferried over. It was here that Achmet Pasha, elder brother of the present Khedive, and at the time of his death heir to the viceroyalty, was drowned in 1856. He was returning from Alexandria one night, when the driver, not seeing in the darkness that the ferry boat was

not in its place, ran the train over the bank into the river. Immediately on the S. side of the bridge is the station of

103 m. Kafr-ez-Zyat Stat. 2 hrs. 5 min. by express from Alexandria. Trains stop here 15 min. There is a buffet and restaurant, and a very fair lunch may be had for 5 francs. 15 m. to the S. of Kafr-ez-Zyat, on the right bank of the river, are the ruins of Saïs (see Rte. 5). We have now entered the Delta, and the traveller cannot fail to be struck with the amazing fertility of the vast plain stretched out on either side of him, divided not by hedges, but by innumerable canals and raised dykes, and varied in its flat monotony only by the brown mound-like villages.

11 m. Tantah Junct. Stat. [Branch lines to Talkah (opposite Mansoorah), and thence to Damietta, passing by Semanood, Mahallet Rokh, Mahalletel-Kebeer, and Shirbeen, 72 miles; to Zifté, viâ Mahallet Rokh, 33 miles; Dessook, 46 miles; and to Shibeen-elKom, 18 miles. 1 train daily each way on all these lines.] Tantah is a large and important town, capital of the province of Gharbeeah. It boasts of a handsome well-built station, and a palace built by the present Khedive for his visit to the annual fairs or festivals.

These festivals, which are celebrated three times a year-in January, April, and August-are held in honour of the Seyyid Ahmed-el-Bedawee, a Moslem saint of great renown. He was born at Fez in A.H. 596 (A.D. 1200), and having passed through Tantah with all his family on his way to Mecca, established himself in that place on his return, and was buried there at his death. He seems to have succeeded to the god of Sebennytus, the Egyptian Hercules, whose attributes have been given him by popular fancy or tradition. It is the Seyyid whose aid is invoked when any one is in need of strength to resist a sudden calamity; the effects of a storm, or any frightful accident, are thought to be averted by calling out "Ya seyyid, ya Bedawee;" and the song of "Gab

el Yoosara," "he brought back the captives," records the might and prowess of this powerful hero. In the second call to prayer chanted by the muezzin an hour before daybreak, he is invoked under the name of Aboo Farrág, Sheykh of the Arabs, and coupled with El Hasan and El Hoseyn, and "all the favourites of God."

Each of the fêtes lasts 8 days, and those in the spring and summer are attended by an immense concourse of people, as many as 200,000 being sometimes collected together. The open space round the town is covered with tents of all sorts and sizes: the great, square, gaudy coloured tent of the rich Sheykh el beled (village chief), with horses, camels, and donkeys picketed all about it, and flanked on both sides by the smaller tents of his followers and dependents; the deep, oblong, equally gaudy booths of the singing and the dancing girls, the jugglers, the romance reciters, and the story tellers; round tents of various sizes and conditions, from the blue-lined one of the well-todo fellah down to the ragged bell of his poorer neighbour; and, most picturesque of all, the "black tents of Kedar," the long, low, flat-topped tent of camel's-hair blanket that marks now, as of old, the temporary resting-place of the wandering Bedaween.

Although a religious festival, pleasure is the chief object of the pilgrims, and a few fát'hahs at the tomb of the saint are sufficient to satisfy every pious requirement, and to induce the hope of obtaining his blessing. Business, however, is not neglected. The cattle and horse fairs held during these festivals are the most important in Egypt. Formerly a brisk trade in slaves was carried on, and the slave market was one of the sights of the fair; but that is now done away with, and whatever traffic there is has to be done in secret.

The evening is the time at which to see the fête at its height; and a walk through the streets and booths will afford many a curious and suggestive sight. As at the festival of

Bubastis, in old times, a greater quantity of wine was consumed than at any other period of the year, so at Tantah, greater excesses are committed by the modern Egyptians than on any other occasion. The traveller who finds himself in Egypt at the time of either of these fêtes will do well to pay Tantah a visit. He will have a good opportunity of seeing national manners and customs. A bed may be obtained in the town. England, France, and America have consular agents at Tantah.

Still the same rich country to

11 m. Birket-es-Sab Stat. 20 min. from this the line crosses the Damietta branch of the Nile by a similar bridge to that of Kafr-ez-Zyat. Passing on the left a handsome palace built by Abbas Pasha, and the ruins of the old town of Athribis,

14 m. Benha Junct. Stat, is reached. [Branch line viâ Zagazig and Ismailia to Suez, 127 miles; and viâ Zagazig to Mansoorah, 70 miles, Benhael-Assal, "Benha of Honey," is an unimportant town on the right bank of the Damietta branch. It was at one time the centre of the cotton trade in that part of the Delta, but Zagazig has now taken its place, and no vestiges of its former occupation remain save some ruined and deserted cotton manufactories: nor does it any longer produce the honey from which it derived its name. It is recorded by the Arab historian that, at the time of Amer's invasion, the presents sent to Mohammed by John Mekaukes, a rich and noble Copt, included among other things a jar of honey from Benhael-Assal. Its chief article of trade now is oranges, of which the groves all around its neighbourhood supply large quantities to the Cairo market; and the Yoosef Effendi oranges, large juicy mandarins from Benha, are considered the best in Egypt.

The ruins of the old town of Athribis, now Athreeb, lie to the N.E. of the modern village. They present somewhat the appearance of a huge deserted brickfield, with here and there heaps of red cinders. The town appears to have been of considerable extent,