appear, with several causeways leading from place to place, the whole interspersed with groves and fruit trees, whose tops only are visible. This view is bounded by mountains and woods, which terminate, at the utmost distance the eye can discover, the most beautiful horizon that can be imagined. On the contrary, in January and February, the whole country is like one continued scene of beautiful meadows, whose verdure, enamelled with flowers, charms the eye. The spectator beholds on every side flocks and herds dispersed over all the plains, with infinite numbers of husbandmen and gardeners. The air is then perfumed by the great quantity of blossoms on the orange, lemon, and other trees, and is so pure that breezes more salubrious or agreeable are not enjoyed in the wide expanse of creation. Contrasting the country at such a season with its inhabitants, we may adopt the language of the poet, who said of the isle and the natives of Ceylon, with beautiful simplicity:

"Every prospect pleases,

And only man is vile."-Heber.

"A man cannot," says De Bruyn, in his Travels, "help observing the admirable providence of God towards this country, who sends, at a fixed season, such great quantities of rain in Ethiopia, in order to water Egypt, where a shower of rain scarcely ever falls; and who, by that means, causes the most barren soil to become the richest and most fruitful country in the universe."

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But the Egyptians did not look at this wonderful circumstance in such a pure and Christian light. Feeling their entire dependence on the Nile, and prone by nature, like the rest of mankind, to look to secondary causes rather than to the infinitely great and good God, from whom all blessings are derived, the Egyptians were led to deify their Nile. Heliodorus says: They paid divine honours to this river, and revered it as the first of their gods. They declared him to be the rival of heaven, since he watered the country without the aid of clouds and rains." The priests of Egypt told Herodotus, that one of their kings, Pheron, the son of Sesostris, was struck blind by the river god for an act of impiety that at a time when the inundation had risen to the extraordinary height of more than eighteen cubits, a violent storm of wind having arisen, which greatly agitated the waters, the king, with a foolish temerity, took a javelin in his hand, and flung it into the midst of the foaming billows, for which he was immediately seized with a pain in his eyes, which made him blind for ten years. The principal festival of this imaginary god, was at the summer solstice, when the inundation commenced; at which season, by a cruel idolatrous rite, the Egyptians sacrificed redhaired persons, principally foreigners, to Typhon, or the power said to preside over tempests, at Busiris, Heliopolis, etc., by burning them alive, and scattering their ashes in the air for the good of the people. Bryant infers the probability that these victims were chosen from among the Israelites during their residence in Egypt.

From all this we learn how excessive was the superstitious adoration which the Egyptians paid

to their river. How impressive, then, must those miracles have been in which their sacred river was turned into blood, and made to pour forth loathsome frogs in such abundance, that they covered the whole land of Egypt. See Exod. vii. 15-25, and viii. 1—15. At the present day, though under the sway of the sterner Moslem religion, the reverence entertained for this stream, still called the Most Holy River, and the rites with which its benefits are celebrated, exhibit in the present inhabitants of Egypt a tendency towards the same superstitious form of adoration and gratitude.

One feature of the Nile remains to be noticed, namely, the qualities of the water. Ancients and moderns, with one voice, declare it to be the most pleasant and nutritive in the world. Why it should be so, Plato could not conceive, but he states such to be the case; and he relates that the Egyptian priests refrained from giving it to their bull-god Apis on account of its fattening properties.

Savary, in his "Letters on Egypt," says, in a note, that Ptolemy Philadelphus, marrying his daughter Berenice to Antiochus king of Syria, sent her water from the Nile, which alone she could drink, (Athenæus ;) that the kings of Persia sent for the waters of the Nile and sal ammoniac, (Dino, Hist. of Persia ;) and that the Egyptians are the only people who preserve the water of the Nile in sealed vases, and drink it when it is old with the same pleasure that we do old wine, (Aristides Rhetor.) The same author also bears his own testimony to the agreeable qualities of the water of the Nile. He says, "The waters of the Nile, also, lighter, softer, and more agreeable to the taste than any I know, greatly influence the health of the inhabitants. All antiquity acknowledges their excellence, and the people certainly drink them with a kind of avidity without being ever injured by the quantity. Being lightly impregnated with nitre, they are only a gentle aperient to those who take them to excess." Maillet is more enthusiastic in his description of the Nile water; affirming, that when a stranger drinks it for the first time, it seems like a drink prepared by art, and that it is among waters what champagne is among wines.

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THE LAND OF GOSHEN.

With reference to this part of Egypt, so celebrated in the sacred page, Michaelis remarks:"Concerning the situation of the land of Goshen, authors have maintained very different opinions; but have withal made it impossible for themselves to ascertain the truth by concurring in the representation of Goshen, as the most beautiful and fertile part of Egypt. But is it at all probable that a king of Egypt would have taken the very best part of his territory from his own native subjects to give it to strangers, and these, too, a wandering race of herdsmen, hitherto accustomed only to traverse with their cattle the deserts and uncultivated commons of the east?" But, notwithstanding that it would appear from this learned writer doubtful where the land of Goshen was, and whether it was a rich land, it has been satisfactorily shown that the “best of

the land," as applied to Goshen, means no more than that it was the richest pasture ground of Lower Egypt. It was called Goshen from Gush, in Arabic signifying "a heart," or whatever is choice or precious; and hence it was that Joseph recommended it to his family as the 66 best," and as "the fat of the land." See Gen. xlv. 18; xlvii. 11.

The land of Goshen lay along the Pelusaic, or most easterly branch of the Nile, towards Palestine and Arabia; for it is plain that the Hebrews did not cross that river in their exode from Egypt, as they otherwise must have done. Thus situated, it must have included part of the district of Heliopolis, of which the "On" of the Scriptures is supposed to have been the capital, and which lay on the eastern border of the Delta. Eastward of the river, the land of Goshen appears to have stretched into the desert, where the nomade shepherds might find sustenance for their flocks. In some places it may have extended in this direction to the Gulf of Suez. Thus defined, the land of Goshen included a quantity of fertile land, answering to Joseph's description of it.

In the territory of the tribe of Judah, there was another Goshen, and it was probably so called from being, like the Goshen of Egypt, a district chiefly appropriated to pasture.

THE CLIMATE OF EGYPT.

It will be seen, from the foregoing pages, that Egypt possessed in an eminent degree the three elements of fertility-water, soil, and warmth. Without the latter blessing, the two former would have been of little avail. The climate of Egypt, during the greater part of the year, is indeed most salubrious. The khamseen, or hot south wind, however, which blows in April and May, is oppressive and unhealthy. The exhalations from the soil, also, after the inundation, render the latter part of the autumn less healthy than the summer and winter, and cause ophthalmia, dysentery, and other diseases. The summer heat is seldom very oppressive, being accompanied by a refreshing northerly breeze, and the air being extremely dry. But this dryness causes an excessive quantity of dust, which is peculiarly annoying. The thermometer in Lower Egypt, in the depth of winter, is from 50 to 60 in the afternoon, and in the shade: in the hottest season, it is from 90° to 100°, and about ten degrees higher in the southern parts of Upper Egypt. The climate of this part of Egypt, though hotter, is much more healthy than that of the lower country. This is proved by the fact that the plague seldom ascends far above Cairo, and that ophthalmia is more common in Lower than in Upper Egypt. The winds in Egypt are in some degree periodical, and governed by the seasons. Thunder occurs in the Delta, accompanied with violent showers, and sometimes with hail. In Lower Egypt, dew is very abundant. Even the sands of the desert, says Clarke, partake largely of the dew of heaven, and in a certain degree of the fatness of the earth.

THE PRODUCTIONS OF EGYPT.

Under this section of the "Physical History of Egypt," it will be sufficient to treat only of some of the principal plants indigenous to Egypt, and of the abundance of corn it produced.

Linum. This plant is an annual, and has been cultivated from time immemorial for its textile fibres, which are spun into thread and woven into cloth. It has a green stem, from a foot and a half to two feet high, and it puts forth a blue flower, which is succeeded by a capsule, containing ten flat oblong seeds of a brown colour, from whence an oil is procured, which is used both in manufactures and painting. We learn from Scripture that Egypt was anciently celebrated for the production of and manufacture of linen from this plant. It was one of the plants which the plague of hail destroyed. See Exod. ix. 31. The fine linen which was composed of flax is also spoken of in several passages. Joseph was arrayed in "vestures of fine linen" when he interpreted Pharaoh's dream, Gen. xli. 42; and Solomon makes mention of it in the book of Proverbs, ch. viii. 16. The prophet Isaiah also speaks of those that worked in "fine flax" of Egypt, ch. xix. 9; and Ezekiel, enumerating the luxuries of Tyrus, says, " Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail," ch. xxvii. 7. To the same effect ancient authors write. Herodotus says, that, wrought into inner garments, it constituted the principal dress of the inhabitants, and the priests never put on any other kind of clothing. The mummy chests, also, which occur in the ancient tombs of Egypt in large quantities, and of many different qualities and patterns, appear, upon examination, to be made with flax. In the ancient tombs, moreover, which are found in the neighbourhood of all the great cities of Egypt, the culture and manufacture of flax is a very common subject of the paintings with which their sides are covered; and it is clear that the Jews derived their fine stuffs from Egypt, and that from the variety of terms employed, fabrics of different qualities, and all highly appreciated by foreign nations, were produced by the Egyptian loom. The manufacture of flax, indeed, is still carried on in that country, the articles of which are represented as being of the most beautiful texture, and so finely spun that the threads are with difficulty observed. There appear to have been two kinds of flax, the Abestinum and the Byssus. Pliny holds the former in the highest estimation, and notices a remarkable property peculiar to itself, that of being incombustible; but this partakes of the fabulous, an error that too frequently mars the pages of ancient writers. This author says of the Byssus, that the dress and the ornaments were made of it, and this may have been the material of which "the fine linen with broidered work" was composed, as mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel.

Papyrus.-This was the Egyptian reed, or the Cyperus Papyrus of Linnæus. It is described by two names in Scripture, which our translators render "rush" and "bulrush." It is distinguished by its cluster of elegant little spikes, which consists of a single row of scales ranged on each

side in a straight line. These clusters hang in a nodding position, a circumstance alluded to by the prophet Isaiah, ch. lviii. 5. The root of the Cyperus is about the thickness of a man's wrist, and more than fifteen feet in length, and it is so hard that it is used for making utensils. Its stem is about four cubits in length, and being an esculent plant, was eaten in ancient days either raw, roasted, or boiled. It served also as a material for boats, sails, mats, clothes, beds, and books: our word "paper" is, indeed, derived from the Greek name of this plant; the delicate rind or bark of which was anciently used for the purpose of writing upon, an invention ascribed by Varro to Alexander the Great, when he built Alexandria. There are two allusions in Scripture to the papyrus being used as a material for boats the one records the fact that the infant Moses was saved in a vessel of this description, Exod. ii.; and the other speaks of ambassadors being sent from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia "in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters," Isa. xviii. 2. The manner of constructing these vessels was simply by making the papyrus into bundles, and tying them together in such a manner as to give them the necessary shape and solidity. That vessels were made of this material in Egypt, is proved by the testimony of profane writers also: Pliny notices "ships made of papyrus, and the equipments of the Nile."

Reeds. This plant, of which there are many varieties, appears to have grown in immense quantities on the banks of the Nile. Hence it is, in connexion with the well-known fragility of reeds in general, that they were adopted by the Assyrian general to symbolize the Egyptian nation. 66 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him," 2 Kings xviii. 21. See also, Ezek. xxix. 6, 7.

The Cucumber.-This well-known fruit is mentioned in Scripture, Numb. xi. 5, as a portion of the diet which the Israelites enjoyed so freely in Egypt, and over the loss of which they mourned as they passed through the wilderness. That country, indeed, as well as Arabia, produces many varieties of the cucumber, some of which are softer and more easily digested than those with which we are acquainted; a circumstance attributable to the mellowing effects of the rays of the sun in those climates, which never can be compensated for by artificial heat. Hasselquist thinks that the cucumber referred to by the murmuring Hebrews was the cucumis chate, or "queen of cucumbers," of which he gives the following description:" It grows in the fertile earth round Cairo, after the inundation of the Nile, and not in any other place in Egypt, nor in any other soil. It ripens like water-melons; its flesh is almost of the same substance, but is not near so cool. The grandees eat it as the most pleasant food they find, and that from which they have least to apprehend. It is the most excellent of this tribe of any yet known."

The Melon. The cucurbita citrullus, or water melon, abounded in Egypt and the Levant in the days of the ancients, as it does at the present day. The fruit is about the size of the common pump

An

kin, the pulp of which is of a blooming appearance, and serves both for meat and drink. Dr. Shaw says, that it is, doubtless, providentially calculated for the southern countries, as it affords a cool, refreshing juice, assuages thirst, mitigates fevers and disorders, and compensates thereby, in no small degree, for the excessive heats. elegant writer also says of it: "A traveller in the east, who recollects the intense gratitude which the gift of a slice of melon inspired, while journeying over the hot and dry plains; or one who remembers the consciousness of wealth and security which he derived from the possession of a melon while prepared for a day's journey over the same plains he will readily comprehend the regret with which the Hebrews in the Arabian desert looked back upon the melons of Egypt." The water melon is cultivated on the banks of the Nile, in the rich clayey earth which subsides during the inundation. This serves the Egyptians for meat, drink, and physic. It is eaten in abundance during the season, even by the richer sort of people; but the common people scarcely eat any thing else, and account this the best time of the year, as they are obliged to put up with worse fare at other seasons. This fruit likewise serves them for drink, the juice so refreshing these poor creatures that they have much less occasion for water than if they were to live on more substantial food in this burning climate.

Garlic.-Discorides says that garlics anciently grew in Egypt, and that they were both eaten and worshipped; a circumstance to which Juvenal has alluded in one of his satires.

"How Egypt, mad with superstition grown, Makes gods of monsters but too well is known, 'Tis mortal sin an onion to devour; Each clove of garlic is a sacred power. Religious nation sure, and blest abodes, Where every garden is o'errun with gods.-Dryden. Herodotus, moreover, asserts, that on the great pyramid in Egypt there was an inscription which recorded the expense of onions, radishes, leeks, and garlic, which the workmen had consumed during its erection, namely, 1,600 talents of silver. A variety of the species of garlic alluded to is at the present day cultivated in France, where it is called the "onion of Egypt." is held in high estimation for the small bulbs that grow among the flowers, which are eaten like onions, and are very agreeable to the palate. It has been observed of this vegetable, that of all plants it has the greatest strength, affords the most nourishment, and supplies most spirits, to those who eat little animal food; a fact to which the poet Homer alludes:

It

Hasselquist says that garlic does not now grow in Egypt, from whence he questions whether it grew there anciently. But such an argument is by no means sound: for in the physical history of our own country, plants might be adduced which were formerly cultivated here, but which are now extinct.

Leeks. Hasselquist, speaking of this plant, says that the karrat or leek, which is the allium porrum of Linnæus, is surely one of those plants after which the Israelites repined; for it has

been cultivated in Egypt from time immemorial. The inhabitants are extremely fond of it, and the poor people eat it raw with their bread, especially for breakfast, and would scarcely exchange their leeks and bit of bread for a royal dinner.

Onions.—The same author, speaking of onions with reference to Egypt, remarks, "Whoever has tasted onions in Egypt, must allow that none can be had better in any part of the world; here they are sweet, in other countries they are nauseous and strong; here they are soft, whereas in the north and other parts they are hard, and the coats so compact, that they are hard of digestion. Hence they cannot, in any place, be eaten with less prejudice and more satisfaction than in Egypt. They eat them roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of roasted meat, which the Turks in Egypt call Kebah; and with this dish they are so delighted, that I have heard them wish they might enjoy it in paradise. They likewise make a soup of them, cutting the onions in small pieces; this is one of the best dishes I ever ate." Onions appear to have been a staple article of diet in Egypt in ancient times, as they are at the present day in warm countries. Most of the people of Western Asia are remarkably fond of onions, and the Arabs have a childish passion for them. Travellers also mention, that in Greece and Africa raw onions are excellent.

Lentils. The lentil is the lens esculenta of some writers, and the Ervum lens of Linnæus; and it belongs to the leguminous or podded family, all of which are a sort of pulse. The stem of the plant is branched, and the leaves consist of about eight pair of smaller leaflets. The flowers are small, and prettily veined; the pod contains about two seeds; and it flourishes most in a dry, warm, sandy soil. Lentils are much used as food in Egypt, Barbary, and Syria. Dr. Shaw states, that the manner of dressing them in Barbary, is by boiling and stewing them with oil and garlic, which makes a pottage of a chocolate colour; similar, it is supposed, to the "red pottage" for which Esau sold his birth-right, Gen. xxv. 30 -34. In Syria, they are eaten after having been simply parched in a pan over the fire. Three varieties are cultivated in France, "small brown," "yellowish," and the "lentil of Provence."

Beans.-In ancient times, according to Herodotus, the bean was held in abhorrence by the Egyptian priesthood. It is, however, at the present day, no inconsiderable part of the diet of the poor of that country; and Dr. Shaw states, that in Barbary, beans, after they are boiled and stewed with garlic, are the principal food of persons of all distinctions.

ened oval form, opposed to each other, and of a faint green colour. The flowers grow at the extremity of the branches, in long and tufted boquets; the smaller ramifications which support them are red, and likewise opposite; from the arm-pit cavity springs a small leaf, almost round, but terminating in a point; the corolla is formed of four petals, curling up, and of a light yellow. Between each petal are two white stamina with a yellow summit; there is only one pistil. The pedicle, reddish at its issuing from the bough, dies away into a faint green. The calix is cut into four pieces of a tender green, up toward their extremity, which is reddish. The fruit, or berry, is a green capsule previous to its maturity; it assumes a red tint as it ripens, and becomes brown when it is dried; it is divided into four compartments, in which are inclosed the seeds, triangular and brown-coloured. The bark of the stem and of the branches is of a deep grey, and the wood has, internally, a light cast of yellow. In truth, this is one of the most grateful plants to both the sight and smell. The pleasing colour of its bark, the light green of its foliage, the softened mixture of white and yellow with which the flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, are coloured, and the red tint of the ramifications which support them, form a combination of the most agreeable effect. These flowers, whose shades are very delicate, diffuse around the sweetest odours, throughout the gardens and the apartments which they embellish. They accordingly form a favourite nosegay; the women take pleasure to deck themselves with these beautiful clusters of fragrance, to adorn their apartments with them, to carry them to their bath, to hold them in their hand; in a word, to perfume their persons with them. They attach to their possession, which the mildness of the climate, and the facility of culture seldom refuse them, a value so high, that they would willingly appropriate it exclusively to themselves; and they suffer with impatience Christian women and Jewesses to partake of it with them. The same importance seems to have been attached to this species of plant in ancient times. See Sol. Song, iv. 14.

Aloe Soccotrina-This tree grows in the island of Soccotora, in Egypt, of which it is a native. It bears the reputation of producing the best aloes. When old, it has a round stem, three or four feet high; leaves of a sword form, a foot and a half to two feet long, sharp-edged, sawed, hard, and pungent at the apex, often collected in clusters at the top of the stem; and red flowers tipped with green, borne in clusters on tall stalks, which rise erect from among the leaves.

Cummin. This is an umbelliferous plant of

Al-henna.-The henna is a tall shrub, endlessly multiplied in Egypt. The leaves are of a length

The

Asia, and cultivated from time immemorial for the sake of its agreeable aromatic fruit, which, like that of caraway, dill, anise, etc., possesses stimulating and carminative properties. plant grows about a foot high, and is very little branched. As the seeds are suspended by delicate threads, like the nigella, when ripe they may be readily removed.

Calamus Aromaticus.-This is a species of cane which is sweet scented, and which grows in Egypt, Judea, Syria, Arabia, and India. The

plant emits a powerful fragrance even while growing; and when dried, and reduced into powder, it forms a precious perfume.

The Flag. This plant is mentioned as affording a hiding-place for Moses, Exod. ii. 3-5. It is not certain what plant is intended; probably the original was a general term for sea or river weed, of which we may suppose there was a great variety on the margin of the waters of the Nile.

Lily. That the lily anciently grew in Egypt is testified by the hieroglyphics, among which it appears. What species of the lily grew there, is, however, unknown; probably it was the amaryllis lutea, with which the fields of the Levant are overrun. Be it what species it may, it was doubtless full of meaning among that people, as it was among the ancients generally. The fact, indeed, of its being an hieroglyphical representation is sufficient to prove this; for these representations are all fraught with meaning, though many of them are hard to be understood. An heraldic work, published in France, gives the following singular and interesting account of the lily as an emblem: It is the symbol of divinity, of purity, and abundance, and of love; most complete in perfection, charity and benediction; as that mirror of chastity, Susanna, is defined Susa, which signifies the "lily flower;" the chief city of the Persians bearing that name for excellency. Hence the lily's three leaves, in the arms of France, meaneth, piety, justice, and charity.

The Sycamore tree. This tree, the ficus sycamorus of botanists, is celebrated in Palestine, Egypt, and Abyssinia, to the present day. It is a wide spreading tree, attains a considerable height, and exhibits a trunk of large dimensions, striking its bulky diverging roots deep into the soil.

Its fruit seems to have been an important article in the diet of the ancient Egyptians; for the psalmist, recording in holy song the plagues wherewith God had visited that people, says, "He destroyed their sycamore trees with frost," Psa. lxxviii. 47. Travellers inform us, indeed, that it constitutes the greater part of the diet of the people of Egypt at the present day. Give them a piece of bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a jug of water from the Nile, and they think themselves well regaled.. The wood of the sycamore has obtained a high reputation for durability, notwithstanding its porous and spongy appearance. This has arisen from the circumstance that the coffins of the Egyptians, which were made of that wood, remained for many ages in a state of preservation. Dr. Shaw states, that he saw some mummy chests three thousand years old, and he contends from this fact for its extreme durability. Bruce, however, affirms, that some of the wood which he buried in his garden, perished in four years, which has given rise to a probable conjecture on the subject; namely, that the preservation of the sycamore mummy-chests arises partly from a particular preparation, or coating of the coffins; and partly from the dryness of the climate and the sandy soil of Egypt. The wood of the sycamore was also used for boxes, tables, doors, and other objects which required large and thick planks, as well as for making idols and wooden statues.

The Vine. -We learn from Scripture that Egypt was anciently celebrated for its vine trees. It does not appear, however, that the grapes of Egypt were so fine as those of Palestine; for those which the spies brought from Eschol, as a proof of the fertility of the promised land, astonished the Hebrews, and had they seen such in Egypt, it could have been no matter of surprise. Bochart informs us that, in the east, the vine produces three crops in the course of one year. Thus in March, after the tree has produced the first crop of blossoms, the dressers cut away from it that wood which is barren, and in the succeeding month a new shoot,` bearing fruit, springs from the branches, which being lopped also, shoots forth again in May, laden with the latter grapes. Those clusters, therefore, which blossomed successively in March, April, and May, become ripe, and are gathered in August and the two succeeding months.

Besides the vine bearing good grapes, there appears to be a wild vine growing in Egypt, that is, the solanum incanum, or the hoary night-shade. Hasselquist says, that the Arabs call this plant aneb el dib, or "wolf grapes;" that it grows much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them, and that it likewise resembles a vine by its shrubby stalk.

The Cypress.-The cypress, cupressus sempervirens, appears to have been indigenous to Egypt; for we learn from history that coffins and mummy cases were made of its wood. The tree is too well known, being cultivated in our own country to a considerable degree of perfection, to need description.

The Pomegranate. -The punica granatum, or pomegranate tree, in its native state, is a lowly shrub, about eight or ten feet in height, extremely bushy and covered with thorns: when cultivated, however, it is nearly twice that size, more especially in the south of Europe. The flowers differ in different varieties, and while the fruit of the wild plant is only about the size of a walnut, that of the cultivated tree is larger than the largest apple. This is filled with seeds imbedded in a red pulp, which is the part eaten. It seems to have been highly esteemed by the ancients, for we find the Hebrews specifying it as one of the luxuries they had lost by leaving Egypt; and it is enumerated by Moses, with wheat, barley, etc., as a recommendation of the promised land, Deut. viii. 8.

The Date Palm.-This tree is an evergreen, and, to attain perfection, it requires a hot climate, with a sandy soil, yet humid, and somewhat nitreous. Hence, its favourite place is along the rivers which border the hot and sandy deserts, and beside old wells, in the very heart of the desert itself; a circumstance which renders the distant prospect of it a delight to the wanderer in those parched regions, from the assurance of water which it conveys. Mariti says that this tree grows to the height of a man in five or six years' growth; and this is a very rapid growth, if we consider that the trunk rises from the ground of a thickness which never increases. It appears to have been cultivated in Egypt in all ages of the world, and at the present day trees of this kind are very abundant there. Clarke says that the natives are chiefly engaged in the