KOOLYA. 253 
ones, though I remember none so well. All have high sterns, with 
a sort of houses on them, and are full of men, women, and the 
products of the soil. Sometimes their tall yards are descried for 
miles inland, and even over the sand of the desert, when a fleet of 
them is on another branch of the Delta whose waters are out 
of sight. 
At three, p.m., we had our first view of the Pyramids, on the 
right bank of the river. At this distance, about forty miles, they 
appear like little blue cones on the horizon, not large enough to 
be wonderful, as objects of art, nor small enough to escape obser- 
vation altogether. The first view of Cairo is very grand, espe- 
cially at sunset, when the sinking san darts forth golden beams 
along the mysterious desert, lighting up the Pyramids, which 
appear in strong relief, and gildmg the white hill that overtops 
Cairo, with its citadel, mosques, and larger buildings. The fer- 
tility of the banks of the Nile increased as we neared the city, 
the belt of verdure being itself very broad, and the wooded portion 
of it, on the immediate shores, becoming more dense. A few 
miles below the town are Mehemet Ali’s country-gardens and 
palace of Shoobra, a very pretty but formally arranged spot, loaded 
with Orange-Trees, enclosed by clipped hedges of Myrtle, Gera- 
nium, Hibiscus, and other plants, disposed in figures amongst 
gravel walks. 
* * * * * * 
We arrived at Koolva, a place on the Nile a few miles below 
Cairo where Mehemet Ali had a palace prepared for us, about 
9 o'clock in the afternoon. There the Governor-General landed, 
accompanied by those who must be with him, whilst I went on with 
à party of the officers to the city, in preference to being located so 
far off. At 9, we reached the landing-place, where the Pacha 
had carriages waiting to conduct us whither we pleased, the 
Servants bearing lighted cressets. Our party consisted of two 
Lieutenants, Perrier, son of the Consul at Brest, and relative of 
J. W. Croker, Esq., and Porcher, who was with Capt. Blackwood 
m H.M.S. Fly; two Midshipmen, Mr. Caleraft, a relative of Lord 
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