#24 JOHN LEDYARD. 



them, since they proceed from the jealousy I have 

 not to lose the regard you have in times past been 

 pleased to honor me with. You are not obliged to 

 esteem me ; but I am obliged to esteem you, or to 

 take leave of my senses and confront the opinions 

 of the greatest and best characters I know, If I 

 cannot, therefore, address myself to you as a man 

 you regard, I must do it as one that regards you for 

 your own sake, and for the sake of my country, 

 which has set me the example. 



" I made my tour from Alexandria by water, and 

 entered the Nile by the western branch of the 

 mouth of the river. I was five days coming from 

 Cairo; but this passage is generally made in four, 

 and sometimes in three days. You have heard and 

 read much of the Nile, and so had I; but when I 

 saw it I could not conceive it to be the same. What 

 eyes do travellers see with ? Are they fools or 

 rogues ? For heaven's sake, hear the plain truth 

 about it. First, in regard to its size. Obvious 

 comparisons in such cases are good. Do you know 

 the river Connecticut? Of all the rivers I have 

 seen, it most resembles that in size. It is a little 

 wider, and may on that account better compare 

 with the Thames. This is the mighty, the sovereign 

 of rivers, the vast Nile, that has been metamor- 

 phosed into one of the wonders of the world. Let 



