104 A Letter from Cairo. 



the lake ; and towards the south-west, an open space from whence that 

 lake is supplied by the waters of the Nant-y-Gledyr. 



V^''e then arrive at a second line of defence, including however only two 

 sides of the castle. The new trench between the hornwork and the root 

 of the peninsula, along which a streamlet runs from the Nant-y-Gledyr to 

 the farm brook, commences this line on the west; and the outer portion 

 of the inundation continues and completes it on the north. 



This middle line of defence is separated from the outermost, also partial, 

 towards the north-west, by a high bank or knoll, the summit of which has 

 been carved into a lunette or redoubt ; towards the north by a wall and 

 bank of land, intersected for the passage of the northern brook, and to- 

 wards the north-east and east, by the prolongation and expansion of this 

 bank, where it curls round and unites with the dam of the Nant-y-Gledyr, 

 as before described. 



The outer line of defence is, as wc iiave said, like the last, partial, but its 

 partiality respects the northern and eastern sides j it is composed of a line 

 of moat, broken at the south-east angle into two portions by a strip of land, 

 or causeway, which seems to have been left as a passage from a postern. 



The northern limit of this moat commences gradually, in advance of the 

 redoubt; it deepens after receiving the northern brook; and finally, by a 

 channel, partly natural and partly artificial, it passes off towards the 

 Rhymny. 



The eastern limb is entirely artificial, it commences suddenly a few yards 

 from the divergence of the other, makes a sharp angle round to the south, 

 and running along the eastern or principal front of the place, terminates in 

 the bed of the Nant-y-Gledyr, just on the outside of the dam. Thus it is 

 separated from the second line, at first by the natural soil, and afterwards 

 by the artificial substance of the dam. 



It is by no means easy to convey, by the aid of words only, a correct 

 idea of the disposition of a complex piece of ground, but we trust that with 

 the assistance of the plan which will appear with the next part of this 

 essay, our meaning will be tolerably intelligible. 

 (To be continiied.J 



A LETTER FROM CAIRO. 



Cairo, March 14, 1831.* 



Wk left Malta on Saturday evening, the 19th of 



February, and on the next Saturday were off the harbour of Alexandria. 

 On the Saturday morning early, we came to an anchor, and by twelve 

 o'clock were ashore. To the eye of an un travelled European, as he first 



* Although some time has elapsed since the above letter was penned, yet [having 

 the writer's permission] we think it will prove interesting to our i-caders from the 

 very vivid picture which it delineates of the entrance into Egypt. — Ed. 



