32 Notices of Egypt. 
Mahomet Ali is about 67 years old, but bears his age very well. 
He is a little below the middle size, very stout, and to the sight un- 
wieldy : but the eye is deceived, for his active mind allows little rest 
to the body. A rebellion broke out in Syria a fortnight since, caus- 
ed by opposition from the natives to his conscription system: in a 
few days, he was among them, and he has already effectually put it 
down. His forehead is large and rough: his eye, always in motion 
and very keen, with a deep wrinkle running upward from the outer 
corner. The nose, what may be called beaked, mouth falling at 
the corners and garnished with a splendid white beard. The ex- 
pression, when he smiles, is pleasant, but at other times, it makes a 
man feel as he would do when standing near an open barrel of gun- 
powder. His officers and attendants, however, are attached to him, 
and he is said to be fond of playing with his children. His mind 
seems to disdain attention to little things, for at our presentation, we 
found his audience room in the new palace’at Alexandria, plainly 
ornamented, and the chandelier in the middle of it, with one of its 
branches broken off. 
Coal Mine at Carnayl on Mount Lebanon. 
Sept. 12.—In connexion with the improvements under the gov- 
ernment of Mahomet Ali, it may be interesting to learn, that a bed 
of coal, has recently been discovered at Mount Lebanon, and that 
his agents, under the guidance of an English gentleman, of suffi- 
cient skill, are now exploring it with all the energy that the nature 
of that region of country will admit. It is about three miles north 
of the great road, leading from Beiroot to Damascus, and about 
eighteen miles from the former city. I intended, in a recent visit 
to Damascus, to turn aside and examine it, but was prevented by 
circumstances beyond my control, I learned, however, at Beiroot, that 
they have carried their investigations to a considerable extent, and 
I believe, with satisfactory results. In answer to my inquiries in one 
of the cotton manufactories at Cairo, they told me that trial of this 
coal had been made in their steam engine, but that, although it 
burnt well, it did not produce sufficient heat. This, however, was 
immediately after the mining had been commenced, and they hoped 
for better results, when the workmen should penetrate further into 
the bed. I have now some of the coal lying before me: it looks 
as well as any coal I have seen, and, on trial, I have found it burns 
readily and with a clear yellow flame: if an opportunity offers, I 
