122 MEMOIR OP BTJRCKHARDT. 



gold from the ruins of temples, by secretly marking 

 tbe stones under which it is hid. 



The letters which Burckhardt wrote to London, 

 during his stay in Cairo, contain many valuable 

 observations on the events which occurred about 

 that time in Egypt and Arabia ; such as the pro- 

 secution and termination of the Wahabi war by the 

 destruction of Deraiah, their capital; the govern- 

 ment and manners of the Egyptians ; the researches 

 of Belzoni, Bankes, and Salt among the ruins on the 

 Nile ; the geography and statistics of the surround- 

 ing regions ; and, generally, upon those topics which 

 were his principal objects of inquiry, as agent of 

 the African Association. One cause of regret only 

 existed, his detention in Egypt by the non-arrival 

 of the Fezzan caravan, which he ascribed to the 

 increased demand for black slaves on the coast of 

 Barbary, to replace the white slaves so gloriously 

 delivered by the English fleet and the redaction of 

 Algiers. 



In the pilgrimage to Mecca of the year 1817> 

 among the hajjis that visited the temple from every 

 part of the Mohammedan world, was a party of 

 Moggrebeyns, or "Western Africans, who were ex- 

 pected to return home, as usual, by way of Cairo 

 and Fezzan. It was believed the caravan would 

 take its departure from Egypt in the month of De- 

 cember; and as Burckhardt had now transmitted 

 the last of his journals to England, it was with the 

 utmost satisfaction that he contemplated the pro- 

 spect, which at length so opportunely offered, of 



