C A I R O. 



Cairo, tincd for the provision of the troops. Here is the 

 '-^"r" 1 ' great church of St Macarius, in which the patt; 



of the Copts is installed ; the church of St Sergius 

 contains a cavern held by the Christians in great ve- 

 neration, as being the retreat of the holy family du- 

 ring their abode in Iv^ypt. 



At the entrance of this town, commences the great 

 aqueduct in a hexagonal building, each side of which 

 is eighty feet wide, and one hundred high. Oxen 

 go up a very gentle ascent, and turn a wheel, which 

 raises water from the Nile to the top of the building. 

 From a reservoir stationed here, it flows into the 

 aqueduct, and is thus carried to another reservoir near 

 the castle : there it is raised a second time by several 

 wheels to the palace of the pacha, for the supply of 

 the garrison. The aqueduct is a handsome structure 

 ot rustic work, supported by three hundred arches, 

 and is said to have been built by the Arabs in the 

 sixteenth century, in imitation of a similar work now 

 in ruins, which supplied the citadel of Postal. 



Near this place, too, begins the great kalige or 

 canal. Diverging from the Nile at a pretty sharp 

 angle, it proceeds down towards Cairo, divides that 

 city into two portions, filling in its passage all the 

 ponds, reservoirs, and private canals of the place, and 

 empties itself some leagues to the east in the Birque, 

 a lake surrounded at present by the villas and plea- 

 ure-houses of the rich, and famous as the rendez- 

 vous of the pilgrims of Mecca. The extent between 

 the Nile and the Birque forms but a small portion of 

 this stupendous canal. It once communicated with 

 the Red Sea ; and vessels laden with the productions 

 of Egypt traversed the burning desert. This work 

 is ascribed by Savary, on the suspicious authority of 

 the Arabian writers, to the caliphate of Omar, whose 

 dominions at home being afflicted with famine, he is 

 said to have commanded Amrou (who had just con- 

 quered Egypt, and burnt the library of Alexandria) 

 to " dig a kalige," for the conveyance of grain. 

 Hence this canal is styled by the Orientals, * The 

 River of the Prince of the Faithful." But our best 

 antiquaries ascribe it to the emperor Trajan, calling it 

 by the name of Amnis Trajanus, a canal mentioned 

 by Ptolemy ; and indeed it appears to us infinitely 

 more likely to be the work of a Roman emperor, 

 than of a sanguinary horde of barbarians in the me- 

 ridian heat of their religious fanaticism. This canal 

 is certainly of great utility to Cairo and the neigh- 

 bourhood, as it fills the reservoirs within and without 

 the walls, and thus ensures a supply of water for house- 

 hold purposes, and for the irrigation of the lands. It 

 is accordingly cleaned very carefully every year fur the 

 reception ot the flood, and for some time is used as a 

 street. This opei ation, however, being delayed as long 

 as possible, to prevent a fresh accumulation of obsta- 

 cles, the canal remains for six months after the recess 

 of thewater in a most horrible condition. The quan- 

 tities of filth which it then daily accumulates, pre- 

 vent its being dried by the heat of the sun within 

 the city ; and the detestable smell which is produ 

 ced, durii.g the hut season, from this putrid mass of 

 stagnant water, soil, and dead fish, which are here 

 lefi in great quantities by the Nile, infects the air, 

 and, at some have cunjeciuied, gives rise to the 

 plague. It must be observed, however, that many 



of the best housec are built on thil canal, where alto 

 it the quarter of the European*. During the influx 

 of the inundation it it extremely pli asai.t, and pre- 

 sents a splendid exhibition of Egyptian fashion, br- 

 ing covered with parties of pleasure in their light skiffs 

 and gilt barges, regaled with every species of music, 

 and enjoying, in the midst of thousands of spectators, 

 who at this time crowd their terraces and window*, 

 the refreshing coolness of the recent flood. 



Between Fostat, on the right bank of the Nile, 

 and Geza, a small village on the opposite side, is the 

 island of Rhoda, a pleasant spot in the middle of the 

 river, about a mile in length, and entirely covered 

 with large sycamore trees, and the most lovely ver- 

 dure. The southern extremity of this island is forti- 

 fied with bulwarks of the strongest masonry, to re- 

 sist the force of the current. Over this breast-work 

 is erected the building which contains the celebrated 

 Milometer, called Mekiaa, an accurate engraving of 

 which the reader will find in Pococke. This water 

 gauge, which has been visited by every traveller into 

 Egypt, consists of a very superb marble pillar witfc 

 a Corinthian capital, rising out of the centre of a ba- 

 sin, which has a communication with the Nile ; and 

 being accurately graduated to the top, exhibits the 

 quantity of increase or diminution in the height of 

 the river. Over the pillar is built a magnificent 

 dome, supported by columns placed round the basin, 

 and the whole is surrounded by the ruins of a great 

 palace. It is unnecessary to remind the reader of the 

 importance attached by the Egyptians to the annual 

 overflowing of the Nile. As little or no rain falls in 

 that country, the crops depend entirely on artificial 

 irrigation ; and when the waters of the Nile do not 

 fill the canals and reservoirs, called birques, as well 

 as deposit on the fields its fertilizing slime, vain are 

 the labours of the husbandman. The Egyptians ac- 

 cordingly have, in nil ages, assiduously watched its 

 progress, and ascertained its quantity by a nilometer. 

 The present mekias is above nine hundred years old. 

 As soon as the river has be^nn to rise, its daily in- 

 crea.-e is watched by an officer, who continually 

 tranhir.i'.s hi report to Cairo, where it is proclaimed 

 and received with the utmost eagerness. When it 

 has risen to the desired height, about sixteen cubits, 

 and the people have paid to the grand senior the 

 tax for the use of the water, the pacha, attended by 

 the beys and the whole of the court, goes in grand 

 procession from Cairo, to be present at the opening 

 of the great canal, which we have already described 

 as intersecting that capital. Upon a signal given by 

 the pacha, the workmen immediately opeu the mouth 

 of the canal, which till now has been kept &hut, and, 

 as the water rushes into it handfuls of silver are 

 thrown into the stream by the nobility, by which 

 means a most amusing aquatic scramble is produced 

 among the populace, who dive for the money. At 

 the same instant, multitudes of people in thousand* 

 of boats, and decked in their gayest attire, are eager 

 to glide into the canal, and witii the soui.d of vocal 

 and instrumental music testify their joy on the occa- 

 The pacha, at the same tirre, going on board 







sion. 



his magnificent bark, accompanied by the whole of 

 his attendants in their barges, returns by water to 

 Cairo iu the same order of procession as he had gone 

 S 



