26 TRAVELS IN UPPER 



time before I was introduced to him. It was not 

 for himself that he had sent for me, but for an old 

 Arab who had been bhnd for two years. It was a 

 matter of astonishment through all the camp, when 

 I was heard to declare that my skill did not extend 

 so far as to operate miracles, and that nothing less 

 than one could restore sight to the Arab. I took 

 leave oC the Sr/ieick, who was called Mahmoud, and 

 of the innumerable quantity of flies with which the 

 tents of this camp swarmed. I never had seen such 

 an assemblage of vermin in any of the countries I 

 visited. 'I resumed the road to Sio7it by the route 

 of Manfelout» 



In these two cities the greatest part of the popu- 

 lation is composed of Cophts. Most of them are 

 occupied in the manufacture of blue cloths, in 

 which they carry on a considerable commerce. Be- 

 ing theonly people in that part of Egypt who knew 

 Low to read and write, they were the stewards, the 

 administrators, the secretaries, of rich or powerful 

 men, and they understood perfectly, as well as those 

 in other places, how to make an advantageous use 

 of the confidence and the incapacity of those whose 

 property they had in their management. Several of 

 them acquired great riches, but they had the good 

 sense to use them with moderation, and entirely 

 within doors. They knew too well the danger 

 which they incurred, by openly displaying their 

 I opulence 



