no TRAVELS IN UPPER 



pear from the markets about the beginning of' 

 April. You find there small apricots, the pro- 

 duce of trees planted in the open air *. They 

 are called mischmhch^ and have an agreeable fla- 

 vour. They dry them, and afterwards dress them 

 as sauce to meats. These dishes, which usually 

 garnish the tables of the rich, arc of the best sort 

 which come from Egyptian kitchens. 



But that species of fruit which, by its pulp and 

 its cooling liquor, is the best qualified for allaying 

 the inward heat which the climate excites, is the 

 pasteca, or water-melon -f-. The cultivation of this 

 is one of the most general and most prolific in 

 Upper Egypt. The pastecas here are a great deal 

 better than in the lower part, or even at Cairo. 

 The markets are filled with them ; and they sell at 

 a very moderate price, by which means the poor, 

 as well as the rich, have it in their power to cool 

 themselves with their aqueous and sugary juice. 

 Their Arabic name is hat tech. These water- me- 

 lons of Egypt are round, and grow Xo a very large 

 size. Those of the best quality, when they are 

 fully ripe, have a perfectly smooth rind of a deep 

 and blackish green. Thestripes are slightly marked. 



* PtJtnus armeniaca^ misjmisj. Forskal, Flora Egypt.-Arab. 

 page 67. 



I Cuchrb'itn citrullus^ yEgyptiis battich. Forskal, Flora Egypt.- 

 Arab. page 75. 



The 



