gC TRAVELS IN UPPER 



of a fiery sun, and in softening the rustic and mi- 

 serable aspect of the houses, is in common to this 

 with the other parts of the country. 



This place must not be confounded with a large 

 village, of which th,e very similar name of Twnith 

 might occasion some mistake. But this last, in the 

 neighbourhood of which there is a canal, is de- 

 pendant on the K'kischeJJick of K/jo/i, and about 

 five hours journey from Faium itself. 



Between Siouf and Tom'ieh we met with Ahou- 

 iij>e, another considerable market-town. Fragments 

 ofancient ediiices and rubbish mark here the site of • 

 the ancient city o( Ahotus. But all is degraded, all 

 is destroyed. There are here no monuments, no 

 remarkable fragments in preservation, every thing 

 here is broken down and laid in heaps. 



We experienced many difficulties in finding ^ 

 place of abode at Tomieh^ and it was only by hav- 

 ing recourse to the authority of the K'laschef that I 

 was able to obtain a shelter for the night. They 

 shew in the mosque a camel of stone ; you see it 

 turn itself towards Mecca, at the instant when the 

 caravan of the pilgrims departs from Cairo, and 

 turn again towards Cairo when it leaves Mecca. 

 Such is the fable which the inhabitants of Toynleh 



relate. 



