AND LOWER EGYPT. 1 53 



Near the ruins of Tenlyris is a large village, 

 which has preserved nothing of the splendour of 

 the ancient city but its name of Dendera, which 

 recalls something of its antique origin. It is built 

 at some distance from the western shore of the 

 Nile, at the extremity of a very fertile plain. 

 The orchards surrounding it, the fruits of which, 

 such as oranges, lemons, pomegranates, grapes, 

 and figs, are exquisite, render it delightful, and 

 procure there a delicious coolness in the midst of 

 countries so scorched. A forest of palm and of 

 fruit trees, of which the ancients have made men- 

 tion, exists still in its environs, and supplies the 

 greatest part of the fuel consumed in Egypt. 



A prince of the Arabs, with the title of emlry 

 governs Dendera as sovereign, and the country 

 which surrounds it ; however, he pays tribute to 

 the beys of Cairo. I presented myself at the man- 

 sion of the emir : he was very badly lodged : the 

 people who surrounded him had the worst appear- 

 ance, and every thing in his house announced, 

 not so much an agreeable simplicity as a wretched 

 penury. The prince was habited in the same 

 manner with his subjects, in a long black frock, 

 and he was distinguished from them only by his 

 turban. But what really distinguished him, was 

 the excellent mind with which he was endowed, 

 and which rendered hira far superior to the other 



powerful 



