24 Geographical Obfervations 



Winding of the Stream^ fuch a Variety of Villages and Planta. 

 tions which prefent themfelves to our View, that from Rozetto 

 to Kairo, and from thence all the Way down the other Branch, 

 to T)amt-atay we have a continued Scene of Plenty and Abun- 

 dance. The many Turnings of the River, make the Diftance 

 from Kairo^ either Way, to be near two hundred Miles, though 

 in a dired Road, it will fcarce amount to half that Number. 

 Kairo, the Kairo, ox Al Kahirah\ commonly called AlMeJJer, lyeth 

 BytoN.^^' nearly two Miles to the Eaftward of the Nile, and fifteen to the 

 Southward of the Delta, as Memphis * is faid to have done. It is 

 built in the Form of a Crefcent, under the Northern Shade of 

 that Mountain, upon which the antient Caftle of the Babylo- 

 nians was lituated. The Khalis (which is the Amnis Trajanus ^ 

 of the Antients, and annually fupplieth the City with Water) 

 runs from one Point of it to another, being, in all, about five 

 Miles in Length. Grand Kairo therefore, according to the 

 Name it ufually goes by among the Europeans, is much infe- 

 riour in Extent ' to feveral Cities of Chrijlendom. However it 

 muft be allowed to be exceeding populous •, for feveral Families 

 live in one Houfe, and a Number of Perfons in each Chamber of 

 it ; during likewife the bufy Time of the Day, all the Streets 

 are fo crowded with People, that there is Difficulty enough to 

 pafs through them. 

 The Cape of Thc Cafllc % whlch might afterwards give Name to the City \ 

 mtrJy'JZ'a- is bullt, as I before obferved, upon this Mountain ; theWay up to 

 {yV/nllnt' It bciug cut all the Way through the Rock, from whence perhaps 



I B^ii>U3\ Al Kahirah, i. e. FiMx, a ^^'i vicir, fubjugavit. Gol. The fame Interpreta- 

 tion hath been put upon Kan-wan, notwithftanding what hath been already obferved, 

 p. 20I. Occuba, fays D'y^vity, baftit au mefine lieu ou il avoit defait Ic Comte Gregoire, une 

 v'tlle qti il nomma Cay re, c' eft a dire Vidoire ; puis on I' appelle Cayravan, c' eft a dire deux 

 ViLloircs, 4 cattfe d' une autre que les Arabes^ obtinerent depuis. Vid. La Defcription generate 

 <<d' Afrique par P. D'Avity. p. 49. But the Inhabitants oi Egypt, and of all the Levant, 

 ufually call Kairo Mejfer, a Name taken from Mizraim the Son of Cham, the firft Planter 

 of this Country. Urbs Foflat eft ipfamet Metfr fie dida a Mifram filio Cam, filii Noe, cui 

 pax: ipfe enim earn xdificaverat primitus. * Dicitur autem appellata fuiiTe /^7^<if, quod 

 volente Amro filio Aas, port captam Metfr, proficifci Alexandriam, praeceperit ut prxcederet 

 eamAlfoftat (i.e. tentorium) & figeretur aut tranfportaretur ante fe : quare accidit utColumba 

 defcenderctjovum in ejus vertice pareret. Quo ad Amrum delato, juffit ut relinqueretur ten- 

 torium eodcm in fitu , donee Columba ovum fuum perficeret. Geogr. Nub. p. 9/. 

 2 Mffxf K ^' 0^^ nC^i^ra 7f i^oiyov eif Auny. .^fr^^. Ut fupra. 3 Vid. Not.3. p.342. 4 Pro- 

 vided the Villages of Old Kairo and Boulac, (whereof This lyeth two Miles to the N. E. 

 the Other at the fame Diftance to the W".} fliould have formerly belonged to this City, 

 Cand indeed the many interjacent Ruins leem to point out fomething of this Kind,} 

 then Kairo would not have been inferiour in Extent to the Metropolis of Great Britain. 

 < Kva-Tttvuiaw/v (T' S^ B«ffA<uv pf«p/oi' Epwj/voi', 'i^ni'PM'iwt fK7Hti5* BaCy^ai'ia))' mav, 4/701 i^nit^azA^ait \y- 

 ToJH^ )(g.TT)i)uiuy TPty, ■^ 'Bamhrnv . Strab.\.l7 .^.1160. 61iu> infti<w t7!«l(Bi'7fl x? Annf Trihiv Ifn/Mv vmii iy 

 Tt/y 7B7I. BrtCvAii^y) v'nov Kii^nu w«, Ka^Swa iig,7ct?pijo[/Sti* tW tt'iyvHiov, J'o/Aniiq. Jud. 1.2. cap.v. 



this 



