324 TRAVELS IN UPPER 



it makes no more impression on their organ, ac- 

 customed to the pungency and the sharpness of 

 natron, than if it were so much dust. 



I can make a reply, by the way, to the seventh 

 part of question sixty-four of Michaelis * : Does 

 the natron, extracted from the lake which is in the 

 desert of St. Macarius, serve Egypt for the purpose 

 of salting, and sometimes instead of kitchen salt P Do 

 the poor, at least, make this use of it P Is it like- 

 wise employed in the salting of bread? Marine salt 

 is in great abundance in Egypt, and at a very low 

 rate, for this reason, the inhabitants have no oc- 

 casion to supply any deficiency in this article with 

 natron, which is not so cheap. In the eighth part 

 of the same question M. Michaelis farther de- 

 mands, Whether natron is to he found no where 

 hut in the lake of the desert of Saint Macarius f It is 

 to be found in a lake called Terr ana, because from 

 this village it is conveyed to be embarked upon 

 the Nile, and this lake is, in reality, in the desert 

 of Nitria, or of St. Macarius. There is likewise 

 some in a less considerable lake, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Damanhour ; but that of Terrana is the 

 largest, and supplies much more of this material. 



The duties on natron were farmed out, and the 

 trade was very productive, both to the merchant 



* Voyageurs savans etcurieux, on Tablettes instructives, &c. 



and 



