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majestic ruins; and not only in that once proud capital, but in 

 many of her conquered kingdoms and provinces. Few cities, per- 

 haps, excelled Alexandria in such embellishments. When it wa3 

 taken by the Saracens the number of baths exceeded four thou- 

 sand, as we learn from the conflagration of the Alexandrian 

 library, by order of the caliph Omar; when seven hundred thou- 

 sand volumes were condemned to be used as fuel to heat them: 

 and notwithstanding that amazing number of baths, six months 

 elapsed before all the books were consumed. The literary world 

 must ever lament this cruel mandate of ignorance and bigotry. 

 The manuscripts had been accumulating for ages; and the art of 

 printing being then unknown, the loss was irreparable! 



In Ahmedabad, as in most other large oriental cities, are a sort 

 of news-writers, or gazetteers, who at midnight record all the 

 transactions of the preceding day, and send them off by express 

 halcarras, or messengers, to their correspondents in distant pro- 

 vinces. During the splendour of the Mogul government, in the 

 capital of every district, the emperor maintained a gazetteer, an 

 historiographer, and a spy, to collect and record the occurrences 

 of the day; and immediately to transmit them to a public officer 

 at the imperial court, who laid such as were of importance before 

 the sovereign. 



Not far from the city wall is a beautiful lake, called Kokarea, 

 about a mile in circumference, lined with hewn stone, and a 

 flight of steps all around. The four entrances, which were pro- 

 bably formerly approached through avenues of the red tamarind- 

 tree, are adorned with cupolas, supported by pillars; in the centre 

 is an island, with a summer-palace, and gardens shaded by the 



