LETTER XLIl. 



FLAX — THE DISCOMFITED FLOHISTS. 



I HAVE not yet done with my tuft of flax. 



Flax has a slender stalk a foot high, and is of a sea-green 

 colour; every morning it displays pretty pale blue flowers, 

 which yield to the ardour of the sun, fall, and are replaced by 

 others on the morrow. 



Some tolerably large books have been written upon this 

 important subject : were the vestments of the Egyptian 

 priests, and of the persons initiated into the mysteries of 

 Isis, really made of linen or cotton? 



Upon this question travellers afibrd us the following in- 

 formation : — 



Osbeck (Voyage aux Indes) says that flax is not known in 

 Egypt. Olivier (MImoire sur I'Egypte) says that immense 

 quantities of flax are cultivated in that country. 



