ROSETTA. 



of the fun, and by their flowers rendering the fhade of 

 thefe groves delightful. The houfcs of Rofetta, fays Son- 

 nini, are much better built, in general, than thofe of Cairo : 

 its lituation upon the banks of the river ; the view of the 

 Delta, which prefents, as Savary defcribes it, the de- 

 lightful profpeft of the mod beautiful culture, the per- 

 fumed groves in its neighbourhood, and its pure and 

 wholefome air, have moll defervedly procured for it the 

 name of the " garden of Egypt." Commerce conititutes 

 the principal wealth of the inhabitants of Rofetta. The 

 importation of foreign merchandize to Cairo, and of the 

 produ&ions of Egypt into the port of Alexandria, em- 

 ploys a great number of mariners. (See Boghass and 

 Schekm.) The bar of the Nile is totally Ihut during 

 two months of the year, and the commerce of Alexandria 

 is interrupted. But if all the mips in Egypt were to 

 perilh, the Ottoman government, fays Savary, would not 

 remove one inch of ground of the canal of Faoue to render 

 it navigable. It fuffers every thing to go to ruin, and re- 

 pairs nothing. 



In the town of Rofetta a profound filence reigns, un- 

 interrupted by the noife of any carriage. The inhabitants 

 move with gravity through the ftreets, clad in long robes 

 which hang down to their heels. Their heads are covered 

 with heavy turbans, or bound round with a fchale or fhawl, 

 which is a long piece of fluff made of filk or wool. The 

 girdle is made ufe of by both fexes. The citizen is armed 

 with a knife, the foldier with a iabre, and a pair of piftols. 

 The women of the lower clafs, whofe drels confilt6 of a 

 large blue fhift, and a long pair of drawers, have their faces 

 covered with a piece of linen, with holes oppofite to the 

 eyes. The rich wear a large white veil, with a cloak of 

 black iilk, that wraps up their whole body. But though 

 they are thus mafked, they are not fcrupulous in making 

 figns, nor in ogling. 



The mofl ordinary paftime here is fmoking and drinking 

 coffee. From morning to night the inhabitants have their 

 pipes in their mouths ; at home, in each other's houfes, in 

 the ftreets, on horfeback, they keep their pipe lighted, and 

 the tobacco-bag is hung at their waift. If the inhabitants 

 of Roletta be lefs barbarous, fays Sonnini, than thofe of 

 the other parts of Egypt, they are not lefs ignorant, lefs 

 fuperllitious, nor lefs intolerant. We find among them, 

 although with (hades more foftencd down, the fame rough- 

 nefs of character, the fame implacable averliou towards the 

 natxins of Europe, and difpolition to infult both Chriflians 

 and Jews, the iame revengeful difpolition, in a word, the 

 fame treachery ; and they are addicted to the fame fhameful 

 vices, fome of which we cannot name. 



The country round Roletta is an immenfe furface, with- 

 out a mountain or hill, interle&ed by innumerable canals, 

 covered with harveft and a variety of trees, which winter 

 never (trips of their leaves. The foil is a black mould, the 

 iertility of which is inexhauftible. The chief article of 

 • iiltivation is rice, called in the vicinity of Rofetta " fultani," 

 v> Inch is fown from the month of March to that of May, 

 tranfplanted on the banks of the Nile, and on the borders 

 ut the canals at the end of July, and cut in November. 

 (See Egypt.) Rice tonus a principal article of exporta- 

 tion, which they dry by fpreading upon the terraces of 

 the houfes and in the public fquares ; a«d to this opera- 

 tion is attributed the multitude of gnats, with which the 

 town and the iufide of the houfes are tilled at the time 

 when it is performed. 



Rofetta, befides being the great emporium of the trade 

 that is carried on between Cairo and Alexandria, has fome 

 branches of commerce peculiar to itfelf ; fuch as fpun- 

 Voi. XXX. 



cotton, dyed red, which is drawn from the adjacent diftridls ; 

 dreffed flax, linen cloths, iilk dyes for the eaftern dreffes, 

 &c. The flax of the country, which is long, foft, and 

 lilky, would make beautiful linen, if they knew how to 

 employ it ; but the fpinfters are very inexpert, and the 

 thread they make is clumfy, hard, and uneven. The linens 

 they bleach ferve for the table ; the reft, dyed blue, is em- 

 ployed for the clothing of the people. In Rofetta there 

 are Itore-houfes of natron, and manufactories where it is 

 ufed. (See Natron.) Moil of the merchants of this 

 town are Turks or Syrians, and fome from Barbary. The 

 Copts are numerous, together with fome Arabs. The 

 command of the town is veiled in an officer of the Mam- 

 louks, who bears the title of Aga. About a league from 

 the fea, northward of Rofetta, are two caftles, one on the 

 weftern bank of the Nile, and the other on the oppofite 

 bank of the river, conftrucSted to defend the entrance of 

 the river. The former, which is afcribed to St. Lewis in 

 the time of the crufades, is almoil entirely demolifhed ; and 

 the few cannon which remain in it are unfit for ftrvice. 

 Thefe two forts, though inconfiderable, and in a ruinous 

 date, would be fufficient to itop veffels from entering the 

 river, if the Turks knew how to make ufe of cannon ; but 

 here they have no occafion for it ; as nature has guarded 

 the mouth of the Nile, by raifing a dangerous bar, called 

 the Bughafs or Boguz,, which is the terror of mariners. 

 About half a league to the fouth of Rofetta is a tower, 

 called the tower of Canopus, from the erroneous fup- 

 pofition that Rofetta is on the fcite of the ancient 

 Canopus. This tower has been built, in modern times, 

 upon a hillock of fand, which at this place forms the 

 W. bank of the Nile. It is fquare, and partly demo- 

 lifhed. In the lower part the inhabitants of this dif- 

 tridt fhew the opening of a fubterraneous paffage, which, 

 as they fay, led to Alexandria. Near the top of the 

 fame is prcfentcd a general view of the country, 

 having no bounds except thofe which nature has pre- 

 fcribed ; and near its foot, clofe to the edge of the Nile, 

 Hands a mofque, confecratcd to a holy Muflulman, called 

 " Abou-Mandour," which fignifies father of the light. 

 This faint, if he be the father ot the light, is alfo the terror 

 of the fands, as, but for him, they would long ago have 

 overwhelmed Roletta, and added it to their dreary domain. 

 Oppofite to this mofque, upon the E. bank of the Nile, 

 are two or three houfes, called Maadee, becaufe they Hand 

 at the place facing the ufual pallagc to the Delta. On 

 the welt bank, at a Ihort diltance above Abou-Mandour, is 

 Dgeddie, a conliderable village, in the environs of which 

 a great number of vine-plants grow in the fand ; from 

 hence Rofetta and Alexandria are fupplied with grapes. 



At the foot of the tower above-mentioned, a large femicir 

 cular baton announces a port, which has been choaked up by 

 the land. In digging at the bottom of this hillock, twenty 

 beautiful marble pillars were difcovered by a Turkifh mer- 

 chant, who was ftripped of his fortune by the Beys, from 

 an imagination that he had carried off a treafure from thi« 

 place. M. d'Anville fufpedts that the ancient Bolhitini 

 mult have been at a very iinall dillance from the (pot on 

 which Rofetta now Ham!.. The ruins now mentioned 

 let in to confirm his conjecture ; a- they are at the extremity 

 of a town, and can only belong to the Bolbitina fpoken of by 

 Steph. By/., and which gives u of the branchei 



of the Nile. This place is very picture I que ; the tower, 

 falling i.ilo ruins is furrounded by tombs, and to the well- 

 ward is a defart plain, win It limning extent the eye cannot 

 look over without horror ; hut on the E. the contrail is 

 very Itriking, prcienting a majcftjc river, and the Delia, 

 4 E uniting 



