THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 467 



name, and being in danger of his life, he fled and embark- 

 ed on the Red Sea, failed round the peninfula of Africa, 

 crolTed the Atlantic Ocean, and came fafely to Cadiz. 



The fpirit of inquiry, and defire of travelling, fprCad it- 

 felf inflantly through Egypt, upon this voyage of Eudoxus ; 

 and different travellers pufhecT their difcoveries into the 

 heart of the country, where fome of the nations are report- 

 ed to have been fo ignorant as not to know the ufe of fire ; 

 ignorance almofl incredible, had we not an inflance of it in 

 our own times. It was in the reign of Ptolemy IX. that A- 

 gatharcides * drew up his defcription of the Red Sea. 



The reigns of the other Ptolemies ending in the XIII th of 

 that name, though full of great events, have nothing ma- 

 terial to our prefent fubjeet. Their conftant expence and 

 profufion mull have occafioned a great confumption of 

 trading articles, and very little elfe was wanting; or, if there 

 had, it muft have arrived at its height in the reign of the 

 celebrated Cleopatra; whofe magnificence, beauty, and great 

 talents, made her a wonder, greater than any in her capital. 

 In her time, all nations flocked, as well for curiofity as 

 trade, to Alexandria ; Arabs, Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Jews, 

 and Medes ; and all were received and protected by this 

 princefs, who fpoke to each of them in his own languagef . 



The difcovery of Spain, and the pofTefiion of the mines 

 of Attica from which they drew their filver, and the revo- 



3 N 2 lution 



* Dodwe!''$ Difienat. vol. i. Scrip. Gixc. Min. Id. Ox. 1698. 8vo. 

 % Plut. Vita. Ant. p. 913. torn, 1. part 2. Lubec. 1624. fol. 



