THE ARABIAN RACE. 



247 



I had previously seen Greeks at Malta ; and even in one or two in- 

 stances, persons wearing the Oriental costume. Several Greeks and 

 Muslims, from Constantinople and Smyrna, were now deck-passen- 

 gers in the Alexandria steamboat. Some embarrassment arising in 

 consequence of the quarantine regulations, a good-natured man ad- 

 dressed me in English; and while in the midst of Europeans, I found 

 myself under obligations to an Egyptian Arab. My acquaintance thus 

 commenced with Ishmael Moosa; who had accompanied a party of 

 travellers through Syria and Asia Minor, and was now on his return. 

 He complained of the quarantine house at Syra, and at the same time, 

 spoke rather lightly of the Greeks in general. 



In respect to his own country, he stated, that the people of Upper 

 Egypt " are all black, the climate turns them black." I remembered 

 that the same words had been used by Herodotus, derived perhaps 

 from a not very dissimilar source ; and as they have given rise to 

 controversy, I will mention, that on subsequently meeting Ishmael 

 Moosa at Thebes, he took occasion, in manifest disregard of the evi- 

 dence of the senses, to repeat the assertion. 



We obtained a distant view of Crete and of Mount Ida ; and on 

 the 14th, we reached the low shores of Egypt. The first glance on 

 landing at Alexandria, sufficed to dispel all ideas of romance as con- 

 nected with Oriental life. 



Excepting my slight introduction at Malta, I was now for the first 

 time within the territorial domain of history; and passing the modern 

 village, I looked around, expecting to see ruins. What had become 

 of the great city of Alexander, for so many centuries the emporium 

 of the world ? The ground was only hilly and uneven ; and a culti- 

 vator complained of its being 'stony,' meaning by the expression, the 

 fragments of pottery. 



Two objects, however, still mark the site of the ancient city ; and 

 towards one of them, on the following day, I directed my steps. 

 The cabins of the South Seas, were palaces in comparison with the 

 low mud hovels on the way; and the whole neighbourhood was dis- 

 gusting. On reaching the base of the obelisk, my attention was 

 principally engaged by the size and the bold sculpture of the charac- 

 ters, seemingly designed to transmit a record through ages of bar- 

 barism. The dimensions of the stone were sufficiently astonishing ; 

 and I next considered, the intellectual attainments of the existing 

 population. Turning to my Barabra guide, "Ali," said I, " who do you 



