174 TRAVELS IN AFRICA, 
of thiftle that feems to thrive among rulns» It is raoft conve- 
niently vifited from the Coptic convent called Abu-Nemrus, 
None of the fine marbles that are fcattered fo profufely at 
Alexandria are difcoverable here ; whether it be that they were 
never ufed, or carried away to adorn other places. 
Of the feveral capitals of Egypt in fucceflive ages, Thebes, 
or Diofpolis, feems the moft antient. Next was Memphis, itfelf 
a city of the moft remote antiquity. Babylon feems to have 
been only the capital of a part retained by the Perfians, after 
Cambyfes had fubdued Egypt, and was, by all accounts, founded 
by the Perfians. Alexandria fucceeded Memphis, and remained 
the chief city, till the Saracens founded Mifr-ct-Kahlra. 
