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DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
westerly channel of Canopus. From Bolbitinum, 
a city mentioned by Stephanus Byzantinus, the 
ruins of which exist, a little above Rosetta, this 
artificial channel derived the name of the Bolbitine 
branch of the Nile. By Ptolemy it is denominat- 
ed Tali. Rosetta, according to Niebuhr, situated 
in N. L. SI 9 24', is of Arabic origin, oblong and 
irregular, without walls or fortress. It was found- 
ed, according to Elmacin, in 870. The Nile of 
Rosetta is about 16 miles distant from the Cano- 
pic mouth, and is threatened with a similar fate, 
as its channel, from the accumulation of sand, is 
very dangerous to mariners, having scarcely six 
feet of water on the bar. The position of the an- 
cient Metelis is about eight miles above Rosetta, 
at the separation of the Bolbitine and Canopic 
branches of the Nile. The country in the vicini- 
ty of Rosetta is the most beautiful and fertile in 
Egypt, and exhibits considerable diversity of scen- 
ery, considering the uniform aspect of the soil. 
No romantic views, no sublime mountains, no pic- 
turesque declivities, relieve the uniformity of the 
plain ; but the red desert on the west, with the 
barren hillocks of sand, is finely contrasted with 
the green rice fields, the tufted sycamores, the 
orange groves, and the yellow flowers of the cassia. 
Twenty miles above Rosetta, on the banks of the 
Nile, is situated Fouah, which rivalled Rosetta in 
commerce, and was superior to it in wealth, so 
