CAIRO 
375 
two or three stories high, built of solid stone, with vaulted roofs ; 
in each of which are cannon. After quitting the Divan, we visited 
the hall of Joseph, a noble apartment, but in ruins ; four enormous 
pillars of red granite sustained the roof, which is now gone. They 
are each of one piece. The capitals are Egyptian, and seem to have 
been removed from some more ancient building. The walk along the 
ramparts on this side is as beautiful as on the other : the view from 
it commands the town of Cairo, with its numerous minarets, and 
public buildings : beyond lies the Nile, the island ofRhoda covered 
with large sycamore trees, the verdant plain,* and the Pyramids. 
The line of forts erected on the different hillocks from the citadel to 
the Nile, are seen to a considerable distance on the left : the aqueduct 
of old Cairo extends to the same distance on the left, and the noble 
mosque which I have before mentioned forms a bold foreground to the 
view. On this side of the fort are mounted many cannon and mor- 
tars. The Turks considered the citadel more as a place to overawe 
the town, than to protect it from foreign enemies. When first built, 
the use of gunpowder was unknown, and it was equally valuable 
in both points of view, as it was too far from el Mokattem to be 
injured from it by any thing except artillery. We next passed to a 
very noble room, supported by numerous pillars of granite, each a 
single piece: all of these, except four, were Egyptian ; the others 
had Corinthian capitals. The roof had fallen in, but at a great 
height a cornice of wood four feet broad still remained, ornamented 
with inscriptions from the Koran. Mr. Salt's drawings will give a 
better idea of these than any description. 1 believe all the pillars to 
have belonged to some more ancient building. Opposite to this 
room is another, which overlooked the city : it had been intirely 
