DAMIETTA. 
417 
French, who began to erect on its site a fort which would have been 
strong, but which they had not time to finish. It has a lofty brick 
wall, but no ditch nor glacis ; within, three excellent barracks were 
finished ; but the ruins of the ancient houses were not removed. I 
examined the whole of the place to see if I could discover any of 
the ruins mentioned by Savary, as existing in his time, and which 
he conceived to be the remains of the ancient Damietta, which was 
first besieged and taken by the Crusaders, and afterwards by St. 
Louis ; but without the least success ; not a vestige of a wall was 
visible, nor were there any heaps of pottery, nor any mixture of 
lime and brick with the soil; but where the canals were cut, the 
black mud of the Nile alone appeared. The mosque he mentions, 
could not be the one left when the Sultaun of Egypt destroyed the 
town, as it is of a modern date. Certainly, if Savary have faithfully 
translated the quotations he has given from Macrizi and Abulfeda, 
there can be no doubt that the ancient Damietta was destroyed, in 
order to prevent its being taken by the Christians, and a new town 
of the same name was built higher up the river ; yet it is difficult to 
comprehend what advantage would arise from removmg it only a 
few miles, to the site of the present town, or indeed for its removal 
at all, since the walls and fortifications alone were of importance, and 
their complete destruction would have precluded the possibility of 
its again becoming an asylum to a vanquished enemy. 
The present town is not five miles from the mouth of the river, 
and I cannot but think it probable, that the ancient Damietta was 
at nearly the same distance ; for the Crusaders found a great chain 
extended across the river from two towers, which were probably at 
some short distance from the sea, and after breaking that, found a 
VOL. III. 3 H 
