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DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
Niebuhr, situated in N. L. 3V 24/, is of Arabic 
origin, oblong and irregular, without walls or for- 
tress. It was founded, according to Elmacin, in 
870. The Nile of Rosetta is about I6 miles dis- 
tant from the Canopic mouth, and is threatened 
with a similar fate, as its channel, from the accu- 
mulation of sand, is very dangerous to mariners, 
having scarcely six feet of water on the bar. The 
position of the ancient Metelis is about eight 
miles above Rosetta, at the separation of the Bol- 
bitine and Canopic branches of the Nile. The 
country in the vicinity of Rosetta is the most 
beautiful and fertile in Egypt, and exhibits con- 
siderable diversity of scenery, considering the 
uniform aspect of the soil. No romantic views, 
no sublime mountains, no picturesque 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 com- 
merce, and was superior to it in wealth, so long 
as the Canopic branch continued navigable. In 
the fifteenth century, when the naturalist Belon 
travelled in Egypt, it was inferior only to Cairo ; 
but it now yields to Rosetta, both in size and 
