136 
DESCRIPTIONS QF EGYPT. 
from that of Damietta. It was originally an in- 
trenched camp of the Arabs, when they besieged 
Damietta,* and was rendered illustrious by the 
misfortunes of the crusaders under St Louis. Da- 
mietta, the emporium of commerce between 
Egypt and Syria, is situated on the Phatmetic 
branch of the Nile, and, according to Niebuhr, in 
N. L. 31° 25'. The city is without walls, and is 
built in the form of a crescent, on the winding 
bank of the river, at the distance of six miles 
from the sea. The adjacent country on both 
sides of the Nile is beautiful and fertile, though 
it participates in the tameness of Egyptian sce- 
nery. The exuberant soil produces, in lavish 
profusion, fruits and flowers all the year round. 
The adjacent villages are surrounded with groves, 
where the elegant cassia displays its clusters of 
yellow flowers, beside the sycamore, the date, 
and the melancholy tamarind. The rivulets which 
intersect the flelds of rice, are lined with different 
kinds of reeds, whose narrow leaves and white 
flowers produce a very picturesque effect. In 
the vicinity of Damietta, the ancient papyrus 
vegetates luxuriantly, and rises to the height of 
nine feet. In the marshes and canals, the mystic 
lotus, which the Arabs denominate Nuphar, raises 
* Abulfedae Descript. ^gypt. p. 51. Vid. D'Herbelofe, 
Bibl. OrieDt. ad Verb. Mansoura. 
