158 DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
Commerce and oi^ulence of Coptos, and possessed 
it during the dominion of the Arabs. Abulfeda 
relates that it was; the emporium of the commerce 
of Aden, the capital of Yemen, which, during the 
15th century, mc)nopolized the trade of India 
and Egypt. When Egypt was conquered by the 
Turks, and the Indian commerce, after the 
circumnavigation of Southern Africa, declined, 
Kene succeeded to the remains of this trade; At 
Cous no remains of antiquity exist, except tlie 
entablature of an Egyptian gate, on the cornice 
of which a Greek inscription is engraved.* The 
soil of Upper Egypt seems to increase in fertility 
as the traveller approaches the site of the ancient 
Thebes. The cultivated fields produce luxuriant 
crops, in the proportion of thirty and fifty for 
one, while several crops succeed one another in 
the same year.t In that fervid atmosphere, 
which renders flowers more fragrant, fruit trees 
of every species are constantly covered with 
fruits or blossoms, and equally delight the senses 
by their variegated foliage and odoriferous shade. 
Th^ acacia, which produces the gum Arabic, 
abounds in the sandy plains^ The appearance of 
this tree is stunted, the stem crooked and low. 
* Ripaud's Report on the Antiquities of Upper Egypt, 
p. 48. 
f Sonnini's Travels, p. 619, 4tOk 
