TO GRAND CAIRO. Gl 
afterwards we passed the town of Amrus, also chap. 
constructed of mud, and containing a number of ^ - y " * 
lofty conical pigeon-houses, similarly built; ex- 
hibiting a novel and remarkable appearance in 
the approach to this place. Pigeons dung, every- 
where valuable as manure, is here an important 
acquisition ; for by mixing it with the sand upon 
the little islands left by the torrent in the midst 
of the river, a soil is formed, capable of pro- 
ducing water-melons'. 
The birds which frequent the Nile, if we ex- Birds. 
cept the account given by Hasselquist\ are but 
little known ; and our observations will not 
supply what is here wanted for the natural his- 
tory of the country. A most superb collection 
was, however, forwarded to England, under the 
patronage and by the immediate orders of Lord 
Hutchinson. It had been formed, with consum- 
mate skill and labour, by a person of the name 
of Savigmj. We principally noticed pelicans, 
from the mouth of the Nile, as far as RacJvmanie. 
The Sterna Nilotica, or Egyptian sea-swalloiv, ap- 
peared, in immense flocks, near the sides of the 
(0 Sec also Baron De ToU'-> Memoir?, vol.11. p.'^lS. Loud. 1735. 
(C?) Sec Travels, p. 193. Lond. IT'i'i. 
