EGYPT. 161 
accompanied by Mr. Hammer, and by Mr. Hamil- chap. 
ton, then secretary of our Ambassador at Con- ' ,— — ' 
stantinople, continued their journey as far as the 
Pilgrims Lake, whence the canal is supposed to 
have extended to the Red Sea; and returned 
afterwards by the route which the author had 
taken. They found, at the lake, the remains of 
a very large Cai-avanserai, and discerned the 
traces of a canal, bearing thence towards the 
south-east, in the direction of Suez. But the 
most curious objects noticed in this part of the 
day's journey were presented to our w hole party 
where we least expected to find any thing re- 
markable ; namely, in the mineral productions 
of the desert itself. A beautiful and well-known Minerals 
variety of jasper, commonly called Egyptian uanDe-' 
Pebble, is found in such abundance, among *^'"*' 
masses of the most curious mineralized ivood, 
upon the surface of the sands, over all the 
district eastward of Grand Cairo, even to the 
borders of the Red Sea, that specimens might be 
obtained in sufficient abundance to serve as 
ballast for a vessel bound from Suez to England. 
The author had collected almost enough to load 
a camel before he arrived at the walls of the 
city ; but when the rest of the party returned, 
they brought with them a more considerable 
burden. Among these were large blocks of 
VOL. V. M 
