TO ROSETTA. 319 
could learn nothing further of their history, chap. 
Also a species oi Ardea, entirely of a white - 
colour, by some mistaken for the Ibis; but the 
bill is differently shaped, and the Ibis has gene- 
rally, if not always, some black feathers near 
the tail. Hasselquist described the Ibis as a spe- 
cies of Ardea, of the size of a raven ^ He says 
that it eats and destroys serpents ^ small frogs, 
and insects ; that it is very common in Egypt, and 
almost peculiar to that country. We saw also 
the Egyptian Plover, or Tringa JE,gyptiaca of the 
same author. The rest of our voyage to Ro- Arrival at 
... , •11 Roselta. 
sella was so expeditious, that we arrived there 
by eight o'clock in the same morning; and re- 
paired to our former residence upon the quay. 
As soon as we landed, Mr. Hammer heard that 
Sir Sidney Smith was upon the point of sailing 
for England; and being unable to resist the 
opportunity thus offered of visiting a country he 
so much wished to see, he gave up the plan he 
had formed for an expedition to the Oases, and 
set out immediately for the British fleet. While 
he was employed in procuring camels for him- 
self and his servant, we wrote a few letters of 
(s) Hasselquist's Travels, p. 198. Land. 1766. 
(4) See Savigny's observation upon the anatomy of the /Jw, denying 
this property. 
