ALEXANDRIA TO COS. 407 
to the Captain of the frigate in which we were chap. 
to sail ; and a third to the Governor of Rhodes, . ^"^' . 
containing, as he said, an order for boats to take 
us either to Stanchio, or to Scio. Thus provided* 
we continued our journey to Ahoukir, along the journey to 
sandy neck of land which stretches, in the ^*''«*'''- 
shape of a ribbon, from the place where our 
army landed, entirely to Alexandria; having the 
Lake of A boukir upon our right, and the sea 
upon our left. The whole of this tract is a 
desert, interspersed here and there with a few 
plantations of palm-trees. The dates hung from 
these trees in such large and tempting clusters* 
although not quite ripe, that we climbed to the 
tops of some of them, and bore away with us 
large branches*, with their fruit. In this man- 
ner^ dates are sometimes sent, with the branches, 
as presents to Constantinople. A ripe Egyptian 
date, although a delicious fruit, is never refresh- 
ing to the palate. It suits the Turks, who are 
fond of sweetmeats of all kinds ; and its flavour 
is not unlike that of the conserved green citron 
which is brought from Madeira. The largest 
plantation occurred about half-way between 
(2) The leaves of these trees, when grown to a size forbearing; fruit, 
are six or eight feet long ; and may be termed branches, for the trees 
have no other. 
