11$ Clarke’s travels. 
village of ITtko, to the west of an old castle upon the shore.—-; 
The surf ran very high, and is here generally dangerous. We 
found the sand covered with human sculls and other bones, 
•Which the sea and the sun had whitened ; the jackals having 
previously stripped them of every particle of flesh. These were 
described to us as the remains of those Turks who fell in the 
dreadful slaughter, when Buonaparte drove a whole army iuto 
the sea.* 
We had to cross a perfect specimen of the pathless African 
desert,f in our way to Uikd. The distance, however, did not 
exceed three miles. High mounds of sand, shifting with every 
change of wind, surrounded us on all sides, and concealed the 
view of other objects. Yet even here were found a few rare 
plants, and some of these we collected; but the beat was ex¬ 
tremely oppressive. We also observed in this desert an inte¬ 
resting proof of the struggle maintained by man against the for¬ 
bidding nature of the soil. Here and there appeared plantations 
of pumpkins, and a few jars and cylinders of terra cotta con¬ 
taining young palm trees: these were placed in holes deep in 
the sand; a hollow space surrounding each plant, to collect the 
copious dew falling every night. The vegetation of Egypt, 
even the redundant produce of the Delta, is not owing solely to 
partial inundation from the Nile, or artificial irrigation. When 
we hear that rain is unknown to the inhabitants, it must not be 
supposed the land is on that account destitute of water. From 
all the observations we could collect during our subsequent 
residence, it seemed doubtful whether any other country has so 
regular a supply ©f moisture from above. Even the sands of 
the desert partake largely of w the dew of heaven,” and, in a 
certain degree, of u the fatness of the earth.” Hence it is that 
we meet with such frequent allusion to the copious dew distilled 
upon oriental territories in the sacred writings. Brotherly love 
is compared by David| to “ the dew of Hermon.” The goodness* 
of Judah is described as the dew.§ “ The remnant of Jacob shall 
be,” it is said,|| “ in the midst of many people, as a dew from the 
]Lord.”And the blessings promised by the son of Becri,** are to 
a be as the dew unto Israel.” In all this sandy district, palm trees 
are very abundant, and their presence is a neverdailing indica¬ 
tion of water below the surface : wheresoever they are found, a 
* See note, page 163. 
f This is a part of the desert describe:*! by Savary. Letters on Egypt , vol. 1. p. 4v 
eg. 2. Land. 1787. 
I fs. 3.,”" ' f Hcs. Vi; 4, |j Micah. V. 7, Hos. x-hvS* 
