KOSfeTTA; 
181 
ing, placing their hands upon their breasts, and saying, “ Salaam , 
Alla! Bon Ingleses!” while from the camp, English officers, 
on horses, camels, or on foot, and boats, filled with troops, up¬ 
on the water, gave to the place a character of gayety never, 
perhaps, possessed by it in any former age. All authors mention 
the beauty of its scenery, complaining only of the monotony and 
dulness of the city. At the time we saw it, no such complaint 
was applicable; for, with unrivalled natural beauty, Rosetta 
then exhibi ted one of the liveliest and most varied pictures of 
human life it is possible to behold. From the (different people 
by whom it was thronged, its streets resembled an immense 
masquerade. There was hardly a nation in the Mediterranean 
but might have been then said to have had its representative 
in Rosetta; and the motley appearance thus caused was fur¬ 
ther diversified by the addition of English ladies from the fleet 
and army, who, in long white dresses, were riding about upon 
the asses of the country. 
Upon our arrival, we went to the quarters of Sir Sidney 
Smith. He was then with our army, in the camp near 
Rachmanie; but we were conducted to a house he had kindly 
prepared for our reception, “ that the turbulence of war might 
not,” as he was pleased to express it, “ interfere with the arts 
of peace.” This dwelling was the most delightful of any in 
Rosetta. Placed in a prominent situation upon the quay, it 
commanded a view of the Nile, and of the Delta, in every di¬ 
rection.* We had therefore only to return to the fleet for a 
few articles of convenience, and for our books, and here to fix 
our residence. 
* Sir Sidney Smith, afterward viewingthis prospect from our terrace, said, “ We 
have often abused Savary for his extravagance and amplification 5 but the view here 
caay at least reconcile us to his account of Rosetta.” 
