NOTICE OF MR. ROBERTS’S JOURNEY IN THE EAST. 
To visit the Holy Land and make drawings of the scenes of sacred history and the 
antiquities of Egypt, had been, long before this journey was undertaken by Mr. Roberts, 
the brightest of his anticipations as an artist. He had already acquired so high a 
reputation for his skill and judgment in the treatment of architectural subjects, that 
the service of his pencil was sought, to make us acquainted with the structures of 
the Moors in Spain, and to make drawings from, and adapt for the use of the engraver, 
many of the sketches furnished by travellers in Palestine, of the buildings and objects 
of interest published in the “ Illustrations of the Biblethese studies, and his journey 
to Spain and Morocco for his Spanish scenery, excited in him an irrepressible desire 
to visit the East. The drawings of the French Commission in Egypt had been 
declared very incorrect, and De Laborde’s Petra was charged also with inaccuracy. 
To go and draw for himself scenes and objects of such intense interest could alone 
satisfy him; the result has been his richly-stored portfolios, from which the subjects 
for this work have been selected. 
Having made himself thoroughly acquainted with all matters requisite for the 
journey, and such works as were published on the countries and objects he was about 
to visit, and having prepared himself with letters and introductions, especially from 
the Foreign Office to Colonel Campbell, our Consul-General in Egypt and Syria, 
he left London August 31st, 1838, and reached Alexandria on the 24th of September 
following. Every facility was kindly and readily given by Colonel Campbell for 
the accomplishment of our Artist’s objects. The Nile was at its height, and therefore 
visited at the most advantageous time. He ascended to Cairo, with introductions 
from Colonel Campbell, and there, by the aid of those to whom he had been recommended, 
Mr. Roberts was furnished with a guard to accompany him everywhere, and protect 
him from interruption or insult whilst sketching: he even obtained permission to 
enter every mosque he desired to visit, a privilege never before given to a Christian, 
but to which one condition was attached—that in the instruments he used in making 
his studies, for he was allowed to paint there, he was not to desecrate the mosque 
by the introduction and use of brushes made of hog's bristles. 
From Cairo Mr. Roberts, with an Arab servant, ascended the Nile in a boat 
commanded by a captain with a crew of eight men, provisioned for three months. 
He was entirely master of the party, and carried the British flag at the mast-head. 
He thus ascended to the second cataract, Wady Haifa, and before he returned to 
Cairo, he had made drawings of almost every edifice from the extremity of Nubia 
to the Mediterranean. 
