i810.] 
merly despised; the Egyptians* could not 
think on the degree to which they 
felt themselves degraded, except with 
dread; while the. Arabs, naturally op- 
posed all who did not either approve 
or allow of their depredations. But 
though the French have given up this valu- 
able position, yet their expedition taught 
them how easily they might establish 
themselves there, in spite of the united, 
eflorts of Turks, Arabs, and Mamelukes, 
nay, even in spite of the malicious envy 
ot the English, it the rest of Europe 
would only give their concurrence to 
such an undertaking, and promote the de- 
sign of colonising, by degrees, a coun- 
try whose present inhabitants are so sunk 
in superstition, and so blind to theirown 
advantage. A time will certainly arrive 
when it will be evident to every civilized 
nation, that much utility would spring 
from the total extermination of a race 
of beings that disgrace the land in which 
they live, and whose whole force is only 
directed against its interests and its 
natives; _ both humanity and _ policy 
demand that new settlers of enlightened 
understanding should mix with the pre- 
sent population of Egypt, that its har- 
bours might be opened, and a free pas- 
sage granted to every nation for the sup- 
port and display of industry. 
But it may be said in opposition, that 
there is one nation that will not consent 
to a participation of trade—a nation 
that seeks to annihilate the industry and 
prosperity of every other; that claims 
for her own ships the exclusive right of 
navigation; that arrogates to herself the 
sole sale of the eastern and western 
produce, and the supreme dominion of 
the immense ocean. Let Egypt con- 
tinue buried in barbarism; let the har- 
bours of Alexandria, like its channels, 
be choaked with sand, and let the fertile 
soil of Egypt remain an uncultivated 
desert; the passage round the Cape will 
always be open, and the honest English- 
men will take charge of the navigation of 
the world; yet sooner or later, universal 
will overcome individual interest. The 
route to India by the Red Sea is so short, 
so little exposed to danger, the period of 
* All classes were awed by the discipline 
of the French, and the activity of their 
chiefs; all kind of robberies were punished 
with rigor; the taxes were reasonable, and 
levied with the greatest justice; and what- 
ever was held sacred, met with reverence 
and respect. 
Advantageous Situation.of Leypt for Commerce. . 
‘ 
547 
the voyage so limited, the ports to be 
touched at for the sake of water, repairs, 
&c. so conveniently situated, the mon- 
soons so constant and regular, that 
undoubtediy this passage will one day 
be preferred to every other. And what 
advantayes does not Egypt possess in 
whatever respects victualling or refresh- 
ing, abounding as it does with every - 
thing that the crew or passengers of a 
ship may stand in need. of after a long 
voyage! What still greater benefits might 
not they expect it to afford, thus situa- 
ted in the centre of many nations, were 
it formed into a general staple and 
universal mart. } 
To promote the connection of both 
seas to a greater degree, to save some 
expense in the transportation of commo- 
dities, and to avoid the influence of 
the prejudices of the Arabs, and. the 
dangerous passage of Boyas (the mouth 
of the Nile,) the channel of Alexandria 
might be rendered navigable at every 
season, and another cut from the Nile to 
pass through Egypt, Besides, a harbour 
ought to be formed in the lake of 
Menzala, which would make the com- 
munication between the Mediterranean 
and Red Sea particularly easy; the 
banks of the channels would, however, 
require to be peopled, and also defended 
against the chance of their heing filled up 
again with sand. | 
Some travellers have represented 
the difference of the respective level 
of these seas as a very dangerous cir- 
cummstance, calculating it at about twenty- 
five feet. But they did not consi- 
der, that if the level of the Mediterranean 
were lower than shat of the ocean, there 
would be a fall at the straits of Gib- 
raltar the more rapid in proportion to the 
low site of the level of the former; and 
the ocean would pour its waters into the 
Mediterranean as the Black Sea does 
through the Bosphorus and Hellespont 
into the Archipelago: a doublecurrent is 
actually observed in the Straits, the one 
holding’ its course along the coast of 
Africa, the other along that of Europe.* 
But both these currents are of such 
equal strength, as scarcely to be percep- 
tible; so that the one does not bring in 
much more water than the other carries 
out; and therefore the level of the 
Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, must be 
* 'The real course of these currents in the 
straits is too well known to need to be 
mentioned here,—Trans/ator, 
about 
