Referring to our Number 534 for a description of Alexandria, we may here merely remark, that Miss Roberts found it all that travellers describe it to be, a city of narrow streets choked with sand; and, as the political state of Egypt rendered it desirable to hasten her departure for the Red Sea as much as possible, she set off for the Nile, to proceed by boat up that river to Cairo. The party left the hotel in which they had been accommodated, and rode to the place where they were to take boat. The cavalcade was a curious one:-"Our supplies consisted of tea, coffee, wine, wax-candles, (employing a good glass lanthorn for a candlestick), fowls, bread, fruit, milk, eggs, and butter; a couple of fowls and a piece of beef being ready roasted for the first meal. We also carried with us some bottles of filtered water. The baggage of the party was conveyed upon three camels and a donkey, and we formed a curiouslooking cavalcade as we left the hotel. In the first place, the native Indian servant bestrode a donkey, carrying at the same time our beautiful baby in his arms, who wore a pink silk bonnet, and had a parasol over her head. All the assistance he required from others was to urge on his beast, and by the application of sundry whacks and thumps, he soon got a-head. The ladies, in coloured muslin dresses, and black silk shawls, rode in a cluster, attended by the janissary, and two Arab servants, also on donkey-back; a gentleman, who volunteered his escort, and the owners of the donkeys, who walked by our sides." On arriving at the banks of the canal which leads from Alexandria to the Nile, the party got into a miserable-looking boat containing two cabins or rather cribs, in which the ladies could hardly stand upright. The arrangements had not then been entered on, which have since been put in operation, of performing the voyage to Cairo in commodious iron steamers; and the passengers passed a sleepless night on board this boat, tormented, in no small degree, with musquitoes and other

unwelcome visitors.

On arriving at Atfee, preparations were made for ascending the Nile. Nearly all the boats at that place were engaged by Mehemet Ali, who happened to be at Atfee at the time; but the governor of the town engaged that one should be placed at the disposal of the travellers. All these matters, it will be observed, are now put in better train by the establishment of steamers on the Nile. The mails were carried up to Cairo in the same boat which carried the travellers.

The voyage up the Nile was made in tolerable comfort, the ladies enjoying as much open air as the size of their boat would allow, and watching whatever objects were presented to their notice from shore. However famed may be this noble river, yet to a traveller by it, the banks on either side are singularly uninteresting; date trees thinly scattered, and villages at wide intervals, are nearly the only objects which break the monotony of the flat shores. The boat was propelled in three different ways, according to circumstances; by sails; by oars, or by dragging with ropes along a towing path. "Our arrival at a village," says Miss Roberts, "alone relieved the monotony of the landscape. Some of these places were prettily situated under groves of dates and wild fig-trees, and they occasionally boasted houses of a decent description; the majority, were, however, most wretched, and we were often surprised to see persons respectably dressed, and mounted upon good-looking donkeys, emerge from streets and lanes leading to the most squalid and poverty-stricken dwellings imaginable. The arrival of a boat caused all the beggars to hasten down to the river-side; these chiefly consisted of very old or blind persons. We had provided ourselves with paras, a small copper coin, for the purpose of giving alms to the miserable beings who solicited our charity; and the poor creatures always went away wellsatisfied with the trifling gift bestowed upon them." The far-famed Pyramids came in sight when still thirty-five miles distant; and on the second evening after embarkation the boat entered Boulak, the port of Cairo.

It was at half-past nine in the evening, on October 4th, 1839, that the travellers landed at Boulak; and as the gates of Cairo are closed at nine in the evening, it was apprehended that admission would not be gained that evening. It fortunately happened, however, that there was a moolid, or religious fair, held that evening at the opposite end of the city, and that the gate adjacent thereto was still open. The party, therefore, hired donkeys, and proceeded round the outside of the city, passing through the middle of the fair on their way to the open gate. The peasants were not a little surprised to see, by the light of their lamps and lanthorns, a group of European ladies riding on donkeys, at

ten or eleven o'clock at night; but no insult or hindrance was offered to them, and they safely arrived at the hotel in Cairo to which they were recommended. Here we must leave them for awhile. Our articles on Cairo will give a tolerably exact idea, so far as they extend, of the curiosities and inhabitants of this Egyptian metropolis; and we shall therefore refrain from entering into similar details here. SECTION III. ARRANGEMENTS FOR CROSSING THE DESERT. It will now be desirable for us to notice a few points respecting the route from Cairo to Suez, the place of embarkation on the steamers destined for Bombay. From the banks of the Nile to Syria is one continuous desert, into which juts the arm of the Red Sea, at the extremity of which Suez is situated. Hence the upper part of this arm or branch is bordered on both sides by desert tracks; and Suez cannot be reached except across the Desert, whether in a south-western direction from Syria, a southern direction from the Mediterranean, or an eastern direction from Cairo. The route to Sucz by way of Cairo is not made on account of shortness, for it is really longer than if passengers landed from the Mediterranean at a point due north of Suez, but because there is no convenient harbour at the last-mentioned spot, and no secure town on the route. For these reasons, the route by way of Alexandria and Cairo is adopted; and the latter place having been reached, a journey of about seventy miles over the Desert has to be made to Suez.

Now it is a question of no small importance how this route shall be traversed in a manner at all safe and comfortable. A military officer, inured to the vicissitudes of active service, could gallop over this distance in a few hours, and could easily accommodate himself to the fare he might meet on the way; but if a regular line of communication, for passengers as well as letters, is to be established, it is obvious that so precarious a channel would not suffice. Perhaps we could not better explain the views which have been entertained of the best mode of surmounting these difficulties, than by giving a few extracts from a report made by an officer appointed to inquire into this matter. In the early part of the year 1838 one of the steam navigation companies to which we before alluded, sent Colonel Burr to Egypt, to forward certain plans for performing the overland portion of the journey from Cairo to Suez. In a letter which that officer wrote from Cairo in the month of March in that year, he thus alludes to the nature of the arrangements which he was making.

"I have nearly completed an arrangement, by which four comfortable carriages, for the conveyance of at least thirty passengers, will be set going by September next; I only await Colonel Campbell's approval to complete the thing. The advance for the purchase of the four carriages, with two baggage waggons, and forty mules, will be 1000l., the property being ours, and merely lent to the contractors, who engage to keep the whole in an efficient state for at least five years, and to carry passengers in, say twenty-four hours, including halts, for 61. each." After proceeding to express a hope that the Pacha would lend his countenance to the project, the Colonel details an agreement which he had made with a Cairo firm for building stations at certain distances on the line of route. From a report subsequently made by the committee of the company which had sent out Colonel Burr, it appeared, that supposing the Pacha's consent could be obtained, of which there seemed little doubt, it was proposed to build a centre station and four intermediate ones. The centre station to contain one room twenty-four feet by eighteen, and five sleeping apartments of fourteen feet by twelve, and fifteen feet high, with stabling and other requisite buildings; the whole inclosed and protected by a wall fifteen feet high, built of stone. A water-tank also to be added, sufficiently large for the use of the mules. The intermediate bungalows, or stations, were to be similar in character, but rather smaller.

The arrangements proposed as to the hours of starting and the rate of travelling were these:-From Cairo. If more than a sufficient number of passengers for one van are anxious to proceed to Suez, the first van to start within forty-eight hours before the departure of the steamer from Suez, and the second within twelve hours after the first. If only sufficient passengers for one van, to start thirty-six hours before the departure of the steamer; or as may otherwise be agreed on by the majority of passengers. From Suez. The first van to start six hours after the landing of the first lady passengers from the steamer; the second, twelve hours after the first, if the number of passengers exceed ten In the event of there being no lady passengers,

then the first van to start six hours after the landing of the first ten male passengers. Ladies to have always a prior claim as to proceeding by the first or subsequent carriages. The rate of travelling to be twenty hours actual travelling; two and a half hours stoppage at the central station; and three quarters of an hour at the other stations.

Such were the views which, in 1838, were entertained of the most feasible mode of establishing a regular route across the Desert. It was in the autumn of 1839 that Miss Roberts made this journey; and we shall now see the manner in which she performed it, and the incidents which she met with on the way. The ladies of the party, after remaining two or three days in Cairo, set off together to traverse the Desert to Suez, where the Berenice steamer had just arrived from Bombay. The vehicles provided consisted of donkeychairs, one for each lady; consisting of a common arm-chair fastened into a sort of wooden tray, which projected in front about a foot, thereby enabling the passenger to carry a small basket or other package; each chair was slung by the arms to long bamboos, one on either side, and these, by means of ropes or straps placed across, were fastened upon the backs of donkeys, one in front and one behind. This formed a very comfortable vehicle; and the party were well pleased with the kind of accommodation. Besides the vehicles, there were two stout donkeys, carrying the beds and carpet-bags of the whole company; three others on which servant-men rode; and a few spare ones in case of accident on the road; while the owners or drivers of the donkeys were eight or ten in number. Thus the cavalcade proceeded, at an easy walking pace; and reached the first bungalow, or travellers' resting-house, by the evening of the first day. The bungalow was then in an unfinished state, being unprovided with windows; but it was sufficiently forward to furnish the required shelter. The building was approached from the front by a narrow passage, on either side of which were sleeping-rooms for travellers, as well as a kitchen, &c.; while at the farther end was stabling for the animals. The rooms were at that time unprovided with beds; but the beds which the travellers brought with them were spread out, and made as comfortable as circumstances would admit. The party started again at nine o'clock on the following morning, with the air at a warm temperature, but moderated by a pleasant breeze which blew across the desert. On the road they were overtaken by a kalifa, which they had seen bivouacking in the desert the previous evening. This kalifa or party consisted of the governor of Jiddah, who was travelling to Suez with his wife and family. The lady travelled in a vehicle formed of two rude kinds of sofas or settees, canopied overhead, and having a restingplace for the feet; it was placed on the top of a camel, with a cloth curtain, to exclude the sun, and to ensure the privacy customary among Mohammedan females. The travellers, on their way to Suez, occasionally met small parties of Bedouins, distinguished by their fierce countenances glaring from beneath the large rolls of cloth twisted over their turbans. One or two, superior to the rest, were handsomely dressed, well armed, and mounted on handsomely caparisoned camels. Small as the means of defence were on the part of the travellers, the Bedouins did not attempt to plunder their baggage; the power of Mehemet Aii having infused a spirit of obedience into these men, such as pachas and governors can seldom effect.

About the middle of the day they arrived at another bungalow, where they stopped an hour or two; here they again found the kalifa which had passed them in the morning, the females of which shared with our travellers the scanty accommodation of the place. The party was soon again in motion, enjoying the curious scene which their own cavalcade must have presented. The five vehicles were sometimes abreast, giving the riders an opportunity of conversing; but more frequently they were scattered over the plain, the guides allowing the donkeys to choose their path provided its general direction were onward. Occasionally a spare donkey, or one carrying the baggage, would stray off in an oblique direction, and then the drivers were compelled to make a wide detour to bring them in again. Once or twice, too, the ropes by which a chair was fastened, would slip, and deposit the fair occupant on the ground; or a donkey would stumble and fall; but no serious accident occurred. The resting-place for the night, at about midway from Cairo to Suez, consisted of tents, the bungalow having been only just commenced. The ladies of the party occupied one tent, on either side of which were divans or raised platforms, on which to place the beds. There were other tents occupied by English gentlemen who

were passing from Suez, where they had landed from the Berenice; and thus the desert became a kind of half-way station, (it is not far from being so in actual distance,) at which English travellers to and from India met.

The next morning, soon after they had started, the travellers met a double-bodied phaeton, drawn by two horses and two camels, having an English gentleman and a Persian within, and an Arab riding as postilion on one of the camels; this curious medley had just come from Suez, and was proceeding at a rapid rate to Cairo. These were fol lowed by other passengers by the Berenice, some of whom were ladies riding in donkey-chairs, and others mounted on the backs of camels. In the middle of the day our travellers arrived at another bungalow; where they met one of the vans which had been provided for this route by the Steam Navigation Company; it consisted of a tilted cart upon springs, and was drawn by a pair of horses. Nothing farther occurred worthy of notice till they arrived at the resting-place for the night; when they were overtaken by three English gentlemen, who had wished to visit the Pyramids before proceeding onward to India, and who had crossed the desert in great haste. The whole party were to start at three o'clock in the following morning; and while all else were asleep, Miss Roberts silently left her tent by starlight, and roamed forth with an object which we will state in her own words:-"I had long desired to spend a night alone upon the desert; and without wandering to a dangerous distance, I placed a ridge of sand between my solitary station and the objects which brought the busy world to view, and indulged in thoughts of scenes and circumstances which happened long ago. According to the best authorities we were in the track of the Israelites; and in meditations suggested by this interesting portion of Bible history, the time passed so rapidly, that I was surprised when I found the people astir and preparing for our departure."

The party started at three o'clock, and did not stop till they arrived at the end of the journey, except for a few minutes at the last bungalow, which they reached at nine o'clock. It was about the middle of the fourth day, after having spent three nights and portion of four days on the road, that they reached Suez. The reader, by comparing the details just given, with the plans proposed in the early part of 1838 for the passage of the desert, will see that those plans had been acted on to a slight extent, by the establishment of one or two bungalows, and one or two vehicles to traverse the route. But many circumstances, to which we need not particularly allude here, prevented the proposed plan from being carried out in its fullest extent; and the contests which took place during the year 1840 between Mehemet Ali and the European powers put a temporary check on the prosecution of these schemes, although the Pacha, in the midst of his difficulties, seemed generally disposed to guarantee the safe conduct of English travellers across the desert. The termination of hostilities in that quarter has allowed attention to be steadily directed to this overland route; and at the present time increased facilities for travellers are being provided, by the establishment of iron steamers from Alexandria to Cairo, and of convenient vehicles and resting-places from Cairo to Suez.

We may here say a few words respecting the route from Cairo to Suez across the Desert. There are the strongest reasons for believing that a ship canal anciently existed along this route, by which a vessel could sail uninterruptedly from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Passages in some of the early writers clearly point to the existence of such a canal; while the researches of modern travellers have no less clearly led to the tracing of a remarkably level valley, or, if we may use the term-trough, which was once filled with water. When the French had possession of Egypt, the engineers who accompanied the army surveyed this track with much accuracy, and formed a plan for re-opening the ancient canal. It appears not improbable that if the French had retained possession of that country, they would have carried out a scheme which offered such an advantageous naval path to our Indian possessions, towards which Buonaparte was known to have directed a longing eye. As events turned out, however, the scheme was abandoned; but still it has not been forgotten; and we think that there is no impropriety or inconsistency in surmising that the time will come when one of these plans will be accomplished; viz.— the re-opening of the ancient canal from Cairo to Suez; the laying down of a railway on the very level valley which the site of this canal presents; or the establishment of a canal from the Mediterranean to Suez, altogether independent of the route by Alexandria, the Nile, and Cairo.

consequence of the dangers to which small and light vessels are exposed in a narrow sea, surrounded by rocky shores, and subject to frequent gusts of wind. Although the Little Strait is four miles wide, yet the available width for navigation is less than a mile. A recent voyager, who entered the straits in an Arabian vessel, says, "It fell calm, and the current drifted us about in the narrowest part of the strait, which is hardly half a mile wide. The moon rose, and we were in some degree relieved from our anxiety, as it enabled us to judge our distance from the shore, and ascertain for certainty if we were taking the right course, which is hereabouts rather difficult to discover in the dark. Our jollyboat was lowered, and we towed the vessel off the land, which we had approached so near, that, should any wind have blown, it would have been kept from catching our sail by the rocks, which frowned above us. The ancient mariners, by the names they have given to the different headlands and islands here and in the neighbourhood, have left us an everlasting memorial of the dangers attending the Eastern maritime commerce in those times. The entrance of the sea is called the Gate of Sorrow or Weeping; the Cape itself, Affliction; the extreme east-point of Africa, which must have been the last land they lost sight of, the Cape of Burial.' We at length arrive at Aden situated a short distance without the strait, and in the direct route from thence to Bombay; and here we join company again with Miss Roberts and her fellow travellers, whom we left at the upper part of the Red Sea. The party landed at Aden, and were conveyed in palanquins to the place where the cantonments were situated, now fast advancing towards the dignity of fortifications. The road led for a mile or two along the sea-shore, with high crags piled on one side; after which the party ascended a height, which led to an aperture in the hills called the Pass, around which was wild but beautiful scenery. The narrow and inclosed pass led down a rather steep declivity to a sort of basin, surrounded on three sides with lofty hills, and on the fourth by the sea. It will be remembered, from the circumstances which we detailed in the early part of the paper, that about the time when Miss Roberts visited Aden, the British settlements had not been freed from the hostile attacks of the Arabs. The following is that lady's account of the place as she found it at the time of her visit:-" At first sight of Aden, it is difficult to suppose it to be the residence of human beings, and more especially of European

families. The town, if such it may be called, consists of a few scattered houses of stone, apparently loosely put together, with pigeon-holes for windows, and roofs which, being flat, and apparently surrounded by a low parapet, afford no idea of their being habitable. It is difficult to find a comparison for these dwellings, which appeared to be composed of nothing more than four walls, and yet to judge, from the apertures, contained two or more stories. The greater numbers were inclosed in a sort of yard or compound, the fences being formed of long yellow reeds; the less substantial dwellings were entirely made of these reeds, so that they looked like immense crates or cages for domestic fowls. My palanquin at length stopped at a flight of steps hewn out of the rock; and I found myself at the entrance of a habitation, half-bungalow, half-tent; and cer tainly, as the permanent abode of civilized beings, the strangest residence I had ever seen. The upright and framework were made of reeds and bamboos, lined with thin mats, which had at one time been double, but the harbour thus afforded for rats being found inconvenient, the outer casing had been removed." The explanation of this apparently strange state of things is this; that the Indian government had not at that time fixed upon the site intended for the station offices, &c., at Aden, and the European inhabitants delayed building their houses, which were to be durable stone structures, until the decision was made. Since that period, much progress has been made in developing the resources of Aden, and establishing it as a valuable dependency of the British crown.

Here we bring to a conclusion our notice of the interesting points connected with a steam voyage to India. From the peninsula on which Aden is situated, no land intervenes till the traveller arrives at Bombay; he leaves Socotra, an island which was at one time to have been used as a coal depot instead of Aden, on the right, and the southern coast of Arabia, together with the entrance to the Persian Gulf, on the left. The importance of Aden consists partly in the fact, that, from that port a steamer can be supplied with fuel and all other stores for the voyage from thence to Bombay.

A little reflection on the details which have been given in this paper will convince the reader, that the grand project of steam communication with India, (for grand it certainly is,) is still only in its infancy, and that we may look forward to a successive chain of improvements in every part of the commercial machinery by which it is accomplished.

a charm, and to remind the master of the nouse, whenever he enters it, of his own mortality.

Many of the tradesmen also place over their shops (generally upon the hanging shutter turned up in front) a paper inscribed with the name of God or that of the Prophet, or both, or the profession of the faith, ("There is no deity but God: Mohhammad is God's apostle,) the bismillah, (" In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful,") or some maxim of the Prophet, or a verse of the Ckooran, as "Verily we have granted thee a manifest victory," or an invocation to the Deity, such as "O thou Opener [of the doors of prosperity or subsistence]! O thou Wise! O thou Supplier of our wants! O thou Bountiful!" This invocation is often pronounced by the tradesman when he first opens his shop in the morning, and by the pedestrian vender of small commodities, bread, vegetables, &c., when he sets

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