the most obvious and malicious allusion to the departed. Niebuhr could never forgive this spiteful trick. Forskaal had also called one species of plants after him, in remembrance, perhaps, of the cordiality with which Niebuhr had assisted in all his excursions and collections. This, however, as he was no botanist, appeared to him inappropriate, and the sole alteration he permitted himself to make in Forskaal's papers, was to erase every trace of the honour intended him. Of the physician, Dr. Cramer, nothing is to be said, except that the choice of him was most unfortunate; that he was incompetent, even in a professional point of view, but still more so for all the purposes of the expedition. It is to be lamented that Michaelis's wish to engage Hensler the father for the situation was fruitless. The draughtsman, Bauernfeind, was not a bad artist, but an uneducated and extremely narrowminded man: love of drinking shortened his life.

The journey began under the most unfavourable auspices. The party went on board the Greenland ship of war which was bound to the Mediterranean to protect vessels sailing under Danish colours from English search. The Greenland left the Sound on the 7th January, 1761. Three times she was driven back to the Elsineur roads; nor was it till the 10th of March, the fourth time of her sailing, that she could continue her course to the Mediterranean.

Niebuhr recollected this voyage with pleasure. The noble and beautiful interior of a ship of war, with all its appointments and regulations, the simple and energetic manliness of the sailors, from the commander to the lowest man on board, a class of men whose distinguishing virtues were very much allied to his own, interested and delighted him in the highest degree. Nor did he find the way of life monotonous or dull. Navigation was, at that time, very imperfectly understood: its operations were conducted in a manner rather mechanical than scientific. The officers of a ship going on such a service were, however, doubtless, men distinguished in their profession. Niebuhr endeavoured to make himself acquainted with the construction of the ship; and he exercised himself daily in nautical and astronomical observations which procured him the satisfaction of being regarded by the officers as an active and

useful member of their company. He thus obtained from them that respect and regard which practical men are always ready to bestow on those whom they find to be superior to themselves on any particular subject connected with their own business, and whom they see willing to acknowledge their superiority in other points, and able to appreciate their merits and services*.

Mayer, in the instructions he gave Niebuhr, had constantly kept in view that his pupil would be placed in situations in which it would be absolutely necessary for him to be able to rely upon himself, and where he could not hope for the slightest assistance or support. He had taught him entirely himself, and encouraged him with the assurance that an active and clearsighted man is generally able to discover means of overcoming the obstacles which may oppose him. His method of teaching, which was entirely practical, was chiefly this. He first described to his pupil the object of the observation and the method of using the instruments: he then left him without any assistance, to try how far he could proceed in his observation and calculation, and desired him to tell him when he came to any insurmountable difficulty. He was obliged to describe exactly how far he had gone on well, and where his progress had been stopped; and then Mayer helped him out. He had been able to exercise himself but little in Göttingen in calculating lunar distances, and was in great anxiety about his future success in that point. The result of his observations during this voyage gave him greater confidence, and ought to have convinced him that he had gone through his apprenticeship, but this his modesty and humility forbade.

A stay of some weeks at Marseilles, and of a shorter time at Malta, procured a very agreeable recreation to the party. The scientific enterprise was known throughout Europe, and we should find it difficult, now, to picture to ourselves the universal interest in its success which ensured to the travellers the most cordial reception and the most respectful attentions. It was an enterprise consonant with the spirit of the times, and nowise

It is a remarkable fact that in this same year, 1761, our great astronomer Maskelyne was also at sea, and engaged also in instructing the officers of the ship in which he sailed in the lunar method, with a view to its general adoption by our navy, which subsequently took place.

solitary or strange. The King of Sardinia had sent the unfortunate Donati to the East: Asia was become an object of interest to Europeans from the war which the two great maritime powers were then waging in India: England began to send out ships to circumnavigate the globe. It was just that period of general satisfaction and delight in science and literature, in which mankind believed they had found the road that must inevitably lead to perfection: men of letters enjoyed great consideration; and everybody was ashamed not to regard the interests of science and of its followers as the most important interests of the human race.

In both places, they experienced the courtesy and charm of French reception; for, even in Malta, although the ruling body were of all nations, the prevalent manners were French.

The attentions paid in that island were more particularly directed towards Niebuhr; and in the false hope that his religious scruples might be got over, if, at the conclusion of his undertaking, he would become one of their body, the knights of the order offered him all the honours, distinctions, and advantages which they could confer upon him, without an open violation of their statutes.

From Malta the expedition proceeded to the Dardanelles, still on board the Greenland, which had taken its convoy to Smyrna. In the Archipelago, Niebuhr was attacked with dysentery, and was near dying. He recovered his health at Constantinople, but so slowly, that at the expiration of two months after the beginning of his illness he had scarcely made sufficient progress to go on board a Dulcignote vessel bound for Alexandria, without manifest danger. Here, for the first time, the travellers felt that they were really in the East. The plague broke out among the crowded Asiatic passengers: they, however, were exempt from it.

As we cannot follow him through his minute and accurate descriptions of the places through which he passed, we must content ourselves with a few extracts from his travels, calculated to throw light upon his character; to show that clear and dispassionate judgment, and that freedom from prejudice, which so admirably fitted him for a traveller among people whose opinions and manners are so entirely unlike our own. Passing over his description of Constan

"The captain," says he, "his clerk and his steersman, spoke pretty good Italian. The clerk had been not only in Venice and other Italian ports, but had travelled as far as Vienna. The Catholics had told him just as great calumnies of the other sects of Christians as the Sunnites relate of all Mohammedans but themselves. I once asked him, whether any heathens were to be found in the Sultan's dominions? In the course of his reply, he said,

There are many in Germany and Italy; they are called Lutherans, and know nothing of God or the prophets." In religious disputation, he shewed himself a true Mohammedan. One of our company endeavoured to convince him of the truth of the Christian religion, The clerk immediately rose and said,

that people who believed in other gods beside the one true God, were oxen and asses, and left the room. The good man thus gave us a hint, that we should do well to leave every body undisturbed in the belief that his own religion is the best, so long as he enter tains no doubts about it himself. I did not hold it to be any part of my vocation to make proselytes. But when I afterwards inquired of enlightened Mohammedans, concerning the principles of their faith, I took the opportunity of explaining to them various matters relating to the Christian religion; and as I carefully abstained from asserting that it was better than the doctrines set forth in the Koran, none of them were in the least offended or displeased."

In Egypt the party remained a whole year, from the end of September 1761, till the beginning of October 1762, during which time Niebuhr visited Mount Sinai, in company with Forskaal and Von Haven. The party did not go farther inland than Kahira. During their stay in Egypt, Niebuhr determined the longitude of Alexandria, Kahira, Raschid, and Damietta, by means of numerous lunar observations, with an accuracy which the astronomers of Buonaparte's expedition, to their great surprise, found fully equal to that of their own. They, and the French army, not only found his chart of the two branches of the Nile equally correct, but even his ground-plan of Kahira, taken under the most difficult circumstances, in the

midst of an infuriated and fanatical populace.

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In the year 1801," says his illustrious biographer, "I laid this plan before a French officer who had risen from the ranks during the French revolution,-a man who could hardly write and was wholly unaccustomed to make use of ground-plans, with a view to gain some information concerning the entrenchments thrown up by the French army round the city, and the history of the great rebellion in Kahira. It was some minutes before he could translate the knowledge he had gained from personal observation into the symbolic language of drawing; but as soon as he caught the idea, he found his way, step by step, and could not cease wondering. My father, also, measured the height of the pyramids, and copied many hieroglyphic inscriptions on obelisks and sarcophagi."

At the time Niebuhr visited Egypt, very little information, worthy of credit, concerning that remarkable country, existed. Later travellers have added much to what he obtained; but when we consider under what circumstances of difficulty, and with how little protection, he added such vast stores to the stock of knowledge, we shall acknowledge that none have surpassed, or perhaps equalled him in industry, courage and devotion to his object. Of the obstacles he had to encounter, 'some idea may be formed from the following extracts. At Alexandria, he says, "As I could overlook a great part of the old city walls, from the eminence on which Fompey's pillar stands, I took some engles of it from thence, and hoped that I might be able to take others from some other spot. One of the Turkish merchants, who stood opposite to me, and remarked that I had pointed the telescope attached to my quadrant against the city, was very curious to look through the glass, and not a little uneasy when he saw a tower upside down. This gave occasion to a rumour that I was come to Alexandria to turn the whole city topsy turvy. This report reached the governor's house. My janissary refused to accompany me when I took my instrument, and as I thought a European could not venture to appear in a Turkish city without a janissary, I gave up all idea of taking any more geometrical measurements here. Once afterwards, when an Arab of Raschid saw a ship upside down in

my telescope, he was very near throwing the instrument on the ground. I learned by degrees to be very careful of the Mohammedans and their suspicions when taking my observations, which was the more necessary so long as I was unable to converse with them. . . .

At an astronomical observation on the southern point of the Delta, a peasant was present, and behaved very courteously. As I wished to show him something he had never seen before, I placed the telescope of the quadrant opposite to his village, on which he was extremely terrified at seeing all the houses upside down. He asked my servant what could be the cause of this. He replied, that the government was extremely dissatisfied with the inhabitants of that village, and had sent me to overthrow it entirely. The poor peasant was greatly afflicted, and entreated me to wait long enough for him to take his wife, his children and his cow, fo some place of safety. My servant assured him he had two hours good. He immediately ran home, and as soon as the sun had passed the meridian, I took my quadrant on board again. We must not wonder that Mohammedans were suspicious at the sight of these observations, since Europeans enough might have been found but a short time before, ready to believe every thing enchantment, which they did not understand."

He suggests the expediency of digging round the obelisk at Heliopolis, which, however, he had not the means to attempt. "The common Egyptians," says he,

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are very unwilling that the Europeans should dig in the places where antiquities are found, from the idea that we are seeking for treasure. Perhaps, however, they would not forbid it, if the true motive of such researches were explained to the governor of the district, and the work done by his labourers. The peasants of Matare observed me very narrowly while I was measuring the height of the obelisk. They placed themselves at some distance, in consequence of their belief that I should throw up these huge stones into the air by some secret art, and take away the treasures concealed under them. This they were firmly resolved not to allow. They, however, did not speak an uncivil word to me, when they saw that their expectations were not ful filled."

The following are the circumstances under which the plan of Kahira was

faken, to which his son alludes in the passage just quoted

"With a view," says he," of giving an accurate description of the size and situation of this city, I have given a plan of Kahira and the adjacent towns Bulak, Masr el Atik, and Djize. This was really so troublesome, and, from the noted insolence of the Kahirians to all people of different religions, so dangerous a task, that no European had hitherto been found to undertake it, or will probably speedily undertake it again. I did, however, venture to measure all the streets, all at least which were thoroughfares, by paces, and to determine their bearings by a little compass. There

are many parts, consisting entirely of little streets, which have no egress and can be entered only from the main street into which they all run. These are in habited by labouring men and artisans, who, in the Eastern cities, do not work in their houses, but in little stalls or sheds in the Sûk or market place. As you cannot be supposed to be seeking any man in his dwelling-house, and as it is not the custom in the East to pay your respects to his wife or daughters, the people immediately conclude, if they see a stranger in any of these streets, that he has lost his way, and the first man who meets him, tells him that the street has no outlet at that end, and that he must turn back. It is, therefore, almost impossible for a stranger to obtain any knowledge of these quarters of

the town."

One of the most remarkable objects in this city, is the palace of Joseph. "Here," says he, " is manufactured the magnificent cloth which is yearly sent as an offering to Mecca by the Sultan. The building still retains traces of its former splendour. In the room in which the weavers sit, the walls are covered with trees, houses, &c., in the most beautiful mosaic of mother-of-pearl, small stones of every variety, and coloured glass. On the walls of another room in which the cloth is embroidered, are some inscriptions in very good preservation. In a third the ceiling is very beautifully painted. Above, on the side of the Kara Meidân, where this great building is supported by a very high wall, springing from a steep rock, is a point commanding a magnificent view of the town, the surrounding country, and the pyramids. Some of the names of former regents of Egypt are engraved here. It appears

that it was the residence of the Egyp tian Caliphs and Sultans, and I could not help wondering that the Turkish governors do not inhabit it. I asked the overseer of the weavers, who not only conducted me about the building, but took me to his house and entertained me with coffee, after what Joseph this palace and a fountain in the city were named? He was of opinion that the palace was not more than 600 years old, and was built by Salaheddin, whose original name was Jusof."

Niebuhr's account of one of the most interesting phenomena in the world, the overflow of the Nile, is so curious, that we may be allowed to interrupt the course of our narrative a little longer, to insert it. .

"When the Nile begins to rise, all the small canals which are led off from the main stream to water the adjacent fields, are stopped up and cleaned, and remain in that state until the water reaches a certain height. This height is ascertained by a Nilometer, on the island Rodda. For this purpose, a Sheikh is stationed there, who, as soon as he perceives that the water has risen at all, gives information of it. A number of poor people, who are already in waiting at Masr el Atîk, or Fostat, immediately hasten to Kahira, and each spreads the welcome intelligence through the streets of his own quarter. From this time, these people come daily at a certain hour to Fostat, and the Sheikh calls out to them from the islands, how many inches the Nile has risen.

“This is daily made public, until the Nile has reached the height at which it is appointed that the canal which runs through Kahira should be opened, at which time the tribute to the Sultan must be paid, and all anxiety about a scarcity is at an end. The information, however, thus proclaimed, is very little to be trusted. The Sheikh goes alone to the Nilometer, and always, at first, declares the height less than it really is; so that if, at a later period, the water should increase but little for some days, he may then be able to declare the rise greater than it is, in order not to alarm the inhabitants with the fear that the Nile should not reach the desired height. About the time when it was hoped the canal through Kahira would be opened, I sometimes went myself towards the mouth of the canal, to observe the height of the water against a high wall,

and I discovered that the rise which was proclaimed in the city was three times as great as I had found it to be. In the year when I was in Egypt, it was first proclaimed that the Nile had begun to rise on the 29th of June, and, on the 8th of August, that it had reached the height of sixteen Drâ or ells. Hereupon, the dam of the canal of Kahira was cut through with the customary ceremonies, which have often been described. We expected the water in the city, but in vain; for the canal had been so imperfectly cleaned that year, that it was not till the 10th that we saw a little water, whereas we ought to have been able to navigate the canal the first day. This extraordinary event caused a great agitation among the people.. It was openly said, that the person who had undertaken to clean the canal would lose his head. He, however, paid a large sum to the government, and was compelled to make a new dam at his own expense, which was thrown across the canal on the 11th of August, and opened, without any ceremony, on the 12th.

"Gabriel Zionita, in his appendix to the description of Africa by the Sherif Edrîsi, mentions, as very extraordinary, that the Egyptians have certain tests, by which they can ascertain beforehand how high the Nile will rise, and whether they may expect a plentiful or a scarce season. This, indeed, they think so easy a matter, that almost every Egyptian woman, whether Christian or Mohammedan, imagines herself competent to it. It is the universal opinion in Egypt, that the Nile begins to rise in Habbesh, (commonly called Abyssinia,) on the night of the 17th of June; or, as they express it, that the drop (Nokka) which causes the rise of the Nile, falls. On that night, therefore, the women put a certain quantity of dough on the roofs of their houses, and if this has not increased in weight by the morning, the drop has not fallen. But, if the dough is heavier, it has fallen, and they then proceed to calculate with great certainty how many feet the Nile will rise, and what will be the price of corn for the year. As the weather is very regular and uniform in Egypt, it is possible that there is a heavier dew at this season of the year; and as the women never put out their dough except just on the night above-mentioned, they are always confirmed in their faith in the certainty of their test. As some of the Kahirians

reckon time according to the Koptish calendar, the women were not all agreed on which night the drop fell... Other experiments of the same kind are yearly made, but intelligent Mohammedans regard the whole thing as mere pastime for the women."

The arrogant intolerance of the Mohammedans, which keeps pace with their ignorance and superstition, he describes as follows:-" The Jews, the eastern Christians, and even the Europeans, are allowed to ride only on asses in the city of Kahira, and from these they must alight whenever they meet a Bey, or any other Mohammedan of importance. These gentlemen never appear in the streets except on horseback. One of their insolent servants goes before, with a thick stick, and calls out to every Jew or Christian he meets riding on an ass, (unless he dismounts of his own accord,) 'Dismount!' If the command is not instantly obeyed, the servant often lets him feel the effects of his reluctance, without waiting to remind him a second time to pay the required homage to his

master.

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A few years ago a French merchant was crippled for life, on one of these occasions. Our physician was insulted because he did not dismount quickly enough. This renders it impossible for any European to ride out here without a man who knows all those persons who claim the right to force people of a different religion to dismount. I rode at first with a Janizary before, and a servant behind, me. Both were Mohammedans, and remained seated, while I was compelled to alight. This annoyed me still more than the humble reverence I was obliged to show to the great men, and I afterwards went almost constantly on foot. Christians and Jews are also forbidden to ride past the mosques, and many other public buildings. Some, they are not even allowed to pass on foot. Yet I never could ascertain whether there was any positive law prohibiting them from riding on horseback in Kahira. Not many years ago there was a rich English consul in this city, who dressed like a wealthy Turk, and constantly rode on horseback. His fortune enabled him to visit all the Turks of distinction, and to entertain them in return. As he rode along the streets, he distributed alms largely, and became very popular. The consuls now ride on horseback only on the days on which they have audience of the Pasha. They are then very richly