Gibraltar-The Straits-Algiers-The Bay-Spanish Scenery-Popu- Environs, &c.-Heliopolis-Palace of Shoobra-Oriental Gardens- Life upon the Nile-Metropolis-Joseph's Granaries-Embarkation- Nubia-Scenery-People-Language-Women-Castor Oil-Ball--The Tropics-Second Cataract-Weather-Prospect-Fortunate Island- Antiquities of Nubia-Ipsamboul-Dirr-Royal Audience-Ammada PREFACE. IMMUTABILITY is the most striking characteristic of the East: from the ancient strife of Cain and Abel, to the present struggle between the Crescent and the Cross, its people remain in their habits of thought and action less changed than the countries they inhabit. The fertile Vale of Siddim has become the coffin of the Dead Sea, and the barriers of the Nile have rolled down from Æthiopia to the Delta; but the patriarch still "sits at the door of his tent on the Plain of Mamré," and the Egyptian still cultivates his river-given soil in the manner practised by the subjects of the Pharaohs. Elsewhere, we can but dimly discern the actors and the scenery of the Elder World through the curtain of obscurity drawn over it by Time; but here, the Past is so faithfully reflected in the Present, that the drama of ancient life seems never interrupted. While we look upon the very scenes wherein Paradise was Lost and was Regained— where the Pyramids and Karnac rose, and still vindicate their early fame-we find that scenery still peopled by the Ishmaelite: and the stranger still received by Sheikhs of Abraham's fashion, who feast him on the fare that was set before the Angels. This identity of the Present with the Past lends a solemnity to the former, and a vitality to the latter, that no other country can inspire; while the contrasted tumult and fever |