of the most luxurious vegetation runs round the town, and beyond
lies the dreary monotony of the desert. The colour of the Nile is
so exactly similar to that of the sand forming its shores, that at a
distance the line of demarcation cannot be traced.

On my way homewards I met several fellahs carrying large baskets
full of dates, and stopped one of them, in order to purchase some of
this celebrated fruit. Unfortunately for me, the dates were still
unripe, hard, of a brick-red colour, and so unpalatable that I could
not eat one of them. A week or ten days afterwards I was able to
procure some ripe ones; they were of a brown colour like the dried
fruit, the tender skin could easily be peeled off, and I liked them
better than dried dates, because they were more pulpy and not so
sweet. A much more precious fruit, the finest production of Egypt
and Syria, almost superior to the pine-apple in taste, is the
banana, which is so delicate that it almost melts in the mouth.
This fruit cannot be dried, and is therefore never exported. Sugar
melons and peaches are to be had in abundance, but their flavour is
not very good. I also preferred the Alexandrian grape to that of
Cairo.

The bazaars, through which we rode in all directions, displayed
nothing very remarkable in manufactures or in productions of nature
and art.

From first to last I spent a week at Cairo, and occupied the whole
of my time from morning till night in viewing the curiosities of the
town.

I only saw two mosques, that of Sultan Hassan and of Sultan Amru.