state. He resided for a considerable period in Egypt, during which,
he entered into a friendly communion with the native priests, from
whom he obtained much accurate information, as well as a great deal
that was false and exaggerated relative to the extensive region,
which extends from the Nile to the Atlantic. According to his
description it is much inferior in fertility to the cultivated parts
of Europe and Asia, and suffering extremely from severe drought; yet
he makes mention of a few spots, such as Cinyps, and the high tract
Cyrene, which, undergoing the process of irrigation, may stand
comparison with the richest portions of the globe. Generally,
however, in quitting the northern coast, which he terms significantly
the forehead of Africa, the country became more and more arid. Hills
of salt arose, out of which the natives constructed their houses,
without any fear of their melting beneath a shower in a region where
rain was unknown. The land became almost a desert, and was filled
with such multitudes of wild beasts, as to be considered their proper
inheritance, and scarcely disputed with them by the human race.
Farther to the south, the soil no longer afforded food even to these
wild tenants; there was not a trunk of a tree, nor a drop of
water--total silence and desolation reigned.

This may be considered as the first picture on record of the northern
part of Africa; a country, which, even after the lapse of two
thousand years, presents to the eye of science, as regards its
interior recesses, a blank in geography, a physical and not less a
moral problem; a dark and bewildering mystery. The spirit of
enterprise has carried our mariners to the arctic seas, braving the
most appalling dangers in the solution of a great geographical
problem; by the same power, civilization has been carried into the
primeval forests of the American continent, and cities have arisen in