CURE OF LEPROSY. 207 While the base of the larger one, as on a pedastal. shooting in a neighbouring hamlet, Monro learned the existence of a curious kind of superstition among the Arabs. A party of Bedouins happening to be riding by, just as he had brought down a bird, one of them, who saw it fall, approached him, and inquired whether it were a pigeon or a dove? Considering it as a piece of impertinence, instead of satisfying him, he demanded why he put the question. "Because, if it be a dove, replied the Bedouin, I wish to beg a few drops of its blood, as I am afflicted by a disease for which that is a cure!" It was, in reality, a dove, and my companion, of course, assured him that he was most welcome to the blood, in which, accordingly, he dipped his finger, and applied it to some white spots on his breast — evidently leprosy. They were not larger than a five-para piece. He had been tattooed in several places for the same purpose, as, in cases of leprosy, that operation is also considered beneficial by the Arabs. CXXXVII. The appearance of the Arabian chain of mountains is here very remarkable, consisting of detached hills, like half-built pyramids, or resembling small cones; while others, again, run along in irregular ridges, of different elevation. The * I allow this remark to stand, as a specimen of the false theories which travellers are apt to construct respecting things which they have not closely examined. On my return from the Fayoom, I visited the Haram el Kedâb, and corrected the notions which I had formed from a distant view. + Considerably smaller than a sixpence. 208 MUSULMAN FAKĪRS. Libyan range is not visible. In this part of the Heptanomis, (afterwards Arcadia,) there is little or nothing to interest the antiquarian; nor, indeed, does the traveller, who extends his observations to the modern state of the country, find much to command his attention, as the valley is but thinly inhabited, and the land, at least on the eastern bank, a mere marsh, covered with reeds and rushes. cane. Sunday, Dec. 16. Zeitún. CXXXVIII. Left Wasta before sunrise. To the south of this village, on the African side, the country again improves, and is diversified on all sides with fields of wheat, dhourra, indigo, tobacco, and sugarAt the small hamlet of Beni Eddeir we saw two old fakīrs, one of whom, for a trifle which I gave him, followed us out of the place, loading us with blessings; while the other, with a fine venerable countenance, resembling the Hippocrates of the British Museum, was lying down like a Hindoo Yoghi, on a heap of ashes, in the sun, with his eyes shut, and his hands, arms, and face covered with swarms of flies. Children are not generally numerous about these villages, which would seem to show that the population is not kept up. Among the Turks, the Cretan check to population may operate extensively; but here it is mere misery; for if many children are born, the infirm and weakly soon perish through neglect. Here and there, upon the banks of the river, we find women with baskets full of thin Arab cakes of fine flour, in some cases mingled with dhourra meal, and contain ing all the bran, which they sell, eight for a piastre, to the voyagers up and down the Nile. One of these cakes, with butter, is enough for a man's breakfast. Several men, also, are seen parading along the banks with sheep, goats, and kids for sale. CXXXIX. Between Maimoom and Zeitún, we caught a glimpse of the Libyan chain of hills, which appears to be at a considerable distance. The navigation of the Nile, in this part of its course, is rendered peculiarly dangerous by those avalanches which are constantly falling from its lofty banks, by strong, rapid currents, small sandy islands and shallows, and sudden gusts of wind. The weather, however, was now beginning to improve, and we had to-day many hours of sunshine, though there was still a great keenness in the air; which may, perhaps, account for the ravenous appetite that tormented us all day, though we were constantly eating. Indeed, had not our health been so robust, I should have thought we had been afflicted with the boulimia, by which the soldiers of Xenophon were attacked, in the mountains of Kúrdistan, on their return from Babylon. Almost all my Arabs have wounds on their arms or legs, which I daily dress for them; and, in consequence, they have bestowed on me the title of Hakim Bashi, or " chief of the physicians." Contrary to the ordinary notions of European residents, who live in the country without ever mingling with the natives, I find these poor people abundantly grateful for any little kindness which is shown them. They are, in fact, very willing, wellbehaved men, and deserve much better treatment than they commonly meet with; and the women, excepting in the great towns, are shy and modest. This morning, in walking along the shore, I offered my hand to a young matron who had been drawing water, in the old Hebrew style, from the river, and had a very steep bank to climb with her jar; but she declined my help, replying, La, Sidi!" No, my lord !"—with a goodnatured expression of countenance, which showed she was not unthankful for the offer, though she did not consider it decorous to accept of it. Diodorus and other Greek historians inform us that the cat, the symbol of Bubastis*, or Diana Lucina,-the Goddess of parturition and new-born infants, was held in extreme veneration throughout Egypt, so that to kill one of these sacred animals was regarded as a capital crime, while their dead bodies were religiously embalmed, and sent to be interred at Bubastus, or Pibeseth, in the Delta. Were the same funeral honours now decreed to dead cats in Egypt, the expense would not be great and if the rareness of a thing be calculated to enhance its value, we may conclude that they are still greatly esteemed on the banks of the Nile, for I have never any where seen so few cats; certainly not a dozen since I quitted Alexandria. Perhaps the climate may be unfavourable to the increase of this animal. - * Jablonski, Panth. Ægypt. i. 55. 83.; ii. 66. 68. 71, 72. HYPOTHESIS OF HERODOTUS. 211 Monday, Dec. 17. Benisooëf. CXL. The weather, on leaving Zeitún, was less cloudy than during the preceding day; yet the sun seemed to have but little force. Here the Arabian mountains project almost into the river, with high round sand-hills in front, and present exactly the appearance of a coast deserted by the sea, seeming to bear evident marks of the gradual subsiding of the waters. The desert, too, on both sides, is covered with innumerable marine shells, some fossil, others not all tending to confirm the hypothesis of Herodotus, that the Nilotic valley was formerly an arm of the sea. There is also a perceptible decrease in the Nile itself, which here seems to be shrunk up or devoured by the sands of the desert; while many extensive sand-banks and low islands break up the stream, and diminish its grandeur. Provisions are exceedingly cheap: we purchased half a bushel of fine onions for sixpence; and thirty-two new-laid eggs for three-pence. The river continues to be covered by vast flights of pelicans; which I have never observed to fly, in the form of a wedge, like the wild duck, as has been stated by some writers. CXLI. Soon after passing Boosh, we came to a large sandy island, dividing the Nile into two very unequal streams, of which the eastern one only is navigable. This island, at the northern extremity, is very low, but rising gradually, it terminates at the south-east, in high perpendicular banks, round which |