one continued scene of beautiful meadows, whose verdure, enamelled with flowers, charms the eye. The spectator beholds, on every side, flocks and herds dispersed over all the plains, with infinite numbers of husbandmen and gardeners. The air is then perfumed by the great quantity of blossoms on the orange, lemon, and other trees; and is so pure, that a wholesomer or more agreeable is not found in the world; so that nature, being then dead, as it were, in all other climates, seems to be alive only for so delightful an abode.

9. The Canal formed by the Nile, by which a communication is made between the two Seas.

The canal, by which a communication was made between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, ought to have a place here, as it was not one of the least advantages which the Nile procured to Egypt. Sesostris, or, according to others, Psammetichus, first projected the design, and began this work. Necho, successor to the last prince, laid out immense sums upon it, and employed a prodigious number of men, It is said, that above six score thousand Egyptians perished in the undertaking. He gave it over, terrified by an oracle, which told him that he would thereby open a door for Barbarians (for by this name they called all foreigners) to enter Egypt. The work was continued by Darius, the first of that name; but he also desisted from it, upon his being told, that as the Red Sea lay higher than Egypt, it would drown the whole country. But it was at last finished under the Ptolemies, who, by the help of sluices, opened or shut the canal as there was occasion. It began not far from the Delta, near the town of Bubastus. It was a hundred cubits, that is, twenty-five fathoms broad, so that two vessels might pass with ease;

i Herod. 1. ii. c. 158. Strab. 1. xvii. p. 804. Plin. 1. vi. c. 29. Diod. 1. i. p. 29.

it had depth enough to carry the largest ships; and was about a thousand stadia, that is, above fifty leagues long. This canal was of great service to the trade of Egypt. But it is now almost filled up, and there are scarce any remains of it to be

seen.

CHAP. III.

LOWER EGYPT.

I AM now to speak of Lower Egypt. Its shape, whcih resembles a triangle or Delta, A, gave occasion to its bearing the latter name, which is that of one of the Greek letters. Lower Egypt forms a kind of island; it begins at a place where the Nile is divided into two large canals, through which it empties itself into the Mediterranean: the mouth on the right hand is called the Pelusian, and the other the Canopic, from two cities in their neighbourhood, Pelusium and Canopus, now called Damietta and Rosetta. Between these two large branches, there are five others of less note. This island is the best cultivated, the most fruitful, and the richest part of Egypt. Its chief cities (very anciently) were Heliopolis, Heracleopolis, Naucratis, Sais, Tanis, Canopus, Pelusium; and, in later times, Alexandria, Nicopolis, &c. It was in the country of Tanis that the Israelites dwelt.

k There was at Sais, a temple dedicated to Minerva, who is supposed to be the same as Isis, with the following inscription: I am whatever hath been, and is, and shall be; and no mortal hath yet pierced through the vale that shrouds me.

k Plutar. de Isid. P. 354.

Heliopolis, that is, the city of the sun, was so called from a magnificent temple there dedicated to that planet. Herodotus, and other authors after him, relate some particulars concerning the Phoenix and this temple, which, if true, would indeed be very wonderful. Of this kind of birds, if we may believe the ancients, there is never but one at a time in the world. He is brought forth in Arabia, lives five or six hundred years, and is of the size of an eagle. His head is adorned with a shining and most beautiful crest; the feathers of his neck are of a gold colour, and the rest of a purple, his tail is white, intermixed with red, and his eyes sparkling like stars. When he is old and finds his end approaching, he builds a nest with wood and aromatic spices, and then dies. Of his bones and marrow, a worm is produced, out of which another Phoenix is formed. His first care is to solemnize his parent's obsequies, for which purpose he makes up a ball in the shape of an egg, with abundance of perfumes of myrrh, as heavy as he can carry, which he often essays beforehand; then he makes a hole in it, where he deposits his parent's body, and closes it carefully with myrrh and other perfumes. After this he takes up the precious load on his shoulders, and flying to the altar of the sun, in the city of Heliopolis, he there burns it.

Herodotus and Tacitus dispute the truth of some of the circumstances of this account, but seem to suppose it true in general. Pliny, on the contrary, in the very beginning of his account of it, insinuates plainly enough, that he looks upon the whole as fabulous; and this is the opinion of all modern authors.

This ancient tradition, though grounded on an evident falsehood, hath yet introduced into almost all languages, the custom of giving the name of

1 Strab. I. xvii. p. S05. Herod. l. ii. c. 73. Plin. l. x. c. 2. Tacit. Ann. 1. vi. c. 28.

phoenix to whatever is singular and uncommon in its kind: Rara avis in terris,m says Juvenal, speaking of the difficulty of finding an accomplished woman in all respects. And Seneca observes the same of a good man.*

What is reported of swans, viz. that they never sing but in their expiring moments, and that then they warble very melodiously, is likewise grounded merely on a vulgar error: and yet it is used, not only by the poets, but also by the orators, and even the philosophers. O'mutis quoque piscibus donatura cycni, si libeat, sonum," says Horace to Melpomene. Cicero compares the excellent discourse which Crassus made in the Senate, a few days before his death, to the melodious singing of a dying swan: Illa tanquam cycnea fuit divini hominis vox et oratio. De Orat. l. iii. n. 6. And Socrates used to say, that good men ought to imitate swans, who, perceiving by a secret instinct, and a sort of divination, what advantage there is in death, die singing and with joy: Providentes quid in morte boni sit, cum cantu et voluptate moriuntur. Tusc. Qu. 1. i. n. 73. I thought this short digression might be of service to youth; and return now to my subject.

It was in Heliopolis, that an ox, under the name of Mnevis, was worshipped as a god. Cambyses, king of Persia, exercised his sacrilegious rage on this city; burning the temples, demolishing the palaces, and destroying the most precious monuments of antiquity in it. There are still to be seen some obelisks which escaped his fury; and others were brought from thence to Rome, to which city they are an ornament even at this day.

Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great, from whom it had its name, vied almost in magnificence

m

Sat. vi. n Od. iii. 1. iv. o Strab. 1. xvii. p. 805.

* Vir bonus tam citò nec fieri potest, nec intelligi-tanquam Phanix, semel anno quingentesimo nascitur. Ep. 40.

with the ancient cities in Egypt. It stands four days' journey from Cairo, and was formerly the chief mart of all the trade of the East. The merchandises were unloaded at Portus Muris,* a town on the Western coast of the Red Sea; from whence they were brought upon camels to a town of Thebais, called Copht, and afterwards conveyed down the Nile to Alexandria, whither merchants resorted from all parts.

It is well known that the trade of the East hath at all times enriched those who carried it on. This was the chief source of the vast treasures that Solomon amassed, and which enabled him to build the magnificent temple of Jerusalem. 9 David, by conquering Idumæa, became master of Elath and Esiongeber, two towns situated on the Eastern shore of the Red Sea. From these two ports, Solomon sent fleets to Ophir and Tarshish, which always brought back immense riches. This traffic, after having been enjoyed some time by the Syrians, who regained Idumæa, passed from them into the hands of the Tyrians. These got all their merchandise conveyed, by the way of Rhinocolura (a sea-port town lying between the confines of Egypt and Palestine), to Tyre, from whence they distributed them all over the Western world. Hereby the Tyrians enriched themselves exceedingly, under the Persian empire, by the favour and protection of whose monarchs they had the full possession of this trade. But when the Ptolemies had made themselves masters of Egypt, they soon drew all this trade into their kingdom, by building Berenice and other ports on the western side of the Red Sea,

p Strab. 1. xvi. p. 781. 1 Kings, ix. 26.

* Or Myos Hormos.

42 Sam. viii. 14. Strab. 1. xvi. p. 481.

† He got in one voyage 450 talents of gold, 2 Chron. viii. 18.; which amounts to three millions two hundred and forty thousand pounds sterling, Prid. Connect. Vol. I. ad ann. 740,

not.