Here he practises also on his own account; and has operated successfully, he informs us, in more than 160 cases of calculus alone. He has acquired by his professional success and official employment a great reputation, and, with reputation, rank and fortune. In 1831, he received the title of Bey; and among many other tokens of the Pasha's great regard and marked attention, the present of the house in which he resides at Cairo. In 1838, he travelled in company with Doctor Bowring over a great portion of Syria. After landing in that province, the travellers visited Antioch, Aleppo and Damascus. Clot-Bey then proceeded to join Ibrahim Pasha in the Haouran, where he collected many valuable religious books of the Druses. "Wherever we went in Syria," says his companion," he was regarded as a public benefactor, and followed by crowds to be healed. I never saw such marks of popular confidence and affection." In May of 1839, on obtaining leave to quit Egypt for Europe (whither his reputation had preceded him), in order to recruit his health, that had occasioned him some serious apprehensions of late, he thought it right to address to the ministers of the interior and of public instruction, a detailed report of the condition of the medical service of Egypt, in which he indicated the ameliorations of which it was susceptible. This he considered an obligagation imposed upon him, from the peculiarity of the situation in which he then found himself with regard to it. After landing in Europe, he remained some time in Italy, and on arriving at Marseilles, his native city, married a lady of some property. He visited Paris last year (1840), where he published the present work, and then returned with his wife to Egypt, to resume his official duties. A more fitting season for the publication of his book the author could scarcely have chosen. At the precise moment when the present and future existence of Egypt as an Eastern de facto independent power, was being discussed with the deepest interest by the press, the diplomacy, and the entire political world of Europe, the appearance of these volumes, presenting a fresh weight of testimony before the tribunal of public opinion, could not fail, from the admitted respectability of the author, to exercise its due share of influence. Had any evidence been wanting to throw light on the nature of the connection which has so long subsisted between France and the viceroy, or to recommend the strict maintenance of that amicable relation in the then existing crisis, there could not, perhaps, have been found a sincerer or more earnest, and, in many respects, a better qualified agent for the work than the present witness. The book is dedicated to Mehemet Ali, but without his express authorization; in this the writer has evidently acted à dessein, lest it should be said, that under the circumstances it was written by the Pasha's orders, or under the influence of his government. The whole responsibility, then, rests upon the author; but could he have done otherwise, he asks, with characteristic self-gratulation, than dedicate it to him to whom he owes the position he has gained in society, and the part assigned him in the work of the regeneration of Egypt? Of course, it is evidently one of his chief concerns to set forth the character, the acts and the government of Mehemet in a flattering point of view, though he professes to yield to no personal solicitation or convenience, but to maintain full liberty of thought and expression. Moreover, he appears to us to exhibit a too marked partiality for his own country and countrymen throughout these volumes, which sometimes becomes offensive; indeed, the chief fault of the work is its exclusive nationality. By reason of the very early progress which the inhabitants of Egypt had made in the arts of civilized life, it is natural to suppose, that everything relating to that country would always be considered as an object of curiosity and interest. It had vegetated, however, in comparative oblivion, for a considerable period, when the French expedition, at the close of the last century, reattracted towards it the attention of the world. Its present importance doubtless dates from that event. Since then, resuscitated, it has become an active party in a question, towards the solution of which all the political interests of the old continent are brought to bear. It has acquired, both by itself and by its relative position, no mean share of consideration; and it is therefore well deserving of being thoroughly known. Consequently, in the course of the last forty years, much additional information has been gained, and several works have been written respecting this interesting country. First and foremost were the labours of the French Institute at Cairo, which gave to the world a work of unexampled splendour and magnificence, the "Description de Egypte." Previous to the publication of this work, there were, indeed, extant the accounts of some continental travellers, such as Savary, Sonnini, Volney, and a few English; but noue that treated the subject of the monuments of Egypt in anything like so elaborate, scientific, and comprehensive a manner as the work abovementioned. Next appeared Hamilton's "Egyptiaca" at London, in 1809. Since then a variety of publications both on the ancient and modern state of the country have issued from the press. Among the French, the most profound of these labours is undoubtedly the work of Champollion, as regards the ancient department of the subject, to whom the author of the book we are noticing acknowledges himself often indebted. Of more recent and popular works in France, the "Travels" of the Duke of Ragusa contain some of the most interesting details, and practical and solid opinions respecting Egypt; also "Lettres sur l'Orient," by MM. Michaud and Poujoulat, are worthy of notice; as are the "Travels" of MM. de Cadalvène and de Breuvery; but the most valuable of recent publications on the actual condition of the country, inasmuch as it is a history of the life and reign of Mehemet Ali, is the accurate work of M. Mengin. In England we can boast of two very respectable additions to our knowledge of ancient and modern Egypt, in the late volumes of Sir Gardner Wilkinson, and those of Mr. W. Lane. Of English labourers in the like field of research, many other creditable names might be mentioned; still, with the accumulations of both countries, this. treatise of Clot-Bey was a desideratum, inasmuch as it is a concise, methodical, and popular résumé of the physical, social, and political states of the actual dominions of the viceroy, brought up to the present period: in other words, a general view of Egypt, presented under all its most striking aspects, and in a portable form, did not previously exist... It is hardly to be supposed that the author should individually possess the requisite knowledge ou all the multifarious topics treated in these volumes. Accordingly, for the geographical portion of his work, he acknowledges himself indebted to the learned M. Jomard, the veteran of the Egyptian Institute, the active guardian of the traditions which attach France to Egypt, and the devoted intermediary through whom principally the lights of civilization have been introduced into the latter country, To M. Figari, Professor of Botany in the school of Cairo, is owing a great part of the materials relating to that science; as is the zoology to M. Regis, a distinguished naturalist of the medical school. M. Bonfort, land-steward to Ibrahim Pasha, has communicated much information as regards the plants recently introduced into Egypt, as well as upon agriculture. For a great portion of the historical and statistical matter the author is indebted to M. Mengin. M. Linan, an engineer, who is thoroughly versed in the hydrography and the cadastre of Egypt, and who has been entrusted with the great work of canalization, has furnished considerable assistance; and so has Cerisy-Bey, in respect to marine affairs. Lastly, something is due to M. Rosellini, for communications on Egyptian antiquities; and to M. Coste for the same on Arab monuments and architecture. The work is prefaced by a historical introduction, bringing down the narrative of the principal events nearly to the present period, after which, the first chapter is devoted to an Aperçu Physique, in which are treated the situation, form, geographical divisions of the country, a sketch of the geological qualities of the soil, the climate and meteorological phenomena, the river Nile, and the lakes. Some errors into which popular belief has fallen are here corrected for instance, it is generally supposed that it never, or very seldom, rains in Egypt. Though there may be long periods of complete dryness, our author assures us that it rains a good deal in Lower Egypt(il pleut beaucoup dans la basse Egypt): the rainy season usually begins in October, continues through November and December, and ends in March. During this period, there are but few weeks without rain, and it has often been known to continue for several days together. In the Delta, it rains annually from twenty-five to thirty times, but at Cairo less frequently and in less quantity. In 1824, it rained in that city for a week together so violently that it occasioned the fall of several houses, and much damage besides. In the second chapter is treated the natural history of the country; namely, the minerals, plants, animals, birds, and the different human races that inhabit Egypt. The various ancient and mediæval writers on this country were evidently very imperfectly acquainted with its botany. Delile, who accompanied the French expedition, was the first to form a flora; his labours in this respect leave little to be desired. But since then, order having been established by Mehemet Ali's government in all the districts from the embouchure of the Nile to Upper Nubia, naturalists have been enabled, without fear or molestation, to explore those parts, and to complete the work of Delile. Before quitting this part of the author's labours, it may be proper to observe that, like most of its predecessors, this work is greatly deficient in what is really a desideratum, namely, some further information than we as yet possess of the geological structure of Egypt. Hitherto nearly all writers and travellers have, from some cause or another, abstained from throwing any light on the geology of this country. Even authors who have extensively written on this science, such as Lyell and others, have given but very meagre and unsatisfactory accounts, either of the valley of the Nile or the Delta. Though in the present work, as elsewhere, we are reminded of the usual mineralogical distinctions of primitive, secondary, and alluvial formations, we are yet presented with nothing as to the direction and inclinations of the strata in In one of our ablest encyclopædias, now issuing, we find the following remarks: "The cause of the fertility of Egypt is the Nile, without which, as it almost never rains in that part of the world, the whole country would soon become an uninhabitable desert." Egypt is, in a great measure, exempted from the phenomena of rain, hail, snow, thunder, and lightning. In the Delta, it never rains in summer, and very seldom at any other season." the mountainous ridges of the Nile, or in the transverse valleys that branch off towards the Red Sea on the one hand, and to the Oases on the other. There is no attempt made,-perhaps the nature of the work would hardly admit of any lengthened detail, -to give anything like a systematic view of the geological structure of the Egyptian soil; merely a few scattered observations on this head do we meet with here and there. Egypt still remains a field to be explored by the scientific geologist, but one that promises much. And it is a matter of some surprise, that while so many other districts have been investigated, neither the German, French, nor English geologists have yet, as far as we are aware, entered upon a systematic mineralogical survey of this most interesting and remarkable country. The three succeeding chapters are taken up with an account of the population, habitations, towns and villages, the religions and sects, the Mussulman law, and the administration of justice. The sixth chapter, on the manners and customs of the Mussulmans, is one of the most interesting and instructive in the book. But after the admirable work of Mr. Lane on this subject, it is, perhaps, unnecessary to detain the reader long on this division of the author's labours. One or two remarks, however, on the conduct of Europeans towards their slaves in Egypt are worth quoting, inasmuch as they convey a sly sarcasm upon that portion of mankind who claim credit for their civilization and philanthropy:-- Such "The Europeans who inhabit Egypt," says Clot-Bey," may possess slaves through the tolerance of Mehemet Ali. One would be led to suppose, for the honour of our civilization, that it would be a happiness for these latter to belong to masters who are natives of countries where slavery does not exist, and whose hospitable soil gives liberty to whoever may touch it; in general, however, this idea would be delusive. Those Europeans who, in speaking of Mussulman barbarism, have contempt upon their lips, seldom square their own conduct with the tone of their verbose philanthropy; many of these sell or barter their slaves. acts may, to a certain point and in certain cases, be justifiable, so long as they do not degenerate into traffic. It would, indeed, be a cruelty to give a young slave his liberty who was not able to maintain himself by his work, of whom, nevertheless, you might be obliged to rid yourself. In freeing him, as great inhumanity would be committed as for a father to drive his child from the domestic hearth. But to sell a slave who is able to get his living by labour, is a disgraceful trafficking; and yet many Franks speculate in this infamous commerce. There are even those who sell their female slaves whom they have caused to be enceinte, and who thus abandon to slavery their own offspring. Properly to describe such horrible immorality, language is too poor, or the heart of an honourable man too full of indignation. In witnessing such things, the Orientals may well pride themselves on their more virtuous barbarism, and hold in contempt our civilization, tarnished as it is by |