appointing, for the low-lying delta is hardly raised at all above
sea-level, and its monotony is only broken by an occasional hillock or
the lofty minarets of the coast towns.

[Illustration: AN IRRIGATED FIELD.]

Formerly the Nile had several mouths, and from many seaports Egypt
carried on its trade with the outside world. To-day only Rosetta and
Damietta remain to give their names to the two branches by which
alone the Nile now seeks the sea. These interesting seaports, mediaeval
and richly picturesque, are no longer the prosperous cities they once
were, for railways have diverted traffic from the Nile, and nearly all
the seaborne trade of Egypt is now carried from Alexandria or Port
Said, the northern entrance to the Suez Canal, and it is by either of
these two ports that modern visitors make their entry into Egypt.

Alexandria is interesting as the city founded by Alexander the Great,
but with the exception of Pompey's pillar and its ancient catacombs
has little attraction for visitors. The town is almost entirely
Italian in character, and is peopled by so many different races that
it hardly seems Egypt at all; boys, however, would enjoy a visit to
the Ras-el-Tin Fort, which figured so largely in the bombardment of
Alexandria, and away to the east, near Rosetta, is Aboukir Bay, the
scene of a more stirring fight, for it was here that, in A.D.
1798, Nelson destroyed the French fleet,[1] and secured for Britain
the command of the Mediterranean.

[Footnote 1: In the "Battle of the Nile."]

After the monotony of a sea voyage, landing at Port Said is amusing.
The steamer anchors in mid-stream, and is quickly surrounded by gaily
painted shore boats, whose swarthy occupants--half native, half
Levantine--clamber on board, and clamour and wrangle for the
possession of your baggage. They are noisy fellows, but once your
boatman is selected, landing at the little stages which lie in the
harbour is quickly effected, and you and your belongings are safely
deposited at the station, and your journey to Cairo begun.

Port Said is a rambling town, whose half brick, half timber buildings
have a general air of dilapidation and unfinish which is depressing.
The somewhat picturesque principal bazaar street is soon exhausted,
and excepting for the imposing offices of the Suez Canal Company, and
the fine statue to De Lesseps, recently erected on the breakwater,
Port Said has little else to excite the curiosity of the visitors;
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