demarcation cannot be traced.

On my way homewards I met several fellahs carrying large baskets
full of dates, and stopped one of them, in order to purchase some of
this celebrated fruit. Unfortunately for me, the dates were still
unripe, hard, of a brick-red colour, and so unpalatable that I could
not eat one of them. A week or ten days afterwards I was able to
procure some ripe ones; they were of a brown colour like the dried
fruit, the tender skin could easily be peeled off, and I liked them
better than dried dates, because they were more pulpy and not so
sweet. A much more precious fruit, the finest production of Egypt
and Syria, almost superior to the pine-apple in taste, is the
banana, which is so delicate that it almost melts in the mouth.
This fruit cannot be dried, and is therefore never exported. Sugar
melons and peaches are to be had in abundance, but their flavour is
not very good. I also preferred the Alexandrian grape to that of
Cairo.

The bazaars, through which we rode in all directions, displayed
nothing very remarkable in manufactures or in productions of nature
and art.

From first to last I spent a week at Cairo, and occupied the whole
of my time from morning till night in viewing the curiosities of the
town.

I only saw two mosques, that of Sultan Hassan and of Sultan Amru.
Before I was permitted to enter the first of these edifices, they
compelled me to take off my shoes, and walk in my stockings over a
courtyard paved with great stones. The stones had become so heated
by the solar rays, that I was obliged to run fast, to avoid
scorching the soles of my feet. I cannot give an opinion touching
the architectural beauty of this building, which is built in such a
simple style that none but a connoisseur would discover its merits.
I was better pleased with the mosque of Sultan Amru, which contains
several halls, and is supported on numerous columns. The mosques in
Cairo struck me as having a more ancient and venerable appearance
than those of Constantinople, while the latter, on the other hand,
were larger and more elegant.

I also visited the island of Rodda, which is worthy the name of a
beautiful garden. It lies opposite to old Cairo, on the Nile, and
is said to be a favourite walk of the townspeople, though I was
there twice without meeting any one. The garden is spacious, and
contains all kinds of tropical productions: here I saw the sugar-
cane, which greatly resembles the stem