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from whence it is distant about a Musket-shot This Pillar is in the Palace of the Isle Roude and to come to it one must pass by a great and a beautiful Mosquée Therefore it is a difficult matter for a Christian to see it because the Mahumetans do not suffer them to enter into their Mosquées chiefly in Egypt for they believe that they would by their entrance defile and profane them For this cause I could not have the liberty to see it therefore I cannot give any other description than that of Amer ibn il verdi and of Macrizi famous Historians of the Arabians It is as they say of white Marble of an Octogone figure standing in a Pond of water into which the water of Nilus enters in by a large Channel It is divided upon the eight Angles into two and twenty Cubits from the top to the bottom The first is divided into 24 equal parts called Fingers the second is not divided the third is divided as the first thus alternatively till the eleventh Cubit The first Cubit of the second side is not divided the second is divided into four and twenty thumbs the third is not thus till the eleventh which with the others to the bottom are divided into eighteen fingers or thumbs All the other sides are divided in the same manner so that all the Cubits which are divided in a side answer to the Cubits which are not divided in the other side The increase of the River is discerned from the top to the bottom The Copties say that John Mekaukes a famous Man of their Nation and a Governour of Egypt for the Emperour Heraclius laid the Foundations of this Palace and of the Church which is near a Mosquée When Christianity flourish'd in Egypt it belong'd to one of their Priests to examine the increase of the River which action was performed three hours after midnight and after Mass This is very likely The last Priest of the Copties that measured it was named Raddat who continued in that Office by making himself a Mahumetan that none but his Posterity might have this Office Ibn Raddat who now executes this Function is descended from him and is a Caddi by Profession Though the Mahumetans are Enemies of the Copties they observe some Customes now which were then kept when their Priests did measure the River for they do this about Even-song that is about three hours in the afternoon They that must examine the increase of the River must be Cadis or Judges an Ecclesiastical Function amongst the Mahumetans They do it after they have first purified themselves and said their prayers of the Even as the Copties after Mass When Ibn Raddat hath taken notice of the number of the Fingers that signifie the increase of the River he takes three times the water in the hollow of his hand and flings it as often into the air He repeats afterwards the Chapter of Fatha and departs with the news of the rising of the water to the Pacha On the 29th of June the Festival of the Apostles of S. Peter and S. Paul they begin to publish abroad this increase through the City of Cairo the manner of this publication is sufficiently describ'd by Monsieur Thevenot This day is the 26th of Baoni or the June of the Copties which is the Festival of the Angel Gabriel They call this day in their Language Besciaret innil be Massr or The day of the publication of the River Nilus at Cairo They that are imployed in this business observe a particular Custom They never declare exactly the number of the fingers of the increase but always keep back some till the time comes that the Calitz is to be cut For example if Nilus be increased ten fingers the first day they will declare but seven or eight the next day and will conceal three or four if in another day it increaseth twelve fingers they will discover but eight or nine and keep back three or four Thus they continue 20 days till the time comes that the Bank is to be cut that hinders the River from running into the Channel of Cairo then they reveal some of those fingers which they conceal'd All which they constantly perform until the day comes that they cry out Ouf Alla that the River is come to its perfect increase to water all the Fields of Egypt They observe this method as they say to cause more rejoycing in the people by discovering a great many fingers at once at the time when the Bank is cut This makes them expect a year of Plenty Of the Well of Argenus I Have taken notice of one particular thing concerning Nilus worthy of the knowledge of our Learned Wits which never any Traveller of Europe hath yet given any account of At Argenus or Gernus as some call it corruptly a Village near Behnese a Town scituate in the middle of Egypt there is a Monastery of Copties with a Church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin where there is a Well whereof the waters increase and swell every year that same night in which the Dew falls in such a manner that from thence it is easie to gather how many Cubits the River will rise that year above sixteen To know this they observe this Custom The Evening before the Dew falls the Cadi together with the Elder of this Town goes to the Church with a little Cord of Cotton having eight knots distant from one another about a thumb at the end there is a piece of Lead which they let down into the Well in the presence of a crowd of people As soon as the Lead touches the top of the water they tye the string and stop the Well sealing it with their Seal Afterwards they go to the Church and continue there till the morning at which time they examine how much the water is risen that night for at break of day they take away the Seal they open the Well and draw up the Cord. Now by the rising of the water in the Well and the number of the knots that are wet they can Prognosticate how many Cubits the River will rise that year above sixteen They reckon a Cubit for every knot that is wet For example if there be four knots wet they understand that the River will rise four Cubits that year that is in all twenty so they judge of the rest Nevertheless I know not whether this be true or whether it be but a Cheat as the late holy Greek at Jerusalem of Easter-Eve as the appearing of the Saints at Gemiane I could not go upon the place to observe this passage yet I can say that all the Historians of Arabia speak of it as most true as we may see in George le Mekkin which is in the Kings Library Of the Fishes of the River Nilus THe chief Fishes found in this River which I am acquainted with here follow The Fish called Variole is the best some are taken weighing three hundred pounds next is the
Inhabitants of the Country thus called as we have already said of Coptus the Son of Misraim who was King of Egypt after his Father The Moors who are named by the Arabians Aulad il Arab or Children of the Arabians are likewise as well as the Copties descended from the same Father but they are become Mahumetans and it may be since they have Conquered Egypt there are some amongst them yet that are come from the Arabians The Arabians are a people of Arabia and though they live in Egypt they have no communication with the Moors who are originally of the Country They are of many differing Generations govern'd by their several Chieftains whom I shall mention in the sequel of this discourse The Turks have establish'd themselves there since Sultan Selimus conquer'd Egypt These govern the Country defend it and act in all Offices of State The Greeks that live there now and that make yet profession of the Christian Religion have been invited thither by the great Trade of Egypt for there is no sign of the Ancient Greeks who establish'd themselves there when Alexander the Great conquer'd Egypt if there be any they are mingled with the Copties and are called by their names And because the Greekish Emperours that followed the Council of Chalcedonia were glad to incourage a Party in Egypt against the Copties sworn Enemies of that Council they protected there the Greeks that went thither from Greece that submitted to that Council and gave them means to establish themselves in this Kingdom since that time the Greekish Religion hath been there professed The Jews have always lived there at present they are very numerous and are in great repute chiefly at Cairo and in the Maritime Towns but unless it be in such places there are none to be found for if their occasions call them into the Country they usually disguise and hide themselves for when the Country-people find them out they abuse and affront them strangely The Copties at present in Egypt are not numerous in comparison of what they have been heretofore for in the days of Amru ibn il Ass who took this Country from the Greeks there was of this Nation six hundred thousand that paid him Tribute but now according to the relation of their own Patriarch there is scarce ten or fifteen thousand One of the Causes of this decrease was their constancy in the Christian Religion in the time of the Romans their Governours were so furious against them for that reason that they have put to death millions at a time for the Histories tell us of the Governour under Dioclesian the Emperour who massacred in one night at Christmas fourscore thousand who are buried upon Mount Achmim in the Upper Egypt And at another time near Isna either the same Governour or another put to death so many that they were not to be numbred for they covered fourscore Fiddans or Furlongs with their dead martyr'd bodies The Fiddan in Egypt contains 400 Cassabs or Yards every Yard is 6 Cubits Another Cause of their decrease in the days of the Christian Emperours was their obstinacy in maintaining the Errour of Dioscorus one of their Patriarchs concerning one Nature one Will and Person in Jesus Christ which caused them to suffer almost the same destructions as they had done formerly under the Heathen Emperours for the Christian Faith For when the Greek Emperours offered to force them to leave the Errour of Dioscorus and to embrace the Faith established in the Council of Chalcedone and when they found them disobedient and inflexible they made use of the Sword to compass their design Amongst the rest the Emperour Justinian as Macriz saith in his History of the Patriarchs caused two hundred thousand Copties to be killed at Alexandria for that very purpose I shall not mention the Cruelties of the other Emperours his Successors exercised upon them So that such as survived after such like Massacres when they saw the danger that attended the profession of this Opinion and of appearing in the Cities they retreated into the wilderness or withdrew themselves into the Monasteries in despair to lead a Monastical life without marriage or thinking to propagate their Nation After this the Mahometan Kings and Princes that have governed Egypt since the Christian Emperours when they found them rebellious against their Government have not spared them They have killed the Chief sold for Slaves the Wives and Children of others so that the weaker sort have been forc'd to turn Mahometans By this means after so many evils this Nation is reduced to a very small number They were anciently Heathens every City had a God to adore Abusir or the old Busiris worshipped a Calf Alexandria the ancient Racotis adored Serapis of Stone Achmim which is the old Panos acknowledged Apollo Bana worshipped a Dog Bassa or the old Bubastis had for God a Lion of Stone Eida adored Serapis Ischemunein which is the ancient Hermopolis worshipped a Man of Stone Isvan called by the Copties Sevan reverenced the Tree Lebaca Cous worshipped the Moon and Stars Mindadi the Fig-tree of Pharaoh Memphis a Calf Atrib or the old Atribis adored a Calf of Stone Semennut which is the ancient Sebennis worshipped a Calf of Brass Sa a Hog of Stone Tuba had a respect for the Water and all that is therein I have taken all these particulars out of an old Manuscript in Arabick that I have seen in the Monastry of S. Anthony But since the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ they have been some of the first that have embraced the Christian Religion at the preaching of the Apostle S. Mark They have continued in the right Faith till Dioscorus their Patriarch fell into this Heresie That in Jesus Christ there was but one Nature one Substance one Will and one Operation This Errour with its Author was condemned in the Council of Chalcedone and such as receive it are counted as Hereticks by the Church of Rome therefore they have been persecuted by the Christian Emperours in times past But because I treat more amply of their Belief and Ecclesiastical Ceremonies in another Book named the Church of Alexandria which I composed for that purpose when I was at Cairo therefore I will say no more at present The Egyptians have often changed their Language The first and ancient Language of the Country was that of the Copties which was used all the time that their Kings reigned in Egypt But when Alexander the Great had subdued that Country they were forced to learn the Speech of their Conquerour which was the Greek since commonly spoken in Egypt above nine hundred years till the Arabians had driven away the Greeks They brought in the Arabian Tongue which is now commonly used Of Saida or the Upper Egypt SAid in Arabick signifies a Place or a Country higher and above another Therefore because the Upper Egypt is higher and above the Lower it bears this Name The Arabians call it yet Vogh il ard or the Face of the Country
Copties altogether ignorant ascribe this ordinary decrease to a Miracle They observe the Festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at which time they bless a Cross at the Celebration of the Mass which they cast into Nilus and imagine that this Cross stops the increase of the River Their Patriarch was wont to perform this Ceremony with great pomp and state but because the Mahumetans suffer them not to go in Procession about the Cities publickly their Priests observe this Custom every one in his own Village The waters of this River have several Operations 1. They cause a Looseness to the new-comers if they drink of them at their first arrival which continues about eight days 2. They cause an itch in the skin which troubles such as drink of them when the River increases This itch is very small and appears first about the Arms next upon the Stomach and spreads all about the Body which causeth a grievous pain This Itch comes not only upon such as drink of the River but such as drink of the waters of the Cisterns filled with the River water It lasts about six Weeks 3. About the Month of June July August and September it turns into a swet but is not so in any other time of the year 4. When this water covers the Earth it fats the Land with the slime that it leaves behind Monsieur Th. is mistaken in his Travels into the Levant when he saith that this slime makes the ground so fat that if they did not mingle Sand with it the ground would rot and choak what is put into it and that in Egypt they take as much pains to carry Sand into the ground as we do to carry dung This is not generally so for they never use Sand but for Melons Cucumbers and such like Fruits which grow only in sandy ground they never use Sand for other Fruits and Grains When the River runs over it makes a great destruction it carries away not only great pieces of the Bank but destroys sometimes Towns and Villages near to it This may easily be perceived by the ruines of the Houses and the old Walls seen all along the sides of the River Sometimes it alters its Channel I have read in the Mekkin an Arabian Historian that about the time that the Arabians conquer'd Egypt the water was so high as to touch the Walls of the Cassr Isscémma a part of the old Cairo and that it ran near the Church of Mary Moncure which is in that of the Patriarchs in the Street called in that time Háret il bahr The Street of the River whereas now it is above a mile off from this place One day as I was walking out of the old Cairo in the Fields near the Church of S. Michael the Copties shewed me a Garden near adjoyning which was about 10 years ago upon the Banks of the River but at present it is above a Musket shot off because the River hath taken as much ground on the other side as it hath lest on this Now let us see whether the Kings of Ethiopia are able to divert the course of the River and cause all the Inhabitants to perish with hunger as some imagine I am of this Opinion though the Father Telles supposeth and alledgeth many difficulties in his History of Ethiopia These are the Reasons that oblige me to believe it possible 1. A Letter of David King of Ethiopia sirnamed Constantine written to Abu seid Barcúk King of Egypt in the year of the Martyrs 1193. I have a Copy of it written in Arabick in which he threatens him in two distinct places of his Letter to turn aside the River Nilus and hinder it from entering into Egypt to cause all the Inhabitants to perish with hunger if he continues to vex the Copties whom he names his Brethren He saith that he hath received from God this priviledge which he had not discover'd to any of his Predecessors 2. Because the Kings of Ethiopia have hindred the Current of Nilus and turn'd it out of Egypt in the days of Mostansir one of the Califfes of Egypt which obliged him to send the Patriarch of the Copties with rich Presents to the King of Ethiopia to intreat him to take away the Bank which he had raised to turn aside the River The King of Ethiopia having granted him this request for the Patriarchs sake the River increased in one night three Cubits which was sufficient to water the Fields with that water that was there before as we may see in the History of the Musulmans of George le Mekkin The first thing that Strangers may take notice of in sailing upon the River is the great number of Islands whereof some be very great 20 miles in compass They proceed first from the shipwrack of Vessels that have stuck in the mud This happens frequently through the unskilfulness of the Mariners and the mud of the River the slowness of the Current the dirt and mire gathers immediately about any thing that stops there by this means these places increase into Islands Almost every day new Islands are discoverable And because the State of Egypt never chang'd since the Conquest of Sultan Selim and that these Islands have been made since they are not recorded in the Rolls of the Divan of that time From hence it is that they pay nothing to the Grand Seignior but belong to the Pacha who lets them out to the Casciefs of the Province where these Islands are scituated or to whom he pleaseth Several Pillars have been erected in divers times to measure the rising of the River The first was at Menuf or Memphis built by Joseph Jacobson When this fell to ruine a rich Lady of the Copties named Deluca erected two others one at Insine or Thebe and the other at Achmin When this last decayed the Greeks built one at Cassr Isscemma whereof the Ruines are yet to be seen as some say Ater that Amru ibn il Ass had conquered Egypt he caused one to be built at Insine for the same purpose This remained entire till the days of Abd il aziz ibn Mervan a Califf of Egypt who caused one to be built at Helvan a place where he delighted to dwell The last of these Pillars stands in the Roude an Island where it remains to this very day It was erected by the Command of Azamed ibn zid il Nettuchi as we may see in the Macrizi in the Serrur and other Arabian Histories Of the Pillar of Mikias and in what manner they take notice of the Rivers increase THE Name of Mikias in its right signification is nothing but a place where something is to be measured But when at Cairo Mikias is named they understand only the Pillar which is in the Palace of the Roude an Island which serves to observe the increase of Nilus This Island is named Roude or Garden because it is a delightful place and full of many pleasant Gardens It stands over against Grand Carro
Provisions of Corn and to send them to the Emin il Scióne the Master of the Store-houses of the Grand Seignior who upon a certain day of the Month causes these Provisions to be distributed according as the Divan appoints But because sometimes this allowance is not sufficient every one hath liberty to buy more by paying for every Ardeb a thousand Meidins When this Money is once paid every year one may fetch this allowance during the Buyer's life Near this Cassr isscemma on a side of Cairo is the Quarter of the Patriarch of the Copties named in Arab. Haret il Batrak It is separated from this Castle with an high Wall with which it is inclosed The Patriarch hath his Abode a little above the Church of Mary Moncure concerning which I shall take notice of some curiosities in the sequel of this Discourse Babylon was further towards the South of Cairo Now there appears nothing but great Mountains of its Ruines and three Churches of the Copties one dedicated to the Virgin Mary another to S. Theodorus the third to S. John Abakîr The Church of the Virgin as the Copties relate was the first that was built at Cairo after the coming of our Saviour Christ They say that S. Mark hath preach'd there and that S. Peter mentions it at the end of his Epistle when he saith that the Church elect which is in Babylon Massr or Babylon near Cairo salute you as well as my Son Marcus I did not go into it at this time but I saw it and lay there one Night in my first Voyage to Egypt in the year 1664. Cateia was built near Fostat by Ahmed ibn Toulon Prince of Egypt as we have already said The Caraffa is the Burying-place of the Mahometans highly esteem'd because there be some Kindred of Mahomet and some of their Saints buried In the flourishing days of Egypt there were above three hundred and sixty Tombs and Mosques of Great Men every one endowed with a sufficient allowance for poor People and the Pilgrims of that Religion that came thither So that a Pilgrim at Cairo could have subsisted a whole year without spending an Asper by visiting every day the Mosques and Tombs of this place but in process of time the Revenues being devoured by the wickedness of the Pacha's the Tombs and Mosques are since gone to decay The Continuation of the Journal THE 16th of April 1672. Saturday before Easter the French Consul went to visit the Pacha who was then in a Garden at the Village Besestein he went to speak to him about a business of his Nation I took this occasion to offer him my Letters of re-commendation which Ishac Pacha of Seida had given me to deliver to him In consideration of them he promis'd me his protection and favour The way of Hatching Chickens at Cairo The 21st of this Month I went to see the Ovens where the Chickens are hatched These Ovens are builded in the same manner as the Ovens of France made to bake Bread only with this difference they are not so high nor so big as ours nor of burnt Brick but of Brick dried in the Sun They have also on the top a round hole as big as the circumference of a French Hat through which the heat mounts up and goes out which Ovens for Bread have not In the House where I saw them they were plac'd in this manner There were four and twenty twelve on the right hand and twelve on the left six one upon another At the first sight one would have thought them to be so many Sleeping-cells of Monks but the Alley that was between was so narrow that when I enter'd in the smoak and heat that came out had almost stifled me Now to cause the Egs to be hatch'd they put them all in the lowermost Ovens and in the uppermost they kindle a small Fire for eight days with Straw Afterwards they stop them and leave them so six other days Then they take away the Egs from the lowermost Ovens and separate the good from the bad by examining them in the Sun-shine Afterwards they cast away the addled and put all the good in the uppermost Ovens making with Straw a small Fire in the lowermost for two days They leave them in that condition one and twenty days without medling with them at which time the Chickens begin to break the Shell so that in two and twenty days they bring forth Chickens in this manner This is not to be practis'd but during four Months in the Year namely from the Month of December till the Month of April The other part of the Year is not fit for this purpose because of the excessive heats Of the Pyramides IN my first Voyage to Egypt I had seen the Pyramides but having another opportunity offer'd to me I went thither to view again these rare Monuments of Antiquity to see whether I might not observe something more than I have taken notice of in my first Relation On the 27th of April I went thither in the Company of the French Consul and many other Merchants and with almost all his Houshold we had with us three Janissaries to guard us so that we were in all about fifty Cavaliers well mounted upon Asses taking with us Provisions sufficient for three days When we were come to the Pyramides and had observ'd exactly every thing I took notice that the place where they stood was a Burying-place This is plain to any that see the place and doubtless it was the burying-place of the old City Memphis for all the Arabian Histories inform us that this City stood where the Pyramides now are over against Old Cairo 2. I took notice that all the Pyramides have an entrance that leads to a low Alley which is very long and at the end is a Chamber where the ancient Egyptians did place the Bodies of those Persons for whom the Pyramides was built This entrance is not to be seen in every one of the Pyramides because the Wind hath stopt them with Sand. I saw upon some of them some Hierogliphick Characters but I had not time to write them out 3. I took notice that all the Pyramides were builded in very good order and that each of the three greatest were at the head of ten lesser which are not well to be distinguished because of the heaps of Sand one may yet imagine to see the place that in former Ages there have been here one hundred Pyramides little and great 4. I took notice that they are all builded upon an even Rock covered over with white Sand so that it is very probable that the Stones have been taken from the place and not brought from far as some Travellers imagine and old Writers for the greatest is nothing but a Rock cut as a Pyramide and covered over with a Wall of Stone 5. I took notice that of all the Stones of the greatest there is scarce one entire but either worn out with the Weather and Time or broken
S. Menna so that when the Copties perceived them they knew not what to say By this we may judge that this Church hath not been built by the Optick Rules of Art and that only by chance these Shadows have appeared and been taken notice of This Apparition continues three days following in which time there is such a great concourse of People that one is ready to be stifled I perceived that they did call every Saint according to their devotion and respect without order And when they saw some Shadows upon the Wall which had a relation with those Saints that are painted in their Churches they cry out for joy in their Language Selam lak Kaddis Filan I salute you ô Saint N. N. To this they add an Hymn proper to the Saint and Prayers tying upon the Wall some little crosses of Wax Of all the Saints that their Church worships I have heard none called upon but the blessed Virgin S. George S. Menna and S. Porter On this Festival day all the Arabians thereabouts meet here out of an ancient Custome to be treated for three days with the Revenues of this Church When I was there they could make up near five hundred Horse and five hundred Foot The Horse-men were Armed with a Lance the Foot-men with a Club upon their Shoulders pointed with Iron This Custome of feeding the Arabians thereabouts is very ancient it comes from their pretending to be the Lords of the Country round about where this Church is built and therefore for this consideration they hinder not the Christians as they are able from coming to this Festival Therefore the Epitrope or Treasurer of the Church hath care to provide all things needful for their entertainment He kill'd that year seven young Cows two every day He provided for them Rice Bread and Barly for their Cattel He had a care also to send for Cooks and all Implements necessary for a Kitchin so that the Arabians had nothing else to do here but to eat and drink and divert themselves Twice every every day these Arabians performed their War-like Exercises to shew their jolly humor and to give sport to the Assembly The Horse-men played at Girit or the Dart by casting it to one another riding one against another and fencing therewith with much dexterity The Footmen likewise skirmish'd one against another very pleasantly with their great Staves The third day of this Festival the Arabians have nothing given them but a Dinner as soon as they have eaten it they are to depart so that if two hours after any of them was found there and that the Beys Lieutenant hath any knowledge of him he will cause him to be punish'd either by the Purse or a Bastinado so that none have liberty to stay there that day but Christians whom the Epitrope treats in the same manner as he doth the Arabians I was one of the chief Persons invited the Treasurer entertained me under his own tent with an extraordinary Banquet only Wine was wanting and Spoons Forks Knives and Napkins were not used The Meat was to be torn in pieces between the Fingers according to the Custome of the Country Afterwards out of the Tent a long Skin of Leather was spread upon the ground for the ordinary People where they were very well treated I shall finish this Relation with an advice to all Francs that intend to see this Festival They ought to take the same Way as we have done because it is the easiest the most commodious and the less dangerous Let them get a good Tent for there are no Lodgings but in the open Air Let them carry Wine Strong-waters Meat Hens Bread and other things for nourishment during the Festival Let them also carry with them the Furniture of the Table a Carpet a Cushion to sit upon and some Coverlets for their conveniency and to appear handsomly Water and Wood are here plenty There is Fish also to be sold for the Fisher-men of Nilus that is near adjoining bring hither a great deal I was provided with all these things therefore I appeared very decently There is here no danger of being robb'd for the Lieutenant of the Bey of Mohelle is also at this Festival with a good Guard of Spahins to prevent Disorders Quarrels and Robberies which might happen among rude and barbarous People So that in this place one may be with as much safety as at Cairo in a House Upon this account there happen'd a pleasant Accident a poor Arabian had taken from a Christian a handful of Barly to give it to his Ass he was taken upon the Fact The Christians immediately dragg'd him with a great noise to the Beys Lieutenant to have him punish'd Whiles they were leading him a great Tumult of People ran to see him some upbraided him with his boldness and impudency to steal without apprehending the punishment of the Saints that appear'd in their Church and did so many great Miracles another ask'd him whether he did not fear that God would punish him At which words he answer'd Ane Baaref rabbene that is What do I know that there is a God or I know not what is God This caused me to wonder both at the Copties settled perswasion of the real Apparition of their Saints and at the ignorance of the Arabians seeing that some of them know not that there is a God At last this Wretch was shut up in a Cage and I know not what happen'd to him afterwards It is time to prepare to depart when the Company withdraws it self and if one desires to return to Cairo by another way one may go by Land to Brullos from thence to Rosetta by this means one may go through the lower part of Delta a curious Journy which I never heard that any Franc hath made But in case any danger is likely to be in this way one may go from Gemiane to Great Mohelle where the ways are full of People and from thence one may go by Land to Cairo and see all the Antiquities that be in Mohelle and all along the wav I went away on Wednesday morning when every one was departing and returned to Cairo the same way that I came because the other ways seem'd to be dangerous I arrived at Cairo the 20th of the same Month eleven days after my departure The Representation of this Church is in the Cabinet of Monsieur C. On the 27th of May I went to visit the Patriarch of the Copties called Muallim Mattaos or Master Matthew whom I had seen in my first Voyage I intreated him to give me a Letter to recommend me to the Monasteries of Saint Macarius whither I intended to go which he granted me very willingly The 30th of this Month a Bey of Constantinople arrived at Cairo bound for the Island of Suaquen scituated in the Red-Sea where he was to Govern as Pacha At the same time came Don Pietro an Abyssin whom I had known at Rome and who had given me the Manuscripts of the Synods
seen It is nothing but a plain Champain of Sand altogether unfruitful Every Franc is bound to pay at the entrance into Alexandria at the Gate of Rosetta three Para's half to the Beduins or Boemiens and half to the Janissaries because they are there upon the Guard At my first arrival at Alexandria on the 15th of the same Month I went to salute Monsieur Laurens Vice-Consul in this City for the French who exprest a great deal of civility to me and offered me his Table and a Chamber in his House but in regard I was recommended by Monsieur Brousson the Factor of the Levant Company to Monsieur Sabatery his intimate Friend and Factor there and in regard he had a convenient Lodging which he offer'd me to content them both I lodg'd with Monsieur Sabatery and made use of the Vice-Consul's Table all the time I staid at Alexandria I went next to visit an intimate Friend with whom I had an acquaintance in my first Voyage to Egypt he was called Komos Jean Arch-Priest of the Church of S. Mark of the Copties He is an understanding and an honest Man and hath informed me much concerning the affairs of Egypt I understood from the French Merchants of this City that their Fondego hath been built by the Grand Seignior's order for their Lodging and since their establishment in this City the Turkish Emperours were wont to pay to the French Consuls ever Year two hundred Crowns for the Reparations of this House but of late they don't see this Money The cause is not well known On the 16th of this Month I went to a Jews House with an intention to buy of him a curious Hieroglyphick Stone that stands at the Threshold of his Door It is about an Ell and a-half long and about a Foot broad of a Marble colour upon which are graven three lines of Hieroglyphick Letters in very small Characters which are to be read from the left hand to the right This Stone was desired by Monsieur Thevenot who endeavoured to buy it he offered as I was told thirty Piasters to this Jew for it but the other ask'd an hundred All the People of the Levant have this foolish Custome to raise the Price of their Commodities when they see that a Franc desires any thing though it were but a trifle the others desire makes them think it to be unvaluable they prize it therefore at such a rate that none dare meddle with it They are so simple to suffer the Commodity to lie upon their Hands and spoil rather than to sell it to a Franc at the same rate that they would give it to a Man of the Levant Nevertheless I expected that the Jew had chang'd his mind since that time I offer'd him the same Price that this Franc had offer'd before but when I saw that my offer render'd him more proud resolved in his first demand I never troubled him afterwards The Lodgings of the seventy Interpreters who Translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek are yet standing in this City almost entire with the Closets where they performed their Work The Turks have made a Mosque there which they name Giama il garbÃe or the Mosque of the Levant It is to be seen with Money Monsieur Brue chief Interpreter of the French Consul of Cairo hath gone in The 19th of June being Saturday I went to see the Salt-pits of the Grand Seignior which are out of the City near the Calitz or Channel of Cleopatra from whence they have their Fresh-water when the River runs over the Banks and near the Garden of a Moor often visited by the French Merchants which is call'd Gheit il chavagie or the Merchants Garden In these Salt-pits I have taken notice of two things very remarkable First that the Water of Nilus the sweetest Water and the freshest in the World makes a Salt not only whiter than ordinary but very excellent Secondly that this Salt hath the taste of Violets They that have the care of those Salt-pits cause a certain quantity of the River-water to run into the Salt-pits and sour or five days after the Water is turn'd into a Salt the most beautiful to the Eye afterwards they carry it in Baskets to dry in the Sun then it is fit to be sold Salt is also to be made of the Lake Sebaka named by the ancient Latins Palus Mareotis which is at the South-side of this City but its Water is naturally salt and its Salt is bitter when it is made therefore they neglect it This Lake proceeds from the River Nilus when it overflows the Waters there continue because they have no passage out It is not very deep but so large that from one side one cannot well see the other The Copties of Alexandria have in their Church of S. Mark a Picture of the Arch-Angel S. Michael drawn by S. Luke as report goes Monsieur Lucasole Chancellor of the French Nation in this City told me that the Venetians had carried away this Picture some time-since and sail'd with it five times out of the Haven but could not proceed on in their Voyage because they were stopt by an invisible Hand every time that they intended to sail away and could never depart till they had carried back the Picture The report of this Wonder being spread abroad in the City the Beduins or Boemiens as we call them took a resolution secretly to steal it away and sell it to the Francs Accordingly when they had broken open the Doors of the Church and pulled it down from the place where it stood they could not possibly get out with it so that they were also forc'd to put it up again in its place as the Venetians had done before where it remains still I have seen it Monsieur Lucasole told me that this is very true and that he himself was then at Alexandria I have read something concerning the Waters of the Cisterns of Alexandria in the Book of Monsieur de la Ch. that treats of the overflowing of the River Nilus That they become salt about the Months of April and May and that in the Night that the fruitful Dew falls they return to their former sweetness and increase besides with the Waters of the River I shall not offer to deny flatly a thing that may be true and which Monsieur Burattini cited by Monsieur de la Ch. saith hath been observ'd by several Persons But I dare say that in two several Voyages into Egypt and during my long abode at Alexandria in several seasons of the Year though I have observ'd as exactly as I could all things I never heard that the Waters of these Cisterns did become salt or that they did increase with the Waters of the River or that they did recover their former freshness and sweetness I have nevertheless wondred a little to taste them somewhat salt so that they seem not to come from so fresh a River This quality proceeds from the nitrous Earth which may be known by
this place a Stone which as the Copties believe hath been sanctified with the steps of our blessed Saviour The religious Francs sometimes say Mass here In the third separation is another Stone sanctified also by our Saviour's footsteps In the Cave I remember not well in which separation is to be seen the Epitaph of a Gentleman of Europe buried there about two hundred and seventy five years ago in Gothick Letters but the Stone is plac'd upside-down through the ignorance of the Mason as I believe this is the Epitaph Hic jacet Nobilis Petrus Louys IX Neapollonies qui obiit M. CCCC.II die XI Februarii Next to this Church I visited that of our blessed Lady in the Street called Darb ittáka It is very small and very obscure Out of this Church I saw a little round Stone of black Marble lying upon the ground about it were graven small Hieroglyphick Letters At a little distance from this Church through an Alley is to be seen the remains of a Persian Temple called in Arab. Kobbet il fo rs or the Temple of the Persians which Artaxerxes Ochus King of Persia caus'd to be built in honour of the Fire and though the Ruines are but small they discover yet that this Temple was heretofore very stately In the inside about the Walls are to be seen several standings or holes as high as a Man in which it is probable they plac'd their Idols I saw next the Church of Mary Girges or of S. George which is in the same Street called Darb ittáka or the Street of the Window It is very ancient and of a mean beauty At the entrance on the right hand is to be seen the Body of Amba Bissúra Bishop and Martyr with his Epitaph in Arabick which I could not place here because the Printer had not the Characters Next to this Church I went to see the Monasteries of the Nuns amongst the Copties called Dér il benát or the Monastery of the Maids which was built as they say by a King called Alexander but it is a place so filthy and stinking that I could not stay there any time The last Church that I saw in this Castle was that of the Monastery of S. George of the religious Greeks In this Church is to be seen an Image of this Saint that as they say hath the Power to heal and cure Fools This Monastery also is very ugly and filthy Churches and Monasteries in the Patriarch's Quarters IN the Quarters of the Patriarch named in Arab. Haret il Bátrak a Suburb of it self on this side of Cassr Isscémma is the Church of Mary Moncure It is very great high and built with very strong Walls In this Church the Patriarch of the Copties is chosen and consecrated It hath been ruinated by the Mahometans and turn'd into a Store-house of Sugar-Canes It continued so to the days of the Patriarch Ephrem who in the Reign of Meez le din alla having transported the Mountain called Gebel il mocáttam which now stands behind the Castle of Cairo to prove the truth of his Religion and that of the Turks and Jews to be false got an Order from him to the Court of Beit il mal or Treasure of the Goods of the deceased that out of this Treasure this Church should be re-built with all the Apartments that are round about and all the little Churches that are above it Which was accordingly performed as may be seen in the History of the Patriarch's of Macrizi Mekkin an Arabian Historian confirms this Relation and ascribes this Miracle to this Saint as he saith in his History Vádeh ibn Régia a Noble Man amongst the Mahometans who turned Christian a little while after being very thirsty at Mecha he pray'd to this Saint that he might be carryed into this Church because at that time the River Nilus running close by he might there quench his violent thirst This Saint carried him immediately into this Church in one Night a way that the Caravan cannot perform in less than eight and thirty or forty days At the entrance into this Church on the left hand is the Cave where dwelt heretofore Amba Bersum il Erián or Saint Bersum the naked which was before the abode of a Serpent that did much hurt to the Inhabitants round about In the Walls are to be seen the holes where he hid himself but as soon as the Saint was enter'd in to do Penance the Serpent cast it self at his feet to do him homage and afterwards it never hurt any body In this Cave is a little Altar to say Mass A little above this same Church there is four or five small Churches which I had liberty to see the night of the Festival of the Epiphany of the Copties in the Year 1673. I staid there to see the Ceremony they observe in dipping themselves in the Water in remembrance of Christ's Baptism The Reader may in the sequel of this Journal see this described in the Month of January 1673. Near this Church is that of Amba Scinúde or of Saint Sennodius but the Turks have shut it to draw from the Copties a sum of Money therefore I could not see it When I was out of the Patriarch's Quarters I went straight to Cairo to see the other Churches and Monasteries that are thereabout when I was come as far as the Bridge called Kantaret iggibs or the Plaister'd Bridge I turn'd to my right hand and when I was past the heaps of Ruines and Rubbish that are there I came to the Monastery of Mary Mina or S. Menna which is an Hospital rather for poor old Men than a Monastery Within the Walls of this Monastery are three Churches one belongs to the Copties the other to the Armenians and the third to the Syrians but it is a filthy place and the Churches arc but dark A Journey to the City of Fiúm THE Province of Fiúm hath been always esteem'd one of the most excellent of al◠Egypt because of its fruitful Fields of its grea◠Riches of its pleasant Gardens which are the rarest of all this Kingdom and because of many wonderful things that are there I had so great a desire to travel in it that I thought I had seen nothing if I did not see this Country also And because Egypt is such a Country that one cannot travel in it all the year and in every season for sometimes you are hinder'd by the excessive heats that burn and scorch your bodies sometimes by the overflowing of Nilus that bury all the Fields under water and sometimes because the Arabians are scattered about the ways and when these inconveniencies don't hinder the Casciefs or Governours sometimes are wont to fright Travellers for commonly they be little Tyrants who live by extortion and oppression of the persons that have the unhappiness to fall into their hands Therefore to accomplish this Journey with more safety I waited for the Vintage of Fiúm for then the ways are full of persons that carry
and that my Arabian look'd idly upon us as unconcern'd I was forced to yield him my Ass upon which he got immediately and rode away I returned to the Town on foot to the Bishop who understanding my misfortune caused another to be given me I went on in my way and at our going out of Tahta we pass'd by the Ruines of the ancient Town of Beneviet we lest at our left hand other signs of an ancient Town called Posone from thence we pass'd to Sciendavil a good Town and at noon we got as far as Gezire which is a Town where the Cascief of the Province lives when we had a little rested our selves in a Coffee-house we went on our way towards the Monastery leaving the way of Sohaitg which we had kept till then we turned to the right hand towards the Mountain which is on the West of the Town we went by Itfu an ancient Town called by the Copties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about noon we got to the Monastery where we lodg'd at night The Monastery of S. Sennodius the Archimandrite sirnamed the White is built near the Ruines of the ancient Town Adribe There are the Remains of one of the most Magnificent Structures that hath been in Egypt It is foursquare its Walls are builded with hewn Stones very white every Stone is four foot long and a foot and three inches high It is seven and thirty Perches and two foot long which make two hundred and twenty four foot and eighteen Perches and three foot broad which make one hundred and eleven foot There be six great Gates of a red Stone which now are walled up one only excepted which now hath an open place as high as a Man The chief Gate that is walled up is now called Bab il bagl or the Mules Gate in remembrance of what happen'd to a Daughter of an Heathen King who offered to go into the Church in contempt riding upon a Mule and was swallowed up alive in a Pit that opened to punish her insolency which Miracle happen'd by the Prayers of S. Sennodius who begg'd this punishment from God This Gate is ten foot high and six broad every one of the Supporters is made up with four great Marble Stones as well as the Lintil upon which is graven three Crosses one great in the middle and two little ones on the sides Round about the Building are two ranks of Windows the lowest are in the middle and the others almost touch the top The two longest sides of the Building have each seven and twenty Windows in each Rank and the shorter sides each have nine in each rank but all these Windows are walled up The inside of this Monastery is demollished the Heikel excepted where Mass is said and the middle The body of the Church called by the Copties Giamelun was heretofore supported with two ranks of Pillars each having fourteen which are yet standing but in the open Air for the Vault is fallen down All the Pillars are not of the same Stone nor Workmanship nor bigness nor height for some are reasonably big others are slenderer And to such as are small they have clapt some Plaister to make them as big as the others At the going in of the Chancel are to be seen two very beautiful Pillars of Marble at the entry of the Heikel Upon that which stands at the left hand is graven an Epitaph in Greek of one named Heliodorus These Pillars are yet entire and their Workmanship is very beautiful Almost every where in the Walls of the Monastery in the Pavement that is before the Chancel and in the great and beautiful pair of Stairs that lead up to the Sleeping-place of the Monks are certain great Stones full of Cyphers and Hieroglyphick Figures placed not right by which we may understand that those that have put them there had no knowledge of this mysterious Tongue In the Walls within are six holes in each side vaulted above and curiously adorned with carved Leaves so handsomly wrought that I could not sufficiently admire the Workmanship Round about the Monastery there is much black Marble In one of the Apartments of the Monastery towards the West at the left hand as one goes in there is a large and deep Well The Monks told me that the Water was forty Cubits deep and that it had been sanctified or bless'd by our Saviour It is very sweet and wholesome and rises and falls with Nilus though it hath no communication with this River The next day in the morning being Sunday and the ninth day of the Month after Mass I went with my Arabian towards Red Monastery about an hours travelling from the White at the foot of the same Mountain towards Tahta The colour of the Bricks with which this Monastery is built hath given it the name of Red. It is built in the same manner as the White but a great deal less At the South-side it hath yet a Building standing that was crested as the Monks say by S. Helene when she went to Isne to visit the bodies of the holy Martyrs It was intended to inclose the Well of the Monastery within the Walls and to hinder the Arabians when they made in roads from their Mountains from troubling the Monks or taking away from them the Water There remains nothing of this Church but the Chancel and the Heikel or place where Mass is read The Pillars that kept up the body of the Church are yet standing all of an equal length and bigness In this particular they excell those of the White Monastery as well as in the beauty of the Workmanship especially their Capitals The Builders of this Monastery was Amba Biscioi who having a long time liv'd as a Robber as the Story of his Life saith at last he repented and ended his days very well Some told me that the Club with which he us'd to knock down Passengers is hung up in the Chancel of this Church I saw it not because I was told of it after I was gone out of the Monastery There is a Pillar also at each side of the Door of the Heikel of an excellent Workmanship especially their Capitals which are the most beautiful that I ever beheld But this Monastery as well as the White is altogether ruinated within When I had seen all that was worthy of notice I return'd to Tahta where I arriv'd about noon the 21th of the month and the next day we went to Siut A few days after I went with the Bishop of Siut to the Monastery of S. Athanasius which is about three hours travelling from thence I fancied to see there some rare Reliques of Antiquity but I was deceiv'd for I saw that it was one of the most woful Monasteries in Egypt so that I shall not mention it any more In our way to this Monastery we saw that of the Virgin at Doronque scituate upon the Mountain that stands at the right hand This Monastery with its Church are cut in the Rock
the Arabians have digg'd every where and spoil'd also the Hieroglyphick Cave which is named the Church They have so much undermin'd the Walls that some of the top is fallen down and the Rain hath spoiled some of the Emblems and Characters that adorned the Wall And as if Time had not blotted out enough they have put out the Eyes of the Images and Figures in a brutish manner natural to them I was highly displeas'd to see this for were it not for this brutality this beautiful Cave would have kept it self entire till now When we had staid nine days in the Monastery of Abuhennis I return'd to Melave the 8th of April from whence I went the 15th of the same Month to Minie altering my first design to go by Land for I saw that it would be too painful and too dangerous Minie in the Arabian Books called Miniet ibn chassit is an ancient great and beautiful Town on the West-side of Nilus It s Antiquity appears by its old Buildings by its strait Streets so narrow that two Men can scarce to a-breast In this Town the Bardaques or Water-pots are made which are highly esteem'd at Cairo for their fashion and property to cool Water They are made with a kind of Clay taken about a days Journey from thence on the East-side of Nilus in a place called Sciech fadl from the name of a religious Mahometan there Interr'd The 19th of this Month I went aboard a Vessel bound for Benesuef a good Wind carried us a great way in a little space of time At nine a Clock we were over against Gebel Teir or the Mountain of Birds so called because at a set day of the year all the Birds round about meet in a place where a Talisman draws them together from all sides and causeth them to stay there one day when they have continued there till night they all fly away one excepted which remains there the Bill fixed in the Rock till the same day the next year at which time it falls down and another takes its place When we pass'd over against this Mountain I saw on the top a Stone which is called the Camel because at a distance it is like a Camel A little further in our way we discover'd Taka or the Window or a great hole which Nature hath made in the Rock like a Window which serves as a passage for the Birds when they go to their Rendezvous whither the Talisman draws them as the People of the Country say and their Historians affirm When the Moors are come to this Window they use to say the Chapter of the Fatha or first Chapter of the Alcoran for the poor People who live as they say in this part of the Mountain as Beasts feeding upon nothing but raw Herbs After Dinner we went by Bene Mohammed il Kifur a Village scituate on the West-side of Nilus Over against it is an old Monastery ruinated and a little further appear a great many Caves upon the Mountain near by After we had pass'd by an old Castle destroyed we went to lye at Benemzar a great Village scituate on the West-side of Nilus this River having wash'd away almost half the Buildings We went from thence Thursday morning the 20th of April with a South-East Wind fit to carry us to Benesuef It was yet in the morning when we sailed before Heggiar Selame which is a Bank in the River Nilus Over against it are the Ruines of an ancient Town and the Tomb of a Sciech or Saint About noon we were near the Ruines of another ancient Town called Medinet Giahel which stands at the East of Nilus there are to be seen yet several Remains of Houses made up with Bricks dried in the Sun Over against it is Feggen a Village often mention'd in a Book called Sinaxar After Dinner a strong Wind arose and forced us to stop at Bebe a great Village which is near Benesuef where we found incamped a Troop of Arabians called Ateijat with whom I pass'd the rest of the day in discourse Friday the 21th of the Month we arriv'd at Benesuef where we continued till the next day and on the 24th of the Month I returned to Caire without seeing Isne as I had an intent But that the Reader may know what rarities are to be seen in this Town and round about I have here added that which hath been taken notice of by Father Portais a Capuchin in the year 1668. according to the account given me by the Reverend Father Francis his Brother and Companion in his Travels M. Thevenot hath already inserted it in his Collection of Travels printed at Paris in Folio but not so large nor with thâ— Particulars here added Of all the Towns of the Upper Egypt wherâ— the Copties have Churches that of Isne is the furthest from Cairo It is built at the West-side of Nilus upon a Hill that stretches along the River It may be judged to be an ancient Town by a Temple of Pagans yet standing The Copties have there two Churches but very poor one is dedicated to the blessed Virgin and the other to S. Pelagius The Christian Copties here may make twenty Caraches in number they are all Weavers and ruled by two Arch-Priests the one named Matthew and the other Soliman Half a mile from Isne is to be seen a Convent which the Copties say hath been built by S. Helena dedicated to the holy Martyrs of this Town whom the Governour of Dioclesian Massacred in such numbers that their dead Corpses covered fourscore Fiddans or Acres of Ground Round about this Burying-place are to be seen Tombs curiously wrought which they say were erected by this holy Empress Three leagues from Isne is another Convent dedicated to S. Matthew where are four or five Tombs like those that we come from mentioning Upon an Altar Stone of a little Chappel dedicated to St. Michael the Arch-Angel we sound some Characters which were not Hyeroglyphick in a Language that we understood not About eleven leagues on this side of Isne at the East of Nilus is to be seen Tuot a great Town where is a Temple of the ancient Egyptians Twelve leagues from Tuot at the West of Nilus is Arment heretofore a great Town but now forsaken and ruinated They call it in Arabick Beled Muse or the Country of Moses because the Egyptians believe that Moses was born here Here is under ground an ancient Temple Two leagues on this side of Tuot are two Villages very famous namely Luxor and Luxor il Kadim or the old Luxor they are about half a league from one another At Luxor is to be seen the Remains of an ancient and beautiful Temple of the Egyptians in which are threescore and eighteen Pillars of a prodigious bigness chiefly fourteen placed in rank two and two so big that six Men can scarce embrace them but they are but six Perches high The bottom of this Temple is yet entire here are several Chambers and separations whereof