but little incompassed about with the Ruines Two of these Pillars are on the one side of the door and two on the other three are yet standing only a third part of the fourth appears they are made of a certain white sandy stone which is taken out of the Mountains near this Town they are hollow on the sides from the bottom to the middle but the rest upwards is smooth the bottom or bulk is nigh thirteen foot about their Capitals are of two pieces seven foot in Diameter every bottom is of five pieces and every piece is seven foot long There was behind this Palace on the South-East side four other Pillars of the same bigness form and substance but they are overthrown I could scarce discern where their Basis stood the Pillar of Marcus Aurelius stands at the North-West side of this old Palace The same day I went again to see the Pillar of Marcus Aurelius its Basis is thirteen foot high made up with eight ranks of stones the first and lowest is half in the ground and half out the second is two foot high the third a foot and eight inches the fourth fifth and sixth upon which is the Inscription each two foot and two inches the seventh bends out the eighth is the immediate Basis upon which the Pillar stands This Basis is five foot long and two foot and ten inches high it is square in the bottom in the middle Octogone or of eight Angles and in the top Oval upon this stone is the bottom of the Pillar which is made up of five pieces the lowermost is beautified with Oaken leaves carved in the stone I have never seen the like elsewhere it is three foot and a half high the four other pieces are of seven foot each and three inches long the Diameter of the Pillar is of three foot and seven inches the Capital is of one stone three foot and an inch high the Circumference is of seven foot upon the Capital stands an unpolish'd stone four foot and two inches long and three foot high I perceived that in this Town heretofore there hath been two Streets more remarkable than the others one begun at the Abulkerun and ended at the four Pillars of Marcus Aurelius stretching from East to North. This Street was adorned with two ranks of Pillars one rank in each side the second begins at the Arch of Triumph which is at one end of the Town at the South-East drawing to the North-East These Streets are very long large streight and full of ruines of stately Palaces About three a Clock in the Afternoon I went the third time to see the Monastery digg'd in the Rock mentioned before I have always taken a great delight to view it because the sight of it moved my Devotion It stands about half an hours travelling a-foot from the Monastery of Abuhennis where I was and East from this Monastery In Insine as well as in the Caves of the Mountains round about are to be seen in the ground great Pots in which the ancient Inhabitants of this Province kept their Wines They have an Ear at each side and are sharp at the bottom that they might be sixed in the ground my Guide found many which he brought to me but the Wine was dried within and as black as Pitch I have sent two of them to Paris The seventh of April the Good-Friday of the Copties I went with my Guide to see the Caves that are near the Monastery of Amba Biscioi about a mile from the Convent towards the South The first remarkable thing that I saw was the Hieroglyphick Cave which the Country people commonly call the Church I conceive this mistake proceeds from the Crosses which are painted every where within To go into this Cave one must pass through another before it This was heretofore very beautiful and great but now it is much decayed The top is fallen down there remains nothing but the two side-walls full of Hieroglyphick Figures graven in the Rock some are great others are little others are of a moderate size but all very clean in good order From thence is a passage into the Hieroglyphick Cave which I believe was a Temple of the Heathens It is square very smooth within cut in the Rock sour Perches long three Perches and one foot broad and two Perches high The door that leads into it is four foot and a half large In this Cave over against the door is a hole in the Wall of a Perch and a foot deep and four foot broad and a Perch and one foot and eight inches high This Cave is full of Images in the Walls and above which represent their Sciences by Emblemes and Hieroglyphick Figures with very little Characters in their Language round about The colours of them are so beautiful and lively that I could not but wonder how they could continue so fresh during so many Ages Besides this great number of Characters there painted are to be seen some lines of the same little Characters very clean carved in the Wall some reaching from one end to the other others from the top to the bottom These Characters and Figures are so numerous that they are not to be drawn by any in less than a Months time Under these two Caves there is a rank of others in the Rock very even within but they are without Figures and less and not so high as the former for they are but six foot high In the bottom of every Cave is a Well square and deep in the Rock into which one may go down by the means of holes or steps made on purpose in both sides of every Well And in the bottom of every Well is an Alley in the Rock but because these Alleys are durty and obscure none of our Company would venture to go down In the Walls of some of these Caves are square holes six foot deep and two foot broad about the bigness of a Coffin which makes me believe that the Egyptians did put here their dead in these Caves A little farther towards the South is another large Cave I saw on the left hand an Hieroglyphick Picture in the Wall with thirteen lines underneath of Characters cut in the Picture From this Cave which is at the end of the Mountain towards the South we went back to the Monastery of Abuhennis and in our way we saw all the Caves that are in order upon this Mountain as far as the place where the Vadigamus begins We saw no rarity only some painted Crosses in red roughly drawn from whence we gathered that heretofore they have served as Churches By the differing Workmanship of these Caves one may easily distinguish such as have been made by the ancient Egyptians by the Christians and Anchorites that caused this Province to flourish for the former are very regular out within with much care and smooth but the others are rough and irregular And because the Country People think that there is no Cave without a rich Treasure
the Walls are full from the top to the bottom of Figures roughly drawn and Hieroglyphick Letters carved over Before the Door stands two Needles square and very high and entire so fresh that one would think that the Workman hath newly finish'd them They are on every side eight foot broad Near their Basis are two Statues of Women of black Marble and though they be half under ground to the Girdle they stand out as high as three Men. Their bigness is answerable to their height for there is twelve foot from one shoulder to another They have a strange kind of covering upon their heads with a Globe on the top Their Faces are disfigur'd the rest is whole The description of the Frontispiece of this Temple is with the other Pictures At the old Luxor is a very ancient Palace Its Ruines shew that it hath been very glorious They say that here dwelt one of the ancient Kings of Egypt In the Walks of this Palace are to be seen many Sphinxes in ranks on both sides of the Alleys two foot from one another looking upon the Alley They have every one one and twenty foot in length This Palace hath four Walks that answer to four Gates In the first are one hundred and twenty Sphinxes threescore in each side and in the second are one hundred and two one and fifty in aside Every Walk is about the length of a place to play at Mall the Gates of the Palace are extraordinary high made with the most beautiful Stones in the World one of the sides of the Gate is six and twenty foot high I find in another Copy of this Relation that it hath thirty six foot The Palace is so defaced that there is no order nor beauty that appears nevertheless there are so many curious things in it that no Man in a Month can take a full view of them for there is above a Million of Figures roughly drawn some are covered over others appear with an open face Here are also a great many Pillars I counted saith the Father in a Parlour threescore which are all so great that five Men can scarce embrace one of them about In the Court of the Palace is a Bason garnished about with beautiful Stones and full of a bitter VVater which as the People say whitens Linen very well I tried it saith the Father by dipping into it my Handkerchief which kept above four days the smell of Soap At one Front of the Palace are two Statues of a Giant of one Stone as white as Alabaster They have Swords by their sides In the middle of the Palace is another as high as three Men not well pollish'd but well proportioned A league on this side there is an ancient Town called Habu where are to be seen many rarities chiefly Mommies At a distance one may there discover two Statues one of a Man the other of a VVoman The Country People call that Sciama and this Tama They seem to be at least as big as the Abulhon or the Sphinx over against Cairo Near this place is a Village where is to be seen two Statues from the River Nilus so new that one would think the Workman had just perfected them Thirteen leagues on this side of the old Luxor is a Town named Neggade where is a Bishop with about seventy Families of Christian Copties Here is yet three Monasteries one is called Deir il Salib or the Monastery of the holy Cross the second Deir il Megma the third Deir Mary Poctor but these two last are not inhabited Two miles from Neggade on the East-side of Nilus is the ancient Town of Kus but here are but threescore Christian Copties who have here a Church dedicated to S. Stephen Six leagues from Neggade on this side is Kenne a Village scituate on the Eastern Bank of Nilus It is a Mart-Town and the Rendezvous of the Caravans that go from Cairo to Cosseir heretofore named Berenice four days Journies from this Village and a Haven of the Red-Sea The Christians that live at Kenne are very poor and without any Church Two leagues on this side of Kenne is the ancient Town of Tentiris now called Dendera where is a wonderful Temple of the ancient Egyptians of a prodigious bigness and height It is to be seen at two leagues distance Macrizi saith that it hath as many Windows as there are days in the year They are so plac'd that every one answers to a degree of the Zodiack so that the Sun rising in a differing degree every day of the Zodiack it sends in its Beams into a distinct Window from the day before And when at the end of the year it hath finish'd and run through every degree of the Zodiack it hath also from the East cast in its Beams into every Window of this Temple For this cause it is look'd upon as a Wonder in Egypt Ten Leagues on this side of Dendera at the West of Nilus is Cassr a Village where is an old Convent dedicated to Amba Balamon Over against this Village is the ancient Town Hu where is yet a Convent dedicated to S. Menna but there was then no Priest Two Leagues on this side of Hu on the same Bank is Bahgiura at a little distance from the River Its Port is called Sahel there is two Convents one dedicated to S. Bidabe the other to S. George At two Leagues on this side of Bahgiura on the same Bank is the Village Beliene where is a very beautiful Church under ground dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Girge the chief Town of the Vpper Egypt stands six Leagues from Beliene on this side Here ends the Relation of Father Portais I could wish that this good man had given us a more exact account and more at large of the Rarities that he saw in these places for this Relation is superficial The 14th of June I went at Cairo to see the Inchanted watering place called in Arabick Houd il merasset which is under the Mosque of the Palace called Kalet it Kebsch no Taveller hath over spoken of it It is a black Marble-stone made like a Watering place seven foot long arising out of the ground about a foot and a half The sides within and without are adorned with little Hieroglyphick Letters as well as the Brims The people of Cairo say that in the time of the ancient Egyptians the sick people did recover their health by drinking Water out of it and that by the virtue of a Rassem or Charm which the Priests of Egypt had given to it The 20th of this Month I went to see the wonderful Well which is in the Castle commonly named Joseph's Well It s top is square very large cut in the Rock it is about one hundred and twenty Perches deep the Perch containing six foot The water is drawn out with two Wheels the one plac'd at the Mouth of the Well and the other about threescore and fifteen Perches underneath There are two Oxen at each Wheel
their Actions let them read the Arabian Historian named before which is very exact Of the Sangiac-Beys of Egypt IN Egypt as well as in other Countries subject to the Grand Seignior there are several Sangiac-Beys who be Governors of great Provinces They are so called in the Turkish Tongue from two words Sangiac which signifies an Ensign and Bey a Prince because when the Grand Vizier or the Pacha makes them he delivers into their hands an Ensign as a mark of their Dignity They that may pretend to this Dignity are the Agas of the Boulouks the Chieftains of the seven Orders of the Militia of Cairo and the Metferracas The greatest part of these Lords are MeltesimÃns or Farmers of the Provinces that they hold from the Divan at the rates mentioned in the Rolls heretofore some Beys have Farmed fourscore Villages or Towns They Lett these Villages to under Farmers and the usual Rent of every Town is known to every one chiefly to the MebascicrÃns or Scrivners of the Copties About twenty years ago this honour was purchas'd with the expence of twenty Purses or thirty This was called Chidmet il Sangiakie And as soon as any Person was made Bey the Divan did allow him half a Purse every Month as his Sallary and when he travell'd to any Place for the service of the Grand Seignior at his return to Cairo the Divan did give him half a Purse more for his Reward In that time these Beys wore in great Credit and Power for when they declar'd their opinion in the Divan the Pacha's were afraid to contradict them They did sometimes depose them when they did not amend their manners after a reproof They were wont to be six and thirty in Number But now they are a great deal less and are reduc'd to that condition that they are not much esteem'd This Honour now costs them fifteen Purses and their Allowance given to them by the Divan is one thousand Aspers every day So Aspers is 4 s. 6 d. Their Office is to Conduct the Hazna or Treasure of the Grand Seignior to Constantinople or to Command the Caravan that travels towards Mecha and to go to War when required Four of them are to watch always round about Cairo with a Company of Janissaries The first keeps Guard at AdelÃa where the way leads to Sues the second at Caraffa another at the second Bridge of the Calitz near its Mouth another watches at the old Cairo to prevent Tumults and Murders In the Year 1672 when I was at Cairo there were sixteen Beys here be their Names Sulfucar was Bey of Girge but he was cashier'd in the Month of September in this Year Jezbee was made Bey of Carge in his stead Mohammed Abu Sciaváreb or Mahomet with the great Whiskers Mohammed Abu-Gura Gazem Bey of Sues Juseph of Constantinople who was Emir-hag or Commander of the Caravan to Mecha Juseph of Cairo Delaver who carried the Grand Seignior's Treasure to Constantinople Mohammed il ghindi who had Rented Bébe Ali. Omar Hussein of Constantinople Canzo who was Serdar or Colonel Torna Mustapha the Cascief of Dekahlie Eivaz who had been Treasurer of Egypt Abdolla who was Treasurer this Year 1672 of all Egypt Of the Trees Plants and Birds of Egypt I Shall now speak something of the rarest Trees Plants and Birds of Egypt which are come to my knowledge for this belongs to the General Description of this Country I shall afterwards return to my Journal Of the Trees IN Egypt are to be found several Trees very rare which are not in Europe Lebaca is one which as the Copties Stories relate worshipped our Saviour Christ when he came first to Ischemunein a City scituate in the middle Egypt near Melave towards the North. This Tree is now very rare for I have not seen any in all my Travels The Hilélgie is a great Tree full of prickles I have seen one in the Monastery of Abuhennis scituate in the middle Egypt almost over against Melave I was told that it bears a Fruit like to yellow Dasies The Sycamore named by the Arabians Gomeize is one of the ordinary sort of Trees as also the Fig-tree which is of four sorts 1. The common Fig-tree 2. The Fig-tree of Fium 3. Of Europe 4. Avodlis The Palm-tree in Arab. Temer is one of the most vulgar Trees it bears above fifty differing sorts of Fruits There is also the Nebeca a kind of Gum-tree Zante which is called Acacia The Mastick I have seen too in the Monastery of St. Anthony Carobis Atles and Tamrhennes There is also a Tree called Seiials a wild kind of Acacia The Cinamon-tree named in Arab. Cheiiar Scembar The Pomgranate Orange-tree the Lemon-tree the Cedar the Quince-tree the Sefsafs a kind of Withy the Apricock tree the Almond-tree the Cypress-tree The Tree called Mocheits or Sebeste the Fruit whereof is good for Food and to make Glue The Tree called Alats the Myrhe the Fig-tree of Adam named in Arab. Mouz The Kebbads a Tree that bears Oranges of a strange bigness The Keffe Mariam or the holy Virgin 's Hand The Doum or the Gum-tree is a rare Tree in Egypt I have never seen but three in all my Travels one in the Monstery of St. Athanase distant from Siut about three hours travelling towards the South In this Tree are two things remarkable 1. That its Leaves burst forth only at the end of its Branches and in the thick Bunches 2. That they are so equal and even at the end of the Branches that to look upon them one would think that some have cut and even'd them with Scissers The Leaves are very thin and long and are like the Leaves of the Palm-tree The Body of this Tree hath many Branches of a considerable bigness from them proceed others of a lesser size every one is forked and the end of these Leaves appear in Bunches as we have said Of the Plants AMongst all the Curious Plants of Egypt I have taken notice of these following Belsen is a Plant or Herb that bears a Medicinal Grain good to heal Wounds Sabbara the Leaves whereof are very thick and full of sap there are two sorts the Male and the Female Vudne is like Purslan but its Leaves are very great and its taste is fourish and it 's eaten raw Sedab is Rue Filfil Garden-Pepper Gesalaht is a Plant that grows as big as a Tree Verdhomar is our Rosa asini Morian is called in Latin Halicacabus Kilu otherwise named Alcali Rabl is an Herb of a fragrant smell full of Oyl growing upon Hills Barnub is a Plant that contains a Powder that Dyers use I shall speak of it in the sequel of this Journal Here be also Jessemins both single and double Katife or the Virgins-Bower whereof there are two sorts the single and the other named in Arab. Katife Kodsi or the Virgins Bower of Jerusalem Rihan is our Origanum There are several sorts 1. Of Kodsi or Jerusalem 2. Sciami of Damascus 3. Hindi of the
Indies 4. Miski of the smell of Musk 5. Ascickrihan or the lovely Origanum Leblab is another Plant called by the Italians Convolvolo by the French Liseron and by the English Bengiar are our Beets Mentur otherwise named Chobeize are our Mallows Here are also Gilly-flowers Lillies and Roses of all colours and in abundance Merdekusch is our Marjoram Mersciénné Lisan-hammel is our Plantain Lisant Tor is our Bugloss Neane Mint Bamie and Meluchie are ordinary Pot-herbs in Egypt Amberboy is Amber Seseban is a tall Plant sown about the Sugar-Fields it serves instead of a Fence Sciebeh is Rue of Rome Cheschach is the Pavots Hendal or Colocinthis Helbe named by the French Fenugrec by the English They have a Proverb in Egypt that saith Blessed are the Feet that walk upon that Ground where the Helbe is sown They eat it raw and sodden Carrots called in Arab. Gissr are no bigger than Radishes Succory called in Arab. Hindibe Lettuce called Chas Melieh Pease Tormus are Lupins Bersim or Sinfoin Il Nile is Indigo Scich is Absynthium Ponticum Gabbar was an Herb that I found in abundance upon the Mountains near the Monastery of Abuhennis Homos gebeli are the wild Pease of the Mountains for they are like Pease Roiet gassal or Harts-Foot so called because it is like the Foot of this Animal and both are oily Selguem called by the Germans Rubsamen Zabuz Oats Saffron Simsim or the Sesame Heb-il-sode called Jugeolin Tabacco Rice Sugar Linni Coulangian called in Latin Gulange and in French Galangu Of Birds THE rarest Birds that I have seen in Egypt are these Sciamta is the biggest next to the Austrich It is so strong that some say it can carry up a Man into the Air. Next to these are the Eagles the Vultures named in Arab. Akab which are very big Gaddafs Havams Baz Heddahs Sakers Sciahins Bascieks Rachms all these are several sorts of Vultures Faulcons and Hawks There be also Mezaz and Begas otherwise called Gemel il Bahr or the River-Camel or the Pelican The Saksaks have a Bone strong and sharp at the joint of each Wing The Guinney-Hens Cranes Wild-Geese and many other Birds which are ordinary amongst us There are also many Austriches and chiefly in Desarts that lead to the Monastery of St. Anthony I have seen there Herds together I have read in an Arabian Manuscript called Giauharet innefisse a remarkable thing concerning the Austrich which I cannot pass over without publishing When it intends to Hatch its Egs it sits not upon them as other Birds but the Male and the Female Hatches them with their Eye only and when either of them hath need to seek for Food he gives notice to the other by crying and the other continues to look upon the Egs till it be return'd likewise when the other hath the same desire to seek about for Food he gives the same notice with the same shriek that its Companion might remain still to look upon the Egs till they be all Hatch'd For if they did but look off a moment the Egs would spoil and rot The Church of the Copies hath learn'd an excellent Custome from the Practice of this Bird They hang up a lighted Lamp between two Egs of an Austrich over against the Priests that officiate to advise them to be attentive about their Devotions that their Prayers might be more efficacious and might not lose their strength for want of attention It is now time to bring back my Reader to my Journal to Damietta where I left him that I might give him first a General Description of Egypt The Continuation of the Journal I Set Foot in Diametta the 18th day of Feb. 1672. where I abode till the 8th day of the next Month Sometimes lodging in the City sometimes in the Barque that had brought me because it was loaden with Wine for the Consul and French Merchants of Cairo And the Aga of the City would not suffer the Wine to be carried a-shore nor into the Haven until the Pacha had sent him an express Order to that purpose He dealt in this manner because the Grand Seignior had sent very strict and severe orders to forbid the Importation of Wines in all his Dominions And Because I was in the company of a Servant of the French Consul whom I could not leave with Civility because he could not understand the Arabian Tongue I was therefore ingaged to be his Interpreter by the Obligations that he had laid upon me in my Voyage For his and his Masters sake I abode with him till the orders were come and a Janissary to Guard the Wine to Cairo They loaded therewith two great Barques and we departed immediately for Damietta on Saturday the 8th of April and were at Boulac a Suburb of Cairo the Eve of Wednesday before Easter Here follows the most remarkable Passages and the Description of the Towns and Places which are from the Mouth of the River at Damietta as far as Grand Cairo as they lye in order As soon as we enter into the River from the Sea we find on the East-side at the Mouth an old Castle ruinated but small which as the Francs say was built by S. Lewis the French King when he had Damietta It is square and divided into four round Turrets upon which some Artillery have been planted to command the Passage and where a few Moors are upon the Guard A little further into the River stands a poor Village named Bogas or Mouth of the River because it is there scituated The Arabian word Bogas signifying so much In this Village dwell the Owners of the Germes being Long-Boats made to un-load Ships and draw them out of the Sands that guide and tow along the Ships that sail in or out of the River and discover to them the Banks of Sand which are very ordinary in this Road. In this Village is to be seen the Foundation of another square Fort the Walls whereof are not yet finish'd and never likely to be There are also here two Calitz or Artificial Channels full of the River-water all the year made on purpose to water the Fields About an hundred Paces from this Village on the other side is another Castle to command the Mouth so that the two Castles that are there planted for this purpose are not over against one another A Description of the City of Damietta DAmietta called by the Arabians Damiát a famous City of Egypt is scituate upon the East-side of Nilus about eight Miles from the Mouth Next to Cairo it is the greatest most beautiful the richest the most populous and the fullest of Merchants of all Egypt for the conveniency of Trade draws thither a great number of People form all parts of Turkie It is built upon the River Nilus in the form of an half Moon The Waves of this River that wash the Foundations of their Houses on that side and the great number of beautiful Mosques together with the Fleet of Ships and Barques that ride in
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