I longed for you and dear A-; it is indeed a lovely spot; one walk, with borders of myrtle, particularly charmed me, leading, between rows of orange-trees in full bearing, to a fountain surrounded by cypress and lignumvitæ trees. Rosemary edges the walks like box in England, and roses bloom in profusion; gorgeous butterflies, "winged flowers," as some one prettily calls them, were flitting about in every direction, and some strange plant or other, the banana, prickly pear, the beautiful acacia speciosa, or the date-tree, with its graceful head-gear, constantly reminded us of the East.

Little canals for irrigation are conducted all over the garden, some of them of hewn stone, others merely dug in the earth, and the water is transferred from one into the other by opening or damming it with the foot, as in Moses' time. The under-gardeners, in their gay oriental dress, were in perfect keeping with the

flowery landscape, but they were Greeks, alas! sighing for their own dear isle of Scio!

Mr. Traill, who had the kindness to accompany us all through the garden, showed us several foreign plants he is attempting to naturalize the india-rubber tree, the sago palm, and one diminutive oakling-I wish it may answer; it will do his heart good to look at it

"Sae far frae hame in a strange countrie!"*(1)

On this island of Roda stands the Nilometer, a graduated octagon pillar, on which the rise of the river is marked during the inundation; we visited it, but it is scarcely worth seeing. I believe one cannot depend on the government reports of the rise of the Nile: His Highness reports the height he chuses it to be, and if he

• "Mr. Traill showed us a sarcophagus, which he had converted into a prison of state; instead of the bastinado, he put any refractory workman into it, and slued the heavy top round over him, keeping him there sometimes for two or three days. Its effects, he assured me, were wonderful.”—Mr. Ramsay's Journal.

is in want of money, the inundation is sure to be the right height.

Recrossing to Old Cairo, we proceeded over mounds of debris (the ruins of the Egyptian Babylon) to the Coptic Convent, and thence to the tombs of the Mameluke Beys, far inferior in point of grandeur to those of the Sultans, but still many of them very elegant, and the tout-ensemble a most impressive sight. Here, a curious situation for him to have selected, Mohammed Ali has erected a grand tomb for himself and his family, of coarse workmanship, but it contains several halls, with lofty domes, and the monuments are already very numerous; all bear inscriptions in letters of gold, and the floors are richly carpeted.

Re-entering Cairo, we remarked an aloe planted over the door of a new house, a custom, I am told, constantly observed here; what can be its origin?

Two or three days ago we visited the college

or school Mohammed Ali has founded at Boulac ;* give him his due; this is an improvement he deserves much credit for; there are separate rooms for each of the six classes, all airy, and opening on broad spacious galleries. Being Ramadan, the boys were enjoying their holi

"At Boulac saw the Polytechnic School, formerly Ismael Pasha's Palace, a splendid establishment. The boys are neatly enough dressed, and, except the tarboosh and slippers, might pass for Europeans. They appeared, some of them that we saw, very quick and intelligent, and I am told that their examination surpasses most such in England in outward show, but it is all head-knowledge. They apply to Algebra and abstruse mathematics. Their benches, slates, &c., were quite European. The printingpress we also saw, and were much pleased. They print a paper every week, and we saw several books in hand; the Arabian Nights is just finished; the impressions are, some of them, beautiful. One venerable old savant, with spectacle on nose, appeared to be inspecting, and deeply immersed in, some old chronicle: such an individual is much more striking and characteristic-looking in the handsome old Turkish dress he wore, with a reverend beard, than any dapper old European, in a snuffy brown coat, out at the elbows, and glorying in unbrushed classic dust."-Mr. Ramsay's Journal.

days, but in one of the rooms I found an “awkward squad" of voluntary" saps,” gathered round a board, on which the tutor was working a sum in Arabic numerals. One or two of the lads were pointed out to me as being very clever, but, in general, the difficulty with the Arabs is to fix their attention. They are a lively good-huinoured people, and, with kindness, you may get them to do any thing they are up to.

We visited the Pasha's printing establishment, also at Boulac, the same day; the workmen seemed very active and well acquainted with their business. We saw several works in progress, the press-work, paper, &c., neater than the ordinary run of books printed in Germany or Italy — the types are English; they lithograph also. I shall send home a specimen or two of Egyptian typography, the Arabian Nights, for instance. There is at present a quarrel, something like that between the sto