Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria, and across the desert into Egypt ...

294
• TRAVELS IN ASIATIC TURKEY,
rantine of twenty-one days strictly enforced, in the case of arrivals
by sea for the latter destination.
The town of Rosetta is delightfully situated on the western bank
of what was anciently denominated the Bolbitic branch of the Nile,
but which at present bears its own name, at the distance of about
seven or eight miles from the sea. It lies to the north- west of Cairo,
from which it is distant about an hundred and thirty miles, and
from Alexandria by sea
forty.
Its principal commerce consists in
the
carriage of merchandize in
general, and of European commo-
dities in particular, consigned from Alexandria, to be conveyed to
Grand Cairo, and thence to be distributed throughout Egypt. It
thus becomes the entrepot of the trade of that country ;
and in this
point of view is of considerable importance.
The houses of Rosetta are constructed of red burned bricks, and
are lofty, many of them having four, and even five stories. They
are pointed with white mortar, which gives them, when viewed
from a distance, an air of neatness,
at the same time that it ren-
ders their aspect cheerful. The streets are very narrow. On the
whole, notwithstanding it contains but few striking public edifices,
Rosetta must be considered as a handsome place by those who have
been accustomed to the sight of mud huts, and the sandy deserts.
The mosques and their minarets are, as well as the houses, built
with bricks, plaistered over and white-washed. In this style of
external decorations, the natives possess, as well as the Turks, a
peculiar excellence.
The population of Rosetta may be estimated at from eight to ten
thousand souls; but on a view of the great number of houses which
were uninhabited at the time of our stav there, it appeared to be ca-
at least treble the number. Its internal tran-
pable of containing
quillity was less disturbed by the French invasion of Egypt than
that of any other place; a circumstance which may probably have
arisen from the milder disposition of its inhabitants, whose com-
mercial intercourse with other nations has given them a softer
polish.
The lively scene I had occasion to witness at Rosetta, on my
passage through that place in the preceding month of October,
when the British troops commanded by General Baird were en-
camped in its vicinity, had completely disappeared. The bazars
were at that period well supplied with European commodities ;
while at the present they contained no other articles except such as
are to be found in all the bazars of Egypt and Turkey. The