A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

30 FORTIFICATIONS.
from the misrule of the Porte, and the tyranny
of the Memlooks, but to pursue that policy with
respect to our commerce in the East, which
Leibnitz had advocated should be pursued by
Louis the Fourteenth towards Holland.
Under the direction of a ragged little Arab
guide, we rode over the battle-field, and fancied
we obtained a tolerably correct notion of the
position of the contending forces, but we soon
found out that he was making a lamentable
confusion, between the seat of modern warfare,
and the camp of Caesar ; for w^hat he had very
seriously pointed out to us as an English Fort,
turned out to be one of the Roman outworks !
During our ride home we had an opportunity
of judging of the efficient manner in wdiich
Mohammed Ali is fortifying Alexandria. The
works are under the direction of a French en-
gineer, but are executed by Egyptian workmen,
or rather soldiers, (who, in this country, are al-
ways employed in public works.) They are most
creditable both as to plan and execution ; not to
mention the rapidity with which they have been
carried on, being in a very forward state, although
they were only commenced in 1840.
Mohammed Ali is most energetic in his efforts
to restore Alexandria to something like its an-