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The director &longs;oon after proposed,
that I &longs;hould attend &longs;ome merchants,
as a &longs;urgeon in a voyage and
journey to Medina, the burial, and Mecca
the birth, place of the prophet Mahomet;
a&longs;&longs;uring me, that I &longs;hould be
treated with re&longs;pect, and indeed find &longs;ome
agreeable companions on the tour, as several
of the merchants were infidels, like
my&longs;elf, and that any monies I might acquire,
by itinerant practice, &longs;hould be my
own. I accepted this propo&longs;al with

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pleasure, and was &longs;oon lea&longs;ed to two Mussulman
merchants, who gave a kind of bond
for my &longs;afe return to my ma&longs;ter. I had
ca&longs;h advanced me to purcha&longs;e medicines,
and a ca&longs;e of &longs;urgeon's in&longs;truments, which
I was directed to &longs;tow in a large leather
wallet. I took a kind leave of my patrons
in the ho&longs;pital, who be&longs;towed many
little pre&longs;ents of &longs;weetmeats, dates,
and oranges. I waited upon the good
Mollah, who pre&longs;ented me with fifty dollars.
I have charity to believe that this
man, though an apo&longs;tate, was &longs;incere in
his faith in the Mahometan creed. He
pre&longs;&longs;ed my hand at parting, gave me many
&longs;alutary cautions, as to my conduct
during the voyage; and &longs;aid, while the
tears &longs;tarted in his eyes, my friend, you
have &longs;uffered much mis&longs;ortune and misery
in a &longs;hort life; let me conjure you
not to add the torments of the future to
the mi&longs;eries of the pre&longs;ent world. But,
added he, pau&longs;ing, who &longs;hall alter the

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decrees of God? I flatter my&longs;elf, that
the &longs;cales of natal prejudice will yet fall
from your eyes, and that your name was
numbered among the faithful from all
eternity.

Our company con&longs;i&longs;ted of two Algerine
merchants, or factors, twenty pilgrims,
nine Jews, among whom was the &longs;on of
my decea&longs;ed friend Adonah, and two
Greek traders from Chios, who carried
with them &longs;everal bales of &longs;ilks and a
quantity of ma&longs;tic, to vend at Scandaroon,
Grand Cairo and Medina. We
took pa&longs;&longs;age in a Xebec; and, coasting
the African &longs;hore, &longs;oon pa&longs;&longs;ed the ruins
of antient Carthage, the Bay of Tunis;
and, weathering cape Bona, and
&longs;teering &longs;outh ea&longs;terly, one morning hove
in &longs;ight of the I&longs;land of Malta, inhabited
by the knights of that name, who are
&longs;worn enemies of the Mahometan faith.
I could perceive, that the &longs;ight of this
i&longs;land gave a &longs;en&longs;ible alarm to the crew

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and pa&longs;&longs;engers. But the captain, or
rather &longs;kipper, who was a blu&longs;tering,
rough renegado, affected great courage,
and &longs;wore that, if he had but one cannon
on board, he would run down and
give a broad &longs;ide to the infidel dogs. His
bravery was &longs;oon put to the te&longs;t; for, as
the &longs;on aro&longs;e, we could di&longs;cern plainly
an armed ve&longs;&longs;el bearing down upon us.
She overhauled us fa&longs;t, and our &longs;kipper
conjectured &longs;he bore the Malte&longs;e colours.
All hands were now &longs;ummoned to get out
&longs;ome light &longs;ails, and &longs;everal oars were put
out, at which the brave &longs;kipper tugged
as lu&longs;tily as the meane&longs;t of us. When
the wind lulled and we gained of the vessel,
he would run upon the quarters of
the Xebec, and hollow; “Come on,
you chri&longs;tian dogs, I am ready for you.”
I have &longs;ome doubts, whether the ve&longs;&longs;el
ever noticed us. If &longs;he did, &longs;he de&longs;pi&longs;ed
us; for &longs;he tacked and &longs;tood to the &longs;outh
we&longs;t. This was no &longs;ooner perceived by

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our gallant commander, than he ordered
the Xebec to lay too, and &longs;wore, that
he would pur&longs;ue the uncircumci&longs;ed dogs,
and board them; but he fir&longs;t would prudently
a&longs;k the approbation of the passengers,
who in&longs;tantly determined one and
all that their bu&longs;ine&longs;s was &longs;uch, that they
mu&longs;t in&longs;i&longs;t upon the captain's making his
be&longs;t way to port. The captain consented,
but not without much at
his misfortune, in lo&longs;ing &longs;o fine a prize;
and declared that, when he landed his
pa&longs;&longs;engers, he would directly quit the
port and renew the cha&longs;e. After a &longs;mart
run, we dropt anchor in the port of Alexandria,
called by the Turks Scandarcon.
This is the &longs;ite of the antient Alexandria,
founded by Alexander the great;
though its pre&longs;ent appearance would not
induce an opinion of &longs;o magnificent a
founder. It lies not far from the westermost
branch of the river Nile, by which,
in ancient day, it was &longs;upplied with

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water. The antiquarian eye may po&longs;&longs;ibly
ob&longs;erve, in the &longs;cattered fragments of
rocks, the ve&longs;tiges of the ruins of its antient
grandeur; but a vulgar traveller,
from the appearance of the harbour, choked
with &longs;and, the mi&longs;erable buildings, and
more wretched inhabitants of the town,
would not be led to conclude that this was
the port, which ro&longs;e triumphant on the
ruins of Tyre and Carthage. We here
hired camels; and, being joined by a
number of pilgrims and traders, collected
from various parts of the Levant, we
proceeded towards Grand Cairo, the present
capital of Egypt; and, after travelling
three days, or rather three nights, for
we generally repo&longs;ed in the heat of the
day, which is &longs;evere from one hour after
the &longs;un's ri&longs;ing until it &longs;ets, we came to a
pretty town on the we&longs;t bank of the Nile,
called Gize, and hence pa&longs;&longs;ed over on rafts
to the city of Grand Cairo, called by the
Turks Almizer; the &longs;uburbs of which

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extend to the river, but the principal
town commences its proper boundaries,
at about three miles ea&longs;t of the Nile. I
was now within a comparatively &longs;hort
di&longs;tance of two magnificent curio&longs;ities,
I had ever been de&longs;irous of beholding.
The city of Jeru&longs;alem was only about
five day's journey to the &longs;outh ea&longs;t, and I
had even caught a glimp&longs;e of the pyramids
near Gize. I went with my masters
and others to &longs;ee a deep &longs;toned pit,
in the ca&longs;tle, called Jo&longs;eph's well; and &longs;aid
to have been dug by the direction of that
patriarch. I am not antiquarian enough
to know the particular &longs;tyle of Jo&longs;eph's
well architecture; but the water was
&longs;weet and extremely cold. The Turks
&longs;ay that Potiphar's wife did not cea&longs;e to
per&longs;ecute Jo&longs;eph with her love, after he
was relea&longs;ed from pri&longs;on, and advanced to
power; but the patriarch, being warned
by a dream to dig this well, and invite her
to drink of the water, which &longs;he had no

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&longs;ooner done, but one cup of it &longs;o effectually
cooled her de&longs;ires, that &longs;he was ever
afterwards an eminent example of the
mo&longs;t frigid cha&longs;tity. In Grand Cairo,
we were joined by many pilgrims from
Pale&longs;tine, and the adjacent countries.
The third day, our carivan, which consisted
of three hundred camels and dromedaries,
&longs;et out for Medina, under the
convey of a troop of Mamaluke guards,
a tawny, raw boned, ill clothed people.
Some of the merchants, and even pilgrims
made a hand&longs;ome appearance in per&longs;on,
dre&longs;s, and equipage. I was my&longs;elf well
mounted upon a camel, and carried with
me only my leather wallet of drugs, which
I di&longs;pen&longs;ed freely among the pilgrims;
my ma&longs;ters receiving the ordinary pay,
while I collected many &longs;mall &longs;ums, which
the gratitude of my patients added to the
u&longs;ual fee. We pa&longs;&longs;ed near the north
arm of the red &longs;ea, and then pur&longs;ued our
journey &longs;outh, until we &longs;truck the &longs;ame

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arm again, near the place where the
learned Wortley Montague has concluded
the I&longs;raelites, under the conduct
of Mo&longs;es, effected their pa&longs;&longs;age. The
breadth of the &longs;ea here is great, and the
waters deep and turbulent. The infidel
may &longs;neer, if he choo&longs;es; but, for my own
part, I am convinced beyond a doubt,
that, if the I&longs;raelites pa&longs;&longs;ed in this place,
it mu&longs;t have been by the miraculous interposition
of a divine power. I could
not refrain from reflecting upon the infatuated
temerity, which impelled the Egygtian
king to follow them. Well does
the Latin poet exclaim; Quem Deus vult
perdere, prius dementat. We then
travelled ea&longs;t, until we came to a &longs;mall
village, called Tadah. Here we filled
many goat &longs;kins with water, and laded
our camels with them. In addition to
my wallet, I received two goat &longs;kins or
bags of water upon my camel. The
weight, this u&longs;eful animal will carry, is

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a&longs;toni&longs;hing; and the facility and promptitude,
with which he kneels to receive his
rider and burthen, &longs;urpri&longs;ing. We now
entered the confines of Arabia Petrea,
very aptly denominated the rocky Arabia;
for, journeying &longs;outh ea&longs;t, we pa&longs;&longs;ed
over many ridges of mountains, which
appeared of &longs;olid rocks, while the vallies
and plains between them were almo&longs;t a
quick&longs;and. Not a tree, &longs;rub, or vegetable
is to be &longs;een. In the&longs;e vallies, the
&longs;un poured intolerable day, and its reflections
from the land were insupportable.
No refre&longs;hing breeze is here
felt. The intelligent traveller often fears
the ri&longs;ing of the wind, which blows
&longs;uch &longs;ultry gales, that man and bea&longs;t often
&longs;ink beneath them, “never to ri&longs;e
again” or, when agitated into a tempe&longs;t,
drive the &longs;and with &longs;uch tumultuous violence,
as to overwhelm whole caravans.
Such indeed were the &longs;tories told me, as
I pa&longs;&longs;ed the&longs;e dreary plains. The only

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inconvenience, I &longs;u&longs;tained, aro&longs;e from
the inten&longs;e heat of the &longs;un, and the chills
of the night, which our thin garments
were not calculated to exclude. On the
third day, after we left Tadah, the water,
which we tran&longs;ported on our camels, was
nearly expended. The&longs;e extraordinary
animals had not drank but once, &longs;ince
our departure. Near the middle of the
fourth day, I ob&longs;erved our camels &longs;nuff
the air, and &longs;oon &longs;et off in a bri&longs;k trot,
and ju&longs;t before night brought us to water.
This was contained in only one
deep well, dug, like a rever&longs;ed pyramid,
with &longs;teps to de&longs;cend on every &longs;ide, to
the depth of one hundred feet; yet the
&longs;agacity of the camel had di&longs;covered this
water at perhaps twenty miles di&longs;tance.
So my fellow travellers a&longs;&longs;erted; but I
have &longs;ince thought, whether the&longs;e camels,
from frequently pa&longs;&longs;ing this de&longs;ert country,
did not di&longs;cover their approach to
water, rather from the eye, noting familiar

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objects, than the actual &longs;centing the water
it&longs;elf. A hor&longs;e that has journeyed the
whole day, will quicken his &longs;tep at night,
when, upon a familiar road, within &longs;ome
miles of an accu&longs;tomed &longs;table. Our escort
delighted in the marvellous. Many
a dreadful &longs;tory did they tell of poisonous
winds and overwhelming &longs;ands;
and of the &longs;ierce wandering Arabs, who
captured whole caravans, and eat their
pri&longs;oners. Many a bloody battle had
they fought with this cruel banditti, in
which, according to their narratives, they
always came off conquerours. Frequently
were we alarmed, to be in readiness
to combat their &longs;avage free booters;
though I never &longs;aw but two of the
wild Arabs, in the whole of our journey.
They joined us at a little village, ea&longs;t of
I&longs;lamboul, and acco&longs;ted us with great civility.
They were dre&longs;&longs;ed in blue frocks,
girded round the wa&longs;te with particoloured
&longs;a&longs;hes, in which were &longs;tuck a pi&longs;tol

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and a long knife. Their legs were bare,
and &longs;heep&longs;kin caps covered their heads.
Their complexions were &longs;allow, but their
garments and per&longs;ons were clean. Indeed,
their dre&longs;s and addre&longs;s evinced them
to be of a more civilized race than our
guards, who affected to treat them with
lofty hauteur; and, when they departed,
a&longs;&longs;ured us that they were &longs;pies, and that an
attack from their countrymen might now
be apprehended with certainty; if, &longs;aid
the leader of our e&longs;cort, they are not terrified
by finding you under our protection.

p407-439

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