ness of the Aboukir isthmus, five miles to the eastward of Alexandria, where the breadth of the isthmus also does not exceed a quarter of a mile, would not terrify even Turks from the undertaking. Any debarkation at Aboukir would then be of little advantage, and if a fort was built on the high sand hill, at the base of which the English landed, a disembarkation even there would be rendered extremely difficult. An attempt in rear of the proposed new canal would, with common conduct on the part of the Turks, be impracticable. The weather must be uncommonly fine indeed to allow of boats approaching on the side of the sea, where only two or three little bays at any time allow of the enterprize; and Lake Maadie might be sufficiently protected by batteries and gunboats. To complete the insulation, the divided canal of Alexandria should only be reunited by pipes, otherwise the passage might be forced by a column moving round Lake Maadie. With materials from Europe, for neither the brick or stone in Egypt is of good quality, strong works might be erected where Fort Caffarelli is now placed, on the height above Pompey's Pillar, on Fort Crétin and the redoubt of Cleopatra, which might certainly hold out until succours could arrive, since England must always be acquainted with the preparations for an expedition equal to this service, and follow with an armament of observation; nor would the Turks refuse an English fleet again admittance into their harbour. For the defence of the port, Marabou should be strongly fortified, and heavy batteries raised on the isthmus, to cover two of the channels into the harbour. The batteries on the. isle des Figuieres perfectly protect the third. For the defence of the coast of Egypt, the caravansary at Lake Edko should be converted into a strong fort, particularly as at high Nile the boats of a fleet might otherwise procure fresh water water at the entrance of this lake, which then runs on the surface of the salt water, marking its channel by a yellow tinge. The forts of St. Julien, Bourlos, Dibèh, and Lesbèh, sufficiently defend the remainder, since the boghaz and flat shore form an almost insuperable first line of resistance to any attempt of debarkation on these points. For the protection of the rest of Egypt, a regular intrenched camp at Rhamanieh would be necessary, as the central situation for the defence of the whole coast, and the point of union between Alexandria and Cairo. With a flanking work in the Delta, that position might be made tenable. A fort at the point of the Delta, commanding both branches of the Nile, would considerably impede the progress of an enemy moving against Cairo; and in that city entrenchments ought to be constructed in every direction, as the inhabitants have proved in the siege of Cairo, which held out after the defeat of the Vizir against the French forty days, that in this part of warfare they are not inferior to Europeans. Lower Egypt is only practicable for military operations six or seven months in the year (from the latter end of February until the middle of August.) The inundation is completed at the beginning of September; and not before the month of December can any individual, well acquainted with the passes, traverse the country, for there are no bridges or regular roads. Troops with artillery will not then attempt their movements, as the water in the canals is too low to admit of boats being used, and the mud too deep to wade through. Sometimes a passage is not open before the beginning of March. This time might prove advantageous to an enemy wishing to establish himself on the coast, did not the tempestuous weather at that season form a good defence. If not in possession of Alexandria, no force could proceed by the Desert to Cairo, a march which in that case presents obstacles scarcely to be surmounted, as during three months of the inundation no communication could be had with the villages on its borders, and afterwards sufficient subsistence could not be procured in them. Protected thus by natural defences, and strengthened by the precautions previously recommended, Egypt would not be an easy conquest, or the project of an attack require light consideration by those who were to be responsible for the success. The Turks are better adapted to defend the country than the Mamelukes. The many high banks of the canals, the deep fissures in the earth, surrounding every square foot, caused by the sun cracking the dried mud forming its soil, do not afford a surface for cavalry to act on. Although the horses there seldom pass out of a foot's pace, except for the gallop of a hundred yards, most of them are foundered, and none, if pressed in a trot for ten miles, would be able, from want of wind and stamina, to proceed. The Turkish horses were found considerably better, and the Turkish infantry might be made very good soldiers. Individually they are brave, fight entrenchments with courage and skill, and under the Captain Pacha have manifested how capable they are of being disciplined. If the improved state of the Turkish marine be properly considered, an organization which entitles the present Captain Pacha to the greatest merit, no doubt will exist but that Turkey is still capable of reassuming a high rank amongst the powers of Europe. No country possesses within itself greater resources, no nation can present better materials, to found military establishments, or greater incentives; their religion and very habits of life tend to make this people a nation of warriors. The character of the Captain Pacha sanctions the hope that those prejudices and abuses which have occasioned an unnatural weakness, may very soon be extirpated. He seems to be born born in this age of splendid talents, to retrieve the fortunes of the Ottoman empire, and refix the crescent in the sphere from which it has wandered. The hostility of the Turks to France offers a favourable moment for the completion of designs necessary to the interests of England and Turkey, who ought to form an inseparable alliance; nor could such measures be deemed otherwise than precautions of self-defence even by those whose views were impeded by them. The friendship of Turkey is of such importance to England, that every exertion should be made, and some sacrifices even not resisted, if they tend to prevent France resuming her influence in the Divan. We all must lament that a country like Egypt, rich in treasures of fertility and commerce, from the civilization of which the sciences might derive the most important benefits, must, under the present posture of affairs, be retained in slavery; but those who would be doomed otherwise to form the colony, may find consolation in the reflection, that their lives in that country would certainly have been wretched from the misery which pervades, and the diseases which desolate a land gifted with the most wonderful bounties, and at the same time accursed with the most noxious calamities of nature. DISEASES DISEASES OF EGYPT. IN N no country are the inhabitants afflicted with more dreadful disorders, many of which must be attributed to the vices of the people, yet the most fatal unhappily proceed from causes which civilization and art cannot altogether controul. Sonnini*, although his opinions are proved to have been in some instances erroneous, has entered into a very interesting detail of them, and his work on every account is worthy perusal; nor should some errors of description prejudice the general character of the history, as the circumstances under which he wrote, and the great object with which he wished to inflame the spirit of his countrymen, must ever be kept in view, and excuse a partiality excited by patriotism. The plague, as being the malady which occasions the greatest alarm amongst those who have never been immediately acquainted with its nature, ranks as the most fatal of all distempers. This fever, now properly called epidemical, was long supposed to have been brought from Turkey in the ships charged with old clothes, which constantly came to Alexandria for a market; but these and similar reasons cannot any longer be maintained, since the plague has generated annually in Egypt during the last four years (although no such communication had been possible), and even chiefly commenced in Upper Egypt. * Volney's work is also excellent. Savary's is a charming romance. |