The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-28 00:00:00

EGYPT.

CAIRO.

I left Malta on the 14th ult. by the Merlin, one of
ll.M.'srollintr line of steamenibetween Marseilles
and Alexandria, and reached Alexandria in about
ninety hours, a great improvement on the old
steamers, Volcano, Spitfire, &e.
. . . .

,
On entering the harbour, I could not help being
struck, though it was my second visit, with the
beauty of the view, and I wondered how the artists
of du; Overland Route Panorama, now exhibiting in
London, could have passed over such a scene, and
instructed their lecturer to say that there was nothing
interesting to sketch. The only explanation that I
could suggest to myself was that they had never
seen either the original or a drawing thereof; and
therefore deemed it best to " let oil their steam,"
which they do in exquisite style, and thus divert the
attention of their audience from a scene in Egypt to
one which may be seen every day on the Thames.
Not only do scores of aindnulls present themselves
at one glance, hut also the lighthouse, the fortifica-
tions the palace, the hareem, and other oriental
buildings, to say nothing of the harbour, with its
shipping, Sc.
As 1 stayed in Alexandria only a very short time,
just long enough to be eased of my pocket handker-
chief, and to have my jacket-packet cut in one
of the burners. and to notice that the large Greek
church was rapidly approaching completion, while
the English church was progressing slowly, the
remarks that I shall make must be understood as
specially referring to Middle Egypt, though, doubt-
less' Alexandria will have experienced the same
changes since the death of Mehemet Ali as other
parts of the country have done.
tieing told at thC transit office that the omnibuses
would leave the square for the Nlahmoodich Canal at
11.30, and knowing that minutes were of no moment
in Egypt, never entering into the calculation of even
the English there, I took care to be with my compa-
nions about a quarter of an hour before the time spe-
cified, but even then we were too late, and had to
take donkies to reach the steamer, which also started
a quarter of all hour too early. This hint may be
useful to some overland passengers, who stray into
the bursars.

A few miles up the canal, we passed the mules
carrying the Bombay mail. It may strike you as
singular that the mails do not travel with, the
steamers, especially when you are told that if they
did, instead of being sent overland all the way to
Suez. they would go in some twelve or twenty hours
less time; but it appears that the British government
never have sent the mails in the Pasha's boats, pre-
fen ing to risk a separate contract across the desert.
and yet I cannot help. thinking that they would be
at least equally safe in the steamers, while a large
sum of money as well as considerable time would be
saved.

In six hours and a half from Aletcandria, we
reached Atich, where, passing through the lock, we
entered the Nile, and went alongside a large
steamer, to which passengers and baggage were
'transferred for Cairo. When the Nile is low the
' lock cannot be used, so that the passengers have to
walk a short distance. This is no very great incon-
venience, but the loss to the country in other ways
is estimated at 50,000 La year,such as in boats having
to exchange their cargoes, in delays, &e. There arc
not less than 60,000 boats ou Ow Nile and canal,
most of them running to Alexandria. How extreme,
then, must be the inconvenience through not being
able to use the lock ! The superintendent engineer,
Mr. Nlnxton, PALS., laid a plan before the
Pasha, I am informed, by which, for 40.0001., this
evil could be remedied ; but it was not favourably
received by his highness—why. it would be difficult
to say, unless a fear arose in his mind that the ex-
penditure might interfere with his new palaces, of
which I shall have to speak hereafter.
Being unusually few in number the passengers
were all able to make up berths for the night, which
the Calcutta passengers are never able to do.
In about seventeen hours more we arrived at the
barrage, where the Nile divides itself into the Ito-
Betel and Damietta branches. The barrage is in-
tended to be made available for damming up the
river at all seasons, for irrigating the Delta and all
the country north of the works. It is to consist of
numerous Gothic arches, with floodgates between
each, to be closed or opened at pleasure, worked in
towers built on the respective arches. If it be found
to answer—and I see no reason why it should not—
it will supersede the labour of some million bul-
locks, camels, men, Ac., now regularly at work at
the sackiyehs, shadoofs, and taboots—three several
primitive machines for raising the water from the
river, sluices, and wells. The original estimate for
this magnificent structure, which would do credit to
the greatest nation in Europe, was 10,000,000 t, and
it was to be completed in ten years. Until lately
100,000 persons were at work at it in one shape or
other. New, however, there is only about half
that number. The works have been going on
for seven rears, and 7,000,0001. has been already
expended upon them, and yet they are not nearly
completed. Indeed, I cannot help fearing that seven
Fears more will be required. The engineer is a
Frenchman, and one who well understands his
work; but if his present salary (2,5001. a-year, I am

told) is to be continued FO long as the barrage re-
mains unfinished, and reduced or stopped when the
last gate is fixed, I should not like to speculate as
to the time when the end would be seen. Report
says that the Pasha has threatened to stop the
works; but to do so would be worse than fully. Not
only would the barrage accomplish the and for
which it was originally intended, but it would also
be available for the railroad to cross the Damietta
bank of the Nile, should a line ever be constructed
between Suez or Cairo and Alexandria ; and if any I
improvement is to be made on the present mode of
transit, it must be by a railroad, and not by a canal.
A canal, to be of any use, must be a ship canal, and
the dangerous nature of the coast for miles from
Alexandria is said to render a secure entrance from
the Mediterranean impossible; therefore a ship
canal is out of the question. And to construct a
canal in continuation of the Mahmoodeh would in-
cur great expense with very little benefit, while
the utility of a railroad needs no remarks. Hut as I
am not an engineer, and as the world will doubt-
less soon be in possession of Mr. Ste2ltenson's re-
port, who has been surveying the couoiry, I shall
say no more on this subject in this letter.
In less titan two hours from the barrage we reached
Boulae, where vans were waiting to convey us to
Cairo, a mile and a half farther.
But I expect I have carried you as far as you will
like to travel in one letter. My next letter will
refer more particularly to the present state of Egypt.
Cairo is at present in a very healthy state, but the
weather has been unusually cold, boisterous, and rainy,

SECOND EDITION.