Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1841-1853, 1849-07-05

lect and intelligence Of the people at This day is far from
presenting a very vivid picture Of The past, when they were
very much distinguished. but nSw They are greatly degene-
Iattd. and are a very isneIsnt and miseIable lace. The
buildings occupied by the foreign cOnsuls and by The gentle
men who reside here, are very good and cuInmod"us- The
greater pat Of the consals reside 10 the building which sur
round The large public square, which is in the most business
pat of the city.
The poorest class mostly live just outside The walls, in
very small miserable huis, with one ruOm about 5 feet by
10 | should Ihuk. built OF small stones and plasteTed. They
are generally about the height Of a mau. with vi any hOoI-
ing except the bare earth. Whole families live pent up in
these hu,s, and their locks would not lead one to suppose
that they were a very clean set of persons; at least II
struck me SO.
2 The residences Of the principal persons are very COM
forlsble, although nothing grand. The Palace, which is the
summer residence Of the Pacha OF Egypt, Is the only build
ing Of any maguihcenee in the city, and as the Paeha IS
nov residing at bis winter residence at CaiIo, il is open for
Writers 10 see. The building il very large and | q ink,
although / will not be sure, hat it is built Of stone, white }
il is situated a little out from the city, seawsfd. fron'lng
on the harbor, and it presents a very neat appearance IN
cunning in fTom the sea. 1t is surrounded by a small court
yard which is paved with pebbles, both white and black,
vsriguSly inteI mixed. There is also a small garden attach
ed to it, but it is q very ppor one, having only a few A W.
els and shrubs; The Pschs has a great number Of very hne
ga'denS, but they are all situated a little way IN the coun-
Try. aud ae veiy Spacious ad toieTably well supplied
The interior OF the palace Is The most striking q IS me
finest that | have ever seen. SUI passing in maguihcence the
one l made mention If in Malta. The wood made US Of in
the building. both in the floor, which is made Of The most
precious, such as ebony, rosewood, &c beautifully inlstd.
and in all other places, is very hUe. The apartments are OF
very convenient size and comfortable. The furni'uIe aud
ornaments ale very nice aud c'sily. In a VOID, everything
is superb, although il is not so fine, ! am told, as his palace
at Cairo. Some Of the Other head officers Of the govern
ment have very fine residences in the city, but ! did NOS
see them myself.
The city of Alexandra has taken a new turn within the
last few years, AID is now improving slowly. As it is the
only seaport of any consequence in the Country, most IT not
all the commerce IS done there. 1t has a veiy good haTboT,
and IheIe is generally from 100 TO 300 vessels lying in it,
The trade in exports, from what / could observe while
there, far exceeds that Of the imports. They are principally
corn, wheat, cotton, Sc, being about the same, in pat,
which we export from the United States, though they aIe
not Of SO good a quality. To add 10 its facilities as a COM
nercisl place, there is a canal forty-eight miles long con-
Meeting with the Nile. IL was built by Mehemet Ali, late
Pacha Of Egypt. (He is not dead. but on account of his old
age and inhTmity the reins Of government have been resign
ed to his son. Abbas Pacha Mehemet Ali has done consid-
cradle for his country du'ing his reign by the way of partly
freeing it from the hands Of he Turks. He is very much
loved by the people. Napoleon, Wellington and Mehemot
Ali were all bonn in one aud the same year, all distinguished
men) The canal, l believe. was fni-hed in about a year
from il, commencement. Three OF four thousand people
were employed upon il, having no implements 10 work with
except their own hands hundreds and hundreds persisted
f,om labar. starvation aud punishment; besides the conirac-
tor was beheaded for not having mis- work finished At the
end Of the agIeed time.
Steamers run TO Cairo through this canal and the river
Nile, in connection with the steamers from England The
route 10 India is this way. as far as Cairo, where they cross
over land 10 Suez, and take steamers through the Red Sea
TO India so that not only travellers visiting Egypt and the
country surrounding, pass through Alexandra. but also those
going 10 India pass through II, which tends considerable to
the advantage Of the city.
While we were in Alexandra | took several rides ont in
the county TO see some Of the most noted antiquities ard
the country around the city, which | must say was generally
under a good state Of cultivation, and the land round about
the city is pretty fair in respect to fertility. During these
rides saw considerable in regard to the uses Of The cnun-
try. | also visited Pompey's Pillar and ~Cleopatras Needles,
mementos of ancient Egypt.
One of Cleopat as Needles stands on the beach Of the
eastern or new haI Dor, near the suburbs Of the city. The
other now lies by his brother's side. Ii was given to the
English on account of its being down. The sea having wash
cd it down sumo time befoIe, but they C lid not take it
away. They are both covered with the ancient h~eroglyph-
les from their base to summit. They are about so feet in
height and s in diameter in shape it is square, and the top
has the foim OF an ooelisk il is one solid piece of stone.
Pompey's Pillar is situated back of the city, on a small
hill nd a n at A q SIAN a sea- III IS about
ninety feet high and ten feet in diameter it consists of a
single round shaft from the pedestal (which is about ten feet
from the surface of the earih) to the top. II is round, with
a smooth surface, with the exception of a carved cap with
which il is sumounted. Both Pompey's Pillar and the Nee
dies are of the same kind of stone it is a kind Of granite
of very coarse grain and very hard indeed. Pompey's Pill
lar, which was anciently in the centre of the city, now
stands about a quarter of q mile outside the present walls of
the city. The Caiacombs and several other places at Alex
andIia are quite worth seeing. but l did not visit them.
msst not forget to mention that the Egyptians have quite
q large navy at Alexandra. l suppose they have about four
teen line Of battle, ships, eight or ten fiaates. and scme
smaller craft. A few of them are very good vessel, tut
twO-thiIds of them are not worth anything. They were
talking about selling most Of their vessels which are worth
anything, to the Austrian government, (who wish to purchase
ihem.) so as to be able to raise money TO pay their Tribute to
Turkey. England, | believe, made some objections 10 IL. but
they were talking when we left about dong il without a
why OF wherefore, whether it pleased or displeased her.
passed a tolerably pleasant time while we Were in Alex
andria. l should liked TO have gone to Cairo very much, but
could not; most of our officers went. l may still have an
opportunity of going before we leave the Mediterranean.
We left Alexandra on the 2S,h Of March for Spezzia we
had no bad weather on our passage, but a great part of the
time we had head winds. We made the coast OF Calsbria,
Italy, on the 9th Of April; on the 7th il was a pleasant day,
and we had in view both the southern coast OF Italy and the
eastern coast Of Sicily; both coasts are very high in Italy
we had a splendid view of Eina, towering high above The
land on either side of him. (although it is all very high)
with his head covered by a cap of snow.
We endeavoled both on the 9Th aud 9TH to 20 through The
straits of Messina. which separate Sicily fram Italy. but we
were bafHed both days by head winds, so tina, we were com,
PEELED to 90 round the island of Sicily on the Sh we had
fair winds from that time until we arrived at Spezza.
We passed between Sardinia and the coast of Italy the
passage between these shores is of considerable width, and
we hadsneiher of the shoes 10 sight. But The width Of The
passage lessons considerably between Italy and the island Of
Corsica, so that we had both # those shores 10 sight. besides
the several islands of CYCLIC, Meter Christie, Pianosa, aud
EIba. In passing between the latter island and Corsica, we
had in sight. on one side, the island in which the great and
ilusrious Napoleon was born on the other side, The island
10 which he was first. banished, alter having gained lauteis
that few, If any, have surpassed. But he could not remain
idle in a small island so near his own adopted land, and see
them want for a leader, and feel that he could supply their
wants, without fleeing back TO them. The fsies were against
him., and he was soon owe, powered by his enemies and sent
to an island from which escape was not 50 easy.
While we were yet amongst those islands night overlook
us, and all hands were kept up till we passed them, which
was about 2 O'Clock the next morning. The same day, which
wa, the 18th inst, we arrived in Spezzia. Italy
Since we have been here the weather has been very dis
agreeable, and as we are guaranteed. OF course none OF us
have been on shore. But from what | have been told here
t0fore, and from what | can see, | pronounce il 10 be a very
miserable place. 1t is one Of the worst parts Of Italy, has
no commelce of any importance, and is a very small place
nothing more than a village. l am in hopes that we shall
soon leave This aud go to some more interesting place. We
should not have come here now, but that we were. out of
provisions, and this is out naval depot.
/ hope that what / have written in this letter and hereto
fore will be of some interest 10 you and mother, and If so, |
shall continue to write TO you in the same manner
Hoping that this my hpd you well and enjoying your
selves, I remain your affsclionale and devoted son.
GEORGE.
P. S. | answered your letter by the mail sewers days ago.
and will answer moiher's soon. ! send this by the stoleship
Erie il may be some time in reaching you, but it will be
sure i think. Your SON, u.
Mote. In The letter published a week ago, some errors in
printing occurred Spt zzia was spelled SpiZzio, the Leaning
Tower st Pisa. was -ptiuted learning, &c.-Eds1