in particular, attracted my attention. This mound could not be far from the river, as we soon after came on its bank." (Refers to page 485, Vol. I.)

"The greater part of Hillah appears to be built of furnace-baked bricks, which is different from what I saw in other places. All Bussorah is built of sundried bricks so that after heavy rain, the falling of houses into the streets is no unusual sight." (Refers to page 482, Vol. I.)

"The city of Bussorah is certainly more than seven, but less than twelve miles in circuit. It has corn-fields, date-groves, and gardens, within its walls. Near half of the area, I conclude, is built on." (Refers to page 454, Vol. I.)

II. Concerning the OASES of EGYPT and AMMON.

Mr. Browne adds to his former description, the following circumstances:

"Even in that part of the district of El-Wah, called Charjé, the vegetable soil by no means occupies the whole space; but each spring forms an insulated mass, round itself. Near the town, and between the gardens, is a sandy surface, in which the palm grows, but which, in great part, is not fit for gardens. There are irregularities of surface; and in the lowest ground rice is cultivated. At Siwa, the soil is not so interrupted by sand, but continuous and level." (Refers to page 186, sup.)

"There are some other villages besides those I have marked, in El-Wah, but not immediately in our route, and in themselves inconsiderable. A few scattered palm-trees are also met with at intervals.” (Refers to page 206, sup.)

"The word Gherbi, in the vulgar dialect of Egypt, is commonly used to signify western; why applied to the Lesser Oasis, I cannot positively say. Though they sometimes, if I mistake not, call the Greater Oasis by the name of El-Wah el Kibli, which in that dialect means the southern." (Refers to page 208, sup.)

"In saying (p. 29.) that the temple may be buried in the sand,' I meant not to suggest that this could have happened at Siwa; but on the supposition of its having belonged to some other Oasis, that both island and temple might thus have perished." (Refers to page 257, sup.)

The COMMITTEE of the AFRICAN ASSOCIATION have just received the following short notice respecting the remains at Seewa, from Mr. Hornemann (see note to p. 256, sup.) contained in a letter from Tripoly, dated 19th August, 1799. His journal, which contains the details, is not arrived.

"Siwah is, without doubt, the country of the ancient Ammonians. I found some ruins and a great number of catacombs there. Of one part of the ruins there are only the foundation walls to be seen. Another part consists of the foundation walls of a large building, within which, and near the middle of it, are seen the ruins of a remarkable edifice.

"It stands on an eminence, composed of limestone;

and is, as I conceive, the same that Mr. Browne saw. I should take these ruins for those of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, if the description of it in Herodotus was not so unlike what I saw. I entered more than eighty catacombs. They were in four different places; but there was a fifth, said to be under ground, which I could not get any body to shew me. I could find no whole mummies, but abundance of skulls, and other bones."

III. VARIATION of the MAGNETIC NEEDLE at
Alexandria.

By observations made there by the French, in 1798, the variation was 13° 6' westerly. M. Niebuhr reports 11° 4' there, in 1761; and M. Chazelles, from 13° to 12° 30', in 1694. (See Zach's Geog. Ephem. for July 1799, p. 62). It is probable, therefore, that the variation is not taken too high, at 15o, in the meridian of Parætonium. (Refers to p. 218, sup.)

IV. Further Notices respecting the LOTUS Fruit appear in Mr. Browne's Travels.

He saw two kinds in Darfoor, (Dar-Fûr) named Nebbeck. (See the description in p. 270.) He adds, "the natives eat the fruit, fresh or dry; for it dries on the tree, and so remains great part of the winter months. In that state it is formed into a

paste of not unpleasant flavour, and is a portable provision on journies."

Here then we have the lotus at the eastern, as well as the western extremity of the African Desert. (Refers to p. 292, sup.)