the road from Babylon (or say Cairo,) to Pelusium. It should therefore be 88 MP. or 63 G. miles from Babylon; 60 from Cairo. Travellers allow 27 to 28 hours of the caravan, between Cairo and Salhia; which may be taken at 56 miles; whence the distance falls short only 4 miles: and as Thevenot reckoned 10 hours, or 20 miles, between Salhia and a deep inlet of the sea, which appears to be a continuation of the lake Menzala, opposite Tinah, or Pelusium, we have here the deficiency supplied pretty satisfactorily. Perhaps a part of the deficiency arising on the road from Serapiu to Pelusium, may be accounted for in the same manner.

We shall not pursue the discussion of the road to Syria any farther in this place, than just to mention, that 16 hours beyond the inlet brought Thevenot to Catieh, the ancient Casium, situated under mount Casius; and which is therefore 26 hours beyond Salhia. The Itinerary, p. 152, has only 40 MP. in two equal stations, from Cassio to Pentaschoenon and thence to Pelusio: and these can only be taken at 284 or 29 G. miles; although the time would give considerably more. The difference may well arise from the sandy nature of the road, which requires a longer time, and more exertion, to travel it; as appears on the whole of the road across this desert; which is composed of loose

• Abulfeda reckons one journey, or 19 G. miles, between Farama and Catieh. The former being placed at 3 to 4 miles to the north eastward of Pelusium, there should remain 24 at least for the space between Farama and Catieh.

sand'. Thus, mount Casius, it appears, should not be quite 29 G. miles to the eastward of Pelusium. And this being the case, the space between mount Casius and Suez ought not to be taken higher than 64 G. miles, if any dependence can be placed on the latitude of the mount, as it appears in M. D'Anville, at 30° 58'.

Thus, there appears to be a general agreement between the Roman Itinerary, and the reports of modern travellers, in the line between Babylon (Cairo,) and mount Casius. But, on the road between Serapiu and Pelusium, we have no modern Itinerary to compare with the ancient; and it is certain that, although the distance given by the ancients agrees generally in the aggregate, with the difference of latitude, yet that the detail does not agree, if Salhia is to be taken for the Sile of the Itinerary; as in our idea, it ought to be.

The positions of Phaccusa and Bubastis, two towns situated, according to Ptolemy, on or near

7 Thevenot reckons 53 hours of the caravan between Catieh and Gaza. By the diff. lon. between these places, the distance between them in a direct line should be 85 G. miles; or, taking the bend of the coast, the straightest line on which a road can be made between them, is 88. This allows only 1,7 G. miles per hour, whilst 2 is the common caravan rate: besides, the last 7 hours are over solid ground. The Antonine Itinerary has 96 MP. only, or less than the distance on a right line; so that some omission has happened. An observation for the longitude at Gaza, or some other place in its neighbourhood, would remove the doubt that now exists concerning the distances.

8

Called indifferently Bubastis, and Bubastus.

the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, are of considerable importance, from their connexion with the canal drawn from the Nile to the Red sea.

From the report of Herodotus, Euterpe, 17, it appears that the Pelusiac branch struck to the eastward, immediately from the head of the Delta of the Nile; at which place the Canopic inclined to the west, and the Sebennitic to the north. More will be said concerning these different branches, in the sequel; at present it will be necessary to speak of the Pelusiac branch alone.

Herodotus is by no means distinct in respect of this description; and therefore it can only be concluded generally, that there were three principal branches of the Nile, which opened to the sea, at that time (as there are two at present ;) one or more of which, like the present ones, were subdivided near the sea, so as to form seven openings altogether. The three branches are described to be nearly of equal bulk and depth; and, it may be inferred that the Pelusiac one, although perhaps not equal to the others, must have been of considerable bulk, and preserved the form of a river during the whole year; otherwise, it could neither have been regarded as a bulwark to the kingdom, on the side towards Syria, nor could it have furnished a supply of water for a large canal. At present, it no longer exists as a river, than during the season of the swelling of the Nile.

That this branch had its origin from the head of the Delta, in ancient times, and not, as at present, at a point more than sixteen miles below it, appears certain from the ancient descriptions: but as the

discussion belongs more properly to the subject of the Delta itself, we shall request the reader to take the fact for granted here, since it does not affect the question concerning the place of outlet of the canal, from the Pelusiac river; that part of it appearing to have preserved its ancient place. It is the upper part only, which has either gradually removed downwards, or the portion of water that flows to the eastward, has fallen into the bed of an ancient canal, that led from the Sebennitic branch into the Pelusiac: of which kind of canals, many are known to have existed.

This river is known by the name of Terraet Mües, and strikes off from the Damietta branch (or ancient Sebennitic) a little below Trieb or Atrib, the ancient Athribis. The line of direction between the outlet of this branch and Pelusium is E b. N or ENE; and such is the direction of the river itself, in the chart of M. Niebuhr 9. The town of Bastus, taken for Bubastis, lies also in this direction, which adds strength to the supposition, that the lower part of the Terraet Mües is in the line of the ancient Pelusiac river; since Bubastis itself was enclosed between two branches of that river. (Euterpe, 138.) It is well known that the outlets of the branches of

9 Sanuto has a branch called the river of Tenes, meant for Tineh, or Tina, the modern name of Pelusium; which appears to answer to the Terraet Mües, and to the ancient Pelusiac branch, in the lower part of its course. It indeed terminates in the lake of Menzala in the quarter of Pelusium; but this place is known to have been surrounded by lakes and marshes.

rivers, in alluvial soils, have a tendency to move downwards, both from the elevation of the soil, and other circumstances: so that the outlet of the river in question, was doubtless much higher up, in ancient times, than in the present: and the same change has taken place at the head of the Delta itself, as will be proved in the sequel.

Ptolemy places Phaccusa at the side of the Pelusiac branch, at 22 G. miles, and Bubastis at 321, above Pelusium. The Theodosian tables allow 36 MP. for Phaccusa, equal to 26 geographic; and if Bubastis be only 10 miles above it, as Ptolemy allows, this latter should be 36 only from Pelusium towards Atrib. D'Anville has Bastus, probably the same place in modern geography, at 201 to the east, somewhat north from Atrib; which appears in the chart of M. Niebuhr, in lat. 30° 28′ 30′′, and at one mile to the east of the meridian of Cairo. But, as the space between Pelusium and Atrib appears to be 65 miles, there is of course a deficiency of nearly 9 miles and Bastus should rather be 45, than 36, above Pelusium. Phaccusa, by the same rule, will

be more than 10 below Bubastis.

Sanuto has Al Besia in the place of Bastus, at 17 miles to the NW of Belbesa; meaning Bilbeys, a well known station on the road from Cairo to Salhia. Belbesa, in the same geography, is 30 to the NW of Suez; that is, Al Besia is 47 from Suez; agreeing generally with the foregoing construction. Belbesa

is, moreover, 30 short of Salhia, in the same author; and by the report of travellers, it is from 13 to 15