Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/528

 426 NORTH-EAST AFRICA. 82 feet high and 53 feet thick. The holy lake which formerly existed here is now a mere swamp. Below Dessuk — ^where the river is spanned by an iron bridge, and whose fairs are only less frequented than those of Tantah — the pleasant town of Fuah, or "Madder," occupies a position on the right bank, opposite the junction of the large navigable Mahmudieh Canal, which affords direct communication with Alex- andria. Fuah, still noted for its numerous minarets, was the rival of Cairo in the fourteenth century ; but it no longer cultivates the valuable plant from which it takes its name, and its industries are reduced to the manufacture of tarbushes. ROSETTA. At present Fuah has been eclipsed even by Reshid, or Rosetta, capital of the province, which lies on the left bank of the river about nine miles above its mouth. Founded by the Arabs in the ninth century, Reshid, like Fuah, had its period of prosperity. During the eighteenth century its port was the most frequented in Egypt, and vessels engaged in the coasting trade called here from every part of the Levant for cargoes of rice, which still forms the chief article of export.* The towTi is surrounded by delightful gardens, in the midst of which the remains of ancient structures have often been found. Almost every house in Kosetta is embellished with some fragment of columns, marble, porphyry, or granite, taken from older buildings. The famous ** Rosetta Stone," which, in the hands of Champollion and Young became the point of departure for discoveries of supreme importance in linguistics and history, was discovered in the year 1799 by the engineer Bouchard, of the French expedition under Bonaparte, at some distance to the north of the town, where now stands Fort Julian. This precious tri-lingual inscription, originally composed in honour of " Ptolemy the Immortal, bom of the sun," was ceded to the English by capitulation, and deposited in the British Museum. When the Nile falls to its lowest level it occasionally happens that the tides ascend the stream to even beyond Rosetta, whose inhabitants are then obliged to use the brackish water found in the depressions. So bad is the supply of this indis- pensable article that in the year 1885 a commission was appointed to examine the question on the spot, and adopt measures for procuring a better supply for the town. Pending the completion of their labours the supply at Edfeh has been stopped, and the water is at present pumped higher up the Nile at Kututbeh, a point beyond the reach of the highest tides from the Mediterranean. West of the Rosetta branch the whole north-west comer of the delta is water<?d • Arrivals 738 vessels of 20, 1 24 tons. Departures 726 ,, 19 717 „ Total . 1,464 „ 39.841 „
 * Shipping of Rosetta in 1880 according to Amici: —