So far as cleanliness is concerned, there is nothing to complain of; the rooms, the staircases and the courtyard were kept very neatly, and the latter was even profusely watered twice a day.  We were not at all annoyed by insects, and we were but little incommoded by the heat.  In the sun the temperature never exceeded 33 degress; and in the shade the greatest heat was 22 degrees Reaumur.

August 17th.

At seven o’clock this morning our cage was at length opened.  Now all the world rushed in; friends and relations of the voyagers, ambassadors from innkeepers, porters, and donkey-drivers, all were merry and joyous, for every one found a friend or an acquaintance, and I only stood friendless and alone, for nobody hastened towards me or took an interest in me; but the envoys of the innkeepers, the porters, and donkey-drivers, cruel generation that they were, quarrelled and hustled each other for the possession of the solitary one.

I collected my baggage, mounted a donkey, and rode to “Colombier,” one of the best inns in Alexandria.  Swerving a little from the direct road, I passed “Cleopatra’s Needles,” two obelisks of granite, one of which is still erect, while the other lies prostrate in the sand at a short distance.  We rode through a miserable poverty-stricken village; the huts were built of stones, but were so small and low that we can hardly understand how a man can stand upright in them.  The doors were so low that we had to stoop considerably in entering.  I could not discover any signs of windows.  And this wretched village lay within the bounds of the city, and even within the walls, which inclose such an immense space, that they not only comprise Alexandria itself, but several small villages, besides numerous country-houses and a few shrubberies and cemeteries.

In this village I saw many women with yellowish-brown countenances.  They looked wretched and dirty, and were all clothed in long blue garments, sitting before their doors at work, or nursing children.  These women were employed in basket-making and in picking corn.  I did not notice any men; they were probably employed in the fields.

I now rode forward across the sandy plain on which the whole of Alexandria is built, and suddenly, without having passed through any street, found myself in the great square.

I can scarcely describe the astonishment I felt at the scene before me.  Every where I saw large beautiful houses, with lofty gates, regular windows, and balconies, like European dwellings; equipages, as graceful and beautiful as any that can be found in the great cities of Europe, rolled to and fro amid a busy crowd of men of various nations.  Franks, in the costume of their country, were distinguished among the turbans and fez-caps of the Orientals; and tall women, in their blue gowns, wandered amidst the half-naked forms of the Arabs and Bedouins.  Here a negro was running with argile behind his master, who trotted along on his noble horse; there Frankish or Egyptian ladies were to be seen mounted on asses.  Coming from the dreary monotony of the quarantine-house, this sight made a peculiar impression upon me.