In the midst of the garden is a beautiful grotto, ornamented within and without by a great variety of shells from the Red Sea, which give it a most striking appearance.  At this spot, towards which many paths lead, all strewed with minute shells instead of gravel, Moses is said to have been found in his cradle of bulrushes(?).  Immediately adjoining the garden we find a summer residence belonging to Mehemet Ali.

The well shewn as that into which Joseph was thrust by his brethren lies about two miles distant from the town, in a village on the road to Suez.  Half a mile off a very large and venerable sycamore-tree was pointed out to me as the one in the shade of which the holy family rested on their way to Egypt; and a walk of another quarter of a mile brings us to the garden of Boghos Bey, in the midst of which stands one of the finest and largest obelisks of Upper Egypt:  it is still in good condition, and completely covered with hieroglyphics.  The garden, however, offers nothing remarkable.  The ancient city of Heliopolis is said to have been built not far off; but at the present day not a vestige of it remains.

The road to this garden already lies partly in the desert.  At first the way winds through avenues of trees and past gardens; but soon the vast desert extends to the right, while beautiful orange and citron groves still skirt the left side of the path.  Here we continually meet herds of camels, but a dromedary is a rare sight.

Excursion to the pyramids of Gizeh.

August 25th, 1842.

At four in the afternoon I quitted Cairo, crossed two arms of the Nile, and a couple of hours afterwards arrived safely at Gizeh.  As the Nile had overflowed several parts of the country, we were compelled frequently to turn out of our way, and sometimes to cross canals and ride through water; now and then, where it was too deep for our asses, we were obliged to be carried across.  As there is no inn at Gizeh I betook myself to Herr Klinger, to whom I brought a letter of recommendation from Cairo.  Herr K. is a Bohemian by birth, and stands in the service of the viceroy of Egypt, as musical instructor to the young military band.  I was made very welcome here, and Herr Klinger seemed quite rejoiced at seeing a visitor with whom he could talk in German.  Our conversation was of Beethoven and Mozart, of Strauss and Lanne.  The fame of the bravura composers of the present day, Liszt and Thalberg, had not yet penetrated to these regions.  I requested my kind host to shew me the establishment for hatching eggs that exists at Gizeh.  He immediately sent for the superintendent, who happened however to be absent, and to have locked up the keys.  In this place about 8000 eggs are hatched by artificial warmth during the months of March and April.  The eggs are laid on large flat plates, which are continually kept at an equal temperature by heat applied below the surface:  they are turned several times during the day.  As the thousands of little chickens burst their shells, they are sold, not by number or weight, but by the measure.  This egg-hatching house has the effect of rendering poultry plentiful and cheap.