DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11636#0142
Il6 TRAVELS IN UPPER
whereas, aecording to the most accurate measure-
ments, the city of ancient Alexandria was from
seven to eight leagues in circumference *. The
materials employed in the construction of some of
those towers, besides the fragments of the more
ancient monuments, are of a singular species, and
of which no traveller, so far as I know, has taken
notice. Common stones are to be seen only in
places which have been repaired, or more recently
constructed. Originally the mason-work was
composed of stony masses, consisting of a prodi-
gious quantity of small fossile and sparry shelly
concretions, mixed, without any order, with a
species of cement which binds the whole together;
so that this substance, which is of the hardest con-
sistency, appears to be a composition, an aggre-
gation of art, rather than a natural stone.
The solidity of the walls, the vast capaciousness
of the towers, which may be considered as so many
forts, rendered the enclosure of the Arabs a ram-
part capable of making a stout resistance. In de-
fiance of the dispositions and the efforts of the Ma-
melucs and their troops, a handful of Frenchmen,
without cannon, and almost without ammunition,
carried the place by escalade, in a few moments.
Alexander had laid the foundations of a city, the
memory of which has been perpetuated by its
* Richard Pocock's Travels, vol. i. p. 493.
commerce,
whereas, aecording to the most accurate measure-
ments, the city of ancient Alexandria was from
seven to eight leagues in circumference *. The
materials employed in the construction of some of
those towers, besides the fragments of the more
ancient monuments, are of a singular species, and
of which no traveller, so far as I know, has taken
notice. Common stones are to be seen only in
places which have been repaired, or more recently
constructed. Originally the mason-work was
composed of stony masses, consisting of a prodi-
gious quantity of small fossile and sparry shelly
concretions, mixed, without any order, with a
species of cement which binds the whole together;
so that this substance, which is of the hardest con-
sistency, appears to be a composition, an aggre-
gation of art, rather than a natural stone.
The solidity of the walls, the vast capaciousness
of the towers, which may be considered as so many
forts, rendered the enclosure of the Arabs a ram-
part capable of making a stout resistance. In de-
fiance of the dispositions and the efforts of the Ma-
melucs and their troops, a handful of Frenchmen,
without cannon, and almost without ammunition,
carried the place by escalade, in a few moments.
Alexander had laid the foundations of a city, the
memory of which has been perpetuated by its
* Richard Pocock's Travels, vol. i. p. 493.
commerce,