DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11638#0161
I46 TRAVELS m UPPER
trouble of loading boats with them, they collect
them in rafts, which float very well, and of which
each piece is destined for food. When these floats
or rafts have only to cross the river, they do not
make them very large, and a man swims across to
the opposite shore dragging them after him. If
they have a long voyage to perform, they are
made larger and towed along by a boat.
The first crocodile which I saw in Egypt, made
its appearance at some distance beyond Sahet.
He was immoveable in the middle of the river;
his head alone was visible above the water. In
proportion as you ascend the Nile, these frightful
animals become more common. They are formi-
dable to the inhabitants. In some places they
are obliged to form, even in the river, an enclo-
sure of stakes and faggots, that the women, in
drawing water from it, may not have their legs
carried off by the crocodiles.
A little village, opposite to which we stopped,
points out under the barbarous name of Hon, the
site of Diospolis, which has been surnamed the
Utile, to distinguish it from the two other Diospolis,
which are likewise to be found in Egypt. Hon
occupies still the eminence upon which, historians
tell us, the ancient city was built. Rubbish, large
bricks, stones still larger, the remains of a bas-
tion,
trouble of loading boats with them, they collect
them in rafts, which float very well, and of which
each piece is destined for food. When these floats
or rafts have only to cross the river, they do not
make them very large, and a man swims across to
the opposite shore dragging them after him. If
they have a long voyage to perform, they are
made larger and towed along by a boat.
The first crocodile which I saw in Egypt, made
its appearance at some distance beyond Sahet.
He was immoveable in the middle of the river;
his head alone was visible above the water. In
proportion as you ascend the Nile, these frightful
animals become more common. They are formi-
dable to the inhabitants. In some places they
are obliged to form, even in the river, an enclo-
sure of stakes and faggots, that the women, in
drawing water from it, may not have their legs
carried off by the crocodiles.
A little village, opposite to which we stopped,
points out under the barbarous name of Hon, the
site of Diospolis, which has been surnamed the
Utile, to distinguish it from the two other Diospolis,
which are likewise to be found in Egypt. Hon
occupies still the eminence upon which, historians
tell us, the ancient city was built. Rubbish, large
bricks, stones still larger, the remains of a bas-
tion,