DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0292
254
THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.
[chap. xxxi
mere agent of the Pasha, who supplies capital for his under-
taking.
Mehemet Ali found Alexandria a nest of pirates ; he has
made it the most important seaport in the Levant, and restored
to commerce a path to India that had been neglected for
centuries.*
" Alexander," said Napoleon, " displayed his genius more in
founding Alexandria, and in contemplating the transportation
thither of his seat of empire, than by the most dazzling victories.
This city ought to be the capital of the world ; it is situated be-
tween Asia and Africa, and connects Europe with the Indies.
It is the only safe anchorage for five hundred leagues of coast,
extending from Tunis to Alexandretta ; it is at one of the ancient
mouths of the Nile. All the squadrons of the universe might
find moorings there, and in the old port are safe from storms
and invasion."
The Mole, which protects this important harbor, is terminated
by a modern light-house, placed where the Pharos of the Ptole-
mies once stood. This now offers at once a warning and an
invitation, a battery and a beacon. The western harbor is very
deep and safe, but the eastern is protected from the sea by a
sunken reef of rocks, too near the surface to permit a first-rate
line of battle-ship to pass over it without taking out her guns and
heavy stores. The eastern harbor is exposed and unsafe, and
was the only port, until recently, allowed to Christian vessels.
Mehemet Ali abolished this injurious and degrading prohibition,
which had long afforded a proof of the. extent to which our scru-
ples with regard to Turkey permitted us to be bullied in the
East.
The population of Alexandria amounts to about 65,000 souls,
of which the crews, the workmen, the soldiers, and other imme-
diate dependents of the Pasha, form one-third.
Consuls of all the principal nations of Europe reside here,
f»nd, together with numerous wealthy merchants, might form a
very extensive society. The influence of the habits or the
* The Venetians obtained a settlement here, and carried on their energetic
commerce thence to India, but the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope
passage left it again desolate
THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.
[chap. xxxi
mere agent of the Pasha, who supplies capital for his under-
taking.
Mehemet Ali found Alexandria a nest of pirates ; he has
made it the most important seaport in the Levant, and restored
to commerce a path to India that had been neglected for
centuries.*
" Alexander," said Napoleon, " displayed his genius more in
founding Alexandria, and in contemplating the transportation
thither of his seat of empire, than by the most dazzling victories.
This city ought to be the capital of the world ; it is situated be-
tween Asia and Africa, and connects Europe with the Indies.
It is the only safe anchorage for five hundred leagues of coast,
extending from Tunis to Alexandretta ; it is at one of the ancient
mouths of the Nile. All the squadrons of the universe might
find moorings there, and in the old port are safe from storms
and invasion."
The Mole, which protects this important harbor, is terminated
by a modern light-house, placed where the Pharos of the Ptole-
mies once stood. This now offers at once a warning and an
invitation, a battery and a beacon. The western harbor is very
deep and safe, but the eastern is protected from the sea by a
sunken reef of rocks, too near the surface to permit a first-rate
line of battle-ship to pass over it without taking out her guns and
heavy stores. The eastern harbor is exposed and unsafe, and
was the only port, until recently, allowed to Christian vessels.
Mehemet Ali abolished this injurious and degrading prohibition,
which had long afforded a proof of the. extent to which our scru-
ples with regard to Turkey permitted us to be bullied in the
East.
The population of Alexandria amounts to about 65,000 souls,
of which the crews, the workmen, the soldiers, and other imme-
diate dependents of the Pasha, form one-third.
Consuls of all the principal nations of Europe reside here,
f»nd, together with numerous wealthy merchants, might form a
very extensive society. The influence of the habits or the
* The Venetians obtained a settlement here, and carried on their energetic
commerce thence to India, but the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope
passage left it again desolate