pain, he mentions that he took care to have 'a passing
squint at Cape St Vincent.' Many similar oddities break out in the
course of the narrative; not that we care much about them one way or
other; it is only to be regretted that the author has by this
looseness of expression, and his loquacious dragging in of passages
from Scripture on all occasions, also by his inveterate love of
anecdotic illustration, done what he could to keep down a really
clever book to an inferior standard of taste. We would hope, however,
that candid readers will have a kindly consideration of the author's
intentions, and pass over much that is prosy and ridiculous for the
sake of what is original and interesting. Traversing lands that have
been described a hundred times before, it might be supposed that
little was left for Dr Aiton to pick up; yet every traveller has his
own method of observation. In justice to the doctor, it must be
acknowledged that he made a judicious use of time during his travels
in the East, and has told us many amusing particulars of what he saw.
There is, at least, always a certain graphic painting in his off-hand
descriptions; as, for instance, his notice of an incident that
occurred on his arrival in Egypt.

'On landing at Alexandria I saw a ship unloading, and box by box were
being handed to the lighter, according to the number each respectively
bore. Some mistake, more or less important, had apparently been made
by one of the native operatives on the occasion. Instantly two sticks
were laid on his head with dreadful effect. The poor fellow seemed to
be stunned and stupified for a time. On this account it probably
happened, that he fell into a second similar blunder, when a stick was
thrown, not horizontally, but perpendicularly, and so aimed that it
struck the socket of the eye. In one moment he lost the sight of it,
and the ball hung by a ligament on his cheek. He uttered a hideous
yell, and staggered; notwithstanding of which other two cudgels were
applied to his arm while he had the power to hold it up in protection
of his head. Horror of horrors! I thought, verily in the fulfilment of
prophecy, God has been pleased to curse this garden and granary of the
world, and to permit foreigners terribly to tyrannise over its
degraded people.' Proceeding onward to Cairo: 'What a hurry-skurry
there was in the dark in getting into the vans at the hotel-door to
be conveyed to the Mahmoudie Canal! When I arrived, I found the