must heartily join him, and recommend to my readers to do the same, without reading any thing about it,
On the 22d, at night, we arrived at Achmim. I landed my quadrant and instruments, with a view of observing an eclipse of the moon; but, immediately after her rising, clouds and mist so effectually covered the whole heavens, that it was not even possible to catch a star of any size passing the meridian.
Achmim is a very considerable place. It belonged once to an Arab prince of that name, who possessed it by a grant from the Grand Signior, for a certain revenue to be paid yearly. That family is now extinct; and another Arab prince, Hamam Shekh of Furshout, now rents it for his life-time, from the Grand Signior, with all the country (except Girgé) from Siout to Luxor.
The inhabitants of Achmim are of a very yellow, unhealthy appearance, probably owing to the bad air, occasioned by a very dirty calish that passes through the town. There are, likewise, a great many trees, bushes, and gardens, about the stagnated water, all which increase the bad quality of the air.
There is here what is called a Hospice, or Convent of religious Franciscans, for the entertainment of the converts, or persecuted Christians in Nubia, when they can find them. This institution I speak of at large in the sequel. One of the last princes of the house of Medicis, all patrons of learning, proposed to furnish them with a compleat observatory, with the most perfect and expensive instruments; but theyrefused
