DAMIETTA, or, as it is called by the natives, Damiat, a town of Lower Egypt, on the great eastern branch of the Nile, about six miles from its mouth (the ancient Ostium Phatniticum), and nearly 100 miles from Cairo, with which it is connected by rail. After the metropolis and Alexandria, Damietta is the largest town in Egypt, and contains a population of about 29,000, consisting for the most part of Egyptians, with a few Greeks and Syrians. The town, as a whole, is ill-built and straggling, and is only redeemed from meanness by the presence of some handsome mosques, bazaars, and public baths. The houses of the better classes are brick edifices situated on the water-edge, and furnished with terraces, on which the inmates enjoy the cool riverbreezes of the evening. The general trade of Damietta was at one time considerable, but has in great part been absorbed by Alexandria. It has still, however, a considerable coasting trade with Syria and the Levant, and forms the outlet for the rice and flax grown in the surrounding country. The lake Menzaleh yields large supplies of fish, which are dried and salted, and furnish an important article of export trade. Coffee and dates are the other articles most largely exported. Mehemet Ali established a military school in the town with accommodation for 400 pupils, as also a cotton factory and an extensive rice-mill. Damietta is a corruption of the word Thamiatis. The original town was four miles nearer the sea than the modern city, and first rose into importance on the decay of Pelusium. When it passed into the hands of the Saracens it became a place of great wealth and commerce, and was therefore frequently attacked by the crusaders. The most remarkable of these sieges lasted eighteen months, from June 1218 to November 1219; another ...