The Prince of Wales Visit to Egypt: Suez - from a drawing by Frank Dillon, 1862. The future King Edward VII in Africa. The city of Suez...is situated on the borders of Arabia, at the head of the Red Sea, seventy-six miles from Cairo. It was about the beginning of the sixteenth century a flourishing mart, being at once the emporium of the trade with India and the rendezvous of the numerous pilgrims who, from every part of the Turkish empire, repaired to the holy shrine of Mecca. Since that time it has greatly declined, in consequence of the diminution both of the general trade of the Red Sea and of the concourse to Mecca. It sustained, also, irreparable injury from the devastations committed by the French. Its houses are of sun-dried bricks; its streets are unpaved; and it has about a dozen mosques, a Greek church, and a custom house. Its port is two miles from the town, and the surrounding country is a complete desert, entirely deficient of water unless of the most offensive and noxious description. Frequent caravans come from Gaza, Jaff, and Jerusalem, bringing soap, oil, tobacco, and other goods. The staple import consists of coffee. Vessels bring also tea, pickled ginger, and a great quantity of tamarinds. Its population is about 2000. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.