not move a step further. The rest of the party were by this time nearly out of sight, and as I I was afraid lest I should lose the road, I dismounted and ran towards them, half determined rather to walk the whole way than to have any more annoyance from camels. My animal was how-to kneel down, that we might alight, but at last ever soon caught, and brought up, proper rope was procured, I ventured once more upon its back, and in a few minutes found myself as comfortable as I could wish. We had in all 20 camels, and gave about three shillings each as the hire from Kosseir to the Nile. We pitched our tents for the night near Bier Inglis, or the English Well.

we arrived at Hammanat. Our guide had remained behind, and we could only see a woman tending a few sheep, though what they could get to eat we were unable to discover. We made several ineffectual attempts to cause our animals succeeded. We sheltered ourselves under the shade of a rock. When the other camels came up, we were told that we must proceed two hours further, to Jeyf-al-Ujul, and were by no means pleased with the intelligence, as we were already much fatigued. We passed, during the day, several caravans on their way to Kosseir with provisions. Near the rock, where we encamped, there were numerous hieroglyphics, but rude both in design and execution.

15. We set off a little earlier than usual, and passed through a plain several miles in length. We had a fine specimen of the mirage, and could scarcely persuade ourselves that there were not before us streams of water, and islands and trees. In five hours we arrived at Legatta. In the evening we walked over to an Ababdie village. The dwellings of this wretched people were made of a few mats, and were quite open on one side, but they said this was their only home.

13. We set off at sunrise, and after four hours arrived at Seid Suleyman, where we halted for a little time. The well is deep, and has been recently dug, apparently at the expense of three English gentlemen, as their names are cut upon a stone at the entrance, but the water is not good. After four hours more we arrived about sunset at Abul Zeeran. We rode at a quicker pace than the camels with the tents and provisions, and usually arrived at our station about an hour before them. The camel drivers collected the dung of their animals for fuel, which may explain a passage in Ezekiel, and take away from the seeming harshness of the command given to the 16. In three hours from Legatta we had the prophet. The country through which we passed grateful sight of verdure in the distance. The consisted of plains varying in extent from a hun- camels walked well, as our guide said they scentdred yards to two or three miles, bounded by ed the waters of the river, and a cool breeze had ranges of hills, of different forms and elevation, sprung up, which added to the delight. It was but composed principally of sandstone. In what- near noon when we arrived at Bier Amber. The ever direction the eye wandered, it was met by women brought milk, bread, and fowls for sale, a picture of complete desolation, unrelieved by a and were very importunate that we should pursingle blade of grass. In some of these plains chase. Their manners form a striking contrast to there are perhaps as many as four little stunted those of the females in Arabia. They have no trees, half covered with sand, and in perfect keep-covering for the face, but their features are coarse. ing as trees of the desert. There are marks of torrents, though rain falls only after intervals of years. The ground is hard, with stony places here and there, and as the camels are tied to each other, and follow their leader in the same path, there are from ten to twenty narrow tracks parallel to each other, worn smooth by their feet. The bones of dead camels that have perished in the road, are very frequent. Near all the passes, on the summit of the rocks, are little watch-towers, nearly all of them in ruins. We passed several large heaps of stones, that have formerly been caravanseras, but we could not learn by whom they were built. There was one at the place where we halted for the night, with many ruined apartments, and a well in the centre, now filled up. Therm. at noon 76°.

We saw the Nile from the summit of a low hill that we ascended. There could not be a greater contrast than was formed by the luxuriance before us, and the sterility we had left.

17. We rode along the skirt of the valley, and all nature seemed to be keeping one glad holiday. There were camels, horses, buffaloes, cattle, sheep, and goats, all feeding in the richest pasturage, and the air was almost alive with the many flights of birds that were darting through it in the full enjoyment of existence. We passed several villages, and in five hours arrived at Kennah, on the banks of the Nile. We did not meet with the least difficulty during the whole of our journey across the desert, and my old pack-saddle proved at last to be so comfortable, that my companions adopted it in preference to their own more 14. The thermometer was as low as 35° a lit-elegant furniture. I shall not soon forget the tle before sunrise, and we felt the cold to be extreme, as I never saw it in Ceylon at a lower range than 69°, except upon the mountains.After a hasty breakfast of biscuit and eggs we mounted our camels, and in three hours passed the well Seid, in a rocky defile. Soon afterwards we observed for the first time hieroglyphics cut in the rock, and they had so fresh an appearance that one of our party supposed they were the work of some passing traveller, who had wished to puzzle the learned; but in a little time they became too numerous for this position to be tenable. They appeared as if eaten into the rock by some chemical preparation. In three hours more

nearness of access to the throne of grace I was permitted to enjoy, in passing through some of these mighty solitudes. The passage of the desert might easily be accomplished in a little more than three days, and as the camels travel at the rate of three miles and three quarters an hour, the whole distance may be stated at 106 miles.

THE NILE.

THE Nile is called "the river," and sometimes "the sea," by the inspired penmen. In some of

the most ancient languages the word nil, signifies the silence was the cry of a distant hyæna. On blue, and it may thus have been denominated the passing a boat deeply laden with slaves, one of the Blue River. It rises in the mountains near Abys- men, who appeared to have been ill-used, appealsinia, but it is thought that the place about which ed to us most vehemently, but we could not unBruce writes with so much eloquence, is not the derstand what he said. Near Siout the wind and source of its principal branch. It was the largest stream were both in our favor, and as we flitted river known to the ancients, and flows upwards of along at a delightful rate, the objects upon shore, 1200 miles without receiving a tributary stream. as they receded from us, appeared like the moving The rise of the Nile is occasioned by the heavy scenes of an endless panorama. Soon afterwards rains that fall in Abyssinia, and commence in June: the wind changed, increasing in violence, the air it reaches the maximum about the time of the became darkened by the clouds of sand, and long autumnal equinox, and then gradually decreases before the sun had sunk below the horizon, the until April, from which time it remains at nearly atmosphere assumed an appearance like that the same level until again renovated by the Ethio- which the imagination forms over the dark waters pic floods. The color of the waters varies at of the Dead Sea. It was no small punishment different seasons of the year. In Upper Egypt threatened against the Israelites that the rain of the average rise is about 35 feet, but at Cairo not the land should be powder and dust, and not many more than 24 feet, and near the sea still less. In sorer trials can be conceived than that inflicted those years in which the waters do not rise to a upon the Egyptians, when the dust became lice certain elevation, a famine is the necessary con- throughout all the land. Below Manfaloot the sequence. It is difficult to make a comparison of river passes under a range of hills, elevated and the present rise with the ancient, from the differ-precipitous, and as we sailed slowly by them, the ence of the standard measures in the two periods, and it has always been the policy of the government to deceive the people in the accounts that have been officially published. The bed of the river has risen considerably, from the deposit it is constantly receiving, or the old monuments and temples would be admirable criterions by which to decide the matter: we can tell how much higher the water rises than it did in the ancient times, but what part of the rise is formed by deposit, and what by water, we are unable to ascertain. The water is clear, and its taste excellent, after it has been allowed to settle, and it is compared by the Mussulmans to the well of Paradise. The stream is not rapid, even when the water is at the greatest elevation, compared with the rivers of India. The ancients speak of seven principal mouths, but there are now only two, and these are constantly changing their position. The division of the waters takes place a little below Cairo, and the expanse of land between the streams was compared by the ancients to the figure of the Greek delta ▲, but by the moderns, more properly, to that of a pear. The mud brought down by the stream is continually adding to the extent of the Delta, and is found as far as 24 leagues out at

sea.

different birds by which they are inhabited came forth and flew at a little distance from their clefts, round and round, as if on sentry, until they deemed that we intruders were too far distant to injure them. Those more bold than the rest dashed down to the water, almost close to the oars, to pick up little substances floating down the stream. Upon a bank formed by the falling of the earth from above, we found several crocodiles basking in the sun, though it is said they are never seen below Girge. They differ from the Indian alligators, which I was accustomed to see almost daily, the tail being more stunted, and not so round. We saw two eagles upon a shoal near the same place, perhaps male and female, as one of them was much larger than the other, with its legs feathered. They were magnificent creatures. Several birds of a small size were near them, probably waiting to partake of the remains when their majesties had finished their repast. A party of Algerines at a village where we purchased some bread asked us to give them a passage to Cairo in our boat, and when we refused they threatened to shoot us, but we knew they would not dare to put their threats into execution. Our canja frequently struck upon sand-banks; sometimes they were above water, and when so, were in general covered with birds, some kinds of which I often saw stand in rows, and in one particular position, perhaps upon one leg, or with the head under the wing, with as much formality as the hieroglyphics upon the walls of the temples.

We embarked for Thebes at Kennah in a canja, with two immense lateen sails, striped blue. It had two apartments and a bath, and was rowed by six men, but rather required twelve men from its size. It had been sunk some time under water before we entered it, to free it from vermin. From The valley of the Nile, which includes nearly Thebes we proceeded to Grand Cairo, visiting all the whole of cultivated Egypt, is in few instances the principal antiquities by the way, and our voy- more than 20 miles broad, will in general average age occupied nine days. Near Denderah the less than one-half of that extent, and in many wind blew against us with such strength, that the places the sands or mountains approach close to boatmen were unable to keep the prow of the the banks. The produce is entirely from irrigacanja to windward, so they put down their oars, tion, and where this ends verdure ends, and the and allowed her to float with the stream. desert in all its sterility commences. The vilThe mountains in some places run parallel with lages are numerous, and by continued waste are a the river, at a few miles distance, but near Girge little more elevated than the surrounding plain. they come close to the water, and seem as if reel- They are usually surrounded by a mud wall. The ing in drunkenness, from the singular confusion houses are built of mud bricks, and many of them manifested in the dip of their strata. The even-have small turrets, with sticks at the outside, in ing we were off Ekmim was one of the stillest I which pigeons are reared, principally to procure ever remember, and the only sound that disturbed their dung for manure. The whole of the valley

not move a step further. The rest of the party we arrived at Hammanat. Our guide had rewere by this time nearly out of sight, and as I mained behind, and we could only see a woman was afraid lest I should lose the road, I dismount-tending a few sheep, though what they could get ed and ran towards them, half determined rather to eat we were unable to discover. We made to walk the whole way than to have any more several ineffectual attempts to cause our animals annoyance from camels. My animal was how-to kneel down, that we might alight, but at last ever soon caught, and brought up, proper rope succeeded. We sheltered ourselves under the was procured, I ventured once more upon its back, shade of a rock. When the other camels came and in a few minutes found myself as comfortable up, we were told that we must proceed two hours as I could wish. We had in all 20 camels, and further, to Jeyf-al-Ujul, and were by no means gave about three shillings each as the hire from pleased with the intelligence, as we were already Kosseir to the Nile. We pitched our tents for much fatigued. We passed, during the day, the night near Bier Inglis, or the English Well. several caravans on their way to Kosseir with provisions. Near the rock, where we encamped, there were numerous hieroglyphics, but rude both in design and execution.

the most ancient languages the word nil, signifies
blue, and it may thus have been denominated the
Blue River. It rises in the mountains near Abys-
sinia, but it is thought that the place about which
Bruce writes with so much eloquence, is not the
source of its principal branch. It was the largest
river known to the ancients, and flows upwards of
1200 miles without receiving a tributary stream.
The rise of the Nile is occasioned by the heavy
rains that fall in Abyssinia, and commence in June:
it reaches the maximum about the time of the
autumnal equinox, and then gradually decreases
until April, from which time it remains at nearly
the same level until again renovated by the Ethio-
pic floods.
The color of the waters varies at
different seasons of the year. In Upper Egypt
the average rise is about 35 feet, but at Cairo not
more than 24 feet, and near the sea still less. In
those years in which the waters do not rise to a
certain elevation, a famine is the necessary con-
sequence. It is difficult to make a comparison of
the present rise with the ancient, from the differ-
ence of the standard measures in the two periods,
and it has always been the policy of the govern-
ment to deceive the people in the accounts that
have been officially published. The bed of the
river has risen considerably, from the deposit it is
constantly receiving, or the old monuments and
temples would be admirable criterions by which
to decide the matter: we can tell how much
higher the water rises than it did in the ancient
times, but what part of the rise is formed by de-
posit, and what by water, we are unable to ascer-
tain. The water is clear, and its taste excellent,
after it has been allowed to settle, and it is com-
pared by the Mussulmans to the well of Paradise.
The stream is not rapid, even when the water is
at the greatest elevation, compared with the rivers
of India. The ancients speak of seven principal
mouths, but there are now only two, and these
are constantly changing their position. The divi-
sion of the waters takes place a little below Cairo,
and the expanse of land between the streams was
compared by the ancients to the figure of the
Greek delta A, but by the moderns, more properly,
to that of a pear. The mud brought down by the
stream is continually adding to the extent of the
Delta, and is found as far as 24 leagues out at

sea.

the silence was the cry of a distant hyæna. On passing a boat deeply laden with slaves, one of the men, who appeared to have been ill-used, appealed to us most vehemently, but we could not understand what he said. Near Siout the wind and stream were both in our favor, and as we flitted along at a delightful rate, the objects upon shore, as they receded from us, appeared like the moving scenes of an endless panorama. Soon afterwards the wind changed, increasing in violence, the air became darkened by the clouds of sand, and long before the sun had sunk below the horizon, the atmosphere assumed an appearance like that which the imagination forms over the dark waters of the Dead Sea. It was no small punishment threatened against the Israelites that the rain of the land should be powder and dust, and not many sorer trials can be conceived than that inflicted upon the Egyptians, when the dust became lice throughout all the land. Below Manfaloot the river passes under a range of hills, elevated and precipitous, and as we sailed slowly by them, the different birds by which they are inhabited came forth and flew at a little distance from their clefts, round and round, as if on sentry, until they deemed that we intruders were too far distant to injure them. Those more bold than the rest dashed down to the water, almost close to the oars, to pick up little substances floating down the stream. Upon a bank formed by the falling of the earth from above, we found several crocodiles basking in the sun, though it is said they are never seen below Girge. They differ from the Indian alligators, which I was accustomed to see almost daily, the tail being more stunted, and not so round. We saw two eagles upon a shoal near the same place, perhaps male and female, as one of them was much larger than the other, with its legs feathered. They were magnificent creatures. Several birds of a small size were near them, probably waiting to partake of the remains when their majesties had finished their repast. A party of Algerines at a village where we purchased some bread asked us to give them a passage to Cairo in our boat, and when we refused they threatened to shoot us, but we knew they would not dare to put their threats into execution. Our canja frequently struck upon sand-banks; sometimes they were above water, and when so, were in general covered with birds, some kinds of which I often saw stand in rows, and in one particular position, perhaps upon one leg, or with the head under the wing, with as much formality as the hieroglyphics upon the walls of the temples.

We embarked for Thebes at Kennah in a canja, with two immense lateen sails, striped blue. It had two apartments and a bath, and was rowed by six men, but rather required twelve men from its size. It had been sunk some time under water before we entered it, to free it from vermin. From The valley of the Nile, which includes nearly Thebes we proceeded to Grand Cairo, visiting all the whole of cultivated Egypt, is in few instances the principal antiquities by the way, and our voy- more than 20 miles broad, will in general average age occupied nine days. Near Denderah the less than one-half of that extent, and in many wind blew against us with such strength, that the places the sands or mountains approach close to boatmen were unable to keep the prow of the the banks. The produce is entirely from irrigacanja to windward, so they put down their oars, tion, and where this ends verdure ends, and the and allowed her to float with the stream. desert in all its sterility commences. The vilThe mountains in some places run parallel with lages are numerous, and by continued waste are a the river, at a few miles distance, but near Girge little more elevated than the surrounding plain. they come close to the water, and seem as if reel- They are usually surrounded by a mud wall. The ing in drunkenness, from the singular confusion houses are built of mud bricks, and many of them manifested in the dip of their strata. The even-have small turrets, with sticks at the outside, in ing we were off Ekmim was one of the stillest I which pigeons are reared, principally to procure ever remember, and the only sound that disturbed their dung for manure. The whole of the valley

them could never be satisfied with the manifestation of the resources it could command. The interior of the temple is a forest of columns. There are two obelisks, each made of a single block of granite, upwards of seventy feet high. The hieroglyphics are nearly as perfect as when first cut. Further on, we can only glance for a moment at the different apartments and figures that present themselves. Upon one of the walls are cut the figures of the gifts that were presented to the temple, with an account of the number and value of each. Some of the vessels are not improbably of the very same shape and description as the chargers, bowls, and spoons, presented unto the Lord by the princes of Israel, at the dedication of the tabernacle in the wilderness. The next temple is in better preservation. The ceiling is painted an azure blue, studded with stars. The figure of an old saint, painted upon one of the columns, greeted us at our entrance; and I looked round with no common emotion, as it is evident that this erection was used in former times as a place of Christian worship. The worshippers, "where are they?" Echo answers not with an uncertain "where?" Those who worshipped in sincerity are, no doubt, with the throng in a more magnificent temple, where there is no need of the setting sun to give it beauty, neither of the moon to shine in it, "for the Lord is with them an everlasting light." The names of several bishops are written upon one of the pillars, in Greek; and this rude scrawl, it has been conjectured, is the record of some ecclesiastical council held in the temple. Still further on, there are many other statues, columns, walls, apartments, and temples; but after seeing so much, the eye was for once satisfied, and we were not sorry to find ourselves at the extremity of the sacred enclosure. The whole length is said to be nearly two thousand feet. There is a character about these ruins that belongs to no other I saw in Egypt. There are no native habitations near them, and but few remains of those little mud dwellings with which the men of later times have been contented. They are alone in their simplicity, and the broken fragments around all belong to their own former grandeur. I could scarcely bring myself to believe that their age is to be numbered by thousands of years. They appear as if the work of yesterday. Looking at the more perfect parts, I could fancy that the workmen were only absent on some holiday occasion; and, looking at the more ruinous, I could suppose that an earth-cuing their perishing companions. The style in quake, the tremulous motion of which was only now subsiding, had just passed in its fury as the messenger of God, and hurled from their foundations these impious structures.

appears as if it had received a wrench from the hand of some mighty destroyer, who had strength at once to shake it through every stone. On the western side of it are represented the stirring scenes of a battle in the usual spirited style, with a walled town and all the horrors of a siege. Between this and the temple are the remains of a statue, from which the edifice derives its name, measuring upwards of twenty feet across the chest, and all the other parts in proportion. There are statues composed of separate stones joined to the columns in the same space, that have suffered from the hand of man, in common with the other parts of the fabric. Upon the walls of the temple there are other battle scenes. It consists of several apartments, and is much larger than that at Gornou. The whole is about 600 feet long, 200 feet broad, and contains upwards of 150 columns. It was from this place that the statue was taken now in the British Museum, and improperly called the Younger Memnon.

The principal temples on the western side of the river are those of Gornou, Northern and Southern Dair, the Memnonium and Medinet Abou.

The temple at Gornou, not far from the river, is remarkable for its simplicity, and were it not for the sacred character of the hieroglyphics with which it is covered, might be supposed to have been a grand hall used by the monarch on state occasions. It has seven perfect columns in front, and one broken. In the interior there are three columns on each side, and the roof is nearly perfect. There are several other apartments, some of them nearly filled with rubbish.

The propylon of the Memnonium is in ruins, and

The temple of Medinet Abou, about a quarter of a mile distant, is in better preservation. It is built upon a plan somewhat different to that which is usually followed. The columns at the western end are only excelled by those at Karnac, and the court must have been a delightful place of retirement for the priests in the days of its magnificence. The hieroglyphics are cut very deep into the wall, and some of the colors are as bright and fresh as if just laid on by the painter. In all the other temples I visited, the figures have been mutilated by the iconoclasts: in this temple there are whole groups of figures quite perfect. They appear to owe their preservation to the modern buildings by which they have been covered, and which were probably Roman, as those still near them are, from their form, supposed to be of that age. This would prove, if the position be correct, that the mutilations are not the work of Cambyses, as is generally imagined, but either of the early Christians or the Mahomedans. It has been a task of incredible difficulty to deface so many thousands of idolatrous emblems, and the zeal of the parties cannot but be admired, whatever a mere love of art may say of their task. On the northern exterior wall is represented another battle scene, in which the antagonists of the larger figure are upon the water in boats. Some are swimming for their lives, some falling overboard, and others are employed in res

which these sculptures are designed much resembles that of the prints in the common historical works published about 200 years ago; but they are worthy of examination, as the garments, weapons, and so forth, are no doubt exact representations of those used at the date of the erection of the temples. On the same side are several figures of lions.

Not far distant is the humble chapel of a few families of Coptic Christians. The temples of Dair are of inferior interest. There are many other remains of walls, statues, and apartments, in different parts; but it is an exaggeration of travellers, that the whole plain is covered with ruins from one chain of mountains to the other.

The objects which almost surpass all others in interest are the two statues in the centre of the plain. They are sitting upon a kind of throne,