There was a momentary expression of pain in his face, as if he shrank from the subject, at least so I fancied, but it passed away in an instant, and he answered "Indeed," said Everard dryly, "what has he done?" in his former enigmatical tone, in which neither Edith "Done!" reiterated his friend, half puzzled, half in-nor I were able to separate the jest from the earnest, dignant. "I don't know what you mean, Everard. the assumption from the reality: "Oh! yes, often! What whim now is it, that induces you to run down It is a very pretty thing to play with when the sun Lord Vaughan?" shines."

io!

You know the proverb, doubtless. Kinnaird, isn't it time for us to be moving?"

"I'll follow you," replied Frank, looking up; "I must finish this letter."

Captain Everard bowed and took his leave.

they had been substantially constructed, they could not have mouldered into dust from the effect of time and weather; for where man has not destroyed, the temples remain almost as perfect as when first erected. It is, therefore, reasonable to conclude that the ordinary habitations of the Thebans were little better than the miserable dwellings of the modern Egyptians. Probably the wealth and power of the country were entirely devoted to the services of a false religion. The priests monopolized all the learning of the times, and illustrated in a striking manner, that knowledge is power. If this theory be correct, we can in some measure account for the extreme magnificence and grandeur of these wonderful remains; but if, on the other hand, we reflect that they were erected at a time when the world the last two thousand years nothing has been produced may be said to have been in its infancy, and that during which can rival the temple of Karnac in magnitude or magnificence, our wonder remains undiminished. Machinery must have existed of which we have no record or conception, or how could masses of stone columns sixty or seventy feet high? There must, too, weighing a hundred tons be raised to the top of have been great knowledge of chemistry, for the colours employed in the decoration of the interior are still as bright as ever. Great skill in tempering metal must have been acquired, for the hard granite, and much harder porphyry, are minutely sculptured, while columns, ceilings and walls, are covered with a boundless profusion of bas-reliefs, all cut with extreme accuracy. The temples of Upper Egypt, and the wondrous pyra

THE BOAT AND THE CARAVAN, A FAMILY TOUR THROUGH EGYPT AND SYRIA.2 THE interest of this work is considerably impaired by the attempt, not very skilfully managed, to overlay with a slight coating of fiction a simple and straightforward narrative, which bears the strongest internal evidence of being told, in all other respects, with a scrupulous adherence to truth. An English gentleman in search of health and relaxation, after a life busily spent in commercial pursuits, sets off in company with his wife and child, whether son or daughter we are left in doubt, on a tour through part of Egypt and Syria. But, instead of telling the story of his travels plainly in his own person, he, with the very extraordinary idea of giving "a little variety to the narrative," assumes a fictitious name, speaks of himself in the third person, and adds to his family a supernumerary son or daughter and a female attendant; thus most gratuitously throwing suspicion upon one of the greatest merits of his book, its truth, without in the slightest degree imparting to it the liveliness, or permitting to himself the freedom, of well-mids of Sakkara and Ghizeh, alike show how vain a managed fiction.

In other respects the work deserves to be spoken of with much praise. The traveller, whoever he is, makes no attempt to astonish his readers by the exhibition of much antiquarian lore; indeed, by addressing his book chiefly to the young, he in a great measure precludes himself from doing so, and the reflections, conceived in the best possible spirit, are sometimes, it must be admitted, rather studiously simplified to the level of infantile understandings. Still he has observed carefully, and described in a very pleasing style, and, we doubt not, with much accuracy, the most striking objects which he met with, and the incidents he encountered on a track not often ventured upon by English ladies and children, and not so frequently traversed by any as to make it impossible to throw both novelty and interest into the account of a journey over it.

As a specimen, and by no means the best, of our author's style, we extract a part of his description of the

ruins of Thebes.

"The origin of Thebes is lost in the obscurity of extreme antiquity, and but little is known of its early history. It is supposed to have been founded by the mighty conqueror Sesostris, who is believed to have flourished previous to the captivity of the patriarch Joseph in Egypt. The recent discovery of a method by which hieroglyphics can be deciphered has already tended to throw much light on the subject; but probably many years will elapse before the chronology of the history of the country will be established, if it be ever clearly settled. But few centuries had passed after the universal deluge before it became a powerful empire, and far in advance of the rest of the world in arts and sciences. The early Greeks acquired most of their knowledge from the Egyptians, and it is supposed that Sesostris was the ruler over the greater part of Asia. It is remarkable, that while so many of the temples of Thebes remain in a tolerable perfect condition, almost all traces are lost of other less important buildings. If

(1) "God protect me from the man I trust! I will protect myself

from him whom I rust not!"

(2) London: Bogue, Fleet Street. 1847.

thing is human ambition. The mighty sovereigns who projected them very probably did not live to see their completion, and the very names of these immortal heroes are forgotten.

stood within a hundred yards of their boat. A number "The Daltons first visited the Temple of Luxor, which of Arabs had offered themselves as guides; it was evident that they could be of no service, and as Daireh said, they frequently knew much less of what they offered to show than those they wished to conduct through the ruins; but as it was not likely that they would give up the hope of being employed, one was chosen "pro forma," and the rest informed they would not be required. At least half a dozen, however, added themselves to the party, in hopes of coming in for some share of the backsheesh.

"On each side of the grand entrance stood, till very lately, an obelisk of granite, partly buried in the sand, but still rising to a height of sixty feet. One of them was removed by the French a few years ago, and is now placed in the Place de la Concorde, at Paris. It is calculated to weigh five hundred thousand pounds, is seventy-six feet high, and formed out of one block of rose-coloured granite. The cost of its removal from its ancient site, and its erection in its position, was immense. A canal was dug from the river to its base, and it was lowered at once into the vessel which carried it down the Nile. The French engineers pride themselves upon the skill and science employed in transferring the mighty mass to their beloved Paris, but this obelisk is less than two thirds the size of one which stands before the church of St. John Lateran, in Rome. There are three others in the "eternal city" which are of equal magnitude, and seven more of smaller dimensions, all brought from Egypt by the old Romans. The Pasha offered the obelisk still standing at Luxor to the English Government, which was not willing to incur the heavy expense of its removal.

Behind the obelisk, and close to the Propylon are two gigantic figures in red granite, sadly mutilated, and more than half buried in the sand. Twenty feet of the upper part of each are yet above the surface. The than sixty high. It is covered with sculpture, and, as Propylon is nearly two hundred feet wide, and more at Edfon, a gigantic warrior is represented engaged in

the slaughter of his enemies. On one side, he stands in a car drawn by two spirited horses, who are trampling down the conquered foe, while he is about to discharge his bow among their ranks. In the other, the enemy is represented in full flight, and in the utmost confusion, while he stands alone amidst a heap of slain.

"The next day was devoted to the Valley of Tombs, one of the most interesting and remarkable spots in Egypt. A hot ride of more than a hour brought our travellers to the mountains which enclose it; nothing could exceed the dreariness of the road on which they now entered. High barren rocks shut them in on every side. Their path lay through a wilderness of sand, scattered with hugh fragments of stone, which had rolled down from above. Scarcely a blade of vegetation was visible, and the sun's beams, pouring down on their heads and reflected by the hills, were hardly bearable. The heat of that valley in the summer must be past endurance. Having proceeded for some distance, they reached a still more confined space, and arrived at the spot where the kings and counsellors of the earth built desolate places for themselves.' The tombs have been excavated principally on the right side of the valley, and after receiving their tenants, every effort was made to cover the entrances, and it would be easy again to cover up the small unadorned portals with loose earth and stones. Long before the Christian era, most of them had been broken into by the Conquerors of Egypt, and their royal tenants disturbed for the sake of the treasures which were buried with them. They now stand open, and in every instance have been much defaced by the unscrupulous antiquary and wanton Arab.

"The first tomb visited by the Daltons was that discovered by Belzoni, nearly thirty years ago. Entering the narrow and unostentatious portal they passed a long gallery which slopes downwards. The rock in which it was excavated is hard, and of a remarkably close grained stone, resembling that used in lithography. The sides are covered with hieroglyphies in small characters, and cut with beautiful precision. It led into a large hall similarly ornamented. They then descended a staircase, and passing through a long corridor, entered into a chamber of considerable magnitude, which from the splendour of the embellishments, has been called the Hall of Beauty. Where they have not been defaced, the figures are quite perfect, and the colouring remarkably bright and fresh. Beyond it, our travellers had to pass along another corridor, and they finally arrived at the largest hall, where Belzoni found the sarcophagus which once contained the body of the Pharoah for whom this magnificent resting-place was constructed. He had every reason to hope that it still remained undisturbed, for he had been stopped in his progress by finding the end of one of the corridors blocked up and ornamented like the sides, so as to convey the impression that the excavation ended there. But having made his way through the obstruction and entered the last hall, the sarcophagus was discovered empty, with the lid lying by it, broken in two. A hole in the floor showed that it had been entered by a subterraneous passage made in an opposite direction from the entrance, but the invaders had contented themselves with removing the body and any valuables deposited with it.

"Some of the larger chambers were supported by square pillars, left standing when the excavations were made: they also were covered with sculpture. but being more easy of access than the walls, they have suffered more. "Large portions have been cut away, and two or three were lying in fragments, left there, the guide said, by Leipsins, after an ineffectual attempt to remove them. When Belzoni entered this magnificent tomb, he found it in as perfect a state as when first constructed; now there is scarcely a square foot of basrelief which is not more or less defaced. The smoke of the torches and candles necessarily used by visitors is

also obscuring the bright colours and blackening the roof. It is really grievous that a monument of such surpassing interest, that might have been kept in good order for centuries to come, should be so quickly and shamefully mutilated.

"The Daltons entered several other tombs; one is even greater in extent than that called after Belzoni, but not so richly embellished; others are nearly choked up at the entrance. Most of them contain an enormous sarcophagus, without ornament or inscription, and cut out of a block of granite. The ponderous lid lies by its side, generally broken into two or three pieces. The passage leading to the chamber where they are deposited, is just large enough for the sarcophagus to go through: it was probably lowered on rollers, and it would be difficult to force them up the inclined plane without widening the space.

"The beautiful alabaster sarcophagus which Belzoni managed to take out from the great tomb without injury, was sent to England. It is of singular beauty, and nearly transparent, although about three inches thick. He sold it to the late Sir John Soane, for 3000l., and it now forms the chief ornament of his museum. Both the inside and the outside are covered with sculpture, minutely and admirably executed, containing several hundred figures. The subject represents the funeral obsequies of the deceased, and many captives are introduced in the procession; among them the Jews are distinguished by their physiognomy, and serve to confirm the opinion of Dr. Young, who deciphered the hieroghyphics, that it once contained the body of Pharaoh Necho, who invaded Judea in the reign of Josiah." From the number of halls in this and some other of the tombs, and their elaborate ornaments, it does not seem improbable that part of them at least were designed to be used as banqueting rooms in celebrating the feasts of the dead.3

"The travellers, having first taken lunch in one of the tombs, and rested awhile after the labour of exploring so many, returned into the plain, and visited the Temple at Gournou, which bears the name of Memnonium. Near it lie the gigantic fragments of the largest statue in the world. It must have been an arduous task to destroy it. They cover a large space of ground; and the surface of the different parts of the body is but little injured. It is formed of red granite, of so hard a nature that portions are sent to Cairo to be used in cutting glass. The figure was originally sixty feet high, and weighed two million pounds is three feet long, and the shoulders twenty-two feet across. From thence our travellers proceeded to a very singular subterraneous Temple, excavated out of the rock. It is not large, and is decorated in a somewhat similar style to the others; but there is reason to believe that it is more ancient than those of Karnae or Luxor. The façade, pillars, and some colossal figures are all cut out of the live rock.

The ear

"Near it were some very extensive catacombs, into which the party entered. The first chamber is large; but the stench arising from a countless number of bats which have taken up their abode in these tombs was so great, that no one but Mr. Dalton was inclined to proceed further. Provided with lighted candles, he and Dairch followed the guide, who led them through a long passage, from which others branched off to the right and left. The foul birds of night, disturbed by the intruders, flew about in all directions, sometimes dashing into their faces, and at others putting out their lights. Mr. l'alton proceeded for several hundred yards, through various passages, and then descending a flight of steps, traversed an equal number of galleries running underneath the others. It was a perfect

(1) Sir John Soane left his house in Lincoln's-inn-fields, with all its contents, to the country, and the public are admitted gratuitously during the month of May only, each year. Why it is not always accessible, we do not know. It is well worthy of a visit. (2) 2 Chron. xxxv. 20, 22. (3) Psalm cvi. 28.