The Land of the Monuments. Notes of Egyptian travel. With introduction by the Rev. W. Wright, D.D. With map and ... illustrations

Front matter

[Frontispiece {seep. 3541. THE TOMB OF MENEPTAH OR MER-EN-PTAH, THE PHARAOH OF EXODUS. THE LAND OF THE MONUMENTS XOTES OF EGYPTIAN TRAVEL BY JOSEPH POLLARD «■ — — -j Member of the Council of the Society of Bipfrcal Archæology WITH rXTRODUCTWX BY THE REV. W. WRIGHT, D.D. WITH MAP AND FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON HODDER AND STOUGHTON 27, PATERNOSTER ROW THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE DEDICATED TO MY DEAR AND VALUED FRIEND, THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP MITCHINSON, D.D., D.C.L., IN MEMORY OF THE CLOSE FRIENDSHIP AND HAPPY ASSOCIATIONS OF THE PAST THIRTY YEARS.

Introduction

THE privilege of association with Mr. Pollard in studies bearing on the Bible has made me familiar with the growth, extent, and thoroughness of his Egyptian researches, and constitutes my chief qualification for writing this Introduction. He has for many years employed the comparative leisure of a country gentleman in mastering the literature of the monuments ; he has constructed an elaborate dictionary of the hieroglyphics for his own use ; and his regular attendance at meetings of learned societies, and friendly intercourse with the members, has given him full opportunity of knowing all that is known of the latest discoveries. His journey to Egypt was undertaken after thorough preparation. He was accompanied by an artist familiar with the East and its wealth of colour ; and the illustrations that accompany the book are from the portfolio of one of his daughters.

The book produced under such favourable circum stances is one that has been long looked for, and it will be welcomed by many. It is written in good, simple English, with little show of learning, and with an absence of archæological jargon. An ordinary reader who knows nothing of Egypt will read it Isl v

INTRODUCTION.

VI through as a revelation, without stumbling, and with out skipping. And even those who have laboured through the works of specialists will be grateful for this lucid summary in outline of all that is known. None of the great problems are evaded, but they are dealt with in the calm and dispassionate manner of a scholar who has no theory to advocate, and whose logic of cumulative facts carries conviction. The author knew what to look for and where to find it, and he describes what he saw ; and in his pages, temples and palaces, obelisks, sphinxes, tombs and statues, and the marvellous objects and associa tions that make the Nile valley an enchanted ground, are seen in the rich light of Oriental colours. The eager explorer will find this book a pleasant guide among the monuments ; it will help the artist in search of leading features in the landscape ; and the devout student will be thankful for the light that shines from its pages on many a dark passage in the Bible.

To all who are on the look-out for a compre hensive and readable book on Egypt I recommend this volume, in the full confidence that it will com mend itself to the reader. W. WRIGHT.

Preface

' I serial publication of papers entitled, " Notes -*- of a Visit to Egypt," has led to numerous and repeated requests that an extended account should be published, including the voyage up the Nile to Wady Halsah and the Second Cataract, with notices of the monuments of Ancient Egypt. The present volume has, therefore, been compiled, and is offered with the earnest hope that "The Land of the Monu ments " may meet with the same kind approval which was accorded to the " Notes of a Visit to Egypt." A few illustrations have been introduced from original sketches taken from time to time during the voyage by my daughter. I have no knowledge of Arabic as a language, and wherever Arabic words occur they are rendered phonetically. I desire to express my thanks to Dr. W. Wright for writing the introduction to this volume ; to Dr. W. Robertson Nicoll, Rev. G. Wilson, Mr. R.

PREFACE.

VIII J. A. Morrison, Mr. R. Hamilton Lang, and Mr. H. A. Harper, for general information, literary assist ance, revising MSS., &c. ; to Sir P. le Page Renouf, Dr. W. M. Flinders Petrie, and Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge for scientific information most kindly and courteously imparted at various times. J. POLLARD Hich Down, 1S96. PAGE t 15 34 45 CONTENTS

Chapter I

The Voyage — Gibraltar — Naples — Straits of Messina — Scylla and Charybdis — Port Said — Suez Canal — Kantarah " The Way of the Philistines " — Tell-el-Defenneh — Daphnæ or Tahpanes — The " Field of* Zoan " — El-Gisr — Lake Timsah — Site of the Exodus . . .** -~.

Chapter II

Ismailia — The monuments from Tell-el-Maskhutah — The discovery of Pithom — The treasure cities of Pharaoh — Bricks made by the Israelites — The Pharaohs of the Oppression and of the Exodus — The railroad to Cairo — The Desert — ■ Tell-el-Khebir — The Land of Goshen — Oriental customs and Bible illustrations — Bubastis — Tell-el-Yahoudeh — Site of the Jewish Temple in Egypt — Approach to Cairo

Chapter III

Cairo — " Shepheard's Hotel " — The Syce or " herald " — Water-carriers — The " bottle " of Scripture— The name of Cairo — Masr-el-Kahira — Strong position of the city — The seven streams of the Delta — Fulfilment of prophecy — Karkar — Babylon — Coptic convent and service — Tradition — Fostat — The birthplace of Moses ?.....

Chapter IV

Cairo — Extent of the city — Walls — Gates — Streets — The Muskee — Arab funerals — Cemeteries — " The Trial of the Grave " — Feeding the poor near the tomb of the late Khedive Tewfik Pasha ........ CONTENTS X PAGE 55 "4 74 88 103 122

Chapter V

Cairo— The Bazaars— Citadel— Joseph's Well— Views from the ramparts — Tombs of the Mamelukes — Rubbish heaps — — Massacre of the Mamelukes by Mehemet Ali

Chapter VI

Cairo — Mosque of Mehemet Ali — Mosque — Garni — Styles of architecture of mosques — Arab, Mameluke, Osmanli — The Muristan — Museum of Arab antiquities

Chapter VII

Abbassiyeh — Overland route to India — Palace of Kubeh — Matarieh — Sacred sycamore-fig tree — The tradition — Balm of Gilead — An ostrich farm — On, An, Heliopolis — The Obelisk — University — Temple of the Sun — Mnevis Bulls

Chapter VIII

Museum of Egyptian antiquities — Mariette Bey — The earliest statues — Ra Hotep and the Princess Nefert — Painting of geese — Wood-carving — The Soul represented revisiting the Body — Jewellery — Flowers — Hall of the Royal Mummies — The discovery at Deir-el-Bahari — Thothmes III. — Rameses HI.— "The Hornet"— Rameses II. . . . .

Chapter IX

The Pyramids of Ghizeh — Mena House — Mastabas and tombs — The Great Pyramid — The Second — The Third — Its interior — The six small Pyramids — The Zodiacal Light — The Sphinx — The Temple of the Sphinx — Moonlight and sunrise on the Pyramids — The geology and botany of the plateau — A Bedouin encampment

Chapter X

The Nile — Herodotus — Speke — The Victoria Nyanza — Baker — The White Nile — Khartoum — The Albert Nyanza— Bruce — The Blue Nile— The Nile Valley— The god Hapi— The inundation — Gradual elevation of the land — " The Night of Weeping of the Great Goddess " . CONTENTS XI

Chapter XI. Page

The voyage up the Nile — Bedresheyn — Memphis — Mena, the first King of Egypt — The Apis bull— Temple of Ptah — Statues of Rameses II. (the Great) — Raising the buried Colossus — Records of Rameses the Great — Cruel treatment of the prisoners of war . 133

Chapter XII

Pyramids of Sakkarah — Ptah Socharis Osiris— Mummies, processes of embalmment — The Step Pyramid — Mariette Bey's house — Strabo's account of the Serapeum — Mariette's discovery — Khamuas — Translation of the tablet of an Apis bull — The order of Monks of the Serapeum . . . 145

Chapter XIII

Tomb of Ti — The Ka, or false door — Statues — Serdab — Interesting series of illusb-ations — The Pyramid of Unas — Interior — Inscriptions and important texts — Mitraheny '57

Chapter XIV

The Pyramid region — Dashoor — Medum — Professor Petrie's discoveries in the Fayoom — Portraits of mummies painted on panel — Occupations of the Fellahin — Women with water-jars — Sandbanks — Bird-life — Ghebel-el-Tur — Migration of birds — Pigeons — Dovecotes 168

Chapter XV

Beni-Hasan — Ruins — Tombs — Work of the Egypt Exploration Fund — Grand view — Roda — Tell-el-Amarna — Ghebcl- Abou-Feda — Vultures — Assiout — Beautiful situation — " The house-top " — Parapets — Coptic tradition 178

Chapter XIX

Temple of Luxor — Majestic columns — Statues of Rameses the Great — Princess Nefert-ari — " Pharaoh's daughter " — Sculptures — Procession represented entering this temple — Records of Rameses the Great — Ghawazee performance — Snakes — Asp — Uræus the emblem of royalty

Chapter XX

Erment an ancient sacred city — The Vulture — Esneh — Grand capitals of columns — Khnoum, the ram-headed divinity — Intelligent scholars — El-Kab — Interesting inscriptions of the time of Joseph — Edfou — Imposing appearance of the Temple of Horus — The Hawk divinity — Horus the name and emblem of royalty — Shrine of grey granite in which the living hawk was kept — Hawk mummies — Important astronomical inscriptions — Visit to the temple by moonlight

Chapter XXI

The great quarries and inscriptions of Silsilis — Euphorbias — Sacred crocolile of Kom-Ombos — Sculptures in the temple — Assouan, the ancient Syene — Tropic of Cancer — Juvenal — Island of Abu or Elephantine — The Isle of Flowers — The tombs in the Western Hills — Cemetery* — Quarries — Obelisk — Romantic scenery — Mahatta . . . . CONTENTS XIII PAGE 25» 269 280 296 306 319

Chapter XXII

Nubia — Philæ — The Land of Cush, or Ethiopia — Beautiful scenery at Bab-el-Kalabshe — Stars — Nubian temples — Dakkeh — Chameleons ......

Chapter XXIII

Korosko— Amada, its temple and sculptures — Derr — Date palms — Cotton — Castor-oil plants — Crocodiles — Toski — Abou-Simbel — Sunrise in the Great Temple — Fareg — Rafts of bulrushes .......

Chapter XXIV

Wady Halsah — Second Cataract — " Down the Nile " — Abou- Simbel — Its inscriptions, records, sculptures, and paintings — The battle at Kadesh — The Carian inscription — View from the summit — The constellation of the Southern Cross — Early morning in the Great Temple

Chapter XXVIII

The Shrine of Amen-Ra — Hymn of adoration to the god — Illustrations of natural history sculptured during the reign of Thothmes III. — Records of Shishak's invasion of CONTENTS XIV PAGE 329 344 361 377 393 Southern Palestine — Temple of Mut — Coptic Convent near the Eastern Desert — A living Scarabeus — Ruins of Medainot — Karnak ......

Chapter XXIX

Western Thebes — Its great necropolis — Goorneh — Valley of the Tombs of the Kings — Bab-el-Moluk — The tombs of Seti I., Rameses IV., Rameses IX., Meneptah, and of Rameses III., the " Harper's Tomb " .....

Chapter XXX

The Western Valley — Tombs of Amenophis III. and of Ai — The Biban-el-Moluk— Visit to No. 15, the tomb of Seti- Mer-en-ptah : circumstantial evidence of the sudden death of this prince, " who sat on the throne " with his father, Mer-en-ptah — Champollion — The proclamation of the righteousness of the deceased, or Mat-Kheru

Chapter XXXI

Deir-el-Bahari — Queen Hatasou — Newly discovered large altar — Tomb of Rekmara, ftc, &c. — The Ramesseum, prostrate Colossus — Inscriptions — Deir-el-Medenet — Small Temple, with sculptured scene of the Judgment of the Heart in the Hall of Truth — " The Negative Confession " of " the Book of the Dead " .

Chapter XXXII

Medenet-Abou, its palace and temples — Coptic Ostraka — The only remaining portion of the Memnonium of Amenophis III.— The Sitting Statues of the Plain — The Vocal Memnon.

Chapter XXXIII

Keneh — The potter's wheel — Weight of an ordinary water-bottle — Abydos — Temples — Thinis, the cradle of Egyptian monarch)* — Coptic Con.ent — Assiout — Manfalout — Black pigs — Testimony of Herodotus to the abhorrence of swine CONTENTS XV PAGE 4IO 427 445 by the Egyptians — Cairo — Ghizeh — Goshen — Ismailia — The Mirage — Levant — Brindisi — Malta — Coast of Portugal — Finisterre — Eddystone Lighthouse — Plymouth

Chapter XXXIV

Concluding remarks — Biblical customs — Bedouin Arabs — Alabaster Vases, "Box of ointment of spikenard" — Fulfilment of prophecy — The papyrus plant — Ancient Papyri — Professor Petrie's discoveries of various MSS. — The sceptre and staff — The beard — The immortality of the soul — The Egyptian religion adapted only to the learned — The teaching of the Law of Moses adapted to every individual ........ NOTES INDEX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS I. THE TOMB OF MENEPTAH OR MER-EN-PTAH, THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS . . Frontispiece (see p. 354) MAP . . To face p. 1 2. MUSHREEBEYAHS, CAIRO ... ,,46 3. FEEDING THE POOR AT THE TOMB OF THE LATE KHEDIVE, TEWFIK PASHA . . . „ 53 4. MOSQUE OF EL-AZHAR . . . . „ 71 j. ONE OF THE OLDEST PANELS OF WOOD-CARVING IN EXISTENCE .... jj 93 6. THE SOUL REVISITING THE BODY . ■ jj 95 7.

DAWN ON THE GREAT SPHINX . ,, Il6 8. COLOSSAL STATUE OF RAMESES THE GREAT AT MEMPHIS ..... „ I38 9. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF DENDERAH . . „ 200 10. COLUMNS AT LUXOR .... „ 2l8 II. A SAKIYEH ......,, 273 12. SUNRISE IN THE TEMPLE OF ABOU-SIMBEL „ 278 13. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ABOU-SIMBEL . . „ 293 14. HYPÆTHRAL TEMPLE, PHILÆ . . „ 309 15. SARCOPHAGUS OF Al . . . . „ 365 ' " Livre des Rois," Cairo, 1887. DYNASTIES OF EGYPT' ANCIENT EMPIRE. xviii DYNASTY. FROM NO. OF KINGS NAME of first KINO. DATE n.c. MARIETTE. BRUGSCH. CONTEMPORARY EVENTS, E'l'C. I Thinis 8 Mena 5O04 44OO -j 4751 4'33 \ Memphis, capital of Egypt. Portions of Book of the Dead in existence. Pyramids built at Sakkarah. Worship of Apis and Mnevis Bulls established. 2 9 Butau 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Memphis 9 9 8 Tatai Seneferu Userkaf Teta 4449 3966 4235 3766 3951 3566 37°3 33°o J 350O — 1 3358 - Pyramids < if Medum and Ghizeh, &c. Pyramid of Unas. „ (Elephantine) Heracleopolis **..

N-fer Ka MIDDLE EMPIRE. 11 I 2 13 IS 16 17 Thebes 22 I Antes ! „ . 8 Amenenihat ] 55 ? I Rakhutaui Xois A Ai Hyksos (Shepherd Kings) 5? Nubti ,, ,, ... 1 ? j Apepi Thebes 5? ' 3064 2851 2214 2466 J 2233 Thebes, capital of Egvpt. Obelisk of Usertesen at Heliopolis. Pyramids and Labyrinth constructed with Lake Moerisin the Fayoom. Tombs of Beni-Hasan, Assouan, &c. Invasion of Nubia Abraham in Egypt, 1920. Joseph in Egypt. Jacoh in Egypt, 1706. NEW EMPIRE. DYNASTY. FROM NO. OF KINGS. NAME OF FIRST KING. DATE B.C. MARIETTE. BRUGSCH. CONTEMPORARY EVENTS, ETC. - 1 8 Thebes 14 Ahmes I7°3 1 700 J Thebes, capital of Egypt. Temples and obelisks erected. Western Asia subdued by Thothmes III. and Amenophis III. Tell-el- Amarna. Punt, Deir-el-Bahari. 10 8? Rameses I, ( Father and son Seti I. J on the throne Rameses II. 1 together, son [succeeding.

I462 1400 Oppression of the Israelites. 20 ( Mer-en-ptah. ■1 Seti-Mer-en-ptah, Father and Son *■ co-regnant. Plagues of Egypt. The Exodus. 12 Rameses III 1288 1 200 -J Palestine and Moab invaded by Rameses III. during the Wanderings in the Wilderness. The Hornet. Joshua. Saul, David, Solomon. « I Tanis Thebes 7 si Si-mentu Herhor t IIIO 1 100 22 Bubastis 9 Sesanq — Shishak 980 966 { 766 Rehoboam. Shishak invades Judæa. Records the event at Karnak. 24] Tanis Sais Ethiopia 4 3 4 Pet u-si-bast Bakenrenef Kasto Shabaka 810 I 721 H Isaiah's prophecy (ch. xviii.). Captivity of Israel. Hoshea. Hezekiah, Sennacherib, Apis Bull Tablet. Carian inscription at Abou-Simbel. Jeremiah, Josiah, Necho, Nebuchadnezzar. Herodotus in Egvpt. 25 715 700 26 Sais 9 Sitefnut — Psammetichus 665 666 \ 27 28 29 30 31 Persia Sais Mendes Sebennytus Persia 5 4 3 3 Kembatet — Cambyses Khabras Naifairut Nekhthorheb Oxos-Artaxerxes III 406 399 37» 34° 527 4°5 399 378 34° Malachi.

GREEK PERIOD. I NO. OF KINGS DYNASTY. NAME OF FIRST KINO. DATE B.C. MARIETTE. BRUGSCH. CONTEMPORARY EVENTS, l: le FROM 32 Macedon 3 Alexander the Great 16 Ptolemy Soter 332 3°5 I 1 Visits Jerusalem. Antiochus j 33a "| Epiphanes, &c. ! _ | Septuagint made. Onias builds -,05 "| Temple in Egypt. Rosetta Stone. 33 ROMAN PERIOD. __<$N •A • _T^_ t__ 0}/ .4 Rome 84? Augustus Cæsar 30 1 Battle of Actium. Death of Cleopatra. Strabo in Egypt. Herod. A.D. J 1 Great Earthquake, Memnon Vocal 27 to 196. Establishes Christianity. Roman Empire divided. Founded Fostat. Theodosius 27 Arab Mameluke Osmanli Amru Omru Muizz Selim 3«I 640 1250 1517 1798 1806 Napoleon Buonaparte. Mohammed Ali. [To face p. i

Chapter I The Voyage

Gibraltar — Naples — Straits of Messina — Scylla and Charybdis — Port Said— Suez Canal— Kantarah— " The Way of the Philistines " — Tell-el-Defenneh — Daphnæ, or Tahpanes — The " Field of Zoan " — El-Gisr — Lake Timsah — Site of the Exodus. A VISIT to Egypt and voyage up the Nile had been for many years my day-dream, when an unexpected opportunity for its realisation offered itself. We met in London early in January and proceeded to Tilbury, where the P. and 0. steamship Ganges was lying off the fort under orders to sail at noon. Snow had fallen, and it was bitterly cold as the ship steamed down-channel, parting with her pilot in a storm. Rough weather succeeded, and the Ganges was kept well out to sea. The only land seen after the south-western shores of Devonshire and Cornwall was a glimpse of Cintra, in Portugal, which appeared briefly through an opening in the clouds ; afterwards Cape Trafalgar, memorable as the headland of the bay in which Nelson's last fight was fought, and where he received his death wound.

On approaching the Straits of Gibraltar " the Pillars of Hercules " came grandly into view. Mons Abyla, or the Apes Hill, near Ceuta, with the whole of the North African coast alternately veiled in light flying showers or smiling in bright sunshine. Calpe, the fine old rock of Gibraltar, rose magni ficently from the waves ; those huge rolling billows of the Atlantic which bore the Ganges to her anchorage within the bay. We went ashore, and some of our party saw for the first time date palms growing naturally in the open air. Several of these elegant trees now adorn the public gardens, which are much resorted to. Another floral wonder was the aloe, so common in the South of Spain, and which abounds upon the Rock ; many of these huge plants had thrown up their curious candelabral flower-stems to a height of from ten to fifteen feet.

The bay, formed by the grand headlands of Cabrita on the west and Europa Point upon the east, is about eight miles in length and six in breadth. The name of Gibraltar is supposed to be derived from " Ghebel-el-Tarik," the " Mountain of Tarik," a famous Moorish chieftain who invaded Spain. He was followed by the Moors, who gradually conquered the southern provinces, and have left so many beau tiful structures at Seville, Granada, and other places in Andalusia and Valencia. The population is of a very varied character, and the picturesque costumes of the Africans and Spaniards, blending with the uniforms of the British soldiers, produce brilliant effects. The Rock rises almost perpendicularly on the north, from the sea shore and the sands of the neutral ground ; beyond are the Spanish lines — the frontier of Spain — un dulating country clothed with forests of cork trees, and in the distance the mountain range of Andalusia, with the Sierra Nevada in the east and the Sierra Naples 3 Morena in the west.

To the north-west of the bay are the ruins of Carteia, a Phœnician settlement ; and on the west the prettily situated and now im portant town of Algeciras, the terminus of the railway to Madrid. The rich colours of the approaching sunset warned us that it was time to return. The lights of the town and of the various lighthouses glittered on the water as we steamed out of the bay into the dark night. The following morning all the more lofty of the Andalusian mountains were covered with snow, and brisk exercise on deck was very necessary to keep comfortably warm. Later in the day we had apparently the ocean to ourselves, only now and then did a vessel come in sight. Our course, being direct for Naples, lay across the southern portion of the Gulf of Lyons, where we again experienced very rough weather until we came under the lee of the southern shore of Sardinia, which broke the violence of the wind and waves.

Early on the morning of our tenth day out from London Mount Vesuvius was visible on the eastern horizon. Above the cone hung a cloud of vapour, which a nearer approach showed to be smoke slowly rolling upwards from the crater. The mountain chain, stretching north and south as far as the eye could see, was covered with freshly fallen snow, and the summit of Vesuvius also showed the same. The sea was smooth, and the light of the early dawn most exquisite — pale yellow saffron and rose colours blending in the east, while the feathery clouds became crimsoned and then gilded with the rays of the rising sun. Gradually the higher mountain peaks and the summit of Vesuvius were touched with gold as the sun rose above the mountains in the east, and his rays glittered on every window-pane of the city of Naples and illuminated one of the finest bays and landscapes in the world.

As the Gauges had to be coaled all passengers went ashore for the day. Some visited Pompeii ; we preferred to devote the six hours to the city of Naples, visiting the churches and the museum, which now contains all the more interesting relics of the tesselated pavements, frescoes, and smaller objects found in Pompeii and Herculaneum, &c. Naples is beautifully situated, but seems to possess an undue proportion of the poorer classes, or lazzarorti. This may be apparent only, as this portion of the com munity prefers to live in public, to bask in the sun, smoke a cigarette, and generally exist alfresco. The day was remarkably clear, and the bright sunlight made the narrow streets look dark and cool. We were then conducted along the shore to the aquarium in the Public Gardens, which were beautifully arranged and planted with a semi-tropical vegetation of aloes, cactus, palmetto, orange, lemon, and citron.

The view of Vesuvius and the bay formed a panorama scarcely to be excelled in beauty; the Neapolitan proverb says, " Vedi Napoli e poi mori ! " (" See Naples and die ! ") as nothing more beautiful in their estimation can exist. Early on the following morning we reached the Straits of Messina, passing the curious truncated cone of Stromboli, which rises apparently from the sea. The shore of Italy stretched away on our left as far as the eye could see, ending in the extreme distance with the snowy cone of Aspro Monte. To the west the island of Sicily rose rugged and SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS ■5 picturesque, and appeared to close the way. On the Italian shore was the town of Scylla, with its celebrated rock in the channel. A long range of breakers extended from the Sicilian shore, ending in an expanse of smooth, oily-looking water.

This was the renowned whirlpool of Charybdis, so dreaded by the ancients ; now the huge iron and steel giants steam with impunity through the currents, which run as rapidly as ever through the narrow Straits of Messina. We had very beautiful views of the coast on either side, but clouds unfortunately hid Etna from our view. Soon after noon we again lost sight of land, and as we advanced found more and more sea on, with an increasing wind ahead. This con tinued for two days ; huge waves frequently dashed over the bows of the vessel, and the black funnels of the Ganges became white with the incrustation of salt from the evaporated spray. So strong was the gale that we made only two hundred miles in twenty-four hours, or about half-speed. The rough weather kept us well out to sea, and we saw in the far distance the south-western portion of the island of Crete, whence St. Paul sailed on his voyage to Rome.

Eleven hundred miles of water separate Naples from Port Said, at the entrance to the Suez Canal. The following day brought to us calmer weather and a more genial temperature ; the sea had gone down as rapidly as it had arisen, and in the afternoon we watched the flying-fish as they rose before the bows, skimmed the surface of the water, and dropped again into the deep blue wavelets after a flight of fifty to one hundred yards. The lights at the Damietta mouth of the Nile became visible after sunset, and later in the evening those at Port Said, where we arrived at midnight, and proceeded at once to the coaling station. Port Said is a town which has sprung up in the Desert through the construction of the Suez Canal. It has a population of some 37,000 people, all more or less dependent upon the shipping.

The town stands on a narrow belt of desert, the barrier between Lake Menzaleh and the Mediterranean. The Arab quarter lies to the west of Port Said. As we arrived during the night it was impossible to go on shore. We retired to our berths, though not to rest, the noise of the coal falling into the bunkers and the shout ing of the Arabs employed effectually preventing sleep. During this time I received a visit from Mr. Taylor, the earnest and able agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, acting under the direction of the Rev. R. Weakley, of Alexandria, the Society's foreign agent for Egypt, Palestine, &c. The duty of Mr. Taylor and his colleague is to visit the sailors, and offer them the Scriptures. As the ships pass through the Canal in the order of their arrival by night and by day, many would not be visited were the hours of duty confined to daylight.

It is, therefore, so arranged that one or other of them should be at work continuously. Accounts of this work appear regularly in the Annual Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and are very interesting. Port Said is the most important depart ment of the Egyptian agency, no less than thirty languages are required to meet the demands ; the average sales during the year amount to about 6,000 Bibles, Testaments, and portions, and the number of visits paid to vessels amount to over 2,342 annually. This work is carried on amongst the mercantile THE SUEZ CANAL 7 marine of the whole world ; comparatively few copies being sold on board the passenger liners, as they are generally well provided with the Scriptures. " When the Bible Society was founded in 1 804, there was no living version of the Scriptures in the African language.

The Coptic and Ethiopic had died without giving birth to successors. The land of Ham was dark and uncared-for except by the slave-catcher, who found it a happy hunting-ground. The people were sheep without a shepherd ; no man cared for their souls. There are now sixty versions of the Scriptures in African languages, and the light of Heaven is breaking through Egyptian darkness ! " * We entered the Canal in the early morning, when it was particularly interesting to see the narrow water-way illuminated by the powerful electric search light, which showed the lines of buoys between which all vessels have to keep their course. In order to prevent as far as possible the damage to the banks by the wash of the vessel, the rate of progress is very slow. Soon after sunrise, Arabs were seen going to their daily work.

They wore dark-blue kaftans, with bernous cloaks, and white turbans. These costumes convinced us that we had really reached " the East," Further on a number of camels were lying waiting for their loads, which consisted of earth and stones thrown into two square boxes slung like panniers across the back of the camel ; when these were filled, the camel rose, and moved slowly away with its burden, a very primitive way of levelling the ground for a railroad ! Further on, the works of the railway were being carried on with light trucks in the usual way. Numerous camels (one with her foal) were * Rev. W. Wright, D.D., speech at Mansion House, April 14,1891. browsing on the scanty vegetation, which resembled the small round bushes of furze so common upon downs and mountain-sides. The Canal is about eighty miles in length from Port Said to Suez, and was opened for ships in 1869.

It is cut in a straight line across the Desert, and in its lower course passes through Lake Timsah, and the Bitter Lakes. About twenty miles from the Mediterranean, at Kantarah, it crosses the old road, called in Scripture " The way of the Philistines." * One can see the track leading away to the East across the Desert in the direction of El-Arish, and Gaza, the route followed in all probability by the brethren of Joseph when they came clown into Egypt to buy food, and by which he also was no doubt led when brought down into Egypt by the Ishmaelites, to whom his brethren had sold him. On the west it leads in the direction of the Tells, or mounds of earth, which cover the ruins of ancient Egyptian cities. The nearer of the two sites is that of Daphnæ, or Tahpanes, + and possesses an especial interest from the recent discovery J of its identity with the fortress to which the daughters of Zedekiah, the King of Judah, fled, contrary to the warnings of Jeremiah the Prophet, " with all the remnant of Judah, and all the captains of the forces," § after that Nebuchadnezzar had carried Zedekiah away captive to Babylon.