The Nile boat

Preface

To add anotlier book on Egypt to the number that have ah-eady appeared, may ahuost appear like a piece of presumption. But it should be remarked, that beside the army of erudite ' savans' who have enlisted themselves in the study of its antiquities, there has always been a flying corps of light-armed skirmishers, who, going lightly over the ground, busy themselves chiefly with its picturesque aspect ; who aim at giving lively impressions of actual sights, and at thus creating an interest which may lead the reader to a further investigation of the subject. This class of writers can, of course, even when successful in their object, claim but a very humble rank. The modicum of historical and archaeological lore with which they are accustomed to season their narratives must, naturally, be borrowed from others ; all the merit that falls to them being the faithful description of what they have themselves beheld. Of such slight texture is the composition of the present volume. The author had, indeed, entirely renounced the idea of preparing one, and was only encouraged to do so by the kind reception of a recent production of the same stamp, which aimed at producing distinctness of impressions by the combination of the pencil and the pen.

While disclaiming for the text of his book any pretensions to originality, the writer is anxious to say that this is not the case with the illustrations, of which the whole were drawn upon the spot, many of them with the Camera Lucida. He has endeavored to present, within small compass, as much variety as possible, displaying the principal monuments of the earlier or Pharaonic monuments, as at Thebes ; the later Ptolemaic style, as at Edfou and Philte ; with some of the most beautiful specimens of the Arabian, at Cairo. The sites of Alexandria and Thebes, with their principal ruins, are, it is hoped,

IV

PREFACE.

rendered distinct and intelligible. Something, too, is attempted of the characteristic scenery of the river, and something of modern manners and customs. The figm-es were all put in from actual sketches, often exactly as they stand. In short, the book, though far from giving an adequate idea of Egyptian scenery and monuments, which is indeed impossible on the scale, so ftxr as it goes, may claim to be a correct one, at least in intention and endeavor.

The authorities quoted are generally named, but the author can not omit to acknowledge his especial obligations to the kindness of Mr. Samuel Sharpe, the historian of Egypt. The interest taken by that gentleman in every attempt to popularize the fovorite subject of his studies, has led him, not only to present the writer with a brief introduction, but also to allow the literal quotation of such portions of his volume as happened to bear upon the subject described, giving thereby a permanent utility and value to what would otherwise be trivial and fugitive. Thus, the entire historical sketch of Thebes, prefixed to the account of its ruins, is extracted in full from his valuable " History of Egypt."

Finally, should any one, by glancing over these pages, be tempted to think of visiting the country they describe, let him not suppose it is intended to usurp the functions of a guide bookj-beyond pointing out the prominent objects of interest. For the manners and customs of Ancient Egypt, and a detailed description of the existing monuments, the works of Sir Gardner Wilkinson are indispensable; as are those of Lane for the modern state of Egypt. These are not the hasty sketches of a passing tourist, but the result of years of patient and learned investigation ; and no one should think of going to Egypt without them ; nor, we must say in addition, without the history already referred to. !More compact and portable editions than the present of these invaluable volumes would, however, be a boon to the traveler, by whom, more than any one else, " a great book" is felt to be " a great evil."

ILLUSTRATIOiNS.

ENGRAVINGS.

Frontispiece. Karxak — Grand Hall,

To face page

Title-page. Departure of the Kangia from Old Cairo.

Map of Egypt .......

.11

Panorama of Alexandria ......

Street in Cairo ......

. ^ . 51

The Bazaar ........

View from the Citadel .....

. 60

Mosque of Sultan Hassan ......

Mosque of El Azhar ......

. 66

Tombs of the Memlook Sultans .....

Tomb of Sultan Kaitbay .....

. 72

Interior of a House at Cairo .....

Ferry at Ghizeh ......

. 92

The Sphynx .......

The Pyramids .......

. 100

The Slave-Boat .......

The Shadoof .......

. 136

Map of Thebes .......

Valley of the Tombs of the Kings ....

. 162

Hall of Beauty .......

Plain of Thebes ......

. 169

Medeenet Habou .......

Colossal Stati/e — Memnonium .....

. 175

The Colossi .......

Luxor from the Water .....

. 186

Propylon of Luxor .......

Approach to Thebes ......

. 189

Karnak — 1st Court ......

Retrospective View of the Grand Hall .

. 195

Temple of Edfou .......

Frontier of Egypt ......

. 205

Approach to Phil.e ......

Pharaoh's Bed — Phil.*: .....

. 210

View from Phil^ .......

Temple of Abusimbal ......

. 215

ILLUSTRATIONS.

WOOD-CUTS.

Landing in Egypt .

Noon in a Nile-Boat

WaTEE- WHEEL ON THE LoWER NiLE

Mosque of Tooloon

Bab Zooayleh

Heliopolis

Section of the Pyramid

Dancing-girls .

Tomb of Beni Hassan

Crocodile

Temple of Dendera

Tablet at Beirout

Doctrine' of the Judgment

Plan of the Memnoxium

Hall of ditto

Battle-scene in ditto .

Hagar Silsilis

Page

.

. 34

.

. 63

. 90

. 113

. 138

. 152

. 176

. 178

Contents

IIiSTOpacAL Introduction .......

Chap. I. Departure from Marseilles. — the india mail. — a ship run

DOWN. A glance at MALTA. ALEXANDRIA. ANCIENT AND MODERN

characteristics. PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE CITY. ITS TOPOGRAPHY

AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS ......

Chap. II. Departure from Alexandria. — the canal. — first impressions OF THE NILE VALLEY. ITS AGRICULTURE AND ANIMALS. ANTI- QUITY OF EGYPT. SAIS AND NAUCRATIS. FIRST SIGHT OF THE PYRA- MIDS. ARRIVAL AT CAIRO ....

Chap. III. Cairo. — situation. — characteristics. — streets. — bazaars

ARABIAN MONUMENTS. MOSQUES. — GATES, TOMBS, AND PRIVATE DWELL- INGS .........

Chap. IV. Departure for thebes. — dancing-girls. — slave-boat. — the

RAMADAN. DENDERA. KENEH ......

Chap. V. Thebes. — its history'. — Libyan suburb. — tombs of the kings

MEDEENET HABOU. — MEMNONIUM. LUXOR AND KARNAK

Chap. YI. Thebes to esneh and edfou. — Assouan. — the cataracts. —

PHIL.E. ABUSIMBAL. MERGE ......

Page iii

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

SAMUEL SHARPE, ESQ.

The Egyptians are tlie earliest people known to us as a nation. When Abraham entered the Delta from Canaan, they had already been long enjoying all the advantages of a settled government and established laws. While Abraham and his countrymen were mo\dng about in tents and wagons, the Egyptians were living in cities. They had already cultivated agriculture, and parceled out their valley into farms: they reverenced a landmark as a god, while their neighbors knew of no property but herds and movables. They had invented hieroglyphics, and improved them into syllabic writing, and almost into an alphabet. They had invented records, and wrote their kings' names and actions on the massive temples which they raised. Of course we have no means of counting the ages during which civilization was slowly making these steps of improvement. Overlooking, therefore, those years when the gods were said to have reigned upon earth, and Menes the fabulous founder of the monarchy, history begins with the earliest remaining records. These are, the temple at Karnak, and tlie obelisk at Heliopolis, both raised by Osii'tesen I. of Tliebes, and tlie great pyramids built by Supliis and Sensuphis, kings of Mempliis, with tlie tablets in the copper mines near Sinai, which record the conquest of that country by Suphis, and prove that those mines had been already worked by the Egyptians. Such was the state of Egypt in the time of Abraham. It was di\dded into several little kingdoms, whose boundaries can not now be exactly known. In the valley to the south of Silsilis was the kingdom of Elephantine. 'Next was the kingdom of Thebes, which perhaps included all the valley to the east of the river. It had a port at ^num on the Eed Sea, and thus traded with Arabia. Next Fas the kingdom of This, or Abydos, on the west of the river, which had a little trade with the Great Oasis ; and then the kingdom of Heracleopolis also on the western bank. Next was the kingdom of Memphis, embracing the western half of the Delta, which in the reign of Suphis had been strong enough to conquer Thebes and the peninsula of Sinai. In the east of the Delta were the kingdoms of Bubastis and Tanis.

It was in the time of these little monarchies that the Chaldeans and Phenician herdsmen were movino^ westward, and settling quietly in the Delta. But after a few generations, as their numbers increased, they took possession of some of the cities, and leaded a tribute from the Egyptians. Their sovereigns were called the Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, who dwelt at Abaris, probably the city afterward called Heliopolis, and they held their ground in Egypt for about six reigns. The tyranny, however, of the Hyksos at length led the

HISTORICAL IXTRODUCTIOX. 6

states of Egypt to unite against them ; and Amasis, king of Thebes, making common cause with the kings of the other parts of Egypt, defeated these hateful but warlike Phenicians, and drove them out of the country. This may have taken place about fourteen hundred and fifty years before our era, and about two hundred years after the reign of Osirtesen I.

With Amasis and the expulsion of the Shepherds began the reigns of those great Theban kings, whose temples, and statues, and obelisks, and tombs, have for more than three thousand years made the valley of the Nile a place of such interest to travelers. The kings of the other parts of Egypt sunk to the rank of sovereign priests. Amunothph I. gained Ethiopia by marriage. Thothmosis II., by his marriage with Queen Mtocris, the builder of the third pyramid, added Memphis to his dominions. Thothmosis IV. perhaps carved the great sphinx. Amunothph III. set up his two gigantic statues in the plain of Thebes, one of which uttered its musical notes every morning at sunrise. Oimenepthah I. added to the temples of Thebes and of Abydos. Kameses II. covered Egypt, and Ethiopia, and the coasts of the Red Sea, with his temples, and obelisks, and statues. He fought successfully against the neighboring Arabs, and marched through Palestine to the shores of the Black Sea. Rameses III. still further ornamented Thebes with his architecture.

It was at the beginning of this period, before Memphis was united to Thebes, that the Israelites settled in the Delta, and Joseph, as prime minister of the king of Memphis, changed the laws of Lower Egypt. And it

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. I

i

i was after Tliebes and Mempliis were united, wlien Joseph's services liad been forgotten, tliat Moses led his countrymen out of Egypt to escape the tyranny of their masters. The Egyptian religion at this time was the worship of a crowd of gods, of which some were stone statues, and others living animals ; and it was against these and other Egyptian superstitions that many of the laws of Moses are pointedly directed.

The tombs of these kings are large rooms quarried into the Libyan hills opposite to Thebes, with walls covered with paintings still fresh, and with hieroglyphics which we are attempting to read. The columns which upheld their temples are the models from which the Greeks afterward copied. Their statues, though not graceful, are grand and simple,* free from false ornament, and often colossal. Their wealth was proverbial with the neighboring nations ; and the remaining monuments of their magnificence prove that Egypt was at this time a highly civihzed country, to which its neighbors looked up with wonder. The Jewish nation was weak and struggling with difficulties l)efore the reign of David ; the history of Greece begins with' the Trojan war ; but before the time of David and the Trojan war, the power and glory of Thebes had already passed away. Uj)per Egypt sunk under the rising power of the Delta. Theban prosperity had lasted for about five hundred years.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

On tlie fall of Tliebes, SMsliank of Bubastis, tlie conqueror of Kelioboam, governed all Egypt, and recorded on tlie walls of tlie great Tbeban temple his victories over tlie Jews. But after his death Egypt was torn to pieces by civil wars. Zerah, king of Ethiopia, was able to march through the whole length of the land. For a few reigns the kingdom was governed by kings of Tanis. Then the kings of Ethiopia reigned in Thebes, and led the armies of Egypt to help the Israelites against their Assyrian masters. This unsettled state of affairs lasted nearly three hundred years, during which, as the prophet Isaiah had foretold, Egyptians fought against Egyptians, every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. It was put an end to by the city of Sais rising to the mastery, helped by the number of Greeks that had settled there, and by the greater skill in arms of the Greek mei^cenaries whom the kings of Sais took into their pay.

Under the kings of Sais Egypt again enjoyed a high degree of prosperity. They were more despotic than the kings of Thebes. They hired Greek mercenaries, and struggled with the Babylonians for the dominion of Judea. Psammetichus conquered Ethiopia. Necho began the canal from the Nile to the Bed Sea. His sailors circumnavigated Africa. He conquered Jerusalem; and when the Chaldees afterward drove back the Egyptian army, the remnant of Judah, with the prophet Jeremiah, retreated into Egypt to seek a

« HISTORICAL INTHODUCTION.

refuge witli king Hophra. Tlie colony of Greeks at Nauci'atis, a little below Sais, now became more important. The Greek philosopliers, Thales and Solon, visited the country, brought there by trade and the wish for knowledge. Hecatseus of Miletus went up as high as Thebes, and Pythagoras dwelt many years among the priests. But Egyptian greatness now rested on a weak foundation. Jealousy increased between the native soldiers and the more favored Greek mercenaries. The armies in Asia met with a more powerful enemy than formerly. Nebuchadnezzar defeated them on the banks of the Euphrates. Cyrus reconquered the island of Cyprus ; and lastly, Cambyses overran Egypt, and reduced it to the rank of a Persian province.

For two hundred years Eg}^t suffered severely under its Persian rulers, or else from its own struggles for freedom, when the Persian armies were called off by warfare in another quarter. Cambyses plundered the tombs and temples, broke the statues, and scourged the priests. Darius governed more mildly by native satraps ; but after his defeat at Marathon, the Egyptians rose and made themselves independent for two or three years. Afterward, when Bactria rebelled against Artaxerxes, they again rose and made Inarus and Amyrtseus kings. Then for a few years Hellanicus, and Herodotus, and other inquiring Greeks, were able to enter the Nile, and study the customs of this remarkable people. When the Egyptians were again con-

HISTORICAL IJfTRODUCTIOX. /

quered, Darius Nothus attempted to alter tlie religion of the country. But wlien tlie civil war broke out between Artaxerxes Mnemon and tbe younger Cyrus, the Egyptians rebelled a third time against the Persians, and with the help of the Grreeks were again an independent monarchy. Plato and Eudoxus then visited the country. The fourth conquest by the Persians was the last, and Egypt was governed by a Persian satrap, till by the union among the Greek states, their mercenaries were withdrawn from the barbarian armies, and Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great.

The Greeks had before settled in Lower Egypt in such numbers, that as soon as Alexander's army occupied Memphis, they found themselves the ruling class. Egypt became in a moment a Greek kingdom ; and Alexander showed his wisdom in the regulations by which he guarded the prejudices and religion of the Egyptians, who were henceforth to be treated as inferiors, and forbidden to carry arms. He founded Alexandria as the Greek capital. On his death, his lieutenant Ptolemy made himself king of Egypt, and was the first of a race of monarchs who governed for three hundred years, and made it a second time the chief kingdom in the world, till it sunk under its own luxuries and vices and the rising power of Rome. The Ptolemies founded a large public library, and a museum of learned men. Under their patronage Theocritus, Callimachus, Lycophron, and ApoUonius Rhodius wrote tlieir poems ; Euclid wrote liis Elements of Geometry ; Apollonius of Perga invented Conic Sections ; Hi23- parcbus made a catalogue of the stars; Eratosthenes measured the size of the eai'th ; the Bible was translated into Greek ; several of the Apocryphal books were written ; Homer was edited ; anatomy was studied. But poetry soon sunk under the despotism, and the writers were then contented to clothe science in verse. Aratus wrote an astronomical poem ; Manetho, an astrological poem; Meander, a medical poem; and afterward Dionysius, a geogi-aphical poem.

Under these Alexandrian kings the native Egyptians continued building their grand and massive temples nearly in the style of those built by the kings of Thebes and Sais. The temples in the island of Philse, in the Great Oasis, at Latopolis, at Ombos, at Dendera, and at Thebes, prove that the Ptolemies had not wholly crushed the zeal and energy of the Egyptians. An Egyptian phalanx had been formed, armed and discij)lined like the Greeks. These soldiers rebelled against the weakness of Epiphanes, but mthout success ; and then Thebes rebelled against Soter II., but was so crushed and punished, that it never again held rank among cities.

But while the Alexandrians were keeping down the Egyptians, they were themselves sinking under the Komans. Epiphanes asked for Roman help; his two sons appealed to the senate to settle their quarrels and guard the kingdom from Syrian invasion; Alexander II. was placed on the throne by the Eomans; and Auletes went to Rome to ask for help against his sub-

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, y

jects. Lastly, ike beautiful Cleopatra, tlie disgrace of lier country and tlie firebrand of tlie Republic, maintained lier power by surrendering ber person first to Julius Caesar, and then to Mark Antony.

On the defeat of Mark Antony by Augustus, Egypt became a province of Rome, and was governed by tlie emperors witb suspicious jealousy. It was still a Greek state, and Alexandria was the chief seat of Greek learning and science. Its library, which had been burnt by Caesar's soldiers, had been replaced by that from Perj gamus. The Egyptians yet continued building temples, I and covering them Avith hieroglyphics as of old. But I on the spread of Christianity, the old superstitions j went out of use ; the animals were no longer w^orshiped ; i and we find few hieroglyphical inscriptions after the I reign of Commodus. Now rose in Alexandria the ! Christian Catechetical school, which produced Clemens I and Origen. The sects of Gnostics united astrology i and magic with religion. The school of Alexandrian I Platonists produced Plotinus and Proclus. Monasteries I were built all over Egypt; Christian monks took the place of the pagan hermits, and the Bible was translated ! into Coptic.

On the division of the Roman empire, Egypt fell to the lot of Constantinople. On the rise of the Arian controversy, the Egyptians belonged to the Athanasian party, while tlie Greeks of Alexandria were chiefly Arians. Hence anew cause of weakness to the government. Under Theodosius, Paganism and Arianism were forbidden by law, the library was burnt by the Athanasians, and the last traces o^ science retreated from Alexandria before ignorance and bigotry. The country fell off every year in civilization, in population, and in strength ; and when the Arabs, animated by religion, and with all the youth and vigor of a new people, burst forth upon their neighbors, Egypt was conquered by the followers of Mohammed, a. d. 640, six hundred and seventy years after it had been conquered by the Romans.

Chapter I

DEPARTURE FROM MARSEILLES. THE INDIA MAIL. A SHIP RUN DOWN. A GLANCE AT

MALTA. ALEXANDRIA. ANCIENT AND MODERN CHARACTERISTICS. PANORAMIC VIEW '

I OF THE CITY. ITS TOPOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. '.

i

On a bright day in the month of June, 1845, I found myself safely berthed on board the government steamer, and sur- | rounded by the busy panorama of Marseilles and its crowded \ harbor. The time for our departure had expired, but ■ something had detained the courier with the India mail, and we were becoming impatient, when boats were seen rapidly j pushing through the crowded shipping. In one moment they ; were recognized as bringing the object of our anxious expecta- j tion, in the next, all hands were active in hoisting it on | board, and in almost the next, the captain's " Go on" an- | nounced that we were off. Few persons at home have any idea | of the mass of correspondence thus conveyed : upward of a | hundred square boxes, carefully sealed and marked " India i Mail outward," were consigned to the hold as we rapidly | cleared the harbor and lost sight of the city. The impression of the vast importance of our distant empire thus made, was deepened by the character of the passengers on board : officers returning after leave of absence, others going out for the first time, veterans proceeding to distant governments, heads of commercial houses and junior clerks, correspondents of newspapers and restless tourists, together with an elegant Indian prince, who, tempted by the facility of intercourse, had visited England, and was now returning, and a young widow of Bom-

12 A SHIP RUX DOWN

j,

bay, whose weeds looked too becoming to allow the anticipation

that they would be either renewed or over-worn, made up the

I company, all disposed, at this distance from home, to dispense

I with introductions, and to amalgamate cordially into one tem-

i porary family.

I The weather was at first beautiful, but on the second day be-

i came squally. We passed the rude wild mountains of Sardinia ; I the wind sunk, but left a heavy swell, which kept me awake to I a late hour in the night : suddenly I was alarmed by a loud noise on deck, much stamping, and cries of " Back her :" evidently some disastrous event was momentarily expected ; but whether we were about to run down a fishing boat, or were ourselves on the point of being crushed into the ocean depths by the keel of some monster ship of the line, was all uncertain. I leaped from my berth, and was groping across the cabin when the crash took place. It seemed trifling, as though we had but grazed another vessel, and I hastened up the gangway, quite relieved of my alarm. On the deck, however, all was confusion and clamor ; but in the midst of it the men were engaged in hastily letting down a boat : it was a dusky night ; our ship was rolling in the heavy sea, the wind was aft, and the smoke driren forward involved the look-out in obscurity, but I could see, although with difficulty, a brig pitching laboriously at a short distance. Shouts were heard on board her; our boat put off, and was soon lost to sight among the rolling billows : all was suspense, when the cry burst out forward, that the brig was sinking. I strained my eyes through the gloom, and beyond the swelling ridges of water that successively traced their dark outlines against the sky, distinctly saw the masts, but only for a moment ; in the next they had disappeared, and almost at the same time, a boat, deeply laden, was seen emerging from between two gulfy waves, and making for us : this wild scene passed as rapidly and confusedly as a dream. The crowded boat was soon alongside, tossing dangerously in the swell : ropes w^ere let down, and one by one the crew of the brig, of

A GLANCE AT MALTA. 13

whom happily all had been saved, were hauled up to the deck. The first that came up was a boy of only twelve or thirteen, albeit looking, in his blue woolen shirt and sailor's trowsers, one of the finest little fellows I ever saw. Asleep in his rude cot, he had been hastily snatched from destruction, and stood scarcely awake, and quite confounded at his novel situation. We had struck the vessel amidships, and sHght as the shock seemed to me, had completely torn open her side : the crew had barely time to throw themselves into the boat, and get clear of her, ere she filled and went down. The darkness, our blinding smoke, and the accidental going out of their lamp, which occasioned some mistake in their steering, were the causes of this misfortune, which cast its gloom over tlie rest of our short voyage to Malta.

The next day, the swell had subsided, a gentle breeze kept us steadily before the wind, the sky had resumed its deep cerulean, and after a glorious sunset, with the freshening wind, we cut swiftly through the seething billows, sparkling with phosphoric light, while the horizon flashed with the vivid summer lightning. Indescribably beautiful are such evenings in the Mediterranean ; and as you approach the island of Malta, brilliantly arise from the dark blue sea the white Morescolooking walls and domes of its capital, Valetta, bristling with fortifications ancient and modern, backed by a sky already nearly African, warm, lustrous, and soft, and without a particle of smoke to prevent the minutest and most distant objects from being relieved with the utmost clearness. One feels sensibly approaching the golden climate of the East. A few hours in this stronghold of the ancient knights of St. John of Jerusalem, is a delightful relief to the sameness of even a brief voyage. To any one coming for the first time from Northern Europe, the whole scene is singularly foreign. The white and yellow houses of the city are piled picturesquely one above another, with their flat roofs, and large projecting green verandahs, surmounted by towers and domes of every variety of unaccustomed form,

L.

14 A GLANCE AT MALTA.

and with little vegetation, but that little consisting of orange trees, broad-leaved bananas, and patches of briUiant scarlet geraniums. On the quays, swarms of babbling lazzaroni mingling with sturdy seamen, on the cool flat roofs, groups of ladies wrapped from head to foot in their black silk mantillas, the noble harbor studded with men of war and steamers, the crowd of white-sailed feluccas, and gayly-painted and draperied boats — present altogether a spectacle as novel and peculiar as it is brilliant.

Strange and foreign looking, however, as the place appears at first, you have but to land to seem half at home. English soldiers, in their familiar costumes and erect, disciplined bearing, and shops ^set out on the English model, might make you forget your distance from it ; but images of saints, and shrines, and priestly processions, followed by a crowd of barefooted lazzaroni, soon restore the original impression, — while amid the " thunder of ten thousand tuneless bells," you ascend, jostled by a throng of importunate beggars, " those cursed streets of stairs," as Byron calls them, which lead up into the principal street, and to the famous church of St. John. The twenty-four hours allowed for our brief sojourn had however expired, and from the commanding height of the terraced promenade above Valetta I cast a parting look over the splendid panorama. There was our well-appointed vessel, getting up her steam, surrounded by a crowd of others, attracted to this central point, where the different lines of steamers employed in the transmission of correspondence do meet and congregate. Far different was the scene in this respect when I last traced the same route : instead of the prompt, rapid, and almost luxurious conveyance which these afford, whatever be the port desired, I had then to wait three tedious weeks for the privilege of sailing in an old dirty Maltese brig. Fifteen days of suffering were then passed in the voyage to Egypt ; the vessel was unspeakably filthy, swarming with rats, cock-roaches, and other vermin, and when after a prostration of several days by sickness

ALEXANDRIA. 15

I awoke to a sense of ravening hunger, musty biscuits, Sardines, and olives, and salt fish, all too dear even at the low price of sixpence per day, were the only viands to be obtained ; for in confiding ignorance of the state of the ship's stores, I had neglected to lay in any stock of provisions.

And now again we were safe on board, and gliding out of the harbor. Domes and terraces, ramparts and quays, flew by. The fort of St. Angelo with its solitary sentinel, and the meteor flag of England, waving from its battlements, succeeded, and then again the open sea, all sparkling and quivering with the warm reflected light. As we stretched away, the walls and towers massed into a glorious picture, bathed in that same rosy haze, now dying away, until all faded into indistinctness, and nothing met the eye but the stars sleeping in the pale azure, and the long track of phosphoric splendor, in which the glowworms of the deep lay telling of the vagrant keel that had disturbed their slumbers. Our voyage through this summer sea was brief and prosperous. The sky grew warmer and warmer as we neared the coast of Africa, tinged, as it were, with a reflection of the Libyan desert ; a soft purple hue, rather than the deep blue of Italy. On the fourth day appeared a long, low, yellow line of sand, scarcely visible above the azure sea, with a few distant palm trees, hke black specks, and camels pacing slowly along the shore, announcing that we were on the threshold of those lands of which we have so often dreamed ; the hope of visiting which was perhaps, at one time, too extravagant for a moment's indulgence.