THE GEBEL MOKATTAM. 173 son, whom he might name Mohammed, and thus be enabled to forget the one he had lost. The expenses of the funeral had amounted to thirty piastres, to defray which he had been compelled to sell his Syrian burnoose and several shirts. "And why, Suleiman," I inquired, "did you not apply to me?"— "You were not at the hotel, sir, just then, and we could obtain no credit." I observe among all these Arabs, poor as they are, proofs of strong natural affection, united with much sprightliness and vivacity. CVIII. Opposite the village of Deir the Arabian chain sinks considerably in height. Traces of cultivation are few on the eastern bank, the ground between the mountains and the river being very narrow and rocky. On the western bank, likewise, the desert seems to approach nearer the river; so that this may, perhaps, be the narrowest part of the valley of the Nile, in Lower Egypt. The summit of the Gebel Mokattam, though here lower than usual, is nearly as straight as if planed and levelled artificially; and, their western face being perpendicular and exceedingly lofty, they have the appearance of a vast wall, which, for five hundred miles, protects the land of Egypt from the encroachments of the eastern desert. CIX. On arriving at the village of El Massara, we quitted our boats, attended by Suleiman, and, mounting each a donkey, proceeded towards the vast quarries east of that village, whence, in all proba 174 QUARRIES OF EL MASSARA. bility, the materials for the great public structures and pyramids of Memphis were drawn. Every little Nilotic hamlet stands in a grove of date trees, which forms at once its riches and its beauty; and that of El Massara was an extensive one. Turning this, and a large field of dhourra sefi, nearly ripe, we crossed a wide plain, planted with the fine tall grass from which mats are manufactured, and then entered upon a flat, stony desert, of uneven surface, which conducted us to the foot of the Gebel Mokattam. Here the ground, on all sides, is encumbered with enormous accumulations of rubbish from the quarries, which look more like an attempt to cut the whole mountain into blocks, and remove it from its place, than spaces cleared out by obtaining stones for building. At first sight it would seem that all the cities of Egypt, which, according to Diodorus, were 18,000 in number, might have issued forth from these quarThe mountain has been cleft from top to bottom, sawn into blocks, and areas as large as Grosvenor Square levelled with the plain. In other places, the face of the cliff has been scooped out into immense halls, which, communicating with each other, run in vast colonnades from north to south, adorned with rude columns, which, for their gigantic proportions, might seem to have been fashioned by the Titans. These lofty spacious chambers extend far into the bowels of the mountain, whose superincumbent weight is every where supported by huge pillars, left at intervals between the excavations. Of the ries. QUARRIES OF EL MASSARA. 175 entrances to these subterranean apartments some are in the form of an arch, others like the Egyptian doorway. In Europe we have nothing resembling them, except, perhaps, those quarries of Syracuse, in which the seven thousand Athenians were imprisoned after the defeat of Nicias and Demosthenes. The catacombs of Alexandria, compared in magnitude with the excavations of El Massara, are mere rat-holes ; and yet the quarries of Hajjar Silsilis, in the Said, are still more immense than these. In one place the face of the mountain retreats in a straight line, and then turning suddenly, and continuing to run parallel with the river for perhaps a quarter of a mile, again projects in a right line to the plain, leaving between the two wings, thus formed, space enough for the site of a small city; yet the rocks which once filled this great area were sawn from their basis, and transported across the Nile. Here and there, near the mouths of the caverns, prodigious masses of rocks, like those which detach themselves in winter from the summits of the Alps, have broken away from the overhanging cliffs, and rolled down into the plain, or been stopped among the mounds of rubbish which every where abound. Some of these enormous blocks had evidently been severed by human labour from the mountain; but there the perseverance and mechanical powers even of the Egyptians appeared to have failed. No force of man could lift them from the earth; and they were abandoned in despair. 176 RAIN STORMS. CX. From the mounds of rubbish accumulated at the mouths of these rocky chambers, which, it is clear, from numerous traces of fire, are sometimes inhabited, we could command a fine view of that long line of pyramids which marks, towards the west, the extreme boundaries of the cultivated land. Storms of rain were rapidly hurrying over the face of the country from the Libyan desert; and the thick haze, cloudy sky, and dismal aspect of nature, made the landscape almost sublime. Beneath our feet was the ancient road, which, running in a straight line across the plain, terminated, a little to the north of El Massara, on the banks of the river, directly opposite the pyramids of Abousir. Near the mouth of one of the excavations we found a hieroglyphical inscription, sculptured in a kind of tablet on the face of the rock. The legend, probably, contains some account of the quarries, but has been purposely mutilated. Beneath it, on a base, which seems to support the tablet, are represented, in rude outline, the figures of three oxen, drawing along, upon a kind of sledge, an enormous block of stone. They are directed by three drivers. CXI. Returning to El Massara, we purchased mutton, goat's milk, and onions, which, being as yet near the capital, we found extremely dear; the mutton being a piastre, or three-pence, per pound. Here our crews wished to moor for the night, as the wind was high and squally, and the river exceedingly rough. It would have amused me greatly to have STORMS ON THE NILE. 177 had Diodorus Siculus on board of my kandjia that afternoon he would certainly no longer have fancied that the Nile has no violent surges or tempestuous waves." However, having caused the Arabs to take in a quantity of large stones for ballast, we felt sufficient confidence to proceed; but it soon appeared that the boatmen were more prudent than we; for several heavy squalls, attended by rain, came on in quick succession; and during one of these my kandjia gave so much to the wind, that the stones began to roll all to one side; and had she not righted in a moment, to the bottom we must have gone, for I had no time to spring out of the cabin. Many boats go down in this way, particularly higher up, where the mountains approach more nearly to the river. I saw the masts of one or two sticking up in the middle of the stream; and an elegant barge belonging to Ahmed Pasha capsized and sunk while we were on the Nile. Yet, in spite of the bad weather, we made several miles before dark, and moored for the night at Shook, opposite to Tabin. Wednesday, Dec. 12. CXII. The sky, this morning, like yesterday, was thickly overcast with clouds, but the cold was less severe. We landed at an early hour in search of turtle-doves, which chiefly harbour in the small woods about the villages; and while walking along the banks of the river, Monro shot a small beautiful bird, called |