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AN EGYPTIAN CHAPEL.

darkness better than light." Opposite the door, towards the east, is an altar, slightly projecting from the rock; and on the right hand, a broad border of Acanthus leaves, elegantly sculptured, adorns the lower part of the wall. The remainder, I imagine, has been obliterated. On the southern side of the apartment are various representations of the Baris, or Sacred Boat; but these have been purposely defaced. Similar figures on the north have suffered less; and the Kteis-Phallus, erroneously denominated the "Key of the Nile," occupies its constant position in these sculptures. Among other figures, there is one of a boat, representing the removal of stones from a quarry on the Nile.* It is shaped thus:

CLXIV. From these rock temples we proceeded towards the immense block of stone which had first attracted our curiosity to the spot. The distance was considerable, and, in walking along, we found a woman at work among the sands, whose employment

Near this chapel we found, in a niche in the rock, an altar, surmounted by an illegible Greek inscription, above which was an image of the sun.

SALT MINES IN THE DESERT.

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at once explained to us the cause of that extraordinary number of small shallow pits, which we had at first attributed to wild beasts. This poor solitary creature was crouching down, with a simple implement in her hand, digging for salt, which is here found not above three inches below the surface, dazzlingly white, and pure; and the mine, if properly worked, might supply all Egypt, and yield a very large revenue to the Pasha. We each purchased of her a small quantity, and I added to the price of it a trifling present, for which she was exceedingly thankful.

No

CLXV. The stone which from afar we had supposed to be but one block, was found, upon drawing near, to consist of three pieces, the largest of which is of extraordinary magnitude, by far the most prodigious mass of solid rock I have ever seen. It rests on the summit of a high mound, and appears to have been formerly surrounded by a wall; for immense quantities of broken brick are scattered around. doubt the Egyptians had entertained the design of converting it into a monolithic temple, for its northern face still presents some appearance of sculptured metopes, in the form of bulls' heads, though time has obliterated much of their labour; but had the intention been fulfilled, it would greatly have surpassed in dimensions the celebrated monolith of Saïs. At the foot of its northern and southern face a semi-arch, probably once completed with masonry,

238

SITE OF CYNOPOLIS.

has been hollowed out; from which it is probable that it was originally surrounded with a low colonnade, like the cloisters of a nunnery; from an opening cut at the top of its western face, I moreover imagine it to be hollowed out within; but as it is at least sixty feet in height, and perpendicular on all sides, we could not determine this point, being unable to cast up stones sufficiently large to enable us to hear the sound of their fall. Its length is about sixty, and its breadth between thirty and forty, feet.

CLXVI. Another enormous rock, on the summit of a hillock commanding an extensive view over the wide plains of the Hermopolitan Nome, has been hewn into numerous chambers, niches, altars, &c., together with a rude negro-headed sphynx. Between these rocks and the river are many large mounds, consisting chiefly of brick and pottery; among which several excavations appear to have been recently made. Here we picked up a small bronze coin, but too much defaced to allow of our making out the image or superscription. These mounds undoubtedly mark the site of some ancient city, most probably of Cynopolis; but to ascertain this point it would be necessary to undertake many laborious excavations. On descending to the river, we found a party of Arabs seated in a circle, feasting and making merry at the foot of a palm-tree. Here a series of rocky promontories, black and honey-combed, project into the Nile, or hang beetling over its waters. Numbers of tamarisk

DATE FORESTS OF SEMELÚD.

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trees, of diminutive growth, sprung from their crevices; and the edge of the stream below is feathered with the golden willow. On this spot we saw a grashopper, about two inches in length, so exactly of the colour of straw, that it was not to be distinguished from it in hue on the strictest comparison.

CLXVII. Crossing from this point to the western bank, in order to make round the island of Surarieh, by the wider and deeper channel, we walked on to the large and populous village, or rather town, of Kolokosaneh, where we found coffee-houses, and almé of the most dissolute kind; and proceeding thence by clean pathways leading through gardens and mimosa woods, over a country richly cultivated with wheat, dhourra, and sugar-cane, here springing up at the foot of the loftiest date-trees, we arrived at Semelúd, a large and thickly peopled town, with a mosque and noble minaret, towering aloft, white and glittering, among a forest of palms. Still further to the west was a wood of the same trees, but with their intervals so completely filled up by an undergrowth of acacias, tamarisks, and mimosas, that the whole appeared, at a distance, like the rich masses of verdure of an English forest. Night and mooringtime approaching, we struck into a narrow pathway leading to the Nile. It was a lovely evening, soft and balmy as June, the south wind having died away to a gentle breeze, which wafted far and wide the perfume of the bean-fields, now in full blossom,

240

THE MOUNTAIN OF BIRDS.

mingled with the mild fragrance of the ripe dhourra, which the husbandmen were threshing with long sticks in the fields. A rich old Turk, mounted on a well-fed black donkey, and followed by an attendant with a fine led horse, travelled with us for several hours. The boys, playing on the greensward about the different villages, saluted us civilly as we passed, with the salam aleycum, to which we returned the cus tomary aleycum salam! They appeared to be well fed and happy; a thing of rare occurrence in Egypt. We reached the banks of the river a few hundred yards to the north of the point where the gloomy frowning cliffs of the Gebel et Teir, or "Mountain of Birds," hang over the Nile; and there moored for the night.

Monday, Dec. 24. Hawartah. CLXVIII. The land in this part of the Hermopolitan Nome is in many places covered with a tall sedge, which looks as verdant and beautiful as sugar-cane. The peasants, early in the morning, were busily at work in the fields, some getting in the dhourra, others preparing the ground for another crop. The Egyptian plough, though originally invented by Osiris, is perhaps the rudest instrument of its kind now in use, consisting merely of three pieces of wood, of which two form the handle and the third the share. No iron is used in its construction, excepting a small band which keeps together its several parts. Two cows or bullocks yoked together by a long beam of