dromos to the doors of the dark chambers on the left. In our former visits, the entrance into the interior of the propylon had been overlooked, but was now discovered in the south-east corner, completely masked by vast blocks of stone fallen from the roof of the colonnade. By the aid of a fragment of the cornice and some small projections in the fallen stones, I descended with my Arab into the passage below; but the Nubian, looking down the dark crevices with superstitious horror, declared he would not enter for twenty dollars. The narrow staircase leading to the roof is lighted up in the daytime by small loopholes, scarcely visible externally. In one of these I observed a small reptile, not unlike a scorpion, which, as the light struck upon it, dropped from the wall, and hid itself among the dust.

CCCLXXXVI. Continuing to ascend the staircase, still in perfect preservation, and scarcely at all encumbered with rubbish, we arrived at the first chamber, about twenty-five feet in length, by twelve or fourteen in breadth, lighted by the same contrivance as the staircase. In the walls, entirely devoid of sculpture, are five or six deep niches, formerly, perhaps, used as cupboards, if these apartments, as it appears very probable, were inhabited by the priests. We now ascended to the second story, to an apartment exactly similar, from the northern extremity of which a doorway, now blocked up with fallen stones, originally led to the roof of the gateway. Over this was yet a third chamber, at present unroofed. Our

ANTIQUARIAN THEORIES.

513

tapers, and the voice of the Arab, shouting to the Nubian in the court below, roused the village dogs, and I foresaw we should presently have company. On the top of the propylon, on the sides of the staircase, and at the bottom of the niches abovementioned, I observed the grooves whence the metal clamps, which in these structures supplied the place of mortar, had been removed. Indeed, the holes made by the natives in this operation are on all sides visible in the face of the walls. Similar apertures in the Coliseum at Rome have given rise, among antiquarians, to various absurd theories some regarding them as the work of the early Christians, to deface the building; others supposing they were intended to receive the poles of a scaffolding; while a third party maintain them to have been meant to facilitate the laying on of a coat of stucco. I pretend not to decide between them; but in the Nubian temples no room is left for doubt, as the holes constantly occur where the metal clamps were to be found, and nowhere else. Descending into the dromos, we proceeded towards the interior. Through a rent in the wall, the evening star was visible from the great gateway, and when first beheld, had, from its extraordinary brightness, the appearance of a brilliant lamp burning among the ruins. We next walked round the exterior of the building. It seems quite clear that here, as well as at Dakké, the cella and pronaos are of a much more ancient date than the propylon, the colonnade in the dromos, and the long walls, which, prolonged from this colonnade,

514

KNOWLEDGE OF MONEY.

surround the cella, leaving a narrow passage between. At the back of the building, the mountain, scarped and smoothed like a wall, forms a part of the general enclosure; and a spacious chamber, with a doorway adorned in the usual style, has been excavated in the rock. A Nubian, with several boys from the village, had by this time joined us, each asking for a present. Belzoni, a few years before, found them ignorant of the value of piastres; but in this respect their knowledge is greatly enlarged, for nothing was now so welcome to them as money, though, to do them justice, they were neither so impudent nor so importunate as the Fellahs.

Sunday, Feb. 3. Phile. CCCLXXXVII. Early in the morning we resumed our usual walk. The barley, in growth most luxuriant, was entirely free from weeds; a circumstance attributable to the exceeding dryness of the soil, in which nothing will grow but what is sown and watered; though of such things they may have a constant succession of crops throughout the year. Excepting the low sloping bank, the country in this part consists entirely of irrigated, not inundated land, and produces tobacco, cotton, corn, the castor-oil plant, kidney beans, and lupines. Date trees are but thinly scattered. Passed the ruins of Taphis and Kardassi. At the latter place, besides the ruin formerly described, four columns of a portico are still standing. About two leagues south of Debóde, according to our pilot, there is a small island, not marked in the maps,

called Geziret el Múrkús, consisting of an agglomeration of masses of black granite, with numerous tamarisk trees growing in the crevices. Its Its aspect is particularly wild and striking, the rocks being piled in a confused irregular manner upon each other, and their rude summits crested by the ruins of a lofty square tower and a Christian church, with several pointed arches in the walls. Around its base the Nile runs in a rapid stream, interrupted in many places by sunken rocks, rendering navigation dangerous. With respect to distances, it is difficult, in these countries, to obtain precise information; the inhabitants denominating the space between one village and another "a league," whether it be near or far; and to the question, "How far is it to such a place?" they frequently reply,- The smoking of a pipe ; meaning, that you might reach it while a pipe of tobacco is consuming.

CCCLXXXVIII. Passed two small boats, the one descending into Egypt with dates, the other coming from Es Souan. At the foot of the rocks on the Eastern bank, we found the Hyoscyamus Datúra of Linnæus; a rare plant described by Forskal, in his "Flora Ægyptio- Arabica,” of which we saw but one specimen in Nubia. Its properties being little known to the natives, they sometimes crop and eat of the flowers, which cause a deathlike stupor, that usually endures twenty-four hours. It was, perhaps, from this plant that the Nubians, in the time of Leo

516

THE VILLAGE OF THE FISH.

Africanus, extracted the deadly poison, which, according to his description, must have equalled prussic acid in virulence. On the western bank, near Debóde, are the ruins of Beled es Samak, or the "Village of the Fish," for whose desertion, the Nubians give the following reason:-Some ages ago, they say, there appeared in the river, directly opposite, a large fish, which the inhabitants were desirous of taking. One man after another, therefore, went forth in the hope of destroying it; but the fish rising suddenly, caught the angler in his mouth, and disappeared with him beneath the water; and thus the whole village was depopulated. Being ignorant of the real causes, and too indolent to investigate them, they amuse themselves in this way with tales. But like the deserted towns of Ibrim and Kalat Addé, the village stands on the summit of a barren hill, overlooking the river; and having been erected there in troublesome times, on account of the strength of the position, was afterwards abandoned, when the country became more tranquil. In this part of the valley the natives prepare a kind of soup with the flower of the lupine (in Arabic sherangheg), which is eaten with bread. The bean also, pounded into a coarse meal, is used in thickening soup, or boiled and eaten alone. Opposite Debóde is a small sandy island, cultivated about the centre, and diversified by a few tamarisk trees.

CCCLXXXIX. Shortly after dark, we arrived opposite a large island on the African side of the river,