it preserves what it inters, and defaces nothing which it

leaves uncovered to our observation.

On our return from the quarries we made a detour to visit,the town of Assouan, having determined to begin our homeward voyage at sunset. I had walked into the town before, but I now rode through the bazar and all the principal streets. The style of building is Egyptian, such as I have often described, yet the general appearance is more respectable than usual. The bazar is badly furnished. All the wares of a shop are contained in a basket or two, or hang upon a line. More commonly there is no shop, the merchandise being deposited by the side of the seller on a mat in the street. My donkey had barely room to pass between two long rows of these cross-legged merchants who thus exhibited in the open air nearly all that was for sale in Assouan. I saw fewer signs of poverty and rather less filth than appear in most Egyptian towns.

There are three mosques, and from the extent of the town, I conjecture it may contain 4000 or 5000 inhabitants. There is no means of ascertaining population in this country. If you ask the inhabitants, one tells you 500, another 5000. Neither knows better than yourself-perhaps not so well. No book of statistics is at hand to satisfy your inquiries, and you have only to ride through the length and breadth of the town, or to mount to the top of an eminence that overlooks it, and then guess at the number of people who are likely to occupy so many mud-houses.

I met a woman here having a large ring suspended from one side of the nose, which was perforated for the purpose. I have observed this disgusting and unnatural custom in only one other instance.

Assouan is, from its position on the frontier of Egypt, a place of great importance, and though at present unfortified, is capable, from its high situation upon the declivity of a hill overlooking the Nile, of being made a good military posi

tion. The inhabitants are a mixture of Arabs and Nubians and of Turks, who are generally officers of the government. Here are also a small number of Copts. The people of all these several races are of a darker complexion than the same classes in Middle and Lower Egypt. Assouan has an air of comfort and good taste which distinguishes it from most other small towns in this country, though it might be difficult to state precisely to what it is indebted for this distinction. Its site is commanding-some relief from the monotony of the interminable valley to which we have so long been confined, and, in addition to the extensive groves of palm-trees outside of the town, several small gardens and little clusters of trees are seen within. A few of the houses, too, are more ample in their dimensions and more respectable in their general appearance than are seen in the villages below. There is but little arable land about Assouan. Bread-stuff is mostly brought from below.

This day had been full of occupation and agreeable excitement. A scene less pleasant, but still curious and interesting, because characteristic of the manners and habits of this people, was preparing for us against our return to the boat. We are accustomed to leave everything in the charge of our Coptic dragoman John; and so little reason have we had for distrust, that we have seldom turned a key-clothes, books, and even money, being left with no other security than such as they may find in his fidelity. Our Arab crew we have the best possible reason to believe false and dishonest. Today John met with a tempter in the servant of a baker with whom he had been negotiating supplies for our return voyage. Grateful for his patronage, or under the influence of some baser sentiment, this man had contrived to make our faithful servant drunk. We found him barely able to stand, and quite bereft of all capacity to perform his usual duties. A drunken man is a rare spectacle in Egypt. Intoxicating drink is prohibited to Mussulmen, and whatever

SCENE AT THE BOAT.

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may be the fate of other precepts of the Koran, this, among the common people at least, seems to be pretty well observed. The climate, too, favours temperance, and our Christian dragoman is the only man I have seen intoxicated in this country. Of course this was an event of some moment, and the rumour soon brought a crowd from the town, less than half a mile distant, to witness the disgrace of the hated Nazarene. Some were evidently drawn to the spot by more selfish motives, and we found that John had been buying of their merchandise pretty freely, without discretion or economy. The venders of all sorts of trifles were crowded about the boat. Baskets, mats, Nubian shields, barbed spears, chickens, corbashes, articles of Nubian dress, knives, ostrich eggs, antiques, &c., had been transferred from the bazars to find vent in the expanded liberality of our unfortunate servant. The crowd, on our arrival, may have consisted of one or two hundred persons. Hard words and angry feelings had risen. We found John hot with wrath at some insult, and he leaped from the boat to inflict chastisement on the real or supposed offender. The crowd shrunk back at his approach, and he pitched headlong into the sand. The sailors brought him on board, and with much difficulty we got him into the hole; but he soon sprung out again, incessantly declaring that he would be avenged. The scene of tumult and confusion was indescribable. The Arabs fell to fighting among themselves. One woman wept, declaring that John had bought her trinkets without paying for them, and a dozen more volunteered to aid her in making good her claim. In the mean time, several were engaged in stealing the bread, which, to increase our difficulties, was just then brought to us by the baker. I detected one woman with at least a peck of biscuits in her skirt, and another succeeded in carrying away a basketful before our eyes. Every one seemed intent upon increasing the confusion and profiting by it. We several times drove them

away from the boat by violence, but they immediately returned. The captain of the port, one of the pacha's officers, occasionally interfered, with his long Nubian spear, under pretext of restoring order, but in effect to increase the uproar. On our departure, which we were anxious to hasten, he asked us to pay him a fee of twenty paras, about two and a half cents.

CHAPTER XIII.

Return Voyage.-Agreeable Anticipations.-Reflections.-Downward Navigation of the Nile.-Nile Boat.-The Crew.-Sailor Absent.-Delay.Negotiations.-A happy Prisoner.-Knavery.-Fine View of the Temple of Ombos.-Hadjar Silsily.-Sandstone Quarries.-Their Form and great Extent.-Processes of Quarrying.-Towering Walls.-Stairs.Christians. Curious Fact.-Grottoes.-Antiquity.-View of the Quarries. -Edfou.-Limekilns.-Dogs.-Boys.-Funeral Dance.-Music.-Temple of Edfou.-Splendid Propylon.-Present Uses of the Temple.-Fine Colonnade. Inscriptions.-Accumulations.-Aërial Village.-Descent into the Temple.-Dimensions.-Base Idolatry.-The Town.-Houses.-Ruins of Apollinopolis Magna.-A Mutiny Quelled.-El Kab.-Ancient Town. -Brick Walls.-Their Entireness and Antiquity.-The Grottoes of Eilithya.-Tombs.-Inscriptions and Representations.-Agricultural and Domestic Scenes.-Ancient Manners.-Musical Instruments.-Other Views.-Rude Sculpture.-Ruined Temple.-Skepticism.-The Fate of Pharaoh.-Second Visit to Esneh.-The Zodiac.-African Wind.-A hot Day.-Return to Thebes.-Frank Boats.-A Frank.

By sunset we were floating with the current down the Nile. We had reached the extreme limit of Egypt, and spent an interesting day in admiring the splendid monuments of a civilization long. since extinct beyond its confines. And now our faces were turned towards the abodes, still far distant, of cultivated, Christian man. We had yet much to do and to see in Egypt; but we had become pretty well acquainted with the field of our coming labours,

which was all before us, and every step in our future progress would bring us nearer to objects that exercise a more commanding influence over the soul, than all the achievements of genius, hallowed by the associations of antiquity. By those who have not known what it is to perform a three years' pilgrimage in foreign lands, broken in health and burdened with a wounded spirit, this may be thought an inadequate occasion for indulging in sentiment. I confess, however, that my bosom was filled with strong emotions when I turned my back upon what, I trust, will prove the goal of my protracted wanderings, and commenced a voyage, which I hope to prosecute, with only brief detours and interruptions, till I once more find myself in the midst of scenes and associations, made doubly dear by all I have seen and suffered abroad. I thought, with intense and renovated interest, of many valued friends and beloved relatives, whose forms, though many thousands of miles away,. seemed to pass before my eyes. I thought of the churches of America, of their prosperity, their unfettered liberty, their pure doctrines, their evangelical piety, and, above all, of their hallowed Sabbath privileges and enjoyments. I contrasted the educated, virtuous, independent, well-fed, well-clad, and happy people of the United States, with the vicious, degraded beings with whom I had been for months surrounded, and I exulted at the thought of what Christianity and liberty have done for my country. To these delightful scenes, if God succeed my purposes, I am now returning, prepared to appreciate them highly and relish them keenly-it may be, with health so improved that I shall again act some humble but useful part in holy enterprises, to which I certainly never felt a more entire devotion. I gratefully acknowledge and record the Divine mercy and protection, which have constantly been with me. I am thankful for the valuable opportunities afforded by travel, though, perhaps, too sensible of the inconveniences-chiefly VOL. I.-S