bas's vizier took a fancy to Anas, and caused him to proceed in his company homewards. Anas only revealed himself at the last moment, in time to save the vizier from disgrace, and, at length, he and Werd were married, and returned to live and die in the lovely island of Anas el Wojood, as Philoe is always called by the Arabs to this day." Such is a brief outline of the tale told to me by my guide, as we sat gazing on the lovely scene. The rest of the day was spent in wandering about the beautiful Temple. The painted capitals exceeded anything I had yet seen of Egyptian architecture. The hall in which they stand was (in the days of the Alexandrian Church) used as a Christian Temple, and I found a Christian Altar of granite, with the Cross upon it. There are also Greek inscriptions at the various entrances to the hall, commemorating the consecration of the site.

Thus, there was a time when Phil was a Christian Sanctuary, and when the choral chaunts and litanies of the true faith resounded through the halls and corridors of Isis, and when the Holy Eucharist of Sion was celebrated over the tomb of Osiris. What associations seemed crowded together in this delightful island of the Cataract ! First, the old legend of four thousand years, the mystery of Osiris, the unnamed one who lies at Philo. Then, the Arabian romance of Anas and the lovely Werd. And, lastly, the remnants of a Christian age, when Philo was an isle of saints.

He

beeh, which had already effected its ascent of a portion of the cataracts, and was awaiting the morning to complete the more adventurous part of that achievement. The night was dark, and the ride among

the basaltic rocks somewhat difficult.

On the 16th, I left the boat early to get to the top of a rock commanding a view of the whole of the cataracts, and including Philo and its surrounding crags of Syenite. A wilder and grander scene can scarcely be found. There is a metallic appearance about the black shining rocks (which encircle and fill the whole landscape) unlike the scenes of ordinary nature. A few green spots of palms, &c., here and there, serve only to heighten the stern severity of the rest, and amid all this chaotic confusion arises, from out its placid lake, the calm smooth Temple of Isis and Osiris. In the distance the twin towers of its pylon (or gate), reminded me of the square towers of some English Minster, rising from the green sward amid some wooded vale, like those which embosomed Bolton, or Fountaynes, or Tintern. In some lights the basaltic rocks of Biggeh and the opposite coast might be imagined to be wooded hills of oak and yew; but soon the illusion vanished, and the calm Nubian towers were once more among the primeval rocks of Syënite, twin children of old time. We ascended one of the lesser cataracts in the Dahabëeh and then mounting on donkeys, proceeded by land to, Mr. Lewis's tent. The Dahabëeh, bound with cables and tugged by a hundred Arabs, accomplished the ascent famously. It is a fine sight to stand among the rocks watching the perilous ascent of the boat. This is a feat which has been accomplished from the earliest times.

cribes it thus: "As one ascends the river, above the city of Elephantine, the country is steep, here therefore it is necessary to attach a rope on both sides of a boat, as one does with an ox in a plough, and so proceed; but if the rope should happen to break, the boat is carried away by the force of the stream." There is an officer called the Reis of the Cataracts who provides, at a fixed tarif, a body of men to haul the boats up the stream. The charge is from an hundred to an hundred and fifty piastres, that is, from twenty to thirty shillings of English money. I spent the day at Philo. There is something so calm and religious in the halls of Philoe, and yet it is hard to understand that singular euthusiasm, which, having discarded the faith of childhood, revels in a species of veneration for the religion of Osiris and Isis. Of this kind was a certain German whom I here met, who, while he was in raptures with the mystery of Osiris -his mythical incarnation, death, and restoration, actually pretended to scorn and vilify those pious anchorets, who, within the old pagan peristyle, had erected an humble Altar and a Cross to the despised One Who was indeed Incarnate, and died, and rose for all mankind. I cannot join in the condemnation of the principle of these old Christians in appropriating the heathen fanes to the worship of the True God; and, for my part, I prefer seeing the Pantheon as the Church of St. Maria della Rotonda, to being left either as a ruin, or a restoration inscribed perchance (as its modern namesake in Paris) to the so-called "Great Men of a grateful country."

17th of January. The morning was spent among the ruins of Philo. I was loath to quit this lovely island. I had already wandered through all

|

the chambers, but I again, and more carefully, revisited them. There is something so mysterious about the frequent representations of Osiris the Judge, and Osiris dead and embalmed that the mind often seeks relief in the assurance that the ancient Egyptians must have embodied some early traditional prophecies of the Messiah in their strange allegorical system. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:" and the Christian may surely believe, without want of submission to the teaching of the Church, that even the phenomena of Egyptian superstition, may have been employed in prefiguring the event of the Divine Incarnation. After wandering from hall to hall, and perusing the endless pictures or carvings of that bygone worship, endeavouring to decipher its mysterious language, I found inexpressible relief in pausing, and, for a moment, kneeling before the Christian Altar, in the great hall of the Temple. Beautiful is that hall, with its graceful columns and beautifully painted Lotus Capitals, but more beautiful is the thought, that here, amid these heathen emblems, is an Altar of the True Faith on which the Commemoration of the Deed of Calvary has been offered up to God. The measurements of this Primitive Altar of granite, were these: 3 ft. 7 in. long, 2 ft. 5 in. deep, and 2 ft. 10 in. high. On the lintels of the various doorways opening into the hall, the Christians had rudely sculptured the sign of the Cross, and beneath it, Greek inscriptions recording the consecration of the site to our Holy Worship.

NUBIA.

We sailed from Philo between eleven and twelve o'clock, and I

long sat on the roof of the Dahabëeh, gazing on the receding view,

of the lovely island and its temples. We were in Nubia, and, for some time south of Philo, continued among rocks of Syenite. We left

Dabôd, the Temple of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, until our return. After a brisk sail we anchored for the night near Kalabshee.

On the 18th of January, we set sail early, and had a fine view of the Temple of Kalabshee. Before mid-day the wind fell, and we walked on shore and remarked the Nubian Sakeeyahs (or water-wheels) which in this less populous country do the work of irrigation, which in Egypt is accomplished by the fellahs. After leaving Philo, we constantly heard their creaking, semi-musical, sound. The perpendicular wheel to which, at intervals, earthen jars, for raising the water, are attached, is turned by a horizontal wheel acting by means of cogs, to which a couple of bullocks are harnessed. The sound of these coming across the water is sometimes like that of distant bells. The vegetation on the banks is very luxuriant. The hottest day we had yet experienced.

19th of January. We had passed the Temple of Dendoor in the night intending to see all the Temples on our return. During the morning we tracked along the eastern bank and walked on shore. The Nile valley in Nubia is very narrow, but here it was wider than we had yet seen it above the Cataracts. The vegetation is far more advanced than in Egypt, and the palms much finer trees than any south of Aswan. The fields of purple-flowering beans smelt delicious, and there is a pleasant freshness spread around the creaking Sakeeyah's as they raise the cool waters of the Nile. The wheels are frequently shaded with gourds and other creepers, for the sake of protecting the oxen and their driver from the scorching sun.

Near to a small village, consisting of flat-roofed cots built of loose stones, we were accosted by several black ladies, with castor-oiled locks, (arranged in those diminutive curls seen in representations of ancient Roman head-dresses) who were decorated with numerous necklaces and other ornaments, some of which they pressed us to purchase.

We visited the Temple of Garf Hossayn, dedicated to Phthah (the Vulcan of the Egyptian Mythology). The village of Garf Hossayn lies on the western bank and occupies the site of the ancient Tutzis. The Temple is (with the exception of the ruined portico) entirely excavated in a rock rising behind the village. It was the first rocktemple I had seen, and I was agreeably surprised with the interior of the fane. It dates from the reign of Ramases the Great, (B. c. 1355), and is therefore some three thousand two hundred years old, and is probably far more complete than any Saxon, or even Norman, remains in England. The sanctuary still contains the four idols with an altar before them. The great hall is supported with Osirides rudely executed, but dividing the space into nave and aisles. In each of the aisles are four niches containing a Triad of Divinities sculptured in high-relief. Between this great hall and the sanctuary, is a small inner hall with two columns opening into four side chambers or cellæ. The walls are, as usual, sculptured with figures in low-relief, but the whole is much obscured with smoke. Our own torches added their quota to the blackness. The four great idols of the sanctuary are Phthah (the Lord of Truth) called Vulcan by the Latins, but without good reason

Herodotus had Grecized his name into Hephæstus through that fondness for Grecizing all names which

characterized his countrymen, much as it does our French neighbours at the present day to Gallicize all names-Athor, the Queen of Love; Leontecephale, the beloved of Phthah; and Anoukè. This Temple may possibly have been a rude copy of the Great Temple of Phthah at Memphis, the most ancient and the most famous in all Egypt, according to Herodotus and others. One may almost picture the old worship in these perfect temples of the bygone faith. The modern villagers of Garf Hossayn worship each Friday, in their Mosque. The people of Tutzis probably attended their temple on festivals, the more frequent solemnities being committed to the caste of the priests. The old faith of Egypt was essentially a priest-faith, and yet Herodotus considered the Egyptians the most religious people in the world, as well as the wisest. It seems to me a fair mode of judging of the advantages and evils of a priest-faith, as contrasted with an anti-sacerdotal religion, to compare Mohammedanism, in its effects, with such a faith as the heathenism of old Egypt. The Brahmin religion of India is a living instance, and the two systems, may there be fairly tested. I am not aware that Brahminism will lose in a comparison with El Islam, nor do I believe that the opponents of sacerdotal institutions will find any argument in their support, by contrasting the rival creeds of Hindostan. The greater number of civilians with whom I have conversed, (Mr. W- among the number), prefer, in most respects, the Hindoos to the Mussulmen.

20th of January. The desert of yellow sand encroached upon the narrow patches of cultivation. We passed Dakkeh of which the Pylontowers reminded me of Edfoo.

21st of January. A contest in

the middle of the night, with the Reis, who would not avail himself of the wind, when pressed to do so by the Dragoman. There was a regular battle and left his bed, and supporting the Dragoman, broke his cane over the captain's head, and knocked him down with his fist, giving him a bloody nose and black eye. About breakfast time, we met the boat of an English merchant, Hawajee H, (as he was called), of Alexandria, and while we went on board to deliver some letters to the gentleman, our poor Reis came and threw himself prostrate at the feet of the merchant, to implore him to intercede with us, and to explain to us that the Dragoman, and not himself, was in fault. We heard afterwards, that the sailors were pleased that the Reis should thus have been chastised, for that he was very unpopular with them. They have all shown great alacrity ever since.

KOROSKO.

At breakfast time we came in sight of the Temple of Amunra, at Sabooa, (on the western bank) of which we saw the Pylon and the Twin Towers. About midday we were in view of the Korosko range of mountains, extending along the eastern shore, and have ever since enjoyed some lovely scenery, more especially when we found ourselves in the broad reach of the river terminated by the palm-groves of Korosko, and their mountain background. In the afternoon we walked on shore, where a very narrow fringe of cultivation borders the sand-stone rocks of the desert. Sometime before Korosko, the strip widens into a plain, richly studded with palm-groves, and irrigated with numerous sakeeyah's. We met a caravan of Dongola merchants proceeding to Aswan. Travellers desiring to go to Dongola or Senaar,

usually disembark at Korosko, and proceed on camels across the desert, to Dongola. Above Wady Halfa, the Nile makes a considerable bend, and the numerous cataracts also impede the navigation. A short sail brought us to Korosko.

After dinner, while my companions went to see some Nubian dancing-girls, in the village-a fete at which our Reis and sailors all

assisted,—I took the most delightful moon-light walk I ever remember, along the banks of the river and among the magnificent palms. The moon surpasses all description, and its rays, falling among the shadows of the palm-grove are exquisitely

beautiful.

The sakeeyahs, too, overshadowed with a trellice of gourds, and overhanging the broad Nile, were some of them at work,

and their monotonous music harmonized with the scene of loveliness.

22nd of January. We walked along the eastern bank, between Korosko and Derr, and were all in raptures with the luxuriant beauty of this part of Nubia. I never remember a summer's day in England half so lovely as that January morning, among the fields and gardens of Korosko. There were gourds hanging from the palms and shading the sakeeyahs. Of palms, there are 10,000 paying tax, between Korosko and Derr.

After a sail in the boat, we landed on the western shore, and walked for two hours over the sand to the Temple of Amada, at Hassayah, a small but very perfect temple, dedicated to Ra and Amunra. It existed in the days of Thothmes III., B.C., 1500. The colours of a bas-relief of Isis placing her left arm over the shoulder of Osiris, remained perfect. Isis is represented as fair, with black almonedshaped eyes, while Osiris is deep red.

The Agatho-dæmon occurs frequently. Perhaps Pharaoh's ex

pression in Genesis xli. 38., concerning the "Spirit of God," may bear allusion to the traditional knowledge of the Holy Spirit, preserved in the Egyptian creed under the type of the winged globe, or Agatho-dæmon.

We anchored off Derr, and on the morning of the 23rd of January walked for an hour among the corn and bean fields, and gardens of gourds, all watered by numerous sakeeyahs. We were enchanted with Nubia. Later in the day we passed the citadel of Ibrcem, standing on the summit of a perpendicular rock rising from the river. This is said to have been the abode of Queen Candace, (Acts viii. 27), whose servant was converted by St. Philip the deacon, and baptized into the faith of the "Son of God." It was dark when we passed AbooSimbool, which we were to inspect on our return.

"Bishop Morton of Durham, lived a very great number of years, and very few ever husbanded their time better, for he was never idle with his good will; so that, if a man may be said to fulfil a long time, that improves his time well, though he die young, how long may we say did he live that numbered so many years (94) and mispent so little time as he did? He was often up at his devotions and study before four o'clock, even after he had lived above fourscore years; and yet very seldom went to bed till after ten, and then had always a servant to read some book to him, till such time as sleep did surprise him; and so had he always when he travelled in his coach, that his journey might not be too great a hindrance to his study."-Barwick's Life of Bishop Morton.